#and Ocean's good for the octopus pattern

[rainbowstargazerlilies]

As a fellow fiber crafter (I crotchet), how do you make your 4 in minis? And are you free handing them or altering a preexisting pattern? They look lovely btw.

Well, I started with a pre-existing pattern, and I've altered and freehanded bits and pieces as I went.

The source of the pattern is actually a book of knit animal patterns! I got really, really into knitting tiny animals several years back, and ended up getting multiple installments in the series. The one I've been referencing most for this is "Mini Knitted Farmyard" by Sachiyo Ishii. It's got the base pattern for the person, which I've altered as I liked, as well as for boots, vest, hats, and more. I've been combining these and altering them to best suit the character in question.

Other stuff, though. . . the Octokittens, I combined a pattern off of Ravelry and one for mini octopuses from the same series (different book). The raccoon was also a pattern from that author (again from a different book). Raph's wings came from a fairy pattern in the series, and so on. Different stuff like that!

And then your first question: most of the dolls are entirely knit, with a bit of embroidery to bring them together. There's been a few that have crochet bits (like Jonny's belts, the design on Raph's wings, or Michael's fingers).

Hope that answers your question!

#hello hello to the ask box #stargazer's four inch friends #stargazer crafts #it's funny to me that they're all based on the farmer pattern #even if it's been altered #space pirates and farmers are very different things #but they're both human-looking enough for it to be fine #the animal patterns are great though #I have made so many little animals over the years #Usually I just use Safari and Woodland for those #farmyard has some cool ones too #and Ocean's good for the octopus pattern #Cosmos is mostly repetitive but has some nice space shuttle and planet patterns #and Toys goes less for realism but definitely has fun stuff #hello to anyone who made it this far through the tags #you get an imaginary cookie

[solomiracle]

when i think of them, i think of...

inspired by this post by @shoccolatine, check it out!

LUCIFER

his smile — whether seductive, sadistic or genuine

reds, blacks/greys/whites, golds

his study — the skull on the wall, fireplace, the red velvet chair | you reading by the fireplace, enjoying the quiet crackling sounds as he works

his demon form — the red gloves, the horns, the wings, the peacock feather details on his clothes, the diamond on his forehead

his fur lined coat, his gloves, his tie

his eyes, specifically the reds at the bottom

apples, poison, fangs, blood

ghosts, grief, loss | him petting a sleeping cerberus as he sits by lilith's statue. he's silent, not wishing to disturb her

how much he loves his family — how he's willing to be a villain to anyone he feels may harm them, from you to his own father

cosmic and body horror, upside-down crosses, eyes, destroyed psyches, crackling, warped reality, the sound of bones snapping

the skeleton in his room

records, wine, comfortable silence, quiet nights

MAMMON

him laughing as he and you drive in a getaway car

his laugh, his smile, his sunglasses, his jacket

that little pose he does where his hand kinda covers his lips, usually done when he's feeling confident

his silliness — the dumb excuses for doing (or not doing) something, his even dumber schemes, running/hiding from lucifer, his tsundere-ness, how he says "yikes!"

gift boxes, jewelery, gold, silver, money (coins and paper)

casinos, the word "jackpot", poker, slot machines, cards, dealers

the casino fight scene in black panther, specifically the part where claw's hand thing shoots the cabinet and the money flies everywhere

his wings

his familiars | him petting and praising them for doing a good job, like catching stray grimm or reporting important info

him punishing people who don't pay back their debts — they find themselves in an empty street, fog rising and crows soon surrounding them

how much he respects lucifer, how he followed him into hell without question

how despite all the fighting and dumb stuff that he does with his family, he still values his role as a big brother

LEVIATHAN

this card (the pre-devil's flower)

him at his pc, laser-focused in on a game. he's glaring at the screen, fangs bared, determined to win

his room — the bathtub, the jellyfish, the aquarium, the figures, henry 2.0 in his little fish bowl

headphones, game controllers and consoles, screens, neon colors (greens, blues, purples), keyboards

anime, magical girls, figures, sparkles

his loud ass OOOOHHHHHHHHHWWOOOOOOOOAHHHHH voice line

his tsundere-ness and shyness, how he gets flustered so easily, how cute he is when he blushes, your love and affection for him being "too high level"

how he seems to have a soft spot for the twins

his demon form — the tail, the diamond pattern along his neck, his weird zipper jacket thing, his horns | (a fic i read where the author described his horns as antlers, and they headcanon-ed that they shed every season)

fish, colorful coral reefs, bright blue seas, bubbles, beaches, snakes

deep dark oceans, octopus/giant squids, sea monsters, ships, the navy, admiral uniforms, lotan

SATAN

orange cats, piano music, books, libraries, coffeeshops, soft greens and browns

him sitting in a greenhouse. sunlight filters through the glass walls and plethora of green plants. he's smiling as he reads a book, an orange cat sleeping in his lap

his professionalism — he has many connections, and he prides himself on his intelligence. "people respect someone who's well-informed."

how he's a gentleman, almost like a fairy tale prince

love and lovesickness | him writing love letters and poetry for you, a giant smile on his face as he comes up with the most beautiful words to describe you

him becoming incapable of reading love stories when you're away, for all he can think about is you while reading them. his fingers delicately trace the spines of his many romance books, but he refuses to open them. just the thought of doing so is too much to bear

his room — the beauitful shade of purple, the window, the books, the candles

fire, chaos, destruction, broken buildings and bones, screaming, rage, fangs

his eyes, a beautiful green

his demon form — the feather boa, the horns, the ribbon ribcage design on his shirt

the things that make him stand out compared to his brothers, compared to everyone — his symbolic animal is a unicorn (the only fantasy animal), his black eye shine, his butler outfit is the only one with three patches on the sleeves

his pose — one hand on his hip and the other on his chest, just like lucifer...

ASMODEUS

pinks, yellows, oranges, and more pinks

his cute smile and giggle

his demon form — the bat wings, the gradient horns, the bleeding hearts on his arm, the asymmetrical legs | (the redesigns i've seen from people where they include a scorpion tail)

scorpions, sand, heat, blood, bloodlust, hearts, gore, passion, obsession, love

diaries, glitter gel, sparkles, cute nicknames

spotlights, music, singing, stages, partying, drinking, clubs, sex

bunnies, strawberries, fluffy and fuzzy textures, fangs

his eyes | (the fics i've read where the author describes their color as champagne)

him lying in bed on his stomach, fresh out of the shower in a cute robe, slippers, and headband. he's writing in his diary, kicking his legs, smiling as he thinks about you

lipstick, blush, makeup, nail polish, influencers, devilgram, livestreams

(red) hearts, both the symbol and the organ

his positive energy — his ability to light up a room, how he wants everyone to join in and have fun, asmo nights, how he sees the beauty in everyone

how much he cares for his family — he painted their nails so everyone would know them as brothers, how he's determined to make sure satan feels included

his insecurities — he ties himself to his image and appearance, to the point that when you were the first to compliment his personality alone and not just his looks, he was surprised

how he acts like a helpless damsel in distress while also being the most viscous character

that scene in season one, where he said that if you were thinking about belphie while with him, he would rip your heart out | (it made my heart beat faster, but not out of fear)

BEELZEBUB

reds, oranges, yellows

the sun, bright blue cloudless skies

him being the cause of plagues and famines. a scene of him summoning swarms of locusts to gorge on crop fields, leaving nothing left, still unsatisfied

wheat and corn fields, apple orchards

his wings | (i saw someone describe them as fairy wings)

dense, mossy, and enchanted forests. twisting trees and twinkling fairies, mushrooms and flowers growing everywhere

bugs — bees, butterflies, flies, grasshoppers, beetles, locusts

bears, squirrels, lions, grass, honey, fluffiness, cuddling

his smile, how adorable his blush is

calling him beautiful or sweet, watching him blush in embarrassment. a big, ravenous demon turning into mush after being complimented by a human

how he loves his family more than anything — his extreme survivor's guilt over lilith, how he said he would die for lucifer, how he became enraged and even attacked lucifer once the truth about belphie's whereabouts were revealed

even with how he's a big brother to belphie, they're still twins, making him the youngest of the brothers as well — he has his own bratty behaviors, throwing tantrums, being a karen at restaurants, stealing food from levi every morning. he's the biggest brother, but he's still another baby of the family

his hair

his jacket and shirt | (they both look very comfy, and i would love to wear them)

hunger — hell's kitchen, banquets, expensive meat, clusters of grapes, plates, forks and knives

fangs, tongues, gore, cannibalism

BELPHEGOR

dark purples and blues, blacks, white accents

space — starry night skies, the moon, constellations

sleep, teddy bears, pillows, blankets, dreams, illusions, ghosts, nightmares, fear

the cow jumped over the moon nursery rhyme

cow print — it's on his pillow, his demon form's jacket, and his swimwear jacket too

his horns, which are similar to that of a dorset horn sheep

him looking down at sheep mc's bell in his hands, a solemn look in his eye. maybe mc's in the human world, or maybe it's been years after their death

regret and grief — not being able to save lilith, his love for humans turning to hatred, his fight with lucifer, the attic, lesson 16

how he and lucifer were said to be close before the attic...

beel, lilith, and love — he doesn't blame beel for saving him, and called beel an idiot for believing otherwise. he learned about the circus in the human world, and pretended to be a ringmaster while trapped in the attic. he let lucifer get rid of lilith's room, and said goodbye to her

his sarcastic and bratty little shit-ness — his "innocent" bitchass smile, his giggle, how he embodies the youngest sibling and baby of the family, the anti-lucifer league

a fanart i saw of him in his TSL outfit, the description being "the princess is locked in the tower for a reason..."

#from me #obey me #brothers #rambles #ensemble x mc

[angry-trashcan]

Fireside Confessions

Part five to Hair Holds Memories

Warnings: Mentions of past abuse and underage drinking, angsty. Let me know if I missed anything.

2K WC

(First)

The camp was dark and warm as you settled in between Time and Four. Everyone was still awake as Wild had assured them that he would make dessert that night. Four’s hand rested on your knee as you leaned against him, listening to the rest of the group banter.

“I’m serious! The thing was three times bigger than the ship!” Wind shouted, standing on top of the log and throwing his arms wide to really exaggerate how big the octopus was.

“I once fought one even bigger than that!” Sky started, leaning forward from his seat, a smile playing at his face.

“You don’t even have an ocean in your time, dimwhit.” Wind shot back.

“Ah, but I do.” Sky started to explain his story in a bit too much detail as everyone laughed along. After a while Wild passed out plates of a peach cobbler.

“Wild, you outdid yourself this is really good. I will never get how you bake in a pot on a fire.” You commented, a mouth full of cobbler.

“Well, my dear, it’s taken years of hard work and dedication to the craft. Trial and error-“ He continued on, everyone rolling their eyes as you just laughed. You ate your plate quickly before putting it on the ground in front of you, doing the same with Four’s once he finished. You took the opportunity of his free hands to lay on the log, resting your head in his lap and putting your legs on top of Time’s lap without asking. This got a light chuckle out of the taller hero as he settled a hand onto your calf.

“Yeah?! Well I once fought a two headed dragon!” Wind shouted at the group, continuing their argument from before.

“So have I! Big deal.” Legend brushed him off, making a shooing motion with his hand.

“What have you not done?” Wind huffed, his frustration rising.

“I’ve fought a three headed dragon.” Hyrule pipped up, smiling.

“Oh for fucks sake-“

“Language.” Time cut the sailor off.

“Time with all due respect I am a fuckin’ pirate. I don’t know how to not talk like that at this point!”

“Yeah, because of that damn flask in your pouch.” Twilight mumbled, causing Warriors to hit his shoulder. He put his hands up in defeat.

“What did you just say to me?” Wind took a step in his direction.

“Boys.” Time’s voice carried through the camp.

You sat up from both of the men’s laps. Deciding to simply sit with your hands in your lap, running your fingers over the new mark on your hand. Silence fell over the group, Wild ran a hand through his hair and let out a small whistle, looking at the ground. After a few moments, a wave of courage came over you.

“May I say something?” Nine sets of eyes fell onto you, a hand coming back to its place on your knee.

“Of course, you don’t have to ask for permission.” Four invited you.

“I know there are things we all simply avoid talking about,” You started, your fingers now tracing the pattern on your hand, causing Hyrule to sit up a bit straighter. “Such as... that. But maybe there are some things we should talk about. Things that would help us all.”

The silence that followed your words lasted for longer than you hoped.

“I’m not saying you have to share anything-“

“I cannot stand Twilight’s pumpkin soup.” Sky spoke, cutting you off. “Whatever you are trying to pass off as soup is simply disgusting.”

Everyone’s eyes were on the rancher in a beat, “Funny, because I think the same for that orange goop you carry around in bottles. Nothin’ beats Uli’s pumpkin soup.”

“None of you know how to shut up sometimes.” Legend stated, crossing his arms and leaning back against his log. A few nods accepted what he said.

“I hate that the lot of you don’t see past my position.” Warriors spoke, eyes to the fire. Your breath caught in your throat.

“I wouldn’t say that, Cap-“ Wild began before cutting himself off, looking at the fire as well.

“I understand why you do it, truly. Being the captain of the royal guard is a demanding job, and at home I actually appreciate the respect. But with my brothers? With Y/N? It drags me down in ways I cannot explain.”

Twilight patted Warriors’ back. “We’ll try comin’ up with a new nickname for ya. How ‘bout that?”

Warriors laughed lightly, “It’s not about the nickname, it’s about how I’m treated. But, thank you all for listening.” Twilight squeezed his shoulder one last time before letting his hand fall.

“I don’t like that you all treat me like a kid.” Wind spoke, voice loud.

“Wind, we’ve talked about this before-“ Four began.

“And you have never actually heard what I had to say!” He shot back. Four looked away from him. “I killed Ganon when I was twelve years old. Younger than most of you. Do you know how I killed him?" The trees began to lose leaves as the wind picked up around the camp. "I shoved the fucking master sword right between the bastard’s eyes.” Wind’s gaze fell on Time. “I am a capable warrior. I assembled the triforce piece by piece to prove to the goddesses that I could wield it, that I was enough. Yet here I am, having to prove the same to all of you. So, excuse me if I need a fuckin’ drink sometimes.” The wind calmed down as Wind breathed heavily.

Silence again.

Legend huffed, reaching into his bag next to him. He dug around for a few minutes before pulling out a flask of his own.

“Legend-“ Warriors began

“He can hold his liquor better than the rest of us. Let him have a damn drink. What’s it gonna hurt? Boy’s obviously upset.” He opened it and took a swig of it himself before passing it over to Wind. Wind took it before anyone else could object, not daring to look up at Time’s face. “Keep it. I don’t really drink. It’s not rum like you’re probably used to, but it’s some whiskey from the castle. Good stuff.”

Wind took a sniff before closing it and putting it in his bag, “Thank you.” Legend shrugged him off.

“We all got shit wrong in our heads. I was twelve when I started, didn’t kill Ganon that young though. I couldn’t imagine.” Legend’s attempt at reassurance only caused more people to grow upset.

“That doesn’t mean you encourage the bad habit.” Sky stated.

“It’s not encouraging, he’s going to find a way to do it anyway. Might as well know he’s doing it in a safe manner.” Hyrule spoke up, leaning forward unto his knees.

“What do you have to say about this, Old Man?”

Wind’s eyes finally met Time’s as the older man spoke. “I have nothing to say on the matter. I think you need to stay a child as long as possible, unfortunately that choice was taken from you. You are a chosen hero, through and through.”

“Thank you, Time.” Wind nearly whispered, finally settling onto the ground next to Legend.

“I miss Zelda.” Sky mumbled.

“Oh, here we go.” Wild threw his head back, letting out a groan of frustration.

You giggled a bit. You hadn’t had the pleasure of meeting Sun yet, but had heard all about her from not only Sky, but everyone else. She seemed absolutely lovely. Through her and Sky’s letters he had told her of you and she thought that the ‘situationship’ was a good thing. She approved of it wholeheartedly.

“She will still be there when you get back, lover boy.” Legend rolled his eyes, letting his gaze fall onto you.

“Oh, like you’re any better, making googily eyes over there right now!” Warriors called out.

“I am not! Shut the hell up before I freeze your flat ass to the log!” Legend barked back, causing everyone, including yourself to laugh out at. Four’s hand moved from your thigh to your hand, pulling it into his own lap and rubbing his thumb over the back side of it. You felt him pause for a second before continuing, following the mark along. He looked down but in the dim light of the fire couldn’t quite make out what he was looking at. You acted like you didn’t notice.

“Young love.” Time laughed out, shaking his head.

“You’re just the same, Old Man!” Wild shot at him.

“Ah, but I don’t make it everyone else’s problem.” A few murmurs were heard before gazes fell onto you, your hand still in Four’s lap.

You looked from your hand up at the sets of eyes, “…Yes?” You asked awkwardly.

Wind rolled his eyes, “They think you’re pretty and are being fucking weird about it.”

“This is one of those times you shut the fuck up, kid.” Legend hissed.

The moon rose higher in the sky as the group spoke of their issues with one another and in general. The discussion began dying down when Four spoke.

“You haven’t said anything that’s been on your mind, sweetheart.”

You shook your head, looking at the dying embers of the fire. “I don’t have much on it. That’s why.”

Legend coughed, your eyes shot to him. “Now’s a good time, princess.”

All eyes fell on you. You bit the inside of your cheek. Damn him. “Well, I didn’t want to talk about it quite yet. But it seems like now I have to.” You closed your eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “I don’t even know where to start.” You laughed a bit.

“The beginning is usually a good place.” Four hummed, his hand tightening on yours.

Another sigh left your lips.

“I always wanted to run away. Ever since I was a kid. I always dreamt of just disappearing from my world and starting over. So, imagine my surprise when a portal showed up with you all in it, claiming to be from different times.” You took a moment to look around the group to see if they were all listening, you hoped they weren’t. “When you all showed up, I was… engaged to someone.” A few hisses came from the group. “This man was… not the best. Though at the time I thought he was. I gave him all that I had and more. He did some, some pretty terrible things to me.” You looked down at the ground, unwilling to meet anyone’s eyes. You felt Four’s nails dig slightly into your palm.

“What did he do to you?” Twilight’s voice was heavy.

You swallowed. “He hurt me. Mentally and… physically. Multiple times.” A collective hiss came out.

“Y/N, I swear to ya if we ever end up back in your era I’m gonna-“ Twilight’s teeth were visible even through the dim light.

“Please let me finish.” Your voice was light in the slight chaos that was beginning, though it was enough to settle everyone.

“When you lot showed up and I met you all, I had actually been planning to leave him anyway. And I did shortly after. When I told him I was done, he hit me, right across the face.”

“You had a black eye, you said you fell off your porch.” Wild mumbled, hands clenching into fists.

“Yeah, I didn’t know you all well then yet. But it’s been nearly a year now. I’m sure we are going to end up back in my era soon enough. And I’m horrified.” You finished, eyes still on the ground at your feet.

“Y/N, we will do whatever you want. Just say the word and we will take care of it.” Warriors’ chest rose and fell hard. “We will not let anyone hurt you.”

“I know. But I don’t want anyone hurt either.” You finally got out.

“That bastard deserves it.” Legend spat.

“My town is big enough we probably won’t even run into him.” You whispered, “If it comes to it, we can just go the other way. I don’t want anything started. The man’s a coward, he won’t do anything with a bunch of heavily armed men around.”

Four looked over at your lap, “Is there anything else we should know?”

You shook your head, “No, that’s it, I think. My grandmother has a thing against fairies and fae but that will only affect one of you and it’s already been discussed.”

He nodded, letting go of your hand. “I’m going for a walk. I’ll be back later.” Time gave him a knowing look as he went into the woods.

“I’m sorry I haven’t told all of you this earlier.” You mumbled, eyes finally looking up at the rest of the chain.

There were many different looks on their faces, from anger to pure hate. Wind spoke up.

“You know, Y/N. You’re a free spirit, much like everyone else here. You can’t be held down and forced to do what someone else wants out of you. You are your own person.” He leaned back against the log, reaching into his pouch before he finished, “A ship can never really love an anchor.”

(NEXT)

I’ve been wanting Wind to say that line for like a month now and now he SAID IT. I’ve been listening to way too much The Crane Wives.

 I want to thank each and every one of you for reading along with this so far. Just this past week with writing this has been incredible and the feedback I have gotten from all of you makes my heart jump. Every time I see someone has liked, reblogged or commented I get a huge smile. Please comment if you would like because there is nothing I love more than reading your comments and tags! Let me know if you would like to be tagged in any future updates! I want to smooch each and every one of you.

#LU #linked universe #lu legend #lu twilight #lu legend x reader #lu twilight x reader #lu four #lu four x reader #lu hyrule #lu hyrule x reader #lu time #lu time x reader #lu sky x reader #lu sky #lu warriors #lu warriors x reader #lu wind #lu wild #lu wild x reader #lu headcanons #linked universe headcanons #poly!chain #chain x reader #also known as take me out like an old racehorse

[shabbytigers]

foods with aggressively interesting texture that i dearly love to eat, and why escargot doesn’t make the cut

I. seafood

skate in brown butter

fish eggs! caviar tho if it’s affordable it tends to be too salty, better: shad roe like you get in stockholm in september; ikura (also tobiko etc but not as much as ikura my beloved)

grilled squid, grilled octopus, grilled cuttlefish. not overcooked. like they do it in portugal

raw squid/ika

this japanese place in nyc that unfortunately closed a while back used to do a ceviche type thing with bits of raw octopus in wasabi sauce? hhh

tiritas which is a ceviche where you cut up freshly caught tuna (and/or shrimp, etc) mix with lime juice sliced red onions chopped fresh jalapeño let sit for half an hour devour. this was in guerreros, halfway round the world from here, and i would go back for it

raw sweet shrimp/amaebi

oysters

raw fish in general: most of the sashimi you see in decent nyc places (default baseline selection not nearly as extensive in germany, although they do go in widely for scallops. creditable line on one fish market and one expensive restaurant yet to try)

II. not seafood but texturally adjacent to the above

lychees, fresh or tinned

tapioca pudding

steak tartare

carpaccio

that italian thin steak deal that’s raw on one side; very rare steak generally

—

escargot did not click, i think, because i wanted it to be seafood, and it wasn’t. it was missing an oceanic quality i irrationally wanted it to have. it’s also notable that most of the things on this list are raw, and that i decidedly prefer the raw items to the nonraw ones

—

i do also have textural Aversions, mostly soggy-sweet things in the cold savory food sector. marinated red peppers. floppy flaccid limp salad greens. condiments and dressings based on mayo of dubious provenance—ranch, british cocktail sauce, russian salads, a nasty orange condiment germany uses to make jackson pollock patterns on random plates of food or ruin a perfectly good burger. all of this stuff makes everything wet and drippy and soggy and i hate it. (it’s also usually sickly sweet. but even where sweet isn’t a problem, soggy is still bad! i don’t want a scoop of ice cream on top of my hot baked dessert, bc it will melt in two minutes, and then where will we be? nowhere good, that’s where. asking for the ice cream on the side is too fussy. don’t even mention custard to me)

#food texture

[have-some-facts]

The biology teacher talked about camouflage and mimicry in animals yesterday.

I’m interested.

There are different types of camouflage. Mimicry is one of them. This is when an animal looks like another animals or something gross. Mimicry sometimes also is when an animal sounds like something else. For example, there is a moth that mimics the sound of a tiger moth because those are not really tasty.

You also have examples of moths that look like a broken twig, a caterpillar pretending to be a venomous snake and a butterfly looking like a leaf. Maybe you see a pattern here. It’s a lot of butterflies and moths. Other insects do it too! For example hover flies and stick bugs mantises. And we all know those smaller wasps, right? Well, those are the, completely harmless, hover flies! They use this to not get attacked by humans.

Octopi also use camouflage! (Only one species though, this species is called the mimicry octopus)When they swim over the ocean ground they let their tentacles free after them too look like some kind of flat fish. When they’re swimming normally/up the octopi also let their tentacles go free. They do this to look like a lion fish. When the octopi are resting or sleeping they bury themself under the sand. The octopi let their two of their tentacles go free to make it seem like a very venomous snake.

The hawk-moth caterpillars also ‘use’ batesian mimicry. They have adapted themselves to look like highly venomous snakes. They do this because well, they’re caterpillars- they’re quite big too.

The mimicry of octopi and other creatures looking like dangerous animals is called batesian mimicry.

There is also acoustic mimicry. This is when animals sound like another animal. I’ve talked about one moth sounding like another (tiger) moth, right? Well, other animals do this too.

Several species of spiders mimic ants. Though this is not as handy as you might think. They have a smaller waist and therefor can carry less egg sacs. They don’t reproduce as much as other spiders do.

Then we have Emsleyan mimicry. This is when a dangerous animal mimics a less or non dangerous animal. I actually cannot find or understand the explanation to this. So I apologise for that.

Now we’re going to my favourite type of mimicry. Aggressive mimicry. This is the wolf’s in sheep’s clothing approach where an animal looks like prey or has a limb that looks like prey.

Two of my favourite examples here are the alligator snapping turtle and the spider-tailed horned viper.

The alligator snapping turtle will hang out underwater and open it’s mouth. Snapping turtles have a tongue that they can move to represent a worm. The snapping turtles will just wait, unmovingly, for an animal to be stupid enough to try and eat the ‘worm’ in the mouth of the snapping turtle.

No thank you.

Now, onto the spider-tail horned viper. This snack or viper has a weird looking tail. The snake itself will hide/camouflage with some rocks and move its tail to mimic a moving spider. The first time I saw a video I was convinced it was a spider, till I saw something fly to it to try and eat the spider and I saw a snake jump out of there to grab it.

Unbelievable, right?

I already talked about how mantises can look like ants, right? (If not, they can)

There are mantises that look like flowers. Let’s take the orchid mantis as example for this. They use this as hunting camouflage. They climb up an orchid and sit next to the flower to then wait for a prey to come. It’s really cool and they are also very beautiful.

They of course are also different mantises. Some look like leafs and also dead leafs.

And that is all for now! Have a good day!

#animal facts #fun facts #fun facts with idi #mantises #camouflage #agressive camouflage #animal camouflage #snakes #turtles #spiders

[dainty-fingertips]

Hello! Sorry for using your private messages the first time, but I was wonder what would the sinister six do at the beach with the reader.

of course!! i love the beach trip trope hehe >> i don't know if this is what you wanted or not, but i'm gonna write this in the tssm! ss x engineer! reader series ive been doing :DD

||

tssm! sinister six x engineer! reader at the beach

Oh my lord,,,,,,,,

not sure how you managed to find the time to convince the boys to go to the beach with you, but it happened

they were,, uh,,, surprisingly cooperative?

Rhino/Alex O'Hirn was a bit iffy on the whole beach idea and reasonably so

i mean, homeboy has massive metal plating over everywhere but his face

howeveRRR,,,,,, puppy eyes are his weakness, and ya know,,,

He does wear swim trunks and they have the most obnoxious pattern on them and he is adorable the entire time

finds little creatures for you both to admire

"Ay, ay Yn!! Check dis out!! [is holding a sea urchin]"

"How did you get that, Alex??"

":DDD"

Flint Marko/Sandman, on the other hand, was really excited!! this was his big chance to impress you with his super sick sand tricks

impress you he did (even though it was nothing new, you were very supportive of him)

He is very grinny around you already and hearing you gush about how sick his powers were at the beach made him an absolute MESS

again, we see how a little kindness can work wonders on an attractive man in his 30s that has been touch starved since high school

"So, er, do ya wanna see me,, do it again?"

"Yes!! I had no idea you could do that!! I wish I could have powers like yours, Flint."

"<:,)) tank you, sweethaht,,,"

Montana/Shocker absolutely found the skimpiest pair of swim trunks he could but he never touches the ocean

He spends his time at the over-exaggerated tiki-themed bar on the shoreline offering to buy you all the margs your heart could desire

The entire day he complimented your swimsuit and how pretty you looked in it

he was sobbing inside behind a mask of smirking confidence

please kiss him

now

"Happy 'our starts in'bout 30 minutes. Wanna wait around wi'me, doll?"

"Sure thing. My legs are a bit tired, so it'll do me some good to sit with you :))"

",,,,,,,,,,, wantmetokissthemandmakethemfeelbetter"

"what"

Adrian Toomes/Vulture wasn't fond of the ocean, either

He and Otto spent their time at the beach under a large umbrella talking about science and crime and other assorted questionable topics for the beach

look bro

the moment he saw you he had to get up and walk away for a second

give him a breather alright

as your employer he order you stop looking so beautiful RIGHT NOW

seriously you're making his blood sugar rise just from how sweetly you're smiling you gotta stop this

He brings a book or two but can't read them for your company with him

"I must say, you look stunning in that swimsuit, Yn."

"Aw, stop. You'll make me blush!"

"Maybe I'd like to see that."

Otto Octavius/Doctor Octopus was equally as infatuated with your newfound beach attire, but masked it politely (unlike Montana, who could learn a thing or two)

He invites you to sit with him and admire the ocean from slightly afar beneath the umbrella

definitely checks up every so often on your sunscreen. homie does NOT want you getting sunburnt

should you get sunburnt,,,,,, well, i'll save that as a little sickfic idea for another time

he is absolutely enamored with you the entire time

"Can I offer you a towel to dry off with, dear?"

"I was going to get back in a little later, I just wanted to come sit with you for a little bit, Doc. :)"

"Ah... your company is more than welcome. Tell me, how has your day been so far?"

Max Dillon/Electro was busy building sand castles a little farther up from the water.

you felt just awful that he had to wear his suit to the beach the way he did, but you understood the danger otherwise

to make up for it, you spent a lot of time with him!!

long conversations about this, that, and the other lead to the single most architecturally impressive sandcastle the world has ever seen

(flint helped secretly)

he was all grins with you helping him out which is a rare feat from someone as hurt as he was

you couldn't believe how good he was at building these, you eneded up building like,,,,, three more

"but then, i turned the corner and realized i'd made it out of the maze somehow, and i was just wandering around this guy's - oh, this is nearly as big as you, Yn!!"

"Finish your story!! Were you just in his house??"

"O-Oh! Well, effectively, yes! I had no idea how it happened!"

overall an absolute whale of a time

absolutely smitten

every one of them

#doctor octopus x reader #doc ock x reader #doc ock #electro x reader #max dillon #max dillon x reader #tssm doctor octopus #otto octavius x reader #x reader #marvel x reader #the spectacular spider man #adrian toomes x reader #the vulture x reader #the sandman x reader #flint marko x reader #the sandman #the vulture #the rhino x reader #the rhino #alex o'hirn #tssm montana x reader #shocker x reader #tssm engineer reader

[vivisols]

like with everything related to mers, courtship traditions vary from pod to pod! different pods have slightly different variations on their traditions and preferred gifts.

as mentioned in prior chapters, shells are a superrrr common gift for mates, although they can also be gifts for friends. it'd be pretty hard to find a pod that didn't have the exchanging of shells as a tradition in some way, especially as a courtship tradition! mers choose shells based on size, texture, color, and shape! small, smooth shells are considered most romantic, as they can easily be used as a scale polisher or made into jewelry. they also just make a nice decoration in general. intact venus comb shells are also considered romantic because of their rarity!

plants (of the uprooted and easily replantable variety) are also a common gift! it's not unheard of for a mer to find a plant pretty and for their mate to come back with it the next day for them to plant in or nearby their den. picked flowers or leaves on their own are considered gifts for your "first crush as a pup", as most mers grow out of picking apart plants for no reason and see it as a bit reckless and disrespectful to both the ocean and the gods. pups, however, don't really care for that. they just grab what they think looks pretty!

some pods have dances for courtship, some do not! a typical courtship dance involves very little use of the arms and a lot of use of the tail unless it's a partner dance. it involves a lot of circling and spiraling and a whole bunch of fin waving! so think of it as like… a waltz! somewhat! bioluminescent mers also incorporate flashes of their bioluminescence. really, it's all about controlled swimming and pretty looking patterns! partner dances involve a lot of twirling and circling, too!

pearls are a very, very special item in mer culture. they're often made into jewelry such as necklaces or bracelets and, because of their rarity, are considered extremely romantic. they're highly sought after! if a mer gets another mer a pearl then theyre basically saying "hey. i love you so much i would die for you". however, its like getting someone an extremely expensive piece of jewelry. it's good if both parties love each other a lot, but at the same time a bit risky to give just anyone. one mer might end up with no pearl, no mate, and a broken heart….

songs and melodies are considered the MOST romantic form of courtship. coming up with a song with or for your mate is considered incredibly romantic. each courtship song is completely unique to those mers! they can either have lyrics or not, with many opting for the latter in order to make it easier to remember. then again, they could also opt for an ever changing, always unique song with a similar melody each time, showing their ever changing and adapting love for each other!

sharing food is common as well! one mer might go out to hunt and bring back another a particularly hard to catch piece of food, such as an octopus or crab. mers prefer larger catches that can be easily shared as opposed to smaller ones that they would eat separately. mer courtship is also based a lot on physical touch, too. holding hands, curling their tail around each other, traditional kissing, and snout nuzzling are very common to see in mates! mers love physical contact! verbally flirting is a bit on the rarer side, but flirting by getting gifts or food to share is incredibly common.

in order to court each other, mers would get each other more gifts and engage in a lot more physical contact. bringing back food to share is especially common! all in all, it depends on the pod and the mer. one mer might really like shells as a gift, and another might prefer to watch a dance. and when two mers are absolutely sure they want to become mates, they will get each other a shell that the other would like and verbally tell each other of their wishes! and after that, well, they're mates! mers mate for life! :Dc

#vivispeaks #claw at the stars au #claw at the stars mer lore #wow that's a lotta words huh...

[undertale-writing-times]

Id like to request your mer skeles with a shy mer S/O. How theyd be.

S/O likes to hide n shadows, and sand, and seaweed. Uses the element of surprise to hunt but is very good at it. Patient enough to pull it off and smart enough to know the patterns of where the prey will be. Doesnt talk much. Is good at healing others when needed.

Is a snugglebug too.

Sure! Thanks for the ask :)

Mimic: He likes you a lot! He finds your shyness cute, and sometimes likes to mess with you. He likes to make his tentacles look like snakes or other creatures, mimic octopus and all, and trick you into thinking they're different things. He finds your reactions really cute. He'll talk enough for the both of them, and he doesn't mind that you don't talk much. He does like the fact that you're a merfolk and a cuddly one at that. It makes him feel pretty good.

Ringer: He likes the fact that you're quiet, since he is as well. He's not exactly a slow or careful hunter, but he likes to see what you do. He has his... stuff that comes with being a blue ringed octopus, so seeing you hunt is always kind of exciting? Interesting, more or less. The cuddly part is something that he would have to get used to because he normally doesn't like to be touched. Just don't sneak up on him, and everything will work out fine.

Chum: Well... sometimes Chum forgets where you are, and it'll go and try to search for you. It can be fun, or it can be worrying to it since it likes knowing where you are. Yeah, it's pretty much the biggest thing in the ocean, but that just means it's easy to lose its tiny datemate. You. It likes how cuddly you are and will sometimes let you fall asleep in its skull or its ribs, so then you wouldn't get lost! You'd also be in a really safe space. Nobody could hope to attack you while it's there.

Light: Unlike you, he is not a hunter in that sort of way. He eats mostly plants or jellyfish, maybe some sea urchins. But he likes seeing you hunt, he finds it really interesting and exciting to see! Sometimes you two work together to help you catch stuff since he's so... well... soft and sort of weak looking? He's not! He could fight if he wanted. He's one of the most dangerous creatures in the ocean. Just like his brother.

Deep: Well, that's exactly how they hunt too. Have you ever been in pure darkness and then a light appears? That happens to whatever they're hunting, and they don't ever have enough time to get away. It's pretty scary, really. You two can hunt together! How fun. They don't mind you being cuddly, but they aren't really the most cuddly merfolk...

Inker: He likes that you're quiet, but he doesn't like the fact that you're so cuddly. He doesn't really... like to be touched and will often swim away before you could. Plus, it's dangerous! He doesn't want to accidentally hurt you or shoot ink on accident. So if you ever want to cuddle with them, you have to ask first, or they'll probably get startled. That's not something either of you want.

Angel: She loves you for being cuddly! She'll swim around you a lot, though she isn't very fast with her 'wings'. Sometimes, while you're trying to hunt, she, uh, would accidentally scare your prey away. She isn't the smartest, so it might be best to hunt while you're not with her or around her.

#undertale alternate timeline #undertale ask blog #undertale alternate universe #undertale imagines #undertale au #undertale headcanons #Merkiller #Merkiller Sans #Mimic #Merdust #Merdust Sans #Ringer #Horrormer #Horrormer Sans #Chum #Dreammer #Dreammer Dream #Dreammer Nightmare #Light #Deep #Errormer #Errormer Sans #Inker #Inkmer #Inkmer Sans #Angel

[doyouknowhowtowaltz]

Any way you could be persuaded to elaborate on the Ponyo AU? 👁👁👁

I can be persuaded to elaborate on everything always.

The Beast is a lighthouse keeper.

He affords himself two pleasures in life: Coffee so bitter he can barely stand it, and long walks on the beach, with a metal detector, and a casset player. He spends most of his time that's not spent in the light house walking along the shoreline gathering the trinkets that wash up on the shoreline every night and pawning them in town. It's suspicious really, the amount of antique coins and pocketwatches washing up, and not even deeply buried, kind of like someone just pushed some sand on top of them. He's found three corpses washed up on the beach doing this. And recently, a very nice ring he hasn't brought himself to sell yet.

He also fucking hates the ocean.

One day during his morning stroll he finds an antique railroad lantern, and something seems to be stuck inside. Never one to be accused of being a good samaritan, Herod grumbles the whole time he forces open the lantern face, slicing open his hand in the process, and reaches in to coax out a silmy mass of... something.

And suddenly he has the strangest octopus he's ever seen in his hands, with big eyes and a false mouth pattern that looks disarmingly like a grin, that he only registers is false when he realizes the octopus is licking the blood off his hand.

Herod tries to drop the octopus, but this is about as effective as you'd expect, but aside from clinging for its life to his fingers the creature seems pretty passive so he ends up bringing it to the lighthouse. One thing leads to another and eventually the octopus that used to fit in his coffee mug is taking up most of the space in his bathtub and being WAY too enamored with Herod's hands, particularly when he's wearing rings.

Herod also talks to himself (and arguably the octopus) the entire time. “I’m not getting rid of the octopus, but I’m certianly not going to live in the ocean, but the rumors about your grandmother… we’re utterly false, she came from Germany, not a group of seals, we could just get rid of the octopus, obviously no we cannot. He’s much too… endearing. And yet” meanwhile Enoch listens in with his chin propped up on a tentacle.

And then one day, he comes back and finds a man in his bathtub with the octopus, and upon closer inspection the man is the octopus... from the waist down. The man also insists they're married and that Herod should come back to the ocean with him.

Herod, 20 years a light house keeper was expecting this to happen.

Madness is very common among lighthouse keepers.

Slowly the octopus-man becomes more and more man than octopus, wheedling Herod to come back home with hime, while Herod copes with madness the way any sane person would, by continuing as best he can. Gradually Herod begins to insist that if the man's so fixed on staying with Herod he should stay on land. This goes on for months and Herod is becoming more and more ameanable to the concept of a husband day by day, less to his allusions of "returning to the sea."

And then, after about four lovely months, the town starts to flood.

The ocean wants its own back.

And Enoch isn't going without Herod.

Its an AU with shades of "Accidental marriage" and also a lot of this:

“So, what made you choose Enoch.”

“At the time he was an octopus.”

“Oh!"

“I wasn��t exactly aware I was making a life long commitment”

[ukfrislandembassy]

Wondering if there's a minor areal phenomenon of word-initial lenition/deletion in Oceania. It's found (as part of a more general pattern of lenition) in Oceanic, e.g. Motu au, hanua, utu (< POC *kayu 'tree', *panua 'home', *kutu 'louse'); Mussau atu, itu, uita (<*patu 'stone', *pitu 'seven', *kuRita 'octopus'); Arosi aro, haʔu, ʔasuhe~kasuhe (< *talos 'taro', *pakuŋ 'pandanus', *kasupe 'rat'). It's all over the place in Australia: In Pama-Nyungan we have at least Arandic, much of Paman, Adnyamathanha and a few others, while among the non-PN groups we find this in Wubuy & Enindhilyakwa (through their common ancestor). And now I've stumbled across at least one instance of such a shift in new Guinea, in a couple of Sogeram languages (Manat & Apalɨ) as well as a couple of other less radical but similar changes in other languages of the family (see here).

In some of these cases too part of what's going on is effectively a reoganisation of a lenis-fortis/short-long contrast in terms of quality. This is true for much of Oceanic (indeed teasing out the fortis vs. lenis contrast in Proto-Oceanic is one of the outstanding problems of the field), and is what happened in Wubuy & Enindhilyakwa too. Meanwhile, the Pama-Nyungan cases do actually seem to be true word-initial lenition, most extremely in Paman languages like Mbabaram, where the entire first syllable disappears (as in the famous *gudaga → dog example). The lost consonant can also serve as a conditioning environment for certain changes to medial consonants, e.g. in Arandic and parts of Paman a word-initial nasal blocks the pre-stopping of a following intervocalic nasal.

We do also find a good amoung of more standard intervocalic lenition in the Oceanic region (as I said above lenition in Oceanic doesn't discriminate, and it's common in New Guinea for initial plosives and intervocalic continuants to be in complementary distribution), but what's important for my point is that word-initial position doesn't seem entirely 'safe' from lenition either, contra what an Indo-European-centric perspective might suggest (although even here we find exceptions, e.g. Brittonic *s → h word-initially only).

#linguistics

[lightvsdark18]

Some responses to voicelines (Floyd)

You havin' fun gathering all this junk? You're like one of those merpeople who are into collectin' stuff that fell to the bottom of the sea.

... Yeah, most likely.

What're you doing today? Maybe I'll tag along.

(lies) The library.

Man, every day's a party when I'm with you. I can't get enough!

Aw. You're fun too, sometimes.

School Uniform

You wanna know what kinda classes we had in the sea? I can bring you to one, if you're interested. Hee hee...

I'm now concerned.

I got a perfect score on the test, but he still gets mad at me for skipping class. I don't get it. If I get good grades, what does it matter?

Because you're here to work and not lollygag.

Aha ha! Keep that up and I'll squeeze you silly.

And I'll squeeze you back.

P.E. Uniform

I'm kind of feeling it today. Wanna try me?

Try you at what?

Apparently, if you over-exercise, you won't get tall. I'm still growing, so I gotta be careful!

Wait, you're still growing? Damn, boy, how tall do you need to be?

I'm not in the mood for Basketball Club today. You go in my place.

(flat) No.

I'm suuuper flexible. You wanna see? I can show you!

Eh, sure, why not.

Wanna play tag or something? I'll be "it." Better start running.

Floyd, no... Boy, stop smiling like that.

Labwear

If you're having trouble finishing your homework, hit up Azul. He'll help you out with anything if you pay his price.

Not interested.

If you mix everything in according to the recipe, you already know it's gonna work out, right? That's the most boring thing.

It helps you remember the recipe because you're physically making it instead of just reading it and memorizing.

Want me to help out with that experiment? Aha ha, don't be so shy.

It's not shyness, it's just me not trusting you.

I'll give you the potion I just made. You wanna know what it does? How should I know?

You made it. You know what? Nevermind, I don't want the potion anymore.

Here. Have some cookies I made from random stuff. You'll enjoy every last bite for me, won't you?

Actually, I'm not hungry. (Lie)

Ceremonial Robes

Want me to teach you the rules here at Night Raven College?

You actually know the rules? Heh.

Standing still is so boring. How about you and I do a little something fun instead?

I rather not cause trouble, or be in it.

The black carriage even came down under the sea to get us. It's a pretty sweet ride, if I do say so myself.

The black carriage went to the bottom of the ocean? Wait, actually thinking about it, it shouldn't be surprising considering I'm here. But that's just raises the question on how far the carriage can go.

Sitting still for a whole ceremony is such a waste of time. Oooh, I've got an idea. I'll tail you, Shrimpy.

You'll what?

You're so funny, Shrimpy. Aren't you scared I'll get back at you for all that poking?

No, not really because I'll just poke you back.

Oh, whatever is the matter? Ha! I was pretending to be Jade. Did it work? You can tell us apart if you look real close.

I really didn't expect your voice to change. Good job.

Dorm Uniform

You got a very serious problem? There might be something we can do. Heh heh heh...

("My safety is in danger, isn't it?")

Don't be so scared. I just wanna give you a nice squeeze.

Nice for you or me?

I won't squeeze anyone who makes good on their payment. But if you DON'T... You ain't getting any mercy from me. Hee hee!

("What's wrong with these guys?")

Bowties are all tight and uncomfortable, don'tcha think? I dunno how Jade and the others deal with 'em.

I never worn a bowtie, but I know I couldn't handle it either.

Lookit these socks. They got an octopus pattern on 'em! Just as cute as the Sea Witch herself, right?

Can I get a pair?

Outdoor Wear

I hope camping on land's as action-packed as camping under the sea!

You can go camping in the sea? What is it like?

Check out this moray mascot I got. It's supposed to be Jade, since he wanted to come camping. Looks just like him, yeah?

Heh, yeah it does.

Now to just cast the line and wait— nope, I'm bored. How about we ditch this and get up to somethin' fun?

Stay at the line. I'll tell you a story if it will entertain you.

The fairies by the lake were so teeny. One little squeeze and they'd probably just disappear.

Please don't squeeze them.

How's a campfire different from a regular bonfire?

I don't really know.

Halloween

Oh man, I'm DIGGIN' that look, Shrimpy. I gotta make your face contort in fear more often.

Please don't.

I MAY have gone a skosh overboard on the pranks last year. I'm takin' it easy this time around.

This is you taking it easy? I'm lucky I wasn't here last year.

Azul asked me to chip in with pumpkin carvin'. It turned out to be more fun than I expected, so I made a moray jack-o'-lantern.

Can I see it?

That your idea of scarin' someone, Shrimpy? It ain't workin'. How's about I show you how it's done?

I rather you not. I'm not trying to genuinely scare anyone because I don't feel like it.

#twisted wonderland #twst voicelines #floyd leech

[redheadedfemme]

"I wonder if, in the dark night of the sea, the octopus dreams of me"

The first challenge of writing "hard" science fiction is of course getting the science right. The second is turning out a story instead of an academic lecture, complete with characters and stakes. I've never read Isaac Asimov, but his characters are famously paper-thin and his ideas carry the day. This book is stuffed full of big ideas--cephalopod intelligence, android intelligence, the definition of consciousness, culture and language, and more.

But for all the top-heaviness of the ideas and the philosophical discussions, it doesn't fall short as an actual story. To be sure, it's a bit slower than some might like, as there are places where the science and ideas take center stage. That's why it's good that there are two side storylines adjacent to the main storyline, as those side storylines are where the action is. All three stories and characters are neatly woven together at the climax. Some of the blurbs for this book call it a "thriller," and while I'm sure that was a good marketing tool, it's not really a thriller, at least in my estimation. It is, however, a very good look at a possible near future where humanity makes its first contact with an alien intelligence that's been right here with us, in the depths of the sea, all this time.

Octopuses are, from what I've read, one of the prime contenders for the next sentience to evolve on our planet. But there are big obstacles to their doing so, and this book discusses them in detail. This long excerpt sums it up:

"Look," Ha continued, "there are limitations that would keep them from ever being able to form a conscious, communicative life or a culture." "Life span," Evrim interjected. "Life span is one, yes. Not the only one, but one of the largest. They only live two years, in the larger species, and far less time than that in smaller species. Some live only a season. Down in the deeper parts of the ocean, there are octopuses who live longer--ten years or more. But those are cold-water creatures. They wouldn't be among the most intelligent octopuses: In the deep their lives are simpler--they are creatures of routine. Everything is slowed down. The smart octopuses would be the ones nearer shore, in environments that provide them with diverse challenges, problems to solve." "Okay, but if they could overcome life span--what else would stand in the way?" "A hell of a lot. Their mating patterns, for one. The males turn senescent and wander after mating until they die. The females starve themselves to death tending their eggs. And even if the parents survive, once the eggs hatch, the young of most species float to the surface and drift in the plankton before settling to the bottom at another location. That kills any connection to place or kin. There are species that live on the bottom in juvenile form--but it doesn't much matter, if their parents are dead soon after they hatch. There's no way to pass on learned experience. No culture to be born into. And since they are solitary, there's no group knowledge either--so there is no way for them to pass any knowledge from one generation to another, and virtually no passing of knowledge from one octopus to another in the same generation. Imagine where we would be if humanity had to restart its cultural progress with every generation. As intelligent as they are, each individual octopus is a blank slate. The only thing passed down to them by their parents to help them survive is their physical form, and the instincts written into their genes. Everything else they have to learn on their own, wandering the ocean floor."

But in this book, there is a group of octopuses that has overcome those obstacles, and this story is about their discovery and the efforts of the main character Ha Nguyen to communicate with and understand them. It's also the story of Ha and her companion, the android Evrim, to preserve them and keep them free from harm, protecting them against the corporations wanting to exploit them.

In this near-future (no dates are given, but it's several decades from now, at least), the oceans have been overfished to near extinction, and artificial intelligence has progressed to the point where self-driving cars, self-flying airplanes and helicopters, and self-propelled ships are commonplace (indeed, one of the previously mentioned side storylines takes place aboard the Sea Wolf, an AI-controlled illegal fishing boat). Another of the main characters, Evrim, is the world's first artificial intelligence/android proven to be conscious and self-aware, and humanity's panicked reaction to that results in its being banished to the Con Dao Archipelago, where the octopuses are discovered. The archipelago is owned by the tech corporation Dianima, the same company that created Evrim. These two things are not coincidental, and this plays out throughout the story.

As you can probably tell, this is a dense, layered book, and not a light read by any means. I found it fascinating, and the characters are well-drawn enough to keep the attention of those who might tend to be bogged down by the science. But make no mistake, the science and philosophical ideas found here are the focus of the story. If you want a fast-paced book full of action, there's no use even starting this. But if you want an absorbing story of alien intelligence (the octopuses presented here are far more alien and potentially deadly than anything moviemakers can dream up) and the human reaction to revelations that will shake the foundations of our world, then pick this up.

#book reviews #books read in 2022

[eyezpike]

Some dishes from a couple different empires! :D

Wrote down some of my headcanons below the cut

the codlands one is a fish soup that contains salmon, kelp, barley, ice plants and salicornia. despite being called the codlands, many of the fish they eat is actually salmon. jimmy ordered all salmon they could find to be killed which lead to an over abundance of it in the empire. he did not put a ban on eating it, so for the time this policy is in place most codlandian food contains salmon.

the salicornia and iceplants have been bred by the codlands to be bigger and more flavorful. most of the crops there are coastal plants.

the undergrove dish consists of stuffed pumpkin, fried mushrooms and wine/juice. the pumpkin is likely winter squash and its stuffed with a filling that consists of ground meat from chicken, rabbits or quails, various nuts and berries and tomatoes and it has an egg cracked in it. pretty much all the livestock in the undergrove are rabbits, chickens, quails or small sheep/goats, as they are easier to keep for its halfling population. a lot of the vegetables in this empire come from foraging or small comunity gardens and nuts are used for basically everything, even flour. the drink is either juice or wine made from forest berries.

the grimlands one is a steak served with potato wedges, a fried egg and wither roses. the grimlands are one of the few empires that actually have cows, as its one of the few ones with fitting terrain. the grimlands in general have a wide range of meat in their diet and are known for their fine preperation of it. however, vegetables are not treated the same way. the most common one they eat are potatoes.

wither roses and their stems are highly toxic in their natural state, but the people of the grimlands have developed a technique of preparing them that completely neutralizes the toxins. the roses add a very distinct taste to the dish and are commonly used for seasoning. the thorns may look spiky, but theyve been softened through cooking to a point where they have a way gentler texture.

the mezalean dish consists of flatbread, a horse curry kinda thing, cooked cactus fruit and some sauces. mezalean food is very spicy in general, as many different spices thrive in the arid climate. the curry consists of horse meat, bellpeppers and chickpeas.

mezaleans are masterful potters, which is why all their dishware are covered in colorful and lavish patterns. traditionally they dont use any cutlery, eating food with their hands or using the flat bread to scoop it instead.

the dish from the ocean empire consists of wide noodles, steamed fish thats been wrapped in kelp, steamed crab and octopus. fish in the ocean empire is usually either steamed or eaten raw. they dont really have vegetables in their diet, they do however eat a wide range of kelp.

their version of plates are mats that have been woven out of dried sea grass.

helianthias dish is quite similar to a charcuterie board. it has a hearty stew, some homemade bread and goat cheese, fresh grapes and beer. helianthias cuisine is rich in fresh vegetables and many types of animal products. the cheese from this area is considered by many a delicacy and can go for high prices in the far corners of the server.

the vegetables and fruit in helianthia are larger than normal, the soil there is rich and the people are talented farmers.

house blossoms dish is an assortment of various pastries and some flower tea. the people of house blossom use flowers in nearly all of their cooking, which gives their food a wide range of vibrant colors and sweet tastes. the empire is well know for its baked goods, jams, syrups and wines all produced from flowers. they also make a wide range of teas, all of which having some medicinal properties.

the one from the mythlands consists of a baked ham almost drowned in gravy, some local sausages, skewers and beer. mythlands food is kind of what youd find in your standard fantasy tavern. hearty and filling. they also generally contain a lot of meat in various forms. blood sausage is especially popular among the people. most meat consists of pork and sometimes beef, mutton is not eaten as often as its considered sacred by many.

mythland also does not fail to deliver on vegetables, many coming from within its own borders, but a good chunk of it stemming from trade with helianthia.

#art hoard #empires smp #empires smp fanart #solidaritygaming #shubble #fwhip #smallishbeans #ldshadowlady #katherine elizabeth #mythicalsausage

[padfootdaredmetoo]

Hi!! I was wondering if maybe you could write a Wade x plus size reader? Maybe she’s an ex pro thief and gets put with him for a mission or smth?? I got no idea man just have fun with it aye

Thank you for the request!!!!! Sorry for the wait!

I wasn't sure if you wanted it to be dirty or not so I sectioned that part off in case it's not what you're looking for :)

You are my first ever request! So, thank you, thank you, thank you, and I hope you enjoy it <3

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Thieving, being exceptionally attractive while doing it. Wade on his best behaviour, Smut is sectioned off.

You haven't accepted a mission in 4 years.

You got out of the business and left those “friends” and “friend circles” behind you after you scored your dream internship. 4 years and you were running your own team and writing a semi successful blog. It was a quiet life, and you enjoyed it immensely. You liked your team members, and you felt they found you a fair and caring boss. Your cat Mr. Sparkles was a healthy weight and had finally committed to using the litter box.

You don't know why you answered when he called you, you don’t know why you agreed to such fuckery. But here you were pulling out a familiar black box out of the bottom of your cluttered closet. You picked it up and placed it on your bed. The dark colour contrasted with your bright and colourful décor. Something you found oddly reflective, once you moved on from that part of your life nothing was dark. Everything in your apartment was covered by color and patterns that made you happy.

You opened the box. You and Mr. Sparkles looked at the contents like there was a wild octopus about to come flying out of it.

“It was the right thing to do.” You said out loud. “And it's going to pay well.”

Pulling the tight outfit over your curves felt better than you thought it would. You figured that it would cause you panic or anxiety. Instead you felt a wave of confidence looking yourself over in the mirror that hung on the back of your bedroom door. Normally you were covered in bright flowy clothes, that's what you liked. Your whole life was built upon being invisible since you were little. Now that you were in charge every day was a celebration in its own way. However this made you feel sexy, the outfit was sleek and left nothing to the imagination. Pulling your long hair into a tight french braid you were ready to get out there and do some thieving.

You kissed Mr. Sparkles and gave your aloe vera plant a light touch on your way out the window. It was a hot summer night and the air was muggy. These were your favorite kinds of nights to sit out on the fire escape, have some drinks, read books, and watch the city. It was lonely, but enjoyable nonetheless.

You got up to the roof and plotted your course to the impossible house. You misstepped a couple of times before falling into your usual rhythm. You contemplated whether you were doing this because the small piece of art should be with the family it belongs too. Or if you were doing this because you had some kind of Ocean’s 11 complex that kept you hungry for such challenges. It was an impossible place to break into, the floor of the old house containing the art work was covered with laser security. A piece of knowledge that should make your stomach flip, but only makes your heart feel funny.

You got yourself into position on the roof of the low building that was across the street, you took a few minutes to survey and eventually came to the conclusion that conditions were perfect. You made your way to the 3rd floor balcony. You knew of the owner’s, an awfully cruel man and his lover. They were asleep on the 5th floor of the house. Well, city mansion? Whatever, the point is it didn't feel like a home, it felt like something a royal family would keep when they came to visit. Lots of expensive art and velvet curtains. Massive gold and crystal chandeliers hung from mirrored ceilings framed with fancy crown molding. You did your research in the few hours you had after the job request had come in, there was a - *insert super fancy techno security laser system name here.* And it was said to be unbeatable. No gymnast or other cat-like thief had been able to tango with it. You had been challenged by its precursors but had got out of the game by the time this puppy had made it out on the market.

You picked the lock on the double doors, and slid past the heavy curtains and disabled the basic alarm system for the floor. Surveying the area you saw the lasers slowly dancing like it was a Pink Floyd tribute at the local planetarium. (something you attend regularly) You took a deep breath and got ready to disco your way across the floor to the small framed painting of a sun set. You put a headphone in and set the song *put on a song you would rob a bank to*. You began the journey. People often felt that your size and shape made you incompetent or ungraceful. You learned early on in life not to listen to stupid people say stupid things. You were the best, perhaps because you weren't afraid to look stupid or ridiculous. You bended and snapped, ducked and dodged, twirled and flipped. And just like that you reached your target. The second you lifted it off the wall, the lasers stopped. You pulled your knife and twirled around ready for a fight. What you saw was not what you expected, across the room none other than Wade freaking Wilson was looking at you.. Normally you hated being stared at like that, but he was a “friend” you found particularly challenging to leave behind. The whites of his mask were wide. After making a whole bunch of strange gestures with his hands, he held up a finger motioning you to be quiet. He disappeared towards what you figured would be the staircase going up to the next floor. If he gave you a clear shot at an exit you knew he had trouble with him. So you took your out.

You got back up on the rooftop across the street, you grabbed the bag you left there and secured the painting. You pulled out a large black piece of cotton and tossed it around your shoulders like a shall. This made your outfit look less stealth and more passion for leather/night out on the town. Making your way down the fire escape on the side of the building you saw the target house explode.

I guess Wade hasn't changed any.

You picked up the pace feeling anxious to get to Sister Margrets. Making your way through the city unnoticed, you went into the shitty establishment through the alleyway door. You wasted no time moving through the hallway into the servers entrance spitting you out behind the bar. You kept by the entrance which kept you out of sight, you didn't want to see any more friends tonight. Weasel jumped when he turned around and saw you there looming in the shadows, spilling the drink he had just made.

“Fuck” He quickly remade the drink then moved back to where you were standing. He had a large envelope of cash for which you handed him the back pack. You felt slightly relieved.

“Hey I know you moved on, but thanks for this.”

“No problem”

You turned around and went out the way you came in. Opening the door that leads back to the alley way, you notice a very large and slightly singed body blocking your exit.

“Stay for a drink?” His voice caused something in you to stir. Something you were not going to explore.

“Sorry Wade but no can do” You pushed past him and began walking down the street.

“Pretty pleaseeeee” he said with a sing song voice. You tried not to smile. He caught up to you so he was walking beside you. “If your not a big drinker anymore we could go for diner, tacos!, Sushi, chicken nuggets, you always loved a good chicken nugget” You tuned him out as he kept chattering a list of every food he could remember eating together. You had to figure out somewhere to go as you weren't leading him back to your apartment. Going in random directions, he spoke up.

“I know you live on *Insert cute street name here*”

“What the fuck Wilson?”

“Well you disappeared and I wanted to make sure you weren't being unalived. This means if we head back to yours we can do take out and homemade drinks, which in my opinion is much better anyway. I make the best margaritas in the city.”

You started the walk back towards your apartment. Trying desperately to come up with a way to leave him at the front of the building. The thought of him in your very personal, very colourful, even bordering on childish apartment made you unbelievably anxious. Every time you looked over at his slightly charred body you couldn't help a strange feeling welling up inside you. You got to the front door to the building and turned to look up at him. There was a long pause as you struggled for words.

“It's alright. It was a nice walk.” You could hear the layers of sadness underneath his tone. You were going to tell him that it was a nice walk and that maybe one day when things were better for you they could get that drink. Then you were going to threaten him into keeping everything a secret.

“I don't have stuff for margaritas.” The wrong words left your mouth but for a fleeting moment you actually didn't want him to leave.

“Are you sure?” Hey sounded very serious which caught you off guard and confused you a little.

“Yeah, normally I just drink stuff out of a can” You were terrible at mixing drinks, they were always way too sweet and strong and lead to trouble. Wade gave a big laugh. “Are you okay to pick up the stuff if I get changed?”

“You betcha.” He did a twirl, blew you a kiss, then headed down the street.

You dashed up to your apartment and started to hide your more personal stuff. Grabbing an armful of clean laundry off the couch, tossing it into an empty bin in the closet. You were so busy trying to hide your stuffed animals and random fan art, that you didn't notice him standing in the fire escape landing looking at you from the large open window.

“Damn. This was not what I was expecting.” He said, sounding surprised. “This isn't what your old place looked like at all”

“Uh” Your face got hot and you refused to look at him. “I ah don't have people over so um yeah. You can go now.”

“Nonononononono. This is a huge bit of progress from everything being varying shades of grey and uncomfortable.” Wade took the place in as he made his way to your kitchen. Placing the big brown bags on the counter top, and sliding the blender out from against the bright backsplash.

"Uh I'm going to get cleaned up. Help yourself to everything." You ran into the bathroom and freshened up and were very grateful to be out of the leather and into your summer pj's. They were more on the revealing side but you never found Wade the type to care or be creepy.

Coming out you found him very comfortable whirling around the kitchen. It looked like he had made a giant frying pan of pad thai and the blender was full. Turning around to see you he picked you up and sat you on the counter top like you were nothing more than a bottle of the many sauces he currently had out. He handed you one of your favorite rainbow glasses filled with margarita. Your brain was still trying to calm down from him picking you up like that.

"Thanks" you said with an even redder face.

"No problem, hot stuff" he divided the food into two plates, you led him out to sit on the fire escape with you. It was a sacred space, it felt weird to be there with a real live person. After the most delicious plate of food ever, many drinks, and laughs about the good old days things quieted down leaving a thick tension between the two of you. You realized you owed him an apology of sorts.

"Wade, I'm sorry I didn't give you a proper goodbye. I just had a life of running and I couldn't risk anyone fucking me over again."

"It's alright babe. I understand why you did it." His voice was low and sad and it made your heart hurt. You didn't want the night to end.

"Thanks for keeping my place here a secret."

"No problem. Do you think mayyybe now that I know about your situation we could do this again sometime?"

"You have no idea how nice that would be." You really meant it having him around was the most fun you'd had in a very long time. You didn't have to pretend or beat around the bush about anything with Wade. Nothing was too dark or silly or messed up.

"Well I guess this is my cue." He made to stand up but you grabbed his knee without thinking.

"Uh if you want to. You could also stay for a while." He turned his head to the side, bright eyes looking you over. "You could take a shower and I've definitely got a shirt and some boxers I could lend you." His eyes got wider. "They're mine. They're really…. comfy…" you would never understand how he made you so embarrassed.

"Uh, not sure about that… it just…" he motioned to the rest of his body.

"I've seen your face. It won't bother me" you looked up at him with empathetic eyes, part of you hoping that maybe they came across as bedroom eyes. You gave yourself a mental slap.

"If you're uncomfortable, that's okay too." You said, giving him a kind smile. You could tell there was an internal battle. So you gave him a minute.

"Alright that sounds nice. It's a fucking mess under here tho."

You went into your bathroom and found your gentlest scent free soap and a soft towel. Then into your room to find a giant t-shirt and your biggest pair of boxer shorts.

You put it into a nice pile in the bathroom.

"Okay there's some nice soap, it's natural scent free, made of angel's tears or some shit and a clean towel and clothes in there for you."

Wade shifted around you into the bathroom. "Thanks"

You flopped onto your bed and looked up at your glow star collection that littered the ceiling. You heard the water start running and you closed your eyes. Until your herd some very loud and off key Britney Spears. You couldn't help but laugh. Soon enough he was out and flopped onto the bed next to you.

"Man this is the best sleepover ever."

"If this has been your best sleepover with a chick I feel sorry for you. And her." You joked.

"Sorry enough for a pity cuddle." You know what the look he gave you meant. He was testing the waters to see what kind of night this was gonna be. You couldn't help but feel the need to challenge it.

"We could cuddle… or we could do other stuff then cuddle." You'd thought of all the reasons this was a bad idea. But voices weren't loud enough over the sound of your heart beating. He leaned in closer, fingers brushing your cheek.

"You sure that's not a margaritas talking?"

"Very sure." You said eyes locked with his.

"Why now?" It was a good question. One you had to think about.

"I don't think I ever was really myself. Like I was as much of myself as I could be while hurting that much. Now I'm happy and I enjoy things differently"

"Hmmm I noticed that. I think I got to know you more in the past few hours than I had when we were friends. You actually laugh now. At jokes and not just crazy like when things are exploding" he moved his hand to run through your hair and you couldn't hold back a soft moan. It had been so very long since someone had touched you.

You felt his lips press into your forehead. You'd thought about Wade before but he was in a relationship, then she died, and Wade wasn't himself for a long time. You'd figured if you were something he wanted he'd make it clear considering the dude flirted with everyone. You'd always had a secret fear that maybe you went his type. Vanessa was short and very tiny, other than her you were only sure of one other and that was Cable, who was serious, fit, tall, and massive. You were a good height and curvy as all hell. Suddenly you felt self conscious. But then he put his hands on either side of your face tilting your head up to meet his. You opened your eyes and they focused in on his lips. They were so close it caused the air in your lungs to get stuck.

"You're pretty quiet. You sure you wanna try to do other things. We can jump right to cuddling if that's better for right now?"

You looked up to meet his eyes.

"Is that what you want?" You tried your best to have it come out casually.

"Not really."

Your eyes migrated back down to his lips and you shuffled closer. You wanted to kiss him so badly you felt like your body was on fire.

"You can take whatever you want baby"

******************PSA: Dirty stuff below ;)*********************

That's all the permission you needed. You moved in and softly pressed your lips into his, then took things deeper. It didn’t take much for your breathing to become ragged, you were trying desperately to take the kiss further.

Eventually you bit his bottom lip and whimpered, finally he agreed, his hands tightened on your face and your tongues started to battle it out. You wanted to win, so you moved to straddle him. Finally accomplishing some friction between the two of you, you could feel your panties sliding against your wet folds. This only lasted for a few glorious seconds, before he flipped you on to your back quickly moving to pin your arms above your head.

He started moving south leaving a red hot trail of destruction behind him. There was only so much your tank top would allow, Wade seemed very content palming your right breast while biting on the flesh beneath your left collar bone. You on the other hand wanted your goddamn clothes off.

You tried to break his grip and moaned when you realized such a task would only be accomplished by hurting him. He really had you trapped there, a piece of knowledge that only made you want your clothes off more. His grip on your breast tightened and his smirking lips took a long pull on the hardened nub that was poking up benthe the cotton of your top. You couldn't help your back arching. Finally, after paying respects to your other breast, he pulled back to look at you. He squeezed your wrists.

“Stay”

God he was so bossy. Something that divided you internally. A part of you wanted to push it, see how hard he would dig into you, and the other part was desperate to behave and be good. You decided you would be good, for now. He sat up, leaning back on his knees in between your legs. Slowly his fingers brushed across the soft skin of your stomach, then his hands ran up along your torso taking your shirt with them. Feeling his scarred hands trail lightly across you sent shivers through your body. You felt him cup and knead your breasts for a moment before pulling your top over your head. He took a long look at you which made you feel delicious. No one had ever pulled out this side of you before. Kissing down your stomach he stopped at the waistband of your shorts. He took your left leg and used it to flip you over, somehow taking your shorts off at the same time. There you were ass up naked and loving every second of it. His big hands came down to smack your ass, a loud noise of please ran out of your mouth along with most of the air in your lungs. Enjoying the response he did it again then started kneading the flesh.

“Fuck you are so fucking sexy.” You felt his hands slide down to grip the tops of your thighs. You arched your back further resting your head on the bed. “Good girl.” The words hit you like a bullet but before you had time to find your footing his hot mouth was all over you wet folds.

His skilled tongue painting some kind of masterpiece, he was touching you everywhere but where you really desperately wanted it. But this seemed to be the way he operated, and you weren't complaining. After feeling like he had been everywhere, he started to circle that tight ball of nerves and you couldn't help but let out a shout. Pleasure was ripping through your body, things were starting to get hot and tight inside you, when all of a sudden those glorious lips closed in and created some heavenly suction. You couldn't stop your hips from bucking, this earned a heavy slap on your right ass cheek.

“Fuck fuck fuckf cukkkk ah” It quickly became too much, your orgasm hit you like a train, whole body tensing up then finally crashing down. Wade kept up the rhythm letting you ride it out. Finally pulling away when it became too much. He snaked his arm up your front to grab the front of your neck pulling you up on to your knees, angling your face so he could kiss you deeply. Putting on a show of how good you tasted. After a long moment of heated kissing, he positioned you so you were laying on your back again. Giving you a few moments to catch your breath.

“You wanna keep going?” he asked softly.

“Yes please.” you answered politely.

“Alright but, it's everywhere. All over me. So doggy style is generally best for this next part. If you wanna do it that way, I'm also just happy making you scream like this too.”

“Wade, we can stop if you need to. But I would much rather you fuck me like this. Or let me choke on you for a while then fuck me like this. On my back where I can kiss you and love you back. Ya feel me?”

He looked at you with searching eyes. You realized what you said probably sounded a bit off. Love you back probably wasn't the right thing to say, but you were operating with limited brain function at this point.

“This normally doesn't end well for me.”

“Hmmm. What part, how do you like to uh finish?” You asked slightly confused. Wade only laughed.

“That's not the problem, I almost got off just from you screaming like that. No, I just want to make sure you actually enjoy it. It's hard to enjoy things when you are looking up at someone who looks like they lost a fight with an industrial paper shredder that happened to be on fire.”

You snorted.

“Wade I never knew you before, but I’ve wanted you since I met you. Okay? There's no spooky feelings here.” Your words seemed enough to convince him. He leaned in for a soft kiss, one that made you want to misbehave. You pulled the shirt up, running your hands across the well defined muscles of his torso, then broke the kiss to pull it up over his head. You didn't give him a chance to be chatty, you resumed the heavy kiss, palming his erection. He moaned into your mouth. Feeling accomplished, you pulled the boxers off letting his heavy cock slap up against his stomach. You couldn't help but break the kiss, looking down you watched your hand slide over his impressive, throbbing length. You wanted to take him in your mouth, but before you could push him back onto the bed, he was already pinning you in place beneath him.

You felt him slide himself through your heat. Finally lining himself up with your entrance, his thumb set a steady pace on your clit as he pushed into you slowly. You were grateful he took his time opening you up. You let out a strangled sound when he bottomed out, you felt so full. He set a slow pace giving you lots of time to adjust, this only made you more desperate and needy. When he finally decided you’d had enough, you felt his hand squeeze the back of your neck as he set into a ruthless pace.

“FUCK” He was too much, his heavy body keeping you in place as your hips rose to meet every single thrust. you wanted to feel him as deeply as you possibly could. His hot mouth was biting into the flesh at the bottom of your neck. The heat inside you started to build and you were near your breaking point.

‘Wade” You breathed in a high, desperate tone.

“Cum for me baby” And just like that you felt it take over, your hips snapped up and your feet cramped up. You could feel your walls clench around him tightly, and you choked when he pushed through them even rougher than before. That thumb on your clit never gave up, keeping you trapped riding out the waves of pleasure. You felt it take him over, letting out a deep growl you felt him fill you. He held himself deep inside you, moving both his hands so his forearms were on either side of you trying to keep his weight from crushing you.

His forehead pressed against yours as you both tried to catch your breath. Eventually he moved out of you and he flopped onto his back. You got up and quickly went pee and cleaned yourself up. You grabbed another washcloth and went back to clean him up. You realised that getting up might have been a mistake. Wade was on his side with his eyes screwed shut.

“Hey, you okay?” You asked softly and grabbed the sides of his face and kissed his forehead.

“Better now.” He whispered.

“Sorry for getting up, I should have said something. Can I clean you up?” He gave you a strange look, like he was waiting for you to suddenly disappear. He took the washcloth and wiped himself down, you took it back throwing it into the bathroom. You looked down at him hoping that the voices weren't giving him a hard time. You sat next to him holding his hand, giving him some time.

**********************************************************************

“So about those cuddles?” He asked softly, and you wondered how many times people had hurt him or thrown him out.

You got under the light quilt on your bed motioning for him to do the same. He followed you, laying on his back, you tucked yourself into his side, enjoying his big arms wrapping around you. You gave his neck a light kiss.

“I missed you.” you said softly

“You have no idea how bad I missed being around you.”

“I won't leave again, if you wanted to make this either a regular thing… or a proper thing… if you're into that?” You felt a tight ball of nerves in your stomach.

“I’d really like that.” He kissed your forehead. You thought about all the things you would have to do to make this relationship compatible with your new life. But that was a later you problem, right now you were the best kind of exhausted. You both drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

Thank you again for the request!!!! <3

#Request #Wade Wilson X Reader #Wade Wilson X femreader #Deadpool #Wade Wilson #XReader

[calif0rnia-lovers]

Lover of Mine #4 | Angel Reyes

Title: You and I Can't Even Mess It Up (though we both tried)

Mayans Taglist Sign Up || Series Masterlist || Series Mixtape

A/N: shout out to those who waited twenty years for this update. you're the real MVPs. hope it was worth it. spared you the heartbreak/angst for one chapter as a thank you

Part I | Part II | Part III

Rating: 💙  💦  + 🤯  because we’re getting a glimpse into that Tommy connection

Sum: After being allowed to come home, Angel has decided to turn over a new leaf. The only problem is, just when he's making progress two people from his past show up with plans to fuck it up.

Words: keeping true to myself with long af....but seriously, I didn't even check. i was going to split the chapter in two, but...

Time apart led to a temporary lapse in memory when it comes to Angel and his sleep patterns. No matter how much space he has to sprawl out, Angel will sleep on top of you.

Literally.

He is not there when you fall asleep and somehow manages not to wake you when he arrives. This is why when you're awakened by your alarm, your heart nearly jumps out of your chest.

Angel’s weight presses you into the mattress. His face is tucked into the crook of your neck, his entire body nearly on top of yours as he sleeps. As you try to shift from beneath him, his grip tightens around your waist in protest. You release a huff before trying again.

After nearly a minute, you've almost made it out of his grip. Your cellphone is just in your reach when Angel's grip tightens, reclaiming all progress you've just made.

"...you gonna get that?" Angel mumbles as your alarm continues to beep.

"I can’t," you sigh, giving up as he nuzzles his face into your skin. "Kinda hard to move with your head crushing me--"

Angel releases his grip around your waist allowing you to shift. The moment the room is silent, he drags your body back across the bed.

You're back in your initial position. Trapped on Angel's side of the bed. Angel's weight pressing you into the mattress, sleep slowly pulling him back under.

A smile finds your face as your fingers lightly brush through his hair as you realize it has been years since you’ve been granted this sight.

You wince as you say quietly. "We have to get up."

Angel shakes his head making no intentions of following your request.

“...you wanna know something…” he mumbles.

"Hmm?"

“...this is the best fucking bed in the world...way better than mine.”

“Funny you should mention it.” Your brow furrows as your fingers drift back into his hair. Angel’s body relaxes against yours, his lips leaving a kiss against your shoulder. “I didn’t realize you could tell, how great this bed, with you laying on top of me instead of the actual bed.”

You know it’s coming before he can move. Your giggles mix with his laugh as Angel dramatically shifts in your arms. He drags himself so that his entire body covers yours. He allows his weight to press your body into the mattress making it impossible for you to move.

“You’re crushing me,” you manage to press against his chest. But the giggles leave you breathless. “Angel-”

“Now that I’m here…” Angel backtracks, failing miserably at suppressing his smile. “Forget the bed, I think I like this way better. What do you think?”

“That you should get off of me.”

“What’s wrong? You wanna be on top?”

You try for a second time to shift his weight, but it's useless. A familiar smirk forms as Angel watches your eyes drop to his lips.

You can’t stop the smile on your face from growing once you realize you've given up on your initial task. Instead, your mind has shifted its focus to finding the quickest way to kiss Angel. When Angel does give in, he rolls over pulling you on top of him.

“You know I always liked it better this way," he grins as you lean down to bring your lips to his.

"You play too much--"

"I don’t play," Angel smiles, the warmth of his palm slipping beneath your shirt. “Never with you, querida. You’re special."

Your eyes roll as he adds, "always has been."

“Angel Reyes, always a sweet talker."

Seven years of separation have taught Angel to never pass up the opportunity to kiss you. They have also taught him that no matter how many women he’s slept with, in your time apart, none of them kissed him the way you did.

The smile you share is soft as his touch drifts to your cheek. Angel watches your gaze drop to his chest. It follows the path your finger traces over his heart. His lips against your forehead before his arms wrap around you hugging you against his chest.

You stay that way for a few minutes. Neither of you wants to be responsible for bringing it to an end.

"This is nice," Angel mumbles against your shoulder. "Waking up next to you and not getting launched across the room--"

The laugh you release breaks a grin out across Angel's face.

"You always know how to sweeten the moment," your eyes roll as his lips press against your cheek. "Come on. If we don't get up, your son is going to starve."

You make a move to push yourself up, but Angel's grip tightens around your waist.

"Before we get up, I wanna tell you something." His admission brings your eyes to his. The look inside of them brings heat to your face. "Thanks for letting me come back home."

Angel's smile grows as his gaze moves past you.

You glance over your shoulder to find a pair of brown eyes peeking through the crack of your bedroom door. Jeyson's eyes widen once he realizes you're not alone, a smile lighting up his face as he meets his father's gaze.

Angel releases his grip on you, allowing you to sit up, as the bedroom door inches further open.

"You wanna come in?"

Before you can fully get the question out, Jeyson is halfway across the room. He pauses long enough to allow you a kiss before wrapping his arms around Angel.

When you enter the kitchen, you find Angel by the stove. Jeyson stands on a step stool. Angel is holding the skillet as Jeyson holds the spatula.

For the first time this morning, Jeyson is silent. He is in full concentration mode.

The task at hand is flipping the chocolate chip pancake before him. He moves slowly, following the actions his father showed him a few moments before.

"Flip it?"

"Yep."

Quickly flipping the pancake, Jeyson grins as his father ducks down to kiss his hair.

"That's one good-looking pancake," Angel chuckles. "Can you set the table?"

Jeyson hops down from his stool, a grin finding his face once he spots you.

"Mom! Dad made me shark pancakes!"

"He did?" You smile as he bolts past you. "Shark pancakes?"

Angel glances over at you as you stop to take in the pancakes carefully stacked.

To your surprise, Jeyson is right.

Each pancake is different. Each represents Jeyson's favorite topic at the moment. The ocean. As you accept the plate Angel passes you, you spot a shark, an octopus, a jellyfish, a seashell, a crab.

"Why are these actually really good?"

Angel's eyes cut to you as he picks up the bottle of pancake batter.

"I'm gonna pretend you didn't ask that," he grins. Redirecting his attention back to the skillet, he adds. "What do you want me to make you?"

You open your mouth to respond but Jeyson's voice floats across the room.

"What about a stingray? A big one?"

You stifle your giggle as Angel meets your gaze.

"I think I'll take a stingray," you smile. "A big one, and a starfish since apparently you're just showing off this morning."

"It's a special day," Angel winks.

"Order of pancakes for my favorite person." You turn to find Jeyson waiting impatiently in his seat at the table. "Jeyson Reyes."

"I thought I was your favorite person."

"You're not," Jeyson manages through a mouthful of pancake. "I am."

The laugh you release widens Angel's eyes. The initial readiness of your son's response has left him speechless.

He blinks, his gaze finding yours as he cuts off the stove.

"Who’s your favorite?"

The seriousness of his expression causes your eyes to roll.

"Me!" Jeyson grins as your fingers brush through his hair. "She says it every day!"

“That...is true," you admit.

You look up to find Angel's expression has not changed. His gaze drifts to Jeyson, his eyes playfully narrowing as Jeyson sends him a wide smile.

"I think you should answer the question, Y/N." Angel's gaze drifts back to you.

You glance between the two. The perfected puppy dog eyes on your son are an exact mirror of his father's.

“You’re both my favorite--"

“That’s a cop-out.” Angel's eyes roll as you lean forward to kiss him. “You can’t have more than one favorite.”

Moving to Jeyson you place a kiss against his cheek.

"He's right. You're my favorite," you whisper quietly.

The smile on your son's face doubles as Angel's eyes widen.

"I heard that." He mumbles as you glance down at your phone.

"I have to go."

"Already?" You turn to find Angel holding your pancakes. His face falls as he watches you nod.

"Yeah. I'll take these to go. I have to do something before work. Speaking of..." you watch his brow rise. "We’re gonna have to talk about my job later."

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah. I kinda want to talk to you about the client I’m representing...preferably when your son isn’t around to understand everything I have to say."

"Okay."

Taking your face in his hands, Angel smiles as you tilt your head back.

"You look beautiful," he adds as your arms wrap around his waist. “By the way. I didn't get to say it earlier-"

"You’re still not my favorite," you giggle as his lips press against your forehead.

Dropping his hands from your waist, Angel sighs. "I don’t even know why I try anymore. First, I make you pancakes--"

"Angel--" Tightening your grip around him, your laughter continues as Angel tries to push you off. "I’m sorry."

"--then I tell you how good you look--the disrespect--"

"I’m sorry," you say softly, as his eyes meet yours. You're unable to stifle your laugh as you finish your statement. "But...please don't take my pancakes. I really want to try them."

Angel shakes his head as you place a kiss against his cheek.

"You’re my second favorite. There’s nothing wrong with that." You tease.

"No one wants to be second."

"Please don’t forget you’re going to get measured for your tux today."

"I know," he mumbles as your arms wrap around his neck. "It's kinda hard to miss the big ass schedule on the fridge."

"Don't tease me," you giggle. "You're just mad it actually helps you."

"That's a dollar in the swear jar," Jeyson pipes.

Shaking your head you try to suppress the smile on your lips as you reach around Angel. Lifting the swear jar, you stifle your laugh as Angel retrieves his wallet from the counter.

"He gets you every time," you giggle. "See you tonight."

Standing on your toes, you lean in to kiss him. Angel leans back out of your reach. Your mouth falls open in disbelief. You blink before backtracking.

"Did you just-"

"What?” Taking in your wide eyes Angel lets his brow furrow. The innocent look on his face causes your eyes to narrow. "Oh, you wanted a kiss? I don’t know how you do things, but I only let my favorite person kiss me.”

"Wait—I’m not yours? I’m at least second."

"Are you?" Angel winces. Taking a moment to think he sighs. "Second is a little high. You’re further down the list than that."

"How far?"

"You’re gonna have to put in some work, sweetheart." He grins. "You’re ranking five or six right now."

“Fine," you lift the jar in your hand. "I was going to let you slide, but now you gotta pay up."

Angel's eyes roll. "Whatever, I was going to pay anyway."

"What are you doing?" You move the jar out of his reach as he reaches inside.

"I need change for the twenty."

"No, you don’t. I think twenty is actually a really good price to pay." You smile ignoring the rolling of his eyes. "For the grade A disrespect you just gave me."

"Come on."

"I’m just saying if I was your favorite, or at least your second favorite, I’d give you the change, but I’m not. I’m...what was it? Fifth or six so…"

Shaking his head Angel drops in the twenty trying his best to suppress his smile as you grin a "thank you."

"At this rate, your dad’s gonna buy you a new lego set," you smile at Jeyson as you set the jar back on the countertop.

"Maybe you’ll think about that next time you’re picking favorites." You tease as you reach around Angel for your keys.

"You’re still not getting a kiss."

"I made it seven years without it. I think I’ll manage."

Despite his declaration, Angel steals a kiss as he passes over your plate.

"See you tonight," he winks as he steps around you.

There is no need to be nervous.

What's the phrase? Fake it till you make it?

Seeing Angel when you woke meant there was no space for Samuel in your mind. The moment you got in the car that changed.

Not surprising, you do work with him.

While Angel was away for the weekend, you had made a promise to yourself -- or more so a requirement.

Once you give Angel a key to the house, you have to talk to Samuel.

It is a conversation that can't be held over text or phone. It must be face to face so it can't be misconstrued.

Your plan is simple. Talk to Samuel before work. The last thing you need is to cause a scene.

As you make your way to his office, you run through the main reasons you should not feel nervous.

It’s not like I'm breaking up with him

We only went on three dates.

We haven’t had sex --thank goodness.

That tactic doesn't work. Because, although each point is valid and true you can't quiet the tiny voice in the back of your mind.

It poses an important question: what if he doesn't take it well?

“Ms. Reyes,” Samuel’s voice makes you jump. You've made it to his office. He steps out of the elevator when you're in the process of knocking on his office door. “Didn’t know you were here. You’re a bit earlier than usual.”

“I needed to see you before the day gets crazy.”

He glances over at you as he stops to unlock the door. His brow raises as his eyes study yours.

“What have I done for you to grace me with your presence this morning? It’s not Flores is it?”

"No."

"He hasn’t scared you off yet?” Samuel chuckles as he drapes his jacket over the back of his chair. “Congratulations. You might be the longest attorney that Flores has retained.”

“He’s actually not that bad." You realize you're still hovering by the door when Samuel takes a seat.

"You planning a quick escape?" He chuckles. The look of confusion on his face forces you to occupy the chair across from him.

"Sorry. I know I didn't ask, but I was hoping I could talk to you for a few minutes."

"You don't have to schedule a time to see me," he smiles as he focuses his attention on you.

Suddenly you wish you had stayed by the door. In case you need that quick escape.

"I know we went on a couple of dates--”

Samuel's face brightens, his smile spreading at the mention of "dates."

"Speaking of, I was kinda hoping you’d be open to checking out this-"

"I can’t.” You blurt out. You take a deep breath as a silence falls over the office. "And I can’t see you anymore--outside of work."

"Oh."

You watch the smile on his face slowly dampen, a twinge of guilt washes over you.

"You asked me to be honest, and the truth is Angel is a big part of my life. One that I can't cut out." Samuel's jaw clenches at the mention of Angel's name. "It’s not fair for me to give you hope when I know that there's unfinished business between me and him."

You can see the realization set in his features. If Samuel wants to interject, he doesn't. He keeps his gaze on you as you continue.

"Samuel, please don’t take it personally. I know that's a shitty thing to say, but I don't mean it to be. The fact of the matter is, nobody will ever compete with Angel." The admission is one you have yet to share out loud, but it is one you've realized you must come to terms with. "I’m sorry that I allowed things to get started between us when I knew that a part of me was still with him."

“It's not your fault. I understand.”

A silence settles over the office. You wait to see if there is more Samuel wants to add once he's had a moment to process. But nearly a minute passes, and he has yet to say anything.

You must admit, you expected there to be more.

Instead, Samuel reaches over to turn on his desktop.

“Don’t worry about it.” He glances over at you, the smile on his face the same as before. “Like you said, we went on a few dates. It was nothing serious.”

“J!” Angel pauses by the front door. He slides Jeyson’s backpack over his shoulder but receives no response. “Jeyson, come on, we gotta go!”

Footsteps thunder down the hall, a fully dressed Jeyson emerging seconds later. He narrowly avoids the wall. Angel catches his arm as Jeyson attempts to complete the sentence he is reading.

“Hey, dad, did you know that a jellyfish doesn’t have a brain?”

Turning the book, Jeyson points to the jellyfish spanning the length of the page.

”No kidding?”

"There is one called the Fried Egg Jelly-fish. You know why?” A grin spreads across Jeyson's face as he awaits his father's answer.

“Why?”

“It looks like a fried egg” he giggles as he flips the page.

The latest addition to Jeyson’s library comes from Bishop. Bishop has supplied more than half of your son's reading material. Jeyson is a smart kid. He knows which club members to go to for certain things.

When he wants to play, he goes to Coco or Gilly. The two have no trouble running Jeyson around until he passes out from exhaustion. When he wants a book he goes to Bishop.

Bishop can often be found seated at the table, Jeyson in the chair alongside. It is an unspoken rule. If Bishop needs quiet, he is not to be disturbed. When Jeyson wants to read, he is found with Bishop. Most times, Bishop reads along with him. In the time they’ve read together, Bishop has learned two things about the youngest Reyes.

He wants to learn about everything under the sun.

His favorite thing to do is to run and tell his dad what he’s learned.

“That’s pretty cool,” Angel grins as he accepts the book. “You can tell me the rest in the car. Did you brush your teeth?”

Jeyson’s brown eyes widen as his dad studies the picture of the Fried Egg Jellyfish. As his dad’s gaze lifts, Jeyson provides him the biggest smile imaginable. The same smile that plays you for a fool each time you see it.

“I....did." The only problem is, Jeyson's smile doesn't have the same effect on his father. This is why Jeyson takes a step back as Angel's brow raises. “But...momma says you can always do it twice...”

Before Angel can respond, Jeyson is halfway to the bathroom.

Turning the page, Angel rests against the wall as he starts to read. He’s about to call for Jeyson when a knock arrives on the front door.

Who he finds on the other side prompts Angel to do a double-take. After he considers —briefly—slamming the door in her face.

The last time Angel saw your mother, you were six months pregnant. She was not at the hospital for Jeyson's birth. She has never attended a birthday party, sent a present or a card, or even stopped by to see him on the holidays. Your father has done the same. Keeping the peace with your mother is easier than starting a fight so that he can see his grandson.

As Angel glances over his shoulder, he realizes she's never even seen a picture of Jeyson.

The initial shock of her arrival leaves Angel standing silently in the doorway.

Your mother's eyes narrow, a scowl instantly setting in as she lets her eyes pass over Angel’s kutte. It is the only look Angel has associated with her. The same look she has given Angel for as long as he can remember.

Her eyes move past his shoulder. She attempts to get a look inside of the house. “Where is Y/N?”

Angel closes the book in his hand.

“Work.” Taking a step back inside, he calls down the hall. “J, let's go! If not, I'm leaving you!”

Jeyson's response comes out muffled through a mouthful of toothpaste.

"NO! It's too far to walk!"

When Angel redirects his attention back to your mother, he finds her arms crossed over her chest. Her head shakes with disgust.

“Now I know why she’s not answering my calls.”

“I doubt that’s it.”

Angel has learned not to ask you about your mother. Anytime he mentions her, you get so worked up, he instantly regrets it. So the subject has remained untouched. He doubts the situation has progressed since the last time he asked you about her. What he wonders is, why you never mentioned the phone calls.

“I’ll tell her you came by.”

“So you finally got her to give in.” The comment halts Angel’s action of shutting the door. The sight of his tightening jaw prompts her to continue. “She never had a backbone, not when it came to you.”

Angel’s grip tightens against the door. The weight of Jeyson tugging against his shirt forces him to bite his tongue.

“Now, I’m ready. See?” Smiling as wide as he can, Jeyson tilts his head so that Angel can see his teeth.

“Check out that smile,” Angel chuckles as he tousles his hair. “We've gotta go. Mom will get mad if you're late. Say hi.”

“Morning!” Squeezing past your mother, Jeyson bolts to the car.

“What do you want me to tell her?”

“Tell her to call her mother back. It’s important.”

“So is seeing your grandson every once in a while,” Angel counters as he locks the front door. “The kid’s nearly nine years old. Never met you.”

As she opens her mouth to respond, Angel steps around her and follows Jeyson to the car.

“If you’re still wondering why she won’t talk to you,” he calls over his shoulder. “That might be it.”

Jeyson stares out the window as Angel gets in the car. He waits until his dad turns to double-check his seatbelt to ask the question on his mind.

"Who's that lady?" He asks as he watches your mom return to her car.

Angel follows Jeyson's gaze before starting the car.

"Someone who needs to talk to your mom."

"....she kinda looks like her..."

"Yeah..." Angel sighs. "Hey, your mom said you wanted to talk to me about something. Is it about school?"

Jeyson nods as he picks up the book in his lap.

"She said I didn't have to stay there."

"You don't want to?"

Jeyson's brow furrows. It is a question that's been on his mind since your conversation over the weekend.

"I don't know." He admits. "I've never been to the other school."

"I get it. Making friends is hard."

"Yeah."

"How about we see if you can check out the other school? If you go there, and you don't like it we can stay at Gilman. Sound good?"

Jeyson nods. He returns the smile that his father gives him through the rearview mirror.

"We just wanna make sure that you like going to school. No matter how good your mom and I think a school is, if you don't wanna be there, I'm not going to force you to go. Okay?"

"I wonder why they call him El Diablo."

Looking up from your notepad, you find Isabela leaning forward in her chair. She is studying a photograph of Tommy, her brow furrowed as she moves it closer for a better look.

You blink. It is a good question. One, you realize, you’ve never asked.

You shrug. "I don't know."

"You didn't ask him?"

You shake your head before letting your gaze return to your notepad. "I've been more focused on this shit storm of charges. Not his tattoos."

"Would've been the first thing I asked him," Isabela admits as she picks up a second photograph.

"You can if you ever meet him."

“He’s actually kinda cute,” she notes, the urge to roll your eyes returning at the admission. She releases a laugh as you shake your head. “What? He is, I bet he has a nice smile—”

You reach forward taking the photo from her. You place it face down on the desk before returning back to your work.

“He’s not my client,” she mumbles. “Besides, we’ve been working on this for nearly two hours. Maybe, it’s time you take a break.”

The headache you’ve been nursing for the past hour is getting worse. The source of your headache is Tommy. He is the reason Isabela is in your office. She received a text from Angel this morning--a text she has chosen not to share with you.

One that shared he’d woken last night to find you weren’t in bed. That you were working when he’d found you at the kitchen table, and although you said you’d come back to bed you never did.

Despite her intentions of helping you, Isabela has been no help. Instead of helping, she has spent the last hour looking through Tommy’s file asking any question that comes to her mind.

You're currently compiling a discovery checklist. Getting information from Tommy has proven to be difficult--impossible. He has not given you a single detail from the night he was arrested. Or about himself.

In your time together you have learned Tommy Flores is a master deflector. He could almost give Angel Reyes a run for his money. The only reason you can see past Angel's bullshit is years of practice.

You don't have years to crack Tommy.

"He has some dope ink."

Your eyes drift shut. Another photograph of Tommy has found its way into Isabela’s hands.

"Iz, are you here to help? Or admire his tattoos?"

"Sorry," Isabela huffs. "What do you need help with?"

"Alexander Maddox."

"His previous council didn't leave any information?"

You shake your head.

"Nothing. It looks like they didn't even bother looking into him. All I know is he's supposed to be in a rival club, but I can't even find out who Tommy's affiliated with. And although I have his arrest records none of these are crimes linked to a club. Every time I ask him a question, he somehow turns the conversation to me."

“You know how these things go, Y/N.” Isabela sighs. “He’s only going to tell you what he thinks you need to know.”

“So, nothing?”

Your notepad falls to your desk before you release a deep breath.

“I am not going to this arraignment Friday.” Your voice comes out muffled against your palms as you cover your face.

You’re number three on Tommy’s lists of attorneys. Clearly, you’re just as naive as the previous two. You’re to report downtown early Friday morning. Tommy is no stranger to the courthouse. You have already received a warning from the judge to ensure Tommy is on his best behavior Friday. His outburst from past visits is becoming a thorn in your side.

"Have you told Angel you’re working on this case?"

"No."

"Tommy’s killed somebody."

Your eyes roll as you pick up the photograph she slides towards you. You take the time to focus on Tommy's tattoos.

"That's exactly why I haven’t said anything yet. You know Angel. He worries too much when it comes to my job."

A smile slides across Isabela's face, the sight causing you to brace for what's to come. You lift the photo of Tommy until it blocks Isabela's grin from your view. You know where this conversation is going before it even picks up.

"Or, maybe you haven’t had much time to talk about Tommy with all the sex you’re having."

"That’s not what we’ve been doing. Believe it or not, we don’t have sex twenty-four-seven, Isabela.”

“Okay.”

“He moved in two days ago." Your eyes roll as she grins. What was I supposed to do? Say welcome home--by the way, the new client Samuel gave me is batshit crazy? I try not to mention Samuel at home.”

“Please,” Isabela laughs as she picks up her coffee. “Angel is not thinking about Samuel. He knows Samuel never had a real chance with you.”

“I know,” you sigh. Your eyes drop to the photo in your hand as Isabela’s brows furrow in suspicion. Your words come out quieter this time. “He’s thinking about kids.”

"Wait, what?" She sputters, nearly spitting out her coffee. She motions for you to backtrack. "You decided not to take the pill? When the hell did this happen?"

"After I talked to Angel."

“I thought you wanted to take it. What changed?" Her brow furrows, a pout forming on her lips. "And why did you wait two whole days to tell me?

You pause. It's a good question and difficult to answer.

Probably because the moment I say we're trying to have kids it makes things official?

"He asked me not to take it," you shrug. “So I didn’t.”

Isabela waits, for elaboration but it never comes.

"Yeah, Y/N, but a kid is...a kid. Like, a whole freaking person--"

“I know, Izzy. I have one. With Angel. Remember?”

“Exactly my point,” Isabela continues as you meet her gaze. “Angel thinks any part of you is better than nothing, so he won’t ever say this to you. But you’re both my best friends, so I’m going to say it. I hope you realize what you’re getting into. Saying you want another kid is like saying you’re on the same page as him.”

“I know.”

“You can’t just have sex with Angel, have another kid, and not expect him to think you’re getting back together--for real for this time.”

The admission silences the office. It is a thought that's bounced around your head the moment you let Angel convince you not to take the morning-after pill. Although Isabela doesn’t say it outright, you know your decision has co-signed Angel’s end game.

Marriage.

He won’t push you towards it, but you know that’s what he wants the most. The final stamp of approval to show he’s earned his family back.

"Have you given this weekend any thought?" Isabela's face lights up as she opens the folder in her lap.

How could you not? October 13th has been forever ingrained in your mind. The moment you enter the month of October, your body physically goes into panic mode.

It is the awkwardest time of the year.

Angel deals with the anniversary of your divorce by tiptoeing around the subject. He watches Jeyson while you leave town to “get it off your mind.” You make it awkward by trying to avoid Angel the entire week until the date passes. Because, even though you are no longer married, cutting off feelings was not easy.

In the past, the anniversary always kicked up feelings, pushing the two of you into overdrive. It always brought up a terrible mixture of reminiscing, guilt and an overhyped sex drive. Although Angel had mastered the art of not speaking on your divorce, he never could master the art of hiding his feelings. They had often bled out in the form of a look. A look you could tolerate any other day of the year, but not October 13th. So to save you both the tortuous fallout of that you would often stay clear of him until the day passed.

But, how are two supposed to handle October 13th this year?

“No,” you lie, finally answering Isabela's previously posed question. “I haven’t.”

“Well, since you’re too busy to remember. Let me remind you. This weekend marks the seventh year of your divorce-”

“I don’t actually need a reminder-"

“And, I think that you and Angel should take this year to spend some quality time together.”

"I moved him back into my house, Izzy. He’s sleeping in my bed. How much more quality time do you need?"

"So what? You’re going to just avoid the topic of divorce this weekend?"

"I can’t."

"Exactly! I know this day is always weird for you two, but I found a way to make it better this year." Isabela pulls a sheet of paper from her folder before offering it to you. The grin on her face makes you nervous. “And, no. There is no need to thank me for this generous gift.”

It takes you a moment to realize what she's handed you.

You read aloud:

"We look forward to seeing you! Mr. and Ms. Reyes, thank you for choosing to stay with us at the Enchanted Isle. It is our pleasure to confirm the following reservation for October 13--Tell me you did not book this."

When you lift your eyes from the page, you find Isabela holds a pamphlet in her hand.

"I did. I already paid for everything, so you two don’t have to do anything but show up." Isabela quickly speaks as she takes in the look on your face. "The reservation is for five days. I signed you two up for the couple's retreat--"

"No, you did not—“

"It's right on the beach--"

"Been to the beach before."

"They've got a whole list of activities the two of you can do to build trust, and get to the root of your problems. You can take the time to bond and relax." Practically shoving the pamphlet into your hand, she pleads. "Y/N, please. Just read it. I swear I wouldn't have done this if I didn't think it was a good idea."

You stare at the pamphlet before glancing back up at a hopeful Isabela. You sit the pamphlet down.

"Did you tell Angel about this?"

All apprehension washes away as a grin spreads across Isabela's face. "That's your job."

"A couple’s retreat?"

"Before you shoot it down, just ask him if he'll go."

You grip your eyes shut, and Isabela knows she's won. She quickly gets up afraid, if she presses the matter any further, you'll change your mind.

"I'm going to leave and let you look it over. If you want more information, the site information is on the pamphlet."

You can count on one hand the times you've been alone with Angel the last seven years. The common thread that has brought you and Angel together has been your son. 98 percent of your interactions surround Jeyson. The remaining 2 percent are moments when Angel's convinced you to come out. The last time that happened, you only lasted a few hours before ending up in bed with him.

The idea of spending five full days completely alone with Angel brings butterflies to your stomach.

You’re in the process of reaching for the pamphlet when you stop. You find yourself picking up the photograph previously discarded by Isabela.

It is one you have seen nearly a hundred times from the moment Samuel dropped the file on your desk. You’re studying the photo of Tommy, but your mind drifts to Angel--specifically his tattoos. You can recount each, and its meanings, off the top of your mind.

"I wonder why they call him El Diablo?" Isabela's question passes through your mind as you take in the red devil etched across Tommy's skin.

Tommy has more tattoos than Angel. Both arms are a collage of colorful tattoos. After studying each, you focus on the tattoo peeking out of his left inner arm.

Only the top half of the black stallion is visible. Rearing, the stallion has a pair of eyes red as Tommy's devil tattoo. The only way you will be granted access to the full view is if you ask Tommy to show you.

You wonder if his tattoo is similar to Angel’s. You know that members get ink once they've patched into an M.C.

What club uses a horse?

It's a question you're in the process of texting Angel when your office phone rings.

“Reyes.”

“Hi, Ms. Reyes!” Your shoulders relax as you are welcomed by the voice of the receptionist, Alana. “I’m glad that I’ve caught you.”

“Hi, Alana. Is everything okay?”

“Yes, ma'am. I have a special delivery for you.”

“Can it be sent up?”

“No, I’m afraid it can’t. You have to provide a signature. It'll be at the front desk.”

“Okay. Give me a few minutes.” The moment you hang up, you let out a sigh and mumble to yourself. "Izzy, if this you, I swear..."

It turns out, the delivery is the last thing you’re expecting.

When you step out of the elevator, you briefly pause as the front desk comes into view. Biting your lip, your pace slowly starts again.

Alana sits straight in her seat, her weight resting on her elbows, a giant smile on her face. The laughter that echoes off the walls is one you’ve encountered your entire life. The flirtatious laughter of a woman who has fallen victim to the charms of Angel Reyes.

Your eyes roll as you catch sight of your grinning ex-husband. Leaning against the desk, Angel is putting the poor young receptionist through her paces. Apart from the stream of giggles, Alana can hardly string together more than two words beneath his gaze.

You shake your head as you take a step forward.

“...I’ve never been on one before,” Alana’s response becomes clear as you near the front desk. “But maybe you could take me for a ride sometime.”

You watch Angel’s eyes pass over her shoulder, his smile doubling in size as you give him a small wave. Alana’s giggles falter as she realizes Angel’s attention has drifted. Glancing over her shoulder she clears her throat.

“Ms. Reyes, this gentleman was dropping off your lunch order.” She quickly motions to the drinks and bags atop the desk.

“Oh no. There must be a mistake, Alana,” you say stopping alongside Angel. “I didn’t actually order this.”

“You didn’t?”

Shaking your head, you ignore the smile on Angel’s lips.

“No, you can actually keep him. Maybe he’ll take you for a ride on his bike.”

“Sadly,” Angel sighs. “I’m gonna have to pass on that offer. Last time I let another girl ride on my bike you almost killed me.”

“Rightfully so.”

“Hindsight is 20/20,” Angel’s smile softens as you shake your head. “You think you can fit me in?”

“I’m booked all day. I keep telling you, the world doesn’t stop for you, Angel.”

“Damn…” Angel releases a long, drawn-out sigh. He turns the cup nearest to him, allowing you to read the logo. The corners of his lips twitch up into a smile as you realize it’s from your favorite place. “Since I can’t come up, I guess I gotta keep this. I ordered for two. I’m not that hungry, but I guess I’ll have to eat yours. Hate for it go to waste--”

“Well, since you drove all the way out here.” Swiping the bag, you smile as Angel realizes your intentions. “The least I can do is take my half off your hands. Thank you.”

Turning you giggle as his hands catch your waist, preventing you from taking another step.

“Wait--” Angel’s arms wrap around your middle, his lips pressing against your shoulder. “I don’t get a tip, a kiss? Nothing?”

“You can get a kiss, but you have to sign in first.” You smile as you take in his triumphant smile. Angel quickly takes his wallet, passing his ID over. “I hope you understand the only reason I said yes is because you bought food.”

Alana studies Angel’s ID for a brief movement. Her eyes watch him sign in before she passes it back over.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Reyes.” She clears her throat before redirecting her attention to her computer. “Please make sure you stop by to sign out when you leave.”

You wait for Angel to grab his food before motioning towards the elevator.

“Let’s go. You’re on the clock, Angel Reyes.”

“How much time do I get?”

“Thirty minutes.”

“More than enough time.”

Angel’s arm drapes over your shoulder, pulling your body closer to his. The kiss he presses against your temple brings a smile to your lips. The fluttering in your stomach remains as he lets you go and presses the elevator button.

A silence falls over the two of you as you patiently wait for its arrival. Angel can feel you watching him. He has a smile on his face when he looks over at you.

“Hi,” you smile.

“Hey.”

“Did Izzy send you?”

Angel’s brow furrows, a laugh escaping, as he steps inside. “No. I don’t know how I feel about that question.”

“What?”

He shakes his head. “I try to surprise you, and your first question is if Izzy set this up. I can do nice things for you, ya know?”

“That’s not what I’m saying,” you backtrack, suddenly feeling guilty.

“Relax, querida.” He chuckles. “I’m just playing. What?” He asks after a moment of silence. “You two been talking about me?”

“No.” You mentally kick yourself for the quickness of your response.

Angel’s eyes pass over your face, his smile stretching. “Yeah ok. What happened to no secrets?”

“What? Four years I’ve worked here and this is the first time you bring me lunch. I had to ask.”

“And I had to wait til I knew you’d actually take it,” Angel laughs. “I didn’t want to show up and you reject me.”

Your eyes roll. “I would never do that.”

“Uh-huh. No need for the golden girl act, it’s just us.”

“I’m half tempted to let you take this back to Alana,” you lightly bump him before leading him out the elevator. You take in his raised brow. “Your new fangirl.”

“I can’t help that women gravitate towards me,” Angel grins as you shake your head. “Doesn’t matter, though, you’re only one I’m looking at--”

“No need to sweet talk me, Reyes. You already got the keys.”

“I’m just trying to keep this love alive.” Angel teases.

“Ahh,” you nod. “So, bringing me lunch unannounced is part of this plan?”

“Yeah, forming new habits.”

“What are the other ones?”

His brow arches. Angel smiles before shaking his head. “Can’t tell ‘em all, gotta keep you on your toes.”

“Keeping things exciting?”

“Something like that.”

Angel has always wondered what your office looked like. He takes a look around as you start to clear off your desk.

More so, he’s always wondered if he’d find traces of him inside. Everyone at the office knew you were divorced, most divorced people don’t have photos of their ex-husband in their office.

He’s surprised to find that you have more than one.

The most noticeable one is from last Christmas when you and Jeyson helped Angel host Christmas for Felipe. The most recent is a photo of Jeyson and Ezekiel. Jeyson’s smile is wide as he and his uncle proudly show off their sandcastle. Angel’s eyes find one he doesn’t expect to see.

He pauses by your desk before picking it up.

It was snapped years ago, back when the idea of breaking up seemed impossible in both of your minds.

You both dawn a cap and gown. Felipe smiles, holding the flowers he and Marisol brought you. Ez is to your right, his arm wrapped around his mother’s shoulder, grinning at the camera. Angel stands behind you. His arms are wrapped around your middle, his lips pressing a kiss against your cheek.

“I’m surprised you didn’t throw this away.”

You look up from the fries you’re trying to divide equally. Following his gaze, you roll your eyes.

“Must have forgot to add it to all the other pictures.”

“Hey, don’t say that. I didn’t throw anything away. Besides, it’s my favorite picture.”

Angel glances up, his eyes watching you as you put the frame back where it belongs.

“Let’s eat.” You smile. “You have no idea how much I needed this.”

“You can have mine if you want,” he chuckles. “If you’re that hungry. I know how you get--”

“That’s not what I meant.”

He looks up as your hands find his face. Leaning in, you kiss him. The food is abandoned, your minds focused on the one thought that’s been on your mind all morning.

He could never get used to it. Not when you were younger or even married. The privilege of kissing you whenever he wanted. Not having to worry about crossing the line only to be told it was a mistake. It is a hard thing to get over when you start out as friends.

It was nothing compared to the feeling he got when you kissed him. No matter how soft, how rough, how quick, how long. Or the reason behind it. Until his dying day, Angel will never understand how his feelings for you are not one-sided.

His eyes follow you as you take a seat and begin to eat.

“Oh, I get it…” A grin slowly spreads across his lips, the sight causing you to shake your head. “By this, you meant me...”

“And they say I only married you for your looks,” you wink.

“Everyone knows that’s not why you married me.”

“Shut up,” your eyes roll as he laughs.

You lean over, giving him a second kiss. You wouldn’t think it possible but his smile gets bigger.

“I meant you,” you smile as his lips press against your cheek. “Please don’t let it go to your head. I have no energy for your sass today.”

Talking to you has always been easy, which is why Angel isn’t surprised the two of you have no trouble falling into the conversation. But, after you’ve dropped his gaze three times, Angel says “What?”

“I have something I want to show you,” you admit.

You’ve held off enough. The moment you saw him downstairs, Izzy’s pamphlet has nearly burned a hole through your mind.

“Okay.”

Sitting your cup aside, you open your desk drawer. Passing him the brochure, you take in Angel’s confused expression.

His brow furrows as he reads aloud, “Enchanted Isle. You and Iz are keeping it local this year?”

Opening the pamphlet, Angel silently starts to read.

He reads nearly the entire pamphlet in silence, each passing second not helping with the butterflies in your stomach. His mind only seems to hone in on certain words. “Couples” “intimate oasis” “oceanfront views.” “Couples” “bonding.” “Couples.”

To the point where he can focus on is one.

Couples.

“This is where you’re going this year?”

You nod.

His expression is a mixture of confusion, and something else you can’t read. Suddenly you feel like an idiot. You can understand how it might look. Going on a couple’s retreat on the anniversary of your divorce.

Suddenly you’re nervous as his eyes lift to rest on you.

“It’s just...seven years is a long time. It’s kinda a milestone in relationships. Either you’ve grown apart or you still love someone, and I think it’s safe to say that I still--no matter how I’ve tried I can’t--I don’t want to push you out of my life. And I know I haven’t been fair to you over the years. You’ve shown me so many times that you’re serious about being with Jeyson and me. Instead of recognizing what you’ve shown me, I’ve tried to punish you by making you think I didn’t want you the way that you want me. But the truth is...I want to be with more than when we were kids.”

Angel doesn’t interrupt you, and you’re thankful that he doesn’t. You know that it’s a messy delivery, but it’s the first time you’ve managed to work up the courage to tell him.

“You asked me to give you a chance--a real chance...so this is me giving you a real chance. And I believe we can’t give ourselves a real chance until we figure out who we are together. Outside of my family and yours. Outside of the club. Outside of Jeyson, and Santo Padre. Just us.”

Angel remains silent. His eyes search yours before falling back to the pamphlet in his hands.

“Just us?”

You nod trying your best to slow the beating of your heart.

“For how long?”

“Five days.”

“I don’t know about this--”

“We don’t have to take any of the classes if you don’t want to--”

“I’m down for classes, or whatever you wanna try. I’m talking about you.” Angel takes in your look of confusion. “You sure you’re up for five days? I mean the last time I got you alone, you lasted a good two hours before you practically jumped me--”

Angel narrowly avoids the napkin you toss his way.

You try your best to deny him the smile he’s searching for, but you fail as you meet his gaze.

“You really thought I’d say no?”

“I was hoping you wouldn’t.” Your eyes drop to your phone, your shoulders dropping as your alarm beeps.

“Time’s up,” Angel sighs.

“Yeah.”

He gives you a soft smile before standing and cleaning up.

“I actually have something else for you,” you admit as he dumps the trash. You motion for him to sit down. “But I would prefer if you close your eyes.”

Angel does as you ask. Once he’s settled in his seat, he closes his eyes. Just as you’re about to move your gift from behind your back he peeks.

“Angel-”

“Sorry,” he sighs.

You wait until Angel closes his eyes to take his left hand in yours. His brow arches as you remove the ring from his ring finger. Placing it in the pocket of his kutte, you place a kiss against his knuckle.

You smile at the nervous look on his face. You clear your throat.

“I know we can’t get married right now...so until then, I would like you to have this. I know it’s super cheesy, but I want to make sure that you understand how serious I am. I know we gotta wait a little longer, so until then I wanna give you this.”

Angel’s smile begins to grow as he feels you slip something onto his finger. The words are those repeated. Words he said to you before. Years ago. Senior year. At the carnival. He’d stolen you away from the group, to give you a kiss. He can still remember the sound of your laugh as he’d revealed the gift to you all those years ago.

You press a soft kiss against his cheek before tucking your face against his shoulder.

Angel opens his eyes. The inability to suppress his smile becomes difficult as he takes in the red ring pop you’ve left behind. The chuckle he releases brings a smile to your lips.

“In all seriousness, it’s a proposal for a clean slate. Wiping both of our slates clean, no resentment for anything. I won’t bring up anything you’ve done, and you won’t bring up anything I’ve done. We’re just moving forward, focusing on doing what’s best for Jeyson and our family.”

Angel’s gaze meets yours. He nods before pressing a kiss against your forehead. You two share a smile before you pull him up from where he sits.

“Who knew all I had to do was bring you lunch,” Angel teases as you lead him back to the elevator. “We could’ve fixed this a long time ago.”

You take in the grin on his face before shaking your head.

“Please call Isabela and thank her because she has been working hard on fixing our love life.”

“I will--before I forget. Chucky looked it up. Apparently, the largest aquarium in Cali is in Monterey Bay. We have a club run set up in Vegas next weekend.” Angel reaches inside his kutte. He produces a white envelope before passing it over. “So I figured we could go to Monterey first then split up after. We got a ticket for Izzy too if you want to bring her. I know Jeyson would want to go. Kinda be congratulations on his recital this Friday. I just hope he doesn’t explode once he sees all those animals up close.”

You turn and wrap your arms around him. Your unexpected action causes Angel’s body to shift. He glances down at you as your face burrows into his neck. You can feel it coming. Words you’ve found yourself wanting to say before. Words you’ve never been able to escape from the moment he said them to you first all those years ago.

“I love you, Angel Reyes.”

The admission is quiet.

Angel’s initial thought is that it was imagined. The tightening of your arms around him is the validation he needs that his ears aren’t playing tricks on him.

“I hate that you make it impossible not to.”

Angel’s smile presses against your temple. Tipping your head back you smile as his eyes meet yours. The look in his eyes preparing you for what’s to come.

“Did you just say you love me?” Your eyes roll as Angel’s smile slowly morphs into a grin. “I’m just saying, it's been so long. I might need you to say it again--”

Slipping out of his grip, you press the button for the elevator.

“I am not saying it again,” you giggle. “It is officially time for you to go, Mr. Reyes.”

Angel glances towards the elevator light, watching it slowly begin its climb to your floor.

“I came all the way over here,” he releases a dramatic sigh.

“It is not even fifteen minutes from your job--”

“I got you lunch--”

“No one asked you to do that. Who am I turn down free food?”

Taking your face in his hands, Angel sighs, “the least you could do is give me a kiss.”

Turning, you offer him your cheek.

“Damn,” Angel chuckles. “I don’t remember you being so heartless--”

“Please,” you giggle as his lips press against your cheek. You allow his lips to drift to your neck, as his arm wraps around your waist. “All I got was lunch. I gave you a whole ring, Reyes. You’re gonna have to work harder for a real kiss.”

“I can’t wait to get you alone this weekend,” he groans.

Heat follows the path of his hand as it traces down your spine. It drifts lower. The ding of the approaching elevator causes him to reluctantly pull away. Angel pauses as the doors open and he comes face to face with a familiar face.

Your smile slowly fades as you take in Samuel. He looks up from the coffee in his hand. His eyes briefly meet yours before moving to Angel. He takes in the keys Angel’s holding.

“You’re leaving?”

“Uh...no, just taking him down to sign out.”

Samuel nods before stepping to the side. He pauses as Angel steps forward offering his hand.

“Angel,” he smiles.

Samuel’s eyes drop to Angel’s outstretched hand, but he makes no move to take it. Angel drops your hand.

“I’m gonna head out,” he takes your hand in his. Giving it a gentle squeeze, he smiles. “Don’t forget we have a Millennium Falcon being delivered tonight.”

“Trust me I can’t,” You smile. Heat rushes to your face as Angel’s gaze drops to your lips.

Instead of kissing you, Angel takes a step towards the elevator. His eyes briefly pass over Samuel.

“I’ll find my way back to the front. Make sure she doesn’t work too hard.”

The second Angel is out of sight, you turn back towards your office. Samuel’s voice follows yours.

“Reyes. Conference room in 5 mins.”

Your brow furrows as you face him.

“We have a meeting? I didn’t know there was one scheduled.”

“It wasn't,'' he starts towards the conference. “Emergency meeting.”

A nudge comes to your side, the persistence of Isabela causing you to glance up from the pen in your hand.

“What?”

Isabela shifts her seat, turning her back to Samuel who glances in your direction. Her eyes drop to the agenda in her hand.

“Is there something wrong with your case?”

Your brow furrows. “No. Why?”

“It’s the first thing on the agenda.”

You redirect your attention to the freshly printed agenda. It reads as follows:

Priorities: Thomas Flores.

Concerns: Counsel.

Nothing accompanies the statements.

“I know this meeting was unplanned, so I’ll make it short.” Samuel clears his throat as he glances at his watch. “Everyone needs to check the form sent out this morning and schedule a meeting with me for their six-month performance evaluation.”

You turn in your seat, lowering your voice as Isabela glances your way.

“He’s taking me off the case.”

Isabela releases a laugh, one that earns her a look of disapproval from Samuel. No matter her disbelief, the feeling in your stomach is that your hunch is right.

“Don’t be ridiculous. He wouldn’t--”

Samuel clears his throat, the pointed look quickly quiets the rest of Isabela’s statement.

“Most important issue at hand is the Thomas Flores case.” Running his hand down his tie, Samuel looks towards the agenda before him. “Once details about his case hit the media, the firm is going to get a lot of attention. With that being said I’ve decided to move Wells to lead counsel.”

Aiden Wells is gawking at your boss, his brown eyes wide. He blinks before glancing in your direction.

Aiden attempts to downplay the clearing of his throat with a bashful smile. “Sir, but that’s not my case-“

Samuel disregards the apprehensive protest of the young man. He dismissively waves his hand as he leans back in his seat.

“Yes, Wells, I am well aware that Reyes was initially assigned the case, but that decision was premature.”

“What made it premature?” All eyes in the room, minus Samuel's, drift to you.

To no surprise, Samuel ignores your question. Instead, he keeps his gaze on Aiden.

"Reyes will assist Wells--"

"I am not assisting anyone."

For the first time since the start of the meeting, Samuel looks at you.

"I didn’t want to make it about this-"

"Then don’t."

"It’s hard not to when your client has a history of being physically aggressive towards female attorneys. It's in his file. When things don't go his way, Tommy lashes out."

Isabela lifts her pen, the action narrowing Samuel's eyes. She does not wait for his permission to speak.

“That is true, but you knew this when you asked her to take the Flores case. Correct?"

The eyes in the room drift to Samuel. Isabela takes his silence as the opportunity to continue her thought.

“Flores may have a history of that, but Y/N hasn’t come back and reported any instances in which she’s felt uncomfortable with her client. I don’t think it’s enough to demote her.”

"Besides," you add. "Aiden’s never worked a trial case. It may not be the best decision to send a novice in on a case expected to acquire media attention. No offense, Aiden."

“None taken,” Aiden promptly co-signs, an appreciative look on his face. “She’s right, sir. I don’t really uh...feel comfortable taking this on as my first-“

Samuel’s eyes close as he pinches the bridge of his nose. The chuckle he releases stops Aiden from completing his thoughts.

“I wasn't aware this was becoming an open forum.”

A silence falls over the room. Aiden looks hopeful at the prospect of Samuel retracting his request. Isabela shifts in her seat, letting you know that she has something else to say. Samuel lets his gaze return to you, daring you to say something else.

Before you can speak, Isabela smiles.

"Well, Mr. Lorente, I think the open forum made this a productive meeting. We learned that Aiden isn't comfortable with being transferred to lead counsel." Turning in her seat, Isabela gives Aiden an encouraging smile. "But, he's willing to assist with the case."

"Yes," Aiden quickly nods, glad to seize any out he can. "Thanks, Iz. I'm far more comfortable with that. As long as it's okay with Y/N."

"As always," Samuel sighs, his eyes passing over Isabela. "Thank you for your commentary, Isabela."

Leaning back in his seat, he clicks the pen in his hand before clearing his throat.

"Reyes." Samuel waits until you look up to continue. “Get Wells up to speed. He’s leading the Prelim Friday. Are you clear?”

You know there is no point in arguing. Samuel has accomplished his goal.

Your voice comes out smaller than you like. “Yes.”

"Good." His smile is instantly back. "Meeting's done. Don't forget to sign up for your evaluations by close of business Friday."

The room empties quickly as you loosen your grip on your pen. You're surprised it hasn't burst. You can feel Samuel's gaze on you. The fact he hasn't made a move to leave letting you know the conversation isn't finished.

Rather than staying, you stand to follow Aiden towards the door.

"Reyes, don’t take it personally."

The statement halts your tracks. You turn to find a satisfied smirk on Samuel's lips.

"That’s bullshit, and you know it. If you’re mad at me, act like a fucking man, and just say it. But what you just pulled was childish-"

"No, what I just did was whatever I wanted. In case you forgot. In a few months, this firm is mine. And I don’t have patience for employees that talk back and question my authority in front of everyone. If you have a problem with it, maybe once the Flores case is up you should look for a new place to practice."

His eyes move to the door to where Aiden is hovering.

“Look on the bright side, you always worried everyone thought I gave you preferential treatment. Now’s your chance to prove you’re as smart as you claim to be.”

Samuel speaks the second half of his statement louder, granting Aiden access to this part of the conversation.

“The plan has been set in motion. Reyes, get Aiden up to speed for court Friday morning.”

As soon as you're out of earshot Aiden rambles.

"Y/N. I’m sorry. I want you to know I did not ask to be put on this case-"

"I know. He's punishing me."

"For what?"

You shake your head, ignoring the look of confusion on Aiden's face.

"Nothing--never mind. Forget I said that." You quickly pass him the folders in your hand. "You can go ahead and start looking at these. I have to use the bathroom. Can you meet me in my office in five?"

Before Aiden can produce a response, you've already left. He watches as you continue down the hall, past the bathroom towards the side steps.

The thing is. When you’re upset, the first thing to come is tears. It is undoubtedly the most irritating thing about you. That's why Aiden waits patiently in your office when you don't return in five minutes.

You don't realize you’ve called Angel until you hear his voice. Calling him when you're upset is second nature.

Old habits die hard.

"What’s up?"

You honestly didn't think the phone call through. As much as you want to tell Angel why you're upset. You can't. He'll only react in one way.

As you wipe at your eyes, you can't help but think of the one time Angel came a hair's breadth of expulsion. Junior year, he got in a fight with an ex-boyfriend of yours. It was bad. The kid's parents tried their hardest to get Angel arrested.

From then on, you've learned to filter out certain information. Primarily when it comes to other guys.

"I....forgot to ask if pizza is okay for dinner."

Although you managed to stop your tears before calling him, Angel knows something's wrong. His initial suspicion stems from the simple fact your question only warranted a quick text exchange.

"Yeah. That’s cool."

"Ok good. It’s just I might have to work late, so pizza will be easiest."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

"You sure? I thought you were calling to say you missed me."

You release a tiny laugh. "Not yet, it hasn’t been that long."

"I don’t know," Angel sighs. "You're going on about what? An hour?"

"You know withdrawals don't kick in until at least the two-hour mark."

"I don't know...you did say you loved me today--"

"Oh my goodness. Is it too late to take it back?"

"Too late."

"I wouldn't have said it if I knew you were going to pull it out every chance you get."

"I'm just saying, it's not a stretch to think you miss me." You can practically see his smile as Angel continues. "I've been known to have that effect on women--"

"I miss you, Angel. Is that what you want me to say?"

"Doesn't it feel good to get it off your chest?"

"So much better." You can't help but smile at the sound of Angel's laugh.

"Good," There’s a brief silence. "As long as you’re not having second thoughts about this weekend."

"I'm not. Promise."

“MOM!”

You freeze in place. Scrambling off the ground, Jeyson quickly maneuvers across the living room floor, which is littered with legos.

“You almost knocked over the escape pods!”

Taking your hands in his, Jeyson moves you to the side. You glance down to find that he is indeed correct. One more step you would have crushed the escape pods that took Angel nearly thirty minutes to complete.

“Sorry, what are you building?”

A smile finds Ez’s face as you glance over at him.

Jeyson’s eyes widen. “Only the coolest and fastest starship in the entire galaxy!”

“The Prometheus?”

Covering his eyes, Jeyson lets out a groan of disbelief. “Mom! We don’t like Star Trek!”

You feign confusion as you glance across the room to a smiling Ez. “We don’t?”

“No!” Jeyson turns to cross the room and retrieves the box from the corner.

“We definitely don’t,” Ez co-signs as Jeyson lifts the box for you to see.

“The Millenium Falcon?” You read, your brow furrows. You might not have thought it possible, but Jeyson’s eyes somehow get bigger. “Who flies that? Darth Vader?”

You let out a laugh as Jeyson drops his face into his hands.

“I’m kidding," you giggle. "I promise I remember.”

It is hard not to remember. Jeyson has asked for the Millennium Falcon Lego set for nearly a month. He and Bishop hoodwinked the M.C. into paying Jeyson for chores and errands around the clubhouse. Almost half of the funds came from his father alone. Each dollar Angel has put in the swear jar the last month and a half were also used. When he came home to find it delivered on the front steps, Jeyson nearly exploded. He begged Angel to call his uncle so that he could get started on it tonight. He couldn’t wait until Saturday.

Angel has never seen Jeyson complete his homework so fast. By the time Ez arrived, Jeyson was seated in the middle of the floor with a game plan ready to go.

"I'm going to get the pizza." You announce as Aiden waves to Jeyson. "Aiden this is Ezekiel. Zeke, this Aiden."

"We work together," Aiden adds.

When Angel rounds the corner Aiden is in the midst of gushing over the Millennium Falcon with Jeyson.

Angel’s eyes pass over Aiden, his brow arching in confusion. Ezekiel smiles at his brother's expression before nodding towards Aiden.

"Angel this is Aiden. He and Y/N work together."

Aiden quickly steps forward, offering Angel his hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Same."

Aiden looks between the two brothers. "You’re her--"

"Baby daddy," Angel finishes, his smile growing as Ez's eyes roll.

"Yeah, eight years, she still can’t seem to shake him," Ez smirks. “You’ve already met his mini-me.”

Angel's gaze passes over the room.

"Speaking of, Y/N, where is she?"

Angel finds you in the driveway stacking the pizzas boxes in the backseat. His hands find your waist, gently guiding you back and away from the task at hand.

“Sorry it took so long,” you apologize as you glance over your shoulder. “Work took way longer than I thought it would.”

“You got a new boyfriend and didn’t even let me know?” He takes your face in his hands once you turn to face.

A soft smile finds his lips as your eyes meet his.

“Gotta keep my options open. I was planning on keeping it on the DL for a bit longer, but there was a change of plans.”

Your eyes drift shut as his thumb brushes against your skin. Your body relaxes as his lips press against your forehead.

“At least he knows about Star Wars,” Angel chuckles. “Jeyson’s already talking his ear off.”

“That’s good.”

“Everything okay?” Even if you think the nod you give is adequate, it’s not. A soft smile finds his lips as Angel continues. “Believe it or not, I know you.”

“Aiden’s here because I need to get him up to speed on this case.”

“The one that has you visiting Stockton?”

“Yeah. He’s going to help me out by taking over a few things.”

Despite the reassuring smile, Angel’s brow raises. “You asked for help?”

Your nod is an automatic response. Angel's eyes search yours, which is why your eyes drop to your hands.

“I’m fine. Promise. I just have a headache, but I have to do this tonight. Aiden’s really nervous, so I just want to make him feel better. You remember how I was with my first big case.”

You can see it in his face, the look that lets you know he’s not going to let it go.

“I know you’ve been getting up in the middle of the night to work-”

“I don’t like working on this stuff when Jeyson’s up,” you sigh, mentally kicking yourself for letting him notice it. “You know he tries to read everything he gets his hands on. Plus there are pictures--”

The trouble is, Angel’s bullshit meter is stronger than yours.

“That I get, but I don’t see why someone else should be taking over if you’ve been working hard-”

Taking his face in your hands, you offer him a smile. “Angel, it’s fine. It’s not that serious.”

He opens his mouth to respond, but you stand on your toes to bring your lips to his. It takes a moment for him to return it. When he does, Angel wraps his arm around your waist to pull you closer. He grants your wish when your arms tighten around him begging him to stay.

“You’re needy today,” he notes as your lips press against his neck.

“I can’t help it,” you giggle, your lips finding his cheek. “I’m just so in love with you.”

“Clearly,” he chuckles as your lips brush his.

“Besides you give the best kisses,” you smile.

“Gotta share them with the world.”

Grinning, Angel ducks down to give you a second kiss.

“Thanks for letting me come over,” Aiden accepts the beer before glancing over the stacks of papers littering the table. “I know this probably isn’t how you thought your night would be.”

“It’s all good,” Angel rests against the counter. “If it helps Y/N, I can’t really complain.”

Aiden’s eyes drift towards the living room. “Your son looks just like you.”

Angel nods. His eyes find Jeyson who sits on your lap. You’ve nearly finished assembling the pile assigned to Angel. In his father’s absence, Jeyson has decided that you’re much better at putting legos together.

“Yeah,” Angel chuckles. “He got her brains though, so it’s a fair trade-off.”

“I heard he’s over at Gilman,” Aiden whistles. “Hard school. But I hear everyone who graduates from there goes off to an Ivy League.”

“That’s the goal,” Angel nods. “Gotta give your kids a better future.”

“You two went to the same school? You and Y/N?”

“She grew up a few blocks from me and my brother. Probably would’ve gone to Gilman if her parents could afford it. She was too smart for most of us.”

“I think it’s cool you two are still close. I know some divorces can be ugly.”

“It was,” Angel responds. A tiny smile finds his face as he takes in the look of disbelief on Aiden’s face. “She didn’t talk to me for that first year. Complete radio silence….kinda impressive when I look back at it.”

Aiden chuckles. “Hard to tell.”

“Yeah, well. It’s even harder to stay mad at her..” Angel looks away from you before nodding towards the notes on the table. “Anyway, I appreciate you helping her out. She’s been stressed out about work lately.”

“Trust me, she’s helped me with a lot more since I started at the firm. I won’t really be much help,” Aiden admits. “She’s got it all covered. She just brought me on to keep the peace.”

Angel’s brow arches, his drink hovering inches from his lips. “With who?”

“Samuel.”

“That’s what she said?”

“Not exactly.” Aiden glances over to where you sit. “Samuel, he’s a cool guy, but sometimes he can be a hardass. Think he’s just trying to prove he can run the firm as well as his old man. A lot of people say he made partner because of his old man.”

“What’s that gotta do with, Y/N?”

Aiden shrugs. Although you asked him not to say anything, Aiden continues. Even though you have a great poker face, there was a brief second that he had caught glimpse of the effect Samuel’s decision had on you.

“He called an emergency meeting today, said he doesn't want her to lead her anymore. Everyone pretty much agrees she’s the best person at our firm, but Samuel said that I have to take it over. She has to assist me.”

The look on Angel’s face causes Aiden to trail off. It’s a look that makes Aiden realize he never wants to be on the receiving end of Angel’s anger.

Realizing there’s more, Angel says. “What else did he say?”

Aiden’s eyes drop to the notes you’ve provided. Briefly glancing towards you, his words come out quieter this time.

“He um...he pulled the gender card.” He clears his throat. “Said there are just some cases better handled by a male.”

Aiden notes the tightening of Angel’s grip on the beer bottle. He’s pretty sure it’s about to shatter.

“I already told her, I’m not taking the lead.” Aiden finishes. “I don’t want it. I’m just here in case Samuel tries to check up and make sure she actually did what he said.”

“Thank goodness you’re here to help,” you smile as Ez studies the Millennium Falcon blueprint. “If it was just me we’d never finish this.”

“It’s all good, it’s not like Angel’s been much help. You’ve had to pick up his slack.”

At the mention of his name, you look away from the task at hand for Angel. You find him standing by the front door, slipping on his kutte. Your brow furrows as he stops to pick up his keys. Ezekiel follows your gaze across the room.

“You’re leaving?”

Adjusting his collar, Angel motions for Ez to get up. “Yeah, Ez and I gotta go.”

“Everything okay?”

Nodding, Angel ignores Ez’s confused expression. “Yeah, Ezekiel, hurry up. I’ll tell you about it on the way there.”

“Oh okay.” Ez begins to clean up, not asking his brother for anything else.

“Thank you for helping him,” you smile as Ez ruffles Jeyson’s hair before heading to the door.

Angel bends down, smiling as Jeyson wraps his arms around his neck for a hug.

“I’ll be back later, lil man.”

“Can you wake me up if I’m asleep?”

“Yeah, I will.”

“You two ride safe,” you smile as Angel’s lips press against your cheek. “How long are you going to be gone?”

“Two? Three hours tops.”

“Okay.” You glance up to find Angel that hasn’t made a move to leave. He remains alongside you, waiting expectantly.

Tipping your head back, you smile as Angel ducks down to kiss you.

“You wanna wait up for me?” He asks as his lips drift to your ear.

“Depends,” you shrug, your smile growing as his brow arches. “Is it going to be worth my while?”

“What kinda question is that?”

The kiss he leaves this time, lasts longer. Your son brings to it an end as he pushes against Angel’s chest.

“Ewwww!” Jeyson groans as Angel steals a final kiss. “Dad that's enough kissing--move!

"This is what we ran out the house for?"

Ez's eyes scan the crowded bar. He can't see anything worth Angel's urgency to leave earlier.

Although Angel claimed he would tell Ez, he hasn't shared anything. He currently holds a cue stick but hasn't bothered taking his turn. Instead, he's staring towards the bar and has been for the last ten minutes.

From where he stands, Ez can't tell who holds his brother's attention.

"Angel?"

Angel glances towards his brother, brow raised. "What do you want to drink?"

Ez lifts the beer Angel got him upon their arrival. "I'm good-"

"I'm gonna get you another one."

Angel hopes you'll give him some credit for the self-restraint executed the last ten minutes. He also hopes you never find out what he's about to do.

The moment he learned Samuel's name, Angel checked him out. He discovered Samuel stops at the same bar every night after work to "unwind."

"Angel--" Ez catches the back of his brother's kutte, pulling him off his path to the bar. Ez ignores the rolling of Angel's eyes. Following Angel's gaze to the bar, he lowers his voice. "Let's just go back. You just got back, don't fuck it up over this guy."

Angel knows what the warning in his brother's voice means.

"Relax I’m just gonna talk to him," Angel assures him. Brushing Ez's hand away, Angel straightens his kutte. "If shit gets out of hand, feel free to step in and save the day."

The calm expression on his face is enough to convince Ez there's no need to drag his brother outside. But he hovers behind Angel nonetheless.

Taking the empty seat alongside Samuel, Angel motions for the bartender.

"Can I get a refill on my friend's Old fashioned?" Samuel's jaw tightens as Angel's voice registers. "He's having a rough week. Trying to get over a broken heart."

Sitting his empty glass on the bar, Samuel glances over at Angel. His eyes pass over Angel's shoulder to where Ez stands.

"I take it she came home crying?" Samuel sighs as he accepts the new drink placed before him. "Sent you over here to teach me a lesson?"

"Actually, she didn't say anything." Angel watches Samuel's eyes narrow in suspicion. "Probably knew I'd show up here, and kick your ass."

"Yet, you're still here."

"True. See if you would've pulled that shit last week, I would have and you'd probably still be in the hospital." Angel chuckles before he takes a sip of his beer. "But, lucky for you, you caught me on a good week."

"Oh, yeah." Samuel laughs dryly. "She finally took you back. I gotta hand it to you--you've got a lot of patience. Surprised you didn't get tired of chasing her all those years. The sex must be out of this fucking world if she's got you hooked like that."

Ez's gaze finds his brother's reflection in the bar mirror. For a brief second, he contemplates putting his hand on his brother's shoulder as Angel's jaw tightens. Rolling his bottle between his palms, Angel takes a deep breath.

The first one has no effect. His grip tightens around the glass of his bottle, a satisfied smirk creeping its way across Samuel's face.

He takes a second one. The sight of releasing his grip on the bottle, only to shatter it against Samuel's head still remains.

He takes a third.

"I promised her I'd work on a few things. I'm trying this whole 'turning over a new leaf' shit." Angel sighs. The easy smile on his lips does the opposite of calm Samuel. No matter what words come out of his mouth, the look in Angel's eyes says it all. "So, instead of kicking your fucking teeth in, I'm going to take a less...violent approach and tell you to leave her the fuck alone."

He pauses long enough to finish his beer before sitting the bottle down.

"As long as you do that, and she comes home from work happy every day, we won't have any problems." Retrieving his wallet, Angel gives Samuel a final smile before standing. "And you won't have to see me again."

"Nice to see some convicts can be rehabilitated."

Samuel watches Angel slide the twenty-dollar bill across the bar. His jaw tightens as Angel's hand clamps down on his shoulder. The pressure Angel applies as he leans close to his ear, makes Samuel wince.

"Try some shit like that again, and you'll see how well it’s worked on me."

“You realize that kid’s a walking sponge?” Carefully shutting Jeyson’s bedroom door, Angel rubs at his tired eyes. He continues once he gets no response, his feet dragging as he treks to the bathroom. “You sure he’s not Ez’s?”

The sight of you standing in the doorway causes Angel’s smirk to falter.

In the process of brushing your teeth, you stand with your left hand on your hip, eyes watching Angel’s gaze pass over you. The inability to talk results in you giving him an overly dramatic eye roll before turning back to the sink.

His hands latch onto your waist as you attempt to move out of his reach. They gently squeeze your hips. He smiles as you brush his hands away.

“So, that’s what this was about?” Angel chuckles as you rinse your mouth. His smile grows as you glance at him through the mirror. “You let me move back in so that you can steal my shirts.”

“Damn,” you groan as his hands drag along your thighs before drifting beneath the shirt. “I was hoping it’d take you longer to figure that out.”

“You didn’t even wait a whole week,” Angel laughs as you flash him a sweetly innocent smile.

“It’s a perfect trade-off," you shrug. "You’re living here now. The least you can do is let me take one whenever I want. Besides, they always look better on me.”

His touch travels over your hips. Guiding your hips back, he smiles as you rest against him.

“That is true,” he concedes, his hands guiding the fabric over your hips. “But, they also always look better off.”

Your eyes roll as you catch sight of his grin in the mirror. Reaching around you, Angel turns on the shower. Your brow arches as his grin morphs into one more mischievous.

“Since you love making schedules, so much, how about you make one for the bathroom?” Angel’s hands gently squeeze your hips causing you to jump. “You can’t be in here every time I wanna shower. Unless you’re trying to join me...”

Your eyes roll as his chin rests against your shoulder. “Last I checked, I was here first.”

Angel’s eyes roll dismissing the truthful statement.

“Coincidentally?” No matter how silly the claim, you can’t deny Angel the smile he is looking for. “You had all night to get ready for bed, but the second I get home you’re walking around half-naked-“

“Maybe,” you sigh, dragging out the word, as you dry your face. “I was waiting to welcome you home."

“You should have called me,” Angel groans.

“I texted you, but you didn’t answer.” You remind him.

“I was kinda busy.” He notes, his hands drifting along the curves of your hips.

“Too busy for me?” You challenge. “That was not the right thing to say.”

“I know, but I had to handle something first,” Angel sighs. “Get in with me, let me make it up to you.”

You shake your head. Angel smiles as you glance up at him in the mirror.

“While you were busy, I took a shower.”

He coaxes a smile out of you as his touch drifts along the warmth of your thighs.

“Never stopped you before,” Angel notes as he guides the fabric of his t-shirt up and over your hips.

The warmth of his hands radiates throughout your entire body. Your eyes drift shut as the comfort of his touch drifts between your thighs. His smile traces the curve of your neck, each kiss he leaves relaxing your body against his.

“You sure you don’t wanna get in with me?”

You shake your head, biting your lip as his fingers slowly begin to build an all too familiar pressure.

Your voice comes out small. “We don’t need to wake up Jeyson.”

“I can be quiet,” Angel chuckles. “You on the other hand....”

The sound that escapes your lips brings a triumphant grin to his. Despite your initial protest, you rest back against Angel’s chest allowing him to slowly let loose a heat the stretches from head to toe.

“So, what?” Angel teases, his voice muffled against your neck. “You wanna wait til Saturday? When we’re alone?”

He takes this moment to stroke your folds, a finger slipping inside of you. The gasp that escapes your lips prompts his next question.

“Wanna wait so you can be as loud as you want?”

He smiles as you reach down the moment he slows his pace. Your grip tightens asking him to return to normal.

“Thought you were waiting til Saturday,” he chuckles as the pressure he’s built threatens to fade. He stops to press a kiss against your shoulder. “We’ll wait till Saturday.”

Your eyes open as his chuckles gets lost against your skin.

Angel takes a step back as you groan in protest, “I hate you--”

Tugging his shirt over his head, he tosses it your way.

“Get in with me,” he winks, his smile growing as your eyes watch him unzip his jeans. “If you don’t wanna finish, go to bed.”

You take a second look at the clock overhead.

Aiden is pacing the tiny room and has been for the last eight minutes. Your eyes drift shut as he begins another lap.

The next time he passes you, you catch his arm halting his tracks. You contain the annoyance you feel as you force him to face you. Meeting his gaze, you plaster the most reassuring smile you can muster on your face.

“Aiden, I gonna need you to get your shit together.”

You had the same pep talk with Aiden in the car ride over. The gentle route initially taken did not work.

Your words have an adverse effect. Aiden's eyes widen, just as they had during the meeting when he got his new assignment.

“He’s-”

"Going to eat you alive if he walks in and you have that look on your face."

Aiden clears his throat as you drop your hands from his shoulders. Reaching up, he straightens his tie. "What look?"

"Like you’re scared of him."

"I am scared of him." Aiden's brow furrows as he watches your eyes roll. "Aren’t you?"

"No. I'm not." You take a third glance at the clock. "He’s just a guy, like you-"

"Not like me." To his dismay, Aiden's voice rises in pitch. "We're are nothing alike! I have never killed anyone-"

"Allegedly," you correct, earning you a dubious look. "Jesus, Wells. We’re in a courthouse. There are eyes and ears everywhere."

You motion towards the cracked door. Your voice lowers.

"The last thing we need is someone hearing that you think our client is guilty."

"I’m just saying," Aiden drops his voice as you meet his gaze. "There’s a reason Samuel doesn’t want you alone with him-"

"Please," your eyes roll. "That is not why Samuel put you on this case. He's trying to punish me."

"For what?" Now it is Aiden's turn to laugh. "You do everything right. You're better than everyone there-"

"Yeah, well..." You let out a breath before granting him a smile. "If anything, I’m here to protect you."

"They say he's killed-"

"I know, Aiden. I’ve read the file. I helped you go over it."

Aiden studies you for a moment. "You’re really not scared of him?"

"How we handle our fears will determine where we go with the rest of our lives."

A tiny smile finds Aiden's lips as he glances over at you.

"Word of wisdom for my first day?"

"Yep," you laugh. "Courtesy of Judy Blume."

The laugh that follows appears to expel a bit of the stress he feels. Aiden's shoulders relax as you lightly bump his shoulder with yours.

"Here’s the one thing you want to remember when we’re with him." You sigh as he glances your way. "Guys like Tommy, they’re a different breed. They thrive on fear and can sniff it out a mile away. If you give him something he’ll take it, and twist it until he can use it against you. He doesn’t trust us. We’re just a means to an end. So, he'll look for whatever he can. Store it and use it against you the second you're dispensable. Don't give him anything unless it relates to the case."

"Redirect?"

"Exactly." You smile. "Take a breath. You'll do fine."

Aiden nods. A silence falls over the room as your eyes close. Watching the clock won't speed up the hands of time.

It doesn't help that once you're finished, you have Jeyson's recital. The butterflies in your stomach have been around from the moment you woke. They have nothing to do with Tommy Flores. Although you know Jeyson can play his peace with his eyes closed, the idea of him having to do so in front of an audience makes you nervous.

Aiden's eyes pass over your bouncing leg. He lightly bumps you with his shoulder.

"You wanna know something?"

"Sure."

"I think Angel's a pretty cool guy."

"What?" You let out a small laugh. "Not what you expected?"

"To be honest? No." Aiden admits.

"Not as scary as they make him out to be?" You lightly roll your eyes as Aiden glances in your direction. "You don’t have to pretend like you don't know what everyone at the office says about him, Aiden. They’re not exactly subtle about it."

Aiden nods, the look on his face letting you know he's finally going to ask the question that has been on his mind since his and Angel's meeting.

"Is that why you took the Flores case?" He asks. "Because of what happened with Angel's brother?"

You don't initially answer which prompts him to add his next thought.

"It's just...I noticed you always take the cases no else wants to touch."

"I'll deny this if you ever mention it to anyone at work," A tiny smile finds your face. "But when I was seventeen I got arrested."

Aiden's eyes widen. "Wait-what?"

You laugh as you take in his look of disbelief.

"I'm serious," you giggle as you take in his look of disbelief. "I was at a party with Angel and Isabela--"

"Wait--" Now it's Aiden's turn to laugh. "You and Izzy were arrested?"

"Of course not," your eyes roll, the smile on your face growing at the memory. "In typical fashion, Isabela came out scot-free--somehow wasn't around when we were all taken to the station. I was scared shitless."

"You were a golden girl?" he chuckles as you nod.

"I thought they were going to book us. They had each of us call our parents to come to pick us up. When I called home, my mom answered.

I just remember her saying, 'I told you that Reyes boy was no good, so you can stay there with him. I'll have your father pick you up in the morning.'

The funny thing is, I didn't find out until years later that his mother--Marisol--told Angel she'd come to pick him up. He stayed because he didn't want me to spend the night there alone.

I just think sometimes we have to remember that not everyone has someone to call. It's our job to help people--no matter their charges--because everyone is supposed to have a fair chance against the law."

You glance up as voices can be heard just beyond the door.

"I know people look at him and think he's trouble, but Angel’s not that bad," you softly smile as the door opens.

Tommy enters the room, his eyes instantly falling on an unrecognizable Aiden.

No longer wearing his blue Stockton uniform, Tommy almost looks like a free man. The shackles on his hands and feet briefly attract Aiden's gaze. He blinks before stealing a glance your way and redirecting his attention to Tommy.

He's wearing a charcoal suit. The top buttons of his white button-down are undone. The tie is poorly tied, somehow knotted. His eyes don't leave Aiden until you're standing directly before him. A smile finds Tommy's lips as you concentrate on fastening the unfinished buttons.

"Didn’t realize I was paying you to dress me," he states as you straighten his collar. As you quickly tuck in the tail of his shirt, he continues. "Or that I have to start sharing you."

"I shouldn’t be dressing you," you sigh as you try to push away the realization that you're too close for comfort to him. The smile on his face grows as you focus on the task at hand and not the playful eyes watching you. "But I can’t let you go in there half-ass-."

"It’s not that serious," Tommy chuckles as you take a step back to admire your work. "Their mind is already made up about me anyway-"

“It’s about respect,” Aiden utters. He immediately regrets interrupting Tommy as his gaze returns to him.

Tommy's brow furrows the scowl on his face causing Aiden to squirm.

"They don’t respect me. Why should I respect them?"

Aiden clears his throat. You recognize the look on his face. It is one you have seen since his arrival at the firm. It is the face Aiden makes when he wants to add something, although no one has asked him to.

With each word, Aiden's voice gets lower until it fades out. "Most people argue you lose it when you get accused of murder."

Tommy’s brow arches. A smirk finds his face as he regards Aiden who can't meet his gaze.

"It is about respect, Tommy." Your words bring Tommy's gaze back to you.

Aiden watches silently as Tommy's hands are unshackled.

"I need you to lose the jacket." You motion for him to take it off. "You look like a schoolboy."

"I thought the goal was to make me look like someone I'm not."

"We're not trying to oversell it," you note as he passes the jacket over.

A tiny smile finds his lips as Tommy watches you work on untangling the tie around his neck.

"Never had to wear one of these," he admits. "Not much use for them in my line of work."

"Don't worry about it," your eyes briefly lift from your work to meet his. "I have a lot of practice."

"You make a habit of dressing all your clients? I thought I was special."

"You're not. I have a son. Once you tie a few, you can do them in no time."

Dropping his gaze, Tommy lets out a tiny laugh as he takes in the perfectly done tie. His fingers brush against the tie. His eyes drift to the mirror across the room. He stops to study his reflection.

He hated to admit it, but you were right. If it weren't for the tattoos creeping through the collar of his shirt and the red ink on his hand, a stranger passing on the street wouldn't look twice.

"Uh...thanks." Clearing his throat, Tommy turns away from his reflection. "...for the clothes..."

"Just doing my job."

"I know, but you said it’s important that I look...presentable." He sighs as he meets your gaze. "You’re the first lawyer to tell me that...so I appreciate it."

"You're welcome." The smile on Tommy's face causes you to glance over your shoulder towards Aiden. You watch Aiden nervously brush his hand down the front of his suit. "I’d appreciate it if you ease up on the theatrics just a bit."

The smile on Tommy's face morphs into a grin. The playful glint in his eyes one you've never seen. Paired together, they both could make anyone forget what's he's been charged with.

"Theatrics?"

Your eyes roll as you take in his smile.

"Aiden's never worked a case like this before. He’s wound tight as it is. But he's really smart when he’s not nervous. So please, go easy on him. He's no use to you when he's off his game."

"I'll try," he winks. "But only because you asked."

The buzzing of your phone pulls your attention, causing you to take a step away from Tommy.

The text is from Angel.

Picked up my stuff...can't believe you're making me wear a tie.

Taking Angel to get measured for his tux was a headache in itself. He complained the entire time. He hates dressing up for events at Jeyson's school. Typically, you get so frustrated that you cave and say, "fine, Angel, wear whatever you want."

Not this time.

He wasn't the only one. Each member of the club magically produced a tux after Angel passed along you threatened to have his head if he refused to fit the dress code.

But you'll look so handsome in it.

"I thought you weren't married."

Tommy's observation causes your gaze to lift from your phone.

"I’m not." The response is automatic. Powering it down, you return your phone to your purse.

"Who gave you that? I know it wasn't your babysitter over there. Doesn’t seem like your type."

"I wasn’t aware you knew my type."

You look up to find his eyes are on your neck. It is the same spot that earned Angel a punch in the arm this morning. It stood out clear as day. A fresh hickey. Placed in an impossible spot, so there was no point in trying to cover it. All it did was beg for everyone's attention.

All apart of Angel's intentions.

"I can't help it," Angel had chuckled as he'd avoided a second hit. "I was caught up in the moment. It's what you do to me-"

"Doesn't take a genius to figure it out," Tommy grins as you turn to check the time. "You know what they say, opposites attract. A good girl like you has to like 'em a little rough around the edges."

“Are you done?” Tommy's smile is gone, his eyes rolling.

"You really know how to kill the mood-"

“You're done talking, Tommy. I don't want to hear you say anything once we leave this room." You continue as his jaw tightens. "The only words you know are 'yes, your honor' and 'no, your honor. And please do not roll your eyes.”

“You know it's not my first time in court, right?”

"Trust me, I know," you laugh dryly. “I’ve heard about your courtroom antics.”

"And so has Judge Miller," Aiden steps forward.

“He’s a real stickler for the rules--a complete hardass. He’ll be looking for any reason to make it harder for you. Most people...with your charges...don’t do too well when he’s over the case.” Aiden's eyes pass over to you, a tiny smile forming. “Besides, he doesn’t like female attorneys. In other words, we already got our work cut out for us.”

“Exactly,” you smile as you send Aiden a wink. “So. Let’s not give him any leeway."

Angel's focus is off. All he can think about is how in twenty-four hours, he's going to be alone with you.

He's currently trying to figure out if the butterflies in his stomach are the good kind. Or if he's starting to psych himself out. Taking the time to process his emotions is Angel's least favorite thing in the world.

Maybe that's why he never does it. The one morning his brain entertains the idea, he's with the rest of the M.C.

They are seated at the table, summoned for a meeting with a charter from Nevada.

The head of the Horsemen is an old buddy of Bishop. The two served together. Bishop has been preparing for the club's arrival for the past week.

“That's some heavy shit.”

"Yeah," Santana sighs, regaining Angel's attention. “He’s brought a lot of heat our way. That’s why we need your help with this. Help mule until we can get out the eye of the ATF.”

Santana's eyes move over the table. The confused looks from the remaining Mayans, informing him that Bishop hasn't shared the news with them all. He removes the pack of cigarettes from his pocket, releasing a breath.

"He's a smart kid," he acknowledges, lighting the cigarette between his lips. "But, sometimes he makes dumb ass mistakes."

"No judgment," Bishop chuckles. "We got a few of those here."

"Yeah, well," Santana's smile fades. Shaking his head, he glances at Bishop. "This mistake lost us our last shipment. He was in your back yard, when it down, and landed himself in Stockton."

"Can they tie it back to you?"

"Alone? No, but..." Santana's words trail off as he and his VP share an uneasy look.

"There was...a casualty." He proceeds, choosing his words carefully, as he massages his temple. "Word is there was a witness. It doesn’t look like she’s backing down."

"Shit," Bishop sighs.

"Yeah." Santana shrugs, ready to leave the topic of conversation. "The kid’s got his prelim today, so we'll know more later."

Bishop nods before releasing a deep breath. "Just know we're praying for Flores."

Angel glances up from the lighter in his hands. A part of him tells Angel to forget it. There is no such thing as coincidences. Besides, Flores is a pretty common name. The only Flores that Angel knows he hasn't seen in years.

But, if Angel has learned one thing from you, he should always trust his gut feeling.

Clearing his throat, he briefly meets Bishop's gaze before looking towards Santana. “Tommy?”

“Yeah. You know Tommy?”

Bishop’s brow arches as Angel’s jaw tightens. The action happens so quickly he’s not initially sure he saw it. It's gone as by the time he gets a second glance.

Shaking his head, Angel directs his attention towards the lighter he's rotating against the tabletop.

“Not personally,” Angel responds. “Read about it in the paper this morning. Didn't realize it was the same case.”

"Yeah, we heard he's got a pretty good attorney," Santana sighs, his head shakes. "Costing the club a pretty penny, but word on the street is Lorente's firm has got the best around."

Ezekiel Reyes is two shovels from passing out.

Breaking dirt in the middle of the afternoon, beneath the Mexico sun, is not a good idea. Explaining away his current situation will be difficult if someone passes. If the knots in his stomach don't kill him soon, the heat will.

To his defense, Angel didn't provide Ez with much.

The moment the meeting adjourned, his older brother stopped at the bar. The level of his voice, and the calm expression on his face, did not draw any attention. Angel had accepted the beer before lowering his voice.

"I need you to help me with something. Get the truck."

An explanation of that "something" never came out.

Instead, Ez found himself south of the border in the passenger seat. A silent but anxious Angel, flying well over the speed limit.

That was nearly three hours ago.

Now Ez's not sure where he is. A glance at his brother makes Ez question if Angel knows where they are.

He is drenched in sweat, standing in a hole that almost transcends his chest. His eyes are on Angel, who hasn't taken a break from shoveling from the moment his shovel broke ground.

"Look, man," Ez drinks the last of his water. "I don't know if this is the right spot--"

"It's the right fucking spot," Angel reassures him. "Trust me. I couldn't forget it if I wanted to."

Ez's gaze lingers on Angel for a moment before he lightly shakes his head.

"Okay."

Discarding his bottle, he picks back up with helping clear the hole. Nearly another thirty minutes pass before he's ready to drag Angel out the hole.

"What the fuck are we even looking for-"

The sound of Angel's shovel connecting with a solid surface cuts Ez off.

"Told you it was here."

Once they clear away more dirt, Ez learns that it is a black footlocker trunk.

The trunk looks the same as it did the night Angel and Tommy hauled it from the back of his truck. Almost the same. The only deviation is the lock. The key to the lock has been at the end of Angel's keyring from the night he last used it. The silver lock, meant to be attached to the trunk's latch, is missing. Hastily broken off and discarded.

The moment the lid lifts Ez doubles over. The odor that escapes is indescribable but also identifiable. It only comes from one thing. He's throwing up before he can stop it.

Angel must have more experience with the matter at hand, or his body is too wired to register the smell of the body--or at least what's left of it--that rests inside. Because when Ez manages to catch a breath, Angel is already on his knees, leaning into the trunk. The trunk is only so big. Between the body and the black trash bags, there isn't much room left.

Just enough room for a silver lockbox.

Angel opens it, the Beretta that had been left inside is missing. In its place is the ripped-off corner of a slip of paper. The hastily scrawled note reads one simple phrase.

Always get insurance.

Ez steadies himself against the wall of dirt behind him, his throat stinging as he talks through dry coughs.

"Angel, what the fuck did you do?"

Ez's question hangs in the air, left unanswered, as Angel closes the trunk. The tightness of his chest lowers Angel's head down to rest against the trunk's lid. He stays that way for a moment, the racing of his mind making it impossible for him to think of what to do next.

His fingers shift the latches, hastily pressing them back into place before he's pushing himself.

"Help me get this to the truck."

Ignoring your phone calls is the last thing Angel does. In fact, in your relationship, it has been the number one indicator that he's fucked up. When he's slipped up, the first sign is his fear of answering the phone. Primarily because he knows he'll tell on himself the second you ask him what's wrong.

This is why he groans, "shit" when he feels his phone vibrate in his pocket. He doesn't bother checking the caller I.D. He knows it's you. Judging by the time, you've just gotten the call from Gilman sharing that Jeyson was never picked up from school. Hard for that to happen when his father is miles away.

Angel sends your call to voicemail.

Shoving his phone into his pocket, he winces as an all-familiar ding, signaling a left message, fills the air.

Ignoring the need to check it, he motions for Ez to grab the other end of the trunk.

Ez's brow furrows as he glances up at the sky. "What time is it?"

"I don't know." Lugging his side of the trunk off the ground, Angel releases a huff once Ez doesn't move to help. "Help me get this is in the truck-"

"We’re not gonna make it stateside in time for Jeyson's-"

A loud thud drowns out the remainder of Ez's revelation as Angel releases his grip on the trunk.

Running his hand over his face, Angel gives his younger brother a look that freezes him in place.

"What is it that makes you feel like you have to prove how fucking smart you are, all the damn time, Ezekiel?” His question is met with silence as Ez's gaze falls back to the trunk. “I knew that the second we got in the fucking truck. But I'm not going back until this is done--I can’t. So either you’re going to help me or you can go home."

Angel doesn’t wait for a response. He picks up his end of the trunk, bumping Ez with his shoulder as he drags it through the dirt. After nearly two minutes of trying to lift it out of the hole himself, and failing, Angel releases a scream of frustration.

Ez watches as his brother takes a seat on the trunk.

Lowering his face into his hands, Angel tries to sift through the thoughts racing in his mind. But every idea seems more ludicrous than the last.

"Where are we taking it?"

"You’re the genius.” Angel lets out a deep breath before glancing over at his brother. “I'm really hoping you've got one of your bright ideas.”

Mayans Tags: @lilacyennefer @pedropcl @holl2712 @rae-gar-targaryen @omg-mymelaninisbeautiful @henrycavill19 @silverstarsandsuns @chellybear98 @blackcoffeeandgreenteaforme​​ @tomhardydallasstarsgirl​​ @noz4a2​​ @wiccanmetallicrose​​ @crxssourbones​​ @kimljn​​ @starrynite7114​​ @richonne4life​​  @themarkblues​​ @mariaxliliana​​ @thelovelyleo23​​ @hail-horror-queen​​ @gemini0410​​ @binooo98​​ @the-jer-bear​​ @abbiesthings​​ @losolvidad0s​​ @helli4nthus​​ @babaohhhriley​​ @futureleo1678​​ @whatupitshuff​​ @trhett21​​ @trulysuccubus​​ @minnicelli​​ @sillygoose6969​​ @capnsaveahoe​​ @leahnicole1219​​ @crashbarbie​​ @cyka1312​​ @zoovent​​ @lakamaa12​​ @keithseabrook27​​ @vir-tually​​ @awkwardtayler​​ @rawrlittlepanda-95​​ @irenne-stans​​ @pearlkitten33​​ @ezs-baby-angels-whore​​ @sesamepancakes​ @toni9​ @vannabanana1995​ @queenbeered​ @shawty-fenty​ @kaystacks17​ @thesandbeneathmytoes​ @anactualcaseofthetruth​ @star017​ @cant-decide-at-this-moment​ @cocotheclown​ @watsonwise​ @ilovebey2018​ @oscars-wifeyyy​ @rosieposie0624​ @jennisdirtyimagines​  @ughdontbeboring​ @jjwriter23​ @briskywalker​ @peoniarose​ @behindmyeyes-insidemyhead​ @partypoison00​ @making-starsdance​ @claytoncardenasbabymama​ @myakai13

#may the queue be with you #let me know what you think #angel reyes x reader #lover of mine #mayans mc fanfic #angel reyes fanfic

[spicycreativity]

Fantasy au moceit fluff, for the ask thing. <3<3

Thank you for the request! And sorry it took so long to fill 😅

I went with a Mushishi fusion. The simplest explanation of Mushishi is that mushi are creatures somewhat analogous to fae/faeries and tend to cause chaos when they interact with humans. So it's Japanese fantasy, but it's still fantasy!

I could go on a whole rant about how Mushishi is such a great reflection of Japanese cultural Shintoism and how Janus as a character rejects that and Patton embraces it, which is a fun juxtaposition because Janus is the mushi-shi in this story, but I won't 😇

Anyway! It's a little under 2k, CW for very mild body/eye horror (Patton temporarily gets afflicted with frog traits that affect his skin and eyes)

The steep mountain path was neither well-worn nor clearly-marked, the ground a uniform carpet of deep green pine needles dotted here and there with pinecones. Still, it was a path Janus could tread with his remaining eye closed. A few wooden signs still stood, though they were mostly grown over with moss. Janus let them be. Very few visitors came to this tiny mountain village, at least by this particular path. He was more interested in the chorus of frog croaks that grew ever louder the closer he got to the village. He thought, though it was hard to be certain, wispy and ephemeral as they were, that the mushi were increasing in density, too. This place had always been a hotbed for mushi, even without Janus' presence to draw them near. It was unusual, he reflected, to hear this many frogs this high in the mountains. The croaks were now a maddening constant, enough to make him wish that he only had one working ear, instead of one eye.

He guarded that wish carefully, in case any mushi with the power to make it come true were nearby. 

He made it into the village unscathed, pausing when he realized that the croaking had stopped. For the most part. He looked around, rubbing his face against the sharp, familiar bite of the mountain wind, cooled further still by the nearby presence of a lake. Now, only one plaintive croak reached his ears. He tried not to let his heart sink, tried not to jump to conclusions, though he set off for the house where his sweetheart waited for him with an uncharacteristic urgency in his movements. 

The life of a mushi-shi did not foster close relationships, and Janus had long since closed off his heart to new connections. Growing close was a one-way journey to becoming hurt, as he could never stay anywhere for long. Yet somehow, on a trip to a lonely mountain village, Patton had slipped through his defenses. They couldn’t be together, not the way they wanted, but they had promised themselves to each other. It was an easy thing for Janus to promise not to love another. The challenge had been in entrusting Patton with his heart. But he had gotten there in the end. In the absence of a proper wedding ceremony, they had simply taken a scrap of the other’s clothing as a token. 

Janus didn’t bother to knock on the door when he arrived. Patton’s door was always unlocked, unbarricaded. To Janus’ dismay, the croaking did not stop upon his arrival inside, and several mushi danced in the corners where the walls met the ceiling. “Patton, love?”

“Don’t come closer!” Patton’s voice was high, tight with panic. “Just wait a second,” he added in a pleading tone. “I’m glad you’re back, but--”

“Having trouble with mushi?” Janus guessed. The singular frog croaks had stopped when Patton spoke. “Please, do keep worrying about how I’m going to react.” he tugged on the scrap of cloth tied to the straps of his woven backpack. It was old and tattered now, no longer smelled like Patton or bore the pattern it had before.

“It’s just…” Croak.

Janus considered. Whatever mushi had latched onto Patton, it was probably affecting his appearance, hence the hesitancy. “Come on, love, let me see. I’ll have you cured in no time.” He paused and thought for a moment. “Besides, it’s not like I’m a paragon of good looks, either. Maybe we’ll match for a bit.” This was only partially true in Janus’ mind. His own looks were inoffensive, but strangers tended to shy away from him, frightened by the piercing gold and slitted pupil of his remaining eye.

It was silent for a moment. Then came the shuffle-scrape of bare feet on wooden floors. Patton appeared at the end of the hall with his head angled downward. Even still, Janus could see the patches of mottled brown skin on his hands and cheeks. Frog skin. “We do match a little,” Patton said, forcing humor into his voice. He came closer and lifted his head to reveal that one of his eyes was now golden, with a horizontal pupil.

“Oh,” said Janus, careful not to tease. “That’s not so bad.” He cupped Patton’s face, gently running his thumb over a slightly damp patch of frog skin. “You’re still beautiful, love.”

“But you can cure it?” Patton asked.

“Of course.” Janus smiled a little. He hoped it was reassuring. “You’ve been poisoned by a kaeru mushi.”

“Poisoned?” Patton yelped, and a little nervous croak escaped his throat.

Janus patted his cheek. “If only you knew a deeply intelligent, highly skilled mush-shi who could take care of that for you.”

“If only,” Patton repeated, widening his eyes at Janus. The effect was somewhat dampened by his frog eye, but only somewhat. It was still enough to send a wave of fondness through Janus’ chest.

"Come on," Janus said, taking Patton by the hand. He led Patton to the kitchen and set his backpack on the ground with a light thump. The tight weave was strong, but it was beginning to get creaky with age, and Janus made a mental note to see about getting a replacement. "You can take it as a tea, although the flavor is more savory, like a soup." He opened up his backpack and began to dig through it. The paper-wrapped vials rustled and clicked beneath his fingers, and a few specimens brought back memories of his recent trip. "Here we go." He held up the vial and showed it to Patton. "It does take a while to brew. I hope you don't mind being stuck like that for a bit."

Patton extended a hand to help Janus up and pulled him into an embrace, mindful of the glass in Janus' hand. "I already feel better now that you're here."

"You know me," Janus said, nuzzling Patton's forehead. "I live to serve."

It was meant to be sarcasm, though Patton refused to take it as such. "You're so selfless," he said into Janus' chest.

"Patton, love, you are the first and only person to ever accuse me of that." It was true. Janus' bedside manner was objectively abhorrent, his patience for stupidity and stubbornness nonexistent. Most villages regarded him as a necessary evil, rather than a presence to be celebrated. He pulled away before Patton could get it into his head that Janus needed comforting. "Let's get going on the antidote, shall we?"

Patton nodded. "There's a patch of snow out back," he said. "I've been fishing, trying to make the most of it."

"Fish soup?" Janus asked, putting the pieces together.

Patton nodded. "You'll have some, won't you?" He made a point of looking Janus up and down, and even the golden frog eye did not diminish his look of somewhat paternal concern. "You work too hard."

"Again, Patton," Janus said, turning to examine the cooking pot, "you are the only person who's ever said that about me."

"I think I would know," Patton said definitively, taking Janus by the hand to lead him outside.

They held each other while they waited for the cure to steep properly, Janus wrapping his arms around Patton and holding him close. He rested his chin on Patton's shoulder and watched the mushi dance around them. He found it hard to regard them as anything other than vermin, little nuisances who made his life worse. The world was cruel and arbitrary and mushi were no more than a reflection of that, but he couldn't help but resent the situation at hand. Patton didn't deserve this.

As though reading his thoughts, Patton nuzzled Janus' cheek. "Are they here now?"

"The mushi?"

"Mm-hm."

"Yes." Janus pointed even though he knew Patton couldn't see them.

"Describe them to me?" A principle difference between the two of them: Patton treasured every living thing. He never resented the bears that sometimes stole his fish, he never resented the deer when they ate the flowers he'd worked so hard to cultivate. He cherished them. He cherished mushi, too. Even now, when the poison coursing through his body was turning him into one (though Janus had decided not to tell Patton that, thinking that there was no sense worrying him when the cure was at hand).

"They're moving around a lot," Janus said, trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice. Though he harbored no love for mushi, he loved Patton dearly. "There's one that looks like a little octopus." Patton was not very well traveled, though he had gone to the ocean once. "And a few that look like worms. They're all glowing."

"They sound so pretty," Patton said, covering Janus' hands with his own.

"I'll bring you back some candles next time I go out," Janus promised, the idea occurring to him in one lightning strike. "And some lanterns made of colored paper. You can string them up outside."

"Oh!" Patton spun around to pull Janus into a proper hug, and Janus was careful not to stare at the frog skin now slowly-advancing down his neck. "That would be lovely."

"Lanterns are better than mushi, anyway," Janus said, his resolve finally cracking a little, "because they're actually useful."

Patton only smiled and brushed a few stray strands of hair out of Janus' face. 

It was around evening when Janus deemed the cure properly steeped. Patton made him sit down so they could eat together, smiling all the while, and Janus found any protest he might have melting away in the face of Patton's innocent kindness. It wasn't like the cure could hurt him, after all.

It took effect when they were washing the dishes with water Patton had carried in from a nearby stream. He stopped what he was doing and touched his face, already turning to Janus for confirmation.

Janus nodded, privately satisfied to see both of Patton's eyes back to their rich, deep brown. "Back to normal."

"Thank you, love." Abandoning the dishes, Patton pulled Janus in for a hug. His hands were wet, but Janus couldn't couldn't bring himself to mind the icy droplets that crawled down his neck.

Janus, who was incurably given to teasing, finally let himself off the leash. "Oh, don't thank me; it was for my own benefit. People would laugh if they found out I was in love with a frog-man."

"Oh, you don't mean that," Patton said. He had known Janus far too long, long enough that Janus no longer had to beat back the urge to flee like a startled animal in the face of such intimate knowing.

"You're right," he said, and he meant it.

#i had to do so much research on the Edo Period idk why i did this to myself #moceit #sanders sides #spicywrites #spicyanswer #anyway! i know i kind of threw you a curveball so i apologize if this isn't what you had in mind skdksjd #also the boys are married QPPs in this one #just to change it up a little