#flying in

[drabbles-mc]

Flying In (1)

Mayans MC & Narcos Crossover

For @narcosfandomdiscord's Day of Cross-Fandom Pollination: create a fanwork that includes at least one Narcos character and at least one character from another fandom

Warnings: 18+, language, canon-typical shenanigans of both shows

Word Count: 2.8k

A/N: The way that this started out as just a silly little idea that me and Anj had. And now I wanna write a whole novel about them all sksksk. I already plan to write another installment of this universe for another day in the challenge, because @garbinge was kind enough to loan me her OC Lara Losa, but here is the first little look behind the curtain! I can't wait to write more with all of them.

Part 2

Flying In Taglist: @ashlingnarcos @hausofmamadas @narcolini @cositapreciosa @justreblogginfics @proceduralpassion @artemiseamoon (If you want to be added to any of my taglists, please let me know!)

When Lara walked into the clubhouse, she found Bishop sitting at one of the tables, phone pressed to his ear. The heel of his other hand was pressed into the space between his eyebrows, and even though most of his face was blocked, Lara could still see the annoyed frown on his face. Even if she hadn’t been looking at him, she could’ve guessed that that was the expression on his face, and nine times out of ten she would’ve been right.

“Yeah,” he said into the phone, “sounds good. See you then.” He ended the call and immediately tossed his phone onto the table with a groan. “Fuck me.”

She would’ve felt bad for laughing at his response if he wasn’t like that so often. “Sounded like a fun call,” she said as she pulled out the chair across from him and plopped down.

He tried to give her an annoyed look but it only lasted for a couple seconds before he caved and chuckled. “Not fun for me. Might end up being fun for you, though.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “Oh, really?” She drummed her fingertips against the tabletop. “Color me curious.”

Bishop sighed. “That was your Tío Gilberto. Updating me on his fuckin’ travel plans.”

“No shit?”

“Yeah.”

Lara laughed. “Thought you’d be a little more excited to see your brother.”

He shot her a look. “It’s not like he’s here for a fuckin’ vacation, Lalo.”

She rolled her eyes at him with a smile as she leaned back in her chair. “What, you don’t think that he’s coming to nice, scenic Santo Padre just to unwind?”

“No,” he said flatly, not feeding into the game she was trying to play, “I don’t.”

“Why are you acting like this is the first time he’s come here for business? Just upset that he’s not flying all the way up here just to see you?”

“You know the answer to that.”

“So?” Lara pressed. “What’s the problem this time? Old shit or new shit?”

Bishop gave a reply that fell outside both the choices she’d given him. “He’s not traveling alone.”

“Nicolás?”

He huffed. “No.”

Another second of looking at the expression on his face caused all of the pieces to come together for Lara. His annoyance, his hesitation, his assumption that she was going to be excited about the news. It’d been a handful of years since the last time she’d seen him, but she had a good feeling that it was the right guess. “Chepe?” she asked, far more excited and hopeful than she knew she should’ve been given her father’s prevalent annoyance.

“The one and fuckin’ only,” he grumbled.

Lara burst out laughing, excitedly treating the table they were sitting at like a drum as she rapped against it. “Let’s go!”

Bishop shook his head at her. “You’re ridiculous. Two peas in a fuckin’ pod, both of you.”

“That why you only let him visit once every five years?” she asked through her laughter. When Bishop didn’t come back with an answer, she moved onto her next question. “When do they get here?”

“Day after tomorrow.”

If she had been standing, she would’ve been nearly doubled over with laughter. “Finally learned not to give you too much of a heads-up. No excuses this way.” Taking a deep breath to get herself calm again, she said, “I can pick them up from the airport if you—”

“Absolutely not.”

“You think they’re gonna get in the van with the fucking prospect?” she asked with a scoff as she gestured over to the bar where EZ stood. She continued before Bishop could argue. “And I know you don’t wanna make that drive.”

He knew that she was right on both counts. There was no way that either of those men were going to get into a vehicle with some guy they’ve never met before, even if he was wearing the same kutte as Bishop’s. They knew Taza and Hank, but Bishop also didn’t really want to send them on the errand either.

“Fine,” he finally gave in with a grumble. Before Lara could get too excited, he pointed his finger at her accusingly. “But you’re not fuckin’ going alone.”

That was a compromise that Lara could live with. She was going through the roster in her head, people that Bishop would feel somewhat comfortable sending with her versus people she wanted to be trapped in a car with for the drive. There was also the extra layer of who she thought would be able to survive being trapped in the van with her two uncles.

Before she could even ask the question, the answer came striding through the door. A satisfied smile crossed her face as she pointed to who had just walked through the door. “Fine. I’ll take Angel.”

At the sound of his name, his head whipped to look at the table. “Take Angel where?”

“Airport,” she replied. “Finally getting rid of you for good. One way ticket to—”

“You’re helping her with a pick-up,” Bishop cut his daughter’s comedic routine short.

Angel strolled over to the table and rested his hand on the back of Lara’s chair. He looked back and forth between the two of them and tried to figure out what was going on without having to ask. “Pick-up?”

“My brother’s flying in,” Bishop answered.

Angel nodded in understanding, although he couldn’t hide the look of mild surprise on his face. “Shit. Alright.”

“Day after tomorrow you’re going with Lara to pick them up.”

“Them?” Angel asked.

Lara was practically giddy. “Tío Chepe is coming too.”

Angel’s brows knit in confusion. “Do I know him?”

Bishop shook his head. “You’d know if you knew him.” He paused to sigh before looking back at Angel again. “Keep both of them out of trouble.”

“Your brothers?”

Bishop gestured to Lara. “Her and Chepe. And he’s not my fuckin’ brother.”

The comment got a laugh out of both Lara and Angel, who held his hands up in surrender. “Only one brother. Got it.”

The day of their arrival came far too soon for Bishop’s liking. Before he knew it, he was meeting up with Lara and Angel at the clubhouse early in the morning to give her the van and send them on their way. It was the only time Bishop could remember Angel being early for anything.

“Keep me updated,” Bishop said as Lara swiped the keys away from him.

“Yeah, yeah,” she replied flippantly as she unlocked the doors.

“Wasn’t talking to you,” Bishop said as he turned and looked at Angel. It was a sad state of affairs when he had to trust Angel to be one of the most responsible ones in a group of people, but that’s where they were at. “Got it?”

Angel nodded, knowing that there was only one right answer. “Got it.”

The two of them were a few minutes into their trek when Angel finally ventured to ask, “So what’s the deal with your uncles, then? Them and Bish, I mean.”

Lara glanced over at him for a moment before putting her eyes back on the road. “You’ve met Gilberto before, haven’t you?”

“Not really. Seen him, but Bish usually handles whatever they’ve got going on with him and Galindo. I don’t ask.”

She chuckled. “Smart.”

“What’s Bish’s deal with this Chepe dude?”

Lara laughed. “My dad hates anyone who finds a way to have a good time at all costs.” She paused. “I can’t believe you’ve never met him. Can’t believe it’s been that long.”

“What’s he like?” Angel’s curiosity had been piqued since they previously brought him up, but he didn’t want to ask about him in front of Bishop.

She spared him another brief glance, a mischievous look on her face. “You just have to meet him.”

The response didn’t bring Angel any comfort in the slightest, but he knew better than to try and press her for answers that she had no intention of giving. That was one thing that she and her father had in common. Instead he just settled back into his seat and watched the road, doing his best to not be a backseat driver.

If Chepe and Gilberto hadn’t walked out the door right beside each other and holding a conversation, no one would’ve known that they were traveling together. Gilberto had stepped off the plane in a suit—Lara was fairly certain that the closest she’d ever seen her uncle get to lounge wear was business causal. And even then, that was a rare sight. Chepe on the other hand showed up looking like he was actually on vacation. He had his aviators on as they strolled down the walkway, suitcases in tow, with a casual striped button-down on with the sleeves rolled up past his elbows. The gold necklace he was wearing standing out against the white t-shirt he had on underneath—he’d even traded in his khakis for jeans.

Both of them broke out into grins when they saw Lara waiting beside the van in the pick-up area. She held her arms out for a hug as she approached them both. She stepped in to give Gilberto a hug first, kissing him on the cheek as she did so.

“Mija,” he said with a laugh. “More grown up every time I see you.”

She stepped back, smiling and shaking her head as his hands remained on the outsides of her arms for a moment longer, like he was updating the image of her that was in his head. “Gotta visit more than once or twice a year, Tío.”

Chepe chimed in before Gilberto even got the chance to. “Take that up with your father,” his tone was serious when he said the statement, but it was immediately followed by a wide grin and a laugh.

Lara immediately beamed and stepped over to him, throwing her arms around his neck. “Chepe!” She laughed as he swept her up off her feet in a hug.

“Lalita,” he set her down and pressed a kiss to her forehead, “mi muñeca. It’s been too long.”

She let out a dramatic sigh as she fixed her hair. “I know—I’ll work on getting my dad to lift the embargo.”

Angel stood back, watching the two of them as they laughed together. It was a lot to take in, seeing her like that. It wasn’t as though she turned into a completely different person around her uncles, but he certainly felt like a different side to her—a side that he had never had the opportunity to see before. This certainly wasn’t how she acted with the only other family he knew of hers, Bishop.

Chepe playfully nudged Lara’s shoulder as he looked Angel up and down. “Quién es este mari—”

Lara elbowed him with a chuckle and a shake of her head. Some things weren’t ever going to change. “This is Angel—he’s in the club with my dad.” Turning, she looked at Angel. “Angel, this is my Tío Gilberto,” she nodded towards the man in question before resting her hand on Chepe’s shoulder, “and my Tío Chepe.”

Lara couldn’t have been more casual about the introduction if she had tried, and yet Angel still found himself standing there feeling like sweat was about to start pooling in his palms. Clearing his throat, he quickly and discreetly wiped his hand against his jeans before holding it out for Giberto to shake. “Nice to meet you.” He repeated the process with Chepe, neither man emoting one way or the other how they felt about him. Angel, based off years of experience, took it to be a bad sign even though he had no real evidence of that.

There wasn’t much more to be said as they started putting Chepe and Gilberto’s luggage into the back of the van. None of them started an actual discussion about who was going to be sitting where, but when Chepe went to reach for the front passenger-side door, Angel didn’t speak up to try and stop him. If he was going to be sitting next to someone besides Lara for the whole drive back, he supposed he was fine with it being Gilberto. Angel felt like sitting next to Gilberto meant there was less likelihood of him being pushed out of the van while it was still moving.

The ride back was uneventful despite Angel’s spiraling internal monologue. He listened to Lara chat with both her uncles. Some of it he could only catch bits and pieces of when they were speaking primarily in Spanish. It was evident that she didn’t speak it as much as her uncles, because why would she have to? But she spoke a lot more than Angel probably ever would. It was enough for him to try to have to use context clues for some of the things that were brought up. Whatever it was, it didn’t seem like they were discussing anything too serious.

When they pulled into the lot at the clubhouse, it felt like everything else came to a bit of a standstill. While Gilberto had made a habit over the years of visiting far more frequently than Chepe, it wasn’t as though he spent an awful lot of time at the clubhouse when he did. Most of the members who’d been around for more than a couple years had seen him and knew who he was, but most hadn’t ever really gotten a formal introduction. As far as Bishop was concerned, they didn’t need one. Since Chepe tagged along for the first time in a long time, however, Bishop had the feeling that this stint in the states was going to be just as much social as it was business.

Chepe and Lara were chatting as they got out of the van, not in any great rush to get into the throes of things. Unsure of what else to do, Angel tagged along a couple steps behind Gilberto as he went to greet his brother. Chepe lingered by the back of the van with Lara while she discouraged him from taking their luggage out of the van because she was going to drop them off at whatever hotel they were staying at once they checked in with Bishop.

“I’m sure Tío Gilberto already has the Benz he rented parked in the valet lot there anyway.” She glanced over at him. “Looks like if you wanna go out and have fun you’ll have to either call me or an Uber.”

Chepe laughed and shook his head but didn’t speak up to disagree with her. Regaining his composure just slightly, he gave a small nod in Angel’s direction as he said, “You should be making him drive you around.”

Lara scoffed even though her face warmed at the comment. “Angel? Please. There’s a reason I was behind the wheel going to pick you guys up today.”

“Lalo,” he chided with a shake of his head. “Don’t start treating me like I’m old and senile. Save that for Gilberto.”

She laughed as she tried to divert the conversation for her own sake. “I don’t know—it has been a while since I’ve seen you.”

He was still smiling as he pulled her in, pretending to go for a headlock. “Not that long.” He paused, and when Lara didn’t say anything, he asked, “So he doesn’t know, then?”

Lara followed Chepe’s eyeline and saw that he was looking at her father now. Picking a story and sticking to it, she did her best to sound confident as she said, “There’s nothing for him to know, Tío.”

Chepe hummed, clearly not convinced but deciding that he’d bring it up again at a later date. Maybe he’d bring it up to Angel and see if they both had the same story. He kissed Lara on the side of the head to conclude their conversation before moving on to finally greeting Bishop. He smiled wide, holding his arms out for a hug as he approached him. He called out, “Obispo!” in such a friendly tone that anyone who didn’t know better would’ve thought that they were old friends.

The less than amused look on Bishop’s face was the only thing that gave away the reality of the situation. He didn’t deny Chepe the hug, but he certainly wasn’t as enthusiastic about it. “Chepe,” he said with not nearly as much cheer. “Was starting to think you were gone for good.”

Chepe clapped him on the back once more with another laugh before pulling away. “Life isn’t that easy for you, Obispo. Besides,” he gestured towards Lara, “I know you miss me just as much as my niece does.”

Bishop scoffed. “Just about.”

“Good thing Gilberto and I haven’t bought our return tickets then, hm?” He beamed. “Make up for some lost time.”

Bishop sucked in a deep breath, one that gave a noticeable rise to his chest and shoulders. He managed to fight every impulsive comment that crossed his mind, finally watering them down and settling on, “Can’t fuckin’ wait.”

[wileycap]

I don't think I've seen anybody talk about how absolutely insane The Boiling Rock is from Hakoda's perspective.

Imagine getting captured, and your son tells you that you won't be apart for too long. That's sweet, but obviously your son has no resources to spare for organizing a breakout. You hope that the Avatar can defeat the Fire Lord soon - that's the earliest time you could hope to be rescued.

You get put into a temporary holding facility until the guards can sort out who is who. After a while, they put you on a prisoner transport to the Boiling Rock. Your captors try to intimidate you by telling you that it's the highest security prison in the Fire Nation, probably the whole world. It's far away from the capital.

You arrive at the Boiling Rock. It really is in the middle of a boiling lake. There's only one way in or out, and it's a gondola that takes you above the boiling lake. You meet the warden. They take you to your cell. You settle down to wait for the end of the war.

And 15 minutes later Sokka comes in like "hey dad I'm here I got the prince of the Fire Nation and an Earth Kingdom ninja leader gf ok let's go I'm busting you out"

[frontline-titties-of-the-fifth]

[shitty-check-please-aus]

What we need to do is convince all the disney adults in america that high speed rail would be a preferable way of getting to disneyworld compared to driving or flying. We could maybe harness their fondness for the monorail or something, but this is a group of people that has time, income, and passion that we could leverage. If we could direct 5% of the enthusiasm they have for limited edition popcorn buckets into calling their representatives and demanding high-speed interstate rail, we could get it by 2030

[daisywords]

One of my biggest nitpicks in fiction concerns the feeding of babies. Mothers dying during/shortly after childbirth or the baby being separated form the mother shortly after birth is pretty common in fiction. It is/was also common enough in real life, which is why I think a lot of writers/readers don't think too hard about this. however. Historically, the only reason the vast majority of babies survived being separated from their mother was because there was at least one other woman around to breastfeed them. Before modern formula, yes, people did use other substitutes, but they were rarely, if ever, nutritionally sufficient.

Newborns can't eat adult food. They can't really survive on animal milk. If your story takes place in a world before/without formula, a baby separated from its mother is going to either be nursed by someone else, or starve.

It doesn't have to be a huge plot point, but idk at least don't explicitly describe the situation as excluding the possibility of a wetnurse. "The father or the great grandmother or the neighbor man or the older sibling took and raised the baby completely alone in a cave for a year." Nope. That baby is dead I'm sorry. "The baby was kidnapped shortly after birth by a wizard and hidden away in a secret tower" um quick question was the wizard lactating? "The mother refused to see or touch her child after birth so the baby was left to the care of the ailing grandfather" the grandfather who made the necessary arrangements with women in the neighborhood, right? right? OR THAT GREAT OFFENDER "A newborn baby was left on the doorstep and they brought it in and took care of it no issues" What Are You Going to Feed That Baby. Hello?

Like. It's not impossible, but arrangements are going to have to be made. There are some logistics.

[lxboratorii]

and they say wine is romantic

[phantomrose96]

Thinking about Edward Elric as the Amestrian Military's specialest little unfireable boy

State alchemists can be fired for underperforming. We know this up front from the likes of Shou Tucker. And this makes a ton of sense from the homunculi's standpoint since the state alchemists are sacrifice candidates, and the homunculi would want to cull the weakest candidates and focus only on cultivating the strongest ones who stand the best chance of opening the portal.

........Then there's Edward. Who's already opened the portal.

There's no need to cultivate him. No gamble taken on whether he's good enough to open the portal. He passed the final test already. Graduated 4 semesters early.

And as such, has a free pass to do Absolute Fuck All.

And I'm imagining how funny this is from like an outside perspective.

Some newish state alchemist who'd only ever read up on the stories of Edward Elric, ready and excited to start their career of being paid handsomely with endless freedom to research and travel and do anything they want in the pursuit of science... surprised and confused to find themselves put on probation their first month for things like "ignoring orders." Which is, as best they had thought, a famous Edward Elric pastime.

Roy showing a slight bit of stress about his yearly state alchemist report, and Ed just snorting and rolling his eyes at Roy because every year HE just hastily does his on the train ride over (canon in the manga, a travesty it was left out of the anime) and it gets rubber stamped. Ed not realizing that other alchemists' reports get genuinely scrutinized and torn apart while Ed is free to turn in whatever absolute bullshit he thinks of 36 hours ahead of time. One year his report was about whether alchemy could be done via dance (conclusion: no it can't) and no one cared. Roy WANTS to tell Ed there's some kind of unknown favoritism around Ed making him literally bullet-proof but Roy has no way to phrase this that doesn't sound like he's just in denial and mad at how good Ed's train-reports are.

Guy from the Internal Amestrian Affairs sector who's responsible for auditing other internal military personel for any suspicious activity hitting about 1 million red flags for Edward Elric, issuing a STRONG and URGENT recommendation to suspend the alchemist pending further investigation into things like "literal bunk-buddies with two members of the Xingese royalty (enemy nation)" and "spent $10,000,000 of his stipend on a librarian to make her re-copy (what he seemed to interpret as?) military records in some extremely transparent effort to unearth state secrets (it was a recipe book but he was literally asking her about state secrets)" and "literally has never once obeyed an order, ever, not even once in his career, and is on public record having said 'I do not care about the goals and protections of the Amestrian Military. I am in fact only pursuing my own interests several of which are diametrically opposed to the safety and well-being of the governing body of Amestris'"

The issued recommendation is intercepted before it even reaches its intended desk. President Bradley himself has taken issue with it and denies it before a single set of eyes has seen it. The President's veto stamp is a terrifying hammer, used rarely, and it is now sitting on the auditor's desk.

The auditor sleeps with one eye open from then on out.

[greelin]

it’s so crazy that i grew up in a town with like 300 people and now i live in a city with over 66,000. anything can happen

[fuckyeahchinesefashion]

the first snow in harbin, northeastern china

[drabbles-mc]

Flying In (2)

Mayans MC & Narcos Crossover

For @narcosfandomdiscord's Day of Amnesty/Day of Friendship: post a fanwork you started for any previous prompt but didn't get to finish in time & create a fanwork with a cameo of a friend's OC

Warnings: 18+, language, alcohol

Word Count: 2.3k

A/N: I feel like this was just a little extra deep-dive into Lara and Chepe's dynamic. A little bit of a filler before we jump back into the most plot-filled parts of the story. Idk I just think they're fun. 🥰 As always, shout-out to Anj for letting me borrow her oc Lara Losa!

Part 1

Flying In Taglist: @garbinge @ashlingnarcos @hausofmamadas @cositapreciosa @proceduralpassion @artemiseamoon @justreblogginfics (If you want to be added to any of my taglists, please let me know!)

 She was fairly sure that she hadn’t stopped laughing the entire drive from Angel’s house to the hotel where Chepe and Gilberto were staying. She’d dropped both her uncles off that afternoon at a hotel that was just a little outside what was now her hometown. It made sense, because there was no way that Santo Padre would ever have a hotel big enough or fancy enough for either of them at this point. It was as amusing to her as it was annoying to Bishop. The permanent balance.

What she had found so amusing, though, was that they hadn’t even gone a full day before Chepe cashed in on the half-serious offer she’d extended about going out with him if he wanted to have fun and Gilberto didn’t want to go. When her phone had started to ring at Angel’s house she almost ignored it until she remembered who it might possibly be. And, if Chepe’s adamancy about going out hadn’t been funny enough, Angel’s absolute refusal to join was icing on the cake.

“What?” Chepe asked when he opened the hotel room door and saw Lara standing there by herself. “Your boyfriend too busy to—”

“Not my boyfriend,” she cut him off with a shake of her head as she walked into the hotel room.

Chepe chuckled, holding his hands up in a motion of surrender that he would never actually mean. “Claro, claro.”

“And I invited him to go with us but for some reason he’s convinced that you’re going to leave him dead in a back alley somewhere.”

Chepe shook his head as she spoke, like what she was saying was the most ridiculous statement in the world. And, in a way it was, but not for the reason that Lara probably thought. “I wouldn’t leave him dead in a back alley, Lalo.”

She motioned at him with a nod as she watched him pour whiskey into a pair of glass tumblers. “See? That’s what I—”

“That would be sloppy. What, he thinks I want to get caught?”

“Chepe,” she groaned as her head dropped back so she was looking up at the ceiling, “that’s not—that’s not the point.”

He placed one of the glasses in her hand. “But I’m still right.”

She tried to keep looking annoyed but she started laughing instead. “Yeah, you are.”

When he tilted his glass towards hers, she took the cue and clinked them together. She was waiting for him to toast something, but it never happened. Shrugging, she took a sip. It felt better on the way down than most the liquor she drank—Chepe could afford to drop money on alcohol that cost more than her rent. She took a moment to look around his hotel room as the warmth slowly started to creep over her. His alcohol cost as much as her rent and his hotel room was probably the same size as her apartment. She understood why her dad wasn’t a fan of the business they were in but in that moment she couldn’t help but to think it must be real fucking nice.

“You and Tío Gilberto get adjoining rooms, then?” Lara joked.

Chepe laughed, knowing that there were no doors connecting his room to Gilberto’s. However, that didn’t mean that the two of them didn’t still share a wall. Walking over, he used the hand that wasn’t holding his glass and he pounded against the wall three times. Before he even struck it the third time, both he and Lara could hear Gilberto’s annoyed yelling coming from the other side, the specifics of what he was saying muffled by the wall between them.

“Did you at least invite him out with us?” Lara asked.

Chepe made a waving motion, and it whether he was being dismissive towards Lara or her other uncle was anyone’s guess. “You should see him when we’re home.”

Lara laughed, taking another sip of her drink. “Yeah?”

“He’s on his best behavior here.” He easily downed what was left in his glass. “At home?” He shook his head, not bothering to say anything more—he knew his facial expression said more than enough.

Lara couldn’t do much of anything besides laugh at what Chepe was telling her. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe him, but it was so hard to picture when all she saw of her other uncle was how he always seemed to be when he came and visited them all for the short stints of time he was back in the states. It was usually business, or business-adjacent. Gilberto had never really made a habit of treating trips back home like vacations.

As she thought about it, Lara couldn’t help but to also think about the fact that she had never gone to visit them down in Cali. It had never even been discussed as an option. She understood why no one talked about it when she was a kid. But now? Now it hit her as she stood there in the middle of Chepe’s hotel room that there was nothing really stopping her from going. Sure, she might not have the money for a ticket right now but she knew that all she’d have to do was bat her eyes at Chepe and mention wanting to visit them in Colombia and he’d all but send a private jet to go and get her.

That was a discussion for another time. She was certain that she’d land herself in more than enough hot water with Bishop in regards to her uncles while they were all there. No use in creating problems about things that weren’t happening yet.

What was supposed to be a night out of getting into trouble ended up turning into the two of them staying in and catching up while raiding the miniature alcohol stash in Chepe’s hotel room. There would be plenty of time for going out and antics later. And, even if Chepe would never want to admit it out loud, the amount of traveling that he and Gilberto had done over the last few days was starting to hit him.

When Lara had mentioned that she was working as a hostess at a restaurant, the first question Chepe had asked, of course, was what restaurant. She told him the name despite the fact that he wouldn’t know what the place was. However it didn’t stop him from taking his phone out and looking it up while she continued to talk about the place.

“It’s actually,” she chuckled as she said it, pouring herself another drink, “a really nice spot.” She took a drink from the glass she’d just filled. “Way above my fucking paygrade.”

Chepe shot her a look. “Nothing is above your paygrade, Lalo.”

She laughed harder than she probably should’ve. “Says the guy staying in a hotel room that’s bigger than my apartment.”

“When do you work?” he asked, completely disregarding her statement. “We’ll stop by.”

“We?”

He nodded towards the wall that he shared with Gilberto’s room. “We have a meeting. Gilberto chose some place, but,” he waved his hand dismissively, “we’ll go here instead.”

Lara knew that if she was ever going to try and be nosey, now was the time. “Who’s the meeting with?”

Chepe sighed, like he wasn’t all that thrilled about it but it simply was what it was. “Obispo’s friend.”

Liquor almost came out of Lara’s nose at the statement. “Are you talking about Galindo?” Chepe gave her a confused look but nodded without saying anything else. She laughed. “God. Somewhere out there my dad just got chills.” She shook her head. “He and Galindo are not friends.”

“No?”

“No.” She took another sip of her drink. “I don’t know what their fucking deal is, but it’s not friendship. I’m surprised he still plays middleman with you guys, honestly.”

Now it was Chepe’s turn to laugh. “Like he’ll say no to Gilberto.”

Lara hummed in amusement, toying with the glass in her hand. “Yeah, what’s the deal there, anyway? The way Dad talks about him you’d think—” her sentence was cut short by the sound of Chepe’s phone vibrating against the counter in the kitchen.

Her nosey nature got the best of her as she craned her neck to try and see who was calling. She didn’t catch the name on the screen before Chepe swiped the phone, but she did see the photo that had popped up.

“Who is that?” she asked, eyes wide and smile wider.

“No one,” Chepe said dismissively as he shoved his phone into his pocket before sitting back down again.

Lara scoffed, collapsing on couch beside him. “Oh, come on. All these years and you never figured out how to FaceTime me but you managed to meet some girl on Tinder or something?”

He shook his head. “Tinder. I didn’t meet her on Tinder.”

“Where’d you meet her then?”

He put her into a playful headlock, managing not to spill her drink in the process. “Chismosa.”

Lara laughed as she weaseled her way out of his hold. “Runs in the family.” She paused, bumping her shoulder against his. “Spill it, Tío. You met Angel—fair is fair.”

“So he is your—”

“He’s not my anything,” she cut him short. “But if we’re all being nosey here, I think it’s only fair.”

Chepe talked his way out of it the same way he talked his way out of anything. It didn’t take much to get Lara onto a different track, the discussion moving onto other things. So much had changed since the last time they’d seen each other. More changes happened for Lara than him, as anyone would expect. It wasn’t something that he thought about on a day to day basis when he was home in Cali, but watching her talk animatedly as she paced around his hotel room, it hit him how long it’d really been. She was still a kid to him, but she was so much more grown up than she had been last time he saw her.

It was late into the night when Lara found herself back in the kitchen again, pouring herself what would end up being her last drink of the night. She chuckled as she slid the mostly-empty bottle away from her. “I shouldn’t drive home.”

Chepe chuckled but didn’t disagree. “Now who needs the Uber?”

“You’re gonna make me Uber home?” she feigned offense.

He shook his head, the expression on his face letting her know that she was being ridiculous. “You can stay here. Or make your malparido of a boyfriend come and—”

“Just because you keep saying it, doesn’t make it true,” she countered.

“If you called him,” he spoke, tone surprisingly level, “would he come get you?”

“Pfft,” she waved him off, “yeah. But my dad is essentially, like, his fucking boss. He’d be in such deep shit if he left me stranded somewhere and Dad found out I had called.”

“Mhm,” Chepe nodded but he knew better than to think that that was the sole motivation behind it.

“Why do you care? You don’t even like him.”

“I won’t like anyone,” Chepe said, so matter-of-factly before he laughed for a moment. “But he should still be good to you. Or the alleyway he’s worried about will be the least of his problems.”

“Tío!” Lara said with a laugh.

That was the last that either of them said about it. Lara was of minimal help as they transformed the sofa into a bed, but they still managed to get it done. Chepe was gathering pillows and a blanket, fully intent on letting Lara take the real bed and resigning himself to the makeshift one that would undoubtedly leave him with back problems in the morning. When he turned around, though, Lara was already sprawled out, trying to wrestle one of the cushions into doubling as a pillow.

Chepe laughed, not wanting to fight her about it. Instead, he threw the blanket over her and handed her one of the pillows. It wasn’t long until she was hunkered down and on the brink of falling right to sleep. Once she was settled, Chepe went and checked all the locks on the door and the windows. He turned the lamps and the lights off as he went.

He was about to lie down himself when he heard Lara’s phone buzzing on the coffee table that they’d temporarily moved off to the side. Just as nosey as his niece, Chepe looked to see who it was that was reaching out to her. He was surprised to see Bishop being the one in her notifications, although maybe he shouldn’t have been. There were a few missed texts from him, but before Chepe could even try to read what they were, Bishop was calling.

He answered without giving it a second thought. He kept his voice just below his usual talking volume, not that it seemed like Lara was going to be much of a light sleeper for the night. “Obispo.”

There was a pause, and Chepe could picture the confused look on Bishop’s face. His confusion didn’t stop the frustration in his voice. “Where the fuck is Lara?”

“With me.”

“Not good enough,” Bishop shot back. “Where are you?”

Now it was Chepe’s turn to be annoyed. “The hotel. Why do you need to know—”

“You don’t get to ask me that.” Bishop didn’t want to get into this conversation with Chepe. “When she wakes up tell her to call me. She can’t keep fuckin’ doing this.”

“I’m not telling her that,” he said simply.

“What?”

Chepe shrugged even though Bishop couldn’t see it. “I’m not telling her. Goodnight, Obispo.”

“Chepe!” Bishop snapped. “Don’t you fuckin—”

Chepe never heard the rest of what Bishop had to say, hanging up the call before he got the rest of the sentence out. He chuckled and shook his head to himself, knowing that he would be asking Lara what that was all about when they were both up in the morning. In the meantime, though, Chepe put her phone on silent and finally made his way to bed.

[starlightbooklove]

Sally Jackson really said "drop everything now meet me in the pouring rain" and Poseidon answered

[gayestcowboy]

this might be a hot take but i think we should still be required to wear masks on airplanes

[u-so-silly]

Intro cutscene Lae'zel has earrings

[scarepackage]

[jaubaius]

Follow your dreams

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