#The Veils The Runaway Found

[thejoyofviolentmovement]

New Audio: The Veils Share Atmospheric and Brooding "Undertow"

New Audio: The Veils Share Atmospheric and Brooding "Undertow" @TheVeils @MoraMayAgency

Though born in London, acclaimed singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and frontman of The Veils, Finn Andrews spent his teenaged years attending high school in Auckland. Largely disinterested in school, Andrews spent the bulk of his free time playing in several bands — and writing the material that would later comprise The Veils full-length debut, 2004’s The Runaway Found. When he was 16, a…

[tip-top-cloud-surfer]

Left at the Altar - Hangman

Pairing: Hangman / (Ex-Girlfriend) Fem!Reader

Word Count: 2.2k

Warnings: Light Angst; Drama; Getting Left at the Altar (Not by Hangman); Asshole Ex (Not Hangman); Second Person POV ("You"), No Y/N, No Physical Description for the Reader

This work, all of my other works, and my entire blog are 18+ Only.

Summary: When you get left at the altar, a familiar face swoops in to save the day.

Edit: Part 2 Part 3 Epilogue

Master List

Ever hit rock bottom? Well, you thought you did. And then you got stood up at your own wedding.

Staring up at the altar, you slowly sat down in the front pew. You sat your bouquet down beside you and reached up to pull out the pins holding your veil in place. You definitely weren’t going to need them. Not after the text message that you received from your ex-fiancé.

That’s right. You got dumped on your wedding day through a text message.

And frankly, the part about the whole situation that annoyed you the most was the fact that you should have been the one to dump him. You were the one who threatened to call the wedding off months ago when you found some suspicious text messages between your fiancé and a woman labelled as ‘Domino’s’ in his phone.

As if anyone texted Domino’s about their secluded lake house.

You should have just pulled the plug on the whole thing when you had the chance. Instead, you let him dump and humiliate you publicly.

Taking a deep breath, you glanced around the small church. Most of the guests filed out when it became apparent that there was a runaway groom. All of the people that remained in the church were a few close friends and immediate family members.

Your ex-fiancé’s family stood awkwardly in the corner, not really sure what to do. There wasn’t a really good or efficient way to apologize for their cowardly bastard of a son without suffering some rather intense glares from your family and friends. You already gave the engagement ring back to your ex-fiancé’s mom, since it was supposedly a family heirloom.

Maybe you should have just flushed it down the toilet instead.

You looked forward again when your mom walked over to you. She gave you a small, comforting smile as she pushed your veil and bouquet to the side and sat down beside you. Your mom stared up at the altar for a moment, seemingly walking through what she was going to say to you. She reached out and grabbed your hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

“It’ll be okay, sweetie,” she whispered to you. “You’ll get past this.”

“I know,” you replied, nodding slowly. “I know, Mom.”

“Do you need anything?”

“No,” you replied softly, shaking your head. Letting out a breath, you turned back to your mom with a composed expression. “Why don’t you and everyone else go and eat at the venue? It’d be stupid to let all of that food go to waste. We already paid for it.”

“Actually, his family offered to pay for everything. Even your dress,” your mom explained, glancing over at your supposed-to-be in laws. “They were extremely embarrassed.”

“Can’t imagine why,” you drawled sarcastically, shaking your head. You let out a breath before you turned back to your mom. “Has Dad calmed down?”

“Somewhat. He calmed down a lot when they offered to pay for everything. But I worry for your ex if he ever crosses paths with your father again.”

“If he’s smart—which he’s not—he’ll avoid the entire county,” you replied, pursing your lips together. “He’s probably sitting at his lake house with ‘Domino’s’ right now.”

“That’s unfortunate for him,” your mom told you, causing you to nod in return.

“Damn straight.”

You and your mom shared a small smile before you sobered up for a moment. Glancing around the church, you leaned back in your pew. You turned to your mom and suddenly felt like you were a teenager again and needed her to help you with a situation that you got yourself in.

“Do you think that I could be alone for a bit?” you asked softly, folding your arms across your lap.

“Are you sure? I don’t think that you should be alone right now, sweetheart,” your mom replied, grabbing your hand. “Why don’t you just come to the venue with the rest of us? You can burn the dress if you want to, but just come with us.”

“I will, Mom, but I just need some time by myself for a little bit.”

Albeit reluctantly, your mom got up and ushered everyone else out of the church to give you some time alone. The venue was only ten minutes down the road, so your mom told you to just text her when you wanted to be picked up. You thanked her again for all of her help and support before she left with everyone else.

You slowly got to your feet after you thought that everyone else was gone. You let out a breath to calm yourself down and simply worked through some thoughts. Eventually turning for the aisle, you paused when you spotted a familiar figure walking through the church doorway.

Jake Seresin. Or Jacob Michael Seresin III, if you were going by his birth name. Or Hangman, as he supposedly went by these days. Lieutenant Jake “Hangman” Seresin.

The boy that you fell in love with when you were fifteen. Your high school boyfriend, your first love, your first everything, really. The man that, had he stayed in Texas and taken over his family’s business like he was expected to do, you probably would have already married.

But life wasn’t a fairytale. And certainly not your life.

Jake slowly walked further into the church, pulling off his dress white cap as he stepped forward. He tucked it under his arm and offered you a small smile as he stopped in front of you. His hair was perfectly gelled and styled and his dress whites were absolutely pristine. And that genuine smile, the one that he seemed to use less and less as he aged, was just like you remembered.

He looked like he stepped straight out of a dream. Out of your dream.

“I’m not too late, am I?” he asked, looking around the otherwise empty church.

“No,” you scoffed, shaking your head. You glanced up at the rafters before turning back to him. “I got left at the altar.”

Instantly, the kind, genuine smile dropped from Jake’s face. His whole demeanor changed in an instant. He frowned and opened his mouth before pausing, most likely trying to not just blurt out the first words that came to mind in a church. But his entire stance looked like he was ready to storm out of the church to drag your fiancé out of whatever hole he was hiding in.

“He didn’t show up?” Jake asked with his voice dangerously low.

“No, he sent me a text,” you explained quietly. Letting out a laugh that was meant to be humorous, but was really rather pathetic in reality, you looked away from Jake for a moment. “I mean, at least I didn’t marry him. It could be worse.”

“Where is he then?”

“Somewhere, anywhere,” you replied honestly, pursing your lips together. “Frankly, I never want to see him or hear his name ever again, so I could care less.”

“Still, he shouldn’t get away with doing this to you,” Jake stated seriously.

It had a level of force behind it that you knew wasn’t directed towards you. More like on your behalf than anything else.

Hell, Jake had always been protective over you and more than willing to fight for you. He wasn’t someone who kept a lot of close friends, but when anyone was within Jake Seresin’s inner circle, he would fight for them with everything that he had. And you knew that the state of your relationship didn’t impact that.

“He’s not worth the trouble,” you stated, waving your hand to the side. “And besides, I’d really just like to move on from all of this. If I can.”

“Of course, you can,” Jake spoke softly, reaching out to take your hand. “He’s just a . . . I can’t say the word that I want to say because we’re standing in a church.” You laughed and shook your head at Jake. “But either way, it’s his loss.”

“Thanks Jake.”

“I’m serious. I mean, any guy who looks at you, especially when you’re in that dress . . .” Jake trailed off, letting his eyes rake over your form, “. . . and doesn’t hope to be the guy standing there, waiting for you at the altar . . . he’s not worth your time.”

You felt your heart flutter in your chest, just like it used to whenever he would wave to you in the hallway between classes when you two were teenagers. And staring into Jake’s bright green eyes, you knew that he meant every word that he spoke. Rocking your joined hands back and forth, you tried to settle the wobble in your lips.

“I didn’t want it to be him,” you stated honestly, causing Jake to noticeably pick his head up. “He . . . I gave into the pressure that I should be married and moving into that stage of my life by now and . . . I should have never agreed to marry him in the first place.”

Jake nodded slowly and turned to look at the ground. A moment passed where he seemed to be trying to compose himself before he slowly picked his head up again.

“Who did you want it to be?” Jake asked softly, so softly that you didn’t hear it the first time.

“What?”

“Who did you want it to be?” he repeated, picking his head up and staring deeply into your eyes. “Waiting for you at the altar, I mean.”

Your breathing subtly picked up and your lips parted a bit at Jake’s question. And the intensity of his stare that made your entire body feel like it was on fire. Slowly and tentatively reaching out, you gently cupped Jake’s cheek with your hand and rubbed your thumb across his soft skin.

“My answer hasn’t changed,” you stated quietly as emotion started to clog your throat. “It never has.”

The two of you naturally leaned towards each other. Your bodies seemed to naturally fit together as you pressed up together. The two of you slowly leaned in until your foreheads rested together. And when he was standing this close, you could pick out all of the different colors in his eyes, which were staring down at your lips.

Gently cupping the back of your neck, Jake pulled you in for a soft kiss. Your lips moved together like they had never been parted in the first place. Not by school or deployments or life in general. For much of your adult lives, the issue was never your feelings for each other but everything else getting in the way. But right there, in that small little church in rural Texas, life wasn’t in the way.

Nothing and no one were in the way. Not anymore.

Jake dropped his hat and wrapped an arm around your waist to pull you closer. You wrapped your arms around his broad shoulders and cupped his cheek once again, guiding your lips together. It probably would have gotten you disapproving looks if anyone else was around, but for that perfect little moment, it was just the two of you.

Pulling away a few moments later, you rested your foreheads against each other’s and smiled to yourselves. Breathing a bit heavily, you trailed your fingers down Jake’s cheeks as he brushed his nose against your own.

“When do you have to leave?” you asked quietly.

“Tomorrow morning,” Jake sighed, clearly sounding disappointed. “I could barely get any time off. I actually owe Coyote a laundry list of things because he covered for me.”

“Then we shouldn’t waste any time,” you replied, trying to look on the positive side.

About ten seconds later, you and Jake hurried out of the church hand-in-hand. Jake’s rented truck was the only car in the parking lot and you both quickly made a beeline for it. Jake unlocked and opened the door for you to climb inside. You sat down and Jake hurried to push the rest of your dress inside before shutting the door.

You pulled him in for another excited kiss as he slid into the driver’s seat before Jake started his rented truck to drive the two of you to the hotel. As Jake backed out of the parking lot, you sent your mom a quick text, which was just a simple photo of Jake.

“Do you have the directions to the hotel?” Jake asked, turning back around and heading for the road.

“Yeah and the confirmation, so we can actually check in,” you mused, smiling over at him.

As Jake pulled out onto the road, you got a text back from your mom. You let out an amused noise and shook your head when you read her message.

Don’t forget protection. Or do. I wouldn’t mind a grandbaby if you two agreed on one. Love you!

You sent your mom a quick ‘love you’ text back before turning off your notifications. Jake reached out and grabbed your hand, threading your fingers together. Jake pulled your hand up to his lips and pressed a kiss to the back of your hand.

And even though this wasn’t how you expected your wedding day to go, you had to admit that this outcome was actually far better than the one you that had in mind.

Part 2 Part 3 Epilogue

[ascesabo]

sometimes i want to reach through the screen and shake sabo by the shoulders because. god. there's just so much going on with him.

he's first introduced through the veil of luffy's memories- here he's just another feral jungle kid, sticking it out with ace and luffy, the 'nicer' brother in young luffy's eyes. and then boom. you find out he's a runaway noble trying to escape his abusive, neglectful family- and this changes nothing, they still get to become sworn brothers, but just as quickly as this is resolved, his asshole of a dad takes the three of them hostage. and what does sabo do? he gives up the little sliver of freedom he'd fought for, is willing to become miserable and lonely again if it means ace and luffy are spared. and then he comes home to find that in his absence, his parents have already found a replacement! great!

and he doesn't even get to address how fucked up that is, because stelly runs his mouth and now sabo's too busy trying to figure out how to stop his brothers and their home from getting burnt to the ground. he never gets to give them a proper goodbye- he exhausts himself trying to reach them, but he can't because. you know. he's ten. so where does this leave sabo? ten years old, with nowhere to go- he sets out to sea to try and start over, and for the crime of wanting to escape a terrible life, he's punished with an explosion to the face. he loses his memories, his brothers lose him- and so the cycle continues.

then the army saves him, takes him in; he's essentially a child soldier, with how prodigious of a fighter he is from the get-go. but hey, he thinks he's finally found his footing, even if his past's a blur to him- then it all comes flooding back. in the worst way possible. he sees his brother's corpse and he remembers, but it doesn't matter, does it? he's too late, ace is gone, and sabo's lost ten years of a life he could have shared with his brothers. we don't even know how (if, even) he recovers from this- except for a single passing statement from koala, asking him if he's 'had that dream again' because he'd been crying in his sleep. this is never brought up or addressed again. great!plus, we never do find out if getting blown up at the ripe old age of ten could have left any lasting fire-related trauma; and if it does, what does that mean for sabo, who's pretty much made of it, now?

both of these questions are answered at once- sabo treats the fire as if it's ace. it's ace's legacy he's carrying on, and it's ace he seeks freedom for. he copes by making sure ace lives on in his flames, and how can he ever hate the fire living in him if that fire is all he has left of the brother he never got to see again?

i just have to wonder about him, because he's got so many Issues that just. don't ever get addressed? every time we see him deal with his grief (episode of sabo, his own retelling of events in dressrosa) we never really discover anything about him. i wonder how it felt to finally remember the childhood that eluded him, just to find out he was an unwanted, replacable child. how he feels, living with the knowledge that he could have done something to save ace, that he'd failed to remember the two people he loved the most? i wonder just how terribly that guilt must weigh down on him- because where luffy's already begun to heal, sabo still sees ace in everything he does. his title of flame emperor is a direct callback to ace's final attack in his fight against blackbeard. he talks to his goddamn fire like his brother is still in front of him, which is sweet and heartbreaking and, considering his backlog of unaddressed trauma... incredibly unhealthy. i know these will probably be left unresolved for the sake of moving the story forward- but god, sabo, are you okay?

[dreamlovetarot]

☁️「𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑑𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑓𝑢𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑」🏹

left to right: pile 1, pile 2, pile 3

Welcome, 𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝐷𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟,

as we embark upon a journey through the veils of time. In this celestial reading, we shall unveil the whispers of what your destined beloved shall hold most dear in you. Embrace this ethereal dance with an open heart, and may the stars above sprinkle their magic upon your path.

𝐼𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚𝑠, 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠,

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ 𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒚 ⁓

Enchanting Disclaimer: Let it be known that Tarot's realm, found within these pages, is one of whimsical entertainment. What transpires is my personal interpretation, a delicate thread weaving through the cards' tapestry. Each portrayal, though bathed in speculation, seeks to capture your imagination. As you tread the starlit path of this reading, the harmony between your heart's song and its melodies shall guide you. Tarot's allure, an ethereal waltz, rests upon the tendrils of choice, where your intuition casts its own spell.

꒰ 🪼 ꒱ؘ ࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ𝑃𝑖𝑙𝑒 01

The cards of your destiny: 7 of cups, child: orphan, the sentinel, the twins

Within the realm of your being, an enchanting tapestry unfolds. Your future spouse is drawn to the radiance of your imaginative spirit, finding allure in the way you perceive the world. Your ability to discern opportunity in even the most intricate patterns of life, and your unwavering understanding of choice, create a symphony of admiration.

Your essence weaves dreams into reality, infusing purpose into each step you take. There's a delicate magic in your willingness to dream without restraint, to paint your life with the hues of possibility. This mystical aura you carry isn't tinged with negativity, but rather a sparkling optimism that kindles fascination.

Yet, beyond the ephemeral, your independence shines like a distant star, guiding you to gather knowledge on your own terms. You're a self-sufficient learner, a wanderer across the cosmos of wisdom, and your partner cherishes this self-reliance.

In your stride, your beloved sees a warrior spirit. Your unwavering faith in yourself and your capacity to conquer any challenge bestows you with an aura of courage and resolve. This inner certainty sets you on a path of endless possibilities, a journey your partner deeply admires.

The Twins card whispers of your multi-dimensional nature. You're a puzzle with pieces that delightfully don't always fit together. Your unpredictability paints your journey with intrigue, offering a constant sense of discovery to your partner's heart.

This fusion of dreaminess and autonomy creates a unique alchemy. You master the art of emotional balance, a dance between grounding and flight. Your independence is the armor that shields you, and your dreams are the wings that let you soar.

In this cosmic dance, you embody a spectrum of hues, and your beloved admires everything about your essence, encompassing green, beige, and even the occasional red flag. You are an enigma with layers that continue to captivate. As you navigate your journey, remember the charm that emanates from your fusion of dreams and self-reliance, as it is casting a spell that keeps your partner forever captivated.

꒰ 🪼 ꒱ؘ ࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ𝑃𝑖𝑙𝑒 02

The cards of your destiny: the moon, angel, the aspirant, the runaway

In the tapestry of your future, your beloved finds fascination in your intuitive nature and your profound self-awareness. Your thoughts, akin to twinkling stars, intrigue their curiosity. They are drawn to your emotional transparency, where you fearlessly share your worries and anxieties, offering a glimpse into the depths of your soul.

What truly enchants your future partner is your selflessness, a trait that shines with a brilliance of its own. Your willingness to extend your help without seeking anything in return casts a radiant glow upon your being. You embody a magical essence that radiates empathy and compassion, pulling them into your orbit.

But you're more than an angelic presence; you're a dreamer with aspirations that stretch toward the cosmos. Your ambition and tenacity in pursuing your dreams are evident. Even in the face of challenges, you approach them with open dialogue and a spirit that marches forward undeterred.

The Runaway card, cloaked in mystery, adds a layer of intrigue to your essence. While you're resolute in facing difficulties, there's also a yearning for personal freedom. Your desire to keep certain parts of yourself hidden imparts an air of enigma. This doesn't hinder your ability to connect; rather, it adds a layer of complexity that draws others in.

In your journey, you may momentarily retreat from challenges, but your determination never wavers. Your reliability shines through, especially in supporting others through their tribulations. Your partner is captivated by the unique harmony you embody, a symphony of strength, compassion, and an alluring aura that casts a spell upon their heart

꒰ 🪼 ꒱ؘ ࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ𝑃𝑖𝑙𝑒 03

The cards of your destiny: ace of wands, warrior, the heir, the enchanter

Within the enchanting dance of your destined union, your future partner is captivated by the radiant bloom of your creativity. You are a wellspring of inspiration, a vessel brimming with untold possibilities. Like a star yearning to blaze brighter, you embrace growth and new horizons, ensuring that every moment shared is a tapestry of exploration.

In your presence, the strength of galaxies twinkles. Your spouse admires your unwavering fortitude and adeptness, where discipline and unyielding determination harmonize effortlessly. An aura of power surrounds you, untainted by the trappings of ego, allowing you to navigate both your internal landscape and external connections with an elegant grace.

Your self-awareness casts a gentle glow, illuminating both your strengths and vulnerabilities. The Heir card alludes to concealed potential, a treasure trove of abilities awaiting discovery even by you. This interplay between modesty and untapped gifts weaves an enchanting allure that draws your partner closer.

Occasionally, hesitation may cast its delicate shadow upon you. Doubts may cloud your perception of your talents, questioning whether you truly measure up or possess the necessary capability. This humility, coupled with a touch of uncertainty, forms an irresistible magnetism that pulls your partner into your orbit.

In your essence resides the art of transformation, a symphony of alchemy. Your mastery lies in transmuting the mundane into the extraordinary, crafting new dimensions from the threads of everyday life. This isn't manipulation in the conventional sense, but a kind of enchantment that breathes fresh life into situations, relationships, and your artistic pursuits.

Be it as a designer, an artist, or a weaver of light, your innate talent to manipulate and shape scenes entrances your future partner. They're captivated by your ability to reshape perspectives, inviting others to see the world anew through your unique vision.

In their eyes, you shine like constellations in the velvet sky, a mosaic of brilliance. Your creativity, your potential, and your artistic flair are celebrated and cherished. They stand as your most ardent supporter, unwavering in their belief in you. In their gaze, your essence swirls like stardust, a mesmerizing fusion of potential and artistic magic.

© dreamlovetarot 2023 — where every right is held in delicate embrace 🤍 I kindly ask you not to appropriate, replicate, alter, or disseminate my ethereal content.

[snoutbleed]

Telling a story takes guts.

Forensic photographer Sören Heinrich can’t ignore the nausea bubbling in his throat when documenting someone's darkest day. He loses sleep over the fates he captures but is drawn to the purpose vested in his grisly role. When blood-slicked prints become Sören's next subject, he finds a message that blurs the line between his personal and professional life.

"This is where I’ve been. Don’t follow."

Unable to fathom his long-lost brother’s crimson handwriting, Sören descends into the criminal underworld for answers. The young boar's inner demons guide him toward a morbid self-reckoning.

Direktion 2 has their work cut out for them.

Crime is on the rise in post-reunification Berlin. Among the cases, the Polizeidirektorate in the city's westernmost boroughs is baffled by freak murders at the hands of denizens without motive.

In the shadow of the Berlin Wall, the crime wave takes a supernatural twist behind the lock of a post-Soviet puzzle.

Camera flashes at the crime scenes reveal gruesome secrets stirring in the shadows.

Unravel the conspiracy in #LONG STORY SHORT.

#The Filing Cabinet -- scan the profiles of those in the know. #Bloodstained Polaroids -- view the images of lives gone astray. #Evidence Board -- learn the details of secrets best kept. #Mystery Signals -- behold the lore of the mind melt. Face the music in the official Long Story Short playlist!

Everyone gathers toward the Abschnitt.

There are several Polizei Berlin stations like the Abschnitt, but everyone tied to this supernatural symphony ends up near this Spandau station particularly.

Sören Heinrich -- ( boar | tag | bio ) The black sheep of the Abschnitt. Sören’s abrasive nature keeps his co-workers at bay, a division widened by their western ideals clashing with his East German upbringing. He distances himself from the station through tight focus on his job, always the first to arrive at a crime scene. Don Jae Hale -- ( elk | tag | bio ) The silver-tongued Kriminalhauptkommissar of the Abschnitt. Hale is quick to dismiss the killings up until his leadership comes under siege by the paranoid public. Umeya Romanova -- ( fox | tag | bio ) The Bundeskriminalamt detective sent to assist with the Abschnitt’s mounting cases. Rumor says Umeya is there for more than the mystery, but her motives veiled by a callous attitude. Marieke Reiss -- ( rabbit | tag | bio ) The star psychology student barely escaped a killing. Now a key witness, Marieke can’t rest easy knowing she could be the next victim, driving her to take matters into her own hands. Reinhardt Müller -- ( donkey | tag | bio ) The Abschnitt’s disgraced ace detective, worn down and living in the grimy corners of Berlin. When crime spikes, Reinhardt tries to relive his “glory days" of detective work. Ukko Heinrich -- ( boar | tag | bio ) The crime lord defends his territory with brutal but firm methods. He's sworn to his found family, the country's political rift making him protective to a fault. Vorwitz Albrecht -- ( bat | tag | bio ) A gardener with good banners but bad morals. Vorwitz's unsavory career choices put him in the Abschnitt, but he finds a way out with Sören.

Entropy knows no bounds.

Stop, look and listen: stories are everywhere. Behold my settings.

Face more madness in #TALES GONE STALE.

LAID TO WASTE -- an abomination stirs in the bayou, its secrets poisoning a township. THE WASTED LIVES -- a group of galactic fugitives embark on a never-ending getaway on a runaway cruiser. (Links need an update. Stay tuned.)

The mind behind the melancholy.

ACHTUNG! This blog is 18+ for gore and suggestive content!

You can call me Dissy (she/her). I'm a writer with stories and ideas always bouncing inside my head, especially this one. Feel free to ask me about myself, my writing, my characters, or anything else. I promise you I can bark up a tree for hours.

I also do Polaroid photography: check out @hogrot for my shots!

I also encourage comments, critique, etc. about this setting. I want to pace myself while writing this, therefore I have all the time I need to refine this where I can. I don't expect this story to come out for a while anyway, especially as I run it through critiques. Hell, this pet project wouldn't have come into fruition thanks to the feedback of some incredible friends.

Shoutout to PYRY for doing character design and art for this setting, as well as giving his ideas and characters for the Heinrich plotline. Go check out his killer art. This story wouldn't exist without him.

Another shoutout to @tsanapi, an incredible artist who drew the art pictured above. Her sense of style is so keen.

And a final thanks to you, the reader, for tuning into the mind melt. This signals wouldn't have picked up without you.

[ofthecaravel]

Heaven In Time

Chapter 1: Thoroughfare

Danny Wagner x Sam Kiszka

Summary: Danny, en route to California to find love, picked up small town runaway Sam on a Texas thoroughfare and has been on the road ever since. While Sam adjusts to life as himself, Danny's wondering if he's found love without even leaving the South.

Tags: Religious trauma, mentions of homophobia, Anxiety, very sweet little crushes, idk all very soft when its not Tense

Words: 5.4k

A/N: HEAVILYYYYYY inspired by Thoroughfare by Ethel Cain, even borrowed a lyric here and there. Any and all credit to my beloved Hayden. First chapter of ??? maybe 4?? but I haven't decided. There's going to be more mention of Sam's questionable Southern Baptist Christian upbringing in those and I understand that may not be everyone's cup of tea so feel free to scroll if that may be upsetting for you.

~~

“Do you think we’re gonna get arrested?”

Over the gentle splash of the thin, chlorinated water, Sam heard Danny’s long sigh. Usually he laughed at all of Sam’s misplaced little comments and queries, but sometimes he just sighed. Sam knew he didn’t mean anything harsh by it, but it definitely didn’t feel good. 

“Not if you don’t say anything,” Danny answered plainly. A smile ghosted his tired face as he rotated to face Sam, who stared back as he awkwardly bobbed with his long hair trailing behind him like a veil. After however many dusty miles and state lines they’d crossed, it always felt good when they had a motel to crash at instead of the cramped cabin of Danny’s pickup. And it felt twice as good when the motel had a pool, especially when it was nice and late at night and there was no one else around. Sam wasn’t much of a swimmer, but he was happy to tread water and watch Danny float. His broad chest would peek just over the surface of the water and his eyes would close while his dark curls moved like the fingers of lazy clouds. 

Yeah, Sam was happy to watch that. 

“It doesn’t feel right,” Sam murmured, watching his fingers flex anxiously under the water in the refracted view the harsh fluorescents provided. With the country sky full of nothing but mosquitoes and the occasional whistling breeze, the yellowing pool lights were the only thing illuminating them. Sam felt suddenly self conscious thinking of how washed out he must look in this rare moment where he was the one being watched. He turned to the side, only offering Danny his profile. 

“They won’t know the credit card ain’t mine until we’re in Arizona,” Danny insisted in a hushed voice. “And even then, I didn’t give the desk my real name. We’re golden if you can keep that mouth of yours shut. Can you do that for me, cowboy?”

“Sure I can.” Sam bristled, but knew Danny’s request was justified. Ever since Danny had taken pity on him and picked him up on that thoroughfare back in Texas, Sam never seemed to be able to do the right thing. He had gotten as far as he had in an attempt to remove himself from the suppressing influence of his uber religious hometown, but so far it seemed like he was still dragging it along with him. It was an embarrassing first impression to leave on someone as great as Danny was turning out to be, but he hadn’t left Sam behind yet, so Sam figured he must have some redeeming qualities that kept him around.

“Atta boy,” Danny smiled, his eyes closing as he lolled his head back and drew in a deep breath of the cool night air. “Christ alive, I needed this. How long do you think we drove today?”

“5 hours?” Sam guessed, thinking back on the day. “Felt longer ‘cause of the sun.”

“Damn that sun,” Danny cursed. “Burned the hell out of my nose, too.”

“We can get lotion or something at the next gas station,” Sam offered. Truthfully, he found the ruddy blush on Danny’s nose and freckled cheeks extremely flattering, but he knew it had to hurt. Growing up in Alabama, Sam knew a thing or two about sunburn.

“With what money?” Danny laughed humorlessly, sighing again and running a hand over his face. “Although at this point, I’d be willing to skip a dinner to get my hands on some lotion. Mm. Not that I don’t appreciate your presence, but...” 

Sam blinked blankly, feeling an implication pass him by like they often did. He didn’t say anything in return and sank a little further into the pool, trying not to feel even more stupid than he already did. Being tired certainly wasn’t helping, but he was really starting to feel the weight of all of his graceless actions from the past week pile on him as they swam in silence. Hopefully Danny would want to head up to their room soon and Sam could just try again the next day.  

Danny noticed Sam’s silence and opened his heavy eyes to observe him with a worried look. Sam’s neck was craned and the sharp point of his nose grazed the water as he continued to stare into the palms of his submerged hands. He was halfway to prayer by the looks of it, and Danny guessed that probably wasn’t too far from the truth. It was a state of mind Sam never really seemed to leave. Danny remembered the scandalized look on Sam’s face when they’d shared their first diner meal together and Danny had picked his fork right up and gotten to work when the waitress had brought their plates. Now he knew to wait and let Sam save them with a quick round of grace before eating. Sam had never asked for his hand to hold when doing it, but somewhere between the Texas border and New Mexico, Danny had offered it up and they’d been doing it that way ever since. It sure made it a hell of a lot more tolerable for Danny to wait for Sam’s long winded recitations with his slender hand in Danny’s. He really didn’t mind too much, especially after he’d begun collecting little glimpses of the seemingly excruciating evangelical life that Sam had left behind in Alabama. Danny didn’t pry, but there was a lot about Sam that he didn’t know. He watched Sam lit up in the pale, shifting luminance coming from the pool and realized with a strange, absent pang that he wanted to know. Maybe all of it, actually.

“Not a star in the sky,” Danny commented dreamily, tilting his neck back to stare at the pitch black sky after another long minute of staring at Sam left him feeling flushed. “It was always easy to pick ‘em out when I was on the farm, but I really have to squint when I’m in cities sometimes. It’s a crying shame.”

“We had to have all the lights out in town at a certain time so I always got to see the stars,” Sam replied in a small voice. “My brothers were always looking for Castor and Pollux, but we got lost after finding Orion every single time. Always forgot whether to look up or down or west or what.”

Sam smiled at the memory, remembering watching his older brothers bicker in whispers in front of the window while pressing fingers to the glass and eventually calling Sam in for help. Their parents fell asleep fast and heavy, so nights were usually when he and his siblings really got to be themselves. Sam found himself tired during the days almost all the time, but he’d carried his drooping eyelids with a bounce in his step. Even on the rare instances when he dozed off during study or services, he’d take a ruler to the knuckles with a smile. 

“I’ve always been partial to Orion,” Danny agreed, searching it out as he said it. “Probably because it’s easy to find and I’m a simple man when it comes to stuff like that.”

“You’re plenty smart,” Sam complimented. He finally lifted his head from his gloomy stance, his ear resting on his shoulder as he turned his smile on Danny. “Especially with maps. We’d be halfway to Argentina if I were the one navigating.”

“I wouldn’t mind that at all,” Danny laughed. “We can go there after we find love in California, how about that?”

“Perfect,” Sam complied, feeling a familiar sour rush of adrenaline when reminded of their end goal. It was ignorant to feel shocked over and over when he thought about it, especially considering that talk of Danny’s unknown Californian love were some of the first words Danny had ever said to him. Danny had pulled up next to Sam on the side of the road in his beat up pick up truck, told him not to run, and asked if he wanted to go see the West with him.

“‘Cause love’s out there,” Daniel had explained after Sam had hopped right in. “And I can’t leave it be.”

And Sam had agreed. Out of luck to spend and no more energy in his body to spend on walking, it was the perfect escape. It still was. It’s just that the more time he shared with Danny, the more he disliked the thought of Danny sharing time with anyone other than him. Sam was suddenly very sure he was greedy and selfish and wicked, and he made plans to pray on it after Danny had gone to sleep.

“Smart,” Danny echoed with an airy laugh, finally lifting his hair from the water and shaking his head slightly. “I don’t know about all that. If this were a movie, I’m pretty sure I’d be the muscle of the operation.”

“I guess that’d make sense. How much can you lift?” 

Danny gave Sam a mischievous look and shrugged, hoping the smirk creeping onto his face didn’t give away his plans for what he’d do next.

“Not sure,” Danny answered coolly. “How much do you weigh?”

Before Sam could respond, Danny rushed forward as fast as the water allowed and grabbed Sam around the waist, boosting him up with a noisy splash. Sam shrieked initially, but it gave way to a surprised laugh, every nerve alight with buzzing heat as Danny lifted him up. Danny could only manage to keep him up for another few moments before buckling at the knee from the close contact, allowing Sam a little time to plug his nose before Danny dunked him under.

Sam met the shifting blur of the pale water and felt a jarring, overwhelming peace as the water swallowed all sound and sensation and he began to sink to the bottom. For a second, he thought he might like to stay there forever, just floating and free from everything he didn’t understand about what was happening to him, what had already happened. What he wanted to happen. 

Sam didn’t even feel the sizzle of his lungs begging for air until he opened his eyes best he could and saw the blur of what was waiting for him up above.        

Now, Sam had obviously been far too young for him to remember his baptism, but as he brought himself back to consciousness and pushed himself out of the water and into Danny’s arms, he imagined it was a similar experience. Without really thinking, his arms went around Danny’s neck and he breathed in a great, shuddering gasp, desperately filling his chest with air as Danny’s arms reflexively wrapped around him and kept Sam pinned to his chest as he coughed.

“Fuck, Sam, did you forget to breathe?” Danny whispered urgently, resisting the urge to shout and wake the other motel patrons. “I mean, pardon my French, but you scared the shit out of me for a second there!”

“Sorry,” Sam choked out as he began to control his breathing and let it give way to an embarrassed laugh. “I got distracted for a minute.”

“Yeah, I’d definitely say you were coming up on a minute!” Danny sputtered, patting Sam’s back in a last ditch effort to knock any water loose. “I’ve never seen anyone go that long underwater. Good lord. You sure you’re okay?”

“I’m okay, I promise,” Sam insisted, leaning back to flash Danny a sincere look of assurance. Curiously, he didn’t feel the need to unlock his arms from behind Danny’s neck when doing so. In the same way, Danny didn’t feel the need to release his grip on Sam, keeping their bare chests flush as Sam comically mimicked drawing in deep breaths and releasing them to demonstrate his capability.

“Fine, fine, I believe you,” Danny relented, despite the anxiety still fluttering in his chest. “Just don’t scare me like that again. I get nervous enough when you’re out of my sight, and now you’re telling me I gotta worry about you when you’re right in front of me? Phew.” 

“What do you mean you get nervous when I’m out of your sight?” Sam laughed, his dark brow crinkling inquisitively as his stomach gave a little flip. 

“Just worried you’ll get to wandering,” Danny replied with faux nonchalance. “Don’t want some lawless vagabond picking you off the street.”

“Ain’t that what you did?” 

Danny tossed his head back and let out a loud laugh, knowing he needed to be much quieter than he was but doing nothing to rectify it. Sam burst into a round of hushed giggles and attempted to put his hands over Danny’s mouth as he shushed him theatrically. They goodnaturedly tussled  for a minute before Danny finally let Sam go, pushing him back and looking away with a nervous laugh still running its course in his chest.

“I got enough law in me to keep an eye on you,” Danny continued on, flicking his wrist lightly to splash Sam. “Can’t have you leaving me to drive the rest of the way on my own.”

“Well, I only ever leave if there’s not much worth staying for,” Sam muttered. It wasn’t entirely true when considering the importance of what he’d left behind in favor of hitchhiking aimlessly in pressing Texan heat, namely his family. He felt guilty saying it, but Danny took his words with pillow softness. His laugh melted into a shy smile that fell on Sam like a kiss on the forehead. 

“Lucky me, I suppose,” Danny smiled, punching Sam gently on the shoulder. “I’ll do my best to make the rest of the trip worth staying for.”

“You won’t have to try too hard,” Sam replied sincerely. “I’m having a lot of fun so far.”

“Yeah?” Danny questioned with an amused arch of his eyebrow. “You’re having fun coughing up dust in the passenger seat of a beat up truck that doesn’t work half the time? You’re having fun having to share flat, suspiciously stained motel beds with some sorry hick you met two weeks ago?”

“Well, when you put it that way, it sounds terrible,” Sam laughed. “But it is fun. It’s the in-between stuff that’s fun.” 

“Like what?” Danny prodded, giving Sam another playful little splash. 

He asked without any real pressure, but there was a big part of Danny that really needed to know if he was making this spontaneous road trip a good time for Sam. It seemed a little ridiculous to some extent considering that when Danny set off, he wasn’t expecting any kind of lingering company in the slightest. At the end of the day, Sam was a borderline neurotic runaway that Danny had taken a chance on after some strange gut feeling had told him to take a left and not a right while driving aimlessly. But at the same time, Danny was really starting to like him. It both confused and warmed him.

“I don’t know!” Sam sputtered. “It’s always fun to look through gas stations for stupid knick knacks. That mood ring keychain was pretty cool, you have to admit.” 

Danny only laughed in response. The tacky keychain had pretty obviously been for kids, but with the way Sam’s eyes had lit up when he pressed his thumb to the heat reactive surface, Danny had found that fact the least important part of the equation.

“It’s fun when the diner menus have stupid names for the sandwiches,” Sam continued, feeling increasingly more embarrassed talking about himself. “And I definitely have fun when I get to listen to my station on the radio.”

“And you can continue to have that fun in half hour intervals,” Danny asserted, trying not to roll his eyes while recalling Sam’s beloved church music station. “Anything else?”

“Hmm. This is pretty fun,” Sam answered with a quick, impish shrug. “Even though you tried to drown me.”

“Hey!” Danny scoffed while Sam sailed into another round of delighted giggles. “I’ll show you drowning!”

Danny reached out and they wrassled again, a flurry of arms and bickering laughter as Danny pretended to try and dunk Sam under the water. Once again, Sam’s arms went around Danny’s neck as they struggled, and once again he made no move to remove them when Danny slowed. However, this time around, when Sam felt the careless adrenaline fueling him with a whisper of unknown courage, he seized it and gave Danny a quick kiss on the cheek. It was no more than 2 seconds of his lips on Danny’s slightly stubbled skin, but it struck Danny like a slap to the face. Sam released his grip on him and gave him a good natured smile. 

“Seriously, this is so fun,” Sam insisted. “But we’ll never sleep if we keep being rowdy. Bed?”

“Good thinking,” Danny replied a little too quickly, successfully fighting a quiver in his voice and letting out a silent, choked sigh when Sam turned his back on him and started making his way to the edge of the pool. Facing away from Danny allowed Sam a moment to let his innocent, grateful gesture sink in. He began to panic slightly, rushing out a hurried mental prayer that Danny hadn’t taken it the wrong way. Sam almost turned to apologize, but decided it would be more awkward if he did, instead electing to haul himself out of the pool and grab his towel as if nothing out of the ordinary was raging inside his head.

Meanwhile, Danny definitely wasn’t taking it the wrong way. But he was taking it in a very surprising way. Feeling sudden and immense guilt, he realized that he was really going to have to book it to the hook where his towel hung in order to cover the “reaction” he was having to Sam’s little kiss. Thankfully, he was able to make it without Sam seeing. Danny felt grateful for his Southern charm when Sam finally did turn his doe eyed smile back on him and Danny was able to steer their conversation in a new direction as they walked to their room and he kept his towel tightly wound around his waist.

-

But neither one of them really recovered from it. Something so small and instantaneous weighed heavily in the back of their minds as they went about their separate nighttime routines and turned away from each other when Danny turned the light off. 

After an infuriating hour of staring up at the flaking ceiling and listening to the muffled whistle of a keening wind outside the window, Sam finally heard Danny begin to snuffle and sigh, signifying sleep. He released a pent up sigh and rubbed a hand over his eyes as he tried to manifest sleep. A few hours prior he had been nearly nodding off at dinner, but now that he was alone in the inviting dark with Danny, it was hard to keep his eyes closed. Usually he whispered himself to sleep with psalms that lulled him into a fuzzy, dreamless void, but it felt wrong to do so with the imagery pervading his mind. None of it was graphic, simply a replay of how it felt to float in Danny’s arms. And how safe he felt with Danny’s hand on his back. How the feeling of his mouth on Danny’s cheek made him wonder how it would feel if it were the other way. How it would’ve felt if Danny had picked that moment to turn slightly, causing Sam to catch his lips instead of his stubble. 

It was shameful, but Sam felt himself tensing and carefully guiding each muscle so that he could turn over to lay on his side facing Danny’s back. Unable to lay alone with his thoughts any longer, he decided that the sight of the body next to him would be enough to quell the uncomfortable desire in his chest that was beginning to frighten him slightly. However, he was startled to find that Danny had turned over at some point as well. Sam’s heart flitted and jabbed at him from his ribcage as he took in the sight of Danny’s cheek pressed to the pillow, his mouth ever so slightly ajar as he drew in deep breaths. He was laying on his chest, and Sam fought the urge to trace the swells of muscles in his arms as they came to cross underneath the pillow beneath his head. There was a needling, demanding pull in Sam’s stomach now, one that yanked and strained the longer Sam took in the sight of Danny’s placid, perfect face in the spectral moonlight. It puppeteered him to slide a trembling hand up and delicately cup Danny’s freckled cheek. Sam felt as though he was doing something exceedingly terrible when his thumb traced a gentle journey over Danny’s skin that still buzzed with heat from his light burn. Danny drew in a big breath and released it through his nose, stern eyebrows knitting slightly in a dream as Sam screamed at himself in his head to move his hand, flip back over, and just go to sleep. Yet it seemed like such an insurmountable task now that he’d felt Danny’s breath on his wrist. Worse, it reminded Sam of the proximity of Danny’s lips to his own, only inches away and closer even to his fingers. Sam’s mind raced as he became obsessed with possibility. 

His dreams were quickly dashed in a moment of blinding, white hot panic as Danny sniffed and stirred, stretching his arms slightly as his eyelids fluttered. Even with Danny rousing, Sam couldn’t find the strength to move his hand. He kept it resting with soft pressure on Danny’s cheek as he panicked about whether or not to feign sleep. All the while, Danny blinked fully and his eyes came into focus. Sam settled for a fake, heavy lidded gaze, doing his own round of “half asleep” blinking as Danny studied his expression. Danny let out an amused huff through his nose and his arm facing Sam loudly disturbed the sheets as it lifted from under the pillow and his hand clumsily tapped against Sam’s own on his face. 

“You’re dreaming, Sam,” Danny mumbled, his voice low and grumbling as he fought to speak without falling asleep again. “Go to sleep.”

“Not dreaming,” Sam whispered tiredly. He watched as Danny’s hand stretched and rested fully over his own, Danny’s fingers curling a little as his eyes closed again and he began to doze. 

It was such a little thing, but that pull inside of Sam snapped. There was something overwhelming him, and in his exhausted, newly freed state of mind, he saw no other option but to succumb. For the first time, when he felt the compulsion to pray for his salvation, he ignored it outright.  

Shifting forward, Sam used his hand on Danny’s face as leverage to gently pull himself forward and press his lips to Danny’s. He did so with no real pressure, simply lingering as long as Danny would allow him to and trapping a shivering breath inside his lungs as his eyes closed at the relief. He fully expected Danny to spit and push him off the bed, leaving him right then and there to hop in his truck and find California all on his own like he was supposed to. His fingers pressed into Danny’s skin at the thought, holding on to him as long as he could before this impulse came back to bite him in what he was sure would be seconds.  

Instead, he was met with the ginger push of Danny’s lips meeting him halfway. It only lasted for a couple of seconds, and Sam could taste the lingering whisper of mint toothpaste on his breath behind the numbing warmth of his tongue, which did no more but tap momentarily at Sam’s closed lips. When Danny’s lips unstuck from his, Danny barely pulled away to speak, giving Sam the luxury of their close proximity for longer than he ever could have dreamed of. 

“Now you’re just getting my hopes up,” Danny breathed with a laugh that lasted only a fraction of a second and seemed more like a punch of air from his chest.

Not really understanding what Danny meant, Sam flew into another panic. He could no longer feign a sleepy stare and blinked rapidly with restless nerves waking him up all the way. His heart pounded in his ears and he prayed his hand wouldn’t prickle with sweat from the dread beginning to course through him. All at once, he could hear a chorus of a hundred voices from back home reminding him of the great, divine consequence of what he was doing. 

“Sorry,” Sam apologized, his eyes immediately prickling with anxious tears. “I just…”

“I just don’t want you waking up tomorrow and feeling all…you know, guilty or whatever ‘cause of something you did half asleep,” Danny murmured. He cursed his moral compass pointing him to true north, even in this miraculous circumstance when the dial seemed to be spun on its axis entirely.  

“I’m awake,” Sam argued in a whisper. “That’s why I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that with you sleeping, that’s-”

“I was awake, too,” Danny replied simply. “I mean, when...”

An infuriating, tense minute passed between the two of them. There was much to be said, and also nothing at all. Too little time had passed in each other’s company to have any kind of profound feeling to confess, and yet there was a confounding magnetism that left them staring into the other’s eyes with heavy breath and rattling hearts. Danny’s hand eventually fell from where it had lain over Sam’s, but before Sam’s heart could sting with hurt at the loss, he felt Danny’s arm adjust to wrap around his waist and pull him closer. With this motion, their lips connected again, and Sam breathed in sharply through his nose as he attempted to fall into the rhythm of this disarming, second ever kiss. The matchbox capacity of the motel room and the sleeping world beyond its cracked windows were swallowed up by the fervor of Danny’s shuddering breath and the heat rolling off his skin. Sam heard the chastising chorus in the back of his conscience begin to sing again when Danny’s hand on his lower back tightened its grip. His heart hammered thinking about roaring hellfire and scores of taunting devils, but when Danny carefully rolled Sam onto his back and Sam opened his eyes, he saw only an angel.

“This sure is a step up from your little gesture in the pool,” Danny acknowledged, caging Sam in with an arm at his side and another by his head. 

“I was only saying thank you,” Sam muttered sheepishly, struggling to speak with his throat so dry and his muscles so alive with flickering reactions he fought to suppress.

“What are you saying now?”

Sam fell silent. He had no experiences to draw on or words in his vocabulary to place what he felt about Danny. Kind, gracious, handsome Danny, hovering over him with the patience he doled out time and time again when lesser men would have rolled their eyes and drove off.

“I think…” Sam started, fighting to sort his scattered, uninformed feelings. “I’m still saying thank you.”

Unexpectedly, Danny’s eyes flickered with apprehension. Sam’s eyebrows knit with confusion when Danny leaned back to straddle Sam’s hips, suddenly wearing a somber expression. Sam’s bottom lip quaked and pouted as he hurriedly propped himself up on his elbows.

“What?” Sam blurted. “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry, fuck, I fucked it all up, didn’t I?”

“I just really hope you don’t feel like you have to…do anything for me just ‘cause I’m giving you a ride,” Danny said earnestly. “I’d be really sore if you thought of me that way. I don’t expect a single thing from you.”

Sam’s heart gave a deep, aching clench as Danny’s words sank in. He felt his eyes nearly welling with tears again as he watched Danny look down at his hands in his lap before flicking his eyes up to Sam, probing him for a response. 

“No,” Sam replied firmly, pushing off the bed to sit straight and stare up properly into Danny’s eyes. “No, no, that’s not it at all. I would never. Never ever. You should know that, Danny, come on. I, it’s just…”

He trailed off again, blushing with embarrassment as the words finally came to him, plain and true. 

“I just like you is all,” Sam admitted, thankful for the shade of night to conceal the flush he knew was painting his face pink. “I’m sorry.”

“You keep apologizing when you got nothing to apologize for,” Danny accused quietly. His hands were close to shaking as he tried to calm himself down, but it was hard not to shiver at Sam’s confession.

“Sorry. Product of my upbringing, I guess.”

“Well, I got a bone to pick with a lot of things about your upbringing, if I’m being perfectly honest.”

“Me too,” Sam whispered truthfully. 

Danny studied Sam’s face with that familiar worried look he found himself sporting every day now, taking a minute to smooth Sam’s hair back and get lost in his dark, doll-like gaze. 

“I know it wasn’t part of the plan,” Sam went on with a small, shameful voice. 

Danny let out an airy, one note laugh through his nose and rolled his eyes, finally plucking up the courage to cup Sam’s cheek as Sam had done to him. 

“I’m not even sure what ‘the plan’ is anymore,” Danny sighed, finding it difficult to look anywhere but Sam’s rosy frown. “I know what I said, but I think deep down all I really wanted to do was go. California just seemed like the best place to start.”

“So…” Sam coaxed, unable to stop himself from tilting his chin into Danny’s grip. “When will you know where you’re going?”

“Now that I’ve met you, Sam? I think I know where I’m headed.”

Before Sam could bring up any matters of direction, of Danny’s supposed destined Californian love, or of what was to become of them as a them, Danny kissed Sam for a third time. Nothing special, nothing mind blowing. Yet with it, Sam felt every saying about the magic number, three strikes, and the Holy Trinity itself fade in comparison. And when Danny laid him down again, Sam swore he could see the stars.

 -

The next morning, Sam sat in the passenger seat of the truck with his head hanging out the window, chestnut hair spilling behind him in the wind as the bare fields and pale blue sky rolled on by. With his shirt unbuttoned to remedy the heatwave, anyone would’ve been able to see the small, tender bruises lining his collarbone and marching down his chest. Beside him, Danny kept one eye firmly on the empty road and the other on his passenger. On a whim, he took a hand off the wheel to fiddle with the radio, adept fingers spinning the knob until a choral worship song came crackling over the waves. Sam turned his head at the music and made a fond sound, shoving Danny’s shoulder with a light push and settling back into his seat. However, after a minute of listening, Sam found himself reaching to change the station. He settled on a rock station blasting a song dripping with bass and drums, nodding his head along to it curiously as Danny shot him an incredulous smile. 

“I fear I’ve corrupted you,” Danny laughed, reaching out to muss Sam’s hair.

“Good,” Sam hummed. “I needed it.”

“Yeah, you did. Just remember you promised not to go running off on me. And no bar fights. And before you ask, tattoos are a solid maybe.”

Sam laughed, pressing up against the headrest as he kicked his boots up on the dashboard and allowed himself to recline. For a moment, it crossed his mind that this might be one of the first times in his life he felt truly comfortable. It also crossed his mind that Danny’s persistent worry of Sam running off into the night was becoming increasingly more ridiculous. As he looked at the man driving next to him, who was miraculously unaware of the midday sun setting his curls and perfect side profile alight, Sam knew with confidence there was nowhere else he’d rather be. 

~~

Chapter 2!

[heartateasee]

“Cherry Bomb Playlist”

(Playlist for Cherry Bomb)

• You can find a link to this Spotify playlist over at on my Twitter account! 

"Cherry Bomb" - The Runaways

"Crush" - Ethel Cain

"If It Means A Lot to You" - A Day to Remember

"Black Sheep - Brie Larson Vocal Version / Bonus Track" - Metric, Brie Larson

"I Caught Myself" - Paramore

"Wish Me Luck" - Wallows

"Lights Up" - Harry Styles

"There's a Honey" - Pale Waves

"Clairvoyant" - The Story So Far

"Let's Talk About Your Hair" - Have Mercy

"Skin to Skin" - Movements

"Heaven" - Julia Michaels

"Fade Into You" - Mazzy Star

"I Saw Water" - Tigers Jaw

"Everything We Had" - The Academy Is...

"Ignorance" - Paramore

"Stay" - Post Malone

"fineshrine" - Purity Ring

"Fall In Love" - Phantogram

"No Shame" - 5 Seconds of Summer

"Stargazing" - The Neighbourhood

"Stop Draggin' my Heart Around (with Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers)" - Stevie Nicks

"Frayed In Doubt" - The Early November

"Figure You Out" - DJO

"Wet Dream" - Wet Leg

"The Kids from Yesterday" - My Chemical Romance

"Swords and Pens" - The Story So Far

"Slither" - DJO

"Touch Tank" - quinnie

"High" - Stephen Sanchez

"Desert Song" - My Chemical Romance

"I Don't Do Drugs" - Doja Cat

"Barracuda" - Heart

"Smile Like You Mean It" - The Killers

"Walking with a Ghost" - Tegan and Sara

"Emergency Contact" - Pierce The Veil

"Sunshine Baby" - The Japanese House

"Peaches" - In the Valley Below

"Empty Space" - The Story So Far

"The Killing Moon" - Echo & the Bunnymen

"Michelle Pfeiffer (feat. lil aaron)" - Ethel Cain

"Teeth" - 5 Seconds of Summer

"Don't Speak" - No Doubt

"Ever So Sweet" - The Early November

"Vindicated" - Dashboard Confessional

"The Best of Me" - The Starting Line

"My Paper Heart" - All American Rejects

"Vicious Love (feat. Hayley Williams)" - New Found Glory

"Take This To Heart - Acoustic" - Mayday Parade

"Black Butterflies and Deja Vu" - The Maine

"Upside Down" - The Story So Far

"How Soon Is Now?" - The Smiths

"Misery" - The Maine

"Black Out Days" - Phantogram

"Fine Line" - Harry Styles

"Eyes Without A Face" - Billy Idol

"Casings" - Ethel Cain

"Closing In" - Imogen Heap

"Lonely Is The Night" - Billy Squier

"Not Strong Enough" - boygenius

"The Steps" - HAIM

"Earthquake" - The Used

"Everytime - Spotify Singles" - Ethel Cain

"C'est Comme Ça" - Paramore

"Always" - Babygirl

"Cherry Thrill" - Movements

[darkestprompts]

What class of enemy would each class fear the most?

I included some bosses and DD2 enemies for variety, hope you don't mind! Also excluded some obvious choices like the HoD and the DD2 chapter bosses.

Jester: Sarmenti is terrified of the Courtyard nobles. They are an even more twisted mirror of his past. He deals with his fear by way of stabbing.

Shieldbreaker: Come on. You know what it is. It's her special character mechanic.

Houndmaster: William's skills are suited for the Weald. Doesn't mean he likes it. Having Fergus bite into poisonous mushroom-people and rabid hounds makes him very nervous. He'd much prefer to take down cultists, damn bastards.

Musketeer: Monsters and humans she can understand, but the pelagics/fishfolk are just organized and human enough to make her disturbed. They aren't as obviously savage as the pigmen, but still hunt humans as prey. She's NOT ok with that.

Bounty Hunter: Tardif hates the Farmstead. Damn husks doing the same thing over and over without a thought in their minds without past and future without anything but the same work that goes on and on and on and he's NOT projecting!!

Flagellant: Templars. One hit from Revelation and his brain turns into spaghetti. And fuck DD2 Death, that shit makes no sense.

Arbalest: Look, Missandei has seen a lot of death. She doesn't like to think about it, nor even about the future beyond her immediate needs. She was very helpful in that fight, but the Prophet gave her a hard time.

Grave Robber: DD2's Gentry. Yes, darling, that could have been you.

Runaway: DD2 Fanatics. Like I mentioned in that ask: fire-wielding religious zealots burning themselves and others alive is like every trauma Bonnie has distilled into a faction. Additionally, she's unable to properly fight the Woodsman.

Hellion: All the witch-like enemies of the Weald. Her culture has a lot of suspicion and fear of malicious magic. She will face any behemoth, but what is she to do against those sneaky, cowardly sorcerers?

Vestal: Had nightmares about DD1's Fanatic ever since she learned he was prowling about. She has watched public burnings in the past. It's a horrific way to go.

Crusader: Everyone hates the Collector, but no one got as traumatized by it as Reynauld. He's friends or at least friendly with all of the collected. The first time he saw a "head", he came back to the Hamlet half-mad and screaming his lungs out.

Leper: Baldwin can endure much, but he's terrified of an enemy that can turn his strength against his friends. He'd rather not ever deal with the Siren, please and thank you.

Highwayman: If you go by the theory that Dismas is a retired brigand, the name Vvulf should send a chill down his spine.

Plague Doctor: Paracelsus crunched the numbers and found out the highest mortality amongst heroes is caused by nothing other than spiders. Her fear is scientifically justified- JUST HIT THEM, BALDWIN, OH GODS, THERE'S ANOTHER ONE!

Man-at-Arms: Barristan doesn't like to face any kind of undead soldier. He feels like he might see a familiar crest at any moment. Only the risk to his present comrades got him to unfreeze the first time he saw one.

Occultist: The fucking pigs, man. Why would you tear the veil between dimensions to put eldritch beings inside PIGS? They are brutal and disgusting and they make the Black Beast trash inside his head every time they screech their hellish squeals. Not to mention the interdimensional clusterfuck that is the Flesh.

Abomination: Cultists, full stop. They remind him too much of the Order, and their magic has the bad habit of making his other side go ballistic.

Antiquarian: Josephine prides herself on her pragmatism and rationality, and the reasonable question to be asked here is: WHY IS THAT FUCKING CANNON ALIVE?

[amethystpath-writes]

Medieval setting villain-in-hiding knight x vigilante undercover-heir to the throne? 👀👀

Embers

NOT A PR0MPT

You speak my language, friend.

******

"I know what you are doing."

Villain looked up. In turn, the orange light reflecting off his black hair and armor shifted in oblong and strange shapes. "Warming myself by the fire?" His eyes found the light again, not paying any additional mind to the blond in front of him.

“Beyond that." The first man rolled his eyes. He seemed upset at receiving such a casually disinterested answer. Truthfully, it should have been obvious. Such an attitude was fitting on these grounds, during times like these.

War.

Revolution.

Starving.

Death.

"Your camouflage is almost convincing, though not efficient enough. Tell me, what is your name, raven-head?" The blond was over-the-top, in his own refined sort of way. His voice carried out like a song, every word a beat too long- as if he were performing, though not very good at it.

Without shifting, or even raising his chin, Villain lifted his hooded eyes. He regarded the blond enough to say his attention was captured, but not enough that he particularly cared- nor did he find the joke funny. Raven-head. He scoffed. "Tell me yours first."

The blond chuckled, taking a seat on a rotting log across from Villain- or, Raven-Head. "See, that is where you go wrong. You act victimized, untrusting."

At this, Villain furrowed a brow, an action which said, 'Keep it down.'

"It might not be obvious to everyone, but I can see the veil you are trying to hide behind. You would have told me your name, otherwise. You would have tried to befriend me, and become a pair that defied death- conquered it."

"What makes you an expert at spotting bunnies in bushes?" As far as Villain was concerned, the blond had as much of a problem blending in as himself. The theatrics were too much, the speech too proper, and the curiosity much too unsettling.

"Are you admitting this"- he gestured at the Villain's attire- "is a bluff? You cannot possibly be a knight."

In response, Villain shrugged. "You tell me. Who am I if not who I say?"

The blond suggested, “A friend?”

The fire crackled between the two knights. They observed each other silently, one suspicious, and the other knowing.

“Most would call me the enemy.” Villain found the blond's gaze before shrugging. "You can decide for yourself."

"If I knew your intentions well enough, I would."

Villain chuckled lowly. "If you would honestly consider me as an enemy, should you be this close?"

"A fire separates us."

"A fire that could be extinguished- or walked around, lunged across, kicked in your direction-"

"I get it," the blond snapped.

It was now that both soldiers looked to the short flames. Villain thought about how else he could weaponize the fire- although it was gradually becoming more embers than spindles of heat.

Giving another shrug, Villain began to stand and walk away. It wasn't long before the blond expectingly stopped him.

"Wait, wait, wait."

Villain waited, neck craning over his shoulder in the blond's direction. He hummed, encouraging the man to speak.

"You are right- I have no idea who you are, but I have reason to suspect you are not who you say. That is enough for me."

"What do you want, then?" Villain faced him fully again, knowing this would be yet another conversation- one he couldn't just walk away from.

"A partner, someone to confide in- I am not sure."

"Give me something to work with, Blondie." Villain wasn't exactly prepared to be someone to confide in- he barely confided in himself. When he did, he found himself questioning the reality of his current blending in with the ranks. ‘What am I doing here, honestly?’ he would ask himself.

"I am the - son," the man blurted across the fire.

Luckily, the fire- if you could even call it such at that point- had popped, interrupting him. Still, Villain knew what he had meant. “You are Vigilante? The- the runaway! The king’s eldest son!” He kept his voice low, secretive.

He nodded, but then quickly corrected, "Second eldest."

Villain stiffened. He'd known the blond was someone, but he didn't think he was a royal. "You have no care for who I am at all," Villain noted. "Why are you here?"

"My father started a war," the prince said uneasily. He avoided Villain's gaze for the most part, opting to watch the fire instead. It was dying out without anyone to kindle the flames. "We need a better king."

"And you think your brother would make a better one."

The prince tossed his hands around awkwardly. "Not necessarily," he almost whined, "but anyone would be better. We are going to war over sticks, you know? Trees. Land. Like it will do us any better. We have no need for wood and we can barely take care of the people we have. I can never imagine having more until we know how to feed the ones who feed the palace."

It was easy to tell Vigilante had been talking to himself towards the end.

"Personally," Villain felt as though he was taking a risk by saying this, that maybe it was going too far. Of course, it was a last second plan, and there were so many aspects which could go wrong, but there were also so many that could go right. "I think you would make a better king than your father and any of your brothers."

Looking at the Prince, Villain could tell he’d said the right thing. The man was beaming from cheek to cheek, and even asked, “You really believe so?”

“I do.” Villain never intended on meeting the king or his sons. The job was supposed to be much simpler. Blend in with the ranks, learn their strategies, devise a plan against them, then do it again to the next battalion. Eventually, he would work his way up to killing the king- but boy was this even better. Not only would he take the king’s life, but he would take the princes out one after the next, all under the blond man’s guise. “In fact, I am even willing to help you become king.”

“You would do that? Truly?”

Villain smiled with a dagger’s edge. “Absolutely.”

******

******

******

Master tag list: @faeruine

To be added to the list, comment on this post!

[bella-goths-wife]

Yandere lost boys

Dwayne

He noticed you from your interactions with laddie

He had always held affection for laddie and is somewhat protective of him

Laddie is usually treated quite badly by the people of Santa Carla because of his age and dirty clothes

So when Dwayne saw you on your knees talking to laddie he became somewhat protective

That quickly passed though as soon as he heard what you were talking about

Laddie had lost the group and was wandering around so you had gone over to check on him

When you found him alone you held his hand to the snacks truck and bought him an ice cream while trying to find out more about his situation

Dwayne’s heart warmed with you gesture so he decided to talk to you and retrieve laddie

He explained the situation to you and you gave him a smile in return and let go of laddies hand

You tried to leave but Dwayne had said he should give you a thank you for helping him so he offered to take you back home on his motorcycle, and you accepted

Little did you know he just wanted to find out where you lived

After that night he would be in your eyesight a lot

Every time you went out with friends, Dwayne would be somewhere in your area

You just thought it was because Santa Carla was a small place

He would watch you sleep at night by hovering outside your window

He would like to try your blood at least one but he would definitely want to turn you

He decided to befriend you by going into your work place regularly and then it turned into him being your ride home

He flirts with you occasionally but he doesn’t want to scare you away

Paul

Paul is someone who has zero awareness half the time because of how high he gets

But some how you caught his attention

You were out with friends and this guy was flirting with you

Paul was originally planning on luring you away from the man’s advances so he could kill you and drink your blood

But the more he watched as you tactfully insulted the man while disguising it as playful flirting, the more intrigued he was about you

He watched as you gave a smirk to your friends and asked the man to close his eyes for a kiss, which he did

Just as Paul thought you were leaning in to kiss the man, you took his wallet and began running away

You ran to your friends van while the man stood their confused before realising his wallet was gone, he began chasing after you but you were already gone

This gave Paul an idea

He put himself in the same situation as the man and approached you and began flirting like crazy with you

You used your thinly veiled insults again and he’s gotta say you were creative

“Yeah I love your outfit, I always thought the homeless runaway look made men look great”

It wasn’t until you asked him to close his eyes for a kiss that he got excited

He closed his eyes and pulled an over exaggerated kissy face

Just as he felt you going for his wallet that he only brought for decoration and that actually had no money in, he grabbed your wrist

He looked at you shocked eyes and smirked while your friends ran away

He told you that it was a nice try but you weren’t fast enough

As soon as he let go you set off running

He saw this as a challenge so he ran after you

Obviously he had the advantage

Once he caught you he calmed you down and told you he wasn’t here to snitch on you he just wanted to be friends

You openly laughed thinking it was a joke, friends? With the person who tried to rob you?!

He wasn’t joking though

You quickly learnt that after he started helping you rob people

He taught you short cuts to run away in and gave you tactics to get more than just a wallet

After this you invite him to your home which basically made it so you had signed your life away

He is over at your house so much people think he’s your roommate

Even when your sleeping he’s over

You just assume he’s sleeping on the coach but nope he dead ass lays in the bed with you

He would get intense jealousy when you flirt with a man for money so he tries distract you from doing it

He offers you weed hoping it would get you to open up to him more, but you downright refused saying you needed to stay sharp

He would trail you wherever you went with the excuse that it a robbery ever goes wrong he’ll be their to intervene which you returned with a scoff telling him you could handle yourself

He would go through your apartment when you were out

I mean full on snooping he would go through your stuff trying to learn anything new about you

Which he did

He found out that you were from a lower class background and you had no contacts or family outside of Santa Carla

The only family you had that you kept in touch with was your big brother who you weren’t really close with but you didn’t really want to lose anymore family

You were perfect with zero people to look for you if you went missing

Marko

Marko met you at your place of work, the local diner

He went looking for future victims without the group and you were his waitress

He found you a bit odd for a waitress because of the hours you worked

He was a regular considering this was his usual victim stalking spot so he knew your work times like the back of his hands

You worked very late into the night, so much so that you would be the one to lock up and then you would change in the bathroom before meeting your friends

He wondered how you couldn’t be exhausted, if he remembered correctly from when he was a human, you should be getting 8 hours of sleep

He grew more curious when he saw you talking to Paul in the diner about money and then he spotted Dwayne giving you a ride on his bike

He decided to talk to you more

So then next time you went to get his order he didn’t brush you off straight away this time and began a conversation with him

You weren’t very open to the idea at the start but because of how slow it was when you worked you began sitting at his table and taking with him

He began scaring people away from the diner so he wouldn’t have to wait for you to finish serving people to talk to you again

He noticed that your boss was very harsh with you and kept harassing you so Marko killed him and drained him of his blood

He became much more physically affectionate with you after a few days

Like hugs when he saw you, playing with your hair when you were talking, holding your hand

You just shrugged it off as him being an affectionate guy

You even enjoyed it on occasion

He would give you things that smelled like him like jackets or jewellery just to piss off Paul and Dwayne who he still hadn’t told about his friendship with you

He would intimidate any rude customers until they were sweating out an apology for their behaviour

Marko buys you lunch most days considering you didn’t really have time to eat and won’t let you get up from the table until the plate is empty

He enjoyed your company but he still got cravings to drink your blood so you satisfy it he’ll drain any rude customers to defend you

David

You met David after laddie had wandered off again

You just finished locking up and was waiting for Dwayne to pick you up after saying goodbye to marko

Laddie ran to you as he remembered you as the nice lady who bought him an ice cream

He comes and hugs and you instantly hold him back and asked him where Dwayne was

He shrugged and just continued to ramble to you about a cave?

In walks David who’s already pissed off

His boys seemed so distracted lately and never wanted to hunt together using the excuses that they were busy

And now laddie had ran off which caused Dwayne to panic because if he couldn’t find laddie fast he wouldn’t be able to drive you back and who knows what could happen to you

So Dwayne asked for help from David and reluctantly agreed

So when he saw laddie cling to you he grabbed his arm and tried to drag him away

Key word tried

You asked him what In the hell was he doing and when Dwayne, Marko and Paul showed up behind him you began scolding them

You told them it was unbelievable that they lose laddie so much and continued scolding them like they were misbehaving children

This is when David found you intriguing

You just stood there and scolded 4 men who were in a pretty well known gang about a child you had only met a few days ago

When David tried to argue back you fired back with insults at him

On one hand this made him angry

On the other he found it extremely hot that you just bossed them around

You stormed off to your friends van and the other boys took this as a good time to practically beg David not to kill you and tell him that you were just worried about laddie

He agrees not to kill you but that doesn’t mean he won’t stalk you

Not only are you extremely attractive, you also bossed him around with no fear and had the ability to wrap his boys around your finger

He eventually begins talking to you but you ignore him at first

You only start talking back when he promises to bring laddie in to see you at the diner

He found you not only beautiful, but extremely funny and easy to talk to

He mostly just listened to you talk but that doesn’t stop him from trying to manipulate you away from your friends by twisting their words and offering bad advice about them

Yes you thought David was a dick but he was a dick who bought you food so you could tolerate him for now

He would begin to join the boys in where they went with you and even created a little ritual of his own with you where you would both walk along the boardwalk and talk about things while you were on break which successfully pissed marko off

All of them together

After they all realised how much they were attracted to you they began group activates with you

Dwayne used to give you a ride home? Now they all give you a ride home

Paul used you help you rob people? It’s a group hustle now

Marko used to go to your work to hangout? Guess where they’re going for lunch

David used to take you walks along the boardwalk and beach? Now you have 4 people to walk with

To try and avoid jealousy they’ll give each other certain days they can hang out with you after work

Dwayne got Mondays, Paul got Tuesdays, marko got Wednesdays, Thursday was your day to be alone, david got Fridays, Saturdays are where you would spend time with laddie and Sundays were the group days where you guys would either hang around the caves or go to the boardwalk

They use laddie to manipulate you a lot

If you ever wanted to go out with different people they would bring laddie to your apartment or work and claim that he cried to see you

You having a soft spot for laddie, just cancel plans or stop talking talking to whoever has your attention

This in turn gives the boys the ability to steal your attention

They will turn you there’s no question about it

At first they’ll offer it to you and if you say yes? Great your officially a vampire so they can move you into the pre made room they’ve had ready for months now in the cave

If you say no? They’ll simply spike you and then manipulate you into thinking that you accidentally drank the wrong wine

If you try to run away from them they’ll simply trap you on the cave

Time passes by like seconds for them so they would probably let you out 10 years after your attempt at escaping them

They won’t let you not feed even if David has to hold you down while the boys force feed you blood

They will make you kill people at some point because there’s no slacking allowed (y/n)

Overall they’ll be controlling and extremely jealous

They will have you as theirs, wether you like it or not

[thestaredown]

Jughead Jones and the Creation of the Multiverse

Or hey I can be meta too... ( Excerpt)

If the multiverse is Jugheads fault because he wrote it, then this is how it could have happened.

Want the idea without the story go here. Otherwise enjoy Jugheads misadventures in publishing.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

This used to be a one-man operation.

It started innocently enough as many things do. He hit a rush of luck, got published young, had a runaway best seller with the notoriously harsh and scary devoted YA crowd. They were hooked…write a sequel they said, keep the momentum. You’re a cute kid who wrote an epic love story, they’ll eat up anything new from that universe.

Easier said than done.

One does not explain to a room of highly invested suits that your fictional story isn’t so much fictional as it is fictionalized and based on a true story; pretty sure those words are a one-way ticket to an endless parade of talk shows and uncomfortable fan interactions. No thanks.

Also, we did a ton of illegal shit.

Getting published was exciting and stressful, in a sleep deprived caffeine addled state some things fell through the cracks.

Turning nonfiction into a teen love story required some major changes. He may have had some fun with the place holder names while still drafting but he’s not mad that the Archie facsimile stayed Richard, an appropriately old school name shortened to Richie and if you're mad you can call him Dick...that one was perfect as is.

Admittedly it’s his fault they didn’t get replaced in the final edit, final approval was given while he was incredibly sleep deprived and though the names were picked out they were never replaced. He found out when Betty flipped through the very first copy and by then,  there was no going back.

Jug wasn’t the main character supposed to be named Charlotte? This still says Beth. Juggie you told Sweet Pea naming him Butter Cup was a joke…

Seeing Betty laugh at the final product with the barely veiled names was worth it though. Needless to say, Butter Cup was not amused.

What followed was a runaway best seller and more attention than he had ever wanted. When that happens people want more apparently. He’d been using his life as direct inspiration for years , his book held a fictional version of a very real love story, they wanted more and he had nothing.

Want to know what happens when your life is insane for years and you manage to leave your hellscape of a hometown?

 As it turns out… not a lot.

Enter writers block.

[luckyshotwrites]

Ch. 82 // Not Tall Enough // Day 56 

Contents (Warnings): A little time with Drake (slight angst, g/t, blood mentions, character and monster info as always). Read full chapter on A03

Wordcount: 3,000 +

Song I correlate to this Chapter: Runaway (Aurora) - dramatic violin version - Joel Sunny

Side note: This chapter will be with Lynette's part in third person (I'm playing/testing with it). If it's too disorienting this far into the story, go ahead and send me a message on this post! And or if you like this better, do the same!

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Drake

His hands scrambled to his neck upon waking up. His naturally clawed digits feverishly clutched at his throat and blankets. There's no blood. 

He scooped up his phone from the charger, regardless. 

He ran to their messages and called. It rang a few times before he answered. 

His voice groaned into the receiver, "What happened?" 

Drake didn't need a confirmation. There wasn't a hi or morning, simply straight to the point. 

Drake looked at his phone to check the time; it was 5:37 a.m.. 

"Sorry, dude, it was an accident."

Alexander responded with several angry, near-inaudible grunts before any actual words left his mouth, "Then what were you going to text me about?"

Drake refused to mention his dream. He wanted to avoid what Alexander might say. "Something stupid. I forgot as soon as I saw I was calling you."

There was a pause. 

He expected Alexander to push it. "Yeah, okay," His best friend's half-asleep voice said softly. Drake felt relieved, "Night then, if you remember, call me." 

"Night." 

Drake hung up.

His shoulders pressed inward, his fists twisted within the blankets. He threw himself from bed and ignored the ever-so-sweet beats from his nightstand. 

He went down the hall and stairs, passed the ballroom, and toward the back of the mansion. His footing slowed when he got to the kitchen, the Halloween party still fresh in his mind. He pushed past the kitchen to the next door beside it that led to the basement. 

It housed a private training area for them. Most monsters who wanted to train with magic were convinced to have a place within their home. So they aren't viewed outdoors, especially since not all were good at hiding it behind veils or barriers. 

His bare feet pattered against the stone steps and soon metal floor. The downstairs was like a giant metal box with magic-reinforced steel. The room was big enough for Wenna and Ulysses to fight in their forms. Drake's being smaller, of course, due to him not being over 25 physically yet. 

He got to the middle of the room and felt the swirl of magic in his core. It was warmly met with pent-up frustration. 

He lifted his shoulders, threw his arm back, and bore his teeth. I'll kill him.

When he brought his arm forward, it expelled sparks of lighting that sputtered off in different directions, before exploding into crackling red cherry fires matching his own hue. 

Each flame burst upon hitting the wall, yet after one attack, Drake felt its effect. Damn it. 

He worked on his acrobatics and pushed out attack after attack, some with flare, some he couldn't even muster. He had to take a break after each. 

It hadn't even been thirty minutes.

His fit of rage screamed out in a bellow. 

His body begged him for energy, for blood. 

I can do more. I will. 

"You suck at this, don't you? I bet short fuse would have caught me already."

Those words fueled him.

He kept going until he was on the verge of giving out. He couldn't keep himself from trembling. He needed blood. 

Drake barely made it up the stairs. His sights were first set on the kitchen—ready to down every bag of human blood in the fridge.

Then, he stopped. He found himself seduced by the slow, rich, and sonorous melody calling him from upstairs. It crushed his previous thoughts. No, I need something fresh.

He wanted to feel a prey struggle in his grip, desperately pushing away from him. 

His fangs pried their way out, yearning for their warmth. 

The feelings drove him up the stairs and into his room, where their alluring smell tugged him to them. 

His eyes locked onto the cage immediately. Specifically eyeing his prey, slumped on the bars of their temporary metal home. 

He got to it and ripped the door off without hesitation. He let it clatter to the floor. 

It spurred her awake and made her heart pump erratically.

Lub-Dub Lub-Dub Lub-Dub

"What's wrong?!" She exclaimed. 

She saw his intent, evident on his face. Drake threw his hand inside and she woefully tried to avoid him. 

He got her legs between his clawed fingers and dragged her exit. 

Anything more she might have said was canceled by her heart telling him to take it. 

He let her go for a second, giving her a bit of hope. It was simply to grab her again except better and tighter. He squeezed her tiny form to keep her still. 

You're not escaping me. Drake thought.

Then, his mind reminded him of her current height and that he couldn't bite her. 

But he wanted her. "I'll just eat you." 

His fang-filled mouth hissed open. His tongue eagerly flicked up, ready to meet his snack. 

"Drakie! What are you doing up so- OHHH! Is that a tiny sister-in-law, I see?"

Her voice obstructed his motion.

His older sister walked into his room casually. His jaw closed. 

Wenna inspected Lynette and pointed to the hand that held her. "You shouldn't hold her like that."

He opened his palm, his senses returning. What was I doing? He turned to Wenna and put Lynette in her hands, "Take her. I'm going out."

He rushed out of the room with a "Thanks!" before his sister could say another word. 

It took every ounce of his willpower not to head back.

...

Lynette

He said he'd eat me. 

Lynette didn't know what she did. One minute, she was sleeping, and the next, she saw his glowing eyes, similar to the festival. I didn't say anything this time, did I? It was different than the last time he watched her. 

Wenna sighed, "I thought I heard the basement door; he must have been training again." 

So his energy was low? Lynette liked that justification more and tried to focus on it instead of the imagine of him opening his mouth toward her with his large fangs.

She timidly pushed a question out, "is he going to be okay?"

Wenna's gaze dropped down to Lynette in her hands.

She smiled, showing her smaller, retracted fangs. "You're too sweet, Lynette." She patted two fingers on her head. "He'll be fine. We've got plenty to drink downstairs, or if he wants something fresh, we aren't that far from town." 

Lynette gave a slight nod, "If you say so." If he had drinks down stairs why did he try to attack me?

"I do." A gentle laugh left Wenna, "And hey, since you're awake, do you wanna grab some breakfast with me?"

"I don't want to be any trouble." Lynette appreciated the distraction. Wenna can probably hear my heart. Lynette could still feel it trying to escape.

The black-haired girl with lovely doll-like curls snickered, "You're not any trouble at all! Plus, I have some super small clothes that might fit you!" 

Oh, she wants to play dress up with me. 

"No thanks, the uniform's fine," Lynette said. 

Wenna's bottom lip came out slightly, "I wanted to see you in some super cute outfits." 

She walked toward the door with her. 

Lynette reached back toward the cage, "Wait, I need my phone in case Wicks calls or texts me!"

"Wicks?" Drake's sister turned on her heels, "Ah, we should invite him too!"

She walked her back to the cage.

"You want to invite my brother?" He's going to freak out. I didn't tell him I was small again.

Wenna grabbed her phone from the cage, "Getting to know my new little brother-in-law is essential."

She had a spree of pep in her step once she left the room. Lynette rested in Wenna's surprisingly gentle hands. They went down the east wing stairs, and for the first time since the wedding, Lynette laid eyes upon Danee. 

It felt weird to see her as she did. Her raven feather black hair was messily tied in a ponytail with several strains over her face. She smiled upon seeing Wenna, and then it disappeared when she saw Lynette. 

Worry cast upon her face beyond her lenses. "L-Lynette!" She cupped her hands around Wenna's, and their eyes met. "What did you do?"

"Drake did it." 

"He didn't," Lynette spoke up. Danee peered down at her. "I...I promised to do this a month ago with another coworker; Drake just decided to take care of me one of those days." Lynette said. I can't imagine having to explain the dumb situation I'm in to her or any of them, for that matter. Although Lynette assumed Drake had told Wenna. "I'll be back to normal tonight."

Danee bobbed her head slowly, "As long as you're okay, dear." She adjusted her spectacles, "This seems like a very impressive spell, though. It'd have to come from a heavily skilled user. Especially with that layering so closely woven with your flesh. I'd figure it'd be from a fae?"

Lynette brought up her hands, which rested on Wenna's finger. She can see them? It reminded her of Alexander. "They were." 

Danee read over her disbelief next, "You get to see and know a thing or two working on appraisal jobs like me." She pulled back and laughed until realized Drake wasn't with them. "Shouldn't Drake be watching her?"

"He needed a drink." Wenna took a single long breath, "he was training."

Danee's expression dropped, "ah."

"Isn't that good?" Lynette muttered. Besides how he acted after, what's wrong with that?

"Normally, yes." Danee pushed her lips together and lowered her mug to her chest, "But Drake lacks the energy restraint with magic."

Energy restraint?

"Unlike vampires, vampire beasts, or most monsters in general, his body wastes energy three times as fast when he uses magic." Danee tapped her nails against the side of the mug. "It basically overcharges his magic or causes his energy to disperse outward and not be added to the spell."

"Why?"

"It's, unfortunately, a defect he had since he was born." Her face winced. She pressed her up in a smile, but her eyes were still fixed on the teal mug. "That's why I appreciate Alexander being with him. It puts my mind at ease because Drake always had a knack for finding or getting himself into trouble."

She whispered the last part.

So that's why anytime I asked him for anything magic-related, he always said he wasn't good at it. A new question formed in Lynette's head. Then why did he even do that?

"And speaking of those, Drake and Alexander, Lynette," Danee seemed to desperately want to change the subject. Drake's mom crouched forward. "Do you know if your parents are coming over this Thanksgiving? I messaged your mom regarding it, and she had yet to answer."

Danee stood back up and put her finger to her cheek, "I did ask rather last minute."

"Uh, I'm not sure?" Lynette shrugged her shoulders. "It's next week, right?"

"It's this Thursday," Wenna said from behind.

This Thursday?! The currently tiny redhead didn't realize it was nearly the end of the month. Where did it go? 

"As far as I know, we were probably planning the usual, which is a small family gathering," Lynette replied. Wicks, Charletta, Madre and Padre.

Danee took a sip from her mug while Lynette heard the prings of someone being called on a phone. 

She flicked her head back in time to hear the name.

"Lentils?"

She soon saw Wenna on her phone, telling Wicks they should all go to breakfast together.

...

Wicks

I'm going to lock her up in her room for a month. He ran their conversation in his head as he leaned back near the door of the Sunstyle Cafe. One of the three places he knew in the city that had an all monster staff.

He squinted up at the smiley sun mascot. It was mocking him like the Happy Pizzeria did.

I can make a little slot under her door to slide her food. Those ridiculous thoughts gave him at least a bit of ease, enough to smile lightly.

His eyes studied the next car to park, he could see the black haired girl coming out with her hands cradled together.

Wenna. Her face lit up when their eyes met. Once she showed him the contents of her palms, every alarm went off inside his head.

He snatched Lynette from Wenna and studied his sister thoroughly, "LENTILS."

Even with his fast motions and frantic searching, he clutched her body and held her as gently as he could.

"I'm okay-"

"ARE YOU?!?" He voice croaked with panic. He promised her he wouldn't freak out but he couldn't help it. "You're so tiny" He held her to his chest, protectively.

"I'm pretty invincible right now."

A tub full of slimy frogs leaped around in his mind, jumping on every button labeled worst case. All because she said she was nearly invincible. As he tried to gather them up, the lesser but still irritating ones were still hopping around.

That half wendigo might try to enjoy her like this. His eyes narrowed, looking off past the cars, in the direction of the pizzeria. Though they were at least a thirty minute drive from it. I could find out where he lives and get rid of him right now. Then you don't have to worry about him, Lentils.

"As I said in the car, shame on you for not telling your brother sooner, Lynette." Wenna said with a teasing scowl.

He had forgot Wenna was with them. It stopped his hypothetical plans, for now.

"I didn't want him to get too worried or mad."

Wicks turned his focus to his sister, "I'm NOT mad, just REALLY worried." An agitated groan fled his lips with those words. He hugged her tighter, "especially when you and I were supposed to start training, yesterday!"

Her head hung low, "I'm sorry, I know we were. It wasn't my intention to avoid it."

I don't want you to be sorry, I want you get out of situations LIKE THIS. He wanted to shake his sister for the eightieth time since the wedding. He didn't.

He hid Lynette as he saw a couple pass them and head inside. He looked at Wenna, "we should get something to eat."

This cafe was a place Suzie recommended. Mostly just for him to get energy enriched food instead of taking it from people or monsters. Even though he was more human than any monster, technically, food on Earth still tasted rather dull unless it had a really strong flavor like Gorgonzola cheese, or black coffee.

Or Lynette's very sweet cake or cookies. He shivered and looked down at her. You're such a fiend with sweets.

Upon walking through the veil, there seemed to be an abundance of monsters and very few humans. This is a place where monsters could open up their cases more.

To Wicks it seemed like Edgar wanted them to incorporate more with humans and push more interactions that way. While this place allowed freedom, especially with their cases.

It did make the environment much more dangerous, which is probably why Humans are seated closer to the door like the harmless beings or those that chose to stay in their cases.

He could feel some glares. And his chest tightened, not for his own safety but his sisters. Why did I agree to bring her here. He wanted to read the intent of everyone they passed now.

"You're squeezing a little tight, Wicks." Lynette's voice brushed his ears.

He apologized as they took a seat, "I didn't want to drop you, sorry."

Wicks kept himself together, purposefully watching the actions and movement of every cafe patron, including staff.

Their talks from here were minimal, Wenna was starting at the C.P.P.A. next week, thanksgiving plans, and most importantly that Lynette was going home tonight.

Though because of his worry, he gave her a cloak for extra protection. Adjusting the time it lasted was difficult for him. And he sometimes hated that he was terrible at Encryption magic. If he excelled at it, he could give Lynette cloaks more often that last.

You're a pain and a half, Lentils.

...

Alexander

He sat back fiddling with the controller. Claudia took Lynette away for a few to discuss something. It slightly irked him especially since the little demon kept looking at him as she whispered to Lynette. Those fuckers are probably making some kind of plan.

He opened his mouth to ask Drake what they were saying since his hearing was better, but Drake spoke first.

"You're rubbing off on me in the worst ways, dude."

Alexander's confusion turned into a smirk, "what do you gotta say now?"

"I-" Drake groaned aloud and threw his head back on the giant couch. He tossed his phone at which he was holding away. "I may have considered..." he uttered, "eating her this morning."

Alexander took a second to register what Drake said, then worked up a chuckle "That's what has you so embarrassed?"

Drake flipped his head up from the back cushion to stare at his best friend beside him, "don't fucking laugh."

Alexander put both hands to his mouth in an attempt to muffle his laughter, "and you-haha-blame me?"

Drake's bangs split, so Alexander could see the his furious intent in his eyes.

It's intense stare was disrupted by his cheeks that held a reddish color, "I'll end you,"

"Uh-huh," Alexander didn't lose his cocky grin until Drake looked to regret those words. "What's wrong?"

Drake turned his head. He didn't say anything.

"I know you could have got in trouble but it's fun-"

Drake leaned forward and picked up one of the spare controllers from the coffee table, "I wanna kick your ass at something."

Fine, keep your secrets, fucker.

Alexander pushed up a smile and flipped to the screen, "can't wait to see you try."

And unfortunately for Alexander, Drake made it his mission to keep Alexander's attention off the bet they had today for pissing him off.

...

Hey, you, thank you so much for reading. I'm glad I put out a story that people can enjoy! I hope you continue to enjoy it as WE have a LOT more to go! YOU BETTER KEEP PROSPERING! (Nonnegotiable, as always~).

First Chapter Previous Chapter Next Chapter

Catch up, see some maps/art, or check the latest release dates down below  ↓ ↓ ↓ 

What I’d do for a Livable Income (Synopsis/Chapter - List)

[ecoamerica]

Watch the 2024 American Climate Leadership Awards for High School Students now: https://youtu.be/5C-bb9PoRLc

The recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by student climate leaders! Join Aishah-Nyeta Brown & Jerome Foster II and be inspired by student climate leaders as we recognize the High School Student finalists. Watch now to find out which student received the $25,000 grand prize and top recognition!

[sarahlizziewrites]

OCKiss Day 5 - Yearning

A sneak-preview of a scene that takes place at the start of Book 2 of The Adventures of Sitora Lux

#ockiss23 Day 5 -Yearning - 498 words

The light of the fireworks lit the edges of Raelynn’s face in profile. Not for the first time, Sitora noticed her beauty: the graceful upturn of her nose, her large eyes, normally that implacable shade of green between emerald and pine, now dark and reflecting the glittering flowers of gunpowder and alchemy.

A longing blossomed in Sitora’s chest, aching. It certainly wasn’t new, but it was unexpected. It was impossible to deny the parallels: it was four years ago to the day that Sitora had her first kiss, here on her father’s roof. 

Sitora hadn’t grown into her limbs yet; she was all clumsiness and blunder back then, always stooping to make herself seem smaller. And yet, when she had come up here with Aimee, with her full lips and round face, the parts of her body soft and feminine where Sitora’s was too bony and hard, the coloured lights of the Solstice fireworks had transformed her into someone worth loving. 

And now, here with Raelynn, the tips of Sitora’s fingers curled against the cold tile below her, remembering the feel of smooth dark henna skin. Aimee and her mother had to leave Brightfield the week after Solstice that year, for reasons Sitora still didn’t really understand. 

Reds, blues and greens flashed across Raelynn’s face as she watched the fireworks above the city. Sitora found herself wondering if Rae’s skin would feel like Aimee’s did - silky and warm - or whether she’d feel more like marble, all muscle and bone. 

Though she had touched Raelynn’s skin many times before - sparring, moving her hair aside to fasten a tricky button at the back of her neck - she realised she hadn’t been paying attention to what it felt like, what she felt like. She silently vowed to make a note of it next time, and craved it now. 

She craved the notion of feeling her fingertips against the skin of Raelynn’s neck; wanted to know how it felt to trace the tendons on the inside of her wrist through veil-thin skin. She desperately wanted to know what happened when someone brushed a hand over the lower part of Raelynn’s stomach; whether she would tense, whether she would blush.

She watched Raelynn watching the fireworks, and tempered her runaway thoughts. It felt inappropriate all of a sudden, a violation of trust. Unbidden, upon closing her eyes, a vision of leaning in to kiss her best friend, first a tentative brush, then deeper. Lingering fingertips across a cheekbone, before weaving into chestnut curls. Raelynn’s lips opening up to hers, wordlessly uttering her reciprocated desire into Sitora’s mouth.

She opened her eyes, pushing those thoughts deep into her chest, where they ached behind her ribs again. Biting the inside of her lip, she tore her eyes away from the half-elf, turning to the fireworks to avoid her face betraying her. Yet that ember of hope remained in her chest, slowly burning and stinging where it flared too close to the surface.

[dryads-veil]

Arden: Guardian of Dryad's Veil, Guild Master

Some would call her experienced, others would say old. No one is really sure of the full extent of Arden's knowledge or what she is capable of. But what they do know is that although Arden isn't often pushed to action, underestimating her would be a grave mistake.

After leaving a long, unfulfilling career Arden moved into the forest to pursue her true passions: ignoring everyone but her owl Phronimos and journaling. Unfortunately, the forest had a habit of drawing in runaways and freeloaders, who would turn her peaceful retirement into anything but.

When Dryad's Veil first found Arden she thought they were unbearable nuisances.

[helmarok]

team rocket headcanons … sock em to me

yeas okay 🥰

ive said this like 50 million bajillion times but james is full of tgirl swag as a nonbinary/genderfluid woman

she's amab, and went on hrt for a little over a year between late OS and early hoenn. she decided to stop cuz at that point she was comfortable with her changes, especially her voice. though still her voice is fairly low and she doesnt exactly conform to the norm of what a woman looks like, her relationship with her gender is something only she can really understand and she loves who she is

the first person she came out to was jessie- while when she was a little LITTLE kid before she knew about identity technically it was nanny and popop cuz she would constantly ask to wear dresses and "pretend to be a girl" (🥚) BUT during the bike gang days (runaway daze) jessie was who she first told about how she felt. later in OS then theyre in gay love james comes out again which at this point in time james has had nearly all of themself beat out of them by you know who. kidnapped from sunnytown a year later they were basically converted back to "normal". though knowing this was wrong, it still stuck with james that those years of questioning when they were a teen was just a phase, and repressed as much dysphoria as possible. anyways on with the point i made a comic about this that is kinda ugly at this point but its about how james comes to terms with the fact that theyre not male

WHY DID I WRITE ACTUAL LORE I MEANT TO WRITE QUICK LITTLE HEADCANONS

anyways um. back in runaway daze jessie dated tyra and james was with chopper, who are the two cool bike guy and girl from that episode... tell me they werent in gay love i dare you

jessie and cassidy are exes (DUH) and cassidy was the most serious relationship shes ever been in. cassidy picked her up from the worst month of jessie's life when she failed nursing school and practically lived in alleyways

jessie's first pokemon was a starmie that she found washed up injured on the beach and nursed back to health as a child. its kinda and unexpected first pokemon for jess but its just a nod towards her weird bizarre "i was a ninja girl" bullshit story where she had one

james' last name is morgante, her parents' names being giorgio and eliza. her stupid italian dad owns a billionaire tech company called morgantech, he is basically pokemon bill gates

meowth is jewish

in journeys meowth ends up adopting a galarian meowth born in a wet cardboard box all alone. it tells him its name is scrimblo, and he takes it in as his own son with every disease. scrimblo has stunted growth and is stuck kitten sized for eternity, with a tail completely unaffected by the stunted growth so its just a giant bushy tail on a little rat creature

in sun and moon jessie and james got married, and mareanie got to be included in her own little veil and getting to stand at the altar too and give james a poison kissy

more sun and moon things, they have a pickup truck jessie named "the milf mobile" that is kinda run down. james found it overgrown in the woods and took it to the treehouse, then repaired it with their magical engineering skills. they regularly drove ash where he needed to be or straight up just took him on drives where he sat in the bed of it

after journeys the trio quit and go back home to alola, where they work on opening a place called "mama ki's malasada cafe" instead of just a food truck. the trio and twerps also work on expanding their treehouse for jaime, as well as expanding it for the pokemon they brought with them from HQ

over time their little treehouse area becomes a bit of a wild pokemon center- injured wild pokemon would come over to receive help, and word would get around in wild pokemon communities that its the place to be. a few pokemon jessie bandaged later and the whole place is a zoo

meowth always wanted to be a dad, but cant have eggs of his own despite being afab. he quickly grows attached to baby pokemon and pokemon eggs, and even has a soft spot for human babies. THATS WHY IM A MEOWTH GETS TO BE A DAD TRUTHER AND HE GETS SCRIMBLO

ive seen some headcanons around this and while realistically it makes sense the trio would all be like... i guess normal people drinking? but here here here i. how do i explain that theres this certain bit of lore in my canon where human people have the blood type of pokemon types rather than A or B or whatever... what im saying here is james is a poison type. this means they can digest and take in an absurd amount of toxins with no effect to their body. now what does this have to do with anything you ask... one way the trio would get quick cash was make insanely high bets at bars for drinking contests, and bets on james winning, completely unfair because james can drink an amount of alcohol that would kill a man and her body just thinks its yummy juice. so theyd pit james against some tough guy and have them drink, only for james' opponent to lose cuz of the unfair advantage. so, jessie and meowth grab their unfair bet money and go blow it on a mecha

on the blood types thing also, jessie is fire. she is very warm to cuddle like fever level warm. she has fangs duh and also claws cuz im a monsterfucker but im just gonna excuse my behavior with worldbuilding

growlie has severe trauma due to obvious reasons having seen the things done to his best friend, so when meeting jessie he sees a similar face and cant clearly enough tell the very visible difference between her and jessebelle. it took him a while to get used to her- if she so much as layed a hand on james to get their attention, growlie would start barking and push himself between the two

sorry for this sentence but harley is jessie and james' twinkish sugar daddy

james grew up in the south and has a southern accent that theyve managed to for the most part get out of their system. but its not that easy and when theh get angry or yell at all everyone can hear it. they get made fun of a lot for that

jessie uses honey shampoo, which is part of why stufful clung to her hair besides the scent of mama ki.

jess is also the malasada queen and thats one of her favorite treats. she loves snacking and chewing is a huge stim for her. her favorite food is anything with either honey or soy sauce. shes also obsessed with fried rice

meowth is the team's adult i guess i should say, even though jessie and james are adults meowth is the one whos maturity is that of an adult. he helps them through most problems and helps them with things like driving. it was actually meowth (a cat) who taught james (a human) to drive

I KNOW THATS A LOT I HAVE SO MUCH MORE BUT HERE YOU GO

[skekilla]

https://www.deviantart.com/skekilla/art/Runaway-Train-Act-I-Scene-4-891729532

All things considered, this was shaping up not so bad after all.

Peace and quiet; it was certainly what Johnny needed, and seemed to be what they all intended on getting. After that little kerfuffle last night, they’d all gone back to sleep. Sally insisted on getting her beauty rest, and the newcomer, Orla, had been snoring in no time. Even Johnny managed to finally get a wink, after some time. Right before sunrise, in fact. That is to say, he didn’t get to sleep for too long.

However, it wasn’t gentle sunlight shining through the windows that woke him. Oh no, it was something very different. Though there had been a quiet murmur just poking through the dark veil of sleep, like a U-boat scope peeking up through black water, it wasn’t what awoke him. It was no human sound, but mechanical: a quiet but nagging squeak that drew ever closer. And as it did, it seemed to grow louder in his mind. Suddenly, it became a shriek, and then a roar. The roar of tanks driving past, of machine guns sounding, of the world knocking him down to his feet and breaking his bones. No, please!! NO!

Jumping awake from the nightmare, Johnny’s eyes frantically darted around the train car, only to meet Sally’s quizzical gaze across from him. “My, you seem like you’ve just been through an ordeal,” she said. “I must say, your yelling did quite interrupt our conversation, though.” His heartbeat slowed and his senses came back to him as he processed her words. He looked to Orla, where she leaned on the armrest of the seat across the aisle away from them. Her eyes hid none of her curiosity, like how you’d look at some weird bug. A crawling feeling of embarrassment made its way up Johnny’s skin.

“Gosh,” he murmured. “Sorry. I guess I’m just…”

As he lost his words, that squeaking sound reappeared. With renewed anxiety, he searched for the source of the sound. And then he found it; a large cart, crowned by silver cloches and utensils. It scuttled along down the aisle on squeaky little wheels, going as fast as it could to its only patrons. But just as he thought he should calm down again, he noticed what was pushing the cart. Just over the very top of it crested a small pair of horns, flitting and dark in form. As it drew ever closer, the realization that it was another one of those demons dawned on him.

With a screech, he sprang up and darted behind his seat. He cowered, fearing for his very life. After all, what if that first time Sally saved him from them was just a fluke? And if one was already here, maybe more were coming. Oh god, please not again!

A peel of laughter was all that answered his fears. What…? Shaking, Johnny peeked over the back of the seat at his companions, afraid for their lives… but found something very different from what he was expecting. First of all, the spirit certainly wasn’t aggressive; rather, it handed them napkins and silverware, attentive and lively on its feet. Upon closer inspection, it wore a red uniform, complete with a spiffy hat bearing an insignia that read “RT.” If Johnny didn’t know any better, he’d almost say it looked to be a train attendant of some kind. Second, Sally had been the one laughing of course, still chuckling now. “Oh, Johnny, honestly!” she said. “There’s no need for all that. This isn’t one of those other creatures you saw before, you ought to tell that just by looking at it!” Upon quickly glancing at it again, he saw she was right; not only was it much smaller than the others, it was… pointier, with a beak of sorts, and white markings like those of a tuxedo cat, making gloves of its claws and shoes of its hooves. “I like to call them ‘trolley imps.’ You only see them coming around with those food trolleys. No idea what they are aside from that. Well, besides absolutely harmless.”

“Oh,” was all he could croak out. Gosh, he felt so stupid. I’m such a dumb coward… such a coward…

He couldn’t say much before Orla interrupted. “Why do they do it?” she asked. “Give us food, I mean. What’s in it for them all?” At least, that’s what Johnny could discern. It was hard to hear her words around the piles of food already being stuffed in her mouth. She sure wasn’t a picky eater. Or a slow one, for that matter.

“Well… I don’t know all that,” Sally admitted, reluctance to do so in her voice.

Stealing his nerves, Johnny squeezed past the trolley to get back to his seat. He didn’t dare look at the trolley imp again; he’d probably panic again if he did, and no one wanted that. “Just how long have you been here, Sally?” he asked quietly, trying to keep his mind off the little creature going around between the seats, bringing whatever scraps Orla hadn’t already eaten to Sally and himself.

“Oh, well, it must already be a couple years now,” she said, glowing with pride. Seems it’s easy for her to forget her embarrassment, Johnny thought. “Why, I don’t think I’ve ever really thought about it! It really has been all too easy to manage on my own here.” She inspected her fine gloves as she boasted.

Crack. Startled again, Johnny turned to Orla, where the sound had come from. “What?” the woman asked innocently, holding half of a cracked turkey leg. Now that he looked at it, it seemed like she’d eaten about a quarter of the food off the cart already. Though it was much better than seeing some disturbing new shadow thing making that sound, this wasn’t exactly a good discovery. How’d she even managed to eat all that? You’d think she’d been starving… A glance at Sally told him she’d reacted with much more disgust; her face was drawn back in a disdainful grimace. The trolley imp quickly wheeled the cart away, breaking the silence with those squeaky wheels.

“I do suppose it would’ve been nice to share…” Johnny said softly after some time.

“Well, I suppose I’ll do what I like!” Orla replied, laying back and picking at her teeth quite rudely.

Suddenly, Sally’s heels clicked as she stood, an irritated sigh leaving her. “Ugh! I’m going to find a kitchen or something,” she snapped. “So I can at least have a crumb of something to eat without slobber all over it.” With that and little more than a flip of her hair, she turned on her heel and stormed off straight to the door.

“W-wait! Sally, come on now!” Johnny stumbled up to his feet. What was he supposed to do now? His heartbeat jumped as he glanced between the sliding door closing shut behind the singer and the apathetic, still-eating Orla.

Oh gosh… look at all this mess…

He had to fix this. But how?

What to do? What to do?

Sally or Orla… someone who’d gotten him out of a terrible jam recently, or someone who’d eaten all their food in the blink of an eye. When you put it like that, it seemed easy to decide. And yet…

come on, be smart, Johnny! There’s only one decision here worth making… just go!

Willing his legs to move, he took off after Sally with his jolting gait, leaving the red-haired woman behind.

So much for peace…

[ecoamerica]

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The American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 broadcast recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by active climate leaders. Watch to find out which finalist received the $50,000 grand prize! Hosted by Vanessa Hauc and featuring Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe!