#reply: conrad

[unitcd]

@fullstcp because we hate ourselves x.

"Don't - - - don't do this, Gina." No, this isn't happening. Not again. He feels his chest tightening and he reaches up to dig the heel of his hand into the center, trying to relieve the feeling that's brewing. "Don't just leave. I - - - I'm sorry!" Conrad doesn't want this to happen, he's willing to try and fix it, though he's not even sure how or where to begin. "Gina - - - What can I do?"

[unitcd]

"Steven can be something else." Conrad agrees with that. Most of the time it's funny, but sometimes he just take it way too far and it gives the elder Fisher brother a serious case of the ick. He'll choose to ignore Belly saying he can be a little mean, he already knows this, but it's usually self preservation.

"Are you sure?" He questions, poking her in the side. "Because I recall it tasting a little like dirt, or maybe dust." He smirks at her playfully. "I have some in the afternoon." He tells her. "So, if you want a little bit of company on the beach, I'll gladly go with you, keep all of the sea creatures at bay."

"Only when you aren't being particularly nice, but if it makes you feel any better, my own brother is an asshole about ninety percent of the time, and you're far better than him" she assured him with a smile. After all she knew it was Conrad's nature to be that way, even if it frustrated her to no end sometimes, but she'd had to learn to accept that it was just that way.

"It didn't taste like dust last time" she countered a she took it back and took another sip, "Whatever, Conrad" she countered when he called her Isabel and she leaned back to her previous position, "Do you have plans for tomorrow, I was thinking I wanted to take a nice little morning walk on the beach"

[unitcd]

“Your hair keeps falling into your eyes, do you know that? Here, lemme just—” From Belly to Conrad

That's sweet of her, the gentle way she brushes his hair from his face the way she does. Conrad leans into her touch and gives the slightest smile. "Guess I might need a bit of a haircut." He tells her softly. "Thanks, Belly."

[unitcd]

@roguexpogue liked for a starter.

This party? He's had enough of it, quite honestly. Conrad's just about to leave when he sees a face he at least sort of recognizes. He knows that Jeremiah is somewhere buzzing around the party and most likely having a good time, while he's not. "Hey." He nods at JJ. "Didn't take you for the type to be at a party like this."

[swaps55]

Samara or Morinth?

Samara, both from my perspective as a player and Sam's as a character.

Morinth feels too tacked on to me as a player to enjoy, and Sam would have no use for a squadmate who's keen to fuck people to death.

Though I really, really hope I get to write the scene where Samara cautions Sam that Morinth will try to seduce him, while Joker falls out of his chair laughing in the background.

[unitcd]

@kookheir liked for a crossover starter.

"No, Jere's not here." He's heard about Rafe Cameron, seen him around, but he's never spoken to him until now. "Why are you looking for him?" Con is curious, sue him. "He might be trying to protect his little brother at this point, he's not really sure.

[darwinquark]

tsitp season 3 trailer came out and there’s a snippet of taylor yelling at conrad and i thought of you lolll i fear they have weaseled their way into my brain after you mentioned them oh so long ago

!!!!! so honored you thought of me 😂 yeah I saw that clip and idk man, her vitriol for him on belly's behalf just seems so out of proportion to what he actually did, which feels like such a meaty tension to explore/clarify.... juicy juicy.

[unitcd]

For him to be able to say that, to explain himself like that, had taken more than Belly could understand. He's not a man that's able to easily explain how he feels. It takes an excruciating amount of courage on his part in order to get through it.

As Belly reaches up to put her hand over his, he nods his head and looks up at her, finally. He puts his hand over hers atop his heart that's hammering inside the confines of his chest. "I know." He replies when she says that she's waited years for him to tell her that. He knows. . . It's taken him a long time to come to terms with saying those words.

At first it seemed selfish to say, especially right after his mom had passed, almost as if he was trying to replace his love for his mom. That was not the case, Conrad just was not good at separating feelings when he became severely overwhelmed. . .

Leaning forward slightly, he lightly brushes the tip of his nose against Belly's. Hearing those words from her makes his heart jump, not not in a negatively anxious way. He leans forward and kisses her, lips pressed fully against hers. All he needed were those words from her and he hadn't even known it.

Belly almost felt like she had stopped breathing as she was listening to his words. It was the words she had been longing to hear for years. Her childhood crush, the only man she had ever loved, was opening up, telling her that he felt the same way she did.

She watched his hand rub over his chest, and lift her hand, placing her hand on top of his, hoping it would help him calm down, that he wouldn't look so anxious.

"I have waited years to hear that. Do you know that?" She asked, a soft smile gracing her lips. Her hand moved to stroke up his arm, his shoulder, to lightly cup the back of his neck as she looked into his eyes, and mad him look at her.

"You are the only one I have ever loved Conrad."

[lettalady]

For the prompt "hope springs eternal"

oooh I had a couple things occur to me regarding this phrase. Let's chase after James Conrad and his younger step-sibling. They have a tradition between them, passing their father's lighter back and forth on or close to respective birthdays. He sort of meant for her to hang onto it this last time - but she had different ideas.

Thank you for getting the characters stirring!

Word Prompt Challenge : Send me a word (or phrase) and I’ll write a story

Hope springs eternal { Proverb: phrase of hope. It is human nature to find fresh cause for optimism. See also: You continue to hope something will happen, although it seems unlikely }

James Conrad shouldn't be escorting his little sister anywhere. Particularly he shouldn't be trying to find the safest way back from his camp site to civilization, or dealing with the pilot and ex-friend that brought said little sister from the safety of what once was home to discover why it was she hadn't heard from him. Solitude was sort of the point.

He was the tracker in the area that had a bit of time on his hands, so everyone brought the news to him these days, defeating his attempt at pulling away from the world. Shock wasn't the first thing that sprang to him when his little sister, more grimy than he's ever remembered seeing her. She wasn't alone, not that the company shepherding her was a welcome sight.

The moment he gets them both to his camp to clean up a little before the real trek begins, he turns to the man he knew during his SAS days, and once considered a close friend. This incident only adds to the bad blood between them. "I thought you'd be dead by now."

The former buddy only snorts deadpan in response, “I thought you’d be less of an asshole, but here we are.” 

Yes. Here they are. And if memory serves it's not him that's the asshole that cost so many their lives. James tamps down on the bubbling irritation threatening to turn an attempted rescue into a brawl. “So you brought my sister out here.” 

“Didn't know she was your sister at first."

At first. Didn't turn the job down once the connection was revealed. Clearly.

"She’d have found someone less reputable if I didn’t.” 

Hmmph. Reputable is a stretch. “Fair.” 

“And you’d’ve killed me if something had happened to her. Something different had happened. Not that I coulda known that she would take after your insanity. Took my reminder about IF it looked like we needed to jump to goddamned do it. Your family is…” 

“Whatchit.” 

Silence falls as they wait for his little sister to reappear, hopefully a little more put together and ready to make the long trek in. Maybe he'll get himself a drink, hustle the pool tables for money -- since he'll find himself in the city again.

"So. The plan is to get her out of here."

"Her, and you, on the first plane departing." James nods, "Hope springs eternal."

[hiddencitywaters]

@lavendaers

Conrad couldn't help smiling when he noticed just who was here. The fisher boy had been bent down to finish the last knot for the boat that had been brought to the pier he had been working on. He had no idea how the hell he had got here. But he had wanted more than anything for the face of his best friend and the woman he had been in love with forever. He was so closed off to everyone else though she seemed to break down his walls in the way that could only be good for him. Like coming home and being challenged all at once. He hadn't realized she was here too given that most of his messages had not gone answered. "Bells!" he mused. It had been a rough time for sure. And feeling alone didn't help in the slightest. They surely lost the house. "I didn't know you were around here."

[swaps55]

Been playing Mass Effect today, ran into Conrad Verner, and now I've been wondering for hours how those interactions went in your Opus series.

Did Shepard shove a gun into Conrads face or tell him to scram? Did he shoot him in the foot or hit him on Illium? Is Conrad going to become a war asset in ME3? And most importantly, is Conrad going to find love with Jenna?

I actually have a LOT of feelings about Conrad!

I don't know if he will make much of an appearance in Opus proper, but Sam actually has a lot of affection and patience for Conrad. During ME1 it would be more like irritated patience, but in ME2, Sam is such a fucking mess he might actually be glad to see him. Conrad is a simple problem that would make sense, when everything else seems too huge and too impossible to fix. He would put the fear of wrath into the heart of the asari who is trying to take advantage of him.

I wrote a little about Sam and Conrad during ME3 here.

If he doesn't make it into Opus, I'd like to do a multiverse story about the two of them at some point.

[unitcd]

There was a reason why Conrad was acting the way he was, but it wasn't alcohol. He'd never tell, though. He just ignored Belly's comment about staying up too late, though he did say something when they were all in the Range Rover. "None of you had to take an exam though, did you?" He asks, his tone mocking. "So, what did you two lovebirds DO while I was in there, huh?" Now he was going to be an asshole, he didn't deserve the shit that they served him on a paper plate. "I noticed the Finch sweatshirt. Finch is FUN."

The way that Conrad was acting all of a sudden... Belly may not have had all that much experience with alcohol, but she felt like maybe Conrad did now. It made her even more antsy, if he was drunk or something, to be in a vehicle with him for a while. Though he claimed the reason he was saying no to driving was because of lack of sleep. "Yeah, neither did we, remember?" Belly reminded him. "Jere and Steven and I all stayed up with you." Crossing her arms, she shook her head a bit and got into the passenger seat all the same.

[unitcd]

@lcstinfantasy liked.

"Usually my family and I stay at our place in Cousins Beach. My dad thought it would be good for my brother and I stay somewhere else, so he sent us down here." Conrad explained. "That's probably why you've never seen me before, but you will have to get used to my face for a couple of months."

[darwinquark]

just wanted to let you know that i think about that fic idea you posted about conrad and taylor from tsitp way too often and if you ever decide to explore that i will be tuned in lol. this is so random and this post is from forever ago but i keep thinking about it 😭

LMAO listen I legit planned out half of it in my head

one of these days!

[unitcd]

@xtraterrestrials liked.

"Can I just say no?" He asks. "I don't feel like going out and partying or whatever, I think I'm just going to stay in, maybe go for a swim and hang around the house. You are more than welcome to join if you want to."

[darwinquark]

tho i've literally never thought about taylor/conrad, ever, you have compelled me!! they sort of remind me of steroline too in the bright, bubbly girl with the brooding, tormented guy (and there are weirdly a lot of plot similarities too with the love triangles with two brothers and the Second Love that brooding guy would find with the girl, but i digress). i'm a bit indifferent to the main love triangle but i do just like jeremiah a bit better so i lean there, but now i'll have someone in mind for who i want conrad to be with. 👀 i'm so curious if you have another TSITP thoughts!! hope you have a lovely day/night. :-)

yesssss, join the movement! lmao this is like paris x logan all over again 😂 but that's actually such a great point, I can totally see the steroline parallels! especially with how Stefan was never outright mean to Caroline but was just kind of dismissive in the first few seasons, like she never really registered on his radar and he thought of her as kind of a stereotype and it wasn't until the whole vampire thing forced them together that they started becoming real people to each other. I feel like Conrad has a similar impression of Taylor, though I do think Taylor is more overtly anti-Conrad than Caroline ever was anti-Stefan (but honestly I feel like that makes it more fun). And definitely see the whole second love/better love parallel - I always enjoy storylines with two people finally seeing each other for the first time outside of the blinding glare of their initial love interests.

re: the show, I don't really care for the main love triangle either so no strong thoughts but generally lean more Belly/Conrad