#he is doing a fake australian accent on top of his real australian accent

[sonder-writes]

have this original short story I wrote that was longlisted in Furious Fiction

Fossilised Blood

The restaurant looked like a labyrinth. Dark stone walls, haphazard paths leading to different tables. It was perfect for a demon such as Kari. No one even noticed her horns and tail.

Kari clawed through the menu. There were all kinds of vampire-themed delights. But she didn't feel like something splattered with tomato sauce; she felt like something splattered with real blood.

That was what made crawling up to Earth such a delight. Human blood was a delicacy found nowhere else but in the innocence of an Earthly assembly.

A waiter came tip-toeing down the dark pathway to Kari's table. He was wearing a red cape, and he bared his plastic fangs in a smile when he greeted her.

"Vot vould you like to order?" he asked in a nondescript accent.

Kari raised an eyebrow and bared her own fangs. "I want you to show me who you really are."

She loved the purity of humans before their death. She hated inauthenticity. The fake accent and outfit were especially getting under her scales. But just before humans took their last breath, that was when the magic happened; that was when their demons came out.

The waiter took a step back. "What do you mean?" he asked in his normal Australian accent.

Fear. There was fear behind his eyes already, and Kari delighted in it.

"I haven't tasted human flesh in months," she drawled. "Please, show me your bones."

"Uh- I'm getting my manager," he turned around to hurry off.

Kari extended her arms and grabbed him around the waist, pulling him back over to sit against her chest.

With a forked tongue, she licked him from his neck up. She could already taste the fear oozing from his pores, and the whimper he let out brought a pleasant shiver running down her spine.

"Be quiet for me, please. I only want you to scream when you tell me your final secrets," Kari whispered.

She gripped the top of his head with her claws, turned his and her heads. Their silhouette flickered on the wall. The pathetic man and the demon who was about to kill him, just 2D shadows on a wall. She wanted to keep it there forever.

She smiled at the waiter. "You're going to last.

Then a moment later, she hoisted him up and smashed him into the wall. Over and over and over again. His bones cracked, his blood splattered, his screams rang through every tunnel of the restaurant.

This was who he was. A terrified man who was screaming for his mother. And he would taste delicious.

She stopped when he went limp. When his brains dripped to the floor.

She picked up a piece of his skull and sucked off the juices, watching her blood-soaked shadow. She was overwhelmed with euphoria. The thrill of a kill and the meal in the aftermath.

She picked up the crumpled corpse and brought it down underground, ready to be enjoyed in a restaurant of Hell.

[missnoirr]

But what do you sound like if you don't have an australian accent? Is there a neutral english accent? Because in my native language that is spoken in multiple countries there definitely is, however i do not understand how it is with english? Is it british? Or is an american accent the default? That would be upsetting

My post was absolutely a joke but the overly in depth answer you didn't ask for because it interests me;

In Australia you have three accents; broad, general, cultivated. If you're not Australian you probably think of the broad accent as being ""the australian accent"" but most of us have a more general. There are regional variations within all three. Someone from Sydney's North Shore is going to sound different from someone born and raised in Perth even if they both have a "general" accent, but its not like in the UK where accents are going to vary widely and obviously from region to region, its a subtle thing you'd probably only pick up on by living in Australia for a long time. I'd argue that you also have a whole seperate category because of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dialects, but the big three are broad, general, cultivated.

The cultivated accent is as close to a "neutral english accent" as you could have while still sort of sounding Australian. Its similar to an RP English accent (the posh London one) but the vowels are flatter and it still has the Australian schwa. Its a little like a transatlantic accent but without the American openness. Its got some class connotations which you can almost certainly trace back to the difference between free settlers and their accents and convicts and theirs in our colonial history—another reason why you'd actually have a whole seperate category of accent and dialect for Aboriginal Australians who's sound system has its roots in a whole other language system.

I don't have "An Australian Accent" because my mother is not from Australia and so I grew up with her sound system and then spent about a decade in drama school where they teach you a "neutral" accent, which involves a lot of changing of the way you form your words. The Australian Accent typically doesn't use the top of the mouth very much—if you see someone who has broad accent speak, watch their top lip and you'll realise it hardly does. Thats also the biggest difference between the cultivated accent and the rest, because it has that loftiness. If you watch most Americans speak, the top of their mouth is usually used a lot more, which is how they get those big round vowels that we don't have. The Brits are somewhere in between. I'm always told I sound English, but an English person would vehemently disagree with that, and so I have a Not Australian accent which isn't really an Anywhere Else accent, which was what my tag was about. You could probably say oh yeah obviously if I told you I was Australian but you might also have trouble placing it at first, or at least thats my experience of other peoples experience of how I speak.

I don't think there's really any sort of default english-language accent because even in England there's so much variety. I mean maybe if you go back far enough you can claim that the way people from the Nordic countries speak it is The Accent because they're where it originated from but like. no one would agree with that obviously lmao. The closest you can get is probably somewhere near RP because it accentuates the vowels and fits in the mouth in the most unassuming and ""neutral"" way, but its not how everyone sounds and its still very associated with its roots in class.

This is far more detail then you ever wanted and I'm not sure it really answers your question but I find it super interesting and I like talking about Australia because for as much as I make fun of it and its currently politically a huge fucking joke I do really love it and am invested in its ecological and cultural history. so. not to be sincere or anything but like. you know.

The american accent is absolutely NOT the fucking default though they dont even speak the same variety of english that the rest of the core anglosphere do

[babyitsfallin]

i'm setting off, but not without my muse | chan

pairing: bang chan/reader

word count: 1.4k

genre: romance, fluff

warnings: none! just some nice cuddling and words of reassurance

summary: chan works too much, you think he should take some time for himself.

Chan is a workaholic.

It’s not a quality that particularly goes under the radar by really anyone; not his groupmates, not his fellow staff, his family, him, but more importantly: you. There are at least four different cans of Monster littered across his desk, the lights dim in the small, confined space. His monitor hangs above him while he works, eyes darting from screen to screen while he clicks into different sections of the song he’s working on. A lazy bass pours out of the speakers as he clicks and drags it, pulling a distorted cymbal sound on top of it until he’s satisfied.

You like watching him work. He’s intent and focused, quite frankly it’s a little sexy, but mostly it’s relaxing. You get to sit and lounge, reading or playing on your phone or working on your own stuff while he does his. It’s a type of togetherness and closeness that’s comfortable, you don’t feel the need to talk or really say much of anything; just being in one another’s presence is enough. Plus, it’s pretty fascinating in the times you do pay attention to what he’s doing. He tends to do things without realizing, muttering under his breath, a mix between Korean and his thick Australian accent, for example. Sometimes he groans, pouting at himself for not getting the result he wants until he sighs and gets back to it. You usually don’t interfere, it’s part of his process. It’s not until he’s doing it in a timespan you deem a little too short for him to be doing it that often that you suggest a break, and he’s forced to sigh and agree with you.

“What do you think of this?” he asks, breaking you out of your thoughts. Your Twitter feed shines on your laptop next to you on the couch, long forgotten in favor of admiring your talented boyfriend. He clicks play, and the instrumental he’s been working on practically bounces off of the walls. It’s slower than the usual song the boys use, something more adjacent to the song he and Hyunjin worked on, but not quite as sexy. A cool electric guitar curls in a few seconds into the intro and you smile, nodding along with the beat. It’s good, no it’s better than good.

“I think it sounds like a new single,” you praise, letting yourself fall into the sound as it envelops you. “What’s the topic for the song, anyways?”

“Dunno, Felix is actually supposed to be set to write this time, they really liked some of what he did on Surfin’,” he replies, and he dons that sweet, adoring smile whenever he talks about Felix, warm and caring. “But he wanted me to produce the instrumental for it, we’re supposed to discuss how it’ll all sound with the lyrics sometime this week.”

“Wow, you sound so professional,” you tease, and Chan rolls his eyes playfully as he turns the track down, swiveling his chair to look at you. “I’m excited to hear it, though. I can’t believe he gets to write his first full, real song.”

“I know right?” Chan smiles. “I’m so proud of him. Hey, maybe you can be in when he records it, give some thoughts, yeah?”

“Wow, what an honor,” you intertwine your fingers together, and place your chin on top of them. “Of course I can.”

“Ah, perfect,” Chan stretches his arms above his head, the edges of his cut shirt revealing his sides as a yawn finally escapes him while the track runs to the end. It isn’t until then that you realize it’s well past any decent time to sleep, flicking your eyes to your laptop to see the clear 5:38 AM right in the corner. Oops.

“We should get some sleep,” you suggest, and you catch Chan closing his eyes for a second, narrowing your own at him.

“Mmm, soon, I just need to –”

“Babe,” you put a touch of an edge in your voice, more of a warning than anything, and he purses his lips at you. “It’s almost six in the morning. The track can wait for finishing touches, it’s not going to run away,” you tease.

“But –”

“C’mere,” you close your laptop, placing it onto the floor as you scoot over, patting the spot next to you on the couch as he eyes it. He stands up, and you hear a light pop in his knees as he makes his way to you. He settles in next to you, wrapping his arms around your middle, as he buries his face into your neck.

He’ll never admit it, you think, but he needs the break. He’s always doing something, writing or producing or giving an interview or learning choreography or taking care of the other members. He doesn’t mind, you know that, but Chan’s always been one to overextend himself. He always gives so much of himself to others, you included, and has a tendency to forget himself. You catch a glimpse of his eyebags, deep and heavy from the corner of your eye and it has you bringing a hand to curl in his hair as he properly relaxes into you.

“You shouldn’t work yourself so hard,” you mumble, letting your nails scratch lightly at his scalp. He gives a sound of appreciation and squeezes you tighter.

“I know,” he whispers into your neck, and it tickles just a touch.

“I’m serious,” you keep your voice low. You don’t want to yell at him, but more so…to remind him. Chan’s always taking care of others, watching over them and making sure they’re taken care of. You think it’s time someone was there to take care of him for once. “You shouldn’t worry about being up into the morning hours to just work on something. It’s not good for you.”

He stays silent, his hand rubbing circles into your shirt, like he’s contemplating your words, actually taking them to heart. His breath is soft and warm against your skin, and despite the conversation, it’s a comforting feeling to be surrounded by him, held by him.

“Okay,” he says, and he shifts, resting his chin against your shoulder to look at you. “…I’ll ask for some time off. It’s been a while, anyway. We could all use it.”

“…Really?”

“Yeah, really,” he smiles, and he presses a kiss against your shoulder. “Let’s take a trip somewhere, just the two of us.”

“…Really?” you ask again, and he laughs, bright and like honey, your favorite sound in the world.

“Yes, really,” he grins, teasing tone in his voice, a light giggle mixed in. “Feels like the only time alone we get is in here, you deserve romance! A picnic and a night sky!”

“I like watching you work,” you insist. “It’s nice, and relaxing.”

“Did you not just tell me I work too much?” he grins, and you narrow your eyes at him good naturedly.

“You do,” you say, and move to kiss the tip of his nose, earning a sound that crosses between a giggle and fake disgust. “I’m just saying don’t feel bad that this it the time we have to spend together. It’s not a punishment to watch you create masterpieces.”

“I’m so glad you think Cheese is a masterpiece.”

“It is, you helped make it,” you grin, and he returns it, letting his eyes slide shut. “It doesn’t matter where we are, or what we’re doing, I’m just glad I get to be with you doing it. But,” you pause, and he lifts his brows in wait, keeping his eyes shut. “ I do want us to feed each other and be totally gross while you point out constellations.”

“Then I guess I’ll just have to give you exactly what you want, huh?” he hums.

“I guess you will.”

He smiles in response, and you start to feel the evening out of his breath, a whispered, groggy “I love you,” before sleep finally pulls him in, rested against you, his arms loose around your waist now as he leans into you. You rest your cheek onto the top of his head, letting your own lids slide shut, cuddling in next to him.

It’s not the most ideal sleeping arrangement, you know you’d both be more comfortable sleeping laying down, even in the tiny bed back at his dorm, but having him draped all over you, finally getting the rest that’d been pulling at him for ages, well, the ideals could always be saved for later. Right now you had your boy, and a sweet promise of something even more exciting later; what more could you ask for.

[miss-smutty]

The Destructive Secret

Chapter 4

Summary- You've got a secret to hide and it's going to cause complete and utter devastation. It's only so long until your lies are going to catch up to you.

Pairing- Chris Hems x Reader x Liam Hems

Word count- 2,211

Warnings- Smut, swearing, angst, cheating

18+ Only!!

Disclaimer: This is an entire work of fiction/AU and has no affiliation to real life what so ever! This is a fictional story about fictional characters who happen to share names and faces with some real people.

Posted: 29th June 2021

Taglist:- @innerpaperexpertcloud @pandaxnienke @chickensarentcheap @mostly-marvel-musings @longlostinanotherworld

>The Destructive Secret Masterlist<

"No not married but you do know her. You know her really well actually." Chris says while avoiding your gaze purposefully...

You could cut the tension in the room with a knife, silence so acute you could hear a pin drop. Liam waiting for an answer, Chris looking at his feet and you looking visibly anxious. Chris had drank way too much and now he was about to let all of your secrets loose. This isn't the way you want Liam to find out, surely Chris wouldn't be so cruel.

"I suppose you're not gonna tell me who it is?" 

"Not just yet, see how we go." He looked at you, if he so much as even looked slightly smug you would have slapped him right across his face. Instead you could see the hurt in his eyes, tears welling in the corners. You're both faced with an impossible dilemma, Chris wants you all to himself but doesn't want to lose his brother in the process and you want it all over and done with but don't want to hurt Liam. The latter of both is inevitable but you would take all the blame just so Chris didn't have to lose his brother, given the choice you would lose them both just so that didn't happen.

"Well on that note, I need to go to bed. I've gotta be up early in the morning." You avoid Chris' gaze, you're angry with him but you don't want to cause him more pain. 

"Yeah me too. I better get going. Thank you for dinner Y/N, it was lovely."

You risk a short glance at him, you're eyes softening when they meet. The moment broken when Liam speaks, reminding you where you are and who you're with right at this moment in time.

"Are you for real? You're really going to drop a bombshell like that and then leave? Fuck man." Liam runs his hand through his hair, letting air out of his cheeks exasperatedly.

"Sorry bro, I'll save the excitement for another night. I've said too much already." Chris apologises with his eyes as he passes you, his hands twitching by his side's with the need to touch you.

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

The next morning when you wake, your heart sinks knowing all the turmoil you're going to have to go through just to make it to the hotel without being spotted. All the messing about and hiding you have to do, checking in under a false name at different times. Making sure nobody follows you to the hotel and especially no one follows Chris. Getting caught checking into the same hotel would be dreadful, it wouldn't take a genius for the press to put two and two together, they wouldn't even care if it was true or not as long as they sold copies.

"Right babe, I'm ready to go." You pull your suitcase towards the door, stopping to wrap your arms around Liam.

"Have a good time, I'll see you soon." Wrapping his arms tightly around your waist and lifting your feet from the ground in a squeezy hug. "I'll miss you." 

"I'll miss you too, bye babe." 

"Bye. Love you. Let me know when you get checked in." He kisses you goodbye before watching you leave.

"Will do, Love you." You say over your shoulder, climbing into your silver, Audi convertible.

This is the part you hate the most, the part that made you question whether it was all worth it. It was, of course or you wouldn't be doing it, you wouldn't put yourself through having to pretend to be somebody else and praying your not caught by anyone. It only takes one person to notice you and Chris in the same hotel and it's over. You imagine having an affair is hard work whatever your circumstances but when your boyfriend and your lover are as famous as they are it becomes impossible. It's terrifying. 

You spent the car journey constantly checking your mirrors and making sure you weren't being followed. A huge sunhat and even bigger sunglasses covering your face as your heart beated faster than you thought was possible. A couple of laps around the hotel, making doubly sure you weren't being followed before you finally pulled into the carpark.

You had to constantly think, you couldn't let your guard drop for even a moment and it was exhausting. You were ready for it to be over and done with now, this just isn't fun anymore. Maybe you could run away together and start a new life somewhere else. Which one would you pick though? Who are you ready to give up? Would there even be an option to choose? Would Liam even be willing to forgive you if he knew you were sleeping with his brother? In love with his brother.

Your heart beating out of your chest, your fight or flight well and truly kicking in now as you walk up to the front desk. If there's any recognition in the receptionists eyes you're ready to turn right around and leave. The girl behind the desk, with long blonde hair has her eyes on the computer In front of her, thankfully not paying you much attention as you stand and wait for her to finish.

"Hi I'd like to book a room for two nights please." You stutter nervously, subconsciously checking over your shoulder while you spoke.

"Of course, is it just for yourself?" 

"Yes please, I'm just here for a work conference. I'd like a double bed if possible though, I haven't been able to sleep in a single since I was young." You giggle nervously, embarrassed that you'd told her information she isn't even slightly interested in.

"No problem, I'll see what I have for you." Her eyes barely left her computer as she spoke, she definitely didn't recognise you. The tension in your muscles relaxed a little as your eyes scanned the lobby.

"What name is it please?" She asked, one of the moments you'd been dreading. You hate lying but luckily you'd already come up with the fake name you were using, one you'd already used many times before in the exact same situation. It never gets any easier.

"Jessica Crawley." The names tumbled from your lips, names that had absolutely no meaning to you. 

"Room 101, floor 5. Is there anything else I can help you with?" 

"No thank you, that's great." The overwhelming feeling of relief at completing step one without any problems, rushes over you. Adrenaline spiking, making your legs feel like jelly.

"You're welcome, enjoy your stay. Don't hesitate to let me know if you have any questions." The girl says, smiling sweetly at you before going back to her work.

The elevator seemed to take forever to make its way down to you, your feet shuffling as you watched the numbers above the door, counting down. The overwhelming need to get to privacy and away from the many prying eyes of the people in the lobby was severe. Most were business men and women, that were so consumed in themselves they weren't paying special attention to anyone around them. There were also young couples, making their way through the lobby, probably on their way for lunch but the people that worried you the most were the random loners sat in the armchairs scattered around the lobby. They'd chosen the perfect place to watch, some pretending to read newspapers while their eyes discreetly scanned over the top.

They were much more inquisitive, much like yourself they paid more attention to the people around them. People watchers you liked to call them, these are the sorts of people that make you nervous. They see everything, noticing any minor details, you'd spent a lifetime perfecting 'people watching' which is how you knew to be wary. You could pretty much judge a person's personality just by watching them for a couple of minutes. If anyone was to spot you it would be one of these people. You felt thankful you weren't Chris, there is absolutely no way he was going to make it to the elevator without being seen at least once.

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

Chris didn't feel quite as nervous as you, this was a every day occurance in his life, avoiding paparazzi was near impossible for him. As long as you weren't seen going in to the hotel then it wouldn't matter about him being seen. Still, he'd worn his baseball cap and sunglasses to at least try and hide his identity. He wasn't nervous about being seen but more about having to face you after his fuck up last night. Now that thought was way more intimidating to him.

Casually strolling into the hotel, he tried to ignore the whispers of the people around him. People questioning if it was really him, young girls barely out of high school giggling at the sight of him. Chris quietly prayed that he would make it up to the room without anyone asking for a photo, not that he usually minded but today all he wanted was to spend every possible minute with you as he could.

The receptionist tried to make a fuss when his identity was confirmed during check in. The pale skin of the same blonde girl who'd checked you in, had turned a rather bright shade of red when she heard Chris' sexy Australian accent. You wouldn't blame her, it still makes you swoon whenever you heard him speak.

"I'm fine honestly, I don't want any special treatment. Actually if I could get away with going completely unnoticed during my stay, I will speak to your boss myself and tell them how accomodating you'd been." 

"Oh wow, really? Thank you so much Mr Hemsworth. I will make sure nobody bothers you and if you need anything at all just give me a call, I'll make sure you won't have to leave your room for anything." Chris smiled, pretending not to notice how she seemed to be flirting with him, badly. Tossing her hair over shoulder as she insinuated not so subtly for him to let her know if he wanted any 'special' treatment. Again, you don't blame the girl, infact you would've commended her confidence.

She handed over the keys to the penthouse, watching bright eyed as he walked to the elevator, pulling out his phone as he stepped straight in. 

"Hi babe, I've booked the penthouse suite, meet me up there?" Smiling a tight lipped smile at the girl behind the desk, who was still watching him intently as the elevator doors closed.

"Ok, it isn't very inconspicuous staying in the penthouse is it?" You shouldn't be surprised, he does it everytime. You remember the first time you ever saw a penthouse and how amazed you were that it was actually bigger than your own home at the time. That was a memory you shared with Liam, all of your first times had been with Liam, the thought made your heart sink.

"I mean they knew who I was as soon as I walked in, I think it would look more suspicious if I didn't stay in a suite." Chris answered, pulling you from your thoughts.

"I suppose that's true, I'll be up soon." You could hear the sadness in your voice, something you had to snap out of before meeting Chris.

"Good because I can't wait to get my hands on you." 

Sinking back onto the spongey mattress of your bed, tiredness washing over you already. The mental exhaustion of constantly having to play games and be on your guard at all times, catching up to you as you're finally alone.

Maybe that's what you need afterall, a chance to be alone to gather your thoughts, to workout your own needs and wants without spreading your attention between the two brothers.

You make a mental list of the pros and cons of both of them knowing deep down if Liam were the one for you, you'd have never have looked twice at Chris. They were so similar in a lot of ways but completely different in others.

Liam was the sweetest man you knew, so gentle and caring, attentive to your every whim and being so young when you first got together he was everything you were looking for.

Now being a woman that has gone through so much trauma in her life that had tainted your soul, darkened it with a lust for more.

Then Chris came along, he was still sweet and caring but less attentive to your needs unless it was in the bedroom. He was cheeky and funny, drop dead gorgeous and oozing manliness effortlessly. He was fire and passion. He was more. 

If you let yourself admit it, you wanted excitement, which is how you ended up here in the first place. You didn't want perfect anymore, you wanted a man who could do wrong and then make up for it in the most fulfilling way he knew how. Just thinking about it made your pulse race, Chris had put you through hell last night and now it was time for payback. You imagined Chris only a couple of floors above you, worried about the way you were going to act when you saw him and lord knows how much you're going to make him sweat.                    

[jo-the-schmo]

Red, Dead, Reflections Ch. 1

A/N: Alright so... I started writing this fic over a year ago, and was posting it as I wrote it. I fell out of it for a few reasons but I’ve missed it. So I decided to start writing it again. The original versions of the first 5 chapters already exist on my blog but I want to repost them and do some editing. This way I can make the series more polished. I also want to try and do a once a week maybe schedule to give me some time in between writing chapters and so I can take some feedback into consideration.I hope some of the people who originally wanted to keep up with my series see this and I want to apologize for falling back on this. I feel really bad about it. I’ll try harder to commit to this. Thank you so much for being interested in my work. If anyone would like to be tagged just let me know, I don’t wanna assume the people who did before want to now. 

Summary: At the age of 23, you and your pseudo-family perform a heist gone wrong, leading you into a dangerous and seemingly impossible position. Discover your own history, the story of those around you, and gain new relationships along the way in this (sorta) choose your own adventure.

Warnings: Explicit language, blood, death, violence

Word count: 5,988

From Out West

“This is a little too ballsy for my liking, Austin.” You warned as you carefully adjusted the colored contact lenses in your eyes.

“Since when did you turn into a little pussy-willow?” He smirked at you while he turned a corner. 

“This is a bank, not a home robbery, so forgive me if I’m a tad nervous about this! We’re robbing a god damn bank in the 21st century, in a busy city that we aren’t necessarily familiar with!”

“Maybe you aren’t familiar, you know I’m a regular ol’LA boy.” You turned your head to look at the two in the backseat.

“Miguel, you can’t seriously be okay with this.” You questioned but were confident in it enough to make it a statement. He shrugged his shoulders, making that confidence literally evaporate. 

“We gotta trust Austin, as crazy as this plan is. We haven’t gotten caught yet.” You crossed you arms and made sure your wig was pinned right.

“Doesn’t mean we won’t be startin’ now.” You grumbled. 

“Come on, sissy! This plan is fool-proof! They’ll never even know it was us!” Eli chirped. 

“Oh yeah, except for the fact that this is a fucking bank and the FBI CAN get on our asses for this!” You swore it was exhausting being the only realistic one sometimes. “On top of that, there’s only 5 of us! We’re insane!” 

“6.” Austin corrected. 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Your girlfriend won’t be in the damn room with us.” 

“She’s the ace up our sleeves, it would be silly for her to be in there with us.” The car smelled like old cigarettes, it made you sick. The band around your chest dug into your ribs. You opted to stay silent and relent for the time being, instead focusing on your disguise. The wig was carefully pinned to your real hair, it was short enough to be confused for a men’s haircut but had enough length to not require any glue. Dark brown hair, abnormally vibrant green eyes. And with the mask covering your face, that would be their only descriptions they could give to the police. Flat chest, boyish haircut, baggy black hoodie, just your average deviant. The destination was in view. 

“Alright,” Austin started. “everyone knows the plan, yeah? Gina is inside, she’ll send us the signal. We go in quick and make our presence known. I go behind the counter to make sure the tellers ain’t up to no funny shit. Miguel, you round up the lovely citizens into a corner, hit Gina a little to make it convincing. Eli, you take care of the money. And Y/N, I need you to stay in character, be loud and intimidating, keep the tellers in check when I’m helpin’ Eli, and the civils with Miguel, got it?” You all nodded. He looked back at Miguel. “You got the fake bomb ready?”

“Yes’ir.” 

“I’ll pass the big boss to you once I pick him out. Zoe is waiting for us in the alleyway between the bank and the office building. We get in, make some noise, scare them shitless, get the money, and go.” He parked up front of the white walls, you saw a mother walk through the glass doors with her toddler in a stroller. You immediately felt bad. 

“You promise this is the last job, right?” You looked at him seriously. “At least the last of something this big, I don’t think I could handle with again.”

“Of course! This is just to get us enough money to get us all out. The economy is garbage, think of it as taking what should already be ours.” You heard the crackle of the walkie on Austin’s lap. He threw it into his bag. “That’s the signal, masks on everyone.” Austin’s was a fox, long, fake salt and pepper hair rolled form under his hood. Eli’s was a raccoon, convincing copper bangs swooped between the ears. Miguel had an owl; disturbing blue eyes pierced your being. You strapped on your black dove and joined with group as they exited the stolen vehicle. You kept both your hands in the front pocket of your hoodie, trying to be discrete about the two handguns inside. Only one was loaded with real bullets, that was the backup, You preferred to use the blanks. Unable to trace, and when used properly, won’t hurt anyone. Austin and Eli took the leads. 

The doors were kicked in. 

“EVERYONE GET ON THE FUCKING GROUND RIGHT NOW! HANDS UP, ALL YOU! THIS IS A ROBBERY!” He screamed, pointing his gun at a man behind the counter about 3 yards away. Miguel was quick to shout at the people in line to get into the corner of the room. Gina pretended to try and defy, he slaps her, needless to say it’s convincing. 

“Dove, handle the worms.” You traded spots as Austin grabbed one of the men behind the counter. Your eyes locked with the poor woman, she was covering the stroller with her torso. You pointed your blank gun at some random person. 

“Stay on the ground or I’ll fucking shoot, ya hear me?” You lowered your voice, made it coarser, time to be a ‘man’. They nodded hysterically. The woman was crying. You could hear Eli screaming his demands in a fake accent. “Everyone hand over your phones. If any of you give me a reason to even SUSPECT you’re up to anything, I will shoot.” Everyone put their phones on the ground and slid them over toward you. You turned your attention to the back. “What’s the hold up, owl?” 

“I’m handling it.” He strapped the fake bomb to the teller’s chest, making him kneel down in the middle of the bank. “Listen up, everyone! This man has a bomb attached to his body. We have someone hacked into the security cameras. If you don’t follow our instructions to the T, they will blow a hole in this lot.” He paused to let the cries and gasps die out. “Now, for those said instructions, listen close. We will exit the building soon, you will stay down for 5 minutes.” He pointed at a clock on the wall. “Do not touch anything or move a muscle. When 5 minutes have passed, the big guy here-“ He patted the man’s shoulders and dropped a key wrapped in tissue in his lap. “will take a little drive off the premises. He will keep going until he reaches the designated location written on that tissue. If any of you contact the police before the end of the day, he will die, along with any other drivers in his vicinity. So, unless you want a substantial amount of blood on your hands, I’d suggest you keep quiet until midnight. As for the rest of you, you have permission to leave the building once that 5 minutes are up. But I would suggest keeping a low profile, for your safety and others’.” There was a loud crack. 

“I got it!” The phony Australian accent rang. Austin led the rest of the bank tellers to you, making them sit in the flood of civils. 

“Staying alert, Dove?”

“Don’t patronize me, stupid Fox.” This whole situation pissed you off. The baby was crying, mom was too, trying to hush the whines. 

“Fire a shot, Dove!” What? “Don’t let their insubordination stand.” He demanded. This was a fear tactic. He was trying to teach a lesson to the others. 

“I’m not firing a warning shot over a fucking baby, you psycho!” Your blood was boiling, this was overkill, he was way out of line with this. Of course, he wasn’t telling you to shoot the baby or the mother, but you weren’t going to cause more grief where it didn’t need to be. 

“Take the shot!”

“Fuck you!” 

“Why are you going against me?” Was he seriously doing this now? You felt like your head was going to explode. She was the only person with a child present. You put both of your pieces back in your hoodie and knelt next to her. She flinched as you approached, but that was to be expected. 

“Ma’am, I’m making an exception for you because you have a child with you, and that prick is really getting on my last nerve. You’re allowed to exit the building now, but the other rules still apply. People will die if you talk, maybe not you, but other people who have children like you do, most certainly. Take your kid and get out, don’t do anything out of the ordinary, and get out.” Her red eyes shook you to your core, familiarity. She nodded in both fear and appreciation. 

“Than-than-thank y-“ She was choking on her own misfortune, you decided to spare her. 

“Yeah, yeah, just get out.” She got up and collected herself, checking around the room as she walked out of the building. You could only see his eyes, but you could tell Austin was reaching his limit fast. An older gentleman stared at you. 

“At least one of you has a heart.” You were glad Austin was too focused on being pissed to hear that. You got up, kicking the phones toward the door as you walked. Austin grabbed you arm. 

“You’re lucky I didn’t kill her for that.” By letting that woman go, you showed weakness. It was a hint at your identities, but you didn’t care. 

“And you’re lucky I’m not shooting you for saying that. I’m not a killer like you, Fox.” Your voice was laced with venom. Eli had interrupted your dispute. 

“Alright lovebirds, time to play nice, we’ve got precious cargo.” He gave both of you a duffle bag, they were pretty hefty. Austin took a deep breath, putting on his best showman voice. 

“Alright folks! That right there is our cue to hit the road. Remember, 5 minutes on the clock. No one likes a-“ The doors were filled with red and blue, sirens. The police were here. “Shit!” Shit was right. “How the hell are they here?” Austin screamed. He gave you a shove. “It’s probably because of that god damn woman!” 

“There’s no way she would’ve had enough time for that.”

“And no one had a phone out, I was watching the whole time.” Miguel chimed. 

“We have bigger fish to fry right now! We gotta go.” You all dashed over to the back door, all you had to do was move towards the alley, if you could just get to the dump van, everything would be fine. Drive up to get the real car, leave that one with no prints or hair, and you’d be home free. The 4 of you booked it out the door. But the van was no where to be seen, instead, there were about 3 cops on either side which was 6 in total, trapping you in. 

“They must’ve got Zoe!” Yeah, no shit. 

“Put your hands up!” You all raised your arms, except of course for Austin. You kicked his calf. He didn’t budge. “I said put your god damn hands up!”

“In case you didn’t notice, pal, there’s a bomb in that building. If you don’t let us pass, I’ll blow that building out of existence, along with the man attached to it.” He pointed his gun to one of the cops to your left. “So, I suggest you let us through, or else you’re gonna piss me off more than I already am.” 

“We know the bomb is fake, drop to your knees or we will shoot!” Another one barked. Someone had ratted you out. You looked at Miguel and Eli, you weren’t letting this go down, not by a long shot. You tuned out Austin’s ramblings and whispered to the other two. 

“Be ready to run. I’m gonna buy you guys some time. Don’t kill any of them, disarm them.”

“What the hell are you talking about, Y/N?” Miguel questioned with panic. You took a deep breath. 

“Thank you for being my family.” You swept your leg behind Austin’s knees, and he collapsed to the ground as you stood. 

The world slowed to a crawl, pulling a gun out of your pocket, these were real bullets. You’ve never missed a target. You drew the attention of all 6 police officers, but no amount of training could prepare them. You fired 3 shots, each one hitting the hands of the officers Austin had been talking to. Their weapons fell from their hands. You felt bodies push past your legs, down the alley way away from the bank. You were glad the streets of LA were confusing. Now was the time. You whipped your body around to face the rest of the officers, firing rapidly at their shins. You weren’t gonna put blood on your hands. 

But deep down you knew, there was no making out of this one. You would buy them a few minutes while trying to subdue you. Just as your haphazard shots began, they fired precise ones of their own. Two passed through your skull, three in your chest, and one got a through almost half of your jugular. Both pieces fell away from you as gravity swaddled you. Bits of your wooden mask, blood, head pushing back unnaturally, seeing the backs of your made family run, they were almost home free. There was no pain after that point, you waited patiently for your back to hit the ground beneath you, but it never did. You kept falling. 

And falling. 

The midday light felt like it was slipping away, there were leather walls encompassing your lifeless form. No sound, no sense of texture, just the smell of dirt and decay. Then there was nothing but darkness, but that void that beckoned you, that pulled at your very being, was gone just as quick as it appeared. 

Your body shot forward with a violent intake for air. The gasps filled your lungs to the brim, your chest and head ached, throat tight. The coughing erupted from deep in your chest, which also held a different pain from the ever-tightening band around it. You threw you hoodie away and made quick work of loosening it just a bit, and in doing so noticed that your body was free of any physical wounds. There was still a soreness, and blood wiped off your skin, but there were no open wounds. You were incredibly cold, and at first you assumed that to be attributed to your near-death experience, until you looked up high to see to see an open window with snow falling outside. 

“I don’t think we’re in California anymore.” You muttered to yourself. You shivered, the place was covered in hay and in low light, that’s when the smell hit you. It reeked of animals, that would probably have something to do with the fact that you’re in a barn. Shakily, you got to your feet. Knees wobbling, your eyes adjusted, there were horses. That certainly explained the stench. A chill ran up your spine, the cold tickling at your vertebrae. You scanned the room for where you had tossed your hoodie, only to find it in a horse’s mouth. Your eyes widened in fear. “No, no, no, no, no, no!” You exclaimed. You rushed forward and grasped at the hanging sleeve, tugging on it with all your strength. “Drop it! Drop it right now!” 

The horse did not listen, in fact, now it seemed more hellbent on consuming the thick material. After hurtling a few curses at the horse, you heard a distinct rip. You fell back, the remnants of black cloth now in tatters. You let out a muffled scream of frustration. Even with the long sleeves of your cotton shirt, you were still freezing. It suddenly struck you how odd it is for it to be snowing at all. You figured you weren’t in California anymore, but you were somewhere that snows in the middle of May? How far were you? You couldn’t think of any states that snowed this late in the year. Were you in Maine? Up north, Canada? How did you even get here? 

“Did those idiots come back to get me? I could’ve sworn…” You could’ve sworn they ran like you told them to, and that you had experienced several fatal injuries. Is this hell? Purgatory? The other side? It was cold enough to be Hell that’s for sure. Nothing made sense. You found your mask on the ground, chunks of the painted wood were replaced with vacant space, splintered bullet holes. You fastened it to the first belt loop, it rested against your left pant leg. Pins dug into your scalp, wigs still surprisingly attached to your head. Your eyes watered, your contacts were drying out. You opted take them out now rather than waste your time trying to find drops in a barn. You flicked them away once they were out. “Now, if there’s a barn with animals, there’s gotta be a house with people.” You walked over to the large wooden doors as your talked to yourself, but today just had to be the worst day of your life. Something landed on top of you, or more accurately someone. 

You were surprised you didn’t feel any cracks as the weight crashed on you. Shifting your weight over, you elbowed the man in the jaw. He rolled off of you with a grunt of pain. You were quick to jab him in the stomach with the toe of your boot. Sputtering a cough with saliva dripping out the mouth, the man rushed to stand. He was trying to fight. 

“You’re on the wrong side of the mountains, partn’r.” He slurred. “This here is O’Driscoll territory, Which you don’t got no business bein’ in.” I’m in the mountains? Where the hell- He didn’t give you enough time to finish that thought before he was throwing a punch at you. If this basic boy thinks he can step in my personal space, he’s got another thing coming. You blocked the fist with your forearm and redirected the force toward the ground. With the base of your wrist, you hit his throat. The force of your own strength and the ever so impeccable sense of gravity caused him to wheeze, choke, and writhe on the ground. 

“Listen here, buddy,” you pressed your boot down on his chest “I have no idea where the hell I am right now. I don’t give a single shit about territory or whatever the fuck you’re going on about, but if you put your hands on me again, I’m gonna mangle your entire lower half with a rake.” You applied more weight. “I didn’t come here of my own volition, someone put me here. Which means, you’re little punk ass better tell me what’s going on or get out of my way so I can-“ Gunshots. Mystery man took your distraction as an opportunity to wriggle out form under you. They were ceaseless, did someone drop you off in the middle of a gang war, what the hell is going on? You were about to duck behind whatever cover was around you if the idiot of the room had decided he didn’t learn his lesson. 

“Are you with those crazies?” He yelled, peeking out the barn doors for only a second. “I should’ve known.” His voice was cold and malicious. “You’re with that son of a bitch, Dutch!”

“Who?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, pretty boy, they must’ve sent you up to spy on us! I’m gonna kill you for-“

“I literally have no idea what’s going on!” But he wasn’t listening to reason, clocked you in the ribs before you got the chance to block, then using your surprise to his advantage, hit you on the nose. There was a familiar crack and blood rush. “Did you just fucking break my nose, you ass?” You screeched toward the ground, wiping away the blood. 

You took him off guard by doing that, so you were quick to knock him in the jaw. The shooting stopped but you were a little preoccupied and decided not to waste anymore time. His arm bent to caress the side of his face. You rushed forward, lacing your arm between the gap his made. Using all your weight, you swung your legs out and forced him to drop to the ground. His back slammed forcefully and with a swift adjustment, your shins trapped his neck, locking him in place. You squeezed his neck enough to make him gasp. He tried to push away from you, but with the position you left him in, there’s no way he’d be able to without some sort of outside assistance. 

“Who are you calling pretty boy now? Huh? Who, bitch boy?” You heard the door start to open, you let lose and pulled the man up to shield you, locking his head so that you peek between a gap in your arm and his head. A man wearing a blue coat and hat walked in, his hands resting on his belt. 

“Well, well, what have we got ourselves here?” You couldn’t quite place his accent. You noticed he had a holster. 

“Don’t fuck with me, dude. I’ve got your friend trapped between me and you. No need to make this get crazy.” You warned, tightening your grip to enunciate your point. What sounded almost like a chuckle escaped his throat. 

“You must not be an O’Driscoll if you think he’s my friend.” You panicked, you tried to think of your next move, but he had plans of his own. “What’s your name, son?” Your suspicions were correct, it seems. This isn’t the first time someone’s confused you for a man, especially when you were trying so hard to not look like yourself. But maybe, you could use this to your advantage. 

“James West.” That was Austin’s code name for danger. If someone introduced you or called any of you James, it meant they weren’t trust worthy. You and Gina would usually use Jamie, but now James felt like the safer option. 

“Now how in the hell did you get involved in this, West?” He rested his hip against one of the stable posts.  

“I have no idea.” You threw the man away from you, there was no point holding him anymore. “I woke up here, and this guy just started attacking me.” You thought for a moment. “Are you Dutch?” You asked. This time, it was a single, hearty-

“HA!” He had a spark in his eye. “Me? Dutch? I ain’t that old yet, kid.” You rolled your eyes and pulled yourself up. 

“Well, my nose is broken because this little shit thought I was with you, so I have some choice words for this ‘Dutch’.” You huffed. “And don’t call me ‘kid’.” You brushed your fingers across the bridge of your nose, preparing yourself for what you were about to do. One deep breath in, out, pop. You pushed your nose back into place and winced. A wad of blood shot out. “Jesus shit!” You coughed, you never get used to having to do that. The blue coat cowboy looking mother-fucker looked semi-impressed. 

“Well, I’m not Dutch, but you could sure meet him if it pleases.” Something caught his attention. “Speak of the devil…” The door opened again. A man walked in with very distinct black hair. He was also a cowboy looking mother-fucker. Oh god, am I in yeeyee country? His eyes immediately locked on you. 

“Did you cause this mess, Arthur? Or have we just met a new friend?” The man who you presumed to be Dutch, had a deeper voice than the man apparently called Arthur, but their accents were similar. That was not promising for you. 

“That depends, his name is West, James West. I walked in a right fine mess between him and that there O’Driscoll.” Arthur pointed to the man still struggling to steady himself. Dutch choked a deep laugh, he seemed more amused than Arthur was. 

“Right fine is right, Arthur. You did this?” He asked. You nodded reluctantly. “You’re a good fighter, boy. Real good, it seems.” He strode over to the guy on the floor and picked him up by the collar, tossing him over to Arthur. “Morgan, you deal with this trash while I talk to our new pal.” Dutch walked over to you, confidence in his step, while Arthur threw the man back on the ground. He wrapped an arm around your shoulder and shook you around a bit. “James West, huh?”

“Yeah, what’s it to ya?” 

“Oh, this boy’s got spunk, Morgan!” You looked over and saw Arthur yanking the man around by the shirt. Dutch forced your attention back to him. “Now West, you’ve gotta understand our position here. We can tell clear as day you ain’t involved in a lick of this mess. But we don’t have a single clue as to what your business is up here. Now, you seem like a considerate young man, but I got worried folks on this mountain, and I can’t have no scamps running around and hellraising” He squeezed your shoulder. “So, don’t take any offense to what I’m about to ask, but what are you doing up here?” He looked you dead in the eyes. In your opinion, the question was fair. You couldn’t fully let your guard down, but they appeared to not be whoever put you here. Then again, these O’Driscoll’s didn’t seem to be either. 

“I can’t give you an answer to that one, Mr. …?” 

“Van Der Linde.” That’s one hell of a name. 

“Mr. Van Der Linde. Frankly, I have no damn clue why I’m here. One minute, I’m getting shot down in the middle of the day, and then I wake up trapped in some barn in the middle of bumfuck nowhere, in what looks like the ass end of winter. So, I’m a little confused right now to say the least.” You were clearly frustrated with your situation, he wasn’t oblivious to it. 

“Where are you from, son?”

“California.” That was a safe enough answer. 

“James West from out West. That’s certainly an opener.” He scratched his chin. “I’m gonna put you to a test young man.” He turned you around and lead you over to where Arthur had just gotten off the now bloody man. He was whimpering, begging under his breath for mercy. 

“I don’t think he’s got much to say, Dutch. They apparently happened upon this place and took it over. That’s all I’m getting’” 

“I’m going to give our new young friend a choice.” He pulled a revolver out of his holster and held the handle out to you. “In normal circumstances, I’d let Arthur handle this situation himself. But I’ve got an itching curiosity with you, kid.” You felt obligated to hold it in your hand. Looking down at the man, pity flared in your chest. “Should we kill him, or let him go? I’m letting you make the call.” What kind of question was this? Who were these guys? The choice wasn’t very difficult, you’d be a hypocrite if you did otherwise, and you weren’t compromising your promise on the off chance these guys might not like your opinion. 

You handed the gun back to Dutch. 

“Just because he’s an asshole, doesn’t mean he deserves to die. Let him go.” Dutch was intrigued by your answer. He looked over to Arthur with a smirk.

“I think I like kid!” 

“Please don’t call me ‘kid.” You requested. Arthur pulled the man to his feet and threw him outside.

“Get outta here before he regrets it.” The man darted into the snow, leaving a trail behind him. 

“Grab the horse, Arthur. We gotta get something out of this.”  You were lead outside to find a horrific scene, bodies were strewn about the snowy landscape. Whoever these guys were, they were not to be trifled with. You should play this safe. 

There was a house not too far away, the snow was dense. It was more than freezing. You sent a glare to the horse Arthur led past you. You’ll pay for this, you dumb fucking horse. With your adrenaline dying down, your whole being felt frozen. 

“Normally, I wouldn’t be one for disrupting dead for anything other than money, but you’ll die out here without something warm, Mr. West.” Dutch gestured to one of the several bodies riddled through the snow. You swallowed the lump in your throat, trying your best not to think about how you were robbing from dead people. It wouldn’t be the first time, but you still didn’t feel good about it. You separated from him and carefully stepped around the bodies littered in the snow. You found a man with his face in the snow, you pretty much picked him so you wouldn’t have to see his face as you stripped him of his coat. It didn’t look particularly warm initially, but anything would be better than this. The arms bent limply back as you peeled the sleeves away. Luckily upon further inspection, you were happy to learn there was a sort of wool lining inside, that would at least help insulate your own body heat. A sudden commotion broke out from inside the rustic home. A man yelling for Dutch and a woman screaming. Your instincts made you spring into action, you lept through large portions of the snow to make it to the steps faster and before you knew it you were bursting through the door. A blonde man wearing another cowboy-looking hat was chasing a woman around a table. 

“What the hell are you doing, Micah?” Arthur questioned as him and Dutch followed you in. 

“We got a feisty one over here, boys!” He hollered. Oh, you were not comfortable with this type of language.

“Stop chasing the poor woman, ya moron!” He warned with more intensity. You weren’t gonna see this go down, that’s for sure. You ran up behind the man called Micah, grabbed his collar, and used his weight to pull his back towards you, and then to the ground. His body slammed, he let out a surprised yelp, followed by a pained groan.

“Fucking sicko! Stop chasing her around, she’s scared!” 

“Get out of my house!” The woman bellowed. Admittedly, you had no idea what was going on, but you knew you could at least try and defuse the situation. You put your hands up to appear less threatening. 

“Miss, I don’t know who you are or what in God’s name is going on, but I promise I am not here to hurt you.” You spoke to her in a calm voice. Whatever was going on, it clearly had her frazzled. “I don’t have any weapons, and I don’t make it habit of hurting people who don’t need hurting. You clearly have been hurting for no reason. Can you explain to me what’s happened so that I can help you with this situation?” You took a cautious step around the table to make sure she wouldn’t dart away from you, you kept steady eye contact. 

“They…they killed my husband a few days ago! They took over my home and locked me in the basement!” She wept. Maybe these O’Driscolls were the ones to stow you in the barn, they sure seemed like the type with this new information. 

“I’m so sorry for your loss, ma’am. I can assure you that those men won’t be bothering you anytime soon. Can you-“ You heard glass shatter, looking over, you found Micah scattering to his feet, fire was spreading from the floor to the wall at an incredible rate. It was already crawling up the right-side wall before you had a chance to react. There was no way you could put that out by yourself, and the others weren’t exactly jumping at the chance to help you. You settled on running to grab some blankets from the bed across the room. The boys were leading the woman out of the house and she reluctantly followed. Micah sent you a glare as you passed him out of the house. “Oh, don’t you look at me like that, you weren’t any help!” You knew you should keep your mouth shut, but you knew you were right on this one. The group was walking toward some horses, you followed behind. 

“Micah, lead the horse back to camp.” You handed the blankets to the woman. 

“Thank you.” She seemed genuine but was also hurt by your sentiments.

“It’s no problem, ma’am.”

“Adler, Sadie Adler is my name.” She wrapped herself in the blankets.

“Well, it’s no problem, Mrs. Adler. It’s the bare minimum to what I could’ve done.” You hoped whatever camp Dutch mentioned was close by. This cold was blistering. 

“Mrs. Adler, you may ride with me, we’ll get you back to people who can help.” Dutch hopped up onto a white horse, lending a hand for Sadie to pull herself up. “Arthur, please take our new friend with you. I don’t think he’s in any shape to be riding.” Arthur nodded, heaving himself with ease onto a spotted mare? You couldn’t tell if it was a girl, but you just got that vibe. He did not give you a hand. Oh yeah, I’m a dude. A manly man. You gripped the back of the saddle and used all the arm strength you had to get onto the bare back on the horse. You hoped this ride wasn’t going to be too bumpy because you were not about to get punched because you had to grab onto this man and couldn’t tell if someone was a homophobe or not. You sure hoped these people weren’t, but you weren’t exactly in the position to be picky. 

“Pearson’s not gonna happy about this.” Arthur mentioned as the horses pushed forward.

“Mr. Pearson isn’t happy about anything except his drink. He’ll be alright.” Now seemed like a good a time as any to start asking questions. They couldn’t go anywhere away from you at the moment. 

“Not to interrupt or anything, but could someone tell me where I am, or what day it is. Could someone please tell me what the deal is?”

“We’re north of New Hanover if the maps are correct. We’re planning to head down there as soon as this winter passes. God knows how long that’s gonna take.” Dutch complained. You had never heard of New Hanover, but apparently it was winter. Maybe you really did get shot, put into a hospital maybe? Then these guys… You panicked for a second. O’Driscoll wasn’t another name for them was it? It didn’t make much sense but no one else would put this much effort into stealing you away. “As for the day, I couldn’t tell ya exactly. It’s winter in the year of our Lord 1899.” He laughed. What?

“What?”

“Ah, just bit of a joke, son. We live in dark times. We’re hurtling straight into a new century.” Wait was he joking or not joking?

“It’s 1899?” You tried to keep your voice neutral, but he seemed to pick up on your worry.

“Yes, it is, son.” He paused. “Are you alright?” You were anything but alright. These people are crazy, I’m trapped on a mountain with some insane cultists who think they’re in the 19th century, I’m fucked. “Arthur, we need to hurry, the boy’s looking pale.” 

Your head felt fuzzy, colors were blurring together. I am not stuck on a god damn mountain in 1899, I’m not, that’s physically impossible. This is all a dream, or some weird set up. You felt like you were 19 again, disconnected, afraid, losing it. You weren’t gonna go back there again, you wouldn’t! You didn’t know you had stopped breathing. You didn’t feel Arthur’s arm catching you so you wouldn’t get trampled. Everything was black. 

[itsjustmyfantasyroom]

Hot Christmas.

For @thatesqcrush​ Holiday B!ngo: Naughty or nice.

Pairing: Rafael Barba x reader

Square: Mistletoe 

WC: 1601

Warnings: Summer Smut

This is dedicated to my darling @beccabarba ​ who planted this idea in the first place to remind you all that in my part of world while you are all freezing your bits off- mine are melting off.

Enjoy x

Rafael wasn’t quite sure what he was going to be in for. He looked up the weather the week before you guys flew out and almost wanted to cancel the trip based on that alone. As much as he liked summer more than winter, a Manhattan summer was going to be nothing compared to this and the hot Christmas, he was going to be in for a real treat. But it all that melted away in the early hours of the sunny morning when the plane tipped in for a landing and he looked out the window seeing the sun shining down on the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera house. His breath was taken away at the pure beauty of the shine of the water and the perfect white sails on the Opera house,

“I told you it was beautiful” You squeezed Rafael’s knee looking at the smile on his face.

You were Australian born, but your family moved to Manhattan when you were almost a teen. Your Dad took a job offer and the family never moved back planting their roots in New York. As a family you did try to come back every year, but as you got older and your grandparents passed there was really no need. Then once you became a police officer and then an SVU Detective you didn’t know what free time was anymore.

You and Rafael had been together coming on two years and this year you both had the same time off at Christmas, unlike last year. Your parents were off travelling around Europe and Lucia was looking after children from her school whose parents had to work over Christmas. So when you suggested that you go away for Christmas and suggested to come to Australia, Rafael was all for it. He loved when your Aussie accent slipped out through your thick American one, especially when he was kissing up your thigh or when you snapped at a perp. He had learnt all your Aussie slang words and loved the Australian songs you had introduced him too.

The first week had been filled with everything beautiful the country had to offer, including the 104 F days. A day trip the Canberra and the Blue Mounties, showing him what going to the bush actually looked like , the days around the city and another day trip to a wild life park to see kola’s and kangaroo’s. You showed Rafael Centre Point Tower, Queen Victoria building and took him on the ferry to Manly for fish and chips and a day at the beach.

It was Christmas Eve and you sat on the outside of the ferry on the way back to the hotel the wind brushing against your skin and the smell of salt water, both deciding room services was the go to that night after a big day out at the beach in the heat. Rafael had his arm round you, dressed in shorts and a tank top. You could see the tan of his skin slightly darker than usual after the day,

“Would you ever move back?” Rafael looked out over the water as the ferry moved over it, passing Luna Park.

“It’s a beautiful country, but-no. My life is in Manhattan, my job, my friends, you” you kissed his cheek.

“What if I moved here with you” Rafael looked at you with a smirk.

“Rafi there is no way you could handle this heat every year” You giggled.

“Yeah you’re right” He wiped his sweaty forehead with the back of his hand.

You had gone to bottle shop just up the street from the hotel just to grab some before dinner drinks after a shower, while Rafael freshened up. You grabbed a bottle of scotch that Rafael had tried one night at Star City casino and a bottle of Australian moscato, making a mental note to grab some bottles to take back home for yourself, Liv, Amanda and Sonny. As you walked around the bottle shop there was a spinning shelf with different kinds of Australian Christmas decorations, mostly Aussie animals with Christmas hats. You grabbed a kangaroo and a kola for your tree at home. You spun it and fake green leaves caught your attention.  On closer inspection, it was traditional mistletoe mixed with eucalyptus leaves. You picked one up walking to the counter to pay.  

You opened the door to your hotel room, the TV blaring with a movie that looked like Muriel’s wedding. Rafael was sitting out on the balcony of your room on a chair from your small dining table, his legs resting on the wall of the balcony in front of him, just in boxers and a clean tank top looking out over the dark harbour seeing the lights of the Harbour bridge flicker feeling the heat of the night. You sat the bottles of alcohol down on the table and found the mistletoe in the bag, holding your hand behind your back as you walked out to him.

“Back Rafi” you walked to stand next to him as he reached up to squeeze the top of your thigh and then patted his lap for you to sit.

Rafael noticed that your hand was behind your back and tilted his head to look and see what it was

“What have you got there Hermosa?” he raised an eye brow at you.

You moved your arm to reach up over your heads, the mistletoe in your hand. Rafael looked up and chuckled,

“Is that a mistletoe in eucalyptus leaves” he raised an eye brow at you with a smirk.

“It is, Merry Christmas Rafi” you lent down to peak him on the lips, his hands moving to your hips.

“Merry Christmas mi Amor- but you know” he licked his lips “If you wanted a kiss you didn’t need that” he nodded towards your arm still above you both “You just had to ask” Rafael slide his hand up your tank top over your belly to grab on your boob after sliding it under your bra.

Without losing contact you lifted up off Rafael to straddle his lap dropping the fake leaf on the floor. Rafael was rolling your nipple between his thumb and pointer finger. You reached down and pulled your tank top off throwing it just inside the door, then reached around and undone your strapless bra throwing that inside. Rafael wasted no time leaning forward taking your nipple into his mouth nipping at it then flicking it with his tongue. You rolled your hips down on him feeling him hardening fast, your fingers in his hair running through his scalp.

Rafael pulled off your nipple with a pop looking up at your hooded eyes. You moved your hands to pull off his tank top throwing it on the floor, your hand back in his hair tugging his head back so you could kiss down his neck still rolling your hips down onto him.

“Who would have thought I would be fucking you on an outdoor balcony in December” you purred scraping your nails down his tanned chest, loving the noise your nails made as they ran over his chest hair.  Rafael whimpered bucking up his hips.

“We will have to be quite Hermosa, we don’t need complaints to the front desk- take you shorts and panties off” Rafael’s voice was thick and husky.

You stood up making quick work of pulling off your shorts and panties, Rafael doing the same. You moaned looking at Rafael’s naked body glowing in the light from the room with his hard cock standing straight up waiting for you after he had sat back down. You took a step forward biting your bottom lip as Rafael reached out to run his hand up your thigh around to your ass cheek giving it a squeeze and then a light slap pushing you forward,

“Get on mi Amor- show me how it’s done down under”

You giggled and moved to straddle him again, his hand holding himself in place for you to slide on as you sat. Getting on birth control was the best decision you had ever made always being ready for Rafael at any time having a very healthy and active sex life. You started to sit, the crown of his cock parting your lips and you dropped down quickly Rafael filling you up. You started to roll your hips Rafael’s mouth going slack, his hands moved to your hips gripping tight guiding your hips faster.

Your hands moved to his hair line at the back of his neck and you lent forward, your chest on his as you started to suck on his sweet spot just below his ear. Rafael grunted pushing his hips up into you while you rolled down on him. You knew he was close with the grunting noises he was making so you started to grind down on him harder and faster. Sweat running down both your bodies from the heat of the night.

“I’ am going to come” he grunted out. One of his hands moved down to your ass cheek grabbing onto it and the other found your clit rubbing it fast. You moaned into his neck your body shaking as your pleasure washed over you. “Y/N” Rafael moaned as he bucked up one last time and with a low roar you felt Rafael’s release coating your inner walls. Both breathless and sweaty, you lent back your lips meeting his for a soft kiss,

“Merry Christmas Rafi, I love you” you kissed his nose.

“I love you mi Amor Merry Christmas”

Tags: @detective-giggles​ @thatesqcrush​ @beccabarba​ @the-baby-bookworm​ @dianilaws​ @scarletsoldierrr​ @permanentlydizzy​ @lv7867​ @averyhotchner​

[smolbeandrabbles]

Winter Night - Malcolm Bench x Reader (Vertical Limit)

Holiday Fic 2! ⛄⛄

@wltz-bby​ @happyskywhale​

Author’s Note: @mandy23b​ I know you still have to get to the end of this week to finish your finals. But Congratulations on your graduation! 🎉

I’m so proud of you - And I know I keep telling you that, but I’m just going to keep telling you!

Thank you for requesting - here’s some Malcolm for you, as a treat 😉😘

Disclaimer: Vertical Limit Not Mine / Basically a massive excuse to have 4000 words of banter / you better believe I got Tom McLaren in here / gifs and lyrics not mine

Premise: Malcolm Bench is back from K2 for winter break. You love snow, having to work in it 24/7 he does not - today you’re determined to change his mind...

Words: 4133

Warnings: swearing / sexual connotations

____

Have you seen the mistletoe? It fills the night with kisses Have you seen the bright new star? It fills your heart with wishes Have you seen the candlelight? It shines from every window Have you seen the moon above? It lights the sky in silver

Have you heard the boys all sigh When all the girls are skating? Have you heard the sweetheart's cry For all this time they're waiting?

Green is in the mistletoe And red is in the holly Silver in the stars above That shine on everybody Gold is in the candlelight and Crimson in the embers White is in the winter night That everyone remembers

Have you seen the children playing? Tiny hands are frozen! Have you seen them hurry home When suddenly it's snowing!

---

Waiting for Malcolm to return home from K2 was always painful, especially at this time of year. People liked their winter climbing getaways - but he liked to come home when it was a little too dangerous out on the mountains. He also wanted to take breaks to be with you: although wintertime was not always his favourite period to do so… because he saw snow 24/7 at work. He didn’t need to see it at home with you too. There was always the fear that it would be too dangerous for him to come back, and it wasn’t just the weather patterns there that mattered, but where you lived too. There had been plenty of times when his flights had been delayed, or he’d had to spend time in the airport overnight, because no planes were going to move under any circumstances. Luckily yesterday the plane home had at least taken off, and although the weather reports were all threatening snow storms here & the air was cold, the sky had been clear all day and not a flake had fallen yet. You prayed it would stay that way at least until you got him inside the house. But then you liked the look of the blanket of white across your front yard and the roads. Especially when it was freshly fallen and no-one had walked or driven through it yet. How it looked so crisp and sparkled in the sunshine; it always felt like you were a child again, when you used to play out in it for hours without a care in the world. Nowadays the cold got to you a little quicker, but that didn’t make it any less magical to you. As you drove to the airport, the weather again was interrupting your favourite tunes to warn of a particularly bad storm front coming. You didn’t think you’d greet Malcolm with this information - he’d probably grumble and turn right around to get on the flight back. 

 You received a text that he’d landed before you’d even reached the arrivals waiting area, which meant you wouldn’t be standing around too long for him. Bonus! But as you leant against the barrier you couldn’t help but watch everyone with their brightly coloured signs - awaiting the arrival of family and partners. You thought back to the day previous; all the girlfriends of everyone up on K2 had their own texting group and you all found it fairly cathartic to fret together (luckily that was seldom necessary) or share K2 news, or climbing photographs (at least one of you was up there every so often), or whatever you felt like really. And Tom McLaren’s girlfriend had texted you yesterday to let you know her man was back home, with a little note ‘And yours tomorrow! x’. If Tom was home then it really must have been end of season. They were due to get married soon - and their engagement often had you poking fun at Malcolm and subtly dropping hints as to when and where he was going to pop the question. Only for him to narrow his eyes at you and scoff and say “Well, I won’t be doing it like Tom fucking McLaren, that’s for sure!” You could only laugh. You had to agree though, the picture-perfect life of the Colorado Kid was not for either of you. Seeing Malcolm again always made you nervous, and you tapped your foot to a silent beat, taking controlled breaths - you supposed it was the effect of him being so far away for so long. Almost like figuring someone out all over again - as much as it was like no time had passed at all; always so giddy, like it was the first time you realised you had a crush on him. You received relentless teasing about that - probably because the Bench brothers were the two biggest idiots on K2. BUT they both had an insane amount of climbing knowledge, it made for an interesting combination; and you were definitely dating the sweeter of the two. You stood straight, on high alert, as the arrivals doors opened and Malcolm walked through, backpack slung over his shoulder. You were just going to give him a casual wave and let him walk over but his eyes scanned the crowd, looking fairly tired from his long-haul flight - and as soon as they locked on you, he lit up completely. And that cheeky little smile of his had you running - Malcolm stopped, bracing himself for your hug. “Ooof-! Geez, Y/N! Okay I get it! You’d think I’d be away for MONTHS!!!” He laughed so loud people started turning towards you but you didn’t care, you’d missed this goof like heck. And damn, that Australian accent. “Just let me miss you for 5 seconds dammit!” You pulled back with a smile, “Okay flight?” “As good as can be expected.” He checked his watch, “Annnnd that’s your five seconds, so I suppose within the hour you’ll be wanting to get me on the first plane back!” Your face burned; that was a joke one time and he’d never let you get away with it. “Weather permitting.” You placed a hand over your mouth, misremembering that you weren’t supposed to be saying anything about the snow. “Oh.” His face fell, “I knew it was all a little too good to be true.”

“Well, I suppose I should get you home before you grumble anymore…” He gasped, “You mean all that way and I don’t even get a kiss-!?” “Malcolm!” Okay, you took it back, his voice just had to be that loud, “I was getting to it!” You still had your arms around him and pulled yourself back to his lips. It was gentle and sweet and he wound his arms around you too, running a hand through your hair. Although when you pulled back you were a little shy, looking into his big brown eyes, “...Welcome home.” “Glad to be back!” He grinned, stepping out of your arms to take your hand in his, “Ah, civilisation!” You noticed the Colorado accent he put on and snorted, “Is that what you think he says when he gets home!?” “What, Mr. Fucking Perfect? Prince Charming of K2, Tom McLaren? Oh yeah.” “Well,” You shook your head and kissed him again, “I much prefer my little Australian hot mess.” There was a small smirk on his face, “Oh, you think I’m hot? I knew it!” “For sure! You can melt the snow all on your own-!” You winked, knowing he’d love that tease. “Ah, Fuckin’ have it-!” *** He was out of the car and bounding up to the front door before you’d even switched the engine off; you could do nothing but chuckle and roll your eyes. “So eager to be stuck in a house?” “Well,” Malcolm looked up at the outside for a minute, hopping from foot to foot and craning his neck, “it’s stuck in a house with you, ain’t it?!” He turned with a grin as you unlocked the front door, “I mean there’s plenty you can do stuck in a house…!” You gave him a sideways glance, “Give it a couple of days you’ll be screaming and wishing that you’re back in the great outdoors on top of a mountain.” “NOOOO-! Give it at least a week! I get to sleep in a proper bed!” “Mal, every time you come home you spend at least the first few days sleeping on the floor because you can’t get used to sleeping in a bed-!” “A’right, just pin me there-!” You blinked at him a few times as he leapt into the house, “I mean don’t tempt me, but I’m gonna need to tape your mouth shut too.” “Kinky, but I’d do it for you…!” He winked before hurtling towards the stairs and taking them in twos. You sighed, head in your hands. Why did you miss this? Maybe you’d be the one wishing he was back on a mountain… You glanced up at the ceiling - he also hadn’t noticed all the winter decor yet. But you supposed you’d give him time. You always liked theming your house for the season - not just the holiday within the season - and you always liked sending Malcolm aesthetic pictures, where he would graciously (if he was homesick) tell you that he wished he was there, and how pretty they were. Or sometimes just ask ‘what the heck is that!?’ and you’d have to put your phone down for five minutes whilst trying not to give up and throw it all away in a huff. When Malcolm trudged down the stairs slowly you noticed him looking around, although you broke the silence, “Did your brother get back okay too?” You knew Cyril was heading back to their hometown for the break. “Uh, he’s probably still in the air somewhere!” Malcolm leant around the banister, “I’m glad there’s no fake snow.” “Why have fake when you can have the real thing?” “Please no.” “Mal, I already told you the weather forecast says it’s on the way.” He pressed his lips together in his best attempt not to grimace; “Why can’t it be tropical when I get home?” “Babe, it’s wintertime, if you want a tropical vista you shoulda said and I’d have booked a vacation-!” Or he could have asked you to meet him in his native Australia, you knew it was summer there. He froze suddenly - so you knew he wasn’t listening - and when his face lit up you knew he’d spotted it; hurling himself over the banister Malcolm dropped to the floor none too gracefully - leaving you with your head in your hands one again. “My house isn’t a mountain face.” “Duly noted…” He pointed to the ceiling, “That’s mistletoe!” Yes! And mostly because he was coming home. “There’s mistletoe in here!? Come make out with me----!” You laughed as he joyfully whined the last word, and you were only too happy to walk forward into his arms, “Promise no more griping about snow?” “I’ll make no such promise.” You huffed. “Can’t blame me for trying…” He wound his arms around you and pulled you into a short sweet kiss. You were already giggling a little as you looped your hands around his neck, running them through his hair. You supposed it was just because you were giddy about him being home - getting to hold him this close again. With Malcolm’s body pressed up against yours, you were surprised his hands were staying so respectful; but there was time yet! The kiss was slow and soft, his tongue running your bottom lip gently, almost cautious about it. If you weren’t so caught up in it you would for sure have teased him about whether or not he’d forgotten how to kiss. This was your first ‘real’ intimate moment with him for months and months, and you were right, it was about getting to know each other again; even with the familiarity of this feeling. Like a jigsaw piece being put into place once more. You knew you fit right with him, you were happy to be back where you belonged. *** Inevitably his hands didn’t stay put, and you ended up laying back on your couch, his hands roaming over your body. You knew that it would be a few days before you actually slept together: you weren’t joking about him sleeping on the floor. If Malcolm slept in bed he was restless, and there was too much to get used to. Room temperature, mattress, sheets and you… sharing a bed with someone else. There’d be a lot of suggestive remarks and a bunch of almosts, like this one. Or forgetting himself for a moment over morning coffee, where he’d push you up against the kitchen counter - but you had to let Malcolm ground himself back on… well, the ground - a normal altitude - before he’d really be up for anything like that. Still, you weren’t about to lie - you kinda wanted to take that shirt off him when his hands were cupping your ass or grazing your bare skin where your own shirt had ridden up. You’d missed him a lot, and besides having him back, you had none of that other ‘normal’ stuff to get used to. You knew you had to be patient; but steamy making out on the couch was a good substitute, for sure. As you’d been doing this, the weather outside had been steadily changing; and you’d noticed the light changes in the room, but both of you had been far too absorbed in other things. However, when you paused for breath for just a second, both panting - clearly just not able to get enough of each other after months of waiting to kiss again (especially when the lingering memory of the last one was always the kiss goodbye, and hurt like hell) - you looked up to the window and immediately gasped. Flakes of snow were already falling; although not so thick yet, you could already see it settling over the grass and sidewalks… and on the road. You leapt off him, excitement rushing through you as you ran to the window. Immediately full-on child-like wonder. Malcolm stared at the snow for a minute and grimaced, hadn’t he just left enough of this? Why did it have to follow him here!? “What!? You’re kidding right!? You could be making out with me!” “Mal! Malcolm!!! Oh my gosh look-! LOOK! It’s settling!!” Snow had never lost its charm with you. It made you think of too many good memories: staying out in it and playing with your friends and family until your face was red and fingers and toes freezing, long romantic walks you had taken with past lovers, and ice-skating, you’d had skiing trips too, and some of your best snow memories truly were half way up a mountain with the Bench Brothers. But snow meant so much more: cuddling up under blankets with hot drinks and watching trashy movies - or good ones - both with family and the person you loved the most. And you loved those quieter moments with Malcolm too, even though he was so high energy. Those moments where there was nowhere to go, and nowhere to be but than with each other. You were grinning to yourself as you sprinted out of the room and up the stairs. Malcolm sighed to himself: “Oh my god- Y/N! What are you doing!?!” “Getting dressed!” You yelled back, rushing around to pull on a good coat, hat, scarf, boots and gloves. (Only because you knew Malcolm was about to lecture you on safety precautions, even when he sometimes sat out there on K2 in literally nothing.) As you finished getting ready and approached the window again the flurry was crazy - and you could barely see out of it for flakes of snow, building up nicely on the ground. That only made you even more excited, Malcolm looked from the snow to you and back. “Now before you go crazy, just remember, it may look nice but it’s a death trap!” “Malcolm. I’m not 10,000 feet up a mountain in thin air with no oxygen, will you stop lecturing me!?!” “You haven’t seen what I’ve seen! There is nothing good about that white stuff-! Even if you think it looks pretty!” That gave you pause for thought for a second - though truly only a second - had he seen bodies out there on his expeditions? Had he seen people die out there…? You shook that thought clear of your mind, now wasn’t the time to think on things like that. “- Then there’s frostbite! Hypothermia-! Heck, even a common cold is a bad thing; I don’t want you to get sick!” You reached for the door and he wedged himself between you and it, “What about when it pelts you in the face, huh!? Cold and painful! What about when your skin gets all dried and cracked and you start bleeding-!?” “Malcolm. Will you please shut up! I’m not listening…!” You yanked the door open, moving him, “You don’t have to come out, but you’re not spoiling it for me!!” By the time you had run to the end of your drive the cold air was already filling your lungs and you couldn’t help but laugh, tipping your head back to catch the snowflakes on your tongue. The neighbourhood kids were all outside now, parents on close watch, also shrieking and laughing and enjoying the first - but certainly not the last - heavy snowfall of the year. You didn’t know what Malcolm was getting at - couldn’t he just see the good side of snow, for once? You were a far cry away from what he was used to; out here everything was safe. You had a nice warm house to return to, what was his problem? Malcolm stood in the doorway, shaking his head at you and still grumbling to himself about the falling snow, before he closed it to keep the cold out and returned to the window to watch you. But as you stayed outside, admiring the scenery and greeting your neighbours, and passers-by - some of whom were asking how Malcolm was, considering they’d seen him come home (and of course you’d been talking about this day for the entire week) - you started walking up and down, and talking and laughing. Some of the kids were even throwing snowballs at you and you had no trouble joining in once or twice. That laugh was so infectious to watch, the way you lit up like that, the unbridled joy of being able to once again be stuck in a pretty winter scene and reminisce, the cold heightening the red in your cheeks. Malcolm found himself smiling and knew he was immediately done for. “Aw. Shit.” He laughed to himself, “Dammit… she’s gone and done it now…” Trudging outside and pretending that he wasn’t just so happy to see you happy, Malcolm put on his best grumpy face. You ran to him, but couldn’t help laughing at the fact he was dressed like he was about to attempt a summit climb. “Sooo it’s not all that bad huh!?” His eyes narrowed, “You’re kiddin’, I’m worried about you! Helloooo, bad things happen in the cold, weren’t you listening!?” “No. Not at all.” You gave him a teasing grin before trying to kiss that grumpy look off his face. It half worked, and Malcolm couldn’t help but grin before he tried to make himself look stoic again. You looped your arms through his as you walked slowly to the end of the drive and he also watched the kids rolling around in the snow and shrieking and having a good time. Growing up in Australia he didn’t have a lot to compare to this, but he could draw enough comparisons from other childhood memories to know what this must feel like for them. You nudged him; “See! The kids enjoy it, why can’t you!?” He pretended to grumble again, “Yeah, they’re kids. They’d hate it if they worked in it too!!” “I bet if you asked them, they’d love your job.” He laughed, “Great, they can have it and I’ll stay here with you-!” “Well, if you could be so persuaded…!” You leant into him and Malcolm turned to you with an eyebrow raised, ‘just jo-king.’ Although you caught that tiny smile lifting at the corners of his mouth as your joy bled into him. Malcolm could only admit, he was very happy to be out in the snow with you. The way the snow fell and settled on your coat, the tiny flakes in your eyelashes, and where it was melting and leaving sparkles on your skin. You were admiring the same on him; how it settled in his dark hair, and how the ones in his eyelashes were really bringing out that deep brown in his eyes, that were already getting accentuated against that white background. You looked back to the neighbourhood for a moment, glad that the cold could hide your blush. It was very cute; this winter scene just looked like one of those little painted postcards you’d often seen sold around this time of year.  

You didn’t get to admire the cold for long and almost screeched in surprise as you were hit in the face with just a little bit of snow. The cold against your skin was shocking. You spluttered as you turned back to your boyfriend; “What was that for!?” Malcolm smirked, raising his eyebrow slightly, “Oh, I’m sorry, I thought you liked snow!?” You shoved him, which only made him laugh. “Not when your boyfriend is throwing it in your face like that!” “Just admit I’m right!” You swayed backwards, arms folded, look on your face set hard: “To you?! About snow!? Never!” This scrabbling around in the snow continued for a few minutes, until you were both flushed and giggling. You wiped droplets of water from your face, still not ready to concede his point about snow. He knew you weren’t going to either, rubbing the ice from his own cheeks - he was still right about it hurting as it pelted your face, though. You couldn’t help but sigh wistfully as you turned back to him, voice barely above a murmur. “I’m so happy you’re home to see this. And the good things about snow.” Malcolm’s smile almost became a knowing smirk as he hesitated for just a second: “Yeah yeah, what do you really want?” With the snow falling around him like that and the little look on his face, now his cheeks were flushing too you couldn’t help but take the tiny step to kiss him once more. He was only too happy to reciprocate and you shuffled a little closer to his body warmth, already looking forward to getting cozy back in doors afterwards. Even if he’d probably give you some kind of ‘I told you so!’ lecture. Right now you got to kiss him in snowfall and it got to be romantic - no-one's brother yelling at you to get a room, or other idiots at camp wolf-whistling at you (or getting emotional at not having their other halves right there. Which Malcolm said he never did, but how were you to know. You bet he did, secretly.) You just got to kiss him and enjoy the moment, and the soft snowfall. Suddenly you realised that Malcolm had snaked his hands under your coat and your shirt and he didn’t have gloves, AND he’d just been throwing snow around. And you shrieked as his freezing fingers touched your warm skin. “MAL! NO!” But it was too late, he grabbed you, laughing, putting his cold hands on every bit of skin he could possibly reach. You were screaming at him, but also howling with laughter as you tried to wiggle from his grip. “OH GOD! STOP!” You wouldn’t be surprised if the whole neighbourhood was watching you now and shaking their heads, muttering ‘crazy kids’. “Only if you admit snow is bad-!” “Shut up, you are so enjoying this!”

He dropped you back to the floor, chuckling, before he cleared his throat and folded his arms. “A’right. I concede. Probably about as appreciative of snow now than I’ve been in years.” Your face lit up again and you opened your mouth, taking a deep breath for your loud ‘I KNEW IT’ but he held his hand up to stop you, “But only because you’re here.” You immediately deflated, and knew you couldn’t fight him saying something so sweet, instead you punched his arm, “You sap.” Malcolm’s face became unnaturally serious; “You best be careful, Y/N, my hands are still cold!” “NO!” You were screaming again as he grabbed you, but this time he simply lifted you up into his arms, “You drop me in the snow, Malcolm, I swear to god.” “Pretty sure you wouldn’t have a problem with that-!” He grinned; but you weren’t about to let him win twice. Instead you looped your arms around his neck once more touching your nose to his. “Ah-! Now you’re cold-!” But he reciprocated. “I best think about getting you in doors.” “Just shut up about how bad the snow is, and kiss me already!” “Aw, the snow isn’t that bad… really… If I get to share the infectious joy of it with you. And maybe get you warm every so often.” Malcolm grinned, with a cheeky wink, before once more obliging you with a sweet kiss. Oh, you were so glad to have him home.

---

Thank you for requesting!! Thank you so much for reading! 😘😘

[bxcketbarnes]

Assassin-To-Be (Assassin’s Creed Syndicate AU)

Pairing: Assassin!Luke x Reader (1880's Victorian London)

Words: 7300+

Author's Note: so, a few months ago I decided to do an Assassin's Creed Syndicate AU with Luke. Cause his fake death scene in No Shame made him look like an assassin sneaking around. This is my masterpiece. I love it. I hope you do too.

A few things to cover- Templar's are a group of bad people. Starrick is the head boss of the Templar's in London and they're trying to find the Shroud. Which is a giant scarf that provides the person wearing it immortality. Blighters are a gang that works for the Templars.

You and Jack finally moved into the small apartment the two of you have been looking at since you arrived in London.

Although, since you moved here you've noticed Jack's been a bit distant. He hasn't really shown any affection towards you in almost two weeks.

You studied him for days, noticing him coming home late from work more frequently. You sometimes even stayed out late yourself, just to see if he cared. He didn't. 

-

The curly blonde shivers as the wind smack him in the face while stepping off of the boat. His blue eyes look around the area before a sigh escapes his lips. "Here we go," he mumbles and heads towards the stone stairs that lead to the streets.

Henry Green and two other assassins, Jacob and Evie Frye, stand at the top of the stairs and watch the Australian make his way towards them.

"This is the guy?" A scruffy English voice asks and Henry looks over at Jacob.

"Yeah. This is the guy. Luke Hemmings. The best assassin in Australia. He's a key to stopping the Templars."

-

You were heading home from your day at Alexander Graham Bell's shop, always intrigued in watching him work. You met him during your shopping one day, literally running into him and dropping all the vegetables you had in your arms. Since then the two of you have become quite good friends, spending most of your days with him.

You wrap your shawl around your shoulders, shivering at the chilly wind as you walk down the dim streets. You made it to your apartment an hour later and you just couldn't wait to slip into bed.

"Jack! I'm home," you call out while closing the front door behind you. A woman's moan stops you in your tracks and you look towards your bedroom. "Jack?"

You walk towards the bedroom and a gasp leaves your lips upon seeing your boyfriend fucking another woman. Both of them look over at you, Jack's eyes becoming wide as he pulls away from the other woman.

"Y/N-"

"Fuck you," you mutter, feeling the tears come to your eyes as you swallow the lump in your throat. "You're such a fucking cunt I don't know why I stayed with you."

You're seething as you slap him across the face, huffing, and puffing before walking out of your apartment. You cross your arms over your chest as you make your way to the hotel that's a few blocks down the street.

You sniffle while walking down the uneven cobblestone street, being careful not to hurt yourself. You're wiping the tears off your face when a man comes out from an alley beside you.

"Hello, sweetness. Aren't you a cute little thing," his thick accent compliments and you go to move around him when his hand stops you, grabbing ahold of your wrist. "Hold on, I'm not done with you."

You begin to struggle in his grip as he tugs you into the alley before pressing you against the wall. "Please," you beg, wanting to get away from him and he laughs wickedly, one of his hands grabbing my breast. You cry out, doing everything in your power to get away from the man dressed in red. "Stop!"

Luke was running along the rooftops when he heard your voice. He stops in his tracks, skidding along the damp rooftops before heading closer towards your screams. The blonde peeks over the side, seeing a blighter try to assault you in a sexual way.

He growls a bit, growing hatred towards the man in question. Luke flicks out his hidden blade before jumping down from the roof, landing on top of the blighter.

The man lets out a groan as Luke kneels above him, his hidden blade embedded in his chest. "Scum," he whispers harshly before pulling the blade out, seeing the life drain from the blighter's eyes.

You watch with wide eyes before moving away from the wall, needing to get away from here. You end up tripping over your feet, falling to the ground and Luke looks up at you. He takes a step towards you and you pant heavily while backing away from him.

Luke puts his hands up as you continue to scurry away from him on the damp sidewalks. "Hey, hey," he mutters and crouched slightly, "I'm not gonna hurt you. I promise."

You stare up at the hooded man, your chest heaving rapidly. "W-Who are you?" You ask him as he pushes the black hood off of his head, exposing the blonde curls underneath it.

"I'm Luke. Luke Hemmings."

"You...you killed that man," you remind him and his blue eyes dart towards the now dead blighter on the ground.

He scratches the back of his head, his curls swaying in the London breeze. "Yeah, yeah. I did," Luke mumbles and rubs his hands together. "To be fair-"

"To be fair?!" You draw out, cutting him off from speaking with wide eyes. "What justification is there for killing a man?!"

The blonde sighs and looks over your facial features, noticing the terrified look in your eyes. "Yes. When he's working for a sick man and for trying to take advantage of a beautiful woman, like yourself," he explains, and your mouth parts slightly.

"Okay… you're not wrong there, I guess." You breathe out as your cheeks become a bit red.

Luke lets out a chuckle and holds out a hand for you to grab. You look up at him before darting your eyes towards his hand for a moment. "C'mon," he class and tilts his head to the side, "you can trust me."

You nod your head and grab a hold of his hand. Luke pulls you off the ground and you wipe the dirt and mud off the back of your dress the best you could.

"Thank you, Luke," you mumble and he grins, nodding his head.

"Not a problem, love. Just doing my job more or less," he shrugs and you hum in response.

"What is your job? If you don't mind me asking," you question him and Luke sighs slightly before looking around. "Wha-"

"Hold onto me," he states and your eyes widen. You try to form a sentence when Luke takes a step towards you. "If you want to know my job, you'll grab a hold of me."

You swallow thickly and nod once, reaching out to wrap your arms around his neck. Luke raises his hand in the sky and your eyes move to it when a metal wire shoots out from the gauntlet that's on his hand. A scream leaves your lips as the two of you thrust into the air, Luke's hand gripping onto you tightly.

The two of you land onto the roof and you hold your hands out to balance yourself, eyes wide as you glance down. "What the…?" You mumble and look back over at Luke, looking over the clothes he was wearing.

The trench coat has blue accents in it and seems to split into two once it goes past his ass. Under the trench coat was a navy blue vest that was tucked into his high waisted pants with a collared shirt that was slightly unbuttoned. The gauntlet on his arm shines in the moonlight as it stops just below his elbow. Even looking at him you had no idea who he was.

"I'm… I'm an assassin," he informs you while motioning towards the clothes he was wearing. You stare at him with wide eyes for what feels like the millionth time before shaking your head.

"This is crazy," you whisper to yourself and run your fingers through your hair, "t-th-there's no way you're an assassin. That's not… that's not a thing."

Luke let's out a laugh and rests his hands on his hips. "It's real. I'm standing right in front of you. There are three other assassins that are living in a train in London," he tells you and you're in utter shock.

"Wow…" you whisper and tucks a strand of hair behind your ear. "So, uhm, you plan to get me down right?"

He grins widely and nods his head. "Of course. I'm not going to leave you stranded up here," he chuckles and wraps his arm around your waist again.

You grip onto his trench coat, watching him as he points his hand towards a five-foot bring wall. You try to keep in the scream, but it comes out anyway. A laugh leaves your lips afterward as the wind flows through your dark hair.

Your feet connect with the ground and you stumble a bit, grabbing a hold of him to keep my footing. "Okay, I gotta say… that's fun?" It comes out like a question and you chuckle.

Luke smiles down at you, admiring the look on your face. He found you to be really cute, the entire time you were holding onto him he couldn't stop inhaling the perfume you were wearing. You smell like flowers. He swallows thickly and places a hand on your forearm.

"Why were you out so late?" He asks in concern and the smile drops from your face.

"Uhm, my now ex-boyfriend was making love to someone else in our bed," you tell him with a frown and clear your throat. "So, I was walking towards the hotel."

The blonde nods his head, noticing your defeated look and he lands a hand on your arm. "I'm sorry you had to deal with that. He definitely doesn't deserve you from what I can tell," he mumbles and you look up at him, your eyes meeting his blue ones.

"You don't know me, though," you whisper and Luke shrugs his shoulders, dropping his hand from your arm.

"I have a knack for reading people and I can tell that you're a good person. Can I… can I walk you to the hotel? Or, would you… would you want to stay at our hideout? It's very safe. He wouldn't be able to find you," he mentions with a tilt of his head and you stare up at him in shock.

This man you just met. Who kills people for a living. Invited you to stay at the train hideout with three other assassins. You would be safer there most likely. Jack was always the type to follow after an argument. You nod your head at his offering and Luke lets out a sigh of relief, grabbing a hold of your hand before heading towards an empty carriage.

"Hop in, m'lady," he smiles and opens the carriage door for you. You giggle and curtsy before climbing into the buggy.

-

You hide behind Luke a bit once you get onto the train, glad to see no one in sight. "Are you sure they're going to be okay with me being here?" You ask the blonde and he looks down at you.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I mean, I don't see a problem with you staying here," he mumbles and shrugs his shoulders. You stifle a laugh, gripping his arm as he leads you through the different train cars. "You can stay in the room I'm sleeping in. I'll sleep somewhere else."

"Luke," you reach out and grab him, stopping him from leaving the room. "I-Can you stay with me?"

The blonde stares down at you as you chew on your bottom lip, not wanting to be alone in a train with skilled killers. "Yeah, yeah," he whispers and lays a comforting hand on yours. "I'll be right here."

He sits down in a chair beside the bed after taking off his trench coat, setting it on the desk. You slide onto the bed and lie down, your eyes staring up at the ceiling as you try to calm your nerves. "Luke," you whisper out one last time and you hear him hum in response, "thank you for saving me tonight."

Luckily once you passed out you slept like an absolute baby. Nothing disturbed your sleep throughout the night. Not even the sound of the train constantly running. The time was nearing seven in the morning when you woke up, stretching your arms while sitting up in the bed.

"Hell," you whisper and swing your legs over the side before getting up. You glance over at the chair to see Luke's tall frame scrunched up, heavy breaths leaving his lips as he was still sound asleep.

You smile gently, noticing how cute he looks before grabbing your things and walking out of the train car. You quietly make your way through the train, seeing that you guys are almost near the train station in The Strand.

You stop dead in your tracks as you walk by a board with a bunch of pictures tacked to it along with strings connecting to each other. You furrow your brows together, taking everything in when a hand presses against your shoulder. A scream leaves your lips as you're roughly turned around, your back now pressed against the board.

"Who are you?" A deep voice rasps out and you can feel a cool blade press against your throat.

You look up at the man, seeing a scar in his eyebrow and his striking brown eyes. "I-I… my name's Y/N!"

Loud footsteps are heard and you glance towards the train car door to see Luke standing in the doorway. "Jacob! Stop!"

A gruff leaves his lips and presses the blade harder to my throat. "Why? She could be working for him?!" He states and looks over at the blonde.

Your body shakes in fear as Luke slowly walks towards the two of you, his hands out. "She doesn't. She didn't even know we existed!" Luke informs him and Jacob looks back at you, a skeptical look in his eyes before he pulls the blade away from your throat.

"What is she even doing here? If Evie finds out-"

"If Evie finds out what?" A woman's voice cuts him off and you twist your head to the left, seeing a woman your age standing in the room. "Who's this?" She asks while her eyes are set on you before moving back to the two men.

"This is Y/N. She had a bit of a dilemma last night and I offered for her to stay here so she was safe," Luke explains and Evie nods her head, stepping towards me.

"You alright?" She asks you and you swallow, nodding your head.

"Y-Yeah, yeah. Luke… saved my life last night from a-a blighter?" You question the name you've heard him call the men who dress in red and you glance towards the curly blonde to see him nod his head. "I was heading towards a hotel since my ex-boyfriend decided to, uhm, cheat on me with someone else in our home and the blighter came out of nowhere and tried to assault me."

Evie's eyes widen a bit and she rests her hand on my shoulder. "I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" She asks and you nod your head.

"I heard her screaming and managed to kill him before he got too far," Luke pipes up and you tuck a strand of hair behind your ear, the images from last night flashing through your mind. 

"At least you were in the vicinity. God knows what would've happened after he was done," she comments and your heart drops in your chest, shivering at the thought of it.

The train comes to a stop and you move to glance out the window to see that you made it to The Strand train station. "I'm…" you trail off and look back at the rest of the assassin's, "I'm gonna get going. Thank you, Luke. For everything." You smile at him before moving to step off the train. You heading straight towards the stairs that lead to the street when Luke's voice yells to you.

"Y/N! Wait!" You stop your movements, glancing over your shoulder to see the blonde running up to you. "Do you… do you need help finding a new place or what's going to happen?"

Your heart flutters at his words, surprised that this gorgeous man cares about you after just meeting you last night. Or maybe that's just his job.

"I-I guess I didn't really think of that. I think I'm just going to gather up my belongings and head to that hotel. It should be safer in the daytime, yeah?" You ask him, fiddling with your fingers as his blue eyes stare into yours.

"It should be. I would go with you, but we've got stuff we need to do today," Luke mutters and you nod your head, smiling softly.

"That's fine, Luke. I'll see you around maybe?" You question with a tilt of your head, praying that he says he will.

A smile comes to his pink lips, nodding his head. "Yeah, absolutely. You'll definitely see me around Alex's place," he comments and you nod your head.

"Perfect."

-

You rush through the streets of the borough you live in, The Strand, running as fast as your heeled boots could take you. The train station was in sight and you're beginning to feel out of breath from running so far, so fast.

News about a shootout between the Rooks and Blighters roam the streets in almost every borough. What had you worry the most was when you heard someone mention that a man dressed in a trench coat got shot.

Luke immediately came to your mind and you dropped what you were doing to head to the train station, hoping that their train would be at the station. You were in luck to see their train just pulling in when you reached the top of the stairs. You quickly run towards the train, hopping onto it as soon as it stops.

"Y/N?" Evie's voice calls out and you look over at the woman, your chest heaving rapidly.

"Is it… is it Luke?" You ask in a whisper and she nods her head. Your heart drops into your and she motions her hand, silently telling you to follow her.

Your heart beats a million miles a minute as the two of you walk into the room Luke is resting in. You swallow thickly as your eyes lay on Luke who's barely conscious. Evie heads back out of the room, leaving the two of you alone. You fiddle with your fingers before moving a chair near the bed.

Luke's face is a bit pale and you watch as his chest slowly rises and falls. He squirms a bit before turning his head towards you. "Y/N…?" He trails off in a whisper, a groan leaving his lips as one of his hands move to his side.

You nod your head, scooting closer as you give him a sad smile. "I'm here, Luke, I'm here," you mumble and rest one of your hands on his arm, rubbing gently.

The blonde-haired assassin grabs a hold of your hand, lacing his fingers with yours. "W-What are… what are you…" Luke struggles as you watch his blue eyes roll back into his head, heavy breaths leaving his lips.

You squeeze his hand, tears dancing along your waterline as you swallow the lump in your throat. "The shootout has been roaming around the streets and ran here as fast as I could. Get some rest, Luke. I'll be here when you wake up," you inform him and lean forward to kiss his forehead.

Luke hums as you comb your fingers through his curly locks and leans into your touch. "'m glad you're here…" he mumbles before nodding off. You wipe the tears that are streaming down your cheeks while keeping a close eye on him, in case he gets any complications from the "surgery."

Footsteps were heard from behind you and you glance over your shoulder to see Jacob standing in the train car doorway. "So, you ran about twenty blocks to see if he was okay?" He asks and you blush a bit before nodding your head. "You must really care for him then."

"I do. A lot more than I ever thought I would," you mumble and look back at Luke, stroking the back of his hand with your thumb.

"He's lucky to have you. I'm actually glad he brought you here that night," Jacob compliments and you smile back at him, giggling softly. "It's nice to have you around. I know Evie likes not being the only woman, that's for sure."

-

It's been almost a month since Luke got shot by a Templar and you wish he would take it easy still, but he's a stubborn man. The two of you walk down the streets of Westminster and he keeps a constant lookout for Blighters or Templars roaming the streets. You can feel his arm brush against yours every so often and you can't help but blush each time he does.

You two walk past the gate, standing at the base of Big Ben and your gaze moves upwards. "Are you sure about this?" You ask Luke as he tucks you into his side. He glances down at you, a smile on his lips while his ocean blue eyes twinkle.

"Of course, why?" Luke questions and you gently place your hand over his healed wound. His eyes move to your hand and then back to your face. "Y/N, I'm fine. I promise."

You sigh and run your fingers over the spot, feeling his clothing against your fingertips. Luke's finger hooks under your jaw, lifting your head to look up at him.

"Hey," he whispers and you hum in response, your fingers gripping his vest. "I'm gonna be okay, alright? You don't have to worry about me."

"I don't have to, but I do. I care about you, Luke. More than you know…" you trail off and he smiles softly while tucking a strand of hair behind your ear.

"I know how you feel, love. I care about you so much," Luke whispers while wrapping his arm around you, large hand gripping hold of your waist.

Your heart flutters in your chest as you smile up at him. You could hear his zipline go off and your eyes widen. A smirk comes to his lips as you wrap your arms around his neck, the two of you flinging into the air. You breathe heavily as you reach the top, Luke's hands gripping your hips as he helps you up.

Your breath hitches in your throat as you look at the view London gives. "Wow," you whisper and spin in a circle, taking everything in.

"Seems like maintenance broke the gate and haven't fixed it yet," Luke mentions while eyeing the open section. His fingertips drag along your lower back, his blue eyes set on you. "Be careful, okay?"

"Yeah, I will," you mumble while taking a step towards the open gate. The wind blows your hair back and you shiver a bit at the cold breeze. "This is incredible, Luke."

He chuckles from behind you and you look over your shoulder, smiling softly as his eyes are set on you. "I knew you would like it," Luke grins and you nod your head in agreement, glancing back out at the city.

Part of the building crumbles and you're too late to notice. "L-Luke!" You shriek as your foot gets caught in the rubble, your body falling through the open gate. Luke lurches forward and manages to grab your hand before you fell 315 feet.

"I got you…" he trails off, his blue eyes wide and he pulls you up. You collapse on top of him, gripping his trench coat tightly as your heart pounds in your chest. The two of you breathe heavily as your eyes meet, your faces inches from one another's. "I got you."

You close your eyes, letting out a sigh before resting your forehead against his. Luke brings a hand to your face, pushing some of your hair behind your ear. Your eyes flutter open, your breath hitching in your throat as you can see the adoration in his blue eyes.

"You're so beautiful, you know that?" He whispers and you blush, attempting to hide your face in his chest when Luke stops you from doing so.

You're almost panting as the blonde keeps you from hiding, his thumb stroking your cheekbone. The distance between your faces diminishes and your eyes flutter shut as his lips press against yours. One of your hands leaves his trench coat and combs through his hair, moving your lips against his.

Luke's hands move to your waist and grips slightly. Your heart pounds in your chest as you pull away, looking down at him. A smile comes to his lips and you slowly get off of him, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear.

The blonde sits up, his blue eyes looking over you for any cuts or injuries. "You okay?" He asks quietly and you chuckle, nodding your head.

"Yeah, yeah… guess I should've been more careful," you mumble and Luke laughs, getting onto his feet.

He holds out a hand and you grab onto it, Luke pulling you onto your feet as well. "I'd say I told you so, but I'll let it slide this time," he smiles softly and you giggle, wrapping your arms around his waist.

"Thank you," you mumble, resting your head on his chest. Luke kisses your head, his large hands resting on your back.

"It's no problem, Y/N/N. Can't have you dying on me. I like having you around," he tells you and you pick your head up, looking up at him. You melt at the dimpled smile on his face and he takes one of his hands to move some of your hair from your face.

You smile softly and fiddle with his trench coat. "I like being around you as well, Luke," you grin, and the blonde wraps his arms around you again, holding you against his chest.

"C'mon, let's get going," Luke mentions and you nod your head against his chest before pulling away from him.

-

"Why do I have to go to this ball?" You ask Evie as she fastens the buttons on the back of your dress.

"Because we feel that we'll need an extra pair of eyes," she states before pulling her hands away from you. You look at her through the mirror, running your hands down the Bordeaux-colored dress. "Plus, Luke's been training you right? So if we're in trouble we're going to need your help."

You nod your head at your words as you feel a bit nervous about actually having to fight someone who would kill you. A knock on your bedroom door snaps you from your thoughts, glancing towards the wooden object to see Luke standing in the doorway.

Your breath hitches in his throat as you take a good look at him. He wore a striking white waistcoat with a burgundy-colored undershirt, black slacks along with the same colored pumps, finishing it off with a black tailcoat. You can feel your hands becoming sweaty as Evie leaves the room, giving you a wink on her way out.

Luke's blue eyes dance over your outfit, really taking in how breathtaking you look. The dark color really complimented your skin tone. "You look stunning," he breathes out and takes a step towards you.

You fiddle with your hair and tuck some of the strays behind your ear. "You really think so? I've never… I've never been in such a fancy dress before," you chuckle softly and Luke smiles down at you.

"You definitely should more often. I'll have to get you some-"

"Luke! No, no. You're not going to get me anything. When I can afford it, I'll buy some," you cut him off and res one of your hands on his forearms. "At least, for now, I own this."

He nods his head, giving you a small smile as his hands gently grip your arms as well. "Okay, okay. So, I have something for you to keep hidden," Luke informs you and releases your arms. You do the same, watching him diligently as he pulls out a medium-sized dagger. "I want you to, uhm, slip this in your garter."

You laugh softly as you listened to him choke out that sentence. Luke clears his throat as his cheeks turn pink. "Why are you so flustered, Lukey?" You grin teasingly while taking the dagger from him before hiking up the skirt of your dress.

His blue eyes go wide, finding it hard to look away as you fasten the knife in your garter, positioning it in a way where it won't cut you. "Fucking hell…" Luke trails off and looks away from you.

You fix the skirt before glancing back towards Luke, seeing him scratching the back of his head. "How were you so confident kissing me on Big Ben but can't look at me now?" You ask with a tilt of your head.

"I-Because it's not right? I was just taught to treat a lady with respect," he mumbles while fiddling with his fingers. "Don't get me wrong i-it's nice to see you're so comfortable with me. I just… I'm just not used to this I guess?"

You're in awe as you look at Luke, watching him continue to fiddle with his fingers. "That's the sweetest thing someone's ever said to me," you whisper and Luke raises an eyebrow and mutters "really". You nod your head, grinning ear to ear as you take a step towards him.

Luke reaches for your hand, his blue eyes cast down to look at it before lifting it up, pressing his lips to the back of it. "I never would've thought I'd find love while being here," he confesses and the butterflies in your stomach begin to soar.

"I'd never thought I'd find love after what happened with Jack," you tell him and Luke hums, rubbing his thumb against the back of my hand. "Especially with an assassin."

Luke let's out a laugh and shakes his head, dropping your hand. "You're on your way of becoming one as well, sweetheart," he grins and you giggle, shrugging your shoulders.

"Are you guys done?" Jacob yells from the other room and both you and Luke glance towards the open bedroom door. "We're going to be late if you two keep jabbing on."

You bite your lip, glancing back at Luke as he lets out a sigh. "C'mon, we can "flirt" in the carriage," you giggle and grab his hand, beginning to lead him out of the room when he stops you.

Luke spins you around before pressing his lips to yours. Your eyes widen, one of your hands gripping his forearm. It only takes a couple of seconds for your eyes to flutter shut, proceeding to kiss him back. The blonde's hands rest on your waist, feeling him squeeze slightly through the dress.

"If anything happens. Come to me. I really don't want to put you in any danger," he whispers against your lips and you feel his forehead resting on yours. "Promise me you'll come to me if something happens."

You nod your head, a deep sigh coming from your nose as you inhale his scent. "I promise, Luke."

-

You and Luke walk into the courtyard together, the twins walking in front of the two of you as your nerves are rocketing through the roof. A hand slips itself into yours and you glance up at the blonde, his blue eyes already looking down at you.

"It's gonna be okay, alright?" He whispers and you nod your head, letting out a breath. “Do you want me to get you a drink?”

You shake your head, dropping your hand from him before placing it on his chest. “No, no. It’s fine, Luke. You’ve got stuff to do,” you reassure him and he nods his head.

“Don’t forget,” Luke starts and grabs your hand, bringing it to his lips. “If you need me, find me. I don’t care if I’m in the middle of something. Find me.”

You giggle, smiling up at the blonde as you mutter an alright before leaning on your toes to press a short kiss to his lips. Luke’s hands rest on the sides of your arms, his thumbs stroking the skin gently. The smile on your lips widens when you pull away from him, seeing his lips pursed still.

“You are going to be the death of me,” he whispers and you let out a chuckle, fiddling with his tailcoat.

“Go help save the country, handsome,” you tell him and he nods his head, leaning down to press one more kiss to your lips before walking away from you. You sigh happily and bring your fingers up to your lips, the feeling of his lingering.

You watch the people dance from the terrace railing, tapping your foot to the beat of the music that's being played. You smile softly, watching the couple's dance close to one another. It would be so nice to dance. I don't really know how to dance though.

"Would you like to dance, m'lady?" Luke's Australian voice asks from behind you and you glance over your shoulder, eyes wide.

"Luke," you giggle and he takes your hand in his, "I thought you were supposed to be doing something?"

He smiles softly and you set your drink onto the table as the blonde leads you towards the other people dancing. "Jacob's taking care of it. I'm just here in case something goes wrong, as are you," Luke states while placing a hand to your waist.

You smile softly as the two of you dance to music. The two of you stare at each other in admiration, your fingers intertwining with his as the other rests on his shoulder. "I never would've thought I'd be here right now. With you," you whisper and Luke chuckles softly, nodding his head.

"Yeah, I agree. I mean I probably would've ended up here since it's my job, but I never thought I'd be dancing with the girl I fancy," he states and your heart flutters, still in awe after hearing it a second time. "On a more serious note… you think you'd want to train to become an assassin after all of this?"

You look up at him with wide eyes, halting your movements and he stumbles a bit. His blonde curls bounce a bit as he regains his footing. "Are… are you serious?" You ask and Luke grins ear to ear, nodding his head.

"Absolutely, sweetheart."

"Holy shit…" you trail off and Luke chuckles, tucking some hair behind his ear. "I- Yeah, that would be awesome!"

He smiles softly before dipping down, pressing his pink lips against yours. You couldn't help but smile into the kiss, your fingers going into his hair when you felt a pair of eyes on you. You pull away from Luke, glancing to your left and your breath hitches in your throat at the man who's staring at the two of you from afar.

W-What is he doing here? And why's he wearing Templar gear? 

Luke notices something in the corner of his eye and glances up at the building, seeing Jacob on the roof as the other assassin raises his hand. He nods his head before looking back down at you. "Sweetheart," he starts but stops as he detects the fear on your face. "What's wrong?"

"Jack's here," you whisper, tearing your eyes away from your ex to look up at Luke.

"What?! Where?" He asks while looking around. You grab his chin, turning his face in the direction your ex is standing as he chats with another Templar.

"There."

He curses softly, his large hands running up your arms. "Okay, I need to go help Jacob, uhm," Luke pauses and turns his attention to you, "stay out of sight from him. Do anything you can to not let him near you."

You nod your head, swallowing the lump in your throat. Luke caresses your cheek before kissing it softly. "Be safe," you mumble as he begins to walk away. He smiles softly, nodding his head as his heart pounds in his chest as he looks you over.

"I will. Same goes to you."

-

The last thing you expected was to find your ex-boyfriend at the ball, walking around proudly in his Templar uniform. You did your best to stay away from him, but you started to worry about Luke, Jacob, and Evie when they haven't come back yet and it's been over an hour and a half since they left.

You chew on your nails when looking out towards the trees and begin to panic when you feel Jack's eyes on you.  You quickly take a glance his way to see him and another Templar eyeing you while your ex points in your direction. You start to walk away from them and head out towards the ruins, keeping a lookout through the corner of your eye. When the two men began to follow is when you went into full-blown panic, walking a bit faster towards where Luke is.

You hike your dress up a bit, closing the distance between you and the ruins. You glance back once more to just see Jack following you still and when a smirk forms on his lip is when you decide to break out into a sprint.

You were running through the grounds of the Palace, breathing heavily as you continue to hear his heavy footsteps running behind you. "C'mon, Y/N, stop running from me," he calls out from behind you and your heart pounds in your chest. You trip over a rock, catching yourself before you fall over.

You can see Luke standing about 100 yards in front of you, fighting a few Templars that are guarding the opening to the ruins. A grunt leaves your lips as Jack tackles you to the ground. You end up flipping over, trying to kick him off of you when he lands a punch to your ribs. A yelp leaves your lips, pressing your hands to his chest before kicking his kidney.

"Get off of me!" You yell and kick him in the kidney once more. You flip onto your stomach and your eyes meet Luke's for a second when a sharp pain travels up your back.

A scream leaves your lips as you feel Jack pull the knife from your back before flipping you over. Luke lets out a gasp as he watches the Templar straddle your chest. "Y/N!" The blonde yells and assassinates both of the men beside him.

"It's such a shame that you have to die," Jack tsks as you did everything you could to get him off of you. The knife he's holding almost pierces through your chest when Jack was tackled off of you.

You gasp and since as you lean on your left hand, watching Luke shove his blade into your ex-boyfriend's chest. A surge of pain shoots up your back and a shriek leaves you lips, falling back onto the grass. "L-Luke!" You call out and the blonde glances over his shoulder, seeing you arch your back off the ground and your chest heaving.

Luke rushes over to you and lifts you off the ground. "C'mon," he starts and wraps an arm around your waist. You let out a grunt, gripping onto his trench coat as the two of you trudge towards the main gate. "We need to get you to Miss Nightingale."

"B-But the shroud…" you trail off, feeling yourself getting weaker as Luke hushes you. You almost trip as you get closer to the exit, a cry leaving your lips.

"Jacob and Evie will take care of it. I'm not losing you," the blonde assassin states before stopping, lifting you completely in his arms as he carries you bridal style towards an empty carriage.

-

You smile as you watch your little girl run around the living room of Luke’s home. The blonde curls on her head bouncing as giggles. Evelyn picks up one of her toys, shaking it in her tiny hands before tumbling back towards you. “Hi, baby girl,” you grin and pick her up from her spot. “Wanna go find daddy?”

She lets out a squeal, clapping her hands together as the two of you head further into the house. You walk into the kitchen to see your husband cooking lunch, the smell of the beef he’s sauteing starts to make you hungry. “Hi, loves,” Luke greets and peers over his shoulder. You smile at him, walking up to him and pressing a kiss to his cheek. Luke bends down to kiss your lips before moving his attention to his daughter. “Hi, Eve!”

 Evelyn smiles at the blonde, reaching out to him and Luke pulls away from the stove as you hand her to him. You continue making the beef patties that are in the pan while Luke places a kiss all over Evelyn’s face, her squeals echoing off the walls of the kitchen. You pull the pan off the burner when they were done, setting the two and a half patties onto a plate. “Luke, can you get the highchair for her?” You ask and he nods his head, walking into the other room with her in his arms.

You cut up the half patty, making it small enough for Eve to eat when a knock on the front door reaches your ears. “Sweetheart, can you get that?” Luke calls out.

“Yeah!” You answer and place the fork and knife down before walking towards the door. You open the door to see three men standing on the porch, all dressed up in Assassin gear. They look at you confused as you give them a smile. “Luke! I think it’s for you.”

Your blonde husband talks nonsense to your daughter while walking towards you. “Who is-” Luke starts but cuts himself off as his blue eyes catch sight of his three friends. “Guys, hey! What are you doing here?”

The brunette scratches his neck and chuckles, “well, we heard you were back in town and decided to stop by. You know… since it’s been a decade since we’ve seen you,” he explains and the smile on his lips falls.

“Yeah, I’m sorry. I meant to send letters but the job in London took up a lot of my time and then I was training her afterward,” Luke mumbles and glances down at you. “Uh, Y/N, these are my fellow assassin friends, Calum, Michael, and Ashton. Guys, this is my wife Y/N and our child, Evelyn.”

You give the three men a small wave and they do the same. “Do you guys wanna come in? We just made lunch and if you’re hungry I can cook up a few more,” you smile, and the other blonde grins.

“I don’t know about Ashton or Cal, but I could eat,” Michael states and walks into the house. You let out a chuckle as he and Luke head back into the kitchen. You motion for the other two to come in and you close the door after they come inside.

“It’s nice to finally meet you guys. Luke talked about you all a lot,” you smile and Calum smiles down at you.

“Of course he did. I only wish we knew about you,” he states while the three of you head into the kitchen to see Luke already cooking the other patties as Evelyn sits in her highchair.

“Well, there’s no time like the present,” you grin and sit in the chair beside your little girl, your heart fluttering at the scene in front of you. You never thought this was the future you were going to bestow and you were not complaining. I love my little family.

-

Taglist: @galcalirwin​ @sexgodashton​ @frontmanash​ @philthepegacorn​ @talkfastromance4​ @mysticalhood​ @myloverboyash​ @maluminspace​ @h0tsos​ @itsasadfishworld​ @tea4sykes​ @gigglyirwin​ @thebookamongmen​ @bloodmoonashton​ @here-for-the-uproars​ @g-l-pierce​ @abb-lan-5sos​

[pixiegrl]

The Monster Mash, It Was a Graveyard Smash

This was a Halloween fic for the 5SOS Halloween Fic Event organized by @ashesonthefloor! Thank you for doing this! I had alot of fun writing this fic. Shout out to Liz for editing! And Mel for being my hype woman and letting me bounce ideas off you!

The prompt was: "That's not a Halloween costume? You actually look like that??" (could be fangs, horns, wings, literally whatever supernatural element you want) Or one person has supernatural aspects and spends Halloween night with the other person. The other doesn't realize it's not a costume until they're gold/the next day/whatever you decide to do"

It’s also on ao3 at: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27262129/

Luke is regretting his decision to tell Michael that he would get the decorations for their apartment. He only agreed because Michael loves Halloween, but he cannot be trusted to do the shopping. He’ll buy everything in the store and then will they not only have money, Luke will have to spend the whole month being terrified of his apartment and what might pop out at him. Michael is endlessly fascinated by Halloween, a holiday fairies don’t celebrate. It’s a human-made holiday, and before they left Australia and their little home clan of magic to move to New York, they’d never encountered anything like it. Even though they’ve been here for roughly five years now and have come to understand most of the other holidays people celebrate, Michael loves Halloween the most. It’s the one thing he insists on celebrating, despite Luke’s protests against it. Luke likes fall, but he doesn’t like being scared, which seems to be Michael’s favorite part. He’s been banned from decoration shopping since the time he hung a skeleton from the ceiling that caused Luke to scream and cry upon entering the apartment. 

Luke doesn’t get Halloween. It’s such a human holiday and, despite how much he likes dressing up and eating candy, he doesn’t understand Michael's fascination with it. He finds the whole thing to be too scary and overdone for his liking. 

Usually, they have enough Halloween decorations for the apartment but, in a fit of rage last year, Luke threw some of them out after Michael had left a fake spider in his bed. Which is probably one of the reasons that Michael forced Luke to go this year. It’s his least favorite thing, having to go to the store and go through the aisles to find something that Michael likes. Luke doesn’t like anything terrifying, which is unfortunately all Michael ever wants. Luke has already had to avoid the fake snakes and serial killer franchise masks just to get to the decorations.

He’s been standing in the decorations aisle for twenty minutes now, trying to decide between the scary decorations (some kind of bloody werewolf head, which Luke thinks might be inaccurate) and the cute ones (a small, smiling purple bat). He’s also partial to the black rose wreath hanging up, but he’s worried Michael will say it’s too “soft” for the scary punk vibes he prefers. He also knows Michael desperately wants to impress his new boyfriend, Calum, with their decorations. 

Luke is finally steeling himself to take the werewolf's head and be done with it when he hears a groan next to him. 

“You’re not really going to take that, are you?” The voice says. There’s an Australian accent there, which surprises Luke so far away from home. So far in New York, it feels like it’s just him and Michael and now Michael’s boyfriend Calum, who are from his home country. He turns, wondering what kind of stranger just decides to address someone in the store and is surprised by the person staring back at him. It’s a rather attractive guy, all brown curls with brown eyes and dimples in his cheeks showing as he’s smiling at Luke. Luke blushes, glancing away from him and back to the head. 

“My roommate likes scary decorations and stuff.”

“Well, it’s a horrible stereotype. How would you like it if someone hung your face up on a wall, full of teeth and blood?”

Luke wrinkles his nose. He’s never met a werewolf, but he can’t imagine it would be fun to have people think that. It’s already not fun when he and Michael meet people who automatically assume that fairies are out to trick people and con them. Luke only did that once and it was to pass a class. 

“I guess. But they are hunters.”

“Please, they’d be much more civilized than that. You don’t go around eating your meat raw and bloody do you? Besides, who even hunts to eat anymore?” 

“Well, what about full moons then? What about a transformation?”

“You mean why do werewolves have to hunt and kill? Maybe they just like playing with their friends and rough housing. They certainly don’t look like that,” the guy says, jerking his thumb towards the head.

“Well, I have to go home with something. What do you propose if you’re so against the werewolf head?” Luke asks. The guy lights up immediately, full of enthusiasm. If he was a dog, his tail would be wagging. 

“You seem like someone who would like something elegant. What about this?” He says, pulling the wreath off the rack and handing it to Luke. In this light, up close, Luke can see that there’s glitter on the edges, letting the roses sparkle in the light. Luke runs his finger over the edge, wondering if he can spell it so that the roses will be more realistic and alive, while still being wholly fake and preserved. He’s surprised this stranger was able to figure out so quickly what Luke likes, but it could be the floral shirt that he’s wearing, too.

Luke glances up, smiling gently to show his approval. The guy grins even wider, dimples deepening.  

“What else do you suggest?” Luke asks. The guy immediately starts to pull things from the shelves, babbling at Luke about how nice the various things are, small smiling bats and little arched black cats. He goes around pulling out the most objectively least scary things that somehow manage to be adorable. Luke is a little in love with this man, who’s dumping a fake candelabra into his basket, telling him that the black and gold looks elegant, but spooky. 

They stop in front of the fake animal skeletons. Luke is a little put off by the incorrect spiders and snakes. They’re not supposed to look like that at all, beady eyes staring at him. The cat draws his attention though, arched back and skeletal smile on its jaw. It looks...fun. Wholesome. Luke reaches out and pets along the back, charmed by how incorrect it truly is, little ears and all. 

“You should get it,” The guy says. Luke looks over at him, startled by how fond his face is staring back at Luke. Luke blushes, embarrassed that this guy saw him petting a skeleton cat. The guy doesn’t seem to care, simply picking the cat up and holding it out to him. 

“It’s silly.” 

“Nothing’s silly if it makes you smile,” he says, holding the cat out further towards him. Luke takes her, staring down into the cat’s little face. It smiles back at him. 

“What should I name her? Names are important you know,” Luke says solemnly. It’s a fairy tradition, after all. 

The guy furrows his brow, biting his lip a little. “Name her Petunia. A nice name for a nice cat.” 

Luke smiles, nodding. “Petunia. I like it.” 

The guy grins back at him, “Anytime. Always glad to help a cute stranger on their quest for Halloween.” 

He walks away, throwing Luke a wave and a wink. Luke blushes, staring down at Petunia. Naturally she offers him no advice in the matter. 

It isn’t until Luke gets home and has faced the ire of Michael because of the lack of scary Halloween decorations that he realizes he should have asked the cute guy for his name and number. Now, he’s never going to see him again. It’s the real travesty of the night, leaving Luke sad, followed around by a little storm cloud as he wallows in his unhappiness. 

***

Luke can’t believe he’s waited this long to buy candy. Usually they’re on top of it, big bags of assorted candy bought at the start of the season, ready to give out to the kids in their apartment building and for Luke and Michael to binge eat while watching movies. However, this is the first year they’ve thrown a Halloween party and they’ve mis-estimated the amount of candy needed. They still have a few weeks left, but they’ve realized that the usual two bags won’t cut it if they’re having people over and want to put it out for the party. 

Michael is busy with work all day, but still insisted that if they want to get any of the good stuff, it has to be done today. So now Luke is standing in yet another aisle of a department store, trying to figure out what on Earth Michael means by “the good stuff.” 

Luke knows that he likes Reese’s and that Michael is partial to anything with mint in it, but Luke’s not sure what else to get. Chocolate and candy isn’t really a thing for fairies growing up. It wasn’t until Luke and Michael moved to New York that they’ve even come into contact with the stuff and he’s still learning what it is that people like. He’s got a bag of assorted chocolates, a couple packs of mint chocolate Kit Kat’s for Michael, and a bag of mini Reese’s for himself, but he feels like he’s missing something. 

“You can’t only be buying chocolate,” A voice says next to Luke. Luke startles at the familiar accent, turning to see that it’s the same guy from the decorations. Luke is dumbstruck by the coincidence of the whole thing. Here he was, sure he’d never see the man again and now here he is, standing in the candy  aisle of a Walgreens and telling him that he’s making the wrong candy choices. 

“It’s you,” Luke says, at a loss for what else to say. The guy grins, all sparkling eyes and dimples. He looks like a Disney prince. 

“I’d ask if you’re stalking me, but I don’t know if you’d be doing that in a drug store at 3pm on a Monday. How’d your roommate like the decorations?” 

“Mad that they weren’t scary. Said I ruined the holiday until his boyfriend came over and said he preferred our decorations to the other things he’s seen for the season. Now Michael can’t get enough of them. Although he keeps trying to change Petunia’s name.” 

“Well he’s not allowed to. That’s her name and it’s the only one she’ll answer to,” the guy says, serious expression on his face broken by the wink he sends Luke. Luke blushes, turning back to the candy. 

“First you judge my decoration choices, now you’re judging my choice in candy. What will you judge next?” Luke teases. 

“Well, you pick scary decorations and now chocolate. I’m starting to think you have a vendetta against werewolves.” 

Luke scoffs, trying to put on an air of disbelief. “Come on, you don’t really think werewolves are real.” 

“It is Halloween season. Anything is possible.” He grins. Luke notices his teeth look a little sharper than most people’s, but doesn’t think anything of it. 

“What else am I supposed to buy if not for chocolate? It’s a staple of the season.” 

The guy furrows his brow, turning to look at the shelves of candy. He snaps his fingers and leans down, grabbing a bag of what looks like sour gummies. He tosses the bag into Luke’s basket. 

“Oh, so werewolves don’t like chocolate, but they like candy that hurts to eat.” 

“If werewolves are part dog, they’d have chocolate allergies. Sour candy is safe and allergy free. Besides, maybe they like a little kick with their sweet,” The guy says, winking. 

Is this guy flirting with him? Luke can’t possibly be that lucky. 

“Well, I wouldn’t know anything about that. I tend to prefer saltiness with my chocolate,” Luke says. The guy grins even wider and Luke blushes, realizing it sounds a bit like a come on. 

“Guess you’ll just have to try it and see.” 

Luke turns away, grabbing another bag of sour gummies and putting it in with the others. Luke turns to the guy, ready to ask him for his name and number, when his phone goes off. He shoots Luke an apologetic look and pulls it out of his pocket, eyes going wide when he sees the name of whoever it is. 

“Sorry, I have to take this. Good luck with Halloween.” And with that he rushes out of the store, partially running to get outside. 

Dejected, Luke buys his candy and heads back to the apartment. He dumps it onto the counter, ripping open one of the bags of sour gummies to give it a try. They’re not bad, the little bit of kick at the edge of sweetness is enough to override the loss of feeling Luke’s having in his mouth after the first bag. 

Michael comes home an hour later, finding Luke moping on the couch with his candy. When asked, all Luke can say is that the universe is out to stop him from getting a boyfriend. Michael wants to know what sour gummies, something neither of them has had before, has to do with any of that. 

***

Luke isn’t sure how he ended up here in the Halloween store, but it seems to be where he is. A combination of needing to get away from Michael and Calum’s making out and general boredom has led him here. It’s the last week before Halloween and he’s rummaging through the remains of what’s left for costumes, combing through glittery fairy wings and bad makeup. It’s really his fault for waiting so long to find a costume for the party, but it’s not like Luke actually needs a costume at all. He is a fairy and so, understandably, he already has fairy wings to wear. He has slightly pointed ears and golden eyes and there’s glitter that goes with him everywhere. It doesn’t mean it’s not still fun to go to the stores, watch the teen girls try to look like mermaids and little kids dress up in superhero costumes. Luke just usually tries to go earlier than this because now all that’s left are the rejected costumes and the college students trying to make a mad dash to make something out of whatever is left.

Luke shifts through the fairy costumes so he can send pictures to Michael of what people seem to think fairies look like when someone bumps into him. He startles, turning around. 

The person who’s bumped into him looks to be a guy about his age, with windswept brown hair and large brown eyes. He throws his hands up in mock surrender when he sees Luke looking at him. It reminds Luke vaguely of a puppy who knows they’ve done something wrong and is trying to look innocent. He looks familiar, but Luke’s not sure why.

“Oh, I’m sorry about that. Should really be more careful about where I’m going,” The guy says. Luke perks up at the hint of Australian accent. It can’t be that same guy Luke’s been running into all over town. First with the decorations and then the candy. Is it too much to hope that Luke would meet the cute guy here? What are the odds he’d also be looking for a costume last minute? Maybe the universe doesn’t hate him after all. 

“It’s you! My werewolf decoration and no chocolate guy!” Luke says, grinning when the guy breaks into a full smile.

“I knew you looked familiar! Could never forget a pretty face like that. It seems that fate has brought us together in this horribly placed Halloween store. Ashton,” The guy says, sticking his hand out. Luke takes it gently, letting the guy shake it with far too much enthusiasm for someone he’s only met a handful of times. He really does remind Luke of an overeager puppy. Luke might already have a crush on him, with how cute and happy he is.

“Luke. Feels nice to finally be on a first name basis with the man my roommate has a grudge against now.”

Ashton laughs, a short bark of a thing. “So, what brings you to a costume store so late in the season? You seem too put together to have waited until the last minute, considering how detailed you were about the decorations and the candy.”

Luke blushes. “Oh, I have my costume. I just like to come to the stores and look around. There’s something funny about going to a Halloween store so late and seeing the chaos of it all. Besides, it can never hurt to have too many accessories for a look. Who would wait this long anyway?”

Ashton laughs, “Well, then it seems I’m the chaos you’re looking for. I managed to wait for the last minute for a costume and now I’m rushing to find one for a last minute party. Maybe you could help me?”

Luke’s a little surprised. It’s rather bold of Ashton to ask a stranger to accompany him while looking for costumes. Not that Luke’s going to turn down what feels like a date with a cute guy. He hasn’t gone on a date with a cute guy in ages. Maybe he can manage to convince Ashton to hold his hand. 

“We can certainly try. What are you looking for?” 

“I’m not sure yet. Usually I like to take a look around and see what’s left. Sometimes it’s fun, trying to make a costume out of the things people don’t want.” 

Luke is horrified. “How can you not plan for something like that? Costumes take detail and work. Why would you leave it all up to chance?” 

“Maybe you need to learn to live a little, Luke.” 

“You wouldn’t say that if you knew what my costume is.” 

Ashton looks him up and down and it feels a little like being checked out. He preens a little under Ashton’s gaze. Ashton looks up, blushing slightly when he meets Luke’s eyes. 

“Let me guess. You’ll be a princess. Or a mermaid. Since you are Australian and all.” 

Luke shakes his head, “Close, but not quite.” 

Ashton glances over at the fairy wings Luke's been looking at. “Oh! A fairy. How charming. It fits you.” 

“Are you going to be a prince? You’d make a nice companion for Cinderella.” 

Ashton laughs, “Can’t say that princesses are my thing, really. Besides, princes are boring and stuffy. It lacks imagination and adventure.” 

Luke looks around, “Unless you wanna be a prince or a superhero, it looks like you’re out of luck shopping at this place. They’re almost out of everything since, you know, it’s the week before Halloween.” 

“I know a better costume store a bit outside of the city. Why don’t we set up a day and go shopping together? Since you seem to have a lot of opinions about my outfit, it seems fitting you should help me look,” Ashton says, holding his hand out, raising his eyebrows expectantly. There’s a pause as Luke realizes that Ashton is asking Luke for his phone. For his number. 

Luke can do little else but take out his phone, unlock it, and hand it over to Ashton. He messes around with it for a few moments, inputting his number and sending a text to himself. He hands the phone back to Luke smiling. 

“There. Now you have my number. Text me when you’re free and we’ll set something up,” Ashton says, winking at Luke as he turns on his heel. Dumbstruck, Luke looks down at his phone, laughing when he realizes that Ashton put a little wolf emoji next to his name. He’s really committed himself to this joke it seems. Luke is too on Cloud Nine to think about it any further, going home to proclaim to Michael that he’s finally met the love of his life and that they’re going on a date. 

***

Luke has been anxious waiting for his “date” with Ashton. He refuses to call it a date, doesn’t want to get his hopes up, even though Michael has been calling it one for the last week. He’s been talking to Ashton almost nonstop since getting his number. It’s been fun, sending Ashton his daily thoughts and happenings of the day. He’d sent Ashton a picture of chocolate the other day and had gotten a little frowny face emoji in response. It’s terribly endearing of Ashton and Luke thinks it’s funny that he’s so committed to some goofy werewolf joke for the season. 

They’d agreed to meet on the 30th, later in the afternoon after work, which seemed like a dumb idea to Luke, even if Ashton insists that it’s more fun going through Halloween stores to try and make a costume out of what’s leftover. Especially because Ashton insists that the store he knows outside of the city has better things. Luke has been standing outside of the subway entrance for the last fifteen minutes and he’s starting to get nervous that Ashton isn’t coming. Luke’s just about steeled himself to give up and go home when Ashton comes sprinting down the block, stopping directly in front of Luke. He bends in half, hands on his knees as he tries to catch his breath.

“Sorry. I got a little hung up this morning and lost track of time,” Ashton says, still trying to take a deep breath. He looks disheveled and winded, curls tangled around his face and brown eyes wide as he looks up at Luke. He looks like he’s doing his best imitation of a puppy who knows they shouldn’t have wrecked something and now they’re hoping to fix it by being cute. Luke would like to pretend it won’t work on him, but who is he kidding. 

“It’s fine. I was just worried you forgot,” Luke says, trying to keep his tone light and not betray his worry.

“How could I forget a date with the cutest guy to look at costumes?” Ashton asks, an earnest expression on his face. 

Luke blushes, glancing away from Ashton. He doesn’t want to admit how much of an effect Ashton has on him. He hasn’t known Ashton long enough to be this smitten. 

“We should leave now if we want to make the train in time. Your running late messed up our time table,” Luke says. 

Ashton grins. “Who knew you were so punctual? We’d better hurry, then.” 

Ashton grabs a hold of Luke’s hand, tugging him down into the subway station. Luke allows himself to be pulled along, too focused on the grip Ashton has on his hand to pay attention to much of anything else. He’s only mildly aware of swiping his Metrocard and rushing to the right platform for the train. 

They manage to make it in time, Ashton tugging them to an open seat. They collapse onto the seats, pressed close to each other. Luke is hyper aware of how their thighs are touching; they’re pressed together from shoulder to hip. Ashton hasn’t let go of Luke’s hand, instead choosing to lace their fingers together and squeeze. Luke flushes, surprised at how affectionate Ashton is with someone who is largely a stranger. 

“So, how do you know about this place? You mentioned it was a little outside of town,” Luke asks, hoping that focusing on the conversation will take his attention away from Ashton’s grip. He’s never been this smitten over someone who’s human. He’s supposed to have this effect on people, not the other way around. 

“A friend of a friend. I found out about it one year when I was looking for a costume in college and now I just keep going back. It’s nice. They always have a good selection and it’s usually stuff I wouldn’t know about.”

Luke hums. He doesn’t have very many friends here. Despite the fact that he works at a fairly nice interior design company in the city, it’s hard for Luke to make friends. He has to always be on alert about using his magic and about being too open with non-magical people. It makes him worried and anxious some days, especially when he uses his magic at work for little things. Sometimes he uses it to change the color of a couch or curtains when he can’t find the right color. Sometimes he uses it on the room he’s designing, to bring his clients peace and happiness. He’s never malicious with his magic. Despite the stories, fairies aren’t supposed to be mean. They’re mischievous and like playing tricks, but magic shouldn’t be mean. Luke just likes using his magic when he knows it will help his clients, give them everything they want. He knows it’s why Michael opened the little café he owns, started using magic blended into the food and drinks for happiness and easing worries and whatever else he thought people might need. It’s nice, knowing that there’s some way the two of them can help people. 

Ashton clears his throat, drawing Luke’s attention back to him.  

“So Luke, what do you do? You seem awfully free during the day for someone with a job.” 

“I’m an interior designer. Usually I’m working at this time, but sometimes I get a little flexibility with my schedule,” Luke says. He doesn’t mention that he might have spelled his boss a little to let him leave early so he could meet Ashton. It’s not like Ashton needs that information. 

Ashton gives Luke a once over, smiling a bit, “I can see that. You seem very stylish and put together. You would be something snotty.” 

Luke scoffs in fake offense and smacks Ashton on the shoulder, “Well, what do you do, Mr. Big Shot, that lets you leave in the middle of a work day if you’re going to tease me?” 

“I’m a lawyer. Nothing too fancy, I do copyright law and such, but it’s nice.” 

“Well, maybe you’re the fancy one with your high rise job,” Luke says. Ashton frowns a little bit before he must realize Luke is teasing. He huffs, rolling his eyes. 

They chat for a bit on the rest of the drive, talking about growing up back home and what brought them here (school it seems is the answer), and what it is they do at their jobs.  Luke’s so caught in the conversation, he almost forgets why they’re even on this trip until Ashton perks up. 

“Our stop is next.” 

“What?” Luke asks, letting Ashton pull him up to stand and tug him towards the door. Luke doesn’t know how Ashton even heard any kind of announcement from where he was sitting.

Ashton ignores him, instead tugging him towards the door. Luke grabs onto one of the poles as the train slows, still managing to slide a little bit and bump into Ashton. They’re still holding hands.

The train comes to a stop and Ashton tugs Luke out and down the street, pulling them in the direction of where the shop must be. It’s an older looking building, with a sign out front advertising the Halloween store inside. It feels lived in, a product of love and familiarity around it. It puts Luke at ease a bit, convinced there won’t be creepy statues jumping out at him here.

There’s a bell over the door that dings when they enter. Ashton clears his throat before yelling, “Kaykay!”

There’s a thump from somewhere in the back of the store and then Luke hears an excited, “Ashton?”

The girl that pops out from the back curtains is short with bright blue hair. Her face breaks into a wide grin as she sprints across the store, launching herself at Ashton to wrap her arms around him in a hug. Luke doesn’t realize until Ashton tugs his hand away to hug the girl, laughing, that he’s been holding his hand the whole time. He blushes, glancing away.

“What are you doing here? I haven’t seen you in ages,” Kaykay says when she detangles herself from Ashton. 

Ashton grins, “I’m taking a friend costume shopping and thought of your store. Figured I had to show him a proper Halloween store.”

They both turn their attention to Luke. Luke blushes under the gaze of this girl, clearly an old friend of Ashton’s. She narrows her eyes a bit, looking Luke up and down. He must pass whatever test she has though, because her face breaks into a grin and she sticks her hand out. 

“Kaykay. I own this lovely shop. You seem much too nice for our Ashton. How on Earth did you meet him?” 

“Luke. He harassed me in a store about Halloween decorations and now I can’t seem to get rid of him,” Luke says, shaking her hand. She laughs loudly, snorting slightly at the end. Ashton pouts, but there’s a look in his eyes that’s almost relief. Luke tries not to read too much into it, that Ashton’s happy that Luke and one of his friends are getting along. 

“Well, if you want good costumes this is the place. I have it all. Ashton can show you around. Holler if you need anything,” She says, bumping Ashton’s shoulder with a grin as she heads towards the back again. 

“How do you know her? Doesn’t seem like the kind of place for a lawyer to casually be at.” 

“Her girlfriend is my tattoo artist,” Ashton says, heading in the direction of what looks like the magical creature section. Luke perks up, following him. Maybe if he plays it right, he can see Ashton’s tattoos. 

Ashton rugs out a pair of purple fairy wings and shows them to Luke. They’re ornate, large and iridescent in the light. Luke’s surprised by how close to accurate they are, running his fingers along the edge of them. They remind him of his own wings as they catch the light, casting a rainbow into the ground. 

“What about these?” 

“They’re lovely, but I already have my costume. Besides, we’re looking for something for you,” Luke points out, letting go of the wings and setting off further into the aisle. He stops in front of the werewolf costumes, face to face with another snarling mask. He startles, taking a step back and bumping into Ashton. 

“What about this? You keep making all those jokes about werewolves.” 

“You can’t be serious, Luke? I mean, look at it. It’s not even close to accurate. Werewolves are part wolves, they wouldn’t stand on two legs. And besides, they wouldn’t have red eyes either.” 

“You sure know a lot about werewolves for someone who claims to dislike the way they’re portrayed.” 

“I, uh, read a lot,” Ashton says, blushing a bit when Luke looks at him, raising an eyebrow. It’s adorable seeing him so passionate about something. Luke leans over, brushing a strand of loose hair behind Ashton’s ear. Luke feels so warm suddenly, this close to him, casual touches and all. He can’t possibly feel like he’s known Ashton so long, so personally, but he does. It feels like Ashton keeps sharing intimate parts of himself with Luke and Luke’s never been so taken by a human before. It’s going to break Luke’s heart if Ashton figures out that Luke is a fairy and leaves him. It’s happened before, but Luke doesn’t know if he could survive this one. 

A crash from the back of the store startles them both. Luke pulls his hand away from Ashton’s ear, blushing as he turns back to the costumes. He picks up a pair of wolf ears and sticks them on top of Ashton’s head.

“Here, you can wear these instead. Now you’re a cute werewolf,” Luke says, giggling. Ashton smiles, touching the tips of the ears. Luke pulls a wolf tail off the rack too, holding it out to Ashton. He laughs, sharp and quick, grinning from ear to ear.

“You’re really going to lean into the wolf thing, huh?”

“Well, you made all those werewolf comments. What else could you possibly be?” Luke says. He misses the way Ashton tenses slightly, relaxing when he must realize Luke’s teasing him.

“You need to get something too,” Ashton points out. He turns back towards where they came from, heading off in that direction again. Luke follows after him, stopping when Ashton picks up an intricate floral headpiece and puts it onto Luke’s head.

“If you’re going to be a fairy, you need a headpiece. It’s tradition,” Ashton says firmly. Luke doesn’t usually wear any type of floral headpiece because it feels too on the nose, but the earnest adoration on Ashton’s face as he looks at Luke might sway him. Luke nods and Ashton grins, taking the crown off his head and continuing through the store.

They walk around for a little bit, commenting on the different costumes and decorations until it’s late enough that they both realize they have to head back home. They take their purchases up the register, where Kaykay’s standing, staring at the two of them. She laughs, pointing at the wolf ears Ashton’s still wearing, clearly forgotten about. Ashton blushes, pulling them off and putting them on the counter for her to ring up and bag.

They head back to the subway and ride it back into the City. Luke’s exhausted suddenly, tired from the day and knowing that he’ll have to spend part of tomorrow setting up for the party. 

“Have fun at your Halloween party. You’ll have to send me a picture of your outfit once you get all dressed up,” Ashton says when they finally leave the subway, getting ready to part ways.

“You’ll have to show me how the wolf ears look with your whole outfit. Very Teen Wolf of you,” Luke says. Ashton laughs and leans over, placing a kiss on Luke’s cheek before turning to walk away, waving. Luke is stunned, rooted to the spot when he realizes that Ashton just kissed him. Ashton gets halfway down the block before he stops, turning back to look at Luke, red in the face. Luke waves back, hoping his face doesn’t betray how startled he feels. Ashton waves back, turning around and heading off in his direction. Luke turns around, following suit.

He makes it all the way home, still stunned by the turn of events.

“What’s gotten into you?” Michael asks, when Luke enters the apartment.

“I think I have a crush on a human.”

Michael groans, shaking his head, “You’re a disaster fairy, you know that right?”

Luke changes Michael’s hair pink in retaliation.

***

The party’s in full swing by nine. Luke is overwhelmed,  his apartment crammed with people and loud with music. He’s been playing host for the last few hours, but it’s simply too much for him to handle; too much energy to talk to all the people here and smile and laugh, when most of them are Michael’s friends, or people he’s met at the bakery and friends of friends and Luke has had to use too much of his charm to keep up appearances. He’d lost Michael as soon as Calum showed up to help set up, Michael happy to latch himself onto his boyfriend, covering him in glitter and laughing, giddy and excited. Calum is dressed as some kind of Devil, red horns and all, grinning wildly when he’d seen Michael’s look. 

Michael and Luke tend to take advantage of the fairy wings, working them into every Halloween costume they do. Luke tends to go classy with his look, soft fabrics and light colors, trying to look enchanting and ethereal. Michael tends to go the way of a Victoria’s Secret model, short skirts and bright colors. Tonight’s no different. Luke can see the tips of Michael’s bright green wings in the kitchen, where he’s laughing next to Calum, in his black lacy bra and matching lacy boy shorts. This year, he’s wearing a long floral printed skirt, cut high in the front to expose the lace panties, and a matching floral see-through top on, covered in small fake flowers in bright blues. He’s surrounded by a cloud of glitter, sparkling in the light and charming everyone who’s talking to him. Although, some of that could be the fact that his nipples are practically visible in the bra and that Calum has one hand wrapped around his waist, squeezing Michael’s hip whenever someone laughs too loud or gets too close to Michael. Michael doesn’t seem to mind, though, leaning into Calum whenever he does it, turning to kiss him on the cheek.

Luke is hiding in the corner of the living room, drinking whatever cider it is they have and wondering if he can hide from the crowd in his room without being rude, when he hears a whistle to his right. 

“If I’d known you would be here, I’d have brought some flowers to go with your crown,” a familiar voice next to him says. Luke perks up when he realizes who it is. 

“Ashton! What are you doing here?” Luke turns, laughing when he sees Ashton. He’s wearing the wolf ears and tail they’d bought together, a red flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up and jeans. Luke can see that Ashton has a set of moon tattoos on his forearm. He looks like a perfectly ordinary “werewolf,” smiling shyly at Luke as he gets closer. 

“Would you believe me if I said Calum’s my best friend? He kept saying he was going to a party his boyfriend was hosting and asked me to come along, said Michael wouldn’t mind. I have to say, the decorations I picked out look nice. And I appreciate the candy,” Ashton says, grinning as he shakes the packet of sour gummies. Luke blushes, laughing and glancing away. It’s charming, how committed Ashton is to the joke of the whole thing, standing in Luke’s living room, framed by the low lights as Monster Mash plays in the background. He can’t believe a human is having this effect on him; it's ridiculous. 

“Well, I’m glad you’re enjoying the party.” 

“Enjoying it much more now that I’ve seen you. I’m glad to see you’re wearing the crown. When you said you were dressing as a fairy, I wasn’t expecting this. They look so real,” Ashton says in awe, reaching out to ghost his fingers lightly over Luke’s wings. They’re beautiful, iridescent pink and purple, gold glitter shedding from them whenever Luke moves slightly. Luke’s dropped his glamour for the night, letting his ears and noses become pointer, eyes their usual liquid gold color, framed in gold eyeshadow and pink lipstick. Luke’s even wearing the flower crown, soft pink and yellow blending into his blonde curls. He thinks his wings look nice with the gauzy green tulle dress he’s wearing, covered in little fabric flowers. He’s wearing a forest green lace bodysuit underneath it, easily visible through the tulle, and nude high heels. Luke knows he looks good, miles of long legs shimmering in the light, every bit the part of ethereal fairy the storybooks say he is. Ashton looks captivated by Luke, unable to look away from his wings. It bothers Luke a little, worried that Ashton only likes him because of how pretty he looks, not because of who he is.

“They should. I paid good money for this,” Luke says, his usual answer whenever someone asks about the wings. “I should have known you’d go as a werewolf, though. Are the tattoos special just for it?”

Luke reaches out, brushing a thumb over Ashton’s forearm. Ashton shudders a little under Luke’s touch, moving his arm to give him a better view of the little red and black moons. They look like a series of moon phase tattoos. How appropriate.

“You’re very committed to your werewolf joke.”

“Yeah, something like that. I saw them in a painting once and had to get them. I’ve always liked the moon,” Ashton says, voice low, watching as Luke continues to rub his thumb over them. They’re breathing in sync, Luke realizes, connected by Luke's touch on Ashton’s skin, Ashton’s fingertips still pressed lightly to Luke’s wings. Luke wants to make a joke, turn on the charm and flirt with Ashton like he usually does with people, but he can’t find the words. He’s so captivated by Ashton and his presence, trapped in his pull. 

There’s a loud whoop from the kitchen area, startling them both. Luke pulls his hand back, gripping onto his bottle tighter as Ashton coughs slightly, tugging on his sleeve. 

“Do you want to, um, I can give you a tour?” Luke says, voice raising in question as he glances at Ashton. Ashton perks up at that, glancing at Luke.

“Sure. I’d love to see your little home.”

Luke nods, taking the last pull from his bottle, noticing that Ashton’s staring at his throat when he tips his head back. Luke puts the bottle on the table next to them, turning to Ashton and putting on his best flirty smile. 

Luke takes Ashton’s hand, interlocking their fingers and tugging him into the back of the apartment.

 “You’ve seen the kitchen and the living room already. Michael’s room is back here and so is the bathroom and my room,” Luke says. He stops in front of the bathroom door, waving his hand a little to the inside. Ashton steps in, whistling when he notices the floral shower curtain and all the other little flower accents in the room. 

“You guys really like flowers don’t you?” 

“Well, we have to have some nature in the middle of the big city,” Luke says, stepping in after Ashton. Luke closes the door gently behind him, muffling some of the noise from the party. Ashton turns to Luke, smiling. 

“I didn’t say it was a bad thing. It’s nice, sweet of you. Matches your outfit,” He says. He takes a step towards Luke, raising his hand a little as if he’s going to touch the flowers on Luke’s dress. He glances up at Luke, tilting his head in question. Luke nods quickly. 

Ashton grins, running his fingers along one of the flowers on Luke’s dress. He uses his other hand to reach up and cup Luke’s cheek in his hand, humming slightly. 

“Your ears are very impressive. I’m sure Kaykay would love to know where you found them. Your eyes are so golden.” 

“I use really good contacts,” Luke mumbles, turning into Ashton’s palm. He presses a soft kiss to the palm, hoping it will signal to Ashton that he wants to be kissed. Ashton seems to understand, tugging Luke down a little and pressing a soft kiss to Luke’s lips. 

Luke deepens the kiss, tilting his head and nipping lightly on Ashton’s lips. Ashton growls, turning them so Luke is pressed against the countertop. Ashton pulls away, nipping along Luke’s jawline and neck. Luke squirms a little, giddy and excited about the turn of events. Ashton runs his hands along the back of Luke’s thighs. Luke sighs at the touch on his legs, warm through the dress fabric, hypersensitive and hyper aware of what’s happening. 

Ashton nudges Luke slightly, obviously trying to get him to sit on the counter. Luke obliges, pushing himself up onto the edge and tugging Ashton in between his spread thighs. Ashton continues to kiss along his neck and collarbone, running his fingers along Luke’s legs, pressing under the skirt and onto his skin. Luke wraps both arms around Ashton’s shoulders, playing slightly with the curls at the base of his neck. Ashton leans up, pulling Luke back into a soft, open mouth kiss, full of warmth and the sour sweet taste of candy. 

Ashton pulls back, glancing up at Luke. He’s shimmering with glitter from Luke’s touch. His face is full of such wonder and adoration and for a moment Luke is afraid. Afraid that Ashton doesn’t like him at all, that Luke’s just used his magic to have his way and Ashton is going to leave him. 

“You’re so beautiful. I’m going to be covered in glitter forever.” 

“Well, at least you’ll have something to remember me by,” Luke teases, trying to keep the mood light. Ashton hums, running his fingers along the edge of the body suit, squeezing at Luke’s thighs. 

“As much as I love kissing you, I do tend to prefer to take the people I fancy out on dates first.” 

“Oh?”

“Would you maybe want to get breakfast? Brunch? Something food related in the daylight. A proper date. Tomorrow?” 

Luke’s heartbeat speeds up. Ashton looks so earnest and open, glancing up at Luke bashfully. It’s so charming and endearing to see Ashton like this. 

“Of course I would,” Luke whispers, running his fingers through Ashton’s hair. Ashton grins, nuzzling into Luke’s neck as Luke laughs. 

“Wonderful. Amazing. We should get back to the party before anyone misses us.” 

Luke nods, let’s Ashton help him down off the countertop and straighten himself out. He presses a kiss to Luke’s bare shoulder, grinning when he catches Luke’s eye in the mirror. 

They venture back into the party, going off to find Michael and Calum. Luke realizes halfway through talking to them that Ashton is holding his hand, that he hasn’t let go since the bathroom. He catches Michael’s eye, who’s grinning and wiggling his eyebrows at him. Luke huffs, glancing away from him and back to Ashton. It feels right, standing here in his kitchen, close to Ashton. It feels like he was always meant to be here. He doesn’t even mind when he has to help clean up later with Michael, after everyone has left and it’s just the two of them. 

Luke changes and gets into bed, checking his phone before going to sleep, seeing that there’s a text from Ashton. It’s a little heart, message reading Good night sweet fairy. Luke blushes, but his heart soars at the idea of a boyfriend, of Ashton as his boyfriend. He knows he’ll have to explain himself tomorrow but for now, he can live in this little fantasy world where everything is perfect and no one will get their heart broken with any kind of revelation. 

***

Luke is nervous. Luke has never been nervous for a date before. He’s gone out with plenty of people, human and magical alike, and he’s never been nervous. Yet here he is, standing outside of the little coffee shop he and Ashton agreed to meet at, biting his lip and twisting his ring around his finger. He’s bitten his lip raw it seems, too anxious and worked up about seeing Ashton to sit still. He’s been thinking about this since last night, spent half the night staring up at the ceiling worrying about seeing Ashton. What if Ashton only likes him because Luke accidentally used his magic? What if Ashton only likes this magical version of Luke, and not Luke, who’s regular and boring and ordinary? 

Luke doesn’t know if he can take it if Ashton doesn’t like him the same way. Luke’s been known to accidentally enchant people before, put them under a fairy spell, creating love where there is none. It’ll break his heart if the spark he’s felt with Ashton is manufactured and fake. He likes Ashton so much, all teasing and bright laughs, dorky jokes and adoring eyes. 

“What’s got you so focused?” Ashton’s voice startles Luke, pulling his attention to the man who’s appeared out of nowhere. Ashton looks good, with his leather jacket and windswept hair. He looks worried as he stares at Luke. 

“Nothing. Just nervous, that’s all.” 

Ashton reaches forward, grabbing Luke’s hand. “About what?” 

Luke looks down at their interlocked fingers, blushing when Ashton rubs his thumb along the back of Luke’s hand. “Our date.” 

“There’s nothing to be nervous about. I’ve already seen your apartment and I’ve met your annoying roommate. You’ve met my annoying best friend and you laugh at my bad jokes. We’ve already passed all the awkward steps of dating.” 

“Dating?” Luke squeaks out. If he’d known they were dating, he would have dressed nicer. 

Ashton grins. “As long as you don’t order chocolate.”  

He tugs a stunned Luke into the coffee shop, going up to the counter to order them coffee and sandwiches to eat. He takes the number from the girl at the register and guides them towards an empty table. 

“So, if we’re going to date, I think there’s something I need to tell you,” Luke says. Better to get it over with now before either of them gets in too deep. 

Ashton’s face falls, “You know?” 

“Know what?” 

“About me?”

Luke pauses, tilting his head in confusion, “What about you?” 

“That I’m, you know…” 

“A big fan of dogs? You like fairy tales? You make bad jokes?” Luke asks. He’s terribly confused as to what Ashton could be talking about. Ashton’s a human, isn’t he? 

Ashton groans. He leans back in the chair, tilting his head up. “Oh my god I thought Cal would have told you both.” 

“Told us what? Ashton, what was Calum supposed to tell us?” 

“That we’re werewolves,” Ashton hisses out, leaning in close to Luke. Luke’s eyes go wide. He’s completely shocked. Although, maybe all the jokes now about werewolves make more sense. God, the moon tattoos are a dead give away, aren’t they now?

“What?”

“I thought you knew! Not before at the stores, obviously, but at the party. When I realized Calum was dating your friend. I thought Calum had told you both already.” 

“But the decorations! The costume! Your tattoos! Wait, are you allergic to chocolate,” Luke says. The panic is rising in his throat, shock clouding his judgement, glee tinting the edges of his mood. Ashton can’t possibly be a werewolf, Luke can’t possibly be that lucky. That Ashton’s like him. 

“I mean, most humans don’t get the jokes. But I thought you would have known about it. Except you didn’t say anything so I thought you were trying to be secretive about it. And no, I’m not allergic. It's just a funny little joke Calum and I have. And I prefer sour gummies, anyway,” Ashton says. His voice is rising in pitch, worry clear in his face. 

Luke is giddy though, full of glee. This means that Ashton is magical too! He understands Luke. Luke doesn’t have to hide! Luke reaches across the table, grabbing Ashton’s hand. “I should tell you that Michael and I are fairies.” 

It’s Ashton’s turn to look shocked and confused. “A what? Like, with the wings and shit? Like Tinkerbell?” 

Luke gasps in mock offense, smacking Ashton, “Not like Tinkerbell. Do I look small to you?” 

“Bratty enough,” Ashton says, grinning. 

“Well I’m not the werewolf with moon tattoos.” 

“Hey, you’re the fairy who wore his wings as a costume. Wait..that look wasn’t a costume, you actually look like that?” 

“Of course I do! Real wings and everything. What do you take me for?” 

“My whole bed is covered in glitter just from touching you. God I’m going to be covered in glitter forever, aren’t I?” 

“Only if you play rough during your time of the month,” Luke teases. 

“Excuse me Tinkerbell, it’s very rude to ask a werewolf about that. That’s a private and special thing.” 

“Shit, I’m sorry.” 

Ashton grins, nudging his foot against Luke’s, “Nah, I’m just messing with you. You deserve it after all the glitter I found in my hair.” 

“Just for that, I’m going to make sure you’ll be finding glitter all over your body forever.” 

“Forever? Only if you promise to wear more of that lingerie.” 

Luke huffs, rolling his eyes. He lets Ashton reach over and thread their fingers together again, kissing the back of Luke’s hand. Luke blushes. 

“You’re taking this surprisingly well,” Luke says. Ashton glances over at him. 

“I mean, I am a werewolf.” 

“And me being a fairy doesn’t bother you?” 

“Should it?”

“It’s just, you know, the magic thing.” 

“Are you worried you’re enchanting me? The only thing you’ve done is enchant me with how pretty you are. Werewolves are mostly immune to that kind of thing, anyway.”

Luke relaxes a little, slumping back into the chair. Ashton grins, leaning over the table to place a quick peck to Luke’s lips.

“What was that for?”

“You’re just the cutest. I’m very lucky to have such a cute boyfriend. Make all the other werewolves jealous.”

“Boyfriend?”

Ashton blushes, “I mean, if you want to. I’d like to date. Take you out places, cover my bed in glitter, other things.” Ashton wiggles his eyebrows.

Luke rolls his eyes. “Werewolves are massive dorks.”

“Only for you, Sugar Plum Fairy. Only for you,” Ashton says, laughing in the face of Luke’s mock horror and outrage. The conversation ends as their server brings them their drinks and food. They go about eating their meal, Ashton just as messy as Luke thought a werewolf would be.

“You’re staring,” Ashton says, glancing up at Luke.

“Just watching you eat, looking to see if I can see your fangs,” Luke teases. Ashton rolls his eyes, sticking his tongue out.

Luke is content, though, watching Ashton throughout the meal as he alternates between trying to eat politely and then giving up and talking with his mouth full. It’s endearing, Luke thinks, getting to date a werewolf. He’s charming and funny and Luke can’t believe that a halloween decoration got him a boyfriend. He absolutely refuses to tell Michael about this part of the story.

[larryfanficwriter98]

Chapter Four

{ My idea of the flowers, painting, and pearl necklace because I need visual things. sorry. if you don't want pictures just let me know}

Harry was wrapping the framed painting in bubble wrap when his phone started ringing. He grabbed it. frowning when he saw it was a facetime request from Louis. Which was weird for many reasons especially since it was currently 2 in the morning in Manchester. Harry hesitated but accepted it only to laugh when he saw Louis was completely drunk and squinting at the phone.

"Louis.. Louis no. You can't call your boyfriend drunk off your ass."

"Yes, I can. Leave me alone. I want to call him."

"Louis you will regret in the morning and besides you remember our rule. Friends don't let friends drunk call boyfriends. Or text. Or just handle a phone in general. So give it here."

"No." Harry quickly started recording his screen so he could send it to Louis tomorrow.

"Fine. I need to go find Niall and Zayn then we are leaving got it?"

"Got it, dad."

"Nialler!" Louis frowned at the screen and tapped at it.

"Call Hazzy. Call Hazzy. Siri... Siri.. call- Liam my phone isn't calling him!" Louis yelled over the sound of the music and people in the pub

"Louis do not climb on the table. No get down people are going to think you're a dancer with that ass of yours. No, don't shake it. Fucking christ Louis. How you've not been approached all night is beyond me with the way you do things."

The phone was on the table that Louis was currently standing on with a drink in his hand. He was shaking, what Harry now knew was a very round ass as a song played in the music. Harry put his phone against the stand so he could go back to bubble wrapping while also paying attention to a very cute drunk Louis. Eventually, Louis and the others were dragged to a car than inside a house. Louis had been telling the phone to call ''Hazzy'' for the past ten minutes.

"Go to sleep Louis." Liam said as pushed Louis onto the bed, Louis whined as he looked at his phone.

"Siri. Text Hazzy night night xxx. Kay? Bye." Harry covered his mouth as Louis fell asleep almost immediately

"Night night Louis." Harry said as he looked at the phone screen, studying Louis' features. He was cute and breathtaking even with his flushed face from alcohol and the cold wintery air. Harry ended the recording then the facetime shaking his head we he sent Louis the video.

Night Louis xx

Louis was able to not look at the video until he was soaking in the tub only a few hours later. He had woken up puking and he very much regretted taking Niall up on the drinking contest. He had known of course to never try and out drink an Irish, but he had already been drunk and he was stupid when he drank. He watched the video twice, once to see what he did as he didn’t remember anything and the second time to see Harry's reaction to everything.

They had never spoken about what they looked like, but for some reason, Louis was not at all surprised to see Harry with a curly bun resting on the top of his head as if he hadn't brushed it yet. Which no judgment from Louis, everyone has those days. He also wasn't surprised to see he had soft muscles like he was mo muscular, but not buff and not overly so, just enough to give a soft outline of his forearms. His jawline was perfect and he had a brilliant smile and his emotions portrayed in his eyes open as he glanced at the phone regularly.

Louis watched as he bubbled wrapped what Louis was assuming his next set of gifts there was already a long skinny box taped and closed that Louis thought Harry put a painting in. Louis also saw a scatter of fake flowers again on the ground around him. Louis knew Harry from somewhere, he just couldn't place it and it bothered him as he paused the video staring at Harry's face as he looked at the camera. Not able to think too much on it Louis moved on. He got out of the bath and headed back to bed to sleep some more.

***

The next few days were without texting because Harry was going from Sydney to Los Angeles, Sydney was almost a full day ahead of L.A, 17 hours to be exact so Harry took two days, after a 13-hour flight, to settle into the time zone differences. It also meant that Harry was now 8 hours behind London which means Louis now woke up first and went to sleep first, not the other way around. It took a few days to adjust to it, but they did adjust eventually. Louis only accidentally woke Harry up once.

Harry had sent the package of Chinese and Australian souvenirs before he had gotten on a flight. Louis had gotten a notification telling him he had packages delivered at the p.o boxes so after work he had headed there excitedly. He headed to the locker and pulled out the two 20x20x20 boxes then pulled out a 37x4x27 picture box. He put the items in his car and grabbed the note that was sticking out and Harry told him to look for.

Before going home head here if it's before 8pm.

There was an address written in the note so Louis typed it into his Maps and headed there parking upfront of a flower shop. He shook his head as he got out walking inside the.

"Hello, can I help you?"

"I don't know. My boyfriend-"

"You're Louis then. This way dear." Louis followed the woman to a back room where she grabbed a beautiful bouquet of flowers, "he told us to pick them for a long-distance partner. We made sure love was represented too much as he told us you guys wanted to wait to see each other in person. He did say you two were exclusive and committed so we made sure represent that. Faithfulness and admiration as well as honesty, trust, and longing." Louis blushed as he accepted the bouquet

"Thank you."

"Of course dear." Louis headed to his car and grabbed his phone texting Harry that the flowers were beautiful and that he'll send pictures when he got home. He had been debating whether to tell Harry his address so he could just send it to the house and as he struggled to only make one trip inside he decided he would do that.

"Need help?" Liam asked already grabbing the picture box and flowers, "how's the boyfriend? Spoiling you rotten still I see.

"Leave him alone. It's cute." Louis set the box on the coffee table then grabbed the picture box and sat that on top of it.

He then headed to where he had put the vase from Denmark at the end table in the hall that had a clutter of mail, keys, and other knick-knacks they didn’t bother to clear away. He filled the vase with water then carried it to the living room, he put his flowers inside the vase then carried it upstairs setting it on his bedside table. Louis adjusted a few things then took a picture of it sending it to Harry.

Hurrying downstairs he was anxious to see the picture, he had let it slip he liked Chinese paintings when Harry was sending pictures of an art gallery he was visiting. Louis hadn't thought of it, but now that he saw what could possibly be a painting he was a little worried that it may have come off wrongly. He didn’t want Harry to think he only wanted these gifts, not that he didn’t appreciate them and love them, but they weren't wanted.

"Open up the long box first." Niall said eagerly

"I was going to Neil." Louis grabbed the box and broke the tape pulling out a beautifully framed painting of pink flowers and black bark that make Louis smile as he thought it matched his real flowers upstairs. He set it off to the side then set the box off to the ground sp he could open a 20x20x20 box. Ripping the tape he laughed seeing Christmas wrapping paper wrapped around different items. There was a letter there and he unfolded it reading its contents,

Louis,

Do not open until Christmas except the one with the double bow. Open that one on the 24th. I'll be free on the 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th, 31st, and 1st. Make sure to have it set up as soon as you open it for skyping.

Harry xx.

Louis set the letter off to the side and grabbed the first gift with a green bow. He frowned though when he saw it was addressed to Niall.

"This is for you Niall. Harry says not to open it u too Christmas though."

"What? Really? Sweet." Louis handed him the rectangular package then pulled out another rectangular box with Niall's name. "Is he trying to win us over?" Niall asked

"He's just thoughtful like that." Louis said with a shrug as he pulled out two packages with a lighter green bow.

They had Zayn’s name on them so he handed them to him. Liam's two packages had a white bow on them and the rest had red bows. Louis set them under the tree carefully nothing the one package at the bottom had two bows, a red and green. The second box had a few packaged wrapped in birthday wrapping paper with a note telling him not to open them until his birthday. He set them under the tree as well for now then pulled out the Teddy bears for China and Australia.

The China souvenirs consisted of a few different teas for Louis with descriptions of what they tasted like to Harry without anything added to them. A few large paper cuttings with a note saying they are placed in windows in China and at night with a light on it looked " cool ". Louis chuckled as the simple explanation as he set them aside he did like them, the bright red was beautiful. He was already thinking of ways to decorate his room with a Chinese accent wall above his headboard. Next was a Chinese silk wall hanging that was a beautiful blue shade. Following that was some sweats, a few Chinese knots, a box of beautifully painted chopsticks, and then the last thing was a long rectangular box. The sticky note on it read,

I have a set too. I wear mine often, but you don't have to wear them I just wanted to get you a pair to have. Never know when you may need them.

Louis opened the box revealing a three chain set of pearls. Louis grinned and ran a gentle finger over them. He has seen a glimpse of Harry's pearl's over his shirt during their facetime. Louis still couldn't quite place where he knew Harry from and it's been bugging him.

Moving on for the Australian souvenirs the first thing was a lot of T2 Tea products which Louis was grateful for. He loved trying new teas and the fact Harry has bought at least one tea product from each country meant a lot to Louis and showed him that Harry paid attention. After the tea, it was some classic Vegemite with a note telling Louis it tasted like three days old Thai take out that had Louis laughing. There a side note saying no one was allowed to taste it without it being recorded.

Following the Vegemite was some food and snacks, an adorable koala ceramic mug, a 3D Ned Kelly mug that Zayn took and claimed as his own. Following those, there were some kid-friendly wooden puzzles, 21 kookaburras, koala, kangaroo, emu, and crocodile growing eggs for each child and staff member at the daycare center. 25 paint your own boomerang kits for the daycare and the lads that they were going to paint later that night as they share a bottle of whiskey together. Then the last few items were just small Australian animal bouncy balls for the daycare and of course some teas.

"He really likes those kids." Liam said as he examined the boomerang kit

"We both want a big family one day, that's something we have mentioned in passing and he knows I adore the kids at the daycare. He loves kids."

"You two have talked about kids?"

"Not like that, but yes it sort of came up while we were talking about the daycare." Louis shrugged as he put the kids’ things in the box to take it to the daycare after the holidays. Today had been the last day of work until the 2nd of January. He set that box aside then packed the rest of his stuff in the other box and headed up to his room to decorate.

[billyhargroveinaponytail]

“Good ole Dacre Montgomery”

Chapter 1: “Good Ole’ Billy Hargrove..”

Large bright lights covered the ceiling while long cords scattered the ground. Today had been Myra’s first day at her internship and she was nervous. The clipboard she had been given fumbled between her sweaty palms as she was led around the building with her adviser, he pointed out the different sets and explained their importance, the tour ended at a large table covered with every junk food and fruit you could think of. The adviser grabbed up an apple taking a large bite before waving Myra over to join him.

“Dive in, there’s something here I am sure you’ll enjoy!”

He gave her a friendly smile taking another bite from his apple, she glanced around before noticing a box of donuts from her favorite place, a place her family had gone to ever since she was little, it became a staple in their weekly trips to visit her grandparents.

She grabbed a pink sprinkle covered donut while a large hand reached forward grabbing for one as well, she glanced up and noticed a tall scruffy figure standing across the table from her. “Hello there,” He gave a wide grin, before laying his donut on his large plate. “I’m David, you must be the new intern!”

Myra nodded nervously, she knew exactly who he was, David Harbour the actor who played Jim Hopper the chief of police in their make believe town of Hawkins,Indiana. David was dressed in a pink and green geometric shirt that looked like something right out of Magnum PI, she was excited to see him out of the usual police uniform.

Myra spent her entire first year of college binging over season 1 with her roommate,Paisley. She liked a large majority of girls obsessed over Steve Harrington, Paisley even got them matching shirts and posters to decorate their room with. When season 2 finally aired Paisley found herself swooning over Steve more, where Myra found herself falling for Billy’s character, the bad boy of her dreams.

When Paisley first found out Myra would be doing her internship on the set of Stranger Things she went insane telling her about all the things she needed to know about the characters in real life and gave her items to get autographed by all of the cast. Myra was nervous to talk to anyone let alone ask them for their signatures.

“I am the new intern, my name is Myra!” She held her clipboard against her chest, trying to calm her unsteady breathing. “It’s great to meet you Ms. Myra. Hopefully you have a great time here and everyone treats you nice! If not you come find me and I will teach em’ a lesson!” he waved as he walked away, mouth filled with his donut. Myra returned the wave goodbye “It was nice meeting you too!”

“David is like the dad around here, always watching out for everyone and taking care of any situation that comes up! How about a tour of the trailers?” He grabbed a nutrition bar shoving it into his pocket before opening two large doors that lead out to a parking lot filled with trailers of all types.

“Since you will be working with the cast members, helping with costumes and just running errands I should probably introduce you to them!”

He led her by a large black trailer covered with windows that said -Classroom B12- on the front door. “This here is the classroom for the younger actors to get a few hours of education in each day and over here is the costume trailer, they kept every outfit for the main characters and even the background characters.” He motioned over to the tall trailer with multiple groups of people going in and out.

“Hair and makeup are located in the back here and I am sure a few cast members are inside so that will be our first stop.” He walked up the small set of stairs attached to the trailer door,knocking before entering inside. Three chairs sat in front of mirrors, wigs and special effects makeup were scattered across the stations.

In the first chair a young boy with curly hair sat having foundation applied, Gaten Matarazzo, the actor who played Dustin Henderson. He was the first to turn and offer his hand out to Myra after Jake, her adviser had introduced her to everyone.

“I’m Gaten, it's nice to meet you! Welcome to the cast!” Myra shook his hand, she glanced down at his shirt that read -Camp Know Where- it had been covered in what seemed like fake sweat, his face and arms showed the same dirty sweaty look to them. “It’s not real,promise!” He chuckled showing off his adorable toothless grin.

A red headed girl receiving the same sweaty treatment turned and waved, “I’m Sadie hopefully we don’t scare you away just yet! I was new here once and everyone was very welcoming we’re just one big family!”

Myra waved back nodding, “Oh no. you guys aren’t scaring me at all everyone here has been so welcoming, and it is greatly appreciated I have been super nervous about all of this!”

The two makeup artists introduced themselves, Mary and Jane. Myra chuckled a little at their names and they joined along “Trust us we’ve heard every joke you can think of!” Jane chimed in, while rubbing dirt across Sadie’s arms and face. “Do you mind closing that door behind you? The paparatize have been swarming around here like crazy!”

Myra turned and swung the door closed like she was asked to do when a sudden scream was heard on the other side “Damn!” She heard a male scream noticing his fingers slammed in the door. “Oh my I am so sorry!” She quickly opened the door, her eyes locked on his hands. “I had no idea you were coming up the stairs I am sorry!” She fumbled on her words as the makeup artist ran over in front of her with an ice pack. “It wouldn’t be the first time someone has fallen victim to these terrible doors.”

“I’m fine, Mary don’t worry!” An australian accent came from the man who now stood on the other side of the makeup artist. Myra stepped back getting a glance at him recognizing the familiar pornstache that laid across his lip, Myra James just slammed Dacre Montgomery’s fingers in the door, making an absolute fool of herself. Her clipboard was instantly raised over her red blushing face.

Dacre,holding the ice pack to his fingers, stepped around Mary taking a seat in the empty chair. “Dacre this is Myra, the new intern!” He looked up from his hand with a breathtaking smile, “Well Myra don’t you have a way with introductions!” She shook her head, her face going even brighter red now, “Again I am so very sorry!” She rambled on more,trying to avoid eye contact with him.

“There’s no need to apologize, you’re welcome to smash my fingers anytime you’d like!” He smirked a little before being turned in his chair by Jane as she greased back his hair and placed a wig cap on him. “You ready mullet man?” She chuckled, grabbing a wig off of the styrofoam head and placing it over Dacre’s head. “Aw there he is everyone, good ole’ Billy Hargrove! Are you ready for the spray tan now?”

Jake handed Myra a large envelope of paper and a friendly smile as he ended his phone call, “well this is where we part way Miss. I will be just a phone call away if you need anything,” He quickly wrote down his number sticking the paper on top of the others, if these guys need anything you’ll be here to help! Good luck and try not to break any more fingers,’ight?” He nodded before his phone began ringing again and he quickly exited the trailer.

“Here, set your stuff here and you can help throw some spray tan on this pale boy!” Jane took the stack of papers from Myra laying them on the empty spot of her desk and handing her a bottle of tanning lotion. “Now don’t actually throw anything at me!” Dacre joked as he removed his shirt moving over to a plastic tarp Mary had laid down. Jane squeezed a small amount onto her hand before placing it on his chest, “He is fully capable of applying this himself but he enjoys making us do all the work!” She rolled her eyes as she applied more to him.

Myra’s entire body froze looking at his fit sculpted body standing in front of her and if it couldn’t have gotten worse he removed his jeans leaving himself in his boxers in front of the group. “I-uh how about I start on your legs? Yeah?” Dacre nodded, holding his legs out for her as she placed the lotion into her hands before running in down his calves. The two girls shared stories back and forth about the season two wig Dacre had to wear and how it was nowhere as nice as this one was, Dacre rolled his eyes at them, “you two are ridiculous it wasn’t that bad! Right Myra?” He glanced down at her pouring more lotion into her hand.

“Oh well I am a big fan of these curls, they’re cute!” She remembered the conversations Paisley and her had had about the wig from season 2 and how fake it looked but this one was a whole lot better and she couldn’t wait to tell Paisley all about it, each night they talked for two hours over Facetime talking all about how her day was going and all the things she had gotten to see and do.

Of course she did sign a waiver saying she wouldn’t share any topic secret things or spoilers with the public but she everything she was able to share. She was sure to tell Paisley all of it.

“Cute? It’s a manly mullet, it's not supposed to be cute!” He flipped the wig hair off of his shoulder trying to hold back a laugh, “So have they told you much about this season? Other than the obvious?” Myra finished with his leg and stood wiping her hands on a towel as Mary finished off his back and other leg.

“Well they told me about the mall and the new characters Robin and Alexi, I was also told that we’d get to see a lifeguard Billy!” She pointed over to an outfit hanging in the corner, a white tank top and red shorts with a whistle attached.

“It’s going to be an exciting season trust me!” He was leaning back in the chair as the wig was glued down to his head and a blonde highlighting dye was brushed through his mustache. Mary dipped a small brush into a pallet placing freckles around the bridge of his nose and cheek bones. She then sprayed his face down and handed him the clothes on the hanger “Go get dressed! They’ll be calling for you soon!” Myra smiled at the cute dimples and freshly tanned look, this was a new look for Billy and she loved it.

Mary finished the last few touches of Dacre’s tan and quickly sprayed a layer of hairspray over his wig helping the small curls stay in place. Static and a broken voice came through the walkie talkie on the counter followed by a man saying “Dacre on set,Dacre needed on set!”

Jane handed Dacre his robe to cover up as he stood from the chair and checked his reflection in the mirror, “Not too bad for your first time,this was your first time right? Applying tanning lotion to a man?” He tied off his robe around his waist and glanced up at Myra with a curious smile.

“Yes you were definitely my first, I have never in my life applied lotion to a man let alone sun tan lotion!” She smiled through the nervous twisting in her stomach,she ran her hand up her arm placing small pinches on it.

She wasn’t dreaming this was all real, Dacre was actually talking to her and not just talking he was what seemed like flirting with her. She couldn’t wait to get back to her trailer and tell Paisley all about this, she was going to die.

“Myra how about you follow with us?,” Jane placed a hand on her shoulder waking her from her trance, “We usually stay with him in case he needs a touch up of tanning lotion, you wanna tag along?” Myra nodded “Yes that sounds great! I’ll help carry this then.” She grabbed a small caddy from the desk including tanning lotion,freckle makeup and hair spray inside.

“Great well let’s get going before they start bugging us.” Jane swung open the trailer door, the bright morning sun rose peering in at them, Dacre took a large pair of glasses from his pocket placing them over his eyes,before moving his robe hood over his hair.

“The paparazzi are desperate for photos so we have to hide as much as we can.” Myra followed behind them, glancing over at the crowd of men and woman cameras held high trying to get any photo they could for their employers.

“Does it become exhausting? The paparazzi and sneaking around?” Myra held the caddy in her right hand standing to the side of Dacre helping to shield him from the groups. “At times yes, but it’s a small price to pay for something I love doing and I am blessed to be here.” Down to earth and good looking this guy was too good to be true, like something two teenage girls made in a science lab.

“How about you huh? Finding out you were going to be working on a popular tv show was it exciting? Overwhelming?” They were led into a small community pool that had a large group of people in 80s themed swimwear waiting around. All heads turned when Dacre walked up like a scene from a movie, cue the seductive music.

“Both,” She chuckled, “It was overwhelming and exciting. I had no idea it was going to be a show this popular when they offered me the internship, but after I found out and word quickly spread people I had never met before were trying to be friends with me and ask information about the show, let’s just say you and Steve are some popular guys.”

He laughed thinking about all the friends requests and followers he received after season 2 aired. “I’m happy you’re here! It’s going to be a fun time-” His sentence was cut short by the director directing him to head into the locker room for the first scene.

Myra stepped back with Jane to stand behind the crowd of people, “ This is going to be so exciting, the first scene is always so fun, we just get to sit back and relax,keeping an eye on Dacre and that insane wig.” Jane sat down in a directors chair that had -H&M team- labeled on the back, Myra took a seat next to her, setting the caddy on her lap.

Four women came from the trailer area decked out head to toe in their 80s gear, she recognized the blonde in a teal and pink split bathing suit, Cara Buono, the actress who played Karen Wheeler, Mike and Nancy Wheeler’s mother.

Myra thought back to the night Paisley and her had watched the scene where Billy’s character met her for the first time, it left them all hot and bothered. Now her mind ran curious, was Billy going to have a scene with Karen? Myra crossed her legs leaning back in the tall black chair as the large crowd of people got into the pool water and filed themselves in at different scenes around the pool.

There was a group of teens chatting, some stood around the snack stand and a small built black haired girl sat perched upon the lifeguard chair, this must be Heather Holloway, Myra had heard Jake mentioning her before in the lineup of new characters joining the show.

“Quit on set!!” The director yelled over the crowd of roaring people, everyone turned in attention waiting for further directions. “We’re going to start off with the Billy entrance scene and work our way from there!” The camera was then placed to face the diving board where a young boy stood waiting for his cue, he wore a green tank top and small swim trunks, he reminded her of her brother, he always wore a shirt when swimming and was a chunkier boy when they were younger.

“Action!” The director yelled as the boy ran forward splashing into the water. Crowds of people began conversing while others splashed around in the pool, the speakers from the pool played ‘Rock this Town’ by The Stray Cats, the camera was then panned across the crowd, a group of kids playing marco polo and multiple beach balls bounced around between people. The camera stopped on the four women from earlier, including Karen.

They were reading and checking their complexions in their hand mirrors, the music then slowed down to a mute as the large haired,cheetah print lady tilted her glasses down in the direction of the lifeguard chair. “Ladies, she’s coming down.” She kept her stare towards Heather as the other women looked in that same direction.

Heather made the last few steps off the ladder and made her way towards the locker rooms, the ladies quickly gathered themselves, adjusting their bathing suits and pushing up their large hair. The black haired one, with a large purple pearl necklace, on the far right arched her leg up and faced the men’s locker room, the same room Dacre had just entered earlier, “It’s showtime!” Cheetah print spoke in a seductive voice as she closed her compact mirror, ‘Moving in Stereo” by The Cars began playing through the speakers.

“Action Dacre!” Yelled the director from behind the camera,the locker door swung open and there he stood tanned and muscular, his shorts just below his trimmed waist line, he began strutting out, catching everyone’s eye on the way by. An ear-splitting noise came from the whistle he had placed between his plumped lips, he turned his body to the direction of the same young boy from earlier who was now running around.

“Hey lardass, no running on my watch,” He spoke as the whistle fell from his lips, the entire pool stood motionless. “I gotta warn you again and you’re banned for life, you wanna be banned for life lardass?” The young boy quickly shook his head no, “didn’t think so!” He placed the whistle between his lips again letting out another deafening noise.

The crowd left their frozen state and began yelling and playing as they were. Dacre made his way towards the lifeguard chair passing by the group of women who had been patiently waiting for him. “Afternoon ladies.” He spoke with a welcoming nod. “Afternoon Billy!” They spoke in perfect harmony.

“Dig the new suit Mrs. Wheeler.” He stared at the perfectly fit mom, whom he had had an amazing scene with in season 2. Myra couldn’t wait to tell Paisley all about this, hopefully she would be allowed to. Dacre made his way up to the lifeguard chair before the director yells “Cut!” Groups of people went in their different directions, receiving notes from their superiors.

“So what did you think?” A hand was placed on the back of Myra’s chair,she glanced up to see Dacre’s smiling face looking down at her. “Lardass? Really?” She turned in the chair to face him,his gold Saint Christopher necklace dangled in her face. “It’s what they wrote in the script.” He shrugged giving a flirting smile, he was way too good at that maybe it was just his normal smile and Myra was just taking it too far.

A few guys walked up talking with Dacre while Jane pulled Myra away to introduce her to more people, Matt and Ross Duffer, the directors of the show, were absolute sweethearts. The Duffer Brothers were very personal with everybody making sure to get to know everyone. “How about some lunch before the next scene?” Jane turned to Myra,while taking the caddy from her hands. “Lunch sounds great! Let me grab my phone.” Myra made her way back to her chair where her phone laid, she quickly picked it up and followed behind Jane.

A notification popped up on her phone -6 text messages-, Paisley was always keeping Myra up to date on what was going on back at school, it helped her feel included but nothing really changed. Paisley’s arch enemy was still dating Paisley’s crush and Myra’s ex was still asking about her, but Myra still appreciated all the updates.

The lunch room was filled with loads of cast and crew members, it felt like high school again different clicks were all sitting together in their different sections. Myra made her way over to the buffet table where she grabbed a tray and made her way down the line gathering a sandwich and a container of fruit. She turned to face the large group questioning where to sit, when a familiar figure walked up beside her.

“New here?” Joe Keery, the actor who plays Steve Harrington was now standing beside her. “I am! I’m Myra James. I am a new intern!” His hair was just as fabulous in person as it looked on tv. “Well Hiya Myra I am Joe it’s a pleasure to meet you. Found yourself a place to sit yet?” He looked around the crowded room before his eyes stopped at what seemed to be his usual seat,the people already sitting there had even saved a seat for him.

“Come with me James we will get you a place to sit down!” He nudged her arm and walked in the direction of that table, Sadie, Gaten, and three other familiar boys sat around. “Myra this is Sadie, Gaten, Caleb, Noah and Fin.” Myra gave them all a friendly wave. “I actually had the opportunity to meet Sadie and Gaten early today.”

She placed her tray down before taking a seat, Joe followed. “Well what about me huh?” Dacre sat his tray down next to Myra,he had now covered his bare chest with a Hawkins lifeguard tank top. He took a seat next to her,his sweet smelling cologne hitting her hard in the face. She didn’t notice it before maybe he had just recently applied it, either way it was nice.

“What about you?” Myra smirked,placing her fork to her mouth taking a small bite from the fruit cup. “What did you think of meeting me?” He leaned his arm against the table keeping his glare locked with hers. She reached out for his swollen fingers, “Well you were a sweetheart even after I almost broke your fingers so I’d say you were pretty great!” He left his hand in hers and enjoyed her warm touch.

Myra hadn’t even noticed,she had relaxed her hand onto his leg. “So this is the girl who almost removed your fingers and then rubbed you down with tanning oil?” Steve chimed in with a mouth full of food, breaking the tension between them. Myra quickly released his hand and grabbed her water and took a small drink. “It was all an accident I swear!” Dacre and Joe began bickering back and forth when Myra’s phone buzzed on the table.

Paisley: “ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW? You met Billy and put lotion on his legs? -heart eye emoji-

Myra: “Yes and let's just say that man has incredible legs.” -8 heart eye emojis-

Paisley: “You better call me tonight with all the details. Also if you guys hook up def let me know!”

Myra: “Of course and that won’t be happening you perv!”

Myra laughed at the gif Paisley included of Billy leaning against the doorway of Karen Wheeler’s home from season 2. Joe and Dacre stopped and glanced down at her phone, “What’s so funny there?” Joe raised his brow looking closer. Myra realized and locked the phone blocking it from either of their views. “Just something a friend sent,nothing important-” Her sentence was cut short when the loud man’s voice from earlier echoed through the room. “Everyone return to set,everyone return to set!”

“I am still interested in knowing what was so funny.” Dacre took both his and Myra’s trays to the return bin and walked beside her back to the pool area. “Are you going to stay for this next scene or do you have somewhere else you have to be?”

Myra glanced at the small sheet of paper that was stuffed into her back pocket, “Nope I am all yours for the rest of the day, tomorrow they have me somewhere else!” “Oh yeah? All mine?” he smirked through his laugh. “Lucky me!”

“Not at all what I meant,” She rolled her eyes, but in all honesty she wouldn’t mind being all his. “Don’t make me break your other fingers!” Dacre was quickly ripped away to join Cara “Karen” and directors huddling around the pool.

Myra found her way over to the chair she had been sitting in previously and again she was joined by both Jane and Mary. “How was lunch?” Jane turned to face Myra,crossing her legs,”Did you find anything yummy?” Myra nodded, placing her phone into her back pocket. “I did, I found a sandwich and some fruit!” From the corner of her eye she noticed Dacre glancing in her direction, she gave a friendly wave.

“You gotta be careful with that dessert table you’ll gain weight quicker than you can say “Hot fudge sundae”, “Looks like somebody’s striked up Dacre’s interest, he hasn’t taken his eyes off of you since you sat down!”

Myra’s cheeks instantly heated up, she had noticed but she didn’t think anyone else had. “Oh uh yeah, he’s sweet, we actually had lunch together and I finally got to meet Joe, Caleb,Noah and Fin.”

“That’s awesome, they’re great kids! Extremely talented too!” Myra became distracted as Dacre removed his tank top walking in their direction. “You mind holding this? They’d kill me if I lost another one of these shirts!” He held the shirt in Myra’s direction and she quickly took it displaying a huge smile.

“Yeah of course, it’s safe right here with me!”

“Places everyone!” The director yelled from the crowd of people standing behind the camera. The pool crowd returned to their spots and Karen got into the water beginning to do laps in the lane closest to the lifeguard chair.

“Quiet on set!” a young man yelled, holding a clapperboard in front of the camera lense. Dacre returned to his seat at the lifeguard chair and placed his glasses back over his eyes. “Action!” He yelled and the scene began with people walking across the pool, kids laughing and playing around. The camera followed Karen doing the backstroke down the lane, before moving to face Billy who seductively removes his glasses giving the camera a lustful stare.

Hot Blooded by Foreigner began playing as they did another close up on Karen moving through the water. The camera was then panned back and forth between Karen and Billy as he placed his whistle against his lips, his tongue gently caressing it, was it weird for her to be jealous of a whistle? Where were the good looking lifeguards when she was spending every summer at the pool with her brother and the two neighbor kids she used to babysit.

Karen climbed the pool ladder, running her hands through her drenched hair, behind the camera Dacre was making his way over to her,before the camera had turned to face him, he smiled towards Myra shooting her a quick smile. She could have easily melted into a puddle at that moment, the chair may have been the only thing keeping her up.

“Looking good out there Mrs.Wheeler!” Billy spoke as he approached Karen holding out a towel for her. “Why thank you!” She reached out taking the towel from his grip.

“Perfect form,” He replied with alternative motives. “Well your form is amazing!” Her eyes streamed up his perfectly tan body, that Myra had helped create just a few hours prior. Billy gave her a devious smile,showing off his perfectly white teeth. “I’m sorry, I have seen you teaching lessons,swimming lessons.”

This would be another moment she could imagine Paisley and her wrapped up on her bed watching the tv swooning over, this would be a scene that would get them all hot and bothered, something they would be talking about for the next couple weeks. But unlike that moment Myra was actually living this moment and it was so much better than watching it through a screen.

“I could teach you if you’d like.” He slowly licked his bottom lip before letting the words leave his mouth,Myra felt as if she was literally about to drool all over herself, everything was just breathtaking, the small slit in his eyebrow, the small patch of hair below his bottom lip,the way his perfectly crafted curls twirled around the shape of his face. Jane had caught her off guard by nudging her elbow into her side, she glanced in her direction and Jane raised her eyebrow at Myra, “Good scene right?” Myra tried to play it cool by giving a small chuckle. ‘Perfect scene’ she had thought to herself.

When her attention was back to Billy and Karen she watched him slowly place a piece of gum into his mouth,Karen’s face went blank before her towel fell from her grip hitting the floor, both her and Billy immediately reached down for it, showing off his the swim trunks that were just the perfect amount of snug on him. “I didn’t think you taught adults.” Karen's blushed face questioned him.

“Well I offer uh more advanced lessons to select clientele.” The entire time he spoke he was chomping away at his gum, Myra had always found this to be annoying but somehow when he did it, it put her into a trance the world around her went silent and her main focus was him.

“Come to think of it there is a good pool out at motel 6 on Cornwallis, it’s very quiet, you know, very private. Shall we say tonight? 8 o’clock?” Billy’s face could not get any closer to Karen, his eyes were locked with hers and their body’s pressed so close.

“I’m sorry I can’t!” Karen shook her head,leaving Billy’s face shocked with disbelief. Myra had the same expression plastered on her face as well, how could anyone tell him no. “Can’t what? Have fun?” Billy was really trying hard, props to whomever had written this script, so far Myra was hooked and she hadn’t seen anyone elses scene or any of the other stories going on.

“Mrs.Wheeler,” He shot a large smile flashing his dimples in the direction of Myra and Jane, maybe he was just told to look in that direction, maybe there was someone behind the two of them that he happened to be glancing at. Didn’t matter though Myra had herself convinced he was smiling right at her.

“I just don’t think I need any lessons..” Karen shot her eyes away from Billy’s deepened glare. Billy puffed out his chest and towered himself over Karen. “Oh you see I think you do. I just don’t think you’ve had the right teacher.” Karen mumbled something before Billy replied “It will be the workout of your life.” She nodded before the director yells “Cut!” stopping the entire scene.

This was something Paisley and Myra had been talking about all last season, they were dying to know if Karen and Billy were going to do it and this might finally answer their questions. Dacre grabbed a towel and wiped his lower stomach before walking in their direction, Myra fictitiously picked up her jaw and whipped her mouth adjusting herself in the seat.

“So?” He gave Myra a sweet smile as he took a seat next to her in Jane’s empty chair. “So what?” She returned the same smile,crossing her legs and turning his way. “So what did you think?” He reached out for his tank top he had handed to Myra previously.

“Hmm well I do have one question, do Billy and Karen finally have sex?” She tried to hold a serious face unsuccessfully. “Being a fan of you two I am hoping it finally happens!” She felt herself getting a little too egger and took a few short breaths to slow herself down. Dacre’s eyes widened,taking in a deep inhale before releasing a large laugh. “That’s all you’ve got to say about that? Do Billy and Karen have sex? Also did you say you were a fan?” He gave a cocky smirk,subtly flexing his arms towards her.

Myra rolled her eyes, his cockiness was such a turn on and that sweet accent of his made it even better. It was definitely a change to hear him go from Billy to Dacre with his voice, a change she could get used to. “Yes I am a fan, why else would I want to be working here! My friend Paisley and I used to watch this show religiously when it first came out. It was the reason we became such good friends.” He nodded becoming more interested in her words.

“Well then I can’t tell you if they have sex I have to keep it a surprise so you will keep coming around!” She shook her head in defeat, “I planned on coming around either way! I mean I am really liking Billy this season so far.” Myra tried her hardest to flirt but her nerves still stood on edge. “It only gets better trust me!” Dacre pulled his tank top over his head,she noticed his fingers were still swollen and bruised over the make up Mary had applied to him.

“Again I am so sorry about those! I am sure it’s not good for your character..” She hesitated not wanting to be the blame. “Nah don’t be sorry it makes him look tough!” He reached out for her leg giving a comforting pat. His expression quickly changed as he glared behind Myra, she turned to notice Jake approaching them.

“Hey there My,” Jake gave an over the top smile, something that he looked accustomed to. Myra had always hated being called My, the girls who bullied her her entire high school years called her My and hearing it again made her sick. “How was your day? Did you enjoy yourself?” Dacre leaned back in the chair, everything about him changed in seconds, his posture was different, he looked angry.

“I did enjoy myself, this was an incredible opportunity, I am still so grateful for all of this!” Jake quickly nodded off her reply and offered to escort her back to her small trailer for the evening. “That would be great,” She noticed how quickly it was getting dark,this day had gone by so fast. “It was great meeting you Dacre! Thank you for the entertainment!” She gave him a heartfelt smile and stood from her chair standing beside Jake.

Myra hadn’t been to her trailer yet, she was told it would be in the lot with the other actors and actresses but when she arrived this morning she went right to work and had no time to unpack or see her home for the next couple months. “Have a goodnight Myra. It was great meeting you as well, I hope to see you around!” The sides of Dacre’s mouth pulled up into a small smile.

Jake wrapped his arm around Myra’s back, “Off to the trailer’s we go! There is around the clock security and if you ever need anything my trailer is actually just two down from yours.” Myra approached a large trailer, something that could sleep an entire family. “This is not at all what I thought it would be like!” She had never slept in a camper before, anytime her family went camping her dad required them to rough it and sleep in tents.

“I hope it works for you! There is food in the fridge and small hotel soap and shower supplies in the bathroom, if you happen to need anything or run out there is a small store down the road they’re open 24/7 and the security can help you get there!” Jake dug around in his pocket before opening the large door, the inside was beautiful. A large leather sectional took up the far left side, opposite from that a large tv and entertainment center stood with a fireplace below that,next a large kitchen area complete with a microwave,stove,sink and even a full size fridge.

Jake led Myra down the dark hard wood floors into the large room at the end and a large king size bed took up the majority of it,he then led Myra to the opposite end where a full size bathroom with a huge shower was included, there was even a vanity above the sink. This trailer put Myra’s apartment to shame, she would never want to leave this place.

Jake walked back to the kitchen area, laying a folder down on the small dining table, “This is your schedule for tomorrow. If you need anything at all again please stop by! I will leave you to it, you have an early day tomorrow!” He leaned in for what seemed like a hug but it caught Myra off guard, “Oh sorry,” She quickly reached her hand out to him to offer him a handshake. “Have a goodnight Jake!” She closed and locked the trailer door behind him.

She turned around and took in the incredible area again, “Wow..” She spoke to herself. She realized she would need to go to her car and get her belongings, she glanced out the window to the parking lot containing everyone’s vehicles, she had her phone flashlight and it wasn’t too far away she was sure she could make it on her own.

Myra slid back on her shoes she had removed at the door. She grabbed the keys Jake had left by the door and turned on her light making her way outside. The Georgia air got very cold very quickly at night time,she held her light in front keeping it pointed at the ground not wanting to bother anyone in their trailers. She reached the parking lot gate and held her light to the keypad,quickly punching in the 4 digit code.

The gate made a loud beep before sliding open enough for her to slip inside. She drove a 2006 black Jeep Wrangler and it looked pitiful in this parking lot filled with high end expensive cars. The entire back seat was stuffed full with Myra’s belongings, she threw on her backpack and grabbed two large containers before kicking her door shut and locking it up.

A black Sedan drove by and two men excited the vehicle making their way over to the keypad, the tall man in front entered a couple unsuccessful numbers and the shorter man behind him tried as well, still being unsuccessful. Myra hadn’t noticed at first but the second man had a camera wrapped around his neck, maybe these guys were with the paparazzi maybe they thought someone famous was over here and they were trying to break in, she sat down her boxes quickly dialing Jake’s number.

A large boom of people talking in the background muted Jake's voice. “Jake? It’s Myra. I think something is going on. I am in the parking lot and two guys are trying to break in..” She spoke softly not wanting the two gentlemen to hear her. They continuously shook at the gate trying to force it open. “Myra? What did you say? Two guys?” Myra sighed speaking a little louder. “There are two guys trying to break into the parking lot! They’re banging on the gate! I am stuck in here!” Jake’s tone quickly changed,”Shit!” He spoke the words harshly leaving his mouth. “I am on my way right now!” Myra hung up the phone, staying put on the ground next to her car, she had the perfect view of the gate keeping an eye on them.

A few minutes went by when George, the security guard that she met when she arrived approached the gate with two other men. The paparazzi quickly scattered in two different directions and George opened the gate,making his way around through the cars, the two others followed closely behind him.

“Myra!” He spoke, shining his large light around on the ground. “Over here!” she quickly popped up,both of her boxes in her hands. “First day here and you’re already causing trouble?” He chuckled, taking the two containers from her. George was a tall african american man who had a comforting vibe to him,but from what Jake had told her he was trained in 6 different types of martial arts and served 26 years in the Army.

“I didn’t mean to cause any trouble, they-they were just trying to break in,they probably assumed I was someone more important!” Myra shoved her keys back into her pocket and grabbed her purse from the ground as well. “You are important, you know a lot of information about the show and those guys are desperate!” Jake stepped from behind George offering to take some things from Myra, she shook her head “I’ve got it don’t worry! I guess I didn’t think of that!”

The other guy behind George stepped forward removing the hood off of his head. It was Dacre he gave Myra a soft comforting smile, “I am glad you are ok! You want me to help you back to your trailer?” George’s walkie talkie on his shoulder began calling a few codes,” I should probably check this out, you two can help her back to the trailers and if you need anything else at all, here is my card!” Myra reached out taking the business card from his fingers. “Thank you again George, I will!”

As the three of them walked across the road back to their trailer Myra finally realized they had both arrived there together. “Did Jake call you?” She glanced over at Dacre,his hoodie covering his head again. “No we were at the cast party together and we happened to be talking when you called. I can give you my number if you want, you know if you ever wanna talk..” He spoke with hesitancy, something Myra hadn’t experienced him due yet, was he actually nervous?

“Cast party?” She moved closer to him, a little curious. Jake had a dumbfounded look come across his face, “Oh uh yeah after the first day of filming they usually throw a party for the cast, I assumed since you had an early morning you wouldn’t want to come.” Dacre made a disappointed sigh, “If I would have known I would have invited you..I’m sorry!” As they approached her trailer Myra pulled out her keys and quickly opened the door.

“No, no it’s alright Jake is right I do have an early morning and I need to unpack and rest.” She took the containers from Jake’s arms and walked them inside. “You guys have a great night, thank you again for the help. I will see you in the morning!” She closed the door behind her before noticing Dacre's small wave goodbye.

Myra began digging through the containers, pulling out her clothes and shoes she would need for tomorrow. She hung up all of her outfits before walking over to the large fridge hoping to find something sweet inside. A plate of brownies sat on the top shelf with a note that said “Welcome to the Crew”. She unwrapped two,grabbed up her shower supplies and carried them inside the bathroom, where she began undressing. She finished off the two small brownies and twirled her hair up into a ponytail.

The shower temperature was very confusing. It was either really hot or really cold so it took Myra a while to adjust it perfectly, she got inside and let the warm water pour down her back. Her door water was never warm Paisley always took boiling hot showers that surprisingly didn’t leave blisters all over her body and unfortunately Myra’s classes weren’t over until after Paisley’s so when it was her time to shower she was left with icicles hanging all over her body.

A loud vibration came from the counter alerting Myra that Paisley had been calling, she quickly got out wrapping a towel around her body, “Hello Pais!” She spoke with excitement,she could not wait to tell her everything! “Myra James! Tell me everything!” She held the corner of her towel tightly in her grip,walking over to her new large neatly made bed. ”Well I was up at 5 am this morning and spent 2 hours getting a tour of the set and signing a bunch of paperwork.”

Paisley sighed into the phone “Myra Josaphine James you know exactly what I am talking about, tell me about Dacre! Was he nice? Did you two hook up?” Myra laughed,grabbing her sweatshirt and pulling it over her head before she ran her brush through her damp hair. “Yes he was very nice, I got to actually sit through a couple scenes he did..with Karen!” Paisley gasped in shock. “With Karen!? That means Baren is happening!” Baren was the couple name Paisley had made up for Karen and Billy and she was determined to believe it would happen.

“Well it might be happening, Billy is a lifeguard this season, him and Karen had an amazing scene today at the pool and things got hot! Billy is going to be teaching her lesson at a private motel pool!” Myra pulled back the cover,laying out on her cool satin sheets. “How are you containing yourself? I would be jumping that boy’s bones, especially after seeing a Billy and Karen scene. I mean you did say he was being nice to you, maybe he’s wanting a big ol’ slice of Myra pie!” Paisley laughed hysterically into the phone,she was a perv but it was one of Myra’s favorite things about her.

“He was just being nice that is it! I am new here and he was just making me feel welcomed!” Myra turned on the small light on the overhead compartment and lowered the main rooms light. “Ok new couple then Myra and Dacre, Macre!” She squealed with excitement. “You need to get your flirting on, maybe something special might happen!” Myra could hear the seduction in her voice. “Yeah.. probably not.”

Myra laughed in return. Talking to Paisley helped with her homesickness, it made everything seem normal again like they were sitting in their dorm together sharing stories, not 5 hours away from each other in completely different states. Myra finished her phone call with Paisley before she hung up and drifted off to sleep.

Large bright lights covered the ceiling while long cords scattered the ground. Today had been Myra’s first day at her internship and she was nervous. The clipboard she had been given fumbled between her sweaty palms as she was led around the building with her adviser, he pointed out the different sets and explained their importance, the tour ended at a large table covered with every junk food and fruit you could think of. The adviser grabbed up an apple taking a large bite before waving Myra over to join him.

[cassiedangerclouds]

Everything Is Green {Krii7y}

DeviantArt: SugarHigh100 (Smii7y)

Twitter: Beaudicea (Kryoz)

~

Trigger Warning!: In this story, I will write about colour blindness. Sorry if I do not get it correct as I myself do not suffer from anything of the sort (I am mildly longsighted). If this may offend you, please don't read. And I would really love to hear from some colour blind people on how I can fix my perception of it up in case I write this type of thing again.

Remember that this is MY interpretation of colour blindness (Protanomaly and Tritanopia), this is how I understood what I read from my research. So please don't take it personally if I get it completely wrong.

In this story, there will also be:

Anxiety Attacks –Based off of the ones I get. Because everyone experiences these differently-

Bullying (mentioned)

Swearing

Self-Deprecating Tendencies

~

Life gets pretty boring when all you see if various shades of green, grey and if you're lucky, violet.

But not the pretty, dark violet everyone else sees. No, it's a dull, kind of light version.

That's just life when your parents are Red-Green and Blue-Yellow colour blind and you pull the short straw on both ends.

No, I couldn't just have one; like not perceiving reds or greens properly. Or maybe become a very rare case and not be able to see blues properly.

No.

I ended up Red-Green in one eye and Blue-Yellow in the other.

So my world is full of dull, warped greens, boring and monotonous blacks and whites, only light grey and maybe, if luck wants to grace me, with violet. I strive for the moments that slightly purply-blue colour pops, I try to capture every detail of the moment so that I can try recreate it.

My parents try to tell me that when I'm older, my eyes may get better.

But I know that they won't.

Magic doesn't exist. If you're born with these things, you live with them forever.

People get weirded out by me. I confuse them. So I learnt to keep to myself. I sit under the trees, on the grass, things that should be blindingly green and are but just a dull blue really.

I got told that my glasses would help me see colours properly, but the kids all picked on me, so I don't wear them anymore.

The glasses were pretty cool I guess, I mean they were blue and red, and the world looked amazing back in fifth grade for the month that I wore them.

It's been five years since I've worn them though, I figured that, if I was picked on in fifth grade, high school would be no saving grace. So they sit in draw at home, collecting dust.

I guess life isn't too bad, I mean, at least I'm not blind. But this is no better.

"Hey. Hey. Can you hear me?" I kept my head down, knowing exactly who it was.

"I asked you a question."

I looked up, not too much, just enough to see if it was who I thought it was, "Yeah. I guess. I'm not deaf." I said, tapping my fingers against the ground.

"I'm not here to pick on you kid. I'm not an arsehole. My friends and I saw you sitting by yourself and I wanted to know if you wanted some company."

This time he caught my full attention, "Like for real? This isn't some big joke that Evan and all that set up to give me hope?" I asked.

He laughed, "Nah dude, honestly, Evan and his friends are a little overrated." He said, "With the exception of like Ryan. Oh and Craig, he hangs out with us sometimes."

I smiled, "I mean, sure. I guess that I could come and sit with you guys." I said.

"Sick." He said, helping me up.

He led me over to a table, not far from where I was sitting, I noticed him stumbling a little.

"Hey fuckers. I'm back." He announced.

"No one gives a fuck John." One of the other males at the table replied, looking up from his phone.

"Fuck you to, bitch." John replied.

"So guys, this is...uh I never asked your name, did I?" John asked.

"Good goin' John. You see a lonely kid, invite him over, but don't even ask his name." another said, this one was for sure in grey.

I snickered a little, looking over the group, of course, looking at everyone wasn't going to help me tell them apart, but it was worth a shot.

"HEY! That sounded a lot better in my head." The grey one stated.

"So, what's your name stranger?" one of the guys closest to me asked.

Come on, just say Jaren. "Lukas." I answer. What the fuck did I say that for?

"Well Lukas. As you could figure out, I'm John. In order around the table from my left. Cameron, Ryan, Craig, Anthony and...where did Crystal go?" John asked for a person I guess was here before he came over to me.

Crazy hair, grey guy, glasses, panda case. I recited in my head, it was the only way I'd actually remember them.

"Brock's nut of a sister came over and requested that her friend join her for a conversation." Anthony, I think, answered.

I frowned, "Cassidy isn't too crazy." I stated, causing everyone to stare at me.

"What. She used to be my..." I trailed off, "Never mind. Why did you invite me over here. I'm just the weird kid."

"We're all weird here." Cameron said, completely ignoring my slip up or at least I hope he did.

"I mean. Probably not. At least compared to me. Nobody is as mutant as I am."  I stated, looking down.

"What. Why? Because your eyes are different a little off centre or your hair is white? Every time I saw you, I always thought you just bleached it, like John does with his." Craig said with a shrug.

I sighed, shaking my head, "Okay. Don't like freak or anything okay John. But like, that jumper you're wearing is probably rad. But it's like literally all green, different shades. But to me. That whole thing is green, except the white bits near your wrists." I always found it was an easy way to explain my problem to people by talking about something that probably wasn't green and trying to tell them that's how I see it. "I can imagine and sort of figure out the colours, because I've done it for so long-"

"What shades of green?" John asked.

I shrugged, "The top is like a lime kind of colour. So it's probably like yellow or somet'in'. Uh, the middle is a dull green. So that's like red or orange, I don't remember because I don't see those colours a lot. The top of the sleeves is like, mint ice cream green. So they're some type of blue." I explained, hoping I got the colours close.

"That's so cool dude." John said.

"How do you live like that? Not being able to see colours. Only green?" Craig asked.

"Well. I mainly see the green spectrum, but I can see light grey, black, white and sometimes, violet. But it's like not the cool dark violet colour, it's more like what I think you would see as a cross between magenta maybe and periwinkle. I can see some shades of yellow, kind of. Most colours appear as greens though." I explained, tapping my fingers against my leg.

"Well, sit down you weird ass human." Cameron said.

I smiled, shaking my head, "Sorry. This was a nice..experience, but I'm just gonna leave." I said, turning around, I walked back towards where I was.

Suddenly I was on the ground, noticeably colder than before.

I looked up and saw my jumper in John's hands.

"Hey, fuck you. Give me my jumper back, it's cold." I demanded, getting off my arse, snatching my jumper out of his hands, slipping it over my head.

"It's a mild fifteen degrees, it's not that cold." Cameron stated.

"Shut up, you Kiwi fuck. We get it that it's fucking freezing in New Zealand." A feminine voice said from behind me.

Cameron pouted, "Piss off you Aussie bitch." He stated.

"Oh, and this is Crystal. Crystal, this is –"

"Hey Luke." Crystal said with a shrug.

"Vibe." I returned, watching as they walked over and sat between Cameron and Ryan.

"Wait- you two know each oth-"

"Whatever, reunions are boring. What did the nut want with you, aye?" Cameron asked, nudging Crystal's shoulder.

Crystal shrugged, "Never say that again. Worst Australian accent ever. Come on Fitzy, you're the closest one to where I'm from and you can't even fake a believable accent." They said.

The group started to banter, giving me the perfect chance to slip away.

I kept walking, not really knowing where I was going, I just knew I had to get away from that group before something bad happened to them because of me.

"Hey. Hey! Lukas, wait up." I heard a call from behind me, recognising John's voice, I picked up my pace, not watching where I was going.

Once more I was on the ground and I noticed that it was because I had bumped into someone. I stood up, "I'm so sorry. I-" my breath hitched.

In front of me stood well known school menace and Evan's right hand man Jonathan.

"I-I'm so so sorry. Uh, Delirious." I said, I could feel myself shaking.

Delirious turned to face me, and I could feel my lungs get heavy.

"Dude. Are you okay?" he asked me, sending me into surprise.

"What?" I managed to squeak out.

"I asked if you were okay? You hit me pretty hard and fell to the floor." Delirious said.

I shrugged, "I'm uh. Fine. Just yeah. Sorry." I stammered, my breathing starting to even out.

"Lukas, why are you-" I heard John stop dead, his boots squeaking as he skidded on the hallway floor. "Fuck."

"Well, if you're okay. Then I'm just gonna walk away." Delirious said, walking away.

I was still shaking, I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths. In for four, hold for seven, out for eight.

"Dude, are you okay?" I heard John was near me now.

But I still didn't open my eyes, I shakily pointed at my bag, "Pap- Pap- Bag" I started coughing.

"Pap Bag. Pap. Paper Bag! Oh, get the paper out of your bag!" John figured out, quickly flipping the latch on my bag and handing me the almost empty bag.

"I don't understand how this will help you." John said.

I cupped my hand around the opening, placing it near my mouth, breathing in and out into the bag.

My breathing went back to normal after five minutes and the coughing stopped.

I moved it away and drew in a deep breath.

"What the fuck was that?" John asked, making me painfully aware that he was still there.

I opened my eyes to see him standing in front of me, "That was an anxiety attack you fucking idiot. Holy shit. I could've-no-probably would've passed out if you hadn't have helped me. Jesus, I haven't had one that bad in a while." I stated, half talking to myself.

"Your welcome. I mean, I don't know how to respond." John said.

I smiled, "Thank you. But seriously. I thought that Jonathan was a bully. He didn't even threaten me. I think a lot of people just spread rumours and one rumour made it out and became popular saying that the BBS are bullies. They're probably just a bunch of misunderstood kids. I- I'm sorry for walking off." I said.

"Nah dude. My friends can be a little much sometimes, even for me." He said.

"Oh. Okay. Well, I'm still sorry. It was a good thing you did you know, asking me to join you guys. Your friends don't seem to bad. I'd probably fit in with you all. I feel like a big dou-"

I felt something warm against my lips for a split second and then it was gone.

"You talk too much." John stated.

My face started heating up, "What the fuck? We haven't even known each other for a day. John you're fucking weird," I stated, pulling my sleeve over my hand, wiping my mouth.

He laughed, "You enjoyed it. Don't deny it." He said.

Maybe I did. It doesn't matter, I don't even know the guy. "No I didn't." I retorted, but I knew my body language said otherwise.

"You're a bad lyre Lukas. You're red as a firetruck." He teased.

"Shut up you fucking prick." I muttered.

He rolled his eyes, "Come on. Come and hang out with me and my band of Misfits." He said.

I sighed, "Fine." I said and we walked back towards his friends, maybe a bit closer than previously.

But seriously, who the fuck kisses someone they just met? Like what even is that?

"Someone who has a set." John replied.

"Fuck. I said that out loud. Sorry." I said.

He stopped and turned to face me, "Stop fucking apologising. You've done nothing wrong." He said.

And that's when I noticed one small thing, well not really small thing, but it was something that would this was a moment I'd never forget.

~

Everything is green.

But his hair is my favourite colour.

Because it is violet.

~

Authors Note:

Hi guys!

Yes, I am a weirdo. I would've made it John's eyes, except that in this case it wouldn't work because John's eyes are blue and for them to be violet, they'd have to be yellow. Which just isn't realistic.

Anyway, that's it.

[timeagainreviews]

5 Moments when Doctor Who SUCKED

Imagine, if you will for a moment, that you are a brand new Doctor Who fan. You don’t even know to call yourself a Whovian yet. You get on a few facebook groups, see a few YouTube videos and discover, much to your dismay, that Doctor Who is, in fact, ruined now. Woe is you who set path down a trail leading toward mediocrity, and eventually utter devastation. I ask you to picture yourself in this manner because I want you to realise that only a person new to Doctor Who would believe such drivel. Everyone else saying this seems to have rose tinted glasses. The rest of us all know that Doctor Who is a show that sometimes requires forgiveness.

Am I saying Doctor Who is a bad show? Not hardly. Much like pizza, Doctor Who is still pretty good, even when it sucks. I would venture to say that one of the things I love most about Doctor Who is how campy and silly it can be at times. Why is it then that so many people are turning their backs on a show that’s filled their lives with so much joy? I’m really trying to avoid the "because sexism," argument. But I can’t help but feel like if you were to switch the Doctor to a male, nobody would be calling the show "ruined." Furthermore, how do you even ruin something that has gone through so many changes throughout the years? Oh right, it’s the Doctor Who fandom. Where the only language allowed is hyperbolic.

Perhaps these fake geeks are mad because making the Doctor a woman takes away their ability to call her a Mary Sue. Especially when you consider the same character once burst out of a golden birdcage and floated to the ground in a wave of Jesus energy. That might mean they’d have to retroactively apply the title to every incarnation. Could the Doctor ever escape the distinction? Unnaturally talented, charismatic, good at everything he does, brilliantly smart. Or is it that these attributes only belong to men? We can believe Tom Baker’s Doctor is capable of walking into a burning furnace to save K9, but hell no, a woman can’t be the Doctor.

You have to face it, Doctor Who has had some terrible moments. Yet we continue to tune in because we forgive it. We forgive when Doctor Who is bad because of the moments when Doctor Who is wonderful. Which I know is how you would describe an abusive partner, but I’m gonna let it slide for a television series. Especially this series. Because unlike that dickhead who never texts you back, Doctor Who can change. If you don’t believe me, please peruse this list of five instances when Doctor Who was terrible.

1. The John Nathan-Turner era

My God, how could I not start with this? While there is no denying there are some wonderful moments in JNT's Doctor Who, it's easily my least favourite era of Doctor Who. And as much as I personally love Colin Baker, his Doctor got the lion's share of poor scripts and erroneous costume choices. Never has a man more game for a role, been dealt such a bad hand.

Introducing a Doctor that was cowardly, and even violent toward his companion, was seen as a bridge too far. While I understand the desire to try something new with the character, this wasn't the way to go about it. While the show begins to pick up around the end of McCoy's tenure, it's evident that this is more the influence of studio notes and the hard work of script editor Andrew Cartmel. I can't think of anyone less suited for the job of showrunner.

It seems that for a good nine years, Doctor Who had a madman at the helm, and not in that cute Matt Smith way. Dressing in flamboyant Hawaiian shirts, Nathan-Turner brought that same brash sensibility to the program. From Six's garish costume, to question mark lapels, to Mel's entire timeline, it's a big fat mess with him sitting in the middle. Add to all of this, the allegations of him being a predatory creep toward young male fans, and it's a surprise the show ever survived. Oh wait, it didn't.

2. Racism

Ok, maybe I should have started with this. While Doctor Who has taken efforts to address its racist past, it still happened. They drop a racist slur in "The Celestial Toymaker." Even the term "celestial," is used to mean "Chinese," in describing the titular character played by the very white Michael Gough, fully clad in Oriental silks. This tradition follows into "The Talons of Weng-Chiang," when Li H'sen Chang was played by John Bennett.

It's an uncomfortable miracle that they didn't allow Patrick Troughton to play the role of the Second Doctor in brownface. Not to say his era escaped the odd bit of racism. While Toberman in "Tomb of the Cybermen," gets a few heroic moments, he also gets none of the lines. Cast as mute manservant, we learn nothing about the inner workings of a black man who died so that white people may live.

Later, the show used characters like Ace to talk about racism. She shows disgust with a "No Coloureds," sign hanging in the boarding house she's staying in. When the evil Morgaine had her under mind control, it was calling her friend Ling Tai "yellow," and "slant-eyed," that she was able to snap out of it. Real Ace would never say such things. But even with that groundwork laid, the new series still struggles. From the Doctor being weirdly dismissive toward black people, to it taking nearly 50 years for the first black TV companion, Doctor Who is still grappling with its race issues. Yet you all kept watching.

3. Ace gets molested

This one is a bit of a lesser known infraction as it takes place in the books after the show had already been cancelled. Kicking off the Virgin Media "New Adventures," is 1991's "Timewyrm: Genesys," by John Peel. In it, the Doctor and Ace travel to ancient Mesopotamia, where they meet King Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh wastes no time going full blown creep, groping Ace and pawing at her like he was Joe Biden.

The Doctor's reaction to this is to tell Ace to just go with it, and that it's part of the culture. While I agree that, yes, Gilgamesh may not be the sophisticated modern man that hugs a bro and supports equal pay, the Doctor's reaction is some straight up bullshit. If you're going to go there, maybe try saying something with it other than "Women are men's property." This could have been a great opportunity for the Doctor to puff up and use Gilgamesh's own primitive mindset against him. "How dare you touch my woman!" the very tiny Doctor could say to the very tall man. It would have been a funny visual, mixed with the Doctor utilising male privilege in a way that helps his companion.

This is really an objection I have against most of John Peel's work. He writes women in that "she boobed boobily," manner. Much to my dismay, Peel is one of the sole writers of the Dalek books, so any time you want to enjoy a tale involving our enemies from Skaro, you have to also partake in his brand of women. I'm talking women being described as buxom babes with shoulder length blonde hair, voices like baby goddesses, and legs up to their neck. While on the other hand, we get men described as having a hat and probably some other features. I may be embellishing, but seriously, John Peel, your women suck. Yet it still spawned a rather large book series.

4. Minuet in Hell

Doctor Who has never been known to nail accents. Tegan is vaguely Australian. And Peri must have moved around a lot due to the fact that nothing about her American accent sounds like a regional dialect. That doesn't mean that Robert Jezek's Foghorn Leghorn meets the KFC Colonel performance as " Brigham Elisha Dashwood III," is any less painful. But bad accents aside, the biggest demon in this Big Finish audio is one of Doctor Who's oldest enemies- sexism!

While I understand that Charlotte Pollard may be a fan favourite among many Big Finish listeners, her character will forever be tainted for me, and it's all due to this story. In it, Charlotte, or Charley, gets literally human trafficked. They kidnap her, force her to wear lingerie in a very creepy and misguided attempt to add some sexiness to the story and force her to wait on rich businessmen at a casino.

Now, allow me to clarify, it's not the human trafficking that taints her in my eyes. People who get trafficked are victims, obviously. What bothers me is that neither Gary Russell or Alan W Lear thought to give her a single line of dialogue where she protests. She doesn't even complain a little. Sure, the Doctor often gains intel by getting captured, but this is ridiculous. Add this to the weird disjointed story, and "Minuet in Hell," easily serves as one of the lowest points in not just Big Finish history, but Doctor Who as a whole.

5. Sexism

(Image by Billy Darswed)

It makes the most sense that this is the last one on the list. Because let's be honest, it's a huge problem in the fandom. A lot of early Doctor Who audios and books smack of moments when it feels as though the writers never considered the existence of female fans. Women are often utilised as a means to make the Doctor look better, and for the baddies to look scarier. Mind you, it's not always been a pantheon of swooners and screamers. We got the occasional Sarah Jane, Leela, and Ace.

Even the strong women are long-suffering. Liz Shaw (and her real-life actress Caroline John) left the role of companion over sexism. Beginning her time on Doctor Who as UNIT's top scientific advisor, she was demoted to assistant, holding beakers for the male Doctor who stole her job. The Fourth Doctor acted similarly when telling Romana her qualifications had nothing on real life experience. The same excuse has been used for decades to keep educated women out of the workforce. "Come back when you've got some experience, sweetheart."

While Rose Tyler was a refreshingly real character with a family and life of her own, it doesn't mean that she wasn't horribly mismanaged. In "The Stolen Earth," we see a darker, more serious version of her character. The Rose we used to know is now fully devoted toward one mission and one mission only- getting her man back. It's as though her personality disappears and is fully dependent on having the Doctor in her life. She rises to greatness so that she might bask in his once more. Maybe it's romantic, but maybe it's bad writing.

If you were to ask me who my favourite Doctor Who writers are, I'd have to say Robert Holmes is up there, and he wrote "Talons of Weng-Chiang," a serial full of yellowface. I'd also say Russell T Davies, who wrote the aforementioned "Stolen Earth," and also saw it in his wisdom to turn Shirley Henderson's "Ursula," into a blowjob dispensing garden brick. Or even Steven Moffat who believes the Statue of Liberty could sneak around New York, undetected, and that nobody notices his predilection toward dominatrix women in stiletto heels.

In my review for "The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos," I quipped that Chris Chibnall had not yet written a truly great episode of Doctor Who. However, since "Resolution," I can no longer say such a thing. I may even go as far as to say it's one of the best Dalek episodes ever. It would seem then that, given enough time, he could become a great showrunner. And it seems that given enough time, any writer, yourself included, could one day write the latest "worst episode ever."

Every new era has had its stumbles. Not every Doctor gets it correct 100% of the time. Capaldi decided he was the kind of Doctor to exit through the window, a trait we never saw again. The Fifth Doctor decided to sleep his way through his first adventure. The Eighth Doctor was "human on his mother's side." And Ten took so long to regenerate that I'm beginning to think it was old age, and not radiation that did him in. If you can look at all of these stupid, stupid moments and still say you love Doctor Who, then maybe, just maybe, you can get over a bit of spotty writing, like you always have. Or is it still the female Doctor thing? Oh...

[movienotesbyzawmer]

August 21: Mission: Impossible II

(previous notes: Mission: Impossible)

Not gonna lie, this is without question the Mission: Impossible movie that is remembered most unfavorably by me and, I'm pretty sure, everyone else. My recollection is that they tried SO SO SO SO HARD to make an action movie for Today's Kids; I'm typing this with the title screen of the 4K Blu-ray blasting its turn-of-the-millennium neo-metal version of the classic theme with Tom Cruise running in front of a wall of flame and it's just like come on. Is there even must fun spycraft in this? The first one promised lots of gravely furtive glancing, world-class makeup disguises, and dazzling gadgetry. Did this movie's director John Woo replace those with just way way way too much shooting and chasing and sexy vehicles? That's how I remember it but it's been a couple of decades.

I should probably address this series' exciting approach to director selection. The first one was directed by the legendary Brian De Palma, who brought us Carrie, The Untouchables, and Carlito's Way. Whether or not this one worked out, the trend here seemed to be to choose a respected director with a certain cred that could be imported into the franchise. More on that as this series unfolds. I am now to press play.

Opening scene is about a scientist who injects himself with something while a voiceover teases us with I-already-forget-what.

Oh, he's pals with Ethan; they're on a plane together out of Sydney when some bad-guy shenanigans totally thwart the whole fly-to-the-destination-safely thing. But! It wasn't even Ethan! It was good-ol' makeup fake-outery! It was a heist to take the warn leather pouch that the scientist had.

This I remember - during the opening credits, the REAL Ethan Hunt is climbing somewhere impressive, all freestyle like. All the related supplemental marketing materials never fail to talk up Tom Cruise's penchant for doing his own stunts, but these don't look real.

He then receives a fancy techno-message in a very, very dramatic and action-movie-ish fashion, which is that someone flies a helicopter by his climbing mountain and fires a rocket near him containing message-glasses tech! The voice in the message glasses sounds like Anthony Hopkins. Is it Anthony Hopkins?

Anyway now he has to go to Spain to recruit Thandie Newton and here is where it's already starting to get way too the-style-of-John-Woo. There is a flamenco show and Ethan and TN spot each other across the room. There is SLO MOTION and SPANISH STOMPING and ACOUSTIC GUITAR, and THOSE TWO GAZING AT EACH OTHER. I tell you I do not care for it.

What happens next is TN proceeds to use fancy technology and lockpicking skills to steal a well-concealed necklace. Ethan tags along flirtatiously. She still tries to steal the necklace even though this Lothario, this smarmy but irresistible cad, is trying to distract her with his testosterone.

Ugh, I was very right to remember not liking stuff about this movie. Ethan fails to recruit her at the jewel heist, so he car-chases at her the next day! He calls her during the car chase to irritate/seduce her, and she's all "you'll have to catch me ha ha", and it ends in a nearly fatal crash and then they KISS. The director worked very hard to ensure the kissing was HAWT, and Ethan has now successfully recruited TN for both spy work and boinkage.

Anthony Hopkins! He is in the next scene! That really was him! How did I forget that he is in this movie. This scene where he meets with Ethan and fills him in on everything is effectively expository. But then after he knows what he's gotta do, he walks with INTENSITY and it is in SLOW MOTION next to a BURNING EFFIGY THING with ELECTRIC GUITAR MUSIC GOING ON.

0:33:40 - Oh now it's a little more what I like, with a montage about using spy tech to get Ambrose, the bad guy who was pretending to be Ethan on the plane in the beginning, to track TN. And to further assure us that there is techie-fun to be had, Ving Rhames returns to be that guy for Ethan's team. But there is also time in this sequence for shots of TN walking slowly and looking super pretty. You know, so she can seduce Ambrose. A flowing scarf figures prominently in this imagery. A John Woo Film.

I like that they tricked Ambrose into thinking he is so damn smart for tracking her down. I also like Ambrose's compound on Sydney Harbour, it is a bitchin property.

Scene just happened where Ambrose seriously menaces his friend and uses a cigar-clipper on his finger. Ambrose is a bad friend.

But then they're all at the horse race game, even Ambrose's injured friend, who we learn is named Stemp and who is spying on TN, and Ethan and VR are spying on them all. There are shots of TN doing sleight of hand to steal a tape from Ambrose's pocket and it's pretty good spy-shot stuff.

I guess I should mention that there's one more guy on Ethan's team of four, an Australian guy. I haven't caught his name, so he is Australian Guy now, and he is pretending to be an employee of the horse race game venue. He gets bullied by Stemp! We don't like Stemp!

The tape she stole, they watch it right away and it shows footage of what the virus (there's a virus problem at the center of this) does. It is effective, and a little shocking.

But then, this is surprisingly actually kind of well-conveyed - they made it VERY clear that the tape was originally in Ambrose's left jacket pocket, and they showed very clearly that TN returned it to the wrong jacket pocket, AND it's obvious a moment later that Ambrose knows it has been replaced in the wrong jacket pocket. Don't know why, but at least it's keeping us on top of this situation.

Also not-too-shabby is how they're doing the consequences of Ethan and TN fancying each other, except then she has to go and seduce Ambrose and that's uncomfortable and drama-making. In Ethan's defense, as well as Ambrose's, I am also in love with TN right now.

1:02:12 - Ethan disguised himself as Scientist, the dead one from the beginning, and I'm just saying I'm glad this movie is embracing the disguise-craft theme that was established in the first movie. Ooh, is the show like that too?

And then just as I've typed that, it turns out that Ambrose did an Ethan disguise (it was established by Anthony Hopkins that Ambrose was an IMF agent so he can do that stuff too) to trick TN into outing her intentions. They make it very clear that there is voice-fake tech with their disguises that involves a wire mesh thing stuck to the throat.

Next up is a heist scheme to break into a skyscraper where they're growing stuff about the virus, and it's a little bit of that style I liked so much in the last movie, with the added twist that Ambrose is somewhere else anticipating what Ethan's planning, and, I think, plotting a separate, way-better heist. They're still talking about it and the heist is happening and it is suspenseful! I totally like this more than I remember.

1:13:30 - Ethan is at the part of the heist where he's at fancy lab facilities with robot arms and AI voices and oddly no people. VR and Australian Guy are observing everything that's happening using technology and Australian Guy's helicopter, making it more suspenseful, but I also don't know exactly what's going on? We appear to be where Scientist originally injected himself, and Ethan is I think killing the virus while also somehow visualizing Scientist injecting himself.

But then that all goes away because a platoon of thugs in black burst in and are shooting at Ethan. It all quickly became an action movie with blazing guns and VR's tech van getting bombed.

In the fracas it's clear that one of the injector guns contains the last of the virus, and also gunplay might shatter it and make them all infected, so that's decent suspense. But also, the lighting in this bio-lab is like a nightclub, with inexplicably roving spotlights and neon accents that pop in 4K.

TN is in the mix, and she decides to inject the last of the virus into herself, and there's a dumb moment where it's like ETHAN YOU HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO SHOOT ME WITH YOUR GUN and Ethan, Man of Ethics, does not do that. Instead there is more gunplay and Ethan jumps out a hole he made in the wall.

1:28:45 - We've moved to new location, a new compound, and it's on a guard-patrolled island and Ethan sneaks up on a guard and does a totally unnecessary body-flip martial arts move to take him out. I think he needs to steal the antidote from this compound so that he can save TN, who is somewhere else. He is visually passionate about this mission.

Ethan got caught sneaking in to this new compound by Stemp, and he did a whole grenade blowup thing but he still got caught. It's a trick, right? Yup, he put an Ethan mask on Stemp and a Stemp mask on himself and got Ambrose to kill Stemp. He realizes he just killed Stemp because of the finger injury, good job with that.

I am reminded that this movie is from the director of Face/Off, so I needn't have feared that the mask/disguise conceit would be forsaken.

But did he get the antidote? He must have. Sometimes when I'm typing notes I miss stuff, but he's now motorcycling away while VR and Australian Guy are providing support from their chopper.

This is now the vehicle-chase opera that I remember ending the movie so terribly extendedly. Much gunplay. Vehicles pirouette with violent elegance. Ethan can do such exquisite dances with his motorcycle and firearm. This climaxes in the ridiculous feat of Ethan and Ambrose riding their cycles at each other and jumping at off them at each other to finish the job sans vehicle. It ends as a tussle on the beach, and Ambrose has a knife that almost gets in Ethan's eye. The visual on that is striking. But it's no good, Ethan is too Tom Cruise for him. He gets the knife from him and DISCARDS THE KNIFE, and punch-kick-fights him a lot instead. Ethics.

Turns out Ambrose has a gun after all oh no. But then it turns out Ethan is standing by a sand-obscured gun somehow also oh good. He does a thoroughly storyboarded sand-kick-body-twirl gun recovery that ends like you'd guess.

So although there are some dumb things about this movie, I think it's better than I remembered. And having just watched the first one, I think it actually did a good job of having a story where you don't have to ignore a lot of stupidness. It's not like it's an especially good plot, but it didn't try to make you forget its holes like the first one. I still like the first one better, though.

(next: Mission: Impossible III)

[jo-the-schmo]

Red, Dead, Reflections Ch.1

A/N: Hello everyone! I’m back on my garbage and writing for a new fandom, and I’m not sorry about it! Now, I doubt anyone who followed my previous writing is going to read this, but just in case I’ll give a disclaimer. This IS going to be the same concept from my old series Breaking. As you all know, I hate that story and wish I had done a better job with it, I’m considering this to be my way to do the idea justice. If you are new to my stories, Welcome new potential friend! I will respectfully ask you to not look into Breaking, only because it isn’t good, could possibly spoil the way this fic is gonna work, and is NOT for the RDR fandom in anyway. I’m really excited to be writing this story, and I’m hoping to make it better! I hope you enjoy it! I’m so sorry for this long note, please forgive me!

Word count: 5981

Warnings: Explicit language, blood, death, violence

Summary: After a bank job with your friends goes wrong, the world decides to toss you into an old yet new world. But is this random chance a blessing or a curse? Find out by going through this semi-choose your own adventure and see what consequences you reap. 

A/N pt.2: There won’t be any choices for this chapter because it’s mainly set up, but expect some in the chapters to come! I hope you have a good time! If anyone would like to be tagged, you can message me, comment, or send an ask! Don’t be shy! :D This does not have a set character x reader because guess what? It’s gonna be partially your choice, babes! I hope you can be patient with me until this feature is implemented. 

From Out West

“This is a little too ballsy for my liking, Austin.” You warned as you carefully adjusted the colored contact lenses in your eyes. “Since when did you turn into a little pussy-willow?” He smirked at you while he turned a corner. “This is a bank, not a home robbery, so forgive me if I’m a tad nervous about this! We’re robbing a god damn bank in 2019, in a busy city that we aren’t necessarily familiar with!” “Maybe you aren’t familiar, you know I’m a regular ol’LA boy.” You turned your head to look at the two in the backseat. “Miguel, you can’t seriously be okay with this.” You questioned but were confident in it enough to make it a statement. He shrugged his shoulders, making that confidence literally evaporate. “We gotta trust Austin, as crazy as this plan is. We haven’t gotten caught yet.” You crossed you arms and made sure your wig was pinned right. “Doesn’t mean we won’t be startin’ now.” You grumbled. “Come on, sissy! This plan is fool-proof! They’ll never even know it was us!” Eli chirped. “Oh yeah, except for the fact that this is a fucking bank and the FBI can get on our asses for this!” You swore it was exhausting being the only realistic one sometimes. “On top of that, there’s only 5 of us! We’re insane!” “6.” Austin corrected. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Your girlfriend won’t be in the damn room with us.” “She’s the ace up our sleeves, it would be silly for her to be in there with us.” The car smelled like old cigarettes, it made you sick. The band around your chest dug into your ribs. You opted to stay silent and relent for the time being, instead focusing on your disguise. The wig was carefully pinned to your real hair, it was short enough to be confused for a men’s haircut but had enough length to not require any glue. Dark brown hair, abnormally vibrant green eyes. And with the mask covering your face, that would be their only descriptions they could give to the police. Flat chest, boyish haircut, baggy black hoodie, just your average deviant. The destination was in view. “Alright,” Austin started. “everyone knows the plan, yeah? Gina is inside, she’ll send us the signal. We go in quick and make our presence known. I go behind the counter to make sure the tellers ain’t up to no funny shit. Miguel, you round up the lovely citizens into a corner, hit Gina a little to make it convincing. Eli, you take care of the money. And Y/N, I need you to stay in character, be loud and intimidating, keep the tellers in check when I’m helpin’ Eli, and the civils with Miguel, got it?” You all nodded. He looked back at Miguel. “You got the fake bomb ready?” “Yes’ir.” “I’ll pass the big boss to you once I pick him out. Zoe is waiting for us in the alleyway between the bank and the office building. We get in, make some noise, scare them shitless, get the money, and go.” He parked up front of the white walls, you saw a mother walk through the glass doors with her toddler in a stroller. You immediately felt bad. “You promise this is the last job, right?” You looked at him seriously. “At least the last of something this big, I don’t think I could handle with again.” “Of course! This is just to get us enough money to get us all out. The economy is garbage, think of it as taking what should already be ours.” You heard the crackle of the walkie on Austin’s lap. He threw it into his bag. “That’s the signal, masks on everyone.” Austin’s was a fox, long, fake salt and pepper hair rolled form under his hood. Eli’s was a raccoon, convincing copper bangs swooped between the ears. Miguel had an owl; disturbing blue eyes pierced your being. You strapped on your black dove and joined with group as they exited the stolen vehicle. You kept both your hands in the front pocket of your hoodie, trying to be discrete about the two handguns inside. Only one was loaded with real bullets, that was the backup, You preferred to use the blanks. Unable to trace, and when used properly, won’t hurt anyone. Austin and Eli took the leads. The doors were kicked in. “EVERYONE GET ON THE FUCKING GROUND RIGHT NOW! HANDS UP, ALL YOU! THIS IS A ROBBERY!” He screamed, pointing his gun at a man behind the counter about 3 yards away. Miguel was quick to shout at the people in line to get into the corner of the room. Gina pretended to try and defy, he slaps her, needless to say it’s convincing. “Dove, handle the worms.” You traded spots as Austin grabbed one of the men behind the counter. Your eyes locked with the poor woman, she was covering the stroller with her torso. You pointed your blank gun at some random person. “Stay on the ground or I’ll fucking shoot, ya hear me?” You lowered your voice, made it coarser, time to be a ‘man’. They nodded hysterically. The woman was crying. You could hear Eli screaming his demands in a fake accent. “Everyone hand over your phones. If any of you give me a reason to even SUSPECT you’re up to anything, I will shoot.” Everyone put their phones on the ground and slid them over toward you. You turned your attention to the back. “What’s the hold up, owl?” “I’m handling it.” He strapped the fake bomb to the teller’s chest, making him kneel down in the middle of the bank. “Listen up, everyone! This man has a bomb attached to his body. We have someone hacked into the security cameras. If you don’t follow our instructions to the T, they will blow a hole in this lot.” He paused to let the cries and gasps die out. “Now, for those said instructions, listen close. We will exit the building soon, you will stay down for 5 minutes.” He pointed at a clock on the wall. “Do not touch anything or move a muscle. When 5 minutes have passed, the big guy here-“ He patted the man’s shoulders and dropped a key wrapped in tissue in his lap. “will take a little drive off the premises. He will keep going until he reaches the designated location written on that tissue. If any of you contact the police before the end of the day, he will die, along with any other drivers in his vicinity. So, unless you want a substantial amount of blood on your hands, I’d suggest you keep quiet until midnight. As for the rest of you, you have permission to leave the building once that 5 minutes are up. But I would suggest keeping a low profile, for your safety and others’.” There was a loud crack. “I got it!” The phony Australian accent rang. Austin led the rest of the bank tellers to you, making them sit in the flood of civils. “Staying alert, Dove?” “Don’t patronize me, stupid Fox.” This whole situation pissed you off. The baby was crying, mom was too, trying to hush the whines. “Fire a shot, Dove!” What? “Don’t let their insubordination stand.” He demanded. This was a fear tactic. He was trying to teach a lesson to the others. “I’m not firing a warning shot over a fucking baby, you psycho!” Your blood was boiling, this was overkill, he was way out of line with this. Of course, he wasn’t telling you to shoot the baby or the mother, but you weren’t going to cause more grief where it didn’t need to be. “Take the shot!” “Fuck you!” “Why are you going against me?” Was he seriously doing this now? You felt like your head was going to explode. She was the only person with a child present. You put both of your pieces back in your hoodie and knelt next to her. She flinched as you approached, but that was to be expected. “Ma’am, I’m making an exception for you because you have a child with you, and that prick is really getting on my last nerve. You’re allowed to exit the building now, but the other rules still apply. People will die if you talk, maybe not you, but other people who have children like you do, most certainly. Take your kid and get out, don’t do anything out of the ordinary, and get out.” Her red eyes shook you to your core, familiarity. She nodded in both fear and appreciation. “Than-than-thank y-“ She was choking on her own misfortune, you decided to spare her. “Yeah, yeah, just get out.” She got up and collected herself, checking around the room as she walked out of the building. You could only see his eyes, but you could tell Austin was reaching his limit fast. An older gentleman stared at you. “At least one of you has a heart.” You were glad Austin was too focused on being pissed to hear that. You got up, kicking the phones toward the door as you walked. Austin grabbed you arm. “You’re lucky I didn’t kill her for that.” By letting that woman go, you showed weakness. It was a hint at your identities, but you didn’t care. “And you’re lucky I’m not shooting you for saying that. I’m not a killer like you, Fox.” Your voice was laced with venom. Eli had interrupted your dispute. “Alright lovebirds, time to play nice, we’ve got precious cargo.” He gave both of you a duffle bag, they were pretty hefty. Austin took a deep breath, putting on his best showman voice. “Alright folks! That right there is our cue to hit the road. Remember, 5 minutes on the clock. No one likes a-“ The doors were filled with red and blue, sirens. The police were here. “Shit!” Shit was right. “How the hell are they here?” Austin screamed. He gave you a shove. “It’s probably because of that god damn woman!” “There’s no way she would’ve had enough time for that.” “And no one had a phone out, I was watching the whole time.” Miguel chimed. “We have bigger fish to fry right now! We gotta go.” You all dashed over to the back door, all you had to do was move towards the alley, if you could just get to the dump van, everything would be fine. Drive up to get the real car, leave that one with no prints or hair, and you’d be home free. The 4 of you booked it out the door. But the van was no where to be seen, instead, there were about 3 cops on either side which was 6 in total, trapping you in. “They must’ve got Zoe!” Yeah, no shit. “Put your hands up!” You all raised your arms, except of course for Austin. You kicked his calf. He didn’t budge. “I said put your god damn hands up!” “In case you didn’t notice, pal, there’s a bomb in that building. If you don’t let us pass, I’ll blow that building out of existence, along with the man attached to it.” He pointed his gun to one of the cops to your left. “So, I suggest you let us through, or else you’re gonna piss me off more than I already am.” “We know the bomb is fake, drop to your knees or we will shoot!” Another one barked. Someone had ratted you out. You looked at Miguel and Eli, you weren’t letting this go down, not by a long shot. You tuned out Austin’s ramblings and whispered to the other two. “Be ready to run. I’m gonna buy you guys some time. Don’t kill any of them, disarm them.” “What the hell are you talking about, Y/N?” Miguel questioned with panic. You took a deep breath. “Thank you for being my family.” You swept your leg behind Austin’s knees, and he collapsed to the ground as you stood. The world slowed to a crawl, pulling a gun out of your pocket, these were real bullets. You’ve never missed a target. You drew the attention of all 6 police officers, but no amount of training could prepare them. You fired 3 shots, each one hitting the hands of the officers Austin had been talking to. Their weapons fell from their hands. You felt bodies push past your legs, down the alley way away from the bank. You were glad the streets of LA were confusing. Now was the time. You whipped your body around to face the rest of the officers, firing rapidly at their shins. You weren’t gonna put blood on your hands. But deep down you knew, there was no making out of this one. You would buy them a few minutes while trying to subdue you. Just as your haphazard shots began, they fired precise ones of their own. Two passed through your skull, three in your chest, and one got a through almost half of your jugular. Both pieces fell away from you as gravity swaddled you. Bits of your wooden mask, blood, head pushing back unnaturally, seeing the backs of your made family run, they were almost home free. There was no pain after that point, you waited patiently for your back to hit the ground beneath you, but it never did. You kept falling. And falling. The midday light felt like it was slipping away, there were leather walls encompassing your lifeless form. No sound, no sense of texture, just the smell of dirt and decay. Then there was nothing but darkness, but that void that beckoned you, that pulled at your very being, was gone just as quick as it appeared.

Your body shot forward with a violent intake for air. The gasps filled your lungs to the brim, your chest and head ached, throat tight. The coughing erupted from deep in your chest, which also held a different pain from the ever-tightening band around it. You threw you hoodie away and made quick work of loosening it just a bit, and in doing so noticed that your body was free of any physical wounds. There was still a soreness, and blood wiped off your skin, but there were no open wounds. You were incredibly cold, and at first you assumed that to be attributed to your near-death experience, until you looked up high to see to see an open window with snow falling outside. “I don’t think we’re in California anymore.” You muttered to yourself. You shivered, the place was covered in hay and in low light, that’s when the smell hit you. It reeked of animals, that would probably have something to do with the fact that you’re in a barn. Shakily, you got to your feet. Knees wobbling, your eyes adjusted, there were horses. That certainly explained the stench. A chill ran up your spine, the cold tickling at your vertebrae. You scanned the room for where you had tossed your hoodie, only to find it in a horse’s mouth. Your eyes widened in fear. “No, no, no, no, no, no!” You exclaimed. You rushed forward and grasped at the hanging sleeve, tugging on it with all your strength. “Drop it! Drop it right now!” The horse did not listen, in fact, now it seemed more hellbent on consuming the thick material. After hurtling a few curses at the horse, you heard a distinct rip. You fell back, the remnants of black cloth now in tatters. You let out a muffled scream of frustration. Even with the long sleeves of your cotton shirt, you were still freezing. It suddenly struck you how odd it is for it to be snowing at all. You figured you weren’t in California anymore, but you were somewhere that snows in the middle of May? How far were you? You couldn’t think of any states that snowed this late in the year. Were you in Maine? Up north, Canada? How did you even get here? “Did those idiots come back to get me? I could’ve sworn…” You could’ve sworn they ran like you told them to, and that you had experienced several fatal injuries. Is this hell? Purgatory? The other side? It was cold enough to be Hell that’s for sure. Nothing made sense. You found your mask on the ground, chunks of the painted wood were replaced with vacant space, splintered bullet holes. You fastened it to the first belt loop, it rested against your left pant leg. Pins dug into your scalp, wigs still surprisingly attached to your head. Your eyes watered, your contacts were drying out. You opted take them out now rather than waste your time trying to find drops in a barn. You flicked them away once they were out. “Now, if there’s a barn with animals, there’s gotta be a house with people.” You walked over to the large wooden doors as your talked to yourself, but today just had to be the worst day of your life. Something landed on top of you, or more accurately someone. You were surprised you didn’t feel any cracks as the weight crashed on you. Shifting your weight over, you elbowed the man in the jaw. He rolled off of you with a grunt of pain. You were quick to jab him in the stomach with the toe of your boot. Sputtering a cough with saliva dripping out the mouth, the man rushed to stand. He was trying to fight. “You’re on the wrong side of the mountains, partn’r.” He slurred. “This here is O’Driscoll territory, Which you don’t got no business bein’ in.” I’m in the mountains? Where the hell- He didn’t give you enough time to finish that thought before he was throwing a punch at you. If this basic boy thinks he can step in my personal space, he’s got another thing coming. You blocked the fist with your forearm and redirected the force toward the ground. With the base of your wrist, you hit his throat. The force of your own strength and the ever so impeccable sense of gravity caused him to wheeze, choke, and writhe on the ground. “Listen here, buddy,” you pressed your boot down on his chest “I have no idea where the hell I am right now. I don’t give a single shit about territory or whatever the fuck you’re going on about, but if you put your hands on me again, I’m gonna mangle your entire lower half with a rake.” You applied more weight. “I didn’t come here of my own volition, someone put me here. Which means, you’re little punk ass better tell me what’s going on or get out of my way so I can-“ Gunshots. Mystery man took your distraction as an opportunity to wriggle out form under you. They were ceaseless, did someone drop you off in the middle of a gang war, what the hell is going on? You were about to duck behind whatever cover was around you if the idiot of the room had decided he didn’t learn his lesson. “Are you with those crazies?” He yelled, peeking out the barn doors for only a second. “I should’ve known.” His voice was cold and malicious. “You’re with that son of a bitch, Dutch!” “Who?” “Don’t play dumb with me, pretty boy, they must’ve sent you up to spy on us! I’m gonna kill you for-“ “I literally have no idea what’s going on!” But he wasn’t listening to reason, clocked you in the ribs before you got the chance to block, then using your surprise to his advantage, hit you on the nose. There was a familiar crack and blood rush. “Did you just fucking break my nose, you ass?” You screeched toward the ground, wiping away the blood. You took him off guard by doing that, so you were quick to knock him in the jaw. The shooting stopped but you were a little preoccupied and decided not to waste anymore time. His arm bent to caress the side of his face. You rushed forward, lacing your arm between the gap his made. Using all your weight, you swung your legs out and forced him to drop to the ground. His back slammed forcefully and with a swift adjustment, your shins trapped his neck, locking him in place. You squeezed his neck enough to make him gasp. He tried to push away from you, but with the position you left him in, there’s no way he’d be able to without some sort of outside assistance. “Who are you calling pretty boy now? Huh? Who, bitch boy?” You heard the door start to open, you let lose and pulled the man up to shield you, locking his head so that you peek between a gap in your arm and his head. A man wearing a blue coat and hat walked in, his hands resting on his belt. “Well, well, what have we got ourselves here?” You couldn’t quite place his accent. You noticed he had a holster. “Don’t fuck with me, dude. I’ve got your friend trapped between me and you. No need to make this get crazy.” You warned, tightening your grip to enunciate your point. What sounded almost like a chuckle escaped his throat. “You must not be an O’Driscoll if you think he’s my friend.” You panicked, you tried to think of your next move, but he had plans of his own. “What’s your name, son?” Your suspicions were correct, it seems. This isn’t the first time someone’s confused you for a man, especially when you were trying so hard to not look like yourself. But maybe, you could use this to your advantage. “James West.” That was Austin’s code name for danger. If someone introduced you or called any of you James, it meant they weren’t trust worthy. You and Gina would usually use Jamie, but now James felt like the safer option. “Now how in the hell did you get involved in this, West?” He rested his hip against one of the stable posts.   “I have no idea.” You threw the man away from you, there was no point holding him anymore. “I woke up here, and this guy just started attacking me.” You thought for a moment. “Are you Dutch?” You asked. This time, it was a single, hearty- “HA!” He had a spark in his eye. “Me? Dutch? I ain’t that old yet, kid.” You rolled your eyes and pulled yourself up. “Well, my nose is broken because this little shit thought I was with you, so I have some choice words for this ‘Dutch’.” You huffed. “And don’t call me ‘kid’.” You brushed your fingers across the bridge of your nose, preparing yourself for what you were about to do. One deep breath in, out, pop. You pushed your nose back into place and winced. A wad of blood shot out. “Jesus shit!” You coughed, you never get used to having to do that. The blue coat cowboy looking mother-fucker looked semi-impressed. “Well, I’m not Dutch, but you could sure meet him if it pleases.” Something caught his attention. “Speak of the devil…” The door opened again. A man walked in with very distinct black hair. He was also a cowboy looking mother-fucker. Oh god, am I in yeeyee country? His eyes immediately locked on you. “Did you cause this mess, Arthur? Or have we just met a new friend?” The man who you presumed to be Dutch, had a deeper voice than the man apparently called Arthur, but their accents were similar. That was not promising for you. “That depends, his name is West, James West. I walked in a right fine mess between him and that there O’Driscoll.” Arthur pointed to the man still struggling to steady himself. Dutch choked a deep laugh, he seemed more amused than Arthur was. “Right fine is right, Arthur. You did this?” He asked. You nodded reluctantly. “You’re a good fighter, boy. Real good, it seems.” He strode over to the guy on the floor and picked him up by the collar, tossing him over to Arthur. “Morgan, you deal with this trash while I talk to our new pal.” Dutch walked over to you, confidence in his step, while Arthur threw the man back on the ground. He wrapped an arm around your shoulder and shook you around a bit. “James West, huh?” “Yeah, what’s it to ya?” “Oh, this boy’s got spunk, Morgan!” You looked over and saw Arthur yanking the man around by the shirt. Dutch forced your attention back to him. “Now West, you’ve gotta understand our position here. We can tell clear as day you ain’t involved in a lick of this mess. But we don’t have a single clue as to what your business is up here. Now, you seem like a considerate young man, but I got worried folks on this mountain, and I can’t have no scamps running around and hellraising” He squeezed your shoulder. “So, don’t take any offense to what I’m about to ask, but what are you doing up here?” He looked you dead in the eyes. In your opinion, the question was fair. You couldn’t fully let your guard down, but they appeared to not be whoever put you here. Then again, these O’Driscoll’s didn’t seem to be either. “I can’t give you an answer to that one, Mr. …?” “Van Der Linde.” That’s one hell of a name. “Mr. Van Der Linde. Frankly, I have no damn clue why I’m here. One minute, I’m getting shot down in the middle of the day, and then I wake up trapped in some barn in the middle of bumfuck nowhere, in what looks like the ass end of winter. So, I’m a little confused right now to say the least.” You were clearly frustrated with your situation, he wasn’t oblivious to it. “Where are you from, son?” “California.” That was a safe enough answer. “James West from out West. That’s certainly an opener.” He scratched his chin. “I’m gonna put you to a test young man.” He turned you around and lead you over to where Arthur had just gotten off the now bloody man. He was whimpering, begging under his breath for mercy. “I don’t think he’s got much to say, Dutch. They apparently happened upon this place and took it over. That’s all I’m getting’” “I’m going to give our new young friend a choice.” He pulled a revolver out of his holster and held the handle out to you. “In normal circumstances, I’d let Arthur handle this situation himself. But I’ve got an itching curiosity with you, kid.” You felt obligated to hold it in your hand. Looking down at the man, pity flared in your chest. “Should we kill him, or let him go? I’m letting you make the call.” What kind of question was this? Who were these guys? The choice wasn’t very difficult, you’d be a hypocrite if you did otherwise, and you weren’t compromising your promise on the off chance these guys might not like your opinion. You handed the gun back to Dutch. “Just because he’s an asshole, doesn’t mean he deserves to die. Let him go.” Dutch was intrigued by your answer. He looked over to Arthur with a smirk. “I think I like kid!” “Please don’t call me ‘kid.” You requested. Arthur pulled the man to his feet and threw him outside. “Get outta here before he regrets it.” The man darted into the snow, leaving a trail behind him. “Grab the horse, Arthur. We gotta get something out of this.”  You were lead outside to find a horrific scene, bodies were strewn about the snowy landscape. Whoever these guys were, they were not to be trifled with. You should play this safe. There was a house not too far away, the snow was dense. It was more than freezing. You sent a glare to the horse Arthur led past you. You’ll pay for this, you dumb fucking horse. With your adrenaline dying down, your whole being felt frozen. “Normally, I wouldn’t be one for disrupting dead for anything other than money, but you’ll die out here without something warm, Mr. West.” Dutch gestured to one of the several bodies riddled through the snow. You swallowed the lump in your throat, trying your best not to think about how you were robbing from dead people. It wouldn’t be the first time, but you still didn’t feel good about it. You separated from him and carefully stepped around the bodies littered in the snow. You found a man with his face in the snow, you pretty much picked him so you wouldn’t have to see his face as you stripped him of his coat. It didn’t look particularly warm initially, but anything would be better than this. The arms bent limply back as you peeled the sleeves away. Luckily upon further inspection, you were happy to learn there was a sort of wool lining inside, that would at least help insulate your own body heat. A sudden commotion broke out from inside the rustic home. A man yelling for Dutch and a woman screaming. Your instincts made you spring into action, you leapt through large portions of the snow to make it to the steps faster and before you knew it you were bursting through the door. A blonde man wearing another cowboy-looking hat was chasing a woman around a table. “What the hell are you doing, Micah?” Arthur questioned as him and Dutch followed you in. “We got a feisty one over here, boys!” He hollered. Oh, you were not comfortable with this type of language. “Stop chasing the poor woman, ya moron!” He warned with more intensity. You weren’t gonna see this go down, that’s for sure. You ran up behind the man called Micah, grabbed his collar, and used his weight to pull his back towards you, and then to the ground. His body slammed, he let out a surprised yelp, followed by a pained groan. “Fucking sicko! Stop chasing her around, she’s scared!” “Get out of my house!” The woman bellowed. Admittedly, you had no idea what was going on, but you knew you could at least try and defuse the situation. You put your hands up to appear less threatening. “Miss, I don’t know who you are or what in God’s name is going on, but I promise I am not here to hurt you.” You spoke to her in a calm voice. Whatever was going on, it clearly had her frazzled. “I don’t have any weapons, and I don’t make it habit of hurting people who don’t need hurting. You clearly have been hurting for no reason. Can you explain to me what’s happened so that I can help you with this situation?” You took a cautious step around the table to make sure she wouldn’t dart away from you, you kept steady eye contact. “They…they killed my husband a few days ago! They took over my home and locked me in the basement!” She wept. Maybe these O’Driscolls were the ones to stow you in the barn, they sure seemed like the type with this new information. “I’m so sorry for your loss, ma’am. I can assure you that those men won’t be bothering you anytime soon. Can you-“ You heard glass shatter, looking over, you found Micah scattering to his feet, fire was spreading from the floor to the wall at an incredible rate. It was already crawling up the right-side wall before you had a chance to react. There was no way you could put that out by yourself, and the others weren’t exactly jumping at the chance to help you. You settled on running to grab some blankets from the bed across the room. The boys were leading the woman out of the house and she reluctantly followed. Micah sent you a glare as you passed him out of the house. “Oh, don’t you look at me like that, you weren’t any help!” You knew you should keep your mouth shut, but you knew you were right on this one. The group was walking toward some horses, you followed behind. “Micah, lead the horse back to camp.” You handed the blankets to the woman. “Thank you.” She seemed genuine but was also hurt by your sentiments. “It’s no problem, ma’am.” “Adler, Sadie Adler is my name.” She wrapped herself in the blankets. “Well, it’s no problem, Mrs. Adler. It’s the bare minimum to what I could’ve done.” You hoped whatever camp Dutch mentioned was close by. This cold was blistering. “Mrs. Adler, you may ride with me, we’ll get you back to people who can help.” Dutch hopped up onto a white horse, lending a hand for Sadie to pull herself up. “Arthur, please take our new friend with you. I don’t think he’s in any shape to be riding.” Arthur nodded, heaving himself with ease onto a spotted mare? You couldn’t tell if it was a girl, but you just got that vibe. He did not give you a hand. Oh yeah, I’m a dude. A manly man. You gripped the back of the saddle and used all the arm strength you had to get onto the bare back on the horse. You hoped this ride wasn’t going to be too bumpy because you were not about to get punched because you had to grab onto this man and couldn’t tell if someone was a homophobe or not. You sure hoped these people weren’t, but you weren’t exactly in the position to be picky. “Pearson’s not gonna happy about this.” Arthur mentioned as the horses pushed forward. “Mr. Pearson isn’t happy about anything except his drink. He’ll be alright.” Now seemed like a good a time as any to start asking questions. They couldn’t go anywhere away from you at the moment. “Not to interrupt or anything, but could someone tell me where I am, or what day it is. Could someone please tell me what the deal is?” “We’re north of New Hanover if the maps are correct. We’re planning to head down there as soon as this winter passes. God knows how long that’s gonna take.” Dutch complained. You had never heard of New Hanover, but apparently it was winter. Maybe you really did get shot, put into a hospital maybe? Then these guys… You panicked for a second. O’Driscoll wasn’t another name for them was it? It didn’t make much sense but no one else would put this much effort into stealing you away. “As for the day, I couldn’t tell ya exactly. It’s winter in the year of our Lord 1899.” He laughed. What? “What?” “Ah, just bit of a joke, son. We live in dark times. We’re hurtling straight into a new century.” Wait was he joking or not joking? “It’s 1899?” You tried to keep your voice neutral, but he seemed to pick up on your worry. “Yes, it is, son.” He paused. “Are you alright?” You were anything but alright. These people are crazy, I’m trapped on a mountain with some insane cultists who think they’re in the 19th century, I’m fucked. “Arthur, we need to hurry, the boy’s looking pale.” Your head felt fuzzy, colors were blurring together. I am not stuck on a god damn mountain in 1899, I’m not, that’s physically impossible. This is all a dream, or some weird set up. You felt like you were 19 again, disconnected, afraid, losing it. You weren’t gonna go back there again, you wouldn’t! You didn’t know you had stopped breathing. You didn’t feel Arthur’s arm catching you so you wouldn’t get trampled.

 Everything was black.

[kentonramsey]

3 Outfit Ideas for Your Next Virtual Date

To kick off the tried-and-true incubator of weekend date nights known colloquially as “Friday,” Man Repeller asked artist and model Jade Gord to style herself in three outfits for virtual Zoom dates. Jade’s Zoom dates just so happen to be with her top celebrity crushes–but feel free to [insert your real or imaginary crush here] and abscond with her styling tips accordingly. —Harling

Cottagecore Vibes for a Date With Shia Labeouf

This gingham dress is custom-made from a small brand called 3234u. I’ve been into the whole cottagecore aesthetic, but with super boxy silhouettes—almost like a muu-muu, comfortable and easy to wear. It’s perfect for a Zoom date because most of the fun stuff is happening up top, like the square neckline and gathered sleeves. 

My gold jewelry is a mix of things that I bought for myself recently from New Top Jewelry and eBay. There is so much good vintage gold, 14-karat jewelry for great prices on eBay! I’ll just search something like “14 karat gold pendant” or “14 karat gold heart” and scroll through every single page until I find something I like. 

I’m really weird when it comes to head accessories, especially hats, because I feel like they never look right on me, but I’ve been really into headbands lately. This puffy one is from Ganni, and I think it elevates any outfit I style it with. It kind of ups the ante on the whole look, and would frame my face on a video call with Shia Labeouf.

I love that Shia is kind of dusty. He just doesn’t care what people think, in the best way, which is probably why he wears the same three shirts and two pairs of pants. He’s also insanely committed to whatever he’s doing. He got a full chest tattoo for a movie he’s starring in. A real tattoo. I’m not a spontaneous person at all, so I’m naturally attracted to people who are. I think we would talk about nothing but everything at the same time. 

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An Outfit That Goes “Boom!” for Aminé

I love styling a tight top with something loose on the bottom. There’s something really nice about how the proportions play against each other. When I wear a crop top, it either has to be super cropped where it’s right under my boobs, or something subtle that only shows an inch or two of my stomach. 

This black tank and skirt are thrifted from MyUnique, a huge thrift store in Jamaica, Queens (they have the craziest items–honestly, a good amount of my wardrobe is from there). The top is vintage Calvin Klein. I was going for a sexier vibe with this outfit, and a statement skirt on the bottom so if I had to stand up during the date to grab a drink it would be like, “BOOM!” Perfect for a hypothetical date with Aminé. He seems really fun and goofy to be around, but I also just find him really attractive. I feel like we would get along really well, and just have a lot in common (I swear I haven’t thought about it too much…). 

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Going All Out From the Waist Up for Jacob Elordi

I thrifted this dress from MyUnique, too. It’s the perfect dress for a Zoom date because not only is it comfortable but it also draws attention to my neck and chest area. If I’m dating somebody I’m into, that’s always a nice thing to highlight. 

I’m not one of those people who puts on shoes for a virtual date. I stick with socks and my house slippers and leave it at that, but I’ll go all out from the waist up for Jacob Elordi. When I first saw him, I thought he was really basic, but then when I was re-watching Euphoria with my roommate, and I was like, “Whoa.” I also actually like the mullet that he has now. Mullets can be hit or miss, but on him–the mullet with the mustache, and then his Australian accent on top of it? It really works. 

I’m not sure how much we would have to talk about, but he’s cute to look at. And the nice thing about a virtual date is that, worst case scenario, you can just “fake freeze” your computer or hang up and be like, “Oh, my Internet’s not working. Sorry!”

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