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notroosterbradshaw · 1 year

Text

warm blood

about: a few drinks at everyone’s favourite bar. you’re home, it’s been a few very cold months at sea. he warms you to your bones each time you see him. but it’s sadly just not meant to be.

word count: 5.6k

warnings: angst, language, vivid thots of smut if you have an over-active imagination.

The sound that escaped Rooster’s lips as you dragged your nails through his unruly sun-kissed curls had you cackling. A feral growl that started at his boots, so low that when released, he almost didn’t recognise himself. “Rooster Bradshaw, you need a girlfriend,” you decided.

His side-eye to you was legendary and he sighed dramatically. “I don’t need a girlfriend; I just need to get laid,” he clarified, realising just how pitiful he sounded and then adding softly when you ceased your ministrations, “Please don’t stop. That feels so fuckin’ good. It’s like the most physical contact I’ve had in...” he mumbled, his honey-coloured eyes fluttering closed and took a deep, satisfied pull of his beer. God, how long had it been? He didn’t want to admit to himself, let alone you, how long it’d been since someone had touched him like that.

You sighed and let go of him to scamper onto the bar. A quiet Tuesday night, if it were the weekend, the place would be pulsating, but you had plenty of space to lay some affection on Rooster without the bullshit that could generally come with it and it definitely seemed like he needed it…

You spread your legs modestly (as your jeans would allow) and held out your hands open in welcome. Without a question of hesitance, he stepped to you as you turned him away from you and continued to press your fingertips into his scalp with the added leverage of this new height. His strong shoulders dropped, completely melting with your touch.

“Jesus Christ, that’s good,” he murmured quietly, crossing his arms across his chest, his head lolling forward. “And you decided to be a naval aviator?” he teased. “Your hands could have been better used in much better ways.”

“Ha,” you muttered behind him. “Don’t get smart. I have generous fingers. You need me more than I need you right now.”

“You’re right, I’m sorry,” he replied.

Whispered close to him, you said, “This must be the longest dry spell you’ve ever had,” you reckoned.

He nudged his ear closer to your breath and shrugged lightly. “Fuckin’ feels like it,” he said dismally.

“How long?” you dared ask.

“It’s goin’ with me to the grave, don’t ask stupid questions,” he muttered dryly in reply as you tried to hide your grin and reached for a sip of your own beer. He turned back to you, stepping out of your grasp and putting a respectful distance between your bodies, the moment passed. You crossed your legs at the ankles properly as he made a face; he’d let pretences lie and would never admit he hadn’t been satisfied sexually since... “Maybe you’re right, I just need a girlfriend.”

Sure, he’d had a lot of sex and lots recently, a healthy amount. Probably more than most. But these days, nothing was fulfilling him. He was desperate to find a connection with someone that just wasn’t happening. Women on platters, and he didn’t know how to strike out even on his worst night. Everyone would cum and have the time of their lives. But it was never enough for Rooster to want to see them again.

“Rooster, you have no trouble finding someone to fuck… why are you so off your game?”

“Dunno,” was his simple answer.

“Well, why don’t you go drag all the ladies in with a song or something?” you suggested, hoping to perk him up, ever his cheerleader, although it was fairly dead. He shook his head and honestly, he didn’t need to sit at the piano to have all eyes on him. At any point of the night, you’d look up and find some poor soul caught staring and trapped in the web of Lieutenant Commander Bradley Bradshaw and the authority he easily demanded.

“Naw,” he didn’t feel like the spectacle tonight.

“Want me to wing woman for you?” you offered in finality. “Babe on the other side of the bar. Pretty smile, curvy...” You chewed your own lip. “Very cute.”

“You’d do that?” he asked, following your gaze and kudos to you, you knew his type, all right.

“Of course. I can’t deal with you when you’re being a whiny little bitch. If it means you get your cock wet, I’m here for you, pal,” you roughly smacked his rosy cheek, and he laughed, clutching the sting as you asked him how you looked, propping yourself off the sticky bar and he steadied you.

He gave you a once over, a fond glance in his dark eyes. “Beautiful, but are you trying to get laid, or am I?” he pondered.

“I swore off your kind as a New Year’s resolution. I want the year to myself,” you grandstanded, and he chuckled.

“You’ll be begging for sex soon enough,” he straightened and took another long slug of his beer. “I know you. I know what you need,” his voice dropped a little lower, easing his lean frame against the bar.

Your eyes met his and honestly… he probably knew exactly what you needed, what you craved and deserved and as a few beats passed, his eyes daringly never left yours. His face remained passive, daring you to play his little game.

“You know what I let you know,” you weren’t sure how to play his words off so you finished your beer. But really? You hated how right he was. He’d been the only one to get a read on you when you first landed yourself in his seminar a year or so back. “I’ve got toys, I’ve got fingers,” you reminded him, reaching for him with jazz hands as he licked back his grin, growing wider by the second.

“You fuckin’ deviant,” he breathed. It was untrue, but he loved to goad you… and you loved when he teased you too. Just a little too much.

“Hey. If I want to find someone to share my time with, I won’t hesitate to break my resolution. They’re made to be broken, aren’t they?” you shrugged flippantly, blood searing under your skin.

He nodded, not disagreeing. “Yeah, well… I’m sick of my hands,” he admitted dismally as you took the hand that rested on his quad and cupped it on your own. He laughed quietly and gripped your palm back. “I just miss the warmth, you know?”

Pressing the back of his warm, strong hand to your cheek, he laughed again as you gave him the biggest doe eyes with the dreamiest, forced smile, and he sighed. Each touch, each glance, each comment was just another link to how fucking good your friendship was and although the Navy had an odd way to keep you separated, your friendship trumped responsibility.

“Don’t start. Knock it off immediately,” he told you sternly. He could fall for those eyes in a heartbeat so it was best you put them away. You prayed desperately for him one day to give in to the heat and make that move past that imaginary line you had drawn.

Moving back to your seat like a scorned child, you didn’t give up. It could be one of your worst qualities at the best of times. Never knowing when to just shut up. “No, tell me exactly what you miss. Tell me what you need.” You settled in. You would love to know what turned Rooster Bradshaw on. He wasn’t like the other guys – he kept his conquests quiet. Lowkey. Sure, you knew when he was in the game, he made no secret of his intentions. But gee, he always seemed more complicated than an easy fuck kinda guy. “I want to know.”

“You don’t need to hear about any of that stuff,” he rolled his eyes and retrieved his hand, stuffing it back in his jeans pocket where it was safe and sound. “Trust me, you’ll be just like me soon enough,” he warned.

“Look, if you get to a point you’re absolutely desperate, blue from top to toe, I’ll drop my standards for a night and give you a night you won’t forget, okay, big guy?” you tried to bite back the laugh that bubbled under the surface and you weren’t remotely surprised he gave you the bird in response. “You’re just lazy. Go drop a line on any woman in here, and I guarantee, she will be putty in your hands.” You’d know.

It seemed like such a nut-up or shut-up order, Rooster knew he had no choice but to follow through. Standing to his height and adjusting to his posture, he mumbled, “Fine,” he stole your fresh beer as you protested and wandered around the bar, stopping before the gorgeous woman, who if truth be told, was exactly his usual type, you’d pointed out only moments earlier. Well, what was expected to be his type - that glint in her eye that told him he wouldn’t have to work too hard to get her number either.

“Hey hey, look who’s back on dry land!” Natasha grinned, giving you a gentle side hug and ordering a drink. “When you’d sneak in, partner?”

“About half an hour ago. Your buddy cornered me first,” you explained as Natasha replaced the beer in your palm. “How’s he been?” you asked softly.

“Okay,” she shrugged. “Usual. Broody.”

“He was telling me he was lonely,” the word didn’t roll off your tongue easily even if it was something so synonymous with Rooster’s character.

“Shit, really?” Natasha raised her bottle as you nodded. “Anything to be wary of?”

“Don’t think so. You know how he is,” you told her, and she knew. Only Bradley Bradshaw could be so lucky as to always have you and Natasha Trace in his corner. “Oh, look,” you said as he nodded to you gratefully across the bar, and you winked back. “There he is - back in the saddle with absolutely little to no effort on his behalf. Well done, Rooster,” you said bored and just the teeniest bit sarcastic. “Bra-vo.”

“Please, if you had the chance, you wouldn’t share him,” Natasha righted you, smirking behind the pull of her beer.

“What can I do?” you admitted, thinking the idea had crossed your mind once, twice or every night since you’d met him about what it might be like to be the object of Rooster Bradshaw’s affections. C’mon, you weren’t immune to him. In fact, it was anything but -

“Please, he almost came in his jeans as you played with his hair before.”

“What?” you and Natasha yelped as Jake sidled up to you, grinning.

“You were playing with his hair?” Natasha asked, raising a curious eyebrow. “Oh, wow,” her tone told her everything she was thinking and none of it was approving.

“Hold that thought,” you hissed at her as she raised her palms for mercy, a small smile burgeoning on her lips. “And, fuck off, Bagman. Isn’t there some pathetic 21-year-old looking to be treated like shit for a few weeks while you string her on?” you muttered. Jake made a face.

“I’m just sayin’… wouldn’t be the worst thing if you guys tested the waters. See if there’s any sexual chemistry. Might even make Rooster a tolerable human being but it is behaviour like that that’ll get you both kicked out of the Navy.” Jake added as you threw a few loose salted peanuts at him. “Hey, I’m allergic!” he feigned, dusting himself off as he wandered off with a snicker, pleased he’d managed to rile you up with, really, very little effort on his behalf.

“I’m only learning he’s allergic to peanuts now?” you muttered to yourself.

“He is so fuckin’ toxic,” Natasha sighed. Toxic, realistic, honest. There was a lot to be said about Jake Seresin and his perception of the world. But you also kind of loved his lack of filter and how he called it as he saw it. Bit like yourself, he just had his head shoved far further up his own ass than you did… mostly.

“It’s actually his most likeable attribute,” you reckoned with a tease, tossing more peanuts across the bar after him for good measure. He made a face but was completely unaffected.

“But he doesn’t make a terrible point…” she continued as you both looked towards the other side of the bar, watching Rooster and the ease he roped his conquest in. Lick of the lips, make sure those golden biceps were bulging, aviators sliding gently down his nose as he gazed down at her… wait, there you go. She easily took the bait and nervously pushed the glasses up as he huffed a small chuckle at her moxie. He pulled his phone from his pocket a few moments later and handed it to her, clearly asking for her number. You had to give her kudos – she resisted his charms for about 1.6 seconds.

“Don’t be like that,” you begged.

“Like what?”

“Trying to encourage this. I’m dumb enough for him as it is.”

Nat gave you a tight-lipped smile and apologised. She understood, dear lord, she understood how you felt and while she could tease you unmercifully about it, she knew this wasn’t a passing crush for you. She gave her attention back to Rooster and muttered, “It’s like a car accident but I can’t look away.”

“Good for him,” you muffled, wrapping your lips around the bottle and taking a deep slug as she nudged you.

“Remember why you swore off all sex and relationships this year,” she said softly. “The purge.”

“This purge is for good,” you reminded yourself, saying it a few times like a mantra. Pity you didn’t believe it in the slightest. “You’re remarkably light tonight.”

She shrugged modestly and went into the small, very necessary details about her afternoon delight. “Don’t you miss the intimacy though?”

“Natasha, I know I made my bed and have to sleep in it, but I miss everything. I just want to come home and fall into someone’s strong arms, ground me, remind me I’m safe again until the motion of the waves stops rocking me.”

Natasha looked at you fondly. “That is actually quite poetic.”

You sipped your beer, pushed out an exhale and added drily, “Then get absolutely pounded on every surface of the house until I’m weeping.”

She cackled. “That’s my girl.”

“I got off the boat today... had the biggest plans. Wine, new rose toy I was dreaming about for the last three months... motherfucker needed to be charged.”

“You got two hands,” Phoenix reminded you just as Rooster had.

“Every night at sea, Phoenix,” you reminded her. And she knew. Dear God, did Natasha Trace know. “Every night.”

“Penny, can we get a coupla rounds of tequila here, please? Our girl is going through it,” Natasha smiled at the pretty bar owner who winked in the affirmative. You away from Rooster although Natasha motioned in his direction. “So, how was he when he saw you?”

“That slow grin… ” you said low and only for her ears. “The way he moves to his feet is a fuckin’ sin. He looked so good, I think I probably stumbled,” you cursed yourself.

“Sea legs,” Natasha patted your wrist and tried to make you feel better.

“Sure,” you shrugged flippantly. “Three months away did absolutely nothing to shut this little crush down.”

“That’s what you’re going with? Little crush,” Natasha repeated with a snort as Penny put a series of shots before you and took one quickly with you and Natasha between patrons.

“Little crush?” Rooster’s hands were on your shoulders, his strong palms massaging your tense shoulders, thumbs pressing into the nape of your neck and every ounce of tension drained from your being as he poked his face into your intimate twosome, a curious grin on his face as you and she straightened up quickly, turning to face him and he released his grasp on you. “Who has a little crush?” he asked, remarkably perkier than he was ten minutes earlier.

“You’re still here?” you asked him. “Thought you’d be on your way to - ”

“Amelie’s,” he supplied.

“That’s quite sweet actually,” you noted as he nodded, amused, almost like you couldn’t imagine a more beautiful name being found in a place like The Hard Deck. “Amelie’s house…”

“We said we’d meet up a bit later,” he shrugged, catching Penny’s attention for another round. “Been a while since we were all together. We missed ya, kid,” he told you as he snuck a shot. Natasha rolled her eyes.

“Well, here I am,” you forced a grin as he mirrored yours and it spread as wide on his handsome features.

“Yep. You sure are. Back where you belong,” he said as the air around you changed, and Natasha would be lying to say she’d never felt more like a third wheel in her life. She watched you watch the other, it was almost like you were daring the other to look away first. She could feel whatever it was between the two of you and knew that it was much deeper than either of you would admit. Well, she knew exactly how you felt. With Bob back in Lemoore with his family and Natasha needing another partner, you had been brought in and the PR party the Navy had with you as an all-female team? Sheesh.

She also knew how much you would risk everything to be with him. She’d never outwardly encouraged it, but she could see how hard you both fought to keep your desire for the other in check. He did better at trying to conceal it, but it was written all over your face. You looked at him like he hung the moon.

“Wanna get really drunk tonight?” you asked him, wrapping an arm around Natasha’s shoulder.

“Hey, don’t rope me into your hangovers,” Natasha tried as you covered her mouth with your free hand.

“Hush, love,” you tutted her. “You’re either with us or against us.”

She pursed her lips as you and Rooster grinned widely at her. “…you two will be the death of me.”

Cheering together that you’d drawn her with such little effort on your behalf, Rooster laughed. “Yeah, kinda think it’s a good night to get messy.”

“Natasha Trace, line ‘em up,” you instructed as she begrudgingly nodded, and Rooster rubbed his hands with glee.

“I am not good,” you told Rooster a few hours later. Rooster could readily agree that neither was he. Natasha and the rest of the team had bailed a while ago, leaving you together at the bar. “I really have to go.”

“Yeah, I know,” he replied. “Getting drunk wasn’t going to help you get over any exhaustion.”

“I haven’t slept in…” you squinted at your watch. “Wow, 36 hours. My bed is going to be so good tonight,” Bed, bed, bed. “Oh shit, Amelie!” you exclaimed, sipping your ice water. “Wasn’t she waiting for you?”

He shrugged. “Five minutes of pleasure there, three hours here with you and our friends. I know where I’d rather be.”

“Five minutes, dude,” you giggled quietly. You didn’t believe it for a second.

“I didn’t exactly see forever with her, Jesus,” he muttered, licking back a smirk of his own.

“I would never believe that anyway.”

“Thank you,” he finally let a giggle bubble out. “And you shouldn’t.”

“Did you at least text her? You were interested three hours ago…”

“I think she put her number into my phone wrong,” he lied so easily it was almost disappointing.

“Rooooster,” you dragged out.

He shrugged. “So what? Changed my mind,” he said simply.

“Hey, you two,” Penny sniped, pulling your attention from each other. “You either get a cloth and start cleaning up or you think about getting outta here, so you don’t have numbers in your system in the morning,” she warned. The bar had long since rang the last call and you were the last patrons standing – but also, on the plus side for Penny, probably the evening’s highest paying.

“Sorry, Penny. Lemme pay,” Rooster said, getting his credit card from his wallet and tossing it on the gummed-up bench. She grinned and slid the card back across the bar as Rooster protested.

“Hangman took a chunk of the bill off earlier. I’ll let you two get away with a few freebies if you lock the door on the way out?”

“Oops,” you said, picking yourself up and stretching. “We will,” you said as you collected your belongings. “Sorry again.”

She gave a gentle nod as you headed for the door. “Someone will be,” she whispered to herself solemnly.

“I’d better walk you home, I guess,” Rooster said, waving goodnight and following you a careful distance away.

“You don’t have to do that,” you said as he opened the door for you and let you out into the cooler night air. The liquor in your system swept a series of goose pimples break out as the breeze off the ocean breeze hit your skin. You shivered instinctively.

“You good?” he asked.

“Yes, Lieutenant Commander Bradshaw, I’m perfectly fine,” you answered, rolling your eyes and inhaling the sea air. “You think I’d get sick of it, right?” you asked with a grin.

He didn’t even need you to explain yourself. “Never,” because he understood the feeling implicitly.

“Never,” you repeated as he nodded towards the beach, following the path to your place.

You walked in a comfortable silence for a while and before you realised it, your villa was before you. “Here we are. I actually can’t wait to get to sleep in my own bed.”

He grinned. “One that doesn’t rock.”

“Not tonight it won’t,” you said glumly, taking his comment as a double entendre as he giggled quietly even though he was probably being purely innocent in his commentary, following you to the door. You struggled with the key for a few moments before he carefully nudged you aside and remedied the situation at hand.

The door opened and he sighed. Relieved, disappointed, he didn’t know. “I’ll see you tomorrow, huh?”

“I am off until next week,” you told him. God knows you needed it.

“So, I’ll see you tomorrow,” he reiterated with a gentle smile, but if he meant the bar, you couldn’t fathom backing up from the eventual hangover tomorrow was sure to bring. It filled you with dread.

“Yessir,” you mumbled as you stared at the other for a moment. So much to say that would always remain silent. For any other two people in the universe, right now you would be taking those last steps closer, lips tenderly brushing the others and seeing if the kiss was right. He would lay his strong, calloused palms on your hips, squeezing you closer to rest your body against his and you would willingly encourage the kiss -

Yet here you were, taking that next step in the other direction to go to bed alone, without even the slightest touch to say goodnight; no whisper of a whiskey-laced caress to dare cross your lips. And all you really wanted was to take his hand and guide him to your room that he’d never seen the inside of, strip him down, and explore the body he worked so hard on perfecting. Let him discover your body with his hands, with his lips, his tongue. Find out what made you call his name out in the dark.

See what made the other make sounds that you only dreamed about, that you only thought he made in the throes of fucking, limited only to when the groans of pleasure he’d make when he found out how wet you really were for him and how well, til then, you’d hidden it from him.

How wild you willed him to be, reckless when he stopped holding himself back, the guttural, primal movements of his strong body as he slammed into you, touching every piece of naked skin within his grasp. How his tongue would devour yours and his kisses not missing a beat, working in perfect tandem with the rhythm of his hips –

“Where you at, sunshine?” he asked with a peaked dark brow, waving a palm in front of your face. Jesus Christ, how long had you been fantasising while he was standing right before you?! “Looks like it’s time for bed, kiddo.”

You huffed an embarrassed laugh. “Definitely,” you agreed, blame it on months at sea, blame it on the alcohol. Get you inside alone immediately if not sooner. Put this sexual frustration to bed once and for all. “Goodnight, Rooster. Thanks for walking me back.”

“Lieutenant,” he gave a gentle wave as you forced a smile and closed the door before you did something incredibly stupid… like drag your superior officer in and do things that would certainly dishonourably discharge you (or both of you), suspend your pay or worst, confinement for two years. You didn’t know which one scared you the most.

But you were pretty sure the feelings you had for Rooster were the worst of a bad bunch.

And you were whipping the door open again as you saw him heading back towards the street. “Rooster,” you said as he paused. “Bradley...” you repeated, a name you rarely called him, but Lieutenant Commander was certainly not how you wanted to get his attention at 2am in the middle of the street.

He looked at you and back to your house, confused. “You okay? What’s going on?” The concern in his voice was evident.

“No, no. I’m honestly fine,” you reassured him. “I just need you to know how stupid I am,” spit it out, your brain (and heart) screamed. He laughed quietly.

“What are you talking about?”

You stayed silent and you could tell he was growing uncomfortable. He was adorable and so terribly clueless. “Rooster, I was being honest before.”

He frowned and shrugged, nothing standing out to him that he was to recall. “I mean, I’d hope so. But what, exactly?”

You inhaled sharply. “Earlier tonight, I wasn’t kidding... I will be there for you anytime you need me. In any way...” you took in his face as it began to dawn on him what you were insinuating. “You need me. A friend, wingman, a confident... whatever.”

He swallowed roughly. “Oh.”

You let go of him. “It’s all so easy when we’re away from each other, but then I see you and all I can think about is how good we are together and how good we could be...”

“Jesus...” he muttered quietly, rubbing his tired face but his gaze remained hard on you, unbelieving. “How drunk are you?” he wanted to blame the alcohol now too.

“Sober enough to know this had to come out eventually. I can’t just be one of the boys anymore, not with the way you make me feel. I think about you all the time,” you took a breath and repeated, “All the time.”

He took your wrists and dragged you back to your front stoop. He trapped you against the door and caged you under his strong arms, hoping you’d go in and pretend what you were announcing wasn’t tangible. He drew in a shaky breath, but he didn’t dare touch you. You could feel the heat radiating off his golden skin and the way his tongue ran over his full lips. “Why are you telling me this now?”

“Because I can’t keep it in anymore. Because you need to know that if you want me, I’ll be waiting.”

“How long has this been going on?” he asked quietly. “How long have you felt like this?”

“Since my first seminar. Was this stupid moustache,” you confided as he flushed and laughed incredulously to himself, this couldn’t be real. “And I know I’ve probably ruined our friendship, completely tested the boundaries of professionalism and you probably hate me – ”

“Hate you?” he repeated, grimacing. “In no world could I ever hate you, kid.”

“Really?” you asked, a hopeful flutter in your heart. “I know this isn’t what you were expecting, and believe me… I didn’t want to feel this way, I just… I just can’t seem to stop,” the sheer frustration evident in your voice and he could viscerally feel your discontentment. “It’s supposed to go away when we’re on the job. I went away for fuckin’ months, and I see you tonight,” you blurted out before you could stop yourself. “And in my fuckin’ brain was convinced I was over it.”

“Your heart?” he asked quietly.

“Didn’t agree,” you confided, embarrassed. Quiet. Ashamed. Tortured.

He sighed deeply, his shoulders slumping. Nothing you were saying made sense, not when he knew he felt exactly the same and every day did everything in his power to try and pretend his feelings for you didn’t exist. “Kid – ”

“I know I’ve ruined our friendship. I know I’m putting everything we have at stake, whether it’s personal or professional, and I’m sorry, but I’m about to burst,” you wanted to yell.

“Hey, hey,” he soothed, “Calm down. I know... I know,” he said softly. He desperately wanted to give just one reassuring nudge but knew every touch could be construed as something else, and Bradley Bradshaw had never felt so torn in two before.

“You know?” you asked, a spark of hope lurching in your heart.

“There is something here, you know there is,” his voice was so low. “But what way is there around it? It’s a lose-lose situation. I’m your superior.”

“Trust me, I’m well aware of that,” your sweet, pained voice was so sombre, it was haunting him. For so long, he’d denied how he’d felt; he had to. You were his direct report, he was your teacher, and you were his dutiful student. And it wasn’t intentional that he felt how he did because he did everything in his power to push any of the nonsensical feelings away, he begged to be sent OS, anything to resist the temptation… but the temptation of what you made him feel - alive - was the hardest to shake and he missed the feeling whenever you were away.

“I don’t know what else I can say - ” he tried.

“I think of you when I touch myself, Rooster,” you grasped his shirt and you saw him swallow roughly. You went for the big guns… you were spiralling and desperate. But it certainly was no word of a lie.

“Jesus fuckin’ Christ,” he took that step closer but dared not touch you in return, his palms almost pressing their indent into your front door. He feared if took another step and felt you were against him, he would give in and risk everything. “…tell me more,” he begged. “Please. What do you see?”

“Really?” you asked softly.

“I need... I need to know,” his voice was so low, you felt it to your bones.

Your hands rose to his rest on his pecs, his muscles reacting under your touch, his head lolling closer, lips so close but like magnets, they kept a safe distance repelled. “It always comes back to me goin’ down on you. The sounds I imagine you make, hard and hot in my mouth. How you taste,” you felt the heat radiate through your body, but now you’d started you weren’t sure that you could stop… and you weren’t sure Rooster wanted you to either.

“Do you want to find out?” he said, voice gravelly, standing over you, millimetre by excruciating millimetre, he crept closer. He had never been so uncomfortable, but never so close to needing the relief you were placing right in his palms.

“Do you?” you challenged, your knuckles grazing his abs hard and tense under his shirt, coming to rest on his hips, your fingertips tracing the seams on his belt. His eyes drifted closed and tried to find his resolve. You must have been challenging him, there was no other recourse for this. Your banter together was notorious... but this was testing the limits of your friendship.

That imaginary line was non-existent now. There was no turning back.

“You’re bullshitin’ me, I know you are,” he said, and it hurt to admit, his breathing heavy and uncontrolled. Desire radiated through him and he now knew, he wouldn’t be able to go back to a place where this wasn’t happening.

“Rooster,” you took that step he couldn’t, bodies flush against the other. “That woman, Amelie, she won’t please you the way I will. Let me show you how good we can be together,” you pleaded softly.

“You're my friend...” his brain just couldn’t function; it couldn’t comprehend these words you were telling him. Words he’d wanted to hear you say since you shared that first small grin, seated proudly beside Phoenix. You’d share so many near misses together that actually getting to this made him wonder if he was dreaming. “I’m your commanding officer.” It all came down to this.

But you couldn’t hear his defences and asked, “Have you never thought of me the same way I think of you?”

His dark eyes burned deeply into yours and without a hint of a lie, he replied, “You know I have,” it was barely audible, when he added, “You know. You know I want you, kid… Everyone does.” And that was the problem for all involved.

“Then don’t worry about the next notch in the bedpost… and let me show you what you’re missing.”

He breathed, the whiskey on his tongue swirling and you were desperate to taste it.

“Say it. Say what you’re thinking.”

He raised his eyes to yours, his strong hand reaching for the door handle behind you. “One night. No rules. Tomorrow, we will never speak of this again,” he turned the knob and the door opened. He gently grasped your wrist as he led you inside and at that moment, you knew every facet of your life was irrevocably changed.

A/N: the tag list no longer exists. To keep up to date, give @notroosterbradshaw-library a follow x

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startrekfangirl2233-writes · 1 year

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I Wanted to Be

A Ron 'Slider' Kerner Imagine

Description: Kids, family, all of those things that people always talk about as being the be-all, end-all, goal? Those things have never been on Ron Kerner's list. All he wants to do is fly. What happens when an old friend's little sister calls him for help?

Everything changes.

Warnings: Dead-beat dad, Mentioned Pregnancy, Mentioned Childbirth, Tooth Rotting Fluff

Word Count: 2939

A/N: This is another Discord fueled thought. @mayhemmanaged and I were talking about how we thought that Jake was either Ice's son or Slider's. I had a sudden urge to explore that thought and here we are!

AO3: Cross-posted Here!

My Masterlist

Texans have a saying or cautionary tale for nearly everything. Everything, it seems, except what you can tell your best friend's little sister when her no-good husband runs away from her and the baby she's carrying. When she'd called him, sobbing, he hadn't known what to do. What can you tell a twenty-five year old nine month pregnant woman you haven't seen in close to a decade? In the case of one Ron Kerner, mostly known as Slider nowadays, you don't say a word. Instead, you get emergency leave and hop onto the nearest transport home.

The tiny town of Cistern is exactly as he remembers it, hot, dry, and dusty. The sole bus trundles through town just as he pulls into the solitary gas station and steps out. It feels weird being back here. As much as Cistern hasn't changed, he knows he has. A quick stop at the pump station for fuel that sloshes sluggishly into the near empty tank of the truck he'd rented in Austin, and he's off again. Driving west a ways and then north until the only things he sees are scrub and the odd glimpse of cattle.

The turn-off to the Petersen ranch looks just like he remembers it, though the sign says Seresin now. Was that the name of the idiot who ran away? In all honesty, Ron can't be pressed to remember. All that matters is the girl waiting on the porch when the truck rattles to a stop. She looks the same as he remembers. Little Rebecca Petersen, not so little and decidedly not a Petersen anymore, but god does she not remind him still of the little thing that used to run around behind him and Danny, all knees, toothy grin and covered in freckles.

That grin, at least, is exactly the same. So is the teasing tone as she greets him as he walks up the front stairs. "Well, well, well, look at what the cat dragged in! If it isn't Ron Kerner, the big-shot Naval Aviator. What brings you back to sleepy old Cistern?"

"You know what." He can't help the sober turn to his voice as he hugs her gingerly, not sure of where to put his arms, not when the bulge of her belly is in the way. God, doesn't he wish he'd never said those words as soon as they left his mouth, though. Because that smile is gone, like the sun hidden by the clouds.

"You're here because of Brian." Her voice is tired, so tired that Ron can't help trying to make the girl he promised he'd protect smile again.

"Naw, Becks. I'm here for you and this little thing. Only in part for him."

It's words that he didn't know were true until 3 days later when he's standing in the maternity ward of the hospital and being handed a tiny squalling infant with a shock of honey hair and the tightest grip he's ever felt. The newly named Jacob Daniel Seresin seems to be just as enamored of Ron as Ron is of him. Say what you will about the little guy's deadbeat dad, but he made an awfully cute baby.

That instant shock of attachment stays with Ron for a long time afterward. He looks forward to receiving the letters Rebecca sends monthly, filled with polaroids of small Jake as he grows bigger and bigger. He can track every milestone on that little body from how he grows to the first tooth that comes painfully into that little mouth.

But he does not actually see the boy or his mama again for nearly five years. Things have changed considerably over that time. Ron's raked in another promotion, making him a full lieutenant. Ice met a girl and made her his wife, and to top it all off, they're both in Texas again. So on the first long weekend he gets, Ron hops into the old Ford truck he'd put together when he turned sixteen and drives straight up to Cistern.

This time, he drives up to the Seresin house to hear giggling and gets out of his truck just in time to catch a little boy in just a pair of shorts as he goes running past. It's the light dusting of freckles and toothy grin that he'd recognize anywhere which clues him into exactly who he's holding.

"Hey, kiddo. I'm your Uncle Ron. Dunno if you remember me." His voice is gruff as he turns the giggling brat upside down like he's looking for a way to turn a little robot off. Through giggles, he's gratified to hear the boy introduce himself as Jake. This time, the Rebecca he sees in the kitchen of the ranch house she grew up in and where she's raising her son is more like the happy teenager he'd left behind when he enlisted with her big brother. It still irks him that he couldn't protect Daniel. But he's going to protect Rebecca and Daniel's namesake as fiercely as he can.

"Hey, Becks. Y'missing something? I caught this little gremlin running around out there. Is this what you're looking for?" He can't resist tickling the bare tummy of the boy in his arms just to hear the musical giggles.

"Mama, Uncle Sly's here!" The piping voice of the little boy standing there all of two feet tall wearing just shorts is enough to crack even the crustiest aviator's stone heart. Rebecca's boy is a dusty, golden skinned marvel with his sun-bleached blonde hair and huge slightly gap-toothed grin. It feels like home, this place. That weekend, Ron spends more time out on a ranch than he has in years. Rebecca may have managed to keep the ranch going, but who's going to teach Jake everything he needs to know when his daddy isn't around? Anyways, that's Ron's rationale.

Soon after that, though, he's given orders. He's shipped all over the world, flying for the Navy. It seems like his star is on the rise, and while he's Lieutenant Commander and Captain Kerner in short order, he still stays Uncle Sly for one little boy who turns into a teenager back in Cistern seemingly overnight. Ron does his best to show up for all of the kid’s biggest milestones, but even he can’t hop onto a helo every time Jake has a baseball game or wins an award at school. Those weeks, Ron does his best to call and talk to the kid as much as he can.

He talks to Rebecca on the phone enough to know that the kid's struggling with something, something he won't talk to his Mama about. So the next time Ron's home, he heads to Cistern, as always with gifts in hand for the boy he loves like he is his own. Unlike prior snatched moments, Seresin Ranch is crackling with a tension Ron's never felt before. Jake's on the front porch, and Ron's suddenly struck by how grown up the boy seems, especially with how tall he is and the new manly breadth of his shoulders.

"Hey, Kiddo." As he tugs the kid into a hug, Ron can feel some tension leave those still small shoulders.

"Uncle Sly." Something's not right. Jake's not smiling today, not at all.

"What is it, kid?" A sudden jolt of fear rushes through Ron. "Where's your mom, kid?'

"She's in there, Uncle Sly, in the kitchen. With a man who's claiming to be my dad." The rage that burns in his chest is unlike any other that Ron's ever felt before. Sure enough, when he stalks into the kitchen, it's to see the one man he'd never wanted to see menacing Rebecca ever again.

"Brian." That one word is all it takes for Rebecca's shoulders to relax. Fifteen years have not treated Brian Seresin well. Not at all. His hair is graying and greasy, he's got a paunch and he's obviously drunk off his feet if the way he lists back and forth is any indication. "What are you doing back in Cistern?"

Ron's quick to gather Rebecca back behind him, knowing that Brian Seresin would never be bold enough to try to get to her, not through him, anyway. Jake’s followed him in, as always his shadow

"Wanted my woman back, Kerner. And my kid." He sniffs, wiping away yellow-tinged mucus on the leg of the dirtiest jeans that Ron's ever seen. "S'not fair, y'know? That you got to keep her and the brat while I was off. D'she treat y'well? She's great in bed, ain't she?"

It takes every fiber in his being to not deck the man for what he's saying about Rebecca. Thankfully Jake's holding his ma, otherwise he'd have launched himself at the fool to get his share of the beat down. It’s at that moment that Sly is glad they’d sent lawyers after Brian Seresin after Jake was born because it means he doesn’t have a claim on Rebecca or Jake anymore. They have the denial of parental rights and a divorce agreement to prove it. It doesn't take much more than a quirked eyebrow to get the man to spill the entire sordid tale. How he'd lost a lot of money and wanted to claim what he believed he was owed from Seresin Ranch.

"Call Sheriff Weatherby, Becks." When Ron finally speaks, the calm in his voice surprises even him. He sounds Ice-cold, which he guesses is what you get for spending the better part of a decade flying with the same person. "We've got an intruder on Seresin Ranch."

It doesn't surprise him in the slightest that it's Jake who picks up the landline and dials up Sheriff Weatherby, not at all. It's hours later, once one Brian Seresin has been carted away and Rebecca is asleep, that Ron finds Jake again. The kid's sitting in an old tire swing Ron had set up years ago, rocking idly while staring up into the endless expanse of stars in the sky above.

"So, that's him, huh? My pops, the man who walked out before I was even born?" He sounds so torn up about it, this gangly teen boy who loves his Mama to distraction and who would do anything to protect her. That's something they have in common.

"Yeah, kid." Ron doesn't try to hide the anger in his face, not now.

"Why did he come back? Why didn't he just stay away?" Ron's hand is gentle on the kid's back as he tries to think for a response.

"I dunno, kid. I wish he had never come back. Your Mama isn't the type to cry. But every time I've heard her cry it has been because of that man." The rage building in his chest causes a near imperceptible shake in his hands.

"Why didn't you ever marry Mama, Uncle Sly? You love her, I know you do. Then you can come home to us more often, can't you?" That one innocent observation is enough to have his entire world reeling. What would it be like? Having Becks to come home to? To have this kid, her son, as his own? Is he so easy to read that a teenager can tell what his most closely guarded secret is?

"I dunno kid. But enough about me. What's eating at you?" Ron's a little scared of the answer he's going to get.

"I want to fly, Uncle Sly. Like you do, like Uncle Daniel did." Jake's green eyes are all Rebecca's, all Daniel's and Ron can see the boy he loved like a brother in Jake's face. "D-d'you think I can do it?"

"It's dangerous, kid. But yeah. If there was anyone who could do it, it'd be you. You’ve got your mom’s determination and all of her support, too. Just don’t forget that you’ve got people who love you waiting for you, and you’ll be all set."

Those are obviously words Jake holds close to his heart. Because, before Ron's hit Vice-Admiral, Jake's already at the academy. He's taking Annapolis by storm, making his Mama and his dad, because thanks to the kid's prodding it's Ron and Rebecca Kerner now, incredibly proud. Ron's happy to find he has to wipe away tears when he sees his son, his son, get his wings a few short years later. Then there's another Kerner's star on the rise. His son’s.

He keeps a finger on the pulse of every deployment, every test, and beams with pride to see Jake graduate from Top Gun. That pride sits warm in his chest even as he gets a call from the one California number he'd memorized that he could never forget.

"Mr. Iceman! How're you doing?" The relationship between pilot and RIO hasn't changed over the past years. Neither of them flies anymore, but the bonds they built over 30 years ago haven't changed.

"It's about your kid, Sly." Ron can hear the hoarseness creeping into Ice's tone even now.

"What's going on, Tom?" After a life's service to the US Navy, Rear Admiral Ron 'Slider' Kerner isn't surprised to hear that Jake's been selected for a special detachment. The dad in him, though? He's terrified shitless. Nearly 30 years of loving that boy doesn’t feel like enough all of a sudden, not when Jake's going to be sent on a mission so dangerous that talking about it feels like a jinx. Even the heads up from the COMPACFLT doesn't help.

It's a tense few weeks in Texas. Ron terrorizes the base in Corpus Christi, his mind in Miramar with his son while his body is in Texas. Rebecca is equally distraught. Then Ron gets another call that fills him with sadness all over again. It is Sarah calling, "Hey Ron. Just wanted to tell you that he's gone. Tom's gone. The cancer. It came back with a vengeance. The doctors couldn't do anything. He passed away this morning."

During the entirety of the service, Ron can't help but feel like he would've given anything to see his best friend again one more time before he died. It's sad reconnecting with the rest of their 1986 cohort at the bar later. It’s even worse seeing his son stand somberly kitted out in his own whites across the way from him. He doesn’t, can’t go near him, mainly because nobody knows that Jake is Rear Admiral Kerner’s kid. But he can't help but feel like Tom would've wanted him to hug his boy instead. So that's what Rear Admiral Ron Kerner does. He hugs his son, tight, as many times as he can before he leaves. He watches from the docks as the carrier departs and waits with bated breath.

Rebecca channels her nerves into baking. She fills the house they rent off base with pastries, cookies, cakes and pies, most of which are Jake's favorites. Then it’s a waiting game. Ron calls in every favor he has in order to get more information on the mission Jake’s on, really for anything he can get. As it turns out, there is very little information that even an admiral can get. So all he can do is hold Rebecca close and pray. It’s frankly the longest three days of his life. He’s more tense than he was even during the Leyte Gulf incident, which feels like a world, a lifetime ago. That first call from Jake they get has his knees weak. The relief coursing through his system is too good to be true. So’s the first look he gets of his son when the carrier docks two days later.

The milling crowd of families lets out a roar of excitement when the first of the ship’s crew sets foot on shore. Ron wraps an arm around Rebecca, and keeps an eagle eye on the waves of departing sailors looking for aviator green flight suits. The crowd clears piece by piece and they still haven’t seen their boy or any of the aviators. They’re some of the only people waiting, and Ron can feel Rebecca’s tremors as she clutches at her necklace and rears up onto her tiptoes every once in a while. She sags against his chest and that’s when Ron finally sees their golden boy. He looks exhausted, but he’s safe, he’s home. Rebecca runs right for him first, and Ron can’t help his grin when he sees how tall Jake is in comparison to his Mama. The kid’s not shy about his love for Rebecca either. He introduces her to the aviators and then Ron’s being beckoned forward.

“And this is my pop, Admiral Kerner.” He’s got a shit-eating grin on his face and god if that doesn’t remind Ron of Daniel again.

“Hey, kid.” Ron can’t help the fond grin on his face or the amusement when he sees Jake’s squadron rise into salutes the minute they hear his title. There’s a face in his squadron that Ron didn’t think he’d ever see again. There’s also somebody nearby who he hasn’t seen in decades.

“Baby Goose. Mav.” Ron’s nod is slight.

“Hey Sly. A kid huh?” Ron can’t resist smiling as he hugs the shorter man.

“Yeah, Mav. I had to catch up.” Watching Becks fawn over Jake again is everything he’s ever wanted.

“He’s a good one, you know, Sly?” As Ron stands shoulder to shoulder with Pete Mitchell again, watching their boys realize that they’re closer than they ever could have known, Ron knows one thing. He may have never intended to be a dad, but standing at the docks thirty years later, he knows he wouldn't have wanted to do anything else.

Taglist:

@mayhemmanaged, @desert-fern, @cassiemitchell, @dakotakazansky, @sarahsmi13s, @roosters-girl

I DO NOT CONSENT TO HAVE MY WORK POSTED, TRANSLATED, OR PUBLISHED ON ANY SITES OTHER THAN HERE OR ON AO3 BY ME. IF YOU SEE MY WORKS ANYWHERE OTHER THAN HERE OR AO3, THEN THEY HAVE BEEN POSTED WITHOUT MY PERMISSION AND I WILL BE WORKING TO TAKE THEM DOWN.

#star writes #top gun fanfic #top gun fanfiction #ron slider kerner #ron slider kerner x oc #slider x oc #ron kerner x oc #the one where slider is jake's dad #exploring slider a bit more

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randomthefox · 1 month

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I don’t really understand why you say that when a joke happens at the expense of making another character look silly, it means that it shouldn’t affect their characterization. Shouldn’t everything a character does in cannon reflect their personality? regardless if the way that they’re acting is part of a joke made by the writers? I’m just curious.

I didn't say anything of the sort. My point was that it should be appraised appropriately within its context.

This scene for example has Amy chasing Sonic around with a hammer while he flees in fear from her.

Sonic has faced everything from killer robots to evil deities head on, and yet now he's running away from being bonked with a hammer. Sonic is the fastest thing alive, and yet now he suddenly can't outrun Amy chasing him. What does this mean for their characterization and feats???

It doesn't mean anything. It's just a joke. Sonic is helpless and afraid in the face of Amy's wrath because it's funny. Trying to use this scene as a genuine example of Sonic and Amy's characterization, feats, and relationship is unreasonable because it's overlooking the context and purpose of the scene. If someone were to try to use this scene to argue, for example, that Sonic is weak and afraid of Amy and that she's an abusive psycho stalker, while ignoring the wealth of scenes that show Sonic and Amy interacting positively and amicably in other scenarios, it would not be a fair appraisal of the characters.

The scene of Tails gawking at the Egg Carriers transformation is also a joke. When they land on the Egg Carrier, Sonic marvels at how big it is. Tails tells him to stay focused. They run across for a bit, and then the Egg Carrier changes shape. Tails gawks at how it transformed. Sonic rolls his eyes and ignores him. Tails complains. The audience laughs. Tails being a hypocrite is the punchline. Comedy.

To that one singular example of Tails gawking at the Egg Carrier, which in context was a joke and not a serious moment of characterization, I responded with multiple examples from two different games of Tails disparaging Eggmans creations and calling him a fuckboy both of which were not moments that were meant to be comedic.

And even if we were for the sake to argument to take the Egg Carrier scene as a genuine example, it still pales in comparison. Tails was gawking at the Egg Carrier changing shape right before their very eyes whilst airborne. A feat of aviation engineering (fields which Tails is deeply invested in) that is genuinely awe inspiring. In the comic, Tails is star eyed over just seeing..... An extreme gear. Just seeing an extreme gear. Not even seeing it In Action. Just it sitting there on the table.

Tails isn't even enthusiastically passionate about Extreme Gears. He readily admits that Wave is superior to him when it comes to that technology.

I SERIOUSLY doubt that Tails would consider Eggmans extreme gear to be more awe inspiring than Wave's, when I think it's fair to say Tails likely considers Wave to be the premier expert on Extreme Gears.

So naw this moment from the comic still seems bogus to me no matter how you slice it.

Ya know, I hadn't exactly given articulated thought to all of this stuff when I first made that initial post. But literally the more you think about IDW, the more it falls apart under scrutiny lol.

#idw sonic #sonic idw #sonic #sonic the hedgehog #tails #miles tails prower #miles prower #sonic riders #sonic free riders #extreme gear

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amandabe11man · 5 years

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like i swear, last time i was on a plane (last year, coming back home from wales), it was nearing touchdown at some copenhagen airport, and there was this sudden gust from the side as i was looking out the window, and i fucking SAW HOW THE PLANE BANKED SLIGHTLY BECAUSE OF IT

let me reiterate how we were NEARING TOUCHDOWN at that point, aka. had the gust been stronger, or had we been closer to the ground, the wing might’ve just slammed into the ground

now i’m not educated enough to know if this is normal, but i couldn’t get off that plane fast enough, holy shit

#so yeah i might have learned more about planes and shit but hell naw i'm not flying again #catch me using aviation-terminology i've only just learned in sentences #are u impressed

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that-one-weeb-but-starwars · 3 years

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If Star Wars Characters went to Disneyland| 501st style

Part one? Idk might make a part 2

-FIVES IS GOD DAMN EXITED THE WHOLE PLANE RIDE

-Rexs had twenty coffees and they barely left the airport

-Ashoka's asleep on everyones carry ons

-Dogma aint happy even being in the air port

-Tup records all the crackhead moments

-"Im runnin on four seconds of sleep man" "oh seriously" "yeah...Wanna oreo?" "....yeah sure."

-Anakin went before with Pademe, so he's wearing his disney ears already.

-Echo's reading outlander as they wait

-"When Im done with flight school I'll be flying everyone instead." "Redeye I dont trust you to make a sandwhich. None the less with a plane"

-Kix's wears his Red Cross Tee on the flight because its comfortable

-Jesse's also taken a nap with Ashoka on everyones luggage

-when they've finally got on the plane Rex's had four more coffees

-Anakin took charge so Rex could sleep and Rex happily did.

-the flight was the calm before the storm

-Dont even ask how they all got from the air port to the hotel-

-they stayed at the hotel across from the park and Fives has never been so excited

-Ashoka wants to keep sleeping and does so in the lobby as Anakin checked them all in.

-"Oooo Rex and Tano are in the same room" "Good I cant deal with you mfs for another mintue" "I-"

-Rex and Ashoka shared a room which ment peace and quiet for them.

-It was odd for them only two to a room, but luckily they all some how connected so chaos

-After everyones settled in, they basically all crashed aftwerwords

-Echo and Fives ended up sleeping on the same bed even though there was two of them.

-When moring Came Ashoka and Rex were the first ones up, they were gonna go eat downtown but knew they should wake everyone up.

-"Get up" "five more hours..." "sure- wait-"

-its a struggle but everyone gets up, Anakin out of everyone was the hardest to get up.

-they all go and eat at the buffet they have at the hotel, surprisingly everyone actually wakes up.

-Kix is the only one with a healthy breakfast of fruits and yogurt

-Dogma got out of his sour mood now that he has Cheerios

-So when they finally made there way over to the park

-Echo and Fives got matching ears, the day of the dead themed ones

-Rex said he wasnt getting Ears, but they convinced him to get ears, so the boys picked out the sparklest ears and Rex cant believe it, but he still ends up wearing them

-Kix got nemo themed ears

-Spend atleast an hour taking pictures just on main street, one consisting of Anakin laying across the group of clones and ashoka who held him in the air

-they dropped him by accident

-They take up the whole back of the disney railroad, you know the one that goes just around the park

-like five year olds there first ride is Dumbo and Peter Pan

-There's alot of laughing on the kiddy rides

-Splash Mountain- dont even start them on that- because they had to go in quiet a few logs, when the first one went over with Anakin, Ashoka, Rex, Tup, Dogma, and Echo everyone heard they screaming and now the clones are shakin in there boots

-churros for life

-When Rex and Anakin went on a ride together and then vanished the whole team was singing "there she goes"

-"BRO LOOK ITS DOGMA" "that's the abominable snowman Fives" "oh I know"

- expect a race between everyone on the autotopia ride, they place bets on each racer,

-Redeye loves Sorin over California, or the world. Idk things have changed, its also the reason why he has piolt themed disney ears and aviators.

-god imagine them in galaxies edge- I-

Fives: You were the satly one! I loved you!

Dogma: what?

Rex: its over my friend! I have the high ground!

Ashoka: you underestimate my power!

Rex: Don't try it!

Ashoka: -eats the churro they were suppose to share-

Rex: -offended-

-Redeye crashin the millennium Flacon- and there goes his hopes and dreams

-Dogma hates the small world, so they got stuck on it

-Jungle cruise adventures

-the bugs on the indian jones ride spray;

Fives: BRO WTF

Echo: Aw hell naw

Tup: I dont run but I might just sprint out this ride

Rex: guys its water

Kix: well techinally its pressurized air

Ashoka: bugs?! Where! It'll be added to my collection

Anakin: I dont know them

-Mary Poppins asked them to dance? Kix is all over that with Hardcase

-pirates of the Caribbean ride, they love it, its so relaxing

-Dogma: i aint scared of nothin

Dead man tell no tale

Dogma: Im scared of one thing

Ko ho: Boo!

Dogma: you mf

-accidently runs into Obi-wans Battalion

Obi-wan: heres there mom and all our kids

-dinners at a fast food place outside the park and all sitting on the curb eating and talking about there day

-"LETS DO IT AGAIN!" "Fives we have three more days in the park." "OH HELL YEAH!"

#star wars #sw: tcw #the clone wars headcanons #tcw 501st #star wars: the clone wars fic #the clone wars x reader #starwars headcannons #sw #Star Wars: The Clone wars

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usafphantom2 · 3 years

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F-35 and F-117 flying with "new reflective coating"

The USAF F-117 and US NAVY F-35C join the F-22 as aircraft that use the mysterious metallic-looking coating.

Diego Alves By Diego Alves 01/24/2012 - 19:00 in Military, Technology

Recent work is being done to test a new metallic-looking "coating" on stealth aircraft, expanded to the F-117 Nighthawk and F-35 Lightning II. New images of both planes show examples using the coating that can go from "mirror to matte", depending on the angle at which it is seen.

The images of the F-117 with reflective finish were released after a spotter who had the "luck" to come across the jets in mid-January 2022.

Although the U.S. Air Force (USAF) officially retired the F-117 almost a decade and a half ago, the planes continue to fly on development and test missions, as well as playing a role of "stealth opponent" in training. Testing new coatings is part of Nighthawk's post-retirement activities.

Attack edges, upper fuselage and tail covered by a reflective coating very similar to that seen in the F-22.

Now, after an F-22 began flying with a reflective coating at Nellis Air Base last November, and Scaled Composites' 'Son Of Ares' demonstration aircraft also "dressed" the metallic finish a year and a half earlier, we can say for sure that the F-117 entered the tests of the "mysterious coating". The F-35, on the other hand, like the F-22, is a frontline platform. The fact that the other Pentagon's other 5th generation fighter, and also a Navy fighter, is also using this coating points to some interesting possibilities.

F-117 flying with "new reflective coating".

The images of the F-117 with reflective finish were released after a spotter who had the "luck" to come across the jets in mid-January, while flying near Eureka Dunes in the Saline Military Operation Area (MOA), which is on the California side of the Nevada state border.

Although the USAF officially retired the F-117 almost a decade and a half ago, the planes continue to fly on development and test missions.

In the photos, you can see that the F-117 has the attack edges, upper fuselage and tail covered by a reflective coating very similar to that seen in the F-22 that is flying in Nellis. This is not the first time the F-117 has used a similar camouflage. In the early 1990s, a mirrored metallic finish was tested on an F-117 under the SENIOR SPUD program. This program looked for ways to significantly reduce Nighthawk's infrared signature and was probably a parent of what we are seeing today. Now, almost 30 years later, the 'Black Jet' is back on a "silk cover" again.

An image from the 1990s, when the SENIOR SPUD program was underway.

The F-35, on the other hand, was never seen in such a scheme. The fact that the aircraft in question is an F-35C of the Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Nine (VX-9), one of the Navy's main test units outside Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS) China Lake, means that this coating program is somehow in a kind of joint operation, or at least both services are testing independently. This would make sense, as we first saw this treatment in a Model 401 'Son Of Ares' test jet flying over NAWS China Lake.

The photos below showing the VX-9 F-35C were taken by aviation photographer Elijah Delgadillo, who answers @eli_aviation on Instagram, on January 20, 2022. Here's a little of the photographer about how and where he photographed the images:

These photos were taken at Sequoia National Park, California. After about 45 minutes of a very steep walk to reach a height similar to that of jets, and hours of waiting for an airplane, this silver/chromium painted F-35C Lightning II attributed to the VX-9 "Vampires" welcomed us with an incredible low passage. My father (who is also fascinated by aviation) and I were sitting on the mountain completely shocked, because we knew we had seen something extremely new and rare.

An F-35C of the Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Nine (VX-9 Vampires).

The overall layout of the reflective/metallic coating on this F-35C is almost identical to what we saw in the F-22, including the edges cut out in the middle of the wing. These new images show something new - that the coating seems to be translucent, allowing the marks on the jet to appear below the coating, but only from certain angles. This makes sense, considering how the coating goes from polished to matte to a "semi-gloss", depending on the appearance of which you are viewing it.

In the image, you can see well the difference between the "standards" of the F-35.

You can see in the photos above and below how the marking of the "roundel" on the wing literally disappears when the aircraft passes perpendicularly and reappears again. In fact, it is transitioning to look dark to light, almost becoming a negative of itself. In addition, the nose markings are fully visible, as are the VX-9 logo on the tail. Another photo we examined of another photographer of this jet on the same day also shows this, with the entire aircraft looking polished from the front aspect, but the markings appearing with dark contours. It is also possible that the markings (enrollment, roundel, markings in general) have been applied as part of this coating and act similarly to it as a result.

Photos taken by spotter Elijah Delgadillo at Sequoia National Park, California.

Like the F-22, the F-35's radar absorbing material coating plays a very important role in the aircraft's ability to dramatically reduce the range in which radars - especially those associated with fire control - can detect and track them. When we break the story of Nellis-based 'mirrored Raptor', we notice that the finish is clearly unique, composed of a mosaic of custom "small rectangles" in some places and large leaf-like areas in others.

The "mirror" camouflage that F-22 has been using in tests at Nellis AFB since November 2021.

From most reports, it is believed that this material reduces the aircraft's infrared signature in the front and side sections. This would supposedly reduce the effectiveness of infrared search and tracking (IRST) systems, of which advanced models are proliferating worldwide and are present in most fighter planes in flight today.

A Su-57 with its IRST located behind its radome.

IRSTs are fully passive sensors and an aircraft's ability to deny radar detection through stealth technology has no effect on them. Although stealth aircraft, including the F-22, F-117 and F-35, have "embedded" measures in their projects to help reduce their infrared signature, this is a very difficult proposal with high-performance fighters, especially when it comes to "hiding" them from increasingly advanced IRSTs that are fully integrated into an aircraft's combat system and networked with

The USAF and Navy are now in the process of flying their first advanced IRSTs in years, initiatives that require a lot of testing and tactic development work. This includes flying all types of aircraft "against sensors" in many conditions. The Air Force is even looking for IRST-like capacity for the F-22, which does not have any type of long-range infrared sensor.

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skyfire85 · 3 years

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-An XA3J-1 at North American's factory during roll-out. Photo: North American Aviation

FLIGHTLINE: 152 - NORTH AMERICAN AVIATION A-5 VIGILANTE

Designed as a carrier-based supersonic bomber in the 1950s, the Vigilante saw service over Vietnam as a recon plane before being retired in 1979.

Development of what became the A-5 began in 1954 when North American Aviation started a internal program. Seeking to turn around the company's fortunes after the failed XA2J Super Savage, NAA began designing a Mach 2 capable bomber which would give the Navy a nuclear strike option. The initial design, known as the North American General Purpose Attack Weapon (NAGPAW) was evaluated by the US Navy, which replied with a series of needed changes and in July 1955 an initial design contract was awarded, which included a single mockup of the plane. NAA's engineers were able to successfully address the USN's concerns about the design, and in September 1956 a contract for two flying prototypes was signed.

-Orthograph of the A-5 Vigilante. | Illustration: aviastar

DESIGN

The plane, designated XA3J-1, was one of the largest and by far the most complex aircraft to be proposed to operate from a USN aircraft carrier. It had a high-mounted swept wing with a boundary-layer control system (blown flaps) to improve low-speed lift. There were no ailerons, roll control was provided by spoilers in conjunction with differential deflection of the all-moving tail surfaces. Power was provided by two widely spaced General Electric J79 turbojet engines (also used on the Convair B-58 and McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II), fed by variable intake ramps. A single large all-moving vertical stabilizer was paired with the all-moving horizontal stabilizers. In order to save space, the wings, tail and radome were all folding. The XA3J had a crew of two seated in tandem, a pilot and a bombardier-navigator (BN) (reconnaissance/attack navigator (RAN) on later reconnaissance versions), who had some of the most advanced equipment of the time, including an early fly-by-wire system (with electromechanical backup), a primitive HUD system, a multi-mode, radar-equipped inertial navigation system, a TV camera in the nose, and a digital computer to run it all.

In order to make the bomber as streamlined as was possible, it was designed to carry additional fuel tanks and a single B27, B28 or B43 freefall nuclear bomb in internal weapons bay, which would be jettisoned over the target as a single "stores train". Provisions were also made to carry two B43 nukes or Mark 83 or Mark 84 conventional bombs on two external hardpoints, or drop tanks to increase range. Operationally however, these hardpoints were rarely used.

-Internal bomb bay and stores train of the North American A3J-1/A-5A Vigilante. | Illustration: Cobatfor

FLIGHT TESTING, INTRODUCTION, AND SERVICE

First flight of the XA3J was on 31 August 1958 from the same Columbus, OH plant that produced the F-86 and F-100s. Despite one of the prototypes crashing in 1959, the flight tests moved quickly, and by June 1961 the first A3J-1s entered service with Heavy Attack Squadron Three (VAH-3) at NAS Stanford, FL, replacing the Douglas A3D Skywarrior. The following year the plane was redesignated the A-5A under the new tri-service plan. The service life of the A-5A was fraught with issues, with numerous teething problems plaguing its advanced systems. These issues were tamed as maintenance crews became experienced with the Vig's high-tech gadgets, but the plane remained maintenance-intensive (a so-called "hangar-queen") throughout its life. A chronic issue was the stores train bomb release, which had a nasty habit of releasing during catapult shots, resulting in at least one crash. During tests, the train also tended to draft along in the aircraft's slipstream, making accurate bombing (for 1950s/60s definitions of "accurate") difficult.

-Five A3J-1 Vigilantes of VAH-7 ("Peacemakers of the Fleet") on CVAN-65 USS Enterprise in 1962. | Photo: USN

Fifty-eight A-5A were completed (out of an order of 64 aircraft) when NAA switched to the upgraded A-5B model. The B model incorporated changes made in light of the Navy's requirement that the Vigilante be able to take off at max weight with zero wind over the carrier being rescinded. This change allowed North American to increase the bomber's weight, adding a dorsal hump to carry more fuel. Only 18 of the A-5B were completed before the US Navy, undergoing a shift in policy away from manned nuclear bombers, canceled the order.

-North American A3J-2 Vigilante (BuNo 146699), circa 1960. This aircraft was the third production A3J-1 which was then modified to an A3J-2 (after 1962 A-5B and YA-5C) and finally to the A3J-3P (RA-5C). | Photo: US Navy

Developed from the A3J-2, the A3J-3P (later RA-5C) was a strike/reconnaissance variant of the Vigilante, incorporating the CCTV in the nose with a "canoe" fairing holding a full suite of gear including:

KA-51A/B forward-looking oblique angle film camera.

KA-50A, KA-51A, or KA-62A vertical film camera.

Passive electronics countermeasures (PECM) antenna for the AN/ALQ-61 Electronic Reconnaissance System. The AN/ALQ-61 was an "electronic intelligence (ELINT)" system that would pick up radar emissions and pin down their coordinates, frequency, and pulse pattern. The ELINT data was recorded on magnetic tape, with storage capacity for 112 minutes of continuous ELINT observations.

Various combinations of panoramic, vertical, or oblique film cameras. Camera fit included KA-58A panoramic camera for medium- to high-altitude work, or a KA-57A panoramic camera for low-altitude work. The cameras shot through prisms in the canoe that could be pivoted to permit shots straight down or from side to side.

AN/AAS-21 infrared sensor, which could provide a continuous film strip of thermal targets, such as hidden trucks, over a field of view 140 degrees wide.

Antenna for the Westinghouse AN/APD-7 "side looking airborne radar (SLAR)" system, which shot radar pulses out to the side of the aircraft and stored the return echo on a long film strip, permitting all-weather, day-night imaging.

Another PECM antenna for the AN/ALQ-21 system.

Additionally, a flash pod, powered by a ram-air turbine in its tail, could be carried under one wing to provide illumination for nighttime recon. The sensors were operated by the back-seater (also known as a "GIB": guy-in-back), formally called a "reconnaissance-attack navigator (RAN)". The bomb bay was filled with semi-permanent fuel tanks (though the plane apparently retained the ability to carry offensive weapons, this was never tested or confirmed). The remaining A-5A and A-5B aircraft were all converted to RA-5C standards, along with 33 new-build aircraft. Squadrons that had formerly flown the A-5 were transitioned to the RA-5 beginning with VAH-3 in July 1963, becoming Reconnaissance Attack Squadrons (RVAH) as they did so. Eventually ten squadrons of RA-5s were established, with the NAS Stanford RVAH-3 being joined by carrier-based RVAH-1, RVAH-5, RVAH-6, RVAH-7, RVAH-9, RVAH-11, RVAH-12, RVAH-13 and RVAH-14.

-RA-5C Vigilante of Reconnaissance Heavy Attack Squadron 3 (RVAH-3) "Sea Dragons" is parked on the flight line at Naval Air Station Sanford, Florida, on 27 March 1968. - | Photo: US Navy

Starting in July 1964, the RA-5Cs saw extensive service over Vietnam, carrying out dangerous post-strike damage assessment missions. Although fast and nimble, the Vig proved vulnerable to ground fire, with 14 RA-5s lost to AAA, 3 to SAMs and one shot down by a NVA MiG-21. Nine more were lost to accidents, and as a result three dozen additional aircraft were built between 1968 and 1970. Despite providing invaluable reconnaissance data, the RA-5 began to be phased out starting in 1968, with NAS Stanford being closed and the Vigilante's parent wing, Reconnaissance Attack Wing One, being transferred to Turner AFB in Georgia, which was turned over to the Navy and renamed NAS Albany. Barely six years later, NAS Albany was closed as a result of post-Vietnam drawdowns, and the remaining RA-5s were transferred again to NAS Key West. As newer and larger aircraft like the F-14 and S-3 were introduced in the mid-70s, the Navy began disestablishment of the RA-5 squadrons, with the last leaving Key West on 20 November 1979.

NASA, THE RAAF, AND THE USAF

At least one A3J-1 was bailed to NASA for a time while the Dryden FRC was participating in research for the US SST program. In 1962 Vigilante BuNo 147858 was given NASA tail number 858 and was flown by NASA pilot Bill Dana on 21 flights along airways around LAX to determine approach conditions for an SST landing patterns. After the conclusion of the program, the plane was returned to the Navy.

-NASA's A3J-1, wearing a day-glo orange tail flash, on 19 December 1962. | Photo: NASA DFRC

The RAAF was interested in the A-5 as a possible replacement for their aging Canberra bombers, considering the Vig alongside the F-4, Dassault Mirage IVA, BAC TSR-2 and F-111. Despite the A-5 being available without the delay anticipated for the F-111, the order for three dozen Vigilantes was not issued.

At some point in the Vigilante's development, North American advanced a proposal to the Air Force for the 'Retaliator', an A-5 with a liquid rocket added to the bomb bay, as an interceptor, but the USAF showed no interest. In 1972 NAA again proposed a modified A-5, known internally as the NR-349, to the USAF as an Improved Manned Interceptor. The internal bomb bay was modified to house a third jet, and six AIM-54 Phoenix missiles would be carried under the fuselage. Again the USAF was uninterested.

-Scale model of the Improved Manned Interceptor concept, in USAF markings. | Model: NAA/Rockwell

SURVIVORS

By 2004, all of the surviving RA-5s that had been retired to AMARG had been either scrapped or preserved as museum aircraft. A limited number of aircraft were still in storage at NAWS China Lake for eventual use in weapons tests. Around a dozen aircraft have been retained in museums around the US, with only one A-5A on display at NAS Pax River in Maryland, the balance being RA-5s.

-BuNo 146697, the sole remaining A-5A, on display at Pax River. | Photo: Richard Lane

-RA-5C Vigilante (BuNo 151629) on display at the Pueblo Weisbrod Aircraft Museum. It wears the markings of the fleet replacement squadron RVAH-3 Sea Dragons. | Photo: Kristian Jones

#aircraft #aviation #avgeek #airplanes #cold war #airplane #cold war history #coldwar #aviation history #us navy #usn #north american aviation #north american a 5a #a3j-1 Vigilante #a-5a Vigilante #a5a Vigilante #a 5a Vigilante #ra5c Vigilante #ra5c

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keelywolfe · 4 years

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FIC: Welcome to Backwater ch.17 (spicyhoney)

Summary: Look, getting into the woods wasn't the difficult part and neither was getting out. Dealing with the aftermath? Yeah, let's do that.

~~*~~

Read ‘Law and Order’ on AO3

Read it here!

~~*~~

When Stretch woke up the next day, he hardly felt like he’d slept at all, every bone in his body aching and the inside of his skull felt like a dull and muzzy gray.

No surprise there, not really, he hadn’t exactly snoozed peacefully. Probably would’ve been more concerned if he’d had; somehow, having troublesome nightmares after almost getting eaten by horrifying eldritch beings seemed like the healthier option than sleeping like a baby. A few mental scars after something like that seemed more than reasonable.

Wasn’t time for a trip to a head shrinker right now, though, he had a job to do and he was gonna do it. So he put the mental brakes on dealing with everything that happened the day before--

(and holy shit, so much happened, how did he even start processing all this shit, how--)

--and crawled out of bed. He pulled on his last pair of clean clothes, made a mental note to beg Red for the use of his washing machine, and stumbled downstairs to open the shop with the dog at his heels.

Stretch winced away from the bright morning sunshine that streamed in when he pulled the cord to raise the shades, wishing deeply for a cup of coffee, even one of his brother’s that always managed to taste sort of like dirt and rancid tree bark had a coffee bean baby.

Red had a coffee maker in the kitchen, but he didn’t want to risk waking him up sneaking into his apartment. He told himself it wasn’t because of last night’s unintentional adventure, nope, he definitely wasn’t trying to keep from talking about it with Red as long as possible. A long, furious chat about meeting Miss Bone Cruncher U.S.A. and Smaug's undead cousin were the last thing he wanted right now.

Maybe he could head back over to Miss Maggie’s this afternoon and see if she had a cheap coffee maker he could keep behind the counter. Had to be at least one old Mr. Coffee buried in all that junk. But something about going back into the thrift shop made him uneasy and he shook it away, focusing on getting the store opened up.

Mutt was underfoot the entire time, nearly tripping him more than once, and maybe Stretch should have rethought taking in this dog because it was starting to look like it brought a daily murder attempt along with him like a special toy surprise. Snagging a can of dog food from the shelf and dumping it into the plastic bowl Red scrounged from somewhere was less about providing a nutritious meal and more self-defense. Once Mutt was fed and snoozing, though, it was easier to get into the swing of things.

Stretch was buried in the inventory book, contemplating whether to merge the ‘monthly crotch rags’ and ‘cooter plugs’ into one listing to make them slightly easier to find, when the bell ringing over the door made him look up. His greeting faltered when he saw the Sheriff stalk in. Hat nearly brushing the top of the door, still wearing those mirrored aviator sunglasses, and his heavy cowboy boots clomping on the wooden floor as he came directly to the front counter and propped both ham-sized fists on his broad hips.

“Morning!” Buford boomed out cheerfully. A greeting that bright didn’t make it seem like he was here in an official capacity, hey, guess even the fuzz needed to buy toilet paper. It still took a minute for the knee-jerk dread at the sight of that uniform that settled in Stretch’s non-existent stomach to fade.

Buford wasn’t like the cops back in Ebott, Stretch told himself, this was Backwater. If the town was a little weird and had ghosts and sentient scarecrows, plus kept horrible creatures out in the woods with plagues dripping from the needle-sharp teeth they used to eat the souls of the unwary, then at least the Humans here were generally very nice.

Besides, if Buford were meanspirited today, he could always tattle to Granny Collemore when she came in for her next toilet paper run.

Stretch swallowed hard and tried a couple words before finally managing a simple, “morning.”

From Buford’s broad grin, a person would have thought Stretch offered some philosophizing to rival Socrates. “Morning, yes, it is at that.”

Stretch nodded. His relief at that smile made him weak, his skull bobbling unsteadily on his cervical vertebrae like a dashboard ornament. “can i help you find something?

“Naw, came by to see how you were doing.” Buford hitched his pants up, settling his saucer-sized belt buckle under the soft push of his belly. Reflected in the mirror of his sunglasses was the space behind the counter, Stretch and the register and the small row of cleaning supplies, distorted like the other side of the looking glass and he did not want to be thinking about other Universes right now. "Saw ya had a little trouble out in the woods.”

Stretch faltered, briefly speechless. His tongue felt stuck to the roof of his mouth, too dry as he fumbled out, “wha…how did you…?”

"Eh, a lawman’s gotta know what's going on in his town,” Buford leaned down and poked through one of the little wooden half-barrels filled with penny candy that lined the front of the counter. He picked one of the sour balls, unwrapping the shiny green foil and popping the small candy into his mouth to tuck into the round of his cheek. “Sent a little help your way when I saw what was going on, glad to see he got there in time." Buford shook his head sadly, “Nasty things out there in the woods this time of year and that’s the truth.”

“he…he did,” Stretch said, helplessly. No point in lying about it, but how could Buford possibly know? And he’d sent that strange bone dragon creature to help him, but how could he have sent a warning? The idea of that skeletal creature fumbling with a cell phone in its claws was nearly ridiculous enough to pry a hysterical giggle from Stretch’s clotted throat. Were there cameras in the woods, was the creature summoned from a portal in Buford’s basement? So many hows and wheres and whys, there were questions piling on top of questions, cluttering up Stretch’s already overstuffed mind, but only one managed to bubble through to the tarry surface. More demanding than he’d meant, Stretch asked, “how did you know?”

Buford stood up straight, broad shoulders squaring. The change in posture seemed to bring on a transformation, from a Rosco P. Coltrane to a more of a Rick Grimes. From the top of his hat to the golden star on his chest, and his perfectly ironed uniform leant him an aura of competence. It still put him as shorter than Stretch, but somehow made him bigger than life. There was no bumbling, jovial small-town sheriff here, this was a lawman, and there wasn’t so much as a hint of a smile as he said, "I see everything, son." And tipped down those mirrored sunglasses.

In the eyes that lay beneath them were pupil-less, the sockets filled with orbs that were the milky-white of severe cataracts, crisscrossed with thin, fleshy threads like cobwebs.

Stretch barely had time to register what he was seeing before Buford settled his sunglasses back in place. He swallowed hard against the dryness in his throat, strange thoughts of demons and bargains with the devil like their own trash tornado in the back of his mind. "are you…here for something, then?"

Buford only chuckled and the sour ball clacked against his teeth as he rolled it to the other side of his mouth. "Just to check on ya. You might be a city boy, but I’ve taken a liking to you, son, and I ain’t the only one. People in Backwater take care of our own.” There was a strange solemnness to those words, almost a pact, then Buford’s mouth quirked up on one side beneath his bushy mustache. “Though I might as well help myself to a Pepsi-Cola while I'm here." He leaned in, conspiratorially, and it was easier than Stretch thought it might be to keep himself from leaning away. Buford smelled faintly of cherries and tobacco, and his teeth were a clean, even white. "Don't tell the missus, she don't like me having too much caffeine."

Stretch nodded and said in his own whisper, "tell her what?"

Buford roared a laugh and grabbed his hat to slap it against his knee, hooting out, "That's the spirit!” He settled his hat back on his mussed hair and took a soda from the cooler, tossing a buck on the counter as he called back, “Take care, son."

“i will,” Stretch said, softly, but it was only for the tinkling bell above the door as Buford strolled back out.

He was still standing at the counter, the dog snoozing at his feet, fidgeting with the pen on the counter and not writing a single damn thing when the door opened again. Stretch could only stare back at the intense crimson eye lights that latched onto his own as Edge walked through the front door and for once, those gorgeous hips were the furthest thing from his mind.

tbc

#spicyhoney #papcest #keelywolfe #underfell #underswap #underfell papyrus #underswap papyrus #welcome to backwater

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whirlybirbs · 5 years

Text

⋆ —– CARHOP COOL, 3 and a 1/2.

summary: it’s time for a two day vacation to the beach, aka lake tippecanoe. pairing: steve harrington x reader, au!post season three word count: 1.8k, mostly world building a/n: have some good ol’ establishing-the-au fic! and billy! and steve’s mom! things are gonna get a little freaky up at the lake. here’s a filler chapter.

⤌ PREVIOUS ⋆ NEXT ⤍

Steve’s driveway is crowded.

Tippecanoe, two hours North from Hawkins, was home to the Harrington family’s lakehouse. His mom had asked, earlier in the summer, if Steve would be willing to ride up and make sure everything was alright between rentals -- she’d cheerily added, “Go up for a day or two. Bring Dustin, Robin, whoever -- you kids need a vacation after everything that happened, y’know?”

(Janine Harrington had, in recent weeks, become infinitely closer with her son -- when men in suits had brought a bloodied Steve home that night in early July, priding him as a hero, a lot of things changed. He’d opened up about everything in the days following, spurring Janine to reach out to Mrs. Wheeler and Mrs. Henderson and Mrs. Byers and even Hopper, whom her husband couldn’t stand, with kind words and promises that their children were allowed over anytime -- they were bound together now, by Government NDA’s.

It was a nice change, though, between her and Steve -- there was a lot more trust now.)

His mom is chatting happily with Mrs. Byers by the mailbox as Will grabs his towel and cooler, loading the stuff into the Wheeler family hatchback. Nancy unlocks it for him between chatting with Jonathan. Mike helps, grin turning upwards as Dustin arrives with Lucas on his heels, bikes dropped by the mailbox as the boys laugh and launch into one another’s arm.

“Vacation, baby!”

Steve, carrying his own towel over his shoulder, laughs when Dustin finally calls out, sneakers pounding across the hot asphalt of the Harrington home’s driveway.

They both meet half-way.

“Steve!” he gets a toothless grin, “It’s vacay time!”

“Oh, you know --” the handshake is quick, calculated, and well-practiced, “We’re gonna get our tan on --”

The roar of a Camaro startles the group from their laughter.

Billy Hargrove rolls around the cul-de-sac, pulling up behind the Byer’s car and the mailbox before promptly cutting the engine and the Judas Priest track.

Max, with dueling, flaming red braids, hops from the front seat with a beaming smile.

The boys give a victorious cry.

“Zoomer!”

Billy’s slow to exit the car, aviators perched on his nose. The Def Leppard shirt’s sleeves has been chopped off, really hammering home the whole ‘suns out, guns out’ motto the lifeguard seems to be living by this summer.

After the Battle of Starcourt, a lot of things changed.

The biggest change, though, seemed to be in Billy Hargrove -- post Mind Flayer, he’d been exposed to the world the Upside Down created, the world his sister and everyone else had been living in for the last year; he’d come out of the haze, out of the flayed, and cried into Max and Eleven’s arms, nothing but apologies on his mouth in the wake of the destruction.

Steve remembers seeing him in the back of one of the ambulances, holding Max’s hand, talking.

Not fighting, not screaming, not... being Billy.

Steve and Billy shared a look, then. Truce was what it meant.

At first, Billy tried to pretend the whole ‘Mind Flayer’ thing never happened.

But pretending didn’t get rid of the nightmares. And soon, Billy Hargrove was knocking on Will Byer’s door mid-D&D game looking for help, for someone to talk to.

The apology had come a few days later.

Billy had strolled up the Family Video, scaring the shit out of Steve, before offering his hand and a genuine apology. Robin watched on, a bit slack-jawed.

“I was a fucking asshole,” the blonde said slowly, “I’m sorry, man.”

Steve blinked at his hand.

After a moment, he shook it.

“It’s cool, dude,” Steve said before he could stop himself, “You didn’t know.”

“Doesn’t excuse the fact I was a dick, though.”

A look of surprise fleeted across Steve’s face. “Fair.”

Billy smiled, then, different from every other time he’d seen it. It wasn’t for show. It was... real. When Billy left, Robin had made a sound of pure shock before asking what the hell that was about.

“He beat the shit out of me,” Steve said, watching him drive away, “Tried to beat up Lucas, all while we were being hunted by Demogorgans... Just, y’know, was a genuine shit-bag.”

“Seems like he’s changed.”

“No kidding.”

“Trauma,” Robin chirps as she moves to sort the VHS’s, “is a hell of a thing.”

The malice that was there before the Fourth of July is gone. Instead, Billy smiles as he hauls Max’s cooler from the trunk of the navy sports car, offering Lucas a causal knuckle-touch before clapping Steve on the back.

“Hey man.”

“Hey Billy,” Steve chirps, “Nice outfit.”

“It’s hot out, alright,” he battles back, clearly amused, “I gotta work on my tan.”

“You coming with?” Steve asks, lips pulled into a smirk as he crosses his arms and shifts from foot to foot. His white converse are stark against the dark driveway, “We’ve got room.”

“Naw,” Billy breathes, crossing his arms, “I gotta shift at the pool -- thanks for the invite, though.”

“Yeah,” Steve shrugs, “It’s cool -- You’re one of the gang now.”

Billy’s lips quirk. Steve can tell that means something to him. Another clap on the back. Billy begins heading to his car, calling out to Max as he does.

“See ya, kid -- be safe, alright?” he waves his finger across the group, “All a’ you.”

She gives her brother a grin. “’Kay, loser.”

“‘Kay, brat,” he snaps his gum, shoots her a smile, and falls into the driver’s seat.

As Billy leaves, the familiar rumble of Chief Hopper’s Blazer arrives to the drop-off point. Jim makes the small-talk quick, thank god, he’s terrifying, citing that he’s late for work and Mrs. Johnson has already called the station three times about her cat getting out, but makes a point to shake Steve’s hand as he leaves, telling him to look out for El.

Eleven has her dad’s pair of aviators on and an old baseball cap. She’s grinning.

“Vacation,” she says.

Steve’s got his hands on his hips, eyeing the growing party, when Dustin speaks.

“Hey,” he says slowly, looking around, “Where’s your girlfriend?”

Steve stammers. “She’s not --”

“Robin?” Mike asks, confused.

“No, not Robin --” Steve makes a face. “That’s gross.”

“Ohhhh,” says Lucas, pointing, “The one with the hair.”

Will makes a face of genuine frustration. “With the hair?”

“Real specific, Lucas,” jabs Max.

“Y’know,” he waves his hands, “Roll-o girl!”

The group exhales “oooohhhhh” at once. Steve’s face is in his hands.

He’s just glad Nancy didn’t over the conversation -- she’s too busy with Jonathan, chatting with his mom and saying good-bye.

(Though things were fine between them, it was still awkward -- the break-up was a one-sided-sort-of-rough, especially with the Jonathan being thrown into the mix. But, Nancy was happy and that was really all Steve cared about -- she was nice and smart and kind and she deserved to be happy especially after everything, and despite the wound it had created in Steve’s chest, he couldn’t hold the break-up against her.

That was a weird time... things were weird. Things sometimes are still weird, but to her credit, she still treats him like a good friend and he tries to do the same. Just... sometimes it’a a lot. Especially when Jonathan is around.

Steve just opts to keep a polite distance, y’know?)

“Can I just say, one,” Steve raises a finger, “She is not my girlfriend --”

“But, you like her, right?” says Dustin, completely serious, “She’s cool, she’s cute, she can rollerblade, all great traits in a girlfriend --”

Steve narrows his eyes, finger still in the air. “I’m talking right now, Dustin, okay, I’m talking.”

“Right, sorry.”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” he repeats, hissing, “And two --”

Steve doesn’t get to finish his sentence, because the blaring of Duran Duran’s Girls on Film fills the entire neighborhood as you pull into the cul-de-sac. Robin is in the passenger’s seat, sunglasses pulled down her nose as she dances and mouths the words into her suntan lotion. You’re driving, snorting at her moves as you park the car and pop the trunk, mimicking Robin as you get out of the car -- you can barely do it you’re laughing so hard.

The cabbage patch dance move has never looked worse. You don’t really care.

Mostly because you see Steve and he’s grinning. You wave. He mirrors.

“She is cute,” says Max, leaning against Lucas and watching the exchange, “Your girlfriend’s cute, Harrington.”

“Shut up, Max.”

She mimics a zipping motion over her lips with her hand as Steve strides by. She tosses the imaginary key.

You move to cut the engine, spurring Robin to move up the driveway with a smile -- she’s quick to greet Steve’s mom with a hug.

You’re quickly swept into a handshake by the older woman in question.

She looks like Steve -- they have the smile doe-eyes and dark hair, same nose and same excited demeanor -- and you can’t say you’re surprised when you give her your name and she sweeps you in a hug.

“It’s so good to finally meet you,” she says warmly, “Steve’s told me so much about you!”

You’ve seen Janine Harrington around before at baseball games and after-school functions. Back then, though, you were dodging any interaction you could with her son. Now, you’re excited to him idle up beside his mom with a grin. He rocks back on his heels.

“Ready?”

You nod. Robin pats your back, holding onto your arm before turning on her text-book parent charm. “Mrs. Harrington, is it alright if she drives, as well? We figured it might be better than all packing into Nancy’s car -- safer, too.”

“Of course,” she says with a smile, “Steve knows the way, he’s been going up there with us since he was a little baby --”

“Yep,” he chirps, cutting that off quick, “I’ll just, uh, I’ll ride with you -- Nancy can follow us.”

“Cool kid mobile, assemble,” Robin calls out, breaking from Steve, yourself and his mom, “We call Dustin!”

“Drive safe,” Mrs. Harrington offers as the group splits into the separate hatchbacks, “Call when you get there!”

“Alright, mom!”

“Bye, Mrs. Harrington!”

Robin shoves Steve into the passenger side of your car, winking, as you clamber into the driver’s seat. Robin happily sits between Dustin and Will, mirroring Steve as she drops her sunglasses down from her hair.

The other car, quickly named The Couples Car, holds the rest of the party -- Lucas, Max, Mike, Eleven, Jonathan and Nancy.

It’s 10am by the time you all hit the road, ready for a night over at Tippecanoe.

Steve nudges your elbow.

You blink over at him.

“Radio?”

“Hit it, Harrington.”

GIRLS ON FILM!

#carhop cool #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x you #steve harrington imagine #joe keery imagine #stranger things imagine #steve harrington x oc

596 notes · View notes

theonyxpath · 4 years

Link

Our Legendlore KS only has days left to run, and actually ends on Thursday this week, so as my final push for folks to check it out, I’m not going to try and convince you like last week. I’m going to let two excellent writers do that!

Here’s a great description of Legendlore, written, as only he can, by our own Matthew Dawkins:

But why should you back it? Well, in this time where some gamers are clinging on to the notion that “all orcs are evil from birth”, “disability has no place in fantasy adventures” and “there’s no such thing as a good drow” (they haven’t heard of Drizzt), Legendlore says the opposite.

Legendlore is a fantasy setting where diversity is a strength, we don’t shy away from complex societies and cultures, and where you can damn well buy yourself a wheelchair especially designed for dungeon crawling, or sit on a bloody floating disc! This is a game that embraces the fact that it’s magical, it’s wondrous, and yes, there’s evil out there in need of vanquishing, but there’s also a brilliant world to discover and enlightenment and wisdom to be found.

I’m in love with the art, the writing, and skilful design of this game, which uses the 5th Edition system to amazing effect. I’m impressed by the effort and energy Steffie De Vaan and her entire team of writers have poured into it. It’s a game I want to play, and if you feel orcs are better only as black and white villains, I invite you to read the manuscript – which is available as a free download from DriveThruRPG.com – and feel as impressed as I do.

And here’s developer Steffie De Vann’s excellent take on why she loves the game:

Legendlore offers a rich and layered world. No one is born good or evil, nor does it have ‘evil races.’ People come in all colors, genders, orientations, and alignments. You can be a black trans feminine elf & be right at home in the Realm. Our iconics put our ‘money where our mouth is’ – our elf is a trans black woman, our pixie a non-binary person, our dwarf is a combat veteran in a wheelchair, and I could go on. This is a game that believes diversity is strength. It’s an isekai/portal game, and we created Backgrounds ranging from ‘Activist’ and ‘RPG Aficionado’ to ‘Working Poor.’

The world of Legendlore is home to a sentient 1974’s Ford Mustang, parasite mushrooms that try to kill you by YELLING VERY LOUDLY (trust me, it’s effective), sacred Chipmunks, and the descendants of Amelia Earhart running an aviation nation. It pairs this whimsy with a genuinely complex world. For example, the orcs used to live in what’s now the nation of Drohm. Orcs ambassadors are petitioning the other nations to recognize their sovereignty, but doing so would give Drohm the excuse it needs to go to war – and make no mistake, Darkoth the Darklord *wants* to go to war. Are the orcs right? YES. Should the other nations help them out? HECK YES. Is it understandable that the nations are dragging their feet because war is good for no one except the Generals? Also yes. If that sounds like a conundrum you want to tackle, and sway the fate of Azoth, this is a game for you.

If that sound good to you, go check us out on KS. And if you’re still on the fence – there’s a link in there to a free preview manuscript.

In fact, Steffie has been posting examples of the Legendlore characters she mentions above:

This is Aaliyah, our elven iconic. She’s a Black trans woman who uses a mix of ASL and forestspeak signs to communicate. She’s a peaceful ambassador foremost, but doesn’t back down from a fight when it comes to that.

This is Najda, our dwarven iconic. She is a Muslim army vet who was wounded during her tour in Afghanistan. She now works in a Los Angeles comic book store, where she discovered a crossing into the world of Legendlore.

Here’s Jada, our pixie iconic. Pixies are born agender, and choose a gender as they grow up. Feminine pixies have 2 antenna, masculine pixies have 0, and non-binary pixies have 1. Pixies are as fierce as they are small, they love laughing and hate bullies.

There you go, and here’s the link to the Legendlore Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/339646881/legendlore-rpg-setting-for-5th-edition-fantasy-roleplaying-0

Let the Streets Run Red art by Oliver Specht

Besides Legendlore, What Else?

Just a warning, and it may just be a short-term issue, but right now it seems that we can’t ship anything to Canada or Mexico. We haven’t yet heard whether we can receive packages from those countries, but since our most prolific printers are based in Canada, we may experience some delays in our traditionally printed projects.

Right now, we’re only having issues with getting the physical printer proofs sent back and forth for approvals, and not the actual books themselves.

You’d think after all the panels and Actual Playing I did during the Onyx Path Virtual Gaming Con a few weeks ago that I’d be all talked out. Well, that does not seem to be the case. Ever.

Naw, I love telling folks about what Onyx Path is and the game worlds we make! I just can’t help myself, we have so many exciting and fun things going on!

Last week, Mike and the gang over at the This Week In Geek podcast interviewed me about WW and Onyx Path, and it turned into a sort of oral history of how the companies transformed into each successive version, and just where game lines branched off to different companies and editions.

If that sort of stuff is interesting for you, here ya go: http://thisweekingeek.net/news/interviews/fan-service-interview-rich-thomas-onyx-path-june-2020

Then this weekend, I sat in on a retrospective of the Art of Mage at Ascension Con 2020 along with Satyros Phil Brucato and artists Mark Jackson and Echo Chernik. Echo took on the slideshow duties and we all discussed the Mage art that came up as it appeared.

That was pretty great, and it was certainly a treat to chat with folks I haven’t talked to in years. Hopefully, that recording will show up on YouTube soon and we’ll get you all a link.

Cults of the Blood Gods art by Thomas Denmark

What wasn’t great last week were a couple of issues that we needed to deal with. While we dealt with them as best as we could, we realized that at core our little crew of folks here are simply not HR experts. And more importantly, we shouldn’t try to be.

We need to concentrate on making great games and amazing worlds, like we do.

Which means that tomorrow, I’m interviewing our current best prospect for an HR point-of-contact for the company. Someone who is HR trained and has worked in HR at other companies. And very important for us, someone who is unconnected to Onyx Path and has never been a gamer or in the TTRPG business.

We need someone who doesn’t have the connections or baggage that might make it hard to be objective when they review HR concerns. Hopefully, my interview is the one, and once everything is good to go we’ll include info concerning them prominently on our website so folks know who to contact.

I mean, it’s important that our worlds are all about excitement, and fear, and victory, and defeat. What our creators and community go through in the real world shouldn’t also require all those moments. We want everyone playing our games and reading our books to be safe while they explore our:

Many Worlds, One Path!

Blurbs!

Kickstarter!

The Legendlore Kickstarter is in its last few days and ends this Thursday, and now we’re really building towards Stretch Goals: the GM’s Screen, and starting the Legendlore Companion book PDF!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/339646881/legendlore-rpg-setting-for-5th-edition-fantasy-roleplaying-0

Grab your friends and escape to another world!

You’ve found an enchanted portal — a transition point — between worlds. The portal, called a Crossing, takes you to a world you thought only existed in novels and films: a magical land where dragons roam the skies, orcs and hobgoblins terrorize weary travelers, and unicorns prance through the forest. It is a world where humans join other peoples such as elves, trolls, dwarves, changelings, and the dreaded creatures who steal the night. It is a world of fantasy — of imagination.

It is the Realm.

It is Legendlore.

Next Up On Kickstarter: They Came From Beyond the Grave!

Onyx Path Media!

This week: the return of the return of the Scion Actual Play as Eddy and Dixie’s characters dig further into the machinations of the gods!

As always, this Friday’s Onyx Pathcast will be on Podbean or your favorite podcast venue! https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/

All our panels and games from Onyx Path Virtual Gaming Convention are still available on twitch.tv/theonyxpath! All you need to do is head on over to the website and subscribe. If you have an Amazon Prime account, you can do so for free and access our entire catalogue of videos!

Legendlore‘s Kickstarter is coming to an end, but Jen Vaughn’s actual play is still going on our Twitch channel every week on Friday night! Lost in the Crossing is an amazing story played through by a fantastic GM and excellent roleplayers, and handles the Legendlore world from the perspective of visitors and native inhabitants of the Realm! Make sure you’re tuning in every Friday or catching up afterwards by subscribing.

That’s not all for Legendlore, as we have actual plays by Steffie de Vaan and Corinne McCrory over on our YouTube channel, which you can find here https://youtu.be/UaQXSlEatDw and here https://youtu.be/RRvnJOrmNzM! Please give our GMs some support and tune in!

This week on Twitch, expect to see:

V5 – Chicago by Night

Realms of Pugmire – Paws & Claws

Legendlore – The Metal Scourge

Dystopia Rising: Evolution – Thieves of Old York

They Came from Beneath the Sea! – They Came from Devil’s Reef!

Changeling: The Dreaming – The Last Faerie Tale

Mage: The Awakening – Occultists Anonymous

Legendlore – Lost in the Crossing

Scarred Lands – Purge of the Serpentholds

Chronicles of Darkness – Tooth and Claw

Deviant: The Renegades – A Cautionary Tale

Get watching for some fantastic insight into how to run these wonderful games.

Come take a look at our YouTube channel, youtube.com/user/theonyxpath, where you can find a whole load of videos of actual plays, dissections of our games, and more, including:

Legendlore – The Metal Scourge: https://youtu.be/ECRrErPLm64

Storytellers with Coffee – Safety Tools: https://youtu.be/FjG-YbG_Q1k

Mage: The Ascension – Technocracy Reloaded: https://youtu.be/9Al7ZdkLGiM

Even more Legendlore – The Metal Scourge: https://youtu.be/RRvnJOrmNzM

#OnyxPathCon | How to Write for TTRPGs [Panel]: https://youtu.be/UKmJQEhInP8

Subscribe to our channel and click the bell icon if you want to be notified whenever new news videos and uploads come online!

Occultists Anonymous continues right here with their excellent Mage: The Awakening chronicle:

Episode 108: Car-V Heist While Songbird prepares for a dangerous summoning, Atratus and Wyrd hit the junkyards with an overly elaborate plan to make an overly elaborate gift. How very Mage of them… https://youtu.be/wSy3c74jkfM

Episode 109: Crown of Blood Wyrd and Atratus enjoy the joy of a well-made gift and the good vibes that comes with that. Songbird joins together with Hadramiel to summon an Angel of Death to anoint a Vampire Prince in power. https://youtu.be/QxB6Ml6uStY

A Bunch of Gamers continue their actual play of They Came from Beneath the Sea! and conclude it with a mini review: https://youtu.be/qIMwcOZmR8k

The Botch Pit have released a wonderful new guide for Changeling: The Lost right here. Do give them a like and a subscribe: https://youtu.be/Bd0UZQZt2OM

Please check these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games! We’d love to feature you!

Electronic Gaming!

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is awesome! (Seriously, you need to roll 100 dice for Exalted? This app has you covered.)

On Amazon and Barnes & Noble!

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue from which you bought it. Reviews really, really help us get folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these latest fiction books:

Our Sales Partners!

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there! https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

We’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Now, we’ve added Changeling: The Lost Second Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost

Scion 2e books and other products are available now at Studio2: https://studio2publishing.com/blogs/new-releases/scion-second-edition-book-one-origin-now-available-at-your-local-retailer-or-online

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

And you can order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e at the same link! And now Scion Origin and Scion Hero and Trinity Continuum Core and Trinity Continuum: Aeon are available to order!

As always, you can find Onyx Path’s titles at DriveThruRPG.com!

On Sale This Week!

Available this Wednesday, we present Dystopia Rising: Evolution shirts and posters on our RedBubble store!

Conventions!

Though dates for physical conventions are subject to change due to the current COVID-19 outbreak, here’s what’s left of our current list of upcoming conventions (and really, we’re just waiting for this last one to be cancelled even though it’s Nov/Dec). Instead, keep an eye out here for more virtual conventions we’re going to be involved with:

PAX Unplugged: https://unplugged.paxsite.com/

And now, the new project status updates!

Development Status from Eddy Webb! (Projects in bold have changed status since last week.):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep.)

Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)

Adversaries of the Righteous (Exalted 3rd Edition)

The Devoted Companion (Deviant: The Renegades)

Saints and Monsters (Scion 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum: Anima

M20 Technocracy Operative’s Dossier (Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary)

Squeaks In The Deep (Realms of Pugmire)

Redlines

Dragon-Blooded Novella #2 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Hundred Devil’s Night Parade (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Novas Worldwide (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Exalted Essence Edition (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Wild Hunt (Scion 2nd Edition)

CtL 2e Novella Collection: Hollow Courts (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

Second Draft

Many-Faced Strangers – Lunars Companion (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Mission Statements (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Contagion Chronicle Ready-Made Characters (Chronicles of Darkness)

Trinity Continuum: Adventure! core (Trinity Continuum: Adventure!)

Dead Man’s Rust (Scarred Lands)

The Clades Companion (Deviant: The Renegades)

V5 Forbidden Religions (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

M20 Rich Bastard’s Guide To Magick (Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary)

V5 Children of the Blood (was The Faithful Undead) (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Development

TC: Aberrant Reference Screen (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Contagion Chronicle: Global Outbreaks (Chronicles of Darkness)

Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Assassins (Trinity Continuum Core)

V5 Trails of Ash and Bone (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

Manuscript Approval

Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)

M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Under Alien Skies (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

N!ternational Wrestling Entertainment (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Post-Approval Development

Editing

Lunars Novella (Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)

Player’s Guide to the Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Contagion Chronicle Jumpstart (Chronicles of Darkness)

TC: Aberrant Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum)

Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)

LARP Rules (Scion 2nd Edition)

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

The Book of Lasting Death (Mummy: The Curse 2e)

They Came From Beyond the Grave! (They Came From!)

Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)

Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

Dearly Bleak – Novella (Deviant: The Renegades)

Post-Editing Development

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

W20 Shattered Dreams Gift Cards (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)

Cults of the Blood Gods (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Hunter: The Vigil 2e core (Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Monsters of the Deep (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

Pirates of Pugmire KS-Added Adventure (Realms of Pugmire)

Tales of Aquatic Terror (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Terra Firma (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

One Foot in the Grave Jumpstart (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e)

Indexing

Art Direction from Mike Chaney!

In Art Direction

Tales of Aquatic Terror – Handing off to Meredith to AD.

WoD Ghost Hunters (KS) – Prepping KS assets.

Aberrant – AD’d. Sketches from HIVE in.

Hunter: The Vigil 2e

Mummy 2

Deviant

Legendlore – KS running.

Technocracy Reloaded (KS)

Cults of the Blood God – Rolling along.

Scion: Dragon (KS) – Waiting on art notes.

Masks of the Mythos (KS) – Pinging potential cover and fulls artist.

Scion: Demigod (KS) – Art rolling. KS assets AD’d.

They Came From Beyond the Grave! (KS) – Prepping KS assets.

TC: Adventure! (KS) – Shen Fei cover art finishing.

Geist: One Foot In the Grave – AD’d.

In Layout

Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad

Vigil Watch

TC Aeon Terra Firma

V5 Let the Streets Run Red – working layout now.

Pugmire Adventure

Scion Titanomachy

Proofing

Trinity Aeon Jumpstart – Errata gathering.

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate – Page XXs.

Contagion Chronicle – Backer PDF out to backers, gathering errata.

Cavaliers of Mars: City of the Towered Tombs

Magic Item Decks (Scarred Lands)

Yugman’s Guide Support Decks (Scarred Lands)

Dark Eras 2 Screen and booklet

At Press

Scion Companion – Awaiting errata from devs.

TCFBTS Heroic Land Dwellers – PoD files uploaded.

TCFBTS Screen and Booklet – Files at press.

They Came from Beneath the Sea! – Press proofs signed off on, PoD files uploaded.

Creature Collection 5e – PoD proof ordered. Traditional files sent to printer.

Pirates of Pugmire – Files at press. PoD proofs ordered.

Pirates of Pugmire Screen – Files at press.

Pugmire Buried Bones – PoD files uploaded.

Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition Dark Eras Compilation – Creating PoD file.

Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

This coming week is a big one for our household with the birthdays of two of our widdle kiddies (really not widdle at all any more), and the July 4th celebration of the American colonies’ independence from Great Britain! “And just as Tom here has written, we say To Hell With Great Britain!” Sorry, Matthew…

In sadder news, we acknowledge the passing of Jim Holloway, noted artist for Paranoia and Star Frontiers and many early issues of Dragon Magazine. Personally, I very much enjoyed his style, and he brought a technical expertise and a sense of humor to the early TTRPG business that it sorely needed.

#Onyx Path Publishing

3 notes · View notes

coffeecomicsgalore · 5 years

Text

A Night to Remember

Ao3

Chapter 8 - Akuma!

Juleka screamed.

Everyone turned to the black-haired girl to see that Rose had transformed. Marinette took the opportunity to run out the room and transform in the girl's bathroom. Adrien turned a few seconds later and snuck out of the room before anyone noticed he was missing. He ducked into a nearby janitor’s closet and transformed. Alya, getting excited about the impending action, whipped out her phone, ready to record the akuma for her Ladyblog. Nino took cover to keep any eye on his crazy girlfriend.

“Rose, please!” Juleka pleaded.

Ladybug and Chat Noir appeared, trying to understand the akumatized Rose.

“I am not Rose! I am Lady Chastiser!” She was wearing a pink pant suit with a white top. A pink lightning bolt shaped tie completed the outfit. Over her eyes, she wore silver aviators, making her look like she was policing the actions. The akumatized object, a pencil, turned into a staff with a diamond on the top of it.

“I am here to reprimand those who cause malicious intent!” Lady Chastiser cackled. She pointed at Ladybug and Chat Noir with her staff. “And steal your miraculous!”

Lady Chastiser continued to laugh as the diamond on the staff glowed green. “Huh, it seems that you are not fighting with ill-intent. I’ll spare you for now. I need to find Liiiiillllaaaaa.” She hummed out Lila’s name in a sing-songy tone.

Lila screamed and ran out the room. “Get away from me! I didn’t do anything! Adrien is lying!”

“I will be the judge of that, Lila.” She looked around the room. “Where is he?”

Ladybug looked over to Chat Noir. “We need to get Adrien out of here before he gets hurt. As long as he’s not lying or has done anything with malicious intent, I mean.”

“He’s fine and hiding, M’Lady. I saw him before coming in here.”

“Oh, okay... good!” She said, hesitantly.

The remaining students ran out of the classroom, hiding wherever they thought was safe.

“Forget it. I know he would never do anything like that.” she scoffed. “Oh, Lila. Where are you?” Lady Chastiser was calling for the liar as she stepped out of the classroom and made her way down the corridor.

Every person she came across was judged by her and her glowing staff. Green-glowing diamonds meant they were good people and free to go. Red-glowing diamonds meant they had malicious intent in their hearts and deserved to be punished. Unfortunately, there were one or two students who had to deal with the reprimand.

Lila was hiding in a hall closet, huddling in the corner with her arms over her head. Lady Chastiser was using her staff as a metal detector to find her. She pointed the staff towards the door and stopped when the staff glowed red. “Lila, Lila, Lila. I found you! You deserve to be reprimanded for sabotaging and lying about Adrien!”

Lila screamed as soon as Lady Chastiser whipped opened the door. Ladybug and Chat Noir ran in front of the broken doorway trying to protect Lila, no matter how much they wanted her to suffer.

“She is full of malicious intent! She deserves to be punished!”

Lady Chastiser used her staff to swing and hit the superheroes, causing them to fly down the hallway. As Ladybug and Chat Noir got up, the akuma pointed her staff at Lila, the diamond glowing a deep red. It was a deeper red than it was moments ago.

“Lila, the diamonds don’t lie! You are full of malicious intent. You will be reprimanded. Now spill your words and tell the truth!”

“Adrien never cheated on Kagami!” Lila slapped her hands over her mouth trying to stifle any words waiting to come out. Lady Chastiser swiped her finger in the air a bit, causing Lila’s hands to move uncontrollably to her lap. “He didn’t leave her! They broke up mutually. He was never a cheater. He’s too much of a goody-two-shoes to do it!”

Lady Chastiser smiled.

“I hate Ladybug! She ruined any chances I had to manipulate Adrien. And I hate Chat Noir too. That mangy cat only follows her around because she’s too good for anyone else. It sickens me!”

“Good! Anything else?”

Ladybug could see Alya sticking her head out of a classroom, her phone recording the whole interaction. Ladybug and Chat Noir were walking towards the duo with caution, allowing the akuma to force Lila to spill her lies. They would intervene if harm would come to her.

“Marinette never bullied me! She never did anything. I was the one who threatened Marinette. I got her expelled! I lied to everyone so I could win!”

Chat Noir and Ladybug looked to each other and smiled. Chat had gestured his head towards the liar, silently requesting that he swoop in and help now. Ladybug crossed her arms and smirked a bit before nodding to the request.

He rolled his eyes and leaped into action, picking Lila up and bringing her to a janitor’s closet on the first floor. “You’ll be safe in here... for now.”

“And you couldn’t have done that 5 minutes ago?” Lila yelled back.

“And miss you telling the truth? Naw. You weren't getting hurt. The truth needed to be heard, Lie-la.” Chat shut the door in her face. He smiled as he cleaned the imaginary dirt off his hands.

Chat ran back to the second floor, only to find Ladybug and Lady Chastiser sword fighting – Lady Chastiser using her staff, while Ladybug found a broomstick in the closet.

He leaned his head against his expanded baton as he watched her swing the makeshift sword. “Never thought I would see the day you dueled for my heart, M’Lady!” He wiggled his eyebrows while Ladybug let out a groan.

“Not now Chat! Do you think you could help me with this?”

Chat leaps in front of Ladybug and uses his baton as a sword. While the akuma is occupied in the duel, Ladybug calls out, “Lucky Charm!”

A unicorn plushy falls into her hands. “A unicorn? This looks like Rose’s unicorn?”

Ladybug looks around the hallway with her bug sense. As soon as she realizes what she needs to do, she calls out to the akuma and waits for her reaction. Ladybug throws the unicorn and Lady Chastiser caught it. She scoffs at the toy. Her distraction was enough for Ladybug to whip out her yo-yo and grabbed the staff, throwing it in Chat’s direction.

“Cataclysm!” Chat grabs the staff and pulverizes it, leaving rubble on the ground. The purple butterfly flew out of the staff.

“No more evil doing for you little akuma.” Ladybug grabbed her yo-yo to capture the purple butterfly. "Time to de-evilize! Gotcha!”

She waves to the purified butterfly. “Bye-bye butterfly.”

She threw the lucky charm in the air, “Miraculous Ladybug!” and all the chaos was returned to normal.

----- xoxox -----

Lila was already back in the classroom. She was one of the first to arrive once the chaos ended and she was able to leave the closet. Alya waited for her friends before heading towards the room.

Once they arrived, everyone was staring at Lila with disgust over the argument her and Adrien had prior to the akuma. It seems no one heard the truth during the akuma attack. She tried to put on her Lila-charm, crocodile tears streaming down her face while crying out, “None of it’s the truth! Adrien is lying about everything! Why won’t anyone believe me?”

As they stood near their desks to watch how Lila would get herself out of this predicament, Alya wiggled the phone in her hand and spoke out. “Really, Lila? How about you watch this.” She swiped the video from her phone to the screen at the front of the room. There it played the recording of Lila spilling out the truth.

Everyone collectively gasps in shock. Words and pointed fingers are being tossed around in the class. Mlle. Bustier runs in, disheveled over the ensued chaos, and tries to calm it down.

Lila is sitting in shock. She could not believe what was happening. She tries to think of a way to get out of this. “This was the akuma’s doing! I didn’t know I was saying any of it.” But as the video continues, she raises her hands to her mouth. When she realizes that no one believes her, she gets up and collects herself, only for her to run out of the classroom in an angry outburst.

Marinette and Adrien both smiled silently to themselves. They finally had their names cleared of all of Lila’s lies and wrongdoings. They looked over to each other.

Adrien grabs Marinette into a hug. “I never got a chance to thank you for standing up for me. I really appreciate it.”

Marinette hugs him tighter. “I will always be there for you.”

#a night to remember #miraculous ladybug fanfiction #miraculous ladybug #ml fanfic

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ain-t-bovvered · 6 years

Text

14x10 Commentary

Zeta and Giuls scream together, and then die.

Me & Zeta will watch together season 14′s episodes as they come out and we’ll do our commentary while watching.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

14x10 Nihilism

-I did not want to see Jack like that again thanks

Zeta: true

- And there was a need for some wings there honestly .

[ comes back crawling]

HERE

Zeta: the bar sceeeene

-.....THAT’S A DAMN SQUIRREL WITH A AVIATOR CAP ON ( also I re wrote squirrel four times before getting it right)

- MOOSE!!!

-......The Moose has a tag with “FAMILY BUSINESS” written on it----lol Jensen

Zeta: What’s her name

- PAMELAAAAAAAA . Damn woman I went a bit Bi there

Zeta: OH YES.

- [Music: and I’m searching for a rainbow] .....WOW

-[on the counter] Daphne loves Fred.

my monkey dirty brain: Daddy loves tips.

-hot. want that.

Zeta: the tequila or the bartender?

Bitch please . both.

- D: “ What are we, savages?”

Zeta: Oh the lips

-Cosmic Cowboy. *chokes*

-FB

-why is it always a ghoul case?

-Lol but who’s the drunk guy tho

Zeta: Bitch, look at her biceps

- some Bi slippage there too I see. FOCUS

Zeta: also indeed. Who is he?

-D:”I’ve never had anything this nice”

Also....I would be like Dean if I had a bar. One for the costumer and one for me! woohoo .

- D: “How come you always have a boyfriend?”

P: “How come you always want what you can’t have?”

[looks into the camera like in the office]

- D: “This is my dream”

I kinda see it tho....old grumpy Dean Winchester being the Bobby while running a bar like that. Yes....I like it.

- I knew it . I wanna see someone closed behind that “closet” *wink wink*

Zeta: Oh oh

Zeta: the slo mo.

-NICE .You are welcome for this gif where I let you enjoy the full over the count jump. Nice healthy middle age man over the fence jump ( nevermind this is an italian oil ad ).

-The blood. So cute

Zeta: I’m famous

- mmm

Zeta: shit

-Hello M boi, I missed you fam

Zeta: Changed clothes

- OMFG are you saying that the Archangel Michael macVanity von DramaQueen really just angel mojo changed into his Peaky Blinder wanna be in front of them?

He’s so flamboyant , I love him .

Zeta: The close up

- M making three men kneel with so much as lift his hands. WHAT A MOOD. WHERE CAN I GET THAT? I WANT 10.

- M : “ I saw everything” Yeah no shit we kinda see that coming too

-DoN ‘T IntERrUPt mE

Zeta: Don’t interrupt me

-I’m-

I’m so bothered right now. Dom Michael for the win

-OH WOW

- Sam just “assbutted” Michael lol.

Castiel : Sam....did you just molotov my brother with holy fire?

Sam: uh ....No?

- HE ANGRY

- Dean’s not home right now...

Zeta: Please leave a message

*giggling* I love him

Zeta: His voice GOD DAMN

-yes

- Castiel hair tho.

Zeta: Do you? Cocky much

-but needs to play it cool. Can’t risk to mess up the pomaded hair.

- S:” We the angel cuffs on , Michael is under control”

M: “Keep telling yourself that “ ( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°)

I *clap* LOVE *clap* HIM *clap*

- S: “Dump him in the trunk of the Impala” ... DUMP HIM .ahahahahaah

-Garth is in the trunk

Zeta: it’s a big trunk

-M: “ It’s a party!”

- J: “ It’s not like any of us can fly”

M : “ Well one of us can”

S: “ STFU”

- J:” Sam, are we gonna die here?” ... wow Jack...babe...stfu

-Yes OMG I forgot about the stalky reaper

Zeta: You mess up so many things

- it ain’t wrong

- [in john Mulaney’s Trump voice] we locked Death away and enslaved the reapers

Zeta: Poor Cas

- ok but WHO....death? Michael is asking himself that too.

-Yes , put him in the dungeon. HOT

Zeta: shit

-I can hear you

Zeta: Shit

-Ahahahahahaahah

Zeta: SHIT

-I’m loving this

Zeta: Bring back Crowley.

Zeta: We left Garth in the trunk looool

- that....everytime we don’t see a character for long that’s it...they are in the trunk.

Zeta: Castiel

-CASTIEL . so strange, I love him, he’s such a sarcastic asshole.

- M: “Yes, uh, put a chair against the door”

Zeta: This pretty smile as I rip you apart

-I’M SHAKING. YAS.

Zeta: Control yourself

- S: “Cass this is all we’ve got”

Zeta: Again?

- well it is a loop.

-MORE SHOTS. (me)

Zeta: The only thing missing is “heat of the moment”

- what if the woman is his conscience trying to get him out and if he sign he’s out? ...like....testing his resolution?

-Little insulting

Zeta: you’re nothing

Zeta: Why is he so perfect in this?

- J: “Dean---is strong”

M *disgusted face*: “ Is a gnat “ . WOW

-OH SHUT UP OOOOH

Zeta: Emotional abuse.

- M: “ he was not happy, but he didn’t care-- Cause you are not Sam, you are not Cass.”

[ me looking smiling to the Castiel/Misha hateclub]

-M: “You are a weak helpless thing”

- Jack , babe ....get away tho

Zeta: LISTEN TO YOUR DAD

- M: “no I’m not and I can still hear you”

Zeta: Prick

- Love that prick..... literally

- I care so little for the others I swear

- M: “Look at you, play nursemaind for a nephilim”

-C: “You are confusing loyalty and compassion for weakness”

Zeta: Damn what am I watching?

- [looks into the camera like in the office] Sexual tension

Zeta: so done. this. Close up

- M “and now...that I’m in here, I know why”

-CHUCK

Zeta: He churn our draft after draft

- M speaks like he’s singing and mocking you at the same time. He has this musicality in his speak and I love it

- C: “Why would he do that?”

M: “BECAUSE HE DOESN’T CARE!”

- good lord I swear all the angels are just brats throwing temper tantrum because they have a trash dad.

- M: “But now , I just want to burn every one of his little worlds until I catch up to the Old man”

Zeta: Even god can die.

- oh ok....overachiever much

Zeta: Hurt Jack

- No no Jack babe...keep your fucking soul .

Zeta: Cool science project

- Michael’s mind: if you mess up my perfectly combed hair Cass I swear-

- M: “ I give it a solid B- .....uh oooh”

me nervously: .....wtf lol

- M: *snorts* Oh Cass, I believe in you.

So rude...so nasty

- j: “ What should I do?”

Zeta: Pray

-Thanks Cas, that’s-......that’s great

Zeta: You are all mine

- ..... YESSIR TAKE ME

Zeta: Dean’s mind.

- ..... if it was a funny episode they could have made so many jokes about being empty lol.

- me looking around haters mind ^

Zeta: This is what you are gonna become

-omg

- THAT WAS DEAN IN HELL.

- Dean’ “NOOOO “ at Castiel death is vibrating into my bones.

- S: “Dean is strong”

- C: “Sam, we’ve been through a lot and Dean is more than strong”

- S: “Dean thrive on trauma.”

WE’VE BEEN KNEW

Zeta: Smart moose

- Somebody has been reading some meta tumblr posts

- P: “You really know how to talk to a lady don’t you?”

me already at Castiel’s feet : wha

- That’s us fans watching 14 seasons of supernatural ^

-Bloody Cass is 100. *licks lips*

- P: “get me a shot. With your braaaain”

Zeta: Well hello.

- C:” That was- that....DeAN ThAt WaS An ACcidENT”

Zeta: Babyyyy

- them baby faces

- C:” WE NEED YOU TO COME BACK”

- S:”POUGHKEEPSIE”

- Dean’s mind : [ old modem sounds]

-M [Slow clap it out.] : Hey Fellas

-AND THE HAT IS BACK

Zeta: I’m you

Zeta: He gripped you tight and raised you from perdition

-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHHAHAHAHAHAHAH I’M DYING SO BAD.

-BITCH I’M DEAD AND GIGGLING I CAN’T.

-but also....but the fuck is Mary at?... like wow.

- also....everything that Micheal is saying right now is causing me actual fucking pain.

- Ok and both Sam and Cas faces? well thanks

Zeta: He’s buying time

-WOW. Slow smile, oooooH

-S: “So in here, you are all talk”

- oh that’s why he doesn’t use his powers. Serviceable .

Zeta: So happy. Fuck

Zeta: Prove it

- Um...yes hello 911?

Michael getting his hands dirty is too hot for me.

-Fucking Tiger man.

-Come on baby

Zeta: Jack will do something “stupid”

- Well he is his parents’ son *shrug*

Zeta: that

- D:” Then we don’t kick him out, we keep him in”

-oooooh M goes in the closet, lol

Zeta: Oh my god.

- ....Well that was stupid AHAHAHAAH

- I can’t stop laughing .

- M [ROAR]

me: ....

Zeta: I’m the cage.

-HE IS THE CAGE. That doesn’t seem right tho...come on.

Zeta: So now Dean has Michael locked up

-ooooh the magic hurt him. Forgot about that. My baby.

Zeta: Concerned Dad.

- The way Cass say : “you understand?” killed me....so soft...so worried...

- The little smile! Kill me now.

Zeta: He’s not ok.

-Dean is not ok.

Zeta: [henley alert]

-He’s like....naked. ( still has another tshirt under it tho)

-Oh he’s mad

- I’M CRYING . HE LOOKS LIKE MY CAT WHEN I REFUSE TO LET HIM OUT .

amazing.

( Sorry for the not that clear gifs but I wanted to cut and past all the bits of that because it’s amazing)

Zeta: He’s suffering so much.

-That troat

- That door is not that sturdy tho

Zeta: Oh hell no

- oh hello death .

-Aw hell naw.

- Death :” Except one”

-AW HELL NAW

Zeta: Which one?

- UGH

Zeta: No

-NO

Zeta: NOOO so much hurt

-OH FUCK

Zeta: Actual literal pain in my chest

YA KNOW WHAT?....I DON’T LIKE THAT LOOK .

NOT ONE BIT.

- lol I don’t even wanna look at tumblr now

Zeta: well you know me....I have

- of course you did

post gifs comment: I didn’t do my crack gifs for now, but they will be done in a separate post.

If you want to get tagged in the future ones send an ask HERE or to @waywardbaby or a smoke signal, idk whatever I’m tired af.

TAGS: @supernatural-teamfreewillpage @destiel-honeypie @mariekoukie6661 @dragontamerm @closetspngirl @rainflowermoon @mattiecat @bunnybaby121115 @aliaitee @jacks-word-of-the-day @4evamc

#spn episode commentary #commentary #nihilism #14x10 #spn 14x10 #supernatural 14x10 #14x10 commentary #spn gifs

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elizabeth-marston-roberts · 5 years

Text

A Boy Named John | John Marston x Abigail Roberts x F!Reader |

I wanted to do something new! This is like a series, I guess? Idk. Basically I wanted to do like snippets of a relationship between John/Abigail/Reader and so I did that. These will all contain a female reader as usual, and I'll try to make them all separate pieces, meaning you shouldn't have to read one part to understand another. But I make no promises tbh. I've taken inspo from the 90s Abi that @anniesburg created and I also put in some of my own modern!John headcanons, and you can read my list of those (and I'll probably do another list soon enough) here.

Pairing: John Marston/Abigail Roberts/Reader ((I like to use Roberts when Abi isn't married to John))

Rating: T? No sex or anything, just a little bit of fluff. This chapter is just showing how they meet, but there are some brief mentions of sex.

Words: 2,844

It was breezy out, so Abigail promptly declared at breakfast you two would be going to the park after lunch. She took your hand and led the way, as usual. You smiled and followed happily, but mainly because you were watching that rear end of hers bounce with every step.

Now you were sat with Abi under a tree, your arm slung over her shoulders while she's curled up into your side. You press a sweet kiss to her temple, nose bumping against the side of her beloved aviators. She never left the house without those sunglasses, the blue mirrored effect her favorite part, as they mixed well with her black hair. You, quite honestly, always loved how they accentuated her resting bitch face. She'd scared off quite a few homophobes that way.

"I love you." You murmur softly in her ear, slipping the palm of your hand over her sharp jaw. You turn her head upwards and descend down upon her cherry-chapsticked lips.

She smiles. "I love you too." She murmurs against your lips, her accent as strong as ever.

Grinning and pulling away slightly from your girlfriend, you look up just in time to see a tall, skinny man on a skateboard swerve to avoid hitting a child that was running from his parents. He runs right off of the paved sidewalk, the grass catching the wheels of his board and sending him flying right into a tree.

Abigail's up off the ground immediately, a gasp tearing out of her throat as she runs to the man. He's groaning and holding his head as he sits up, his dark eyes widening as he catches his reflection in Abi's sunglasses. He's dazed and confused, and you already know from the way Abi is checking his head for any bumps, bruises or cuts that she's claimed him as hers.

You pick up his skateboard and make sure the child is collected by his parents before you join Abigail. She's sitting beside him and chatting casually, as if he didn't just faceplant a tree. You see he's got a good scrape across his cheek and his lip's a little busted, but more prominently you notice the cut on his forehead above his right eyebrow. It's not bleeding a whole lot, but it's enough to make you want to fix him.

"This is John." Abigail tells you. You know she's noticed his left arm is covered in tattoos, which has made him a thousand times for attractive for her. Honestly, your girlfriend was the biggest flirt you'd ever met.

You never minded when Abi got her flirt on with men. Most of the time she was just searching for a good one-night-stand for the two of you, as you both were still very much into men and sometimes Abigail's dominant side just needed another person to order around. The last time you two were in a threesome was easily two months ago and you were ready for another.

You extend your hand and introduce yourself, kneeling in front of him and offering up the skateboard. He smiles some at you.

"Thank you." His voice is scratchy and low. You already understand Abigail's attraction to him.

"I think we should get a bandaid on that cut, John." Abigail says, placing her delicate hand on his forearm.

"Ah, that's okay, it ain't that bad..." He touches a fingertip on the cut, examining the blood that comes away with it. "It'll stop bleedin' eventually."

Abigail lifts her sunglasses into her hair and you snicker to yourself. He's gone and done it now!

"I said we're gonna get a bandaid on that cut, John. Come on." She takes his hand and stands up, pulling him up as well. John blinks stupidly but follows her lead as you walk on his other side.

"Yes ma'am." At least he was polite!

"So." You start off as Abi leads the way to the nearest drugstore. "Is swerving and running into trees a regular occurrence for you?"

"Naw, not really. I usually run into trees just fine without dodgin' little kids."

You laugh until you realize he's not kidding.

"So, John," Abigail clears her throat. "Tell us about you. What do you do when you're not getting a face full of bark?"

"Well, I work the regular week at an auto shop with my buddy Javier. It's a neat little gig. Pays me good and I get weekends off." He grins.

"So you're a mechanic?" You ask. Abigail's car has been draining power steering fluid like crazy and you hope he'll be willing to look at it.

"Yep. Been doin' that full time since I got outta high school, but I always been into cars and stuff like that. Not to toot my own horn or nothin', but I'm damn good at what I do." His smile is proud. It's also very cute.

"I bet you are." Abi grins. She pushes John down onto a bench that's outside of the store. "You stay right here. I'm gonna head inside and get some bandaids."

John nods and you sit with him as Abi shops. He looks at you carefully once she's gone. "So..." He gestures his finger from you to the store, indicating Abigail.

"Yes." You nod. "Four years now."

He nods slowly. "Okay."

"That's not a problem, is it?" You narrow your eyes.

"No- No, I'm cool with that!" He puts his hands up, panic in his voice. "Lesbians are cool!"

You smirk a little. Making straight men squirm a little was always fun. "Yeah, lesbians are pretty cool."

Abigail comes outside then. She swats your shoulder. "Stop making the poor guy sweat. He ain't no homophobe."

You pout. "I was just teasing, Abi."

"I don't care." She sits on John's other side, her fingertips brushing his jaw as she turns his head. He closes his dark eyes while she applies the disinfectant and then the butterfly bandage.

"All done." She smiles at him, rubbing some sanitizer between her delicate hands.

"You really didn't have to, but thanks." John grins. "I ain't really a nurse so I can't return the favor like that, but I am a decent cook. 'M havin' some friends over for a little backyard barbeque. You... You can come too, if you want." He murmurs.

"We'll be there." Abigail assures him with a sweet smile. She pulls her phone from her purse and unlocks it, handing it to him. "Text me the details, okay?"

"Should we bring something?" You ask while John inputs his phone number into Abi's phone.

"If you want to!" He smiles at you now, giving Abigail her phone back and holding his hand out for yours. In the back of your mind you note just how much of a natural he is in providing you both with attention. "I've got all the meat covered, and most of the fixin's been claimed, so maybe some more beer and dessert. Doesn't matter what dessert, but there is a golden rule about beer at my house: If you bring Pabst Blue Ribbon, you're out."

You and Abigail laugh, John having his own smile on as he inputs his phone number into your phone. He hands it back to you and checks his watch. "I better get home. I'll see you ladies tomorrow."

He stands up and tosses his board down, waving cutely at you and Abi before he takes off down the sidewalk. You glance at her while she's still watching John, no doubt looking at how twinky he is.

"I can't believe we're going to fuck a boy named John."

"Abigail, it's a backyard barbeque." You groan as your girlfriend once again went to go change her outfit. "And honestly, it doesn't matter what you wear! If it goes right it'll be on the floor."

"But I want John to undress me with his eyes first!" She pulls off her tank top. "There's nothing wrong with being sexy, my love."

You stand and come up behind her, slipping your arms around her waist and effectively stunting the progression of her outfit change. You kiss her sweet spot behind her left ear, the one that always makes her shiver and moan. "Are you saying I'm not sexy, Abigail?"

"That's n-not what I said and you know it." She murmurs, leaning back against you. "I just want him to like what he sees."

"I'm sure he will. And even if he doesn't, I sure do love what I see." You press a soft smooch to her cheek, rubbing her hips. "Come on, baby. Get dressed and let's go. I'm hungry!"

"Fine, fine!" She waves her hands around. You let go of her and sit back down on the end of the bed. You had put on a band t-shirt and some shorts an hour ago, and when Abigail was ready you'd put your black Chucks on.

"Why don't you wear that cute blue off-the-shoulder top? The one with the lace." You suggest, heart fluttering when her eyes light up.

"That's perfect! Ugh, I love you so much." She leans down for a quick kiss before rushing to the closet for said top and a strapless bra. She put on some sandals and then her beloved sunglasses, now /finally/ ready to go.

You take her hand once you're outside and walking for John's house. It turned out that he only lived a couple blocks away from you and Abi, which was nice because instead of driving there you two could walk and enjoy the nice day. Abi smiles up at you, carrying the case of Coors Light she'd picked up this morning while you held the ice pops. A cherry one was already calling your name, but you resisted the temptation, lest you feel Abi's wrath over it.

"This is so cute!" Abi coos as you approach the little two-story house John called his home. It was navy blue with white trim, and there was an older Ford pickup in the driveway.

The fence to the backyard is open, so you lead the way back. There's an inflatable pool with a dirty blond lounging in it, and you couldn't say for sure, but you were certain he was actually asleep in it.

"You're here!" John's scratchy voice sounds happy, thankfully. You turn to see him approaching, his dark hair tied up out of his face. Expectantly, the bandaid from yesterday is gone.

"I told you we'd come!" Abigail holds the beer out to him. He takes it with a gasp and a big grin.

"This is my favorite beer!" The fact that he's so excited over such a small thing warms your heart. He's a simple man so far.

"Really? Ain't that somethin'." Abigail grins. "Introduce us to your friends, John!"

"Right, right!" He opens the blue cooler on the ground and pops the cardboard end open, dumping the cans of beer inside, along with the ice pops, and closing the lid. You snicker fondly at how expertly done that was.

John points the man in the pool. "That's my brother, Arthur. He don't sleep much, so leave him alone until dinner."

"Got it." You nod and then John brings you to the large, round table where the others are playing cards at.

"Javier, Bill, Mary-Beth, Sadie, Charles, Tilly, Sean." He says as he points to each member. "Guys, and gals, this is Abigail," He rests a large hand on her shoulder, and then the other on yours as he introduces you to his friends. "I met 'm yesterday at the park and I thought they were pretty cool, so... Be nice to 'em."

"It's nice to meet you." Javier smiles gently. "Would you like to join us? We're about to play poker."

"Texas Hold 'em?" You ask, grinning. You'd always been good at that particular brand of the game.

"That's the only one we play!" Sean matches your smile, patting the empty seat beside him. "Come on, sit down! You deal first. No dirty dealin' now!"

"Oh lord." Abigail rolls her eyes when you eagerly sit down. "I'm stayin' far away from this trainwreck."

John snickers. "Not a gambler?"

"No, because my darlin' here does enough of it for the both of us." You note her sarcasm, but the love of the game wins over it. You're sure you'll be paying for it later on, but Abigail's punishments are always fun.

"You wanna come grill with me?"

"Sure." She smiles and goes to the grill with him. She isn't a good chef by any means so she lets him do the work while she watches.

When the poker game disbands, you go grab a beer from the cooler. Abigail is currently asking John about every tattoo that's adorning his left arm and he's happily telling her about each one. You smile and stand on John's other side.

"Smells good, John." You comment. He smiles proudly and flips a few burgers.

"Told you I can cook! I'm a lot of things, but a liar ain't one."

"John was telling me about his tattoos." Abi grins.

"Did you tell him about yours?" You hum. Abigail only has a couple, but they look good on her. There's one on her right shoulder. It's a 'basic bitch' tattoo but you're proud of it. It's a lemniscate with your anniversary winded in it. You can't help but give it a kiss whenever you make love to her.

"I kinda figured that one out for myself." John snickers, pointing to the lemniscate. "Do you have any?" He asks you.

You shake your head. "No. I've always been too nervous to get one."

"Ain't no shame in that." He says. "They hurt!"

You smile a little. He's a sweet man, you think. Your eyes meet Abigail's and you know she's feeling good about this one.

Dinner is tasty and the way they all interact tells you they're more of a family than just a group of friends. The gathering continues late in the night and eventually you and Abigail are the last ones there.

John sits on the grass, staring up at the stars and the moon. "Did you ladies have fun?"

You sit on his right, Abigail flanking his left. "I had a lot of fun, actually." You say, and Abigail readily agrees.

John grins. "Good. Maybe I'll get to see ya around more?"

"I don't see why not." Abigail says. "In fact, why don't you come on over to our place for dinner? I'm no cook, but my partner-in-crime here is."

"Okay!" It takes everything you have to not just grab him and kiss those pink lips. "I'll eat anything, so don't worry about that."

Abigail smirks a little, the dirty-minded minx. "I ain't worried about a thing, John."

"Walk us home?" You ask sweetly. "We're just a couple blocks over."

"Sure!" He stands and offers a hand to each of you, pulling you off of the grass and to your feet. "Last thing I want is for you two ladies walkin' around by yourself this late anyway. I know this is a good neighborhood, but still."

He takes you home, walking you up the porch. Abigail fishes for the house key and you turn to John. "Text me when you get back home, okay?"

"Yes ma'am." He nods, and he waves shyly once Abigail has the door open and a light on. "I'll see you two at dinner."

"Seven o'clock sharp, and don't be a minute late." Abigail says sternly.

He grins, and you suspect he has a thing for being told what to do. "Yes ma'am."

You and Abigail wish him goodnight, waving before you went inside and locked the doors. You watched him through the peephole and Abi from the window beside the door as he tucks his hands in his pockets and walks back home.

"Great." You say when he's gone. "Now I have to cook dinner."

Abigail doesn't bother hiding her laughter as she goes up to bed. You follow her up the stairs, touching her butt once you reach the top.

"Is there a reason we didn't try to get laid tonight?" You ask. Usually when Abigail sets her sights on a new boy she's quick to pounce.

"I think this one is different, my love." She turns around and embraces you.

"You think?"

"He's kind, and he never tried anything with us. Most of these men know we only entertain them because we want to have sex. John... I don't think he knows that. And in saying that, I feel like he deserves better than a one-night-stand."

"So what are you saying?" You ask, brushing her hair out of her eyes.

"I'm not sure yet. Maybe it's better that we're just friends with him. He really is a genuinely nice man."

You sigh, knowing she's right. She usually is. "We'll find someone else to have some fun with."

"Oh, don't pout at me like that. If you need some dick that badly, get my strap ready while I wash my face. I'll even let you call me John."

You really do have the best girlfriend.

#john marston #abigail marston #abigail roberts #abigail roberts x reader #abigail marston x reader #john marston x abigail marston x reader #john marston x reader #fic #throuple #a boy named john #modern au

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