#boy howdy this one's rowdy

[belle--ofthebrawl]

I mean... We need a little spying fic now.. Swiss loves to watch his big boy get it on.. 👉👈

Perhaps not exactly what everyone is expecting...the course this follows was set down long ago. Forcedfem involving heels under the cut.

You know he does though. And when Aether picks up a package from the delivery truck, it's all very casual you know. Swiss only catches the anxious way his tail curls around itself because he knows the guy so well.

Alright, so it's a sex toy. He thinks, stalking Aether back to his rooms. Stepping quickly and quietly over the slats of the roof. He thinks about what Aether might want that he couldn't get from anyone else here. Really solid vibrations, probably. Swiss likes the real thing personally, but he can't deny the allure of a steady rumbling pressed right up against sensitive, swollen spots.

He doesn't even close his curtains. It's like he wants to be spied on. He closes his door, locks it even and just stands there. Holding that package to his chest with his eyes closed. Breathing steadily to calm his fluttering heart. He's so cute.

Aether sits down on his bed. Swiss lays down on his tummy, props his chin on his hands. The sun is warm against his back, the tiles perfect and hot on his skin. Such a nice day. Such a nice view. He wishes he had a blunt to really round the experience out as Aether cuts into the package, unwraps the brown paper away from the white box within, gingerly lifts the lid, and...

It's not a sex toy.

Instead it's a pair of... shoes? Small and black and shiny with an ankle snapping heel length for anyone inexperienced.

Of course Swiss knows immediately who they must be for. Someone just as small with dark eyes and a snappy nature for anyone who wasn't privileged enough to see his softer, more feminine side.

Swiss has to bite his lip in glee as Aether reverently holds the little heels up for inspection. No flaw, obviously. How much had he...how long had he spent searching...and other thoughts like that are quickly wiped away when Aether hugs the pair to his chest in one arm and tilts his head back in an obvious groan Swiss would give anything to hear. He knows what's going on up there, he's imagined it too. The way he would slip them on and hesitantly stand up. Wobble around like the delicate thing he is until he was caught up in a stronger pair of arms. The way his legs would look in them while they both pinned him, pleasured him.

Made her tell them what a pretty girl she was.

Aether's head hangs low now. His mouth hangs open. Swiss wonders giddily if he's going to drool on the shoes. Now or later. Satanas, he hopes he gets to watch. He already sees the expression of hopeless horror over Aether's shoulders as he kneels to slide one little shoe on first. Maybe he'll kiss the ankle, the calf. Up past the knee and make his thighs shake. Swiss is so lost in this perfect picture his mind paints for him he nearly misses it. How Aether holds one shoe to his cheek, like someone is already wearing it and he's no better than a footstool. He drops it quickly, like it burns him and Swiss snickers. Big guy is just as quick to pick it back up, check for any scuffs. Aether laughs at himself, a little chuckle. A little shake of his shoulders, or was that a shiver of nerves?

Swiss can see he's chubbing up from here. Can hardly blame him. What a feast he must be devouring in his mind, tearing into it without care. Swiss can't wait to count the bitemarks left behind and as Aether brings the shoe up to his cheek again, eagerly groping his cock, rocking his hips, Swiss settles in for long haul. In the name of information gathering, of course.

After all, he's a very considerate man. Wouldn't Aether like his help broaching the topic of those dangerous looking shoes with their delicate little Droplet? She can be such a a nervous girl, after all...

Sometimes she needs convincing.

#boy howdy this one's rowdy #swiss x aether #swiss x aether x Dewdrop #aether x dewdrop #cw forced fem

[signedkoko]

Howdy!

Could I ask for romantic headcanons for what initially makes Blitzø, Stolas and Millie fall for the person they're interested in?

Hope that makes sense lol. Much love to you <3

Blitzo | Millie | Stolas [Romantic]

In which their initial interest in you begins to flourish

It was a tough mission, one far before Blitzo had formally established IMP

It was just him and his gun, payed hefty cash under a table to take care of a target

He hadn't expected the target would notice him, and the tables would turn so quickly

With his back pressed against the floor, and a gun placed firmly into his skull, he surely thought that was it

But the first shot was drawn not by the target, but another demon wielding an old shotgun

Blood was everywhere, splattered across the ceiling, himself, and you

And good lord, did that crimson ever bring out the colour of your eyes

One of those stupid slo mo scenes in his mind, at least until he realised you'd killed the target before he had- and- wait, why were there two of you?

" Good call on the client for bringing in a backup plan, huh? You ain't bad but you could be better. "

You had helped him back home after that, and to his surprise, split the cash amount equally, citing something about how bait was just as important as the kill

Since then, you were the only thing on his mind, and his new shining obsession

Growing up in Wrath, Millie was well acquainted with those around her, and found it easy to spot someone who wasn't local

And boy, you were anything but local

The delivery person who dropped off supplies for the ranch from various rings, you looked nothing like the folk around here, far more...modern

Eventually, she happily took up the 'chore' of handling drop offs and pick ups just for an excuse to talk to you, and learn about you

Your stories of the other rings drew her in, feeding the yearning she had to adventure amongst them

Her parents preferred to keep their rowdy girl home, where it was safer, but when you offered to take her with you on a delivery to the pride ring, she begged her parents until they reluctantly agreed

Not that it mattered, she would have snuck out if she had to

You brought her up to the pride ring, showed her the sights and even let her speak to one of your other clients, IMP

Thanks to you, she eventually got a job with them, and she still insists on taking care of any of IMPs drop offs

Stolas often felt isolated in the place he was pretty much forced to live in and continue to work from day in and out

Always the same faces, the same servitude, the same job, nothing ever changed

The only people he got 'close' to were other royals, since everyone else had to bow their heads to him and followed the speak when spoken to mentality

But like every royal, there were a few ceremonies and festivals he had to attend to where he got to interact with the denizens of hell in a more refreshing manner

That was where he met you, at the winter solstice celebration, which was annually held in the pride ring

You were a descendant of the former event runner, now tasked with welcoming the prince and shifting the temperature cycle of hell through an ancient artefact

Stolas found you far more welcoming than the last, having invited him into your home the day prior so he didn't have to travel so early, and asking him many questions of how his experience of it was in the past

This year, he opened the gate to the mortal sky far wider, and for longer, as a small gift to repay your kindness

He hopes you consider a summer solstice event, so he can see you more than once a year

Author's Note - Thank you so much for requesting!! I decided to be a lil creative and make something neat up, I hope it was to your liking!

#koko writez #hazbin hotel #helluva boss #hazbin hotel x reader #helluva boss x reader #reader insert #x reader #millie #millie x reader #blitzo #blitzo x reader #stolas #stolas x reader

[starsandhughes]

Penalty Box— Jack’s Tooth: Taylor’s Version

SERIES MASTERLIST

last pic made by @babydollmarauders <3

yourusername

liked by _quinnhughes, trevorzegras, and 13,860 others

yourusername BREAKING NEWS: TAYLOR SWIFT ANNOUNCED SPEAK NOW TAYLOR’S VERSION AT HER CONCERT TONIGHT!

trevy baby, jamie baby, and i were sobbing on the bar floor right next to the pool table (sorry that you lost, babe) and it was the greatest experience of my life

IN OTHER NEWS: jacksonian howdy rowdy hughes is now one step closer to wanting his two front teeth for hanukah! (photo eight is a visual representation of the cash he got from the tooth fairy!) he won the battle (quintin ripping off his braces), but he lost the war (devils vs canes, round two: game one)! taylor’s marketing team wanted really good press for “ours,” so jack took one for the team!

“i love the gap between your teeth” i’m sure someone does!

“and i love the riddles that you speak” i sure do! they’re from his brand new lisp the tooth fairy gave him! (edit: i’ve been told this is too mean and have to publicly announce that his lisp is not that bad) (edit: trevor said i wasn’t mean enough)

to end: jacky boy, my soulmate, so sorry about your loss, but the content i’m seeing on twitter about it is my new will to live. i love you!

ps happy birthday mitch marner!

tagged jackhughes

view all 707 comments

jackhughes i feel as if this wasn’t necessary

yourusername nethethary*

jackhughes sissy

yourusername jacky?

jackhughes i’ll tell quinn you’re bullying me

_quinnhughes @/jackhughes who do you think sent her the pirate meme?

jackhughes BETRAYAL! EVERYWHERE!

yourusername cry

jackhughes i will

yourusername @/lhughes_06 record it^^^

lhughes_06 i gotchu, sissy🫡

jackhughes I’M TRYING TO FIND A PLACE IN THIS WORLD

trevorzegras @/jackhughes wrong album

user46 this is both the best and worst day of my life😭 but at least the devils didn’t lose 5-1?

yourusername too soon (it is not that was hilarious)

_quinnhughes looking good, rowdy!

yourusername so cowboy of him

jackhughes @_alexturcotte you still love me, right?

_alexturcotte @/jackhughes thure, babe

yourusername AHAHAHAHA @_alexturcotte i’m in love with you

trevorzegras @/yourusername i’m right here, babe

yourusername @/trevorzegras okay so close your eyes? we’re having a moment here

_alexturcotte @/trevorzegras perv

_quinnhughes @/trevorzegras perv

user2 NOT THE TWEET OF SOMEONE CALLING THE SNTV RELEASE WITH A TREVOR PIC😭

trevorzegras okay i did not lose at pool!

jamie.drysdale you didn’t win either

yourusername you lost, babe. just like jacky boy lost his tooth.

trevorzegras @/yourusername you bumped into the pool table!

jamie.drysdale @/trevorzegras you two are attached at this hip how sure can you be that it was her?

jackhughes FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!

yourusername @/trevorzegras YOU’RE LOSING FOCUS, SON! THIS IS ABOUT JACKY BOY!

trevorzegas we’re engaged! i want an emancipation!

jamie.drysdale @/yourusername i’m cool if you’re cool

yourusername @/jamie.drysdale @/trevorzegras consider our family tree burned

user99 i still love you jack!

lhughes_06 goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, you were bigger than the whole sky

trevorzegras still the wrong album? do you hughes boys know nothing?

yourusername @/trevorzegras you already know that answer

lhughes_06 @_quinnhughes

_quinnhughes @/yourusername sissy, my favorite girl, best friend contract

yourusername @/trevorzegras jacky boy and lukey moosey know nothing! quinn has all three brain cells!

lhughes_06 @_quinnhughes that was not helpful

jackhughes not it was not

_quinnhughes @/lhughes_06 @/jackhughes what she said wasn’t much better

user33 jack wanted to twin with his bestie merc so bad

user81 jack losing a tooth wasn’t on my 2023 bingo card

colecaufield “something’s gone terribly wrong; you’re all i wanted” -jack (about his tooth)

yourusername @/trevorzegras look what best friend number two said!

trevorzegras i knew i could count on you to use the right album! atta boy!

jackhughes @/colecaufield you’re not invited to my birthday party

yourusername @/colecaufield yes, you are

colecaufield @/jackhughes sorry, bud. what sissy says goes

trevorzegras @/yourusername he gets to call you sissy?! i got smacked in high school!

yourusername @/trevorzegras he gets a once per month pass

jackhughes😠

yourusername @/jackhughes 😭*

user7 quinn might be the number one trevor hater, but y/n is the number one jack hater

dylanduke25 taylor said “drop everything now” so jack dropped his tooth

yourusername THIS ONE WINS

lhughes_06 his tooth won’t be meeting him in the pouring rain

jackhughes @/dylanduke25 you aren’t my child, but i will ground you. @/lhughes_06 you’re grounded.

yourusername @/dylanduke25 @/lhughes_06 mother knows best! you’re not grounded!

lhughes_06 @/jackhughes thuck it

user56 let’s play “who’s y/n’s least favorite hughes” again!

yourusername it’s still quinn??

_quinnhughes added this to their story

lhughes_06 added this to their story

_alexturcotte added this to their story

#penalty box series #penalty box series: bonus editions #jack hughes #jack hughes imagine #trevor zegras #trevor zegras x reader #trevor zegras imagine #quinn hughes imagine #quinn hughes #luke hughes #luke hughes imagine #cole caufield #alex turcotte #jamie drysdald #dylan duke #nhl #nhl imagine #hockey imagine #nj devils

[nightmyst14-blog]

Snippet for a fic I'm writing

Thanks to the discussion I had with @sammywolfgirl , and the ideas I got from @queen-rainy-love and @eclipsewarrior101 .... I'm writing a fic for Shine Muscat.

"Its gonna be called, "A secret date"

Here's a snippet!! Its a human Au, human names used.

Also for @sammywolfgirl , a special cowgirl makes an appearance.

Hope you enjoy!!

Shine Muscat Cookie- Marylin

Potato Cookie- Jedidiah

Potato Cookie's siblings- Ruphert, Yuki, Lil' Ruby, and Blanche

Rye Cookie- Rachel

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

Her phone began to ring, looking up from her pillow. She groaned, praying it wasn't another photo shoot. With all of the events and meetups she had to do all week, she just wanted some alone time in bed.

She glanced at the screen, soon sitting up in excitement. It was Jedidiah, that kind potato farmer from the Healthy Hamlet. She had met him during the Giant Veggie festival and had become great friends. She always made sure to visit his farm whenever she stayed at her family’s farmhouse during the summer. 

She quickly made herself look presentable before answering the video call.

The farmer was sitting at his family table, looking to be cutting up potatoes and putting them in a bowl. The sound of his little siblings playing could be heard in the background along with the TV.. 

“ Howdy, Marylin!!” Jedidiah said, one of his iconic smiles on his face. Marylin felt a bit giddy. It made her heart flutter whenever he said her name. “My apologies if I am calling ya at a bad time.”

“ Hi, Jed. No, I’m not busy. “Marylin replied, brushing some of her hair back from her face. “I just got off work earlier. Ugh…I'm tired..”

“ Long day?” He asked.

“Yeah, I had 3 modeling sessions back to back right after I had practice for a scene in an upcoming movie.” She said, soon laying back down on her side. “ I truly do love my job, but I need a break sometimes.”

“ Can’t imagine being in your shoes, Marylin. I guess that makes sense why you like spending time here in the Hamlet, then. Be away from all of those city folk.”

Marlyin laughed a bit, looking at her phone. It was true. It was a blessing she was able to get her great aunt’s farmhouse under her name. Pretty sure her parents would rather forget about it, but she didn’t. Not focusing on being an actress and being able to wind down was amazing. Well, it was the only reason either. 

“I guess that’s true. Plus, its nice and quiet there.” Marylin said. “ How are your little siblings?”

Jedidiah chuckled a bit himself, leaning back in his seat. “ Rowdy as ever. Hey guys, come say to Marylin!!” He shouted into the living room.

Marylin laughed as she heard the pitter-patter of feet come closer, seeing 4 children try to fit into the camera. All tried to talk at once.

“ HI, Ms. Marylin!!!” Rupert said with a toothy grin.

“Are you sleeping? “ Asked little Blanche.

“When are you coming back to the farm?” Asked Yuki, sitting in Jedidiah’s lap.

“Yeah, big brother is showing us how to drive the tractor. Its fun riding around in it!” Said Lil' Ruby, patting the table.

“Hehe, hello you all. Are you all behaving for your big brother?” Marylin asked, getting a collective ‘yes” for the little ones.

“ When are you visiting??” Asked Yuki again, getting excited.

“ Maybe in the summer. I have to finish some work up here in the city.”

“ Maybe Big bro can help you!!!’ Said Lil’ Ruby. “ 

“Yeah!! He has to visit the city anyways!” Said Ruphert. “ Maybe he could help your with your acting job. Jedidiah is always helping people!!”

Jedidiah chuckled and shook his head, setting the Yuki down. “Now, I know who’s been snoopin’ on my phone calls.” He said, tickling the boy to make him giggle. “You all run along now.”

The 4 kids soon left as they came, leaving Marylin and Jedidiah alone to talk.

“Is that true?” Marylin asked.

“Hehe,yeah.. I got to drive up there to pick up some part for the tractor” He explain, rubbing the back of his neck.. Apparently some squirrel dropped some of their acorns in and messed up the engine. I tired looking for it here, but apparently they don't have what I need in stock at the moment. I already made the order, so now I just got to drive up to where you are to get it.”

“Sounds like an adventure.” Marylin replied.

“It’s definitely gonna be, gonna take me about 3 days roundtrip.. I don’t visit the city much. I prefer it here at home. “

She nodded, understanding what he meant. 

“W-well..” She spoke up. “ Do you want to meet up while you're up here? I can set you up a room in one of the hotels near me.”

Jedidiah looked a bit surprised. “ R-really?” He asked. “ Aw shucks, you don’t have to do all that ,Marylin..”

“No no , I insist.” The actress said, sitting up again in bed. “Jed, you and your family have always been so nice to me since I began to visit the Hamlet again. Helping me with chores, fixing that loud boiler once,  allowing me to come over for dinner sometimes… At least let me do this for you..”

She saw that the farmer looked a bit nervous, rubbing the back of his neck. Maybe she was being a bit forward? I mean, they were only friends. At least she thinks so?

“ Are.. Are you really sure about Marylin?” Jedidiah asked her, looking back at the screen. “ You mean it?”

Marylin nodded, giving him a smile. “ I’m sure of it. Consider it payment for all of the times you help me out.”

Jedidiah soon chuckled. “Well, it would be rude to deny a lady’s offer huh?” He joked, making Marylin laugh again.

“Hehe, I think so. What time are you coming in? “

“Should take me most of the day to get there. “

“Sounds good.” Marylin soon heard a knock in Jedidiah’s background, seeing him turn to look.

“ Cousin Rachel is here!!!” Said Ruby, running past Jedidiah to hug a person offscreen.

“Rachel?” Asked Marylin. 

“ My cousin on my Ma’s side. She's going to be babysitting my little sibling while I'm gone. " Jedidiah said, soon headlocked by a blonde haired woman with freckles.

“ Ay!! You talkin’ about me??” The woman said with a grin, ruffling the farmer’s hat and hair.

“Rach, I’m on call with someone!!” Jedidiah protested, wenching himself out of her grip..

“Oh! You talkin’ to your girlfriend??” Rachel said, looking at the screen. "Hi, the name's Rachel. So, my cousin proposed yet?? He talks about ya a lot, you know-"

" RACHEL!!!

#cookie run #cookie run ovenbreak #cookie run headcanons #shine muscat cookie #potato cookie #rye cookie

[saltygilmores]

Gilmore Girls-Season 2-Episode 5

In 2020, I reviewed Gilmore Girls episodes on Twitter. I'm reposting them here in all of their snarky glory.

*phone rings at Luke's diner* Oh the fateful phone call. Poor Jess. What did he ever do so bad to deserve getting sent to this Connecticut hell hole? Find it weird that Jess had never been to Stars Hollow and met the Gilmores at any point in his 17 years on earth. Lorelai says "Oh your nephew" like she kind of knows he exists but then asks Luke a lot of basic questions about him she should already have known since she NEVER stops talking to him. I can't believe in her many years of being Luke's most annoying and pestering customer she's never thought to ask him any questions about his family. I suppose you could chalk this one up to Luke and his penchant for not opening up to people.

They retconned this: here he says Liz and Jimmy were married until Jess was 15, but then later we find out Jimmy left when Jess was born. The show runners were like, eh, a kid having parents who divorce when he's 15 is pretty sucky, but it's not nearly tragic enough. *scribbles out script* How about his Dad left him after he was born after saying he was going out to buy diapers, his Mom is an alcoholic who drank while she was pregnant with him and racked up 4 more husbands including one who died and who will go on to have another child that is the light of her life? That'll do nicely. "I'm sure she put at least 5 or 6 minutes of thought into (her decision to leave Jess). You're being too generous Luke. I'm observing the groceries Luke bought home. Are you trying to put your nephew into a sugar coma? Two varieties of Rice Krispie treats, a pint of ice cream, Pop Tarts Pastries. And a bottle of Vitamins for balance. "He's been staying out late. Getting rowdy." Oh no. not Getting rowdy. What did he do, get wild at a 24 Hour Barnes and Noble? Baby is a socially anxious introvert. Dictionary defines rowdy as "noisy and disorderly." He is the most pathetic excuse for a juvenile delinquent. At the end of season 3 he goes to a wild keg party and talks to no one but Rory the whole time. I watched Jack Pearson die yesterday and Jess Mariano arrive today. Milo out, Milo in. Hehehehe.

I love that "This is Hell" begins to play as he takes in the town. You don't know the half of it yet kid.

Okay, okay, slow down a little on the cigarettes kiddo, look how many are on that ashtray...errr, paper plate? This meal is CHAOS. He has what looks to me to be a bowl of walnuts and the bowl looks like a hollowed out tree trunk? Plus, some dry cereal that looks like it's on a yellow heart shaped plate? No milk or spoon. And an empty can of either beer or ginger ale. Balanced Breakfast!

"You'll like Rory. She's like Lorelai, except she has a slighty tighter grasp on reality." LOL

Boy howdy, are you two about to board a rollercoaster ride. Buckle in.

With you Jess? Anytime. Let's go.

He's drinkin a beer! Watch out! This boy is out of control! Lorelai: "Dean would NEVER drink a beer!" Okay, I made that up but I'd throw money into the ring that she says it at some point. This is probably the nicest Lorelai will ever be to Jess from here on out so I may as well enjoy this.

Okay, Jess was a prick in that scene. But I have some sympathy for him and what he's been through, at least. I don't feel quite so bad when DEAN talks to Lorelai like that. And all she does to Dean is give him a pat on the head and a cupcake.

How many times has Lorelai boycotted Luke's because something happened to make things awkward with him?

1) As always I encourage all forms of theft from Taylor and 2) I encourage any sort of theft to take away money from repairing that god damn bridge because the town is run by a bunch of idiots who wouldn't know how to budget for such a minor thing to save their lives so screw em. That god damn bridge STILL isn't fixed well into the later seasons because I started my Twitter-Review journey at the end of season 5, and I remember fundraisers were still going on for it afterwards! Fuck the Stars Hollow Bridge!

I guess Liz also neglected Jess to the point that she never bought him new clothes when he had a growth spurt. I'm saying that sweater is TITE. I am convinced after this episode the wardrobe dept realized Milo was way too buff to look 17 years old and that was the end of the tights sweaters. Nothing but baggy clothes and big ugly coats from here on out. The only thing better than Jess is the banter between Jess and Luke. I absolutely buy that Jess is Luke's nephew. Perfect character. Perfect casting. Perfect chemistry between the two actors. But he's nothing like either of his "parents" though so go figure. Would have made more sense to cast him as Luke's son. I don't believe that Middle of Nowhere Stars Hell-ow would have anyone who could recite The Pledge in 6 different languages. That sounds wayyy more like a Chilton thing. I also don't think someone like Jess who likely went to diverse schools in New York City would think it was unsuual or something to complain about.

The bridge looks fine to me. What is The Bridge Repair Fund a front for, Taylor? "Nowhere in either Stars Hollow or it's surrounding counties can you get a decent cup of coffee." If you look closely, you may spot this can in Luke's in a few early episodes (in later episodes, it's a red plastic carton of Folgers coffee with the label peeled off). If you're not American, let me fill you in: Hills Brothers and Folgers are both dirt cheap brands of coffee you can find in Walmart or literally any other supermarket in the country. Head on down to the Stars Hollow Walmart, Lor. $7.84 for this can. I looked it up.

Lorelai is then seen pouring coffee into her machine from a small white bag that is probably way fancier than anything Luke serves. Also, Idk the first thing about coffee but do you really keep it in the fridge?

She's a FRAUD! And Luke's a FRAUD for serving supermarket coffee and acting like it's his special blend!

I noticed he stole a gnome, not a yacht.

How bad can he be? He does MAGIC TRICKS! Cammmonn.

If I were Rory, Dean would have been deleted from my memory at this point. Dean WHO?

#gilmore girls #jess mariano #rory gilmore #milo ventimiglia #luke danes #lorelai gilmore #literati #Denise Rewatches Gilmore GIrls #Nick And Nora And Sid And Nancy #NANASAN

[covecornerarchive]

Modern AU Ideas!

Been seeing some people post about their modern au's and I thought I'd throw my hat into the ring. Also like 85% of the inspo for these came from @thedivisionbell1994 's own modern au so credit to them.

Janice and Melrose are adopted by Poppy, who is their god father in the au, when their actual dad wasn't found fit to care for them after their mother died. They don't change that much other than the fact Melrose while in an actually loving household genuinely becomes a better sister and the two are genuinely happy. Janice is chaos incarnate and the both of them cause crimes.

Percy and Poppy are roomates! Because the whole Red Mary thing didn't happen (in the way it did in canon) Percy is much more like his rowdy "fuck around and find out" Tarantula crew self than the one we know him as on the Laughingstock crew. He actually works in ceramics and sculpting and runs a small business on etsy. This part belongs to @thedivisionbell1994 but Poppy is the bouncer for a few night clubs in the area.

Milo....he's a fucking streamer is twitch. But like, he doesn't make shit so he's always mooching off of Poppy, Percy, and Sariah. Sariah is a dance instructor and while she and Milo are together in the au as well it's kind of a shit relationship so eventually she leaves him and ends up with Susen, who works at the local aquarium. I'm debating whether or not she's a marine biologist or a performer for one of those cool mermaid shows. Maybe she's both :0

Thade. Oh boy howdy do I think about Thade the most in this au. I think he's the professor at a mortuary school, teaching mortuary science (why? because if I don't have him as an extremely burnt out yet chill college prof I'm going to die). After a lot of drama and hardships involving his relative Mary, he's ended up as Auburn's legal caretaker and raises her with Lillian and Percy's help (Percy: If I had a nickle for everytime someone important in my life got custody of a kid and I ended up as their older brother figure, I'd have three nickles. Which isn't a lot but it's weird it's happened three times right?)

Also, I don't know if I want this as a concrete part of this modern au or keep it as a spin off of it, but I have this idea where after bringing in a certain set of skeleton remains for a lesson in his class Thade gets cursed to turn into a skeleton every now and then. Basically because I also want Skin-taker in here somewhere but I don't want him to be evil. I just like imagining Thade getting stuck in situations where he has to figure out how to get through life without people finding out he's secretly a fucking were-skeleton, and him slipping up a few times so there are just sightings in the small town where all of this takes place of some scary ass skeleton and people start calling him "The Skin-taker," and it becomes a moth man situation where the town starts monetizing it for the tourism business and then Thade is just over here trying to keep his job and raise a kid like "hhhhhhhhhh." Idk, I like it I might develop it later.

Im stealing all of this from @enkiiper but Horace? Horace is a fucking cryptid all on his own. No one knows where he came from, what he does for a living, none of that. He's just this really weird ecentric guy who doesn't do anything that makes sense ever and for some reason has a worryingly large amount of money. He and Thade are besties and in the were-skeleton au Horace is the first to find out. He's a crime grandpa. He commits crimes and is the local cryptid. End of discussion.

Stealing from @thedivisionbell1994 again but Lillian is a real estate agent who sells haunted houses and properties with extremely sketchy history and she fucking kills at it.

Red Mary is still a dangerous fellon with several arson and homicide charges. She and Thade have a fucked history (gotta put the trauma in there somewhere) and is the reason Auburn was orphaned in the first place. She's in prison still but Thade is always paranoid about her and worrying over her getting out and hurting the people in his life again.

Thade and Poppy are actually on rather good terms. They still have the occasional moments but it's nowhere near as bad as in canon. Thade is definitely Janice and Melrose's weird uncle and whenever Janice is over she gives him hell, which is often since she and Auburn are besties.

Calvary and Sea Dog (which is just his nickname since Sea Dog isn't actually a dog in this au just a scruffy little man) are family friends and Nathan is their adopted kid. He Janice Melrose and Auburn cause chaos together it's great. Sea Dog works as a deck officer and so did Calvary before an injury that caused him to retire. Nathan is Calvary's grandson and after Nathan lost his parent's Cal took him in.

I feel like the Rubber Fishes are a local gang but like...they're not really a threat. They're just these chaotic teens who spray paint private property and fuck around in abandoned buildings. Kurt has fucking cat ear headphones I bet. Horace is their unofficial dad. They're all fucked up kids but they're his fucked up kids. He gives them rides when they're running from the police.

I feel like the small town this all takes place in isn't Ironton, Ohio (where Janice and Mel are originally from) but probably a sea side town.

(April 24, 2022)

[w-o-r-d-s--f-a-i-l]

“Risqué” (jewelsoffaith) ((Kovacs and Henry maybe? I feel like the chaotic vs lawful energies could be fun))

9. My muse is a sex worker at a brothel

@jewelsoffaith

Henry had a very particular clientele at the bordello he worked in from time to time. His lean towards a more argumentative temperament made him hard to sell to certain clients who otherwise would have loved to fetishize aspects of him and made him more of a worker that would be recommended to newer clients who had yet to hear of his nature. He was mostly incredibly self-serving and wouldn’t let himself just sit and take things he didn’t like. The owners of the Bordello often thought he was more trouble than he was worth, but with the way he brought in a very particular type of high paying client, they couldn’t just part with him and let him go to their competitor. He was like a bronco they wanted to break, yet kept bucking off all but a handful of riders. Perhaps it was good that he had such hard boundaries for himself and his patrons that he made sure others followed at all times. Perhaps the best part of having him as one of the boys in Lovers’ Saddle was the fact some clients saw him as a challenge, they’d pay money to see if they could break him. They never could, but the bosses were always paid. When Henry’s been told he had a new client coming in, part of him was readying for a fight anyways, practicing his punches between stages of readying himself. Part of him wanted someone who’d not question his boundaries though, someone who’d still want him after the boundaries were set. Soon, it was time for him to go down from his room and bring the new man up himself. Each worker had a different sort of style to them, a selling point beyond physical features, some presented themselves as demure socialites and dressed the part, where Henry on the other hand was mostly just a sort of elevated version of himself, a rowdy cowboy. He dressed the part when meeting clients and taking them to his room, for the ones who stuck it out, it was more fun for them undressing him when there was more for him to take off. They’d seen artists renderings of his body in the book of available boys so it wasn’t like there was much in the way of surprise to be had there. He stopped in front of the man in the waiting room, the light jingle of the spurs on the back of his boots coming to silence. “Howdy there, big rider. You ready to saddle up,” he asked, the side of his mouth curling into a cocky smile.

#muse: henry andrew #jewelsoffaith

[snuffwhistlecakess]

hey here!! wanted to ask what do you think about edd x eddy on main? do you still love the ship? i am a hardcore fan of the ship!

howdy!~ and ah-aha, i have a lot of gentle feelings toward that pair and the show! i store it even to this day! i’ve found edd edd and eddy via youtube as a teen, and was hooked! i loved all of their childish and crazy shenanigans! 🤪😝 then, the main trio was also a charm! but eddy/edd was…it was so nice to see the creators letting those two interact, having those ambiguous relationships, that naturally were limited not only by their age, but also the acceptance of sociality of one gender attraction. like back then, it was way-way harder to ‘get away with it’ vs now. still!! what i find very dear about it, is that eddy and edd actually went a long way in developing their bond/dynamic. the movie was a great culmination of it! i know, that people complain about it being too short. or that the kids finally accepted edds out of blue…but it never was important to me, hehe. i had looked closely on how edd was getting more and more fed up with eddy’s casual harsh treatment of him and as result we got eddy cryin!! breaking down, bc double d was about to leave him! their soul to soul lil talk and hands holding!! the way, they shared those hardships, while still being partly naive and lighthearted about it, cuz they’re kids. it’s just overall good stuff! 

so on main, i think, that eddy x edd is one of the best media portrayals of developing romantic feelings between two boys. it doesn’t feel forced, and it doesn’t come off as them tokening male x male relationships. instead, it is just a thing that is there and they explore it. give it a new spin at times. it always felt natural. and sure, maybe some of it is outdated now, to like the recent generation, but the creators shipped eddy x edd as openly as they could at the time. and they didn’t write the stories/plots specifically to fit the ‘catching feelings’ narrative, so perhaps, this is why it came out as a genuine thing. eddy/edd was always part of it, but never the annoyingly bias center. they’re also prob one of a very few ships, that i had in my life, that came close to being considered canon. i mean, they’re a semi-canon for sure at the very least, haha. and idk, to me it’s something! cuz i rarely see eye to eye with creators, when it comes to shipping/pairings lol. 

but to wrap it up, i’d say that eddy x edd will always be important to me. i always smiling, when i get recommended clips of them together or just seeing a good artwork of them holding hands, or just standing together, haha. it’s a fairly innocent ship, but with its own unique flavor. eddy will always be a lovestricken, sleazy bully to edd’s sensitive nerd. and while, i can see eddy becoming a bit of a better person in the future, thanks to edd and ed (to a degree), i don’t think that double dee hates that rowdy, sly ‘salesman’ part of eddy. eddy was the only person, who could steal edd away from his chores and studies, making him abandon his responsibilities for a few hours. i always think, that double d is deeply grateful for that. and for eddy…edd is very, very special. eddy loves money for a fact, but he also seemed to love the process of them putting a scheme together almost on the same level. and i feel that despite it all when it mattered, edds really stan one another. esp those two, haha. and ed, well, he stans them all the same. and he won’t ever stop being important to them in return. eddy and edd being together officially, when they’re older won’t change anything. cuz they’re already sorta defacto together in the series lol. even ed knows this, haha. 

personally, i’m not sure, if i will ever rewatch the show or if i will ever write/draw anything for it, but who knows! and it’s nice to see people, who activly shipping it and creating for it today! it’s a great ship and i hope, that fellas having a blast with it. 

mmm. what else to add? prob nothing, aside from once an eddy x edd club team member...

..still an eddy x edd club team member years later! 

#eddy x dd #ed edd n eddy #eddy x edd #ask

[mybuckaroo]

CHAPTER 5

The next morning I woke up in my bunk I put on a black miniskirt that had fringe all around the ends and a matching top with red cow skulls all over it and high heeled boots that were black. I put on two pairs of cowsskull earrings, and two horseshoes in my ears. I spray-painted my hair with purple.

In the school mess hall, I poured myself a glass of whiskey. Suddenly someone bumped into me. All the whiskey spilled over my top.

“YOU VARMINT!” I shouted angrily. I sure did regret my rowdy outburst because I lay my eyes on the face of one of the comleyer cowboys I had seen in quite some time . He was covered in a fine layer of trail dust and reeked of horses. He wore a big sequined cowboy hat that glimmered in the mornin sun. He had a sexy Yepper’s drawl. He looked exactly like Garth Brooks He was so sexy that my body was racked with more shivers than a malaria stricken filly.

“Boy howdy I sure did make a mess of your breakfast whiskey ma’am” he drawed.

“Well, I can’t be fixin to stay angry all day, what’s your name?” I questioned.

“My name’s Alphoso Tenacious Pottar, although most people call me “Lasso” these days.” he grunted.

“Why” I exclaimed.

“Because I wranglin and wrasslin cattle with my Lasso.” he giggled, twirling a rope around his head sexily, knocking everyones hats off

“Well, You look like you know how to wrangle the most unruly varmits.” I confessed.

“Really?” he whimpered.

“Yeah.” I roared.

We sat down to talk for a while. Then Alamo sauntered up behind me and told me he had a surprise for me.

[geekriot]

((so im doin a thing))

#ooc (well fuck me gently with a chainsaw) #ooc art (rattie's art) #wip (not done yet) #is this a band au? a scott pilgrim au?? that one rowdy older teens au i was talkin about?? #i have no idea but im drawin it #boy howdy are my wips and sketches messy

[tulsa-trash]

Girly

Request: Would it be possible for you to do a request where the reader is the Curtis brothers sister (between Sodapop and Ponyboy) and she is not feminine at all (she wears trousers, converse and jean jackets) and one day the gang sees her dressed up all girly.

WARNING(S): N/A

You looked at your reflection in the mirror for the millionth time, sighing as you smoothed out your new, light yellow skirt. Your mouth formed into a thin line as you eyed the white blouse that clung to your chest.

Your best friend had set you up on a date with a boy you barely even knew. When you reluctantly agreed she dragged you to a fancy boutique on the south side of town and bought you an entire outfit. Sure she meant well, and you appreciated it, but you couldn’t help but feel a little uncomfortable.

Never in your life have you thought you would be caught dead in a skirt and blouse. You never really liked girly or skimpy clothes, but she had insisted you wear something feminine for once.

You were nervous about the date, but petrified of how your brothers would react. You neglected to tell them about the date, knowing they would freak out and most likely ruin it for you. But you knew when you walked out of your room all hell was going to break loose when they see you in a skirt.

As you slipped some socks onto your feat you scoffed as your gaze landed on the new saddle shoes your friend had bought you.

“No thanks.” You mumbled under your breath.

You walked past your brand new shoes and smiled at your beat up converse that laid strewn out on the side of your bed. You slipped them on and tied them tightly, feeling content as they perfectly molded to your feet.

You sat on your bed for a moment, glancing at your alarm clock. He was supposed to be there in ten minutes to pick you up. You decided that it was now or never, you got up and walked towards your door. With a deep breath, you closed your eyes and silently prayed to yourself before exiting your room.

You swung the door open and put on the most normal face you could muster. With your head held high you confidently strolled down the hallway and towards all of the rowdy boys that occupied the living room.

Ponyboy was reading a book on the couch with Two-Bit sat beside him sipping on a beer and watching TV. Steve and Soda were wrestling on the floor, your big brother was winning only for a moment before Steve flipped him over and held him in a head lock.

“Hey, guys.” You said, casually leaning against the wall.

“He–” Ponyboy stopped once his gaze landed on you.

His eyes widened as he scanned your wardrobe, raising his eyebrows.

“Um… What– er… What are ya wearin’?” He asked skeptically.

Once those words left his mouth it seems as though the other boys in the room actually took notice of your presence. Two-Bit began to choke on his alcoholic beverage like a maniac. Soda stood laying on the floor dumbfounded while Steve was on top of him, looking at you with his jaw dropped.

You rolled your eyes at their reactions, looking down and playing with the hem of your skirt.

“I know I look lousy… Ya don’t have to rub it in.” You grumbled.

Your head snapped up when Two-Bit began to wolf whistle at you. A deep blush painted your cheeks as Steve began to join in while your two brothers looked at them in disgust.

“Howdy! Get you kid!” Two-Bit exclaimed as he examined you. “Don’t you look pretty!”

You smiled at the ground, “Awe, shucks–”

“Golly! I don’t think I ever seen you all dressed up before, you look awful nice!” Steve said.

“Erm… yeah. Why are ya dressed up anyhow?” Soda asked as he pushed Steve off of him.

“Gee, Soda. Thanks.” You said sarcastically.

“Don’t get me wrong, kiddo. Ya look gorgeous! I’m just confused… What’d you get all dolled up for?”

“I got a date…” You stated.

“A DATE!?” Both Soda and Pony shrieked.

“Why don’t ya tell the whole neighborhood while you’re at it.” You hissed.

“Hey! Why all the hollerin’? What’s goin’ on?” Darry entered the living room from the kitchen.

“Nothing.” You said quickly.

“Y/N got a date.” Soda ratted you out.

You glared at your older brother before giving the eldest Curtis a sweet smile.

“A date?” Darry asked skeptically. “Were you plannin’ on tellin’ us any time soon? What makes you think you can go on a date?”

You narrowed your eyes at him, “I can date whoever I want, Darry. I’m sixteen for cryin’ out loud I can handle one date!”

Darry sighed deeply as he stared down at you, he was absolutely horrified seeing you all grown up and looking girly as ever.  The last thing he wanted to do was to get into another argument with one of his siblings. He had been fighting with Pony constantly and snapping at Soda, he didn’t want to bicker with you too.

You were caught off guard when he bent down and wrapped you in his arms, giving you a big hug. Shaking off the shock you hugged him back, squeezing his broad shoulders.

“You look beautiful, buddy.” He told you.

“Thank you, Dare-Bear.”

He snickered, you had given him that nick name when you were little; and you knew that he would crumble and get all soft from your words.

“Look, I don’t feel like fighting with ya…” He pulled away from the hug to look you in the eyes. “But please, stay safe. If that kid tries anythin’ you best know all of us are gonna head for the cooler.”

Everyone agreed as he said this, you just laughed and gave your brother a kiss on the cheek before heading towards the door.

“Wait you’re actually lettin’ her go?”

“He best keep his hands to himself!”

“Bring a sweater.”

“Use protection!”

“SHUT UP, TWO!”

“I’ll be fine!” You reassured.

“Curfew is eight o’ clock.” Darry said.

“Nine.” You argued.

“Eight thirty, take it or you ain’t goin’ missy.”

“Fine. Love you!”

With that you were out the door, your date wasn’t there yet so you took a seat on the front steps.

“What are you doin’?”

You jumped in surprise as your head whirled around to face the voice. It was Dally accompanied by Johnny, they were leaning against the house whilst sharing a cigarette.

“Hello to you too, Dal.” You said with sass laced in your tone.

He chuckled dryly, trailing off as he eyed you. You shifted uncomfortably and turned away from him.

“You look nice, Y/N.” Johnny said quietly.

You turned and sent him a warm smile, “Thanks, Johnny.”

“Where you goin’ off to dressed like that?” Dally asked.

You raised an eyebrow at him, “Why the sudden curiosity?”

He simply shrugged, “Figured you’d be doin’ somethin’ special… you never dress like… that.”

“D-Do you think it looks bad?” You didn’t mean to stutter, but you couldn’t help it.

He smirked, looking you up and down once more. Silence fell between the three of you for a while.

“Take that as a yes.” You scoffed.

“Nah…” Dally said. “You look smokin’.”

“Really?” You asked. Not once has Dallas Winston ever complimented you, and to be honest you wanted to make sure you heard him right.

“I don’t like repeatin’ myself, doll.” He replied smoothly.

You smirked and averted your gaze from him to the road, a light blush tinted your cheeks. Soon enough, a beat up car came to a stop in front of the house. Your date got out and gestured for you to get in, holding the door for you.

“Looks like that’s him…” You breathed out as you got up.

“He better not try anythin’.” Dallas said lowly.

“Awe, Dal. Didn’t know you cared about me that much.” You teased as you walked down your front steps.

“Shush up, kid.”

His eyes raked your body as he watched you walk away, getting into the guys car. He smirked at you when you shot him one last playful glance before your date drove off.

“I didn’t know the Curtis gal was hot.” Dallas said.

“Best not let her brothers hear you sayin’ stuff like that about her.” Johnny silently warned.

Dallas scoffed, flicking his finished cigarette into the dirt before heading back inside. Johnny followed close behind him.

#the outsiders #the outsiders x reader #the outsiders imagine #the outsiders fanfiction #the outsiders fic #the outsiders fandom #curtis!sister #ponyboy curtis #sodapop curtis #darry curtis #dallas winston #johnny cade #steve randle #two bit mathews

[writethelifeyouwant]

Riled Up | Part 1

Summary: Quarter Creek Ranch was just another kind of prison for Jensen, but at least this one came with some eye candy at the reins.

Rating: 18+ Pairing: older!Jared (38) x younger!Jensen (19) Warnings: Homophobia and gay slurs - This story is set in Texas in 1990. Sexual activity with someone of the same gender was illegal in Texas at this point in time. If depictions of homophobia and use of derogatory, anti-gay language will be triggering for you, please scroll on. Tags: ranch owner!Jared, ranch hand!Jensen, juvenile delinquent!Jensen, twink!Jensen, thirsty thoughts W/C: 4,712

Created for: @spnfanficpond - Alpha Reader Programme w/ @katbratsupernaturalwhore as my amazing Alpha/Beta ❤️

The echo of the judge’s gavel rang in his ears with every jolt of the shuttle over yet another pothole. The dull thud, thud, thud undulating, cresting over his head, the sound expanding in his ears until they’re blocked up against the chatter of the other passengers around him. The rusted metal prison carrying them down this poorly kept dirt road had held them captive for several hours now. Cooke County was long behind them as they trundled south down I-35, out to the middle of nowhere, to their new “home”.

All the guys around him were chattering away, excited about the transfer, running their mouths about how this place was gonna be way better than that shithole institution they were leaving behind, but Jensen didn’t trust to hope.

He’d hoped his parents would come to his hearing. He’d hoped they would have come to take him home. He’d hoped they might have decided they gave a damn after not seeing him for three years. He wasn’t gonna hope anymore. There wasn’t any reason Quarter Creek Ranch would be better than Gainesville State School had been. Juvie was juvie, as far as Jensen was concerned, this new one just came with horses. Well, that was a little better, Jensen admitted to himself, the bitter taste of the dust settling through the open windows and onto his tongue spurring on his bitter thoughts.

Jared watched from the barn door as the rickety shuttle sputtered to a halt in the yard, kicking up dirt in swirling clouds. The door wrenched open with a raking creak of un-oiled metal and a stream of boys filed out of the dust; an army of clones in thin white t-shirts and rough hewn jeans, matching denim shirts, some slung over their shoulders, some tied around waists, some sticking out of the front pockets of their identical, black canvas backpacks, state issued work boots dragging over the earth. Most of their expressions were identical too, excitement shining as luridly as the sweat on their brows after the stuffy shuttle ride down a Texas highway.

The last boy to file off the bus looked like he’d swallowed the diesel fuel the shuttle runs on. Jared managed to choke down his laugh but he couldn’t keep the smirk off his face. There’s always one who came into the program who’d already decided that it would be the worst experience of their life. As long as the kid didn’t cause any trouble for the others, or the horses, Jared didn’t mind.

The officer that had driven the shuttle down from Gainesville waddled off the bus behind the cargo of boys, stretching his limbs out, stiff from the long drive.

“Howdy!” he raised his hand in greeting, joviality at odds with what Jared expected from a juvenile prison guard. He raised his hat briefly in a return greeting, pushing off the weathered wood of the barn door he’d been leaning on and swaggering forwards into the yard to meet his new ranch hands.

They’re a pretty rowdy bunch – Jared expected that. Open air that’s not stunted by ten foot chain link fences would be a refreshing change of pace for anyone who had been shut away in a state facility for as long as these boys had been. They’re all jostling together in a bundle, knocking shoulders and kicking shins as the officer herded them toward Jared. The sullen one hung at the back of the throng, a deep scowl on his full, pink lips. The boy’s tongue darted out to rehydrate them in the dry heat, and Jared wanted to kick himself just for noticing that this eighteen year old kid was attractive – even if he was attractive as hell.

Jared wasn’t that kind of guy.

“Alright!” Jared shouted and clapped his hands to get their attention, his voice booming out of his chest a little lower than its standard pitch, establishing his authority out of the gate. “My name’s Jared, I’m the owner of Quarter Creek Ranch, where y’all have elected to spend your rehabilitation.”

The officer finally made it to the front of the crowd and handed over a clipboard of names, which Jared took with a grateful smile.

“We’re gonna do a roll call twice a day,” he waved the clipboard at the group eyeing him suspiciously, “until I get to know all your names, and until I feel like I can trust you not to run off.”

There’s a discontented groan from the collective, which Jared was expecting, but he doesn’t let it stop his speech.

“This is not our first time running this program, and you will not be the first group to have a couple of runners.” Jared’s eyes couldn’t help but flick accusingly towards the disgruntled boy at the back. “Let me tell you, we’re about five miles of nothing from anywhere that even resembles a real road and almost no one drives by this way, so I guarantee me and my boys will find you before you find any way outta here.” Jared looked back at the kid again, but his expression hadn’t changed.

“You’re all in rooms of four up at the house,” Jared jerked his thumb behind him toward the sandy sided farmhouse with the big wrap-around porch, “and each room of four has their own bathroom. I’m gonna call off your names, then y’all can go inside and get cleaned up, then I expect y’all downstairs again at six-thirty for dinner.”

There were general rumbles of hushed chatter at the prospect of a shower and food and Jared cleared his throat again so he didn’t have to talk over them.

“Ackles!” he started at the top of the list, and heard a shuffle as ‘Ackles’ moved to the front of the crowd. Jared looked up to see the boy he’d been having trouble keeping his eyes off of. He looked back down at his list. Jensen. No chance he’d be forgetting this kid’s name.

“Anderson!” A lanky, greasy looking teen stepped forward and stood next to Jensen.

“Baxter!” A broad kid with a severe buzz cut that showed off the tattoo on his scalp joined the line.

“Cameron!” Jared finished, watching the last boy join his new roommates. “Okay y’all, room one, up you get,” he pointed them towards the house and they trudged off, Jensen glancing back at Jared as he passed, his reliably stoic expression faltering almost imperceptibly before the mask was back up and he looked away again, following his new roommates.

Jared watched the group until Jensen was out of sight, filing up the porch behind the others. The shift he’d seen in those eyes when they’d met his had him worried. It had been so brief, so well controlled, that he couldn’t interpret whatever starburst of emotion had flashed through that cold, deep green. It had sent an uncomfortable prickle down his spine, and settled low in his gut. He’d be keeping a close eye on Ackles, that’s for sure.

Jensen kicked his boots off unceremoniously when he and the others reached their new room. One landed under the single bed to the right of the door, and he took it as a sign that that space would be his now. He nudged his other boot under the bed to join the first and dropped onto the mattress with a shuddering creak; he couldn’t tell if it was coming from the bed frame or his bones.

“I got first shower!” Anderson didn’t even bother claiming a bed before he rushed past them all into the small en suite at the back of the room, heavy wooden partition sliding closed behind him with a thunk. No one argued with him – Anderson stunk – poor guy always looked like he’d taken a swim in the runoff from a fry up joint.

Baxter looked around the space measuredly before stomping over to the bed next to Jensen’s, and only then did Cameron step forward and pick one out for himself. Cameron had kept close to Baxter ever since he’d been brought into the system. He was a weedy guy, with a gap in his teeth the width of the Mississippi and a lisp that made him sound like he’d been out picking cotton all day and inhaled more of the product than he’d harvested. Kids like him didn’t do well in juvie without someone higher up the food chain watching their back.

Leslie Baxter scared the shit out of most of the residents from Gainesville, even made one of the corrections officers cry once, or so the rumour went. The good thing about that: having him as a roommate meant the other boys weren’t much likely to mess with the rest of them.

Secretly, Jensen would bet all the money he didn’t have that there was another reason Baxter and Cameron stuck so close together, but if you went around calling guys named Leslie and Taylor a couple in a boys correctional facility in North Texas … well, you just didn’t do that. At least, Jensen would never do that – could never do that – to somebody.

Anderson wandered out of the shower a couple minutes later, dingy white towel tucked high and tight around his waist, hiding the abs Jensen knew he didn’t have. He’d never been one for exercise or manual labour, Anderson. He preferred lounging around the yard they’d been let out in twice a day, sneaking cigarettes as soon as he was old enough to get in with the senior crowd at the facility.

Jensen pulled himself off his bed, legs swinging around to the side closer to the shower, and toed off his socks. He could see the floor of the small bathroom shining with water and soap suds, curls of steam rising off the tiles as the hot water met the slightly cooler draft from the air conditioned bedroom. Thank god for the small mercies that it was actually down as inhumane to lock them up in Texas without at least a fan or something to move the air around. The little window unit sat humming away between Jensen and Baxter’s beds.

Cameron started to get up from his bed at the same time as Jensen did and tried to slip into the bathroom ahead of him, but Jensen’s long legs caught up to him quick, and he yanked Cameron back by the scruff of his shirt. “Not a chance, short stuff,” Jensen grunted, hauling him back onto his bed. Cameron looked to Baxter, asking for permission to turn this into a tussle, but Baxter just shook his head and rolled his eyes.

“It’s a shower, dude,” he scoffed. “Ackles’ll be two minutes, you know the guy don’t bother to wash his junk.”

The occupants of the room all laughed, and Jensen rolled his eyes, but nodded to Baxter in acknowledgement that he hadn’t okay’d anyone taking a swing at him. They both knew it was just for appearances. Jensen didn’t have any reason to be grateful, he could have squashed Cameron like a cowpat, easy, and Baxter knew it. He was saving Cameron the embarrassment, not sparing Jensen a beating.

Most of the crew that had come down to the Ranch for their rehab hadn’t been inside as long as Jensen. Baxter was one of the few who’d arrived in the same crop of delinquents they’d shipped out from Dallas five years ago. Baxter’d done a lot of his terrorizing once he’d been sanctioned, Jensen had done his before. It’s what landed him there, and the rumours that landed with him were enough to keep guys off his case – even guys like Baxter. No one was quite sure if it was true or not, but the story was some twink was laid up in Dallas County Hospital with a ventilator and no sign of brain function thanks to him.

Jensen never cared to comment.

True to reputation, he was only in the shower a couple minutes; scrubbing the dust clouds off his skin and out of his scalp, and he did drag the bar of soap down under his balls and up the crack of his ass after he noticed there was only one. A special present for Cameron, who was sure to jump in next.

Jared surveyed the canteen and its new bundle of occupants apprehensively. Taking in a crowd of sixteen to nineteen year old juveniles was a risky venture he’d inherited from his Daddy. They hadn’t had a new crop since a few years ago when his father had had that fall and gone into the old folks home; the ranch had been too big and too stairs-based to make it worth trying to outfit the whole operation as handicapable.

When Jared moved back home to look after the place, he wasn’t ready to jump into running a youth program on top of the actual ranching business so they’d had to take a pause while he got his bearings. His Daddy died last year, but Jared’s dying promise to him was that he’d get The QCR Juvenile Rehabilitation program back up and running. Looking around at the room full of young, cautious faces, Jared prayed this would all be worth it.

As they settled down on their benches, plates brimming with beans, rice, and their slabs of grilled chicken, the boys started to drop their masks and stopped looking around so suspiciously. Cool air and warm, full bellies had a way of helping teens drop their guard a little bit.

Jared started to see the cliques that had migrated with them from the detention center. The boys weren’t sitting with their roommates, except in a couple select cases. He couldn’t help his eyes wandering toward the four boys he’d put in the first room. The big one and the little one, Baxter and Cameron he thought, were sat together. The stringy one that he couldn’t remember the name of was off with another group across the room. It took another minute for him to find the one he was looking for, Jensen, sat at the back table, in the corner farthest from Jared.

Ackles wasn’t sitting alone exactly, there were other kids on either side of him, but he wasn’t speaking to any of them. He wasn’t participating. It was like he was off in his own head, like he didn’t need the social interaction the others craved.

Jared thought back to what he’d been told in his course about antisocial behaviour in juvenile delinquents. Reluctance to interact with their peers is often a precursor to further issues with aggression when the delinquent is released back into civil society, his head quoted the handbook back at him. Now vaguely concerned by what he observed of Ackles thus far, Jared sought him out again and felt his heart drop into his stomach.

Jensen wasn’t in the seat he’d been in just seconds before.

Panicking, hopefully invisibly, Jared’s eyes swept the room, looking for that sandy brown hair shot through with sun or the freckled face or the striking green eyes, any feature he could remember. He finally hit upon Ackles, passing behind a group of boys that had just stood up with their empty plates and in his breath of relief it struck him; that had been a strange set of traits for his brain to pick out about one of his juvenile detainees. So far he mentally identified most of them as: ‘the one with the eagle tattoo’, ‘the one that needed a haircut’, ‘the one that looked like he could bench press 200 pounds’. Ackles, despite his stern gaze and aloof attitude and altogether unnerving presence, had somehow found himself with the label of ‘the incredibly fuckable one’.

Jared flinched at his own thoughts, ashamed that he could even be attracted to someone in his care like these boys were, someone half his age. Heart sinking, Jared recognised that he’d already crossed a line without realising what his motivations were; he knew Ackles was half his age because after he’d done the roll call in the yard he’d gone inside and pulled out the file on ‘Ackles, Jensen’ to check him out. At the time he’d told himself he needed to read up on the kid because he’d already presented as a concern but the reality of the situation couldn’t be avoided now he recognised the path his thoughts had turned down. Jared was loath to admit that maybe it was men like him that gave the gay community a bad reputation. Admiring Jensen, even from afar, had to be treading the line of predation, didn’t it?

A crash and a cacophony of shouts pulled Jared from his contemplation of his young charge. In his preoccupation, Jared hadn’t noticed Jensen’s smallest roommate, Cameron, stand up from his bench and make his way down towards Jared’s end of the room. He hadn’t seen what happened, but Cameron was now squaring up to one of the other guys – one of the ones that looked like they could bench press him, easy.

Jensen and Baxter looked up towards the commotion and Jared saw both roll their eyes. Apparently this wasn’t unusual. The sound of an actual punch being thrown broke Jared out of his second reverie and spurred him towards the ring that had begun to form around the spectacle. The fighters were pretty well walled in, and Jared had trouble breaking through. Baxter appeared in his line of sight amidst jeers from the crowd, easily pushing in and stepping in front of Cameron to defend him from the other boy.

“Your little butt buddy started it,” he growled in Baxter’s face, not backing down.

“Yeah, and I’m finishing it!” Jared shouted, finally pushing through and inserting himself in between them. “That’s my first warning for all three of you,” Jared pointed sternly at Baxter, Cameron, and Sanchez (he finally remembered the name of the other kid). “We’re not playing baseball here either fellas. Any of y’all start something again you’re going back North, no third strike necessary. Got it?”

“Yes, sir,” they all grumbled reluctantly, Cameron and Sanchez still seething.

“Everyone back to your rooms now, get!” Jared ushered them towards the exit to the canteen, watching the crowd mosey out, chattering away. It was like the fight had broken some kind of tension and helped them all relax. Maybe now it felt more like home, what they were used to before. Jared looked around helplessly at the smiles, despairing a little inside. That facility in Gainesville must have been a hell of a place.

Jared was about to exit himself and lock the door behind him when he spotted Jensen still sat quietly in the corner, leaning back off the bench to rest against the wall behind him and mindlessly flicking through the pocket Bible they were required to provide in each room by the state. Being alone in the room with him made something queasy stir in Jared’s stomach, and he was surprised at the edge in his own voice when he spoke.

“Ackles,” he barked roughly, sound coming out scratchy and low. The boy flicked his eyes up from the Bible in his hands to look at Jared, bright green peeking through unfairly pretty eyelashes. “You uh, you can’t stay here. Back to your room,” Jared jerked a thumb down the hall in the direction all his fellow residents had just gone.

Jensen got up without speaking, tucking the Bible into the back of his jeans and moseying forward – towards Jared rather than the door. He stopped just short of him, looking up the couple of inches Jared had on him. For a moment, too long really, Jensen just stared at Jared, implacable. Jared only stared back helplessly.

“Yessir,” Jensen finally spoke, voice heavy with Texas and sarcasm, tilting an imaginary cowboy hat in deference to Jared before he brushed past him and walked down the hall to the dormitories without a backward glance.

The work Jensen is rotated through on the ranch gets duller by the day. He didn’t know how the head honcho was selecting who got which assignments, and it was probably random, but Jensen felt like he was being personally singled out with the worst jobs there were.

Anderson had been on the same duties in the stables since day one. He and a few others were learning how to groom the horses from some of the permanent, non-delinquent hands they had on staff. Cameron and Baxter had somehow wound up in the same group, despite that being one of the worst ideas ever, because they never got anything done when they were together. Or at least never got it done well. They had been out in some of the back fields mending fences and burning down some of the old grass. And what guy doesn’t want to mess around with fire all day and then hit some stuff? That sounded like a great way to spend the day if you asked Jensen.

But he had been stuck inside the whole friggin’ time he’d been on this goddamn ranch; right under the nose of the top gun himself. Jared wouldn’t. Leave him. Alone. Everywhere he went the guy was watching him. He tried to do it surreptitiously, but Jensen had spent the past five years watching his own back in juvie; he knew how it felt when someone had their eyes on him.

Today, Jensen was stuck in the kitchen on prep duty with Rocco and DJ, another pair that happened to get stationed with their buddies. Jensen swore he was the only one who kept winding up on his own. Though, he reflected on his dissatisfaction, maybe that was because he didn’t really have any friends among this group of guys in the first place.

He wondered idly, as he tore lettuce into chunks (they weren’t allowed knives), why it seemed to bother him so much more here than it had back in Gainesville. Maybe it was because they were out, but not really out. The ranch felt a lot closer to the real world, so Jensen had subconsciously expected to start plugging in again like he had the last time he’d been free. Expected it to feel more like highschool had, maybe, back when he’d actually had friends. When he’d had a boyfriend.

But it was useless thinking like that, Jensen realized. This place was just another kind of prison. Albeit – Jared walked through the kitchen door right on cue – one with much better eye candy than juvie had had. As irritating as it was to have him looking over his shoulder all the friggin’ time, Jensen could still admit that the owner of Quarter Creek Ranch was smokin’ hot. Like, hotter than Texas at the height of summer, hot.

Yesterday, Jensen had seen Jared ride into the stables while he’d been mucking out stalls – the closest he’d gotten to the horses the whole time they’d been here – and he damn near had heart palpitations. The sight of that man with his thighs spread wide across the animal’s back and sweaty from the baking sun was something else. Jensen had actually choked on his own breath for a moment when he’d caught sight of the way the leather reins were tangled in Jared’s long, rough fingers. He couldn’t tell which he wanted more: the leather straps wrapping around his neck, or Jared’s hands.

Juvie had given him some kinks; sue him. He’d had to make do with the skin mags he could pinch from the guards and none of them were particularly his thing, so he’d settled for imagination, and he’d had a ready memory of the feel of handcuffs sinking into his flesh.

Jensen was distracted now by Jared’s fingers flying in front of his face, and he jumped back reflexively before he registered what he was doing. He hadn’t been in any danger, he realized. Jared was just reaching for a chunk of lettuce from the growing pile Jensen had in front of him. The man popped the piece into his waiting mouth, stubbled chin working methodically as he chewed, Adam's apple bobbing as the vegetable made its way down his throat.

Jensen just stood there in bristly silence as Jared stared him down for a moment, simultaneously reaching for a second piece of lettuce. What the hell was his deal? Jensen wondered.

“You got something you wanna say there, Ackles?” Jared raised an eyebrow and stole another piece of lettuce.

Jensen felt his hands ball into fists at his side. It wasn’t like Jared was doing anything particularly malicious, or even that annoying, except that Jensen could tell he was doing it to mess with him, to see if there was some way to get him riled up and push him into lashing out. What the fuck was this guy’s problem?

“Do you like the lettuce, sir?” Jensen asked dryly, because he didn’t know what the fuck else to say, but he sure as hell knew he wasn’t going to rise to this bait.

“Good work on the tearing,” Jared smirked and moved on to inspect Rocco and DJ’s work, but not before Jensen caught a glimpse of something cagey behind the dark of his eyes. He was confused for a moment, he could have sworn Jared had lighter eyes than that – all blue and hazel and gray warped together – but then he realized it must have been Jared’s pupils, dilated far beyond reason for someone who was hanging out in a kitchen stealing bites of poorly prepared raw vegetables.

“Good work over here too, guys,” Jared nodded approvingly, looking over the rest of the food prep. “Go on and wash up, then head outside and help José unload the feed bags for the horses.”

“You got it boss,” DJ gave Jared an insincere salute and shot out the door with Rocco close on his heels. Jensen turned to trudge after them when a thick forearm blocked his path.

“Not you, Ackles.” Jared’s expression as he looked down at him was unreadable. Jensen met his stare evenly, trying not to let his irritation become visible.

“Something else you need, sir?” he forced himself to ask politely.

“Since you did such a good job with the lettuce, we’re gonna move you on to bigger and better things.” Jared spun around, and Jensen watched him suspiciously as moved back to the kitchen counter. Using a key he had on a loop of his belt, Jared unlocked a drawer and pulled out a, clearly very dull, knife. Jensen’s brow shot up in surprise.

“You trust me with that?”

Jared looked back at him quizzically, dropping a bag of potatoes on the counter next to where he’d set the knife.

“You gonna give me a reason not to?” Jared’s brow quirked up to match Jensen’s.

Jensen didn’t answer the question. He stomped up to the kitchen counter and picked up the knife, grabbing a potato in the other hand.

“What shape am I cutting these into?” Jensen’s voice was monotone, unemotional. He wasn’t going to be grateful to Jared for the extra work when the other boys got a break, but he wasn’t going to give him a reason to regret this decision to take a chance with him either.

“What shape am I cutting these into, sir,” Jared corrected, and though Jensen couldn’t see him he could hear the cocky smirk the man was wearing, loud and clear.

“Yessir, sorry sir,” Jensen spoke through clenched teeth. He refused to turn around to see the glee that he was sure must be on Jared’s face.

“Better,” Jared confirms. “Long and thick, Ackles.”

Jensen spluttered, choking on thin air. He’d been wondering just a second ago if Jared’s cock was as big as his attitude; how had he known what Jensen had been thinking?

“I’m sorry sir?” Jensen’s cheeks were flaming red, he couldn’t turn to look at Jared to see if the man’s expression gave anything away.

“The potatoes, Ackles,” Jared answered evenly, and Jensen blushed even deeper.

“Oh, uh, right. Yessir.” Fuck, he hated Jared.

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All Walker: @stoneyggirl @walkersbabygirl

#alpha reader program #spnfanficpond #j2 #jared x jensen #older jared x younger jensen #cowboy!jared #juvenile delinquent!jensen #riled up #writethelifeyouwant #spn rpf #walker rpf

[starsandhughes]

Penalty Box Series— Pregnancy Announcement Edition

23-24 Season Masterlist

OCTOBER 27, 2023

yourusername

liked by trevorzegras, _quinnhughes, and 17,566 others

yourusername we’re not just adding one baby to the roster— we’re adding two!

trevor and i have been keeping this mighty big secret for the last eight weeks, and i’m so happy to finally be sharing this news with everyone!

you’re going to be a great dad to our little ducklings, z. i’ll forever cherish your reaction when i told you. i never thought us crying in the kitchen would be a good thing, but it turned out to be rather beautiful.

to mom and dad, i would not be as brave with this pregnancy if it weren’t for you two raising me to be the person i am today. i’m still scared, but i know i’ll be ready.

to quinn, jack, and luke, you’re all going to be amazing uncles. i felt immense joy when i told you guys, and i know that our babies will never know a world without love with you three in their lives.

to alex, cole, jamie, matty, and spencer, i’d make all of you godfathers if i could. but the twins will still grow up with you all as uncles, and i hope they’re forever confused as to who’s related and who’s not because you’re all apart of my crazy little family.

trevor and i are very excited for this next chapter of our lives, and i get to do it with the best people by my side❤️

tagged trevorzegras

view all 547 comments

trevorzegras you’re going to be the best mom, sweet girl! and i can’t wait to be a dad❤️ i love you, forever

yourusername i love you, always, baby daddy❤️

_quinnhughes it’s already been an honor to be your big brother, but the biggest honor will be becoming an uncle to the twins! i love you, sissy! (you, too, z)

yourusername you made me cry again, quinny! i can’t wait to meet them, and i really can’t wait for you to meet them! i love you so much❤️

_quinnhughes i know this pregnancy was a surprise, but i’m happy it was planned perfectly so we can all meet them at the same time this summer! good work!

yourusername so convenient! thanks, universe!

trevorzegras this means a lot, quinner. i love you, too

user17 THE BEST COUPLE IN THE NHL ARE GOING TO BE PARENTS AHHH😭

lhughes_06 i’ll spoil them rotten, sissy! you’re going to be the perfect mom! i love you❤️

yourusername they’re not going to know the word “no” are they? i love you so much, lukey moosey❤️

lhughes_06 you don’t even know what no means and i plan to pass that trait onto your kids

yourusername you’re so thoughtful <3

trevorzegras @/lhughes_06 can toy storage be apart of that spoiling?

lhughes_06 @/trevorzegras no <3

user7 IT’S TWINS AHHHHHH

user33 i’m in tears oh my god

jackhughes i can’t believe my twin is having twins! all teasing aside, you two are going to be the best parents this world has ever seen. i love you, sissy, and i can’t wait to shower the twins with so much love and affection and toys❤️

yourusername aw jacky baby, i love you so much❤️

jackhughes no jacky boy?

yourusername treasure it while it lasts

jackhughes i’ll treasure it with so much security until the twins are born. then it’ll be thrown out to treasure that memory

yourusername TEARS! YOU’VE GOT ME IN TEARS, HOWDY ROWDY!

jackhughes you’re welcome, sissy!

trevorzegras @/jackhughes you definitely don’t have me crying, but thank you, hughesy!

yourusername @/jackhughes he’s lying <3

jackhughes @/yourusername i know

trevorzegras damn

user91 i hope the world is ready to handle two more zegras’s!

_alexturcotte the babies are going to look so cute in little kings jerseys! i love you two, but i think i’m going to love the twins more

yourusername i know i’m going to love our babies more, but i’ll still love you, turc! you’re stuck with me❤️

trevorzegras @_alexturcotte ducks jerseys***

jackhughes @_alexturcotte @/trevorzegras devils jerseys***

_quinnhughes @_alexturcotte @/trevorzegras @.jackhughes canucks jerseys***

colecaufield @_alexturcotte @/trevorzegras @_quinnhughes @/jackhughes habs jerseys***

slknight35 @_alexturcotte @/trevorzegras @_quinnhughes @/jackhughes @/colecafield panthers jerseys***

yourusername @_alexturcotte @/trevorzegras @_quinnhughes @/jackhughes @/colecaufield @.slknight35 they’re going to look cute in all the jerseys! (stars jerseys***)

trevorzegras @/yourusername don’t you dare

yourusername @/trevorzegras they’re my babies, too!!

user65 OMG BABY Z’S

dylanduke25 MOM’S GONNA BE A MOM!

yourusername these babies are going to have a lot of brothers!

dylanduke25 as long as i’m their favorite!

user54 now when i say “daddy, sorry” about z, he will be daddy😭

slknight35 i can’t believe two of the wildest people i know are going to be parents, but i know you’ll both be great at it. these twins will never run out of people that love them. i love you two!

yourusername i can’t wait for them to get sassy and be able to say that they got it from their mama! they’ll keep me tame, and i’ll make sure they’re as stubbornly independent as me. i love you, too, spency!

trevorzegras @/slknight35 snoop dogg said to live young and wild a free, and they’ll live by that

_quinnhughes @/yourusername @/trevorzegras oh no

yourusername @_quinnhughes oh yes

slknight35 @/yourusername @/trevorzegras the world isn’t ready for that

yourusername @/slknight35 the world has 9 months to prepare!

lhughes_06 @/yourusername that is not enough time

jamie.drysdale i can’t wait to see you two become the best parents to ever exist! i love you both more than words (we’re going to need a bigger house)

yourusername i love you with my whole heart, jamie baby❤️ (that sounds like a later problem)

trevorzegras you sap! i love you, too, jimmy (i’ll take care of it)

jamie.drysdale @/trevorzegras (maybe i should take care of it)

yourusername @/jamie.drysdale (good idea)

user76 those ducks booties are so cute!! this is amazing news😭

matthew_tkachuk you two are going to have double the trouble around! i’m so excited for you guys! i love you, sissy!

yourusername don’t teach them to be rats, matty ratty! that’ll be my job! (i love you MORE)

matthew_tkachuk i can make no promises

yourusername that sounds about right

user62 you’re going from sissy to mommy! how exciting!

colecaufield my best friend number two is having two! i’m going to be the best godfather❤️ i love you guys!

yourusername that’s a bold claim considering we just announced that we’re pregnant! i love you, too, coley woley!

trevorzegras @/colecaufield please don’t cause her to have a godfather decision breakdown because you will be off the list. i love you, though!

colecaufield @/trevorzegras that’s fair

trevorzegras i just wanna say that i loved being your boyfriend, and i’m loving being your fiancé, i’m going to love being your husband, but i’m going to love being a dad with you even more❤️ i love you, forever, mom ;)

yourusername you sappy dork, you’ve got me crying! i love you, always, dad❤️

#penalty box series #trevor zegras #trevor zegras x reader #trevor zegras imagine #trevor zegras fic #trevor zegras au #quinn hughes #jack hughes #luke hughes #cole caufield #alex turcotte

[sleepyrouge]

still dancing in the night (part one)

part one | part two | part three | playlist

description: you feel always feel ill-at-ease, like a stranger in this world. it's hard for you to feel excited, until you stumble onto kirishima, a burgeoning pro-hero from your agency, fighting one night and that leads to a tempestuous acquaintance with his friend, bakugou.

word count:3k

 fic title: heroes and villains by the beach boys

author's note: howdy! this is the first installment of a three-part fic that i decided to write since i couldn't get it out of my head. this work was lowkey influenced by akira (1988) and weirdly enough, on the waterfront (1954). this is my first work posted on this blog and im so excited!! note that this fic is bakugou x reader but i couldn't quite nail the second person point of view so i just stuck with making the reader as vague as possible. this is something i'm working on though and my next fic will have more of the traditional second person formatting :)

pairing: katsuki bakugou x reader

content warnings: afab pronouns, all characters are aged up to their early twenties, descriptions of blood/violence, drug usage, alcohol consumption, dark-ish content, as slow of a burn as you can get with three parts (18+/mdni/ageless blogs dni!!!!)

there are people out there, somewhere in the world, that believe that the world operates in strictly black and white and that was even her own consensus for a while during the early stages of life. now, the shades of gray in between were visible. not during the day when she was training up to be a hero, but solely during the night. the shades of gray were visible in the searing brightness of the neon signs along the crowded sidewalks, their designs reflected off of the pavement in the rain puddles and stray splashes of oil on the asphalt. the shades of gray were apparent when she stepped into the basement of a building that was a little family restaurant during the day, cigarette smoke permeating the air to a degree that it was almost impossible for her to breathe.

the girl could remember poignantly the early days of her being a sidekick, stumbling into the basement where she ought not be, after hearing the cries and shouts of older men from beneath the street. it was night and she couldn’t get her mind to click off no matter how she tried, so she had taken to stumbling through the streets and admiring how different things were when the sun was gone. when she ambled into the basement for the very first time, there was an elderly man sitting at a folding table and puffing on a cigar as he watched two men beating the shit out of each other through a crack in a circle of rowdy spectators. the onlookers pushed and shoved, calling out in awe as two men at the center of the circle fought primally. she cocked her head to the side in morbid interest. the girl haltingly recognized one of the fighters-his pointy red hair giving him away as another sidekick from her agency. her roommate, who was in charge of dispatch at their agency, would quietly babble on about him and blush when they would watch t.v. together some nights. from her roommate, she knew that the red-haired fighter’s name was kirishima. she winced as he took a strong punch to the jaw and his head snapped to the left.

“you shouldn’t be here, girl. this here’s a private meeting.” the man spoke without turning to look at her and she jumped at being addressed directly. she hadn’t fully realized that this wasn’t a dream and that others could see her.

“s-sorry! i just heard a lot of voices and thought that someone might be in trouble!” she tried to explain, knowing full-well that she should be making for the exit now but couldn’t bring herself to look away from the two men sparring and prancing around each other.

“no one’s in trouble here. just some old friends having a get together.” the man looked up at her through a cloud of smoke and winked. “you aren’t the police, are ya?”

“not quite, but what are they doing?” she nodded her head towards the ring, looking for some kind of explanation as to why the two men were fighting so vehemently. she was almost transfixed.

“they’re fighting, just like humans did in the old days before quirks. we don’t use quirks here.”

“why not?” she asked dumbly and the man grinned menacingly.

“take away your fancy little quirks and what are you left with except for two fists and your dick?” he takes a pointed look at her. “well, probably not in your case but the sentiment’s the same.” the girl listens and watches as her colleague is declared the winner and steps out of the makeshift ring. he’s wiping his sweat away with a ratty old towel, men clapping him on the back, when he realizes she’s standing there. his anonymity is suddenly at stake. he grabs his gym bag off of the floor quickly and collects a handful of money from the old man with a nod. he shoots her a dirty look as he ascends the stairs up to the street.

“sorry for barging in, mister!” she calls over her shoulder and runs after kirishima, sneakers pounding harshly against the asphalt.

“hey!” she calls as she catches up to him. he snaps around to look at her.

“what the fuck were you doing there?” he spits, a little uneasy. she had never heard him speak with such venom. she stops walking to stare at him.

“me? what the fuck were you doing there?” she asks and steps closer to the tall sidekick. “don’t you know fighting like that is illegal?” he laughs as she whispers the last part. “why are you laughing? we’ve spent most of our lives training to fight bad guys and you’re still breaking the law!” even just saying this, she hates how inane she sounds.

“it’s not that bad, y’know? it’s not like we’re causing any property damage or tearing down half the city. it’s just fighting.” kirishima shrugs at her, seemingly not as upset any more. the girl thinks to herself for a moment and then clenches her jaw. inside her, there was something clawing to come out, something that wanted to break through her anxious demeanor and give her an experience that was larger than life. she fought to keep that buried, but it clawed free.

“i wanna fight.” she declares and kirishima laughs outright at her.

“you can’t fight, doll.” he condescends even though he stumbles over the words and it would have pissed her off if not for the way she knew that she wasn’t built to be a fighter, not where bare knuckles and black eyes and broken incisors were involved.

“why shouldn’t i fight?” she continues stubbornly, only egged on by the mirth flashing through kirishima’s eyes. he starts to unwind the white tape wound around his knuckles. she notes the little spatters of light, almost pink blood littering the fabric.

“you’re not really, y’know, tough.” he admits as he shoves his free hands deep into the pockets of his black sweatpants that are already slung dangerously low on his hips. she can hear the neon sign for the bar they’re standing in front of buzzing. her skin pricks underneath the hoodie she’s wearing. she needs a drink. she shouldn’t have come out tonight. she should have left well enough alone, but then where would she be? still going on the same old patrols during the day and not being able to wrangle her mind in well enough at night to sleep.

she was intoxicated by the thought of her head snapping back dangerously like kirishima’s had during his fight. she felt her hands buzzing at the thought of punching someone with all her might, just because, and able to leave her quirk dormant. it excited something deep inside of her.

“who says i’m not tough?” it’s almost a whisper and she’s looking at the pavement, toe of her canvas sneaker scraping languidly. through her peripheral vision she can see kirishima open his mouth and close it again as he tries to sort out what to say.

“i didn’t mean that as a bad thing, i promise. it’s just that with your quirk being what it is, you never really have to take the brunt of the action when we’re fighting. your mind strength is stronger than your body strength.” he placates and he’s leaning on his bare shoulder against the outside of the bar now. she watches as the neon shifts color from red to green and reflects on his skin almost tantalizingly. she wishes she could transfer the vision to her roommate.

“but they-you, i guess, don’t use quirks there so i don’t see how that has any bearing.” the girl retorts levelly and kirishima chews on his bottom lip with sharp teeth.

“you really wanna fight?” he asks finally and lets out a long, drawn out sigh.

“i at least wanna try.” she states, having made up her mind for sure.

“fine. i’ll talk to the old man.” he concedes and turns again to leave. he stops. “don’t tell your roommate about this, yeah?”

the next saturday, kirishima wordlessly drops a sticky note on her desk with only thursday 11:00 same place scrawled on it and she watches as he saunters somewhat timidly over to her roommate and she watches as her face lights up bright red. the girl looks away from the two, folding the note carefully and putting it into her pants pocket. she feels eyes on her from across the room so she looks up and meets the inquisitive, burning stare of katsuki bakugou. she stares back at him with what she hopes is the same intensity. she wonders if he knows about kirishima’s fighting. she wonders stupidly if bakugou would approve of her fighting if he knew. if she was truly larger than life like she wanted to be, she would have marched over to bakugou’s desk and demanded to know why he was staring at her like he was a lion and she was his prey. it was an idiotic thought to have. over the course of their sidekick internment thus far, she had only spoken to bakugou a handful of times and those conversations were always sparse on words, anemic when it came to any substance. she left it alone for now.

then, as she reminisced, the girl remembered how her roommate had all but glided over to her desk after kirishima had left her and animatedly told her about how he had invited the two of them out tonight along with his own perpetually annoyed roommate, bakugou. shit. she felt the weight to accept the invitation from deep within her roommate’s gaze.

“fine, i’ll go.” she gave in after feeling a little infected by her friend’s joy. how bad could it be? kirishima had done her a favor and tagging along with her roommate couldn’t possibly be that bad.

she listened politely and patiently that night as her roommate tried on a multitude of different outfits, trying to figure out what would be the perfect one. her roommate could deny it all she wanted, in fact she did deny it, but her crush on kirishima would have been apparent to any fool with two functioning eyes.

“just go with the red outfit!” the girl threw her hands up finally in exasperation after watching her roommate switch outfits for the third time. “we’re just going out for drinks, it’s not like he asked you to marry him.” the girl flopped down on her roommate’s bed and rolled out of the way just in time to avoid being hit by the stuffed all might plushie she had thrown at her.

“cut it out! i don’t like him.” she pouted, stepping into the red skirt she held and zipping it up the back.

“could have fooled me.” the girl whispered under her breath and picked at her nails as she let her mind wander to what the following thursday night might have in store for her. she was barely listening to her roommate now.

“if i woulda known you were gonna be this hard to get along with, i would have let you find your own date for tonight.” her roommate berated her lightly as she checked her hair in her bathroom mirror.

“it’s not a date, and at any rate, i coulda found a better date than katsuki bakugou.” the girl snorted.

“he’s cute!” her roommate defended as she came to stand in her bathroom doorway. she rolled her eyes.

“to be correct here, bakugou’s fuckin’ hot.” she paused as she watched her roommate lift her eyebrows. “don’t read anything into that, i’m speaking objectively.” she deadpanned, standing up and straightening her outfit. “shall we go then, m’lady?” the girl outstretched an arm towards her roommate, which her roommate took with a playful groan. they walked together arm in arm, stumbling over sewer grates in their heels, until they reached the bar downtown that they were supposed to meet kirishima and bakugou at.

there were people spilling through the door into the streets and loud music pumping out of the building by the time the two arrived. it was impossible to see through the crowd as they wormed their way inside and shouted their drink orders over the pulsating music to the bartender. the girl had knocked back two shots and was about to have a lukewarm third by the time that kirishima and bakugou had arrived. her roommate all but squealed at kirishima’s arrival and okay, yeah, she thought, they were kinda cute. standing back from the trio, the girl watched as bakugou looked dubiously between the three of them, eyebrow cocked and hands shoved deep into the pockets of his black jeans. she could just make out him growling his order to the bartender next to her over the volume of the music. the alcohol that she had consumed was working on loosening her tongue and she debated if she should say something to bakugou. her thoughts were cut off by his voice.

“didn’t expect you to be here when kirishima asked me to come out tonight.” he spoke close to her ear and took a sip of his drink.

“it’s something new im trying,” she knocked back the third shot she had been holding. “since i’m in the prime of my youth or so they tell me.” she smirked at him and tried not to stare too long at the show the strobe lights were giving against the whites of his eyes.

“y’know that’s the most i think i’ve heard you say to me since we’ve been sidekicks.” bakugou mused and she laughed, body wedged between the bar and the large crowd of people dancing. kirishima and her roommate had disappeared somewhere into the crowd since she had started talking to bakugou. despite the alcohol, she couldn’t fight the blanket of self-consciousness that had fallen over her. her clothes started to feel too tight, her skin too constrictive.

“i’m gonna go to the restroom.” she interjected shortly into the conversation and wriggled through the throng of people, desperately looking left and right for the restroom. it’s not that she actually needed the bathroom, she just needed somewhere calmer and quieter to collect her thoughts. her mind was starting to run faster than she could keep up with and she didn’t want to ruin the night, if only for her roommate’s sake.

finally, her eyes landed on the black door for the ladies’ room and she made a bee-line for it, pushing against the heavy door and grimacing at the way the black paint stuck to her hands from the humidity inside the room. she walked in proper, wiping her hands on the bottom of her skirt, when she stopped dead in her tracks. there was a woman with purple hair bent over the sink counter, doing a line of coke right off of the marble. the sight really shouldn’t have caught her as off-guard as it did. the purple-haired woman straightened herself out and turned to face her, wiping powder off the tip of her nose. there was a relaxed smile on her face.

“i just uh, need to pee.” the girl laughed awkwardly and made her way into a stall. she was halfway into shutting the door when the mystery woman finally spoke.

“you can have some, if you want.” the woman said it so nonchalantly that it took the girl off of her guard and she slowly opened the stall door back up. the woman was holding a rolled up bill out to her.

“that wouldn’t be very smart of me.” the girl spoke without filtering it first. the purple-haired woman chuckled.

“no, it isn’t very smart, but it is a good time.” she nodded her head and the girl stepped back out of the stall. she took the rolled up bill from the lady, the same feelings prickling beneath the surface of her skin just like they had when she had seen kirishima fight. there was possibility. there was freedom to be had. there was more than just the black and white ways of heroes to life. there was also recklessness, there was downright stupidity. the girl smiled to herself. she walked over to the counter, ducked her head, did a line. she handed the bill back to the purple-haired lady and they repeated the little waltz four more times with no words spoken between the two of them. abruptly, she remembered bakugou and kirishima and her roommate and she started back out the bathroom door before turning back to the lady.

“i can uh, pay you for that.” she swiped at her nose before reaching into her purse. the lady waved her off.

“no worries here.” the lady smiled at her again lazily and the girl nodded her head and exited.

after leaving the restroom, despite a thin pool of mucus congregating at the back of her throat, everything was starting to feel like it was in high-definition. moving slow, but high definition nonetheless.  she felt like she could see more clearly, like there wasn’t a veil over her field of vision. she stepped into the large crowd of people and started dancing alongside them. she didn’t mind the hands that she felt swipe along her back and midsection. she fixated on the bass pulsing through her core and up through her throat. she found that she liked feeling like this, floaty and centered all at the same time and so out of her head that she just didn’t care. it was more intoxicating than anything else she had done that night so far.

the next moment, she felt a pair of rough hands on the exposed skin of her waist and she turned her head to see bakugou behind her, blonde hair shining against the lights. his eyes had a fire in them that didn’t match the casually unbothered look on his face.

“what’re you doing?” he asked, standing a little closer than was necessary to talk to her. she didn’t stop swaying.

“dancing!” she replied with a little giggle. an annoyed expression passed across bakugou’s face.

“dancing with a bunch of fuckin’ extras.” he grumbled and started to pull his hands away from her. bakugou was more relaxed in those days than when she had first met him but there was still impatience and frustration within his demeanor.

“why shouldn’t i be dancing with them?” she asked innocently, not really getting what bakugo was talking about.

“you’re gonna be a pro-hero soon, yeah? you shouldn’t be dancing with people that don’t…appreciate that.” he was close to her ear again and she tried to fight back against how sensitive she felt, how she thought in that moment that bakugou was being cordial towards her.

“and i suppose you’re the only one here that appreciates that?” she’s biting on her thumbnail harshly and looking up at him with wide-blown eyes that she couldn’t help.

“even though it’s you here, sure.” he’s all brusqueness and sharp angles again and she rolls her eyes at him.

“what’s that supposed to mean, katsuki?” she knows she’s pushing him and she can tell by the set of his jaw, but she just can’t get her mouth to stop, can’t seem to figure out how to do anything that wasn’t strictly irresponsible as of late.

“not a damn thing.” he growls and then he’s grabbing her and pulling her to him roughly. they sway to the music and try to avoid looking at each other, even as the night winds down and she feels her heart settling inside of her ribs. it’s not the worst way to spend an evening.

then, that thursday, she found herself stationed on the toilet seat in the bathroom of the old family restaurant basement while kirishima taped up her hands for her. he had walked in on her minutes earlier, a mirror to herself days before, doing coke off of the bathroom counter. it wasn’t something she was particularly proud of, but she liked the way it made her feel. she could explain it away that way anyways as long as the sun was down and she didn’t have the burgeoning weight of becoming a pro-hero on her shoulders for the time being. she looked up at kirishima and tried to quell the electric excitement fizzling in her chest. she watched the pinch of kirishima’s jaw, could just make out how he was grinding his teeth together. he tore off the last bit of tape with his teeth and finished securing her hands. he hauled her up to her feet and she had a wild grin on her face. kirishima yanked her fists up in front of her face.

“keep your damn hands up, okay? try not to get a head injury. if you have to go to the hospital for this, we’ll both get our hero licenses suspended. don’t be stupid. don’t try anything that you don’t know how to do. this guy you’re fighting, he’s quick but he’s not very strong. just keep your feet planted and keep your hands up and try to hang on until the end.” kirishima all but begged her as he held her hands in place by her head. “don’t do anything stupid and we’ll go to work tomorrow like this never happened.” he dropped her hands and patted her on the shoulder.

they walked out of the bathroom together and for the next few months, that was how each week passed. bare-knuckle fighting and hero training during the week and dancing too closely with bakugou on the weekends.

#bakugou x reader #bakugou katsuki x reader #mha x reader #bnha x reader #bakugou katsuki #kirishima eijirou #long fic #bnha bakugou #jeni writes

[twisted-in-wonderland-jay]

◡̈⋆ʜᴇʟʟᴏ(●’◡’●)ﾉ can you do like a headcannon about what if the Mc/reader was their childhood friend who they had a puppy love crush on the Mc/reader but as they got older they fell much harder for them (btw I didn't pick which character to do bc I don't really know if you already did this or not sooo you can pick who ever you want) also it's ok if don't want to do this but anyway take care & take breaks whenever you need too! & have a good day/night! ❀(*´▽`*)❀

Aaallsoo sorry for it being too long (っ◞‸◟c); I just thought of some fluff (〃∀〃)ゞ

Ask and you shall receive



A forbidden love his mother doesn’t like him socializing with people, he should be focusing on studying which is why it’s a forbidden love

You met Riddle when out with Trey and Che’nya playing near Riddle’s house

You two send secret letters to each other when you were younger

Excited to see you again after so long but doesn’t really show it

If you choose seats in class he usually chooses the seat next to you and says it was the only one open even though it wasn’t

Didn’t see you for a long time until night Raven college

He’s very lenient with you

Invite you to Tea

Walks in the garden to his favorite spot

He takes forever to confess his feelings for you even though it’s obvious and you can tell he still refuses to say that he loves you until later on

One day you were walking in the forest and stumbled across the meadow with a beautiful silver haired boy. This is where you meet silver for the first time

Upon your first meeting and talking for a bit yeah offers you a flower crown

You guys hang out during the afternoon during his lunch time before he has to continue training

Lilia noticed and follows him to see you two eating together and he thinks it’s so adorable too bad he’s a boomer and doesn’t know how to use the phone to take photos

He’s normally really chill though he has a huge puppy crush on you

Around you though he is super shy and doesn’t always but you do notice that he does stutter and mumble to himself a bit

Constantly send you little gifts. Making use of his little bird friends to send you crowns, little gifts made of leaves or flowers and the like

(Damn I guess I just chose the softest boys)

He’s rowdy Howdy cowboy (that’s a literally what I call him)

You and him are the only kids that are your age in the village that you grew up in. Most of the kids there are a couple years younger and the closest to being older than you is around five years older, needless to say you guys were close because you were close in age

People around the village noticed his little crush on you and would tease him about it all the time

He wasn’t shy about it though so the teasing eventually stopped because he actually asked you out on a date when you were like seven

Though at the time you guys didn’t really think of it as a date because usually the date would entail running around, eating sweets, playing in the fields etc.

Little do you know he still remembers all of the times you guys would hang out and always called them a date even if you might not of thought the same

Now that he’s gotten older you think he’d be a little bit shy or realizing exactly what he’s asking but he’s really not and the best part about it to him is that you don’t care about his dialect or the way that he acts because you grew up with him so he feels that much closer to you.

Needless to say he’s had a crush on you since day one and it only get stronger and stronger

Buys you gifts even though he doesn’t have any money

Protects you from bullies when you were younger

Always gave to you and didn’t really expect anything in return

He still buys you stuff to this day that you question where he got the money from

Don’t worry though he works odd jobs he didn’t steal it

If you ask him to stop stealing he’ll try his hardest not to but there’s no real guarantee

Do you think he’s a slave to Leona this man is a Simp, if you ask him to do something he will 100% put that before Leona‘s orders

He’s really sweet with you, and always put his best foot forward into improving himself in whatever way you want him to

When you guys first met it was on the beach

It was probably the second time he’s ever walked on land and you helped him out when you were kids because he couldn’t walk very well

you guys talked while he was there eventually he did have to go

Floyd eventually found out that when he was going to the surface on the beach he was talking to you each time

He decided to start teasing you about it

No not teasing his brother but you

Jade eventually became protective of you

He still overprotective of you

He made sure that Floyd didn’t pick on you too much though sometimes he lets it slide (cause it’s funny)

He gets a little shy around you it probably starts listing off in a mutter all of the plants he has in alphabetical order because why not

He’s not overly shy though, obviously still being able to function and talk to you

He is still waiting for the right moment to tell you how much he cares about you

#twisted wonderland #jade leech #epel felmier #riddle rosehearts #ruggie bucchi #silver twisted wonderland

[prairiemule]

The Saddle & the Springs - RDR2 One Shot

Howdy @bllds1! I was your backup santa for the @rdr-secret-santa event. You said you wanted a brotherly-bonding piece with the boys, so I hope I delivered!

Characters: Arthur Morgan, John Marston (major) Bessie Matthews, Susan Grimshaw, Hosea Matthews (minor)

Words: 9624

Summary: While looking for potential scores in a small Wyoming town, the boys hear about a wonderful and strange park to the north, Yellowstone. What they find there will amaze them.

ao3 link

Wyoming - April, 1891

Mild weather in April seemed impossible, but it had been nothing but beautiful clear skies for days now. Arthur leaned back in the saddle, staring up at the sun for a brief moment. It was a little past noon, maybe one o’clock. He needed a new pocket watch badly. Maybe he’d buy one in town, recent scores had left him with a decent chunk of pocket change.

Beside him, John was grumbling and adjusting himself in his seat. His brown turkoman horse, Layla, patient with all the fiddling.

Arthur cocked a brow, “The hell you doing, Marston?”

“This damn saddle.” John growled out. “It don’t fit my ass no more.”

Arthur stifled a laugh. “That so? Surprised you can even say you have an ass, skinny as you are.”

“Shut up.” John shot back. “I’m not the kid I was when I got this old thing.”

The older man nodded. “Suppose you’re right. You gone and turned eighteen on us, huh?”

John smiled proudly for a short second. “You’re gonna have to start treating me like an adult and not some little shit kid.”

Arthur laughed. “You’ll always be my little shit brother, Johnny.”

The teenager grumbled again, changing the subject. “How much longer we gonna be staying around here? Thought we was headed for Denver.”

“I have no idea. Hosea and Dutch seem to be up to something. Maybe they think there’s a score in Granger worth getting in the meantime.”

“So, what are we supposed to do?”

“Not draw attention to ourselves.” Arthur shrugged.

John sighed. “Whatever they’re cooking up better be worth it, there ain’t nothing to do around here to pass the time.”

“You should try reading more, kid.”

“Reading is boring.”

Arthur rolled his eyes. He didn’t need to have this argument again with a moody teenager. “Maybe we’ll find a score of our own in town when we get there.”

“Haven’t robbed a coach in awhile.” John mused.

“What did I just say?”

“You’re no fun.” John groused, but there was humor in his voice.

“They keep telling me that.”

“Where the hell is this next town anyway? Sweetwater, was it?”

“We’re almost there, relax.”

As the sun gradually fell from its peak in the sky, the two of them continued their leisurely walk alongside the train tracks toward town, an inbound train whistling in the distance. Soon enough, they crested a hill, and the little town of Sweetwater was easily visible in the arid landscape of slowly rolling hills and short, hardy shrubs and grasses

“Don’t look like much from here.” John said, pulling his hat off to wipe his brow.

Arthur took the little town in, noting the railroad station. “Probably not much more than a place for travelers to stop and rest up. Still, keep your eyes and ears open. With so many people who pass through, you never know what gems you can pick up in dusty little forgotten holes like this.”

“Guess I’ll check out the saloon.” John said quickly.

Arthur held in a laugh. “Trying to take the easy job, huh?”

“Maybe I just don’t think your hearing is good enough for it, old man.” John teased. “It can get pretty loud and rowdy.”

“Whatever you say, kid.” Arthur shook his head. “I needed to go to the general store anyway.”

“Pick me up a -”

Arthur interrupted him. “Buy your own damn cigarettes, John.”

“I’ll pay you back!”

“I’ve heard that lie too many times now to believe you.”

“Fine.” John conceded. “Maybe I’ll just take a pack off some drunk patron”

Arthur gave him a stern look. “If you do, just try not to get in another brawl. I don’t want to have to save your ass again.”

“I fight fine, Arthur.”

“A blind raccoon could fight better than you.”

John rolled his eyes. “Just come join me when you’re done in the store, alright?”

“Sure. Might check out the station or a few shops ‘fore I come to the saloon. Doesn’t look like there’s much in the town, but you never know.”

The teenager nodded. When they finally made it onto the main drag of town, John split off and headed further down the road, having spotted what was clearly the saloon. A good number of stumbling fools wandered around outside of it, along with a few working girls gauging potential customers.

Arthur took a big swig of his canteen. The weather may have been clear and relatively mild, but it was still bright and hot out in the arid environment. He would need to refill his water while they were in town.

As he looked around, by all accounts Sweetwater wasn’t some beaten down, desperate little place. It was quaint, and well kept. Perhaps being on the railroad line kept it this way. There were a few interesting shops and businesses, a little bookstore, a tailor, a stable, and what appeared to be a leatherworker or saddler.

He hitched his roadster mare, Artemisia, outside the general store. The big horse let out a sigh before drinking heavily from the nearby trough. The heat was getting to her too. Arthur gave her a few pats. “We’ll head back to camp after this, and you’ll be able to rest up a few days.”

She flicked her ear and snorted her response.

Arthur chuckled, giving her one more pat before heading into the general store. It was a quick stop, grabbing some provisions for the road and finding a decent pocket watch to replace his broken one. He could have stolen one. But sometimes he enjoyed truly buying and owning something for himself.

Once back out in the street, Arthur glanced around town, again taking notice of the saddler and stable on the far edge of town. He almost didn’t think much of it, when suddenly an idea crossed his mind. He took one look at John’s horse, Layla, hitched outside the saloon, then he turned and wandered up the road towards the saddler.

- - - - -

He found John at the saloon’s bar maybe an hour later. The kid was standing steadily, nursing a beer bottle. So Arthur imagined he was only a few drinks in, if at all. “John.” He greeted his brother, lowly.

He looked up. “Arthur.” John returned.

Arthur leaned against the bar and took in the place. Most folks seemed to be having a good time, lots of raucous conversation and laughter.

Arthur dropped a quarter on the counter. “Gimme a beer.” He said to the barkeep. Avoiding his usual drink of whisky for the time being.

“Sure thing.” The barkeep replied, reaching under the counter and handing him a bottle. “Anything else?”

Arthur held up his canteen. “Water for the road would be good.”

“There’s a pump around back you can use.” The barkeep replied. “We’re also right on a river if that doesn’t suit you.”

Arthur nodded. “Thanks.”

After taking a few drinks from the bottle, he nudged John and gestured to an empty table in a dead area of the saloon, John grabbed one more drink and followed. “Heard anything?” Arthur asked quietly when they sat down.

John shrugged. “Not really. Think the most we’d get out of this town is robbing the few rich train passengers that may pass through. Even that’s probably not worth the trouble right now.”

Arthur nodded. John was talking sense for once. He’d been doing that more lately. “Didn’t see much from the various shops around. We could check another town tomorrow after we get back to camp.”

“Maybe.” John paused for longer than he usually would.

It didn’t go unnoticed by Arthur. “Something on your mind?” He pressed.

“I dunno. You uh . . . you heard of a weird park north of here? Yellow-something or other?”

Arthur stared at him. “Yellowstone?”

“Yeah, yeah that’s it.” John took another moment. “People ‘round here, keep saying shit about rainbow colored pools up there? Holes in the ground that blast out water? Boiling pits of mud?”

Arthur nodded. “I read about Yellowstone park a couple times over the last few years, in some papers and a few other things.”

“So . . . is all that shit true?”

“I dunno, I guess?”

“ . . . Weird.”

“What’s this got to do with anything?”

John shook his head. “Nothing, just the only interesting thing I’ve heard all day.”

“If that’s all you been hearing about, this town really ain’t worth the trouble, is it?”

“Don’t think so.” John sighed. “Shame too, I’m so damn bored.”

“We’ll have some action soon enough.” Arthur stood. “We best head back to camp then, let Hosea and Dutch know there’s nothing out here.”

John downed the rest of his drink, standing as well. “Alright, can we please rob someone on the road on way back?”

“No.”

“God damn it.” The teenager sighed.

“Let’s get a move on. I’d prefer to be back in camp before the sun sets.”’

“Yeah, alright.”

They left the saloon without another word. Arthur found the water pump around the back and refilled his canteen. Then the two of them mounted up on their respective horses and began their journey out of town.

As they passed the stable, John pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. “Gimme a match, would ya?” He held his hand out towards Arthur.

Arthur narrowed his eyes. “So you gone and stole a pack of cigarettes, but didn’t have the sense of mind to get matches while you were at it? I ain’t giving you one of mine.”

John dropped his hand. “Shit, Arthur. Maybe I got one on me.” He started patting his pockets, finally finding a small, broken match in his shirt pocket. He held it out proudly, cigarette still dangling between his lips. “Ha! See?”

“Am I supposed to be impressed?”

“You always say to be prepared.”

“That’s not being prepared, that’s being a lucky fool.”

“I’m pretty sure lucky is the last thing you can call any one of us.” John replied, having successfully lit his stolen cigarette.

Arthur snorted. “Maybe so.”

Unlike the relaxed ride into town they had, Arthur insisted they pick up the pace on the way back, cantering and trotting most of the way. John grumbled a few times after they’d passed an extravagant looking coach and they didn’t rob it. But Arthur remained steadfast and kept them moving.

The sun had almost completely disappeared beyond the horizon when they reached camp. It was just south a ways of the little town of Granger, right up next to a small stream. Far enough out that it was hidden by the hills. They followed the stream into camp, two fires glowing in the dimming light.

He heard what sounded like a heated discussion between Dutch and Hosea, muffled by Dutch’s large tent. Unsure if anyone would be on guard duty, Arthur announced their presence as they got close.

“Arthur and John, coming in.” He called out.

After a small delay, he heard a “Welcome back, boys.” From Bessie, off near the campfire.

“Any news?” Arthur asked as he led his horse to the hitching post.

He heard her approaching him now. “They’re still working on something.” She replied.

“When they get back to camp?”

“About an hour after you two left.”

John laughed. “They been fighting that long, huh?”

Bessie rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. “You know how it is. Dutch thinks he’s right, Hosea knows he’s wrong. They’ll come to an agreement eventually.”

Arthur dismounted and began to remove Artemisia’s tack. “Well whatever they’re hoping to score better be good. Granger sure ain’t a big town, and if it’s anything like this Sweetwater we just went to, there’s not much of value.”

Bessie frowned. “So no luck with you two then?”

John shook his head, leaning on the saddle horn. “Nothing. Not even a funny story in the saloon.”

“Well, I guess you boys better get some food. Susan’s got some stew ready. I’m sure Hosea and Dutch will want to hear about what you found eventually. Even if it’s nothing.”

Arthur nodded. “Thank you, Mrs. Matthews.”

She smiled and gave him a quick shoulder squeeze before heading back to the scout fire.

John dismounted, rubbing his ass when he was down on solid ground. “I’m serious, Arthur. This saddle is killing me. I have half a mind to take one from the next person I see alone on the road.”

Arthur glared at him. “Wait till we’re on the way to Colorado again if you’re really gonna do that. I don’t want to tell you again, no drawing attention to ourselves right now.”

“You ain’t the boss of me.” He groused.

“Like hell I’m not.” Arthur laughed. “Besides, that order comes from Dutch and Hosea, not me.”

John sighed, beginning to take Layla’s tack off. “One of these days, you ain’t gonna be giving me orders no more.”

The older man shrugged. “When I’m dead.”

With their horses finally tack free and brushed down, the two of them grabbed bowls of stew and joined Bessie at the campfire. Arthur looked around between a few bites. “Where’s Ms. Grimshaw?”

Bessie glanced up from her sewing. “She’s doing a quick parameter check. Thought we might have spotted some coyote scat off towards the butte when we went hunting earlier.”

“Coyotes, huh.” John repeated, pushing his food around in his bowl. “You think they’re gonna try and steal some food from us?”

“Who knows.” Bessie replied. “But if they are thinking about it, Susan’ll scare them off with a few shots I’m sure.”

“Almost got bit by a coyote a year back.” John grumbled.

“How?” Arthur asked, raising a brow.

“I dunno!” The teenager threw up a hand. “I was out doing some target practice, and one of them wiley bastards just walks up on me, ain’t afraid or nothing, then it - ” John stopped himself. “You know what, nevermind.”

“No, please continue.” Arthur pressed. “Why ain’t you ever told us this?”

“ . . . Well I just rushed off towards Layla and ran away. That’s all that happened.”

After a moment’s pause, Arthur replied. “Alright so that’s why you never told us.”

He could see his little brother turning red, even in the dim light. “Shut up.”

“No, no. It’s okay. Coyotes are real frightening.”

“Well the ones I’ve met have been!”

“Why didn’t you shoot at it?”

“I’d just shot all my bullets at the targets, I didn’t have time to reload!”

Arthur started laughing, and Bessie reached over to smack him. “Don’t tease him, Arthur. You know better.”

“Fine, fine.” Arthur said. “I won’t tease him about being scared of a little coyote. Least it weren’t a wolf, or a cougar . . . or a bear!”

As John went to bite back, a few shots of a repeater rang out nearby, followed by the unmistakable yowls of coyotes.

The conversation stopped, until finally Bessie spoke up. “Ha, guess Susan found them.”

“Good.” John said. “Like to wake up and not have the camp ransacked by thieves.”

“Hope she brings one back, that’ll be breakfast.” Arthur mused.

There was a grunt of agreement from John, despite the fact that he’d barely eaten.

The night continued as they finished with their stew, John at a much slower pace. The stars were beginning to shine above, uninhibited by any clouds. A nice, pleasant breeze, further cooling down the arid climate.

Another half hour or so of idle chatter later, and Susan rode up on her little paint horse, a single coyote strapped to its back. “Well, I chased them off.” She said simply when she joined them at last.

“And got us breakfast.” Arthur added.

Susan gave a small laugh. “I guess so.” She sat down next to Bessie. “Good to see you boys back in once piece.”

“Just a quick look in the next town over, weren’t nothing to be worried over.” Arthur said.

Susan snorted. “Oh please. You two are a nightmare of a mixed bag. You boys either work like a well-oiled machine, or a set of mismatched gears. Either way it’s worth worrying over.”

Arthur shrugged. “Well, we’re fine. And we didn’t rob anyone while we were out, despite John’s protests.”

He could feel the death glare from John without even looking at him.

“Good.” Susan said simply.

It wasn’t long before Arthur started nodding off, staring blankly into the campfire. Suddenly he felt John’s body slump towards him, the kid had passed out, and was leaned up against him, cheek planted firmly on Arthur’s shoulder. He gave a small sigh, deciding whether or not to wake the kid up.

He looked up to see Bessie grinning at the sight of them. Arthur only rolled his eyes, finally nudging John awake. “Come on, Marston. Time for bed.”

John jolted upwards. “Huh? Oh, uh. Yeah.” He wiped the drool from his face, getting to his feet.

Arthur stood too, giving a nod to Bessie and Susan. “Goodnight, Mrs. Matthews, Ms. Grimshaw.”

“Goodnight, pumpkin.” Bessie returned with another cheeky grin.

“Night, boys.” Replied Susan.

John gave them a little wave before turning and trudging towards their tent. Arthur ducked in after John, sitting down on his cot and taking his boots off. Then removing his jacket, gunbelt, and hat. John had done the same, already crawling under the blankets on his cot.

Finally alone with his thoughts, he pulled his journal from his satchel, opening up to the next empty page. Arthur wasn’t feeling up to writing, but a drawing did come to mind. He found the idea of John running for his life from a coyote so amusing, he did his best to get it down on paper. After 20 minutes of working, he was satisfied with the quick gesture drawing he’d made. With one final line, he put his journal away and finally turned in for the night.

-»»»•«««-

John’s eyes blinked open slowly. Peaking over his shoulder he could see dim light filtering in through the tent flap, it must have been early morning. A quick look to the opposite side of the small space and he could see that Arthur was still there, fast asleep.

After fruitlessly trying to fall back asleep for a few minutes, John gave up. He shook his head and wiped the sleep from his eyes. Finally stretching and freeing himself from his blankets. He got changed quickly and quietly, Arthur was a light sleeper, and could be an enormous grump when woken up too early. So John took great care not to disturb him.

Once outside, camp was quiet. He half expected to still hear Hosea and Dutch arguing. But he was apparently the first one up. The sun was just rising when he looked towards the eastern horizon. It was almost funny to him that he was first awake, usually Susan or Arthur were the first ones up.

By all accounts he should have started the coffee, that’s what he was supposed to do as first up. But looking towards the horses he had another thought.

He silently walked towards Layla, whispering her name as he got closer to hopefully not startle her.

The big brown horse looked up, ears pointed forward as John approached. She turned and walked to him, greeting him with a nudge and a gentle snort.

“Morning, Layla.” John said, giving her a pat. “Let’s get that saddle on you and get out of here, quick. ‘Fore anyone wakes up.”

As if she got what he meant, she remained deathly silent as John began saddling her up, giving him no trouble as he tightened the straps. Usually she would puff her belly out a bit to keep the saddle from being too tight, but she didn’t today.

Satisfied, John went to mount up, then realized in his hurry how unprepared he was for his plan. He sighed, rushing quietly back to the tent.

John peeked in, Arthur was still sleeping, so he crept inside. Fast as he could without making noise, John gathered up a few things he thought he’d need from under his cot. Then wrote a small note, leaving the paper on the blankets.

When he made it back to his horse, there was still no sign of anybody else awake. John smiled to himself, excited to be getting out on his own for a while. But as he put his foot in a stirrup to swing himself onto his horse, he heard a familiar voice.

“The hell are you doing, Marston?” Arthur demanded.

John let the saddle go and turned quickly. Surprised by how close Arthur was already. “Nothing!” He replied, far too fast.

He saw those cold blue eyes narrow at him. John knew that look, he was absolutely busted. “Where you heading off to, kid?” Arthur asked, holding up the note John had just left.

“I . . . uh.” John stumbled over words in his brain. Finally spitting something out. “I just. I wanted to see that Yellowstone place.” He mumbled.

He saw Arthur’s face soften, and then his brother let out an enormous sigh. “Christ, John. You shouldn’t go up there alone.”

“And why not?” He shot back. “I’m old enough to do stuff on my own. Dutch and Hosea told me you used to go off on your own a lot when you were my age.”

“John.” Arthur stopped him. “I’ve read enough about that park to know how dangerous it can be. And I think you may just be dumb enough to fall in a geyser and die.”

John went to argue back then had to stop. “ . . . . a ‘geyser?’”

Arthur rolled his eyes. “See, this is exactly what I’m talking about.”

The teenager grumbled, looking down at the ground. “I just want to do something. I’m so bored, Arthur.”

He heard Arthur sigh again, then a long pause followed. “Alright.” He spoke up at last. “You can go.”

John’s head shot up quickly, the sudden smile on his face betraying the cool demeanor he was trying keep. “Wait, are you serious?” He said.

“Well you didn’t let me finish.” Arthur replied. “You can go, but I’m going with you.”

John’s smile faded and he groaned. “God damn it, really? I thought you hated ‘babysitting’ me anyway.”

Arthur crossed his arms and stood tall. “I think I may hate you turning up dead even more. It would be my ass on the line if that happened. Either I go with you, or you don’t go at all.”

John folded his arms too, kicking at a rock on the ground. After muttering for awhile, he finally spoke up. “Shit, alright. Fine. We both go.”

The teenager looked up in time to see that stupid grin on his older brother’s face. “Alright, we’ll leave in twenty minutes.”

“I’ll wait here for - ”

John didn’t get a chance to say much else before Arthur grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him back towards camp. He tried to fight it for a few seconds, but it really was hopeless. Arthur was too strong. “Okay, okay!” John spat out. “I get it, I’ll come with you.”

Arthur let him go. “You know I’m not that dumb.”

“Worth a shot.” John grumbled.

“We need to tell Hosea where we’re going.”

“What if he doesn’t let us go?”

“Don’t see why he wouldn’t.” Arthur shrugged.

As they approached Hosea and Bessie’s tent, the flap opened and the man they were looking for stepped out. “I thought I was hearing you two argue. What is going on?”

Arthur nudged him. “Well, tell him, kid.”

Hosea looked at John expectantly.

“Uh, we’re gonna go up to that Yellowstone park north of here.”

Hosea’s eyebrows shot up for a moment before he resumed his usual collected expression. “Did you hear about a potential score there?”

Arthur answered for him. “Naw, the kid’s bored. And there’s nothing in Sweetwater. So we got jack shit to do unless you and Dutch need us for your scheme.”

Hosea smiled but shook his head. “The way things are going, don’t imagine we’ll be making much progress on that for a week or so. If you two really want to go, be my guest.”

“Alright.” Arthur nodded. “Probably be gone a couple weeks, I’ve read before the trails aren’t the best to get there.”

“We’ll be here.” Hosea replied. “You two have fun.”

Arthur pushed John forward. “Keep an eye on him while I get ready, would you?”

Hosea laughed. “Sure, I won’t let him sneak off without you.”

“Thanks.” Arthur replied, heading off towards their tent

With him gone, Hosea looked over to John. “You grab enough food for this little escapade?”

John sucked in a breath, realizing he’d grabbed nothing from the chuck wagon for the journey. “Uh . . .” Was all he could muster.

Hosea sighed. “Let’s grab you something now then.”

A few minutes later and John was loaded up with a sack full of dried goods and some canned food. “Try not to eat that all at once.” Hosea told him. “Be sure to hunt fresh game when you can. This food is more for emergencies, understand?”

“Of course I do, I’m not some dumb twelve-year-old.”

“Could’ve fooled me.” Hosea grinned.

John frowned. “Now that ain’t fair.”

“Life ain’t ever been fair, John.” Hosea replied, still smiling. “But considering you forgot to grab food, I feel I am justified.”

The teenager could only grumble his response.

Hosea kept an eye on him as he went and loaded Layla’s saddlebags with the new supplies. “Now come here and make the coffee like you were supposed to.” Hosea called out as quiet as he could.

John sighed with his whole body, completely at a loss for how his plan got so out of his control.

He trudged back to the main campfire, seeing that Hosea had already done him the kindness of bringing the fire back to life with new kindling and logs. He refilled the coffee pot with water and added more ground beans, setting it by the fire to warm up.

About ten minutes later and Arthur was almost ready to go, he was dressed and putting the tack on his horse. At last joining them by the fire and pouring a cup of coffee. He drank it down after letting it cool a moment. “This got enough grit to be sand.” He said.

“Maybe time to clean the pot.” Hosea shrugged.

“Probably.” He looked to John. “You ready?”

“I was ready twenty minutes ago.” He replied.

Arthur snorted. “Well aren’t you prepared for once.”

“Of course I am.”

“Let’s get going then, kid.”

Hosea stood up. “You two stay safe, we don’t see you by the end of the month, we’ll come looking.”

Arthur nodded. “Don’t worry, we’ll be fine.”

“See you soon, Hosea.” John waved.

With that, the two of them mounted up, riding out of camp, the pink sunrise lighting their way.

- - - - -

A quick stop for directions in Granger had them riding the same road as they did the previous day, through Sweetwater, then the next town after by the name of ‘Marston.’ Which Arthur got a kick out of, but John found appalling.

From there they took the road north, following the Green River as far as the road would take them.

They remained on that same path for several days, stopping rarely. Arthur managed to catch them some animal almost every night for dinner. The night he brought in a coyote, John could tell he was making fun of him.

They chatted idly about the usual things as they went, or bickered about nonsense. But mostly they remained quiet as they trotted, cantered, and galloped through the ever changing landscape.

Over the course of a few days, the mountains in the distance became larger and larger, the arid environment becoming more green and forested. Until they were right up against the base of mountains themselves.

The road and river came to a stop, and they were forced to navigate themselves. That night at the campfire, Arthur studied the map of Wyoming he’d bought in Granger.

John looked over his shoulder, staring at all the different geography, lines, and tiny words.

Arthur pointed to a spot on the map on the western half, directly below a large range of mountains that stretched to the north. “We should be about here.” He said.

“How much further to Yellowstone then?” John cocked his head and looked closer.

“Few more days I’d say.” He pointed down the map a ways. “Here’s Granger, camp is just a few minutes south of it.” Then he pointed up towards the Northwestern corner of the state. “And here’s Yellowstone. We’re a little over the halfway point between the two it looks like.”

John sighed and sat back down on the opposite side of the fire. “Dunno why I thought it would be closer.”

Arthur snorted. “Maybe because you didn’t bother to check a map before you came up with this idea.”

“Can you really blame me for wanting to get away for awhile? You do it all the time. Be gone for a month and come back.”

There was a strange heaviness to Arthur’s voice when he spoke. “I probably won’t be doing that anymore, John.”

The weight of his voice took John by surprise, and he wished greatly in that moment that he could see Arthur’s face, but he was hidden behind the map. “Oh . . . alright.” Was all John could seem to say.

Arthur exhaled. “We better get some rest, kid. I think I see a decent way up to the park. We’ll take this valley as far as it lets us, then we’ll have to traverse our way through a couple mountains, but that should take us directly into the park.”

John nodded. “Thanks . . . uh . . . for navigating I mean.”

Arthur folded the map forward, one brow raised as he stared at John. “Starting to sound like you’re glad I’m here.” He teased, a grin growing on his face.

The teenager scowled. “No - I . . . Shut up.”

Arthur laughed as he stood and folded the map up, putting it away in his satchel. “We’ll be leaving early in the morning. Good night, kid.”

John got to his feet too. He sighed. “Night, Arthur.”

- - - - -

Arthur hadn’t been kidding about getting up early. John was awoken the next morning to Arthur kicking him. Not a hard kick, but enough to make John jolt upright.

Camp was packed up quickly, and they were back on the road again. The way was less obvious to John as they continued their journey the following couple days. But Arthur seemed confident. He always had a knack for navigation, almost like he had a map and compass in his head.

They found themselves in a beautiful green valley by the name of Jackson’s Hole with huge mountains on either side. The Teton range to their west according to Arthur. In his short life, John had traveled a vast amount of the country with the gang. But he couldn’t help but take in the beauty of this valley.

It was a long stretch of land, taking about a day and a half to run the length of, but Arthur told them once they passed Jackson’s Lake, they’d be within spitting distance of the park.

By midday, the lake was behind them, and they began riding through the mountains. John felt full of anticipation. If Arthur was correct, they were nearly there. They stopped rarely, once so Arthur could pick up the deer he’d spotted and quickly dispatched for their dinner that night.

As the day continued, John was a little disappointed when Arthur stopped them to make camp at sundown. He found them a nice flat area up against a plateau near a river to set up. “Thinking we’re in the park now.” His brother said simply.

“So we’re not gonna look around?” John asked.

Arthur cocked a brow and stared at him. “How we gonna look around when we can’t see shit, John?”

“I dunno, we just come all this way, and we’re here, and we gotta stop?”

He sighed. “I understand, kid. You’re excited. But you’ll get more out of it when it’s daylight and we can see everything.”

John hated that he was right. As usual. “Fine.” He said, then after a pause. “Are you going to cook up that deer?”

“Why else you think I shot it?” Arthur laughed.

“I was just asking!”

“Yeah, I’ll get it cooking. You set up the tent.”

“You sure you want me to do that? You complained about it almost falling down last time.”

Arthur rolled his eyes. “I can’t do everything, boy. Put up the tent, just drive the stakes in deeper this time.”

He complained the whole time, but soon enough, the tent was up, John very sarcastically hammering the stakes even after they were well into the ground. In annoyance, Arthur threw a slab of half cooked venison at him. Eventually though, they settled down and ate their dinner, talking for awhile before finally turning in for the night.

John fell asleep hoping this whole trip would actually be worth it.

-»»»•«««-

Arthur decided he should let John sleep in when he woke up early that morning. He’d been pushing them pretty hard to get to the park in a fairly short amount of time. The kid needed as much rest as he could get, considering he barely ate any food.

In the meantime, he built the fire back up and cooked up some more meat from the deer he’d caught. He left a few pieces for John, then got coffee going in the kettle. With that taken care of, he stood and stretched deeply, looking off a ways towards where they’d left the horses.

He saw Artemisia and Layla exactly where they were supposed to be, saddles off and grazing lazily. Arthur greeted them softly as he approached, both of them perking up and coming to him. He gave them a few pats before brushing them down one at a time.

He couldn’t help but talk sweetly to them as he went. “You two both did such a good job.” He whispered to Artemisia, brushing the dust from her dapple buckskin coat. “Bringing us all the way up here in such good time.”

Then he looked to Layla. “And you did great bringing John all this way, despite how much he must squirm in that saddle he hates.”

She snorted her response.

Arthur grinned. “Alright, come on you two, let’s get to the river for a drink.” He led them down towards the river not far from this plateau they’d ended up at. He refilled his canteen and let the horses drink their fill.

Glancing around, Arthur saw very little signs of human life. There were animals, yes. But if there were any other people in this park, he sure as shit wasn’t seeing them.

When they returned to camp, John was finally up. He was warming himself by the fire and yawning heavily. “Morning, Arthur.” John greeted in that rough voice he’d developed.

“Morning, John.” Arthur returned. “You eat yet?”

“No.”

Arthur rolled his eyes. He should have figured. “Well eat some of that meat I prepared and drink some coffee, we should tear down camp soon.”

“Yeah, alright.” John spoke as he yawned again.

Arthur poured himself some coffee then went and got the horses saddled. John wasn’t exaggerating much when it came to his saddle. It was pretty worn down. A lot of that could be attributed to John’s own personal neglect, but not all. He did need a new one.

They packed up camp, and mounted up. Arthur could see John trying to hide the smile on his face. Arthur had to hold in a laugh, he really was a teenager.

“Which way we going?” John asked as they started off.

“Thought maybe we’d go see Yellowstone lake, which on this map is about the middle of the park, then go from there.”

“Sounds fine to me.”

The scenery was beautiful as they traveled. Vast green hills and plateaus, mountains all around them, pine trees spread about, rivers and streams snaked their way through the landscape. There were deer everywhere, pronghorn and elk too. Arthur wondered about potential herds of bison as well.

After riding for awhile, John spoke up again. “Sure ain’t seen no ‘rainbow colored pools’ yet.” There was noticeable disappointment in his voice

“I’m sure we’ll find them eventually, we just started looking.”

“I dunno.” He replied. “Kinda just looks like any other part of the region. Can’t see what’s so special abou-”

As if on cue, John was interrupted by a sudden fountain of water bursting from the Earth. An enormous stream, growing rapidly to at least 50 feet high.

Arthur pulled back on his reins, stopping Artemisia as she startled, trying to keep her in place. John appeared to be doing the same with Layla, the generally calm horse whinnying loudly and rearing up.

“What in the god damn hell is that!” John yowled.

As Arthur got his mare under control he laughed. “That, is a geyser, John.”

“Holy shit . . .” He said in awe. He fumbled for words, finally just ending up on one. “How?”

Arthur shrugged, the fountain of steaming water still shooting into the sky. “I have no idea. I ain’t smart enough to know.”

With their horses calmed, they watched the eruption in amazement as it lasted upwards of fifteen minutes. Something about seeing the wonder in John’s expression made Arthur happy. It seemed impossible to get the kid excited about anything other than robbing.

When it finally died down, John tore his eyes away and looked at Arthur. “We gotta get a closer look at that hole it came from.”

“John, no. This is exactly what I meant when I said you’d get yourself killed up here.”

But it seemed John had made up his mind, ignoring what Arthur said and riding Layla out towards the protruding mound in the earth.

“John!” Arthur shouted. Annoyed, he followed after the fool.

John had dismounted and was cautiously touching the mound, before peering inside. “It don’t look like nothing special. Kinda like a giant anthill almost.”

Arthur rode up next to him. “Get away from there you idiot, the water that comes out of there is boiling hot.”

“Hold on, Arthur.” He said, finding a nearby stick and tossing it in. Apparently disappointed when nothing happened, he threw a few more things in.

“Cut that out, you shouldn’t do that.”

“Why not?” John asked. “Maybe it’ll go off again if I do.”

“We don’t want it to go off again if you’re right next to it. Anyway I don’t think that’s how it works. Now come on.”

John grumbled but finally listened, getting back on Layla and following after him. When they were back up the hill a ways, John looked around. “Are there more of those geyser things around here?”

“I’ve read there’s more than a hundred.”

John’s eyes lit up “We gotta find them all.”

“I don’t think we have time for that, we only have a few days before we start heading back.”

The kid sighed. “Alright, well. Let’s keep moving then.”

Arthur nodded.

They continued along what seemed to be a human made trail of some kind, traveling through a forest of beautiful pine trees. After awhile a foul smell hit them, growing stronger and stronger as they moved along.

John looked around for a source, finally settling on Arthur. “You didn’t fart, did you?”

Arthur glared at him. “Was gonna ask you the same thing.”

“That sure as shit ain’t me. Must have been you.”

“How the hell is it me?”

“I smelled your farts before, this is the same thing, like rotten eggs.”

“I may be a foul, mean bastard but not even I’m capable of making a stink this bad.”

“You sure about that?”

“John you say it’s me one more time and I will come over there and rip you off that horse.”

John threw his hands in the air. “Christ, okay.”

The smell continued to grow as they kept going. Until they started seeing fog or steam of some kind rising from the ground.

John perked up as he noticed it. “That another one of them water fountain things?”

Arthur rolled his eyes. “Geyser?” He corrected.

“Yeah, yeah.”

“I dunno, John. Keep your distance until we find out.”

Once again, Arthur should have known better as John ignored what he said and took off towards the source without him.

“God damn it.” The exasperated older brother muttered as he followed after.

He caught up to John fairly quickly. Artemisia being a faster horse than Layla. The ever-present smell of rotten eggs only grew stronger as they got closer to the rising steam, until finally they broke through the trees and it was revealed to them. A huge stretch of water, of all sorts of colors. Red, orange, yellow, turquoise, blue, creating a beautiful prismatic ring around what could only be a massive hot spring in the earth.

With their horses at a stop. John stared out at the water. “I guess we found the rainbow pool.” He said, awed once more.

“And the source of that smell.” Arthur added.

John tore his eyes away to look at Arthur with confusion written all over his face. “The smell? How could something so beautiful smell so god awful?”

Arthur laughed and shook his head. “Nature is weird, kid.”

John dismounted and got closer to the edge of the water, crouching down next to the shore.

Arthur sat up straight. “Don’t touch that!” He snapped.

John looked over his shoulder at him, one brow raised. “It’s just water Arthur, what’s it gonna do?”

“Burn the shit out of you, can’t you feel that heat? It’s a hot spring.”

“You said the same bullshit about the geyser and it didn’t burn me either.”

“John.” Arthur warned.

But it fell on deaf ears, as John reached a hand out towards the water. An inevitable yowl followed as the teenager leaped to his feet, shaking his scalded hand. “Holy shit that hurts!”

“What did I just say you god damn moron.” Arthur said, irritation rising in his voice.

John opened his mouth to talk back, but it was clear he had no defense, quickly clamping it shut again.

“Get away from there. At this rate you’re gonna fall in.”

Finally, John listened, moving away from the edge and mounting back up on Layla. Once in the saddle, he went back to holding his burned hand, shaking it occasionally.

“Least I don’t gotta worry about your dumb ass jumping in the water and trying to swim in there.”

John’s head turned quickly, expression going from hurt to offended. “You making fun of the fact that I can’t swim now too?”

Arthur smiled, doing his best to make light of the situation. “Any opportunity I can, Marston.”

“I’ve heard of people swimming in hot springs though.” John said.

Arthur shrugged. “Some are hotter than others I guess, I’m pretty sure the majority of the ones around here are hot enough to kill you if you try that.”

John looked at his hand. “Found that out . . .” He muttered.

“Why you think I didn’t want you coming up here by yourself?”

“I would’ve been fine.” John replied, defiant.

“Sure kid, sure.” Arthur grinned. “We should keep our distance, but keep looking around the area for more of these springs. Probably some geysers around here too.”

Staying well away from the edge of the basin, they wandered for hours, finding more prismatic springs deep into the earth with intense steam rising from each of them. The smell never truly faded, almost impossible to go nose blind to, it was so powerful. Several dead trees dotted the area, bright green moss growing on the withered branches. There were few animals in the area, likely sensing how deadly the hot springs could be.

Eventually, they left the area, off to find more oddities in the park. Seeing a few more geysers along the way, although only one went off while they were near it. It took less convincing now to keep John at bay after being scalded, but there was still that wonderment and mischievous gleam in his eye that kept Arthur just a tad worried.

Once the sun began setting, Arthur set out on the mission of finding a decent campsite. Seeing a nice ridge near another stream they could potentially camp up against.

However, this was quickly thwarted when John spotted a bull moose. They kept their distance and watched it graze for awhile, wondering if it would move on. Then it escalated even further when Arthur noticed a large grizzly bear walking steadily towards the enormous creature.

“Should we . . . stay and watch this?” John asked, wide-eyed.

“I’m not . . . I’m not entirely sure.” He answered honestly.

“I kinda want to see what happens.”

“ . . . Me too.” Arthur admitted. “Let’s back up under some tree cover for now I guess.”

John nodded.

Once they were in a slightly more hidden position, they watched in fascination as the bull moose finally noticed the approaching bear. Apparently unfazed. He just kept his head up and focused on the grizzly. But as the bear got closer, the moose lowered his head, that massive rack of horns ready to charge, making a warning sound. The bear let out a roar and charged him.

It was a surprisingly short lived fight, as the bear got gored and knocked around a few too many times, the moose entirely unharmed.  The grizzly whimpered and let out several pathetic sounds as it cowered and ran away. The moose immediately went back to grazing, blood and bear fur clung to his large antlers.

“That was unexpected.” John whispered.

“Bear must have been a juvenile to pull something that dumb.” Arthur added.

“I don’t think I want to camp near that moose.”

Arthur held in a laugh. “Me neither, let’s find somewhere else.”

The sun was much lower by the time they found a new spot far from the encounter with the moose and bear. But it was a decent, well-hidden clearing within a grove of pine trees.

They ate the remaining venison Arthur had prepared that morning. As they settled down to sleep for the night, in the distance they could hear the howls of wolves. Their songs echoed amongst the mountains. He had to assume they’d be safe from them, plenty of their natural prey in the park to choose from, there was no reason to come after a couple humans.

By the light of their one lantern, Arthur pulled his journal out. He took a moment to gather his thoughts, then he began to write.

Little Johnny’s gone and turned eighteen on us. Seems like just yesterday we saved his scrawny ass from being hanged. So much has changed, and yet so much has stayed the same. He’s still a scrawny little shit, but he does actually talk some sense every once and awhile now.

But he is a dumb teenager. He tried to sneak off to see that strange park, Yellowstone, up in Northern Wyoming. I’d read about it a few times before. Enough to know he shouldn’t go there alone. So now here I am playing babysitter as usual. I really shouldn’t pretend I’m not enjoying myself. This place is so strange and fascinating. Wish I were smarter so I knew what was going on here.

Much as I like to tease him, I really do care about John. After losing Isaac and his mother. I know now more than ever I have to be there for the people I care about and love. I want to make them happy, and this little trip sure seems to have made the kid happy.

-»»»•«««-

John was awoken by the sound of several voices, for a moment he thought he was back in camp with Hosea, Bessie, Susan, and Dutch. But soon the fog of sleep left him, and he knew where he was.

Quickly poking his head out from the tent, he spotted Arthur talking to a couple men in military uniforms it looked like. John went wide-eyed, this didn’t seem like it could be a good thing, he’d always been weary of police officers or army men.

“What’s going on?” He asked.

Arthur looked over his shoulder. “Oh, John, you’re awake.”

One of the men glanced his way. “Just talking to your brother about what you two are doing up here.”

“Ain’t we allowed to be here?” John questioned.

“It’s not that.” The man said. “We found a camp nearby with a lot of dead animals. Poachers, most like. We’re trying to track them down.”

Arthur gave John a nod. “They thought we might be them at first.”

The second man spoke. “Don’t see how you two boys could have done that, so you’re fine. But if you do see anything suspicious, please find one of us, or find the army base up by mammoth springs and let us know.”

A few more pleasantries were exchanged before the men got back up on their horses and left.

John saw Arthur let out a noticeable sigh of relief once they were finally gone.

“Army? Up here?” John asked.

Arthur shrugged. “Guess they’re the ones overseeing the park right now. Sounds like poaching became such a problem they had to be put in charge.”

John couldn’t help but let out a stress laugh. “I’ll be honest, that scared the shit out of me.”

“You and me both.”

Their sudden, stressful encounter behind them, the two of them had a quick breakfast and coffee, then packed camp once more. Setting out again for the day. There were a lot more hot springs, animals, and geysers along the way. After wandering further north, they eventually came across what could only be described as a large, boiling pit of mud, a similar foul smell to the hot springs from the previous day.

John stared in disbelief. “What . . .”

“You gotta stop asking me. I have no idea.” Arthur replied, blank look on his face.

After a long pause of simply staring at it, John spoke. “ . . . I wanna throw sticks in it.”

He saw Arthur turn his head and glare for a second before he raised his brow and thought about it. “Yeah, okay.” He shrugged.

They spent the next half hour throwing rocks and sticks in the boiling mud like a couple of little kids. Laughing as they watched them sink or float. The mud making extremely satisfying sounds as the objects hit. But, eventually they got bored and moved on.

Wandering westward, they came across a big, open field with a river cutting through it, the large Yellowstone lake to their south, it was another beautiful piece of land. But what really caught their eyes was the massive herd of bison doting the hills in the distance. There had to be several thousand of them.

“Damn.” He heard Arthur mutter.

John glanced over. “What is it?”

Arthur seemed to snap back to his senses. “Oh, uh. Well I just ain’t ever seen a herd of bison that big before. I heard there used to be groups that enormous all over the country. Now they’re nearly extinct.”

John frowned. “Guess it’s good they’re trying to prevent poaching here then, huh?”

Arthur nodded. “Yeah. Seems to be the only worthwhile thing I’ve ever seen the army do.” He paused. “Though I wouldn’t put it past the army to have been among the people hunting them to near extinction in the first place.”

They dared creep closer to the big animals, while still keeping a respectful distance. John was almost amused by how enthralled Arthur seemed to be. Leaned forward in his saddle, watching the big goofy animals as they rolled around on their backs, butted heads, and grazed. There appeared to be a few calves amongst the herd, their coats a bright, light tan color, compared to their parents of a deep brown.

As they sat there, John lit up a cigarette with the fresh pack of matches he’d brought from camp. He was bored of watching the bison, but for some reason he couldn’t bring himself to bug Arthur to leave, like he normally would have. It was almost like in that moment John knew more about his brother than he had before. The way he was so enthralled with nature and the wild.

Try as he might to hide it, Arthur did eventually pick up on John’s boredom, and he led them away to explore more, heading further north this time.

They spent a few days like this. Wandering all over the park, seeing the strange hot springs, geysers, a few more boiling pits of mud, all kinds of animals, and even at one point petrified trees. Yet another thing Arthur couldn’t explain to John.

Along the way they passed a carriage full of a few curious visitors. The only human contact other than the army they’d seen. Soon after seeing the carriage, they saw the army encampment the men had mentioned a few days prior.

But a ways beyond the encampment was one of the most incredible springs they’d seen yet. It was almost like a waterfall of stone. With the water trickling down countless beautiful yellow, orange, and white limestone steps. This was Mammoth Hot Springs.

It was one of the last places they visited before Arthur reluctantly told John it was time for them to leave and head back for camp.

John could have spent another week there, it was nice and peaceful. Other than a bit of teasing, and Arthur trying to keep John from getting himself killed, for once he felt he wasn’t constantly butting heads with his older brother. They were simply out there enjoying the strange and beautiful nature, awed by things they’d never seen or believed existed. He almost didn’t even notice how much his saddle bothered him the whole time, simply too amazed to think about it.

The return home seemed quicker, probably because Arthur knew the way now more than he did before. By the time they reached Sweetwater again, John was out of cigarettes. He considered going back into the saloon and seeing if he could nab a pack off the same drunken idiot as last time.

This thought process was interrupted by Arthur. “Hey, John. I ordered something at the leatherworker by the stable last time we was in town. I think it should be done by now.”

“Yeah?” John replied.

“You mind going in and getting it?”

John sighed. “Why I gotta do it?”

Arthur snorted. “Just go do it.”

After nearly three weeks of non-stop riding, John was at this point just too tired to fight. So he rolled his eyes and said “Fine.”

He grinned. “Thanks, kid. It’ll be under your name.”

John looked at him confused for a moment, but didn’t question it. He hitched Layla outside the stable while Arthur waited on Artemisia. The smell of leather and hide was the first thing that hit John when he walked inside. Which shouldn’t have been surprising.

An older man up front greeted him. “Hey there son, what can I do ya for?”

“My brother sent me in here to pick something up that he ordered a couple weeks back? It’s under my name apparently.”

The man nodded. “Alright, and your name?”

“Oh, uh. John Marston.”

“Oh, yes.” His face lit up. “Your brother spent some good money on this one, but I’m very proud of how it came out. Some of my better work.” He turned towards the back room. “I’ll be right out with it.”

John waited a couple minutes before the man returned holding a gorgeous new saddle, with intricate floral decals and shining brass star grommets. John stared in awe as it was set down on the counter. Almost annoyed that Arthur had gone and gotten himself a new saddle. But as he looked it over he quickly noticed one more detail. The initials “J.M” were monogramed into the leather.

The saddle was for him.

After thanking the shopkeep, he carried it outside, along with the matching bridle it came with. Arthur smiled widely when he saw him. “So, kid. What do you think?”

“It’s . . .” John did his best to contain his emotions. Trying to stay cool and collected. “It’s real nice, Arthur.”

But Arthur must have seen how hard he was trying to keep himself bottled up. “Happy Birthday, John. Was about time you got yourself a new saddle. Hey, and this way, you’ll never forget how to spell your name!”

John glared at Arthur through the mist in his eyes for half a second, before turning away and carefully setting the new saddle on the ground. Already going and taking his old, beaten down one off Layla. Once the new saddle was properly on her back, he traced his fingers over the initials. “Thank you, Arthur. I mean it.” He said. “For the saddle . . . and for going with me.”

As John turned around to look at him, he saw that rare, genuine warm smile. Something he hadn’t seen on Arthur in a long, long time. “It’s no problem, kid. I was happy to.”

John smiled back, before turning around. He took the old saddle into the leatherworker’s shop. Selling it for a measly twenty-five cents. Once back outside, he gleefully mounted up onto the new saddle. Far more comfortable, and much more fitting for the adult he was trying to be.

With the sun setting, they set out for camp once more. It had certainly been a couple of weeks John would never forget. They had plenty of stories to tell the gang when they got back. And he was looking forward to it.

Notes: I did try and do a lot of research for this, to hopefully portray realistically how the park might have been at the time. I haven't been to Yellowstone in nearly 10 years now. So a lot of this isn't entirely accurate, and I definitely took some artistic liberties.

I really enjoyed writing this, but it turned out far longer than I expected, so I hope it flows well enough.

Also, I'm not condoning throwing stuff into geysers and hot springs. That is actually a super bad idea, so many geysers are now inactive because people did that in the past. They are really delicate actually. There were no boardwalks or park rangers or much of anything in the park at the time this takes place, so the boys were able to get away with a lot of dangerous things that probably should have killed them! Anyway, that's it for my PSA

Thank you for reading!

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