#thatcher looks like he's passing out on the spot and we love that

[helssent]

drew the TMC Big Kids Table Trio™ for the f unny

[samanthahirr]

007 Fest 2024 Intro Post

Well, I got here at a quarter to 9 for my meeting with Bill Tanner—the chief of staff's my main point of contact. And quite a good friend, really, since I've been servicing EPS's contract for the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office here for the last three years, and…oh, sorry, I'm Bethany Arden, the EPS facilities manager for MI6's Vauxhall headquarters. You could say I know every inch of this building—because I do! From the physical-security perimeter barriers outside to every air vent and water pipe, there's no structural detail too small for my blueprints.

And today, I came bearing great news! The FCDO finally approved a budget for a much-needed refresh of the furnishings. Listen, can I be honest for a moment? I love this building to bits, but it's one of the ugliest in my portfolio by far, strictly on an interior design basis. You have to agree, this place's design aesthetic should have been buried along with Margaret Thatcher—all that walnut wainscoting and brown leather upholstery, ugh. Hardly the modern, agile look and feel you want to project to important visitors, is it?

Speaking of agile, you should see the new ergonomic chair designs in my supplier's 2024 catalogue. They've also got some surprisingly affordable standing desks that raise and lower with the press of a button—who says you can't be Equality Act-compliant and still be stylish, eh?

So, as I was saying, I arrived early, lugging this far-too-heavy-for-me tote bag of fabric and paint swatches…oh, could you? That's so kind, thank you. And I confess my nose was buried in another catalogue, bookmarking new seating units that might replace those dreadfully uncomfortable plaid numbers in the lobby, so I didn't even notice Doris at the front desk was asleep at her post for a whole five minutes. I mean, I did think it odd that Bill didn't answer my text right away; he's always appreciative of punctuality. But then someone started screaming down the hall, and when I finally looked around I spotted Doris, and those two guards passed out in the corner, and—

Well. Looks like I'll be rescheduling my meeting. Once all of this is…sorted. But don't you think we ought to call emergency services? Surely some outside help will straighten this out. No? Oh. Oh, I suppose you're right. Well, all hands on deck, as they say. I'm happy to help however I can.

Just, um, one more thing. Has anyone seen Bill?

~

Hi all, I'm samanthahirr aka Sam, and I'm so looking forward to my third 007 Fest for the @mi6-cafe! I'm on Station Atlantic, and I bring fic-writing, moodboard-dabbling, and enthusiastic-commenting skills to the team!

[jules-has-notes]

The Sing-Off, s.4 ep.4 — My Generation

The remaining four groups who hadn't competed in episode 3 did so in this one, and the the adherance to the theme was just as loose. It seems that the groups only had to choose songs that impacted a generation, not necessarily their own. Nonetheless, they all did a great job with what they had.

.

Group opener

[WARNING: The staging of this piece includes flashing lights.]

With fewer singers in the mix, the choreographers had a field day moving folks around and giving them big, dramatic steps to do, and it works really well. The arrangers did a great job transitioning between the songs, as well. And, of course, the competitors performed everything beautifully.

Details:

title: group B opening medley

original songs / performers: "My Generation" by The Who; [0:30] "We Will Rock You" by Queen; [1:00] "It's Time" by Imagine Dragons

written by: "My Generation" by Pete Townshend; "We Will Rock You" by Brian May; "It's Time" by Imagine Dragons

arranged by: The Sing-Off arrangers

air date: 16 December 2013

My favorite bits:

Austin and Honey dueting on the lead to kick things off

the way the arrangement passes the lead vocals around, even with fewer groups to feature

Earl leading the charge for the second section

Tony going hard with the dance moves up front

the percussionists bringing back the "We Will Rock You" drumbeat underneath "It's Time"

Earl throwing the horns while belting out that high note

just how much fun it looks like everyone's having

and VoicePlay once again being in easy-to-spot wardrobe

Trivia:

One of the Vocal Rush chaperones recorded a rehearsal for the kids from the audience. The video quality isn't great, but you can definitely hear everyone.

VoicePlay later also included an excerpt of "We Will Rock You" in their "Queen in 5 Minutes" medley.

.

Theme reveal

.

Order of performances

Home Free — "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash

VoicePlay — "Don't Speak" by No Doubt

Element — "You Keep Me Hangin' On" by The Supremes

Vocal Rush — "Holding Out For a Hero" by Bonnie Tyler

.

VoicePlay performance

[Here is another version with the intro package and judges' comments.]

The show was, above all things, a reality TV competition, so appealing to the judges' tastes was pretty important. VoicePlay had struggled to truly impress Ben Folds with their ecclectic musical style, so when he asked for more emotion and consistency, they gave it to him in their own special way.

Details:

title: Don't Speak

original performers: No Doubt

written by: Gwen Stefani & Eric Stefani

arranged by: Layne Stein, Eli Jacobson, & Honey Larochelle

air date: 16 December 2013

My favorite bits:

Layne starting with a bare percussion line, removing the need to count them in

the gradual layering and swells to reach a small emotional peak at the end of the first chorus

Geoff holding the low end steady so the higher voices can soar, and giving their sound more breadth

Eli's big old descending riff, and the moment of silence that lingers just long enough afterward

the repeated ♫ "I don't want to kno-ow" ♫ in the harmony lines after the bridge

the vulnerability of ending on just Honey's voice for the last few words

Trivia:

Layne took inspiration from Jeff Thatcher's percussion line in Rockapella's "Ellie My Love" for this arrangement.

Some viewers made fun of the gang's pattern-tastic wardrobe, but ska-punk fashion of the era was actually just kinda like that.

Of the four groups in this "my generation" themed episode, VoicePlay were the only ones who actually performed a song that was released during their formative years. Or their lifetimes, for that matter.

Layne's then-girlfriend Cyndi was in the audience cheering on her fella.

.

Judges' choice

.

Ultimate sing-off

Element vs. Vocal Rush — "Survivor" by Destiny's Child

Eliminated: Element

.

Since neither VoicePlay or Home Free ended up in the ultimate sing-off battle, they took the hard work they put into arranging and rehearsing "Survivor" and made their own video out of it.

[thecrownnet]

*The 2021 Emmy Awards will air this Sunday at 8 pm. ET on CBS. It will also be available to stream on Roku, Hulu with Live TV, YouTube TV, AT&T TV, Sling TV, Fubo TV and CBS’ streaming service Paramount+. The Crown has 24 nominations this time! Claire Foy has already won Outstanding Guest Actress Drama, Adriano Goldman for Cinematography, and Yan Miles for Editing last weekend!

Emmy Nominations 2021: Vanity Fair Predicts Who Will Win

A close look at every award that will be handed out during Sunday night’s broadcast, from an intense actress showdown to the potential for history to be made.

After a year of television that felt more than a little unusual given the pandemic that surrounded it, the 2021 Emmy Awards will be an opportunity to celebrate the shows that got us through, whether via fantastical escapism, well-costumed romance, or the optimistic wisdom of a certain football coach. Just like last year, Vanity Fair’s experts have their eyes on a specific trio of shows—this year it’s The Crown, Ted Lasso, and The Queen’s Gambit—to take home the bulk of the prizes, but there is also plenty of room for surprise. Will The Handmaid’s Tale be the comeback kid? Will the final season of Pose soar to the top? Was it really Agatha all along? Read ahead to find out, and tune in to the Emmy Awards on Sunday night to see if we got it right.

A guide to Hollywood’s biggest races

DRAMA SERIES

The Boys Bridgerton PREDICTED WINNER: The Crown The Handmaid’s Tale Lovecraft Country The Mandalorian Pose This Is Us

In the culmination of its long, triumphant awards season, Netflix’s The Crown should finally win the top prize for its acclaimed fourth season. The period drama has won every equivalent precursor, from awards given by key industry guilds like the PGA and SAG to those given by notable outside groups at the Critics’ Choice Awards and Golden Globes, and found an entirely new audience with its rich rendering of the Charles-Diana saga. In the time since its airing, a serious challenger has not emerged to overtake it, even with the support for Pose’s final season or the sheer popularity of The Mandalorian. It’s time for The Crown to finally take the, well, you know. —David Canfield

ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us Jonathan Majors, Lovecraft Country PREDICTED WINNER: Josh O’Connor, The Crown Regé-Jean Page, Bridgerton Billy Porter, Pose Matthew Rhys, Perry Mason

Tighter than it first appeared, this race comes down to two very different contenders. The smart money may actually be on Billy Porter, considering the overall Emmy performance of Pose for its final season—the FX drama has already won three trophies this year via the Creative Arts awards—and the fact that Porter has already won this category. He’s nominated again for a true showcase of a season that’s hard to deny. But as Schitt’s Creek proved last year, the Emmys love a sweep, and The Crown—with its deep ensemble and clear overall front-runner status—looks tailor-made for one. Josh O’Connor stepping into the series’ center with his indelible Prince Charles is likely to find embrace amid the wave. —David Canfield

ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES

Uzo Aduba, In Treatment Olivia Colman, The Crown PREDICTED WINNER: Emma Corrin, The Crown Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid’s Tale Mj Rodriguez, Pose Jurnee Smollett, Lovecraft Country

Emma Corrin’s devastating breakout turn as Princess Diana sits comfortably atop this list—which feels a bit strange to say, given that she’s surrounded by awards heavyweights like Oscar winner (and costar!) Olivia Colman and multi-Emmy winners Uzo Aduba and Elisabeth Moss. But so it goes. And in fact, her chief competition is probably another first-time nominee—Mj Rodriguez, repping the surging Pose and having already made history as the first trans nominee in the category’s existence. Will voters jump at the opportunity to make even more history? It’s a long shot, but don’t count her out. —David Canfield

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

Giancarlo Esposito, The Mandalorian O-T Fagbenle, The Handmaid’s Tale John Lithgow, Perry Mason Tobias Menzies, The Crown Max Minghella, The Handmaid’s Tale Chris Sullivan, This Is Us Bradley Whitford, The Handmaid’s Tale PREDICTED WINNER: Michael K. Williams, Lovecraft Country

Voting closed before the tragic passing of Michael K. Williams on September 6, but the actor, whose work included The Wire and Boardwalk Empire, was already predicted to win this award for his performance in HBO’s now canceled Lovecraft Country. Winners of this category are often well-respected veteran actors (Peter Dinklage, Ben Mendelsohn, John Lithgow) who voters seem to be honoring not only for their current project, but their entire body of work. And that would be the case for Williams—a five-time Emmy nominee—this time around. It would be a bittersweet way to remember a beloved member of the acting community who created some of TV’s most memorable and vulnerable characters. —Rebecca Ford

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES  

PREDICTED WINNER: Gillian Anderson, The Crown Madeline Brewer, The Handmaid’s Tale Helena Bonham Carter, The Crown Ann Dowd, The Handmaid’s Tale Aunjanue Ellis, Lovecraft Country Emerald Fennell, The Crown Yvonne Strahovski, The Handmaid’s Tale Samira Wiley, The Handmaid’s Tale

Dowd won in 2017 for her work on The Handmaid’s Tale, but with this crowded category stacked with her costars from the show, they’ll likely split the votes. And Anderson has always been the front-runner anyway for her transformative performance as Margaret Thatcher in the fourth season of the Netflix series. She already won the Globe earlier this year, and in all likelihood will beat out her own costars to take the Emmy as well. —Rebecca Ford

DIRECTING FOR A DRAMA SERIES

Bridgerton, “Diamond of the First Water,” Julie Anne Robinson Pose, “Series Finale,” Steven Canals The Crown, “Fairytale,” Benjamin Caron The Crown, “War,” Jessica Hobbs PREDICTED WINNER: The Handmaid’s Tale, “The Wilderness,” Liz Garbus The Mandalorian, “Chapter 9: The Marshal,” Jon Favreau

There’s a strong correlation between this category and the best-drama-series Emmy, which should give the edge to drama front-runner The Crown, and particularly the propulsive season four finale, “War.” But we’re spotting potential upsets in the beloved series finale for Pose and particularly the Handmaid’s Tale season four finale, “The Wilderness,” directed by Oscar-nominated documentarian Liz Garbus. Given how much The Handmaid’s Tale outperformed expectations in the nominations, we suspect this might be a place for the show to surprise again. —Katey Rich

WRITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES

Lovecraft Country, “Sundown,” Misha Green Pose, “Series Finale,” Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, Steven Canals, Janet Mock, Our Lady J The Boys, “What I Know,” Rebecca Sonnenshine PREDICTED WINNER: The Crown, “War,” Peter Morgan The Handmaid’s Tale, “Home,” Yahlin Chang The Mandalorian, “Chapter 13: The Jedi,” Dave Filoni The Mandalorian, “Chapter 16: The Rescue,” Jon Favreau

Oddly enough, The Crown has never won this category, despite the dense history layered into each episode, which we suspect should give series creator Peter Morgan an edge here. For potential upsets keep an eye on Pose and the long list of heavy hitter credited writers; this is, after all, the category where Friday Night Lights and The Americans finally won after years of being overlooked. Pose is surging in Emmy attention for its final season, and you never know just how far that affection might go. —Katey Rich

[More via link above.]

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

HASO, “Field of Spears.”

Hope you guys enjoy the story for today :)

They sky above was dark with rain clouds, they were thick, streaking the sky with great black streaks like someone had wiped their hand over a permanent marker while it was still wet. 

It was just the forefront of the storm, so the rain hadn’t yet come, and the wind had died down mostly. The clouds overhead moved quickly, and caused rolling waves of shadow over the land below.

That’s how she saw it at first, coming up over the rise as a wave of iridescent light spilled down from the clouds, and onto a glittering field of spears. There were hundreds of them, certainly thousands, and they stretched off in each direction as far as the eye could see. Some, those at the front, shone with the bright silver of highly polished metal, while those at the back were darkened with age and ash.

From this height, it looked like a forest, or a sea, and when the wind did decide to blow, the valley below her was whipped into great rippling waves of color, bright at the front with thousands of colorful moss-woven capes, and gradually fading black to a dull brown or even black with the other spears and their tarnished metal were the capes had been stained black with age.

The wind died, and the capes fell, like a bird’s feathers puffed up only to fall.

Sunny followed the track slowly, down into the valley, doing her best to keep her feet on the rocky terrain, and loose volcanic stone that made up the path before her. She wasn’t alone of course, a slow trickle of other Drev made their way into the valley their way slow and their heads bowed just like her.

She followed her way down onto the path and turned to where a the field of spears sat like a dense forest before her.

What looked to be the skulls of Drev, but were really just long disused helmets sat atop each one of the spears, all that remained of a thousand fallen warriors. Sunny followed her feet knowing where she was going even despite the years that had passed since she had visited this pace.

The Valley of the Fallen.

She stopped, in a spot that seemed indistinguishable from the rest, though somehow she knew it was right, pausing to approach two spears stood side by side, buried deep in the ground and welded upright by the glue of falling ash and rain.

She reached out, brushing the ash from one helmet and onto the ground before turning to bat as much of the ash as she could from the cloak. It had been many years and the fabric was well on its way to being saturated, so there wasn’t much left from the warm golden color that had once been, same with the other and the pearl white cloth that had once existed there.

She bowed her head kneeling on the ground before the last memory of her father.

In Drev belief, spirits were always recycled back into the wide spiritual world. Everything had a spirit, which meant thatcher father’s spirit was likely still around. Despite her upbringing, and despite everything that had happened to change the world of the Drev since she was a child, she still believed in the spiritual traditions and religion of her ancestors. That part of her had never been shaken.

So, she knelt to the ground slowly before the last memory of her father, raising her head to the helmet, which she could almost imagine as having him in it if she tried hard enough.

“I miss you.” She said softly, “Perhaps if you were here you would know how to help me, though perhaps that is only a wish of mine. Perhaps you would not understand like so many others, I like to think you would have tried though. “She sighed, “I am…. Alone. Perhaps I should have seen this coming, you don’t give the strength of your spear to someone who cannot lift it. But…. I suppose that is the way with humans. While they are like us in so many ways, there are things about them that are so alien. I Always assumed battle pairs fought together through the hard and the easy, but Humans see it a bit different. He says when you love something you have to let it go, and I don’t understand what that means. If you love something would you not want it to stay as close to you as possible…. Either way.” She turned her head to look down at the small round helmet and folded green cape that sat just below it, “As is the custom of our species…. I will never love again. I hope this is not seen as breaking the sanctity of this hollowed place for he is neither dead nor dying, but… A part of me has died….”

The wind picked up just then, and all around her a rainbow of colors rose up to flapped against the wind.

Lightning flashed over the mountains, and the field of spars glowed white for a single moment. She knew she should probably move, but didn't have the energy to care about the impending danger.

She hummed softly to herself as she stood, and turning her head to the sky, she Reached upwards, and Drove the but of the short metal spear into the soil with a loud crack. Lightning flashed overhead again.

WIth the spear firmly planted in the ground, she stepped back, and then softly reached up to pull the green cape over the tip. The fabric ripped on the point before catching and she slowly reached up placing the helmet on the point of the spear in a tradition that went back thousands of years. The right of the widow had been complete.

She stood staring at the Green cape as it billowed softly in the wind, illuminated by one more flash of lightning before she turned and made her way from that palace and the graveyard of memories.

It began to rain as she made her way from the last line of spears, and a loud crack of thunder illuminated the ground before her. It had likely caught one of the spears as it was so prone to doing during electrical storms, so she made her way hurriedly towards the rock overhang and a patch of tea moss, safe and away from the driving rain.

She sat herself on a ledge cross legged and with her blue cape wrapped tight around her shoulders as the wind blew little droplets towards her from the mouth of the overhang.

After a few moments a shape appeared out of the driving rain, and a figure broke through, shaking water from her pale peach carapace.

Sunny Stood slowly, and the other Drev froze, spear in hand.

“I didn't realize this outcrop was taken.” They stood against each other, “What clan are you from?”

“The wandering tribe.”

The other Drev stood straighter in surprise ‘The wandering tribe…. With the humans/”

Sunny nodded.

The other drev lowered her spear, “Might I share the dry with you/”

Sunny slowly seated herself and nodded motioning to the moss, “This land is not mine, so sit and be warm.”

And other Drev thankedher and took a seat.

She was a pretty little thing Sunny observed, still taller than her of course, by almost a foot, not particularly tall by Drev standards though however the color of her carapace was pleasant enough.

“You are here to observe the rights of the widowed?”

Sunny nodded, “I am.”

“I am sorry for your loss… I too am here for that. My battle partner died in glorious battle not more than a night ago. A spear to the throat, and a mound of corpses piled around him. She lifted her head in something that was almost like pride, “And yours?”

Sunny sighed.

“His past caught up with him.”

The other Drev tilted her head, “An old foe.”

She looked ou at the driving rain and the waterfalls that fell from above, “Yes, an old foe come back to haunt him.”

“I am sorry about that.”

They sat in silence for a moment before sunny lifted her head, “What is your name.”

The peach Drev Shifted to a more comfortable position, “Ralata and yours.”

“Chalan.” Sunny paused for a moment, “Perhaps it is none of my business but, how long were the two of you together.”

Ralata shrugged, “Couldn’t have been more than a year or two.”

Sunny nodded, ‘An how…. How do you cope with the idea of being alone for the rest of your life…. I know it is something that can be done, but it does seem daunting…. And lonely, I was just wondering if perhaps you could shed some light for me.”

Ralata raised her hands, ‘We are never alone when the spirits are with us. Life is fleeting when the universe is so old.”

Sunny couldnt help but be amused at the singularly Drev-like thought process it took to meet that conclusion, though she found it oddly comforting. 

“I suppose you are right.”

“There is more to life than a battle partner, there is the sky and the ground and the wind, and there is always glorious combat. If we cannot find solace in these things then we have lost the battle that is life.”

Sunny nodded slowly.

“Take comfort in your own solitude.”

“Your words have been helpful, thank you for bringing my thoughts back to the truth.”

She and Ralata spoke long into the night as the rain fell, mostly about combat, and about the past and about the wars they had fought in. Sunny told tales of her adventures on strange worlds and the odd creatures that she had met. Ralata seemed fascinated by the stories, though she had no inclination to go and see them for herself. 

Sunny found Ralata’s presence to be refreshing. In a way she reminded Sunny of Adam before his inner demons had taken away the spark, she was bubbly, happy, and talkative for a Drev, which was nice to fill the silence.

“Are you going to return home after this?” Ralata asked, “To your ship in the stars?”

Sunny shook her head, “Not at first, no, but eventually, yes.”

“What will you do in the meantime.”

Sunny paused not sure if she should tell this other drev what her plans were, having not entirely decided if she was going to do it or not. Once she verbalized it, it would be set in stone and she would have to do it. Not because this oher Drev new, she doubted she would ever see Ralata again, but because i she said it out loud she would feel obligated to do it.

After a long silence she finally spoke.

“I am making a pilgrimage to observe the Sacred ritual of Creation.” 

Ralata pulled back in shock, “Creation, but that hasn’t been done for a thousand years, no one even knows if the monk on the mountain still exists to guide that ritual.”

“Well I suppose I will find out.”

Ralata sat in silence for a long moment staring at Sunny with wide, Orange eyes, “You are brave I suppose, no one knows how long that ritual could take.”

Sunny tilted her head back to look up at the stars, “It doesn't matter how long it takes, hopefully there will be a place for me when I return 

[bittybattybunny]

Chapter 1: The King’s Favorite

(As I said I had a new multi fic, but until I do a cover it won’t go on ao3, so for now enjoy! Second Chances and Angel Foodcake!)

He sighed as he worked on whipping the egg whites. He had another weird dream with that woman in it. The sad smile she wore made his chest ache. He gave a sigh as his brother stole an orange from the bowl on the counter.

“What’s with you?” Marcus asked as he started to peel the fruit. He shoved a slice in his mouth as Arulius set the bowl down and ruffled his hair.

“I had a weird dream---”

“Shocking.” Marcus’s tone was dry as he ate another orange slice, “Not Ru king of weird dreams. Isn’t that why you’re a writer?”

“Shut upppp.” Arulius sighed as he grabbed the other bowl and began to fold the whipped egg whites with the whipped cream, “Look I just. You try dreaming of the same woman night after night since you’re 16!”

“Nope. I don’t dream.” Marcus reminded him as he continued to eat, “maybe she’s your soul mate.”

“I doubt it. Considering I think shes my guard?” he frowned, “in the dream’s I’m married. I have kids. She’s just… she’s so sad.”

“Maybe circumstances kept your love unable to exist. If you find her when you aren’t hallucinating unconsciously flirt with her.” Marcus snickered as he finished his orange and threw the peel away, “Good luck with your sleeping beauty!” he grabbed his bag as he headed out, “oh and it’s your turn to do the dishes!”

“Fineee!” Arulius sighed as his brother left. He sighed and poured the batter into the pan. Undoing his apron he got to work on cleaning up.

“Kept it unable to exist…” he mused. He chuckled, there was no way.

------

As he held the boxed cake on the subway he felt something was off. His stomach was uneasy. It wasn’t his first time on public transport with a dessert he didn’t want ruined, and yet. He grimaced.

“Are you okay?”

He looked up and his breath caught in his throat. Long curly black hair held back with a blue ribbon, large eyes in two different colors (Black on the right side, bright blue on the other), mouth drawn in concern as a small fang stuck out, she furrowed her brow as she looked at him.

“Are you okay?” she asked again.

He gasped, “Um yeah! Sorry my stomach’s got butterflies!” he admitted nervously.

“Interview?” she asked with a small laugh, “you’re really pale so I was worried, maybe you should get off soon and rest before continuing.”

“No I’m just, going to my book club.” he laughed, “I promised to bring cake.”

“Oh? Which one?” she covered her mouth in shock, “you aren’t heading to Horizon Group are you?”

He blinked a few times, mouth twitching, “I am…”

She laughed, “My brother attends that! I was going to get his car keys!” She sat beside him and he felt his heart racing, “I’m Eclipse! Sena’s my elder brother!” she explained.

He gasped, “Ah! I can see it!” he realized as he looked at her, “you do look like him.”

“I know right? If people don’t know they tend to not notice but when they know its clear we’re related!” she laughed and looked at the cake, “Sweets, so you must be Arulius right?”

He felt his cheeks growing warm and nodded, “how did you?”

“My brother says you often bring snacks for meet ups! And you always get new cookbooks!” she giggled and he felt his face growing warmer. She touched her lips with a grin, “Actually he brought some of the cookies you made last week, the raisin oatmeal were really good~! I was sad I couldn’t try your chocolate chip ones though.” she gave a saddened sigh.

“Ah? I can make some…” he offered and she shook her head.

“I’m allergic to chocolate but the hospital trip was very tempting they smelt so good~!” she laughed.

“Ah.” he put a hand to his mouth, “White chocolate?” he asked. He knew it wasn’t a “true” chocolate.

She shook her head, “No, my allergy is a bit severe.” she gave a dejected sigh, “most white chocolate is processed in the same plants so…”

“What if I made it from scratch?” he asked with his head tilted, “Candy melts?” he wondered.

She turned red, “y-you don’t have to do that! I was just complimenting your baking!! It’s really good!”

He gave a soft smile, “well when we get to the meeting, want some of this?” he held the cake, “it’s a whipped cream cake! Kinda like angel food cake but it has whipped cream IN the cake.” he explained.

She gasped and covered her mouth, “That sounds good! Is that alright though? Isn’t it for the others?”

“Well I brought it to share, and I’m sure it’s fine, I always leave with leftovers.” he explained. His heart wouldn’t stop pounding. Something about the young woman was familiar to him (other than her being Sena’s sister. Something was there.) and something told him to be on good terms.

“If you want, I bake a lot, i can always send some stuff with your brother, or you can join teh club!” he grinned.

She turned bright red, “N-no I couldn’t! It’s fine! I-I don’t have time for it I need t-to finish my thesis!”

“Thesis?” he asked with a tilt of his head.

“Yeah! I’m doing a report on the fallen Solgarian kingdom!” she clapped.

Solgario? He blinked as that rang in his head. His dreams. He remembered that name.

“History major?” he asked as she nodded happily.

“I’m working on my Master’s! I want to curate a museum!” she admitted with mirth, “I love studying old things and I love the sotries of the last king!”

“Yeah? I can’t say I know much. Tell me?” He checked the stops, they had time.

“Oh where to begin!” she beamed, happily like a cocker spaniel, “King Luka Thatcher Law was the last king of the empire, he was married to Queen Vanessa Everfrost and they had a daughter together! Sadly tragedy struck. First the death of the king’s personal aide to poison, the death of the princess, and then the king himself withered away.” she sighed, “The queen was the last monarch but a war struck and she was unable to fend it so the kingdom fell.”

“That’s… that’s horrible…” Arulius tensed up. The butterflies were worse.

“There’s some theories the queen herself poisoned the guard, you see King Luka and the guard knew each other as children, and she was the daughter from the only ducal household---”

“A female guard?” Arulius’s chest hurt, “What was her name?”

“Amaris---”

He felt his chest pinch and his vision fogged.

“Ah!” Eclipse shouted as he slumped forward.

------

His head hurt. He jolted and sat up in bed. He looked around confused at the lavish space. He frowned. This wasn’t the hospital or subway. He covered his mouth in thought, long black hair falling over his shoulder. He blinked and looked at the curl, then his hands. He stared at the callouses that weren’t in their normal spots.

“What…?” he covered his mouth in shock at his voice. What happened?! He got up and whacked his head on the bedframe, before crumpling to the ground.

“Mmmmy looooord are you okay?” came a singsong tone.

His mouth moved on its own, “I’m fine Amaris.” he covered his mouth in shock.

“I’m coming in.” 

Before he could stop her the door swung open and the black-armored knight stepped in, her silver hair cropped short and fluffing around her face, large eyes of black and blue, scars on her cheeks. She gasped and ran over to help him up.

“My lord!” she fretted as she helped him stand and dusted him off, “Dear me why on earth are you on the floor?!” She looked up and paled. Her gloves were removed and she reached up to stroke his face.

He sniffled as the tears pooled and dripped. She was here. Alive. 

“Lu?” she asked softly, “Luka what’s wrong?”

“S-sorry just. Had a bad dream.” he muttered. She snorted and raised her hands, a soft light emitting off her hands.

“Pain pain go away leave Luka’s heart calm and pure~!” she sang happily. He felt a bit lighter and sighed as he rested his cheek in her hand.

“Such a competent Nightingale.” He chuckled. He took her hand in his as she laughed, giving him a sad smile that made his chest sting. The smile he always saw her wear in his dreams.

“Of course, I’m your head guard for a reason~!” she hummed, “Come on now, the queen has been crying all morning for you.” she sighed heavily, “Pregnant women are difficult to deal with. Or is it just Vanessa?” 

He shuddered. Vanessa. Luka. Amaris. His golden eyes grew wide.

----

He gasped as he sat up and winced. Eclipse held her hands cautiously near him, afraid to touch him.

“A-Aruli--” she squeaked when he wrapped his arms around her, tangling his fingers in his hair as he tried to stop crying. She whined but slowly wrapped her arms around him.

“Pain pain go away…” She mumbled and he felt a small breeze and a lightness in his chest. He pulled away and she wiped his eyes. “You okay?” she asked with worry.

“Just… Sorry, I’ve had weird dreams lately… was that..magic?”

She turned red and shook her head, “I-it’s just an old wives tale you know---” her eyes were spinning and she wouldn’t meet his gaze. He chuckled.

“Sure, okay. Say I believed that.” 

She stared at him confused as he simply smiled. 

He hated to admit it, but maybe his brother was right on something.

“Magic’s neat.” He watched her turn red and look away ashamed.

“Um… are you two done?” the train conductor asked as he scratched his head. Tired violet eyes looking at the two.

“I’m fine! I just didn’t sleep well it seems!” Arulius lied. He moved to stand and wobbled. Eclipse supported his side and he tried to get his stomach to behave. He gasped, “nooo my cake.” he saw the box on the floor and reached for it. He sighed seeing it ruined.

“What stop is this?” He asked.

“You should go to a hospital I think.” Eclipse fretted as he headed towards the door while holding her hand.

“No i’m fine really! I just have had issues sleeping!” he explained, “so I have weird dreams, it just so happened the name you mentioned reminded me of them so I passed out.”

She frowned and reached to put a hand on his forehead. He hadn’t noticed before but her body spray had a slight pine smell to it, pine and honey. Lavender too?

“You’re a little warm. Let’s go to the bookstore, I’ll get Sena’s keys and drive you to the hospital.” she insisted. “I don’t want you passing out like the train. To think you’re feeble bodied.” she sighed.

“Should a witch joke about that?” he teased as she turned red.

“I-it wasn’t magic! Honest to goodness! I’m not! I’m not!” she fretted as he snickered.

“What’s your familiar?” he asked as she tried to hide her face, “why are you so embarrassed?”

“W-Why you ask! You keep instigating I’m a w-witch do you know how they are seen?! Wannabes who think they can be hot shit just cuz they can fly o-or heal things!” she pouted as her hair fluffed up, “No one likes witches!!”

“I do.” he opened the door of the bookstore.

“Sena your friend is insane!” she insisted as the eyepatch wearing shop owner turned confused. He tilted his head and saw Arulius behind her.

“Ah, Pia you know Ru?” he asked confused as she slammed her hands on the desk with a huff.

“We met on the train.” Arulius set the ruined cake down, “I had a bit of an incident and passed out.”

“Well you’re pretty weak.” Sena snorted, “Pia what’s the issue though? He’s insane?”

“I told her I like witches.”

Sena snorted and had to kneel behind the desk to hide his laughter.

“SEE HE’S INSANE!” she was completely red in the face.

“W-Why would…” Sena snorted and laughed, “what brought this on?”

“Pain pain go away.” Arulius sang, causing the bookseller to start laughing harder.

“YOU USED A HEALING SPELL ON HIM!” he wheezed as her hair fluffed up.

“I-I didn’t! I didn’t! I’m not a witch! Witches are--”

“The one in front is really cute.” a litted voice laughed as the black haired individual slid down the railing from the second floor, “hey Ru, why is my husband dying?”

“I said I like witches and Eclipse is throwing a fit.” Arulius chuckled.

“Pia used a healing spell on him Love! And acting like she’s not a w-witch!” Sena cackled.

“Well she has always hated that term, you guys aren’t even witches technically.” Love shut an eye, “you’re what, like half fae?”

“Something like that.” Eclipse grumbled as she tried to fix her hair, “B-But he’s still weird! Give me the car keys he needs a hospital!”

“Naw he’s fine.” Love looked at the young writer, “seems he may have a magic his own.”

“Naw, I’m boring.” Arulius held his hands up, “weird dreams and a writer. That’s it!”

“Weird dreams he says.” Sena tried to stop laughing.

Eclipse groaned, “I’m not a witch! Witches are mean and ugly and haughty! I’m not! I didn’t sue magic! I’m---” She flinched when Arulius covered her eyes with his hand. Instantly she relaxed against him. He blinked in surprise that had actually worked.

Sena stared at the two and blinked a few times as he finally got his composure back, “well then. Are you sure you aren’t magic?”

“I’m really not.” Arulius laughed, “my dad’s a lawyer and my mom teaches pre-k. We’re just an average family.” he laughed, “Honestly, I just. Have weird dreams. I thought this may help.” he slowly removed his hand as she peeked at him with a completely reddened face.

He smirked and she squeaked and looked away. He couldn’t help the dumb grin, “hey Sena.”

“What?” the book seller raised his brow.

“Would you kill me for trying to seduce your sister?”

The entire shop went silent.

The silver haired shop keep’s eye twitched.

“WHAT?!”

[kindness-bliss]

New Beginnings Ch. 8

Timothy Thatcher x OC

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: none

Maya got ready at her shoot as she looked at herself in the mirror and scrolled through her instagram feed to let time pass, searching Tim’s name in the search bar as she looked through as raised a brow at how many fans adored him and posted pictures with him and events   “Well damn, he’s wanted” she nodded impressed as she continued to read captions, not understanding most of them since they were in German, raising a brow as she saw heart emojis on captions “Too bad he’s mine”. She grinned as she saw more and more from men she assumed were his friends always talking about how respectful and hardworking he was in the business   She sat up startled from her lurking when she heard a familiar voice and sighed “Are you kidding me ? What the hell are you doing here ? This is a private shoot”    Marcel sighed as he stepped through and thanked the security guard “I saw you on the same company’s page who works hair and makeup for NXT, I put 2 and 2 together when I saw their stories and you happened to be tagged. I know, it’s very stalker of me”    “Extremely” she answered sternly as she covered herself in her robe “who does that ? This is my job you psycho. Once again, head empty no thoughts in that pretty big ass head of yours”    “I don’t even know what that means” He admitted quietly as he stood in shame in front of her “are-are you calling me stupid ?” Maya let out a breath as she shook her head “Kind of, now tell me why you’re here ?” she asked as she got touched up “and make it quick preferably, this is my work remember”     “What’s this I heard about Tim insulting you ? Why didn’t you tell me when it happened ? I’m gonna assume that’s why you were crying the other day at the store ?” he asked, giving a small nod when he saw her face look down at the floor “and yes, Walter told me everything so don’t worry you don’t need to go into details I just wanna know if you’re okay”   “I am fine, we’re all good” she nodded “I’m going to see him tomorrow, he has a match and he invited me”

  “What ?” he whispered as he looked up at her “y-you’re gonna go see him ? After what he did ?”. Marcel knew how much wrestling meant to him, how much he prided himself in his work. He knew Tim inviting Maya over was a big step for him in how he felt about her.

  “Absolutely I am, I wanna see him wrestle and how he is in that environment. I’m gonna assume you’re gonna be there too ?” Maya asked as they got her ready 

  “Yeah, we have a match too and well chances are Tim’s gonna introduce you to me so what are we gonna do ?”

She stiffened at his question and fixed her curls as she looked in the mirror as she slid off her robe revealing a one piece bathing suit with a deep plunge as she turned to look at him “If you think I’m gonna tell Tim that you and I had a 3 year long relationship then you’re dead wrong. No way I would ever tell him something like that at his workplace, so let’s get this straight alright ? Tomorrow you keep your mouth shut and you tell your little friends or whomever to not say a thing or I’ll have my other model friends put a word out that you guys like screwing around when you’re on the clock”

     Marcel widened his eyes at her look and tone as he clenched his jaw “Maya I-”

“Maya nothing” she snapped back “You really think I didn’t know ? You really think Walter also wouldn’t tell me that you tried to get Alex and Fabio or whatever the fuck his name is to tell Tim for you ? To do your...our dirty work ? He texted me everything just before I got here, how you wanted to tell Tim abruptly and then I’d have to deal with the rest. Alex ? Yeah did you forget I also helped his wife out with her bridesmaid dresses and got to know the both of them really well ? He sent me an instagram DM telling me everything too, basically apologizing for your shitty actions. You’re a spineless little coward Marcel, 3 years and you haven’t changed one damn bit”

  “I-I...it w-wasn’t like that” he stuttered out nervously stepping forward

“Bull shit !” she exclaimed as she slapped him across the face and breathed heavily

Marcel stood back as he rubbed his cheek and gave a frown as his blue eyes stared at hers “I’m sorry, I just….I still love you” he whispered as he left hastily

  Maya sighed as she rubbed the feeling back in her hand and let the makeup artist fix her eyes “Mickey, did you tell him I was here ?”

 “You try saying no to that piece of German goodness” Mickey shook his head “His accent came out and I melted, then he did the whole pleading puppy dog thing with his blue eyes and well, I was sold. I’m sorry Maya, I didn’t realize how big of an issue it would be. You really gave it to him good though, he walked away as if you stomped on his heart”  

“Yeah well I didn’t wanna do that exactly” she admitted “He’s just being sneaky and I hate it, it reminds me of what happened when we were in a bad spot”   

“Well I’ll tell you this girl, Timothy Thatcher is all man and would never do that shit to you” he giggled Maya raised a brow as she let out a chuckled “and how do you know I’m seeing Tim, what’s going on here that I’m not aware of ?”   Mickey smirked as he dabbed some gloss on her lips “Tim from what I’ve seen and heard is quiet but apparently he told some of the guys that you’re gonna go see him and he’s a little...giddy. Now I’ve been working hair and makeup there a while and I’ve been there since he got there and nothing has made that man do a complete 180 like you have”   She blushed as she listened and looked around the room “So you think he...likes me likes me ? Like he wants me to be his...you know ?”   “Girlfriend ?” he chuckled “oh yeah, I heard from Candice, who heard from her husband Johnny who heard from his friend Oney that Tim told him tomorrow was pivotal”  “Oh” she whispered softly as she walked with him “I’m not gonna expect anything though, especially after this whole fiasco. I’m gonna have a nice day with him tomorrow and focus on that. Now let’s get this thing done so I can call him”   “You’re just as whipped as he is” Mickey chuckled as he helped set her up ______________________________________________________________ “What’s with that face ?” Tim asked Oney “You’re red and you’ve been on your phone for like 5 minutes, Oney ?” he sighed as he walked over and took his phone and let out a tight cough “this-this from today ?”   “Yeah” Oney nodded as he took his phone back and put it in his pocket 

“Um all I can and want to say is….you are one very very lucky man Tim, very lucky”

  “I like her for other things besides her looks” Tim rolled his eyes as he grabbed his gym bag “she’s a good person, she’s understanding, she’s really smart and funny. She’s a great cook, she’s super funny” he chuckled “and she-what ? why are you looking at me like that ?”

  Oney grinned as he walked with him to the showers “You really like this girl, it’s not just a little rendezvous like you had thought it’d be. I’ve known you for a while and never have I seen you act this way towards a girl”

  “Don’t” Tim warned as he took off his shirt “It’s just that I like her and I feel she feels the same about me and you know that’s it”

  “So it’s okay if she dates other guys while talking to you ?”

“I never said that” he said almost immediately as he turned around “Why ? Is she ? Have you heard anything ?”

 “Chill out, I was just joking but point proven” Oney chuckled “I say you ask her out, officially like to be your girlfriend”

  Tim nodded as grabbed his things “I was thinking about that after tomorrow”

“I think you should” Oney nods as he looked around “oh look it’s Marcel, shit look at his face” he grimaced

  “What the hell happened to you ?” Tim asked concerned “Your cheek is red as can be, are you okay ?”

“We need to talk” Marcel said sternly “Alone, and it has to be now”

Tim nodded as he changed and followed him outside

   Maya arrived at her apartment as she exited her elevator and saw Tim standing against her door “hey” she grinned “what are you doing here ?”

  “So when were you gonna tell me you were engaged to one of my closest friends ? Or did you plan on keeping that a secret forever ?” he asked wasting no time as he crossed his arms trying his best to stay calm

  Her stomach turned as she blinked trying her best to catch her breath “I-I…. Tim listen, I wanted to tell you I did, I promise I did but things happened and then the Walter thing and I just couldn’t find the appropriate chance to do so but I promise I was. I promise, you have to believe me” Maya pleaded as she reached for his hand flinching when he yanked it back

  “I don’t believe a word you said, I don’t. I don’t even trust anything you’ve told me in the past, probably more lies from you. I’m not gonna insult you or demean you like I did last time because quite frankly...you’re not worth it” he said coldly as he stepped back “Have a nice life and don’t contact me again”    

 “Tim, please don’t do this” she whispered tearfully as she grabbed his arm lightly

“Don’t touch me” he responded quietly as he carefully lifted her hand and placed it by her side “Goodbye Maya”

  He left her apartment quickly, and didn't look back knowing if he saw her face he wouldn’t be able to leave. Once in his car, he wiped his eyes quickly as he turned on the radio and sped off back to his place where he knew he could release his emotions freely and privately

  “What did you do !” she practically screamed into her phone “You fucking told him !”

“It needed to be said” Marcel said quietly “I’m sorry, I am but we both know you were gonna wait it out too long and it would only make things worse. I did this for the both of us”

  “I fucking hate you” she spat out “and I will never ever speak to you again in my life, ever. You’re dead to me” she hung up

  Marcel rubbed his face as he threw his phone across his room and laid down in bed as he looked up at the ceiling and drifted to sleep, trying his hardest to forget about the chaos he selfishly created

  All eyes were on Tim as he entered the Capitol wrestling center the next morning, he heard and saw it all as he walked into the locker room. The looks of pity people gave him, the mumbles and whispers they gave each other as rumours about what had happened at the gym went around. None of it mattered, at least not to him. The damage had been done and if there was one thing that was hurting him other than his heart it was his pride. He knew deep down it had been kept for him for a reason, but the lying and deceiving still hurt.

  “Hey” Marcel said quietly as he opened his locker “Listen I won’t bother you but I just want to say I’m sorry about what happened and it's my fault entirely. Maya wanted to tell you after today” he finally admits “After your match, she wanted you to have a good match and then break it down to you on he own time and I selfishly told you because I still love her and in my stupid head I thought that once you knew and let her know she would somehow want me but instead she told me I’m dead to her”

   Tim nodded as he laced up his boots and didn’t bother to look at him “yeah well, that makes two of us. I don’t want her around me, I don’t wanna hear from her again or anything like that. It’s done and over with and we should just not speak of her again. She’s something of the past and well I’m not gonna hold your past against you”

  Marcel furrowed his brow “Y-you’re not going to attempt to talk to her ? She’s pretty sad Tim….”

“Nope” he shook his head “She’s the one who started this so it ends, I don’t like things like that and I can’t just let it slide by. Her choice was made to lie, so now we leave it at that please. I don’t care nor do I wish to hear about her again”

  “I understand” Marcel nodded as he put on his tracksuit and headed down seeing everyone glare at him as he sped down the hallway to catering sitting down by himself in a table and beckoning over Fabian and Alex “Over here guys”

    “No thanks” Alex muttered as he looked at him and turned around “I prefer not to deal with you unless it’s necessary for tv”

“Agreed” Fabian nodded

“I know it was a mistake okay, you can stop with the harsh punishment.I should have never tried to involve you two either and I’m sorry I did. I regretted this whole thing as soon as I opened my mouth and saw his face. I was selfish and it was wrong, can we just stop now ? Please” he pleaded “I hurt Tim, I hurt Maya, Walter isn’t answering any of my messages or calls. I get it now, I do” Marcel rambled “Please just sit with me, you don’t have to talk to me but just sit with me so I can at least have some company while everyone stares at me”

    “No” they both answered in unison as they shook their heads and left him alone

Marcel looked down as he played with his plate of food feeling all eyes on him as he tried his hardest to ignore the stares and whispers and took out his phone seeing still no messages or calls from Walter and sent one last message   “Hasst du mich jetzt ?” (do you hate me now ?) “Nein, nur sehr enttäuscht” (no, just very disappointed)

He sighed and put his phone away as he shook his head, upset at himself for what he had done but knowing deep down he didn’t regret it. Maya was his one true love, the one person who understood him and helped him cope with the loss of his father and deal with the emotions rather than ignore them and hold them in.

  “Are you gonna go after her ?” Tim asked nonchalantly as he sat with him “because you can, I don’t care”

  “What ?” Marcel asked his head shot up quickly

“Don’t act stupid Marcel, you still love her and I know you did this in a way to get me to be mad at her so I”d leave her alone and therefor you could go after her”

   He knew him so well, so well it truly fucked with him “Yeah” Marcel nodded “I let her go once and it ruined me and now she’s here and right now she wants nothing to do with me but I’ll give her that space and then I’ll fight, I’ll fight like I should’ve fought for her 3 years ago and this time, she’ll end with me” he looked in his older friends eyes “We’ll get that happy ending we both wanted”

  Tim simply give a short nod as he sipped his water “Then go ahead”

Marcel looked around as he got up and left back to the locker room, not wanting to cause anymore awkwardness between them and sat by himself as he listened to music

  “Well if it isn’t the life ruiner” Oney rolled his eyes as he stood in front of him “Are you happy with your actions ? With ruining the one thing giving Tim genuine happiness ?”

  “Oney, please” he rubbed his face “This is something you don’t understand, don’t get involved”

“You ruined the one thing my friend wanted, I’m sure as hell gonna get involved you traitor” he shoved him 

  Marcel sighed “Don’t do this, I don’t have the energy to-” he stumbled back as he held his eye and groaned

“You deserve that and way fucking more” Oney spat out as he left ______________________________________________________________    Maya wiped her eyes for what seemed like the 500th time as she once again got sent to voicemail and let out a frustrated cry getting up when she assumed her takeout was delivered “I said to just leave it at the door” she whined putting on her hoodie “stop knocking !” she finally yelled as she opened the door ready to rage “I clearly said-” her eyes widened at the scene in front of her “what the hell happened to you ?” she asked   

“Oney punched me” Marcel said quietly as he removed the ice bag he had and revealed a bruised and bloodied eye

  “Oney ? That’s Tim’s friend” she said as he remembered his face from the gym

“Yes him, he punched me in the locker room for….for what happened” he said quietly “I needed to get out of there and the only place I could think of was here. I know you hate me and wish I was better off dead but I just had to come. I’ll leave though if you want me to”

  Maya looked up at him as she opened her door and stepped aside “come in”

He stepped inside and sat down on her couch “I’m sorry, I am so so sorry” he whispered “I acted so selfishly”

    “What’s done is done” she whispered “You unfortunately can’t take it back, and truth be told you were right” she admitted “I would’ve just kept waiting and waiting to tell him and let time pass by, in a way what you did benefited me more than anyone Marcel, you did the hardest part and all I had to do was explain myself”

  He shrugged as he bit the inside of his cheek and looked up

“Don’t cry” Maya chuckled weakly “I’ve been crying since last night, and I’m positive I can cry for the both of us and this whole fiasco

  “I’m not” he blinked away tears quickly

“You’re doing the thing, the cheek thing and looking up. You really think I wouldn’t forget how you try to hide emotions after all this time ? she scooted over as she gently patted his hand “You’re the ugliest crier too” she joked trying her best to lighten him up

Marcel gave a light laugh as he sniffled “You’re really good that you know ?”

  Maya gave him a small grin as she dabbed his cheek with a tissue and got the alert of her food delivery “stay for dinner ?”

“Absolutely” he answered as he nodded. Sometimes life truly does work in weird weird ways.

[domesticblisss]

By My Side | Pt.02

Timothy Thatcher x Female Reader (Nicknamed ‘Baby’) Rating: Mature (Minors DNI) Word Count: 2257 Warnings: Smut, angst and fluff. PiV, oral (female receiving) rough sex, relationship discussions, alcohol mention and language. Inspired by INXS’ song, By My Side. Pt.01

“Welcome to NXT, Thatcher.”

Timothy turns around and stops for a second, staring at her. Baby looks him in the eyes, not blinking once. Silence is shared between them for what feels like an eternity. Tim hugs her as tight as he can, knocking the wind out of her, but Baby doesn’t reciprocate, her arms limp by her side as Tim holds her. 

“You have no idea how much I’ve missed you.” Tim breaths on her hair.

“Fucking liar.” she whispers back to him. 

Tim releases the hold he had on her, but still keeps her close by keeping one hand on her shoulder. “Can we talk? I feel like we need to talk. I won’t force you to do anything you don’t want to, I understand that you hate me, you have all the right to. But can we please talk? I’m staying at Junior’s, if you want to...”

“Fine. I’ll be there at 7.” and she leaves before hearing his answer. 

Dakota and Rhea find her a few minutes later on the locker room, crying.

“Baby, what happened? You were talking to Thatcher and vanished from the gym. Did he do anything to you?” Kai says as she wipes her friends face clean.

“Do you want me to beat him up? You know I’d anything for you...” Rhea offers her.

“God, Rhea. No! But thank you. I don’t think I ever told you guys about this part of my time in Germany, yeah?” she tells them everything. About how they met, them touring together, all the happy moments and their downfall.

“We never fought, not once. Whenever something the other did bothered us we would just sit and talk. He always told me how great I was, how I was one of the best professionals he had ever seen. We talked about our dreams. I still can’t understand why he didn’t believe I couldn’t get here.” her voice breaks at the end and Baby starts crying again. Rhea hugs her, dries her cheeks once again, while saying “First of all, you need to stop crying, he doesn’t deserve it. Second, you guys really need to talk.”

“You do, babes.” Kota intervenes, “You guys need to have some closure to it. You left without even officially ending your relationship.”

“I know. He asked me to meet him tonight. I agreed to it. I don’t know why I got so shaken up after seeing him. I thought I had gotten over it, you know?” Baby sighs.

“Look, it’s normal. Just go, talk to him. If anything, call us and we break his nose again for you, yeah? Ripley offers.

“Okay, I love you guys.” 

The day goes by way too quickly and when she realises, it’s almost 7. Sometimes, it’s a good thing that her and Junior live on the same Condo, being so close to each other really makes things easier when they want to do something together. Right now she is regretting that nearness. She wishes she had some little time to give herself a little pep talk before seeing Tim again. 

She arrives just as Marcel leaves his apartment with Fabian. Both of them hug her and tell her to call if she needs anything as Tim waits by the door.

“Hello again, Timothy” she says, entering the apartment.

“Timothy. Wow.”

“Can’t call you chocolate eyes like I used to, can I?”

“Well, technically you can, my eyes hadn’t — “

“No technicalities here, Timothy. Let’s get this over with, please.”

“Right, I’m sorry. Please sit.” he begins. “Do you want something? Water? Beer? Also, I ordered take out from that Lebanese place Junior said you like so much.”

“Tim...” she sighs, exhausted. “I’m not hungry or thirsty. Can we please get over with it?” Noticing how harsh she was and the sad look on his face, she continues “Fuck, I’m sorry. I appreciate your efforts but I really can’t do this. Not right now, I can’t pretend everything is fine and dandy and eat and drink like nothing happened.”

“No you’re right. I just... I really need to apologise to you. I was so frustrated that everyone I knew was getting what they wanted and I kept stuck in one place.  It felt like I was getting on a dead end road. I panicked when I noticed you were leaving, I felt like I was losing the one good constant thing in my life, the most important thing in my life. And I fucking did because of how much of a prick I was to you. I am so, so sorry for that. I won’t ask you for your forgiveness, it would be nice, but I understand if you don’t want to.”

“We could’ve worked out the whole ‘long distance’ thing you know... anyway Tim, you fucking broke me. I don’t think I ever loved anything, anyone more in my life than I loved you. I thought we were going to be together forever, you know? I couldn’t imagine my life without you... and you just insulted me, insulted the only thing I was proud of, the only thing I’ve ever felt I was good at when my dream was becoming a reality. The truth is I’ve already forgiven you. I did it as soon as I calmed myself down because I knew how much in distress you were. But you’ve broken me and I don’t feel like things can come back to how they were. I’ll try to stay out of your way as much as I can in the PC, I would appreciate if you did the same. I really don’t think we have anything else to say to each other, so goodbye.” She kisses his cheek and leaves before he can say anything else. 

It has been months since they talked and Baby was able to stay away from Tim. She made sure to workout whenever he wasn’t at the Performance Centre. Whenever they had classes together, they would stand on the opposite sides of the room, far from each other. She never looked at him, but could feel his eyes staring at her. She was also very thankful to whatever high power that exists that they never got paired together. She had finally moved on. 

Whenever she wanted to see Marcel or Fabian, they would either go to her place or the three of them would meet at a bar. For some reason, today’s bar date felt like a deja vu. They were on a booth, her with her back to the bar’s entrance, nursing a beer while Junior and Fabian took shots. The boys were in front of her, laughing when she felt her anxiety creep in. A few moments later, a presence is felt and Tim stands there, in all his 6ft3 glory. 

“Good evening, guys.” Tim says to everyone, but his eyes never leave hers. Baby answers him back, while scooting a little far into the booth so Tim can sit by her side.

They never directly talk to each, their interactions only happening when Marcel and Fabian say something that requires an answer from the both of them.

She can feel Tim is nervous, his leg bouncing like crazy by her side, the fabric of his shorts rubbing on the skin her skirt didn’t cover. Baby has lost count on how many times she has held herself back from putting her hands on his knee to rub her thumb on it, like she always did when he was nervous.

The night went on like this. Soon enough, Junior and Fabian were shit faced, making Tim and Baby take them home together.

They arrive at the boys place, the both of them taking their designated drunk to their respective room and meeting back again on the living room. Tim speaks first before she tries to leave.

“Does this feels like deja vu to you too?

“God it does! Except it was Mack instead of Fabian last time.” she laughs softly back at him.

“I guess the next thing should be me raiding his fridge for a beer, right?” he asks reluctantly, afraid of her answer.

“Yeah, I’ll wait for you on the balcony.”

Tim is back a few moments later, “I don’t know where Junior finds all this european stuff.”

“Oh, there’s a store nearby that sells foods and drinks from around the world. The day we first went there he was so excited I thought he was gonna pass out.”

“That does sounds like him. Look, I didn’t know you would be at the bar tonight, if I did, I wouldn’t have gone, as much as I want to see you. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I know it was Axel’s fault. But yeah, I wanted to see you too.” She tells him, a bit ashamed and they both smile at each other. They share a few moments of silence together, just appreciating their beers and the light breeze they were getting tonight. 

She’s moves around on the balcony to stand somewhat in front of him, and is the one to break the silence. “The PC is doing great things to you. Your ‘Thatch-as-Thatch Can’ segments are incredible. You’re better at talking, more confident, it really suits you.”

“Thanks. I saw you’re doing moonsaults now. I remember you always wanting to do it but afraid of. They look great. Everything you do is impeccable. I always knew you would be able to.”

They stare at each other in silence for what feels like ages, the breeze picks up again, making her hair fall to her face. Tim brushes the hair out of her face, glides his thumb across her right cheek and then her lips. On impulse, Baby grabs his t-shirt and crashes their lips together. When Tim feels her letting go, he holds her close, trapping her in his arms and deepening the kiss. 

It’s a raw, desperate kiss. Teeth clashing and tongues fighting for dominance. She moans when he lets go of her lips, leaving a wet trail of rough kisses from her face to the sweet spot on her neck, giving little bites to the space behind her ears.

“Fuck, I’ve missed you so much, Timmo.” She says, rubbing her core on his hardening length.

“Me too, doll. C’mon, let’s go to the bedroom”. 

They are attached to each other, stumbling on furniture, knocking down the living room lamp. When they get to Tim’s bedroom, they don’t bother on wasting time to take their clothes off. Tim pulls his shorts down and snakes Baby’s legs around his waist, lifts her skirt up enough to easily shove her lacy panties aside and fuck her against the wall.

It’s angry and rough, the result of one year worth of pent up rage and regret. They don’t care about the noises they’re making, fuck the neighbours, fuck Marcel, fuck Fabian, they are in their own little world now. Tim pulls the straps of her bra down, enough to attach his lips to her left nipple.

“Tim, babe, please don’t stop, I’m almost there. FUCK!”

He goes in harder, rougher and in no time she comes, flooding their clothes with her juices. Tim only stops when he feels her spasming against him, letting her gain some strength back. They move to his bed, taking the rest of their clothes off and Tim on her again, kissing her heat, sucking on her clit while he fingers her, mercilessly. It’s not long before she comes again, stronger than before, while gripping her hand on his hair, tears involuntarily streaming down her face.

He comes up to her lips, lays his body on top her and kisses her sweetly. “I’m sorry, doll. Was I too rough on you?” She lazily nods her head, silly smile on her face, still speechless.

Meanwhile, she strokes his still hard cock, lining it on her entrance, Tim asks if she still can take it, she only nods and lets out a soft “Mhmm”.

This time, Tim is gentle, rocking his body in an almost teasing motion, all while kissing her, telling her how much he missed her. They come together a few moments later.

Tim tumbles to his side of the bed, bringing Baby to lay her head on his chest, both of them coming out of their highs, just cherishing this moment together.

“I love you.” Baby finally breaks the silence. “I love you so much it hurts. I’m sorry I’ve been such a stubborn idiot.”

“Doll, you have all the right to be stubborn, I was a prick to you. And yes, I love you too. I love you more than anything, you still are the most important thing in my life.”

“So… do you want to try this again?” Baby offers.

“More than anything.” 

Baby wakes up around 07am, their limbs tangled together. She tries to get up without waking Tim up, failing. He holds her hand and asks where she’s going, “Breakfast”, she answers sleepily.

“Your famous eggs and bacon?”

“If Marcel has any on his fridge, yeah.”

“Yes!!!” she laughs at his attitude and goes to the kitchen. 

A few moments later Marcel appears in the kitchen, stops in his tracks and asks “What are you doing here? Did you fuck Fabian???”

“She didn’t fuck Fabian, dipshit.” Tim says as he walks past the german, who has a confused look on his face. He eyes Tim’s back, all red from the scratches she left behind last night, and it comes to him.

“What do y – oh my god, yes! FINALLY!”

[ovvnwords]

* finn cole, non binary + they/he | you know howard sellier, right? they’re twenty two and they’ve lived in irving for, like, six months? well, their spotify wrapped says they listened to useless by i know leopard like, a million times this year, which makes sense ’cause they’ve got that whole  blatantly ignoring someone calling your name, the same 4 outfits on rotation, being that person and waiting for someone to tie their shoe while others keep moving thing going on. i just checked and their birthday is november 1st, so they’re a scorpio, which is unsurprising, all things considered. 

hello it’s mackenzie with howard ( HOODIE ) .... this is long ( tw for ABANDONMENT, CRIMINAL ACTIVITY, SHOOTING / INJURY, ADDICTION, OVERDOSE, DEATH ) . won’t lie i’m tired and i originally played them in a different group so i had to rework things if they don’t make full sense i’m sorry i’m sleepy and also lazy so the ending sucks anyways . will add conenctions to my post asap. bye

it never bothered them, either, but it did set them apart from the rest of the kids in their classes in a way that most obvious to themself ( and made them more self conscious before they even know what that feeling was ) . sometimes there’d be backhanded comments or just straight up rude questions, but they’d never truly cared. them and their uncle had more of a father-child bond anyways, and they were treated as such by those who didn’t know the actual dynamic. 

this is the one piece of his birth father that hoodie has, and they still doesn’t know who it is to this day. there’s not really much of a want to find out, because their mother obviously didn’t want them to go to the father for a reason, so.

 growing up it was pretty lonely ; yucca valley only has about 20k residents, but it is located in the mojave desert , which means hot and spacious. there is such a distinction between this area and las vegas, which is only 2 hours away.  

uncle nick is a ranger on the mojave national preserve , who mostly was someone that just acting as security. for hoodie, this meant during their younger years, there was a lot of roaming around the preserve and trying to find some of the abandoned mines, lol.

the relationship between uncle and nephew is a strong one during this point of life ; howard isn’t older than 10 when a showdown between criminals and the rangers happens. crime is a big thing in the desert and nick had done his best to keep hoodie away from it all, keep the kid sheltered as much as possible.

CRIMINAL ACTIVITY ? TW // it happens on an overnight shift and hoodie is with their neighbor. due to the large article of land the preserve is on and the vast amount of cars that pass through every year , it makes for a perfect spot to do various crimes ; there was a group of individuals who decided it’d be a good idea to dump unsolicited and illegal substances onto the property, including a soon-to-be abandoned car to hide other criminal activities that happened in other areas. las vegas is only two hours away, and it’s a commonly used spot to dump illegal drugs and other things. 

GUN / SHOOTING TW // this group, however, didn’t like that they’d got caught ; they were stupid and left their tail lights on by one of the roads, and it’s suspicious to be out that late at night, doing some shady looking shit. naturally? the rangers approached, and were attacked ; uncle nick was shot, just once, in the abdomen. he lived, but things were different.

ADDICTION TW // he lived, but nick changed after - it’s no secret as to why, that would scar just about anyone not just physically. nick became addicted to the pills prescribed to manage the pain after the injury, and hoodie didn’t know what to do. they were still just a kid. this was the only adult in their life who seemingly gave a shit about them, who is just distancing himself further and further away. it hurts. 

during this time, hoodie began to spend a lot of time with the other neighborhood kids. wasn’t exactly popular, but they didn’t care - and they taught them to skateboard, and how to be their standard of cool.

the more his uncle became distant, the more hoodie sought for refuge somewhere else. this place would be their neighbors house. the thatcher family was one that became like their second family, hoodie knowing full well that this is the kind of life he was supposed to be living

DEATH + OVERDOSE TW // when howard was 20, came home from work to find uncle nick passed out on the couch, blue in the face. they were alone in the world ---- and turned to the thatcher family, who took them in. natural as could be.

the move to irving came a few months after that ------ the thatcher child ( wc ! ) wanted a fresh start, and pulled hoodie alongside them. 

OTHER INFORMATION ....

only answers to hoodie — call them howard and they will quite literally ignore you. howie is ok, depending on who you are. if u call hemt howard and they doesn’t throw up a fist you’re special <3

got the nickname in elementary school - even during the hottest days of the year,  wear THE signature black hoodie. we get it you’re emo. it kind of stuck, and is a lot better than howard.

also will never introduce themself as howard unless it’s like a teacher or something DKCKLSDCKLSD 

treats the hoodies like a security blanket ;  feels safest under a hoodie that’s too big.

frankly  not very comfortable with themself, in just about every aspect

probably skates around town and does tricks. no i know nothing about skateboarding but it’s still happening so i’ll play tony hawk ig

aCTUALLY played tony hawk pro skater on that shitty playstation 2 from a goodwill? yeah and so did i

also dresses like a cartoon character ; hoodie x5 in the same color, same shoes, same looking pants. pack it up greg heffley

 loves the cat more than anything ; charlie has one eye and a short stumpy lil tail. king.

 found charlie on the side of the road one day coming back from work and yes they  is a softie sometimes, so they picked up the lil kitty and brought him home. they’ve been friends ever since and it’s also cats > people

YES is a cat person

probably listens to the chainsmokers. i hate. also stans ariana grande in secret

loves comics ( dc only bc i’m a dc bitch )

has a very problematic touch aversion. like. will allow it if it’s them touching someone else first, but anything else? they’ll flip out internally, not externally

a listener, not a talker. didn’t talk to anyone for a week just after their uncle’s death what they had to. probably won’t talk to you unless you talk to them first or if they really like you

[junejalow]

“Date Night”

Coolguy1245 requested the a prompt of Thermite/Ash going on a date.

Sorry this took so long to get out, I've honestly been caught up with other things but I'm getting back full swing on requests! Hope you enjoy!

Chapter Text

Thermite whistled to himself as he leisurely walked along the halls of the base, he had just finished up some drills under Thatcher's watch and helped him out with paper work afterwards which surprising didn't draw any form of usual complaint from the older man, he was slightly taken aback by the action despite it speeding up the process. Jordan could get work done when in the right mind set and with the right people or on his own even if he tended to procrastinate when left alone, he eventually got the work done before whatever dead line the reports had since he didn't want Ash, Harry, Thatcher or Montagne's scolding on his ass. He sighed at the thought, pushing it aside as he neared his designation. He had walked from the training grounds, court yard, living area to the showers, stopped to fill out reports with Thatcher, hurried along to the dorm section and now he was here. He fished around in his pocket for the key to his room and with one swift movement he unlocked the door and turned the nob. He noticed the lights were already on and glanced to Ash's work desk, sure enough the attacker was sitting there typing away on her laptop with papers strewed around and folders stacked or opened. Her brow was furrowed with concentration to whatever she was working on. He didn't disturb her until he heard the laptop click shut.

"How was training?" Ash asked as she cleaned up her desk, putting papers into the correct files and placing them in storage. She was a organized frantic when it came to things being put in their place, mainly when it was files. She couldn't stress enough how easy things were to find when they were placed correctly, vs the mess Jordan had on his side of things but she never tried to fix any of it since she valued her sanity and the hard Texan always managed to find exactly what he needed. Ash would never openly say it, but the simple act amazed her. He could pick a needle out of a hay stack with one look.

"Same as usual, Although a accident happened. Nothing to bad. Blitz rushed the biohazard container last second and flash banged Jager, caught him off guard, Poor guy tripped over some ruble from a wall I took down and busted his tail bone. Fuze ain't happy about it, nearly shoved Blitz against a wall over the matter." He replied, watching Ash get ready for the date they agreed to go on this afternoon after all of their work was done.

"See, this is why I told Harry it wasn't a good idea to have anyone romantically involved on opposite sides. That exact situation could have turned into a fight and that's the last thing we need."

"Hey hey, it's alright. There aren't any hard feelings. Monty calmed everyone down and they understood it was just training and accidents happen. Even Thatcher didn't leave until everyone was good. It's fine, really." Jordan told her, leaving the shared room with her after grabbing his car keys.

"Not the point Jordan." She sighed out with a light annoyed tone. "I'm not against anyone here having a relationship, it helps in ways. Like you did with me…. I would be drowning in work and responsibilities if you weren't here to tug me back a few steps." He smiled warmly and grabbed her hand, taking their time walking through the hallways of the base.

"I needed you too Eliza, I got no one outside this team. Everyone here is like family of some sort or another but you…damn woman you are so much more~"

"Starting your flirting already? Did your gadget blast you with too much heat?" Ash teased with a smile, shivering faintly to the chilly England air as they walked out of the dorm section of the base and across open ground to the parking lot. Various car's neatly lined up. Harry didn't mind them leaving and exploring during downtime but expected them to come back within reasonable time incase there was an emergency, which seemed to be a lot lately. Half the base was currently deployed to different countries right now. Thermite himself had just returned not even three days ago from a month long mission helping defuse bombs from several sites and hidden factory's the White Masks were crafting and producing. His hands were still sore but he would never complain about it, not when the entire team had come back without a scratch. Sure exhausted and lack of sleep had taken it's toll on all of them, that wasn't anything new to the operators. He wouldn't trade sleep for this chance of a date night, they had been planning this for months now with the last three attempts being stolen away by their jobs calling for their attention. Soon enough the pair were on their way down the road, soft music playing from the radio between idol chatter of news reports about jobs, tv shows, new food brands, touring music bands, and new movie releases. Ash's phone bleeped with a text message, she tried to ignore it since she promised Jordan her attention would be on the date and not work once they left.

"You can answer it Eliza, we're not at the restaurant yet." Thermite told her with a reassuring tone.

"I'm not going back on my promise Jordan, that's not something I do and you know it."

"What if it's Jager letting you know he got called out for a mission? You know he never rests for anything, he's on standby as well." He replied, making a good point. He had personally witnessed the German operator fly them out of harsh situations even with injuries, even though the scolding he got from Doc and Harry himself wasn't very nice to listen too and left the pilot not wanting to leave his room for awhile.

"It's nothing important, if it was they would have called instead." Eliza replied, dismissing the subject. Her eyes wondered to the passing scenery, small stores, café's, old historical areas. Even she had to admit that England was a pretty place. Smoke and Mute had taken them on tours before as a team building exercise that turned into an all day trip, it was much needed at the time though. A lot of them had come back from a mass joint operation that ended in success but not without casualties, they had a lost a hand full of recruits that day. Montagne and Kapkan were emotionally scarred from it, they had personally trained the recruits for that mission just for them to come home in coffins. It took a solid month for them to come out of their depressed states and focus on the bigger issue at hand. She noticed the scenery slowing down as Thermite pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant, once he found a decent parking spot he escorted her inside. They found a booth in the corner and settled in, it only took them a few minutes to get drinks and their food ordered. Thankfully neither of them were picky about what they consumed. Living on base with different nationalities you learned to eat whatever was offered by the on site staff who tended to change up the weekly food list to make everyone happy, of course the kitchen was open over the weekend for the operator's. Some enjoyed baking sweets or a simple home dish to lift spirits.

"You know...this is pretty nice. Getting out like this and relaxing." Eliza said with a smile, working at a steak with her cutlery.

"We don't get it often, and I don't count on base movie nights as dates." Jordan chuckled.

"Those are not movie nights, that's just a excuse for our friends to get drunk and fight over the remote for the tv."

"Okay okay, I'll give you that one… even though you stole the remote last time and played that cheesy love movie."

"Jordan! It was not cheesy! It was a good movie and you have zero taste in anything that doesn't explode."

"Really? Coming from someone who launches grenades' at walls?" Eliza paused midchew and stared at him from across the table, after a moment of silence they both tried to stifle a laugh so they wouldn't be too loud.

The two attacker's couldn't have any solid arguments about their own equipment since both were similar in ways. It was all in good fun though and both knew it, bantering like this relieved stress in an odd way for them. Ash waved her hand in front of her towards Thermite when he asked if she was retort any.

"No, no. I'm done. You had a fair point Jordan." She replied with a genuine smile. Thermite found himself returning the same type of smile, He loved the woman sitting in front of him with every fiber of his being for a endless list of reasons. The way they interacted with each other was in the top ten on that list. He could always joke around with her without it being taken serious. They had been around each other long enough to know the faint body signals, the small twitches, muscles tensing or jaws setting a certain way that gave away aggravation.

"Hey, did you still wanna talk about whatever it was you mentioned this morning?" She suddenly asked him, eyes gleaming curiously.

"Right! Right," Jordan said before clearing his throat a bit, he had finished his own steak earlier. Being among the few guys within rainbow that could put a lot of competitive eaters to shame. "Well. I recently got an apartment off base, and…I um…" Eliza waited patiently, concern filling her features. Jordan was never at a loss for words so she knew this was coming important.

"Jordie… what's going on?" She asked softly, using his nickname only she could call him by. Anyone else caught a glare from the Texan that clearly told people not to use it. He glanced up from his scarred hands, pausing to seeing her expression.

"It's not bad! I promise I was just… wondering if you wanted… to move in with me. Maybe take this a step further?"

Her face blanked out for a moment, taking in the request from her boyfriend. Her pulse quickened at the thought of actually living off base with him, both of them would constantly have to take their work home or rush back at a moment's notice should anything happen. But at the same time… having a place to call their own? She felt a grin spreading across her face before she said anything.

"You know what? I like that idea, I would love to move in with you." Jordan felt his chest swell with mixed emotions, happiness, fear, excitement, nervousness.

"Y-you serious? You really want to?"

She nodded, keeping her grin. "Yes, I'm being dead serious Jordan."

Thermite had to stop himself from jumping up and shouting right on the spot, his dream coming true of finally having a more private area with Eliza. A place they could officially call home and not be interrupted at night by loud noises or arguing between operators. "Thank you for agreeing, I'm moving everything next week if that's enough time for you."

"Of course, I can work with that."

The couple soon finished up their drinks and headed back out after paying, they wondered into base and quickly skipped past the common room. Hearing Rook fuss at Lion about drinking too much with them being on stand by, Blitz keeping Bandit from going after them for interrupting his tv show. Glaz and Mute sitting at a table on the other side of the room, the Russian working on a sketch while Mute typed away at his laptop. It wasn't unusual to see the pair together when Tachanka and Smoke were off base on missions. Ash shook her head they couldn't have one quiet afternoon here without something happening but that was the fun part of being with Rainbow. All the different people and personalities. Even if her and Jordan moved to the apartment soon, they would always be here for their family.

[awriterorsomething]

The Carnival

It was that time of year again. The leaves were changing colour, the air was getting cooler, and every store you walked into had a seasonal section; filled with scary masks and black and orange decor. It was the best time of the year. Molly Thatcher was convinced that the feeling you get when that first cool breeze hits you was the best feeling in the world. During these autumn months, she would be thriving. She would watch all the scary movies, drink all the hot chocolate and cider, and spend her free time enjoying the weather.

Molly was sixteen years old. She lived with her mother; her father passed away when she was a baby, and she had no siblings. She was homeschooled, and all her friends lived in a different city, ever since her mother forced her to move to where they were now. She was an introverted girl, to say the least.

One afternoon when Molly was going through the news section of her internet browser, she noticed a short article saying there was going to be a fall carnival coming to town, starting that weekend. There was rarely news about where she lived, so this was surprising to begin with, but a carnival? She thought that was ridiculous, in the best possible way.

On the opening day of the carnival, Molly woke up early, showered, scarfed down breakfast, and biked as fast as she could to the spot where everything was being held at. She was thoroughly excited. She only wished her friends could be there with her.

As soon as she got there she locked up her bike and ran inside. It was a Halloween wonderland — it was everything she had hoped for.

The smell of carnival food and decaying leaves settled underneath her nose. The different sounds of the games and rides were echoing throughout the park. Every direction she looked there were people dressed in, surprisingly well-made, costumes. She saw vampires, werewolves, witches, clowns, and much more. A huge smile widened across her face. It had been a while since she felt this happy.

Molly spent the entire day going on rides and eating junk food. She watched all the characters interacting with everyone, and laughed from a distance whenever they would give someone a scare. Nothing really scared her, not anymore at least. She grew up on horror movies and chilling stories written up on the internet, and she enjoyed reading up on the folklore surrounding different types of monsters.

As she sat down to take a rest, one of the characters had sat beside her. It was a man dressed as a vampire.

“Hello Miss,” he said, showing off his pointed teeth.

“Oh, hi.”

“I noticed you watching my friends and I scaring the kiddies around the park, you like scaring people?” he asked, his voice low.

Molly felt a little uncomfortable, but she thought, they were in a public place, and this guy was probably just trying to do his job, so it was probably safe.

“Yeah, I guess so… being scared is fun, especially knowing it’s all fake.” She took a sip of the drink she had sitting next to her — her taste buds danced as soon as the pumpkin spiced beverage washed over them.

“Interesting,” the vampire said, with what seemed to be an impressed look on his face.

He continued, “how would you like to see our night show? It’s kind of like, a VIP only event, and I have a feeling you’d have a good time.” He smiled at her, showing his teeth again.

She gave an unsure smile back. “Um…”

“I don’t need an answer right now, I’ll let you think about it. You still have some time before the sun starts hiding.” He got up from his spot next to her, “either way, go have some fun. I hope we see you later,” he said, then brought his cape in front of his face with one arm, and winked. Molly laughed as he proceeded to walk away.

By the time it was time to close up the carnival, she decided she would take the offer, and stick around. So, she went to find the vampire. It wasn’t long before she did though, he was standing near the exit, giving people one last scare before they went home.

“Hey!” she called.

The vampire noticed her and smiled, “you decide to join us?”

“Yes! Thanks for inviting me, I just can’t get enough of this place,” she exclaimed.

“Neither can I,” he said.

After a few more minutes of saying goodbye to the guests, he took Molly to a large tent near the middle of the park. As they walked in, Molly noticed that there were two other people there. They sat in foldable chairs in front of a small stage.

“Go on, find yourself a seat. The show will soon begin.”

Molly counted three rows of six chairs, and she chose to sit right in the front. She wanted the best view she could get. The other two kids, both boys a bit younger than Molly, were sat one row behind her, though they weren’t sitting next to each other.

She eagerly waited for the show to start.

Before long, the lights closed in on the stage, and Molly started clapping; she was the only one doing so.

The vampire walked out onto the stage.

“Welcome!”

Molly ceased her applause. She felt like the only guest in the room.

“I’ve brought you here tonight because I could tell that you were special. You love fear just as much as we do, and we thought, what a way to celebrate than to throw our own little party!” He held out his arms, showing off the width of his wondrous black and red cape.

“Are you ready for a show?” he asked the small audience.

Molly nodded her head excitedly.

“Let’s begin!” The curtain closed, and the lights went out for only a second before moving over the seats.

Before the show really began, a vendor dressed as a mime came by and gave each of the kids a small bag of popcorn, and a stick of cotton candy. No charge. Soon after, the lights went out again and the curtain opened up.

Standing on the stage was a woman dressed as a witch. She had a cauldron standing in front of her and she was stirring it. Smoke seeped out from inside the pot, and you could hear whatever was inside bubbling.

“Good evening children. As you can see, I’ve brewed up something special for our special guests.” She stopped stirring and put one finger into the liquid, she lifted it to her mouth and tasted it. “Mmm, that does taste divine, would anyone like to volunteer to be my judge?”

Molly shot her hand up.

“Hmm, what about you, dear?” The witch pointed to one of the boys sitting behind Molly.

Molly’s face dropped in disappointment. The witch saw this and nodded at her as she gestured the boy to come onto the stage. Molly smiled.

The boy made his way onto the stage without a word.

“Now, I hope you’re ready for the treat of a lifetime. This recipe is over a hundred years old!”

The boy grinned, and the witch poured some of the liquid into a cup using a ladle that was previously set beside the cauldron.

“There you go, take a nice big drink,” she said, exposing rotted teeth.

He put the cup to his mouth and slowly starting sipping. The more he drank the better it started to taste, and he downed the entire thing.

“Wow! That was great! Thanks!” His voice was childlike.

“Would you like some more?” the witch asked, handing him another cup she had filled while he was drinking the last one.

“Oh, yes please!” He grabbed the cup and gulped it down. “That was almost better than the first—”

He froze. His eyes were wide and distant.

In a split second, he transformed into a small goat.

Molly gasped, but she started clapping out of amazement. This was the best magic trick she had ever seen. She wondered how the witch pulled it off.

The other boy in the audience slowly started clapping as well, although he felt unsure about the whole thing.

The witch bowed, then put a leash on the goat and walked off the stage with it. The curtain closed again.

Not long after, another show began. This time a clown stepped onto the stage, and he brought a large spinning wheel with him.

“Hi there, kids! Nice t’meet ya!” He took a frivolous bow, then gestured toward the wheel, “would anyone like to come up here and try out my wheel of fun? I’ll strap ya in real tight so ya won’t come spinning off!” he chuckled.

Molly raised her hand again, stretching as high as she could, but the clown looked past her.

“You in the back… yes, you… come up here young man!”

“I… I don’t know…” said the boy.

“Come on, it’ll be fun!” the clown insisted.

The boy stood up cautiously and made his way to the stage. He was nervous — you could tell by the way his hand was shaking when he reached for the railing alongside the steps that led to the stage.

Molly was starting to feel frustrated. Why would they invite her if they were just going to ignore her? She kept thinking to yourself. She became so caught up in her thoughts that she didn’t realize they already strapped the boy onto the wheel and started spinning it. She snapped out of her trance when she heard the clown let out a roaring laugh.

“Oh, what fun! Isn’t this so fun?” The clown turned to Molly and saw she wasn’t as happy as she was when she first got there. He frowned and turned back to the spinning boy, who was now yelling, but it was hard to differentiate between it being a fearful or an excited type of yell. It didn’t really matter anyway, not to the clown at least. He was too upset to care, and he was determined to make Molly happy again. With his back still facing her, he took three silver objects out of his back pocket.

Molly curiously adjusted in her seat when she saw whatever was glimmering against the lights above.

The clown took two steps back, raised his hand full of the shining objects, and threw them directly at the spinning wheel. Molly flinched, as the boy abruptly stopped yelling. Then the wheel began slowing down.

“Ta-da!” The clown turned around and took a bow.

As the wheel came to a complete stop, Molly saw what had been done.

She aggressively stood up from her chair, spilling her popcorn all over the floor in the process. “What did you do?! You killed him!” she yelled while gesturing towards the stage.

The boy, still safely strapped in, had three knives sticking out of his torso; small pools of blood surrounded each one, staining his fall themed shirt.

The rest of the characters started walking onto the stage, all of them with a confused look on their faces.

“We were just having fun… I thought you liked fun…” the clown said, frowning. A woman dressed as a werewolf put her hand on the clown’s shoulder to try to comfort him.

“Fun?! You’re all insane!” Molly started running away from the stage, but before she could make it to the exit, all the lights went out, and someone grabbed her from behind.

Molly woke up in a small room, surrounded by too many characters to count. They were all leering over her, waiting for her to come back to consciousness.

“Where am I?” she asked, still in a daze.

She was sitting on the floor, and tried moving, but they had her in what seemed to be a straight jacket.

“Let me out of here! Let me go!” She was struggling now.

“Oh, we can’t do that… you’ve seen too much,” said the vampire, as he pushed his way through the crowd of people.

“I won’t tell anyone, I promise!” she pleaded.

Ignoring Molly’s efforts to convince them, the vampire said, “it’s such a shame… we all thought you were the one; that you were different. I guess not.”

“What are you talking about? You killed that boy! And what happened to the other one?!”

The vampire laughed, “I thought you liked fear, Miss Molly. Don’t you like watching people get scared?”

“That’s not fear, that’s murder! You’re all murderers!” she screamed.

All the characters seemed to laugh now, and as they did that, Molly started to see their true forms. They were all disgusting, dirty, and real. She could really see it now. She didn’t know why she couldn’t before, she thought they were all actors, but the only act they put on was disguising who they really were. The werewolf was slobbering and growling; the clown had blood red eyes and sharpened teeth; the witch’s skin was bubbling with warts; and the vampire (the ring leader) now had pointed ears, the skin of a corpse, and long fangs dripping with saliva. She couldn’t believe it. All the stories she read, the movies she saw, and the research — it was all real.

Through the growling, moaning, and laughing, she could barely hear herself crying.

“Are you scared, Molly?” the vampire asked, now with a significant accent, as if he just stuffed a wad of cotton into his mouth.

She didn’t respond.

“Let’s get to the point: Molly, we can’t let you leave now. We were never going to let you leave, if I’m being honest. We thought you would want to stay, but now — unfortunately — we have to do this the hard way.” The vampire leaned toward Molly, and she turned away from him. She could smell his rancid, coppery breath.

He continued, “we want you to join us, Molly. We want you to be one of us. You could scare people forever,” he flicked one of his fangs with his thumb and winked at her. “We really do think you’re special. Those other two were just for show, we knew we wanted you, but we needed some volunteers to prove to you that you’d enjoy our work… though, I suppose you didn’t enjoy it,” he scowled. “That doesn’t matter though, I know eventually you will like it, or else we’ll just have to kill you!” he laughed, and everyone else laughed with him; the room was booming with noise.

“No… please don’t. I don’t want to stay here, I want to go home…” she wept.

“Oh, that’s another thing, if you refuse to join us, we’ll have to go after your mother, too It’s just a formality,” he shrugged.

“What?! Stay away from her!” Molly screamed, struggling to break free of the jacket.

“We’ve done this sort of thing before, we don’t mind doing it again.”

Some of the other monsters started cheering.

Molly was sobbing, her tears leaving miniature puddles on the floor.

“It’s okay, if you join us you won’t have to worry about anything ever again. We’ll protect you, and your mother will be safe. We can even give her some good luck, isn’t that right my witchy friend?” He turned to the witch from the stage show.

“Oh yes, my girls and I could most definitely do that,” she said with enthusiasm.

“See? Everything’s fine — everything will be fine, I promise.”

Molly looked up, rubbing tears out of her eyes; her sixteen years of life flashed before them. She saw her mother, her friends, and the sadness that loomed over her; something she never really noticed, until now. She didn’t want to be sad anymore, and she didn’t want her mother to be sad anymore, either. Maybe this would be a good thing, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.

She sat there, sniffling and thinking.

“Well…?”

“Fine. Fine, okay? Fine!” she blurted out.

“Really?! Huh, that was easy. I knew there was something about you.” he said, smiling bigger than ever.

She surprised herself when she agreed.

There was no turning back.

Molly was nineteen now. It had been about three years since she was recruited. Since then, a lot had changed. One of her friends in the carnival had altered her mother’s memory so that it was like Molly never existed; the same with all of her friends from back home. Molly was like a ghost now, but she was surprisingly happy. She wasn’t at first, that was for sure. She spent countless nights crying and regretting her decision; she missed her mom and her old life. But eventually, she decided it was time to toughen up. The vampire who brought her into the community promised to turn her once she was of age, so they waited until she was eighteen to do so. Since then, she’s been very well fed, and she’s been having more than enough fun. Her love for scaring people really did flourish after joining the others. The vampire was right, she would learn to enjoy all of it, even the murderous parts. Her life was better than it had ever been before. She didn’t know that this was what she needed until it happened to her.

And soon it would be her turn to start recruiting.

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[jazy3]

Thoughts on Grey’s Anatomy: 15X10

I liked this episode, but not as much as last week’s. Meredith’s was wearing her dark purple scrub cap this episode! I think that’s the same one she used to wear before Derek died. I’m glad Bailey’s going to therapy and getting the help she needs and that Richard is going to AA again and has got a new sponsor. 

And then Teddy swooped in with the worst job pitch ever! Teddy is really starting to annoy me. At first I was really happy that she was back, but now I’m not. She keeps expecting that everything will be the way it was when she last worked there. It’s been several years. People have died. Children have been adopted and fostered. Babies have been born. Babies have died. Parents have died. People have gotten married. People have gotten divorced. The hospital completely rebranded and changed its name and outlook following the plane crash. A lot has changed while she’s been in Germany and for her to expect for everything to go on as if no time has passed is just stupid. 

I’m not really sure what she expected. Did she really think she could lie to everyone for months and then everyone she left behind and didn’t keep in touch with in Seattle would just welcome her with open arms after she derailed Amelia’s new found happiness? What a bitch. Also Alex Karev is a great Chief of Surgery. Maggie might not be my favourite character, but she is competent most of the time and she’s not wrong to dismiss Teddy. 

Amelia was hilarious in this episode. I loved how Maggie was throwing shade and standing in the background with an ‘I told you so’ look on her face. That being said, I don’t think it’s fair that everyone is blaming Teddy for the mess Owen created AGAIN! The man never learns. I thought there was some good commentary on how the U.S. is one of the few “developed” countries without paid proper lengthy parental leave. So ridiculous. Also Owen’s comments imply that April was written off the show so that Teddy could head Trauma and Owen could take over April’s position. That’s going to make a lot of fans angry.

I think they really rushed Owen and Amelia’s reconciliation. Especially since it’s unclear how much time has passed since the last episode. I don’t think this is going to work out. This is Cristina 2.0. This is never going to work while Teddy lives in Seattle. God damnit! I loved Teddy’s line, “Do you work for a carnival?” I like the friendship they're setting up between them. That could be fun to watch. Koracick’s starting to grow on me. 

I loved the storyline about Bailey’s 5th Birthday and that we actually got to see the party! When The Hulk cancelled all I could think was wow dare he? I like that Link decided to help after all. That was nice. We haven’t seen that exterior shot of Mer’s house in a while so that was cool. Aw Bailey is an Avengers fan! And there’s a photo of Bailey on the shelf! Aw!

Meredith is the anti-Ellis. As has been said many times before. I love episodes like this. We also got Bailey’s first line!!!!!! I like that they’re delving into Bailey and Ellis more this season and giving them more lines and personality. I think that’s the first time Bailey’s been credited! I like that they’re including the nanny more. It would be nice if she had a name though! We got to see Zola too! Meredith was hilarious in this episode! 

I was sad that Alex had to miss it for surgery. That put Meredith in a tough spot. I wish we’d gotten to see more of Alex this episode. We now know which of Meredith’s kids had the superhero birthday party last year that Meredith mentioned to her psychiatrist which is cool. Although you think she would have learned something about superheroes from that one! Maybe Bailey is into different superheroes this year than last year? That would explain the confusion.

There were some really nice jolex moments in this episode though which was great. Jo had some good scenes. Alex was so confused! It was adorable. I loved seeing Alex being there to support Jo! I loved it when Jo came to Amelia and Koracick’s rescue and Koracick called her a mermaid! The scene between Meredith and Catherine was really poorly acted. A rarity for Grey’s, but nobody’s perfect. 

I liked that Maggie went to CeCe’s funeral. I was a bit confused though as to where Meredith and Helm were and whether or not they went? I felt that the show could have dived into that a little bit more and I felt more of an explanation was needed there. Maggie was her surgeon, but Meredith was her client. Helm was her client / friend / surgeon. 

The surgery that Catherine, Richard, and Jackson wanted to do was a bad idea from the start. It was way too complicated and risky. There was too much riding on it. Catherine has cancer and Richard and Jackson just found out through Meredith. Not a good idea. The surgery goes poorly as expected. I just noticed that Catherine’s scrub cap has butterflies on it. I’m glad that the three of them finally talked it out. 

I hated Link for most of this episode. He was a real ass. He was being WAY too flip about the patient. What an asshole. When Meredith compared him to a Labrador I almost died laughing! I still don't understand why Link didn’t just explain himself in the ER when it was clear everyone disagreed with him and didn’t understand? Link was being really stupid in this episode. Ugh. Owen was way too sick to be working. That storyline was stupid. I felt so bad for the engaged couple. The blue dress! I felt bad for Catherine’s patient too. 

DeLuca seems actually good at his job now. That’s a change! He’s been blubbering, incompetent, a real ass, a real downer, a jerk, and just plain awful at his job for ages. It’s about time he actually got his crap together. Idiot. I liked seeing him step up and take charge for once. By the end of the episode DeLuca was doing really well. It’s nice to see Alex praise him for his hard work. I’m glad that they’re getting along now. Personally, he’s not doing so well. He was such a complete child in this episode. That text? Ugh! DeLuca is such a child in his personal life! Meredith’s not 20! Jeez! 

I like that Schmitt came into his own in the episode. It was really nice to see. I loved his line, “And thank you for not dying!” It's also nice to see him retire ‘Glasses’. And he finally got contacts! The scenes between Maggie and Bailey were really great. I also noticed that they haven’t done daytime shots of the outside of the hospital in a while. It was nice to see Parker in this episode. Although it would have been better if he actually had something to do. Next week’s episode looks intense! We finally see Harriet. Catherine has her surgery. Meredith visits Thatcher and gets closure. 

That’s all for now folks! See you next week!

[dantesunbreaker]

Buck x Male!Reader

I’m going to have a small break from reader inserts after this because I have four commissions to be working on right now. Once those are done I will be back to filling my requests.

A fire crackles within the circle of meticulously piled rocks at the center of the makeshift campsite for the group of Rainbow Six operators. In total, there are thirteen of them all spread out throughout the small clearing. On one side of the fire all four male Russian operators sit on an overturned log, laughing boisterously as they throw back mugs full of vodka. To the far side, away from the fire, Thatcher, Smoke, and Sledge sit leaning over a table, all seemingly very invested in their game of cards. Jackal, Montagne, Thermite, and Castle all sit casually beside the fire as they converse amongst each other leaving Buck and Y/n to sit beside each other.

“Are you still cold?” Y/n’s Canadian lover chuckles, the corner of his mouth turning up in a teasing manner. Y/n shivers slightly, even beneath a thick winter coat and a blanket thrown over his shoulders, with a steaming mug of hot chocolate in his hands.

Having been born and raised in the city, Y/n has never been camping before, let alone out in the middle of the wilderness in this way. He doesn’t even have the same amount of experience as any of the other operators alongside him. Yet when Buck came to him with the news of an all male hunting trip with the other operators, he couldn’t refuse that sweet and hopeful face.

“Don’t give me that look. Yes, I am still cold,” Y/n frowns as he takes another sip of his drink, hoping it will help to keep him warm. Buck just smiles at the pouty expression. “I don’t often spend my nights out in the middle of the woods, so I’m not accustomed to getting so cold.”

“Worry not little one, I will keep you warm and safe,” the Canadian laughs at the expression Y/n makes upon being called little one. There is nothing little about him. But Buck only wraps an arm around him and pulls him closer to his body for extra warmth.

Across from the fire, Tachanka watches the lovers interact with a smile on his face. “What you need my friend is some vodka. Will keep you warm!” The Russian raises his mug in the air and gives a hearty laugh. Buck just shakes his head.

“Last thing that he needs is alcohol if he is feeling cold,” Y/n huffs in slight annoyance as Buck denies him the drink. “Although I would gladly take some if you are offering.” As much as Y/n would also like to partake in some social drinking, he would much rather stay warm and comfortable.

“Of course! Maxim, pour this man a drink!”

The trapper grins as he grabs an extra mug and fills it near to the brim with the clear alcohol and carries it around the fire to him. Fuze and Glaz sit back in their spots and watch happily, grins splitting their faces as they lean against each other.

“You must toughen up Y/n,” Kapkan chuckles as he hands the mug to Buck, and then turns and pauses to pat the other man’s shoulder. “It will only get colder the longer the night goes on.”

“And I will do my best to keep him warm!” Buck boasts with a playful wink, taking a large swig of his drink. The Russians cheer and laugh as they all settle back into their spots, quieting down when Thatcher grumpily tells them to keep it down so he can focus on kicking the other two British operators’ asses at cards. Y/n simply rolls his eyes and tries to absorb as much of Buck’s warmth as he can.

As the night goes on, it does in fact grow colder. Luckily Y/n manages to stay cozy and warm with a solid wall of Canadian muscle pressed up along his back as he sleeps. Yet something wakes Y/n from his slumber. He just isn’t sure what. Turning over, Y/n gazes to see if his lover has also been woken up by whatever has pulled him from his pleasant state. Buck is still snoring softly however with a blissful look on that dashing face.

Maybe he is just imagining things, or is perhaps just uneasy from the unfamiliar environment, and thus simply unable to stay asleep. Since he is already up, Y/n decides that he might also relieve himself so the urge to go does not wake him up again later. So he extracts himself from his lover’s arms without waking him and then slides on his boots. Armed with only a flashlight, Y/n steps out of the safety of the shared tent and towards the tree line. The cold, crisp air feels like a slap to the face that has his skin stinging. It is best to make this a quick trip. The sooner he can get back into the tent, back into the warm and loving arms of his lover the better.

Quickly finishing his business, Y/n goes to  walk back into the clearing, but pauses just inside the circling trees. Something tells him this is exactly what woke him. Lumbering through the center of their campsite is the largest brown bear he has ever seen. In that moment he is glad that he went to the bathroom first, otherwise there would be a mess in his pants.

Luckily, it does not seem that the bear has seen Y/n at all. So, despite his utter fear and terror, Y/n slowly inches his way back over to his tent while never turning his back on the creature. Buck will know what to do. He will keep him safe. So Y/n manages to find himself awkwardly maneuvering his way back into the tent with his gaze still locked on bear. Then he tries to zip it closed as quietly as possible before turning to the still peacefully sleeping Canadian.

“Sébastien, wake up!” Y/n speaks in little over a whisper as he desperately shakes the other man by the shoulder. At this point he wishes that he never agreed to come on this trip. Nobody said anything about there being bears. “Please, Sébastien!”

“Y/n? What time is it? Why are you up? What is going on?” the other man finally cracks his eyes open, but he is clearly still tired and a bit confused. From looking around the tent he can easily tell that it is still the middle of the night.

Just as Y/n opens his mouth to speak again both males hear the sound of the of the beast trailing closer to them. There is barely enough light from the moon to create the shadow of the large beast passing their tent. Instantly Buck is sitting up on high alert, ready for action. It isn’t his first bear encounter, and he is willing to make damn sure it isn’t his last. Y/n bites his lip as he shuffles across the tent to hide behind his lover, pressing up against his back and watching the silhouette of the bear move across their campsite.

“Did the bear see you? Could you see what it was doing?” Buck asks in a near whisper as he reaches across the tent to grab his gun as well as a large canister that looks almost like pepper spray. Y/n shakes his head in response. “Here, this is bear spray. Only use it if and when I tell you to. Got it?”

Several minutes pass of them sitting there, waiting for either the bear to leave or for it to make a sudden move towards them. But it doesn’t attack. It circles the entire campsite, searching every nook and cranny, leaving no stone unturned. Several times it brushes up against the fabric of their tent, and Y/n has to bite back a whimper.

“I’m scared,” Y/n is terrified that if he speaks, the bear will hear him and come after them, but he needs the comfort of his lover’s voice. He desperately clenches handfuls of the other man’s shirt as he tries to keep himself calm. “What are we supposed to do?”

Buck adjusts his hold on the gun, turning so that he can wrap his other arm around Y/n and pull him to his chest. “It will be alright, Y/n, I will keep you safe,” he presses a kiss to the top of his head to punctuate his words. “We must wait. Most likely the bear will lose interest and wander back off. If not, that is what the gun and bear spray are for. But no matter what, I will not let it hurt you.” The Canadian looks directly into Y/n’s eyes as he says those words, and Y/n knows that he is one hundred percent serious.

True to Buck’s words, the bear wanders the clearing for another fifteen minutes or so before it grows disinterested and walks back into the trees. Only then does Y/n sigh and allow himself to relax once more. Buck gives a breathless chuckle as he sets his gun back down and takes the bear spray back.

“Are you alright?” Buck watches his lover with a great deal of concern on his features before pulling Y/n against his chest and tucking his head beneath his chin.

“Yeah, I think so,” Y/n breathes after a few seconds. “Just a little spooked. Remind me not to go out alone again.” There is another chuckle from the Canadian as he slowly drags them back onto their bed pad, pulling off the other man’s boots before he throws the blankets back over them.

[spiderthefirran]

Chapter 2 is here!

Chapter 2

They were, in fact on the road by noon. It had warmed considerably, but there was still a sharp bite to the air that served as a constant reminder that, despite the brightness of the sun, winter was indeed on its way. The cart jostled behind Spider as she hit a rock, jarring the wooden bar irritatingly against her hip bones. The road they were traveling on had deep ruts carved into it from the last rainfall, making it marginally more aggravating to pull the cart than usual. Up ahead the men were talking good naturedly while they walked. Waller as practically glued to Erick, no doubt pestering him with more questions.Thatcher and Penn looked like they would rather crawl back into their bedrolls; Spider was actually surprised the bruisers hadn’t tried to convince her to pull them in the cart. It wouldn’t have been the first time it had been attempted. It still made her want to laugh aloud; recalling the absolutely DISGUSTED look that had earned them from Erick; who she had in fact been hauling in the cart after he had been injured during a skirmish.

“ Hey; cavewoman. Toss me a drink, would you? Getting thirsty up here.” Penn had turned around, walking backwards as he spoke. Spider raised her eyebrow; than shrugged and reached back into the cart to grab one of the skins, before hurling it at him rather harder than necessary. Anyone who said she smiled when he tripped and fell on his arse was a filthy liar. Penn was fun to bicker with; The man was clever and good at pushing people’s buttons. He lay there in the muck until her cart got close enough, and the orc offered him a polite hand to help him up, fighting to keep her face stoic against the grin that threatened to break out.

“ Apologies. Forgot how easy you people are to tip over. Won’t happen again.”

“ Probably deserved that, eh? Snarky Brat. You remind me of my sister. Should make you let me on the cart for that, though.”

Penn snorted, dusting himself off before jogging to catch up with Thatcher, who was doing a piss-poor job of hiding the amusement he felt at watching his best friend get knocked on his arse for being one, his whole torso shaking with barely-contained laughter. This was.. Comfortable. Nice. It made her feel almost normal; and it was worrying how quickly she found herself attached to the group. She tried to remind herself, the only reason she was staying with them was to gather information. They traveled a lot; eventually she would find a lead on the masked being in her memories, and then she would leave. She tried to pretend that it wouldn’t hurt. She had been used to being an outlier; something to be disliked or outright despised by the people around her. Not human; that was clear enough to her, but she FELT like one. What else had she known? Any memories of her old home were foggy and muddled at best, and the human settlements she found herself moving between had known even less about her kind than she did. She was Orc in form and name only.

“ Now that won’t do! Penn you idiot; what did you say now? The lovely lady’s ears are drooping!”

Spider’s eyes snapped up, narrowing irritably as she forcefully twitched the tips of her pointed, barbed ears back into an upright position. They most certainly were not… much at least. Her expression softened slightly when she noted who was talking; the Captain was eyeing her with something like concern, lips pressed together in mock anger, though the glimmer in his eyes betrayed his playfulness. “ Now now, what have I told you about insulting ladies? Especially those that are important to us!” He shot the orc a wide smile, ignoring Penn and Thatcher’s teasing eye rolls and kissy faces. For once she was grateful for the gray of her skin; making it hard to tell when the blood rushed to her face. She schooled her face carefully into a look of contempt and pulled another waterskin from the cart, winging it at the captain a bit more gently than she had Penn.

“ Oh, stuff that in your gob, Captain.”

She snorted, turning her attention back to the bar of the cart held in her purple-stained hands and berating herself internally for that moment of weakness as he went back towards the front of their caravan to talk to Erick, probably asking about what the next town would be like. Erick had been a travelling merchant in his youth, and had visited many of the cities, towns and villages in the kingdom, and the best routes to get there were all mapped out in his head. Spider found it incredible, the amount of information he was able to pack into his head at any given time. Without him they would likely be wandering aimlessly, rather than moving on a carefully plotted route. She had been told their next stop was the town of Carium, a town located in the mountain passes. There were a few obstacles in their way from what he had told them, the first of which was Hawkin’s Ravine. She had overheard the Captain discussing it with Erick the night before; the road lead down through the giant crack in the earth, and it was a notorious spot for bandits to camp out at, using the higher ground to their advantage to surround the caravans. The land around the top of the ravines was notoriously unstable and swampy, leading to the road passing through the more vulnerable area instead of taking a different path. If they were lucky, they would encounter no trouble, as the ravine had been cleared out recently by another group they had encountered on the road a few days before.

The road under her feet had been dusty and dry since they had broke camp, but it slowly became darker and softer as the plains gave way into swampland. This was where they would wait, according to Erick, until nightfall to slip through the ravine. Using Spider’s excellent night vision to guide them, if there were any bandits set up, they could either slip past or ambush them much more effectively. She set the cart handle down carefully and stretched, feeling bones shift back into place with a satisfying crack. It was her turn to fish a waterskin from the cart and take a long drink; it was still a few hours before it would be dark enough to travel; so there would be time to prepare something for everyone to eat. She had shot a rabbit along the road several hours before, so she unstrung it from the side of the cart and set about skinning and gutting the creature; stew was something so simple even she could make taste half decent, all you needed was a pinch of salt and pepper and it was good to go.

Waller came to join her by the fire as she stirred the pot with a long-handled wooden spoon. The sun was going down, the sky stained red, purple and gold. She silently filled a bowl and handed it to him, watching as he hurried to hand it off to someone else and than return for another, until everyone had a bowl. Seated around the fire, in the dark while everyone talked and ate, she felt a comfortable sense of peace settle around her. Erick came to sit nearby, next to her and Waller.

“ Capn’ wants you taking up the front tonight; your in charge of leading us through the ravine.”

The old man spooned a bite of stew into his mouth, pulling a slight face.

“ For the love of-- how much pepper did you add? Do you even have a sense of taste, girl?” Despite his complaint he took another mouthful, and Spider scowled.

“ I’ve told you, if you’re going to whine than you can cook, you crotchety bastard.”

She surreptitiously took a bite of her own; which she thought tasted perfectly fine, and took Waller’s soft laughter in stride. “ Can you tell me anything else about this ravine? Any landmarks in particular I need to watch for?” If she was in charge of leading the pack, she wanted to make sure they stayed on the right path.

“ Just follow the road and we’ll be fine, girl. It isn’t complicated, even Penn or Thatcher could do it, if they could see in the dark.” Erick droned, scraping his bowl loudly before chucking it off to the side of the fire. “ I’m goin’ to get a bit of sleep fore’ we head out. Don’t wake me.”

She watched him hobble off into the dark, grumbling quiet complaints to himself. Waller glanced over at her, than offered a friendly arm-nudge.

“ If it makes you feel better, I like pepper.” He offered, lips curling up into a small smile. Spider just scowled and reached over, roughly tousling his hair.

“Shut up, Waller. I appreciate it, though.” He was a good kid; and always willing to help with a good conscience. She let out a rare laugh as he swatted her hand away, sulking like a child.

“ Get some sleep, kid. It’ll be a long night.”

[thehiddenlawyer]

Stranger Than Kindness Chapter 13 (The Six Thatchers, II)

See if you can spot the bit of Christopher I sprinkled in there!

Enjoy!! Ao3

The morning of the baptism, they made a show of Mrs. Hudson and Sherlock picking Molly up in a cab before heading to the church together. He blinked at her outfit, languidly running his eyes over her body with the aching familiarity of a long-time lover, raising a brow at the red turban woven through her hair. But he declined to comment, pursing his lips as he sat between her and Mrs. Hudson in the back, his fingers brushing against her bare leg at every given opportunity but his eyes never straying from his phone screen for long.

When they arrived at the church, she had to consciously draw away from him, realizing that their bodies were so used to the other’s proximity that they naturally canted towards each other, heads nearly touching even though he wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings. Their body’s betrayed them, wanting the world to know that they were more than anyone suspected, that they wanted to become so much more, striving to create a new life together, a new being that would be part her, part him. She stood by his arm, feeling the warmth of his skin through his jacket even as she listened to the words spoken so reverently over her goddaughter, nudging him, and rolling his eyes at his insolence, her cheeks bursting as she fought to suppress her laughter when his phone’s Siri function went off.

It was a disaster trying to get him to stand still long enough for the photographer to take their picture with their goddaughter. “Honestly,” she hissed, glancing up at him, “Rosie’s better at picture than you!”

He glanced at her, seeing that she was quite serious about the pictures and finally stashed his phone away, petulantly rolling his eyes, “fine, I’ll give my attention to these horrendous pictures as a bunch of so-called adults wearing their Sunday best stand around a squalling, crying, extremely tired infant who’s just been manhandled and nearly drowned by a stranger chanting strange incantations to an imaginary god, ignoring the fact that the infant neither cares nor understands the pictures she is being forced to partake in, and she just wants to go back to the comfort of her mother’s arms and her milk.”

She didn’t say anything for a few moments, barely registering the fact that she had nearly slipped her arm through his as they sat in the pew, her cheek against his shoulder. Sitting up straighter, she looked into his beautiful eyes with a raised brow and soft voice, “you do remember that I’m Catholic, right?”

“Roman Catholic,” he corrected her, like he always did.

Molly grinned, touching the back of his hand with her fingertips, the light touch enough to remind him of her love when they weren’t in the privacy of their home, “our baby will be baptized too, with godparents, and even a party afterwards.”

His eyes flared slightly as he looked at her, “our baby,” he repeated solemnly, the smile on his lips indescribable, “our baby.”

Mary’s voice broke through their bubble, Molly looked up to see her friend’s shrewd eyes watching them, “I want a picture of Rosie with just Molly and Sherlock,” Mary looked at Mrs. Hudson, “you don’t mind do you, Mrs. Hudson?”

“Of course not!” Mrs. Hudson grinned.

Rosie was fussy, having been passed around parents and family members for pictures, getting tired of the changing, often unfamiliar faces. Sherlock was rolling his eyes as they walked to the front of the church, Mary handing the crying bundle to Sherlock. Molly grinned as Rosie instantly quieted in her godfather’s arms, something in Molly’s womb shivered to life as she watched Sherlock easily carrying the infant in the crook of his arm, talking to her as if she understood him, the smile on his face radiant.

She listened for a moment, laughing at his words, “oh I know little one, I know,” he sympathized, “these ridiculous grown-ups and their rituals, combined with their inarticulable need to memorialize everything,” he grinned at her, “when you’re older, I’ll teach you to cause enough mischief that situations like this will become either extinct or at least bearable.” She realized she was rubbing her stomach as she watched the two, heard Rosie’s gurgling and cooing at Sherlock’s attention, the little girl clearly pleased with her godfather.

Molly stood next to them, Sherlock holding their goddaughter between them, Molly arms wrapped around his waist, her fingers over his under Rosie’s warm body. She smiled into the camera lens, surrounded by her love’s familiar cologne and her goddaughter’s sweet scent, wondering just how much Mary had seen, how much she had understood.

The party at John and Mary’s after the baptism was a small affair for the closest friends and family, the day surprisingly sunny with nearly everyone deciding to take advantage of the weather by going in the Watson’s yard with their drinks. Molly remained inside, more comfortable standing behind the kitchen counter, lost in her thoughts as she sipped her glass of water, unaware of her own thoughts. Mary breezed into the kitchen unexpectedly, pulling Molly from her daydreams, “what are you doing standing here all by yourself?” Mary demanded. 

Molly chuckled, setting her glass down, “I guess I’m feeling a little introverted right now, I’m sorry.”

Mary waved her hand, fussing around the kitchen, “I totally understand,” she assured her, “so how long have you and Sherlock been together?”

Molly nearly spat her water out, but she wasn’t necessarily surprised. The surprise came more from the fact that it had taken Mary this long to put two and two together. She cleared her throat, grabbing a napkin to wipe at the water that had dribbled down her chin and onto her chest, “uh,” she cleared her throat, “I don’t know honestly,” she laughed slightly, “I want to say our entire lives but my math would seem a little off at that.”

Chuckling, Mary stood across the counter from her, “ever since he got shot?” Trying to hide her smile, wondering how the other woman would react if she knew that Molly knew all about her past life, that Mary had shot Sherlock… “Before that,” she answered, “uhm, around the time he was uh, pretending to be dead.”

“Wow,” Mary breathed, “I’d suspected something was going on but—wait! Wow. Janine? Oh my God, and Tom?”

Molly squirmed, “that was a…rough patch,” she cleared her throat.

“Why are you keeping it a secret? I don’t even think John knows.”

“No one knows,” she confirmed, “Mycroft may suspect because he—” she waved away the words before she gave so many secrets away, “but yeah, we—we don’t want people…knowing.”

“Why though?” Mary persisted.

Shrugging, Molly looked at the clear surface of her glass of water, thinking the blue tint of the glass and the yellowish counter created a color similar to Sherlock’s eyes. The thought that she might currently be carrying his child floated through her mind, warming her, and she prayed their baby would have his eyes and his cheekbones and his lips, and while she was it, she wished their baby would have his hair and intelligence too, his sharp wits and heart capable of so much love and bravery. “I don’t know,” she murmured in answer to Mary, “it’s just nice to be together without anyone else’s interference or input, whether good bad or indifferent. It’s—it’s better being each other’s secret,” she cleared her throat, “and I think—I think he worries about me—”

“About you being used against him,” Mary finished, her voice soft, a slight frown forming between her eyes as if recalling her own struggles, the sacrifices she’d been ready to make for her loved ones.

“Yes,” Molly said weakly.

“You don’t mind?” Mary asked with a raised brow, “I mean, everyone is just assuming you’ve been pining for Tom and Sherlock, stuck in a rut.”

Molly chuckled softly, feeling strange to hear the perceptions about her out loud. She knew what she came off as, a young woman in her prime on the fast track to becoming a spinster with a house full of cats, socially awkward and inept at dating or keeping a lover, with a hopeless, school girl crush on a man that barely ever acknowledged her presence. But she knew the truth, their truth, and it was her salve, the secret smile on her lips was for her and her lover to relish, “not really,” she answered Mary, “I like that he’s—he’s my secret.”

That moment, the object of her thoughts walked in. The day had been warm enough that even he had taken off his navy-blue jacket, rolling up the sleeves of his pristine, light blue shirt. Molly’s appreciatively watched the way the blue material stretched to the brink across his shoulders and chest, that poor button straining against his broad chest, making her fingers itch to stroke the warm skin underneath, his forearms thick and busting with muscles he had recently gained. With a single glance at her and Mary, he knew the proverbial cat was out of the back, his shoulders dropping as he rolled his eyes, “you’re getting slow Mary, I thought you would have figured it out ages ago.”

Mary laughed a fake, teasing laugh, “considering the two of you are never in the same room long enough for anyone to notice anything,” she raised an eyebrow, “I figured all this out without much proof. I can get some credit.”

He walked around the counter, coming to stand next to Molly. He didn’t touch her, didn’t wrap his arm around her waist or even glance at her, he just stood next to her, letting their bodies betray them as they always did, angled towards each other. “Mary—”

Mary’s expression softened as she held up her hand, “I know Sherlock, I know,” she glanced at Molly, “your secret is safe with me.”

Sherlock took Molly home not long after that, feeding everyone some believable excuse about their early departure together. Molly reluctantly gave Rosie to her father, pressing a kiss to her goddaughter’s soft forehead, smiling at the little girl’s strong grip around her finger. “Now, now young Miss Watson,” Sherlock murmured, mimicking Molly as he kissed Rosie’s forehead, “you must let go of your godmother’s finger. She has to get back home to attend to some important work, you’ll understand better when you’re older.”

“You are not taking my daughter to a crime scene, Sherlock,” John Watson joked but Mary’s smile was all-too-knowing, waving at them as he climbed into the cab after Molly.

They sat together, their fingers intertwined, hidden from the cabbie’s view beneath the folds of Sherlock’s great coat. The drive to her flat was silent, no words necessary, and his phone stayed in his pocket the entire ride as he looked out at London with a slight frown, rubbing his chin with his long middle finger, deep in thought. He followed her into the flat, letting her close the door before he pressed her back against it, bending down to kiss her slowly, tasting her as he filled his hands with her softness, kneading her flesh with knowing, familiar fingers as he drew soft moans from her.

“I’ve been wanting to do this all day,” he told her, one hand reaching up to release her hair from the turban, “but I’ve been wanting to do this even more,” he murmured, his hands slipping beneath the hem of her short dress and drawing it up, bunching it around her waist as he ran his hands over her thighs. There was something in his eyes, a luminous light that left his mouth working to find the words that were lost to him, leaving him frustrated until Molly brushed her lips to his, silencing his thoughts as she slipped her small hand beneath his shirt, spreading her fingers over his chest, over his beating heart.

Eventually she pulled back with a sigh, in that profoundly beautiful silence between them, she intertwined their hands together. She led him upstairs where they filled the silence with sighs and impatient whispers, with moans that entreated the heavens and the earth for more…God, please, more…for release, prayers of pleading to whatever power in the universe had brought them together to let them disappear in the other. She pressed her forehead against his chest, gasping when he came inside her, holding himself rigidly above her as his body shook and quaked with the force of his pleasure, her lips his saving grace as he floated down to her, her arms his retreat from the world.

------ 

It was a gloomy Tuesday night but in Molly’s heart there was sunshine and rainbows, and she was tempted to start spouting poetry or even singing show tunes, if only to annoy her Sherlock. He was sitting on her countertop, his jacket long forgotten on her sofa, shirtsleeves rolled back, swinging his long legs like a schoolboy as he watched her cook dinner for them. His voice carried through her soul as he told her about the case he’d just solved, the poor young man that had died in his parents’ driveway, his remains hidden there for a week before being discovered.

“That poor kid,” she murmured, pausing to look at him, “I can’t even imagine.”

He waved his hand dismissively, “that’s not the most interesting part,” he said, dunking a ginger nut into his tea, making her smile even as he told her about the broken Thatcher bust.

“So?” she raised a brow.

“So,” he breathed, “there’s a thread loose in the world.”

Molly laughed at him, “well, before you go merrily tugging on it and unraveling the great mystery of a broken Thatcher bust, stir this sauce will you, I only have two hands. Make yourself useful.”

He hopped off the counter but instead of taking the spoon from her, he stood behind her, gripping her hips and nuzzling her neck, his breath warm, his lips wet as he pressed her back against him, “you will find that I can be incredibly useful.”

Smiling, Molly pressed her head back against his shoulder, accepting the soft kiss he pressed to her mouth, sighing in utter contentment as his hands stroked her lower belly reverently. Her mind had latched on to the horrors the parents must have gone through, the horrors they were still wallowing in their home, their beloved child taken from them at such a young age. A part of her suddenly revolted against the idea of having a child, repulsed by the idea of the anxiety she would experience on a daily basis, the constant worry for her child’s safety, their well-being, responsible for their happiness.

“There’s been something you’ve been wanting to say all evening Molly,” he growled against her lips, “out with it then,” he blinked rapidly, the muscles in his jaw ticking rhythmically and she felt his palm on her stomach increase in pressure, “oh God, are you pregnant?”

“No!” she turned in his arms, wanting to laugh at the expression on his face, “not yet,” she murmured, placing her hands on his solid chest, “I was just—I’ve been just…thinking about…you and me. And—and having a baby.”

“What about it?” “I guess I’ve been…wondering about the—the logistics?” she cleared her throat, distracting herself by watching the way the muscles in his throat worked when he swallowed, avoiding his piercing gaze.

“Yes?” he pressed her to continue.

“Would—would we tell people that you’re the…father?” her voice was small even though she had intended to sound stronger, more secure in her knowledge of their love, of the life they wanted to create together.

“I suppose we must, especially when the child bears a striking resemblance to me and carries my name,” he said with a raised brow, running his hands down her back, “and before you ask the next silly question I see in your eyes—” he stopped, lifting her chin up to look at him with his fingertips, his voice carrying the warmth of a volcano, his eyes understanding, “everyone that matters will know that you and I are together, that we have been together, that this child wasn’t an accident but a logical, next step in our relationship. I…I admit I am worried about the security of our baby, our child, but I am willing risk it all for her. Or him, when they get here. As for living arrangements,” he spoke over her, “I figured we would live here, since your flat is so much bigger than mine and give our child more room, and I would retain Baker Street as an office of sorts.”

Molly wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her lips to his throat as they held each other in the kitchen as tears rolled down her cheeks in wonderment, amazed at him, at the way he gave himself to the idea of becoming a father.

[placetobenation]

The Road to WrestleMania is off to a white hot start!

Your first two superstars set for Tampa April 10-11 are Bianca Belair and Edge with their respective Royal Rumble wins. Both had magical runs with Edge running the table for a full hour from the #1 spot while Belair almost matched him from the #3 position, going 56+ minutes.

I thought both Rumble matches were very good with men’s being a bit more cohesive. They missed a storyline detail with Orton’s face being magically cured just 6 days after seeing it exposed on RAW. I’m glad they didn’t go down the road of Orton missing most of the Rumble with the new injury and then coming back at the end to eliminate Edge. Edge going wire-to-wire was inspirational. Ricochet being in and no Keith Lee was never explained, although I’m sure it was COVID-19 related for Lee with Mia Yim already announcing she had tested positive prior that weekend. Bad Bunny taking out The Miz & John Morrison was your entertainment clip for the next day and the start of a beautiful relationship with the WWE for Latin rapper/wrestling fan. Good showings for the returning Seth Rollins, Big E and Damian Priest with 4 eliminations a piece to lead the men. Omos got two eliminations from the outside when he pulled out Big E and Rey Mysterio. At what point do they expose him to some action in the ring?

Bad Bunny Hits Frog Splash Off the Top Rope at Royal Rumble, Take That Miz! https://t.co/d7AlwU7lqx

— TMZ (@TMZ) February 2, 2021

On the women’s side, Billie Kay was funny, Rhea Ripley was a beast with a night-topping 7 eliminations and the final three was fantastic with Belair, Ripley and Flair.

Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens stole the night going around Tropicana Field beating the holy hell out of each other. I’m just glad Paul Heyman finally got those handcuffs off!

Sasha Banks vs. Carmella was very good, but I just wonder what they do with Carmella now after all the hype.

Drew McIntyre and Goldberg did what they needed to do – pass the torch of respect and keep Goldberg in mind, looking relatively strong for another match at WrestleMania.

The less we say about the kick-off women’s tag team championship match the better. Predictable as the day is long and we get Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler as champs again, YAWN!

Star of the Week:

Edge – Seriously, is any explanation needed?!

RAW

RESULTS

United States Championship Match: Riddle defeated Bobby Lashley by DQ

Xavier Woods defeated Mustafa Ali

Damian Priest defeated The Miz

RAW Tag Team Championship Match: The Hurt Business defeated Lucha House Party

Triple Threat Tag Team Elimination Match: Naomi & Lana defeated Charlotte Flair & Asuka and Mandy Rose & Dana Brooke to win championship match

Jeff Hardy & Carlito defeated Jaxson Ryker & Elias

Alexa Bliss defeated Nikki Cross

Edge defeated Randy Orton

Needless to say Edge is having one hell of a week and Monday Night RAW and thus, we the fans, are benefitting.

Monday Night EDGE was full of the Royal Rumble winner from Sunday night. First, off, he sets the tone for the night by telling WWE Champion Drew McIntyre that he and he only, will set the place and time when he decides who Edge will face at WrestleMania.

Why @WWESheamus WHY?! The Celtic Warrior has just Brogue Kicked his best friend @DMcIntyreWWE on #WWERaw! pic.twitter.com/YoDWX6oyuN

— WWE (@WWE) February 2, 2021

Just a few moments later, Sheamus turned on his friend of 20 years, setting up their feud and future title match.

Amazing.@ArcherofInfamy just got words of encouragement from @EdgeRatedR. What a first night on #WWERaw! pic.twitter.com/WzjQ2KQxST

— WWE (@WWE) February 2, 2021

Then, later on in the show, Edge gives his rub and thumbs up to Damian Priest, RAW’s newest member after his Royal Rumble debut. Finally, after a challenge from old friend Randy Orton, Edge puts to bed his feud with The Legend Killer with an assist from Alexa Bliss. A fun night of EDGE indeed!

An unnerving distraction, to say the least, for @RandyOrton…#WWERaw @AlexaBliss_WWE pic.twitter.com/paRiHFui8X

— WWE (@WWE) February 2, 2021

Speaking of Little Miss Bliss, she continues to be a primetime player, inserting herself into the finish of the Edge/Orton match, paying back The Viper for his costing her the RAW Women’s Championship one week earlier. You wonder if at some point, they have them face-off in the ring in an intergender match. And oh yes, we’re just waiting for the reincarnation of The Fiend before WrestleMania.

It looks like we will get an intergender match between Xavier Woods and RECKONING once Mia Yim comes back from COVID-19. It’s now 2-2 between Woods and RETRIBUTION, so Woods wants the tiebreaker. We can only hope it’s as good as Sasha Banks vs. Reginald.

Damian Priest, along with Bad Bunny, made their RAW debuts a successful one taking out The Miz. Say what you will about celebrities, but I though Bad Bunny made a good showing with the leap off the top rope at the Royal Rumble and then with appearance on MizTV followed by the Priest/Miz match. I can just see a tag team match down the road, maybe at WrestleMania coming. It’s a win-win for the WWE with mainstream following of Bad Bunny. BTW: Booker T is hilarious in his old GI Bro get-up for the video.

Nice to see Carlito back in the Rumble and on RAW. Not sure why he’s teaming with Jeff Hardy other than filling up a spot to take down Jaxon Ryker & Elias, a team that seems to be going nowhere after an impressive start.

As for The Hurt Business, Bobby Lashley won the war but lost the battle by DQ to Riddle. There’s most to come between those two I’m sure. Meanwhile, the tension continues between Cedric Alexander, Shelton Benjamin and MVP. It’s only a matter of time before the unfortunate break-up between these three. It’s unnecessary for sure.

NXT

RESULTS

Dusty Rhodes Women’s Tag Team Classic Semifinals: Raquel Gonzalez & Dakota Kai defeated Kacy Catanzaro & Kayden Carter

Austin Theory defeated Leon Ruff

Dusty Rhodes Men’s Tag Team Classic Quarterfinals: Legado del Fantasma defeated Lucha House Party

Jessi Kamea defeated Toni Storm by DQ

NXT Cruiserweight Championship Match: Santos Escobar defeated Curt Stallion

Dusty Rhodes Men’s Tag Team Classic Quarterfinals: Timothy Thatcher & Tommaso Ciampa defeated The Undisputed Era

Talk about a jam packed two-hour show folks! NXT had it in spades Wednesday night.

.@KacyCatanzaro is a HUMAN HIGHLIGHT REEL.#WWENXT #DustyClassic @RaquelWWE pic.twitter.com/pm7E2BnePb

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) February 4, 2021

To start the night, Raquel Gonzalez & Dakota Kai fought off a valiant effort from the underdog team of Kacy Catanzaro & Kayden Carter to gain a spot in the Dusty Rhodes Women’s Tag Team Classic Finals. Truth be told, I thought Kacy & Kayden were going to pull off the upset until Gonzalez’ brute strength won out.

What can you say about Leon Ruff and Austin Theory? Loved the way the match played out. Everything was entertaining and made sense. Ember Moon, Shotzi Blackheart, Indie Hartwell and Candice LeRae was just enough to let Ruff pull off an Eddie Guerrero tribute to get Johnny Gargano tossed. Theory getting the win was the right choice and then Dexter Lumis making the save while pulling out Theory’s hair extends the story.

Lucha Libre grabbed the spotlight as Legado del Fantasma took out Lucha House Party in a high-flying match. Now, we get MSK and Legado in the Dusty Rhodes Men’s Classic Semi’s next week in what will be a certain classic.

.@EdgeRatedR hasn't held the #NXTTitle yet. Ya know, #WrestleMania would be a great time to hold it… just saying.#WWENXT @FinnBalor @PeteDunneYxB pic.twitter.com/GMU6NixS4e

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) February 4, 2021

What better way to put more intensity into Finn Balor and Pete Dunne’s NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day announcement then to put the Rater R Superstar right in the middle of it! Edge’s first visit to NXT puts even more intrigue into who the Royal Rumble winner will face at WrestleMania. Talk about a promo bringing goosebumps. That was it, friends. Straight to the point and I loved the line about sometimes in WWE they focus more about the “E” but in NXT, it’s more about the “W.” 

"𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒉𝒂 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦."#WWENXT pic.twitter.com/Y0WphQYYE6

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) February 4, 2021

How old is Tian Sha? Did they 1,000 years old? #Intrigued

I could’ve done without the run-in by Mercedes Martinez and Io Shira in the Toni Storm vs. Jessi Kamea match. The DQ ending in under two minutes didn’t do anyone any justice. But, let’s be honest, when Shirai, Storm and Martinez is the low point of your show, that’s a pretty damn good night!

Never scared, never intimidated, ALWAYS Chingon #NORespect

@WWE belongs to my Legado. pic.twitter.com/djbR1uL8UB

— SANTOS ESCOBAR

(@EscobarWWE) February 4, 2021

Santos Escobar is Elite. That much he proved again with another successful defense of his NXT Cruiserweight Championship over Curt Stallion. There’s few that can match in move for move in the ring. But, now where will this latest beef with Karrion Kross lead to while Scarlett watches him win and then Kross gives him the gift of time after beating up Joaquin Wilde and Raul Mendoza. Tick. Tock. Who’s on the clock. Could it be Edge and Kross? Yes, please!

"Words like that, they can be motivating. They can motivate me to come back here. I don't think you'd like that." – @EdgeRatedR to @WWEKarrionKross We'd like that very much tho' #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/QplaMEd2fY

— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) February 4, 2021

Pretty sure bodies aren't meant to bend like that. #WWENXT (via @WWENXT) pic.twitter.com/5dUnjnWpog

— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) February 4, 2021

For a team that was just thrown together out of respect, Tommaso Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher are making things mighty interesting in the Dusty Rhodes Men’s Tag Team Classic! I knew it would be a good main event, but that was one fun, physical match against The Undisputed Era. Thatcher even gave himself up so that Ciampa could get the pin over Roderick Strong with the Willow’s Bell. Now, it’s the Grizzled Young Veterans in the semis next week.

SMACKDOWN

RESULTS

Dominik Mysterio defeated King Corbin

Cesaro defeated Daniel Bryan

Bayley defeated Ruby Riott

Non-title SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match: Robert Roode & Dolph Ziggler defeated Otis & Chad Gable

Intercontinental Championship Triple Threat Match: Big E defeated Sami Zayn and Apollo Crews to retain title

Even an assault on both Rey and Dominik Mysterio before the match didn’t eliminate the chance of yet another Corbin vs. Dominik match this week. At least Mysterio got the pinfall this time, but it still didn’t really give me any intrigue as to why I should be invested in their story. Has Corbin given us any reason why hates the Mysterios so much? Nah, didn’t think so.

.@WWECesaro picks up a HUGE win over @WWEDanielBryan on #SmackDown! pic.twitter.com/qGw3wq4G3H

— WWE (@WWE) February 6, 2021

In better news, we get more Cesaro and Daniel Bryan. Just give these guys 60 minutes and an Ironman Match already! Love the run that Cesaro is on. There’s got to be a nice payoff coming for the King of Swing. Maybe he’ll get the spot against Roman Reigns that we all thought Bryan was going to get.

It'll be #BossTime at @DAYTONA!#SmackDown @SashaBanksWWE @NASCARONFOX pic.twitter.com/qdZr8ssMC3

— WWE (@WWE) February 6, 2021

Vroom! Vroom! Sasha Banks is going to get them started at the Daytona 500!

Give me more Reginald! Every week, he puts himself more and more of the spotlight. This week, though, he does protest too much and after telling Bianca Belair that she can’t beat Sasha, he gets a hairful of whipping ponytail across his backside. No official decision from the EST, but things are heating up with Banks, Carmella, Belair and of course, Reggie.

New music for the tag team champs plus a win over Otis & Chad Gable. Nice commentary work by The Street Profits. I’ll put this one in the same place as Bayley vs. Ruby Riott, more filler than anything special. Not bad, just not memorable.

#SmackDown @EdgeRatedR @ShinsukeN pic.twitter.com/MGbHheksHX

— WWE (@WWE) February 6, 2021

Edge and Shinsuke Nakamura. Respect.

Not sure Edge needed the Hulk Hogan rub but it was nice going down memory lane 33 years ago for Hogan vs. Andre on The Main Event.

Bye bye, @SamiZayn! #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/dfP9gvs3va

— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) February 6, 2021

Good three-way work for the I-C Title between Big E, Sami Zayn and Apollo Crews. Poor Sami, gets power-pressed into the timekeeper’s area after Crews stopped him from pinning Big E for the title. In the end, Big E retains over Crews and continues his ascent on SmackDown. Who’s next?

Who will @EdgeRatedR choose to face at @WrestleMania? pic.twitter.com/Agl2AmYqap

— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) February 6, 2021

Edge wraps up his week on SmackDown. But, will we get an answer to who he’ll face at WrestleMania? Reigns wants acknowledgement. Edge says he’s already taking up space in Roman’s head but he’s not here alone. Bingo! Once Reigns clears Paul Heyman and Jey Uso from the ring, Kevin Owens is back with a stunner. No decision from Edge but we do get one long smirk to end the show. Keep the intrigue going! Great decision. Slow walk it and build up the anticipation on all the shows!

Parting Shots:

Still cannot believe @RonKillings managed to cut a flawless promo on my show after tossing me around my room and taking my title! https://t.co/nIck9htkey via @YouTube

— Peter Rosenberg (@Rosenbergradio) February 2, 2021

Nicely done Peter Rosenberg. Less than 24 hours as 24/7 Champion and losing it on the YES Network LIVE!

Things are looking sweet for Valentine’s Day at NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day.

NXT Championship: Finn Balor vs. Pete Dunne

NXT Women’s Championship Triple Threat Match: Io Shirai vs. Toni Storm vs. Mercedes Martinez

NXT North American Championship Match: Johnny Gargano vs. KUSHIDA

Dusty Rhodes Women’s Tag Team Classic Finals

Dusty Rhodes Men’s Tag Team Classic Finals

Coming up this week:

RAW: What’s next for Sheamus and Drew McIntyre?

NXT: Cameron Grimes returns Dusty Rhodes Women’s Tag Team Classic Semifinals: Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell vs. Shotzi Blackheart & Ember Moon Dusty Rhodes Men’s Tag Team Classic Semifinals: Grizzled Young Veterans vs. Tommaso Ciampa & Timothy Thatcher Dusty Rhodes Men’s Tag Team Classic Semifinals: MSK vs. Legado del Fantasma

SMACKDOWN: Seth Rollins returns

Thanks for letting us share our thoughts! Shoot me an email at jcrowe567@gmail.com. We’d love to hear your comments and suggestions! You can also check out my blog, The Crowe’s Nest as we delve into more pro wrestling, sports entertainment and the World of Sports. My apologies ahead of time – I AM a Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics and Bruins fan! If you’re not down with that, I’ve got TWO WORDS for you… NEW ENGLAND