#this is a longer one

[justplainwhump]

Marta

Adrian takes Blanca/Bea to see an old confidante.

[pet safety masterpost]

Content: BBU (mostly discussed via pet lib shenanigans), part of a recovery arc. A lot of family background on Adrian, but like, kind of loving.

The gallery was in one of the side streets, tucked between a shawarma place and a high end dental clinic. Laurel Crane, Art Gallery & Classes, it said in the window, and underneath the name hung the poster of a past exhibition. It wasn't a particularly popular place, it wasn't a particularly shady one either.

While Laurel Crane didn't exist, the art classes were real, so was the art, and it was quite a stretch for anyone to assume this was the main hub of the city's pet lib movement.

Even more so when looking at the gallerist, a slender woman with long dark locks pulled into a loose braid. She wore a simple-but-stylish sleeveless black dress, her muscular arms underneath littered with specks of paint on top of dark bruises.

"A-", she called out, but let the syllable hang between them in the moment her gaze fell on Bea.

"She knows my name," Adrian said with a half apologetic smile and folded his arms. "She knows a lot about me."

"Oh?" Marta raised a brow, perfectly covering up the frown he knew was hiding underneath. "Looks a little like you, too. Nice shirt."

Adrian grimaced.

"Thank you." Bea smiled, and it stung, how real it felt. There was no reason for her to trust Marta, she knew nothing about her at all, she'd lived her entire conscious life in a surroundings where everyone was ready to hurt her, and yet she easily called up a radiant, heartwarming smile at a stranger. "You look beautiful, too."

"That's not what I said," Marta replied softly. "I didn't compliment your beauty. I like your choice of clothes. I'm Marta."

"I'm..." Bea glanced over at Adrian, asking for permission, and he nodded. "Bea."

Marta pointedly looked at the shape of Beatrix Kiddo on Bea's yellow T-shirt and then at him. "Boys will be boys, Adrian, huh?"

"Coincidence," Adrian said stiffly. Of course she commented on it. She was a pet lib leader, a strategist and commander, but some things would never change.

Marta had directed her attention back at Bea. "Hi, Bea. I work with some people who help pets that got away from their owners. I'll help Adrian to find a place for you at-"

"She's not free."

Marta's attention snapped to him, eyes narrowed, searching his face, and finding a reply way to easily. She sighed deeply. "Oh, little one, no."

"Yeah." Adrian averted his gaze. "Things didn't work as planned. I bought her."

"You can still free her."

"You know I can't."

Marta closed her eyes for some seconds, before she nodded. "Yeah. No. You can't."

She exhaled deeply. "Hey, Bea? I would like to talk to Adrian alone for a moment. Are you okay, looking at the paintings here, while we step into the office?"

Bea looked at him nervously, before Marta pointed at a glass wall with a neat little desk behind. "It's just over there. We'll leave the blinds open so you can see him at all times."

"Okay." Bea bit her lip. "I... It's... it's not his fault, Madam Marta. He helped me. I, ... please don't send me away."

"Oh, Bea, sweetie," Marta said, and rested a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. He's not in trouble."

-

"You're in trouble," Marta said, once the door fell close behind them. "And it's not just because you gave my heartfelt gift to someone else."

"I know," Adrian replied and let himself sink into her office chair. "That's why I came here."

Marta reached a water carafe and filled two glasses, pushing one over to him. "It's been a while since you last came to me about advice dealing with cute girls."

Adrian grinned sheepishly. "Or cute boys."

Her face darkened, before she shook her head. "Still think I messed that one up though. Anyway. Let's talk about Bea." She jugged her chin into Bea's direction. "How did Jack Donnell's Chewtoy end up in my T-shirt and your possession?"

"Ray told you?"

"Not all of it, it seems."

"Izzy is out. Tried to run the job across her, declare Bea dead. But WRU is getting more careful with access to their systems."

Marta ran a hand through her hair. "So you bought her?"

Adrian pressed his lips together and nodded shortly. "You know what the alternative was."

"I know what the consequence of this choice is, too. Given that for all I know you've gotten yourself another complaint. We need you at your best at WRU, considered completely loyal. Trusted."

"I couldn't let her die."

"I know." The smile that tugged at Marta's lips was melancholic, almost sad. Marta smiled, and it looked almost melancholic. "I've always known you're not cut out for the job."

"But I'm the one who volunteered for it."

"And nobody else did sacrifice as much as you." She sighed. "Point is, you're too good for WRU. Too good for us, too."

"Whatever you or Ray say, Matti, I won't give her up."

She nodded. "Yeah. You're right. Ray will want you to."

"And you?"

"I like her shirt." Marta bit her lip. "You've sacrificed enough, Adri. As your leader, of course Ray is right. As your big sister, I want you to get out of this. Take Bea, get her to Canada, be..." She shrugged. "Whatever. A bus driver, as you've always wanted."

"When we were like, five." Adrian smirked. "I hate traffic. I'd make a horrible bus driver."

She raised an eyebrow. "You're implying what, now? You want to go on?"

"My boss thinks I bought Bea as a career move. If I don't mess up, I think she'll recommend me for a promotion soon."

Marta frowned. "Management level access?"

"Yeah."

She leaned back. "Fuck. We can't let that chance pass."

"I want to do it. I don't want to run." He searched for her gaze. "And I won't give up Bea either."

"She's not Eric, you know that, right?"

Adrian's jaw clenched. "Not everything I do is about Eric."

"Bullshit. Everything you do is about Eric." She grimaced. "Everything I do is about Eric, too."

"I can save her."

"Can you?" Marta folded her arms. "You want to work on deconditioning her under the eyes of your hyper-aware colleagues at WRU who know exactly what that looks like, while spying on them and their clients at the same time?"

He followed her gaze, looking at Bea walking through the exhibition room. They both stayed silent for a while, until Adrian shrugged. "I do."

"Even if you think you're capable of that. Is she? She'll need to keep your secrets. Your life depends on it, then. And by proxy, many more."

"Her life depends on me keeping her safe." Adrian kept his voice even, his gaze on Bea standing in front of one of the paintings. "She trusts me with it. And I trust her." He glanced back at Marta. "I didn't just give away your shirt. I also used your recipe for cheese sauce. First meal she picked. She loved it."

"Appropriate. It's very good. Very comforty, too." She considered him with a frown. "That going to be some sort of emotional manipulation? You do you, little brother. I've got your back. Always."

"It's only twenty-one minutes," Adrian replied, like he'd done his entire life.

Her reply was new, though. "How many minutes did it take for you to fall in love with her?"

"I- I didn't..." Adrian looked at Bea, then back at Marta.

She grinned. "Few minutes can make a big difference. That's all I'm saying." She reached out to ruffle his hair, but her hand froze midair and she hissed sharply.

Alarmed, Adrian looked at her, the bruises on her left arm, the way she held herself. More stiff than usual. Weight shifted to the right side. Broken rib, he thought. Why hadn't he seen it sooner? "You're injured. What happened?"

She smirked and lowered her hand again. "Officially? Fell off a rock while bouldering."

"And the unofficial one?"

"Rerouted a WRU shipping truck." Marta looked up at him with a half grin. "Your colleagues didn't go down without a fight."

"But they did go down?"

"They did." She grimaced. "Permanently. Should've seen their obituaries in your company mail."

"Security are external contractors. Company won't write obituaries for them." Adrian bit his lip. He'd had a chat with one of the delivery teams just recently, talked with them about how to handle the boxes, going over into a chat about working conditions at WRU. Steve, the guy he'd been talking to, had hated his job, just done it to get his daughter through college. By shipping out the sons and daughters of other parents, who'd never see their kids again. Adrian sighed deeply, pushed back all the sympathy he felt for Steve. "And the pets?"

"Think they're with their owners. Happy, as far as the definition goes. We got six out, this time."

Six. Six lives, turned to the better, thanks to Marta's relentless fight. He whistled. "That's impressive, sis. Congratulations."

"We used your intel," Marta replied. "You're aware of that, right? I didn't bring you in on it before, but that success? It's on you. We know how they plan their routes, how they staff them, how they guard them, even how they stack these fucking boxes, thanks to you. You might not see your own successes, but this one, out of many."

Adrian's gaze shifted back at Bea. "I want her to be happy, too," he said. It felt like a confession.

"I know," Marta said. "And I've run enough deconditionings over the years to know the two of you will make it. She seems like a nice girl."

"You've said that about every girl I ever liked."

Marta shrugged. "Could mean I'm lying. Could also mean you're doing something pretty right."

"You'll help me?"

She pulled him into a one-armed hug, wheezing for a moment when he slung his arms back around her. "Always, little brother."

---

-

pet safety tag list (ask to be added or removed): @gottawhump @flowersarefreetherapy @whumplr-reader @highwaywhump @tauntedoctopuses @pigeonwhumps @whumppsychology @labgrowndemon @whumpinggrounds @somewhumpyguy @whumpzone @tragedyinblue

[nerdierholler]

Tiny Ghost Story #6

Helpful Hosts

Miriam stood surveying the old parlor. “I’m not sure that rug matches the paint. What do you think, John?”

Her husband considered it for a moment. “I’m inclined to agree with you, but we shouldn’t be too hard on her. Poorly chosen colors are much better than a house that’s about to collapse.”

“Of course, naturally. She’s put in a tremendous amount of work. She's very resourceful," Miriam said with great admiration then paused. “I’m going to try to show our appreciation.”

The current homeowner was sitting on the couch, phone in hand and TV droning on in the background. Miriam sat next to her and, channeling as much goodwill and strength as she could, put a comforting and supportive hand on her shoulder.

The woman jumped, her phone clattering to the ground. She picked it up and hurriedly retreated to the back of the house, turning on every light as she went.

“Oh dear,” Miriam sighed, “that didn’t go as well as I'd hoped.”

“Perhaps we can find another way to show our appreciation,” John sat down beside her and took her hands in his, "like helping with the chores. She’s always so rushed off her feet. We could do some tidying when she’s at work.”

“That’s a wonderful idea, darling! Let’s try that next.”

[unsung-idiot]

don't show him modern technology; it won't end well

bonus under the cut:

[kimquatz]

process of drawing an OC: - you design them - you get attached to them - their hair gets bigger without you realizing it

[oncillabrigade]

Finally read Robins!

I have a lot of thoughts, but I just want to say this panel is the funniest thing I've ever seen:

[ellierenae]

write unpublishable things. it's good for you.

[plutorine]

cooking something for AO3 again...

[imma-dragon53]

You’ve heard of “justice league doesn’t know Batman has kids”

Now prepare for “the Team doesn’t know Batman is Robins dad”

[catmask]

SNAPDEX: DAY 6 | DEX 215

good morningggg 20 minute sneasel warmup

[officialbabayaga]

the way this is phrased to avoid confronting the reality that people can’t afford food anymore

[ladybeug]

he was stupid after all...

thats romance.

merry christmas!!!! I was thinking recently I don't just draw for fun very much anymore, so I put some time aside as a christmas gift for me.

[vmkhoneyy]

“People are inherently terrible” no!!! Have you ever seen a child wait for their friend while they tie their shoelaces? Have you ever known someone who would bring hurt squirrels and rabbits and mice to the nearest vet just so it doesn’t suffer? Have you seen someone grieve? Have you ever read something that hit your heart like a freight train? Have you looked at the stars and felt an unexplainable joy? Have you ever baked bread? Have you shared a meal with a friend? Have you not seen it? All the love? All the good? I know it’s hard to see sometimes, I know there’s pain everywhere. But look, there’s a child helping another up after a hard fall. Look, there’s someone giving their umbrella to a stranger. Look, there’s someone admiring the spring flowers. Look, there’s good, there’s good, there’s good. Look!!!!

[redpapercraness]

i wanna see that girl DEAD on the GROUND

[humming-fly]

Every now and then I'm reminded Real People with Actual Jobs use tumblr and I've always been legitimately curious what all you weird adults are up to when you're not on this site and with tumblr's New Poll Feature I can finally get an answer! (or the closest approximation of an answer possible with only 10 available options h a)

[elyfonart]

Early days :)

[1-marigold-1]

He just likes phantoms I guess.