#Willis I think did love Jason but didn’t show it well or in a good way | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

cdelphiki · 3 years

Text

Bruce wasn’t sure what he was thinking.

Well, that was an absolute lie. He knew exactly what he was thinking. He just wasn’t sure how he was going to explain to Alfred and Jason what he’d been thinking, because he certainly couldn’t tell them the truth.

He’d been considering getting Jason a dog, but hadn’t anticipated doing it so soon. How did he tell the twelve-year-old he’d recently taken in that he saw a starving, skittish puppy out on the street and thought of him?

Jason was such a skittish child, and tended to take everything Bruce said or did the entirely wrong way. Sometimes, Bruce wondered if Jason were doing it on purpose.

But other times… other times he was starkly reminded of how truly awful Jason’s life had been.

Like when Jason had dropped a glass, three days prior, and immediately cut himself on the shards, trying to clean it up in his bare feet, with only his hands.

“I’m sorry,” Jason had been blubbering, tears streaming down his face, when Bruce had to physically pick him up and set him on the kitchen counter, just to get him to stop.

He’d gone so tense and rigid, Bruce just wanted a list of every person who had ever hurt Jason, who had ever caused him to think, even for a second, Bruce would beat him over a cheap four dollar glass.

Or over anything, ever.

But Bruce already knew the name of the person who had caused his reaction, and since Willis Todd was already dead, all Bruce could do was pull out the first aid kit and silently started picking the tiny pieces of glass out of his feet with the tweezers.

“Hey there,” Batman said, his voice soft and completely void of his normal gavel. The small, grey puppy was backed up into the corner of the dead end alley, his tail between his legs as he shook violently.

Batman knelt down, a few feet away from him, as far back as he could be without giving the puppy an escape route. He knew that was adding to his distress, but Bruce didn’t want to risk him getting away.

The poor thing was absolutely starved. Bruce could see his ribs, jutting out along his side, marred with scrapes and scratches and welts. The poor little thing had had it rough, and he couldn’t have been more than twelve-weeks-old.

“It’s okay,” he soothed, making himself as small as he could, trying to get down at the dogs level, “I’m not going to hurt you.”

When the puppy whimpered, instead of relax, Bruce considered just picking him up, just like he’d done with Jason. Sometimes, the only option was to force the contact and prove it would cause no harm.

But the puppy wasn’t actively hurting himself, so Bruce stayed still and quiet, as he reached into his belt for a piece of his snack jerky.

“Here,” he said, tearing off a small piece he was confident wouldn’t choke the dog and holding it out, “Come here, I know you’re hungry.”

That was another method he used with Jason quite frequently. Being patient and waiting for him to come to Bruce. It didn’t always work. Jason had yet to come to Bruce about his nightmares. Or to ask for help with his schoolwork, or training, whenever he got stuck and worked himself into frustrated tears. But Bruce could be patient as long as Jason needed.

One day, he knew, Jason would trust Bruce to never hurt him. But in the meantime, he’d keep offering, and waiting.

Just like he did with the puppy, holding out the jerky so he could smell it, and then placing it on the ground, half way between them.

Jerkily, the puppy skittered forward, trying to sniff the treat better, between his quick movements back into his corner. After doing that a few times, each time staying near the treat a little longer, he finally snapped it up and jumped back into his spot.

“See, it’s good, isn’t it?” Batman said, tearing off two more little pieces. He set one right where the first had been, and the other a few inches closer to himself, in hopes of slowly luring the dog to him.

It worked.

Slowly, but surely, the dog came closer and closer, each time lingering just a little longer near Batman, before finally Batman held out the final piece of jerky, and didn’t set it down.

Warily, the puppy inched closer to him, sniffing at the air and eyeing Bruce, like he thought it was a trap, but wanted the food more than he wanted to not be hurt.

Bruce felt a little bad, because it was a trap, in a way. But not a bad one.

When the puppy put his nose right up near Batman’s hand, he slowly brought his second hand up to place on the puppy’s head, and gently started scratching it as the puppy ate the last piece of jerky.

“That’s a good boy,” Bruce said, continuing with his scratches, getting behind the ears in a way that made the dog tilt his head, “See, I’m not going to hurt you.”

Swiftly, before the dog could bolt, Bruce scooped his now empty hand right up under the puppy, and lifted him into the air.

The dog yelped, and struggled for a second, but stilled when Bruce pulled him close and kept scratching at his head. “That’s a good boy,” he murmured again, as he stood to his feet, “No reason to be afraid.”

He trembled the entire time, but Bruce kept with his rhythmic pets, careful to avoid any spot that looked tender, and tried his best to reassure the little guy that he was perfectly safe.

Perfectly safe and about to meet the little boy Bruce knew would love him unconditionally.

Jason loved dogs, Bruce had found out, two weeks prior when they were out for a walk in one of the parks in Gotham. They passed a woman playing fetch with a golden retriever, and Jason’s face had absolutely lit up at the sight. Bruce wanted to encourage him to ask if he could pet the dog, but Jason had seemed perfectly content to watch.

“I had a yellow lab when I was a kid,” he’d said, a bright smile on his face and his hands in his pockets.

“Yeah?” Bruce prompted.

Jason nodded enthusiastically and said, “Yeah. Well, he was a mix, but his name was Sparky.”

“Sparky,” Bruce had repeated, “That’s a good name for a yellow dog.”

“Yeah. But he bit Dad one day, so Dad ditched him in a park.”

The nonchalance with which Jason had said that was probably what broke Bruce’s heart the most. Jason just… said it. Without emotion. With a little shrug. To him, that was just how it was. Something that couldn’t be changed, and therefore shouldn’t be dwelled upon.

Bruce was glad Jason could be mature about things, but still. It killed him that his twelve-year-old had learned to be mature about it, long before the age of twelve.

He knew the puppy in his hands wouldn’t replace Sparky, or anything close to it. But maybe it would give Jason a little more feeling of stability.

Jason seemed to think his welcome in the manor was sitting on a razor thin edge. One little misstep, and Bruce would kick him out on his rear, send him back to the street to fend for himself and fight for his keep. No matter how many times Bruce said it, Jason just could not trust his ‘I will never kick you out” statement.

Apparently Jason’s own father had ‘kicked him out’ when he was a mere eight years old. It might have just been for one night, a night Jason spent sleeping on the fire escape, but one night was enough to destroy all trust in a little boy.

Sure, Bruce had only had him for three months, but that didn’t mean Bruce was willing to part with the sweet little boy he’d come to adore.

Bruce would never, never even think about kicking Jason out. Or moving him to another home. Or anything of the sort.

Jason was his, and that was that. It didn’t matter what Jason did, that would never change.

Maybe having a puppy. Maybe giving Jason a puppy would show him how permanent he was. How could Bruce kick him out, if he had a puppy to take care of? Jason seemed quick to believe in Bruce’s kindness to others, just not to himself. Hopefully he’d trust Bruce would never kick the puppy out, and therefore couldn’t kick Jason out, because he was Jason’s puppy.

And one day, when the puppy grew larger, as large as his little paws, proportionally massive compared to the rest of him, suggested he’d be, maybe he could also offer Jason a little security, too. Bruce had no doubt the puppy would bite anyone who dared touch Jason, just as Sparky had done, all those years ago.

“It’s okay,” Bruce repeated, as he approached the Batmobile, the quaking puppy whimpering in his arms, “We’re going home. We’ll get you cleaned up and fed, does that sound good?”

Batman opened the trunk to the car, first, and with one hand dumped out one of the crates he used to organized all his supplies. He couldn’t think of a better way to transport the puppy, without someone else there to just hold him. The last thing he wanted was for the dog to crawl around the car and cause trouble while he was driving. After he lined the crate with one of the blankets he kept on hand, just in case, he gentled settled the puppy inside.

He seemed to calm, slightly, once he was set down, and when Bruce folded on edge of the blanket over his body, so only his head was exposed, he snuggled down a little more and looked far more relaxed than Bruce had seen yet. Bruce scratched the top of his head as he carried the crate up to the front, and settled him down into the footwell of the passenger side.

It must have been cozy in the box, because in the twenty minute drive back to the Manor, the puppy fell asleep, the sweet sound of little puppy snores filling up the car.

Bruce might have wanted a dog for a long time, as well, he had to admit. Just could never justify getting one, with how little time he spent at home, and how inconsistent his schedule was. Alfred, also, always balked at the idea of pets in the house, so Bruce had never explored it much.

Even now, he was a tad worried about how to care for the dog, how to ensure the puppy received the care he needed. He hadn’t intended on getting Jason a dog so quickly, so suddenly.

He’d been doing the research, reading articles and studies about dogs and their effects on child abuse victims. Trying to decide what kind of dog he’d get, how they’d get one, and how they’d share the responsibilities. Jason, Bruce thought, would be the dog’s primary owner. The one responsible for walking him and feeding him and playing with him the most. But Bruce or Alfred would have to do a lot of the heavy lifting.

Jason was just a child, after all, and he had school. He hadn’t started school yet, they were still homeschooling him in order to catch him up to where he should be, but one day he would have school. And Bruce would likely have to take the dog out multiple times. Alfred did not even know Bruce was considering a dog, so it was unlikely he’d be very thrilled or eager to do any of the work.

Alfred had been quite clear, multiple times when Dick was a boy, that there would be no filthy animals in his house…

Then, of course, there was the issue of caring for the dog’s health, which would likely fall upon Bruce’s shoulders, not Jason.

As Bruce pulled into the Batcave, he tried to set all his planning aside, and just focus on the moment. He had quite a bit he needed to do with the puppy, to ensure he could be brought up into the house.

First and foremost, removing the fleas from his fur and getting him nice and clean.

Did they even have flea treatments in the cave? They definitely had some sprays for them, but Bruce was hesitant to spray down the puppy with them. It might require a quick trip to the store, to purchase pet specific supplies.

Jason was in the cave. That was the first thing Bruce noticed, when he pulled the car to the parking spot. Because the batcomputer was on, and the computer chair spun around to reveal the tiny twelve-year-old curled up in it, looking like he’d just been startled awake.

Bruce resisted the urge to sigh as he got out of the car. Jason was supposed to be in bed. His bedtime was midnight, and he knew it. Especially with Alfred not feeling well, and taking the night off, Jason was really pushing his luck spending the night in the cave, by himself, past his bedtime. Bruce had threatened punishment if he defied the rule, and thus far just the threat of punishment had been enough to deter him from misbehavior.

All Bruce would do was ban him from TV for the next day, and he’d told Jason as much, but sometimes just the thought of being punished made Jason a little antsy and nervous. Even though the punishment itself would hardly even faze Jason, since the boy rarely watched TV anyway.

But Jason being awake could be beneficial, Bruce thought idly, as Jason slowly stood up and smiled a touch nervously at him. He kind of wanted to surprise Jason in the morning, waking him up with the puppy, but Jason could help him a lot with settling the dog.

“Hi, Bruce,” Jason said, when Bruce shut his door and looked over at him, where he was standing about ten yards away. He put his arms behind his back, and smiled a little tighter when Bruce pulled down his cowl shot him a ‘you know what you did’ look.

“Aren’t you up a little late?” he asked. It was 3am.

“I was reading case files,” Jason said, as if that were a valid excuse, “I wanted to finish all the ones related to the Riddler tonight.”

“Hrn,” Bruce grunted, “And did you?”

Even if it was frustrating, Bruce couldn’t help but be proud, every time Jason defied him. He knew testing the limits and pushing the boundaries was going to happen eventually, and probably cause Bruce to gray prematurely, but he was so damned relieved it was happening. That finally Jason was starting to test to see just how far the rules went, and if the consequences were what Bruce said they were.

All he wanted was for Jason to feel safe. He’d put up with the frustration if that was what it took.

“I’m almost done,” Jason said, a little sheepishly. Bruce’s guess was he fell asleep not longer after midnight, and hadn’t actually got anything further accomplished.

Bruce hummed as he started to round the car. Jason took half a step backward, before he seemed to catch himself, and started warring on his lip instead. When Bruce stopped at the passenger door, however, and didn’t keep walking toward Jason, he stopped.

“Come here,” Bruce said, as he opened the door, “I need your help with something.”

“What?” Jason asked, a touch curiously, as Bruce gently picked up the crate.

Despite his best effort, the puppy startled awake at the inevitable jostling. The dog stood, and tried to shake the blanket off of him, so Bruce got a good grip on the crate with one arm so he could use the other to move the blanket.

Jason skipped over, then, but froze when Bruce held the crate low enough for him to look inside.

“Is that?” he whispered, a touch of awe in his voice. Carefully, he walked the last few yards to Bruce, and lifted a hand to set on the dog. Just before he touched him, however, he looked up at Bruce and asked, “He’s not, like, radioactive or anything, is he?”

“No,” Bruce said, a smile tugging on his lips. Although radioactive dogs wasn’t something entirely out of the possibility. Not in Gotham.

He hoped he never came across radioactive dogs…

The puppy shrank back at Jason’s hand, and gave him the most pitiful little whimper Bruce had heard yet.

“Just scared and hungry,” Bruce murmured.

“Oh.” Jason slowly finished his approach, holding two fingers out right in front of the puppy’s nose, letting him sniff for a long few seconds, before he started scratching the top of his head. “Why are you scared, little guy?” he whispered, moving so he was scratching behind the dog’s ears.

The dog highly appreciated that, because he tilted his head, pressing himself into Jason’s fingers more as he shut his eyes.

Bruce couldn’t help his smile. He always knew Jason was a sweet kid, but seeing it in action might be one of Bruce’s new favorite things.

Jason looked up, and his cheeks reddened a little when he did. “Where, uh,” he stammered, “where’d you find him?”

“That dead-end alley on Broad. I didn’t see any other puppies or a mother anywhere nearby, and based on his appearance I’m fairly confident he’s a stray.”

“Aw, poor little guy,” Jason murmured, looking back down at the puppy.

The dog backed away from Jason, the best he could inside the crate, but pushed his head forward for Jason to scratch a second later.

Bruce could already tell, they were going to be best friends.

“Can you watch him while I run out and grab some supplies?” Bruce asked, once Jason had pet the dog for a minute or so, and looked completely in love already, “We need to give him a flea bath before we bring him upstairs, or Alfred will kill me.”

Jason looked up sharply, his eyes a little wide as he asked, “What am I supposed to do?”

“You don’t have to do anything,” Bruce said quickly, “just keep him company and let him know he’s safe. We can put you in the locker room with the door closed, so he can’t run off.”

“Oh,” Jason said, nodding, “yeah, okay.”

“Okay,” Bruce repeated, “Here, let’s get you settled.”

He carried the crate into the locker room, and set it down on the ground, where Jason sat down right next to it. Carefully, Bruce picked the puppy up and set him down, semi close to Jason, in hopes of not scaring him too bad.

It didn’t work, because immediately the puppy backed up, his little tail between his legs and his whole head lowered, his piercing gray eyes darting between Bruce and Jason. When Bruce moved, with the intention of standing up, the puppy bolted, finding a bench up against the wall to cower under while letting out his pitiful little whimper.

“Aww,” Jason said, softly as he crawled a little closer, then laid on his stomach, “don’t be like that. We ain’t gonna hurt ya.”

“I’ll grab him something to eat, first,” Bruce murmured, as he stood and walked toward the door, away from the terrified little puppy, “you might get him to come out for some food.”

Jason merely nodded, as he rested his chin on his hands and kept his attention on the puppy.

“Are you hungry, buddy,” Jason said, softly, as Bruce was leaving the room, “I bet you’re starving. The food here is way better than street food, trust me.”

Bruce tried his best to ignore the twinge in his chest, as he went upstairs.

In the kitchen, Bruce looked through the fridge in hopes of finding something for the dog. If push came to shove, he could scramble an egg. He knew he was capable of that, but he’d rather not mess up a pan and hear it from Alfred in the morning about how he wasn’t ‘allowed’ to use his own damn kitchen.

Thankfully, though, he found what remained of a rotisserie chicken Alfred had made for dinner, two nights before. The left overs hadn’t been turned into anything else, yet, so it was basically plain chicken. Absolutely perfect for a dog.

Bruce made short work of peeling off the skin and cutting up about half a cup of it, into small, puppy sized bites. He really wasn’t sure if it was too much or not enough for the little dog. He’d find a good vet to explain all that to them, within the next few days.

Or he’d spend the morning researching.

Likely both.

He brought the plastic bowl of chicken he prepared, along with another bowl and a bottle of water, down to the cave where he found Jason in basically the same position, the puppy still pressed up into the corner, deep under the bench.

“Here, you can give it to him,” Bruce said, only walking in far enough he could hand the bowls and water to Jason, “I’ll be back in half an hour, 45 minutes tops. I’m just running to the Walmart up the street.”

“Okay,” Jason said. He sat up and took the bowls and water, and sat them on the bench above the puppy, before he opened the water and poured a little into the bowl.

“Call me if you need anything,” he added, pulling a still unused burner phone from his belt and handing it over. He needed to get Jason a real phone, eventually. But for the moment, a burner phone worked fine. “You have my number memorized, correct?”

Jason rolled his eyes dramatically and rattled off Bruce’s number.

Bruce might have made Jason repeat it dozens of times, until he didn’t have to think about it and could simply recite it without hesitation. And Jason was still not over how ‘cruel’ the method of memorization was.

“Okay, good,” he said, smiling a touch, “I’ll be right back.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jason mumbled, as he turned back toward the cowering puppy and picked up the bowl of water, “here, buddy. Are you thirsty?”

Content, Bruce turned to leave, but paused when Jason called out a little urgently.

“Wait,” he said, “What’s his name?”

“He doesn’t have one yet. Why don’t you start thinking about that.” Bruce had some ideas of what he’d name the puppy, but if it was going to be Jason’s dog, Jason should get to name him.

It ended up taking Bruce fifty minutes to get back home. Between having to shower and change, then actually find the pet section at the maze that was Walmart, it took way longer than he wanted. Once he was in the pet section, he got a little lost trying to round up all the things he thought they’d need to survive the night.

A crate was a good idea. A real one, meant for dogs. A bag of food, too, but then he got distracted by all the options. He had no idea there was so many kinds of dog foods, all claiming to do something different. He ended up with a bag of the stuff meant for large breed puppies, and a box of canned wet food, as well. Just to have on hand. Then he bought a jar of treats, a couple toys, the flea shampoo and some other grooming supplies, and a collar and leash.

It was way too much stuff, he felt, but not nearly enough at the same time.

Once Alfred was awake, he’d probably have a much better idea of what they needed.

In the meantime, it was good enough.

Bruce felt bad, leaving Jason alone for as long as he did, but then again Jason had spent hours in the cave already, even though he wasn’t supposed to, so it wasn’t like it’d hurt him. Especially not when he spent the whole time watching over the puppy.

When he finally made it back down to the cave, with the grooming supplies and treats, it’d been nearly an hour. Bruce would be a giant liar if he said he wasn’t anxious about having left Jason alone so long.

But when he got to the locker room door and opened it slowly, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Jason jumped, of course, when the door opened. Bruce wished the boy didn’t have such strong reflexes, sometimes, because based on how he was curled up against the wall, the blanket wrapped around himself, he had been fast asleep. Bruce would have loved to snap a picture, if only to show Alfred, because not only had Jason been asleep, but the little puppy was curled up in Jason’s arms, sleeping against his chest.

Now that Bruce had entered the room, however, the dog’s ears lowered and he sank further into Jason’s hold.

“Shh, it’s okay,” Jason whispered through a yawn, as he sat up, his hands holding the dog close, “It’s just Bruce. We like Bruce.”

Bruce couldn’t hide his smile as he shut the door behind him and crossed the room. “Everything okay?” he asked, as he knelt down and slowly ran his hand down the dog’s head, trying to reassure him a little.

“Yeah,” Jason said, his shoulders dropping a little, “You were right, he came right to me when I offered the food.”

“That’s good,” Bruce said, looking over at the half empty bowl of chicken, sitting up on the bench, “He only wanted half of it?”

Jason grimaced, a touch, and asked, “Remember when I first got here, I got sick cause I ate too much?”

With a nod, Bruce said, “Yes.” He remembered that clearly.

It had absolutely broke his heart to know three pancakes, a few pieces of bacon, and a scrambled egg had been enough to make Jason sick. Had been too much food.

They had to slow him down and put him on a rigid meal plan for the first couple weeks, just to get his tolerance back up. Three months later and he still was underweight, but at least he could eat a full meal and not get sick.

“I didn’t want the same thing to happen to him,” Jason said, turning his attention back down to the puppy, who looked up at him with big eyes, “so I was feeding him one piece at a time, and he started acting pretty full.” When Jason ran his hand down the dog’s back, he tried to stand up, and Bruce could see his tail twitch from under the blanket still wrapped around him. When he couldn’t stand up, he started licking at Jason’s arm, making Jason grin for a second.

“You’re a good kid,” Bruce said, setting a hand in Jason’s hair and ruffling it, a touch. A compassionate kid. Just when Bruce thought he couldn’t like Jason any more.

Jason hid his smile in the puppy’s fur.

“Come on,” Bruce said, standing back up and motioning with his head toward the bathroom, “Let’s get him a bath.”

Bruce led Jason to the large sink they mostly used for soaking things or washing things like their grapples, when necessary. But it was the perfect bathtub for a puppy, so Bruce scrubbed it down quickly, then plugged it up and filled it with a couple inches of warm water.

“Okay, set him down,” Bruce said, as he went through the various bottles of soap he’d purchased.

The puppy whined when his paws touched the water, and tried his best to stay in Jason’s arms.

“It’s okay,” Jason soothed, running his hands down the dog’s back, when he tried to climb out of the sink, “you’ll feel way better clean.”

Despite Jason’s reassurances, the puppy continued to whimper and try to escape the bath, so Bruce worked as quickly and as gently as he could, first washing him off with the regular shampoo, then with the flea shampoo, working it into his short, slightly matted fur carefully, sure to avoid his scrapes and cuts. All the while Jason kept murmuring at him and offering gentle scratches to his head, between his eyes, and his snout. The puppy’s ears remained down, and his tail tucked between his legs, but he did quit whimpering and trying to escape Bruce’s hands.

“Have you thought of a name?” Bruce asked, while he was gently pouring clean water over the puppy’s back, to rinse away the rest of the flea shampoo.

Jason merely shrugged, not even taking his eyes off the puppy, who was looking back at him pitifully.

“That’s okay,” Bruce said, “Take your time.” Bruce wouldn’t be able to name a dog on the spot, either.

Once Bruce was content the puppy was as clean as could be, he picked him up and placed him on a towel Jason spread out on the counter. Jason wrapped the towel around him, and rubbed him down, drying him off and petting him at the same time.

The puppy barked, the first not whimper sound Bruce had heard from him, when Jason flipped the towel over his face.

“What?” Jason asked, when he moved the towel, a big grin on his face, “You don’t like being blinded? How unreasonable.”

In response, the puppy barked again, and jumped up on Jason, putting his front paws on Jason’s shoulders while he started licking at Jason’s face, his tail wagging slightly behind him.

Leave it to Jason to win the puppy’s adoration in less than two hours. He’d basically done the same thing to both him and Alfred, after all.

Jason laughed, loud and clear, and tried to catch the puppy’s face with his hands and get him to stop licking at his face. “Stop it,” he said, through his laughter, “Buddy come on, that’s so gross.”

“All right, how about we take him outside first,” Bruce said, after he’d drained the sink and put away the supplies. Maybe if they took him outside first, Alfred’s introduction to the puppy wouldn't be cleaning up an accident on one of the carpets.

Alfred… Alfred would not appreciate that at all. And would likely begin demanding Bruce find a better home for him.

They’d also have to figure out where to keep him. Jason needed sleep, Bruce knew. And the puppy likely did as well. He just wasn’t sure where to do that. It was probably a terrible idea to trust the puppy in any room before they’ve had a chance to go through and make sure it was ‘puppy proof.’ And Bruce felt like all of them going to sleep was trusting the puppy alone, even if he was with one of them. Likely Jason.

Perhaps they should set up his crate, and get him acquainted to it. Establish it as a safe place that was all his.

“Hey, Bruce?” Jason asked, as they were taking the elevator up to the manor.

Bruce didn’t like taking the elevator, when not absolutely necessary. It was a good workout to climb the stairs, but Jason insisted on carrying the puppy, since he still cowered away from Bruce, and Bruce did not trust him on the stone stairs quite yet. There was no telling what would happen if they set the dog down free. Bruce had no faith he’d actually follow them, and if he did, that he’d be able to climb the stairs without falling.

And with Jason carrying the dog, he did not trust Jason on the stairs, either. Not that Bruce couldn’t easily catch him or the dog if the dog started squirming and Jason lost his balance or grip, but taking the elevator took away all the anxiety, so that was what they did.

“Yeah?” Bruce asked, when simply looking down at Jason hadn’t prompted him to continue.

Jason shifted from one foot to the other, his attention down on the puppy. He had a solid grip on the dog, with one arm under him and the other arm on top, holding him still. Not that he needed to hold the puppy still, since he had snuggled down into Jason’s arms and seemed content, just looking around at the elevator around them.

“Are, uh,” he finally started, but he paused to clear his throat, and asked a little more confidently, “Are we keeping him? Or just watching him until the shelters open?”

The elevator dinged, and the doors opened to the landing between the actual entrance to the house.

“Do you want to keep him?”

If Jason didn’t want to keep him, Bruce could certainly find him a loving home somewhere else, but he’d be a little shocked if, after how quickly Jason clearly has fallen for the puppy, he didn’t want him.

But Jason looked up at him, and Bruce could tell that Jason didn’t dare ask.

Another one of Jason’s little habits. Hide away the things he truly loved, play them down as ‘no big deal,’ all out of fear Bruce or Alfred would take them away from him. Why? Bruce didn’t know. And he was afraid to find out from where such a fear came.

All he and Alfred wanted was to give Jason the world. He’d spent far too much of his life without even the basic necessities. For once he deserved the things he wanted.

Bruce took a step to the side and wrapped his arm around Jason’s shoulders, trying to ignore how the puppy’s ears lowered and he tried to bury himself further into Jason’s hold. “If you want to keep him,” he said, pulling Jason to his side for a second, “We’ll keep him.”

“Really?” Jason asked, shifting in Bruce’s hold just a touch, but not pulling away, “You’re sure?”

“I wouldn’t have brought him home, if I wasn’t sure,” Bruce said, squeezing Jason a little tighter, “I’m ready to keep him forever.”

“Oh,” Jason whispered, as he looked back down at his puppy. When he didn’t say anything further, Bruce led him out of the elevator and into the manor.

Getting a collar on the puppy was quite the task. Every time Bruce tried to put it on him, he pulled away and tried to run. In the end, Bruce had to hold him still while Jason put it on him, whispering his reassurances the entire time. Just based on how the puppy kept flinching away, cowering from Bruce’s hands, he would have said fuck it, and let the dog be without a collar.

But he was terrified if they let the dog outside without a leash, he’d bolt and they’d never see him again. The coyotes or foxes or something would kill him. They did not have a fence, except for around Alfred’s garden, and Bruce knew letting the dog run free within the garden would not win any points with Alfred.

Finally, though, they got the collar secure and hooked the leash to it.

“If we’re keeping him, we really ought to have a harness for him instead,” Jason said, as he tried to lead the puppy out the door. He kept pulling on the leash, trying to run off, but would stop when the leash went taught and started pulling on his neck.

“I see what you mean,” Bruce said. It probably would be much safer and more comfortable for the puppy, in a harness rather than a collar. He hadn’t even considered that, when shopping. “How about I stay up here, so he stops trying to get away from me. You can take him out.”

Jason hesitated, but leaned over and ran a hand down the puppy’s back. The little dog looked up at him, then back at Bruce, and started to follow when Jason took a step down the patio stairs, toward the yard.

When Jason paused again, and looked back at Bruce, he said, “I’ll be right here watching, okay?” Being outside, alone, was not something Jason enjoyed much, completely understandably. Doing it while it was dark out hadn’t come up, yet, but Bruce could understand him being a little nervous about it. Even if the sky was starting to light up, with the twilight of the coming sunrise in an hour or so, Bruce wouldn’t go anywhere. He’d stay right on the patio, and wait for Jason and the puppy to get back.

“Okay,” Jason said, nodding a little, as he turned to lead the puppy out into the yard to do his business.

It took some coaxing, and about fifteen minutes, but finally the puppy relieved himself, and Jason rewarded him with one of the treats he’d tucked into his pocket, from the jar Bruce purchased. They’d both taken a few, just to start in on the training.

He had a lot of research to do come morning, on training.

Once Jason finished praising him and petting him, he started to lead him back up to the patio. It wasn’t until they reached the stairs did the puppy notice him, and start to pull on the leash to get away.

It killed Bruce, just a little, to think what other large men had done to the poor dog to make him so afraid. He’d warmed right up to Jason, but even with Bruce being gentle and kind and feeding him, he was still wary.

Just like Jason could be, at times.

“It’s just Bruce, buddy,” Jason said, kneeling down and running a hand down the puppy’s back, “I know he’s big but you don’t gotta be scared of him.”

“That’s right,” Bruce said, trying not to smile warmly and embarrass Jason. He took a few steps to the top of the stairs and knelt down, holding out a treat for the puppy. “Come here, bud.”

The puppy openly warred with himself, taking half steps forward and back, as he sniffed at the air in the direction of the treat. Bruce stayed still, and waited, until finally the puppy gave in and hopped up the four stairs, so he could sniff the treat more directly and snatch it from Bruce’s fingers.

“That’s a good boy,” Bruce said, pulling another treat out and holding it out with one hand, so he could scratch behind his ears with the other.

“See,” Jason said, smiling brightly, “Bruce is nice.”

Once inside, Bruce reluctantly let Jason take the leash off, and watched with a sigh as the puppy immediately found a bench to hide under in the mud room.

It was going to be a long process.

“Why don’t you work on getting him to the kitchen,” Bruce said, as he hung the leash up on the coat rack, “I’ll go prepare him another bowl of water.”

Jason nodded, and sat down on the floor, a good ten feet away from the puppy, so Bruce let him be and left, shutting the door behind him.

In the kitchen, he did as promised and filled a shallow bowl with water, and set it on the counter for when it was needed. Then he pulled out the crate he’d bought, one that was likely going to be too small once the puppy grew. It was meant for medium sized dogs, and Bruce had a feeling the dog would be squarely in the large category. It would work for the moment, though, so he opened it and started putting it together. They could figure out a good spot for it, later. When it was time for Jason to get some sleep.

He wasn’t quite sure what the dog’s breed was. Looking at his eyes, he looked a little like a pitt bull. His nose had some pitt qualities, as well, but the rest of his body looked more like a lab to Bruce. But he was gray, a solid gray, with light gray eyes.

Honestly, Bruce didn’t know a ton about dog breeds, so that was likely another thing he’d be researching, once Jason and the puppy finally went to bed.

Alfred was going to kill him, letting Jason basically stay up all night with only a couple short naps in strange spots.

Jason finally came into the kitchen a good fifteen minutes later, the little puppy trotting along, right by Jason’s side.

He didn’t startle, much, when he saw Bruce, but instead pushed to be right between Jason’s feet, and started looking around the kitchen.

“Impressive, son. Looks like he trusts you already,” Bruce said, as he continued opening all the toys he’d purchased. There were only a few, but each of them had zip ties and cardboard to remove before they could be given to the puppy.

With a bright smile, Jason took the bowl of water and knelt down, offering the dish to the puppy who eagerly started lapping it up, his little tail wagging happily as he did.

“Are you sure you don’t wanna name him?” Jason asked, sitting next to the bowl and watching as his puppy continued drinking, “He is your dog.”

Bruce paused from where he was freeing a little hotdog toy from its packaging and looked over at Jason. But Jason wasn’t looking at him, he was still staring at the dog, almost like he was pointedly not looking at Bruce.

“No, Jason,” he said slowly, frowning at himself that he obviously hadn’t been clear enough, “He’s your puppy. I brought him home for you.”

Jason didn’t say anything, just pulled his knees up to his chest, so Bruce ventured, “Unless you don’t want a dog?”

“No,” Jason said quickly, shaking his head, “I want him.”

“Okay.”

With the hotdog freed, Bruce crossed the room and took a seat next to Jason, who didn’t look over at him still. The puppy did, however, and took a few steps to the side, but warily hopped back over to his bowl after a second, pausing every few sips of water to look at Bruce.

Jason absently placed a hand on the puppy’s head, then withdrew it, and hugged his knees a little tighter.

“Are you okay, lad?” Bruce asked.

“Yeah,” Jason said, dully, nodding a little as he did. Clearly not okay.

Jason and his moods were so unpredictable. The strangest things set him off, sometimes, and Bruce often felt like he were navigating the woods in the dark, without a flashlight, trying to talk to Jason when his moods hit.

Sometimes placing a hand on his back was welcomed, but other times, it was very not. And only set Jason off further.

So Bruce kept his hands to himself, and looked down at the stupid little hotdog in his hands.

He held it out to Jason, tapping him gently on legs with it to get his attention. It was a pretty dumb looking toy, in all honestly. A stuffed hotdog with a little smiling face on the front of the weiner. He’d known the second he saw it that Jason would get a kick out of it, so he couldn’t not buy it.

As expected, Jason smiled when he looked at the hotdog, and shifted into sitting crisscross as he took it from Bruce. “That is so cute,” he said, inspecting the whole thing, before turning his attention to the puppy, “Have you ever had a hotdog?”

The dog, of course, didn’t answer, but did look up when Jason squeezed the stuffed toy and found the squeaker inside. His little tail started wagging slowly when Jason squeaked it a few more times, then held it out for the puppy.

Clearly the dog had no idea what to do with a toy, at first. Because when Jason offered it to him, he trotted up closer and started sniffing at it rather intently.

“Bite it,” Jason said, pushing the toy at him a little more, “It’s yours buddy, you can play with it.”

It took another minute of experimenting, but the dog eventually took it from Jason, biting at it several times until he had a good grip on it. He jumped backward, and leaped around a couple times with it, as he kept working on his grip.

Finally, he seemed to be satisfied with how he was holding it, because he started shaking it aggressively, his tail wagging a mile a minute while he growled, a cute, very non-threatening little growl.

“You got it,” Jason said, grinning wide, “Good boy.”

Bruce draped one arm across Jason’s shoulders, hoping that with his upturned mood, he wouldn’t be too jumpy at the action.

He wasn’t, but he did look up at Bruce before relaxing into the arm.

“I’m glad you two are getting along already,” Bruce said, running his hand up and down Jason’s arm for a second before letting go, content to just sit there with Jason for a bit, watching the puppy fight with his new toy hotdog.

If the dog was going to be as big as Bruce imagined, it was unlikely the hotdog would survive very long.

Not if he kept playing with his toys that violently.

They lapsed into silence for a few minutes, just watching the dog as he trotted around the kitchen, flinging his hotdog around and going to ‘catch’ it, just so he could shake it around again and send it flying.

Eventually, Jason shifted again, pulling away from Bruce’s arm, so he removed it with one pat to his back. He placed his hands on his own knees, while Jason started hugging his again.

Bruce didn’t bother telling Jason he was right there, ready to listen to whatever Jason had going on inside his head. If he did, Jason would roll his eyes and make some joke, or completely brush Bruce aside and try and forget about whatever it was.

So instead he waited.

The puppy bounced over to Jason after a few minutes, and set the hotdog down next to him. But when Jason reached out to pick it up, he changed his mind and quickly grabbed it, trying to pull it away before Jason could take it.

“Why this puppy?” Jason finally asked, while he taunted the dog by tugging at the toy. He acted like he was letting the puppy have it, then pulled it, pulling the entire dog with him.

The little growls he got in response were cute, though Bruce knew it wasn’t a behavior they’d be able to tolerate long. Growling at them, even while in play, probably wasn’t a good behavior to encourage in a dog.

Bruce shrugged and said, “He’s the puppy I found.” There hadn’t been anything special about him, he supposed.

Except that he’d found the dog in Crime Alley. And had been starkly reminded of Jason.

Which still was not something he was going to tell Jason.

Because Jason was not a dog, and Bruce did not think of Jason as a dog in the least bit.

Even if he had found Jason starving and alone in Crime Alley, too…

“But,” Jason said, when the puppy had ‘won’ the hotdog and carried it five feet away to keep playing with, “What if he turns out to be bad behaved and, like, pees on all the old rugs.”

Why was that even something Jason was worrying about? Of course the dog was going to pee on the rugs. He was pretty sure it was part and parcel to owning a dog. They’d be damned lucky if that was the worst thing the dog did.

“Then I guess we’ll buy some new rugs,” he said with a shrug.

“But,” Jason said, looking up at Bruce with slightly wide eyes, “what if he tears up all the sofas. And eats your shoes. And bites you. And, and—”

“Jay,” Bruce interrupted. wrapping his arm back around Jason’s shoulders. He saw the problem, now.

Willis had ditched Sparky at some park, all because he bit him. Likely protecting Jason, if Bruce’s suspicions were correct. Why would Jason believe Bruce would be any different?

Even though Bruce had been trying his hardest to be absolutely nothing like Willis Todd.

He’d rather die than be anything like that sorry excuse for a man. Jason deserved so much better than him. And while Bruce didn’t think he lived up to everything Jason deserved in a parent… he at least hoped he was better than Willis.

But Willis was Jason’s example of a father, so Bruce could not blame him for expecting Bruce to act like him.

How did one convince a little boy that unconditional love existed, when he had never experienced it before?

“He’s part of the family now,” Bruce eventually said, pulling Jason into his side when Jason didn’t shy away from his hold, “He might do things to make me upset sometimes, but that’s okay. I’ll still love him, and I’ll never hurt him or kick him out, because I’d never do that to my family. No matter what they did or how mad I got.”

Jason’s lip twitched, slightly, as he sank into Bruce’s hug. He took a moment, but finally sat up and asked, a smirk on his face, “What if I peed on the carpet?”

“Would it be on purpose?” Bruce asked, seriously. Because it did matter, even if Jason thought it was just a funny joke.

All Jason did was snicker, and say, “Yeah.”

“Well then,” he said, “You would clean it up and then we would have a very long, very serious conversation about what the hell you were thinking.” He jostled Jason a little, playfully, and offered him a smile when he looked up. “And then you would apologize to Alfred profusely”

“That’s it?” Jason asked, but he was outright grinning, so Bruce figured it was all landing the right way.

“That’s it,” Bruce confirmed, “Although Alfred might make you do a bunch of chores after.”

“Yeah, that’s fair.”

“I think we can forgive the puppy, though, if he does it on accident while being house trained.”

“Good,” Jason said. He pulled away from Bruce’s arm, again, so Bruce let go once more, “he’s just a baby.”

“That’s right. He doesn’t know any better.”

The puppy had laid down across the kitchen, his head resting on top of the toy hotdog while he just looked at them, his eyelids drooping more and more with each blink.

It was just about bedtime for all of them.

“I,” Jason started, before Bruce could open his mouth and voice that thought, “I was thinking ‘Gable.’ For his name.”

“Gable?” Bruce said, turning the name over in his head, “From Anne of Green Gables?” He knew that had become one of Jason’s favorite books, after he’d read it his second week in the manor.

“Yeah, because he’s gray, and Anne had gray eyes.”

“Ah.” It was a good name, he thought. “I like it. It suits him.”

Jason smiled, one of his sweet, shy smiles, and held a hand out to Gable. “Come here, Gable,” he said, “are you tired?”

“Yes, I think we should take him outside one more time, and then both of you need to get some sleep.”

Gable stood, at Jason’s continued prodding, and started to walk over to them, but then the kitchen door opened and Alfred walked in, carrying an empty breakfast tray, likely so he could begin preparing breakfast for them.

“Dear heavens,” he swore, dropping the tray to the ground as Gable ran past him, right toward Jason. But when the tray hit the ground in a loud crash, he jumped, and changed trajectory toward a small table up against the wall, that had a shelf under it and about eight inches of clearance between it and the ground. Gable squeezed himself in there, and turned around so he was looking out at all of them, but was as far under the shelf as he could be.

“Gable,” Jason said, scrambling to his feet to get across the room to where Gable was cowering, “it’s okay, shhh. It’s just Alfred.”

“Sorry, Alfred,” Bruce said, as he got to his feet and picked up the tray for Alfred, “I was going to warn you.” He did feel bad for startling Alfred so hard. He, too, would be a bit startled, he hated to admit, if he saw a dog he wasn’t expecting in the kitchen at 6am.

“What in heavens is that doing in this house,” Alfred asked, directing all his ire at Bruce.

Bruce shrank back, a little, but then looked over at Jason. Jason had laid out on his stomach, the same as earlier, and was completely ignoring them while he gently spoke to Gable, offering him a treat and promising him everything was perfectly okay.

“No one here’s going to hurt you,” he was whispering, “I promise.”

“We kind of adopted a dog last night,” Bruce said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Alfred opened his mouth, like he was about to dispel a whole pile of vitriol at that, and likely demand Bruce return the puppy immediately.

He had been quite clear, on a number of occasions, that there would be no animals in his house… Or, more specifically, no filthy animals in his house, causing him more work.

But they were interrupted by a little bark, followed by some laughter.

Looking over at Jason, Bruce found him still on his stomach, but the puppy now out from his hiding place. He had one of his paws in the air, and was batting at Jason’s hair as he jumped around, Jason with his face hiding in the crook of an arm, the other hand trying to catch Gable’s paw as he giggled. “Stop, stop, you’re pulling my hair.”

Alfred visibly softened, so Bruce whispered to him, quiet enough that Jason likely couldn’t hear them, even if he were paying attention, “I found him in an alley, starving and alone.”

With a sigh, Alfred ran a hand over his face, and finally murmured back, “I suppose this is the more… traditional stray you’ve brought back.”

Jason rolled on his back, and Gable bounced over to where he was, and started climbing up onto his chest to get a better angle to lick his face, only eliciting more giggles from Jason.

“They’ll be good for each other,” Bruce whispered.

Alfred sighed one last time, and turned toward the counters, where he dug out a pan. “I hope you know I will never hear the end of this from Master Dick. The number of times he begged for a puppy.”

“I know,” Bruce said, grimacing. Dick was going to throw a fit about it, because even Bruce had told him ‘no’ about a dog. But then he’d fall immediately in love with Gable, and likely get over it.

He’d understand, too. If he took the time to listen to Bruce’s explanation of why a puppy was good for an abused, anxious kid.

“Rule number one,” Alfred said, much louder for Jason to hear, “dogs are not allowed in the kitchen or dining room.”

“Aw, Alfred,” Jason started whining, picking Gable up so he could sit up with him, “But—“

“No buts, Master Jason,” Alfred asserted, “This manor is plenty big enough, it will not harm him to ban him from these two rooms. It is simply unsanitary to have a dog slobbering all over my kitchen while I’m cooking, therefore he is not allowed under any circumstances in these rooms, please train him accordingly.”

Jason frowned, for half a second, before absolutely lighting up. “Wait,” he said, hopping to his feet, Gable struggling in his arms to be let down, “So we’re keeping him? For real, for real?”

“Jay I told you—“ Bruce started, but Jason cut him off.

“Yeah, but we all know Alfred’s the real boss around here.”

“Hey,” Bruce protested, but there was no heat behind it.

It was true.

Jason set Gable down on the ground, and watched in amusement as he ran over to his hotdog and picked it up, then pushed his way back between Jason’s feet.

“Yes,” Alfred said, clearly trying, but failing, to keep the smile off his face, “If you can take care of him, you may keep him. He is your responsibility, not mine. I expect you do do the research necessary for training puppies up into well behaved dogs.” Half way through his spiel, he turned toward Bruce and raised an eyebrow at him, so Bruce nodded right along with Jason.

“All right,” Jason cheered, kneeling down to jostle Gable’s ears, while Gable licked at his face again.

“How about you take him outside again, Jay,” Bruce said, before Jason and the puppy lost the little bout of energy they’d both found, “I want both of you to at least take a nap this morning, and he should probably go before that happens.”

“Sure,” Jason said, hopping up to his feet, “come on, Gable. Let’s go outside. You’ll like it more now that it’s lighter outside.”

“Don’t forget his leash,” Bruce called after him, as Jason skipped out of the room, Gable following close behind.

“I know,” Jason shouted back.

Alfred huffed a short laugh, as he pulled out some breakfast sausage, and got to work preparing them a breakfast.

“Thanks for that, Alf,” Bruce said, once he’d heard Jason make it into the mudroom, “I think it’s really going to help him.”

“Of course my boy,” Alfred said, smiling fondly as he placed sausage on the skillet to cook. His expression shifted, and he turned to Bruce, pointing his spatula at him, “But I was serious. I will not be cleaning pee out of my carpets, do you understand? If that dog—“

“Got it,” Bruce said, holding his hands up, “We’ll handle it, don’t worry.”

Bruce was confident in his ability to clean a rug.

And if he couldn’t, well…

He was certainly capable of hauling it away to the dump and ordering a new one online.

If that was the price he paid for giving Jason the joy he’d already experienced that morning, then Bruce was willing to pay it a hundred times over.

Because for Jason, Bruce would do anything. He deserved nothing less.

#Jason Todd #Bruce Wayne #bruce is a good dad #Batman #Batfam #Robin #child abuse tw #mentions of it but ya know #basically the worst part is right there above the cut lol #this is 9700 words also #xD #cross posted to ao3 as Strays #c writes

1K notes · View notes

spine-buster · 3 years

Text

game seven

drabbles for alone, together / the storm before the calm / the president wears prada

Bee was waiting anxiously. She had been since Morgan left that afternoon, a quiet confidence free of arrogance about him after she gave him one last kiss and one last “I love you” before seeing him off. She couldn’t concentrate on work for the rest of the day – she hadn’t been able to concentrate on work since game five, really – and had pre-emptively taken tomorrow off. Just in case. Just because.

She watched the game. She watched the post-game interviews, where Morgan was ushered out first, as he always was, volunteer or not, to speak about what had just transpired. She knew everybody could hear the pain in his voice, but they couldn’t hear the pain like she heard the pain. They didn’t hear the same type of pain she did, that she knew he was withholding in himself, trying not to let show. There was a dignity about him too – a dignity characteristic of him and him alone, and though people commented on it, it was much of the same thing. They didn’t know the true dignity. They didn’t know what it took for him to sit in front of those cameras and talk after another heartbreak.

She heard the door open. She immediately got up from her spot on the couch and ran over, meeting him in the doorway. His suit had been put on haphazardly. His tie was barely done. If she was being honest, it looked like he got hit by a truck. He probably felt like it.

“C’mere,” Bee cooed, already bringing her hands up to cradle his face.

“Bumblebee…” he let out, exasperated, a long and heavy breath escaping him as she attached herself even more to him. “Bumblebee, I can’t…why…” he had no words.

“C’mere, c’mon,” she led them towards their bedroom. He sat down on the edge of their bed, leaning over and putting his head in his hands as Bee still wrapped her arms around him one way or another, leaning her head against his shoulder. “You played amazing all series. You showed up.”

Morgan shook his head. He knew that. He knew he was playing well. It all didn’t make sense to him. “It was 3-1,” he mumbled against his hands.

“Hmm?”

“It was 3-fucking-1,” he mumbled again, and Bee’s heart dropped. “I don’t know what happened. I don’t know what I could have done be—”

“Shhhhh, don’t beat yourself up over this like you always do,” she said, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. “This isn’t just on you. I love you, Morgan. Please don’t think it’s all your fault. You know how unhealthy that is.”

Morgan knew Bee was right, but it didn’t feel like anything would shake this feeling. He didn’t know what went wrong and couldn’t think of a solution. He was desolate. Another first round exit. Another loss. Another collapse. It was the unthinkable. He shook his head, unable to find words. “I love you. I’m so sorry.”

“There is nothing to apologize for. I love you too and I’m so proud of you.”

“Are you?” he asked.

“Every single day,” she affirmed, giving him a quick kiss on the lips. “I love you more and more every day, and I’m proud of you more and more every day, too.”

She could feel his tears later that night as she held him, running her fingers through his hair, telling him over and over how much she loved him.

***

Aberdeen’s daybed came in handy for one thing: cuddling. William wasn’t joking when he said it was his favourite because it gave them the best cuddle sessions, but now, Aberdeen understood why. At first, she thought it was a joke, like it was coded language that she should get at least a double bed. But no – it wasn’t a joke. William did really love her daybed for cuddling. And it became abundantly clear after the events that transpired after game seven against the Montreal Canadiens.

Aberdeen wished she could have been there. A small part of her wished she was still working for Brendan so she could be there for the guys after the tough loss, after the collapse. But that part of her life was over. Despite having William and always being attached to the Leafs, there was nothing in her power that she could do to make this situation better for the team. Instead, she knew she could only try to make this situation better for William.

So they cuddled. William held her so often, but now, it was her turn to hold him. She felt his tears as he buried his head into the crook of her neck; she felt his tense body despite her touch, and did everything in her power to get him to relax. But William was on edge. He always was after stuff like this. He blamed himself, and she knew that, even though it was a team effort. She didn’t even mention the very late goal he scored in the third period. He didn’t even celebrate it. She hated that. William, her William, trying until the very end.

“You haven’t been online, have you?” he asked, mumbling into her skin in the middle of the night, even though neither was sleeping.

“No. Why?”

“I don’t want you to see what they’re saying.”

“You had five goals in seven games, William.”

“You’d be surprised, minskatt.”

Aberdeen let out a breath, clutching William tighter. “That doesn’t matter,” she said. “What matters is that I love you and I’m proud of you.”

William raised his head when she said that. “You’re proud?”

“Always have been. Always will be, Willy.”

He leaned down and kissed her, eventually snuggling back into her and letting out small sighs when he felt her beginning to run her fingers through his hair. Eventually, she felt his breathing steady, and she knew he was asleep.

She took the opportunity to reach over and grab her phone, unlocking the screen and finding the number she needed to find. She hadn’t texted it for months, and the last time she did, there was no response. But she texted anyway, because she was Aberdeen, and she would not yield.

To: Jason Spezza

I love you and I’m so, so sorry about tonight.

***

When Fred walked through the door of his and Aleida’s townhouse, all he could hear was Helena crying. He immediately took off his suit jacket and laid it over the couch as he walked upstairs to Helena’s bedroom, seeing Aleida trying to rock her back and forth to get her to stop crying. Helena was wailing.

“Fred,” Aleida’s voice was desperate as she saw him in the doorway. “She won’t stop crying. I’ve already fed her and—”

“Give her to me,” he said softly, outstretching his arms so Helena could be put in his arms. “C’mon, Helena, you can stop crying.”

Aleida’s hair was in a messy, ratty bun. Her pyjamas hadn’t been washed. She looked like she’d been crying along with Helena. But she still looked beautiful, like Fred knew she would. It was a comfort of sorts, coming home after yet another disappointing first round exit, and finding your wife and newborn daughter in her bedroom. It brought him back down to earth, in a way. That there were things more important than hockey.

It only took about a minute or so for Helena to stop crying once Fred cradled her against his chest, overpriced collared shirt be damned. Once she was quieter, Aleida finally looked at him. “She’s so good when she’s with you. She doesn’t do that for me.”

“It’s okay, Aleida. She would have calmed down eventually.”

He could tell Aleida wanted to say something, but she didn’t. Instead, she took another route. “I’m so sorry.”

“About the game?”

“About the game and about not being able to calm her down—”

“Shhh…don’t apologize for that,” he interrupted.

“But I can’t do it like you can.”

“Shhh…it’s okay. She’s a newborn. It’ll get better. She’ll get better.”

Some things were bigger than hockey right now.

#alone together series #morgan and briony canon #the storm before the calm series #fred and aleida canon #the president wears prada series #william and aberdeen canon

63 notes · View notes

nicknellie · 3 years

Text

Anonymous requested: Alex meets Willie at a coffee shop and they’ve been talking for a few weeks but Alex is afraid to admit anything of liking Willie. But his friends push him to and he finds out that Willie likes him back and they go on a date.

I combined this with a prompt from this amazing list because I thought it was funny. I didn’t include the actual date because I know nothing about skating but if enough people want it then I’d be more than happy to do a part two of this!

I also added Julie, Carrie, and Alex being best friends because we deserve it.

Batman and the Barista

Aside from his co-workers, there was not one single thing about working at Eats ‘n’ Beats that made Alex Mercer’s job there bearable. If the coffee machine wasn’t straight-up not working, it was spurting scalding water at him; the customers were generally speaking entitled and rude; his boss was so laid-back and carefree that it was painful and no problems in the workplace ever got solved; and the hours were ridiculous – for example, some days Alex worked from four a.m. until nine a.m. Who in their right mind wants coffee at four o’clock in the morning?

The only other thing – or rather, the only other person – that might have stood any chance of making Alex’s job worthwhile also made it worse. They would have been perfect if only for the fact that they wouldn’t tell Alex their goddamn name.

He was a regular at Eats ‘n’ Beats and seemed to come into the shop at least once on every one of Alex’s shifts. He was, in Alex’s eyes, utterly perfect – beautiful tawny skin, long dark hair sometimes twined into a bun at the base of his neck, and the most adorable smile Alex could imagine. It was downright unfair how attractive he was, and how funny, kind, and smart he was too.

If only he would tell Alex who he was.

Every single time he came in the shop, the guy ordered the same drink (hot chocolate with cream, marshmallows, sprinkles, the works) and every time Alex would ask for his name. Every single time he had received a different answer.

The first few times he had hardly noticed. The second time the guy came in the coffee shop he had told Alex his name was Horatio – Alex could have sworn his name had been Patrick the week before, but it was possible that he was misremembering, so he hadn’t thought anything of it. But the next time the guy came in his name had been Edmund. After that it had been Marcus, then Jason, then Rudy, Stewart, Bob, Milo. The names had got increasingly weirder; just yesterday Alex had scrawled Megamind on the guy’s to-go cup. Before that it had been Sherlock.

As lovely as the guy was, Alex often found himself complaining to his friends about him and his lack of naming consistency, usually on his too-short breaks.

“He just seems like a really cool guy,” he was saying to his co-workers Carrie and Julie one day as they all sat around a small, cramped table in the staff room. “I’d really like to get to know him but he seems intent on me not knowing him at all!”

Alex could practically hear Carrie rolling her eyes. “We know you’d like to get to know him,” she muttered, “it’s all you ever talk about.”

“That’s not true,” Alex protested. “I talk about other things!”

“Like what?” Carrie asked, raising a perfectly trimmed eyebrow.

“Like the band,” Alex returned.

Julie shook her head. “Only if I bring it up first. And your contribution is usually something along the lines of ‘I wish coffee shop guy would come to one of our gigs, how cool would that be?’”

“That’s not– I– okay.” Alex sighed, then said under his breath, “Although it would be kinda cool if he did come to one of our shows.”

Carrie sighed dramatically. “You are so far gone it’s painful to listen to.”

“Just ask him out,” Julie said, smiling fondly. “I see the way he grins at you when he gives you a ridiculous fake name – his smile is so wide it practically falls off his face!”

“I don’t want to ask him out,” Alex lied. It wasn’t as if a lie like that could work on Julie and Carrie anyway; they both rolled their eyes and crossed their arms, eerily in sync with each other. “I don’t! I just want to get to know him.”

“Isn’t that the same thing?” Julie said.

“No. I wanted to get to know you guys without wanting to date you.”

“That’s because you’re gay,” Carrie said matter-of-factly, “and Julie and I are, correct me if I’m wrong, girls.”

“That’s fair,” Alex conceded. “But I don’t want to ask him out.”

Julie patted his hand. “Sure, Alex.”

A few minutes later, their break ended and the three friends made their way back out front to the shop. It was bustling and busy, and the co-worker Alex took over from on the register looked one customer away from breaking down into a mess of tears.

Alex, Julie, and Carrie (each manning their stations either on the cash register, at the coffee machine, or calling orders) started working, getting drinks and snacks for everyone. In the first five minutes, only one person yelled at Alex for accidentally spelling their name wrong on the cup, which passed as a good five minutes in his book.

Alex wouldn’t deny that he was watching the door, waiting for someone specific to come in. So maybe he was a little distracted, and maybe he did mess up a few orders or names, and maybe he could feel Julie and Carrie fondly glaring at him for being a little bit elsewhere, but it wasn’t really his fault. It was entirely Cute No-Name’s fault and if asked that was exactly who Alex would blame.

Eventually, with only ten minutes to go until closing time when the customers had dwindled down to just one or two every few minutes, the door swung open and the guy finally came in. There was something a little different today, and Alex’s throat went dry when he saw it – Cute No-Name had a skateboard tucked under his arm and removed his helmet as he entered the shop.

There was no queue at this hour, so he sauntered right up to Alex, a wide smile on his face.

“Hey, hotdog,” the guy said. It was a name he’d started using for Alex after seeing that one of the many things he had embroidered on his work apron was a hotdog (right between the rainbow flag and the drumsticks). Alex didn’t like the nickname, but No-Name couldn’t be stopped.

“Hey,” Alex replied, clearing his throat. “Hey, how are you?”

“I’m good,” No-Name replied. “You?”

“Yeah, yeah, great,” Alex said. He was aiming for a casual tone, but judging by Carrie and Julie’s poorly masked snickers he was not doing a very good job. “You want the usual?”

“Yeah, thanks, man,” the guy said. “To-go, please.”

Alex nodded, punching the price into the cash register and giving the guy his total. After he had been paid, Alex picked up a to-go cup and a permanent marker, turning to No-Name again. “So, what’s your name today?”

No-Name considered for a moment, then grinned. Maybe Julie was right, Alex thought – nobody could find this whole thing so funny that they’d smile that wide.

“I’m Batman,” the guy said. The worst part was that he did the voice too.

Alex groaned and shook his head, fighting a smile as he scrawled ‘Batman’ on the cup. “Of course you are. Carrie,” he called over his shoulder, holding the cup out. “This guy’s usual, please.”

Carrie didn’t take the cup. Instead, giggling along with Julie, she said, “Sorry, but who is ‘this guy’?”

“Carrie,” Alex said warningly.

“Who is he, Alex?” Julie asked, face bright with laughter.

“Not you too,” Alex said. Carrie, Julie, and No-Name were all properly laughing now. “I seriously can’t be the only one who doesn’t find this funny.”

“What’s his name, Alex?” Carrie asked between laughs.

Alex scowled at her. “Batman.”

Finally, Carrie took the cup and started making ‘Batman’s’ drink. Alex, shaking his head exasperatedly, turned back to face No-Name.

“Can I ask what your actual name is?” he said while Julie and Carrie were distracted by throwing marshmallows at each other, clearly not listening. “Genuinely. Because you always give a fake or different name and I… I mean, I just want to know who you really are.”

No-Name’s beam faded to a smaller, more delicate, warmer smile. “Sure, hotdog. It’s Willie.”

It was really that easy? All he’d had to do this whole time was ask?

“Really? No joking around this time?” The guy nodded. Alex thought for a moment and then said, “Willie what?”

Willie shrugged and leaned on the counter. He wasn’t that close, but Alex felt as if they were practically nose-to-nose. He wouldn’t have admitted how much that made his heart race.

“It depends,” Willie said. “What’s yours?”

Alex furrowed his brow, confused, but still said, “It’s Mercer.”

The mischievous grin was back. Willie straightened up and said, “Well, in that case, hopefully one day it’ll be Willie Mercer.”

Alex felt his jaw drop, heard Julie gasp, and heard Carrie not-so-quietly utter a swear.

Willie was the only one who seemed unaffected. He beamed over at Carrie, saying, “Is my drink nearly ready? I’ve got a skatepark to get to.”

With shaking hands, Carrie passed Willie his drink, and after they’d all said their goodbyes she slapped Alex’s arm. Repeatedly. Hard.

“He likes you,” she hissed. She almost sounded angry, but Alex knew that she was simply passionate about something potentially going right in his love life for once. “He totally likes you!”

“You think so?” Alex asked sceptically. “Because he could have just been joking–”

Julie scoffed. “That guy’s idea of a joke is giving a fake name at a coffee shop, not the implication of marriage.”

Alex couldn’t help it. He let himself smile and felt himself blush.

“So,” Julie continued, “will you ask him out now?”

Alex looked at the floor, still smiling sheepishly. “I’ll think about it,” he mumbled through his smile.

In the end, it didn’t really take much thinking about. Willie came in again the next day, even though it was one of Alex’s four-til-nine shifts. At six a.m. on the dot, Willie pushed the door open, the only customer in the shop.

“Hey, hotdog,” he greeted as usual, coming over and leaning against the counter.

“Hey, Willie,” Alex returned, smiling. He couldn’t believe he had a real name to use for this guy now; it made his heart beat in a way that was far too over the top for the situation. Without asking what Willie wanted or for a name to put on his cup, he set about making the drink. “You went skating yesterday, right? How was it?”

Willie grinned, fiddling with a ribbon on a charity collection tub. “It was fun. I mastered a trick I’ve been trying to learn for months. Have you ever skated?”

“Yep,” Alex said, voice dripping with sarcasm. “Loads of times.”

Willie laughed. Alex adored the sound, and the way Willie’s eyes crinkled with his smile as he giggled. He felt his heart beat even faster. “So that’s a no. Maybe I could teach you sometime.”

“I’m not sure you really want to do that,” Alex said, handing over the drink, the name ‘Willie’ written on the side of the cup. “I don’t think I’m exactly badass skater material.”

“Still,” Willie said with a shrug. “It’d be fun. And we could make it a date. If you want.”

Yet again, Alex felt his jaw drop. “Wait, really? You want to… okay. You want to go on a date with me?”

Willie said nothing, just smiled brightly.

“I… I mean, yeah,” Alex continued, feeling very flustered, overwhelmed by the butterflies in his stomach. They were happy butterflies though – unnaturally happy. “Yeah, I also want to go on a date. With you. Thank you. People probably don’t say ‘thank you’ when they’re asked on a date, do they? That was probably weird, I’m sorry–”

Willie laughed and Alex stopped talking. He wouldn’t have been surprised if the whole world stopped, if the Earth ceased its spinning every time Willie made that sound.

“It’s a date,” Willie said, grinning. “Are you free today?”

Alex choked to find his voice and said, “Yeah, I finish at nine.”

“Cool, bro, I’ll be here to pick you up then. Sound good?”

“Sounds great,” he returned. Once again, he wasn’t quite sure he hit his target of ‘coolly disinterested’ and instead landed at ‘so disinterested that it was obvious that he was interested’. “I’ll see you then.”

“Catch you later, hotdog,” Willie said, saluting as he left the coffee shop, the bell on the door ringing behind him.

Alex couldn’t help but do an excited little jump and something that might have passed for a happy dance, but there was nobody there to see him so it didn’t matter. He couldn’t wait to tell Julie and Carrie about this.

173 notes · View notes

crowdvscritic · 3 years

Text

round up // JULY 21

‘Tis the season to beat the heat at the always-cold theatres and next to fans set at turbo speed. While my movie watching slowed a bit with the launch of the Summer Olympics on July 23rd, I’ve still got plenty of popcorn-ready and artsy recommendations for you. A few themes in the new-to-me pop culture I’m recommending this month:

Casts oozing with embarrassing levels of talent (sometimes overqualified for the movies they’re in)

Pop culture that is responding or reinterpreting past pop culture

Stories that get weEeEeird

Keep on-a-scrollin’ to see which is which!

July Crowd-Pleasers

1. Double Feature – ‘90s Rom-Coms feat. Lots of Lies: Mystery Date (1991) + The Pallbearer (1996)

In Mystery Date (Crowd: 7.5/10 // Critic: 6/10), Ethan Hawke and Teri Polo get set up on a blind date that gets so bizarre and crime-y I’m not sure how this didn’t come out in the ‘80s. In The Pallbearer (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 7/10), David Schwimmer and Gwyneth Paltrow try to combine The Graduate with Four Weddings and a Funeral in a story about lost twentysomethings. If you don’t like rom-coms in which circumstances depend on lots of lies and misunderstandings, these won’t be your jam, but if you’re like me and don’t mind these somewhat-cliché devices, you’ll be hooked by likeable casts and plenty of rom and com.

2. The Tomorrow War (2021)

I thought of no fewer movies than this list while watching: Alien, Aliens, Angel Has Fallen, Cloverfield, Interstellar, Kong: Skull Island, Prometheus, A Quiet Place: Part II, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: The Revenge of the Sith, The Silence of the Lambs, The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and World War Z. And you know what? I like all those movies! (Okay, maybe I just have a healthy respect/fear of The Silence of the Lambs.) The Tomorrow War may not be original, but it borrows some of the best tropes and beats from the sci-fi and action genres, so much so I wish I could’ve seen Chris Pratt and Co. fight those gross monsters on a big screen. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 6/10

3. Dream a Little Dream (1989)

My July pick for the Dumb Rom-Com I Nevertheless Enjoyed! I CANNOT explain the mechanics of this body switch comedy to you—nor can the back of the DVD case above—but, boy, what an ‘80s MOOD. I did not know I needed to see a choreographed dance routine starring Jason Robards and Corey Feldman, but I DID. All I know is some movies are made for me and that I’m now a card-carrying member of the Two Coreys fan club. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 6.5/10

4. Black Widow (2021)

The braids! The Pugh! Black Widow worked for me both as an exciting action adventure and as a respite from the Marvel adventures dependent on a long memory of the franchise. (Well, mostly—keep reading for a second MCU rec much more dependent on the gobs of previous releases.) Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 7.5/10

5. Liar Liar (1997)

Guys, Jim Carrey is hilarious. That’s it—that’s the review. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 7/10

youtube

6. Sob Rock by John Mayer (2021)

It’s very possible I’ve already listened to this record more than all other John Mayer records. It doesn’t surpass the capital-G Greatness of Continuum, but it’s a little bit of old school Mayer, a little bit ‘80s soft rock/pop, and I’ve had it on repeat most of the two weeks since it’s been out. Featuring the boppiest bop that ever bopped, at least one lyrical gem in every track, and an ad campaign focused on Walkmans, this record skirts the line between Crowd faves and Critic-worthy musicianship.

7. Double Feature – ‘00s Ben Affleck Political Thrillers: The Sum of All Fears (2002) + State of Play (2009)

In The Sum of All Fears (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 7.5/10), Ben Affleck is Jack Ryan caught up in yet another international incident. In State of Play (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 7/10), he’s a hotshot Congressman caught up in a scandal. Both are full of plot twists and unexpected turns, and in both, Affleck is accompanied by actors you’re always happy to see, like Jason Bateman, James Cromwell, Russell Crowe, Jeff Daniels, Viola Davis, Morgan Freeman, Philip Baker Hall, David Harbour, Rachel McAdams, Helen Mirren, Liev Schreiber, and Robin Wright—yes, I swear all of those people are in just those two movies.

8. Loki (2021-)

Unlike Black Widow, you can’t go into Loki with no MCU experience. The show finds clever ways to nudge us with reminders (and did better at it than Falcon and the Winter Soldier), but be forewarned that at some point, you’re just going to have to let go and accept wherever this timeline-hopper is taking you. An ever-charismatic cast keeps us grounded (Owen Wilson, Jonathan Majors, and an alligator almost steal the show from Tom Hiddleston in some eps), but while Falcon lasted an episode or two too long, Loki could’ve used a few more to flesh out its complicated plot and develop its characters. Thankfully, the jokes matter almost as much as the sci-fi, so you can still have fun even if you have no idea what’s going on.

9. Double Feature – Bruce Willis: Die Hard With a Vengeance (1995) + The Whole Nine Yards (2000)

Before Bruce Willis began starring in many random direct-to-DVD movies I only ever hear about in my Redbox emails, he was a Movie Star smirking his way up the box office charts. In the third Die Hard (Crowd: 10/10 // Critic: 7.5/10), he teams up with Samuel L. Jackson to decipher the riddles of a terrorist madman (Jeremy Irons), and it’s a thrill ride. In The Whole Nine Yards (Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 8/10), he’s hitman that screws up dentist Matthew Perry’s boring life in Canada, and—aside from one frustrating scene of let’s-objectify-women-style nudity—it’s hilarious.

10. This Is the End (2013)

On paper, this is not a movie for me. An irreverent stoner comedy about a bunch of bros partying it up before the end of the world? None of things are for Taylors. But with a little help of a TV edit to pare down the raunchy and crude bits, I laughed my way through and spent the next several days thinking through its exploration of what makes a good person. While little of the plot is accurate to Christian Gospel and theology, some of its big ideas are consistent enough with the themes of the book of Revelation I found myself thinking about it again in church this morning. (Would love to know if Seth Rogen ever expected that.) Plus, I love a good self-aware celebrity spoof—can’t tell you how many times I’ve just laughed remembering the line, “It’s me, Jonah Hill, from Moneyball”—and an homage to horror classics. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 7/10

July Critic Picks

1. Summer of Soul (…or, When the Television Could Not Be Televised) (2021)

Even director Questlove didn’t know about the Harlem Cultural Festival, but now he’s compiled the footage so we can all enjoy one of the coolest music fest lineups ever, including The 5th Dimension, B.B. King, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Nina Simone, Sly and the Family Stone, and Stevie Wonder, who made my friend’s baby dance more than once in the womb. See it on the big screen for top-notch audio. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 9/10

2. Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)

Robin Williams takes on the bureaucracy, disillusionment, and malaise of the Vietnam War with comedy. Williams was a one-of-a-kind talent, and here it’s on display at a level on par with Aladdin. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 9/10

3. Against the Rules Season 2 (2020-21)

Michael Lewis (author of Moneyball, adapted into a film starring Jonah Hill), is interested in how we talk about fairness. This season he looks at how coaches impact fairness in areas like college admissions, credit cards, and youth sports.

4. Bugsy Malone (1976)

A gangster musical starring only children? It’s a little like someone just picked ideas out of a hat, but somehow it works. You can hear why in the Bugsy Malone episode Kyla and I released this month on SO IT’S A SHOW?, plus how this weird artifact of a film connects with Gilmore Girls.

5. The Queen (2006)

Before The Crown, Peter Morgan wrote The Queen, focusing on Queen Elizabeth II (Helen Mirren) in the days following the death of Princess Diana. It’s a complex and compassionate drama, both for the Queen and for Prime Minister Tony Blair (Michael Sheen, who has snuck up on me to become a favorite character actor). Maybe I’ve got a problem, but I’ll never tire of the analysis of this famous family. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 9.5/10

6. The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972)

This month at ZekeFilm, we took a closer look at Revisionist Westerns we’ve missed. I fell hard for Roy Bean, and I think you will, too, if for no other reason than you might like a story starring Jacqueline Bisset, Ava Gardner, John Huston, Paul Newman, and Anthony Perkins. Oh, and a bear! Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 10/10

youtube

7. New Trailer Round Up

Naked Singularity (Aug. 6) – John Boyega in a crime thriller!

Queenpins (Aug. 10) – A crime comedy about extreme coupon-ing!

Dune (Oct. 1) – I’ve been cooler on the anticipation for this film, but this new look has me cautiously intrigued thanks to the Bardem + Bautista + Brolin + Chalamet + Ferguson + Isaac + Momoa + Zendaya of it all.

The Last Duel (Oct. 15) – Affleck! Damon! Driver!

Ghostbusters: Afterlife (Nov. 11) - I’m not sure why we need this, but I’m down for the Paul Rudd + Finn Wolfhard combo

King Richard (Nov. 19) - Will Smith as Venus and Serena’s father!

Encanto (Nov. 24) – Disney and Lin-Manuel Miranda making more magic together!

House of Gucci (Nov. 24) - Gaga! Pacino! Driver!

Also in July…

Kyla and I took a look at the classic supernatural soap Dark Shadows and why Sookie might be obsessed with it on Gilmore Girls.

I revisited a so-bad-it’s-good masterpiece that’s a surrealist dream even Fellini couldn’t have cooked up. Yes, for ZekeFilm I wrote about the Vanilla Ice movie, Cool as Ice, which is now a part of my Blu-ray collection.

Photo credits: Against the Rules. All others IMDb.com.

11 notes · View notes

ruzek-halstead · 4 years

Text

🌺 challenge accepted 🌺 chapter two 🌺

pairing: luke patterson x julie molina

luke and julie go to rival high schools, but come together at a party after their latest ‘friendly’ match. luke starts off on the wrong foot but redeems himself by the end of the night, by inadvertently becoming julie’s knight in shining armour.

“save it for your groupies, patterson.”

high school au

series masterlist || masterlist || ao3

prev. chapter one

warnings: swearing, fluffery

Having a best friend has many benefits.

They’re always present to listen and support you and help you with things you don’t think you can do yourself. They’re always there even when you think you don’t need them. They’re necessary to carry on in life, and Julie agrees with that; she loves her best friend. But there are instances where she would prefer to smother her with a pillow.

This was one of those times.

Alex’s face lit up when he spotted Julie and all her curly-haired glory. She could feel herself blushing and she honestly wanted nothing more than to slide underneath the table and hide.

“Julie, hey!” He greeted her excitedly. Willie followed behind him with a polite smile. “It’s nice to see you again,” he turned to face Carrie, “I’m Alex, this is my boyfriend Willie.” The brunet beside him waved.

Carrie was much too excited to meet them. “I’m Carrie, Julie’s bestie!”

“It’s nice to see you guys again,” Julie replied politely. She wasn’t sure what they knew, if Luke had even mentioned anything, so she wasn’t sure how to act around them. “Did you guys have fun at the party?”

Willie nodded his head excitedly. “Yeah! We hit up the karaoke machine; we were awful but it was hilarious.”

“Yeah, I heard it was quite an interesting night,” Alex remarked, shooting Julie a smirk. She paled; now she really wanted to hide underneath the table. “How about you, Julie? Fun night?”

Julie narrowed her eyes at the blond; she could see right through him. “I’m onto you, Alex,” she replied sassily, “I’m betting you know exactly how my night went.”

“I do,” he admitted, shrugging, “but I wanted to hear it from you.”

“Yeah, tough luck,” she snorted in response. He shot her a smile and Julie’s insides fluttered. There was something about making a new friend (and knowing that he was Luke’s best friend) that made her inherently happy inside. Plus, the best friendships always include sarcasm and sassiness, where both sides can dish it out and take it in stride. She feels like friendship with Alex will be exactly just that.

Willie chuckled, his eyes flickering between the two. “Hey, you should invite them to the show tonight.”

Alex’s face lit up once again. “Oh my god, yes!”

Carrie shot Julie an excited eyebrow waggle.

“Luke told you we’re in a band, right?”

Julie couldn’t help herself; she smirked before saying, “Sunset Swerve, right?”

Willie choked on his own spit, while Carrie simply looked confused. Alex’s eyes narrowed and a frown marred his face.

“I know you said that on purpose, so I’m going to ignore it and extend a gracious invitation for you both to come to our gig tonight at King’s.”

Julie blinked. “Oh, you’re playing a show tonight?”

“Yeah,” Alex replied, “are you interested?”

Carrie instantly jumped in with a squeal and large smile. “Yes, we’re interested!”

“Uh, well —” Julie stuttered, avoiding eye contact with all of them. It was one thing to be waiting for a message from Luke; it was a whole other thing to simply show up at his show, not invited by him directly. “I’m not entirely sure that’s the best idea. Luke—”

“Luke will love to see you!” Alex interrupted. “Trust me, I’ve known that dumbass for way too long. He’s probably sitting by his phone thinking of different pick-up lines to text you, because, like I said, he’s a dumbass.”

If Julie wasn’t embarrassed before, she definitely was now.

“Seriously Julie, he’s probably just too nervous to invite you,” Willie added, and she was surprised he was jumping into that part of the conversation. Alex sent him a fond smile. “I think it’ll be a nice surprise for him.”

“I agree!” Carrie exclaimed. “Plus, I need to meet this Luke. So, we’re going.”

Alex smirked in Carrie’s direction. “I like her. I’m counting on you guys tonight. I’ll leave your name with Flynn; she’s our good friend and social media coordinator. She’ll meet you guys at the door.”

Julie could feel her milkshake bubbling inside her stomach; she felt like she was going to throw up. Surprises? Definitely not her thing.

“And no backing out!” He added with a trained gaze on Julie. She sputtered in denial. “I can see it all over your face. Carrie, you’ll make sure she’s there, right?”

“Even if I have to chloroform her,” she replied with an even expression.

The boys laughed and Alex continued speaking, completely oblivious to the utter horror on Julie’s face. “Oh, and bring Nick! Luke will be on his best behaviour, I promise.”

“So will Nick,” Carrie winked.

“Great!” Alex clapped his hands. “Well, we’re going to go get some milkshakes but I’ll see you all tonight!”

Alex made sure to squeeze Julie’s shoulders as he walked by and Willie shook his head, laughing at his boyfriends antics. “I’ll see you girls later; I’ll save some seats,” he added before he left.

“Oh my god.”

The words flew out of Julie’s mouth before she could even stop them.

“Oh god, I am so excited,” Carrie laughed at Julie’s misery. “Jules, we have to go right now. We have to make sure you look amazing for tonight!”

Julie groaned, but there was no stopping a determined Carrie when she set her mind on something.

🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺

When Julie found herself outside of King’s that same night, her nerves had calmed down slightly, and she was actually looking forward to their show.

She was absolutely freaking out as Carrie dragged her home, but the blonde easily talked her down and convinced her on how fun the night will be. She was also looking forward to seeing Luke again, even though she still hadn’t heard from him. She believed Alex when he said Luke was probably nervous to reach out to her, because here she was, almost throwing up at the prospect of seeing him again. So, she tried to not let that bother her.

Carrie had spent hours looking through outfits for Julie. The brunette thought it was pointless, but Carrie was so excited, she just let her be. The two of them decided on a simple, yet stylish outfit; a pair of black ripped jeans, a white short-sleeve crop top and a jean jacket. She added a pair of white converse to tie the outfit together and left her curls down and natural.

Julie was surprised to see there was a bit of a lineup outside King’s. She could tell Carrie looked impressed as well, but Nick on the other hand, just looked straight up miserable.

“Babe, can you at least try to look like you want to be here?” Carrie whispered to him, trying to hide it from Julie.

Nick rolled his eyes grumpily. “Yes, okay, sorry.”

When they got to the front of the line, Carrie smiled politely to the bulky bouncer. She fluttered her eyelashes and said, “I believe we’re on the list? Julie and friends?”

“Hold up, Jason! I’m comin’!”

They heard a powerful voice, but couldn’t see anything behind the bouncer. A second later a girl dressed in a colourful outfit popped up from behind the bouncer. She was sporting a bright smile and didn’t hesitate to nudge the bouncer (with her whole body weight, to which he didn’t even budge).

“They’re with me, Jason! Let them through!”

With an excited grin in their direction, the girl Julie could only assume was Flynn, led them deeper into King’s. King’s was known for their live performances and chill vibes. The lights were dimmed and music filled the room; Julie was immediately in love with the atmosphere.

“I’m Flynn,” she introduced herself excitedly, while making her way to one of the front tables. “I’ve known the guys forever, but I mostly thought they were idiots. It wasn’t until they started their band that I realized ‘wow, this could be something!’”

Flynn took a seat and waited until they followed suit to continue. “Now, I’m their social media coordinator and baby-sitter by default.”

“Sounds like a lot of work,” Julie giggled.

“Girl, you have no idea!” Flynn laughed. She paused and took a long look at Julie. “I like you. I think we’re going to be great friends.” Julie smiled, ignoring the blood rushing into her cheeks. “Also, my boy Luke, cannot stop talking about you!”

Julie’s face immediately dropped in mortification. “Oh my god, tell me more!” Carrie gushed, moving in closer.

“Oh my god, tell me never!” Nick mocked, rolling his eyes.

Flynn immediately smirked, noting Julie rolling her eyes and Carrie smacking his bicep. “Oh, hold on. Are you Nick? Captain of Illyria Nick?”

“The one,” Nick replied with a small smile.

“I’ve definitely heard a lot about you,” she laughed, but it faded quickly, “I probably shouldn’t repeat it though…” To that, Nick actually cracked a laugh.

They were interrupted when a pair of hands landed on Julie’s shoulders, to which she jumped. For a moment, her heart leapt into her throat, thinking it was Luke, but she quickly discovered it was Willie, with an infectious smile. “Hey guys! Nice to see you all again,” he nodded to Nick, who he hadn’t officially met except on the field; Nick nodded back (men… honestly.) “Get ready! The guys are about to go on!”

For the first time since she’d gotten there, she noticed the drum set on the stage and realized she didn’t actually know what instruments the guys all played. It’d be a nice surprise, she guessed. With a quick introduction from an unknown speaker, the lights dimmed completely except for the show lights. She watched as Alex made his way behind the drums (she should’ve guessed that), beginning a drum solo and shooting a large smile in their direction. She didn’t miss the wink in her direction once he noticed she didn’t skip out on the event.

She noticed Reggie and Luke at the same time, as they both came onto the stage at the same time from different sides. It was a different feeling watching Luke from the crowd; he was so in his element, a bright smile on his face as he looked over the clapping figures. It didn’t take long for his eyes to scan over her table, as he was expecting to see Willie and Flynn. He definitely wasn’t expecting to see Julie, and his expression showed as much. His smile dropped momentarily and he looked a little stunned; she noticed he dropped the guitar pick in his hand, but he was too busy looking at her. Alex made a comment into the mic about their first song, and she noticed him staring into Luke’s back, almost as if that was supposed to be Luke’s line.

Quickly, Luke snapped out of his fugue state, grabbed a new guitar pick taped to his microphone stand and began strumming his guitar to the beat of their first song. Before he forgot, he dropped his right eyelid in a wink, shooting a cheeky smirk in Julie’s direction. Of course, he was stunned when he saw her; he wasn’t expecting to see her at all (he wanted to invite her tonight, but he couldn’t figure out what should be his first text to her). And he definitely wasn’t prepared to see her looking so damn good. He was smitten.

1, 2, 3!

Alex counted them off before Luke took it away. Julie was nervous to hear them. What if they were absolutely terrible and then they asked for her opinion? She couldn’t lie; oh god, what if they really were bad?

Take off, last stop

Countdown till we blast open the top

Face first, full charge

Electric hammer to the heart

Julie’s jaw literally dropped open.

Holy shit, they were good. Luke was amazing!

The butterflies she felt in her stomach earlier came back full force. She was falling for an adorable rockstar and she had no intentions of stopping herself.

Clocks move forward

But we don’t get older, no

Kept on climbing

Till our stars collided

And all the times we fell behind

Were just the keys to paradise

Julie could do nothing more than stare in amazement. Her whole table (and the whole club) was up on their feet cheering on the band. She, however, could not bring her limbs to move because she was just so enthralled by their energetic performance. She longed to feel what they felt; to be able to get up on stage and perform so seamlessly. But that was a story for another day.

Don’t look down

‘Cause we’re still rising Up right now

And even if we hit the ground

We’ll still fly

Keep dreaming like we’ll live forever

But live it like it’s now or never

By the time the chorus came around, her whole table was fist pumping and head banging. To her surprise, even Nick seemed to be enjoying himself (although, she’s sure he’ll deny it to the death). As the song continued, Julie couldn’t help but dance in tune to the song. In fact, Julie was on her feet for the entire set, and by the end, she was even more hooked than she was before. There was something about watching Luke sing and play his guitar (without sleeves of course). This just meant his biceps were on full display and of course, he was all sweaty and by the end, Julie couldn’t look him in the eye without her breath catching in her throat.

“We’re Sunset Curve! Thank you very much, and have a good night!”

The boys all dipped in a bow before running off the stage, smiles and all.

“Oh my god,” Carrie murmured, turning to Julie; she definitely didn’t want Nick listening to her next words. “Julie, he is perfect for you. I haven’t even properly met him, but he is so perfect for you! That was so amazing!”

Julie appreciated her enthusiasm, but it only made her more nervous. “This honestly just made it even more painfully obvious that he is way out of my league.”

“Excuse me?” Carrie hissed. “Where is the badass girl who told him off on that soccer field? I need her back because there is no one out of your league. You’re Julie; you’re amazing and I need you to know that.”

Julie was blushing again. “Carrie…” she groaned.

“Nope, I don’t want to hear it!” Carrie cut her off with a sharp tone. “And if it helps, there was dozens of people in this room, and he only seemed to have eyes for you.”

If she wasn’t blushing then, she definitely was now. And it certainly didn’t help when she saw Luke and the guys exiting backstage and making their way over in all their sweaty glory.

“That was awesome!” Willie was the first one to break the silence, jumping up and giving Alex a hug and a sweet kiss. God, they were so adorable.

Flynn immediately jumped into work mode. “That was killer, you guys! I’ll edit this video tomorrow and we can post it to your YouTube channel,” her eyes flickered over to Carrie with a shocked expression. “Speaking of, how could I forget? Tell me more about Dirty Candy!”

Carrie’s face lit up. “Oh my god, you know about that?”

“Know about it? Girl, Alex and I dance to your routines all the time!” Flynn exclaimed excitedly. “How the hell did he not make the connection when he met you earlier? Tell me more!”

Julie quickly tuned them out; it’s not that she didn’t like Dirty Candy, she was just so distracted with Luke and everything about him. He was currently chugging a water bottle and Julie’s focus was lost once again. She didn’t realize he was speaking to her until he was right beside her.

“Julie? You okay?” He asked with a concerned expression.

“What?” She blurted, blinking rapidly. A slow smile spread across his lips and she nearly fainted. “Sorry, I was just in my head — Luke, that was amazing. You definitely underplayed the whole band thing. You guys could really be something.”

Luke’s eyes softened and for a moment, she was the only person in the room. It was the sweetest thing she could say and she didn’t even know it. “Hey, you want to take a walk real quick? I just need some air.”

“Yeah,” Julie nodded, biting her lip. She whispered where she was going into Carrie’s ear and pointedly ignored her smirk. She also avoided looking at Nick, but noticed Luke sending him a nod (seriously, what was it with these guys and nodding?).

Luke led her out back, into an old but spacious alley; they walked side by side, silently. “I didn’t know you were coming today,” he told her, but then cringed at how bad it sounded. “Not that I didn’t want you here! I — I did, I just didn’t know how to —”

“It’s okay, Luke,” she giggled, “I happened to see Alex today at Mel’s and he invited Carrie and me. I was a little nervous though, because I hadn’t heard from you since.”

Luke cringed again. “And I’m sorry about that. I’ve been wanting to message you, but I didn’t want to mess it up or say something stupid. I’m really good at that.”

“I’ve noticed,” Julie teased and he sent her an affronted look. “It’s okay, Alex explained that too.”

Luke rolled his eyes. “Stupid Alex,” he muttered under his breath. “I’m really glad you came though.”

Julie made the mistake of sparing a glance in his direction and she caught his intense gaze; it was captivating. “Me too,” she replied honestly, “you guys were so amazing. I was so nervous it was going to suck and I’d have to lie to your face.”

She literally couldn’t believe she said that out loud.

But Luke was laughing and she couldn’t help but laugh along with him. “Well, I’m glad we don’t suck that bad.”

“Are you kidding me? You don’t suck at all; that was — wow, I can’t even form words.”

They found themselves heading back in the direction of King’s, and Luke knew he was running out of time with Julie.

“Uh, Julie — I know we haven’t known each other for long, and I’ve been kind of terrible at keeping in touch, but uh —” He was growing more nervous by the second, but Julie looked at him with soft features. “Would you like to go out on a date with me?”

Julie knew they had chemistry; she knew there was something there. And as much as she was hoping for it, she was still floored when he actually asked. It was a pleasant surprise though; she found herself smiling before she could even form words.

“Yeah, Luke, I would love it.”

The grin he sent her in response made her heart flutter. When he gently grabbed her hand to walk the rest of the way back, she welcomed it with an open palm. It was peaceful and quiet and she loved every minute of it.

When Luke opened the back door and waited for her to file in before him, he couldn’t help but lean in close and whisper into her ear, “by the way, you look absolutely stunning tonight.”

She squeaked in response, to which he only laughed and led them back to their friends. They quickly bid each other goodnight (but not before exchanging numbers — Flynn was adamant), and Julie sported a smile the entire way home.

🌺

oh my god, i loved how adorable this was.. i was literally melting when i was writing the end

i hope you all liked it!!! next chapter is their date!!!

drop a comment if you want to be added to the tag list :)

tagging: @haileyyanneupton || @pearlseleganciess || @deni-gonzalez || @queen-of-demons-and-hell || @todayithoughtof || @andessaga || @lukewearingbeanies || @kindess–truth || @kylobensoloskywalker || @elenaofavalor

46 notes · View notes

wondersofdreaming · 4 years

Text

Let’s get the party started!

Characters: Henry Cavill times 26 x female reader

Word count: 2.288

Warnings: Alcohol intake. Drunkenness. Hollering. Catcalling. Lack of confidence-ish. Teasing. A teeny tiny sexual encounter that isn’t written but hinted.

Author’s note: This is somewhat of a prequel to my emotion series. The scoring is pure fiction, so please don’t be offended or think I scored too low on your favourite Henry-character.

You can find my emotion series here: MASTERLIST

I do not own any of the characters in this flash fiction besides the reader, her dog, and friends, who are figments of my imagination.

Tag: @littlefreya @katerka88 @mitzwinchester @hell1129-blog

Feedback is appreciated.

The day started with you waking up to someone knocking hard on your front door. You had been asleep. Your big bear of a fiancé was softly snoring next to you, not hearing a thing.

“I wish I was a deep sleeper like you, love.” You whispered to him, grabbed a robe and walked towards the door with the dogs right behind you.

The knocking got louder, and you could hear yelling on the other side.

“I’m coming, geez, take a chill pill.” You said and opened the door. You were attacked by your future sisters- and brothers-in-law, and a large crowd of your and Henry’s close friends.

“Morning sleepyhead. My key didn’t work, so we had to knock. Where’s Supes?” Jason, a good friend, asked.

“Still sleeping. Wait, you have a key?” You asked pushing at his chest, which was harder than you thought since he was the size of your fiancé.

“Yeah, got one from Supes last year, when he locked himself out.”

Jason moved you and wandered down to your bedroom, where you heard a scream. Jason had jumped on top of Henry, who showed hundreds of emotions in matters of seconds.

“J, what are you doing here?” Henry asked as he managed to push his bearded friend to the floor.

“It’s your bachelor party!” Henry’s older brother declared.

“And your bachelorette party.” Your colleague, Cecilia, told you.

“So, you two take a shower, separately please, get dressed and meet us in the living room in 30 minutes.” Selena, another colleague of yours, said as she walked towards the kitchen.

“We’ll feed the dogs. Dress comfortably.” One of your sisters-in-law yelled from down the hall. Cecilia shoved you into the bedroom and pulled Jason out the room before she closed the door.

You looked confused at Henry.

“What just happened?” You asked and went to sit on the edge of the bed. Henry pulled you into his broad chest and kissed your temple.

“I think we’re having a joined bachelor and bachelorette party in our house, love.” He chuckled.

“Oh boy, I saw at least twenty people out there.”

“Let’s go shower and see who has arrived, don’t stress, darling.”

“We don’t hear any water running!” Another one of your sisters-in-law said through the closed door.

“We’re going!” You yelled, you heard snickering and someone mentioning ‘morning sex’ as they moved away from your bedroom.

You shook your head and leaned into your fiancé’s embrace.

“If we’re quiet, we can shower together and have a little fun,” he whispered into your ear. You scrambled to the master bathroom with Henry right behind you.

40 minutes later you walked into a transformed living room. Your friends and family had attached banners with half-naked men and women on every available wall. Cecilia threw a sash over your head that said ‘Bride-to-be’, while the one she put on Henry said: ‘Groom in training’.

The sofa had been moved to the wall, the coffee table switched with the dining room table, and had been filled with drinks and snacks. You saw beer everywhere and lots of tequila.

“Come on guys, it’s barely noon and you want to do shots now?” You whined.

“No, we’re making lunch first, the tequila is for later,” Selena told you and put a plastic tiara on top of your wet hair.

“I had no idea your hair was curly too, shorty.” Jason teased. He threw an arm over Henry’s shoulders and gave him a tight squeeze, while he pulled you into his chest with the other arm. “You two are my best friends, and I’m so happy you’re getting married to each other.”

“Thanks, J. It means a lot coming from you.” You said.

Your friends had turned the backyard into a party place, lucky for them that the weather was nice and sunny. You all sat down with open-faced sandwiches on rye bread, not the bread made purely of rye flour, no, this was rye bread filled with sunflower seeds, dark and delicious.

“And for those who aren’t into the bride’s rye bread, we have normal sandwiches and the grill is on, so we can make sausages and burgers as well.” Henry’s older brother announced.

“You know that rye bread is healthy for you, right? It boosts your immune system and is low in calories.” You retorted with a smile.

An hour into the backyard party, some of the men had pulled out a projector and a blank white screen. You and Henry were pushed onto the two chairs in the middle of everything. Your loved ones surrounded you as Cecilia went to stand next to the white screen, she had a little black remote in one hand.

“May I have everyone’s attention please?” She started, everyone started quieting down. “Thank you. Well, first of all, thank you all for coming to this joint bachelor and bachelorette party for these two turtledoves.” She motioned towards the two of you. “We decided to join these two parties, as most of us have busy schedules, and this was the only available time you all had. So, let’s get to it. Pass down the drinks, especially towards the bride-to-be, she’s going to need it.”

Cecilia held up her beer and cheered with everyone.

“Now, our beautiful bride-to-be here was born on an island far, far away.” A picture of you as a baby appeared on the screen.

“NO! Where did you find that picture?” You screeched, horrified that people were looking at you as a toddler with your curly hair and a mischievous look in your eyes.

“We called your family, and they were generous enough to send a tonne of photos of you. Now be quiet.” Selena said. You laughed and shook your head, defeated.

“I’m ready for those tequila shots now!” You said and motioned for the bottles of tequila in the living room. Jason laughed and handed you a bottle with a few shot-glasses. You downed two shots before Cecilia continued. Your entire life was shown on the screen, from your toddler days to when you became a teenager, you had a rebellious period, where you wore black, dyed your hair black, wore black nail polish and so forth. Then the pictures changed into your twenties when you met Henry, and the last picture was of when he proposed on the beach.

“And that concludes our bride’s story. Now onto a fun game. The bride and groom are going to have a little contest on which look through the ages is better.”

You groaned, already thinking you knew where this was headed but you were pleasantly surprised. Selena handed you and Henry a mini chalkboard each and some chalk.

“Let’s first, take a drink for the lovely couple!”

“CHEERS!”

“This is Henry in ‘Laguna’ from circa 2001, now give this look a score from zero to five, where five is the best score. These are gifs by the way.”

You squealed.

“Aw, look at you, honey. Baby Henry.” You teased. Henry just huffed as his brothers and friends laughed at him.

You gave it a 5, while Henry gave it a 2.

“Interesting, now onto the next Henry-look. This is from ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ around 2002.”

You gave it another 5, while Henry was still on a score of 2.

“And this is from the series ‘The Inspector Lynley Mysteries’, also 2002.”

Another 5 from you, and 2 from Henry.

“This is from the movie ‘Goodbye, Mr. Chips’, again, 2002.”

You looked long and hard before you just showed your 5, Henry was still on a 2.

“From ‘I Capture the Castle’ in 2003.”

You continued the 5, Henry still on the 2.

“This is from the series ‘Midsomer Murders’, from 2003.”

“You two are definitely going to have very curly-haired babies.” Jason teased from behind you, ruffling your semi-dried hair.

You giggled and showed your number 5, Henry didn’t budge on his 2.

“This movie is called ‘Hellraiser: Hellworld’ from 2005.”

You turned your chalkboard, still, a 5, and Henry showed his 2.

“And this is from ‘Tristan & Isolde’ premiered in 2006.”

You showed another 5, while Henry continuously showed his 2.

“‘Red Riding Hood’ from 2006.”

“Look at those pearly whites.” Another friend howled from the back.

Another 5 from you and another 2 from Henry.

“And here he is with reddish hair in ‘Stardust’ from 2007.”

The entire crowd laughed, even Henry had to release a burst of roaring laughter, where he leaned backwards and grabbed his chest. He dabbed his eyes with his sleeve as tears were about to spill.

You gave that look another 5, while Henry deleted his 2 and changed it to a 1.

“Moving on to ‘Whatever Works’ from 2009.”

You nearly swooned at the smile young Henry was giving you from the screen.You wrote down another 5, while Henry changed his 1 to a 2.

“This is from ‘Blood Creek’ in 2009.”

You showed your 5, which was turning bigger and slobbier the more tequila you drank, while Henry’s score continued to be 2.

“And we move on to ‘The Tudors’ series, there’s going to be a new gif from each season. This is from season 1.”

With the first one, you scored it another 5, while Henry continued his 2. He was being really hard on his own looks. You had to have a stern talking to him when you were sober.

“Season 2.”

You gave it another 5, Henry was still stubborn on his 2.

“Season 3.”

You continued your 5, and Henry continued his 2.

“Season 4.”

“Holy moly!” You let out.

“What?” Henry asked.

“I just forgot how hot you look with a man bun thing and a beard.” You hiccupped, obviously very drunk.

You scored it another 5, and Henry gave it a 3, having gotten a little confidence boost from you.

“This is from the movie ‘Immortals’, premiered in 2011.”

“I love that movie! I love Greek mythology in general.” You slurred and showed your 5, while Henry kept his 3.

“A movie with Bruce Willis, ‘The Cold Light of Day’ from 2012.”

“Babe, your smile is panty-melting.” You giggled.

You kept your 5, while Henry deleted his 3 and wrote down 4.

“And since Henry had three looks in one movie, and he played this character in three movies so far, there’ll be three gifs. This is the first from ‘Man of Steel’ premiered in 2013.”

You sucked in your breath and waved your chalkboard with the 5 on it, Henry deleted the 4 and wrote 3,5.

“Number two.”

You obviously continued with the 5, while Henry stubbornly showed his 3,5.

“Number three.”

Both your scores didn’t change.

“This is from ‘The Man from U.N.C.L.E.’ premiered in 2015.”

“My favourite movie so far!” You hollered.

You deleted your 5 and wrote down 6.

“You can’t write 6, 5 is the highest you can score.” Cecilia laughed.

“I don’t care about your rules. I’m the fucking bride, and if I say that Henry’s ‘Napoleon Solo’-look is a freaking 6, then it’s a freaking 6.”

“Whatever the bride wants the bride will get, Napoleon is a 6.”

“Thank you.”

Henry changed his score to a 4. He kissed your temple; happy you loved that movie.

“From ‘Sand Castle’ premiered in 2017.”

You wrote down a 5, which surprised everyone. Henry gave you a shocked look.

“I still love that movie, but the fact that you shaved your head without talking to me about it, pissed me off a little. The beard is a bonus point though.” You giggled and downed another shot. By this time, you had already drunk half a bottle of tequila by yourself, without lime and salt.

Henry wrote down another 4.

“This doesn’t need an introduction but premiered in 2018.”

You almost drooled. You had loved that moustache on him. It had changed the aura around him during filming, but he had still been your goofy boyfriend at the same time.

You wrote 6, Henry wrote 4,5.

“And some know this as ‘Nomis’ other’s as ‘Night Hunter’, it still premiered in 2018.”

You catcalled at the photo, making everyone laugh. You deleted the 6 and wrote 7, while Henry wrote 4.

“And last but not least from the series ‘The Witcher’ from 2019.”

“One million billion trillion…” You cheered and took another shot. The alcohol clearly going to your brain. Everyone laughed, while most of the women awed at the head-tilt Geralt did in the gif.

The rest of the evening was a blur for you. Alcohol was consumed and pizzas were ordered around dinner time. Around midnight you were ready to collapse anywhere, you could have fallen asleep while standing up, you were that drunk. Henry, who could handle his alcohol intake, threw you over his shoulder and carried you into the bedroom.

You were already snoring loudly before your head hit the pillows. Henry removed your clothes and with a little luck, he managed to put you into one of his T-shirts that you loved to sleep in. Your dogs walked in and jumped on the bed, cuddling close to your sleeping body.

“Goodnight, my love,” Henry whispered. He kissed your forehead and walked out to the still ongoing party. Most of the women had gone to sleep in the tents that had been put up in the backyard, and the men had rid the dining table for bottles and snacks and were setting up for what looked like advanced beer pong.

“It’s a fusion game between beer pong and flip cup. Losers have to down a whole can of Guinness.” Jason answered Henry’s confused look.

“Alright, I’m assuming we’re on different teams?” Henry smiled.

“Oh yeah! Let the game begin!”

#Henry Cavill #This man #Henry x reader #Henry x female reader #Henry Cavill x reader #Henry Cavill x female reader #Short Story #Fanfiction #My story #Mine #I need a drink #Henry Cavill times 26 #Let’s get the party started!#henry cavill fanfic

119 notes · View notes

popculturebuffet · 3 years

Text

The Jeffersons: Sorry, Wrong Meeting (Comission by WeirdKev27) (Black History Month)

Welcome on up! HAPPY BLACK HISTORY MONTH! Yup i’m going to spend a good chunk of the month celebrating the best and brightest in black characters in animation, amid valentine’s coverage in the first half and a few bits of the usual stuff throughout. But i’m still throughly dedicated to showing off some of the finest media about black struggles and starring black characters, and going through it the best I can as a white dumbass. If I slip up or misinterpret something, never be afraid to call me on it, but I feel I can still try my best to honor these amazing characters who’ve brought such joy to my life and these wonderful stories. So starting us off is a commission from Kev that’s been sitting in the queue for far too long. And it’s not due to lack of intrest: While before today I’d never seen an episode of the Jeffersons, I had seen the live performance of an episode done for that live with norman lear thing nbc did in 2019, and it was excellent and piqued my intrest. But with me never thinking to get the dvd’s, and not having Starz nor really wanting starz, there was no real easy way to stream it. But a few episodes were on DailyMotion, so I was fine with reviewing it for Kev and giving this series an honest try and the fact the episode dealt with white supremacy, at a time where we’d JUST gotten rid of a bigoted, white nationalist backing, piece of shit president, I was naturally all for it, I just never thought to clear space on my schedule and by the time I was scheduling things better, I purposfully saved it for this month as while the Klan isn’t as prominent, assholes like them sure are. And given the Captial Riots last month with sedionsits shitheads proudly waving the confederate flag around, I’d say this episode is even MORE relevant than ever.

But before we can dive into why this one is so good, yeah i’m not going to hide it this is a really fantastic episode of television, we have to talk about the series itself. The Jeffersons was created by Norman Lear, a progressive and prolific television writer and producer who is a legend in the business for damn good reason. He created All in the Family, which shattered norms and standards for the time, and would go on to create Sanford and Son, Maude and Good Times, all to massive sucess. However this show came about because the Black Panthers showed up one day at his office to raise a valid point: While he did have black characters in his tv shows they were mostly poor and barely scraping by, with his two black lead sitcoms dealing with characters in object poverty. And while this was still a worthy subject to tackle.. they were absolutely right there should be a counterbalance to that, to show the obvious truth black people CAN be successful. Norman agreed and set to work. Norman already had the perfect lead for that: George Jefferson, an opinnated dry-cleaner with several sucessful stores. George was, and still is, a fascenating character with lairs: being cranky and curmodgenly as you’d expect with some fairly average sitcom quirks: He loves money, often overspends on flashy stuff to revel in his sucess, snarks at his maid and likes to scheme as a sitcom character can. He’s also in the early seasons a bigot himself, not really fond of white people or interacial marraige, which naturally makes living next to an interacial couple and their daughter marrying his son thorns in his side. But as far as I can tell from looking on wikipedia he does soften with time and grow as a person and by this episode he’s fine putting up with both his neighbor Tom, said guy married to a black woman and his goofy british neighbor, if snarky as hell because hey, that’s who he is. I bring this up for reasons related to the climax, trust me.

So eventually the Jefferson's moved on up to that deluxe apartment in the sky, hell of a theme song, and got into their own adventures with the aforementioned supporting characters.. and so here we are. And after the cut we’ll take a look at just why this sitcom is awesome, why I desperately want to get some dvds for it at some point now or a starz trial, and how much the klan sucks.

We open at the Jefferson’s Deluxe Apartment in the Sky. where his wife Wheezy and aforementioned maid Florence are preparing to take a CPR class.. which were that possible I certainly would after this episode, as I feel Florence is right in stating it’s a skill everyone should have. She also remarks that George had every employee at his drycleaners take it, even if it was because he got an insurance writeoff. But hey, doing something that can help your workers and customers in an emergency even if i’ts just to save money is sitll better than MOST businesses these days so props to him. There’s also naturally some banter and it’s really damn funny. As with my Darkwing Duck reviews,, I won’t be going into it bit by bit, but it’s good stuff and holds up REALLY well. To me that’s the mark of a good sitcom, one that can show it’s age.. but still make you laugh, think or cry all the same. So yeah in less than a scene the show had won me over. So as the ladies depart for CPR class, George’s peace is soon interupted by Harry Bently, british person and wacky neighbor. Aka me if I were british and lived in the 70′s. He returns a tv guide, last weeks hence why he’s done with it, and ther’es some schtick and what not before Tom Willis runs in, upset because he’s been robbed. They took all his stuff, and while he’s thankfull his wife’s gone for the week so she didn’t have to be there for this, he’s obviously worried and suggests forming a building watch to prevent this, with Harry on board. George.. has no time for this nonsense, and after making a joke about Florence in curlers scaring them of, bredguringly agrees to attend if someone else starts it then slams the door on them once their out the door. At CPR, our heroines volunteer enthusastically and meet the cpr dummy. resuscannie.. I don’t know how to spell that and frankly I don’t wanna because she is FUCKING terrifying.

She looks like she’s going to come to life and strangle me. She looks like a hollowed out corpse doll a serial killer makes. She looks like something Charles lee ray would rnasfer into. She looks like Micheal Meyers grandmother. She looks like the corpse of Jason’s mom come back for revenge. She looks like sue sylvester transferred herself into an auton. Look I could go on, but the series does make jabs at the thing and most cpr dummies are objectively terrifying, so fair play to them. After some more gags, things.. take a turn. Part of what makes this episode so effective to me is this turn. It starts with, and even goes back to after this for a bit, some sitcom gags and cliches.. but it lulls you into thinking this will be an average episode... so when the instuctor asks two men to go next, an older man and his college age looking son refuse to participate.. and their reason is he refuses to touch anything tha’ts been touched by a ... well he uses a certain word and let’s just say you know what it is, I know what it it is and if I could’ve reached inside my computer and choked the life out of hte man, I fucking would’ve.

Yeah turns out these two are KKK, with the older asshole leading the local chapter and their about as reasonable or likeable as you’d expect with Wheezy BARELY holding Florence back from giving them a well deserved thrashing, and only doing so because it’d both sink to their level and because they’d just use it as more fuel for their racist bullshit. And that’s WHY this works so well: It seems excactly like a normal episode.. until it suddenly isn’t. Until suddenly things are a lot darker, a lot more tense, but the easing into it means it still feels like the same unvierse. To me the good “very special episodes”, are the ones that use this: that ease into the heavy topic before punching you in the face with it and tackle it with nuance and skill. A Diffrent World has a TON of episodes like this, and it’s why it’s one of my faviorite sitcoms: it tackles a lot of really heavy topics with a steady brush and while it can be heavy handed, sometimes heavy hands are necesary to carry a heavy topic. The racists showing up suddenly also fits because Racists hide in plain sight. You don’t know someone you know is prejudice or some stranger is till they reveal themselves. They could show up any time anywhere and you can’t be ready. And I cant possibly claim to know what that’s like, but I’m sad that in this nation of ours this shit has never, and probably will never go away. So it fits that our antagonist shows up out of nowhere, having until now perfectly blended in with the other suited white guys in the class. Naturally, the instructor orders them to fucking leave and naturally klan monster makes some big white suprimacist speil. And being a sitcom he runs into Tom, with Tom mistaking him for talking abotu the crime and White Supremacist mistaking Tom for a fellow racist. Tom decides to invite george.. and while it’s clumsily framed as a wacky sitcom misunderstanding.. it’s very clear things just got VERY dangerous.

Speaking of George he’s awoken from his nap by the ladies who are both still worried and while he goes into his usual digs on florence, and questions why she needs her bat... he instnatly sides with her and prepares to go kick some racist ass once he finds out what happened. It’s a nice shift, as it once again breaks the tranquil normalcy of this sitcom with the violence of racisim. And while there was no phsyical violence form the asshole.. to me racisim itself is still a form of violence. Thinking you are suprerior to another race just because your skin’s a diffrent color and wanting them gone or not to be near you is in itself violent to me. And while Wheezy again has good reason for holding George back, tihs is just what the fuckers want, Geroge is also right: right NOW it’s talk.. but how long before they start burning stuff on thier balcony or come for htem in the night? there’s.. no easy answer her, no easy solution.. just a man fearing for his life justifably whose probably been through this time, and time, and time again, dealt with his buisnesses being vandalized and his life being threatend and probably been beaten some too JUST for being a black business owner. So it’s understandable he’s fucking fed up and just wants them gone. Tom naturally invites him to the meeting., and harry agrees, botht hinking i’ts just a floor meeting and not a disguised KKK Rally.

So at the meeting, the KKK Fuck does his spiela nd tries to assure them that “what you’ve heard about us is wrong”. And again this si part of what makes the episode resonate: guys like this try to make themselves seem resonable. THat “Their not racist” their the right ones and your wrong for wanting equality. It’s why these movements gain traction, they tap into people’s inner ugliness and disastifaction with life and give them an easy target for it. It’s what the president did for four years, i’ts what his sycophants at fox news CONTINUE to do: try and present being a racist, homophobic, xenophobic peace of shit as a viable and stable option when all it makes you is a racist , a coward and a dinosaur who can’t accept change or things difffrent than you. When this guy eventually goes into a rant, as George showing up triggers it and Tom and Harry dont’ take his shit for as econd, with tom proudly mentioning his black wife, and both holding George back for the same reasons Wheezy did with Florence, he talks abotu them “taking our property and destroying our homes”.. and it all sounds EERILY like when Tucker Carlson went on about property damage during the black lives matter protests last year... and as a wise tucan in a suit once said, fuck you tucker. And as John didn’t say but I certainly will, I Hope you choke on your own spray tan you racist seditionist prick. My point is this sort of rhetoric, trying to frame black people as the enemy.. never fucking went away and is on cable news every night. It was in our white house for four long years. It won’t go away and probably never will and everyone of every race has to be on guard to find these pricks and make sure their message is drowned out with love. And that’s what makes this whole thing relevant: that these pricks hide in plain sight and mask their arugments with civlities.. but at the end of day are just hateful monsters who just want a scapegoat for their problems or even may just hate because it’s easy, or because they just wnat to and don’t need an excuse to be the worst human garbage imaginable.

It makes what happens next all the better: Asshole has a heart attack, HORAY, and no one knows CPR since the kid walked out on the class with his dad before they actually learned it. George relucntantly sighs.. and knows what he has to do. He goes and saves the fuckers life. And that, friends, is why I brought up George’s racist past and i’m glad I knew about it giong in: because it shows how far he’s come. From hating white people.. to saving the WORST of the WORST of white people. He regrets it of course, saying the guy should’ve died, and that he won’t be greatful and he’ll just keep on hating.. but his friends point out the truth: George was the bigger man. He saved the life of a man who hated him just for existing and who’d gladly have him lynched if he could and was trying to run him out of his rightful place in the building, because it was the right thing to do. Because that fucker sure as hell wouldn’t. Because despite being a monster.. it’s still a life.. and he can waste it however he pleases.. but he’ll now ALWAYS know a black man saved it. George may regret his decison.. in the dark, where no body would blame him for letting the fucker die or even know he could’ve saved him until he got home, and his wife would’ve barely blamed him, he still choose to save the worst of humanity proving depsite his curmodgnley nature, he’s some of the best of it. It dosen’t change the asshole, he leaves on a gurney telling his son “You should’ve let me die”. George is unsuprised and leaves with his friends. And I do like this: the racist dosen’t MAGICALLY change because he’s saved by a black man, he’s still a fucking monster. And that is what sets him apart from George: Whiel George was a bigot, he not only never went as far as this monster, but he changed. He learned to let go of his hate as it was eating him alive, and while he certailnly and rightfully won’t let go of his resintment for white people, he’s accepted he can’t hate ALL of them for what some did to him. This asshole has no such excuse and no such growth, he probably died being the same miserable piece of shit he was , resenting forever a black man saved him. And that’s hwo it should end.. youc an’t save everyone and you can’t change a person that dosen’t want to. George changed only because he wanted to and he realized he was wrong evne if he’s loath to admit it. This guy wont’ and never will becuse some racist pieces of shit just will never accept the truth that all people were created equal.

His son though clearly has, thanking George before he leaves, and later as the rest of the meeting, realizing what these people are and what they plan on, leave as the assholes right hand man tries to continue said son refuses to acknowlegde him rips up the poster and leaves. See the old man not changing worked.. but so too does this.. showing some simply dont’ know better and some CAN change.. but like George.. they have to WANT to change. Only you can change you. And hopefully it’s for hte better.

This episode was excellent as i’ve made clear, and I don’t have honestly much to add to it. It was a pleasure and black lives matter.

#the jeffersons #george jefferson #wheezy jefferson #black lives matter #black history month #norman lear

4 notes · View notes

primeemeraldheiress · 4 years

Note

Hi! I'm mom! Jason anon. You asked me to remind you about the HC I sent you a couple of days ago.

THANK YOU FOR ACTUALLY FREAKING REMINDING ME!!! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!

——————–

“You make a good mommy.” Roy teased from where he was leaning against the wall, conveniently not helping.

Jason offered him a venomous glare as he precariously cradled a sleeping child against his chest while still carrying several bags upstairs. He took the hint and grabbed a few, unlocking the door to the apartment ahead of his friend.

Once inside, Jason handed the rest of the bags off and tucked the little girl into his bed, gently slipping a plush wolf under her arm. He would get her room set up tomorrow but for now, for tonight, he’d take the couch.

Once back in the living room, he flopped on the sofa and rubbed his face with his hands. What was thinking? What was he… What?

“Fuck, Roy, what am I doing? I can’t raise a fucking kid! I’m going to fuck her up. Like fucking Willis! Like Bruce!” He groaned and leaned back against the cushions.

Roy made a noise of agreement in his throat. “Yeah, you had some pretty shit dads, Jay.” He blinked, “But you had some good moms! Be a mom!”

He weathered the look Jason shot at him with aplomb.

“Yeah, sure. Katas at dawn and pancakes for dinner every Friday. I’m sure that’ll be enough.”

The not-so-gentle shove was all he needed. He knew what Roy meant. Talia’s love so strong that she could send Damian away for his own safety, no matter how much it killed her to do so. Catherine making sure he ate first, no matter how meager a meal it was, before food ever passed her lips.

“Yeah. I can only hope.” He murmured. He would figure it out.

He had to.

For her.

Days later, there was an insistent knock at the door.

“Show me my new niece!” Kory demanded as soon as he opened the door. Jason sighed and stepped aside.

“Nice to see you too! I’m doing fine! Not stressed at all, why? No, nothing huge just happened in my life. Thanks for asking!” Muttering sarcastically, he followed her down the hall.

Kory shot an imperious look over her shoulder and stepped into the living room.

“You must Tasha!” Jason heard her declare warmly. He sagged against the wall for a moment. Christ, it had only been a week. He sure as hell hadn’t said anything yet; wanting to get Natasha settled before the invading hordes descended.

Guess it was too late now.

Fucking Roy.

He straightened and followed Kory.

The woman was crouched in front of the little girl, speaking gently to her, drawing laughter and smiles from his new charge.

This.

This was what he wanted for Tasha.

When he’d found her…

This was so much better.

A smile tugged at his lips and he leaned against the doorway, watching as one of his best friends charmed his new… daughter? Hopefully, someday. If she wanted it. If he didn’t fuck it up.

Wait - “What did you just call me?” He asked, incredulous.

Kory blinked at him, not nearly as innocent as she was playing, “I told Tasha that we should ask Mommy Jason if we can all go to the park and play on the swings.” She smiled, “Roy said we should all call you Mommy to remind you of a conversation you two had.”

Jason groaned.

Please don’t let this become a thing.

But it kept happening.

Every time Roy or Kory was over they would refer to him as Mommy. At first, it was irritating. Only because he knew Roy was doing it to get under his skin. Eventually, it just… was.

When he introduced Tasha to Dick, though -

Blue eyes were round with surprise and awe as they stared at the little girl calmly eating scrambled eggs at Jason’s table. They flicked back and forth from the girl to the increasingly annoyed little brother standing next to the stove.

“Are you coming in or not?” Jason growled and Dick realized he was still only halfway through the window.

He crawled the rest of the way in and something he overheard Roy joking about last week suddenly hit him. With a breathy laugh, he choked out, “Mommy Jay.”

“Oh, hell no. Not you, too.” Jason groaned.

And then…

“Tiny Her needs Red Mommy.” Jason stared at Biz incredulously.

Either way, he got used to it. And it didn’t matter because Tasha called him Jay. Or Jayjay when she was really excited. He was careful to make sure she knew she should call him whatever she wanted to. He wasn’t trying to replace her parents.

It was inevitable, he supposed, that it rubbed off eventually.

“Mommy!” A streak of beaming little girl came running at him as her class let out for the day. He blinked. Well… shit.

“Hey, sweetheart. Did you have a good day?”

Roy fell off his chair laughing the first time he heard her.

Whatever. He was secure in his masculinity.

If Tasha wanted to all him Mommy then he was Mommy.

And that was that.

He was still going to shoot Roy for the whole mess later but that was what friends were for.

----------

Now with PART II.

#Emerald Blurb #JMom!Anon #Mom!Jason #Parent Jason Todd #Dad Jason Todd #Red Hood #Batfam #Dick Grayson #Nightwing #Roy Harper #Arsenal #koriand'r #Starfire #Bizarro #Fluff #Gen

221 notes · View notes

myeverythingisyourstruly · 4 years

Text

Willy x female reader

Warnings: language

The sun was scorching hot, the nectar-rich flowers were in full bloom, scattered with colorful butterflies, and school was out, which only meant one thing - summertime had officially begun.

You were on break from college and at home with your family. Although you liked being back home with your loved ones, you didn’t necessarily want to be around them all day, so you decided to get a summer job.

Your mom had informed you the community pool near your house was always looking for “helpers” so you went over to check it out.

The pool area was surprisingly deserted except for one person, a man, who was laying on one of the fold out chairs, scrolling through his phone.

He had black ray-bans on and didn’t seem to notice you approaching.

“Excuse me,” you said. “Are you hiring for the summer?”

“Oh shit,” he jumped in his seat and pulled off his sunglasses. “I didn’t see you there. Uhh, yeah, we are. What kind of experience do you have?”

“Um, well I’ve worked on campus before and-”

He laughed. “I’m just fucking with you, the job is yours if you want it.”

“Oh cool,” you smiled. “So what exactly would I be, like your assistant? I mean you are the manager right?”

“Yeah,” he sat up and stuck his hand out. “Willy.”

“Y/N” you accepted the handshake.

“By the way,” he stood up at his full height, and wow was he much taller than you realized. “You’re not an assistant, there’s no assistants around here, you’re just an employee of mine. Okay?”

“Got it.” you nodded. “So where is everyone?”

“The pool doesn’t open until 12.”

You checked your phone -- 11:32 AM

“Okay, well, I’ll just hang around until it’s time to work I guess.”

“Actually, I have something you can do.” Willy walked over to his small office space and you followed.

The place was a mess to say the least. There were papers scattered everywhere, blankets and a pillow thrown in the corner, and evident coffee stains plagued the desk.

Yuck.

“You can organize these papers for me and put them in the filing cabinet.” Willy picked up one of the papers and wiped the stickiness from the coffee on his shorts. “So this is for people who want to rent out lockers, you get their name and number and blah blah blah, you get it right?”

You nodded silently, stunned that he wasn’t phased by the filthiness you two were standing in. “So I’m supposed to do all of this by myself?”

“Yeah!” he exclaimed, a little too happily. “You seem like the over-achiever, perfectionist type so I’m sure you’ll do fine. Good luck.” he patted your shoulder and walked away.

“Jerk,” you muttered.

“What was that?” he turned around with a smirk.

“N-nothing.”

* * * *

After working at the pool for a few weeks, you were starting to wonder if the extra money was even worth it. You weren’t the only one who worked there but somehow you always ended up doing the majority of the work while everyone else sat back and chilled.

It was partially your own fault for putting up with it and you had an idea of how this job was going to be considering your first day. You had walked up and down the pool aisles, keeping an eye on all the children and their activities, while Willy, who was supposed to be the manager, was chatting with friends. He called you over and embarrassed you by saying, “You don’t need to monitor the kids so hard. Take the stick out of your ass and relax.” You turned away, trying to cover your blush as his friends cackled.

On the bright side of things, the children were well behaved for the most part and you didn’t have any problems with them. Although, there was that one kid that was caught humping the pool noodle.

You were pretty close to quitting until you started noticing a really hot guy appearing at the pool every other day with his little brother. He had beautiful blonde hair that shimmered in the sun and his body was the type of picture you’d hang up in your room as a poster to drool over. Truthfully, you felt he was way out of your league, but that didn’t stop you from flaunting around in your bathing suit, showing a little extra skin at times.

When you finally got the courage to speak with him, you found out his name was Jason and he was in college too. There were times when you even felt like he was flirting right back at you, which was a total surprise but you played it cool.

Today for example, you were talking to Jason about a band the two of you loved and he was hinting at taking you to one of their next concerts.

“They’re actually going on tour next month and I bet they’ll come here. Have you seen them live?”

“Oh my god, no, but I’d love to. Are you going?” you batted your eyelashes.

“Definitely, but there’s one problem though. I don’t have a date.” his eyes flicked down to your chest.

“You know, I’ll be here the rest of the summer and I would love to-”

Splat!

You gasped at the impact of a huge water balloon hitting the side of your face, drenching your entire chest, and the water was dripping down into your shorts.

Someone was attempting but completely failing to cover up their snickering. You looked up to see Willy covering his mouth as his shoulders bounced up and down.

“Holy shit,” he gasped, eliciting another breathy laugh. “I didn’t mean to hit your face like that, I swear.”

“That’s it.” You marched over to the bucket of water balloons and picked up a few before throwing them at Willy, who was running away to the other side.

You missed the first two times but on the third try you got him right in the crotch, which made it look like he pissed himself. Everyone laughed, including Willy, and soon some of the other kids joined in to completely soak their friends in water.

By the end of it, almost everyone was a mess. You looked around to see destroyed balloons all around the pool, some floating in the water as well, which was a funny sight. They looked like tattered colorful condoms.

Once the pool closed down for the day, It was time to start cleaning up but thankfully Willy stayed behind to help. You reflected on the water balloon fight and how it had all started, which made you walk over to Willy with a question in mind.

“Why did you throw that water balloon at me when I was talking to Jason?” You stood over him while he squatted to pick up pool toys, his back facing you.

“Cus’ I’m a jerk, remember?”

“Yeah, I know, but you could’ve struck at any time and yet you chose to do it when I was with Jason. Why?”

He sighed, stood up, and turned around to face you.

“Look, y/n, I know you like Jason but he’s a player. He does the same thing to a bunch of other girls.”

“And how would you know?” You asked with an attitude, crossing your arms.

Willy huffed out a laugh but there was no humor behind it. “Because I’ve seen him do it the past couple of summers. Trust me, he only wants to get in your pants.”

Willy walked away but you followed. It was petty, but you didn’t want him to have the last word.

“Why should I trust you?”

He stopped once again to look at you. “As much as I piss you off sometimes, I still don’t wanna see you get hurt. You don’t deserve that.”

You slowly uncrossed your arms, letting your defenses down. For some reason you did actually trust what Willy was saying but you didn’t exactly want him to know that.

“Well,” you sighed. “Thanks for telling me.”

“No problem,” he said with a sort of apologetic smile.

From that day on you avoided talking to Jason. You still remained cordial and would greet him if you two made eye contact but you kept it strictly platonic and didn’t make any moves to approach him. The sad part about it was Jason didn’t even seem to notice, and if he did, he just didn’t care enough to confront you about it.

It was your day to be on lifeguard duty. All the kids were screaming and laughing, having themselves a great time, until a loud cry broke through. You sprung off your chair to see a little boy had fallen on the concrete, scraping his knee in the process. Willy had made it to the kid before you did and was helping him to calm down.

“Hey, could you get the first aid kit out of my office?”

“Sure thing,” you rushed over to grab the kit and brought it back to Willy. You noticed the kid wasn’t crying anymore, but in fact was smiling.

You watched as Willy cleaned up the blood, disinfected the scrape, and patched him up with a cool Iron Man band-aid. Quite frankly, It was the cutest thing you’d ever seen him do.

Wait, since when do I find Willy cute?

The way he handled the situation was so sweet. You had never seen Willy be so attentive, calm, and confident. When he was done, he stood up and stretched, his shirt lifting just enough to see exposed skin. Your eyes glanced down, trailing the line of hair that led to his-

No. No. No. I’m not doing this.

You looked up to see Willy was already looking at you.

Crap.

“You okay?” He seemed to be genuinely concerned, which made you feel even more embarrassed.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

He shrugged. “Just asking.”

You didn’t really know how else to respond so you just awkwardly walked away, hoping he wasn’t watching you.

I do not like Willy. I definitely don’t have a crush on him. Nope, not this girl.

Your mind betrayed you that night when you dreamt of Willy going down on you.

You couldn’t make direct eye contact with him for the next two days.

The rest of the month was torture. It seemed like every little thing he did now was sexy and the worst part about it was he didn’t even realize the effect he had on you. It got so bad that your stomach would flip flop whenever he would grace you with a smile, which most times wasn’t even because of anything you said, but just seeing him smile over dumb shit was doing it for you.

It all came to a boil when the two of you were the last ones at the pool. It was evening time so the pool had long been closed, but you stuck around to clean up and Willy had mentioned a schedule change he wanted to go over with you.

“So since Summer is coming to an end we’re gonna open up the pool an hour earlier and I was thinking you could hmph-”

You connected your lips to his, fast and hard, as if there was an immediate need to release all of the pent up energy you had inside. The kiss was cut short when he gently pulled away from you.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m...kissing you?” You hated the way it came out sounding like a question instead of a statement.

“Yeah, no shit,” he laughed. “But why? I mean, what about Jason?”

“Jason is a player like you said,” you sighed. “And I don’t want to be with someone like that.”

Willy smirked. “So you admit I was right.”

You rolled your eyes. “Yeah, I guess so.

“And now that Jason is out of the picture you think you like me?” he teased.

“Yes, I mean no! Ugh,” he was making this way harder for you and you didn’t know whether to be pissed or turned on. “I’ve liked you for a while now,” you admitted as a blush crept upon your cheeks. “You just didn’t notice.”

There was a gleam in his eyes. “I notice a lot more than you think I do.”

You blushed even harder.

“Listen,” you stepped a little closer to him. “I don’t want you to think you’re second to Jason, I really do like you. I mean I even had a sex dream about you!”

His eyebrows raised.

“I like you because even though you annoy the shit out of me, I still find myself laughing when I’m around you and you’re so great with the kids and you’re so cu-”

He leaned down to silence you, cupping your face with both hands.

“You talk too much,” he stated quietly.

“One of my many talents,” you joked, earning a smile in response.

“And fuck, I like you too. A lot.”

He dove back in to give you the kiss you had imagined the first time around, the kind that makes you feel a little dizzy, as if you’re floating in the air. Warmth spread through your belly like lava slowly seeping out of a volcano.

You sighed when he pulled back for room to breathe.

“What are we going to do when I go back to school?”

Smiling softly, he placed some of your hair behind your ear. “Don’t even worry about that, kid. We’ll figure it out.”

He leaned in, as if he were going to kiss you again, but dodged your lips to whisper in your ear. “So tell me more about that dream you had.”

@mediocre-megs @3tothe1 @fightingevilbymoonlight13 @damien-kaspbrak

#bill hader #willy mclean #the to do list #bill hader x reader #bill hader x you #fanfic

37 notes · View notes

thefightingbull · 4 years

Text

A Boy Needs His Father Pt. 2

@elloryia, sorry couldn’t resist another piece

Mick stopped the lawnmower as he watched his son jump out of Len’s Jetta and slam the door shut with terrible force. Leonard got out after the car turned off and shouted for Jason to stop, but the little boy ran onto the front porch, ignoring a direct command from Leonard for the first time since they’d brought him home.

“Jason stop!” Mick snarled in a deep, powerful alpha voice that froze the boy in his tracks. “Turn your ass around right now.”

“Mick, just back off,” Leonard sighed as he walked over to their somewhat frozen child. “You don’t even know what’s going on.”

“I know he ignored you and was slamming doors,” Mick growled as they both approached Jason.

When Mick got a look at Jason, he felt his rage boil over as he growled at Leonard. “What the fuck happened?”

Jason’s left eye was rapidly bruising and his lip was busted and swollen on the same side. Mick’s pup looked like he’d taken a hell of a beating and the alpha in him roared for blood. His pack, his son, his pup had been struck by a stranger and left marked! Someone would pay. That’s all there was to it.

Leonard shivered at the effects of the alpha voice and then glared at him. “Don’t use that tone on me, Mick, or I’ll leave you with more than a case of blue balls.”

Mick ignored his omega’s threat and watched as Leonard pulled Jason into his arms and nuzzled him. The omega made sure to scent the boy as he cuddled him. Mick crouched down beside the pair and sighed. Maybe he shouldn’t have snapped without knowing what was happening, but at the moment he had larger concerns.

“What happened?” Mick tried in a softer tone, hoping all would be forgiven with both his omega mate and his son.

“He won’t tell me. It didn’t happen at school, though, or we would have been called,” Lenny frowned. “Jason, come on. You need to tell us what happened.”

Mick knew deep down that Jason wasn’t going to say anything to Leonard. He didn’t know how he knew, but the kid was ashamed, and Jason didn’t like being coddled at the moment. Mick could tell by how stiff the pup was and how he tried to hide his face, keeping his eyes turned away from Leonard in particular.

“Let me have him.” Mick held out his arms.

“I can handle it.” Leonard scowled.

Normally Mick would love to sit and argue, but he didn’t have time for this. There was still a lot of work to be done in the yard before the sun went down and he wanted to finish it. He also didn’t want to wait for Jason to find his voice or for Leonard to figure out he was actually the cause of Jason’s distress. His omega would be hurt by it.

He stood up, grabbing Jason as he did and placed the kid on his hip. Jason somewhat helped as he held on, but he turned his face away again. Mick could feel the tears falling into his shoulder, but kept quiet about it.

“Fine,” Leonard hissed icily.

“Len, don’t even,” Mick stated calmly. “A boy needs his father. It’s nothing to be offended about.”

Leonard took a deep breath and then nodded before he got to his feet and headed inside. When the door shut gently, Mick was relieved. It meant his partner was seeing reason. Now all he had to do was get his pup to do the same and they could all get back on with their merry little lives.

“Okay, Jason, what happened?” he asked softly.

Thankfully, Jason turned to face him, his bruises radiating a small bit of heat that Mick was able to feel. He took Jason away from the front of the house and moved to the front of the yard near the lawnmower. Once they were seated on the ground, he shuffled Jason a bit so that the boy was sitting in his lap.

“If you talk softly, Dad won’t hear,” Mick promised.

“I got beat up.” Jason’s bottom lip trembled.

“Yes, I see that,” he said, trying not to let on how much it enraged him. “By who?”

“These older boys were calling a girl names, and she started to cry,” Jason started. “I told them to shut their mouths and we got into a fight.”

Mick nodded. “You don’t seem like the kind of pup who cries over a few bruises.”

“I’m not crying because of that!” Jason shouted. “I’m… I’m just so fucking pissed off!”

Mick covered his mouth to keep from laughing at the explanation. Once he was sure his surprised laughter had subsided, he gave Jason a stern look. “I’ll let you get by with pissed and damn, but you aren’t going to be running around spouting off the ‘F’ word, got it?”

“Yes, Pop” Jason said, nodding as a few more tears fell. “But I got so mad and then I started crying! I don’t even know why that happened!”

“Still is,” Mick snickered as he gently brushed a few tears away with his knuckles. “You need to take a few deep breaths and settle down, son.”

Once more, Jason nodded and took three big, deep breaths. “Dad kept wanting to know who did it, or how old they were and I was so pissed off because I shouldn’t have gotten beat up at all! ‘Cept they were cheating cause all of them were trying to get me and Kasey was being a useless ass!”

“Jason, language, last warning.”

The small boy looked him over and must have decided Mick was serious, because he nodded once and then continued his story.

“I don’t mind that I lost ‘cause it was four against one! But I’m so mad, Pop! I just want to hurt them worse than anything ever, and Dad hates bullies. What if he starts to hate me, too! What if he finds out I hit them first! He’ll get rid of me!”

Mick felt his heart ache at the sight of his son breaking down. Len and Lisa had some major issues with their father and his nasty temper. The man was a drunk and abusive. Everything a bully tended to be when they grew up. Was Jason hearing snippets of conversations? Had their son overheard Leonard’s talks with some of the Rogues about his hatred for bullies and abusers?

It certainly explained why the boy didn’t want Leonard to look at him.

“Look at me, Jason,” Mick ordered. He took the boy’s chin between his thumb and forefinger to be sure the boy didn’t try to look back down. “Neither of us are ever going to cast you off, do you understand? You are not Lewis Snart and you are not Willis Todd. You are Jason Leonard Rory forever and always.”

“But what if I grow up to be just like Willis? Victims sometimes become abusers; my counselor said so,” Jason insisted.

“You think we’d let that happen?” Mick asked. “Look at it this way, son, my mom and dad… they were good. They didn’t care for fire. I turned out nothing like them. And your daddy? Does he seem like a bully to you?”

“No,” Jason said, shaking his head.

“Lisa’s not a bully either, is she?”

Jason finally smiled. “No, but she’s still mean sometimes.”

“Well, that’s just Lisa’s personality,” Mick snorted. “Lewis Snart was never hurt by his old man. Dillon Snart was a good man and a good cop, but Lewis came out as twisted as they come. Some people just have it in ‘em. I know; I’ve seen it. But you? Never. Even if we’d left you in Gotham, you’d never have become anything like them.”

“But I attacked them first,” Jason sniffled. “They were only name-calling, but I was the first to throw my fist and Dad says only bullies hit first.”

“It wasn’t to stop someone from hitting you?” Mick asked.

“No, Sir.” Jason frowned.

“Then you’re right. You messed up, Jason. Don’t matter what people say, you don’t go around hitting them over words.” Mick pulled the kid into a tight hug before he got the wrong impression. “Just because you made a mistake though, it don’t mean you’re banished or disowned.”

“But Dad hates bullies,” Jason said, sniffling hard.

“Dad doesn’t hate you,” Mick promised. “Even if you turned out like Lewis Snart, you’d break his heart, but he’d never hate you.”

“Jason.”

They both looked up at Leonard. The sneaky bastard had probably been listening the whole time.

Once again their son’s pretty blue eyes filled with tears as he looked up at Leonard. “Yeah?”

Leonard dropped to his knees and held out his arms. The boy practically leaped out of Mick’s arms and into his other father’s. They hugged each other tightly.

“Mick’s right; I could never hate or disown you. I’m not that cold.” Leonard offered a smile.

To Mick’s relief, Jason laughed at his dad’s pun.

“I’m sorry I hit them first,” he said softly.

“It’s complicated, Pup,” Mick threw in and reached out to touch the boy’s hair in a show of physical support. “But you’re young. You’re gonna fuck up now and again.”

Warning, icy blue eyes caught Mick’s as Leonard shook his head. “Don’t talk like Mick or you’ll wind up with a bar of soap in your mouth. Now go inside and get cleaned up. You and I are going to have a talk about today and what to do in the future.”

“Okay.”

Jason was released from Leonard’s arms and ran into the house.

“Thanks for the assist,” Mick said with a smirk.

“Well, a boy needs his father,” Leonard said as he rolled his eyes. “You’re more than welcome to join us for the talk.”

“Nah, the pup knows I love him, you’re the one he’s scared of losing,” Mick teased.

“Watch it, Alpha,” Leonard sneered before walking over to him.

Mick leaned in and kissed his omega. “Go take care of our pup, Babe.”

Leonard headed toward the house. “Don’t worry, Alpha. I’ll make sure our pup knows he’s never getting tossed out in the cold.”

#ojtserversunday #coldwave #dc cw characters #alpha mick rory #omega leonard snart #not yet presented jason todd #adopted #mild angst #fluff and comfort #father son bonding #prompt fill

37 notes · View notes

tumb1rprincess · 4 years

Text

So I went and saw the Cats movie.

So, just for some context, this is one of my favorite musicals. I loved it as a kid, I still love it now, I know all the songs, and I’ve read tons of theories about some of characters’ backgrounds and who might be related to whom and all that stuff. So, needless to say, I love this musical. Like everyone else, I was like “WTF?” when the trailer was first released, and the reviews I had seen previously seemed to confirm that this movie was indeed “WTF?”

The Good Things

Munkustrap was good in this movie, probably the best out of all of them. He sang well, and his relationship with Old Deuteronomy was kinda cute.

Changing the Skimbleshanks number from just regular dancing to tap-dancing worked out well, especially when the tap dancing sounded like a locomotive revving up and getting ready to go. That was nice.

The backstory/development they gave for Victoria and Mr. Mistoffelees wasn’t too bad. I liked it well enough.

The Bad Things

Everything looks horrifying. The cats, the mice, the cockroaches, etc.

I didn’t like how they revealed Macavity right off the bat, and his design/colors was shit. They just made him this plain brown. Why? Part of the fun of him with the musical was how they kept mentioning him and singing about him, and even though you couldn’t see him, you knew he was a serious threat by how they scatter if they even think he’s nearby. And he has this great reveal once he does show up. He sneaks in as Old Deuteronomy and Demeter is the first to sense something is wrong, and then slowly the other cats catch on, and then she finally pulls off his disguise and BAM! His mane is all over the place, his claws are long, and his coat is bright fucking red so he’s like a slap in the face.

They completely took out the fight between Macavity and Munkustrap. Why? That would have been great to see! And I feel like it shows just how strong and scary Macavity is. He steals Old Deuteronomy away, beats up the second-in-command Munkustrap, and then makes his escape. And you’re like “Holy shit.”

They completely wrote off Demeter. I think they just reduced her down to one of the cats that’s a little distrustful of Victoria at the beginning, and one of the cats that’s a bitch towards Grizabella. Although honestly, I couldn’t even tell it it was her because they changed her colors from these nice red and oranges to this dull gray.

The Old Gumbie Cat number was just icky. The mice and cockroaches looked horrifying, Jennyannydots unzipping her skin was horrifying, just...ugh!

Jason Derulo not a good Rum Tum Tugger, I’m sorry. His voice was way too whiny and pop-sounding. You need a rock voice to do Rum Tum Tugger. And you need a lot more sex appeal. Jason Derulo did not do any hip thrusting or waving his ass in your face.

They changed Mungojerrie and Rumpleteaser to this smooth slow number instead of this energetic upbeat song. And they didn’t have them do that double cartwheel together. Such a shame.

I didn’t like how they did Bustopher Jones’s character. He’s meant to be this sophisticated gentleman who only eats the best stuff, not this bumbling oaf that falls over every five seconds and eats from the garbage.

I didn’t like Judi Dench as Old Deuteronomy. I felt like she couldn’t sing well.

The Jellicle Ball was such a disappointment. To start with, the original song leading up to it was slow at first, and then slowly build up in speed as more cats joined in. Instead, the movie just has it at the same tempo the whole time and all the cats were singing together, leaving none of the minor cats room to shine. And I felt like the dancing was lacking too. It was too slow and elegant. Sure, in the original musical, it starts off slow, but it quickly builds up until every move is in your face and gets you pumping.

Jennifer Hudson started off well enough as Grizabella, but I’m sorry, the snot running down her face during the later numbers was too distracting. All I wanted to do was give her a tissue.

I didn’t like Skimbleshanks’s costume. The whole time I was thinking “Put on a shirt!”

Having Boumbalurina just show up for a little bit to sing Macavity was such a waste. She’s a great character, and she and Demeter are kind of this dynamic due throughout the show. Taylor Swift’s voice was too breathy for this song, and I didn’t like how they straight-up made her a bad guy that works for Macavity.

Mr. Mistoffelees did not dance. What the fuck. That dance is one of the hardest to pull off ever in a musical, so it’s always amazing to see someone do it.

They ruined the moment when Grizabella finally gets gently touched! In the musical, she gets clawed at, shoved, scratched, all these horrible things, and all she wants to do is have someone take her hand and gently touch her. Near the end, there’s this great moment when Victoria starts to approach her, looks back and gets the okay from Old Deuteronomy, and then slowly and gently lays her hand inside Grizabella’s. It’s such a tender and sweet movie. But the movie decided to go “Fuck that” and just have Victoria hold Grizabella’s hand or hold her arm willy-nilly.

Old Deuteronomy looking at the camera the whole time while singing The Ad-dressing of Cats made me uncomfortable.

So there you have it. Good God, this movie was just...ugh! Please, do yourselves a favor, and go watch the 1998 filmed version. You’ll have a much better time than watching this.

#cats #spoilers #jason derulo #judi dench #taylor swift #grizabella #run tum tugger #skimbleshanks #boumbalurina #victoria #mr mistoffelees #cats musical #cats the musical

64 notes · View notes

writingsoftheunderworld · 4 years

Text

AU - yes! Time Travel -no?

C. 2 here ; C. 1 here; AO3 here. Enjoy!

Chapter 3

Bonnie Bennett had begun her day with a slow calming chant of Don’t let him get to you, her thought firmly centred around one Damon Salvatore, a true thorn in her side since he’d first arrived in town not too long ago. She’d woken up slowly, light filtering through her blinds and shrouding the whole room in a husky shade of caramel, the lingering scent of citrus from the candles burnt the night before giving the room an all to homely feeling. She could hear her dad bustling downstairs, most likely getting some coffee for the road. It was fairly early still, but she had free-period the first half of the day and she was skipping the rest - life ending crises a good enough reason even if Mrs Jason still claimed that unless you were actually dead you had to show up for math class. She laid in bed a few more minutes, listening to her dad get dressed and slip out the door. She wondered for not the first time whether it would be better off if she tried to tell him all about this witch vampire mess again, but Grams had wanted him out of it, and he had wanted out of it after her mom left, so for the thousandth time she put it out of her mind.

She showered, changed and climbed down to get the little mug of coffee her dad always left out for her, dropping more sugar into it than a candy store had on its selves. Elena had once joked that if she didn’t end up making it big she would always work as an oompa-loompa for Willy Wonka for how much sugar she dumped into her coffee each day. Bonnie was still not sure if Elena thought that was just a good joke or if she just hadn’t understood the Chocolate Factory as a child. Caroline just liked to pat her on the shoulder with a wistful look on her face, like she wished she had Bonnie’s devil-may-care attitude about it - which ironically seemed to have not been the case even now as a vampire who ate more than a Quarterback.

The noise of Jeremy knocking on the door startled her out of her thoughts enough to almost spill the coffee on her shirt. Almost being the key word thankfully, so she dropped the mug into the sink and swung her bag over her head and headed for the garage. They were meant to meet Damon on the edge of the former Salvatore Estate, just off of the main road, by the woods, from where he’d then show her where the former Salem witches had been burned some centuries ago and where the Founders had burned Emily as well. Klaus was a threat hanging over their head constantly at this point.

On their way Jeremy began telling her about Isobel’s impromptu visit earlier this morning and how poor Aunt Jenna had locked herself in her room following it. Bonnie felt sorry for the woman, she definitely didn’t deserve to be lied to like that, but Bonnie also felt that telling her the whole truth would’ve been equally unfair. The least Alaric could’ve done was say that his wife was missing rather than dead, but that was none of her business at the end of the day. They talked some more as they waited, they’d arrived a bit early after all, and Bonnie realised once again just how different Jeremy now was, and how nice it was to see him so invested in her. She wasn’t sure yet if she actually liked him like that, but she definitely could imagine how sweet and thoughtful he’d be as a boyfriend. And she needed someone frankly. Seeing Elena with her two Salvatore’s bending over backwards to rescue her from any and every inconvenience and now Caroline complaining about having been kissed by both Matt and Tyler made her frustrated. Less so for the fighting over her situation, that sounded exhausting, but rather for the constant work she had to put into herself to even be noticed. Maybe she should move for college, she had a feeling Virginia might be part of the problem here as well, though she did find it hilarious how both Matt and Tyler had initially dated her before either moved on to Elena or Caroline. Then it just made her sad. Was it something about her that pushed them away?

She remembered with sudden clarity asking that to her Grams and the hour long lecture following her words, of how she was a strong woman, how boys wouldn’t be able to handle someone like her until later, how she should still enjoy herself and not be tied down to a boyfriend from middle school onward because then you saw what could happen - exhibit a through z Elena’s many rants about Matt. She’d listened but not believed her Grams. She still wasn’t sure if she believed her Grams but she did know she wanted someone for her own now, hell, she needed someone with all the stress and violence her life had suddenly turned to. And Jeremy was safe, and cute, and had puppy dog eyes for her and vived for her attention. Was part of her thinking she was settling? Maybe. Did she care? Not really. And speaking of not caring, where the hell was Damon at? He was already late by 15 minutes. Don’t let him get to you. Her inner voice chimed again.

“Jere, how about we just head to the Boarding House? Clearly someone is looking to be set on fire.” Jeremy laughed and nodded. He clearly thought Bonnie was joking, but oh boy couldn’t he be more wrong. Bonnie was 1000% setting Damon on fire if he didn’t come up with a good enough excuse.

_._._._._._._

Rose waited and watched. Jeremy Gilbert was off to the side, looking completely eager and completely in over his head as Bonnie and Damon were arguing about the best course of action following her short introduction into what she knew. And if they thought that was all she could tell them, then obviously they were still underestimating her which frankly was a bit condescending seeing as she was at least 2 years older than the Bonnie currently glaring at Damon. But she’d guessed that would be the reaction she was going to get when she made her choice to be as dramatic as possible. Mom used to say she got it from dad, but seeing the two younger versions of them interacting now she could safely say she got it from both. God knows those eye rolls and ridiculous insults were exaggerated as hell. How did these two people become her slow dancing in the kitchen on a random Thursday evening parents?

“Excuse me?” she tried, weakly, but still she gave it a shot. Jeremy looked over to her then at the still arguing duo then back at her with a look that seemed to say this is just an ordinary Monday for them. “EX-cuse ME!” she tried again, this time much louder but nothing. She sighed. Lost cause.

“If you would’ve let me pick you up like I said initially, you wouldn’t be here wanting to blow my head up now Judgy!”

“If you’d know how to use a phone like a normal person, I wouldn’t have waited needlessly for you for hours Damon!”

“Oh please, it was barely 5 minutes.” he scoffed and Jeremy piped up with a it was fifteen technically that Damon just elected to ignore it seemed. Sometime he did remind Rose of her dad.

“It doesn’t matter! We’re dealing with Klaus! A 5 seconds text shouldn’t be something I need to tell you to do!” Aaannd sometimes she reminded Rose of her mom. Great, now she had anxiety again. And lord knows her mom won’t just raise her voice to yell at her for ending up here like this Bonnie was doing, no no, her mom would have a level voice that somehow would hurt far more. She needed a distraction. She also needed to figure out what was about to happen around this time. Like she remember her dad mentioning that Alaric had gotten possessed at some point and that he and mom had danced at a school 60s event - which she had to ask who actually came up with that stuff, because while Lizzie definitely loved a nice theme party, she still went with like a hava night, or a rock theme or an Austrian ball or something more generic but more fun, not a decades dance. Digressing though, Rose knew these facts, but she didn’t know anything immediate. She needed more information. More inside information.

“Guys, could you take a break and answer a few questions for me first?” she tried one more time. To no avail. So hard times ask for hard measures or something like that and stubborn younger versions of her parents call for her parents usual solve to stubborn daughter fighting with her friends voice so she did her best to channel her mom’s level tone and her dad’s intimidating presence and for someone not actually related to them she though she did a good job seeing as Bonnie and Damon turned in unison to glare at her before being reminded of where they were and what was going on here. She was actually pretty proud of herself for that feat.

“So as I was trying to say, can you give me run-down of what’s been happening here?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, weren’t you the one who knew everything?” Damon commented snidely and Rose almost high-fived Bonnie when both her and Rose said in unison.

“Oh, you know what sorry means?” Bonnie off to the side.

“Oh, so you agree I was right?” Rose with a grin.

Damon seemed to take a moment to grit his teeth and bite back his words before shaking his head, giving a smirk and walking right past Rose to pour himself a glass of bourbon and spread out onto the couch in seeming nonchalance. Rose would almost commend his acting here, if he didn’t also irritate her with it. Who knew dad used to be such a child… well, more so than in her universe...time?

“Damon, she didn’t say she knows everything and don’t be a dick. She’s the only one willing to help us here.” Bonnie on the other hand, Rose was beginning to appreciate more and more. Maybe she was more Mom’s pet in the past than Dad’s pet as she was used to.

“Thank you, Bonnie. And no, I don’t know everything I just know a lot, but I still need to have the full picture and all the players to tell which is the best plan of attack here. As I said, you can’t kill Klaus, but you also don’t want him to become a hybrid right? That means we need to take every variable in consideration.” she argued and saw both Bonnie and Damon share a look before seemingly agreeing with her point of view. And boy was the Klaus of her universe going to laugh himself stupid when/if she made it back and told him his lessons in planning schemes - her dad’s turn of phrase not hers of Klaus’ - had been what had helped her most here. Oh irony, you cruel, opportunistic bitch.

“Bonnie was meant to take on over 100 dead witches’ energy today, it’s why we were waiting for Damon, he knew where they’d died.” came the first important nugget of information from the most - or least? - expected person, Jeremy Gilbert himself. Rose smiled at him in gratitude, glad at least one person was listening.

“Ok, that’s still going to be useful so maybe you should do that anyway and meanwhile I’ll see what Katherine's hiding?” Rose suggested and she didn’t even need to think before knowing that Damon was going to disagree with her - her dad still made that face whenever she and her friends planned something he thought was too dangerous or risky. Bonnie however seemed more receptive.

“No way! Do you even know what that bitch is capable of?” as she said, predictable.

“Damon, I think she might be right. You know Katherine is planning something, no way is she helping from the goodness of her heart and she won’t say anything to any of us.” Ah, how she loved her mom’s pragmatism at times - except when she was 14 and wanted a pony, then she much rather preferred her dad’s personal brand of impulsiveness that not only got her the pony she’s wanted since 5 but also made a stable off a little way further from the house.

“And she is still keeping Katherine knocked out.” Jeremy was quickly becoming Rose’s favourite person, no joke. He was full of wonderful insight and 100% helping her barely formed ideas come to fruition. She smiled proudly and nodded to the still unconscious vampire on the floor. She elected to ignore outright looking at the woman for now, too weirded out by the 1 to 1 replica of Elena to feel comfortable with it. Doppelgangers were too much for her. It was like evil clones, her dad had explained when he tried to make her understand how the whole doppelganger thing even worked - something about the universe or some chick named Tessa or another, she hadn’t been paying too close attention by that point. Their lives were very convoluted in her opinion.

Damon seemed to consider this possibility then, taking another large sip of bourbon and looking directly at Rose as he did so, before slamming the glass onto the end table by the foot of the couch and jumping to his feet.

“Alright, fine, then Bon-Bon, you me and little Gilbert need to head off. Rosie-Posie, you get the Queen of Hell. Good luck to you, you’re going to need it. The bitch hasn’t told the truth a day in her life.”

Rose nodded, smiled and waved them off as they all got out and left to do what they’d planned to do. She couldn’t wait for that honestly, it would at least get Bonnie’s magic up closer to the levels Rose knew from her mom. But the Rosie-Posie was going to kill her the longer she stayed here. It was going to make her slip and call Damon dad and it would all implode into itself, because if she was weak to one thing, it was being her dad’s Rosie-Posie and while she was fully aware this wasn’t actually her dad, her heart didn’t care. All was left now was for her mom to brush her hair out of her eyes and she might just snap. She’d missed her parents far before she got herself stranded in a different universe - despite it having been barely a few hours - since she hadn’t been home in at least 2 months. Sure she’d seen them nearly every night, more mom than dad since dad tried to pretend he still was immune to missing his girls, but it wasn’t the same as hearing her dad from a few feet away, well within hug reach or feel her mom’s warm hand through her hair. Fuck, and now she was crying. This day couldn’t be going worse. Her eyes strayed to Katherine and she groaned. Oh, it could definitely get worse. It could get so much worse.

15 notes · View notes

spine-buster · 3 years

Text

The President Wears Prada (William Nylander) | Chapter 33

A/N: Hope you guys enjoy this one...⛪️

August 7th, 2020

Aberdeen Bloom was nervous as fuck.

It was Game 4, less than 24 hours after giving up a 3-0 lead, and the Leafs were on the brink of elimination. The boys were quiet. Focused. Only had one thing on their mind. They didn’t want to leave the bubble. They wanted to prove everybody wrong – everybody. Their coaches. Their bosses. Their fans. Their haters. The media. Themselves. This was their opportunity to show everybody what they could do.

Aberdeen couldn’t even think about it without trembling. She never in a million years thought hockey would make her feel this way. It didn’t help the love of her life was a major part of it. And it didn’t help that Alec had texted her early this morning.

Looks like the boys might cost you a writing job if they get eliminated early. Not many shenanigans to get up to in, what, ten days? Article might be a bust.

I’ll have 10,000 words written for you as promised was what she texted back. She didn’t want to stroke his ego, play along with his games, or have him think she wasn’t going to produce just because he thought they might leave early. It didn’t matter to her. Even if they did leave early, she could still do it. She knew she could. She knew she had to, because she couldn’t blow this opportunity.

They morning had been anxiety-ridden at best. She hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep, tossing and turning after getting off the phone with William, and then because of the text, she was barely eating breakfast. Apparently, it was noticeable to the boys, because John had come over to her table and brought her a plate stacked fruit. “If we can eat, you can eat,” he said as he set it in front of her. Mitch ended up coming to sit across from her at the table, and John took the other seat. William approached, standing six feet away, and Auston too. They were congregating, which made her even more nervous.

“Thanks,” she mumbled, forking a strawberry and putting it into her mouth reluctantly. “You guys aren’t nervous?” she posed the question to all of them.

John shrugged. “We know what we need to do. We just have to go out there and do it.”

Aberdeen didn’t know how he could be so calm, as the captain of the team. Then again, he was John fucking Tavares, and calm seemed to be his middle name. She nodded her head. “I don’t mean to be a nervous wreck. I’m just not used to playoff hockey, as you can imagine. This is all new. I never knew I could feel this way about a sport.”

That made John laugh a bit. “Not about a sport, but definitely about a book, right?”

She couldn’t help but smile slightly as she forked at a piece of watermelon. “Definitely about a book.”

“How’s the article coming along?” William asked.

Aberdeen almost dropped her fork on her plate. All the guys turned their heads towards him at the same time skeptically, then towards her at the same time, their eyebrows furrowed. Her body felt like it was on fire. She hadn’t told anybody about the article – except William, of course. She assumed Brendan sort-of-kind-of knew since he set her up for it, but she hadn’t said anything to him. William was the only one who knew. Her cheeks flushed red.

“What article?” Mitch asked, turning his head back and forth between the two of them once more.

“Yeah, what article?” Auston asked.

“It uh, it’s—um, it’s a thing for Toronto Life,” Aberdeen stuttered out.

“Toronto Life?!” Mitch repeated excitedly.

“Yeah,” she nodded slowly. “Brendan uh, Brendan put me up for it. It’s, like…an audition. I don’t know.”

“An audition? So like if it’s good they’ll publish it?” Mitch kept asking questions.

“Basically, yeah.”

“Well what’s it about?”

Aberdeen gulped. “Um, life in the bubble.”

The boys looked taken aback for a brief moment. She knew they were trying to hold back the emotion, but she could see it in their eyes. She wondered if they were thinking the worst now. She wondered if Auston was looking at her and thinking that all she wanted to do in this bubble was get a scoop like Steve Simmons. She wondered if Mitch was looking at her and thinking that she was going to write some scathing article about how he was being paid $10.8 million to not show up in the playoffs, like most articles were saying. She prepared for the worst, honestly. She really did. Because she knew these guys had been betrayed before. She knew the media were constantly down their throats. She knew all they wanted was a little reprieve from that. And now, someone they knew, someone they worked with – someone they trusted completely – was writing something about life in the bubble? When she was in the bubble with them?

“Life in the bubble, huh? So, like how we play video games the entire day ‘cause we can’t do anything else in here?” Mitch asked.

Her stomach was in knots. But that follow-up from Mitch was definitely not was she was expecting. Truth be told, she didn’t know what she was expecting – anger, maybe? Caution? Suspicion? – but it definitely wasn’t Mitch saying that. “Something like that,” she said. “I’m trying to, like, capture how hard it is for you guys to be in here. How hard it is to be away from your families. How you guys are…you know, human, and not just hockey players.”

Mitch smiled. “I think it’s gonna be a great article, then.”

“How’d William know?” Auston asked. “How’d he know before any of us?”

William knew he had to think fast. “I saw her writing it the other day when we went out to the gym,” he said. He had approached her on the sidelines that day for a brief minute or two, during a break in his workout, so if anyone was paying attention and saw them, it was an entirely plausible scenario. “She told me what she was writing.”

“Why didn’t you tell any of us?” Auston asked him.

“Because it was Aberdeen’s news to tell, not mine,” William said.

Auston looked towards Aberdeen. “You’re not writing, like, gossip about us, are you?” he asked.

“Auston, what the fuck—” William began.

“Buddy—” Mitch intervened.

“Hey now—” John piped up.

“No no, it’s fine,” she waved the boys off, staring directly at Auston. She knew exactly where Auston was coming from. She knew he trusted her. He admitted so during the phone call when his Covid-19 story became national news. She knew she had to be one hundred percent honest with him if he was going to have no qualms or suspicions about this article. “They want me to. They want me to write about shenanigans. The stereotypical stuff. But I’m not. I refuse to. I wouldn’t…you guys know I wouldn’t do that to you. And I mean…I—I haven’t told them yet that I refuse to pander to that shit, but they’ll know when they get my article.”

Auston’s entire demeanour softened at her words. It was like his entire body relaxed. He knew – he always knew – he just needed the affirmation. But then he realized what that meant. “But then what happens if you don’t get the job because you don’t give them what they want?” he asked.

Aberdeen shrugged. “Then I have keep looking for writing jobs at other magazines.”

Then and there, he realized what was on the line for Aberdeen.

***

As Aberdeen wallowed in her room, she was nervous. As she showered before the game, she was nervous. As she did her hair, she was nervous. As she got dressed, she was nervous. As she opened her door and walked out into the hallway, meeting some of the guys, she was nervous. When she got off the bus and the team went one way while she, Brendan, and Kyle went another, she clutched at her iPad pro. She looked at the boys one last time, catching Willy’s eye, before the disappeared down the hallway, where no doubt a photographer was waiting to get pictures of their outfits before they went into the locker room.

As she sat in the box with Brendan and Kyle, as always, she saw Brendan look her way. “Don’t even think about asking me how it’s gonna go tonight,” she said before he could even open his mouth.

He held his hands up in front of him. “Excuuuuuuse me.”

“I’m so nervous. I barely ate today,” she elaborated.

“Somebody get Aberdeen a Coca Cola,” he called out to no-one in particular. “She’s gonna need the sugar and the caffeine or else she’ll crash by the third period.”

She couldn’t believe how light-hearted he was being. She didn’t know if it was some type of coping mechanism or if it was because he was generally in a good mood. “How can you be so…calm? Such a jokester?”

Brendan shrugged. “If I was doom and gloom all the time, I wouldn’t still be president.”

***

Aberdeen was on the verge of tears.

Cam Atkinson had scored in the first period. Vladislav Gavrikov scored in the second period. Her heart was heavy. Her stomach was in knots. And now, the impossible: she was watching Jason Spezza fighting. The last person who should be fighting. A part of her understood what he was doing, somewhat – trying to fire up the guys – but the other part of her kept asking why the fuck does he have to do this? Where the fuck are they? Why aren’t they playing? WHY AREN’T THEY PLAYING?!

“I can’t believe they’re fucking doing this to him,” she mumbled under her breath through gritted teeth as she watched Jason skate off the ice. Her knuckles were white for how tightly her hands were in fists in front of her mask. Her leg was bouncing uncontrollably. She couldn’t believe what was happening.

“What was that?” Brendan asked, apparently hearing her, his own voice indiscernible but also just…void of any emotion.

She glanced at him quickly before shaking her head. “Nothing.” She looked over at Kyle. She couldn’t tell what he was feeling, either. What was it with these men and being so stoic?

She pressed the palms of her hands together and intertwined her fingers. “God, if you love me…” she began, mumbling into her hands. “If you love me, God, don’t let them go out like this. Not. Like. This.”

***

Boone Jenner scored in the third period. It was 3-0. This was it.

Aberdeen had to come to terms with the fact that they were leaving early. She had to come to terms with the fact that the boys would lose, again. They’d be out of the bubble. She knew that was probably a silver lining, but these guys so desperately just wanted to play hockey and play hockey and win, and for them to crash out like this was just going to be the worst. They’d never hear the end of it. Bee McTavish told her about last year, about how they lost to the Boston Bruins in Game 7 and how hard it was on the boys, particularly Morgan, and how awful the media was to them, and Aberdeen didn’t want to think about what the media would say now. She didn’t want to think about what they’d say about Fred. About Mitch. About Morgan. About John.

About William.

But just as Aberdeen came out of her thoughts, she noticed something weird on the ice. It wasn’t the regular line out there. Sheldon was doing something different. It was…well, it seemed to be the nuclear option. All the top goal scorers were on the ice. William, Mitch, Zach, Auston, and John. Hustling all over the ice. Passing the puck. Shooting at the net.

And then, with just less than four minutes left, William scored.

Aberdeen jumped out of her seat and screamed. The boys celebrated briefly, but they knew more work needed to be done. She looked over at Brendan, who wasn’t blinking as he looked down at the ice. She looked at Kyle, who wasn’t blinking either.

“Please God…please…” she whispered to herself.

Sheldon kept out the nuclear option. They were young. They could do it.

John Tavares scored only forty seconds later.

“Holy fucking shit,” Aberdeen stood up from her seat, saying her words loud enough for Brendan and Kyle to hear. “Holy fucking shit. Holy fucking shit.”

She barely breathed a single breath for the next two and a half minutes. She was standing with her hands over her mouth over her mask and her body was completely still as she watched every move on the ice like a hawk.

William, to Auston, to Zach, who scored to tie it at 3-3.

“HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!!!!” she screamed as the boys really celebrated on the ice now. She banged her fists on the counter in front of her as she watched Zach jump on top of William as all the boys on the ice huddled together excitedly. She swore she heard some happy swears from Kyle, and she definitely heard some happy swears from the extra players who were sitting in the seats right below them where the seat covers ended. She barely remembered the period ending.

“They’re gonna fucking do it,” she said to no-one in particular. “They’re gonna fucking do it. They’re gonna make a comeback.”

Everything was a blur as Aberdeen sat back down into her seat. The overtime period. The lines. The minutes. She felt like she was in the twilight zone – some alternate universe where time stood still and nothing else mattered besides hockey. Not even just hockey – nothing else mattered besides this game and what was happening right here, right now. Seven minutes into overtime, Morgan drew a tripping penalty. An enraged Nick Foligno was sent to the penalty box. The puck dropped. It was passed. Marner to Tavares. Tavares to Matthews.

Auston let it rip and scored.

“WHAT!!!!! WHAT!!!!!” Aberdeen screamed louder than she ever had in her life as she jumped up from her seat like a rocket and threw the pen she was holding out into the stands. She began pumping her fist in front of her and pointing out onto the ice. “THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT, BABY! THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT!” she shrieked, her jaw somewhere between her face and the floor but her smile taking up her entire face. Then came the excited, can’t-believe-what-I-just-witnessed high pitched uncontrollable laughs. She looked over to Brendan and Kyle. They were stoic. She liked to believe they already freaked out and she missed it.

“Down 3-0 in the third period!” she screamed at them. “Down 3-0 in the third period! Can you believe it?!”

“What are you doing waiting up here? Go down there,” Brendan said, nodding his head towards the exit.

Aberdeen bolted out of the box and rushed towards the locker room as quickly as her feet could take her. Once she got there, she saw the boys filing in, screaming ‘Woooo!’s and ‘Let’s fucking go, baby!’s. William entered the locker room first. He noticed her standing in the room almost immediately and rushed over to her.

She held her breath.

He picked her up and spun her around, causing her to squeal until he set her down. He was wet and sweaty and she could see the droplets of sweat dripping down his face but God if he didn’t look incredible and like the perfect human specimen. “Let’s gooooo!” he screamed once he set her down.

“Let’s gooooo!” she repeated, noticing more of the boys make their way in. Clifford. Spezza. Kerfoot. Barrie. Kasperi. Hyman. Engvall. Rielly. Tavares. Holl. Dermott. Everybody. Everybody. They all came in screaming and did the exact same thing that William did, lifting her up and spinning her around excitedly as they continued to scream and go their stalls and start stripping in front of her. They probably weren’t allowed to do that – they definitely weren’t allowed to do that, be that close together – but it didn’t matter right now. Nobody cared.

“You guys gave me a fucking heart attack!” she yelled at them, clutching her heart as she looked around the room at all of them. She saw a couple of them giggling as they undid their hockey tape and threw it into the garbage.

“Wouldn’t have been a Leafs series without one!” Morgan joked.

Sheldon walked into the room and high-fived Aberdeen. Then Auston walked in and the boys started screaming and yelling all over again. “Let’s fucking goooo, Aberdeen!” he screamed as he picked her up too, one last twirl, before setting her down. “Let’s fucking go, baby!” he screamed to everyone in the room.

It was at that point that Brendan and Kyle walked into the room. Aberdeen composed herself as much as possible as she faded into the background, watching Sheldon give his post-game speech. Everybody looked so happy. So excited.

They could fucking do this.

***

Aberdeen was typing like a furious mad woman in the Notes on her phone. She wanted to write – needed to write all the authentic feelings that were in the air right now as she waited on the bus for everyone. She needed to remember this moment. Every single detail of it. What was said. What was heard. The smiles. The spins. How she was still dizzy.

“Hey Aberdeen! You made it on to TV!” Mitch yelled from the middle of the bus.

Everyone’s head popped up, and she watched as all the guys already on the bus took off their headphones. “What?!” she shrieked.

“They caught you celebrating in the box!” he said, turning his phone and showing her the video.

Aberdeen heard all of the boys get up out of their seats and crowd behind her to watch the video. She noticed the Sportsnet logo on the bottom of screen first and foremost, then listened as she heard the announcers describing the scene, which they replayed in slow fucking motion. “I think that young lady is indicative of most of Leafs Nation right now!” she heard Jim Hughson’s voice as the video showed her jumping up from her seat and throwing her pen. The boys behind her were howling as they watched, and when she began pumping her fist in front of her, they laughed some more. Slightly embarrassed, Aberdeen buried her head in her hands and shook her head. “It’s always me! Why is it always me that gets caught doing these things?!”

“The camera loves you, Aberdeen!” Mitch giggled.

“It happens to all the wives and girlfriends at some point,” Morgan said as most of the guys went back to their seats on the bus.

“But I’m not a wife. Or a girlfriend!”

She could tell Morgan was smiling behind his mask. “Not yet,” he mumbled to himself, shrugging.

Aberdeen turned red. She sat back down in her seat and continued typing away on her phone furiously, making sure nobody saw her skin hue.

***

It was only when everybody got back to the hotel when Aberdeen had to stop typing, but by then, she was sure she’d gotten every feeling. Everybody was still buzzed as they rode two at a time in the elevator up to their floor, and she could still feel the energy even when she was bottled up in her room – like everybody else – and it was eerily silent after just having been so loud.

She had just finished changing into her pajamas when she heard her phone buzz. She knew it was William texting, so she grabbed her phone immediately, ready for his request to FaceTime.

open ur door really slowly so it doesn’t make any noise

Her eyes bulged out of her head. She set her phone down and rushed over to her door, not bothering to look out the peephole, but doing exactly what she was told. She opened it slowly, carefully, making sure not to make a peep. She looked out into the hallway, down to the other wing, and saw William’s head popping out of his own room. He rushed out, closing the door quietly before rushing over to her wing.

“William,” she whispered. Her heart was beating out of her chest. He was not allowed to do this. He was not allowed to do this. She watched as he made his way over. “William what are you—”

She was silenced by his slipping past her and into her room, putting his hand over hers to shut the door slowly so it didn’t make a clicking sound. When it was closed, she tried one more time. “Willy—”

Her attempt was futile. He crashed his lips against hers, wrapping his arms around her as he squeezed her against his body, so much so that he could lift her up in his arms and she could wrap her legs around his torso. He stuck his tongue down her throat. She moaned out at the sensation before realizing that he was walking them into her bathroom – her bathroom that faced the open area in front of the elevators, and not facing or sharing a wall with her room neighbour. He kicked the door closed with his foot before setting her down on the marble vanity sink, her legs still wrapped around his body keeping him close.

“Take this off,” he mumbled as he tugged violently at her pajama shirt, almost ripping it as she shoved her off her body and threw it across the bathroom. She pulled on his t-shirt too, throwing it in the same direction as they crashed their lips against each other’s again.

“We’re not supposed to be doing this,” she whispered out after he bit down on her bottom lip and pulled it away from her. “You’re not supposed to be in my room. We’re breaking the rules.”

“Isn’t that half the fun?” he quipped, a small smirk on his face. Aberdeen could feel her body get hot – hotter than it already was. This was so wrong. So wrong. He wasn’t supposed to be in her room. They weren’t supposed to be touching. They weren’t supposed to be kissing. They weren’t supposed to be doing any of it, yet here Aberdeen was, her body heating up and her core getting even hotter. She scratched her nails down William’s broad and toned chest as he kissed a trail down her neck and to her breasts, sucking and biting down at her nipples gently, causing her to gasp out.

He immediately put his hand over her mouth. Her eyes went wide. He looked up at her from where he was at her breasts. “You can’t be too loud or else we’ll get caught.”

Oh my fucking God. Now she really felt her body light up like a fire. She whimpered slightly. “But Willy—” she tried to mumble against his hand.

“Shhhh…” he cooed. “Can you be quiet, Aberdeen? Can you be quiet while I fuck you?” He was waiting for an answer. She felt a shiver run up her spine. She nodded her head. “That’s my girl.”

William continued paying attention to her breasts before kissing his way back up to her lips and sticking his tongue down her throat again. Aberdeen ran her fingers through his hair and tugged on it slightly before scratching down his back and pulling down his trackpants and underwear. He did the same to her, letting his fingers play with the wet folds of her pussy until he heard whimpers from her again. “Quiiiiiet, Aberdeen,” he cooed once more, bringing his hand that was just playing with her pussy up to her lips.

She grabbed his hand in both her hands and sucked his fingers into her mouth. “I’m not going to be able to,” she whispered, shaking her head.

William pulled her off the marble vanity, grabbing her hips and spinning her around so her back was against his chest. They were able to see each other through the mirror. Aberdeen watched as William’s hand snaked around her body and down to her hot core again. “You’re going to have to be quiet or we’ll get caught,” he whispered huskily in her ear as he played with her core again. Her legs were shaking at the feeling. She gripped on to the vanity.

“Fuck me raw, Willy,” she begged. She had her own tricks up her sleeve. If William was going to play this game, she was going to play hers. She watched his reaction in the mirror and could see his pupils dilate. “I started birth control. It’s okay.”

“You what?”

“I started birth control a month ago. It was supposed to be a surprise but—”

“—Aberdeen—”

“—Please Willy,” she begged, her voice breathless. She could feel his hard cock against her body and was so desperate for it, she didn’t care how wrong this was. “Fuck me raw. Fuck. Me. Raw.”

He bent her over the vanity. She stuck her ass out and kept her eyes on him through the mirror, watching as he positioned himself at her entrance, sliding into her easily. She cried out at the sensation, feeling his hand almost automatically cover her mouth to silence her. When he began moving in and out of her, the sound of their flesh smacking together, she didn’t know if she should close her eyes to revel in the feeling of his slick, hard cock filling her up, or if she should keep her eyes open to watch him fucking her hard and fast through the mirror. She chose the latter. She and William had had many sexual escapades before (sexcapades, if you will), but nothing had been as hot or as raw or as dangerous as this was. The exhilaration of doing a completely banned act – banned since they figured out they were working together, even more so banned now – was giving her the ultimate rush.

His hand was still over her mouth as she arched her back and William pulled her back against his chest. She could feel herself getting close, and when William’s other hand snaked around once more to play with her clit, she tried to cry out but couldn’t. “Are you gonna be quiet when I make you cum?”

She shook her head. “I won’t. I can’t.”

He thrusted into her harder, trying to make a point. She whimpered again and his hand somehow tightened around her mouth. “Are you gonna be quiet?” he asked again. She looked at him through the mirror, seeing the absolute fire in his eyes. She knew what he was looking for. She knew he would tease her and tease her and tease her until she agreed to what he was asking. She nodded slowly. He smiled. “Good.”

He quickened his pace, harder and faster and rougher than before, and Aberdeen continued to watch them fucking through the mirror until she could feel closer and closer to her sweet release. Eventually, her legs began to shake, and she could feel an intense orgasm rush through every single inch of her body. She tried to stay as quiet as possible, but the feeling was too much, and her whimpers escaped her, though they were much quieter than the usual vocal performances she usually gave when she and William had sex, and though William still had his hand over her mouth. At the sound of her stifled whimpers she could feel William’s hot cum spill inside her. The feeling was hot and raw and simultaneously everything she imagined it would be and feel like but also completely new and unlike anything she could have ever expected. His own small grunts escaped his mouth as he felt himself empty inside of her, revelling in the feeling of filling her completely. He eventually let go of her mouth, and her body bent over against the marble vanity again, unable to stand up straight due to the long, intense orgasm. He tried to catch his breath as he continued to watch her body shake, the last of her orgasm rushing through her. He could see her chest rising and falling from her trying to catch her breath.

It was a few minutes before Aberdeen and William could regain their breaths. He slipped out of her slowly, and she whimpered again at the loss of him, still bent over the vanity, though she could still feel a slickness between her thighs. She felt his body bend too, his chest on her back, and felt him kiss her shoulders delicately. She craned her neck to get a look at him. “I better get a writing job soon. I don’t think we’re gonna be able to hold it back for much longer,” she whispered.

William giggled – a low, rumbly giggle from his chest as he smiled and continued placing kisses on her shoulder. “I agree,” he whispered back. “We gotta make sure you get that Toronto Life job.”

She bit her lip. “Did it feel good for you?”

He nodded. “Of course. What about for you? Did it feel different?”

“It felt fucking amazing,” she nodded. “It…it did feel different. I…you’re the first one I’ve ever let fuck me raw,” she admitted.

William nodded in understanding. He knew what she was really saying – that this was, at least physically, the ultimate form of trust, and he was the only one in her life, ever, who she trusted that much. “We can keep doing whatever you’re more comfortable with,” he said.

“I liked this. I don’t know if I’ll be able to go back,” she giggled slightly.

William smiled. He pulled her back upright and, at that point, she could stand on her own again. She spun around so she was facing him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling him down to kiss him. They stood in her bathroom kissing for a while until William pulled away slightly. “I love you so much,” he mumbled.

“I love you too.”

“Sorry I made you break the rules…yet again,” he smiled mischievously.

Aberdeen winked. “Isn’t that half the fun?”

163 notes · View notes