#own place to live is next on my life list lol

[swankpalanquin]

75 percent of the time when i’m like, i feel like shit, it’s because i forgot to eat lunch

[waffles-art-writing]

One Hell Of A First Mission - Task Force 141!Platonic x F!Reader - JOKER

Summary: The very first mission you (JOKER) go on with Task Force 141, you end up clearing a house and finding the one person you need to find wasn’t there anymore. You’re then quickly flown out to meet the Los Vaqueros which results in you jumping off a cliff and being helped out by the one person you wish you never had to work with again. (THIS FOLLOWS THE LINES OF THE START OF THE COD:MWII 2022. And is before the events of JOKER and the previous parts)

Proof Read: NOPE

Pairing: Task Force 141!Platonic x Female!Reader

WordCount: 5k

Age Rating: 16+ preferably

Codename: JOKER

KEY: Y’all should know this by now… Y/N - Your Name so on and so forth

Warning/Info: Normal COD Stuff, Guns, violence, swearing, depiction of action, horrible writing on my part. Kinda a slow burn but it is the back story of how JOKER join the 141. Philip Graves gets his own fuckin’ warning. Sorry not sorry. A lot of time skips, because I’m following the plot of the game for this one the next chapters coming!

PLEASE READ THE PREVIOUS PARTS TO GET A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF JOKER! (If you want) This does take place before the events of JOKER and the previous parts.

Previous Parts can be found here: MASTERLIST (And other things I’ve written)

TagList: @studywithrosie01 Sorry for tagging you but you’ve shown so much love for this series so I thought I should tag for you this part! I hope you don’t mind! And @robins-fanfics (I hope I got the right user name lol) (Tell me if you want to be added or taken off the tag list for this series!)

———————————————————————

Your boot taps the ground rapidly, hands curled around the gun in your lap. “Calm down kid, they aren’t that scary” Price states, you’ve known him for a long while. He’s practically your dad at this point, he helped you throughout your career in the military. Pushed you to your limit to get you into the SAS which you’re beyond thankful for, yet right now you’re wondering if that was a bright idea. You’re meeting up with the Lieutenant of the Task Force that Price has made. You were the first one to meet Laswell in person, she had a nice, friendly smile but you could tell she is tough as nails. “I know Captain, but… he’s ‘The Ghost’ the man everyone is scared of, he bloody appears outta nowhere!” You state, looking over at the bearded man, he shakes his head lightly. “Well, you’ll be following his lead for now kid. He’s being instructed by Shepherd on this mission” you sigh at hearing this, you’ve had a few run-ins with the US military a few times. They couldn’t understand your accent for the life of them, that’s one of the many cons from living in a household with multiple accents under one roof.

You have no clue what this mission is going to be like, you’re meeting up with another man apparently. He’s meeting you and Lieutenant Riley at the tarmac, just as you’re scheduled to fly out. You can’t help the nerves that are filling your energy, the jitters of anticipation and the fear of what is to come next. “I’ll see you soon kid, stay safe” Price states, drawing you out of your running mind. You nod to him as you give him a fist pump, a light head bump. You two have always done that, a fist pump which turns into a light head bump of good luck, and see you soon. You never part ways without it.

You steel your nerves as you walk out onto the air field, catching a plane to meet up with the Lieutenant and the new guy. Not sure what to expect of your new team mates when you meet them, or how they operate. But there’s excitement bubbling in your veins.

———

“So you’re the new kid?” A grumbly voice sounds out from behind you. Spinning on your heel you come face to face with the signature skull of Lieutenant Riley. “Yes Sir” you state, not breaking eye contact, even though the cold sweat dripping down the back of your neck is screaming at you to run. “Come on then” he states, walking past you, his large frame towering over you, gulping back the nerves you trot after him. Quickly falling into step with the man.

The engine and blades of the chopper are loud, the wind it’s creating ruffling your jacket as you stand next to the Lieutenant. Both of you have stopped when an armoured vehicle with a bunch of soldiers in the back pulled up. Ghost was talking with Shepherd, “The Sergeant?” Ghost questions, he knew you were coming but didn’t know himself and another person were going to be leading this operation. Your interest piqued when you hear him say that. You subconsciously readjust the balaclava that’s on your face slightly, the sinister joker-like smile staring at anyone who looks. You watch as men jump off the armoured vehicle, waiting to see who is this new Sergeant that’s going to be leading you and other men into a war zone with the Lieutenant.

A man in a dark jacket approached you both as soon as he jumped off the vehicle. A smirk on his face already. “Let’s get ourselves a win, yeah L.T?” He states, bumping the Lieutenant’s shoulder with his fist. “Save ya a seat, sir…” you watch the exchange with raised brows, the black war paint around your eyes cracking slightly. The man nods to you too, the smile back on his face as he jogs off towards the chopper. “See you on the Chopper, Lieutenant” you state, quickly following the Sergeant. You hear a faint “Fucking Hell…” from behind you, a short snort leaving you as you jump onto the ramp. Looking for a seat. Waving from the corner of your eye catches your attention, it’s the Sergeant. You smile under your mask as you make your way over, throwing yourself into the seat.

“They call me Soap!” He states, holding his hand out to you, you take his hand with a firm grip. “Joker! Good to meet ya!” You notice the Scottish accent, it’s interesting to hear one compared to all the English accents you hear on a daily basis. Your nerves have been drowned out by the adrenaline rushing through your veins. This Soap seems to have a good energy about him, you could get used to this.

————

“Bravo team offloads here. Alpha team stays on board to land down range. Both teams meet in the middle. Remember, we want Hassan alive, but this is capture or kill” the Lieutenant states as he approaches the ramp that is lowering to let Brave team out. Both you and Soap stand to follow Ghost, you flick down your night vision as soon as you step out. You snicker lightly at hearing Ghost saying “Keep up Soap” honestly surprised he didn’t say that to you instead.

You kneel in the grass, out of the way of the chopper as it takes off to drop Apha team off down range. You jog after Lieutenant Riley, keep a few paces behind him. Your sniper rifle in your hands as your Semi Automatic is strapped to your back. You hear the radio chatter of the chopper in your ear, it’s louder than the blood rushing through your veins as you weave through the ruins of a stone building. You're zoned in on the mission, keeping your eyes peeled for anything and everything.

Suddenly you hear the frantic calls from the chopper, the whooshing hissing sound of a RPG being launched echoes through the night. The flares are not helping the chopper for the second missile. You come to a halt at the top of the small hill, the ground shakes form the impact of the aircraft plummeting into the ground. “Shit…” you curse under your breath, your knee digging into the dirt below you as Soap crouches down on your right and Ghost on your left. “Alpha, what’s your status?” Ghost asks over the comms, the crackling sound of coughing breaks through the haze. “Alpha, how copy?…” Ghost pushes for an answer. “Shit…” you curse under your breath. You block out the conversation over the comms, raising the Sniper up. Watching the flames lick the ground like a hungry beast, another missile hitting the chopper along with countless bullets raining down onto the downed bird.

“Ghost we need to secure the crash site now” Soap calls, his eyes moving from the chopper to the Lieutenant. “First, we clear for Hassan, that takes the heat off Alpha. Then we secure the crash site. Clear?” The timbre of Ghost’s voice cuts through the air like a knife. “Roger that.” Both you and Soap reply. “Let’s move” as soon as his words leave his mouth, you’re off your knees immediately, quickly falling in behind Ghost. Your boots hit the hard earth like thunder on the horizon, your rifle up and ready. You weave around small bushes, following Ghost through the low walls of what looks like a garden. “Force up to the house” his command is clear as you branch off to the side, Soap filling the gap between you and Ghost. You position yourself on the other side of the door, looking down the scope of your rifle. You glance up at Ghost and nod to him, he nods back to you and Soap. You hear the muffled yells of  “Kill all that they send here!” From the other side of the door. “Breacher Up” Ghost calls as he swings the heavy breacher into the wooden door.

—— Time Skip —— Mission With Los Vaqueros —

Your heart is thumping in your ears as you groan, pushing yourself to your hands and knees. “You good lass?” Soap questions, both of you just dropped down to a ledge on the side of a cliff. It has a hearty drop. You’re following a few of the men who work for Alejandro. Ghost is watching from above you, Alejandro with him. “Y-Yeah..” you cough, gripping your gun tightly as you turn around. “Oh hell no” you state, seeing the gap between the ledge you’re on and the one you have to jump to. Alejandro says something about cutting school and playing around these parts when he was younger. “Until the cartels moved in?” Soap quips before taking a running leap onto the ledge in front of you. Alejandro and Ghost jump down, quickly cutting in front of you and Soap. They easily shuffle along the small ledge on the side of the cliff, backs pressed against the wall as they move along it, you swallow down the nerves in your throat. Soap goes ahead of you, followed by Rodriguez - one of Alejandro's men - then you follow after. Your hands shake as you shuffle along the wall. Then the sound of a bullet flying past your head into the rock wall behind you makes you freeze. Ghost yells something that you don’t process as you watch Rodrigues get shot multiple times. His body falling away from the cliff, rag dolling down.

“JOKER MOVE IT!” Soap yells, ducking when a bullet flys over head. You shake your head free of fog, quickly shuffling most the way, taking the risk of leaping to the ledge. You do a tactical roll when you hit the ground, sliding up onto your knees. Breathing heavily, you don’t get a chance to breathe, Soap already pulling you up by your arm. You push yourself up onto the ledge that's higher, running after Soap and Alejandro. Ghost right on your heels. You throw yourself off the ledge onto the one that's lower, landing on your feet, stumbling into a sprint again. Rifle gripped tightly in your hands. You watch Soap disappear behind the lip of the ledge, realising you're gonna have to slide. Your hand falls behind you as you stick one of your legs out to brace yourself while sliding down the rough rock face, thankful you're wearing gloves and thick cargo pants. You stand just behind the others as they stand at the edge of the cliff, Ghost sneers out a “You led us to a dead end, mate.” You internally curse Alejandro.

Your blood runs cold when you see the Mexican soldier launch himself off the cliff, yelling out “We jump from here!”. “WHAT THE FUCK!” You yell, quickly looking over the ledge. “Don’t lose your weapon” he yells just before he lands in the water. “Your turn, Sergeant!” Ghost states, both you and Soap look between each other. “See ya down there, Lass.” He quips, doing a two finger salute before jumping. You back away from the ledge slightly, your head whips towards the Lieutenant. “Go kid, there’s no time! We stay here, we’re dead. Now jump!” you gulp as you tighten your grip on the rifle, you take a running leap off the ledge. You plunge into the icy water, your eyes screwing shut just before the impact. You quickly resurface, the water soaking the balaclava. Not helping with breathing, your breathing is heavy as you tread water. “You good, hermanos?” Alejandro asks. “Affirm” Ghost states, he’s next to you. “Soap?” The Scotsman nods his head “Breathing” he quips. “Joker?” You let out a small cough, shaking your head lightly to get the water out of your face. “Alive…” you mumble.

“Move down river to the bridge. Use the rocks for cover” Alejandro instructs, you all take off swimming down the river. You’re thankful you're going with the current, cause god knows you would’ve bailed and just went on land if you were desperate enough. Alejandro tries contacting someone on comms, you're too focused on not letting your heavy tactical gear get caught on anything under water, or drag you to the river bed. “Radio’s picking up somethin.” Soap states, you’re in the middle of the group, your smaller size getting dragged by the current quicker than the others. “Sounds American” Ghost states, he’s just behind you on your right. “Great, Yanks” you sneer. Everyone dives as soon as a vehicle comes into view, Alejandro stops behind a rock. Soap right behind him, Ghost a little further down. Before you can even attempt to stop at one of the rocks, Ghost grabs the strap of your vest, dragging you up next to him. “Thanks Lieutenant.” you mumble, you are situated just below the large long log that’s fallen across the river, resting on the large rock both you and Ghost are behind. You duck occasionally whenever bullets whiz past your head. Your feet slip and you plunge into the water, resurfacing quickly. Gasping for air as you grip onto the rough rock, you're thankful for the strap on your stifle still around your shoulder. “Fuckin hell” you curse.

“Keep pushing up river.” Alejandro calls. You groan as you struggle to keep your head above the water, and your gun trained on the shore where the enemies are. All three of the men are six foot plus, while you're below all their chins on flat ground. You dive underwater, seeing Ghost come to a stop at another set of rocks, Alejandro and Soap go around the two of you and perch themselves slightly down from you. You practically throw yourself onto the rock shelf that's just below the water, taking the short time to regain your breath. “Move up river! Go!” Alejandro calls again, you groan as you see them move off. Your eyes meet Ghost’s for a second. You bite your tongue and push off the rock, following after them. You dive under a log that's just above the water's surface. You resurface just behind a rock, coming face to face with a Mexican soldier who has their gun aimed at you, you're quick to train your rifle on them, letting a bullet lodge itself in the man's skull.

“The rivers slowing us down, mate!” Ghost calls, you can tell he’s agitated by being in the water for so long. “It gets shallow up ahead!” Alejandro states. “Oh thank god, the waters up to my fucking eyes!” You call, shooting down a few more men that are on the shore. You feel like your skin is in ice cold water, your clothing sticks to you as your plate carrier weighs you down. Boots slipping over the algae covered rocks, you just wanna rip the boots off your feet and the plate carrier off your chest. You push your way through the water, quickly grabbing the rock. You’re beyond thankful for the shallow water, you are crouched low behind a rock. You hear your lieutenant’s strong accent cut through the air, your stomach dropping when you hear what he’s saying. “Vehicles on the bridge!” You whip your head around to look at the bridge, “They’re not ours!” Alejandro calls “Fuck-! It’s the army!” You peek over the edge of the rock to look, eyes widening to see the heavily armoured vehicles roll onto the bridge. “Get to cover!” Ghost calls, you quickly duck back down and press your back up against the rock. “We have to hold here and get extraction” Alejandro states. Soap slides up next to you, Ghost next to him then Alejandro. “We can’t do shite against that armour!” The Scotsman states, you reload as you listen to the firefight happening.

Suddenly an American accent cuts through the firefight “This is shadow-1! Engaging the bridge north of your position. Danger close!” You realise who is speaking, it's Philip Graves, the man you’ve worked with in the past. “Who the hell is that?” Alejandro asks, “Commander Graves. Shadow Company. They’re with us.” Ghost states, he glances at you when he realises you’ve gone very quiet when the American’s voice cuts through. The rumble of the bridge getting hit by the large shots trembling the ground, you watch as the bridge crumbles  “Shadow-1, Bravo 0-7! Good Shots! Fire for effect!” Ghost says over the comms. “All stations, no enemy movement detected. You’re clear.” Graves states over the comms, you sigh as you stand shaking out your shoulders. “It’s good to see you boys.” You grumble lightly under your breath when the American states this “Likewise, mate” Ghost states, he nudges you to move when Alejandro calls ‘This way!’ You fall into a run, splashing through the water, jumping over a few larger rocks. “Graves, we’ve located a vehicle for exfil.” Ghost states as you all run up the slight hill from the river towards a pick up. “Roger that. Be advised, we got a possible hit on Hassan, two kicks north of your position.” Grave states, you roll your neck as you come to halt by the back door of the pick up, climbing into the back. “That’s cartel land. They have a compound there.” Alejandro states, you’ve been quiet the entire time. “Load in!” Ghost calls. “Shadow-1, stand-by…” You watch as Ghost slides in next to you, Soap climbing into the front seat and Alejandro into the driver's seat. “I’ll drive,” Alejandro states. “You boys, good to roll up Hassan with some fire from the sky?” Graves asks, everyone looks at each other. The boys nod, you just shrug as you look out the window. Ghost watches you with a raised brow hidden under his mask. “Let’s wrap this fucker up, Graves” Soap states. “Solid copy. We are pushing to the target di-rectly. Shadow-1 out.” You slump back into the seat. Letting out a sigh, you rub the space between your brows, pushing the balaclava up a little.

—— Time skip to grabbing Hassan ——

“Breaching” Soap calls, the door gets bashed open by the Scotsman. “They’re here!” “Get the Major upstairs!” Multiple cartel members yell. You’re the first one to shoot down a few men and spot the man you’re all here for, you quickly switch on the comms, the throat mic switching on. “Shadow-1! Positive ID on Hassan!” You call, rushing forward. “He’s moving upstairs!” Soap calls, he’s right behind you, followed by Ghost and Alejandro. Grave’s brows raise when he recognises the female voice come through the comms. “Graves, he’s exiting the second floor! North-west side!” Ghost states over the comms. “Got a visual on Hassan!” Alejandro states, you're quickly moving across the second floor outside. You ignore whatever is happening over the comms, you enter the building again. “Get down!” Soap calls “Get down! Now!” Alejandro growls. “Get the fuck down!” You sneer, your sights aimed directly at Hassan’s head, “Who the fuck are you?” Hassan questions, his voice holding venom. The man who was with Hassan is now dead on the ground, Alejandro moves forward. “Mexican Special Forces, you're coming with us…” the restraints get secured around the man's wrists. You can see the anger in Alejandro's movements when he restrains Hassan, you keep your gun trained on Hassan. “Shadow-1, Bravo 0-7. Jackpot. I say again, jackpot. Target is secure.” Ghost states over the comms, you look over at the Lieutenant. Graves asks a question about the exfil, which Alejandro answers. Soap slaps a hand down on your shoulder, giving you a nod of approval. You nod back, a small smile hidden under your mask. A few moments of conversations between Graves and Ghost gets drowned out by the rumbling of heavy tires on the earth, your own stomach twists into uncomfortable knots as you realise that it's the Mexican Army. “For fucks sakes. Do we ever get a break?” You ask, the question not directed to anyone. “Not this time ‘round Lass” Soap states as he looks out the window towards all the heavy armoured vehicles.

Graves says something about the shadows being able to engage the convoy, the next thing you know is the whisper of a large 25mm round flying through the air. The deep thunderous sound of it hitting the earth shakes the building, the sound of metal crunching and being destroyed rings in your ears as you look around the room. The earth continues to shake when smaller rounds and bigger rounds make contact witht he earth, your blood is bubbling under the service, you need to move. You want to do something and not just sit around and wait for your next order. The next thing you know you're running down the stairs at breakneck speed, Hassan being dragged behind you as you kick open the door to the outside, the exfil vehicle ready for you all. Ghost cuts in front of you as you get out the door, followed by Alejandro then Soap who has Hassan in a death grip. You spin around keeping your gun up and looking for any movement that needs to be dealt with. “Come on! Come on!” Rodolfo calls over the comms, you are happy to see him again. Hassan spits something out that you don’t quite catch as the screeching of tires and the blood rushing through your ears is all you can hear. You do clearly hear Soap growl out a “Shut the fuck up!” When he shoves Hassan into the side of the Vehicle. “Fuuuuuck” you groan as you realise you're the smallest on the team, you immediately open the door and climb over the back seat into the back compartment of the vehicle. Rodolfo and Alejandro speak to each other in Spanish, you only make out a few words as you're trying to get comtoble in the one spot no one is supposed to really sit in these types of vehicles. “We’re good!” Soap calls, “Go!” Ghost growls. “Joker?” Rodolfo asks as he glances up in the rear view mirror, spotting you peeking over the back of the seat between Ghosts’ and Hassan's head. “Happy as Larry!” You joke, you're not comfortable by any means but you know you just want to get the hell out of here already.

—— Time Skip To Interrogation of Hassan ——

You sit on the hood of one of the Vehicles, the headlights cutting through the thick blanket of darkness that covers the desert. The animals of the night linger just beyond the lights. Alejandro and Soap drag Hassan into the middle of the group of vehicles, shoving him to his knees with a bag over his head. “On your knees” Soap growls out as he steps back. You got here before Graves did, you aren’t happy about having to conduct this interrogation with the American present, you hated working with him in the past and right now you still are sour about being near him, especially on a mission that you were hoping to just be yourself and the 141 accompanied by the Los Vaqueros. Graves is kneeling down setting up the laptop which has General Shepherd and Laswell on the other end, your Criss cross applesauce on the hood of the vehicle. “Y’all got a clear picture?” You cringe at the drawl in his words. You hear a “Crystal” and a “All Set” fromt he other two members of the video call. You inch your way forward to have your feet dangling off the edge of the hood as soon as Graves moves away, your feet coming to rest on the bumper. “Alright, we are live, folks” Graves states as he approaches Hassan, the bag no longer on the kneeling man's head.

“Do you sepal Arabic?” Hassan questions, looking up at Graves.

“No one other than you” you mumble, knowing he won't hear you.

“No” Grave relplies.

“Farsi?”

“No.”

“Course not.” Hassan states with a smirk playing on his lips, “Then I’ll speak your bastardised Medieval English because you are all uneducated street dogs” You jump off the hood to curse him out in every language that you have learnt, but you get held back by a heavy hand. You look over your shoulder at who has stopped you, Ghost shakes his head lightly knowing that anger that is bubbling in you. You have too much adrenaline still coursing through your veins.

“Ahh, see… we’re getting off to a bad start here, Hassan” Graves starts as he tucks his thumbs into the top of his tac vest and looks down at the ground, something he always does when he's about to interrogate someone. “You are talking to a Quds Force officer” Hassan states. Graves leans in slightly, “You’re the commander of a foreign terror organisation” “I can say the same to you.” You know Hassan is gonna get under everyone’s skin, but you know damn well that Philip Graves has that skill as well. “What’s your target, “Major”?” You almost snort at the way Hassan’s brows scrunch in displeasure.

“What was your target when they sent missiles to my land?” Hassan questions.

“Oh well, wild guess… To nail your ass” Graves looks down at Hassan.

“So insolent and foul-mouthed. You will learn to respect me when your nation sees fire”

Graves steps closer to Hassan “You are in bed with the cartel, Hassan” he starts “If you disappeared, no one would know where to look for the fuckin’ stain” he growls out through a tight lipped frown.

A small shiver runs down your spin when you hear Hassan let out a small tiny pathetic chuckle of a ‘ha’.

“I have no doubt you’ll take pleasure in torturing me.” Hassan states when he looks back up at Grave from shaking his head lightly, a smile on his face. This time Soap speaks, his voice accent thick compared to the others.

“Who’d you get American missiles from?” You lean your elbows onto your knees, you jerk lightly when you suddenly hear General Shepherd speak. Almost forgetting him and Laswell are on the video call.

“I don’t care who they’re from. I wanna know where they’re going.” You almost want to yell at the older man, for overpowering Soap’s question which was a good question.

Graves was looking at the laptop before stepping away from Hassan, that's when the laughing yaps of coyotes cut through the air. They sound close, not too close but close enough for you to not feel comfortable. Graves walks a few half paces before turning around to look at Hassan. “Take a look around, Hassan” he states before stepping up the man and leaning down to get in his face “Now you can either become part of the food chain or you can start talking.” You watch the conversation from the shadows, just like your Lieutenant. “I’m a hostage here.” Hassan states, “This is illegal.” Alejandro speaks up from behind Hassan. “You’re a prisoner of war.” Hassan turns to look over his shoulder at the Mexican. “Iran is not at war with Mexico. I’ve broken no laws.” He turns to look back at Graves and motions his head to his surroundings “These men and their commanders are the law breakers.” He glances over towards you and Ghost but you can tell he is mainly looking at the laptop, he still makes eye contact with you through the haze of the lights, and with Ghost. You stare the man down, the dark oil paint on your skin making your eyes stand out against the rest of your dark outfit.

Ghost takes a small step forward “You and your beloved General Ghorbrani broke every—-” “DO NOT SPEAK HIS NAME!” Hassan yells, cutting Soap off. “You executed him and you will pay for your crimes…” he pauses briefly “Only god can help you now-” he yells in his mother tongue. You understood him barely, you wanted to snatch a knife from Ghost’s plate carrier and throw it between the screaming man's eyes. You attention cuts to below you, where General Shepherd's voice comes from the laptop “I want this bastard in permanent custody or looking up at the goddamn grass…” he sneers, Laswell is quick to cut in “General, killing Hassan is an act of war, keeping him is illegal. Right now, he is too hot to hold.” She’s right, you all know this is illegal but you’re still doing it. “Tell me you’re getting something actionable, Laswell.” The general growls, you move to slide off the hood of the vehicle when Laswell states something about working on it.

You stand next to Ghost who has moved over slightly to allow you to jump down. You both watch as Graves brings the laptop onto the hood of the vehicle. Grave's voice lowers as he looks at the laptop. “Actual, let me finish this” you tense up his words, you glance over at Soap and Alejandro then to Ghost who is just staring at Graves with no emotion in his eyes. Yet you can still see the thoughts playing like a movie. You focus back into what Shepherd is saying, only catching the end half of his sentence. “Without proof we need to turn him loose. See where he leads us” you watch as Graves leans away, Soap quickly walking up and leaning into the conversation. “He’s right here. You can’t be serious” his voice is low gravely when he speaks, his accent a strong contrast to the others. Graves moves off the side slightly, Ghost as step forward an inch, his arm coming in front of you when he sees Graves look at you. “I’m afraid I am, son.” Shepherd says. You look down, looking at the phone in Ghost’s hand. “Laswell, did we get anything from his phone?” You bet Ghost to it, he looks at you with a clearly raised brow, you can tell. You give him the same look. “Affirmative. We got a hit.” Laswell states, “Good” the General pauses “Now take him back and let him go”. Ghost moves slightly, making eye contact witht eh eyes and nodding his head.  Alejandro bags and drags Hassan to his feet, Ghost slyly puts Hassan’s phone back in the man's pocket when he walks past. You notice this as you have done it many times, but you were taking the phones and not giving them back. You hear the familiar ‘thunk’ of the laptop closing, you nod to Soap who seems pissed. Not surprised.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for telling my bff what my ex said about them?

I had broken up with my ex 6 months beforehand and didn't talk about it with anyone but my mom and therapist for that amount of time. My friends knew it effected me pretty bad but didn't pry when I just wanted to keep it private. My ex was very long distance and didn't have many friends, so I introduced her to my irl friend group so she could have some people to talk to virtually at least. I didn't want me wanting to break up be the reason for our friends to pick sides or anything like that.

Now long story short, my ex was not happy I was ending things. She got angry saying I wasn't allowed to do this, telling me how she'd lie to our friends about me to get them to leave me as alone as she was. She gave me an order of names based on how likely she thought they'd believe her. She made "rules" for the breakup that I would still have to talk to her daily and keep an eye on her mental health so she didn't "do something stupid" and how it was my fault she was like this.

I have had previous close relationships where I felt responsible for peoples lives so I agreed. I may not have wanted to be with her romantically anymore, but of course I wanted her to live and move on and be happy. Over the months I was listening to her talk about her declining mental health, her refusals to seek professional help, her angry speeches about how I was living my life, etc. One of these speeches was about my bff and about how she blamed my bff for our breakup. And how if I didn't talk to my bff I would still be dating her. (untrue of course, if anyone blame my mom and therapist lol)

One day, my bff came over for the first time in ages for some one on one time rather than a group hang out. Our schedules were always just all over the place. I listened to her tell me about some life updates, and then she brought up how weird it was that my ex had recently started dming her wanting to be closer friends. Bff made comments about how she thought it was funny because why would she want to be closer to the person causing me grief for this long.

At this point, my mind had gone through the cycles of fearing that my ex had gotten to my bff on her list of "friends to lie to to take her side" and also shock and relief that my bff was able to tell how bad my emotional state had been for months without talking to her about what happened.

I just broke down crying

After some comfort from bff, she asked if I wouldnt mind telling her what happened and I ended up telling her.

Now my bff was pissed at my ex after I told her everything. The next day she had written an angry message to my ex defending me, and told me about it. This had me panicking more because I was scared of what my ex would do.

It turned into my ex berating me for telling my friend that "she hates her" in reference to the blaming her for the breakup because it was something she didnt feel anymore (unlikely, she had told me like 2 weeks before this she still felt that way) so I was just trying to ruin her friendships. she ordered me to tell my bff i was lying about everything

I had grown so tired of this, so I said no. I told her I only told my bff the truth and she made her own opinions. I was not responsible for that. and I told her finally that I was not responsible for her at all and thought it'd be better to go no contact.

At the same time, my bff had removed my ex from our group chats (without me telling her i was gonna go non contact, but because she thought itd be good for me) and apologized for sending the message to my ex as it was just causing more drama.

It still eats me up sometimes though. Was I the asshole for telling my bff what my ex said about her? Given, I could have just told her the exact details of the breakup without what my ex said about blaming her after the fact. Given the heightened emotions of what brought the conversation up, I just let it all out.

What are these acronyms?

[amhrosina]

Waltz of the Vigilantes (Frank Castle x f!Reader)

MASTERLIST // JOIN MY TAG LIST

A/N: Frank is sort of unhinged in this one and reader is sort of into that. Let’s just say Frank is thinking with his other head for the majority of this fic. Also, if you’ve read The Punisher vs. The Cat, Mister (the cat) makes an appearance in this one. As always, a big thank you to @wheredidiputmyfish for beta reading and being so great! <3

Request: hi friend! can you do a frank x reader where she’s a vigilante and she’s all graceful and acrobatic and shit and they haven’t been together that long, so one day he’s over at her place and finds out she used to be a ballerina (he finds pictures or something)? can be smutty if you want to…

Summary: Frank and Reader can’t keep their hands off each other after a unique date night involving taking out mobsters, stealing booze, and taking body shots. 

(Warnings: SMUTTTTTT, canonical frank stuff - i.e., guns, knives, physical fights, vigilante!reader, alcohol, body shots lol, reader’s cat is a cockblock, fingering, oral (fem receiving), p in v, dirty talk)

You weren’t sure what you were expecting when Frank had suggested taking out a small group of mobsters together for date night, but it wasn’t wrestling a man twice your size to the ground as he repeatedly called you names and reached for his gun in the same breath. You’d had the element of surprise for about three seconds before the guy was shoving you back, and the only thing you could do to avoid losing your edge was use the momentum of his push to swing yourself onto his back. You wrapped your legs tightly around his neck, and he crumbled to the ground as you squeezed the life out of him with your thighs.  

Gunshots echoed off the walls in the next room, and you looked up just in time to see Frank bash the gunman’s head into a shelf on the wall. He glanced in your direction, no doubt checking that you were okay, and grinned when he saw the position you were posed in. You were still kneeling over the man you’d just killed, panting like you’d just run a marathon. You couldn’t help it – the man had a shit ton of stamina, and you weren’t used to being so hands on during your patrols.  

“Can you do that to me later?” Frank called, chuckling. 

You couldn’t stop the smirk from appearing on your face. Even when he’s in the middle of beating mobsters to a pulp, he can’t keep his mind out of the gutter. 

“Only if you’re good.” You teased, brushing your pants off as you stood. “Is that the last of ‘em?” 

“Yeah,” Frank nodded his head toward the back exit, “Take what you want. I’ll keep watch.”  

The den, which fronted as the back office of a laundromat, was littered with contraband. Guns, knives, drugs, imported alcohol, and medicine was scattered around the room, stacked in varying heights and covering most of the available surfaces. You weren’t particularly interested in any of the low-level things they were no doubt selling on the black market. You had plenty of your own guns and knives, and drugs weren’t your thing.  

The poker game you’d interrupted was left half-played on the table, cards splayed along the green felt of the tabletop. You dragged your finger along the soft fabric, eyeing the stacks of poker chips in front of each chair. There was at least a quarter of a million dollars in each hand, but you knew none of the cash would be here. They may be idiots, but they weren’t that dumb. 

You searched the overturned cards for a familiar face – one that would tell the police exactly who’d taken care of the pests of Hell’s Kitchen – and smiled when you found her: The Queen of Hearts. You slipped the playing card between the fingers of the man you’d killed and stuffed a single poker chip in your back pocket.  

Soon, the public would know just how close they were living to a group of men who not only trafficked drugs and weapons, but also women, and the Queen of Hearts would be considered responsible for it. To the police, you were a menace without a conscience, but to the public, you were the only one protecting them from certain death. 

When you joined Frank in the back alley, he looked you up and down, chuckled, and then looked you up and down again.  

“You didn’t see anything you liked?” He raised an eyebrow. 

“Eh, all I could find was this.”  

You raised the bottle out in front of you, giggling. On your way out the door, you’d thanked whatever guardian angel was looking out for you, because there, ripe for the taking, was an unopened bottle of Patrón Platinum.  

“D’ya wanna take shots of it off me when we get back to mine?” You winked, handing the bottle to Frank before stuffing your arms in your coat.  

“Only if you’re good.” He smirked. 

- 

When you slid through the fire escape window of your apartment twenty minutes later, Frank was hot on your tail, pawing at the waistline of your pants. You turned, facing his broad shoulders and chest. He was so goddamn pretty, and you couldn’t help the broad strokes your hands made across his body. He smirked, lifting you onto the kitchen counter with ease, before pressing himself between your legs. His head was mere inches away from yours, and the urge to kiss him all over his pretty face became overwhelming. 

Your ears perked up at the sound of the tequila bottle sliding across the granite countertop. You’d almost forgotten about your amazing find earlier.  

“You mentioned body shots.” Frank smirked, brushing your lips with his. Not just a taunt, a dare, too.  

“The shot glasses are in the cabinet behind me.”  

You arched into his warmth as he reached above your head. The clink of two glasses being pinched together reverberated across the dim kitchen, sending a shiver down your spine.  

“I don’t have any limes.” You murmured, watching him twist the cap off the bottle. “I do have salt, though.” 

You reached behind you, procuring a saltshaker as Frank huffed a laugh. He poured the clear liquid into the shot glasses while you readied your neck, and when he finally swiped his tongue across the line of salt on your throat, you choked out a moan of indescribable pleasure. Fire followed the wake of his tongue from your neck down to your pounding core, causing you to squirm against his hard body.  

He tilted his head back, maintaining eye contact with you as he tipped the liquid into his mouth. Your eyes raked up his body, eyeing the way his throat bobbed as he swallowed, the way he didn’t flinch even though you knew the liquid burned as it went down. His focus on you was primal, his eyes already darkening with lust. Your lips parted, breath hitching as he lifted the second glass up to your face. You gulped the liquid down greedily, doing your best to mimic his stoic reaction, but your nostrils burned, and you snorted out a giggle as you scrunched your face up.  

Frank let out a loud laugh as you buried your face in your hands, embarrassed that you’d just snorted in his face. You could feel the heat in your cheeks rising and could almost guarantee that your face was stuck in an expression of horror. 

“What a way to kill the mood.” You pointed out, giggling again. Frank patted your thighs in a reassuring gesture before gently pulling you down from the counter. Your cat, Mister, appeared in the doorway, trotting across the linoleum and meowing loudly as Frank did his best not to step on him. 

“Shit,” you gasped, “I have to feed him.”  

You gently pushed past Frank’s broad body and swooped Mister into your arms, cuddling him against your chest. Frank made a show of grabbing the bottle of tequila and saluting Mister as he made his way out of the kitchen and towards the door to your bedroom. 

“Where are you going?” You quirked, raising an eyebrow at him as you filled the cat bowl with food. 

“Only a coward can’t admit when they’ve lost.” Frank replied, matter-of-factly. His large frame disappeared through the door, and you rolled your eyes.  

“Men are so sensitive, Mister.” You shook your head. He let out another loud meow between bites. 

“Except for you, my sweet angel. You’re perfect.” You fluffed his fur and headed in the direction Frank went, ready to finish what you’d so embarrassingly interrupted earlier. 

You found him sitting on the edge of your bed, hunched over a photo album that you’d been looking through earlier and forgotten to put away.  

“You didn’t tell me you were a popular kid in high school.” 

You cringed, reaching for the album, but Frank was faster and taller than you, so your efforts were futile. He held the album up in the air, laughing like a maniac. 

“Or that you danced!” 

“Frank!” You whined, standing on your toes. 

“You were so young! When was this?” 

“It doesn’t matter.” You groaned, jumping in the air, still unable to reach the album above you. 

“Were you any good?” Frank swung around, turning from your reach and cradling the album in his arms. He turned to the next page where three, shiny first place ribbons were taped together above a photo of you holding a trophy almost as tall as you. His eyebrows shot up. 

“You were good. You were really good.” 

You rubbed the back of your neck, cringing at the thought of him seeing photos of you when you were younger. That felt like a lifetime ago, and the girl in those photographs felt like a completely different person. 

“You got any videos?” Frank asked with a toothy smile. 

You crossed your arms and huffed. “I most certainly do not.” 

Frank’s grin widened. “Sure, sweetheart.” 

You rolled your eyes and held your hand out. He chuckled and placed the album in your arms before tapping the top of the album with his finger. 

“I like learning things about you.” He paused before continuing. “Even if I have to accidentally snoop to find them out.” 

“You do?” You could feel the heat returning to your cheeks. He always managed to make you feel like a bashful schoolgirl, even when he wasn’t trying to. 

“Yeah.” He bobbed his head once in confirmation. He lowered himself onto your bed, and after a moment, added, “No wonder you’re so,” he paused, clearing his throat, “bendy.”  

You grinned widely as he tried to subtly look you up and down. In a single sentence, he’d managed to heat the room up to 100 degrees, and suddenly the ache in your core was impossible to ignore. The heat in his gaze traveled over your body, lingering on the base of your hips, almost as if he could see how wet you were. It burned through you. 

You lurched forward, straddling him so quickly that you heard his breath hitch in his throat. You brought your lips next to his ear, noting the way his skin broke out in goosebumps as you breathed on to his neck. 

“You wanna know a secret?” 

Frank’s hands made their way around your thighs, gripping them with brute strength as he tensed. 

“Yeah, baby.” He murmured with a barely discernible nod. 

“I’m not wearing any underwear.” 

Frank’s entire being froze before a wide grin spread across his face.  

“You took out a sector of the mob, choked a man out with your thighs, and you weren’t wearing any underwear the entire time? I don’t know if I should be horny or jealous.” 

You smirked, pressing an open-mouthed kiss to his throat. “Why not both?” 

He grunted as you ground into him, and apparently decided he’d had enough, because in a swift, fluid motion, he flipped both of you over, placing you on your back as he inched his way down your body. He pulled the waistband of your pants down, revealing your unclothed pussy, and bit his bottom lip, groaning at the sight of it. He’d never get tired of seeing it – touching it – tasting it.  

“Baby, you have no idea what you do to me.” 

He looked at you with a mixture of awe and lust, and you instinctively spread your legs wider to give him easier access. He licked his lips, falling to his elbows and hovering so closely above you that you could feel the tickle of his breath against your clit.  

He ran a finger through your slick folds, playing with the wetness that he found pooling there. When he lightly brushed over your clit, you couldn’t stop the yelp from coming out of your mouth. He huffed a breath, sending heat over your clit, which morphed your outburst into a sultry moan. 

“Something wrong, sweetheart?” 

You were lying flat on your back, eyes rolling into the back of your head, and pointedly not looking at how incredibly hot he was with his head buried between your thighs, but you could hear the smirk in his voice as he teased you. 

“Frank.” You whispered, lifting your hips closer to his lips.  

“Yes, dove?” He played coy so prettily, especially as he pressed a gentle kiss to the apex of your core. 

“T-touch me. Please.” 

“All you had to do was ask, pretty girl.” 

Before you could offer a retort to his incredulous sarcasm, his tongue was between your legs, and you couldn’t form a coherent thought, let alone offer a verbal response. He mapped out your core with his tongue, circling your clit with an expertise that still surprised you, even though he’d proven to you many times how skilled he was with his mouth.  

“Oh sh-shit, Frank,” you whined, arching your back.  

He attacked your mound hungrily, like it was his last day on Earth, and you were his last meal. His tongue swiped over your entrance, coating his mouth with your intense wetness. He smiled as he prodded the hole with his tongue, determined to drink as much of you as he could.  

“You want my fingers, baby?” He prompted, emphasizing his question with a subtle suck on your clit.  

“Fuck yes, Frankie. Please.” You whined, tears pricking behind your tightly closed eyes. You were already so close. As soon as he pushed his fingers into you, you’d be- 

You were clenching around his fingers before you could finish the thought, erupting into an intense orgasm that had you crying out. He pumped his fingers in and out of you while he sucked on your clit, drawing out the pleasure in your body. For a moment, you couldn’t figure out where your pleasure began and ended, only focused on the way Frank seemed to know exactly how to lengthen your orgasms beyond what you were used to. 

It’d been that way since you’d slept with him the very first time, and you had half convinced yourself that it was a fluke until he did it again thirty minutes later. Frank was a talented man, and you probably didn’t even know the half of it yet. 

“You always taste so good, baby.” He mumbled, still pumping his fingers in and out of you at a leisurely pace.  

You were a panting, incoherent mess underneath him, and he loved it. He reveled in watching you come apart, and if he had it his way, he’d do it to you repeatedly, all day, every day of the week.  

He continued pumping his fingers in and out of your cunt, entranced by the slickness you’d spilled all over his fingers. The way your pussy fluttered around his hand, combined with the noises you were making as you inched closer to a second orgasm, were enough to bring a man to his knees.  

“Frankie,” you cried, breathing erratically, “’m gonna ​​​​cum.” 

“Good, baby.” He breathed, beginning to arch his fingers towards the spot that would send you toppling over the edge. “Cum for me, sweet girl. Wanna feel it.” 

The knot deep in your belly began to unravel at the sound of his gravelly voice commanding you to cum. When his fingertips brushed over the spot deep inside of you, you nearly screamed, completely falling apart underneath him. Your eyes rolled back as he finger-fucked you through the earth-shattering orgasm. Your legs, which he’d propped on his shoulders for easy access earlier, shook fiercely. 

He pressed gentle kisses onto your calf and ankle as you slowly came back to Earth, a soothing gesture that grounded you more than he knew. When you were finally coherent enough to open your eyes, he slowly stood from his stooped position, lightly setting your legs on the mattress.  

In a firm, but still somehow soft motion, he turned you on to your front, and you instinctively knew how to arrange yourself after that. Without prompting from him, you bent your knees underneath you, preening forward to rest your forehead on the mattress. You arched your back, clenching your toes in anticipation as he shuffled around the room.  

The sound of the condom wrapper being split open made your pussy flutter in delight, and Frank chuckled as you subtly shook your hips in eagerness.  

“Ready, sweet girl?” He asked, running his hands over your bare ass before lightly slapping it. 

You had to stop yourself from mumbling the words ‘I was born ready’. You were, but it sounded desperate, and you couldn’t give him all the power here.  

“Please, Frankie.” You mewled, slowly swaying your hips, “Please fuck me.” 

He pressed into you, sliding until he was completely surrounded by your pussy. You both groaned in unison as he stretched you out, waiting until you pressed yourself back against him – your way of saying move.  

He thrusted into you in a steady rhythm, drilling so deeply that you had to clench the comforter in your hands. Sex between the two of you had always felt right, like a deeper connection was being made every time you allowed vulnerability to squeeze its way into your relationship. It was a give and take, a push and a pull, a dance between two people who were so right for each other, even though they frequently did morally wrong things. You were convinced you’d never had proper sex until you met Frank, and he was more than happy to prove that to you. 

“Fuck, sweetheart.” He grunted, digging his fingers into your hips. “So. Fucking. Wet.” 

He thrusted after each word to emphasize his statement. You preened at the animalistic pace he set. The air was filled with breathy moans and skin connecting with skin, interspersed with Frank’s quiet grunts as he pushed himself closer and closer to the edge. 

When you arched your back even further, pushing your upper body into the mattress to give him even deeper access, his thrusts faltered. He paused for a moment, and then began thrusting into you harder and faster than before. It didn’t take long before he shuttered against you, cumming so hard that he nearly collapsed on top of you. He just barely had the wherewithal to catch himself, and he spent at least a minute and a half standing in that hunched position, panting over you. 

When he pulled out, you shuttered, turning over so you could watch him walk to the bathroom to dispose of the condom. He returned with a warm, damp washcloth, and you tried not to get caught staring at his god-like body as he moved toward you. Frank was a confident man, but the way you gazed at him sometimes made him nervous. You stared at him like he was your endgame, and while that idea actually tended to excite him, the way you drooled over him made his cock twitch, and he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to satiate your lust. 

“Hell of a date night.” You breathed as he wiped you clean.  

He grinned, tossing the towel in the hamper before flopping down onto his stomach, watching you with gleaming eyes. You met his gaze, turning your head so that your noses were inches apart.  

“Thanks for the date, handsome.” You grinned. 

“Anything for you, baby. Did you have fun?”  

“Too much fun. I want to do it all over again.” You brought your finger up to his nose, lightly flicking it. 

“Oh, I think that can be arranged, sweetheart.” He teased, matching your smile. 

“You think so?”  

“Definitely.” He smiled a genuine smile, and you melted.  

​​So goddamn pretty.  

Tag List:

@xleiaorgana @mukbee @dilfs5678 @kokoterainonago666 @blackwidownat2814 @mymamalife @minervadashwood @emiemiemiii @h4rrys @messymissy @mylifeispainandiloveit @mossexe @fightmilk @spikedhe4rt @fictional-hooman @merleisapartygod @babyslyth @legocity2 @quackson03 @certifiedhunter @deliciousfestsalad @dumb-fawkin-bitch @americaarse @thatgirljayy @hiyabyeyababy @theesexystallion @scoliobean @myguiltypleasures21 @dnxgma @megmastersgf @alexxavicry @hallecarey1 @km-ffluv @chiaraxtargaryen @trulylavandedarling @D0wnbad @deliciousfestsalad @lilyevans1 @imagineadream @22carolina08 @definitelynotsugar @casualchaoticdevil @peachy-flxwr @nashja @xshewayout @blep--bloop

[tavs-tressym]

Delicious Denial - Chapter Three

(AO3 Link) | Master List

Rating: Explicit, 18+

Pairing: Astarion x Fem!Tav (You).

Word Count: 3700 (approx)

Tags: Fluff, eventual smut, domestic fluff, camp life, slow burn romance, sexual tension (A LOT).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A reimagining of the game's events if Tav had zero magical or fighting ability. But she's still pretty fucked up. 👍

(Lots of comforting camp life content.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Sorry for the wait, my lovelies. I was paralysed by the responsibility. Lol. <3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter Three - Allies

Finally, a bowl of stew is placed in your hands. The log in front of the fire is less than comfortable, but you don’t focus on it, there’s warmth, there’s murmurs of light conversation and there’s food. You take out the spoon and begin drinking straight from the bowl, drops leaking from the corners of your mouth as you gulp. There’s a muffled sound threatening to pull you away from the experience, but you choose to ignore it until the stew is gone. Removing the rim of the bowl from your lips, you catch your breath and find Gale beaming at you from the left corner of your eye. “Well, I haven’t received many compliments for my cooking over the years, but you two might have just made up for that.” He chuckles before returning to his own bowl. You look to your right to find Karlach wiping her mouth with her arm and holding an empty bowl with the other. You can’t help but laugh a little when you realise how synchronised you must have been.

Upon hearing your laughter, she looks at you, smiles and taps her, now satisfied, stomach. “Gods, finally, a hot meal! Why don’t you cook like this every night, Gale?”

“Living off of scavenged scraps is rarely bountiful, so I, for one, shall be savouring every drop.” Shadowheart chimed in, delicately sipping from her spoon. She is interrupted by Lae’zel loudly tearing some bread next to her, once halved, she looks at the beast she has conquered, proudly, before offering one half to Wyll. Shadowheart rolls her eyes and attempts to enjoy her meal again.

Adjacent to Gale, Astarion sits, leaning back, enjoying a cup of wine, swirling it in his hand. He seems… Bored. There is no bowl in his lap. He must have finished it before you saw him, you tell yourself… but there is no empty bowl to be found. You observe him, curiously. If things are as difficult as the others say, surely he’d be just as desperate to have his own portion. The others barely seem to notice or care. Odd. He feels your eyes on him, then catches them with his own. You resist the urge to look away. He adjusts and smiles in his typical, cocky way before raising the cup and greeting you with a graceful nod. You nod back, withholding a smile.

“So, Tav, would you care to tell us a little more about yourself?” Wyll asks between slurps of stew. You are stunned for a moment. How does one go about answering such a question?

“There’s not much to tell. I’d only bore you.” You say firmly, almost as a warning to prevent any further questions. Astarion raises an eyebrow and smirks at your answer. Shit. He’s going to pry.

“Oh, don’t leave us in suspense, darling. Go on, we’re all dying to know.” He’s trying to sound sarcastic, but you can tell he’s genuinely intrigued by you. He sips his wine, all the while staring directly into your golden eyes.

“If you’re looking for stories of glory or valour, I have none. I’m no adventurer. I’m not like any of you.” You find comfort in telling the truth, maybe this will be enough.

“Really?” He drags out the word, taking the time to inspect you, searching for more.

“Well, if it’s any consolation, I didn’t think of myself as the adventuring type either, before all this. I’m not sure if any of us did.” Gale interjects, attempting to offer some empathy in the midst of Astarion’s grilling. You essentially scoff at his words, you’ve seen them in battle, how they fit right in, the idea that this wasn’t their first choice of career is almost laughable.

“Hm, I’m sure…” You pause, debating on whether or not to be honest about your abilities. Annoyingly, the conclusion seems to be that here, honesty is essential to your survival. They need to know that if you found yourself in the middle of a fight, you would be dead in seconds. “Look… I’ve… I’ve never touched a weapon, nor have I ever even tried to channel the weave, for that matter.” There is silence…

“Chk… We should have killed her when we had the chance, she’ll only slow us down. Useless k’chakhi.” Fury. That’s all you feel as you and Lae’zel glare at each other. You try to push down your anger enough to get words out.

“What the fuck did you just call me?!” You begin to stand to assert whatever dominance you can over her and beat the clear imbalance in both of your skills. For a moment, you swear you can hear Astarion quietly giggling in anticipation.

“Woah! Now, now, there’s no need for that. Let’s all calm down and think about this for a second.” Wyll saves the day by bringing both of your emotions down, a boil to a simmer.

“Tav… You really mean to say that you’ve… Never been in a fight?” Karlach asks. You sigh, shrug and sit back down. You’ve felt and witnessed immense pain, suffering and recently even inflicted some yourself. But a fight? A fair fight?

“No.” There is more silence… It lasts for some time…

“Can you cook?” Gale breaks the tension, gesturing to his, now empty, bowl. You raise an eyebrow in his direction, unsure of where he’s going with this. You nod, slowly. “Clean?” You nod again. “Mend things? Clothes and such?” You nod. “Well then. It seems to me like we have our very own campsitter.” A campsitter… It’s certainly less glamorous than what they’ll be doing every day… but it’s safe. And that’s all you want, you don’t care how. You push a smile onto your face and nod a final time, looking around expectantly at the other faces around you, who mostly seem to agree with Gale’s assessment. You breathe a sigh of relief.

Empty bowls are stacked and one by one, your companions excuse themselves and make their way to their tents for the night. Tents… Shit, you don’t have a tent. “Shit, I don’t have a tent…” You exclaim to yourself. Suddenly, you become aware of the night air that grips the large areas of exposed skin displayed by your pelt dress. It’s cold. You find Gale who seems to be in the middle of stretching and getting ready for bed. “Do you have any spare fabric around here? I need to make myself a tent for the night.”

Gale sucks air between his teeth. “Regrettably, no, we tend to travel light. We weren’t really prepared for a last minute addition to the group…” You sigh and run your hand through your long, dark hair as you think, his voice breaks your thought. “I suppose, just for tonight, you could share with one of us?” Your eyes widen and suddenly, your feelings of safety dissipate.

You had briefly considered your living situation before agreeing to stay with these people, but, somehow, the prospect of willingly being unconscious in their presence hadn’t crossed your mind until now. It sparks a swirl of anxiety in your chest. “Oh… I… I don’t think I’m okay with that.”

“Of course. Perfectly understandable.” Gale nods affirmatively before taking his chin between his fingers, thinking. You look around and begin to turn away. “Wait here a moment.” He ducks into his tent, you hear the rustling and rattling of various knick-knacks and trinkets. He emerges and presents you with a robe and a blanket. “Here we are. Consider these as a gift and an apology for our poor hospitality.” His unexpected kindness throws you off for a moment, causing you to stumble over your words. You were fully prepared to leave and solve your problem alone by roughing it by the fire.

“Oh- I- th-thank you…” You hold your arms out and he places them in your hands.

“I just hope that these and the fire are enough for tonight. Tomorrow, we will find you more adequate lodgings, I assure you.” Before turning away, he looks directly into your eyes with a tender expression. You match him, or at least attempt to, feelings of tenderness haven't always translated themselves accurately on your face. But that doesn’t stop you from making the effort.

It’s quiet for the first time since you arrived here, and for the first time in a long while, you are alone. You walk towards the campfire, surrounded by closed tents. A distant owl hooting softly, crickets chirping peacefully, the wind singing sweetly. You close your eyes and breathe the cool air, absorbing the tranquillity. You take the robe and walk past the outskirts of camp. A lake waits for you, not too far away, but far enough to remove your pelts without the fear of prying eyes.

And so you begin, laying the robe on a nearby rock, your, now free, hands graze over the thick fur that covers you. It’s barely held together as it is, so you feel no regret when tearing each pelt away from your body. As it turns out, goblins don’t make skilled tailors. You lay them in a neat pile as you reveal more and more of your skin to the cold air, the ends of your hair tickling the small of your back. You trace your fingers over your plump surfaces, searching for undiscovered cuts and bruises. You bend, rounded flesh folding like silk beneath you as you inspect your legs. Every now and then, your finger dips as it reaches the wavy, plum coloured marks that adorn your body. Taking note of the new additions to your injuries list, you check your undergarments for any holes that need mending. Somehow, they seem to be in relatively good shape, although every part of you and your clothing is in desperate need of cleansing. You look out to the lake, longingly, but decide not to risk it. It must be freezing, and who knows what’s in there.

Another time, perhaps…

Reaching for the robe, you take in it’s appearance for the first time. It’s a beautiful viridian green, the hem embellished with gold coloured thread. The outside is like velvet to the touch, the inside is textured and warm, you can’t wait to feel it shielding your body. You carefully pull it on and secure it around your waist. There’s no restriction or tightness, just comfort, clinging to your curves. It’s more modest than before which is nice, however, although you found the previous garment distasteful, you begin to miss the sight of your own skin, so you allow the neckline to fall a little further down and ensure the skirt’s slit can be traced all the way up to your right hip. For an item of clothing that wasn’t made for you, it fits remarkably well and the way you’ve chosen to wear it flatters your shape wonderfully. As you tie the final knot around your waist, you feel something. You feel eyes.

“Well, what do we have here?” A familiar voice is heard, coming from behind you. You don’t need to look to know who it is. You scoff as you finish up and turn to him. Astarion is resting on a tree by his shoulder, very obviously scanning your new look with his intense gaze.

“Great, you’re a pervert too?” You rest one hand on your hip and angrily wait for his explanation.

“You think so little of me, darling, I’m hurt!” He feigns being wounded. A smile threatens to creep onto your face at his performance. He’s funny. But no, you pull it back almost immediately. “I swear, I just got here, I didn’t see a thing.” He crosses his heart with one hand and an earnest grin. He takes a few steps closer, you step back, wanting to maintain some distance. “Come on, let me see.” He makes a gesture, urging you to twirl and show off. You can’t help but laugh.

“Seriously?” You raise an eyebrow and lean back, further into your hip.

“Oh come now, can’t I appreciate a beautiful thing when I see it?” He looks you up and down, even more obviously this time. You scoff once again but stop before you say anything else, instead you choose to grin, take some of your skirt in one hand and twirl, ending with a grand, performative bow.

“Happy?”

“Mmm, I must say, it looks much better on you than Gale.” You laugh loudly for a moment. His grin falters to a warm smile for a split second.

“So, are you going to explain why I found you staring at me in the middle of nowhere now?” He stops smiling completely and looks to the floor, like he’s searching for something. 

“Hmm…” He finds your eyes again. “We all have our little secrets, don’t we, darling?” You sigh disappointedly.

“Well, that’s just annoying.”

“Isn’t it?” He steps closer again, this time, you stay put. “Goodnight, Tav.” He turns away and walks further into the forest.

“Goodnight, Astarion.” He halts and turns his head just enough for you to see his smile before disappearing completely into the trees.

You gather your things and make your way back to the dimming fire. You add fuel and breathe life back into it. You look around, each tent occupied, but Astarion’s. The temptation to snoop is very much there, but surely he’d know. You aren’t exactly the stealthy type. The warmth embraces you as you huddle under your new blanket. Eyes close.

You dream in fragments, but instead of pictures, they’re feelings. Fractured pieces of happiness, comfort, hope. And then… There’s the rest… __________________________________________

That familiar feeling of waking up, wanting more. The smell of burnt wood fills your nose, light burns your eyes, you adjust, back cracking, neck aching.

Gods, I hope they find something better for me to sleep on today.

Everyone is still asleep, Astarion’s tent now sealed.

What was he doing last night?

You rub your eyes and get up. There’s no better time to get started on breakfast. You head to the makeshift food station to assess the situation. It could be worse, there’s eggs, milk and some greens. Seven mouths to feed is a bit daunting, you’ve only cooked for 2 people at most. Although over the years, you developed a bit of a talent for it, it’s still certainly nerve wracking. You beat the eggs with the milk, chop the greens, stoke the fire and fry omelette after omelette until the main plate is stacked high. Your ingredients have been stretched as far as they can go and remarkably, it looks like you’ll be able to feed everyone. Slowly, companions begin to emerge from their tents, following the delicious smell of breakfast.

You stand, washing the utensils and dishes you used, hair tied up with stragglers escaping and Gale’s apron tied firmly around your waist. “Gods, what is that smell?!” Karlach’s voice sounds surprisingly nearby, she’s panting. Did… Did she run? You quickly turn your body to meet her. “Oh! Er- Breakfast?”

“Oh fuck yes! Ooo if I could, I’d squeeze you so hard right now!” You giggle, happy to see her so excited and happy to have missed out on the excruciating hugs that she no doubt gives. You hand her a plate with a fresh omelette on top. “Aw, thanks Tav!” She takes it away and shows it off to the rest of the group who begin to form a line. One by one you hand them a plate, each showing gratitude in response. Well, aside from Lae’zel who says nothing. Oh, and Astarion who… Didn’t even join the line. He sits by the fire with the rest, empty handed.

Does he just… not eat?

You fix him and yourself a plate and bring it over. “Here.” You hold it in front of him so he can smell it. He looks at it, then you.

“Thank you darling, but I’m not hungry.” He begins to push it away.

“You didn’t eat last night either, you must be starving. Come on, I promise my cooking isn’t terrible.”

He chuckles. “I don’t doubt that, my dear, but as I said, I’m not hungry.” You look around to see the others’ reaction, they are mostly trying to ignore the conversation, but occasionally you get some glances. They’re hard to read.

“Are you sure?” You ask, vexed. He nods. “Alright… Suit yourself. Does anyone want seconds?” Immediately several hands shoot up, you chuckle and take it away, cutting it up into even slices to hand out.

Finally, you sit with them to enjoy your share. You slip the apron off and set it to one side. Knife and fork in hand, you begin eating, once you look up, you notice that Gale, who is sat next to you, is stealing glances at you in his robe. “What’s the matter? Did I get something on it?” You start searching the fabric for possible stains.

“No, no. It looks great-er-good-fine. Yes, fine.” His stuttered response makes you smile, he’s blushing. You continue eating, every now and then, checking to see if his cheeks are still bright red, they consistently are. The others occasionally check you out too, though less frequently and a lot more casually. Even Lae’zel seems somewhat interested in your new outfit. Astarion, however, is more focused on Gale, watching him intensely out of the corner of his eye. “So, er… You wanted some camp supplies, is there anything else we can get for you?” Gale asks, avoiding looking at you.

“Hmm… Yes actually, maybe a change of clothes?”

“Done.” He smiles.

“I was wondering, the nearby lake, is it safe? To bathe in, I mean.”

Gale clears his throat at the thought of you bathing before speaking. “Y-yes. We made sure of that, don’t you worry.”

“Oh, good.” His eyes are wide, still avoiding looking at you. You chuckle to yourself at his reaction. You spot Astarion, no longer is Gale in the corner of his eye, he is now in full, direct view. It’s difficult to read his expression.

You finish up and take everyone’s plates back to the station. Everyone gets ready for their day, slipping on armour and equipping weapons. Karlach in particular looks rather dashing in her armour. The heroic look suits her and you aren’t the only one who seems to notice. Shadowheart watches her adjust the equipment from afar. You smile as you watch the silent, one-sided interaction between the two. Shadowheart notices you and looks away, sheepishly. You turn away to give her some privacy and continue washing the dishes. Karlach yells a goodbye in your direction, you turn and wave a wet hand in the air as you watch the odd gathering of companions leave the camp.

You spend the rest of the day cleaning and preparing ingredients for the evening meal. At about midday, Wyll arrives, alone. “Hey, Tav- Woah… The camp looks great… And is that dinner being prepared already? I think you might be the best addition to our group yet!” He laughs, appreciating your work.

You shrug, nonchalantly. “Just doing my bit. Why are you back so early?”

“Oh, yes, well, usually someone comes back to drop off heavy loads of things we find along the way, and today I pulled the short straw.” He smiles, rubbing the back of his head. “Oh, by the way, we stopped off at the grove. It turns out the tieflings are just about finished preparing to leave. They want to come to our camp tonight to celebrate.”

“They’re leaving? But didn’t you just secure the grove?”

“Yes, well, it wasn’t their home to begin with, they were just looking for a safe passage to leave.”

“I see.” The memory of the few tieflings that stood up to Minthara and her army cross your mind. You admire them and their courage, then you feel a pang of guilt, for you were the one who put them in danger. Then you realise that if you saw them, they saw you…

On the wrong side…

“Anyway, here’s today’s load, would you mind sorting through it? I think the things you requested are in here too.” He drops a large, heavy backpack at your feet.

“Of course, I’ll see you later.” He smiles and bows elegantly, you giggle and curtsy back (not so elegantly) before he leaves.

You go through the contents of the backpack finding various potions, magical items and armour pieces. You pull out a large fabric, dark green with flecks of gold, very similar colours to the robe you’re wearing. As you stretch it out you see a large splodge of blood, you grimace and roll it back up, you don’t want to know how it got there. You add it to the laundry basket. Lastly, you take out a burnt orange shirt, a brown corset and a pair of dark brown leather pants. You take the corset and hold it close.

Finally! Some support!

As comfortable as it can be wearing nothing on your chest, it can really make your back ache. This should definitely help. Thank the gods that there are other women in this party who would know to look for these things.

You organise and pack away the items, then begin doing laundry in the lake. A shadow of the blood stain is still on the fabric but it will have to do. You hang it all up to dry and gather more materials to set up your very own tent. Now, to pick a spot… It seems that the only option that’s big and safe enough is between Karlach and Astarion’s tents. You begin to place the materials down and plan it out, exactly how you want it.

Propping up sticks and hammering them into the ground, laying down the pelts from earlier to act as a rug, hanging little, handmade decorations at the entrance and finally, once dry, draping the fabric over it all and securing it. It looks cosy enough, you sit inside for a moment, enjoying your new shelter when you hear commotion in the distance. You hear a few voices that you recognise, and many you don’t. It seems the party has begun.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next Chapter

Previous Chapter

[graygiantess]

Top 10 favorite fics at the moment. Ready? Go!

OMG, a top ten?! Okay, this was tough, but actually a really fun list to compile! Thank you for asking! ❤

Also, this is so revealing RE: what kind of sicko I am, lol. 😅

1) Practical Ethics by @prouvaireafterdark I am not normal about this fic. I love Armand and Daniel’s relationship in it so much, and seeing Loustat from Armand’s perspective is so fascinating. It will punch you in the feels repeatedly.

2) I must here be confined by you by @faerywhimsy Human Daniel and Armand navigate (starting) a D/s relationship. You can see me being very normal about this fic in its comment section.

3) His rightful home by @louisredsuit I'm not normally a Loustat girly, but this fic has me feral. It's very sexy but what I love most is actually how deeply it goes into Louis’s personality and motivations. The way it explores his relationship with himself and with his family is 😘👌

4) The Fledgling by @akinmablog One of the few fics on this list that actually has the characters as vampires. Set in the 70s and has Armand, Loustat and Claudia all living together when a fledgling vampire Daniel is literally dumped on their doorstep.

5) Home for Christmas by @bandedbulbussnarfblat Daniel needs a place to stay and once again ends up on Armand’s doorstep. Armand agrees to let him stay on the condition that Daniel pretends to be his boyfriend for the holidays. I love fake dating and am very eagerly awaiting the next chapter (she hints extremely subtly 👀).

6) Where in the world is Daniel Molloy? By Moonlightwhispers. Daniel goes missing and Armand isn’t worried about it. He's not, okay? He is NOT WORRIED! Devil’s Minion deliciousness. There's long pauses between updates but I squeal every time I get the update notification.

7) Good Luck, Daniel Molloy by Sunshineramblings. This has book!Armand and show Old Maniel. I'm very hesitant about fics that mix show and book versions of characters, but I love how tender these two are together.

8) General shout out to Cherhorowitz8's romcom AUs. They're so much fun and she never misses. Her fic Eligible had the group chat in such a chokehold.

9) None of Them Your True Nature by Anonymouswords123 A murder mystery starring Loustat. Has me on the edge of my seat, hyperventilating and pulling out the big whiteboard for all my theories (most of which were WRONG, a certain plottwist gagged me so hard).

10) Wolfsbane by @brightfelon Armandstat in a medieval setting. The few chapters that are out so far had me gnawing my own arm. 🤞🙏for an update after RIL and Twelve Nights wrap.

These are all longer fics that are still in progress. Life has been kicking my ass lately so I'm sure I've missed some great fics. If anyone knows any fics they think should be on this list, I'd love to hear your recs!

[pedroscurls]

Title: The Teacher (Part 4).

CHAPTER TITLE: Flashbacks

Character(s): Joel Miller, Reader (female, first person POV) Summary: Your relationship with Joel develops.  Word Count: 5,240 Author's Note: So, we’re definitely gonna dive a bit more deeper into the Reader’s history after the outbreak, so please be wary! Warnings are listed below. We’re in for an angsty chapter, but I promise it ends on a good note. (btw, this chapter definitely got way too ahead of me lol, enjoy) Warning: Mention of implied rape, killing, violence

Maria had visited you the following day. While Joel brought you comfort, so did Maria. You wondered if it was because she saved your life; though, she had always been so welcoming and understanding since the moment you met her. She never put any unnecessary pressure on you to open up or discuss things you weren’t ready to talk about. 

“So,” she began with a smile. “You and Joel seem to hit it off.”

You blushed instantly, trying to hide your feelings for the man. “He’s nice,” was all you said.

“Just nice?” Maria chuckled.

“He’s becoming a good friend,” you smiled. 

Maria gave you a knowing look, her head tilting in amusement. “Well, you must be really special.” 

“Why’s that?”

“Joel just doesn’t normally like to make friends,” Maria admitted. “It’s like he’s a different man when you’re around though. I mean, I’ve never seen him smile or laugh this much and I’ve known the man for years.”

You blush deepened and you shrugged a shoulder. “That’s a good thing, right?”

Maria nodded with a smile. “Oh my god, are you kidding? It’s the greatest thing. He’s less of a grouch.”

You laughed to yourself as your mind drifted to Joel. You had only been at Jackson for a couple of days and already, you had developed a crush on your next door neighbor. 

“Well, I suppose I should say you’re welcome,” you teased. 

Maria laughed at that, leaning back against the couch. “Aside from that, how are you doing?”

You cleared your throat, dropping your eyes for a moment. “Doing okay.”

“You sure?”

“I just–” You sighed. “I’m still getting used to everything. You and your father built this amazing place and don’t get me wrong, I’m so grateful, but it’s just– It’s a lot.”

“That’s understandable,” Maria replied. “Everyone has their own process… You had been out there by yourself for a while so being here, in a place like Jackson, it can be overwhelming.”

You nodded in agreement. “I’m grateful, Maria. I am–”

She gave you a small smile. “Move at your own pace. Trust me, we want you to be comfortable here and we want you to feel safe. So, however long that takes, so be it. Just– Don’t rush it.”

You sighed, glancing over at her. You could see the genuine look on her face; her eyes were soft, displaying an emotion of empathy, and you felt a weight being lifted off your shoulders. “Thank you, Maria. I think once I start teaching, Jackson will start to feel like home.”

Maria nodded, “With that being said, I wanted to give you some updates.”

Your interest piqued and you listened intently. “Oh?”

“We’re building the classrooms right now and we’re deciding to put it in the middle of the community. There are plenty of parents who work around that general area, so it seemed like the best place to have the school,” Maria began. “We’re also going to have a meeting with the families next week so that they can meet you, you can meet them, and you can also meet the kiddos.”

You grinned as your mind drifted to the upcoming week. You figured that once you started meeting the kids and started teaching that you wouldn’t be so on edge; you hoped that Jackson would at least start feeling like a place where you could finally start living again. 

“I’m excited,” you replied. “I really can’t wait.”

“How do you feel about coming with me to the bar tonight?” Maria asked. “No pressure though.”

“Maybe for one drink.” 

She grinned. “Great. I’ll see you tonight.”

—

Later that night, you walked into the bar and noticed Maria immediately. You were wearing your boots with white fitted shirt tucked in with your light washed jeans and a flannel on top. She handed you a beer as you sat on a stool near the counter, looking around with a smile. 

It was cozy. There were string lights hanging from the ceiling, music filtering through the room, but you noticed how warm and welcoming it felt. Plenty of people had come up to introduce themselves, even meeting some of the parents and expressing their excitement for the school opening up. It started to feel like you were part of this community and you felt all anxiety and worries disappear when you started to get more comfortable. 

“Having fun?” Maria asked, leaning against the counter of the bar as she noticed you were halfway finished with your beer. 

“Surprisingly, yeah,” you smiled. “Thank you for inviting me out.”

“Anytime,” she grinned, pointing towards your beer. “Want another one?”

You shook your head. “One’s enough, thank you.”

Maria nodded and then grabbed your hand, motioning towards the dance floor. “You dance?”

“It’s been a while,” you replied, following her eagerly. “I might make a fool out of myself.”

Maria laughed and kept a hold of your hand. “Don’t we all?” 

“Fair point.” When she released your hand, you let your body sway to the music. The effects of the alcohol were burning through your veins, allowing you to fully calm down and just embrace the moment. Just a couple of days ago, you were so sure that you were going to die, but then Maria saved you and here you were, feeling surprisingly content and happy. 

“You can dance!” She exclaimed, her arms raising in the air as she danced to the music as well. 

You smiled, downing the rest of your beer and setting it on the counter. Returning to the dance floor, you shut your eyes and continued to sway, moving your hips rhythmically to the beat of the song. 

Tommy and Joel had walked into the bar with a groan. Their patrol was easy, but tiring. There were no signs of any Infected or any threats, so it was a good day. When they entered the building though, both men were surprised to see a crowd forming in the middle of the dance floor.

“That’s new,” Tommy said, ordering two beers. 

“Hm,” Joel said. “I’m only havin’ one beer and then I’m callin’ it a night. My back hurts.”

Tommy laughed to himself, handing his older brother a beer and shaking his head. “Alright, old man. One beer, that’s all.” 

Joel shut his eyes for a moment, taking a long swig of his beer as he felt himself slowly relax. Though, when he heard Tommy gasp, Joel opened his eyes to look over at his brother.

“What?”

“Look,” Tommy said, pointing to the dance floor. 

Joel turned his attention to the dance floor, his eyes immediately finding you. Though, his eyes drifted to the rest of your body, watching your hips move expertly to the song that was playing in the room. He grabbed his beer and took another long swig as he forced himself to look away.

“Looks like she’s havin’ fun,” Tommy smiled. “And she’s havin’ fun with my girl.”

Joel just nodded.

“Joel,” Tommy said, nudging his brother. 

“I should get goin’,” Joel said, eyes flickering over to you.

“Oh, come on. You know you don’t wanna leave.”

“Well, she’s havin’ fun and I don’t wanna–”

Tommy shook his head, calling out Maria’s name. You looked over at the sound of Tommy’s voice and immediately noticed Joel. Your cheeks had turned red and you removed your flannel once it had gotten a bit too warm. You were smiling though, following Maria to Tommy and Joel. Your eyes though hadn’t left the older man’s; once more, it felt like everyone else in the room had disappeared and the only person you saw was him.

Joel. 

“Hey baby. How was the patrol?” Maria asked, kissing Tommy’s cheek.

Tommy wrapped his arm around Maria, holding her close. “Was fine,” he said. “Nothing too out of the ordinary.” 

Joel didn’t reply. He kept his eyes on you once you were now standing near him. He wanted nothing more than just to sweep you off your feet and take you back home, but he couldn’t. He shouldn’t. 

“Wanna dance?” Maria asked Tommy, giving her husband a look to signal that they should give you and Joel some space.

“With you? Always. I’ll see you later Joel.” Tommy then turned to you and winked. “Nice moves you got there.”

You blushed, looking over at the younger brother. “It’s no longer a secret.”

Maria chuckled. “Now I’m wondering what else you got hiding.”

You laughed, shaking your head as the couple moved to the dance floor. Turning your attention back to Joel, you noticed how he was avoiding your eyes, sipping at his beer. 

“Um,” you started. “I’m glad you’re home safe.”

“Me too.” Joel replied. “How are you?” 

“Feeling really good,” you smiled. “Though, that may be the alcohol.”

“How much have you had to drink?”

“Just one beer,” you blushed. “I’m a lightweight.”

Joel chuckled. “Well, good to know. It’s good to see you havin’ fun.”

You nodded. “All thanks to Maria. She invited me out tonight.”

“That’s good,” Joel said, finishing his beer. He cleared his throat and motioned towards the door. “Well, have a good night.”

You furrowed your brow, pulling your flannel back on. “Wait, what?”

“I told Tommy I was just havin’ one drink and then I’m headin’ home.”

You bit your lower lip anxiously. “Would you be surprised if I told you that I told Maria the same thing?”

Joel’s eyes widened just slightly and when he looked you over, he noticed that you weren’t holding another bottle. So, he assumed that you were also now ready to go home. 

“Want some company on your walk home?” Joel asked.

“I’d like that.”

Maria and Tommy watched the both of you leave the bar and they turned to each other with a grin.

“They’re good for each other,” Maria told Tommy.

“Just as long as Joel gets outta his head,” Tommy replied.

—

The walk home was quiet, but you both were taking your time getting home. There was no rush and you enjoyed each other’s company anyway.

“So,” Joel began. “You mentioned last night that you were married.”

You nodded, looking down at your feet. “I was, yeah.”

“Lucky man,” Joel commented.

You blushed, looking up at him as he kept his eyes forward. “You remind me of him actually.”

He arched a brow, glancing over at you. “That so?”

You both stopped walking once you were at your porch, turning to face each other. It was a quiet night, the outdoor string lights illuminating both of your features just right. Joel’s hands were in his pockets and your arms were crossed over your chest. 

You looked up at him, staring into his dark brown eyes. You wanted nothing more than to just kiss him, to feel his lips, to feel safe again.

“Yeah,” you replied. “You make me feel safe, Joel.”

Joel cleared his throat, looking down at you. He inched closer, taking his hand from his pocket to move a strand of hair away from your face. His hand lingered on your cheek as his thumb gently brushed against your soft skin. He smiled, feeling you lean against his touch. 

“M’glad,” he whispered. “You’re somethin’ else, you know that?”

Suddenly, you took a step back. The look on your face shifted instantly and it was no longer a look of desire, of want, but was replaced with a look of fear. You weren’t looking at Joel anymore. Instead, you were looking at a different man. A man from your past and when Joel took a step closer, you immediately raised your hands up.

“Don’t.”

“Darlin’–” 

“I said don’t,” you repeated. “Get away from me.”

Joel’s brows furrowed, but he stopped himself from moving closer to you. He didn’t know what caused the drastic shift, but he hated the way you were looking at him. The fear in your eyes, but the threatening stance you were in… It was like you were a different person. 

“Okay,” he whispered. “Okay.” 

“You don’t get to hurt me again,” you mumbled, dropping your hands to your sides as it curled into fists. Tears were filling your eyes and Joel was at a loss. He didn’t know how to calm you down, how to make you see that you were safe and that whoever you were seeing wasn’t reality. 

“Darlin’,” Joel repeated. “You’re in Jackson, okay? You’re safe. Ain’t no one gonna hurt you, I promise.” 

“Stop!” You exclaimed, looking around frantically. You were vulnerable and when you realized you didn’t have any weapons, you kept taking a step back to further your distance. It wasn’t until you tripped over your own feet that you had fallen backwards, passing out in the process.

“Shit,” Joel mumbled. He scooped you up into his arms and brought you inside your home, looking around quickly. He gently set you on the sofa and grabbed a match to light up a candle. It was too dark, even for him, so once the candle was lit, he set it on the coffee table and sighed. He didn’t know what had just happened and he wasn’t sure if he should even stay, but Joel couldn’t help but stare at you. 

You were sleeping, but you didn’t look peaceful. Your lips were formed into a pout and your brows were furrowed together. You had curled up into a ball once Joel set you on the couch and he could hear your quiet mumbling. It pained him to see you like this, especially since just an hour ago, you were dancing, smiling, and having fun. 

Joel opted to stay, at least until you woke up. His back was killing him and he was exhausted, but you were far more important than sleep at the moment. He had to wonder how often your flashbacks occurred; he was fortunate to have had someone nearby, whether it was Tess, Tommy, or Ellie. He wasn’t ever alone and it put a lot of things into perspective when he found out that you had been on your own for over a year. He couldn’t imagine it. 

It had been a couple of hours later when you awoke. You sat up in a quick motion, looking around the room and noticing the single candle that illuminated the living room. You noticed Joel had fallen asleep on the single loveseat, realizing what had happened. You felt embarrassed; you had tried to keep the negative parts of your past to yourself, but Joel had managed to see it firsthand. 

You tried to think about what had triggered you. You knew you were both sharing a moment. You remembered the feel of his hand on your cheek and how you had willingly leaned against his touch. Then, you remembered what he said.

“You’re somethin’ else, you know that?”

To anyone else, it could have been sweet and special, but to you, it brought back memories of a past that you had tried to forget. It had been a year after you left the QZ in Washington, stumbling upon a group who had been happy to take you in. You kept your guard up though, making sure to keep your head down and contribute in any way that you can. 

But the leader. The leader had a thing for you. 

He had cornered you one night and said those same words. You could still remember the sound of his voice, the feel of his body forcefully against yours, the pain you felt when he hit you every time you tried to scream for help… It was something you would never forget and hearing Joel say those words had practically transported you back to that moment. 

You slowly stood from the sofa, trying to quietly tiptoe down the hallway, but you didn’t get far. Joel had woken up and called your name in such a soft tone that you immediately looked over at him.

“I–I’m so sorry,” you whispered.

Joel stood with a low grunt, walking over to you slowly. “Ain’t gotta apologize.”

“That wasn’t your fault,” you mumbled. “It was– It was just my shit coming back and I’m sorry you had to see that.”

Joel stood in front of you. He understood exactly what that meant, and experienced it almost every night. “Hey…”

You bit your lip, bringing your eyes up at him. “Joel–”

“I’m here,” he replied. “For you.”

“Joel, you barely know me… We just met and–”

“You make me feel alive again,” Joel blurted out. He brought a hand to rub the back of his neck, sighing quietly. “M’sorry if that’s a bit too forward, but–”

Your response was to wrap your arms around him in a tight embrace. His scent filled your senses, causing your eyes to fall shut. When his arms moved around to wrap around your waist, you held onto him tighter. 

Joel was taken by surprise when he felt your body press against his and your arms wrap around his frame. It didn’t take long before his arms wrapped around you as well, which caused him to feel your arms tighten around him. It was comforting, holding you this way and inhaling your scent. It felt like home. 

He then buried his face against the side of your neck, his nose brushing against your skin. Joel could have held you like this forever. 

You let out a shaky breath when you felt him move to bury himself against your neck. You felt his facial hair tickle your skin and his hot breath breathing against you. You had only known Joel for a couple of days and yet, this felt normal; it felt like you belonged here, in his arms. 

You hadn’t felt this safe in so long. 

You both stayed in each other’s arms for a few more minutes before you slowly pulled back. Your arms remained around his shoulders and his hands moved to rest on your hips. The distance between you both were mere inches and you could feel his breath against you. 

“Thank you,” you whispered. 

“Anythin’ for a friend.” 

Friend. 

“You should probably get home.” You said, pulling away from him and immediately missing his warmth and his strong arms around you.

Joel nodded, biting the inside of his cheek. “You gonna be okay?” 

“I will be. I’ve survived this long,” you let a small smile line your lips. “I’ll be fine.”

“Well, I’m just right next door. Don’t hesitate to come over if you need anythin’, okay?”

You nodded. “Okay.”

Before Joel left, he pulled you into another hug, his eyes falling shut as he felt his entire body relax. It had been so long since he felt this way, but there was just something about you that made every concern, doubt, and worry that Joel felt, disappear. 

“Goodnight, darlin’.”

You smiled against him, reveling in this moment. “Goodnight, Joel.”

—

It had been two weeks since that incident. You were slowly getting used to Jackson, now feeling like a part of the community. You still had nightmares, which happened more often than you liked to admit, but you kept it to yourself. Even when Joel asked how you were doing everyday, you had lied to him and said everything was great. You were glad he didn’t pry even further, simply just nodding and going about his day.

Since that night, it seemed like you and Joel had gotten closer. When he had the early morning patrols, he would come by your house with Ellie for dinner that it had become a routine for the three of you. You enjoyed their company though and Ellie knew just exactly how to get your mind off things; she was truly a breath of fresh air and you always found yourself laughing and having a good time with the young girl.

The school was finished; two rooms connected with a variety of small tables and chairs in each room. You had already met the parents and the children, thoroughly excited to start teaching again. You were going to teach all ages, but you had found that there were more younger kids than there were older ones. It seemed like most of the students you were going to teach would be around five to six years old with a small group of ten to twelve year olds. 

You had started teaching and it gave you a sense of purpose and reminded you so much of the old world. It was tough in the beginning, but once you settled into a routine, the kids had found it so enjoyable. You ended every day in the reading corner that you created. All of your students gathered around you, listening intently as you read to them; each day was a different book, but your students were so engaged.

You always stayed until each of your students were picked up by their parents or family members. One day, however, a little girl stayed later than usual. She was sitting at the table, drawing on a piece of paper when you walked over to her.

“Hi Rosie,” you smiled. Her hair was curly, messy, and sat on her shoulders. She looked up at you and flashed you a toothless grin. She had told you all about losing her front teeth and how excited she was that she was now getting bigger. 

She called you by your name with the Miss in front of it and then lifted the piece of paper for you to see.

“I drew a picture.”

“I see that, it’s beautiful.”

“It’s Jackson,” she grinned proudly.

“Looks exactly like it,” you smiled.

You were interrupted by the sound of footsteps running into the room. You looked up and noticed it was Rosie’s father. He was out of breath and had begun to apologize.

“I’m so sorry,” he said. Rosie grinned at the sight of her father, raising her arms to be picked up. “Patrol ran late.”

“No worries. Rosie here was just drawing a picture,” you smiled. 

“Thank you,” he said. “For staying with her. Having this school– It’s been a relief.”

You nodded. The other man was a bit older than you, taller, and definitely muscular. He had blue eyes, brown hair, and dimples whenever he smiled. He was handsome, but he definitely was no Joel Miller. 

“I’m glad,” you replied. “It’s been great to teach again.”

“I’m Jack. Rosie’s dad.” Rosie was already resting her head against her father’s shoulder, her eyes falling shut. 

“I remember,” you said. “We met during the meeting with the other parents.”

“Right,” he chuckled. “Sorry, it’s just been–” Jack sighed. “It’s been tough. Patrols are getting tougher. We’re encountering more infected…”

“Well, if you’d like, I don’t mind staying a bit longer with Rosie until you get back to Jackson after patrols.” You offered as your mind drifted to what he had said. Infected. You had killed plenty: clickers, runners, stalkers, even encountered a Bloater once, and it still terrified you. 

“Really?” He asked. “I mean, that’d be great, but you don’t have to. I can figure it out and–”

You shook your head, taking the drawing that Rosie had done and handing it to Jack. “I don’t mind, really. It’s okay.”

Jack smiled, letting out a sigh of relief. “You’re amazing. I owe you.”

You simply gave him a smile. “I’m your daughter’s teacher. It’s part of my job. Don’t worry about it.”

—

You were surprised to see Joel sitting on your porch once you finally walked home. When he saw you, he gave you a small smile and stood from his seat. You walked up your steps and looked over at him, giving him a tight hug.

“Hi,” you said.

Joel returned the hug and immediately missed your warmth once you pulled away to open the door. “Long day?”

You nodded, though you couldn’t stop thinking about what Jack had mentioned about his patrols. It was brief and not a lot of information, but it was enough for you to start ruminating on. Joel followed you inside and you quickly lit up a few candles to illuminate your living room and he noticed how quiet you had gotten again. It was something he took note of for the past couple of weeks. 

“You okay?”

“Yeah,” you lied. “I’m just tired.”

“Should I go?”

Then, you blurted. “What’s going on outside of Jackson?”

“What?”

“Joel…”

He sighed. “Nothin’. We got it handled.”

“What’s going on?”

“Darlin’, you ain’t gotta worry about it.”

“Well, I am!” You exclaimed, not realizing how loud you had gotten. For weeks, you were putting on a facade, a front, masking your emotions and pushing away the nagging thoughts and flashbacks. 

Joel was taken aback, looking at you with a furrowed brow. “It’s under control.”

“You’re lying,” you said. “Don’t lie to me, Joel.”

Joel sighed, running a hand over his face. “You’re safe here, in Jackson.”

“Bullshit,” you spat. 

“What’s really goin’ on?”

“I can’t relax,” you mumbled. “I can’t sleep and when I do, I wake up in a sweat and frantic state.” You admitted. “Teaching is a good distraction, but I just thought– I thought I’d be okay.”

“You are,” he sighed. “I’m tellin’ you the truth. We have it under control.”

“The last time someone told me that our entire group was overrun,” you replied almost immediately. “So please… I can handle the truth.”

“The infected…” Joel let out an exhale. “We’re encounterin’ more of them on our patrols, but darlin’, we do have it under control. It’s just tiring.”

“Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“I didn’t wanna scare you.”

“I’m not this fragile little thing that you have to handle with care,” you said. “Stop treating me like I can’t handle myself, like I can’t handle what’s out there. I’ve done it! I’ve experienced it! I was out there, on my own, for over a year!” 

“Okay,” he said. “Okay,” Joel repeated, trying to step closer to you but noticed how you had moved back and away from him.

“You don’t know half the things I’ve done to survive, Joel,” you admitted. “It haunts me… Every second of the day and I can’t run away from it.”

“You did what you had to, to survive,” Joel replied. It was ironic that he was saying the same words that Tommy had told him. Joel understood your dilemma, related exactly to what you were feeling, experiencing, and here you were, being open and vulnerable with him.

“No,” you shook your head. “No.”

“Darlin’...”

“Did you ever stop to think how I made it this far?” You asked. 

“I don’t need to,” he replied. 

“I’ve done so– so many unthinkable things, Joel,” you said with a shaky voice and teary eyes. “I’m so broken…”

“Hey…” Joel hated seeing you like this, hated hearing you talk about yourself like this. “Look at me…”

You looked up at him and felt yourself relax. You had been on edge for weeks and it finally came crashing down. You thought you could push this aside, to force yourself not to think about your past, but it was tough. Your nightmares served as a daily reminder of the things you had done, the people you killed… It was just too much.

“You ain’t alone in feeling like that,” Joel added. He knew that feeling all too well; being broken, damaged goods, and feeling like he didn’t deserve anything good because of the bad things he had done. He took a step closer and sighed in relief when you didn’t move away. “I– I have nightmares too.”

That wasn’t surprising to you. You had heard stories from the people in the community, but truthfully, it didn’t scare you. In fact, it made you feel safer to know that Joel would do anything for the people he cared about. 

“H– How do you deal with it?”

“I don’t,” Joel admitted. “But I probably should.”

“We’re quite the pair, aren’t we?” You sighed.

“Come ‘ere,” he whispered, pulling you into his arms. When he felt your arms wrap around his shoulder, Joel moved his arms to wrap around your waist. Once again, he held you like this, feeling your warmth radiate against him and the feel of your chest heaving against his own. 

“Joel,” you whispered to him. “You’re the only one that can calm me down, that can make me feel safe and I don’t know what that means, but–”

He held you tighter, pressing his lips to your temple. Joel sighed contentedly before he quietly interrupted you. “I’m here… I ain’t goin’ anywhere.”

You pulled back to look up at him. Your lips were mere inches from his and your arms remained around him. “Joel…”

“Hm?” He whispered, moving his hands to your hips. Joel rubbed circles against the fabric of your shirt, feeling it slightly lift upwards as the pads of his thumbs touched your skin.

“Can I– Can I kiss you?” You asked. A blush crept along your neck to your cheeks, biting your lower lip in anticipation.

Joel smiled and moved a hand to cup your cheek. The pad of his thumb brushed against your cheek as he leaned down to capture your lips with his own. 

It was electrifying, feeling your lips slowly move against his. Joel kept his hand on your cheek and used his free hand to bring you flush against him, his hand moving from your hip to your lower back. 

You had imagined this moment plenty of times and yet, this was far better than your imagination. Joel kept a protective hold around you as you felt yourself mold against his strong frame. Your lips moved expertly with his and when you whimpered, Joel used that as an opportunity to dart his tongue out. It was perfect and it was intoxicating.

Joel had to pull away, feeling the center of his pants tighten from the pressure of his member pressing against the fabric. 

“We should–”

“Can you stay?” You interrupted. 

“You sure?” Joel asked.

You nodded. “I just– I don’t want to be alone.”

“That makes two of us,” he whispered. Joel leaned down to peck your lips, smiling once he pulled away. 

You led him down the hallway and to your bedroom. You removed your boots and socks, tossing your flannel to the side. You lied back in bed, clad in a t-shirt and jeans before watching Joel do the same with his own boots. When he climbed into bed with you, you felt yourself instinctively move closer to him. 

Joel was lying on his back with his arm stretched out for you. You smiled to yourself and moved closer until your head rested against his shoulder, his arm wrapping around you. 

The string lights from outside illuminated your room, giving you and Joel a perfect view of each other. You were staring into each other’s eyes before he leaned down to press his lips against yours once more. 

You moved to lie on your back, feeling him move to hover above you. Joel gently bit at your lower lip, hearing you quietly moan against his lips. The sounds you were making immediately caused a reaction from him, blood rushing straight down to the center of his pants. 

“Joel…” You mumbled against his lips.

He pulled back, his arm propped up with his other hand resting on your hip. “M’sorry, we should stop.”

You shook your head. “I want you.”

Joel grunted lowly. “A– Are you sure?”

“Take me, Joel.”

---

Part 5.

Taglist (let me know if you'd like to be tagged!): @rye-flower, @3zae-zae3, @orangevtae, @flippittygibbitts​, @blairfox04, @ohthemisssery​, @avengersfan25​, @somebodytookmyusername​, @littleshadow17​, @beltzboys2015-blog​

[jennay]

The Set Up

Humor Me

Master List

AN: let me know your thoughts and if you’d like to see more. I had fun writing this but also wrote it at least 20 times. Be gentle lol

Warnings: Cussing?

"What are you-"

Kieran doesn't bother waiting for you to finish your sentence before pushing past you and making himself comfortable on the living room couch.

"You wouldn't answer your phone. So I came over to talk to you. This could've been a quick call, but no, you wouldn't answer."

You roll your eyes as you sit next to him. "That's because I was trying to sleep! You know like a normal-ish human?" You curl up in the corner of the couch, wrapping yourself in a blanket that lays as decoration on the hotel couch. "What do you need to talk about?"

"Rory." He says with a smile plastered on his lips.

"Rory?" You repeat, hoping he's joking. Kieran turns his head to face you, his expression serious. He drapes his arm behind the sofa and leans in a bit. "Yeah. He's the one."

Kieran didn't seem to get it despite telling him over and over to stop trying to set you up with people. You believed that love would happen when the time was right, and you trusted the universe to lead you in that direction when you were ready.

"Thanks for being concerned about my love life, gossip girl, but I'd rather be single than let you choose another date for me." You firmly say. "Plus, Rory is probably busy with stuff. I mean, he's kinda blowing up right now, and I'm not doing another long-distance relationship. They suck."

Kieran nods, but you can tell he's got more to say. "You know what he doesn't have, though?"

You deeply exhale, begging the gods for patience as you sarcastically say, "A girlfriend?"

"Exactly!"

"You came over here at one in the morning to tell me you think Rory and I should date?" You blink a few times, half asleep; you need to make sure you heard him correctly.

"Come on, he's not some random dude off the street, and he's definitely not a psycho murderer, so that's a plus!"

You groan, feeling a migraine approaching. "I bet there are tons of girls who would be thrilled to go out with your brother. Why don't you let him do his own thing?"

His blue eyes sparkle with joy. "Because I think you guys would be good together. You're two peas in a pod, the next power couple." Kieran chuckles. "I feel dumb I didn't think of this in the first place. Could've saved us all some trouble."

You shake your head, feeling overwhelmed by his enthusiasm. "That doesn't mean it's all sunshine and rainbows. Real life is much more complex than that. Relationships require hard work, dedication, and self-sacrifice. Things neither of us have time for.”

He casually dismisses your concerns with a shrug and wave of his hand. "That's what makes it exciting - the challenge, the growth, and the reward." He softens his expression with a smile. "I remember seeing a spark between you two at Jazz's birthday party last year, and I know you exchanged numbers. Don't even try to deny it." He laughs.

You smack him with a pillow. "We never talked again. Don't you think something would've come out of that? At least like a hey?"

He raises his eyebrows. "Maybe he was too shy to text you. Or maybe he lost your number. Or maybe he was waiting for you to make the first move." He says, grinning.

"And maybe he's secretly a prince from a faraway kingdom who's looking for his true love." You say, sarcastically. “Bullshit!”

He chuckles. "Hey, you never know. Stranger things have happened in this world. Maybe you should give him a call and find out." He says, nudging you.

You shake your head, "Or...maybe he doesn't like me. Did you ever think of that option? Because that's totally an option." You pause to catch your breath. "I know you think I'm special, but not everyone will feel that way."

Kieran’s mouth gaped open, "Oh please. You're amazing, and you know it. What do you have to lose?"

Your eyes shoot up to his, and you sigh heavily before asking, "If I do this, do you promise you'll stop meddling in my personal life?" You've been dealing with Kieran's constant interference in your love life for far too long, and you're at your wit's end.

He nods eagerly, crossing his heart with his finger. "I promise." His expression is sincere, but you've heard this promise before. You're not sure you can trust him.

"And that goes for Jazz too." You add quickly, remembering his partner in crime. You don't want to give Kieran any loopholes to exploit.

Closing your eyes, you sigh, dropping your shoulders with defeat.

"Fine." You say reluctantly, your voice barely above a whisper.

"Fine?" He repeats, sounding surprised. His eyebrows shoot up in shock.

"Fine." You confirm, your tone more forceful this time.

"Hmm," He hums, "I honestly wasn't expecting you to agree on this so quickly. I had so many more reasons and notes I prepared." He sounds slightly disappointed.

"This will be the last time you play cupid and interfere in my love life. Understood?"

Feeling smug, Kieran gets up and yawns, "Because you're going to fall in love and never need a cupid again." He retorts, with a wink.

You snort as he glances at his fancy watch, a shiny Rolex that his agent gifted him for snagging his role. "Well, look at the time. I better skedaddle. We have a big day tomorrow!"

You get up from your seat, following him to the exit. "God, you're a pain in the ass." You open the door and see a shiny black SUV parked outside. "I hope you get abducted by aliens!"

He pretends to be hurt, acting like your words wound him. A smirk forms on his lips, "Three years of friendship wasted." He chuckles while hopping into the car, and as you glimpse his face through the window, you smile while giving him the finger.

Part two

Tags: @milsthouqhts

[captainpains]

Attack of the PTA moms (Sergeant Hunter x reader)

I am so proud of the title lol. Also all of my Hunter fics are aus 🤷‍♀️ I am slowly making my way through my @clonexreaderbingo card. And as always, enjoy 💕

Prompt: "Do you trust me?"

Warnings: gn reader, modern au, mean PTA moms, unwanted flirting, implied infidelity, mentions of sex.

Note: the word cousin in this fic is being used as a gender neutral version of aunt or uncle 

~~~~~~~~

"Dad!" Omega yelled.

"Yes?" Hunter yelled from upstairs.

"Dinner's ready!"

"I'll be down in a minute!"

He stood up from his desk, stretching as he did so. He'd been working all day, opting to work from home because Omega was off from school.

Hunter jogged down the stairs.

When he turned into the living room he saw Omega sitting on the couch. She had a plate in hand with some pizza on it. 

Hunter walked past her, ruffling her hair as he went. 

He grabbed his own plate and placed a few slices of pizza on it. He then grabbed a can of soda from the fridge. He went back to the living room and sat down next to his sister, now daughter. 

"So, what are we watching tonight?" He asked her.

"I don't know. What do you wanna watch?"

"Chef's choice."

Omega happily opened Netflix and chose the movie The Glass Onion, a movie that had been high on their watch list for a while. 

"Did you get your homework done?" Hunter asked as the opening of the movie played.

Omega nodded, her mouth full of food. Hunter didn't press, she was always very on top of her work.

"OH! Don't forget that the bake sale is on Friday. Makenzie's mom said that you were in charge of bringing cookies."

“Alright, thanks for the reminder, kid. I’ll be sure to make those.”

“Thanks Dad!”

Hunter smiled. He was still getting used to Omega calling him dad, but it made him all warm knowing that Omega was comfortable enough to call him that.

————

Friday came and like every school function, Hunter forgot to make the cookies. So, he just bought them from the store on his way to the bake sale. He knew he’d get judgemental looks from the PTA Karens, but he’s busy providing for his family. 

He walked into the school’s cafeteria, where the fundraiser was being held. There were a lot of PTA moms buzzing about, preparing for the event. There were also a couple of volunteers that Hunter had never seen before. Probably forced to be there by the PTA president at the fear of social ostracization.

“Oh, Hunter!” A shrill voice called.

Hunter silently cursed. He turned around and plastered a fake smile on his face as Karen and her groupies approached him.

“Hey, Karen. Where can I put the cookies?” He politely asked. 

“Oh��Store bought again? I thought you’d put more effort in this time, Hunter.” Karen mocked, fake niceness in her voice. 

“Well, you know…got really busy at work…”

“Well, if you perhaps if you spent more time with your family-” “Omega and I spend plenty of time together. We eat dinner together every night, and we eat with my brothers at least once a week. Just because my life looks different than yours doesn’t mean it’s worse.” Hunter bit back. 

“I know, but-”

“Where do you want the cookies, Karen?”

Karen frowned (at least as much as her botox would allow). She pointed towards a folding table with two people standing there, arranging the contents of the table. Hunter gave one last glare to Karen before brushing past her to get to the table.

You were organizing the cookie table, trying to make it nice but easy to see everything. You were not really paying attention to what was happening around you, keeping your head down to avoid the wrath of one of the PTA moms. You were brought out of your focus when a handsome man practically slammed a grocery bag with cookies onto the table. It caused you to jump.

“Ahh, sorry. Didn’t mean to scare ya,” he apologized. “Karen is just… frustrating.”

“I understand. She’s something.” You agreed, picking up the bag he put on the table.

“I just just don’t get it. What kind of sick joy does she get out of criticizing my life!”

“Makes her feel better about her miserable life.” Hunter chuckled at the joke. It was always nice to hear the gripes of other volunteers. It was a moment of bonding over the shared hatred.

“She is very…rude to everyone outside of her posse.” Hunter huffed.

You gave a small smile at his comment, knowing that he probably wanted to use some stronger language. Hunter returned the smile as he properly looked at you. You were fairly attractive, and the clothes you were wearing were simple and practical yet still nice. He wouldn’t admit to checking for a ring on your finger, nor would admit to a strange feeling of joy at not seeing one there.

“But, we all have to put up with her,” You added. “She is the PTA president.”

“I hope she loses the next PTA election.”

“Don’t we all?”

“I’m Hunter, by the way. Omega’s dad.”

You gave him your name. “I’m Tina’s cousin, guardian now.”

“Cousin?” Hunter cocked a brow. In this school district, it wasn’t comen to see another single parent. Most of the moms would rather be in an unhappy marriage than face the shame from Karen for being a single parent. It was part of the reason most of the other single parents gave up in trying to help with PTA functions.

“Very long story.”

“Well, how about, I’ll give you my number. Then, you and I can, maybe, go get dinner sometime?” Hunter was surprised by his boldness, but his brothers did say that he needed to put himself out there. He hadn’t had a partner since, shit, highschool? No wonder his brothers had gotten more pushy.

Hunter was buzzing with joy when you gave him your number. He was smiling the whole drive home. He messaged you that night, and when you responded he felt butterflies in his chest. As the two of you talked, you both felt a strong bond grow, bonding over your shared experiences with the PTA. He also found that you both enjoyed movies and would send movie quotes and memes to each other.

However, Hunter didn’t see you again until it was time for another PTA fundraiser. Whenever the two of you tried to schedule that date, something always came up and one of you would have to cancel. 

Hunter was happy to participate in the fundraisers. He liked helping Omega’s school, but he could do without the judgment of the PTA moms. 

This time it was a small carnival. It had a couple of games, snacks, and two inflatables. Omega was looking forward to it. Hunter was dreading it. The idea of being surrounded with the chaos of a carnival was not something he was looking forward to. It would put his senses into overdrive. But, Karen loved torturing him. 

Hunter stood, grumpy look on his face, behind the folding table with an inflatable ring toss game on it. He was pissed when Karen set him up next to the gymnasium, where the inflatables were. He knew he was in for a long day.

Hunter was brooding over his torment, when he saw you walking into the cafeteria with Tina. Tina waved to her friends and ran over to them. You had a tight smile on your face as you scanned the room. You and Hunter made eye contact. You started to walk over to the table, when Brittney, one of Karen’s groupees, came up to Hunter’s booth. 

“Hello! I’m just making sure everything is going well for you,” She said, a somewhat flirtatious lit in her voice.

“Oh, it’s fine over here. I think all the kids are too excited about the bouncy houses to want to play games right now,” Hunter said.

“Well, kids are like that.” She gave a fake sounding laugh before reaching up to adjust her revealing top (something that was definitely not suited for a school fundraiser). “I was wondering though, you must be so stressed with all the work you do.”

“I-I try…” Hunter uncomfortably responded, noticing the flirtatious look in her eye.

“Well, if you ever need some…stress relief, I can-”

“Hunter!” You greeted, coming around the table. You threw your arms around him and hugged him close. He felt your breath fan against his ear as you whispered to him.

“Do you trust me?” You asked him.

Hunter looked at you, then nodded.

You turned back towards Brittney, a bright smile on your lips.

“I’m sorry, Brittney. But my partner here has all the stress relief that he needs. Maybe you should ask your husband before you ask someone else’s.” 

Brittney gasped, offended for being called out. She pouted and stomped off. You turned back to Hunter, who looked relieved to have the woman gone.

“I’m sorry for stepping in. I know she can be… pushy.” You felt kinda bad for stepping in when it wasn’t asked of you.

“No, it was welcome. It’s hard to get some of the PTA moms to stop with their flirting.” Hunter assured you. “But…since you called us partners when we’ve never been on a date…”

“Iamsosorry! Ididn’tmeantolablethings. Iwasjusttryingto-” He cut you off with a laugh.

“I was just going to say. That now is the time that I take you on an actual date. Just like I promised.”

You smiled at him, “What did you have in mine?”

“Well, that new Marvel movie is coming out this weekend. So maybe we grab some dinner and go to the movies.”

“That sounds perfect.”

[roosterscockpit]

Christmas Eve At Papa Mav’s | H.C

click here to see the master list

Merry Christmas Eve, my babes! I hope you all have a great holiday and be safe! I love you! ❤️ Happy reading and enjoy! 🎄❄️🎁🎅🏼☃️

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You and Bradley were sitting in the living area. The smell of gingerbread cookies filled the house. You were baking some to bring to Mav’s house. The only light was coming from all the Christmas decor around the house. It was quiet because Leia and Gunner were down for bed. 

Bradley’s Christmas playlist was playing, Jingle Bell Rock by Bobby Helms, was playing. Bradley was singing his own version of it to make you laugh, “Stroke on my, Lick on my, Suck on my cock.” He looked at you and looked at his cock. He wiggled his brows and chuckled. 

You shook your head, “Bradley Bradshaw we have a task at hand and we cannot be distracted.” You giggled and blushed. 

Bradley was throwing everything into bags. “Sweetheart, I can’t wrap for the life of me. Everything is going into a bag.” He picked up a mug you got for Mav that read “#1 Papa.” He looked at it and threw it into a bag.

You laughed as you wrapped a box of clothes for Amelia. “That’s okay, Brad. We need to have a variety of present anyways.” You tied a bow onto the wrapped gift and handed it to Bradley. He placed it in the present sac he bought. 

After wrapping their gifts, you and Bradley started to work on the ones for the squad. You all did secret Santa for each other. You had Coyote for your secret Santa and Bradley had Hangman. (Of course he did LOL)

You wrapped your gift for Coyote and Bradley struggled to wrap his for Hangman. You watched as he tried to figure out how to fold the paper. He had the tip of his tongue pressed against his top lip. His brows were furrowed and he was looking intensely at the wrapping paper. He tried to fold it a couple of ways and shook his head when it didn’t look right. He started to chew on his bottom lip. 

You giggled and bit your lip when you started to laugh a little too loud. He looked up at you raising his brows and pushing his lips together. he made eye contact with you and chuckled. “Have you been watching me struggle, baby?” 

You started to giggle more, “I have. Your concentration face is the cutest.” He laughed and shook his head, “You mean my frustration face? Baby, can you just wrap it for me? He is going to make fun of my wrapping.” He looked at you with his puppy dog eyes.

Instead you went over to him and showed him how to wrap the gift. the wrapping paper was super crinkled from all Bradley’s failed attempts. 

The next day, your little family got ready and loaded the car with all the gifts and goodies for Mav’s house. You wore a long sleeve burgundy velvet jumpsuit that had a cute bow on your stomach. Leia wore a black turtle neck with a burgundy velvet overall dress. Gunner had a burgundy velvet boy tie. Bradley wore black dress pants and a burgundy lose flowing velvet button up shirt. 

When you all arrived at Mav’s hangar it was all decorated. Outside was a welcome to the North Pole arch way. He had some lit up reindeers and a sleigh outside of the doors. When you all walked in there was a huge tree in the middle of his hangar. It was full of aviation decor. It was beautiful. There were lights hanging all over the hangar. His mustang was decorated with wreaths and garlands. There was a prop Santa and Snowman sitting in the seats of his plane. 

“Penny and Mav really out did it this year, Bradley.” You leaned into him and whispered. He chuckled, “Maybe they should host Christmas for everyone instead of us? Huh?” He laughed and looked around. 

Mav and Penny came out in matching ugly sweaters. They looked so cute. Leia ran to Mav. “PAPA! PENNY!” She crashed into them and smiled. “You both smell like gingerbread.” Mav laughed and patted her head, “We are making cookies, little Jedi.” 

Mav and Penny helped you and Bradley by taking some of the gifts from your hold. They placed them under the tree with all the other gifts. Mav called over Amelia and Leia. “Amelia, why don’t you give your present to Leia so she can put it up?” Mav smiled at her.

Amelia gave Leia a little bag. Leia smiled big as she opened it. Inside were ornaments. One was Princess Leia in a fighting stance with her light saber, another was a picture of you and Bradley when you were in university in a snowflake, an F-14 Tom Cat ornament, and a doggy paw frame with a picture of Leia and Gunner in it. Leia squealed.

“Do you want to put them on the tree, Leia?” Amelia smiled at Leia. Leia started to jump up and down as she nodded. You and Bradley watched as her and Amelia placed the ornaments onto Mav’s tree. 

Mav looked at the both of you and smiled, “So do you want to open presents now or later?” He looked at his watch. Leia screamed yes from across the hangar. Mav laughed, “I guess it is present time.” He winked at you and Bradley. Mav started to play some Christmas music while you all started to get ready for opening gifts. 

You started to hand out gifts to every one from you and Bradley. Bradley looked around the tree and looked for a gift he got for Mav. He found it and went over to Mav. “This is from me to you.” He smiled at Mav. Right before Mav could grab it Bradley held it above his head and started to laugh. “JUMP MAV!” Mav started to jump and tried to get out out of his hands. Bradley finally gave in.

Mav opened his gift. You all watched as he opened it. His expression went soft as he removed the tissue paper. It was a multiple frame collage. It had pictures of Goose and Mav together, Mav and Bradley when he was a kid, and pictures of Mav and Leia. On the bottom of the frame, “The world’s best Papa” was etched into it. Mav held it up and looked at all the pictures.  He got up and hugged Bradley. “This is the best thing I could ever get.” He cried and hugged Bradley.

Penny and Mav spoiled Leia for Christmas. They got her a battery powered Jeep she could drive around in, a battery powered jet she could drive around, Mav bought her her own aviators that had “Vapor” engraved on them, clothes, toys, and more lego sets that were Star Wars themed for her to build. 

After everyone opened their gifts, Mav looked over at you and Bradley. “I was really hoping for Christmas I was going to be opening a box that had a onesie in it.” You and Bradley looked at each other confused. “Can you guys just have more kids? I need more grandchildren I can spoil.” Mav laughed. 

Later on that night, you all made and decorated gingerbread houses together as Mav played The Santa Claus on a projector. 

Before the house could be finished, Bradley and Leia were eating it. By the end of it, you didn’t have a roof nor gingerbread people. Bradley grabbed the remaining frosting and tilted Leia’s head back. “Open up, Vapor girl!” He squished some into her mouth. He sucked the rest out of the packet. 

After the gingerbreads, there was no clean up. You all had eaten the gingerbread houses.

By the end of the night, Bradley was asleep on the couch with Leia asleep on his chest. He had his mouth slightly open and snoring. He had his arm wrapped around Leia and the other falling off the couch. You looked at your sleepy babies and smiled. You kissed both of them and threw a blanket over them. 

Mav came over and threw his arms around your shoulders, “One more gift.” He handed you one more little box. You looked at him and furrowed your brows. “Another gift for me?” You giggled. Mav nodded.

You opened the box it was a little gold locket necklace. On the front of it “Always in my heart” was engraved on it. When you opened it, one side was a picture of your mom and dad the other was a picture of Bradley and Leia. You gasped. “Mav…”

You looked at him and hugged him, “Thank you so much Mav. I love it so much.” He hugged you tight, “You’re welcome, sweetheart. Look at the back of it.” 

You closed the locket and turned the heart over. Engraved on the back, “We love you. - Mav and Penny” You held it close to your heart and a tear fell from your eye. 

“We are all always with you, y/n.” He smiled and rubbed your arms. “Merry Christmas, Sweetheart.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A little present for Christmas Eve, I hope you all enjoyed this little H.C at Mav’s hangar. Happy holidays! Muah! 🫶🏼 See you tomorrow for Christmas 🎁🎄❄️🥰

Santa’s little helpers are in the comments 🎅🏼

[gemsofgreece]

hi! is there any attraction/place in Athens that you would highly recommend visiting? Maybe, hidden gems, or underrated places that are awesome? :') i apologize if this is a popular question that you get haha

Hello @dandelionesa ! You would be surprised at how little I know about Athens. I have been few times in my life there, despite being a native Greek living in the country all my life. I mean, I have lived there for a month once but I didn't explore at all beyond the neighborhood. So, I can tell you all the significant places not to miss but I lack the personal insight in little known gems.

Another thing about the blog is that if you visit from the browser, I have an option called "The Regions" which is essentially a travel guide about all main locations in Greece. It is not complete yet but the Athens one is. You can find it in: The Regions > Sterea Hellas > Attica for feature references. But, here, I am gonna screenshot the sightseeing recs mentioned there.

These are about Attica, the region that encompasses Athens. Most attractions are naturally inside Athens but there are some important ones like the Vouliagmeni Lake and the Temple of Poseidon that include driving / travelling outside the city.

The list is concise so I don't explain what each of these places is but they are worth visiting if you have the time. Of course, to do a proper journey of Athens, where Athens is going to be your focus, that takes time. It is a large place. Most people stay in Athens for two days before going to the main part of their vacation, usually some islands. You can't say you did Athens in two days though. Whoever says that to you, don't believe them. You can do Acropolis and like two-three museums at most in this time.

Apart from the ones above I also found some recs from other websites about hidden gems:

Philopappos Hill (that's not a hidden gem, I just forgot it in my own list lol)

Hellenic Motor Museum

Pnyx

Museum of the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation

Museum of Greek Folk Musical Instruments

Ilias Lalaounis Jewellery Museum

Benakis Museum of Islamic Art (NOTE: this is a different museum than the main Benakis one which I mention in the list above, if you can do both great, but if you can only do one, then the main must absolutely not be missed)

First Cemetery of Athens (yep, it's a valid rec)

National Observatory of Athens

Watch open air cinema in Thiseion. Or in the rooftop of Cine Paris.

The Greek National Opera (Ethnikí Lyrikí Skiní)

The Nautical Museum on the cruiser Averof

The Benakis (another Benakis) Toy Museum

I don't know what's wrong with me and I forgot to mention above:

Kapnikarea Church

The Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens

The UNESCO Monastery of Daphne

The New National Library (Stavros Niarchos Foundation). The one I mention in the first list is the Old National Library. Both are worth a visit for different reasons.

Go to Glyfada and along the Vouliagmeni coast for swimming (Vouliagmeni is a lake right next to the sea beach)

The Orthodox Church of Saint Dionysius of Areopagus

The Catholic Church of Saint Dionysius of Areopagus!

I was sleeping on the fact that there were two churches of those!

As you see I also added some recs for experiences i.e cinemas, theatres and so on. These are if you take your time in Athens, explore or stay for a while. Note that some might be less available in the summer, for example in summer the National Opera operates in open air performances like in the ancient Odeon of Herodes Atticus. If you stay and explore, check for concerts in theatres and stadiums. Concerts in Greece are real nice and vibey.

In retrospect, thanks for sending this ask because I realised I have a shitload of editing to do in my original list.

EDIT!!! The Byzantine and Christian Museum of Athens!!!! Srsly what's wrong with me lol

EDIT 2!!! Kotsaná Museum of Ancient Greek Technology!!! :@@@

[cantsaythetword]

For the Christmas prompts, 19, with both parts, for Destiel possibly? Only if you want ofc ^^

Christmas in July - Devilish Angel

~A/N  - [EDIT: Well I guess this one is going to be up early lmao. I accidentally hit post on my phone instead of save as draft so here you go lol.]

CHRISTMAS IN JULY IS ALMOST OVER :(((((

Apologies again for the super uncreative title BUT I'm keen for this fic hehehehehe.

Hope it's ok happy!!! <3

- Enoy! ~

Tag List: @mysterious-marvel

Masterpost Link 

Living on the road definitely had a lot of drawbacks.

Inconsistent housing, crappy junk diet, constant exhaustion from driving long hours. It definitely took it's toll. But, at the same time, it certainly made you appreciate the little luxuries in life.

Luxuries such as sleep ins. Early mornings where Dean would usually be on his way to the next job, but instead was half-asleep amongst the covers and pillows on the lumpy motel bed.

He groggily blinked his eyes, settling his vision on the man sitting on the couch to his left. Clearly he hadn't heard Cas fly inside, so the angel must have been sitting there for a while.

"Mornin' handsome." Dean mumbled with a grin, one arm dangling down the side of the bed. "Didn't hear you come in."

Cas smiled gently. "You sleep very soundly."

Dean gave a soft laugh. "Helps that I've got a guardian angel looking out for me."

Cas shook his head. Even in his half-conscious state Dean was such a flirt.

"Now get over here, I hardly ever get to cuddle you in the mornings."

Standing up from the sofa, Cas made his way towards the bed and climbed under the covers. As the two of them cuddled closer, Cas shifted his legs against Dean's. The moment his feet made contact though, Dean gave an audible shudder.

"Damnit Cas are you angels cold blooded or sumthin'?"

While Cas would normally apologise for any discomfort he may cause, Dean's legs were ridiculously warm - and the perfect place to nestle his feet. Cas wriggled his toes against Dean's thigh, purely trying to tease the hunter with the cold.

But it wasn't the temperature that made Dean recoil with a squeaky giggle.

"Gehet your freheezing ass feet off me." He pushed Cas's torso away, trying to squirm as best he could under the blanket.

With a grin, Cas poked and curled his toes even more against poor Dean's legs. The man broke into more giggles, yelping when a particularly cold patch of skin met his own.

"Cahahas!"

"What's the matter Dean, I'm just warming my feet up?" Castiel asked, the small smirk on his face betraying his innocent act.

"No yohohou're nohot!!"

Deciding his feet weren't quite getting enough of a reaction, Cas latched his thumbs onto Dean's hipbones and began to rub.

"CAHAHAHAS NOHOHO!"

"I'm sorry Dean, I didn't realise you were this ticklish!"

"LIHIHIAHAR!"

Cas's cruel hip torture was short lived, as Dean was forced into a surrender after only a few moments.

"Now my legs are cold." Dean huffed after catching his breath, though the remnants of a grin remained on his face.

"I could always warm you up..." Cas smirked, and his offer was accompanied by the rustling of his wings unfolding.

Dean didn't have a chance to reply, and the moment Cas's feathers made contact, the hunter knew he was fucked.

[imminent-danger-came]

I hate the warrior and hero parallels in lmk /j

They just keep spinning in my head nonstop. And it‘s always the same things; oooh MK‘s attitude is so much like Monkey King. With his desire to protect his friends, sharing his mentors fears, and the way he is prone to slipping into a self-centered mindset at times.

…but wait, his heart is much more similar to Macaque, with him wanting to ideally live a simpler life with his friends with no world ending dangers. Quitting while they‘re ahead. Cleaning up his mentors messes and still forgiving Wukong for literally everything. The closest thing to a complaint he uttered being 'where were you?'

Is there anything that could break Wukong‘s hold over either of them? Apparently not.

And Mei as the warrior, MK‘s closest friend, someone who has fought by his side and believed in him since the very beginning; falling to the wayside in those moments where MK get‘s lost in his head or chases the next thing that grants him more power.

But then her actions are more reminiscent of Monkey King. He fought all his closest friends; Macaque, the brotherhood, and DBK, for the greater good. Mei was willing to kill Wukong with little to no hesitation to stop LBD and save the world. To her, power is only meaningful if it is being used for something, staying idle goes against her ideals.

It‘s like they swapped places somewhere along the way.

So would Mei be willing to fight/kill MK if that’s what it took to protect everyone?

There‘s only two genders: Hero and Warrior. And both of them cause me pain.

I‘ve barely dipped my toes into lmk theoies and story analysis and I‘m already going feral.

HOW THE FUCK DO YOU DEAL WITH THIS MUCH MONKEY BRAINROT???

WELCOME.

The honest answer is that I don't, I don't deal with this much Monkey Brainrot. It's been like this for over 7 months.

And personally, I don't think Mei would willingly fight/kill MK, because MK is one of the main people she wants to protect. Even all the way from 1x04, protecting MK is a main focus of hers:

Mei: "You were gonna eat my best friend! And also these guys!"

-

While crying and screaming at Wukong, one of the main things Mei brings attention to is how he'd put MK in danger:

Mei: "We trusted you! All of us! How could you lead us into the fight without a real plan? Time and time again I've watched you put MK in danger leaving him to figure out EVERYTHING on his own. Don't you realize you're hurting the people who care about you the most?"

(3x10 The Samadhi Fire)

-

Which in itself is a parallel to what she says to Peng:

Mei: "How dare you! My friends are in danger because of you! And you're not even going to stick around to finish the job?"

(4x14 Better than We Found It)

-

So it's definitely an interesting question, if Mei's friends are in danger because of one of those friends, what is she supposed to do?

When it comes down to it, I think MK is the friend she values the most. Obviously she loves everyone with her whole heart, but when it comes to "who would she be more likely to sacrifice" MK is at the very bottom of that list (and Wukong is probably at the top lol).

The decision to leave Mei out of the Yellowtusk "The world isn't worth the price of one friend" conversation was very deliberate, because Mei definitely would pay that price, at least for MK. She's going to do everything she can to avoid having to harm MK, and that may be the wrong decision, or it may be the right one. MK choosing not to abandon Mei in 3x10 is what arguably saved the world from being destroyed by the Samadhi Fire, and that's what they do, they "figure it out, together." But what if that's not an option, or doesn't seem like one?

[nobedofroses]

December 26th

pairing: Jack Daniels x reader

warnings: fluff

words: 853

a/n: next one! this takes place somewhere in the south-ish, so it is a more temperate winter where flowers could live outside lol. meet cute with Jack basically, prompted by myself actually lmao

more Jack, Full List

🌨️🌨️🌨️

Every time you came home for the holidays, you ended up working at the family bakery. It didn’t matter that you weren’t even in college anymore and had a full time job of your own, you somehow always got roped in. It probably didn’t help that you loved every minute of it. 

But this time, you weren’t helping bake or even up front helping people pick out and pay for their items, you were doing a delivery. Normally, this was your younger cousin’s job, but she was off on a ski day with her friends at the local hill. You were delivering cupcakes for a holiday/engagement party, and you actually knew the happy couple so you figured you could at least say hi. 

When you arrived, you parked behind a landscaping company truck, and figured that some work around the property was being done for the party. Planting flowers, maybe. Or getting rid of anything that had died in the colder weather. You looked forward to seeing what had been done later that night when you actually attended the party. Maybe they’d even set up some of the event outside and that’s why they were doing it. 

To take the cupcakes in, it was going to take you at least four trips since there were over 200 cupcakes (probably because just about everyone in town was attending). Maybe you’d be able to rope in one of the family members to give you a hand to make it go faster. 

But just when you were about to go in through the kitchen door, disaster nearly struck. The door swung open and missed the first giant tray of cupcakes by just a couple inches. 

You gasped and froze in place, trying not to jerk and cause any damage. After looking down to make sure the box was still intact, you looked up at who was standing there in front of you, also looking shocked. And then you nearly dropped the cupcakes anyway. 

It was a man. A strong, well-muscled, wearing only a white t-shirt and work jeans, slightly sweaty, handsome man whom you had never seen before in your life. Because if you had, you sure as hell would’ve remembered. 

“Oh my goodness, darlin’, I’m so sorry, are you alright? I wasn’t thinkin’, I shouldn’t have opened that door so quick. Is your… big box okay?” he rushed out, the extra twang in his voice somehow making you even more flustered. 

“I’m— I’m fine. They’re fine, they’re cupcakes,” you told him awkwardly, looking down at the box. 

“Cupcakes! You must be from the bakery. Here, I’ll, um, I’ll open the door for you, sugar, and then I can even take you to the table where they belong. I’m just doin’ the landscapin’, but I know John, the groom, and he was just tellin’ me all about the room’s setup for tonight,” he told you, ushering you into the kitchen and through it before you even knew what was happening. 

You got the cupcakes to the table and he asked if there were any more that he could help you with and didn’t take no for an answer when you tried to say you didn’t need help. 

“I almost ruined these cupcakes, so you can bet that I’m going to make sure the rest get in place all in one piece just in case there are any other lumberin’ fools walkin’ ‘round this place, honey,” he said and you honestly couldn’t believe he talked like that, but it also made you feel all warm and gooey inside. 

You acquiesced, of course, and he ended up doing all of the carrying. You tried to take boxes yourself, but he said it was much more important that you were on door and lookout duty. And you did do your fair share of it, but it wasn’t the cupcakes that you were looking at. 

Ten minutes later, all of the cupcakes were safe on the table. The two of you stood there for a second before another look of astonishment crossed his face, “Forgive me, darlin’, where have my manners been? My name’s Jack, if I may ask yours?” 

You told him and put your hand in his when he reached out, feeling warmth rush to your face when you felt how big and strong and warm his hand was. 

“Will I see you at the party tonight?” Jack asked, your hand still in his, his thumb brushing over the back of yours. 

“Um, yeah. Yeah, I’ll be there,” you told him, suddenly so much more excited to go than you already had been. 

“Then I’ll look for you, sugar. If there’s dancin’ save me one, alright?” he asked, waiting for your quick nod before he headed out a back door, ostensibly to get back to work. 

You waited until the door closed before sitting heavily on the chair by the table and making a sort of helpless sound. Suddenly you needed a cold shower. Or a nicer dress. Or maybe to ask your family about whether they needed your help more often. Like maybe all year round.

🌨️🌨️🌨️

[trunswicked]

As per your twitter I am here to ask about your modern!lyon

OH MY GOODNESS. Okay, so, I PROMISE I haven't been ignoring this ask..... I just had to put together something a little special for it!! I said I've thought about modern!Lyon a LOT, and after reading this list... you can be the judge of that.

First of all, artwork of the boy!!

Next...... everything else. This one is for you, Lyon fans (warning for a wall of text; I normally don't talk this much on this blog, but this is ABSOLUTELY a special occasion. You asked, and I deliver!!)

Firstly, our boy is – and I cannot stress this enough – a TOTAL fashion buff. His wardrobe is huge and he has an outfit for basically any occasion ever.

He wears a lot of loose-fitting stuff that kinda gives hipster/tumblr user, especially with the tattoos and glasses (lmao) but he can pull off any style if he tries hard enough. you can ALWAYS tell that he knows how to dress no matter what he’s wearing.

I don’t really have anything specific in mind that his tattoos represent – it’s a random collection of things that tapers off around the end of his forearm. There’s like, roses and thorns and swords and maybe even a dragon in there somewhere. He also has one separate tattoo on the back of his hand.

Dude’s got the round glasses, too! I’m 50/50 on whether he actually needs them to see, but I think it’d be cute if he did. Makes him seem a bit more nerdy hehe

He collects pins as well (most of which are pinned to his schoolbag). An ongoing list of them would be:

Mogall: a monster from his favorite video game (that happens to be on the GBA, perhaps).

Rose: a reminder of the twins, Eirika in particular because she gave it to him.

Sword: specifically the FE logo from Smash.

Bi heart: You Know.

Wolf: reference to Garm (Grado lore)!!

He’s also got total rich kid & city boy energy. He lives an extremely lavish life (I’m talking, like, chilling in an expensive bathrobe after a rose-petal bath, while sipping on a glass of red wine) because he’s dramatic like that.

And THAT’S because single-father!Vigarde makes some massive amount of money doing whatever business he does. He supports his son like the cool (if a little distant, because he works so much) dad he is. Lyon’s not completely reliant on his dad’s money, but he’s never had to scrape by, if you know what I mean lmao

Vigarde also contributes to his son’s college fund (we’ll come back to what Lyon is studying later) and helped him finance his own solo apartment.

Speaking of the apartment, it’s pretty spacious and has a modern look, w/ red brick walls and big windows overlooking the city (exactly the kind of interior you’d expect an art student from some crowded urban area to live in). He also manages to keep the whole place surprisingly tidy despite being kind of a shut-in lol.

The most important thing about his living space, though, is the indoor plants. you can barely even SEE through all of the plants he owns in certain places. It’s like a jungle in there.

And he dotes on every single one of them!! Instead of becoming a crazy cat person, he just became a plant parent instead…….. He is visited by a moody black cat (named after Fomortiis) sometimes, tho.

His place also has a good amount of art displayed around. Photos he took of the twins throughout the years are pinned on the wall next to his bed…. he likes to keep them close while he sleeps :)

And about the photos – he’s great with a camera, and I like to think he’s got a job in photography (it’s maybe also what he’s studying in college)! And not just that, but I also think the twins work with him regularly – it’s related to what they do for a living.

Eirika & Eph are his childhood best friends who temporarily moved out-of-country when they were all teens, btw. They later reunite with him in their 20s and it’s super sweet!!

True to character, he’s always had gigantic crushes on both of them; as an adult he’s still too shy to ask either of them out though lol. Especially because they work together. As it stands, all he does is admire them from behind his camera.

Eirika adores all of his plants – and cat!Fomortiis too 🥰 she visits Lyon as much as she can, and they bond over their fashion knowledge (Eirika is a cosplayer for SURE) and love for the same music/books/movies.

Lyon has a dozen of her books laying around his house (her recommendations). She leaves little notes in them sometimes, and it REALLY doesn’t help him think about her less.

He & Eph don’t share nearly as many interests, but they also hang out constantly. Eph is the one who drags Lyon out of his house to go do stuff together, which he appreciates (in hindsight).

Lyon’s always wanted to be athletic, charming & comfortable in his body like him, and regularly mistakes Eph’s attempts at flirting for him just being an asshole (affectionate).

But anyhow, everything else related to his character is basically straight from canon. He's a complete bookworm, knows a bit more about first aid than the average person, has a pretty weak immune system, struggles a LOT with his self-esteem, is introverted like his dad but likes making friends, and so on and so forth.

The "knows how to dress" part is probably the most important thing to emphasize here. He's one of the best-dressed guys in Magvel, I PROMISE that's true (but dw, Joshua is up there on the list as well).

So that's all I have to share!! I think more and more about him as time goes on, and will probably come up with more stuff, but this is just about every headcanon I've been rotating in my brain thus far. Hope you enjoyed this - and I hope I've convinced you into some of these concepts (like photographer!Lyon...... I want to believe 😳). He's pretty fun to imagine as a modern guy doing his silly modern stuff, but I'm sure you already knew that. This boy deserves all the love. <3

[bonsaiiiiiii-fics]

Eggs: chapter 2

Here we goooooo with chapter 2 of Eggs! I'm glad you liked it so much it bought me to make another chapter. I hope you like this one too <3

here you have it on Ao3!

Words: 4200-ish (too lazy to count the exact words. still a lot lol)

Genre: fluff on the long run, slice of life.

Fandom: Thunderbirds are go!2015

Characters: of course all of ‘em, again. some more oc’s this time, Quinn’s parents, plus Laurie again! She's part of the family now hehe.

Aw. This wasn't the best outcome ever that she imagined. 

So donor mommy is dead, she ponders as she checks Lucille off her bucket list, this inconvenience making it impossible to ever meet her. She honestly didn't know what she expected until now, but she has no choice in feeling disappointed; after all, this woman gave her a chance to live, a chance into this world, and without her she wouldn't substantially exist. Like Jeff said, they and her parents knew each other from school, more specifically high school, losing gradually contact with each other once they got into college, so she was very pleased when she asked her parents about Lucille, receiving some answers about who she was and why she did this. She already knew why Lucille did this to her mom, because her mom wasn’t able to conceive, but it all gave her some more clearance.

“Basically you’re supposed to be the same age as his eldest son, babe…” She remembers her mom’s words as she scribbles the key parts of the conversation on a piece of paper, near some physics equations. “...’cos we decided to get pregnant together. But I had some heart complications, so she gave birth to her baby and the egg she gave me got frozen, some crio-crap or that stuff; so when I got better the egg had this defrost and I finally got the chance to have you in my life.” Her mom has never been this great with wording, despite her line of work needing a specific vocabulary- after all, it’s not like a flight attendant can use words like babe during pre-flight organization. Hm, she needs to scribble this important piece of information down too. After that, there hasn’t been much her mom was able to tell her, so she kinda has to resort to Jeff to get to know more about her. But, the question is, does she want to know more about Lucille?

She doesn't really want to be a part of that family, keep them close, because she already has one, the ones that grew her and educated her into who she is now, and it would be weird to go back and forth between a family and the other like it's normal business. But still...they're her half-siblings. Man, it's weird as hell hearing that, like it is coming to the conclusion she indeed has another family. Her parents hugged her when she bought her problems to them, telling her that, even if she has some more relatives now, this won’t mean they’re being replaced, on the contrary.

Her attention turns back to her list and her pen lands next on Clinton Smith's name, her donor daddy. She has yet to meet him, and Jeff promised he would find him upon her mentioning she has troubles doing so on her own. Well, she hasn’t asked him yet, but they basically live just next door; if she faces the window she can see the house’s silhouette, the same house her biological mother grew up in. Crazy how near she was all this time…did she get to even meet her, even if it was just a glance on the street? Did Lucille ever manage to see her, if from afar, if her parents accepted a meeting between them and she was too little to remember? Did…Lucille even want to see her in the first place? Sure, Jeff said that she wanted, but Sally also said Lucille never expected for her to come visit her. Let’s scribble this down.

"Man, I'm getting really sappy." She rolls her eyes, dumping unceremoniously the pen on top of the sheets spread all over her blanket, on the bed. She had always been a logical mind, and calculations have always been a passion for her. She would turn everything into something physics, logical, she would find a math formula in everything, a thing she now discovered she inherited from her biological mother. "Hm," she eyes one of those sheets, displaying lots of calculations and formulas scribbled messily. "I need to update Pot."

Her phone ringing, blasting a rock tune full sound, distracts her from the task she currently set herself to do now, her face lighting up at the caller ID. 

"Rie!!! My sis, my precious bestie!" She fake sobs into her phone. "I missed you!" 

"Are you crying?" Laurie's voice sounds cheerful, not seeming worried with that. "Is it me you're missing or tacos?" 

The reply is a moment of silence. "Now that you mention it..." 

"Traitor." She laughs it out. "Well, I'll be there in 5, so it's better if you find yourself ready." 

"Oooooh, I live to see the day Laurie Charter herself takes me out on a date, never thought the roles would reverse so much! Missing me so much already?" 

"You've been closed in your room for 4 days, now it's the moment to cut loose. Hurry up, I have a surprise for you." And with that, she hangs up. 

Quinn shrugs, hauling herself off the bed and going cheerfully towards her closet, her mind set on going eating. She needs nourishment, and if they're under the form of tacos then who is she to refuse them precious carbs? After 34 minutes, her mom’s advice on a hairstyle, Rie’s advice on what to wear after she came and knocked on her door several times, her not being ready in 5 minutes like Rie wanted, Quinn’s finally ready to come out of her room and accept Rie’s surprise- what’s supposed to be breakfast, that now turned into a simple brunch.

“So?” Laurie starts, taking a sip of her pomegranate tea. “What’s been on your mind lately?”

“Ah-” She messily spits out, her mouth full of tacos; after she gulps down what was in her mouth, she speaks again. “I was thinking of inviting them to dinner. Or to meet somewhere.”

“When?”

“I was thinking tonight? The sooner the better. I don’t know why, but I think of it as a band-aid I have to rip off ASAP.”

“Hm.” Laurie takes a gentle bite from her donut. “But how does this make you feel? The whole thing, I mean.”

“Well, I don’t know why…but I’m disappointed. I know I shouldn’t be, I mean, I have a family of my own that raised me to be the woman I am now, even if I don’t look like either of them. The fact one of my biological parents, if not both of them, is dead…it shouldn’t mean anything to me.”

“Hey, don’t say that!” Rie protests softly, getting up from her seat in front of her bestie to go sit near her. “Sure, they’re not the parents who raised you up, but without them you wouldn’t be here.” She places her arm around Quinn’ shoulders, pulling her into a half-hug. “And you don’t know if your biological dad is still alive.”

“Well, even if he is, what should I do then? I don’t picture myself staying with him or visiting him just because he contributed to my creation…I mean, I didn’t.”

“Finding Lucille, or her family, changed this thought of yours?”

“I don’t know…the fact I had a chance to meet her, and from this chance I gained some step-brothers…y’know, I regretted for some time the fact that I didn’t open the documents as soon as I got them.”

“Well, everybody can understand that, not everyone is ready to have their life turned upside down like this.” She pauses, and for a few minutes they both sit in silence, soft chewing noises that make it more enjoyable. “I think you should give them a call and have dinner with them.”

Quinn pauses, cleaning her dirty fingers with a napkin. “It’s stupid for a brilliant ivy league brain like mine, but…you don’t think I’m replacing my parents this way, right…?”

Laurie’s half-hug turns into a full fledged one, hug-crushing her bestie. “Absolutely not! Even your mom told you this.”

Quinn sinks into her bestie’s embrace, pondering. Her mom… “Hang on!” She detaches, a crazy glimmer in the brown eyes she inherited from her biological mother. “I can invite them to my house! Jeff said they knew each other, so they’ll have the chance to talk again, and I’ll treat them like family friends instead of family! I mean- until I’ll be ready to see them as family.”

“Well-” Laurie starts tentatively, not colliding with Quinn's plan. But after all, if that's her wish, if that's what makes it easier for her… “-sure, why not?” She takes another sip of her tea, finishing it. “When do you plan on calling them?”

“Honestly, I don't know if I should call them or go to their house…what do you think it's best?” Quinn ponders, playing with her straw and twirling it around the rim of her glass. Having another family to think about has never been so stressful.

“Well, personally delivered news is always better. You can stop by just to tell them and you'll see them tonight.” Rie replies, patting gently her bestie's shoulder. “You also have their contact numbers, right?”

“Yeah, but I think what you said is best. Wanna go now?”

“Oh!” She mutters, checking her clock. “Sorry, I can't. I gotta give an exam next week and I want to study a little, just to be sure. But if you want to go now you totally can!”

“Oh, well, that's perfect, no worries! Then I'll let you know what they said.”

Aaaand there she is again, in front of that fateful house that holds an important piece of her. This time she's not so nervous to let her presence known, so she knocks on the door, waiting for an answer. It takes a little, and she scrunches her nose; are they gone already? Gone where? Isn't this their home, where they grew up?

Just when she shrugs, about to step away from their porch and go back home to contact them via holocall and update Pot, the door opens, revealing one of her step-brothers. The one she shares the eyes with.

“Hi, how- oh, it's you!” Virgil's eyes glimmer at the sight of his new sibling, his first sister by blood- apart from Kayo, his sister by soul. “Sorry it took me a while…how can I help you? Do you wanna come in?”

“Oh, hi, Virgil! Yeah, it would be nice.” Unconsciously, her eyes glimmer too. “How are you guys?”

“Oh, all fine, thank you. How are you, how's your family?” Wow, this sounds exactly like a question a family friend would say, and not her family by blood. Hm, it'll be easier than expected to pretend with them a little before facing the cold, harsh truth.

“Oh, all right. Apart from some pretty stubborn calculations for my midterm, I'll eventually figure my way out of that one too. If I flirt with it, chances are that it might soften a little.” She jokes, allowing Virgil to crack a hearty laugh. “Is your dad home?”

“Ack, you just missed him! He had to go to Washington with Scott for a meeting. If you want you can leave me a message for him.”

“Ah, that's alright.” She accommodates herself to a comfy seat on the couch Virgil pointed her to, him sitting right beside her with some distance added for comfort. “Do you know when they'll be back? I want to invite you guys over for dinner…” For reasons unknown to her, she shies out a little, the words not coming out with her usual confidence.

“Oh!” Virgil is taken aback by this request of hers, finally happy she decided to reach out for them after giving her space. He thought about it, about her, in these 4 days she's been radio silent; they all sat down and talked together about this the same night after she visited, and after that there's been some chats between the three eldest, Scott taking the lead for the times he butted himself in wherever the topic or her name has been mentioned.

After much research on her and some records from their dad, all of them eventually became convinced she shares half their blood, therefore she's family, even Scott after a looooong while. Scott was skeptical at first, wary even, because she's still a stranger, a thunder in broad daylight, and just like that she flipped their lives upside down with their mom's perfect resemblance; it took a lot of time and evidence for him to relax his shoulders and finally accept her.

John, silent as usual, trusted his gut for once instead of his brain, his logical core receiving the proof he always seeks in everything upon seeing her face for the first time. He didn't do any further research, if not to calm Scott down, and that has been more than enough for him to trust her. He revealed to Virgil, in one of their 3 eldest conversations, that he's curious to get to know her, to know if she shares their and their mother's same interests, apart from the aspect.

Gordon…well he knows Gordy like the back of his hand, his well trusted copilot, and to say he was absolutely mesmerized by her from the first time he laid eyes on her is a misunderstanding; after all, if you place them side by side, it looks like they could be twins for how dangerously identical they are, just opposite sexes.

And Alan, what to say about him. His big sister!, he excitedly said, another part of his family! Yeah.

“Well,” Virgil starts again, recollecting his thoughts. “They actually have to eat dinner at some place or something, but they'll be way happier to dine back home. I'll call them and let them know to not make any stops.”

“Oh, but if they're busy dining somewhere else I can arrange for another night.” Quinn says, remembering the speech Rie gave her about who they are. Millionaires. Possibly freaking billionaires, that have countless houses, a freakin’ Island and giant ass ships, all in one! And here she got her suspicions confirmed, just by looking at this house she figured already they're rich, just not this important. Motherfrikin’ International Rescue!

“Nah, no worries! Their stop was kind of forced, since they're probably gonna finish late and want to rest a little, especially dad. You've seen him these days, haven't you?” He asks, finding that his dad's health is a great topic just to keep her here some more.

“Yeah…what's happening with him? If I can, uh, ask.”

“Of course.” He takes a deep breath, trying to lay this on her as gently as possible; it's probable she's been living under a rock, hence why she doesn't really know them and what they do, except from her best friend who seemed to vividly know who she had in front of her at their meeting. “He's had kind of an accident in space.”

???!!! “Space??”

“Yeah. He's slowly recovering now, so he'll get better, but the therapy is an exhausting path for him.”

“Yeah…” Quinn shifts her legs uncomfortably. “I'm sure he'll get better.”

“Thank you.” Virgil smiles at her. Just as he's about to say something else, he gets interrupted by one of his brothers entering the living room after what seems like a deep slumber.

“Hey Vì, who was at the doo…oh!” Alan gasps upon laying his eyes on Quinn, suddenly aware of the oversized Hard Rock Cafe shirt he's wearing, some neon red trunks that look like a punch in the eye in contrast with the plain cream shirt, foot bare and bedridden hair. Yup, that boy sure had the best reboot of his life.

“Hiii!” Quinn energetically waves at him, doing the same weird bro handshake they did the first time they met, Alan regaining his usual smile and playfulness.

“She has just been inviting us for dinner tonight.” Virgil says, smiling at their cute and natural interaction, like they knew each other since they were little.

“Ooooooh, nice! Where are we going?” He makes that happy puppy face, happy that he gets the chance to see her again, that she wants to reach out again.

“I was thinking over at my house, y'know? Your parents knew mine, so I think it's a perfect chance for them to meet again.”

“Actually that's a great idea, how thoughtful of you.” Virgil answers, making Quinn crack a smile.

“Hey, sometimes my brain seems to poop out these genius ideas, what to say?” She confidently says, swishing her hair again.

“Well, nothing more to expect from an ivy league brain.” Virgil laughs it out, totally on board with her confident sense of humor. “By the way, can we offer you something? Like some water, a snack?”

“Oh, yeah, some water would be awesome! Have you checked how hot is it today? It's like Hell on Earth today.”

“Not hotter than other days, you gotta see Hell on Earth next week or something.” Alan says, shrugging the upcoming sleepless and sweating nights off his mind, just for now.

“Ah, don't I know it…” She rolls her eyes, thanking Virgil who in the meantime just bought her a nice blessing disguised as a glass of water. After she gulps it down in some big chugs, she wipes her mouth, placing the now empty glass on a nearby tabletop. “Well, I'll go on my way now, I gotta prepare for later. Is it okay around 7PM?”

“More than perfect, actually. Do you want me to get you at your door?” Virgil offers, getting up from his seat, Alan instantly near him too.

“Me too!” The youngest adds with his usual puppy smile.

“Why not? So you can see where I live anyways, not that it's that far.” She gets up, putting her usual paperboy hat on, a necessary measure to keep her beautiful and brilliant blonde head from the scorching sun outside.

“Alright then, I'll put my shoes on. Allie, go get dressed.” He speaks to a puppy that precedes him, already up the stairs to freshen up and scroll the nappy time off.

And moments later, they all were at her door. “Do you want a snack? Some coffee?” Quinn says while unlocking the door, allowing them to get in first.

“Now you’re speaking my language!” Virgil smiles broadly, stepping aside to allow the housekeeper to enter first, ever the gentleman.

“Well, nothing wrong with a little snack!” Alan takes the initiative instead, strolling into the room just before Quinn. He stops a few steps later, not familiar with the ambience. “Uhhh…”

Quinn laughs it off, pointing them to her living room, while Virgil scolds him lightly for barging in and not greeting her family.

“Ah, don't worry, they're not home right now. They'll be back in about…” She checks the wall clock. “...2 hours? Give or take. Momma’s gone shopping, ‘cause tomorrow she works, while dad’s working right now. This evening they’re all gonna be there.” Her voice gets weaker and weaker while she goes into the kitchen to provide some coffee and snacks for her guests.

While they wait for their ‘sister’’s return, they look around the living room, commenting quietly on it. “This house is not too bad either. Very big…” Alan absentmindedly says, making a mental note that Quinn can know too what it’s like growing up rich, like them.

“It’s all in shades of gold, somewhat matching with everything.” Virgil’s artistic side breaks loose, his eyes scanning the room with a killer precision, stopping on a specific painting to admire it. Quinn is portrayed on this canvas, and you can see it’s handmade and mesmerizing, with her color palette very brilliant and vivid, the blues, reds and blacks of her graduation coat complimenting the gold, the brown and the blonde of her figure, pearly white teeth smiling at them and a very brilliant bouquet of colorful flowers that are so realistic you could almost smell them. For some reason, it’s almost as if he's looking at his mom smiling for him yet again. That smile she has in the painting is different from the one she usually sports in front of them, more genuine, warmer…mom’s.

“How much sugar in your coffees?” Quinn shouts from the kitchen, making both brothers straighten up and look towards the source of her voice, the kitchen.

“Alan doesn’t take it, mine with just some milk, cold if possible.” Virgil shouts back after debating quickly with Alan, him shaking his head.

“Comin’ right up!” And true to her words, some moments later Quinn returns into the living room carrying a big tray full of snacks and other drinks; Virgil is quick to jump up from his seat, helping her place it on a coffee table in front of the couches, where she sits down too. After a coffee with some milk for Virgil, a caramel macchiato for Quinn, some cranberry juice for Alan and some chocolate chip biscuits for everyone to feast on, they get back into conversation.

“What job do your parents do, by the way? If you don’t mind me asking, of course.” Virgil starts, the doubt not leaving his mind since she mentioned why her parents aren’t home.

“Oh, my mom is a flight attendant, while my dad is a game engineer, or some sort. He builds special plushies and games for children.” Quinn broadly says. “While yours?”

“Mom was an aerospace engineer, dad is a retired astronaut. Retired for obvious reasons.”

“Yeah, I get it. I suppose it was awesome to grow up with parents with these jobs.”

“Meh, partly yes. Sometimes, they were really busy or away from work to stay with us, and Grandma was with us most of the time. But on the other hand, yeah, it was awesome because they would always bring us lots of things and pictures from where they went and what they did.” Virgil explains, remembering fondly the old moments together. Quinn, though, doesn’t fail to notice Alan’s pained and awkward expression with the corners of her eyes, like he’s taking part in a conversation he can’t contribute to. “But after Gordon, mom left her job, staying at home full time with us. Then…things happened.”

“Yeah…can't say I get it, but in some way I suppose I do.” Now that she thinks about it, she doesn’t know the reason Lucille’s dead yet. Welp, it’s not like she can openly ask them, considering how they all shy out at even the mention of her name.

“How did it make you feel to know about mom?” Alan asks curiously, just to check if she shared or shares their same sense of loss.

“Well, uh…” She nervously chuckles. “...we can say I'm pretty sad I didn't get the chance to meet her sooner, especially considering the fact we lived so close to each other, but really I think I shouldn't be feeling like this. After all, I've got parents on my own.”

“It's perfectly normal for you to feel this way.” Virgil simply dissipates her doubts, leaving it at that.

“Yeah…well!” She deems it safe to change conversation, trying to bring some lightheartedness to the ambience. “So this is my house! It’s not as big as yours, but it’s still a nice place to live in.” What a kickstarter…she quietly sips her coffee after that, somewhat embarrassed to be with them.

“Yeah! I honestly didn’t expect us to be so close, who knew we could have met a long time ago?” Alan adds, making it difficult for Quinn now to picture them just as some family friends. Dang.

“Yeah…” She laughs it out sheepishly, adding to it another sip of her coffee. 

Just as Virgil is about to speak, his holocomm rings, beeping noisily enough for everyone to notice. “Ah, sorry, gotta take this. It's dad.” And after excusing himself, he distances himself from them. Moments later, and many biscuits later, he returns with a smile. “Allie, we gotta go. They finished their meetings earlier and are heading home now.”

“Well,” Quinn gets up from her seat in unison with Alan, who approaches his big brother. “It's been a pleasure to welcome you home. I hope to see you later for dinner.” She smiles broadly.

“Of course! I already told them, we'll be all here this evening. 7PM, right?”

“Hmm-mh! But it's okay if you'll be late, at least it will make up for my stunt a few days ago.” She jokes, earning yet another laugh from both brothers. They look like they don't smile that often these days.

After waving them goodbye, her petite figure half leaning on the door, she closes it with a big sigh. Now, to let her parents know…hm, but what will they be eating? Her fridge isn't that full…maybe a pizza? Uhhh, pizza and tacos! “I'm a genius!” A beep on her phone notifies her that her beloved AI, Potatoer (shortly Pot), requests her attention. Girl, please update me. I hate it here, feeling like a grandpa.

“Ahhhh Pottyyyyy! Lemme give you some software updates for dinner!” She shouts while sprinting upstairs to her bedroom.