#official call out post for connor:

[rhoorl]

Delta Landscaping | Chapter 3: Watch the Show

Series Summary: In this AU, the boys of Delta Force start a new business post-Colombia. 

Rating: Explicit (18+) - putting this here as a blanket rating even though it doesn't apply to all chapters

Word Count: 4.4k

Series Masterlist

Chapter Summary: Connor and the boys fix Lucille’s fence giving the Neighborhood Watch its first opportunity for an in-person thirst fest. 

A/N: Thank you again for all of the love on the first two chapters. I am having a lot of fun writing this and interacting with you!

BMW Group Chat

Will: Hey. Benny said that Connor wanted to come over and help with Ms. Lucille’s fence. 

Megan: Yeah - you guys good with that?

Will: Affirmative. Wheels up is 0800 if he wants in on the Home Depot run.

Benny: Cool it Captain America. 🙄 Megan does 8 a.m. work tomorrow for him?

Megan: 😂 Yeah I’ll let him know. I think he’s looking forward to it.

Benny: Sweet! We’ll probably use Frankie’s truck but Connor can ride with me if that’s cool with you.

Megan: Yeah sounds good! About what time do you think you’ll start working?

Will: Probably a little after 9, shouldn’t take too long to get the stuff.

Megan: Ok cool.

_____________________

Neighborhood Watch Group Chat

Megan: ⚠️⚠️ Will said the guys should start working on Lucille’s by 9 tomorrow.

David: HELL YES! Who’s bringing what? Ty and I can bring mimosas. 🍾

Olivia: I can go for a donut run in the morning on the way back from soccer with the boys.

Melissa: I got the fruit salad! 🍓🍍🍉🥭

Katie: Anyone want a fancy coffee? I’ll run to Starbucks … just text me what you want.

Megan: Cool, it’s settled. See you all tomorrow!

_____________________

“You ready for today?” Megan sipped on her coffee, trying to sound nonchalant while eyeing Connor as he rolled into the kitchen.

“Yeah, should be fun.” He made a beeline to the fridge, grabbed a jug of orange juice, and turned around to inhale the breakfast Megan made for him – scrambled eggs and bacon. “Thanks, Mom!”

Bucky was immediately at Connor’s feet, looking up at him, begging for food.

“Despite what he tells you, I already fed him today. And I gave you a slice of bacon, mister!” Megan shook her head at the greedy pup before heading to the sink to rinse off her plate. 

While her back was turned, Connor raised his fingers to his lips making a shushing motion as he snuck the pup half a piece of bacon. 

He cleared his throat to cover up the sound of Bucky scarfing down the treat. “So, these guys used to be in the military or something?” 

“Yea. Will says they were in for like almost 20 years or something but retired a few years ago. With that being said they’re probably punctual as hell so don’t be late!”

“Yes, mom. I’ll head over there right after I get a few more bites.”

After he finished his breakfast, Connor grabbed his phone and wallet, gave his mom a kiss, and gave Bucky some head scratches. He looked at the time, smiling that he was 15 minutes early.

As he walked over to 319 Mulefall Court, he saw a green truck pull up. He recognized the two men who got out, they were Benny and Will’s friends, but he just couldn’t remember their names. The taller guy was in jeans and a gray T-shirt with a blue baseball cap and aviators. The other guy, who was a bit shorter, wore black shorts and a white V-neck shirt that was a bit tighter fitting than the taller man’s shirt. 

Benny walked out of the garage and greeted the two men with a handshake and hug and was dressed comfortably in black and white basketball shorts, a cutoff concert tee, and a black backward baseball cap. He spotted Connor walking over and waved at the boy. 

“Hey, bud!” Benny called over. “You're early, nice!”

“Ha yea, I uh… I didn’t want you all waiting up.”

“All good. Hey I’m not sure if you’ve officially met them but these are my friends Frankie and Santi – or Fish and Pope, whatever’s easier for ya,” he chuckled.

“Nice to meet you boss,” Santiago extended his hand for a firm handshake. 

“We’re excited to have an extra set of hands,” Frankie smiled, giving the boy a handshake too.

“Well, thanks for the invite.”

“You know, for being the one always up my fucking ass about being on time, Will is late. Oh shit, sorry, I didn’t mean to swear in front of you. Fuck!" Benny smacked himself on the forehead laughing.

“Ha, it’s all good. I won’t tell my mom if you won't,” Connor winked.

“Good man!” Pope chuckled, slapping Connor playfully on the shoulder as they all laughed.

“Hi, Connor!” a soft voice called from across the street. 

Connor turned to see Aria walking her dog. He tensed and immediately felt his face getting red. Aria was one of the prettiest girls in school and also his biggest crush.

“Uh…h-hey Aria!” He rubbed the back of his neck, giving a small wave.

“I like your dog!” Benny called over. “Is that a Rhodesian Ridgeback?”

“Yea! No one ever knows what kind of dog he is.” She was impressed at the man’s astute observation.

“Yeah, we used them on missions before. Those dogs are badass!” Benny smiled.

Aria stopped as her dog sniffed the grass, looking over to Connor and the men in the driveway. “Um…you all off to do something fun?”

Connor was frozen and didn’t know what to do. He felt tongue-tied, intimidated by her and the three men behind him who were most likely scrutinizing his every move and probably ready to make fun of him when this encounter was all over.

I bet none of them have trouble talking to girls.

What he couldn’t see was that the three men behind him were exchanging looks and smirks, remembering what it was like to be in high school, faced with talking to a pretty girl. Hell, depending on the woman they still acted that way.

Frankie gave Pope a nod, using the unspoken language they had mastered after decades of friendship.

Pope cleared his throat, “Uh, yeah actually we are. Connor here is helping us build a fence!”

“Build a fence? Wow, cool!” Aria smiled, looking directly at Connor.

“Yeah, he does a lot of work for Ms. Lucille. It was his idea to have us help, wasn’t it Connor?” Benny came up, slapping a hand on the boy's shoulder.

“Uh.” Connor glanced over to Benny who gave him a look and a squeeze to the shoulder. “Uh, ye-yea. It’s not a big deal, should be pretty easy.”

“Cool, well, don’t work too hard. I’ll see you around!” she waved and continued on her walk.

Connor immediately turned around and took what felt like his first breath in minutes. Benny’s arm was around his shoulder and he braced for the guys to give him a hard time before seeing Will come out of the garage.

“Hey, Connor! Sorry guys, I was talking to Joel. Ready to go?” Will smiled, walking over to give the boy a handshake.

“Yeah, let’s do it! I like your shirt,” Connor pointed to Will’s blue Tampa Bay Lightning dri-fit shirt.

“Thanks, man, you ever go to a game?”

“I’ve only been to like two, but I’ll catch them on TV when I can.”

The guys chit-chatted with Connor for a few more minutes before Benny cut in.

“Ok, so since there’s five of us, I figure we could take two cars. Fish, you good driving Will and Pope? I’ll take Connor.”

All the men nodded and got into their respective vehicles.

Benny didn’t say anything to Connor as they got into his car and buckled in. He reversed down the driveway and headed for the entrance of the neighborhood. 

As they reached a stop sign he looked over to Connor, “So…you like her?”

“Who?” Connor kept facing forward, but his eyes darted around. He wasn’t really used to talking about girls with anyone.

“That girl with the Rhodesian. You think she’s pretty right?”

“Uhh…”

“Dude, you practically froze,” he chuckled, glancing over to see the boy was clearly nervous. “Hey, it’s all good, man I get like that too. A pretty girl will have that effect on you no matter how old you are.”

“Really?”

“Ha yea. One time, I got so nervous to walk up to a girl at a bar that I tripped and fell flat on my face,” he laughed. “But it worked out for me, I still got her number," he smirked at the memory. "There’ve been times we’ve had to practically push Fish over to a girl to get her number, the guy gets so shy. Oh and don’t even get me started on Pope. You see the guy and he looks like he’s super suave and shit, but he's had his moments too. Don’t let him fool you,” he glanced over with a wink.

Connor let out a nervous laugh. “Ha, yeah…I like her…I’ve liked her for a while.”

“Then why don’t you ask her out? Do you have her number? Is that a thing you even do anymore or do you like message on social media or something?”

“Ha, yeah I have her number.”

“Ok, and?”

"Well, for starters, she's older than me. She's gonna be a senior this year."

"Ooo an older woman? Nice," he winked. "Nothing wrong with going out with someone older than you. Still doesn’t explain why you just can’t ask her out."

“I can’t, man. She…she…what if she says no.”

“Well, what if she says yes?” Benny glanced over. “Does she have a boyfriend or something?”

“No, at least I don’t think so…I think she and one of my teammates were talking last year.”

“But not anymore right?” Connor shook his head. “Ok, then!”

“I don’t know. She probably isn’t even into me, you should see my teammate. He looks like a younger version of Will…not that I'm calling him old or anything,” Connor chuckled.

As they reached the stoplight Benny assessed the boy in his passenger seat. He couldn’t really tell based on the baggy Orlando Magic T-shirt, but it looked like Connor was a bit on the skinny side. He could relate, he was a string bean when he was younger, so he could only imagine what Connor felt like comparing himself to other guys, especially if his teammate did in fact look like a younger version of his brother. 

“Do you lift?"

Connor nodded, "Yeah I try, don't really know what I'm doing though … clearly." He motioned to his bicep.

"Wanna…wanna start working out with me?

Connor looked over at him confused, “Wait, what?”

“Yeah, like this summer, do you want to start working out with me? I was a personal trainer for a little while and I did some MMA fighting too for a bit, so I know my way around a gym,” he offered with a smile.

“Uh, y-yea that would be cool.” 

“Nice, well we’ll figure something out,” Benny continued as he turned into the Home Depot parking lot. “Welp looks like we’re here.”

___________________

“Lulu, where are you?” Megan called as she walked into Lucille’s home. She knew the rest of the crew would be showing up any minute.

“In here,” Lucille called from the kitchen.

“I should have known,” Megan mumbled to herself as she made her way to the kitchen.

When she turned the corner, she saw Lucille arranging some muffins and pastelitos on a tray.

“We’re going to have so much food!”

“Well, don’t look in the fridge, then” Lucille smirked. “I made some things for lunch for the boys… papa rellenas and croquettes, and of course empanadas for Benny. I just need to fry it all up. Don’t say anything to David, he’ll want to take it all home!”

Right on cue, they heard the door open, knowing instantly it was David and Ty based on the noise.

“We’re here bitches! Let’s get this thirst fest started!” David shouted in a sing-song manner as he and his partner made their way into the kitchen. “We brought a few different juices - orange, pineapple, and your favorite Lulu, guava!” He said, kissing Lucille on the cheek as he set several containers on her counter.

“I also brought my binoculars,” Ty showed off a large pair of binoculars he used for birdwatching. 

“Eres demasiado.” Lucille shook her head as she wiped her hands on her apron and gave the man a kiss on the cheek.

Megan laughed, amused at the two characters who just walked in. 

David and Ty had been together for 10 years and moved into Torrey Hills a few years ago. At first, they were quiet and kept to themselves, unsure how the neighbors would feel about a gay couple living next door. Suburban Tampa was a bit different than Miami, where they previously called home.

They were excited but a bit nervous when Megan and Lucille invited them over for coffee for the first time. But the four of them quickly became thick as thieves, even Julio found the little posse’s antics hilarious. 

“Knock, knock!” Melissa was the next to arrive, with her elaborate fruit salad in tow. “I haven’t missed anything yet, right?”

“No, girl, they are still out at Home Depot,” Ty said as he poured her a mimosa. “Light on the juice, just how you like it,” he winked.

Olivia came frantically through the door a few moments later with an assortment of donuts. 

“Where’s Diana? I was hoping for some baby cuddles,” Lucille pouted, seeing Olivia sans her nine-month-old.

“She’s taking a nap. Chris is watching CJ and Max, leaving momma to have the morning to herself!” She smiled and greedily reached for the mimosa Ty made for her.

“Where the hell is Katie?” Megan asked, looking at her phone to see if Katie backed out.

___________________

“Ugh, I should have asked for another tray,” Katie mumbled to herself as she parked her car. She walked over to her passenger side door and grabbed the tray of drinks along with a few bags of breakfast sandwiches and pastries. 

She decided to walk over to Lucille’s since it was only a few houses over. She had just reached the porch when she heard a couple of cars pull up.

Shit. I knew I should have gotten here earlier.

“Hey, Katie!” Benny called over to her from the car window he had rolled down.

“H-hi Benny!”

“What’re doing here? You all having a party while we work?” he chuckled as he got out of the car. 

She saw Connor and then turned to notice Will, Frankie, and Santiago getting out of a truck, all smiling and waving at her. Will, in particular, looked over at her curiously and she was thankful for her sunglasses so he couldn’t see that she was checking him out.

“Uh, yeah something like that. It’s been a while since we got together and uh…we…uh… wanted to keep an eye …things…like…Connor,” it was the best she could muster and she immediately regretted it.

“Keep an eye on me?” Connor asked confused.

“Oh, not in a bad sweetie, uh…” she was getting more flustered. “There’s some stuff I need help with around my house too so, uh, we figured we’d see how you do. Might need to hire your little crew here,” she smiled hoping she had recovered.

“So, like a trial run of our services, then?” Will smirked.

“Uh, y-yea, something like that. I should probably get inside. If David’s sandwich gets any colder he’s going to freak the fuck out. Shoot, sorry Connor,” she blushed, turning quickly and dashing up the steps.

Once she got inside, she slammed her back against the door, trying to catch her breath. 

“Katie?” Megan asked as she walked around the corner. “There you are! Wait…what happened?”

“Ugh, the line was long and I knew I was running late and was trying to get back here before they did, but I didn’t and shit, I was awkward as fuck in the driveway. And now they know that we’re all here,” she rambled.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Did you chug six espressos on the way over here? It’s all good. Besides, I wasn’t trying to hide the fact that we were over here, they’re going to be able to see us through the window silly,” she laughed.

Katie let out a breath, realizing she was spiraling. “You’re right. Sorry, Meg.” She smiled.

“C’mon let’s go before David calls dibs on the best seat.”

__________________

“I can’t believe we are watching this … and for free!” David laughed. "This is better than that time we went to the Magic Mike show, right Melissa?"

Once the guys got all of the materials and tools settled in the backyard, they made pretty quick work of mending Lucille’s fence. They took out some of the panels that were rotting or damaged. Will and Frankie taught Connor how to cut the different pieces of wood, while Benny and Santiago sanded some pieces down.

However, the crew inside wasn’t paying attention to the progress of the repairs, instead, they were admiring the view.

“Ok, but like, I’ve never had a thing for forearms before but holy shit,” Melissa said as she reached for one of the guava and cheese pastelitos.

“Those are for the boys!” Lucille slapped her hand as Melissa rolled her eyes.

“Ok, so before today I thought I was more of a Benny guy, but Santiago, phew!” Ty fanned himself. “The shirt is basically like a second skin it is so drenched.” His eyes were pressed to the binoculars. 

“I think he has the cutest butt,” Melissa chimed in.

“A Benny guy? It’s like they’re a boy band and you’re picking your favorite member,” Megan threw her head back in laughter.

“I am fully on the Will train, but he’s all yours Katie!” Olivia smirked as Katie blushed.

“Well, we all know who I am a fan of!” David glanced over to the group. 

“You just have a curly hair with a hat kink, babe,” Ty teased.

“No! Well… okay, yeah I guess. But his hair baby, look at it. The way it just like peaks out from under his hat. Gimme,” he snatched the binoculars from Ty. 

They see Frankie remove his hat, running his fingers through his hair before returning the hat to the top of his head.

“Also the way his sweaty curls are sticking to the back of his neck? Ay yai yai yai! I just want to bite it.”

“He reminds me of my Julio when he was younger,” Lucille cut in, looking at Frankie fondly. “He was quite the stunner, you know.”

The group continued to look on as the guys moved on to start nailing some of the planks in place. Olivia snorted, laughing to herself, the mimosas starting to take their effect.

“What’s so funny?” David asked.

“I mean, I just … my mind is in the gutter, no thanks to you,” she pointed at him. “But, like with them using the nail gun, I can only think of dirty puns.”

“What, like how long it’s been since you've been nailed?” Ty smirked.

“She has three kids, Ty, I think we all know she fucks,” David chuckled.

“Ok, everyone, my son is literally using the nail gun right now, can we not?” Megan put her hands over her ears shaking her head.

“I just think it’s so sweet how they’re including Connor, it would have been so easy to have him do something small but he’s been involved in every step,” Lucille smiled warmly as she looked out of her kitchen window.

"Ugh, yes! They're getting sweatier now. I’ve never been more grateful for the Florida heat," David raised his hands in praise.

___________________

“Ok, that should about do it, I think,” Will said as Connor put the last nail in. He pulled his shirt up, using it to wipe the sweat from his forehead. 

“Nice, this looks great. That was fun…Uh, thank you guys. I honestly don’t know if I could have done this on my own.” Connor said as he looked at the four men.

“Oh, I’m sure you would have figured it out, man. You picked things up really fast,” Frankie gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 

“Do you think our audience liked the view,” Santiago motioned over to Lucille’s back patio. 

“Well, you sure were flexing anytime you could Pope. Could you get a tighter shirt next time?” Benny joked as Pope slapped him on the chest.

“I can’t help but put on a show pendejo, especially when I have an audience,” he winked. “And don’t give me shit, your brother was doing it too. I saw you eyeing Katie, Ironhead.”

“See,” Benny said under his breath to Connor, raising his eyebrows.

“She’s…nice. And she needs help with her house. It’s not in as bad of shape as ours, but I can tell she has a few projects just from the outside alone. I can only imagine what’s going on inside.”

“Yea, you’d like to know what it’s like inside, wouldn’t y-, oww!” Santiago yelped as Will hit him upside the head and Frankie shook his head laughing.

“Dude, can you fucking cool it in front of the kid,” Will motioned over to Connor who was doubled over laughing along with Benny at the scene in front of them.

__________________

“Oh shit, Will has a six-pack?!” Ty said from behind his binoculars. “Do you want a look, Katie?”

“I can see just fine from here,” Katie smirked. It was obvious that Will was a fit guy and she was grateful to get a little peak at what he was working with. Although she wasn’t usually attracted to blondes, there was something about Will that she was drawn to.

“It looks like they’re about done, so I’m going to go out there,” Lucille grabbed a tray and a basket with water bottles.

“We can all come!” David started to get up.

“Wait. Maybe just Lulu and I go out there first, we don’t need to overwhelm them with all of this…energy,” Megan chimed in.

“Ok, but we’re all coming out at some point,” Melissa laughed, eyes still focused outside taking in the scene.

_____________________

The glass sliding door opened and Lucille and Megan walked out with water and snacks in hand.

“This looks great, boys. You did amazing,” Lucille beamed, she loved seeing Connor so proud of himself.

“Connor did a great job, he’s a natural, Ms. Lucille!” Benny squeezed the boy's shoulder as he smiled at him. 

“Yeah, careful Megan, or we may need him to come over to our place to work on some stuff,” Will added.

“Oh, I’m sure that would be totally fine,” Megan smiled. 

“Who are all of your friends?” Santiago motioned toward the house with his chin.

“Ah, that’s our little crew. We get together every now and again, you’ll like them. We’ve become a little family,”

It was true, this specific group of neighbors had become pretty tight-knit, getting together for Super Bowl or Stanely Cup parties, celebrating birthdays, hosting barbecues and game nights, and just generally looking out for one another.

“We actually were thinking of having a pool party soon, you all in?” Megan asked.

“Hell yeah, we’d be down!” Benny smiled, excited to be included.

“Even us? I mean, we aren’t technically neighbors…” Frankie asked.

“Ay, por favor Francisco,” Lucille shook her head, lightly slapping Frankie’s arm.

“Of course! You two basically live here!” Megan chuckled.

“Is it settled, are we down for a pool party?” David yelled from the porch, waving at the group in Lucille’s backyard.

“That’s David,” Megan rolled her eyes, laughing and shaking her head. Turning back to the house she gave a thumbs up, signaling for the rest of the crew to join them.

***

Everyone shook hands with each other and started talking. Will managed to work his way over to where Katie was standing.

"The fence looks great!" Katie glanced over to Will and she surveyed their handiwork. "You just casually know how to fix fences?"

"Ha, well not entirely. I definitely had to call and get some pointers from my cousin, he's a lot handier than I am, but I can manage just fine," he smirked.

"Well, that's good to know," she felt her face getting red.

"So, you said you needed some help around your house? What projects d'you have?"

"Oh, there's a ton. Seriously, I need to get off of Pinterest because every time I open that damn app I add something new to my list," she chuckled.

"Ha yeah, I've heard it has that effect. My...uh…ex used to constantly be on that…" he trailed off as if he was reliving a memory.

"Was she into home repairs too?"

Shaking his head, "Ah no…wedding planning." He picked up the hem of his shirt again, wiping his forehead.

Seeing his stomach up close made Katie's eyes almost bug out of her head, but she tried to keep her cool.

"Ah yea, been there done that." 

***

“So, the party is at your place then?” Santiago asked Melissa, lingering a little bit longer with his handshake and eyeing her up and down.

“Uh, yeah, my fiancé and I just finished our pool, so it’s a great excuse to have people over,” she blushed, biting her lip and looking down. 

“Oh,” Santiago withdrew his hand. “N-nice, we’re…uh…looking forward to it.”

Melissa snapped out of it and cleared her throat. "Hey everyone, is tomorrow too soon of notice for the party? We can do it next Sunday if that's better?"

A cacophony of "No, tomorrow's great" and "Let's do it" rained down, which then turned into everyone chatting about what to bring. Once everything was settled the Neighborhood Watch crew went inside to clean things up as the boys and Connor collected all of their things.

___________________

"Thanks again for letting me come and help you guys," Connor said after they got everything situated back in Will and Benny's garage. "I had fun."

“You did great, man! And seriously, if you want to help us with other stuff that's cool. Sounds like Katie may have some projects," Will said as he wiped his hands.

"Oh does she, now? Those projects in her bedroom or what?" Benny started to tease his brother, but Will punched him in the stomach. "Ow!"

"You made plans to see what she needs help with?" Santiago raised his eyebrows at Will who shook his head.

*Well, figure it out tomorrow at the pool party then," Frankie shrugged.

As Connor started to head back, Benny stopped him. "Hey, wait. Here gimme your number. I'm serious about what I said earlier. If you wanna get started working out, just let me know, but…don’t feel like you have to." He handed the boy his phone and Connor put his number in.

"Thanks. You aren't going to go all drill sergeant mode on me are you?"

"Ha, nah. I used to train all kinds of people, it's not a one-size-fits-all approach." Benny offered him a warm smile.

"Sweet. Ok, well I guess I'll see you all tomorrow then?"

"Yeah, sounds good. See ya bud!"

Next Chapter

A/N: I can't remember who made the comment that rather than a reader insert this is a group insert, but hopefully the Neighborhood Watch is fulfilling that role! We’re headed to Melissa’s house next for a pool party in the next chapter! 

I’ve loved the asks I’ve received about this universe! In case you missed it here are the two most recent ones:

The Cars: The boys' cars are mentioned in Chapter 2, but it wasn't specified who owned which car, now you know!

Vanity Plates: Going off the cars post, I received an ask about whether the boys would have vanity plates on their cars.

Let me know if you want to be on the tag list moving forward!! Apologies if I accidentally left you off, I added it all manually … just let me know!

@goodwithcheese / @gemmahale / @trulybetty / @patti7dc / @periodtsparadox / @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin / @maggiemayhemnj / @mysterious-moonstruck-musings / @avastrasposts / @meveispunk / @chaoticfestninja / @beholdbebravethings / @casa-boiardi / @katw474 / @linzels-blog / @laughing-in-th3-purple-rain / @primosworld / @lynnchun / @anoverwhelmingdin /@lilmizmoz / @pedrit0-pascalit0 / @titlee78 / @noisynightmarepoetry / @inept-the-magnificent / @perennialdoll247 / @for-a-longlongtime / @readingiskeepingmegoing / @harriedandharrassed / @musings-of-a-rose / @anavatazes

[freddie-77-ao3]

Gonna use the ask box for this 🙃 ask 1/? (I have so many questions, though you have answered so many already)

What are your thoughts on Trials of Apollo, and the characters?

go ahead and keep asking!!! i love your questions!!

ANYWAY

gonna start smaller with characters:

lavinia: the jewish thing wasn't handled completely correctly (just a couple of small things there) but overall 10/10 character. i think she's hilarious and her official artwork ROCKS.

meg: i love her. she seems a little immature for twelve years old TO ME but i also had a... rather abnormal upbringing so that might explain the differences. overall she was a great character and i LOVE the demeter rep (my thoughts on how riordan treated demeter take five pages to clarify so-- basically) love seeing it-- demeter was a kronide and her kids should be treated as such! great character development. peaches was also hilarious (as was crotch-kicker mccaffrey)

lester: calling him lester to separate between godly apollo and post toa apollo. again, fantastic character development. he's so fucking funny. like he does some really dumb stuff at the start of the series (swearing to not use a musical instrument and stuff?? LESTER MAN CMON) his and meg's relationship is so sweet-- and kayla and austin with him? chefs kiss. love apollo kids getting some time with their dad.

jason: absolutely got fridged. i've already touched on my suicide theory so i won't go into that here but basically i think we shoulda seen jason similar to percy (very minor, doing his own thing behind the scenes) but alas.

piper: the shel thing was a bit sudden. don't get me wrong, i'm ALL for queer rep (i think there should be more of it in the books actually) but-- going straight from breaking up with jason to jason sacrificing himself for her to a relationship seems really unhealthy. i think she should have a chance to grow outside of a relationship.

reyna: joining the hunt was a bad end for her. since when was that an ambition of hers? she seemed genuinely happy in new rome and called it her home multiple times in HoO and going from that to the hunt? idk seems like rick doesn't know how to write characters NOT be in a relationship (piper, reyna, leo... they all get squared away)

leo: oh leo baby he didn't get to see jason before he died??? so heartbreaking. didn't belong in a relationship with calypso. the punching thing was weird when he came back to camp-- esp with a character who has a history of physical abuse

frank: i love the frank deciding his own fate thing but also idk seems like a cop out.

hazel: shouldn't have just become praetor i mean cmon. i love her but she's what, 14 now? no way.

Nico: FINALLY ONE OF THE CHARACTERS CANONICALLY GETS THERAPY. the doctors note is--

will: solangelo flirting is hilarious 10/10. "do you want to be my buddy?" "significant annoyance" i can't breathe. also poor will for putting up with apollo in the hidden oracle because i could not help my dad learn how to use the toilet i'm sorry but that shit is crazy.

malcolm: why is malcolm going to battle without pants on so funny to me i just-- 10/10 i love him.

connor: such a dumbass. the hair grafts 😭. i feel bad that travis isn't there and then communication lines go down like oh buddy :(

cecil: see me RUNNING with the knowledge cecil can cook

other small stuff:

love the waystation, always been my personal hc that there's more than just that one but that's for another post.

percabeth finally making it to college!!!

speaking of which AT WHAT TIME DID TRAVIS AND CLARISSE FILL OUT COLLEGE APPS THEY WERE AT WAR???? WHAT DO THEIR OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPTS LOOK LIKE???

the jackson-blofis family warms my heart <3

thoughts on the series as a whole?

i love it. definitely top three riordan series (tied with pjo and mcga)

i like that (like mcga) toa was more mature? like we finally see demigods with ptsd, we get queer characters, just... everything

[unladyboss]

OUT THERE TALKING TO WHOEVER! - SYD'S POV

I was reading @mod-doodles post about Syd reciprocating feelings for Carmy and I agree with all she said

It's been a push-pull all season 2 with Carmy.

He'll do something really cool or sweet or nice, then something horrid like blowing Syd off. They have that big table scene and then he goes to check on Claire mid service. I know if I was Syd, I'd feel that he likes that I can work for him and make a good restaurant. Not anything else.

If I was Syd, I'd feel like he wants me to be around for work and get ideas, but he'll put his feelings and everything else into Claire. I'd also think that all the times he did nice things, was to keep me around for the sake of the restaurant.

Mid service

Goes to see Claire

Even when Syd questions the timing

Remember Syd doesn't see how he is with Claire, just that he brought her around, seems excited about her, and under the table he said she's so great that it scares the sh-t out of him.

Now if some guy I liked told me that about some girl HE liked, I'd be turned off and kinda over my crush on him.

That part probably affected Syd as well and made her come back to earth. Back to some realizations

So when Carmy goes to check on Claire and then comes back only to berate her for cold disgusting 7 fishes,

Sydney let him know EXACTLY what she was upset about.

Sydney's hurt jumped out.

Who remembers whenever your mom got mad at you for being out playing with your 'lil friends' or WHOEVER!

Acting like she doesn't know the names of who you were out with. BUT SHE KNOWS

That's when she's super ticked off!

So Sydney was upset and most likely hurt as hell. Therefore, when Carmy gets locked in the walk in fridge and is calling for Syd, telling them to get Syd, I don't know that Sydney has any motivation to go get Carmy or comfort him, except for in the first minute when she asks if he is ok and he says no.

Besides the fact that they still have to get through service, I'd have been thinking " get your girlfriend to come get you out, since y'all worked on the menu together"

Syd though, is still kind in her thinking towards him, because when Nat says I told him to call Tim/Tony, Syd tells her ' not now' probably meaning let's not bash Carmy any more for this.

It's not lost on me that Carmy probably went into the fridge to hide knowing full well he might get stuck in there. Syd had just agreed to refire the fish, he was upset over thinking he saw his old horrible boss, and upset over yelling at Syd after she reminded him he was out talking to Claire during service.

He didn't need anything in the fridge. They have people to go get it if they need. He should have been doing a dish.

So here's what. We're seeing what Carmy is going through and what Syd is going through. Neither of them let slip that they feel more for each other than the restaurant. But Syd, who seems to be even more guarded, as she should be given Carmy's behavior, has to keep the walls up. Carmy disappointed her again.

Guess who we see Syd rely on a lot while Carmy is locked in the fridge?

CONNOR

I heard her call his name three times and saw him in several shots after that looking at or listening to Syd

Season 3 might see Syd with walls all the way up even with Claire gone. Connor might provide romantic fun for her, even with those walls still up.

But Carmy has a lot of work to do.

[sheetsonfire]

Free Will

Fandom: Chicago Med

Pairing: Will Halstead x Reader

Genre: angst, hurt/comfort, romance

Word Count: 6462

Summary: Will makes a decision that throws everything the reader thought they knew into question. Where will the road take them?

A/N: This is part of @resanoona's #resa.3kfiestabingo! I'm using this fic to fill the "Hurt Feelings" square! Thank you so much @resanoona for reading, suggesting and correcting my tired ramblings!

I'm so sorry it took me literally two weeks to get this fic done, but hopefully, the size makes up for it! Happy reading!

-

Sometimes it’s easy to convince yourself of something until reality so starkly and irrefutably proves otherwise. So the night you see Will kissing Nina Shore from pathology, in the middle of Molly’s, it hurts possibly more than you thought it could.

-

There had never been an official relationship between you and Will, but the both of you had become closer of late - a shared routine, the hangouts on off-days, the conversations you would share in quiet moments on shift, and the post-work drinks at various bars around the city had started to feel a lot like dating.

A year’s worth of getting to know each other beyond colleagues and now you weren't sure what you had to show for it.

You weren’t naive to the fact that a close friendship could be just that and nothing more. In some ways, you were okay with its platonic nature, yet Will always looked at you with such intensity and interest that you could have sworn it to be something else.

In fact, that night at Molly’s Bar was going to be the night. After multiple consultations with Maggie, April and even Connor who had chipped in with his encouragement, you felt ready to ask Will whether there was actually a chance of more.

Sometimes you considered asking Jay, Will’s brother, for his input on the situation but you were always afraid of the answer. There was always the possibility that Jay could tell Will and you hadn’t been ready for that complication either.

-

So, you were in the bar, wandering off from the large gathering of Med, Fire and PD friends, who had pushed tables together. They were well into their merriment of earned rest and you had decided it was time to visit Herrmann at the bar - liquid courage was definitely needed for what was coming next.

You smile brightly at the older man who gives you a wink, grinning at the sight of your familiar and friendly face. You were happy to wait patiently for him to be free to serve you, he had always been a source of wisdom and encouragement for you - one of the kindest people you knew.

Eventually, Chris makes it to you, a bar towel slung over his shoulder, “What’s up, Y/N, what can I get ya?” He waits for an answer, tilting his head curiously as you smile sheepishly. You're tapping your fingers on the counter as you measure your words.

“Hey Chris, can I get whatever will get me buzzed the fastest?”

Chris laughs, nodding, “Sure, Y/N, can I ask why?”

You knew that question was coming, and you cleared your throat.

Feeling the heat creeping into your cheeks, casting a brief look back at the table where everybody was sitting, laughing and engrossed in different conversations. You could see Nina shimmying her way around Connor to sit where you had sat next to Will.

Watching the scene with a jolt of irritation, you see her pressing up close to him. The conversation already seems intimate, and you can’t look away. Only brought back by Herrmann’s gentle call of your name.

“Sorry, Herrmann…Um, I was going to, uh, ask Will something important, I need something to quieten the nerves before I chicken out.” The words come out, but you can already feel your mind changing direction, the urge to abort the plan was growing fast.

Herrmann nods, holding his hands up in understanding, “Say no more. Good luck to you, kiddo.” Grinning as he pours you a few shots, he always was a champion for the romantic.

You hold out the shots to Chris in a ‘cheers’ gesture before knocking them back one after the other, feeling the liquid burn as it makes its way down your throat, a heat beginning to thrum in your veins. This was exactly what you needed, for better or for worse.

-

With the shots down and the confidence blooming in your chest, you say your farewell to Chris and start to shimmy through the crowd back to your table. You’re just passing where Matt Casey and Kelly Severide are sitting when your eyes lock onto an unwanted sight ahead of you.

Nina’s arm is looped snugly around Will’s waist, and he is the same in kind. You watch as he leans down to listen to something she’s saying, concentrating on her words over the hubbub of the bar, it makes him turn to smile at her.

From your position, you can even see the mischievous twinkle in Will’s eyes, and like a slow-mo car crash you feel your stomach drop as Nina leans up and Will leans into a kiss.

You’re frozen. Your trance was only broken by Casey’s concerned call of your name.

You blink, willing yourself away from the sight of your best friend making out with someone else. Turning to see Matt and Kelly watching you carefully like you were going to disintegrate at any moment.

“You alright, Y/N?” Kelly asks, standing from his chair to move closer to you.

There’s a ringing in your ears, and the full rush of embarrassment threatens to consume you, even if nobody else knew what you were thinking or how you felt. You felt transparent.

Eventually, you bring yourself to answer the firefighters, pushing a smile onto your face. “Yeah, I’m good, guys. Sorry, I just remembered I’m late for something else. Tell the others I’m sorry I had to go?” You ask hopefully, not at all in the mood to show your face again at your corner of the large gathering.

They nod, wishing you a good evening, and telling you to be safe. To which you nod back, reassuring them that you would be fine and that you would see them soon. 

Ducking your head as you turn around toward the door out of Molly’s, offering Herrmann a half-hearted smile as he watches you leave, feeling sad that he would know your plan had gone awry.

Then, you were gone.

-

Unbeknownst to you, Will had not been pleased when he discovered your absence through Casey and Severide. It wasn't annoyance, but rather concern.

He got a sinking feeling when he found out you’d gone home, in the back of his mind he started to worry that you’d seen the kiss between him and Nina. On paper, he had no reason to fear that possibility, and yet it nagged at him.

You'd never expressed an interest in Will, and he had been desperate to not be too forward with you, he never wanted to give you the impression that you were a rebound or a distraction after Natalie.

If pressed, he would admit that his thoughts on being with Nina weren’t the soundest or most logical, yet he didn’t know what else to do. With Nina there was something to the dynamic that never got too deep, it never scared Will as it did when he thought about having something with you. 

He knows it’s not fair to you or Nina to think that way, yet here he was. There was too much to lose by asking to date you, your friendship was cherished by him and it had to be protected.

Will messages later that night, asking if everything was okay. He wasn’t sure if you would answer at all, but the “Yeah, all good. Just forget I had something I needed to do. See you Monday!” went some way to quiet his worry.

Even if the seeds of doubt continued to grow.

-

[5 Months Later]

It had been an extra layer of sucky when you discovered Will was not only dating Nina but also moving in with her. Ever since that night at Molly’s, you had done your resolute best to act normal, to not freeze Will out or feel resentful.

He had asked a few times if something was wrong or if something had happened, but you didn’t have the heart to tell him the truth - what point would there be to hearing him tell you he wasn’t interested in you like that? It was easier to play it as cool as you could, being happy for Will like a good friend should. 

Being invited to the housewarming was a real test of your resolve, however.

-

It was gone 7am at Med, the 7:30 shift was due to start rolling in at any moment, and you were wrapping up your patient notes from the night before.

Maggie was hovering beside you, she had come to investigate whether you were going to the Halstead-Shore housewarming, to which you’d pulled a face and she understood.

“Did you ever ask him if it was something more?” Maggie asks cautiously, trying to help you not feel so utterly rejected by someone who apparently didn’t even know they were rejecting you.

“No…I didn’t…but, oh Maggie, I’m still in shock at how I’ve got this so wrong.”

“Honey, you’re not an idiot, there must have been something there, alright? That man is like a brother to me, and I more than know his capability to charm. I've been trying to steer him right for years, but his dating game and communication skills aren’t always to the standard of his doctoring finesse.” Maggie smiles sympathetically, wrapping an arm around you with a small squeeze.

The charge nurse had offered to intervene a few times, but you didn't think it was fair to drop that on Will just because you didn't want someone else to have him.

You sigh, resting your head on her shoulder. Watching discreetly from behind the pillar at the nurses' station, Will passes Nina her coffee and kisses her cheek, no doubt promising to share lunch with her later.

You resist the juvenile urge to make a gagging sound and gesture with your fingers in your mouth.

Then, Will turns to move in the direction of the nurses’ station to get to the on-call room. You hastily disperse from Maggie’s comforting embrace and busy yourself with a computer, pulling up your last patient’s records, scrutinising them as if your life depended on it.

Breath held, eyes downcast, you dare not look as you feel Will’s approach, his fiery copper hair visible from the corner of your eye.

You type some sporadic notes at the bottom of your patient’s file, making a mental note to yourself that under no circumstances would you save the incoherent spiel once you were done avoiding the redhead.

Yet, there’s no such passing of the moment, Will makes a direct approach to you, a smile on his face as he watches you “concentrate.” His palm is warm on your back as he greets you, a cheerful tone to salt your wounds, “Good mornin’, Y/N.” 

There’s a battle within to avoid sighing too loudly, you search for composure as you lift your head with a painted smile. “Morning, Will.”

“You’re here early?” Will queries, apparently convinced by your performance. 

“Late, actually. I got called in to cover a shift, now my cover is a no-show, so now I’m taking my one.” Will frowns with a nod, knowing what was coming next.

He hadn’t been totally oblivious to the change in your mood lately, he just wished you’d get mad or say something, the silence was worse.

The more time passed, the more the sense of a moment missed weighed on him. He wished he could have put aside his fear and come right out and said “I love you!” all those months ago, but then after that night at Molly’s things had taken an altogether different turn.

With Dr Shore it was different, she had been a friend and a colleague too, but if Will was being honest, he knew it didn't ground him or scare him like his relationship with you did.

Between him and Nina, they understood the casual and mutually beneficial nature of being together, of sharing an apartment, and they had both agreed that they would take it as easy as possible.

You grimace, looking for absolution. “I’m really sorry, Will, I won’t be able to make it for your housewarming, I’m gonna need some shut-eye once this day is over.”

It’s the best excuse to not go to your nice new place and watch you be domestic and loved up with someone who isn’t me. You think to yourself, smiling apologetically. 

“It’s alright, Y/N, it can’t be helped, we’ll miss you though.” He smiles too, a sadness settles in his eyes and you do feel a slight pang of guilt. It was for the best though, you decided.

He could spend the evening with his girlfriend and enjoy himself, and you could be spared from that. Your eyes struggle to steel themselves into an expression of unbothered and normal, Will catches a flash of it.

He squeezes your shoulder, trying to ignore the mantra of his own internal voice, the one that told him he had a mistake with you and, consequently, a mistake with Nina.

He couldn’t afford to think that now, not even if he wanted to.

“I better, you know…” He gestures to the on-call room, needing to put his stuff away and change into scrubs.

“Of course, yeah, you go ahead. See you in a bit.” You shoo him away, watching with a gnawing sensation in your gut. You couldn’t avoid this forever, you would have to face it head-on at some point.

-

However, as cruel fate would have it, as it often does, your replacement chose that moment to announce themselves. Dr Kumari had resolved their engine troubles with the help of a passerby, so here they were to relieve you of your double shift. 

You had tried to somehow find a way to prevent Will from finding out, but that was impossible as soon as Dr Kumari had made themselves known and he had seen you with your coat and bag. 

“Oh sweet, that’s great. Get some rest and we’ll see you later?” Will asks, hopefulness renewed. Maggie glances at you from across the nurses’ station, that sympathetic look was back as she offered an encouraging thumbs up.

You wanted so badly to find another way of squirming out of the obligation, but you weren’t looking to be an utter asshole to Will, he clearly valued your presence at this housewarming and, after all, you were still friends. 

“Yeah, for sure! See you later, 7pm right?” You check, ignoring the cold thrum of anxiety that had started to tingle in your veins. 

“Yep, 7pm, let me know if you get stuck finding us, our street is a little weird.” Will smiled, Cinderella could go to the ball and Will was elated to hear it. 

You nod in acknowledgement of what he was saying, saying one more goodbye before turning towards the exit, letting yourself walk a considerable way out of Will’s eye line before exhaling defeatedly.

Now you’d need to buy some wine or a plant.

-

Despite your reluctance to even go to the housewarming, you had meandered into an ‘oddities and thrift’ store on your way home and found some gifts for Will and Nina. The store’s name ‘The Past and The Curious: Chicago Thrift’ had totally tickled you.

After being in danger of spending a whole shift’s worth of time in the three-storey building full of trinkets and history, you had stumbled across a few items that you thought would be cool to give them. 

One was an old 50s dartboard that had both a traditional format on one side and a baseball format on the other; you knew that Will enjoyed a game of darts, and you were pretty sure you’d seen Nina outdoing a fair few colleagues at the bar on several occasions.

As an extra, you had found a vintage Cubs pennant you thought would make for good decor.  Satisfied with your treasures you settle up with the elderly woman who sat at a counter that looked like something out of the Wild West.

-

Letting yourself into your apartment, you’re grateful to take off your layers of cold-weather clothing, placing your items on the kitchen table where you could arrange them in a gift bag later. For now, you are ready to eat, nap and then take a shower. 

However, once you’d had some soup and put on your comfy clothes, the initial excitement over your purchases started to fade. As you roll over in bed, eyeing the red numbers displaying 11am, you feel the knots in your stomach ache in the background.

Exhaling frustratedly you shift again under the covers, desperate to find slumber in the plumpness of your pillows. 

-

It’s Jay that answers the door at Will’s new apartment, apparently, he had taken on the role of security but also cloakroom clerk. Offering to hang up your jacket, take your gift bag and find you a drink.

“How’s it going, Y/N?” Jay asks casually. 

With a swallow of the urge to spill your lovesickness to him, you smile, “All good, thanks, Jay. How about you?”

Jay lets out a small laugh, one that seems full of knowledge and scepticism with regard to your answer. “I’m good, Y/N, business as usual for me.” Jay doesn’t say anything else, but he’s looking at you differently, speaking without saying a damn thing. 

You sometimes hated that Halstead smugness, it was clearly a genetic trait both boys shared. You were now sure he knew something about this whole debacle, but you didn’t know what.

You follow Jay through the small hallway into the front room where familiar faces are already gathered in different pockets of conversation. You spot Maggie and Sharon on the couches, with Will and Nina hovering nearby, and you spot Connor in the process of joining their group.

Jay sidles up to you with an extra beer in hand, seemingly getting it from thin air as he nods in Will’s direction.

The detective takes a sip of his own drink, again with that glint in his eye that makes you want to push him into the obnoxiously large cactus in the corner of the room. “Are you gonna say hey, or are we keeping a safe distance for the evening?” 

You glance at Jay, a glare flashes across your features, settling into a frown and a half smile. You could tell Jay, for all his teasing, was actually looking out for you. He must definitely know how you feel about his brother.

A sigh escapes you, taking a swig of your beer. “Who told you, and why?” You ask, slightly disappointed that Maggie might have spilt to Jay of all people.

Jay chuckles softly, patting your shoulder. “Y/N, I got eyes. I see how you look at my pain in the ass, romantically challenged, brother.”

You’re about to say something when Jay continues, his face a little more sympathetic, maybe even sad, as he speaks. “And I saw you that night when they started canoodling, you looked pretty damn crushed. I had had my suspicions before then, but that night I knew. I wanted so badly to smack that idiot upside the head, but I didn’t know how you wanted to play it out. So I left it, and I want to apologise for not saying anything, but I figured you’d do what you wanted to do.” Jay shrugs, a grimace as he waits for your reaction, taking another swig to distract from the brief silence between you.

“Jay…” You start, your heart racing, and you half expect yourself to start crying but your brain protects you in front of all the people that could spot you break down. Surprising yourself as you remain composed. 

“First and foremost, I’m not upset with you, why would I be? You didn’t know what I was thinking, and I had no idea you even knew as much as you do… I figured I’d let it be, who am I to stop him from doing what he wants? He seems happy, and we were long friends before we could be anything else, I don’t want to lose that.”

He nods, wrapping an arm around your shoulder in a comforting squeeze. 

Jay is ready to continue, “Listen, I know he’s off with Nina, but you should know-” But Will’s voice bursts your private bubble and you almost jump out of your skin. 

“Jay, you can’t use her as a shield from socialising with everyone.” Will approaches with a big smile, clearly glad to see you’d not abandoned ship at the last moment. 

“Sorry, brother, just didn’t want you to bore her to death with the speech about where you got that cactus and the guy you got it from.” Jay grins, and Will rolls his eyes, steering you away from his brother towards Nina, Sharon and April.

You half-heartedly wave ‘bye’ to Jay, feeling the uptick in your nerves as Will’s hand stays on your back. “Glad you made it, Y/N, thanks for coming.” Your neck tingles with the softness in Will’s tone. 

“Of course, Will, you got it.” You smile, internally cringing at your chipper tone. Your stomach flip flops at the slight brush of Will’s thumb on your back as he lets go, arriving at a stop next to Nina as you greet everyone.

-

The evening continues without incident, you find yourself enjoying it more than you thought you would. Nina turns out to be a good cook, having made a good proportion of the nibbles and snacks on offer from scratch. You even manage to have a few conversations with her, without feeling like you were suffocating under the secret you kept to your chest.

-

Will had kept a subtle eye on you throughout too, you had caught him a few times looking in your direction but for the most part, you weren’t tuned in to the way he worried about whether you were having a good time or not. 

He also hadn’t missed the way you and Jay were talking earlier, he was itching to know what you were discussing but he didn’t want to intrude - the thought crossed his mind to pry it from Jay at a later date, which wouldn’t be easy.

Will was happy to have his friends around, and he really did think Nina was a great person, yet he couldn’t shake the gnawing wrongness in his stomach - the best way he could describe the sensation was “cold feet”. He sighs, refilling the ice box in the kitchen as he idly listens to the hubbub and music in the lounge, tuning in to the call of his brother requesting he hurries up in the kitchen 

-

You’re sitting on a dining chair near the couch, next to Maggie as she squeezes you. You nod to reassure her that you were doing good, smiling as she keeps a comforting hold on your arm.

Nina and Jay stand at the front of the gathering, a natural aisle down the middle had formed to allow Will back into the room and to the ‘centre stage’. 

Will sets down the ice bucket back on the refreshments table and faces his friends who are still chattering to each other, waiting for the speech to be made, a blush on his cheeks as Nina clanks her glass.

Will catches your eye for just a split second, you take a swig of your second drink of the night, a smile and a small silent cheers gesture to him before you look away and focus on something else.

Nina smiles brightly at the hush as she begins to speak, “Hey everybody. Um, thank you so much for coming. Celebrating with the people who know me and Will best, it means a lot…”

That was strike one for you, your stomach tensed in readiness for what else Nina was going to say.

“...But there is something that most of you may not know about Will. He’s still got a lot of Med School debt, but he paid part of his way through it by singing at Irish weddings.” 

There’s a gasp in the crowd, a titter of excitement as Jay picks up Will’s guitar. You and Maggie look at each other, and Maggie is grinning, eyebrows raised in excitement. Neither of you knew you were getting food and a show tonight. 

“What?” You hear Will exclaim, and you snorted as you took another swig of your drink. This was going to be good.

Ah, that was right. He’d left his guitar out earlier, forgetting to put it back in the case and stow it away. 

He was going to kill Jay.

Will half-heartedly protests, but Jay thrusts the instrument at his brother with that same shit-eating grin you’d seen many a time before, along with a quip about needing to pay rent.

Sharon even pipes up, and it’s sweet to see Will almost immediately agree. Like a mother asking her son to play, he wasn’t going to be the one to decline now. Only further encouraged by Nina and the cheer of the group in front of him, including you, he takes the guitar in his hands.

The hush from before settles around the room, listening intently as Will begins to sing and play the strings beneath his fingers.

“Baby

It's been a long day, baby

Things ain't been going my way

You know I need you here

To ease my mind

All the time”

At first, you’re stifling your giggles of excitement, because Will had a great voice that you’d never heard before. Not only that, but you knew Will would totally smack Jay upside the head for making him play in front of everyone, and it tickled you to no end.

“And baby

The way you move me, it's crazy

It's like you see right through me

And make it easier

You please me, you don't even have to try”

However, with that excitement came the deepest urge to cry. An urge that you smothered by drinking your beer and squeezing the napkin you had in your other hand in a vice grip. Maggie’s grip on you had tightened too.

Jay was watching his brother, and that glint of pride in his eyes wasn’t hard to miss, despite Jay’s hesitation on the whole moving-in situation, he didn’t want to butt in on Will’s life, Will seemed to be happy. 

You watched the man you admired and loved play with ease, his voice was somehow soothing and shattering as you watched Nina look at him the way you do when he isn’t paying attention.

A tidal wave of emotions that you’d managed to suppress since that night at Molly’s came crashing over you with each word of the song, feeling your heart stutter wildly as Will’s eyes focus briefly on yours.

You can’t look away, not even if you wanted to, the tears that you had so doggedly fought against now spilt silently over and down your cheeks. Quickly wiping them away lest somebody, that wasn’t Maggie or Will, notice.

“Oh, because

You are the best thing

(You're the best thing)

You are the best thing

(You're the best thing, baby)

You are the best thing

(You're the best thing, ooh)

Ever happened to me”

Will’s eyes glisten too, his heart thundering in his eyes as he plays on autopilot for the rest of the song. In the surreal moment of everyone else’s joy, the doting look on Nina’s face, he is crushed to see the look of grief on yours.

Listening to his head and his heart, louder and clearer than he had in all those times of fear and doubt, Will knows now without question he’s made a mistake. A mistake that will certainly hurt Nina going forward, but there’s also a mistake that’s already hurt you. 

The latter is something that Will can’t live with.

-

It feels like an eternity as you try to calmly get up from your seat next to Maggie, hushed murmurs between the both of you as you quickly and quietly tell her that you need to get going. She can see the anguish on your face enough to not try and convince you to stay, offering a sad smile and an encouraging squeeze as she promises to text later.

You dare not glance back at Will, only offering a polite smile and nod to Jay as you squeeze past him between the clusters of people who had resumed their chattering and merriment. He doesn’t push now, the teasing at the start of this evening now makes him feel somewhat dickish as he sees the pain in your face.

Unbeknownst to you, Will can’t tear his eyes away from watching you leave, the prickly heat of worry and dread spreads across his skin. The desire to go after you was clear on his features, lost in his own moment of realisation, too caught up in the tumbling down of his own walls to realise Nina was witness to it as well. 

She had never been clueless about your connection to her boyfriend, but to your credit, you had never overstepped or even tried to enforce your place in his life. However, now, as she watches the silent revelation play out in front of her, it’s hard to ignore the sourness in her throat. Her new chapter of life had been closed as quickly as it had started.

-

After the last of the guests say their goodbyes, a heavy silence begins to fill the air of the apartment, replacing the lights and the laughter with a stillness that sits like dark, weighted, rain clouds that threaten a downpour. 

Will puts almost entirely too much focus on clearing away scraps of food, crumpled napkins and used plastic champagne flutes for there not to be something so obviously wrong. 

Nina glances at him from time to time, the energy coursing through her body going into putting the furniture back with haste. She can feel her hurt and anger building, but there’s also a resignation, she just wishes Will had opened his mouth sooner.

Eventually, she can’t take it, straightening up the dining table, she can’t help thinking about the fact that it’s a huge mercy that their landlord had included a 7-day grace period in their rental agreement.

“Are you gonna say something? Or do I have to do that for you too, even at the very end?” Her first shot is fired into the thick air, which makes Will’s shoulders tense. A slow lift of his head from the fascinating sight of the garbage bag in his hands to the woman he was about to let down.

“Nina, I-” The look on Will’s face already has her jaw clenching, he was about to try and soften the situation somehow, something she didn’t want or need. She only needed the truth.

“Will, I suggest you think very clearly about what comes out of your mouth next. Just be clear and be honest with me.” 

Will pressed his lips together, recalculating his sentence now that he could see this was really happening, it was now or never to face up to the reality of his feelings. 

“Nina? I haven’t been fair to you. You deserve someone as committed to you as you are to him, and I haven’t been that person.”

Nina inhales a sharp breath, hearing it aloud stings, but at least it’s the truth. “It’s always been Y/N, hasn’t it?” 

Will blinks, swallowing, staring his transgressions in the face.

“You messed me around. You acted as if I could be the only person you’d want this future with, but all along you knew the truth. You knew deep down that Y/N was who you really wanted, and you let us go through all of this - in front of our friends too.” Nina’s rage is the quiet kind, the kind that doesn’t need screaming or erratic behaviour to convey the gravity of its source.

“I didn’t know she had feelings for me, not for sure, not until tonight… I-... I’m sorry, Nina. I have feelings for her, and I shouldn’t have ignored them. I should have been honest from the start, from that kiss at Molly’s. I shouldn’t have let myself pretend.” 

“Oh well, I’m so glad you’ve seen the light tonight, no more pretending, huh? Wow.” 

Will’s eyes shuttered closed for a second, there was no getting around the mess he’d made for Nina and for you. 

“Nina, I care about what happens to you, I-”

Nina held her hand up, shaking her head. She didn’t need to hear any more about how much Will loved you or how sorry he was that he still wasn’t going to pick her. “Please just go, Will. Get what you need tonight, we can arrange our stuff at some point. I just need you to go, please. Now.”

Will nods, picking up his phone from the coffee table as he silently heads to the bedroom to pack some things. He would be reacquainting himself with Jay’s couch tonight.

-

You were more than thankful that the following day was a day off for you. You could very well put your personal feelings aside for the sake of the job, but it was a relief to be allowed to cry in your apartment under a duvet and mindlessly watch episode after episode of Mythbusters.

Even though your eyes were staring at the laptop screen, your mind couldn’t be further from focusing on what was in front of you. You couldn’t stop replaying over and over the way Will had really seen you last night, he knew the truth now and you would have to live with that reality - whatever that might mean for your friendship.

So much was your melancholic reverie that the texts you’d received from not only Maggie but Jay and Will had all gone unnoticed and unread. Each passing hour was just as lovesick as the one before it until you felt like you were climbing the walls. 

At around 2pm you decide to take a shower, put on some real clothes, open the curtains and take yourself out for a walk to get some food and some sunshine on your skin.

You’re just checking the lock on your front door when noise from further down the corridor grabs your attention, you figured that when you turned it would be one of your neighbours going back to their apartment. However, when you register the figure in front of you, you almost wish you could unlock the door and hustle back inside without being spotted.

Will was approaching you, a look of concern on his face that you’d rarely ever seen unless there was a serious emergency in the ED. As he gets closer his exhaustion is apparent, with hair that was unkempt and redness in his eyes that spoke of little to no sleep.

You were confused, to say the least, last night should have been a great night for him and he should have gone to bed with Nina to forget all about you.

As you stand frozen on the spot, pondering what could have possibly happened to have Will so stressed out, you almost jump when Will comes to a stop in front of you. He shifts from one foot to the other, hands deep in his jean pockets to stop them from fidgeting or rubbing nervously at his neck.

“Hi.” He murmurs, his voice gruff from a dry throat. 

“Hi.” You utter, voice tight. It now occurs to you that your face probably doesn’t look too much better, even the shower wouldn’t have magically erased the bags from tossing and turning, and the redness from crying.

“What are you doing here?” You ask curiously, trying not to sound too blunt or rude. 

“Can we talk?” He asks carefully, waiting for you to be upset with him as Nina had been.

You swallow, stomach flip-flopping with the gurgles of hunger to accompany it. 

“Sure…I, uh, I was going to take a walk and get lunch. Wanna come?” 

Will nods, taking a breath. “Sounds good.”

-

It’s not even 5 minutes into your walk until the silence between you almost becomes unbearable. The idea of breaking that silence seems to occur to you both at the same time.

“Will, I-”

“I broke up with Nina.” 

You stare at each other as the words sit in your brain, coming to a halt tucked to the side of the sidewalk.

“You broke up with Nina? The Nina who you’re sharing a new home with?” You don’t mean for the sentence to be so blunt, but you’re stunned at this turn of events.

“Yeah, that’s the one.” Will gives a pained and sheepish smile. 

You’re frozen for a moment, trying to figure out if it was because of you without seeming too self-absorbed. Will seems to pick up on your thoughts, however, pacing slightly in front of you and as the words tumble past his lips, hands gesturing wildly as he tries to get his feelings across. 

“And it is because I care about you, Y/N. I haven’t acted right at all, and I don’t expect you to suddenly feel ready for anything. Hell, I don’t even expect you to want to be friends anymore, but I couldn’t lie to myself, and I couldn’t pretend like losing you wouldn’t be the biggest regret of my life. I shouldn’t have hurt you or Nina the way that I did, and I’m truly, deeply, sorry… I love you, Y/N.”

It’s surreal to think that this is happening in the middle of the street, whilst the world bustles around you. You look into the wild, soft, brown eyes of Will Halstead and you’re met with the truth now. You can see it there, the same sense of fear, grief and hope that had burned so strongly last night as he played the guitar and watched you cry.

You expected to fling yourself into his arms and kiss him senseless, but in reality, you nestle in close to wrap your arms tightly around him, your head tucked into his chest as you sniffle.

The warmth of his hand cradling the back of you makes you feel safe, his lips gentle as they press to the top of your head. A strong hold on your waist as you sniff rather pitifully, full of relief and shock, speaking quietly as though any louder would shatter some sort of illusion, “Please, please don’t change your mind.” 

Will’s laughter rumbles through his chest, planting more kisses on your face as you look at him, laughter pulled from you too as you see your own joy mirrored on him.

“That was a one-time thing, sweetheart. I won’t be changing anything for as long as you want me to be here.” 

-

Fin.

tags: @resanoona - @elius-learns-to-write - @dumb-fawkin-bitch

[mirlvshft]

day 4 of reya singh’s 4-day mind reprogramming process! .𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚

day 4: today is the day you will shift. anchor this firmly in your mindset. as you go through your day and routine, consciously connect every action to shifting. drinking water, brushing your teeth, showering, watching tv, breathing, eating— associating literally every activity, no matter how mundane, to bringing you closer to shift. even negative experiences can be reframed as stepping stones toward this goal. let this relentless positive focus saturate your consciousness. this day takes you into your desired reality.

alright!! this is technically not day 4 as it would’ve been monday the 5th not today (tuesday 6th) so, excuse that, i’ll explain. anyway! before we get into this, i just want to state: no, i did not shift, but maybe got close. this attempt is similar to another. i will explain what happened and my overall thoughts about this process. long post!! (˘ŏ_ŏ)

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆what happened?⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

so to address the timeline, i did attempt to shift monday which is the official 4th day but right when it hit 12am for me since i’m in bed by then. i love “awake” methods, they’re all i usually do but i can only do them at night when i am left alone and nothing is bothering me. i’m busy during the day and there’s never a quiet moment.

i did everything as usual, i got myself ready for bed, buzzing with good energy and semi-controlled giddiness. i lay down, put my headphones on and i listen to reya’s guided meditation. i get into a nice deep calm state, i don’t feel my body too much and i’m very relaxed. i affirm and affirm, keep relaxed. i don’t feel any “symptoms” per se, maybe like a tingling sensation here and there but i barely notice (i know i don’t need to experience these). so this continues on and eventually i go in and out of consciousness. the whole time i doze off and come back, i hear the subliminal music in my ears and no cue i’m in my wr. i remember getting frustrated but not why, i wasn’t mad i wasn’t in my wr or anything i know that for sure. really strange, but i’m not thinking much of it. in summary, i fell asleep and nothing much happened.

that brings me to 12am today. i got ready for bed as usual and around 11:20pm (of yesterday) i’m finally in bed. i’m looking through notifs, apps, etc., then i decide to shift again. because why not? fuck it, let’s do it.

so after reviewing my script (and adding to it), i lay back with alunir’s guided meditation playing in my headphones. i’ve used it several times before. i relax immediately, etc etc etc., you know how it goes. again, not many “symptoms”, i barely notice the smaller ones like tingling. i get into a very very relaxed state, can’t feel my body much and i affirm and set my intentions as i hear what alunir says. like the last attempt, i doze off a little at first but then i’m fully awake. and soon i start smelling the faintest scents of rain and cologne (scripted this for my wr). i’m even calmer than last time this happened, got excited but i shut that shit down quick to focus. another cue i had in mind to know i’m in my wr is connor “waking” me up. he would gently wake me up not by talking but touch. (i’ve yet to post abt him, i will soon. he’s connor from a game called detroit become human. he’s like my assistant(?) in wr)

man i just remembered as i’m typing this up, i felt a shove to my arm/shoulder. it wasn’t aggressive but not so gentle, somewhere in the middle. i can’t tell if this was just a jerk my body did or something more for a split second. i don’t know what to define it as but i’m more sure it was just a jerk than anything else.

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆overall thoughts⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

i think this is an amazing process. i believe it really helps lock down your belief in shifting as well as whatever you want to work on while using this. i felt pretty confident about my abilities to shift and it helped strengthen my positivity about shifting as a whole.

throughout all the exercises of this process, it helped strengthen so many parts of myself. reflecting on my journey thus far and what i hope to get out of one of many lives is so incredibly motivating and eye-opening. it gets you to really sit down and think about what you want and what you see for your overall life. this process really helps you see your dr(s) as a real place. not something you can only dream of but a real place where you can be. where everyone around you is real and have very real lives.

i definitely recommend others to try this process out. even if you don’t end up shifting, it can help strengthen your mindset and get you to think deeply about your dr(s). in turn, get you that much more closer to shifting!! ◝(ᵔᗜᵔ)◜

[usafphantom2]

The F/A-18 Super Hornet that pulled off the US’s first air-to-air kill in 18 years still has the war paint to prove it

The Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet shot down a Syrian Sukhoi Su-22 fighter-bomber in the U.S. military's first air-to-air kill since 1999.

Jared KellerPublished Sep 13, 2020 1:05 AM EDT

navy syria shootdown f/a-18 super hornet

Sailors stand by an F/A-18F Super Hornet assigned to the “Golden Warriors” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 87 before starting flight operations on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) while participating in Exercise Northern Edge 2019. (U.S. Navy photo).

Editor’s note: a version of this post first appeared in November 2019.

When Navy Lt. Cmdr. Michael “Mob” Tremel took on an air-support mission on June 18, 2017, he didn’t realize that he’d end up shooting down a Syrian Sukhoi Su-22 fighter-bomber in the U.S. military’s first air-to-air kill since 1999.

“The whole mission out there that day was to go defeat ISIS and annihilate ISIS,” Tremel recalled of the incident during a September 2017 Tailhook Association symposium. “If at any point in time that day it had escalated, that would have been fine by us.”

Tremel may carry the memory of that day with him everywhere, and now so will his aircraft: According to recent Pentagon photos, the F/A-18E Super Hornet from VFA-87 that Tremel flew into battle clearly carries a fresh victory marking — a scalp for one of the squadron’s “Golden Warriors.”

According to The Aviationist, which first noted the new marking, Tremel’s Hornet originally picked up fresh war paint just below the left side of its canopy as early as August 2017, less than two months after the shootdown occurred. The tomahawks represent successful aerial strikes, while the Syrian flag and silhouette of a fighter jet represent the Su-22 that Tremel nailed with an AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile.

Fighter Aircraft photo

Lt. Cdr. Michael Tremel stands next to his F/A 18 Super Hornet on board the USS George W. Bush in July 2018. (U.S. Navy photo)

At some point in recent years, the aircraft received a fresh paint job, likely to transition its Modex from 302 to 402 as part of the squadron’s new assignment to USS Theodore Roosevelt’s Carrier Air Wing 11 sometime in 2018. Luckily, the victory marking was simply moved from the left side of the airframe to the right, set just below and ahead of its cockpit.

Fighter Aircraft photo

Sailors stand by an F/A-18 Super Hornet assigned to the “Golden Warriors” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 87 before starting flight operations on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) while participating in Exercise Northern Edge 2019 on May 15, 2019 (U.S. Navy photo)

It’s worth noting in the above photo that while the Super Hornet is no longer operated by Tremble — Navy Cmdr. J.A. Calby’s name is printed directly below the canopy — the aircraft still bears his name and the date of the shootdown, as well as the tell-tale Syrian flag.

“It’s not just Tremel’s plane,” a Navy official told Task & Purpose of the kill marking. “It applies to the aircraft.”

Fighter Aircraft photo

Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Handling) 3rd Class Connor Akey, from Mobile, Ala., directs an F/A-18E Super Hornet, assigned to the “Golden Warriors” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 87, on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) on July 5, 2019 (U.S. Navy photo)

On the day of the shootdown, Tremel and his wingman, Lt. Cmdr. Jeff “Jo Jo” Krueger, were conducting a close-air support sortie over Syria when they spotted the Syrian Su-22 approaching ground forces with ordnance at the ready. As Tremel recalled back in 2017, repeated radio calls to the aircraft went unheeded, as did the multiple flares he launched.

After the Su-22 released its ordnance near the U.S.-backed forces on the ground, Tremel fired an AIM-9X Sidewinder at the aircraft in line with the rules of engagement, only to have the advanced missile drawn away by the Sukhoi’s own flares. The AIM-120 AMRAAM, however, did the trick, striking the aircraft. The pilot ejected and the burning aircraft quickly plummeted toward the ground.

“I know I was just operating on brainstem power,” Tremel recalled during the Tailhook symposium before adding that, despite achieving the first U.S. air-to-air kill in nearly two decades, his CO immediately reminded him of his responsibilities of air-wing duty safety officer that day: “The show goes on.”

@TaskandPurpose via X

[felicitysmoaksx]

Hi, Everyone! So I thought this story was done. But turns out it wasn't. So here we go. Song recs for this chapter: I Didn't Know by Sofia Carson & All of The Girls You Loved Before and Cruel Summer both by Taylor Swift If you want to know where this is in the Chicago PD Timeline: Season 3: in between episodes 3: Actual Physical Violence & 4: Debts of the Past. There might also be another chapter in the future, but I make no promises. (Did I also mention I might have another soulmate au and a Cop!Sarah au because of this universe) Happy Reading!

Rating: Explicit (Minors DNI 18+)

Summary:   Following a car explosion, Erin and Sarah finally have a heart-to-heart about Charlie, and Erin learns about Sarah's new-ish relationship with Connor.

Word Count: 8.2k

Warnings: Implied Car Explosion, implied Sexual Content, Depictions of parental abandonment, depictions of violence, inaccurate medical procedures

Read On AO3 | Fic Playlist | Fic Playlist but Less Shippy | Want to be tagged when I post a Rheese story?

A hand danced up his back as he was putting up his stuff in the doctor’s lounge. Connor turned his head to see that it was Sarah as she passed him to get a cup of coffee. He was working nights this month so Dr. Fri could take his paternity leave with his wife and spend time with their new baby. The whole of the ED staff was pitching in. Connor just so happened to draw the short straw first. 

“Rough day?” He asked, raising his eyebrows at the sight of his girlfriend inhaling her coffee. He wasn’t even sure she was tasting it with the speed she was drinking it. 

“Long day. Dr. Choi and Dr. Charles pulled me off of psych and put me in the ED today.” She told him tiredly, “So guess who also got pulled into doing most of the psych consults, in addition to treating in a non-psychiatric way?” 

She pointed to herself in response to her rhetorical question. 

“Why’d they pull you? Who called in?” 

“No one, I asked to be down here for the next few weeks. Because I’ve gotten sloppy with emergency medicine in the time I’ve been a psych resident. And sloppiness is dangerous.”

“Babe, we’ve been over this, you can’t measure anything by that day. We were all nervous and stressed,” He told her patiently for what seemed like the millionth time in the last month. Since that day with David and Lily…But his perfectionist girlfriend rolled her eyes at him and took another large pull of her coffee. 

“Doesn’t change the fact that I was sloppy and that I need practice to correct that. I’m better than sloppy.” Like usual Sarah fell into her side of their bickering. 

Connor always had some idea that Sarah was a little bit of a perfectionist. He could see that from his first day after he saw her in the training room when she hadn’t been able to set the groin line. But dating the brunette both unofficially and now officially had shown him just how much making mistakes affected her. Other people could make mistakes and it was okay. Things happened, but not Sarah. She held herself to a much higher standard than she did everyone else. 

Knowing that fact, Connor let the subject drop before it could balloon up into an argument. He did not want to repeat that argument with her. 

Instead, because they were alone, (Though their relationship wasn’t confined to just his apartment anymore, neither was much for PDA outside of pecks and hand-holding in public) he made his way across the lounge and kissed his girlfriend’s lips. The smile that split her lips was genuine but had an exhausted tilt to it.

 Connor felt a pang of sympathy swell in him. The ED was always busy more or less, but this last month and a half had been nothing short of horrific. The David situation notwithstanding. They had their usual fluctuation of patients and cases.  But this last month and a half, it was as if people had hit their heads and lost their common sense. 

“You want the spare key to my apartment? My new mattress was delivered this morning.” He offered to her in a whisper, nosing his way down her neck, while he gripped her waist and pulled her closer.  Sarah laughed at the sensation while she squirmed. But instead of trying to push him away, the brunette tried to press herself closer to him. With him working nights this month, they had been two ships passing each other over these last two weeks. Which left little time for them together, save for a day or two during the week when one of them had the day off. 

“I have this new vintage red wine in my wine cabinet that my sister sent along for you too,” He told her then added how his sister was always more of a white wine person than a red. Then he noticed her look of confusion, “What?”

“You said your sister sent along red wine for me,” she told him as if it was obvious, “Your sister doesn’t even know me.”

The surgeon chuckled, “She knows of you. You texted me about that movie you had been wanting to see last week when I was at breakfast with her…” His ears turned pink as he gave her a guilty grin, “And besides the fact that my Dad already kind of told her about us when he was recovering from his surgery…I was grinning a little too much at my phone.” 

Sarah giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck. She drawled in a slow and flirty tone, “Why Dr. Rhodes, you sure know how to make a girl feel special.” 

That voice always sent a thrill through him. He nipped her ear before he warned in a low tone of voice, “Don’t you call me Dr. Rhodes in that tone at the hospital.”

His girlfriend merely grinned at him. (A little too evilly in his opinion. Yeah, she definitely knew what that voice did to him. Just like she knew what she was doing when she batted her eyes at him.) Then she leaned in and pecked his lips. She let out a soft sigh, “I couldn’t take your key tonight though. I have that family dinner. Justin, Olive, and the baby are coming into town and Justin wants a family dinner with everyone. Really, I just think it’s a way to get me to talk to Hank and Erin.”

Connor hummed sympathetically because he could understand a meddling sibling. Claire was still trying to fix his and their father’s issues. “When was the last time you talked to one of them?”

“A month?” Sarah guessed, “And it’s not that I don’t want to talk to them. But I don’t know how to deal with the Charlie subject. He’s always been a more touchy subject for Erin. For good reason, but it’s always harder to bring it up and I’m worried that once I start talking to her, I won’t handle it well. And Hank is a whole other story.”

Connor didn’t know everything about Sarah’s history with Charlie Pugliese but he knew enough. Enough to make his blood boil at what he did know, but Sarah didn’t need his anger right now. Right now, she needed his support.

She pulled away from him with another sigh, “I better get back. I just stepped in here for some coffee. And you have your own shift to get to.”

“Yeah,” Connor said, even as he reached into the pocket of the jeans he had on and grabbed his spare key from his key ring to place in Sarah’s hand. His lover looked up at him, “I told you I can’t because of my family dinner tonight.”

The surgeon shrugged as he dropped a kiss on her head, making his way to the dressing room. “The option’s there if you want it after your dinner.”

Connor’s back was turned so he didn’t see the soft look in Sarah’s eyes as he left when she gazed at his back. She always looked at him with soft eyes when he did things like that. Things that didn’t seem like a big deal to him, but they always left the curly-haired brunette feeling soft and gooey inside.  When she tried to bring it up to him though, her dark-haired lover merely huffed and shook his head. All the while he mumbled the familiar phrase of, “The difference between boys and men.” 

[LINE BREAK]  [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK]

A few hours later, Sarah and Connor were back in the doctor’s lounge. Only Sarah was getting ready to leave for the night and Connor was pouring his second cup of coffee.

“You headed out?” Connor asked, when he saw his lover grab her backpack. Nodding her head, she closed her locker and made her way over to him. Then she pressed a kiss to his beard-covered cheek. “Justin said he, Olive, and the baby were visiting Hank and Erin at the district today. So they said they could pick me up after my shift.” 

Her phone chimed from where it was in her back pocket. Connor pressed one last kiss to her forehead as she looked at the device. From where he stood over her, he could make out the name of the person on the phone. It was Justin Voight. He twirled a stray curl around his finger to get her attention. Soft brown eyes peered up at him. “Text me when you get home? Whether or not that be your apartment or mine.”

“Have a good rest of your shift. Maybe it’ll be an easy night.” Sarah nodded at his request before she gave him a little grin. And then darted just out of his reach when he tried to tickle her side in retaliation for jinxing him. Then she shot him one more smile before she turned and made her way out of the hospital. 

[LINE BREAK]  [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK]

“So you didn’t go visit Hank and Erin at the district?” Sarah wondered, looking first from her best friend before turning in her seat to look at his wife. 

“He said he didn’t want us to.” Olive shrugged from the backseat. Then smiled down at her son as he cooed. Justin continued, “Said a case popped off? It wasn’t the right time. Said he just see us for dinner. He sounded weird. ” 

“He always sounds weird when he’s working a case. Erin too.” Sarah told her pseudo-brother and sister-in-law. “They just don’t want us to worry.” 

“Yeah,” Justin sighed, getting into the turn lane to go to Hank’s house, “But we worry anyways, especially when Dad tries to keep us away these days. He never turns down the chance to see Danny...”

[LINE BREAK]  [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK]

When Erin and Hank finally made their way home that night, both her pseudo-sister and father were quiet, and neither wanted to talk about their day. 

“Just a hard case,” Sarah heard Hank reassure Justin as they walked to the car. Her pseudo-sister hummed in agreement from where she was walking with Olive. “Nothing dinner with my family won’t cure.”

Sarah heard Justin chuckle, before he explained that after dinner, he and Sarah were going to leave Erin and Hank with Olive and the baby so they could meet up with Tucker and a few other old friends. The curly-haired brunette felt herself sigh inwardly as she grabbed her door handle waiting for the car to be unlocked. She had forgotten about those plans. If she didn’t talk to both Hank and Erin tonight, then she was in for a long talk with Justin about it.

Her heart clenched tighter when Hank caught her eye and smiled at her over the car’s hood. It was a wan smile. Not like his usual warm and genuine one. He unlocked the door and a buzzing immediately filled her ears. 

“EVERYONE GET DOWN!” Her pseudo-father shouted just before the car exploded and erupted in flames.

[LINE BREAK]  [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK]

Sarah flinched back as the compress touched her skin, hissing at the persistent sting that ached from her burns. Erin was at another treatment bay, getting treated not for burns, but abrasions to her skin and a possible concussion. Olive, Justin, and the baby were in the PICU because they wanted to make sure the baby was alright. And Hank, after he waved off getting checked out, was being a pinball between all of three of his children, bouncing between Sarah in a trauma bay, (For her second-degree burns) Erin in a treatment room, and the PICU upstairs.

“Sorry Dr. Reese,” Dr. Matthews muttered to her, sounding annoyed. She grimaced when he couldn’t see her face. It would just make things worse for her. She had nothing against Dr. Matthews as a person. But the man was older and about a month away from retirement and at this point in his career, he was just phoning it in. Everyone in the hospital knew that. 

Oh, he knew his stuff, but the way he came at everything now was with the demeanor an elderly man who thought everyone under the age of fifty was too soft. Everyone was being coddled. (He also thought psychiatry was more or less a waste. You get the picture.) He had already been barred from treating kids because of his bedside manner and how much it upset the patient and the parents alike. 

Hank was no different, it seemed. When he saw her wince, he pushed himself off of where he was leaning against the wall of the trauma bay. Then he left quietly, returning a moment later with Maggie in tow. 

“I can finish this if you want to go take a breather, Dr. Matthews,” she told the doctor. Dr. Matthews took a step back, and muttered something that suspiciously sounded like, ‘About damn time.’ 

“How dare a doctor actually do their job,” Sarah said in a sarcastic tone, after he left. Maggie huffed a quiet laugh.

“Do you want to lay down on your stomach? And you can rest while we let the cool compresses do their thing?” Maggie offered in a soft voice after she heard Sarah yawn. The brunette looked at her pseudo-father, “Go check on Justin, Olive, and the baby. Or Erin. Let me know how they’re doing. I’m okay for right now.” 

“We still need to talk,” he said, pinning her with a serious look. One that reminded her of all the times she got in trouble as a kid. Sarah huffed a sigh, but she knew Hank was right. It wasn’t like them to go this long without talking to each other. That’s why Justin had taken it upon himself to meddle. 

“We will,” she promised him, “Just preferably, after I’ve had my twenty-minute power nap.”

Hank moved forward and pressed his lips to the top of her head. Then he conceded with a sigh. “I’ll be back in twenty minutes.” 

“Hank,” she called to him after he had turned around and was walking out of the trauma bay. He glanced over his shoulder at her. 

“Thank you.” She told him in a soft voice. 

“For what?” Sarah shrugged at his confused question. Then winced as the burns on her back twinged in pain. Still, she managed a smile for him, “Nothing? Everything? Something in between? I may not know all that you did, but I know you and Camille sacrificed a lot for me and Erin when you took us in.” 

“And we would’ve done it again, kid.”

“Are you sure? Because I remember what we were like…and we were all hellions. Justin included. Erin and I only added to your already full hands.” She joked weakly. Yet her pseudo-father never wavered or even cracked a smile at her joke as he said in a quiet, serious voice, “We would’ve. I’ll be back to check on you in a little while.” 

Then nodding once at Maggie, he walked out of the trauma bay as quietly as he brought the charge nurse into it. 

[LINE BREAK]  [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK]

“You as a hellion? I can’t imagine that.” Maggie’s quiet chuckle filled her ears as she helped Sarah lay down on her stomach. The change made her hiss as the persistent sting intensified. Then it was back to a dull throb as the compresses were replaced on her back.

“You didn’t know me back then. The girl that was too angry at the world to really care about anything.”

“I can’t even imagine you ever being that angry. Need anything else?” Sarah shook her head, before she changed her mind. “Maybe a smoothie? I didn’t get to eat dinner because of what happened.”

“And you didn’t get to eat lunch because we had that awful pile up to deal with.” Sarah nodded even though Maggie wasn’t asking a question. 

“Anything else?” Her friend asked, covering her upper body even more with the hospital blanket. The brunette shot the nurse a grateful smile. Even though no one could see anything because she was on her stomach and her hospital gown loosely on the front of her body, she had felt entirely too exposed with the way they had the back of her gown open, but Sarah knew it had been a necessary evil to treat her burns. 

“Nothing that you can help me with right now. I just want my pillow but I don’t think he’s anywhere close at the moment because he would’ve been at least by here already…”

A smile tugged at Maggie’s lips. Sarah didn’t mention any names, but the charge nurse had a pretty good idea who the brunette was talking about. A certain surgeon with blue eyes.

“He got pulled into surgery upstairs, but I can try to catch him when he’s out?” Maggie offered. Curls bounced slightly as Sarah shook her head. “No, it’s okay. He has his shift to worry about. He doesn’t need me to add to his plate right now.”

Maggie had a strong feeling Connor would disagree with his girlfriend. But the charge nurse left it alone for the moment and left Reese with, “I’ll go order your smoothie and I’ll be back to check on you in a little while. But if you need me, you yell before that. Okay?” 

“Thanks, Mags.” With a nod of acknowledgment from the female psychiatrist, Maggie left. And Sarah let her eyes fall shut as she willed her body to relax as much as it could against the dull throb of her burns.

[LINE BREAK]  [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK]

Erin found her sister in a trauma bay, after her doctor told her he’d be back in a while to check on her. It was nothing major, just a few scrapes and bruises. She only got checked out because she hit her head and her family was worried about her having a concussion.  (Her little sister who had second-degree burns and was actually injured was worried about her. She was the big sister. She was meant to be looking out for Sarah, not the other way around.) 

But so far there was no sign of one and Erin snuck out as soon as the doctor had his back turned.  

“Hey,” Erin whispered softly to the prone form on the hospital gurney. Sarah’s head popped up before she turned it so she could glance over her shoulder. 

“Hey, you okay? No concussion?” Her little sister asked as Erin padded farther into the trauma bay.

“You’re the one with second-degree burns and you’re asking me if I’m okay?” Erin asked and the curly-haired brunette smirked at her. 

“It’s like Hank said. You’re a police detective. Your job is to look in people’s eyes for a living. I’m a doctor. It’s my job to ask people if they’re okay for a living.”

The older woman felt a chuckle bubble out of her mouth as she shook her head at her sister. “Well, I’m okay. No concussion. Just a few bumps, scrapes, and bruises.”

Her sister shot her a tired smile in response. Then her eyes slid shut as the conversation stilled and dropped off. Erin cleared her throat and Sarah opened her eyes, blinking glassy-eyed at her. 

“I feel like we need to talk.” Erin started hesitantly, because she knew it probably wasn’t the right time. Her little sister was tired and in pain. But it was a time that Sarah was more or less stuck and couldn’t make up an excuse to run away. Like she had been doing for the last month, begging off any chance they had to talk. When the curly-haired brunette remained silent, the police detective continued: “Lately, I’ve just kind of felt like we’ve been hitting a wall with each other. We haven’t talked in a month and it seems like that’s intentional. Almost like you’ve been avoiding me and Hank?” 

“This is a very weak interrogation,” Sarah commented with a raised eyebrow. Erin felt her lips tug themselves into a smirk as she folded her arms. 

“Maybe I’m trying the good cop strategy,” she shrugged. Her sister yawned before she smiled sleepily. 

“Maybe try that on someone who hasn’t known you for the last twenty-two years.”

And Sarah was deflecting. She wasn’t confirming anything Erin was saying, but she also wasn’t denying it either. 

“Answer my question, Sarah. Why have you been avoiding me and Hank since last month?” Erin asked as if she were questioning a suspect. But there wasn’t as much force in her voice as there would’ve been with a normal perp. 

“I haven’t been avoiding you. I’m just not sure how to talk to you about Charlie.” Erin didn’t bother to ask who the younger woman was talking about. If it was any other Charlie, Sarah would have mentioned a last name as well. Erin swallowed. “What about him?” 

“Maybe that he’s in jail?” A humorless laugh fell from Sarah’s lips at the guilt that swept over Erin’s face. “Yeah, and I also know that he’s in the state of Illinois because he was in the ED with Travis and me last month with a kidney laceration.”

Big sister looked at little sister. The older of the two felt her mouth drop open. No words seem to be able to come out. But Sarah wasn’t finished, “Yeah, he saved me from being trampled more than I already was when the crowd of people were running for the exits.” 

“Sarah-” Erin started, but she trailed off when she realized she was unsure of what to say next.

“Why didn’t you tell me? Did you just not trust me?”  Sarah questioned. Her pseudo-sister was quick to shake her head. She closed the little distance between them and the older woman grabbed her hand, squeezing it. 

“No, Sarah-I trust you. But I also know that your mind is a little muddled when it comes to Charlie. You didn’t have the same history with him that Annie and I do.” Erin explained. Because her pseudo-sister had protected her from that. Once Charlie taught Sarah how to pickpocket…it spurred the big sister into action because she wasn’t willing to roll that particular dice with Sarah. 

“You know when I made my deal with Hank, when I told him that we wouldn’t be separated or there would be no deal…I told him you wouldn’t survive without me. And at the time, I believed it. I was the one taking care of you. I was the one making sure you had food, clothes, and a bed to sleep in.  I was the one tucking you in and holding you when you had nightmares at night. I was your constant.”

Erin broke off with a sigh, looking down at her hands. She had started to pick at her hangnails. If she let this go on for much longer her thumbs would surely be bloody and scabbed. She hid her thumbs by making fists. The detective looked back up at Sarah to find the other brunette watching her. 

She cleared her throat as she addressed Sarah again, “But as I get older, I wonder if it was more the other way around. As far as we knew Teddy was gone. He wasn’t coming back and Bunny was well, being Bunny. Bouncing in and out, you remember. You were the one thing I had to hold on to when things were constantly changing. And maybe protecting you was a way to protect me too. I wouldn’t have survived without you.”

“That still doesn’t explain why you didn’t tell me he was here,” Sarah pointed out in a quiet voice, feeling herself getting soft at Erin’s confession. Then she watched as her pseudo-sister blew out a breath.

“Because when he came back, he was back to his old ways. He hadn’t changed. He gave Annie a busted lip and he conned me into almost helping him because he was blackmailing Annie and me. I didn’t want you to be pulled into that. Not if I could help it.” 

Sarah’s mouth fell open, but no words would come out. Because she understood- though misguided- Erin’s attempt to protect her. But it didn’t eliminate the hurt she felt completely. So with that thought, she closed her mouth and nodded her head once. 

In a quiet voice, she pressed, “What happened? With the blackmail I mean? Why did he end up in jail?” 

Her pseudo-sister looked uncomfortable as she rubbed her hands together. Then she shrugged stiffly, “I called his bluff and won.” 

That wasn’t the full story. Sarah could just tell from Erin’s body language that she wasn’t getting the full story. “Tell me everything later?”

When there weren’t any ears around them.

Erin nodded and Sarah felt a small smile bloom across her lips. Her sister returned it. Despite the ache in her back, she felt lighter than she had all month. (She didn’t know it, but so did Erin.)

[LINE BREAK]  [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK]

Maggie came back with her smoothie ten minutes later. The charge nurse sighed when she saw Erin sitting beside her through, “Didn’t see your discharge papers come up yet Detective?” 

“I got lost on the way to the bathrooms? Thought Sarah might know where they are.” Sarah’s pseudo-sister grinned sheepishly, knowing that she had been caught.

“Uh huh,” Maggie said sarcastically as she rotated the compresses on Sarah’s back, “I’m sure you did with the ED being so big and all.”

“Exactly,” 

“Just be back in your room before your doctor comes looking for you, please.” Maggie told her then looked at the curly-haired brunette. “I was just told Connor should be done with surgery soon and Dr. Cardone is here early because of a patient and he was Connor’s relief, so he’ll be able to go home early too.”

Sarah hummed and avoided Erin’s suspicious eyes as they turned on her as Maggie continued, “You sure you don’t want me to get him when he’s out?”

She didn’t want to bother him. She wasn’t the kind of girl that needed her boyfriend for every little thing. She wasn’t clingy. Sarah never allowed herself to be because of how many people had let her down in the past. It was scary to depend on someone and them not be there (like her dad) so Sarah never let herself be put in that position in the first place.

And yet, she found herself nodding, instead of shaking her head no. (Her back ached anytime she moved and honestly, she just wanted Connor’s arms around her. His warm citrus smell wrapping itself like a blanket around her)  Thankfully, her friend didn’t tease her about her indecisiveness as she readjusted Sarah’s blanket. 

“You have ten minutes left with your compresses. Then-”

“Then the real fun begins.” Sarah quipped with an equally sarcastic smile. Maggie huffed a laugh as she corrected sympathetically, “Then we’ll clean the burns with soap and water so we can bandage them.”

It was only when the charge nurse was gone with another promise to be back, that Erin raised an inquiring eyebrow at her pseudo-little sister. 

“Do you want to share with the class?” 

“Share what?” Erin felt her other eyebrows raise knowing that the curly-haired brunette was playing dumb. She cocked her head to the side slowly, as if sizing her little sister up. 

“Why did Maggie ask if you wanted Dr. Rhodes? I think that’s who she was talking about. His first name is Connor right?”  

Chewing at her bottom lip like she did when she was a kid and was feeling guilty about something, Sarah nodded her head. Then she admitted to Erin in an almost shy voice, “He’s my boyfriend? We’ve been dating for the last four or so months? Give or take a month?”  

Erin blinked. Usually, the curly-haired brunette was so obvious when she was in a new relationship. “Four months? You’ve been seeing him for four months?”

Sarah’s sheepish smile was the only answer Erin got in return for her question. 

[LINE BREAK]  [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK]

“Connor, wait!” Connor almost sagged in defeat when he heard Maggie calling him back just before he hit the doctor’s lounge to get his stuff. He only worked half a shift, but it was another horrific one, as it had been for the last month and a half. Back-to-back surgeries between trauma and CT because all of the other CT surgeons (he was in trauma tonight for the record) were stuck in more complicated procedures and a patient had been pronounced just before they could receive a new heart. Still, he heaved a sigh, grabbing another set of gloves as he turned back to his friend. 

The life of ED doc. “Where am I headed, Maggie?”

“Trauma 2. But it’s not like that.” The charge nurse waved her hand at his gloved ones. “I’m treating her or if you want to get technical, Dr. Matthews is. But you’re not allowed to.” Maggie explained as he made his way to her. 

“What do you mean I’m not allowed to?” He questioned, narrowing his eyes. He didn’t think it was Claire. If it was, someone would’ve pulled him out of surgery immediately. Or at least notified him. Maggie would’ve made sure of it.

Which left Sarah, and come to think of it; he hadn’t heard from her yet tonight. Even though she rolled her eyes at his protectiveness (“I’m a cop’s daughter Connor. A very well-known cop in this city at that. I know no one is one-hundred percent safe. But I’m probably safer than most people in Chicago.”) she usually messaged him when she made it home, if nothing else because she knew it made him feel better.

“Sergeant Voight’s car exploded,” Maggie explained, falling into step beside him with a bucket of what looked like soapy water. Connor felt his eyes widen at the news. The charge nurse nodded as she continued. “I overheard Voight talking on the phone when he was down here with Sarah. He thinks someone rigged it.”

“How bad?” He asked, switching between boyfriend to doctor mode as easily as drawing a breath. 

“Sarah has a few second-degree burns on her back, but right now it seems like she’s the only one that got hurt. Though Detective Lindsay is being monitored for a possible concussion. But so far there’s no signs of one. And Voight’s grandson is up in the PICU getting some tests done. But that’s just as a precaution. He seems okay.  Everyone else is okay too.” His friend explained. Then she pulled back the privacy curtain to the trauma bay. 

Sarah’s head turned at the noise. Her eyes met his. Inhale. Not a doctor. Exhale. Boyfriend. Connor reminded himself, making his way over to her. 

“Hey,” He said softly, before she started to sit up. He reached for her arm and tried to help ease her up when he saw pain flittering across her face. “Here, let me help.” 

A lingering kiss was pressed to her forehead when her arms wrapped around his waist. Second-degree burns were serious and Connor knew that, but his girl must really be hurting. Because while the woman in his arms was affectionate in private with a more subdued version of that affection in public, she didn’t usually cling to him like this in public like she was doing now. With her face nuzzling in his scrubs. 

He pressed another kiss to her forehead. His hands itched to touch the skin of her back. To soothe it by scratching her back or something like that. But looking down at the blistering and bloody skin, he resisted the urge and instead cupped the back of her head. Cradling her to him as best as he could right now.

“Okay, Sarah. I’m going to start cleaning the burns now.” Maggie said, dipping a washcloth in the water. Then she started cleaning the burns carefully. 

She tried to muffle it by biting her lip, but Connor heard her pained whimper. Maggie did too by the way she frowned and kept saying. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I know this hurts. I’m so sorry, Sarah.” 

By her third pained whimper, tears had started to fall from those chocolatey brown orbs and was flinching with every swipe of the cloth. Maggie stopped with a slight sigh. “I’ll go talk to Dr. Matthews. See if we can give you some stronger pain meds than Tylenol.” 

Just Tylenol? Just the over-the-counter stuff? No. Hell, no. Second-degree burns required at least Tylenol Two. Inhale. Doctor. Exhale. Not a boyfriend. Connor gritted his teeth as he told the nurse, “Maggie, push a dose of Tylenol Two.”

Dr. Matthews was a tired old crank who was counting down the days till his retirement. Everyone knew that. His bedside was less than lacking these days. It wasn’t there at all. Meaning he didn’t dole out pain medication like he should. Because every patient was too soft for their own good. 

“Connor, you’re not a doctor right now. Especially not hers. Look, I'll go ask Dr. Matthews-” Maggie started with an exasperated sigh as she started to break away. But the surgeon shook his head. (His stubbornly independent woman wasn’t even trying to fight him about this. Warning bells had started to ring in his head.) 

“Maggie, we both know that Matthews won’t do a damn thing. He’ll be too busy being cranky because you woke him up and he won’t actually care about what’s going on. Or what you’re asking him.” Connor told the nurse gruffly, thinking of how he saw the older man in the on-call room. “And, if Matthews wanted to actually participate in his case, he wouldn’t have left you to treat her, now would he?”  

Maggie opened her mouth and closed it. Not refuting the statement. Instead, she sighed and pointed out, “But Connor, it’s Sarah. You know you can’t-”

“Maggie, she hasn’t said a word in this whole argument. That is not like her. At all. You know that and I know that. Push the dose.” 

The charge nurse glanced down at her friend. Because Connor was right. Sarah hadn’t spoken at all. She must’ve been in that much pain because once again Connor was right. It wasn’t like the brunette to not speak, especially about her care. 

Maggie pushed the dose, but she sighed and told him, “Goodwin will-”

“I’ll sign the order. I’ll take the hit. This won’t come back on you. Goodwin will know that this is my doing.” Connor cut her off. Because right now, Sarah was still not talking but had also begun to shiver his arms. (The warning bells got worse.) He pressed in closer to her, trying to give her some of his body heat. The nurse rolled her eyes, “And Goodwin knows better than anyone I can handle a pushy doctor.”

“Sarah, we’ll give the pain meds a minute to work through your system. Then we’ll finish cleaning your burns, okay?” She addressed Sarah a moment later, rubbing a soothing hand on her shoulder. The brunette nodded her head. 

“Mags, while we’re waiting, would you mind calling up to the PICU for me?” She asked in a whisper.

“I’ll go do it right now.” 

[LINE BREAK]  [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK]

“You shouldn’t have done that. Goodwin is going to ream your neck for what you did.” The brunette beauty in his arms told him when they were alone. But there wasn’t any force in her words, no heat in her scolding. Inhale. Boyfriend. Exhale. Not a doctor. Connor pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You’re in pain and the standard of care is Tylenol Two for second-degree burns. And besides that, you didn’t fight me on it.” 

Sarah pressed her face more into his neck and inhaled deeply. Her arms tightened around his waist feebly. “I don’t have the energy to fight you on it. I’m running on fumes right now.” 

Connor pressed another kiss to her forehead. “So does that mean you’ll let me take care of you?” 

“You mean coddle?” 

“Baby, letting someone help you isn’t coddling.” He told her in a quiet serious voice, using the pet name, which usually made her melt. His stubbornly independent girlfriend made a sound somewhere between a whine and a hum. 

“To-mate-o. To-mot-to.” She mumbled into his shoulder and he rolled his eyes fondly. But a beat later Sarah was mumbling, “…But I really hurt right now, so I wouldn’t say no to some coddling.” 

He chuckled softly at her antics, pressing his forehead to her curls as Maggie came back. She reassured the brunette, “Your nephew is still doing fine. I think Ricki said your brother is on his way down here to check on you and Erin though.”

“What happened to Hank?” 

“I’m not sure.” Out of the corner of her eye, Sarah saw Maggie shrug as she moved in closer.  “Are you ready to try this again, Reese?”

The brunette winced, but she nodded and pressed her face into her boyfriend’s neck once more. 

[LINE BREAK]  [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] 

With her burns now washed and the affected areas covered in bandages, Sarah yawned sleepily as she leaned heavily against Connor. Almost asleep against his chest. She was already tired when she came into the ED. The Tylenol Two was making her drowsy and the adrenaline wearing off was making it even more difficult to stay awake. 

“You won’t be able to sleep on your back for the next two weeks. At least. Maybe three.” Maggie was explaining even though Sarah knew this already. She told the charge nurse as much. 

“What did she say?” Maggie chuckled softly. Connor dropped another kiss on her head with a chuckle of his own, “It’s not a worry for her because she doesn’t sleep on her back. At all if she can help it.”

“I’ll just go have Dr. Lorette sign the order for your pain medication to take home and then you’re good to be discharged.”

“Thanks, Mags.” The brunette mumbled drowsily, nuzzling her face against her lover’s shoulder as his hands traced down her back. His fingers weaved patterns in between her skin and stark white bandages. She heard the privacy curtain as it was pulled back. Then it was quiet as the curtain was pulled back into its place. 

“Erin knows about us now by the way.” Sarah yawned, pulling away from Connor to rub at her eyes. A pair of lips ghosted against hers and she smiled as Connor’s warm citrus scent wrapped around her, just like she wanted. She hummed in delight. 

“You talked to her?” His voice reverberated into her skin and it tickled her. 

“She kind of cornered me when I had the cool compresses on my back.” Once again she squirmed more into his warm, strong arms…Until her back seemed to ache as if it was a heartbeat.

Her boyfriend frowned sympathetically and his fingers danced up and down her back as if to sooth the pain away. “How’d it go?” 

“About as well as it could? We talked and I think we’re good? I don’t like that she kept it from me, but I understand her reasoning behind it. Hank is another story and another battle for another day. Because knowing him, he’ll be all over what happened tonight. A squad car will probably be posted outside my apartment until my dad is satisfied that this case is closed and taken care of.”  

“Do you want it to be outside your apartment?” Sarah shot Connor a dry look and her lips twisted into an amused smile. 

“It’s cute you think I have a choice,” she murmured to him, “Because speaking from experience, I don’t. Not when Hank thinks he’s keeping me safe. His philosophy is I’ll be pissed at him, but I’ll still be here. I’m just lucky he isn’t trying to keep me at the district.”   

“But the patrol car could sit just as easily outside of my apartment as it would yours. If you wanted some ‘coddling.’” 

The soft look from earlier was back in Sarah’s gaze. Only this time Connor caught her. Cupping her cheek, he leaned down and captured her lips with his. 

“Stop it,” he scolded her lightly when his lips left hers. But he didn’t pull away completely from her and she felt his words as easily as they shared breath. “Stop looking at me like I’ve done something extraordinary when I really haven’t.” 

“But to me,” she whispered, resting her forehead against his. “You have because outside of my family, I really haven’t had someone care about me like this...Not seriously at least.”

“That’s because it sounds like you’ve dated dicks. No offense,” Connor said with an amused grin creeping up on his lips. The brunette sputtered (Even though she knew he was right.) when a voice called out, “As a person who’s seen a good portion of her past relationships, I have to agree.”

Connor raised his eyebrows at her as an exasperated sigh left her mouth. 

“Hank’s son,” Sarah explained quietly to Connor before she pulled out of his arms with a pained whine. She grabbed the strings of her hospital gown.  “Would you mind helping me tie the back of this?” 

[LINE BREAK]  [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK]

“Where’s Hank? I thought he was coming back. And how are Danny and Olive? Are they okay? Are you?” Sarah asked her pseudo-brother, after her gown was tied, the privacy curtain pulled back, and Connor excused himself to go get his stuff from the doctor’s lounge because Maggie had caught him just before he made it to his locker and Sarah thought maybe it was her boyfriend’s way of giving her and Justin some time to talk.

Justin’s face twisted and Sarah bit her lip worriedly. Hank and Justin had the same expression when knew something but weren’t sure how to break it to her.  “Out with it, Justin.” 

“We’re fine. We’re all fine. Really, I’m more worried about you. They’re talking about releasing Danny soon and according to Olive, it’s thanks to you that she didn’t wind up with those second-degree burns on your back.” Heat erupted in her cheeks without her permission as her best friend looked at her with a pointed look. But the look fell into one of concern when Sarah winced because another bout of pain had run up her back.  Then he sighed, “As for Dad…He got caught up on the phone with Alvin. Coordinating patrol cars for us with Trudy and I think they have a suspect in mind already and it has something to do with Bunny?” 

“Bunny?” The curly-haired brunette blinked. Then she blurted in a stunned voice, “As in Erin’s mother, Bunny?” 

The last she heard from Erin was that Bunny was back from Reno and had kicked Husband #5 to the curb.  

Justin nodded and shrugged, “I didn’t hear much else. Dad caught me trying to listen in and walked away.” 

“Well, Tuck doesn’t compare you to a bull in a china shop for nothing.” She told him dryly and her pseudo-brother rolled his eyes at her. Then Sarah sobered slightly as she asked, “Do you think Erin knows?”

Justin nodded folding his arms, “Yeah, she knows. I saw her before I came to see you. She’s planning on going to work with Dad since she doesn’t seem to have a concussion. But she said it has something to do with an old case and the suspect getting released because Bunny had proof that Dad didn’t witness the crime. They think the guy, who was released this morning rigged the car.” 

“Was the guy guilty?” Sarah asked, but not because she doubted Hank. He’d never knowingly put an innocent man behind bars, but there was always a chance he could’ve been led astray in a case. (Not a good one because Hank was a pretty good cop. But still a chance.) 

“According to Erin, he is. But she was pretty tight-lipped about the details. Couldn’t get much out of her.” Justin told her with a shrug. 

Sarah hummed as Maggie came back with a clipboard and some forms, not even noticing Justin. “Okay Reese, you know the drill. The medication is in the pharmacy. Take one as needed for pain with food and keep your burns clean and change your bandages every 3-4 hours. Come back if the burns start to blister. And I’ll let Sharon and Dr. Charles what happened and that you won’t be in today-”

“I can come in today.” Sarah interrupted. Both Maggie and Justin turned and stared at her. Then it was her best friend that shook his head, “Sarah, you can’t even move without being in pain. Turn your big overachieving perfectionist brain off and take a day at the very least.” 

“Reese, listen to your…” Maggie started then trailed off because she wasn’t sure how to refer to the man that stood in front of them, “Brother?” 

“Brother works,” Justin told her with a nod. 

“Annoying over-protective brother,” The brunette corrected snarkily. But both Maggie and Justin ignored her. The charge nurse nodded and said with more confidence, “Reese, listen to your brother... And if you don’t, I’m sure Connor would be more than happy to help your brother argue with you.” 

Sarah’s eyes drifted up to find Connor leaning against the doorframe. Shit. Well, this just turned into a losing battle between Justin and Connor. Maggie set her discharge paperwork next to her as the ED phone beeped. Her friend looked down and shook her head.

“She’s trying to come in for her shift today,” the nurse explained, passing by the surgeon. Then she was calling for another doctor, explaining a trauma was on its way in. 

“Yeah, that’s not happening,” Connor said. The brunette frowned because she had heard that tone before.  Usually, Sarah loved when her boyfriend used that voice with her…But it was usually used in the bedroom…Then it was also used outside of the bedroom, like last month when the ED was locked down with Lily and David. 

“I’m fine,” Sarah stressed before she tried to hide another wave of pain ran up her back. As if to contradict her. Justin snorted and Sarah watched as he looked at Connor. 

“Boyfriend?” Connor nodded (The brunette was too busy trying to fight the pain showing on her face that she missed the way Connor’s chest puffed up a little at the title. It was his first time actually hearing it. Despite the situation, Connor couldn’t deny how right it sounded.)  and her pseudo-brother pointed to himself, “Older Brother.” 

His gaze found Sarah’s once more. “If you can get up and walk to him without any pain then we’ll let it drop and you can come to work.”

“If Ms. Goodwin or Dr. Charles will even let you after they know what happened.” Connor inputted oh-so-helpfully. 

Though the distance was just a few steps, the curly-haired brunette knew she wouldn’t be able to do that. She wouldn’t be able to focus on walking and keeping the pain off of her face. So instead, Sarah chose to glare at her best friend.

“You giving me Mom’s evil eyes isn’t going to change anything,” Justin told her, sounding undeterred as he folded his arms. He didn’t know how much he looked like Hank when he stood like that.

“Besides, you promised me I could take care of you tonight,” Connor said, making his way into the bay. She felt his body's heat at her back and she leaned into his chest a little, even as she said, “Assholes. Both of you.” 

Connor and Justin both snorted a laugh. “I’m going to head back upstairs. You need anything before I go?”

Sarah shook her head at her pseudo-brother. “But will you give Hank a different address for the patrol car?” 

It was a Lakeview address. One Justin hadn’t heard before. But from the way, the boyfriend was trying to contain a grin, it wasn’t hard to figure out that it was his.

[LINE BREAK]  [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] 

“So I guess today is not the day that I see the inside of your apartment.” Connor drawled in her ear. 

“You wouldn’t fit in my bed,” Sarah deadpanned, turning to curl more into him. Even if it was a joke, she wasn’t sure if it was just that. While her bed was technically made for two people, it was small. Barely bigger than a large twin. “And we have a mattress to break in at your place and you promised me wine.”

“No wine with your pain medication,” Connor reminded her softly, pushing some of her curls back from her eyes, as his hand drifted to caress her cheek. 

“And we’ll be sleeping,” He stressed to her with a mock stern expression. “No funny business for at least three days. Your back is in no condition for any actual mattress-breaking activities.”

“I think that’s why you had to get a new mattress in the first place,” Sarah giggled. Then she nipped at his ear before she whispered, “And we could get up to some funny business if I’m on top Dr. Rhodes.”

“Do not tempt me,” Connor warned with a groan because of the image his girlfriend had helped plant in his mind. Sarah merely laughed. 

[sunwarmed-ash]

🔥Sinful Sunday🔥

The Eden Club

Chapter 6: You'll look for me in someone forever

Fandom: Detroit Become Human

Ships: HankCon(main), Hankvin(previous), Convin(secondary), HankConGav(eventual)

Rating: Explicit (adult sexual content)

Tags: Eden Club/Sex Worker!Connor Dead dove do not eat, undercover!Connor, post-revolution: hostile public opinion, Evil Kamski, Club owner Kamski, All the tragic Hankvin backstory you could ever want, eventual polycule, smut, followed by angst, spanking, edging, fingering, sensation play, Connor is a flirty horny little shit, emotional sex, unresolved feelings, complicated love triangle turned polycule

Summary:

“I don’t care how eager you are, you're eating before we do anything,” Connor shouted from the kitchen before he could say a word and Hank’s mouth dropped in suprise. Even if they had been sexting ALL DAY, he still wasn't used to hearing pointed flirtation out of his android. Well, not his like his property but you know… 

“Oh yeah? What makes you think you're in charge after the sneaky shit you pulled today,” Hank shot back, using his ‘Lieutenant voice’ as Connor has called it over a dozen times now. 

Hank took his time entering the house, extending out this little game. He hung up his coat and gave himself a once over in the front hallway mirror. He looked tired as hell. The bags under his eyes were darkening as the day went on, but he showered yesterday so his hair doesn't look greasy and his beard is only a little overgrown right now. Convinced he looked ‘good enough’, he continued through the entry way, skidding to a hard stop before even a toe could cross the threshold of the kitchen. 

Yup, its official, I’m gonna have a fucking heart attack. 

Because Connor is standing with his back to him in front of the stove, in Hank’s Knights of the Black Death Band Tee from 2027, and nothing else. That was confirmed a second later when Connor reached up to add time on the microwave and Hank could easily make out the matching half moons of the androids bare ass. 

Hank’s hand reached out and slapped the doorway trim to steady himself. 

“Jesus fucking Christ Connor...” he scolded.

Connor turned around then, a huge shit-eating grin on his face as he held out his spatula and blinked up at Hank innocently. He looked down at the borrowed, oversized shirt on his tall lean frame.

“I hope you don’t mind Hank, my clothes are in the washer. I can take it off, if it bothers you.”

Nope. Connor better fucking not. Because if he does that, Hank’s heart will stop. He’s just barely holding it together now. 

“It’s not you wearing it that bothers me,” Hank groans, unable to tear his eyes from the bottom hem of the time-worn shirt, just waiting for the moment Connor moved enough to show him more of that beautiful cock he already got an eyeful of today.  

Connor’s previously flirtaious face was suddenly replaced with worry. 

“I didn’t mean to genuinely upset you Hank, I’m-”

But before Connor could misunderstand Hank further, he was stopping Connor’s apology. 

“You’re not wearing anything under that shirt.” 

It wasn't a question. 

The side of Connor’s face began to raise again in amusement, understanding Hank now.  

“Nope.”

[funky-gobbo-art]

Trans!Donovan

I wanna share finally this really cringey au I made for Mafia 3 but I think I need to start with my trans!Donovan headcanon. I know I made a big headcanon note post here a while back but some little things changed since then. I'm way more open with headcanoning John as a homosexual man, and for a bit now I've also been seeing him as a trans man as well, mostly cause THIS post was the start of some brain worms.

So, most of my main headcanons are still in place: Born in the Southwestern part of PA, a November Scorpio, has autism and also BPD, parents are Irish immigrants, has 2 older brothers. Father is a WW2 vet, oldest brother fought in the Korean War, middle brother is a baseball player. Very Catholic upbringing, both parents were devout, were working class but dad got successful in either mining or steel based production.

Big change is that I think the oldest brother should die overseas in the Korean War, but he was the favorite in the family and his death made things even more tense.

Now for the trans specific stuff:

(Disclaimer: I'm very aware how difficult it would be for a trans man in this era to do ANY of this stuff.)

Born female, deadname was "Jacqueline" but got called "Jackie" a lot, despite being raised female in the 30's-40's, he still has his nosey personality, eavesdropped a lot. Still got into technology like messing with radios and phones, which would get him in trouble a lot. Was considered a nerd with his interest in tech, politics and history.

Had a habit of stealing his middle brothers clothes a lot, which didn't bother him, since they got along during this time.

Mom would dress him up a lot, especially for church, which John hated but had to take it for most of his childhood. Since he was socialized female, his mother would constantly make comments on his body and how he dressed himself, once he became a preteen and started highschool, she would start shaming him for even saying "Hi" to another boy.

Went to Catholic schools until he graduated. Was a hard kid to get along with but he was very smart and had great grades, even picking up of foreign languages very fast (got that USEFUL autism lol). Nuns did not like him especially in his later teens because he started openly questioning the religion and pointing on contradictions in the Bible.

Speaking of his teens: that's when he started to think more about his gender and while he was about 16/17, he started transitioning discreetly, even at a young age he was good at making shady connections.

Since binders and sports-bras didn't exist yet, he unfortunately went through most of his teens and 20s binding with bandages, or wearing a lot of layers.

He graduated highschool at 17 and was miraculously able to get in Princeton University, despite them not letting in female students yet. John used his dads connections and submitted an application under their noses and didn't let his parents know the finer details of it.

Since his own shady connections he was able to change up his legal documents so he can present them at the University to show them that he's a man.

Eventually he graduated and was recruited into the C.I.A. They did not know he was a FTM transgendered man, and never found out.

The only people that did know about his identity were, in order: the person that got him hormones and changed his documents, a friend thats a doctor that works for the C.I.A, Connor Aldridge, Robert Marshall, Jackie Grimaldi, Gary (helicopter pilot), and finally Lincoln Clay.

Speaking of Aldridge, in John's early days in the Agency he had to work under him, and since Connor was his mentor, he started trusting him a lot during their time together in Guatemala.

Obviously it ended really badly as seen in Stones Unturned, but this was the first time John really came out to someone officially and this shortly lead to him and Connor having a relationship behind the scenes.

After this everything goes from my trans headcanon to my Cringe AU, so I'll wrap this up here:

Is AFAB and started fully identifying as a man in his mid-late teens.

Binded with layered clothing and bandages. Takes Testosterone injections.

Got top surgery in Vietnam from a South Vietnam allied doctor. Claimed he got ambushed in the country and needed surgery when he's asked from superiors.

Cut contact with family during Princeton years. Cannot face them these days at all.

Liked boys when he was younger which his mom didn't like, still likes men now in a way a lot of people wouldn't like. But he doesn't care lol.

Hormones still won't let him grow facial hair.

Don't worry about the things that don't make sense :)

If you have any problems with this and think I'm weird, I understand but also 👇👇👇

Stay tuned for the Cringe AU which is gonna get a lot worse :3

[outrunningthedark]

I had a nonnie in my inbox who asked me to expand my thoughts on the sperm donor arc and when I tried to post I got an error, so here is the answer without exact context, ugh:

I'm glad you brought this up because it's giving me a chance to express my thoughts more...calmly, as opposed to the *screaming into the void* moment I had yesterday. I, personally, am not a fan of what the show has done to Buck's character since season four. To me, it feels like the intention was to go one way with his story (the therapy arc, maybe revisit things with the parents in s5 to officially move on to the next phase), but then...problems? unforeseen circumstances? changed it up. I mean...think about it. We get this "huge" Buck backstory, he realizes he needs to start learning about his past/accepting it, and then...two episodes later...here comes his former hookup who causes nothing but drama and she's not just a blip on the radar again. They're bringing her back to be part of the cast in s5. If you want my opinion (and this is not a slight on any actors because it is what it is), once it was realized that Jennifer was pregnant and she would have to be written out, and then the question turned to what to do with Chimney... Buck in healing mode didn't mesh with how the audience would expect him to react to Madney "leaving", so...why not let him self-destruct even more! The show abandoned the therapy arc. That's the part people are ignoring. That's the part that makes their arguments about "healing not being linear" irrelevant. There was no hint at healing beyond those two conversations (the end of 4x05 and beginning of 4x06). Shit happened and the show changed course. Very quickly. Skipping ahead to the sperm donor storyline...Well. I would argue that it narratively doesn't make *total* sense when we left off 5x18 with Buck finally doing something for himself by breaking up with TayKay. Maybe if it was TayKay who cut ties, we could more easily accept him still not being willing to listen to that voice inside that knows he's doing the wrong thing(s). Also, now that we know "radical acceptance" isn't supposed to be explained the way Buck explained it (they should have just stuck with "saying yes to possibilities")...I'm annoyed that his behavior is the antithesis of radical acceptance and looking at the show like "you just threw fancy words out there hoping people would call you genius, huh?" (Sad to say it worked.) It makes the fandom look dumb af, too, "He's saying yes without thinking! He's bound to backslide!" He's...he's not performing radical acceptance until he STOPS falling into old habits, actually. It's now a conversation that could have been avoided if they didn't use THAT exact term. 🤦‍♀️ (It's like someone decided they should use a word other than 'open-minded' or even 'automatic' and chose radical without considering it's a real phrase with a completely different connotation.) I'm not a fan of the sperm donor arc, I've made no secret of that. The timing of it (to me) seems like a way to appease the people who want to think of him as a father (because Chris isn't biologically his and therefore it doesn't count 🙃) since it's probably gonna be awhile until he has a bio kid of his own, if ever. But. I was trying to stay optimistic. "Well, surely, this is not gonna work out and he's gonna have a moment where he realizes his purpose is to build/be a family with Eddie and Chris." And by "not work out" I mean he gets rejected or the attempts aren't successful. *That* would have been my preferred scenario - he makes a rash decision, but backs out before it's too late because he's finally like "Wtf am I doing? This isn't gonna make me happy." *That* would have fit with him putting himself first. *That* would have been a way to expand on the growth we saw a glimpse of in 5x18. Now...there might be a baby? (Still allowing a 1% chance that it ends up being Connor's baby after all...) And as long as there's a baby, people aren't going to let it go. "Is Buck gonna have to save his bio kid when they get sick???" "Will Connor and Kameron die to bring up a new trauma for Buck???" "Are we gonna get Big Man, Tiny Baby because he gets to be a friend to the family???" And the thing is...I can't blame people for going there with it. As long as there is a (hypothetical) child in the story, the show could bring them up at any time. To some in the fandom, Buck should be capable of walking away peacefully from this situation he's found himself in, but the fandom is not in the writers' room. If the show doesn't have any "better" ideas, if the show needs easy drama...Buck's attitude could change on a dime. The saving grace is that this storyline is happening now when (I highly doubt) we'll get to a season where the child is old enough to want to get to know their dad. Because you know that would happen.

[maryofbears]

First official post on Tumblr wooohoooooo- I'm planning on mostly using this for OC/my story content. These little guys are from a story concept I have called "A Town Called Midnight"! I might eventually turn it into a webcomic or something. (speaking of, I already have a webcomic! It's called Operation 32 on tapas.io!! I plan on posting the link somewhere at some point when I figure out how Tumblr works lol) Anyway, these two are Raine and Connor! They've been besties since they were little kids, and are current members of their high school's newspaper. When "weird stuff" starts happening around town, they decide to investigate it to keep the community they love safe.

(I'm more used to Instagram, so I hope the image quality doesn't get crushed too badly. ;v;)

[ectonurites]

I was just perusing tags on that post about Connor Kent being referred to as “the think of steel” and i saw your tags and now I have to ask, because I am relatively new to caring about DC at all, but does it Actually stand for Detective Comics?! this is breaking my worldview a little.

So the 'DC' did originally stand for 'Detective Comics' BUT by the time 'DC Comics' became the legal name for the company, the 'DC' was no longer really intended as an acronym.

The name 'DC Comics' started more so as a colloquial term (publisher called ‘Detective Comics, Inc.’ puts logo on their comics that just says ‘DC’ -> since ‘DC’ is the label on the comics, people start calling them ‘DC Comics’) that then eventually became official due to its wide use, but it’s not like ‘Detective Comics Comics’ was the company's intended name. It’s just a lil jokey joke some of us use that’s rooted in the true origin of the company’s name.

To back this up/build a timeline about this, I'm going to pull excerpts from some books i’ll link at the end!

So, years and events of note:

[Then] in 1935, Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson's National Allied Publications came out with New Fun: The Big Comic Magazine #1— the first time original characters and stories had appeared in a comic book format.¹

In 1937, Major Wheeler-Nicholson found himself financially overextended with his printer. In order to continue publishing, he had little choice but to take Harry Donenfeld on as a partner. Detective Comics, Inc., was formed early that year, with Wheeler-Nicholson and Donenfeld's business manager, Jack S. Liebowitz, listed as owners.¹

The new company's first production, Detective Comics #1 (March 1937) was the first true DC comic book. The character of Batman was introduced in issue #27 (May 1939) of that series.¹

[in 1938] Harry Donenfeld was now CEO of both National Allied Publications and its sister company Detective Comics, Inc. Liebowitz managed the offices, heading up accounting and the creative activities, while Donenfeld expanded the distribution through Independent News. Not long after that, National Allied Publications and Detective Comics were merged to form a new entity called National Comics. But even back then the company was known colloquially as DC.¹

Reluctant to add extra titles to DC's schedule, Jack Liebowitz and publisher Maxwell C. Gaines started a sister company called All-American Comics in 1940. Its roster of characters would include the Flash, the Green Lantern, Hawkman—and eventually Wonder Woman, the first major female superhero.¹

By 1940, a circular logo containing the letters “DC” (short for Detective Comics, Inc.) was appearing on the covers of the firm’s publications; from then on readers called them DC Comics, although decades would pass before the change became official.²

In 1944 Liebowitz merged All-American into National Comics. Then he organized National Comics, Independent News, and other affiliated firms into a single corporate entity, National Periodical Publications. This was the direct precursor of today's DC Comics.¹

In 1976, Jenette Khan became DC’s new publisher. […] One of her first decisions was to drop the euphemistic company name, National Periodical Publications. After all, she reasoned, “readers tended to refer to us as DC Comics.”²

—

¹ A Complete History of American Comic Books by Shirrel Rhoades, available free on The Internet Archive

² DC Comics: Sixty Years of The World’s Favorite Superheroes by Les Daniels, available free on the Internet Archive

[holyvirgilscriptures]

Heya i really hope this isn't an annoying ask if so feel free to ignore it. I just like to discuss these things but i get scared ppl will attack me so yeah. Anyway, i know you said you are tired of this topic so i'm sorry if this annoys you. I don't find any harm in speculating things unless (like you said in a prev post) the person being discussed expresses that they are uncomfortable with it. As long as you're not harassing the person or labeling them yourself/spreading false info if they haven't 100% confirmed it, you're not doing anything "wrong" IMO. Ppl always try to make everything bad in some way. And I can agree with certain points to an extent because no it's not our business, but being curious is a normal thing. Especially when (like in this case) it's something very random and suspicious that the person shares publicly. It just annoys me how ppl will do one thing and then turn around and attack others for doing the same thing and then lie because they want to seem more "mature" or whatever u even want to call it. Finn is also a public figure and yes he deserves respect and privacy just like anyone else but a hard truth is that because he is a public figure ppl will talk. Ppl are nosy and the ppl with parasocial relationships who feel entitled to certain information is what leads to situations like kit connor, not very often it it the normal fans who are just curious bc they usually just get ignored (since they aren't obsessing over it and filling their comments with the question) if the person doesn't want to talk about it. That's why i say it's important to not dwell on these topics or fill their socials with the question. Ppl will let you know when they are ready to.

I'm not trying to compare finn and noah, I'm just trying to use this as an example (noah is someone close to him so he comes to mind first) but before noah came out publically he tried to drop "hints". Two I can think of are: Him dancing to birthday by Katy Perry, specifically the lyrics "Boy when you're with me, I'll give you a taste" and Welcome to NY by Taylor Swift, specifically the lyrics "And you can want who you want boys and boys and girls and girls" which caused discussion that he may be bi before he came out as gay officially. Another celeb that has done subtle things to come out is josh kiska of greta van fleet who created the rainbow flag on his insta with the lighting of his photos before deciding to actually say it and go wide with the news.

I'm NOT saying Finn was coming out cuz idk and you never truly know until they say so (if they choose to) because there can be coincidences or misunderstandings. Plus some ppl just don't like labels which is okay too! Like how kit conner would have remained unlabeled had the internet not harassed (key words: harassed) him into choosing a label because they tried to claim he was "queerbating" otherwise.

Sorry this is so long and i apologize again if this was annoying to receive.

hi! yes, finn is a public figure, so naturally, what he does will be discussed by fans. i am also aware that many celebrities (or people in general) do actually hint at potentially queer things before coming out (though i was not aware of the noah example). finn also has many queer fans. which is why i've said that i understand why people are balking over this.

like i've stated in previous posts, there's a difference between thinking someone could be queer, and then invading into their lives and obsessing over it. on finn's end, many people (though they refuse to admit it) have thought he was possibly queer for a loooooong time. there are several reasons for this but i'm too lazy to analyze each one. and the hyperfixation on him being maybe bisexual does bleed into why the fandom reacted the way it did, or why they might have been so excited — or even, let's face it, why many fans want bisexual mike. (not saying all bi mike truthers are like this obviously).

my issue is more so on the hypocrisy the fandom is showing. they try to preface it with "speculating people's sexualities is bad!!!!" before, you know..... speculating his sexuality. it's annoying because they try to scramble for some moral high ground that doesn't exist, and it makes them look foolish. people should at least admit to themselves that they are indeed trying to figure out what his orientation is — because if they weren't, then the byler tag wouldn't have been fucking filled up with people freaking out that finn was secretly coming out. it's a burden off your shoulders if you stop trying to act morally superior. they only say those things because they fear being "canceled", so they lampshade ahead and try to insist that no, we're NOT trying to find out if finn is bi... but they are, and they should just own it lol.

at the end of the day we don't know finn, or what his sexuality is. we don't even know why he posted that snl skit in the first place. not knowing will always lead to people wondering, filling up the gaps. if people want to do that, they should at least be self-aware of what they are doing and not try to pretend they're "better than that".

[cthonyxa]

This is the last piece of buffer art from 2023 that I have prepared (though I might pull some art from other projects to use as buffer since I'm now officially out of it). It's of two characters from my Ashmont Vigilantes world: Lucia and Dominic. You may remember Dominic from my first post on the Transcendent Trio, although he was only mentioned in passing. This is concept art from when he was in his late teens/early 20s, set several years before the Transcendent Trio storyline and in what I'm tentatively calling the CREWCUT storyline.

While Lucia/Ziyara's backstory is still under heavy development, the basic idea is that she's from a planet called Ootalax (her species is Ootalaxian) who was sent to Earth at a young age as part of her training to eventually be the Ootalaxian ambassador. She was given the identity of Lucia Carter, niece to Gerald Carter (the secret identity of a well-known hero called Captain Amazing), and began living as a normal human. She met Nic through his parents (Isabella Allard, aka Birdseye, and Anthony Allard, aka Dire Jibe), since they ran in the same superhero circles as Captain Amazing. Despite living in separate parts of the country, they became fast friends and would go on to form an unsanctioned teen heroing group together with some other superhero friends.

A few fun facts about Ootalaxians: they are shapeshifters with the ability to change every part of their body, except for their brains, their body mass, and their specific form of mitochondria (which is what allows them to shapeshift). Their natural form tends to be tall (7 or 8 feet) with skin tones on the blue/black spectrum, four arms, and six eyes with no visible pupils. While Ootalaxians can emulate the reproductive tract of any animal, their natural reproductive system is that of three parents: imna (contributor of ova), ishrrl (contributor of sperm), and ithos (bearer of the child). Babies are born without a sex, but most settle in a single sex for the most part by the age of 5. It is not uncommon, however, for them to change their sex based on how they feel about themselves, to fit the parental role they want to have in their child’s life, or a variety of other reasons. The vast majority of Ootalaxians are multisexual, since that's their natural reproductive state, although they have the same broad spectrum of (a)sexuality that humans do. Lucia's main gender is imna, which is why she goes by she/her pronouns, and she identifies as omnisexual (the multisexual label she liked best).

In this picture, Nic is shown to be Owlet, which is kind of the Robin to Birdseye's Batman. However, as I started fleshing out the pre-TT timeline, I decided I wanted that mantle to go to his brother, Connor. There are reasons for this that I won't go into right now, but the end result is that Nic is no longer Owlet, but Mockingbird--intended to the sidekick of Dire Jibe. I'm not 100% sure if either of them will be official sidekicks or "you can't tell us no" unofficial ones, though. Nic has always been uneasy with authority, which is what draws him to the punk aesthetic/culture. There's a lot about his backstory and personality that I haven't settled on, so I can't say much right now, but identity-wise he's bisexual, demiromantic, and polyamorous.

Anyway, that's it for now. I need to finish the model sheets for the Transcendent Trio, so I'm not sure when my next post on this world will be. But, hey, maybe I'll get inspired to do a vignette. Or I'll need buffer and so I'll show you the character concept art I have for a pre-TT visual novel game I want to make around the same time I officially start working on the TT comic. I guess we'll see! 😁

[electricbluebutterflies]

Garcy + a kiss as encouragement.

Usual post-canon-divergence, PG-ish, also on ao3.

Most of the aftermath, Lucy expected. The part where they’re very briefly in the public eye… not so much.

To be fair, none of the team is the ideal person to tell a few while lies on camera for a news program desperate for ratings, and she suspects this is only happening because someone from one of the she-isn’t-even-sure-how-many government agencies they’ve dealt with recently made a phone call they shouldn’t have made, and… how this is her problem, she isn’t sure, but this is shaping up to be a worse day than the week of interrogations combined.

Honestly, the lighting in that office building was less harsh and the feds put them in a nicer hotel. Is that something she’s allowed to disclose, at least?

Lucy suspects she got the short straw here because she’s a mundane-pretty thirtysomething white woman who did not threaten anyone during said interrogation process, because all of those things make her non-threatening if not quite charismatic. She’s never been in this position, but she watched her mother do it so many times over the years and some idiot somewhere must think that rubbed off, and-

“I got something for you.”

By technicalities, she isn’t alone, but only because Flynn hasn’t let her out of his sight since the feds… “gave up” is probably not the description that got put on official paperwork in triplicate, but it’s basically what happened. The clinging is mutual, and how obvious it is that they’re having the most trouble readjusting to civilian life, and-

A slip of paper in his hand and a Cheshire-cat smile is never a good combination. She’s curious anyways.

“What did you do?”

“Happened to find the questions they’re about to ask you on camera.”

“Found, or…”

“If production assistants want to leave clipboards so accessible, that’s their decision.”

Lucy isn’t sure how much she believes this, and even less sure if she cares. “How bad?”

“Bad, but not as invasive as…”

“Are we walking?”

“They want an outsider’s view on working with a genius. This isn’t about us at all, really.”

Somehow, she thinks, this is a best-case scenario. Not quite how the interview had been pitched a couple days ago when she’d felt like she couldn’t say no, but… yes, she decides, she can say whatever feels right in the moment to boost Connor’s eternal phoenix of a career. If that’s all there is…

“So I have to go out there, having spent more time getting my makeup done than I will getting interviewed, and…”

“It won’t be that bad.”

Lucy gives her partner the best deer-in-the-headlights look she can manage under said makeup and good grief she really hopes those fake eyelashes come off easy. “It will be that bad.”

He leans down and gives her a heartbeat kiss, barely touching, not enough to do damage to her immaculate lipstick. “Look at it this way, you can’t say the wrong thing.”

She’s not sure she believes him, but right now…

“Stay where I can see you?”

“Always.”

[toonabby]

Today marks the 5th anniversary of Zuzubaland, also known as Zuzubalândía in Brazil. For context, Zuzubaland is a Brazilian animated series created by Mariana Caltabiano. The series was based on the book Jujubalândía, published in 1997, and serves as a reboot of the children's live-action series of the same name, which premiered on April 13, 1998, making that series 25 at the time of this post. The show revolves around Zuzu, a cute little bee girl who lives in the titular world of Zuzubaland/Zuzubâlandía (in the original book, it was called Jujubalândía) along with all her friends and dreams about being a famous singer in spite of her ear-grating voice. Zuzubaland is a kingdom ruled by King Appetite where everything is made out of food, right down to the character names being puns of the food they represent (e.g. Marsha Mallow is a pun on "marshmallow"). The main antagonist is the Green Witch (or Anorexic Witch in some sources, but I would prefer to call her "Greenhilda" - a portmanteau on "green" (her skin color) and the name "Brunhilda"), who hates food, joy and Zuzu's singing and wants to destroy Zuzubaland. But the only way to break the magic of the grandmothers that protects the kingdom is to get the magic crown that King Appetite keeps under a lock and key. Garfedia is her assistant, but she isn't really malicious as she's somewhat ineffectual but kind; she has a doll she keeps every day called Kellen. She also has a bad habit of farting (albeit unintentionally) when she laughs a lot. (source: Wikipedia PT)

Funnily enough is that this wouldn't be the first time we would see Zuzu and friends in animated form: Gui e Estopa was another animated series created by Mariana Caltabiano originally launched in 2000 as a children's website called Iguinho, with the mascot being a puppy of the same name (at least initially). He is best friends with Estopa (a dog), is in love with Croquette the beautiful, and has a rivarly with Pitiburro. A series of films were made before finally becoming a cartoon in 2009 that aired on Cartoon Network. They even have an official YouTube channel. (source: Wikipedia PT)

A crossover episode simply titled "Zuzubalândia" was released on July 20, 2016, two years before Zuzubaland premiered. Unfortunately its only available in Portuguese without subtitles (or at least the English subtitles) and I don't know much about the episode's plot other than it being a proposed pilot for Zuzubaland. But if I want to summarize this plot, it's basically Gui having a dream about going to Zuzubaland alongside Estopa. I also forgot to mention that it also had a musical in 2013, though I could only find one image of that one.

While this show, and by extension franchise, is hardly well-known in the West, it didn't stop Zuzubaland from having it's own YouTube Channel AND official English dub by none other than Bang Zoom! Entertaiment!

The English dub is not only easily my favorite EN dubs of Brazilian cartoons next to Ba Da Bean (both recorded by the same studio), but it also introduced me to the series. The cast includes Dino Andrade as Zuzu, Aleks Le as Sundae, Amber Connor as Popcorn, Zeno Robinson as Rocky, Joe J. Thomas as Hot Dog, Ryan Bartley as Marsha, and Jason Marnocha as King Appetite, but I think the best performance hands down would have to be Wendee Lee (the titular character from Haruhi Suzumiya, Konata Izumi from Lucky Star, Faye Valetine from Cowboy Bebop, Blanc/White Heart from Hyperdimension Neptunia, and Lyn and Veronica from Fire Emblem) as The Green Witch, whose loud-mouth, nasally Wicked Witch-esque voice perfectly suits her character. In fact, I first noticed this while looking at Lee's BTVA page. I was honestly shocked knowing that she has the same voice actors as Blanc and Faye. And for the cherry on top, it has an official website (albeit in Portuguese). The website includes characters pages, video clips, games, comic strips, art, online books, music etc., so at least isn't completely obscure online unlike other South American cartoons (*cough* Underdogs United *cough*). Mariana Caltabiano also has her own official website deticated to herself and her cartoons.

In conclusion, Zuzubaland is and forever will be my favorite Brazilian cartoon of the 2010s and my favorite Brazilian cartoon of all time (Ba Da Bean is a close second). Thank you for reading this post, and if you are a fan of Brazilian cartoons, did you watch it (in English or its original Portuguese language) and whats your opinion of this underrated foreign cartoon.