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blueberrypossum · 3 years

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A Colorful Massacre Mickey x Reader

Hey guys!!! Yup, it’s Mickey’s turn to be placed in the love boat. This story is going to be a little different than my previous ones( sorry no making out and such). This story is based on one of the scenes from the movie Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey. I really like the action scenes, especially where Harley goes into the police station and I thought it would be a perfect fit( some scenes will be altered and so will dialogue). Hope you guys enjoy it! Also, I might’ve made the reader a little bit crazy, I try to change up the personalities with each reader to give each writing a difference.

Word Vocabulary:

(F/C)- Favorite color (these will be labeled 1 and 2 because you’ll need two signature colors, like Harley Quinn with red and blue)

(L/N)- Last name

⚠️WARNING⚠️: There are some cuss words and graphic content (such as fight scenes, gore, and even death.)

You rechecked the location on your phone before you headed over to one the many police stations in the Hidden City, your hands checking to make sure you had everything. Of course the Mud Dogz had to get caught on their last heist, their faces being plastered all over the city in the announcement of their capture. You huffed in a gust of air as the annoyance almost gave you a headache.

Of course those idiots had to get caught on your week off.

They all crossed your mind in a series of flashes, the picture of Mickey instantly stopping and staining your eyes. The eel somehow wrapped his long body around your heart, literally, if he could he would. You never thought you would go for the hippie type, but hey, in your opinion it was the best option.

You strapped your gloves on tighter as you finally made it to the police station they were being held at, the enormous building almost touching the dirt surface. Police officers walked around you as you made your way to the front door, not even taking notice of you or your long coat that covered you. You brushed your hand through your hair and waved your fingers at a passing guard, who couldn’t help but stare as you burst yourself through the front doors.

You were always the one to make a grand entrance.

The waiting area was almost completely empty, except for one yokai in one of the waiting chairs and the police officer behind the counter.

Oh this is too easy.

You casually walked over to the yokai that was sitting; a young woman who was casually reading a newspaper. She eyes you as you get closer and how lazily bent over, your lips barely hovering over her ear as you whisper unholy nothings into her ear. The woman slowly got up, terror crossing through her face as she left her newspaper and made her way out of the station. You waved goodbye to her and headed towards the cop at the front counter, the officer instantly took notice of your choice of outfit.

Even with the male officer seeing you coming, you rang the bell next to him anyways, giving him a bright smile as he looked up.

He let out a long sigh as he questioned, “Can I help you?”

You leaned your elbows onto the counter as you stated, “Yes, good ol’ officer, I’m here to report terrible crime.” You tipped your sunglasses down to show the sarcastic wink you gave him.

The officer took the wink as some kind of joke and relaxed his shoulders and leaned back in his chair.

“And what terrible crime is that?”

And with that you pulled your long coat back, revealing the multiple canisters of paint, confetti, hacky sacks, and smoke bombs strapped against your chest, along with a shotgun to use those canisters as ammo. You stripped yourself of your sunglasses as you pulled your shotgun off of your shoulder.

You aimed it at him as you stated, “This one.”

The male yokai quickly went for his gun, but you were just a little faster; you shot a red hacky sack right between his eyes, not only knocking him back but also breaking his glasses.

As he went slack against the wall, you took your coat off to give you more room to work as you rounded off to the side, letting yourself through the ringing metal detector.

“Alright, now let’s have some fun.”

You reloaded your shotgun with another hacky sack and headed over to two yokai’s, one being a bird and the other being a dog, both enjoying a cup of coffee. You cocked the weapon at the bird yokai and gave him a wicked smile.

“Hiya boys.” And shot the red footbag at the officer. The eagle went flying backwards as you went for the dog officer, you leg swinging the coffee out of his hands and then used the underside of the shotgun to knock him out.

You reloaded the weapon again with your (F/C 1) smoke bomb and aimed it to one of the closest meeting halls, shooting the beautiful color and then slammed the door shut, quickly sliding a door under the handle. The banging against the door filled your ears as cops started to realize what exactly was happening, a crazy yokai was storming through the police station and no one has stopped them yet. Two more yokai ran towards you and with a few swift moves you shot one with confetti and another with (F/C 2), sending a female yokai through one of the windows into an office. You looked at the chaos around you and let out a light chuckle.

Oh, this is going to be fun indeed.

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“Mick, I don’t think you can chew the bars off with your teeth.”

“Well, you don’t see Danny putting his teeth to work!”

“Hey! I ain’t ruinin’ these pearly whites.”

The Mud Dogs slid down against the bars as they, once again, ran out of ideas to bust out of jail. They had been stuck at the police station for over a few hours now, each one of their usual plans for busting out no longer worked due to them reusing those plans over and over.

The electric eel would twiddle his thumbs if he had any, so would create little sparks between his little nubs, the power reducing collar around his neck taking away most of his shocking abilities. They were in all separate cages as well and were with about a dozen other prisoners. With the police station being enormous, the three men had a clear view from the front entrance all the way out to the evidence locker.

The ogre rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms and Danny let out a low gust of air as he pulled his arms out of the bars and let them hang.

Mickey let out a bored sigh as a guard walked past, a ugly frown over her face as she eyed the members of the Mud Dogs. Leonard growled as she walked past and the officer quickly made her way to the next section, Mickey couldn’t help but let out a chuckle at the sight.

“Easy now, Double L, you might scare her off.”

Mickey let his mind start to wonder and he instantly thought of you. He would be hanging out with you if he wasn’t in jail, both of you either playing games or walking the streets and stealing other yokai’s wallets. Before you came along, the eel never thought that he would find someone like you, especially someone who has gotten the best of him. But, after you successfully saw right through one of his stealing tricks, he felt like it was love at first sight. Of course, it took a lot of trust, and the rule to not steal from each other after the 20th time of doing so, for the both of you to begin a friendship. Now, Mickey gave you anything he stole that he thought you would like.

A sudden scream came from the front entrance and almost every prisoner looked up, even some getting up and tried to look through the bars. Mickey didn’t pay much attention to it since it was the police station after all, it was probably someone’s first time getting arrested and they were just having a fit. Danny was trying to peek through the bars and a small gasp escaped this throat.

“Holy shit! Mick, is that your dame?”

Mickey was in awe as you reloaded your shotgun as officers from the opposite side of the holding area started to race out and you perfectly aimed for the first yokai that came up to you first, easily shooting a blue hacky sack into his right shoulder. As he went down, you effortlessly put in another bag and instantly headshot the cop behind him.

Both Leonard and Mickey hopped up from their spot as other prisoners got interested in the commotion. At the front of the entrance to the cages, (F/C 1 and F/C 2) pooled around the floor as an officer yokai was tossed into the middle of the row of cages. And within the clouds of colors popped out you, the colors ever so fading into your clothes and hair as a devilish smile spread across your face.

Both Danny and Leonard rolled their eyes at the eel’s starstruck expression, of course they were going to be saved by you, you were the only one crazy enough to come here and go up against several cops alone. They were just shocked that you had made it this far without getting shot.

The eel could feel his tail curl in content as he watched you take on another two guards, moving your hands to the middle of the gun to hit the one closest to you with the grip of the gun. You hit the wooden end against the yokai’s nose a few times before you turned your attention to the other cop, throwing the gun right between his legs.

As you made your way out of the colorful gas, the male yokai you shot in the shoulder got up, his fingers pulling out his plastic paton and raced towards you. You quickly ducked as he missed the target and then swung your shotgun over your shoulder, twirling it until it directly aimed at the officer, and a bust of confetti exploded against his face.

“Hahahahahaahah. Oh wow.”

You let out a cackle as he let out a cry and you swing your gun against his head, instantly knocking him out.

The prisoners were screaming your name now, not in cheer, but in hate. They knew who you were, they knew who you worked for, and they knew they would rather have you caught than their own freedom.

You reloaded your shotgun just in time as a female officer came down the stairs, her tail swishing back and forth in anger as she pulled out her gun. You used your longer gun to push her arm away, the bullet meant for your head busted into the ceiling, your strength barely being about to hold the woman’s arm against the wall. You kicked her behind her knee and twisted her arm as she came down, using her back as a stable place to aim as another officer came from the smoke behind you, the paint canister smashing into his head, two different colors blending into the walls.

You brought your shotgun down against the female yokai’s head and watched as her body went limp on the ground, a sweaty breath escaping your throat as you waited for more cops to come and stop you. When none showed up, you took in the room around you, smiling as you saw the Mud Dogz, and then finally heard the other criminals roaring at you in rage.

“You stole my life-savings!”

“Hiya, puddin,” you purred as your boyfriend stared at you, blush crossing his cheeks as took in your beaten and overworked body, how the colors you chose for your smoke bombs brighten the shine in your eyes.

“You’re the reason why I’m in here!”

You gave a polite wave to everyone as you made over to Mickey’s cage, blood staining your teeth as you smiled at him.

“Hey, lovebugs, we still need to get out of here,” he grumbled, his eyes swinging over to the furious yokai’s in the cages, trying to make as much racket as they could so that anyone could hear them.

“Just hold on for one second, sweethearts.” You said and then rammed the handle of your gun into the closest criminals throat, before he could even utter your name. The male yokai choked a few times as you repeatedly slammed the shotgun into his throat. You then crashed your gun into the side of his head and then into his leg, bringing him down. The next culprit charged towards you and you instantly got ready, your boyfriend immediately knowing what you were going to do.

“Right, just give a minute to find a key,” you said and was about to start the search for keys, until a pounding alarm came on, causing you and almost everyone else to cover their ears. One of the officers, too afraid to come and face you, went to the control room instead and got the brilliant idea to unlock all the cages, except for the Mud Dogz. When the ringing stopped, you looked up to see the prisoners crawl out of their cages, sinister smiles on their faces as you were outmatched from 12 to one. You rolled your shoulders and popped your neck as you looked back at the Mud Dogz with a smirk.

Oh how you were a walking masterpiece was all he could think in his mind until Leonard bursted inside his bubble.

“Batter up!” The eel warned, and your gun went straight into his mouth as you rocked the weapon as a baseball bat. The yokai went flying and the strength behind the blow made him flip over, barely missing his head as he landed on the floor. With you being out of ammo for your shotgun, you threw it across the room, hitting a female yokai in the stomach and then jumped her, your legs wrapping around her as you hands went for her throat.

“Hey! I’m going as fast as I can! I already dealt with the officers up front!” You hollered as a pair of hands went around your throat and slammed you against the prison bars, the cold metal drilling into your back. You spat the leftover blood in your mouth into his face and then slammed your elbow into his elbow pit and twisted his arm until he went limp in your arms.

“Ah, Mick, your doll is pretty, violent,” the rat said, his eyes growing wide as your fist made contact with someone’s face and then groin area.

“Yeah, isn't it amazing?” The ell cooed, both of the Mud Doz crew disgusted to see a little drool dripping out of his mouth.

You then slid under a female cat yokai and to one of the unconscious officers and dug through their pockets. Luck seemed to be on your side as you found the keycard, and then you found fingers digging into your arms as two prisoners pulled you back and tossed you across the room.

You blinked a few times to see a few figures coming towards you, barely being able to make out their faces. You quickly tried to make out the Mud Dogz and then slid the keycard over to the closest cage that they were in before a female hyena punched you in the gut. Danny was the closest and he used his tail to bring the card closer, working his fingers fast as the criminals got closer to you. The rat tossed the card to Mickey as he went over to help you, his claws already tearing into one of the prisoner's back that was closest to him. Mickey used the card to get the collar off and then to unlock the door, tossing the plastic card over to Leonard as he slithered over to the battle.

The ogre gripped the bars around him, “Yeah, but we are losing time. Y/N needs to get the keys and us out before more show up!”

A grunt escaped your lips as you rubbed your head from the impact. You could feel a hard headache start to form in the back of your skull as you tried to take in your surroundings, someone was yelling your name.

You were being choked out during all of this, red slowly starting to cover your face as you lost the will to breath. You kicked the female in the stomach but she didn’t budge.

The strong hands released you and you crawled away to see Mickey curl around the female hyena, instantly shocking her once her hands left your body. You took in a few gulps of air and watched as the Mud Dogz took care of the rest of the prisoners. You let out a breathy laugh and laid yourself back down, allowing yourself to take a break during all the chaos.

“Y/N! Y/N! Get up!”

“Come onnnn. Budge motherfucker,” you gasped out, and the hyena yokai let out a raspy cackle as her fingers dug deeper into your throat.

Mickey was beside you as you took the well-deserved break, his flippers fanning you as Leonard and Danny picked up the cops electric guns.

You looked around, the sprinkle of rainbow confetti, paint, and the smoke from the canisters. The floor was littered with bodies, both cops and criminals knocked out or were whining against the concrete. Your nose was bleeding and bruises painted your body, but the thrill that traveled through your body was an excellent adrenaline high.

“May I join?”

“Did I do good?” You rasped out and the eel helped you up.

“Huh, I guess you’re right. No one messes with Y/N fucking L/N!”

“Just take me to that new restaurant downtown and we’ll call it even.”

“Of course, babe! I mean, look at the mess!”

The teal eel planted a kiss on your cheek as he helped you stay steady on your feet, a laugh wheezing out of his throat at you cursing your own name.

“Pretty sure they’ll be waiting there, let’s go through the back.”

You both regrouped with Danny and Leonard and started to head over to where you came from, but Leonard stopped you all.

“We owe you big time for this.”

As the rat and ogre made their way towards the back, the long eel took a hold of your hand and pulled you close, a little giggle escaping your lips as you both enjoyed a tender kiss.

#rottmnt #tmnt #rottmnt malicious mickey #rottmnt mud dogs x reader #rottmnt mickey x reader #mickey x reader

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monchikyun · 3 years

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XIII. give you everything

Connor can’t help but laugh when a palm lands on his cheek ever so softly.

“You’re aware that I can’t feel physical pain, right?”

“Shut up,” Gavin pretends that he’s bothered by that rhetorical question, but the hint of a smile trying to force its way in doesn’t go undetected. Ever since the morning, his face has been graced by the shade of red Connor can’t get enough of, which is the main reason for his good mood.

Somehow they ended up playing rock-scissors-paper and Gavin insisted that the loser should receive some form of punishment, “to spice it up a little”. He thinks that the man just wants to test how advanced his programming is, to find out whether he’s even capable of losing. The truth is he could accurately estimate Gavin’s move if he concentrated enough, but then this would be no fun now, would it.

Of course, he had to draw paper in their first round and the fact that Gavin immediately went for scissors was all but unexpected. The man himself can be sharp like a knife when you touch the wrong side of him.

Connor has a hard time admitting to himself that he lost on purpose because he can’t quite figure out why.

“Doesn’t matter,” Gavin mumbles and invites him for a rematch.

He supposes there are better ways to spend their free time, but since no one is willing to talk about what is going on between them, childish games count as the next best thing.

And Connor really enjoys the limbo they trapped themselves in. It’s just warm enough without the possibility of leaving burns. Luke-warm, if he’s being honest with himself. A bit bland. Still, he could live with that. He can ignore the longing in Gavin’s eyes if it keeps them safe like this.

“Guess I win this time.” Gavin’s fist uncurls in disappointment, preventing Connor from enveloping it in his ‘paper’.

“You sure you didn’t cheat with your robo mind-reading power?” There is nothing but playfulness seeping from his voice, still, Connor can’t believe he even has to ask.

“You really do think highly of me, don’t you?”

“So that would be a ‘no’.” He squeezes his eyes shut and winces in anticipation.

“I’ll be gentle, I promise.”

And he is, imitating the slap he got just a couple of minutes ago.

“Seriously? Well, that was kinda underwhelming.” He sounds almost dissatisfied. Connor never considered Gavin was into that kind of stuff but one never knows what the other person might be hiding. Not that he minds, it’s just a piece of information he needs to get used to.

“So was yours.” He smirks at him, creating a petulant frown on his friend’s face.

“Good point.” At least he doesn’t initiate a fight. It would be a shame if something ruined their so-far peaceful day.

The snow has finally stopped falling, letting a ray of sunshine peek through the thick clouds. He would suggest taking a walk if Gavin hasn’t coughed three times in the past two hours. Connor has been monitoring his vitals, not noticing any significant change to his health, but that might have been only thanks to their current sufficiently heated location. At least according to his scans it is so, because the detective’s hands rub his arms up and down in an attempt to get rid of the cold only he can feel.

“If only you had a perfectly comfortable sweater to wear.., what a pity,” Connor shakes his head in theatrical sorrow.

“Oh, wait.”

The darts coming from Gavin prick his skin without having to look at him at all. Now, this is fun.

“You do!.”

The man seems offended by his toothy grin, which makes it grow even wider.

“For phck’s sake, Connor. I told you I’ll wear that over my dead body.”

“Guess I’ll have to kill you then.”

He means it as a stupid joke, but the air turns serious as soon as his mouth lets out those words.

“Sorry.”

He shouldn’t be the one letting himself be carried away by the moment, no matter how carefree it might have been.

But Gavin doesn’t react to his feeble apology, busy making himself smaller to contain some of his bodily heat. His temperature is still within the norm, but that doesn’t tell him anything about what might happen in the next several hours. Days.

He repeats his actions from the night before, placing his blanket around the man’s shoulder, letting his hands linger a little longer than they should.

They spend the rest of the day wasting their time by playing all the games from Gavin’s childhood that Connor would never have the opportunity to experience otherwise. It’s a nice gesture, if that indeed is the intention behind it. Could be that this is the detective’s idea of dealing with boredom. And since they’ve decided to forget all about their work while they’re here, there weren’t many options left if they wanted to avoid all communication that could direct them to the forsaken grounds, also known as a personal dialogue.

Connor almost had to force-feed Gavin the lunch he ordered for him, fighting against his endless excuses of not being hungry. He needs the strength if his condition is to worsen, and he’d make sure he gets it, even if it ended up in him having to shove a spoon inside his human mouth and nearly choking him to death. The man does sometimes act like a misbehaving toddler, but he figures that’s just a part of his charm. Besides, he likes taking care of him, it makes him fulfilled, for more reasons than one. It reminds him that he’s capable of so much more than just police work.

It’s late in the afternoon now, the sky has gone dark and their carefully structured conversation quieted down into a pleasant silence. The only light source in their room is provided by the muted television which no one pays any attention to.

Gavin is sitting on the ground, backed propped by the side of his bed. He’s still snuggled in Connor’s blanket, cradling a cup of tea the android has made for him.

He has packed plenty of supplies with him, thinking they might come in handy. It’s better to be over-prepared than the opposite, an opinion that this trip has confirmed to him.

Connor has just got off the phone with Tina, assuring himself that Sumo is being adequately spoiled. He really misses that oversized lump of fur, but the dog is doing just fine without him, so he has nothing to complain about.

Checking up on Gavin he notices his temperature has risen above what’s deemed healthy. He sits next to him and retracts the skin on his hand, pressing it on the man’s forehead to extract the precise reading, just to be certain.

“Yeah, I know,” Gavin says, clearly defeated. He shifts a bit and looks at him like he’s seeing the most beautiful being in the world, setting the now half-empty cup aside.

“C’me here.”

Maybe it’s the medicine he took twenty minutes ago finally kicking in, making his brain all mushy and body too clingy, but Gavin magically pulls him in his lap and holds him like he’s the last of his kind. He rests his head on the android’s chest, and Connor is too weak to deny him this show of vulnerability. Even if it’s likely drug-induced. They stay like this for a while, basking in each other’s touch, breathing in the tender atmosphere. Their hands have found each other too, fitting together like opposite poles. His spare one is threading through Gavin’s hair, messing it up on purpose. Connor loves seeing it like that, it feels intimate to him. A secret side of the man reserved only for those who are closest to him. It’s nice. Too nice.

The moment is so overwhelmingly light it doesn’t even occur to him how dangerous his actions are. How those small acts can wedge a rift between them if he isn’t careful enough.

But it’s too late to back out because Gavin kisses his chest, the place whereunder his mechanical heart beats loudly. And it doesn’t stop there. He traces those kisses up along his collar bone, his jaw, his neck, eliciting a content hum from him in the process. When he comes close to his lips, the man hesitates for a second that seems like an eternity, but ultimately decides to give in.

And that where Connor draws the line. Snapping out of his trance, he quickly shoves his hand in front of his mouth to prevent Gavin from doing something he won’t be able to take back.

“I’m sorry,” comes the muffled expression of regret. He truly loathes having to say that phrase so often because he apparently can’t do a single thing right in his life.

He climbs off Gavin, dropping his body right next to him instead.

“Why,” the man breathes softly.

“I- I can’t. I can’t give you everything you want, Gavin.” He tries to communicate his despair through his doleful gaze, which his friend appears to be drowning in.

“What-” Connor grabs the upper side of Gavin’s hand, guiding it towards him in an answer. It discomforts him greatly, but he leads it to where his genitals would be if he had any. He’s not the only one unsettled by this, for he senses Gavin struggle against his grip and at this point he has no choice but to set him free.

“You phcking toaster, you think I don’t know that?” he laughs without mirth.

“You think that… that I want you just for your body?”

Connor has hurt the man again, despite trying to do the exact opposite.

“...no?”

“No!” It’s not that difficult to believe, but not as easy when the truth has been spoken out loud.

Gavin leans back into him, resting his head on his shoulder. At least they haven’t spiralled down the path of pretend animosity.

“You don’t mind that I’m not a man?” Connor has never really regarded himself as one. It’s a label that doesn’t feel right to him. He’s simply himself, a human-like android who has been given a soul. There is no need for something else.

“I don’t care what or who you are, Con. As long as it’s you that’s inside, I wouldn’t mind if you were a phcking jellyfish, I’d… I’d love you all the same.”

“You… you love me.” The world around him gets blurry as he can’t quite process what he just heard.

“Is that so surprising, tin can?” Gavin chuckles, his own tears audible in that delightful sound.

He wants to say it back, every inch of his being is urging him to do so, but his brain has frozen over and refuses to receive any command his heart gives him.

The words are stuck in his chest, leaking out through his close eyes, unable to be turned into any shape. They stab him with their intensity over and over, making him want to pluck them out and throw them at the person who has created them.

“I-”

“You don’t have to, Con.”

Maybe neither of them is ready to carry the weight behind that sentence just yet.

@a-convin-new-year i had to change the title a bit to suit my story hope you don’t mind

#aconvinnewyear #convin #low-temperature burn #longest one yet #sorry for mistakes my brain has also frozen over ahaha #some important stuff happens idk if I'm vibing with it #tell me how you feel abt it please :D

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well-shit-im-a-morosexual-now · 4 years

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Hey, it's me again! The Anon that constantly comes back because I'm too lazy to play the new lessons myself.

Anyway, Lesson 30-something, what happened in it? I've just seen screenshots and most of them are Solomon blushing (which, well, can't really say I'm complaining).

Hope you answer, and I'll probably ask you about the lessons after this.

-Anon that's still somehow stuck on Lesson 31. Seriously, I should really start playing the game again soon.

I'm screaming I literally wrote this whole thing and it got deleted because tumblr refused to send it and just banished the reply into the void i want to fight someone. I'm so sorry I'm gonna bang my head against something now.

It's okay if you ask cause I need someone to rant to after lessons!

So two days before the ritual to break the pacts. Solomon is researching how to use the night dagger.

Lucifer & Satan are arguing on the staircase (cause 50% of all important conversations happen on staircases - and I mean this sincerely). Lucifer promised mammon he'd come play cards with him and Satan doesn't want him to go cause he thinks it'll be a scam (he's worried about his dad big brother❤). MC asks Satan if he's worried about Lucifer and that makes his affection go up. He asks MC to promise him to go with Lucifer and keep an eye on him. He ruffles MC's hair and gives them the same we'll still be friends talk that the others do

They go to play cards and place bets, if Mammon wins he gets Lucifer's credit card for a day and if Lucifer wins he gets mc alone for a day. You can choose whether you want mc to either play along or cheer for Lucifer. (And look my MC's performing Olympic grade gymnastics to avoid Lucifer's advances & this lesson has a lot of options to romance Lucifer that I didn't pick so...)

Lucifer gets distracted by Mammon's car before they start playing.

WE GET THE BACKSTORY ABOUT THE CAR!!!!!! AND LOOK IT'S BEING THERE FOR SO LONG WITHOUT BEING ACKNOWLEDGED THAT I WAS ALMOST CERTAIN IVE BEEN HALLUCINATING IT. the backstory was actually really cute.

Mammon really really wanted this limited edition car (it had a rare colour) so he worked his ass off and earned money to buy it (I think it's mentioned that this is the first thing he bought from his own money). But by the time he'd earned enough it had been sold out. As far as Mammon knows Lucifer spoke to the dealer and was able to find one last car (can you do that? Can you just ask them to look in the back and they'll just pop out with a car they accidentally overlooked?). BUT Lucifer recalls that he actually spoke to diavolo and called in a special favour to get the car for mammon. Lucifer tells mammon he was impressed by him and I no longer possess a physical form I'm now a bowl of goop with thumbs to type

Lucifer wins (duh) and mammon asks to speak to mc alone. He tells them that even if their pact is severed he'll always be their first man. MC says 'I won't forget.' Mammon does that stuttery thing and says something like 'don't forget.' He hugs them tight. I added a screenshot of this (& other important moments) to my first answer but I don't wanna risk it cause if I lose this again I will realistically commit homicide. But anyway this line killed me 'suddenly I feel like the invisible bond between us is even stronger than it was before'. If I wasn't a puddle before I would be now

The next day mc & Lucifer meet up to go out, Asmo and mammon complain, I'm a total dick so I don't let MC hold Lucifer's hand and it makes him sad (I cry). They meet Solomon at the gate and he says he needs to talk with MC but can wait till after. He suggests going to the carnival (from the beginning of the season) cause it's the last day at the devildom and Simeon was planning on taking Luke but had to bail to go to the celestial realm. (Also the devildom is only one city/district right? I always saw it as the capital of The Devildom as a whole)

Lucifer laments not being able to remeber their first time at the carnival, mc gets to reassure him that it's okay. They get popcorn and go on the ferris wheel.

He asks them what they spoke about last time on the ferris wheel. The answers are 'Lucifer' or 'diavolo' . if you choose diavolo he throws shade at past Lucifer for being an idiot and talking about another man when with MC (*SNORT*) .

LUCIFER CONFESSES!!!? HE SAYS "MC I LOVE YOU"?!? HE'S THE FIRST BROTHER TO DIRECTLY CONFESS AND HAVE MC DIRECTLY CONFESS BACK.HE BASICALLY SAYS 'ANYWAY PAST LUCIFER WAS A FUCKING IDIOT BUT I LOVE YOU'. my mc goes 'lol as a friend'

Yes yes ik mammon technically confessed first and did so twice (thrice?) but neither were direct. The first was him agreeing with mc about them being in love in front of someone else and the second was under the influence of the truth bracelet. Asmo confessed too but in a 'never thought I'd find someone I love more than me. That's wild' way.

After mc shoots him down he goes 'that sucks guess I'll have to try harder to make you fall for me'

@like-nxrthernstxrs if you say you love him back, you get to kiss and mammon who followed you sees and goes quiet which yeah no, no thanks

I didn't unlock the locked lessons but screenshots show that all the brothers follow them I think (imagine the nightmare of dating one of them for real tho? Like you, me and your friend Steve except Steve is your 6 brothers who want to sleep with me)

The most notable exchange during them is when Levi asks whether Lucifer seems happier without his memories (he actually is more carefree) but mammon says he wouldn't be happier because he loves all his little brothers and he wouldn't be happy if he couldnt remember them. Levi tells mammon it's gross whenever he starts acting like an actual older brother (so we've seen mammon step up to the role of a older brother every once in a while - specially when Lucifer isnt able to - and he's actually really good at it? And that's just💞💞)

When they go home, solomon's in MC's room. He goes 'so do you want the good news or bad news first? Actually they're both bad news and you're fucked lol'

The dagger is so old that it doesn't have enough power to break the bonds and even when charged with Solomon's power it isn't enough.

The only way to restore the power is to use it to stab a powerful demon in the chest and have it absorb the demon's power.

Then he gives mc the dagger and is like 'anyway go stab Lucifer in the chest or we're all gonna die'

MC's like 'what the fuck'

Solomon goes 'lol just kidding i wouldn't ask you to do that'

Solomon tells them that he spent his whole life protecting humanity and that he is willing to do anything to save it. He tells them that choosing between all of the three realms and one demon should be easy. But he can't because he knows that'll make MC sad and he doesn't want to hurt them (honestly some of the dialogue from Solomon, Simeon and even diavolo makes me wonder if they'll ever become LIs down the road)

Lucifer has been eavesdropping the whole time (obviously) and kicks Solomon out.

Mc tells time not to worry and that they'll figure something else out. He tells them that he cares about his brothers and them (he puts a bit of emphasis on MC) and that he wants them to stab him. MC keeps on protesting. He grabs their hand and makes them point the dagger to his chest. You get a choice. You can either stab Lucifer, MC or command him to 'stay'. If you choose to command him, he freezes for a sec and then tells MC they are too distraught to be able to put any actual power behind the command. He moves their hand to stab himself. The screen goes white. If you decide to stab MC he screams their name. The screen goes white

A '???' voice tells them to stop and that it's not needed. Simeon (the only person with even a single braincell in this entire game) stops their hand and tells them they've been brave. He slips an old ring on to their finger. The screen goes white.

The screen's still white but now it's white in a way that makes it look like it's sunlight blinding the screen.

Another '???' voice apologises to MC for not being able to meet them before. It asks mc why they refused to stab Lucifer. They can say it's because they love him, because they didn't want anyone to get hurt or because they wanted to find another way. And look even if you aren't romancing Lucifer you have to admit at this point of the game MC does love him and all his brothers as well.If you pick the first option the voice says that it's a good thing and that they should cherish that love and let it grow. If you choose the second it tells them they are kind. The voice then tells them that after seeing how much the brothers adore them it expected them to be wicked and that it's happy they aren't. It tells them that they don't have to worry and that the ring of light will keep their powers in check and that they should go back because the others are worried. MC wakes up to Lucifer calling their name.

I'm 90% certain the voice in Michael, 10% of me is terrified it'll turn out to be God. And look I'm not religious, I don't really believe in anything and either way I was raised in a Buddhist household so God has never been anything I believed in BUT God talking to me through an otome game is definitely not something I need rn or ever really

Mc, Solomon, Simeon and Luke are by the lake at the palace. Solomon says he can finally relate to Mammon cause Lucifer had punished him. Simeon reveals that Lucifer had punished diavolo as well and would be coming after the rest of them that kept this whole thing secret from him (And this kills me! This man loves his family so much he was not only willing to go against God and his army when his family was in danger but he was also willing to lash out at DIAVOLO who he has so much respect & loyalty towards when he accidentally put Lucifer's family in danger!??? Anyway any chance I had of solidifying into a physical state has been completely swept away)

It's revealed that Simeon may or may not have stolen the ring from Michael who still loves Lucifer and keeps a shrine to Lucifer all of Lucifer's things from the celestial realm with him. And honestly I want whatever superpower Lucifer has that allows him to act like a dick with major issues but still makes ppl just absolutely love him. (I absolutely adore how easily om! throws around the word 'love' or actions of love. And I don't mean regarding MC. I mean between the brothers, undateables, Luke and side characters. Like at this point there's no doubt that despite all their differences everyone loves each other.)

Simeon (or Luke) note that now with the ring MC is as powerful a sorcerer as Solomon and may someday surpass him. Solomon is asked of he's jealous and he says he's not and he's glad to finally have someone like him.

Solomon pulls MC aside and asks them for a favour. They can either ask what it is or say 'anything for you'. If you choose the second option he blushes. He tells them he has spent his whole life looking out for humanity (thousands of years) and that he would like to work side by side with them to protect the humans. In his own words they'd be 'partners'. You can either agree or tell him it sounds like a pain in the ass. If you agree he says that a part of him knew they'd agree. (I can't remember if this is said outloud or implied but I'm assuming this means Solomon will teach them to use actual magic thus making 3 out of 4 of my main game MCs magical apprentices. Nice.)

*Solomon refers to himself as 'the witty sorcerer' confirming that all their aliases in the cards have actual canon meaning...so Mammon's 'fallen warrior' and 'punishment party' is basically just confirming he was probably the only one classed as a fighter from all his brothers back in the celestial realm and that he's a masochist right? That's what that means?*

Barbatos arrives to welcome them and ask them to follow him.

The lesson ends.

The pre stabbing scene with Solomon and mc doesn't really follow the exact dialogue of the first scene in S2 and the backgrounds don't match either (the human world vs MC's bedroom). Now this could mean the devs fucked up or it could mean there's more BS waiting to be stirred up. Personally I believe it's the first one BUT with how determined the devs seem with turning all of Lucifer's hair white i wouldn't be surprised if it was the second either

Hope that helps 31!❤ sorry it took some time I had to take constant breaks to scream cause the app sucks :)))

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mentalhealthandgames · 3 years

Text

‘OMORI’ analysis:

OMORI’ is an Indie psychological horror RPG that was released December 2020, 6 years after its Kickstarter became fully funded in 2014. It was developed by OMOCAT, LLC and published by OMOCAT, LLC and Playism. It is a long game, the average play time of the main story is calculated to be 21 hours and 9 minutes by ‘HowLongToBeat’ (HowLongToBeat, 2021), a website which polls players with different play styles to calculate the average lengths of games. It personally took me 49 hours to complete. This is to say that, as a long and complex story based game, Omori’s plot will be difficult to summarise in a neat and short format but I will try.

The game has two main routes and multiple endings. I played the normal route and got the good ending so that will be the story I summarise, which also seems to be the one most players also got during their first playthrough.

The game starts with a short cutscene and then text appears on screen stating: “welcome to White Space. You have been living here for as long as you can remember.” The game then properly starts, revealing the main character in a large white space with a room in the centre. The room contains a laptop, a sketchbook and tissues. Around the room are a cat, a black lightbulb and a white door. If the player goes to the door it says: “a white door casts a faint shadow. What would you like to do?” The only choice is to do nothing. The sketchbook is filled with sinister drawings in red, white and black. The cat says “meow (waiting for something to happen?)”. The laptop allows you to either stare at the screen, look at the journal or log off. The journal (titled ‘Omori’s journal’) is filled with entries for days that are all listed as: “day ???” rather than with a date and each entry either consists of: “today, I spent time in White Space. Everything was okay” or “today I visited my friends. Everything was okay.” The tissue box is stated as “for wiping your sorrows away”. There is a sound and shake and then a text box appears telling the player “something fell nearby”. The player can then find a “shiny knife” by wandering around white space. After discovering the knife, if the player approaches the door they are now given the option to open it.

Once the door is opened it takes the player to Neighbor’s Room, a bright colourful room in sharp contrast to White Space. Neighbor’s Room is a part of a large area called Headspace which is only accessible through the white door in White Space. Most of the game takes place in Headspace, although not all of it, so assume the areas I discuss are in Headspace unless I tell you they are otherwise (White Space is not a part of Headspace). In Neighbor’s Room three of Omori’s friends are playing cards. They are Aubrey, Kel and Kel’s brother Hero. They are happy to see Omori, and after some bickering between Kel and Aubrey, decide to visit their friends Mari and Basil who have invited them for a picnic at the Playground. Saying yes to the invitation causes the friends to join the party and follow Omori. They leave Neighbor’s Room through a tree stump. There are four areas branching from the tree stump. One is blocked off by spiderwebs which Omori refuses to pass because he is scared of spiders, one is blocked of by the sea which Omori refuses to go into because he is scared of drowning and one is blocked off by a ladder which Omori refuses to climb because he is scared of heights. The only other option is to go to the Playground where they meet Basil and Mari who are waiting on a picnic blanket with Mari’s basket and some food. Mari’s picnic blanket, her basket and the food pop up throughout the game with the basket as a save point, the food as a way to replenish health or juice (which is basically mana, it powers skills and can be drained during fights) and the picnic blanket often allowing Omori and friends to have a picnic and take a break from whichever adventure they are on. During their friendly reunion and discussion, Basil shows them his photo album which is filled with pictures documenting their friendship. They then decide to visit Basil’s house except for Mari who opts to stay behind.

Before going to Basil’s house Omori and friends play hide and seek with other characters in the Playground where Omori finds everyone except Basil. Basil has been kidnapped by a character named Boss who is a childish character upset at being banned from the playground by the others who had deemed him too violent. After a fun short battle with Boss they then make their way to Basil’s house. I mentioned the fight with Boss as although it has no relevance to the plot it seemed to set the tone of exploring ‘Headspace’ for me. Colourful fun battles with Omori’s friends against characters who ultimately weren’t bad people. It felt hopeful and exciting even though I knew it couldn’t be the full story because Omori is a psychological horror game. Although I knew something would probably go wrong at some point, it still lulled me into a false sense of security. When Omori and his friends arrive at Basil’s house, Kel and Aubrey have another fight before they go inside which leads to them knocking over Basil and the photos falling out of his photo album. They go inside for Omori to put the photos back in place. After that seems done a photo falls out of the album and Basil picks it up. Basil seems not to recognise the photo, looking scared. A twisting shadow appears beneath him and then he says “n-no.. that can’t be… Mari” his eyes turning red. Then there is a flash of a greyscale photo and Omori is back in White Space, except this time the white door is missing. There is some new dialogue with Mewo the cat and a new drawing in the journal of a strange shape with one eye. However, without the door, the player is stuck, until they open the pocket menu. The pocket menu is where the player can access the party’s inventory, their skills and charms and the options menu. Previously there was a space only listed as ??? but at that moment it is replaced by red text saying “Stab”. Clicking on Stab it gives you the option to stab a member of the party, which, in White Space only consists of Omori himself. The player has no other way of progressing the game and has to click that option, which makes Omori to stab himself. This sudden dark turn shocked me. Although I had expected the game to turn dark eventually I didn’t think it would happen so early on and it felt wrong to have him stab himself.

After Omori has stabbed himself there is another short cutscene and then the player is shown a boy sleeping in his room and asked to choose his name. His default name is Sunny, so that is how I will refer to him. He looks almost exactly like Omori except he is in colour. He is the real version of Omori who lives in the real world and it turns out that Headspace and White Space are all in his head, a world he escapes to avoid a traumatic event in his past. Although they are the same person I will continue to refer to them as Omori and Sunny to separate when Sunny is in Headspace (or White Space) as Omori and when he is in the real world as Sunny. It turns out that in the real world Sunny is home alone as his mother is in the city, preparing their new home for them to move into in three days. It is also revealed that Omori’s friends in Headspace all exist in the real world as well. In the real world you can explore the top level of the house where Sunny’s bedroom is located, but if the player tries to go downstairs to the rest of the house Sunny will shake his head and not allow it. The only choice is to go back to bed where Sunny goes to sleep but then wakes up again hungry. A red light shines through the window making the area more sinister. This time trying to go down the stairs is allowed but the stairs seem to be infinitely long and some hands climb up the sides while others surround him and one photorealistic one chases him. When it catches up, the player is taken to a fight with a monstrous creature referred to as Something. The fight seems hopeless, Sunny’s attacks doing nothing to Something until a mysterious voice speaks to Sunny saying: “take a deep breath… don’t be afraid. It’s not as scary as you think.” The textbox then states: “you steady yourself… and remember how to Calm Down. Calm Down is then available as a skill (fights are won by using attacks and skills). Using the Calm Down skill shows an animation of Sunny breathing in and out and ends the fight, depositing Sunny at the bottom of the stairs. The player can then explore the rest of the house, two areas Sunny still refusing to go to, a room and an area outside, presumably the garden. The player can then take Sunny to the kitchen to pick up the Steak Knife and heat up and eat a steak. Then Sunny seems sick, the rooms wobbling as he walks around. After he goes to the upstairs bathroom and throws up, the rooms stop wobbling. Then there is a knock at the door and when Sunny approaches the door it shows Mari on the other side, still in the bright purple colours of Headspace. She tells Sunny she forgot her keys and asks him to open the door. If the player chooses to open the door there is a quick jumpscare of a ghost. If the player visits the bathroom to look in the mirror they will see the ghost behind Sunny. There is nothing else to do but to make Sunny go to bed and go to sleep. This time when he wakes up there is another cutscene saying “welcome to White Space. You have been living here for as long as you can remember” and Sunny is once again Omori, back in White Space. This time the white door is back but will not open and the Stab option is once again not available. Going to the laptop will open the Hangman menu which shows a list of computer keyboard keys along with vague descriptions of where to find them (they are all somewhere in Headspace). Out of all 26 keys there are 12 keys that are necessary to collected to unlock later parts of the game. It is impossible to collect all 26 in the normal route of the game. To be able to open the door the player has to find the map to Headspace in White Space, then it will allow the door to open when interacted with, once again taking Omori to Neighbor’s Room. Aubrey, Kel and Hero are relieved to see Omori and reveal that Basil is missing. Around this time Mari is also revealed to be Omori’s (and therefore also Sunny’s) sister. The main objective is to find Basil and this drives most of the story that takes part in Headspace. This involves a lot of exploring different areas of Headspace including an area accessed via the ladder that Sunny had previously been too afraid to use. Omori is encouraged by his friends to go up the ladder as they believe it may lead to Basil and this is clearly linked to Sunny defeating the Something on the stairs in the real world. This area is called Otherworld. After going on quests in the hopes that they will lead to Basil and fighting in a battle against the first proper boss, Space Boyfriend, some bloody footsteps will lead to a shadowy figure of Basil. Following shadow Basil takes Omori to a dark sinister space with some hints about Sunny’s dark past and his reason for creating and escaping to Headspace. He is chased by the version of Something the player will see the most, a version already depicted in Omori’s sketchbook in White Space, a strange shape with one eye. When caught by Something Omori wakes up once again in White Space where he once again has to stab himself to wake up in the Real World. This is the End of the Prologue and the start of the first chapter: Three Days Left. Each chapter counts down the days until Sunny is supposed to move out.

Every time Omori turns up at White Space and the white door is not present, the player has to make him stab himself in order to wake up as Sunny in the real world. That is the only way to access the real world. During each real world segments there is a battle with a different creature called Something related to each of Sunny’s fears. First heights, then spiders and finally drowning. Defeating these creatures in the real world always gives Sunny a new skill (these are: Calm Down, then Focus, then Persist) and allows Omori to later overcome, after his friends offer him support, the related fear in Headspace, allowing him to explore new areas that were previously blocked off (Otherworld, then Pyrefly Forest and finally Last Resort and Underwater Highway are only accessible by Omori and Mari swimming across the beach). I found this very interesting as it showed that Omori’s fears were limiting him and that he was able to overcome them, both for his friend (Basil) and with the support of his other friends (Aubrey, Kel and Hero). It implies that you should reach for help or support if you can and it reminded me a lot of my own anxiety which has limited me a lot in my past by making me scared to go to social events for example. Friendship is an important theme throughout Omori (in fact it is an important theme in all three games I chose to assess).

The first chapter opens in the real world with someone claiming to be Kel knocks on the door and the player has to choose whether to open it or not. This choice determines which route of the game the player goes down. The normal route starts when the player chooses to open the door. It is revealed to actually be Kel and not a jumpscare like Mari was and he wants to spend time with Sunny before he moves out. When Sunny explores the town with Kel he finds out that Aubrey has changed a lot, having dyed her hair pink and become the leader of what appears to be a group of bullies who often bully Basil, who is even more timid and scared than the version of him the player saw in Headspace (before he disappeared of course). Sunny and Kel rescue Basil by fighting against Aubrey who Sunny wins against by slashing her with his Steak Knife. Kel is shocked that Omori used a knife against Aubrey and takes it from him. This part made me realise how real the real world is meant to be and how Sunny had become incredibly detached from it by spending all his time in Headspace as Omori and becoming used to having to fight creatures and bosses with his Shiny Knife. Kel and Sunny then decide to retrieve Basil’s photo album which he says Aubrey stole from him. They find her in a church where she reveals to the player that Mari died four years prior, which is presumably the traumatic event that caused Sunny to retreat into Headspace, and is the reason the friend group drifted apart. Kel and Sunny then fight Aubrey again, drawing attention to Aubrey from the other churchgoers who criticise her, causing her to flee. Kel and Sunny then spot her throwing the photo album into the trash and take it to bring back to Basil. This photo album contains different pictures to the one in Headspace but is still filled with pictures showing their friendship, although all pictures containing Mari are missing, presumably taken by Aubrey. When they take the photo album back to Basil, who lives with his caretaker Polly they are invited to have dinner with them. Over dinner Kel mentions that Sunny is moving away and Basil runs to the bathroom. Following him to the bathroom shows him also seeing Something, which he says is behind Sunny. He clearly is also traumatised, his trauma most likely linked to Sunny’s trauma. Basil seems genuinely scared to be left alone but the only option for Sunny is to leave him alone. Then when Sunny goes home he faces the spider Something and goes to bed waking up in White Space.

I will not go into detail into the areas of Headspace that the party explore while looking for Basil as that would take a long time and doesn’t need to be discussed to explain the plot. The reason I went into so much detail for the Prologue is that it sets up the game. Most of the story in Headspace involves the friends looking for Basil, discovering new areas, skills, items and Bosses and always ending in Omori seeing bloody footprints leading to shadow Basil which usually leads to White Space, Omori stabbing himself and waking in the real world.

In the second chapter, Sunny starts off in the real world again. To briefly summarise, he and Kel find Basil being bullied by Aubrey and her current friends ending up with Aubrey accidentally pushing Basil into the water. Sunny has to face his fear of drowning to save Basil and faces up against another Something. Sunny and Basil are then saved by Hero who has returned from college for a short visit. They go to Kel and Hero’s house and look through the photo album and then Kel and Hero ask their parents if they can go to Sunny’s house for a sleepover. In the house Hero goes to the piano room – the room Sunny previously refused to enter. Sunny and Kel then join him there where the player finds out Mari used to play piano, and that her death was a suicide. The player knows from the photo album by now that Sunny also used to play the violin and that he and Mari were meant to play a concert together before she died. Kel, Hero and Sunny then set up a fort in Sunny’s room.

Then Omori wakes up completely alone in Neighbor’s Room in Headspace. Leaving Neighbor’s Room all the paths are blocked off by fog except for the one to the Playground. The Playground is entirely empty but if the player interacts with the mirror they can play hide and seek alone. This is a clear tonal shift as usually Headspace is very cheerful and full of life but with only Omori it becomes eerie. Then the path to the beach is accessible. At the end of the dock stands Mari. She encourages Omori to swim cross the ocean and get past his fear of drowning by promising to stay with him and saying, “steady your heartbeat… don’t be afraid. It’s not as scary as you think.” Crossing the ocean with Mari takes them across to some wooden dock paths. When they reach the end of the long wooden paths there are some curtains floating atop them. Mari turns to face Omori and says: “… Omori… it seems you have forgotten something important. Are you okay with that? I’m not too sure… you’ve seen this curtain once before. The last time we went to the lake. This is my stop though. I know I shouldn’t have come… It just gets a little lonely without everyone. It’s not my place to say anymore, but… I hope you’re still there… Sunny… I really miss you” Mari then says “goodbye, little brother.” Then Sunny enters a new area of Headspace which leads to a hotel called the Last Resort where he has to collect Kel, Aubrey and Hero who were all trapped in contracts to a boss named Mr Jawsum who they have to battle against. This is more like the previous areas of Headspace with lots of puns and colourful new characters. Then the friends travel down the Underwater Highway eventually following a recurring side character Sweetheart to an area of Headspace called The Abyss, during which they start to forget what Basil looks like. In The Abyss there are a lot of hints towards Sunny’s past and trauma. Eventually the friends end up meeting a whale called Humphrey who invites them to enter into his stomach. He is both a new area to explore and, after this exploration, a boss who threatens to actually eat them. Then, once Humphrey is defeated the friends go to find the last of the 12 keys which spells out “Welcome to Black Space” and then shows them Basils house. On the way to Basil’s house the trees and plants look dead. Entering the house there is a pit and entering the pit leads to a dark place which eventually leads to a black door which Omori opens. This introduces the player to Black Space, essentially the inverse of White Space which is surrounded by black doors.

If White Space is where Sunny locks himself away to forget all of his trauma, Black Space seems to be where he hides all of his repressed memories, fears and mental health problems. There is a key in the centre of the room. The key will open whichever of the doors the player chooses to enter first. Each room behind a black door is disturbing and broken looking, with bloody footprints leading to a key and then a red hand appearing and taking Omori back to Black Space. One Black Space room is a small room with a Butler who has the face of a cat while the cat Mewo (who the player knows by now was Mari’s cat) is strapped down to a table with knives next to her. Once Omori has entered the room, the door he used to enter disappears. When Omori interacts with the Butler he says “Mewo has been very, very bad” and then gives Omori a key. As there is no door to use the key on it seems the only choice is to approach Mewo. When Omori interacts with Mewo the text box asks: “do you want to cut open Mewo?” with the options yes and no. As there seemed to be no other option I reluctantly clicked yes, not wanting to see Mewo cut open even though I had become a bit used to the violence of the game after seeing Basil die in several of the other Black Space rooms. However, when the I clicked yes it lead to more text. “Mewo stares at you. She tilts her head out of curiosity.” And then the game asks again: “Do you want to cut open Mewo?” I clicked yes again. More text. “Mewo stares at you. Her eyes widen. She wants to go now.” And then, “do you want to cut open Mewo?” I clicked yes again, feeling more and more uncomfortable. “Mewo stares at you. She struggles to break free.” Again the choice, “do you want to cut open Mewo?” And once again I clicked yes. “Mewo stares at you. Her eyes are filled with desperation.” I was asked again, “Do you want to cut open Mewo?” I clicked yes. “Mewo stares at you. She tries to scream, but there is no sound.” And again, “do you want to cut open Mewo?” I clicked yes again hoping it would eventually give me a different option but knowing it probably wouldn’t. “Mewo stares at you. She does not know what is happening.” Again the question, “do you want to cut open Mewo?” And finally she was dead, her red blood bright in the dark room and the text box “you cut open Mewo.” I thought finally, the red hand would appear and take Omori back to Black Space, but it didn’t. I waited a couple more seconds and then walked Omori around the small room. Nothing happened. I went to the Butler to see if he would help me leave after having committed such a terrible act but all he said was, “waiting for something to happen?” and I realised with growing dread that there had been no reason for cutting open Mewo. It had done nothing to help Omori leave the room. I opened the pocket menu and saw that the Stab option was back. I selected it and Omori stabbed himself and returned to Black Space. That was the moment for me where the game felt like an actual psychological horror. It had set out rules for Black Space. Open the door to a room, find the key for the next room and then the red hand would take Omori back to Black Space. I didn’t like the rules and the rooms unsettled me with how they took elements of the game I had grown accustomed to or invested in and then twisted them (like Watermelons hiding items, or Basil needing to be rescued) but I knew I had to follow them to progress. Except in that case, the rules weren’t the same and trying to follow them killed Mewo making me feel like a horrible person. When I watched a video titled “OMORI and Dissociative Amnesia”, part of a series of videos titled “Psych of Play” on YouTube by ‘Daryl Talks Games’ I saw the other side of that scenario. Daryl mentions how he “checked everything I could think to check to find a way not to kill this cat. Until I stumbled upon my menu and realised the Stab option was there and in that moment I was relieved. Finally something other than playing what feels like an actual nightmare I thought. And after I stabbed Omori and respawned in Black Space it sort of hit me like a truck that this game had just made killing myself seem like the best option. It seriously made me think that suicide was the easiest thing to do… given my circumstances. It took that unnatural feeling I had experienced so early in the game, and made me welcome it. Which I think paints a shockingly real picture of how suicide may seem to someone who is dealing with these astonishingly dark and sinister levels of anxiety” (Daryl Talks Games, 2021, 27:19). He had a moment where he felt that the game really revealed what it was like to be in Sunny’s shoes and made him emphasise with what Sunny’s suicidal thoughts probably felt like. And Sunny does seem to be suicidal as a result of his trauma and guilt. The bad ending leads to him killing himself by jumping off a building. This implies that part of the purpose of the game may be to show people who do not have mental health conditions what it is like to experience them. I think this would make sense since, as the disclaimer included in the game warns, ‘OMORI’ should not be played by people who are too close to the themes depicted and will find the game triggering. Much of the online community around Omori however talk about how it resonated with them or was important to them because of its mental health themes. The game has seemed to help a lot of people feel less alone with its exploration of mental health, although much of the community also emphasise that you have to be in a good state of mind when playing the game and recommend not playing it on bad days. I myself made sure I only played it on days I felt comfortable playing it and would alternate between playing the game for hours and then taking days off to decompress.

After finally escaping Black Space by killing Basil one more time (a lot of the Black Space rooms involve killing Basil by accident, but this last time seems to be on purpose) Sunny wakes up hearing music. Following the music takes the player to the piano room where Mari is sat playing the theme tune of the game. Mari talks about playing the piano and how she felt maybe she pushed Sunny to hard. She says: “We never did get to play at that last recital. Did you want to play it with me now?” Before Sunny can respond Hero bursts into the room. He tells Sunny to go back to sleep.

In the last part of the game the truth is revealed. Before their recital Sunny had thrown his violin down the stairs where it broke and had an argument with Mari, presumably over the pressure he felt to play the violin perfectly. He pushed her and she fell down the stairs and died. Basil found him and the two of them disguise her death as a suicide.

After this is revealed the player has the option to visit Basil who is convinced Sunny is possessed by Something and will start a fight between Sunny and Basil. Both Sunny and Basil will faint at the end of the fight. Sunny then finds his broken violin and is taken through memories that were shown in Basil’s photo album. After each new memory the violin will start to fix itself until it is complete. Then Sunny will appear at the recital where he is encouraged by his friends. He will put up his sheet music, start to play and then break down sobbing. Then Omori appears and the final battle is between Omori and Sunny. During this battle Omori speaks to Sunny telling him all the reasons he is a bad person and should be guilty. The phrases he used struck home and I become incredibly invested in the battle and trying to win as what he said sounded a lot like what the voices in my episodes of psychosis had told me. However Omori will ‘not succumb’ and eventually Sunny will be defeated and a game over page appears. It gave me the opportunity to continue so I took it. This time Sunny has the option to play. Choosing it will make Sunny take out his violin and he and Mari play their duet they practiced for their recital. This cutscene made me incredible emotional as it showed how much Sunny and Mari loved each other. The whole fight really showcases how Sunny felt, as Omori the representation of all his guilt and repressed memories, that his friends would be better off without him, but playing the violin gave him hope again and defeats Omori. They then hug in White Space and a white door appears. Going through it causes Sunny to wake up in the hospital with a bandage over one eye, injured in his fight against Basil. Leaving the hospital room will show shadow Basil and following him takes Sunny to Basil’s hospital room where Kel, Aubrey and Hero sit around Basil. Entering the room starts the Good Ending cutscene where Sunny decides to tell them about killing Mari, but the game cuts off before the player can see his friends reactions.

I know I have gone into a lot of depth explaining the plot and it might not have all been entirely necessary, the mental health aspects are central to the plot and discussing them felt like it would make no sense unless I described the plot first.

The game has a disclaimer both at the beginning of the game as well as on the game’s Steam page warning players that the game “contains depictions of depression, anxiety and suicide” which I think is very important and needed in the case of this game. The game is a (psychological) horror game, and horror games are quite well known in mental health gaming communities as misrepresenting mental health, mostly as portraying people with mental health conditions as violent and out of control, and mental health institutions as creepy and places to be feared and avoided. However, although the game uses Sunny’s mental health as a basis for the horror aspects it is not done in a way that belittles his struggles but rather just emphasises how difficult it is for him to cope with them. Although the cause of Sunny and Basil’s trauma is revealed to be a situation that players will most likely be unable to relate to, the way their depression and Sunny’s anxiety are portrayed still resonate with a lot of players as is evidenced in many Steam reviews. Omori and Basil are both quite sympathetic characters. They both seem to have depression but it is expressed in different ways – Omori completely withdrew into an imaginary world to avoid his trauma whereas Basil tried to put on a cheery façade but was actually deeply affected.

OMOCAT, the creator of Omori seems to be quite private and has not revealed much about the process or inspiration behind Omori and has not done any interviews, unlike the creators of the other games I have discussed, so it is difficult to tell whether she did any research on mental health when making the game or whether she experiences mental health conditions herself that may have assisted in making an accurate representation of mental health. However she did state in a blog post from the time of the Kickstarter that: “OMORI started out as a very personal project. He was a character that I created to help me cope with my problems during a confusing part of my life” (OMOCAT, 2014).

One of its main themes, one which features strongly in all three games, is the importance of friendship. I think this is an important message to have, for friends to support each other. Early on in the game if you buy good advice from the wise rock in the Vast Forest it tells Omori: “pain doesn’t last forever.” This is a major theme of the game and I think it is an important one. Although the Good Ending is ambiguous as the player will not know how Sunny’s friends will react, it gives hope that Sunny is no longer trapped by his trauma and he can finally try to move forward from it, and by telling them it seems he is also freeing Basil from his guilt as well. Overall I think it was a game that told a story that, although the ending reveal made Sunny’s actual situation less relatable and the game leaned to stereotypes at times, his experience of mental health still felt very real and resonated with a lot of players.

References:

OMOCAT (2014) OMORI Kickstarter Update. Available at:

https://www.omocat-blog.com/post/85490697570/from-illustration-to-video-game-omori-kickstarter (accessed at: 23 February 2021)

https://youtu.be/rUDGlEWa4sE (accessed at: 11 April 2021)

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haneul-x-bada · 4 years

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HTSBUWTML 001: A Sinful Heroine (1)

“So…...let’s break up."

The tallest spire in the capital of Calicia, and a famous place for lovers. Is there anything as ironic as declaring a breakup here with Herines, a member of the Knights of the Calicia Palace, which symbolizes the foundation [1] of this spire.

"What?"

The handsome blonde man’s eyes, which sparkled like a blue river, opened wide in shock. At such a sight, any woman in the world would feel guilty about it.

"......you’re.....you're joking, right? "

I shook my head firmly. Yes, you have to be determined in times like this. Even though the sunset shining over the palace and his scattered blond hair looked stunningly beautiful, I had to say it again.

"No. I respectfully ask you, Herines, member of the Imperial Knights, to please accept that this is the end of our relationship.”

Was my firm voice ineffective?

His sturdy body, apart from his head that was fixed towards me, wavered and crumpled like a sheet of paper. Surprised, I grabbed his shoulders and looked at his face. His blue eyes were filled with tears.

"Why…...Aisha,” Herines said in a grief-stricken voice. “I loved you. No…..I love you, and I will continue loving you forever. I thought both of us felt the same way, but…”

The knights of the Imperial Palace shed no blood or tears. This brave man fought and survived with one armor and one sword in a deadly against the 10 million armies of the Gargot Empire, then returned to Calicia as a hero. I can't believe such a man is on his knees and begging with tears.....

I know it’s horrible, but it feels a little.....nice?

“Aisha, please tell me why. Is it about your status in society? Is it a problem that I am the heir of the Countess, a knights of the Imperial Palace, and that you are from the knights of an unnamed family? But, that's nothing compared to our love.”

"Umm.....it’s not because of that."

"Then is it because of my fiancee? I broke it off with her after meeting you. You remember, don’t you? That marriage [2] is meaningless. It's all in the past."

"Well......that's not true.”

I shrugged my shoulders, and raised the fallen Herines. Then, I shook off the dust on his uniform, and rolled my head for a moment.

It would be better to tell him the truth, right? Herines is also a rational adult, he can take it.

"It’s because I don't love you.”

Herines turned pale.

".......That....That can’t be true…….Then….. Are you saying that all the words you’ve said...those were lies?”

I sighed. They weren’t words of love, they were choices for ‘targets’.

"That's.....a little complicated to explain. I won’t make excuses now. Well, you can think like that. You can blame me. I'd rather be uncomfortable,” I murmured to myself, not noticing that Herines was staggering.

"I just want you to break up with me..."

"...I won’t let that happen."

Herines leaned against the edge of the roof. His face was obscured by darkness as he turned away from the sunset. What kind of facial expression does he have, I wondered.

With a glistening light, his tears fell down without hesitation.

"I made a promise here, remember? Before the final battle with Gargot…..when I thought that meeting would be our last...I promised...”

As I recall, I think there was an event like that just before the ending. So, the vow you made at the time......what was it about?

"Only death will separate us."

The moment I remembered the event, it was too late. Because the man quietly said the words, then threw himself into the sunset over the tallest spire in the city center. Without reaching out his hand, he disappeared in the horizon. I ran, swallowing my scream, and looked down from the edge of the stone tower.

A march was being held to celebrate the return of the royal knights. People scattered petals from rose bushes that were as red as the blood before them. I gaped at the sight.

No, wait a minute. That's ridiculous. Come on out, developer! Or scenario writer! Answer me!

"Who decided that this is what happens?!" I shouted and screamed into the air because Herines, who just jumped, is the one of the male leads of this love simulation game.

Only two days ago, until I entered this game, I was an ordinary office worker. I was an HR manager at the leading global IT company, Rigveda.

"So......please return your pass.”

It’s noteworthy that I was not just an ordinary HR manager, but a layoff expert who gives notice of dismissal. My colleagues called me ‘Guillotine’. They called me that because I was cold-blooded and can fire anyone without even handing a tissue to an employee who cries, blows their nose, or hangs on to me.

It is a meaningful nickname when I think of Herines. Yes, people who get notified of their dismissal might get angry, but if they accept a hefty severance pay, they leave looking for a new life. They don't jump off a spire!

Ugh, where on earth did it go wrong?

Probably from the moment I entered this love simulation game, <The Knights of Calicia>.

* * *

"I know a really good izakaya [3] in front of the company. Let's have a team dinner [4] after work today, shall we?"

While the manager invited us before leaving work, I felt my colleagues stare at me. Regardless, I jumped up as soon as the second hand of the clock in the corner of the office pointed at 7 o'clock sharp.

"Sir, I'll be on my way."

As soon as he heard me, the manager frowned.

"Why, Ms. Lee? You're leaving on time again? You've never had a team dinner since you joined the company, how could you do that?"

I, Lee Young-ah, who was a chief, answered back while packing up my things.

"Isn't that our company's principle? I think the reason why Rigveda became a leading global company is because it guarantees employees' personal time."

"But people still need to socialize~!"

"Another advantage in our company is avoiding outdated culture. The company has also developed by firing employees who follow existing wrong practices.”

I looked up at the manager, raising my glasses.

"Come to think of it, aren’t you about to retire?”

It just came to mind and asked, but the manager seems to have taken it as a ‘Guillotine’ [5] remark. His face turned green, and just left the office saying he’s leaving work first.

Well, it's great that you're able to retire. But, my words must have been seen as a kind of threat.

".....isn’t it useless to go against the Guillotine?"

"Wow, she’s so cold…..so cold.”

Murmurs from my colleagues came from behind.

"Why are you so obsessed with leaving on time? Do you have a boyfriend at your house?”

That's when I laughed. How did you know? I’m hiding a boyfriend at home.

"Well, see you all tomorrow!

After the gossip and saying goodbye to my colleagues, I slipped out of the office.

* * *

Cold, unfriendly, businesslike......words that everyone used to describe me. But if you see me sitting in front of the computer after work playing the game with all of my passion and blood, then I’d say that's who I really am. On the computer screen, a brown-haired male character in a knight's uniform is showing a dialogue.

[Aisha, I'm......in love with you.]

"Kyaaaaa~”

I burst into a sigh of joy, and hit an empty can of beer on the floor! I put it aside and raised both arms.

"Hahahaha! I finally got him! How many hours did it take for me to get here?”

Finally, in <The Knights of Calicia>, I’ve captured Leno, the knight of the sky who has the second highest level of difficulty! The latest famous love simulation game, <The Knights of Calicia> is set in a medieval fantasy where Aisha, a nurse from the Royal Knights Corps and has secrets of birth, is dating the knights.

It's hard to build the reputation and experience of the main character, but then it's a game that's been talked about as a challenging love simulation game to play.

Who am I? I am ‘Dandoodae’ [6], a love simulation game blogger who has a 100% success rate and ten years of experience with both foreign and local love simulation games. No matter how difficult capturing the target is, how weird the character is, or how deep and dark their past is, there was not a single character who did not kneel in front of the ‘Guillotine’.

After finishing work and staying up every night to clear all the events, checking each and every change in favor of the options, playing persistently, finally, Leno...you’re now mine! I quickly captured Leno's confession and posted it on my blog. Soon, the comments were flooding.

- [ Congratulations!! ]

- [ Amazing! Great job, ‘Dandoodae’! Isn't that the first attempt? ]

- [ You've attacked Harris, Helios, and Leno, and now all you have left is an impregnable man. ]

A man of iron wall.

Ren Brecht, a notorious target character among <The Knights of Calicia> players, was given this nickname. He is the general of the Knights of the Imperial Palace and successor to the Duke of Brecht. This man, who is loved and trusted by the king, is absolutely faithful to the king's orders and deals with anyone who blocked his path regardless of age or gender, and thus was called ‘The ‘Murderous Knight’.

The problem lies in his handsome face, where the bloody title does not fit. He had neatly raised black hair, clear red eyes, blue uniform wrapped around the skin with beautiful lips, and the battle scars carved on his hand stretched out outside the sleeves. He is the epitome of handsomeness that makes you faint at the mere thought of it.

Let's be honest.

Yes, I played this game to make Len Brecht mine.

I took out a new can of beer from the refrigerator, drank it at a gulp, wiped the foam off my mouth, and smiled in satisfaction.

Whoo-hoo, how long have I been waiting for this very day? This is the day I’m going after Ren.

It’s natural to eat the carp bread tail at the end, so saving the main dish for last is the right way! [7]

<The Knights of Calicia> is a two-legged system. If one character and his favorability levels are above a certain level, no other target character will appear in the game. So, I had to restart the game every time I was targeting the other three characters, and now I'm the master of this difficult <The Knights of Calicia> that even if I close my eyes, I can write the lines in the prologue.

Well, don't you need this much preparation to knock down Ren Brecht, who was the hardest target to capture?

"Now, it's finally your turn!"

I wickedly smiled as I thought about my next target, the ‘Murderous Knight’ [8]. After rolling up my sleeves, I opened the game but a terrifying window that made every gamer’s heart sink appeared.

[AM01: 00-04:00 is update time.]

"Ahhhh!"

No way, who does an update on Friday? I've heard about a second update, but doing it on a Friday is a bad business ethic, production crew!

I found a small package next to me while I was screaming and tossing in bed. As soon as I got off work, I was only playing games. Did I order anything?

I opened the package as I tried to recall, then some nice hand-written letter greeted me.

To ‘Dandoodae’, the best Aisha

Congratulations for successfully capturing Leno for the first time today! You were selected to be a beta tester for the second update of <The Knights of Calicia>. If you are willing to participate, please sign the contract.

You can log in through the device.

- <The Knights of Calicia> DREAM

After reading the letter, I doubted my eyes. The producer? No, how did you know I'm going to target Leno today? Where did my address come from? At that moment, all kinds of questions are shaking up reason.

Beta tester means I'm the first to do a second update.

With my eyes wide open, I quickly looked inside the package. I saw a few nicely-wrapped boxes, and sheets of paper which is the contract.

Since it was inspection time and Friday night was long, I had to participate. I quickly signed the last page of the contract and opened the box.

After reading the instruction manual that came with the machine that shaped like a mentos, I turned the game on to log in. I admired that the world had improved and without thinking about it, I attached the device to the computer, then turned it on. [9]

It’s more intense than when I struggled in the bathroom after eating buldak for lunch on the day of my SAT. I didn’t think this was a choice I would regret.

* * *

Did I fall asleep? I wondered at the pouring sun. It was definitely night. Was I asleep until the sun rose in the middle of the sky?

I almost fainted when I saw the man standing in front of me.

"Welcome, to the world of Calicia!" This foreign man welcoming me with his arms open.....who is he?

No, wait.

A face full of smiles, spectacles, brown curly hair, and a nurse's uniform - it looks just like Igor in <The Knights of Calicia>. Even the dialogue is similar to the ones that appear when I log in to the game.

"I-Igor?"

"Yes, that's right. Aisha! Nice to see you again!"

Igor is the friend of Aisha, the main character, and the NPC for the game.

Is this a dream because I played too many games? I did, but the touch of the man holding my hand was very real.

The same was true of the room in front of me. It was not an officetel with a bookshelf full of love simulation games on one wall, but the home of a knight's nurse that came out of the game. Also, the image in the mirror at the opposite side of the room looked very familiar - a red-haired woman with golden eyes, with her eyes widely opened.

"Aisha?!”

When I ran in front of the mirror in surprise, I finally realized. This is the second update! I was convinced that I could go directly into the game, and that such a huge update would make the Friday inspection acceptable.

Igor gave me a gown since I was still in my pajamas.

"Aisha, there will be a reception tonight to celebrate the return of the Imperial Knights, so you should reply to your companion."

While I studied Aisha's face in front of the mirror, I heard Igor's story and came to my senses. If the Knights have returned to downtown Calicia......it's almost the end of the story. But, what did he just say?

"A companion? Who are you talking about?"

“Well...”

Tak! Igor snapped his finger and with the small sound, the door opened wide.

"Now you have to choose, Aisha.”

There were different bundles of flowers in front of the door, all of which came with a letter.

A nice letter on a bunch of red roses said, ‘With love, Count Stenborg Fermor de Herines’. In the letter placed on a purple violet bouquet, ‘With faith, Baron Stenborg Fermor de Helios’. The last was a bunch of white lilies with the note saying, ‘With respect, Count Bertrand Russell Leno’. The names that blossomed between the bouquets......were the male leads of this game.

I reached out my hand and opened the letter casually, then I read the contents. I felt my face turn red and hurriedly covered it up.

"Uh........ Igor?”

"What is it, Aisha?"

"Why......Why did these people send me letters like this? With a bouquet of flowers, it's like...It’s like a letter to a lover."

"That’s because these are all for you."

"What?!” [10]

Igor proudly said with his signature bright smile, "for the optimal beta test, I've brought in all of “Dandoodae”'s saved data!"

That means...

"You're saying I'm...in a relationship with all these guys I've captured?"

"Yes! You’re a sinful heroine.” [11]

Igor fumbled thoughtlessly. Embarrassed, I had to act as rationally as possible.

"But <The Knights of Calicia> is a two-legged system!!"

"Yes! However, the saved data are simply combined, so there should be no problem with the game. The system is no different from the game you've played before.”

The system...it's the same. If that is the case...

"......then, since there is a character who is my lover, then the system in which the other characters can't even appear remains the same?"

"Yes! The system is the same."

I fell in front of the mirror with a puzzled look.

So I can't even run into my favorite character, Ren Brecht?

_______________

[1] '첨탑의 기상을' literal translation is 'weather of the spire', but when I tried to search for it, 'foundation of the spire' made more sense to me i.e. the knights are the foundation of the Palace.

[2] The translation is 'marriage', but I think he means to say 'engagement' because he mentioned 'fiancee' in the first sentence.

[3] According to Naver, an izakaya is a type of informal Japanese bar that serves alcoholic drinks and snacks. Izakayas are casual places for after-work drinking, similar to Irish pubs, Spanish tapas bars, and American saloons and taverns. See: This.

[4] Literal translation is 'get-together', but I think 'team dinner' works better for this scene.

[5] Basically, the manager thought she's threatening him that he's gonna get fired.

[6] Lit. 'guillotine'

[7] Saving the best (Ren) for last

[8] Author-nim used the word '헤롱헤롱', but I decided to omit it because I didn't know the meaning and the search results online shows the Overlord or Pokemon '헤롱헤롱' and the '해롱해롱 ' with a different spelling which meant something like rude or has no manners.

[9] I'm not really sure with the terms author-nim used here, but I think she logged into the game first then attached the device which had the update then turned the device on. Author-nim used these words so I just interpreted them freely. '웬 멘토스같이' which translated to mentos-like, and '관자놀이에' that literally means temple.

[10] Young-Ah is shocked that they sent her a love letter because this is just the beginning of the game, she still shouldn't have received any letters since she hasn't encountered any of the male leads yet.

[11] He called her a sinful heroine simply because she is currently in a relationship with three different male leads despite each of them having their own saved data. Remember that Young-Ah always starts from the beginning, i.e. back to zero, whenever she plays to capture another target.

#HTSBUWTML

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stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale · 4 years

Text

An Explanation of Why Louis and Violet are Both Terrific Love Interests [3/5]

+Why both romantic routes are not only amazing but better than other games I’ve personally played in the past.

+Why some people are idiots and get off on picking stupid fights.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

[a new frontier and forced romances]

You have to romance me otherwise the plot makes no sense also I’ll throw a tantrum like a small child.

Do I even need to explain this one?

It’s Kate.

I’m talking about Kate.

The romance with her is forced and I don’t like it.

I hate to be blunt because I’m sure there are people out there who like Kate and like the relationship between her and Javier, and I don’t want to step on any toes and say your ship is invalid because it’s not.

However, as someone who didn’t romance Kate the first three times I played the game for a number of reasons, I hated how the game constantly forced her on you while giving the illusion that it’s a choice.

Because that’s the issue: Illusion of choice.

No matter what you do, Javier has romantic chemistry with Kate [apparently] as told by everyone Javi talks to. Tripp mentions it, Eleanor mentions it, Clementine mentions it, and even David says something about how Kate only sees Javi now.

You can literally be an asshole to Kate and turn her down every single chance you get, and she’ll still come to you like “Hey, we’re a thing, right? Things have been pretty intense with us in the past so we should totally give this a shot, yeah? Fuck David, let’s be together!”

This would make sense for her say if you returned her affections whenever possible, but it makes her look clingy and in denial if you repeatedly turn her down.

When it comes to whether or not you want to pursue that relationship with her, you have two choices: Say you feel the same way and have to story make sense, or say no and not only will she pout like a small child, but suddenly so many things don’t fucking work.

You turn her down and David still freaks the fuck out because Kate’s all “I can’t believe I loved either of you!” and takes Gabe away which leads to the final choice which leads to the ending.

If the story wanted to be forceful with Kate, then y’know what? Fine, but go all the way with it. None of this illusion of choice shit, just tell us that Kate and Javier are a couple now and give us the choice of what kind of boyfriend we want to be. Don’t say “Here’s Kate, you can smooch her if you want” and then proceed to have everyone and their mother tell me to smooch her even though I don’t want to.

Also, did you know that Javier Garcia is a bisexual protagonist, as well?

Yes, it’s true! It’s never mentioned or shown outside of ONE flirtatious dialogue choice with Jesus in the last ten minutes of the game, but it’s true!

I honestly don’t know why they didn’t either give us a choice between two love interests or decide to keep the focus off romance in general. Instead, we got Kate and a mess of a plot when you don’t pick the “correct” choices.

Give me a REAL love interest! One that I can get behind!

...Wait, of course!

Hey, don’t you look at me like that! It could work!

Francine’s dead, therefore Conrad’s single! And so what if he held Gabe at gunpoint and threatened to shoot Javi in the face?? All couples have their fights, c’mon!

...Alright, fine, but I’m putting a pin in such a potential ship and saving it for later.

ANYWAY, we were talking about Kate.

Compare Kate to Louis and Violet.

You don’t have to romance either of them and if you don’t, it doesn’t fuck over the plot.

If you don’t romance Louis, he doesn’t turn into mister pouty pants and slap Lilly and confess to loving Clem during a dangerous situation which results in an even more dangerous situation because he’s butthurt.

If you don’t romance Violet, the plot suddenly doesn’t make sense because the game was steering you to make the “correct” choices that give you the “correct” ending and now everyone’s confused because they assumed you were smoochin’.

No, you can just be friends with them and it’s fine! Sure, you miss out on the cute date scenes, but y’know what? You miss out on stuff if you DO romance them, too!

You get different dialogue and scenes that work with the story you’re creating! Just because you didn’t smooch them, doesn’t mean they suddenly don’t have any interest or care in you! It’s just platonic!

If the writers took a page out of ANF’s book, then we would’ve had a mess with Louis and Violet. They would’ve forced Louis on you and then let you have one line of flirty dialogue with Violet! Or everyone would be constantly telling you how much chemistry you and Violet have despite you rejecting her every chance you get!

In conclusion: Louis and Violet are important characters, but you are not pressured into having a relationship with them if you don’t want to. You can friendzone them and they will still love you.

[king’s quest and likable but inconsequential love interests]

Romance me or her, it doesn’t really matter we look identical when we’re old and our children suspiciously look the same regardless so just pick one

King’s Quest is a game that came out in 2015. It’s an episodic reboot to the classic games of the same name and follows the life story of King Graham told by himself to his granddaughter, Gwendalyn.

I love this game. It made me cry and I loved every minute of it. Graham is one of my favorite protagonists that I’ve ever played, and this game has something wonderful about it, aside from purple badgers and Whisper: Romance.

Surprising, I know.

In Chapter 3 of this game, King Graham decides that he’s ready to meet the love of his life, so he turns to his magic mirror, which shows him a tower that holds his future bride. Ecstatic about this, Graham travels to this tower and climbs in to meet the love of his life.

He’s then greeted with these two.

These lovely ladies are Vee and Neese, and they will be your potential love interests for the evening.

Vee is the more serious of the two, taking a liking to puzzles and archery, but she also has a knack for puns.

Neese is the sillier of the two, loving music and animals, while also having excitable outbursts.

These two are likable in their own different ways, and both get the same amount of screen time throughout the episode, it all just depends on which one you prefer more and who you think Graham has more chemistry with.

That being said, it doesn’t really matter who you pick. Nothing drastic changes in the story if you pick Neese over Vee or vise versa.

The story happens the same way: Graham marries the one you pick, their son gets kidnapped by Manny, they grow older with their daughter, their son comes back, they go on vacation, and it turns out the one you didn’t marry is now Icebella and dies at the end of Chapter 4.

Really, the only difference is the color palettes they wear and dialogue options to signify which one you chose.

I mean, pick Vee or Neese, but they’ll both reveal that their real name is Valanice and your children look the same regardless.

So, why is this a problem? Well, it’s not necessarily a bad thing, especially when you consider that Vee and Neese are actually based off of Valanice from the original games, hence why they’re both named after her. And they’re both incredibly likable, so that’s not the issue, either.

For me, when I learned that it really didn’t matter all that much who I picked, it made the choice feel less impactful. In Chapter 3, they’re clearly two different characters with their own personalities, and while they’re similar to their CH3 counterparts in future episodes, they mush together despite the small differences.

Thinking back to the two times I’ve finished King’s Quest, I can’t even tell them apart. I know that I prefer Vee for Graham in Chapter 3, but other than that, it’s inconsequential, it really doesn’t matter as much as some of your other choices throughout the game.

When it comes to TWDG, it matters and makes a big difference depending on if you pick Louis or Violet and HOW you pick them.

You can romance and save them, or you can romance and betray them, or you can do everything right and devote yourself to them only to decide you don’t trust AJ in the end. Each route plays out differently and has obvious, drastic, and memorable consequences.

You romance Louis then save Violet? Well, now your boyfriend doesn’t have a tongue anymore leaving him completely traumatized for life. You now have to live with that for the rest of your life.

You romance Violet but then decide not to trust AJ? You now have to watch your girlfriend get eaten alive by a herd of walkers because she stayed behind to save Tenn’s life.

You play your cards right and romance, save, and keep Louis/Violet alive until the end? You get to be happy and in love with them at the cost of your friend’s tongue/eyes and Tenn’s life.

Do you see what I mean?

Yes, if you marry Vee, then Neese dies. That’s impactful but not nearly to the degree that a choice like this is presented in TFS.

In conclusion: Vee and Neese are likable but inconsequential. Louis and Violet are lovable, memorable, impactful, and they change the outcome of the story drastically.

Continued in Part 4

#twdg louis #louis twdg #violet twdg #twdg violet #twdg clementine #clementine twdg #twdg clouis #twdg violentine #clouis #violentine

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joutacujo · 4 years

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FNV Companion Meme: Hades

Found this on another’s blog and wanted to have a go using drunkle Hades! This’ll be the lone version without Bitesized or Tesla.

Template

General

Name: Hades

Location: Atomic Wrangler or one of the vagrant camps

How to obtain: Can be hired after completing the quest “King on His Own”

Character photo: I haven’t draw him properly yet, but I have this-

Companion Wheel

I think we should travel together: “You better be packing hydra.” / “Welp, better than lazing around here, I guess.” / (if courier is female) “Do I have to?”

Use Melee: “Shit, I’ll give it a go.” / “I can’t see straight, but a cleaver is a big knife. Bigger range and all.”

Use Ranged: “Does throwing dynamite count?” / (singing) “Shot-gun, sh-sh-sh-shotgun!~”

Open Inventory: “Come on, man. I’ve got a bad back!” / “Are you gonna pay me for this?”

Stay Close: “If I get in your way that’s your fault.” / (if female courier) “You better not be flirting.”

Keep Distance: (if male courier) “Nice view from back here!” / “Got it, chief.”

Stealth: “If you here cracking that’s my knees.” / “I’m more of a explode everything and run guy, but I’ll try.”

Back Up: (jokingly flirting) “Throw it back?” / I’m sure my muscles get in the way.”

Be Passive: “Ugh... really?” / “Yeah, that’ll last until withdrawal hits.”

Be Aggressive: “Now you’re speaking my language.” / “YEEEAAAHH!”

Use Stimpack: “Doesn’t hit as well as hydra, but it’ll do.” / “P is for pain... also Please give me more.” / (if female courier) “Don’t touch me. I’ll do it myself.”

Wait Here: “Oh. Don’t go too far, okay?” / “Oookay. Just don’t leave me here.”

Follow Me: “Right on, chief.” / “I ain’t a dog...”

Send to the Lucky 38: “Oh hell yeah!” / “You know I’m banned from the Strip, right?”

Send Home: (can be found where?) “Home, sweet home. Time to get high.” / “Finally! I missed Tesla.” (Atomic Wrangle/vagrant camp or Hades’ Shack after his personal quest is done)

Injured: “Uhghhhh... chief I ain’t feeling so good.” / “Hydra hydra.. hell I’d take a bit of jet.” / “Chieeefff! Helpp....”

Death: “Well... I was expecting this...” / “Oh, finally...”

Aggression: Aggressive

Confidence: Cautious

Assistance: Helps friends and allies

Karma: Neutral

Perks

What perks does your oc have? Generally companions have a starting perk and then two perks they may achieve depending on how the courier completes their quest line.

[Been Through the Wars]

Hades’ starting quirk adds 3+ DT and 20% resistance to drugs and poisoning.

[Cut off One Head]

If choosen the “Warrior” end to his quest, adds 25% skill points to the Explosive, Guns and Survival skills.

[Happy Homesteader]

If choosen the “Retiree” end to his quest, adds 25% skill points to the Medicine, Repair and Barter skills.

Drops

If killed, does your oc drop anything?

Tesla’s Note -A note from Tesla to Hades about their plans to party after “all of this” is done.

Shot In The Dark -Hades’ unique shotgun that has unlimited slag ammo.

3-6x Hydra 10-12x Dynamite Cleaver

Worn Kings’ Outfit -Hades’ unique version of the Kings’ Outfit

Ruined Dogtags -NCR dogtags with the details scratched out

Quests and Recruitment

How does the courier recruit your oc? Write a short description where your oc is found and if there are any requirements to recruit them as a companion.

You receive the quest “King on His Own” from Pacer after G.I Blues quest is done in the Kings’ favour. He speaks about a member of the Kings that had to be kicked out after “going psycho” from drug withdrawal. He says that this member was really impressive in a fight and he’d like to see him come back to them. Problem is, it’s impossible to get him to go sober, so he asks the Courier if they could do anything.

You can find Hades either in a vagrant camp (usually the one near the Strip) or the Atomic Wrangler. At first he’s very depressed and generally lethargic. Having high reputation with the Kings allows you to hire him as a companion, but first he asks you to track down 5 bottles of Hydra and some whiskey for his “happy time cocktail”. Upon doing this he’ll take this “cocktail” and suddenly become more upbeat and flirtious (if the courier is male). If the courier is female he’ll seem reluctant to join you, but does after a 25 Speech check.

Bringing him back to Pacer leads to Pacer being disappointed in Hades, but he requests that you keep Hades around for a bit longer to see if you can help. Agreeing to this completes the quest and hires Hades as a proper companion with his quirk.

Personal quests are an important part of developing our companions. What is your oc’s personal quest(s), and what are the different ways the courier can complete them?

After travelling for some time, there’s a random chance you’ll witness Hades going through withdrawal. He’ll become very depressed and easily angered, fighting anything that comes within his perspective. Talking to him will give you the option of giving him Fixer which prompts him to open up more about himself.

He reveals he was born in a Vault set underneath an Arts Theatre. The musical scripts found in it is where his tribe gets their names from; he’s named after Hadestown: The Musical. He left his tribe as a young adult to seek adventure but was captured and sold into slavery.

He refuses to go into anymore detail. Passing a 50 Speech Check he’ll reveal that he was sold to an older women that lived in this fancy condo for rich people. He’ll shudder at the memory then end dialogue.

This prompts the beginning of his personal quest, “Why We Build the Wall”.

After completing three quests for the NCR, Hades will mention his distain for the NCR. Through dialogue it’s revealed he was a soldier for them but deserted during the Bitter Springs Massacre. Talking to Captain Gilles with Hades in the party will prompt a conversation between the two. Gilles is disappointed, but not surprise that Hades deserted them while Hades is bitter and disgusted that they’re still here. You can resolve the conversation peacefully with a Speech check of 30.

After becoming Liked by the Legion this prompts a conversation with Hades. He is neutral towards them, saying their slavery is horrifying but at least they protect their citizens. He says he’d rather join an honest evil than a dishonest good. You can then ask him about his time as a slave. Reluctantly he reveals that his owner would beat and assault him whenever something upset her. He’s biased against women because of this (something he apologizes for if the courier is female). He is gleeful as he reveals that he escaped after she had a heartattack at a party, but quickly becomes subdued again as he’s been wandering every since.

The last condition needed is to complete the quest “High Times” with Hades in the party. Upon completion he opens dialogue mentioning he drinks and uses drugs to forget his past. He says his companion, Tesla, is a complete amnesiac due to her excessive drug use and he’s kind of been hoping to have that happen to him too. But everytime he has a withdrawal, all those feelings he’s been bottling up just come out and start the cycle over again.

Through dialogue you get two choices to help him.

The “Warrior” end, has him continue to use drugs now adding in Buffout to help control his withdrawals. He becomes tougher and buries the past completely.

The “Retiree” end has him use drugs at a half dose, using more Fixer and visiting the Followers. He regains more skills and unlocks his Shack where he gives you supplies like ammo and different crafting scrap.

Ending Slides

Another important part of companions is their ending slides. How do their endings change based on how their quests are completed and how the courier decides to handle the world around them? Below is a short template listing the different main story outcomes. Feel free to change whatever you need to fit your OC’s story.

If their personal quest is never completed…

Hades, ever drifting between highs and lows, remained a vagrant to the very end. Haunted by his past, body deteriorating from alcoholism, he took his life outside of the Strip’s Gates: a symbol of how the Mojave can chew one up and spit them out.

If the Courier sides with Legion and Hades quest is completed with the Warrior Ending

As the Legion marched into Freeside they rounded up the drug addicts and vagrants. Most were executed on sight, some, like Hades, showed a battle prowess that impressed Caeser. Hades was cast into the Arena and after many battles, was finally slain. His body was burned in a sign of respect.

If the Courier sides with Legion and Hades quest is completed with the Retiree Ending

Hidden away in his shack, Hades escaped Legion sight for a long time. Upon finding the now sober Hades, they captured him and sold him to Aurelius of Pheonix (or Lucius if Aurelius is dead) as a repairs specialist. Though once again a slave, Hades accepted his fate and eventually passed of natural causes.

If the Courier sides with NCR and Hades quest is completed with the Warrior Ending

With the NCR taking over New Vegas, it wasn’t long before deserters were brought to justice. Hades refused arrest and fought until the very end, taking out many NCR soldiers in his wake. He eventually went down under a hail of bullets, screaming his bitterness to the skies.

If the Courier sides with NCR and Hades quest is completed with the Retiree Ending

With the NCR taking over New Vegas, it wasn’t long before deserters were brought to justice. Hades was brought before a trial and accepted his imprisonment. He lived out the rest of his days working in the mines, eventually dying in a mineshaft collapse, surrounded by other Kings.

If the Courier sides with House and Hades quest is completed with Any Ending

Hades, like many vagrants in Freeside, was either ignored by Mr House or shot down when his robots came strolling into the town. Being a friend of the Courier, he was left alone by other factions in Freeside; leading to a lonely, if peaceful, life.

If the Courier makes New Vegas independent and Hades quest is completed with Any Ending

Along with the other Kings in Freeside, Hades ruled and enjoyed a free life. In the chaos he often relapsed into using more dangerous drugs and whored himself out without care. Eventually, he passed after a bad, violent trip on pyscho which lead to him being killed in self defense.

#fallout new vegas #fnv #companion meme #fnv oc #hades #long post #i got lazy at the end ugh #personal

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kuningannasansa · 4 years

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A musketeers rewatch (that nobody asked for) 1x07

Here we go, my least favorite episode of the whole show excluding season three which I didn’t watch! If you have even a passing fondness for Ninon, I suggest you look away :)

We start with a royal procession through the crowd and there are quite a lot of waving people there. If they can fill the streets with extras for scenes like that, why can those same extras not be used for the court scenes?

Priest whose name I have forgotten is being robbed. The musketeers rush in to help.

Meanwhile, a crazy girl tries to get close to the queen and ends up being ran over by her carriage. If this is meant to be some Emily Davison analogy, it sucks!

The dead lunatic’s name is Therese and she wanted to give the Queen a note. Constance takes it and says “Fleur, what does this mean?” Am I supposed to take from that that she cannot read for herself? Cause a merchant’s wife definitely, definitely would know how to do that.

Fleur is nowhere to be seen, however.

“This is an age of glorious discovery!” says Ninon. “Galileo observes the moons of Jupiter... But what is the role of women in this age of wonder?” - well, gee, i don’t know Ninon. Maybe you could have mentioned some female scientists of the era in addition to Galileo? Catherine de Parthenay, anyone? Or Marie Fouquet? Hell, Ninon de l'Enclos, my atheist queen, for whom this Ninon is doubtless named, was a notable woman in her own right! But no, we have to make women look more oppressed than they actually were to make this waste of space look more awesome.

“My women of Paris, seek your own enlightenment!” - wrong era!

Therese, an orphan from a humble background, wanted to hand a petition to the queen about women’s education.

“If she was an illiterate orphan she could not have written this. It is misguided but not unintelligent.” - says Richelieu. And indeed he turns out to be right. She didn’t write it. Which is fucking bizarre.

Anne asks him if he doesn’t favor women’s education and he replies: “I admire learning wherever it is to be found, but this amounts to an attack on the authority of church and state.” Any French history buff know what the actual Richelieu’s thought of women’s education? @tatzelwyrm? I’m gonna start a biography on him soon, but not until I’m done with this rewatch.

Ninon barges in past the guards and yells “stay out of my way, I will address the King!”. I’m sure this is meant to make her look badass, but she just comes across like a complete idiot who doesn’t understand that she would do better to follow court protocol, no matter how much she might dislike it, if she wants to achieve her goals.

Luckily for her she’s pretty, so the king doesn’t mind.

“I want to know why this tragedy happened. If your guards are to blame I want them punished.” And then she gives Treville a dirty look! How dare you, you waste of skin and oxygen! Don’t you dare blame Treville for this mess!

“You knew this lunatic?” - lmao, Richelieu!

Therese was the daughter of Ninon’s servant whom Ninon decided to educate. So she was educated, she COULD have written the petition herself. But she did not. Because when Richelieu says “she wrote this and was killed trying to give it to the Queen” Ninon screeches: “Don’t be ridiculous! She didn’t write it, I did!” And I mean, who exactly is looking down on servant girls here and saying it’s ridiculous to expect them to write something intelligent. It’s not Richelieu.

But more importantly, WHY?? If Ninon wrote it, why couldn’t she hand it to the Queen? Why did this poor girl have to die? This is so, so stupid! I mean, okay, maybe Therese heard Ninon speak well of the queen and got the idea to hand her the petition on her own, without being told by Ninon to do so. But why did she have it in the first place, if it’s Ninon’s petition?

“Apparently the Comtesse de Laroque believes herself above the normal laws and conventions of society.” ´- well that’s an understatement.

“The treasury is bankrupt and the country needs a new navy. Ninon has the wealth to provide it.” And that is why Richelieu sends Milady into the salon to find something to use against her. These two are so good in this, I love their scenes together! Pity about the rest of the episode.

Richelieu is now freaking out about lesbians and Milady is just like “really, dude? really?”. I love her!

“Ninon must pay up or face destruction, I want every last penny from her!” - so it was not his intention to kill her, just to get the money. Interesting.

Fleur’s father is Bonacieux’s cousin. I love that, the commoners having family connections and support circles of their own.

The robbed priest is called Luca! Richelieu is “delighted to see him”, apparently, cause they’re old friends. And Louis isn’t, because he wrote a pamphlet arguing that Kings should bow down to the Pope’s authority.

“We can’t have a comtesse abducting young women and spiriting them away to her boudoir!” - Oh, Richelieu! Do calm down.

It’s odd watching Richelieu try to use homosexuality to take Ninon down while shipping Trevilieu thou.

Athos barges into Ninon’s salon, demanding to know where Fleur is and Milady very discreetly hides behind a pillar. Lol!

And Ninon starts hitting on Athos immediately. She tells him that she’s often thought he’s handsome but the “melancholy aspect” to his looks is “probably only mental vacancy”. Who taught you how to flirt? Why must you be so abrasive and confrontational all the time? Like really, I get she’s meant to be a Strong Woman Who Don’t Take No Shit TM, but she just comes across like a loudmouth.

Athos likes it thou!

“Forgive our intrusion-” “I will not forgive it!” - Jesus Ninon, it’s just a figure of speech, a polite gesture. People use these in conversation sometimes. She’s so unnecessarily rude smh.

Aramis says he “gladly acknowledges the superiority of the female sex” and I throw up in my mouth a little. That’s not feminism, that’s slimy!

D’artagnan: “If that wasn’t flirting, I don’t know what is.” Porthos: “Rubbish! She can’t stand him.” Aramis: “One day I’ll sit down and explain women to you.” - cause we’re all the same and no means yes, right writers?

Luca: “His holiness is concerned about the direction of French foreign policy.” Richelieu: “Well the pope is Spain’s performing monkey.” - he really is so funny! I know I keep saying that, but he is!

Also, YAY politics! Intelligent dialogue! I love this scene so much!

“In matters of religion I defer to Rome, in all else I am my country’s servant” - lol, Richelieu inventing the separation of church and state

Luca: “Is this your final word on the subject?” Richelieu: “It is.” - and that right there is where Luca decides to kill him. The actor plays it really well, knowing it’s coming I can see the briefest moment of regret in his eyes, but without hindsight I wouldn’t notice anything. And he gives Richelieu the poisoned gift.

Also, isn't it the same guy who plays Margaret’s new man in Harlots?

Athos says that Therese and Fleur were so far below Ninon in status that they were not in a position to make choices of their own free will. Which is fuckign stupid. But Ninon saying that she views all women as equal regardless of their birth is equally moronic. I mean, sure, they should be, but in reality they’re not and ignoring that doesn’t help anyone. And Athos does point out that Ninon’s money and position gives her certain privileges, but it sits wrong coming from him and not from Porthos or Milady or Constance, who are from poor/less wealthy backgrounds. That said, this is still one of the few semi intelligent scenes in this whole episode, so whatever. At least someone said it.

Now she kisses him and invites him to dine! And he just looks sad.

Luca tells Richelieu to “deal with” Ninon “firmly”, cause the Pope is dying and Richelieu could be the next Pope if he shows himself a strong defender of the church against “heresy”. What heresy thou? Women learning to read? Lol, that’s so cartoonishly evil and ahistorical, but whatever. This at least explains where Richelieu’s desire to have her burned came from.

Richelieu: “I wouldn’t go so far as to call her a heretic.” Luca: “A woman who openly defies God's laws, what other word is there?” - what laws thou? what has she done, other than hold some salon meetings, as every other noblewoman was doing at the time?

Richelieu promises to consider his options and Luca tells him to pray to the poisoned bone for guidance, lol.

This right here is Richelieu letting personal feelings cloud his judgement, thou! Which he said he has learned no to do. But he allows himself to be carried away with visions of becoming Pope and honestly I don’t see how he can possibly believe that could happen with his foreign policy and how hated he is by the Vatican, as stated in this very scene.

Milady and Ninon! I love that scene! Ninon clearly thinks she’s super special because she “takes the initiative” by kissing men instead of waiting to be kissed. She’s so damn smug about it! And Milady is just like “oh I could never be so bold” and I swear I can hear her laughing internally!

And she very cleverly charms Fleur’s location out of Ninon!

Athos’s idea of a first date is the morgue. Charming.

Athos saying that Ninon is responsible for what happened to Therese because she gave a lowborn girl an education doesn’t sit well with me. Classist ass! But she is responsible for not thinking of Therese beyond how daring and adventurous and fun and positively scandalous it would be to educate a servant girl and then not bothering to care for her when she got bored. Cause if she had done, Therese could have come to her with her plan and she could have prevented her death. Because yes, regardless of her education, her background predisposed Therese to be naive about the King and Queen and how petitions work. Where was Ninon in all this, when a girl under her charge decided to do this foolish thing that cost her her life? Because if you want to be someone’s teacher you do have a duty of care. In short, Ninon is a classist ass as well! They’re perfect for each other!

So Luca’s stolen bag is in the morgue with the body of the thief who stole it. And Athos promises to send for it in the morning. I know it’s CSI: Musketeers and all, but why was it not delivered to Luca the moment it was found, lol? He’s a pretty important guest at the palace and it’s his property.

Athos agrees with Ninon that marriage is a curse. LOL!

Ninon’s reason for not marrying is that she does not want a husband to own her wealth and body. Makes sense and that’s why many independently wealthy women chose to stay unmarried. Just pointing out the few things that make sense.

“You are a rebellious woman” - oh good, we managed to squeeze the title of the episode into the dialogue!

Aramis just tossed a red guard out of Ninon’s house. Can’t tell if he’s dead or not, but certainly unconscious.

There’s fighting. The red guards have swords, the musketeers have books. Athos screams “where is your authority for this!?!” - well, the Cardinal, I’d assume, since they are his guards. Oh bear of very little brain!

Fleur and some other runaway girls are found sleeping in a secret chamber and Ninon is arrested for abducting them.

Athos is all like “you said she wasn’t here” and Ninon tries to explain that Fleur did not want to be found and begs “make them stop” to which Athos replies “sorry, I can’t”, his voice and face making it very clear that he doesn’t want to. Because a woman lied to him! This is the worst crime! Really Ninon is lucky she’s being arrested right now, otherwise she’d end up swinging from a tree.

“Four young women! In their nightwear! I can only speculate as to the horrors they have endured!” - Richelieu really has a bee in his bonnet about lesbians. The days before p*rnhub must have been hard for a catholic cardinal.

Luca is even worse thou! “Your majesty is joking but Satan is real! And his female familiars are everywhere amongst us.” Jesus christ guys, calm down! Have a wank or something!

“She had the girls, she lied, she brought her fate on herself.” - Oh shut up Athos! Not everything is about you and your relationship issues! As Aramis points out. Thank you, Aramis! And I never believed I’d ever say that.

Ninon/Aramis > > > > > > > > > > Ninon/Athos

Aramis gives Ninon the cross Anne gave him. This is quite sweet!

“It’s not so easy when you don’t have money” Constance says and she is right. But it’s like the show is saying that the only way women can be independant is if they are independently wealthy like Ninon. But that’s not really true, Fleur could get a job such as a seamstress or pharmacist or grain merchant or actress or even as a secretary now that she knows latin and greek thanks to Ninon. Women did have jobs in 17th century France and even belonged to guilds etc. Not saying that Fleur would not be more financially secure still with a husband, but if she really doesn’t want that she has options and I don’t like how this supposed “feminist” episode constantly erases women’s actual history.

Fleur’s father rages “what does she need an education for? She’ll be a seamstress until she’s married and then she’ll be a dutiful wife and mother.” But if he is Bonacieux’s cousin then they are in the same social class, that is to say, the merchant class. And merchant women had to keep their husbands’ shops when their husbands were away. They needed to know how to read and write and do sums. They needed this to be an attractive marriage prospect to a husband of their own social class!

And the father wants to hit Fleur and D’artagnan all heroically threatens him. How boring!

Richelieu: “Many of our young women are educated. It’s not something we’re ashamed of.” Fleur: “Not just embroidery and sewing.” Me: “WELL OF COURSE NOT!!!”

Then Fleur says Ninon taught them the “secrets of our bodies” and Richelieu is a hound on the scent!

“Be quiet or you’ll be gagged!” - Again Armand, this is neither the time nor the place to indulge your kinks.

ENTER MILADY!

She does such a brilliant job of her testimony! This is again her lying about rape and I talked about before why that is bad, but in this case I don’t mind cause it’s for state reasons and doesn’t in any way invalidate her own story the way the thing with D’artagnan does.

Athos completely LOSES HIS SHIT!! Not doing the defence any good there, buddy!

The look she gives him as she walks out is priceless!

Queen Anne to the rescue, bringing clemency from Louis! Clever girl, must have manipulated it out of him! Season 1 Anne was intelligent.

And Ninon ruins it by saying: “I have never consorted with the devil until this moment. I am looking at him.” To which Richelieu replies: “Condemned from her own mouth.” As any person with half a brain would. Jesus christ Ninon, you should have been gagged! For your own safety!

And then Richelieu stops breathing! And we get Treville’s reaction to it, thank you camera people! Thou Treville mostly just looks confused, like “what is that drama queen doing now?”

Now he’s twitching! And I’m sorry but it looks hilarious.

Aramis carries him to bed on his back and puts a hand over his mouth. I’m not sure that helps with the breathing issues...

Louis pushes Aramis out of the way and cries “please don’t die! please don’t die!” aawwwwwwwwwww!

Aramis really saves his life here, huh.

Anne is briefly jealous about the cross and asks Aramis if Ninon is his lover. Lol! She never expected him to stalk her for the rest of her life, she fully expected him to keep lovers.

Luca: “Satan turned his blood to acid at her command!” Porthos: “We’ll add Satan to the list of suspects.”

Fleur: “You think I poisoned him?” Constance: “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard even by musketeer standards.” - THANK YOU CONSTANCE!

Fleur is to be married to a 40 year old butcher. Poor girl!

“Was it you?” - LOL!

“Half the doctors say you’re doomed, the other half claim you’ll make a full recovery. There’s a lot of professional pride at stake.” - Milady is very funny too! But I’ve always known that!

“Whatever happens to me, I want you to extract this confession from Ninon.” - translation: it doesn’t matter if I die, the main thing is that France gets that navy. For France, always. I’m amazed by how much he trusts Milady here thou.

Milady thinks the kneebone of St. Anthony is gross and “as much use as the doctors”. Bless her!

Constance very sweetly talks Fleur’s father out of forcing her to marry. Go Constance!

Ninon: “There is nothing worse than a woman who betrays her own sex” Milady: “I can think of a few things, but let’s not argue.” - THIS!! This is my favorite part of this whole miserable episode, because yes, with her background she can think of things Ninon couldn’t possibly imagine. It’s also a fuck you to that “don’t encourage girl on girl hate” line terfs and white feminists always hide behind when they get called out on their bullshit, though this wasn’t the point here. I love how she doesn’t even explain, too. Let’s not argue, cause what’s the point. You’ll never get it.

I do want to stress that Ninon is not wrong for educating other women and she has been unjustly condemned (althou I would argue that she might not have drawn Richelieu’s ire if she went about it in a more subtle, less smug way, for the safety of the girls she teaches if not for her own). But Milady is employed by the First Minister of France and is doing her job here, a job which she depends upon for her own independence and safety. As she says, Ninon didn’t do anything to her, she’s just a victim of circumstance.

“If you don’t confess, the women of your salon will burn in your place. Surely you wish to save the lives of your accomplices in Satan?” - Milady does a good job of selling it, but if you think about it, that makes no sense. These women have already been publicly proclaimed Ninon’s victims. And if they have legal trouble with burning her alone, how would they manage a whole bunch of them, most of whom are also high ranking noblewomen?

Ninon falls for it thou. Fail!

Richelieu orders Ninon burned and Milady says that the Queen and King won’t like it. Richelieu replies that: “she’s irrelevant and a new navy will soothe his dismay.” He’s really underestimating season 1 Anne here. But season 2 will prove him right, sadly.

“The kingdom of heaven is a dream. Our only life is here.” - Go Milady!

Richelieu says he won’t burn her for heresy but to be careful cause “one day someone else might” and idk, but it comes across like pretty friendly advice, considering what he’s currently doing with Ninon.

Now he worries he might go to hell! And Milady says he’s already there, lmaoo! I LOVE THIS SCENE!!

They go to the morgue to retrieve Luca’s bag and discover that the thief was poisoned in the same manner as the Cardinal. Thus the plot is uncovered.

“Open his mouth!” “You open his mouth!”

Luca kills a red guard and is about to kill Richelieu (who fights him with a fork!) when the musketeers burst in. And Richelieu curses them for being late!

Richelieu had apparently worked out that it was Luca who was trying to kill him at some point during the night. No idea how.

Athos begs for Ninon’s life while the pire is already burning. And Richelieu agrees cause burning her is all very “dark ages”, like he said to begin with. He says he’s not a cruel man, just a practical one. But practicality sometimes requires cruelty. He’s not a sadist thou, that’s what he meant and that’s true.

Athos drags Ninon off the burning pire. So the great feminist character got duped by Milady and then had to be rescued by her love interest. So good, much feminist.

“As far as the world is concerned, Comtesse Ninon de Laroque died on that pire today.” Richelieu takes her lands, her property and her money and sends her into exile. Then he threatens to execute her if she ever tells anyone the truth of what happened.

“My voice will never be silenced, but I promise you will never hear it.” - the stupidest line of the whole episode and that’s saying something. Seriously, what does this mean? Your voice was silenced! Richelieu got your wealth which you could have used to educate more women. You were completely defeated. Like really, who is the idiot who wrote this? And what made them think this is in any way empowering or even just a satisfactory conclusion to Ninon’s acr?? Ughhhh!!

I do love Richelieu and Milady getting a rare victory thou!

“Nothing, no person, no nation, no god will stand in my way.” - HOT!

Aramis gets his cross back lol. Otherwise it would have burned.

Lmao, Richelieu sends Luca’s ashes to rome with a threat to the Pope.

And Capaldi pronounces “Richelieu” in a very strange way.

Milady: “You do realise you’ll never be Pope?” Richelieu: “It’s an Italian club and largely a clerical position. I prefer something with a little more influence.” - L! O! L!

Ninon plans to open a school for poor girls and be a teacher. Well, idk, I hope she does a better job of it than she did with Therese.

Athos asks Ninon if “Madame de la Chapelle” ever told her anything about herself. And Ninon is like “so you did know her after all?” and he says “in another life” and she warns him to be careful because she has the cardinal’s protection so “a blow against her is a blow against him” and idk, does she realize that Milady was Athos’s wife here? Is that how I’m supposed to read it? He did tell her before that he used to be married.

Then she kisses him and tells him she could have loved a man like him. And she’s just way more into him than he is into her.

Lmaooo, Fleur is not forced to marry and can continue with her education and she’s “sure” that the woman who convinced her father was Ninon. And Constance doesn’t correct her and doesn’t even want the credit, but I’m mad lol, as if Ninon even remembers you exist Fleur!

D’artagnan gives Constance the credit, at least! And then comes his declaration of love, which is actually very sweet and I really liked them together in season 1! Constance is so beautiful in this scene too! It’s very well lit and she’s wearing that lovely dress!

Aaaaand we fade to black on some PG13 kissing and groping! Sorry, this was very long, but there was a lot to complain about.

In conclusion, awful! Like, the thing that bothers me the most is that this token girl power episode would not even have been radical in 1970, never mind today. The message is simply that women should have an education, which no sane person today would disagree with. It’s very safe and bland. And erases women’s real history in the process. It’s almost as if these male writers are congratulating themselves “weren’t things ever so bad Back Then, we are so much more progressive now”, instead of doing the truly radical thing and showing women’s real history, showing women in positions of power running their literary salons and not getting burned for it, showing women as independent businesswomen with an education! Why not give Bonacieux a female rival in the cloth business? Why not go deeper than “women are human beings” and give the episode a truly radical message that still resonates today. After all, we might be ever so educated now but it’s not like women have achieved equality. More on that in this old post: https://kuningannasansa.tumblr.com/post/126434697304/the-problem-of-ninon

Anyway, I really hope the next episode will be better!

Red Guards killed: 1 or 2, impossible to really tell

Ladies killed: Therese

Best Dressed: Ninon. She did have some pretty dresses.

#the musketeers #bbc musketeers #cardinal richelieu #milady de winter #anti ninon #musketeers rewatch

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s4msepiol · 5 years

Text

Headcanon #3 | Valedictorian

Title: Valedictorian

Type: Fluff

Prompt: What kind of student was he in high school / college and how the two of you met.

Pairing: Elliot | Josh | Steve | Finn | Reader

Elliot and you were in computer class together.

No need to say that he was there just for the diploma, his IT skills being already better than the teacher’s ones.

Elliot always sat at the computer at the very back of the class, not bothering with putting his hood down unless he was asked to.

You could count on one hand the number of times you had heard Elliot’s raspy voice.

Even for the roll call, he would just raise his hand in the air at the mention of his name.

The few times Elliot granted you the sound of his voice was when the teacher, thinking that Elliot wasn’t paying attention and annoyed by his skills, tried to catch him off guard by asking him a trick question about this or that type of malware.

Questions to which Elliot always responded correctly without even having to think about it.

The two of you got closer on a Monday.

You were struggling with a particularly hard exercise. You had to find the security breach of a software before the virus destroyed all data on the computer.

Elliot didn’t help you at first. He stayed there, silent, staring at nothing but your face and your hands on the keyboard.

You find the security breach pretty quickly.

The hardest part was to destroy the virus all the while protecting the data in a minimum of time.

Every student but you had given up.

And just when you were about to do so, you felt someone move behind your back.

Elliot passed his arms above you to have access to your keyboard.

“Okay… so your code is good, very good actually. All you gotta do now is to redirect the traffic to a zone that isn’t damaged yet and…”

“… stop the virus before it reaches that zone.”

“Exactly.” Elliot said with a soft smile, suddenly feeling a little less lonely in the classroom.

“Thank you, Elliot.”

“That’s nothing… I’m sure you would have figured it out without my help.” He answered as the bell rang.

From that day, Elliot and you sat next to each other at the back of the class, not saying a word to each other most of the time but exchanging knowing glances whenever the teacher would come back to Elliot with his trick questions.

And before you even noticed it, this course turned into a private lesson between Elliot and you while the other students followed the academic program.

“Y/N, you’re sure you don’t want to follow the ‘regular’ program? I mean… I won’t be offended if you decided to.” Elliot whispered while you were coding all the while keeping an eye on the teacher for him not to notice what the two of you were up to.

“Elliot… He’s teaching them how to create a website and you’re teaching me how to hack it. Trust me, I’m having way more fun than them at the moment.” You answered (pretending not to see the smile that was creeping onto Elliot’s face), your eyes glued to the screen not to make a mistake that could be lethal to your program.

The closer the end of the year was getting; the more comfortable Elliot was getting with you.

He finished the final test an hour before everyone else.

You totally aced your final thanks to Elliot’s help, even though you were quite sad at the idea of no longer seeing him once a week.

He waited outside the class for you to finish the test.

“So… How did it go?” He asked you the minute you passed the door.

“Pretty good actually, even though I’m convinced that having you as a ‘private tutor’ gave me a clear advantage over others.”

“Trust me, I have nothing to do with that… They’re idiots and …you’re not.” Elliot answered low avoiding your gaze.

And just when you were about to leave, Elliot said:

“Hum Y/N… I thought that… maybe we could keep on with our private lessons… Not that you need it, that’s not what I mean but… I just thought that… Shit…”

“I would love to.” You interrupted him before he got himself even more uncomfortable. “What do you think about that coffee shop on the 4th Avenue, the WIFI is fast and their coffee is to die for.”

“It sounds all right to me.” Elliot stated before the two of you headed to the coffee shop.

Josh and you were in a class called “Introduction to Motion Picture Directing 101” together.

He was, besides you, the only student that hadn’t enrolled this course thinking that it would consist in watching movies and sleeping at the back of the class.

You met Josh on a Tuesday.

“Excuse me, Y/N is that it? Mind if I sit here?” Josh asked you a few minutes before class started.

“No, no please do.” You answered with a soft smile.

Josh sat next to you and stared at you for a minute, as if he was searching for something to say, but just when he was about to speak the teacher entered the room.

Josh was really focused on the course, noting down everything the teacher said.

“Now, can anybody tell me who popularized the dolly zoom and explain this technique in a few words for the dunces at the back of the class?”

Not wanting to bring attention to yourself, you simply wrote those words on your notebook: Hitchcock = Moving away + Zooming In.

“Come on, my five-year-old daughter could answer that… How do you want to work in this industry if you’re not even able to…”

“Hitchcock.” Josh answered all of a sudden, making you smirk. “It basically consists in moving the camera away from the subject whilst zooming in.” He finished.

“Good. Very good. In what movie did he first use it?”

“Vertigo. But I prefer the way Tobe Hooper uses it in Poltergeist.”

You instantly liked how spontaneous he was when speaking, not boasting or pontificating, just talking about something he was passionate about.

One morning you were standing at your locker to organize your books for your morning classes when Josh came to you.

“You had the answer the other day, in class, but you didn’t say it.”

“This kind of icebreaker is great for movies Washington, but in real life most people stick to ‘hello’.”

“Alright. I get it. Don’t want people to know you’re smart.” He stated, leaning against the locker next to yours.

“You just have me all figured out, huh?”

“Not at all, but smart and pretty that’s something I don’t get to see very often.”

“You’re gonna be a great director Washington, but honestly, delegate the dialogue writing to someone else.” You retorted, softly tapping on his shoulder before grabbing your books and heading to your next class.

Getting out of your French class you ran into Josh again.

“So French, huh? I figured you’d be more into math or something.” Josh declared, walking with you to the class you shared.

“Please tell me you didn’t just time that so I’d walk right past you.”

“You know that guy that works three hours a day at the reception: fairly tall, puny, glasses?”

“The secretary’s starter pack, in short.” You answered, making him laugh as he opened the door of the classroom for you.

“Well… He might happen to be my best friend, and he might have been able to get me your schedule…” He started, suddenly interrupted by the astounded look on your face.

“Okay… Granted, this totally sounds weird but before you say anything, just know that I only did this with noble attentions.” Josh explained, whispering for the teacher not to notice the two of you.

“Yeah, who knows? I could get sucked into the Matrix during lunch break.” You retorted whispering, nervously tapping your pencil against your notebook.

You couldn’t tell how or why but Josh was slowly growing on you.

“Okay, what I would like you to do for next week is to put yourselves into groups of two and write a ten-page synopsis for the sequel to the movie of your choice.” The teacher explained.

After class, Josh caught up with you in the hallway.

“Usual Suspects, Leon the Professional or Pulp Fiction. Interstellar, why not but there’s no way we’re gonna be able to learn everything about quantum physic in less than a week.” You said low, lost deep in your thoughts.

“Wait, you’re being serious? I thought I’d have to beg you for an entire week for you to work with me.”

“Let’s review my options: I have the choice between that weird guy at the last row who’s probably gonna want to write a sequel for a porn he would have seen the night before, Blondie at the first row who secretly dreams to write an umpteenth sequel for Twilight and… you: who, despite everything, probably stays the only person in that class that is really passionate about this course.”

Josh stayed there, a dumb smile plastered on his face.

“Please say something or I’m gonna start to think that this Twilight thing isn’t that bad.”

“The word ‘porn’ has never sounded better than from your lips.”

Working on that project with Josh has been a total mess.

You can’t quite tell when you realized this wouldn’t go as any other group project.

Maybe it was when you accepted that the two of you would work at his place.

“And… we’re almost done, only one page left.” You stated as you finished typing the sentence Josh was dictating you.

“Cool. Now what would you say of… going to the movie?”

“Josh…”

“Okay. What about… going out and get something to eat?”

“…”

“… or we could just have sex right now, if that’s what you want. Wait… No, forget that. I got a better idea. What if I introduced you to my mother so that we can start looking for a caterer and working on the seating chart?”

“You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

“Nope.” Josh answered with a warm smile. “Except if it’s really bothering you. In that case, you won’t have to ask twice.” He finished on a much more serious tone, putting himself back to work.

“Grab your jacket. They’re showing the new Adam McKay film downtown, if we leave now we should get there before it starts.” You declared, getting up.

Josh’s smile getting so wide at your words.

“You’re sure we don’t have the time for you to meet my mother before?” He asked you, putting his jacket on.

You weren’t sure why you had decided to enroll in a course called Speech 217 ‘The Art of Informal Remarks’.

To be honest the first class you had had with Miss Tainot did nothing but confirm the fact that you should have chosen another option.

And just when you were pondering the idea of switching to another course called Accounting 142 ‘Bookkeeping and Taxation’, you noticed someone even more out of place than you.

Steve got there 30 minutes late.

He tried to take a seat as discretely as possible, but his skateboard decided otherwise.

“Who are you?” The teacher inquired.

“Steve Dibiasi. D-I-B-I-A-S-I.”

“Why are you here, Steve?” Miss Tainot asked the young man.

“Dean of Student Services said your class would change my life.”

You smiled at Steve’s naivety as you were pretty sure you had heard that man say the exact same thing to three other students the day before.

Steve took a seat and spent the rest of the class on his phone.

“Next week, each of you is going to address the class for the first time on a subject of my choice.” Miss Tainot explained, putting an end to the class.

But Steve really first caught your attention on a Wednesday.

You were working on your oral presentation at the library when you noticed Steve working a few tables away from yours.

You can’t really tell what surprised you the most.

Seeing a guy like Steve at the library or the effort he seemed to put in his presentation.

He was surrounded by books about rhetoric and oral speech, each thicker than the other.

Steve looked exhausted. He had been there longer than you had, at least that was what his yawns betrayed.

As it was getting late, you decided to borrow the book you were working on and to go back home.

There were only a few students left at the library. Steve had left a few minutes before, probably realizing that in the battle opposing him to the tiredness he wouldn’t come out a winner.

In the line for book lending, you were once again blaming yourself for not having chosen a course that wouldn’t have implied a bitter teacher and the obligation to do an oral presentation once a week when a familiar voice snapped you out of your thoughts.

“Mrs., please. I’m having this very important presentation tomorrow in the morning and I really need a good mark in this course if I want to pass this semester.”

“I’m sorry Mr. Dibiasi but that’s our library policy. You can’t borrow more than eight books.” The librarian answered, barely paying attention to the young man standing in front of her.

“Yeah I know, that’s what you’ve been repeating for the past twenty minutes. Mrs, I really need those books, and I was hoping that… you could make an exception, you know like in cases of force majeure…” Steve insisted, his voice heavy with exhaustion.

“Those are the rules. Members can borrow up to eight items from a statewide collection that includes a great range of fiction and non-fiction books, magazines, DVDs and CDs.” The old woman explained on a monotonous tone closer to an automatic answering telephone than to a human.

The sigh Steve gave her in response was more evocative than a thousand words.

“Come on dude… We don’t have all day…” You heard a student say behind you.

“You know what? Forget it. I don’t even know what…” Steve started.

“I’m taking them.” You declared all of a sudden, handing your library card to the woman behind the computer who scanned the books before handing them to you.

“Here… you go.” You declared, placing the books on top of the pile Steve had already in hand.

“Thank you. You really didn’t have to.” Steve thanked you, as the two of you got out of the library.

“That’s nothing, really. Their loan policy is bullshit anyway.”

You were about to go home when you were stopped by Steve’s voice.

“Wait! I don’t even know your name!” Steve shouted behind you. By the tone of his voice you could tell he was smiling.

“Y/N!” You shouted in response, before going home.

“…Thank you for your attention.” You finished, concluding your presentation.

While you spoke, Steve couldn’t keep his eyes off of you.

“Great work, Y/N. Already looking forward to hearing your next presentation.” Miss Tainot complimented you as you were greeted with a round of applause launched by Steve himself.

“And last but not least… Mr. Dibiasi, it’s your turn.” Miss Tainot announced.

You noticed Steve’s foot was tapping in anxiety.

“Okay, you’re gonna dig it.” He said, probably in an attempt to reassure himself.

“Are you clairvoyant?” Miss Tainot retorted.

“No. Steve Dibiasi.” He answered, making you chuckle.

“… If it was the romance novelist in him that made Victoria, the Queen, such a pal, chalk it up as another brick in the legacy of Ben Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield, educator, and Prime Minister of Great Britain!” Steve concluded.

You had to admit that Steve’s speech wasn’t the most formal presentation you had heard in your life but you were sure of two things after listening to him.

One, that he had put all his heart in this presentation and the memory of him at the library did nothing but confirm that.

Two, that no matter how informal his presentation was, it didn’t deserve the mocking laughter that overcame every student but you in the classroom.

You gave him a compassionate smile but that’s what you did next that caught him off guard.

You applauded.

And even though the room was filled with mocking laughter, the sound of your hands was the only sound Steve decided to pay attention to.

The next day, you were heading to one of your classes when someone ran smack into you, knocking your books and papers all over the floor. (s4msepiol, provider of romantic clichés since 1999.)

“Shit… I’m really…” Steve began, interrupting himself midsentence when he realized who he had ‘run into’ “… sorry.”.

“Don’t be. That’s nothing.” You answered as he helped you pick your books.

“No, really. You helped me the other day at the library and… you’re the only one who hadn’t made fun of me yesterday, and here I am ruining your copy of…” He stopped again, midsentence, reading the title on the cover of your book. “… Sybil… by Benjamin Disraeli.” Steve finished, smiling.

Once all your stuff picked up from the floor, you thanked Steve but he stopped you before you could head to your next class.

“Y/N! Wait!” Steve said, making you turn around. “Hum… What would you say of… if we…” He stopped, took a deep breath and went on. “Would you like to go for a drink with me?” He asked you, tightening his grip on his skateboard in anxiety.

“I’d love to.”

Steve gave you for only answer, a smile.

A smile that went clear up to his light green eyes.

“Why are you smiling?” You asked, not caring about the bell indicating that it was high time for you to leave Steve and to go to your next class.

“My pals didn’t believe me when I told them this class would change my life.”

Finn and you were in technology class together.

Most of the time, he would show up 20 minutes late, his t-shirt stained with motor oil.

“Sorry for being late.”

“All right, Finn. Why don’t you take that empty seat next to Y/N, and we’ll get started with the lesson.”

He would usually spend half of the class searching on the internet for spare parts for the car he was working on.

And the other half looking at you, thinking that you were not noticing it and trying (in vain) to find something to say for the two of you to get to know each other.

One Thursday morning, as you parked your car on the campus parking an idiot hit your car.

An idiot whose t-shirt was stained with motor oil.

“It’s official, my parents are gonna kill me.” You said, watching the damages on your back bumper.

“Shit Y/N, you’re okay?” Finn asked you as he got out of his car, not even caring about the damages on his car.

For some reason, his voice was full of concern.

“Yeah, don’t worry. More scared than hurt.”

“Y/N, I’m so sorry. I was paying attention to… something else.” Finn apologized while scrutinizing your face to be sure you weren’t hurt.

“Hey Finn, trust me it’s nothing, I’m fine. Your car took the worst of it actually.”

“Don’t worry about that, that’s nothing. But there’s no way you’re paying for repairing that.” He said showing your back bumper and started looking for something in his backpack.

He took out a pen and a piece of paper that he placed on the hood of his car before starting to write.

“Here take this… Ask for me once you’ll be there.” Finn said with a soft smile, handing you the piece of paper.

You nodded and were about to go to your first class of the day when you heard Finn’s voice behind you.

“Oh and Y/N…”

“Yeah?” You asked, turning around to face him.

“Have a nice day.”

At the end of the day, you drove to the garage.

You were about to enter when you overheard a conversation.

“No, you got to be kiddin’ me.” Someone declared in between waves of laughter. “Okay, so let’s sum up the situation. Finn, a man that repairs cars since he was 12, that went all the way to South Dakota to get his license at 14 and who never had a single ticket in his whole life, you want me to buy that this guy is implied in a fender bender?”

“He hasn’t even told you the best part yet.” Another man said.

“The person driving the other car is the girl he has been telling us about for weeks.” A third man explained, triggering another wave of laughter.

“Okay, okay I see… So now I have two hypotheses and you better tell me the truth.” The first man warned Finn. “Number one, you were driving, you realized she was there and suddenly you just ‘forgot’ how to drive. Number two, you totally did it on purpose so that she’d spend the whole afternoon here with you.”

“Yeah, what girl would say no to ‘Hey! I almost killed you, what about going to the movie?’.” Finn retorted.

“So?”

“So I was driving, I realized she was there and… suddenly my eyes were more focused on her than on the road.”

“Oh men… I think our little Finn is in love.”

“Well, this is a first.”

“Out. All of you. Now. There’s no way you guys are meeting her.”

For some reason, that’s the moment you chose to knock on the metallic door.

“Hey, Y/N.” Finn said with a large smile, dropping everything he was doing to greet you.

“Hey, how you doing?”

“Good.” He seemed nervous. “So what do you say we get started?” Finn asked, showing your car.

“Yeah, totally.”

“So… Finn, aren’t you going to introduce your friend?” The tallest of the three men said while patting Finn’s back.

“Well Y/N, this is Tobey, Pete, Joe and the rude guy over there is Benny, but you can call him Liar One. Guys, this is Y/N.”

After a few jokes at Finn’s expense, the guys decided to go grab a beer.

“Oh and Y/N, keep an eye on him. Finn has been a bit… ‘distracted’ lately.” Tobey joked, exchanging a knowing look with Joe and Benny, before they left.

“Sorry for… that. They’re not used to having a girl around here.” Finn apologized, before he started working on your car.

There was something oddly mesmerizing watching Finn working on that car.

His pants hung low on his hips, his face was covered with motor oil, and he stuck out his tongue from the corner of his mouth when he was concentrating.

“Y/N… Could you hand me the spark plug wrench? It looks like a big…” Finn asked you, stopping midsentence when he noticed you were already handing him the right tool.

“Interesting…” He noted, taking the tool you were handing him.

The two of you spent the evening chatting about this and that while Finn repaired your car.

“Okay… I’m think I’m done.” Finn announced, sliding out from under the car.

“The good news is that it looked much worse than it was.” He explained, standing in front of the car and wiping his hands with an old cloth. “The bad news is that your tail light is dead so I’m gonna have to order the part.”

“Okay. How long do you think it will take?

“Given the model of your car… At least one week but I must admit that I don’t like the idea of you driving without it, especially by night.”

Once again, you noticed an ounce of concern in his voice.

And before you could even mention the concept of ‘taking the bus for a week’, Finn spoke.

“So… what would you say of… me being your private driver for the week? I promise that, apart from this morning incident, I’m the best driver you can find.” He asked you, rubbing his neck before giving you that warm smile that he always had to release the stress of the conversation.

You can’t quite tell why, but answering “no” wasn’t an option.

Maybe it was because of his hopeful eyes.

Or maybe it was because of the conversation you had overheard.

“I must admit that the idea of a private chauffeur is pretty appealing, Finn.”

At first he was somewhat surprised, as if he had expected you to say no.

But then he smiled widely, looking down, still cautiously avoiding your gaze.

And suddenly you wished it would take him an eternity to get that spare part.

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commander-rahrah · 5 years

Text

Residency (An Open Heart Fanfic): PART THREE

Pairing: MC (Jordynne Holland) X Ethan Ramsey X Bryce Lahela; MC X Bryce; MC X Ethan

Masterlist: Click Here

Chapter Rating: T (Swearing, Kissing)

Word Count: 3700+

Description: Ethan cannot “get” the Rookie -- he can’t figure out the mystery, and it’s driving him crazy. A trip to Donahue’s and a couple glasses of scotch might make it better - or not.

Disclaimer: Characters, storyline, and parts of the dialogue are taken from Pixelberry’s Choices. They fully own the characters, dialogue, backgrounds, etc. MC Jordynne’s background is my own creation, based loosely off of MC in-game’s personality and provided with more details.

Author’s Note: Here it comes: the jealousy... Eek! I really like flipping things from in-game and turning them into Ethan’s point of view. There are definitely more updates to come! If you want to be tagged in upcoming chapters, reply or DM me! :)

Taglist: @drakewalkerfantasy @owleyes374 @professorortegasstudent

Previous Updates: Part One, Part Two

PART THREE:

Ethan rapped his hands on his wooden desk, breathing in through his nose deeply. Every orientation day was frustrating but this one topped all the rest. The Rookie, Holland — she got under his skin. He stared at the chocolate bar she got him, sitting on his desk — untouched. “You know, it’s okay to treat yourself sometimes.” Her voice echoed in his head, as he played with the corner of the wrapping.

She exasperated him — he reprimanded her in front of the entire waiting room, he scolded her with her first patient, praised Verma over her. But she still bought him the chocolate, she teased him back, stood up to him. He had taken this approach before with interns — tough love, a strong mentor to give them a backbone. But someone who would also leave him alone, for fear of further yelling or discipline.

But she was so different, somehow. She took his advice to heart, she let Verma take the credit for the save. Hell, she even went out of her way to help him with Barbara and her medication. He couldn’t figure her out. He didn’t get it. He was a world-class diagnostician — how could he not get her yet.

Glancing down at this leather watch, Ramsey realized it had been a few hours since he had last seen the Rookie. He would give her about one more hour, before stepping in with her patient. Grabbing his white coat off of the back of his chair, Ethan slid it on and adjusted the sleeves in front of the mirror on the back of his door. Tousling his hair slightly — he suddenly stopped himself. Who was he grooming himself for? Shaking his head, he went to grab onto the door handle when his pager went off. He was being paged down to Holland’s patient. She had figured it out — or was asking for help. Either way, Ethan was curious to see what she wanted.

He stood just outside of room 532 for a moment, watching as Dr. Holland spoke with her now-conscious patient. Her ponytail was becoming less and less perfect throughout the day — pieces of it falling over the nape of her neck and down her temples, framing her face. The white lab coat she had changed into after their emergency in the waiting room was still clean — a little wrinkled though.

She was speaking candidly, as her patient apologized to her. “You have nothing to be sorry for Annie.”

“But if I would have known about my allergy, you wouldn’t have gotten in trouble with that hot doctor.” He heard the young girl say.

A soft laugh escaped Jordynne’s mouth, “You don’t need to worry about Dr. Ramsey and I. I’m just glad you’re okay now.”

Ethan felt his face flush red, as he heard Doctor Holland link together he was the “hot doctor — heat spread down his neck. He had overheard some of the nurses and interns calling him that before, but he usually just rolled his eyes or ignored them. Now, he almost felt a twinge of a smile on his face. Suddenly, he couldn’t handle hearing anything else and he stepped into the room announcing himself with a cough.

Jordynne met his eyes, an uneasy smile spreading across her face.

“I’m told you wanted to see me?” He said, raising his eyebrows at her.

She nodded, grabbing onto the railings on her patient’s bed. “Annie’s going to be okay.”

“That’s good news. I imagine this wasn’t a random miracle…,” Folding his arms across his chest, he leaned his shoulder against the doorframe. “So? I’m waiting to hear whatever brilliant insight you arrived at.” He tried to hide his curiosity — Did she actually figure it out? Or was it another failed attempt?

“I wanna know too!” Her patient said, using her elbows to sit up a little straighter.

“It was never the bacteria. But it was something that happened on her trip to Indonesia.” She turned her eyes back to her patient, “Annie, you told me you ‘went for’ your scuba license. You didn’t say you go it.”

The patient’s face reddened with embarrassment. “Because I didn’t get it.”

“You also told me that you’re prone to panic attacks when you get stressed out. Annie, did you have a panic attack while you were diving?”

She nodded, “I always wanted to go scuba diving… but once I got down there, I just totally freaked out.”

“And you resurfaced too quickly.” Jordynne handed her patient’s chart to Ethan. “The result? Decompression sickness and labyrinthitis.” She noticed the confusion cross her patients face, "Annie, that’s an inflammation of your inner ear, which caused your vertigo and nausea.”

Annie blinked, starting to understand what was wrong with her. “Oh!”

Ethan still leaned against the doorframe, the clipboard hanging in his hand lazily. “And what treatment do you recommend, Dr. Holland?”

“The symptoms can be eased with antihistamines… but the condition itself can only be treated with time.”

Annie’s face fell, “How much time?”

She grabbed onto her shoulder gently, “You can’t rush it, but within a few weeks, you’ll feel like yourself again.”

“Thank you so much, Dr. Holland.” She smiled at her, her eyes filling with tears.

Ethan swiveled on his heel, heading out into the hallway. He waited for Jordynne to follow.

“So, I’ll fill out a prescription for some extra-strength antihistamines…” She started jotting it down on her pad, but he grabbed onto her pen. He clicked it closed and placed it back on her clipboard.

“Don’t bother. I already have.” Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the printed out prescription order and held it out for her.

She stared at him, her pink mouth opening up in surprise. “You knew? When were you gonna tell me?”

He glanced back down at his watch, “I’d planned to give you another forty-five minutes. I pulled up Annie’s chart to diagnose it myself, in the likely even you blew it.” He crossed his arms, staring at her, “But I wanted to give you the chance to right the ship, first.”

“Thank you… For giving me the chance.” She said, hugging the clipboard to her chest.

He narrowed his eyes at her, “Hm. I would’ve expected you to be angry.”

She shrugged, “No, I appreciate your help. But I’m never gonna learn if someone’s always holding my hand.”

He smiled at her, surprised that they were in agreement. “My thoughts exactly. But you showed your potential. Not to mention maybe the most important trait a doctor can have.”

“What’s that?”

“You listened.” He stared at her, admiring her. “You took the time to get to know your patient. Their story, their hopes, their fears… Sometimes those are the key to saving their life.”

Suddenly, Harper’s niece stalked up to the pair of them — looking flustered. “What the hell? You went and presented without me?” She glared at Jordynne, her arms raised up in the air.

Before Jordynne could reply, Ethan stepped in front of her. “Annie was your patient as well, Dr. Emery. What the hell have you been doing while Dr. Holland was making a diagnosis?”

Holland moved past him, stepping up to her. “Sorry, Dr. Emery. I should have kept you updated on the developments.” Ethan looked back at her, eyebrows furrowing in confusion again. Why does she keep doing that? Defending Doctors who are ready to throw her under the bus.

Dr. Emery’s glare softened slightly, “It’s okay. I wasn’t here. This was your win.”

Looking between the two of them, Ethan spoke again. “Dr. Holland, hospitals run on communication. Keep each other apprised.”

She nodded, keeping her eye on his — undeterred. “Yes, Dr. Ramsey.”

He turned his finger towards the other woman, “And, Dr. Emery? Patient assignments are not optional.” Looking back at Jordynne once more, he gave her a nod before stalking off towards the nurses' station. Glancing back at his watch, he realized his shift was almost over. Flipping through some charts, to keep him busy until his watch neared 9:00 o’clock. He let out a loud sigh as the large hand finally hit the nine, and he started heading towards the locker room to change. Longest orientation day ever.

_______________________________________________________________________

Loud music could be heard from the sidewalk outside of Donahue’s, lights flickering from the inside, and people going in and out for breaks. Ethan slid in through the open door, stalking over to his regular stool on the edge of the bar.

He wasn’t sure why — but he loved it here. It was the furthermost thing from his style — with the tacky neon signs, Christmas lights up year round, and a jukebox playing music he couldn’t stand. But most days of the week, Ethan found himself sitting on that stool, nursing a drink, listening to the awful music and watching the tacky lights.

Reggie placed a scotch tumbler on a white napkin in front of him, without Ramsey even having to ask. He gave him a curt nod, before grabbing onto it. Raising it to his lips, he took a swig — relishing in the warmth that spread down his throat into his belly.

He stared around at the patrons of the bar, studying them. There were a lot of his colleagues there that night — a lot of interns. The surgical interns were crowded around the dart boards — passing pitchers of beer and being rowdy. They reminded him of a fraternity. A few residents sat at a booth together, trying to wave Ethan over to join them — but he just gave them a nod, grabbing onto his scotch for another swig.

Just as the liquor went into his mouth, he noticed her — Dr. Holland. He coughed a little, finishing his swig — the sight of her making him gulp. She was wearing a tiny little number; a green shirt wrapped around her torso — leaving her shoulders and midriff bare. A black bralette peaking through, and a golden locket falling into the between her cleavage. High-waisted jean shorts hugged her hips, showing off her lean tan legs.

She had just finished a shot, placing the glass back onto the table. Her face scrunched up at the taste of the liquor before she tossed her head back laughing with some other medical interns. She had let her blonde hair out her ponytail — her wavy, long tresses falling down her back wildly.

The small group all raised their glasses together in a toast. He moved his eyes away from the group, feeling a wave of loneliness. He shook his head at himself — that’s why he came here, to be alone. To distance himself from the hospital, to enjoy his drink and talk to nobody.

Suddenly a voice shouted over the loud music, causing Ethan to turn around with a frown on his face. “Hey, Jordynne! Get over here, I’ve got a game for you!” A surgical intern was holding up some darts, waving them in the air at her — taunting her.

Ethan grimaced at him, turning back around — his eyes set on hers. He pursed his lips into a straight line — nodding his head to her. Before she could react, he turned his back to the TV on the top of the bar. He watched out of the corner of his eye, and she strutted over to the other side of the bar.

Heat spread over his neck, as he heard the surgical intern whistle low at her as she approached. Disrespectful. He thought.

Ethan found himself angling his body so he could keep watching her. He would flick his eyes back to the screen every once in a while, as though not to be too obvious.

“You really scrub up nice.” Bryce grabbed onto her, his hand resting on the bare skin on the small of her back. “Everyone, this is Dr. Jordynne Holland, the only good medical intern. Jordynne this is everyone.”

“Welcome to the party!” There were clinks of glasses as the group met each other.

The surgical intern licked his lips, “So, have you decided to switch teams? There’s still time, you know.”

Ethan furrowed his brows — she wouldn’t switch to be a surgical intern… Would she?

A laugh escaped her lips, a sweet sound in Ethan’s ears, “Sorry, I still prefer the part where I get to talk with my patients rather than cut them open.”

Good girl. Ethan thought to himself, smiling as he took a swig.

“Hey, we talk! I had a great conversation with a sweet old guy this afternoon. And then I watched my resident remove a lobe of his right lung.”

“Okay, that’s… actually pretty cool.” She looped her fingers through her belt loops, “So, darts, huh? I don’t wanna embarrass you in front of your surgery friends.” A confident smile spread across her face.

Bryce sized her up, “I think I can handle you. I’m a surgeon, remember? Very good with my hands.”

Ethan couldn’t help but roll his eyes — God, this guy was a flirt.

“But if you’re feeling cocky, we could place a little bet…” He offered.

“Fine. I’ll wager… a kiss.” She gave him a flirtatious look, licking her pink lips shiny.

The group of surgical interns started whistling loudly, shouting at Bryce to win the game.

Ethan went to take another swig of his scotch but found his glass empty. “Hey, Reggie.” The bartender acknowledged him from down the bar, starting to grab him another glass.

He had tried to stop watching them — she was an intern, she could play games with whomever she wanted, share drinks with whomever she wanted. But as they got to their last darts, he couldn’t help but glance at Jordynne out of the corner of his eye. The surgical intern was shooting — Jordynne was standing right behind him, on her tiptoes so she could reach up to speak to him — her chest pushed up against his back. Even from his seat at the bar, Ethan watched as she brushed her lips on his ear, whispering to him. An involuntary shudder went through Ramsey as he imagined her doing that to him.

Bryce’s dart went wide at her touch — causing him to lose the game. “Yes!” Holland screamed, throwing her hands up in the air — high-fiving a few of her friends that were watching. The group of surgical interns booed from the sidelines. Ethan smirked a little. Of course, she won.

“I believe you owe me.” Jordynne jabbed a finger playfully into Bryce’s chest.

Ethan had forgotten what they wagered until now.

Bryce grabbed onto Jordynne’s wrist, gently pulling her into him. “I am a man of my word…”. He hooked his arm around her waist, their faces inches apart. He said something to her, his voice too low for anyone else to hear. Suddenly, he dipped Jordynne dramatically backward, balancing her in his arms and they kissed. Different catcalls echoed throughout the bar, as the pair finally stood up and Jordynne pulled him back in for a second longer kiss. Ethan finally swiveled around his stool — having seen enough.

Grabbing onto his newly refreshed drink, he finished it in a large swig. That wasn’t a first kiss kind of kiss. He had had enough in his day to recognize that. He furrowed his brows as he thought — Did they know each other before Edenbrook? He didn’t get it. Shaking his head, Ethan got mad at himself — Why do I care?

The sound of a stool scraping nearby, caused him to perk up — sitting a little straighter. He watched as Dr. Holland hopped up onto the stool next to him, eyeing her out of the corner of his eye. He didn’t say anything.

She spoke first, swinging her legs on the stool so she could face him. “Something wrong, Dr. Ramsey?”

He glanced over to her, “Just noticing how… different you look out in the real world.”

A smile broke across her face, and she started playing with the gold locket around her neck. “You too Doctor. I like you without the white coat.” Her green eyes lingered on the few buttons he had kept undone on his shirt.

The bartender approached the pair, pausing in front of them. His eyes widened at Ramsey’s already empty glass — it hadn’t lasted very long. Reggie put his hands down on the counter, “So, what will it be?”

Before Ethan could speak, he watched as Holland eyed his glass — she was trying to guess what he was drinking. “We’ll have two scotches, neat.” She ordered with a smile. When the drinks arrived, she slid one over to Dr. Ramsey, before picking up her own.

He grabbed onto the glass, smiling at her with approval. “Why neat instead of on the rocks?” He questioned.

She didn’t miss a beat. “The ice changes the flavor.” Raising the glass to her lips, she took a hearty swig.

He smiled again, he couldn’t help it. “Right answer. But you know I can’t be bribed into favoring you, right?”

She chewed her lip, “It’s just a thank you.”

“For what?”

Her green eyes met his blue ones, “For pushing me to be better today.”

Ethan let out a breath, before grabbing onto his drink and finishing another one in one long sip. That was the first time someone had ever thanked him for being an asshole. He could get used to Holland. Signaling over the bartender again, he ordered the pair another round of drinks. “Two specials. Thanks, Reggie.”

The man let out a laugh, raising an eyebrow at the sight of the two sitting together. “Only for you, Ethan.”

Jordynne squinted at him, “Your on first name terms with the bartender?”

Ramsey shrugged, “He’s an old friend. I come here most nights.”

She put her elbow on the bar, propping her head up with her hand as she asked, “You don’t have anyone waiting at home?”

He hesitated — he thought of his empty two bedroom apartment downtown. His dog Jenner was at his neighbor’s tonight, so only a dry plant in his living room really required his attention at home. He thought about what it would like to have someone waiting — have a home cooked meal with a partner, to hear tiny feet (that weren’t paws) run to the door in excitement when he came home after a long shift. Shaking his head, he snapped back to reality. “I’ll come here even when I do. I need some buffer between the hospital and the world. An airlock.” He let out a sigh, “Don’t take the job home with you, Jordynne.”

She nodded, looking like she took his advice seriously. “I’ll keep that in mind… but you didn’t answer my question.”

Ethan looked at her — he knew she wasn’t going to drop it. “No. Nobody waiting at home tonight.”

Before she could ask anything else about it, Reggie set down the mixed drinks onto the bar in front of them. “Here, try this.” Ethan matched her, taking a sip at the same time. He licked his lips, savoring the sweet and sour flavor. “Well, how’s it compare?”

Her eyes went wide as she swallowed, “It’s amazing!”

He rolled his eyes at her, “Either you’re sucking up to me, or…” He trailed off, a smile setting on his face. “You’ve got surprisingly refined taste for an intern.”

She flicked her blonde hair over her shoulder, smirking at him. “I’m surprising in a lot of ways.”

He tried to hide his gulp as the smell of her shampoo and perfume wafted towards him with her movement — she smelt like orange blossoms and jasmine. “You’ll have to prove that.”

He grabbed onto his glass, raising it up to her in a toast. “To your intern year. In the hopes, you don’t completely blow everything you’ve worked your whole life for.”

“Morbid. I like it.” She let out a laugh as they clinked their glasses together.

Taking out his wallet, Ethan placed a few bills underneath his drinks, waving at Reggie. “Well, Rookie it’s probably about time you go collect your friends over there before they have to go back to the hospital to get their stomachs pumped.”

Jordynne’s fingers went to the bills on the table, grabbing them and folding them up. She tucked them into the breast pocket of his sweater, before tapping it with her hand. “I said it was a thank you. It’s on me.”

He furrowed his eyebrows, “I had more before you came over —“

“Ramsey.” She looked up at him with big eyes, “Just let me do this. Besides, like my new friend Elijah said — I’m 100K in debt anyways. What’s a of couple scotches gonna matter?”

He let out a chuckle, “Fine Rookie. You win this time. Only this one time. Got it?”

She let out a big smile, revealing her white teeth. “Understood. You like to be in control.” She winked at him, “See you tomorrow Doctor Ramsey.”

_______________________________________________________________________

Ethan took the long way back to the hospital, shoving his hands into his pockets as he walked — enjoying the fresh air. It had been a long day. Longer than usual. He couldn’t be bothered to go home — he was just going to have to be back in four hours anyway. Like he had said to Jordynne — he also had no reason to go home. He thought of his leather sofa waiting for him in the hospital and let out a sigh.

As he neared the front entrance, he fumbled in his pockets for his key fob. He heard a commotion on one of the nearby paths, and he glanced over as he approached the doors. It was the group of medical interns from Donahue’s, holding onto each other, laughing and joking. They were all excitedly chatting

about something before dispersing in their separate directions.

Holding onto the door handle, he watched as Jordynne walked off with one of the petite interns — her blonde hair waving in the breeze, her arms wrapped around herself in an attempt to stay warm. He was relieved to see that the surgical intern wasn’t with her — not that it was any of his business.

Shaking his head at himself, Ethan stalked into the hospital trying to get the mysterious, blonde intern out of his head.

Part Four

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mariahschoices · 5 years

Text

One Night Out

This is a slightly AU TRR fanfic revolving around the night that MC met Liam, Drake, Maxwell, and Tariq. Characters and some dialogue have been borrowed from Pixelberry.

Pairing: MC (Riley Brooks) x Drake

Rating: NC17 / NSFW towards the end

Word count: 6,817

__________________________________________________________

Riley Brooks stared at her own reflection in the grungy, cracked bathroom mirror of the dive bar where she’d found herself working for the last two years. Her eyes were greeted with the image of the dark circles under her blue eyes, a half-hazard mess of brown hair that she’d flopped into a bun on top of her head, and what looked like a sliver of spinach from her salad at lunch that she’d hurriedly consumed between waiting tables.

She picked the food out of her teeth, splashed her face, and stood up a little straighter. Her shift was almost over, and damn if she couldn’t accomplish something if she set her mind to it. She had a date scheduled with her bed tonight that she didn’t want to delay any further by wallowing around in the bathroom.

Riley reentered the main room, narrowly avoiding a collision with Daniel, her work husband and main confidant, with whom she could always bitch about their boss over double margaritas.

“Shit! Sorry, Riley,” he quickly apologized. “I was actually just looking for you!”

“Looks like you found me! What’s up, Daniel?” Riley asked, intrigued by Daniel’s sudden sense of urgency and nervous mannerisms, watching as he shifted his weight from foot to foot.

“Actually, see, what I wanted was.... I kinda wanted to ask you... but I know you’re tired and you’ve worked a double as it is and....”

“Spit it out, Daniel. I think we know each other well enough at this point to be straight with one another? What’s up?” Riley questioned, becoming slightly more concerned with his erratic behavior.

“Well, a table of three just came in, and I really need to jet. I finally matched with that h-o-t hottie on Grindr, and our date is in -” he paused to study his watch, “ten minutes ago.”

“You mean the guy with abs you could grate cheese on?” Daniel reddened under Riley’s questioning. “Is it really a date if you met on Grindr?” Riley continued, before rolling her eyes and nudging him on the shoulder towards the direction of the staff exit.

“Go, man! Who am I to stop true love?”

Daniel responded with an eye roll of his own before an ear to ear smile overtook his whole face.

“Thank youuuuu! I won’t forget this!”

“Yea, yea. Don’t forget to send me a wedding invite!” Riley chirped, before heading over to attend to her late night guests who would probably, hopefully, be her final table of the evening.

“Hello, gentlemen. I’m Riley, and I’ll be serving you this evening. It looks like Daniel already brought out some waters for you, but what else can I get you all to drink? Or, if you’re ready to order food?” Riley paused, analyzing the motley crew that had assembled in the booth.

The first man on the inside of the far booth was extremely overdressed, in a fancy Italian suit that probably cost more than she’d brought home the past month. He certainly looked out of place, but also comfortable enough around the other two, which ruled out the possibility that he was a kidnap victim being held up in her bar by the others until the extortion money came through.

The second man, on the outside of the same booth, was still certainly overdressed, though he had a few buttons undone for a more a more casual appearance. He looked younger than the other man - maybe a little brother? No, the family resemblance wasn’t there.

Finally, Riley’s eyes rested on the last man, sitting alone on the opposite side of the table. He wore a casual, blue denim button down over a white t-shirt with black jeans. A Canadian tuxedo. Oh, well, everyone does formal wear in their own way, she supposed.

The second man suddenly spoke up, interrupting her inner evaluation of the three men.

“Steaks for the table!” he cheered with a smile.

“How about some filet mignon, medium rare and prepared with a bearnaise sauce?” the first man added. He spoke with a posh, preppy accent, enunciating each letter of every word as if everything he’d said was of the utmost importance.

“Er, well, filet mignon does sound good! Unfortunately, the closest thing we have to that in our fine establishment would be the deluxe burger. It’s two half pound patties covered with swiss cheese and loaded with tomato, onion, lettuce, and special sauce. And the whole thing is topped off with bacon! Who doesn’t love bacon?!” she spun the house dish with as much pizzazz as possible in an attempt to appease the men. She really hoped Daniel was enjoying his date, because these men were going to be a pain in her -”

“We’ll be fine with a bottle of whiskey... and four deluxe burgers,” the third man finally chimed in, saving her from any further attempts at having to up-sell the bar’s humble menu options.

“Excellent choice!” Riley chirped, quickly making her way to the kitchen to put in their order and gather their drinks before any complaints could be made.

Riley made her way back to the table with a tray of whiskeys. Alcohol would surely make the burgers go down a little easier for the two men who were clearly more accustomed to eating truffle mushrooms and caviar for dinner. Upon arrival, Riley realized that another diner had joined their party of three.

“Oh! Hello there. Looks like I’ll need to grab another tumbler for you gentlemen. I’m your server, Riley.”

She took a look at the newest addition to the table. He dressed similarly to the two men on the opposite side, yet he had a casual air about him like Mr. Denim Shirt, whom he’d seated himself beside.

“Hello, Riley. I’m Liam. These are my friends, Tariq, Maxwell, and Drake,” he motioned towards each one as he spoke their names in the same order she had scrutinized them in. “Sorry I was late. I hope I didn’t disturb your work flow.”

“Disturb my...?” she stumbled slightly in her response, taken slightly aback by his formal way of speaking. “Oh, no problem at all! The more the merrier! Nice to meet you Liam,” she smiled, “and the rest of you too.”

Ding. “That’ll be your burgers now! Let me just go get those for you.” Riley scurried off quickly towards to kitchen, evading Liam’s bright-eyed, awestruck gaze.

______________________________________________________________________

The rest of the evening went by quickly and relatively uneventfully, with Liam seeming to reign in the rest of the group’s behavior with a princely ease. The bar’s only other customer had been a single man who’d had two double shots, complained about his wife, and then had to bounce after receiving a decibel shattering, eardrum bursting phone call from aforementioned wife.

Riley wiped down the counters and removed her apron, ready to turn off the lights and lock up for the evening when she heard the front door chime, alerting her of a new customer entering the bar.

“I’m sorry, we’re cl-” she turned around, locking eyes once again with Liam.

“Oh, hey! Did you forget something. I was just closing up. I didn’t see a wallet or anything in your booth, but I can double ch -”

“No, no. Nothing like that! Thank you so much for being patient with us tonight. I know we probably overstayed our welcome,” Liam paused, but Riley remained silent, neither confirming nor denying that she’d very much wanted to go home and promptly hibernate for a week straight.

“Anyway, I just wanted to see if - well, I wanted to invite you to go out with us tonight. Maybe to another bar or club? We’re not from around here and you seemed to really mesh well with the other guys, which isn’t always easy to do, and so... I thought maybe we could repay you with a drink or two.”

Riley pondered his offer, wagering the pros and cons in her head. She really wasn’t interested in Liam, as nice as he had been. He just seemed so.... safe. Boring, really. As if reading her thoughts, Liam interrupted.

“Just as friends. No pressure or anything. Just a thank you. And as a way to celebrate the end of your shift?” he smiled friendly.

“Ah, hell. Why not. I’ve been working non-stop lately. It’d probably do me some good to go out in a social setting and see some people other than my coworkers for once,” Riley agreed, returning Liam’s kind smile. “Just let me go to my locker first. I keep a change of clothes here at work just in case. I’ll meet you out front!”

Riley mulled over her decision as she made her way over to her locker. Why had she told Liam yes? Sure, she had told him it was for socialization purposes, but if she were honest with herself, there was only one thing she wanted to socialize with - her bed. However, Drake was a close second. He had been mostly silent throughout their meal, simply sipping his whisky and digging into his burger with his sleeves pushed up around his elbows. It was what he hadn’t said that intrigued her. Every time she came by and spoke to their table, he had watched her with interest as if he were studying her - like he could read her inner thoughts if he merely looked hard enough. She could tell he was most certainly the strong but silent type. How did he fit into this group of outspoken, fancily dressed men? Who was he to them? She had to find out.

Riley changed into an emerald green dress that smelled slightly of stale french fries, but hey, that’s what she got for storing it in her work locker. In fact, smelling like french fries could be a bonus for some people.

She stepped back to examine herself in the mirror. She still looked banging if she said so herself, the fabric clinging to every curve of her corn-fed figure. It didn’t matter how much running around she did at the bar. Her mother had always told her that she had “baby making hips.” Finally, she slipped out of her work shoes, trading them in for a pair of low, black heels.

Finally, she turned the lights off, locking the door and slamming it shut behind her. She walked around to the front of the building, where a black stretch limousine was parked. Wow, these boys are even more bougee than I thought. She crossed the street quickly, making sure to press down her skirt as a gust of wind hit her out of nowhere, threatening to give the boys a free peep show. The window rolled down slightly, allowing Liam to peek out at her.

“Hey, Riley! Please come in. I hope you don’t mind the limo?” Riley stepped into the limo, trying to refrain the eye roll that was threatening to make itself evident on her face.

“Mind? Oh, no. I don’t mind. I haven’t been in a limo since senior prom, but uh, your average Thursday night seems like a perfect occasion for riding in one.”

“Heh,” Drake chuckled, barely audible from where she was seated. Liam looked up at him with a slightly shocked look, glancing back and forth between the two of them as if they were sharing some inside joke that he couldn’t understand.

“So, waitress, where are we headed?” the young one, Maxwell, piped up.

“It’s Riley, and are you even old enough to drink, Maxwell?”

That remark got the entire group laughing, Max’s face turning redder by the moment.

“I’ll have you know that I’m 23,” he protested, “I just happen to have a baby face.”

Riley chuckled in response, letting Maxwell off the hook from any further ribbing.

“Oh, well that makes two of us! Let’s run down to the corner store for some booze, and I’ll take you guys to my secret spot.”

"Surely you don’t expect me to frequent such an establishment?” Tariq barked, suddenly inserting himself in the conversation.

“Of course she doesn’t, Tariq. She’s much too smart for that,” Drake interjected, suddenly coming to her defense. “I’ll go in with you Riley,” he continued, “if you want, I mean. There’s no need to bring the whole parade into the store.”

“Sure, Drake,” she agreed, surprised that he had offered. The limo rolled to a stop and they hauled their way out and into the shop to get the goods for an evening of adult fun.

____________________________________________

The limo driver pulled up and parked beside of the beach lot. Riley sat up front with the driver to give directions of course, making herself useful. After all, she would be more help up there than in the back, with Liam making goo-goo eyes all over her.

Meanwhile Drake put bags of ice in the cooler, filling it with their drinks so they would keep cool for the duration of their evening at the beach.

Drake didn’t know how the others would be manage that evening, but he loved the beach. He loved the woods. He loved the mountains. He loved being outdoors in general and being one with nature in any capacity. Drake didn’t have to pretend to be somebody else when it was just him and nature.

Drake dragged the cooler out onto the sand, leaving it behind to start gathering sticks for a fire. A small fire pit was already set up from previous party-goers - he just needed to gather some kindling. He figured it would also give Liam a chance to chat up Riley.

Drake saw how Liam had looked at her. As royalty, Liam had always gotten exactly what he wanted and more. Everything had always been given to him before he even had the chance ask for it. Personally, Drake could tell that Riley was too humble for a guy like Liam. She would never be wowed by the limo, or any of his other symbols of lavish overindulgence. But, Drake could also tell that Liam wanted her, so he left it alone.

The boys threw back drink after drink, continuing the party that they’d started at the bar. By the time Drake came back and got the fire going strong, Liam and the others were talking out of their ass with Riley. She seemed to take it all in stride, laughing and taking slow sips of her beer, making eye contact with Drake above the roaring flames of the fire.

The fire seemed to dance in her eyes, warming Drake from the inside out way more than the flames did themselves. He shook his head, knocking those thoughts loose from his mind. The group would be leaving soon to go back to Cordonia, and he would never see her again. There was no sense in entertaining the desire that was bubbling under the surface for this beautiful, young waitress who had no idea who they any of them were.

Liam continued telling stories, more-so to hear himself speak than for any other reason. Maxwell and Tariq had already broken off into their own conversation, and Riley had tuned Liam out ages ago, merely offering the occasional, “mmmhmm,” or, “oh, really?” to keep the charade that she was listening going along. She hadn’t taken her eyes off of Drake all night, since they’d arrived at the beach. She knew he felt it too. When they’d locked eyes before, she swore she saw a blush reach his cheeks, right before he quickly looked away and brushed his jeans off, pretending that a grain of sand needed addressing right away, requiring his full attention for the task.

It took a few more “mmhmms” from Riley without a response from Liam before she realized that he had exhausted himself. He laid back on a piece of driftwood, his mouth slightly agape as he snored lightly. Riley chucked, looking around to see how the rest of the group was getting along. Maxwell and Tariq were over 100 yards away, entertaining themselves on the pier with a game of ad-libs. Well, Maxwell was ad-libbling. Tariq seemed like he was just confused, and more than ready to return to whatever ritzy hotel they were staying at to enjoy the mint on his pillow that awaited him.

Looking out across the fire, Riley admired Drake’s rugged handsomeness. His shaggy, wavy brown hair. His dark brown eyes with a story to tell behind them. His slightly crooked nose. The smattering of two-day-old stubble along his jaw. He looked up with a smile, as if he knew that Riley had been studying him. She blushed, quickly rising from her seat as he did the same. She walked a few paces over to where he sat.

“I want to dip my toes in the water. Will you join me?” she requested.

“Are you nuts? That water is going to be freezing, Brooks.”

“Brooks? How did you-”

“Your name tag at the bar. First and last name. Kind of encourages people to stalk you, ya know. You should rethink the idea,” he jested, given Riley a lopsided grin to distract her from any potential thoughts of stalkers.

“How very observant of you, Drake. I think this is the most you’ve said to me all night.”

“Must be the whiskey,” he responded. He’d only had one shot at the bar, and two beers at the beach, but Riley didn’t need to know that he just wanted to talk to her. Liam passing out had been the perfect “in” for him.

Riley gave him a knowing look, but she didn’t push the issue. She kicked off her shoes and headed towards the water, glancing over her shoulder at Drake. “Are you coming?”

Her question floated towards him like a whisper in the ocean breeze, and he felt himself being pulled towards her as if he were powerless to deny her request.

“Shit,” he mumbled to himself, kicking off his own shoes and socks, feeling the sand between his toes. The sand was warm, and he loved being barefoot as much as possible, so he figured this plan wasn’t so bad. He joined Riley a few feet from the tide, where the sand was starting to get wetter, but not quite stepping into the water just yet.

Riley reached out to grab his hand, shocking him and distracting his inner battle with himself about how cold the water was about to be.

“Let’s do it together. I’ll count down from three, and we’ll step into the water at the same time, okay?” Riley announced, and Drake nodded absentmindedly.

“3, 2, 1....” Riley stepped forward, pulling Drake into the water along with her, causing the bottom of his pants to get wet.

“Shit!” Riley yelled, high stepping back out of the water with Drake before releasing his hand. “You were right, that was cold as hell!”

“Heh, actually I think hell is supposed to be hot?” he smirked at her, lifting an arm to run his hand through his hair - a nervous habit. The truth was, he hadn’t felt the chill of the water. All he could feel was her hand in his.

They stood together, collecting themselves silently. Riley watched him with renewed interest, his profile lit up by the light of the moon. She reached out without thinking, lightly pressing the side of his nose and drawing a short line.

“Your nose is crooked,” she noted. “What happened?”

“Ah, it was a long time ago. You don’t want to hear about that,” he waved his hand, trying to dismiss her line of questioning. He didn’t like to talk about himself, and the last thing he wanted was for Riley to pity him.

“Please tell me,” she continued. He looked at her, unable to deny the request in her pleading eyes. She seemed genuinely interested in what he had to say. Genuinely interested in him. It had been a long time since someone had shown him such interest.

“I -” he hesitated, looking out over his shoulder to Liam, who was still dozing out of earshot. “Liam. He punched me and broke my nose when we were teenagers.”

“What?!” she squeaked, shocked by his admission. “What a dick. What happened? Why are you still friends with him? What the fuck?!” an onslaught of questions barreled out of her, causing him to chuckle, regardless of the topic at hand. He touched her arm, quieting her.

“It was a long time ago. I’m over it now.”

She quieted, urging him to continue elaborating.

“A girl he liked.... liked me instead. Liam is used to getting what he wants and he didn’t take “us” very well. So he punched me.”

Riley’s eyes nearly bulged out of her head. “So what if he didn’t like it. I don’t like onions, but I’m not going to punch you in the nose if you eat them around me.”

Drake gave Riley a soft smile in return that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“I don’t think those are the same thing, but I appreciate it. Like I said, I’m over it now.”

“I just don’t get it,” Riley continued, “Liam seems like such a nice guy. A little into himself, but fine enough. Why did he think that the girl he liked not liking him back warranted a punch in the nose?”

Deciding that it was time to tell Riley the full truth, Drake sighed before admitting, “Well, because Liam is a royal. He’s the prince of a small country in Europe called Cordonia. He’s used to getting everything he wants, even if he doesn’t necessarily deserve it or need it.”

“Yea, you’re funny, and I’m the Queen of England,” Riley rolled off sarcastically, rolling her eyes as she paced along the beach with Drake. When his expression didn’t change, she stopped. “Wait - you’re serious?”

“As a heart attack. The only reason I’m still part of his inner circle is because Liam and I have been friends since we were kids. My father served his father, and he died in the line of duty. Liam’s family took in me and my sister when my mother abandoned us and we had nowhere else to go,” Drake hesitated, realizing that he might be oversharing a bit too much with this woman who he barely knew anything about. He rarely met someone who didn’t know who he was, and he rarely talked about his feelings with the people who did know him, so it all just kind of came out with Riley.

“Sorry, to lay all that on you. But yea, that’s why he is the way he is, and that’s why my nose is crooked,” he finished, walking back to douse the remaining embers of the fire before Riley could stop him. This hiss of the dying flame was enough to jolt Liam out of his slumber.

Maxwell and Tariq rejoined the group, each holding onto one of Liam’s arms as he struggled to stay upright.

“Poor Liam doesn’t get out of the palace much to let loose. He can’t really handle his liquor very well,” Maxwell joked, smiling at Riley.

“Maxwell! Liam wanted us to remain undercover, remember. Now Riley knows he’s a royal!” Tariq scolded.

“Don’t worry about it, Max,” he interrupted Maxwell’s quickly escalating panic, letting him off the hook. “I already told her.”

“I don’t know why he keeps you around. The whole lot of you. You can’t do the one thing he asked,” Tariq sneered as he stomped off with Liam in tow, depositing him into the back of the limo with Maxwell.

“Ignore him,” Drake said to Riley. “Can we give you a ride home?”

“Oh, no. That won’t be necessary. I just live a few blocks from here.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. It’s late. I’ll walk you. I can take a cab back to the hotel from there or something.”

Riley started to protest, but he was already ducking his head down into the limo to tell the guys to go on without him, and that he would get his own ride back.

The limo drove off and Drake started to make his way down the sidewalk. Riley scurried in her heels to keep pace, admonishing him once she arrived beside him.

“I didn’t even tell you which way it was!”

Drake gave her a sideways smirk and asked, “Well, which way is your place?”

Begrudgingly, she admitted that they were headed in the right direction. “It just so happens that it’s this way. You got lucky.”

Drake chuckled in response, but he didn’t push her any further.

A few more steps into their walk, he realized that their time together was quickly coming to an end. He had to get her talking. To get the most out of their time together.

“So, tell me about you. What’s your story? Did you always want to work at a bar?” he seriously doubted it, but he wanted to find out more about her.

She laughed sadly, shaking her head no. “Is that anyone’s dream job?” she glanced his way before continuing. “No, I was in college for political science. My parents didn’t have a lot of money, but they supported me financially through school. They both worked two jobs to makes ends meet,” Riley paused, growing a little quieter. “The summer after my third year, they were in a train accident. The train derailed and they,” she sniffled, a tear streaming down her cheek, “they died.”

“I’m so sorry, Riley. I shouldn’t have asked. It’s none of my business,” Drake apologized, feeling like an asshole for ruining their fun night by bringing up sad topics.

“No,” she wiped her cheek, gathering herself. “It’s okay, Drake,” she smiled softly at him. “I know that you know how it feels to lose a parent.” She grabbed his hand and squeezed it, not letting go.

“So, no, to answer your question, I did not want to be a waitress or a bartender for the rest of my life, but I had to quit uni to support myself after they passed. I haven’t found my way back yet,” she finished, stopping in front of a brown brick building. “Well, this is my building,” she pulled Drake into her arms, breathing in the scent of him, a mix of crisp pine and campfire smoke.

He stalled, taken slightly aback at first, before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into a the safe cocoon of his arms. He burrowed his nose in her hair, soaking in as much of the moment as he could before he knew he’d have to leave her. He released her reluctantly, taking a step back. “It was great meeting you, Brooks.”

Riley took the few steps that led up to the door, pausing with her keys in her hand. She couldn’t let him go yet, and before she could stop herself, she looked over her shoulder at him and uttered, “Would you like to come up?”

She wasn’t the type for one night stands. She’d only had two long term boyfriends, and she knew that she’d probably never see him again, but she felt magnetically drawn to this man. Before she could withdrawn her offer, he took a few steps up to meet her, pressed his hand to her lower back, and nodded subtly in agreement.

She gulped, her heart racing as she inserted her key into the door and turned the knob. What the hell was she doing? Riley, you’re getting ahead of yourself. Maybe he just wants to come up for coffee. You’re being an idiot. She glanced up again at him, and he smirked at her. She gulped. This man does not want coffee. He wants...

Before she could overthink the situation any more, they were already in front of her apartment door.

Cognizant of her nervous energy, Drake stalled, turning Riley to look him in the eye.

“We don’t have to do anything, Brooks. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know you, but I can tell you’re nervous,” he smiled sympathetically. “I don’t want to do anything to make you uncomfortable.”

His gentlemanly admission calmed her nerves, and renewed the fire in her loins. She studied him with renewed vigor. Tall, broad shoulders, muscular, rugged, handsome... and hers for at least the next hour. She unlocked her apartment and moved aside to let him in behind her.

He looked around for moment, taking in their surroundings. Humble, but cozy, Organized, but adorned with sentimental tchotchkes here and there. A small sofa, easily convertible into a full size bed, making the most of the studio space.

Riley wrung her hands, watching him as he took in their surroundings, finally settling on her face. “I like your place. It’s very you.”

“Simple and unassuming?” she quipped.

“Cute,” he responded, leaning in to kiss her softly.

__________________________________

Riley darted off to the kitchen, pouring drinks for the both of them. She was nervous. She wanted Drake, but she’d also never been in a position where the future was so cloudy. She liked to research things, weigh pros and cons, and make well thought out decisions. She wasn’t used to thinking with her vag.

They took their drinks into the living room, which also happened to be her bedroom. Riley turned on the TV, and she settled on watching MasterChef.

“Is this okay?” Riley asked. She hadn’t really asked Drake what he wanted to watch. She had just picked a program that she wanted to catch up on.

“Oh yea, I love cooking,” Drake responded, smiling at Riley in response.

They sat together on the couch, drinking and watching the show in mostly silence. They gradually started to get more comfortable, with Drake sitting up while Riley laid back along the couch with her legs across his lap. Absentmindedly, Drake began to rub slow circles along the inside of her ankle, his hand drifting up her calf throughout the episode. While innocent enough, it was enough to wake up Riley’s senses and distract her entirely from the show.

Two can play at this game. Riley matched the pace of his hand’s ascension. As his hand rose up her leg, she gripped the side of her dress and lifted it, keeping pace with his hand, slowly revealing more and more of her thigh, until the side of her underwear was peaking out.

“Do you see this idiot? Can’t cook to save his fuc -” Drake finally glanced in her direction, noticing the predicament that they were in. “Fuck,” he finished.

Drake reared back, simultaneously losing all interest in the show and repositioning his body to lay over Riley’s, positioning a leg between hers. He kissed her, leaving a soft trail of kisses along her jar and up to her ear.

“That dish looked fucking disgusting, I think I have something better to eat right...” his hand traveled the remaining distance to the apex of her thighs, “here.”

Riley shuddered under his hand, feeling as he grew hard against the exposed skin of her thigh.

“Is this okay?” Drake whispered, moving his arms to either side of her, hovering above her body before continuing his movements.

“Yes,” Riley responded, nodding her head urgently and wrapping her hands around one of Drake’s to relocate it, moving it back to her crotch.

He growled with hunger, leaning over her body to suck the soft flesh of her neck, working across her collarbone as he rubbed her softly through her underwear. He wrapped one arm under her back, pulling her into an upright position.

She was confused, but only for a moment, quickly coming up to speed as he slipped his hand under her dress, alongside her thigh. She raised her arms, allowing him to pull the dress up her body and over her head.

Riley pushed herself up further, now on her knees. “You’re not nearly naked enough,” she admonished Drake, pushing him down to lay on the couch as she straddled his thighs. She slowly unbuttoned his shirt, opening it to reveal the thin white tee beneath. She pulled the shirt out from the waistband of his pants, raising the fabric to reveal his hard abs and a smattering of hair.

Drake wrapped his arms around her, picking her up as he stood from the couch, depositing her safely to the ground to pull out the bed before things progressed any further. Tinkering around until he was finally satisfied with his efforts, he picked her up again and threw her on the newly constructed bed. She laughed momentarily at his caveman antics, but quickly quieted once he took off his button down and pulled his t-shirt over his head, leaving him half naked. No wonder her could throw her around like she was a pillow. This man was solid as a rock. She’d have to ask him later how he stayed so fit.

Drake leaned over her to unhook her bra, pausing to suck each nipple and kiss each breast for a few moments, a sense of urgency taking over as he shifted further down the bed.

He leaned between Riley’s legs, wrapping an arm around each thigh and holding onto her luscious hips. He kissed her through her panties that were thoroughly soaked by this point. Satisfied by how aroused she was, he hooked his teeth onto them and peeled them down her legs, resuming his place between her thighs once it was done.

He licked his way up her slit, causing her to jolt forward into his mouth as her hips lifted off the bed. He gripped her hips tighter and began to lick her. Slow and gentle at first, from bottom to top. He stiffened his tongue and inserted the full length of it into her, siphoning in and out, lapping up all of her juices as her head fell back and she started to moan.

“Drake!” she gasped. Her moans added further fuel to the fire, encouraging him to work twice as hard so that he could hear more of them. He wanted her to unravel under his mouth before he ravaged her body.

He removed his tongue, replacing the empty space with two fingers, leaning down to suck on her bundle of nerves at the same time. He alternated between sucking and licking her clit, curling his fingers as he pumped in and out of her.

With one final, “Drake!” he felt the dam burst within her, and she coated his fingers with her sweet cream. He paused to look at her as he sucked his fingers clean of her.

He stood from the bed, unbuckling his belt and carefully unzipping his pants, sliding them down his legs. His dick was as big and as firm as the rest of his body, and Riley’s mouth instantly started salivating like it was a cold popsicle on a hot summer day. Wordlessly, she leapt off the bed and got down on her knees in front of him.

“Riley, you don’t have to - oh!” she took him in her mouth and quickly got to work, taking him deep into her mouth and throat as far as she could go, her saliva getting it nice and wet for the next stage of the evening. She leaned back until just the head was in her mouth, swirling her tongue around and suctioning the tip and she simultaneously pumped up and down his girth with her hand. She felt a slight twitch before he gently pressed her chest, releasing himself from her mouth and urging her to lay back on the bed.

She leaned back with anticipation as he hovered over her body, his member pressing between her legs, a thigh on either side of him. He leaned down to kiss her, slipping his tongue in her mouth and sucking on her bottom lip gently before asking, “Condom?”

“Oh, uh, yes...” she dug around in her bedside drawer for a moment, retrieving what they needed. She tore open the foil and slid it down the length of him as quickly as she could, unwilling to wait much longer for him to be inside of her.

He leaned over her body, offering one last soft kiss as he positioned himself at her entrance. Swiftly, he slid himself inside her body, causing her to gasp.

“Are you okay?” he asked, pausing as she adjusted to his girth, stilling his movements entirely.

“Yes, yes! More than okay! Move!” she wrapped her legs around him, pulling him into her further. He needed no more encouragement. He grasped onto the sides of her thighs, positioning her body to meet his every thrust as he pounded into her, causing her to howl in pleasure.

“Oooohhh, Drake. Fuck!” she groaned deliriously, generating a cocky smirk to rest on his face.

“That’s what we’re doing,” he responded sarcastically. Before she was able to return his quip with one of her own, he doubled down and leaned over her body, resting his weight on his forearms for stability. He slid in an out of her body, almost coming out of her entirely before thrusting deep within her, making her feel so empty and then instantly filling the void within her, bringing her to the edge of delirium. She felt so good, he was having trouble containing himself. He tried to think of anything and everything that would keep him from getting off. He wanted this to last as long as possible.

He withdrew, causing her to whimper instantly. “Drake, what -“

“On your knees,” he commanded smoothly, and she followed his instructions right away. He pressed himself against her until she started to squirm, pressing herself back against him until he went inside just a little. He slid his arm underneath her body, angling her sweet ass so he could reach her from the back. He started to rock inside of her as she groaned and wailed with pleasure, rubbing his hand in circles and winding her body tighter than a spring. It didn’t take long before she burst, her muscles spasming down around him as she climaxed.

“Thank god,” he murmured, too quiet for Riley to hear, quickly finding release of his own after taking a few final pumps within her.

He withdrew from her body slowly, discarding the condom in the bin and cleaning himself off. He lay beside her, wrapping his arm around her safely as they both recovered, feeling happier than he had in a very long time.

__________________________

Drake woke up a few hours later in an unfamiliar place, momentarily forgetting what had occurred until her saw Riley laying beside him, hair fanned out across the pillow. He found a blanket on the lounge chair beside of the bed, and he draped it across her body so she wouldn’t get cold.

Hmmm... that’s a nice chair. Maybe we could trying doing it there next time. Next time? What was he thinking. As amazing as Riley was, he didn’t see how they could possibly make a real relationship happen between them. Everybody knows that long distance relationships never work. Drake started to get dressed, fumbling around for his clothes in the dim lighting.

“Drake?” Riley whispered, her voice barely audible with sleep. “Are you leaving?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you yet. I was going to wake you before I slipped out. I didn’t mean to fall asleep. Our flight home is actually scheduled for tomorrow morning, er, I guess it’s this morning now.”

“Oh,” she stated sadly. “Well, let me give you my number. Maybe we can text or Facetime or something?” she asked hopefully.

“Sure, Brooks. I’d love that.”

He typed her number into his phone and she walked him to the door, the blanket he’d covered her with wrapped around her body. He leaned down to kiss her, sweet and soft, pouring so much emotion into it that you would have thought he was her longtime lover going off to war or something. She shook off the thought. She knew what she had been getting into, after all.

After Drake left, she tried to go back to sleep to no avail. Drake had really lit a fire within her - mind, body, and soul. She truly hoped that he would call.

About 15 minutes after Drake left, Riley thought she heard a knock at the door. Who would be bothering her this early? It wasn’t even light out yet. Surely enough she heard it again, three more raps at the door. Could it be him?

She quickly burritoed herself, covering all of her exciting bits with the blanket around her. She opened the door, expecting to see Drake, but...

Maxwell waited behind the door, perking up with interest as she opened it, trying not to let his eyes wonder once he realized what she was wearing.

“Um, hi, Riley! How would you feel about taking a trip to Cordonia?”

#choices stories you play #drake walker #drake x mc #the royal romance #the royal heir #pixelberry #my fic #30 diamond scene #n*fw

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gascon-en-exil · 5 years

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FE16 Blue Lions Liveblogging

Chapters 17-18. Lots of heavy plot content here.

The further along I get in the war phase the more superfluous the monastery content and calendar system becomes. I haven’t gotten any new paralogues since Annette and Gilbert’s, because I believe you only get ones for characters you’ve recruited and I’ve exhausted all of those. I’ve read that Dimitri may have one toward the end, and Mercedes shares hers with Caspar of all people so that’ll have to wait for a playthrough when I do inter-house recruiting, but apart from that everyone in my army has had one. There’s little to do at the monastery but grind professor rank and Renown, mostly for supports and a last few skill ranks. What little there is in the way of quests is just Gilbert asking for resource contributions. It’s like the endgame WoW of years past, only without even the option to do group content (not that I would, but regardless).

The enemy AI for the school phase’s Battle of the Eagle and Lion allowed it to feel like a genuine struggle between three opposing armies, but round 2 in the war phase sacrificed narrative for the sake of difficulty. The Alliance forces charged my position after a few turns and didn’t go for the Empire at all, leaving me to play more defensively to neutralize their flying archer lord (...I really hope Claude spontaneously getting a wyvern gets some kind of explanation in the Deer route, something more than “because Almyran, just go with it”). Dedue once against punched Edelgard into submission because he’s distinctly good at that - really goes along with the hunting her down and killing her bit in another route, which TVTropes is now claiming can still happen if you choose to spare her. Huh.

Student kills: Ferdinand and Bernadetta from the Eagles, Lorenz, Raphael, Ignatz, Leonie, and Lysithea from the Deer, with the others either retreating or still unseen in the war phase. Petra was the only one who really surprised me by retreating instead of dying.

Starting in Chapter 18 Dimitri can be interacted with again like a normal unit. While I have issues with some of the presentation behind his change of heart (see below), it’s good to have him working on supports and building his skill ranks during training sessions again. Not that he really needs the latter; his stats are massive and both his sword and lance ranks are nearly maxed out.

The story map for Chapter 18 introduces magic/technology hybrids that act like either monsters or siege towers, on top of having at least one enemy caster with a traditional siege spell. Adding a lever far into the map to shut down the lightning towers was a nice touch.

Most of the master classes have been a pain to grind toward, as only a few units have what it takes to be true hybrids. Sylvain is evidently one of them, but sending Mercedes through cavalier to work on her riding for holy knight made her borderline useless. At least some of the advanced classes are good enough to where they could feasibly work for endgame (but I do still want a holy knight, so Mercedes will continue poking things for a while).

Story/Character observations

I’ve been getting all kinds of A supports. Dimitri/Dedue and Felix/Sylvain are as gay as advertised. Catherine/Ashe is one of those rare plot-heavy support lines, where we find out more about Lonato and Ashe’s own drive for revenge. Byleth/Gilbert is not even slightly romantic even late into their A support, which makes me wonder why he’s an S rank option for either gender when it’s more about pushing him to go home to his wife. Ditto Gilbert’s supports with Annette. Ashe/Annette gets kind of cute in the end, but Felix/Annette involves entirely too many of her comically bad songs to be endearing. Manuela cuts out the cougar routine when she spies on Sylvain being an asshole. Catherine thought young Dimitri was a maiden based on his haircut (as seen in the CG of him dancing with Edelgard - this guy is forever doomed to multiple varieties of bad hair) and repeats Felix’s taunt that Dimitri used to get so excited while training that he’d break swords in half but he’s better with lances even though they have less durability? I forget with whom, but Dimitri shuts down the impossible dream of fellow lance lord Ephraim by acknowledging that his traveling the world as a warrior would be irresponsible. The gender of Shamir’s first love might depend on Byleth’s - will have to see how the f!Byleth support words it.

As for the story, this is the moment where Dimitri makes his turn back toward sanity and a sense of personal responsibility. Just as I predicted, his decision to allow that unnamed orphan girl to join the army turns out to have been a bad one. After Rodrigue takes a blade for his prince and Byleth shows himself again adept at swift executions, Dimitri is moved by the death of yet another of his loved ones to go walking in the rain and respond favorably to vaguely inspirational dialogue choices. While I understand what the writers were going for, I have two issues with this sequence of events. The first is minor, in that the CGs used for them - of Fleche preparing to stab Dimitri and Rodrigue stepping between them, of the dying Rodrigue cradling Dimitri’s face, and of Dimitri in the rain - don’t do a very good job of matching the intended mood. The first two use sunset lighting and thus appear much too soft, while Dimitri in the rain with his hair plastered to his head alone against a black background looks unsettling and almost creepy for what’s meant to be his big moment of redemption. That’s a small quibble with artistic choice, however.

On the other hand, my other issue will take a whole post to explain. I’ll be saving that for a larger Dimitri/Dedue project after I’ve completed playthroughs of all the routes routes, but my basic argument is this: Dedue being removed and then optionally re-inserted into the Blue Lions storyline was necessary for Dimitri’s emotional arc to make sense, and to allow Byleth a much larger role in said arc than they otherwise would have had. Yes, I have major shipping goggles on here, but try to imagine a scenario where Dedue saves Dimitri from prison and they go on the run together for five years, before reuniting with everyone at the monastery.

To no one’s surprise, Dedue takes up watching after the prince in the monastery the chapter after he returns. In Chapter 18 he comments that he’s the only that Dimitri hasn’t really changed despite appearing more sane, that he’s still too kind and sensitive to the suffering of war and that Dedue admires him for that. They’re just laying the subtext on thick now.

Related to my problem with the Alliance AI in the threeway battle, it’s never explained why Claude joins the battle at Gronder Field (apart from getting him into that cutscene they all share, anwyay). Prior to that battle House Reigan opposed the Empire and even engaged House Gloucester’s pro-Imperial faction to distract them from Chapter 16′s bridge. As the next chapter’s title references the Deer however I imagine I’ll get an explanation sooner rather than later.

Cornelia’s cleavage may be impossible, but as far as under-dressed female villains in this series go she wasn’t terrible. She doesn’t flirt with anyone and apparently got her lofty position in the Kingdom through her talents at magic and infrastructure reform (which may have included the turrets and giant robots in Fhirdiad? Was that the implication?). Her dying revelation about Dimitri’s stepmother would have landed better had we ever seen anything of her, but I suppose as Edelgard’s birth mother she’ll be brought up again in some capacity on her route.

#Fire Emblem #FE16 #Fire Emblem Three Houses #Spoilers

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statusquoergo · 5 years

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We all knew this was going to be a disaster, right? We didn’t know how, but I mean, we knew. We were ready.

We were not disappointed.

Harvey, on the phone with Donna, enters his apartment with an indignant exclamation that he can’t believe she’s not coming over tonight, after he went to all the trouble of getting pizza with “those stupid yellow tomatoes” she likes. She really can't, though, because she has plans with an old friend who called her at the last minute out of the blue; he asks her instead to come over later because, though it’s not something he advertises, he watches Survivor and was hoping to get her into it. (First Oprah, now Survivor; I could've sworn Harvey’s media tastes tended more towards the classics.) She takes a rain check, he asks who this “old friend” is, and wouldn’t you know it, here’s Mike Ross.

“Survivor? What are you, a thousand?”

(Given this show’s trans-dimensional timeline, that actually wouldn’t surprise me.)

Okay, real talk. Considering the amount of promotion this show and USA Network did to brag that Mike was coming back, it’s incredibly unlikely that anyone in the viewing public was surprised by the “big reveal” (which also explains why they got it out of the way in the first thirty seconds), but…they could’ve tried. At least a little.

Harvey rounds the corner into his kitchen area thing and finds Mike, leaning against the counter as he delivers his opening salvo, and this is where it starts getting weird. (Yes, already.) Mike is settled in like he belongs there, fine, but Harvey, even though he’s smiling, kind of, doesn’t seem remotely surprised to see him. He doesn’t even respond to Mike directly, instead telling Donna: “I get it. The plans weren’t for you, they were for me.” She tells him to have a great time, he hangs up, and right away we’re into some old-fashioned banter.

Minor detour for the first hint that Korsh is going out of his way to replace Marvey with Darvey: Harvey and Mike haven’t seen each other in over a year. Mike appears suddenly, without warning, in Harvey’s apartment, and opens with a joke, dropping them right back into their usual patterns without missing a beat. I’m not expecting Harvey to start screaming and jumping up and down, but you remember how big and bright his smile was when Mike got into the bar? This is like, a third of that, at best. One option that might’ve been better than “The plans weren’t for you, they were for me” might be, I dunno, “Sorry Donna, I have to go. An old friend just showed up out of the blue.” Instead he treats Mike like he’s been expecting him, tidying things up with Donna before he can be bothered to respond to what I assume is actually a huge surprise. I’m starting to think all the promotional buildup might've been a mistake, because this is even more underwhelming than I ever thought possible.

And that’s just on the emotive level; let’s talk about the dialogue.

“You know, just because she gave you a key doesn’t mean you’re staying here.”

Harvey, to Mike, “Tricks of the Trade” (s01e06): “Remind me to have Donna get you a spare key.” Mike’s had a key to Harvey’s place since forever, this isn’t news. (And let’s not forget the metaphorical connotations of Mike having a “key” to Harvey’s home, and the fact that their lives are no longer intrinsically intertwined, i.e., he’s here but he’s not staying. They’re definitely there. Even if it’s by accident.)

“Why would I stay here? I’ve got my old apartment that you’re pretending to rent for me. ‘Rick Sorkin’? You’ve gone soft.”

How does Mike know about that? Has he known for awhile and not brought it up for some reason, or did Donna tell him about it an hour ago? Second hint of Darvey replacing Marvey, tied right back to the first time they pulled this shit in “Everything’s Changed” (s09e01): Harvey used the name “Rick Sorkin,” the Harvard grad who Mike impersonated in the pilot, to maintain a connection to Mike, and he might’ve treated it like a touching callback joke when he told Donna about it, but it’s actually pretty sad. Don’t forget, he came up with the idea about a year before he and Donna got together, so for all that time it was just a little thing that he had all to himself to keep Mike close by in any way he could. Point being, if anyone was going to tell Mike about it, it should've been Harvey, but Donna, the new most important person in Harvey’s life, evidently needs to be wedged into every facet of his business, no matter who else was there first.

“I was using it as a tax shelter.”

Wait, I’m confused. Was Mike supposedly making money off this rental or not? Has Harvey been sending him “rent checks”? Do they have a joint account where Harvey’s been making deposits? Did Mike just give Harvey the apartment? Did Harvey take out a mortgage for some reason?

“And what’s the name of that tax shelter? ‘I’m a Softie’?” “Maybe I’ve always been a softie.”

What the fuck is happening right now?

“What happened to uh, ‘Caring makes you weak’?” “I think you’re confusing ‘caring’ with ‘moving to Seattle.’”

So…moving to Seattle makes Mike weak. And Mike just smiles and nods over this one (seriously, his expression is the nonverbal equivalent of saying, “You got me there”), so does that mean he agrees that moving to Seattle was weak? (It was definitely a weak plot point, but I don’t think they’re that self-aware.)

“Speaking of Seattle, don’t you have some old ladies looking to sue the condo association, or whatever big case you’ve got going on these days?”

He takes class actions against Fortune 500s, that would have to be one hell of a condo association.

“Yes I do, but those old ladies are gonna have to wait, because I always have time for an old friend. It’s good to see you, Harvey.” “Great to see you, Mike.” “Is that Gionno’s?” “It is. You like yellow tomatoes?”

I hate this hug. I hate it so much. I was suspicious when I saw it in the promos, but at least then I could hold out hope for a real hug before the end of the episode, something à la the attempted-handshake-cum-goodbye-hug in “Faith” (s05e10) or the other attempted-handshake-cum-goodbye-embrace in “Goodbye” (s07e16). But no. This is it. This is all we get. The most performative bro-hug (complete with patronizing back patting) I could possibly imagine between two dudes who literally tried to go to prison for each other. Mike doesn’t even take two seconds to savor the moment before he’s asking about dinner! He seems so disinterested and distracted, I had to watch this scene three times to be sure he wasn’t using the hug as an excuse to get a better view of the pizza box. (He isn’t, but only just.)

I don’t know if anyone gives a shit, but the big secondary plot of this episode is that Sheila has some totally legitimate but previously unaired anxieties about balancing her job with motherhood and because no one on this show knows how to use their words, she expresses these fears by yelling at Louis for not understanding this thing she’s never tried to explain to him. Oh also they’re sexually roleplaying Cinderella with some $9000 glass slippers, and Sheila spent a whole meeting at work calling some major donor by the wrong name (and he didn’t correct her…why?) so he pulled his $50,000 donation and she feels like a failure.

Back to the prodigal son for an abbreviated rundown of the Journey of Darvey: “Let me get this straight: I tell Donna to kiss you, she does, and then, as a result, you ask another woman to move in with you.” No he absolutely fucking did not tell her that; he said, and I quote, “Tell Harvey how you feel” (s07e10). Because that’s, you know. Not sexual harassment. (Also he was there for that, why did Harvey just recap it for him? I know why, because Korsh assumes the audience has been zoned out for awhile now, but still, that's so narratively inconsistent. Well, I suppose that's their brand, I can't blame them for leaning into it.)

Anyway Harvey says “it was a complicated situation,” and Mike shoehorns in another summary (“Must have been, because then Donna starts dating a client, breaks privilege for him, and then you two end up together”) that makes me think Korsh is expecting to bring back a lot of viewers for this episode who bailed on the first four; joke’s on him, this episode actually pulled the second-lowest number of viewers so far this season (0.96M). Harvey dismisses this unnecessary recap with the point that they discussed all of this on the phone “like a month ago,” and SINCE FUCKING WHEN? They can’t just casually drop in that Harvey and Mike have been talking on the phone when every other instance of them on the phone for the past two seasons has been Harvey leaving depressing messages on Mike’s voicemail. That is not fair, they’re ruining my melancholia.

Harvey reasonably points out that Mike didn’t come all the way to New York for no reason, Mike says he’s there on business, and Harvey makes an odd choice with his rejoinder: “The business of begging for your old job back? Because it’s too late. We’ve replaced you.” Now, I’ll freely admit to having read and written so much fanfiction that at first viewing, I thought I remembered Harvey telling Mike, at some point or another, that he’s irreplaceable (he did not), but this is still a weird (and somewhat bitter) direction for him to take the conversation. The fact that he mentions Mike coming back to the firm at all reads to me like a not-so-subtle admission that he misses him (which we already knew from all the times Harvey said he misses him, s08e01-04), but to immediately say not that the firm isn’t hiring, but specifically that Mike has been replaced, is just mean. Like, on a personal level, that is…not nice. Mike takes it as a joke (as I’m sure it was intended) and they have a little more banter, and it’s nice and nostalgic and all, but the content is pretty weak; particularly Mike’s line that if Harvey had Mike’s memory, he wouldn’t forget things like checking to see if Mike’s replacement has a law degree, makes feels like I’m being beaten over the head with reminders of what was fun about this show back in the day while simultaneously being cajoled into sticking with it until the end.

Mike divulges that “the asshole [he’s] going up against” is “Harvey Sphincter. He plays it real tight,” and I would pay good money for Harvey to retort, “You would know,” but no such luck. Mike represents Jeremy Wall, a professional basketball player who wants out of his contract with Brick Street Athletics, that client Harvey gave to Samantha as a gesture of goodwill back in “Everything’s Changed,” and now I understand why I had no hope of correctly guessing what would be the plot of this episode: This suit has nothing to do with Mike’s firm. There are currently only seven apparel companies on the Fortune 500 list and of those seven, only one, Nike, is a major sponsor of professional athletes, so the odds that this is a Fortune 500 case are insanely low; aside from that, this suit is so far from a class action that I don’t know how it even came across Mike’s desk to begin with. But it did, and he’s here, and Harvey correctly deduces that Mike’s main goal isn’t to convince Brick Street to let Jeremy out of his contract, but to challenge Harvey, and. We’ll get to that in a bit.

Before we move on, though, because I’m me, I have to mention that when Mike kicks off the suit with an accusation of breach of contract, Harvey proposes holding a deposition the next day, and that is not how that works. Even if Mike and Jeremy have been secretly preparing for the possibility of a deposition for months, Mike can’t just spring on his client that, surprise! You’re testifying to opposing counsel tomorrow afternoon! Plus Brick Street Athletics might be Harvey’s client—or, might have been, I guess, since now they’re Samantha’s, but anyway, regardless of how well he knows their business model, he isn’t ready to go into a deposition for a suit against them totally off the cuff; he needs time to prepare, and the fact that he is the one who suggests having the deposition tomorrow is absolutely insane.

Ready for a subplot roundup?

Louis asks Alex, who has two kids and thus “survived two pregnancies with Rosalie” (real nice), for help in not upsetting Sheila; Alex tells him to listen to her and do nothing, Louis thanks him, and we all, including Alex, know that Louis is definitely not going to do that.

Wanting to repay Katrina for protecting her vote with the code of conduct thing, Donna decides the best way to do this is to peer pressure her into calling Brian because she hasn’t picked a new associate (what happened to Susan?) and she hasn’t seemed herself lately (she’s been one of the most in-character characters so far this season). Katrina says she’s fine, which in Suits-land is basically the same as admitting that she isn’t, and Donna says she’s here if Katrina wants to talk.

Rather than do nothing, Louis goes to Benjamin, who is still pissed about the whole hack-into-the-NYSBA-and-then-get-fired thing, but Louis brought bacon (nice callback), he says he’s sorry, and also he’s willing to put up $50K of his own money to make Sheila feel better about herself, so Benjamin agrees to give him a hand in order to “run a proxy through a financial institution to create the appearance of an anonymous donation from a tax sheltered company,” which is the most romantic thing Benjamin has ever heard in his life.

Okay, cool.

Part II

#suits usa #s09e05 #season 9 #marvey #analysis

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smolbeandrabbles · 5 years

Text

Sway Pt.8 - Danny Rayburn x Reader (Bloodline)

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Here / Part 9 / Part 10

Author’s Note: I wrote some of this way back in January. When this series was going to be 3 or 5 parts... Which is why it took so long to edit, because ‘Sway’ is not that story anymore... And after you read this there’s two left. And I... I just... I’m going to cry so hard when I write that final line, and post that final part...! Disclaimer: I stretched the timeline a little to have Danny down in the Keys a little while longer before Robert dies... None of the Bloodline characters are mine. But she is. And I love her so much. Stole all the dialogue from Danny/Nolan at the bus station from S.2 Ep.10 Also, quote above from S.1 Ep.4 Premise: In the aftermath of the restaurant Danny makes the decision to head back to the Keys.... You follow him down to attend Robert’s funeral, but not for the reasons you might think...

Words: 9133

Warnings: Swearing /

I just gotta see him with the sun shining on him in the water Chrome aviators on his eyes I wanna hear those waves come crashing in I wanna feel that sand and that wind I wanna go everywhere he's been, hold him again

---

She said I know, I know, it don't seem real, She closed her eyes, but the tears flowed through, She said don't hate me, for lovin' you

Oh I could not reassure her, I couldn't say what I had planned, Couldn't put three words together, So I just, took her hand

--- God, I'm down here on my knees, Cause it's the last place left to fall, Beggin' for another chance, If there's any chance at all, That you might still be listenin', Lovin' and forgivin' guys like me I've spent my whole life gettin' it all wrong, And I sure could use your help cause from now on...

Cause' it going to take a miracle, After all I've done to really make her see, That I wanna be a stay man, I wanna be a great man, I wanna be the kind of man that she sees in her dreams, God, I wanna be your man, And I wanna be her man God, I only hope she still believes, In the man I wanna be --- Miami, AM

You had tried everything to keep him here. Even getting angry; following him around your apartment as he packed his things. He was too good for his family, which is why you never understood why he wanted so badly to run back to the Keys. “What are you looking for? Their respect? Their admiration? Danny, their love? They will NEVER give you that. And I don’t know why you can’t see that you are too damn good for your family and they don’t deserve your tryin’!!” You regretted it almost immediately at the hurt look on his face. “They are my family...” He was as right as he was wrong. The only one who even remotely treated him like family was John. You liked John, but he was one man... Danny had a network of ‘family’ here. “...You HAVE a family.” You touched a hand to your forehead “I’m sorry I shouldn’t have said that... I just... I don’t want you to leave... to go back to them!” He placed his hands on your shoulders, firm but gentle; “Y/N. I can’t stay.”

You drove Danny over to his apartment that morning in order for him to pick up a few things. He offered to let you help him, but you couldn’t face that without crying again. Nothing you said worked; he was determined about going and even more determined about staying. Instead, you had picked up Nolan to also say goodbye, and you were now standing outside Bayfront Park metro and bus station waiting for him. You were quiet, because you weren’t sure exactly what to say. Nolan wasn’t too keen on seeing his father leave for the Keys either. It wouldn’t be too bad, perhaps, if you were heading to the party yourself. You couldn’t for two reasons; one was work, and that wasn’t just an excuse you were making, you were about to close a huge deal and Rich only trusted you with it. You couldn’t just walk away for a long weekend; and for the Rayburns?!

The second was if you left, if you went to the Keys... If Danny was really adamant about staying until his life got back on track, then you weren’t so sure even your parents would be able to drag you away from him and back to Miami. They would just have to represent you for a little while. At least you knew they would help see Danny settled.

He arrived, backpack slung over his shoulder, and crossed to you both. Slipping his hands into yours he kissed your cheek in greeting. You put on a brave face and in that moment, you never wanted to let his hands go. “So, this is it, you’re just running away?” You weren’t sure that was particularly helpful, and your look let Nolan know it. Danny clearly didn’t know how to react, searching around as if anyone in Miami had the answer he himself wanted “…Going back home?” To stop you from joining the 2v1 argument Danny at least found something to say; “The guys that I owe money too… They’re not gonna stop ‘til I pay them back.” He could tell by the way you held his hand tighter that you were dying to say it, all over again. “…Didn’t… uh… Didn’t you get insurance money?” “Nah…” This was only followed by another silence “The cops said it was arson. So, you don’t get paid for that.” Nolan got quiet and looked to the ground. Danny sighed, and for a second rummaged in his pocket; before holding out a key “The key to my apartment… When I get myself set up, and I get on my feet I’m gonna start sending you money, okay? Take it.” It was strange for Nolan to look reluctant to do even that, but you thought it was sweet. It still gave Nolan somewhere to go – not that your place would ever not be an option for him. Money for Nolan… That’s what this was really about… You knew that now, every decision Danny made, it was for Nolan. “Okay… Well…” He turned to the bus, “This is me… Rayburn Express…” with your hand still in his he turned back to you; “…You’ll be coming down right? Your parents will be at the party...?” You hated to bite your lip and shake your head but you had to, “Not this weekend... they will, I can’t... Of course, when everything is settled down. I’ll make a weekend or week of it...” He nodded, noticing the way you weren’t quite meeting his eyes, he was surprised your mascara wasn’t already running... “Good luck with the deal, you’ll get it. 100%!” Your smile was sad, and your lip quivered “Yeah.”

Danny was decisive, he didn’t want to drag out how much this was hurting you any longer. Pulling you into his arms he rubbed your back; “It’s gonna be okay... I’ll be back before you realise I’m gone...” at your choked breath he realised it was a bad choice of words “We’ve made it through worse... Darlin’ it’ll be okay...” he took your face in his hands and made you look back into his eyes. “I love you...” He kissed your forehead “Don’t ever forget that...” then your lips. However long that goodbye kiss was, it didn’t last nearly long enough. He let you go and turned to Nolan. “Listen…” The silence was back. He was struggling… you were struggling… Nolan was struggling. “What?” “…. Just… Just take good care of yourself, okay?” He reached out and took Nolan’s cigarette from him, as if to make a point, then looked back to you “And take care of her... she’s pretty tough. But she’ll need it...” “Yeah.” Nolan nodded, and Danny realised he was just as sad as you “I will...” Mercifully his bus was called... Danny’s hand left yours only when he could stretch his arm any further. He continued to walk backwards a few paces. And it was the first time you thought Danny might cry about this. “I love you. Both of you!” You felt that was harder for him to say than anything else ever hand been. And he turned to board the bus, gave one last look and wave back and then he was gone. And you couldn’t take it. You turned away, leaning on Nolan’s shoulder for support, your eyes stung with tears you had been desperately holding back. Nolan watched Danny walk up the bus to take his seat and placed his hand over yours. The bus revved into life, making you turn back. Danny took a deep breath and turned to wave to you both waving him off, with possibly the saddest smile you’d ever seen anyone give. He knew he’d be crying too before he hit Miami’s outskirts. As the bus rolled off you dropped your hand and really began crying. It felt like your heart was breaking all over again, and you weren’t sure if it was because of Danny or for him. Nolan pulled you close and enveloped you in his arms. And you realised that he was crying too.

“I’m gonna miss him... Y/N... I’m gonna miss him too...”

***

Islamorada, Rayburn House, AM

You weren’t sure how you felt about the context of the situation you were seeing Danny again in. Seeing him was going to be the best thing that had happened in months... but at his father’s funeral? With what you knew? Your parents weren’t sure you’d want to go, but you’d skipped out the first weekend on pretences of work. And that if he stayed… you would stay. This time it would be different... You hoped. Your black dress was appropriately modest for the situation, yet airy enough for the hot summer sunshine. Your parents hadn’t said you were coming, but were staying at Rayburn House. It would only be one night, but you knew how much it would hurt. Even driving down the driveway was enough to have tears sting at your eyes. At least you could pretend it was about the funeral, you supposed. The gathering was larger than you had anticipated, but allowed you to blend for a minute and take in being back here. You stuck close to your parents as they made the rounds, people you’d recognised from trips up here during the past 3 years… You’d already seen John spot you and try to inconspicuously point your presence out. From what you had heard from your parents (amidst howling with laughter) they had every reason to believe you and Danny had split. WRONG! You smirked into your glass, and then you spotted him. Not in black, no less. His off-white shirt and black jeans marked him out against everyone… That was just like him… Danny was talking with two people you didn’t really recognise, had he ever actually made an attempt to introduce you to anyone here? If he had you’d probably have thought about relocating to the Keys... But as he circulated you couldn’t help but steal glances at him, until finally he looked at you. He blinked hard and then you saw that smile, and he successfully stole your heart again. You smiled back, but remained with your parents... Outwardly Danny always oozed confidence, but you knew this wasn’t easy for him... At one point you found yourself sitting alone trying to take it in. Trying to process what you were here for… Tapping your foot lazily against the porch and liking to be lost in your own thoughts. You didn’t expect any of the Rayburns to come to you – that’s what your parents were here for… "Y/N!!" You were almost surprised to see the call come from John's daughter. "Janey! Hey!!" You embraced her tight as she sat with you "What's goin' on!!" "Oh, the usual...! I'm glad you're here!" "... Oh, really?" "Yeah, for Danny... Unless... Did you guys really...?" "Really what?" You wanted someone to confirm your suspicions "Did you really break up...?? I thought you were good together... I really liked you together." You couldn’t help but feel glad she said it, but you laughed "Nooo... We did not, in fact, break up. The party I heard about. Thought it was hilarious, typically Danny..." you giggled to yourself "Seems like everyone else wanted it to happen..." you looked across at her "You good at keeping secrets?" "Awww...! I can't tell anyone!?" but she grinned, happy to hear the news "Well. Okay, maybe your DAD can know. Is he any good at keeping secrets!?" She snorted "No. He's a detective." "Eh. True..." "Are you staying...?" Her tone was hopeful. You had to disappoint her by shaking your head, "I can't. Or I would sweetie... Obviously I would..." You nodded forwards, both of you watching Danny do more rounds with people. The two friends you had spotted him with before never far away. You were glad he had more than just his family here... Heck, whoever they were were probably more family than his family... "... Will he go back to Miami?" Now she sounded disappointed "I don't know... I guess it depends how long it takes him to decide he's back on his feet..." you sat back "I want him back in Miami. You don't sound like you do." "I think he's really cool." That statement almost surprised you "If he goes back you have to promise to visit more often!!" You sighed "Oh, no! That means coming down here to this awful view!!" She laughed at your obvious sarcasm, but you tapped her "You're an adult. You'll have to visit us in Miami too, okay? That's my condition to your condition!" She beamed at your offer "Okay. That sounds great to me!" “Do me another favour too…” You smiled across to her “Tell him he’s cool. Tell him often, he’ll like that!” She was called back to her parents, but took your hands in hers “I will! Don’t be a stranger!!! Stay longer!!” “Next time! I promise!” * The service was appropriate... You held your moms’ hand tight and respected John’s speech. You’d always respected John, in three years you hadn’t been back frequently, but he always made time to see you when you did; John respected you. Other members of his family were less than accepting and you just wanted to steer clear of that. You weren’t here for negativity, after all. After the ceremony was over your parents went back to their rounds, but you shook your head as you watched Danny walk off alone. It was more important you speak to him... They let you go, understanding, and you slowly wandered after him, this time with a glass of water... You waited patiently for someone else you didn’t recognise to finish their conversation with him before you cut into his thoughts; He looked up as he walked over, conversation with Danny finished, upon seeing you he looked back to Danny and then to you; “Oh my goodness! I’m sorry dear!” “No, no!” You laughed as the older man apologised for taking Danny’s time “You go on!” “Oh no!” He smiled “I’m sure he’d much rather talk to you!” You shook your head “Oh, I dunno...” you walked slowly towards Danny, watching his body language closely. Perhaps now wasn’t the time to tell him what you had really come here for. “Hey...” He was smiling before he turned to the sound of your voice “It’s been a while, baby girl!” You nearly rolled your eyes “I’d say sorry but... I don’t think I’d mean it...” “Naw, it’s okay... You staying?” He looked back to the waves lapping at the shoreline, taking a sip of beer. “Just tonight...” “Just tonight??” “I have to go back… One car...” you sighed gently “I miss you.” “I know. I miss you too. You should come visit properly...” You laughed, clearly asking him to come back and stay was still off the table, “You could come back to Miami and visit too, you know.” “Nah, I work here now... I can’t just leave...” “Can’t blame me for trying...” You walked forward until you were in the water, staring out at the vast ocean... “No but I mean it, come down! I’ll take you out... Hey, we could even go down to the other islands for a few days. It’d be good!” You turned back to him “Okay. Sure.” “Soon-ish! Don’t use ALL your holiday up on me...” He joined you “Or you can. I’m not gonna complain...” “Bet not!” You folded your arms “How are you doing?” “Fine...” You took comfort in the fact he met your eyes and it was genuine. “Yeah! I mean, it’s a job, a house and money... I guess that’s important...” “Is it a life?” “It’s... living?” He searches for the word “I mean, I’m living?” Danny wouldn’t count this as a life until he had what he had in Miami, but even you weren’t sure he could replicate that here. Without you didn’t really matter... Without Nolan, though...? That’s what the money was really about. And you’d checked with the bank. Zero activity. Danny sending cash made you uneasy, but if he banked any checks it would only get swallowed up by all the loans he owed. That damn restaurant... The only problem with pouring his heart and soul into the one thing he was really good at was that it went up in literal flames and then his life went up with it. You had tried nearly everything to keep that man in Miami. But he wouldn’t let you help him, and he refused to stay. You couldn’t help but laugh, “I guess I would rather you were alive...!” “Huh! That’s good to know! I’ll keep that in mind!” He reached for his shoulder instinctively and you had to look away. It made you think back; how you thought it was just a tick, because he did it all the time. When you learned the truth about what it really was... Well, what kind of person got angry at someone at their own funeral? You took a breath, wanting nothing more than to take his hand to stop him. It wasn’t easy for you to think of even now. He got quiet after that, both of you standing staring out at the ocean. The silence was comfortable, for once, but it wasn’t Danny... "You know..." he almost laughed "He tried to pay me to leave..." You opened your mouth, well it shouldn't surprise you that Robert would do such a thing. You let your question of "why didn't you!?" go. Deciding the answer Danny would give couldn't possibly be satisfactory. Opting instead for; "Could I pay you to come back!?" You received a half smile. "I don't want your money... I'm getting paid well enough here..." "yeah... It’s how you're getting paid..." "so, Nolan’s getting it?" "uh huh." you nodded, but if he wasn't, you wouldn't see Nolan suffering and Danny knew that too. "Alright..." he was satisfied with that, perching himself back on the edge of the boat. Eventually you had to turn back to him; “I’m Sorry...” “Hmm??” “I’m so sorry...” You pulled him into an embrace “I’m so, so, so sorry...” He wound his arms around you and you were finally with him once more. It’s been months since you had this... “I miss you...” Was all you heard him mumble into your shoulder “I wish you were here...”

When you left him to go back to his thoughts, as clearly Danny had many, you wandered back to the gathering only to be caught by John. Who by the looks of him had just been watching you; "How long are you really prepared to wait for him...? Are you gonna wait forever...?" You smiled, looking out to the Ocean "John, you're implying that I am waiting for something. I'm not." He mulled your answer over with interest "Really." it wasn't a question, but you nodded anyway "I’ll wait for him however long it takes... All I want is him to come home." "... People here want the same thing for different reasons..." "Do you?" John inclined his head "I've already put him on a bus once... I'm trying to do what's best for everyone..." "Is it best for Danny, though?" you looked across at him "... He didn't leave Miami and come here because it was his only option. It wasn't. He came here for help - from his family. Hell, he came here FOR a family... Why are you the only person who treats him like... A person?" "Mom treats him well... Meg’s not bad..." you looked like you didn't believe him. So he sighed "We were always extremely close... Danny always came to me for help... It’s what he does..." "So you really are the big brother. I always thought that." "Yeah. I guess... But listen, Y/N... You don't have to worry about Danny, alright. You don't even have to think about it anymore." He waved a hand "and I understand ending it… I do." You laughed "I didn't end it!" He tilted his head “HE ended it?!” You raised an eyebrow to John, because you knew he knew better than to even ask that “I’ll let you think what you think. Just don’t make it the talk of the town.” He gave you a knowing smile, letting you know he’d caught on “Alright. I won’t.”

“Danny...” He turned to face your father. A little confused as, when looking around, he realised you weren’t there. What could this be about? He hoped Jack wasn’t also about to try to tempt him back to Miami. “Jack!” He gave a smile “It’s good to see you!” He stepped forward, clasping Danny’s hand and giving him an pat on the back “Likewise, Mr.Rayburn. It’s always my honour!” Jack nodded to the old black Chevy truck “Is she yours?” “Oh! Yes Sir. Well, she was dad’s... I fixed her up.” Well. He wouldn’t give Kevin any credit, at least. “Amazing! Looks nearly brand new... ’57 Chevy pickup…” Jack whistled “You don’t see many in working condition! Well done!” Danny nodded in thanks, “of course! The classic ones always run the best, and longest...” Jack began to walk around the truck, studying it thoroughly “Guess it’s the same for classic relationships...” His eyes flicked to Danny’s and Danny wasn’t sure if there was supposed to be hidden meaning in that... “Guess so...” He trod carefully, walking around the car too; “I’ll have to remember that if I ever get to be in a classic relationship.” “Aren’t you? Maybe it’s a little modern classic...” This was odd. They both began circling the car, slow steps... cautious. Danny could feel his heart beat quicken; was this a test?? “How did you get the car running again...?” “Oh! I changed the carb, changed the battery, ignition, cap, rotor… Name it I probably did it!” Jack nodded along, taking it in; “So you made a modern classic...?” Danny stopped for a second letting his visible confusion show on his face; was Jack Ervin using the car as an analogy? “... She could run forever on that...” He had to be. “I’d hope so... It’d mean... never getting a new... car?” Her father gave a different kind of nod, like he was glad Danny was finally catching on. He put his hands on the hood “What are your intentions Mr. Rayburn?” That wasn’t about a car; “Do you intend to go the distance?” Danny stared at his reflection in the hood and bit his lip; “I... am not sure she’s ready to run that many miles... yet....” He tipped his head, not raising his eyes “... I’m not sure I will be driving forever either. Or, if I am the kind of person to take that trip. And for her... I would have to be...” He looked up slowly as Jack folded his arms, but the smile on his face couldn’t be bigger; “I think you underestimate yourself.” Danny put his hands in his pockets and almost guiltily mumbled “So does she...” Jack nearly laughed; “I like you Danny. A lot. And it would be my honour to give you that. So... just... think on it... I think she’d take a drive anywhere, as long as it was with you...” He grinned “I think it’d be a long trip...” he patted the hood again; “Just maybe not in this... not enough seats!” With that Jack gave a mysterious smile and walked back towards the house. Danny didn’t have the chance to give sincere thanks at Jack’s faith in him because the situation became even more confusing. He scrunched his face What?? Then his eyes widened and he looked back at Jack’s disappearing frame oh...! OH!

You had been studying the photographs for a while when Danny came back inside. And he approached you slowly as you looked from one to the other, not wanting to startle you. “God. Don’t look at those!” You laughed “You were blonde! I just can’t believe that!” “Why!?” “Nolan. His hair is dark…” You tapped the photo, “God, he looks JUST like you… That’s adorable…” Though, Meg and John both had dark hair. It wasn’t an exclusively blonde family… “Yeah… He gets that from his mom.” “What!? Eve’s hair is blonde too!” “Not naturally.” “Coulda fooled me.” You tilted your head “And baby John? My goodness… What a cutiepie! You were two good looking young men. Bet you got ALL the girls.” He rolled his eyes “Aw, nah! Not John, not you too!” You laughed “Danny – Calm down! There’s only room for one Rayburn brother in my life…” You shuffled through some of the other photos on the table and paused. “Yeah…” Danny looked over your shoulder “…That’s Sarah…” You picked it up, you could have guessed from the necklace… Then just as quick you put it back and shuffled it under the others, looking back to him; “Why put it out?” “She WAS his favourite.” “…But for you?” He leant on the table next to you, brushing his fingers against yours; “Seeing her doesn’t bother me. She was probably my favourite too… Which is why I took her out in the first place…” He sighed “He bothered me… I still get like…” he waved a hand over his head “…Flashbacks- God, No… Let’s…. Let’s not talk about this…” “I’m sorry…” “What?” “I brought it up. I shouldn’t have… My fault…” You looked back to the photos “It’s not your fault. He did what he did. No ‘you’ about it…” He ran his fingers over your arm; “I mean, I’m ok now, right?” Far from it. You thought, but didn’t say it aloud. “No good worryin’ about things you can’t change, Darlin’…”

* Islamorada, Beach, PM-Late "Meet me up the beach a little way later..." "Why are we being all hush-hush about this..." it amused you to say the least "You know my family..." "Eh. John keeps asking me dumb questions." "That's because you keep answering them!!" “Well I had to put him straight.” “AWWW-! And I was starting to have fun!” He smiled; “So, you up for it? Wait until it gets dark, mm’kay?” “Wow. You make me feel like I’m about 15 sneaking out of my parents house!” He gave a shrug “Well that’s what I’m gonna do. Everyone is going for drinks downtown, though, if you wanna do that!” “No!” You shook you head “That does not sound like my idea of a good time.” “Great!” He watched the way his family were currently watching the two of you, you were just trying to ignore it “…After dark! See you then…” He nudged your shoulder gently as he left you, making you shake your head after him. Honestly!

You sat on the steps of your cabin until you saw him appear a little way down the beach. It was dark, but the porchlights illuminated a silhouette that could only be Danny. Three years was a long time to look at the same person; and you knew exactly how he walked. You turned back to tell your parents that you would be back later; because Danny was taking you on a date. Which, you guessed it would be, and collected your things, walking quickly across the beach to him. “And I thought you’d be here before me…?” He took your hand in his before you’d even had a chance to say hello. “Well, I wanted to make sure it was worth sneaking out!” You gave a wink “Where are we going?” He gave a mysterious smile; “Just up here, Darlin’…! It’ll be great. The sky is clear – it’ll be perfect!” “…Why? What are you planning?” “Mmm! You’ll see…!” He pulled you closer so that he could drape his arm around your shoulders, letting you link your fingers with his. "Janey likes you. Like, really likes you." "Oh! Is there a problem with that!" "No...! It's good to see somebody around here likes you!! She doesn't want you to leave!" That had him laughing. "No! Don't laugh this is serious!" He was making you laugh too, "She even had me making conditions about us visiting the Keys more if you come back to Miami." "And what did you say to that?" "Yeah sure, if she comes to see us!!" "Fair trade." "…Really is conditional on you coming back..!" You tilted your head "Also, you didn't get this from me. But she thinks you're cool." "What's wrong with that!? That's sweet! Have I ever been cool before!?" "Exactly!" You snorted, "Wait until I tell Nolan someone thinks you're cool." "He's not gonna believe you!" "I dunno... I think he thinks you’re cool, he's just too cool to say it..." You squeezed him tighter as you cuddled him "I think you're pretty cool too..." He pushed your arm "Aw, stop it! I'm gonna go as red as you usually do!" "Danny! That is not helping!" You could already feel the heat in your cheeks... He laughed "Ah, I don't say it to help...!" Eventually you came upon his truck. And you realised he’d set it up to provide you with a romantic interlude. He could tell by the look on your face that was at least OK; “Look, I didn’t have much time – I just… I wanted some time alone…” You looked to him, your smile as brilliant as ever “It’s perfect!” He sat you down in the truck bed that he’d tried to make as comfortable as possible and pointed back to the sky. As he’d parked his car on the beach and there was very little artificial lighting around, the stars shone brightly allowing him to pick out several constellations. Star gazing. Danny had brought you here to star gaze. He was truly worth more than words. He uncapped a bottle and held it out to you, but you politely declined; “Oh no, I…” “WAIT. You’re not drinking!? What the hell!?” “Uh, did you know that-!” You had some baffling facts up your sleeve from your mom… “God! Stop!” He covered his ears “Drinking is the only thing that gets me through being here!” He was joking, maybe. But, what other excuses did he have to give for you to tell him to get back to Miami? You laughed, but he picked up another bottle; “Drinking alone… Now THAT’S just sad…” “You’re not alone…” You pulled his body closer to yours, laying your head on his shoulder and running a hand over his chest. He hummed, taking a sip and putting an arm around your shoulders, laying you both back amongst the blankets; “Can’t you just pretend?” “You’re gonna waste a bottle on me?” “…I’ll drink it, you just gotta toast with me…” He tapped the other bottle against your shoulder… You took it; “Well, if you insist…” You studied the bottle, shame, it was a good beer. “I do…” He kissed your forehead gently as you clinked your bottles “Cheers!” “Here’s to us!” You said both in unison. Neither of you expecting to say the other thing. Leaving you both laughing awkwardly. But you smiled, more than glad to accept his phrasing over yours. “Here’s to us…”

*** Your parents had packed the car and were saying goodbye to the family when you made your way outside. It was harder to leave him than to watch him leave you. You reluctantly placed your bag in the car, when you realised that Danny wasn’t even among them. Scanning the group twice to make certain, John detached himself and approached you; “He’s out back...” “Oh. Well then, I better go say goodbye.” “You know you don’t have to do that...” “No, John, that’s the problem. I do.” You hugged him tight; “I hope to see you around Y/N...” “If he stays, you will....” You let him go with a sad smile, “If you’ll excuse me...” Skipping past him and walking back through the house, you opened the back door, finding Danny lost in thought raking the beach. You stood at the top of the steps leaning against the rail to watch him for a minute; “Danny!” He turned instantly at the sound of your voice and dropped everything to run across the sand to you. “Uh Uh! Cigarette out!!” He raised an eyebrow, you’d never had a problem with him smoking before. But, he did as you asked, glancing you up and down as he ascended the steps slowly; “You’re... Really leavin’?” “Afraid so...” “Aw, c’mon, stay...!” “No...I...” “I have a room, you don’t even need to rent a place, I got a car... I’ll drive you to the airport!” “Dan-” “A week! Take a week! Just a week!” “DANNY!” You cut in “I can’t. And you know how bad I want to stay. But I just can’t...” “You’ll come back? Right? And soon? Sooner than it’s taken you to come here now?” “As soon as I get back, I’ll look into it... but I’ve gotta be careful about how often I’m away... remember.” “Why?” “Well, Nolan ought to see one of us.” He groaned just a little “When do you next see him?” “Friday?” Usually he insisted you tutor him in Spanish. He placed a hand to his forehead; “God I’m such a fucking bad father...” That hurt you, hurt way more than it should; “Danny! No! Don’t say that!” “God, Y/N, but it’s true!” “Nolan wouldn’t want to hear you say that either!” “You know sometimes I think that kid would have had it easier if I’d have stayed out of his life...” You gasped and put a hand to your mouth; “Danny...” You felt a sharp pain in your heart and your eyes started to well up... “Sorry I just... it’s so hard... being here when you’re both up there... and if I ever got you... I just... I don’t know what I’d do...” Then you sobbed and it startled him, and you did it again. “Y/N? Hey...! Baby... Hey... Shhh... Baby girl what’s wrong?!” “I’m sorry...” “What? No, no! It’s all me! Baby I’m sorry..!” “I’m sorry!!” You repeated as he took your hands. You were scared about him leaving you before, now you felt it was almost certain... “I’m sorry!” You sobbed harder, and it was tearing him apart. He’d been the one saying all that stupid shit, what were you sorry for...? “D-Danny...” Your voice wavered “I’m pregnant.” It took him a minute to register if he’d heard you right. And when he realised you were looking back at him, defeated and waiting for him to say something, he realised that he had. He opened his mouth, but his thoughts went blank and nothing came out... and he felt himself go weak, his hands left yours as he slumped to his knees. “No... N-No...” Danny closed his eyes... He could barely provide enough money to support one kid let alone two, what the hell had he gotten you into?! You took a shaky breath, you couldn’t look at him, you couldn’t let him go... Your hands clasped gently around his wrists. Your tears were still running as you stared out to sea, wishing it would come and swallow you up. “I’m keeping it. Whatever you decide to do... and you can leave... if you want to leave, you can...” You trailed off. Because you were not the only one crying. “...Danny...” You whispered it. He still wasn’t looking at you, but his shoulders were shaking, and you could hear him trying to hold the tears in. You let his wrists go gently and tried to remember when last, if ever, you had seen Danny cry... As you let him go, he knelt up. Winding his arms around you and pulling you into him, he placed his head gently against your stomach but didn’t stop crying. You ran your hands through his hair gently. “Danny, I’m sorry...” He shook his head “Stop it...” He pulled you tighter to him “Don’t ever be sorry....” He took a deep breath and let out a groan; “You’re sure...?” “Yes...” You reached into your pocket. You’d had your mom persuade someone to take a scan for you, but you wanted to prove it to him none the less. You held out the tiny ultrasound scan and let him take it. He laughed, almost shakily, running his fingers over it. He took your hand again, before he stood, looking back at you and placing his hands gently on your stomach; “How long?” “Have I known...? About a month...” You brushed the tears from your eyes “I thought maybe before you went, but I wasn’t sure...” “How far are you?” “Two, two and a half? I’ll start showing soon... But I didn’t want to tell you over the phone or... I had to tell YOU.” He nodded, looking back to the picture “Can I keep this?” “Do you want to?” “Baby, of course I....” He thought about what he’d just said “...God, I really just...” he sighed “Screwed up. Again… And I… I’m never gonna leave you. Please don’t think that I-” he shook his head “look, this time, THIS time I might actually get this right!” “Woah, woah… don’t worry about money! I don’t need you worrying about anything more than Nolan right now!” You stopped his train of thought right there, he was going to do something stupid if he thought about trying to get money together to raise two kids. You could do this one just fine yourself... not alone... just, yourself. “You’re still going to stay?” You we’re hopeful this could change his mind... “I have to...” His voice was soft, “maybe I can take some time off and come back. You know you can always come relocate here too... don’t you?” Maybe you could, but, anything to get him home... He studied the scan again. “Do you know what it is yet?” “No!” You laughed “Danny it’s waaay too early for that!” “Aw, c’mon! How am I meant to help you! I can’t even come up with a name yet?” “... Oh! You’ll be lucky if I let you name my child Mr.Rayburn!” You turned at the sound of your dad calling you though the house; “Already?!?” You sighed, “Coming dad!” You looked back to Danny, who pocketed the scan carefully and took your hand again “Don’t be gone too long. I don’t think I can take being away from you again...” “Well, will you at least walk me to the car?” “What kind of gentleman would I be if I didn’t?” He held out his arm for you to loop yours through “Let’s take the long way ‘round, so I can keep you to myself just a little longer...” You were only too happy to oblige a long slow walk around the back of the house. But even now smart-mouthed quick-witted Danny was quiet ... thoughtful. Content to be in your presence but with his own thoughts, until the glint of gold around your neck caught his eye... He reached out, catching the fine gold chain between his fingers. He pulled until the tiny “D” at the end revealed itself from under your clothing. “You’re still wearing this?!” “Still?” You had to pull yourself closer to him as he inspected the charm, “I don’t think I’ve ever taken it off.” It might not have cost him a lot, heck it might even have been a joke, but it’s sentimental value to you could not have been understated. Beyond the initial, everything from the weight, to length of the chain meant he knew you and the jewellery you wore. He’d thought about it. Yes, Danny had... You’d never been willing to buy into anything the Rayburn’s had ever told you about him and you knew you never would. From the second you’d walked into his apartment you felt you’d known this man better than they ever would. Danny all but let you go as you rounded the front of the house. Noticing how ‘protective big brother’ John studied you both carefully as he walked you to the car your parents were now in. You were surprised your dad wasn’t jokingly tapping his watch from inside. You turned back to Danny as you got to the door. “Promise me, you’ll come back.” “If you promise me you’ll stay here longer than ONE NIGHT I will promise you anything...” “Okay, well, I’ll look into it when I get home... and I promise...” “Call me. When you get back, I want to know everything. Tell Nolan, he’ll like it.” You weren’t convinced how Nolan would react to having a much younger half-sibling... but you trusted Danny’s judgement, Nolan was a good kid. “I will. Tell him...” you opened the door “And, call you. I’ll call you.” “Yeah well, there was a time I had to be VERY persuasive about that!” “What like 3 years ago? Danny c’mon!” “Oh, I’m not saying I’m not glad!” You laughed “Whatever you say! I’ll call, I promise. Take care, okay? You know I worry!” “Hell, I know...” You hopped into the car, allowing your parents to shout their goodbyes back at him; “See you around Danny!” “Have a good trip back Jack! Maria!” you rolled your eyes and belted yourself in; “I’ll see you soon.” “Sure! We’ll figure it out...” “Yeah... Goodbye Danny!” He closed the door for you “I miss you already.” And he was quite serious, backing away from the car with a sad smile and a wave as your dad started the engine. Your dad put the car in drive and wound down all the windows so you could wave and say goodbye as you accelerated down the drive way. “You okay?” He watched you through the mirror. For a moment you had a smile on your face, but then you shook your head and you felt yourself well up again, you bit your lip... Damn, you thought you missed him before... The Rayburn clan headed inside, but not Danny. His mind was racing as he watched your parents car roll away. He wanted to watch until he couldn’t see it anymore. But he was thinking a million different things about the baby. How could he not see you through all of that? The next 8 or so months were crucial and he was all but stuck here, but he couldn’t tell you that. He couldn’t head back to Miami, he had too much going on here that he needed to do... He took a deep breath again... And then he started running. “Dios Mio!” Your father slowed the car and you wondered what he was doing until you heard it over the sound of the slowing engine “Hey!! Heyyy!! Wait a minute!!!” Your mom started laughing and you turned around in your seat. “Stop the car!! Wait!!!” You knew if you were still crying it was happy tears, as you unbelted yourself and couldn’t scramble to open the door fast enough. You were just about out as he caught up, slowing his sprint he grabbed you into a hug, tight to him, he lifted you from the ground and spun you gently, you were once again lost in his embrace. One arm strong and protective around you he stooped just a little and kissed you. And you realised that it was your first kiss in months as you wound your arms around his neck. It was a long kiss, worth it, but not nearly long enough. When he finally let your lips go, he breathed out; “Devan.” “Devan?” “Our baby. Devan... with an a.” “Devan?” You repeated, happier; “I like that...”

*** Miami, Your Apartment, Early AM

It was late. Extremely late. So late it was also extremely early. Your phone buzzed on the night stand, you were curious enough, and hadn’t been sleeping too well. You picked it up and squinted; Danny??? Then sat bolt upright DANNY!!!

You slid your finger across the screen to answer; “Babe!” Your voice probably couldn’t have sounded happier, which was weird because you were actually worried that he was calling you at this time. “What’s up? What’s wrong?” You decided it would probably be the latter. Danny called you almost every day, but it was always at a reasonable time... “Hey... Y/N... I uh.... This is gonna sound crazy... I’m… about a half hour or so out from Miami... I was just wondering if you could pick me up?” You couldn’t answer him fast enough “Yes! Oh my god! Of course, are you coming home!?” You threw the phone on loud speaker and began pulling clothes out of your dresser. “Kinda. I mean, John has... essentially sent me back...” He didn’t exactly sound happy about it “... But uh... Yeah, I’ll be coming to the bus stop. So, I’ll be home.” You didn’t care, selfishly, if he was happy or not. You couldn’t get ready fast enough. “Okay, okay... Baby, I’ll be there. See you soon! I can’t wait to see you!” His laugh was soft “I can’t wait to see you either...”

You were waiting at the bus stop in loose fitting jeans and a t-shirt, cropped leather jacket around your shoulders to keep the chill off. He stepped off that bus and your heart leapt. He smiled as soon as he saw you and his slow walk turned to a run. He gathered you in his arms; he was back, Danny was finally back where he really belonged. You gathered fistfuls of his shirt as you attempted to pull him closer to you. You needed this, you needed him. Back here. “How are you?” He mumbled into your neck, swaying you gently in his arms. “I’m okay. Things are going well! How are you?” “Yeah. It’s... Good to be back...” You weren’t sure if he was just making it sound genuine, but you would take what you could get. Pulling away from you and holding your shoulders, he studied your face, you couldn’t keep your smile at bay. You had feared you would cry with joy, you were glad to see that hadn’t happened. His hands slid to your stomach; “How’s our baby?” You laughed, loving that he said our, “Devan is fine. All the scans are going well... Healthy... No problems...” you placed your hands over his; “You just need to be here now..!” He smiled at that “Devan, is that what we’re really going for?” “Your idea... Plus it doesn’t have a gender yet, and, I don’t really want to find out...” “Okay...” He knelt down “Devan it is...” He placed his forehead gently to your stomach; “Can you feel anything yet?” “They say 16 to 22 weeks until you can feel the movements, later for kicks... I mean, it’s moving as normal...” “When is your next scan?” You knew he would ask. Danny wanted to model himself as a present father. He wanted to see his second child grow... “You can just go... y’know. I’ll book one tomorrow morning for this week... then you can ‘meet’ Devan for yourself...”

He piled into your car with his bag. He groaned; "Man I hate that bus ride..." "Why didn't you drive back?" "In that Chevy? Yeah I'd be lucky if it could run the full 4 hours..." He wasn't telling you something. You knew that. But you couldn't ask. He stretched and yawned; "No way I could sleep... I need a shower... Damn... It's gonna be good to be home." "Home?" You couldn't help but smile at that; "Yeah, baby, you are home..."

It might have been pretty early, but when Danny pulled you into that shower you couldn't refuse. There wasn't anything sexual about it, he just wanted to feel something. He needed your affection; after everything in the Keys, Danny just needed you... Letting the hot water run over his body he held you so close, nothing could possibly be too close. He ran his fingers gently over every part of you he could reach, committing you to memory, to his heart... savouring every little piece of you. Feeling the beat of your heart on his skin. But it wasn't just you anymore, you were carrying his unborn child. And Danny thought he'd loved you before. He traced your jaw line, your neck and your shoulders with his lips. But he wasn't the only one whose hands were wandering; you traced his chest, lingering over his heart for just a moment. You could fall asleep to that heartbeat, God you'd missed this. You'd missed him... Up over his arms, across his shoulders; your fingers dancing lightly but no less significantly over his left, Up his neck and into his hair, he pushed his face against yours and you claimed his lips. Resting his forehead against yours, he continued to let the water wash over him; "I love you..." You thought you caught it, faintly murmured. You closed your eyes and whispered; "Say it again..." "I love you..." And it was like hearing him say those words for the very first time.

***

He was restless. He'd been here for four hours, and he already wanted to leave. There was no denying it to yourself. Sure, he held you close to him, you tucked safely into the curve he was making with his body. He ran his hands continuously over your stomach and he tried to get comfortable. But that was the problem. He continued to try to get comfortable. There were a million things going on in his head and you could almost hear his mind racing at a million miles an hour.

You must have eventually drifted off in his arms, because when you awoke it was almost daybreak. The sky was pale and watery. Danny was standing by the window, looking out over Miami as the sun bled into the sky and illuminated the glassy high-rises. You hated that you knew. Gathering your hands to your chest you entwined your fingers with the fine gold chain. Your heart ached. Because you knew. You had to let Danny go, again.

You watched him for way too long, letting these feelings roll around until you felt sick. If you forced him to stay here... He would never be happy. Not until he finished whatever he started. If you let him go... Then you didn't know what you would be letting him walk into. And with his baby on the way, that scared you. Eventually you sat up. "You want to leave... don't you..." He took a breath; when he turned back to you his eyes were guilty. "I don't know if I'm not through with the Keys... Or the Keys is not through with me..." You stood, and crossed to him; "You NEED to go back." You took him in your arms... "Danny. You will never be happy here. With me... with Nolan... with our baby... if you don't finish whatever it is that’s weighing on your mind." "...Y/N..." "I don't… WANT… you to leave. But I can't keep you here if you are going to be like this... I can't make you stay..." "John sent me back." His voice almost wavered as he left your eyes, tapping his fingers gently against your arm. "I don't CARE what your little brother did. Danny. I care about you..." You pulled back from him, "I want you back here more than anything... But I want you to want that too..." You walked back to pick up your clothes, and his, before turning back to him; "Get your things... I'll drive you back to the bus station." You smiled, "Maybe then I'll get my Danny back..."

You walked hand in hand towards the bus. Danny almost laughed that the dress you had chosen to wear today was the same one you had worn when you'd first walked into his restaurant a little over 3 years ago. He turned, studying you, looking at how truly beautiful you were in the Miami sunrise. Was he really about to leave you all over again? He said the first thing he could think of; "Thank you."

It was so unbelievably sincere that your breath caught in your throat. You pulled him to you by the collar of his shirt; "You listen to me, Danny Rayburn. You get back to the Keys. You do what you gotta do. And you COME BACK to me. We will make things work up here, but I don't want to hear another excuse for you leavin' ever coming out of your mouth. You hear me?" You pulled him into a kiss, deep, exquisite. Savouring the taste of him on your tongue. "You come back to me." It was his turn to pull you into a kiss, each more passionate than the last. He let you go, breathless. You were always good at that. Taking his breath away. Flawless, no matter what. And that initial around your neck. You had always been his, and Danny realised, you would always be his... You would wait for him forever, and yet he quickly comprehended he didn't want to wait that long.

"I promise you. Darlin'. A few more days, and this will all be over... I'll be back in Miami before you know it." He winked "You're the best thing that’s ever happened to me... And you are never gonna realise how much I love you..." You smiled; "Maybe so. But God, Danny Rayburn... If you loved me half as much as I love you, you never would have left. Which is why you gotta go back..." You took his hands in yours and pushed them to your stomach "We will be waiting for you to get off that bus again." "I know..." He kissed you once more, "Alright Baby Girl..." He addressed your non-existent bump "Devan-! I'll see you real soon..." He smiled this time as he stepped backward towards the bus; "Y/N! Don't you dare ever go changin' on me Darlin'!!" You laughed "I won't. Don't you either...!" That made him laugh; "Unfortunately for you... I think I'm gettin' a little too old to change!" He winked, turning to hand over his ticket he stepped onto the bus, then stopped and ran back, gathering you into his arms he gave you one last kiss. And for the first time in your life you knew what they meant by fireworks, a million sparks went off in your head as he tipped your body, making that kiss last as long as he could "Y/N... I love you!" You smiled, hugging him close "Go! Get that bus! Hurry back... Daniel Rayburn. I can't live without you...!" "I know..." He kissed your forehead, then jogged back to the bus, apologetically. You smiled, walking down the side of the bus to where he decided to take a seat. He settled down in the window and took a deep breath, looking across to you. You kissed the tips of your fingers, and stretched your hand to touch the glass. He smiled, kissing the tips of his own, and pressing them to match yours against it. "I love you..." you mouthed it, as the bus started its engine. He shook his head, laughing; "Love you more..." He winked as you stepped back. You waved him off as it started rolling away, and this time, he looked at least a little happy as he waved back to you. This time, he'd promised to come back. And you held Danny at his word. You smiled, continuing to watch the bus until it rolled out of sight. You brushed the single tear from your cheek. And laughed. What was a few more days now? Compared to what you had been through?

Next time you held Danny in your arms back here in Miami. He would be home. And it would be forever.

---

TELL ME. TELL ME IF YOU SAW THIS COMING OR YOU WERE SURPRISED!?! I NEED TO KNOW. NOW!!!!!

I mean if for any reason you look up the songs / lyrics before you read I suppose ‘It Takes A Man’ by Chris Young told you but...

@stcphstrange - Oh God... Tell me there’s more than 2 parts left...!! I’ma cry! 😭 @happyskywhale

The whole “Devan” thing is not something I can easily explain. I’m sorry if you don’t like it...

Danny’s emotions @ All points in this fic.

#Danny Rayburn #Ben Mendelsohn #danny rayburn x reader #Danny Rayburn x You #Bloodline #Sway #Linzi Writes #so many feelings #Welcome Chris Young to the lyrics I'm using list #Please add your name #I JUST WANT DANNY TO BE HAPPY BUT IVE ONLY GOT TWO PARTS AND NOW I'M IN SHOW TERRITORY #WHY AM I DOING THIS TO MYSELF!??!#26 #Liliana

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