#New content. New shows. New gifs. You guys know the drill.

[iero]

xxx

[darkorderaf]

I was the one who asked for kissing your lover when they ask you why you've been avoiding them, not realizing it's because you're jealous that they've been hanging out with [a potential love interest]. I’m so sorry I didn’t name a person! Can it be Matt Jackson please?

You’re totally golden, no worries! Thank you so much for sending and for being patient with me. Please enjoy some soft and bratty Matt! <3 Can be seen as connected to this if you squint.

Pairing: Matt Jackson x OFC. Prompt: Kissing your lover when they ask you why you’ve been avoiding them, not realizing it’s because you’re jealous that they’ve been hanging out with [a potential love interest]. Rating: T. Warnings/Content: Little bit of angst, then fluff! Word Count: 1395.

Tag List (asked to be added/removed!): @alyhull @boutmachines @lghockey @sillynilly27 @simoneinside @vtriggerbucks

(I don’t own gif; all credit to superkickparty!)

Ever since he convinced her to wrestle with him, her and Matt flirted the line between full-on dating and something casual. Labels weren't their thing and they didn't feel a need to call it anything whenever they sought one another out. Held hands and teased each other in the company of their friends. They were comfortable with that.

Or so she thought she was.

The way her stomach twisted and flipped, her jaw ached from how tight she kept her mouth shut to withhold an ugly sound of frustration, told her that was absolutely not the fucking case. She had been walking with Britt when she saw it: Matt and a woman she had never seen were apparently running through some very intense submission drills before the show. Britt’s voice went mute in her ears.

"So, I was telling Adam that--woah, Miss Murder, that's one hell of a look you've got going on. What's going on over...What the hell?"

Britt spun on her heel and nearly hit her friend in the face with her long hair. The good doctor squinted at the ring and once she realized what she was witnessing, her eyebrows shot up fast. Matt laughed and smiled in the distance, brushed his hair back from his face as he helped the strange woman up. Britt glanced at her friend and frowned as she seemingly went through the full spectrum of emotion before settling on...sad.

"Hey Matt!" Britt yelled out. The Jackson brother was quick to look over and wave to the two. Neither waved back. "I didn't know you had a match tonight! Don't get too wound up before it, huh?"

Matt waved Britt's comment off before he tried to find the eyes of the seeting woman beside her. She barely looked at him before she quickly grabbed Britt's hand to get the hell out of there. She wasn't sure why she felt so jealous and the not knowing damn near gave her a nasty case of whiplash. It's not like he was hers and she was his exclusively.

No labels. They were cool with that.

Britt’s eyes narrowed as she folded her arms once they were clear of the arena.

"Hey, I know you two aren't like official or dating-dating, whatever, but that was super weird, right?"

"Yeah, it...fuck, it really was. I thought the whole friction with the new guys was what was going on but maybe I was wrong," she sighed. "Ugh, I don't know. I need to lay down or something, my head hurts."

"Alright," Britt said after assessing her friend for a long moment. She squeezed her hand. "Let me know if you need anything, 'kay? Anything. I’m not above hiding a body or paying someone to."

That got a laugh out of her and she squeezed Britt’s hand back before she locked herself in her dressing room to take a nap. The nap never came and she felt like shit as the pre-show noise grew outside, her eyes burning holes in the ceiling. So much for sleeping on it.

The rest of the night became an impromptu cat and mouse game between her and Matt. She would go somewhere, Matt would be there, then she would quickly dip out before he saw her. Or he would walk into where she was and frown as she vanished fast without so much a glance his way. This went on for hours until it was his time to go out there and even as he walked down the ramp, she could see on the monitors that he smirked and flirted with the camera like he always did.

It heated her in more ways than one.

One of the first to arrive and the last to leave, she occupied herself by making sure everything that the talent was alright and no one needed anything immediate. That was easy to focus on and not the ugly stir of emotions in her chest. She was with Wardlow, checking over his shoulder, when the door opened. Matt, still in his gear, stood in the doorway. His expression was unreadable but it looked like the fun he had out in the ring wasn’t there anymore. The big man read the room and assured her he was fine with a nod before he quickly departed.

“Matt,” she intoned as she washed her hands, her back to him. Matt stepped in and the door clicked shut behind him. “Does something hurt?”

“Uh, yeah, actually,” he started, his voice that familiar level of rough that she loved. But she committed herself to not turning around. “What hurts is that I have this sneaking suspicion you’ve been avoiding me all damn day. I walk into a room and you vanish like a frickin’ ghost.”

She scowled at the paper towels as she dried her hands. Being angry was what she had initially planned to settle on whenever she spoke to Matt but that plan faded as she turned on her heel to look at him. Brows raised, hands on his hips, hair still a bit messy from his match. He hadn’t bothered to fix it on the way over to her. That made her pause.

“Okay,” she started as she leaned back against the counter. “Yes…Yeah, I have been avoiding you. Who…”

She trailed off and swallowed to gather her bearings. Matt walked towards her, head slightly cocked as he waited. When he came to stand in front of her, having him so close set something off in her that pulled him in close. Angry as she was, she missed him but those words wouldn’t quite come to her just yet. Her lips crashed against his and he met her halfway, his hands warm and hot on her back as they kissed. Matt tried to chase after her but she pulled away from him entirely.

“Who was that earlier? With you in the ring?”

“What?”

Matt squinted at her, confused, before realization dawned on his face and he started to laugh. Her jaw set tight and she stared at him, hurt. What the hell was there to laugh about?

“Oh my gosh, really? That’s why you’ve been running away from me?”

“You don’t have to be a dick about it,” she snapped back. His laughter stopped but he smiled at her, dark eyes bright. “What’s so funny, Matt?”

“Sorry but baby, it’s a little funny,” he said as he settled his hands on her waist. His warm voice lowered further. “That woman? The one you’re…jealous of?”

Her temper flared and she stared at him hard. She crossed her arms tighter around her chest and leaned back away from him. Matt’s cheeky smirk grew as he met her eyes.

“I’m not–”

Ugh, there was no point. She frowned.

“She’s a very, very old friend,” he said. ”I went to her wedding a couple years ago and she’s just getting back into the swing of things. I promise, baby, that’s it.”

Immediately, she deflated and looked away from him. His finger under her chin brought her back and while it wasn’t as deep, she still frowned at him.

“You didn’t have to laugh about it,” she muttered to him. “I just…jumped to conclusions and…yeah.”

“You sure did,” he laughed as she sighed. His hand dropped from her face and settled on her hip. “You’re cute when you’re all pouty. Not so much when you’re ignoring me.”

“Alright, I get it,” she said. Her shoulders fell and she finally uncrossed her arms “I’m…God, I feel so stupid. I’m sorry, Matt.”

“Hey, c’mon. I’m yours,” he said as he kissed the corner of her mouth and hovered there. “Yours.”

She turned her head to find his lips again and he kissed her, softly but with feeling as he crowded her back against the counter. She threaded her fingers through his hair and gently ran her fingers through it as the hair tie slipped out. His tongue slipped into her mouth and she moaned quietly.

“Hey, have you seen Ma–Oh my God, why is it always me? What’s wrong with you guys? First the ring, now this? Unbelievable!”

Nick threw his hands up and slammed the door shut as quietly as he could. She pulled away from Matt and laughed into his chest. Poor Nick.

Matt’s arm tightened around her waist and she squeezed him back.

“I’m yours too, Matt.”

[tomtenadia]

A Little Braver - Chapter 14

It’s Monday and it’s new chapter time.

First of all... the gif above is one of the most hilarious scenes in Top Gun, so when i started writing this chapter I knew I had to re-enact it. The manoeuvre is called buzz the tower. 

This chapter is a moment of respite from what’s going to happen next. it’s a bit angsty at the beginning, but then it gets lighter.

CW: hurt/comfort,  PTSD, panic attacks, and also a bit NSFW,

Enjoy

----------

She was in a room, of that she was sure. The heat was becoming unbearable by the second and the smoke enveloped her in a tight grip. Her eyes burned and she felt lost. Everywhere she looked there was smoke. Slowly she walked to a door and once she opened she saw fire. She walked in. She had to find him. She moved a step and her skin felt on fire. She walked and walked.

“Help,” she heard a male voice. She moved towards it. But when she found the person she noticed it was too late. She could still recognise his features: Sam. He was dead and she was too late. She started running as the tongues of fire chased her and the sense of being lost got worse. She ran and collided with something metallic. It was a plane. Its wings were broken, the canopy smashed. She noticed a figure in it. She walked to the aircraft and her heart stopped when she noticed the silver hair: Row— an explosion filled her ears.

Aelin woke with a scream, she threw the duvet aside and launched herself off the bed, crashing on the floor and then ran for the bathroom to empty the contents of her stomach in the toilet. Over and over again. Tears pricked her eyes and she noticed her hands shake visibly. Exhausted, Aelin plopped on the floor and let the tears fall. It was just a bad dream. Just a bad dream. But she could still smell Sam’s charred skin and the odour of kerosene. Her sobs intensified and when she started hyperventilating she realised a panic attack was building up.

“Rowan…” she called but remembered too late that he had gone out with Aedion. She tried to bring her breathing under control but failed and the sense of terror grew stronger. Slowly, trembling she dragged herself back to the bedroom and once she reached the nightstand, with trembling hands, grabbed her phone and called Rowan.

His answer was immediate “hey you, miss me already?”

Aelin could not reply straight away, she tried to calm her breathing “I…” she started sobbing again “I am scared.” Was all she managed before her sobs took over completely.

“Aelin, where are you?” Rowan’s voice was panicked “Are you at home?”

He and Aedion had driven her home before going for their night out.

“Yes…” he voice barely audible.

“I am on my way.” And he closed the conversation.

Aelin dropped the phone and collapsed exhausted on the floor.

Rowan had cut his night short and drove back home like a madman. He should have never left her alone. He knew she was suffering from nightmare and panic attacks. But the idea of going out with Aedion had been very tempting. They had a great night and they had a fascinating chat that helped him a lot. His heart raced and growled at every single set of traffic lights. He had to be back home quickly. Aedion had mentioned to keep an eye on Aelin for PTSD. He hadn’t told the man that Aelin was already showing two symptoms. The nightmares and the fact that at night she struggled to sleep. He was getting really worried and his finger tapped nervously on the steering wheel.

He finally made it home and ran in the house, sprinted to the bedroom and found Aelin on the floor. Her mobile had slipped from her hands. He hoisted her in his arms and took her to the bed noticing her clammy skin. Gently he deposited her on the bed and went to the bathroom to grab a cloth. With it he brushed her face and cleaned it. She had been sick. He stood again and went to grab a fresh pair of pyjama and changed her making sure not to cause any more injury to her arm. Gently he tucked her under the blanket. She was sleeping and he did not want to wake her. He kissed her head and then he went to get himself ready for bed. Once he joined her under the blankets he pulled her to his chest and enveloped her body with his. His strong arms looped around her frame and his leg draped over hers in a protective embrace.

*

It was early morning when he woke, kissed Aelin’s head and brushed her blonde hair away from her face. She had managed to sleep throughout the night and he relaxed. She must have been exhausted after whatever happened. He imagined she had another nightmare and a panic attack. She was his brave and fierce Fireheart and it destroyed him to see her like that.

Rowan felt her move and slowly shift to awareness, her body turned and blue, beautiful eyes met his.

“Morning.” He smiled at her and kissed her briefly.

“You are here.” Her hand brushed his face.

“Of course I am here.”

“You…” but she stopped and shook her head “it’s nothing.” And she turned.

“What is it, Aelin?”

“Nothing.” She repeated and curled in a foetal position turning her back to him “you will leave me eventually. Everyone does.” He heard her cry.

He rolled her over and made sure she faced him “I am not going anywhere.”

“You will leave me, just like Sam did…” she whispered against his chest “and I will be alone again.”

His heart ached painfully. He wanted to make her a promise that he would always come back but his job was just as dangerous as hers and he could not utter that promise and lie to her.

“Do you want me to give up my job?”

She looked up at him “no.” she kissed him “no, I could never ask you that. No matter how much it scares me.” She leaned a bit more into him “Just come back to me.”

“It will be my pleasure.”

They remained in bed holding each other for a while. Aelin had told him about her nightmare and telling him felt good.

Rowan looked at his phone and groaned “damn I need to go to work.”

Her face turned sad and he kissed her pout away, then he had an idea “Come with me.”

“Uh?”

“You are still a consultant. I know that Lorcan has continued our project with Aedion. But you can come and see for yourself what we have done.” Then he gave her a big smile “you can see me fly as well. The guys and I will be probably running some drills as well as we have a performance review coming.”

The smile that she gave him almost made his heart melt. With renewed energy she jumped off the bed, ran to his side and began pulling him out of bed “come on, shower and we are going.”

“Fine, fine,” he complained and dragged himself out of bed, then he grabbed her and carried her to the bathroom sack of potato style. Aelin trashed in his arms, he pinched her buttocks in reply and she squealed. He deposited her in the bathroom and once free he started to undress and Aelin stared at him while leaning against the sink with a wanton smile on her face.

She peeled off her clothes and walked to him. Her hands brushed his chest, following the lines of his tattoo and then her tongue traced the same path. He folded his arms around her and pushed her in the shower and opened the jets. Another step and she was pinned to the wall. Aelin looked up at him “I do love a good wall in the morning.”

In a second his mouth was on hers, a hard demanding kiss. Her mouth opened to him and his tongue brushed against hers “well, let’s try and not disappoint you.” He pulled her legs around him and with one thrust he was in her.

The shower took longer than expected but it had put Aelin in a better mood and that’s all he cared about. He was getting ready in his uniform and smiled when Aelin hugged him from behind “What?” He asked softly while tying his tie.

“Thank you for being at my side last night.”

Rowan stiffened “I should have been with you all night, but I didn’t.”

Aelin placed a kiss on his back “but you came back straight away and it helped. In your arms I slept peacefully. You made me feel safe.”

“Well,” he turned and faced her “I need to make sure we do that every night.”

Aelin nodded and went to her side of the closet to grab her clothes “did you have a nice time with Aedion?”

“I did. And he helped. He went through this a few times and well, it felt good to talk with someone who could fully understand.” Then he stopped and looked at her “I don’t mean that you can’t. You have been supportive and amazing.”

Aelin stepped up to him “I know, but Aedion has been in the military. I haven’t. He can help you talk about things I might not understand. That’s why I asked him to take you out.”

“Thank you.” He said leaning over for a kiss “Are you ready?”

Aelin twirled in front of him, she just had jeans and a hoodie and he still thought she was the most stunning creature he had ever seen “I am, captain. All ready to see my top gun in action.”

My. Rowan felt a tug of deep joy at hearing her using that possessive for him. Since she forced the topic after the opera he realised that he had been fooling himself when he tried to convince himself he had no deep feelings for her. He wanted her. To be with her. To commit to her. And he was going to show her just how much.

He took her hand and together they walked out of the house.

*

They arrived at the base not long after “do you have your badge?” He told her as they reached the first check point.

Aelin fished it out of her bag and showed it to him.

“Captain,” the man in the booth said acknowledging Rowan “captain.” He added towards Aelin.

They drove through the second check point without being stopped and then Rowan parked in the staff car park. Aelin put her lanyard with her badge around her neck and followed Rowan inside, taking his hand.

They walked into his office and Aelin took in the room. She had been inside the first time she had visited him but not bothered to notice anything around. The place looked immaculate and super organised. A big filing cabinet at his back and a bookshelf full with books. Aelin went to have a look and discovered they were all books about flying. Then at the top of the shelf she noticed metal planes all lined up.

“This one,” he said, pointing to a plane with propellers “it’s called a spitfire. It’s quite an epic one.”

“Did you fly it?”

Rowan laughed “No, it’s an old plane. I wasn’t even born when it was used but it’s just gorgeous.”

“It looks cool,” said Aelin looking at the other models.

“These are some of the other planes I have flown.” He pointed to the remainder ones. 

“And this?” She took in her hand the model of an aircraft carrier.

“That is the first aircraft carrier I have served on. I met some great people there.” And lost a lot as well, but he did not say that out loud. “It was my first mission and like a proper newbie I was all excited and eager to prove myself.”

Aelin smiled and then her eyes noticed a picture on the wall behind his desk “is that you?”

Rowan nodded and walked closer to her “the day I graduated from the academy. I was nineteen.”

She took his hand feeling the anguish in his voice “you look quite dashing.”

“I felt smug as fuck and invincible. I had finished the academy at the top. I came out number one.”

“Such a nerd.” She gave him a smile.

He turned her and grabbed her shoulders “don’t tell me that you were not a competitive brat at the academy.”

“I was the only woman at the time. I had to fight twice as much. I showed them all and I finished at the top as well and I made captain well before some of the morons who thought that they were better than me because they allegedly, had the correct reproductive apparatus.”

Rowan snorted and Aelin glared at him “don’t tell me you are one of those because I am going to dump your arse so hard you have no idea.”

He kissed her “No. I have been fighting with Lorcan for a while to get women to serve in the airforce if they want to. The navy has them, the army does as well. We are the only corp that doesn’t and I have been losing this battle for a while. Lorcan is one of those and since he doesn’t believe in the fact that women should be allowed in the airforce he never brings the fight to the higher levels.”

She kissed him and she felt like her heart could explode with love for him.

“He really is an arsehole.”

“I am not his biggest fan either recently.”

“Can’t you take the fight higher up? Go over his head?”

Rowan sighed “we are run by a bunch of old fashioned mummies who are even more retrograde than Lorcan.”

Aelin was about to reply when someone knocked at the door. At Rowan’s invitation she saw the man called Gavriel enter the room “We are all ready to go. We got clearance from the tower and the guys are getting changed now.” Then he noticed Aelin and gave her a big smile “hello, captain.”

“Hello, Commander,” she greeted him remembering his rank. She had liked the man from the start.

Rowan kissed her “I’ll be back in ten minutes. I need to get changed. I’ll come and get you.”

Aelin nodded and he left with Gavriel.

“So, you finally decided to do the right thing,” said the other man to Rowan.

“Uh?”

“Stop grieving and being scared and finally try to be happy.”

Rowan gave him a tight smile “she is worth it.”

*

Aelin waited in his office and when she got bored she grabbed one of his books about flight and started reading. She had been doing some research on her own to understand his job a bit more. She grabbed one that seemed to start from the basics and began reading how a plane did manage to stay in the air. She was so engrossed in the book that she missed him coming back. When she lifted her eyes she saw him standing in front of her in his flight suit. Gods, he was… she had so many naughty thoughts crossing her mind.

“What are you reading?” He asked her, noticing the book abandoned on the desk.

“Oh…” she cleared her voice “just discovering how a plane can stay up.”

Rowan laughed “four forces: thrust, lift, drag and push or gravity” he told her with a smug smile and then he offered her his hand “come on.”

She followed him and they walked to the hangar and every so often she checked him out. In the jump suit he was even hotter than usual.

They entered the hangar and Aelin noticed a lot of people swarming around the five jets “the engineers are getting the planes ready,” he explained her as they got closer to his.

They stopped and Rowan got to open the canopy and finished to dress by adding what he had told her was a G suit used to help with the pressure with manoeuvres where they had to pull a lots of Gs. She stared at him doing all the checks to his suit and then gave a man at her side the thumb up.

“This is Greg,” said Rowan nodding at the man at their side “he is my engineer. Once we are ready to go he will take you to the observation tower.”

Aelin smiled. She was really going to see him fly.

“Give me a have fun kiss,” he said leaning into her.

Aelin brushed his hair and kissed him deeply, then she broke the kiss and her forehead was against his “Be safe.”

He kissed her nose “I love you,” he said very softly.

He left her and climbed into his jet. She studied him finishing to don his helmet, do some checks and then he waved at her. He gave Greg a thumbs up and Aelin saw some other people take the jet away. No taxi, she corrected herself using the right term.

“Miss, you can come with me. They are taxing out and it’s going to get loud in here.”

Aelin nodded and followed the man, casting a glance ever so often to where Rowan had disappeared.

They climbed up the tower and Aelin gasped at the view. She could see the jets lined up on the runaway.

“They are waiting for final clearance from the tower. They will go that way for a bit, but eventually will come back here.” He passed her a pair of binoculars “these are handy.”

Aelin thanked him.

“Don’t leave until someone comes back to collect you. Probably captain Whitethorn will come himself. You are safe up here.” He explained her and Aelin nodded.

The man disappeared and she leaned against the wall. She stared at the jets and then realised she had no idea how to tell them apart.

One at a time all the jets took off, they disappeared at the horizon and eventually came back a flew by the tower. One of them rolled its wings up and down and she had a feeling that was Rowan.

She giggled and grabbed the binoculars.

A moment later she felt a presence at her side. Lorcan had joined her with a thermos of coffee in his hands “Enjoying the view?” He asked in a bored tone.“The fun should start soon. Whitethorn is probably explaining the parameters of the exercise and creating the two teams, that’s why they are still in formation. As soon as the game starts you will see them veer up and break into two groups.”

“How can you tell them apart?”

“Habit.”

Aelin rolled her eyes.

“Whitethorn is that one,” he pointed at the jet at the head of the formation.

“That’s it.” Said Lorcan and Aelin saw the team break apart like he had told her.

Lorcan brought out a radio and he changed to a channel that allowed him to listen to radio chatter of his pilots.

“Do you do this often? Coming up here and watch them, I mean.”

“Every time they are out. I am not as much as a monster as the captain depicts me.” He sighed and looked at his pilots “I care about them. They are my team.” then he chuckled and pointed at the jets in the air “Fenrys is already trying to get a lock on Whitethorn. Can you see how he is flying?”

Aelin followed the scene with interest and the radio went silent as the man probably concentrated on their job.

“Moonbeam is sneaky but there is a reason why Whitethorn is the best.”

“I got your arse, Iceman.” She heard Fenrys over the radio. Then something amazing happened. She saw the jet in front of the young lieutenant pull up in a vertical and breaking and letting the other jet pass him the he pulled down and Rowan ended up behind him and over the radio she heard a noise.

“Another time, wolf.” She heard Rowan laugh and the sound warmed her heart “you can sit this one out, pup.” 

“That was awesome.” Said Aelin in awe.

“Whitethorn is not an easy one to get. I think in many years of drills only Gavriel managed the feat a few times. And we all believe it was because well, he was not himself.”

Aelin had an inkling she knew when that was. 

“I think he needs this today. Losing that student has sent him back to a dark place.”

“How so?” Asked Aelin curious.

“Not my story to tell.”

They went back watching the exercise “that is a high G barrel roll, isn’t it?” She remembered it from thew video.

“Well done, captain.”

“Rowan has told me about some manoeuvres.”

“You see why he did that?” Lorcan pointed at the jets.

Aelin nodded, “the plane behind him is too close for comfort so that is an option to shake him off.”

Lorcan nodded “That is Gavriel. He probably painted him once already and had Rowan’s tail and a firing solution as well so Rowan pulled that manoeuvre to get rid of him and succeeded.”

“That’s Connall being his wingman. And Vaughan is with Gavriel.”

Then she gasped. Rowan had just flew in between Vaughan and Gavriel in a vertical line then she saw him bank and get back in formation.

“That’s Connall gone as well. It’s just Whitethorn against Vaughan and Gavriel.”

Gavriel was fast and sneaky. Even someone like her could see that. 

Rowan was on his own but Lorcan did not seem worried. His planes flew mere metres from a second one, their bellies almost touching. He rolled away and then pulled into a dive chasing the plane that was trying to escape. He stood at the other person’s tail playing chase until she heard over the radio curses coming from Vaughan and she knew the man was out as well.

“Now things get interesting.” Commented Lorcan who seemed cheerier all of a sudden.

“Rowan told me you are against the idea of having females in the airforce.”

His face turned hard again “I was just starting to like you, captain.”

“What is your problem with our gender?”

“You cannot do that.” He pointed at the fight scene in front of them.

“That is exactly what I heard all throughout the academy. I was the only woman at the time. I was told I did not have what it took. That as a woman my body could not sustain the heavy training regime, that I had no chance of becoming just as good a firefighter as a man. They thought that me being born with a vagina prevented me from being a firefighter.” She explained, not removing her gaze from the two remaining planes “I proved them all wrong, sir. I finished the academy at the top of my class. I set the record in one of the exercises and no one has broken it just yet. I made captain before many of those pricks and I am still to this day the only woman who did so.”

“This is a dangerous job.”

Aelin scoffed and showed him her bandaged arm “I almost died after running into a building on fire. And I do that on a daily basis. Don’t talk to me about a dangerous job.”

Lorcan breathed out “you made your point.”

“Elide has her own ideas as well on the matter. She might be tiny but she is one scary woman.”

His face all of a sudden lost its hard edges. Oh look, the man had feelings.

“She is quite an amazing woman.” He confessed.

“You’d better remember that.”

“She told me about… her past.”

Aelin knew. Elide had told them.

“It doesn’t bother me. I mean, it bothers me what the fucker did to her but not that she… has no experience.”

“Good, because Elide is very nervous about all that stuff.”

“When she is ready.”

Aelin nodded and went back to the fight. It looked like Rowan was trying to get on Gavriel’s tail. The older man pulled into a vertical but Rowan never left him. Aelin stared at the climb and wondered how many Gs they were pulling. The jet flew with the canopies facing each others. Aelin then noticed Rowan’s plane break formation. Pull, again the strange breaking manoeuvre and make a precise loop that landed right on Gavriel’s tail. 

A moment later she heard the long beeping sound and soon after a barrage of curses from Gavriel.

“That was damn sneaky.”

Aelin laughed and waved at him, not sure he could see her “That was awesome.”

“Oh, they are not done yet. Rowan’s drills are quite intense. We are in for much more fun. Now they all want revenge.” Added Lorcan leaning again against the wall and taking a sip of coffee from his thermos. 

“He really is good.”

Lorcan nodded “he was the best since flight school. And his cool temper helps him to be great in a situation of great stress. That’s why we have been fighting recently. He has been rash and impulsive. That is not him.”

Aelin did not make any comments on that.

“Rowan and I have known each other for a very long time, since we were both still in Doranelle.” He told her “he is very respectful of rank and etiquette but with me and in private he had always spoken his mind and a few times he had pegged me down a few notches. We both have clashing tempers and it tends to end badly at times.” He sighed “I had no intention of suspending him but I had to. And I have a feeling he looked for a fight on purpose to get suspended. To be with you.”

Aelin gasped. She was not expecting such revelation. She had assumed Lorcan had followed the rules.

“I hope you realise he put his career in jeopardy for you. A captain pulling a stunt like that and breaking aerospace lockdown was bad. And leaving his post at the airbase in Doranelle was just as bad.”

“I am grateful that he did, though. I might be selfish but he helped me greatly and he is still doing it.”

“Don’t fuck up his life, captain. One woman did it already and I think it’s enough.”

Lorcan’s words toward Lyria sounded quite harsh.

The exercise eventually came to an end but Lorcan stood there with her.

She heard Rowan ordering the team to go back to base.

“Tower, this is Iceman, requesting permission for a flyby.”

“Request denied, Iceman.”

“Get your arse back to base, Whitethorn,” shouted Lorcan over the comms.

Aelin stared at Rowan’s jet, the only one still in the air and looked at the very strange trajectory.

Then it was a matter of a second and a deafening noise startled her and a second later she heard a curse. Lorcan had spilled his hot coffee on his uniform and was now threatening the worst punishments for Rowan. She wanted to laugh but she restrained herself.

“Let’s go back down, captain. Your boyfriend is in for a treat.”

They got back inside and by the time they were back in the hangar the five jets were parked as well and Rowan was complimenting his team for a nice training session.

“Whitethorn.” Shouted Lorcan marching up to him “The tower clearly denied you the flyby. What is your problem?”

His green eyes landed on her and she saw a flash of amusement in them. 

“I should ask you the same thing, sir. Your uniform needs a change.” With his head he pointed at the stained clothing.

“Your arse in my office. Now.”

Rowan stood to attention and followed Lorcan. He looked at Aelin and winked at her.

“Did you enjoy that, captain?” It was Gavriel’s voice at her side.

“Immensely. It was super fun to watch.” She sighed “I know that when you guys do it for real is not fun, but this drill was awesome.”

She turned to where Rowan and Lorcan had disappeared and got worried “Will he be okay?”

It was Connall who answered “they will yell at each other for a while. Lorcan will call the captain reckless. Explain to him what regulations say with regard to the dear practice of buzzing the tower.”

“What’s buzzing the tower?” She interrupted not recognising the expression.

“The manoeuvre the captain did. It’s a very low pass made to startle or frighten someone. The noise of the jets, as you have experienced is quite high. The captain knew the commodore was with you and very likely had coffee.”

“It was a stupid thing to do.” Added Gavriel not happy “he knows that manoeuvre is dangerous.”

“Let the man have some fun. With all the shit that is going on he has been in a foul mood.”

Gavriel growled at Fenrys “first of all, our job is not to have fun. If that’s what you want, well I have got news for you, boyo. You are in the wrong job.” Gavriel moved closer to the young lieutenant “the captain has lost a student. Have some fucking respect for someone who is grieving.”

Gavriel shouted some orders to the ground crew and moved away “it was a pleasure to see you again, captain.”

She waved back at the man. She liked him. The three young men followed as well.

Not knowing what to do she found her way back to his office, thinking it to be the best and safest option. He came back to her half an hour later and he did not seem too mad.

“Are you two still alive?” She asked him as he walked into the office and lay down on the sofa.“Yeah, he is still alive. I told him to fuck off only once.”

She stood from his chair and walked to him “buzzing the tower was not a great idea.”

He looked at her with curiosity.

She tilted her head “they guys explained the manoeuvre to me.

He stood, closed the distance and his arms went around her waist “I was saying hi to you…” he kissed her “and when I saw Lorcan I knew he’d have coffee with him. He always does.” He kissed her again “and can I add how much of a turn on is when you use technical terms?”

“You are evil.” She poked him in the chest.

“No news there,” another kiss “did you enjoy the show?”

“It was awesome. So, so awesome. And you are quite incredible, captain. And I also recognised one of the manoeuvres from the book you were reading on the beach.” She told him all excited.

“Which one?”

They were so close their bodies were now touching “the high G barrel roll when Gavriel painted you.”

His jump suit was unzipped down till his navel and her hands landed on the t-shirt he wore underneath and he had the suit sleeves rolled to his elbows. He was stunning.

“So… so turned on just now…”

She pressed against him, his hands found their way in her hair and pulled her close for a hot kiss.

“I have so many naughty thoughts as well…”

“And I feel like breaking another rule…” he whispered in her ear and Aelin felt heat pool at her core.

He went to the door and locked it and when he turned he saw that Aelin had removed her hoodie and t-shirt and was sitting on his desk with just trousers and a bra.

Rowan closed the distance in a second, and his mouth claimed hers with an intensity that took Aelin off guard. She had quickly learned that sex with him was never boring and that the man had the power to reduce her to an exhausted mess. Not that she complained…

“I love naughty Rowan,” she teased with a finger on her lips. He moved between her legs, pulling her closer and took the finger in his mouth sucking it and licking it suggestively.

Aelin removed her bra and heard his gasp, then she proceeded to free him from the jump suit and leave him in his black briefs and his grey TAF t-shirt. She looked down and discovered him hard for her. He grabbed the back of his shirt and tugged it off.

“Are we doing something about those trousers, captain?”

Aelin smiled and slowly and with provocation unbuttoned her jeans and started lowering the zip. In a swift motion he pulled them down and away, taking her underwear with them, leaving Aelin stark naked “in a rush, captain?”

He bit her earlobe “the door might be locked, but people might still come and look for me.”

“Well, we better be quiet and pretend there is no one in the office.” And she kissed him eliciting a moan from him “I said quiet, captain.”

Aelin jumped off the table and a moment later was on her knees in front of him. Her hands grabbed his butt and then pulled down his briefs “lean against the table, sir.” He did so and a moment later her mouth was on him and he had to restrain himself to stifle the loud moan that threatened to escape from him. She looked up at him in his green eyes and with her tongue licked the tip.

“Fuck,” swore Rowan never breaking eye contact with her. She looked at him and could see lust in his eyes. Her tongue licked the length of him and then she took him in her mouth fully and Rowan let out another curse “If you…” his hands tightened on the desk when she added a hand “continue like this I might not— ” and his protest was cut off when she gently added teeth as well. She still looked at him in challenge and then sucked hard and that was Rowan’s undoing. He pulled her up and deposited her on the desk on her back, her legs wrapped around his waist.

“You wicked, wicked woman…” he told her silencing her protests with a sizzling kiss while a finger slipped into her and Aelin’s back arched at the feeling he coaxed from her. With her legs, she pushed him closer and felt his hardness nudging at her entrance and pulled a bit more as if to tell him what she wanted. He kissed her and his finger hooked inside her teasing that sensitive spot inside her.

“Whitethorn,”she ordered him.

“Such a demanding woman,” and with those words he pushed into her and Aelin had to cover her mouth with her hands to stop the indecent moan that was about to escape from her.

It hadn’t take them long to reach their peaks and now Rowan was leaning on top of an equally spent Aelin. It had been short and intense.

He kissed the space between breasts “I didn’t even have time to greet your friends here,” he added posing gentle kisses on each breasts.

She pulled him in for a kiss “it’s okay… this woman here feels very pleased and satisfied.”

He smiled at her “we better get dressed again. Just in case.” Very quickly they got their clothes back on then Aelin walked to him “I blame the jump suit.”

He raised an eyebrow “not the amazing content inside?”

She kissed him “the jump suit makes the content tastier.”

“Come on,” he took her hand, unlocked the door and walked out of the office “I promised to show you what we did.”

Aelin squeezed his hand and followed him. He took her around the airbase and they covered all the places that she had mentioned needed changes. The works on hangar bay 2 were almost over and the place was still empty but in far batter shape that last time she had seen it. Aelin walked closer to the walls and touched them “fire retardant paint?”

Rowan nodded “Aedion suggested it. The whole of hangar 2 is painted in it. And once the works here are all done, we will do the same in the main hangar.” She walked around impressed that they had taken on board every single suggestion she had made “I am impressed, captain. The place looks amazing.”

“Given the budget we got, Lorcan had ordered to do the same in the main hangar.”

“So, the man can do his job. Good to know.”

Rowan took her around the rest of the base and Aelin approved of what she had seen.

“What time is your doctor appointment?” Asked Rowan as they got back to his office.

“I will need to go soon.”

“Will you text me?” He asked her brushing a wild lock of hair from her face.

“I will let you know.”

She had a meeting with a doctor about her return to work. She knew it was only for desk duty but the idea of going back at the station was quite exciting.

Rowan pulled her into an embrace “go get them.” In response she kissed him.

“Don’t kill Lorcan, captain.”

He gave her a huge grin and she left.

-------

the gif above gives you an idea of one of the trick our bird boy pulled.

TAGS:

@rowaelinismyotp​

@jlinez​

@swankii-art-teacher​

@courtofjurdan​

@whimsicallyreading​

@tillyrubes10​

[you-cant-spell-subtext-without]

Before we start, I'd like to say that the below combination....speaks to me, on a personal level.  

WHEW. 

12x02: Mamma Mia

This episode *eyeroll* - there were like...five? good things about it. 

(Mary Winchester as the OG John Winchester Apologist not being one of them.)

wrong.

Anyway, here is the only good stuff from 12x02.

1.

INTERIOR: SAM AND TONI ARE IN BED RELAXING AND HOLDING GLASSES OF WINE.

For the life of me this is the ONLY DECENT THING I CAN FIND FOR this scene and I do not understand how that’s possible.  You can’t even see her face.  Damn.

There are so many good shots in this!!!! Someone make me a better .gif.  Maybe cut Sam out of it?

Update: semi-acceptable follow-up image:

Sexual escapades are actually a continuing theme in the torture:

TONI 

Good morning, Sam. Let's start again, shall we? Take our time. I've cleared my calendar. I would like names and locations of every Hunter... the passcodes to each and every Men of Letters database held in the bunker, and then – oh, yes – let's do discuss your relationship with the demon Ruby.

** Can’t find the actual reaction to this, so hey let’s play Sam reacts but wrong episodes ONLY**

SEXUAL ESCAPADE THEME RECURS HERE:

[INTERIOR: THE CELLAR, TONI LOOKS OVER HER TORTURE TOOLS AND PICKS UP BRASS KNUCKLES. SHE WALKS OVER AND SLUGS DEAN.]

TONI: Passcodes, Sam. Not yet?

[TONI LOOKS OVER AT DEAN WHO’S CHAINED WITH HIS HANDS OVER HIS HEAD.]

TONI: Anything to add?

DEAN: No. No, I just came by for some tea and a beating.

[TONI: PUTS DOWN THE BRASS KNUCKLES AND PICKS UP A CUP OF TEA.]

TONI: Really? See, I thought you might be on for a little chat about your mate, Benjamin Lafitte. I'm sorry. You called him Benny. You know, the vampire whom you released from Purgatory and...befriended. 

***she sips her fucking tea after she says “befriended” suggestively.  SHE. SIPS. HER. TEA.  This is not a drill***

I see. Well... the English are nothing if not patient.

BONUS - actual footage of Lady Motherfucking Antonia Bevell deciphering the past 11 seasons of subtext in respect to Dean’s sexuality:

Bi!Dean confirmed.  

QUEEN DID NOT COME TO PLAY.

2. 

Dean’s spiral at the bunker 

CASTIEL: Okay, I understand. I'll call you in the morning.

[WHILE TALKING, DEAN RISES AND STARTS PACING.]

DEAN: Cass, hey. So, here's the thing. It's been kind of weird here with, you know, Mom being back. It's like we don't know how to act around each other, so we just kind of make this small talk and act normal, but it's – it's so not normal.

CASTIEL: Um, I'm – I'm not sure. What – what has she said to you?

DEAN: Well, nothing. That – that – that's the whole point.

CASTIEL: Okay, what have you said to her?

CASTIEL HANGS UP.

DEAN: Yeah. Great. That's helpful. Thanks.

***Dean is so OPEN with Cas on this call.  You can tell this is a deeper, different dynamic and it really shows how close they’ve gotten after that heart wrenching Season 11 finale. these NEWLYWEDS. they are in a RELATIONSHIP.  And Cas’s terrible attempt at helping also shows how new and fresh it is, how they’re working through how to “be” this new way together, Dean still working on how to express feelings without spiraling, Cas clumsily trying to support him.  I AM GOOOOOOO.  

This is a fucking warm blanket.

Also confirmed by the subsequent scene, because otherwise WHY EVEN HAVE THIS DIALOGUE in the follow-up call:

DEAN

Hey, Cass, what do you got?

[EXTERIOR: DAY, CASTIEL IS STANDING SLIGHTLY BEHIND A VERY LEAFY TREE.]

CASTIEL

I think I may have found Sam's location. It's a farm. It appears empty, but it was rented two weeks ago to a woman with an English accent.

[DURING THE CONVERSATION THE SCENE SWITCHES BETWEEN THE BUNKER AND THE EXTERIOR OF THE FARMHOUSE.]

DEAN

Did you have a look inside?

CASTIEL

No No, it's – it's powerfully warded.

***Cas asks because he’s not sure if Dean is trying to talk about his feelings again or if it’s still about the case, because this is THAT NEW (and he probably had an ENTIRE headcase moment about his prior horrific attempt to “help” so he’s worked up all sorts of tidbits of advice for next time) *** <- can someone ficlet this little plot hole? I need it in my life.

THAT IS THE ONLY REASON TO HAVE THIS HERE.  THERE IS NO OTHER REASON.

BONUS:

Remember Castiel’s pimp mobile?

That new husband energy:

HES SO DAPPER HERE.  All the heart eyes.

3.

Helpful husband moment

[EXTERIOR: DAY, OUTSIDE THE FARMHOUSE. THE IMPALA PULLS UP. CASTIEL IS LEANING AGAINST THE TRUCK. DEAN AND MARY EXIT THE IMPALA AND WALK UP TO CASTIEL.]

DEAN

Where's all this warding you mentioned?

CASTIEL

It's cloaked. It's very powerful. You brought your mother?

MARY

Hello, Castiel. Yes, he did.

DEAN

You sure there's anyone inside?

CASTIEL

No. The agent said the lease was handled long distance, but someone warded the house.

DEAN

I'm gonna go have a closer look.

[MARY STARTS TO FOLLOW DEAN.]

DEAN: Mom, I got this.

[DEAN SHAKES HIS HEAD IN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT THEN LOOKS TO CASTIEL FOR HELP.]

DEAN: Thanks.

[[DEAN LOOKS AT CASTIEL GRATEFULLY AND WALKS AWAY.]

***This entire scene deserves a thorough rewatch. Go watch it now.  Bathe in the serotonin.  I watched it probably 6 times. THE BODY LANGUAGE.  THE FACIAL EXPRESSIONS.  Cas saying “you brought your mother” because he KNOWS how worried and overprotective Dean is of her, already.  This is Destiel peak supportive husband and Mary is realizing it and its just all so fucking cute and happy. Bravo to all of your Acting Choices!  

4.

PIEEEEEEE

I will not go into my PhD dissertation about how pie is a metaphor for the true happiness and love Dean Winchester desires and DESERVES but feels like he cannot have because it will be snatched away from him.

I will not go into it at this time.  (It will also make me even ANGRIER about what they DID TO PIE in 15x20. I am still healing).

I repeat, I will not go in to it - unless -

5.

Kitchen confidential

Look where Dean is relaxing, with a beer or 3, and looking at old family pictures at the end.  It’s not his room.

It’s the kitchen.  He’s just hanging out in the kitchen, comfortably as if he does this often.

Remember when Lucifer was possessing Cas in 11x18 and we had this scene, where Cas is in his head but in the Winchesters’ kitchen and - I wondered -

If his happy place 

was

the Winchesters’ kitchen.  And why.

THIS SHOW.

I guess the good in this episode took up more space than expected.  I’m sorry for spamming you guys with this long, back to back Season 12 content, but I have a dossier.  

And I’m just getting started.

BONUS:

MICK

Here’s my number.

Also, picturing this, but in Casifer, said TO Rick Springfield.

[tarithenurse]

The good Villain - 11

Based on the prompt “You’re the villain and you know that you just want the ‘good guys’ to understand why”

Pairing: Loki x Fem!Reader Content: Worry/angst/tension, fluff. This is the last chapter. A/N: Thanks for reading and liking! Huge hugs for reblogs and comments, it really helped keep me motivated not just with the writing, but also with busy busy busy days. Love you all! (Sorry for the big gif. It was necessary.)

Chapter 11

The journey had been long and lonely, each moment tainted by the bittersweet dream of what could have been if you had not left him asleep that night. Oh, how you wish he was at your side during the trial. Not to vouch for you, as he had promised, but to look towards you with a trust that generally was lacking in the faces of the people – My people – while you explained the events and showed them the proof you had brought.

“We received a message,” the High Judge snarls, “that a witness would have come with you?”

That question stings.

The eyes of every judge, orderly, everyone are glued on you as words fail to come out your mouth. There is a prickle in your eyes and you instinctively know that if you were still on Terra, tears would be falling. Why now? You have no one to blame but yourself. Clenching your fists, causing the handcuffs to dig into the skin of the wrists, you power on down the road you started on when the airlock to the research station opened a long time ago.

“There has been a change of plan, your honour.” By some miracle your voice does not waver. “The written testimony will have to suff-“

Everything stops as the sound of scuffling emanates through the grand entrance to the courtroom. People are arguing outside. Loud and insisting but apparently to no avail as the doors are flung open, letting in a cold wind and…your heart skips a bit or two as it tries to come to terms with what you see. At the same time relieved and mortified to face the Asgardian whom you left in the dead of night without a word of explanation.

“Loki.”

It is no more than a whisper but he has already spotted you on the podium before the panel of judges, shooting the kind of smirk you have come to adore in your direction before stalking towards the High Judge. An outsider would think he belongs here, confidence coming off him in heavy waves as he respectfully (even observing the strict traditions of the Court of Sirius Beta) addresses the disgruntled panel of judges.

Satisfied with the intruder’s greetings, the High Judge dismisses the entourage of guards and orderlies that has trailed the new-comer with the intent of removing him from the room. Forcefully if needed. A significant amount of them look disappointed with the decision although they respect it wordlessly.

“I do sincerely apologize for my tardiness and manner of arrival, your honours,” the Asgardian continues to sweettalk, “hopefully, you of all people can sympathize with the urgency of dealing with the lingering threat of an invasive species bend on annihilating the indigenous inhabitants of a planet.”

He somehow manages to say it so casually that even you find yourself nodding before the complexity of the implication truly registers.

“Loki Odinson, formerly of Asgard – now hosted by the Terrans.” There is a titter of whispers rushing through the audience at the latter part of the announcement. “It is not customary to interrupt a trial – however as I had only just asked to your whereabouts…” here the High Judge pauses to send you a cold glare, “you will be allowed to be questioned.”

No! That is not – “Your honour!” you pipe up frantically, “if I may be granted a word with –“

“You may not.” Something heavy drops into your stomach at the dismissal. “In fact, you may sit down and remain silent.”

“But –“

“Silence the accused.”

A moment later, you are sitting on a small stool with a trifaerh leather muzzle tied uncomfortably over your mouth and jaws. Shame burns across your skin but there is nothing you can do to prevent Loki from taking the stand.

 …   Loki   …

Cold fury had powered the Asgardian through the interrogation when every look towards his love nearly broke his heart over and over again. Muted and cuffed, she remained aloof and unmoved by Loki’s answers to the drilling questions – only the burning coals of her eyes proved she was still alive. As if to compensate, his own body itched with a desire to slaughter in and every Betan involved in the offensive trial.

Justice, the bold letters along the frieze all around the Court Room spelled out, though the spectacle that had unfolded was far removed from the notion and yet…disheartening as it might have been, the blame was not only that of the Judges but belonged to [Y/N] in equal measure. Wrapped up in the old, poisonous sense of guilt she had presented her case while downplaying the facts that could clear her name, leaving Loki hard-pressed to undo the damage.

As in a feverish nightmare, the Asgardian watches the Judges file into the court room after debating in private. Each face his gaze lands on is closed, revealing nothing else than the severity of the case – a ranking member of the Rescue Forces on trial is outrageously uncommon.

This is it. In his periphery, the High Judge stands. A hush whispers through the room, while the accused and Loki barely breathe. No matter the verdict, my love, you will not become a prisoner on this day. Black eyes flicker towards him and he wishes she could hear the comforting words rather than the longwinded speech. A speech that ends with the phrase: “The accused is deemed not guilty, all charges will be dropped and expunged from records”.

He is at her side in a matter of seconds. Rigid like a statue in his embrace at the shock of the judges’ decision, it takes a long time and many coaxing whispers before the Betan leans into him.

“What now?” she wonders in a sighed whisper. “I cannot stay here…whe- what will I do?”

Surely, she can feel my heart racing. “Come with me, please?” When there is no answer, he continues with determination. “Come back to Terra, to the Avengers. Stay with…you don’t have to be alone or on the run. You can have a home again…”

[Y/N] pulls back a bit to meet his gaze, a glimmer of something warm in her eyes. “A home with you?”

“If you’ll have me…”

Loki’s heart leaps as she snuggles against his chest, oblivious of the many Betans sending the pair odd looks as the pass by on the way out of the court room. Already, her heat has melted through his callousness and arrogance – habits built up over centuries – as well as thawed a Jotun heart. And he loves it. He loves the hot softness against the palms, the sweet burning of his old ideas and expectations as new hopes form.

“Yes, let us go home, Loki.”

[pedroscurls]

Title: The New Candidate (Part 8.) 

Character(s): Patrick Sullivan and Ashley Wright (original female character) Summary: Ashley cooks dinner for Patrick as their second date. Word Count: 3,844 Warning: None. Author’s Note: Woot! First kiss!!! Yesssss. Enjoy! :-)

(GIF Source: @mypapawinchester)

Patrick had invited Ashley over to his apartment for their second date. He offered to pick her up, but Ashley insisted that she would drive there herself. He was enjoying their teasing banter with lingering stares between one another. She was becoming more and more of a woman that he wanted to settle down with—he was always known to fall in love too quickly. Though, Patrick knew that Ashley wasn’t like any other woman he had been with.

She was different, and he liked it.

At the end of their shift, Patrick and Ashley walked out of the Firehouse and to their parked cars.

“So, tonight?” he asked.

Ashley smiled, “Yeah. Any special requests on what I shall make for dinner?”

“Nope. Surprise me. You’re the cook. Plus, I’ll eat anything. I’m not picky,” Patrick grinned. “I also texted you my address, so don’t be late.”

“Me? Late? Please,” she teased.

Patrick walked her to her car, looking down at her. They had to keep their relationship a secret from the people in higher ranks, but everyone around the Firehouse was aware of their affair, and no one bothered to say a word.

Ashley opened her door and tossed her duffle bag into the passenger seat. She turned around afterwards to look up at Patrick, tilting her head as she stared into his eyes. They hadn’t kissed one another, but Ashley was sure that the thought was looming in his mind just as it was in hers.

“I’ll see you tonight, Ashley,” Patrick smiled.

“Yes you will.”

“Just bring the ingredients and you can cook at my place. I don’t mind learning.”

“Well, that sounds great to me. I’ll see you then.” Ashley nodded, climbing into the driver’s seat. She buckled the seatbelt and smiled up at Patrick before he shut the door behind her.

Patrick stepped away from the car and pocketed his hands, staring at her from the window and waving. “Drive safe.”

Ashley smiled, pulling onto the main road. She was more than excited for her second date with Patrick. It was unorthodox for her to go to his apartment and cook him dinner, but she liked how different this relationship was becoming. Not only did they have physical attraction, but she enjoyed how their banter had come so naturally.

Despite her growing relationship with Patrick, Ashley had grown close with the firefighters at the Firehouse. Many had begun to warm up to her and the way they treated her before was completely different than they were treating her now.

At first, the title of being a Candidate seemed like a curse, but now it was simply a joke that the rest of the guys liked to tease her about. It was like she had gotten the respect of her coworkers and since her incident with Patrick, Ashley was working twice as hard with the drills that he made her do. Her hard work was being recognized by her colleagues and it was the greatest feeling in the world. She was on the path to becoming a great firefighter like the rest of the firefighters.

Ashley finally made it to her apartment. She was in need of a shower before going to the grocery store to buy the needed ingredients for tonight’s dinner. Patrick hadn’t specified on a particular dress code, so she decided to wear a dress.

After parking her car in her designated parking spot, Ashley stepped out of her car with her duffle bag draped over her shoulder. Quickly, she walked to her front door and unlocked it. She made a mental note to have a cup of coffee before leaving since she was a bit tired from today’s shift.

Ashley shut the door behind her and locked it, walking to the kitchen to brew herself a cup of coffee. While she waited, she decided to take a shower. She didn’t mind drinking lukewarm coffee.

Setting her duffle bag on the floor of her bedroom, Ashley walked to her bathroom and turned the water on in the tub, allowing it to heat up. She stripped from her clothes and looked at herself in the mirror. Ashley had never felt as confident as she did now. She was seeing a man that she was thinking more and more about and her career was even better. Everything going on in her life made her content.

Finally stepping into the shower, she stepped underneath the water and allowed it to wet her skin. Ashley shut her eyes and allowed her mind to drift to Patrick.

Their first date was great. Everything about it was simple, but Ashley enjoyed every second of it. Its simplicity allowed her to gain a better understanding about Patrick. Instead of going to a high class restaurant, they decided on a small pizza shop downtown. All she could remember was dancing with him in the middle of the restaurant with quiet music in the background. It was spontaneous and sweet.

After applying shampoo and conditioner to her hair, Ashley washed her body thoroughly with her body wash that was scented with vanilla. Despite her thoughts about the first date, she wondered if she was going to allow him to kiss her tonight. Since breaking the boundary and going out with Patrick, Ashley wondered what his lips would feel like against hers.

Once the suds washed away from her body, Ashley stood underneath the water for a few moments. Afterwards, she shut the water off and stepped out of the shower with a towel wrapped around her dripping body. Walking to her closet, she tucked the front of her towel to hold it against her body as she shifted through her clothes.

Finally, she found a white, short-sleeved dress with a floral print on it. Ashley grinned and brought it out with her, walking out of her closet and back into her bedroom. After setting the dress on her bed, Ashley removed her towel to wrap it around her wet hair. She applied a decent amount of lotion to every inch of her body and removed the dress from its hanger.

The white, floral dress was collared and buttoned down with a strings that matched the color and print of the dress. Sliding it over her head, Ashley buttoned it up a quarter of the way upwards. After tying the strings around her waist, it provided the tightness she needed to reveal her curves.

She removed the towel from her hair and allowed it to air dry, walking back to her closet to look for shoes that would match her dress. Settling with beige ankle strapped heels, Ashley picked it up from the rack and grinned. She was more than ready to show Patrick how good she looked.

Once she finished dressing up and her hair had dried and her make-up was put on, Ashley sent a quick text to Patrick saying she was going to the store. She quickly walked to the kitchen to drink her coffee as her mind drifted once more. Ashley wondered if this relationship with Patrick would lead anywhere, which also left her thinking about what the Chief had said. There was no way for Patrick and her to be in a relationship while working under the same Firehouse.

After she finished her coffee, Ashley set it in the sink and then left her apartment, walking to her car. As she climbed in, she set her purse in the passenger seat and shut her door, buckling her seatbelt.

Ashley knew what she was going to make. She decided on making Alfredo pasta with spinach and a side of garlic bread. So, as she drove to the nearest grocery store, the nerves began to pick up. She was getting slightly anxious to see Patrick again.

The trip to the store didn’t last long since Ashley went a time where it wasn’t as busy. After she bought the needed ingredients, she began driving to Patrick’s apartment. Her heart was beating rapidly and she could feel a drip of sweat trickle down her temple.

She pulled up along the curb and parked her car. Sending a quick text to Patrick, Ashley stepped out of her car and grabbed the groceries from the backseat. Though, she looked over her shoulder when she heard someone whistling from behind her. Ashley’s cheeks almost reddened at the sight of Patrick.

Though, once he made it to her car, Patrick took the bags from her and allowed his eyes to look at her from top to bottom. He cleared his throat. He wasn’t expecting her to dress up this nice.

“You look—”

“Different?” Ashley finished.

“Beautiful,” he corrected.

Ashley blushed further. Patrick laughed quietly, motioning to his apartment with a swift nod. “Thank you, Patrick.

“I have to let a woman know when she’s looking beautiful.”

Ashley followed him inside his building, biting her lower lip. She walked upstairs, smiling politely at the people who left their door wide open for her to see. She looked up at Patrick and noticed him grinning from ear to ear. Once they made it to his apartment, Patrick opened the door and allowed her inside first.

She stepped in, glancing around the unfamiliar space. It was small and compact, but she liked it.

“Kitchen’s this way,” he smiled.

Ashley set her purse down on the couch and followed him to the kitchen, pulling her hair up into a neat ponytail. Patrick had begun removing the items from the bag, setting it on the counter.

“Pasta?” he asked.

“Mhm, and garlic bread.” Ashley smiled.

“I like it. I’m ready to help out too.”

“Oh no, we’ll never get to eat if you help me,” she teased.

Patrick chuckled, looking over at her. “You think you’re funny, huh?”

“Hilarious, actually.”

He smiled, shaking his head. He grabbed the necessary pots and pans and set it on the stove. Ashley washed her hands thoroughly before walking around the small kitchen. She liked how everything was within arms reach.

“So, what’s first, Chef Ashley?”

“Chef Ashley? Really?”

“What? Don’t you think it has a nice ring to it?”

“No,” she laughed. “Not at all.”

“Well, at least I got you to laugh,” Patrick smiled, flashing her his dimples.

“That you did, Patrick… That you did.”

“Okay, seriously… What’s first?”

“Well, we’re going to go ahead and boil the water for the noodles to soften. While that’s happening, we can go ahead and make the sauce,” she smiled.

Patrick was trying to listen, but watching her maneuver around his kitchen made him grin lovingly. He was also surprised to see her wearing a dress. She looked just as beautiful as she did when she would wear her usual navy blue pants and FDNY t-shirt at work.

“Are you even listening?” Ashley asked.

“Honestly?”

She nodded.

“Nope. You’re distracting,” Patrick admitted.

“Oh, okay. Blame it on me,” she laughed, poking his abdomen.

“I will blame it on you because it’s your fault why I’m not paying attention.”

Ashley smiled, looking up at him. The water was boiling in the pot and she had begun on creating the sauce, but Patrick was a bit too close. She was peering up at him and his hands yearned to rest on her hips.

“Patrick?”

“Yes, Ashley?”

“Can you grab me some milk?” she blushed.

Patrick grinned, “Of course.”

Once he pulled away, Ashley took a deep breath and focused on cooking. Soon enough, the aroma of her cooking filtered throughout his apartment. She poured the milk into another pan and allowed the sauce to cook on a medium-low heat.

Patrick was watching carefully, getting closer and closer to her every chance he could. He opened a bottle of beer and handed one to her which Ashley took eagerly. He felt his stomach growl at the scent of her cooking, grinning to himself.

He could get used to this.

“All right. Sauce is done. Come here and try it,” Ashley smiled, setting her beer down. She grabbed the wooden spoon and stirred the contents, scooping a decent amount of sauce onto it. Patrick walked towards her, stepping into her personal space as he leaned down to taste her sauce.

“Wow,” he grinned, pulling back just a bit. “That’s delicious.”

“I haven’t even added the spinach yet,” she smiled.

“Well? Go on and add it.”

Ashley giggled, pouring the fresh spinach into the sauce and mixed it with the sauce. While it was bubbling, she turned the oven on and preheated it for the garlic bread. As she turned around, she bumped into Patrick and his hands immediately rested on her hips.

“Clumsy much?”

“Nope. Just not expecting you to stand right there.”

“Where else would I be?” he laughed.

Ashley didn’t respond. Instead, she took a step closer to him until their bodies were mere inches apart from one another. Patrick cleared his throat, bringing a hand to cup her cheek. She leaned into it, staring into his eyes.

“Ashley?”

“Yes?”

“May I kiss you?” he asked.

Ashley bit her lower lip, feeling his thumb brush against her jawline. This was it. All she had to do was nod and lean up on her toes to kiss him, to feel his lips.

The second trickled by slowly. Patrick was awaiting her answer patiently, but he couldn’t help but let his eyes deviate to her lips continuously.

Finally, she nodded. “Yes… You may.”

Patrick grinned, leaning down to press his lips against her own. His hand on her hip tightened and moved to wrap around her waist, bringing her flush against his chest. Ashley whimpered against him, the feel of his soft lips against her own managing to clear her mind of nothing but the feel of his lips.

Slowly, Patrick moved his lips against hers. She followed his lead eagerly. Though, at the sound of the loud beep, they pulled away and turned to look at the oven. It was ready for the garlic bread.

Patrick grinned, licking his lips and pulling away. He set the garlic bread into the oven carefully and put a timer on it before turning around to face Ashley once more.

“I enjoyed that,” he admitted.

“So did I…”

“I’d like to do it again.”

“Me too…”

Patrick grinned, opting to peck her lips instead. “After dinner.”

She nodded in agreement. “After dinner.”

The entire time she was cooking, Patrick lingered around her. He would rest a hand on her lower back or even drape his arm around her shoulders. Finally, when the oven beeped once more, he released her to take the garlic bread out of the oven to let it cool down on the countertop.

Ashley had drained the water from the noodles and mixed it in with the sauce and spinach. She smiled to herself, looking down at the dinner she made. She was more than ready to sit down and eat with Patrick.

She glanced over her shoulder, watching him carefully take out the tray of garlic bread with two oven mitts. Ashley giggled to herself—it was a funny sight to see Patrick wearing oven mitts. He seemed so manly that wearing a simply kitchen item made her smile.

“Want to help me set the table?” he asked.

Ashley nodded, turning the stove off and allowing the pasta to sit on the counter once she set it aside. “Of course.”

Patrick took her hand, lacing their fingers together as he reached for two plates with his free hand. He ran his thumb across the back of her own and smiled to himself, leading her to the dining room.

“Forks?” she asked.

Patrick nodded, setting the plates down across from one another. He led her back into the kitchen and opened a drawer to reveal the utensils, grabbing two forks and bringing her back into the dining room.

“Looks great,” he smiled.

Ashley looked up at him and used her free hand to cup his cheek, leaning on her toes to peck his lips lightly. She sighed happily once she pulled away, looking into his eyes with an innocent gaze.

“What was that for?” Patrick asked.

“I missed your lips.”

He grinned, watching her walk towards the kitchen to retrieve the food. However, Patrick tugged on her hand and turned her around. His free arm wrapped around her waist to bring her flush against his body and immediately, he leaned down to press his lips against her own. He sighed contentedly against her and dropped her hand to cup her cheek.

Ashley gasped, though, she relaxed immediately against him. Her hands went to rest on his chest and she slowly moved her lips against his own which he eagerly followed.

Patrick dropped his hand from her cheek to rest gently against the side of her neck as his thumb brushed against her throat. He smiled against her lips and slowly pulled away, resting his forehead against hers.

“We are definitely going to do more of that,” he smiled.

“Yeah?” she asked.

“Yes.”

Ashley giggled, kissing his cheek and gently pushing him away so that she could get the food in the kitchen. Patrick followed her, deciding to grab the pot of pasta and the tray of garlic bread. Ashley smiled to herself and wrapped her arms around him from behind, kissing the back of his shoulder.

“You’re being very touchy feely tonight,” he chuckled.

“Is that a problem? I can tone it down a bit if you’d like,” she giggled.

Patrick shook his head, setting the food onto the middle of the table. “Don’t tone it down. Not at all.”

He held her chair out for her and smiled, kissing her cheek once she sat down. Patrick pushed her chair in and smiled to himself, sitting across from her.

“Dinner is served,” she smiled.

Patrick laughed quietly, “This smells delicious, by the way. Thank you for making it, Ashley.”

“Now you just have to try it… I hope it meets your expectations,” she smiled.

Patrick took her plate and placed a decent amount of pasta onto hers before tending to his own. After her put a large amount onto his plate, Ashley grabbed two slices of garlic bread and placed one on her plate and the other on Patrick’s.

“I have dessert, just in case you were wondering,” he commented.

“Ooh, what dessert?”

“Ice cream,” he chuckled.

“My favorite,” Ashley smiled.

They began eating and she watched Patrick carefully. Once he took a forkful of his pasta, Patrick grinned and dabbed at his lips carefully. “Holy shit.”

Ashley grinned. “Good?”

“Amazing,” he corrected. “Wow. This is really good.”

“Thank you. I’m glad you like it.”

“I think I want you coming over every night to make dinner,” he teased.

“I wouldn’t mind just as long as you help,” Ashley replied.

Patrick continued to eat, taking forkfuls of his pasta and bites of his garlic bread. Being in Ashley’s presence made him happier than he had been and he didn’t know what it was, but there was something about her that lured him in.

“How are you liking the Firehouse?” Patrick asked.

“It’s hard not to like it,” she laughed. “I love everyone in it. They’re all so nice and welcoming. I definitely enjoy the fact that you guys don’t treat me like I’m a woman… You all treat me like I’m one of the guys. It’s nice.”

Patrick smiled, “Well, you didn’t want any special treatment so, we all decided it was best to listen to you.”

“I’m glad you and the Chief and everyone else have been so nice. I mean, the drills are tough, but I enjoy it.”

“You enjoy it?” he asked, arching a brow.

“Helps me become a better firefighter.”

Patrick grinned. “I knew from the first moment I met you that you’d have the passion and motivation to be great. Everyone at the Firehouse started like that and we’re all so lucky that we still have that same drive. Don’t lose sight of that.”

Ashley smiled, “I’m lucky to be part of a great group of guys.”

“And you’re dating your Lieutenant,” he chuckled.

“I did not plan that,” she giggled, blushing.

“Of course not,” he winked.

“Chief says that if this goes somewhere… I can’t be in the same Firehouse?” Ashley asked.

Patrick nodded, “Yeah. The department is strictly against having in-house relationships. It’s happened before and it just—it didn’t work out and it caused a rift between the firefighters.”

“That makes sense…”

“What’s on your mind then?”

“I know this is just the second date and I honestly don’t want to scare you—”

“But?” Patrick asked, arching a brow after taking a bite of his bread.

“Do you see us going anywhere?” she asked hesitantly.

“Yeah,” he answered immediately. “I don’t want to scare you either, but there’s just something about you that is just—you’re different, Ashley. I’d be stupid not to try and see where this takes us.”

She grinned, staring up at him. “Cool…”

“Cool?” Patrick laughed. “That’s all?”

“No, no. I meant—I’m glad you said that. I just never had any luck with dating and guys before, so this is kind of too good to be true, but I like you, Patrick.”

“Good because I like you too, Ashley.”

After their dinner, Patrick and Ashley both washed the dishes, bumping their hips with one another. She was enjoying her time with him and when his arms wrapped around her from behind, she stiffened only to relax when he pressed his lips against the side of her neck.

“Thank you for dinner,” he whispered.

Ashley smiled, shutting the water off once she finished with the dishes. “Thank you for inviting me over.”

“You can come over anytime you’d like,” Patrick winked. He turned her around and pecked her lips, grabbing two beers and leading her to the living room.

“Want to watch a movie?” he asked.

“I’d love to.” Ashley removed her heels and set them aside, bringing her legs onto the couch once she sat down. Patrick put in an old movie and when he sat next to her, he propped his feet onto the coffee table and wrapped an arm around her shoulder to bring her flush against him.

“Ghost, really?” she asked.

“What? I like this movie.” Patrick smiled, kissing her forehead.

As the movie started, she rested her cheek against his shoulder and sipped periodically at her beer. Ashley could get used to this: Coming home after a long shift at work to have dinner with Patrick and watch a movie afterwards. It was relaxing.

Halfway into the movie, Ashley had fallen asleep against Patrick. Apparently, the coffee she had before leaving her apartment didn’t work at all. He looked down at her and noticed that she was sleeping. With a smile, he set their beers down and picked her up, bringing her into his bedroom. Setting her down, Patrick lied next to her and wrapped his arm around her before allowing himself to fall asleep.

He could get used to falling asleep next to her.

Forever Taglist (let me know if you want to be removed!): @disfigured-it-out || @chunex || @jasoncrouse || @oceanicseries || @dixonsbait || @negan--is--god || @see-you-then-winchester || @sable-the-trans-ham || @harleysandbats || @k4veggies || @labyrinthofheartagrams || @purplemuse89 || @ladyynegan || @scentofpineandhazelnutlattes || @may85 || @a-girl-interupted || @spn-cw123 || @multireality || @ashzombie13 || @constellationsolo || @isayweallgetdrunk || @fyeahashley88 || @sweetsweetpeach || @heartfulloffandoms || @myheart4ever47 || @asshatry || @laymetorest77 || @jenniegs || @magikat409 || @daintyunicorn || @fiftypercentmoreintoyou || @ask-kakashihatake || @jeffreydeanneganstrash || @ibelongtonegan || @meanandshallow || @naughtyneganjdm || @hawtdiggitynegan || @zombeeemomeee || @warriorqueen1991 || @ididntasktogetmadedidi || @holyjeffreydeanmorgan 

[refinery29engineering]

Ghosts Are Real

Ghost Inspector Automated Website Testing - Save Time, Money, and quite possibly Souls.

[Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on Medium here.]

I test software for a living but for all intents and purposes, I’m a ghost. If I do my job well, you won’t ever know what I did. If I do it perfectly, you won’t know that I ever even existed.

My name is Cedric, and I am a Quality Assurance Engineer.

Refinery29 is a team of 450 people and growing. I am one of 4 QA Engineers who supports a team of 50 onsite and remote Software Engineers.

The heart of our business is the ability of our writers, editors, contributors, video producers and support staff to publish content 24/7 using a content management system that we developed and refer to internally as “DASH”. We publish somewhere between 700 & 800 new stories per week so if this online printing press of ours were to crash, R29 production would come to a complete standstill.

DASH was built over 5 years ago. Over time, new code was added to old code, then newer code added to that, over, and over, and over again. The Old DASH story editor wasn’t bad but it certainly wasn’t optimal for a company that’s more than doubled its size in the past two years alone.

Roughly 5 months ago, a team of 10 developers, 1 UX Designer, and 1 Product Manager embarked on the monumental task of completely redoing the DASH Story Editor from the ground up. They had to do it using our existing live content and databases, they had to implement this along side a new powerful asset management system and it all had to be done without any interruption to everyday editorial productions.

The new DASH story editor and asset management toolset included dozens of brand new editing features like large batch asset management with duplicate image rejection, batch asset metadata duplications, hi-res auto-image sizing for multiple devices, inline image asset placements, third-party video service integrations, and support for conflict-free multi-user story-editing, to name a few. These updates would touch every aspect of our site. The risks were tremendous. I was the QA Engineer assigned to the project.

Not only were we able to get this done, we got it done without a single fire drill level issue presenting itself. Not one writer delayed, nor a single editor blocked.

I make my living trashing the work of people a lot smarter than me. I don’t mean like the vitriol a hack book critic might spew at a gifted author, no, what I do is much much worse. I take the meticulously labored over babies from the very proud hands of anxious developer parents. I hold these babes up to the sunlight and then I promptly begin to tell them the cruel, dark, ugly truth of everything that is wrong with them. How colicky their code is, how gassy, burpy, and poopy their feature appears to be. I detail with subdued glee the sleepless nights they are likely to encounter because their code never stops crying and a new operating system has just been released that absolutely hates crying. Hates it.

Now I know, even for a metaphorical “software-baby”, this is harsh treatment. Try to understand that sometimes, every now and again, one of these “babies” is actually a terrorist pretending. As cute as they may first appear, they are completely strapped with sticks of bad intention. If I let this little guy through my QA check point well, DASH is to crashes, dust to dust. (You read that right.)

I question the intent of every “loving” code update, modification, and feature that approaches me. No exceptions.

Then, after the feature has passed user acceptance testing (UAT), I still have to ensure that it won’t break any of our existing DASH features or websites through regression and integration testing. This means that for every update, every new feature, every pull request created for the new DASH story editor, I had to go into the old one and make sure the new modifications hadn’t broken any of the existing features our editorial staff depended on.

To do this meant I had to manually conduct hundreds of very repetitive test steps like creating “new” fully formed stories where I inserted valid data in all the required data fields, upload multiple images, videos, and third-party embedded assets. I would have to tag, label and credit uploaded photographs, assign content categories, keywords, regional details, duplicate the finished story to different countries, then I’d have to edit an existing story, insert all those same data and asset types, before finally ensuring that all of those updates could be saved, validated and published to a live website.

Those tests were run for every branch that contained even a minor code update before it was ever allowed to be merged into our production environment. All of those tests were completed by a single entity no one using the story editor even knew existed. An apparition.

A complete — fucking — ghost!

Four months ago, we discovered a new automation tool. A tool so bold and accommodating that when I first used it, I cried. Ok, I may be stretching a bit to make my point but dammit, this tool is just that good.

It’s called “Ghost Inspector”.

Ghost Inspector offers a Chrome Extension that allows you to record and translate every interaction you take on a web page into sequential test steps that you can save and run anytime you wish from your Ghost Inspector Dashboard.

This tool effectively allows you to screen capture your web page interactions and then… well that’s it. Every mouse-click, link selection, button tap, image upload, data field entry or form submission gets converted in real-time to test steps ordered in the sequence of the action taken. You can then save, edit or update your test steps at any point.

Any test you create can also be combined with other tests you’ve created within a test “suite”. (Picture a folder full of tests.) Now you can run OR schedule your test suite or individual tests against any remote developer instance or environment you designate.

All the tests within a suite run concurrent by default which really speeds up your testing cycles. I’ve written dozens of tests and packaged them within well-labeled suites so that ANYBODY can run them. This means any developer, project manager or intern can run a full site wide regression test suite against any remote environment they specify.

So, I’ve described having to manually conduct hundreds of very repetitive test steps before any code update is merged into production. All of those steps are now automated.

Ghost Inspector!

When a Ghost Inspector test run has completed, a test status alert is sent to my email along with a link to the test results. These results not only show me the test outcomes but if they fail, they show me at which step. On top of this, there’s a Youtube video of the test interactions performed, embedded within each test. I know, right?

Every completed test within a suite has a video recording that you can visually inspect step-by-step up until the point of success or failure. This feature left me speechless because it empowers even non-technical people with critical information they need to communicate about “what’s broken”.

Additionally, Ghost Inspector offers a host of build deployment integration options. We hooked up our tests to both Slack and Github, so in addition to receiving email alerts I also get “Slack” notifications when tests complete and whenever a pull request branch of code is tagged as “ready-for-testing” our Github integration automatically triggers a suite of Ghost lite-regression tests to run against it. Upon test completion, the test result URL, test status details and the target instance its run against are injected into that pull request as a comment where the developer can immediately review it.

This means every new feature goes through a suite of regression tests before I ever get started.

So, where do I go from here? Well, these tests aren’t going to write and maintain themselves. There’s a lot of evaluation and study required for me to fully begin to understand all of the implications it presents and I already accept that there is simply no substitute for good human judgement or intuition. It is also quite impractical to attempt to automate tests that consider any visual modifications, nor can I expect to fairly evaluate a features “form or usability ” by employing a scheduled pre-written anything.

There also are some features that I’d like to see added to Ghost Inspector like “batch suite” editing where changes can be applied to all the tests in a suite at once. I’d also like to see a more complex hierarchical suite/test capability like perhaps nested tests. For example you can create test-step-modules like for a “login function” in one suite and then import that test-module directly into other suites but a nested-test-module structure that can live within a suite might be more intuitive and a bit easier to manage.

In our planning meetings, I will have to pass new features through an “automate or manual test” decision grid to evaluate when automation makes sense and when it doesn’t. It will also be a challenge to formulate a strident set of best practices for how to organize our suites, structure our tests, and how best to implement them.

There remains an entire engineering team I’ve yet to introduce Ghost to - let alone document for training purposes and all of this continues in the background while I’m still learning about its full potential.

All that said, Ghost Inspector has already proven to be an invaluable QA tool. Thousands of tests are run each month, hundreds of manual testing hours are saved each month and I swear to you, hand to god, my soul is no longer trapped between worlds. I now exist as a fully formed physical being. A Quality Assurance Engineer in the flesh.

-- Cedric Gore, QA Engineer

Special thanks to: 

Justin Klemm of Ghost Inspector: Justin offers amazing support and is an all around good Earth human.

Matt Anderson VP of Engineering at Audeo: for his assistance with Slack, Jenkins and Github integrations. He’s a generous engineer with a heart of gold.

Greg Shakar Engineering Team Lead, Product and Engineering Refinery29: When I need to do anything “tricked-out” on a test, he’s my goto code guru. He’s also a professor at night because, a Superhero’s gonna do what they do, baby!

Brittnee Cann Team Lead, QA Manager, Product and Engineering. My manager Brittnee stumbled upon Ghost Inspector whilst searching for the Ark of the Covenant. She picked it up, dusted it off, and was nearly blinded by its glow. Not sure if staring into it would turn her to stone, she made the hasty executive decision to quickly hand it to me for an assessment the results of which by now, you’ve certainly read.