#as the show progresses he starts to care more about the rest of the crew

[the-nefarious-vampire]

one of these days i swear i am going to make a character analysis for the cat across the whole series

[user211201]

Branded

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Originally posted on 2020-05-27 by dumb-and-jocked

Unfortunately dumb-and-jocked's account has been deactivated.

If the original author ever reads this: thank you for all your works!

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Zane wasn’t particularly excited about going out to his uncle’s ranch. The two had never really known how to connect, with one being from the East Coast and the other in rural Wyoming. Zane had grown up privileged in the urban lifestyle, with many stores, jobs, and more progressive influences around every corner. His parents were also a little richer than most, so he was able to enjoy a luxurious apartment all to himself while he attended Yale. Well... not all to himself. His boyfriend Kaeden visited so often he was practically a second resident, but Zane didn’t mind--he loved the attention.

Zane practically adored his modern lifestyle, and made sure to show it by never leaving a five-mile radius. This caused his parents to worry, assuming if he didn’t start now he’d never know how to go out on his own. Trying to help (like all parents did), his father spoke with his brother and the two set up a little spring vacation for Zane. When Zane’s father had proposed the idea, Zane didn’t exactly jump in excitement. In fact, he didn’t seem excited at all.

“Really?” Zane asked coarsely. “Spring break is for beaches, coasts, actual fun!”

“Zane,” his father replied coolly. “I didn’t raise you to be a leech off of my own money. Go out to your uncle’s ranch and give him a hand; earn something for once. And anyway, Wyoming’s great this time of year--you might enjoy it!”

“Can I at least bring Kaeden with me?”

His father’s eyes went down for a moment. Zane always had a lurking feeling that his father wasn’t truly alright with his only son being gay, his Western Christian roots molding him that way, but his dad always acted like he was accepting. Proving Zane’s point, he swore he could’ve seen his dad’s ears perk up a second after the proposal was made.

“That’s a great idea!” his dad cheered, almost too enthusiastically. “Now someone can relish in the same pain you’ll be experiencing.” Zane rolled his eyes in response to the sarcasm before walking out to his car.

Reflecting back on that moment, his father did seem a little more eager than usual, but Zane didn’t care. It was too late now, as the old pickup truck was pulling into the driveway of the ranch. A huge arch loomed above them, displaying “WELCH” in iron letters across the top. Back when it used to be his grandparents’ ranch, Zane’s father loved this place. He used to thrive as a cowboy, but once he got a taste of the other side of the Mississippi, he left the lifestyle behind him. The rest of the family seemed alright with the transition, with Zane’s uncle being the older brother anyway, meaning he would be taking the ranch, so they decided to let him roam. His uncle had now been running the ranch for almost ten years, just him, his wife, and a small crew to help with the daily tasks.

“Alright, boys, enjoy the trip,” the man in the front grunted as he halted to a stop. Kaeden and Zane slowly jumped out of the truck, grabbing their bags as they looked at the massive farm. Zane swore it looked bigger than the last time he was here, but that was to be expected. The last time he was here was a decade ago for his grandparents’ funerals, so there was probably going to be change. While Kaedan gazed around in awe, Zane spotted what--or who--he was looking for. Leaning against one looming building was a tall man wearing a blue button-up and worn-out jeans. His large boots were placed firmly on the ground and a barn wall, while a beige hat rested proudly on top of his head. He looked like a more muscular, worn-out version of his father, his similar salt and pepper stubble pulling the whole look together.

“Zaney boy, is that yeu?” the man asked in astonishment, the southern accent as prominent as ever.

“Yeah, Uncle Treyton.”

Zane tried to sound enthusiastic, but he never felt like family with the redneck. Not only did the two have completely different perspectives, but they didn’t even look related. Zane didn’t share the same muscular body as the silver fox, but instead had a little too much meat on his bones. He also didn’t get the Welch height, with Zane’s lime-dyed hair barely even reaching his uncle’s neck.

“And this must be Kaeden Sargent, put it here!”

Zane’s uncle shoved a meaty hand in front of him and Kaeden quickly accepted. He was always more optimistic than Zane, putting his best foot forward into every situation. The tall, lanky man took the other’s hand and shook it vigorously, so much in fact that his ginger curls bounced in a rhythm. Fortunately, the baby fat surrounding his face allowed him to act a little childish.

“Firm, that’ll go a long ways here, son.”

“Thanks, sir.”

“Ah, y’all can call me Treyton.”

Kaeden and Zane exchanged looks at each other. For a Christian cowboy, he was awfully accepting of their relationship. Neither of them expected Zane’s uncle to be so understanding.

“Where’s Aunt Joelene at?” Zane inquired as they hauled their bags inside.

“Her and the lady folk already had a vacation planned, so she ain’t gonna be here this week. Just some good ‘ol male bonding!”

He led them to two guest rooms on opposite sides of a hallway, telling them to toss their individual bags into one or the other. Zane and Kaeden exchanged looks again, although this time it was for a different reason. They both knew they might be staying in different rooms, but not sleeping.

All of a sudden, the doorbell rang from the front of the house. After dropping their things, Zane and Kaedan followed Treyton back out to the front door. The trio wandered out to the foyer to see another cowboy smugly standing on the porch.

“Harry!” Treyton shouted as he swung the door open. “‘Bout time ya got here--the nephew’s in town.”

Harry looked over at Zane, inspecting him and then Kaeden with hawk eyes. His tight black shirt didn’t hide the impressive muscles from years on the farm. The same could be said for his faded jeans and massive belt buckle, both of which did nothing to camouflage his gargantuan pouch.

“Is yers that paddy?” he remarked with a deep voice, his accent as thick as Treyton’s. “Or the fag.”

“They’re both fags,” Treyton corrected. “The paddy’s his ‘boyfriend’.”

Kaeden patted Zane’s shoulder in a comforting way. Treyton’s language had just confirmed that they had signed themselves up for a long vacation.

“I don’t mean to be abandonin’ y’all so quickly, but the town’s rodeo’s goin’ on tonight and I’m a volunteerin’,” Zane’s uncle began. “Everythin’ there is free, so I expect to see y’all out there. It’ll be a great time!”

The two hicks strutted over to Harry’s old pickup truck, the engine roaring mighty proud as it came to life. Zane and Kaedan wondered how they hadn’t heard it coming down the driveway.

“Keys are on the counter!” Treyton hollered as they drove off. Kaeden smirked lowering his hand from Zane’s shoulder to his butt as they watched the other pair leave.

“Might as well taint your uncle’s house before we go to the rodeo.”

“You really want to go to that thing?” Zane whined, missing the hint.

“No, but we should,” Kaeden replied. “Until then, let me keep you entertained.” He then started kissing Zane’s neck passionately, dragging him down a hallway.

“Alright!” Zane giggled, following along. He loved his boyfriend.

— —

Kaeden and Zane hesitantly pulled into the parking lot, the dirt flying into the air as they parked the rusty pickup near the back. The whole event took place in some kind of stadium, but instead of a neatly trimmed field with shiny seats, there were wooden bleachers and a dirt floor. They weren’t particularly excited, going from hardcore sex to this dump, but as long as they were at each other’s sides they’d make it through. At least, that’s what Zane kept telling himself.

The two cautiously jumped out, wearing sweatpants and matching concert tees from an event they went to on their fifth date. Zane had thought that if they wore their most casual clothes, they’d blend into the crowd, but it turned out this was truly his first rodeo. Walking up to the front gate, they saw a rainbow of button-ups scattered among the stretched and stained tees. Hicks and cowboys galore excitedly hollered as they entered the rodeo grounds. The strange thing was, it seemed like people were gathering by color. Zane and Kaeden watched the red button-ups slowly separate from the yellow tees, who themselves avoided the purple plaid-clad group. Even with the odd formation, the pair stuck out like two weeds in a freshly-planted garden.

“Alright next!”

Zane and Kaeden had been so perplexed by the entire situation that they hadn’t noticed they had crossed the parking lot, gotten in line, and made it to the front.

“Zaney boy, ya made it!”

Zane’s uncle proudly stood behind a booth, waving as the boyfriends walked up. Harry was placed on the other side, his look much more calculating than Treyton’s inviting smile.

“Are y’all excited?” Uncle Treyton asked, his accent coming out stronger with each syllable.

“Totally,” Kaeden answered, assuming his other half wouldn’t.

“Let us just stamp y’all and yeu’ll be on in.”

“Wait, why are we the only one’s getting stamped?” Kaedan observed. Zane hadn’t noticed, but all the other attendees had gotten in without a mark.

“Remember how I said y’all are gettin’ in free tonight,” Treyton explained. “This is yer free ticket.”

They nodded their heads as Kaeden extended the back of his hand out to Zane’s uncle. Treyton solidly pressed a stamp down on his hand, the blue color left behind sinking deep into his pale skin like a tattoo. Zane proceeded to do the same for Harry, who marked his hand with a black darker than the night itself.

“What do the colors mean?” Zane questioned.

“Whatever ink we’re usin’.” Harry snarked, sending him on his way. Zane sighed as he strolled through the gate.

“I’ll be at a food stand later tonight so make sure to come and visit me!” Treyton shouted as they disappeared into the crowd.

“We can do this,” Kaeden whispered, grabbing Zane’s hand and dragging him to the stands. He sounded reassuring, but Zane couldn’t tell if it was for him or Kaedan himself.

“It’s just for tonight,” Kaedan continued, “After that, we won’t have to deal with Harry, or anyone for that matter. Except for your uncle of course.”

Zane grinned--his boyfriend always knew how to cheer him up.

“And besides,” Kaeden continued. “Look at how much we have to explore!”

It might have been a bit exaggerated, but there was a some space to venture. Besides the stands, there were a few porta potties, some food stands, and a big tent filled with gear for the local country radio station. The tent was their first destination, looking through all the merchandise and advertisements. Although they both hated country music, they had fun exploring the booth, even signing up for a raffle to a Chase Rice concert. Did they know who he was? No--but they didn’t care. Even though they got a few sideways glances from passing families and couples, they were actually enjoying their time at the rodeo. Zane and Kaeden were there to have fun just like everyone else.

9.8 SECONDS! THAT WAS A GOOD TUSSLE, DAVE!

The pair watched on as the participant was whipped off the horse’s back. The first few rounds had looked painful, but Kaeden and Zane eventually stopped flinching after every contestant. It was the sport after all, so they shouldn’t be worried unless everyone else was worried. The uncomfortable thing was, everyone at the rodeo did seem slightly on edge, but it wasn’t over the participants. Unsurprisingly, it was over them.

“Hey,” Zane said, elbowing his partner to grab his attention. “Is it me or is there something strange about the crowd here?”

“You mean how they’re all looking at us like we’re sick?” Kaeden asked, not tearing his eyes away from the next contestant.

8.7 SECONDS! IMPRESSIVE GRIP FROM HANK!

“Well, yeah, but that’s not what I’m talking about.”

“What’s on your mind?”

“I don’t know, I mean…” Zane stumbled off, noticing Kaeden was still focused on the riders.

9.4 SECONDS! NICE JOB MARV!

“Earth to Kaedan!” Zane snapped, finally snatching the other’s attention. “For example, did we miss out on some color-coded theme? Why is everyone segregated?”

Kaeden glanced around the stands, noticing what his boyfriend was talking about. Although everyone was clumped together, there were noticeable separations. It seemed like groups of men, women, and children were organized by the shading of their clothes. It was peculiar, but so were most small, rural towns.

“Calm down, babe,” Kaeden replied nonchalantly. “It’s probably just some cheerleading thing, you know? Like someone’s family wears orange because their their fanclub.”

“Yeah, I guess that makes sense,” Zane conceded.

10.1 SECONDS! I’D EXPECT NOTHING LESS FROM RYLAN!

“You’re probably just paranoid from all the homophobia around here,” Kaeden reasoned. “But luckily, I know what’ll cheer you up.”

“Oh really,” Zane responded coyly.

“Definitely, meet me at your uncle’s food stand and I’ll get us some snacks.”

“Alright, but I’m gonna head to a restroom first.”

“Miss me!” Kaeden exclaimed as he rushed down the risers. Zane grinned, knowing he was lucky to have snagged his boyfriend.

— —

“Ah! Sorry,” Zane grunted as he shimmied out of the porta potty door, noticing the growing line that had assembled outside. He thought he hadn’t taken too long, but when one’s bowels beg for release, one has to give in. Walking with a little pep in his step, he eagerly bounced his way around the rodeo grounds to find his uncle’s food stand. Kaeden knew Zane had a soft spot for food, which was pretty evident by the soft spots around his hips. He was excited to see what he had gotten for him. After wandering around for a minute, he finally spotted his uncle stepping outside an old trailer.

“Uncle Treyton!” Zane shouted as he approached.

“Eh, Zane! What’s up? Enjoyin’ the rodeo?”

“I guess?” Zane replied honestly. “Have you seen Kaeden?”

“Ah yeah, he was my last customer for the night. I saw him walkin’ over to the picnic area,” Treyton grunted, locking the door to the trailer as he closed up.

“Thanks!” Zane responded, beginning to walk off.

“Hold on there, cowboy!” Treyton demanded, chuckling at his own irony. “I’m gonna be headin’ back to the ranch, gotta long day of work tomorrow, so make sure y’all don’t stay out too late.”

“Sounds good, Uncle Treyton!” Zane started again, desperately wanting to get back to Kaeden.

“AND!” Treyton emphasized. “Harry wanted to see ya ‘bout somethin’ before ya left. He should be at the stables.”

“Great, thanks!” Zane tore off, almost kicking up the dirt behind him as he darted back towards the porta potties. He made it to the picnic area in record time, almost panting as he slowed down. The so-called “picnic area” was really just a group of tables resting behind the bleachers, with no real purpose besides having a surface to eat at. Zane searched for Kaeden, but it seemed like the place was totally empty. The only person he saw was a man sitting alone, ravenously scarfing down an order of nachos. He was wearing a blue plaid button-up and the same straight, overused jeans as every other man at the rodeo. He also adorned a cowboy hat, a quite brawny body, and a bulge much larger than both Kaedan and Zane’s combined. The cowboy looked to be in his late 20’s, but his brunette chin strap and mustache combo made him seem older. Zane approached the other man delicately, noticing the redneck’s very large boots tap eagerly as he chowed on his food.

“Um, excuse me…” Zane mumbled quietly. “I was wondering if-”

“Zane!” the man jumped up from his seat. “I was worryin’ ‘bout you! Thought you might’ve gotten stuck er somethin’.” Zane shook his head, confused at who the low-pitched, southern gent was exactly.

“I’m sorry, who are you?”

“Zane, it’s Clayton!” he paused, waiting for Zane to remember.

“Clayton Sherman?” Zane was still bewildered, until something clicked in his head.

“Wait, Kaedan?”

“No, Clayton. Didja hit yer head or somethin’?”

Zane felt a little crazy, but something supernatural was pulling him towards this stranger. He didn’t know what the force was, but his curiosity guided him.

“One sec, just let me check something.”

Zane grabbed Clayton’s right hand swiftly, finding the same blue stamp that his boyfriend had received earlier. Although it had faded dramatically, it was good enough proof for Zane.

“Kaedan, what happened to you? How did you become like this? What happened after you left the stand?” Zane must have been hallucinating. There was no way his long, slim, ginger lover had become some horse-kickin’, tobacco-spittin’ cowboy, right?

“First off, it’s Clayton,” Clayton responded calmly. “And I did exactly what I said I would. I went to yer uncle’s stand and got us some food. He told me he’d give us ‘somethin’ special’ and slapped my hand, saying it would be on the house. Can you believe it? These darn nachos were free!”

“Alright,” Zane quickly remarked. “Then what?”

“Well, I waited for ya, but the nachos kept lookin’ at me. So, I thought ya wouldn’t mind if I took a bite. One bite became two, then three, and now we’re here.” Clayton showed Zane the empty box, beaming a childish smile.

“Kaedan, I don’t under-”

Suddenly, Zane grabbed his head as he felt a shock go through his skull. He grimaced as it coursed through his brain, causing him to shake momentarily before regaining his thoughts. As fast as the pain had come, it had disappeared too.

“Y’all ok there?” Clayton asked, patting Zane’s shoulder in a brotherly way.

“Yeah, I think so,” Zane blinked. “What were we talking about again?”

“How I ate all the food!” Clayton hollered, laughing at himself in a low guffaw. “We oughta get back to the rodeo though, Little Petey’s going up soon.”

“Little Petey?” Zane mumbled to himself as the two hoisted themselves up. At first, he didn’t recognize the name, but the more he thought about it, the more memories that seemed to appear. Little Petey was Clayton’s little brother of course! Both Clayton and Pete Sherman were expert horse riders, having both broken records for steer wrestling and bull riding. They’d also been the star quarterbacks for the town back in their prime, but now with Pete turning 26 and Clayton having his second kid on the way, they were ready to settle down and start (or continue) their families.

“Yeah! I gotta run on back to Cassie and Trevor. Nice seein’ ya round these parts again!”

Clayton tossed the empty carton into the trash and ran off back to the stands. Zane watched the man dash up the wooden bleachers to his wife and first boy, embracing them as he sat down to continue watching the show. He sunk right back into the cluster of blue, completely camouflaged by the other people in the crowd. Zane didn’t really know Clayton, just remembered him as someone who worked at his uncle’s farm. He seemed nice, but definitely not friend-material. He had a little too much homophobia and country in him. Zane stopped for a moment to correct himself. Clayton didn’t have a little too much; he had a lot of too much.

8.3 SECONDS! LET’S HEAR IT FOR MIKE!

Deciding he had nothing else to do, Zane started heading back towards the parking lot. Although the event seemed kind of interesting, Zane was too lonesome to really find any joy in the situation. Even his uncle’s presence would’ve made him want to stay, but with no one there by his side, Zane decided to head out. Right as he stepped through the gate, he suddenly recalled his uncle saying something about Harry wanting to see him. He didn’t like Harry, and he assumed it worked the other way around too, but Zane knew he should respect his uncle’s wishes.

8.9 SECONDS! DANNY’S HERE TO STAY!

Zane stumbled into the area housing the horse stables, the place completely deserted besides the rolling tumbleweeds. Strolling past a few horse-buses, it didn’t take long to find Harry. He grinned as Zane approached, holding a lasso in one hand.

“‘Bout time you got here, thinkin’ you got lost er somethin’.”

“Wish I would have,” Zane mumbled to himself as Harry tossed an arm around his shoulder. Harry suddenly seemed more cheery than he had been before.

“Did yer uncle tell ya what yer doing here?”

“No, but I hope it’s not too long; I’m getting tired.” To emphasize his point, Zane faked a huge yawn.

“Not that, fag,” Harry chuckled, dropping down one end of the rope. “I mean this vacation.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Back in high school, yer pops, uncle, and I used to be the studs of the town. Valuable players, intimidatin’ cowboys, 100% corn-fed beef. But when yer pops was offered an education out east, the three of us fell apart.”

“Yeah, so what?”Zane was uninterested, finding the cowboy’s bulge as the only thing appealing about Harry. Zane had a bad habit of checking out other men when he was single.

“Well,” Harry continued, dragging Zane into a stable. “When yer pops saw how off-track he had raised ya, he called up Treyton and I to put a little country in ya. We knew we were gonna have fun, but when ya brought along that Irish laddy too, that was just a cherry for the top.”

Zane shook his head in bewilderment. Who was Harry talking about? He had obviously come here alone.

“See, originally Treyton wanted you as part of his ranch, but when yer boyfriend came he decided to pass the sweeter treat off to me. I think yeu’ll really-”

“Woah, slow down a moment,” Zane rubbed his temples, losing track of everything.

“Ah, I fergot about the mental stuff,” Harry contemplated, thinking about how to explain everything. He had to find a way to explain it all to the boy.

“Remember how everyone in the stands was segregated by their clothin’ color?”

“Yeah?” Zane clearly remembered, as he had stuck out like a sore thumb, but he didn’t understand why this was important now.

“Well, they’re all branded to some ranch, that’s why they stick to one color.”

Harry’s answer made sense to him, but Zane was still visibly perplexed.

“Look at Kae- I mean Clayton Sherman,” Harry started. “He works for yer uncle’s ranch. What color to they wear?”

“Blue?”

“Exactly!” Harry slapped Zane’s back, knocking the wind out of the other man.

“Every color here is for someone’s ranch. Blue is Welch, green is Smith, white for Johnson-”

“How... how many are there?” Zane stuttered, the pieces gradually coming together.

“10, ‘cluding myself,” Harry responded proudly.

“So what you’re saying,” Zane reasoned. “Is that these ranch owner’s ‘brand’ people to be part of their ‘ranch,’ claiming them as their property?”

“Eeyup.”

“And why are you telling me this?”

“Thought you oughta know beforehand.”Zane was about to ask what that meant, but before he could speak, something clicked together in his head.

“You own one of these ‘ranches’?”

“The stunnin’ Mueller Ranch.”

“And what color are you?”

Zane already knew the answer, hoping to distract the other man, but he wasn’t fast enough to dodge Harry’s launch. The older cowboy tackled Zane to the ground, the stench of hay and manure infiltrating Zane’s lungs as his face graced the dirt floor. Zane, not one to be athletic, surprisingly twisted himself out of Harry’s grasp, rolling sideways before getting up and escaping. He started running to his truck, desperately shuffling through his pockets to find the keys. Frantically scurrying away, he didn’t even notice his foot slip right out from beneath him.

“Gotcha!”

Harry cackled heartily as he looked upon his captured prey, who was clawing at the rope helplessly. It seemed like a scene from an old western cartoon: the fool stepping into the lasso and getting caught. Harry had already tied the other end of the rope to a stable post, approaching Zane with a face gleaming with malice. Zane trembled in fear, giving up hope on flight and nervously accepting the fight. As Harry took the final steps, Zane's cowered timidly as he gave up. He didn’t know what was going to happen, but he knew something was going to be over. Then, to Zane’s pure surprise, a hand stretched out to help him up.

“Come on,” Harry welcomed warmly.

Zane’s heart stopped. Was Harry… serious? Was this all some prank just to scare him? Zane didn’t know what was going on, but he decided that once he got out of this mess he’d stay in the sweet shelter of his uncle’s ranch. After the week was over, he was never coming back to this pathetic town, or Wyoming for that sake.

“Are ya gonna take it or what?”

Zane sighed, clasping his hand into Harry’s. As soon as they connected, Harry’s flowery smile instantly twisted back into the thorny smirk.

“It’s just too easy.”

Before Zane could react, Harry flipped the other’s hand over and tapped the black stamp. Instantaneously, time stopped around them. The whole moment felt electric, almost as if everything in existence had shifted, but it was simply only a light touch. Zane gasped as he got up, struggling to speak.

“What… what did you do?”

“Eh, nothin’ yeu’ll remember,” Harry chimed. Zane investigated the back of his hand, noticing a slight pulse as the black stamp began to fade. He was shocked to see the color slowly draining from it into his veins, noticing the same inky shade pumping into his bloodstream.

“Oh no,” Zane cried as a small crackling came from his knuckles. It sounded similar to an orchestra of crickets, the hundreds of minuscule pops signifying the growth of his average hands. Zane’s palms grew thicker at a sluggish pace, bloating with meat as his fingers grew into calloused sausages. Zane groaned in pain while his hands became paws, now feeling like he was wearing bulky, leather mittens instead of skin.

The raven color flew through Zane’s arms, gliding across his chest before venturing vertically. To Zane’s dismay, his unused tendons stretched intensely, expanding as they made room for the arriving muscular tissue. Biceps proudly emerged as their brotherly triceps erupted from underneath Zane’s flesh, causing him to writhe. His forearms gained some meat too before a tan wave swept across the surface of his skin. The classic shade darkened Zane’s pale skin as a field of hair was planted on top. Before long, Zane’s arms looked like an avid gym-goer’s, yet for some reason his mind told him they were from the farm.

After improving the upper appendages, the ink moved downwards, cutting through Zane’s chest. His deltoids pushed outwards as his collarbone expanded, barely extending his traps as his torso began to shift into the shape of a “T”. His pectorals ballooned outwards, forming into meaty packages with two perky nipples, obviously erect underneath his shrinking tee. After the pecs squared out, Zane moaned as a sturdy six pack pounded in, each abdominal packing a punch as it pushed forward. A light covering of fur erupted from his chest while the tan wave made sure to paint itself once more. Zane began panting for air violently, each breath sucking in a little body fat. It didn’t remove all of his fat, but enough to maintain something barely below a body-builder’s standards. His shirt also stitched itself back together, having been torn apart seconds before. The cheap concert tee grew black as it painted itself back onto Zane’s torso, the dusky color hiding its overuse.

Following were Zane’s legs, as the black blood dove deeper. His juicy thighs began to tighten, retaining their above-average size, but now containing more muscle than meat. After his quadriceps had hardened, his knees cracked violently, stretching out Zane’s calves to max him out at 6’2. The bottom of his sweatpants violently tore to reveal two meaty forelegs, both veiny, firm, and covered in a lathering of hair. His pale skin darkened as his legs were covered in a loose denim, locking away his lower appendages.

With Zane’s lower body now covered in an old pair of Wranglers, the ink took hold of his feet, which were currently snug in a pair of Sperry’s boat shoes, the only shoes he had brought with him. In an instant, the leather and cloth tore apart in the middle, blossoming open like a flower to reveal gargantuan Size 15 feet. Zane was appalled to see the hairy, meaty, and awfully rank monsters attached below his ankles, but to his luck, the shredded shoes began to reform. The leather gracefully became cowhide as it expertly resowed itself around Zane’s feet, traveling up to his midcalves to create two authentic cowboy boots. Zane however didn’t feel relieved, in fact all he could feel was the sweat of his massive feet filling up the shoes. His socks hadn’t reformed, so it appeared he was going commando in his boots.

The ink swam up to the top, touching up on any missed spots. After filling in Zane’s pits with a hearty amount of hair, the black blood filled in his neck, adding girth to support the maturing Adam’s apple. Vocal chords stretched as the Zane’s register reached new depths, causing him to violently cough and sputter as he adjusted, allowing the ink to shoot upwards. Zane cried out in pain as the black blood clutched his skull, pulling apart at the bones to give him a thicker head. While the baby fat was removed, his jaw was stretched horizontally, giving him a prominent chin just large enough for a cleft. His lips shrunk while his nose expanded, filling in along with his expanding brows. Zane’s eyes shifted from a bland brown to easy-going blue as his hair shaved away, leaving a no-effort buzzcut where a manicured mane once laid. The vibrant green color rapidly faded, giving way to a light brown that easily shaded in Zane’s new haircut and thickening chinstrap. Across his body, his skin tightened barely as his body packed on a few extra years. It wasn’t a noticeable difference, but Zane no longer had the same glow of young adulthood.

“Ah Lordee,” Zane grumbled, getting up as his language center reorganized itself. “What’d y’all do to me?”

“Well, there’s still one more thing to go,” Harry replied, watching Zane shakily ascend. When the other man stood straight, he now faced eye to eye with the other cowboy.

“What in tarnation is left?”

“Just give it a sec-”

“I ain’t got no time for games, I’m gettin’-”

Suddenly, Zane felt an electrifying pulse throughout his groin, the rest of the ink finally reaching his reproductive center. The black blood infiltrated his testicles, killing off the weak sperm as it overtook his pouch. Zane’s balls bloated as they became heavy with cowboy sperm, dropping dramatically due to the increased weight. The ink traveled into his medium-sized penis, engorging it almost instantly. At first, Zane felt like he was having the most powerful boner of his life, but he began to realize his dick was in fact growing. His member began pulsating with the foreign blood, elongating as it grew to a mighty 10 inches. In the back end, his buttocks blew up into two massive, hardened globes, pushing against the confines of one end of the jeans while his pouch took the other.

Losing all sense of reality, Zane furiously palmed himself through his jeans, the feeling of his newly-materialized boxer shorts rubbing against his sensitive tip driving him crazy. Precumming in seconds due to the pent up stress, Zane was too horny to realize what he was doing, or what he was losing. His prized Yale education evaporated like powdered milk into his ballsack. Next went his East Coast upbringing, his progressive ideas and urban lifestyle disappearing into the void that was his semen. In tow was his homosexuality, which was thrown into the fire inside his testicles. Even a sizeable chunk of his IQ was tossed into the mixing pot. Everything about Zane was sucked down into his sperm, ready to be expelled permanently.

“C’mon boy,” Harry shouted eagerly. “Ya know what ya want to do!”

Zane grunted as he groped himself once more, feeling a burst of static electricity coarse across his body. Grabbing a nearby fence, Zane steadied himself against the stable wall as he felt the rush coming.

“Wow-ie!”

A huge load of sperm coated the front of the Wranglers, causing the area beneath the giant belt buckle to darken dramatically. Not bothering to clean himself up, the young cowboy basked in the afterglow of ejaculation, truly content with himself. He adjusted his pouch one last time, with his other hand still secured to the fence.

“There ya go, that felt better, didn’t it?” Harry slapped a hand around the other man, securing the black cowboy hat on top of the other’s head while doing so.

“Ah yeah, Sir, that one was a goodie,” the other replied, the two slowly making their way back to the main grounds.

“Tell me, Wayne, where the wife and kids at? Shouldn’t they be at the rodeo?”

“They are, Sir,” Wayne responded quickly. “They’re sittin’ near the back of the bleachers with the other ranch families.”

“Ah I see.”

10.5 SECONDS! PETE’S WOWED US AGAIN FOLKS!

Harry paused in front of the main gate, shuffling his hand through his pocket to find his keys and some Copenhagen chew.

“I best be headin’ out,” he stated. “We got a long day at the ranch tomorrow, lots of hay bale shipments to move out.”

“Sounds good, Sir.” Wayne extended his hand out, “I’ll see y’all bright and early tomorrow mornin’.”

“See y’all then, Wayne.”

The two vigorously shook hands, with Harry delighted to see the disappearance of a certain black stamp. They waved each other off as Harry walked back to his truck. After watching his boss leave, Wayne was elated to go back to his family, with one beautiful wife and three handsome sons to entertain. Turning 29 in a matter of days (his birthday shared with Pete Sherman’s, or “Little Petey” as the town called him), Wayne had already accomplished his major goal in life, growing the Woods family. It only seemed like yesterday that he and his wife were high school sweethearts, but now they owned their own little home with three rowdy chaps running around everywhere. It was going to be Wayne’s job to teach them the right morals just like how his father taught him. Over the years, he’d teach them about Christianity, voting Red, being country men, and how to swoon ladies. But, with the oldest one only in first grade, he thought it might be best to wait a bit longer.

Inspecting the bleachers, it didn’t take Wayne long to find his family. He ran up to them and sat down immediately, ready to keep enjoying the show. He quickly explained to his wife what his boss had wanted him for, saying Harry had just wanted an update on the coming fourth child. Wayne then kissed his wife passionately before giving his attention back to the rodeo, applauding as the last participant finished off the night.

10.3 SECONDS! CHRIS ENDED THE NIGHT STRONG!

ANOTHER GREAT YEAR WITH A DARN GREAT CROWD! THANKS FOR COMIN’ OUT FOLKS, WE’LL SEE Y’ALL AGAIN NEXT YEAR!

[soapsilly]

PDA - Zoro Imagine

Pairing: Roronoa Zoro x Reader

Spoilers for One Piece (?), also kinda NSFW?

Summary: Zoro showing a lot of PDA in front of Sanji because he knows it bothers him

Requests are closed

A/N: Unofficial sequel to Cardio. But works as a stand alone.

************************************************************************

"(Y/N)-san! I'm sorry I left you alone on this ship with this pervert! I promise I'll make it up to you"

"What did you just call me, ero-cook?"

"You heard me! If you just as much as put a single finger on (Y/N)-san I'll make you regret it"

"Sorry, to disappoint you, but I did a little more than that", Zoro laughed.

It's been a few weeks since the crew barged in on Zoro and (Y/N). Nothing really changed between them. (Y/N) was still shamelessly flirting with the mosshead and Zoro didn't really reciprocate - at least not in public. He was never the type for public displays of affection but when the two of them were alone, the swordfighter didn't have any problem to show the girl how much he enjoyed her company.

"You looked so good today", he mumbled against her lips.

"So usually I look bad?", she grinned - her smart mouth getting the best of her again.

"Too bad you still don't have a filter", he rolled his eye but didn't loosen his grip around her waist.

"But you love me for it", she laughed.

He exhaled audibly but didn't protest.

The two of them decided not to complicate things. They'd rather just let the relationship progress naturally. For the moment, neither of them would change a thing being happy with the way things were.

************************************************************************

"It's so nice to finally have some free time again", Nami sighed - already excited for a long overdue shopping trip.

"We shouldn't leave the ship unattended", (Y/N) nudged Zoro in the side not really caring about exposing her true intentions. She knew that her lover would be up for some alone time - which was confirmed by the smile that the swordsman failed to keep off of his face.

But it was not only (Y/N) that noticed. The mosshead's smile didn't go unnoticed by a certain curly-browed cook either.

"I'll be keeping you company, (Y/N)-san! There are a few new creations that I wanted to test out anyways", Sanji exclaimed.

(Y/N) was just about to protest when Nami's voice cut her off, "Yeah, that's probably a great idea. These two need a chaperone! We don't need any little Zoros and (Y/N)s running around deck!"

(Y/N) pulled a face, "Seriously? Sex has never ever sounded so unappealing"

"And don't you forget it!", the read-head scolded, "Always think about the full diapers and the disrupted night sleep"

(Y/N) tried to drown Nami's words out by putting her hands over her ears and singing loudly.

However, it wasn't just (Y/N) who had a problem with the thought. Zoro's eye darted over to where Sanji was standing. It was almost unnoticable but for the fraction of a second the cook's face twitched when Nami started her rant. At this moment, the swordsman got an idea to still make the afternoon worthwhile.

"Can we go now?", their captain interrupted the discussion - eager to raid the market place for street food.

Zoro threw his arm around a confused (Y/N)'s shoulder. This was the first time that her lover actually touched her in front of the others. Before she could say anything though, Zoro spoke up, "Yeah, you guys leave and we'll hold the fort here. Right, babe?"

"Uh, yeah sure...", (Y/N) blushed at the little nickname.

And with that the crew parted ways. (Y/N), Zoro and Sanji remaining on the ship while the rest of the crew made their way towards the city.

"So, it's just us now, huh?", (Y/N) tried to overcome the awkwardness. Spending a whole afternoon on the ship together with these two didn't seem very appealing to her. But surprisingly these two mortal enemies weren't at each other's throats immediately.

"Well, since our plans have been so rudely interrupted", the mosshead turned towards the cook, "Why don't we squeeze in a training session?", Zoro asked his girlfriend - his voice almost soft. After hours and hours of asking, (Y/N) had finally worn down the swordfighter. So, lately Zoro agreed to let the girl join him during practice. On one hand, her constant pleading got on his nerves so that he partly agreed just to shut her up. On the other hand, though, training with her meant he got to spend time with her. To him, she looked adorable as she was trying to figure out the steps and maneuvers. And if she ever needed correction with her stance, he wouldn't complain either.

"I'd say you're welcome to join us, waiter. But I don't think you could handle it anyways", Zoro mocked the blonde. And of course Zoro's words had the desired effect as the cook immediately started cussing out the mosshead - swearing to make him look old in any type of training.

(Y/N) rolled her eyes. Of course, the peace didn't last long, "Oi, Sanji? Didn't you actually want to try out some new recipes or something?"

She didn't mind the cook's company but she knew if Sanji and Zoro were to actually train together, their competition would be anything but friendly and she didn't feel like a headache today. To her surprise, Zoro just shrugged though, "You can try, ero-cook"

And with that the three of them started their work-out. Almost provocatively Zoro took off his robe, showing off his body and sending (Y/N) a cheeky wink. He knew the effect he had on the girl.

"We should start with some stretching first", he announced - his arm already behind his back.

(Y/N) decided to get on the floor, working on her lower body first, whilst Sanji was bent over easily touching his toes without any issue.

"(Y/N)-san, you're so flexible~", the cook complimented the girl.

"Hm, I don't know. I think she could do better", Zoro acted thoughtful, as he walked over to where (Y/N) was standing, trying to reach her toes aswell. Her fingertips just graced the floorboards but that wasn't enough for the swordsman. He positioned himself behind her, his crotch dangerously close to her backside. With a gentle hand he pressed down on her lower back to help her bend over even further, so that her palms fully touched the ground.

With a soothing voice, her lover praised her and while (Y/N) enjoyed the personal attention, she'd be lying if she said that she wasn't confused. She wasn't used to him being so gentle with her when other people were around. What she didn't see from her bend over position however, was the look Zoro and Sanji exchanged. The mosshead sent the other man a gloating smile, which only got wider as he saw how blonde struggled to keep his composure.

"Oi, Marimo! When you're finished harassing, (Y/N)-san, how about a sparring session?", there was nothing he wanted to do more than to beat up the brute that dared to lay his calloused fingers on a lady. The cook was of the opinion that a beautiful woman should only be touched in the most gentle way - a word the marimo probably didn't even know.

Zoro barked out a laugh - (Y/N) long forgotten. Fighting with the ero-cook was one of his favourite past-times.

(Y/N) knew there was no way her lover would continue their practice anymore. Instead she decided to just keep exercising on her own and to leave the two guys to it - not feeling like getting into the path of fire.

After an hour or so, the two of them didn't show any sign of slowing down but the girl decided she had enough, "Hey guys? Guys? Oi!"(Y/N) clapped into her hands loudly to get the two frenemies' attention. Almost immediately the men stopped what they were doing.

"While I do enjoy watching two handsome men exhaust themselves physically", she sent Zoro a wink, "I think this is enough. I'll go take a shower and afterwards we should probably get started on dinner. You know how hangry Luffy can get"

"Of course, (Y/N)-san~", the cook was delighted by her compliment, "I'll create the most exquisite menu just for you"

The girl thanked her friend, by now she gave up on the idea of convincing the blonde that he didn't have to do all that. It seemed to make him happy, so she just decided to enjoy the perks of having the talented cook at her service.

"Great, while you do that, we'll go take that shower", Zoro spoke up.

(Y/N) head whipped around to face the mosshead, who could barely hold back a smile. He, however, wasn't facing her at all. His smile was not directed at her and her surprised reaction but rather at Sanji, who by the looks of it was not amused about his suggestion at all. (Y/N) massaged the bridge of her nose in no mood for these two to start fighting again.

"Okay, we'll do that", she grabbed Zoro's hand and pulled him with her. However, Zoro had other ideas. While (Y/N) was walking in front of him the swordsman's hands reached out to pinch the girl's sides teasingly which earned him a surprised yelp from his lover.

"Oi, idiot! Who do you think you are? Leave your dirty hands off of (Y/N)-san!", Sanji yelled towards the couple.

"Oh, does it bother you?", Zoro yelled back, "Good thing, (Y/N) likes it"

"(Y/N)-san! Just say a word and I'll save you from this... this... pervert!", Sanji's voice was soft as he adressed the girl but grew harsher towards the end - his dig clearly directed towards the marimo.

"Thank you, Sanji, I'll keep it in mind!", she yelled back at her friend as she tried to usher Zoro, who was loudly protesting the cook's claims -inside the Sunny towards the bathroom.

Once inside, (Y/N) let out an exasperated sigh, this isn't how she expected her afternoon to go. Zoro, however, didn't waste any time attacking her lips with his own. His hands everywhere they could reach.

"Oi, you okay?", Zoro asked almost nonchalantly when he realized that (Y/N) hesitated to return the kiss - as if he wasn't the cause of her desperation.

"Respectfully, what the fuck?", (Y/N) answered the mosshead.

"Huh?"

"I mean, I'm not complaining but how come you're so touchy-feely all of a sudden? And let me repeat. I'm not complaining. At all. It's just... unusual is all...", she rambled - not wanting Zoro to feel like he crossed a line.

"Oh, that", he smiled, "I noticed PDA bothers that shitty cook, so naturally I had to play it up"

"Of course", (Y/N)'s voice was sarcastic.

"Are you mad?", the swordfighter acted unbothered - like he couldn't see how that could possibly offend the girl - but in actuality he was worried that he took things a step too far. He knew she was okay with their arrangement. He know that it didn't bother her that he only showed affection towards her when the two of them were alone. She once told him that it made it even more special. But would she be okay with him suddenly publicly flirting with her just to spite the shitty cook? His eye scanned her face, searching for any sign of hurt. He couldn't always show it but he cared about (Y/N) a lot - more than anyone else in the crew.

(Y/N)'s face turned soft when she realized that the man in front of her was actually insecure. She reached out to cup his face and press a gentle kiss on his lips. When they parted, he was relieved to see her smile.

"Of course, I'm not mad! In fact, I think it's hilarious... if anything I'm mad that you didn't fill me in on it", she grinned, "If I had known, I'd have enjoyed it more"

"Oh, so now you didn't enjoy it?", this time it was him, that teased the girl with a lopsided smile on his face.

"I did! I really did! But my confusion kind of overshadowed the pleasure", she tried to assure him.

"Don't you worry", he started to undress her, "I'll take care of that"

His hands were gentle as he pulled her towards him by the small of her back.

"Who do you think you are? Touching me with those calloused hands", she scolded him. He paused what he was doing until she finally broke into a giggle.

"I can always count on you to ruin the moment", he sighed when he realized what she was up to. Quoting the ero-cook was the last thing he wanted from her.

"But you love me for it", she smiled up at him.

"Shut up", he leaned down to capture her lips in a kiss before leading her into the shower.

************************************************************************

When the two entered the dining room after the shower, the kitchen was already filled with the steam from whatever the cook was preparing. The two were greeted with the most delicious of smells. (Y/N) sometimes seriously asked herself how the cook could be this good and still improve with every meal he prepared.

"Wow, Sanji this smells great!", she beamed at the blonde, who by the looks of it couldn't be any more pleased about the praise. After all, the way to a loved one's heart is through their stomach.

"And this is only the beginning (Y/N)-san", the cook explained happily - hinting that there'd be more to come.

"Is there anything I can help you with?", she asked the cook, knowing he'd probably decline.

"You are too kind, (Y/N)-san ~ ! But I couldn't possibly take you up on your offer. A beautiful lady like you should never have to prepare her own food - in fact, you should be served~"

"Oh, but I insist", (Y/N) smiled. Anybody that knew her also knew how stubborn she could be, so after a little back and forth Sanji eventually agreed to let (Y/N) stirr some pots and maybe even wash some vegetables.

Zoro decided to take a seat at the dinner table, watching the two of them do their thing whilst enjoying a drink. He would never admit it but watching (Y/N) do mundane tasks was one his favourite things. He loved seeing her being lost in whatever she was doing. The way her brows creased whenever she was concentrated or how she started mumbling to herself if things didn't go her way. This was more than a innocent flirt and even more than a friends with benefits type of arrangement - at least for him. Her company was one of the few pleasures his life had to offer. At first he was annoyed by her everlasting presence, the way she wouldn't shut up, the constant flirts but now he couldn't imagine a life without her. He was so lost in his thoughts that he wasn't even bothered by the shitty cook prancing around her.

One after the other all the Straw Hats arrived into the dining area - just in time for dinner. As everyone gathered around the table, the space next to Zoro remained free. By now, the crew was used to (Y/N) exclusively sitting next to the swordsman. When she finally plopped down next to him, her hand almost automatically found it's way to rest on her lovers leg. Zoro didn't seem to mind the PDA. Usually, the girl refrained from touching the mosshead while in the company of the others - respecting his boundaries - instead only choosing to show her affection verbally. But right now, she decided it was fair game after the stunt the swordsman pulled on her.

"And what do you think you're doing?", Zoro leaned down, speaking lowly so that only she could hear him. (Y/N) could hear the amusement in his voice.

"Do you want me to stop?", she turned to face him - their faces now merely an inch apart.

For a moment it felt like the world stood still around them but then the two lovebirds were interrupted by their navigator.

"Come on, guys! At dinner?", Nami was not amused about the scene that unfolded before her very eyes.

"Seems like Sanji isn't the only one bothered by PDA", (Y/N) grinned but her voice was soft.

"Well, if that's the case, it seems like I'll have to keep this going", Zoro answered - his voice just as low.

Both of them knew that all of this may have started as a means to annoy the cook but by now it was merely an excuse to keep the open display of affection going. Seeing (Y/N) in private was just not enough for him anymore. What harm could a little - just a little - PDA do anyways?

"The things you do to me", he slowly shook his head.

"But you love me for it"

Usually, Zoro easily dismissed her little catchphrase but this time he couldn't quite deny it. Maybe he did. And maybe she knew that. But maybe that wasn't so bad...

[viking-raider]

Love At First Sight > Part One

Summary-> Henry finds himself standing at the altar for the celebrity version of Love at First Sight, where he marries Alexa. Once married, nearly every moment of their new life will be documented for a year.

But the real question is, will they be married at the end of that year?

Pairing-> Henry Cavill/OFC (Alexa)

Word Count-> 9.6k

Warnings-> PG: Arranged Marriage, Language, Banter, Alcohol

Inspiration-> Nick and Vanessa Lachey's Love is Blind on Netflix.

Author’s Note-> The correct post! Hopefully the next parts won't so long. Not doing a lo of warning. But there's not many to do. I hope you enjoy! Line divider by @FIREFLY-GRAPHICS!

-> If you would like to get notifications for my writing! Just follow my Tag List blog, @VIKING-RAIDER-TAGLIST as well as my @VIKING-RAIDER-LIBRARY and turn on the notifications for it! It’s that easy!’

–The Wedding–

Henry was terrified as he paced his dressing room, his shaking hands fiddling with the buttons of his suit jacket. He was dressed to the nines, in a dark blue, three-piece suit with a charcoal, button down dress shirt and black tie, sporting thin gold stripes. He glanced at himself in the mirror for the millionth time, seeing his neatly brushed curls that he'd cut the afternoon before in preparation for the event, and the smoothness of his cheeks, lightly adorned with his sandalwood aftershave.

“God, what have I gotten myself into?” He fretted, biting his bottom lip as he turned on the heels of his shining, black dress shoes, to pace the length of the room again. “Marrying someone, I don't know, with the world watching, then having our every moment followed afterward for the next year.” He felt his heart thunder harder.

Henry's agent had come to him, saying that a casting agent for a show about celebrities who marry each other, at first sight, on the altar, after the show's team of matchmakers, therapists, relationship experts and host of other people match them with each other. Once married, a small film crew would follow them around for a year, to see if they would stay married or divorce. At first, Henry declined the offer, four or five times. But, when his agent came back to him with the show's last offer, a week before his thirty-eighth birthday, Henry had been in a mood, feeling his 'clock' ticking on finding a wife on his own, after so many failed relationships, and starting a family.

So, he had impulsively said yes.

Now, eight months later, Henry was dressed in his wedding suit, waiting to be taken out to the altar so he could meet his future wife. Only knowing her first name, Alexa. He had tried to think of all the famous 'Alexa's' he knew, that had the potential to be paired with him, based on the criteria they'd given him. Such as not marrying him to a woman more than ten years his junior, but there were very few and he wasn't allowed to contact them to ask.

There was a soft knock on his door and Henry paused, turning as it opened and the crew member taking care of him popped their head in.

“We're ready for you, Mr. Cavill.” He smiled at Henry, giving him a warm and encouraging smile.

“Right.” Henry smiled back, trying to exude a calmness, following him out.

The crew member directed Henry to the stage, where they had set up the gorgeous altar, motioning to Henry's mark by the Humanist Chaplain, Preston Larson, who also offered a smile and slight nod.

“How are you?” He asked, in a low voice.

“Nervous.” Henry chuckled, smirking at him.

“I would be shocked, if you weren't!” Preston laughed back, reaching out to rest his hand on Henry's shoulder. “But it'll be great.” He told him, hoping to instill some confidence in him.

“I hope so.” Henry mumbled, taking a deep breath, his eyes moving towards the French doors he'd come through, watching the crew close them, signaling that things were starting to really progress and the moment of no return had come.

The assistant director behind the camera signaled and the wedding music started, sending Henry's heart into his throat. Everything he had been worrying over and thinking about for the last eight months rushed him. Who is she? What did she do for a living and how would it interact with his career as an actor? What did she look like? Would they get along and like each other? Or would they end up hating each other? They both had already signed a contract that stated they couldn't divorce or separate, until the one year mark, for the benefit of the show's content, and obviously the ratings. They could live apart, but that was about it. They would still be obligated to see each other for filming, however.

It would be a draw to see them struggle and argue, or just be cold and ignore one another.

The double doors opened and Henry felt his back straighten, his cerulean eyes widening a fraction as his soon-to-be wife appeared around the corner to stand in the doorway. He felt his thundering heart skip a beat and pause. He vaguely recognized her as one of the many 'Alexa's' he had looked up. She was Alexa Forsberg, a thirty year old musician from Norway. Alexa and her band were quite accomplished, having numerous albums and singles out, topping charts and going platinum. Henry was sure he even had a few of their songs on his Spotify playlist.

He thought she looked utterly gorgeous in her dress, as well. She was wearing an elegant lace, fit and flare, applique on tulle dress, that had a beaded and sheer illusion adorned with thin beaded spaghetti straps and a sweetheart neckline. Its finishes were a lace up back closure, matching lace embellished hem and a chapel length train. Her snow-white hair flowed down her back, but was adorned with beautiful braids. He also noticed her left arm, from the top of her shoulder to the crease of her elbow, was tattooed.

Alexa's nervous expression turned to one of surprise, seeing Henry standing at the altar, awaiting her. Of all the people she considered meeting at the altar, the amazing and handsome Henry Cavill was not on Alexa's list. Long or short. She figured he would have women climbing all over him, that he'd have someone in his life.

Seems not. She thought, slowly making her way towards the Brit, manic butterflies swarming her stomach.

Henry instinctively reached a hand out to her, as she reached him, momentarily forgetting the rolling cameras and the promotion photographers that were on them. Alexa smiled and took Henry's hand, feeling the gentle, but strong grasp he had on hers, the signet ring on his pinky cooling her heated skin. He smiled down at her, his blue orbs glittering in the lights, Alexa's knees formed into jelly as she stared up at him, feeling all of his attention on her, and only on her.

“Hi.” Henry greeted her quietly, feeling a jitter of another kind.

“Hi.” Alexa replied, grinning and shyly biting her bottom lip. “It's nice to meet you.” She giggled softly, blushing.

He laughed, his head bowing forward slightly. “It's great to meet you too.”

“Shall we?” Preston gently interrupted, smiling between the two of them.

Clearing his throat, Henry helped guide Alexa up onto the raised altar, before joining her. “I'm ready, if she is.”

Alexa took a deep breath and nodded. “I'm ready.” She said, smiling over at Henry.

Reaching over again, Henry took her hand and gave it a squeeze, knowing that they both were in this weird and strange situation together, wanting her to know he was there, even though they just met. Preston looked between them, sensing a bond forming between them, a rare occurrence on the already four complete seasons of the show. He had a small suspicion that Alexa and Henry could be one of the few successes.

“Today, Henry and Alexa, before I marry you today, it is my duty, before God, to remind you of the solemn and binding character of the vows you are about to take.” Preston declared, reciting from the small black book in his hands, before casting his kind, hazel eyes to Henry. “Henry Cavill, do you take Alexa Forsberg, to be your wife and do you promise to stay true to her, as long as both of you shall live?”

A small lump began to form in Henry's throat, before he felt the light pressure of Alexa's hand, it filled him with the courage and calm he needed, on the outside. “I do.” He nodded, glancing down at her, the smile on his lips widening, upon seeing hers.

Preston smiled at them both. “And Alexa, do you take Henry, to be your husband, will you honor and cherish him, as long as you both shall live?” He asked her, seeing a shy and nervous sparkle in her icy-blue eyes as she nodded.

“I do.” She answered, sounding positive.

“Do either of you have anything to say?” Preston asked, glancing between them.

“I know this is unconventional and we only just met,” Henry spoke up, biting his lip and glancing down at their joined hands. “But I promise to do right by you.” He swore, glancing back into her eyes.

Alexa melted, feeling the weight of his words. “I have all faith in you.” She replied, squeezing his hand. “And in us.”

Preston closed his book, hugging it to his chest as he regarded them. “Henry and Alexa, it gives me great pleasure to declare that you are legally husband and wife.” He announced, clapping.

It was a mindless impulse that caused Henry to carefully cup one side of Alexa's face in his large palm and lean in to kiss her. Not catching himself, until he felt his lips on hers and her momentary hesitation, before returning it. Pulling away, Henry took her hand again and they walked down the aisle, back towards the French doors and backstage, where they would get a little alone together, before doing interviews. After that, they'd be able to change out of their wedding outfits, so they could leave and head towards the airport, where they would fly to their destination honeymoon.

Which, at the moment, neither of them

They made it into the dressing room that connected theirs, with Henry's on the left and Alexa's on the right. It was decorated with roses and rose petals, a bottle of champagne on ice with two champagne glasses, their silver stems curved, so they formed a heart when side by side. Mr. Henry Cavill, Groom, engraved on one and Mrs. Alexa Cavill, Bride, engraved on the other.

Seeing the glasses solidified the situation even more to them.

“I'm sorry about kissing you.” Henry blurted out, carding a hand through his hair.

Alexa giggled, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink, her lips still tingled from the contact. “It's more than all right, Henry.” She assured him, moving over to take a seat and slip off the cut-out heels she was wearing. “I'm sure it's something we'll be doing more of.” She commented, looking up at him.

“True.” He nodded, moving towards the bubbly. “Are you thirsty?” He asked, motioning to it.

“I am.”

Peeling the gold foil off, Henry carefully popped the cork and poured her a half-glass, handing it over, before pouring himself one. “Can I ask, why did you decide to do this?” He inquired, taking a sip and moving to sit across from her.

Alexa blushed again and looked at her engraved name, considering his question for a moment. “I don't know.” She finally answered, her brow creasing as she searched for a better explanation. “Almost all of my brothers are married.” She said, finally taking a drink of champagne, enjoying the dry crispness. “The ones that aren't are either engaged or have kids. Then again,-” She laughed, shaking her head. “I say, almost, like two of them are old enough.”

“Wait.” Henry shook his head, confused. “How many siblings do you have?”

“Oh!” She smirked over at him, leaning back in her chair. “You have quite the gauntlet ahead of you. My parents had eight kids. Seven of which are all boys. Minus myself, obviously. I'm dead center, at number six, with my twin brother, Jakob.”

“Christ alive!” Henry gasped, eyes wide. “And I thought I had a lot of brothers, at four. Who's the oldest and youngest?”

“My brother, Erik, is the oldest. He's forty-four, and the youngest is Einar, who just turned eight.” She informed him, a fond smile on her face. “I can recite everyone else's names for you later.” She giggled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“You'll probably have to tell me a couple times, till I meet them.” Henry laughed back.

“True.” She nodded, amused. “But, I figured I should probably get into a relationship, before Einar beats me to it, and this came up. So, I thought, what's the worst that could happen? A divorce lawyer?” She quipped, but saw a glimpse of light in Henry's eye, telling her he didn't find it quite as funny. “Well, it can't go any worse than my previous relationship. How about you?”

Henry pressed his lips together and stared into his champagne, his shoulders stiff for a moment. “I was engaged once before, when I was in my late twenties, but it didn't work out.” He explained quietly, a sore strain in his voice. “I figured I would be married and have, at least, one kid by now. Yet,-” He heaved a heavy sigh, biting his lip. “Well, I don't. I originally turned the show down a couple times. But, as the thought of hitting forty soon, and not having either of those things, or one of them, hit me. I figured this was, sort of, my last chance at getting that dream, of having what my brothers have.”

He looked over at her, his brow creased and his eyes troubled and slightly glassy. “Do you want kids?” He asked, a worried bubble in his stomach, realizing Alexa could possibly not want to have children.

“I do.” She nodded, honestly, feeling the urge to get up and soothe him. “I'd like, at least, two.” She told him something never talked to anyone about her dream of children before. “Having an only child, being from a large family, is just an odd feeling and it doesn't seem right, knowing the bond siblings give each other.”

Henry felt a tightness that had wrapped around his chest, like a rubber band, snap with relief. “I feel the same way.” He smiled, licking his lips.

“So, where do you think they're sending us on our honeymoon?” Alexa asked, cocking a brow at the black gift box, wrapped in a deep-red satin ribbon-bow.

“Hopefully somewhere warm.” Henry laughed, remembering the pouring rain as he hurried out of the car to get into the building several hours before. Setting his glass aside and picking the box up, he balanced it in his palm, before carefully tugging the bow free and opening the lid.

Setting the lid on the table beside his champagne, Henry reached inside the box and pulled out a card with two plane tickets. “Looks like we'll be spending our two week long honeymoon at a sweet, little villa, in Tamarindo, Costa Rica.”

“Ooo.” Alexa cooed, finishing off her drink. “I haven't been to Costa Rica in a long time.”

“I've never been to Costa Rica.” Henry commented, setting the tickets aside.

“It's beautiful.” She smiled, fondly. “I'm sure you'll love it.”

“I'm sure I will.” He replied, smiling back at her, holding her eyes and felt a bubble and spark in the pit of his stomach, before shifting his gaze to her tattooed arm. He'd never dated a woman so heavily tattooed before, he did have a few exes with one or two in discreet places, but nothing like Alexa's half sleeve.

“Does my sleeve bother you?” Alexa asked, following his eyes.

Henry started, blinking rapidly to try and clear any expression that came across as disapproval or as if it would prevent him from being attracted to her. Which he was. “No!” He blurted out, quickly. “God, no.” He said, in a more natural tone. “It's just I've never been with a woman with such an intricate tattoo before. Two girlfriends I've dated that had tattoos, had them on their ankles. A butterfly and a little, blue heart.”

“This isn't my only tattoo.” Alexa chuckled at him, an amused and playful light in her blue eyes, holding her arms out to him, showing him the tattoos there.

Tattooed on the inside of her left wrist was a heart and pentagram combination, forming a Heartagram, the logo of the Finnish band, HIM. While on right arm, just below her elbow, on the inside, was an infinity symbol with a semicolon interrupting one side of the loop.

“I have a few other tattoos, one is on my back. It's Family, written in Ogham, or Middle Irish, surrounded by my family's zodiac constellations.” She explained to him, unconsciously reaching back to touch the general area where it was. “And what is actually my biggest, and arguably my most important, tattoo is actually on my side.” Alexa touched her left side, biting her lip and hoping she wasn't putting Henry off. “But it sort of branches out to my back and stomach.”

“What's that one?” Henry asked, curious.

“It's the tree of life, Yggdrasil.” She told him, with a sort of pride. “But it's also sort of combined with a Cherry Blossom tree. I love Cherry Blossom trees.” She confessed to him, beaming. “I suffer, I'll tell you this now, from chronic depression, and have since I was a kid. Winter, while has been, ironically, my favorite season, doesn't do wonders for my depression, with the dark and gloominess. But, there's always been this cool sweet spot to it, for me, because outside my flat, there are three Cherry Blossom trees. They're early blooming trees. They're sorta known for being the first sign of Spring being heralded in, and Winter ending.”

“Seeing those teeny, delicate flowers blooming, while everything is still rainy or snowy and dark, right outside my window, is such a breath of fresh air. Like, they're helping me out of my own winter.”

Henry softly nodded, his expression understanding and empathetic. “I can relate to that.”

“Yeah.” She mumbled, looking into her empty glass. “Anyway, I digress! My tattoo is Yggdrasil, but I have Cherry blossom flowers on the branches, with the leaves. The leaves and blossoms mean something, themselves. I add a leave for a person I've lost in my life, with their initials inside of it. While, with the cherry blossoms, I add a blossom for someone that's made an impact on my life. I don't have one for all of my family, I think that would clutter the entire tree.” She giggled, twisting the end of one of her braids. “But, I do have leaves and blossoms for my parents, siblings and grandparents. As well as, one of my uncles.”

“That's very deep.” Henry observed, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees, wondering if one day he'd have the honor to be one of the Cherry Blossoms.

“Have you ever considered getting a tattoo?” Alexa asked, cocking her head at him. “I know as an actor, it can be a pain for a wardrobe to cover up, if need be.”

“Yeah, they can be quite cross about things like that.” He laughed, nodding his head. “But, yeah, I have actually considered it. Especially, there's a company that can make tattoo ink from cremated ashes.” He explained to her, chewing on the inside of his lip. “I've thought about, when the time comes, to turn some of Kal's ashes into ink and get some sort of tattoo to honor him.”

“That would be so super sweet.” She smiled, warmed that Henry was so devoted to his dog.

“So, what did your parents think about you coming on this show, to marry some random celebrity?” Henry asked, smirking at her.

Alexa laughed, shaking her head with amusement, recalling her family's reaction to her telling them she would be doing the show. “They weren't thrilled. My brothers think I'm crazy and my parents think I should be finding a guy the traditional way. How about yours?”

“They were surprised, but they're supporting me.” He replied, looking down between his feet. “Especially if I end up happy.”

“Well,” Alexa lifted her glass to him. “Here's to us, hopefully, ending up happy together.” She smiled, holding his eye with an expression that told Henry she was being genuine.

“To us being happy together.” He echoed, raising his glass, gently touching their rims together.

There was a knock on the door and a crew member popped into the room, looking between Alexa and Henry, as if expecting to find them either sucking face, being cold and awkward with each other or arguing. But his face changed to one of pleasant surprise, finding them sitting easily with each other, enjoying the bubbly.

“We're ready to start the interviews.” He informed them. “Who wants to go first?”

“Why don't you go first?” Henry suggested, looking at Alexa. “That way, you have more time to keep your heels off.” He said, looking down at her feet, seeing the rosy marks from the heels straps pressing into her feet and the slight swelling, puffiness.

“Thanks.” She smiled at him, grateful for the gesture, since her feet were starting to kill her, standing and following the crew member out of the room and down the hall, where they had a little room set up for the interviews.

Henry got up and poured himself a fresh glass of champagne, before crossing over to his dressing room, while he waited for his wife to return.

– Alexa’s Interview –

Alexa got comfortable on the seat in front of the black and red, damask backdrop they were using to narrow the room and keep the focus on her, with no distractions in the background. She looked towards the camera, watching the crew fuss around behind it and smiled at the assistant director, Riah, who sat perched on a stool, a thick binder in her lap with Alexa and Henry's names on the front.

“How are you feeling?” Riah asked, off camera.

“I feel really good.” Alexa smiled, despite feeling the glass of champagne she had with Henry.

“I'm glad.” Riah smiled, nodding her head, before looking over her shoulder. “Are we ready?” She asked the cameraman, who mumbled something to her. “Great, here we go!”

The light on the camera popped on, signaling it was rolling and Alexa took a deep breath, readying herself for the questions Riah was about to fire at her.

“So, Alexa, you just got married, at first sight, to Man of Steel and The Witcher himself, Henry Cavill!” Riah grinned, nodding her head, like she was trying to instill a bubbly and happy energy into Alexa. “How does it feel?”

“It feels great and surreal!” Alexa answered, blushing softly and giggling. “Of all the people I thought I'd see at the altar, Superman wasn't it. But I'm excited to get to know him, as my husband.”

“Are there any reservations about getting married to a stranger?”

Alexa's brow creased for a moment. “I think to have some concerns would only be natural, in a situation like this. Henry and I have never crossed paths in life before, so we don't know anything about each other. We're bound to find something about the other that creates a conflict or a stress on the marriage. I just really hope, whatever it is, we can work through that.”

Riah grinned at Alexa, giving her a devilish look. “Are there any feelings of attraction going on with you? Do you feel yourself already falling for him?”

“I think you'd be crazy, not to be attracted to him!” Alexa chuckled, smiling. “He's incredibly handsome and--” She paused, licking and biting her lip for a moment. “Yeah, I am feeling a stir of something for Henry. Whether or not, it'll develop into a full blown attraction and love, I think is, maybe, a little too early to say.”

“The two of you just got to spend a little private time together, what was it like?”

“It was very pleasant. He's such an easy person to be around. I feel that I could be myself around him and that I'll be able to trust him. Henry is a real gentleman and I think he'll make a great husband.”

“Do you think you'll be sharing a bed with him, when you arrive on your honeymoon in a couple hours?”

Alexa was caught off guard with her question, not having thought that far into the future yet. “I don't know.” She squeaked, throat tight. “Maybe. We'll have to see when we get to our destination and what the mood is like.”

“What Henry is feeling on the subject.”

– Henry’s Interview –

The wood of the chair was still warm under Henry, from Alexa sitting on it not moments before. He felt oddly at ease in front of the camera, supposing it was because he spent so much time before one for his job. But he felt the gentle simmer of nerves beneath his calm, knowing he and Alexa would be leaving the venue soon for the airport, so they could start their honeymoon. He kept thinking about what it would be like to live with her and if they would manage it.

“Henry, how does it feel to be a married man?” Riah asked, beaming at him as the camera started to roll. “I know you mentioned in several previous interviews, it was a dream for you.”

A startled expression came over Henry's face, not expecting her to bring it up. “It's-uh, it's going great so far! Alexa is very kind and beautiful. I look forward to spending more time with her and learning more about her, to develop our marriage.”

“Have you talked about a living situation yet?”

“Um, no. We haven't spoken about that, quite yet. We just talked about general things. How our families felt about us doing the show and kids.” He replied, shifting in his seat.

Riah's brows went up. “You haven't discussed how you're going to live together, but you've talked about having kids?”

“Yeah.” Henry nodded slowly, realizing his mistake. “It came up, when we were talking about our siblings.” He said, trying to recover.

“Do the two of you want kids?” Riah asked, narrowing her eyes at him. “Should the two of you make it through?” She added an edge in her voice.

Henry didn't answer for a second, wishing he could back track. “We both do, yeah. We'll see through.” He said, carding a hand through his hair, awkwardly. “When we do get through our first year together.”

“Are you attracted to her?” Riah inquired, sensing a bit of tension in Henry’s voice.

“There’s something there.” Henry replied, biting the inside of his cheek. “She’s amazingly beautiful and intelligent. We, I think, have started to connect. So, yeah. I think there’s an attraction starting to form with her.”

“You think the two of you will share a bed?”

“At some point, yes.” He nodded, smirking at her, his smooth cheeks warming up. “Whenever Alexa becomes comfortable with it.”

Getting back to his dressing room, Henry let out a hard breath and loosened his tie, relieved that everything was finished. Now, all he had to do was get out of his suit and gather his things, so he could head to the airport for their flight to Costa Rica.

“With my new wife.” He thought aloud, taking a seat on the couch to unlace his shoe and slipped them off, flexing his toes as he set them aside.

He looked up at the door that led to the adjoining room, then across to Alexa’s, where she was no doubt doing the same thing he was. He wondered if they would be going to the airport together or separately. He hoped they’d be going in the same car, it would give them more time together, on top of the time on the plane to their honeymoon spot.

Sighing, he stood up, unbuttoning his jacket and waistcoat, carefully laying them out on the arm of the couch, then took his pants off. He grabbed the duffel bag he’d come with and grabbed his casual clothes, a tan colored pull over with four buttons on the right shoulder and a pair of dark wash, blue jeans, with his favorite pair of worn, brown boots.

Dressed, he neatly put his suit away in its garment bag and tucked his shoes into his bag, Henry slung the duffel bag across his body and crossed the adjoining room. He paused a moment, considering another glass of champagne, but noticed that the two glasses had vanished.

“Alexa?” He called, lightly knocking on her door.

The door opened and Alexa stood before him, she had gotten out of her dress while Henry was in the middle of his interview with Riah. Exchanging it for a pair of black joggers, one leg pushed up to her knee, a blue and yellow, gunge crosshairs symbol on the thigh, with a Stranger Things Hellfire Club raglan t-shirt. Feet bare other than her multi-colored, flowery and retro-striped Bombas socks. Her hair was braided shill, she had uncoiled several and pulled her hair up into a bun, away from her face and off her slender neck, but one of the thin braids hung down and rested against her chest.

“Hey,” She smiled up at him. “I'm almost ready.”

“That's fine.” He assured her, licking his lips and biting the inside of his cheek, even out of her dress, he found her beautiful. “I was just wondering, if you had grabbed our champagne glasses?” He asked, twisting his upper body towards the table.

“Oh!” She squeaked, blushing with guilt. “I did. I'm sorry.” She nodded, looking down at her feet.

Henry grinned down at her, touched and amused. “It's all right.” He reassured her, gently. “I was just wondering where they went, that's all.”

Alexa looked up at him, biting the corner of her lip. “Do you want yours?” She asked, quietly.

“I'm positive, it's in good keeping with you, Alexa.” He told her sweetly, daring to reach out and tuck her free braid behind her ear. “I'm ready, when you are. No rush, love.” He added, moving away to lounge in the shared room, pulling his phone out, to open the Cavill family WhatsApp group chat.

Henry: I'm officially a married man!

Charlie: Congratulations! Wish we could have been there.

Piers: Cheers, little brother! Can't wait to meet her. What's her name?

Mum: Congratulations, Henry. Your father and I are happy for you.

Henry: Thanks all. It means a lot to me. Her name is Alexa, and I can't wait to introduce her to you all. We're headed off to Costa Rica on our honeymoon, for two weeks. After that, we should be off to meeting family and friends.

Simon: Can you take pictures and share them?

Henry: We can take photos, but there's no sharing any. They want us to get through the honeymoon first. That way, if there's any trouble between us, there's no raging media posting or anything. It also keeps production under wraps a little bit longer. The production for the show will be announcing the show and who's on it after our honeymoon. Since we're celebrities, it's hard to keep something like this secret for long.

Charlie: That makes logical sense.

Henry: Yeah. Once that NDA clears, I'll send you guys photos of her. She's really beautiful.

“I'm ready to go, Henry.” Alexa said, coming into the room, her backpack over one shoulder and dress draped over her arm.

“Great.” He smiled, standing up and pocketing his phone. “Let's hit it.” He said, heading for the door going out into the hallway, but paused. “They might be waiting for us out there.” He told her, not wanting her to feel ambushed.

“True.” She nodded, taking a deep breath, readying herself.

Nodding back at her, Henry opened the door and stepped into the hall, sure enough, down the hall a short way was the cameraman, his camera resting on his shoulder and pointing up their direction. He hit record as soon as he saw Henry appear, followed by Alexa. The exit was exactly behind the cameraman, forcing them to walk in front of him, while he strode backwards. Henry reached behind him and felt Alexa grab his hand, squeezing it hard as she pressed closer to his back.

“Are you excited to relax in Costa Rica?” She asked, looking up at the back of his head.

“I am.” He smiled at her over his shoulder. “It's been a little while since I've had a vacation from work.” He admitted, remembering the last break from work he had, back in 2018, when he took his brothers and sisters-in-law to Fiji. “I look forward to relaxing there with you as well.” He added an impish twinkle in his blue eyes.

Alexa giggled. “You're going to be a handful.”

“To say the least.” He chuckled back, pausing to shove the exit door open and allow her to go ahead of him, then followed her to the awaiting car the show had to take them to the airport.

The cameraman filmed them putting their things into the car's trunk, then got into the back and drove away.

“How long will it take us to get there from here?” Alexa asked, resting back in her seat. “Do you know?”

“Almost nine hours.” Henry answered, pulling the tickets out of his jacket pocket. “But it looks to be a private jet. So we should be nice and comfortable.”

“Mmm, that's nice of them.” She commented, having expected first class on a flight.

“It is.” He agreed, tucking the tickets back into his pocket, chewing on his bottom lip as he thought about getting on the plane, his leg bouncing anxiously.

The ride was quiet, but it wasn't an awkward silence, the two of them watching the rain patter against the dark tinted windows. Their shoulders gently rested together, in an unconscious reminder that the other was there. As the airport came into view, Alexa leaned forward and unzipped a compartment of her backpack, pulling out a black beanie and secured her bag closed again. Henry watched her pull the cute, almost oversized, beanie over her head, a pair of black horns sticking up at the top.

“What?” She frowned over at him, the beanie pulled lower on her forehead.

Henry grinned even more. “You looked adorable with that beanie on.” He told her, lightly flicking one of the horns.

“Oh.” She blushed, biting her lip and scrunching her shoulders. “It's one of my favorite beanies.” She admitted to him. “One of my brothers got it for me, for my birthday a couple years ago..”

“I like it.” Henry said, fussing with his green, Royal Marines Commando hoodie for a moment, as the car pulled up to the doors of the airport, before he got out and moved around the car, opening her door for her.

“Thank you.” Alexa grinned, slipping out into the light rain, securing her bag over her shoulders, before following Henry to the back to grab her dress from the boot.

She watched him pause to pull a worn and faded brown Kansas City Chiefs hat out and secure it on his head, tugging it low over his blue eyes. Alexa understood what he was doing. As much as Henry was using the hat to shield himself from the rain, momentarily, he was using it to hide his face and hopefully keep any potential fans and paparazzi from spotting him. Drawing attention to him and Alexa being together, spreading word through social media that something was up.

“Thank you.” Henry said to their chauffeur, extending his hand to the man, who shook it with an appreciative nod.

Alexa had a gentle smile on her face at the gesture, seeing how kind and much of a gentleman her new husband was. Turning his attention back to Alexa, he extended his hand to her, which she took, with no hesitation, despite all others she felt inside of her. She allowed Henry to guide her through the double-automatic doors and into the hustle and bustle of Heathrow Airport. Biting her lip, she moved a little closer to Henry, who easily weaved a path through the throng of people coming from or going to their boarding gate, carrying or wheeling their luggage.

“You seem to know where you're going.” She pointed out to Henry.

“I've flown out of this airport a few times by private jet.” Henry replied, heading almost straight for security, that would get them through to the VIP area and their terminal.

When they got through security, their jet's crew hadn't arrived yet, so they slipped into the VIP bar across from it to wait. Henry ordered a whiskey on the rocks and Alexa asked for a Dr. Pepper. It was as she sipped at it, that she noticed Henry only grasped the glass in his hand, thumbing the rim and shaking his leg, while his vivid cerulean eyes were distant and cloudy.

“Henry.” She said softly, cocking her head at him, slightly.

“Hm?” He hummed back, only turning his head a fraction in her direction, his eyes never focusing.

“You're not--” Alexa laid her hand on his wrist. “You don't have flight anxiety, do you?” She questioned, concerned by the sudden realization.

Henry cleared his throat hard, finally picking his drink up and taking a deep gulp of the sharp, honey-amber liquid. “I do.” He admitted, with a straight tone. “It's usually not so bad, because I have my dog, Kal.”

Licking her lips, Alexa shifted beside him, her alarm in her eyes, concerned for Henry. “What can I do to help?” She asked, closing her hand around his wrist, trying to be reassuring.

“I don't know.” He answered, finishing his whiskey off.

“What does Kal do for you?” She inquired, rubbing the inside of his arm.

Henry floundered at her question.

Kal was Henry's best friend. He had the American Akita, since he was just a little pup, before his ears could stand up on their own. What very few knew about Kal, was he was a registered Emotional Support animal. For Henry's anxiety, not just on planes. But he helped best, when Henry had to fly. He had wished to bring Kal with him, but had been asked not to, by the production of the show, so he wasn't a distraction on his and Alexa's big day, then their honeymoon. Once that was over, he was more than welcome to be around them.

But he couldn't put to words how Kal actually helped him get through his anxiety from take-off to landing. Just having the Bear close to him, put Henry at ease, like a warm security blanket out of the dryer. So, to that point, he wasn't sure how Alexa could help him keep it under control, during the nearly nine hours they'd be on the jet.

“Have you ever tried surfing before?” Alexa asked, leaning against him.

Henry blinked, confused by the sudden change in conversation. “No, I haven't.” He answered, looking over at her.

“Mm.” She smiled up at him. “When we get to Costa Rica, I want to teach you how to surf.” She said, resting her chin on the top of his shoulder. “So, I hope you have a good sense of balance.”

“Is that so?” He answered, starting to smile uneasily at her. “I think I have pretty good balance. I look forward to seeing you try. Have you ever been scuba-diving?” He asked, feeling the hot knot in his stomach start to relax.

“I've done it once or twice.” She nodded, wrapping her arms around his thick one.

“We'll have to do it while we're there.” He told her, reaching up to brush his fingertips across her cheek.

“I'd really like that.” Alexa beamed, tilting her head lightly into his touch. “I looked up some things to do in Costa Rica, while you were doing your interview.”

“Did you?” Henry cooed, his anxiety down to a manageable level. “Like what?”

“There's some great nature walks, with amazing waterfalls and hot springs, or you can go whale watching, zip-lining and see the island's wildlife. Obviously, there's stuffing your face with the local food.” She rattled off the things she remembered from the website she'd checked, while waiting for Henry to come back from his one-on-one interview.

“The hot springs sound nice.” He commented, cocking an interested brow. “These old, sore muscles could use a nice spa day.”

Alexa giggled at him, shaking her head. “You're not old, Cavill.”

“I'm not young either, Cavill.” He teased back, looking into her eyes.

“Oh,” She sighed, biting the inside of her bottom lip and blinking slowly. “I highly doubt it slows you down any.”

Henry's throat bobbed and a silent shiver ran down his back, realizing she was flirting with him. Seeing the way her eyes darkened and pupils dilated, caused the forming flame in the pit of his stomach to grow in warmth.

“Mr. and Mrs. Cavill, your flight crew are aboard the jet and ready for you.” An attendant announced, as she came up to their table.

“Great, thank you.” Alexa smiled up at her, feeling the muscles of Henry's arm tense up again. “We'll be right there.” She nodded, hoping the attendant would return to station, so she could focus on getting Henry to relax again.

Smiling at the two of you, she turned and exited the VIP bar, Alexa looked to Henry, resting her hand on his board back and scooting closer to him.

“Breathe.” She whispered softly.

“I'm all right.” Henry muttered back, but still took a slow, deep breath. “I'll be all right.” He repeated, nodding his head and sliding out of their booth.

Alexa gave him a gentle look as they made their way to their gate, handing over their tickets and finally boarding the exceptional jet. Henry dropped his bag by one of the seats and turned towards the bathroom, halfway towards the back of the plane. She wished she could do more, as she set her bag down and slid into her seat. Drumming her fingers against the table in front of her, Alexa tried thinking of something she could do that would distract Henry.

Even for a little while.

An idea hit her and she leaned sideways for her bag, digging through it to pull out her Switch and the portable tablet monitor she had for it. Alexa had finished setting it up just as Henry came back from the bathroom and sat down across from her.

“I challenge you.” She said, sliding the blue controller across the table to him.

“To what?” He replied, catching it before it slid off the edge.

“Mario Kart Deluxe 8.” Alexa grinned, turning the game on. “Best winner, five out of ten, decides what we're eating for dinner.”

Henry stared at her for a long moment, he knew what she was trying to do and appreciated it. He felt the bubble of his competitiveness form in his stomach, pulling a smile across his face as he clutched the controller in both hands and rested back in his seat.

“You're on.” He cooed, confidently. “I hope you like curry.” He teased, picking his driver.

“Bowser.” Alexa giggled, nodding her head. “An interesting pick.”

“Who are you going to pick? Princess Peach or Daisy?” Henry teased back, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

“Ha!” Alexa laughed, scornfully, before picking Shy Guy. “Shy Guy all the way, baby!”

“You're going to get your butt kicked, love.” Henry tisked, watching her pick a track and readied himself, watching the countdown from the monitor Alexa had positioned between them. “Do you play any other games?” He asked, just as the counter finished and their drivers shot across the starting line.

“I have a load of other games on Switch.” Alexa answered, eyes laser focused on the screen, determined not to let Henry distract her.

“Anything good?”

“Define good?” She asked, cocking an eye at her driver.

Henry chuckled, smirking. “What do you have?”

“You're trying to distract me, Henry.” She commented, shaking her head. “It's not going to work.”

“I assure you, my intentions are pure.” He smirked, tensing for a moment as the track parted and Bowser jumped the gap, colliding with a clear spinning, but iridescent, box with a question mark on it. “Ooo, I got a banana peel. You best watch out!” He warned her, bouncing his brows at her.

“Oh, just a peel? I picked up a shell a lap back.” Alexa replied coolly, but her eyes were mischievous. “I have Zelda, Animal Crossing, a couple Mario Karts, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, which is one of my favorites. I used to play the original Spyros on the first PlayStation.”

“Showing your age.” Henry teased, playfully.

“I know, right!” She giggled, not offended. “Anyway, I also have Hollow Knight. Oh, and a game called Spiritfarer! Ugh, that game is amazing, but it is an emotional trauma!”

“How is it 'emotional trauma'?” He huffed, frowning over at her for a second.

“The game starts with you playing Stella, who takes over the job of Spiritfarer from Charon.” She began to explain, but paused, seeing Henry's Bowser up ahead of her Shy Guy and focused to catch up to him, the hint of a smile making the corner of mouth twitch, as she primed the turtle shell she'd been hoarding.

“Don't you dare!” Henry warned her, straightening up in his seat, eyeing the glowing blue, speed-boost stripe up ahead of them, then glanced at the banana peel he was sitting on. He didn't want to use it. He was hoping to use it as a last-ditch effort, if need be, to toss out at the finish line, in an attempt to stop her from winning.

“Or what?” She huffed, amused. “Are you going to toss your peel at me?” She taunted him, sending out her shell.

“Shit!” He barked under his breath, swerving in an attempt to avoid it.

“Use those reflexes, Superman!” Alexa laughed, smirking at Henry's maneuvers.

“What about yours!” Henry asked back, tossing out the peel.

Alexa gasped, knowing it was too late. “A cruel fate!” She sighed, watching Shy Guy spin out into the barriers.

Alexa yawned as she exited the jet with Henry, it was almost one in the morning. He looked back over his shoulder at her and smirked, shouldering both their bags.

“I told you, you should have taken a nap.” He cooed, having dozed for a few hours, after they played a couple games together on her Switch.

“Mmm.” Alexa hummed back at him, she had continued to play on her Switch, too worried about Henry's anxiety coming back to fall asleep. “I'm starving though. What are we eating, oh Master of the Mario Kart?”

Henry let out a barking laugh, his wide shoulders shaking with its mirth. He had won seven of their ten games, declaring himself Master of Mario Kart. “I have no idea what they have open at one am, but the Villa will probably have something.”

“Odin, I hope.” She sighed, stifling another yawn.

They got out of the airport and found a car waiting for them.

“Welcome to Tamarindo, Costa Rica, Mr. and Mrs. Cavill.” The driver greeted them, opening the back door.

“Thank you.” Henry nodded, motioning for Alexa to slide in first. “Do you know anything about our Villa?”

“I do, Mr. Cavill.” The driver replied, nodding back.

“Is there any room service or way to get food, this late?” Henry inquired, glancing into the car, licking his lips. “My wife,” A small lump formed around the word, it felt so strange for him to say. “Is quite famished.”

“The Villa does room service, with a twenty-four hour kitchen; should anything strike your fancy in the middle of the night.” The driver assured him, with a soft smile.

“Excellent, thank you so much.” Henry smiled, relieved, before getting in beside Alexa. “We're in luck. The Villa has all day room service, so we can order something to eat, when we arrive.”

“Thank Odin.” Alexa hummed, sighing softly, her blue eyes heavily half-lidded.

Henry smirked at her, gently wrapping a thick arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his side, coaxing her head against his shoulder. Alexa didn't protest, nuzzling and curling up against the warmth of Henry's body with a soft moan, losing the battle with her eyes. He gulped, feeling her body grow heavy, knowing she would likely fall asleep long before they reached their destination, forty minutes away.

“We've arrived at the La Villa de Playa, Mr. Cavill.” The Driver whispered, looking through the rear-view mirror and into the back seat, seeing that Alexa was out cold.

Henry looked out into the darkness on the other side of his window, to a sweet, little one-story, white stucco building. It was brightly lit and nestled in the palms, as well as mango, lemon and coconut trees. A short walk to a beautiful, private, white sand beach, to which Henry could hear the crashing waves, even from inside the car. He couldn't wait to explore the property and island with Alexa.

“Thanks for getting us here.” He said, before the driver stepped out to open the door for him, offering to take their bags, so Henry could carefully maneuver Alexa out of the car, hoisting her up into his arms, bridal-style, and turning toward the front door.

“Allow me.” The chauffeur offered, pulling the envelope taped to the door down and opening it, ignoring the little card inside for the key and slotting it into the lock, opening it for Henry and setting their things just inside the door. “Have a good evening and congratulations.”

“Thank you.” Henry mouthed, nodding.

Smiling softly, the chauffeur returned to his car and left Alexa and Henry to themselves.

Looking at his slumbering wife, Henry smiled gently at her. “Welcome to our villa, my love.” He whispered to her, kissing her forehead, before stepping over the threshold with her and pushing the door closed with his foot.

Henry managed to find the master suite and laid Alexa down on the king sized bed, gingerly pulling off her black, slip-on converse and her beanie, before pulling the folded down blankets over her. Groaning, Henry tugged his hoodie over his head and tossed it in a chair across and sat down on the bench at the foot of the bed, removed his boots, flexing his toes and glanced to the crescent wall of sliding glass windows that went out to a private veranda, a large hanging chair at one side and a glass-bead fire pit on the other.

The loud grumble of his stomach pulled Henry from his thoughts and he stood, padding into the bathroom for a moment. Closing the door to relieve himself, he noticed that the black two-person, whirlpool tub was outside. It was positioned in the center of a little enclosed courtyard, shaded by a wooden pagoda, with a bubbling pond and river rock waterfall behind it.

“I wonder if she likes baths.” He hummed to himself, moving over to wash his hands, then tiptoed out of the master and into the kitchen to see if there was anything in the refrigerator to eat. “I need to get some of my supplements over here.” He commented, jerking open the door, finding a reasonably stocked fridge, but nothing that really peaked his growling stomach's interest.

Snagging a cold bottle of water, Henry found the telephone that allowed him to call for room service and a booklet, neatly organized for breakfast, lunch and dinner, along with some desert items, the chef's favorite and the option to customize.

“Kitchen of La Villa de Playa, how may I help you?”

“Yes, this is the Cavill Villa.” Henry answered, frowning down at the menu, balanced on his knee. “I would like three of your chicken Empanadas with some rice and beans.” He ordered, before biting his lip and thinking of Alexa, worried she would wake up hungry. “As well as one of your beef tamales.”

“Of course, Mr. Cavill. We'll have your food done presently.”

“Thank you.” He replied, before putting the phone back on its cradle and carding a hand through his hair, feeling the cool metal of his signet ring.

He looked down at his left hand, his ring finger bare, as was Alexa's. It was to be part of filming, the two of them going out to look for their wedding rings together. His heart skipped and his stomach clenched at the idea of looking at rings. What kind of ring would Alexa want? He remembered the engagement ring he'd proposed to his ex with. It was a simple little thing. He wasn't making the money back then, that he was now. It was white gold, half-carat, cushion shaped diamond, that had cost him just over two grand. She didn't have the best reaction towards it, but at the time she'd said yes to him asking to marry her.

However, they broke up a couple months later.

Sighing, Henry shook the thought from his mind, reminding himself that Alexa wasn't his ex and this relationship wouldn't be the same. He'd do better. He'd be a good husband and prove his worth to Alexa.

Alexa stirred, moaning softly as she woke up, finding herself alone in bed and sat up, frowning into the darkness of the bedroom. “Henry?” She called out, tossing the blankets back and got out of bed in search of her husband. “Hen?” She called again, opening the half closed bedroom door and made her way into the living area, finding Henry sprawled out on the couch with a pillow and blanket.

A smile pulled across her face, seeing his long body stretched out on the short couch, bare feet hanging off the edge, uncovered. She shook her head and detoured into the kitchen, discovering a note from Henry on the island.

I wasn't sure if you'd wake up hungry or not, but I ordered you something to eat. It's in the fridge. -Hen.

“He's so attentive.” Alexa muttered, turning to the fridge and opening it, finding the wrapped plate with her tamale on it.

She found the silverware and perched herself on a stool at the island, digging into her food, moaning at how delicious it was, especially stone cold. Once she was finished eating, she went back into the living room and leaned over Henry, resting her hand on his chiseled chest.

“Henry.” She cooed, looking into his relaxed face, her heart fluttering at how handsome and boyish he looked as he slept, one thick arm flung up over his head. “Henry.” She hummed again, running her hand over his torso, rousing him.

His sleepy blue eyes fluttered open, taking a moment to focus on her. “Are you all right?” He asked, becoming alert.

“I'm fine.” She grinned at him, sweetly. “But why are you out here on the couch?”

“Oh,” He rumbled, licking his lips, brows creasing. “I wasn't sure if you'd want to sleep together and wasn't about to just climb into bed with you, asleep, before we had a discussion about it.” He confessed to her, gulping thickly. “So, I just took the safer option of sleeping on the couch.”

Alexa bit the inside of her lip, touched at his gesture. “I don't mind, if we share a bed together, as long as you don't?” She assured him. “Besides,” She looked him over. “You're not going to be feeling very tip-top, if you sleep on the couch.” She pointed out, smirking.

“No.” Henry sighed, smirking back at her, sitting up with his pillow and blanket.

“Thanks for the food, as well.” Alexa said, as they headed back towards the master.

“Oh, you're welcome.” He answered, perking up a little bit, hearing she'd eaten. “I hope what I got you, was all right?”

“It was great!” She giggled, pulling down the bed's blankets. “I actually love tamales.” She confessed, smiling at him.

“Nailed it, then.” Henry smiled back, moving around the bed.

“Are our bags in here?” Alexa asked, glancing around.

“Uh, yeah.” He nodded, sitting down on the mattress. “I put them in the closet.”

“Cool, I'll be right back.” She said, heading into the walk-in closet.

Henry nodded, then got the bed ready to sleep, looking up as Alexa came back out, in a tank top and a pair of black, Jack Skellington short-shorts. He bit his lip, looking her over, his Adam's apple bobbing in his throat.

“Did you make a pillow wall?” Alexa giggled, sitting on the bed with him, seeing the line of pillows in the middle of the bed, between her and Henry's sides.

“I did.” He nodded, laying down and pulling the blankets over himself.

Alexa laid down with him and grabbed one of the pillows, smacking him in the chest with it. “Are you afraid of your wife's cooties, Henry Cavill?” She teased him, giggling harder at the offended expression he gave her.

“Not married for twenty-four hours and spousal abuse already.” He huffed, grabbing one of the other pillows and whopped her back with it. “And no, I am not afraid of whatever cooties my wife may or may not have.”

“Well then!” Alexa huffed, grabbing the last pillow and tossed it in his face, before moving into the space the pillows had been, their legs touching. “Have my cooties!” She said, burrowing under the blankets.

Henry looked at her, almost hidden in the blankets and smiled. “All right then.” He whispered, turning onto his side to lay facing her. “You can have my cooties too.” He mumbled, draping his arm over her waist and resting his chin on top of her head.

[eleventhdoctorsangel]

Never wanted you to hate me

*This part of the chapter is still in Buggy’s POV*

I needed to get my body back first. Then I would go from there. I can’t decide what to do after I get my body back go find my traitorest crew or go after my sweetheart and get her back first. I could tell that she was resting because I couldn’t hear any of those idiots just the sound of her heartbeat. I could hear her soft breathing.

As I was making slow progress back to my big top I heard the sound of her heartbeat starting to pick up as she started to whimper. If I had to guess is that she was having a nightmare. She let out a gasp letting me know that she was now awake. I started to hear her and the other girl her talking before she walked away joining strawhat and moss hair. It was all boring talk about getting a new ship.

I finally made it back to my big top and I slowly started to look through all the creates to find which ones had my body parts and which didn’t. It was a slow process but I started to find body parts when I started to hear running water. “Stop it. Stop it. You don’t miss him. You can’t miss him. Look what he did to you. That dream you had meant nothing. They care about you. You are not a liability to them.” My sweetheart said. Interesting. So she had a dream about me. But most important she seems to be starting to miss me like the good little sweetheart that she is. Oh how I wish I could be there to watch her in the bath. Just the thought of seeing her naked helped me find me lower half.

I could hear the splashes as she moved around in the water. I would admit that I did get distracted just by the sounds of her in the bath. I just knew that if I was with her I would have definitely got distracted. Focus Buggy. Focus on finding your body. Find your body then you can go find sweetheart to make sure that no one can take her away again. I heard a knock and it was the female playfully asking if sweetheart she drown and to hurry up because she wanted to find a dress.

By that time I was just missing one more piece of my body then I’m going after my sweetheart. “Wait till I get my hands in that rubber hose little runt. Nobody makes a fool of buggy the clown.” I said to myself as I looked through some of the last few creates. When a shadow made me momentarily stop as I could also hear footsteps. “Well it’s about time one of my sorry excuses for a supporting cast showed up. Now get out of my light!” I said. “Buggy the clown.” The voice said. I also happened to find my last body part as I slammed open the create. I turned around and started to walked to the uninvited guest as the last piece of my body returned. I saw that it was a fishman. “We’re closed. Show’s on hiatus.” I said and turned around. “Arlong wants a word.” The fishman said. “Well you can tell Arlong that I don’t take requests.” I said as I threw my knives at him but he dodged and hit me in the chest knocking me back. As I hit the floor of my big top the last thing I heard before I lost consciousness was the laugher of my sweetheart.

When I woke back up my hands and feet were tied together there was also a bag over my head. I could hear my sweetheart talking with the other girl and there was another girl with them my sweetheart was telling them both about the dream she had. I was shocked to hear that it also involved me and that she was back with me. That in the dream I was telling her that those friends of her left without her because that she brought nothing to that little crew of theirs. I could used that to my advantage to get her to come to me. The bag was taken off of my head as I started to look around. “Is this the best way to ask for an autograph? I mean sheesh! Fans have gotten so toxic.” I said trying to break the ice. But when I didn’t get a reply I got a little mad. “All right what do you want? Tickets to the show? I can get you house seats. They’re pricey.” I said. Then there was a loud thud. “Oh I’m no fan of yours.” Arlong said as he finally showed himself. “Arlong?” I asked. “I run things here in the East Blue. I’m here to remind you if your place in the food chain. You pull a job in my seas you gotta pay tribute.” Arlong said. “But Arlong baby you don’t gotta worry about me. I’m small potatoes. Pirating’s more of a side gig.” I said. “Kuroobi tells you ransacked Orange Town.” Arlong said. “Ransacked? You should’ve seen the place before I got there okay? It was a real fixer upper.” I said. Only to get manhandled. “You bore me clown.” Arlong said as he went for my throat. “Wait wait wait wait wait wait! Wait. Wait. You know who’s out there really disrespecting you? It’s that little rubber prick in a straw hat. Goes by the name of Luffy.” I said as he started to choke me. “Never heard of him.” Arlong said. “He just knocked over a Marine based in Shells Town. And the stole a map of the Grand Line and now he’s talking shit about finding the One Piece.” I said. Arlong shoved me to the ground as I struggled to catch my breath. “The One Piece. An excuse for humans to spread their filth across the seas.” Arlong said. “Listen why don’t you let me live and then I help you find Luffy? Straw hat also stole something from me and I want it back.” I said. Arlong grabbed me by the back of the head. “And how do you plan to do that?” Arlong asked. “I’ve got eyes and ears everywhere. I know exactly where Luffy is. As long as you won’t harm what Luffy took from me I’ll lead you right to him.” I said. The bag was placed back over my head and I was getting dragged away.

I was taken to Arlong park where my head was taken from the rest of my body. I was tied up and my head was taken away from my body. I could still hear my sweetheart as she was talking to straw hat. I could hear discussing going to some restaurant. Of course I knew of which restaurant they were talking about. The Baratie. I hear that one of the waiter there likes to hit on every women that steps inside. He better leave my sweetheart alone. I let the fishman know where the map was. My head was shoved into a bag.

End of Buggy’s POV.

“Did you just call that guy grandpa?” Zoro asked. Another cannon was fired at us but it hit the water. Then another one was fired and this one was coming at us. “Hit the deck.” Usopp yelled. We all did but the force of the hit knocked me off my feet and I fell over the railing hitting the deck below. When I did I could have swore I saw something fly out of my shirt. “Everyone okay?” Luffy yelled. “I think so.” Nami said. “No. Not okay. Not even close to okay.” Usopp said. “I’m good got the wind knocked out of me but I’m good.” I said getting up. “Usopp fire back at them!” Luff yelled. “Or how about we sail away as fast as we can?” Usopp asked. “Run from the Marines? No never!” Luffy said. “Nami trim the… the sail thing. Let’s sink their ship.” Luffy said as he and Usopp got the cannon ready. “We don’t have time. They’re stealing our wind. If they pull up alongside us we’re finished.” Nami said. “You’re the navigator. Do something.” Luffy said. “Zore sheet in and hard to port!” Nami said. “You know how to load a cannon right?” Luffy asked. “Yeah of course. I’ve loaded thousands of them. Uh this must be a different model than I’m used to.” Usopp said. “Which way is port?” Zoro asked. “The left!” Nami said. “I’ll do it. Zoro go help Usopp and Luffy.” I said. That when it all started to fall apart. I let out a sigh as I saw the cannon balls rolling at my feet. “Pirate vessel by order of the marines lower your sails and submit to my authority.” A loud male voice said. “Never!” Luffy yelled. Another cannon ball was coming for us and Luffy used he’s power to blow it right back at the destroying one of their sails. “That was amazing. You saved us!” Usopp said. “You didn’t tell me you could do that.” Nami said. “I didn’t know I could.” Luffy said. Both Luffy and Usopp started cheering. “Nami get us out of here.” Luffy said. “On it.” Nami said. That’s was when I noticed a fog coming in. “Let’s disappear.” Nami said as we started to sail into the fog.

Not long after we got into the fog Luffy went off somewhere by himself. “How’s the ship look?” Nami asked. “Broken railing. Minor damage. Could’ve been a lot worse.” Zoro said. “Could’ve been better.” Nami said. “Can’t see the marines anywhere.” Usopp said. “Can’t see anything in this soup. What we need is a place to lay low wait out any reinforcements they send after us. But my charts are useless in this fog.” Nami said. “What did Luffy say?” Zoro asked. “He’s on the bow. He hasn’t said anything since we hightailed it.” Usopp said. “Well somebody needs to talk to him. About this and that other thing.” Nami said. “What other thing?” Zoro asked. “Oh gee I wonder. The vice admiral of the marines is my grandfather thing.” Nami said. “Oh that. Yeah I don’t really know the guy that well.” Usopp said. “Doesn’t seem like a big deal.” Zoro said. “Oh for crying out loud I’ll go talk to him.” I said. “Thanks Y/n at least someone is being helpful.” Nami said. “Yeah better to let the mom of the crew to talk to him” Usopp said. I flipped him off as I walked to the bow to go talk to Luffy.

I found him sitting down removing debris from his hat as I sat down next to him. “You doing okay Luffy?” I asked. “Great. But my hat took a couple of hits during the battle.” Luffy said. “Next time we stop for supplies I’ll grab some straw to fix it. We need to get stuff to fix the railings that took damage. Do you want to talk about the battle you don’t have to. I find it easier to talk about things like this sometimes.” I said. “Nope.” Luffy said. “Why didn’t you tell us about your grandpa?” I asked. “I didn’t think it was important.” Luffy said. “Well we would at least would have liked a warning incased something like that happened. It would have gave us time to get a plan ready.” I said. “I’m sorry. I guess I should have told you guys.” Luffy said. I smiled and ruffled his hair. “Just don’t do it again.” I said. Luffy started to sniff the air. “Hey! You guys smell that?” Luffy asked. “Smell what?” Nami asked. “There’s something on the breeze. Smells like butter. Soy sauce. And meat.” Luffy said. “I can’t smell anything.” Usopp said. “Think he had brain damage?” Zoro asked. “I think that every day.” Nami said. “You think it could be part of having devil fruit powers?” I asked. “It could be a possibility.” Nami said. “Look Luffy playing follow smell is fun and all but we really got to get out of this fog.” Usopp said. “I know but I smell food which means that there’s someone somewhere cooking.” Luffy said.

We followed Luffy’s nose. “Five degrees starboard! No! No! Three degrees back to port.” Luffy yelled. “Add food to the equation and suddenly he knows how to navigate.” Nami said. I could barely make out two lights. “What is that? Is that land?” Zoro asked. “Can’t be. There aren’t any islands anywhere near here.” Nami said. The fog slowly started to fade and we could see whatever it was better. “What’s a baratie?” Usopp asked. “It’s that sailing restaurant.” I said. We pulled up to the dock. “Everyone’s going in to that fish ship.” Zoro said. “That smell. “Y/n was right this place is a restaurant.” Nami said. “Then I know what we’re gonna do next.” Luffy said. “Disguise this ship so the marines can’t find us?” Nami asked. “Sail back to syrup village where it’s safe?” Usopp asked. “Nah. Let’s eat.” Luffy said. “That fish better have a bar.” Zoro said. “Well I’m going to go change before we go to eat.” I said. “You got the right idea.” Nami said as we both walked down into the ship together.

Thankfully Kaya supplied us with clothes as well. I decided to wear something that covered up Buggy’s mark but I did put the bottoms back on because they have started to grow on me. The boys were waiting on Nami and I then we all walking into the Baratie together. “Welcome to Baratie. How can I help you?” The host asked. “Hi! Where do we?” Luffy asked. “Do you have a reservation sir?” The host asked. “Do we need one?” Luffy asked. “We’re very full today. I can put you on the waiting list it’s three weeks out.” The host said. “Maybe you want to check your book again. You wouldn’t want to turn away the future King of the Pirates would you?” Usopp said. “And who is that sir?” The host asked. “Monkey D Luffy. Perhaps you’ve heard of him?” Usopp said. “Well in that case we’ll find a table.” The host said. “Yeah I knew it!” Luffy said. “In three weeks.” The host said. Which made me laugh a little. “You’ll have to excuse them. They’re idiots.” Nami said handing him some berry. “Of course. Right this way ma’ma.” The host said as he lead the way down the stairs. “See? Works every time.” Usopp said. “At least he didn’t use me being important to buggy as an excuse.” I said. “I would have killed him if he did.” Zoro said as we walked down the stairs.

We were lead to a booth a I got swear that some of the men were staring at me. I watched Zoro struggle with his swords causing me to start laughing. “I’d be happy to check your swords for you sir.” The host said. “He doesn’t let those swords or me out of his sight sir.” I said. “Ah understood.” The host said. I was sitting in between Nami and Zoro. “Here are your menus. Your waiter will be with you shortly.” The host said. “Wonder what kind of food they have here?” Usopp asked. “Well that why menus were invented Usopp.” I said as Nami and I started to look at the menu. “You’re mean you know that.” Usopp said. “Mean and giving tough love is different.” I said.

I could hear two idiots starting to fight over a table. “So much for a quiet meal.” I said. “You’re telling me.” Nami said. Then a blonde waiter walked out from the kitchen trying to break up the fight. But when that didn’t happened the waiter kicked their asses. “Good fighter.” Luffy said. “No cause for alarm folks. Please enjoy your meals.” He said walked to our table putting a thing of bread down. Which Luffy snatched up. “Hi welcome to our shitty restaurant where the only thing worse than the ambience is the food. My name is Sanji. What can I get for you?” Sanji said. “One of everything please.” Luffy said with a mouth full of bread. “Luffy don’t talk with your mouth full please.” I said. “Sorry.” Luffy said. “Any drinks? One of our signature cocktails to help choke down your meal?” Sanji asked. “Giving us the hard sell huh?” Nami said. That’s when he finally noticed the both of us and smiled. “Apologies madams I didn’t see you both there. Would the two of you care for an aperitif to start? We have several rare Micqueot vintages in stock. Or perhaps you two might like a glass of Umeshu? You know something sweet for someone sweet.” Sanji said and winked at us. “Is something wrong with your eye?” Nami asked. “Just blinded by the two beauties in front of me.” Sanji said. Zoro cleared his throat. “Waiter can I get a beer and something for my friends?” Zoro said. “Two beers. I usually have three but.” Usopp said. “And a milk.” Luffy said. “Three beers and a milk. And for the madams?” Sanji said. “Water.” Nami said. “Same for me please.” I said. “Still, sparkling, Mineral? With ice or without? Cubed or crushed?” Sanji asked. “Regular water in a regular glass. Thanks.” Nami said. “Same.” I said. “Right away.” Sanji said as he left smiling. Once he did the boys looked at us. “What?” Nami asked. “Nothing. Madams. Forgive me for my rude behavior madams. Would madams prefer her water in a crystal glass or would a golden bowel be more madams style?” Zoro said. “Nami’s got a boyfriend and Y/n can get other men besides a clown to hit on her.” Usopp said. “I will ground all of you.” I said. “You guys are the worst. Now you all know why Y/n’s my favorite.” Nami said. I sipped my water as I tried to decide what I wanted.

I will never not be shocked with how much Luffy can eat just by himself. “Have you always been able to eat this much by yourself or did it really start happening after you got the devils fruit powers?” I asked. “Well before I always had a big appetite and after I ate the gum gum fruit I guess my appetite got to be where it’s ate today.” Luffy said. “I can’t eat another bite but it’s so good.” Usopp said. “Oh man you said it.” Zoro said. “I’m not gonna be hungry for a week.” Nami said. “Should we order dessert?” Luffy asked. “I already got mine.” Zoro said motioning his beer. “That reminds me. We should do a toast. Come on. Grab your glasses.” Luffy said. “Not in the mood right now next time.” I said. “To the best crew sailing on the sea and to our victory! Yeah!” Luffy said. “Sorry. What victory exactly?” Nami asked. “Against the Marines. Our very first battle and we crushed them.” Luffy said. “I don’t know how many naval battles you guys have been part of” Nami said. “Two dozen at least.” Usopp said. “Lair.” I said. “But that was a disaster. We were unprepared uncoordinated. By all rights we should be at the bottom of the sea.” Nami said. “We’re not though. Luffy saved us.” Usopp said. “Are we really going to ignore the elephant in the room right now? You didn’t think to mention your grandfather was a Marine? And not just any Marnie a vice admiral! I don’t know about you. I didn’t sign up for that.” Nami said. “You raided a Marine base. Of course that’ll make you a target.” Zoro said. “If I stole the map no one would’ve known I was there as opposed to wrecking a base commander’s office.” Nami said. “Your bill sir.” Sanji said placing it down on the table. Luffy grabbed it and started to write something down. “Thank you my good man.” Luffy said and handed it to Sanji. He looked very happy to see what Luffy wrote down. “No sir. Thank you.” Sanji said and walked away. “What did you write?” I asked. “I’m not saying it’s good that the marines are on our tail but we showed them that they can’t just roll over us. This crew our crew can handle anything.” Luffy said. “Who the hell is Monkey D Luffy?” A voiced asked. “What did you do now Luffy?” I asked. “Here.” Luffy said.

A man with a amazing mustache and a wooden leg walked over to our table. “You seem to be confused about the rules of the house but Baratie doesn’t offer credit. You eat you pay.” The man said. “I think you’re confused. The meal has already been paid for. I just haven’t gave you the money yet.” Luffy said. “Yeah and how’s that?” The man asked. “You can add it to my treasure tab.” Luffy said. I let out a sigh. “Let me out I’ll be right back.” I said to Zoro. “Need me to come with?” Zoro asked. “No I can manage.” I said as he let me out of the booth as I made my way back to the going merry.

I went to my room and grab some of the berry I had set aside incase of stuff like this. But thankfully since it was just Zoro and I nothing like this ever happened so I was able to save up quite a bit. I grabbed enough from what we owe for the food and then some because of Luffy. I walked back in the Baratie and saw Sanji. “Sanji can I talk to the guy who was yelling at Luffy please?” I asked. “Sure I’ll get him for you beautiful.” Sanji said and walked back into the kitchen.

The man from earlier walked back out and to me. “Here. It’s what me and my friends owe and then some because of the stunt Luffy pulled. But don’t tell Luffy I did this maybe wait a day or two just so he can learn a lesson.” I said handing him the money. “You seem to be one of the smartest ones among that lot dear.” He said. “Yeah I’ve been told that a few times already sir and I probably will always be hearing that. Those boys are a handful.” I said. “Maybe I should give you one of mine.” He said. “Sanji?” I asked. “That would be the one.” He said. “That would have to be his choice if he wanted to come with us I can’t force him to come with.” I said. “You are something else.” He said. “I’ve heard that before as well. Again I’m sorry about the trouble Luffy caused you again.” I said. “All forgiven now dear.” He said. “Do you know where the other might have went?” I asked. “The bar.” He said. “Thank you.” I said as I made my way to the bar.

As I walked into where the bar was I bumped into a man. “Oh I’m sorry.” I said. “Quite alright.” The man said. That’s when I noticed his eyes were like a hawk. This must be Mihawk. “Care for a drink?” Mihawk asked. “Not much of a drinker I’m sorry.” I said giving a small smile. “That’s quite alright.” Mihawk said. “I have friends that need to be watched over and one likes to over drink. So if I get drunk than it’s every man for himself.” I said laughing a little. I saw him trying not to crack a smile. “I guess one drink won’t hurt.” I said.

I followed Mihawk to the bar and he ordered us two glasses of wine. “So what brought you here?” I asked. “A job and I got to find a boy and take him back to his grandfather.” Mihawk said. “Luffy.” I said. “You know him.” Mihawk said. “He’s a handful. So are the other two boys that are part of the crew I’m in. The only one that has a brain up there is the other girl that we have on the crew.” I said. I looked to see Usopp drunk off his ass dancing. I sighed as I watched him. “Y/n where have you been!” Usopp said putting an arm around me. “I had to do something Usopp. How much have you had to drink?” I asked. “You can’t be asking the captain Usopp such a thing.” Usopp said. “So you’re the captain?” Mihawk asked. “Well technically no. But I did distract them so that Luffy who’s like the official captain could bounce that ball back. Boom.” Usopp said. “I should very much like to meet this Luffy.” Mihawk said. “Sure come on Y/n. Come meet the whole crew.” Usopp said leaning on me as we walked away.

We walk over to where Nami and Zoro were sitting. “Guys meet our new best friend. What did you say your name was again?” Usopp said pointing back at Mihawk before I helped him sit down. “Which one of you is Monkey D. Luffy?” Mihawk asked. “Who want’s to know?” Nami asked as Zoro looked at Mihawk. “You’re Dracule Mihawk.” Zoro said. “I have business with your captain. If you know what’s good for you you’ll hand him over.” Mihawk said. “We don’t know anyone named Luffy. Right Zoro?” Nami said. Zoro quickly stood up grabbing me by the elbow pulling me behind him. “Zoro?” Nami asked. “I’ve been following your career since I was a child. It’s an honor to finally meet you sir.” Zoro said. “Thank you.” Mihawk said. “Which is why it pains me to inform you that tomorrow you’re going to die.” Zoro said. “Wait what?” Nami asked. “Zoro what in the actual hell are you thinking.” I said. “I Roronoa Zoro challenge you to a duel to the death.” Zoro said. “I never heard of you.” Mihawk said. “They call me the demon pirate hunter. My lifelong dream is to best you in a single combat and become the greatest swordsman in the world.” Zoro said. “You’re serious.” Mihawk said. “Accept my challenge. You’ll see how serious I am.” Zoro said. “Very well. Tomorrow at dawn. And when I’m done with you pirate hunter I’ll take your captain.” Mihawk said and walked away. “What the hell did you just do?” Nami said. I glared at Zoro as tears fill my eyes as I stormed passed him purposely bumping my shoulder against his as I went back to the going merry.

I laid down in my bed as I cried. Until I heard a soft knock at my door. “Go away Zoro I don’t want to talk to you or see your face right now.” I said. “It’s not Zoro it’s me. Can I come in.” Nami said. “Yeah. Just as long as Zoro is not with you.” I said. “Trust me he is not with me.” Nami said as she walked in my room. I sat up wiping my eyes. “Listen we’re going to try to talk him out of this okay.” Nami said sitting next to me. “Nami you and other two don’t know him like I do. You can’t get him to change his mind.” I said. “We are going to try okay. Just look how upset this is making you it will have to at least make him rethink this.” Nami said. “You can try but I don’t think it will.” I said. “I will make him rethink it if I have to beat him.” Nami said. Which made me laugh a little. “Do you want to come to help to talk him out of this?” Nami said. “No I’m still mad and hurt at him.” I said. “That’s fine I’ll make him regret upsetting you like this.” Nami said. “Thanks Nami.” I said. “Don’t mention it.” Nami said playfully nudging me and got up walking out of my room. I fell back on my bed crying.

Taglist: @ultimatreality @honey-eyed-munson @bigmilkylove @mischiefmanaged71 @cheshirenjp @zaphira-san @valen-yamyam16 @djloveyou3000 @laurelthesimp @the-angriest-angel @starsali

@vix-xen @spqce-bun @zulema222 @beezebub00 @alex-69-420 @paarthurnax59 @missmokaa @cup-of-tee007 @im00flynn @sircrocodilesandflower @ane5e

This Episode of Never wanted you to hate me is called SURPRISE!!!!! (yes I just quoted bluey)

[jaskierx]

Honestly, I really admire (and am thankful for) the way you manage and handle those back and forth with some Izzy stans, I don't think I have the mental strength to entertain them myself.

I wasn't part of the fandom after season 1 aired, I watched it without engaging much and then kind of waited for season 2 to come out, so I had no idea such a divide had happened between Izzy stans and the rest of the fandom (glad I was oblivious to it ngl). All I know is that I hated Izzy’s guts and wanted him to get his just desert.

So yeah, I wasn’t a fan and I struggled forgiving him when season 2 started because the show was trying so hard to make him sympathetic (which I honestly couldn’t give two shits about at first, I wanted revenge), plus you’re right, Izzy got way too much screen time (which gave Izzy stans ammunitions to say “SEE!! Main character!!!”), but I did end up warming up to him by the time he died. I can even say I genuinely liked him.

BUT the journey to that point was sooo conflicting because some Izzy stans were also doing the absolute most in the main tag, painting Izzy as this angel who never did anything wrong and was terrorized by the monster Ed, and I was like????? Did season 1 happen??? Did I dream the whole season??? Did I watch a version from an alternate universe??? I was BAFFLED. I don't know who is that Izzy they're talking about, but it's not the one on my screen, that's for sure.

Then, Izzy died and the hardcore stans lost their shit (you know what I'm talking about) and they have seriously soured me to Izzy again. I want to like the character we had on screen, and I want to like his redemption arc. He was a great antagonist even if I hated him, and we owed him so much for all the shit he pulled in season 1, but the OTT takes and behaviors from stans I’ve seen have made me give up on him, which sucks. Maybe I’ll feel better about him in a few months, but right now, I can’t stand him, and I’ve blocked his tag everywhere (ao3 included, because, truly, fuck fanon Izzy, fuck him).

Hope it’s not too draining for you though, just writing this felt like screaming into the void, so I can’t imagine dealing with this on the daily. Take care!

hi anon i'm so glad you sent this bc i felt very similarly about izzy in s2. i didn't find him sympathetic at all. i didn't give a single shit that he was suffering from ed being in his kraken era bc he's the entire reason ed ended up like that in the first place. izzy was reaping what he sowed. seeing ed feeling so miserable broke my fucking heart and i can't stand any bullshit takes about 'izzy was protecting the crew from ed's abuse' or 'edizzy invented love confirmed' or whatever other nonsense his stans chose to take away from episodes 1-3.

i truly do not see izzy as a victim. i truly do not see ed as an abuser. sometimes i will start reading a post in the ofmd tag that refers to an 'abuser' and a 'victim' and i get halfway through the post and realise that the op has a completely opposite view of who is who than i do.

and as s2 progressed i just felt worse and worse about it like he was getting so much screentime and popping up all over the place and he'd absorbed a load of traits (from other characters that i'd have rather seen more of) bc the writers had to speedrun making him semi-likeable. i still haven't done a proper rewatch since the finale aired and i'm pretty sure i'll feel different watching it knowing he dies in ep8, but when eps 6-7 dropped i fucking hated every scene he was in and felt like he ruined some otherwise really lovely ed/stede moments like their breakfast in bed. izzy being cheered on for wearing drag and singing - the exact acts that caused him to threaten ed - feels exactly like the very common queer experience of seeing the homophobic kid who bullied you for being queer getting loads of support when they come out themselves.

and the takes that were coming out of the canyon at this time were absolutely wild, especially in relation to ed. people absolutely baying for blood, wanting to see him suffer, wanting his relationship with stede to suffer, wanting him to have to crawl across broken glass to repair his relationship with the crew, all while treating izzy as a protagonist who never did anything wrong.

so ngl i was delighted when he died. but mostly i was relieved that it was going to be over. i walked out of my circus tent with my clown makeup on believing that the canyon would yell for a bit and then slowly quiet down as people who claimed they'd be leaving the fandom if izzy died made good on their promise and fucked off.

and if anything they've got louder and more unhinged and are out here reinventing tjlc and harassing the writers and churning out the most rancid racist posts and writing obituaries that caused multiple people on twt to mistakenly think Actual Human Person con o'neill had died.

and on one hand i'm kind of glad that more people know what they're like now but god i really do feel for any izzy fans who have had their enjoyment of him ruined by the canyon. i really do think it's not the character that's polarising, it's the fandom response, in that most people who come in liking izzy end up either aligning with the canyon or getting so fucking fed up of the canyon that they don't like him anymore. and both of those are a shame tbh because he is very well acted and well written, especially in s1, and i wish i could've enjoyed his scenes and felt the emotional payoff of his death

anyway. sorry for writing you 1 billion words. ily ❤️

[basilone]

My gosh I’m so whipped for Rosie now it’s not even funny…. He struck me as a happy go lucky character when he waltzed in all goofy and his buddies called him twinkle toes I was like OH he’s the comedic relief about DAMN time

boy was I wrong I had no idea he’d have me in a chokehold like this, I’m so impressed by his competence man he rly contains multitudes

I know you’re a big fan of his from what I’m seeing, is there any chance you could tell us more about him since you’ve read the book and are more familiar? While we cope with not having any Nate/Rosie fanfics just yet? 🥲🩷

HAH, the ploy is working! Entices you with that entrance like "fuck yeah this dude is having fun in his life, thank all the gods someone in this bar dances his lil heart out", proceeds to be the most relatable ever rambling about things he probably shouldn't have, and then gets up there in that plane and proves himself to be one of the most competent guys out there. Contains so many multitudes that we'll be learning about as time progresses!

I keep thinking to myself that if I hadn't been a Rosie fan beforehand, I would have been hook-line-sinker for him from the moment he began to hum. That was the moment for me that really showed the heart of who this guy is: he cares so much, and he sees things through no matter how bad they get. He makes his crew feel safe when they fly with him. And he does all of what he does from that desire to make other people feel safe.

Real-life Rosie was one hell of a guy, stating: "Everything I’ve done or hope to do is because I hate persecution. A human being has to look out for other human beings or there’s no civilization." I don't want to say too much about him here in case people truly do not want to be spoiled about his fate in-series, but if you want to know more about him and are fine with spoilers... Start right here. 💚

I also really urge everybody to read more about him and the rest of the guys in the Masters of the Air book, but this website about the 100th Bomb Group is also a great treasure trove of information if you can't access the book right now. (Also, I know that @hesbuckcompton-baby is already publishing fic with him -- I'm sure the rest of us will follow along at a steady pace eventually. 😉)

[alifeasvivid]

The Floor is Lava, a ukus rom-com, Chapter 4

Chapter Rating: T Warnings: none Summary: Alfred and Arthur officially start working together. Word count: ~7100 (yes you read that correctly >.> ...)

Read here on AO3.

On Monday morning, Alfred is pulling on his boots just off to the side of the front door when Matthew suddenly looms over him, making him jump. “Jesus, Mattie. What?”

“You said you were gonna wear scent patches.” Matthew says, a whiny edge to his voice.

Alfred’s brow furrows and he breathes in deeply to keep himself from getting angry. “I said I would consider it. I considered it. I don’t want to, so I’m not going to.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want to, I don’t need a reason other than that,” Alfred snaps. If alphas and betas don’t typically wear them, why should he? “Hey, you know what would make you actually supportive to omegas? Respecting our autonomy and independence.”

Matthew looks abashed. “I know, I’m sorry,” he mumbles. 

Alfred tugs the laces tightly on his boots, stands up, and sighs. He hugs his little brother, who has been taller than him for almost a year now, squeezing him tight. “It’s not like we still live in caves, you know. Most alphas are just like you and dad, almost as civilized as the rest of us,” he teases.

“Ha,” Matthew says sarcastically. “That’s funny. You’re so funny. I just don’t want anything bad to happen to you. I don’t want you to get hurt anymore.”

Alfred ruffles Matthews hair, having to reach up a little to do it. “Mr. Kirkland is a client. That’s it. Dad says he’s cool, he’s got a cute little girl and everything. He’s definitely more progressive and open-minded than any of the alphas on Dad’s crew and you know they’re good guys, so I’ll be just fine.”

Matthew squeezes Alfred in return. “Yeah, okay fine.”

“Shouldn’t you be getting to class? I thought your Monday class has that beta girl you like in it.”

Matthew turns bright red and covers his face with his hands. “I think I messed up. I think I scared her.”

Alfred raises an eyebrow as he slings his bag over his shoulder. He has only met some of Matthew’s university friends one time and Kateryna isn’t one of them, but Matthew gets pretty moon-eyed whenever he talks about her, which is often, so at this point, Alfred has a decent grasp on her character. “She doesn’t seem like the type who scares easily, but if you think you messed up, just talk to her about it.”

Matthew pouts. “Fine, but mind your own business.”

Alfred outright laughs. “Oh that’s rich, coming from you. I gotta go, I definitely don’t want to be late. Just get over yourself and ask her out! Careful though, I’m not ready to be an auntie just yet.” He closes the door on an indignant and sputtering Matthew. 

He takes deep breaths outside. Checking the time, he hurries off. He has to make a good impression, to show that Mr. Kirkland’s faith in him is not misplaced which means this project has to go perfectly.

Arthur is putting the groceries away when the knock sounds at the door. He had gone shopping after taking Charlotte to school, hoping to diffuse some of the excited energy that he had picked up from her. Considering how fast she had been vibrating, Arthur is proud that she was able to at least be on good behavior and he had told her so.

She did, however, make him promise several times that she would be able to see Alfred after school. 

Arthur places the milk in the refrigerator quickly before heading toward the door. “Coming,” he calls out. He opens the door to see Alfred standing there, laden with a few large canvas bags and a backpack.

“Hi Mr. Kirkland!” Alfred grins brightly. All the way there, he had been stressing himself out about doing a good job, but seeing Mr. Kirkland with that stunned look he seems to have whenever he opens the door puts him at ease. 

“Good afternoon, Alfred,” Arthur says. Alfred readjusts the bags, lifting them again. “Ah, here, let me help you with those.” 

“Oh? These?” Alfred asks as he steps breezily over the threshold. “Don’t worry, Mr. Kirkland, I got ‘em.” Alfred could almost chuckle, it’s clear that the alpha had taken steps to restrain his scent this time and rather than being overwhelmed, Alfred feels much more comfortable. “Where do you wanna set up shop?”

“Ah, the kitchen is fine,” Arthur says. “And please call me Arthur.”

The casual way he says it shouldn’t send a jolt up Alfred’s spine, but it does. “Sure thing, Mr. K—uh. Arthur.” Alfred sets all of his materials down by the kitchen table and begins carefully laying them out, as well as opening his laptop. The CAD program always takes several minutes to boot up. 

Arthur watches Alfred only a moment before turning to put the kettle on. “Would you care for something to drink?” he asks. Alfred seems slightly on edge and Arthur knows that it’s likely not his fault per se; he remembers that this is Alfred’s first time managing a project on his own.

“Um. No thanks, I’ve got my water bottle.” Alfred leans over the computer to type in the password.

“Alright. If you change your mind, I’m making some tea and you’re welcome to it.”

Alfred’s nose crinkles and his eyebrows furrow slightly. “Leaf water. Gross,” he mutters reflexively before realizing he said it out loud. He instantly bites his lip hard and looks up at Arthur, eyes wide. “I mean— I’m so sorry,” he says.

Arthur laughs and suddenly the instinctive tension he had felt due to the proximity of an attractive, unmated omega is gone and there’s air to breathe again. “No need to apologize,” he says. “You’re certainly not the first person I’ve heard say that since I moved here.”

The kettle whistles before Alfred can say anything and he watches Arthur pour his tea. It’s calming somehow. “Yeah, coffee is my drug of choice, but you can’t have heard it that many times. You only just moved here, didn’t you?”

Arthur shakes his head and sits down at the table. He glances briefly at all of the books spread out over it. The staggering number of options makes his eyes hurt. “Ah, no. I mean, I’ve only just bought the house, yes, but I’ve lived on this side of the pond, so to speak, since before Charlotte was born.” He takes a sip of tea and then examines a binder of flooring samples. “Bloody hell, this looks like an awful lot…”

Alfred sits down next to Arthur and grins. “Don’t worry, I’m gonna help you go through all of it, this is the really fun part for me.” He checks to see if the computer has finished booting up and is thankful that it has. “Oh, so my dad did say that you’re wanting to build an addition to the house? I’m guessing a garage?”

Arthur nods. Anticipation builds since this is the big challenge he hopes Alfred and his company can take on. “An addition yes, but not a garage. I am hoping that the study can be built out and converted into a recording studio.”

Alfred contemplates that from a purely logistical standpoint for a moment. He pulls up the blueprints of the house in the cad/cam program and focuses on the area where the study is. “Hmm. Yeah, that will definitely work in terms of building it out, depending on how big you need it. You’ll need, like, soundproofing and stuff, right?”

Arthur nods, getting more excited about the project that has been on his mind for ages now. “Yes. It will need to be large enough for a live room with an upright piano and full drum kit, an isolation booth, machine room and control room and—” he stops when he notices Alfred is furiously typing. “Am I going too fast?”

Alfred beams. “Nah, you’re good, I’m just making notes. I don’t think we’ve ever built a recording studio before. I’ll ask Dad about it, but I’m betting it’s totally doable. You’re far enough from your neighbors that permitting shouldn’t be an issue.”

Arthur smiles back and takes a sip of his tea. He’s impressed that Alfred already seems to know so much about the house that he can recall such zoning details off the top of his head. “Excellent.”

Alfred finishes typing some notes and pulls up the blueprints of the house again. “That’s a pretty ambitious addition to a house,” he says, trying to sound casual while dying to know what Arthur could possibly need one for, particularly on his house. He had seen the instruments when Charlotte took him through the house during the inspection, but he hadn’t gotten the impression that Arthur is some kind of famous musician. His dad probably would have mentioned something like that.

Arthur laughs. “Yes, I suppose it is, but I am a producer and songwriter, so I know I’ll make good use of it.”

Alfred suddenly remembers what Charlotte had told him, not to mention the instruments in her room. “Oh! Right! Charlotte did tell me you write music.That’s really cool. Do you work with any famous people?” He blushes and feels silly immediately after he says it. He’s supposed to be professional, damn it!

Arthur merely smiles indulgently as that is almost always the first question people ask upon learning what he does. “Not especially. I work with a fair few local artists and bands, but I don’t work for a label, so most of the people I work with are also independent. None of them are exactly mega stars.” Arthur resists the urge to try and impress Alfred by remarking that many of the people he works with are omegas.

“Ah okay. Nice,” Alfred says. Arthur’s relaxed, but intense presence makes more sense now, very fitting for a musician. “Are you in a band?” he asks after a moment.

“Ha! No, not for quite some time,” Arthur replies. Not since before Charlotte was born, actually. “But I fill in as a studio musician if necessary, so I still have plenty of opportunities to play.”

“Sounds really cool,” Alfred says.

Arthur takes another sip of tea. “I do know it’s ambitious, but I want to be able to do my work from home. Sessions can run long and I want to be here for Charlotte,” he says, hoping this emphasizes the importance of the project.

Alfred feels the conviction in Arthur’s voice. It’s obvious that Arthur lives for his little girl and Alfred’s heart turns gooey over it once more. “Yeah, for sure.” He bites back on telling Arthur what a good father he is again. “I know we can get it done, so don’t worry about that. We’ve got good contacts with all the best suppliers, so it’ll just be a matter of figuring out exactly how you want it.”

Alfred’s casual confidence reassures Arthur. “If it will help at all, you’re welcome to visit the studio I’m currently using,” he offers. “The set up there can give you a good idea.” The way Alfred’s eyes sparkle with excitement is so delightfully pleasing that Arthur can’t help but wonder at how he doesn’t have an alpha already wrapped around his little finger.

“Wow! Yeah, that would be awesome! I mean,” Alfred grins sheepishly. “It would be very helpful, and very awesome.”

Cute, Arthur melts and takes another sip of tea. “Good. When you’re ready, give me a time frame and we can plan on a time and date.”

Alfred’s insides squirm at the idea of a date with Arthur… which such a visit will absolutely not be. Professional. He has to do a good job on this. “I definitely will. In the meantime, we can work on the rest of the house,” he says, settling into his neutral, customer-facing frame of mind. “Obviously, some things like flooring usually go through multiple parts of the house, but other than that, I prefer to do it room by room. Though, if you’d rather do it a different way, that’s totally fine.”

Arthur shakes his head, following Alfred’s lead in getting down to business. “No, I think room by room is perfect. You’re the expert after all.”

Alfred beams at him again. “Great, so I’m just gonna go through samples with you and I’ve got the blueprints of the house uploaded so I can mock things up in CAD. Once you kinda have some ideas about what you want, I’ll bring bigger samples and any paint; then we can actually go through the house. So first thing’s first. Exterior paint.”

Arthur hums. “I was thinking dark greys and black.”

Alfred blinks at him and then laughs. “For real?” he asks, smiling when Arthur nods with a mischievously sincere glint in his eyes. “Oh, hell yeah, let’s do it up. I love it when people do crazy paint jobs on old Victorians.”

“I do want it to stand out,” Arthur affirms with a chuckle. "I know eventually, hopefully not for a long time, but eventually I’ll move out of here, after Charlotte is grown most likely, and I want to be able to turn the place into a kind of music school or conservatory.”

Alfred nods while leafing through the exterior paint book for the appropriate color range. “That’s awesome. I’m sure we’ll be glad to help you with that too, when the time comes,” he says in a customer service way and then slides the book over to Arthur. “Okay, so take a look at these let me know which ones you think you like and I can mock them up on the computer.”

After deciding on a few dark greys, a muted indigo for accents, and a nearly-black charcoal for the main portions of the exterior, they move onto flooring.

Alfred quickly realizes that money is not one of Arthur’s main concerns, something that had also been obvious from the fact that he is able to hire a contractor to renovate his entire house at all once. But Arthur’s choices indicate he has rather rich taste in general, though Alfred sincerely hopes that Arthur isn’t simply trying to show off as some alphas do, sometimes without even realizing it. Arthur doesn’t fight him when he makes suggestions about using less expensive options if he thinks they’re comparable or better quality, however, so that’s a good sign.

Best of all, as it turns out, Alfred had been right: Arthur is an excellent client. 

For his part, Arthur is very impressed by not only Alfred’s competence, but the easy confidence that comes with knowledge and experience. Remembering what Brandon had said about Alfred’s advancement in the company and the difficulty of finding a client willing to work with him, Arthur is genuinely irritated on his behalf. He himself works with many omegas who have otherwise been turned away or dismissed by other producers, so he is very aware of the unfortunate phenomenon. He is glad to be the one giving Alfred the chance he has so clearly earned, even if he should have had that chance long before now. 

After covering as much of the first floor as possible, Arthur insists on a break. “I like to take afternoon tea on the porch on days like this,” he says as he prepares himself a very light sandwich. “You’re welcome to join me, of course,” he adds. He’s about to ask if Alfred would like something to eat, but the omega is already pulling out a small plastic container from his backpack.

“That’d be great. Fresh air is never a bad thing,” Alfred agrees with a smile. 

Outside, Arthur sits in his usual spot at the top of the stairs and Alfred sits two steps below. Alfred does consider that it might still be too close, but the staircase is wide and Arthur makes him feel very at ease and they are outside, after all.

“This is a really nice neighborhood,” Alfred remarks between bites.

Arthur hums, “Yes, I got very lucky, I think, though the house is a touch farther from the studio I’m currently using than I would like, but with your help, hopefully that won’t be an issue for much longer.”

Alfred grins. “Nope!” He looks over the porch, which he had done the inspection on before, noting the aging paint. The wood, however, is in decent condition. Then his gaze lands on Arthur, who had apparently been looking at him. “Um. So did you study music in college or something?”

Arthur sips his tea and gives a slight shake of his head. “No, I had a few lessons growing up, but I never made it to university, actually.” He can’t help but smile to himself.

“Yeah?” Alfred asks, “what did you do instead?”

“Well, it was a daft thing to do, but when I was seventeen, I ran away from home and moved here to join a punk rock band after I got to know one of the members online.” He laughs when Alfred’s eyes widen. “Yes, I know I might seem quite posh now, but I’m really not as boring as I look.”

Alfred blushes and coughs, nearly choking on his food. Posh and boring are some of the last words he’d use to describe Arthur. “No! no, I just… wow, you know? That took a lotta guts.” He clears his throat. “But you’re not in a band now?”

“That’s right; not since before Charlotte was born. We gave it our all, for almost two years, but it didn’t work out, as it often doesn’t. I can’t say I regret it though. The experience was very valuable and if I hadn’t done it, I wouldn’t have met Austen, ah, that is, Charlotte’s mum.”

The casual way Arthur mentions it surprises Alfred a bit. “Ch-Charlotte mentioned that she had passed away, it’s gotta be hard on you guys.”

Arthur nods absently. “I certainly wish she were here now, she was my best friend and I miss her terribly. I know she would have made a great mum, but Charlotte and I have always been just the two of us, since she was born. Being in the position I’m in, an alpha with a child but never mated… I’m told it’s odd, but it’s all she and I know.” 

Alfred’s heart wobbles. There’s some sadness in Arthur’s scent, but it’s not grief; it’s definitely not the same sort of pungent, musty basement scent his dad has from time to time, the scent of someone mourning their mate. “I guess that might make it a little easier, huh? Mom died when I was fourteen and since then, it’s just been Dad and Mattie and me. It’s, uh, well it left a gap, you know?” He wants to say more because Arthur makes him feel so safe, but it would be very unprofessional.

Arthur isn’t completely caught off guard by this, he had noticed that scent on Brandon Jones once, but it had been so brief that he dismissed it. “I’m very sorry to hear that, Alfred. I do imagine that would be very hard on all three of you.” He stops himself from reaching out to Alfred, but all of his instincts are alerting him to the omega in need of comfort and they are not easy to ignore.

Sensing the shift in Arthur’s energy, though not knowing the cause, Alfred quickly mentally readjusts himself. He’s here to do a job, not tell his life story. “It was tough at first, but if you love someone, they’re never really gone, right? Dad really kept it together and we’re all super close, and that’s what counts, you know?”

Arthur’s instincts quiet down as the path to soothing Alfred becomes clear: change the subject. “That’s true. Your father has a lot of confidence in you and I think all of it is well-earned. I’m certain it’s the same for your brother.”

Alfred blushes and laughs. “Thanks. Yeah, Mattie’s a good kid. He’s only eighteen, but he’s an alpha, so he thinks he knows better than everyone about everything,” he complains, but with a big grin. “Uh, no offense, of course,” he adds sheepishly.

“None taken,” Arthur chuckles “I thought I knew better than everyone at that age also, but then Charlotte was born and I realized quite quickly that I knew fuck all. But now I’m older and I only think I know better than most people,” he teases.  “… wait, you were only eighteen when Charlotte was born?” Alfred had already guessed that Arthur would have had to be very young, but he hadn’t thought it would be that young.

“Well, nineteen actually, but I believe my point still stands.” Arthur gathers up his dishes. “Shall we get back to it, then?”

“Um, yeah,” Alfred replies absently, following Arthur back inside. Nineteen. Alfred thinks of the alphas he knew in college, he can’t imagine any of them… any of the alphas he knows, really, stepping up the way Arthur did. He can’t imagine any of them raising such a cute, precocious daughter on their own.

“Would you like me to wash your container for you?” Arthur asks when they reach the kitchen. Something is running amok in Alfred’s scent and, along with the omega’s distant expression, it has Arthur mildly concerned. Even so, he runs the water and washes his own dishes.

“Uh, no, I still have some left. Thank you, though,” Alfred says, quickly shoving his container into his backpack. Alfred’s previous comparison of Arthur to the leads in romance novels and movies seems more apt than ever. He is slender compared to most of the alphas Alfred knows, but still strong and so handsome and he’s an amazing father. He must be incredibly devoted to Charlotte and his work or else he would definitely, easily have a mate—any omega whom he so much as glanced at would be willing. He’s the kind of alpha that many omegas secretly dream about, but are too ‘sensible’ to admit it out loud… and Alfred counts himself as one of them.

Alfred blushes. Biology makes his feelings difficult to ignore, but Matthew would say that he should know better by now. And Alfred concedes that he should.

“Are you alright?” Arthur asks. He worries that he has said or done something to offend the omega, but he cannot think of anything that would have done so.

Alfred snaps back to the moment. “Yeah, yeah, I’m good, just got a little lost in thought.” He sits back down at the table. “Let’s get back into it.”

They continue on for awhile, their discussion meandering around the house. Alfred reels himself back into some semblance of professionalism. Alfred continually reminds Arthur that there is no pressure for him to make any decisions right that minute since it’s only the first day and it’s a lot to go over. They go over some of the main aspects of the most important rooms: the living room, the bathrooms, the kitchen, and the master suite.

“What about Charlotte’s room?” Alfred asks.

“Ah, I hope you don’t mind. She’ll be home from school soon, I promised that I would let her tell you how she’d like it, though I do know that I want to turn one of the other bedrooms into a music room for her.”

Alfred smiles in that gooey way. “Um, yeah, sure. Of course.” He moves the CAD program past the three bedrooms, thinking about Charlotte and how very outgoing she is, seemingly more so than her father, who seems far more subdued. But then again, he left London at seventeen to join a punk rock band so maybe there is some resemblance. “Her type will probably become apparent soon, right? She’s about that age.”

Arthur nods. “Yes. I’m quite certain she’ll end up as an alpha, given her temperament.”

Alfred hums. “Interesting,” he says mildly.

“You disagree?” Arthur asks, curious.

“Nah, I just always find it interesting, you know? What type parents think their kids will end up as.”

As if on cue, the front door opens just then and Charlotte comes running into the kitchen. Her eyes light up when she sees Alfred. “You’re here!” she exclaims. Charlotte runs over to them, ignoring her father entirely and throwing her arms around Alfred. 

“Charlotte,” Arthur says warningly. “You cannot just run up to someone like that. What have we discussed about boundaries?”

Alfred breathes and then smiles, gently moving her off of himself. From the tone in his voice, it’s clear Arthur is very sincere in his belief that she will turn out to be an alpha. But if there’s one thing Alfred knows about, outside of contracting and architecture, it’s kids. “It’s alright,” he assures both of them. “Your dad and I have been working on a plan to deal with all the lava, but he says that had some ideas that might work for your own room, right?”

“Yeah! Will you come see?”

Alfred glances quickly at Arthur, who says gives the okay and he grabs his computer. “Sure thing!”

Charlotte nods and she finally acknowledges Arthur by kissing him on the cheek, at which point he affectionately tugs her ear. She looks between her daddy and Alfred sitting side by side and beams. To her, it seems to be just right, everything in it’s proper place. She sticks herself to Alfred’s side as she leads him upstairs.

Arthur raises an eyebrow at his daughter who is now nearly plastered to Alfred. She is incredibly outgoing, to be sure, but she is rarely this affectionate with an adult she doesn’t know well and he suspects that she might be misinterpreting Alfred’s role in their house. He vaguely worries that he might be doing the same thing and it leaves his thoughts in turmoil. It’s not as if he doesn’t want a mate, but between Charlotte and his career, dating and courting are easy things to put off for later. Always later. Someone as lovely and kind as Alfred makes him want to seriously reconsider his priorities.

He follows them upstairs, after a moment and can’t help but smile. Alfred certainly has in abundance what both Arthur and Charlotte often lack: patience with others: an excellent quality in any parent. But the omega is very young and clearly ambitious in his own way, so it’s not likely he’d want to have children any time soon. 

Alfred sits on the floor next to Charlotte in her bedroom, with his computer in his lap. He shows her different paint colors and things like that, which will obviously have to be confirmed later with Arthur. Charlotte claims to want a stained glass window with a crystal chandelier and a huge closet that could maybe, probably not, but maybe lead to other worlds. Knowing what he knows now, Alfred is even more impressed by Charlotte than before. She’s very bright and creative and her mind clearly runs at a hundred miles an hour, but she’s also polite and well-spoken. It speaks very well of Arthur, but also, for Alfred, she’s just a cute kid and fun to be around.

Alfred does notice that she and Arthur have the same mischievous gleam behind their eyes. He can definitely see why Arthur thinks she’ll be an alpha too.

They discuss very preliminary, informal plans about a music room/study/playroom for Charlotte before Alfred glances at his watch. “Oh jeez, it’s getting late. I should probably start packing up.”

“Aw,” Charlotte pouts. Arthur can’t help but (silently) echo the sentiment. 

Alfred closes his laptop, stands up, and grins down at her. “You just want me to stay ‘cause you got homework to do, I bet.”

Charlotte’s eyes dart to the side for a moment, then she hops up and grins abashedly. “That’s not the only reason!” she insists.

Arthur tugs her ear and gives her a serious look. “Charlotte, you promised me that you would be respectful of Alfred’s time.” He wants Alfred to leave exactly as much as he wants him to stay, knowing that the former is what’s best. 

“Yes, I know,” she agrees quietly.

Alfred frowns and bites his lip for a moment. In Alfred’s imagination, Arthur and Charlotte are like their own little island: a bit out of step with the rest of the world, a little lonely. Charlotte, obviously, wants to reach out, wants to let other people in. “Hey, Charlotte, don’t even worry about it. I really liked hearing all your ideas. Kids have the most awesome ideas that a lot of grown ups forget how to have. But you gotta do your homework, okay?”

Charlotte brightens. “Okay!” She darts past Arthur and hops down the stairs.

“Thank you for being so indulgent of her,” Arthur says as they follow her downstairs.

Alfred blinks. “Indulgent? Not really, she’s a good kid. She’s super smart, it’s fun to talk to her. Most kids are really cool if you just give ‘em the chance to say what’s on their mind. I’ve never not had fun hearing about things they come up with, you know?”

“Your father did say that you’re very good with children,” Arthur replies in confirmation.

Alfred turns a little pink. “Uh, yeah, I guess so. Somehow or other, there have always been at least a few of them around; family, neighbors and stuff.”

“So what type do you think sh—?”

“Daddy! What’s for supper?” Charlotte calls from the kitchen. “Did you forget again?”

“Oh, bollocks!” Arthur curses. “Shit.”

Alfred looks over at him and laughs.

“Sorry,” he says, apologizing for swearing. “I completely forgot,” he confesses to Alfred. It’s terribly embarrassing, after Alfred being so complimentary about his parenting skills, to reveal that cobbling together an evening meal each night is honestly a herculean effort. But Charlotte does have to eat. “I suppose I’ll order something then… again,” he mutters.

Alfred taps his thumb rabidly against the laptop in his hands and bites his lip. He knows he should get home. Mattie will have a shit fit if he’s late. Not to mention it’d be rather inappropriate to stay and he knows that, but he can’t, in good conscience, let them eat junk, particularly not Charlotte since she’s growing child.  “Daddy!” Charlotte prompts.

Rather than asking permission, Alfred walks into the kitchen and puts his laptop away. He quickly stacks a few of the books and grins at Charlotte. “Let’s see what we can throw together, yeah?” he says with a wink. He opens a few cabinets, which are light on cookware, but decently stocked with spices. The fridge is quite full as well. For someone who clearly doesn’t know much about cooking, Arthur is very well stocked for it.

Charlotte’s eyes widen. “Are you going to make dinner?” she exclaims, bouncing excitedly.

Arthur wanders into the kitchen, scrolling his phone and trying to find some place that will deliver that also has nutritional value, but then he looks up to see Alfred pulling out his rice cooker and a steak he had had in the refrigerator. Charlotte is positively gleeful. Oh hell. “Ah, Alfred. What are you doing?”

Alfred smiles. “I’m just gonna throw together a quick stir-fry, I hope that’s okay. There will be leftovers so you don’t have to worry about tomorrow.”

“I’d hate for you to be in trouble,” Arthur insists, “This is surely well beyond the scope of a contractor’s job.”

Alfred sets the rice cooker and then begins cutting the steak into strips with ease and precision. “It’s okay, I’m off the clock,” he replies cheerfully, nodding toward the packed up books and laptop.

Charlotte dances around Alfred, watching his every move. Arthur watches his every move too. Alfred is extremely efficient in the kitchen, he notes. Though it’s not a huge surprise, really; if his mum died when he was a teenager, the task of cooking likely fell to him.

Arthur doesn’t have a wok so Alfred makes do with a sauté pan. He uses plenty of vegetables and he laughs when Charlotte leans her head against his arm as he shreds a few carrots.

“No!” she cries, “Don’t put carrots in it, I hate carrots.”

Alfred laughs. “Just trust me, okay? I promise you’ll like it.”

“What if I don’t?” she presses. Alfred is doing something different to them, cutting them into thin strips. Daddy never does that, he just puts them in a pot with water until they’re all soggy.

“Hm… well, if you really don’t like it, you can dump your whole plate on my head, how’s that?”

She doubles over in giggles. “How did you learn to cook?” Charlotte asks. “Does your mummy teach you?”

Alfred pauses briefly. He decides that it’s probably good for Charlotte to know someone who can empathize with her. “She did teach me a lot of things before she passed away,” he says carefully. “She taught me a lot of the fundamentals.”

Charlotte presses against him again. “You mum died too?” she asks. “How did she die?”

“She got very sick,” he explains, “but I have my dad and my little brother and we do things to remember her. Like my younger brother, Matthew, he makes more of her recipes than I do. Lots of cheese and butter and sugar and yummy things.”

“Why didn’t you make something like that? Instead of something with carrots?” 

Alfred chuckles and ruffles her hair a little, though not much since it is still in a French braid. He idly wonders if Arthur had done that or perhaps a friend at school. “Don’t get me wrong, I love all that stuff. My favorite food in the whole world a big, fat cheeseburger, but I try to make sure we all eat healthy, so that we don’t get sick.”

Charlotte’s mouth forms into a little “o” and she nods. “I get it,” she says. “Is your little brother an omega too?” she asks, her mind immediately changing gears.

“Nope, he’s an alpha,” Alfred replies. 

“Is he courting anyone?”

It’s not too surprising that romance occupies much of Charlotte’s brain, given that her father has no mate. “No, he’s only eighteen,” Alfred says. “He better not be courting anyone yet. He just started college, but I know there’s a beta in one of his classes that he likes a lot.”

Arthur stays out of the way and, sitting at the kitchen table, he observes the two of them as if they’re in a television show. It’s almost surreal to see Charlotte so bright and engaged with someone she hardly knows, but Alfred has put her wholly at ease. Arthur himself might be similarly relaxed if not for the fact that Alfred is so beautiful and so kind and that indulging those thoughts is very dangerous.

It seems a shame that Alfred is so keen on working, since he would clearly make an excellent mother. Arthur kicks himself internally. Good work, man, he chides himself, oh so very enlightened. Of course Arthur doesn’t actually think that about omegas and of course Alfred can do both if he wants and of course it’s none of Arthur’s damn business. 

Yet Arthur finds himself as drawn to the omega’s warm, open demeanor as Charlotte is. The kitchen smells wonderful and Alfred deftly works around Charlotte without being the slightest bit bothered by her, and he just seems to belong there. Arthur’s brain shifts into a reverie that is only broken when a plate of colorful stir fry resting on a cushion of white rice is placed in front of him.

“Oh. Thank you, Alfred. This looks delicious.”

Alfred beams, blushing a little, and sets out a plate for Charlotte. He pushes in her chair when she climbs into it and hands her a fork. He then begins packing up the sample books and his computer.

Charlotte readily tucks into her food, her face lighting up. If all of Alfred’s cooking tastes this good, he has to stay forever. “This is so good!” she exclaims.

Alfred smiles as he finishes packing up. “Yeah? Even the carrots?”

Charlotte grins and nods eagerly.

“Told ya,” Alfred says with a wink.

Arthur takes a bite and immediately agrees with Charlotte, “This is quite exceptional, Alfred,” he praises, but then notices that Alfred has not served himself and he appears to be readying himself to leave. “Will—” Arthur pauses. “Will you not join us?” he asks awkwardly.

“Nah, I’m good. I made it for you guys, so there will be plenty of leftovers for tomorrow.” It has gotten late and Alfred feels like if he sits down and eats with them, somehow that would be a step too far. For his heart as much as propriety’s sake. “Matt and my dad will get really worried if I’m not home soon.”

Arthur can certainly understand that. Omegas somehow have the reputation of being the anxious sort, but in Arthur’s experience, alphas are far more fretful in general—often worried in some way or another for the betas and omegas they care about. Alfred’s relaxed personality and attitude prove the point well enough. “Yes, of course,” he says, rising from the table and taking one of Alfred’s tote bags. It’s a fair bit heavier than he expected. “You’ve already done too much for us, I’m very grateful.”

Alfred doesn’t resist when Arthur helps him with his bags. “It’s really no problem at all,” he says and they both quiet as they walk outside to Alfred’s well-loved, old truck. “So I’ll be back tomorrow around the same time and once we’ve got a good handle on most of it, I’ll have my guys come and help you move whatever you need to move. You and Charlotte aren’t staying in the house, right?”

“Right, we’ll be staying with a family friend.” Arthur hands Alfred his bag and watches him throw them into the truck. He notes that Alfred seemingly effortlessly throws them into the cab—the omega is very strong, though Arthur supposes it is no accident.

“Awesome,” Alfred says, turning to Arthur and beaming. Now outside, he realizes just how much Arthur’s scent had been affecting him. A fatigue hits him then, which is not uncommon after spending time around an unmated alpha. The effort of resisting very strong, baser instincts takes its toll. “Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow then,” Arthur replies and he waits until Alfred has driven off before going back inside. The fresh air does him some good as well.

“Hey, I’m home!” Alfred calls out as he enters the house and kicks off his boots. He braces himself for Matthew’s fury, but he doesn’t seem to be home. Alfred wanders his way into his father’s at-home office, where Brandon is diligently tending to some paperwork. “Hey, Dad.”

“Oh, there you are,” Brandon looks up, smiling. “How did it go?”

“It went great, Mr. Kirkland is really cool and easy to work with. He wants to build a recording studio where the study is. We can totally do that, right? I told him we could.”

“A recording studio? Hmm. We’ve definitely done soundproofing before, with heat rooms and everything. Does he have an idea of the layout?”

Alfred nods. “Yeah, he said I can take a look at the place he’s using now.”

“Good, that’ll help. Let him know it won’t be a problem. And I hope that you staying this late won’t become a problem,” he says warningly. “I know you don’t want me to start sending a chaperone.”

“No! It won’t be, like, a thing, I swear. It just…” Alfred fidgets, brushing the back of one calf with his opposite foot. “Um. We finished at a normal time, but I kinda stayed and made dinner for Mr. Kirkland and his little girl.”

Brandon heaves a sigh. “Alfred. You can’t seriously think that was an appropriate thing to do. Staying late at an unmated alpha’s house, a client’s house to cook for them?”

Alfred’s face grows warm. “I know! But Charlotte was hungry and Arthur didn't have anything made already. We were done working, so I thought it’d be okay…”

Brandon can’t help but shake his head. He knows that Alfred knows better and he also knows that his son would have absolutely done the same for almost any client, so it’s difficult for him to get all that upset. He stands up, walks over, and hugs Alfred tight, rubbing his cheek against the top of his son’s head to place his scent on him—a protective move. “You said you were done working? and it was clear that you were done?”

Alfred nods, leaning into his father and his familiar, naturally comforting scent. “Yeah.”

“Then I suppose you were on your own time, but I would really rather you not do that kind of thing again.”

“Okay… are you going to take me off the project?”

Brandon sighs. “Ordinarily, I would, but we’ve waited quite awhile to have a client willing to work with you, so unless Mr. Kirkland makes a complaint, I won’t.”

After dinner, Arthur cleans up the kitchen while Charlotte sits at the table doing her homework. Alfred has left them enough food for a few suppers at least. When he’s finished, he sits down at the table. 

“Is Alfred coming back tomorrow?” Charlotte asks hopefully.

“Yes, but you’re going home with Luna and Astre tomorrow, remember?” Arthur hates dashing her hopes, but it must be done. Earlier, he had considered letting her come home and see Alfred one more time, but now he realizes what a terrible idea that would be.

“No!” Charlotte exclaims. “I can’t!”

“Oh? Why ever not?”

Charlotte looks down and pokes at her pencil. “Because.”

“Because you like Alfred?” he asks.

She nods without lifting her head.

“Charlotte, you know he’s here to do a job. We’ve already talked about this. He is very kind and I know you had fun with him today, but he’s not here to be our friend, do you understand?” Arthur is keenly aware that he’s talking to himself as much as he is to Charlotte.

She again nods only by pressing her chin against her chest twice. She does understand that Alfred is technically only there to do work on the house, but he and Daddy could definitely fall in love while they’re working, right? Though with how Daddy talks about Alfred, it definitely won’t happen if she’s not there to push them.

Arthur reaches over, tucking a stray strand of Charlotte’s auburn hair behind her ear and takes her hand. “I know it’s hard for you, with Mum being gone. Sometimes, it’s hard for me as well,” he says softly. “But let’s concentrate on one thing at a time, yes? Let’s get the house in proper shape and move onward from there.”

Charlotte curls her hand around his and finally looks up. “Okay,” she says. But one thing at a time? To her, that doesn’t seem very efficient.

[dankovskaya]

Okayyy another egregiously long sitting where I don’t think I even progressed all that much and I now have some actual (long, very long, unstructured) thoughts on characters and plot etc 👇

Well first of all since this just happened. Ok I love Merrin a lot and I love Cal and I love the unique dynamic that they have together BUT -- and I can accept that I might be one of maybe 5 joyless cunts that feel this way -- I was so hoping there would never be anything actually romantic between them. I love that after fallen order they (and the whole crew!) grew so close and familiar with each other and genuinely love each other etc + the game has been doing a really good job at displaying that familiarity in a convincing and endearing way but I so cannot describe the dread I felt in my stomach when they lingered on her putting her arms around him when they were riding the fucking. SPAMMEL. And I probably rolled my eyes at least 4 times during their little huddling for warmth in the desert cave scene 😭

But it sucks because I literally loved about 93% of their interactions that I’ve seen so far it’s just when there are those little Haha ooooo like-like? like-like? moments I’m just like. Anakin you’re breaking my heart. You’re going down a path I can’t follow. Being dramatic obviously it’s not like it ruins their dynamic or anything and Merrin’s methods of showing affection are so cute that I really don’t care That much in the first place I just can’t help but blame the 90000 star war fans who looked at fallen order and were like OOOOOO they’re in LOOOOVFVVVEEEEEEE 🥰😏🥰😏 literlaly just because they like. Touched hands that one time. And relate to each other as survivors of fucking genocides. What if we all killed ourselves. Whatever. If I’m not crazy and the rest of you also did not really want or expect Merrin to turn into an outright love interest please let me know.

Ok for the actual plot overall this thing with.... Help I already forgot the planet’s name I know it starts with a T. And like Dagan whatever the fuck. I mean. I know nothing about the High Republic era content because I just have never had any interest in it but I’m excited for this guy as a fallen Jedi antagonist and for me the most interesting moment in the game so far was after their first fight when Cal, even after watching him actively bleed his fucking kyber crystal and curse the Jedi Order, was still begging him to stay and help with the fight against the empire because there are so few of them left!!! It’s very different from how he approached Taron Malicos in the first game (from. memory.) and seems very informed by how his mindset has changed after fighting this same fight for so long etc... I was very confused initially tho about Cal’s interest in the lost planet as a potential hiding place from the empire? It made way more sense after he met up with Cere and told her about it and she proposed it could be a refuge for surviving Jedi + force sensitives + their families and I can now buy that as the driving motivation for the rest of the game or whatever but Cal did not mention anything like that 💀 All he seemed to see it as before that was a place where Greez and all his besties and whatever other people he cares about could hide from the empire which seemed incredibly odd because “hiding from the empire” is completely antithetical to all of his beliefs at this point and is quite literally why he had been avoiding the mantis crew for the past however many years? But maybe I just misunderstood something lmfao.

And on that last point I was worried the whole “we haven’t seen each other in a long time but now it’s time to get the gang back together but ooooo there’s some tension something happened....” thing was going to feel very forced and dumb but actually I think Greez Cere and Merrin all having (very respectable) reasons to want to split off and pursue their own goals and Cal being very pissed off about that and lowkey taking it personally because he projected his own mindset and self-enforced obligations onto them so hard that it felt like a betrayal and thus caused a mild amount of resentment which pretty much goes away as soon as he actually has a proper individual conversation with all of them again and is finally able to comprehend their perspectives was really good. Holy shit that was a long sentence. Really tho as soon as I heard that the mantis crew was separated and had to be reassembled I was like ohhhh goddamnit manufactured drama to pad out the playtime but it’s really not like that at all lmfao. Like I’m pretty sure at this point it’s basically wrapped up since the common goal has been established and again it was literally just due to Cal’s frankly inhuman expectations that he has for himself and his inability to imagine being able to live outside of that so as soon as he actually sits down and listens to their reasoning and possibly gets told that he has issues he’s like. That makes sense honestly my bad. Lmfao.

[overbearingstruggles]

Hi! Tbf I’m quite new to all this but what is the proof or why everyone thinks Alex and Janelle were dating again? Seems weird as I remember them back in the day and seeing thing make me think wtf 😅

So when I was making the Lisex separation timeline I fully realized just how much Alex/Janelle were impossible to pin down. Truly running on motherfucking vibes. If at the end of this you aren’t convinced I’m not even mad because when I say you had to be there noticing pretty normal posts in real time, I mean it!

Lemme start with including this little piece of crazy because personally(!!) I think in some way she helped fuel the Lisex separation. Alex is grown and he made whatever decisions may have lead to his farm vacation, but I cannot shake the way some things add up.

But fr, lemme just start with the singular Biggest Thing of her in his Magna Carta tshirt. If you aren't convinced with this being the biggest thing I Get It.

The first time we know of Alex and Janelle in the same space also happens to be the first time we see Alex being social in LA and shitfaced and having fun and they are scandalously (lol) sitting together on a counter. Suspicion starts immediately which seems unfair and yet

After that, she’s just always around. The only women seen here are girls who are dating these mens.

The rest of 2021 she is AT. THE. SHOWS. Erin and Shay are around often but she is everywhere! And she was never at ATL shows like this before when being besties with Jack.

Their first show is a drive in in Ventura, so LA adjacent, fine.

Their first proper show in Nashville

Lollapolooza - She had said Lolla was her first festival and she went for ATL? Friends? She gave good overalls content from the aftershow tho. Alex stays to hang at the gig with the girlies and to watch Miley

Back in Nashville for Sad Summer

She went to Vegas for their 2 in 1 day iHeart and Life is Beautiful performances which only Nano’s and Zack’s gfs went to

The comment about colored boxer briefs seemed ?? because of Alex wearing those jeans with high rips

She went in the pit at the LA show

There was a whole thing about a fan spotting them "on a date” at this Star Wars/nerd bar in LA called Scum and Villainy. Unfortunately the original blog that posted about it is deleted now.

Alex singing “Closing Time” at the end of a party and saying “time for Janelle to call us a car back home” and even this is like, well is he saying us as in he and Janelle? Or us as in the perspective of the other girls and Janelle is the one taking care?  ???

She goes to AlterEgo in LA with several gfs + Erin. This is from after.

On Valentine’s Day, all the gf’s post about missing their mens because the guys were out of town and the LA girlies go out together. Janelle is always with the known gfs.

We will all die swearing this was a double date we cannot prove

She did her friend’s podcast and ?👂?

Now, Alex’s likes are pretty consistent but he doesn’t like the tshirt post and then becomes much less consistent. Not everything, but not nothing.

May is Erin’s birthday and everyone except Alex and Nano go to Mexico with the rest of the gang, but Alex does make this brunch. It’s nothing but seemed like it should be included idk. Alex and Janelle did sit next to each other but like, so what.

Granted this year has been super weird, but this was the last semi interesting thing she posted directly of ATL. Other friends/gfs went to this per usual but for once, not Janelle.

And then came the Halsey post and this questionable little jab and Alex swinging back to Lisa. There was this progression from being with the ATL crew all the time and then suddenly being back with her previous friend group more consistently again.

In conclusion, my gut says absolutely they were hooking up but I pretty much felt like this the entire time because who the fuck knows. So much blatant nothing between them felt like Something.

[yellow-stars]

i was OCposting in the askbox of someone so. this is a compilation of all that, since it basically gives the rundown of their whole deal and maybe some new ideas scattered into it as well. so. long post ahead.

ASK 1:

theres elias (he/she/they); dominic (he/him); marcus (he/him); elizabeth (she/her); andrew (he/him) and amelia (she/her)

theres 2 seperate families within this: the jamesons, which includes elias as the son and andrew+amelia as his parents, and the DeAngelo's which is the 3 others, but theyre siblings instead

the only 2 with personalities right now are dominic and elias, who are also in a situationship with eachother, and will probably remain that way for the rest of time

story's basically just "what if the disgraced son of rich parents who happens to be an owner of a bar/club (elias) meets the guy who mans a stand at a farmers market (dominic). and what if they were both t4t. and what if they ended up being workplace lovers/friends w benefits"

elias is lowkey a very unlikeable and bitter guy, very self centered and speaks without thinking. dominic's the reserved type who only speaks when spoken to, but very willing to resort to violence when needed.

[person replies with a statement that he'd like to hear more]

ASK 2:

so this post will be about the onyx magpie crew, aka dominic, elias, and their families, but the families are just implied and there for plot reasons

also for context: the onyx magpie is the name of the bar elias owns. and sometimes elias IS a magpie so. yeah.

around a month ago i wrote 2 paragraphs leading up to the first meeting from each others pov. this was still when it was all brainstormy but the ideas are all there. i hope. enjoy? i have no clue how much or how little this actually makes sense w/o prior context

elias has rich parents. maybe his father's a politician and his mother's a ceo of sorts for. something. this man is an only child and i want it to show. growing up in a big house, alone, while his parents are often away for work. so hes also very independent. and somehow it doesnt hurt as much as it shouldve when they look at him in disgust later on in life. he was alone growing up. if they didnt care for him, why should he care for their opinions of him? ... maybe.. maybe he stops coming home for the holidays. maybe they dont know his name. maybe they dont recognize him when he passes them on the street.. but... maybe he does. and maybe it finally stings. just a little bit too much. and.. maybe he should grab a drink. his bar is just around the corner anyways. or hell, even man the bar counter. to get his mind off things.

as for dominic... i know i want him to have a brother and a sister. probably the middle child between the 3. older brother, younger sister. not many ideas about his parents as of yet. probably alive though. maybe they all grew up farmers. he knows his agriculture, maybe favors the cattle, wanting to give them a good life before they get sent to the slaughterhouse. maybe goes into the city once a week to man a stand in the farmers market. meats, crops, milk, eggs. the like. maybe gains a few friends with the regulars there, or the other shopkeepers. maybe starts going into the city more because of said friends. maybe they convince him to go out and celebrate one day. maybe he hit a T milestone. 5, 10 years? maybe more, maybe less, but still a reason to celebrate. and hey, has he ever been to that bar? maybe they tell him that sometimes, if his lucky stars align, the boss of the place could be the bartender. maybe they joke that if they tell him of the big day, he'd get a free drink or two. the place is just down the street, his friends know the way. they deserve a treat.

in short: elias has a dogshit gender dysphoria day and is about to be the bartender for dominic whos out there just sorta chilling and living the dream and just wants to get drunk with his buddies

and later on as the plot progresses, dominic gets a job at said bar as a bouncer. so thats how they become workplace boyfriends lmao

[person responds to ask with "The angst with Elias. Poor baby. But at least he'll eventually be happy with Dominic."]

ASK 3:

"But at least he'll eventually be happy with Dominic." you'd think that wouldnt you.. sure, elias would be living the dream with his trophy husband, but he isnt capable of being a loving husband himself. something something never seeing how TO be a loving figure in either of his parents. something something walls so high it would take a lifetime to bulldoze them down. something something it not even being worth it in the end. yeah. elias isnt a good person, but hes sure as hell fun to spin around in my brain <3

the relationship between them is complicated at best and a miserable maze to navigate at worst. sure its not abusive, but i struggle to say its healthy </3 in a different au it is. but thats just an au sooo...

[person replies with "You wanted to hurt me with this ask, I know you did. (/hj) And you succeeded. what do you mean “it not even being worth it in the end”??? my heart? officially hurt at the thought of Dominic & Elias not being happy together"]

ASK 4:

i like to think that elias is far too self centered to even WANT to change. he is so deeply bitter and hurt by his parents that he doesnt understand, *cant* understand that someone would want to genuinely help him.

he thinks dominic befriended him for the easy job that pays well, that he just likes the sex, that hes pretending to do all this for some free drinks.

he doesnt understand true love and he spits on the mere idea of it. if true unconditional love was real, his parents wouldnt have kicked him out, he wouldnt have grown up to constant screaming and crushing loneliness. he just doesnt understand and full on refuses help. refuses any much-needed therapy. who needs that when hes got a pack of cigarettes in his purse and cheap wine on hand

hes just a cranky little guy in the main story. its kinda funny how in the other aus hes completely fine, simply because his parents were slightly different. like hes living his best life in the royalty au simply because the circumstances are slightly altered lol

also idk if i mentioned this anywhere so nows as good as time as any: elias dresses like a y2k girlie. all neons and miniskirts and makeup and dominic looks like hes a father of 4 on a roadtrip. but they primarily wear the colour of each others eyes. but they dont know that. "just feels right"

idk im still very much so throwing ideas at the wall and seeing what sticks, such is the joy of OCs

---

yeah i had fun rambling on about this, felt right to save this convo on main :3

[something-about-sunflowers]

I just KEEP seeing the take that Stede happily burned down a ship while being upset to hear Ed did the same and. Yall. Besties.

Thats not what happened.

We'll start at the beginning I guess?

Stede has no actual problem with killing. He doesn't. He has a trauma response to the crew's excessive violence because it calls back to his father insisting he was weak for not wanting to watch (or participate in?) him butchering small animals. (More on Stede’s views on violence in a minute!)

When he kills Badminton (And he does. It's unintentional but his intentional actions directly result in Nigel's death. That's manslaughter at least and Stede is still at fault) his freak out is directly linked to the trauma he received as a child watching his father kill/butcher small animals. They juxtapose these scenes for a reason. And his being 'haunted' isn't even over the guilt of killing Nigel either! They say this! Explicitly! Textually! ('Do you feel badly that this man is dead?' 'No, I don't.') Stede is aware that he is responsible for the man's death and he doesn't feel bad about it. His guilt is over his abandoning his family, which Nigel brought up. Nigel brought up Stede’s past and his family and that is why Nigel is haunting Stede.

Now, as far as Stede’s views on violence? He doesn't actually mind it! It initially reminded him of his trauma from his father but we see later that this isn't the case as the show progresses. When they're learning how to raid his only comments are to 'Note the gusto!' and to point out how clever it is that they don't waste any potential riches (by way of pulling out a dead man's gold teeth). The next time we see him show any kind of reaction beyond 'fascinated glee' is when Ed is threatening someone (or ordering to have them skinned with a snail fork).

Now, there's A Lot to unpack with this. I certainly won't say my interpretation of this is going to be the 'right' one but this is how I see it:

1. His initial impression of Ed is that he's friendly, gentle even, and clever. These are the first instances of violence he's seeing from him and honestly? I think he's turned on by it and he's trying to come to terms with that since it's not something he's experienced before. He's not horrified at Ed, he's horrified at himself. Again, he did not have these reactions to any of the rest of Ed's crew committing acts of violence, just Ed. Who he is attracted to.

2. This could potentially be read as me contradicting myself wrt my first point but I don't necessarily think they're mutually exclusive points: He is shocked that the man who told him he was 'thinking of packing it all in' and that this way of life was 'a bit of a grind' can still be capable of this much violent enthusiasm. He's trying to reconcile 'You ever feel trapped? Like you're just treading water, waiting to drown?' With 'Next one goes through your fuckin eyeball!' And 'Lash him to something very heavy and throw him overboard (. . .) skin him first, use the snail fork.' Especially when his own response to that same feeling was to shut down and to run away.

So. Stede doesn't actually have a problem with physical violence. He enjoys it, even. Especially when used in response to the kind of violence he'd see in his old world: passive aggression. He wanted to hurt Badminton. He enjoyed that moment right up until the sword went through his eye and he was reminded, again, of his trauma. He happily watches a ship full of people burn down because they hurt Ed with their violence. (And here we see Ed with a very similar expression to Stede’s when he was trying to reconcile with Ed's violence. It's not the act, it's who's doing it and why.) Stede isn't stupid, he knows he killed those people but he doesn't care because he enjoys violence and they deserved it.

(Sidenote, re: the snake: Both Stede and Lucius were disturbed by that because it was an incredible overreaction brought on by his growing frustration. It's kind of an outlier in all this.)

Now. Stede’s reaction to everything re: Calico Jack is, first and foremost, fueled by jealousy and an intense dislike of Jack as a person. His first introduction to the man is he and Ed carelessly destroying Stede’s things and, of the two, only Ed shows genuine remorse. Stede knows what fake remorse looks like and Calico Jack is not a subtle man by any means. Jack then continues to insult him, passive aggressively, 'real pirates, not like these store bought types' while looking directly at Stede, again, not a subtle man. Stede responds in kind because he is picking up what Jack is laying down, his own brand of violence.

They then go on to enjoy violence directed at small animals. Stede doesn't have a trauma response to this but he's obviously uncomfortable because they are small animals. (He does take issue with violence where he views it as 'undeserved', small animals, children, etc) He doesn't freak out though, he removes himself from the situation and when prompted gives an explanation it's 'just mean'. When he tells Ed 'I don't like who you are around this guy' it's because Ed isn't mean but when he's with Jack he enables and engages in Jack being mean.

So. Stede doesn't like Jack, doesn't like his brand of violence because it's mean.

Stede still has no problem with his or Ed’s brand of violence. His reaction to Jack's story of Ed burning down a ship is because he thinks one of them is lying. His tone when he says 'I thought you'd given up the killing' isn't shock at a violent act it's 'did you lie to me?' He doesn't like or trust Jack and so he is asking Ed to explain or refute it. And Ed does explain. And Stede drops it.

Ed gives an explanation that tells Stede he didn't lie to him (He told him he hasn't killed 'directly' since the first time, and again, Stede isn't stupid, he'd understand that Ed would have a looser definition of 'directly than he does) and Stede accepts it. He also sees Ed is uncomfortable with the conversation and instead of pressing the issue he let's it go when he gets the explanation he needs.

Stede is indeed a bizarre little man but he's really not as much of a contradiction as people would like to think.

[orionsangel86]

SPN Conspiracies - Applying Logic to Chaos

Its been over 2 months now since the Supernatural finale aired. I am still so angry, hurt, and confused by it and I don’t think I will ever get closure unless someone like Andrew Dabb, or Jensen Ackles, actually opens up and gives us an explanation that makes sense.

What annoys me most right now is people trying to gaslight fans into believing that we should accept the narrative we have been given at face value: That the finale was always planned to be that way, that Destiel was never on the cards, that there was no Network interference, that the only changes made were due to covid and were minor at best.

This harmful gaslighting is FALSE.

NO ONE KNOWS THE TRUTH OF WHAT HAPPENED.

Look, I don’t agree with some of the crazier conspiracy theories. I don’t believe that there was some huge campaign among the CW Network execs to remove anything remotely gay out of homophobia. I don’t believe that the finale was changed because of some desire to make it into a Walker promo. I don’t believe that the finale was really bad on purpose in protest by Dabb for not getting to do an ending he truly wanted. I don’t believe that Dabb left us smart fans a bunch of secret messages in the finale to hint that he was on our side all along and that everything was fake.

I do, however, believe that all of these conspiracy theories have some elements in them that are plausible. At least, more plausible than the bullshit narrative mentioned above that some people are pushing in some desperate attempt to defend the Network (which imo is really strange behaviour anyway - why would anyone care about a TV network with a history of terrible behaviour?!?)

We have facts, based on information provided before the covid lockdown, which for some reason, people like Misha have since backpeddled on. So let me try to outline some of the information that makes no sense.

Below the cut I go on a deep dive into the conspiracies and statements I have heard about the SPN finale and try to make some sense of this whole fucked up situation. It gets long.

1. “Cas was never gonna be in the finale”.

False: We have many fan accounts of Misha confirming that he was filming the finale. We have video evidence of Misha confirming he was going back to film the finale after the lockdown. We have confirmation from fans in Misha M&Gs from March that he had about 5 days of filming left.

We also had fan accounts of discussions with Alex Calvert (I think) where he confirmed the final shot of the final episode was all four of them though I would LOVE if someone can find a source for this.

2. Okay, Misha was gonna be in the finale, but only as Jimmy Novak

False: I heavily side eyed Misha when he said this. But I think I can come up with a plausible explanation for it. Per above, Misha was supposed to film for 5 days. This does not align with the half a day he described of filming as Jimmy Novak. My own belief is that after Cas was cut from the finale (for whatever reason we don’t know) someone (probably Jensen Ackles) put up a fight and complained that Misha should be there for the final episode. The writers probably tried to come up with a way to bring Misha back without having to deal with Cas, and pitched the idea of Jimmy Novak being in Heaven. Misha, obviously annoyed about this, turned this stupid pitch down.

3. Destiel was never a thing, never planned, never part of Dabb’s ending. Bobo and Misha pushing the confession was the part of the season that was Wrong.

False: We have a SPN writer on record saying that Castiel’s confession was the first thing written for Season 15 when the writers returned to the writers room. If it wasn’t planned, why was it the first thing written, why does it align so well with the rest of season 15? Look I know some people either a. hate destiel and refuse to see it even if it slaps them in the face, or b. have major heteronormative goggles on, or c. are just homophobes in denial, but 15x18 fits in perfectly with the narrative of season 15. Everything Cas says, everything that happened in that scene was so in character it just works. It fit. If you just rewatch the season whilst applying some critical thinking skills and pay attention to the narrative and character arcs, trust me, the confession fits in with pretty much every other plot point, and character story in the season.

Also: We have known for a while that the network did market research into Destiel, wanting to know if it would go down well or not. They were well aware of its popularity and considering it. Where would this have come from if not pitched by the showrunner? Dabb must have at least been considering it. If you take all of Dabb era into consideration, starting with mid season 11, all the way through the season 12 build up, season 13 grief arc, and then Bobo’s Destiel break up arc in late season 14, early season 15, it is clear that there was some toing and froing on the issue of Destiel, but ultimately, I still believe that Dabb was on board. He wrote 13x01 for christs sake. No way he wasn’t taking it seriously.

 4. It’s always been about the brothers. The finale just stays true to what Supernatural is all about.

*rubs temples* Fundamentally FALSE: The show has time and again reasserted the message of “Family don’t end with blood”, as well as the messages of AKF and YANA. Sam and Dean may be at the heart of the show, but a heart can’t exist without a body to support it. Without bones, and lungs, and blood, and muscles, and a BRAIN. The finale abandons the shows core messages. It forces the characters back into their season 1 characterisations and the whole thing becomes hollow and souless. But I’m not here to complain, I’m here to lay down the facts. Dean’s heaven was supposed to be surrounded by loved ones right? We know OG Charlie Bradbury was gonna be in his Heaven, we also know CAS was gonna be in there. So this idea that the finale as it currently stands was how it was meant to be is wrong. Dean was supposed to die and reunite with his found family and loved ones. This alone would have been a far better ending than the one given. Do I think this was solely a covid issue? Fuck no.

The randoms that WERE in the finale are proof alone that they could have got people in and quarantined. We also have several actors on record saying that they WOULD have quarantined for the finale had they been asked to return but they WEREN’T.

Lies have been told. Samantha Ferris and Chad Limberg have confirmed that we have been lied to about the original plans for the finale.

This alone is proof enough that there is more plausibility in some of the conspiracy theories than any bullshit narrative some people are pushing in defence of the barbaric mess of a finale we were given.

So lets address some of the conspiracy theories now:

Conspiracy No.1: The CW Network reviewed Supernatural during the covid break, and due to homophobia, refused any Destiel arc that wasn’t already filmed, shut down any potential reciprocation from Dean, and forced Dabb to change his finale.

I don’t think this is entirely what happened. But I do think it is very strange how there is a such a huge disconnect particularly in Dean’s characterisations between what had come before the lockdown, and what came after. The one fact we have here, and please someone provide a source if you can find it because I know there is one, the finale script was still going through changes up to only 2 weeks before it was filmed. We know that there was some weird editing in 15x18 (which was still in post and uncompleted before lockdown) and we know from Jensen’s own mouth that there was more to the confession scene on Dean’s side that was cut. We also know that this isn’t the first time that Destiel heavy moments have been changed in post - the prayer scene is another big scene that went through a lot of changes and Bobo fought to have his script play out the way he wanted it.

There are certain things that in my own opinions, are basically true of SPN which I have put together from years of keeping one eye on the writers room, the network, and all the various comments made. My opinion is this:

The writers room has always been split on Destiel. Some writers heavily supported making it canon, others did not care, or were against it.

The Network considered it over the course of several years, did market research, green lit it, then changed their minds, possibly several times over the course of Dabb’s era. Destiel was pitched to the Network early in Dabb era.

The crew on set were also split. Some people heavily supported it, and worked to assist the reading, whereas others did not care/did not support it. The same can be said for the editing room.

Bob Singer supported the subtextual homoeroticism, but never supported bringing it into text (this is an opinion, but I think it aligns with everything we know about him.) IMO Bob Singer also supported subtextual homoeroticism between Sam and Dean - the guy is gross is what I’m saying. He isn’t exactly a progressive person.

Fun fact - a while back our old enemy Sera Gamble went on a Twitter rant about writers rooms and the ways a script goes through changes. I don’t think this was in relation to the SPN finale wank but she basically inadvertantly confirmed that the Network can step in and make sweeping changes to a script if they want to and if they decide they don’t like the direction of a story. Sera Gamble confirmed this as a fact.

Now. I’m not saying that this is what the CW did with Destiel. I just think its very strange how pre lockdown, the last thing filmed is a heartfelt homosexual declaration of love between Dean and Cas, and we have a finale script that Misha had not seen, but knew that he was meant to film as Castiel for 5 days (5 days on set is over half of an episode as far as I know). Then all of a sudden, Covid happens, and Cas is cut from the finale completely, a desperate attempt to bring Misha back only as Jimmy Novak takes place, which Misha rightly refuses, leading to a finale which makes zero sense narratively and appears in every way completely and utterly butchered.

The only explanation provided by anyone involved is that Covid meant changes had to happen - but that covid didn’t change the actual story at all.

But this makes no sense because we know that Cas was cut from the finale. This is FACT. Do not let anyone gaslight you into thinking otherwise. Misha was preparing to quaranting to return to set as Cas post Covid, so whatever happened to cut Cas from the finale, it wasn’t Covid.

I’m gonna have to Occum’s Razor this and say that the most logical explanation here is the one that is most likely true. Someone got cold feet with the Destiel story, and to prevent any possible interpretation that included Dean reciprocating, any hints of Destiel were removed from the finale script, including Castiel’s whole appearance.

Now, this isn’t me saying I think that Dabb’s original finale was full of Destiel love confessions and a homosexual kiss or whatever, but I am asking you all to really think about it and ask yourselves WHY Cas would have been totally cut from an episode he was supposed to be in at LEAST half of? 

We will probably never know the real reason Cas was cut, but he WAS cut. I’m not saying it was all homophobia, but some fuckery went down.

Conspiracy No. 2: The CW Network changed the finale to make it into a Walker promo because they only cared about raising up Jared and not Jensen and Misha as they were losing them anyway.

I don’t agree with this in terms of the finale being butchered solely to make it into a Walker promo. There are however moments in the finale that are clearly supposed to be Walker Easter Eggs and added to excite fans of Jared/Sam in particular such as Sam’s gratuitous and unnecessary topless scene, as well as the call on the “case in Austin”.

I will take this moment to say something pretty damn controversial though.

*Deep breath*

The fact is, Dean Winchester has been the “lead” character of Supernatural’s narrative for years now, with Sam often being sidelined and not given great storylines himself. Even in Season 15, right up until the finale, I myself felt bad for Sam sometimes because so much of this show has become all about Dean. Jensen Ackles is clearly the better actor when it comes to emotional story arcs, so the emotional heart of the story has most often leant on him.

So you can understand my confusion, when this is turned on its head in the final episode, to make Sam carry all the emotional weight, and have the most lines/screentime, and story resolution (even if his story resolution was just as crappy as Dean’s).

If we pretend that Destiel is not a thing, and ignore Cas’s confession, the story change in the finale from Dean focus to Sam focus is still rather suspicious. Again, I’m not saying I completely approve of or agree to the conspiracy theory that Walker influenced the butchering of the script, but I can believe that perhaps a note went down from the CW to someone like Bob Singer, to emphasise Sam/Jared more than they perhaps would normally, because the CW wanted to shine the spotlight on Jared to raise excitement for Walker.

I can also believe this note might have said something like “we wanna cater to fans of Sam/Jared the most - don’t do anything to piss them off.” but now I am getting into my own conspiracy theories so by all means dismiss this as me being bitter.

Conspiracy No.3: Dabb purposely made it bad, as a secret message to Destiel fans that he had been silenced, by layering meta clues into the episode that he knew fans would notice.

I doubt this one is true. Though some of the theories are quite compelling. The old vampire silent movie theory for instance starts off quite well, but loses me the moment it brings up Urban Dictionary slang.

Sometimes I have just had to accept that Supernatural is a bad show that is sometimes accidentally a masterpiece. However, some writers really did go That Deep with their stories - anything by Ben Edlund or Steve Yockey for instance, their episodes are meta masterpieces with a hundred different layers of beautiful subtextual storytelling and are a joy to analyse. Bobo Berens has certainly done some A+++ work especially now we KNOW that he was working hard all this time to bring Destiel to canon text (so any analysis of Destiel in the subtext in his episodes is very accurate). There have been many other key elements analysed over the years which have been confirmed true. Cas’s death in Season 12, Dean’s time as a demon in season 10, Season 11 ending in unity of dark and light, these were all plot points predicted by meta writers just by analysing the narrative. Sometimes the writers really have been very smart and they do add things to the show to aid us in our meta.

Richard Speight Jr for instance, confirmed that SPN has a visual library that the production team use to give clues and hints in the narrative. Pizza, for example, always means a lie has been told. Whenever Pizza is being eaten or even just mentioned on screen, there is dishonesty in that particular moment.

The beers also have a very specific message and the one thing I can’t let go about the finale, was that Dean was drinking El Sol beer. The beer his dad gave him, that was terrible.

El Sol has been used in the show to indicate something being wrong, a fake reality, or another lie, for the longest time. It is the beer of deception.

The fact that in the final episode of this entire show, Dean is in Heaven, supposedly at peace, and then he gets handed an El Sol beer to drink? Thats a HUGE red flag for any meta writer watching who can read SPNs visual library.

If they had given him the Margiekugel beer of family then it would make sense. Dean is in Heaven, with Bobby, his family, at peace. Margiekugel should have been the beer of choice. But nope. El Sol. Something is wrong.

I don’t know if it was Dabb, or Singer, or some disgruntled ADs and crew members who added these elements into the finale, but their very presence confirms some message of Wrongness.

I could go into a huge rant about Vampire Mimes not making sense and the very glaringly obvious symbolism of cutting out peoples tongues too, but that is high school level film analysis. It’s obvious. It means to silence someone. There is validity in interpreting this as Dabb saying he was silenced. I don’t know how true it is, but i can’t 100% dismiss it, because as I said, this is high school analysis levels of obvious subtextual storytelling.

So in summary, whilst I don’t think that Dabb intentionally went out of his way to sabotage his own script, and leave a breadtrail of secret messages for savvy fans to put together to confirm that he was silenced by an evil network into not getting what he wanted... I do think that there is validity in questioning these odd choices for the finale. Cutting out tongues? Vampire Mimes? El Sol beer?

The evidence is somewhat compelling is all I’m saying. I don’t believe the full conspiracy theories, but as I have said many times before, some fuckery went down.

So What Do I Believe?

That some fuckery went down and whatever company line they are pushing is bullshit.

I believe that the original script included Cas (since thats fact). I believe that the original script probably always had Dean dying on a vampire hunt (due to Jensen’s issues with it and in particular, his sarcastic comments about vampires in the past year or so which in hindsight are hilarious and prove he never really came to terms with Dean’s idiotic death). I believe Dabb’s original script was some less crappy version of what we got, which potentially included showing Jack rescuing Cas from the Empty and resolving the outstanding Empty plot points (potentially this was actually a 15x19 plot since Mark P commented that his final scenes were supposed to be with Jack and Cas), had Cas reunite with Dean in Heaven and had them have a discussion about Cas’s confession. I believe that there was probably a lot of back and forth over how to handle that with some people wanting Dean to obviously reciprocate and others believing they should keep it ambiguous. I believe that Dean and Cas would have reunited with Charlie Bradbury, and Bobby Singer, and possibly others (though if this was the case it must have been very early on since no one ever looped in Sam Ferris, Chad Linberg or any other Roadhouse people).

I believe that Sam’s ending probably didn’t change much, but I do feel that initially they were planning on him ending up with Eileen, because it is the only thing that narratively makes sense. Cutting Eileen and giving him a blurry wife is something I won’t ever understand and Jared’s bullshit explanations are quite clearly pulled out of his ass to appease bronly types. I believe the reunion on the bridge would have included Cas and Jack, with a final shot of all four of them together, at peace (as this aligns with Alex’s comments from around a year or so ago that the final shot was all four of them). (I also am not sure it was always supposed to be on a bridge since the foreshadowing in an earlier episode showed Dean, Cas and Sam all in the Roadhouse together).

I believe that script went through countless changes and redrafts, and not even production people or the types that some fandom people claim as their “sources” would even have seen those early scripts, since even Misha never saw it. I believe that these rumours of Dabb never having Cas in his finale and ignoring all Destiel elements likely come from people who only saw later versions, weren’t party to network discussions and felt bitter about the final scripts they did see (being the crappy butchered one that was ultimately filmed). Those “sources” are now spreading rumours to discredit Dabb.

I obviously believe Dabb is a weak ass pushover who either didn’t care enough to fight back, or gave up since he’s been stuck with fucking Bob Singer on his back for years, but I will NEVER believe he didn’t care about the DeanCas love story, because he has been one of the few writers who has championed for it for years. You can’t look back at Dabb’s episodes in earlier seasons and claim he didn’t care. Dabb was a writer whose creative ideas were beaten out of him by an unforgiving Network only concerned about where their future money was coming from. Do I think he gave up too easily? Yes. But I also have one other huge reason for not believing the bullshit about Dabb being this anti-Destiel villain.

Bobo. Because if Bobo truly believed Dabb was gonna fuck that up at the end, I don’t think he would have given us Cas’s love confession to begin with. If he had known it was gonna end like that, I think he would have reconsidered, because had Cas not confessed his love, I don’t think he would have been cut from the finale. Bobo - a gay man, would not have wanted such a horrible message for queer fans being put across in the show he worked so hard on. He started writing that confession scene the day they returned to the writers room. Dabb would have been there, would have seen what he was writing, probably discussed it with him, after all, other episodes were written with the confession in mind. No way was Dabb planning to fuck up the ending knowing what Bobo was giving us. Nope.

Something went very wrong over lockdown. Someone, somewhere up the chain of power caught wind of the confession scene in 15x18, realised that it demanded a resolution which would make Dean Winchester, their protagonist, queer, and pulled the plug. I believe this did not come from a place of homophobia, but of bad business sense.

The CW is constantly trying to win the approval and attention of the one demo group that they seem to fail at getting the most: young straight men. Supernatural was one of their only remaining shows that appeals to young straight men, and Dean Winchester is more often than not the fave character of those young straight men who project onto him. Making Dean Winchester, established Han Solo of Supernatural, queer and in love with his best friend in the finale would have come across as a betrayal to those young straight men. The CW probably feared they would lose that demo group for good, and with a show like Walker starting soon with Jared at the helm, they couldn’t take the risk.

Hence there was probably a whole bunch of back and forth script redrafts with the Network, with Dabb and Singer fighting to make a finale that would appeal to everyone. There was most likely no way that they could bring Cas back without addressing what had already been filmed, because any resolution of that plot would either a. make Dean queer, or b. address it awkwardly by having Dean reject Cas (this storyline would probably have been slammed by critics worse than the finale because it meant addressing it. It might have got the attention of LGBTQ activist groups and caused a bigger shitstorm than what we got). The best option was therefore C. Bury it and Cas, pretend it never happened. Never address it again and distract Dean with other things. Hope that Destiel fans will accept no answer from Dean as ambiguous enough to imagine a future reunion rather than shutting it down with a rejection, and still keep hold of the blissfully ignorant heteronormative straight boys so they can carry over to Walker when it starts.

I also believe (controversially probably) that there was concern that any resolution of Dean and Cas would have overshadowed network darling Jared Padalecki. If Dean and Cas had come together in the finale, with a very clearly textual homosexual reunion, then that would have been all anyone talked about. The reviewers, the critics, the audience, everyone. It would have been nothing but Dean and Cas (and look, if they did think this, they were right, Destiel trending over the US ELECTION.)

So what is the network to do, when they are losing the two stars who would get the most attention from this storyline? The one star they were holding on to and getting his own show, relegated to third place in the finale of the show where he was first on the call sheet? Nope. That’s pretty unacceptable. Even without Walker I can imagine people at all levels side eyeing the Destiel thing over the years. This IS a show about two brothers, and their relationship should be the core relationship, we can’t have one brother pushed aside in the finale to make way for a queer relationship that will get all the attention instead. It was never gonna get approved for this reason ALONE.

At the end of the day, if I look at it from a business perspective, it makes far more sense that the CW shut down Destiel, rather than “oh Dabb never cared and ruined it because he’s an idiot.” The writers cared, and had built on that story over years. But their mistake was leaving any Destiel resolution to the finale. If they had instead gone and got Dean and Cas together in early season 15, then they could have ended it in a way that satisfied everyone. Destiel wouldn’t have threatened pulling focus away from Sam and Dean, and the show could have gone out on a high.

When I lay out all the conspiracy theories, and line them up next to the cold hard facts, the conspiracy theories in some way or another, make more sense. To believe the company line, the narrative we have been fed, is to ignore your own eyes, ears, and memories pre March 2020.

All I’m asking people to do is take a look at the show, the narrative presented in the show, and the information presented above. I’m not telling you to believe what I’ve written here, half of which is just my own opinion. I’m asking you to ask yourselves if it makes sense to you. Because it sure as hell doesn’t make sense to me. I don’t think I’ll ever be satisfied.

[malarki]

Harry Potter FanFiction I greatly enjoy (it’s just tomarry and sevitus)

Fair warning, I’m not good at describing stuff, and most of these are not complete (yet) but if you have similar tastes as I do then you’ll definitely like these stories.

Meddling of a Mischief Maker - by Athy

https://archiveofourown.org/works/5380535/chapters/12427268

I enjoy this fic because it shows a more human Voldemort with him still being an asshole as per usual. They do a good job of having Voldemort believably change into a not crazy murderous bastard haha. It also has Sirius interacting with Voldemort and for some reason I find those scenes hilarious in any fic I read.

“Harry's being a horcrux is a bit reworked here in this AU Story set during the summer after 5th year. A Mischief Maker intervenes in the Ministry during Voldemort and Dumbledore's duel, changing the course history. MorallyGrey!Dumbledore, Sirius, Restored Souls, HP/TR”

Draw Me After You (Let Us Run) - by ToAStranger @toast-ranger-to-a-stranger

https://archiveofourown.org/works/22327684/chapters/53334382

This story is a delight, it’s tone is very good and they do a great job of writing in the characters ‘voices’ for their pov’s. I especially like the posh way Voldemort talks and acts. This story is also hilarious on top of just being a very good slowburn, AND it has Sirius, which as you might have guessed, I love dearly. They also don’t bash any of the characters, and instead make them well rounded but flawed individuals, which I really appreciate.

“Harry Potter,” comes the soft, sibilant hiss of a voice he has heard in his dreams, in his nightmares, in his waking hours for years.

Slowly, carefully, Harry twists over and pushes up onto his hands and knees. He stays there, short breath fogging in front of his face, and his pursuer lets him. Harry has no doubt of that; he’s being allowed this respite. This small moment to catch his bearings, heart pounding in his ears, blood singing.

“It seems I have finally caught you.”

Consuming Shadows - by Child_OTKW @childotkw

https://archiveofourown.org/works/7040089/chapters/16011331

I’ve read two of childOTKW’s fics and both of them are fantastically written and attention grabbing stories. This one was the first one I read, and it has a very interesting take on lily Potter (one which I really enjoy) and the plot can leave you on the edge of your seat at times. The characterization is great, and the process of Harry and Tom getting to know each other is done very well.

“His attention skipped passed the students and moved to the politicians’ pavilion. His gaze locked with crimson, and he nearly faltered under the sheer hunger in those eyes.

It unnerved him how fixated the man was on his dirtied, exhausted figure.

But what troubled him more was the slight smirk he could make out on the man’s lips. It was almost pleased.

On the night of the attack, Lily managed to escape with her infant son, but at the cost of her husband’s life. Distraught and distrusting of her friends, she fled to France with Harry, to raise him away from the corruption in Britain and the rising influence of the Dark Lord. She trains him to the best of her abilities, shaping him into a dangerous, intelligent and powerful wizard.

But when Britain re-establishes the Triwizard Tournament, and Harry is forced to return to his once-home, he finds himself questioning whether he really wants to kill the Dark Lord. Voldemort finds an unexpected challenge in the child, and as his intrigue and amusement grows, so too does the desire to possess the spark in those defiant green eyes.”

A story that is kind of similar but not really: The Train to Nowhere

You Belong To Me (I Belong To You) - by child_OTKW

https://archiveofourown.org/works/11270490/chapters/25203408

This is a story inspired by the manwha ‘At The End Of The Road’ by Haribo. A comic I read before reading this, which is very good I recommend it. They do not take the exact plot from the comic though, obviously changing significant details for it to work properly as a Tomarry Fic, but one main thing stays the same, which is that this is a body swap. Honestly I really enjoy childOTKW’s works, and this is no exception. The characterization is wonderful as always, and Harry is Fantastic. Plus I’ve always been a fan of time travel fics. (Fair warning this is another slow burn and Harry centric)

“What I find absolutely fascinating,” Riddle said, stalking closer, “is you.” He marched forward, backing Harry up until he was pinned to the cool wall of the common room. “Do you know why?”

“No. And I’ll be honest here, Riddle, I don’t particularly care.”

The taller boy grinned at him, small yet infinitely pleased. “That. Right there.” One hand rose and brushed some of Harry’s fringe from his face. “Nathan Ciro was a spineless little boy too afraid of his own shadow to dare even glance in my direction. But you…”

He leaned closer, “You look at me like you want to stab me.”

“After an accident, Auror Harry Potter wakes up in the body of fourteen year old Nathan Ciro, a tormented Slytherin who recently tried to end his own life. Seeking answers to his strange predicament, Harry returns to Hogwarts, and causes quite the stir through staff and students - especially when they come to realise he is not the same boy as before.

He tries to avoid suspicion, but as his quest for the truth draws more and more attention to him, Harry begins to think that he might not like what he will discover.”

Some Bonus AU tomarry

A Thousand Paths Among The Stars - by Haplessshippo @haplesshippo

https://archiveofourown.org/works/12015060/chapters/27191238

This is a star trek au and it’s honestly my favorite tomarry au fic. Granted, I am a huge sci-fi fan. There’s also a bit of a twist at the end, or at least it surprised me, due to the way we usually expect tomarry plots to go.

“Harry Potter, newly appointed Captain of the Marauder and son of the famous Captain James Potter, was falling apart at the seams. His crew didn’t respect him, he was lost in the empty expanse of space, nightmares plagued his sleep, and his Commander deserved the Captain position more than he did. Good thing multiple attempts on his life and a vicious warlord after his head was all it took to turn it all around.

Alternatively, that space fic in which Harry Potter almost dies too many times, Tom Riddle slowly becomes the most smitten fool on the ship, and the rest of the crew are all just a bunch of assholes with popcorn watching the show. And exploding ships, don't forget the exploding ships.”

The Matchmaker - by TanninTele

https://archiveofourown.org/works/16507676/chapters/38664089

I am ALSO a huge true crime fan, and this story has a criminal that kinda reminds me of one that might appear in Hannibal (but with less murder). I enjoy the characterization, though tom is pretty tame in this compared to more cannon fics, considering he’s not the criminal and instead an investigator. Harry is also different from how people usually portray him, but I still like it.

“'The Matchmaker' is a serial abductor whose modus operandi consists of pairing two same-sex individuals together in a coffin, six feet underground - buried alive. He isn't a killer. He's a kidnapper with morals, and Detective Chief Inspector Tom Riddle finds himself obsessed with solving the case.

Unfortunately for Tom, the Matchmaker is just as intent on knowing him.”

And on to the Sevitus Stories

Far Beyond A Promise Kept - by oliversnape

https://archiveofourown.org/works/547431/chapters/974693

A classic, Harry stays with snape and unintentionally proves all his assumptions wrong and makes snape care about him. Both the stories have this aspect, but this one has snape a bit nicer from the get go. Probably because it takes place during the third book, so they’ve only known each other two years. It’s quite wholesome though, and I rather enjoy the progression of their relationship.

“Snape never wanted anyone to know of his promise to Dumbledore, but has realised that he can protect Potter much better by taking a less passive role in the boy's training. Actually liking Harry Potter has never been part of his plan. mentor/guardian.”

Crime And Punishment - by melolcatsi

https://archiveofourown.org/works/24102232/chapters/58018174

Snape and Harry have way more of a rocky start in this one, and Snape having to pick Harry up from the police station Really Doesn’t Help Snape’s opinion of him. This story very realistically shows the progression of their relationship, going from enemies to family, and near the ‘end’ (it’s not finished) it becomes very wholesome with Snape trying to help Harry with his mental and physical health after years of abuse/ neglect.

“Harry is accused of burglary. The Dursleys leave him to rot. Dumbledore sends Snape to remedy the situation. Harry finds himself in the care of an irate Snape. Not slash, gen-fic w/ focus on Sevitus relationship. Angst galore. Warnings: coarse and suggestive language, mentions of abuse/neglect. Un-betaed and un-Britpicked.”

[totiredtowrite]

Pirate!Karasano (platoniclly or just Daichi) x Mermaid!Reader(this might be a long one so bare with me)

Maybe when Daichi was little he and reader met and became best friends, Daichi would visit him everyday but one day reader stopped showing up. Fast forward years and Daichi is now a pirate (never forgetting about his best mer-mate) captain with his own crew, either when raiding another ship he finds reader locked up, or his crew went to a village/shopping district (or whatever they’re called) and saw reader locked up (either way reader was captured). Daichi makes a plan to steal reader back (the team probably just thinks he wants the mermaid man, half of them or like “who would do that to a living creature???”). When he successfully gets back reader reader just think that these humans captured him for their own entertainment but then realized it’s Daichi and he’s (Daichi) just crying ‘cause he finally got his best mer-friend back

This is probably too long/confusing so I won’t blame you for not doing it/changing it!

🎆-anon

Pirate Daichi - Merfolk Reader

『4』『4』『4』

"Daikkun!"

Daichi turned his head down towards the water. You had your arms resting on a rock, (f/c) tail slightly visible in the water behind you. "You look distracted," you laughed and swam closer to him. He bit his lip and kicked the water.

"Dad says I should start focusing on my studies." He sighed. "But I wanna keep coming out here."

You just shrugged. "Study out here then," you smiled, hauling yourself up on the rock to comfortably sit across from him. The wind ruffled the fins on your back, your scales shining.

He picked at a piece of wood on the dock, smiling softly. "You really want me out here?"

You nodded vigorously. "The other kids don't like me much. You're waay better than them! My favourite even!"

Daichi's smile widened. "You're my favourite too, (y/n)."

Sawamura jolted straight up. These random memories in the form of a dream were starting to feel more like nightmares. The day after that encounter, you didn't show up. Then the day after, then the day after, and eventually Daichi just stopped waiting.

He sighed, wiping the sweat off of his forehead and sitting up. The gentle rocking of his ship was making him feel more uneasy than safe in the moment.

He turned to look out of the small, circular window to his right. The sun was just starting to peek out of the horizon, so at least he didn't loose too much sleep. Or oversleep. He sat up straight and rubbed his face. Even now, at twenty three years of age, he was plagued with memories of the merboy he met when he was thirteen.

He decided to not let it faze him though, and went about his morning as usual. By the time the sky was blue, the whole crew was up and working.

"Hey captain!" He turned his head to see Nishinoya waving at him. "Why're we pulling into port?"

Hinata looked down from the crows nest, expecting an answer the same as Yuu.

"We need more supplies," Daichi called back, "We'll only be docking for a short while."

The bustling noise of the city wasn't something Karasuno was used to. The marketplace especially. Vendors everywhere, people pitching that their products were better than the other stalls selling the same. Daichi huffed. It's been about an hour, most of the supplies they needed were in sacks over their shoulders, though they were still missing some things. Daichi was going to turn in a different direction, until-

"Come one come all! Ever seen a half human, half fish freak? Now you have! Hell, he's even for sale!"

Daichi paused, slowly turning. His breath caught in his throat.

You. Older now, mature in a way that made Daichi forget almost everything. Everything, from the small scar on your tail to the colour of your skin, was the same.

He staggered forward. The man, stout, real crafty looking, spotted Daichi moving towards his booth. "You there! Are you interested in taking this one off my hands?"

"How much," Daichi said without hesitation. The crew had gathered with him.

"He isn't seriously going to buy a merman, right?" Yaichi's eyes were wide. Kiyoko just patted her on the shoulder.

"I'm sure he has a reason."

The man was pondering the price. You were in the corner of the tank, a glare on your face. Daichi looked familiar, but you still weren't sure of who he was. You knew they were pirates though, and that was never a good sign.

"For a pretty one like this, I'd have to charge you twenty gold!" The man winked.

Daichi wordlessly dropped a small pouch into his hand. "Hand him over," he still looked kind of dazed. The man shrugged, pushing the wheeled tank towards him.

"It's all yours. Pleasure doing business with you!"

The crew was sitting around the tank now, the ship long since gone away from land. "He actually did it," Yaichi squeaked.

"So?" You snapped at him, seated in a shallow hole in the center of the ship that was filled with water. "What the hell did you want from me? Huh?"

Daichi walked towards you, causing the team to shuffle back. He sat cross legged in front of the pool. "Is it you?" He asked softly. You tilted your head, confusion overtaking the anger. "...(Y/n)?"

You narrowed your eyes, taking in his appearance. Then it struck you. "Daikkun?"

Tears started to fall from him, staining the deck. You moved closer to him. "It's been a while, hasn't it?" You smiled.

He lurched forward and wrapped his arms around you in a tight hug. He didn't seem to care that his shirt was getting wet. "I missed you," he said, small hics leaving him in between words. You moved your semi-scaled arms up around him, clutching his back.

"I missed you too."

『4』『4』『4』

Note - So this was longer than I thought it was gonna be uh oops? I wasn't sure about the plot progression so sorry if it's a dumpster fire 😭

[parkers-gal]

hiiii! can i please get a Tom x Fem!Reader imagine where he and reader have started dating and Tom’s brothers are weary of her because they’re protective etc incase people use Tom but they don’t know she has an actor brother who she helps with his career? Like maybe Taron Egerton or someone idk.. and they overhear her on a phone call to a film crew and they think she’s interfering in Tom’s career but she’s actually on the phone helping her brother? And just angst but end in fluff always ✨ tysm

requests are open (hope u like this)

wc: 1.1k

—

“You know they love you.” Tom says to you softly, quietly. The two of you are seated on a loveseat quite closely. You’re practically on his lap while his hand remains on the outer side of your thigh. You were with his brothers for the night, the “boys” if you will. They were in another room getting something, leaving you and Tom alone.

“Tough love, then.” You huff, looking in another direction. Tom frowns; he knows they’ve been just a bit cold towards you, sometimes even a bit hostile. Tom warned you things might be difficult, especially considering what happened last time when he brought a girl over.

“It’ll just take time.” He tries to assure you, hand rubbing up and down your thigh while he gives you a sweet kiss on the cheek. You nod, smiling a tight-lipped one as you attempted to remain cheerful for him. You knew the boys were very protective, especially about who they let into their tight circle. “Thank you for doing this.”

You smile a genuine one now, looking at him and giving him a soft kiss, short but passionate. “Anything for you.” You hug him closer and the boys come back into the room. They’ve almost been hesitant the entire night, but you’re all due for a day outside in the shops tomorrow, and Tom promised it would give you all time to warm up.

“Right then,” Tom smiled, eyes crinkling from the smirk. “Let’s finish this game of Clue.”

**

You’re holding Tom’s hand while you go from shop to shop. There’s no actual street separating the stores across from each other, so you’re free to walk wherever you please. Harry has a camera around his neck, Sam walking with a water bottle in one hand and Elysia’s hand in the other. Harrison is pointing out every stupid detail that could possible link back to the next season of Stranger Things. They’d been hung up on the last season’s ending, impatiently waiting for new episodes to arise. Tuwaine is feeding him on, gossiping about new theories. You’re laughing at them, adding onto the conversation as much as you can.

They’re not as reserved, today. Maybe it’s the sunshine of London, or maybe they’re just a bit overprotective when anything related to work pops up into the conversation or the mind. You don’t want to think much of it, though, because you’re still getting somewhere, and any progress is progress for everyone.

You’re stopped outside of a shop while Sam and Elysia are inside browsing the shelves. You’re all standing around the entrance waiting for them to return, but your phone rings rather loudly and consistently, so you excuse yourself to take the call, walking a way for some privacy.

“Hey, Tar.” You speak into the mobile device. “What’s up?”

Though you’re barely five minutes into the call, you can tell it’s going to be an important one — one that regards the script of your brother’s upcoming film. Sam and Elysia finally emerge from the shop while you're still on the call, and though they can only hear one end of the conversation, they urge to listen in. Tom had gone to get pretzels with Tuwaine from a small bakery, leaving the boys to wait for each of you to come back.

You’re still talking on the phone, though, and they’re listening to you frantically talking to your brother, though they don’t know it’s your brother on the other end.

“No, you should replace that second fade-in scene with the rough draft Jon wrote last week — yes the one from the producer’s room. The… yeah the cherry one too.”

After hearing what could’ve been you talking about Tom’s work, Harrison runs to get Tom before you can return.

“What’s up?” Tom’s licking his fingers from the cinnamon of a pretzel.

“Y/N…. she’s messing with your work.”

“What?” His brows furrow as he tries to understand what they’re saying.

“Yeah. She’s changing things about Cherry and something with Jon Watts-”

“And you know this because?”

Harry blushes. “We eavesdropped on her phone call.”

Tom raises a stern brow. “You know that’s not polite.”

“But she’s not even an actress or anything! What if she’s sabotaging your work?”

Tom tries not to laugh too hard. “You sound like someone from a Disney Channel show.”

“You can’t deny it’s a little fishy.” Harrison’s buff arms cross over chest and Tom sighs just as you’re about to come back.

“Just be careful with her.” Sam whispers as you arrive.

“What’re we doing now?”

Nobody manages to answer you, and you can tell the dynamic has shifted slightly. Tom had gone back to the pretzel shop for Tuwaine, and you’re left alone with the rest of the group.

“Are you meddling with Tom’s work?” Harrison manages to to get out after a few awkwardly silent moments.

“What?”

“We heard you on the phone.” Sam elaborates.

“I worked on Cherry with Tom, y’know.” He moves his camera slightly and you can see his demeanor grow defensive.

“Yeah… and?” You’re trying your best to understand, but there seems to be a gap for the misunderstanding.

“I think you should tell Tom what you’re doing to his work?”

“What’s going on?” Tom disrupts the circle that had once surrounded you, with questions and with people.

“Y/N has something to confess.”

Tom looks from Harry to you, wearily, curious as to where this is going.

“Yeah…” You trail off, thinking. “Your brothers have been listening to my conversations.”

“Within reason!” Harrison is quick to jump to the defense. “You’re a bit fishy.”

“I’m fishy for helping my brother?”

“You were talking to your brother about Tom’s upcoming movie?” Harry’s fast in deciphering your words. You’re stunned, face showing pure bewilderment.

“My brother happens to be Taron Egerton; we have this ongoing joke about fruits and scenes for scripts. Cherry is what we say for…. For the number two.”

“Oh.”

Tom rolls his eyes as the group realizes their mistakes. They’re looking down at their feet while Tom comes to your side, hand on the small of your back.

“Don’t you have something to say to my dear Y/N?” Tom’s rubbing it in slightly, and it makes you laugh.

“We’re really sorry. It was rude and impolite and… yeah.” The rest of them say other things along those lines, and you nod in forgiveness.

“It’s alright. Tom told me you all were… protective or… of the sorts.” They laugh dryly at your twist of words, and you return it with a smile. “We cool, though?”

“God yes.” Harry exhales with relief. “As long as you are.”

“Good.” Tom smiles, eyes still reading as the ‘stern older brother.’ “No more of that nonsense.”