#din stops mowing the lawn

[toomanystoriessolittletime]

fanworks creators self rec! when you get this, reply with your favourite five fanworks you’ve made, then pass on to at least five other creators 💗

awww Kelly 💜🧡💙

Prey (Din Djarin x fem. Reader; Soulmate AU; It was just supposed to be an easy job. But then he saw you.)

Whiskey, Cigarettes and Condoms (Javier Peña x fem. Reader; You are working in a shop and your most interesting customer is the hot guy who buys XL Condoms every single week. Until he stopped.)

Patience (Bruce Wayne x fem. Reader; You lost everything in the the flooding of Gotham. Now, as the guardian of your nine month old godson you needed a place to stay. With no family left than your Aunt who worked for Bruce Wayne you found yourself taking her off to move into the Wayne Tower.)

Neighbors (Marcus Moreno x fem. Reader; After breaking up with your fiancé you find yourself moving back in with your brother and his daughter just outside of the city. Marcus Moreno is his neighbor and he really does take his neighborly duties to heart. Including taking care of mowing the lawn when your brother had to leave for work for a while.)

a shitty day (Matt Murdock x fem. Reader; You had a shitty day. Matt shows up to comfort you.)

[trashbag-baby666]

Lawn Boy-Luztoye (based off my own hc’s)

Summary: Joe is the lawn boy for George’s Grandma but soon enough emotions start flying between George and Joe.

WC: 4,693.

C/W: Underage Alchol/Weed Consumption.

Link To My Masterlist!

"Grandma are you expecting anybody?" George peaked his head out into the dinning room where his grandma read the newspaper.

"Oh it's just the lawn boy. He's nice go tell him just the lawn needs to be mowed today." She smiled.

"Okay, I'll also have breakfast done soon." He smiled and jogged over to the double doors and opened one.

"Uhm hi, is Ms. Luz here?" A tall muscular man that looked about George's age asked.

"Im her grandson. She just said just the lawn needed to be mowed." George smiled and leaned against the door frame.

"Okay," the tall man nodded and walked off. George blushed and shut the door. Returning to the kitchen to finish breakfast.

~The following summer~

"Why don't you go give him his money and invite him in for iced tea." Ms. Luz smiled and put the $50 in George's hand.

"Okay grandma," he blushed and looked down. She had picked up that her grandson had feelings for Joe. George hummed as he walked outside to find Joe, shirtless. Sitting on the edge of the fountain. "Hey Joe, grandma said that you should come in for some iced tea but no pressure." He fidgeted with the cash in his hand then handed it to Joe.

"Sure I'll come in," Joe smiled and picked up his shirt before following George inside. George hummed another show tune to himself as he walked to the back door. He opened it and held it for Joe. He thanked him and George followed him in. How could one man be so beautiful. Joe slid his shirt back on and Ms. Luz came out with a tray with a pitcher of iced tea and some glasses.

"Oh thank you Joe you do such a good job taking care of the lawn." She smiled and set the tray down before giving him a hug.

"Of course," he nodded and had a seat at the table.

"So you've got to meet my grandson George." She started pouring everyone glasses.

"Yeah a few times now," George interjected and tried to not make eye contact with Joe. George's cheeks heated up slightly embarrassed.

"Do you guys go to the same school?" She sat back in the chair and took a sip.

"I don't think we do?" Joe glanced at George.

"Uhm I don't think so. I go to West Creek." George hummed into his tea.

"No, I go to Central," Joe nodded.

"We'll you two should be friends" Ms Luz smiled and got up leaving the two at the table.

    George sat at the side of the pool and put his feet in as Joe cleaned it.

"Well doing that is destroying the point of me cleaning the pool." Joe smiled looking down at the dark haired boy he was pinning for.

"My feet are clean Joe," George winked and splashed him.

"Hey hey! Stop that," Joe giggled and nudged George with the pool net.

"If you push me in to the pool you might lose your job." George laughed and crossed his arms putting on a smug smirk. George was head over heels for this man.

Joe continued silently as he scooped out leafs and other things that fell in.

"So, when did you start cleaning for Grandma Luz?" George asked out of the random swishing his feet in the clear water.

"I think like three or four years ago. She posted an ad on that neighborhood app that only moms use. So I took it, started by just mowing and cleaning the pool. Then it turned into raking, edging, and shoveling during the winter." Joe shrugged.

"Nice," George hummed and splashed Joe again.

"Hey!" He giggled and splashed George the best he could with the pool net.

"Uh! That's not fair!" George crossed his arms as his shirt and shorts got wet.

"But it is," Joe winked and George fell 800 times harder.

"So why'd you move in with your Grandma? I mean if that's okay to ask?" Joe disappeared for a moment hanging up the pool net in the pool house and came back out.

"My parents died in a car accident a few years ago," George kept his eyes focused on his feet dangling into the water. He'd gotten better about talking about it. He didn't cry as much anymore about it.

Joe sat down next to George and put his feet in.

"Sorry for asking," he sighed looking up at the grey skies. Rain was in the forecast for today but neither of them knew what time it would start.

"Just been me and Grandma for awhile now. Grandpa Luz died when I was like 11. But she's always been there for me. My mom didn't really talk to her parents much it wasn't really a healthy relationship. Wow why am I telling you all this, I'm really sorry." George sighed and ran his hands down his face.

"No it's okay, I'm sorry for asking the question." Joe sighed looking at the other boy. George was in need for a haircut his hair was overgrown and kind of fell in his face. Joe couldn't ever stand when his hair got too long or short.

"Oh damn okay," George laughed awkwardly as the wind picked up and just started to down pour on them.

"Here come inside. Im sure grandma will be back from her brunch soon." George stood up along with Joe. They rushed up the deck steps and George opened the sliding glass door for them and they went in.

"Well that was close," Joe itched the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Yeah," George hummed, "Do you want some lunch? I made chili yesterday and they always say chili is better leftover."

"Oh sure," Joe followed George through the house. Into the kitchen. George opened the fridge and pulled out the Tupperware of chili.

"Bowls are up in that cabinet." George pointed blindly at the cabinet. Joe nodded and took one down handing it to George.

"How much you want?" He hummed and pulled the serving spoon out of a drawer.

"Measure with your heart of what you consider lunch size." Joe snickered and sat down at the table. George giggled and began scooping out the red consistency into the bowl.

"So what do you do during your summers?" Joe asked as he fidgeted with his fingers slightly. They both needed to admit that it was awkward.

"Uhm, I don't know." He shrugged, "I don't really have any friends. Just never really like clashed with anyone at school. Well I'm friends with this couple, Ron and Carwood. But like I don't know if you've ever been like a third wheel friend."

"Yeah I get it. I seem to be doing it everyday, Bills got Franny, Genes got Babe." Joe smiled through a bite of chili.

"Wait. Babe? That's his name?" George's lips pulled tight as he smiled wide his eyes glowing.

"Yep, well no." Joe began, "His real names Edward but since we met him in second grade he's always forced us to call him Babe. Only his boyfriend calls him Edward well his mom and the Nuns he always says."

"Please! That's too good," George wheezed as he rubbed the laughing tears from his eyes. Then a dark roll of thunder came, a flash outside. The lights flickered then the power went out, "God damnit."

George got up from the table and started gathering the candles that were spread around the main floor of the house. He set them up in the kitchen and dining room then lighted them.

"Sorry," George apologized sitting back down. He leaned his head on his hands and focused on Joe eating.

"It's good," Joe hummed through another bite of chili.

"Stopped talking your food is going to get cold real fast," George smiled and rolled his eyes.

"Okay, Okay." Joe put his hands up in defense and went back to the bowl of chili.

"I hope Grandma will be home soon," George frowned, "She shouldn't be out driving in this shit."

"Could I stay till this settles down?" Joe finished his chili and washed it down with some water. George couldn't help but swoon at the sight of Joe chugging it. The way his Adams apple bobbed.

"Shit sorry," George ran his hands through his hair and then ran them down his face.

"You think I'm cute or something?" Joe smiled as he wiped his mouth and set down the water.

"Psh, No you just mow my lawn and clean my pool." George looked down, his face heating up.

"So you do think I'm cute?" Joe pushed at George.

"What makes you think boys do it for me?" He pouted and leaned back in his chair watching the candle light flicker against Joes perfect, wet skin.

"Please I know another gay man when I see one. Plus ya'll fly the pride flag and last I checked your grandmas widowed." Joe leaned on the table his arms folded.

"So you know another gay man when you see one? You tellin' me you like boys too?" George raised his eyebrow.

"I'm bi but I swing more towards men," Joe shrugged as he looked around mindlessly. George couldn't believe what he was hearing, there's no way that the hot lawn boy liked boys to. George was missing out on this the whole time?

"You're joking? You seem like the most straightest person ever." George chuckled and heard the front door open.

"Looks are deceiving," Joe winked, the power flickered back on and the storm reduced to some sprinkles.

"Oh Joe and George. Sorry I was late but here's your money." She put the 75 dollars in Joes hand, "But I wanted to ask you something before you leave."

"Go ahead Mrs. Luz." Joe glanced at George who was standing by the entrance by the kitchen listening.

"One of my friends invited me to Vegas next month for two weeks, so I was wondering if you'd be willing to house sit with George?" She smiled looking up at him.

"Oh uh," He looked over at George, "Sure if that's okay with you George?"

"Sure," George hummed.

"Perfect I'll have him send you the details." She smiled and shuffled off to the kitchen. A whole two weeks with the very, very hot lawn boy who just told George he was gay? Please this was something straight out of the movies but George was ready for it.

George rolled over over on his bed and sighed as he talked to Carwood and Ron over FaceTime.

"A whole week with that hunk that mows your lawn?" Carwood raised an eyebrow.

"Hey!" Ron leaned into view from next to Carwood.

"You know that you think you're hot," Carwood kissed Rons cheek and smiled. They were George's best friends; Although, George felt like he was third wheeling a lot.

"Yeah Grandma Luz asked him to house sit with me. I'm not sure why but I think she's trying to set us up." George sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

"Well don't you have the hots for him? Should I do a through background check on this guy?" Ron hummed.

"No, I've known him for awhile I think he's trustworthy enough. I've been alone with him plenty." George rubbed his face. He was scared and excited for this.

"Well I wish you the best of luck." Carwood smiled and leaned against Ron.

"Are you hanging up on me?" George whined grabbing his phone.

"Bye!" Carwood giggled and hung up leaving George alone in his room alone, in silence, and with lots of thoughts.

"So you can stay in here and that's most the house." George shoved his hands into the pockets of his khaki shorts and walked into the guest room.

"Okay," Joe slung his duffle bag onto the bed and looked around the rather large guest room then back at George.

"Uhm attached bathroom through here," He opened a door next to the closet, "I'll leave you to it. I'll let you know when I make dinner."

"Okay," Joe nodded and gave him finger guns awkwardly. George exited the room fast and pulled out his phone as sped down the hall. He took a shaky picture of him on snapchat and captioned it 'HES HERE AND HE GAVE ME FINGER GUNS' than sent it to Carwood. George dipped into his room and shut the door.

"It's just two weeks George you can do this." He whispered to himself.

Joe and George sat at the circle table across from each other, eating their chicken Alfredo quietly .

"So," George spun the Alfredo noodles on his fork.

"So?" Joe looked up at him and took a drink from the bottle of corona in the fridge.

"If you wanna have your friends over sometime I won't tell and I'll act invisible." George shrugged and twisted the edge of the placemat between his fingers.

"Take me as a party guy?" Joe smirked, winking at George.

"I mean I barely know you," George shrugged and sipped a bit of wine.

"Babe usually throws the parties, Gene plays ER doctor, he's taking pre med college classes as well as his senior classes." Joe hummed through a bite.

"I still can't believe he goes by Babe, But this Gene guy sounds smart. Tell me about your other friends, I only have two." George grabbed the bottle of red wine and filled his glass again.

"Well there's Bill, I've known him for years. We've always called him Wild Bill. He just got more wild after he lost his leg in middle school in a car accident. But he's a really cool guy, super funny He's got this gorgeous girlfriend named Frannie." Joe nodded and finished off his pasta.

"Wow there's a Wild Bill and a Babe. Maybe I don't wanna get involved with your friends." George laughed and took the plates and put them in the dishwasher.

"Well its not that terrible, We also have the other Joe and David. Joe is an angry, gay, Jewish man so he has it out for everyone. Then there's his boyfriend David, he's a fem boy with richer than rich parents. They kinda neglect him but he has a full ride to Harvard on an English Scholarship." Joe nodded.

"So an angry jewish man and his preppy boyfriend. Anyone else?" George smiled nodding along.

"Oh there's more, last but not least. Skip, Alex, and Don. Biggest stoners I've ever met, they're always hot boxing their car, a bathroom at a party, anywhere. But all three of them are so in love it's disgusting." Joe nodded, "What about yourself?"

"Carwood and Ron," George smiled, "Carwood is a mom kind of friend, he keeps me in line. He wears new balances. Than there's Ron, he doesn't like anyone but me and Carwood. Its his dream to be a CIA agent, he knows everything about everyone. But yeah than there's Grandma Luz." George shrugged and leaned his head on the table.

"Well look at us," Joe smiled, "Maybe we should have a mixer with all our friends?"

"Maybe," George smiled.

And the mixer happened on the third night, first came Babe and Gene.                                             The doorbell rang and Joe ran to the door.

"Joe!" Babe threw his hands around Joes neck, "I haven't seen you since the end of the school year party."

"Oh that was only like maybe a month ago?" Joe chuckled and pushed Babe off of him, "Hi Gene."

"Hi Joe," The pale boy waved and stood behind Babe.

"George this is the infamous Babe Heffron," Joe motioned to the redhead.

"You told him about me?" Babe looked at Joe, "Joe talks about how hot you are all the-" Babe started.

"And this is Gene the pre-med student, Babes lovely other half!" Joe smirked.

"Hi guys," George smiled, "Come in I set out chips and drinks in the kitchen."

"Its really nice to finally meet you!" Babe called as Gene pulled him to the kitchen.

"Yeah that's Babe." Joe itched the back of his neck.

"So you do have a crush on me," George nudged Joes side and giggled.

Bill came next, he pounded on the door. "Open up Toye I know ya' in there!" George opened the door and Bill busted out laughing.

"You're that hot guy Joe is always yappin' about!" Bill laughed.

"And this is the one and only Wild Bill." Joe came up behind George. George looked over Bill and he seemed to fit the bill of Joes stories.

"I'm George," he smiled and shook Bills hand.

"Nice to meet ya," Bill disappeared into the house.

"I'm sorry for anything and everything Bill ever says to you." Joe smirked and followed Bill, George shook his head and stood at the door.

Joe and David came next, George opened the door to a well dressed David. He sported a black tennis skirt with a black crop top.

"Oh I like your outfit," George smiled.

"Oh thank you, I'm David and this is my bitter half Joe." David took Georges hand in his and shook it.

"Hey," Joe stood behind David.

"Hey," George smiled, "Drinks and snacks in the kitchen. Just as they were about to walk in the hurricane trio walked up the path to the door.

"Oh! This is Joes hot date right there! Don look!" A blonde man pointed towards George.

"And this is the tornado trio," Joe came up behind George, "Thats Skip." Pointing towards the blonde one.

"I'm Don or Malark, the red head waved as he walked up.

"And this is our boyfriend Alex," Skip threw his arm around the brown haired man.

"I Brought some killer shit I got in Colorado,"Don smiled and held up a small Vans bag.

"Hey you're going to get us caught!" Alex grabbed the bag.

"Can we come in Joe?" Skip asked.

"It's his house you gotta ask him," Joe pointed to George.

"Yeah sure my friends should be here soon,"George smiled.

"Drink! Drink! Drink!" Babe and Bill cheered as Skip downed some beer straight from a keg.

"Yeah!" Babe cheered and clapped Skip on the back.

"Are you gonna drink out of your leg again?" Don asked.

"I don't know," Bill laughed.

Ron and Carwood walked in the front door and followed the noise and walked into the kitchen.

"Who are these Jerrys?" Bill asked looking over at them.

"Oh let me go get George I think these are his friends. Right your Carwood and Ron?" Joe asked.

"In the flesh," Carwood smiled, "You must be Joe."

"Yep that I am, I'll be right back with George," Joe walked out to the pool deck.

"Whats up?" George passed the joint back to Alex.

"Carwood and Ron are here," Joe pointed towards the sliding glass door that led into the kitchen.

"Okay I'm coming," George got up and walked inside.

"Look what the cat dragged in," George smiled and threw his arms around Carwood and Ron.

"Meet my new friends, don't worry I'm not replacing you!" George smiled, "Thats Bill over there with the prosthetic leg. He's a little wild so they call him Wild Bill." He pointed towards the short man, "Thats Skip and Don," He pointed at them, "Their third of the trio is outside getting stoney bologna." George smiled.

"I'm Babe and this is my wonderful boyfriend Gene." Babe kissed the short black haired man on the cheek.

"This is Joe and David," Joe waved and David smiled sitting on Joes lap.

"And finally this is the infamous Joe Toye." George hummed and leaned against Joe slightly surprising them both. "And everyone this is Carwood and Ron. Don't fuck with Ron he'll fucking kill you."

"Hey guys," Carwood smiled and Ron just terminator scanned the room of stupid teenage boys.

"Back to it," George smiled turning the music back up.

Later that night George sat against Joe and took another hit off the bong he took from Skip. "Whats going through that handsome brain of yours?" George looked up at Joe.

"My handsome brain?" Joe pointed at himself.

"Yeah your handsome brain," George smirked and took another hit, "Want one?"

"Nah I don't really like weed," Joe shrugged.

"You're missing out," George shrugged and set it on the coffee table and leaned onto Joe. Joe smiled and ran his hands up Georges shirt. George shivered under Joes touch, but moved his head back. In an awkward attempt of trying to kiss Joe. Joe and George knocked their heads together and George whined out and started to giggle.

"Well that was awkward sorry," George frowned and tried to hide his face. He sat up and moved so he was facing Joe.

"No it wasn't come here," Joe could feel the shitty beer racing through his body as he leaned forward and kissed George. George leaned into the kiss and George couldn't stop thinking about how weird they probably looked. George backed up the kiss so he was hovering over Joes lap. Joe grabbed at George and pulled him down. George started to rub his crotch against Joes leg.

"Fuck Georgie," Joe ran his hands through Georges hair as George tried to get off.

"What the fuck!" Bill shouted as he walked into the living room. George and Joe tackled off of each other and George landed on the ground and smacked his elbow on the coffee table.

"Ow!" George cradled his elbow as he laid next to the couch and Joe shot up.

"Medic!" George called dramatically as the green herb made him think like a dumb ass.

"They're calling for you Gene," Bill laughed as the black haired boy raced in.

"Bill what the hell?" Joe sighed as he got up walking over to him. The rest of their friends funneled in.

"You can't hit me I have a disability!" Bill threw up his hands in defense as Joe walked over to him.

"Bill you ruined the steamy moment?" Babe asked and threw his arms around Joe and Bill.

"He did!" George shouted as Gene held an icepack to Georges elbow.

"Oh look at this cock blocker!" Carwood smiled, "Is everyone okay?"

"I think so," Babe looked around, "Wait where's the tornado trio and that scary guy?"

"Skip, Don, and Alex are probably hot boxing a bathroom. As for the scary dude?" Bill looked at Carwood.

"Ah shit where did Ron go?" Carwood sighed. Skip, Don, and Alex stumbled into the room. Their eyes red and all of them holding onto each other for support.

"Ah damn, Wood guy your boyfriend is asking for you outside. We got him to try that delta strain!" Don smiled and hung onto Skips shoulder.

"Theres no way you got Ron to smoke," George looked up.

"We did," Alex nodded.

        Joe and George spent the next day picking up the house after the tornado of a new giant friend group. George laid down on a pool lounger as they finished up picking up outside.

"Ugh, I didn't get any sleep and I feel so hung over." George covered his eyes with his arms.

"Maybe let's get you inside, I'll make you brunch." Joe smirked to himself, "First time hung over?"

"Mh...maybe." George moved his arms slightly to peak at Joe.

"Okay come on cowboy," Joe grabbed Georges hands and pulled him up.   George whined and tumbled into Joes arms. Joe kissed George on the forehead and helped him inside.                                                                                           George sat down on a chair and laid his head on the table.

"Here," Joe set two iburprofen on the table and a glass of water, "Drink it."                              

George nodded and took the pills and drank some of the water. Joe hummed to himself as he started to make pancakes and eggs for them.               "We should talk about last night." George sighed tipping his head up from his arms to look at Joe.

"Yeah," Joe sighed.

"Sorry, I get it if it was a drunk mistake or something or the heat of the moment." George sighed.

"No, I uh. I've just never been with a guy before that was more than just a quick fuck or two. But George Luz I can tell you that I have romantic feelings for you." Joe stopped his cooking and looked at George.

"Really?" Georges eyes softened and he picked up his head.

"Yes," Joe breathed out waiting for a response.

"Well I also, like you a lot. And this has been For a long time," George smiled hopeful for this to go where he wishes it would.

"Well I outta take you on a date than," Joe giggled to himself, "After we take care of that hang over."

"Let's not tell my Grandma." George smiled hiding his face and shaking his head.

"Aw shouldn't we let her get the happy ending she's longed for?" Joe platted the foot and set a plate down for himself and then nudged George.

"Huh?" George picked up his head, of course he had fallen asleep.

"Nothin'" Joe set down the plate in front of George and sat across the circle table.

"I hope you had fun last night," George took a bite of his toast.

"I did have a lot of fun. Also Carwood is a hoot, but Ron. He's a bit scary still." Joe explained. George nodded in agreement.

The end of the two weeks came too fast for the new found couple. They waited at the airport for Grandma Luz, hand in hand.

Well George was making small talk with another lady waiting for her husband to come back from his business trip.

But once Joe saw George's grandma coming down the escalator he gently pulled on George's hand.

"Sorry, gotta go! Have a nice evening!" George called after the lady.

"Aw my George darling!" Mrs. Luz hurried down and hugged her grandson.

"Hi grandma." He blushed slightly embarrassed but hugged her back.

"Hi Mrs. Luz, I promise we kept the house together." Joe offered a smile but the short women pulled him in for a hug.

"Grandma lets get you home," George ushered her towards the door. Joe winked at George and snickered.

-Some time after-

George snuggled up into Joe, they'd just finished another round of steamy sex. Their first summer together after high school. George was going off to NYU and Joe was undecided. Well he'd gotten into a few schools but couldn't afford it.

"I told you Joey bean," George kissed at Joes neck, "I can help you pay for college. Grandma Luz is loaded and I also have full access to my inheritance money now."

"George," Joe breathed out running his hands through Georges locks of hair.

"Yeah Cowboy?" George snuggled himself into Joes chest embracing his piney smell of his after shave.

"I got into West Point," Joe smiled.

"Wait really? What are you majoring in? Joey why didn't you tell me?" George went on but Joe knew that George was clueless.

"Georgie babe West Point is a military school." Joe giggled running his hands up Georges body.

"What?" George sat up a little alert, a wave of worry ran through Joe.

"Well I want to go into the military George, you know the benefits are crazy good. Don't you wanna be an army wife?" Joe winked.

"Well what if you get hurt?" George frowned running his hand down Joes arm.

"I'm not going to get hurt I promise," Joe held both of Georges.

"You better promise or I'll hurt you myself," George kissed his cheek, "Well I think from what David said West Point is close to NYC. Did Lieb tell you David got into Harvard? But Gene also got into NYU! So me, Gene, and Babe are gonna get an apartment together!" George started on a tangent.

"Lets take this one day at a time why don't we?" Joe kissed George getting him to shut the fuck up.

"I love you," George mumbled into Joes mouth. This is how it was meant to be.

[renaerys]

PPG One-Shot: You Going to Todd’s? (Brick/Blossom)

My Powerpufftober fic! Still rocking the high school AU for this, so consider it a part 5 to the Shooketh, Not Stirred series. As always, can be read alone, but happens in the same universe as part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4. This is also posted on my AO3.

Summary: Brick and Blossom go on a Halloween scavenger hunt. It sucks.

xxx

Blossom checked her watch for the fourth time in ten minutes. It was already a quarter past 9 p.m., her Frankentini was going flat in its plastic neon martini glass, and she was starting to regret coming to Todd’s overhyped Halloween party at all.

“Oh, hey Blossom,” said Harry Pitt, ferrying three bright glasses of the same watered down mixed drink Blossom was too preoccupied to enjoy. “You hanging out?”

Blossom smiled politely. “Hi, Harry. Just waiting for someone.”

Harry’s extra padded shoulders slumped in his pinstripe mafia boss costume. “Oh, let me guess.”

Blossom frowned, a reply on the tip of her tongue, but she bit it when precisely at that moment, Brick stormed through the front door like he was running from a zombie horde and desperate for a weapon. Todd himself spread his arms with a “What, your hairdresser keep you late?” and was almost mowed down with a cursory “Shut up, Todd.” Curiously, Brick made a beeline for the unpopulated second floor. He didn’t even see the other high school Seniors who barely dodged his path. Todd grimaced in his fake vampire fangs and chugged the rest of his beer. “Cool, catch up with you later, bruh!” he said, but no one was listening.

“Sorry, I have to go.” Blossom didn’t have time to feel bad about Harry’s dejected sigh as she ditched her drink and followed Brick upstairs. The Spotify Halloween playlist booming in the speakers faded to a low bass din as Blossom rounded the corner in the upstairs hallway. “Brick?” she called, a little annoyed.

No text, no call. He could have at least told her he’d be late so she could have timed her arrival better. With a mouthful of grievances and a heart full of him, she pushed open the lighted bathroom door at the end of the dark hall. “Brick, did you hear me calling—”

A fluttery and spine-chilling laugh slithered past the crack in the door and sank into her flesh like a snake bite. It arrested her where she stood halfway over the threshold, shackled in the throes of a very specific terror she could never forget.

Brick stood at the pedestal sink, his fingers attempting to fuse with the porcelain as he gripped it hard enough to crack and stared with manic focus at the mirror. All around them, the lyrical voice reverberated:

“Poor, angry boy, there’s yet no end to your suffering! For this next task, I want you on your knees groveling. Hide your tears And sharpen your shears— To save your brothers, make me a true offering.”

Brick snarled at his reflection, as if his demon might appear there in the mirror to throttle. But there was only him in the glass, furious and frothing under his red hoodie. “You have to be fucking kidding me.”

It took only a moment for Blossom to shake her stupor as instinct and training took over. “Brick,” she said, crossing the small bathroom to touch him.

Red eyes narrowed at her approach until the moment he recognized her beneath her smeared costume lipstick and dark eyeliner. “Blossom?” he rasped. His surprise made sense when she caught a glimpse of her own reflection in the mirror. Crop tops, fake bloodstains, and fishnets weren’t her normal style, but in a parallel nightmare universe perhaps they could have been.

The blushing eighteen-year-old boy in him went straight for her midriff, but his distress stayed his hand. “Fuck.” He rubbed his eyes.

“What’s going on?” she demanded.

“Nothing, just— Let me get in there.” He reached around her to pull open one of the drawers next to the sink in search of something.

“It’s not nothing.”

He didn’t answer as shut the drawer and checked the one below it.

“Brick, hey. You could have called me—”

With a snarl, he slammed the drawer closed and glared at her. “I was a little busy.”

“Talking to Him?” Blossom held his glare like a hand grenade with her thumb through the pin, ready to pull. “I’d never forget that repulsive lilt. Tell me what’s going on.”

He chickened out of answering her and dove for the drawers on the other side of the sink, where he found what he’d been looking for. Blossom barely had time to question the large scissors he’d pulled out before his hood was down and his man bun toppled into the sink with all the finality of a guillotined head.

Blossom gasped. “Brick!”

Somber as a corpse, he fished out his shorn bundle of hair from the sink, and Blossom watched as it burst into flame in his palm. Smoke curled through his fingers and rose high above them in an angry, red miasma. Its stink was saccharine and brought tears to Blossom’s eyes.

And then, it moved. In swirling, bloody tendrils, it slithered through the cracks above the bathroom door and down the hall as though it had a destination in mind.

“Oh, shit.” Brick dashed after it, and Blossom dashed after him down the stairs. His hand was hot in hers when she caught it and yanked him back. The split second in which their eyes met was an eon of understanding, bone-deep and cauldron-brewed. He looked like he’d seen a ghost. He looked like he needed a friend.

“I’m coming with you,” she said.

“Blossom,” he tried to argue.

“I’m coming with you.”

“Blossom, hey babe, wanna flip some cups on my team?” Todd sidled up to Blossom with a stack of solo cups. Then he noticed Brick’s serrated haircut. “Buddy, what the shit happened to your hair?”

“Please go away,” Blossom said at the same time as Brick said, “Choke on my dick.”

She grimaced at Brick’s vulgarity, but Todd took a step back. Before he could snap back, he noticed the red smoke wafting through his house out the open window. “Oh shit, fire?”

“There’s a fire?!” someone else exclaimed, and panic ensued.

Blossom was about to intervene when Brick snatched her hand and dragged out the front door. “Where did it go?” he said, squinting in the dark.

Blossom swallowed her instinct to calm down her fellow partygoers (there was no fire, they’d be fine, surely…) and looked around for the demonic smoke. “There! It’s heading east.” She rose into the air to fly after it, but paused when she noticed Brick hadn’t followed her. Instead, he jogged down Todd’s cul-de-sac toward the main road. “What are you—hey!”

She landed on the ground in front of him, cutting off his dash. He tried to go around her, but she easily blocked him. It was like he wasn’t even trying to move past her, unless…

“You’re powerless,” she said.

That was the wrong thing to say. “It’s just a temporary setback,” he said in the same choke-on-my-dick tone he usually reserved for Todd.

When he tried to get around Blossom again, she put her booted foot down and cracked the asphalt. He didn’t try to pass her again. “I’m not going to ask you again.” Then, more gently: “Please, let me help you.”

The last of Brick’s petulant pride dissolved to ashes just like his ruined hair she knew he loved, and yet he’d viciously cut it off anyway. Hesitant, yet stubbornly determined, he held her gaze. “It’s Him. He’s fucking with me. Sapped my powers and said my brothers and I will pay the ultimate price unless I solve this idiotic scavenger hunt by midnight.”

“…Wow.”

“Yeah, so it’s not like I have much of a choice.”

Blossom cupped his cheek. His chopped hair was not a total disaster, but it needed cleaning up. All that time he’d spent growing it out again…

Brick sucked in a sharp breath at her tender touch. He was as rigid as a pole, gritting his teeth hard enough to shatter. Blossom’s gaze hardened, and an old but fierce fire ignited in her Super-powered veins. “We’ll beat Him’s game. I promise you. Nothing’s going to happen to you or your brothers.”

Brick let his eyes fall closed as he touched his hand to hers, and that was probably the most intimacy she was going to get out of him in the middle of a murder-y scavenger hunt on Halloween. Maybe after they booted Him back to whatever pit he’d been living in all these years she could salvage what should have been a fun, romantic date with her sort-of boyfriend.

Blossom cleared her throat. “So, evil limericks?”

Brick just groaned from the bottom of his tortured soul. He took her hand and led the way after the demonic smoke before they could lose its trail. The smoke led them to Townsville High School a few blocks from Todd’s, specifically to the annual haunted house experience the Senior class spearheaded every year. Plenty of students dressed in their ghoulish finery crowded in the lawn socializing and lining up to take a turn through the haunted house.

Bubbles was on duty as part of the social committee in charge of managing the exhibit. When she spotted Brick and Blossom headed for the cafeteria door that had been transformed into the haunted house’s black-curtained foyer, she bounced over to them. “Hey, I didn’t expect to see you guys here tonight! I thought you were going to Todd’s. Wait, Brick, did you cut your hair?”

“It’s a long story,” Blossom said.

“Whoa! Slow down. You can’t go inside without a costume.” Bubbles blocked Brick’s single-minded steamroll inside after the last of the curling, red smoke slithered past.

“Bubbles, move,” Brick spat.

“No way. You can be a party pooper at Todd’s all you like, but you’re not bringing any of that into my super scary haunted house that I spent all day decorating.”

“I swear to god—”

“Bubbles, do you have any eye liner?” Blossom interrupted before Brick could say something to her sister she would make him regret for the rest of his life.

Bubbles, dressed in glam trash Powerpunk solidarity with her sisters for the night in fishnets and glitter, grinned as she dug in the pockets of her spider web-patterned black tutu. “Great idea, Blossom! C’mere, you.”

“What—hey!” Brick was literally powerless to stop Bubbles from manhandling him into a quick makeover. “There, it’s purr-fect!”

Despite the possibility of Brick’s gruesome end by satanic evisceration looming at the end of the night, Blossom could not help but laugh at the cute nose and whiskers that transformed Brick from grumpy boy to grumpy cat.

The flash on Bubbles’ phone went off.

“Hey!” Brick was redder in the face than his ruined hair.

Bubbles preened as she easily danced out of Brick’s reach before he could nab her phone and delete the evidence. “You look so cute!”

Brick turned to Blossom as his final saving grace, but there were tears in her eyes as she tried to pull herself together. “I’m so sorry, but she’s totally right. You look very cute right now.”

“Fuck this,” he grumbled, bright as a tomato as he shoved past a floating Bubbles and stormed inside the haunted house.

“Oh no—Brick, wait!” Blossom tried to tone down her giggles as she ran after him. “Bubbles, come on, this is actually serious.”

The sisters headed inside to a spooky banshee screams playlist past Ms. Keane’s bubbling cauldron and the football team zombified in a cardboard graveyard, until finally Mr. Green welcomed them to the final stop with a frightful flourish. “Step on up, boys and girls. See your future, if you dare. Mwahahahaha!”

Brick took one look at the over-eager demon teacher and tried to leave. “Maybe I should just let Him kill me while I have some dignity left.”

Blossom caught up to him and slipped her hand in his before he could turn back. The sobering reminder of why they were even here sent a chill all the way to her fingers, and she squeezed his hand in what she hoped was reassurance. “I’m not letting that happen.”

“What’s going on?” Bubbles asked, peering around Blossom’s shoulder.

But Blossom was too preoccupied by the unnatural red smoke swirling around the final, purple-draped room and its sole occupant: Robin Snyder in a truly rocking dead fortune teller costume. “Come in, come in! Let the spirits foretell your Halloween future!”

Bubbles giggled and skipped inside. She planted a very loud, very adorable kiss on Robin’s head.

“Bubbles, what’re you doing in here? You’re supposed to be on welcome duty!” Robin complained, but she reached for Bubbles’ hand and pulled her down into the chair next to her.

“I wanted to see you, obviously!”

Brick’s hand in Blossom’s squeezed uncomfortably tight, and she soon realized why: the red smoke had descended upon the ouija board set up on Robin’s table and absorbed inside it. Bubbles and Robin did not seem to notice it at all.

“All right, let’s get this shit over with,” Brick said, taking one of the empty seats across the table.

“Wow, such enthusiasm,” Robin said flatly.

Blossom took a seat next to Brick and asked their costumed host, “How does this work?”

“It’s a séance. We’ll ask the spirits what we want to know, and the board will do the rest. Everybody put a hand on the planchette.”

The moment everyone’s hands touched the plastic planchette, red smoke bubbled up from beneath it and swirled around them. In a panic, Robin tried to pull away, but found that she couldn’t. Everyone’s hands were stuck to the planchette.

“What—” Bubbles sputtered, but Him’s cotton candy creep show voice slithered from the smoke and stole her breath:

“This clue is not for the fainthearted: Unearth your next destination uncharted. Absent any confession, To the board pose your question And divine who among you just farted!”

“What the hell was that?!” Robin said at the same time as Bubbles wailed, “Oh nooooo!”

Before Blossom could respond to Robin’s very reasonable question, her arm was yanked across the board still stuck to the planchette: “B”.

Brick’s smoky cat-eyes were wide and slightly manic as he looked at Blossom, and she looked at him. She flushed so badly that she nearly swallowed her own tongue to say, “It wasn’t me!”

“Well, it sure as shit wasn’t me,” he shot back. And then, understanding dawning, they both looked across the table.

“Bubbles?” Blossom said.

“I DON’T WANT TO PLAY THIS GAME ANYMORE!” she screeched.

“Bubbles definitely farted,” Brick deadpanned. He dragged the planchette and everyone’s hands still stuck to it toward the “U” and then back to the “B” until the board spelled out Bubbles’ name. As soon as the planchette settled on the “S”, it released everyone’s hands in time for the heady, red smoke to engulf the board entirely.

Bubbles, distraught, shot out of her chair and covered her eyes in shame.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Robin tried to coax her back down from the high corner she’d flown to. “Come on down from there—Bubbles, really, I can’t even smell anything!”

“You’re just saying that because you love me!” Bubbles complained.

“Oh my god,” Blossom said, too preoccupied with the board to worry about her sister’s mortification. “Is that—”

“A map of the city?” Brick finished her sentence.

The ouija board was transformed into a mini map of Townsville, if a preschooler had drawn it in crayon.

“Here we are at THS.” Blossom pointed her finger to a collection of buildings scribbled in blue crayon. “And here…” She followed a crosshatch path to the edge of the map where a horned, red, devil face sticker grinned up at her. “The cemetery.”

Brick stood up so fast his chair fell over. He stood there for half a second, his face screwed up, and then: “Goddamnit!”

He’d forgotten he couldn’t fly.

“I can carry you.” Blossom held out her hand.

“Is everything okay in here? Robin, the next group is waiting.” Mr. Green poked his horned head through the thick drapes and sniffled. “Ew, what’s that smell?”

“Oh my god!” Bubbles turned beet red and disappeared in a flash of blue, knocking down the rest of the chairs and Brick too, if Blossom hadn’t caught his elbow before he could break his nose on the tiled floor.

“Bubbles! Sorry, Mr. Green.” Robin dashed after her.

“Wait just a minute—”

In the chaos, Blossom let Brick slip out of her grip, and he stormed out the opposite door back outside.  

“What are you doing?” Blossom asked when he stopped at the sidewalk.

“Calling a Lyft.”

“I just said I can fly us both.”

“Hard pass.”

Blossom crossed her arms over her chest. “What’s wrong with it? Flying would be faster, and it’s free.”

“I’m not letting you carry me like some damsel in distress.”

“Honestly, Brick. There’s a demon threatening to kill you and you’re worried about your masculinity?”

“No, I mean—look, this isn’t your problem, okay?”

“You did not just say that to me.”

He scowled so deeply that it should have given her pause, but the painted whiskers somewhat ruined his menace. He clenched his phone hard enough to crack if he’d still had his powers. “I didn’t mean it like I don’t want you here.”

Blossom materialized inches from his face in an unnecessary display of power that nonetheless felt fantastic. “That’s better.”

Brick flushed, but not from anger. When she slipped her hand over his, he eased his grip and relinquished his abused phone.

“That’s better,” she said again, more honey than venom this time.

Like hell was she going to send him off to his possible doom alone, powerless and with a really bad haircut painted like a cat.

“Blossom, I’m—”

Her kiss shut him up, and with it any further excuses to go it alone. And despite his increasingly desperate situation, he kissed her back like he’d never get the chance to again.

A car horn honked. “Hey, are you Brick?” asked an older guy in a Honda Civic with a fuzzy, pink mustache attached to the front bumper.

Brick very briefly broke their make-out session to reply, “No,” and then tightened his arms around Blossom’s waist and got right back to it.

The Lyft driver squinted between the profile picture on his phone and Brick. “Wait, really?”

“Never heard of the guy,” he mumbled against her lips, proving that if she wanted to get something done, she’d have to do it herself.

Blossom rolled her eyes and removed his hands from her. Before he could do anything about it, she hoisted him onto her back and hooked her arms under his knees. “Come on, let’s go thwart your imminent murder.”

The Lyft driver watched them take off in a blur of pink. “Goddamn teenagers.”

He canceled the Lyft order and left Brick a one star rating, which was probably fair.

xxx

When Blossom touched down near the entrance to the graveyard, it was back to business. “How much time do we have?”

Brick checked his phone. “About an hour and a half.”

She jogged to keep up with his longer stride as they made their way deeper into the graveyard. “Okay, that’s plenty of time to figure this out.”

A peal of laughter stopped them in their tracks on the gravel path for the split second it took them both to recognize that particular manic cadence.

“Butch,” Blossom said at the same time as Brick said, “Motherfucker.”

Beyond a small hill near the base of a huge oak tree, Brick’s brothers, Buttercup, and Mike Believe sat among the granite tombstones with a pillowcase full of candy passing a joint around. Buttercup had just blown a smoke ring in the shape of a star.

“Bitch, I’m too stoned for this fucking tongue witchcraft,” Butch said. He made an appropriately chilling sight all in black with his face painted black and white in the design of a skull.

“Hey, can you blow a heart?” Boomer asked.

“You sap.” But Buttercup took another drag and hopped off the tombstone she’d been sitting on. Moonlight glinted off the spikes on her black leather jacket as she reeled back and blew three perfect, concentric hearts from her red-painted lips.

Boomer sat up from his place under Mike’s arm and snapped a picture on his phone. “You officially have the greatest special power out of all of us, no contest.”

Mike laughed and accepted the joint when Buttercup passed it to him. “I’m gonna have to agree with that one.”

“That’s because you’re one hundred percent whipped,” Butch said.

Mike shrugged. “Eh.”

“Buttercup.” Blossom approached her sister. “You’re smoking here? What if someone catches you?”

“Somebody just did,” Boomer said under his breath.

“Damn, Blossom, you girls doing a three-way theme tonight?” Butch slipped off the tombstone he’d been draped over to admire her fishnets and then Buttercup’s matching set. “I like it.”

“Give me that.” Brick took the joint from Mike and snuffed it out under his foot.

“Whoa, whoa,” Mike said. He stood up, and at his full height in a 1920s-style adventurer’s costume, he was a Sight™ to behold, if Blossom was being completely honest.

“Brick, what’s the matter?” Boomer peered around Mike in his homemade mummy costume. “And why the hell are you wearing cat makeup?”

“Oh shit, he is,” Buttercup said with a snort.

Before Brick could lose his temper, Blossom said, “Brick, the clue. We don’t have all night.”

“What clue?” Boomer asked. He peered at them seriously. “What’re you two doing here, anyway?”

“Yeah, I thought you were going to Todd’s,” Mike said.

“Todd’s parties blow,” Buttercup said.

Blossom ignored them. “Something about unearthing a destination uncharted. What could it mean…?”

Brick made for quite the adorable pensive cat as he considered. He seemed to come to the answer at the same time as Blossom.

“No,” Blossom said. “There’s no way.”

“We’re going to have to,” Brick said. “What else could it mean?”

“It’s extremely illegal.”

“Yeah, well, I’m fucking cursed!”

“We can’t dig up a bunch of graves!”

“Wow, so that’s what that creepy limerick meant?” Robin approached the group with Bubbles looking windblown and totally ready to get her hands dirty digging up some goddamned graves.

“Bubbles,” Blossom said. “Look, I’m sorry about before—”

“This is Him’s doing,” Bubbles said flatly. “I recognized the voice when I calmed down and we followed you here. Just tell me what the plan is.”

“Did you say Him?” Boomer said soberly.

Buttercup put her hands up. “Okay, what the fuck is going on?”

Brick pulled down his hoodie and revealed his ridiculous haircut. “This is what the fuck’s going on.”

Boomer looked close to tears at the sight of Brick’s mangled hair.

“Him cursed Brick, and we have to solve a scavenger hunt before midnight or he and his brothers will pay the ultimate price,” Blossom said.

“The ultimate price?” Mike said, aghast.

“What the fuck.” Butch advanced on Brick. “What bullshit did you get us into this time—”

Blossom materialized in between Brick and Butch before the latter could carry out whatever violence he intended. She tapped him hard on the chest, and he stumbled back, probably too stoned to hold his normal balance against her Super strength. “Not today, Butch. Him took Brick’s powers.”

“Shit,” Boomer said. Blue sparks jumped in between his toilet paper-wrapped fists. “Okay, what’s the plan?”

Blossom looked to Brick, who was clearly outnumbered and they both knew it. With a groan, he ran his hands through what was left of his poor hair. “We’ll split up,” he said.

“And do what?” Buttercup said.

“Somewhere here, there’s bound to be a clue left by Him. I know that’s not a lot to go on, but it’s all we’ve got right now,” Blossom said. “Split up and cover as much ground as possible.”

“And what are we looking for?” Robin asked.

“Red smoke, demonic laughter, a general feeling of imminent disembowelment,” Brick said.

Bubbles cracked her knuckles and tightened her pigtails. “The usual, then.”

“Fuckin’ right.” Butch began to crackle with pent up green power.

With four other Supers plus Mike and Robin helping cover ground, Blossom hoped they could at least glean some inkling of what Him’s last clue meant. She stayed with Brick since he didn’t have his powers anymore, and together they wandered deeper into the graveyard. Lampposts along the gravel path cast a saturnine glow amidst the trees, fey and eerie on this most eerie of nights.

“Blossom,” Brick said softly. “If we don’t figure this out before midnight—”

“We will,” Blossom said.

He stopped, and Blossom turned to look back at him. Even powerless, there was a presence in his red eyes, beyond mortal and brimming with fire. Even as enemies, even when she couldn’t stand to breathe the same air as him, she had recognized that counterpoint in him, that tranquil confidence that there was nothing in this world he couldn’t overcome. It was a part of him and no one, not even Him, could take it away.

“But if we don’t,” he pressed.

Blossom’s throat wrenched to see him so calm. Not much scared Brick, not truly, but his softness spoke volumes here where only ghosts could hear them. Go, his eyes entreated her, forget about me and go before it gets you too.

She marched up to him and placed her hand on his chest. Ice froze her breath to mist as her anger clawed its way out of her, and she let him see it. “Then Hell will tremble to watch me drag you back out.”

Brick said nothing. He slipped his hand over hers and curled his fingers. Even now, he was far warmer than anyone she had ever known, and she clung to that certainty.

“Come on,” Blossom said, pulling him along after her. “Let’s solve this so we can go home.”

They followed the floating lamp lights east. Fog gathered at their feet, heavy and strange, but Brick held her hand, and secretly she was grateful not to be alone in such a creepy place. When a laughter they both wished they didn’t recognize reached them on the wind, Blossom’s heart leaped into her throat and she took off running with Brick hot on her heels.

The cachinnation petered out when they came across a man in a grey uniform and hat with a flashlight. “Hey, what’re you kids doing here?”

“We were just—” Blossom began.

“Enough,” Brick said, stepping forward. He put an arm out to block Blossom’s path. “I know it’s you.”

“Brick,” Blossom said.

“Son, I don’t know what you mean,” the graveyard worker said.

Brick ignored him. “I played your shitty game. This is the end. Stop hiding behind that pathetic mask and show yourself.”

The portly graveyard worker dropped his flashlight with a heavy crunch on the gravel. Watery, blue eyes bled to baleful red, and his pasty cheeks stretched to accommodate a smile far too wide for his human face. A low chuckle built deep in his chest like termites in a kicked mound, bubbling up through his throat to bursting.

“H͓̼̯ḭ̠̣d͜i̞᷊̯᷂͜n̨͇͟g̤̱͓,̼͎ a̮m̱̪̫͚͢ I̤̜̗?̨̞ T̨̳̻̜h͚̟̖̜͢a͖̻̠̜͇t̨̹ s͖i̹ṃp̨̟͈͕͢ļy̢͔͜ w̨̱o͈̜̟̠͟n̹̮̖’̳̝t̮ d̪̟̪̝o̹̠.͕̫̙̩”

The booming, sinister voice came from that mouth full of teeth, but it seemed to grow out of Blossom’s bones. She felt it in her lungs, her fingertips, as a tingle on her lips Brick had kissed. And she remembered he was vulnerable, under attack by this very thing standing before them now masquerading in a meat sack.

Well, screw that.

Blossom lowered Brick’s wrist and stepped around him. No matter how hard he pushed against her, he was no match for her power—power she leaked now like gasoline fumes hungry for a spark. The gravel at her feet froze, and her eyes faded to ghastly pink as she faced her childhood nightmare. “Hello, demon,” she said.

“Y̹o̬͟u̢̡̳.”

The lampposts flickered and popped, plunging the earthly ossuary into chilling shadows, but Blossom did not fear the cold. Her fists frosted over as she clenched them, and her step summoned an ice floe in the gravel that bridged the crevasse between her and the coward who dared to haunt Brick and his brothers on her watch.

“Well?” she said. “I’m waiting.”

His meat sack shrank back. This was no child Him was taunting, but a fully realized Super who was no longer afraid of his mind games. He closed that heinous mouth and cleared his throat with a dainty, sausage-fingered hand over his heart, and recited in Him’s more lyrical pitch:

“You’ve served all night at my gracious pleasure. Now the final test to determine your true measure: Find the lady who slumbers In her crypt sunk in umber. X marks the location of my precious treasure.”

No sooner had Him given them their last absurd clue than the graveyard worker seized and fell to his knees. Blossom dashed to catch him before he could injure himself. The man coughed and wheezed as if he’d held his breath for too long.

“What in tarnation…?” he muttered, dazed.

“Sir, you had a dizzy spell. You’re all right now,” Blossom said, clinically calm as she discreetly checked him for signs of blood or other wounds. She found none. “Maybe you should take a break.”

“Who… Hey, you kids shouldn’t be here!”

Brick growled and grabbed Blossom’s elbow to haul her back up. “Let’s go.”

“Take it easy, sir,” Blossom said, and let Brick drag her along before the man could think to call security on them.

When they were out of earshot, Brick whirled on her like he was about to get scary, but she held up a hand for silence.

“Before you get mad, I was just trying to—”

His kiss was not as unexpected as she once may have thought it would be. Feverish, frantic, like a boy about to die in twenty-odd minutes, sure, but not unexpected. “Fuck, Blossom,” he panted when they parted for a breath.

Blossom’s heart swelled at his raw emotion on full display, as rare as it was true, and she almost lost herself in it. But they had work yet to do. She tucked his too-long bangs behind his ear.

“So, a lady who slumbers,” she said. “I’m guessing it’s a special statue.”

“A crypt sunk in umber,” Brick said, licking his lips. “A mausoleum, maybe.”

“That narrows it down, for sure. Must be older if it’s sinking.”

“I saw a map of the cemetery at the entrance.”

Blossom grinned and put her fist in the air. She fired a pink blaster that lit up the night sky and would summon their siblings soon. “Let’s check it out.”

He didn’t complain this time when she carried him on her back for a speedy trip back to the entrance and a quick check of the map. There were four mausoleums in the cemetery.

“Found something, Leader Girl?” Buttercup, Butch, Bubbles, and Robin were the first to catch up to the Reds, and Blossom filled them in just as Boomer returned with Mike.

“Four mausoleums? Sounds like we need to split up again,” Mike said.

“If you find anything, send a signal,” Brick said.

Chance. Brick’s and his brothers’ lives were up to the one-in-four chance that they would find the right crypt. All around them, Him’s lollipop laughter followed them like a demented poltergeist.

“This isn’t it!” Brick slammed a fist against the innermost tomb in their chosen mausoleum. “There’s nothing here.”

Blossom was about to respond to that when a bright, blue spark crackled in the air. Boomer and Mike had found something. “Hurry!”

The mausoleum Boomer and Mike had picked was guarded by a lichen-infested statue of a woman with angel wings in a bed of grassless, brown soil, so dark it could have been umber in daylight. Bubbles, Robin, and the Greens arrived soon after Blossom and Brick charged inside.

“Check it out.” Boomer indicated the innermost tomb carved with two crossed sabers.

“X marks the spot,” Mike said grimly. “Oh crap, it’s almost midnight!”

“Move!” Brick tried to push the crypt open, but it was too heavy for him, so Blossom helped. The heavy stone slab groaned when she pushed it, and a plume of foul, red smoke burst from the opening.

Him’s maniacal laughter rose with the smoke that swirled on the domed ceiling and opened two glowing eyes and a cheshire smile. “My my, cutting it a bit close, aren’t you?”

Bubbles shoved her phone at the unholy miasma. “It’s midnight! We beat your stupid deadline, see?”

“Bubbles, please don’t antagonize the ancient evil,” Robin whispered nervously.

“Technically, Blossom met the deadline since Brick was too weak to open the tomb,” Him crooned.

“You took my powers!” Brick said.

Him’s sinister smile fell. “Oh…did I? My bad. Here you go.”

The red smoke converged on Brick and passed through him with the force of a sword through the gut, and he collapsed to his knees in a circle of fire, gagging. Bubbles and Boomer were lightning fast as they swept Robin and Mike as far away from the conflagration as possible.

“Butch, shield!” Blossom commanded, and Buttercup shoved him so hard he tripped and crashed against his own hastily-erected shield bubble. It contained the explosion of power well enough to keep the mausoleum standing.

“Tsk tsk tsk, this won’t do. All I wanted was to play a little father-son game with you, and you had to drag your girlfriend into it. Parenting is so hard these days. I’ll just have to teach you boys a lesson.”

Blossom’s heart twisted. If Him was truly serious about killing Brick and his brothers, he would have to go through her first.

“Like hell,” Buttercup spat, her fists glowing green.

Brick got to his feet groggily. He looked like he just survived a bad case of seasickness.

Him burst out laughing. “Choice words, Buttercup. Now boys, time to pay the ultimate price!”

The tomb lid slid to the ground on unseen forces, revealing the horror within. Blossom readied her pink blasters, and her sisters did the same. Brick took one look in there and recoiled. “What the fuck—”

When no hellspawn burst from the tomb to attack, Blossom approached and peered over the edge. Inside were hundreds of polaroids of young children in dresses with their hair styled as they posed like Victorian paintings. Blossom reached for one.

Buttercup burst out laughing. “Holy shit, is this you?!” She had two polaroids in her hands as she flapped them in Butch’s face.

“Give me those!” Butch snarled.

“Wow,” Robin said, torn between hysteria and horror as she gawked at a picture of six-year-old Butch with bunny clips in his hair wearing a frilly white dress. “Wait until my therapist hears about this.”

In the picture Blossom had selected, Brick’s hair was expertly braided over his shoulder as he sat on a stone throne surrounded by candelabras and horned skulls in a flowing, white dress. He did not look happy to be there. He looked even less happy to behold this childhood shame years later.

“I burned those,” he said in a voice from beyond the grave to no one in particular.

“I made copies!” Him sang. “And now, all of Townsville will get to see you in your pageantry finest!”

“I’m gonna fucking kill you!” Butch screeched as Buttercup took off flying with a fistful of polaroids laughing her ass off. “Get back here!”

“You know, I think I look pretty cute in these, actually,” Boomer said.

Mike laughed. “Yeah, you totally do.”

“This is what you meant by paying the ultimate price?” Blossom asked the incorporeal demon head floating above them.

Him grinned. “Why, of course. Oh! You didn’t think I would murder my own sons, did you?”

The sinister glint in those yellow eyes told a very different story, one that may have ended poorly if she hadn’t forced Brick to involve her in whatever was going on.

Or maybe Him was just bored of his perpetual existence in a hellish void where a cute photoshoot with his re-spawned Super sons was the most exciting thing that had happened in a millennium, and he was feeling nostalgic.

The tomb erupted in flames all of a sudden when Brick breathed fire over all the polaroids.

Bubbles gasped. “Brick! Those were a work of art, how could you?!”

Brick glared at her with glowing, red eyes. “We’re never speaking of this again. Give me those.” He snatched the photos Robin was holding and burned them too.

Blossom hastily pocketed the picture she’d nabbed of baby Brick before he could notice.

Him disappeared in a swirl of smoke and laughter. “Happy Halloween! Remember to brush your teeth…”

“I can’t believe I came all the way here for this,” Robin said. “Literally, the weirdest shit is always happening to you guys. Can we just have a normal Halloween, like, one time? Just once?”

Boomer laughed. “Tall order, Robin.”

A loud explosion outside told Blossom the Greens’ fighting was going too far, as usual.

“Brick? What’re you doing?” Blossom asked as she and the others followed him outside.

“Helping Butch destroy the evidence your sister stole.” He took off in a blaze of red.

“What a killjoy,” Bubbles pouted.

Blossom bit her lip and revealed her pilfered polaroid. Bubbles’ smile turned downright sinister as she greedily snatched it. “Blossom, I love you.”

“That’s for emergencies only. I mean it, or he’ll kill me.”

Boomer threw an arm around her shoulders and grinned. “Nah, he’d never turn on his girlfriend.”

Bubbles gasped. “Oh my gosh, you’re right!”

Blossom flushed. “But we’re not exactly—”

“Him said it, so it’s gotta be official by now,” Boomer teased.

“Ooh, true. There’s nothing more official than a primordial force of chaos acknowledging your relationship status,” Mike said.

“Hey, you damn kids! You’re not supposed to be here!” shouted the no-longer-possessed groundskeeper from before. He had a shovel that he shook at Brick, Butch, and Buttercup locked in a game of cat and mouse as the brothers tried to reclaim the evidence of their dignity.

“Time to go,” Blossom said.

“Hey, party at Todd’s?” Mike asked.

“Great idea!” Bubbles chirped as she gave Robin a leg up onto her back.

As Blossom found herself back at the same party where she’d begun the night on the sofa next to Buttercup regaling everyone who would listen with the story of Butch’s child beauty pageant past (sans evidence because Brick had managed to burn it, unfortunately), she found her gaze drawn back to Brick. He was up getting them drinks, his haircut cleaned up thanks to Boomer, snickering at something Mike had said.

“Blossom, where are you going?” Bubbles asked when she got up.

“Just going to talk to Brick,” she said. “Officially.”

Bubbles lit up and grabbed the nearest hand to crush her feelings into, which happened to be Butch’s. “What the—ow, woman, let go!”

Brick saw her coming and stared at her growing smile like the baffled teenager he was underneath it all. With all their friends’ eyes on her, she walked right up to him and kissed him in front of everyone.

Let them see, she thought. Let anyone who was watching and biding their time to strike see, and let them try.

Lyrical laughter echoed somewhere on the edges of hearing over their friends’ laudatory cheers and loud calls for celebratory shots, but Blossom tuned it out as she smiled into her kiss.  

xxx

Like Boomer, I am a sap who loves a happy ending. Reds are finally official in this AU?! Took us long enough. Also, I always saw Him as this weird dichotomy of ancient murder-y evil and chaotic good mom. I feel like trolling the Boys would be a favorite past time of his. Might write more Him in the future and explore that more.

Happy Halloween y’all. Get spooky, and stay safe!

[sage-nebula]

Years ago I might have rated Skyward Sword higher, but I replayed it recently and while I might rate it higher than you it's definitely not one of my favorites. Personally I wish they would have focused on more actually clever things with the motion (I will always remember spinning the spider around to expose it's weakness! I loved that!) and like most people wish they stopped at one Imprisoned fight. What did you feel were its weaknesses?

The gameplay. 100%. Skyward Sword is unplayable for me.

I love everything else about it. The music is gorgeous, the characters are wonderful, the art style is beautiful, and the story (aside from not calling Hylia a demigoddess like she should be) is fantastic. There is so much about it to love . . . 

. . . if it was an anime, or a manga. But as a game? It fails horribly.

1.) The motion controls are NOT 1:1, even with Wii Motion Plus. And if Skyward Sword were designed like any other Zelda game, where you could hit monsters any way you pleased and they would take damage, that would be fine! But because Nintendo was so confident that they had 1:1 motion controls, they decided to make every monster—even ones as basic as Deku Babas—into puzzle monsters where you had to hit them a precise way at a precise time or your attack did no damage. And you know what? That’s bad game design even if you have absolutely perfect motion controls. Because let’s pretend, for the sake of argument, that the controls were 1:1 with the Wii Motion Plus, as advertised, and my problem was that my coordination was poor. In that case, the game is still unplayable, because it means that people without perfect coordination for whatever reason (maybe they just never developed those skills, maybe they’re disabled in some way) can’t play the game. For a series as wide-reaching as Zelda, it’s a problem if you’re cutting off a huge portion of players from being able to enjoy it. And on that note . . .

1.5.) The motion controls were MANDATORY. I understand that Nintendo has been in love with motion controls for a long time, and I accept that. But you should be able to turn them off. Like, they’ve put them into just about every big budget game they’ve released the past couple of decades. The Splatoon games have them, Breath of the Wild had them, and so on. But in each game, you can turn them off. Hell, even though Breath of the Wild does require them in a couple shrines, those shrines aren’t required to beat the game. To 100% it, sure, but not to beat it and get a full experience out of it regardless. So for Skyward Sword to require the motion controls to the point where you’re not even given the option to turn them off (which, again, makes sense given that they based even insignificant monsters around them) is terrible. It’s terrible for people who don’t like them, but it’s absolutely HORRIBLE for people who are disabled and thus can’t use the motion controls. Skyward Sword’s motion controls are a huge middle finger to disabled folk, and that sucks.

As a side note? I was much younger when I played Skyward Sword than I am now, and in much better health. But even back then, I could only play for a couple hours before I got winded because of all the damn sword swinging I had to do and whatnot. This is why I think it’d be unplayable to me now; I’m not healthy enough for a damn video game and that sounds like it should be an oxymoron, but it’s not.

2.) Once again, the dungeons are too damn long. This was a complaint I had about Twilight Princess as well, but it bears repeating here. Whether it’s because of my ADHD or otherwise, I just can’t handle dungeons that take hours to complete. Breath of the Wild was, pardon the wordplay, a breath of fresh air in that sense. Finally, the dungeons were a reasonable length again. But in Skyward Sword they were not. They were insanely long and full of goddamn motion control puzzles, which made them feel like a chore x2 (because they would already be a chore due to the length, but the miserable motion controls made it even worse). Games should not feel like a chore to play, but Skyward Sword still did.

3.) Fucking EVERYTHING was a puzzle, though. So I’m going to elaborate on this a little more in a second, but basically Skyward Sword didn’t have an overworld. Skyward Sword had a hub area (the sky), and then several puzzle dungeons that led to even longer puzzle dungeons on the surface. The Faron, Eldin, and Lanayru areas were extremely small areas filled with puzzles that you had to complete just so you could get to a dungeon with more puzzles. There was nothing to explore in these areas, nothing to see, because you were too busy solving puzzles so that you could go solve more puzzles. And I hate that! I get that puzzles are a big part of Zelda, but you know what, exploration should be too. Exploration is what the series was literally founded on, even if the limitations of the NES meant there really wasn’t that much to find. So to have a game basically be nothing but dungeons, especially for a person like me who isn’t jazzed about dungeons in the first place, was a huge buzzkill.

4.) There really was NOTHING to explore. So, to elaborate on what I mentioned in the previous point: Aside from the surface area basically being nothing but dungeons (dungeons that you had to backtrack through five billion times), the sky was empty. It was just completely empty. There was nothing there. You had Skyloft, the Pumpkin island, the roulette island, Beedle’s ship . . . and that was it. Oh sure, there were other floating rocks here or there, but there was nothing on them. There was nothing to do. And considering this followed Wind Waker, where there was so much to discover in the ocean, so many different islands that had secrets and people and cabanas and minigames and whatnot, it was a massive disappointment. Nintendo showed us that they could give us huge areas to explore, they just deliberately chose not to for a 25th anniversary title. What this meant is that you had nothing to give you any breathing room between dungeons. Because again, the surface areas before the actual temples were basically little mini dungeons. So whereas in past Zelda games you’d have little sidequests and places to explore in-between dungeon crawling, in Skyward Sword you really didn’t have that. So not only could I not breathe because of all the physical exertion, but I also couldn’t breathe because the game gave you no time to rest. Goddess Din give me strength.

5.) The backtracking was INSANE. My god, another reason this game could have benefited from more areas was so that you wouldn’t have to keep exploring the same damn areas again, and again, and again, and again, AND AGAIN. The Imprisoned fight you mentioned was bad enough, because that wasn’t a fun fight and so to have to do it something like three separate times was miserable. But it was also miserable that there was literally nothing to this game below the clouds or above them, so they just had to keep inventing fetch quests to send you back to the same areas time and time again. Seriously Nintendo? At least Twilight Princess had more places for us to go, even if they looked boring. You couldn’t even give us that for the 25th anniversary title. Smh.

All in all, the gameplay experience of Skyward Sword is just absolutely miserable. From the forced motion controls to the fact that it’s nothing but dungeons pretending to be a map, I had to force myself to keep picking up the Wiimote because playing it felt like doing a chore akin to mowing the lawn. Which sucks, because as I said, I love the story and the characters to pieces. Fi’s farewell makes me cry every time I rewatch the scene on YouTube. But while story and characters do carry weight and are important to when it comes to Zelda games, ultimately, Zelda games are still games and therefore gameplay is paramount. If a game is not fun to play, then it has failed as a game. And unfortunately, Skyward Sword is one that failed as a game, perhaps because Nintendo invested so much time in the story and characters that they forgot they were supposed to be making a video game instead of an anime. It is what it is. 

[ablogcalledrevenge]

I’m so intrigued as to why you hated Peter Rabbit so much omg. Please tell!!

I’m putting this under a read more because it got really long and complicated. Sorry, but I have a lot of feelings and thoughts about this and Peter Rabbit is the vessel.

That being said, if you like the movie, that’s okay! You’re allowed to like it and you shouldn’t let me make you feel bad. I love tons of bad movies! Spice World always makes me smile!

Also I want to say that I am not blaming or mad at the actors, crew, the CGI people. Like they did the best with what they had and I don’t fault them. I mostly blame the writers, director, and producers. Especially the producers.

BUT we can’t forget that, at the end of the day, this movie was a cashgrab, merchandise factory of a movie. This is, as my old roommate coined, a parking ticket movie. Basically the only reason half of the people worked on this movie was because they got a bad parking ticket and needed some quick cash. I do not believe for a second that Margot Robbie or Domhnall Gleeson looked at this script and went “yes, this seems like exactly the kind of children’s movie I’ve always dreamed of doing.” Everyone involved with this film did it for the money or because they were contractually obligated. And honestly, that’s okay. I could live with that. These are their jobs and they’re allowed to make money. But when you do a project because you’re forced to, or for the payout, it shows in the work. We can tell when your heart’s not in it. But the movie had bigger issues than the motivations behind it.

1. The movie didn’t have a good villain. Perhaps this is because I’m older and have more sympathy but Thomas McGregor is a very ineffectual villain. We start the movie, meeting him, as if he were the main character! We see that he’s a bit of a control freak and that he can be a little rude to people and then we see him lose his job and have a mental breakdown. He gets this house in the country and all he wants to do is sell it and move on. The rabbits are actively (and against their own desires, but we’ll get into that later) working against him to make selling the house harder. This guy’s supposed to be the villain? This guy who basically lost everything in his life and just wants to go home and spends half the movie getting electrocuted because he doesn’t want animals in the house when he’s trying to sell it? Maybe it’s because Domhnall can make anyone charming, or maybe it’s poor writing, but I watched the movie asking why I was supposed to hate McGregor. He hadn’t done anything wrong! To be honest, as you go through the movie it seems like the rabbits are the antagonists! If the movie was hoping to make him a Cruella DeVil figure, they failed. Thomas is a sad, broken man and I just felt bad for him. Also I don’t enjoy seeing my husband getting beat up by CGI rabbits, it’s embarrassing, but that’s beside the point.

2. The romance between Bea and Thomas is forced, unnecessary, and unlikely to last. Considering they’re supposed to get married and have a baby in the sequel, I think it’s even more ridiculous. The third movie will have them getting a much needed divorce. Like this is a kid’s movie, I don’t know why it needed a romance?? But basically Bea and Thomas have absolutely nothing in common. This isn’t a cute ‘opposites attract’ thing, this is that their values and morals and desires don’t match up at all. They’re completely different people! The fact that Thomas spends the whole movie basically lying to get Bea to like him should be proof enough that whoever wrote the characters never intended them to be a legitimate couple. They’re pushed together because, idk it’s a movie and we have to have a happy ending which means a wedding because apparently we’re in Shakespeare’s time?? People are allowed to be friends and they work better as friends! Also do you think Bea knows anything about shibari? That’s what Thomas needs and you expect this little granola painter to be able to tie him up and rough him around? Oh please.

3. The movie is just bad. The humor and plot are very weak and the characters are mostly one dimensional. I think I laughed once during the entire time I watched it. I must admit, in an effort for transparency, that I didn’t finish the movie. I had to stop watching after 45 minutes because I couldn’t take anymore. What does it say about your movie that 45 minutes in and the plot hadn’t really even started yet? It was ALL exposition and that’s bad! This is a kid’s movie, the action needs to start sooner! The humor was oddly topical and unoriginal; the whole movie was. It was clear this was a rip off of Home Alone, Alvin and the Chipmunks, 101 Dalmatians, The Minions. If not through plot than through style. Playing a Top 40 song during an opening scene doesn’t make your movie better, it just makes it lazy. It’s clear you didn’t pick “Feel it Still” by Portugal the Man because it added something to Peter’s character. You added it because people know the song and it will make them sing along and smile. The plot is weak too, it doesn’t make sense. The whole point is that the rabbits want McGregor to leave... he does too! They actively sabotage themselves by pulling all these stunts on him. If they had just left him alone for 2 weeks, he could’ve sold the house and left. He probably would’ve sold it to some rich family that wouldn’t care about a garden full of animals! But instead they realize Thomas doesn’t like them and decide to electrocute him and humiliate him because he doesn’t want them in his garden for a specific amount of time that has an end date. Until the rabbits bothered him, Thomas didn’t care about them! If they had left him alone, he wouldn’t have ‘fallen in love’ with Bea and their other problems wouldn’t have happened too! They caused their own misery! What is this plot?! 

4. Bea is just an idiot and I can’t stand her. No shade to Rose Byrne because she is literally so pretty but the character is very dumb and annoying. She’s supposed to be Beatrix Potter which is also a very strange inclusion considering Beatrix was a real person and had her own life, just saying. But anyway, we can see early on in the film that Bea can communicate with the rabbits. They respect her and listen to her. So why does she let them, and at times, instigate them towards McGregor’s garden! She knows how dangerous it is and that Peter’s dad died there. They literally have the whole forest and her property and they can’t stay out of a 10 square foot garden? If she cares about those rabbits so much why doesn’t she grow some vegetables? Why doesn’t she stop them from bothering the guy who clearly wants nothing to do with them? She’s so caught up in ‘respecting nature’ and ‘being an artist’ that she’s so oblivious to everything else in her life and completely useless in every other way. Thomas deserves a better partner and Beatrix Potter deserved a better interpretation.

5. The characters are mean. Peter Rabbit is supposed to be a bit of a rascal and a scamp. He’s a troublemaker compared to his goody-two shoes siblings. We know this, it’s in the books. But everyone in this movie, especially Peter, is just so mean! Every other comment he makes is something disparaging against Benjamin or one of the other animals. He spends the whole movie being rude and dismissive and cocky. We’re supposed to root for this character? At times, considering his dialogue, Peter seems like more of an antagonist than Thomas. At least Thomas is nice to Bea, at least Thomas, in the beginning, only tries to keep the rabbits out and not hurt them. Peter’s a jerk and I don’t like his character. I don’t like any of the animal characters, they’re all so sarcastic and unsympathetic. So much of the ‘humor’ comes from one of the characters making fun of another and the jokes fall flat because of it. Beatrix Potter’s characters have such a softness to them, they invoke warm and cozy feelings. This movie was such an insult to her work.

Right before Peter Rabbit came out, I saw the Mr. Rogers documentary. Seeing him be so passionate about children’s media really made me think about the stories we give our kids. They deserve better than this recycled garbage! They deserve better characters and better stories. They deserve to be treated like human beings with brains and feelings and talents, instead of just mindless meat bags we plop in front of a screen to keep them out of our hair. I’m not saying that we can’t have entertainment that’s silly or stupid but when every kid’s movie is exactly the same, I start to feel bad. Children deserve quality! 

So here’s my pitch for a Peter Rabbit movie: Up until Thomas goes to drop the rabbits in the river, everything is the same. I would make Peter and his siblings nicer and more inclined to work together as a team but otherwise everything is the same. Then, right before Thomas drops the bag, he stops. What is he doing? What has his life become? He’s about to kill innocent animals because he lost his job? He sinks down on the bridge and starts to cry. He starts telling the rabbits, because he has no one else, how terrible he feels. His job was the most important thing to him. He has no friends, no hobbies, no direction. He doesn’t know what to do with his life now. Maybe Peter pokes his head out and snuggles up to Thomas, showing empathy. Thomas goes on to say that while he enjoyed his job, he realizes now that he wasn’t truly happy and that getting revenge won’t make him happy. He looks down and sees the binoculars, the first gift he’s gotten in years. He looks and sees the rabbits curling up against him and he thinks maybe he doesn’t have to sell the house. Maybe he doesn’t have to go back to his life. So, with the help of his friend Bea and the rabbits, Thomas learns how to calm down and enjoy life. He learns to appreciate the small things and respect the beauty of nature. Maybe there’s a funny montage of Thomas trying to mow the lawn or garden. Maybe he makes everyone dinner with his vegetables and it’s really bad and everyone makes a funny face. It ends (a little like the original ending) with Thomas realizing that he may have lost his successful glamorous job in the city, but now he has friends. Now he has people who care about him and good food on his table. So the movie ends on a toy shop. Thomas is showing a little boy how to fly a remote control plane. Benjamin and Cottontail are in the middle of a tea party with a little girl. Bea is wrapping a gift for customer and Flopsy gets her paw stuck in the bow. Everything seems perfect and wonderful when we hear a huge crash offscreen. PETER! End Credits

[sweetsmalldog]

17 w paulkins?

Thank you for the prompt!❤️ I don’t usually do this on prompts but I am going to give a warning on this their is intentional dead naming and misgendering done by parents in this! Also Paul is Trans (that’s not a warning just a heads up)

“Hey Emma?” Paul shifts nervously.

“Ya Paul?” Emma replies.

“My family hates you, can you pretend date me to piss off my parents?" Paul asks.

Now that is not what Emma expected to hear out of her friend’s mouth “Wait what?”

“My parents hate you so can we fake date to piss them off?” Paul asks again.

Emma fucking hated Bob and Susan Matthews. They were the whitest, most ‘we must be perfectly heteronormative’, suburban fucks she had ever seen and Paul deserved so much better. But considering her crush on Paul this didn’t seem like a good idea, but watching how angry his parents would get was to amazing to pass up.

“Totally.” Emma smirks.

The fateful night to watch Paul’s parents explode was upon them. She drove her to the Matthew’s house. The lawn was perfectly mowed, there wasn’t a flower out of place, and expertly clipped hedges surrounded most of the property. Emma knocked on the door.

“Hello you must-“ Paul’s mother starts “What are you doing here?”

“My boyfriend invited me over for dinner.” Emma replies coolly.

“Boyfriend?” Susan questions.

“You know your son, Paul.” Emma glares these fucking assholes misgendering their own fucking kid and call themselves good people much less good parents, the goddamn nerve.

Susan sighs before calling “Penelope honey would you come here?”

After a second Paul arrived at the door dressed in a crisp white dress shirt and slacks “Ya mom?”

“Why is Ms. Perkins here?” She scowls.

“You told me to invite my date.” Paul replies simply “So I invited my girlfriend.”

Both Emma and Paul were waiting for Susan to snap when she simply replies with a fake warmth “Well then come on in Ms. Perkins.”

As she walks in she can hear Susan hiss is Paul’s ear “We are going to a another talk after dinner.”

She wants to murder that woman where she stands. But she doesn’t. They walk into the dinning room where Bob was sitting at the head.

“Who is this.” Bob whispers at his wife.

“Penelope’s ‘date’” Susan sighs while they both glare daggers at Emma.

Paul glances at her nervously as if to say ‘You can leave if you want it’s ok’. Which on one hand Emma understands but there was no way in hell is she going to leave him alone with these people.

“I’ll get the food.” Susan says with a forced smile as she stands “Penelope why don’t you help me.”

“Ok mom.” Paul sighs.

Now Emma is all alone with Bob Matthews.

“So Ms. Perkins how have you been treating my daughter?” Bob forces out with a barely hidden sneer.

“I think I’ve been treating you son rather well.” Emma replies.

The vein in Bob Matthew’s head looks about ready to pop when Susan and Paul walk back into the room. Susan is holding a roasted chicken while Paul carries four glasses of iced tea.

Dinner is quiet but tense as they all eat. She can feel the glares on her. She can almost feel the boiling anger from these two transphobic shit stains. She just wants to watch them explode and for Paul to not get hurt, was that to much to ask for?

“So Ms. Perkins about what time where you thinking about going.” Susan asks.

“I don’t know.” Emma replies “I was going to ask your son about what time I should go.”

“I’VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS!” Bob explodes “YOU DISRESPECT MY DAUGHTER AND YOU DISRESPECT THE LAWS OF NATURE! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!”

Emma doesn’t think she just acts. She grabs Paul and runs up to his room. “Grab what you’ll need for a few nights.”

Paul looks up at her with surprise “What?”

“I’m not going to leave you here.” Emma scoffs.

“I don’t have anywhere else to go.” Paul sighs.

“Yes you do! My house.” Emma replies.

“Won’t your parents ask why?” Paul questions.

“My parents wouldn’t notice if a plane crashed into my room.” Emma retorts “You better hurry though.”

Paul rushes around the room grabbing clothing, his phone charger, his laptop, and on of those tin lunchboxes before stuffing them into his backpack before throwing it over his shoulder.

Emma walks towards the door before Paul stops her “Why are you going that way?”

“There’s another way?” Emma questions.

Paul nods to the window “It’s safe I promise.”

“If you say so.” Emma replies and follows him out the window.

After getting off the garage roof and getting into Emma’s beat up old car they drive off.

“Thanks for not just leaving back there.” Paul says shifting slightly in the passenger’s seat.

“Their was no way in hell I’d leave you.” Emma retorts “Your my friend.”

Paul smiles at her and Emma can almost hear the angel’s sing as he does “Thanks Emma.”

[wanderingtrash]

Careful

Careful. Sometimes the most seemingly innocent have the baddest minds.

A/N: INCLUDES MATURE CONTENT. NOTE THAT THIS IS PURLEY FICTION

Masterlist

* *

Detective Robert Cassey had seen some crazy things in his life. Being a detective lead you to that path. He was never scared of a challenge. Never really backed down of an on going investigation.

So when a small town in England. Homles Chapel. Started having a spree of murder cases. You bet Robert Cassey was on the scene.

For the past months. Older gentlemen, of a higher status started ended up killed. In their own homes. All of them were shot in the back of the head. A fatal shot that killed instantly.

The worst part of the whole case was that the killer had made sure to leave to evidence behind. No fingerprints. No bloody shoe marks. No hair left behind to identify them.

Nothing.

So when Robert was left with a dead end he decided to go around the neighborhoods that took near the lastest murder amd investigate.

A few weeks back the body of Cameron Phylinski had been found. He was a successful owner of many bars around the area. Had been busted for drugs a couple of times. But with money and resources he had managed to get away from any serious trouble.

He had no known enemies so it was another lost case. Just like the rest.

Robert had been to three houses in the current neighborhood he was visiting. Asking them questions to see if any would spill anything or had seen anything. But no one did.

Which lead him to the fourth house. A big white house with a garbage and a well mowed lawn. The house of Dr. Styled and his at home wife (Y/N). Two people respected by everyone in their neighborhood. Prestine people that had many friends and family.

People that looked like they could do no harm.

Robert pulled up by the sidewalk which was close to the Styles household. He didn't want to seem intrusive as they weren't expecting him. As Robert took a breath and turned off his car with a twist of the key. He got out of his car and held his sweater closer to himself. His badge in his pocket.

He locked his car with a press of his car button and walked up the driveway. Mr. Styles' Black Range Rover was there. Meaning he was home. It was only 5:50 so the two were probably nearly about to have dinner.

He brought his hand up to knock on the door. When he did he looked around the and saw regular things. Like a mat that said welcome in cursive letters. That stood under his feet.

His head snapped back up as he heard voices from the other side. The door knob twisted open and he was met with the warm air of the house and the smell of a roast cooking. (Y/N) styles stood on the other side of the door with a smile. Her hair was tied in a bun and she was wearing a white blouse and a pair of skinny jeans. Her wedding ring sparkled against the artificial light of the house. Detevive Robert could admit that she was a beautiful woman for sure. Around the age of 27. She was innocent looking for sure.

"Hi, how can I help you?" She spoke as she eyed Detective Robert.

Clearing his throat he pulled out his badge and raised it to her. "Detective Robert Cassey. I'm here to ask some questions regrading the murder of Mr. Cameron Phylinski." He spoke plainly to her.

(Y/N)'s eyebrows raised and she nodded. "Ah yes. The druggie that lived in the next neighborhood. I heard about him." She spoke with a grin. That was rather unsettling to Robert.

"Please come in." She opened the door wider and allowed Robert to step in. The warm air of the house was a relief compared to the harsh cold one from outside.

"My husband is in the kitchen. Follow me. Im assuming you want to talk to both of us yes?" She said walking to the kitchen infront of him.

Robert looked at the pictures that were all over the walls in the corridor that lead to the kitchen. There was some of Mr. Styles and (Y/N) and some of family members Robert could guess.

As he entered the kitchen Mr. Styles sat on the oval shaped dinning table with a book in his hand. A pair of black glasses on his face.

"Harry sweetie. This is Detective Robert Cassey. He's investigating the murder of Cameron Phylinski. The club owner that lives-" (Y/N) stopped herself with a small giggle. "Lived. In the neighborhood away from here." (Y/N) finished. She went to the stove and stirred the food she was cooking. Leaving the two men to speak.

"Harry Styles." Harry said placing his glasses on top of his short brown hair. He put his hand out for Robert to shake. Which he did.

"Detective Robert Cassey. As the missus said."

"Please take a seat."

Robert sat down and a feeling of nervousness rose to his chest. Something he hadn't felt in a very, very long time. "I'm just here to ask some questions."

"Of course." Harry nodded. "We're willing to answer anything you have to ask."

"As you know many murders have been taking place around the area. Have you two ever seen any peculiar activity from any neighbors?" Robert said pulling out his small notepad and pen.

Harry shook his head. Looking at (Y/N) as he did so. "I can't say I have. Have you dear?" He addressed (Y/N)

"I have not." (Y/N) said shurgging. "I doubt anyone has. The killer has been very discreet in his work hasn't he Mr. Cassey?"

The tone of her calm voice made him feel not at ease. But he decided to ignore it and continue.

"I'm sure Mr. Phylinski was probably a name to talk about around the area. Do you know any people or have heard of any people that might have targeted him?" Robert continued.

"You know Decetive." Dr. Styles spoke up. "There seems to be a pattern of the men being killed yes? Business men. Business men are power corrupted people. Of course they're going to have people targeting them. Especially ones that have been hurt by these people."

Shaking her head (Y/N) crossed her arms and frowned. "What a tragic thing to say hmm? People corrupted by power. Have saddening that corruption leads to dimise."

"Sad indeed." Harry added nodding.

"Yes. I assume that would be a factor." Rovert said scratching his head. Truth be told. He hadn't really thought of that.

"Did you know Mr. Phylinski personally? Or maybe have any interactions with him?"

"Dear God no." (Y/N) laughed. "We don't associate with people like that." She said walking over behind Harry's chair. Her hands placed on his shoulders.

"Associate with people like what?" Robert asked with confusion.

"He's a criminal no? He's been busted for drug use and so. Word had it that he was involved in the black market as well." Harry stated relaxing in his wife's touch.

"Really? And was this a rumor or is there actual evidence?" Robert questioned taking notes in his notepad.

Shaking his head Harry continued. "I'm surpised you didn't hear. Police raided his home months before his death. Illegal gun purchases I believe."

That comment intrigued Robert more.He decided to take a break from his questionsing. "May I know where your bathroom is?" He asked in his thick British accent. Standing uo from the dinning chair he had been sitting on.

"Of course detective. Let me show you were it is." (Y/N) offered walking towards him. Harry picked his book back up and shot his wife a small glance. She took her place in front of Robert and lead him around the corner.

"Right in that door." She pointed. A voice of seduction was laced with her words. Something that guilty made Robert's pants tighten a bit.

"T-thank you." He stuttered.

"Can I just say Mr. Robert. How a fine man you are." She said stepping closer to him. She was quiet. Robert guessed it was so Harry didn't hear her. "Taking the time to find this killer so we're all safe." She stuck her finger out a ran it along his jaw line.

Robert's breathing quickened.

"I just want to thank you on behalf of all of us."

"Mrs. Styles, I-"

Pressing a finger to his lips (Y/N) smiled at him. Her red tainted lips were so daunting and Robert couldn't stop thinking of how a lucky man Harty was. Having such a beautiful woman to keep his bed warm at night.

Robert didn't notice how (Y/N) kept a hand behind her back. Was too busy focusing on her to notice.

"I'm pretty aren't I? I saw you looking at me when I opened the door. Tell me. Was it my hair? Or perhaps my figure?" She tanuted him.

Her hand was now making it's way down the tent that formed in his pants.

The feeling was so good and such a thrill. That before Robert knew it (Y/N) had planted a syringe full of a unknown liquid in his neck.

Robert's eyes shot open and he coughed as he fell to the floor. (Y/N) still pressing the syringe full of the toxin in his system. He slid down the wall and felt his eyes get heavier. His sight darkened. But not before he heard Mrs. Styles' soft voice speak to him and Harry's slow foot steps come to the hallway.

"Oh Detective." She mocked. "Didn't you know?"

"Lust is a corruption too."

[toomanystoriessolittletime]

Pedro Pascal’s Characters

updated: 09/10/2021

Fic Ratings (read warnings in fic for details):

(G) General Audiences

(M) Mature

(E) Explicit: only suitable for adults

-> fake dating Drabbles with all the dude’s  <-

Home (M)

It’s been a long day year for Javi and all he wants is to go home.

Leave the light on (G)

Sleeping with the lights out seemed like a thing all the people do. So you told him how you struggled with it, after you almost fell asleep at a stake out he made sure you would feel safe from now on. 

switch (E)

When your new hot neighbor turned out to be no other than Javier Peña, the Agent that would join one of your Departments with you as his Superior, things should get a little more complicated. But somehow they didn’t…

Missing you (G)

A gala from the American embassy in Bogota lets you finally run in the man who you left without saying goodbye almost two years ago.

mix up (E)

A mix-up with the building's laundry was all it took to get what you always secretly wanted.

late night calls (E)

It all started with a phone call to the DEA office to tell Javier about the surgery of his father. You had insisted to take care of him after Chucho told you about the surgery. That you would fall in love with his son you had never met before? Just as surprising to you as it was to Javier. 

Night shift (E)

Meeting Javier during one of your nightshifts at the hospital turned into falling in love with him. But working different shifts can be challenging, yet you somehow make it work.

Whiskey, Cigarettes and Condoms (E)

You are working in a shop and your most interesting customer is the hot guy who buys XL Condoms every single week. Until he stopped.

Don't you want me (M)

6 years passed since Javier made the one decision he wished he could take back. What happens when he meets the one woman he ever truly loved?

Decisions (G)

You find your boyfriend cheating with one of your friends after getting home from work and call the person you always call when shit hits the fan.

Drabbles:

answering machine (G)

It's been two years since you heard Javier's voice. That didn't mean you weren't talking to him.

-> inevitable (series; M->E)

All your life you thought that there was no way the prophecy would come true. That was until you answered a distress call from a certain Mandalorian.

firsts (G)

Din knew it was the best for the kid to go with the Jedi. But on his way back to… he didn’t really know where, there was only one person he would allow to see how sad he really was. 

saved (G)

Being saved during a battle by a Mandalorian might have been faith for Alana and her little daughter Leila. 

my girl (E)

A Mandalorian crashing into your backyard and ruining your business might have been the best thing that ever happened to you.

Watch me (E)

You try to tease the Mandalorian after taking a skinny dip in the lake. He’s not having it.

drabbles:

one day (M)

One day you would get Din out of his armor to swim with you. Today you succeeded... partially

Happiness (G)

Din finds happiness. And his son finds his old armor.

prompts:

" I know we're not together but I might die today so I'm going to kiss you just in case there is no later" (G)

thots:

Din been jealous (E)

The baker’s daughter (E)

Mydra never thought she would end up in the local brothel, but after her father died, and she was too young to take over his business as the local baker, she found herself agreeing to what was proposed to her. So she lived at the local brothel, watching the girls and boys work, observing, until one day she finally would be ready to let one man be her first. That she would form somewhat of a friendship with the Prince of Dorne was as surprising to her as it was to him.

My flower (E)

Falling for the Prince of Dorne after he took you in, letting you work as his maid, was not something you (or him) planned. But when he found you sleeping in his bed, wearing his cloak, you were about to find out that maybe it wasn't just you who had fallen in love.

One step ahead (E)

When you took the job you knew that he might be there. Breaking up with him because of your ego was a mistake. But you were here to do your job. Weren’t you?

Drabbles:

caught (E)

It was a hot day in Sunspear. With the Martell family gone for travels, you wanted to sneak into the royal pool to cool down. Never thinking that maybe you weren't as alone as you thought.

and then the world stopped (E) Part 1 Part 2

Vic wasn’t unhappy when she moved with her husband to Washington D.C. She was happily married, had a new job as a teacher and was trying to get pregnant. But after a year of trying still nothing has happened. She didn’t know that just one accident of the nanny of one of the children in her class was about to change her whole life.

two lives (M)

Dave never planned to cheat on his wife. He never planned to fall in love with another woman. He never planned to live two separate lives. And he never planned to be attending the funeral of the love of his life after their mission went wrong.

second chance (G) (sequel to two lives)

7 months passed since Dave found out the woman he loved didn't die. Would she ever remember him?

disobedience (E)

Working as the babysitter for Dave York’s daughters came with all kinds of benefits. You didn’t mean to become one of those people. The typical cliche of the babysitter sleeping with the father of the kids you were watching but there was something about him you couldn’t stop thinking about. This is also how you found yourself at the only place he told you to not ever visit him, wearing nothing but a coat. The CIA offices.

private show (E)

Monica was struggling to give her two daughters everything they deserved. When Dave York walks into the Diner she worked in one night and offers her a job at his strip club, things begin to change…

Dance the night away (E)

He didn’t look like he could dance Salsa. But oh how wrong you were...

strictly professional (E)

AU: You were tired of handling your boss' affairs. Not because that wasn't part of your job. No. Because you wanted to be his affair. His only affair. And you had a plan for how to get there. Even if it meant blackmailing your boss Dave York.

unusual love(rs) (E)

When your husband Frankie proposed seeing other people while he’s gone for work you were hesitant at first. Until you found just how much he liked the idea of you with another man…

-> love(rs) (E)

Frankie is home and he hasn’t stopped thinking about the video you sent him. Now he wants to watch live. And participate.

found (G)

Dave and you had been friends for 20 years. You watched him get married to another woman and become a Dad, ignoring the constant heartbreak it was causing you cause you were in love with him. Four months after his death you receive a postcard with cordinates. What would you find?

to die for (G)

The man who broke your heart comes back to protect you from the man you were falling in love with.

one wish granted (G)

You could have wished that the man you had loved all your life finally would love you back. It was him granting the wishes after all. Instead, you wished you had never met him. That you really didn’t remember him maybe was the punishment Max deserved most.

Paris (G)

Maxwell Lord left after everything that happened with the Dreamstone. But a little part of you hoped you would see him again.

changes (G)

On your way to your last day at work before you start a new job you almost got ran over by a dog (and a boy). Thankfully a handsome stranger is there to help.

Neighbors (M)

After breaking up with your fiancé you find yourself moving back in with your brother and his daughter just outside of the city. Marcus Moreno is his neighbor and he really does take his neighborly duties to heart. Including taking care of mowing the lawn when your brother had to leave for work for a while.

Yes, Mr. Moreno (M)

With Missy moving out of the house to go to college Marcus felt more alone than ever before. When he met his daughters college roommate at a diner in the middle of the night he made a decision Missy could never find out about

-> Yes, Mr Moreno - The first time (E)

Marcus takes Alice home. She stays the night.

Going back home Masterlist (series)

Claire never thought she would be back in the town she grew up in. But after her fiancé broke off their engagement, leaving her 5 months pregnant and alone she found herself calling Frankie Morales in the middle of the night, one of her childhood friends who insisted that she booked the next flight out. Trying to fix her life with a little help from her friends she would find out soon that going back would be the best decision she ever made.

Distraction (G)

Meeting a single Dad on the plane back to the states was maybe just the distraction you needed to get over your fear of flying. 

Nap Time (E)

Sometimes you and Frankie just need to have some alone time when the kids are napping.

Drabbles

Guy’s night (M)

You let Frankie decide how he wants to end his guy's night...

throwback (G)

Teenage you had bn head over heels for Frankie Morales. What happens when when your best friend takes you out on a double bind date almost 20 years later and your date is no other than Frankie?

Friday's at Frankie's (G)

After a week gone for work you come home to Frankie and his daughter

drabble about Frankie taking care of you when you have cramps

-> Sunday Morning (M)

You wake up in Frankie’s arms on rare quiet Sunday morning.

prompts:

you're sick, and we can't kiss, and it's , fkn, torture (M)

Max Says... (E)

Max remembered your aniversary and planned a trip to New York City. You gifted him the one thing he always wanted. Allowing him to use his mind control on you.