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#dude said we have the house and just need to sign but hasn’t given us the contract yet
sugdenlovesdingle · 6 months
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Here it is, the first of my tarlos @flufftober fics! I'm going for the full 31 days (so a fic a day the entire month of October) Let's see how many I'll actually post on time
Also Gabriel is alive because I said so.
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Day 1 - "I've got you" (AO3)
“APD officer requiring medical assistance” Those few little words coming over the radio had the ability to turn the blood in TK’s veins into ice. “Ambulance 126 are you free? You’re the closest unit.”
“Medical unit 126 free and responding.” Nancy replied to the operator as the three of them got into the ambulance and buckled up. She started the engine and pulled out of the firehouse just as the officer’s location came through to their computer.
“It doesn’t have to be Carlos.” Tommy said over their headsets, knowing where TK’s mind was at.
“I know. I know.” TK said, briefly checking his phone but seeing no text or any sign of life from his husband.
“And you know what cops are like, they call us out when they stub their toe.” Nancy offered.
“That’s protocol.” TK said absent mindedly. It was almost four months since Gabriel had gotten shot, and even though he was recovering well and back at work on desk duty, Carlos hadn’t given up on trying to find the shooter.
“Dispatch do you have a unit number of the officer needing assistance?” Nancy asked over the radio in an attempt to calm TK’s nerves.
“363H20. There is another officer on scene but the call came from 363H20.”
“That’s Carlos’ badge number.”
“Are you sure?”
“Nance, I could recite that number in my sleep. I’m sure.” TK deadpanned while putting on gloves. “I just hope he hasn’t done anything stupid. He promised me he would lay off his one man investigation into Gabriel’s shooting.”
“How is Gabriel?” Tommy asked, trying to get TK to focus on something other than his injured husband. “I’ve been meaning to check in.”
“You know how he didn’t want to wear the sling the doctors had given him at our wedding? Because he didn’t want a reminder of the shooting in our wedding pictures? And only did it when Andrea made him? Well that’s about as much of his doctor’s advice he’s taken. He’s alright but stubborn as ever.” TK sighed. “Carlos really is his father’s son.”
They pulled up to the location a few minutes later and saw Carlos sitting on the curb next to his cruiser with a tea towel pressed to the side of his head, and Lexi Mitchell standing beside him.
TK jumped out of the ambulance, torn between wanting to strangle his husband for getting himself in trouble again, and wrapping him up in a hug and not letting him out of his sight for the next few months.
He grabbed his gear and walked over to where Carlos was sitting.
Carlos who was staring at his shoes instead of looking up.
“Hey Lexi.” TK greeted her before kneeling down and putting a hand under Carlos’ chin so he’d look him in the eye. “I thought I was the danger magnet in this marriage?”
“Don’t start.” Carlos rolled his eyes and groaned. “Things just got a little out of hand.”
“Yeah I can see that.” TK said and tightened his grip on Carlos’ face when he tried to look away. “What the hell happened, Carlos?”
“No pet names? Ouch. You’re really in the dog house now, dude.” Nancy commented.
TK briefly glared at her before turning his attention back to his husband. He turned his head to the side.
“Move the towel so I can take a look.”
“It’s fine. It’s just a scratch.”
“I’ll be the judge of that. Move the towel.” He ordered, sounding way more angry and annoyed than he actually felt, but he figured maybe making Carlos think he’d really pissed him off would make him stop his investigation and let the team assigned to it do their jobs.
“Your bedside manner needs work, paramedic Strand.”
“It’s Reyes-Strand actually. You see I got married four months ago to this amazing man, he’s my soulmate, he completes me, but he’s being a world class idiot lately.”
“Why don’t we leave you two to it.” Tommy suggested. “Officer, are you hurt?” she asked Lexi.
“No ma’am. But he is.” She pointed her thumb at the backseat of the cruiser. “I put him in there for safekeeping. He got a little too close to the ground. With my help.”
“Is he dangerous?”
“Not anymore. And he’d be really stupid to add assaulting a paramedic to the list of offences we can book him for.”
“Right, well, let’s go take a look. Way over there.” Nancy said and turned to TK. “Try not to kill him. Too many witnesses here.”
“I’ll do my best.” TK replied while cleaning the cuts and scrapes on Carlos’ face. “But I’m not making any promises.” He grabbed an antiseptic wipe from his kit to clean the wound he’d had the towel pressed against. “This is going to sting a little.” He murmured.
Carlos winced when the wipe touched his wound and tried to move his head away as a reflex but TK kept him in place.
“Don’t do that you big baby. I’ve got you. I’ll find something that doesn’t sting so much. And then we’re going to take you to hospital because you need stitches.”
“I don’t need stitches. I’ve got work to do. Can’t you just put a bandage on it?”
“Do you want an infection? Do you want to be bleeding through that bandage all day?”
“No, but…”
“Carlos.” TK said sternly but then softened a little when he saw the concerned look on his husband’s face. “Baby do you trust me?”
“What? Of course I do.”
“Do you trust me to know what I’m talking about? That I know how to do my job?”
“Of course.”
“Then trust me when I say you need stitches. And before you say anything, yes I can do it, but you want a plastic surgeon for this because the wound is on your face. I can patch you up but you’ll end up with a scar.”
Carlos mumbled something that sounded like “I don’t care.” And TK barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes at him.
He grabbed some gauze and tape from his kit and covered up the wound on Carlos’ face.
“That should do for now.” He moved to sit next to Carlos and grabbed his hand, entwining their fingers. “Do you want to tell me what happened?”
“The guy came out of nowhere.” Carlos started after a minute. “He took a swing at me and I hit the wall and then the ground. I think his ring cut my face.”
“Hmm… it’s not like you to let the bad guys get a jump on you…”
“Yeah. I guess I’m having an off day.”
“Just one day? Baby you’ve been distracted for weeks, you’re running yourself into the ground with your investigation. You’re awake half the night obsessing over it.” TK said and held up a hand when Carlos tried to argue with him. “We share a bed, remember? I know you’re not sleeping. I can feel you tossing and turning.”
Carlos sighed.
“I’m sorry. It’s just… I feel like I’m finally getting somewhere.  I had a solid lead that brought me here.”
“Then why didn’t you tell detective Washington and her team?”
“I did! But they didn’t do anything!” Carlos argued. “I told them they had to move now but they just thanked me for my help and sent me on my way.”
“Probably because they had to check out the info. You taught me that police work involves a lot of checking and double checking and gathering as much information you possibly can before making a move.”
“I know… but I feel like I’m getting close to figuring it out.”
“So you grabbed Lexi and went to investigate on your own?”
“No… she just… kind of insisted to come along and didn’t take no for an answer.”
“Thank god for Lexi Mitchell.” TK muttered.
“I know it was stupid to go alone, ok? I know. But I… I can’t just... drop it. It’s my dad who got shot and nearly died.”
“I know babe, but if you keep going like this, he won’t be the only one coming close to dying.”
“Why? Because you’ll kill me if I don’t drop it?”
“No, you’ll be beating me to it.” TK deadpanned. “I don’t want to become a widower before we even get to our one year wedding anniversary. I love you and I hate seeing you like this. You need to start taking better care of yourself, baby. Promise me you will. ”
“I promise.” Carlos mumbled after a minute. “But I can’t just walk away from it and pretend it never happened.”
“I’m not asking you to. But I need you to sleep for more than 10 minutes a week and not spend every minute of every day obsessing over your dad’s case. You know they’ve got the best people working on it, so you can take a step back. Relax. Do something fun. Forget about it all for a couple of hours. Can you do that for me?”
“I’ll try…” Carlos promised.
“Why don’t we order pizza tonight and watch that show Paul was talking about last week?” TK suggested. “And we can just relax and turn off our phones for a couple of hours… and who knows what else we could do.” He winked, making Carlos laugh.
“I don’t think that’s really considered relaxing, babe.”
“Maybe not, but it’ll be fun.”
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simplysummers · 3 years
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Breaking down Hunter and Omega’s relationship. Pt 2.
We’re back at it, here with the second post in this father-daughter-space-duo series! You guys responded to the first post better then I expected in all honesty! I didn’t think my insights were viewed as so important lmao. I don’t really think much introduction is needed here, the post itself is very self explanatory.
(Pasted paragraph: I would just like to add a disclaimer here. I am, in no way whatsoever, slating the other batchers for having differing relationships with Omega. I absolutely adore everything single one of the boys, and I think they all have wonderful and unique interrelations with her. Although I may point out these different approaches in comparison to Hunter’s, I am not stating these engages are wrong, just different is all!
I’m going to separate this into a little series- covering each episode in a separate post, which I’ll have tagged as the series progresses. Once I’ve tackled these two, as they’re my favourites, I’m going to move on to each individual Batcher and perhaps a few other dynamics such and Hunter and Crosshair, or Wrecker and Omega! Let me know what you guys would like to see!)
(Thank you to this weeks proof-reader: @treasureofmy-heart 💛)
Cut and Run: S1/E2
We kick off this episode with Hunter walking in on Echo inspecting Omega and Wrecker fast asleep on the floor. His face is very relaxed and he clearly finds it very sweet that her childlike curiosity has tired her out. His line, “ha, well this is a first,” while holding a strong gaze in Omega’s direction, suggests that she’s been exploring for quite some time, unleashing her endearing juvenile inquisition in the batchers presence. Hunter continues to claim she’s curious, using the same lighthearted tone he has always used in her regard, sparing the conversation in the medical wing on Kamino. This continues to confirm his gentle approach and concern towards the young clone.
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When Echo confronts him over the situation at hand, it’s evident that Hunter hasn’t actually thought about what he’s going to do with Omega, yet by the look of quizzicality on his face. I personally took this as a sign that his initial thoughts were always “we’re going to lay low with her, look after her, while keeping everybody else safe.” It’s clear here that Echo has differing ideas that Hunter hadn’t even began to consider, and I think that’s what perplexes him in this moment. He needs to consider everybody.
The kid is up and awake! (Let the havoc commence aha.) Omega’s reaction to sunlight and dirt is definitely one of my favourite developmental moments of hers, it really sets in place that this little girl may have been an intelligent medical assistant, but she lacks experience, and still needs a guiding hand to help her through this new world she’s never endured before. I’d like to point out that it is, in fact, Hunter who stops to watch Omega’s reactions, and his FACE when she’s playing in the dirt! I’ve never seen such a parental smile on a man so stoic! I feel like I’m repeating myself a lot, but he is so endeared by her! She’s a breath of fresh air in Hunter’s very toxically routined life, and I love that for both of them. When they finally reach Cut’s land, Hunter is the one to pull her back, despite the fact she had to run between Echo and Tech to get to him. And upon Suu and Cut’s arrival, I actually didn’t realise that Omega creeps behind Hunter, most likely because these are strangers she doesn’t know and she feels she needs the protection. This confirms a clear bond between them has already began to flesh out.
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There isn’t too much to say about the introduction and inhibitor chip discussion, as Omega spends a decent amount of that time exploring Cut and Suu’s house, but I will just say that it’s a nice touch that she ends up back at Hunter’s side when her part of the conversation is needed, she always seems physically drawn to him. Which brings me to my next point. Upon Shaeeah and Jek’s arrival, Omega once again creeps behind Hunter out of fear, only deciding to approach when formally addressed to do so. *Sigh*, and when Shaeeah pulls Omega out to play, and she halts to ask for Hunter’s permission, which is clearly given through a series of comforting smiles, is a plain indication of a trusted child-parental relationship. I must admit, Hunter’s face is pretty hilarious when everybody practically calls him out on his parental role- it’s just “why are you all staring at me..?” Because you’re acting like a dad, my dude.
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Okay! Down to Cut and Hunter’s discussion. It’s a nice touch that Hunter is the first one outside to watch Omega play, swiftly followed by Cut, who, rightfully so, questions her existence. Although instead of explaining Omega’s origin (and by that I just mean that she’s a medical assistant clone from Kamino), he states that it doesn’t matter what the Kaminoans created her for, because she’s with them now, and to be with them she doesn’t need a purpose, she’s just a kid and should be allowed to act like one. Cut goes ahead to tease him over the ins and outs of raising a child, but to Hunter it was a no-brainer, Kamino wasn’t safe, so she was coming with them, as I’ve said previously, he saw NO negotiations. And as Cut says, “I (you) have to do what’s best for them.” This adds sentiment to the narrative of Hunter’s commanding role within the squad and Omega specifically.
So I’m shifting ahead slightly to the ball incident, and I have a LOT to say about this scene. First of all, it’s clearly evident that Hunter is the first to leave the house, along with Cut and Suu following closely behind. Associating this trio together is purposeful on the animators part in my opinion, they intentionally exclusively had Hunter leave with the other parents in the situation, isolating him specifically with that role in Omega’s life. When he finally reaches her, we see the protective hand come straight out to guard her against the Nexu, a typical trait they’ve established between them.
Now we move on to the confrontation. This is the first time Hunter raises his voice at Omega, and immediately she turns herself away from him, curling into her shoulder and making herself small. Omega is going through a lot of emotions right here, she’s afraid, anxious, and she’s being forced to deal with the fact that for the first time, Hunter is mad at her, for something she didn’t even intend to do wrong. Whereas from Hunter’s perspective, he hasn’t acknowledged she’s already in a bit of a state, and instead feels the need to immediately lecture her for her mistakes….although this lasts all but thirty seconds. Upon Cut’s attempts to diffuse the situation by having him pull Hunter away and reiterating that “she’s (Omegas) not a soldier”, his face immediately softens, he forgot for a moment, but now he realises and instantly the features are set in a regretful frown, he clearly feels awful and misrepresented. Hunter continues to observe Cut’s behaviour as he comforts Omega, who seems to take to the attention like a kicked puppy, lip trembling, eyes shaky, shoulders hunched, and I honestly think as Cut carries her away- is the exact moment Hunter realises he isn’t good enough for Omega. (I’ll further out on this in a moment)
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I only want to briefly touch upon Omega’s gunners nest scene because I don’t think it has too much impact on her relationship with Hunter, however I would like to address the symbolism. I personally see the removal of her headpiece and the addition of her bangs as a new beginning, attaining the contrasting yellow light of Salucemi in comparison to Kamino, where she would’ve been given her jewel. Considering the episode’s outcome, Omega is no longer the tightly held, quivering little girl from Kamino, and instead she brings a slight unruliness to her aura, a little cheeky, definitely her brother’s sister. Still a sweetheart of course, but with a matter of confidence and boisterous behaviour to her. She seems to bounce out of her sadness quite easily here, as she seems suddenly awkward- yet curious- over Tech’s plan later on.
Furthering out into my previous point about Hunter believing Omega deserved much better in comparison to what he could provide: his conversation with Suu. “Protecting them is what we do.” The realisation on his face when she says this, it’s so…raw, something he’s taking time to comprehend. He heeds her words because he knows she and Cut are experienced in this field, they are better suited for Omega than he and the boys are, he believes he isn’t good enough for her, and this is projected when he insists ‘Mega leave with the family of four. Although Suu questions his sincerity, and he does indeed dodge the straightforward answer, this is what Hunter anticipates is best for Omega. He’s putting her needs above his happiness, no matter the heartache.
Moving along slightly, as Omega and Hunter spend a short period of time away from each other during the ship impoundment, I briefly wanted to touch upon the tone of Hunter’s voice when he learns Omega is on route to their position…by herself in a heavily armed spaceport. His eyes widen in a moment of fear, his voice is suddenly strained, he is struck with another raw emotion, something he frankly can’t obtain right now, and it’s let out in a minor threat towards his brothers- “if something happens to her-“ a clearly indication of worry.
This next point absolutely breaks my heart, the poor dears, both of them. Upon Omega’s arrival, Hunter is left to explain his forced proposal that she should leave Salucemi with Cut and Suu. As usual he completes his little ritual of taking her shoulders and crouching to her level, although this time he can’t quite look her in the eyes, a clear sign of regret and guilt, because he doesn’t want to give her away, he knows deep down she belongs with them, but he doesn’t believe he has what it takes to raise and protect her. The way Omega’s eyes crumple really catches me here, she’s being left, again… All this kid has ever known her entire life has either been abandonment, abuse or isolation, and she’s being passed on to strangers by the only people she’s ever been able to trust, and not only is it clearly breaking her heart, but she’s taking it personally, she thinks she’s at fault, much like Hunter does. Her line: “but, I want to stay with you.” compressed with the quivering tone and her precious accent really aides her desperation here, it conveys her in an adequate and very precise way.
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Starting a brief new point to split these up slightly: I bring us to the continuous glances shared between them. Omega consistently looks over her shoulder to Hunter, she doesn’t want her eyes to leave him for one moment, she’s savouring his face, his details, for the very last time. And equally, Hunter is letting go of something he doesn’t want to leave behind, he likes the kid, to the point where his own self depreciation and doubt have been forced ahead in order to protect her, he can’t risk anything at this point. I’d also like to quickly mention how beautifully Omega’s eyes are animated, they intel so much, those precious little doe irises hold such story to them.
Moving on to a little jump cut enduring the batch’s escape and Omega’s return: Hunter’s tone of voice when addressing Wrecker is so pained, and his facials match it perfectly “she’s not com-“ it’s almost as though he’s biting back the urge to sprint headfirst into the gunfire if only to catch up to the little clone before it’s too late.
However, seeing as she’s managed to find her own way back that wouldn’t be exactly necessary. I think it’s a nice point that Hunter is the one to rush to Omega’s aide after she is grabbed by the trooper (flowing a brief flash of concern crossing his face), although Wrecker might’ve been closer, it’s a nice hint to their subtle closer bond. He, once again, crouches to her level although an unnecessary step in the situation, and I see this as another nod to their familiarised dependancy.
Finally, my last point for this episode, is their final conversation within the last few minutes. It’s faint, but the fact that the other batchers are all busying themselves in the cockpit, leaving Omega and Hunter to chat privately, is a very distinct use of separation. It also should be noted that Omega is the one to approach Hunter, this shows a decent level of not only maturity on her part, but trust between them as family, she trusts both him and herself enough to advance on a delicate situation, we even see her hesitate slightly, before pushing forward with a slip of confidence, and that takes a lot of gut from a little kid. She stands her ground, but with compliment. She very much reminds me of Hunter himself in the brig, assertive yet respectful. And speaking of Hunter, his face is just absolutely guilt-ridden when talking to her, because he too made the mistake of attempting to give her away, no matter how much good he thought it would do them both. While Omega is admitting she has a lot to learn in regards to safety and tactility, Hunter is suggesting he has a lot to learn about raising a child and providing the necessary care for her. It’s a brave moment for both of them, to be honest and open, and yet its received extremely well on both ends.
“If this is where you want to be…then this is where you’ll stay.” The admiration in his voice, the admiration in her eyes! They absolutely adore one another, and it melts my heart every time it’s displayed!
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I hope you liked my analysis of Hunter and Omega’s relationship in episode two of The Bad Batch! Of course, I’d love to discuss these two with anybody who might be interested, so please feel free to drop me an ask or a DM, and if you’re captivated enough I’d totally recommend looking out for my future posts on the topic!
As always, much love to our ‘Megs and Hunter, thank you for reading! 💛
Part One: Aftermath
101 notes · View notes
hezuart · 3 years
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That anaversary aizen looks absolutely fabulous, he looks like a figure skater xd.
I heard along time ago the last arc of the anime was being animated finally bc they pulled a 90s sailor moon were the last season was not either animated or dubbed untill decades later.
I recall near the end of the current 366 episodes there was an episode were the creapy demon ppl woke up in hell and we're all bitter, and there was the other guy who was like, iM cOmEiNg FoR u IChIgO, but then is never mentioned again after and I'm like,why? Why is lt there just plopted randomly into a different arc that seams unrelated.
And locking aizen up underground seems ok, but It deff won't hold, and he will. Escape, and he will kill, you either need that one spell from star, dubbed, the darkest spell of moon the undaunted, a powerfull dark spell that killed immortal beings, that came from best character, eclipsa, the queen of darkness.
We need that.
Or stick him I'm crystal like eclipsa was in star. Is there no one who could trap him in ice or crystal for all eternity.
How about throw him into the centre of a volcano trapped and caged , forverr being killed by heat?
I assume there's space travel, send I'm into a black whole, were a black whole don't fuckin care if your immortal or fat, you will die
:3
Yes, I love anniversary Aizen. His original octopus-butterfly hollow design was ugly so I'm glad he's back to being the fashion icon he is.
Locking Aizen up underground once is one thing, doing it twice after saying he got more powerful by just sitting there, and he escaped to battle the Quincy Soul King God... is another. I think he should have escaped at the end of the Quincy arc. That is the only feasibility.
I heard the anime is coming back for the Quincy arc as well, but because of COVID its probably going to be delayed. (I'm not gonna watch it until the Rain section of the arc then I'm dipping out. I'm only here for Zangetsu)
and funny that you mention that hell scene in the manga :)
-> spoilers for the new BLEACH 73 page anniversary chapter / thoughts/critique on it
So hey you had a premonition! Syazel .... returned? And his hole is outside of his body??? for some reason???
(I didn't understand the explanation or why / how that happens and what that means for the hollow)
And my friend and I were laughing because out of ALL the things. Kubo could do in this anniversary. He gave Syazel his dick back after going to hell. That is iconic. (that's where his hole was located, and now that its not on his body ... well...) This is the funniest thing Kubo has EVER pulled. Kudos to you, sir.
The entire internet is freaking out over Ukitake being in hell. Honestly Kubo has done far worse, and we've established that Soul Society is a corrupt system that hasn't changed, so I'm not surprised he would pull something like this.
At the same time, Kubo 1. cheated his audience. 2. continues to prove me right that he cannot bring himself to kill his characters
1. Hollows who have commit murder in their human life are sent to hell. Syazel and Aaorniero are two of these hollows, and yet, when they are killed, there is NO gates of hell scene. We see them there later in the hell chapter (which was more of a promotion for the fourth movie and I didn't believe it would hold any merit)
But the same goes for Ukitake. We never see the gates of hell take him. What, was hell late? Did hell's gates get lost like an uber before picking him up? It's bull. Withholding such vital information from your audience, not showing the gates of hell when they should pick up this soul IMMEDIATELY is ... I mean its a lie. Kubo lied to his audience.
2. Now we are told powerful shinigami are sent to hell when they die. First of all that sounds like a security threat. Wouldn't shinigami want revenge for that? Or attempt to escape? Why would they still hold loyalty after being sent to a prison of eternal suffering?
Also "Yhwach and Aizen" were the only ones keeping Hell's gates closed is way too convenient and doesn't really make any sense. I feel like Aizen should have deliberately gone to hell to retrieve powerful shinigami / hollows for his army instead of keeping it /closed/.
This is definitely a Kubo-doesn't-know-what-he's-doing-and-is -making- stuff-up-as-he-goes, but it might have a pinch of merit because of previous plot lines.... but either way, there's some big plot holes here, but again, its Kubo, so I expected nothing less.
Again, he can't kill off his characters. He introduced zombification, he introduced immortality through the hougyoku, he has Orihime and Hachigen's reversal / rejection abilities. He brought back Luppi, friggen.... a character who's entire upper half of his body was incinerated. Like.... come on. No. He's dead, you can't bring him back like that. That's a cop out and just weird. You're taking away consequences and grief.
(Also Yamamoto and Unohana deserve to be in hell far over Ukitake, they've done some fcked up stuff in their pasts unlike him)
Also Kubo's favorite character is Mayuri, which.... you're allowed to have a favorite problematic character. But Keeping said character alive and bared from the consequences of abusing his daughter, murdering innocents, and experimenting on your own squad members? Nah. Nope. Kill him, Kubo. Kill this dude.
(his weird attachment to Mayuri is probably why he keeps bringing Syazel back, since Syazel is Mayuri 2.0, but Syazel is the bad guy who does face consequences for his actions while Mayuri is not)
~
Also, I'm certain Kazui and Orihime are going to be THRILLED that their precious husband/dad is going to hell when he dies :)
(I just... Rukia teased Ichigo about leaving Orihime at home. She teased him about having a house wife who he leaves all the chores to. Orihime had two panels. She checks on her son who promised he would be at home and sleep. Kazui fcking breaks his promise like it never mattered to him and JUMPS out the window after pretending to sleep in front of his mother. ... An 8 year old... alone... in the middle of the night.)
Orihime is abandoned. She is not invited to SS, she is not informed of what is going on, her son leaves her.... I...
Orihime is a side character. She doesn't matter anymore. She hasn't mattered for a long, long time.
A part of me is glad she had little screen time, since she tends to waste it, but another part of me is embroiled with rage.
I've even see people try to defend this. "Orihime and Ichigo can't be together ALL the time, that's an unhealthy relationship!" and I'm like guys... that's not the point. The point is Orihime is not part of Ichigo's other life. Any shinigami stuff from now on is none of her business. She's going to stay at home while Kazui and Ichigo go off and save the world. Ichigo is going to be fighting by Rukia and Renji while Orihime watches from the sidelines, or worse, doesn't even know what is going on with her husband and son. Orihime is going to be uninformed and abandoned, because she has not proven she is capable of fighting by their sides(go on, @ me. I will fight this. She's a failure.), and also because she prefers a human life over a dead one. Which is ironic, because she married a dead man. Ichigo is a shinigami, and he will be one forever. god forbid she ever meets his Zanpaktou. She would tremble in fear at the monsters her husband harbors in his soul, especially when she realizes they don't care about her and would rather see her dead. (Zangetsu would absolutely kill Orihime. Not sure about Kazui, but Orihime has not accepted Zangetsu, she does not like either of them, and the feeling is assuredly mutual.) frick now I want to make a comic about this
Also still frustrated over Zangetsu's shikai / bankai regression. Kubo once again lied to his audience. Ichigo has no bankai. How ridiculous is that? The main character of BLEACH doesn't have a bankai. Insulting.
(RIP to Chad. He doesn't exist anymore. He's just gone. No mention, no cameo. Gone.)
Kazui is a demon child. That character from the novels? Hikone? They're the same character. Literally same personality, same power level. Its worse because Kazui is a liar. He constantly goes behind his parents' backs. He can summon creepy fish and creepy eyeballs and open portals like is ANYONE aware of this? How has SS not kidnapped Ichigo's son and experimented on him / locked away his powers yet? All substitute shinigami require a reiatsu controlling / spy badge to keep them in line. Where is Kazui's? Or is he just a weird fullbringer?
I was worried Kubo was gonna try and pull a knock off Boruto but luckily he kept the focus on Ichigo and the others. But that being said, Ichika and Kazui are now just... sort of there? Kazui was kinda just.... having his own adventure that doesn't matter to the plot at hand, and Ichika had some nice characterization at first but she just hid behind her dad the whole time.
I have a feeling Kazui is gonna step in at the last minute or do some major behind the scenes thing that indirectly interferes with the main plot so no one will realize how powerful and dangerous he actually is. Its sad because Ichika is the superior character in personality and likability, but she clearly is not going to have a bigger part in this.
Ichigo having a normal life after everything still feels extremely boring and uncomfortable to me. Everyone's like 'I'm still bLEACH!" but.... BLEACH just... doesn't feel like BLEACH anymore. It hasn't for a while now.
~~~
There's two new shinigami characters. Didn't care for the girl, but the Sign Language kid who talks to animals is adorable ... however... he just reminds me of Chad, and I just... it hurts knowing Chad has essentially been deleted. Chad and Orihime are officially benched. They have chosen the human world, and Orihime has given Ichigo his spawn so she has no more use/purpose to him anymore... ////sigh
~~~
Also. This is claimed to be a new "arc". So is the BLEACH manga coming back? What is happening. I thought Kubo was tired and didn't want to do BLEACH anymore. I thought Shounen Jump cut him off. People made so many excuses for Kubo and why the past two arcs have been so badly written the past 6 years and now almost everything they've attempted to defend him with has been revoked.
BLEACH is going to continue to screw up its plot lines and characters, so Its probably best for it to stay dead but I've seen a lot of Kubo stans drooling over this content, they're desperate for BLEACH's return, but its already given out all its possible revelations. There's really nothing else to top here. It's just going to make things up as it goes along ,and I'm not really here for half-assed writing like that, especially since the damage of rushing the previous manga has already been done. Kubo and Shounen Jump are riding off a money nostalgia. None of this was planned.
Honestly though.... overall feeling of this chapter, not as bad as it could have been.
Syazel stole the spotlight, and he's my friend's favorite character, so that's all that really matters.
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seraphdarlimg · 3 years
Text
wish I were (pt4)
  harry calls reader drunk to pick him up, later on finding him sat at her piano and playing a little song
masterlist
‘heather’ by conan gray WARNINGS - ANGST, swearing, fluff WORD COUNT - 4,418
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   Just fine is how I was feeling. I was lucky enough to be able to get started straight away with a new song to work on from a different artist. Practicing new instruments and talking to new clients have been what I've thrown myself into for the past 3 weeks.
Though drowning myself into work has kept me busy and given me excuses to ignore the hundreds of calls and texts from Harry, it felt like months had pass instead of only one. I seem to forget more about them and only remember the look on his face when I turn my back on him and left. Instead of memorizing chords and words, my brain can only comprehend the words we said and the last time I felt his touch or embrace. When I want to remind myself of what he did, the moment on the balcony is the first thing that comes to my mind and I curse myself for it.
I missed him, of course I did. As I sit in front of my laptop with an opened tab on a recording program, I am instead met with another creator's block and thinking about Harry again. Two points of thought that I hate being stuck in at the moment. The empty bags and containers of snacks and my dinner surround me and I'm wrapped in a blanket while a sad playlist is playing on spotify. It was a depressing sight.
But I can only image the state that Harry's in. After everything, I still miss and care about him, wondering if he's excited about the album release tomorrow or if he's hydrated and taking the fact that I've chose to walk out of his life better than I am. It's pathetic really, but it's part of it and I can only hope to learn to live without him through time. If that is something I can even think of doing in the first place.
He hasn't called or text throughout the whole day though. I didn't want it to bother me but it did, even if it was time away that I'm asking for. I glanced at the black screen of my phone, pressing the button to turn it on. 12:23 AM and no notifications.
'i do love you, i'm sorry' one day ago. This is a good sign. This should be a good sign.
I sighed, forcing myself to turn away from my phone and focus on finishing this piece. The instrumentals are there and the rhythm is set, but coming up with lyrics prove to be difficult when I feel physically and emotionally drained.
It was late anyways. I would of been asleep by now to get ready for tomorrow, but it was most likely made clear I wouldn't be celebrating with the gang. I told Jeff the excuse that I had a meeting up north for the valid reason, even though everyone already knows what happened between the two best friends. A lunch with Sara and Mitch a week ago started off normal and pleasant as always, but had ended with Mitch bringing up Harry and me leaving abruptly.
"He's a mess. Hasn't left his house and has been ignoring everyone all week. We don't know what really happened between you two, but it's obvious that you haven't been the same as well."
The mention was enough to irk me. "Can we not right now?"
"Look even though we care about you, it's still non of our business to get involved. But it's still our jobs to see that when someone we care about is bothered by something, we make sure they are aware of it. Both of you aren't happy and should simply talk about it."
"It's not that simple Sara, he's too stubborn."
"It doesn't have to be now, but eventually. You yourself know that what you two have is way too special to just walk away from."
"Yeah well what if it's not? What if it's just not what everyone expects it to be? That even if we somehow make it work throughout everything, he's just going to run off to someone else again who'll just be better in so many ways."
"He's not the type of person to do that and you know it."
"I thought I did."
With my head rested on my hand, I feel my eyes droop. The instrumental of the song played on repeat on the program as I try to come up with words. Heartbreak and insecurities are the only topics that come to mind with the upbeat sound. I close my eyes for bit, letting the first stage of sleep take it's toll while my brain works overtime producing lines of rhymes.
But my ringtone drives me out of it. I only force my eyes open when I pick up my phone and answer the call, not thinking of who could be the only possible human being to call me at this hour. I sighed, pausing the recording and saving it. "Hello?"
"Hiiiii love! Karl told me I should call someone because I've had too much apparently. Can you please tell him that I'm a grown man that can handle my alcohol?" Shit.
"Harry- wait hold on, you're drunk now? Don't you have... who are you with?" My voice was tired and already raspy. It took longer than needed to process what was actually happening.
"Oh just all by my lonesome self at first... imagined you here a few times but I know that wasn't true, but Karl the bartender is here now!" His voice was muffled and almost drowned out by the sound of a pub. His words were slurred and I can only rub my temples at the situation he's already put me in.
"Why did you call me for this."
"Well my phone's dead and you're the number I memorized." He said softly after hearing my tone. I shouldn't, but he's drunk and alone.
"I'll call Mitch-"
"Only want you. Please?" I can imagine him pouting and I was too tired to argue with him.
"I can't do this right now..."  
"Bubs, my head is starting to hurt and everyone is not being nice. Except Karl, Karl is a nice dude."
Maybe if I wasn't overworked and sleep deprived at the moment, I would of been in the righter state of mind. But the other half of me that worried about his state took the opportunity to see him once again.
"Where are you, Harry?"
***
It was easy to find a drunk Harry Styles at a pub. A small local one that we've been too once or twice in the past, enjoying each other's company over a glass after studio hours. And there he was again, sat at the stools we'd sit on and wallowing to Karl the bartender.
"Hey." I placed a hand on his shoulder after making my way through the small crowd that gathered around him that's been listening into his conversation. His eyes light up when he turns around and sees me, while I take in how disheveled he looks. His curls are messy and his bloodshot baggy eyes tells me he's been crying for a while.
"You're here." He mutters softly after he takes a moment to register that it's actually me. I only give him a small nod in confirmation, feeling that heart ache as he pulls me into a hug. "I'm sorry." I hear when he nuzzles into my neck, most likely apologizing when he sees how tired and unwell i am as he does.
"It's okay, come on let's get you home." I managed to let out, pulling away, guiding him out of his seat and away from the bar. "Oh okay, bye Karl! Keep the change." I send the bartender a grateful smile to which he returns with a pity look on his face.
"Just hold my hand Harry okay?" I tell him when I remember how clingy he gets when intoxicated. He doesn't hesitate to do so as we make our way through the crowd and out of the building.
I managed to get him in the passenger's seat without much interaction, now in the driver's seat and cursing at myself when I realized I didn't have enough gas to take him to his house. I didn't have the energy to go to the gas station this late.
"Are you crying..." He asks, pouting when I placed my face in my hands, taking deep breaths. "Please don't be sad, love." I shook my head, counting in my head as I felt Harry lean over and watch me.
"How many did you have?" I asked when I built up the will not to cry and turned on the ignition.
"Didn't bother counting, didn't matter." I kept my eyes in front of me as I drove while I felt his still on me.
"I would beg to differ. Shouldn't be my responsibility anyways." I quickly countered, noting the sharp tone in my voice and the frown I could imagine on his face.
"I'm sorry...I really wanted to see you."
"Hmm, and getting wasted and being an inconvenience is the way to get my attention." There was a second of silence and I glanced at him to check if he was still conscious, only to see that frown and his head hung in shame. My eyes trailed to the pearl necklace tucked into his sweater, as well as a yellow ribbon tied where it clasps together.
The grip I had on the wheel loosened but I sighed as I hated how guilty I felt after, aware how difficult it was to be mad when he was hurt. "That was harsh..."
"Nooo, I deserve it. I really do because I was mean to you and I don't ever want to be mean to you. Because it hurts me too ya know? More than it did when you walked away...I'm sorry that I hurt you."
I didn't say anything after that, spending the rest of the car ride back to my place in silence.
***
"You don't have to be rich, to be my giiirl. You don't have to be cool to rule my wooorld..."
My annoyance conflicted with the flutters my heart was feeling as Harry was softly singing all the way from my car to my sofa, hand held and clinging to my side the whole time. He plopped down, immediately taking a pillow. "Ain't no particular sign, I'm more compatible wiiith- hey you have that record right? Can you put it on pretty please?"
"It's 2AM, I'm not putting on a record right now." I took off my shoes and coat, graciously doing the same for him when he pouts and rests his head back on the couch. "Aw, you used to not care about that before. Is it because of your neighbors terrible taste of music to blast so late at night?"
"What?" I rubbed my eyes, standing up and going to the kitchen. I couldn't hear his mumbled response, but I returned with a glass of water to see him humming with his eyes closed. He cuddled the pillow close to him and I rolled my eyes, almost laughing at how he was tapping his foot along with the song he was playing in his head.
"Here..." He holds his hand out expectantly and I gave it to him. He takes a drink while I place his coat over the coffee table and go to get him an extra pillow and blanket.
"Oh everything hurts." He whines as I place the pillow down on the end of the couch. "My heart mostly, but that's so cheesy of me isn't it? Yours probably hurts more m' sorry...wish I could take it away."
It wasn't just his naïve words that had my eyes start welling up with tears, but it was also the realization of how he can easily break me down. I couldn't last a whole month without being there when he needs someone, when I was the one who wanted to leave. It was also probably the realization that I had grabbed the same blanket we used to set that little picnic in the studio.
"Wish I didn't cause it in the first place." He added, which led to me sitting down on the chair next to the couch, holding onto the blanket a little longer as delirium was starting to set in.
"I don't think we should have this conversation now, Harry... this is so unfair." I mumbled, rubbing my eyes.
"It is, but I'm scared I won't get another chance." My silence gave him the answer he was already aware of.
"What exactly do you want another chance of Harry, enlighten me." I closed my eyes for a minute, only to open them to see Harry looking at me in a different way. It's different, but I've noticed it before.
"Loving you." He's hesitant with his next words, most likely having sobered up a little. "I hadn't seen Heather for a few days after you left, told her later on about what happened. Took your advice though, talked to her and everything. It just wouldn't work out in the end...couldn't see myself with her in the future."
"But now you do with me?" I softly muttered, holding myself back from reaching out to him. He only nods, having that guilty look on his face because he's fully aware he doesn't deserve it. My droopy eyes are glued to his and that damn pearl necklace, too many thoughts in my head to come up with one whole response.
"Should of just called Mitch. You're an idiot for giving yourself a hangover on your release day." I finally said after a moment of silence.
"Hmm? Oh that, no that's not happening." He says casually, playing with the embroidery on the pillow he was hugging.
"What do you mean?"
"I've postponed the album thingy indefinitely or something."
"Aren't you finished with it?"
"I mean it's got 12 songs and everything but I don't know if it's really finished, I don't know." He shrugs and I'm almost annoyed by how calm nonchalant he is about it.
"You never know things Harry."
"And I hate it, I knooow! I don't know why I can't just figure it out and I hate that I'm hurting you because of it." He frowns, rubbing his eyes. "But I do know now that I love you. Really love you. Maybe if I figured that out sooner, you wouldn't hate me bubs."
I fiddle with my fingers, given up on trying to collect all my thoughts together a long time ago as I can only allow myself to take in his words and listen. He was right, in any other situation where I wasn't tired and delirious, I probably wouldn't even be in the same room as him. So here I was again, allowing myself to hurt in order to make sure he's taken care of.
Maybe it's what I deserve though. He left Heather because of me. I caved into myself at the though that I ruined the relationship of two people who loved each other simply because I didn't get the memo. She is everything in his eyes, he's proven that, so why didn't I just leave them be?
"Ugh, you probably hate me calling you that now but you know I won't stop cause you are my bubs! Like how I'm you're H. Oh... well, you stopped calling me that so...maybe not anymore but I want to be. Can I be your H again please, I miss that too." My thoughts were cut off  when he continued, finding him now lying down with his eyes closed.
"Maybe one day." I reassured him hesitantly. We would of stayed friends, we wouldn't of had to fall apart, if I had just left him alone.
"Was a weird nickname anyways, just a letter." He mumbles as I stood up, laying the blanket over him while he still holds onto the pillow.
"You sort of gave it to yourself though, get some sleep Harry."  I managed to get out, facing away from him to hide the tear that fell. He should be trying to fix his relationship with her and not me.
"Yeah, but you just started calling me it and I fell in love with it." I take one more look at him before I shut my door, seeing his face nuzzled into the pillow and the glint of a small smile on his face as he drifts off to sleep.
***
8:23. I slept around 2 and woke up 7 hours later to faint piano keys. I took in the soft melody, not recognizing it but enjoying it for a second before I forced myself to sit up and rub my eyes, realizing how dry my skin was from crying. It was definitely a sad song made up of only four chords and a fitting way to start the day as I remember the person who is most likely playing it.
I didn't want to face him, my head feeling too mushed to deal with anything else other than work. It was a weird situation to realize, the man I fell in love with and broke my heart is playing piano after I took him in when he was drunk. He tells me he officially breaks up with Heather after realizing he loves me.
He loves me?
No he doesn't. He should still love her, should be trying to get back to her now that I'm out of the picture. But he hasn't been trying too for the past month, focused on me this whole time. But why?
I snapped myself out of those thoughts quickly, knowing how terrible the following ones would be. I didn't want to think about it anymore, wanting to forget and move on. And as I quietly open my door and peaked out onto my apartment, I see his mess of curls sat on my keyboard with the blanket wrapped around him. He was considerate enough to lower the volume at least.
I took a deep breath and walked out quietly, leaning against the door frame as I continue to listen. "Part of the album, has some of your lyrics in it." He says when he notices my presence.
"Hmm. You told me that you've postponed it." I crossed my arms as he finishes the song with a long note. I see him nod, now looking down at his hands on his lap before adjusting the blanket to fully encase him.
"Yeah I did. It didn't feel right, putting something out there that I should be proud of, but you not being there to be happy with. You not wanting too in there first place, when you put your heart and soul into it, all because of me."
I frown, looking away from him when his intense eyes met mine. "It's too early Harry..."
"You told me it wasn't a good time last night too, so when is?" He huffs and I roll my eyes.
"I don't know after I have my fucking coffee?" I scoffed, uncrossing my arms and heading towards the kitchen. I hear him sigh, not saying anything else as I prepare a cup for myself, already annoyed and stressed out. I felt him staring at me while I avoided making eye contact, rubbing my temples.
"I'm sorry if I was trouble." He says, still sat down on the keyboard with the blanket wrapped around him.
"You're sorry for a lot of things." I sighed, pouring coffee into my cup.
"I am. But I don't know how to really apologize to you when you won't even let me talk to you."
I placed my cup down, suddenly forgetting about my coffee and finally looked at him. "Well what do you expect Harry? After everything you think I'm just going to trust you again? I told you I was done, I wanted to walk out of your life."
"But you picked me up. You still care, that still has to means something." He's frustrated now, desperate even and it only frustrates me more.
"Ah yes, decent morality to not leave an A list celebrity drunk in room full of strangers. That really dumb of you to do by the way, without any bodygaurds- what were you thinking?" I said, noticing how he was fiddling with the pearls that hung around his neck.
"The past month has been hell for me and all I wanted to do was see you. I feel so fucking guilty and sad and it's eating me up because I know I don't deserve any sort of reassurance from you. But at the same time, I so badly just want you back and I'm sorry for how selfish and arrogant I am." He was crying and I soften a little because of it. He tries holding it in, looking down as he quickly wipes away the tears that fall. I don't bother hiding mine anymore, having gotten used to it by now and I was tired of it.
"I've been in pain since December. Four months that you put me through so can blame me when I just want it to stop? I am so exhausted because no matter how much I throw myself into work, all I can think about is you and loving you."
"But I love you too, shouldn't that be enough to try again?" It should of been and he knows. Maybe if he realized it sooner, during his birthday, things would be different.
"You've proven that it's not." I say disappointingly, willing myself to walk over and sat down next to him, looking ahead at my piano in front of me. "I don't know what to do anymore Harry. Why can't you let me have this? Let me move on."
"Cause you and I both know we can't leave each other, too emotionally attached. I need you in my life bubs, everything sucks when you're not in it." I laugh a little at that, because it was true in a fucked up way.
"That's so unfair, why did you have to hurt me?" I hesitantly lay my head on his shoulder before he droops the other end of the blanket around me.
"I know most of my relationships don't last. Deep down I've always loved you but I couldn't let myself fall for you because I didn't want to ruin us. The thought of us breaking up and never seeing each other again just terrified me because I never wanted to lose you, ever. But I fucked up and managed to do so anyways, and I hate myself every day as much as you do." He starts playing the song again as he speaks, but it plays it down a key and slower.
"I don't hate you, can't bring myself too, but you shouldn't of been afraid to talk to me. You know who I am, we would of worked through it no matter what." He nods, followed by only the sounds of the piano melody.
"I'm in love with you." I hear him say softly after a little while out of the blue. It catches me off guard, finding it so foreign to hear those words come from him.
I let out a soft self deprecating chuckle. "No you don't. You care about me, but you don't love me. Probably saying this out of guilt or spur of the moment type thing and I can understand that, but you love Heather. She's good for you, perfect even."
"But I fell in love with you. She's not you." His brows are furrowed together as he frowns.
"Yeah, I'm not her." The small glint of my smile quickly fades and he notices it.
"What I did during my speech was very shitty. Gemma pointed it out to me right away and it's one of the biggest things I ever regret doing." He stops playing when he sees me deep in thought, slowly taking my hand to test the waters. "But I need you to understand what I said was true, that you are such an important person to me. You are beautiful, and kind, patience, and just so fucking good to me, love. I want to cherish you because it's what you deserve and I will deal with as much rejection for you to forgive me and give me another chance. It's worth every heartbreak if it means I get to love you again."
I find myself in an intimate situation, looking into his eyes at such a close proximity, our faces only inches away from each other. I was pleading to him with my eyes, begging him not to hurt me again while the look on his face was one I used to be familiar with. He was frozen while the fear that it would only just happen again held me back from moving. His eyes fluttered down to my lips, as if asking for permission and my head was refusing it. But every other part of me wanted to feel those lips again. I looked down at his, my hand taking hold of his and placing it on my chest to where my heart is before he made the move to finally press our lips together in a small kiss.
I wanted to sob because it felt right. I felt the butterflies again and the complete state of satisfaction. This time was gentle as well, but Harry put so much love into the kiss, cupping my cheek with his other hand when he feels how fast my heart was beating.
It only took a second more before I slowly pulled away, still tightly holding his hand against my heart as he could sense my doubt. "It's going to take some time okay? Probably a long time but you caused me a lot of heartbreak. But I never stopped loving you H, as much as I didn't want too anymore." I said seriously, and his eyes lits up with hope. Holding back his smile as much as he could while he nods because he heard that little nickname again.
"I'll give you as much time and space as you need, thank you. I love you so much bubs." He pulls me into a hug, nuzzling his face into my neck and I feel instantly calmer because of it. I rest my head on his shoulder while he mumbles sweet words into my skin.
"Promise I'll be good to you."
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A/N: :o it’s complete. I finished it yay! I’m so proud with how this series came out and I genuinely hope you guys do as well. I’ve started my semester and it’s going to be hectic so writing will take longer to come out, but there will be future stories that I’m really looking forward to writing and sharing :)
taglist: @big-galaxy-chaos​
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hacawijo · 3 years
Text
Alright, If We’re Gonna Play with Az’s Bonus Chapter, Let’s PLAY with Az’s Bonus Chapter (Pt. 2)
Yeah baby, part 2 of a PAINSTAKING close read lol.
Azriel winnowed into shadows before she could say anything he uses the shadows to ESCAPE, they are a coping mechanism, appearing at the door to Rhys’s study a heartbeat later. His shadows whispered in his ear that Elain had gone upstairs. It’s interesting that the shadows specifically report on Elain’s whereabouts here and not earlier, as well as later not reporting on Gwyn.
Rhys sat at his desk, fury a moonless night across his face. He asked softly, “Are you out of your mind?”
Azriel donned the frozen mask he’d perfected while in his father’s dungeon. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Rhys’s power rippled through the room like a dark cloud. “I’m talking about you, about to kiss Elain, in the middle of a hall where anyone could see you,” he snarled. “Including her mate.” It is not out of line for Rhys to acknowledge that this was stupid. If for no other reason than that it would hurt Lucien if he saw/felt them.
Azriel stiffened. Let his cold rage rise to the surface, the rage he only ever let Rhysand see, because he knew his brother could match it. Which is the mirror to something that Rhys notes in ACOFAS, that they are similar in their darkness. Because Rhys is really the only person Azriel can be himself with, completely, I think it’s important to acknowledge that this is unprecedented ground for them and specifically for Azriel. This is the first time Azriel can actually voice ANY of these thoughts out loud, and only because Rhys saw them, he did not bring this concern to Rhys himself. “What if the Cauldron was wrong?”
Rhysand blinked. “What of Mor, Az?” Also very not out of line thing to ask. Feyre is the only person Mor has really told about her sexuality, and so to Rhys and co. AND Azriel, nothing about this situation has changed in the past 500 years. The fact that Azriel is able to get over Mor, without that confirmation of her sexuality, because of Elain, is significant I think.
Azriel ignored the question. Hmm yeah, but he can’t keep ignoring this question forever, and that’s another reason he and Elain did NOT kiss in this chapter. He and his family and Mor all need closure regarding their relationship. “The Cauldron chose three sisters. Oh boy, I have a lot to say about the number three later on! Tell me how it’s possible that my two brothers are with two of those sisters, yet the third was given to another.” He had never before dared speak the words out loud. NEVER BEFORE DARED TO SPEAK THE WORDS OUT LOUD. This is the first time he’s even verbalizing these thoughts - of COURSE he doesn’t know how to navigate this conversation. This is raw emotion being spewed out right now, enhanced by the unresolved tension from his interaction with Elain.
Rhys’s face drained of color. “You believe you deserve to be her mate?” So, he says that his two brothers ARE WITH two of those sisters, which is a way to acknowledge the fact that both people in each pair accepted the bond and that it was a mutually built connection. Then he says “the third was given to another” which is actually really different. He’s saying that Elain was given to Lucien by the Cauldron, suddenly one member of that bond is not an active participant - and this is mostly true! Elain has ignored Lucien diligently, and she hinted about her lack of feelings for him when she asked Feyre why he should be entitled to her affections just because of the cauldron and whatever amends he has made. I don’t like Azriel saying that Elain is something to be given as opposed to a person to be connected to, but I’m not sure exactly what it means that he did that. ANYWAY, Rhys really does supply the word deserve, and we have evidence from earlier in this chapter that essentially proves that Azriel does not believe he deserves Elain, anyway. He is having an argument with Rhys, yes, but it almost feels like he’s arguing with himself.
Azriel scowled. “I think Lucien will never be good enough for her, and she has no interest in him anyway.” (THE ONLY TIME ELAIN’S ACTUAL FEELINGS, ACTIONS ARE CONSIDERED IN THIS DISCUSSION BTW) Also, not that he doesn’t answer Rhys’s question. For Azriel, this isn’t necessarily about what HE deserves in this moment, it’s about what Elain wants. Almost certainly, Azriel DOESN’T believe that he deserves Elain, but he sees the injustice of her being forced to accept a bond with someone for political or spiritual/societal reasons. So while to Rhys it may seem like Azriel is is putting Lucien’s claim down in order to boost his own, I actually think Azriel is trying to distinguish a different issue - Elain’s agency. This same thing happened with Mor and Eris. ABSOLUTELY THIS IS NOT ALL LIKE THAT SITUATION BECAUSE LUCIEN IS NOT ERIS!!! I am not trying to compare their behavior. BUT, Azriel would have dueled Eris for Mor’s agency regardless of whether or not she chose to be with him.
“So you’ll what?” Rhys’s voice was pure ice. “Seduce her away from him?” Rhys, I think, misinterpreting Azriel and it’s mostly not Rhys’s fault. Azriel doesn’t communicate well and is not currently communicating well. That being said, I wish he would give Azriel more benefit of the doubt.
Azriel said nothing. He hadn’t got that far with his planning, certainly not beyond the fantasies he pleasured himself to. HE HADN’T PLANNED ANYTHING, this whole conversation is just like a raw nerve.
Rhys growled, “Allow me to make one thing very clear. You are to stay away from her.” Well come on, now, Rhys, what if she doesn’t want to stay away from him? BE A FEMINIST RHYS, just add, “unless she wants to see you”!
ALSO, DID RHYS TELL FEYRE ABOUT THIS? MY MONEY IS ON NO, AND IF RHYS DIDN’T TELL HER ITS BECAUSE HE KNOWS HE’S NOT WHOLLY DOING THE RIGHT THING BY ELAIN.
“You can’t order me to do that.”
“Oh, I can, and I will. If Lucien finds out you’re pursuing her, he has every right to defend their bond as he sees fit. Including invoking the Blood Duel.” Another really big sign that this is going to play out Elriel style is the mentioning of the Blood Duel. Chekhov’s gun eh?
“That’s an Autumn Court tradition.” The battle to the death was so brutal that it was only enacted in rare cases. Despite being an outsider, Azriel had wanted to to invoke it when he’d found Mor all those years ago. Had been ready to challenge both Beron and Eris to Blood Duels and kill them both. Yes see? He would have done this regardless of Mor’s feelings toward him. Only Mor’s right to claim their heads in vengeance had kept him from doing so.
“Lucien, as Beron’s son, has the right to demand it of you.” But hey fun fact Rhys knows that Lucien is almost CERTAINLY not Beron’s son. Interesting to consider in context.
“I’ll defeat him with little effort.” Pure arrogance laced every word, but it was true. Again, Azriel is dodging Rhys’s points and is honestly being pretty immature right now, but he hasn’t actually said ANYTHING about an intention to pursue Elain with any of this. Rhys has filled in the blanks, and Azriel has responded to smaller aspects of Rhys’s macro-points with which he finds fault. I think this is also because he knows Rhys is right about a lot of the realities of the situation, but he is in the mood to be contrary right now, so he’s fighting back where he can stomach it.
“I know.” Rhys’s eyes flickered. “And your doing so will rip apart any fragile peace and alliances we have, not only with the Autumn Court, but Also with the Spring Court and Jurian and Vassa.” Rhys bared his teeth. Rhys’s motivations are based entirely on things that have nothing to do with Elain’s feelings, which is sad. But, they’re not insignificant considerations. Though come on dude you did pretty much enable Hybern’s arrival to Prythian by alienating The Spring Court with Feyre’s escape.“So you will leave Elain alone. YES, ALONE, because Elain probably is PRETTY FREAKIN LONELY If you need to fuck someone, go to a pleasure hall and pay for it, but stay away from her.” Low. Blow.
Azriel snarled softly.
“Snarl all you want.” Rhys leaned back in his chair. “But if I see you panting after her again, I’ll make you regret it.” I do think this is a really ungenerous description of what was happening downstairs with Elain. Their interaction was careful and consensual, we have painstaking detail to prove that, and it was far from panting/animalistic in action.
Rhys had rarely threatened punishment or pulled rank. It stunned Azriel enough that it knocked him from his rage. This is another person taking ANOTHER choice away from Elain. I think she may find out about Rhys doing this and I personally think she’s gonna be rightfully pissed.
Rhys jerked his chin toward the door. “Get out.”
Azriel tucked in his wings and left without another word, stalking through the house and onto the front lawn to sit in the frigid starlight. To let the frost in his veins match the air around him.
Until he felt nothing. Was again nothing at all. With Elain, he is SOMETHING. Because he feels things.
Then he flew to the House of Wind, knowing that if he slept in the riverside manor, he’d do something he regretted. He’d been so vigilant about keeping away from Elain as much as possible, Further evidence that Azriel never intended to fight Lucien or make a stink over Elain and had stayed up here to avoid her, and tonight... tonight had proved he’d been right to do so.
He aimed for the training pit, giving in to the need to work off the temptation, the rage and frustration and writhing need.
He found it occupied. His shadows had not warned him. I am not sure what it means that his shadows didn’t warn him. It could mean that Gwyn is protected from his shadows/immune to them. It could mean that his shadows wanted him to go see Gwyn - either out of a desire for Azriel to find some peace with her or out of curiosity as to who/what she is?
It was too late to bank without appearing like he was running. Azriel landed in the ring a few feet from where Gwyn practiced in the chill night, her sword glimmering like ice in the moonlight.
She stopped mid-slice, whirling to face him. “I’m sorry. I knew you all were going to the river house, so I didn’t think anyone would mind if I came up here and—“
“It’s fine. I came here to retrieve something I forgot.” The lie was smooth and cool, as he knew his face was. His shadows peered over his wings at her. They are… wary of her? They’re shy around her?
The young priestess smiled — and Azriel thought it might have been directed at his curious shadows. But she just hooked her coppery-brown hair behind an arched ear. “I was trying to cut the ribbon.” She pointed with her sword at the white ribbon, which seemed to glow silver. Some interesting language here and above (glimmering, glow etc.) to do with light, and again a juxtaposition between light and dark. But not a golden light, a colder/silver light.
“Aren’t you cold?” His breath clouded in front of him.
Gwyn shrugged. “Once you get moving, you stop noticing it.”
He nodded, silence falling. For a heartbeat, their gazes met. Gaze is definitely a romantically charged word, this is one of the tiny details that makes me unsure about the future nature of their relationship. He blocked out the bloody memory that flashed, so at odds with the Gwyn he saw before him now. I definitely do not think they are mates. I’m not closing the door on them being romantically involved, I don’t have enough evidence to do that, but I really think that if they were mates, Azriel would have known when he saw her at Sangravah.
Her head ducked, as if remembering it too. That he’d been the one who’d found her that day at Sangravah. Shades of Cassian’s reactions to Emerie’s wings having been clipped, in ACOFAS. “Happy Solstice,” she said, as much a dismissal as it was a holiday blessing.
He snorted. “Are you kicking me out?”
Gwyn’s teal eyes I have a lot to say about these teal eyes :) flashed with alarm. “No! I mean, I don’t mind sharing the ring. I just... I know you like to be alone.” Her mouth quirked to the side, crinkling the freckles on her nose. “Is that why you came up here?” I’ll talk more about this later, but there are a few small moments in the book where it seems like Gwyn might have a crush on Azriel, or some kind of special awareness/interest where he is concerned. I have seen almost no evidence that Az returns those potential feelings, except PERHAPS for the moment where he hears her screech and pays attention. But I think anyone would pay attention if someone screeched? Also he watches reverently as she cuts the ribbon, but that also feels like it would happen regardless of any romantic feelings he might have. But I don’t know for sure!
Sort of. “I forgot something.”
“At two in the morning?”
Pure amusement glittered in her stare. Better than the pain and grief he’d spied a moment before. So he offered her a crooked smile. He cares that she not be feeling pain and grief, as he does with anyone he deems good, and that is part of why he offers her the smile, as he clearly says right here. “I can’t sleep without my favorite dagger.”
“A comfort to every growing child.”
Azriel’s lips twitched. I think her irreverence matches his sense of humor quite well. He refrained from mentioning that he did indeed sleep with a dagger. Many daggers. Including one under his pillow.
“How was the party?” Her breath curled in front of her mouth, and one of his shadows darted out to dance with it before twirling back to him. Like it heard some silent music. This shadow is acting totally independent of him. She’s asking a simple question of Azriel at the moment, and he CAN’T hear the music he believes that shadow might be dancing to. Lightsinger evidence, I’d say.
“Fine,” he said, and realized a heartbeat later that it wasn’t a socially acceptable answer. “It was nice.” LOL I will say here that Azriel has to make a lot of conscious effort in this interaction. He makes himself respond in a specific way, which is not language that was used to describe his interactions with Elain earlier in the chapter. This could totally just be because he doesn’t know Gwyn that well, and certainly that’s a big part of it, but I think there’s something to be said for the fact that he is still filtering himself here with Gwyn in the quiet.
Not much better. So he asked, “Did you can the priestesses have a celebration?”
“Yes, though the service was the main highlight.”
“I see.” LOL
She angled her head, hair shining like molten metal. More glowing-type stuff “Do you sing?” I love Gwyn.
He blinked. It wasn’t everyday that people took him by surprise, but... which is great! Elain surprises him with the headache medicine in ACOFAS, Feyre surprises him with her intuition and tenderness throughout. I think this indicates that they will have a significant relationship regardless of its exact nature. “Why do you ask?”
“They call you shadowsinger. Is it because you sing?”
“I am a shadowsinger— it’s not a title that someone just made up.” It’s super-duper interesting that they actually discuss the fact that he’s a shadowsinger. When Feyre meets Azriel, she is curious, but specifically doesn’t ask follow-up questions or for expansion on the ability. Why specifically remind us here that Azriel is a shadowsinger and that Gwyn sings? If not to foreshadow something related to the ability and Gwyn?
She shrugged again, irreverently. Az narrowed his eyes, studying her. “Do you though?” She pressed. “Sing?”
Azriel couldn’t help his soft chuckle. “Yes.” I love Gwyn. She is the reason I now realize a lot of what I’ve been doing in my life is irreverence :P
She opened her mouth to ask more, but he didn’t feel like explaining. Or demonstrating, since that was surely what she’d ask next. So Az jerked his chin to the sword dangling from her hand. “Try cutting the ribbon again.” I love this so much. Maybe it is romantic, but I think that’s debatable. What’s not debatable is that it’s completely charming.
“What— with you watching?” It’s actually pretty funny that in order to avoid giving a demonstration of something that makes him vulnerable and puts Gwyn in the role of expert he flips it and makes her demonstrate vulnerability while he is the expert. Gwyn might be quite a bit braver than Azriel in some ways.
He nodded.
She considered, and he wondered if she’d say no, but Gwyn blew out a breath, steadied her feet and balance, and sliced. A beautiful, precise blow, but it didn’t sever the ribbon. SEE? Brave. I love Gwyn.
“Again,” he ordered, rubbing his hands against the cold, grateful for its bracing bite and the distraction of this impromptu lesson. Distraction is a notable word here. Azriel’s thoughts don’t really ever stray from Elain and his turmoil throughout this interaction, that’s what the word distraction tells us.
Gwyn sliced again, but the ribbon remained unyielding.
“You’re turning the blade a fraction as it comes parallel to the ground,” Azriel explained, drawing his Illyrian blade from down his back. “Watch.” He slowly demonstrated, rotating his wrist where she did. “You see how you open up right here?” He corrected his position. “Keep your wrist like that. The blade is an extension of your arm.”
Gwyn tried the movement as slowly as he had, and he watched her self-correct, fighting against the urge to open up her wrist and rotate the blade. She did it three times before she stopped falling into the bad habit. “I blame Cassian for this. He’s too busy making eyes at Nesta to notice such mistakes these days.”
Azriel laughed. “I’ll give you that.” I sense a lot of compatibility, just, again, not sure it’s romantic.
Gwyn smiled broadly. “Thank you.”
Azriel dipped his head in a sketch of a bow, something restless settling in him. Even his shadows had calmed. As if content to lounge on his shoulders and watch. This is another line that I think offers the most evidence for something significant between Gwyn and Azriel. It’s lovely that she has helped to settle something restless in him with the distraction - and I think it’s important to note that it might not have done the same thing had he encountered Emerie or another trainee on the roof. At the same time, maybe it would have. Also love that his shadows like to watch Gwyn. Lightsinger/Shadowsinger evidence! This all being said, I can’t really think of an SJM romance that is built around a comfort zone. I can think of many friendships that operate that way, but not so much with the romances. There’s usually nervousness and flutters and passion and… restlessness, somewhere in there.
But— sleep. He needed to at least attempt to get some.
“Happy Solstice,” Azriel said before aiming for the archway into the House. “Don’t stay out too much longer. You’ll freeze.”
Gwyn nodded her farewell, again facing the ribbon. A warrior sizing up an opponent, all traces of that charming irreverence gone. I love Gwyn.
Azriel entered the warmth of the stairwell, and as he descended, he could have sworn a faint, beautiful singing followed him. Could have sworn his shadows sang in answer. This feels VERY much like Lightsinger/Shadowsinger evidence. His shadows, as this chapter has demonstrated time and again, operate independently of him, and they react to Gwyn’s song. I also think it’s possible that Gwyn is sort of always singing, even when she’s not. Like she glows with song on some level, and that’s what his shadows are reacting to - because I don’t think she’d necessarily actually sing while attempting to cut the ribbon.
He slept as well as could be expected which means pretty much not at all y’all — he makes it clear he never expects to sleep well, but when Azriel returned to the River House to gather his presents before dawn, he found Elain’s necklace amid the pile. He pocketed it. Spent the rest of his day, even the blasted snowball fight, with every intention of returning it to the shop in the Palace of Thread and Jewels. How did the necklace get there??? Did Elain really put it there??? Seems like even more evidence that he assumes too much about her understanding of his feelings. Also, though, it seems really rude/OOC for Elain to do that. She gave up very quickly after he gave her a really thoughtful gift. SOMETHING’S FISHY.
But when he returned from the cabin in the mountains, he didn’t go to the market square.
Instead, he found himself at the library beneath the House of Wind, standing before Clotho as the clock chimed seven in the evening. Important to remember that this is one of the longest nights of the year, which means dusk is coming on later than it was when Nesta attended the evening service weeks/months prior- a service that started almost exactly when seven bells rang the time. It is very well possible that Azriel finds himself at the library as the evening service is happening. The one in which Gwyn sings. If she does have some kind of Lightsinger power in her, it may be that he was lured by that power instead of returning the necklace. Even if they always start at 7, he still arrives exactly at 7. The only point against this surmising that I’ve done is that Clotho led the service which Nesta attended, and yet she is here to greet Azriel. Either I’m wrong and the service is not happening at or around this time, OR the service can take place without Clotho occasionally, and this served the interest of the plot so that Az could speak with someone.
He slid the small box across her desk. “If you see Gwyn, would you give this to her?”
Clotho angled her hooded head, and her enchanted pen wrote on a piece of paper. A Solstice gift from you?
Azriel shrugged. “Don’t tell her it came from me.” Yes, it really doesn’t seem super romantic to re-gift a necklace to Gwyn. It just feels sour, if this is the start of a romance between them.
Why?
“Does she need to know? Just tell her it was a gift from Rhys.”
That would be a lie.
He avoided the urge to cross his arms, not wanting to look intimidating. He blocked out the memory that flashed— of his mother cringing before his father, the male standing with crossed arms in such a way that made his displeasure known before he opened his hateful mouth. This feels very important. We know VERY LITTLE about Azriel’s story, his past, and his family, and so I want to point out ANY and EVERY nugget we get!
“Look I...” Az searched for the words, his voice becoming quiet. “If there’s another priestess here who might appreciate it, give it to them. But I’m not taking that necklace with me when I leave.” I’m not exactly sure what it means that Azriel says this. It could be that he doesn’t want to make a thing of his potential feelings for Gwyn and so tries to deflect with this statement, both to convince Clotho and himself that it’s not about Gwyn. It could also mean that Azriel needed to be rid of the necklace, and wasn’t in the mood to fight with Clotho over an ultimately secondary (to getting rid of the necklace) impulse to give it to someone who provided him comfort and companionship at a time when he needed it.
He waited for Clotho’s pen to finish writing. Your eyes are sad, Shadowsinger.
He offered her a grim smile. “I lost the snowball fight today.” HE LOST THE FIRST SNOWBALL FIGHT IN 200 YEARS! And I’m pretty sure it wasn’t because Gwyn made him feel better the previous night. I think he lost because he is in anguish over the situation with Elain. Again, I understand that anguish shouldn’t necessarily be a romantic thing, but in SJM’s writing it often is. This is a romance series, angst is a thing, stakes are a thing. It’s not necessarily the most healthy, but it’s also not all-the-way unhealthy. He just feels strongly about Elain and there are a lot of obstacles between him and finding a way to resolve those feelings for good or bad.
I am a counselor for folks who have and are dealt/dealing with sexual, gender-based, and interpersonal violence, and if you want me to do an analysis of all of the relationships in SJM’s writing that aren’t wholly healthy, there won’t be any left over. Except for maybe Sartaq and Nesryn. they really do have their shit together. I suspend a fair amount of my disbelief and professional knowledge in reading these books because I love them and they are fictional :) Also, relationships are complicated. It’s pretty rare for me to work with a client that has a cut-and-dry, black-and-white story.
Now, in my PERSONAL NOT PROFESSIONAL experience, shit is messy, and messiness, even in real life, doesn’t always mean something isn’t worth the strife. Though absolutely abuse and assault are a whole other thing. I think it’s really good to think critically about relationship dynamics in fiction, because it’s a safe place to do great learning and reflection. I also think it’s important to consider that the rules of our reality are not necessarily the rules of the reality being written by an author. Maybe you personally find Azriel’s feelings toward Elain (as they have been expressed so far) are beyond redemption, and are unhealthy to a point where the relationship cannot be salvaged. But that is not realistically a reason that the relationship in question won’t happen. Pretty much any negative/toxic assertions that can be leveled against Elriel based on the VERY SMALL amount of first-person perspective we have in the relationship could be leveled against at least a few of SJM’s other endgame couples. Totally happy to get into this more and provide those examples :)
Clotho was smart enough to see through his deflection. She wrote, I’ll give it to Gwyneth. Tell her a friend left it for her.
He wouldn’t go so far as to call Gwyn a friend, but... “Fine. Thank you.” Not sure what this means. Maybe just that it takes Az a while to open up to people and call them friends.
Clotho’s pen moved once more. She deserves something as beautiful as this. I thank you for the joy it shall bring her.
Something sparked in Azriel’s chest, but he only nodded his thanks and left. He could picture it, though, as he ascended the stairs back to the House proper. How Gwyn’s teal eyes might light upon seeing the necklace. For whatever reason... he could see it. And here we have the most romantic evidence for Az and Gwyn as a couple. Maybe he is falling for her and that’s why he can picture her smile. I really don’t know. I think it could also be that he is happy to be able to make her happy, in recognition of the comfort she gave him the previous evening. Maybe he can picture her because of her potential lightsinger status. Thoughts?
But Azriel tucked away the thought, consciously erasing the slight smile it brought to his face. Buried the image down deep, where it glowed quietly. The image glowing, again, lightsinger-supporting language.
A thing of secret, lovely beauty. So now he is referring to Gwyn’s smile here. This is interesting, because Gwyn’s smile wouldn’t necessarily be a secret, but perhaps it is if you think of her as being hidden in the library, or that he’ll know about her smile and her receiving the necklace even though she won’t know that he’s the one who gave it to her. Or maybe he’s drop dead in love with her! Another thing that I don’t think is true given his stony attitude post-Solstice (when Gwyn is very much around) and the fact that he doesn’t seem to react viscerally to Gwyn’s kidnapping until Cassian points out that bad things could be happening to both her AND Emerie, as well as Nesta. He knows Gwyn just as well, if not better at this point, as he knew Elain when he reacted to HER kidnapping in ACOWAR. He was very riled, he was the one who noticed she was gone, he vowed almost immediately to go get her, knowing it might mean certain death (to be fair, he seems to have a bit of a death wish, BUT he’s still a pragmatist and doesn’t try to WASTE his life on things - either they’re essential to the court and/or Prythian’s wellbeing or essential to someone for whom he cares deeply.)
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cblgblog · 3 years
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So my issues with Irondad are well documented at this point, starting from their very first scenes. Specifically the utter tone deafness of Peter’s recruitment, by both Tony and the writers. Tony starts the movie being blamed for the death of a 20-year-old kid who was in the wrong place, wrong time in Sokovia. That accidental death that can be put down to negligence on his part, is pivotal to what happens next. So pivotal he uses it in his pitch for why the other Avengers need to sign the Accords.
Tony, midway through the movie, deliberately brings a 15-year-old child into this conflict. A child he blackmails into going with him, because if you don’t, I will tell your aunt.
Charles Spencer was an innocent civilian, wrong place, wrong time in Sokovia. He died. That tears Tony up, as it rightfully should. And yet, in the midst of his crusade about following laws and accountability, he lies to May Parker about taking her 15-year-old nephew out of the country and into a warzone. Ignoring some well-established laws about child soldiers.
Tony blackmailing a child who’s had his powers for 6 months into participating in this conflict makes no sense. Ever. It especially makes no sense in the context of Charles Spencer and his mother. Yet neither Tony nor the writers seem to comprehend this. Which is why Irondad has been bullshit from the start. Blackmail and kidnapping are not sweet, father-son moments, even if you ignore the fact, as the MCU wants to, that Peter had a father already, in Ben Parker. He has a loving adult parental figure in May Parker. Both of whom cared about him before he had spider powers that might be helpful to them.
All of this, I’ve said before, so have others. And then I realized that I actually hate Irondad more than I thought. That Feige and co. mishandled it even more than I thought, and why? Because of this.
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We know the story. Peter was, supposedly, this kid Tony saved at the Stark Expo in Iron Man 2. Started out as a fan theory, and then was confirmed that yes, this is true, this is exactly what we intended.
Now, we know Civil War had different writers/directors than Homecoming or FFH did. We also know that, for all the lip service of, ‘It’s all connected,’ we know that the creatives in these different franchises do not always talk to each other, and that they often blatantly contradict each other.
Taking all that into account, acknowledging that…the dumbasses at Marvel did not think up the idea of Peter being the Iron Man 2 kid. They heard the theory, thought it was cool, then took credit for having meant that the entire time, yes, that was totally us.
We know this because it is never mentioned in canon. All those Tony and Peter interactions, all those times of yes, Mr. Stark, I just want to be like you, Mr. Stark, and Peter never mentions that? When Tony takes he suit from him in Homecoming and Peter says that he just wants another chance, wants to be like Tony, would he not mention that hey, you saved my life, Mr. Stark. You saved my life and I just wanted to be like you, and now I can be, now I can save lives like you, just please give me another chance.
If the Iron Man 2 theory were true, would he not say that? In FFH, when he’s all guilt-ridden, I didn’t save him, would he not mention that hey, he saved my life before I was Spider-man, before I was special, before I was anyone?
Now I know what you’re thinking. The Iron Man 2 thing isn’t that big a deal. It’s not a crucial thing. And you know what, you’re right. It isn’t, it’s just always annoyed me, in an eyeroll way, that the same people who couldn’t count properly between 2012 and 2017 (8 years later flashing in giant letters across our screens means that Homecoming was meant to take place in 2020), that these same people who let something so blatantly timeline breaking get through then took credit for a kind of cool, kind of clever fan theory. It’s annoying.
I’ve now realized, however, that it is far more than annoying to me. Because TPTB at Marvel did not think of that idea for themselves, but if they had, and if they’d run with that idea? If they had, it would’ve made Peter’s recruitment in Civil War so much more fucked up than it already is, but so much more interesting. So, so, so much more interesting.
I’ve talked about why Spidey’s own movies (as much as you can call them that given the level of Tony infiltration) prove that the theory isn’t true. Now let’s go to Civil War. Different writers, yes, but let’s talk anyway about why we can tell from CW that Peter was not that kid.
He gets home. May is like, look who it is, Tony Stark. Not, look who it is, the hero who literally saved your life. When Tony locks himself in Peter’s room with him (still fucking gross, Jesus Christ), Peter is just, nope, I got no idea what you’re talking about. That’s—no, I’m not a superhero, no. He’s defensive. He’s apprehensive. He’s trying to figure out what fresh hell this is. He’s trying to hide stuff from Tony. If this is the guy who saved him at the Stark Expo, why this reaction? Why not, oh my god, you saved my life, I thought I’d never see you again, not, not up close I mean. When Tony asks him to do a thing, why is it not, well yeah, duh , you saved my life, where do we start? Or even, okay, I don’t really wanna do this, but, you saved my life, I owe you?
So, nobody wrote a fucking word of any of Peter and Tony’s interactions under the theory that he was the Stark Expo kid.
But what if they had?
Tony shows up at May’s place. He does not know who Peter is, in relation to their “meeting” before. He’s expecting to have to do some level of smooth talk to get in here but, nope. May’s just, oh my god, you saved my boy’s life, come in, come in!
We don’t know for sure that Peter was orphaned by the time of the Expo, but if we base it on comics and prior films, he likely was. Most versions seem to have him fall under Ben and May’s care between 2 and 6.  O1’ birthday means he would’ve been around 9 at the Expo. So, more than likely, Ben or May or both were the ones there with him. They may credit Tony with saving their lives as well.
So, Tony starts the movie being called out by a grieving mother. Going down this route, we’re at the midpoint…and here’s a different mother telling him how great he is. How he saved the most important thing in her life. How if Ben were here (May’s wearing her wedding ring around her neck btw, you can see it in the scene), Ben would say the same thing. Shake his hand. Hug him.
Now, Tony’s got a sharp ass mind, when it’s not clouded with booze or drugs or the like. Since he wasn’t wasted at the Expo, there’s a good chance that, given some details, he remembers saving this kid. He remembers how small this little boy actually was. He remembers how light this kid was when he grabbed him. It was a few seconds in a long ass night, that he hasn’t thought about in years, but to May Parker, it’s everything.
So maybe at this point Tony’s rethinking this. He’s remembering that little boy, realizing how young he still is. He pulled that boy from danger. And now here’s this woman who invited him into her house, told him how her husband just passed recently, things have been hard, especially for Peter but God, he’ll love to see you. Maybe Tony’s rethinking this, coming up with a way out, when Peter shows up. And then, aw hell. The kid’s just a mess of excitement and shock, possibly tears…okay now it’s just gotten harder to make an exit.
Let’s pause here to say that May Parker is not fucking dumb (“Cut the bullshit. I know you left detention. I know you left the hotel room in Washington. I know you sneak out of this house every night.”).
May is not dumb. Letting the 50-year-old dude go into her nephew’s room with him, alone? Arguably dumb, even if it is Iron Man. Letting him grab the kid for some Stark…thing, and take him wherever Tony said he was taking him on 12 seconds notice? Even more arguably dumb.  CW as it’s written dumbs down May’s character for the sake of an already questionable plot point. Especially since she literally says she’s not a fan of Tony in Homecoming. Yes, her comment there comes after the “internship,” her noting Peter’s distraction and stress because of it. But still, it’s fucking weird that she’d let this man take her kid out of the country, alone, in CW. It makes her dumb for the sake of plot.
But if Stark saved Peter’s life not so long ago? It at least makes a bit more sense. He’s a hero. Peter literally wouldn’t be here without him. Why would Tony hurt him now?
So, back to the scene. Peter’s probably less paranoid about showing his stuff to Tony. Probably not spilling everything himself, but when Tony notices things, Peter’s probably less panicked over it, more willing to confirm. Yes, he’s got these powers, okay? And he hasn’t had them for long, but he’s trying to do good, like Tony. He’s trying to do the right thing, like Tony.
Now, this kid has such literal hero worship going, and he’s so damn inexperienced, he admits that. And Tony’s still got Charles Spencer’s mom in his head. He’s dead, Stark. And I blame you.
Can Tony really take this kid—actual minor kid younger than Charles was—take him and put him on the field against the goddamn Avengers? That woman out there with the dead husband and the ring around her neck, what’s he going to say if Peter gets hurt, or worse? Sure the kid obviously has skills but, can he risk another grieving mom?
So, maybe Tony’s rethinking this. Maybe he can still get out of this, improvise a Plan B. But then there’s a text from Nat or Ross. Where are you? We’ve only got a few hours, what’s the play?
Special circumstances, nobody in that group is really gonna fight to kill…it’s special circumstances, and he can keep the kid mostly sidelined.
This time, he doesn’t have to blackmail Peter. He doesn’t have to threaten to expose his secret. Peter’s willing, either because he genuinely wants to, or he feels he owes Tony a debt. So there goes the dick factor of Tony literally blackmailing a child. And the lack of questions Peter seems to ask about what he’s fighting for, the acceptance of vague answers, that’d also make more sense in this context.
In this version, Tony is both more and less of a dick. He’s doing less active threatening and manipulation…but he’s also being doubly manipulative. His genuinely good deed gives him an easy in with the Parkers. He’s playing on the credibility of an earlier, at least somewhat better version of himself. One who saved Peter Parker and hadn’t yet ended Charles Spencer.
Look, I won’t lie, I legit don’t know what I’m saying anymore, except that Marvel sucks for taking credit for a thing that they definitely do not have credit for. Which isn’t particularly new for them, and wouldn’t particularly matter if the thing they took credit for (and didn’t do anything with) could’ve offered some interesting story possibilities.
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thesquidkid · 3 years
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Lately I've been feeling so alone
Based of this post by @milady-bugg, thank you for letting me use it as inspiration for a fic 😁
This is sadder than intended, and full of Michael Guerin feels, hope you'll enjoy! This is also quite long (5.4k lmao), so you can read it on AO3 if you prefer.
Michael had isolated himself in his bunker, not letting anyone - even Sanders - in. At first, there were a few knocks, the door opening a few times and each time, Michael would slam it shut with his powers. He needed to process. It was one thing, to know that you were the son of a monster, another to face the man as he gave his own son a heart attack. Father of the year, right here!
So Michael had isolated himself between 4 walls, literally underground, where he could let all his anger free without hurting anyone. But the others couldn’t really understand that, and he couldn’t blame them. So everyone went on to live their lives, do what they were good at.
Isobel and Rosa were looking for Max, searching every cave, every abandoned house, turning every stone, using Rosa’s new found ability. Liz was making sure Maria stayed stable and healthy, her state hadn’t really decreased, but it hadn’t improved either. Whatever was going on, she seemed to continue the fight. Because Maria DeLuca was her own saviour, every damn time.
Michael didn’t have any news of Alex, just that he had found Kyle and that he was safe. He had hesitated calling Alex a few times, to compare notes on shitty father, but that wouldn’t have been fair to Alex, the person who tried every damn day to distance himself from his father, to fix what he broke, to be a better man.
So Michael was alone, in his bunker, with Sanders coming in every once in a while to complain that Michael wasn’t working, but both knew it was just an excuse to check up on him, make sure he was doing fine.
And really, he was. After the initial shock of finding out that his father was a copy of his brother (really, all those times Max had played his father, it was just in his DNA), where he completely and utterly lost it, he was now in a much calmer headspace. He had repositioned all the furniture that had been thrown against the walls, had done some extensive cleaning and given back a few tools and random parts he found to Sanders.
Although, he was still feeling empty. Had emptied his entire body, crying, shouting, wanting to break stuff with his powers, but knowing that if he did he would have to replace it somehow. And he was still broke. So he had to figure out another way of letting his emotions free, that didn’t involve breaking the little stuff he owned, and regretting it.
Instead, he focused on what he was good at. Had put all of the alien tech he had on the main workspace, fiddling with it at first, letting his hand move freely on it, feeling the way the tech reacted to him. From then, he realised that he still didn’t completely know what the tech could do, had assumed it was only part of the ship, but the recent events, with Kyle’s radio and Jones’ sword, he was getting curious as to what he could do, with his imagination and mechanical skills.
This is where it all started, with the alien glass and his tools, letting his hands move as they desired, his mind still busy thinking about - well, everything that happened in the last few days, from Jones being his father, to Max maybe still nearly dying, to Maria being in a coma, and to Alex being God knows where doing God knows what.
As he thought about his friends, his family, his people, his fingers were doing something similar. This is how he found himself, after three days in the bunker, barely sleeping, not at all in contact with the outside world - only going out to take a shower, get some food, and use the toilet in the airstream - with a bunch of glass objects, clearly designed for his friends, and not knowing what to do with all of it. Well, he knew, but that meant going out and seeing them, their faces, probably full of pity, no one knowing how to address the elephant in the room - Jones.
He was building up the courage to get out and gift his creations as peace offering, or whatever they wanted them to be, when he was disturbed by a knock on the latch, then it opened, followed by a very familiar voice that he didn’t expect to hear any time soon.
“Look, Guerin, I get that you want to be alone right now, and uh, yeah -” Alex Manes said, passing a hand across the face, fighting the want to jump down that ladder, understanding more than anyone what being the son of a monster felt like, and even then, neither of their experiences were comparable. “I’m just here to tell you that, ah, Maria woke up, and uh, she’ll be staying in the hospital for a little longer, so uh, yeah that’s what I came here to say.” he finished, and stood up from where he was crouching above the opened latch, looking down in the bunker but not seeing more than the ladder and light. He could also slightly distinguish Michael’s shadow, glowing under all the lights he guessed were alien.
Michael thought Alex had left, and nearly closed the latch using his powers, when he heard the last few words, barely a whisper, but clear as day to him. And he knew that Alex knew that he heard them. “I’m here. If you ever want to talk, or whatever. I’m here for you, Michael.” And with that, Alex left, understanding the peace of being alone with your thoughts, and knowing that Michael would come out whenever he was ready to.
And he was ready to come out. Soon after he heard Alex’s car leave the junkyard, he rushed to his airstream to take a shower and change clothes, taking with him the glass object he had made for Maria. When Sanders saw him leave the airstream, showered, dressed in clothes that hadn’t been worn the past three days, smiling, he couldn’t stop the teasing comment, “If I knew getting your boy here would get you out, I’d have done it long ago.” Despite the comment, he was glad that Michael was feeling better, and even more glad to hear the “Not my boy. Maria’s awake,” that came from Michael as he drove away, leaving Sanders in the junkyard, a smile on his face. The kid was starting to realise that family wasn’t the blood coursing through your veins, but the people you choose to surround yourself with. He hoped Ms. Nora would be proud of her boy, wherever she was.
Michael drove to the hospital at a respectable speed, not wanting to get arrested the day Maria woke up - she would never stop making fun of him about it. He nearly ran towards her room, stopping only at the open door, taking in the people in the room. Liz was at the foot of Maria’s bed, holding a board with papers clipped to it - most likely Maria’s health results - talking with her hands, a large smile on her face. Rosa was sitting on the bed, next to Liz, exchanging side smiles with Maria, her entire body more relaxed than she had been since Maria’s coma. Isobel was standing to the side of the room, leaning against the wall, facing the door. She was the first to see Michael, making him smile back, and promising her to talk and hang out, by their psychic bond. Finally, he turned his eyes to the head of Maria’s bed, where the two Manes men who had gone against their father were sitting, Greg leaning against the back of the chair, a hand holding Maria’s and the other going up and down on her arm in a reassuring sign, Alex on the other side sitting with his elbows on his knees, chin resting on one hand, apparently the only one truly listening to what Liz had to say.
He cleared his throat, not knowing how else to announce his presence. “Mikey!” came the synchronised shout from the Orthecho sisters, “what took you so long, dude? We texted you ages ago!” Rosa teasingly asked, Michael not bothering with an answer and simply sticking his tongue out to her, earning him a roll of the eyes from Liz and Isobel, a full on laugh from Rosa and a slight chuckle from Alex.
“How you feeling, DeLuca?” he started to ask, his voice clear with worry, but remembering many of their conversations, he continued with something he knew she would prefer to him worrying too much, “I might check out some other bar if you stay out of the game for too long.”
And he seemed to have been right, as Maria giggled and stood up straighter, “Oh I’m not too worried you’ll be right back at the Pony in no time Guerin,” she said smiling at him, which Michael copied. “And,” she added, pointing her finger in his direction, “you still owe me 15,09 bucks, don’t think I’ve forgotten.”
Michael shook his head, of course she wouldn’t forget the drinks he had during the last year that he hasn’t yet repaid in services. Since it was the pandemic, they both didn’t have much money so they agreed that whatever drinks he ordered would be paid back in free car or bar maintenance, and vice versa. As if they weren’t already cutting deals for each other.
Feeling all eyes on him, especially since he had gone AWOL for the last three days, Michael cleared his throat once more and took a few hesitant steps towards Maria, ignoring everyone in the room but her. “I, uh, made you something?” he said, cursing himself mentally for making it sound like a question, “here,” he put his hand in his jacket pocket and took out four little alien glass hairpins, ‘it’s alien glass, I thought you might like them.”
He looked at her to see some tears in her eyes as she took the hairpins and observed them in her hands. “They’re, Michael, those are amazing ,” she said with so much sincerity that Michael was taken aback by it, “Thank you.” she added with a smile.
In the end Michael sat on the floor against the wall, listening closely to Maria talking about what had happened with Jones. He felt at ease, surrounded by his friends, still feeling the weight of Kyle and Max missing, but everyone enjoying this small light in what had felt like a week of pure darkness.
Being with Maria, giving them his creation, had given him the courage to talk to the others, and hand them their gifts. He went to see Liz, one day, as she was still in Kyle’s office, observing scans of Maria’s brain. He pointedly ignored those pictures, deciding that he wasn’t going to think of what his father could have done to Maria and her brain, knowing the guilt he would feel if he did. Instead he stood in front of Liz and handed her two teardrop earrings made out of alien glass.
She stopped in the middle of her sentence, and stared up at Michael who smiled awkwardly, her mouth agape as she took in the beauty of the jewelry. “Mikey, wow, I - I don’t know what to say.” she said, looking back and forth between the earrings and Michael.
“It’s nothing, Ortecho, really, I had glass laying around and -” he started to say but was interrupted by Liz. “Thank you.” she nearly shouted, standing up and bending him in a tight embrace, which he returned gladly. He then held up Liz’s phone as a mirror as she put them on and admired herself, making both of them laugh, before reality caught up, and they both needed to focus on Max, Kyle, and Maria. Liz kept the earrings the entire day, and wears them on any occasion she can, the alien colorful glass going with a multitude of clothing combinaisons.
The next person Michael gave a present to was Rosa. She was at the junkyard to train her powers when he surprised her with alien windchimes. He quickly used his powers to hang them up while she had her eyes closed and let the wind do the rest of the work. She opened her eyes in admiration of whatever sound she had heard and turned towards the source of it. “Woa,” she said under her breath as she walked slowly towards them, until finally touching them with her hands, letting the windchimes sing under her fingers, the alien glass slightly reacting.
“You made those?” she asked, turning around to Michael. He nodded, smiling, feeling quite proud of his work. “The sound they make,” continued Rosa, turning once again to look at the windchimes, Michael walking closer to her, “it’s - I don’t think I can compare it to anything.” He nodded once more, encouraging Rosa to continue, “It’s like a melody. I can hear the wind, but it’s different, it’s beautiful.”
She leaned against Michael who was now standing slightly behind her, Michael instinctively putting her arm around her shoulders, the two of them standing in the middle of the junkyard, admiring the alien glass windchimes Michael had made for Rosa. She would come buy the junkyard many times, listening at the way the wind circled through the windchimes, admiring their beauty.
After that it all happened really quickly; Rosa and Isobel found Max, Michael and Liz had been called to the rescue (Jones had apparently regained his body and vanished), followed by Kyle waking up, Greg and Maria rushing to some ranch in the middle of nowhere to get Kyle and Alex. Eventually, all this craziness died down for a bit, Max was hiding in Alex’s cabin in the woods, since Jones had used his body to commit crimes, he couldn’t really go grocery shopping without getting arrested, and Kyle had regained his job at the hospital. Michael seriously wondered how he hadn’t been fired yet, but he wasn’t complaining, at least someone in their group seemed to know what he was doing with his life.
He made his way back to the hospital, except this time to see the one person he swore he would never visit as a kid. A doctor. But not just any doctor, a doctor who was quickly becoming a good friend of his, which he obviously wasn’t going to admit. He walked in the corridors, knowing the place quite well by now, and knocked on Kyle’s office door. A tired “Come in” answered and he opened the door.
As soon as Kyle saw who was on the other side of the door, he groaned and nearly snapped, thinking that maybe now would be the time to get a new group of friends that didn’t have alien emergencies every four hours. Michael must’ve sensed what Kyle was about to say (something along the lines “I don’t care that the world is burning because of some alien invasion, I need sleep! And no, a coma doesn’t count.”) because he raised his hands in surrender, a smug smile on his face.
“Relax, no alien life or death situations, or at least not that I know of.” This had the expected effect, Kyle relaxed in his chair, crossed his arms on his chest and raised an eyebrow at Michael, silently asking him why he was here then. Michael closed the door behind him and sat opposite Kyle, on one of the patients chairs. Still smiling, he took out of his pocket two glass paperweights that he delicately put on the desk for Kyle to grab, just as delicately.
Kyle was silent as he turned the paperweights between his hands, admiring all the different angles, reflecting his desk light on the walls and papers he had on his desk. While Kyle was busy, Michael slowly put his hand in his other jacket pocket and took out a glass snow globe with a little cardboard UFO, two little plastic aliens, and pink fake snow. He put it on the desk and waited for Kyle to notice, after having put the paper weights on top of two small piles he had.
When he saw the snow globe, his face lit up with astonishment, and he looked up to Micheal, once again speechless. “I know what it’s like to see a doctor as a kid and being scared,” Michael said, not looking at Kyle but at the little snowball, “and I know it’s not the same, but uh-”
“I’m sure the kids will love it, Michael.” Kyle said, honestly. He took the globe and shook it, chuckling at the way the UFO dangled, the way the little Aliens wiggled and the way the pink snow fell on everything. “Thank you.”
Michael shrugged, “Consider it payback,” he said, with a sincere smile this time, “for all the times you saved our asses.” And with that, he stood up, waved awkwardly at Kyle (who waved back just as awkwardly) and left.
Kyle took care of the paperweights, who in reality weren’t so heavy, but never broke as they fell. All the kids that came by his office would stare at the little snow globe, admiring it, feeling calmer and safer during their appointment.
Isobel called Michael over the next day. She said she wanted to go shopping for Max, since he was stuck away and was getting bored (how he had already read all the books Alex gave him, was a mystery to Michael, but he supposed when there really wasn’t anything else to do…)
Michael ran on her doorbell and let himself in, using his powers to unlock the door. He made his way to the living room and sat on the couch, looking at the decorations of Isobel’s walls. This house felt more homey than the one she had shared with Noah, there were paintings on the walls he knew Rosa had made, a few old and useless metallic pieces he had turned into sculptures and decorations laying around in various places. But what was really different was the huge bookshelf, books varying from science fiction (for Michael), to inspiring novels (for Isobel) to fantasy and romantic (for Max), indicating that this wasn’t just her home for her, but that her brothers were welcomed here too.
Michael put on the table the necklace he had made, the pendant made out of alien glass and the chain from some silver he had laying around the junkyard, and waited for Isobel to come out. When she did, she smiled at Michael and sat next on his left, facing him. “Okay, so I’ve been thinking, and our brother isn’t really the best cook so -”, she started to say, but cut herself as she saw what was on the table.
She grabbed the necklace between her fingers, and looked to Michael, who was leaning against the couch, an arm slung over it, a bright smile on his face. He winked at her, when he saw that Isobel was looking at him, and she leaned against him, her heard on his shoulder, Michael folding his arm around her.
“It’s beautiful, Michael,” Isobel said, emotions strong in her voice, “thank you.” Mihael rubbed his hand on her shoulder, not really knowing what to say, but wanting her to know that he would always be there.
Isobel wiggled the necklace in front of his face, Michael taking it with a chuckle as he attached it around her neck. The two of them stayed like that, leaning their heads against each other, in silence, in peace. Eventually, Isobel stood up, hurrying Michael out the door and into his truck to go shopping for Michael. And if they were a bit later than what they had told Max, arriving with humid eyes, no one made a comment about it, Max glad to have some company and more books to read.
Michael went back to see Max at least once a day, staying for a few hours or a couple of minutes, always checking in. The two had a lot to talk about, especially the elephant in the room - Max being a clone of Michael’s father.
Michael found himself enjoying those little brotherly moments, and more so the one after they had done the whole Jones subject. Michael would make a few comments about Liz staying in Roswell, to which Max would respond with questions about Alex.
“You know,” said Max on the third day Michael came when they were sitting around a fire pit, enjoying a few beers, after Michael had strongly avoided any topic about Alex, while also admitting to having some feelings (which Max knew of already, subtility wasn’t Michael’s - and Alex’s - strong suit), “this is the first time you and I have talked about dumb highschool crushed together.”
Michael chuckled at that, a hint of sadness that Max quickly brushed, “Hey no, the past is the past man, I’m just saying that I’m glad we’re finally talking, you know? Feels like we’re finally not hiding stuff.” And Michael raised his beer bottle at that. It was indeed the first time that they were both completely open, no more secret. They both were at fault on that, but as Max had said, the past was the past, no point reminiscing, when you could focus on making the future better.
With those thoughts in mind, he took out of his pocket an alien glass bolo tie with little turquoise end caps on the ties, and handed it to Max, who took it. They were both hypnotised by the way the flames reflected on the glass, the way the colors seemed to dance in the night.
Max didn’t say anything, didn’t have too. He put his beer on the floor next to him, stood up and motioned to Michael to do the same. Once they were both standing, facing each other, they hugged deeply, strongly. In the end, all the other bolo ties Max owned got mostly replaced by this one, being worn at every occasion he could, always with his brother in mind.
Michael had two more presents to offer, and was sitting in his bunker, not knowing how to approach either of the people they were made for. Luckily for him, he didn’t have to figure one out, as the person in question opened the latch and climbed down the stairs with a grunt. “Kid,” came Sander’s voice as soon as his feet reached the ground, “think you can use that brain of yours to build a lift here? Getting too old for this.”
“Well no one is forcing you to come, old man,” Michael replied, although there was no true bite to it. In fact, he quite enjoyed the old man’s occasional visits, even if all he did was complain. Michael turned around to face him, “Everything all good up there?” he asked, wondering why Sanders had come down. Sanders just nodded at him and took the last steps for him to arrive at Michael’s level, leaning his hands on the workspace. “What you working on, kid?”
“Uhm, actually -” started Michael, now that Sanders was here, might as well give him the present, right? “I got something for you.”
Using his powers, he approached a little metallic sunflower he had made from scrap pieces found here and there in the junkyard, and had made the center out of alien glass. The whole thing was attached to a chain to be held up against the door to Sanders house.
Sanders grabbed the sunflower and looked at it intensely with his good eye, remembering the colors Ms Nora’s creations were, seeing them once again on that little sunflower. Neither said anything, nor made a step forward to hug, neither being used to physical comfort, but they both knew how much that gesture meant.
To Michael, it meant acceptance, family, a sunflower for all the sunflowers they grew at the junkyard over the pandemic. To Sanders, it meant pride, it meant having kept his promise to Ms Nora to take care of his son, it meant family.
The sunflower was attached by Sanders' door, the alien glass glowing under the desert sun, always turning to face it, like all the many sunflowers they had in their field.
Which led Michael to one last gift. And if he was being honest with himself, the one he dreaded the most. Also the one that took him the most time and the most research. A gift for Alex. Taking his courage in both hands, he sent a quick text to Alex before he could have any chance to doubt himself. Free right now? I think I might take you up on your offer.
He didn’t have long to wait, as his phone buzzed almost immediately, On my way. Be there in 30 . He rushed back to his airstream, ignoring once more Sanders’ comment about getting ready for his boy , to get changed and put beers in the fridge. He opened the door of the airstream just as he heard Alex’s car arrive, and sat on one of the chairs, two bears in hand, while he made his way over. Alex sat on a chair next to him, accepting the beer, in silence.
“I heard you were busy while in your underground lair, judging by the gifts I’ve been seeing pop up.” Alex said with a smile, taking a sip of his beer, turning his head to look at Michael.
Michael frowned his eyebrows, “I thought you were busy out of town?” he asked, barely stopping the bite from escaping his lips. Alex looked sheepishly away from Michael at that, “I’ve been trying to not distance myself too much,” she shrugged, his tone lowering, until being a simple whisper at the end, “to not drive myself crazy.” He shivered at whatever thought was going through his mind, then straightened his body and looked up to Michael, “Anyway, you said you’d take me up on my offer, I’m assuming you want to talk?” he asked, forcing a smile that Michael didn’t buy.
“The hell is going on with you, Alex?” Michael asked, with a bit too much force that he immediately took back at Alex’s defeated look, “First you tell me you’d burn down the world for me, then that you don’t want me anywhere you or whatever, and then you end up finding Kyle in some creepy farm, which might I add is the exact same farm you got stabbed in .” He took a breath, and continued, “So yeah, Alex, I want to talk, I want you to tell me what’s going on with you.” He stopped at looked at Alex, who didn’t really seem like he wanted to say anything, so he lowered his voice, taking back all the bite and anger he could, channeling how much he cared and worried about Alex, “You said you were there for me, it’s a two way street you know. I’m here for you too.”
That seemed to do the trick, as Alex’s teary eyes met Michael’s, who wanted nothing more that to wipe his thumb across his cheeks, to take away the fear and the pain he could see in those eyes. But he didn’t, they weren't there yet.
Alex took a deep, shaky breath and told Michael everything, from quitting the Air Force (getting a discharge with full honors, Michael could tell the pride in his voice as the last ten years of Alex’s hadn’t been totally useless), to joining Deep Sky, to the Lockhart machine, to his boss not being who he said he was, to discovering that the Lockhart machine had driven people crazy, to the reason he had been recruited by deep sky. After his explanations, he fell quiet, looking at Michael, not truly knowing what to expect.
What he didn’t expect however, was for Michael to get up hastily, move the airstream and rush to his lair, leaving Alex sitting on his chair, a half empty bottle of beer in one hand, tears in his eyes. But Michael came back, just as fast as he had left, holding some piece of alien tech mixed with metal in his hands. It took a moment for Alex to register what that object was, and once he did, he widened his already teary eyes in surprise, his mouth was slightly agape, his eyebrows were frowned, as he searched for the words to express his confusion, not wanting to get his hopes high. On the other hand, there wasn’t a multitude of people Michael could’ve made an alien prosthetic leg for.
Michael approached slowly with the leg in his hands, handing it to Alex once he was close enough. “I uh- I made you this.” he said, clearing his throat, while Alex was examining the leg, “It’ uh, lighter than the one you have now, but it’s also more resistant and, well, you could really bludgeon someone with it, if uh - if you wanted to.”
Alex kept looking at the leg, not saying anything, which Michael interpreted as him not being interested. “You don’t have to take it, if you don’t like it. I also made you this,” he rushed out, taking a braided leather cuff with a piece of alien glass as a stamp and handing it sheepishly to Alex, who was looking at him, with the same teary look he had for the past few minutes. Michael took a deep breath and sat back down, “Look,” he breathed out, “what I’m trying to say, Alex, is I’ve got your back, okay? I’ll build you whatever you need, I’ll go wherever you want me to, I’ll - I care about you.”
As Alex opened his mouth to say something, Michael raised his hand to interrupt, and continued, “And I’m the son of a literal dictator whose powers I’ve inherited. I can defend myself. And I know that you wanna protect me - I do too - but maybe we could, I don’t know, protect each other by being there?”
Alex, whose tears were now running free on his face, bent down to take his right shoe off, under Michael’s curious gaze, who could also feel tears running down his cheeks. Alex raised his trousers and took off his prosthetic, before grabbing the alien one and putting it on. He knew the size would fit, knew that Michael had worked hard on it, had probably had the idea of making him a new leg from the moment they met again, in front of that same airstream, under completely different circumstances.
They had gone a long way from that day, and they still had some more to do, but Michael was right. Maybe this time, they could be there, together, to take that new road, to protect and take care of each other, together. Before standing up, Alex attached the bracelet Michael had made around his left wrist, admiring the colors of the alien glass under the desert sun.
Alex stayed at the junkyard for some more time, until his alarm rang, informing him that he should head back to the Lockhart machine. Taking a deep breath, he turned to Michael, asking him if he wanted to come with, and together they drove to the farm, down a road they had both taken together once, but this time Alex wasn’t bleeding out.
After that day, Alex still went to the VA in Albuquerque for meds prescriptions and physical therapy once in a while, but all the repairs that needed to be done for his prosthetic, all the improvements, were done by Michael, in his lair, under Alex’s curious gaze, who wanted to know everything about Michael’s ideas.
After all his gifts, Michael found that he still had some alien glass laying around in his bunker. So he decided to turn it all into little rings, wanting to distinguish as much as he could from the weaponizing of the alien glass, like Jones had. Eventually, all of little friend group, all of his people, owned a ring.
And when the day came, when the fight with Jones reached its last stretch, Michael was ready. He didn’t have an alien sword like Jones had, but he had something much more. A group of people, by his side, all sharing his strength through the little alien gifts. His people, his family.
Lately I've been feeling so alone Can someone give the antidote to me so I can Finally understand where I belong
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dashhoney25 · 3 years
Text
DDose: ten
JASMINE
I couldn’t believe it! I’m pregnant! I can’t wait to tell Hazel, but right now, I want to enjoy the fact that Erik convinced her to move in and now we can all be under one roof! I arrived home to the apartment to hear Essence by WizKid looming through the house. Vibing to the music, I followed the tune to Hazel’s bedroom and found her sorting through some clothes. “Hey sis! Erik told me you’d be here. Everything okay?” I asked. “Hey Google! Pause music” Hazel commanded. The music came to a halt and I took a seat on the bed. “Hey Jas, I’m fine. I’m just going through some clothes, looking for things to take to Erik’s. Aren’t you coming?” she asked. “Sis, I knew about this already” I replied taking one of her shirts and folding it for her. “I didn’t want to move in with Adonis unless you were coming too” I stated.
 Hazel continued to fold another shirt, “So you knew that Erik wanted me to move in?” she questioned. “Of course I did! Why do you think I helped you pick out a dress for dinner?!” I laughed. Hazel placed the folded shirt on the bed and grabbed a pillow, swatting me with it. “How could you hold out on me like that!” She laughed. “Okay! Okay!” I laughed, holding my hands up to prevent Hazel from hitting me again with the pillow. “Look, I didn’t know everything. But I knew that Erik would be taking you out and I wanted it to be special. Adonis mentioned that Erik wanted to go all out for the night, and I wanted you to look your best” I admitted. “Erik told Adonis that the night went great, how was it for you?” I questioned. Hazel smiled to herself as she placed the folded shirts into the suitcase. Hazel had this sly grin on her face, “Tell me!” I urged. Hazel laughed, “Jas it was nice. Dinner was beautiful, the scenery was breathtaking. The sex was just…” her voice trailed off. “Sex?” I questioned with a furrowed brow.
“Nobody mentioned anything about sex” I said getting irritated. “Because it wasn’t your business Jas. Why are you trippin’ anyway” Hazel replied. “Because I know how you are when it comes to Erik, especially when big decisions are involved” I warned. Hazel rolled her eyes. “What do you mean by ‘I know how you are when it comes to Erik’” Hazel mocked. “When he doesn’t feel the same way that you do, or act how you want him to act, you throw a tantrum and run… and then you cry to me about it.” Hazel folded her arms and kissed her teeth. “Haze, you know I’m right. I just don’t want you to make any lusty decisions over something that could be potentially permanent. You remember what happened with Trevor and I don’t you?” I chastised.  Hazel sighed. “Trevor was a shitty dude anyway. I don’t know why you moved in with him just to come back here two weeks later!” Hazel remarked.
“Sis, the point is, I made a hasty decision when I knew he wasn’t shit and I gave him the benefit of the doubt. Only you know what you and Erik can handle, and I don’t want to hear any of this down the line. Next thing you know you’re leaving Erik and looking for somewhere to stay because we’re not signing another lease here” I stated. “Who?! Sis I’m not giving up my share of the apartment. I’m gonna continue to pay rent here in case things go sour” Hazel replied. “So you’re planning to fail huh? You really think things aren’t gonna work out? Why did you tell him you wanna move in if you’re not ready!”  I argued.
 “Jasmine, I’m ready to move in with him. Erik asked me to move in like a gentleman, with his clothes on. As the night progressed, I felt the need to give him some to celebrate. There’s nothing lusty to ramble over.” Hazel shrugged. “I just want to come home in case I need to. I’m aware of how Erik can be and if I need to cool off; I’d rather be alone and not in his house alright?!” Hazel said attempting to get me off her case. “I see you’ve given it some thought. I just want what’s best for you. I don’t want you ending up how Trevor and I did” I said. “Who gives a damn about Trevor when you’re with Adonis now Jasmine! Focus on that.” Hazel fussed. “Now, if you’re done fussing, help me get the rest of these shirts into the suitcase so we can get shit started!” Hazel ordered. “Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you” I replied putting the last folded shirt into Hazel’s suitcase, zipping it up.
 HAZEL
“Alright, so that’s everything” Erik said placing my heavy shoe bin onto the floor. “You sure you need all of this?” Erik questioned. “Yes baby I’m sure. You can never have too many shoes” I replied kissing his cheek. “Thank you!” I say walking into the kitchen. “Mind grabbing me a beer?” he called out, taking a seat on the couch to take off his shoes. I grabbed a bottle of water and a beer from the fridge. I took a seat next to Erik on the couch. “Thanks” he replied opening the bottle. I let out a deep sigh as Erik flipped through movies on Netflix.
Getting comfortable on the couch, I rested my legs across Erik’s as his rested on the table. Laying my head on his shoulder, I took in the scent of his Burberry cologne. Exhaling, I felt like I was at home, feeling settled in the moment. Erik’s left hand held onto the beer bottle, while his right hand rested on my backside, holding me. “Comfortable?” he asked. Nodding my head in agreement he placed a small kiss to my forehead as he took another sip of his beer. Letting out a low hum, I fixed my eyes to Netflix and enjoyed being in Erik’s presence. It’s been a chaotic day with moving, and I wanted nothing more than to relax with my man. Surprisingly, I didn’t want to engage in any of the physical tonight. I wanted to experience our first night in the house on some chill vibes, real talk. Jasmine’s advice loomed in the back of my mind, I hate that I lied to her, but the way she acted when I mentioned sex, I panicked. I honestly didn’t want to hear her story about bum ass Trevor, but I don’t want her to be right about Erik just because we shouldn’t let the apartment go. I may not make the best decisions emotionally when it comes to Erik, but I’m not stupid enough to let go of where I lay my head, just because we’re living together under one roof. I’m aware that there will be tension but I want to create a safe space for the both of us when times aren’t the happiest. My feelings are Erik are strong, and I want what’s best for us no matter how this ‘under one roof’ situation turns out.
I had little interest in what was on Netflix at the moment, Erik’s cologne and strong arms were intoxicating. The distraction of his scent and embrace caused me to grab the blanket that rested on top of the couch and drape it over my body. Erik paused the tv, placed his beer on the floor, and moved his legs from the table and, to the couch so that I could get comfortable and lay on top of him. “You tired?” he questioned adjusting the blanket over my body. “A little, we have been pretty active today” I say snuggling up under him to get comfortable. “You right” Erik replied placing another kiss to my forehead. “Get comfortable. We’re home now” he said grabbing his beer from the floor.
 Our cozy moment was interrupted by the click of a lock. “You sure you got it?” a female voice called out. “Yeah, get inside, don’t worry!” a male voice replied. I could feel Erik shift from up under me, and then he was gone. I opened my eyes to see Jasmine coaching Adonis, and Erik nowhere to be found. I pushed my hair out of my face to get a better look. “Sorry Haze, D is just bringing in the last of my things!” Jasmine called out. Adonis walked in, followed by Erik with boxes. “Thanks again bro” Adonis said. Placing the box down, Adonis looked over at the couch. “Hey Haze. I’m sorry to wake you” he said. “It’s fine” I replied taking the blanket off of me and walking into the kitchen to greet everyone. “That is the last of everything right?” Erik questioned. “Yeah, why?” Adonis asked. “Shit I’m tired, Haze was falling asleep on the couch. Ya’ll woke her up, and I was headed there myself” Erik replied brushing his hand through his dreads. “My bad. We’re all here now. I know nobody’s in the mood to cook, should we get some pizza?” Adonis asked.
 “Sounds good to me, I’m starving!” Jasmine called out. “Get some chips from the pantry babe, it may be a minute before the pizza is delivered” Adonis suggested. “What kind of pizza should we get?” Adonis questioned. “Meat lovers, you cool with that Hazel?” Erik asked. “It’s fine” I replied grabbing the blanket from the couch wrapping it around myself. Taking a seat on the barstool at the island, Adonis pulled out a pizza menu from the drawer.
 JASMINE
I grabbed a bag of chips from the pantry and a bottle of water. I sat next to Adonis at the island while he looked through the pizza menu. “You cool with meat pizza?” He asked me. “Yeah it’s fine, throw in some wings” I added. “Ya’ll cool with wings too? Buffalo?” Adonis questioned. “YES!” Erik and Hazel replied in unison. I chuckled to myself at the irritation in their voices, these two were tired as hell; and hungry. I’m surprised Hazel hasn’t gone off on Erik yet. “Alright so an extra large meat lovers pizzas and an order of buffalo wings. Got it!” Adonis said taking out his phone to place an online order.
Erik rolled his eyes, “He’s got the menu in his hand, why doesn’t he just call them instead?” Erik said irritated. “You know how he is, he feels like nobody answers the phone anymore, just chill E” I replied. “I’ll be drunk off beer by the time that pizza gets here” Erik said as he walked to the fridge to grab another beer. Hazel rolled her eyes at Erik, I noticed the empty beer bottle on the floor by the couch. Hazel didn’t seem too happy, she clutched the blanket around her tighter. “You’re awfully quiet chick. What’s up?” I asked. Hazel appeared to be in a daze, unhappy and unbothered. “Nothing, I’m just tired, and I’m hungry” she said annoyed. Erik took a sip of his beer and took a seat next to her. Erik stared at Hazel a moment, “You know how she is when she’s sleepy” Erik taunted. “But seriously, we have been at it all day with moving.” Erik clarified.
“Alright! The pizza is ordered!” Adonis said jumping back into the conversation. “So what’s up? How ya’ll feeling since we’re all moved in now” Adonis started. Adonis came behind me and leaned on me, holding me from behind placing small kisses to my neck. “Obviously not as good as ya’ll” Hazel chimed in. I shot a look at Hazel to not start, I hate it when she takes it there and fusses with Adonis. “Brat needs a nap” Adonis uttered. I hit his side out of reflex. “Why you starting shit? Go back to sleep on the couch” Erik added. “Better yet, take your ass to bed in my room” Erik commanded. “Fine! Everything was fine until they showed up anyway!” Hazel snapped, she kept the blanket close to her body and stormed off. “Hazel chill out!” I yelled, raising from my seat. “Or what?” she responded. “I didn’t convince Erik to bring ya’ll here for this. Cut the bullshit. It hasn’t even been 24 hours yet and you trippin. We’re all tired, and we’re all hungry. Just sit down so we can all talk. Erik, give this girl some dick tonight and make sure she gets some sleep!” Adonis huffed. Hazel sighed and proceeded to take her seat. I don’t know what transpired between Hazel and Erik while Adonis and I were gone, but I’m not dealing with this. I talked to her, and I made sure that she was ready for us to be under one roof, but clearly she’s not. I was so embarrassed to be in the same room with her, I know I’m gonna have to hear it from Adonis when we go to bed tonight. “Ya’ll know I’m not big on bad vibes, and I’m always up for a good time. I was thinking, since we’re all under one roof, we should have a kickback this Friday night to celebrate all of us getting together” Adonis suggested. “You know I’m down, I can always call my boy up for the drinks and you know I can get the crew together along with the honeys” Erik suggested. Hazel kissed her teeth. “I just want us to have a good time, get to know each other better. All of this negative shit, I’m not putting up with. If we’re gonna make decisions and have stuff like this, we all gotta be on one accord. Feel me?” Adonis questioned. “I hear you” Hazel responded dryly.
 “So what’s up with the honeys and the drinks for Friday?” Erik questioned. Hazel locked eyes with me, I could tell she was annoyed with Erik, who seemed to not give a damn about what came out of his mouth. Hazel rose from her seat and placed the blanket on to couch, “I’m going to bed. Keep me posted on the BOOZE and the HONEYS” Hazel said with emphasis before leaving the kitchen, clearly disgusted with Erik. Hazel’s footsteps going up the stairs grew faint, and a loud slam of the door followed.
 “Erik what the fuck!” I yelled. Erik brushed the dreads out of his face. “What Jas? What’s a party without liquor and women? I’m not sitting up here around no niggas and we just drinking.” Erik remarked. “That’s not the point! Why are you bringing up women right now? That’s disrespectful. She just moved in and she’s supposed to be your girl!” I snapped. “She is, but she’s gotta recognize that just because she’s my girl, it doesn’t mean that my life stops. She’s in my life and she’s in my house, she’s not gonna change every aspect of me, Jasmine” Erik retorted. I didn’t want to be rude in front of Adonis but if I saw this coming, I would’ve never agreed to Hazel moving in with him. He couldn’t have asked her to move in on “gentleman terms’, that bitch lied. “Erik, the least you could do is check on her” I suggested. “Check on her for what? She sleep. She doesn’t want to be bothered”  Erik mocked. Frustrated, I was seconds away from going off on Erik. I rose from my seat and left the table. “I’m done” I said walking towards Adonis and I’s bedroom.
 ADONIS
“You need to get your shit in check E” I warned. “Check what D?! Hazel knew this shit before she moved in with me, why should I change any of that now just because she lives here? My life doesn’t stop, and it doesn’t revolve around her. We see each other, we smash, and we happy. That’s that, alright? Now when we have this kickback, I’m contributing, booze and the honeys.” Erik stated. I shook my head in disappointment. “You not at work right now, you’re not assigned to any task nigga. You here in the suburbs! Off duty! This isn’t a “finish the job” command right now!” I emphasized.
“You made a decision to ask Hazel to move in, if you not feeling her like that, just tell her instead of treating her like she just some to do!” I added. “Bro, I know where the fuck I am! We’ve been here for a year now! I know we ain’t going nowhere anytime soon! I like Hazel, aight. Just let me do me, I don’t see her complaining!” Erik defended. “What did you call that before she walked out?! What did you call that when I showed Jasmine some affection?! What do you call that when you bring up other women and liquor when we’re talking about celebrating?! She’s jealous! She wants you and only your attention matters to her! Come on man, she ain’t the conquest type of chick and you know she feeling you.” I admitted. “Donnie, I know what I’m doing. You ain’t gotta check me bout no pussy, cuz it’s just that with us. Some live in pussy that comes with some high maintenance shit like my time” Erik shrugged off. “You need to check yourself, or you gone end up alone.” I warned. “Please, yo pussy whipped ass would say some shit like that. You can’t even move without Jasmine. Fuck I look like taking advice from you?!” Erik snapped.
 “You got it” I said defeated. I wasn’t in the mood to go back and forth with my clown ass brother. He’s always been hardheaded and impulsive about shit, always thinking of himself. Sadly, Erik has always been this way ever since he got that assassin job with the government. He’s been so detached from everything, treating everything like an assignment. He’s never going to plant roots if he’s always treating things as a disposal, like his job… treating everything in sight like a bounty. The past 4 years being away from Erik it’s given me time to realize that I can’t continue my career in boxing forever, one of these days I gotta sit my ass down. I still don’t know what the future holds for Jasmine and I but I want her to know that I got her regardless of what my career holds.
 Sharing a home with Erik for the past year has been a whirlwind since he’s been back, bringing this girl and that girl to the house, keeping “trophies” for a later date. In the beginning it was fun living this bachelor life, but ever since Erik brought Hazel and Jas home for dinner, I knew it was time to hang that shit up. I see how Erik looked at Hazel that night, and I know he has feelings for her, but this extra shit gotta stop. My brother can’t play with people’s emotions and time like that, he just needs to be honest with her, especially if he’s confident that he wants to keep this ‘bachelor’ lifestyle.
 **
HAZEL
Jasmine and I poured punch for the guests as more came in. Erik had a beer in his hand, entertaining the small crowd gathered around him. Adonis was on the other side of the kitchen making himself a plate of hot wings and rotel. “This is homegirl’s third cup of punch tonight, what the hell did you put in here Haze?” Jasmine asked me. “Girl a little bit of fruit juice and some vodka, a few slices of pineapple and oranges. Something to take the edge off tonight” I said to her pouring myself a cup.
 “It does look really good” Jasmine said eyeing my cup. “Get you a cup sis. I made a ton!” I replied. “You know I’m still doing that detox.” Jasmine laughed. “Oh yeah I forgot” I said to her. I grabbed a plate of wings and took a seat on the couch with Kourtney, Dre, Keith, and Brittany. We were all laughing at joking, discussing some of the awkward things that were going on in the house amongst the guests. Erik took a seat next to me. “Hey babe you want a wing?” I asked with a smile. “Nah, but if you could trade places with Kourtney, I’d like to sit next to her so that I can start up this conversation and everyone can hear me” Erik suggested. I furrowed my brow, “We can hear you loud and clear from here. What gives E?” I questioned.
 Ignoring me, Erik moves over next to Kourtney and starts talking to her. Brittany notices the expression on my face. “Girl what’s up with E? And why is his loud ass so close to Kourtney?” she questioned. “Hell if I know” I responded taking a bite out of my wing. I continued to eat when I felt a tap to my shoulder, “Mind if I sit here?” Jasmine asked. “Nah, sis go ahead” I said moving closer to Brittany. Jasmine took a wing off my plate and began to eat. I was about to check her when Kamryn decided to ask a question to the group. Focusing our attention to the center Kamryn asks, “Why are men prone to one night stands rather than commitment?”
 “Oh Lord here we go.” Brittany nudged. “Girl as long as Erik, Devin, or Orlando don’t chime in, I think we’ll be fine” I replied taking a sip of my punch. “I swear, they’re the last ones on earth who need to chime in on this” Brittany joked. Brittany hit my thigh quickly interrupting me, seeing that Erik was getting up and he was giving the bedroom eyes to Kourtney, I’m not sure what was said, but how he looked at her, I knew he was drunk and feeling himself. “I can answer that one Kam.” Erik said confidently with a macho-man stance. “Why would an eligible bachelor like myself want to settle down? I look good, I can fuck, and I have money. I don’t see myself being tied down to someone based off “emotions” and “love”. I’d rather get sex when I want it, not when it’s hung over my head and taken away from me as ‘punishment’. Fellas, you got to be out of your mind if you think commitment is the way to go when it’s pussy everywhere” Erik spoke confidently.
 I couldn’t believe my ears. I handed my plate of wings to Jasmine for her to finish and I chugged my drink. I decided to give my take on the matter. “Kamryn I do believe that men like Erik are afraid of commitment primarily because they can’t handle it. They can’t handle being with just one woman. Instead of maintaining a vibe overtime, they’d rather chase the thrill of it all, all for one night, and be done. They’d rather not get to know and understand the reward of one woman but rather the mystery of what lurks underneath the damsels in distress each night” I shot back. Erik chuckled, “Look Hazel, all a nigga looking for right now is a good time, and some sex on demand. Fellas, what’s the rush when you out here living yo best life?!” Erik beamed. Devin stood up and hit his beer bottle against Erik’s in agreement. “You damn right, to no commitments, and good sex!” Orlando said raising his beer bottle as other men followed suit.
 Mortified, I grabbed my plate from Jasmine and scurried into the kitchen quickly to dispose of the chicken bones. I opened every cabinet until I found a shot glass. I walked over to the punch bowl and found the opened bottle of Don Julio next to it, I poured myself a shot and took it down fast. As the liquor entered my chest, I locked eyes with Erik briefly and poured myself another shot. “Hazel! Hazel” a male voice called out, it was Keith. “Slow down baby girl, I see you throwing them back” Keith said with a smile. I shook my head, “I’m good. I’m just—” “Don’t pay any mind to what you heard with that discussion. You know Erik is just playing” Keith said in a comforting tone. “And I know he’s your boy. You know him better than I do, so you know he’s telling the truth. If he was truly my nigga, he wouldn’t say shit like that” I snapped. “Haze, he’s just being a man, he talks about you all the time—” I glared back into the crowd to see Erik’s arm over Kourtney’s shoulder. “All the time huh? You see where he’s at, and it’s not over here” I stated before walking away.
 I ventured out to the patio and decided to get some fresh air. I knew that my anger and liquor wouldn’t be a good combination, but it was best for me to get away from everyone. Keith’s half ass attempt to save Erik’s ass was unnecessary, Keith was lying through his teeth and he knew it. I took a seat on the sectional, fluffed the pillow that rested on my back, and turned on the makeshift firepit to calm my nerves, to give an ambiance to the stars in the sky. I’ve been having second thoughts lately about moving in, and I’m considering going home for the night to cool off. Keeping the apartment was the best decision I could’ve made, despite giving Jasmine the satisfaction that she was right. Lately, Erik has been more blunt than ever and he’s such an asshole when he drinks.
 Seeing everyone through the sliding glass doors, everyone was having a good time, except me. Sadly, I’m glad that everyone doesn’t know that Erik and I are together, and for the ones that do, I feel utterly embarrassed. I’m embarrassed period. I never thought that I’d have Jasmine’s biggest worry confirmed in this way. I’m too drunk to drive back to the apartment, and I refuse to let anyone here take me home. My best bet would be to take an Uber or Lyft to get me to my destination.
 I picked my phone up from the table and began scrolling through a few apps. I twirled my curly hair around my fingers just browsing, doing my best to not look at the screen door. My mind was honestly going crazy over the fact that I had been gone for 10 minutes and Erik hasn’t bothered to check on me. Sighing, I stretched and let out a yawn to see a familiar face taking a seat across from me. “Hazel, party of one” he said. I rolled my eyes in utter disgust. “What are you doing out here Adonis?” I questioned. “I came to get some fresh air, what do you mean?” he questioned. “Adonis please go. I came out here to be alone. Besides, you look just like the nigga who pissed me off. Go back inside before you get cussed out.” I warned. Adonis chuckled. “I’m not him, and I’m not moving. I genuinely came out here to check on you” Adonis admitted. “What?” I questioned in disbelief. “Erik been on some other shit lately, and I told him about his mouth. I came out here to apologize on his behalf, I don’t condone any of what he said. Hazel to tell you the truth, I was embarrassed for you. I’m not anything like my brother and I promise you, I won’t treat Jasmine like that and you don’t deserve that.” Adonis stated.
I sighed, “Yeah, thanks” I said simply. Adonis got up and took a seat next to me. “I just apologized to you about my clown ass brother and that’s all you gotta say is ‘okay thanks’?” Adonis chuckled. I looked down at my phone, “What do you want me to say?” I questioned. “I don’t know” Adonis smiled. “I’m just glad that you haven’t cussed me out yet” he admitted. “Adonis…” my voice trailed off, “I’m not in the mood to play right now, let alone talk” I said feeling myself getting emotional. The more I sat in Adonis’ presence, the more emotional I got thinking about Erik, the liquor was also a bad combination. “It’s more than just the embarrassment of tonight Adonis. I’m sorry, but I’m not in the best condition to talk about Erik, let alone look at you right now” I spoke in utter honesty. The disappointment in Adonis’ face was evident. “I’ll just have to accept that.” He stated as he moved away from me. “Just remember that, you’re the prize, the catch, one in a million” he said before leaving. The look in Adonis’ eyes showed deep regret, and a bit of mystery. I knew that he wanted to stay, but it was in my best interest that I be alone. I honestly don’t know if I could forgive Erik after tonight.
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recurring-polynya · 3 years
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Your thoughts and headcannons on Nemuri Hachigou because I don't think she gets talked about enough, when in reality she's pretty interesting, she's essentially, a blank slate, Mayuri's second chance that I don't think he feels like he deserves. She's Nemu but she isn't and I think people(especially Mayuri) forget that a lot, that's a fascinating position to be in.
Puttin’ this under a cut because I’m gonna say some unkind things about Mayuri and I do not want to cause any distress to the many lovely people on this website who delight in his horrible antics.
This is not so much a headcanon so much as a thing I came up with for fanfiction purposes, but it’s all I got.
Right. So, like I said, I despise Mayuri. I just hate him. I understand that he appeals to some people, but I strongly dislike the dude and go to exorbitant lengths to avoid him ever appearing in my fanfic.
Additionally, I do not vibe with Nemu 7. She registers as not-a-person for me, she’s basically an extension of Mayuri himself. Don’t get me wrong, I find Mayuri’s treatment of her to be vile and I wish someone would take her away from him, but she comes off as very robotic to me. She is conscious, but she is not an independent being, if that makes sense. She is not a real girl. It’s funny that Mayuri keeps talking about how advanced she is, because clearly he means only her cognitive and fighting abilities. In terms of recreating a person, she’s incredibly primitive compared to the other mod souls we see. Take Kon, for example, who has a fairly limited powerset, but is never presented as less of a soul than any of the other characters. An even more interesting example is Ururu and Jinta. Ururu is described as being older than Jinta, and she is clearly “less human” than him-- she has less affect, she shifts into a distinct “attack” mode, etc, which implies that Jinta represents advances in mod soul technology. It’s notable that Urahara and Tessai and even Renji, in the canon scene where he protects the Shouten kids, never treats them as anything less than people. The contrast with the way Mayuri treats Nemu is stark. He likes that her feelings and personality are limited, he sees this as a feature.
I was completely unmoved by the entire chapter where Nemu died. Her sacrifice did not come across to me as anything indicating growth or humanity-- in every battle she's ever been in, she nearly dies because Kurotsuchi tells her to. She simply prioritizes Mayuri over herself. She always has. It’s simply the logical extension of her programming. A lot of people say they would have preferred Nemu to live and Mayuri to die and for sure I would have *preferred* that, but I have never seen Nemu as enough of a character to be worth rooting for. Like, at least Uryuu would have gotten some satisfaction form killing his clown ass, and that might have convinced me for at least half a second that he actually was on the side of the Quincy.
Caveat: if some talented fanficcer wants to write a short novel on Nemu discovering her humanity etc etc, I’m all for it, I’m just saying that canon hasn’t given us anything to suggest she would do more than just shut down without Mayuri to tell her what to do.
Onto Nemuri 8. I can’t believe they let Mayuri have another one. It makes my blood boil. The dude is an on-screen abuser and Kubo had the gall to try to make me feel sorry feel him (I did not) and then gave him another one.
So, I took her away from him.
I mentioned earlier that I go to great lengths to keep Mayuri the hell out of my fanfic, and usually the way I do that is to have my characters go through Akon whenever they have to deal with Squad 12. I think I started doing this because Akon is sort of weirdly familiar with Renji and Rukia in the TYBW, but I have projected all over him and he’s mine now. The way I assume Squad 12 functions, based on my career in scientific programming, is that Mayuri is like a primary investigator-- he's the Big Ideas guy and he spends a lot of time doing wholly self-directed research. He’s the face of Squad 12, so he has to go talk to the Captain-Commander and beg for money and defend blowing things up, but when it comes to science stuff, he does what he wants. Nemu is the lieutenant, and I think she handles most of the usual lieutenanting-- paperwork, meetings, etc., but I think Mayuri takes up a lot of her time by using her as a personal lab assistant on his wacky projects. There's nothing wrong with this, but I think in a lot of squads, the lieutenant is responsible for the day-to-day running of the squad and spends a lot of time dealing with their subordinates and other lieutenants. Nemu, instead, focuses on her captain. Now, the rest of the Gotei counts on Squad 12 for a lot actually-- gigai, Hollow tracking, Dangai monitoring, etc. etc. From the point of view of most science people, this stuff is mundane-- it’s all application, not development, and all the difficulty is in the twitchy little details. It’s frustrating and it’s unrewarding and you never get credit for it, and it is vitally important. There is a certain kind of science professional that makes a career out of this. They usually have master's degrees instead of PhDs, and they are usually tragically underpaid and underappreciated for what they do. In the real world, without these people, you wouldn’t have mass vaccination sites or weather data on your phone or cute li’l robots landing on other planets. In Bleach, these are the people keeping soul reapers alive in the field. And in my mind, this is Akon’s department.
So here’s the headcanon:
After Nemu’s death, Mayuri has so much sad clown pain about it that he wants another robot child poste-haste, but can’t bring himself to do the actual work, so he shoves it off onto Akon, with a list of the design specs he wants. The last one was pretty good, Akon can handle a few minor upgrades, it doesn’t need his personal hand in it. Thinking about going through all that work again just pisses him off, honestly. What a waste!
And Akon's like, yeah, cool, fine. It was heavily implied that he did a lot of the work on Nemu 7, it's just a matter of digging out his old notes and cleaning out some vats.
Except that, right around the same time, Rukia and Renji decide to have a baby.
Babies are super rare in the Gotei, and it’s not like those stuffy nobles are gonna let Akon look at their precious offspring. But Rukia is a rank weirdo, and Akon is their pal, so she’s always like “I hear they have these things in the Living World where you can pee on a stick and tell if you’re pregnant, can you make me one?” and Akon’s brain goes, “Wow, what even is the first detectable sign of a newly formed soul, this is very interesting.” So, at the same time he’s trying to grow a new and improved Nemu, he’s got access to the developing fetus of two captain-class shinigami. So when he has to pick between eight good candidate embryos to move to the next vat, he picks… not the one with the strongest reiatsu signature, like they did last time, but the one whose reiatsu looks the most like a real baby.
Akon reminds me of a lot of programmers I know, so I always sort of headcanon him as particularly interested in whatever passes for programming in Squad 12, and I think he takes special interest in revamping Nemu’s artificial intelligence system, which is primarily based on taking in information about the world and building up a realistic personality based on people she observes. In particular, it gives extra weight to “people who resemble her”. Nemu 7 was raised by Squad 12, so she came up very Squad 12, just like Mayuri wanted. Unfortunately, toddler Hachigou Nemuri’s algorithm unexpectedly decides that she has much more in common with toddler Abarai Ichika than any of the adult soul reapers around her.
Nemuri 8 is a very successful sample in terms of power and intelligence but she’s also very boisterous, and the rest of Squad 12 is like “Akon do something” so Akon takes drastic measures: he asks Renji for parenting advice. Distressingly, Renji is full of useful ideas like “tire her out” and “only fight the important battles” and “we’re signed up for baby yoga, you wanna start comin’ to baby yoga? Your back is gonna thank you.”
Akon didn't mean to let them hang out so much, but Ichika is a very useful data point and also if he takes Nemuri over to the Abarai house, the girls will entertain themselves (i.e. chew on each other) long enough for him to have a beer with Renji and Rukia and honestly my man really needs that beer.
I don’t think Akon thinks of himself as Nemu’s dad past the first time when she calls him ‘Daddy’ and he corrects her (she only did it because that’s what Ichika calls Renji, very predictable quirk of her programming). She’s just a work project. She’s not even his project, she’s Mayuri’s project, he’s just handling the little details. Fathering just happens to be an adjacent field of study that he’s found to contain a number of very useful best practices.
I would prefer not to get into the detail of the physical abuse that Mayuri uses against Nemu 7, but I would like to think that Akon finds ways to protect Nemuri 8 from the same, or barring that, maybe this is what finally drives Akon to murder Kurotsuchi and become Squad 12 captain himself.
Other Nemuri Headcanons:
Her favorite book is Rejection of the Twin Fishes!, Captain Ukitake’s posthumously published children’s book.
She prefers to be called “Nemuri” over “Nemu.”
Nemuri’s second favorite person in Squad 12 after Akon is Rin, because he always has candy. Rin actually likes having someone to share his hobby with and helps her make a World of the Living Snack Bucket List. When other shinigami come in for gigai, Nemuri constantly tries to con them into bringing something back for her.
Rukia teaches her to cuss, but tells her never to do it around Akon. Nemuri never actually cusses around anyone, but really enjoys having Forbidden Knowledge.
Speaking of Forbidden, she is mildly obsessed with Urahara, even though she’s never met him. She’s constantly on the lookout for thumbprints of his work in modern Squad 12 technology.
The one thing she does have in common with Mayuri is an absolutely batshit personal aesthetic. She starts painting her face as a tween and is somewhat inconveniently both into piercings and inflatable outfits.
The true proof that she has surpassed her predecessor, at least in terms of humanity, is that she is able to learn the name of her zanpakutou.
Oh, if you want to read any of my fanfics with Nemuri, here's one where she and Ichika play football and here's one where she tries to con Byakuya into buying her shaved ice. I really like writing Nemuri hanging out with Byakuya because I think an adult man who navigates social settings via rigid system of etiquette and class hierarchy and a small child with a pile of Markov chains for a brain would be natural friends.
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heartofsnark · 3 years
Text
Can You Feel The Sun? (Chapter Seven): Flying Towards An Early Grave
Notes: Still posting my little backlog, I will warn in advanced, the next chapter is the heist (finally) AND IT IS A CHONKER, but for now have a little appetizer with some fun times, smut, and foreshadowing!~
Word Count: 10860
Chapter Warnings: heavy foreshadowing, food, blowjobs, groping, protected vaginal sex, car sex
If you haven’t yet, you can read the previous chapter here!~
V’s body is heavy as she gets to her apartment door, ready to curl up into bed and call it a day. She’s exhausted with adrenaline gone. She presses her thumb to the panel. The little intercom doorbell is also the lock, scanning and searching for SID validation. It takes a moment to scan, it seems to be lagging more lately. 
Calling. 
The intercom says it’s calling, why is it calling? She can hear the automated ringing and her lights inside are probably flashing. It only does this if the SID doesn’t match the apartment owner’s, assuming them a guest. V presses again. 
Calling. 
She presses harder. 
Calling. 
She tries her entire hand.
Calling. 
She kicks her door, a heavy sound as her boot collides with it. That doesn’t help with the lock, but it makes her feel a little better. Just what she needs; bloody, sore, and locked out of her apartment for who fucking knows why? Her stomach growls as she pulls up the number for building maintenance. 
“Megabuilding Maintenance, how can I help?” 
“I’m locked out of my apartment,” V signs, her choker translator on. 
“What do you mean?” 
“The lock isn’t recognizing my SID.” 
“Can I get your name and apartment number?” 
V gives them the details and they say they’re sending a maintenance guy. All of the services floor is nearly shut down at the late hour, her stomach growling. No doubt the maintenance guy will take his sweet fucking time, so much for getting some decent sleep. She gets a burrito, a Nicola, and a little thing of ketchup from the machines. Sitting on the ground near her door, dumping ketchup on her burrito as she eats it. 
By the time the guy arrives she’s finished eating, drinking, and is a little unsure what’s dried blood versus dried ketchup on her shirt. She hops to her feet when she sees the guy walking up, a massive case of resting bitch face. V doubts he wanted to be dragged out at three am to help unlock a door, but it’s not her fault the tech fucked up. 
“You V?” he asks, voice gruff and annoyed. 
“Yep.” 
“Hard day?”  His eyebrow raises, gaze focused on her blood stained flesh and chrome. 
“Work.” 
“Ah… I see,” he nods, “so, what's the issue with your door?” 
Night City is one of the few places where one can just admit to being a mercenary for a living, even if it did earn her an odd look. V presses her hand to the lock button again and it once again initiates a call. 
“Doesn’t recognize my SID.” 
“Hmm, you are V, right?” He raises an eyebrow. 
“Who the fuck else would I be? The building has a picture of me on file for fucks sake.” 
“Hey, hey, nowadays with enough eddies anybody can look like anybody.” 
“If I had an identity worth stealing, you really think I’d be living here?” 
“Fair enough, let’s check something,” he pulls out a holo tablet, jacking it into the bottom of the intercom lock, “this will show what the lock is reading it as, try again.” 
V keeps an eye on his tablet as she presses her hand back to the lock and the projected information starts to show. And for a moment she sees herself; her face, her name, her information, and all the shit Vik had to set up for her to have SID. Then in a blink of an eye it glitches out and the information shifts. She watches her nearly mugshot like photo shift into that of a man, with short dark hair and dark eyes. V [REDACTED] becomes Robert John Linder. Birthdate shifting from November 12th, 2056 to November 16, 1988.  Birthplace shifting from Seven Devils, North Carolina to College Station, Texas.  
Who the hell is this old man? 
“Looks like it’s reading your SID chip as someone else's, strange, any chance you’ve been spiked by a ‘runner?” 
“No, even if I was, not sure why they’d want to make my SID register to some senior citizen.” 
“Weird, can’t think of how else this would happen? Seems like it starts to read your chip and then changes to this guy’s. Do you know him?” 
“Don’t hang around old folks homes too much, actually. Just some random dude to me.” 
“Hmmm.” 
“I can promise you, I’m not a ninety year old cowboy man.” 
“Somehow I noticed that, actually… looks like the guy is dead.” 
“What?” 
“Mmhmm, scroll down a bit and there’s the date his death certificate was issued,” the guy shows her, “you’ll probably need to have your SID looked at, see what’s wrong with it. For now, I can unlock it for you and have them add whoever this guy is to registered owners, so, you won’t be locked out until you fix it.” 
“Fine, I guess.” 
“But that does mean if this guy’s ghost decides to pop in for a visit, lock won’t stop him,” the man jokes, offering the first smile since he’s been here. 
“Somehow I’ll handle it, thanks for the help, and if it’s not too much trouble can you forward me the details of that SID info?” 
“Sure, no problem,” the maintenance man’s eyes glow and she can feel the very soft warmth and whirr of her neuroplant as it accepts the file. 
She gives one final thanks as he unlocks her apartment and she’s finally able to step foot inside. Thankfully her door locks behind her and she makes a beeline for her shower, scrubbing blood and sweat from her skin; finding bruises, cuts, and flesh wounds she hadn’t noticed in the midst of fighting. 
It takes her a little longer than expected to wind down for the night, the merc putting in her optic contacts and playing with the bot. Looking through its eyes, she has it twist and climb all throughout her apartment, making herself dizzy until she falls out of  bed and bangs her head against the floor. Finally, putting the cute spider looking tech away when she feels the knot starting to form on her head. Then, setting her alarm and sleeping for the night. 
V is still tired when her alarm vibrates beneath her pillow, waking her up as the sunlight streams in from her large window, warming her skin. She checks her phone, double checks the time and that Dex hasn’t sent the car for her yet. The young merc rushes through her morning routine; showering, brushing her teeth, dressing, and taking her medication with some Chromanticore in hopes of getting some energy back. 
She’s out the door and has her  mask on in a matter of minutes, phone buzzing with the message that Dex’s car is waiting for her. As she comes down the steps of her building she sees the same limousine and bodyguard waiting outside of it. But this time when he opens the door for her, there is no Dex, nobody. Chills creep their way up her spine, but she gets in nonetheless, sinking into the leather backseat as Dex’s guard starts to drive them away. 
The guard is quiet, doesn’t explain where they’re going or why, V has a feeling he wouldn’t tell even if she asked. So, she doesn’t. Only the radio drones on, a mixture of news and occasional pop music from bands and singers she doesn’t know or care to know; an anouncer coming over the radio to speak somberly. 
“Today marks the fifty-fourth anniversary of the attack on Arasaka Tower. Fifty-four years ago a group of terrorists stormed Arasaka Tower and detonated a bomb, which forever changed the history of our dear city. Devastating the lives of millions; thousands dying in the initial attack and more perishing in the aftermath as well. Today we ask for a moment of silence to remember those who lost their lives in this senseless act of violence so many years ago….:” 
A beat of silence, barely a moment, then the high energy voice returns. 
“Now, after this short music break, we return with the heartwarming story of Stumpy, the three legged puppy who’s gone viral after the use of  veterinary cyberware has given the pup a new lease on life!~” 
V rolls her eyes, sounds about right, barely a moment for something so somber. No real grief or empathy, time to move on to a cute puppy because that keeps people happy and listening.  She watches the city around her change, spotting the Valentino graffiti starting to cover the buildings and that they’re entering Heywood.  She sends a heads up text to Jackie, letting him know they’re not far from his house. 
A short moment after,  the driver is parking outside Jackie’s garage and she watches the older merc walking out. The guard opens the limousine back door and Jackie relaxes when he sees V, climbing into the seat next to her. 
“Hey, V, you figure out what’s going on?” 
“Was sort of hoping you had…” 
“Asked T-Bug, said it’s a surprise.” 
“Not sure I like Bug’s idea of surprises.” 
“Hey, hombre,” Jackie calls out to the guard as he starts to drive them away, “mind telling us where we’re headed?” 
They’re met with silence, because of they are. V nervously wrings her hands as she watches for signs of where they’re going based on the passing scenery. 
“Has to be something to do with prepping for the job, just wish I knew what.” 
“Speaking of which, you got the bot on you?” 
“Yeah, brought it just in case and if Bug’s there she’ll want to take a look. Wonder if there’s any chance of keeping the Flathead after this?” 
She knows Dex said it’s a single use toy, but...who knows, maybe she could somehow keep it afterwards. 
“Why’s that?” 
“Its cute.” 
“You think a military grade combat bot is cute?” 
“It's a little spider.” 
“You find the weirdest shit cute, I swear.” 
“It is cute!” 
“It’s-” Jackie looks out the window, “shit are we in Corpo Plaza?” 
“Maybe we’re just passing through?” 
As if only to prove her wrong, the limousine parks outside a store on Senate Avenue, the bright sign says Jinguji. Even looking through the window, it looks entirely like a place that her and Jackie do not belong. Brightly lit, immaculately clean with fancy designer clothes on display. 
“We’re here,” the guard tells them and the doors open with the press of a button. 
V and Jackie share a look before getting out of the limousine, standing before the Jinguji store like deers stuck in headlights. 
“Dex can’t be serious, Jinguji?” Jackie says, scratching at the shaved underneath of his hair. 
“Looks…. Fancy.” 
“Corp store, designer; a sock in there will cost you a few thousand eddies.” 
“I know he says we need to play corpo, but… I don’t know, it feels weird.”
“I’m sure Dex knows what he’s doing. But, uh,  you gotta take off the mask, chica.” 
“What, why?” 
“‘Cause its fucking Jinguji, they’re not gonna let you through the door looking like that.” 
“You’re one to talk, you got a ketchup stain on your shirt.” 
“Firstly, that’s blood. Secondly, you’re a wearing a jacket you stole off a dead guy last week.” 
“Not like he needs it!” 
“Jackie, V!” A voice yells out, drawing the merc’s attention into the doorway of the store, T-Bug in realspace, wearing a black netrunning suit, “would you gonks stop bickering and get in here?”
“Yes, ma’am,” the mercs speak and sign in unison, falling the netrunner into the corp store.
There’s a large lit up advertisement at the back of the store. Gold decor dripping down from the ceiling, plush white couches, and an ice bucket with champagne. To her surprise, there’s no other shoppers within the store. A man in a tailored designer suit sits at the desk, greeting the two mercs as they walk in. 
“Welcome to Jinguji, an oasis of elegance!~” 
V gives an awkward nod and wave. She’s not sure what else to do. She doesn’t belong here; she knows that much. A dirty black leather jacket under the bright lights and old raggedy boots on shiny polished floors.  The merc wants nothing more than to run out of the store, some of the clothes she sees displayed are nice, if she’s being honest. A few bit tacky for her taste, but others are cute or sexy with dramatic flair, but nothing she would ever really have a reason to wear. 
“Mind telling us why the fuck we’re here, Bug?” Jackie asks and the netrunner chuckles. 
“To get into Konpeki, you two will have to look the part. Rather than blindly guessing what will fit, Dex is flitting the bill and getting you both some corpo threads,” T-Bug explains, taking a seat on on of the couches. 
“Where is everyone?” 
“Store is rented out for the next couple hours, discretion. V, did you bring the bot?” 
“Got it in my bag.” 
“Lemme see, got to make sure it’s in working shape.” V puts the bot down on the table, T-Bug opening the case and looking over the bot, running diagnostics that the merc can’t begin to understand,
“Right this way, you two, I’m sure we’ll find something perfect for both of you,” the man who greeted them, grabs their attention again, “but it would be easier,  if I have a full idea of your features, miss.” 
“Told you,” Jackie taunts and V elbows him in the side, slowly taking off her mask and she feels bare. And she knows people have seen her face before, but this is work and it just feels… wrong. 
“Wonderful, so we’ll begin with the gentlemen, I think you’ll find we have a wonderful array of fine suits in our men’s department.” 
The man, who’s fancy name tag says Zane, shows them a vast collection of suits. They range from slick classic black ones, deep navy blues, florals, brights, embroidered, and every color she can imagine. Its hard to imagine the big merc in any of them. She’s always seen him in muscle shirts or his favorite red and black jacket. His eyes seem to land on a red suit with gold detailing. 
“Well-” 
“Point is to blend in, not stand out, Jack,” T-Bug calls out, scolding him without having to even look at him or his choice in suit. 
“Just black then.” 
“Wise choice, sir, our tailors will get your measurements and get the perfect fit for you.” 
Another employee guides Jackie to a fitting room and V feels the sudden urge to sink into the ground, Zane’s attention now solely on her.  She scratches at her cheek and flips on her choker translator. 
“Now, what about you? We have plenty of formal options in women’s fashion as well. A more androgynous business suit or perhaps a dress?” 
She’s shown mannequins dressed in tight body con dresses with various necklines, materials, colors, and a few well fitted pants suits. Her eyes are drawn to the dresses, if she’s being honest. She has a rather small collection of skirts and dresses, for off days, but she never has a chance to wear anything more formal than a sundress or mini skirt over leggings. These dresses are dramatic, gorgeous; some with mesh inlays or cut outs. 
But, like Bug said;  they’re there to blend in, not stand out. This isn’t an outfit for fun but for work and if something goes wrong, the last thing she needs is this going to shit and having to battle in a tight constricting dress or too high of heels. 
“I think a pants suit in black would be best; keep it simple.” 
“Understood.” 
V taken to a fitting room, given the chance to put on the ready to buy pantsuits in privacy. A stark white button up blouse, black blazer, and black slacks. And she knows immediately it will need to be tailored to suit her; the pants longer than her legs and the shirt loose around her chest. The tailor comes in after a moment and begins measuring, marking where things need to be taken in and raised. V left trying not to get embarrassed each time the measuring tape is wrapped around a part of her.
“Is there a way to make the blazer sleeves easier to roll up?” She signs once her arms are done being measured. The material is stiffer and harder to get tight around her elbows when trying; she wants her Mantis Blades easily used.
“Hmm, lets see, maybe it’d be best to use it more like an accessory rather than wearing it properly?” 
“What do you mean?” 
“Well, you could just wear it over your shoulders like a cape,” the woman drapes it that way across V’s shoulders. 
“Not my thing.” 
“Then you can carry it, like this,” the woman shows  holding the jacket back over her shoulder with her fingers hooked in it’s collar. It looks alright, casual enough, though having a jacket and not wearing it still reads as strange to the merc.
“I’ll consider that.” 
“It can also help keep you cool. Now, lets talk about makeup, hair, and shoes.” 
V listens and nods as the woman gives recommendations; getting V a pair of low heeled black synthetic leather shoes. Then going into advice on hair; recommending french twist, a bun, or a low ponytail depending on how formal V wants to go. The woman recommends simple classic makeup styles and a few other tips for the merc to meet her full corpo potential. Finally, with measurements, adjustments, and everything marked; V is allowed to change back into her street clothes. She leaves the room, seeing Jackie already in his regular clothes again and sitting next to T-Bug. 
“We have all the measurements down and will begin altering the clothes immediately.” 
“Good,” T-Bug confirms with Zane, “remember we need them finished and delivered to The Afterlife by five.” 
“I assure you, our tailors are already on it.” 
“V,” T-Bug calls out when she sees the short merc, “got something for you.” 
V sits down on the couch, watching as T-Bug sets out a pair of white hearing aids. They’re designed like her normal ones, just more boring. 
“Hearing aids? I already have those.” 
“These are special, optic camo. No corpo worth their salt has anything less than top of the line phonic implants, with press of a button or a thought, these will go invisible.. They’ll work just like your regular ones, but look like you’re wearing nothing. Try them out.” 
She switches her blue hearing aids with the new ones, they fit well and she pushes the thought of turning the camo on.  V catches her reflection in a mirror in the store, she can feel them, but see nothing. 
“Perfect, no one will be any the wiser. This also means no signing or translator.” 
“Oh, I see.” 
“I know its not ideal, but it’s just the reality of it. Corpo types like this; lose your hearing, new implants. Vocal chords fried, get a new set in gold. Get paralyzed, new legs or entire nervous system. Go blind, new optics. They see you signing or using hearing aids, you’ll stand out like a sore thumb.” 
“I get it.” 
“No sweat,  I’ll do the talking, V,” Jackie comforts her and then turns his attention to Bug, “So, what now?” 
“We’ll go over the full plan this evening at The Afterlife, you two need to be there by five. We’ll talk with Dex and you’ll be in Konpeki by eight tonight, relic in hand before midnight strikes.” 
“So we get to kick back and relax until five?” 
“As long as you’re there by five and ready to go, I couldn’t care less what you do, Jack.” 
“Said this place was rented out, right?” V asks, noticing a dramatic purple dress that reminds her of a certain tarot card reader’s favorite color.
“Yeah, why?” 
“How much longer is this place reserved?” 
“Another hour, maybe two and again, I ask why?” 
“Ow, hell that for, chica?” Jackie looks up when V kicks him in the shin. 
“Call Misty, dumbass. Buy her something nice, make a date out of it before we go on the job.”  V tells him, remembering Misty’s concerns from the other night. It might ease her mind a bit to have a nice afternoon with Jackie, dress shopping and a fancy lunch in City Center. Just a chance to enjoy themselves. 
“Dex is nice V, but sincerely doubt he wants to pay for Misty a new dress.” 
“Oh no, if only one of us had scammed ten grand off of Militech, oh wait,” V says, pulling the Militech credchip from her bag and sees the twinkle in Jackie’s eyes. 
“You serious, V?” 
“Should get her a hell of a nice dress, maybe you a suit, and a nice fancy lunch; play corpo for an afternoon.” 
“Shit, V,” he takes the credchip from her fingers, “what’d I do without you?” 
“You two are going to make me puke,” T-Bug says, rolling her eyes while Jackie is already calling up Misty. 
“Just wait until Misty gets here and the constant pet names start,  you’ll really lose your lunch.” 
“Ugh, more reason to get out of here, I’ll be taking the Flathead with me to keep in working shape.” 
“Can I ask you something before you go?”
“Got more code you need me to check?” 
“Not quite, had an issue with my SID chip last night, was wondering if there was a chance I was hacked?” 
“You get spiked, jaina?” Jackie asks when he finishes chatting with Misty. 
“Don’t know, couldn’t unlock my door last night, reader thought I was some old dude.” 
“Hmm, SID hacks are tricky, we’re going to be using one for your covers in Konpeki. But they usually only alter your ID a bit and die after so many hours. Thing is, that wouldn’t really benefit anyone.”
“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking, I don’t think anyone would get much out of pretending I’m some ninety year old dead fuck.” 
“I can jack in, see if I find anything in your soft.” 
“Sure, if you don’t mind.” 
V shifts her back to T-Bug, sweeping her hair off the nape of her neck and showing her neuroports. The netrunner pushes some loose strands out of the way and slots her personal jack into V’s biomon. A few moments pass and V can feel her cheeks flushing a bit, a weird feeling to having T-Bug directly touch her and jack in to her tech. This is the first time they’ve met in person, may even be the first time Bug has seen her face. 
“Everything looks clear to me, SID is registering as yours, no signs of a hack,” Bug explains, jacking out. 
“Weird, maintenance guy showed last night it was showing as some dead guy.” 
“Strange, must be some sort of glitch.” 
“Or you’re being haunted.” 
“Haha, very funny, Jackie.” 
“Hello… “ 
A soft voice calls out and V lights up seeing Misty poking her head into the fancy luxury store, looking every bit as nervous as V had been. Jackie is up and rushing towards Misty in a heart beat, pulling her into a hug and twirling her around, kissing her head. 
“You’re here, mi carina.” 
“Babe,” Misty says, giggiling as she’s put back down on her feet, then steps up on her tip toes to kiss Jackie’s lips. 
“Gonna puke,” T-Bug comments low under her breath and V tries not to laugh. 
“V, Bug,” Misty smiles at the two, “glad I got here before you two left out.” 
“What’s up?” 
Jackie walks Misty over closer to them, large hand on her hip as she rummage through her purse. After a moment, she pulls out three beaded bracelets. A mixture of beads in black, gold, and blue mottled with gold. T-Bug is already raising her eyebrow and V’s not sure how well Misty’s spiritualism will go over with the runner. 
“These are protection bracelets. Lapis lazuli, black tourmaline, and gold sheen obsidian. They’re all meant to help with creating a protective spiritual barrier, it should keep you all safe from negative energies and frequencies.” 
“Ay, you still in knots over this, mi alma?” 
“It would just make me feel better knowing you have a little more protection, babe.” 
Misty slides the biggest of the bracelets onto Jackie’s wrist and he gives her a soft smile, kissing her temple before starts to give the others to V and Bug. The young merc slides it on with a smile and T-Bug takes it in hand, with a less enthusiasm. 
“Thanks, Misty, I appreciate it,” V tells her and elbows T-Bug in the side, earning her a glare, but the netrunner plays nice. 
“Thanks…” 
“I know it’s not much, but a little protection is better than none and should keep energies bright.” 
“Right….” 
“Well,” V cuts in before Bug can say anything else, “we’ll be getting out of your hair, have fun you two!~” 
“Thanks again, V, see you two at The Afterlife.” 
Jackie waves them off, Bug packing up and V putting her usual hearing aids in their case, away in her pocket. The runner and young merc leave the store, Dex’s guard already left a while ago, so V will have to either call her car or use the public transit. Come to think of it, she’s not sure how she’s going to kill time until its game time. 
“V,” Bug stops her outside Jinguji before they go their separate ways for now, “gotta ask, you really believe in that spiritual crap?” 
“No, but she does and it makes her happy, so, why not?”
“I guess, if she really thinks a bracelet is going to save us from Arasaka.” 
“Won’t kill you to accessorize a little, Bug.” 
“Whatever you say.” 
They say their goodbyes and V is left thinking again about what she wants to do to pass the time. She could do a few short gigs, but her mind is preoccupied with the heist. Ultimately, V finds herself taking the NCART to El Coyote Cojo. Mostly just because she’s bored and maybe something or someone there will occupy her time.  The bar isn’t too active at the early hour and she doesn’t see Mama Welles around. 
“V!” Pepe greets her when she walks through. 
“Hey, what’s up?” 
“Same old, same old. Jaquito is still out, Senora Welles is out shopping, but Jake is taking out the trash in the back if you want to say hi.” 
“I think I might go and do just that.” 
Playing grab ass with one of her go to lays seems like a solid way to waste her time. V walks through the bar and out one of the backdoors that open to the alley with the dumpster. Sure enough, Jake is there tossing away a trash bag. He’s around 6’5 about as tall as Jackie, muscular, with a head of ginger hair shaved down on the shades and a thick beard. 
She throws her arms around his waist, feeling the muscle underneath his shirt. He teases his fingers over her forearms, the chrome of his Gorilla Fingers cyberware sending a soft chill through her skin. 
“Hey, V, new chrome?” He runs over the chrome patterns in her arms. 
She hums against his back in response, not wanting to move. But, he twists in her arms. He cups her face in chromed fingers, for a moment, his browns furrow in confusion. 
“No hearing aids?” 
She pulls away, enough space for her to sign. 
“Camouflage ones, it and the blades are necessary for the gig.” 
“Oh yeah, Jackie’s been talking everyone to death about this heist you two got planned. He better be damn glad no one here’s got loose lips.” His hands drop from her face and loosely wrap around her waist, fingers starting to graze over her ass. 
“Can’t blame him for being excited.” 
“Hmmm and you?” 
“Nervous.” 
“Figured as much,” he squeezes her ass, “you looking for a distraction?” 
“If I wasn’t I wouldn’t be letting you grope my ass in broad daylight, now would I?” 
A low dry chuckle echoes in his chest and he dives in for a kiss. It’s quick and rough, his beard scratching over her skin before he pulls away. She can’t help but giggle as he pulls her back into the bar, hand still shamelessly on her ass. 
“Pepe! I’m going on lunch break!” 
“Yeah yeah, go on.” 
“C’mon,” Jake guides her out of the bar, “lemme at least buy you lunch first.” 
“You actually trying to be nice today?” 
“Something like that.” 
V settles into his passenger side seat as Jake climbs behind the wheel. They pull away from El Coyote Cojo, driving around Heywood and finding a drive in to go through, Burgers, fries, and pop bought; Jake finds a relatively empty place to park meanwhile V has already begun taking the pickles off her burgers. 
“So, you wanna actually talk about it?” Jake asks, taking a bite of his burger. 
“Not much to talk about,” she signs with salt covered fingers and a mouthful of fries, “biggest job of our career. Nerves are natural.” 
Not to mention the shady client, the fact they’re robbing Arasaka, the fact they’re robbing Yorinobu specifically, the fact they have to play corpo, that V will have to force herself not to sign, and that every fiber of her being is screaming that something  is going to go wrong. Then she has the weirdness of her SID chip fucking up on her mind as well. 
“Yeah, but you overthink, so I know that little brain of yours is spinning in a billion directions.” 
V shrugs, “No more than usual, so,  what’s been going on with you?” 
“Not much, been thinking of quitting the bar.” 
“Really?” 
“Yeah, get to work the day shift so I can pick the twins up from school and spend some time with them. But, day shift in a bar basically means staring at a wall and waiting for Senora Welles to cut me a paycheck.” 
“You don’t like getting paid to sit around and look pretty?” 
“Not gonna lie, it’d be hard to find a boss as forgiving as Senora Welles.” 
“Not every boss would let you take an hour or longer lunch just to play grab ass with me?” 
“Eh, pretty sure if she knew what I was doing with her precious adopted daughter, she’d already have me fired.” 
“Oh please, she’s known you longer than me.” 
“Yeah, but she likes you more, you’re basically her kid and I’m her employee,” he pauses watching V roll her eyes, “you know, she’s been worrying a lot about you and Jackie, lately. She knows things are getting riskier with the merc work and-” 
V quiets him with a kiss, not wanting to hear another word of this. She comes to him for a distraction. The kiss is messy and he tastes like greasy fast food, but she’s sure she’s not any better, pushing her tongue into his mouth. She cups his jaw with one hand, scratching over his beard and as he deepens the kiss, she drops her other hand into his lap. He’s already half hard in his jeans, pressing into her touch as she gropes him through the denim. Jake curses against her lips, breaking their kiss. 
“You talk too much, honey,” she chastises him, a soft smile on her lips as she undoes his belt buckle, he lifts his hips, allowing  space to pull his pants and boxer down just enough to get his cock out. 
She pulls her legs up into her seat, on her knees so she can fully lean over the center console into his lap. V pushes hair back behind her ear and takes his dick into her mouth; not bothering to tease, swallowing around him. The taste of him on her tongue causes a heat in her center to stir, getting slick between her thighs as she bobs her head up and down. He groans as she strokes and sucks him, teasing her tongue ring along the head of his cock. The bitterness of his precum and the salt of his skin making her dizzy with need. 
His chrome fingers slide across the expanse of her back, reaching out to grab her ass. He gropes and fondles her through her pants, the rough feeling of her jeans and panties being pressed against her sensitive wet folds. Jake curses as V alternates between sucking, licking, and taking him as deep into her throat as she can. 
He tugs on her hair, bleached strands wrapped around chrome, pulling her mouth off him. Drool covering his cock and her lips. She pouts at him for stopping her, cheeks flushed and breathing heavy.  He gives her a swat on the ass, barely hard enough to sting. 
“Want inside of you.” 
That’s all the explanation he gives and she pulls away, thankful that the windows of his car have steamed from body heat, she begins to quickly strip off her clothes. Its clumsy as she tries to strip down in a car seat, throwing her jacket off into the back, kicking off her boots, before yanking her pants and panties down in one fluid movement. She curses herself for not wearing a skirt or something with easier access. A part of her mind recognizes how stupid she must look, still in her shirt, bra, and her socks staying on after tugging off her pants. But lust has killed her ability to think, just wanting him inside of her. Jake has rolled a condom on, but otherwise has simply watched the flustered merc strip down. 
V’s easily able to jump into his lap, straddling him and having her back to the steering wheel. She steadies herself with one hand on his shoulder, the other lining his cock up with her entrance, sinking herself down onto his dick. She’s slick enough that she takes him all in one movement, both cursing out at the feeling. The stretch of his cock inside of her and the tightness of her cunt around him. Jake digs his nails into her hips and bounces her on his cock, fucking up into her. He takes complete control, setting a brutal pace that leaves V reeling with every thrust. All she can do is wrap her arms around his neck and moan against his sweaty skin, accepting each harsh movement of him inside of her. 
The tension inside of her grows tighter with every thrust, every smack of skin against skin like a strike of a match trying to grow a larger flame. She can’t think, can’t focus, every thought consumed with pleasure and a desire to be pushed over the edge. Bruises form on her hips where he hold her, where he uses her for pleasure. The chair of his cheap car creaks with each bounce and a few thrusts slams her lower back into the steering wheel, but she doesn’t care, couldn’t if she tried. She whines and whimpers against his skin, feeling her end nearing. 
And then the tension snaps, orgasm hitting her fast and hard, she digs her nails into his skin, squirming and writhing as she moans out her pleasure. Mind a haze as she’s overwhelmed with her pleasure. He thrusts a few more times and she nearly chokes at the continued stimulation, the feeling of him fucking into her already sensitive cunt. Then he curses, bringing her hips down fully to meet his own one last time before he cums, spilling his seed inside the condom. 
V rolls off of him and back into the passenger seat, hating the empty feeling  Her skin is sweaty and flushed, as much she hates it, she needs to get her clothes back on. Fumbling to get her pants and panties out of the passenger side floorboard. Pulling them on and shoving her feet in her boots. V waits as Jake ties off the condom and adjusts his jeans, opening the car door and tossing the condom away into a nearby dumpster. 
The Night City air feels cool compared to the heat of the car after fucking, she watches him light up a cigarette outside of the car and grimaces. He climbs back into the driver's seat, keeping the window rolled down and she makes a gagging sound as the smoke hits her nose. 
“You coming back to the bar with me?” He asks, blowing smoke out of the window. 
“No,” she signs, thankful the choker translator can survive sweat, “I’ll catch the train back to Watson.” 
“Let strangers see you sweaty and fuck-dazed?” 
“Well, it’s a good look for me.” 
“Can’t really deny that, now can I.” 
She rolls her eyes and grabs her jacket getting out of the car, walking away on still slightly wobbly legs. V takes the train back to Watson, fiddling with her holophone the entire way. The merc gets off at the stop closest to her megabuilding and makes her way to her apartment; lock recognizing her on the first try. 
V checks the time and decides to get ready to go to The Afterlife. Those nerves she had managed to fuck away for a moment creep up on her all over again. She shakes her head not wanting to focus on her anxieties, she strips down and grabs a shower, cleaning off the sweat from her liaison. 
The merc pulls her hair back in a small low-set ponytail and does her makeup to the recommendations of the stylist. She gets dressed and uses the new camouflaged hearing aids, she takes her mask with her too. Though she knows she can’t wear it into Konpeki, she’ll still be walking into The Afterlife. That thought alone twists her guts into nervous knots. 
The Afterlife is the go to bar for the top of their game, Major Leagues mercs and fixers. It’s where the biggest deals are made, the easiest place to catch a drink and a job, but only mercs or fixers of a certain standard are allowed through its doors. Jackie brags about the place like it’s heaven for mercenaries. If they’re going to become regular fixtures of the bar after this, then she’d prefer to maintain her usual level of anonymity for fixers moving forward. She’ll drop the mask when they’re finally in corpo threads. 
V slides on Misty’s bracelet as well, fiddling with the beads meant to provide some form of protection. Her mind goes back to Misty’s tarot card reading, while she doesn’t put much weight on it, her friend’s fortune telling often sticks with her. The Wheel of Fortune is sticking out to her; she could care less if the cards thinks she’s stupid or if she’s about to fall in love, the latter of which so ridiculous she can’t help but dismiss it. But the idea of conflict sticks out, fear of the heist going wrong has been heavy on her mind. Something always goes slightly wrong, no job is perfect. But this has the highest stakes she’s ever encountered. 
V has new cyberware, the best possible tech and upgrades from Vik. She has Jackie, her best choom and partner in crime who’s never let her down. There’s T-Bug, her friend and brilliant netrunner who could bring half of Night City down if she wished. Their fixer is Dex, one of the best in regards to his job, he has everything to gain by having their backs covered. They have military grade tech and an inside look into Konpeki. They are going in under the best possible circumstances. 
She has to remind herself, review this again and again, that if something goes wrong someone there should be able to take care of it. But, those nerves don’t fade even as she leaves her apartment. 
The Afterlife isn’t far from V’s apartment, practically a hop and skip downtown. Barely five minutes pass before she’s under the roofed alley, nearing the club. Vivid cyan and purple graffiti across the wall, trash along the way.
“Porque ya tengo planes para esta noche!" 
The voice is familiar, Jackie’s and V pressed her back to the side of the vending machine, he’s telling someone he already has plans for tonight. He sounds frustrated, like he’s on the verge of pulling his hair out. 
“Virgen Santsima, ma! Te vas a enterar mañana,” a beat of silence, “también te quiero, ma."
The conversation ways on her, he’s talking to Senora Welles. Remembering Jake talking about her feelings, that the matriarch has been worrying herself half to death. And it sounds like Jackie has been on the receiving end of that worry for a while.  V pulls her mask on and rounds the corner past the vending machine, stepping in front of the main entrance of The Afterlife. Her friend standing in the doorway under the harsh green light. 
“Heh, about time, chica,” he greets, tucking his phone into his pocket, she catches the blue of Misty’s bracelet mingled with his usual gold ones. 
“What’s going on?” 
“Ehhh, y'know. She's worried about me - whatever. Can't help herself, y'know - checkin’ to see if I'm not rottin' in some dumpster… like most of the Welles boys. Been worse lately.” 
“Why’s that?” 
“Started climbin' our way up. Got more an' more knives out there, waitin' to stab us in the back. Higher stakes, higher risk. She can see that.” 
“Look like you’re about to keel over.” V reaches out, touching the red blotches on his skin, stress and sweat inflaming his skin. 
“Years of merc work, and yet,  still sweat like a roasted pig when I talk to my ma. It's really startin' to wear on me. More tell her everythin's OK, more I feel like I'm straight-up lyin’.”
“Well, hopefully you had a nice date with Misty at least.” 
“Went about as well as talking to my ma right now,” he scratches at the back of his neck, “for two women who don’t get along, they sure agree when it comes to worrying about me.” 
“They worry because they love you, worse things in life than people giving a damn about you.” 
“Yeah, yeah, don’t matter none. Not anymore, Afterlife, here we come, baby!” 
Jackie changes the topic and she can’t really blame him for it, rubbing his hands together and practically cheering in excitement. This is everything they’ve talked about, everything they’ve said they want. So, why does she still have a lump in her throat? 
“Afterlife… we’re really here.” 
“Does not get any higher, choom. And you know somethin' else? We fuckin' earned it, chica!” 
“No point in standing around then, is there?’ 
“Ready to get your cherry popped?” he laughs leading her into the club, “Yeeeah! Come on!”
“Little late for that one, Jack,” she teases as they make their way down the stairs, a pair of double doors opening up for them. A short step down into a small hallway with mercs and fixers alike talking under the green glow of a sign bearing the club’s name. 
“Place used to be a morgue - you believe that?”
“Really?” 
“I know, right? Way before our time, that. When proper burials were still a thing.”
They come to another set of doors, through the small window V can see the true club main room beyond them. But a man stands guarding them, around Jackie’s height and a similar bulky build. Cyberware indented along his jawline and nose. His face is stony, eyes sharp when Jackie and V stop before him, then he puts a large hand out in front of him. 
“And who might you clowns be?”
“Jackie and V,” the taller of the mercs says with a grin, “Dexter Deshawn is waitin’ on us.” 
The bouncer gives them a look and V is glad for her mask helping hide her emotions. His expression is dismissive, looking down on them, making her feel all at once that she has not earned her place in this club. A baby merc, new to the city, barely six months under her belt and she’s standing at the Afterlife. How the fuck did she get here? 
“Yo, Dex. Got two live ones sayin' they're here to see ya,” his optics glow as he calls Dex, “Yeah? All right, then. Says he needs a second or two. Go get yourselves drinks or somethin'.”
The doors open to a green and cyan lit club. Music louder as the barrier breaks away, people fill the room. Some sipping on alcohol and other’s puffing away on cigarettes; the smell of nicotine and booze wafting from the bar. 
“Way ahead o' you, viejo,” Jackie laughs and leads the way in. 
V follows him around the corner; the large bar coming into full view. It’s lit green, the same neon sign reading Afterlife at the top of it. A bartender in a blue button up slings drinks to the patrons. Floor to ceiling columns, like tubes, are places around the club each filled with water with a dancer twirling around inside with strategically place chrome clothing covering the most private parts of them. Everything is basked in that green neon light, despite being surrounded by mercs like her, she feels so completely out of place. 
Jackie marches proudly across the bar floor, stride confident and unwavering. 
“This is it… The heart o' Night City! That's it right there - beating. Hear it?” he proclaims as they pass by rows of half closed off booths, “Can you imagine? Susan Forrest, Boa Boa, maybe even Morgan Blackhand… All sat on those stools, fell asleep on that same bar.”
Jackie sits in one of the barstools, beaming and brimming with excitement. His eyes wide as he takes it all in, the place he’s dreamed of for all his years. V climbs into the seat next to him, placing an elbow on the bar, leaning her head onto her hand, as she shifts to face him. 
“Doubt that puts us in the same league as them,” V teases, Morgan Blackhand brought down Arasaka Tower. They’re stealing a biochip, hardly the same thing. 
“Oh, but we are. They just don't know it yet,” Jackie tells her with a wink and she can’t help but roll her eyes. 
“We-” 
V drops her hand when she realizes Jackie’s attention has gone elsewhere, an older woman walking past the two. She’s nothing unusual, older looking than most of the crowd here, sure but nothing immediately stands out to V. An older woman with long gray hair shaved on one side and a bright yellow cropped sweater, She marches her way across the bar and into a blue lit booth, moving past a guard.  
“'Ey. See that old lady there?”
“Yeah, didn’t know grannies were your type,” V taunts him again, he’s always given her shit for her taste in older people, yet he’s ogling some grandma? 
“Fuck off,” he playfully smacks her, but nearly knocks her from her chair, “that’s fuckin’ Rogue, best fixer in all o' Night City.” 
“Thought Dex was the best?” 
“Pff… Rogue was linin' up jobs when Dex was still shittin' in diapers, heh. Place belongs to her.”
“What can I getcha?” The bartender cuts in, hands down on the bar in front of them. She’s a woman with long dark hair pulled back in a ponytail and a soft round face. 
V doesn’t drink on the job, something she’s always stuck to. But, this is Jackie’s dream and she knows how he likes to celebrate. If nothing else, their banter has failed to undo her nerves, maybe booze will do the trick. 
“You order,” she signs to Jackie and he grins. 
“You drinkin’?” 
“Special night, pick me something nice.” 
“Two Tequila Old Fashioneds with a splash of cerveza and a chili garnish.”
“A duo of Johnny Silverhands, comin' up,” the bartender starts to put the drinks together, “somebody did their homework.” 
“Guessing the dog ate mine,” V signs, confused because what the fuck is a silver hand?
“Age-old tradition. Drinks're named after our regulars,” she explains, putting the drinks down in front of the mercs. 
“What’d I have to do to get a drink named after me?” 
“Snuff it,” she grins, “ In mind-blowingly spectacular fashion, Mid-op'd be best.”
“Aah, what a beaut of a tradition!”
“Steep price for a drink, not going to lie,” V signs, letting her nerves speak for her, if only for a moment. Her guts are in knots, she can only hope the alcohol will untangle. All of the merc’s usual stress relieving tactics other than a weed brownie, have failed to do much of anything.
“Hey, everyone's gotta go sometime, right? Why not in style? Death’s nothing but the final flourish!” 
“To hitting the major leagues,” she signs, holding her shot in the other hand.
“To becoming legends.” 
She pushes her mask just up above her mouth, careful not to smudge her lipstick and  they throw back their shots. Smooth but strong booze with a kick of spice from the garnish, a burn in her throat. Not her style, but she’s had worse. She pushes her mask back down, regarding the bartender, her nametag says Claire. 
“So, who else can I drink here?” She still has no idea who Silverhand is, but maybe there’s a name she does recognize, reading the posted drink menu. 
“All on the menu…”  
“'Cept there's a spot missing. Morgan Blackhand, right?”
“Heh,  true. Morgan's yet to make up his mind he's dead or still kickin',” Claire tells Jackie and V rolls her eyes. 
“Think he’s still alive? It’s been years,” Jackie asks Claire. 
“No way he’s still alive,.” The radio was just talking about the devastation of the tower going down, if that many folks were killed who were just near it, then there’s no way someone who was in the tower survived. 
“Why not? Look at Rogue. Peeps from that era - a species unto themselves.”
“And one day we’re gonna be there too,” Jackie probably proclaims, “speaking of which, name’s Jackie Welles if you want to write down my recipe.” 
“Sure.” There’s a playfulness in her tone, just going along with Jackie’s whims. 
“Shot of vodka on the rocks, lime juice, ginger beer… oh, and most importantly - a splash of love.”
“Haha, I'll remember that.”
“Gag,” V signs just to see the glare Jackie levels her way, the playful smack of her arm. 
“Okay, what’s your drink then?” 
“Literally, the only thing I drink is like cherry cola with a splash of bourbon.” 
“You know those are usually supposed to be reversed, the bourbon and coke.” 
“Maybe so, but, and hear me out… cherry cola tastes better.”  
“Heard you were Dex’s latest finds,” Claire tells them. 
“Just biz, no big deal.”
“How'd you know?” V raises an eyebrow behind her mask. 
“My job to know. Look around - how do you think meres earn their reps? Through gossip rivaling that of schoolgirls, that's how.”
“Mr. DeShawn see you now,” a booming voice rings out behind the mercs, turning around she sees Dex’s bodyguard. The first time she’s heard his voice. 
“Love to hang, imbibe the vibe, but we got an important meeting,” Jackie tells Claire, getting up from his seat and V following suit, throwing some cash down on the bar. 
“Break a leg.” 
“This way,” the bodyguard tells them and the mercs falls in line behind him. He leads them around the bar, past the crowd and through a door towards the back of the club. The lighting shifting, more blue than green as they walk past another vending machine. 
“Damn, holmes, you're huge... Work out?” Jackie asks, unable to stand the silence. 
“Hmm.” A vague grunt as they pass through another door, the music fading as they get further from the main bar. But V can just hear the starting beat of some old dad rock, something about losing another day to pointless drudgery. 
“Same here, y'know, in the ring. You do some kinda exotic shit? Kempo? Ninjitsu?”
Nothing as they turn another corner. 
“Think you could take me, drop me?”
“Jackie…” Why must he sound like he’s picking a fight with the guy?
“In here,” the guard says, stopping and standing in front of another door. 
"Este pinche tipo..."
The door opens and they’re greeted to the first room with warm lighting, though it just seems to be a storage corner. With a cabinet and vending machine. But to the left are barely see through walls of a booth that takes up half the room, through them V can just see T-Bug’s outline and leather couches. 
They walk around, the front of the booth opened. A wrap around black leather couch goes around the back wall and left side of the booth. Dex sat on the back portion, talking into a holo about Excelsior and cold hard eddies. T-Bug sat to side, a table in the center of the room with the Flathead, Jinguji boxes, and shards placed on neat little index cards. There’s a small disconnect leather seat in the right corner, next to the door. 
“Gotta bounce,” Dex hangs up, “well, if it ain’t Miss V.” 
“Whole family in one place! Hah! Finally!”
“That’s one way to put it,” T-Bug teases and a shine of blue catches V’s eye, the netrunner wearing Misty’s bracelet. She can’t help but smile. 
“A’ight, then… Set your butts down comfy,” Dex tells them. Jackie plops himself onto the larger couch next to T-Bug, comfortably spreading his arms over the back of it while V takes the smaller seat, putting her at an angle to see everyone.  She stifles a laugh, seeing Jackie’s leg excitedly bounce up and down. 
“Sweet booth, is it soundproof?” 
“Jackie…” T-Bug scolds and V stifles a laugh. 
“Now, now, Mr. Welles is right. We gon' be goin' over some sensitive material. But if it's all right with y'all, I'd like to start with a question for Miss V… Evelyn Parker - how'd you fare?”
All eyes on her, stomach still twisted in a vise, this is her chance. She’s got to tell him, but she doesn’t want Evelyn hurt. Some fixers will go to any length to get revenge on a client or merc who does them dirty. But, he’s got a right to know the shit she pulled. 
“Intel was good, brain dance was exactly what we needed….” 
“So, she just wanna see wha'ss good, or was there somethin' else?”
“Honestly?” 
“Wouldn’t ask for anything else, Miss V.” 
“She’s high risk as far as clients go. Shady as fuck, naïve as all hell, and genuinely thought she could make me another offer.” 
“Another offer?” Dex’s brow raises about his sunglasses. 
“Wanted me to cut you out for more cash, told her no, of course. But, wouldn’t do business with her again, if I were you.” 
“Cut me out… shiiiit, now that’s rich,” Dex laughs, Jackie nervously laughing along, “Clients... never learn, do they?” 
“You’re not pissed?” 
“Lived in NC too long to blow my top every time some amateur thinks they can take me for a ride. Parker ain't the first and sure as hell won't be the last.”
“Fair enough,” V lets out a sigh, thankful if nothing else that Dex doesn’t seem prone to getting too mad at Evelyn. Maybe she’s being too kind, but she can’t help but think Evelyn is more naive than malicious when it comes to the offer. A stranger to the merc world. 
“I do appreciate you sharin' this info, though, Miss V. You see, trust… …is essential in any partnership that's to be long-lasting and fruitful.”
“Figured you had a right to know, so, what’s the plan?” 
“This.”
Dex gestures towards the shards on the table, V takes the one in front of her and slides it into her shard slot.  UI and graphics lighting up her mask, a map pulling up on the tech. 
“Me and Dex've already covered the fine detes. Ops wise, should be a stroll on the beach.”
“Elaborate, I wanna hear it.” 
“A Delamain'll drop your asses at the front door of Konpeki Plaza,” a picture of the hotel shows,  then two names, “You'll stroll right in thanks to your false identities. Then, with Bug's help, you'll breach the hotel's subnet…”
“Mine and the Flathead's help.” Images of the hotel’s interior and the bot flash by. 
“Last but not least, you slip into Yorinobu's penthouse and klep the Relic,” his words bring up images of the heir and his suite.
“Goes without sayin' we do this on the hush - ideally no bodies, not a one.” The shard shows them The Relic and then blips out. 
“You'll have T-Bug on comms for the duration. Time for your burnin' questions.”
“What’s our cover?” V asks, they’ve been told a thousand times they’ll be acting like corpos, but that’d be hard to do if they have no idea what their story is suppose to be. 
“Hello, Ramón Victorino,” T-Bug looks at Jackie and then to V, “and you’re Hannah Conwell.” 
“Ramón - yeah, OK. What do we say we're there for?”
“Biz as usual. Corpo arms deal. Case anyone asks, you there for a bogus meetin' with Arasaka's defense rep - Hajime Taki. Anything else?”
“How do we get in the penthouse?”
“Yorinobu's got barely any muscle. Hardest part'll be penthouse security. If we wanna disable, we'll need to neutralize Konpeki's dweller - elite ‘runner monitoring the hotel's subnet twenty-four seven. Only catch is there's no way to get in the dweller's den from the outside.”
“Hold on, how you want us to get inside a room you can't get into?”
“Trust me when I say whatever hitch you think up. T-Bug's solved it already”
“This is where the Flathead comes in. You'll have to get him in the ventilation shafts, guide him to the dweller and force the dweller to… take a break. Flathead'll stay there, jacked into the dweller, but thanks to that I’ll be able to roll out your red carpet into the penthouse.”
“Anything else?”
“Transports a Delamain?” She has no idea if the company has an ASL sign like most other corporations and doesn’t have time to think of one on the fly. 
“Preemest cab company in all Night City… Nada mal,” hackie tells her. 
“DeShawn don't ever work with anyone but the best. I consider Delamain just that.”
“Yeah, who needs creepy, nosy cab drivers when you've got a clean AI to get you from point A to point B in style?”
“And how he bags a permit to operate every year's still a mystery.”
“If everythin' goes as planned, Delamain'll drop you back here. If things get sticky, he'll head for the safe house.”
“Which is?”
“The No-Tell Motel. Quiet, no questions asked. Make our next move from there. But I'm flat certain that won't be necessary. Though, there is one more consideration for if it does.” 
“What’s that?” 
“Hate to put you on the spot, Miss V,” Dex explains, “but if shit goes sour, I’m gonna need to know who I’m letting into the hotel. Mask can’t go with to Konpeki, so I’d sure feel a hell of a lot better if I knew what was hiding behind that thing.” 
“Oh… yeah, that makes sense.”  
Even if she’d have Jackie with her when shit goes down,  Dex is trusting her with this heist. The least she can do is trust him to see her face and not write her off or sell her out to The Herd if the chance arised. Not that she can see that happening anyway… 
“Don’t even know why you wore the thing in, V,” Jackie teases. 
“Well, there are other fixers here, didn’t want to give away my face…” 
V carefully pulls off her mask, feeling exposed all over again, a new set of eyes on her face. The merc knows how she looks; five feet with a head of bleach blonde hair and big gray eyes. Not the picture one conjures in their mind when they think of a capable, strong, badass merc. Sprinkle in her disability and the reactions to her deafness; most people think she’s not a threat, weak. 
“That what you’ve been hiding behind that mask? All that fuss, for what?” Dex laughs. 
“Hard to take,” she stumbles over her English trying to sign at the same time, “be taken- seriously sometimes when you’re five foot nothing, deaf, and look like…” 
“Gutterpunk Barbie,” Jackie cuts in to tease, earning him a sharp kick to the shin. 
“Fuck off.” 
“Trust me, Miss V, you pull off this job; ain’t nobody in their right mind gonna underestimate you” 
“That’s the hope...”
“Any other questions?” 
“I got a question. When do we get to the real reason we're all here?” Jackie asks, shooting a wink V’s way. 
“Now's a good a time as any. Fresh talent gets thirty percent always, but I'm willin' to make an exception in your case. I'ma cut you a nice, juicy forty as a bonus for your honesty, V.”
“Much appreciated.” 
“Ka-ching baby!~” 
“Last thing, Konpeki's got a strict no-iron policy. Security gates, the works. So you dawgs'll leave your lead-spitters in the ride, take the Flathead inside in its case.”
“Got your suits from Jinguji on the table.” 
“¡Chido!”
“Thanks, Bug.” 
“So, not to count chickens, but when'll we see our eddies?”
“All depends how Ms. Parker unrolls herself or her role, but a week, two tops is my guess.”
“And what do we do in the mean time?” 
“You sit tight, heads down, 'cause ol' uncle Arasaka be watching. Now, as that ol’ Greek dawg says, life's a banquet - so don't go thirsty, but don't get drunk, either,” he tells them as he leaves the booth, “Your chariot awaits outside.”
“My cue to delta, too. Gotta prep to jack in, be there when you come on comms. Any other issues, now's your chance,” T-Bug tells them, shifting her feet and something catches V’s eye. Delta V emblazoned on the netrunner’s boots, was that there before?
“Plan - your take?” V shakes the thought from her head, must be a brand or a runner thing V doesn’t know.
“Enough, I hope, to put me in a luxury Creton Villa from which I'll never set foot in cyberspace again.”
“Send me a postcard?” 
“No offense, but I'm gonna burn any and all bridges - need a clean break.”
“Gonna take Misty’s bracelet with you?” Jackie teases, grinning because he caught it too. 
“Shut up,” she tells him, rolling her eyes. 
“Uh, just realized something, what’s gonna happen to our clothes? I don’t want to lose my mask…” 
“No worries, put them in the boxes, we’ll have ‘em sent back to your places.” 
“Alright then, lets get this show on the road.” 
“Let's get to work, go ahead and get changed, Delamain is parked out front, uh, okay-”Bug starts to trip over her words when the two mercs start taking off their jackets, “you can use the bathrooms.” 
“Eh,”
Jackie and V shrug their shoulders, the outfits are right there. Not much point in dragging them out to the bathroom. The pair shared a bedroom for the better half of six months, a room with one bed. They’ve seen each other naked plenty, boundaries destroyed a long while back. 
“Why do I bother,” T-Bug rolls her eyes and leaves the booth, letting the pair change. 
V kicks off her boots and takes off her socks, Jackie tugging off his jewelry first. 
“So, you’re nerves still going crazy?” Jackie asks her as she tugs off her shirt, his own tossed off. 
“What do you mean?”  She tugs off her pants, both mercs soon standing around in their underwear. 
“Can’t hide that shit from me, chica, been giving me twice as much hell as usual. You’re freaking out.” 
“High stakes, Jack, of course I’m a nervous mess. Means I give a shit.” 
She pulls the slack on and tugs on the white blouse, buttoning it up. The two of them putting on the corpo clothes, similar in look. Black slacks, white button up tops, black suit jackets, and Misty’s beaded bracelets for protection. Each perfectly tailored for their body types. 
“Don’t sweat it so much, V, we got this.” He sticks his fist out. 
“Sure fuckin’ hope so.” She bumps her fist to his. 
Their street clothes are packed away in the boxes, V puts in her optic contacts and slide on her heels, then they start to make their way out of the booth. But, Jackie stops her with a hand on her shoulder and he taps his throat. She catches on taking off her choker translator, neck feeling bare and odd without the tech. With that they leave out through the club, Jackie carrying the Flathead case and the smaller merc keeps her head down as best she can. Her stomach still in knots as they spot the Delamain in the parking lot. 
Her life is about to change forever; hopefully for the best. She’s on the cusp of having everything she’s wanted since she’s come to the city. The verge of earning the respect of everyone in this city and finally feeling like she’s someone, like she’s done something. 
So, why does she feel like she’s about to puke?
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popculturebuffet · 3 years
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The Legend of the Three Caballeros: Dope-A-Cabana Review (Commissioned by WeirdKev27)
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Salduos Amigos! Since i’m covering a full series, i’d like to welcome any newcomers to the first part of the epic final stretch of THE RIDE OF THE THREE CABLLEROS! For those of you just joining us, a few months back WeirdKev27, easily my biggest supporter as the only one who comissions any reviews from me, asked if I could do a big project for him: a comission of EVERY major american apperance of those three happy chappies in matching serapes. Give i’ve ALWAYS loved the boys ever since house of mouse and had been sitting on Legend of the Three Cablleros for far too long, more on that in a minute obviously, I happily agreed. Plus the rather nice influx of cash from the comissions was very welcome. If your intrested in comissioning your own, hit me up via my direct messages. It’s 5 dolalrs an episode, though I do do discounts on orders of 3 or more, and 10 for a movie, with again discounts for orders of more than one. And yes that plug was very shamless, but again I have no other job than this.  Back to the point these reviews have taken me on a wonderful journey: I got to rewatch the movie and revel in the fun songs, acid trips and super horny Donald Duck, got to both revisit one of Don Rosa’s best story and read another all time classic from the man I hadn’t before, took a trip back to the house of mouse to hear some great songs and see some great cartoons.. and some not so great ones, took a small detour to Mickey and The Roadster Racers to be baffled and annoyed though I am proud to say it was my first review back after I came down with Cornovirus and lost a week of work time. And finally I covered the town where everyone was nice, and got to see the boys have a joyous reunion with Donald and be lushly animated while.. Dewey jackassed around in a B-Plot and Webby resisted the urge to throat chop him. It’s been a long ride and you can find all of it is so far RIGHT HERE IN THIS CONVIENT LINK ! CLICK IT NOW IF YOUR CURIOUS. Point is while this was well paid for.. it’s easily one of the projects i’ve been most proud of and while i’m sad to see it winding down, i’m proud of what i’ve done so far, and I just wanted to heartily thank Kevin for the ride and for being so generious as to fund the whole damn thing. Your a good dude man. 
Which brings us here, to the grand finale. The Legend of the Three Caballeros! As the boys first starring roll as a group since the movie, there was really no other way this retrospective could end, and since I have a terrible problem with procastination and really hated this series version of daisy I just kept pushing back watching the series until now. I’m not proud of it but I am happy to correct it and hope you’ll all come along with me.  Before we get started I could not find much background on the show. It was directred by Matt Danner who was the character designer for the utter classic Xiaoilin Showdown and currently works on the Muppet Babies reboot, so i’m happy he’s still getting work. Otherwise I couldn’t find much. The most I could was on tv tropes, claming the series was orignally meant for Netflix.. and while I have no proof and this could easily be conjecture.. i’m inclined to belivie it. The series was apparently done long before the Ducktales reboot, to the point Frank Angrones was only vaguely aware of it and it didn’t even remotely impact the series, with Panchito and Jose only debuting in Season 2 because the original idea for bringing them in was scrapped. So while I don’t have proof.. I’m inclined to belivie it since it makes sense: Disney DID have a healthy relationship with Netflix once, setting up the MCU shows and likely being happy there.. but eventually they wanted their own corner of the sky, and likely didn’t want one of their shows bolted to the network like all their marvel shows were.  The problem this created though is Disney was CLEARLY left with a show they no longer had a place for. But even with that the show was still done, they COULD have put it on the Disney Now app or just aired it on the Disney Channel. See if there was any fan intrest in season 2 or throw one into production to at least beef up the episode count. I mean the Cabs have a built in fanbase, kids would likely love it... it’s the logical choice. But this is Disney. They’ve had to be drug kicking and screaming into representation, to the point they had to be fought for the gay romance subplot in owl house to happen, try to hide that the Sparkshort “Out” is about a gay man struggling with coming out despite having you know reams of content on the service with either gay subtext or out and out gay characters, and their attempts at doing representatoin to score points in other little ways.. have been pathetic, easily missable bits in movies that could , and have been, edited out in more homophobic countries. My point is yeah i’m still sore about how they and a LOT of the animation industry have to be dragged into doing the right thing over profit, and they often make very stupid decisions for seemingly no reason. They are a good company a good chunk of the time.. but Disney has done fucked up quite a bit. This is one of those times.  Instead they dumped the show on the Disney Life app in the phillipines and slowly some other countries, basically the Disney Now equilvent over there, and then just sort of forgot about it until Disney Plus launched. And given how many shows they HAVEN’T put on the streamer for again, seemingly no reason, it is a nice suprise the show finally got a release on there in the US. But before that, and proving what a massive mistake just abandoing the show was, the show did gather a massive fanbase via people uploading the episodes online. So yeah the show was treated REALLY shittily for stupid reasons, but thankfully it still has a fanbase to this day and said shabby treatment, as it always does, just encouraged fans to support it harder. So naturally i’m more than happy to give the series some spotlight as fanbase or no, it badly needs it and Disney sure as hell dosen’t want to do it. So if somebody’s gotta do it, might as well be me. This is the Legend of the Three Cablleros.  We open on some narration from Xandra, Goddess of Adventure. Granted she hasn’t been identified yet, and won’t be till next episode.. buuuut it’s easier on me to not have to dance around her name so your learning it now. But Xandra narrates that long ago there were epic battles against the good and the evil and all that by epic heroes, and it’s all cumilated in the Legend of the Three Cablleros. Post title drop we’re treated to the boys, in cool looking armor and with neat weapons, fighting a purple monster man as you do in an really beautiful and epic sequence As this scene illustrates the animation for this show is GORGEOUS, a lavish update of the standard disney style with nice use of shadows. It feels almost film quality in it’s work, and it’s an utter treat to watch and opening at the end was a good call: it both ratchets up excitement and allows the first ep to have some action since this one, as part of a two part premiere, is mostly setup. It’s eyecatching, exciting and makes you want to know what the hell is going on. And since Xandra realizes MAYBE starting the story at the climax was a bad idea, she takes us back a bit.
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Okay maybe not that far. No we open properly at Donald’s house, where it’s his birthday! And like the movie, it’s Friday the 13th, an excellent call back. Donald’s making his breakfast, boliling some tea and.. talking with the weird foced warped refelection in the kettle who can apparently only say “right back at you handsome, wink”. Seriously I have so many questoins and all of them are about what this guy is, why is Donald so calm about all of this, and is he still alive after Donald destroys his tea kettle later.  Donaldo gets a call from Daisy, whose visting to spend the day with him and is waiting patiently int he bad part of town. I didn’t know Duckburg had a bad part of town but given Glomgold has to get his sharks and bombs somewhere, i’m not surprised. Unless he special orders them, but even then what if he needs a shark or a bomb in a hurry? He’s gotta get them somewhere and now we know where. So there’s that. So all’s going well until Donald’s asshole boss calls and forces him to come in despite Donald having the fucking day off and it presumably being on the schedule. So Donald rushes to work, and we do get some great gags but as you’d expect for Donald it goes poorly and he botches a kid’s haircut despite the mother being very rude.. and also a female version of pete. LIke.. did he remarry after the divorce from peg or is that his sister? Does that mean PJ and PIstol have a cousin I never knew about? I want answers dammit.. and picutures of spider-man. Not for any slander job I just really like spider-man. 
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Eh it’ll do.As i’m doing a full series this time i’m stopping to talk about the main cast as we go soooo.... Tony Anselmo is naturally Donald, even pitching in to consult the crew on Donald’s characterization here, as really what better expert is there? He’s voiced Donald since the original Ducktales and has stuck with the roll since, only taking a break for Mickey and the Roadster racers and that’s likely because between finishing up this series and the Mickey Mouse shorts, and moving on to Ducktales 2017, he likely simply didn’t have the time for it. Granted given how little he was used in the first season of the show, he probably still could’ve done it but regardless, he’s a legend.  Daisy is voiced by Tress Macneile, who not only has voiced the character since House of Mouse and is easily the best voice for her, but is also one of the most storied and legendary va’s in the buisness, having been at this since the 80′s with zero signs of stopping. Just to name a few of her more notable roles, in chronological order; Gadget Hackenwrench, Babs Bunny, Agnes Skinner, Charlotte Pickles, Dot Warner (Which as of last year she’s picked up again and will do the same for Babs, just in case you thought i was exagerating on the “zero signs of stopping” thing), Pookie from Hey Arnold, Mom, Hoodsey Bishop, and Queen Oona among MANY, MANY smaller rolls. I didn’t even realize Charlotte or Hodsey were here, she’s that talented and deserves all the praise.. and way better rolls as Daisy than this one but we’ll both get to that and thankfully much like with Tony, the reboot’s giving her character some depth to work with so she gets to reallys tretch her chops. The woman turns 70 here, will likely keep going until she dies, and is wonderful and deserves more respect. 
 So because this is Donald, life wont’ stop punching him in the face and it turns out his house burned down, the fire people are destroying everything because their assholes, seriously they destroy both a family heirloom and a picture of his parents despite not being on fire. I’d be genuinely suprised if their general strategy wasn’t scremaing “fire, fire fire” and then going “rock rock rock” while they throw rocks on it. Super brucey bonus prize for the first person who gets that refrence and comments on it. I’ll get back to this in a second but SOMEHOW, beisdes loosing his home, all his possesions and his job... it gets even WORSE and Daisy calls, refuses to listen to him despite him having VERY valid excuses and breaks up with him. Oh and then the fire fighters gladly talk about going home to their in tact houses  and partners. 
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So yeah let’s talk about this. This first 6 or 7 minutes.. is why I didn’t return to the show for a while. My brain has a bad habit of glomming onto certain parts of things, so it remembered the rough to sit through and not very funny first act.. and not the rest of the episode which is very good and likely more indiciative about how good the series is. Thankfully it does get better but this first act .. frames things like it’s DONALD’S fault somehow. I mean yes he did burn his house down.. but even that really isn’t his fault. He was called away suddenly, wasn’t thinking and made a mistake. Hell he proabably woudl’ve had more left if the fire department hadn’t gone crazy with the axes. His being called into work? He took the day off, and his boss was just a dick. His screwing up at the job? he was genuinely trying his best and doing his best and the client was just wholly unresonable. Donald did nothing wrong but the episode WANTS to frame him like some sort of screwup.. which he is, it’s Donald.. but not in this case. It was just a string of uncomfortable to watch bad luck that cumilates in him having nothing left. It’s not funny, it’s jsust really sad and it’s REALLY hard to tell the tone their going for as they seem to awkwardly bounce from jokes to Donald being utterly devistated and alone. 
And the worst of this.. is Daisy. Daisy is EASILY the most infamous part of the show, as their portryal.. is pretty bad and apparently gets worse. We’ll see as we go but yeah.. her screaming at and breaking up with her boyfriend without listneing to his side and giving the claim we only have HER word on that he’s always screwing up, ON HIS BIRTHDAY no less, when he’s done nothing wrong, does not make a good first impression nor the fact the show seems to AGREE WITH HER. And look Donald is a trainwreck, this is true.. but the show dosen’t remotely portray him as one until AFTER this scene. As I said nothing that happened was his fault. Donald isn’t irresponsible or a screwup or dating a high schooler or anything. He isn’t Scott Pilgrim. He just has really bad luck. Again, we do see some foibles in the scenes to come.. but we don’t see any that would justify her claims, especially since she seemed perfectly happy earlier with him. Now if she’d say brought up some screwups in the first scene, and gently at that, then this would’ve worked.. but as it stands she just comes off as MASSIVELY unsymapthetic.. especially since Donald later calls her nieces over for help, which is objectively weird not gonna lie.. so she now KNOWS he had to move to a new house and his likely burned down.. yet still apparently has nothing good to say about him. 
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It didn’t help this rubbed me the wrong way in a very special way. As i’ve made plain before I don’t like THIS version of Daisy, the nagging, selfish, vindictive asshole who will gladly try and cheat on donald, dump him at a moments notice and you know PUNCH HIM IN THE FACE. Which just in case you think i’m exagerating...
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She fucking upercutted him..and like here for something that isn’t his fault. I mean this Daisy isn’t physically beating Donald.. but that’s a VERY low bar to clear. And emotional abuse is just as bad, so there. My point is too often in the comics when written poorly, Daisy is a pretty terrible person and I REALLY didn’t want a screen adaptation of this form of Daisy. It took a WHILE to recover from not liking daisy over this version, with help from remembering house of mouse, some good barks story with her and the AMAZING Ducktales version and the suprisingly good Quack Pack version.. I did. But yeah.. this is not a good sign of things to come for the character in this show. 
So yeah Donald’s heart is in the basement and his week is at an all time low when a post man shows up and gives him a letter.. well puts it in the box for a good gag but semantics. But the letter turns around as his ancestor Clinton Coot left him an inhertance for his 3Xth birthday: a house of some kind in the swanky neighboring town of New Quackmore. And i’ll also say.. it’s REALLY nice that for once, we focus on the Duck side of Donald’s legacy, or rather the coot but semantics, instead of the McDuck part. Don’t get me wrong, I fucking love the clanmcduck, always will and I love Ducktales exploration of it.. but it’s still nice to acknowledge Donald comes from two sides and while one of those may be humble farmers, they still accomplished a lot, including founding Duckburg in most continuities including presumably this one. It’s also a good way to seperate thigns from other properties including the reboot: focusing on a part of Donald’s lineage that isn’t usually touched on and making THEM just as badass as the other side. 
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So we get a quick montage as Donald takes a cab there and takes in the rich and fancy sights. It’s also a brilliant way to set up New Quackmore and it’s attached instutite as a fancy, upperclass place.. and thus perfectly clash it with Donald. Donald ends up getting dropped off at a big mansion.. which is not his , but belongs to the insittutes head, Baron Von Sheldgoose, played by WAYNE KNIGHT. 
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Hell. Yes. I freaking love Wayne Knight. In case you don’t know who the man above is, or at least don’t recognize his face, Wayne Knight is a very funny and talented actor and voice actor with a lengthy career primarily in side rolls, with the rolls that he broke out with being loveable asshole and Jerry’s enternal nemisis Newman on Seinfeld and Dennis Nedry, aka “that guy who got sprayed acid in his face by those horrifying frilled dinosaurs that will never not haunt my nightmares”. Seriously that scene fucked me up as a kid and I could not watch that part of the movie. For the most part he’s been a side character man but he has done a LOT of voice work, most notable Zurg in Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, Dojo for the aformentioned and excellent Xiaolin Showdown, and Mr. Blik for Catscratch and I wish he’d do more. He also recently voiced the penguin in Harley Quin so when I get to that you better belivie i’m looking forward to it. Point is while he may not always get the glory, and had to settle for starring in a mediocre tv land sitcom to get a steady paycheck once, the man is VERY talented, very funny and perfectly cast here. 
So Donald makes himself home, finds out it’s not HIS home and gets thrown out by the snooty rich asshole’s bodyguards. As you’d expect. Donald does find HIS home, a run down cabana next door to the mansion with caution tape all over. Still Donald takes it best he can as it’s better than no home at all> What he doesn’t take well is finding out from the executor of the will that he’s not the only one inheriting the house... which is  absolutley fair. The guy just had the worst day of his life, and this lady didn’t bother to put in the letter to any of them that they were sharing the house. The Sheldgoose thing was just an average Donald screw up. This is just this lady going...
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But yes we meet our boys.. and the introductions are naturally given this series is about them the best we’ve gotten so far: Jose is thrown off a bus, having ran out of fair, and having wooed all the ladies on board, and quickly charms the executor and is perfectly cordial to Donald, while Panchito parachutes out of a plane and marvels at how he went from nothing to having two new best friends, a run down shack and a sleezy lawyer! In short the two make a great first impression, helped by wonderful casting.  Jose is voiced by Eric Bauza, a talented voice actor whose had WAY too many roles to list here, but two of the most notable are being the current voice of Bugs and Daffy, and his most notable role outside that recently has been playing Splinter in Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. But the guy is endlessly talented, seems really nice, and is easily one of my faviorite Jose’s so far after just one episode. He just.. gets the character perfectly and is thankfully NOT another white guy stepping into the role, so that’s nice. He easily oozes the charm and layabout nature Jose and was a natural in the role and i hope he gets to take it up again at some point.  Speaking of naturals we have Jamie Camil as Panchito, who easily steps into the guys boundless energy and the sterotpical bits are swapped out for making him a cloud cuckoolander instead, which I genuinely love and fits the character perfectly. He’s best known for CW Soap Jane the Virgin, where his charcter Rodrigo just sounds like a delight, but has recently picked up a pretty good voice acting career, vocing Don Karnage in the Ducktales reboot, Globgor in Star vs the Forces of Evil and Todd’s Stepdad George in Bojack Horseman. I only hope he gets more voice work as he’s really damn great at it and it’s wonderful to get to see him in a role that’s not limited to a few episodes at best for a change. 
So Donald’s less than happy about this, again it’s hard to really be that mad at him when he’s had a really, REALLY bad day and wasn’t told about this, but it’s kept to just the light level of grumpy as to not make him unlikeable. Granted after that intro it’d take a LOT to make him unsympathetic, but after their version of Daisy I really dont’ want to test this series.  Our boys also find out they have a groundskeeper, ari, aka THE ARCUAN BIRD! He’s just a delight any time he pops up, doing his usual “ya ta ta ta” bit, and being adorable and hilarioius as always.. and also hilariously failing to fix the boys door. So Donald ends up just accepting he has roomates now, nothing he can do, and the three explore the house finding all sorts of cool old artifacts, feeling they’ve stumbled onto something specail. And you know what that means: YARD SALE! Seriously it feels like a bit out of Wet Hot American Summer or Stella, a  series from the same creators you really should check out and that is high praise, trust me. 
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I wish this series was streaming somewhere.. I mean we finally got Clone HIgh streaming Viacom, get on that. Anyways, it’s just.. fucking hilarious, and a LOT of this episode is once we walk back from the writers kicking donald in the junk and acting like it was his fault. Once Donald gets his inhertiance, the episode picks up immensley and we see the shows real charm and hilarirty fly, with jokes coming at a rapid and wonderful pace. The show really did impress me with the second half and made me utterly excited for tommrow.. or I guess today’s, look at the follow up.  But we’re still in this episode and being a rich asshole, Sheldgoose isn’t happy about a yard sale, though given this series standards, we not only get some great deliveres from Knight of an outraged “A YARD SALE?!”... but a wonderful gag where Sheldgoose out to white guy it up and yell at them over this..accidently takes a wrong turn in his massive house, and turns around, not loosing how upset he is once.  Meanwhile, we meet.. April, May and June. Yeah apparnetly Della isn’t dead or lost in this continuity, so the boys are MIA, and are instead replaced by Daisy’s Nieces, who I hope show up in the reboot before it ends. Especially since the show makes them WAY more tolerable than classic huey dewey and louie and instead enjoyable like Ducktales HDL. While not as indvidual as those three, the three are still idendtical outside of outfits, their voice actress Jessica DiCicco uses her consderiable talents and experince to give each one a unique voice, so while they all share a voice actress, none of them sound alike. And to round out our main cast for now, as our last members will be joining us fully next time, let’s talke about Jessica DiCicco. Jessica is a very talented and increasingly prolific voice actor and if you haven’t heard of her, and you probably have, you’ve defintely heard her voice. Starting out with Disney, hence why the probably called on her for this, she did the voices of Maggie for the Buzz on Maggie and Melina for Emperor’s New School before breaking out as Flame Princess on Adventure Time, whose both one of my faviorite characters from the show and one we’ll be digging into starting next month. And not one to rest easily she picked up a second set of iconic rolls vocing Lynn and Lucy Loud on The Loud HOuse, and funnily enough using those voices for two of the girls here. And along with Loud House she’s also currently starring in it’s Pony and is int he main cast of Close Enough as Candace. My point is she’s exceedingly talented.. as is this whole cast, as it’s a DAMN excellent cast and just further sells that this series deserves better.  We’ll get into the girls more next time as they don’t do much here other than get called in by Donald for help, with what I saw of episode 2 fleshing them out more. Point is Sheldgoose offers a million dollars for the cabana and all it’s stuff and the boys are glad to sell.. they just have to find something Sheldgoose desperately wants, a mysterious golden atlas encrusted with Jewels.  Our heroes head in to find it with Panchito finding it, and being very specific about it. We also get a nice call back to Ari destroying the door as Jose cleverly calls on him to destroy the lock. So our heroes open the book... and a goddess pops out and threatens to kill them all. 
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Final Thoughts: Dope-A-Cabana is a decent intro the series, but as i’ve said it’s heavily hampered by a weak and mean spirited first act. But once it gets going it REALLY gets going and as part 1 one of a two part pilot, it does it’s job well once it does get going: introducing our three boys and one of our antagonists well and setting up the side cast and preparing for our last to major additions Next Time: The Boys go on their first adventure, Sheldgoose finds a boss and the girls find their voice. Thanks for Reading, Goodbye, Goodbye, Goodbye. 
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ruzek-halstead · 4 years
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found
part two
pairing: jay halstead x hailey upton
while chasing a lead on their homicide investigation, jay & hailey find an abandoned baby on christmas eve. as to not have the baby spend it’s first christmas at family services, it’s up to jay & hailey, with a little help from will & the rest of the team to take care of it.
“jay, you’d make a really hot dad.”
(inspired by ncis episode)
part one || part three || masterlist
warnings: swearing, fluffery
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hailey had promised kim and vanessa that she would stop by the district to introduce them to baby alvin. they also needed to go by anyway to sign the paperwork in order to transfer the case to homicide.
in all honesty, it was a struggle to set up the car seat in jay’s truck. mostly because neither of them had ever done it before and never expected to so soon. it also didn’t help that it was december 24th and absolutely freezing outside. it ended with jay, frustrated out of his mind and hailey, googling the proper technique on how to do it. eventually they got it, but jay still frowned the whole drive over.
they hardly made it up the stairs before trudy stopped them.
“what is that and what is it doing in my district?” trudy frowned, staring at the car seat jay was carrying.
he made his way to her desk and plopped the seat on it. her frown deepened.
“what are you doing, chuckles?”
it was jay’s turn to frown, but hailey was loving it.
“chuckles? oh, i’m definitely stealing that,” hailey laughed, gently nudging baby alvin’s foot. he giggled and it was the most adorable thing.
even trudy cracked the tiniest smile. “voight mentioned something about this,” she motioned to baby alvin, “but he didn’t say it would be in my district.”
“we just have to finish off some paperwork,” hailey replied, “it’s not a problem, is it?”
trudy sent her a real, genuine smile. “of course not, hailey. let me know if you need anything.”
with that, she placed her glasses back on her face and went back to her computer. jay grabbed the car seat again and trailed hailey up the stairs, all the while looking confused.
“what the hell? why is she so nice to you?” jay mumbled disappointedly.
hailey merely smirked.
“oh. my. god!” before they even finished their trek up to the bullpen, vanessa was waiting expectantly at the stairs. “jay, hurry up, i want to see the baby!”
jay frowned. “why is everyone being so mean to me today?”
“we already have one baby to take care of, jay,” hailey mocked and jay’s mouth dropped at her audacity. he’d heard sassy hailey (many times) but let’s be honest, she usually coddled his feelings. she didn’t this time, and even though jay was offended, he found it extremely attractive.
kim and vanessa waste no time in stealing the baby away from jay, so he walked to his desk and focused on his essential paperwork.
“oh my god, he is so precious!” kim cooed, tickling baby alvin’s stomach.
adam came stumbling out of the breakroom. “is the baby here?” he exclaimed, rushing over with an expression of pure excitement. it had been quite an uneventful morning for the rest of the unit so when adam heard that his friends found a baby, he was understandably excited.
“he is so adorable,” vanessa added, staring at the baby and looking like the epitome of the heart eyes emoji.
“voight put you in charge?” adam voiced his question in jay’s direction, where he was signing a few forms. jay looked up and shot a glare at the judgement in adam’s voice. “sorry man,” adam stifled a laugh, “but do you even have anything in your fridge?”
jay threw his arms up in exasperation. “is today pick on jay day or something?”
“don’t be dramatic,” adam rolled his eyes, unbuckling alvin from his seat to pick him up. “i’ve seen your apartment many times.”
jay mumbled some profanities under his breath.
“have you guys given this little guy a name yet?” kim asked, playing with alvin’s fingers.
hailey and jay shared a secretive look before hailey revealed softly, “we decided to name him alvin.”
“i love that,” kim replied warmly; adam smiled so wide, his cheeks burned. vanessa obviously never got the chance to meet alvin olinsky, but she’d heard nothing but great things about the man. she’s positive it’s a great honour to be named after him.
“so, what’s next for you two?” adam asked, bouncing the baby as he walked around the bullpen.
hailey and jay shared another look; this time, jay looked slightly terrified, while hailey looked nauseous. “well, voight says we’re in charge until we find the mother. so, ruzek, any progress on that?” hailey questioned him with hopeful eyes.
“sorry to disappoint, hails,” adam replied, though he doesn’t look that sad; mostly just amused at the night his friends have laid out for them. “i’m very saddened to report i haven’t found anyone; not even a distant family member. “
hailey rolled her eyes. “you don’t look sad at all.”
“no, truly, i’m very torn up,” his right eyelid dropped in a wink. “i’ll keep looking though.”
kim rolled her eyes at her ex-boyfriend’s antics. “don’t worry, i’ll help. i’m sure we can find something.”
“in the meantime, you guys are probably good to head out now,” vanessa added, staring lovingly at baby alvin. “voight was just waiting on you guys to sign over the paperwork so we could all go home.”
jay looked up expectantly, with a large, nervous smile. “you guys are all coming over, right?”
“sorry! i’m spending the holidays with some friends and i’m leaving right after work,” vanessa replied apologetically. she busied herself with grabbing her coat and organizing her desk.
jay’s hopeful eyes flitted to adam and kim.
“i have to go visit my sister before she leaves for the holidays,” kim responded with an apologetic frown. “adam is going to his sister’s too, right?”
adam nodded his head, strapping baby alvin back into his seat. his bouncing of the baby had relaxed him so much, he was now snoozing away. “yeah, sorry. i’ll stay a bit longer to see what else i can dig up, but i have to leave tonight.”
“it’s fine,” jay frowned, “i’ll remember this next time any of you need my help.”
adam rolled his eyes. “okay, honey,” he mocked, “now, can you take the kids home and start dinner or am i the only one who does anything in this house?”
“i hate you.”
🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣
before hailey and jay left the district, kevin had come back from the store with a number of baby essentials they might need. he was sent by voight, who figured jay and hailey, would have no idea what they even needed, but kevin had experience with caring for little ones, so he was perfect for the job.
the two partners trudged their way through the chicago winter and to jay’s apartment
he won’t lie; he was nervous as hell, but hailey looked so calm and it genuinely comforted him. will had texted and promised he would bring some extra baby gear, so in the meantime, they kept the baby in his car seat to be safe.
“i’m going to make him a bottle, he’s probably hungry by now,” hailey said before she makes herself at home in his kitchen. they don’t spend much time in jay’s apartment; if anything, they usually grab a drink at her place, but she felt oddly at ease in his kitchen.
jay loved it.
it felt oddly intimate; but this was happening, and he just had to roll with it.
for the first time today, since being charged with baby duty, hailey actually felt confident in what she’s doing. she’s had to make bottles for her nephews before, so this wasn’t new. however, being in jay’s apartment with him felt new and a little too real, but he was acting casual so she’d be damned if she didn’t do the same.
while hailey tested out the temperature of the bottle, jay busied himself with grabbing blankets and pillows from his linen closet (he would never actually call it that, but will gifted him so many blankets, he needed to store them somewhere). he also turned on his netflix and started some old episodes of the office (it was his go-to show whenever he needed some background noise), and he knew hailey loved it.
he watched as hailey took baby alvin out of his seat and started feeding him.
“wow, you’re really good at this,” he divulged dumbly. he wanted to roll his eyes at himself because it was such a stupid thing to say.
she laughed. “yeah, this part was never so hard.”
he watched for a little longer before sighing. “are we totally in over our heads?”
“oh definitely,” she replied quickly, surprising him with her brutal honesty. “i’m positive one of us will end up crying before the sun comes up again.”
jay stared at her, but she doesn’t even look up from baby alvin.
“wait, are you serious?”
she doesn’t get the chance to reply (she was definitely going to tease him some more because his expressions are priceless) because the door opened and in walked their favourite redhead. his hands are full with a simple playpen and (oh, surprise) more blankets.
“will, for the love of god, stop bringing me blankets!” jay groaned, holding his arms out to grab them but will threw them at his face instead. “i have a closet full of them, dude.”
will rolled his eyes and placed everything else he brought hidden away in the corner. “you know, one day the power will go out or the heater will fail and you’ll be freezing, but you’ll have all my blankets to keep you warm,” he explained his brother with a self-satisfied smirk. “i can’t wait for that day; i will never let you live it down.”
jay mumbled something about will being a drama queen under his breath.
“so, how are you two kids holding up?” will asked, his eyes flickering between the both of them with a cheeky smirk.
jay shrugged his shoulders; honestly, he doesn’t feel as if he’s done much except carry the car seat around everywhere. “so far, so good. it hasn’t been that bad at all.”
will laughed for a solid minute.
“you two are absolutely adorable,” he’s still laughing, “this night is going to be fantastic.”
jay knew will was trying to intentionally freak him out; he knew this. but he also knew, it was absolutely working.
“i am sorry though,” will added, capturing jay’s attention. “i really only came to drop this stuff off. i forgot i had to be at nat’s tonight.”
jay started internally panicking. “what? you’re leaving?”
he noticed hailey smirking at him.
“isn’t nat like a baby doctor or something?” jay rambled nervously. he was beginning to feel slightly terrified at the prospect of caring for a tiny human being; so much could go wrong. “yeah, she is. she can come over too!”
will laughed at his brother’s misery. “sorry, bro. it’s a family thing and it’s christmas eve; we can’t miss it.”
“okay, fine,” he relented against his will. “just keep your phone on you.”
will smirked again. “you’re terrified, aren’t you?”
“absolutely.”
jay was done trying to hide it.
“hailey, you’re in charge,” will called out on his way to the door. “i’m sure it’ll be fine, but call me if you guys need anything! merry christmas!”
and then wills left, and dread started to pool in jay’s gut.
hailey was done feeding baby alvin and was now bouncing the baby against her shoulder (to make sure he burps, she explained). honestly, jay was learning so much.
“want to give it a try?” hailey asked, moving closer to jay and he froze.
he hadn’t held the baby outside of the car seat since they found him and he’s absolutely terrified to.
“come on, you’ll be fine.”
hailey left him with no choice when she transferred the baby into his arms. he nervously mimicked what hailey was previously doing, and prayed he didn’t accidentally break the baby.
“you’re doing great!” hailey encouraged as she cheered adorably. she also pulled out her phone and pointed it in his direction. “sorry, i have to document this. you guys look so cute together.”
jay let her because he couldn’t really stop her (he knew she was taking photos to send to the intelligence unit’s group chat, but they’d been teasing him all day, so who even cares anymore?).
jay finally heard the tell-tale sign of baby alvin’s burp and he felt slightly more relieved. hailey told him to keep doing what he’s doing until alvin falls asleep, and hopefully that would be it for the night (she was definitely wrong, but we’ll get to that later).
as hailey cleaned up her mess in jay’s kitchen, she also checked her phone to see the reactions in their group chat.
cpd assholes
adam ruzek: dilf… not even sorry
vanessa rojas: this is the cutest thing i’ve seen since atwater and the puppies
kim burgess: why does jay’s face look like that. he looks like he’s about to throw up
kevin atwater: more pictures please upton
she was quietly laughing to herself, even more so because jay was too busy to check his phone. it was probably for the best, to be honest. her phone buzzed once more and she saw it was a text from adam, sent to her and jay.
adam ruzek: bad news friends... finally found the mother but she’s deceased. looped in voight and he talked to family services and convinced them to let you guys stay with alvin until the 26th
adam ruzek: merry christmas bitches!!!!
adam ruzek: btw, jay you’d make a really hot dad. love u bro
in the meantime, jay had finally set baby alvin back in his seat as he slept, and checked his phone. “hope you don’t have any christmas plans,” jay began, sending her a small smile, “because it looks like you’re stuck with us.”
🐣
part three coming soon!!
also, “cpd assholes” is their group chat name bc that’s what i came up with at 1:30am, so let me know if you guys have better options 😂
🐣 bonus 🐣
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bilingualfreak · 3 years
Text
Title: Introduce Me
Author:  bilingual freak
Characters:  Harry Styles x Reader
Word Count: 1,162 words
Warnings:  No warnings~
Date Uploaded: 25th November 2020
Author’s Notes: had a dream a few nights ago where Harry was my best friend and he was very protective. Constantly made me laugh and had me listen to his songs all the time.
Bilingualfreak’s Masterlist
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Bzzz, bzzz.
You had chose to ignore it the first time, but your phone buzzed in your back pocket twice more before you realised it may have been an emergency.
“Sorry, please excuse me.” You excuse yourself and stand up, walking away from the table whilst pulling your phone out to check the notifications.
My fucking car broke down. I literally got the car serviced last week and the mechanic said there was nothing wrong with it. I know you’re on a date but could you possibly ditch the poor lad and pick up your best mate of eighteen years? I’ll love you forever.
Y/N, reply to meee.
I’ve also notified my publicist and manager, they’ll be here soon but I’d like it if you came with them?
“Fuck!” You reacted out loud. You purse your lips and mouth sorry to the passerby’s who were staring at you furiously for cursing around their children. You start typing your reply furiously.
Where are you located right now? Send me the address while I figure out this shit here. You’re such a wanker, you know that right? I genuinely like this guy. I haven’t been on a date dressed to the tens in forever and this fella hasn’t got me bored out of my mind.
Harry rarely asked for favours, so it was quite odd that he had messaged you to come alongside his team. There was nothing more annoying than to have this date cut short.
I’m in dire need here! Have I mentioned I’ll love you forever?
You walked back inside the cafe to your date and explain to him that work needed you to come in unexpectedly. “I’m sorry to be rushing off like this. Could we take a rain check? How about lunch next Saturday?”
He stood up and tucked his chair in, “Send me a time and place and I’ll pick you up.”
You lean over and kiss his cheek, feeling his hand on your lower back, “You’re an angel. I’ll give you a call tonight when I get back from work.”
Power walking back to your car wasn’t easy, especially the car being so far away and wearing 5cm platforms. You switch your phone off silent mode and turn it up to the loudest volume to not miss any messages from your best friend.
You dial his number as you stood at the crossing, Harry has been using the same number as he has been since working at the bakery, a number you have burned into your memory.
“Harry, I swear to God you owe me a pair of Gucci loafers. I made up a poor excuse saying that I have a work emergency.” You huffed as you hear him pick up the phone, “I’m coming now. I’ll be about 15minutes, maybe 25 if traffic hits.”
“I love how you put an amount on our friendship, really shows me you care.” He laughed.
“If my mate is making more than six figures a year, and I’ve been through hell and back cause of him? You know damn well I get to put a price on it.” You put him on speaker as you throw your bag into the passengers seat and take off your sweater before getting comfortable behind the wheel.
“I’m joking. You’re me best mate, of course I have to spoil you.” He laughs again, “A nice gentleman has invited me into his home and I am currently feeding my fans pet fish. My publicist is going to be here in a few to get them to sign some forms, I asked her to drop me off at yours, so meet you back there?”
You smile at his goofiness and sigh, “Does make my life a tad easier. See you there? The alarm is on so remember to punch in the code after you enter.”
“Gotcha, see you soon darling.” He made some kissy noises before hanging up.
On the way home, your mind lingered elsewhere. You were surprised that you hadn’t gotten into an accident because you didn’t even know how you got home so fast. You parked your small car a few houses away, as the spaces in front of yours were already taken.
You peered over your shoulder and pressed your car keys, double checking that your Beetle was locked - it was becoming by more frequent to hear of neighbours cars being stolen because they had forgotten to lock their car. Harry looked at you from your front window, with a grin spreading on his face as you held your middle finger up at him.
“Honestly, you make it as if it’s the end of the world. You look lovely by the way.” He pulled you in for a hug and helped you put your sweater on the coat rack by the front door.
He was always the type to wear anything that stood out, and what he was wearing today was no different.
“You’d be angry too if you were on a nice date and I called you away.” You pointed out.
He walked to the kitchen with you not too far behind, “So you want to tell me about this is guy? When will I be meeting him?”
Harry puts on the kettle and grabs two mugs from your cupboard, you coordinate with him and pull out your acrylic box labelled tea from your pantry. You toss him two black tea bags and slid yourself onto the red barstool. It became apparent to you that Harry was spending way too much time at your home, he was pacing about and knew where everything was placed. You couldn’t blame him though. With this pandemic, some parts of his world tour had to be cancelled and the poor artistic fellow had already written over 50 songs in the last two months alone. He hated being cooped up in one place so he usually came over whenever he pleased, especially because you had given him his own key.
“Nuh-uh, I am not introducing you two yet. I know how attached to get with my partners. I know you’re still in contact with Bobby.” You replied.
“The dude is genuinely amazing and so friendly! I just don’t-“
You cut him off, “Harry, you’re supposed to be my best friend! No mingling with the exes!”
“Alright, alright.” Harry laughs as he drinks his tea.
“Wanna tell me how you ended up in a fans bedroom feeding her pet fish? Your fans are gonna go ballistic.” You shook your head as you chuckle, imagining the headlines that would come out in a few hours. “Such a Harry thing to do.”
“She wasn’t home, only her pops. So I left her a nice note.” Harry shrugged his shoulders and continued sipping his tea, “Y/N, are you really not introducing me to this guy? I’mma keep bugging you until you do.”
You throw your hand in the air in exasperation, “God, you’re so persistent Harry! It’s only been three bloody dates.”
It’s a wonder how you’re still friends with him when he is so annoying.
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starrynite7114 · 4 years
Text
things you never knew: three
A/N: Sorry this took so long! I kept writing and writing, and here we are with 5000 something words. The story is definitely starting a little slow, so many secrets and questions popping up, but I promise, things are going to pick up soon.
If you guys ever want to discuss the story, please feel free! I love questions! <3 
I also added new characters on the characters post, please check it out!
Also, requests are still open if you would like to make a request! 
Thank you all for the recent follows and likes, I really appreciate all the love!
TYNK: Characters one : two
Masterlist
Request list
tagged list: @justahopelessssromantic​​ : @ifoundmyhappythought​​ : @carlaangel86​​ : @marvelmaree​​ : @woahitslucyylu​​ : @encounterthepast​​ : @enamoured-x​​ : @whyisgmora​​ : @briana-mishell24​​ : @bribri-82​​ : @briannab1234​​ : @chibsytelford​​ : @agirllovespasta​​ : @twistnet​​ : @everyhowlmarksthedead​​ : @trulysuccubus​​ : @jadert15​​ : @sammskellington​​ : @cind-in-real-life​​ : @mheart27​​ : @claytoncardenasbabymama​​ : @sadeyesgf​​ : @thickemadame​​ : @summertimesadnesswithadashofsass​​ : @gemini0410​​ : @robbosugdens​​ : @elcococruz​​ : @samcrobae​​ : @sesamepancakes​ : @iambabyharry : @blackmissfrizzle​ 
If you would like to be added to this specific tag list or everything tag list, let me know! <3
Also, credit to original GIF creator!
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“Please Theo, I just want to go home.” Ailee sobbed, as she held her stomach, on her knees, head against the concrete. 
“You have no home.” Theo spat out venomously. “How can you be the best at Maquina if you’re going to long for home? Personal relationships exhibit weakness, they give your enemies a target.” He looked at the four men that surrounded Ailee. “Again.” 
The four men approached Ailee one at a time, Ailee was able to defend herself, and take a few down. That was until there were multiple people who attacked her, then Ailee was back on her knees, holding her stomach once again. She coughed, blood coming out of her mouth, her whole body was aching.
“This is your home till I see fit, till you’re prepared to be the best in Maquina.” Theo stated. “Who do you want to go back to? Angel Reyes?” Theo chuckled, shaking his head. “He is a waste of space my darling sister, you have no future in Santo Padre with him. You have romanticized this life with the Reyes’, but let’s be honest, you don’t fit in that life. You belong to this world, to keep the balance of power as your uncle fondly tells you.” Theo scoffed. “We can take over the world Ailee, we can have the governments of this world pleading to have us on their side, to have us manufacturing weapons of mass destruction for them. Do you not want that for me? For me to be able to bring back honor to my family’s name?”
Ailee did want to help her older brother out, but this was insane. She wasn’t cut out of this, she didn’t want to be a monster. 
“What did I tell you?” 
Ailee remained mum, not saying anything to Theo. She didn’t want to be here. This was the last place she wanted to be. She was only supposed to be here for a few weeks, but when she arrived, Theo took her passport and her cell phone. She couldn’t even contact John and Vince and it frightened her, but she didn’t let it show. Theo pounced on fear, and she tried her best to not be afraid.
“What did I tell you?!” He yelled out, hitting her with the stick he held in his hand. She fell to the ground, her forearm holding her up as best as she could.
“Fear is a concept for the weak. You have to face your fears in order to become the best.” She repeated his mantra in a monotone voice, three months of pain and suffering sinking in. She terribly missed Angel. Her saving grace, her fucking Angel. Whenever she thought about killing herself, ending this miserable life, she thought of Angel. His stupid jokes. His stupid smile. His warmth. The way he would hold her whenever she had a hard day at the academy. The way he would tell her that everything was going to be okay when a thunderstorm frightened her. The way he would make silly faces at her while she was eating dinner with his family, her family.
She fucking missed him.
He was the light at the end of her tunnel. 
If she focused on that, she could survive this fucking hell. 
“I’ve done everything I can for you since we were children, Grace. I’ve always taken care of you, made sure you were okay, read you bedtime stories, it was all me. When you were here, you were free from the scrutiny and hardships your parents put you through. All I’m asking is for you to give this training your all, to beat John and Vince.” Theo squatted down in front of her, lifting her chin up. He slapped her, blood spurting out of her mouth. She couldn’t even cry, the tears only further aggravated him. “I’m doing this because I love you.” He took his phone out, a live-stream of Angel at the scrapyard was on his screen. “You don’t play by my rules and I’ll kill him. See, as I’ve said, personal relationships are a cause of weakness.”
Ailee felt her tears welling up again. She looked down, taking a deep breath. She stood up, and looked up at the four men before her. Theo saw the way her face hardened, smirking at the victory he achieved.
“Again.”
=============
Creeper watched Ailee as she unloaded her SUV. He heard the grand opening was in three days and he wanted to check on his younger cousin. He’s given her space since her release from jail, but like Angel said, she was an adult, she had to handle adult conversations. But somehow he knew that wasn’t the issue. 
“Are you just going to stand there or are you at least going to help me?” Ailee’s question broke him out of his trance, giving her a sheepish smile. 
“I got you.” He took off his gloves, picking up a box from her trunk. Walking inside, he was surprised to see a few people inside working, they looked at him, greeting him so uniformly it was creepy. 
Ailee walked in behind him, raising an eyebrow as to why Creeper stopped.
“Creep, why the hell are you blocking the way?” Ailee questioned.
“Didn’t know where to bring it.” He turned to her. 
“Counter.” She nodded her head forward.
They both placed the boxes on the counter and went back outside. Ailee sat at the trunk of her car, watching her cousin slightly pace in front of her. Creeper was her cousin from her father’s side. His mother was Jin and William’s half sister. She was the middle child in between them. They got on well and Creeper has been a part of her life since she was younger. Truth be told, he was one of the few members of her dad’s side she was fond of. He was a good dude and was loyal to a tee. He was always so kind to her. Whenever she would get in trouble with her parents, she would sneak over to his house which was just a house over and let him distract her with stupid shit he would do.
He also taught her how to box to release pent up aggression she had. Ailee was taught to keep her feelings to herself, to not show your emotions as it was a sign of weakness. Due to this, when she would become angry, frustrated, sad, whatever negative emotion, she was never truly able to show it. Instead of letting her brood, he would take her out, taking Angel along and letting her box. Sure, maybe him and Angel were punching bags along with other people at the gym, but Ailee needed it. 
“How are you?” Creeper questioned. 
“Good, just busy with setting up the shop. How are you?” Ailee began to slouch, and she immediately corrected her posture, feeling the smack of the stick one of her trainers used to carry around whenever she would slouch. 
“Slouching is a sign of laziness, improper posture is not allowed for an agent of your caliber. Fix it, it will help you in life later on considering all the injuries you have sustained.” 
Prim and proper, that’s how they were supposed to be. Always clean shaven, hair tied in a ponytail, no messiness. It was a dress code, which was comical to Ailee, but she figured there had to be a code somewhere.  
“We have a run tomorrow. I just wanted to check on you. I know we’re far from forgiven, but you have to know that we tried to see you multiple times.”
Ailee’s eyebrows furrowed. She kept hearing that, they tried to see her yet it never happened. “I doubt that. Felipe saw me, so did Jin and Theo.”
“Theo? Your psycho half brother?” 
Ailee nodded her head tensely, recalling how her brother visited her a few times and remembering how uncomfortable and irritating it was. He wasn’t allowed on American soil, yet, he risked it to see her. It was idiotic and there were so many times she wished he was caught. For some reason, he was always evading the authorities. He was only on their radar if he stepped foot on US soil, he technically didn’t have a warrant on him since he hasn’t done anything to catch people’s attention. Selling weapons to lowly Eastern European countries didn’t really alarm government officials. Who didn’t sell weapons to militant groups? When he starts having bigger clients then that’s when the problem arises. But with him seemingly using a rebel group too close to the border, that’s when things changed. Rebel groups against the cartel were unpredictable, their loyalty was fluid, much like the governing governments of the world. If you fit their purpose, then they were loyal to you. 
“Yes, and before you ask, I don’t know how he got to American soil, he just did.” Ailee shrugged. “Look, I think we can all just move on, whether or not you attempted to visit me or not, it’s no longer my concern. I’ll stand clear from you all and you stand clear from me.”
“You know we can’t do that, Angel wouldn’t agree to that.” Creeper knew how much Angel was itching to confront Ailee. From what he heard, he already did and he met her boyfriend, Alexander. He was almost sure that information was incorrect and Angel was just being dramatic. Any man around Ailee was not accepted by Angel. 
“Well tough shit, Angel doesn’t really have a choice does he?” Ailee scoffed. “It’s my only request primo, please respect it.” She knew this was an awful request, but she could keep tabs on the Mayans without actually being involved with them. There was too much history and hurt to actually work with them. Ailee wasn’t willing to face that demon, facing that would cause things to resurface she long buried.
“Angel isn’t going to give up on you. It’s been five years, that’s enough time to get past grievances.” Creeper knew it wasn’t but Ailee blocked them off, how could she be angry at that?
“Let me ask you something, if you took the fall for the MC and they never visited you, would you welcome them with open arms?”
“Of course, there must have been a reason why they didn’t and we did try to visit you, you shut us down.”
“I didn’t have a ‘no-visit’ list. If those other people were able to visit me, then how were you not able to do so?”
“I don’t know Lee! You fucking tell me!” Creeper was frustrated. It was like going around in circles with Ailee. “We tried, we really did, but you made it very apparent that you didn’t want to speak to us.”
“Look, there’s no point in arguing about things. Like I’ve said, let's all move on.”
“Lee, you were never this heartless. I get it, you’re upset because you feel like we’ve abandoned you, but I can guarantee you we didn’t. We’re family.” Creeper knew Ailee could hold a grudge, but this was different. She couldn’t hold this against them all. 
“Family is such a strange concept. One abandoned me and the other uses me as a weapon to serve a purpose that is a joke to be honest.” Ailee scoffed. “Look, again, my stance is quite firm. Let’s all be cordial, but otherwise, I want nothing to do with any of you.” 
Before Creeper could reply, a voice interrupted them.
“Heads up.” 
He looked to where the voice came from and it was Alex, Ailee’s childhood friend. What surprised him was the little girl, five years old at most running towards Ailee. He watched as Ailee jumped out of the car and opened her arms for the young girl.
“Baby!” Ailee kissed her cheek, lifting her up. “This is Tio Creeper, this is my daughter, Melody.”
Creeper tried his best for his mouth not to drop open, the shock of being introduced to Ailee’s daughter shook him. The little girl looked just like Ailee, but she didn’t have Ailee’s hazel eyes, she had brown eyes, much like Angel. He couldn’t believe this, Ailee couldn’t have had a child while she was in jail. Money talked, he knew that, but he doubted that Ailee would have a kid with Alexander while she was in jail. 
Nothing was making sense. 
He noticed the hearing aid then, eyeing Melody curiously. “She can hear?”
“Yes, of course she can. She’s just more comfortable with signing still because she thinks her voice is weird.” Ailee kissed the implant on her baby’s forehead. “She’s fine. Baby, come on, say hello, Tio Creeper would love to hear your voice.”
“Hello,” Creeper did note that her voice didn’t sound normal, but she was adorable. She hid her face at the crook of Ailee’s neck. 
Creeper noticed Alexander appear behind Ailee, the little girl reaching for him. 
“I got you babe,” he picked her up, kissing Ailee at the top of her head. “Creep, nice to see you.”
“You too man, didn’t know you were allowed outside of Europe.” He knew the business the Leon’s had. Regardless of their real estate venture, cocaine still made their world go around. 
“Helps to be attached to this one.” He nodded his head towards Ailee. “I’ll leave you two.”
“It’s fine, Creeper was just leaving.” 
“Does Angel know you have a daughter?” Creeper knew those brown eyes anywhere, he’s been brothers with the man for years and known him before that due to Ailee. 
“Why would he need to know?” Ailee gave him a look, but he could tell that she wasn’t comfortable, that being back in Santo Padre was biting her on the ass.
No one could hide anything in Santo Padre, especially not from the Mayans.
“Well for one, that kid looks like Angel.” 
“She isn’t Angel’s kid, she’s my kid.” Ailee countered. “Why does she have to be Angel’s kid if she’s my kid?”
“So she isn’t your actual kid?” Creeper was beyond confused. He had a hunch that Ailee was never inside, it was all but confirmed for him. Jin would never have let Ailee remain in jail. Hell, her brothers would have never let her remain in jail. How could he be so naive to think they would do so? He knew Ailee was upset, but there was no way she would have them in a ‘no-visit’ list.
“That’s none of your business. She’s my child. There are plenty of people with brown eyes primo, stay away, this is your only warning.” Ailee took her child inside, Alexander following after her. 
He had to do some digging, but he was going to need some help. Taking his phone out from inside his kute, he dialed the number that he knew could help him.
“You busy?” 
Melody looked nothing like Alex. She was Angel’s kid and he was going to get to the bottom of this.
=============
Olivia walked out of her apartment, frowning when she saw Kevin across the street. She unlocked her car and watched as Kevin walked over to her. 
“EZ hasn’t been answering my calls.” Kevin informed her.
“And this concerns me why?”
“Don’t be difficult Liv, he needs to check in with me, you know this.” Kevin sighed. “I’m still trying to figure out how you managed to get this deal for him.”
“I know people.” Olivia shrugged. Kevin was such a lowly agent, he could never know of the existence of Maquina. Hell, only high ranking officers knew of their existence and even then, it was a hand selected few who knew of their existence. A shadow organization that helped the balance of power in various regions of the world.
“You must know high ranking people.” Kevin always tried to pry on what Olivia did for a living. He knew she headed an IT department for some company, but Olivia always kept him within arms length. Much like EZ, he’s known Olivia too yet, she was very hesitant to be alone with him. “Who do you know?”
“Doesn’t matter Kevin, if you nail Galindo, it’s beneficial for your career and keeps EZ away from jail.” She placed her things inside her car, turning to face Kevin. “I don’t see why there is a need for you to know who my connections are.”
“What happens to EZ when he serves his purpose?”
“Whatever he wants.” Olivia didn’t understand his question. EZ could do whatever he wants. “He could just tell the MC that this wasn’t the life for him and go from there.”
“You’re not worried he’s going to go back to Emily?” Kevin knew that Olivia had feelings for EZ. Only EZ didn’t seem to know she had feelings for him. 
“That’s none of my concern. EZ is a big boy, he can do whatever he pleases.” Olivia slammed the door to the back passenger. 
“After everything you’ve done for him, don’t you want him to at least return the favor?”
“Kevin, I didn’t do this so EZ could pay me back. He’s my best friend, I’m glad I was able to,” she sighed. “I want to help him. He can get his second chance in life, he’s far too brilliant to rot in prison.”
“Just tell him to call me.”
“Sure will.”
She watched as Kevin made his way back to his vehicle. She slid in her car, locking it immediately out of habit. She’s had a few close calls and would rather be safe. 
Olivia wasn’t going to lie. She wondered if EZ would go back to Emily once Miguel was in jail. He most likely would.
His first love.
Love of his life.
Olivia chuckled, shaking her head. She gave those hopes long ago. She deserved better than waiting for someone who would never see her. 
“Once this is done, you should come back to Spain.” She recalled Jin telling her. “Your talent is wasting away in Santo Padre. Ezekiel will be safe and can start over, you’ve given up so much for Ezekiel. It’s time to move on.”
Jin was right. It was time for Olivia to move on. She deserved a happy ending as well.
And maybe it was with Nathan, Alexander’s younger brother.
Olivia parked behind Carniceria Reyes, turning her car off and sliding out. She wanted to stop by before she spent the rest of her day at the coffee shop.
She knew EZ would be there.
And like she predicted, he was there with his father. 
“Mija, you’re here.” Felipe fondly greeted her.
“Hey pops.” Felipe refused to acknowledge her whenever she called him Mr. Reyes. He said they were family and she agreed. Her real family was basically non-existent. The family that she recognized 
“Hey Liv,” EZ greeted Olivia, giving her a quick hug. 
“Kevin came to see me.” 
EZ frowned. “Why?”
“You’ve been ignoring him, he wanted you to call him.”
Before EZ could reply, he heard a motorcycle making its way down. He watched as Angel stopped in front of the Carniceria.
“I’m going to tell Kevin to stop approaching you.” EZ didn’t feel comfortable involving Olivia in this whole ordeal. He told Kevin time and time again that his point of contact with him would be his father, not Oliva. He knew of the crush that Kevin harbored for Olivia ever since they were children, but Olivia was off-limits, Kevin knew that, he made sure of it. 
“EZ, it’s fine, he just wanted to make sure things were okay.”
“Let me rephrase that, I don’t want him talking to you. He’s putting you in danger.”
“Be reasonable, he’s hardly doing that.” Olivia wanted to tell him that her life was always on the line. That whenever she went to Europe, it might have been the last time she would see EZ when she visited him. Sure, she wasn’t a field agent, but the work she did for Maquina was immensely valuable. Taking her out of the picture would greatly blind Maquina.
Felipe had to hold back a chuckle as he saw how bent over Ezekiel was about Kevin approaching Olivia. Whenever they would have family parties and Olivia attended, Kevin was always far away since Ezekiel did not like how much Kevin tried to impress her. Olivia never seemed to mind Kevin’s presence, which further irritated Ezekiel.
“He’s staying away from you, that’s that.” EZ walked out to meet with Angel. 
Olivia looked at Felipe and sighed. “I’ll just go and say hi to Angel.” She walked out, Angel whistling as she did. 
“Knew there was a reason God wanted me to come to the carniceria.” Their flirty banter was always fun, but Olivia knew it was nothing, hell it was nothing to her and everyone knew who Angel belonged to.  
“Shut up Angel.” EZ put on his helmet. 
Olivia laughed. “Keep your brother safe.”
“Yes mom,” Angel winked at her. “You know I got him.” 
“You coming to give me a hug?” EZ opened his arms. 
Olivia shook her head and hugged him. She loved hugging EZ. It always brought her comfort when she was young and there was no difference now. When she first picked him up from prison, it was such a satisfying feeling. She hugged him tightly and he ended up sleeping over her place that night, catching him up on all the pop culture things that she could do in one night. Ever since then, EZ slept over often and they would just watch endless television shows. 
Currently they were watching Stranger Things, almost caught up with the series. 
“Be safe.” She kissed his cheek.
“Of course, we have to finish Stranger Things.” He smirked. 
She watched as the two brothers drove away. Looking across the street, she saw Alexander outside, shaking his head. The smirk on his face made her chuckle. Alexander was the older brother she never wanted, but she was truly glad to have him in her life. Crossing the street, she made her way towards Alexander, shaking her head. 
“Knew you couldn’t stay away.” 
“You know me, wherever she goes, I go.” Alexander shrugged. “Nathaniel will be disappointed to know you’re around Ezekiel again.”
“Nathaniel isn’t my boyfriend and even if he always understood my relationship with EZ.” Olivia walked in the cafe, a smile immediately spreading across her face. “Melly!” She fondly called out to Melody,
Melody turned around, smiling as her eyes landed on Auntie Olivia. She ran up to her and Olivia caught her, lifting her up in her arms. “Look at you, you’re so big now.” She kissed her cheek. “Mommy is going to be so much nicer now cause you’re here.”
“Haha,” Ailee shook her head. “Liv, did you get the tickets for the Safari Park?”
“Yes, I emailed them to Sierra last night.” Olivia was pretty sure she did, especially since Ailee wouldn’t stop bothering her about it.
“Sierra did get it and I emailed it to both of these difficult people.” Sierra Ayala, Alexander’s assistant and right hand woman replied as she walked towards them. “If you two actually checked your emails, this wouldn’t be an issue.” 
“You’re the best Sierra.” Ailee bowed to her. “We’re all going right?”
“Yes, I figured it would be nice to give everyone a break.” Olivia placed Melody back on the ground. “We can get an AirBNB there and enjoy a few days off after the opening?” 
“Sure, that sounds like a plan.” Alexander agreed. “Sierra, mind booking it for us?”
“It’s what you pay me for.” Sierra teased. “Would you mind if I skip out? I have friends and family in Los Angeles I would like to visit.”
“Sierra, why didn’t you say so? Alexander can handle his vices for the next week. Take the time off, spend time with family.” Ailee suggested. “I can have one of the trainees tend to Alex’s needs.”
Sierra looked apprehensive with Ailee’s suggestion. She’s been on vacation before, but the longest she had been away from Alex was about a week and half before she came back. She was antsy. Alexander was an adult and could handle himself, but she also knew how disorganized Alex was, how terrible he was at checking his calendar. Even though she got a temp while she was gone, she knew how unbearable Alex could be. 
“I see that look, I’ll be fine.” Alex promised her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “I know I seem helpless, but I promise I’m not. How much trouble can I get with going to the zoo?” 
Ailee, Olivia and Sierra gave Alexander a look. Alexander rolled his eyes and took Melody. “Come on Melly, we’re not appreciated here.” He walked away, leaving the three women laughing. 
“Is everything in place for Alexander to take over or is Nathaniel and Victor making noise?” Ailee questioned Sierra as they all took a seat around the table.
Sierra placed a tablet in front of Ailee. “Nathaniel doesn’t care much for the illegal side of the business, he however wants to manage the real estate side. Victor, well, you know he has his own business.”
“Matchmaking is hardly a business.” Olivia chuckled. 
“It’s working for him.” Sierra shrugged. “Alexander is poised to take over, but Nathaniel switches his mind every once in a while. Though, it doesn’t seem that their father would hand the business to Nate anyway.” 
“Why, Nate is competent enough.” Olivia had a soft spot for Nate. He was her first boyfriend, the man who made her see a life away from EZ, but they broke up a year ago since Olivia didn’t want to make the move to Spain as he had been requesting.
“Nate also acts on impulse and is not very business minded. He doesn’t think of the long run and thinks of the short run.” Ailee knew that handing Nate the business wouldn’t benefit the Leon’s especially since he wanted to break ties with Maquina, believing they were limiting their potential. “And he wouldn’t keep the relationship with Maquina, which, you know, to each their own.”
“He thinks that they would be fine without Maquina’s protection.” Sierra confirmed Ailee’s words.
“Without our protection, they would be indicted.” Olivia frowned. She knew Nate always just thought that everything was so simple and Olivia couldn’t blame him. Everything was handed to him, whatever he wanted, his parents gave to him. He thought that they were untouchable, that this deal was for Maquina’s benefit, but that was hardly ever the case. 
Maquina swept in before a government agency could indict a certain crime organization, offer them immunity and the ability to continue their operations with no government interference, as long as they remained the most powerful organization in their area, keeping the balance of power and unabling any other organization to take over. It seemed simple, but it was complex. 
It didn’t always work out.
There were eastern european countries that had too many players in the game to truly fully control it, but Maquina had some strongholds in Poland and Romania. Otherwise, every other country was still free for all.
Maquina’s purpose was so fluid. On one hand they were used to assassinate government officials to install a new power. Then other times, they were implanted to empower rebel groups to overthrow out of control regimes. There truly was no black and white in this world, it was whoever benefited who. 
But the Leon’s had a stronghold in West Germany, Spain, and Italy for the last thirty years. With Alexander taking over, they expected for it to continue, even if they were trying to become legit, which was a hoax. 
No one ever went “legit”. Illegal work was always so much more beneficial. 
=============
Creeper parked his motorcycle under the shaded area of the yard, right beside his Hank’s motorcycle. His eyes landed on Vince, as he ate chips atop the picnic table. He knew that Vince was in town as well, which was never a good thing. Two Maquina agents in one place was far too many. It meant that they were implementing a program here, which meant that something or someone has piqued their interest. 
“Creep, this is a sudden phone call.” Vince finished off his chips, crumpling it and making it in the trashcan a few feet away from the picnic table. 
“Something isn’t adding up.” Creeper didn’t want to beat around the bush. Ailee was his younger cousin that he always protected. It killed him to not be able to see her while she faced this jail sentence. He didn’t know how to help her and all he wanted to do was just that. 
“Numbers wise? I don’t do book keeping, you know this.” Vince knew why Creeper called him over. Maybe he was laying devil’s advocate, but he didn’t give a fuck. It was time the Mayans found out what was going on. He was never onboard about keeping them in the dark about Ailee, especially not Angel. 
“Your sister seems haunted.”
“She was in jail for five years.” 
“You know what I mean, that’s not jail.” Creeper sat beside Vince. “Come on, we were all close once. It killed me knowing she was in there. She was the little sister I never had. Be truthful with me, you know you could trust me.”
Vince sighed. He retrieved the folder he was sitting on, handing it over to Creeper. “All the information you want, you need, is in that folder. John and I figured that it would be best for us to be as honest as possible.” John thought it was best to set up life for Ailee after Maquina. Once they took care of Theo, both brothers wanted her away from Maquina. What better place to stay than her safe haven?
“She has a kid?” Creeper questioned.
“Melody is here?” Vince was surprised that his niece was in town, but he figured Alex brought her along. Melody only could be apart from her mother for so long. 
“Is she Angel’s?”
“No, Ailee adopted her from an orphanage in Europe.” Vince explained. He understood Creeper’s confusion, the kid did look like a mixture of Ailee and Angel. But as far as he knew, the kid was adopted. Ailee brought Melody home one day, explaining she was from an orphanage in Spain. “Not Reyes’ kid.”
Creeper eyed him, but ultimately chose to move on. 
“Your sister wasn’t in jail was she?”
“I’ll be back with John later tonight, might want to share that with your brethren.” Vince got off the table, making his way over to his car.
“We have a run later.”
“Tomorrow then.” 
“Vince, why is Maquina setting shop in Santo Padre?”
Vince chuckled. “Why else would we set up shop? There’s a threat that has to be controlled.”
“Galindo?”
“We have bigger cartel’s to worry about before we worry about the Galindo cartel.”
“Who is it?”
“We don’t know yet, but we’ll keep you all updated.” Vince unlocked his car.
Creeper watched as Vince’s car disappeared, sighing. He opened the folder and his hunched was confirmed. Ailee’s release date stated December 14, 2014. Closing the folder, he made his way inside the clubhouse.
“She was never in jail.” Creeper threw the folder down at the table where Angel, Bishop and Taza were sitting. 
“The fuck you mean?” Angel questioned. 
“Vince dropped off all those records right now. You guys saw him.” Creeper sat beside Angel. “She was in jail for that initial two weeks, but otherwise, no other fucking records.”
“That’s fucking impossible.” Bishop had to play charade. He knew Ailee wasn’t in jail, he didn’t make a deal with her uncle for no reason. “Your father saw her.”
“That was during her first two weeks.” Angel looked at the records and she was booked in the jail, her release date was what fucked him up. “It says her release date was December 14, 2014.” 
“Exactly. Ailee was arrested around Thanksgiving when we had that run to Vegas. She was released two weeks later.” Creeper knew something was off. Ailee didn’t even look like she had a hair touched on her head. She looked hardened as if she was in jail, but it wasn’t for survival. 
“Jin most likely bailed her out, using his connections.” Creeper, Taza, Hank and Bishop knew what Maquina was, the rest of the members didn’t, not even Angel. They knew that Jin was a powerful man, but they just had their guesses as to why he was so powerful. Creeper knew of Maquina, the details, not as much, but he knew not to fuck with them. They could make anyone disappear. One call, and it was done.  
“She made a deal.” Angel looked through the paperwork in front of him. It was her release forms. “Jin bailed her out, this is his signature.”
“Well if she made a deal, what could it possibly be?”
It dawned on Angel that whatever business Ailee’s family was involved in, it wasn’t exactly safe. He remembered when they were younger, how Ailee was always in physical activities that involved fighting. Her parents were very adamant that she learned how to defend herself, get good grades and not interact with many people. She was always in her books, books that kids her age at that time shouldn’t be reading. Angel always thought that her parents were strict and rarely let their kids have any fun. Ailee was a very affectionate child, but she was always rejected by her parents. The only time she could enjoy any affection or praise were from his own parents. It was weird how his parents seemed to understand Ailee’s hardship along with her brothers. 
Ailee always said that she didn’t want to get in the family business, it cost your soul, she had told him. But it seemed like that’s what happened.
“It’s her soul. She exchanged her soul for freedom.”
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saharamae21 · 4 years
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Vapor (Part 16)
Another short update before bed! I had to get it out there because I’ve been dying to get to this point of Vapor. PLEASE let me know what you think!
Work count: 1.5K
Warnings: Language, mentions of kidnapping and violence.
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We drove back to the chateau in silence. None of us wanted to address what had happened. None of us wanted to talk about how we failed JJ. I let out a sigh as I got out of the van. I walked quickly into the guest bedroom and grabbed my stuff. I felt Kiara walk in after me and grab my wrist. She knew I was bailing. She knew I was looking for a way out of all of this.
“A, what are you planning?” she asked. She looked at me with concern. She knew my head wasn’t in a good place right now. I knew she was just worried for me, especially after the traumatic situation this afternoon.
“I just need a few days off,” I muttered. “I’ll come back this time, I just feel like JJ won’t want to see me for a while.”
“Adelaide,” she said firmly.
“I just can’t be here right now!” I yelled. My breathing felt heavier as I turned to look at her, tears in my eyes. I knew that I was spewing bullshit, but how could I face JJ right now. How could I look him in the eyes knowing that I hurt him, that I failed him. I grabbed my bag and brushed past her. I walked out to my car and got in. I threw my stuff in the backseat and drove away. After everything that happen today, my anxiety was at a whole new level. I pulled into the beach parking lot and got out. If I went home like this my parents would just worry.
I got out of my car and sat in the sand, pulling out my vape in order to chill out for a while. The feeling of nicotine running through my veins was almost enough to distract me from today’s events. The dependency I had on my highs were almost an issue at this point. Any chance I got, I was using them to ease the anxiety I felt. I was definitely self medicating. I laid back, trying to block the sun with my arms. I squeezed my eyes closed and replayed JJ’s words in my head. I’m not the kind of person who lets their friends get hurt for them! He was right. JJ was loyal and caring. He wanted to protect those close to him. I was the opposite. I hurt everyone I get close to. I let others fight my battles and watch as they suffer because of me. I hated who I was.
The hours passed quickly while I laid in the sand. I didn’t even notice the sun had gone down by the time I sat up. The moon was glowing a bit and I bet my parents were winding down and going to bed. The likelihood of running into them were fairly slim now. I walked back to my car, when I felt as if someone was watching me. I heard a family voice from behind me.
“Where are your fellow thieves?” Barry. I turned to see his face. He looked at me with a smirk as if he knew something I didn’t. It looked almost like he was conspiring a plan inside of his head. “Cat’s got your tongue, princess? I asked you a question. Where are your friends?”
“Not here,” I said. Now was the time to be brave. Now was the time to protect them. I couldn’t fail them anymore than I already had.
“Good,” Rafe’s voice said from behind me. Before I could even turn around, I felt something crash against the back of my head. I fell to the ground and felt someone kick my side, knocking me onto my back. My vision was blurring and as my eyes fluttered closed, I looked up and saw their evil faces staring down at me.
JJ’s POV
I rushed over to Addie’s house and set the telescope down in the grass. I tried to throw rocks at her window in order to get her attention. The light was off though and no one came forth. Was she ignoring me? Or was she not home at all? I continued to throw them, hoping my persistence was enough to make her give in and talk to me.
“Dude, stop. She’s not here,” I heard a voice saw from the window over. I knew that was Sydney’s room, but I didn’t think she would be able to notice the small pebbles. I asked her where Addie was. I felt a bad feeling well up in the pit of my stomach. If something happened to her, it was my fault. I shouldn’t have left her alone just because I was upset. I promised her that I would protect her no matter what. “She hasn’t been home for a while. We thought she was with you.”
I sighed and asked if she could bring the telescope inside. I needed to find her. I walked around the entire town, looking for her. I checked all of her favorite spots, except the beach. When I finally made it there, I spotted her car. I felt a sense of relief wash over me as I ran over to it. There was no one inside, but that meant she couldn’t be too far. I jogged down to the ocean and walked up and down, looking for any sign of her, but there was nothing. I called out her name frantically as I searched near the water. She wouldn’t have… I glanced out over the huge ocean as horrible thoughts raced through my head. I splashed through the water, searching for her. What if she went out there and just decided she’s had enough… What if she was dead? What if this was all my fault? I pulled myself out of the water and collapsed to my knees, thinking the worst possible thoughts.
“Hey Maybank,” a sinister voice rang out. I looked up to see Rafe standing not too far from me. “What’s the matter? Looking for someone?”
My blood ran cold as he smirked at me. I ran forward and grabbed his polo shirt. I shook him and demanded him to tell me where she was. All he did was laugh though. I felt my fist collide with his face and let him drop to the ground.
“Careful JJ. Just remember anything you do to me, I can do worse to Adelaide,” he tossed me his cell phone. There on the screen was pictures of Addie tied to a chair. Her head was hanging as if she was unconscious. I kicked him hard and threw his phone into the sand. I demanded him to tell me where she was. I demanded to know why he had taken her. I was losing my fucking mind. “Can’t tell you that, but I’ll be sure to tell her that you said hi. Hopefully she won’t be too drugged out and can actually process it. Maybe you can answer something for me though. Whose bright idea was it to steal from a drug dealer? I think I already know the answer though. Let’s just hope that that doesn’t cost Adelaide her life.”
It took all my restraint to not beat him to a pulp. Instead I just sank to my knees and slammed my fists into the sand. For the second time, Addie was taken because I failed to keep an eye on her. If I hadn’t let my anger get in the way, she would be here in my arms right now. This was all because I had to let my emotions get to me…
Adelaide’s POV
I woke up with a splitting headache. I tried to reach up, but my arms were bound to the chair. Everything seemed all too familiar. I was bound the exact same way as I had been years ago. The scenery was different though. Instead of the neatly decorated house, I was in some sort of storage container. The walls were metal and there were no windows. The room was dark, yet I could still see somehow. My vision was still blurry from the impact of whatever the object was and my head colliding.
“Where am I?” I called out. It echoed back at me. “JJ!”
“He’s not coming sweetheart,” Barry’s voice rang out. It echoed like a ghost against the metal walls. He walked circles around the chair I was in. He stared at me before yelling. He asked me where his money was and I told him I didn’t know. I told him that I didn’t have it and he told me he already knew that. He flicked my arm a little bit and it took me a second to process what was going on. He then flicked a needle and looked at me. “Sorry sweetheart, if you aren’t going to be any help to me, we at least need to keep ya quiet.” I felt the needle pierce my skin. I tried to squirm as he injected me with some substance. He told me to stop moving so much and held my arm tightly. I cried for him to stop, but it was too late. The room around me spun and my head fell backwards as visions of my past began to dance around my mind. Whatever drug he had given me, was certainly doing exactly what he wanted it to do.
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Tag list : @thebendslikebendover @justcallmesams @jellyfishbeansontoast @prejudic3 @jjtheangel @jiaraendgame @obxmxybxnk @waywardbarbie @talksoprettyjjx @bb-tings @agirlwholovescoffee-blog @thoughtsofthestars @outerbankslut @potterheadhollander @baby-pogue @obxlife @queenieloveswriting @rockyyc77 @beth-winchester21 @outerbongs @sunwardsss @ilovejjmaybank @kaelyn-lobrutto24 @jjmaybankwildtimes @canibeoneofthepogues @raekenliar @jjpogueprincess @casper17 @waywardbabie @iateamoth
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gale-dragon-writer · 3 years
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Dupain-Cheng Twins: Mari & Max A/U Moments. The Comment that Lila Shouldn't have Heard.
(Note, Lila doen’t know and hasn’t been told that Marinette and Max are bio-twins)
Alix, Kim, Nino, and the Dupain-Cheng Twins decided to spend have a little picnic together at the Paris Botanical Gardens this Saturday like they use to when they were little. They planned this a week in advance and made sure that each of their families knew about this outing. Nino had a little problem with letting Alya know that he couldn’t go on any dates this Saturday but promised to make it up to her the next day.
“Sometimes, I think Alya has selective hearing,” Alix commented when Nino told them that what he had to go through to make sure he had today free.
That was when Kim added, “Yeah, you sure can pick 'em, right Nino,” as he nudged the red capped teen next to him. Causing Marinette to giggle and Max to roll his eyes in amusement.
The older Dupain-Cheng Twin happily carried a decent sized picnic basket as the younger carried the oversized blanket. Nino brought the music with his mp3 and wireless speakers. Alix brought all the drinks in a decent sized cooler. Kim brought the butterfly lures for them to use to attract the butterflies that called the botanical gardens their home. When they arrived they paid the entrance fee for their group, after the staff made sure that the lures were safe, and they got their stamps to prove that they paid the fee, entered without a problem. They were just happy to be away from the drama of school and enjoy the peaceful scenery.
They found their usual spot away that they’ve always used for their little gatherings. It was a little off from the main path but it had a few security cameras to ensure that the plant and critter lives remain undisturbed. Once they arrived, they started setting up their picnic. “Hey sis, can you help with the blanket?” Max asked his older twin sister as he and Kim tried to open the oversized blanket while trying to prevent it from overlapping. Marinette happily nodded as she help the two out as Nino and Alix set the wireless speaker up and making sure the connection between it and the mp3 was in place.
}i{
Meanwhile...
Long story short, Alya called Lila to talk to someone about why Nino wanted this Saturday off from basically everyone. The liar could practically smell the opportunity to use this to paint Marinette in a bad light, but for that, she needed to make sure that either Nino and Marinette had no one to back their stories. So she followed (stalked) Nino as he met up with Kim, then Alix with a cooler, and then Marinette and Max with a basket and blanket. That did kill any idea of telling Alya that Marinette was flirtig with Nino since there were three witnesses that could immediately disprove her story. But...
‘What the? Why the hell are those losers up to?’ Lila thought as she now stalked the group of childhood friends and followed them to the Paris Botanical Gardens. The liar watched them enter the gardens and waited a minute before she tried to enter the arboretum.
“Excuse me miss, but there’s a small fee to pay before you can enter,” one of  the employee manning the entryway. The employee then tapped on the sign that showed the entry fees for each person. They were pretty decent prices, but there was a rather large compensation fee for littering and destroying the plant life inside.
But Lila thought it was stupid to pay to get into something as worthless as a garden, so she started crying about how she lost her grandmother’s ring inside when she came earlier in the day and wanted to find it as soon as possible. She was hoping that if she stir up a big fuss, they’ll let her in for free. But that didn’t happen, the staff pointed out the biggest flaw in her lie and proving that she wasn’t in the arboretum earlier. Lila didn’t have the stamp on her hand for today. When the liar tried to tell the employee that she washed it off by accident, the employee counter with the fact that there still would’ve been ink from the stamp staining her skin.
Noticing that the people around were starting to whisper and glare at her, Lila frowned and practically threw the money at the employee and stormed into the  arboretum. “Hey! You forgot your stamp!” the employee shouted at the brunette, but sighed and made a call on the employee walky-talkies giving Lila’s description and telling them that she paid the fee but didn’t stay for the stamp. That was moreso to avoid more drama from the teen than anything else. The employee then made a note to talk to the manager about the girl so they can post her picture at the entrance booths so they can be given the heads up about her if she tries that stunt again.
Lila just wanted to know what the group was doing and could hopefully use something to turn the tides of the class in her favor.
}i{
Kim carefully set the lures up, making sure that they wouldn’t spill and were a bit away from the picnic so that they weren’t knocked over by accident.
Once Kim re-joined the group on the blanket to start their picnic. They each took a bottle of their favorite drinks out of the cooler and then took some food from the basket. Alix took a sip from her drink when she said with a massive grin on her face, “You guys remember when we had Twin Day with a sub and he didn’t know that Mari and Max were twins?”
Nino laughed when he said, “Sure do dudette.”
Kim followed up with a, “Heck yeah! Dude paired them up and told them that they needed to try to be like twins! Aw man! I wish I could’ve taken a picture of his face when he found out the truth!” Then burst in laughter. Causing Alix to laugh. Marinette and Max glanced at each other before they joined in on the laughter. 
}i{
It took 15 minutes for Lila to find the group, their laughter gave them away. ‘A picnic?’ Lila thought in confusion as she hid behind some bushes at watch the group. She couldn’t hear what the group was saying from where she was, so she crept closer, trying to keep out of sight.
“I was so proud of the outfits I made for the day too,” Lila heard Marinette say happily. The liar rolled her eyes at the comment, not caring about that.
“As was I, it made the whole thing even better,” Max added as Lila saw him adjust his glasses. The group agreed and then laughed again. Lila rolled her eyes in annocance.
That was when Kim asked, “Speaking of outfits, hows that new one coming along, Mari?”
‘Oh?’ Lila thought, wondering if this could be something that she can sabotage or steal to claim as her own. If Lila could steal the sketchbook with the design in them and present them to Gabriel, telling them that she made them, she’ll practically marry Adrien. ‘At least if those designs are that good,’ Lila thought as she continued to watch the group.
Marinette smiled when she said, “It’s coming along nicely, but...” She then pulled out her sketchbook and added as she looked over the sketch, “I’m a little worried about how low the v-neck is... If it’s too high, then it ruins the appel I’m going for. But if it’s too low then... Well, you know.”
Kim playfully poked Marinette in the arm when he asked in a humorous tone, “You sure you can handle a low v-neck without becoming a blushing mess?” Marinette proceeded to whacking the taller teen over the head with the butt of her sketchbook. “Owch!” I was joking!” Kim exclaimed as he rubbed the new bump on his head.
Nino chuckled when he said, “Dude, you should know by now that you shouldn’t mess with Mari and her designs.” Kim grumbled something under his breath as he continued to rub the bump.
Max looked over Mari’s sketch before he commented, “If you’re using your own measurments, then *takes the pencel from Mari’s hand and starts drawing on the sketchbook*, you should start the v-neck here and end it here. That way you’re not showing too much while complementing your figure. There we go.” The group then looked over the modified sketch.
“Oh wow! It looks a lot better now,” Marinette said with a smile, before turning to her brother and adding, “Thanks Max.”
That was when Alix looked at Max when she asked, “How do you know Mari’s measuments off the top of your head?”
“He sometimes helps me with some of my designs,” Marinette started, then Max finished with, “Usually to make sure she finishes within a reasonable timeframe. I mostly help when it’s clothing that she’s making for herself, so that’s how I know.”
‘Huh? What’s geek-boy talking about?’ Lila thought with a raised brow. She then thought, ‘It sounds like he’s over at Maribrat’s house a lot if he helps her with making her designs... Interesting.”
Nino then said, “Oh yeah, that’s right. I keep forgeting that.”
“No big,” Kim said with a wave before he added, “Besides, Max is the best when it comes to numbers.”
Max pushed his glasses up when he said, “True, but there’s nothing about Marinette I haven’t already seen,” as he cased a sideways glance at Mari with a sheepish look.
‘Hello!’ Lila thought as her eyes lit up with joy. ‘Maribrat’s been... With Geek-boy! No way! But Oh~, this is gold!’ the liar thought with glee as she quickly and quietly crept away so she can weave some very nasty lies that will certainly cast the budding designer in a bad light, especially with Adrien and the rest of the school. ‘Maybe it was worth paying that stupid entrance fee after all,’ Lila thought as she practically skipped out of the gardens.
Too bad she left before she could hear,
“Max, we use to take baths together when we were little, so of course, you’d know. Besides, that means there’s nothing I haven’t seen about you too, my dorky little twin brother.” Marinette said as he playfully elbowed Max in the arm.
The bi-special boy smiled when he replied, “And you’re my over-achiving older twin sister.”
Alix pretened to gag when she said, “You two are just sickening cute with that banter.” Which caused Nino and Kim to laugh.
“Maybe we should bring Markov with us next picnic outing, I’m sure he’ll learn a lot,” Marinette told Max, who nodded with a big smile.
}i{ Until Next Time }i{
@princess-of-the-corner
@agent-numbuh-227
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