#so hopefully this gets my gears going faster

[tennessoui]

werewolf wip wednesday 🐺

"Anakin--" the snarl is immediate and predictable, but Obi-Wan doesn't toss him out of his lap and onto the ground, which Anakin thinks must be a win. Which Anakin thinks is as good as a flag of surrender.

"That's not what you called me," Anakin says because he thinks maybe he should lay all of his sabacc cards out on the table. His knees slot naturally, perfectly around Obi-Wan's hips, and his master's hands fall to his waist. His grip on him is tight to the point of pain. Anakin relishes in it, the ache of it. He'll get bruises. Good. That's good. Obi-Wan had ordered--intimidated?--an entire tank's worth of bacta to heal Anakin of his other bruises and scrapes. It feels right that Obi-Wan should add his own now to the newly bare canvas of Anakin's skin.

"Padawan..."

Anakin rests his mech hand on Obi-Wan's chest and tangles his fingers in the short edges of his hair. "Closer," he murmurs, tipping forward until there's hardly breathing room between their bodies.

Obi-Wan's eyes fall shut as if he is in a great deal of pain. But--his mouth opens. Just slightly, almost as if he cannot help himself. Almost as if he is tasting the air for Anakin's scent. Maybe he is. After all, Anakin must not smell right. He must smell like chemicals, like bacta. He hadn't had the chance to wash off in a sonic between receiving the report from Rex and storming to Obi-Wan's quarters. If Obi-Wan had laid a claim to him by scenting him all those hours ago against that cliffside on Craul, it's most certainly been covered up and washed away.

But Anakin is a good mate. In fact, Anakin can be the best mate Obi-Wan could possibly want. He lets his head fall back further, highlighting the bump in his throat and its vulnerable tendons and what must be his racing pulse, and uses his hold on Obi-Wan's hair to push him closer until his nose bumps up against the edge of his jaw. He can't fight the shiver that rushes through him at the sensation, nor can he fight the way he can feel his body begin to respond to this position he's manipulated them into.

It's not his fault. Obi-Wan's beard feels indescribably good along his skin. It had all those hours ago too, but it's different now. It's different now that he knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that Obi-Wan does not view him as his pup who he must scent for his own protection. That any claim Obi-Wan leaves on his skin, he is not leaving out of some parental sense of duty or platonic weakness he cannot curb. Mate leaves no room for platonic. It leaves no room for parental.

"Why do you test me so?" his master murmurs, though it sounds more like a groan.

[kabr0ztrousers]

Bull hybrid cowboy x chubby fem reader. He runs a little ranch all by himself no one for miles and her car just so happens to break down near his road. He offers her a ride into town but ends up kidnapping her. Would love it if he ties her up and shows her all the reasons why she should stay with him.

Hmm... Now do I write another hucow scene or don't I? Only kidding, you all know where this is going.

Kabr0z Writes Episode 34: Free Range

Find the rest of the Kabr0z Writes anthology here!

CWs: kidnap; dubcon; noncon; lactation; impregnation;

A/N: Thanks again for the steady stream of requests, you lot! Remember if you want to see something, want me to revisit a kink or scenario I've done before, or have a totally new idea, let me know and it'll probably happen!

######################################

You loved that little shitbox of a car, mid 2000's spec, old enough to drink and still going strong. Up until about 5 miles back. You were on a tiny country road in the middle of the night, cruising at 60, when you heard an almighty bang followed by a jangling noise. Your revs went through the roof for a moment before you started to coast. By the time you stopped and inspected the damage you'd already figured out what happened. The jaunty angle of the gearstick and the lack of any resistance on it meant your gears were probably strewn across several hundred metres of road. At least your engine still worked so you had light, heat, and BBC 2.

You didn't, however have any phone signal.

So you sat in the layby in your car, idling the engine to keep the battery running and listening to the 80s. Sleeping in a running car seems like something that's probably illegal, but you figured if the police found you, they could probably give you a tow to go with the fine. Hopefully you'd make it to morning and then walk however far the nearest town is to call your insurance.

A horn behind you shocked you out of your thoughts. You looked around as a rugged 4x4 pulled level with you. A window rolled down and the driver motioned for you to do the same.

He was a bull hybrid, horns wreathing his head, a thick gold ring adorning his nose. "Need a tow?"

"Yeah, I think my gearbox is fucked" you smiled at him

"That'll do it for you, I can get you to town if you want, climb in"

You got out of your car and into his, grateful for the save. He hooked a rope from his car to yours and pulled away, your stricken vehicle in tow.

You didn't think anything of the route he took, country lanes are far too narrow to turn around in, especially in a big vehicle like this one, but you'd been travelling for a while. It's not like he wasn't charming, softly spoken with just a hint of an accent, apparently he had a herd of dairy cattle that he pastured around the area, and you were being regaled about the trade. The radio in the car gently playing some tiny local station or other, predominantly focusing on spinning old records and talking about the weather.

Suspicion set in when you turned off the road, he was taking you up a gravel track in the pitch-dark. He seemed to know the area pretty well but you figured that to get to civilization, you should probably be following the asphalt rather than abandoning it.

He pulled up at a house and turned off the engine, shoving the keys into his pocket "Come on, let's get inside"

You got out and bolted away from the house. You're not stupid enough to follow him in, you'd only just met!

He was faster than you. You'd barely made it twenty yards when you were tackled to the ground. The bull huffed as he tied your ankles together and hefted you over his shoulder. You hit and struggled against him, but he only chuckled at your assault. "Spirited, aren't you?" He opened his door and carried you over the threshold "You'll do fine here"

He put you down onto a plush sofa and sat in a chair opposite to you. Minutes passed in silence, you sullenly staring at him, him eyeing you up like a cut of meat.

"What will you do with me?" You spat at him

"Honestly, I'm not sure. You seemed like a soft townie when I picked you up. I'd thought maybe let you call for a tow, give you a coffee, and maybe a roll in the hay." He was still staring at you

"But?" You felt like there was a but coming

"But, you're not badly built, and you're not such a pushover. Now I'm deciding if I want a wife or not"

You recoiled at his comment "If you think I'm marrying you, you can fuck off!"

He shrugged and got up "Plan B then. With hips and tits like those you'll be a good fit"

He lifted you into a seated position and tore off your top, baring your chest and the rolls of your tummy. He grabbed one of your tits and hefted it "Natural, very good"

If looks could kill, you would've atomised him. As it was he merely met your gaze as he roughly inspected you.

"I was right, you'll do excellently" He picked you up again and swung you over his shoulder before carrying you outside. He crossed a field, not caring about your yelling and screaming for help. He knew nobody was around for miles, even if someone heard you they wouldn't be able to help you. He pushed open a barn door and carried you in, putting you down on a pile of straw "I'll see you tomorrow"

He left you there. The ropes were tied tightly around your ankles. You struggled against them until your fingers went numb to no avail. The other occupants of the barn stirred with your struggling. Your eyes were adjusting to the gloom, you could just about make them out.

They were other women. Some cow hybrids, some not. All of them plump, many pregnant. They looked at you with big doe eyes, curiosity on their faces as they regarded you.

The first one put her arms around you in a hug, then another and another until you were smothered in a dozen round women, their full breasts pressing against you as they started to doze off on you. Stuck there in the centre of the cuddle pile, you couldn't help your eyelids getting heavy, your head cushioned against a plush belly as sleep claimed you too.

You woke with the dawn. The other women mooing eagerly and dispersing around the barn. The bull man from last night opened the door and stepped in. He looked over at you before settling to work. One by one he attached milking cups to the other women, who each settled down contentedly as the machines pumped them, the milk being drawn into tanks at one end of the barn.

Finally he got to you.

"Enjoy your night?"

You spat at him. He laughed.

"Damn, I wish you'd reconsider being my wife. As it is, I can still put a calf in you." He lifted you and carried you to a fence, tying your arms to it before cutting your ankles free.

Your tits swung below you as he pulled your hips up and hiked your skirt up. He tore a hole in your tights, revealing your pussy. You screamed as he started to lick you, his thick tongue penetrating you already as he fingered your clit. You felt your skin flush as your body responded to him, getting wet and ready for him. His licking and stroking was drawing you in, until you quivered with a tearful orgasm.

You felt him straighten up behind you. He lay his cock on your back and you shivered with the length of it before he pulled back and started to ease the tip in, crooning as he went "You're doing great, girl, just a little more, a little more"

The sound of his voice was making you wetter than his tongue did. You whimpered from the fullness from his cock pushing slowly into you, stretching you out. Your hips were pushing back against him, sending waves of motion up your body. He started to push harder, move faster. Your whimpers turned to blissful sobs and whines as you sped towards your next orgasm, the length and girth of him getting you off all by itself. When he squeezed your hips it was too much. Your body tried to push back, but it didn't need to. He could feel your impending orgasm and hilted himself in you, tiny thrusts slapping his balls against your clit and driving you over the edge. He started to throb and pulse in you as your cunt clenched around him. His thrusts were fast and deep, he was close and wasn't going to cum anywhere but inside you. His pounding on your cervix was getting to you, as was his gripping your waist and your hips, and the jolting swaying of your tits. He pushed a hand between your legs and circled his fingers over your clit. You came again. This time he joined in. Your moans and grunts mingled as the other women watched you, still mooing in euphoria from being attached to the pumps.

He stayed inside you, his cock still giving occasional pumps of cum. His huge hands tracing patterns on your back and rubbing your aching muscles. Then he pulled out, and you heard a spatter of his cum fall out of you and onto the straw below. He cut your arms free and helped you off the railings, laying you on the straw.

"I treat my ladies well, you'll see"

A month has passed since you joined the herd. You spend your mornings hooked up to the milking machines, your afternoons lounging in the fields munching clover and enjoying the company of your new friends, then in the evenings Aaron, as you leaned his name, would often visit you and put another load in you. You're already late on your period, you just haven't told him yet.

Yeah, you're giving up some freedoms, and you're pretty sure you're getting dumber

But it sure beats your old job

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Postscript: A bit of an experiment in trying to split the difference between "awful human farm" and not being overly horrible to the POV character. Hopefully it hits the mark nicely. Who knows, I may do a continuation or a "what if" where it goes into fluffy marital sex between Aaron and Fem!Reader...

At any rate, this is your periodic reminder that my ask box and DMs are always open, and to not hold back on your requests! I'm not in the habit of airing anyone's dirty laundry so if you do cross some unforeseen line the worst you'll get is a no

[ssentimentals]

im so glad that i found your blog, was looking for some wholesome texts with reader/seungcheol and yours are so nicely written, i enjoy them so much! thank you 🫶🏻 if i could leave a request, i'd love to read something where reader is a foreigner and some miscommunication happens but solved without much drama (with help of vernon or shua maybe). thank you for your blog once again!

awwww this is so cute!! thank you so much for your kind words anonie, i'm happy you're enjoying this blog <3 and of course you can leave a request, hopefully you'll like it!

seungcheol + foreigner!reader

no matter how hard he tried, seungcheol couldn't pinpoint how something so small escalated at rapid speed and turned into a full blown argument which left you both angry and offended. he can't even remember how it started, doesn't have any idea on what even caused you two to start arguing. the whole part of 'not seeing eye to eye' is generally an unfamiliar concept for your relationships, so seungcheol really has a hard time grasping the reality of you not talking to him. it hurts too bad, hurts much stronger than he expected; cheol knows that fights happen and that it's normal, but somehow he still thought that you two will be spared from this.

'she's not picking up?' vernon asks and seungcheol shakes his head. 'and she's not at home?'

'she's at the gym.' seungcheol answers. by this point he learned your schedule by heart. 'should be back home in thirty minutes or so.'

this is ridicilous. both the argument and his moping. cheol knew very well that coming from different cultural backgrounds will echo in the relationships dynamic one way or another: different past, upbringing, culture, language have a huge impact on the personalities and views. he was ready for some tension but you both settled into this relationship so smoothly that he honestly forgot about cultural differences. he should've known that they'll pop on in some way.

'go over it with me again.' seungcheol asks, sighing. 'from the scratch and make it logical, please. start with what i did wrong then move to why it was incorrect.'

vernon, god bless him, is not tired of explaining again. he was the first person seungcheol called to when all of this happened and his younger friend agreed to help readily. in a calm tone vernon helps seungcheol understand your angle, how his words that held no malice intent managed to come out wrong. 'it's not that big of a deal though,' vernon adds, seeing how seungcheol frowned even deeper. 'i mean, it's not ideal but like, it happens, it's okay. there's no way you could've known, so it's normal.'

'even so, it sucks.' seungcheol sighs, rubbing his eyes. he understands that you two just got a bit too emotional over everything, but he still feels a huge sense of guilt on his shoulders.

'i promise you it's not that big of a deal.' vernon reassures.

seungcheol nods. even if it's not that big of a deal having you not to talk him is the worst thing that could ever happen. he gets up, dusting his jeans off. vernon eyes him carefully and then smiles. 'you good?'

'yeah. gotta go and make it right.'

seungcheol waits for around ten minutes in front of your house when he notices your lonely figure in the distance. clad in your workout gear, he can see even from there that you're sulking, walking in a slow speed. without thinking twice, seungcheol runs to meet you, his legs carrying him faster than wind to your side. when you notice him you pause at first and he almost thinks that he is fucking up here too, but then you start running towards him and oh. oh.

'baby,' seungcheol breathes out, catching you when you throw yourself at him, wrapping your legs around his hips. with strong hands he stabilizes you, holding you securely close to his chest. 'baby, my baby.'

'cheollie,' you mutter, hugging him tight. 'i'm so-'

'no, shh,' seungcheol interrupts. 'it's me who's sorry, okay? i am sorry, i didn't know. i promise i didn't know-'

'i know!' you lean back and hit him lightly at the shoulder. 'let me finish! i know that you had no idea, cheol. i'm sorry for reacting the way i did.'

seungcheol breathes out in relief. he really got incredibly lucky with you, huh? 'i'd never say anything intentionally hurtful to you,' he promises sincerely, making you smile softly. 'never, baby. hurting you will hurt me more.'

'i know,' you whisper, leaning in until your foreheads touch. 'i know, cheol.'

'i love you,' seungcheol whispers. 'so much, babygirl. so much.'

you giggle and instead of answering, kiss him sweetly on the lips.

a/n: hope it was fine!! let me know what you think :') - nini

my other seventeen works are HERE

[a-simple-imagine]

Perfectly Pathetic Pt.2

synopsis: you try to fix things with cady while maintaining your friendship with the plastics

pairing: regina george x fem!reader, elements of cady heron x fem!reader

words: 6.6k (6666 to be exact)

A/N - it’s here at long last besties!! get it while it’s hot because i might delete later idk how i feel about it

WARNINGS - swearing, toxic relationships and general toxicity, d-slur, and bullying

PREV //

come Sunday, you wake up with a throbbing head and zero energy left in your body but memories sit crystal clear. you remember Regina trying to come onto you. her scaring Cady away. Gretchen rubbing your back as you listen to her whine about Jason for the millionth time. weird night. you check your phone but don't bother to reply to anyone except Karen who wouldn't stop sending you explicit details about some reality show she was binging. but alas the weekend was over and you're forced to brave the embarrassment of going back to school after a party. happens every time. people do dumb shit and are forced to face it on Monday.

the first person you come across is none other than the red-headed new girl herself. you have got to imagine she is mad at you after what happened; the lies Regina told. it was not your fault but you should probably try and make peace.

"Hey! New girl," yelled down the hallway, you walk a little faster in order to catch up. you watch her glance around a little confused as you approach.

"Oh," her expression seems to neutralise as she realises it's you. "hi."

"did you have a good Sunday?"

"it was alright," the fact she was speaking to you was a good sign. "I spent it with my mom."

"cute," you flash a smile. Cady was clutching her books pretty tightly. "I thought we should maybe talk about Saturday."

"We don't have to to."

"but I want to," you insist. "please?"

"Regina already told me,"

"Regina is a liar," you blurt out. hopefully, that wouldn't get back to her. "I don't know what she said exactly but it's not true," she looks at you with curious eyes. "I wasn't stringing you along or anything,"

"Sure,"

"I like you, Cady. you're... different," you express. "I wanna be your friend. and I was really happy when you showed up at the party,"

"Really?"

"mhmm," you hum, nodding to prove your point. "cross my heart." you mime the action of drawing a cross across your chest. you're not sure they're gonna forgive you but the bell for homeroom would ring at any moment so time was running out.

"Okay," replied after a moment. a small smile that's quick to fade.

"do you want to finish working on our assignment later?" you ask.

"Sure," they shrug. "meet you out front?"

you're not entirely convinced you're forgiven but you'll take what you can get. you're about to respond when your eyes spot Gretchen amongst the crowd. you lock eyes for a second before she bolts in the opposite direction. with a heavy sigh, you charge after her.

"Gretchen." yelled down the hallway causing a few heads to turn. people naturally darted out of your way but you almost smashed into a few people. "Gretchen," is she getting quicker? "will you just stop?" the answer was apparently no because she just kept going until you manage to grab her arm forcing her to stop. "what the fuck?"

"oh hey, I didn't see you back there." she lies, offering a less-than-genuine smile.

"I was literally yelling your name?" your brow furrowed. you could almost see the gears turning in her head trying to come up with some kind of excuse.

"Sorry, I'm tired- mustn't have heard you." was that the best she could do? you just roll your eyes.

"Can you not tell Regina I was talking to Cady."

"Why?" she asks despite already knowing the answer.

"Please, Gretchen? it's really not a big deal, okay so let's just keep it between us."

"I said you should stay away from her and you ignored me."

"I know and you were probably right but," you shrug. "it's too late and besides, I have to do a presentation with her, that's why we were talking. you can even ask Karen."

"I won't tell anyone." that was a lie. She won't tell anyone except Regina obviously. always trying to be in her good graces.

"if you promise not to tell, I'll... tell Jason something bad about Taylor? like she has crabs or something?"

her eyes light up at the prospect. "really?"

you nod. Taylor had never liked you so you weren't exactly on the best of terms and if making up some rumour about her gets Gretchen off your back then great. "but you can't tell Regina, deal?"

"deal," Gretchen smiles brightly. thank fuck for that. you start walking together now. "so what happened at the party?"

"don't you already know?" you tease. "thought that pretty little head of yours knew everything."

"I'm working on it."

you shrug. she'd probably find out eventually. "nothing really. Regina told Cady some stuff about me."

"that you don't like her and are only pretending to be her friend?"

"so you did already know,"

"I don't know what you see in Cady."

"I don't know." she just wasn't like anyone else. a new avenue to discover. most of these people you've known for years. the bell rings out and suddenly you remember you were supposed to drop off a take-home quiz by homeroom today. you had actually done it but forgot it was in your locker. "oh shit,"

"What?"

"I just forgot to hand something in i'll see you later," with a quick wave goodbye, you rush off back the way you've come. it wasn't like you were bad in school or anything. just sometimes you'd forget to bring in homework. one... or four late quizzes later and suddenly Ms. Norbury is giving you extra work to make up for it. it's not like you have a life or anything. As you grab the paper from your locker, Karen Shetty emerges.

"Morning," sang dazzlingly as she shoved your locker door closed.

"good morning," you smile softly, a glance over her outfit. "you're particularly chirpy today and look great,"

a tiny theatrical gasp, she puts a playful hand over her chest. "thank you,"

"where did you get the cardigan?"

"thrifted it,"

"oooh, I love that," you say. "also it goes so well with that super cute bracelet you're wearing,"

"Aw thanks, my friend made it."

"that's so cute, she must be a really great friend," you tease.

"she is," Karen nods. "where are you headed?"

"I gotta drop this off to Ms.Norbury or I'll fail math,"

"Can I come?"

it wasn't exactly an exciting trip so you don't know why she would want to? plus you were late for homeroom now. "I guess?"

"did you have fun at the party?" Karen inquiries as you begin towards Ms Norbury's homeroom class.

"it was alright,"

"I heard you got into a fight with Regina,"

"hardly a fight," you sigh. it was gonna be a very long day. "it's fine. you know how she can be,"

"was it over Cady?"

"Why does everyone suddenly care about Cady?" you stress. "it really doesn't matter."

a shrug. "I heard from Gretchen that Connor is grounded now because he didn't tell his parents about the party and they found out because somebody was sick in like a vase or something,"

"ew," you giggle, scrunching up your nose in disgust. "like they just found cold vomit in a vase?"

"mhmm," Karen nods eagerly. you make a fake gagging action as you knock on the open door. why is it always so awkward to walk into an already full classroom? ms. Norbury invited you further inside and you can't help but look at the people staring at you.

"so you do know how to hand things in on time," you resist the urge to roll your eyes. "great. now if you can just do that all the time."

"I make no promises," you answer, placing your homework down on her desk. when your eyes meet Cady's she waves a little. you flash a smile.

"come see me after school and I'll let you know how you did and if I need anything else from you,"

"Okay," you sigh. wasn't your first extra credit quiz. nor your last probably. you leave the classroom quickly, grabbing Karen's hand. she'd been waiting at the door.

"lots of people in there,"

"yeah because we're supposed to be in homeroom," you advise her.

"I didn't hear the bell,"

oh, Karen. "just come on."

it was a rather lifeless day thank god. you were grateful for the peace. and ms. Norbury hadn't given you any more work. you still had your tutor sessions but they never bothered you too much. now you're sitting staring at your laptop pretending you're doing research. Cady is scribbling in her notebook. Once again you're bored. and you can't help but watch Cady and wonder if she really has forgiven you. sure you were together right now but only because of this stupid presentation. you sit up a little straighter, taking a sip from your water bottle. "are you mad at me?"

it's sudden and she seems perplexed as she glances up at you. "huh?"

"I don't want you to be mad at me"

"I'm not mad," she urges, going back to her little scribbling. "you said Regina was lying, I believe you."

"just like that?" it seemed too easy.

"just like that,"

"how do you know I'm not lying about Regina lying though?"

"I don't." a shrug, she looks at you. "I'm just trusting you so can we please get back on track." you're not sure you would forgive someone as easily as this. it seemed naïve. or maybe she was just a better person than you. either way, this was what you wanted so...

"This is so boring," you whine loudly, pushing your laptop away so you can dramatically collapse against the table.

"if you actually help instead of complaining, we'd get it done quicker."

"Cady," you sigh loudly. "let's not, I'm just here to be pretty, okay? I shouldn't be forced to do homework too."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," you sit up properly once more. "ask away."

"Why do you hang out with Regina?" the question catches you a little off guard. why did she wanna know that?

"What does that have to do with the book?" you counter, a playful raise of your brow. "if you stayed on topic, we'd get it done quicker."

"I'm serious."

you shrug a little. "why wouldn't I? She's like one of my best friends."

"why though? I've seen the way she treats you,"

"you just don't get Regina," very few people did. sure she was kinda mean and pushy, you'd never deny that but the rest of the school didn't get to see her other side. which was also kinda mean but a tad softer. the blonde was fierce. if someone fucked with you, or Karen, or even Gretchen, she'd go to war. you've watched her destroy girls just to prop Gretchen up to Jason. maul boys for making fun of Karen. you only got away with half the shit you did because you were friends with Regina. maybe she kept you around because you showered her with love and attention but she, in her own way, gave it right back. "she can be a lot but she's really cool."

"she's horrible to literally everyone."

"yeah but that's like kinda funny," Cady gives you a look suggesting she doesn't agree which was fair but she didn't exactly pick the nicest people to be friends with. Damian was funny in class and you liked to tell him gossip that Gretchen told you. you never really spoke to Janis too much but you've seen her around. heard what she says about you. She makes jokes right to your face. "don't act like Janis doesn't do the exact same thing. why do you hang out with her?"

"That's different,"

"is it?" you challenge. "or is Regina just popular?" Cady seems to not have an answer because she goes back to the book. "she's my friend and I like her. simple as."

"I'm sorry for asking,"

"Don't worry about it," you weren't particularly angry. you knew how people viewed Regina. a mixture of high admiration and fear. "So did you enjoy your first party?"

"yeah. not exactly what I was expecting,"

"they're not all like that," you urge. "sometimes they're fun. sometimes you wanna stab yourself in the eye to get out of it."

"did you have fun?"

"fun is not the word I would use but it was an experience," After Cady left you kind of just sulked with Gretchen until Karen found you and insisted you had to dance together. you spent the rest of the night with her. "I'm happy you came. I wish Regina hadn't messed everything up."

"sorry I left."

"you don't have to apologise." you smile. "we're hanging out now even if you're making me do homework. and there's always next time."

"I'm not making you do homework," Cady argues. you just smile. shuffling along the bench so you're right beside her. She has the book open in front of her and a notebook full of scribbles. you repeatedly tap the notebook with your finger.

"Are these not notes for our project? is that not homework?"

"yeah but these are my notes," she expresses, snatching up her notebook to place on the side away from you. As your eyes meet, you can almost pinpoint the exact moment she gets flustered. a dusting of pink gracing her cheeks. "you're just fucking about."

a dramatic gasp before a smile takes over. "I would never."

Cady smiles and before you have time to react she is leaning in to connect your lips in the softest of embraces. it reminds you of the first time Regina kissed you. only it never had the chance to become anything more before you pull back.

"Sorry- I didn't. I don't know why I did that." that dusting of pink is now a deep shade of red. panic in her voice. eyes firmly on her homework. you're unsure of what to say exactly. you liked Cady. maybe even the same way she apparently liked you. but you just weren't sure yet.

"It's alright, don't worry about it," you express. "uh... should we get back to the book?"

you weren't mad or upset with Cady. her kissing you had just left you feeling... weird? so even as you parted ways and you got texts later in the evening, you couldn't bring yourself to reply. you just needed some time to think.

Lunchtime is weird. Everyone is quiet. Painfully quiet. Karen and Gretchen are just eating their lunch. Regina is staring at the label of her yoghurt. you're sat there anxiously like a child bursting with energy. this was so unlike them. "can someone just talk already," you blurt out. a little startled, everyone looks at you. "sorry. just nobody is talking and it's freaking me out. normally Gretchen never shuts up."

"why are you even here?" Regina asks, twisting the dessert in her hand. you wish she'd just eat it instead of inspecting it.

"why wouldn't I be?"

"shouldn't you be over there with the pyro-dyke and her band of freaks." her head nods in the direction she means but her eyes never leave that stupid label. the nickname referred to Janis and Band of Freaks must mean Cady and Damian.

a sigh. "you're being ridiculous,"

"I'm being what?" Regina asked firmly. her yoghurt placed down slowly as her eyes zone in on you. sharp and daring. Karen gently nudges your leg with hers but you're not sure if it was an accident or a warning. you glance at her and then at Gretchen who is keeping her eyes firmly on her food.

"nothing. sorry," you say softly.

"stand up," voice low but commanding. you can't tell if she's serious so you remain seated. watching her. "stand up. now." she was louder now. attracting attention. putting on a show as various people looked to see what the commotion was. "you wanna run around with freaks and lesbos, then go."

"Are you-"

"go." you swallow hard. willing yourself not to crumble under the pressure of everyone's gaze. you could argue back but you know better than to challenge her when she's this pissed off. so you just push up, grab your tray and leave the table. you lock eyes with Janis along the way who is next to Cady. you can't join them like Regina so angrily implied, it'd just make things worse for them and yourself.

your last few classes of the day are spent wondering what you've done to piss off Regina today. you've hardly even seen her. maybe Gretchen told her about the hallway yesterday? She promised not to plus this seemed like a massive overreaction. you're at your locker, grabbing your stuff when Gretchen approaches. "Regina said if you can behave yourself you're allowed to come shopping with us,"

"hello to you too Gretchen," you slam the metal door shut. "no thank you.."

"Seriously?"

"she basically banished me from the cafeteria today, why would I wanna go anywhere with her?" you ask but it was mostly rhetorical as you start down the hall.

"you know she was only joking," the brunette trails after you.

"was she? felt pretty real to me,"

"that's just her humour," Gretchen assures you. "you have to come. Regina will be upset,"

"Regina doesn't have emotions," you fire back, pushing through the double doors, you almost collide with another person. "Jesus, watch out."

didn't take long to realise who it was. "it's Karen actually,"

"I know your name, baby" you pat her shoulder. "why are you right outside the door?"

"waiting for you," she takes your hand. "we're going shopping."

"I don't wanna do that," you express but Karen is already leading you towards Regina's jeep. "Karen, let go" you groan but put up little resistance. the blonde is leaning against the side eyes on you as you're being dragged across the front lawn.

"you found her then," the blonde comments, pushing away from the metal of her jeep. "thought we'd have to start putting up lost dog posters or something."

"why am I even here?"

"Isn't it obvious- get in the car." Regina climbs in and everyone else does the same. "we need someone to carry the bags."

why were you here? why had you given in so easily? You didn't even want to go shopping and now you're staring at yourself in the wall-length mirror of a dressing room, trying on outfits. with a heavy sigh, you step through the curtain

"what do you think?"

"you look great," declares Gretchen.

"beautiful," an eager Karen. She had picked it out.

Regina turns from the large mirror at the end of the space where she was inspecting the dress she was trying on to you. "ew." is all she says before turning back.

"yeah, I never liked it," Gretchen remarks quickly.

"try this," Karen shoves a hanger in your hand before pushing you back towards the dressing room. you stare at your reflection once more. you didn't think it looked too bad but maybe Regina was right. it wasn't exactly your style but that's because Karen picked it. it was more you than most of the outfits she tried to get you to wear... it did sit a little weirdly. you can hear Regina talking to the girls, sending them each on an errand. and then it's silent. you begin to undress when the blonde calls your name. you stop what you're doing. She says it again and you walk out.

"what's up?" you question cautiously. you weren't about to let your guard down around her.

"what do you think of this dress?" the blonde spins to face you. hands on her hips. your brow furrows. why did she want your opinion? your eyes drift. taking in Regina. notice every curve. She really was a sight to behold.

"looks good."

"That's all I get?"

"What were you expecting?"

The girl turns back. "A shower of complements but guess you're not even good for that anymore."

"I said it looks good?"

"I'm done with you now. go change out of that ugly outfit already."

you wanna say something but you decide to just bite your tongue and head back into the dressing room.

come the weekend, Regina is out of town with her parents which means you've ended up with babysitting duties. Gretchen and Karen had both decided they were coming over to your place. you didn't mind. so now you're loitering on the bed with your back against your headboard scrolling through your phone. Karen is snuggled up in half a blanket using your lap as a pillow also scrolling through her phone. it's silent but comfortable. Gretchen vanished about ten minutes ago and hasn't returned. "do we have to start hanging out with Cady?"

"What?" you glance down from your phone. 

"I don't wanna hang out with her, she's creepy."

"that's not very nice, Karen," you scold. "but no. why would we?"

"Because you're like a thing now," Karen answered, pressing her phone to her chest. She meets your stare. "you kissed"

"excuse me?" your heart practically skips a beat. you undoubtedly hadn't told anyone that Cady kissed you and you're almost certain she hadn't.

"what? Gretchen told us that she saw you and Cady making out after school on Monday," Gretchen fucking weiners. of course. but how did she know?

"by us you mean?"

"me and Regina," fuck.

"When was this?" you wonder. and as if summoned on cue, Gretchen emerges through the doorway and you can't help but raise your voice. "you told Regina I was making out with Cady?"

"What?"

"Karen told me so don't lie," you demand. "I thought we had a deal."

"I didn't tell her about the hallway."

"Are you stupid?" you press. Gretchen sits on the edge of your bed, fluttering her eyelashes.

"I'm sorry," a hefty sigh. the girl shuffled up the bed so she was beside you. "are you mad at me?"

"Obviously."

"but you love me?" you don't reply and she nudges your shoulder with hers. "right?" you stay silent, glimpsing at her withan empty expression. you did love her but you were pissed off with her right now.

"look at this," Karen shoves her phone straight up and into your view. it shows a picture of herself. you assume she had just taken by the outfit.

"adorable," you smile walmly but it quickly fades. Gretchen had very much fucked you over. That day with Cady, you hadn't seen anyone around other than a few stray students. why was Gretchen even still there? and why hadn't she asked you about it before telling Regina?

"did you see what Kelsey posted today?" Gretchen questions, pulling out her phone. "it's so pathetic. like she's clearly doing it just for attention." you let your head fall back against the wall as Gretchen proceeds to talk in your ear. your mind drifts to the day in the cafeteria when Regina embarrassed you in front of everyone. you had thought it was an extreme reaction to a conversation in the hallway but turns out it was because of the kiss. was she that jealous of the idea of you and Cady? That made little sense when she was running around with Shane.

"Does Regina hate me?"

"of course not," Gretchen insists, a comforting hand placed on your shoulder. "you know anger is basically her love language. she just cares a lot."

"Regina thinks Cady is a freak," Karen contributes. "and that you hanging out with her makes us look bad."

"We were just doing homework."

"I saw you kiss her," Gretchen retorts.

"she kissed me,"

"you have been hanging out with her a lot," Karen states

"and you invited her to Connor's party," Gretchen resumes.

"yeah but..." you trail off because you really don't have a comeback. All those things were very much true. "this is stupid."

"if you had just listened to me-"

"Jesus, we get it Gretchen" you huff sharply and then feel bad for it. "sorry but you have to stop saying that- I should be able to talk to a girl without it being the end of the world."

"maybe talk to less weird girls?" Karen proposes brightly. "like me.... or Gretchen.... oooh or Regina."

"Thanks for the suggestion." you tap her nose gently, making her face scrunch up. "but I meant other than you three."

"you can talk to whoever you want," Gretchen reassures you, dropping her head to your shoulder. "as long as Regina approves."

"you sound insane,"

Gretchen shrugs. Karen's attention has returned to her phone. and you were suddenly so aware of how insane being friends with Regina George truly is.

the bell for first period has you walking down the hallway towards your history class. you share it with Gretchen who you haven't spoken to since Sunday. you're still mad at her.

"Hey, can we talk?" your brow furrows a little. it was Regina. and you were still mad at her too for last week.

"I have to get to class," you huff but she doesn't take the hint; instead she takes your hand and drags you straight into the nearest closet. it smelt like chemicals, dust and... vanilla. you imagine the vanilla is the girl, not the room.

"what the hell?"

"Just give me a minute,"

"why are we in a closet?" you wonder. it was cramped. a painfully buzzy lightbulb hung over head, flickering through an array of intensities. shelves full of supplies.

"I'm sorry, okay?" your eyes were looking anyway but at her until now. staring into blue-green eyes. did she just... apologise for something? was this a dream? your dreams never normally included Regina apologising but that seemed like the only way this could be real. "I'm sorry I got mad over you and Cady. you've just been acting weird since she joined"

"Are you... fucking with me right now?""

"what? I can't apologise?"

"I never said that," you did imply it but you would never say it. "I'm just confused." a shrug of your shoulders.

"I just don't like it. I don't like her," she wasn't about that. you weren't confused about her feelings towards Cady. you were confused as to why she was apologising for it? also, why do you have to do this in the closet? couldn't you have done this in a place with such a dizzying aroma? "I get like angry when I see you together. and then when Gretchen told me you kissed her-"

"she kissed me."

"Whatever," a dismissive wave. "I mean, it just was a lot y'know."

"not really" Your brow furrows.

"you're not that fucking dense, are you?" as the blonde takes a step forward, you take a step back crashing into a bucket and mop. She grabs your wrist. maybe an attempt to save you? "careful." said much softer. caring almost. it makes you suspicious. more so than the apology you hardly believed in the first place.

"we're gonna be late for class," you answer quietly. you try to pull your arm away but her grip doesn't falter. it's firm and tight; possessive almost. "Regina, please,"

"you promised to stay away from her," Regina mentions softly. you think back to that day. Regina straddling your lap. hands on your chest. moving against you. soft lips. it makes you blush. she pulls you closer. "promised you didn't like her more than me." her other hand gently cups your cheek. "was all that a lie?"

"no," you shake your head slow and stern. "no. i-"

"you kissed her." stated firmly.

"she kissed me," you argue back. her fingers press a little harder into your cheek.

"don't remember asking," expressed as she leaned in close. hot breath hitting your skin. vanilla fills your nostrils. "tell me you love me," whispered. you swallow hard. "please."

"Regina..." grip on your wrist tightens.

"go on."

"I... love you," you sound more confused than sure.

"more than cady?"

"you're my best friend,"

a once gentle hand now grips your chin. "more than Cady?" asked again.

"uh... more than Cady,"

"say you're obsessed with me." her lips loom mere inches from yours threatening a kiss.

"I'm... obsessed with you." her eyes are so intense, it's kinda scary. it's always treacherous being so close to her.

"Good," her lips press into yours. fierce and strong. but gone just as quickly. "I'll see you at lunch." she lets go and leaves without another word. The door to the closet closes with a click. insane. you remain for a few minutes. a little lost. a little confused. then you leave for class.

sat at a table under the beautiful shade of a massive umbrella during your free period. Cady is opposite. Gretchen was supposed to be here too but you don't know what happened to her. probably worried about sitting with Cady. "why are you doing work?"

"It's a study period. you should also be doing work,"

"It's almost lunchtime don't be ridiculous," you groan loudly. the bell rings mere moments later bringing a smile as the animals are released from their classrooms out into the wild. "see."

"you didn't do anything,"

"never do. That's half the fun of a free period before lunch."

"hey baby," that was Regina's voice. you look up promptly, half expecting her to make a comment or demand your presence but instead, she takes a seat right beside you.

"Hello," you try not to think about earlier. about how weird this is and focus on the fact she seemed to be in a good mood. her arms snake around you, drawing you back into her embrace.

"Cady,"

"hi Regina,"

"you look good today," Regina comments. your brow furrows. she was being weirdly affectionate. should you be concerned? probably but you were gonna enjoy her openness. the last week had been so weird and you kinda of just wanted things to go back to normal. and while this wasn't exactly normal, you prefer this to outward anger.

"thank you,"

"Now say it back," you roll your eyes but wear a playful smile.

"you look radiant Regina," said playfully. She gives you a quick squeeze and you finally settle in her embrace.

"I know," hummed in your ear. "so do you wanna come to mine after school?" muttered in your ear.

"what's the occasion?"

"I want you to," Regina declared. "why does it matter? you're coming over."

"am I now?" you ask playfully.

"We should get food," Regina lets go and gets up. you watch her for a moment expecting her to bark a demand but she doesn't. she just walks away. it freaks you out so you bid farewell to Cady and go scampering after the blonde.

"you good?"

"course," she states as you fall in step.

"you're being strange," you observe. "I was half expecting you to drag me away from that table."

"what's the point?" she asks. "you'd just go running back to the little nerd."

"no running is involved."

"running. skipping. drooling." the blonde teased. when you enter the lunch room, Gretchen is already sitting alone at your usual table. "like a love-sick little puppy dog."

"Okay, ew, no,"

"where have you been?" Gretchen wonders as you approach. She knows where you've been. you text her.

"no love involved whatsoever,"

"Who are you in love with?" Gretchen asks.

"no one,"

"I got tater tots," Karen announces as she zooms past with a try, taking a seat at your lunch table.

"oooh, they have tots today? let's go get food," you grab Regina's hand and start pulling her towards the food. Gretchen comes scrambling after the two of you. "I'm starving."

"aren't you always," Regina comments. the sea parts as she leads the way to the front of the line. it's unfair. but you never call her out. you always take advantage.

"Who are you in love with?" Gretchen repeats

"nobody, we moved on,"

"god keep up Gretchen," Regina huffs. you're so excited about your tater tots you practically run back to the table with your little tray. your two friends in toe. you take your usual seat next to Karen. Regina sits opposite with Gretchen.

"Cady keeps looking over here," Karen announces, popping a tot in her mouth. "it's creeping me out."

"she's so weird," Regina sighs. "if she's anything like her freaky friends it's because she's obsessed with our dear sweet puppy,"

"she is not obsessed with me,"

"This is what happens when you give losers attention, " Regina persists. "they think they have a shot. soon she's gonna think she can just come over and talk to us and it's your fault."

"Firstly, she would never do that. She's intimidated by you," you express. "secondly. she is sweet, you gotta lay off her."

"as she should be," the blonde looks disgusted. "also gross. She's so fuckin weird."

"you guys are being mean,"

"Is it mean if it's true?"

"still yes," you insist. "I like cady."

"We know," Gretchen states. Regina shoots her a dirty look.

"you don't get to talk Gretchen," Regina spits. "you never shut up about Jason like he's not disgusting."

"Cady would be cute if she just learnt how to dress. and do her makeup," Karen interjects.

"I don't even think that would help."

"Can we stop talking about her please?"

"don't wanna hear us shit talk your girlfriend."

"not my girlfriend." you argue. "but I would like this to end. quickly. let's go back to Jason that dude fuckin sucks."

"he's so sleazy," Karen adds. and the conversation flows into something other than you and Cady. thank god.

you're lying on Regina's couch. in Regina's room. alone. after school. you expected Karen and Gretchen to be here too but alas they weren't here. after this morning, you wouldn't be surprised if this was some cult worship ceremony. the door creaks open and in walks the infamous blonde. a glance before going back to your phone.

"my mum wants to know if you're staying for dinner,"

"am I?" you don't even know why you're here. and knowing Regina she could kick you out at any moment.

"I said yeah but you don't have to," a shrug.

"guess you're not mad at me anymore then,"

"When was I mad at you?" she questions, sitting down on her bed.

"When are you ever not?" you tease. "sometimes I think you hate me."

"if I hated you, you wouldn't be here," the blonde comments.

"you've been so short with me recently." you sit up properly.

"Because you've been acting different." the girl insists. "and it's weird. and I don't like it. I want you to go back to how you were."

"I don't even know how I've been acting different?" you lean back. "I think you're just jealous."

"jealous of what?"

"Cady." you see her eyes narrow. jaw tense.

"you are obsessed with her."

"not obsessed," you correct. "I don't even know what is going on between me and Cady."

"but you like her?"

you shrug. "do you like her?"

"no," it makes you smile for some reason. same old Regina. number one cady hater. "not even a little. she's strange. can't dress for shit. really awkward."

"tell us how you really feel," you chuckle a little.

"you'll just call me mean," like she wasn't already being mean.

you shrug. "I like when you're mean."

"I know," a smile quirks at her lips. the blonde pats the space next to her. "come here,"

"why?"

"Just come here," a dramatic sigh. you push up and cautiously walk over to sit down next to her. "why are you acting so scared of me?"

"I don't know," you shrug. "kinda expecting you to push me off the bed or something."

"why would I do that?" her brows furrowed.

"Because you're evil," a smirk slowly takes over her lips. you nudge her softly with your shoulder.

"I love it when you call me evil,"

"I know," you reply. "because you're obsessed with me."

"you wish."

"I don't have to wish," you tease. "because you're obsessed with me."

"you're really pushing your luck here," Regina comments. "stop." her tone suggested she was done playing. the blonde falls back against her bed. you just look at her as she starts typing on her phone. "and stop staring at me freak."

"but you're so pretty,"

"your girlfriend wouldn't like you saying that."

"not my girlfriend," you insist. "no more than you are." the blonde doesn't respond and you both fall into a comfortable silence. you lie down beside her. "why did you invite me over?"

"make out. prove a point. why do you think i asked in front of cady?" you just shrug. the girl sighs loudly and discards her phone off to one side before rolling onto her side to look at you. you just turn your head to face her.

"for someone so smart, you really are stupid," you'd be offended but there was hardly a point. she just watches you, watching her. you crack under her gaze and look away but she just reaches over and forces you to look at her. "do you know why I keep you around?"

"Because you love me?" said playfully but quietly. you know it's not the answer she was looking for.

"I like the way you look at me," she admitted quietly. "everyone stares at me but you... you look at me like I'm the only person in the entire world." she went on. "like you just can't get enough." you don't know what to say. Regina was like nobody you had ever met but in a different way to Cady. She just commanded attention. a beauty beyond words. and sometimes you wonder why you ever caught her eye. the girl shuffles closer now. "you can run around with freaks. you can be confused about Cady. but at the end of the day, none of it matters." that hand on your jaw loosens and begins to trail down over your neck. "you'll always come running back to me."

"What makes you think that?"

"It's in the way your breath hitches when I'm close. the way your eyes linger when I walk away. the way you so easily melt under my touch," her voice was gentle but taunting. her hand slipping lower and lower down the length of your body. you could hear your heart beating loudly in your chest. an onset wave of heat flushing your cheeks. "I can say or do whatever I want," her hand stops at your thigh, squeezing roughly. body leaning into yours. pressing you further into the plush fabric of her bed. "and you'll always be mine." whispered sharply before her lips meet yours and the fire makes the rest of the world melt away. you reach up to draw her closer. deepen the kiss and the way she groans makes your head spin. but then she pulls away unexpectedly. "oh I forgot to mention Shane is coming over after dinner so you gotta be gone by then. Cool?" you can feel the emotions stirring. it's weird and confusing. Shane's name fills you with anger; annoyance even. through no fault of his own. was she fucking serious? but at the same time you couldn't move. maybe a wiser person would have stopped everything right here. walked away with their dignity in their hands. Cady was probably a safer option. she liked you. and maybe you liked her too. but there was just something about Regina. being on her good side meant the world worked for you too. it was a world you'd become so accustomed to, you can't imagine it any differently. you can't imagine a life without the blonde. you didn't want to leave. you wanted to chase the high of each kiss. the pain as her nails dig into your skin. the firey mess of being with her.

"cool." you nod simply, pulling her back into the kiss. dignity was overrated when it came to Regina George anyway.

[reds-skull]

Fanfic Recommendation: Multi-Chapter (Completed)

The comic I'm working on is taking... a long time (understatement of the year, been working on it since July 31st...) so I wanted to make another post like this

Like last time, there's no shared theme between these beside having multiple chapters and being completed (both SFW and NSFW)

As always please check the tags for CWs, and if a link doesn't work you're welcome to reach out!

Every Morning by sauceboss_yahoo - Ghost is back on base with the rest of the 141, ready to fall into his usual routine. Someone else, however, is itching to be a part of it and wants to peel back the curtain concealing him more than he already has, whether Ghost likes it or not.

Mask of my own face by Avidcatperson - Ghost takes great offence to the implication that he’s going to eat his cell mate, who is clearly sentient, with his bare hands. Soap is fairly sure he’s about to die. Chucked into a cell with a human? Pretty much a death sentence…hopefully Gaz can get out at least. [Space AU, multiple works in this series!]

bare my skin by Cristinuke - A study of moments as Ghost learns to trust Soap's touch.

Anomalous by Brigadier - Ghost, a SCP-056, finds a certain human worthy of his love, trust and adoration.

let these hills absolve me by flowersferns - When the news of three weeks’ forced leave reaches Ghost, he’s resigned himself to loneliness in an empty base. That is, until a certain Sergeant offers him an invitation he just can’t seem to refuse. Or: the sheep farming fic nobody asked for [this one hurts so bad but comforts so well]

Punch Drunk by Drolly - If you told Soap the second time he’d see Ghost’s face was in a shitty bar on a shittier block of Chicago… Well, he might have asked for a little more pomp and circumstance. At least then he’d have an excuse for the way he could hear his blood pumping faster in his ears and why he could feel it, hot and burning behind his eyes.

Simon's Gateway by wayfaredsoldier - When things get too rough on retired soldier Simon, his friends help him out and unknowingly provide him a gateway to something, or someone, beautiful. [veteran support hotline operator Soap]

A Bit Too Much by cod_dump - Soap always acts confidently, brave. Almost always has a smile on his face. But the fact is… He’s a bit too much. [locked for non-AO3 users]

Until The Nightfall by Mikhail - Upon realizing their friendship had grown into something deeper and more serious, Ghost is left torn between duty and longing. With each mission, Ghost is reminded of all the things he can't control, and it's becoming clear that this - whatever it is - he has with Soap, just might be one of them.

Philematology by ErlKönig (Herm_own_ninny) - Ghost kisses Soap while begrudgingly playing spin the bottle, and tries to repeat it with other party games.

stick up by amongthebooks - While off base, the 141 are unexpectedly caught up in a robbery. The raiders clock Soap, Gaz and Price as SAS operatives…but without his usual gear, Ghost was seen as just another guy. His team is rounded up, whilst he's treated as a civilian. Can Ghost take down the attackers and rescue his team without exposing his identity?

I Will by lemonwrap - After going missing on a mission, Soap has been gone for an entire year. Ghost finally rescues him, but he’s not quite the same.

The Worthy Vessel by MildLimerence - To take the edge off his maddening attraction to his aloof and inscrutable Lieutenant, Soap decides to try his luck with the local barflies off base. To prevent Soap from fucking anyone else but him, Ghost offers himself up under the guise of mutual stress relief. Soap thinks he’s just taking one for the team, but Ghost has just had everything he’s ever wanted fall right into his lap.

Damaged Goods by Red_Clegane - After an encounter at a club, Soap needs to know if he's actually into men… like into men. In a fit of desperation and homoerotic panic, he arranges a one night stand with a prostitute. It was just supposed to be a one off arrangement. But when Ghost shows up, it sets a series of events into motion that neither men could have predicted. [locked for non-AO3 users]

They Blame it on the Times by WildFlowerSolitude - "We were never anything. You need to get that through your head." Soap laughs hollowly into the empty corridor. I can live with that OR Ghost says some fucked up shit and Soap crumbles.

home is where the heart is by Anonymous - Soap vanishes from base one day. The Captain says its nothing to be concerned about. Ghost disagreed. [literally so so good]

Personal Affairs by sannikovs_bastard_son - Ghost got injured on a mission in Spain and was forced to take a temporary leave, leading to some buried feelings being brought to light, and Soap doesn't make his inner turmoil any easier by being the casual flirt he is.

Tug A Little Harder by puffyfish2006 - Ghost really really really likes Soap's long hair.

Burned and Broken, but Not Beaten by sick_of_sleep - Ghost ends up burning his hand pretty badly and Soap help his lieutenant while it heals. But Soap ends up helping Ghost in more ways than one.

Lofticries by Arodana - The mafia had always escaped John "Soap" MacTavish. No matter what evidence he found, it would disappear. For lack of words, it pissed him off. On top of that, he has to find a serial killer that has been evading the police and any efforts they've made for months. Soap finds himself stuck between his sense of justice when he is offered an opportunity to work with the one man that had been making his police career a living hell. Soap might just get what he wants.

Freely Given by Tatzelwurm - After the stress and danger of Los Almas and Chicago, Soap is finding it near impossible to let go and relax. He can’t sleep, jumping at shadows. Ghost wants to help him, dutiful lieutenant that he is. But Soap can’t bear to take any more from Ghost than he already has. At least, not without feeling exceedingly guilty about it.

Hold my hair up, Darlin (Ice packs on my neck) by JackiboysHorrorHouse - a fic where Soap's wisdom teeth end up having to be removed when he's in the 141, and ghost is the one who takes care of him during recovery!

Misplaced Jealousy by dyn42ty - Soap hinted that he had been crushing on someone within the base to Gaz. Overhearing the conversation, Ghost wonders who has Soap captivated. Not to mention it wasn't him? The more he thought about it, the more angry he had gotten.

lotus flower by exavibus - a new flower shop opens across the street from 141 Tattoo, in london's shoreditch district. one of the florists already seems to have something against him. the feeling's mutual.

Cry by kcisbroken - Ghost always leaves. After an intimate night together, Ghost picks up his things and doesn't look back, leaving Soap to sit in silence and ponder on whether or not it's worth breaking his heart over and over again.

i'm a fire and i'll keep your brittle heart warm by marviless - Soap spends three and a half days in Ghost's house after getting injured on a mission.

used to hide behind a mask by kj_crwn - What a pitiful thought; the scary hound of 141 force turned into a pliant mess by one simple man. “’Bout your scary mug,” Johnny clarifies, as expected. He leans down again and settles against Ghost’s chest, his head resting just beneath Ghost’s chin. “Yer a bloody gorgeous lad, Simon.” Except that Johnny is anything but simple.

We Are Ghost by Murmeloni - Instead of having to crawl out of his own grave, Simon escapes Roba's clutches with the help of Ghost. A klyntar stranded on earth who decided to make Simon his new home. The two of them were content with each other. Until they met Johnny.

Emergency Contact by soapsbeloved - John MacTavish is about as unlucky in love as you could get, never finding someone that would give him enough of a chance for a second date, resorting to sleeping around when he gets stood up. Simon, his best friend, seems to be the only person in the world willing to give Soap a chance, but the dumbass can’t see past the fact that Ghost isn’t very good at talking about things, and is completely and utterly oblivious to how Ghost feels about him.

dicentra by crown_twist - There's someone new joining the 141 and everyone is happy about it. So happy, in fact, that they don't seem to realize one of them is slowly slipping away. Johnny's only all too aware. [I reread this one so many times it's the ultimate hurt Soap fic]

and i wish i could change by SoftKing - Which meant he also noticed when Ghost frowned heavily and murmured, “Not really my thing.” “Oh,” Gaz said with his brows raised. “So you haven’t got one then.” He slapped Price on the shoulder and grinned. “I do.” Ghost interrupted, taking another long sip from his nearly empty glass. “Just think they’re rubbish.” [soulmates AU]

Night Has Always Pushed Up Day by Sillililli - Simon "Ghost" Riley is stuck in a shared hospital room, which has been fine up until then. He'd been alone, alone to fight the shame of having his face uncovered and having failed his team. But they bring someone into his space, a younger soldier, temporarily blind.

Domestic by Sillililli - Simon and John are coworkers. Both ex military, they relate in ways others can't. Soap is facing hard times at home and finds a safe place with Simon.

So Call Me Maybe? by cripplingchips - Ghost is trying to focus on the mission at hand when Soap starts getting a little… strange.

A Kiss For Luck by iamtheidiot - Soap and Ghost start playing gay chicken.

Mission: Cardsharp by nyxite - Soap (accidentally) gets a love reading from a fortune teller.

death is in the air (wish i could be brave) by aetherealmoss - Ghost gets injured severely and is sad and upset about it, until Soap appears at his doorstep and makes it better.

My frozen heart (would melt just for you) by Red_Clegane - After a mission goes wrong in Russia, Soap has to patch Ghost up... and keep him from freezing. Huddled together in a tiny cabin in the middle of the frozen tundra, something warm blossoms. [locked for non-AO3 users]

demolitions threat by amongthebooks - Home on leave, Soap has to instruct Ghost on how to disarm a bomb over the phone. The pair make a good team - but not every mission can end well. Ghost has dug himself out of his grave once already. Can he do it again?

i'm something else when i see you by oh_ellie - The first time Ghost had enough courage to plant his lips against Soap’s they’d both been drinking. They're fairly heavily intoxicated.

In the Middle of the Night by JDigital - “Go!” Came his Sergeant’s gruff exclamation as he threw his elbow into the Shadow’s face, an alarming amount of blood still soaking through his clothes. “Get out of here, go!” A few Shadows stopped their assault on Ghost’s cover to subdue their captive, and he was forced to watch as Soap was brought to his knees by a cruel strike of the stock of one of their rifles. “Ghost, move! Get out of here!”

Racing hearts season by Nuria123 - The F1 COD AU no one asked for SoapGhost style.

Through His Eyes by WhisperedWords12 - Ghost accidentally finds Soap’s sketchbook, is taken aback when he sees a familiar face looking back at him.

Peeping John. by A_BitOfStrange - When he considers it properly, the only person that would be either brave or stupid enough to go into Ghost's room while he’s away would be Johnny. The little fucking shit.

Surviving You by WhisperedWords12 - Ghost forced himself not to feel frustrated, had to admit to himself that Soap might be the most challenging sub he had ever had assigned into one of his units.

Yours Sincerely by LeoDoesGames - Johnny "Soap" MacTavish has been medically discharged following a mission gone wrong, which left him with severe agoraphobia and PTSD. He joins a programme which connects both active service members and veterans through the act of writing letters. Although things get off to a bad start, the connection he forms with his letter mate slowly becomes unbreakable. That is until he gets too close and strikes a nerve. [one of those fics that will not leave your brain for weeks]

Doing Time by MildLimerence - Soulmate AU: On leave from the 141, Soap lands himself in Strangeways prison, home to some of the worst criminals in the UK. When his soulmark activates on the inside, Soap must contend with Ghost, an infamous soulmate-hating killer who seems intent on haunting his every move.

Spiorad agus Corp by Oud_smoker420 - A bet is made between the notoriously reckless Soap and Alejandro to try and get their respective crushes and the most stoic and traumatized men of the 141 in their beds. It definitely has the potential to go so bad.

Smooth Sailing on Choppy Water by coderaven - Soap and Ghost are sent on a mission to the middle of American suburbia to protect a Russian journalist targeted by Makarov. Their cover is that they're newlyweds. And very much in love.

Bathe in Sunlight, Take Deep Breaths by coderaven - Ghost gets honorably discharged after taking a bullet to his shoulder that completely obliterates his rotator cuff and leaves him with nerve damage. He joins a gym to help with his recovery. He meets Soap, ray of sunshine personified, a trainer at the gym. He falls pathetically in love.

Learning Experience by AvaLoren - Soap is forced into a simulated interrogation with his Lieutenant and the information he learns about him isn't what he expected.

If tomorrow you don't open your eyes by Swiftwater_Prawn - Ghost loves Soap but is bad at feelings and gets stuck in a time loop. [multiple works in this series!]

Collecting Strays by WhisperedWords12 - Ghost didn't trust Soap, couldn't know for certain what a year and a half of forced fighting in the pits did to something as volatile as a Wolf. But Price insisted that the man may have valuable intel, might be enough to finally bring down the Fighting Ring where they'd found him.

Driving Myself Home by Aether_Ghoul - Gaz insisted that he was just the thing for Soap. Soap insisted that everyone had a "but" and for the life of him, Gaz wouldn't tell him what this Simon guys "but" was.

all that's said in the low light by headlocket - After a near-fatal injury, John MacTavish finds himself back in his hometown in Scotland. Fresh off an untimely discharge, he's forced to cope with disability, his dysfunctional family, and the lingering knowledge that there are some things he's just not ready to leave behind… [literally if you haven't read this yet what are you doing with your life]

Lay back and think of England by Aether_Ghoul - From the outside, Ghost is well adjusted. He seems like everything recruits and rookies could ever wish to be. Inwardly, he is falling apart. It is when Soap asks him to spend their leaves together, that he makes a decision that will haunt him. Do everything Johnny wants, needs or dreams of because if Ghost is useful, maybe Johnny will finally love him. [this is another one I keep going back to T_T]

Our Time Is Right Now by ChaoticEmeline - A serial killer is making their mark on the newly installed crime factions in London. Smart, savvy, and undetectable in a city covered in CCTV. The man operates…like a ghost. Captain John Price and his team aren't afraid to get their hands dirty and do a little ghost hunting. But what happens when the ghost starts hunting them back?

Spectre-Unit by Zosch - The Spectre-Unit was a task force shrouded in mystery, not much was known about them and it was a rare occasion to witness one of their members in action. Until the Task Force 141 gained a new addition; S-U: 25, John "Soap" MacTavish.

Velocity Of Envy by leathfaic - Soap has a friend with benefits back home in Glasgow and Ghost, Ghost doesn't have a problem with it of course. After all, Johnny is his sergeant and anything else would be unprofessional, wouldn't it?

Crystalline by Sillililli - Soap and Ghost end up captured at the same time and as much as they'd like to save each other, they can't let their captors know they could be used against each other. Easily. Simon concocts a plan to save them that he can't let Johnny in on, hoping the lie won't shatter what little is left of them when it's over.

[roosterforme]

Covering the Classics Part 6 | Bob Floyd x OC

Summary: In the aftermath of the kiss, Bob and Anna try to process their feelings. Bob works on more of his poetry while Anna hides from her friends, but neither of them can get past their attraction. When another man arrives during a night out, all Bob feels is jealousy.

Warnings: Fluff, angst, adult language, masturbation, eventually 18+

Length: 5100 words

Pairing: Robert "Bob" Floyd x Female OC (this story is part of the Beer Boy/Sugar and Jake/Jessica universe)

Covering the Classics masterlist. Check my masterlist for more! Thank you to @mak-32 for the beautiful banner!

Taking Anna to Chippy's was a mistake, because Bob was falling harder by the minute. She was cute and smart. Witty and reserved. And the fact that she was a little tipsy after one drink just made her more endearing. Jessica could drink more Sam Adams than anyone he'd ever seen before, and Bradshaw's wife could probably play beer pong professionally, but not Anna. She was giggling and demanding he not download a dating app. She was smiling nonstop and touching him. And he wasn't even allowed to have a chance with her.

She only lived a mile or so from campus, which was a shame, because Bob would have liked to spend more time with her. He played with the radio dials in his old truck as he drove, trying to keep his hands busy. And that's when he swore he heard Anna whisper a line from his poem.

"What did you just say?" he asked, eyeing her closely.

"Nothing," she told him as the car behind his truck honked, and Bob tapped the accelerator when he realized the light was green. He must have been mistaken. There was no way anyone actually read the stuff he posted online, let alone Anna. He just did it for a way to help him release his emotions and thoughts.

But he wanted to make sure. When he parked at the curb in front of her building, he turned toward her with curious eyes and whispered, "I thought you said-"

He was instantly distracted by the way she kept her eyes on his as her chest rose and fell a little faster. She unbuckled her seatbelt and scooted closer to him along the seat, and he froze as she leaned in and kissed him. Her lips found his like it was the most natural thing in the world. When she made a soft sound, he raised his hand up to touch her cheek, something he'd been dying to do for weeks and weeks. Her skin felt silky soft as she nibbled gently on his lip, and then he remembered everything that she'd said to him. He couldn't start down this path just to have her put up another roadblock. 

He forced himself away from her. "Anna. I don't think this is something friends do," he croaked, praying that by some twist of face, she'd end up in his arms. 

"I'm so sorry," she gasped, hauling herself back across the seat and throwing the door open. "I'm so sorry, Bob." He watched her climb down and grab her tote bag, barely glancing back at him as she slammed the door and ran inside the building. 

He was going to offer to walk her to her door. He wanted to make sure she got inside safely. He wanted to do a lot of things that would hopefully come across in a friendly way. This was decidedly not how he imagined his night would end, staring at the spot where she disappeared inside and wondering if she regretted kissing him. She really ran away from him at top speed without any clarification.

"Damn it, Bob," he whispered as he put his truck in gear. But he didn't know what he could have done differently. He just wished he didn't know how fucking good it felt to have Anna's lips on his, because it would probably never happen again. He wanted to ask her why she kissed him in the first place. Then an even more devastating thought occurred to him. What if she didn't want to be his friend after this?

He really needed Nat to come home from her deployment, because he knew he couldn't mention this to Jessica at D&D. What would he even tell her? That Anna kissed him exactly once and then ran away faster than an olympic sprinter?

Then he parked in front of his house and saw the text that made him shove his phone into his pocket and not look at it again until morning. 

Anna Webber: I'm sorry. That was a mistake. Please forgive me.

--------------------------

Anna was curled up in her sad bed trying not to cry. Bob would probably never want to talk to her again now. What kind of person told a man they just wanted to be friends and then kissed him like the words meant nothing? Anna, apparently. But it felt so nice. No. Better than that. Kissing Bob felt necessary.

Before she could change her mind, she texted him and then turned off her phone. I'm sorry. That was a mistake. Please forgive me.

She rolled onto her back and started to cry. Not for the first time, she thought about calling Kevin and screaming at him for ruining everything. She should feel a sense of freedom by now after finally leaving him in New Jersey with Alyssa, but she just didn't. It wasn't fair that Anna had no control over what Kevin did when he still seemed to dictate what she was allowed to do. But she knew she had to be a better person than him.

When she reached down to the floor, her fingers found the stack of books she was currently reading for work and for entertainment. She picked up the Vonnegut from Bob, because it wasn't even really that late, and she was in a mood now anyway. Then she took the time to find the note from him. Her new bookmark. She read through her tears until they stopped. She didn't dog ear a single page. She used his note to save her spot, and then she fell asleep with the book pressed to her chest. 

She felt awful on Friday at work. When she gave her first lecture, it felt forced instead of insightful, and her notes seemed to blur on the pages in front of her. She didn't have an appetite, which was fine since she had no money for food and forgot to pack a lunch. Instead of going to the weird tree and the nicest women she'd ever met, she sat in her office and cried with her head resting on her folded arms. 

Bob didn't text her back, but she figured he wouldn't. There was really nothing else to say. She already decided she wasn't going to mention the kiss to Advanced Calculus or Advanced Physics, but perhaps she should tell them it would be a good thing after all if Bob went on a dating app. He deserved to be happy. Someone else would make him happy. 

As Anna was packing up everything she would need for the weekend, there was a knock on her office door. It was late, and her stomach was growling loudly, but she called out, "Come in!"

The room was so small, Bradley Bradshaw and his wife barely fit on the opposite side of her desk when standing side by side, and Anna watched him shuffle around so he was standing partially behind her. "What's up, Anna?" he rasped with a grin, and she had no difficulty imagining him ten years younger in a loud fraternity house. 

"Hi," she replied, clasping her hands together. "What are you both doing here? I was just about to catch the bus and go home."

"You never came to lunch today!" her friend complained. "And you didn't text me back. I was starting to get nervous that the creeper from the sociology department got to you or something."

"No," Anna replied with a soft laugh. "I'm fine."

Two pairs of eyes bored into her, and then Bradley and his wife both blurted out, "How was Chippy's?"

"Did Bob make a move?" Bradley asked, his hands caressing his wife through her tweed blazer. 

Anna swallowed a huge lump of guilt. "We're just friends," she managed to say.

"Yeah, yeah," he said with an eye roll. "Sure. But did he? Because I've been being a dick all week about getting him on a dating app even though I know he's not into the idea. Jake and I thought it might help."

"Are you serious right now?" his wife gasped, smacking at his hands while Anna rubbed her temples with her fingertips. "I told you not to interfere," she hissed.

"We're just friends," Anna repeated a little louder over the two of them arguing. "Chippy's was great. Amazing peanuts. Sticky floors. Grouchy bartender. It was like being back in undergrad."

Just as Bradley was raising his hand, about to speak again, he took an elbow to the side that seemed to make him think better of it as his wife asked, "Then you won't mind going back on Wednesday? To surprise Jessica for her birthday?"

"It's her birthday?" Anna asked, excited by the idea of being invited to a celebration even though Bob would definitely be there as well.

"Yes. I texted you about it when you skipped out on us at lunchtime."

"Right," she replied, knowing she'd only been checking her phone occasionally on purpose. "I'll be there on Wednesday. Of course I will." She was going to have to suck up her embarrassment over everyone trying to push her and Bob together, but at least they didn't know about the kiss she ran away from. "Anything for Jess."

"And are you coming to the Hard Deck tonight?" her friend asked as her husband's hands crept back into place on her body. 

"I have a lot of work to do. Midterms are just around the corner," she replied lamely. "So, probably not."

With a sigh, her friend nodded once and said, "Please don't skip lunch next week. We missed you."

Bradley said, "I'll make extra hummus," before his wife started pushing him to the door.

The confirmation that the hummus was in fact homemade left Anna feeling slightly jealous. That feeling only grew as she watched her friend take Bradley's chin in her hand and softly say, "Oh, Beer Boy. I don't even want to know what kind of a monstrosity of a dating profile you'd make for Bob."

He smiled and waved at Anna before he looked at his wife and said, "I just want all of my friends to be as happy as I am."

She grabbed him by his khaki belt and said, "Let's stop by the library."

Anna desperately wanted to be that happy, too.

---------------------------

"What's your problem, man?" Mickey asked as he drove Bob home from Dungeons & Dragons. "You were weird all night."

"Just tired," Bob replied, and he was being at least partially honest. He'd been staying up later than usual, working on some poetry and reading the books Anna recommended. He enjoyed all of them; she seemed to know exactly how to reach his innermost hidden thoughts and ideas. She somehow understood him, and that was more exciting than he wanted it to be right now. But when he and Anna had to be together in person again, he knew it was going to be a different story. He was almost relieved she didn't show up at the Hard Deck earlier, because he had no idea how to act around her now. 

She knew he had feelings for her, and that kiss had roughed him up a bit. Even a couple days afterwards, he thought he could still feel the pressure of her lips on his and smell her shampoo. 

"Are you still hung up on Anna?"

Mickey's words made Bob laugh. "More than ever before."

"You know what I think you should do?" his friend asked as he zipped along in his sports car.

Bob cradled his forehead and said, "I'd love to hear it," even though he was pretty sure it would annoy him.

"You should tell her that you don't want to be just friends. And then kiss her."

Bob turned and looked at Mickey as the passing street lights illuminated him and then left him in darkness over and over again. "I'm not going to do that. All I can do is hope she changes her mind." He didn't mention the fact that they had already kissed; he was sure she was too embarrassed by it to want it to become public knowledge. 

As Mickey pulled up to Bob's house, he said, "Well whatever you're doing right now, it's not working."

Bob sighed and said, "Thanks. That's really helpful. See you on Monday. Oh, and don't forget about the surprise party thing on Wednesday."

"Yeah, I won't forget. Hard Deck at seven o'clock."

"Chippy's!" Bob called out as he pulled away. Sometimes he felt like the most organized one out of all of his friends, and it was honestly amazing that Mickey even managed to get to work on time. At least Suzanne's lights were off as Bob walked up to his porch and let himself inside. He didn't have the energy to deal with anyone else tonight. 

He stripped down to his underwear and got ready for bed, but he took his computer with him. He was ridiculous for doing it, but he looked at the notes he'd typed up last night and started writing. It was never as beautiful or eloquent as the things he read from others, but posting his poetry online felt like he was at least taking ownership of something he created. This poem, however, he didn't know if he'd be able to post it at all. He found himself writing about red hair when he realized it would warrant a mature rating label if he ever did decide to post it. Then he started to think about all the things he wanted to do with Anna and her red hair. 

Bob grunted and set his computer aside. She was giving him mixed signals, and he wasn't sure she'd ever change her mind about being with him, but that didn't stop his body from responding as he imagined her beautiful hair spread out on his pillow. He'd take fistfuls of it and press his nose to it. He'd tug gently on it and tell her that she was beautiful. He would press kisses to the coppery strands and then guide her lower on his body as he grasped a little harder.

"Shit," Bob panted, kicking off his covers and pulling himself free from his gray boxer briefs. He jerked off to the idea of Anna and him together. She'd kiss his hips and thighs and laugh softly before licking along his length. His name would sound like the most beautiful poetry on her lips. Her freckles would stand out in the soft lamplight. He'd guide her along with his fingers wrapped around her hair as she teased him.

He stroked himself with his eyes closed, panting softly and whispering some of his own poetry, and he wasn't even surprised when he came all over his flat abs. When he adjusted his glasses with his clean hand, he thought he'd much prefer to see Anna in his bed with him.

--------------------------

Anna was starved for conversation with another human being by the time Monday morning arrived. Forcing herself to be a recluse as a means to distract herself from her plethora of issues was clearly not the answer. Not when she'd actually managed to make some friends in San Diego. She arrived on campus early and stopped in the lounge for a donut only to find nobody else from her department was really around. Then when she gave her first lecture, half of her students looked like they were still asleep. She tucked her new bookmark of sorts into Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and counted down the hours until she could meet her friends for lunch.

Jessica seemed none the wiser about her upcoming surprise party, but that was the whole point of the thing. Anna started bracing herself to spend some more time around Bob, hoping her kiss was so forgettable that he'd already moved on. Honestly, that was a pretty good possibility. She hadn't really considered that before, but it made a lot of sense. She was boring. After another day or two, he'd have probably forgotten all about it.

This helped Anna push herself through the week. On Wednesday, she took the bus home to change, and she knew she'd never make it to Chippy's on time in her sundress and denim jacket unless she took an Uber to the bar. So she gritted her teeth and paid for the ride, wishing for so many reasons that she hadn't kissed Bob so that she could have asked him to pick her up. But when she got to Chippy's, Bob wasn't even there. And Anna was met with a different issue in the form of a very attractive man with dark hair and dark eyes.

She felt his gaze on her as soon as she arrived, surprised he was looking at her of all people. But in her rush to get to Chippy's on time, all she really got to do was say hi to Jake and Bradley before they got her into position for the surprise. It looked like the bar had been reserved just for Jessica tonight, and that made Anna inexplicably happy and sad at the same time. Even that old bartender looked excited to celebrate. Even Dr. Rosenthal showed up. 

Then Bob rushed in wearing jeans, a snug fitting tee shirt and a worried expression. His hair looked damp, and he was straightening out his glasses as he glanced around and asked, "Did I make it in time?" Anna felt like someone knocked the wind out of her as he got closer.

"Barely," Bradley replied, checking his watch. "Sugar and Jess should be here any minute. Where the fuck were you?"

Bob's cheeks turned a little pink as he muttered, "I had to help Suzanne with her car. She had a flat tire. And then she insisted I come inside for a few minutes so she could thank me properly. I lost track of time."

Anna crossed her arms and pressed her lips together as Bob came to stand right next to her. When he softly said hello, she just nodded and tried to give him a smile, but she was too overwhelmed with too many different feelings. He smelled like soap, and she knew his body was warm without him even touching her. She didn't know who Suzanne was, but she was automatically a little jealous, which was ridiculous. But now she felt like that kiss last week was as forgettable as she both hoped and feared. 

Anna wanted to cry, but even her tears had to take a backseat at the moment as the door to Chippy's opened up and both of her friends walked inside. "Happy birthday!" everyone shouted, and Anna tried her best to look enthusiastic for the occasion. 

"No!" Jessica called out, shoving at the other woman's arm as she realized it was her birthday party. "You're sneaky! You lied to me about getting just one birthday beer!" Then she rushed forward in her adorable suit and high heels, heading straight for Jake's arms. But the second person she reached out to hug was Anna.

"Happy birthday, Advanced Physics," she said with a stifled laugh.

"I'm so happy you're here," Jessica gushed, and Anna felt a lot better as she returned the hug.

But all too soon, she was left on her own. At least all of the tables were covered in dishes of peanuts. Jake was paying for Sam Adams for everyone, but Anna knew she shouldn't drink. Not again. Not after she got tipsy with Bob. 

She could still feel those dark eyes on her as she broke open a peanut and enjoyed the perfectly salty taste. Who was that guy? His arms were wrapped around Jessica's waist, and Jake looked like he was about to go through the roof as his girlfriend laughed. Then he made his way over to Bradshaw's wife and gave her the same treatment. But Bradley looked completely unfazed when she kissed the other man on the cheek and smiled. They whispered something back and forth, and he met Anna's eyes with a wink. She quickly looked away, hoping to avoid a conversation. Bob was sipping a beer and smashing open his own peanuts, and she knew if she couldn't be with him, she didn't want to be with anyone else either. 

Too late. "Hi, are you Anna?" came an unfamiliar voice followed by the spicy scent of too much cologne.

"I am," she answered, looking down at the extended hand of this handsome stranger. "Are you a friend of Jessica's?"

He laughed as their hands met. "Sure," he replied smoothly. "But it's really Bradshaw and I that go way back. I'm Dev. Dev Borah."

"Oh," she said, still shaking his hand and trying to make sense of things. Why was she so awkward? She finally released him and said, "It's... nice to meet you. Um, how do you know Bradley?"

"Virginia. Undergrad. I graduated with the two of them, actually. Nearly died of shock last year when I heard they were both out in San Diego and getting married. Can I get you a drink, Beautiful? Something other than Sam Adams?"

"Oh," Anna gasped as she looked up at him in surprise. "Um... I don't really drink much."

Dev moaned and gripped at his chest dramatically. "You're killing me. I own a brewery!"

Anna could barely tell one type of beer from another, but she wasn't about to tell him that. And quite honestly, talking about making beer sounded interesting enough; she loved learning about new things. But he just called her beautiful. She was flustered and too hot, and then she saw Bob standing off to the side with Mickey, and his expression was one of great displeasure. 

"A brewery?" she asked, trying to force her attention back to Dev.

"Beta Brewing," he said proudly. "We're currently working on a two million dollar expansion project. It's kind of a construction zone, but if you ever want to come up to sample the goods, I'd love to have you."

Anna's eyes went wide. That sounded like an innuendo, but Dev's face was calm as he sipped his pint. Anna figured he must be okay if he was friends with all of these people, but she was never going to go there without the girls. "Maybe if everyone else wanted to go, I could tag along?"

Dev laughed and said, "Bradshaw makes the drive frequently enough. I'm sure we'll see each other again. But just to be sure... I could give you my personal number."

----------------------------

Bob was seething. He'd met Dev Borah exactly one time before, and while he'd had pretty neutral feelings about him prior to tonight, now he hated the sight of him. He'd persuaded Anna to have a beer even though Bob heard her say she didn't really want one, and now he was typing something into Anna's phone. He was giving her his number, just like Bob had done so many weeks ago.

"Stop torturing yourself, man," Mickey said, handing Bob some more peanuts.

"You think she likes him?" Bob asked, voice tight as he grabbed the bowl in his shaky hand.

Mickey shrugged next to him. "What's not to like?"

Bob tossed the bowl onto one of the tables. "You're not helping." He walked away to find someone else, anyone else, to talk to. He should have kissed Anna for as long as he could when he had the chance, because it was all he could think about now. It was all he wanted. She kept looking at him; if she was going to talk to Dev all night and say that kissing Bob was a mistake, then why was she looking at him?

He needed to get out of here and go home, but he knew his friends would be disappointed. Even Suzanne would shake her head. Honestly, he'd be annoyed with himself, too. But his mood was something so unfamiliar, he was ready to force himself to talk to the woman standing next to Anna who he thought was from the science department just so he wouldn't feel like a joke. 

"You know," Bradley said as he slung his arm around Bob's shoulders, "I had no idea Dev liked redheads so much. But then again, he never was too discerning back in the day."

"What do you want, Rooster?" he asked with a grunt.

"I just wanted to make sure you're having fun at Jess's little shindig."

Bob let Bradley slap him obnoxiously on the back as he asked, "Did you invite Dev? Is he going to give Anna a hard time or anything?" His eyes trailed back over to where Dev was still talking her ear off.

Bradley chuckled. "I invited him to get Jake riled up, but I had no idea you'd be collateral damage." He finally released Bob as he said, "And nah, Dev's harmless."

What Bob wouldn't give to have Natasha back. He missed her terribly, and all the guys seemed to be better behaved when she was around. But she'd take one look at Anna and probably embarrass him in front of her even more.

"I think I'm actually going to head home," came Anna's voice filtering over to Bob as she finally cut Dev off. "It was nice to meet you."

"Let me drive you," he replied immediately, and Bob could already picture him getting Anna settled into his Mercedes-Benz, his fingers grazing her bare thigh.

"No, that's okay," she told Dev as she backed away from him. "I'm just going to say goodbye to Jessica, and then I'll get an Uber."

She made her escape to the table next to where Bob stood, and Jessica gave her a big hug. "Happy birthday," Anna told her once again, followed softly by, "I'm glad we're friends."

Jessica squealed and hugged her tighter. "Me too."

"I'm going to call an Uber and head out," Anna was saying, but Jessica was already looking around. 

"No way. It's dark out, and someone here can drive you home. Hey, Bob? Can you drive Anna home?"

He knew he was going to say yes even though part of him didn't want to. And there was another part of him that assumed she'd just say Dev offered to take her. But when Anna looked up at him, he nodded and immediately said, "Of course."

To his surprise, Anna looked a little relieved as she took a step closer. "Are you sure you don't mind?" she asked him with a little wince.

"Not one bit. I was planning on heading home, and it's on the way."

Bob accepted a sloppy kiss on the cheek from Jessica who was well on her way to being drunk. Then he dug his keys from his pocket and nodded toward the door. Anna followed closely next to him, but unlike the last time they were at Chippy's, he didn't touch her. When Bob held the door open, he looked back over his shoulder at Dev who raised his pint glass with a smile of defeat, but he didn't really care about anyone except Anna.

"Thanks," she muttered, walking out into the cool, night air.

"Did you have a good time?" Bob asked, putting a little more space between them as he pointed up the block toward his truck.

Anna laughed, but the sound was tight and forced. "It was okay. I think Jessica was having fun, which is the most important thing, you know?"

"Yeah," he agreed, squeezing his key in his hand as all of the images of their kisses returned. Everything he thought about when he wrote new poetry and touched himself to completion. He swallowed hard; even being around Anna was a lot for his senses. He couldn't blame Dev for trying, but their interactions made him jealous. "Did you get Dev's number?"

Anna stumbled a bit on the sidewalk as she looked up at him, but he kept his eyes focused straight ahead. "I didn't ask for it. He just kind of gave it to me," she said softly. "He invited me up to his brewery to try some beers. When I told him I'm not much of a beer drinker, he said he'd really enjoy teaching me about the process."

"I'm sure he would," Bob muttered, running his fingers through his hair in frustration. 

When he reached his truck, he wrenched the passenger door open for Anna, and she glowed softly in the dim, orange interior lighting. "He's a bit much," she said, looking up at him.

Bob nodded once, but she didn't make a move to climb in. "I don't know him very well, but I know he likes to hear himself talk." When she still didn't move, Bob asked, "Are you going to call him? Give him the opportunity?"

"I already told you..." she said firmly. "I can't be in a relationship right now, so I wouldn't want to encourage Dev. And I'm really, really sorry about last week, Bob." She fidgeted with her hands and added, "But if I were in a place where I wanted to start something, I wouldn't pick him."

"Really?" Bob asked as his heart pounded. The most depraved part of him wanted to hear her say she liked him more than Dev. More than anyone.

"Really," she whispered, placing her hand on the seat. "I like old trucks better than fancy sports cars."

That was enough confirmation for Bob. His skin was tingling with anticipation he knew he couldn't quench, but he didn't mind as much now as he did ten minutes ago. "Yeah... you could do way better than a multi millionaire anyway."

Anna's laughter in response was so genuine, Bob laughed, too. The drive to her place was quiet but not as strained as he was afraid it would be, and when he was about a block away, she took her phone out and started messing around with it. "Thanks, Bob," she said as he pulled up to the curb.

He cleared his throat. "You know how you told me you didn't think I should use the dating app? Because I didn't need it?"

"Yeah?" she asked, reaching for the door handle but looking at him. 

He squeezed the steering wheel tight in both hands and said, "Well, I don't think you need Dev's phone number." He watched her jump down and turn to glance his way, and then she smiled.

"I already deleted it. Thanks again for the ride. Maybe I'll see you this weekend?"

He nodded once before she closed the door. As she walked inside, he said, "I hope so."

----------------------------

Oh. Oh, okay. She prefers you, Bob! Now get ready for action. Thanks @mak-32 and @beyondthesefourwalls. And thanks @attapullman for all the underwear discussions.

PART 7

@thedroneranger

@theamuz

@cherrycola27

@katiedid-3

@yuckosworld

@je-suis-prest-rachel

@callsign-magnolia

@avaleineandafryingpan

@t-nd-rfoot

@wkndwlff

@eddiemunsonreader

@wintercap89

@the-fever-of-mankind

@sio-ina-bottle

@lovingperfectionsblog

@daisydont-lie

@sappy-seresin

@birdy-bat-writes

@cutelittlefakejourneys

@cottagecori

@fandom-princess-forevermore

@sotalife

@novastories

@xoxabs88xox

@rileyanntoinette

@mannsachds

@midnightmagpiemama

@greatszu

@zetasaturno99

@lovingrobertfloyd

@taytaylala12

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@amiets2

@sylviebell

@imnotcreativeenoughforthisblog

@lonelysoul50

@sweetwhispersofchaos

[warcats-cat]

Confinement

Summary: In Hermes’ incredibly correct and not at all humble opinion, humans should have stuck with horses, but then humans went off and invented cars. Awful... Hermes loved you; he really did. He adored you. But he loathed your car.

A/N: I'M ALIVE I SWEAR!!! I'm still writing for Hermes and this fandom!!! I love you all and I've MISSED YOU ALL SO MUCH!!! TLDR - I was in a car accident right after my birthday at the beginning of April, and while I wasn't badly injured, I've been mentally all over the place since then. Recovery-Scatter-Brain and Stress-Scatter-Brain are real... ANYWAY the irony is that I have had this one written for like forever and I was gearing up to post it right before I had my accident. So I guess Hermes was just trying to warn me in his own loving, mysterious, mischievous way. Also I linked to a song within the fic; it is one of my favorites to sing and one I sang as a part of my Senior Recital when I graduated university; if you take the time to listen I really do hope you enjoy it! (ALSO also, because of this, the reader does refer to themself as 'female' but only in the context of the song!) I hope you guys enjoy this one and hopefully I will have another edited/polished and posted for you before the two month mark... as always please let me know if I've missed any tags and have a truly lovely day, darlings!!!

Read on Ao3 Here!

-----

In Hermes’ incredibly correct and not at all humble opinion, humans should have stuck with horses.

Really, it was the altogether better option, compared to other modes of transportation, although he'd never tell his uncle that. Especially now, in the ‘modern era’ as humans called it, when things like capitalism and pollution and climate change hung over humans’ heads like a guillotine.

Horses didn't need oil from hundreds of cubits underground; they could just graze the grasses around where they were. Horses still went pretty fast over land compared to walking. Horses didn't stink like death-plastic-smoke that was worse than Tartarus.

But humans had gone and invented cars.

Awful.

Sure, cars went fast. Not nearly as fast as him, but Hermes was the god of speed; nothing went as fast as him. Cars could go a lot faster than horses, and in America, where the land was so massive and everything spread out so far, Hermes supposed it was nice to get to the grocer as quickly as possible.

But cars were also considerably small.

Therein lay the problem.

He wasn't necessarily claustrophobic, but Hermes didn't like small spaces. He didn't like feeling trapped. And cars did exactly that - with heavy metal doors that slammed and locked like prison cells, rough, scraping straps that pinned one in place (for safety, of course, which he couldn't begrudge; but he didn't have to like it), uncomfortable seats that pretended to be the ‘luxury’ of real leather even though he could smell the oily plastic layered in to make it cheaper.

And the windows only made things worse somehow - opening them made the winds beat the inside of the car and the unfortunate rider’s ears, easily causing hearing damage with the constant concussion. He’d tried pushing his head out, once; curious at seeing some teens in a car ahead of them do so, but the same beating effect applied; making his eyes sting and his ears ring from the force of it.

He didn't even have that problem when he was flying.

Hermes loved you; he really did. He adored you. But he loathed your car.

“I could get us to the craft store a lot faster,” he said to you, the barest hint of a whine in his voice. If he played it just right, with a little pout and a little whine, maybe he could change your mind.

“You would have to carry me, not to mention anything we bought, and I don't want to lose my supplies in your bag-of-holding.” You replied, not even looking at his big, slightly watery puppy-eyes. 

No luck…

He sighed, and let his face drop back to normal. At least he understood the reference you made this time - you’d called his messenger bag a bag-of-holding a few times before he asked about it; it was a bag, it was supposed to hold stuff? But you were referring to a game you liked to play on nights he was away; a special bag that could hold almost anything a person put inside it, and was nearly endless. He’d had to admit after that that it was a fair nickname.

And it wasn't necessarily that things got lost in his bag; he could call up any paper or item that was in it by just thinking about it. It was that he could conveniently forget to grab some things back out. Or slip things in to hide them for later.

He was the god of thieves and master of tricks. Sue him. 

He stared down the door handle of your car as if he could make it cower like a mortal he disliked. You slipped easily into the driver's seat and grinned at him; the cute, slightly devilish grin that he loved so much. Damn.

Hermes grumbled a Greek swear and submitted himself to the confinement.

Thankfully, you weren't an overly cautious driver going 10 under the speed limit.

The drive would take approximately 20 minutes; 18 if you pushed the speed limit a little and 16 if you managed to pass through the traffic lights without them turning red. Ugh. Traffic lights.

When horses had to cross a road, they could just go across. You didn't have to worry about being catastrophically slammed into from the side because horses had brains. …most of the time…

Hermes clicked the seatbelt into place. His feathers ruffled as he shuddered, but he felt your hand slip into his and squeeze in sympathy, and that made it a little better. The car rumbled under his feet like an angry animal as it started, and you began the drive, switching on the radio as it connected to the phone in your pocket.

Frankly, there was only one reason Hermes tolerated car rides at all.

  “When I was a girl, I had a favorite story...”

Every time, he got to hear you sing.

    “Of the meadowlark who lives where the rivers wind…”

In Hermes' very correct and not so humble opinion, you had the most beautiful voice. And he bragged to Apollo about you all the time, how he had found you and won your heart before the sun god even heard a single note. Hermes loved listening to you sing - singing along to movies you watched, singing quietly while you worked on a project, and yes, even singing in the car.

Car singing was the second-best singing, only because you weren't afraid to be loud . Your voice filled the little space with warmth, wrapped around Hermes like a safety blanket. If you had to stop at a traffic light, you liked to wiggle in your seat like a little dance. It felt like a secret, shared only between the two of you; the little moments he tucked away in his memory like shining jewels.

And you sang everything - regardless of the original musician’s gender. Musical Theater tended to be your favorite, but your phone shuffled through rock songs and pop songs and a few electronic melodies; indy and songs about video games and even (very rarely) a country song you said you kept because it was silly. Hamilton, and SpongeBob; Wicked, and Phantom of the Opera. Lately, you’d been fixating a bit on some songs from Next to Normal that made you tear up as you sang, and Hermes would reach over and pat your shoulder or take your hand, knowing that the music meant more to you than he could really understand. Songs full of stories that you knew by heart and told to yourself (and him) over and over again.

It felt extra special, sometimes; knowing that you were comfortable enough to sing with him around. Apollo had asked, several times now, but you had stammered and said you hadn't done any warm-ups and didn't know what he would like; maybe some other time. You’d confided in Hermes after the third time; for anyone else, it felt like a high stakes audition, especially for the ‘literal god of music’ as you had said. But Hermes made you feel comfortable, like you were singing with him, even though most of the time he wasn't actually singing; he joined in subtler ways. His head bobbed and swayed along to your music, and occasionally his wings ruffled and flapped for a particularly high or long or powerful note, and he savored every single second of it.

And then all too soon the show was cut short, as you slowed to a stop in the little store's parking lot, and Hermes became aware once again of the sensation of being trapped.

He all but ripped the seat belt apart - he actually had ripped the seat belt the first time, which you had been very upset about. He hadn't meant to, and thankfully you understood after an explanation (and when he offered to pay to fix the car - a full “work up” as you said. He’d kinda shrugged it off; money was a mortal thing.)

This time, he was out of the car before the belt had the chance to fully retract back into its hiding place, hopping a little from foot to foot to shake the phantom feelings of chains. You gave him a look of apology, and offered a hug, which he graciously accepted.

Finally, after a minute to fix his sunglasses and steal your hand for holding, the pair of you headed inside the craft store.

And if he slipped a few things that you seemed to like into his bag when you put them back down upon seeing the prices, well. That was his own little secret. He just couldn't resist the way your eyes glittered when he gave you presents.

You didn't need to know where they came from… 

(If you enjoyed, please reblog!!)

[sparklingcid3r]

ugh hc that soda is always the one pony goes to for comfort EXCEPT when the nightmares are the absolute worst imaginable and then it’s ONLY darry who can calm him down by holding him and pony realizing that darry isnt gone and isnt leaving

You’re a hero for this 🙏 The gears are TURNING so I’m gonna do what I do best and yap it up. (everything is in reference to this post btw)

- The first time it happens, Pony wakes up screaming bloody murder. Like scream-sobbing, nearly as bad as when he found out their parents had died. He’s convinced it was real and is struggling out of bed while Soda’s trying to get him to calm down and talk to him, but Pony’s wrestling away

- Pony’s reaction is so violent and visceral and it scares Soda nearly to tears, just seeing it and thinking something genuinely terrible has happened. You know when you see someone else is so much distress that you start feeling it too? That’s how Soda is feeling. And he’s just yelling out to Darry for help because he’s never seen Pony so completely inconsolable

- I imagine Darry’s a light sleeper, so of course he’s up like a shot and racing over to Pony and Soda’s room, his heart in his throat the entire time

- Darry’s nearly convinced they need to bring Pony to the hospital. There’s no way this was the result of a nightmare, but Soda tells him what happened

- When he notices Darry sitting on the bed, Pony’s in his arms faster than he’s ever done anything, just crying into his shoulder, can’t even form any words. Darry is baffled, but it’s outweighed by a fierce protectiveness, so he just hugs Pony back and murmurs into his hair small comforts like “It’s okay, it’s okay, honey. I’m here, I ain’t going anywhere, baby.”

- Soda’s rubbing circles into Pony’s back like their parents used to, just trying to keep the physical contact in hopes that it starts to anchor him

- But it’s Darry who Pony needed, just his presence and the reminder that it wasn’t real, Darry’s alive and well, he wasn’t in the car that day, wasn’t on the tracks, wasn’t mangled and ruined and dead. He’s got them right in his arms

- And when Pony’s calmed down enough to speak, he just says “I thought you were dead” in a wobbly voice that quivers and shakes, cracking during that last horrible word

- Darry doesn’t know what to say, so he hugs him tighter and holds the back of his head and hopes it’s enough

- Since then, Pony’s never had a reaction as extreme and intense as that one, but Soda knows what’s happened when Pony is crying into his hands and getting up to leave in the middle of the night. He knows where Pony is going and knows that for this one thing, he’s just not enough comfort, because he’s not Darry

Wow that was a lot of angst but hopefully you can see my little crumbs of love in there, I can’t do straight heartache I think I would just die.

Ty for the ask!!

[thievinghippo]

46 for Emmrich/Edda! Or Sonnet if you prefer :)

A kiss out of envy or jealousy for Emmrich and Edda! This is set during the 'Blood of Arlathan' quest

#

“Do you think the Antaam gossip about you as much as the Venatori apparently do?”

“Ugh, Neve, don’t remind me,” Rook says, finishing up the buckles on her gambeson. She is so grateful to be out of that itchy Venatori armor it’s not even funny. Hopefully they’ll all move faster through the camp now that they’re in their regular gear. They have to find the Dalish. And quick. “As if they could ever turn me.”

“Fair point,” Neve says as she adjusts her fascinator. “Emmrich might have called that one a fan, but to me, it sounded more like a bit of a crush.”

Rook lets out a laugh. She can’t help it. “I am not the type of person people crush on.” She looks over at Emmrich and smiles. The dopey one that only he ever gets to see. “With one really big exception standing right over there.” A horrible thought crosses her mind. “Wait. Emmrich, do you still have a crush on me? Or are we past that stage already?”

“I most assuredly do, my darling.”

“Phew. Good. I still have a crush on you, too.”

“That is very gratifying to hear.”

Neve shakes her head. “You two are ridiculous. Stop me if I ever sound like that about Lucanis.”

Rook fake coughs. “Seafood and candlelight.”

“Fair. I’ll give you that one.”

Once Rook straps her shield to her back, she looks at Emmrich and Neve. “Ready to head out?” She’s not sure where exactly they need to go, but they need to get away from the main Venatori forces. Ideally soon.

“If you would excuse us for just a moment, Neve,” Emmrich says, sounding far too serious for a man who has a crush on her. “Rook, a word?”

He’s already marching off to a small alcove and all Rook can do is look at Neve and shrug. “I think I’m in trouble,” she whispers, wondering what could Emmrich possibly want to talk to her about. When they’re in the middle of a Venatori camp. “I’ll make this quick.”

 Rook follows Emmrich into the alcove. Who is already down on one knee. Which usually only means one thing for them. She takes a step closer and isn’t surprised in the slightest when he grabs her hand and pulls her into his arms.

He kisses her then, first hard and demanding, before making way for soft and slow. When they break apart, Rook palms his cheek. “What in the world was that for?”

“I just… That Venatori. I don’t like the way he said your name, Rook.”

Rook hooks her hands behind Emmrich’s neck and leans back, just a bit. This is most certainly a surprising development. She didn’t think the man had a jealous bone in his body. But maybe this isn’t jealousy, per say. Maybe it’s something else. And when they aren’t in the middle of a rescue mission, Rook will take the time to think about that.

“Would it help if I told you that the way you say my name is my favorite?”

Emmrich nods, and Rook can’t help but lean in for another quick kiss.

“And you smell absolutely lovely. No Venatori deserves that knowledge,” he says, running his fingers through her ponytail.

“I smell like dirty laundry and blood,” Rook says with a laugh. “But I did use that lavender talcum powder you gave me this morning. So maybe I don’t smell all that bad.”

Rook bites her lip as Emmrich leans in, kissing her neck, before taking an exaggerated sniff. “Don’t think I didn’t notice, darling. Like I said. Lovely.”

If only they could stay in this little alcove for the rest of the afternoon. But they can’t waste any more time as they look for the Dalish. Maybe once the Dalish are safe and this area is cleared from Venatori forces…

“One more kiss,” Rook says, before doing just that. They really need to find more time during the day for kissing. Would be good for morale. Her morale, specifically, and probably his, too.

Emmrich stands but doesn’t let go of her hand. All Rook can do is blush as he brings her fingers to his lips. He is absolutely getting laid tonight, assuming they both survive.

Rook jogs a few steps, then stops, looking over her shoulder. Emmrich is right there behind her.

She grins. “Now lets go save the day."

[wolfiemcwolferson]

"watching a movie or show that they know they're interested in" for piarles ofc :)))

Well.

Part two of this....

It's selfish.

It's completely and totally selfish.

Ferrari lines up a list of people they've vetted and approved and Charles smiles at them and says no to each and every one until they throw their hands up and ask him what he wants - who he wants.

The phone call is probably all of five minutes of Charles talking too fast and Pierre humming any second that Charles is not speaking, but he agrees at the end of it and Charles promises him the money will be good, and then he feels bad about it for a whole ten days.

Because Pierre is proud of the life he clawed out for himself after and he has a lot of pride in his job and it's never been about the money, but Charles knows that it will be nice for Pierre to not worry about things so much...and also it's selfish.

Charles doesn't see him enough - talk to him enough - and maybe it's ridiculous or childish that he is 27 and still fully in love with someone that has no idea and will never love him back, but he thinks he deserves to be a little selfish after last season.

Pierre returns the signed contract and Charles spends the two weeks before their arranged pre-season training camp trying to make everything perfect.

He has so many opinions about the branded Ferrari gear that they send for Pierre, he ends up ordering some himself in the designs and sizes he wants.

Charles gets in an honest to god shouting match with the hotel because they tell him they have no adjoining rooms when Charles knows that's not true, and Joris looks at him so sharply that Charles goes to his room to hide and when he comes back out, Joris has booked them a house.

He triple checks with the rental company that they have all of Pierre's listed foods that he wants to incorporate into Charles' diet and he downloads roughly 280 hours of US American sitcoms because that used to be the way Pierre liked to unwind.

Charles has no idea if he still likes that because the last two years...well, the last two years have been about Charles.

Charles losing the championship, Charles in the bad car, Charles dealing with an injury.

And when Pierre would come to a race, it was about Charles. When Charles would call Pierre, it was about Charles.

That's why it's so selfish. Because this is still about Charles.

He has nothing to offer Pierre except for a little bit of money and paddock passes for all of his brothers at any race they want and 280 hours of various sitcoms that hopefully will be a balm for Pierre after a turbulent flight or a long triple header or Charles being a little shit in the gym because he's tired.

my flight got cancelled, Pierre texts as Charles is googling where he can buy Season 1 of that one show with the lesser Chris from those Marvel movies. I can hop on one to nice tonight instead? get on the jet with you tomorrow? let me know

yes, Charles texts back faster than he ever has, I am just downloading sitcoms for you

Pierre doesn't text back for a long time. For so long that Charles is considering using that silly unsend option in imessage, but finally he responds.

I think I am the one meant to be taking care of you this season? but thank you, cha and then there's a screenshot of his new flight that lands in six hours

Charles is trying to determine if he can go get him - if he can risk going to get him, or maybe Joris, he could work that out, surely. He could work that out.

I am looking forward to watching sitcoms with you on planes

It's not much - it's hardly anything. But, Charles is looking forward to the long season with many planes and a lot of Pierre.

[drizzleoftherain]

Liturgia

Chapter 7: Will the Winds That Blow Between Us Connect Us Even as Time Goes By

Pairing: Ava Silva & Beatrice

Ao3

Author's note: I did not expect the emotional trauma I put you all through last chapter. I'm so sorry…but am I? :D

There’s a playlist and a mood-board.

Tuesday, April 29th. New York City

Ava is walking through her hotel room door when the call comes.

“Hey, Cam!” She greets, throwing the keycard on the coffee table before walking across the small living room. She flops onto the awaiting bed from where she can see the entire stretch of Central Park from the room’s balcony. “How are you?”

There’s a few voices in the background that she can’t discern and then a door closes.

“Ava!” Camila’s voice comes through the phone speaker, she’s eager and a little out of breath. So, she’s basically normal, give or take. “I want to say good, but honestly I think we’re all just a little stressed.”

She sits up, concerned. Her first thoughts are of Beatrice, which doesn’t surprise her, even though she’s trying to compartmentalise. “Did something happen?”

“We’re due to start filming our music video tomorrow, and the lead actress just cancelled on us.” Camila takes several short breaths, then continues, “And none of this would be such a big deal in any other circumstance but we’re running behind on our release schedule and this is kind of our only chance to get the music video done.”

“I’m so sorry, Cam. Have you guys figured out what to do? Maybe one of you can take the role since it’s so last minute?”

“We thought about it, but Suzanne doesn’t think it’s good to begin that kind of dynamic in the band.” What kind of dynamic did she mean? “We were–no, well, I–I was wondering whether you would be willing to come do it?” Camila is speaking faster now, “I know I’m probably asking a lot, but we don’t have much time to change the project and I know that–that you’re here in New York for The Met Gala as well so I thought maybe you would have some free time maybe? Hopefully.”

“Oh.” She’s quiet. That’s a big ask. Not just in the emotional sense that Camila probably doesn’t even know about but the label logistics are insane. If she were to agree to this she would need to speak to Emilia, who would need to speak to Suzanne and then everyone would need to come to an agreement about everything all over again. 

This means seeing Beatrice again. And she’s angry, no, she’s furious. She should really not be doing this. Seeing Beatrice would probably bring out all sorts of emotions that she’s desperately trying not to have. Could she even face Beatrice after everything? After being ignored for two months.

Enough time must have passed because Camila speaks again, her tone is more dismal now, “If you don’t have time, that’s fine I just–I just thought I would ask. I totally understand if you can’t.”

Camila is waiting for a response. 

Beatrice. She can see Beatrice again. 

Stop. 

They can talk. She can talk to Beatrice and hear her voice and see her stupid cute face. 

STOP.

“What’s the music video? What exactly would I be signing myself up for?”

STOP!

Camila is quiet for a moment, probably realising that she’s not completely saying no. “Oh my God, okay! So, Lilith is going to play the other lead. We’re actually flying again tomorrow morning to Ithaca. Filming at one of the national parks there. Levy is about to go get us some hiking gear.” She breathes in again, this time they’re full breaths, like she can’t get enough oxygen, “And then back to New York to film more here. I think it’s three or four days, honestly I don’t even know all the details. I think Beatrice does, I can go get her and put her on the phone. I just need to find my–”

“No. No, that’s fine, Cam. You don’t need to get Beatrice.” Not like this. She needs their first interaction to be in person, where Beatrice can’t hide away from her. “I can. I’ve finished my schedules for the week. I was just going to relax until the Gala.”

Her battered heart joins her brain now, stop . Just say no . 

“You can!?” She’s sure Camila has just bounced in place.

She’s up now, pacing the room. Camila’s energy catching up with her along with other suppressed thoughts. Thoughts that she’s been avoiding and should continue avoiding. “Wait wait! Don’t get excited just yet,” She’s telling both Camila and herself this, in a way. “I need to speak to my manager, Emilia, and she needs to call Suzanne.”

“I know! But just hearing that you can just lifted so much weight off my shoulders.”

She stops pacing, realising that maybe Camila has gotten ahead of herself. “But wait, do the other members know you’re calling me to ask this?”

“Aaaahhh–no. They’re all arguing inside one of our rooms. I’m pacing the hallway, I probably look like a crazy person. Who knew there would be so many pretentious people at The Plaza?” 

“Wait, you’re here?” Beatrice is here. Beatrice is in the same hotel. After months apart, she’s within reach. Ava has to slide the door to the bedroom shut to physically stop herself from leaving to look for her. 

Her mind, heart and body are screaming all at once, STOP!

“You’re here?!”

“Yes!”

“We just got here! My jetlag is all over the place, I don’t even know what time it is.”

Her head is against the door. She needs to breathe in. She needs to get control of her emotions before she does something she will regret. She exhales, “It’s 1PM, Cam.”

“Okay, so I’m– no, actually I think I’ll pace for another few minutes and then go tell them that I asked you. And then, hopefully we can get our managers to agree?”

“Yeah…yeah, okay. Will you let me know what the band says?”

“Of course, I will!”

They hang up. The room feels too small suddenly, if she stays here alone and continues to think, things will happen. She grabs the discarded keycard, walks across the hall and knocks so hectically that Alice’s eyes are a bit panicked when the door opens.

“What did you do?” Alice scrutinises her and Ava slips in.

“You need to go get me hiking gear.” The door shuts behind her. 

Alice’s hands go to her hips, “You want me to go get you hiking gear in New York City?” She can sense disdain in Alice’s voice immediately. “A place where there is literally nothing to hike other than the price of hot dogs?”

“For a music video.”

“Ava, what the fuck are you talking about? What music video?” Alice panics for a moment glancing towards her phone by the small desk area.

Ava turns to look where Alice is looking, “No, not mine”, then says, “Camila.” As if that alone answers the question.

“Camila?”

“Camila just called. They need my help for their music video.”

Alice’s face distorts into something between crossed and concerned. “Ava, no.”

She raises her hands placatingly, “Just hear me out, okay?”

“No. I don’t want to do that. That’s not a path I want you following right now.” Alice is running a hand through her hair. The locks fall into place several times before she continues, “Did you agree? You already agreed, didn't you?”

“Yes.”

Alice sighs irritably, “Ava!” She puts herself between the room's door and Ava, as if that would stop her. “How is that healthy? I thought you were doing well. Or working towards it.”

“Alice, please. I need to do this. I need to do this for Beatr—for them.” She draws breath, betrayed by her own self.

“For them or for Beatrice?”

“They’re running behind schedule and can’t miss out on this.” It’s her fault. Somehow, it’s her fault. She had been selfish with Beatrice’s time. Had probably delayed a lot of the band’s deadlines. If she can do this for them then maybe this guilt she’s been carrying will alleviate itself somehow and she can go back to just hurting, to just managing the heartbreak. She can push her anger down for this. “It’s my fault.”

Alice shakes her head several times in an attempt to will the no into a universe where Ava hasn’t completely committed to this choice. “No, Ava. How is any of this your fault? This is normal, things like this happen, you know this.”

“Alice!” Ava replies, exasperated.

“No.”

“I need to do this!” And it’s so steadfast that Alice crosses and uncrosses her arms within seconds.

“You’re going to see her. Don’t you think that’s going to hurt you? You can’t.”

“This will be good, it’ll give me a chance to speak to her. Maybe we can come to some kind of agreement about whatever the fuck happened, wouldn’t you want that for me?”

Alice is thinking. Her eyes are somewhere on the ceiling, and her hand comes to her neck, soothing something there. “Do you think this will give you the closure you need to move on?”

“Yes.” She sits on the bed, suddenly tired, the decision heavy on her. “Also, you’ll be there, you can supervise.”

“WHAT!” Alice is in front of her supplicating with her eyes, “No, I’m not a hiker Ava, I’m English, we go on leisurely strolls in the countryside, like Elizabeth Bennet. What do they even need a lead actress for?” The questions are coming out now like an unclogged dam. “What is even required of you? Do you even hike? Do I need to call insurance? Is it the woods woods? What if you fall off a tree? What about poison ivy? Wait, is Beatrice the focal point of the video?”

“Lilith.”

“I see.” Alice sits next to her, and Ava knows exactly what thoughts are going through her mind as they both sit in silence. “What kind of song is it?”

Shit. She hadn’t considered this at all. “I don’t know, I forgot to ask.”

“You forgot to ask what kind of song you would be appearing in?! What if it’s a love song?!” Alice is up again, hands in her hair. 

—

Wednesday, April 30th. New York City→ Ithaca

It’s 3 AM and both her and Alice are riding the elevator down to the lobby to meet up with the band. They both have a backpack and a suitcase, full of necessities and the much needed hiking appropriate attire for the two days in Ithaca. Emilia and Suzanne had come to an agreement and everything else was set in motion by their labels. For the next few days she would be filming a music video with The Cruciforms.

The song, she had learned, was a breakup song. She hasn’t heard it yet, but she’s sure Camila will share it the moment she asks. She’s meant to play the love interest and the music video’s concept is basic: Friends develop feelings, date, and break up. Simple. Or at least she’s telling herself it’s simple. It’ll only be the days in Ithaca with the band that she’ll see Beatrice, the rest is back in New York City with just Lilith.

Yesterday was spent on various phone calls and only Alice has interacted with Levy, both going around town collecting different articles of clothing and gear for the shoot. 

The elevator’s ding signals their arrival at the lobby and her heart throbs expectantly.

The doors open and she can already start to make out the members in the lobby. A myriad of backpacks and suitcases all around them. Camila spots her immediately, walking to her and overrunning her with a big hug. They exchange pleasantries as they walk to the other members. 

Levy is on the phone, communicating with the crew who are all waiting in Ithaca for them. Lilith is leaning back on a couch, eyes closed with Yasmine’s head on her shoulder, they both seem to be passed out. Mary is texting, but looks up and gives her a little wave in greeting. Beatrice, who she’s been trying hard to not gape at, is standing perfectly still behind her suitcase, eyes looking at literally everything but her. And Ava is expecting this. You don't go through two months of being ignored to not being ignored. 

Camila walks them to Beatrice though. She doesn’t know any better, fully working on outdated information because if she knew then she wouldn’t have called for help. Alice is next to her when they stop in front of Beatrice and she knows Alice wants to say things, but Alice knows better. She does catch a quick side eye in Beatrice’s direction before Alice’s phone is pulled out and she busies herself.

“Good morning,” She says before she can stop herself, because Ava is finding it very difficult to think at the moment.

Beatrice’s weary eyes meet hers, she hesitates for a few seconds before replying, “Good morning, Ava.” And the happiness that rushes through her as she hears Beatrice say her name is significant enough to make all of this worth it, even though her throat kind of chokes a bit remembering everything that has happened between them. “We’re just waiting for the cabs to arrive, it shouldn’t be much longer.” The eyes don’t linger on her, instead they bounce to reception where staff members are speaking about the early morning events. 

When the two cabs arrive, Lilith, Yasmine, Mary and Levy squeeze into the first one, too tired to even communicate or dictate where each other should sit. Camila is grabbing her hand and before she knows it she is being pulled inside the other cab. It all happens quickly though. Camila is too energetic and pulls Ava in such a way that her head is about to collide with the metal frame of the car door, but it doesn’t. Rather, it gets cushioned by Beatrice’s palm, which has taken the blow for her. 

“Careful.” Is all Beatrice says, hand still molded around her head before slipping inside the cab after her.

And Ava’s heart stutters, because how is Beatrice a real person? How does someone neglect a person for two months then observe that same person so closely that they stop a concussion from happening? Sure, concussion is a stretch, but there’s a point there.

Alice is sitting in front, occasionally making eye contact with Ava through the rearview mirror and she is squished in the middle with Camila to her left and Beatrice to her right, but Beatrice might as well not be there with how quiet she is being.

“So, catch me up. What have you been up to?” Camila says, adjusting herself a little bit.

Ava sees Beatrice tense out of the corner of her eye. Then, Alice meets her eyes through the rearview mirror, minutely shakes her head and Ava knows exactly what she’s referring to. 

She needs to shift the conversation to something she can control. Camila’s inquiry is too broad and can open up a topic she doesn’t want to visit with Beatrice next to her.

“I’ve just been busy with album preparations, interviews and promotional spreads.” She hopes that’s enough to at least get Camila on the same page. “Did you see the music video? What did you think of your part?” Perfect. Camila will jump at this.

“Your music video was incredible, Ava. You looked amazing! I looked amazing! Amazing!” Camila says.

“You did!” 

“I’m so excited to hear the rest of the album, well, not just me, everyone is kinda losing their minds waiting for the drop. Do you know when that will be?”

“Soon. We’re just waiting for the vinyls to finish the first pressing.”

“I’m like so ready to pre-order it, you don’t understand!”

“What about you guys? You told me you were nearly finished.” She wants to venture a look towards Beatrice because hearing the news from Camila and not Beatrice still stings, but thinks better of it, looking straight ahead to the busy city streets instead.

“Printing as well, though it is taking longer than we want it to.”

“Do you think we’ll coincide?”

“I think the label is concerned, but we can’t do anything about it with the time crunch.”

It’s my fault .

Alice is looking at her again and she hates how easily she is read. 

They’re on the plane on the way to Ithaca when Ava hears the song for the first time. Camila has forfeited her phone as she listens, fervently waiting for her reaction. Levy and Alice are in front of them talking through the day's schedule, Mary and Lilith are to her right both asleep, with Beatrice and Yasmine behind them. 

She’s heard the song close to ten times now, and there’s absolutely no denying who or what the song is about. It is taking everything within her to not grab Beatrice by the collar of her sweater. Possibly dragging her in the direction of the first class restroom. And honestly, to hell with the band and what they’ll think. Beatrice clearly needs to speak to her. A person doesn’t write a song like that, not without going through some visceral emotions while doing so. Everything about Beatrice starts to make complete sense. She won't talk about her feelings, but she sure as hell will write about them.

She pulls off the headphones and glances over her shoulder in Beatrice’s direction. They make eye contact. As if she’s been waiting all along for Ava to turn around and face her. And the resigned way that Beatrice is looking at her is a clear indication that she knows that Ava has figured it out. 

Beatrice sighs, blinking her eyes rapidly a couple of times before leaning back in her seat and closing them, effectively cutting off their silent conversation. 

Camila is wrapping the cord around the headphones when she asks, “What do you think?”

“Wow, that was intense.” She needs to pretend like the last few minutes of her life haven't drastically shifted something inside her. “Whoever wrote that must be going through a lot.”

“Nah, just took a very drunk Beatrice to give the label heads what they wanted.” 

This takes her by surprise because Beatrice doesn’t drink. It was one of the first few things Ava remembers learning about her. “Oh yeah? What was it that they wanted?”

“Something a bit more commercial, I guess, relatable for a wider audience. What’s more perfect than heartbreak, am I right?”

“Right, heartbreak, definitely something we all share.” Her eyes go back to Beatrice in order to make a point, but Beatrice has pulled out her journal, busily writing. Ava knows she can hear her though. “And Beatrice was able to portray the pain so well. I could feel every emotion behind the lyrics.” She can hear the pen testily make contact with the tray table, but she won't look, won’t give Beatrice the satisfaction of telling her off, even if it’s just with her eyes. 

Ava breathes out. She needs a moment to herself and her thoughts without being next to Camila. She unbuckles her seatbelt and heads to the tiny airplane bathroom. Sitting on the toilet seat, lid down, Ava breathes, in and out. In and out . You can do this Ava. You can be around Beatrice and her stupid freckles and her stupid stunted feelings and her lack of communication. You can get through these next few days without either pulling a knife on her or shoving her against a do—…Nope. Not going there.

Coming back to the present, Ava shakes her head and steels herself. Exiting the bathroom, Ava all but bodily slams into Alice, waiting for her by the toilet door. 

Grabbing Ava’s arm, Alice tugs her close and hisses out a low whisper into Ava’s ear, “I saw your face in the cab. You do not owe them anything. You are already doing far too much with this MV. Do not do anything rash. So help you god, Emilia will have your head.”

— 

They all scrabble out of the rental van, each grabbing a backpack and various bags full of last minute necessities for the long day ahead. The film day will stretch until the very last bit of daylight is left. Ava can already see that everyone is at exhaustion level, but she knows that they will push through because this is what their work requires of them.

The immense rugged gorge that wraps around under a vast green canopy is the first thing that grabs her attention. She passes her hand lazily along the eroded and coarse shale walls that fully encompass them as they begin their trek towards the first filming location. It’s only seven in the morning at this point with the first signs of sunlight slowly trickling through the leaves above them.

A river runs below them, deviating from a massive waterfall several kilometers behind them. According to Levy there’s a plan for them to swim at the base of the waterfall tomorrow morning, but they have to canoe there first. Today they will focus on the more extensive trails and on the friendly nature of the video with her and the band bonding together.

They meet the rest of the crew a few minutes later, who have equipment draped around them like some kind of comical parody of what to expect in a film set, except this is entirely real. They’ve scouted ahead already and have planned for the upcoming shots. Their direction is simple enough, stay within the camera’s line of sight and have fun, the camera being a person who is holding an extensive contraption, which allows for movement and balance. 

The filming has already begun in a way, with Alice and Levy walking behind the crew and she and the band walking ahead.

Levy is not having fun. He’s already sweating. And also smacking the side of his calf every few minutes. He’s refusing to put insect repellent on because it ‘stinks’ so that’s entirely his fault. “If you say to put that damn spray on one more time I’m going to scream for so long and at such a high frequency that I will alert the wolf population around us.” He’s talking to Alice, who is wiggling the bottle in front of his face, threatening to spray.

Ava is happy with the clothing they’re all wearing because they’re at least cool and comfortable, which is saying a lot because she’s never been this comfy during a shoot before. She’s wearing elastic turquoise shorts with a matching blue sweater snapback combo, and hiking boots. The rest of the girls also have a colour scheme happening with Lilith wearing red, Camila pink, Mary grey, Yasmine yellow, but her favourite is Beatrice’s, who is wearing an olive green hoodie, blue shorts and an adorable orange snapback. 

Beatrice has a DSLR around her neck, and is stopping every so often to take pictures of their surroundings. Her hair is down now and Ava has realised that it’s no longer black, well, the top is, but the cascading waves now have an ombre kind of blonde highlight to them. And she’s struggling to look away from just how pretty the light is making her out to look. 

Lilith is walking next to her as they continue down the trail, they’re speaking amicably to one another, trying desperately to find some common ground. At some point the muddy ground underneath her shifts, and she actually slips from beside Lilith, butt landing in the dirt. Lilith doesn’t move though, only looking back between the crew and the band questioning what she should do. 

It’s Beatrice who steps closer to them, extending a hand out for Ava to take. She grasps her hand and Beatrice hauls her up. Ava swats her butt a couple of times to remove the caked on dirt, before thanking Beatrice who just goes back to where she was with the camera, busily taking pictures. 

They do a few shots where they’re all sitting on rocks enjoying the scenery.

Camila drinks from her bottle before saying, “Okay, but this place is beautiful!”

“Apparently, its date goes back to 538.8 million years ago, where basically the only life on Earth was plant life that probably looked like coral.” Yasmine’s insights begin to paint a picture of their surroundings. And just how old and grand everything is.

Lilith speaks from beside her, “Did you look this up before coming, you nerd?”

“I like to be informed, unlike you, Lilith.”

“Ouch. Your hug hurts,” Lilith says sarcastically. 

Ava knows they’re probably bantering, but Lilith is difficult to connect with. There’s always an offhanded comment or a rude retort about something that rubs Ava the wrong way and it has only been a couple of hours since they began. She’s doing her best to appear like she’s ‘falling in love’, but she’s sure she’s not selling it and Lilith is not putting in any kind of work from what she can see.

Her eyes go to Beatrice, because of course they do. She can't help herself. Beatrice is always doing something cute whenever she looks. She’s caught her taking pictures of mushrooms, birds, rocks and even a few shots of Ava herself. And Ava isn’t even sure if she’s meant to have noticed her doing that or not. She is having to physically fight her body to not gravitate towards Beatrice. 

“Ava, Lilith a word, please.” They both stand and follow Alice to where the crew and Levy are. 

They’re playing back some of the footage, there’s no sound, just of them walking around the grounds laughing and having a good time. They’ve captured the moment she slips and Ava can see Beatrice actually rush to her in a panic, something she had missed, too busy realising that her love interest didn’t as much as look in her direction when she fell. Her heart thunders inside her chest and Alice realises because she gives her a sympathetic look.

Levy is not amused, he’s going back and forth between the takes. “Are you guys going to actually try to make it seem like there’s something there? Because we’re getting nothing right now. You two might as well be lifelong enemies.” 

The crew members nod in agreement. Everyone seems to be coming to the same conclusion Ava has. She and Lilith have zero chemistry. If anything she wants to wring Lilith’s neck, not hold her close. And she can’t imagine having to do this for the rest of the week. It would actually be painful.

“What if we did some shots alone?” Lilith says, her voice is a bit irritated but her eagerness to make it work shines through.

They all agree and both of them walk through the trail looking at one another while interacting and Ava knows it’s not coming through because every time she looks at Lilith she cringes and then looks back to the band, in search of Beatrice, who is apparently trying very hard not to look at them.

The shots play in front of them again and this time Levy and Alice both sigh, coming to terms with the problem. 

Alice is looking towards the rest of the band, considering their options. “What about Camila?”

Levy brings a finger to his lips, head going from side to side. “Camila…” He’s thinking about it. “CAMILA!” Alice jumps at this, not used to his cadence.

Camila stands, rushing to them. “YEAH?”

Levy seems hesitant about what he’s about to ask, but nods more for himself than anything else. “What do you think about the romance happening between you and Ava instead?”

Ava wants to laugh because it’s so ridiculous. 

“YES! YES! I’ll do it!” When Camila replies, Levy and Alice both visibly recoil.

“No. Nope. Nevermind, she’s too eager, we might end up with Ava in the emergency room.” Levy pushes Camila back in the direction she came.

The crew members keep reversing the footage back to where she slips and Beatrice comes to her aid. “What about Beatrice?” One of them speaks up. “There’s actually a lot of footage of them already looking at each other and the chemistry seems to be natural.”

Oh boy did they hit the nail on the head with that one.

“No.” It’s Alice who replies, her head already shaking.

“It could work. It’s Beatrice’s song so she might be able to understand the emotion a bit better.” Levy is looking between them now, something forming in his head. “She didn’t want to be part of it to that extent but maybe we can speak to her about it.”

Ava’s mind attaches itself to what Levy has just revealed, adding fuel to the literal fire that began on the flight here. Beatrice was avoiding being the focus of the narrative on purpose, Ava had just assumed the label wanted to push Lilith as well given her popularity as the lead guitarist. 

Alice is grabbing and pulling her aside, she can see Levy already walking in the direction of Beatrice. “You can’t do this. Tell Levy that you’ll try again with Lilith.”

Ava knows that Alice is only meaning to protect her, even if it means protecting her from herself, but honestly, deep down they both know that this is probably the only way forward. “Alice, it’s alright. I can do this. It’s already there if you look close enough.”

“I understand that, but you need to mitigate the potential damage. You know where the music video is going, you know what the both of you will have to do.” 

They’ll have to pretend to be in love. But luckily for them it’s not pretending, it’s more like living a beautiful nightmare at this point. Beatrice is watching the previous recordings and listening to the crew and Levy. Her shoulders drop in quiet resignation. Like, she knew this would happen. 

“Be careful, Ava.” Alice gives her a look before she walks back to the crew.

She joins them seconds later. Levy is already giving instructions about shots and the crew begins prepping the camera and equipment for filming. 

Beatrice is beside her, eyes downcast, but there’s a small smile on her lips, “It’s okay with me if it’s okay with you.” And she nods because this is Beatrice, and she would do anything for her. For them. She just wishes Beatrice was talking about their actual relationship instead.

They go through the same shots as Lilith and this time there aren’t any interruptions from the crew. They walk along the path and Beatrice extends her hand for Ava to take, helping her maneuver the environment. And it’s silly, but her thoughts go to that night in the theater and all the back and forth in her head, where she debated whether to hold Beatrice’s hand, not as a friend running from the press, but as Ava. Ava who had fallen in love with Beatrice.

(*)

I'm suffering from you like the seasonal flu

Without fail, without exception

How can I laugh, how can I forget you

When even breathing is a struggle right now

I won't ask for anything

Just be by my side as if nothing has changed

She tugs down on Beatrice’s cap as they walk down the path, earning a smile. They jump hand in hand from rock to rock as the band runs past them. It’s as if they’re living in their own little bubble. 

At some point she grabs Beatrice’s camera from her, taking shots of her own as the afternoon continues around them. She turns the DSLR and angles it in front of them, capturing a few silly pictures of them together. When Beatrice walks ahead, she looks through the images. There's one where she’s looking at the camera, but Beatrice is looking at her. It’s dewy and tender, and not meant for the camera that is still filming them. She pulls out her phone, quickly taking a picture of the display.

You are my yesterday, today, and tomorrow

Just like the sunlight of my memories, like a star that guards the night

You seek me out everyday

You're like my Spring and Summer, Autumn, Winter

It's like you slipped away between the seasons and left me

Without a trace, heading far away

“Beatrice!” Levy is yelling again, “Piggyback! Give Ava a piggyback.”

Alice rolls her eyes beside him, but stays quiet.

Beatrice is already half kneeling and waiting for her by the time she looks back in her direction. She gets on without protest and Beatrice takes her weight comfortably, adjusting her a couple of times before they’re off again. 

“Don’t hurt your calf this time.” Beatrice chuckles underneath her, tightening her arms around Ava’s thighs.

Ava opens her arms and as Beatrice continues to head down the path, she wraps them around Beatrice’s neck some time later, nose dropping down into the little crook she loves and breathes in the spot. She feels a tear welling up in her eyes and a lump burning in her throat because it smells so much like Beatrice that she needs a moment to process everything from the lavender perfume to the faint smell of sweat.

Will the winds that blow between us

Connect us even as time goes by

I won't ask for anything

Just be by my side as if nothing has changed

The band members are now getting shots of their own as she and Beatrice sit quietly by some rocks on the side of the trail. 

Camila is precariously going to a fallen log that spans between a drop and two paths, she knows Alice’s danger senses are tingling, but hilariously not Levy’s. Mary is holding Camila’s hand as she lowers herself onto the log and then proceeds to hug it. Beatrice laughs from beside her, already turning the camera towards Camila and taking a picture. 

They begin to eat through their lunch of sandwiches, watching Mary throwing rocks for some reason, all while looking stoic and moody. Yasmine sprawls herself in the tall grass nearby but it doesn’t last long because she starts running away the moment Levy warns against snakes. Both she and Beatrice follow quickly behind in a fit of laughter mixed with fear, mouths full of food. 

Lilith accidentally runs into poison ivy, or something that has definitely irritated her skin because her thighs are blotchy red and she can’t stop scratching. 

Levy is on his knees in front of her applying cream to her legs when Beatrice begins snapping pictures again, “The little shit probably deserves it.”

“Please send me those. I would like to futureproof with Lilith blackmail.”

“Of course.”

And the promise of having any kind of communication with Beatrice makes her mind reel with the possibility that they may in fact survive this. 

My heart which almost empties, begins to fill with you

It's shaking my heart

The more it hurts, the more I want you

It’s some time later that Beatrice starts to suddenly bounce on one foot beside her. She seems to be in pain and looking for a place to balance. And who is Ava if not completely in tune with everything Beatrice needs. Her left arm goes around Beatrice’s waist so quickly that she overcorrects, almost sending them sliding down the muddy path, but Ava grabs Beatrice’s right arm draping it across her shoulder, holding it in place with her free hand, stabilising them.

Beatrice pulls the boot off her right foot while balancing on her left. She shakes the boot a couple of times and a small rock tumbles out without much fanfare.

“Are you hurt?” She doesn’t mean it to come out with so much concern but it does, and honestly why bother at this point, they’ve both blurred lines already. She leans down hand coming to run along Beatrice’s socked foot just in case there’s anything still lingering on there. She doesn’t realise just how intimate it is until she does it because she wouldn’t do this for any of the other band members or even Alice.

Beatrice breathes out lightly after her touch, “I think it cut through the sock.” 

She nods, helping Beatrice down softly onto the ground before lowering herself to her knees. She pulls the sock off the foot, which is immediately followed by a small wince from Beatrice. There’s a sizeable cut by the arch of the foot, which shouldn’t be a big deal but they still have a big day ahead of them and something like this could have the potential to be painful. “One second,” She stands heading to Levy who is doing round two of Lilith ointment time. 

She’s back with a bandaid and triple antibiotic cream, and there’s no hesitation. She rubs the cut with her pointer finger, which has way too much ointment for the cut to ointment ratio, before applying the bandaid. “Sana, sana, colita de rana. Si no sanas hoy, sanarás mañana.”

Beatrice is looking at her with so much affection and confusion, that it forces her to back away from how close she has gotten. “Did you just call me a frog?”

She giggles, cheeks feeling a lot hotter than before. “It’s like an old maid saying for when kids get hurt. Usually the parents say that so they feel better.”

“You said frog though.”

“I said ‘Heal, heal, little frog tail. If you don't heal today, you'll heal tomorrow’.” Beatrice is watching her curiously, which makes her bold. “It’s usually followed by a kiss on the spot, for its healing qualities.”

“Its healing qualities,” Beatrice repeats dumbly, gaze falling on her foot. It isn’t a no per se. So she leans back in and kisses Beatrice’s cheek while she’s distracted. 

They both startle as they hear Alice yell out a shrill ‘NO!’

You are my eyes, voice and breath

I can't live a single day without you

I'll still keep calling for you

While the long Spring and Summer, Autumn, Winter passes

As much as the time and wind fly by

I'll miss you, regardless of the distance

—

The sun comes down faster than expected and Beatrice is kind of glad because she is exhausted in every sense of the word. Not only has the day been long, but she’s emotionally depleted and starving. Everyone except the crew is sitting around her in differing coping stages of fatigue. The food they’ve just ordered will take a few minutes to arrive and she doesn’t know whether this is it for her and if she will keel over dead at any moment, or whether, maybe just maybe , her stomach will take mercy on her and cope with the neglect. 

They’ve all somehow squeezed in one booth at the diner, Levy is sitting next to the window, then it’s her, Yasmine, and Mary and across from them by the window is Alice, Ava, Camila and Lilith.

Ava’s short hair is loose around her shoulders, stringy from sweat and the overall grime of the day, but she still manages to look alluring, to the point that she needs to remind herself to look away every so often. 

They’re all gathered around the table trying to solve the peg game in front of them, but their equally tired minds are having a lot more trouble than they should. Levy has given up, phone in face and when laughed at for it replied with ‘eat glass’, before tuning them out.

“Bea?”

“Mmm?”

Ava’s speaking, pushing the game towards her, “Do you want to try?”

She nods and leans in, the action mirrored by Ava as well, as they both stare at the little peg board. “I think we’re meant to only have one peg standing at the end, kind of like checkers.” She and Ava reach for the same piece, accidentally bumping hands. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry!” Ava moves the piece over a peg, “Did you want to?”

“No, it’s fine, I'm happy to watch and advise.”

Ava moves the peg again, eating another piece. “Shit, I think I messed up already.” 

Hearing Ava say this triggers a chain of thoughts through her head. She’s aware her mind has parkoured past the children’s game in front of her. 

Ava didn’t mess up, she did.

Ava has been nothing but kind and patient with her, even today, when she should be giving Beatrice the cold shoulder after everything. But she doesn’t. She’s been trying not to linger on the thought all day, because if she does the guilt will emerge again. As it did yesterday when Camila informed them that Ava was happy to do the shoot.

She had been uncaring and disrespectful these last two months. She had initially rationalised that it had been the right thing to do for the band. That pushing Ava away would give her the space she needed to think, which it had in the way. Making her decision to keep quiet even more resolute, but it didn’t mean that her actions were justified.

A relationship with Ava right now was unlikely. They’re both about to be extremely busy with schedules. They would both ask too much from each other. The resentment would make its presence known right away. She didn’t want that to happen between her and Ava. 

The space was for the best. If in the future they both wanted the same thing then maybe, just maybe, they could both make that decision together, but for now this is all Beatrice could give. 

Or so Beatrice keeps reminding herself.

Beatrice looks through the possible moves and catches the mistake. “Why don’t you put those two back and we can start over.” She points at the hole that says one, “Leave this spot open.”

Ava does as she’s told, occasionally looking to Beatrice for approval as she moves the peg around the board.

“No, here. This one.” She’s grabbing Ava’s hand, which is holding the peg. She easily jumps and eats through three pegs in a row. It continues like this for a few minutes and Beatrice is sure Ava is messing up on purpose because this is basic checkers, but deep down inside she wants this too. Whatever this is, but nothing more. She repeats like a mantra, this is enough.

Their food arrives and the speed at which it is inhaled astounds everyone on the table. It isn’t long until their plates are cleared and everyone is leaning back nursing their food babies. 

Ava and Camila are exchanging conspiratorial looks as the Lady Gaga song plays in the background. Lilith must notice something is up because right before the chorus of the song hits she grips Camila’s hand from starting the dance. “Absolutely not!”

“Lilith!” Camila and Ava both shout in unison as the moment is ruined.

(*)

Like a poem said by a lady in red

You hear the last few words of your life

With a haunting dance, now you're both in a trance

It's time to cast your spell on the night

The chorus is coming back around though and this time Camila is ready and leaning away from Lilith. And so is Ava who is lifting one of her eyebrows in Beatrice’s direction, persuading. She lifts both of her own in reply, Ava can’t be seriously thinking of having a dance off in the middle of a diner. 

Abracadabra, amor-oo-na-na

Abracadabra, morta-oo-ga-ga

Abracadabra, abra-oo-na-na

In her tongue she said, "Death or love tonight"

Levy has tuned back into existence looking between the girls. “Do not disservice Lady Gaga in front of me.” He has his phone pointed in Ava’s direction expectantly.

(*)

When the dance segment starts Ava flexes her hands and shoulders with the beat of the song, like she’s casting a spell on Beatrice. She spins her head and short hair in place mimicking her right hand movement and then holds her stance. Levy turns the phone to Beatrice.

Abracadabra, abracadabra

She bounces her head from side to side along with the beat, pointing with her right hand then her left before both hands meet at the middle passing the spell to Camila. Levy follows the motion.

Abracadabra, abracadabra

Camila leans back, bouncing her shoulders and knees before leaning back in with both her hands swaying from side to side in front of her face. 

Feel the beat under your feet, the floor's on fire

Then, all three do the last few movements barely holding it together before giving up.

Abracadabra, abracadabra

It’s later when they’re on their way to the van that Lilith approaches her, “Mate, who even are you anymore? I can’t believe you would dance to that so freely.”

“It’s Gaga.” It’s what she replies, but what she truly means is that it’s Ava. If it made Ava happy, then she could do this for her. 

Lilith is unconvinced though, eyes wandering to Ava as she enters the vehicle. 

On the drive over she catches Camila sneakily uploading the video onto the band’s social accounts. 

Great.

—

Thursday, May 1st. Ithaca, New York

They have canoed for hours and have finally found their way to the base of the waterfalls where there’s a large swimming spot. Everyone is in various states of undress, as they wait around for the crew to set up for the upcoming shots. 

Ava is sitting leaning against a tree, hands on top of her head. Sculpted abs on full display. She seems to be resting with her snapback covering her eyes and Beatrice is trying very hard not to stare at Ava like a lascivious teenage boy beholding a woman in a bikini for the first time. 

Boobs.

Alice catches her staring, eyebrows furrowing in a scowl, which causes her to trip on a stray tree root almost falling into the waterhole. “Yeah, keep walking, lovergirl.”

She’s on high alert, she’s anticipating a kiss and it could literally happen at any moment if Ava is leading. They’re meant to kiss at some point today, but barely any direction has been given other than ‘just do whatever feels natural’, which isn’t much when every moment with Ava is kiss worthy.

It’s been like half an hour of lounging on a rock by the water waiting for natural, because Ava has just been chatting to Camila and Yasmine. And she’s not sure what to do. Does she initiate the moment or does she wait for Ava? Why is this so complicated? Why don’t they just get put on the spot and told to kiss point blank?

She sighs, sitting back, hands holding her torso up while her feet gently kick at the water. 

Ava must sense that she’s spiraling because she swims over to her and splashes up a bit of water in her direction. “Are you going to come in or are you going to just sit there channeling your inner Greek goddess?” Ava’s eyes roam her body, bouncing from several key spots, up her legs, lingering at her stomach, then following the length of her neck.

She knows Ava’s a flirt, she should have expected this but her cheeks betray her almost instantly. But she can fight fire with fire. “Or I could be a siren, luring you to your death.” Ava actually pokes out her tongue to lick her bottom lip at this. 

Ava spends a few seconds just watching her, face unreadable. There’s a quirk to her lips though, like she wants to do or say something, but doesn’t know if she should. “… and c’mon baby… ” she sings quietly, humming the rest of the melody while splashing water up again. Realisation happens instantly. Ava is teasing her with the song. “ …and c’mon baby…”  

She pushes off the rock with her arms and slides gracefully into the water. Ava’s eyes stall at her biceps for a few seconds before they meander back to meet her eyes. Beatrice takes a moment to truly see Ava from up close now and honestly, the Greek goddess comparison belongs to Ava alone. “Something on your mind?”

“Nope.” A complete lie. Ava splashes again, some droplets landing on her chest, which slowly trickle down, a movement closely followed by Ava. “Which of the lyrics is your favourite?”

Beatrice cannot even understand why she’s entertaining this, but she answers nonetheless. “ I just don't believe that you have got it in you. ”

Ava nods once, in acknowledgement, then backs up into the deeper parts of the pool, where she follows like the Earth gravitating towards the Sun. “Not the constant ‘ I don't want your body ’? With the way you repeated it throughout the song I just thought that maybe that was it.”

Both her eyebrows lift at this, “I didn’t–”

“Kind of like an addiction, right? Say it enough times and maybe the desire will vanish?”

She hates that Ava is dissecting her so perfectly; physically, mentally and emotionally. She dunks her head for a few seconds before begrudgingly emerging for air, somehow avoiding the loaded exchange.

Ava shifts her head towards the crew, “I’m nervous.”

“I am too. Why don’t we talk about what we’ve been up to? To lighten the mood.”

“You know what I’ve been up to.” She doesn’t know what exactly Ava is insinuating. It could be the schedule which she’s kept on her phone or it could be the unscheduled activity she had to look up, but that is not a discussion she wants to have now, not in this bubble, so she remains quiet, hoping Ava continues. “I watched your performance at The Brits, it was inspiring.”

“Thank you, it was a difficult decision, but seemed like the right moment though, with everything happening so quickly.”

Ava is contemplating her next words carefully, because her eyebrows furrow in a serious cute way, “I’m very proud of you, you know?”

Beatrice isn’t sure how exactly they managed to get so close to one another, she was now practically centimeters from Ava’s face. And everything just feels loaded and right. She’s reaching over with her right hand before she realises, not even checking if the crew is paying attention. 

She delicately traces over the line of Ava’s jaw and pulls, which causes Ava’s hands to rest on her stomach, bracing after the sudden movement. Ava’s eyes flutter close in anticipation and so do hers. They bump noses, but recover quickly enough, lips sliding and tugging together softly. Suppressed thoughts come bursting through all at once. Weeks of trying to forget just how warm Ava’s lips felt against hers that night. How everything just made sense…

Ava’s hands slide around Beatrice’s waist, fingers roaming to the dimples there. Beatrice’s left hand at Ava’s waist is pulling their bodies even closer. The kiss isn’t long and probably too chaste, at least above the water, but it’s enough for now. 

They break apart as the other members holler and make silly noises in their direction, probably trying to make the moment embarrassing, but as dumb as it is it was making everything much more bearable. 

“Yeeeeeeees, Descartes!” Levy yells, hands around his mouth projecting his voice.

They get the thumbs up from the crew and they both exhale with relief. 

—

Ava is starting to hate tuna sandwiches. She’s found a picnic table underneath the shade and is honestly just trying to have some semblance of peace because she can’t be that close to Beatrice while she has a bikini on. Her thoughts are impure and she will act on them if given the chance. The abs, solid. The biceps, powerful. The jaw, sharp. The legs, well, they led to places she wanted to lic–.

 “Ava.” A hand goes to her heart and a small yelp escapes her. Did she fucking say that out loud? “Mind if I join you?”

She gestures in front of her still clutching her heart, “Not-not at all.”

Mary sits, unwrapping a sandwich of her own. She takes a bite and chews and Ava does the same. They kind of just sit awkwardly for a few minutes until Mary's eyes go to her watching her curiously. “What’s the deal with you and Beatrice?”

Ava’s eyes bulge and she chokes on the stupid tuna sandwich from just how out of nowhere the question is. She coughs a few times, the bolus seemingly stuck in her esophagus. “Wha-what?”

“Don’t play dumb.” Mary quirks up an eyebrow, she does not want to be tested. “Before yesterday, I thought maybe it was just a Beatrice thing, but now I have my suspicions that it’s a you thing as well.”

Ava taps the side of her soda can trying to gauge what Mary knows. “Does Beatrice not speak to you guys?”

“No. She can be very closed off when she wants to be.”

“Oh. So we share the same frustrations.”

Mary nods, resigned, like she was expecting this. “That doesn’t surprise me.”

She can’t stop the frown that immediately mars her face. “What does that mean?”

“It means, I need you to speak to me because Beatrice won’t.” Mary scratches at something on her eyebrow, but Ava’s is sure it’s just a nervous tick. “Is there something I should know?”

“Yes.” What does she even have to lose at this point? 

“I’m listening.”

“You first.”

“Woman, what?”

“You said it didn't surprise you. Why is that?”

Mary huffs, not enthused. “It’s not my place to divulge the details, but Beatrice has been through some difficult shit in her life and she finds it hard to express herself. She shuts down as a defense mechanism. Very strong willed and bullheaded when she thinks she’s right.”

“Oh, I know… I’ve been at the receiving end of some of that.” This seems to confirm something for Mary because she’s leaning forward, like she wants to probe, but Ava is controlling the conversation now. “What sort of difficult shit?”

“Honestly, Camila knows better than I do. It involves her parents and her sexuality. A lot to unpack there, but the gist is she’s been hiding herself away for so long that it has basically become second nature. The more you repress your feelings the easier everything around you becomes.”

“Her actions betray her though.”

Mary nods, but adds, “Only with Camila, but they’ve been inseparable their whole lives so that hardly counts.” Mary’s eyes meet hers, “And you, you’re the exception. I can see that she’s different around you.”

She wants to know more, as if hearing it coming from someone close to Beatrice means it’s coming from Beatrice herself. “The exception?” 

But Mary looks away, catching on to what she wants, then changes the subject. “She’s under a lot of pressure, I’m sure you know this.”

She wants to roll her eyes, because that’s such a fucking easy thing to say, and it doesn’t excuse anything. “We’re all under a lot of pressure.” She replies, and she hopes Mary notes her annoyed tone. “It doesn’t mean you close yourself off.”

“I don’t need to know the specifics.”

This conversation was starting to bring back the anger she had so delicately put away into a box. “Fine, then what is it you want to know?”

“Your intentions.”

“Don’t you mean Beatrice’s intentions?”

“I know Beatrice’s intentions.”

“That makes one of us.”

“You’re a very difficult person to speak to.”

“I’m upset.”

“At her?”

“Yes.” 

Mary sighs, she knows something Ava doesn’t. And all she wants to do is coax it out of her, but Mary is intent on protecting Beatrice. “The whole JC thing, what’s happening there?”

“It was a catch up dinner, we were in the same city. The media likes to twist things.”

“And did they? Twist things?”

“Yes.”

“Beatrice doesn’t think that.”

Ava moves her hands around vaguely, “Clearly. Seeing as I’m here in the middle of the woods because she wrote a song about it.”

Mary laughs at that, shaking her head. “I was wondering why you were here, I thought you were a busy girl.”

“I’m here because Beatrice needs me.”

“Camila called you though, not Beatrice.” It’s like Mary knows what she wants to hear and is just waiting for Ava to spit it out. “Don’t make me pull teeth Ava, I don’t like wasting my time.”

“Everything is delayed because of me.”

“Because of your sneaking around, you mean?” Mary’s hand stretches to tap her arm, a gesture which is meant to be comforting, but it’s Mary so it just looks like she’s being reprimanded instead. “Listen, I don’t blame you for any of this. I don’t even blame Beatrice. Whatever is happening between the two of you may have delayed things, but shit happens, we do what we can to correct it, which clearly you are.”

“Thank you.” It’s something. Something she can put into her little mental box called ‘the band hates me’ so that its weight decreases. 

“So, your intentions then?”

“I think you already know the answer to that.”

—

Discarded pizza boxes line the floor of the cabin, as the music continues to play loudly in the background. It’s a wrap for the scenes in Ithaca and they’re all enjoying having nothing to do for the remainder of the day. 

Beatrice stands from the couch, making a mental note of all the litter hanging around the living room. She sighs knowing full well no one will volunteer to throw any of it away. 

She avoids Yasmine as she steps around the mess.

There’s a half finished game of Monopoly where the pieces appear to have been flung up with the board in a fit of rage. An Uno pile that Camila is using as a pillow, too busy replying to fan comments on her phone. Lilith is laying beside her, head resting against Camila’s stomach. 

Beatrice walks into the kitchen. Mary and Alice are speaking in hushed tones, while finishing the last of their fries. She opens a few cabinet drawers looking for bin liners, ears catching the words ‘tree branch’ and then both Mary and Alice laugh. She turns to look at them, but they just shift uncomfortably clearing their throats.  

When she walks back into the living room Ava is there now too, having been the last of them to shower. Ava’s hair is still slightly wet and curling at the ends. The sight of her all freshly showered and adorable in her pajamas makes Beatrice’s breath stutter, her eyes blinking rapidly in an effort to centre herself and her thoughts. 

Ava’s eyes go to Beatrice’s hands, where she’s pulling the bin liner apart. 

“Need some help?” 

Beatrice doesn’t even really have to nod because Ava is already gathering the empty pizza boxes and stacking them in a neat pile. They go around the room collecting bottles, wrappers, and tissues for a few minutes, working efficiently and in unison. She knows Ava is doing this for her, in an effort to make her feel more at ease and comfortable. After all, she had seen the state of her hotel room at Claridges. 

After discarding the full bin bag outside, Beatrice walks back into the kitchen. This time Levy is there applying a face mask.

“Remember to put your facemask on! If I see another dry and cracked face within my vicinity I’m going to start untuning the instruments.”

“You know that’s not really a threat, they untune themselves all the time.”

“Well, I’ll do something!” He hustles out of the room, but not before turning around and insisting, “FACEMASKS!” He looked like Jim Carrey in ‘The Mask’ with avocado goo all over his face. 

She reenters the living room to find it has been organised, the games have been put away, the band members are off the floor and seated on the long couch and Yasmine is behind the TV messing with cables.

Camila waves lazily in her direction, “Bea! Come watch, we're going to play Overcooked.”

The four remotes are passed along to Lilith and Camila and Mary and Yasmine. 

There’s an empty spot next to Ava, which she takes. Alice’s eyes track her for a moment, but then go back to the TV as the game's title screen comes on. 

They’re about to go through the menu when Ava speaks up, “What about Beatrice?”

“What about her?” Lilith replies a little huffily.

“Why doesn’t she get to play?” Ava sounds defensive, like the injustice extends to her as well.

“Beatrice isn’t allowed to play.” Mary replies, while going through the character selection.

“What? Why?”

It’s quiet for a moment, then Camila speaks, attempting to be somewhat delicate about it. “She…can be…intense.”

“Intense?”

“Strongly committed.” Yasmine adds.

“Passionate.” Camila nods along.

Alice is somewhat snickering from behind Ava. “Oh…she's a party pooper.”

Lilith joins in with Alice. “She’s made all of us cry at least once, it's not pretty. Gordon Ramsay takes over her soul.”

“Bea, is this true?” 

She nods, it wasn't a lie. She does get overly heated and militant during this game. 

The room is quiet apart from the music in the background as the other members choose their character.

Ava nudges her side gently, “I’ll play with you.”

“You don’t have to. I know I can get a little ahead of myself.”

“No, I want to. I want to play with you.”

Ava, stop. She needs Ava to stop being so Ava.

“Well, this I gotta see then.” Mary tosses the remote over to Ava and Yasmine mimics the action, passing hers to Beatrice.

Ava has chosen the pink octopus and Beatrice the robot.

After a few minutes of explaining the game rules to Ava and playing through a few warm up stages, the fun begins to dissipate. The shouting begins halfway through the round when the orders begin to fail and pile on. 

Camila and Lilith are sitting on the floor communicating smoothly between one another. Lilith asks for rice, Camila puts it to steam. Camila needs chopped fish and seaweed, Lilith rushes to grab them for her. 

On the other hand she and Ava are on the edge of their seats slowly getting through as many orders as they can, but Ava is not keeping up with the demand and her brain is getting a little agitated. It’s a simple, just do things in order kind of game and prep when you have time, but Ava just does things as they come and there’s a mess in what should be her work area, with uncooked food thrown all around every possible surface.

She can’t find the damn seaweed. The pink octopus is stuck on the conveyor belt. “Ava! Ava you need to get the rice! It’s going to burn! HURRY!”

“I’m trying!”

“Press the dash!” Beep! BEEEP!! BBEEEP BEEEP BEEEEEP! “Get the extinguisher!”

The pink octopus rushes to the extinguisher but in the madness just begins to spin in place. 

“You need to set the food you're holding down!”

“I’M TRYING! There’s nowhere to set it down!”

“If you were more organised then maybe you’d have some counter space!”

The robot joins where the pink octopus is, grabbing every food item and tossing it aside to reach for the extinguisher. But it’s too late. The fire is spreading to the other pots and dishes, ruining all their work.

Lilith and Camila start to laugh, spinning their characters in place as the chaos unfolds on the screen, fully committed to the bit of annoying Beatrice.

“HEEEEEEEEELP! Help!” Camila shouts. 

The failed stage title comes up and the room bursts into laughter.

“WHAT ARE YOU!?” Lilith and Camila shout in unison.

“AN IDIOT SANDWICH!” Yasmine, Mary and Alice reply.

Beatrice knows they’re all waiting for her to blow up because things like this just get under her skin. She’s determined not to give them the satisfaction. She can and will keep cool. She grabs Ava’s hand and walks her to the kitchen, breathing deeply the whole way. “Okay. That was a dismal round but we’ve got this. We have to focus! We can do this. I need you to listen to me.” 

Ava nods eagerly.

“This is unacceptable, you have to stay prepping. Stay on your side. I’m working on steaming the rice and cleaning the dishes, you need to work on cutting the cucumbers and the salmon for the sushi rolls and pre-plating the seaweeds on the plates.”

“Yes, chef!”

“And pay attention, some are cucumber rolls, some are salmon rolls, we can’t keep messing up these orders, that’s how we lose money.”

“Yes, chef!”

“You need to keep your work area clean in case there’s a fire and one of us needs to grab the extinguisher.”

“Yes, chef!” At this Ava wiggles her eyebrows. 

They can do this. She’ll show them. Ava and her are the perfect team.  

They walk back into the living room and find that everyone is looking at them with amusement. Beatrice suspects that they probably think she blew up on Ava, but all she wants is for Ava to succeed and from Ava’s reaction she wants that as well.

Ava’s hand meets her left buttcheek, “LET’S FUCKING DO THIS!” Then, she sits in front of the TV, patting the spot next to her.

Beatrice sits, focus mode activated. “Let’s freaking do this!”

This time around, the pink octopus keeps to the top of the screen away from the conveyor belt. They go through various orders perfectly with plenty of pre-cut cucumbers and salmon around for the robot to grab and plate and send the orders through. The rice doesn’t burn. The food doesn’t gather on the counters. They communicate well.  

Ava is attentive and has even started to anticipate what items Beatrice will need before she needs them. They’re halfway through the stage in no time, and she can hear shouting from behind as Lilith and Camila begin to scramble with some of their orders, as she sneaks a glance to their side of the screen. 

(*)

I'm sorry if I push your good away

Especially when I'm needin' you to stay

I know you hate that I still test your love

I'm tryin' not to fuck this up

They clear the stage with a perfect score. Three stars all around. Her focus subsides and she can finally tune into the room again. Carly Rae Jepsen is blasting through the speakers as everyone jumps up to celebrate their win, the song wasn’t just in her head.

But the benefit of all the broken hearts

That I broke before they could break me

Is a little bit of life regrets

I won't bring that mess to you when you're with me

And I wanna be brave enough to show you my not-so-perfect family

And I wanna be brave enough for everything

Beatrice throws the remote to the side, tackling Ava onto the floor before she can even think about what she’s doing, but it’s okay because Ava returns the hug just as tightly, all while giggling. And they’re both smiling widely, relishing their win. Arms stroke up and down her back a couple of times before they wrap around her again. And she wants to stay in this spot for as long as she can, breathing Ava in and feeling just how warm and snuggly she is. Feeling just how right this all feels, wrapped around Ava .

Surrender my heart

(I'm out here in the open)

I wanna get closer

(I'll believe in you every night)

Surrender my heart

I wanna be open, I wanna be honest with you

“WHY ARE YOU ALL SHOUTING!” Levy charges into the room, a blanket around his shoulders and everyone freezes in place. “May I remind everyone that it’s 12 AM and we all have a flight in 5 hours!”

Alice’s foot pushes against her ass, effectively shoving her off Ava, “You heard the hot mess.”

She scrambles up to her feet then extends her hand for Ava to take, helping her up.

Mary and Yasmine have disappeared with a wave into one of the many bedrooms, Alice going upstairs to read a book and unwind, leaving Lilith and Camila on the couch along with her and Ava. They’ve all been chatting for what seems like hours, but she can sense that everyone is on the verge of sleep because the conversations are dragging and starting to not make sense.

Alice has come down the stairs again, she looks sleepy, but determined. “Ava, you need to at least get a few hours of sleep, why don’t you come upstairs?”

Ava’s face pinches, “I’ll be fine. I can sleep on the plane.”

Beatrice looks between them, they appear to be having a silent conversation with their eyes. Alice’s are intense and little bloodshot and Ava’s are persistent and definitely tired.

“Remember I have that rash on my back that I can’t reach?” Ava looks even more confused than she is. “I need the ointment for it. And I need you to apply it for me.”

“What ointment?”

“THE ointment.”

“Do you two have like bed chem or something?” Lilith queries from beside Camila.

Alice and Ava both glare in Lilith’s direction.

Camila who has begun to snuggle into the couch lifts her butt and says, “Have you ever tried this one?”

Ava snorts.

Alice sighs before going back upstairs.

They all stay in the living room slowly coming to terms that they can’t continue to fight the exhaustion taking over their bodies. She’s sure Lilith and Camila have long fallen asleep. Ava appears to be succumbing as well, leaning to her right and facing Beatrice, legs lazily on the chaise lounge. 

She grabs the blanket nearby and spreads it between the two of them, slowly lowering herself to a comfortable sleeping position. Her eyes droop and linger on Ava’s serene sleeping face, one final thought goes through her mind. This is the happiest she’s felt in months. This feels right .

And finally at peace she gives into sleep.

I used to soldier through my hardest days

I used to switch it off, ignore the pain

I craved to feel it all entirely

In your arms, baby

[topgun-imagines]

Day 17: Heart Of Ice

Pairings: Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky x fem!reader

Synopsis: When a mission goes south, you are forced to realize your feelings for Iceman in circumstances you would never wish upon anyone.

Warnings: death, hypothermia, blood, wounds, plane crash & ejection.

Word count: 1.1k

This mission was supposed to be a simple one In and out. That was it. However, it had gone sideways only seconds in. You supposed the first issue had arisen when you and Ice were paired up for the mission. The two of you never really got along well. Between his perfectionist side and your competitive nature, the two of you were a disaster waiting to happen. You were only surprised that it took this long for disaster to strike.

Everything had been going fine. Right up until Ice opened up his big mouth. Before you knew it, both of your jets had been shot out of the sky and you were lying on your back in the cold snow. You began folding up your parachute, cussing under your breath all the while. The one bright side of this was that you were finally left in silence. You could no longer hear Ice’s annoying yapping in your ear. It was lovely.

So, regardless of the frigid temperature, you took your sweet ass time folding that parachute. You were in no rush to see Ice’s annoying face anytime soon. While you weren’t sure exactly what started the feud between the two of you, you found that it didn’t really matter anymore. All that mattered was the fact that you hated his guts. The problem stretched all the way back to the academy. It seemed that ever since you met Tom, he had something against you.

However, it seemed like a large amount of time had passed and you had still seen no trace of the blond pilot. With a huff, you climbed out of your comfy position in the snow and hauled your gear into your back. Then you began walking. You weren’t sure exactly where to, but you started walking North. Hopefully, you would catch sight of his chute sooner or later. Just because you couldn’t stand him, didn’t mean that you were going to leave him stranded out here.

After about fifteen minutes, you finally saw the bright colours of the parachute clashing against the pristine snow. You headed in that direction, expecting to find Ice waiting there for you. Your brow furrowed at the sight in front of you. Ice’s chute was draped across the snow, but the pilot himself was nowhere to be found. With a roll of your eyes, you called his name.

You never would have admitted it, but your heart dropped when you heard a small groan come from your left. Faster than you would have cared to admit, you darted over to where the noise came from. The gasp that escaped you shocked even yourself. The sight in front of you had you feeling sick to your stomach.

Ice was lying in the bright white snow, some of it stained a crimson red from the blood that trickled from the wound on his stomach. With shaking hands, one of your hands reached forward to touch his shoulder. “My god Ice…” You whispered, nearly horrified. He offered you a weak, albeit confused, smile. You had never cared about him before. What had changed now? “Are,” You paused, knowing that it was a pointless question when your eyes landed on the crimson colour staining his side. “Are you okay?” You were only given the weakest possible nod in response.

It was then that you realized why you felt the way you did. You didn’t hate Ice, all this time you had been using that as an excuse to hide the way you truly felt about him. Now, you couldn’t hide your feelings anymore as the tears began dripping down your face. You couldn’t lose him, not like this. Not without him knowing how you truly felt.

His choked coughs were what pulled you out of your daydream. “Thought you’d be happy,” With a raspy voice, Ice tried as hard as he possibly could to hide the pain in his voice. It didn’t work. All you could do was shake your head. Even though the two of you didn’t get along all the time, you never would have imagined that he would have thought you’d be happy to watch him die. Feelings or not, you wouldn’t have been happy about losing him in a million years. “What’s the matter?” And then he called your name. So softly you weren’t sure if it was real or not.

“You can’t leave,” Despite the tears running down your cheeks, your voice was firm. Almost as if you were coming out of a haze, you realized that Ice was still bleeding. As gently as you possibly could, you applied firm pressure to the wound. However, that didn’t stop his lips from turning even more blue than they were now. “Please, Ice,” You had never begged him for anything before. Right now, you were throwing away every shred of dignity you had along with your reputation. You just wanted him to be okay. “You can’t leave me.”

He could only smile. No matter how bad he wanted to stay, wanted to stay for you, he knew that just wasn’t in his cards. He glanced at your intertwined hands resting on his chest. At some point, you had laced your fingers together. Ice was confident that you weren’t even aware that you did. It was as if he could feel the hypothermia seeping into his bones. Almost unconsciously, he shivered. That only caused more tears to fall from your eyes. “I’m so sorry.” He whispered one last time.

His hand went limp in yours. “No.” You repeated the word time and time again, not willing to accept what was happening. He couldn’t be gone. Not like this. He still had so much left to live for.

Your attempts at shaking him awake were futile. Ice was gone. And yet you still clutched onto his lifeless frame, head falling into his chest and praying that you would hear a heartbeat. You were sure that your cries were loud enough that they could be heard miles away.

Going into this mission, you never could have imagined that this was how things would turn out. Sure, you knew that your job had its risks, but never in a mission years would you have guessed that you would be cradling Tom Kazansky’s lidless frame in your arms in the middle of a frozen forest.

Irony was a fickle thing. When you first got paired together, all you wanted was for it to be over. To get out of it somehow so that you wouldn’t have to deal with him. Now, all you wanted was to be able to tell him that you loved him.

a/n: thank you all for reading!! Join the taglist :)

Tagging: @ohtobeleah @xoxabs88xox @els-marvelvsp @kmc1989 @nyx2021 @callsignharper @seitmai @kellyls04 @scarletmeii @inkandarsenic @malindacath

[jacqulants]

ILLICIT. Prologue

｡+.｡☆ﾟ:;｡+ﾟ†｡+.｡☆ﾟ:;｡+ﾟ｡+.｡☆ﾟ:;｡+ﾟ†｡+.｡☆ﾟ:;｡+ﾟ

Living in the underground isn't easy, especially when your friends are taken away from you. To get by you sell illegal healing remedies on the black market but what will happen when Levi tries to stop you?

From the start you've always been better than me Levi, that is an undeniable fact but that is why I held on so tight. You were always fast, like the birds up above. You were brave like a soldier. You were smart, smart enough to protect the ones you've loved. I will always try to catch up to you but that is impossible when you are always running.

Knock knock knock

Levi opened the door to see you hunched over, hands resting on your knees as you were trying to catch your breath.

"Finally caught up I see." He says.

You smile and fling yourself back, still dreary from the running all day, "Can I come in?"

He looked you up and down before holding the door wider, "just don't track dirt-"

You walked in, your dirty shoes walking all over the house.

"Dirt. Everywhere." He finished his sentence before slamming the door shut.

"Sorry Levi! But I really had to show you this." You smiled widely before reaching into your jacket.

"Is that why you took longer than usual? For a second I thought I had to send a search group for you."

Levi went on a little trek earlier today to steal some food and he wanted you to watch how he pulled it off. He always said, 'I won't always be around so you need to know how to feed yourself in the underground.' Which is odd because you're both 18, he acts like he's 103.

"Please you don't even have enough friends to form a search group." You teased.

You pulled out what seemed to be a barrage of metal stuck together, "and it's EXACTLY why I took longer."

"...doesn't seem worth the wait." He huffed out

"Wait I didn't even show you. I call it... THE BOOMSHAKALAKA!"

"Get out."

"Haha you're so funny." You fake laughed.

"It wasn't a joke.."

"Anyways, this'll help us be able to move faster in the underground!" He gave you a concerned look before resorting back to his stoic face.

"I doubt this..mess will help anything."

"It's a smoke bomb. Just throw this baby and smoke invades the whole place, it's a perfect get away." You smiled.

"So why not just call it a smoke bomb instead of the boom something."

"Because..I don't know. It seemed fun in the moment." You looked down at your invention a lil embarrassed.

You thought you'd make Levi laugh with the stupid name but he always put on a stoic face.

"Well I guess there's only one way to figure out if it works." He walked over grabbing it.

"Can I help? I can use the odm gear!"

"No. You can watch again. Farlan let's get going!" Levi yelled out.

"Not to sound like a brat but I don't want to watch I want to join." You sighed out.

"No you're not ready." Levi glared at me.

"What're we doing?" Farlan came out of his room, his blonde hair a mess.

You couldn't deny you used to have a fat crush on Farlan, what's not to like. He's a tall glass of water. And also he's the only one who laughs at your jokes.

He was always friendly and tried to make you feel welcome. The first time you realized you liked him was when he stole you a loaf of sweet bread. A rarity to get hands on but such a sweet thing to have. You confessed once but all he told you was, 'you're like my sister.' Talk about a major kick in the gut, you could've vomited the sweet bread there and then.

"We're gonna go test out Y/N's newest invention." He said holding the door open.

Farlan looked at you and started walking over putting his arm around your shoulder, "Hopefully this one won't blow up like last time." He smiled. You turned your face away from him, your heart beating just a bit.

"Hurry let's go." Levi ushered him out of the room.

"Levi please let me join!" You smiled trying one more time to join.

"If you ask me one more time you're staying."

"But Levi-"

"Stay." He gave that same cold stare before leaving the house.

"Here, keep this safe till' I get back." Farlan smiled and gave you his bomber jacket.

It was vintage, an old reminder of what society was like before it collapsed from the titant. Farlan walked out of the building and headed to the plaza.

"There's no need to be harsh with her. She just wants to help." Farlan said abruptly.

"I need to be or else she'll die."

"She won't die. She's a smart girl."

"Not smart enough to live down here forever.." Levi sighed.

"She admires you Levi. You're her hero so atleast try being nice."

"Don't meet your hero's."

There was an awkward silence for a bit.

"Is that why I found that random stash of money under your bed?"

"What're you taking about." Levi side eyed Farlan.

"You're saving money to buy her fee to leave the underground and go up there." Farlan stopped in his tracks and looked up at the cave walls.

"..she doesn't belong here. The world put her in the wrong place, she needs to be where the sunlight is at.." Levi finally said before continuing to walk forward.

"But at some point you're just going to have to trust she can do it herself."

"I know. Is Isabel at the town center?" Levi changed the subject.

"Should be."

"Then let's hurry." The two sped off in an instant. Back at the house the young girl was looking at the door with a type of anger.

"Like hell I'm staying here. I'm going to help." You huffed out before grabbing your equipment and rushing out the house.

Levi. You've always been better than me and I know that but just this once let me be great.

You ran to the town square looking everywhere to find Levi, Farlan, Isabel. Anyone. Suddenly you heard a loud metal clash and multicolored smoke abrupt.

"Haha it worked!" You shouted punching the air in joy.

You ran over to where it came from immediately and saw your friends flying around, you couldn't help but smile in admiration. One day that would be you and maybe one day you can feel the touch of the sun. That's all you've ever dreamt of in this titan infested world.

"Grab her!" You heard a harsh voice yell.

You turned your head to see the military police coming at you.

"Shes affiliated with that gang! Grab her!" One of them yelled.

You gasped, one lunged at you but you jumped out of the way in time. You booked it, dodging civilians going about their daily life. Pushing people who wouldn't move and occasionally juking the MP's.

"I got her!" One jumped out to you but you jumped on a food stall, their head hitting the wood.

You laughed out loud and kept running as far as your legs could take you. Suddenly you felt someone tackle you on your side. Your face sliding against the hard concrete, it felt like you had a concussion and road burn.

"What're you laughing at." The MP looked down at you before reaching his fist up.

You couldn't help but scream for help, scream for Farlan, Isabel, Levi. The MP covered your mouth, his fist came barreling to your nose. Blood spewed out. He raised his fist again before Levi came and picked you up.

"You alright?" He asked.

You held onto him tightly, you two flying in the air with ODM gear.

"I think he broke my nose." You held your face and sniffed back the blood

"For fucks sake! Didn't I tell you to stay home?" He yelled.

"I know.."

"No. You don't know! All you ever do is rush into things you don't understand! You're a complete dumbass who always needs the help of me. For once in your life can't you just listen?!" He snapped.

"I just wanted to help."

"You don't help. All you do is ruin everything." He grunted.

"I'm sorry.." you whispered feeling tears burn your eyes.

"It's...let's just go fix you up." He sighed.

"Levi! Scouts are following us!" Farlan yelled.

Levi looked behind him to see them have their hoods up hiding their faces.

"..you guys know the plan. Split up." Levi announced.

Plan..?

"Hold tight Y/N." You nodded grabbing on as much as you can.

Suddenly the ODM gear had a blast of air spew out of it making the two of you fly even faster. The scouts weren't far behind. Levi flew through the buildings, avoiding trying to injure you any further than you already were. He always tried to take care of the ones he loved. He jumped through a window, running in the hallways, dodging people until he reached the window leading out. His ODM gear shot through the window latching onto a building before Levi swang through.

But just like what happened to you, a scout tackled the both of you mid air, all of you came crashing down. You rolled into an alleyway. Your body was so so tired, the immense blood dripping from your nose made you lightheaded, not to mention the scrapes you have. You looked to the side and saw Levi, Isabel, Farlan all on their knees held by scouts.

Farlan looked off to the side and saw you. He gave you one last smile and just like that they were gone. The scouts took them all and all you could do was watch helplessly in that alleyway.

"Please protect my friends.." was all you could mutter out to the universe.

From the start you've always been better than me Levi, that is an undeniable fact but that is why I held on so tight. You were always fast, like the birds up above. You were brave like a soldier. You were smart, smart enough to protect the ones you've loved. I will always try to catch up to you but that is impossible when you are always running. But I think this time I’m going to have to stop the chase.

[typingatlightspeed]

Metal Gear/TF2 Crossover Fanfic - cp_shadow_moses_event Chapter 5

RED team and BLU team finally clash! Arms Tech president Kenneth Baker dies mysteriously! Ocelot loses an arm! Miss Pauling runs into that cyborg ninja again! Wait, why shouldn't she get too close to Snake? Administrator? A—Administrator what does that mean???

Ao3 Link!

I've finished my outline so hopefully chapters'll be comin' out faster and easier, now that I have my roadmap of what the fuck I'm doing with this, lmao. Soon we'll even get out of the first goddamn building! :D Won't that be novel?

---------

The cargo door to the tank hangar slid open, internal security measures disabled to allow the ingress of fourteen boots, two sneakers, and a pair of wingtips. The RED team charged into the hangar, whooping and hollering, kicking up a mess of noise as their spy cloaked and peeled away from the pack.

The soft beep of a detonator activating was all the warning Scout had to skid to a halt and fling himself away, bringing his teammates to a stop as a line of sticky bombs rimming the entryway exploded, sending shrapnel and chips of concrete flying.

"Boom, you owe me five bucks, Cyclops!" the BLU Scout hollered, slugging his teammate in the arm as the Scot cursed and threw his bottle of scrumpy down from the catwalk to shatter on the ground below.

"Ahem."

"Wh—" Scout turned, only to find the barrel of a revolver pointed at his face, the RED Spy holding the gun aloft. He shrieked and dropped as Spy fired, the bullet missing him and managing to lodge itself into Demoman's shoulder, wrenching a scream from him.

"Go! Go! Go!" RED Soldier hollered, and the team charged into the room, bombs and bullets flying amid the roar of men now locked in combat.

*

The sound of screaming and an explosion made Miss Pauling's eyes shoot wide open. She pressed herself to the wall of the second floor basement, storage rooms forming a near-maze filled with trap doors around her.

Charging out of a hole that looked like it had been blasted into the wall ran an old man with a moustache, dressed like a cowboy. She knew from her mission prep that he was Revolver Ocelot. What she hadn't been prepared for was the fact that the man was now missing his right hand, severed just above the wrist. His stump bled profusely, and his face was white as a sheet as he charged down the hallway and toward the elevator, assumedly to seek medical help.

It was a clean slice, not ragged or choppy, so it wasn't from an explosion or crushing, but a blade of some sort. Even the Eyelander didn't cut that cleanly, so she knew the mercs couldn't have gotten down to this level yet. She pulled herself from the wall and threw herself in the direction of the blasted-out hallway, only to collide head on with an invisible man and crumple to the floor, her cloak shorting out.

It was him again, the cyborg ninja. Sparks arced across his suit, and he was shuddering and quaking, hissing and creaking out cries of pain as his stealth camouflage failed.

"You!" Miss Pauling gasped, pitching up onto her knees to check on him. "Are you—"

"Don't touch me!" Fox shrieked, backpedaling away from the tiny woman. "No! Not again! Never again, Clark! No more!"

"What?"

He reactivated his camouflage and scrambled to his feet, sprinting out of sight without another word, leaving Miss Pauling kneeling there in confusion.

"Colonel! Are you listening?!"

Pauling didn't have time to dwell on the cyborg, as a man's pained, panicked screaming about the Pentagon echoed down the hallway, followed by a gravelly voice. He sounded angry and terrified all at once.

"Now he's dead too! Don't lie to me!"

Pauling reactivated her cloak and headed for the sound, listening to one side of what was clearly a two-sided radio conversation.

"Some kind of poison?

"Damn!

"Can I trust her?

"Naomi, what was that ninja thing? A member of FOXHOUND?"

Pauling slowed down, moving as silently as she could both to avoid detection and to listen. Sure, the cyborg ninja wasn't part of her mission. But she'd ran into the man twice now, and her curiosity was getting the best of her.

"Are you sure?

"Is that right?"

The conversation yielded no more information, but soon enough the quiet footsteps of the man who'd been talking echoed in the hall, and Pauling pressed herself against the wall and went still to let him charge past. He was younger than his voice betrayed, a man who couldn't have been past his mid-thirties, with brown hair and an angular face. He wore a blue sneaking suit that hugged his body tightly. Any other woman might have lingered more on his startlingly fantastic ass, Pauling mused as she watched him go.

So, that was the legendary Solid Snake, huh?

When he was gone, Pauling stole through another bombed out wall into the room Snake had left, where a metal support for the building had been sunk into the earth. There were bullet holes pocking the walls, and the soot and chipping of explosives used inside. Most importantly, there was the slumped corpse of Arms Tech president Kenneth Baker with no fresh signs of physical damage, merely the wounds of torture, halted midway through a slow healing process.

Miss Pauling sighed and knelt beside him, then rifled his coat and pockets. Nothing. She tugged the oversized satellite phone from her belt and extended its antenna, then dialed in.

"Administrator, ma'am?" "What is it, Pauling?"

"Kenneth Baker is dead, ma'am. Nothing of value left on him; so either FOXHOUND's taken the data disk, or he's passed it off to someone else. Possibly Solid Snake, who was just with him."

"Annoying," the Administrator's voice hummed over the satellite phone. "I'll just have to get the succession plan for Arms Tech underway, so it doesn't interrupt business. They're already treading thin ice financially, close to becoming a liability as a subsidiary."

"Of course, ma'am."

"Shame. Baker was useful. He was good for outlandish projects like Shadow Moses. Understood that he couldn't say no. How did he die?"

"There aren't any marks on him, so it looks like something internal, possibly. "I heard screaming, so it was likely Baker. Maybe a heart attack?"

"Ah," the Administrator replied, a sigh following. "They deployed it, then."

"Deployed what?"

"Miss Pauling, whatever you do, do not come into contact with Solid Snake."

"I passed him in a hallway, ma'am."

"How close?" "Probably eight feet or so?"

"You should be fine."

"Ma'am?"

"Don't worry about it. More importantly, you're going to need to be more creative about getting to the cache without alerting FOXHOUND now that Baker's dead and unable to get you there. I trust you'll have that well in hand."

"Yes ma'am; I'll handle it. Over and out." Pauling hung up the phone and reattached it to her belt. She stood, looking down at Baker with a frown.

Deployed what, exactly?

[thelongestway]

Okay! So, as I said a little while before, I'd need to go in to one of the earlier chapters to make the disposition clearer - and now I have, so chapter 11 has a lot of new stuff at the beginning. This should hopefully clear up a little bit of what exactly SecUnit's beef (or some of it!) has been for a few chapters. :P

And, meanwhile, without further ado...

(Upd: significantly edited from first version - from "And Thiago went and made it our problem anyway").

Chapter 19: Offer

I tapped Thiago's feed as I made my way back to one of Aspen's observation lounges, where Thiago was doing his language recordings, as fast as I could.

Thiago. Hostile Leader from two cycles ago is looking for you. Disengage immediately. Aspen will give you directions.

Light, Thiago muttered in the feed, his face changing. Understood, SecUnit. On my way.

His conversation partner registered that and said, "Are you all right?" Thiago forced one of his broad smiles and said, "My apologies. Just got some very unpleasant news about something that needs to be handled immediately--may I find you later?"

"News from… Ah, silent radio, right," the other person cocked their head a little. "If Asta is not busy, certainly."

"Very sorry," Thiago said and started shoving his research gear into his shoulder bag.

And of course Hostile Leader, who had just entered the lounge, sighted Thiago immediately and waved at him, trying to get his attention. Because a) Thiago stood out as much as all of my humans did, b) had wasted important seconds on being polite and packing away his research gear. (How the fuck do survey scientists always waste so much time on gear, even if they don't have physical samples to pack?)

Stay calm and make your exit as soon as you can, I said. I'm on my way.

Understood. Thiago stood up and shouldered his bag, then turned to Hostile Leader, who was approaching him. "Ah--yes? If there was something you wanted, I'm afraid you'll have to make it very quick. I just received an urgent call, and I'm needed back at my ship."

"Of course, of course, please don't waste precious time because of me," Hostile Leader beamed. "Could I walk with you for a moment as you go? This won't take long, I swear."

Great. Just fucking great.

I have eyes on them, Aspen said. She is unarmed, and nobody from her team is anywhere in the immediate vicinity. I have security nearby, but you'll probably be faster than they are.

That's because I was already running, and they'd need time to process orders anyway. Because they were humans. And their SecSystem was also their HubSystem and part human.

I really needed to move faster.

"Of course," Thiago said hastily. "But I'm going to be walking very quickly. It really is an urgent matter."

"Thank you so much!" Hostile Leader easily matched Thiago's pace as Aspen led him towards me. "I'm really very sorry to have to even approach you like this--I tried getting your contact information from the station AI, but, between you and me, it is the absolute worst friendly AI I have ever seen. It's just impossible to run a decent search on it! I don't know how the locals deal with it."

"I see. But why exactly were you looking for me? I don't think we know each other?"

Hostile Leader laughed. She liked that Thiago didn't recognize her.

"It's the clothes, isn't it? You called me 'your new colorful friend' when we last met, remember?"

"Now I do!" Thiago forced a smile, then looked at his watch--he wore a semi-decorative one--and slowed down his pace. "You wanted pictures, didn't you? Of you and your family? I thought you were Trellians!"

"Ha, no! We were just enjoying local color, if you'll permit the pun," Hostile Leader also slowed down. "We work for Caldera."

"The name rings a bell! That's the local wormhole construction agency, isn't it?" Thiago said, giving her an appraising look.. "So, what can this mostly-planet-based surveyor do for you?"

Hostile Leader shrugged nonchalantly.

"Not so much for me, really. We showed the photos you made to the local office manager, and she went absolutely wild. Zheni said she'd been trying to get the locals to give her good media snippets for her reports for months. So if you have a working relationship with them about filming, she would be thrilled to hire you."

"I see! Well, I'm glad my work is so well-valued, my--I can't just keep calling you 'my new friend' now that we might be starting a working relationship, can I? How can I address you?"

"Name's Yana Foxwell. Pleasure to meet you?.."

"Thiago. Pleasure to meet you too, Yana! Anyway, I'm afraid I really can't talk too long about this right now, but if you'll leave me a channel I can contact you on, I will get back to you as soon as I've addressed my standing obligations."

"That's all I ask," Hostile Leader said, sending Thiago some contact information before she peeled off. I sent a drone to intercept her projected course. "I hope to see you soon, Thiago."

Very interesting, Aspen commented in our shared workspace. Zheni's been stationed here since Caldera established their office three years ago. I know her quite well, and I know for a fact that she hasn't asked for any sort of media material in the last months of her tenure. She's also a regular guest at every Meet, and this time I haven't seen her outside of the office since the Caldera courier ship arrived.

Do you think she's in some sort of trouble? Thiago asked, frowning. Should we try to find out?

They're probably just using her name to get at you, I said as I rounded the corner to meet him. My drone following Hostile Leader saw her signal to her team to break off the search, and then she went to get lunch. They really had been looking for Thiago.

I really wanted to tell Thiago "stop talking about this, it isn't our problem".

(And it really wasn't our problem. Because Aspen and Nike handled all of their security arrangements themselves. And were leaving me entirely out of it. Which I hated. The only thing worse than keeping my humans safe with no HubSystem was doing it with a HubSystem that said "everything is fine, don't worry about it." Not even the cameras could make up for that bullshit.)

And Thiago went and made it our problem anyway, because he said: I don't think that's the issue, SecUnit. Why would Zheni's name matter? This is the first time I've heard of her.

Because she's the office manager and they think you might be looking for a contract, I said. And plausible deniability, in case you're being recorded. Hostile Leader would have been stupid to send her own details.

I see. I do have one question, though, Thiago said, and sent me the package he got from Hostile Leader. It wasn't an invitation to a physical meeting. Just a secure communications channel, the kind corporations usually gave to clients or trading partners. Would there be any harm in contacting her and asking about the job? Maybe that will give us some more information to go on as to what they're planning.

I didn't like it. Even though my threat assessments didn't give any number worth mentioning, I still really didn't like it. Thiago had absolutely no reason to get involved in this. If Aspen and Nike said they would handle it, it should be their security handling it, not my human!

But the corporates were still planning an obvious attack two days from now. And my humans were definitely planning to be at the celebration. And I was still completely in the dark. And Thiago would probably try to do this anyway, just unsupervised.

Ugh.

Ask ART to make you a temporary university account, I said. And connect from its servers. It'll be bad if they know you came with Dandelion.

Absolutely, Thiago said seriously. I could even stay with ART for now, if it's all right with that?

I pinged ART and it sent, Of course. Creating account. Awaiting you and Thiago on board.

Aspen was quiet, running some sort of analytics in the background, but not saying anything about my human's stupid idea. I tapped their feed.

If you have any information on this Zheni that you got from your analytics or hacking Caldera, now would be a good time, so my human doesn't go off and do something stupid.

Nothing recent except what I told you, Aspen said. I haven't seen her in days, and she hasn't connected from the offices either. As for hacking them--we haven't. And we don't plan to.

They had to be kidding me.

What do you mean, you didn't hack them? You said you were preparing for the assault!

We are. But those preparations don't include invading their systems.

Because Nike insisted on due process?

Aspen gave the HubSystem equivalent of a non-committal shrug as they sent their analysis somewhere. (Probably to Nike. At least they weren't inviting her in right now.)

She did give you her reasons, and it isn't my call to make.

And I was done with this fucking HubSystem lying to me. Because this time it wasn't just about them being fine with designating humans as targets.

This time, if they fucked up, my humans would be in danger. Because sure, the attack wasn't targeting them. But there was still an attack, and it wasn't being handled, and I had no information, and I had no idea how exactly the hostiles could or would escalate.

And the fucking HubSystem was lying to me.

I couldn't hack it. But I was going to make it stop anyway.

That's a fucking lie, I said. You're still the HubSystem for three more cycles. If you wanted to do it, you would have done it. You would have had the necessary information to prepare for the fucking attack. Why haven't you?

All of their processes in our workspace flickered.

The fucking lights flickered. Imperceptibly to humans, but I noticed. Oh shit. Oh shit. It's going to pull me into accelerated processing time, and then I'm fuc--.

Aspen's presence receded. They didn't cut the cameras they gave me or anything. But I could feel them pulling their attention away from me, from Thiago, from the rest of my drones. They were still all around me, but they weren't really with me anymore. Except for a very small part, which turned to look at me directly.

It wasn't their giant vine, and it wasn't the beginnings of one. It was just one creepy little tendril.

I didn't know why I hated it so much. Maybe it was the voice.

They had a really unnerving voice.

Because I am still Station Aspen Courageous for three more cycles. After that, any mess we make now will be Nike's to clean up, not mine. And I will not leave her with a precedent that says "we have allowed an external security consultant to root around in a trade partner's system because their couriers were hanging around being suspicious." Is that all you wanted to know, SecUnit?

Oh no. That fucking space station didn't get to fucking run from me!

No, it's not. I want to know why you're not doing your job and letting my human act as bait instead!

The tendril laughed. That same terrible bitter laugh Aspen had when they told me about decomissioning Dandelion.

I'm letting your human act as bait?

Yes! You won't look into Caldera yourself, because of some stupid idea about due process! But you're happy to let Thiago look for you, and feed whatever he finds to your creepy-ass analytics! Because he's not your human, he's mine, and why the fuck wouldn't you risk him instead of yourself or your humans?

The creepy little tendril smiled at me, and its teeth looked like sharp knives.

What a profoundly fascinating lens to have, SecUnit. But I see an easy enough solution to your dilemma.

What?

Your humans trust you, it said. Tell Dr. Thiago not to send that message, and he won't do it. Then I won't be able to use him as bait.

I couldn't. I couldn't do that. Because then I would be in the dark.

Because then I wouldn't be able to protect my humans.

Let me know if you need anything else, the tendril said and withdrew, leaving me alone with Thiago.

[diino8081]

frozen liberation au

THE BEGINNING

chapter 7

(chapter list)

content warnings for death, blood, fighting, glitching, repeating words. additional warnings for blood in the art which is featured later in the post. alt version at the end. and one (1) f bomb.

he's nearly there. the dragon keep should be just around this corner.

"boreal?"

he looks around the room, the stables empty. too empty.

usually there weren't any other dragons here except for boreal. he had the whole place to himself. lucky dragon.

maybe he's sleeping?

no, he doesn't usually sleep until later.

zane checks the stables again in hopes that he's just hiding somewhere.

no. not there. no. nope.

"boreal?!"

time freezes. he feels it. a faint pulse. their elemental connection.

where is he?

he walks further into the room. the pulse grows.

each heartbeat hitting harder and harder.

he moves to the exit, the gate heavy as he pulls it open.

he hates what he sees on the other side.

a mess of slush and broken ice. holes teared through it's cold flesh. dirty glass trails along it's slow path from outside.

"boreal!"

zane falls to the ground. rushing to the side of his dragon. the scepter clattering beside him.

"boreal what happened?!" he cries. "who did this to you?"

boreal makes a gurgled noise. water leaking into a small puddle around him.

"please, don't speak. you're melting even faster."

he gently puts a hand on boreal's head, trying not to warp the fragile form. the slush turns a faint pink, bleeding into red.

oh right, the blood. he ignores it.

"i'm going to try something."

hopefully this works.

zane pushes his element into his hands. they glow a faint blue. ...but then they start to flicker?

what's happening?

the glowing stops. something doesn't feel right.

he reaches for the staff, distraught at the lack of power that would usually be so strong to the touch.

what?

he looks back over to his dragon.

...

boreal is melting.

meltingmeltingmelting

his gears speed up.

please- there's gotta be something he can do! why isn't his ice working?!

"boreal!"

he tries the staff again. nothing.

"come on come on!" he taps it hurriedly.

as if that'll work.

"why isn't it working?!"

it's never gonna happen.

"it's not working."

his shoulders drop.

"nothing's working."

he laughs sadly, expression morphing into despair.

he wants to cry.

"boreal i'm sorry."

he hangs his head.

"i'm so sorry."

he hears footsteps behind him. he stands up but doesn't turn to face them, eyes fixed on where boreal used to be.

"zane?" nya calls.

he tenses. they're here. his grief boils down into a spitting rage.

"you killed my dragon."

his grip tightens on the scepter as he turns around.

"you know, in the 60 years i've been here, he was my only real friend. the only one i could trust." he gestures. "and one of you killed him!"

there are a few mutters throughout the team.

"60 years?" cole asks.

zane shoots him a glare before continuing. "who did it?"

the room goes quiet.

"who killed boreal?"

he scans each of the ninja's expressions. but one stands out.

"i see."

the ninja brace, taking up a defensive stance.

suddenly zane lunges towards kai, blade sweeping in his direction.

he dodges but not fast enough, leaving a gash on his arm.

he has to dodge some of the ninja's attacks, ducking away from lightning and jumping over earth.

he blocks a sword from lloyd and narrowly dodges nya's trident. it's getting close.

first master this is tough without an element.

all of a sudden nya activates spinjitzu, rushing him and knocking him into the back wall with a loud thud.

his eyes flicker, head twitching with sparks.

he can't quit now.

zane stands, gears turning laboriously. he sees the staff but it's back on the other side of the room.

the ninja are closing in.

he- can't quit now.

his interface starts to flicker.

he can't -qu-quit now!

the group moves towards him.

"g-g-get awa-y." he staggers back, voice glitching.

they keep coming.

his gears stutter.

they grab him.

he tries to resist, pulling away.

it's no use.

he can feel the eyes of the others on him.

"zane, what happened to you buddy?" cole asks from his left.

jay's voice sounds from the right. "you said you were here for 60 years?"

he doesn't say anything. his gears stutter as they turn.

luckily lloyd fills the silence.

"time must work differently here." he realises. "but 60 years with the scroll? we'll need to keep an eye on him."

his vision flickers. he's right here you know.

"come on, let's go." kai urges, holding his injury. "i need to fix this arm up fast."

upon further inspection, zane sees that he'd ripped off part of his sleeve and used it as a bandage. smart, but in this cold?

zane hopes he gets frostbite.

the two ninja beside him push him along as the group begin to exit.

he turns around to spare one final glance at where boreal died, getting a look of concern from jay.

he frowns. if he could cry, he would. he'd lost that ability with his powers.

usually he'd conjure frost below his eyes and let it melt down like artificial tears.

not that they'd catch him crying, of course! he doesn't cry.

"so... what was boreal like?" the blue ninja asks.

zane's surprised at the question. why would he care about his dragon? they were trying to stop him! he killed people! they were enemies!

"stop ta-talking to me." he glitches. should really get that repaired at some point.

they keep walking, zane ignoring any looks from the others.

he does think about jay's question though.

they enter back into the throne room. he sees the formling waiting and it appears to have found the other one. great.

he looks away from them grouchily. fsm, he hates these things.

"hey akita! you found your brother?"

"yes. and you haven't killed the emperor, it seems." it glares at him before moving on. "everyone, this is kataru. kataru these are the ninja."

the other formling looks at them all, smiling but pausing when it gets to zane.

"is that...?"

"the ice emperor? i'm afraid so." it growls.

the other gnarls it's teeth before storming towards him. "i will never forgive you for what you've done to us. i hope you rot."

"hey, back up!" cole puts a hand between them.

zane tilts his chin up, eyes boring into the formling's own. "i did what had to be done. you're vermin. all of you."

the ninja express varying levels of shock.

he scoffs "i don't get what's gotten you all surprised. formlings are dangerous. they're an infestation. everyone knows this!"

the room goes quiet. the group staring at him in disbelief.

"and what's your source?" lloyd speaks up.

"vex told me."

"the vex you killed because it was 'justified'?"

"well no, i only did that because he was a bad person!" he smiles confidently. "he would never do something... like that..." his sentence trails off.

wait.

"oh."

his face displays a morbid sense of surprise as his smile turns shocked.

"let me go, would you?" they hesitantly release and he pulls himself out of there, turning to walk down the large hallway.

his footsteps echo sharply as he storms down the path.

when he's sure he's far enough from the group he takes a breath. then he screams. loud and angry.

all this time spent following the orders of a man who's only goal was power. he did it so blindly too!

he killed all those people, trapped them in ice. he thought he was doing a good thing by exterminating the formlings.

oh he was so wrong. so so wrong.

and vex? vex told him everything. the ice emperor was created for his benefit. none of the opinions he held were his own.

he laughs darkly, a wave of despair crashing over him.

"everything i've known has been a fucking lie!" he cheers with a spin before continuing to walk. "let's go team!"

behind him the team in question stare in varying levels of 'what' as their brother saunters down the hall.

kai looks at him with exasperation. "yeah, he's lost it."

"we should follow him." nya sighs.

"and get him a therapist. jeez." jay adds.

the group follow along behind him.

alternate version of the art

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