#Like man Cass is a challenge but the good kind. When I do manage to get her voice right in fic it feels so satisfying

[aingeal98]

Cass's struggle with language should never fully be erased, if she's speaking the same amount and with the same ease as ever other character then I'm going to be thrown off. Likewise if she's completely fluent in sign language or speaking in broken English or baby language I'm going to be thrown off. I've never read a fic or comic with any of these and thought "Yeah this is a good Cass voice."

"So how do I write a good Cass then?" Read Batgirl 2000 and then do your best. I believe in you. Batgirl 2008 and Gates of Gotham too if you want Cass content from later on in the timeline.

"What about New 52!" With all respect to the love some of the writers had for Cass as a character: God no. Fuck no. Never in a million years base your Cass characterisation and voice off New 52/Rebirth content. I enjoy a whole lot of those comics but with the exception of Ram V's detective comics run I don't think I can point to any of them and say yeah this is how you write a Cass that sounds like Cass.

[herstarburststories]

you and me and the devil makes three.

Pairings: Dean Winchester x reader, Demon!Dean Winchester x reader, past Lisa x Dean

Summary: Dean is a demon, he will take whatever he wants.

A/N: This got darker than I expected. I wanna make it clear I don't condone or engage with Dean's acts on this. This is my submission for @jawritter 's Make Me Cry Challenge. Congrats, honey! Hope you like it. Dividers by talesmanic and gif credit here

Prompt: I guess I should have been more like her.

Warnings: non consensual kissing, language, UNHEALTHY BEHAVIOR, non con (kissing and touching but no sex), dirty talk

Dean Winchester was a dreamer.

In the rawest way of the word, the meaning in the dust-collecting dictionaries and not the idealistic form. His eyelids shut close and, just like magic, Dean’s head was as haunted as the home he swore he’d never come back to in Kansas. The ghosts of the past, not ever so very friendly, coming to greet him at least three times per week. Sometimes they were happy films he could never starre in real life, his mom singing or a picnic with a lover saying that they needed to hurry up to get their kid at the baseball. The nightmares were sleepy visions of flesh and blood, mostly about his time underneath, Sam hurting, or his father spilling out his worst fears at his face. 

Maybe it was how the eldest Winchester’s brain compensated for the lack of bedtime tales and docile affairs growing up. The own way that his brittle soul discovered and molded not to let him collapse, or to always keep him on red alert. 

Good and bad deals are mostly a matter of which side you are betting your money on, really.

Because yeah, Dean did wake up feeling like he had shut his forest eyes briefly for twenty minutes instead of hours when he dreamed, but he also had never spent so long trapped in a better place. The green eyed hunter didn’t know which one was worse: the good dreams or the horrific ones. After all, he had went through all the atrocity and made it out alive, but the engulfed craving for light-hearted scenarios was suffocating. The hunter could never have it all. Trust him, he tried. Then, which is more agonizing: to have everything you ever wanted for a couple hours and have every scrap of it taken from you, or to undergo the calamity that accompanied your breaking point? 

Dean didn’t know, he didn’t even know what to tell Sam when he wondered what his brother had dreamt about to wake up sweating and screaming, all the light and stupid apple pie desires and the sharp brutality crawling out of the back of his mind. He made a joke, Megan Fox really liked knives, man. He kept it in, shoved down a good amount of alcohol, and mocked the worry of doing the lawn. Ready for another day. 

But now he was a demon, and apparently whatever he was made of - sulfur, cruelty, and black eyes under garden ones - wasn't worthy quiet reliefs in the middle of the night, or even frightening figments of memory. He became his worst dreams and all the dreams slipped beyond his reaches because of that. Demons, those unholy creatures, didn’t get the human peculiarities. You know what? Fine by him.

Who needed dreams when you don't need sleep, anyway? Even better: who needed dreams when you don't care about what you gotta do to put your greedy hands on the prize you had been eyeing for years? 

Dean Winchester was finally free. Free for the first time since he was a four years little boy who watched his mother burning with a terrorized expression, ironically mimicking the one Mary wore on the ceiling. His dad’s shouting for him to grab Sammy and run, take your little brother and run, echoing through years and years. There was never time for Dean, for his grief or his questions or whatever the child frozen in time under his rib cage could come up with. They said, stupid psychologists with their fancy degrees and malicious bartenders with a unfriendly grun under the counter who learned a little too much, everybody said that when someone was so traumatized as a kid, that person would tend to get frozen at that age. Therefore, how tremendously alleviating was to kill any reminiscing emotion of the whiny child he used to be. 

The kind of freedom that no traveler longed for; when one’s ruined and damaged enough not to care, and just take and take and take like hunger itself. Dean was an evil thing now, what else could he do but act on the figments of the worst intentions?

And feel so fucking good when doing that. 

‘’Where do you think he's going?’’ Your eyes raked over the street, darting between the asphalt under Baby’s wheels and Sam’s weary features.

‘’I don't know.’’ He sighed, attempting to organize his thoughts. Even as a demon, his brother wouldn’t just run miles and miles away by himself for no apparent reason. There had to be something you and Sam were missing out, some unseen clue or a hidden meaning. ‘’What the localizator says?’’

At least you had managed to put a tracker in his boots during your last encounter. Whatever Dean was thinking of starting there, you and Sam wouldn’t let him.

‘’Still Cicero, Indiana.’’ You sighed. Sammy furrowed his eyebrows, a long forgotten memory rising. ‘’What?’’

‘’We had a case there once years ago.’’ He explained, opting not to elaborate. Your and Dean’s relationship was troubled enough with his new self. Sam didn’t want to blow it up completely. His brother would need you once he came back to himself. The look on your face, though, reported how you weren’t buying his cheap excuses. The long haired hunter sighed. ‘’Did Dean ever tell you about that?’’

‘’No.’’

He stepped on the accelerator.

To find the woman was excruciatingly easy. The freckled demon couldn't believe he opened his computer many times and gave up before today. He glanced through the glass window and there she was, standing in all her glory with a body that seemed to forget how to grow old. Her tan skin still glowing, as appetizing as ever. Brown eyes shining so bright, tiny hands that always seemed to know where he wanted to be touched. She was laughing like there was no tomorrow, holding a glass of wine with one hand and her cellphone with the other, while her dark hair was falling so perfectly over her shoulder, like waves against the rocks in the sea.

Dean can’t wait to smell her again, to taste her, to prove her. His fingers were tingling, begging to touch what was his as he hopped off the car, walking towards the porch. He had been gone for a long time, but now he was back. 

He will destroy that quintessential, sequin woman so good.

The Winchester buckled in front of the white door, graced with the sound of the female giggle. Thin walls, he thought, those will be useful to make sure the neighbors know who’s back home. Her steps on the wood floor growing closer and closer as he heard a goodbye, probably aimed at whoever she was on the phone with. It was almost like the caramel skinned woman knew that whoever was on her doorstep wasn’t gonna be a hustled visitor. Or so the demon’s arranged mind said.

‘’Hey, Lis.’’ Dean’s voice lacked any cherishment as she opened the door, who would know that the absence of a soul wouldn't be gelid, just dry? As for her, Lisa’s face was drained of love. For all she was aware of, he was a stranger who knew her name. The male let out a chuckle empty of joy. She really didn’t remember, huh? ‘’Whoa. Cass really fucked up your head, huh? At least he did one thing right.’’

‘’Excuse me?’’ The man with dirty blonde hair and perfect teeth smelled like alcohol. She wasn’t having any of this tonight. ‘’Listen, I don’t know who you are and--’’

‘’Don’t worry.’’ He tranquilized her, although the lopsided grin on his lips held anything but good intentions. ‘’I’ll make you remember. I have a spell. You won’t believe how much you missed me.’’

The mocking laugh that left her lips utterly aggravated him. ‘’I don’t know you. Please leave or I’ll call the police.’’

Dean didn’t need a crowd for that part, a bratty woman in need of a firm hand should get a particular lesson. 

‘’You always liked a little cat and mouse.’’

Speaking of, the demon pushed the door wide open without any effort. Lisa jumped at the sudden move, every instinct inside her deciding that man was a threat and not some harmless wasted guy. Her body was quickly erect, thinking about ways to run and get help, but Dean swiftly pushed her to him and kicked the door closed-- her small figure collided to his chest.

Human savagery was cut in urban ways, molded to civilize the animalistic instincts. Imagine meat. A dead animal on a silver plate, and we couldn’t wait to chew every inch of it. We couldn’t wait to eat it, put that dead thing inside us and hope it’ll be enough to control the predatory hungry. Humans will always be animals, but so will be their rests that constructed the demons. 

Dean may not be a hunter anymore, but he’s still a predator who can't wait to taste his prey. He could small it, the fear in Lisa’s sweat making his mouth water. How much she tried to fight against him and scream other names when his was the only one he wanted her to need tonight. The resistance of a poor human barely made the monster shiver.

He closed his hands around her arms, throwing her against the wall like someone tossed an old toy away. There was no space for delicaly. In that moment, Dean Winchester was a tiger, a lion, the big bad wolf attacking the omega. Lis winced, her back hurting as her fibers. She couldn’t believe this was happening, that man was about to do something so terrible and disgusting to her in her own house, the place she was supposed to feel warm and safe. Why did he seem to know her? Why did he say she was gonna remember? Was he crazy, hallucinating, or drugged? Why was he so satisfied with how frightened her tiny body looked? How could she use all that information to somehow push him away?

‘’Let me go!’’ She demanded, her legs kicking the demon with ferocity. ‘’What’s wrong with you? LET ME GO NOW!’’

The brunette’s skilled body moved itself desperately, and the act of resistance only brought a hysterical laugh out of Dean. The wrong kind of goosebumps washed her skin, she had to run away for her life. This man was mad.

‘’FIRE! FIRE!’’ Lisa started to scream. Well-aware that people were most likely to come around and help a woman screaming if she said fire. ‘’THERE’S A FIRE. SOMEONE HELP ME!’’

One of his hands went to her neck, wrapping his fingers around it to shut her up. That was rubbing him off the wrong way. Lisa Braeden used to beg for his touch, how dared her not to want him anymore? Now that he was better, stronger, and thicker.

The brown eyed girl went quiet, probably scared by his brutal behavior. Dean smiled, a blood stained grin that carried mischief and pervertment. He licked the tears savoring the salty horror coming from her. Just like the day he was a vampire who almost gave in to drinking every drop of her luptuos blood. She may not remember but he did and he couldn't wait to get inside her, those tight walls squeezing his hard cock.

‘’You’re gonna do as I say, Lis. And I won't hurt you… Much.’’ He risped, crooked nose stroking her wet cheek. She whined. ‘’Don’t worry, honey. You loved it. Bet you’ll scream so much once I fuck you good.’’

‘’Please, don’t do it.’’ She begged as he coaxed his body against his. That man was stronger than her, she had no other choice but to plead to his human side. If only she knew.

‘’Begging already?’’ Dean lifted his head, smirking at her. Lisa just wanted to cry and close her eyes until everything was done. How could someone do that? ‘’I told you, don’t worry. I’m gonna make a lil’ spell that will give your memories back and you’ll remember everything. And then we’re gonna have so much fun, Lis.’’

His last murmur was finished with a kiss. A harsh, ruthless kiss. Actually, she wasn’t even sure if she could call it a kiss; teeth against each other, his vicious mouth pressed to her weakened lips, his tongue invading her like a robber and showing an unrequited dominance.

‘’Dean!’’ Your voice resonated stridently, louder than the door Sam had stormed open. You couldn’t believe what your eyes witnessed. ‘’Stop it!’’

Dean groaned, as if you and Sam were stepping on his territory. He simply turned his head to you two, not pulling away from Lisa. You couldn’t see her face, your boyfriend’s large shoulder and tall body covering her up. His eyes were still green, which set the scene in an even more atrocious light. 

Your thoughts were racing. How could he come to her, crave her so badly that he drove away miles and miles as a demon? He was supposed not to feel a thing. You prepared yourself for a cold man, not an obsessive one. Apparently, a heart hidden under the black smoke. Choose if it's a gift or Pandora's box. Sam told you their history. Of course he would want that and not you. Dean never left Lisa because he fell out of love for her, he was ripped out from her life. You were so pissed at yourself; how could you picture playing the woman in his veins? How stupid were you? He may be a demon guided by wants and not emotions, but what was love but an amount of outrageous desires laced up with some pretty words and flavored with dependency?

‘’Y/N and Sammy--’’

Love was the wrong word here. Anyway. Go head and unwrap it.

‘’Please help me!’’ Lisa’s voice came to life once more through her quiet cry. Dean hardened the hold around her throat, making her cough a little.

Suddenly, your body is frozen. That, whatever that is, whatever he’s doing to Lisa. It wasn’t love. She didn’t want it. When his frame moved to face you and Sam, you caught a glimpse of her face. She was petrified, her delicate features contorted in wrath and fear and beg for help.

‘’Quiet.’’ Dean howled, glancing at her rapidly before his eyes fell on you and Sam again. ‘’You two are such killjoys. I told you to let me go.’’

You couldn’t believe what you were witnessing. You wanted to puke your guts out.

‘’And what? Kill your ex? Or do something even worse to her?’’ You elicited with disgust.

‘’She’ll come around eventually. Just playing hard to get. You know how frisky women are.’’ The corner of his lips curved into a barbaric grim, one of his hands touching Lisa’s cheek. The victim winced at the touch. ‘’Besides, I’m not just gonna take her. I’ll make her remember and she’ll want me.’’ He shrugged, unbothered by the horrified looks of everyone in the room. ‘’Are you really worried about Lis, Y/N? Or are you just jealous that I didn’t go for you?’’

‘’Enough, Dean.’’ Sam groaned, holding the gun up. It felt oily. ‘’Let her go. And come with us.’’

The demon tossed the brunette away with a simple sleight of hand, pulling his sleeves up with a marred beam. His eyes switched from starry green to black, showing his true facette. It was a peculiar relief. It wasn’t Dean. It wasn’t Dean. It wasn’t Dean.

Yet, Dean’s gruff voice said in a twisted playful tone:

‘’Come get me, Sammy.’’

Dean Winchester was cured. For most people, to heal is to let go or to learn with things. In the doctor’s case, healing is leaving a bruise to cover up a wound. Everyone believed the war started and ended, and that was it. But when something so ravaging is gone, you gotta deal with the trauma.

He was a trauma. Cured from a sickness, drowning in sorrow and waves of woe. All the worst things Dean ever did, he knew now, weren’t to himself or to the monster he so proudly killed. His unspoken acts were against the people he cared about.

The hunter never thought his hands, his bruised and tough hands could ever hurt Lis. The woman who was his lifeline when Sam died, who allowed him to be a father and live in his dreamland of suburban life. All she ever did was to love him, and what did she get for it?

He was disgusted with himself. What almost did to her was enough to hunt him and make him sure he was going back to hell, very deserving this time. Threating to do that to a woman, and enjoy it… Dean couldn’t bear driving into memories. He was selfishly glad he didn’t remember about that, only Sam’s explanation was enough: he went to Lisa, he kissed her without her consent, and Sam and you stopped him going any further. Would his unscrupulous, demon self go ahead? He was too scared to wonder, even though his brother said that he apparently had a spell to make Lis remember and wasn’t planning on just taking her. A forced kiss was disgusting enough. He just wished Sam had put a bullet in his black eyes right there.

You walked in the bathroom that you once shared with the eldest Winchester

She was everything he ever wanted, all the suburban dreams and acceptance of hunter reality without being in it. Lisa loved him completely and you could only love him sideways-- you never wanted to be a mom, or to have a family or live in a suburb. Those were valid goals, just not yours. You thought you and Dean were on the same page about it, but this other side, not only the pervert demon but the domestic man, hadn’t been shown to you until a couple days ago. Sam had cured his brother, his dirty nature washed away with holy water, but you couldn’t help the bruises that came from the dog days. Lisa had her memory erased by Cass again, you didn’t have the same unfair luxury.

‘’Dean.’’ You said, making him look up at you. Bags under his eyes and wrinkles more evident than ever. ‘’We need to talk.’’

He sighed and wiped his face. ‘’Y/N, I don’t want to talk right now.’’

‘’You never do.’’ You scoffed, gaining an incredulous glance from him. ‘’I know that what happened was disgusting and sick and the worst thing you could ever do, but we need to talk.’’

He took a deep breath. ‘’What do you wanna talk about?’’

‘’You went to her.’’ You stated as a lawyer in front of a jury. Dean furrowed.

‘’What?’’

‘’Lisa. You went to her.’’ When the arrow hit someone so damaged, it was like an animal with his teeth there that wouldn't let go. Yeah, his human soul wasn't the same brittle glass as before but it lingered in his demon self in the shape of delusion, and it was distorted by whatever he was made of, violence and darkness, and turned into something disgusting. ‘’You love her.’’

‘’Love?’’ The word burned his tongue, Dean didn’t think he had the right to ever use it again. ‘’I was a demon, Y/N. I didn’t love or feel anything. What I did--’’

‘’You didn’t do anything.’’ You interrupted, loyal as a soldier.

‘’I forced a kiss on her and wanted to bring her memories back to have sex with her. That’s disgusting and I did half of that.’’ He pointed out aggitadly, plump lips moving fast and voice deeper. ‘’It wasn’t love. Leaving her years back was love.’’

You didn’t miss how Dean didn’t even dare to say her name. ‘’So you don’t think about her? Not even once?’’

He scoffed humourless. ‘’Are you kidding me?’’

‘’I guess I should have been more like her.’’ You hugged yourself, glancing at the wall. You didn’t want to cry in front of him. Not again, not for another woman. That wasn’t even your cicatrix to ache. 

‘’Y/N, what the fuck are you talking about?’’ The fully green eyed man raised to his feet, glancing at you with disbelief. He couldn’t face how messed up it was. ‘’I can’t believe you are jealous of what happened. I thought I was the broken one here.’’

‘’I’m not her.’’ You two shared it, the glance that only two women who were hurt by the same man could. You both understood that when he got inside you, it was like the syringe in an eutanasia. Once you were happy because you loved him, now you were scared and not so sure this was what you wanted. ‘’I’m not her and you knew it. When you became just instincts and selfish and did whatever you wanted, you didn’t come to me. You came to her.’’

‘’I hurt her.’’

The next words fly out of your mouth, as weak and totaled as you felt: ‘’Why didn’t you hurt me?’’

‘’This is the most unhealthy shit we ever went through.’’ Dean’s right. You have her expression mesmerized on your brain. Dean was the man on top of her, teaching her how to hate. How to fear. You can’t trust yourself. ‘’I can’t believe you.’’

‘’Neither can I.’’ You were so sick. How ravaged and annihilated one had to be to wish to be a demon's object of obsession? To get jealous that another woman almost died in the arms of a beast that cried his blood out once he came back to being a man and saw what he had done? ‘’I hate it. I hate feeling like this. I was there and I saw how scared of you she was, how all she wanted was to push you away and run because she was so disgusted--’’

‘’Stop.’’ He groaned, but it came out more like a whine than anything. ‘’It wasn’t me. I would never hurt Lis. I would never force her to do anything! I--’’

You gave him a sad smile. ‘’You love her.’’

‘’I love you.’’ Dean approached you, fumbling in despair to fix yet another thing his hands destroyed. If Rome was built in ruins, he was a kingdom. You pulled away before his tough hands landed on you.

‘’But you love her too.’’ The hunter stopped on his spot, unable to answer. ‘’I ruined myself for you, Dean. I can’t-- I won’t do that again. You are right. This is unhealthy. The fact that you’ve been pining for her for so long, pushing down those feelings to the point they are twisted into something so cruel and disgusting. You need help.’’ What kind of ugly you have to have inside you for a monster to love you? And, even worse, what kind of sickness you have trapped, written in your blood to want it to be spilled out in his name? ‘’You really are venom. If this is how you love, it’s scary as fuck.’’ When you loved a broken man, you were never sure if his shattered pieces would glisten or cut your hand once the light came in. Here’s your answer. His parts crawled inside you through pulled up scars, scraping your insides to make into ruins, but you never liked Rome much. You had to be better than that. ‘’Goodbye, Dean.’’

He couldn’t bring himself to go after your steps.

Once again, it’s the kind of freedom no traveler wants. When you lost it all and didn't have any person or place to cling to, when you had to leave because you were becoming the girl you swore you’d never leave, when you walked away willingly without a map.

Still, it was all you had. You’d make a good use of it. You’d be okay. No more ugly emotions or sentiments that made you unrecognizable. No more knives that cut both ways, or situations so complicated you weren’t sure where your morals could rely on.

You’d be okay, healthy, and happy.

You’d be okay.

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[agoldengalaxy]

deny, deny, deny

read on Ao3

5 times someone told Sam and Bucky they cared about each other, and the 1 time they showed it.

--

1.

“You two bicker a lot,” Dr. Raynor says, eyeing the two men who sit, fuming, on the other side of her desk. “If you won’t speak to each other, then tell me this, instead. James, why would you ignore Sam’s texts?”

Bucky grumbles something under his breath. Sam seems genuinely curious to hear the answer. Raynor glares until Bucky sighs and repeats himself, staring at the floor. “Didn’t wanna bother ‘im.”

“What? I was the one texting you, Bucky! Why would I -”

“Just drop it, Sam.”

“…Fine.”

Folding her hands on her desk, Raynor sighs. She can’t be certain, but Bucky has been her client for a few months now, and she knows it takes a long time for him to tell the truth. In this case, however, she thinks the truth is there, as a small part of it. The way that the tips of his ears redden tell her that there must be more to it.

She isn’t blind. She has a feeling she might know that answer. So she leans forward a little. “Good. Thank you for that answer, James.” Her gaze slides to Sam, whose arms are crossed over his chest as he looks toward the wall. “How does that make you feel, Sam?”

He scoffs. “After everything I’ve done for him, he still -”

“You shouldn’t have given up the shield, Sam.”

“What’s that got to do with anything?”

“Gentlemen, please,” Raynor interrupts, feeling a headache coming on. She blows out a breath. “You’re both big boys now. You can handle this -“ she gestures vaguely, because she knows that they don’t quite understand yet, “- if you just talk to each other. Emotions are powerful things, you can’t ignore them forever.”

Bucky groans. Sam huffs.

They don’t get it. She’s not sure she wants to see them flounder, but she should put it out there, anyway. She leans forward. “Emotions including love, that you may have buried deep below.”

For a split second, she is met with stunned silence, before they both erupt, loudly. Denying, denying, denying, pushing the feelings down even deeper than they had been before despite the way that they fluster.

It’s okay, she tells herself. Deep breath in and out. They’ll accept it soon, someday.

Still, she shakes her head, effectively cutting them off. “No matter what kind of love it is, you care about each other. And that’s the bottom line. Once you cross it, things’ll be a whole lot easier.”

Sam looks at his lap, blinking. Bucky’s cheeks flush pink.

Raynor needs a drink.

2.

“This is really easy for you, isn’t it? All that serum runnin’ through your veins.” John hates the man standing in front of him. Maybe, in another life, they could have been friends. But the stubbornness just pisses him off, so he goes for Bucky’s weakness. He knows Bucky can take being insulted, but there is one thing he won’t accept. “Barnes, your partner needs backup in there.”

He watches Bucky’s cold stare waver, if only for a moment. John takes that opportunity to stand his ground, glancing behind Bucky, to that open door he wants to go through so desperately. Karli is right there, and the only thing standing in his way now is Barnes, and his stupid loyalty to Sam.

Bucky thinks so highly of Sam, he doesn’t have any other choice but to use that one weakness.

So they lock eyes again. “I know you care about him. Do you really want his blood on your hands?”

Beside him, Lemar shifts his weight from one foot to the other as Bucky looks down for a split second. John knows what it’s like. He’d never leave Lemar behind, though he knows with Sam and Bucky, things are a little different. He can feel Zemo’s eyes boring into them now, clearly amused. They wait.

Bucky’s jaw is clenched, every inch of him now rigid. John knows the feeling, and knows perhaps it might have been unfair to put him in that position; he knows he would stop at nothing if it were his wife in that room. That’s almost the equivalent of what Bucky must have been thinking.

But the ends justify the means.

Drawing in a sharp breath, Bucky turns around, his shoulders still tight, and John exchanges a look with Lemar as he speaks. “You’re right. We should help him.”

John’s grip on the shield tightens. Lemar grins. “Maybe you should tell him how you feel,” he suggests as they start up the stairs.

Bucky ignores them both, readying for the fight.

3.

“Super soldiers cannot be allowed to exist.”

“Isn’t that how gods talk?” Sam asks, cool and collected as ever. “And if that’s how you feel, then what about Bucky?”

Zemo carefully removes the ice pack from his forehead, weighing it in his hand as he sits up. He doesn’t know how to feel about Bucky just yet. For now, that question doesn’t have an answer. For now, Steve Rogers is the only exception, and he can’t imagine that changing anytime soon.

Still, he has to have some kind of fun, right?

So he leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees, tilting his head to get a better look at the man sitting at the table, and shrugs. “Why don’t you tell me?”

Sam blinks, eyebrows furrowing. “What do you mean?”

“Come now, Sam, I always thought you were an intelligent individual,” he replies, only slightly teasing. He does like Sam. He’s righteous, level-headed, and doesn’t make any stupid decisions. Except, perhaps, the person he might have chosen to love. “What do you think of James?”

“Is this a trick question?”

“Maybe, maybe not.”

Nodding, the other smiles and looks down, gathering his thoughts. “I think he’s annoyin’ as hell,” he answers slowly. “But...he’s passionate, smart, a big softie deep down...and he always does the right thing even though he’s hurting, too.” He pauses, then adds, “I still can’t tell if breakin’ you out of jail counts as the right thing, though.”

Zemo smirks, leaning back a little, tossing the ice pack from one hand to the other. “You know, when I first met my wife, she hated my guts.”

“Can’t say I blame her, Zemo.”

He chuckles, somewhat sadly, then continues. “These fights that you and James have, over the small things, they are nothing more than just couple’s quarrels.”

Sam’s eyes widen and he turns to look at him fully, as if he’s lost his mind. “What the hell are you talkin’ about? Bucky and I are just -”

“Just what, Sam?” Zemo tilts his head, as if challenging him. This is exactly the reaction he had been hoping for. It isn’t often the calm and collected Sam Wilson loses his cool, and Zemo likes to know he’s one of the ones who can get a rise out of him. “Friends, partners, all these terms you both throw around…” He thinks back to that look on Bucky’s face when John had challenged him, and his smile returns. “Perhaps you ought to think about what you truly want.”

And okay, maybe it isn’t just wanting to get a reaction from Sam. Maybe Zemo has seen the good in both of them, and thinks, perhaps, they ought to be happy, for once. His own partner is long gone, but it isn’t too late for Sam and Bucky.

Sam opens his mouth to respond, but he is cut off by the heavy sound of the door opening, and he immediately falls silent as Bucky walks in, with news that the Dora Milaje are after Zemo. Although Sam recovers quickly, staring at his laptop, Zemo side-eyes him, wondering if he might be blushing.

So Zemo stands up, shaking his head. How juvenile.

4.

Sarah leans against the truck, wiping sweat from her forehead. It’s been hours, and she still can’t believe Sam has managed to pull off receiving this much help. She knows their parents did a lot of favors, but she never could have imagined it would pay off this much one day.

She’s already made up her mind. She can’t sell this boat. It means so much to her, and to Sam.

Her gaze drifts toward the dock, where Bucky is helping Sam carry some things to Carlos. She’s almost certain they’re bickering again, but as they walk, their shoulders almost touch. Sam smiles. It’s something she hadn’t realized she had missed so much.

Seeing her brother smile, and seeing the reason for that smile, is all the evidence she needs to agree to let Bucky crash on her couch. The sun is already dipping closer and closer to the horizon, and she knows people will begin returning home soon. Personally, she has to get the boys to bed. But she lets herself enjoy this moment as long as she can.

When Sam and Bucky place down their loads, Sarah whistles, getting their attention to wave Sam over. Bucky seems to think about following, but is soon distracted by AJ and Cass, excited to meet their uncle’s ‘cool friend.’ Sam chuckles as he tells them to behave, then makes his way over to his sister, a huge grin on his face.

“What’d I tell you? I knew we could make it work,” he says, spreading his hands. Just as confident as ever, she supposes. She rolls her eyes, but for some reason, she can’t stop smiling, and his grin fades a little. “What’re you lookin’ at me like that for?”

Sarah shakes her head. “Nothing. I just missed seeing you so happy,” she admits, because although they tease each other, although they bicker, she loves him. She has no trouble admitting she cares. Seeing the confusion on his face, she hops up to sit on the back of the truck, folding her hands in her lap. “You were gone. For a really long time. And that’s okay, I know what you had to do.” A pause. “When you came back all sad-puppy-dog in the rain that first night, my heart broke. I guess I’m just trying to say I’m glad my brother’s back.”

There’s another pause until Sam comes to sit beside her, so that their shoulders touch. He nods. “It’s been a rough couple years,” he murmurs, and she nods. It has been for both of them.

They gaze at the boys, who are excitedly coaxing Bucky to flex his metal arm, who has a confused look on his face as per usual. Sarah rests her head on Sam’s shoulder, just grateful to know she’s no longer so alone. And then she sits up, turning to face him.

“But enough of that sappy stuff,” she says. “Tell me about Bucky.”

He groans. “Don’t tell me his awful attempt at flirting was actually successful.”

“What?” Pulling a face, she shakes her head. “No, not that. Tell me about him. A guy that makes you smile that much is probably one worth keepin’ around.” She nudges his shoulder and he chuckles a little, his gaze returning to the man in question.

“You’re the second person who’s asked me about him recently.” He seems to collect his thoughts for a moment. “...He reminds me a lot of Riley, sometimes.”

Sarah nods, having expected something like that. “Is it the same?” Sam and Riley had always been close, but she had never seen them get physically close the way that Sam and Bucky did. Sam shakes his head.

“Some things are better. Some things are...more annoying.”

“It’s okay,” she assures, patting his shoulder as she slides off the truck to stand up. “In case you were wonderin’, I still know everything, and I also happen to know he feels exactly the same about you. He cares about you, and I know you care, too, so it’s up to you to do somethin’ with it.” She grins as a stunned look appears on his face, walking away before he can even think of something to reply with.

She hopes they can get their heads out of their asses and realize it. After all, having Bucky around could be pretty helpful.

5.

“I’m sorry for how things ended down there.” A lie. “But for what it’s worth, suit looks good on you.”

Things had gotten dangerously close for Sharon. Too close. Luckily, though, Sam and Bucky haven’t found out the truth. If they had...well, she doesn’t want to think about what she would have to do if that were the case.

But here he is, their new Captain America, standing there in front of her with a soft chuckle and a slight nod. “Thanks.”

“All right, look, can we get out of here, please?” Bucky interjects, sounding...somewhat annoyed, for some reason. Her abdomen hurts terribly, but it’s not like she can’t handle a single gunshot wound. Still, standing around probably isn’t going to do her any good, so she nods and lets Bucky guide her.

They walk in silence for a little while until she looks at him. His gaze is fixed ahead, maybe lost in thought about something. Her eyes narrow a little. “What was that all about?”

“What was what all about?”

“I mean, you basically cut Sam off. Why’d you wanna leave so bad?” Her interest is peaked when she notices that, despite the fact that his expression barely changes, his ears redden.

Bucky clears his throat. “In case you forgot, you’re kind of bleeding out here, Sharon.”

She huffs. “I told you, I’m fine.” Watching him for a moment, she attempts to piece the puzzle together. His eyes hadn’t left Sam since he returned with Karli’s body. Back at her apartment, he’d seemed almost angry when she had complimented Sam without his shirt on. It dawns on her and she smirks. “Oh, don’t tell me you have a crush.”

His ears redden further. She guessed right.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Why would I like you?” Deflecting the accusation and dissing her all in one go. She’s almost impressed.

“We both know I’m not talking about myself.” She grabs his arm, and they both stop walking. He won’t look her in the eye. “Hey, it’s okay, all right? Your secret’s safe with me.” Of course, unless he gets in her way. That’s a bridge she’ll cross if it comes to it. “For what it’s worth, I think he’s a great candidate for you.”

Bucky frowns, shaking his head a little. “...I don’t wanna talk about this.”

Sighing, she nods. “Of course you don’t. Look, you should just go for it. What do you have to lose?”

A flicker of pain flashes across his face. “Everything,” he mumbles, almost inaudibly.

“Sam wouldn’t leave you if he didn’t feel the same. You shouldn’t hide from him.” She winces, then, not quite sure why she’s giving him advice. If he knew the truth, he’d have left her to die. But she doesn’t dwell on that, feeling his hand on her arm to ground her, and they begin walking again.

Bucky doesn’t say anything else, and neither does Sharon. She might have gone down a different path a long time ago, but she still thinks they both deserve to be happy.

Unless, of course, they get in her way.

+1

It’s late when Bucky comes to Sam’s door, knocking quietly before opening it to stand in the doorway, offering a beer out to him. “Fresh air?”

Sam accepts, and they walk outside together, footsteps sounding in tandem on the empty dock. A fresh sea breeze whips past, but not enough for either of them to get cold, the smell of salt filling their noses and the last couple cries of the seagulls before they settle in for the night.

They stop in front of the boat, admiring the work they had done on it together. Sam breaks the silence first. “Thanks for helpin’ out. With everything.”

Bucky looks at him and nods. “You’re welcome.” A pause. “It’s nice here, you know. Quiet. Nothing like New York.”

“Is that a good thing?”

“Yeah, I think it is.”

They gaze at each other for a moment before turning to their bottles. Silence is filled by the quiet crashing of waves in the distance. There’s a tension there that hadn’t been there before; an unspoken understanding of the situation.

Sam looks at Bucky, noticing the way the shadows under his eyes look a little lighter than they had been before. Bucky’s jaw is clenched, showcasing the stubble he’s been letting grow out, and Sam can’t help but think he looks princely.

And Bucky looks at Sam, at the way the moonlight so perfectly etches his features, his eyes bright as they stare back at him. He remembers the way Sam’s eyes crinkle when he smiles, how he reminds him of a sunshine that had pulled him from the deep, dark abyss he had been stuck in after Steve left.

They aren’t sure how long they’ve been standing there, quietly. Two words tear from Bucky’s throat, like he has no choice in the matter. “Sam, I…-”

Instead of answering, Sam steps closer, cupping one of Bucky’s cheeks, smashing their lips together. It’s rough but sweet.  Sam tastes like vanilla. Bucky tastes like beer. And nothing has ever felt so right before.

Sam pulls away and chuckles. “I hope that was what you were gonna say.”

Bucky smiles, though his face is bright red, placing a hand on Sam’s hip to pull him closer. “Somethin’ like that. Want to say it again?”

“I like that idea.”

They suppose they can put the promise of ‘going their separate ways’ on hold for a little while.

[insfiringyou]

BTS - A Chance Meeting (V & Ara)

Contains: Slight angst

*Alert for potential spoilers for fics not yet written in Jimin x Ara’s storyline*

Ara notices Taehyung sat alone in a quiet cafe and decides to stop by. 

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Content below the cut

Ara hesitated, before tapping lightly on the single-pane glass with her fingernails. She didn’t want to draw too much attention but was unable to stop herself from knocking. It was a surprise to see him after so long and she had double-taken in the street. His hair was a little longer, but that was expected. The last time he had just returned from the military and his short, closely-cropped cut made him seem more somber; years older than he was. Now it was back to a length she found more familiar but the dark, wispy suggestion of facial hair on his upper lip was new. He seemed lost in thought, sat in the back of the cafe with a small cup clutched between his fingers, staring into space. Despite her being gentle, the sound seemed to startle him and he looked up. Ara gave a tentative wave, hoping he recognised her. 

She tucked her fringe behind her ear, watching him pause before he raised his hand slightly in acknowledgement. Her bleached strands felt unfamiliar as she brushed the neck of her hair; the short, pixie cut still freshly blow-dried from the hairdressers that morning. She had asked Da-eun to do it for her but the young woman had refused, thinking she might get into some kind of trouble for it. Ara understood, after all, she had not yet spoken to her manager about a change in style.

Taking the plunge, she tucked her black purse beneath her armpit and walked around the corner to the entrance; the soft tinkle of a bell above the door signalling her arrival. She could not read Taehyung’s expression as she approached his table at the back of the small space but hoped she was not intruding. He was sat snugly behind a column which, luckily, seemed private. The cafe only had a small handful of customers but she looked around cautiously before joining in. 

“Hi…” She beamed, keeping her voice low. “I haven’t seen you in ages. How are you?”

He nodded, meeting her gaze. “I’m good.” His tone gave nothing away, but after a moment he gestured to the spare chair opposite. “Do you want to sit down?”

She slid onto the seat automatically. “I can’t stay for long. I’ve got an appointment.”

He blinked a few times. “You’ve cut your hair.”

Her replying smile was bashful as her fingers moved in response to her fringe which had once more come untucked. “It was too warm in the heat. It’s much easier to maintain now.”

“It suits you.” He said coolly. 

There was a long pause between them, though it wasn’t awkward. She had grown used to these drawn-out silences, from the time he temporarily took lodge in her and Jimin’s apartment and when her boyfriend had left for the military. It would have been a lie to say she had gotten a lot from his company. He always seemed absorbed in his books as well as his thoughts, but there always seemed to be something he was holding back; an aura of mystery she couldn’t quite place and at odds with Jimin’s usual openness. But Taehyung was tidy enough and greeted her when she came home, so she hadn’t minded having him around. 

She found herself wondering what she could say to him. It seemed polite to stop and talk, but this chance meeting now reminded her how little she knew about his life now. Eventually, she spoke. “How’s the baby?”

The corner of his lips twitched in a vague smile. “Toddling.”

Ara was silent for a moment, only just realising it had been longer since she had seen him than she initially thought. “How old is he now?” She asked, voice open and inquisitive. 

He took a sip of tea; it’s aroma fragrant in the small space. She tried to read the label on the tag but couldn’t make it out. “Almost two.”

Her eyebrows raised in disbelief. “I can’t believe it’s been so long. I keep meaning to go and see Cassandra, but I wasn’t sure where she was now. Is she still in Seoul?” 

Taehyung nodded, putting down his cup. It made a soft, strangely comforting sound against the china saucer. “She’s in Gangnam. Do you have her number?”

She thought for a moment, before nodding with a frown. “If she hasn’t changed it. She was kind of hard to get hold of for a while.”

“Gabriel had colic.” He replied with a shrug, as though that explained the years of absence. Ara thought the explanation a little odd, but did not comment. 

“Did you choose the name?” She asked. 

“It just seemed right.” He quickly murmured, not entirely answering the question. Ara thought the reply seemed rehearsed, as though he had answered it many times. She wondered if his family had commented on it and whether he felt the need to defend the decision. Jimin had not spoken much about Taehyung’s family, and she herself had never heard them mentioned in conversation. All of a sudden she found herself hoping they had been supportive; not just for his sake but for Cassandra, whom she had known for so long. 

Ara forced the thought away. “I bet it sounds lovely when she says it. Cassandra always had the most wonderful voice.”

Taehyung looked up from his tea cup. “She still does.”

Her mouth opened, forming an ‘oh’, thinking she might have gotten it all wrong. Or maybe things had changed in the past two years. She approached the topic tentatively. “Are you two…?”

“No.” He confirmed. “But we make it work.” He quickly added.

Ara settled back in her chair; understanding. She gave a soft smile which she hoped didn’t come across as patronising. “I can tell you care about her a lot.”

“She’s the mother of my child, Ara.” He said quietly.

She sensed the sadness in his voice; a longing he couldn’t quite put into words and she nodded. “Of course.” She changed the subject lightly, seeing there was nothing else she could say on the matter of her old friend. “You should get in touch with Jimin. I know he wants to see you.”

He appeared to wince a little but recovered well. She almost hadn’t noticed. “You can tell him he’s welcome any time he wants. He knows where I live.” He murmured. 

Ara fell silent, realising he didn’t yet know. “You really haven’t seen him in a while have you?” She asked, before pressing on. “We broke up.”

He met her eyes across the table and she saw the shock in his expression. “When?”

“A few months ago.”

Taehyung was quiet, pensive, before he asked. “Was it mutual?”

She smiled sadly. “I think he needed it too. We still speak sometimes.”

The man opposite nodded in confirmation. “That’s good.”

Ara watched as he leaned forward to pick up the cup, looking downwards as he took the last few sips. She realised how lonely he looked; how the times she had come home to find him seemingly preoccupied masked the fact he didn’t seem to have anyone. His fans, she remembered, always thought him something of an enigma. She wondered now if that was truly it. 

“Have you thought about dating again?” She suggested, making sure to keep her voice down low, should anyone else hear. 

He didn’t look up from his cup. “Why do you ask?”

“I don’t know…” She trailed off, figuring out how best to word it. “Being in a relationship seemed to suit you.” She shrugged. It seemed silly now she said it out loud. “As far as I could tell anyway.”

“Cass has moved on.” He murmured, frankly.

Ara hesitated. “I meant with someone else.”

Taehyung’s eyes snapped up, meeting hers purposefully and she let out an unexpected giggle. 

“I didn’t mean me.” She confirmed, shaking her head. It felt strange without the usual brush of hair against her shoulders. She settled down, her laughter subsiding, and gave a long, dramatic groan, anticipating how pathetic she must sound. “I’m still trying to find myself.”

He looked back at the table, picking up a napkin and twisting it absently between his long fingers. “I don’t think I could have that again.” 

“You never know.” She easily dismissed.

His brows knitted together, creating deep, frustrated grooves in his forehead as he mumbled, glumly. “Maybe some people are only meant to be with one person.” 

Ara raised a questioning eyebrow. “You never dated anyone before Cassandra?”

Taehyung looked up once more, answering quickly. “That was different.” He sharply declared. “I was young.”

“You’re still young.” She said, deliberately gently, seeing he was hurt.

He grew quiet and shuffled uncomfortably in his chair. Ara feared she might have crossed the line and she tightened her grip on her purse, getting ready to leave before he suddenly spoke. “I wouldn’t even know where to meet someone.”

Her hands stilled and she relaxed. “Well…” She held out the palms of her hands. “What do you like?”

He met her gaze. “In a girl?” 

She shrugged. “Or a guy.”

Half-expecting him to question this, he surprised her by remaining silent, meditative; thinking deeply. She wondered if he knew about her. Perhaps Jimin had told him. 

“Someone sweet.” He eventually said. “Someone kind.”

Her lips curled, simpering. “Is that all?”

“I’m not that picky.” He stated. 

She couldn’t help but scoff. “You dated the most European girl in Seoul.”

“She’s only half European.” He contended, entirely missing the point. 

“You know what I mean...” Ara shook her head with a grin and sitting back, she reflected for a moment. “What about looks?”

“Personality is more important.” 

“You must have a preference?” She challenged, suddenly curious. 

Once again he fell silent and Ara found herself a little impressed at how seriously he was taking this. “Dark eyes...soft and sweet.”

“The kind of girl you’d bring home?” She questioned with a smirk. 

“Someone I could marry.” He stated, a little dreamily.

Ara nodded, amused. He sounded strangely serious. “I know just the girl.” She teased, an idea already forming in her mind. 

He looked at her; eyelashes heavy, giving him a sleepy look “How about you?”

She stretched in her seat, realising she hadn’t thought about it much before and was surprised he asked. Smiling to herself, she blushed. “Smooth skin. Nice lips.” She giggled in embarrassment, adding: “No stubble.”

“So Jimin?” He challenged. 

The corners of her lips turned up and she looked away, unable to help the way her heart still skipped a little at his name. “I don’t know…” She admitted, drifting off and watching from the corner of her eye as he reached into his pocket, searching for his wallet. She took the opportunity to flick through her phone, typing a name and bringing up a familiar social media account. She swiped through the pictures with her manicured thumb before finding one which showed the girl in question at a good angle. It was taken at a company event, and the dress she wore was uncharacteristically short. The other girls on the make up team had talked her into wearing it but Ara saw the way she had tugged on it incessantly all night, trying to cover her pale knees with the frilled hem. 

“What about her?” Ara held out the screen, showing him. 

Taehyung squinted at the picture. “Do you know her?”  

“She’s my stylist.” She confirmed before tucking the phone back in her purse and closing the magnetic clasp. “You’d like her, she’s sweet...and single.” She added.

“What’s her name?” He asked casually. 

“Da-eun.”

She thought he was going to ask more, but instead changed the topic. “Are you going back on tour soon?”

“Once the new album’s out, we still have a lot of work to do. I’m meeting the producers this afternoon.” 

“That sounds good.” He murmured, sounding a little tired. She sensed the conversation was drawing to a close. 

“Are you working on anything?” She asked politely. 

“I was thinking about it.” The other man shrugged indifferently. 

“I’m sure your fans would really enjoy it.”

“I’d be doing it for me.” 

The steely tone of his reply took her aback a little and she found herself recalling the news headlines in the days following the birth. “Even so…” She drifted off weakly and checked her watch before drawing her chair away from the table. “I’d better be going.” She murmured apologetically, getting to her feet. “It was really nice bumping into you.”

His eyes followed her as she gathered her belongings and extended the strap on the purse across her shoulder. “You too. Take care.”

“I will.” She smiled, tucking the chair neatly beneath the table and turning to leave. 

“Ara?” He called softly and she spun back. He was silent for a few seconds but she waited patiently. “Your friend Da-eun…” He seemed a little embarrassed. “You can give her my number.” Another pause. “If you like.”

It took her by surprise but she nodded in agreement. “I will.” She confirmed, giving a gentle wave. “Goodbye Tae.”

***

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[kingreywrites]

With a little luck

@runningracingdancingchasing​

Fandom: Tangled

Word Count: 2308

16. “I’m trying to cheer you up.” (prompt list)

Summary: Flynn Rider didn't have bad days. He was always charming, always confident, and never ever worried about any kind of consequences. At worst, Flynn disappeared for one or two days, but no one could actually attest of any bad days being had. It was a question of reputation, and all that. Eugene wasn't so lucky, in that regard - oh, he was still charming, still confident, quite funny and dashing if you asked him but he cared.

Note: Thank you for the prompt!! I had trouble settling on one story for it but I hope you like this! Btw, this is set pre-series but post-movie, because I’ve been thinking a lot about Eugene and Rapunzel’s early relationship since i read here in this light by Hannamoon, so I can only recommand people check out this incredible fic!!

Read on ao3

Flynn Rider didn't have bad days. He was always charming, always confident, and never ever worried about any kind of consequences. At worst, Flynn disappeared for one or two days, but no one could actually attest of any bad days being had. It was a question of reputation, and all that. Eugene wasn't so lucky, in that regard - oh, he was still charming, still confident, quite funny and dashing if you asked him but he cared. A lot more than he let on to most people, but Eugene cared, it was in his nature, and Flynn had only tried to bury it. And, as such, Eugene had bad days, and he couldn't even hide out until it passed. Thankfully, along with being Eugene again, he had found a family - and he had found Rapunzel. Eugene's bad days were always better than Flynn's good days when she was here.

Didn't mean he had to like them, though.

It had started easily enough. He was bantering with Cassandra, as they always did - he had even started it himself, so really, he shouldn't be complaining - when she said something. A little jab, in the middle of so many others, nearly nothing really.

"Keep going like this and you'll end up all alone, Fitzherbert."

It had struck a nerve. Eugene had faltered, for barely a second, then had kept going as if everything was fine - and it was, really! But he couldn't get this sentence out of his head afterwards. It was silly, and he knew it - Cassandra had said worse. Come on, he had said worse to her, that was nothing!

But it wasn't.

He had talked more at lunch, because he was nervous and nervous Eugene babbled, and he saw clearly the annoyed glances that Frederic threw his way. Even Arianna, as serene as she always appeared, advised him once or twice to take a little more food, the closest she ever got to outright telling someone to shut up. The problem laid with the fact that Eugene was very good at talking with his mouth full, which garnered another scowl from Frederic, but a giggle from Rapunzel, so he kinda won anyway.

Ending up alone. As a kid, it never made sense to him how that could be a shared fear for orphans - they were already alone, weren't they? He wasn't scared of that at all, he would proudly claim to whoever was willing to listen (mostly Lance), because he never had anyone to begin with and that meant he didn't need anyone. (Except you, Lance, he would add back then.) And all his life, he had tried to prove it, had tried to show that he could do anything he wanted to without help, had dreamt of ending up alone and rich, far away from everyone on an island of his own. He had left the orphanage behind, had left Stalyan behind, had left Lance behind, because he was Flynn Rider and he- he-

Flynn Rider didn't get lonely. (But Eugene did. Eugene was vulnerable and he had hated it, hated the emotions he couldn't stop from flooding him, and his only solution had been to stifle them until he could pretend they didn't exist at all.)

After lunch, Eugene had fled the table in a haste, muttering an excuse he didn't even remember now. He knew Rapunzel still had a lot of activities scheduled, being a Princess and all, and that he had nothing else to do but mope. It was weird, to be so inactive now. As a thief, every day had been a new challenge - he had to keep moving, to keep stealing if he wanted enough money to live. Being able to stay idle was both a blessing, and an incredibly strange feeling at times. It gave him more time to mull over his feelings, in any case. More time to really live through his bad days, without any alcohol to distract himself with, for sure.

Cassandra's remark shouldn't have hurt like it did, because it was illogical. He knew he wouldn't end up alone now - Rapunzel loved him, just as much as he loved her, and- and they were each other's dream and he knew it.

He knew it.

It was simply hard to remember sometimes, because feelings didn't care about logic. He… Had experience in being abandoned, but he had thought that he was done with this feeling at 12, when he decided that he didn't want to be adopted anymore. Eugene was terrified that everything he had gained these last months, everything he had built back for himself once he let go of his life as a thief, would end up disappearing in seconds. All his life, having something meant being prepared to inevitably lose it, but he didn't want to lose this - he didn't want to lose Rapunzel.

He knew who he was when he was all alone, and he didn't want to be that person anymore.

He nearly went to hide out in the library, but he heard voices inside and he was not in the mood to speak to anyone. Especially not to another fancy person that would look at him as if he was nothing but a thief - he knew his presence in the castle wasn't accepted by everyone, but he hated being judged that way. He hated how it reminded him of the way adults would look at him when he was an orphan, hated the pity and the disgust that came with those stares, hated… hated that, at best, he was only Rapunzel's saviour, but not anyone worthy of their time for anything else.

Nowadays, Eugene knew the castle's layout by heart, always quick to remember a place just in case he needed to flee it - and stealing the crown had certainly taken a lot of preparations on its own, so really, it had no mysteries left for him. Especially one perfect, always empty and quiet spot: the roof. It didn't take long for him to go sit on his recently self-designated hideout, all of Corona seemingly under his feet. The fresh air and the silence were a welcome distraction from his thoughts, and a welcome distraction for his over dramatic reaction too - he had spent the last decades avoiding to wallow into his 'sad orphan backstory', and he had no reason to stop now.

Well. Rapunzel would want him to be honest with her about what he was feeling. But this was stupid, and she was busy with all the Princess' activities her dad had been pilling up on her recently, because of her upcoming coronation. There was no need to bother her with it, and she would totally understand that he didn't tell her - right?

Right. He could totally get over it by himself.

Keep going like this and you'll end up all alone, Fitzherbert.

"Thank you Cassandra," Eugene grumbled, kicking his feet in the empty space beneath them, "couldn't you have just insulted my nose or something?"

He would have gasped and defended himself, but at least it wouldn't have put his insecurities at the forefront of his mind. He was doing a good job of ignoring them before, thank you very much. Sighing, Eugene realised he couldn't even manage his fake-anger at her, because he was… tired. Tired of his bad day, already, even if it was barely one, tired of being scared, and tired of dwelling on something that he considered to be ridiculous. He wished he could convince himself that this new life was permanent, that Rapunzel would always love him, but it was hard. Dangling his legs, he decided to count all the houses he could see in front of him, until he was bored enough to go back inside.

He was halfway through a second round in Italian, to spice things up, when a noise on his right startled him.

"Hey," Rapunzel said, her brown hair glowing in the setting sun. He hadn't expected her to find him here, but some part of him wasn't surprised that she did anyway - because of course she would. Her hands were behind her back, and she quickly skipped over to him, always graceful.

"Sunshine," he smiled because he couldn't not, no matter his mood. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, the man I love disappeared on me, after spending lunch looking absolutely miserable," she answered gently as she sat next to him, handing him a cupcake that she had been hiding. "Of course I wanted to find you."

Eugene took the cupcake in both hands, and hoped that the blush he could feel creeping on his cheeks wasn't too noticeable, but something told him he wasn't so lucky.

"A cupcake?" he laughed.

"Hey, I'm trying to cheer you up! What better way than a cupcake?" Rapunzel said teasingly - but she also put her hand on his knee, and looked at him like he was the most precious thing in the world.

How he had ever managed the reputation of a tough guy was beyond him, Rapunzel only needed a few words to undo him completely.

"So," she said, once it was obvious that he wasn’t about to say anything else, "do you… Do you want to talk to me?"

He didn't, really. But he took her hand in his and squeezed it, hoping that she would be patient while he gathered himself. Eugene knew how comforting people was sometimes stressful on Rapunzel. At the very beginning of their relationship, he had quickly understood that her only experience with it was trying to please Gothel after an argument, which involved a lot of gifts and apologies. They had discussed it together, trying to separate what was unhealthy from what Rapunzel actually enjoyed doing - for example, gifts were one thing that she didn't want to give up on, but she was glad that it wasn't mandatory to the process. She was still anxious, though, that what she was doing was wrong, or at least not enough, and while she wouldn't ask for him to comfort her when she was trying to comfort him, he still tried to be mindful of her fears.

"I…" he tried, before cutting himself off. How could he begin to explain all the contradictory thoughts in his mind? Start from the essential. "I love you."

"I love you too, Eugene," Rapunzel answered easily, her skin warm against his.

She was close enough that he could count every freckle on her skin, even the most hidden one, sitting right under her eye, beneath her lashes. Faced with the prettiest view of Corona one could find, Eugene only had eyes for her. He loved her. And he was terrified, at the same time.

You'll end up all alone, Fitzherbert.

"Sometimes I'm scared that I'm gonna lose everything," Eugene blurted out, before cringing. "I mean, I know that you love me, of course I do but- I-"

"It feels too good to be true, somedays," Rapunzel finished softly. She lowered her eyes, and put her head on his shoulder.

"Yeah," he breathed, putting his arm around her shoulders. "A castle I could understand, but getting to be loved by the most wonderful woman in all the seven Kingdoms?"

"And getting to be loved by the most incredible man in all the seven Kingdoms?" Rapunzel echoed with a chuckle. "Impossible."

"Ludicrous."

"Oh good word."

There was a beat, and then they were both laughing, and holding onto each other.

"I love you," Rapunzel whispered again after a while, "and I know that being scared doesn't always make sense, but I promise that I'll never leave you."

Eugene's throat felt too tight after this declaration. It… It meant a lot more than he thought it would, because as much as he loathed admitting it, he was terrified of losing everything. As a kid, ending up with nothing had seemed inevitable; but he didn't want that, he didn't want to accept this future, he- he wanted to be happy. And he couldn't believe he got that chance with Rapunzel.

"I promise I won't leave you either," he answered, because he wasn't sure how to even voice the gratitude gripping him. "You're the best thing that has ever happened to me."

"Same goes for you." Rapunzel shifted, so she could take his hands in hers, and look straight at him again. "You don't have to hide from me when you're upset, I… I always want to be there for you. And as you can see," she smirked, gesturing to their predicament, "I'm not afraid to follow you in the weirdest places if I need to!"

Eugene laughed. "How did you even find me here?"

"I've got my secrets," she said playfully, "and they may involve remembering that one conversation where you talked about how we should hang out on the roof so my maids couldn't find me." Her brilliant smile made him fall in love all over again.

It also made him remember the cupcake that he had put aside. The frosting had melted a little, and he didn't look as good as earlier, but the sentiment it carried was still the same. Most of the time, he was the one bringing Rapunzel's cupcakes, but they meant as much to him as they did to her. It was one of the first things he bought after being a thief most of his life - one of the first things he bought for her. This cupcake was proof that he wasn’t the same man, that he was neither sad orphan Eugene Fitzherbert nor careless thief Flynn Rider.

He was just Eugene, and he had found a family now - he had found Rapunzel. And having bad days wasn’t so bad, when they ended with sharing a cupcake with his new dream, alone on one of the roofs overlooking the entire Kingdom of Corona, his new home.

[wrestlingisfake]

Slammiversary preview

This is Impact's 19th anniversary show, although they didn't start using this name until the 3rd anniversary, and now they always hold it a month after the actual anniversary date. For the first time since March 2020, Impact will have fans at the show, but on a limited basis. So I would expect maybe 50-100 people spaced pretty far apart.

The show airs live tonight on Fite.tv. The pre-show is free and begins at 7pm EDT; the main show is $39.99 and starts at 8pm EDT.

Kenny Omega vs. Sami Callihan - Callihan is challenging for the Impact men's world title, which is represented by two of the four belts that Omega currently holds. The other two, the AEW and AAA men's world titles, are not at stake. This is billed as "no DQ match" which ought to mean that the winner gets to go to Dairy Queen but probably means can't be disqualified.

Omega and his henchmen interfered in a Callihan vs. Moose match on June 3, causing Callihan to win by disqualification. Since Moose was the #1 contender at the time, officials considered adding Sami to the Omega vs. Moose match on June 12, but ultimately they decided to book the winner to face Callihan here. The storyline is that Omega's manager Don Callis keeps arguing that Callihan is too reckless and unprofessional to be in a world title match, but we all know he's really just worried that Sami could hurt Omega real bad and win the title.

If it was me, I'd have done Omega-Callihan last month to set up Omega-Moose here. (Moose's contract negotiations may have made that impractical.) I don't buy Sami as the big destination for one of the biggest Impact shows of the year. I want to be interested in Omega trying to figure out how to deal with a misfit deathmatch guy. But Sami comes across more like a guy playing a misfit deathmatch guy. I mean, I wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley, but I'd rather do that than listen to his corny supervillain speeches or look at his Roman Reigns cosplay.

At this point I'm seriously wondering where they're going with Omega invading Impact, so I'm willing to believe they could wrap it up any day now and get the title off of him. Omega has to drop the belt to somebody, and I can see Impact picking Callihan, even if I'd pick somebody else. Even so, I still want to think there's a long-term plan in place, and that the blowoff won't come until at least the October pay-per-view. So I'm expecting this match will just come down to another wave of run-ins and shenanigans so Omega can retain.

Ultimate X match - This is a six-way match for Josh Alexander's Impact X division championship. The ring will be set up with four columns at each corner, which support either cables or scaffolding that cross overhead like a giant "X." The title belt will be hung from the center, and the first participant to pull it down will be the winner and champion. So it's like a ladder match, but there are no ladders.

Impact introduced this as one of their signature match types back in 2003, and they've always been rather proud of it. Personally I have trouble getting into it, since all the spots revolve around falling off of things, and all the "near-falls" involve slowly inching across a high-wire or a scaffold.

The six participants are: Josh Alexander, Petey Williams, Trey Miguel, Ace Austin, Rohit Raju, and Chris Bey. The storyline is that Austin and Raju have formed an alliance, and since no one can be disqualified they plan to gang up on the competition with their respective henchmen (Madman Fulton and Shera). Alexander, Williams, and Miguel are trying to stick together to oppose this, and Bey has reluctantly sided with them.

Alexander recently won a sixty-minute iron man match to add to his credentials as a dominant champion, so in theory this match is meant to secure his legacy as an all-time great in the division. Problem is, if he wins he's effectively cleaned out the division, and if he loses it's yet another situation where the champion didn't get pinned to lose the X title, setting up yet another multi-man X title match. Nevertheless, I'd much, much rather keep the belt on Alexander and have him move on to new business (maybe against a recent WWE castoff), so I guess I'm rooting for him to win.

Deonna Purrazzo vs. ? - Purrazzo is scheduled to defend the women's title against a mystery opponent who won't be revealed until right before the match starts. The storyline is that Purrazzo has cleaned out the division (a trope that's getting worn very thin in pro wrestling these days), so she's gotten overconfident, and Gail Kim set this up to truly put her to the test. They haven't said the opponent can't be Kim herself, although Kim strongly suggested that it won't be.

WWE has released a number of women over the past few months, and any of them could potentially be the challenger. Impact is probably counting on fans to jump to that conclusion. By not naming the challenger, Impact encourages fans to infer that she's currently under a WWE non-compete clause that won't expire until right before the show. Of course, none of us can be certain about those non-compete clauses, or which wrestlers have negotiated to waive them. We also can't be assured that the mystery opponent must be a WWE name; it could easily just be someone like ODB coming in for a cup of coffee.

Matches like this tend to be trouble for long-running champions. The most famous example would be when the Ultimate Warrior shocked the Honky Tonk Man in 1989. It won't help Purrazzo that she's cut ties with her cronies, Kimber Lee and Susan, so she won't have them ready to interfere if she gets in trouble. However, Purrazzo is already booked to defend the title in a champion vs. champion match on August 14, so it's hard to believe she'll drop the belt ahead of that.

Four-way tag team match - This is for the Impact men's tag team title, currently held by Violent By Design. Typically in a match like this, members of two teams start in the ring, while everyone else stands in their assigned corner. The legal wrestlers in the ring can tag in anyone in any corner, whether it's their own partner or an opponent. The first wrestler to score a fall on any opponent wins the match and the championship for his team.

The championship is currently held by Violent By Design: Rhino, Joe Doering, Deaner, and Eric Young. In the tradition of the "Freebird Rule," you get booked to wrestle the team, not any specific individuals, so then the team gets to choose which members will actually be in the match. Young has been sidelined with a knee injury so I'm pretty sure VBD's options are limited to Rhino, Doering, and Deaner. But they could always bring in a new member.

There will be three other teams in the match, but only two have been confirmed: Rich Swann & Willie Mack and Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson. When the match was first announced, the team of TJP & Fallah Baah was supposed to be in it. However, we found out yesterday that TJP is unable to do the match for some reason. Impact said the match will still involve four teams, but didn't say that Baah will get another partner. So it's possible Baah has also been pulled from the match, and both guys in the fourth team could be a surprise.

The build for this match felt like a clusterfuck. VBD and Gallows/Anderson are the top teams, but they're all heels, so some babyface teams had to get thrown together, and then all of it is dumped into one match until an actual story direction emerges. The only cool outcome I see is if Fallah Baah really does step aside and a whole new team debuts. But they could just as easily stick Johnny Swinger and Hernandez in there, so I shouldn't get my hopes up. The safe bet is the champs retain.

Moose vs. Chris Sabin - Moose has been a top heel for a while, but he kind of went babyface a little in his program with Kenny Omega. With that out of the way, he threw a tantrum about losing to Omega to remind us he's still a heel, until Sabin chased him off. Without Alex Shelley or James Storm to team with, Sabin hasn't had much to do, so now he's in a match that could re-establish him as a singles guy.

I assume the winner of this match get into the hunt for the world title, perhaps at whatever big show they do in August. That sort of favors Sabin, although I can't totally count out Moose. Moose feels like he's headed for bigger things in Impact, and a convincing win over a former Impact world champion here would get him off to a good start. I guess I've talked myself into picking Moose to win.

Eddie Edwards vs. W. Morrissey - Morrissey (formerly Big Cass in WWE) is on a roll as the latest Mean Guy to beat everybody up in Impact. Edwards, a former world champion in Impact and ROH, is his toughest competition since he got here. I don't see Edwards winning unless they have big plans for him. And I suppose they might have big plans for Eddie, but big plans are clearly in progress for Morrissey. I'm certain this is just a glorified squash match to put Morrissey over.

Matt Cardona & ? vs. Tenille Dashwood & Brian Myers - Cardona and Myers were the team of Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins in WWE, but they've been feuding since they got to Impact. I'd actually forgotten that Dashwood and Cardona were dating about five or six years ago, which would maybe explain why she helped Myers beat down Cardona recently. So now we've got this mixed tag team match. Cardona has to find a woman to be his partner, but we don't know who it will be.

The minute they announced this match, they started teasing the mystery woman would be Cardona's fiancée, Chelsea Green. I suspect that tease was taped before Green showed up at the ROH pay-per-view saying she wasn't medically cleared in Maryland and that she would wrestle for ROH this summer. Of course, none of that necessarily means she can't wrestle for Impact with a wrist injury in Tennessee. But I think the tease is a deliberate misdirection. Dashwood has been trying to drive a wedge between Rachael Ellering and Jordynne Grace, so either of them might make sense in this spot.

If the mystery partner is any good, I think she has to get the win here. But even if Impact has picked up some hot free agents, I don't expect many of them to actually wrestle on this show. So it could be a deal where they reveal Green is in the company, Green swerves us by introducing (for example) Alisha Edwards as the partner, and the babyfaces just lose.

Kiera Hogan & Tasha Steelz vs. Rosemary & Havok - This is booked for the pre-show. Fire 'N' Flava (Hogan & Steelz) are defending the Impact women's tag team championship. As I recall, Rosemary and Taya Valkyrie feuded with Havok and Neveah a few months back over some spooky shit involving Rosemary and Havok. Anyway, Valkyrie and Neveah left the company, so I guess the spooky sides of those teams have put aside their differences. You could do some fun things with Rosemary and Havok as champs, but I don't know why you'd book the title change on a pre-show. So I think Hogan and Steelz retain, and this storyline will continue for a while longer.

[whumpbby]

!!! (1.) Does Jason ever go to a charity gala (maybe it's a charity gala for the children's hospital so the little bats are all expected to be there, and Jason to mind them. Or maybe Bruce invites/begs Jason to come to see him in some formal wear..) (2.) Does anyone flirt with Jay at the gala, and is that person Slade Wilson, al Ghul, or a Rogue??

I think that Jay wasn’t eager to attend posh things, but whenever something was taking place at the Manor, he was expected to mind the pups for a few hours they were allowed to stay and play. Which mostly consisted of running behind them, pulling them form underneath the tables and chairs, and attempting to stop an over-consumption of sugary snacks. Dick could put away 20 cupcakes in a span of 5 minutes, truly, a young alpha’s metabolism on display! :O

So, he did attend a few galas - but it was always a nerve-wrecking experience for him. He wasn’t eager to interact with the ‘upper crust’ and he wasn’t very good at keeping his thoughts to himself, so he mostly focused on the kids. 

He did look good in a suit, tho. Being a nanny (the help) and expected to deal with pups and their dirty little paws, he could ditch the jacket and go around with his sleeves folded up his forearms. He wasn’t willing to put on a ‘traditional omega cut’ or any shimmering fabrics, but Alfred did browbeat him into a shirt that was a bit more fitted than he was used to.

“I presume you’d rather avoid too much societal gossip, lad, and ostentatiously unfashionable dress will set the tongues wagging.”   

Alright, the old man was right. As always. Jay didn’t want to make a bad impression on anyone, he was kinda part of Bruce’s household and it would suck to bring him shame or something. Jay’s impression of the higher class was always a bit medieval and romantic ;] 

So, during the galas, he was usually seen accompanying Tim in his timid attempts to speak to the pups he ‘knew’ form the times of his parents’ societal life. They were mostly okay, a bit loud, but just as awkward as his boy. He had to keep one eye on Damian, who was doing his level best to stay in his dad’s reach - and Bruce needed his hands free from time to time, so Jay was always ready to pup up and take the pup. 

And Dick - Dick was the worst. At least he was always in the presence of Commissioner’s younger daughter - her red ponytail was easy to fish out in the crowd. They were both demons of gluttony and whole plates of pastries were carried away in their dirty thieving paws:O They weren’t even that stealthy about it! 

Thank god Gordon’s older daughter was there to keep an eye on her baby sister or Jay would get grey hair! 

Jay wasn’t unnoticed during these occasions - a few times he was chatted up by another nanny, by a reporter, by some younger alphas bored senseless bu the whole thing, but having to be present for their families. Usually, he’s managed to cut these convos short with the help of one of his pups getting into something they shouldn’t get into. 

There was this one time, however, when he was kinda cornered by a young handsome alpha who very obviously tried to make move on him. Jay wasn’t interested, but he also wasn’t allowed to just snort and walk away - social conversions were the evil. And also, he didn’t... ever since he lived in the Manor, he didn’t feel so sure of himself anymore. It was like he got unknowingly tangled in all of these webs of conduct and privilege and expectations, and in moments like these he was strangely unsure of himself. So his ‘wasn’t interested’ was not very pronounced and the alpha was either choosing to ignore it or not used to being rejected... 

And he crowded up close, and laid his hand on Jason’s wrist - and then a growl interrupted whatever he was saying. A growl that came from around the height of their knees. They looked down to see Damian, his face smeared with buttercream, baring his baby fangs at the man and growling out his own alpha challenge at him. 

After a moment of startled silence the alpha burst out laughing and Jason flushed up to his fringe. Jesus! He picked the boy up, shushing him, trying to use a wet thumb to wipe the pup’s face while the man chuckled. Dami didn’t like to be made fun of, so he was twisting his face into all kinds of scary and adorable expressions, and if Jason wasn’t so stressed he’d laugh his ass off too.  

The alpha was a good sport, though. “Ah, I see, my sincere apologies, I haven’t noticed you are already taken.” He quipped before winking at Jason and moving on.  

Jay flushed again, he had to take Damian to the kitchen to properly wash his little face. Then he smooched the hell out of the pudgy cheeks until the pup stopped growling and trying to be ‘scary’.

Also, during these galas, Jay got to see the teens that appeared randomly in the Manor again. Steph - the blond girl - was actually the one to ambush him when he was herding Tim to have a snack a the table and nuzzle the hell out of the pup. “Hey, I’m Stephanie, a jurno in training, I’m here for free cake and gossip!” She introduced herself, as if he didn’t already see the blond omega in hotpants and t-shirt, raiding Alfred’s pantry a month ago.  

Duke was less conspicuous, he just waved across the room whenever their eyes met and seemed to stick lcose to Cass Gordon. Huh, maybe they were dating? Two alphas - unusual, but not unheard of. He wasn’t going to pry. Cass wasn’t very talkative and used sign language a lot - maybe he was translating for her? 

Mostly, the takeaway Jason got from the rare times he got to interact with the higher society was that they weren’t evil or stupid, just kinda vapid and boring. And that Bruce was acting his ass off to fit in with them. Huh. 

[terramythos]

TerraMythos' 2020 Reading Challenge - Book 28 of 26

Title: The Only Good Indians (2020) 

Author: Stephen Graham Jones 

Genre/Tags: Horror, Fiction, Third-Person, Second-Person, Female Protagonist (kinda).

Rating: 6/10

Date Began: 10/5/2020

Date Finished: 10/11/2020

Almost a decade ago, four Blackfeet Indian men went on a hunting trip. They did something terrible on that day, which they now call the Thanksgiving Classic. As the ten-year anniversary of the event approaches, the three remaining men have moved on with their lives -- but the past has come back to haunt them in a disturbing and vengeful way. 

First, though, one of their calves is sitting in eighth-grade geography-- girl, girl girl girl, not “calf”. And this girl has this certain father you remember, and that father, he has a friend you remember well, from looking up a long snowy slope, their monstrous forms black against the sky. 

For them, ten years ago, that’s another lifetime. 

For you it’s yesterday. 

Some spoilers under the cut. 

This is the first full novel I’ve ready by Stephen Graham Jones, but I did actually read a short story by him in The Devil and the Deep, a collection I read earlier this year. “Broken Record” is a horror story about a man trapped on a desert island, but with an interesting premise/twist that I don’t want to spoil. So I had one of his novels, Mongrels, on my TBR, but decided to go with this one when I saw it making the rounds. 

I feel kinda bad giving The Only Good Indians a 6, because there are some things I really, really like about this novel. But as a whole, I have to be honest with myself and how I feel about it, and that’s a pretty accurate score. There are certain elements that don’t work for me. While some of this is due to personal taste, several of my issues are with the execution. 

To start off, things I love about the novel. The Only Good Indians is separated into three parts, each of which is a distinct story connected to the others. The first part, “The House that Ran Red” knocks it out of the park. It’s a creepy and self-contained psychological horror story about a man named Lewis (one of the four) who is especially haunted by the hunting trip of ten years ago. Specifically, he remembers killing a young, pregnant female elk. His guilt and shame about what he did to her torment him to this day. As the decade anniversary approaches, he begins to see things around his home in Great Falls, Montana, and descends into paranoia and anxiety that overwhelms his otherwise happy home life. Things get more disturbing and surreal the further into this part one gets, and I really dig it; especially the shocking and fucked up ending. (Side bar: I love that there’s an “ordinary” explanation for everything that happens, except for one little detail at the end that proves supernatural shit was going on. I eat that kind of stuff right up). 

One criticism I’ve seen of this novel is that it really toes the line between horror and literary fiction. However, I think that’s a huge credit in this first part. Jones does an excellent job playing with tension; he makes me juuust feel comfortable with these characters and their ordinary lives before suddenly introducing something weird and fucked up. While tension is a hallmark of horror, Jones masters it so well here that I have to admire the execution. In addition, there’s something totally cinematic about this part (and, to be fair, many parts later on). It’s hard to describe, but there’s a lot of visuals that I’d love to see adapted to a comic book or video form because I can just picture the shots. 

At its heart, The Only Good Indians becomes more slasher horror than anything else. But the monster at the core of this, Elk Head Woman, is really well-written and interesting. Convincingly making an elk mother a creepy, violent avatar of vengeance and death is fucking impressive. It’s pretty rare that the monster gets a point of view, but Elk Head Woman is a full-fledged perspective character with her own motivations for what she’s doing. I think second-person was a great choice for her narration. Paradoxically, it manages to be both jarring and smooth with the rest of the story (”wow, ‘you’? we’re doing that?” vs “that second-person snippet really blends with the third-person narration, huh?”). I find these flairs really cool, and Jones totally nails a challenging style.  

So, high praise for the above, but unfortunately I just didn’t vibe with the second part of the novel, “Sweat Lodge Massacre”. For story reasons, it stars a totally different cast of characters than the first part. Unfortunately, this means much of the page is concerned with introducing these new characters and giving them backstories and motivations. So horror gets cast aside, and the pacing just tanks at this part. Sure, there are periodic slips into second-person to remind the reader the horror element is still in the story, but this doesn’t pay off until the very end. And when it does, it’s just not worth all the setup and wait. 

I think my main issue comes down to personal taste in horror. “The House that Ran Red” primed me for psychological horror with gory asides. That’s just not the case in “Sweat Lodge Massacre”, in which the horror is largely absent until the end, then is pretty much just violence and gore. Thematically, it doesn’t make sense to me that Elk Head Woman is the monster in this part. Lewis’ part, sure -- he’s haunted by what he did to her, specifically. But Gabe and Cass, the leads in part two, lack this. They aren’t haunted by the Thanksgiving Classic, at least not in a way that’s explored in the novel. So to have Elk Head Woman commit vengeance on men who barely even remember why is just disappointing. It comes off as senseless violence and death without the symbolic punch of “The House that Ran Red”. It’s a shame because Elk Head Woman is such an interesting monster/character and she feels wasted here. 

Part three, “It Came From The Rez” is fine-- mostly an extended chase scene that manages to be engaging all the way through. I love how everything loops back and ties together at the end, but honestly don’t have much to say about the part other than that; it’s pretty short. 

I don’t know, I think this novel just needed more time in the oven to really refine certain things. There are lots of ideas I wish were explored further -- parenthood, the whole elk/train thing, and so on. I’m also a little confused about the timeline. Ricky, one of the four, gets killed off in the prologue. But his death doesn’t really track with the book’s explanation on why everything is happening ten years after the Thanksgiving Classic. I don’t know, I could be digging too deep. But I can see the potential in this novel through its excellent first part and wish I felt that way about the rest of it. 

If you’re interested in reading The Only Good Indians, please be advised there’s a lot of graphic violence, gore, and death-- both animal and human. If you’re into slasher horror this might be more up your alley than it was mine. Stephen Graham Jones is a good writer, don’t get me wrong, so if this story sounds like your kind of thing, give it a shot. 

[majingojira]

Superman Real-Time Aging Timeline

As a followup to my Batman Timeline, here’s Superman!  

After this, it’s either Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, or The Flash, but I don’t think any of them will be this complex.  After all, it’s Superman! 

A thing to understand, just as a general rule, there are other Kryptonian and Kryptonian like species running around.  Sort of.  There are basic species and then several derivatives, which have since become their own cultures, but all hold to the same general roots of which Kryptonians are a part of.  These include, but are not limited to: The Kree, The Kherubim, The Viltrumites, and The Daxamites.  There are others, of course, but that should give you an idea of what’s out there in the vast reaches of the universe.  

As before, I won’t really go into villains that much (unless people ask me to do a quick rundown, at which point I’ll do my best).  

Another thing to note is that, for the purposes of the crossover timeline, things are a lot less powerful than the comics would have you believe.  A lot of people who engage in crossover timeline work tend to work from a “World Outside Your Window” approach.  So, while weird things happen, they aren’t well known or accepted.  

But we live at a time when flat-earthers and all sorts of reality denial run rampant.  

But the short of it is, ya know how the Golden Age Superman couldn’t fly and could only jump 1/8th of a mile? That’s basically where we are at.  Artillery shells can harm him, but bullets can’t.  He has amazing senses and laser-eyes, but only his descendants who study advanced Chi-altering martial arts can exceed the limits of flesh and they are the ones who truly fly.    

This is also why things that would normally be a joke for Superman to face in a crossover turn out to be actual threats.  

But the comics do exaggerate in part to inflate Superman’s abilities to avoid conflicts if at all possible.  Yes, as Watson to Holmes, DC is to Superman as far as this timeline is concerned.  So, we get to take everything with a grain of salt. 

I mean, remember last time when Cass pissed of the editors? Same deal. 

Okay?  Here we go! 

The Crisis: The Crisis is an Even that is, was, and will occur across the multiverse (or segments of it).  It occasionally seeps into time and space at different points.  Since we are here, it can be assumed that the villain was defeated.  It’s a weird time-space thing.  

Pre-history: A humanoid space-faring race suffers through many rises and falls over several thousands of years of development.  This leaves strange pockets where their descendants become their own race on different planets.  Krypton was one such planet.  A heavy gravity mining colony orbiting a red sun.  The species race, now called Kryptonians, managed to maintain some technology of their glory days but did not explore much outside their homeworld.  They augmented themselves into a race of “Supermen” to survive the harsh environment of the planet and the dangers of mining.  This included nanites which acted as solar energy storage for emergency lighting and welding.  However, the mining had begun destabilizing the planet...

1894 - Hugo Danner born. 

Lex Luthor born.

1900 - The overlord Shao Khan (a.k.a. Mongul) of another realm known as “Outworld” challengers Earth to Mortal Kombat for control over its lands.  He is tricked into doing this, as Earth isn’t another realm, but a whole planet that he could not absorb into his own even if he tried.  For the next 10 years, champions are selected to battle his champions.  10 victories on one side will ‘seed’ territory to the other.  Or, so Shao Khan thinks. 

1910 - Hugo Danner fathers Arnold “Iron” Munroe.  

1916 - Kal-El is born. 

1917 - The destruction of Krypton, leaving only a handful of survivors.  Among them are Kal-EL and the city-ship Argo.  Kal-El is found on earth by the Kent family who adopts him and names him Clark. 

The Argo City ship is affected by space-time and moves slower than Kal-El’s warp rocket.  As it travels to “Pick Up” the stray (Kal’s rocket), they encounter a parasitoid alien life form (”Xenomorph”)that manages to slaughter many of the Kryptonians after assimilating their genetics. Kara Zor-El is the only survivor and manages to destroy Argo before heading to the only family she has left.  The time-dilation effects mean she still thinks of Kal would be a defenseless baby.  (modified Superman vs Aliens) 

1930 - Clark Kent’s growing powers truly start to develop.  He helps out in secret most of the time with the odd ‘disaster’ or two.

Hugo Danner fakes his death.  

1932 - On a visit to New York for the first time, Clark runs into an early instance of true “Supercrime.”  A group of criminals uses terrifying prototype mecha to cause all kinds of hell for law enforcement and people alike.  The young Clark does his best to put a stop to them, but the true end for the gang comes from in a hail of bullets from the vigilante known as The Spider. (Satan’s Murder Machines/Superman (Comic Strip) “The Bandit Raiders of Metropolis”)   

1937 - Clark Kent moves to New York City, THE Metropolis, to work at the Daily Star paper (later renamed the Daily Planet).  He also debuts as Superman later in the year. 

1938 -  The Sarmaks of Mars, responsible for the 1898 invasion of earth, land a small invasion force in New Jersey.  The Military is brought in to put it down, but are unable to accomplish much until a “Man of Action” (Superman) appears and routs the Invaders as they reach the edge of the Hudson River. (The War of the Worlds/It’s That Time Again 3: Even More New Stories of Old-Time Radio  “War Between Two Worlds”/Superman: War of the Worlds).  The event is broadcast partly by Orson Wells but is forced to say that it was all a Halloween radio play by a group of “government agents.” (Funny story, James Moriarity formed a group to aid the Martian Invasion and the thing went so badly for him that he created an organization specifically to make sure no one ever found out how big a mistake he made which eventually evolved into a general ‘coverup’ NGO.  Nothing is more fragile than the ego).  

1939 - Lex Luthor and Superman begin their rivalry.  But at the time it is overshadowed by the so-called “Ultra-Humanite” who desired a new body to host his amazing mind.  Superman and Batman meet for the first time stopping one of the Ultra-Humanite’s plans. 

1940 -  The Masked Vigilante Boom of the 1940s begins in earnest, with many people taking to vigilantism to battle crime. Black Canary and Green Arrow get their start among many others.

The Rocketeer: The Cargo of Doom - The Rocketeer deals with people smuggling animals from Skull Island, Superman lends a hand with the Megaprimatus kong brought with them that the comics later dub “Titano.”

The first Toyman, Winslow Schott, starts bothering people. 

1941 - Formation of the Justice Society.  As a social club for vigilantes and superhumans to unwind in.  They mostly share stories and shoot the breeze, but occasionally teamed up for larger missions, especially when America entered WWII. But it’s primary purpose is networking and recovery.

Many of the Fleischer Superman cartoons occur around this time, except when noted. 

1942 - All-New Collectors’ Edition #c-54 “Superman vs Wonder Woman” - Diana of Themyscira learns about the Manhattan Project and is utterly horrified.  Clark and Diana have a confrontation about it, that does get briefly physical.  They put their differences aside afterward (the threat of a Nazi bomb is a good reason to do so), but Diana starts to grow warry of the American Government. 

1943 - Puck first bothers Superman as Mister Mxyzptlk.  

Clark learns the full story of Krypton and first encounters Kryptonite (World’s Finest #271)

1944 - Superman creates his own “Fortress of Solitude” to hold dangerous things he encountered before it evolved into a general “Home Away from Home” he could visit. 

1945 - The Last Days of the JSA

1946 - Alexis Luthor, son of Lex Luthor, is born.  

1948 - Superman: Terror on the Midway/Mighty Joe Young - A large gorilla is brought from Africa to perform at a nightclub in Los Angeles.  Lois is doing a report on it for the Planet when three drunks manage to get backstage and manage to both get the gorilla, Joe, drunk, but harass him to the point he breaks out of his cage.  The gorilla goes on the rampage, breaking lions out of their cages as he does so.  Lois helps people escape as Clark changes into Superman to subdue the Lions.  He also assists in getting Joe back into his cage as the police arrive to shoot what lions Clark had not yet rounded up.  When the incident goes to court, Clark covers the case. The court, however, rules to have Joe destroyed.  His owner, the nightclub owner, and several others sympathetic to joe engineer his escape -- only to be stymied by a burning orphanage.  Joe’s rescue of the orphans, Superman rounding up the drunks who sparked the conflagration, and Clark’s editorials sway public opinion and Joe is brought back to Africa.  

Clark Kent and Lois Lane wed.  

The House of Un-American Activities starts to target Costumed Vigilantes.  The Justice Society disbanded in response.  Diana Trevor, Wonder Woman, starts working from inside the system to counter McArthy and J. Edgar Hoover.  Subtly and openly, be it the Holiday Girls (secretaries make excellent spies) or secretly abetting other superhumans. Still, most costumed vigilantes retire at this point.  As for the rest… Some are apprehended, others sign up with the government, and others still are killed in FBI Raids.  

As Superheroes are under fire from the government, several class-action lawsuits also hound more public figures of superheroes, and only a few survive with their reputations and resources intact.

1949 - Joel Kent is born to Clark and Lois Lane-Kent.  Clark scales back his Superman work to take spend more time with his family. Joel is born without Superman’s fantastic abilities, but he is better than average almost everywhere else.  

1950 - Jonathan Kent jr. was born to Clark and Lois Lane-Kent.  Jonathan, however, is closer to his father than his brother. This causes some animosity between the boys as they grow older. 

1952 - Richard Tyler, Hourman, is arrested as part of the FBI crackdown on costumed vigilantes.  Very few remain active.  Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Shadow, and The Avenger are the most prominent.  Superman and Wonder Woman working with the Government, The Shadow, the Avenger, and Batman operating outside the law.  

1953 - The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms/Superman “The Arctic Giant”/Batman #104 “The Creature from 20,000 Fathoms”  – A prehistoric monster is awakened by nuclear testing in the arctic and proceeds to swim down to New York, sinking ships along the way. Superman confronts the beast as it lands in New York, driving it off for a moment before the military arrives to deal with the creature. When they manage to injure the creature with an anti-tank weapon, they release a deadly bacterial agent among the populous. Batman (Bruce Wayne) is able to deduce a method for dealing with the agent and the creature hosting it: radiation treatments.  The man who first saw the creature manages to introduce a radioactive isotope to the monster’s system. The creature dies from its wounds in the midst of a roller coaster fire at Coney Island. The film omits the interference of costumed vigilantes, the Batman story, in particular, doing its best to be as far off as possible to the point where it doesn’t even make sense as a Batman story. 

Clark Kent becomes the editor of the Daily Planet after Perry White retires. 

1955-1975 - The Vietnam War. 

1955 - John Henry Irons is born. 

John Wilson and his family are lynched. He survives, dons a mask and grabbing a hammer, he hunts the Klan as the vigilante John Henry.  

David Xanatos born. 

1956 - Clark Kent first discovers the Phantom Zone Projector, a device from his homeworld, and learns of the various criminals held in there, such as Faora and General Zod.  Some of which escape from time to time.  

1958 - John Wilson is killed, but his legend as the civil rights defending, Klan smashing vigilante John Henry endures.  

The malicious data life form known as Brainiac firsts demonstrates an interest in Earth.  

1959 - The Centre incident occurs.  (DC: The New Frontier)

Diana Trevor works out a government organization to better employ multi-mystery-man operations in the future with her at the head and thus limiting access to their identities or technologies by the other branches.  This is often called “The Justice League” or “The Avengers” among other things.  The laws about costumed vigilantism are changed somewhat.  

Kara Zor-El’s rocket finally lands on earth.  The press dubs her “Supergirl” when she joins in the “Family Business” and, being from a highly enlightened society that’s generally moved beyond barriers of gender or race, is extremely frustrated by the primitive mudball that is 1960s earth. 

1960 - Wilson Fisk, who often claims to be a son of Lex Luthor, becomes the “Kingpin of Crime.”

1961 - The first appearance of the Parasite.  

1963 - Incredible Hulk vs Superman - Superman attempts to apprehend the Incredible Hulk, but finds more dangerous foes about. 

1964 - The children and relatives of many World War II heroes; including Jennifer-Lynn Scott (Jade), Iron Munro, Dee Tyler (Phantom Lady II), Tsunami (Miya Shimada, a Deep One), and Artemis Crock (Tigress II, daughter of Paula Brooks, Tigress I) among others; form a short-lived adventuring group called the Young All-Stars or All-Star Squadron. An adventure to the Maple White’s Lost World and meeting Hugo Danner (and his superhuman progeny) ends the team.  Hugo Danner survives the encounter but is left brain-damaged.  His later rampages are given the moniker of “Bizarro.”

Alex Luthor ‘takes over’ as the primary Luthor giving Clark and his family hell. 

1965 - To battle monstrous threats, robotic sentries dubbed “Sentinels” or, more aggressively, “Terminators” are created.  Though defeated early in their lifespan, they are often re-created in various models.  The Data Life Forms these shells attract are often genocidal and highly dangerous.  This is the start of the aggressive timeline of the rogue A.I. known as “Skynet” that continually attempts to ensure its creation and the destruction of humanity. 

1966 - Kara Zor-El changes her moniker to “Power Femme” to coincide with the feminist movement she supports.  The press still calls her “Power Girl.”  She sometimes shows up to aid protests and has several clashes with the police.  And by clashes, I mean “People hurt themselves trying to hurt her while she protects as many as she can.”  It doesn’t help as much as she’d like. 

Darkseid first shows an interest in earth. 

Natalia Luthor, a niece of Alex Luthor, finds herself involved in her uncle’s business when she clashes with Supergirl. 

1969 - Lois Lane passes away.  

1970-1971 - Joel serves in Vietnam, and is generally horrified at what happens.  he does his best to help where he can, but the system works against him.  He rescues many people, one of them, Mei-Li, eventually becomes his wife.  Together, they have a son.  They name him Conner Kent.  The experience mellows him significantly.  He reconciles with his brother. 

1970 - The Kent State Massacre occurs.  Kara takes it very hard, having missed the protest to deal with other disasters.  

Jack Nimball takes over as the second Toyman. 

1972-1977 - A covert war against various demonic and subterranean attackers is waged primarily across east Asia, the front line of defense being various ‘Super-Robots’ such as Mazinger Z and Getter Robo.  These use a modified ‘spirit engine’ to essentially use raw willpower to make up for what the technology lacked, but it had terrible side effects and the technology was eventually abandoned, if not outright banned. It is likely these helped in the creation of the Biomegas.  

1972 - Lex Luthor passes away.  

1973 - Diana Prince/Wonder Woman and Clark Kent take the time to comfort each other after the deaths of their spouses.  This results in the birth of Athena Prince/Eiko Megami.  She is raised primarily in Japan for the education system.  Her power is best described as “Ungodly.”

Birth of Biko Daitokuji/Kiri Fujikawa, daughter of Tony Stark and Rumiko Daitokuji/Fujikawa (last name dependent on adaptation).  They do not marry but keep open ties to each other.

1974 - Jonathan Kent takes over primarily as “Superman II” Though Clark still helps out where he can. 

1975-1984 - The Biomega War is waged in Japan and in its coastal waters.  It appears to end with the death of Doctor Shinka in 1984.  Parts of him, however, survive, and biomega drones, beasts, and kaiju occasionally rise up from the depths after his defeat.  They appear to be derived from the Centre.  

1975 - Karen Kent Jr, named for her aunt, is born to Joel Kent and Carol Star-Kent.

David Xanatos receives instructions on how to become rich from his future self, as well as the coins to do it.  

Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man: A Duel of Titans - Superman (Clark Kent) and Spider-Man (Peter Parker) are tricked into fighting each other by their foes, Doctor Octopus and Lex Luthor. The two heroes quickly team up and defeat the evildoers.  

Scooby-Doo Team-Up #9 “Truth, Justice, and Scooby Snacks” - Clark Kent brings in Mysteries Inc. to help solve a haunting at the Daily Planet. 

1977 - Jonathan Kent trains with Muhammad Ali to better handle opponents who are as strong or stronger than himself.  

1980 - The being known as Lobo first appears on earth.  

Shao Khan challenges earth to Mortal Kombat and picks up an unexpected “Kombatant” - Jonathan Kent.  Appalled by the entire thing, he, as Superman, smashes not just the competition, but the entire contest of Mortal Kombat that cycle.  The whole thing is thrown out, but Shao Khan is infuriated by this insult.  Since the contest is considered a wash, his win streak remains unbroken...

Spider-Man and Superman: The Heroes and the Holocaust - Doctor Doom has a plan, involving the Parasite, Wonder Woman (Diana), The Hulk, and Superman (Clark).  The timely interference of Spider-Man, however, disrupts his plans for world conquest.  

1982 - Natasha Irons, daughter of John Henry Irons, is born.  

The first true Arm Slave, the M4, is developed.  Military use of giant robots (they tend to max out at 8 to 10m tall without exotic materials).  

David Xanatos has his first clash with Superman in one of his dealings.  The comics dub him “Lex Luthor” in many of his appearances. 

Superman has his first encounter with a Banshee.  

1983 - The “Doomsday Plan” to destroy several different superheroes begins forming.  It culminates in elements from Project Metalbeast/Weapon X and Project Cyborg being applied to the original Mr. Hyde and lacing his body with radioactive substances such as Kryptonite.  They dub this creature “Doomsday.”

The Terminator - The Skynet timeline sends two robotic assassins after its greatest foes.  Against John Connor, it sends a T-800 Terminator. Against the Academy of the Strange/The X-Men/The Doom Patrol, it sends TN-001 Nimrod.  

1984 - Superman Annual #11 “For the Man Who Has Everything” - Shao Khan/Mongul attempts to get revenge on Superman, but is stopped by the combined efforts of Wonder Woman, Batman, and Robin.  

1986 - Doomsday is unleashed.  Superman I and Power Girl I are crippled.  Superman II is killed.  The monster is killed and, in the light of the full moon, Hyde rejects the implants and continues on his horrible path restored to his former pre Doomsday glory.  In the wake of the tragedy, Conner Kent tries to fill in for his Uncle and Grandfather and is dubbed “Superboy.”  John Henry Irons creates a powered armor for himself and helps out as “The Man of Steel” or just “Steel.”   The Skynet timeline also sends an agent, a “Cyborg Superman” to try and defeat its future foe.  

1987 - Biko Daitkouji gains a controlling interest in her father’s company. 

Project A-Ko - The daughter of Superman and Wonder Woman, under the pseudonym “Eiko Megami”, or just A-Ko, enrolls herself in a Japanese school, where she meets up with (and gets into a rivalry with) “Biko Daitokuji”, the daughter of Tony Stark.  An intense rivalry develops over a ‘friendship’ one has and the other desires.  It eventually devolves into a routine of Biko building a large machine or powered armor and getting into a fight with Eiko before school on a regular basis.  Even an alien invasion (a single rescue ship causing havoc over one city) goes unnoticed until the target of their friendship is revealed to be their target.  They put aside their differences briefly to get her back.  The alien ship is crippled and can’t leave without heavy repairs.  The aliens may be the Zentradi from the Macross series – the all-female Meltrandi side of their species at least.  Its timeline placement is only here due to another crossover cameo and it may be set in the year 2009, but the only real available/likely time for both the character parentage to occur places it here.  The newspaper her father is seen reading contains a reference to the Fleischer Superman short “The Bulleteers”.

Project A-Ko: The Plot of the Daitokuji Financial Group – 3 weeks after the events of Project A-Ko, during summer break, Biko and Eiko continue their rivalry as Biko’s father’s company tries to find the alien ship and raid it for technology.  Unfortunately, every agency imaginable interested in alien technology trips over themselves trying to get the technology, and they end up with nothing once they anger Biko.   The aliens once again manage to escape and hide amongst the populace, resigning their fate to earth until rescue can come.  Eiko’s father is once again seen reading a “Daily Plenet” newspaper with a story discussing another Fleischer Superman short (the very first one, in fact).

Predator

Superman vs Predator - When the “Predator” self-destructs, his ship does not. when an alert signal is sent, another Predator comes to earth to clean up the mess but finds humans using the technology to insidious ends, as well as a worthy opponent: Superman (Conner Kent).  In his first real big case, Conner is kept off-balance by the experienced hunter, but the plot is foiled and Conner manages to defeat the predator.  

1988 - Karen Kent Jr. starts acting as Supergirl II. “Cir-El” is created by a cloning project.

Biko Daitokuji, in an effort to impress someone, starts acting more heroically and takes the moniker “Iron Woman” (as the band Iron Maiden didn’t want the name on a superhero).   She also sometimes refers to herself as “Rescue.”

Project A-Ko: Cinderella Rhapsody – Biko and Eiko clash again over summer break, but this time over a guy.  Ciko, the girl who had their ‘friendship’ earlier, feels left out until it turns out the guy Eiko and Biko are chasing likes Ciko instead of them.  The JSDF is called out over the two girl’s squabbling, including weapons employed against the Frankenstein Brothers Sanda and Gaira (War of the Gargantuas). A brief appearance from the leads of the anime/manga Yawara! The Fashionable Judo Girl occurs in one scene where Eiko is working at a fast-food restaurant.  They were customers. 

1990 - Project A-Ko: Final – Kei’s arranged marriage drives Eiko and Biko into more of a tiff than usual, but they are left to themselves when a battle group of ships finally come to rescue the trapped aliens and their princess Ciko.  She is taken back home and the fleet leaves.

Mortal Kombat - Shao Khan is defeated in Mortal Kombat.  

Superman and Batman vs Aliens and Predator - This story is a mess, but here’s what is known from it: Batman (Bruce Wayne Jr.) and Superman (Connor Kent) are drawn into the ritual hunting of some Xenomorphs by Predators on earth.  It goes sideways, Batman and Superman intervene and help the predators get back home with a “And Don’t come back!” message.  The Predators take it as a challenge. 

1991 - Mortal Kombat II - Shao Khan decides to just invade the earth anyway.  He does so while EIko Megami is on vacation.  The Invasion ends swiftly and Shao Khan slain.  This forces a change in how the magical realms handle their conflicts.  A year later, the Unseelie Accords are adopted by most major supernatural ‘nations’.  

1994 - Karen Kent Jr. becomes Power Woman/Power Girl II. Conner Kent becomes “Superman” in the public eye at long last. 

Arm Slave technology filters down to the public sector.  Heavy construction mecha, known as Labors begin to see use in Japan and later the United States.  These machines are 6 to 10 meters in height.

1995 - The first known instance of Labor-based crime occurs.  After this, police forces with heavy labor use in their districts adopt Special Vehicles Units, police squads that pilot labors, to counter labor crime.  These “Patrol Labors” eventually get nicknamed “Patlabor” Military contractors see this as an excellent testing bed for many technologies that would later be employed on military labors and arm slaves.

Conner Kent and Cassandra Sandsmark wed, but she keeps her name as is. 

Terminator 2: Judgement Day

Superman vs Terminator - Parallel to the events of T2, Terminators are sent after another foe Skynet foresees--Superman (Conner Kent).  Working together with Sarah and John Connor, Superman is able to put down the threat from the Skynet timeline, as well as finish it off in the future.   At least, one future...

Shock-Jock Leslie Willis becomes Livewire. 

1996 - An angel with the ‘human’ identity of Linda Danvers aids the Super-family and becomes known as Supergirl III.

Buffy Anne Summers is called as the next Vampire Slayer.   

Wilson Fisk passes away, and his mantle as Kingpin of Crime is taken up by “Gentleman” Johnny Marcone.  

The formation of “Young Justice” - a friendly hangout of many second and third-generation superhumans.  Members include Conner Kent, Cassandra Sandsmark, Tim Drake, Carrie Kelly, Helena Bertinelli Jr, and Bart Allen.  With many others joining the group as time goes on.  Their exploits are occasionally disseminated as either the “JLA” or “Young Justice” depending on the tone of the adventure. 

1997 - David Xanatos, after marrying and having a son, reforms. 

1998 -  Superman/Gen13 

Savage Dragon/Superman -  Superman III (Conner Kent) and Savage Dragon work together on a case in Chicago involving criminals being mind-controlled by parasitic worms. 

Superman/Savage Dragon - Superman and Savage Dragon battle a New God known as Killroy.  

1999 - The third generation of Arm Slaves begins the prototyping phase.  The development of the Lambda Driver alters the development of this mech.  Many of the early bits of technology are taken from prototyping the technologies in police Labor units.

The vampire known as Angel sets up “Angel Investigations” to help the helpless.

Hiro Okuamura attempts to be a “Heroic” Toyman.

JLA/Witchblade - Sarah Pezzini, wielder of the Witchblade, goes to the “Justice League” for help understanding her artifact (primarily Cassie Sandsmark).  The Witchblade then jumps around the group’s female members to find ‘better’ hosts before Sarah shames it into coming back to her.  

2000 - Linda, has taken to calling herself “Lee” leaves the material world behind and moves to the mystical between-worlds city of Bette Noir and eventually becomes its ‘mayor’.  

Conner Kent and Cassandra Sandsmark/Wonder Woman III have a son together, Jon Kent III.  

Natasha Irons takes over her father’s mantle as Steel II.   

Superman III (Conner Kent) confronts the darker actions of his contemporaries who call themselves “The Authority” ... and schools them.  (“What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice and The American Way?”)

2003 - Cir-El/Mia Kent is adopted by Conner Kent and Cassandra Sandsmark, starts operating as Supergirl IV.

Sunnydale is destroyed and the number of Vampire Slayers goes from a single lineage to over 2000 at any one time. 

The Darkness/Superman - Superman confronts the current wielder of the Darkness, Jackie Escatato.  

JLA/Cyberfoce - An informal group of heroes aid a covert cyborg team with some cyborg-zombies.  

2004 - Fallen Angel Reborn- In order to regain her lost powers, the Old One in a Human Shell, Illyria, travels to Bette Noir to reclaim her icons, and battles Lee the Fallen Angel for them.  Illyria learns something about her new state and accepts that she, herself, has changed. 

The Circle of Black Thorn (also known as The Pride) and Wolfram & Hart are defeated by a group of Runaways, the vampire Angel and his allies.  Angel and his cohorts are caught in a temporal loop as punishment while the children escape.  Massive destruction is initially wrought, but undone via time loop. Many people in LA have vague memories of what happened, eventually leading to the production of the film “Last Angel in Hell” starring Nicholas Cage. 

DC Comics insists Mia wear a blond wig to better display the “Iconic” supergirl.  She really doesn’t like the new look.  

2005-2015 - The Biomega Kaiju menace trickles through with various attacks until it comes to a head in 2015 when it revives the Centre.  The beast is destroyed, ending the Biomega threat...for now. (Atomic Robo and the Ring of Fire, Pacific Rim)

2008 - The Cellphone camera becomes common.  This means that supernatural events are part of common knowledge, but a combination of factors (not lining up with common religious beliefs, the “Somebody Else’s Problem Field”, charlatans continuing to operate regardless, etc) mean that while people ‘know’ they don’t really do much about it, deny its existence, or think of them in completely wrongheaded ways.

Livewire’s powers are finally put under control and she is allowed to perform “Community Service” with her abilities as a hero.  

2010 - Jon Kent starts adventuring as Superboy III.  

*

And that’s where things have left off.  

[gobydana]

Leaving Part Five

A/N: Next part of leaving! Two parts out in less than a week too. This one is lots of fluff and batfamily. Like tooth rotting fluff.  This one isn’t as long as the other parts. There will be two to three more parts left. As always, let me know if you want to be tagged in this series. 

Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four

One thing Jason had been doing was avoiding telling his family. He did not want to deal with their reaction. Yet at the same time, he wanted Rose to meet them. No doubt they would eventually come to love her and most likely spoil her.

He decided to call the one person he trusted most first: Alfred. Roy gave him space that night. Jason went onto the fire escape and called the number he knew by heart.

“Wayne Manor, Alfred speaking.” Came the butlers familiar voice.

“Hello Alfie, it’s Jason.”

“Evening Master Jason. I hope you have a good reason for not keeping contact for over a month.”

“I do, ummm are you the only one around.”

“Yes sir.”

“Okay you might need to sit down.”

“Is something the matter Master Todd?”

“Do you remember Y/N? From when I was robin and would bring her cookies.”

“Ah yes. Lovely girl. What ever happened to her.”

“It is kind of a long story, but I ran into after I came back as Red Hood.We got together, I got stupid and left. Turns out we had a kid together. She is three and her name is Rose Todd.”

The other end remained silent. Jason was worried. Silence was never good.”

“Alfred? Alfred?” More silence.

Finally a response.

“I am here Master Jason. Did I hear you correctly.”

“Yes I have a daughter. Hold on I can send you a picture. Do you have your cell near you? There just sent it. Did you get it?”

“Yes sir.” Alfred replied. “She looks like you. Now you better not be asking me to tell Master Bruce.”

“Kind of hoping you would.”

“I believe this will be one that you will tell him yourself.”

Jason huffed. The rest of the time was spent talking about Rose and best way to break it to the family. Alfred knew Jason would be one to tell Bruce and then leave, avoiding any response. Soon Alfred heard the batmobile and advise Jason to do it soon.

Jason left Star City for the first time in a month to go talk to his family. It killed him to leave Rose, but he promised her that he would be back. Y/N shook her head and said he better be. He promised to call her and let her know when to come to Gotham. Part of him was hoping she would move back so he could see Rose more.

It was about patrol time when Jason arrived at the manor. Alfred greeted him at the door with a giant hug. As promised, Jason gave him a picture of Rose and her mother. After a brief catch up, they headed towards the cave.

“Lucky for you sir, the whole family is present.” Alfred said while heading towards the grandfather clock.

“And want to know where I get my sass from.”

Alfred gestured towards the stairs. Jason mumbled under his breath about going to his second funeral. A look from Alfred shut him up.

Jason never thought the cave intimating until now. Everyone was gathered around the batcomputer. It wasn’t even an Arkham breakout. Fate was not his friend yet again. His strategy of telling one and letting the rumor mill do the rest was out of the picture. He still was thinking of plan when Dick noticed him.

“Little Wing! Why didn’t you say you were coming.” Dick yelled while almost skipping towards him.

“Maybe I was busy.”

“Todd you have been gone for a month. How can a mission take that long?” Damian asked.

“I had to deal with something after the mission. Which reminds me, B do you have to  be anywhere oh next month?”

Bruce raised his head from the computer console. His cowl was still down as his blue eyes stared back at Jason. Jason would never admit it, but Bruce scared him more than Batman did. Maybe it was the fact it was Batman versus the man he hoped to not disappoint.

“Is there something up you need help with.” He asked.

Jason stood there thinking the best way to say it. His whole family stared at him.

“Oh well my friend Y/N is coming back to Gotham. You never meet her, but I think you might have known her existence. Alfred did.”

Bruce raised an eyebrow as he did know of Jason’s friend from back when he was Robin. The rest kept staring as Jason rambled on since they didn’t know where it was going.

“So she is coming in town along with her daughter. They want to meet you cause her daughter is actually my daughter and well your a grandpa” Jason rushed through the last part and then ran towards the stairs before anyone could make a comment.

He went to one of his safe houses that none of the bats known about. He called up Y/N and told her how it went down. He could already tell she was rolling her eyes in the background. Right as he was about to hang up, Rose woke up so he talked to her for a bit.

He finally hung up right as a bat came into the room. Neither said anything for a long time. Finally Bruce spoke up.

“Alfred will get two rooms ready.” He then turned to leave.

“That is it.” Jason said. He had prepared himself for anything but this.

“You going to take care of the girl.” He asked.

“Yes.”

“You prepared to be a father.”

“No but I am going to try my hardest.”

“Start by a safer place for her to live.” He then left out the window.

Jason huffed and complained that no way he was letting his daughter live in the Narrows. His thoughts were soon interrupted when bats kept dropping in and asking too many questions.

A week later Y/N and Rose came to Gotham. Jason could tell she was a little hesitant to come back after all the bad memories. He hoped that good new memories could replace those. There was nursing college she planned to apply to here. If she could get in, it would make life easier for Rose.

Alfred offered to pick them up with Jason. Really the butler wanted to meet the girls first. Rose went jumping into Jason’s arms once she saw him. Alfred offered to take Y/N’s suitcase. After so many it was nice to finally meet the girl Jason use to talk about. Hearing Rose yell daddy made Alfred’s heart melt a little. He also couldn’t deny seeing the look in Y/N’s eyes when she thought Jason wasn’t looking.

Upon seeing the manor, Rose called it a castle. Jason made a joke that there was even a knight guarding it. Y//N node his shoulder but he saw Alfred have a small chuckle. The little girl went running up the stairs with Jason not far behind. Y/N stayed back with Alfred. She would never admit it out loud, but she was nervous. Not only will she meet the Waynes, but she had to fight the feelings Jason was bringing back up.

Through the windows, all of the Waynes minus Bruce was, were peeping. They weren’t prepared for the almost four year old bundle of energy that was Rose Todd. She came through the door and started talking at once. It caught everyone off guard.

Jason introduced everyone to Rose. Right about the time he was done, Y/N silently came into the manor. Everything overwhelmed her. Jason use to talk about the place, but no description could do it justice. It was a far cry from the tiny apartment she and Rose had been living in.

The rest of the day was spent playing with Rose. She fell in love with the garden and managed to rope everyone into playing hide and seek. Damian said it was childish, but Tim challenged him that he would be found first. 

Y/N  hung back near Jason or Alfred the whole time. She was happy that Rose was getting along with her family, but she felt out of place. It felt like everyone was judging her.

“They aren’t” Bruce said while sneaking up behind her. She jumped once he spoke.

“Do you always sneak up on people? Never mind don’t answer that question.” She said while turning her attention back to the group. Cass had teamed up with Rose to find everyone. They were making their way towards Dick who was up a tree. Duke was silently laughing from a bush he hide behind.

“She is very chatty.” Bruce remarked.

“Well she does take after her father. He use to never shut up.” She replied.

“I remember.” He said as he watched Rose jump on Dick after Cass knocked him out of the tree.

“He said you were looking into nursing college.”

“it’s  an idea. There is a good one here in Gotham that also offers a daycare. Have to take some night classes first though to get caught up. Need to get in first too.”

“We are always here to help.” Bruce said while turning to look at her.

“Just be there for your granddaughter is all I ask.”

Jason heard them and laughed so hard that Rose found him.

“You’re a grandpa” He wheezed out.

The rest of the day was spent with everyone making fun of Bruce being a grandpa and Rose getting them all wrapped around her finger. She even got away with only two spoonfuls of vegetables. The rest of the family called out favorites to Alfred. He would never let them leave until they ate all their food as children.

Soon it was time for bed for the little girl. She was sleeping in the room between Jason and Y/N. When she asked if Mommy brought a book, Y/N’s face went blank. She knew she forgot something. Luckily the library at the manor had some old picture books.

It took a while for her to pick one picture book for bed. It surprised Jason just how many picture books where in the manor. He snuck a look at the inside cover to find Bruce’s name written in scribble. He would make a point to show the rest of the family it later. 

Damian came in to help assist Rose find a book. He complained on the selection telling Rose that they would change that later. No doubt he was already planning on taking her to a bookstore later on. Jason reminded Damian that not all kids want to read about Alexander the Great. Rose pipped up and said she wanted to. Her curiosity was as strong as any little kid.  A giant smile of satisfactions made it’s way onto Damian’s face. 

After Rose was asleep they went to talk to Bruce. He insisted upon Y/N using an extra townhouse to live until they figured things out. He originally suggested the manor, but both her and Jason shoot that down. She also said she was paying rent no matter what the bat had to say.

Later everyone left for patrol minus Jason. He wanted to stay the night at the manor in case Rose didn’t feel comfortable in a new environment. Bruce had a small smile as he went down to cave. He was proud Jason was stepping up to be a father.

Y/N couldn’t sleep that night. The place was too silently. She was use to car horns, people yelling, and police sirens. The smallest noise seemed to echo in the giant area. It didn’t help the room was bigger than her apartment.

The door opening caused her to open. Jason peeked his head around.

“Sorry doll, it is just me. This place takes getting use to.” He said. He came walking in wearing sweatpants only.

“How did you get use to this place?” She said.

“You really don’t or at least I didn’t. I was here too long though. Bruce lived here his whole life, so he is use to it.”

“I bet anything else feels too tiny for him.” She said while moving up on the bed to make room for him. “I am happy they all love Rose.”

“Who wouldn’t?” He said while leaning against her legs. For a bit it felt like they were kids again.

They talked for the rest of the night on plans. Y/N would never admit it but it was good to be back in Gotham. It would always be her home. Being here and talking to Jason felt so normal. He gave her updates on everything that had changed in the city since she left. Conversation turned to finding a daycare for Rose and eventually a school. The two eventually ended up laying down on the bed next to each other.  

“Will you stay with us for a bit.” She finally asked. The silence that stretched after the question felt like a lifetime.

“I would love that.” He said while laying down next to her. Both feel asleep there for the night.

tagging:  @superwhoteen  @spunky-89

[codynaomiswireart]

Ruddiger Goes Missing

As this fic turned out to be rather flangst (fluff + angst), I decided to make it my contribution to both the angst and fluff weeks in the TTS/RTA fandom.  Also includes an illustration at the end.  Hope y’all enjoy it!

Quick Note: This scenario is meant to take place after the events of TTS/RTA, and in the royal alchemist AU.

Varian was getting worried.

Ruddiger had been gone for several days now, and Varian had no idea where he was. 

Of course, it was not at all unusal for the little guy to go off and do his own thing from time to time.  While he was basically Varian’s pet, Ruddiger was also a free creature, and Varian allowed him to come and go as he pleased.  But even then, Ruddiger didn’t usually stray too far for too long (especially after all that happened on that terrible day several years ago…).  Thus such a long absence now was very disconcerting to the alchemist.

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Varian tried to reassure himself as the sun set for a third time since he’d last seen his fluffy, masked friend, and Varian tried to distract his worried mind by mixing one last elixir for the day.  “He’s fine…He has to be.”

It had been two weeks.

“How’s this look?” Varian asked hurriedly to Cass as he held up the latest sketch he’d done for the “missing” posters that they were to be put up around town and in the neighboring villages. Cass gently took the sketch from Varian, giving it a look over as she brought a throughtful finger up to her chin.  “Looks great Varian.  Very accurate.  But…you don’t actually have 100 crowns to give as a reward, do you?”

“Wait, what!?” Varian exclaimed, swiping back the poster from Cass, and then quickly reworking the number.  “Wow, thanks for catching that Cass,” he said as Cass responded with a quick, “Yeah, well, we don’t want the awkwardness of anyone bringing Ruddiger back and finding out that you can’t actually-” 

“Here we go!  That’s more like it!” Varian quickly interrupted as he shoved the sketch back into Cass’s hands.  “Now, if you could run this over to the printer’s and get about, oh, five hundred copies or so, that would be a big help!” 

“Five hundred!?” Cass exclaimed.  “Wait!  Are you crazy?  How am I supposed to carry five hundred-?”

“Thanks Cass, you’re the best!” Varian shouted over his shoulder as he dashed out the door, slinging a pack over his shoulder and grabbing a map and book of zoology off the shelf as he made to scour the woods yet again for any signs of his missing friend.

Cass shook her head as she watched him leave, and gave a deep sigh of irritation (though also with a good hint of pity in it too) as she looked at the crinkled poster sketch in her hands.  The reward number had been changed to 1,000 crowns.

It had been three weeks.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Varian growled to himself through gritted teeth as he knocked on the heavy oak door.  After hearing a gruff, “Come in or stay out, I don’t care,” from the other side, Varian pushed his way into the lodge, and immediately cringed as about five big hounds came bounding up to him, all barking loudly and trying to sniff at his pants and jump up to lick his face as he shut the door behind him.

“Oi!” the big man sitting at the wood table by the fireplace called out to his dogs.  “Pipe down you miserable mutts!  And get back over here!”

Despite the man’s harsh tone, Varian could tell by the condition that the dogs were in, and by the way that they happily responded to their master’s voice, that the man loved them very much and took very good care of them.  After the dogs’ barkings, jumpings, and scamperings had settled down, the man finally said, “Well, what do you want stranger?”

Swallowing hard, Varian made his way forward towards one of the empty seats by the fireplace.  As he went, Varian couldn’t help but scan the environment around him with his eyes.  Though the lodge was quite clean – and even had a hint of pine in the air – the alchemist didn’t feel entirely comfortable there, what with all the bear and goatskin rugs strewn about the floor, and the blank animals eyes that stared back out at him from the various taxiderm heads that were mounted to the walls.  Varian shuddered hard when he caught sight of a coonskin cap that was hung up on a coatrack made from deer antlers…but he forced himself to continue on, and began to present his proposition to the old hunter as he took his seat by the fireside.

“I-I want you to track an animal for me,” Varian said, trying his hardest to sound very assured and grown up.  The man responded with a lazy swig from his flask before asking his own questions. 

“And what sort of animal are we talkin’ about here son?” the old hunter asked.  “If it’s any of them white stags, chimeras, or unicorns from your picture books,” here the man gave a dismissive huff of disbelief.  “I’d suggest you look elsewhere.”

“Don’t patronize me,” Varian retorted, earning a raised eyebrow from the hunter.  “I’m serious.  I need you to track a raccoon for me.”

“Hmm,” the hunter hummed to himself as he took another swig.  “A raccoon, eh?  Certainly doable.  And what would someone such as yourself want a raccoon skin for?” 

“N-NO, not the skin!” Varian nearly shouted.  “Absolutely not!  In fact, you’re not to hurt him at all, do you understand?  I just need you to find him, and then bring him back to me – alive –  if he’ll go with you.  Otherwise, just let me know where you find him, and I’ll go get him.  Either way, you’ll get paid.”

The man’s eyes narrowed inquisitively.  “So, it’s a lost pet you’re asking me to find.”

“His name is Ruddiger,” Varian carried on insistently, ignoring the man’s eyeroll as Varian placed one of the “missing” posters on the table and slid it the man’s way.  “He looks like this.  He’s about yeh big.”  Here Varian gentured with his hands to give an approximation of Ruddiger’s last known size.  “And he loves apples.  Oh, and he responds well to human speech, so as long as you don’t scare him, he may be willing to show himself to you if you call him.  Especially if you let him know I asked you to find him.  And he’s-”

“Look, kid,” the man now said as he set down his flask and prinched the bridge of his nose between his eyes in clear irritation.  “I’m sorry, but I’m not about to go traipsing around the woods wavin’ apples about and calling out to a raccoon like I would one of my own dogs.”

“I’m not asking you to traipse around!” Varian snapped.  “I’m asking you to track him.  I thought you were supposed to be good at that sort of thing, or was that all just talk?” 

“Watch your mouth youngster!” the man growled back, though Varian only replied with crossing his arms and giving a small smirk in challenge.  This hadn’t been the first time Varian’d faced a grumpy adult within the last few years, and such a mild snapping didn’t shake him.  Not anymore.  “I’ll have you know I’m the best trapper and hunter this side of Vardaros!”

“Then this job should hardly be a problem for you, right?” Varian asked.

“Oh, I can track a raccoon all right,” the man continued.  “Nothing hard about that.  But to track a specific one?  You do realize they all look the same.”

“No they don’t,” Varian replied, and would’ve gone on about how distinct and special Ruddiger was, but obviously the man didn’t want to hear any of it.

“And anyway, in case you hadn’t noticed, I’ve got a livin’ to make.  I can’t go wasting my time lookin’ for lost animals that I may not even find when there are animals that I can hunt that I know I can find.”

“I can pay you even if you don’t find him,” Varian said, taking a pouch of money from his pack and placing it down on the table, making sure the coins clinked together loudly as he did so.  “Here, look.  Consider this my downpayment.  You’ll get even more if you do find him, but even if you don’t, this should still be enough to equal an actual hunting job, right?”

Now the hunter raised his eyebrows a little, and with a quick glance at Varian he took the pouch from him, and peeked inside.  His eyebrows went a little higher.

“…You’re really serious about this, aren’t you?” the man finally asked, casting a quick upwards look at Varian.  Varian nodded earnestly in reply.  Tentatively, the hunter removed one of the coins from the pouch, looked it over, and after giving it a quick bite between his teeth to check its authenticity, he then placed it back in with the others and set the pouch beside him on the table.

“For this pay, I can go looking for him for two days.”

Varian let out his breath at this; just now realizing he had been holding it.  “Thank you,” Varian managed to say evenly.  “But remember, absolutely no hurting or killing him!  Or you will be sorry!”

“Contrary to popular depiction kid,” the man now said tersely, “hunters are not all brutal animal killers.  While I may have crafted my skills for hunting, I also craft my mind and soul to see the world through the eyes whose fire I put out when I take their life.  When I hunt, I remember every single one of them that I take in season, and make sure to take no more than I know Mother Nature can restore.  So don’t go talking to me like I’m some sort of trigger-happy monster that needs talking down.  The job was to track the animal, so that’s what I’m going to do.”

Varian fell silent and blinked a few times at this, and felt perhaps a little ashamed.  He certainly didn’t expect that kind of response from the old man.

“Oh, uh, well,” Varian now stammered as he made to rise and leave the lodge, suddenly feeling like it was all becoming a bit too cramped for him.  “Th-thank you for, er, for your help.  I won’t keep you any longer.  Just…let me know if you find anything.”

“Yeah yeah yeah,” the man muttered over his shoulder, again resuming his former demeanor as he held up the “missing” poster to the firelight, reading over it carefully as downed a few more sips from his flask, and Varian shuffled his way out of the cabin quickly and hurried on back to the castle.

Five weeks.

It had been five weeks since Varian had last seen Ruddiger, and while the huntsman – whom Varian later learned to be named Eli – had tracked down several raccoons in the area over the two day period they had agreed upon the other week, none of them turned out to be Ruddiger upon further investigation.

“Right sorry I’m sure,” Eli had said as he had given his report to Varian.  “Though…I’ll keep my eyes peeled anyway, whenever I’m out in the woods.  Just in case.”

Varian thanked Eli again for his efforts and vigilence, and though it was a bit reassuring to know he had another set of keen eyes keeping a lookout for Ruddiger, Varian also couldn’t shake the feeling of despair now beginning to take hold of his heart.

It had been a long time now.  Perhaps far too long…and Varian didn’t know what to do now.

“Hey Varian,” Rapunzel’s voice called softly to him as she gently opened the door to his lab, her eyes having to squint hard to find him in the dim light of the room as Varian sat alone in the dark by the window.  “We’re all having hot chocolate and bimberry butternuts in the parlor upstairs.  Do you want some?”

“No…no thank you,” Varian replied as he continued to stare out the window.  Rapunzel knew at once what must’ve been bothering him.  It was the one thing had been bothering him for well over the last month now. 

“Hey, Varian,” Rapunzel repeated again from earlier as she came up to him, her bare feet padding softly on the stone floor, and she placed a sympethtic hand on his shoulder as she stood by his side.  “I…I’m sorry Ruddiger hasn’t been found yet.  I know what it’s like to worry about your best friend like that, and…and I would never wish that on anyone.  It really is awful.”

There was a moment’s silence as Varian reached up to place a gloved hand over Rapunzel’s, pressing her hand further into his shoulder as if seeking reassurance.  Rapunzel squeezed a bit tighter in return.  “We’re all here for you though,” she continued.  “And we will keep looking.  I’m sure we’ll find him sometime soon.  I pro-”

Rapunzel quickly cut herself off as she was about to say the last word that she knew Varian needed to hear right now.  No.  Rapunzel couldn’t promise that they would find Ruddiger.  And she couldn’t promise everything would turn out all right.  Rapunzel had learned those several years ago that it was better to acknowledge a bad situation for what it was, than to try to fill the void with flowery words only meant to glaze over things or to make empty promises.

“We’ll keep looking,” she ended up repeating again feebly, not sure of what else to say.  Varian remained silent, though the way he kept his hand on Rapunzel’s was enough to let her know that his feelings were of gratitude, if only a sad, hurt kind.  Finally, Rapunzel gave Varian’s shoulder one last squeeze before moving to pull away.  “Well, we’ll be upstairs if you need us,” she said, and made to turn and head back out the door.  But as her hand clasped the door handle, she heard Varian call to her softly from behind. 

“Princess,” he said…and Rapunzel turned, only to see the young alchemist begin to quiver with soft, hiccupping sobs as he managed to say, “P-please…don’t go!  N-not yet!”

“Oh Varian,” Rapunzel whispered as she rushed back over to him, and wrapped Varian into a tight hug as he cried into her shoulder.  Rapunzel rubbed comforting circles into his back and stroked his hair with motherly tenderness as he wept.

“I-I don’t know what to do!” Varian said between sobs.  “I…I can’t lose him Rapunzel!  I can’t!  He-he was always there for me!  And now, w-what if we don’t find him?  What if-what if he never comes back?  What if…?  What if he’s…?  I-I just can’t Rapunzel!  I caa-a-a-an’t!”

“I know Varian,” Rapunzel said as some of her own tears fell with his.  “I know…”

Exhausted from his cry, Varian now made his way back to his bedchambers, with Rapunzel walking along closely at his side.  After bidding each other good night, and Rapunzel checking one more time with Varian that he would be ok for the evening, the young alchemist went into his room, shut the door softly behind him, and then collapsed into a heap on his bed.  Varian felt too tired and miserable to try to change into his nightclothes, so instead he just lay there as he waited for sleep to overtake him.  He hoped it would come soon.

As Varian lay there in a light doze, he suddenly thought he heard a muffled chittering noise on the edge of his hearing, and if he didn’t know any better, he thought he felt something tickling at his forehead.  Varian hoped it wasn’t a moth or some other nocturnal insect come to bother him in his sleep.  With an irritated groan, Varian made to bat away at whatever it was that was so insistently brushing against his forehead, and also tried to find a way to rest his head so he didn’t hear those infernal squeaking and cooing noises.  (“Maybe it’s mice,” Varian dreaded to think.  “I hope I don’t have to set up any more goo traps around the castle in the morning.”)  But Varian again felt something touch his forehead…though this time it was a bit wet and rough, and stroked across his forehead over and over again in quick succession.

“Ugh!  What in the world-?” Varian mumbled grumpily as he again swatted the thing away…only to freeze stock-still and snap his eyes open as he felt his hand come up against a soft but sturdy resistance.  It took Varian a few seconds to register what was sitting before him as his eyes adjusted and cleared, but then when he did realize-

“RUDDIGER!” Varian shouted with joy as his face lit up with recognition, and he all but tackled the little creature as he scooped Ruddiger up into his arms with a cry of delight and held him to his chest, feeling Ruddiger nuzzle into him affectionately in return as Varian couldn’t help but plant a few kisses of his own on his friend’s furry forehead.

“Oh my God, Ruddiger!” Varian exclaimed to him between sniffles as he wiped away at his misty eyes.  “Where-where have you been!?  You had me worried sick!  Wha…Why did you leave for so long without telling me!?  I mean, yeah, you can’t exactly tell me, you can’t talk!  But some sort of signal or something would’ve been nice!  Or-or maybe if you’d just popped your head in?  Let me know you were ok?  Oh, Ruddiger, I thought I’d lost you!  Don’t you ever do that to me again, ok!?  Don’t you- Oh!  But wait, you’re not hurt are you!?” Varian suddenly yelped, holding Ruddiger out at arms-length as he looked him over.  “You’re not sick or anything?  No one’s hurt you?”

Ruddiger shook his head in reply.

“Oh, thank goodness!” Varian sighed with relief as he brought Ruddiger in close again, stroking his hand down his back and scratchin his ears.  “Oh Ruddiger, you had me so scared.  I…I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t-”

Suddenly, Varian stopped as he again noticed the faint chittering noise from before, and he looked this way and that about him, trying to pinpoint where exactly the sound was coming from in the dark.  “Hey, what is that-?” Varian began to ask, but found that his question was interrupted by Ruddiger giving Varian a few taps on the arm, and then gently wriggling his way out of Varian’s grip and hopping down to the floor before disappearing underneath Varian’s bed. 

“Hey, where’re you going Bud?” Varian asked after Ruddiger as he too dropped to the floor and made to peek under the bedskirts, now realizing that the sound was coming from where Ruddiger had disappeared underneath them.  At first, Varian couldn’t see a thing in the pitch black darkness, but presently he lit the lamp on his nightstand, and then shuffled out from the drawer one of the vials of glowing algae that he kept at the ready in case of emergencies.

“Ok boy, what’re you-?”

Varian drew in a small gasp and brought his free hand up to his mouth at what he saw huddled underneath his bed.  There he saw Ruddiger…along with an adult lady raccoon, and five raccoon kits all clustered together; their bright eyes reflecting green in the light of the algae vial Varian held in front of him.

Varian was dumbstruck as it all began to sink in.  “O my gosh, Ruddiger you-!” Varian said with a huff of surprise.  “Ha ha!  Ruddiger you-you’re a daddy!?”

Varian thought he’d never seen Ruddiger look more proud as he nodded to Varian, and Varian now realized that this was why Ruddiger had been away for the last few weeks.  And it was only now that his kits had been old enough to make the trek back to the castle from where they must’ve been born in their raccoon nest or burrow!  Varian let out a few more gleeful giggles as he looked over the happy family with wide, wondering eyes.  After a few moments, the lady raccoon – Ruddiger’s mate – now made to shyly make her way out to him.  Varian scooted himself back a little as she came forward, and he could hear the high yelps of protest from the little ones as their mother shuffled her way past them to meet the friend Ruddiger had brought her to meet.

“Hey there girl,” Varian cooed to her gently as he held a hand out to her to sniff.  “So you’re the reason why Ruddiger left like that.  Oh!  Wait!  No no, I didn’t mean it like that!” Varian scrambled to explain as he saw Ruddiger’s mate also understood his speech, and apparently took it as him blaming her for his friend’s absence as she drooped her ears and shrunk back a pace or two.  “No, it’s ok girl.  It’s ok.  I was just worried about him that’s all.  It’s ok.  Don’t be scared.  That’s right now…”

After another moment of giving Varian’s hand a good sniff-over, the lady raccoon now made to gently brush herself up against the palm of his hand, and Varian gently stroked across the top of her head in return.  “There’s a good girl!  Very nice to meet you!  Hmm…But I really can’t keep on calling you ‘girl’ can I?  No.  We must think of a name for you!  Hmm, how about-?”

But Varian was again interrupted as Ruddiger came waddling back out from underneat the bed, and Varian saw he carried one of his kits in his mouth as he did so.  Then, to Varian’s utter joy and astonishment, Ruddiger brought the kit forward and set it down tenderly in Varian’s lap.  Varian’s mouth worked to try to come up with any sort of response to Ruddiger’s profound gesture, but he found he couldn’t speak as the tiny Ruddiger-like face looked back up into his own, and all Varian could do was helplessly melt into those two pools of cuteness that stared back up at him; both a little bit frightened but also extremely curious.  They were very intelligent, thoughtful eyes, and Varian’s own never left them as he carefully brought a hand over and stroked his fingers gently across the baby raccoon’s fluffy pelt. 

Soon enough, Ruddiger came back with a second kit, and a third, until finally Varian had five happy baby raccoons all nestled in a furry bundle in his lap.  Varian stroked, held, and talked in baby talk to each one of them, as Ruddiger’s mate moved to settle herself down with them, and Ruddiger looked on proudly from Varian’s shoulders. 

All of a sudden, the whole happy company fell silent and looked up as they heard a knocking on Varian’s door, and it creaked slowly open as the door came unlatched and a tentative voice whispered in.

“Um…Varian?”  It was Rapunzel.  “Are-are you asleep?” 

“No,” Varian squeaked back, earning a puzzled pause from Rapunzel before she took the cue to open the door further.

“Sorry to bother you, but um, Pete said he thought he heard you cry out as he passed by a few minutes ago, and we-”

Rapunzel – followed in by Eugene, Lance, and Cassandra – stopped dead in her tracks, and the rest of her company did likewise, and their eyes all widening to the size of dinner plates as they now saw Varian sitting crosslegged on the floor, the biggest smile on his face that they’d ever seen on him, and his lap covered with the fluffy shapes that were raccoon babies, and the proud parents also peering from their respective places on his lap and on his shoulders.

“Holy whaa-?” Eugene breathed from where he stared at Rapunzel’s shoulder.

“Aww!” Lance now gushed after getting over the initial surprise.  “Look at all those cute little furry babies!”

“Varian?” Cass now finally piped up.  “What is-?” 

“Ruddiger’s a dad!” Varian exclaimed happily as he sat stroking one of the said babies as he held it to his chest.  “Can you believe it!?” 

“Yeah, real cute,” Eugene said, still looking a shellshocked.  “Um…it just pooped on you.” 

“I know~,” Varian said, nuzzling the baby raccoon with his cheek.  Varian was on cloud nine right now, and it would take more than a few baby raccoon droppings to bring him back down again.

“Eeeeee!  I’m sorry everyone, but I gotta get a closer look at these little guys!” Lance said as he went to sit beside Varian.  “Oh, if they aren’t just the cutest things I’ve ever seen~!?”

Soon enough, everyone was seated around Varian and gushing over the latest additions to the castle household, and Varian could hardly have been happier – or more honored – to be sharing this special moment with his best friend as he nuzzled Ruddiger at his shoulder, and Ruddiger stroked a familiar and tender paw across Varian’s cheek in return.

Author’s Note:  A special shoutout to @coronagoddess (who had the idea on the Discord of Ruddiger putting his kits into Varian’s lap), and to @glowamber (who had the idea of Varian finding Ruddiger under the bed with all his babies)!

[punkscowardschampions]

Janis & Jimmy

Janis: UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Jimmy: ? Janis: Save you the details, want to brain my sister as per Janis: but I need to ask you for a huge favour on her behalf Jimmy: 🎻🎻🎻 Jimmy: hang on, let 'em play for a sec Jimmy: ... Jimmy: alright, go on Janis: 😑 Janis: don't you start Janis: well she's got a date that she doesn't want to go on, but is gonna 'cos it'll piss Mia off/potentially show her up Janis: aware this is like a bad, really bad, teen drama-edy but hold on Janis: but like she really doesn't want to go 'cos she's her and he sounds like a twat tbf so she wants to double-date it Janis: which, undeniably, would piss Mia off more so bonus if we can deal being around her Janis: we don't have to stay ages, do it for the 'gram and bounce, old skool Jimmy: 1. I was only taking the piss out of her, calm down Jimmy: 2. this is bollocks but I heard you at piss Mia off Jimmy: 3. where & when? Janis: 1. this is how she's got me rn soz like tread carefully boy 🐍 Janis: 2. I know Janis: 3. [Place and time] Janis: Don't worry, I'm paying if he don't offer, he's some posh kid Mia wants on/has been on, apparently Jimmy: I dunno where that place is but it sounds fancy as shit Jimmy: outfit crisis like Janis: Am I gonna have to talk you down in the changing room too, like Janis: well I've been instructed to look 🔥 so she's either #over you or trusts you to bring it, which is rude Jimmy: 😂 Jimmy: calm me down in there if you wanna Jimmy: that'd be hot Jimmy: I always look 🔥 & this whole town knows it babe 👌 Janis: Might make shopping bearable, give you that Janis: 😏 Don't disagree Jimmy: let's go shopping then Janis: Easily persuaded, you 😂 Jimmy: you don't wanna? sounds fake Janis: Didn't say that Janis: Called you easy, little bit Jimmy: 💔 Janis: Awh baby Janis: so mean to you Jimmy: 😭 me Jimmy: enjoy your lattes everyone, nowt to see Janis: Such a 💔 mental image Janis: hope Pete is there to comfort you Janis: that's a sexy one Jimmy: your shout for 💔 'cause your boyfriend ain't in today Janis: Nooooooo Janis: won't bother coming in now Janis: what's the point Jimmy: I knew that's why you weren't rushing Jimmy: obvious you Janis: You know Janis: 'til I get his number, gotta keep you sweet Jimmy: keep me sweet enough I'll give you it Janis: How sweet is that then? Jimmy: I'd have to find where the manager's left everyone's contact details Jimmy: least a few sugars Janis: 😏 keep it in mind Jimmy: 👍 Jimmy: let me know Janis: bit mad you couldn't even pretend you're having a torrid affair with him but still like ya Jimmy: bit mad you want me to instead of being jealous but still like you too Jimmy: suppose Janis: I can be jealous Janis: jealous and aroused Jimmy: yeah? Jimmy: I'll keep it in mind Janis: 👍 stuff Janis: what are you up to actually Jimmy: nowt Jimmy: what are you doing? Jimmy: other than plotting Gracie's murder Janis: Literally that's all I've got done today thanks to her 😑 Janis: one minute I'm helping her find outfits, the next she's telling me to fuck off basically Jimmy: 🙄🙄 Jimmy: must be catching Jimmy: Cass is in a right strop Janis: Cass no, don't let the side down Janis: you know why or just 'cos? Jimmy: the prospect of family dinner ain't got none of us full of the joys Jimmy: but I reckon she's mostly bored Jimmy: she ain't done nowt this hol really 'cause I'm always working & leaving her to look after Bobs Janis: Yeah, makes sense Janis: You Dad needs to find a proper childminder, like Jimmy: she used to be out with her mates loads before Jimmy: I don't know what to do Jimmy: can't be the dickhead arranging playdates for a 12 year old Janis: Well, Grace did say she'd babysit for you as thanks Janis: so if she met Bobs and he wasn't completely terrified of her Janis: Cass could go out for a bit, do her own thing Jimmy: that'd be decent Janis: I could also go round there, more reg like, take him and Twix out to the park Janis: even if it's like an hour, better than nothing, right? Janis: not like your Dad is there to nope it so Jimmy: 💕 Jimmy: actually Jimmy: You're just Janis: It's no big, you're the one actually working Jimmy: yeah but they ain't your siblings Jimmy: only your 🐶 Janis: Yeah but you know, they're alright, as are you Janis: it's only for the rest of the hols anyways Jimmy: steady on, gonna make me fall in love with you Janis: 😏 idiot Jimmy: I put a spare key out so you can go whenever you want Jimmy: Cass has lost 'bout 4 since we've been here Jimmy: reckon she only does it to piss my dad off Janis: Feel it Janis: he deserves it Jimmy: probably in the bin or summat Jimmy: find 'em all under her pillow Janis: making a statement necklace Jimmy: 😂 Jimmy: she does usually wear it round, well spotted Janis: I 👀 all Janis: you've been warned Jimmy: gutted Jimmy: I better stop making eyes at the customers then Janis: How else you gon' get tips Jimmy: #where'sthejealousy? Jimmy: get yourself a girlfriend who don't give a shit, lads Janis: what you want me to be jealous for so bad? Jimmy: I'm just pissing about, Janet Jimmy: don't worry Janis: Likely story Jimmy: I miss you, there's one Janis: I miss you too Janis: and if you've been flirting with any old ladies Imma flip shit okay Jimmy: let's say I have 'cause I wanna see you fuck shit up at the CG Jimmy: & just see you Jimmy: so 👵💕 Janis: 😡😡😡 Janis: catch these hands deidra you old hussy Janis: get your own man Jimmy: have a heart babe he died in WWII Janis: probs look just like him Janis: least the dementia telling her so Jimmy: it's 'cause I'm so 💪 Jimmy: & got all them medals Jimmy: 🥇🥇🥇🥇 Janis: for being a prize dickhead, yeah Jimmy: 💔💔💔💔 Janis: don't act all devvo with me now, playing hero all afternoon Jimmy: come see me I'm so bored Janis: Have you saved up a break or nah Janis: real jealousy over them 🚬s Jimmy: yeah Jimmy: & I finish soon Jimmy: we can go shopping Janis: Yeah? Janis: Okay then Jimmy: 👍 Jimmy: maybe I'll find something to cheer Cass up while we're there Janis: You're so nice Jimmy: nah, she's a good kid Jimmy: didn't ask for nowt of this Janis: Yeah Janis: none of yous did Janis: so you're still nice Jimmy: more my fault than hers that we moved Jimmy: wedding crashing & baby daddy drama, remember? 🙄 Jimmy: to hear my dad tell it like Janis: Yeah but that's like Janis: not actual is it Jimmy: don't stop him Jimmy: he'd have to take some blame then Janis: Heaven forbid Janis: My parents always act like they're blaming themselves but they just do it so people disagree Janis: dead sly Jimmy: sounds like when all your sister's mates say how much weight they've put on so the others will rush to say nah Jimmy: you ain't Tammy you're gorg babes! Janis: Literally 🙄 Janis: I hate that shit Janis: but I'm up myself for at least owning it and not forcing everyone into the pantomime okay Jimmy: I always wanna be like maybe don't order a croissant then, babes, but #tips so Janis: 😂 Janis: You're such a dick Janis: I love it, never change Jimmy: least your sister never eats owt Jimmy: even Mia orders shit to stare at Janis: they're all idiots Janis: just in different ways Jimmy: yeah, I got that Jimmy: probably spent more time with 'em these hols than you've ever had to Jimmy: you're welcome Jimmy: half of 'em are named after countries or colours Jimmy: ?? Janis: Basic from birth Janis: destined to be each other's shitty friend Jimmy: my dad did me that one decent shout Jimmy: tah, Ian Janis: 😂 Janis: Your name suits you Jimmy: hang on, what's yours again? Jimmy: gimme a sec & I can return the compliment Jimmy: Juliet, yeah? Very real Janis: Ha ha 🖕 Janis: It's an old woman's name so you should love it Jimmy: I knew I liked you for SOME reason Jimmy: there it is Janis: Your perviness never letting you down freak Jimmy: 💕 Jimmy: so romantic, babe Janis: That ain't why you're with me Jimmy: yeah it is, last of the greats, remember? Jimmy: twitter agreed Janis: How could I forget Janis: sent me my first nude awh 💕 Jimmy: did you want it then though? Janis: You were hot, wasn't gonna say no Janis: that fake sext was 🔥 Jimmy: I'm an artistic Jimmy: boy Janis: Yep, totally focused on your talent, boy Jimmy: I wanted to impress you Jimmy: for real Janis: 😊 Janis: Well, you did Janis: for real Jimmy: alright, good Janis: You know EVERY bitch was thirsting after you then why wouldn't I? Jimmy: I've told you before, you ain't like 'em Jimmy: & you could kiss me how you did & just walk away Jimmy: so Janis: Sorry to disappoint but you looked good Janis: and it was funny Janis: and you actually did it Janis: so Jimmy: I always look good, am funny & accept challenges Janis: Go out with me then Jimmy: I'll think 'bout it Jimmy: remind me who you are Janis: 💔 Janis: so harsh Jimmy: you want me to be kind, baby? Janis: yes Jimmy: come here then Jimmy: I'll be so kind Janis: 😍 Janis: Am I mean Jimmy: not to me Jimmy: I dunno how you're chatting to everyone else Janis: oh, exactly like this Janis: my technique Jimmy: nah then, you're 👌 Janis: 😏 Good good Jimmy: 👍 Jimmy: why? Janis: Grace reckons I'm basically Hitler Stalin and Pol Pot in one Janis: if she knew who the last two were Jimmy: she's friends with Mia her judgement's for shit Janis: True Jimmy: do you reckon you're mean to her? Janis: No Janis: Unless I intend to Janis: she just overreacts Jimmy was timed out 4 days ago Jimmy joined the chat 4 days ago Jimmy: there's your answer then Janis: Yeah, you're right Janis: only doing this to piss off Mia Jimmy: #same Jimmy: & for the free babysitting 👌 Janis: 👍 too right Janis: cash that in whenever Janis: she thinks Bobby is cute Janis: hopefully a good thing, not a 🚩 Jimmy: 😂 Jimmy: I know I ain't interested girl but you can the bar a bit higher Jimmy: aim* Janis: Under 13 is honestly not a #mood babes Jimmy: more about the over 50s but go on, like Janis: 😂 different strokes, I guess Janis: how non-shamey was that Jimmy: decent use of the word strokes Jimmy: 🏆 Janis: 🙇 Janis: I try Janis: 'til I get grey hair how else am I keeping you interested Jimmy: get to the hair salon, rich girl Janis: 😏 get a Brazilian blowout whilst I'm there Jimmy: I can't even fake 👍 Jimmy: stop Janis: I'm surprised you know what that is Janis: 100% sit with my sister and co and bitch about me, confirmed Jimmy: I don't but the threat was clear Janis: You're cute Jimmy: you're a dickhead Jimmy: but I like you Jimmy: & what the fuck is it then? Janis: not 100% what is Brazilian about it but Gracie comes out looking like a show pony Jimmy: not very beachy or hot weather appropriate but alright Jimmy: but not alright, nah Jimmy: don't Janis: it takes hours Janis: fat chance Janis: can think of better things to do Jimmy: if you ever can't, call me Jimmy: I can think of loads Janis: Good to know Janis: knew there was a reason I was dating you, like Jimmy: #formybrain Janis: Yep Janis: first thing I noticed 'bout you Jimmy: I get that a lot Jimmy: not right now though Jimmy: I'm so tired Janis: 😔 Janis: not a store room you can nap in Jimmy: ☕ shop, mate Jimmy: easy fix Janis: 🤢 Janis: you're gonna need to go 🚬 'fore you kiss me then Jimmy: demanding you Jimmy: but yeah it is 🤢 Janis: You're somehow just finding out? Okay Jimmy: piss off Janis: Just sayin' don't go spreading that around, you're meant to know exactly how demanding I am by now, Christ Janis: not that frigid Jimmy: I'm just saying piss off Janis: ? okay Jimmy: you're Janis: hello? Janis: 😴? Jimmy: I'm alive, no tah to you Jimmy: gimme more mental images of how demanding you are & finish the job like Janis: Ahh 😏 Janis: Nah, leave you wondering and hanging on Janis: bitch like that Jimmy: why I hate you so much Janis: I know Janis: Makes it more fun Jimmy: what happened to wanting me to be kind? Jimmy: fickle you Janis: 🤷 Janis: trying to keep you awake and on your toes, boy Janis: manager can thank me Jimmy: I'd rather do it Jimmy: Unless you're 😍 for him now too Jimmy: love a man of mystery, yeah Janis: 😂 yeah, you're too familiar now Janis: gotta go Jimmy: 💔💔💔 Janis: Poor baby Jimmy: 🎻🎻🎻 Jimmy: what the fuck are we gonna do on this double date? Jimmy: never done one Janis: Me either, oddly enough Janis: I hope she'd have picked someone else if it was a keys in the middle situation Janis: but maybe not, omg Janis: she's conned us Jimmy: Mia would pop up from behind a plant or summat Jimmy: lunge for you Jimmy: in a sexy/threatening way Janis: 😬 Janis: we gotta cancel rn immediately Jimmy: #cancelher Jimmy: 😂 Janis: Babe don't let her get me Jimmy: not gonna 💪 Jimmy: such a hero like that Janis: I won't let Grace wifeswap you Janis: not until I've 👀 this dickhead anyway Jimmy: tah Jimmy: like I said, them brazilian hair bollocks are doing nowt for me Jimmy: she'd end up disappointed Janis: 💔 Janis: don't need her pity so nah, not happening Jimmy: I'd have to hit up that look but don't touch girl for tips Jimmy: can't remember her name so Jimmy: just the weak ankles Janis: who Jimmy: exactly Jimmy: who's this lad then? big spender but what else? Janis: 🤷 Janis: Goes to a School Mia wishes but too thick that even money can't, appaz Janis: not white, I think she said Janis: ego Jimmy: 🙄 Jimmy: this is gonna be a right laugh, isn't it? Janis: You ain't gotta ride him Janis: we'll have a drink and go Janis: might be enough of a dick that is a laugh tho so Jimmy: if I have to watch your sister try I know that's a laugh Jimmy: seen it before Jimmy: her flirting is 🥇 Janis: 🙄 Don't remind me Jimmy: show 'em how it's done babe Jimmy: fancy places always have hot waiters Janis: Livin' for the dramatics always, you Jimmy: 'course Jimmy: #artist Jimmy: gotta suffer for that 🎨 Janis: use your 😥 to paint out that pain Jimmy: use my 😭 Janis: No half-measures Janis: I know, babe Jimmy: pete ain't here, you're gonna be off fucking the waiting staff Jimmy: I mean Jimmy: just 💔 Janis: Well we're all devestated about Pete, first of all Janis: where is he, what does he do with his free time Janis: so many unanswered questions Jimmy: he's in a band 🙄 Jimmy: I'm gonna drunk dial Barry, see if we can't hug it out Janis: OH BITCH Janis: really withholding that info from me weren't ya Janis: 🤤🤤🤤 100% the bassist Jimmy: he is yeah Jimmy: I've been on his insta 'cause that loved up like Janis: So hot Jimmy: 🤤🤤🤤 Janis: Even though I'm mad you're tryna keep him all to yourself Janis: dickhead Jimmy: first come first serve, Janet Jimmy: I saw him way before you Janis: Yeah but I really SEE him, you know? Janis: we've got a connection Jimmy: 💕 Janis: Groupie mode activated Janis: bet they're SO good Jimmy: [sends his like soundcloud or whatever people use idk 'cause obvs linked to the insta] Jimmy: 👍👍👍👍👍 Janis: Come thru, you stalker Jimmy: told you 😍😍😍 Jimmy: step your game up, Judy Janis: in stalking or being your actual bae Janis: #therealquestionsnogirlshouldhavetoask Jimmy: you don't have to ask it Jimmy: bit nosy you Jimmy: #stillnotadecentstalkerthough Janis: Not allowed to ask questions now Janis: that's your bit not mine anyways Jimmy: #stayinyourlane Janis: Friggin' cheek Janis: I'll stay home then 👌 Jimmy: nah you won't Janis: 😒 Jimmy: come on Jimmy: you know you've already left Janis: I could probably find Gracie Janis: follow the sobs Jimmy: go on Jimmy: if that's what you want Janis: shut up Janis: be nice Jimmy: make your mind up, girl Janis: No, just love me Jimmy: 💕 Jimmy: I want you, how's that? Janis: Works for me Jimmy: 👍 Jimmy: I ain't had no ☕ so we can make it work Janis: You should've Janis: not that mad really Jimmy: got a sudden rush on Jimmy: no time Jimmy: fuck you Pete Janis: Ugh Janis: fuck off people Jimmy: still had time to scroll though Jimmy: Pete's got a bird I reckon 💔💔💔 Jimmy: so mad 'bout it Janis: 😱😱😱 Janis: Why are you trying to hurt me so bad Jimmy: 'cause I feel it too, babe Janis: I feel like all my dreams are dead Janis: crying on this bus Jimmy: tweet that at him Jimmy: he can use it for a lyric Janis: 😂😂😂 Janis: hi, we've not properly met but 💔 Jimmy: he'd love it Janis: Enough to chuck the gf orrr Janis: I ain't bothering otherwise Jimmy: #duh Jimmy: 🥇 Janis: Awh, thanks babes 😘 Jimmy: 😘 Jimmy: love you 💕 Janis: love you too 💕 Janis: such a good friend Jimmy: back in the #friendzone Jimmy: I get it, you've seen an in with your true love, get on it Jimmy: 👍 Janis: #wheresthejealousy? Jimmy: challenge accepted Janis: 😍 Jimmy: who am I fighting though? Pete ain't in Janis: Take it out on me for now Jimmy: 😍😍😍 Janis: Not saying you gotta remind me who's name to say but you know Janis: can't hurt, babe Jimmy: like I said, stay in your lane Jimmy: that's my shout Janis: 😂 Janis: Good thing you're #unforgettable Jimmy: are you hungry 'cause I am Janis: oh baby 🤤 Janis: but nah Janis: could eat Jimmy: nah you have to really want it Jimmy: the food here ain't worth a maybe Jimmy: starving or don't bother Janis: watch you eat then Janis: #creeper Jimmy: sexy Janis: Believe it Janis: watch you sleep later Jimmy: this is why you're last of the great romantics, love Janis: you're so 🍀 Jimmy: hang on, let me tweet it Jimmy: let the fans know Janis: gotta make the most of the ban lift Jimmy: that better not be a challenge, girl Janis: such a slag Jimmy: 💔💔💔 Janis: Jus' sayin' Janis: save a lil something just for me, yeah? 💔 Jimmy: there's the jealousy Jimmy: we found it Jimmy: 💕 Jimmy: it's all for you, girl Janis: Shut up 😏 Jimmy: you on your way to make me? Jimmy: 'cause til then nah Janis: Such a talker Janis: never take a break, you Jimmy: you love it though Janis: You reckon? Jimmy: yeah Jimmy: all 'bout the noises you Janis: 😳 Janis: Don't be chatting that when you ain't here to back it up Jimmy: I will when you get here Jimmy: so come on Janis: can't blame me for being slow Janis: I ain't running and I ain't the driver so Jimmy: 🎻🎻🎻 Jimmy: tell whoever is to get a move on Jimmy: #medicalemergency Janis: Sadly not our bus driver bestie Janis: he'd understand Janis: be gutted it's me not you but you know Jimmy: he liked you too Jimmy: I'm just 🥇 after the latest ride Janis: thanks for the pep talk, babe Janis: so supportive Jimmy: I know Jimmy: & always ready with a challenge Janis: I reckon I know what you're thinking Jimmy: ? Jimmy: go on Janis: Doesn't take a genius to work out you want me to go for your title 🥇 Janis: yeah? Jimmy: save it for when our #1 fan is there though Jimmy: 👌 Janis: You're actually in love with him Janis: 💔 Jimmy: he's a bit young for me Jimmy: but a decent Barry rebound I reckon Janis: Giving blowies for lifts, told ya Janis: with how cheap bus is, bit shaming but okay, have a nice life Jimmy: cheap for you, rich girl Jimmy: you gonna throw money 'round on this date, show this lad up? Janis: 😏😂 Janis: I don't know if I'm allowed to Janis: gonna need her to clarify what her actual plan here is Jimmy: piss off Jimmy: you do what she tells you now? Janis: 🙄 Janis: Obviously not Jimmy: you wanna re-write that sentence then? Janis: If the goal is to piss off Mia, idk if that'll help us achieve said goal Janis: there Janis: pedantic Jimmy: 🙄 Janis: Gonna be that couple are we Janis: having a row and making the other people wanna die Jimmy: Are we? Janis: keep 🙄 and we'll see Jimmy: keep telling me what to do & we'll see Jimmy: 👍 Janis: not 😍 for that Janis: noted Jimmy: unless it's like shhh go to sleep Jimmy: or summat Janis: You don't need to be told sleepyhead Jimmy: 😂 Jimmy: but nah I'm fighting it 💪🏆 Janis: sure you wanna go shopping and not snoozing? Jimmy: don't you wanna go? Janis: happy just to see you, darling Janis: seriously, whatever Jimmy: 💕 Jimmy: Cass' potential mood upswing depends on it so Jimmy: we gotta Janis: Oh duh, forgot already Janis: your fault for being distracting Janis: 👍 Jimmy: haven't even been on twitter Jimmy: sort yourself out, Jenna Janis: Fine Janis: ignoring you Jimmy: yeah? Jimmy: I'll get back to work then Janis: *is ignoring you shh* Jimmy: ☕☕🍪🥐☕ Jimmy: 👵💕 Janis: Such a pervert Jimmy: I'm so busy I can't reply soz Jimmy: 👴💋 Janis: Hate you so much Jimmy: I hate you too, babe Janis: 😏 you ain't even funny Jimmy: I am Jimmy: you're good at faking but not that good Janis: Fine, give you that Jimmy: 👍 Jimmy: if that's all you're gonna gimme, guess I'll take it Janis: Let your old biddy customers tell you how handsome you are Jimmy: they are Jimmy: can barely hear my phone going Janis: must be being polite today too Janis: working for those tips Jimmy: they're polite so I don't have to be Jimmy: #blessed Janis: dickhead Jimmy: & you love it Janis: nice to know you're not a total arselick, yeah Janis: couldn't even fake date that Jimmy: tah for letting me know Jimmy: I'll pass on to my manager that he's out of the running Janis: I assume he's the chubby guy, mid 30s Janis: who I've literally seen once Jimmy: yeah, that's the one Janis: Thought so Janis: was already out of the running Jimmy: 🎻🎻💔💔🎻🎻 Jimmy: gutted mate Jimmy: he'll be crying in the back when he realises Janis: Shoulda thought've that before he shouted at my mans in front of customers Janis: poor Pete Jimmy: that's why he's really off Jimmy: can't bear to show his face like Janis: So mad Jimmy: he'll write a decent song 'bout it Jimmy: be alright Janis: gf will console him Janis: I'll make an anon complaint about the manager like the unsung hero I am Jimmy: coming up 🌹s Jimmy: top one, pete Jimmy: proud of him Janis: you can't be proud of him he's older than you Jimmy: how's that work? Janis: you're a child Janis: he's a manly man Janis: that's how that works Jimmy: piss off am I or is he Jimmy: sounds faker than you've ever Janis: 😂 Janis: deal with it, boy Jimmy: deal with me Jimmy: girl Jimmy: I'm a better man than any Jimmy: including your true love Janis: Hot Jimmy: it will be when I prove it Janis: I was joking but now I'm Jimmy: I'll show you I'm not Janis: Jim Jimmy: ? Janis: Just Janis: you're killing me here Jimmy: I'll make it better Jimmy: how far away are you? Janis: lowkey ages Janis: feels it Janis: still going 'round the houses here Jimmy: [sends her a fire sext like he did way back when] Jimmy: I reckon you should have something to read Jimmy: & think about Janis: I Janis: have you ever thought of doing that as a living Janis: you could Janis: way easier than slinging coffees probably Jimmy: maybe now I've got such a top muse Jimmy: you really inspire me Jimmy: [sends another one 'cause extra] Janis: Actually dead Janis: I did warn you Janis: Fuck Jimmy: 💔💔💔💔 Jimmy: it backfired, I was trying to keep you going til I can do everything I wrote down Jimmy: 😭😭😭 Janis: Everything, yeah? Jimmy: that was the plan but it's too late now Jimmy: gotta call Barry & see if he'll be my date to the funeral Jimmy: look so good in black he'll have to say yeah Janis: You're so mean Janis: don't talk about him right now Jimmy: what do you wanna talk about? Janis: You Janis: and me Jimmy: go on Janis: It's stupid how much I miss you when you ain't around Janis: touching you and kissing you Janis: all of it Jimmy: I get it Jimmy: I want you so much Jimmy: all the time Jimmy: I don't feel stupid Jimmy: I feel Janis: I feel it too Janis: I don't know why Jimmy: 'cause it's good Jimmy: you're Janis: yeah? Jimmy: you make me feel really good, you know Janis: good Janis: that's what i wanna do Jimmy: anything else? Janis: i mean Janis: lots of things can fall under what makes you feel good so Janis: not really Jimmy: chat to me 'bout them Jimmy: drown out these customers for me Jimmy was timed out 30 hours ago Jimmy joined the chat 26 hours ago Janis: All I can think about is how badly I wanna be alone with you in a changing room right now Jimmy: I'm thinking of places we can be alone here too, don't worry Jimmy: resourceful like that Janis: Man of many talents Jimmy: there's more privacy in this place than you'd think Jimmy: especially when your man Pete the only other smoker ain't here Janis: Why you been holding out on me Jimmy: blame your boyfriend, he's always on shift Jimmy: & I only just found out the disabled toilet gets so little use it's used as a cleaning supply cupboard Jimmy: must have better taste in coffee Janis: I intend to, add it to my list of grievances with him Janis: Clearly Janis: interesting Jimmy: you're gonna be over the character limit on these tweets, babe Jimmy: get typing Jimmy: the customer toilets are well nicer than ours, write an anon complaint 'bout that tah Janis: Got a lot to say Janis: you gonna let be vent to you? Jimmy: like I'm always saying, so chatty you Jimmy: but I've also said you can say what you want, loads of times so Jimmy: keep up, Jill Janis: You've also called me a horny mute enough times to give a bitch a complex so Janis: challenging that Jimmy: 🎻🎻🎻 poor lass Jimmy: challenge accepted, if you're frustrated enough to need to vent, take 'em out on me Janis: 💔💔💔 so mean Janis: it is your fault, like Jimmy: it is Jimmy: so go on Jimmy: use your boyfriend Janis: Jesus Janis: I Jimmy: it's alright Jimmy: I want you to Janis: How are you so Janis: it's rude Jimmy: I've missed you Jimmy: is the answer Janis: I wish you didn't have to work all the time Janis: but it's good that you do or you'd be sick of the sight of me if I could see you as much as I want Jimmy: nah I wouldn't Jimmy: you're 🥇 remember Janis: You're gonna fuck me at School, yeah? Janis: I can't handle being around you all day and not at least kissing you Jimmy: if we have to be there then I have to Jimmy: challenge accepted, yeah? Jimmy: we'll find somewhere Janis: Loads of the lads chat like they have, probably bullshit for the most part but gotta be doable Jimmy: #goals Jimmy: I told you before, I'll get in trouble for you Jimmy: I don't care Janis: I really like you Janis: you're fun Jimmy: you Jimmy: but I won't spread it 'bout & ruin your 💪 rep Janis: Cheers 👍 Janis: my rep is so important, obvs Janis: so many friends and fans, so little time Jimmy: #duh Jimmy: just make time for me & it's alright Janis: you're the only one I want Jimmy: make me believe it when you get here Janis: you're gonna have no choice but to Janis: trust Jimmy: such a romantic Janis: don't take the piss, boy Janis: #medicalemergency remember Jimmy: I'm not Jimmy: I already told you, you make me feel so good Jimmy: it's that's not #romance I don't want it Janis: Good Janis: don't be dumping me for some lovey-dovey bitch yet Jimmy: piss off Jimmy: too many grandmas to choose from Jimmy: I need time Janis: take your time Janis: as much as you need Janis: then some Jimmy: 👌 Jimmy: wish you weren't right now Jimmy: REALLY need that break Janis: we're 5 minutes now Janis: unless any more of your faves decide to chat on their way off Jimmy: unless they wanna fall out with me Jimmy: better not Janis: 😂 let it be known Janis: oi sandra, better get a wriggle on Jimmy: Doris, leave it out Jimmy: put 'em all on blast Janis: must really like me 😏 Jimmy: yeah Jimmy: must do Janis: 'cos you know I ain't gonna tip you as good Janis: how the rich stay rich Jimmy: 😂 Jimmy: oh rich girl! 💔 bit rude but I can't say I'm surprised Jimmy: there's the real tip Jimmy: spend wisely Jimmy: you gonna need all your wealth to flex on this double date Janis: Obviously Janis: can't have him 💪 all over us Janis: clearly insufferable enough without that Jimmy: you gonna meet me 'round the back then? since you're slumming Jimmy: or you wanna flex on some 👵👴 too first? Janis: You know I gotta 👀 the competition Jimmy: doesn't exist, baby Jimmy: so just check me out & let's go Janis: that's right, tell me what I wanna hear Jimmy: I'd rather give you what you need but if you're 5 minutes away I guess we can talk a bit Janis: I know, such a hardship for me too Jimmy: 🎻🎻🎻 Jimmy: take that out on Doris & Bill 🥊 Janis: No, you Janis: I'm not the one who acts inappropriate with oldies Jimmy: only got your word for that Janis: 😑 Jimmy: hang on Jimmy: [more time passes than is usual] Janis: I'm getting off the bus Janis: you alright? Jimmy: rare appearance from your spurned love interest Jimmy: gonna make this more fun Janis: Which one? Jimmy: what did you call him, a chubby 30 year old? Jimmy: time to put on a show, girl Jimmy: let's see how 'down with the kids' he really wants to be Janis: I believe I was generous and gave him mid-30s Janis: which is when we find out he's 26 and the receding hairline is genetic, thanks Janis: chose a time to give a shit 🙄 but down for the challenge, obviously 🥇 Jimmy: 👍 Jimmy: tell me what I wanna hear, babe Jimmy: NEED to hear, like Janis: I'm outside Jimmy: come in then Jimmy: say hello Janis: No more talking, yeah Jimmy: I'm not refusing you Jimmy: not when you chat like that Jimmy: come inside Janis: Coming Jimmy: [really extra kiss as a hello obviously but not sorry everyone cos its hot af] Janis: Well Janis: he's not looking yeah Janis: you go first Jimmy: alright Jimmy: one sec Janis: Try and be less obvious, babe Jimmy: me? you Janis: I don't know what you're talking about Jimmy: hang on, I'll show you Jimmy: exactly what you did Janis: You can't Janis: show me anymore here Jimmy: [does 'cause challenge accepted this is why you're gonna get in trouble lad] Janis: Come on, Jimmy Janis: you need a smoke, yeah Janis: really bad Jimmy: desperately Jimmy: how did you know? Janis: Me too Janis: amongst other things Jimmy: [lights her 🚬 up but in a really sexy way thank you cos SEXUAL TENSION BITCH gotta make 'em wait longer cos I'm rude] Jimmy: alright? Janis: yeah Janis: well Janis: no but Jimmy: ? Janis: You know what Janis: don't play innocent Jimmy: don't you Jimmy: come here Jimmy: get what you want Janis: [Does] Jimmy: fuck Jimmy: you take direction really well Jimmy: I thought it was only when you were faking Janis: Only when it's what I want Janis: but sure, we can pretend it was your idea, babe Jimmy: I don't want to pretend Jimmy: not right now Janis: Then get what you do want Jimmy: [does & it's everything he said he was gonna do in those hot sexts so damn] Janis: [After when she's got kicked out and he's getting fired, is ignoring] Jimmy: 🙄🙄🙄 Janis: what happened Jimmy: he's #overit Jimmy: & sacking me Jimmy: now Janis: what Janis: nah Jimmy: put your ear to the door Jimmy: not gonna get a glowing reference when I show up to work for the competition Jimmy: bit rude Janis: obviously I've gone Janis: can you not like beg for another chance Jimmy: why? Jimmy: not my fucking dad, am I? Janis: Alright but Janis: it didn't need to happen, it was stupid Janis: I won't come in again, feel free to throw this all out Jimmy: neither will I Jimmy: hanging up my apron Jimmy: 🎻🎻🎻 Janis: I'm sorry Jimmy: for what? Jimmy: only Pete's gonna be 💔💔💔 Janis: for getting you sacked, obviously Jimmy: you didn't Jimmy: I did everything he saw Jimmy: & we can use this Jimmy: not quite romeo & juliet levels but the fans will still be 'bout it Janis: Be serious Jimmy: I am Jimmy: think of a good # Janis: Think of how you're gonna deal with your Dad Jimmy: fuck him Jimmy: school starts soon anyway Jimmy: I'll take less shifts at the next place Jimmy: & we sorted Cass' problem without having to buy her owt 👍 Janis: That's something Jimmy: it's decent so don't worry Jimmy: my dad'll lose his rag, gimme a smack, I'll do it better & that's that job done too Janis: you don't have to pretend it ain't a problem Janis: one you could do without Jimmy: it ain't yours Jimmy: you don't have to take it on Jimmy: 🤞 we give each other enough bruises to call off family dinner Jimmy: get out of that too Janis: it's fucked Jimmy: just make it look good for the audience Jimmy: I love you so much I risked it all Jimmy: that sorta bollocks Jimmy: 👌 Janis: Sure Jimmy: I'll handle my dad's tantrums Jimmy: not the 1st or last Janis: 👍 Jimmy: [later] Jimmy: come get the dog for me before he gets back? Janis: Okay Janis: am I bringing her back or starting a new life Jimmy: up to you that Jimmy: I'm just hoping if you show up Cass'll forget about wanting front row & go with Jimmy: little lad's a given Janis: right Janis: do my best to be convincing Jimmy: 🥇 Jimmy: get pics to show how much you love me for getting the sack for you Jimmy: 👍 Janis: 🙄 Janis: You're ridiculous Jimmy: why? Jimmy: what you wanna do fucking mope? Jimmy: get it together & do your bit Janis: piss off Jimmy: I literally just told you I don't care if I get in trouble for you Jimmy: so what's your issue? Janis: I care, dickhead Jimmy: then like I said, do your bit Jimmy: don't make it weird Janis: I am and I ain't Janis: God Jimmy: 🙄 Janis: 🖕 Jimmy: calm down Jimmy: & say summat Janis: What do you want me to say Janis: I already did and you ain't listening Jimmy: I heard you, Jasmine Jimmy: but nowt matters Jimmy: it's just a job & it ain't mine now Janis: Fine Janis: shut up, I'm trying to put my shoes on Jimmy: you can't multitask any more? Jimmy: too 💔💔 'bout Pete Jimmy: you can go see him when you miss him, it's alright Janis: 😑 Janis: Jealous Janis: I didn't get sacked, I'm not changing my regular for you Jimmy: get him to make your smoothies Jimmy: let me know whose are better Jimmy: 👌 Janis: I'll try and remember Jimmy: calling his efforts forgettable before you've tasted 'em Jimmy: bit rude Janis: you would think that Janis: you would think that Janis: ego Jimmy: you said it Jimmy: poor lad Janis: I repeat Janis: 😑 Janis: you know I meant Imma be too busy now you're out the way Jimmy: you mean you're gonna be too busy with me Janis: you reckon Jimmy: yeah Jimmy: you said you didn't want me to work as much Jimmy: now I ain't Jimmy: nowt but time for you 💕 Janis: so I planned it, yeah Jimmy: should've Jimmy: but just a happy accident like my birth Jimmy: 👍 Janis: Idiot Jimmy: Miss you too Janis: No need now Janis: all that free time Jimmy: see, it's good news Janis: you ain't seen your Dad yet so Jimmy: I know how that's playing out Janis: he's literally going to kill me Jimmy: piss off Jimmy: I'd never let him Janis: even if you lie why it happened, he's gonna know Janis: or go down there and ask, even worse Jimmy: I'll say it was my other girlfriend Janis: maybe Janis: father son bonding moment Jimmy: shame you don't look more like twins I could drop Grace in it Jimmy: the manager has only seen you like twice though Jimmy: maybe Janis: Twice is enough Janis: gotta have seen her more and it's an insult to reckon even in passing you're making that mistake Jimmy: 😂 Janis: 😒 Jimmy: I can feel you making that face for real Jimmy: be nice to me Janis: Me? Janis: You be nice to me Jimmy: I am Jimmy: gonna protect you from my dickhead dad 💪 Janis: Shouldn't have to Jimmy: we saying this is all my fault now Jimmy: is that the story? Janis: No Janis: you don't listen Janis: it's mine, idiot Jimmy: you don't listen Jimmy: I told you, it's not Jimmy: stop being a dickhead Janis: Oh my God Janis: am I coming over right now or what Janis: yeah, I am Jimmy: It don't make you less of a diickhead Jimmy: you're still chatting shit Jimmy: stop Janis: Charming Jimmy: it's why you like me Janis: Mhmm Janis: not 'cos I'm fucked in the head or nothing Jimmy: piss off Janis: nah Jimmy: for fuck's sake Jimmy: just come over Janis: I am Jimmy: don't have to bring your 😍 but gutted 'bout the lack of enthusiasm Janis: What YOU chatting Janis: always 😍 to see Twix Jimmy: 'course Jimmy: she feels it Janis: I know Janis: chat all the time Jimmy: 💕 Jimmy: she'll be so 💔 I can walk her now Janis: Guard your shoes Janis: heads up Jimmy: tah Jimmy: can't afford to buy more 'cause of 🐶💔 Janis: don't Janis: feel bad enough, fuck's sake Jimmy: you Jimmy: I can't keep telling you it's not your fault Janis: then don't Janis: but literally would not have happened if I weren't there so Jimmy: I want you more than I want that shitty job, alright? Jimmy: so stop Janis: alright Janis: you can get another one easy Janis: yeah Jimmy: you've tasted my smoothies, you tell me Janis: that sounds weirdly filthy 😂 Jimmy: not an answer though Jimmy: I get it, you were faking liking 'em Jimmy: 💔 Janis: shh Janis: you know you're good Jimmy: I know it's hot when you say it Janis: really? you've not been deterred by manager simon or whatever the fuck literally staring open-mouthed like Jimmy: no Jimmy: & if that's your way of dumping me, bit rude Jimmy: coulda done it before he sacked me Janis: told you Janis: all part of my plan to get pete alone Janis: and single-handedly bring CG down, naturally Jimmy: should just go to one of his gigs Jimmy: you know there ain't nobody there but the band Janis: so bitter Janis: art about it, babe Jimmy: I will Jimmy: tah Janis: #muse 'til the end Janis: welcome Jimmy: really gonna miss you when you're Pete's groupie Jimmy: 🎻🎻🎻 Janis: I prefer band wife Janis: but gotta start somewhere Janis: it's been real Jimmy: Barry come back Jimmy: the coast's clear & all is forgiven Janis: 😏 Janis: just don't let him impregnate you Jimmy: yeah one baby is enough Jimmy: really should've grabbed it from the CG before I left Janis: put a hat and apron on it it's your replacement sorted Jimmy: taught her everything she knows Jimmy: you're welcome Janis: a girl is it Jimmy: Barry only wants daughters he can warn blokes off of, he's that kinda dad Janis: creepy Janis: you 💕 him Jimmy: he's a decent rebound Jimmy: had the practice Janis: accidental or intentional shade Janis: either way fuck you Jimmy: what are you on about? Janis: calling my inexperienced Jimmy: nah Jimmy: calling him very experienced at being dumped and picking up dumpees Janis: Hmm Janis: ok Jimmy: & you aren't inexperienced anymore Jimmy: Pete will be 😍😍😍 Janis: no need to toot your own horn that hard either Janis: 🙄 Jimmy: do it for me then Janis: Pervert Janis: after that glowing review you ain't getting from CG, yeah Jimmy: 💔💔💔 Janis: Idiot Jimmy: is that your word of the day? Jimmy: really getting full use Janis: if you wanna stop being one Janis: lemme know Jimmy: any time you wanna shut up, go on Janis: 🖕 Jimmy: 👌 Jimmy: in a bit Janis: [bit] Janis: here Janis: bring out the dog/relevant kids Jimmy: [does] Jimmy: 👍 Janis: idk Janis: hope it's not the worst it could be Jimmy: tah Jimmy: don't forget the pics, yeah Janis: I won't Jimmy: alright Janis: call me if you need Jimmy: dramatic Jimmy: call me if YOU need Jimmy: the kids are on one Janis: how is that dramatic Jimmy: I already said, I can handle my dad's tantrums Janis: well excuse me for caring Jimmy: just don't bring 'em back til I let you know Jimmy: if you care so much Janis: I won't Janis: I'm not stupid Jimmy: just me Jimmy: I got that Janis: No Jimmy: what? Janis: You aren't, alright Jimmy: bollocks Jimmy: you've been calling me an idiot non stop Janis: because I feel like one Janis: don't act like that doesn't make sense Jimmy: it makes sense that you're a dickhead Jimmy: come inside for a sec Janis: Yeah? Jimmy: yeah Jimmy: just gimme one second Jimmy: & then you can go Janis: give me two Jimmy: alright Janis: [has to kiss him first do doesn't say it] Jimmy: [kisses her back really hard 'cause same & holds her 'cause comfort needed bitch] Janis: [Hugs for longer than should like bitch leave] Jimmy: you gotta go Jimmy: I can hear Twix losing it outside Janis: Yeah Janis: I know Janis: [kisses some more then leaves fr] Jimmy: [later] Jimmy: alright? Janis: yeah Janis: you? Jimmy: I just need to leave then you can bring 'em back Janis: okay Janis: go to mine? Jimmy: who's there? Janis: Us, currently but by the time you get there we won't Janis: wait for me in the barn Jimmy: okay Janis: do you need anything i can get on my way back Jimmy: just bring yourself Janis: okay Jimmy: Janis Janis: Yeah? Jimmy: nowt I just Jimmy: tah for looking after 'em Janis: 'course Janis: no problem Jimmy: I don't have to give Cass a smack too, do I? Janis: Nah Janis: she was chatting to me when Bobby couldn't hear but she weren't letting on to him so Jimmy: I've text her so she knows Dad ain't murdered me Jimmy: not that there's a rug or owt missing, just me Janis: 👍 Janis: good Janis: gutted not to go true crime detective on it but Jimmy: you'd solve it too fast for it to be a laugh anyway Jimmy: too many clues Janis: true Janis: bit embarrassing, really Jimmy: can you get 🚬 actually? this pack is so light Jimmy: & get the kids 🍬 to soften the blow of not having my company for a bit Janis: my bad Janis: done and done Janis: not getting your Dad nothing Jimmy: he'll be 💔 Jimmy: needs a 🤕 Janis: nope Janis: stick a plaster on it and good luck Jimmy: brutal you Janis: He started it Jimmy: nah, I did Jimmy: losing me job Janis: so? not an excuse Janis: not like he's gotta retrain someone is it Jimmy: he don't need one Jimmy: any will do Janis: hate him Jimmy: #same Jimmy: not a couple brag for them 'gram but decent we've got that much in common Janis: obviously, soz Janis: your da, you actually have to deal with him Jimmy: I try not to Jimmy: got enough on Jimmy: don't let yours see me, yeah Janis: I won't Janis: promise Jimmy: 👍 Jimmy: I promise not to get blood on you Jimmy: maybe Janis: Jimmy Janis: how bad is it then Jimmy: nowt serious Jimmy: it's happened before so it does the next time, like Janis: I'll fix it Jimmy: I know Jimmy: feel better already me Janis: you will Janis: you know you can stay as long as you need to Jimmy: just not as long as I want Jimmy: Cass'd be fuming Janis: and you'd miss 'em Janis: come on Jimmy: let's move 'em in Jimmy: what could be more #goals Jimmy: living with a 6 year old going on toddler & 12 year old going on 22 Janis: Obviously Janis: save the teen pregnancy which has frankly been overdone in this fam so Janis: plenty of empty rooms if you can stand the cunts Jimmy: shame you can't bring Twix though that'd be helpful Janis: I know Janis: poor bitch Jimmy: anyone you know that doesn't have cats by the million? Janis: 'course Janis: my grandparents would take her Janis: can sort anything I can Jimmy: I wish you could Jimmy: for real Jimmy: It's all Jimmy: such bollocks Janis: Yeah Janis: I know Jimmy: I don't want 'em to see me but I don't wanna just leave 'em with him Jimmy: ever Jimmy: that's not Janis: It's Janis: total catch 22 Janis: he wouldn't do anything like that to them though, yeah? Janis: not saying he's winning dad of the year in the meantime but Jimmy: but Cass is gonna be mad enough to say anything Jimmy: & Bobby's gonna be so scared Jimmy: when are they not Janis: what can we do, seriously Janis: is it gonna be worse if you go home with them Janis: like assumedly Jimmy: I don't know Jimmy: I just can't go back there right now Janis: You don't have to Janis: ask Cass to be extra nice to Bobby Janis: keep it together 'til you can go back Jimmy: yeah Jimmy: it's not fucking fair on her though Jimmy: nowt of it Jimmy: some hol this has been Janis: it ain't on you either Janis: that's on him though Janis: it can't even begin to be fair 'til he sorts his shit so Janis: she's old enough to know that Jimmy: I'm not 12 Jimmy: & it weren't like this for me when I was Jimmy: bad but not Janis: Shit's changed and that's out of your control Janis: the more you 'front like it ain't the more you put yourself in the firing line when it's meant to be him Jimmy: it's changed them so much & I Jimmy: someone's gotta take the hit for that Jimmy: he won't Janis: I get it Janis: like, not making it about me but I seriously do Janis: but they won't thank you for it, they'd rather you were at least a little bit fucking alright, you know Janis: they need you like that Jimmy: I'll be alright Jimmy: you're coming to fix me up Janis: Yeah Janis: we will work it out Jimmy: It's good that I met you Jimmy: best thing about being here Jimmy: only decent one maybe Janis: Competition ain't tough but Janis: I'll take it Jimmy: the free medical attention coming my way has really elevated this whole girlfriend thing up one Jimmy: full shade to my ex for not coming through when she had her time Janis: Just don't start getting beat up for the attention, yeah Jimmy: with this face? Jimmy: it's my money maker, the rest of living ain't free, sweetheart Jimmy: good thing I don't have to work tomorrow, not looking pretty right now, sorry ladies Janis: You're so Janis: #sorrydorisyoumean Janis: better tell her you've moved so she can follow so you know it's real Jimmy: Pete's gonna have a 9-5 cleaning tables when the mass exodus happens Jimmy: sorry mate Jimmy: give him loads of time to work on his songs though Janis: all the 💔 will help him Janis: make him miss you even more but that's life, baby Jimmy: do you reckon Grace & her mates will believe I'm just on a really long break out back? Janis: 😂 Janis: would if you hadn't been dramatic on the 'gram Janis: their real hunting ground Jimmy: speak of 😈 Mia just liked it Janis: she's so bloody creepy Jimmy: did you see her latest selfie 💀 Jimmy: [sends it] Janis: 🦆 Jimmy: sorta impressive that your sister can find bollocks to comment Jimmy: that isn't like Jimmy: you look like death Janis: #tooreal for any of them Janis: especially Gracie Jimmy: at least her last selfie was alright Jimmy: I could chat shit on that if I had to Janis: go marry her then Jimmy: told you, you don't look alike enough Jimmy: can't be showing up like oops wrong one Janis: 😂 Janis: she would lock me in a cupboard she's got no shame Jimmy: insight into your childhood there? Jimmy: Harry Potter got nowt on you Janis: Yeah right Janis: too early for that shit Jimmy: it don't feel early to me Jimmy: this has been the longest fucking day Janis: You wanna hear my sad childhood stories then Janis: cheer you right up Jimmy: I'm out 🚬 Jimmy: gotta do summat Janis: Mysterious Jimmy: is it? Janis: What are you doing? Jimmy: walking Jimmy: 'cause you live in the middle of nowhere for some reason Janis: tell me about it Jimmy: have you dropped 'em off yet? Janis: in shop, picking their sweets Jimmy: soz Jimmy: you'll be ages Jimmy: it'll feel like a long day by then Janis: yeah Janis: realising Jimmy: I'll make it up to you Janis: you can't Janis: you're a patient Jimmy: I'm bleeding but not to death Jimmy: plenty I can still do 💪 Janis: Shh, save your strength Janis: hard for me too, I know you're gonna look even hotter and it's just Jimmy: fuck your childhood stories, I'm learning shit here Janis: 😳 shut up that's a thing Jimmy: I'll shut up if you keep talking Jimmy: tell me again how hot I am Janis: you know you are Janis: you need me to tell you Jimmy: yeah Janis: I think you're probably the best-looking person I've ever seen in person Janis: people don't just look like that Jimmy: that's bollocks 'cause you look Jimmy: You're just Jimmy: beautiful, alright Janis: it ain't though Janis: I could look at you forever Jimmy: do it then Jimmy: I don't mind Janis: I'll start when you get here Jimmy: you're gonna look at me 😒 when I tell you Janis: tell me what Jimmy: I think I took a wrong turn Jimmy: I don't know where the fuck I am Janis: oh babe Janis: I'll find you Janis: now going yours, finally Jimmy: 🍀 all looks the same Janis: Gonna have to track you Janis: be THAT girl just 'cos you're a liability Jimmy: we can say that's the reason, yeah Janis: Please Janis: if I want you I don't even need to whistle Jimmy: if you want me to piss off you don't have to unclip my lead either Jimmy: just say Janis: I don't Janis: but you can, if you want Jimmy: why would I be lost in the general direction of your house if I wanted that Janis: Just saying Janis: you don't owe me nothing Jimmy: shut up Janis: I just Janis: I don't know Jimmy: I just need you right now Jimmy: so Janis: you've got me then Jimmy: I want you too, you know Jimmy: It ain't just that I got nowhere to go Jimmy: I'd break into the CG before going somewhere I don't want Janis: You don't have to say it Janis: I was just being stupid Jimmy: You aren't Jimmy: & I want to Jimmy: just listen to me Janis: I am Jimmy: yeah we say that Janis: Tell me Janis: whatever you wanna Jimmy: I've never said owt I don't want Janis: Okay Janis: I believe you Janis: sometimes I forget what was fake and what's real Janis: it's all Janis: muddled in my head Jimmy: ask me Jimmy: whenever you wanna Janis: alright Janis: how come you're so sure though Jimmy: you saying I chat shit? bit rude Janis: No I mean Janis: how do you know what I mean and don't Jimmy: I don't Jimmy: this could all be bollocks Janis: that don't bother you then Jimmy: you can't fake everything Jimmy: when you're with me I know how you feel Janis: Good Janis: I'm not trying to hide it Jimmy: it's alright Jimmy: everyone hides shit Jimmy: & chats it Janis: not you though, yeah? Jimmy: not to you Jimmy: there's loads of shit I haven't said but I'm not lying Jimmy: just not going that far back Janis: that's fine by me Janis: 'cos same Jimmy: don't worry then Jimmy: you know me better than anyone else Jimmy: 🥇 Janis: here anyway Janis: I'll take it Jimmy: I'm not going back so it counts Janis: oh right Janis: 👌 gotcha Janis: my fam would probably like to disagree but no one knows me either so Jimmy: sound more 💔 that you can't get rid of me, girl Jimmy: you should be happy, bit rude Janis: shh Janis: i'm glad i met you too Janis: it's just shit 'cos you don't wanna be here Janis: can't be selfish about it and buzzin', like Jimmy: I don't wanna be there either, not really Jimmy: I don't wanna be Jimmy: any of it Janis: yeah Jimmy: how do your parents get to decide for you how shit your life's gonna be & that's just Jimmy: how it is Janis: they just do Janis: must be in the fineprint for getting to be alive Janis: not arsed, too arsed, whatever, fucks you regardless Jimmy: I'm never having kids Jimmy: good thing I left that one in the CG Janis: same Janis: 'cos what kind of psycho wants the guilt, inversely Janis: like yeah, here's this kid I'm programmed to love no matter what and ahtever the fuck I do, they're gonna turn out fucked or hate me or Janis: nah Jimmy: guilt's good for my 🎨 but I'll be dried up by then Janis: so past it Janis: midlife crisis baby Janis: least women can't do that Jimmy: I feel like a dad of two already Jimmy: who fucking asked me Jimmy: & there's the dog Jimmy: 🙄 Janis: Start paying the mortgage and you're fully a single parent Jimmy: with this CV? Jimmy: bollocks to it Janis: 🎻🎻 Janis: thank fuck no one needs me Jimmy: let's just go out Jimmy: do summat other people in our year do Janis: cool Janis: puke on me and you're dead, idc how hot you are or how bad your injuries already might be Jimmy: you're the pisshead Jimmy: I can handle myself Janis: fuck off Janis: you chat shit on that, that's your thing Jimmy: what? Janis: You always say I'm drunk Janis: when I ain't Jimmy: I say it when you are Janis: 🙄😒 Janis: agree to disagree Jimmy: I like you when you're drunk Jimmy: & you're a cheap date so 👍 Janis: 😬 Janis: wanna be more creepy Jimmy: piss off you know what I mean Jimmy: you're less of a dickhead Jimmy: it's fun Jimmy: you like me more when you're drunk Janis: do I? Janis: better go get drunk then Jimmy: you have to wait for me or it ain't #goals Jimmy: & my injuries aren't gonna fix themselves yet Janis: you just hoping i got a uniform Jimmy: now I am Jimmy: but no clothes is also fine Jimmy: I'm easy-going like that Janis: good to know Janis: 'cos this is nhs service and you'll get what you're given and be thankful, boy Jimmy: I'll be very thankful Jimmy: you'll see Janis: don't be so Janis: we're meant to be going out Jimmy: we can be #fashionably late Janis: it's selfish but i want you so bad right now Jimmy: no complaints if that's what you're being selfish about Jimmy: actually is a #medicalemergency this time Jimmy: You need to make me feel better Janis: I'm going to forreal Janis: then I'll make you forget about everything that ain't feeling good and me Jimmy: It'll be a challenge Jimmy: it hurts, for real Janis: I know Janis: what's the actual damage you haven't said Jimmy: keeping it a surprise now 'cause you're so into it Jimmy: be a turn on for you Janis: don't make me sound like a psycho Janis: I don't like that you're hurt Janis: ugh Jimmy: I'm not being serious, baby Janis: don't try and sweet talk me now it'll 100% work and I'll be fuming Jimmy: be nice to me Jimmy: I wanna be nice to you Janis: it's my turn, if we're keeping score Jimmy: we're not Jimmy: for tonight we're just Jimmy: doing whatever we want Janis: then let me Janis: you need to relax, seriously Jimmy: alright Jimmy: I'm agreeing 'cause I'm in pain not 'cause you're right Janis: 'course Janis: we can say that's the reason Jimmy: it's the reason Jimmy: don't be stealing my lines Janis: 😂 Janis: but they're so effective Janis: not annoying at all, yeah? Jimmy: THAT I do agree with Janis: Nerd Jimmy: bit rude Janis: it's easier than being as nice as I wanna Jimmy: nah Jimmy: I'll shut up & make it so easy for you Jimmy: go on Janis: I can't Jimmy: please Janis: oh Janis: that is nice Jimmy: I know Janis: fuck it, tell you when we're drunk Jimmy: you really can't tell me now? Jimmy: any of it Janis: I can tell you plenty you'd rather hear Jimmy: yeah? Janis: I'm gonna make you regret wanting to go out, that's how good it'll be Jimmy: we don't have to Jimmy: like I said, whatever we want Jimmy: if it's that good, I'll stay Janis: nah, we will Janis: plenty of ways to have a nice time Jimmy: alright, challenge accepted Jimmy: it'll gimme an excuse for why I'm covered in blood that's not my dad's a bellend Jimmy: #thecraic Janis: 😏 and you DON'T wanna encourage my psycho behaviour, sure Jimmy: do you wanna encourage me in cross dressing? 'cause unless you want me to wear your clothes I'm gonna look like a horror flick Janis: 🤔 Janis: no doubt it ain't really crossdressing with my wardrobe Janis: sad times, babes Jimmy: shut up Jimmy: you're a girl, how many times we talking 'bout this Janis: glad you can tell Jimmy: 🙄 Janis: jus' sayin' Janis: do me a solid and spread that around Jimmy: get on twitter with your nudes & save me the job Janis: not all as #cocky as you boy Jimmy: you've got every reason to be Jimmy: more Janis: it's different Jimmy: I get it Jimmy: not a serious suggestion Jimmy: not that much of an idiot Janis: you aren't shut up Janis: besides, not taking 🔥 nudes from the roadside for you or tiwtter am Janis: *I Jimmy: you could Jimmy: but don't get arrested Jimmy: can't use all my savings for bail Janis: exactly, too many #risks taken for one day Jimmy: or just the right amount Jimmy: so far Janis: shame Jimmy: that the manager caught us, I know Jimmy: I feel it Jimmy: the interruption was well rude Janis: yeah Janis: it was Janis: you were Jimmy: he could've let us finish if he was gonna sack me anyway Jimmy: but to be continued I suppose Janis: so spiteful Janis: what did i ever do to you simon Jimmy: you were so close Jimmy: he had to know that Jimmy: give us a minute, lad Janis: don't oversell it Jimmy: don't misremember it Janis: give me some credit Janis: 2 minutes, like Jimmy: I'd have given you loads more Jimmy: didn't wanna stop Janis: Babe Jimmy: ? Janis: you know Jimmy: say it anyway Janis: i'm so Janis: i just need to find you Jimmy: I need you to find me Jimmy: so go on Janis: I'm trying, what do you think I'm doing Jimmy: how do I know Jimmy: not tracking you Janis: 🙄 Janis: yes, i've decided to stop off for a quickie with pete first Janis: hold up Jimmy: distracted easy you Jimmy: also a heartbreaker Jimmy: 💔💔 Janis: who's fault is that? Jimmy: mine & Pete's Jimmy: letting you Janis: if you had any idea how little interest i have in anyone else right now Janis: sad, really Jimmy: I don't feel sad Jimmy: neither do you Janis: not right now Jimmy: what do I have to do to make it not ever? Janis: don't Janis: don't be falling for anyone else yet Janis: i'm not ready Jimmy: you think I have any interest in anyone else myself? Jimmy: I just want you Janis: that's what i'm saying, keep it like that for a while yeah Jimmy: it is like that Jimmy: where do you think your competition is coming from? Jimmy: 🥇 you Janis: shh Jimmy: I'm serious Jimmy: you're Jimmy: there's loads of reasons I really like you Jimmy: even if you did get me sacked Janis: bastard 😏 Jimmy: 💕 Jimmy: the flashbacks alone are worth it Janis: i wasn't even Janis: it was all you Jimmy: you were Jimmy: you always are Jimmy: you reckon I was taking the piss out of you for being inexperienced before but you've known what you were doing since I met you Jimmy: you're just Janis: It's not like I'd done nothing it's just Janis: learning what you like Janis: what makes you cum Jimmy: & you're a fast learner Janis: 🙄 Janis: i'm not gonna tell you you're a good teacher Jimmy: either that or I'm a slag Jimmy: easy to turn on & get off Jimmy: either way is fine Janis: don't tell me if it's that Janis: live in ignorance Jimmy: my ex would tell you it's not Janis: some girls are just lazy Janis: expect it to be Jimmy: I didn't make it very easy for her Jimmy: in her defense Jimmy: any of it Jimmy: not just Janis: don't need to say Jimmy: I know but Jimmy: I don't wanna fuck this up Jimmy: I'm not ready for that Janis: told you Janis: me either Jimmy: so don't let me Jimmy: I'm a dickhead but I really like you Jimmy: alright Janis: I know both of those things Janis: don't worry Jimmy: keep 'em in mind for a bit Janis: do my best Janis: you will be so distracting though Jimmy: not saying sorry Jimmy: where the fuck am I though? Jimmy: sorry 'bout that Janis: I am taking all possible missteps, find you eventually Jimmy: I have a headache but if you take that to mean that I don't want you to touch me when you do get to me, I'm dumping you Janis: please don't pass out seriously Janis: putting jokes of how dramatic you are aside 'cos I mean it Jimmy: I won't, I mean it, been here before Jimmy: physically but not geographically Janis: Baby Janis: can I kill him Janis: lil bit Jimmy: only if we do it together Jimmy: there's shit I wanna know from him first Janis: #couplegoals Janis: i get it Jimmy: it'll look worse than it is Jimmy: don't be weird about it Janis: I won't, I'm not inexperienced with blood thanks Jimmy: just Jimmy: I know you care Jimmy: but I'm alright Janis: I won't push it Janis: understood Jimmy: 👍 Janis: sorry Jimmy: why? Janis: for being weird Jimmy: name a day you weren't Jimmy: it's my top thing about you Janis: you must be weird too then Jimmy: do you think I am? Janis: well this feels like a trick question Jimmy: it's a yeah or nah one Janis: nah, such a normie, you Jimmy: 😂 Jimmy: a deeper cut than the one on my face Janis: I like you, that's all that matters Jimmy: you gonna show me how much when you find me Janis: try and stop me Jimmy: I'd rather not Jimmy: you said you'd help me relax if I let you Janis: I meant it Janis: doesn't mean self-control isn't gonna be hard for me Janis: but you need gentle Jimmy: you know I hate self control Jimmy: especially yours Janis: take it up with my manager Jimmy: Twix'll be sleeping Jimmy: had a hard day Janis: you too Janis: gotta get you like 😴 Jimmy: what are you on about? It's been great Jimmy: just thinking about earlier at the CG makes me so Janis: so what Jimmy: come on Jimmy: you know Janis: so tell me Jimmy: you want me to tell you how turned on I am Jimmy: that I ache for you to come back & finish what we started Jimmy: & I can't breathe 'cause it feels like forever since you touched me Jimmy: but I can still feel it too Jimmy: every time I go there in my head Jimmy: I'm back in the moment & I just Janis: I think I Janis: holy shit Janis: I don't know what I think my head is Janis: you're all I can think about Janis: all the time Janis: and that's so much better than anything else I had to think on before because you're Jimmy: it's the same for me Jimmy: that blowjob you gave me, your first one, was my best one Jimmy: that shouldn't be a sentence I'm saying Jimmy: like you shouldn't be all I think about & want Janis: I can't be sorry Janis: I want to be your best everything Janis: I want you to want me Jimmy: then you've got what you want Janis: swear Jimmy: there's enough blood here for it Janis: good thing I do live middle of nowhere Janis: what would the neighbours say Jimmy: I saw some 🐮s and they were #shook Janis: #haters Jimmy: probably reckoned they were in the abattoir Jimmy: soz ladies Janis: usually the boys that Janis: only need the one Jimmy: 🤔 Jimmy: teaching me loads today Janis: return the favour Janis: said i'm not gonna say it but Jimmy: there's nowt I can teach you Jimmy: you're Jimmy: just take your row of medals & don't be too smug bout it Janis: okay then let me beat my own record Jimmy: any time Jimmy: anywhere Janis: I need to, I can't stop thinking about it Jimmy: tell me what's going on in your head Janis: I didn't think it'd feel that good, just giving but it was so Janis: I don't know why people complain I'd do that all day Janis: you looked so Jimmy: if you could see how you're making me look now Janis: I'm jealous of the 🐮s honestly Janis: you really are gorgeous and I felt so Jimmy: every time I reckon I can't want you more you chat things that prove me wrong Janis: I can't wait to see you Janis: not 'cos you're lost and bloody and defenseless and I'm a predator like that Jimmy: you kissed me like you were fucking off forever Jimmy: so I need to fix that Janis: well Janis: I planned to but I have the willpower and actual self-control of a fucking crackhead when it comes to you, apparently Jimmy: did you? Janis: bit ott not like gonna-jump-off-a-cliff forever but Janis: i felt really bad Janis: feel Janis: but you said it ain't my fault and i'm chosing to believe that Jimmy: fuck all of that but the last bit Jimmy: stay Jimmy: not wherever the fuck nowhere but Janis: with you Janis: i wanna Jimmy: then just do it Janis: okay Jimmy: you scared me, don't do that Janis: i didn't mean to Jimmy: you can take the dog but my dad would probably notice the others are missing eventually Jimmy: it's just a shit plan Janis: what about you Janis: can i take you Jimmy: where are we going? Janis: supposed to say it doesn't matter because i don't know Janis: anywhere Jimmy: I'd say it don't but I'd rather not come back here Jimmy: the cows are a bit Janis: bovine Jimmy: I don't know what the fuck that means Jimmy: but if it's weird not in the good way my girlfriend is, then yeah Janis: just means like a cow, tbh, like when someone's dead slow and unmoving, bit thick Janis: Mia 'cos she's puking up her brain cells at this point Jimmy: & that girl who follows her round the most Janis: big one? Jimmy: the other 💀 one Janis: ahh, yeah Janis: fucking herd Janis: gracie is just a stupid duckling that imprinted and thinks she's a cow whilst she's waddling after 'em like Janis: 🙄 Jimmy: Pete could write a #sick song 'bout that Jimmy: hit him up Janis: ha Jimmy: hang on Jimmy: got shit on my shoe, gotta get the first tweet in Jimmy: 🎻🎻🎻 Janis: good luck getting signal Janis: i reckon i know where you are, work on how you're gonna chat him up for tix so i can sit her front row for the drag of the century tah Jimmy: #willthemiseryeverrelent? Jimmy: 💔💔 Jimmy: maybe we should see a show for real Jimmy: could be a laugh Janis: Yeah Janis: why not Janis: just remember you promised Jimmy: work on our heckles Jimmy: just don't get too jealous of my 😍😍 when they ain't aimed at you Jimmy: what did I promise? Janis: exactly that motherfucker 😒 Janis: no indie bands for you if this is how you're gonna be Jimmy: threesome or nowt, I hear you Janis: with your taste? nowt Jimmy: you love Pete Jimmy: what you chatting Janis: He's the only exception, I've told you many times Janis: special 💕 Jimmy: & I've only got eyes for you & him Jimmy: Barry when I'm wasted Janis: mhmm Janis: likely story, slag Jimmy: keep wounding me Jimmy: near death Jimmy: can't go on Janis: go find a girl with quirky coloured hair to cry on Jimmy: these cows are gonna eat me when I hit the ground so unlikely Jimmy: but a boy can dream Janis: 🖕 they're herbivores, you dickhead Janis: how you like your women too, I'm sure Jimmy: give a shit what they eat Jimmy: cows or girls Jimmy: both are eyeing me all the time Jimmy: like they wanna make something happen Janis: genuinely hate you Janis: so much i'm not walking to the end of this lane, come here if you're not a loitering murderer i'm looking at rn Jimmy: 💕 Jimmy: there's the romantic I fell for Janis: yeah yeah Jimmy: baby, take a step for me Jimmy: go on Janis: don't baby me Janis: you said you'd be nice Janis: 😠 Jimmy: alright, Janis take a step for me Jimmy: please Janis: [Does, a tiny one] Jimmy: [walks the rest of the way up to her & kisses her 'cause well that's just how he do] Janis: [casually covered in his blood, hot, touches where the split is gently and licks her finger after] Janis: let's go clean you up Jimmy: just Jimmy: [has to kiss her again harder cos wouldn't we all] Janis: yeah Janis: now let me be good and fix this Jimmy: You already are Jimmy: let me have Jimmy: [more kisses cos where is the chill on any given day] Janis: I want more Janis: but I don't wanna hurt you Jimmy: you won't Janis: [is kissing his neck 'cos safer] Jimmy: [enjoy his reaction cows 'cos we know he's living for it] Janis: [so many little kisses] Janis: is it just there or are there any bruises I need to miss too Jimmy: I don't know Jimmy: which sounds like a line to make you find out but I don't Janis: I'll be careful then Janis: check you thoroughly later, obviously Jimmy: it's a blur now Jimmy: like it didn't happen but obviously Janis: Yeah Janis: you don't have to think about it right now, if you don't want Jimmy: & I feel like I've been walking to find you for half the day Janis: I promise it weren't that long Janis: middle of nowhere and lost though you are Jimmy: I'm just saying I don't know what's my dad & what's how unfit I am Janis: It's alright, can work it out together Janis: and go slow now I've ascertained you aren't bleeding out Jimmy: can we stay here for a bit Jimmy: not ages just Janis: if you've got over your moophobia Janis: 'course Jimmy: you'll protect me Janis: yes baby Jimmy: [kisses her again 'cause we all know that was multi-layered chat thank you] Janis: sit down though Janis: [puts her jacket down 'cos remember when yes you do it wasn't that long ago] Jimmy: [sits but pulls her into his lap 'cause obviously] Jimmy: alright Janis: am now Janis: you? Jimmy: am now Jimmy: [is just touching her hair so gently 'cause fave like soz for the state of his hands probably babe] Janis: [motions that he should lift his arms so she can take his top off him carefully 'cos already bloody and uses it to wipe away the blood that has dried around his eyes] Jimmy: [does & tries not to visibly wince cos hard & northern but actually a soft boy so] Janis: [gives him neck and shoulder massages when she's done, as she's putting his top back on Janis: there Janis: might not have got lost if you could see better Jimmy: I'll use that excuse, tah Janis: allow it Janis: and i ain't telling Jimmy: me either Jimmy: twitter don't need to know everything Jimmy: bit of blasphemy Janis: alright Janis: no God in your house, you've told me Jimmy: I'll let the world know what a good nurse you are though Janis: Not letting just anyone bleed on me, you know Jimmy: sorry Jimmy: genuinely Janis: don't be Jimmy: there's so much Jimmy: [touches her face where some is but like not in a way he technically needs to after a sec 'cos I just have to bye] Janis: just looks it, head injuries always do Janis: you don't need stitches or nowt, I wouldn't be sat here if you did Janis: even if it's Janis: nice Jimmy: if I did I woulda had 'em first time Jimmy: do I need to be worried you're like an expert on head injuries for some reason Janis: 🔪🐰 Janis: told ya Jimmy: [actually lols] Janis: you're fucking cute Janis: do that again yeah Jimmy: you don't get to call me cute sitting there looking like that Jimmy: you're Jimmy: being really cute Janis: [makes a dorky face which she means to be ugly but come on] Janis: what about now? Jimmy: [kisses her 'cause can't like he gonna say some extra shit if I don't] Janis: [touches his lips after] Janis: i'm glad you don't have a fat lip Janis: it'd be really hard not to kiss you Janis: i might die Jimmy: I still would Jimmy: that hero 💪 Janis: 💕 Jimmy: but next time I'll tell him Janis: aim lower, right Janis: [points finger gun at his heart] Jimmy: that's your shot not his Jimmy: so be careful Janis: [crosses self, does scout's honour etc] Jimmy: [does a lil lol cos she a cute nerd] Janis: that might be one of my favourite noises you make Jimmy: don't commit yet Janis: i didn't Janis: sensible, me Jimmy: how sensible? Jimmy: you gonna stop me if I Jimmy: [is touching her in some saucy manner excuse you sir] Janis: very sensible Janis: be an idiot to stop you when Jimmy: when? Janis: when I missed you so much Jimmy: [starts kissing her neck & moving down her whole body, moving clothes out of his way as best he can 'cause missed her too obvs] Jimmy: what about now? Janis: [casually gripping onto his t-shirt really hard 'cos doesn't wanna hurt him but damn] Janis: Jimmy Jimmy: it's alright Janis: I'm meant to be Jimmy: I said, it's alright Jimmy: [carries on 'cause he's that dickhead] Janis: oh fuck Janis: don't start this somewhere we can't finish it again Jimmy: the cows aren't gonna tell us to stop Janis: so you trust 'em now do you Jimmy: I trust you Jimmy: [kisses her on the mouth before we know what's gonna happen oh boy] Janis: just tell me if I hurt you, okay? Jimmy: I told you, you won't Jimmy: trust yourself Jimmy: [starts from the top 'cause there & back at it again at Krispy Kreme] Janis: [starts unbuttoning him 'cos impatient] Jimmy: [likewise with whatever she's wearing 'cause he didn't ask like a phone sex line for once so idk] Janis: I want you so bad you know Jimmy: I can feel it Jimmy: but still like that you told me Janis: feel it some more Jimmy: [does] Janis: Shit Janis: That's so Jimmy: yeah Jimmy: I Janis: Please don't stop Jimmy: not now I've started, you know that Janis: yeah but promise Janis: I like it when you promise Jimmy: on what? a cow Jimmy: but alright Jimmy: [says that he promises out loud] Janis: [kisses him 'cos back at it again with nothing but ily to say] Jimmy: [lowkey drops his phone & don't even notice 'cause hot] Janis: [Hit 'em with an after 'cos] Jimmy: is it weird that we always type instead of just talking? Janis: probably but Janis: not like we do it when we're alone Janis: and not in public Jimmy: we're alone now Jimmy: are you counting the cows? Janis: yeah, they're people too, they don't need to hear me going all out Jimmy: bit late for that Jimmy: they heard everything Janis: shh Janis: never happened Jimmy: I just Jimmy: it's not 'cause Jimmy: you Janis: what? Janis: are you concussed? Janis: look at me Jimmy: you don't type it 'cause you can't delete what you chat before it comes out your mouth, do you? Jimmy: that's not the reason Janis: does it matter Jimmy: depends what the answer is Janis: then I won't answer Jimmy: that is an answer Jimmy: I'm not stupid Janis: no it isn't Janis: you can't assume that it's in favour of your bias just 'cos Jimmy: if you don't wanna tell me it's 'cause you think the answer is one I don't wanna hear Jimmy: & I know what I don't wanna hear Jimmy: so Janis: I don't wanna answer 'cos you said it mattered so either way Jimmy: self control yeah Jimmy: just edit it a bit Jimmy: I get it Janis: what you being like this for Jimmy: is it real or not? Jimmy: that's why it matters Janis: why would I fake fuck you Janis: what would be the point of that Janis: fucking hell Jimmy: you wouldn't but Jimmy: anything else you say to me Jimmy: are you just hitting delete on whatever you wanna say Jimmy: I'm just asking Janis: are you Janis: 'cos you seem to be more ready for this conversation than I am Jimmy: I asked you, don't turn it round on me 'cause you don't wanna tell me I'm right Janis: You aren't right Janis: can we go now Jimmy: I suppose Janis: what's the point in asking if you don't believe me anyway Jimmy: I never said I don't Janis: didn't have to Jimmy: I didn't mean to Janis: whatever Janis: come on Jimmy: [stops her 'cause boy you gotta fix this excuse you] Jimmy: not like this Janis: you said you ain't got nowhere else to go and i said you don't owe me nothing Jimmy: I'd rather stay here if that's what you reckon me going with you is Jimmy: whatever I've said Janis: don't be dramatic just Jimmy: It's not Jimmy: I care about you, alright Jimmy: that's why I asked Jimmy: & 'cause I trust you & that's not nowt to me Jimmy: it's bigger than like any of the rest of the bollocks of knowing someone Janis: alright Janis: just 'cos I hold back some things doesn't mean I'm lying or whatever you think it means Janis: we're not going that far back, you said, not everything has to be said for the shit that is to matter, does it Jimmy: loads of people have kept loads of shit from me & if you're gonna be another one then I just wanna know first this time that you are Jimmy: but nah I don't need your life story Janis: Well what do you need Janis: 'cos if you're gonna hold it against me when I tell you something later you wanted to know now then Jimmy: I'm not trying to be that dickhead Jimmy: It's just Jimmy: he's never not in my head Jimmy: my dad Jimmy: & that fucks things up sometimes, I know Jimmy: but me, I don't want to Janis: I know Janis: however much I don't know about the whole situation there, I know that Janis: I'm not holding that against you, am I Jimmy: you can Jimmy: I hurt you, you can hurt me Janis: I don't want to Janis: and you didn't Jimmy: a bit Janis: just shut up yeah Jimmy: just let me say sorry first Jimmy: 'cause I am Jimmy: I'm sorry Janis: alright Jimmy: [kisses her 'cause he's shit with words & so that's a better sorry] Janis: it's just been a shit day, yeah Jimmy: yeah Jimmy: but that's not an excuse Jimmy: I don't wanna do that Janis: can be Janis: it's valid Jimmy: I like you too much for that bollocks Jimmy: it's valid that I'm a dickhead & you can hate me a bit Jimmy: nowt else Janis: well I don't alright so stop Jimmy: [takes her hand & holds it] Jimmy: let's go then Janis: [drops hand 'cos not over it fully] Janis: can you just Janis: learn how to time this shit better Jimmy: It's not like there's a plan Janis: well this is the second time you've done this basically directly after so Janis: probably think about getting one Jimmy: I Jimmy: how else can I say I'm sorry? Janis: you can't Janis: just warning you, mood killer Jimmy: bollocks can't I Jimmy: come on Jimmy: whatever you want Janis: just wait like five minutes next time, yeah Jimmy: I'm not planning a next time Janis: fine Janis: [starts walking] Janis: keep up Jimmy: I'm going home Janis: are you serious Jimmy: like you said, it's been a shit day Janis: thanks a fucking lot Jimmy: I'm doing you a favor girl Jimmy: the mood's dead Janis: who asked you to Janis: and fuck you Jimmy: you're asking me Jimmy: I can actually read, like Janis: where Jimmy: 🙄 Janis: fuck off Janis: where Janis: I didn't Jimmy: get between the lines Janis: oh, all the stuff I didn't say, yeah? Janis: that's all you're concerned with now Jimmy: piss off Jimmy: no Jimmy: you've said enough to be going on with Jimmy: I made it too weird, it's not on you anyway Janis: Jesus Christ Janis: seriously Janis: just stop, come on Jimmy: I can't Jimmy: what are you doing here? Jimmy: you're Jimmy: & I'm just Janis: What do you mean what am I doing here? Janis: we're Janis: I'm your girlfriend Janis: and not such a shitty fucking person I wanna see you go back to your Dad so he can make your day worse what the actual fuck Janis: how is that not on me, that you'd rather Jimmy: I want you to want me to stay 'cause you do Jimmy: not 'cause he's a fucking dick Jimmy: but now you don't Jimmy: 'cause I'm as much of a dick Janis: how many times and ways can I tell you I do Janis: and you ain't Janis: this is a ridiculous conversation Jimmy: [this boy is lowkey about to cry my soft son] Jimmy: I don't know what to do Jimmy: [sits] Janis: [sits with] Janis: Jimmy Janis: I'm sorry Janis: can't we just agree to forget about it Jimmy: [puts his head on her shoulder cos v sad] Janis: Tell me what to do for you, babe Jimmy: don't leave Jimmy: I'm sorry I fucked it up but don't Janis: I ain't Janis: it's alright Janis: I mean it Janis: nothing that ain't fixable Jimmy: so let me know how to fix it Janis: just don't go home Jimmy: I can't Jimmy: I don't know why I said that Jimmy: proof that I'm not censoring myself I suppose Janis: I know you aren't Janis: you don't have to, I know I Janis: probably overreact to shit sometimes Jimmy: [actually lols again cos same bitch] Jimmy: me too Jimmy: you said, thank fuck nobody was relying on you or whatever when I was talking about Bobby & Cass before Jimmy: I'm not trying to be a burden of bollocks for you today Jimmy: that's it Janis: [lols with] Janis: You aren't Janis: I was just trying to show I knew I had it easier in that respect Janis: I think Jimmy: I've fucked your day up from getting sacked onward Jimmy: you don't need it Janis: well I want it so deal with it Jimmy: [looks at her with love bitch] Janis: [makes stupid face again like 'what' 'cos cannot deal] Jimmy: [kisses her cos likewise can't deal & will say highkey shit] Janis: Are you ready now? Jimmy: [kisses her again cos cheeky like that] Jimmy: am now Jimmy: are you ready to get drunk with some other dickheads? Janis: as long as one of 'em is you Jimmy: top dickhead me Jimmy: king of Janis: I'll allow it Jimmy: 👍 Jimmy: we need to sort ourselves out first we look mad Janis: bit halloween for april maybe Jimmy: only a bit Jimmy: [takes a quick pic of her so she can see how much blood is on her] Janis: Well, if I didn't love myself before Janis: 😍 Jimmy: I like it but Jimmy: I'm weird Janis: you're embracing it now, yeah Jimmy: maybe Jimmy: for right now Janis: gonna lose it's sting as an insult but Janis: I like it Jimmy: I'll think of a new one Jimmy: it's alright Janis: your creativity knows no bounds, babe Jimmy: gotta stay #goals Jimmy: & keep my muse in a job Jimmy: one of us needs to be working Janis: a suitably #richgirl 'job' Janis: one notch above calling myself an 'influencer' still, thank God Jimmy: if I draw you an artsy nude so you can keep your actual of twitter, will you love me madly again? Janis: perhaps Janis: if you're gonna make me look like an old man then no Jimmy: 👌 it'll be my masterpiece Jimmy: no wrinkles just blood, 'cause your #kink Janis: you like it too shut up Jimmy: could be from Mia's severed head Jimmy: everybody'd like it then Janis: Hot Janis: I'd really love you forever then Jimmy: 👍 Jimmy: consider it done Janis: [Gets up and puts out a hand to pull him up] Jimmy: [takes her hand 'cause he WANNA HOLD IT] Janis: I promised to patch you up Janis: and give you a blowjob, actually so Janis: get a wriggle on Jimmy: you could've got out of that Jimmy: I didn't remember Janis: 💔 Janis: literally Jimmy: I wouldn't forget it once it happened Jimmy: that's the real 💔 Janis: I won't feel sorry for you, boy Janis: the cheek, not to remember everything I say Janis: how un #goals of you Jimmy: you distracted me with a lot of #goals shit you did right here Jimmy: in my defense Janis: I don't know if we're allowing it Janis: I'll consult the girls Jimmy: baby Jimmy: please Janis: You know that actually works on me Janis: how shaming Jimmy: [whispers it in her ear too 'cause he's a dickhead] Jimmy: how do you feel now instead? Janis: I really cannot go down on you right here Janis: I draw the line so stop please Jimmy: [sexy little earlobe moment 'cause he's a shit] Jimmy: 👌 Janis: Um, no you don't Janis: [Pulls him back and kisses him] Jimmy: make your mind up, girl Jimmy: stopping or starting Janis: Your fault Jimmy: I was making you feel no shame Jimmy: you're welcome Janis: Hmm 😑 Janis: you're very Jimmy: do I wanna know Janis: you know you wanna know everything Jimmy: but we should go before it gets properly dark Janis: why, you scared Jimmy: piss off am I Jimmy: but I do remember you saying you wanted to see me when you were blowing me so Jimmy: not using all my battery on the torch Jimmy: don't like you that much Janis: 😏 Janis: suddenly he remembers Jimmy: shut up Jimmy: the kiss brought it back to me Janis: not gonna have you claiming amnesia from this Janis: calling bullshit right now Jimmy: 😂 Janis: can't be throwing out that many cliches Janis: even these morons will cotton on Jimmy: me? cliched Jimmy: leave it out Janis: 😶 Jimmy: if they made a flick on my life dickhead's be saying that don't happen Jimmy: #original Janis: send the screenplay in to my little brother then Janis: I'll check it out some time Jimmy: I'll get on that now I got all this free time Janis: man of leisure Jimmy: gonna have to do my homework Jimmy: no excuses Jimmy: 🎻🎻 Janis: ew Janis: i'm not doing it with you Jimmy: come over & we'll say we're doing it Jimmy: 😏😏 Janis: that's more like it, nerd Jimmy: you're a nerd Janis: I am not Janis: 👊🍱💰 Jimmy: [playfully shoves her] Jimmy: the fact you reckon that's the kind of lunch I'm taking Jimmy: sort it out, rich girl Janis: [shoulder barges back but gentle 'cos careful girl] Janis: I was very limited by emojis Janis: and did not stalk you, so Janis: I'll ask Gracie Jimmy: you coulda done 🍕🍞🍟🧀 you weirdo Jimmy: even 🥗 Janis: yeah right 😂 Jimmy: what you laughing for? Jimmy: you coulda even done 🍽 Jimmy: you fucked up, nerd Janis: you don't eat salads Janis: you rude bitch Jimmy: I don't eat whatever the fuck emoji you went with Jimmy: [does a hair ruffle like he's Tess in the past & she's Fraze but he's a pisstaking fool] Janis: it was a box i was aiming for lunch box Janis: 😡 Janis: [does face] Jimmy: [lols again cos she cute] Janis: Don't think you can cute your way outta this Jimmy: what if I'm hot? Janis: wouldn't that be the dream Janis: c'est la vie, nerd Jimmy: 💔💔💔 Janis: Poor baby Jimmy: I'm in so much pain now Jimmy: brutal Jimmy: 🎻🎻🎻🎻 Janis: [kisses him but pulls on his pouty lip] Jimmy: 😳 Janis: So cute Jimmy: [kisses her cos she's cute & hot & the dream bye] Janis: Okay Janis: you're hot too Jimmy: 👌 Jimmy: now we've established that, come on Janis: 👌 Jimmy: 👍

[bluboothalassophile]

Oh man JayRae and 🌾 I NEED that sweet lil hayride FLUFF

Hello,

I can totally do that, though I don’t know how fluffy this is by your standards.

The King of Fuck Ups & the Queen of Hell…

“And we’re here, why?” Raven asked, focusing on her corn on astick.

“Cause this is what Bats dragged us off to do,” Jason grumbled.She slammed her elbow in his stomach which had him glaring at her. Innocentlyshe took another bite of her corn.

“Cause it’s fun,” Tim answered.

“Well, that’s not what I mean, I get why you’re here,” sheanswered. “I mean why am I here? I’m not family.”

“Cause, this is fun, and you’re honorary family. Cass and Stephanieinvited you,” Tim reminded her.

“Yes, and I just got back from Wally and Artemis’ wedding. Ihave school.”

“Live a little.”

“And If I Have To Be Here, You Do Too.” Jason growledmenacingly which had her frowning as she looked up at him.

“I don’t scare, I’m a demon, not a weak little girl,” Raven growledback.

“Little bird, I am not going to hell alone.”

“I’m the Queen, do honestly think you can keep me trapped inhell?” Raven demanded.

“Yes. Yes I Can.”

“Oh, hayride! Let’s go!” Raven decided smugly grabbing his armas she dragged Jason after her. There was no way she was going to pass up the opportunityto make his life miserable after all the crap she had endure because of hisscrewy family.

“No.”

“Jason. Peter. Todd. You. Owe. Me.” Raven growled at him asshe saw eyes landing on them, Jason hid a bit more under his Gotham Knight hat.

“I hate you.”

“You adore me, so come along minion,” she countered as shedragged him along.

“Advisor,” he disgruntledly corrected as he caught her waistand picked her up onto the hay ride before she grabbed his hand so he followed.

“You wish.”

“I’m warning you, just cause you’re the queen does not meanyou get to demote me at whim.”

“Fine, you can remain an advisor,” Raven sighed as she sat almoston Jason’s lap; there was no room with the other people here. Jason just sighedand she squeaked when she was tugged down onto his lap, his arms looping aroundher waist as his chin rested on her head.

“You’re a pain in the ass little bird,” he muttered.

“This from you?” she sputtered. His amusement was rollingoff him in waves, she could almost see his shit face grin and she kind ofwanted to punch him for that grin; though she couldn’t see it.

“Hey, how was New Mexico?” he asked.

“It was… good,” she sighed just leaning on him now. “Reallygood. Unnervingly good. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing.”

“It was good, sunshine,” he pointed out.

“True, but I mean, given my history, good stuff never stayslong.”

“Look at you brother and moms,” he countered.

“All of them picked me. They had a choice, Alice and thefamily, they’re related to me whether they like that or not, and as they saw, I’m…I…” she sighed.

“You’re a Queen Rae,” he reminded her.

“Queen of Hell,” she snorted.

“Semantics,” he dismissed. “And after all the pushing you doon me about my family I’ll push this to annoy you.”

“You would,” she sighed.

“So do you like them?”

“I don’t think like is the operative word, Jay.”

“Then what is?”

“I think I’m… fascinated by them. They were… Alice isnothing like my mother, and yet there’s this fire in her that’s so much likewhat my mother had,” Raven admitted. “She also reminds me of my mother,” shewhispered.

“Nothing wrong with that.”

“I know. But… being around me, Mary’s… magic manifested,”she said in a hushed tone.

“Roy said something like that, said there was a school in Louisianashe was offered to go to too.”

“I know, but… Jay, magic like that, it wasn’t… it wasdormant, she was normal, she was free, and then she hangs around me and… nowshe’s not…” she managed awkwardly not wanting to draw attention to themselves.

“You can’t blame yourself for magic, little bird. You’repractically walking magic,” he said smugly.

“That’s not the point Jason, she was normal. She was a normalthirteen year old girl, who didn’t have to deal with that sort of responsibilitynor did she have to have the crushing weight of the truth shoved on hershoulders about my magic. I destroyed her innocence,” Raven murmured.

“I doubt that. Look, I don’t know much about thesupernatural or the magic of the world Rae, but you, you are magic, and you don’truin things by being magic,” he said and she looked up at her best friend now. “Takeit from the King of Fuck Ups, you’re in the clear Queen.”

“And now I remember how charming you are when you’reschmoozing it on.”

“I’m schmoozing nothing, little bird!” he squawked.

“You know, I still think you’re the best friend I’ve everhad.”

“So you forgive me for stealing your book and mind and I’moff the shit list to live my life in peace as a Tibetan Buddhist Monk?”

“Not a chance.”

“Fuck, it was worth a shot.”

“Thanks Jay.”

“For what?”

“For being my best friend.”

“I don’t do chick flick moments, but right back at you, andwe are never letting the demon brat find out about this or he’ll think up more decrepitthings than the mistletoe and KissCam,” Jason sighed.

“We gotta figure out how to get him to stop that,” Raven admitted.

“Until the little gremlin actually gets pervy we can leavehim to his decrepit fantasies.”

“They’re getting annoying.”

“True, but we’re cool so why worry about the demon spawn?”

“I’d be insulted, but I know what you mean.”

“Besides, it’s not like we’re ever going to be more thanbest friends, so he won’t succeed.”

“True, he’s still an annoying little gremlin.”

“Ah-ha! So you admit he’s a gremlin!”

“I’ve never denied it.”

“Then what the hell are the rest of us!?”

“Dick’s an angel, Tim’s a vampire, Damian’s a gremlin, Terry’sa werewolf, Cass is a fairy, Stephanie is an agent of Chaos, Helena is ananimagus, Mar’i’s a sprite, and Duke’s obvious some sort of wizard.”

“What the hell am I!?”

“I thought it was obvious you were a Zombie.”

“Bloody demon, I’d feast on your brains first!”

“It’s only embarrassing that you’re a zombie and you havenever thought your family’s brains are appealing.”

“They don’t have brains. It requires an iota of commonsense, they obviously have none.”

“Well, as the Queen I ‘d advise you to look else where foryour brain fetish.”

“It’s a feast. And why!? You’re be so tasty with how smartyou are!” he whined.

“They’re safely tucked away, in a different book.”

“The travesty of that.”

“But you see, they’re safe, you’d never harm a book!” shemocked the challenge.

“Well, if I ate your brains, I’d be stuck with nitwitsanyway, and that’s a travesty I cannot handle little bird. All my stimulatingcompany narrows to just Alfred, and he’s a god, but busy.”

“And this is why I’m the Queen.”

“The Black Queen on the chess board.”

“I could be the White Queen!”

“Love, you are neither blonde enough, nor are you sluttyenough to be the White Queen.”

“Are you mocking me?”

“No. Merely stating facts, and hey, look, a scarecrow. Can Imail that to Arkham?”

“And you wonder why people have issues with Gotham.”

“I’ve never wondered!”

“Uh-huh. At least my Mets don’t suck balls like the GothamKnights.”

“You’re fitting dirty demon, don’t start something we can’tfinish.”

“Test me, human.”

[amytaylcr]

needs & wants

TAGGING → @casskaykingston LOCATION → Amy’s apartment TIMEFRAME → Thursday, January 24th

The day seemed to drag on unbearably long that Thursday night. Having a steady job, getting accustomed to working nine to five every day was an effort, even for those who liked their job, like Amy. Not only did it give her a sense of purpose and accomplishment, but it provided her with new challenges, new obstacles to overcome and focus her energies on, and it had honestly been so long since the last time she had that that Amy was reminiscent of a child about to enter Disney world and have the time of their life. The company at work was no small feature, either, as Annabel didn’t make it feel like a chore, like something that had to be done, but rather something you wanted to do. It was a talent not many people had, the knack to inspire the same kind of loyalty and devotion in others as one felt, and Amy counted her blessings for hounding Sydney at the gala about her former job. Brooks’s younger sister might have left some big shoes to fill, but Amy had every intention of living up to that legacy and making her own. It was what she had been craving for in her life in such a long time that it seemed impossible to tear her focus away from it, even in the romantic department.

Yes, the new job and the new apartment had brought about some new challenges to her dynamic with Cass. The choice of place for sleeping over, dinner date, or just regular hanging out had always fallen on the blonde’s property for the simple reason they didn’t really have anywhere else, and it was the perfect space on top of that, too. Now, however, there were two variables in that equation, and choosing one wasn’t as simple anymore. They both had jobs, obligations, habits that were not easily broken, and though Amy’s were very much in their infancy, they had the special brand that came with life-changing steps. They were, however, working out a system and it was that which found them in the kitchenette of her new apartment that evening, cooking dinner and sharing stories.

“So, yeah, long story short, I’m kinda thinking Claire and Anna are perfect for each other and I can’t wait to see what happens there,” Amy finished her bit about setting up her two friends as she diced tomatoes above a salad bowl as Cass tended to the shrimp frying on the stove. “Oh! And, oh my god, I can’t believe I forgot to tell you this,” she turned excitedly to her boyfriend, a bright, conspiratorial grin tugging at her lips. “Remember how Andrew and Iris attended the gala for all of five minutes before Iris got sick and they had to leave? Well, guess who was right in their assumption that our dear friend has another bun in the oven!” The playful wiggle of her eyebrows was clearly meant to suggest that the answer was Amelia Taylor.

It's a funny thing when something you're proud of someone for getting, something that makes them so happy and makes you happy in relation, still has the power to make you kind of sad. That was the tricky relationship Cass now had with Amy's new job and new life, though his complete feelings on the matter he'd never disclose to the woman currently making dinner with him, hair that now brushed her shoulders in a messy bun while she makes dinner with him. Amy's hazel eyes shine as she talks, their conversations during dinner one of the things he never really expected to look forward to and love so much. They got to discuss their days while doing something together, time with her that Cass found even more precious now that their lives had adjusted to first her new job and then her new apartment. What had first had a simple answer, his place, had changed into two possible ones, a development that, while he didn't begrudge her, he did miss her. Missed the guarantee that if she was spending the night, it would be in his bed, wrapped around her in sheets that smelled like them, waking up to her gorgeous face. Missed her making his place feel more like home than any other he'd been. As selfish as he felt on the inside, Cass let none of it show on the outside. He committed her new address to memory, brought over clothing to fill a drawer at her place. There were no limits of compromises he'd make for her, if Cass was being honest.  And he was proud of her. So proud. Even if it tasted bittersweet.

He pushed his turning golden shrimp around the pan with a spatula, the sizzle and scent of the spices a pleasant background to their conversation, the sleeves of a forest green button down rolled to his elbows. A chuckle leaves Cass's mouth when he hears more about the diabolical plan of setting Anna and Claire up, though he's a supporter of the plan. "Me either. Please keep me updated if Claire doesn't." His deep voice rumbles, popping a shrimp into his mouth for taste. Turning to her, he chokes for a second on it when Amy adds that Iris and Andrew are, in fact, expecting, an altogether too familiar feeling spreading through his chest. First joy, reflecting how happy he was for them, and then longing, a gut punch that he'd long since trained not to show on his face. "That's amazing. I'm sure the two of them are over the moon." Cass gets out once he swallows, keeping the touch of sadness out of his smile better than he usually could when keeping things from her. A shake of his head at the eyebrow wiggle and he turns back to his food, not wanting to make it burn. Fighting on the inside for a moment, unsure of what to bring up, words come to his mouth unbidden. "You remember the conversation we had when we were becoming friends? It's crazy how much has changed since then." Sure he might be trying to lead to something, but the thirty two year old man wasn't wrong. Everything, it seemed, had changed since then. Maybe Cass was just curious as to how much.

Back before Cass, in those dark days when she had been condemned to just her own sour company, Amy never minded other people’s business. Her logic seemed simple enough: if she stayed out of theirs, they would stay out of hers and that was that. And then Cass came along, cracked open the hard shell in which she had cramped herself, and somehow that little world was no longer enough for her. The happiness he brought her was unparalleled, and she only wanted all of her friends to experience that same level of joy themselves. If they needed a little nudge on that, well this Amy was more than happy to oblige. And the fact that Cass enjoyed a little gossip and match-making himself only bode well for them. They were always down with another couple to hang out with. And, secretly, Amy hoped for the strain that existed between Cass and Anna due to his dumb, alpha male behavior would eventually be put aside for something akin to friendship. She could hardly think of two people less hardwired to hold grudges than Anna and Cass, after all. “I’ll keep you posted,” she said with a wink, snatching a piece of tomato and popping it in her mouth to munch on. Her appetite had also suffered some changes with the growing happiness: her love of food and intake growing in proportion with the smiles on her face. Playfully, she smacked Cass’s behind when he stole a golden shrimp, mostly because he hadn’t offered her a bite and not that he’d done it in the first place. “Hey, thief, leave something for the rest of us.”

Oblivious to all that was going through Cass’s mind, Amy walked over to the fridge and pulled out some lettuce and got to sprinkling some more on top of the salad bowl, nodding her head eagerly. “They are. And I am, for them. Sophie’s gonna love having a sibling, too,” she added with a soft smile, thinking about the little girl, the spitting image of Iris (and Harlow, Andrew’s sister, as most people agreed). The trip down memory lane was not uncommon for them, usually one to bring them joy as they reveled in all the obstacles they’ve overcome with time, but in this particular instance Amy wasn’t entirely sure which conversation he was referring to. “Which one was it?” She wondered idly, adding a dash of olive oil to the salad. “We’ve had a few, you know.”

How his girlfriend managed to be sexy and adorable at the same time, Cass didn't know. But she did it effortlessly, much the way she had since the first time she'd fully relaxed around him, a memory that he cherished. She winks at him, sampling their dinner wares, and his heart makes like a helium balloon once more, a reaction that only Amy and Hudson seemed to easily draw forth from him. He receives the butt slap with a chuckle, inwardly still pleased she thought he had a cute butt. Everyone liked compliments after all, and Cass was no exception. "I'd like to see you make me. Don't judge me for trying to make sure my half of dinner is good, okay?" The tall man responds with a quirk up of his lips, light catching on his sky blue eyes. Two chews and a quick swallow and Cass can tell that they're done, moving the pan to an unused and unoccupied burner, turning off the one he'd used, wiping his hands on her dishtowels. As happy as he is for Sophie having a sibling, Cass's mind is on other things now, striving to explain a subject he's not sure how to bring up. Especially since Amy didn't seem to know where he was headed. Leaning against her counter, arms folded, Cass rubbed a hand on his bearded chin. "We have had a few." His deep voice concedes. "But specifically, when we talked about kids. Wanting them or not. Remember?" He did. Even if the memory did not kill the daydreams of a family that his mind liked forming, Cass did. Never let it be said that the man doesn't listen.

“You know I’d do it and probably succeed so don’t test me, Kingston,” she said pointedly, following her warning with a wink. Between the two of them it was difficult to say whose competitive streak was worse, and they tended to like making games out of these challenges that rose out of nowhere. Many a time it lead them right into each other’s naked embrace and for some much appreciated sexual release, and who could blame her for inching them closer to that divine ledge? Especially when it would steer them far away from the topic Cass was trying to start, sending her heart into a frenzied, hammering pace, and sinking her gut to the soles of her feet. Kids. Damn it, she really had to bring up Iris and the baby on the way? Cass and Amy had gone three months without tackling the subject and she was more than fine with it going unaddressed for many months to come, but she knew Cass had other plans. The look in his eyes, the cold hard steel behind the azure of his gaze always a reminder she couldn’t weasel her way out easily. “I remember,” she nodded her head, grabbing the salad and taking it to the small table by the wall where two plates had already been set for them. “It was the first time I’ve had your mother’s strawberry lemonade and it changed my life for good.”

As much as Casfs liked to test her, to see how far she wanted to push things and respond in kind, he didn't want that right now. If she pressed hard enough to distract him, the broad and built man would have caved as he always would, weak at the hands of her dimples and smile. This was a topic that meant something to him, an issue he held close to his soul and meant something to his future. Their future. Even if the two of them didn't like conflict, even if he knew this might not be a topic Amy particularly wanted to talk about. Cass transfers the seafood from the pan into a bowl and follows her, his gaze saying things that his mouth hadn't yet. She tries to change the subject subtly, a compliment that, if she'd heard it, Olivia would glow to hear, but Cass is stubborn. He doesn't want to avoid it. "That it did. I also seemed to remember that you said you couldn't imagine yourself having kids." Amy had also called her life a mess, and that was something that it wasn't now, as she'd gained all sorts of things since then. So sue him if he wanted to know if her plans had changed. Much in the way his had morphed when they'd gotten together. "Do you still feel like that?"

The competitive streak wasn't the only thing they seemed to be tied at. Their stubbornness was also a quality in which they matched each other perfectly, in that they were both so persistent with what they thought and wanted that it was near impossible to break the vicious cycle of back and forth. Amy was reminded of it all yet again when Cass pressed on with the subject of children, even though he must have caught onto her attempts at steering the conversation away from it. Knowing it would be impossible to avoid now, Amy chewed on her lip as she took her seat at the table, noodles already split between their two plates, and she added the shrimp on top of it, biding her time. "I haven't thought about it, Cass. I don't think about it. I'm trying to take my life one step at a time, and not drive myself crazy with plans and thoughts about the future that can only go awry once I think of them." It might have sounded harsh, admitting she still refused thoughts about the future even when they snuck up to her in the middle of the night, especially to the man who could very well be at the center of that future but it was better than lying to him. Better than pulling wool over his eyes about matters she wasn't ready to face only to let him down later on.

If Cass had been an animal, his hackles would had risen at the quiet and yet not so quiet defensiveness in her tone that arrives with her response, delivered only after bought time. Once again, she was cutting off their possibilities, placing a restriction on what their relationship could be. Could grow into. Words drift to him, reminders of a time in a different kitchen when she'd claimed "if they were together". This was a different, far more serious handicap. The thirty two year old man knows the tells of the woman he loves by now, registers the currently being abused lip and lack of eye contact as uncomfortableness and defensiveness, and if it had been another issue, he would have backed down. That day, however, wasn't today. He takes the other seat, dark gold beard framing lips that thinned in a touch of consternation. "I'm not trying to make any plans. But we can't even talk about it?" He presses slightly, gripping his fork. "It's not a step we'd take anytime soon, if at all, so no plans are going awry. I want to talk about it. At least open the discussion." Yes, Cass is pushing harder that he normally would. But, also, yes, he doesn't agree that she gets to single handedly end their conversation about it because she doesn't want to to think of the future because dammit Cass does. 50% of who'd be sharing that future wants to know.

Gone was the lighthearted atmosphere that prevailed when they were preparing the meal. They laughed, joked, talked about things that didn't seem to matter but still needed to be said, and Amy relished in those easy moments. Her shoulders were relaxed, her smile quick, and there were no worry lines etched into her forehead. But a weight, dark and heavy, hovered above them like a rainy cloud as Cass pressed on with his questions, and panic rose in her chest, swift and consuming as ever. The future, that darkness she could never see into, not even a glimpse. No, that, was a lie. She could glimpse shapes and silhouettes now that Cass brought life into her life, but she was still feeling her way through the dark, keeping her eyes shut closed. Was it loyalty to Brooks, or was it maybe fear of losing it all once again? The white picket fence, the plans for the future, the children and a storied life she would share with them? Laughter wheezed out from her chest, near hysteric and defensive. "Cass, come on. We've been together for three months. Are you not happy with how things are?"

Now, a bit, he realizes how naive it was for him to think their problems would fade after they said those all important three words. I love you was the beginning of new stages, new conversations, ones that Amy did not want to talk about or have for reasons that still eluded Cass's mind. Would he have to run into another burning building to open the possibility of kids? Did she always need a huge event to prompt accepting or embracing whatever next step they could take? Amy’s laugh is too high pitched, too strained, a far cry from the light giggles she'd been making not fifteen minutes before. He's silent for a moment, blue eyes locked on her face and the gaze that wouldn't meet his, a breathe pushed roughly out between his lips. "Yes, I'm happy-" Although I'd be happier if you were the home I always got to go back to. "-but that's not why I want to to talk about kids. I'm not saying let's go make a baby right now, I just want to know if you've pictured a future with us that includes another. I want to have the conversation, even if you clearly don't want to." It sounds more bullheaded than Cass thinks he means, but it's out there now, fingers wrapping too tightly around the utensil. Somewhere in the back of his head a little voice asks if this is a fight and if this has been the longest they've gone without one of these. And if they'd ever stop coming. His heart stuffs a gag on that voice’s mouth, but the question lurks, remaining, if Cass ever decided to acknowledge it existed.

When they started preparing the meal, the delicious smells of food wafting through the air, Amy worried they did not buy enough for the both of them. She was so hungry, ready to wolf down more than her share of the meal, and her stomach made it known more than once during the cooking stages. But now that they were sat at the table, the food cooling on their plates, her insides were all knotted up, twisted in ways that would prevent food from ever reaching its destination. Anxiety seized her gut, clenched its cold, hard fist around her throat, and despite the pleasantly warm temperature of the apartment, her palms were cold and clammy. The idea of putting food into her mouth had never been less appealing than in that moment as Cass, once more in the course of their relationship, tried to move them forward and Amy stomped her feet stubbornly in place. No, I'm not moving, the stubborn, petulant child within her wanted to scream as Cass pulled her forward closer to where he was at. The proclamation of his happiness didn't feel real whatsoever when uttered in that frustrated tone, and she caught lightning flash in the stormy blue of his gaze, making her aware of the nerves she struck. Would they ever move at a pace that worked for the both of them, or were they doomed to taking one step forward and two steps back every time they wanted to make progress? Though, in all honesty, it felt like Amy was taking her steps but Cass was leaping  over his own and expecting her to follow suit.

"Of course I've pictured a future, Cass," she snapped, setting down her fork and instantly regretting it. Without the metal object to close around, her hands now trembled, begging for something to steady them. "But a future that's within the next few months. The 'what are we going to do for Valentine's Day' kind of future. Or 'where our next trip might be'. Kids? I haven't thought that far ahead, and I'd love it if you didn't push me on this one and let me come to it in my own time, for once." Another regret, one she couldn't take back, no matter how harsh the words.

In her own time. The last time he'd stepped back, let her have the reins, all of it, it had been months before he'd seen her again in any sort of positive way. It was easy to lose sight of those cold weeks, his downward spiral and painfully slow climb back up in the face of the happiness he'd been experiencing recently, leagues more than he'd ever thought he'd have. Said happiness wasn't quite in the room right now, an example of looking a gift horse in the mouth and pushing to talk about things that perhaps a more sensible person could see might be too soon, but that was not the man at the table with Amy. This one had more clear-headed thoughts blocked by the fog of a ticking clock, each tick a reminder of the time slipping out of his grasp. Their food quickly becomes a background to the discussion they're sharing, forgotten on their plates after all the warm and golden feelings that had surrounded the making of it now nowhere to be fine. A slice of flint slides into his clear blues when Amy moves straight from panicked to accusatory and testy, his legs shifting uncomfortably under the table and lips thinning out more. She wasn't going to make this easy, he could see now. A prickly situation he had no one but himself to blame for, blame that would for certain make itself known once the red had faded. "Okay. So if it's in your own time, when is that? Next month? Next year? I'm not asking you for promises or definitive plans, I just want to open the goddamn conversation." He exclaims, frustration curling up into words, letting go of the fork so he can fold his arms over his chest. "I'm sorry I don't give you enough time to respond to the steps my heart is taking without you. And thanks, so much, for letting me know that a month is the farthest you can plan in advance with me, even after everything."

Wasn't it enough, all the steps she'd taken to recovery, all the effort she put into getting better, into being ready for something good in her life? It wasn't all for Cass, no, the majority was for herself, but he still played a significant role in the ordeal. He was the nudge she needed to break out of the prison she's held the key to all this time, he was the one who made her feel like she was worth all that she had denied herself, and yet every time she offered him an inch, he wanted to take a mile it felt. Perhaps it was necessary, otherwise they would not have moved at all, but was it really this urgent? To talk about children and a future three months into a relationship? Yes, it's been going on for longer than that if she dared to consider the weeks of happiness preceding the darkness of the late summer, but it was still the speed of light compared to what she was used to. Cass barricaded his heart folding his arms on his chest, and the thin line of his mouth threatened to swallow his lips entirely as he processed her insensitive words. How did they get there, when not ten minutes ago they were smiling? Was it all called for, or did something altogether different elevate the stress levels and bring them to the ledge far sooner than it would have under any other circumstances?

Amy shook her head, a humorless laugh parting her mouth. "Don't do that, don't put words in my mouth. I said months, and even that is leagues beyond what I had been capable of doing not too long ago. Why can't that be enough? I'm not you, Cass. My dreams right now are about staying sober, staying clean, keeping my job and my life in line, being happy with you just as we are. I can't put a timestamp on when I'll be ready, it's not something I can predict. And what if I'm never ready? You want to open a discussion, but you don't want to hear that I might never be in the same place as you are, and I don't want to tell you that."

Amy wasn't wrong. You'd have to pry Cass's mouth open and drag the words from his lips if you tried to make him admit this at this very moment, but she'd made leaps and bounds from the person he'd known even six months ago. The Amy he'd met at that fence side had grown into this one before him, now possessing a normally happy aura if he was involved and much more open heart wise and life wise, the journey from accusing him of making her forget Brooks to willingly, occasionally, telling him she loved him, one she'd done with him at her side. He, however, had had none of the romantic hang ups that she did. He hadn't realized it then, but he'd wanted to fall in love, thanked all the good luck that gods had given him for this incredulous chance to drop in his lap, this incredible woman that he was a goner for. Even now, when she was starting to get on his nerves. He didn't want to wait anymore. Was this really too big of a thing to ask? "You only specifically mentioned Valentines, which isn't even a month away. It's barely three weeks away.  I didn't say you were me," he insists, with exasperation, gripping his other bicep, brows an unhappy goldenrod line.  "You don't know all my dreams. I share those dreams with you. I also want you sober and clean, kicking ass at your job and in your new apartment." The apartment you chose that's farther from me than I'd like. "Why can't talking about kids be an achievable dream? No matter what I want to hear, all I want from you is the truth. If we don't have a discussion the conversation is dead before we even get to it. I don't need you to predict a time that you're going to want to have kids, I just want you to agree to talk about it. Why are you so afraid to talk about it, Amy?" A slip of the tongue, but a tell all the same. One that said that this, Cass and Amy at her apartment, dinner abandoned between them, was a fight. One far unlike the others they'd had.

Amy. If there had been any confusion before about the argument they were having, it was all gone now with the nickname falling in his deep timbre like a wedge that inflated and grew between them. Somehow, when he helped her move in a few weeks ago, carrying the sofa that was sitting opposite them now, she felt closer to him with the chunky piece of furniture blocking her view than she did across the table from him now, with nothing but their sheltering arms between. His full name fought to be heard once or twice during her bouts of talking, but Cass was the first to break the ice and take a sizable bite of her heart with it. This was an argument, one they haven’t seemed to have in a while, but the good streak couldn’t go on forever. The puzzle pieces had all began to fall into place and it was only a matter of time before one of them stuck out like a sore thumb. It only caught her off guard that it was the Cass piece of it all that did that, the one she felt so certain would give her no more grief after the holidays and the trip that liberated a confession of her feelings from her chest. How wrong she was, though...

“No, I said Valentine’s and trips we might take as in places we’d see together, experiences we’d have together. I’m sorry if that doesn’t satisfy your criteria of thoughts about the future, Cassidy.” She caught the ball he threw at her and was ready to serve it back over the net for him, the food before them forgotten in the light of their disagreement. “No, if we don’t have a discussion the conversation is waiting for a time when we’re both ready to have it. It’s not dead, it’s just not being forced on anyone who can’t fathom the idea of kids right now. You know why I’m afraid. And three months with you, no matter how incredible, can’t uproot a decade and a half’s worth of worry and fear. Until I’m happy with myself, feeling good in my skin, I don’t want to think about a child that I’ll put my worries and anxieties on. I’ve made enough messes in my life. A child— if I ever have one— will not be another.”

How did their relationship manager to mirror Jekyll and Hyde? The happy, loved up and content versions of themselves were Cass and Amelia, more laughter then they ever thought possible, tender and hungry kisses, no weight on their hearts. That was not the existence Cassidy and Amy got to enjoy, tongues that mirrored knives, physical separation that felt like an ocean of choppy and dangerous water between them, stubbornness and hurt. Love ran thick through all versions of them, an emotion that could never be removed from them, not any more. Cass didn't know why their periods of intense happiness tended to be punctuated by these, fights, big ones about their fundamental differences and all small ways that they didn't fit that grew so overwhelmingly big. He just hoped that one day, they'd stop. Please. He wants to be happy with his girl, that's it. Rationally, he knew that these things happened - two people who'd been on their own for more than a decade couldn't adjust to major positive life upheaval without having some bumps and bruises. This bruise, however, felt like it'd be hurting for longer than Cass wanted.

"Okay I didn't - I didn't say it didn't-" Cass tries to interrupt, mouth snapping shut when Amy calls him by his full name, shooting his dreams (and peace) in the face with each statement. The bearded blondes bottom teeth press into his upper one, unimpressed as he nods slowly. "So what I'm actually hearing is, in this future you've seen for yourself, it involves you only when a kids in the picture, and that's why you don't want it. You think you'd mess up a kid, and in this scenario you'd be alone, and I'm nowhere to be found. You can have that conversation with yourself, but not with me. Great. Awesome." So, so much more wants to spill out. Meaner words, ones he doesn't mean, that have the metallic tang of C.K.'s influence in them, ones he never wants to say, so he decides to take himself out of the situation. Cass moves his hair back from the table, legs scraping for a second on the floor, an uncomfortable noise that doesn't make the moment better. "Life doesn't wait for you to not be a mess, Amy. So you're a mess. I'm a mess, too! You know better than most, better than everyone the issues I had and still have that no one wanted to see before you. I was sleepwalking before I met you again. I still have bullshit I'm working through. So do you. I guess I should feel lucky that you're not worried this relationship in going to turn into a mess too," Cass bites out, standing up and striding to the kitchen, grabbing his keys off the counter. "And no. I don't know why you're afraid because you won't talk to me."

The third to last words kind of explodes out of him, frustration in every line of him. Taking a few deep breaths he braces his hands on the counter, squeezes baby blues shut and counts to three. When Cass opens them, they're clear, mostly, though anger and hurt still swirls through them. "I turn thirty three this year. You turn thirty four. You knew before we started dating, kissing even, that I wanted kids. I don't know how it makes me the asshole, the pusher, to ask that we could at least talk about the vaguest possibility of them. But that's fine," the eldest Kingston continues in a voice that very explicitly says it's not fine.  "We can table this until you're feeling happy and good in your skin, though even at the best points in my life I'm not sure I ever reached both of those goals. We'll wait, like we always do, until you're ready. Or when you think you're going to lose me, whatever seems to come first." Silence rings for a moment too long after that last statement, the  man who'd said it collecting his jacket, mainly because of what Cass hadn't said - that she wouldn't. Just because he didn't say it didn't mean the truth of it wasn't there, that nothing would ever be enough to push him out if her arms and her life, but the glaring lack of it's auditory realization was a slap almost to them both. "I'm going to go, before I say something I'll regret even more."

The oceanic swirl of his irises turned to cold, hard steel as Amy spat her arguments at him without giving him a chance to interject. He wanted to open the discussion, she thought, but had not considered the can of worms that hid just underneath, and now they both had to deal with it on a night when they were supposed to be happy and relaxed. There was no point to the conversation anymore: the walls had been lifted, the bridges drawn, and the fortresses around their hearts were now impenetrable. Their words bounced off the smooth stone like blunt arrows that had nothing to bite with and nothing to bite into: they talked without hearing, listened without understanding, and their minds had been made up even before the other one's voice quieted down. Communication, what Amy thought they could pride themselves on, now escaped them, and logic, too, gave them a wide berth. This was a conversation of two hurt people, each of their insecurities shining through, and as much as Amy wanted to reassure his place in her life, the future she saw but couldn't accept, the wounds he inflicted needed her attention first and foremost.

"And I didn't say that," she insisted, jaws jutting with frustration. "You're hearing what you want to hear, picking and choosing the parts that will support your own arguments." The accusation, the stubborn line of her lips, the surly turn of her eyebrows all made it known how she felt about their disagreement and what he was saying. "I'm not having a kid with anyone else, Cassidy. You're there if it happens, but I don't know what I want for the future, I just know you're a part of it. I want the good parts we've had, not this crap where we have to lock horns and refuse to budge."

Of course, that was a fairytale no reasonable person ever believed in. Nothing good ever came without something bad following it, a stipulation that loomed and stained. If she wanted the good with Cassidy, she would have to accept it came with the bad: with the fights, the unreasonable and rash behavior, the stubborn view on life that so often clashed with her own. It had to be that way. They were their own people, and Amy had been on her own for so long she forgot how to share herself, to open up and invite others in. Didn't really think there was any good for others to glimpse in the first place. Whatever the bone of contention between them in this moment, however, she had to agree that life wouldn't wait for them to sort themselves out before challenging them again, and she swallowed thickly the lump in her throat as Cass pushed himself away from the table and moved into the kitchen. The distance grew, and with it came a cold breeze that sparked worry deep within her guts. Cass had so rarely pulled away like this, it had always been Amy to draw a chasm between them and dare him to cross it, but now the tables have turned and she sat there, dumbfounded. What was she supposed to do?

The moment of dumbstruck confusion passed, however, as he spoke up in a calmer tone, putting it on her. She knew he wanted kids so she shouldn't have started anything if that was never going to change for her? Is that what he was saying? "And you knew I didn't see kids in my future, much like I knew what your vision was, so who's to blame about starting this all, huh?" She couldn't say what propelled her to make that accusation, but it was out there and she couldn't take it back. The more they argued the less she could tell him why, a lot of it coming down to petty spite. He was pushing her out of her comfort zone, and she would much rather drown than give him a logical explanation now, even if she was aware of how terrible it was.

All of that, however, they could have come back from. All of it, save for the last accusation, the grand finale that Cass saved right before the goodbye. Blinking her hazel eyes at him, paralyzed by the slap in the face he had given her, her fists clenched under the table, nails digging so deep into her flesh that the crescent moons would stay for a long time. Silence fell over them as tears pricked her eyes, drowning the swirl of gold and green against her will. "I'm sorry I'm always dragging you down. Sorry that I'm the anchor that keeps you from realizing your happiness. Sorry that my mental state is not good enough to keep up with yours. Maybe you shouldn't waste your time and wait for me." Restless, shaking with unbridled hurt and anger, Amy pushed herself up on her wobbly feet, grabbed the plate of dinner before her and threw it in the sink, untouched food and all. The crash echoed through the suddenly quiet room, ringing in her ears, a melody to accompany the mocking words he had uttered. "I can't imagine what that might be," she shook her head as she passed him, walking around him to get to the bathroom, the last sound she'd give him that night the sound of the key turning in the lock.

The only thing that interrupted the quick, dumbstruck, disbelieving thump of his heart was the crash of her plate in the sink, the catastrophic end to something that had started so bright and warm. He hadn't meant it. Fuck, to go back, to take back the knives their mouths had thrown at each other, hitting each and every sensitive spot with perfect accuracy. As too far as his jab was about them always waiting on her was, so was hers about leaving her behind, ending it with her, a suggestion he'd been sensitive to since the first time she'd pulled so fully away.  The tension in the air thickened and doubled with every moment, right fist holding so tightly to his car keys that his knuckles were white and pain bit into his palm, left fist crumpling the collar of his jacket. Amy disappears into the bathroom, her retreating back and slightly shaking form the last thing he sees, and suddenly it feels like a black hole has been punched in the middle of his chest. Silence reigned but it still didn't cancel the all too loud echo of what had happened, Cass's throat tight and pained. "Fuck." Is all he mutters in his deep voice, gaze dropping to the floor, the last thing he says before heading out her door and slamming it behind him.

[whumpiary]

Continued from here

content warning: misplaced anger, arguments between loved ones, general insensitivity around trauma, discussed forgiveness or excusing of past abuse, briefly mentioned abusive relationship/returning to abuser, mentioned mind control and crude language used to describe it

-

By the time they’ve all settled at the kitchen table, they've managed to get Cass positioned on the couch with a blanket draped over him and a bucket down on the ground beside him in case he woke up with the world spinning.

Lou sits with her hands curled around her mug, feet tucked under herself like a cat. Josiah sits across on the other side, frowning squarely at the succulent positioned at the center of the table. And Mal sits between them like a damn couple’s counsellor.

Not that he’s feeling bitter about it.

He holds back the joke about the round table.

Lou clears her throat. Josiah’s hand twitches. Mal looks between them and holds the balance like the fulcrum on a set of scales.

Sitting tense like this, Lou and Josiah could almost pass for siblings. Not in looks, perhaps, but in manner. Both faces fixed with don't-give-a-fuck-irritation, both trying to find things for their hands to do before they curl into fists on automation. Both failing. Each have a way of holding their shoulders like they're caught halfway between a shrug. Mal wonders who taught who that particular way of being pissed off or if they both, over time, bashed the same shields out of sheet metal, side by side.

Maybe they were just always destined to meet each other in some gym on a Wednesday afternoon. Mal doesn’t mind the thought of destiny most days of the week. And on this one, with a long lost, very lost, friend stumbling back in through the door…

"How long has he been here, Jos?" Lou asks, voice soft and low. Josiah looks away from her straight away, arms crossed, already on the defensive. "No lies this time. Just tell me."

The long, stretching silence is heavy enough that Mal thinks for a second that maybe that Josiah's already shut down and unplugged. That they’ve already lost him. No room for conversation beyond a few grunts and a shrug. But Lou waits, and she watches. She times her breaths with the patience of someone planning to outlast.

Josiah shrugs and shifts in his seat, eyes locked at some place on the carpet. “Since Tuesday.”

Mal can’t tell if the sharp intake of breath from Lou as she closes her eyes is to stop herself from screaming or from shutting down all together. She stays like that for nearly half a minute, and Mal watches her face for clues.

When she opens her eyes she’s looking at the wood of the table, jaw clenched, fingers white-knuckled around her mug, determinedly focused on staying calm.

“Jesus, so… Five days. He’s been here five days.” She rubs her hand over her face, across the fuzz of her hair. “And why, uh… Why didn’t you tell me? Tell anyone?”

Josiah shrugs again. "I had it handled."

Lou actually laughs. A dangerous, broken glass against glass kind of sound. "Oh, I would love to know what part of having a mind controlling drug addict with a death wish sleeping on your couch you think you had handled."

Mal looks up at her with a tilt of his head and in an instant she’s scowling like a kid being scolded. She mutters something in the vague vicinity of an apology. She presses the heel of her hand to the side of her head like she's ironing out the thoughts in there. Lets out a long exhale. Barely concealed grief. Fear.

“Look, I'm not trying to be an asshole, Jos but this was stupid,” she says, after a minute or so. “This was really stupid. Cass is dangerous and you know that. He is manipulative and out of control and-”

"He was passed out most of the time, it was fine.”

“Yeah but a single word and it could have just as easily not been fine.”

Josiah just looks at her with dead eyes and shrugs. Lou searches his face, exasperated. She splays her hands wide, shrugs. "What if he had've made you go back again?"

"He didn't, though."

"But what if he had?"

“But he didn’t.”

Lou, to her credit, doesn’t launch across the table to hit him across the jaw like Mal half-expects her to. Instead, she buries her face in her hands, squeezes her eyes shut, swallows about three times before speaking.

"Jos, the last time Cass showed up out of the blue needing help, I lost you for three weeks-"

"Two weeks."

"Three," she says, voice hard. Then she tilts her head back, eyes skirting across the back wall like she's solving a math problem, expression just on the brink of cruel. "Actually, it was bang-on 22 days. Wanna take a stab at how I remember?"

Josiah just slams his jaw shut and turns his head away. The tendon in his jaw jumps, muscles of his neck taught against the jugular.

Mal closes his eyes for the barest of moments. He can still hear the sound of the empty blister pack hitting the rubbish bin. The dry, dead laugh that came along with the gonna have to find another way to tally it, huh?

Lou leans forward on the table with a look of challenge on her face and Mal straightens automatically. He can feel old habits bristling in himself, already flicking back to sit on protective defense before the first swing even comes.

He hates playing umpire. He hates that she’s asked him to do this. But it’s fine. It’s a part of figuring this mess out. They’ll be fine in a minute.

Lou clears her throat.

“Okay, so let’s assume for a second that Cass isn’t about to screw you over and sell you off to the highest bidder– ” she ignores Josiah’s scoff. “– Let’s be generous and assume the fucker’s at least a little repentant. Where has he been, then?”

Josiah looks pointedly away, arms shifting to cross over his chest again but there’s otherwise no response. Lou doesn’t shift, though her tongue flicks out to wet her lips like loading a bullet in a gun. “He’s been gone for fourteen goddamn months and then he turns up unannounced on your doorstep. The story better be pretty damn impressive.”

There’s no response.

Lou shrugs like it doesn’t matter. "Okay, so he hasn’t told you where he’s been. Fine. Has he told you why he’s come back?"

No response. Mal opens his mouth to speak but thinks otherwise and clicks his jaw shut again.

Lou barrels on. “Do you know if he’s running from someone?”

No response.

“In danger of something?

No response.

“Do you know if you are in danger of something?”

Nothing.

“Have you even fucking asked?” Her voice shakes, breath shuddering, but she’s so furious it barely seems to register.

Josiah doesn’t look at her, gaze fixed on the carpet with his own brand of burning rage. “The second I ask him that shit he’s gonna bolt and you know it.”

“Good riddance, then.”

“No, not good riddance,” Josiah shoots back. There’s a twisted sort of urgency to the way he says it that Mal’s not even sure he’s seen before on Jos. “I’m not having Cass drop dead on the end of the street because I scare him off instead of helping. He’ll tell me when he’s ready.”

“Bullshit he will.”

“What would you have done, Lou? He showed up sick and scared halfway to hell-”

“The last time he showed up sick and scared halfway to hell he was lying through his fucking teeth,” she spits. “I would have let him rot.”

The room is still and deathly quiet. Lou stays laser-focused on the man across the table from her, eyes burning. Mal can track her heartbeat by the pulsing of the pendant around her neck.

“Do you want to go back there, Josiah? Do you want to go back to Ellie?”

The tendon at the back of Josiah’s hand jumps as his fist tightens but he doesn’t respond.

“You couldn’t speak to us for a month, Josiah. You couldn’t shower, you couldn’t eat. Do you even remember that?”

“He got me out of that place. Not you.” Josiah spits with deadly precision, looking up at her. “That’s what I remember.”

Lou sits back. Bullet to the chest. She scoffs but Mal watches the ice around her glint as the words bite and cut through, needle under her skin and sit there, ready to rot. Her chest jerks in a silent hiccup, the hollow echo of what should’ve been a sob but can’t be. Not right now.

She laughs instead. Bitter, twisted, and full of grief. She crosses her arms across her chest and slouches back, looking Josiah up and down. “Oh man, I am so glad I wasted a year of my life helping you recover from everything that asshole did to you now that I know you were just gonna throw it away the second he walked back through the goddamn door.”

Josiah’s eyes slam shut. Mal makes eye contact with his wife across the table. “Harsh, Lou.”

“No it’s not, if he's not gonna give half a shit about himself, why the fuck did we even bother?”

He tries to reach for her hand. To ground her, calm her down. “Love, come on, you’re not being fair.”

“No, fuck off,” she tugs her hand away violently, tears dangerously close to falling. If Lou had been small on the porch swing not twenty minutes before she looks like a giant now. “Fuck right off. What’s not fair, is that piece of shit turning up out of nowhere and expecting us to take him back. What’s not fair is what he did.”

It’s hard, with someone halfway standing from fury, not to cower like a kicked dog. Mal tries to catch Josiah’s eye, to let him know he still has an ally but the man’s eyes are closed, shoulders knitted up and tense under the onslaught. Mal lets out a loud exhale. Lou burns on.

“And you know what else isn’t fair, Jos? Finding out five days after the fact that my best friend’s kidnapper just turned back up on his front step.”

“He’s not my kidnapper.”

“I’m sorry, what would you to prefer me to call him, Josiah? Mental rapist?”

Mal snaps his eyes to her, rocks forward in his chair. “Alright, line found, Lou. Take a walk.”

“Excuse me?”

“You asked me to call you out if you crossed a line. That’s what I’m doing,” he says, voice quiet and firm. “Get out. Go for a walk. You need to cool off.”

“No fucking w-”

“Love,” he says, reaching for her hand. “Who is this helping?”

She holds his gaze for a minute, her eyes flicking between his, ready for fire, ready for fight. Mal holds his own, squeezes her hand, hopes to God she’s listening. And then all at once she folds.

She takes a minute. She sucks in a sharp intake of breath, one hand over her own face. Squeezes her eyes shut. Takes a breath. Shakes her head. Takes another breath. In for six, hold for four-

“He might’ve gotten you out of there Jos, but he sent you in first,” she mutters, voice low and quick as though to get it out before being cut off “You might have selective memory around that particular sequence of events but I sure as fuck don’t.”

Lou pushes back from the table all at once and rushes out the front door before anyone can stop her or grab her or make a move as though to comfort, as though the decision to leave had been he own. A dramatic exit, not a necessary intervention.

Mal watches her go, takes note of the curling of Josiah’s shoulders as the door slams shut behind her.

Mal slumps back in his chair with a heavy exhale. He refrains from the urge to just sag forward, exhausted and empty after holding the tightrope tight. He hasn’t felt this drained this quickly in a long, long time.

Two hours ago he was halfway through brunch at Now he had a wife stuck in fight mode, a friend on the brink of shutting down completely, and a relative stranger withdrawing from something he wouldn’t even admit to taking. Something was telling him he was gonna need a little more time off than the convenient long weekend.

He looks to Josiah across the way. The man looks unmoored, wounded, hollowed out. Which, to be honest, was miles and miles of fair enough.

“You alright?” Mal asks softly, after the silence stretches too thin. He almost doesn’t really expect a response but Josiah’s shaking his head almost as soon as the question’s asked, face locked in a frown, eyes still staring off into the middle distance.

“I’m the one it happened to,” he murmurs, after a beat. “That’s what she always says. I’m the one it happened to.”

Mal opens his mouth. Shuts it. Opens it again. Makes a few clicks with his tongue. Sighs. He pushes his hair back from his face.

“Yeah, but… you weren’t the only one it happened to,” he says eventually. It’s an awkward way to put it but it’s what he’s got. He watches Josiah’s face carefully. Watches the “Do you know what I mean by that?”

“She wasn’t even there.”

“Mate…”

Josiah looks up at him finally and as soon as he sees the grief and understanding sitting behind the other man’s eyes, Mal exhales.

Talking to Josiah could feel like talking to a wall that kept spitting bricks back at you for every new one laid down but eventually – by the end of the hour or the end of the week or the end of a very, very long year – he’d give you a look like that and without a word confirm that he’s listening, he’s learning, he understands. He’s getting there.

“Yeah,” Josiah says as he looks away, his voice a low rumble. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”

The other man closes his eyes and seems to deflate, one arm curled around his middle the other hand pressing on the back of his neck, head resting on his forearm. He looks, now Mal’s paying attention, exactly like someone who’s been solo nursing their ex-loved-one-come-kidnapper back to health for five days straight.

“What do I do, Mal?” he murmurs without opening his eyes. “I’m trying but... I don’t know what the fuck I’m meant to do.”

Mal sits back and looks the other man over, grief tugging at him but a kind of pride too. Josiah’s changed in the last year. He looks stronger now, is stronger now, but softer as well. Mal can’t imagine a question like that coming from him even six months ago.

He sighs and looks to the figure on the couch, halfway hidden with blankets, then at the frosted glass pane of the front door, then back to the man beside him. He shrugs. “Have you slept?”

“Some,” Josiah shrugs. “Not much.”

“Why don’t we start there?” Mal offers. He nods to the couch. “I’ll keep an eye on this one. And try and talk to Lou.”

Josiah looks, for a moment, like he wants to argue, but then the exhaustion seems to hit him all at once and he nods, sitting back. “Will you come get me when he wakes up?”

“If he needs you. Yeah.”

Josiah sucks a breath in and shakes his head, already starting to tangle himself backward. “No. No, he’ll get stressed if I’m not here. He gets, um... nervous. Paranoid-”

“Jos, if he needs you, I’ll wake you,” Mal repeats, gently. He taps his fingers on the table, to get Josiah’s attention, holds his gaze once he’s got it. “You can’t help him if you don’t get rest.”

The other man looks like he might break in two, eyes fogged, half-way drifting already. His eyes shift to Cass and then to Mal and then back to Cass with a hollow kind of longing. But slowly he lets out a shaky exhale. Nods again.

“You’ll come get me,” he echoes. “Okay. Yeah, okay.”

He stands, wavering just a little on his feet, and makes his way down the hallway. He squeezes Mal’s shoulder on the way past briefly and the blond man smiles a little. A silent thank you, a silent apology, a million other silent things that don’t have words to be said right now. It means the world and a half, if he’s being honest. And then Jos is gone.

The house, in the wake of things far too close to violence, feels viciously silent. The clock ticks. The rain starts up again. And for now, Mal sits in it alone.

[frejahertziswritingthistime]

Believer

A/N: This is for the amazing @waywardrose13’s song challenge! I had so much fun writing this, and I really loved the song and how this turned out. Go check her out, because she’s amazingly talented and her writing his so good! I chose the song “Believer” by imagine dragons, and I hope you’ll like it!

Remember, I always say yes to requests and feedback feeds the writer!

I would recommend listening to the song, as you read – I haven’t really fleshed the entire song out in this fic, and it gives such a great vibe. Find it here!

MASTERLIST

Buy me a coffee – find my commission-list here

Pairings: Dean x reader

Warnings: Language, mentions of blood, mentions of combat, descriptions of active fighting

I was broken from a young age, taking my sulking to the masses, writing my poems for the few, who looked at me, took to me, shook to me, feeling me…

My eyes were trained on the tension in Dean’s jaw, as he sped down the freeway towards our impending battle; demons had been killing people left and right in a small town a little outside of Iowa and Dean had – despite massive protests from Sam – decided that me and him would go out, while Sam tried to get over the massive concussion he managed to get earlier this week.

I could practically feel Dean’s worry flowing through the car, filling the silence with all the worry, the what if’s, and it made me weary. I hated, when Dean was worried – this kind of worried, at least, where he’s silent, his knuckles turn white on the steering wheel. I slowly inch my hand towards his thigh, squeezing it gently in a calming, reassuring manner. He grumbled in response.

He pulled over at the house, where the demons had been holed up, and turned the engine off. I was fingering my knife, the only defense I had in the oncoming slaughter, the silver hilt of it shining brightly in the dim streetlights.

“Ready?” His voice was slow, deep and grueling. He reminded me so much of a broken man, of someone who did this job, not because he loved it, but because he thought he owed it to the world.

Singing my heartache from the pain, taking my message from the veins, speaking my lesson from the brain, seeing the beauty through the…

I nodded and swiftly got out of the car, my boots hitting the gravel in a shallow crunch. Dean nodded, his gun in his hand, his knife in his belt, and started walking towards the dark house. I followed him in silence, watching his back tense up, as he geared up for a fight; the pre-battle feeling hitting him, making his shoulders square up.

Pain! You make me a, you make me a believer, believer….

He kicked the door in, bullets flying in every direction, the phone playing the exorcism loudly. Shouts of anger and pain echoed around the house, and I ran in after him, my knife stretched out in my hand, ready and poised for killing. My knife slashed through the neck of an oncoming attacker, the black smoke billowing out from the wound, along with the sickening sound of blood ebbing to the floor. Dean was struggling with someone a bit further inside of the house, but I had my hands full; a man in his 40’s with black eyes and a devious smile was approaching me slowly, like a predator to his prey. I twirled my body, spun fast and kicked my leg up, the front of my boot hitting him square in the jaw with a satisfying crunch of bone, being shattered. He groaned in pain and annoyance and pounced; my elbow came up to hit him in the throat, my legs wrapping around his waist, so I could find leverage.

I didn’t see the knife, before the gleam of the hilt hit me in the eye; he had found a free area, I couldn’t protect and he buried the knife in my side, just under my arm; I could feel it grind against my ribs, and I screamed in agony – I found the damn strength to bury my own knife in the neck of him, the blood spurting out onto my face, as the black smoke billowed around me, turning me momentarily blind.

You break me down, you build me up, believer, believer…

“Dean!” I screamed for him, my voice cracking. The knife was in me still, but I didn’t dare to pull it out; I pushed the dead meatsuit off me, grunting in pain and clutched my side. He came running, blood streaked over his face and his grey shirt, his face scrunched up in worry. “Shit. Y/N, what can I do?” He asked quickly, trying desperately not to give away that I was hurt, if there were ears around us. I shook my head and placed my hand on his face. His stumble scratched the palm of my hand. “Kill every last son of a bitch.” He smiled, a malicious, cold, smirk – in any other situation, it would have scared me, but for now, it meant he was going to do kill every last demon in the house.

Oh, I let the bullets fly, oh, let the rain, my life, my love, my drive, it came from… Pain!

He was dancing. I never really had the time to watch him do what he did, but right now, as I tried to move myself against the wall, I could see him fight; it was a lethal dance, something that no one could match; he made the gun a part of himself, the bullets flying around him, and when the clip was empty, he swiftly dislodged the empty one and just as quickly put a full one in; it was a fluid motion, from the last bullet flying to the new clip went in, his other hand moving so fast, I barely saw the knife – it was a glimpse of the silver, as it went into the soft skin of a meatsuit.

He was beautiful. Lethal and beautiful. I thanked my stars that I knew him, that he was mine and I could appreciate the lethal, dangerous dance, he was currently dancing. It was quiet around us, the only sound I could pick up, was my own ragged breathing and Dean’s panting.

By the grace of fire of and the flames, you’re the face of the future, the blood in my veins…

He came to me, crouching down next to me to look at the wound in my side. He was quiet. I groaned as his fingers lightly touched the warm, sensitive skin around the knife. It hurt like a fucking bitch, but it wasn’t something I hadn’t felt before; stabbings, bullets lodged in my skin – it was a part of the deal. Part of the job. Dean was looking focused – I knew him; he was blaming himself for this, even though it wasn’t him.  

“I’m going to have to pull it out. We can get you to Cass or something after, but we’re not going anywhere as long as you have a knife in your side.” He said in a deep, gravely voice. He caught my eye. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t want you to get hurt.” I shook my head and cupped his cheek again.

“Don’t you worry. I can see beauty through the pain.” I said with a small smile and leaned forward, catching his lips with my own. There we were, surrounded by dead bodies, blood and empty shells littering the floor, a knife in my side, and his shirt covered in blood, kissing.

This was our life. Him, who was a believer in bullets and pain being unavoidable, and me, believer in beauty and pain, and our life, where bullets would fall like rain around us, pain and beauty hand in hand. It was not the perfect life, but it was ours.

You make me a, you make me a believer, believer….

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