#i just wonder what porsche told pete when they were guessing who it could be??

[crystallinemoonlight]

sometimes i'll think about how, at the start of episode four, pete offers to help porsche guess who he might have kissed at the pier the night before, and i imagine a crackfic where porsche goes on a quest to find out who it was by kissing his colleagues one by one - starting with pete of course that man was ready to sacrifice himself for the cause when porsche had questions about casual hookups later in the episode, offering himself up without hesitation

he visits them one by one; pol is confused... but intrigued, it's like one of tankhun's series! arm already knows it wasn't him but insists they check it anyway... just to be sure, right? you never know. ken says he'll break his face if he tries anything (very suspicious, porsche makes sure to highlight his name). big doesn't know whether to be angry or confused, he wasn't even there??? no he and ken didn't sneak in halfway through because of a secret crush, this isn't one of tankhun's series! tankhun asks what they're doing and if he can join but porsche isn't about to open that can of worms.

maybe at some point kinn catches on and realizes porsche doesn't remember but is rating the others based on if they kiss better or worse than the ~mystery person~, which is giving him an ego boost up until porsche declares that one of his friends is actually a better kisser and therefore can't possibly have been involved (said friend is very confused about why khun kinn is giving him death glares for the rest of the week)

you can even throw in some chan or vegas or anyone else if you want to, just go crazy with it, i think that'd be really funny especially if porsche just casually blasts vegas after they make out for a solid minute saying "no you're good but the other guy was just less desperate you feel me, sorry bro".

[everytimeigetmoody]

platonic macauchay (with mentions of kimchay)

wip wednesday on a friday. let's gooo this is in the same universe as my this wip. progress is being made

As he was walking, he paused at a window that only just gave him a view of the entrance of the house. Chay stayed there, watching like a ghost trapped in the home they died in. He only tore his eyes away when he heard footsteps approaching. 

Macau was walking in his direction. The two were the closest in age and yet they never spoke. Porsche told him he wasn't too bad, but Tankhun insisted that the only thing he was good for at a party was to be a piñata. 

"Can I join you?" Macau asked, already stepping up to the window. He pulled out his phone and opened up a game on it. Chay had seen Vegas nudge Macau's arm earlier and tell him to shut it off.

"What are you playing?" Chay looked over his shoulders and saw a series of black and white tiles on the screen. 

"It's a piano tile game. Basically, you're just trying to get a faster score. I've been trying to beat Pete's score for the past two days, but I'm starting to think it's impossible," Macau explained.

The pair stayed like this for a long time before either one of them spoke again. Chay watched Macau play, and Macau repeatedly failed at trumping Pete's high score. The only sounds between them were the dull taps of Macau's fingers on the screen. 

"So I take it you didn't want this party?" Macau asked after giving up on his game and pocketing his phone. “I’m Macau, by the way.”

"Yeah, no, but they didn't really care about that," Porschay huffed and went back to staring outside the window. “I’m Porschay”

"That sounds rough. If it makes you feel better, I also didn't want to come. No offense but this party sounded lame." 

"The thought was nice, but this isn't even that big of a deal. Going away parties shouldn't be for people who have been in a place for, like, a year and are moving 30 minutes away.”

Macau shrugged, “They must like you here.”

“I guess,” Porschay said, frowning. A feeling of guilt washed over him as he realized how long they had been outside of the party. “Why did you come here if you didn’t want to be here? We don’t even know each other.”

“My brother said if he had to come to this shit, so did I. He didn’t even have to come through. Pete said he wanted to go alone. Things would be so much less tense if he did,” Macau pursed his lips and rolled his eyes. “Vegas said he had to come, otherwise Pete would look single or something like that. I love my brother, but their engagement has made them fucking insufferable.” 

“My brother’s the same exact way! I can’t invite him anywhere without him suggesting that Kinn come along or Kinn inviting himself. It’s like they can’t be two feet apart,” Porschay let the jealousy and resentment he had been pushing down crawl up his throat finally. It was like stinging bile in his mouth, but at least it was finally coming up rather than stewing in his stomach. “It’s so hard being around them sometimes. And then Tankhun invited my fucking ex to this party, so not only do I have to watch my brother be grossly in love with his boyfriend, I have to see my ex and his stupid face.”

“Sorry, but this party suddenly got interesting.” Macau leaned in closer with a smile. “Who is it? I thought the only one not here was Kimhan.”

“Speak of the devil,” Porschay narrowed his eyes at the sleek black car pulling up to the front door. He looked away, but he could perfectly picture Kim coming out of the passenger side door. Chay’s mind put him in a tight white tank top and those black leather pants he constantly dreams of (when Chay saw him wear those in a music video, he didn’t think he would recover). He wonders if he could see his rings from this far. “Do you want to ditch and see my apartment?”

“Things only just started getting good though.” Macau had an amused expression on his face but gave in reluctantly when he noticed Porschay's disappointed look. He sighed and put an arm around Chay’s shoulders. “Lead the way, Porschay.”

[tobeornottotc]

Hey, I don't know if you have watched the BTS clip of episode 7 but I was wondering why Build said that Bible punched him (6:40)? Like, they didn't even touch in that scene. Maybe we get to see an extension of that scene in another episode? Or did I miss something?

Hi!

I repeatedly watch the BTS clip for BibleBuild haha. I actually have no clue, why Build mentioned that, I was thinking maybe they shot a different scene previously that day or that week and he was mentioning that? Because he states he hasn't yet filmed any action scenes even though he wants to and this was his first, so I'm guessing he was probably talking about the previous filming sessions where it was probably focused on when Pete gets captured by Vegas (maybe even the cupboard scene 'and Pete what video did you like scene') because that's when Vegas has to be very harsh to Pete and violent? However it could be referring to new torture scenes in their arc we haven't yet unveiled since we know they're goanna be doing more of that and maybe it involves Vegas being more violent towards Pete in that sort of fashion (whips, punches, etc). I think that's what Bible meant saying well they told him to be more aggressive and told him to hit harder and then they laughed, probably talking about other scenes they had to film before that, since filming doesn't have to be in the order of the episodes but random according to location and schedules.

I don't think anything else happened in that scene where Vegas is meant to turn and punch Pete, like it's just him and his three John Does as Build states he just takes out his weapon and ensures success while Pete watches. So I don't think there'll be an extension even when we are in the next scene with Don, Vegas is with Porsche and Pete is in the truck so again don't think they were referring to those scenes. Maybe I'm wrong who knows. I think they were just having inside jokes about their past scenes because it's probably just been their painful scenes instead of action. Haha.

Thanks anon! Are we getting part 2 of that BTS, seems like we're meant to since it says Part 1 but they haven't yet released it and I was thinking they would today maybe tommorow, I'm guessing it's KP BTS scenes since that part 1 was heavily VP :)

[mileapokp1677]

Three Steps to Win You (CH 12)

Title: Three Steps to Win You

Rating: M

Pairing: DaddyChan/Tankhun, Kinn/Porsche, Vegas/Pete

Category: M/M, AU Nerd-Jock

Summary: Accidentally, scientist Tankhun Theerapanyakul embarrassed footballer Captain Chan "Daddy" Knight in front of his coach, teammates and fans. He had to fulfill three tasks from the captain before his apology was accepted.

Chapter 12

(Chan POV)

At first, of course, he was surprised that Kim slammed the door in his face, but then he imagined himself as a fanboy in front of Paolo Maldini, his absolute favorite footballer, the chances of him doing the same thing as Kim were very high or maybe even worse, that's why Chan just smiled amusingly.

As he faintly heard Porsche's words to Kim, followed by loud shouts of 'Holy Shit', Chan's smile grew wider. Without realizing he did so, Chan touched a large cloth bag containing his old jerseys, his old shoes, and a new BSFC original ball, all of which he had signed, as a gift to Kim. There was a hint of guilt in Chan's heart, for he felt these small gifts were like a bribe to soften Tankhun's heart, but Chan didn't know what else to do. That night, when he called Porsche to ask him for the Theerapanyakul family’s home address, he gave him a tip that being nice to Kim was the best way to get into Tankhun’s good side. However, considering this boy is his big fan, there was nothing wrong with pleasing his own fans, right?

Chan guessed he just had to wait and see. 

There was the sound of the door being opened for the second time, Kim's red face with embarrassment was clearly visible this time, his hair was still a little tousled and his eyes were still puffy as if he had just woken up. No wonder he was so shocked earlier. The Theerapanyakuls really had the heart to prank their youngest brother like this. Although Chan had to admit, it was fucking brilliant. Poor boy. 

“Cap… umh… I mean Mr. Knight… umn… I’m sorry about earlier… I…,” stammered Kim, who didn’t even dare to look him in the eyes. 

“Just call me Cap,” responded Chan, trying to calm this young footballer's nerves. “I heard you’re a Cap yourself.”

"Ah, yes. How do you know?" asked Kim who was surprised, yet, there was a hint of pride in his little smile, it seemed he could control his emotions quite well now.

“Your brothers told me,” answered Chan, then greeted said brothers that stood behind Kim, “Good morning, Tankhun, Kinn, Porsche.” 

The Theerapanyakul men had not yet had time to return his greeting, Kim was already shouting.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa~! You mean they know you… umn I mean… You know them!?” 

Ah… shit! 

Thankfully, Tankhun immediately showed up to save the day.

“Kim, sweetie, shouldn't you freshen up before we talk about this?”

Tankhun's words made Kim self-conscious about his situation in an instant. Chan could see from the expression on his face that Kim was weighing and thinking hard, before finally making a decision.

"Okay, but Cap... you're not going anywhere, are you?" pleaded Kim. 

"I'll be here," Chan promised.

Kim quickly ran, leaving the four of them in the foyer of the Theerapanyakul residence.

"I'll be quick, I promise!"

As soon as Kim was out of sight Tankhun yelled at him, "What the fuck, Chan!?"

“Tankhun…,” said Kinn in a warning tone. “Please, come in, P’Chan.” 

“Thank you,” Chan replied as he entered the big house.

"Have you had breakfast, P' Chan?" asked Porsche. "Before we came here, we bought P' favorite fried dough stick. There’s plenty for all of us."

"I think it's best if Pa doesn't know about this, let's just sit at the table in the side garden," Tankhun suggested, his face still sullen.

"I also think it's the best way," replied Kinn, agreeing to his brother's suggestion. "Porsche, darling, please ask auntie to prepare something for us."

"Just tea and sandwiches, Porsche," continued Tankhun. "Captain needs caramel in his coffee and we never do such things in this house."

Chan grimaced, but strangely, his heart felt happy and relieved when hearing Tankhun shade him viciously like that.

I really need to get my head checked. 

“I already had my breakfast, but tea would be great,” said Chan gleefully. 

The side garden of Theerapanyakul's residence was very beautiful. The semi-circular landscape was dominated by the grass and short bushes that surround the shape of the land as the edge. Hundreds of white and pink rosebuds brought color into that heavenly green space. Chan wondered if he could replicate this garden in his newly built home.

“Please, have a seat, P’,” asked Kinn, being the perfect host. 

“This garden is so beautiful,” said Chan as he sat down and feasted at the exquisiteness in front of him. 

“Thank you. This garden was designed by our late Mother. Thank God, we found a gardener who can take good care of it,” replied Tankhun in a gentler tone of voice. 

Now that the situation had begun to de-escalate, Chan finally got a chance to clearly see Tankhun's appearance this morning. And once again his breath hitched just like the first time he saw this beautiful garden. The bright yellow long sleeves oversized off-shoulder t-shirt framed Tankhun's slender right shoulder and his delicate neck and collarbones perfectly. His ratty short jeans revealed Tankhun's beautifully shaped long legs gloriously – did he ever say that he's a leggy man? – Chan felt a little dizzy. White Converse and multi-color striped short socks completed the outfit. He looked amazing and Chan was 100% sure that Tankhun was aware of that.

Luckily, Porsche and auntie, who pushed the tea trolley, arrived just in time, giving Chan a distraction, before his mind went wild.

Tankhun poured the tea for him, and asked in his signature tone that was on the borderline between mocking and teasing, "One lump of sugar or maybe five ?"

Chan couldn't help but let out another smile, this person in front of him affected him like no other, and the captain didn't know why he was acting like this. Porsche, who was sitting to his right, giggled softly, which was immediately stopped by Kinn, with a super low 'shhh'. These two seemed to know a lot more than Chan about what happened, maybe he should just ask them. 

“One is enough, thank you.”

Tankhun handed Chan his teacup while glancing at the big cloth bag he had placed on the floor, close to his left leg. Looks like Tankhun saw a soccer ball that was slightly poking out.

“What’s that?”

“Oh, this is a gift for Kim. My old jerseys, old football boots, and BSFC original ball, all signed by me,” explained Chan. 

“Oh, thank God, you are not just a pretty head,” replied Tankhun, taking the cloth bag from him to check the content. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Kinn and Porsche turning their faces to their right, and judging by their shaking bodies, they must have been holding back their giggles. 

"I don't know whether to be flattered or offended," Chan said. "But I'll take it as a compliment."

"It's really not." 

Kinn's and Porsche's bodies shook even harder, Chan could only chuckle while shaking his head. 

“I’m back~~!” screamed Kim as he ran towards them from inside the house. 

“You look nice,” said Tankhun sweetly to Kim, it is shown clearly in his face how he adores his youngest brother. 

“P’, move!” demanded Kim out of the blue. The boy is being a brat if he might say. 

“Kim,” warned Kinn. “Behaved, please.” 

Kim blushed in an instant and then pleaded with Tankhun in a much nicer tone, “P’, may I have your seat so I can sit next to Cap, please?”

“Sure,” replied Tankhun who immediately got up from his seat. 

Kim sat down on the empty chair promptly and started talking right away at such a high speed that he was out of breath.

"Cap, I don't know where to start, but I've been your biggest fan for over 12 years. I play football because of you. I wish I could be a professional footballer like you, but just playing football at university level already makes me very happy. I watched your every match on TV, I also watched you at the BOC Stadium many many times, but I never thought I could see you this close... I… it’s like a dream…."

Kim took a deep breath, before continuing, "I watched all your videos, followed all your tips on proper exercise and diet..."

Did he just hear Tankhun's snort? But Chan continued to focus his attention on Kim because apart from appreciating all the words of praise these young fans had said to him, he was pretty sure this was what Tankhun wanted.

"... hopefully Cap will be willing to sign some of my BSFC jerseys."

“Are you done, bro? That’s quite a speech,” asked Porsche. “Here…  drink some water.”

Kim took the glass of water from Porsche and drank it all in three gulps.

“I have something for you,” said Chan as he gave Kim the gift he had prepared.

Kim's loud screams when he saw the content inside the cloth bag, didn't surprise Chan at all, he had seen and felt reactions that were crazier than this.

"Th-this... this is the jersey you've worn before in a match, isn't it, Cap?"

"Yes."

"Oh my God! And you gave me the home and away uniform. Aaaah~ even the Cap armband!"

"From one Cap to another. You can use it for all your matches this season."

"I can't believe this~ your custom-made boots, and holy shit! This is the newest BSFC original ball! Isn't it not available yet?”

"I know some people," Chan said with a wink.

"Duh~ silly me,” stated Kim. “And all signed by you~ THANK YOU!!!” 

While Kim was busy with the gifts he received, Chan stole glances at Tankhun. What Porsche had said to him that night was by no means an exaggeration, for the look Tankhun gave him at that moment was very gentle and warm. Unfortunately, it won’t last long. 

“So, what’s the plan for today, Chan?” 

“The team of architects and contractors who built my house, last Sunday informed me that the construction of my house had been completed,” explained Chan. 

"Oh, so happy for you, P'. Congratulations!" said Kinn excitedly. "Finally!"

“Thank you, Kinn.”

"What does that have to do with me?" asked Tankhun again, his face getting suspicious.

"You're going to help me move things from the penthouse to my new house today... as your second task," Chan replied with a big smile.

"Excuse me, you want me to do what !?" yelled Tankhun. 

Ah~ there he is… the feisty Tankhun... 

"I told you, there will be a lot of physical activity," affirmed Chan to Tankhun, whose face was red with anger.

"You really expect me to pack your things and do the heavy lifting? ME!?" 

"Yes."

"You must be out of your mind, mister!" wailed Tankhun as he got up from his chair. 

"You gave me your words, remember? Three tasks of my choice” stated Chan calmly. 

Tankhun was so angry he actually stomped his foot on the floor like a kid. It was the cutest thing.

"Don't tell me it's just the two of us!? I swear to God, I'll kill you." 

Porsche, who had been holding back his laughter for a long time, finally couldn't take it anymore, he burst out laughing.

"You better stop laughing now before I smack your pretty face!" Tankhun warned Porsche, which only made him laugh even more.

"Tankhun, all this yelling, is this really necessary? A promise is a promise," stated Kinn.

"YOU, stop acting like Pa, I'm older than you!"

"Then act like one!"

Kinn also got up from his chair and the two brothers were intensely staring at each other. 

"Why, you little..." 

"P'... P'Kinn, please behave, we have a guest here," Kim suddenly interrupted the fight between his two older brothers.

"SHUT UP!" 

Instead of two, now there were three Theerapanyakuls arguing in front of him. As an only child, Chan had never felt or understood the relationship between siblings, but he liked what he saw. Of course, Chan realized that he wasn't a part of any of this, but being in their midst like this made Chan feel like he was. Without a warning, a warm feeling slipped into his heart.

"Welcome to the Theerapanyakul residence, P'Chan," said Porsche jokingly at him. 

Chan smiled.

TBC

[faunahudson]

settle | self para

Who: Fauna Flanagan and Percy Flanagan with mentions of Rory Flanagan, Conor Flanagan and Sawyer Hudson Where: Belfast When: Feburary 2020 What: Fauna and Percy discuss his opinions on her future Warnings: emotional abuse, derogatory language, Percy Flanagan

It’s pouring with rain the night in February that her father comes to collect her from uni. It was an odd thing that in her adult life she’d begun to rely on lifts, since her and Rory had almost never been collected from school beyond primary. This had partially been because Percy had accused Mary of coddling them by doing so, but mostly because they liked the independence of walking or getting the bus. Fauna had always enjoyed the opportunity to read one of the many paperbacks that she kept crammed in the bottom of her bag. While Rory claimed to like the social aspect of the bus referring to him and Dobsy accusing Tired Pete in the year below of having a gay love affair with the bus driver because he always got off with an under twelves fare way into his teens. It also made people suspect them less of being Tories because their parents didn’t drive them, made them seem more normal. Fauna had liked it that way less reason for people to look at them, and with her headphones in she could ignore the commentary on her sex life that had always followed her back then.

It had been funny, appearing at uni in Belfast. Despite being the new girl things actually weren’t all that weird, she wasn’t ostracised the last way she had been during high school, everything was different in her new classes. In the weeks leading up to her first day there had been the bubble of fear that it would be like it had been in Dublin, that the videos would be found and the rumours would start up all over again. But instead she had been greeted warmly. After classes there were invites to pubs and cups of tea offered, everyone wanted to get to know Sawyer. A few people had even asked about Alexis, which they laughed about over their daily FaceTimes. How funny it was that people liked her when she didn’t really need them to anymore. This new warmth from people had meant that she seldom needed to walk or to take the bus because there was always someone’s car she could cram into, but on this particularly rainy Tuesday she’s been at the clinic later than she expected and there’s no bus for an hour. She knows Sawyer will be working, so she calls her home phone hoping to catch Maurie or her Ma to beg a lift and maybe some dinner. The phone rings twice, when it picks up she goes to talk immediately the way she usually would but she’s halted by.

“Fauna.” Her father says obviously having recognised her number, his tone not annoyed or accusatory for once which makes her immediately wonder if he’s drunk.

“Hey Da, is Maurie there?” She asks, hoping that if he is truly good and drunk he’ll just pass the phone over and she won’t have to prolong their interaction.

“No, her and your Ma went over to your grandparents.” He isn’t drunk, she can tell that by now. If he was drunk he would have put the phone down after delivering that message. “What did you need them for?” If he’d been any other person in the entire world she would have told him it was nothing and then tried to rummage around in her bag for enough change for a cab into town. But she knew if she told him that it was nothing then it would start a fight where he’d demand to know what she was hiding from him, and her feet ached too much for that.

“Oh I was just gonna try and beg a lift from the clinic, scran something from Ma. You know how I am.” She says, though it’s not true. He barely knows her at all. There’s a pause, which lasts longer in her head than it probably did in real life because she’s so fucking cold.

“I’ll pick you up, we’ll go for a pint.” Those were the last words that she expected to come out of his mouth, and she blinks in surprise.

“Why?” She asks before she stop herself, it’s always a terrible idea to question Percy and her heart sinks as soon as she says it. That’s always the problem with living with someone who you can completely be herself with, she forgets that she has to put her guard back up with other people.

“Because you need a fucking lift and I’m the only one in, god it’s not complicated Fauna Eloise.. sometimes I wonder what they teach you up there because it’s not bloody common sense.” Percy snaps.

“Sorry Da.. you’ve just never picked me up before.” Fauna responds, trying to mollify him. “Thanks though.” She adds, he’s not actually punished her since that time at parents week but she doesn’t really want to go through it again.

“Text me the address.” He says, and honestly even though she’s sure she’ll probably live to regret it right now she’s just grateful to think about getting out of the cold. A pint, is a pint after all. Though Percy hadn’t done anything particularly heinous since Sawyer punched Harold at new years, so she supposed she was about due for him to do something to remind her why she hated him so much.

Percy has brought his favourite Porsche coupe and it arrives a lot sooner than Fauna thought it would. She’d almost expected he’d keep her waiting, to punish her for questioning his motives. She dashes through the rain and slips into the front seat, to find Percy listening to the rugby. “Thanks for the lift Da, it’s vile outside.” The weather is usually a pretty safe topic, Percy hates the rain. There’s a brief conversation about the state of the roads, and what she was doing at the clinic before he looks at her and says.

“You can drive can’t you? Why don’t you have a car?” Fauna has to bite her lip hard to keep from laughing at this question. God he really didn’t have any idea what life was like did he? As if her and Sawyer could think about running a car when all they had to live on was the few shifts that she could take at the ER, his barely minimum wage earnings at the pub and what was left of her savings. They could barely afford groceries some weeks, and she’d been shoving the council tax bills underneath the freezer until Maurie had insisted that they take an envelope of ‘Christmas money’ to get rid of them.

“Yeah I can drive, you gave me a lesson once remember?” She reminds him. That was probably the last time that he’d volunteered to spend time with her that wasn’t to give her a bollocking. The lesson hadn’t been terrible to be honest, mostly because Percy liked feeling in control and like he was the smarter one of the two and Fauna didn’t mind learning when she thought the skill was useful. “Canne afford a car though, don’t really need one anyway I only really go to uni and to the pub. Sawyer borrows Glens car sometimes.. if we’re gonna go visit Nana or something.”

He grunts in recognition of the lesson. “You’d have more than enough money if you lived at home.” That’s the second time that evening that he’s stunned her to silence, and so she just stares at him like a fish. Was he really suggesting that she should move home?

“I mean.. I guess. But me and Sawyer are happy where we are I think. It’s nice to have a place of our own, weren’t really supposed to live together at school. ” She responds eventually, she wants to ask him why she would ever want to move home when he’d all but shoved them out of the door when they’d lived there for the month after Ohio. “Besides my single is a bit small for both of us. Sawyers a big lad.”

“Hm.” Is all her father replies it’s not like she expected him to laugh, she doesn’t think he’s ever laughed at one of her jokes but she does have to wonder where he’s going with all this. Her hands fidget in her lap as she waits for the penny to drop but he doesn’t press her on the topic. After a brief silence they pull up to one of the fancy country restaurants that Percy loves where the prices make her teeth hurt. She’s been uncomfortable with this kind of thing since she was a little girl who wore her wellie boots to church. As a kid she used to say she wasn’t hungry anymore and she didn’t want to go inside, which would usually cause him to call her ungrateful and all but yank her from the car while Rory wailed that he wanted Mcdonalds. Even now as an adult she wants to tell him that she’s not dressed for this kind of pint, and that she still stinks of the clinic. But again she knows that it’s not worth fighting over so she pulls the hood of her coat up and trudges with him inside. 

Percy knows the girl on the door, and he speaks to her in an odd charming voice that Fauna knew he had but had never experienced first-hand. She thinks about this version of her father occasionally though, when she’s wondering how Maurie or her Ma ever ended up with him. It’s this charming Dominant they thought they were getting claimed by, not the bad-tempered man who can never be wrong, that ended up raising their kids. They’re shown to a table, and handed expensive looking leather bound menus. Fauna almost doesn’t want to open the thing, but her stomach is growling so she scans the print for the cheapest thing on the menu.

“It’s on me.” Percy says as if reading her mind. It’s early in the dinner for him to declare this, one of his favourite games when he brought her and Sawyer out was always to order and then ask them to pay at the end of the meal. Watching them try to scrap around for enough money to cover the extortionate tab, before the waitress told them that Mr Flanagan had already paid. It was the kind of humiliating mind game that Percy specialised in, always reminding them that they relied on him, that they needed him. Fauna considers asking him whether or not he’s sure he wants to pay but that’s another question so instead she says.

“Thank you very much Da, you didn’t have to bring me out here. I’d have taken a half eaten bag of crisps.” She jokes, her stomach rumbling as her eyes scan over the options. While she’s not a fan of fancy places, she is looking forward to eating something that she didn’t make in that one pot that never seemed to have quite lost the burned crust that she’d created when Sawyer had distracted her while she was trying to make red wine gravy.

“I know, you’ve always been willing to eat any old shit.. Take shit from everyone. You shouldn’t settle though, not about food and not in your life Fauna.” Percy says, and Fauna is starting to wonder if this is all about Sawyer somehow. Percy had been awfully nice to Sawyer since the incident at new years and she now had a creeping suspicion that he’d just been biding his time, lulling them into a false sense of security.

“I mean I actually do just really like cheap food to be honest with you Da, I really enjoyed the American preoccupation with junk food while I was there. As for everything else, I don’t really think I’m settling. I thought I was doing pretty well to be honest, I left a school that I didn’t think was gonna give me a fair shot, I’m studying to be a doctor at the best school around and I’ve got an amazing boyfriend.. what more could I want?”

“You live in a pokey one bedroom flat and you can’t afford a car, you and Sawyer should be thinking about a house of your own.” Percy declares, and honestly Fauna is just glad that Sawyer was included in whatever weird fucking conversation they were about to have. 

“I mean once I’m qualified Da.. we’ll work on a claim and then we can start to think about getting a house and stuff. But I’m in med school right now, that’s you know.. expensive.” She wants to mention her trust fund, because it would solve every single problem that he keeps talking about. But she’d rather try to work out where he’s going with all this first. 

The waitress arrives at that point, and Fauna hasn’t even really thought about what she wants though she decides to use this to her advantage. “Can you order for me Da? You know what’s good here better than me” Percy actually almost cracks a surprised smile at this, letting a Dominant order for you is good manners in his book. Fauna has never been opposed to this kind of power exchange when it’s consensual, though usually not with her father. But she knows that he thinks she’s a terrible submissive, that she’s not willing to follow any kind of rules so little gestures like this can occasionally help with keeping him in a good mood. He orders her something with goats cheese that Maurie apparently likes and a regular pint. 

“I know you think I’m some kind of monster, because I won’t just let you and your brother waste your lives. And you act like I’m a cunt because Ive always tried to stop you from parading yourself around like a whore and acting like a nasty little brat.” Percy says, and Fauna takes a long drink of the pint that’s just been put in front of her. Vodka would have been better. Just when she was thinking this was going well. “But I push you because I know you can have more, and because I always wanted you to find a decent claim. Unlike your moron of a twin, I always knew you had potential. You’re decent looking like your mother, and nobody would ever shut up about how clever you were even when you were a kid. Though it was always like pulling teeth getting you to show it. Obviously there was no chance of you going into the business because you’ve always been submissive and overly emotional.. but I pushed you to do what you were good at.” Fauna wants to say that yelling abuse and emotional manipulation go a little further than ‘pushing’ and that if he really wanted to push her he could have offered to help with medical school but she holds her tongue. “I’ve always been trying to teach you not to be a chump and to be able to stand on your own two feet like I had to. Nobody gave me a hand out.” 

In a world where Percy wasn’t the worst person on the planet , Fauna might have spoken about him with pride. He was self made after all, his friends were always clapping him on the back and talking about his clever investments outside of the business. But he’d soured every page of his biography with his actions, and left her uninterested in knowing how he made the money that he so loved to hold over her and Rorys heads. The money that he used to manipulate her mother and Maurie into submission, and literally the only thing that made him any difference from the drunks that he sneered at on a Saturday night. 

“You’ve been making improvements though I’ve noticed, since our talk in Ohio. You’ve been more like a submissive should be, less crass, not dragging yourself out of bars like a tramp. Minding your manners.” Percy says, and Fauna raises an eyebrow. “And New Year reminded me something.. that I’ve been too hard on you particularly in a way. I always lump you and Rory in together because everyone else does. Which was never good for you, you don’t want people thinking you're a layabout junkie like him. I gave you the same treatment because I thought you needed the same push to succeed. But you’re a submissive and so I shouldn’t expect you to be able to do things for yourself. You’re supposed to be weak, you should be obedient.” In her mind Fauna punches him square in the jaw, and she stays visualising that as the waitress puts something that smells delicious in front of her. “But when the Yank fucking battered Harold, I realised that getting you under control was about finding you the right Dominant and shaping him. At first I thought the Hudson boy was a total waste of fucking air since he’s a skint drifter, with no decent family to speak of, American and he seemed like a pansy. But then I realised he’s got balls, and he seems to have enough of a grip on you that you’re no longer spreading your legs for anything that breathes.”

There’s a part of Fauna that feels some sort of twisted pride that her father is starting to approve of Sawyer, the words that are coming out of his mouth in many ways disgust her. But that stupid little girl who just wouldn’t give up hope that her Dad would someday be proud of her was jumping up and down that her Dad thought Sawyer could be a good match for her. 

“I am committed to Sawyer.” She confirms for the millionth time, always feeling a little sick when he brought up the idea that she might have sex with anyone else. “And he’s a really, really good Dominant.”

“Hm.” Percy responds as he tucks into his steak. “It’s his future I’m interested in, like I said you two can’t spend your life in that dirty little flat. You need to be looking ahead, and I mean to help with that. You need to keep focusing on uni obviously, and on being a decent submissive. But I can help give him a push in the right direction.”

Fauna has no idea how to respond to this decision making process, because on one hand she wants to try and shield Sawyer from everything that comes along with having Percys attention. But if Percy warming up to Sawyer meant that he might relax on his one strike and you're out policy, then it would help them both sleep a little easier at night. So she doesn’t really say anything for the rest of dinner, he makes a cruel remark about her being greedy when she wants to order dessert, and takes several very underhanded digs at how much Rorys rehab costs which she can’t ignore and has to bite back on. But it’s probably the longest they’ve ever been alone in a very long time. 

When he drops her off back at her apartment he reaches into his wallet, and pulls out a wad of twenties. “Buy yourself a bottle of decent booze.” He instructs. “You should be able to serve something that’s not shite when you have people over.” She has no intention of using the money for that, but she thanks him all the same and gets out of the car without feeling totally like shit for once. Which in turn makes her feel guilty, like she was betraying herself and Rory somehow for not totally hating every second that she spent with Percy. For letting him get away with at least half of what he’d said, Rory would never have sat there passively while he insulted the flat that her and Sawyer worked hard to afford and Sawyers parents who were good hard working people. Yet despite all that he’d said, Fauna considered the meeting to have gone well, and she just didn’t know if that made her a bad person or not. 

Glancing up at the apartment building she could see a light on, and that familiar relief of knowing that she could talk to Sawyer about what was worrying her spread over her body. So without agonising further, she punched in the key code and disappeared out of the rain. Leaving what she could of her guilt and unease behind her.