#having four daughters is kind of a Big Deal so i’m taking it as an excuse to put them in

[lilsedge]

The Judgement Day’s Girl (8)

(GIF by me)

Warnings: fighting well wrestling

Taglist: @judgementdayfan1 @rooskaya-yelena @iwanttoberich420 @teenagedramaqueenlisa @simpin4pixels @imagandom @eleamrsk @pixielostboy @werewolfbansheelove @pawspurpaw @noxstxr @myletitiawright @neptune-lover @thybulleric @femkekiki @ambrehhlulz-blog @salary80 @lomlrhea @nightwonderer1 @ynbutbetter @hails-coleman @odessa-is-my-queen @jdnclaymoresbitch @plk-18 @lani08sblog

October 8, 2022

It’s the day of Extreme Rules. The creative team didn’t have a script for Y/N or Edge for the last Raw before the event, but she made sure to watch it. AJ and Rey had fought against the judgment day and, at the end of the match, AJ had attacked Rey. 

Y/N was backstage with her step mom, Rey and dad. Her dad had an “I quit” match against Finn Balor. Despite being tough on Y/N, she's still concerned about him. He gets a way when he loses in a PPV and it kinda scares her sometimes. That’s why Beth is here, just in case he loses. She can deal with him. 

They left Lyric and Ruby with their grandparents, so that both Beth and Y/N could be help for Edge if he needs. Anyone that has watched wrestling should know how the Judgement Day wins matches. 

Edge is stretching. He was ordered by his wife to stretch, so that he doesn’t strain anything. Then they were walking to the gorilla. Y/N was nervous about her father. This is a big match for someone his age and it’s scary. She hopes her little sisters aren’t watching. Those two haven’t really learned much about WWE. They get scared every single time they watch matches. 

You think you know me…

Edge is ready to walk out to the ring, but not before giving the two girls behind him a hug. Even though the father daughter duo was arguing, they always hated seeing the other one hurt. Backstage you could hear the crowd screaming for the Rated R Superstar. Edge smiles at his family and turns around to run out.

Beth wraps an arm around Y/N as the Judgement Day makes their way into the gorilla. Both of the girls move back out of the four peoples’ way, but not taking their eyes off of them. Beth and Y/N watched as Finn put his mask on and the other three hype him up. His theme song hit, causing him to turn away from everyone and walk out to where Edge was.

The three others didn’t leave the gorilla; they were probably waiting for a good moment to go out and help Finn win. Beth tightened her arm around Y/N as the bell rang, officially starting the match.

After a second of beating on Finn, Edge pulls a swing and neck breaker. It was early in the match, but as of right now, he was controlling it. Edge swung punches at Finn as they moved around the ring. The Hall of Famer forced Finn to hit a turnbuckle. Which looked like it hurt.

Y/N looked back at the three backstage, noticing that Rhea was already staring at her and her stepmom. Y/N looks away quickly whispering to Beth that Rhea was watching them. 

“Mom, I’m kind of nervous about the match,” Y/N whispers to Beth.

“Honey, it’s gonna be okay. Your father knows what he’s doing,” the older lady whispers back, giving her step daughter a kiss on the cheek.

“But like-,” Y/N is cut off.

“Excuse me,” Dominik says, “Can you guys shut up? We’re trying to watch a match here.”

Beth shakes her head at Dominik. Looking back up at the screen seeing Edge finally being hit by Balor. Edge crawls to the corner where Finn keeps kicking his knee. It was smart to target his knees.

Finn places Edge’s foot on the second rope, jumping on it, making Edge go down. Balor brought Edge’s leg around the second rope again, this time pulling on it. The ref brings the mic to Edges mouth by Finn’s demand. Edge doesn’t answer, instead he butts Finn’s head.

The Irish man continues to punish the Canadian’s knee. After being hit by Edge, Finn puts him in a figure four leg lock. Everyone could see and hear the pain Edge was going through. 

Through the groaning, Edge manages to tell the ref to, “get that out of my face.”

He immediately sits up, trying to reverse the figure four and successfully doing it. The pressure goes from Edge’s legs to Finn’s. Balor reversed back, so the pressure is back on Edge. 

Y/N gets distracted, feeling a hand on her shoulder. It’s tìo. She smiles, letting go of her mom, pulling Rey in for a hug. Letting go of Rey, she makes eye contact with the three members. They were all looking at her this time. She turns around, seeing Beth and Rey engage in a quiet conversation. While speaking to Rey, Beth pulls Y/N into her side again. The slight movement makes Y/N smile.

The young girl’s eyes make it back to the screen, seeing her dad stuck in the apron and Finn stomping on his back. Finn brings Edge to the commentary table and slams his head on it. The ref asked Edge if he quit multiple times, but the same answer said each time ‘no’.

Balor was driven in the post by Edge. The guys hit each other a few more times before Balor gives Edge a sling blade right outside the ring. The mic was put at his mouth, but the same answer as always ‘no’ came out. Edge then gets up, picks Balor up, and drives him through the barricade. 

Edge punches Finn, causing to go out into the crowd. They are running through the crowd. Coming to a stop, Edge attacks Finn. Performing a suplex on him.

Edge disappears while leaving Finn in pain. Edge then comes back with a hockey stick, pushing Balor down with it. Backstage, Y/N looks at Beth with a very amused face. Rey chuckles behind the two.

The two boys were on the kick off set where Edge put the hockey stick in Balors mouth, setting up for a Glasgow grin. Finn managed to get away. Scurrying through the crowd trying to get away from Edge, but the Hall of Famer was right behind him.

Edge bashing Finn’s head off the stairs. Then telling the ref to ask him if he quits. 

“No,” Balor says into the mic.

He then crawls up the stairs, still trying to get away from Edge. Of course, Edge was following behind him. The Irish man was trying to turn things around by slamming Edge into the walls. Balor was launched into the overhang. Edge was going to run up and hit Finn, but Finn moved out of the way, making him hit the railing.

“Oh, that’s gotta hurt,” Rey says. It was hard to hear him over all the laughing the judgment day was doing. Y/N lets out a shaky breath as she looks at her father through the tv.

The two of them were at the bottom of the stairs where Edge threw beer at Finn. They were moving around a lot in the crowd. Halting once more, Finn struck Edge in the midsection with a chair. They made their way back to ringside. Edge laying on the floor. Balor is looking for something under the ring. He finds what he was looking for by pulling out a chair.

The chair is jammed right into Edges ribs and back. The ref goes to ask if Edge quits, but his answer to that was, “Screw you, Finn.”

That pissed Finn off even more. He grabs the chair again and hits Edge in the back repeatedly. The mic was brought up to the older man’s lips, and he said, “I- I- I don’t quit.”

Finn stuffs the chair between the top and second turnbuckle. Hoping to make Edge hit there, but Edge fights back. Finn hit Edge with a Russian leg sweep. Balor pulling at Edges arm. Then turns it around into a cross face. 

Finn continues to torment Edge. Edge turns it around, throwing Balor into the chair that he set up. Then the Hall of Famer grabs the chair, taking out Balor’s legs. Edge focuses on the knee of Finn brutalizing it. Edge brings Finn into the edgecution of an old school move. 

This causes Finn to repeat the word ‘I’. Backstage, Y/N looks at the rest of the Judgement Day. Seeing Damian freak out, turn around and run to the ring. Y/N looks at Beth and Rey, knowing they will have to help soon.

Damian gets into the ring, but Edge is quick and clotheslines him and sends him out to ringside. Edge was about to send Finn to ringside too, but Dominik was there to save Balor. It didn’t last long when Edge speared Finn into Dom and Damian. Edge throws Finn back into the ring before getting in himself.

Beth, Y/N and Rey watch as Rhea runs out to ringside too. Y/N is getting more and more nervous as this match goes on. Rhea handcuffs Edge to the top rope. She holds the key up, smiling at what she did. The boys are all standing behind Edge, ready to take advantage of this. You could see in Edges face he knows what’s about to happen. 

He turns around and fights with one arm. It didn’t last long, but he tried. Dominik and Damian are attacking Edge. Finn gets kendo sticks to attack Edge. 

Y/N watches as her father gets tortured by Finn. She can’t stand it anymore. 

“Amor, let me go out there to see if I can help,” Rey says. 

Booyaka, Booyaka

The crowd is going crazy for Rey. Before Rey leaves, Y/N gives him a chair and a smile. He hits Priest with the chair and continues running to the ring. Finn tries to hit Rey with a kendo stick, but Rey ducks and jumps on the second rope landing on Finn. Then he slides, taking out Priest who’s on the apron and gives him a 619.

After the 619 Dominik goes and punches his father, knocking to ringside. Dominik jumps out of the ring, throwing his father into a barricade and the ring post. He stands over top of Rey. Then pauses…

Take it back (Take it back)

Y/N had enough. Leaving her mom backstage, she runs out to where Dominik is standing above Rey and gives him a shove. She pulls Rey from the spot he’s at, so he’s closer to the barricade and further from the ring. Dominik tried to come closer to beat up his father, but Y/N was standing in front of Rey and Dominik didn’t want to hurt her.

Edge finally stands up. When he does, Finn hits his knee with a kendo stick. Y/N watches as her dad keeps getting hit with the stick. She hears the crowd get louder. Looking around, she realizes her mom is now entering the ring. A smile makes its way to Y/N’s face. She always loves seeing her mom wrestle.

Beth rips the kendo stick from Finn’s hand, making him turn around. She then hits him with it. Priest got into the ring just to have the same thing done to him. Dominik then hops up on the apron, putting his hands up then jumping down when Beth goes to swing at him. 

Y/N walks to where Edge is. “Dad, are you good to continue?” 

Edge just lets out an ‘mhm’. Y/N looks up, noticing that her mom and Rhea are having some could say a discussion with each other. The crowd was chanting Beth’s name before the two women collided. 

“I think Rhea still has the key,” Rey says behind Y/N, still laying on the floor. Y/N acknowledges that he said that by giving a slight nod while also watching Beth spear Rhea. Y/N jumps up on the apron getting into the ring noticing Beth got the key. Beth was unlocking Edge with the help of her daughter. 

After he was unlocked. Y/N moved to the apron. She notices Beth’s hands were up to help her down. Y/N shakes her head, laughing at her mom before grabbing her hands and jumping down. 

Looking back at the ring, Edge was standing back up from giving Damian a spear. Having a standoff with Dominik. Dom puts his hand out for Edge to shake. Edge grabs it and kicks him where Dom kicked him back in September. 

Balor popped up behind Edge and delivered a sling blade to him. After that, he was looking to put Edge away. Edge comes back and spears Finn and gives him 2 more. 

“Get me a chair,” He says to Y/N or Beth. 

Beth goes and gets him one. She slides in the ring to give it to him. Edge rips the bottom off of the chair to give him a Glasgow grin, but stops when Rhea enters the ring punching Beth. Now Y/N is distracted. She gets grabbed by Dominik, brought into the ring where he is holding a pair of handcuffs. He handcuffs her to the rope closest to the ramp. 

Struggling, the young girl sees Rhea pull brass knuckles off her fist. The boys were beating up Edge. Pulling him, so Finn could do a Coup de grâce doing it twice more. There was fear in the young girl’s eyes as she saw what the Judgement Day did to her parents. Beth was unconscious and Edge was being held by the boys.

“This is your last chance, Edge, say it. You say it.” Finn tells Edge.

Y/N is yelling at her father not to say the two words. Edge replies to Finn, saying, “Go to hell.”

Rhea lifts Beth’s head up, and she’s out cold. The boys are holding Edge back. No one has to worry about Y/N. She’s handcuffed and can’t move anywhere, but she could still yell. No one could understand the words she was yelling, though it was mostly gibberish because she was afraid for Beth.

“She looks pretty damn lifeless to me,” Rhea says, bringing Beth’s head up again and dropping it down.

“And look at your daughter, so helpless,” Priest says, looking at Y/N. He lets go of Edges arm just to punch the man in the face. Rhea disappears to get a chair from under the ring. While Finn is still trying to make Edge say the two words. 

Rhea places a chair under Beth’s head. Y/N had tears fill her eyes. She’s normally not emotional when it comes to matches. Since it’s her mom, she’s scared. Yelling at Rhea to stop, but it doesn’t work. 

“I-I- I quit, I quit,” Edge says, hoping to save his wife….

Rhea still hits Beth. Y/N screams out, “Mom!” 

Judgement Day was getting out of the ring, but not before waving at Y/N, hoping to get her attention. Only to frown when she’s not looking at them. She’s too focused on the fact her mom is laying there unconscious and she is stuck and can’t help. 

An official helps her out of the handcuffs. She runs to her mom, dropping to her knees next to her dad. Y/N can’t stop thinking about the worst things to happen to Beth. Official and Rey jump in the ring to check on Beth. 

Y/N looks at the Judgement Day with anger in her eyes. How could people that are so nice to her do something so mean to the people she cares about? She gets that it was a match against Edge and Finn. Beth didn’t have to suffer because of that.

The young girl’s eyes fall back to Beth and Edge. Seeing Edge lay his head on Beth’s back made her let out a shaky breath. Rey is next to Y/N, running his hand up and down her back while trying to get some medical people to come out to the ring. 

Medical people finally run out from backstage. Getting people to move away from Beth. Y/N didn’t want to leave Beth just laying there. She was forced to move from Beth. Rey took her under his arm like he had done when Edge was in the medical room. 

Edge was in pain. He didn't reveal it, despite feeling it. He was too worried about his wife. In addition, he didn't want to terrify his daughter any further.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is my longest part yet. I spent a lot of time starting and stopping the 30 minute match, so I hope you enjoy it. Have a good night/day/afternoon!!!

#wwe x reader #wwe fanfiction #wwe imagine #dominik mysterio x reader #damian priest x reader #finn balor x reader #rhea ripley x reader #the judgement day

[queenimmadolla]

OKAY OKAY FOR PENNY AND DAD!EDDIE

So reader is baking cookies for Penny to take in her lunch and she steps out and asks them to take them out for her. Big mistake. Reader comes back to find Eddie and Penny red handed and there are like two cookies left so now she has to make a whole new batch :/

loved writing this one and hope everyone likes the new addition to the fam ;) steve’s SO is implied to be another character from (CYM) but i also like the idea of inserting readers into the scenario with him which is why no name or description is provided. happy reading, and PLEASE let me know if you like it. as always, reblogs are appreciated!!! took a little inspiration from look who’s talking :)

Cookies ‘n Clean - Fall of ‘91 (young parents!Eddie Munson x fem!reader)

𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

summary: if anyone had told you you’d be having this type of conversation with a four year old while making cookies, you definitely wouldn’t have believed them. and eddie still can’t say no to your daughter.

warnings: fluff, talk of assigned sex and gender identity (keep in mind, this conversation is with a child so it may not be as in depth as some would like, it is also based on a conversation i had with my little nephew), mentions of colic, judgement free zone

word count: 2.4k+

“Shit,” You mumbled, hurriedly wiping your hands of any dough on a kitchen towel before rushing over to where the phone rang on its holder.

“Hello?” You spoke into the receiver, shouldering the phone before you went back to mixing the chocolate chips with the dough in the large bowl over the counter.

“Hey!” Your best friend’s voice sounded a bit faraway, like she’d stepped away from the phone while she rang you and rushed back once you’d picked up. “Sorry if you’re busy—wait, are you busy?”

“Uhhh,” You glanced around at the kitchen counter, covered with baking materials and flour. The floor looked no better, the flour fall out on the floor had tiny little handprints pressed into it, baby Wayne had been working on a masterpiece before Eddie came to the rescue and hauled him off for a bath. Penny had gone with him, having given herself the title of Daddy’s Little Helper. Penny’s first day of preschool was tomorrow, and you had wanted to make her some cookies, what with how big of a fucking deal it was that your four year old was approaching her school days. It kind of scared you, actually. “No, not really. Why? What’s up?” “I’m pretty sure Winnie’s got colic, she’s down for a nap right now, but I was hoping I could borrow that book you had about it. I’m going crazy over here, I feel so bad when she’s screaming like that, and Steve starts crying whenever she cries.” Of course Harrington would, he was big softie for his newborn.

“Yeah, of course. Let me just put these cookies I’m making into the oven, and then I’ll bring it over.” You could hear the heavy sigh of relief she heaved.

“Thank you so much. I owe you one.”Once you’d hung up, you finished mixing everything together and began placing the cookie dough on the parchment covered baking sheet.

“Eddie?” You called out into the hall before returning to the kitchen to slide the cookies into the oven and setting the timer. He appeared at the hallway entrance, leaning against the wall and holding the baby coddled in a comically large towel with Penny in tow.

You snapped yourself out of your stare—God, seeing that man with kids, especially your own, would never fail to get you going—and Eddie gave you a knowing smirk.

“I’m gonna run a book over to casa de Harrington, I put the cookies in the oven already, can you just take them out when the timer goes off?”

“I think I can manage to do that. Not a hundred percent sure, but I’ll give it a go.” He teased, as you made your way over to give him a smooch, you could smell the baby shampoo he’d used on your son.

You turned your attention to your baby in his arms, just a little over a year old. Ever the grump, he didn’t appear too happy with the event he’d been recently subjected to. Though, he never looked like he enjoyed most things. He had his dad’s natural poker face. Always looked slightly intimidating until you started talking to him. “Mama will be right back, Waynie.” You cooed, pressing a kiss to his chubby cheek as your fingers danced gently against his little stomach rolls to tickle him. His grumpy face immediately split into a wide smile, you could see the four little teeth he had along with a new one that was starting to break through his gums.

He giggled and went to reach for you, face immediately dropping back into a scowl as if to say ‘why would you even tease me like that?’ when you forced yourself to step away. If you picked him up, you’d never leave.

Penny locked her arms around your legs in a quick farewell hug before she went back to asking her dad a stream of questions (her latest fad, she had to know the reason behind everything) related to why ‘Way’ got to pee in the bath and she couldn’t. The last thing you heard—and you made sure not to stick around too long after that—was, “Daddy, how come Way has a wom down thewe? I don’t go one of dose. Did I? Does it fa’ off?” Good luck, baby.

About an hour later, much longer than you had thought you’d be away, you finally made it back home.

Winnie had woken up a little into what was supposed to be your quick drop off, and boy did that baby like to scream and cry. You felt bad watching the new parents struggle so you’d attempted to help, trying to sooth her while Steve squeezed in a quick shower and your friend had disappeared to pump. Poor thing looked like her boobs were gonna pop any second, and not that there even was a good way, but it wasn’t in the good way.

They’d both returned at the same time, ready to take on their daughter as you coached them in how to position her and gave them some other new parent advice. Ironic, what with you having become a mother pretty young. You opened the front door, lips pursing at the immediate sight that greeted you, thanks to the position of the kitchen being directly in front of it.

“Seriously?” Penny beamed at you from her seat at the table, wiggling in her booster seat. “Hi, mama! Wook! Daddy and me and are eatin’ cookies!”

“I can see that,” You mused, eyeing the nearly empty baking sheet before them. Of course Eddie hadn’t bothered putting them on a plate.

Eddie at least had the decency to appear sheepish, as he finished off the cookie in his mouth. “Hi, baby, how’d it go?” An obvious attempt to distract you.

“Fine, Harrington’s got his handful over there. Remind me to ask him in a couple of months if he still wants five more of them. Hey, by the way, what the f—’’ You trailed off, eyeing your innocent four year old and the baby paying not even an ounce of attention in his highchair. “—udge, man. Where are the cookies??”

He rubbed the back of his neck, biting back a smile.

“Between me and Little bitty pretty one,” Penny giggled at the use of one of the nicknames her daddy had given her. It was her favorite, and Eddie could clearly tell, grinning over at her in response. “Gone, I’m so sorry babe. I took a bite of one, she asked for one, and then we just couldn’t stop.” Penny gave him a look that made him sigh. “Alright, fine. I couldn’t stop.” He’d cut her off after three, already not eager for how difficult it was going to be to put her to bed tonight. And the night before her first day of preschool—he knew full well he’d cry when they’d drop her off—she was just so hard to deny. Eddie blamed that on you, if she didn’t look so much like you, he’d have an easier time saying no.Obviously, you loved your husband and your family dearly. But you were incredibly annoyed, you didn’t like to use pre-made cookie dough often, yours was made out of scratch (and clearly why Eddie hadn’t been able to restrain himself or Penny) meaning you’d have to do it all over again so Penny would have them for tomorrow.

With a sigh, you grabbed your still dirty apron from the hook it was placed on and slipped it back on, tying the strings around your waist. “It’s fine, I’ll make some more.” The guilt must have been seeping in because Eddie immediately stood up and made his way to your side, “I’ll help! It’ll be faster that way, and I wouldn’t mind learning how to make them myself.”

“Me, too! I can help, too, mama!” Penny comically pushed her seat back from the table and Eddie went back over to help lower her down. “I can mix!”

He laughed as he picked her right back up and placed her back in her seat. “Then you need to be at the table to do that, sweetheart.”

“See, we got a whole little bakery going on—Hey!” Eddie managed to move aside, just barely avoiding the baby spoon flung at him. His eyes followed the direction it had come from, smirking in amusement at his son’s poker face. Wayne hadn’t appreciated seeing you upset, and being a mama’s boy, had stepped up to defend you.

Or maybe he just felt left out. He was still a mama’s boy nonetheless. You walked over, pulling him out of his high chair, “Aw, Waynie baby wants to help, too. So sweet. Can mama have a kiss?”

You raised him to your face and he immediately placed his little hands on the side of your face to give you a drooly kiss, or rather his version of a kiss. He kind of just tried to nom on your face.

“Not sure how throwing utensils at me is offering to help, but he’s cute so I’m gonna let him get away with it.” With one last kiss to his head, you ran your hands through his curls—he had fluff on the sides of his head, but most of his curly hair ran down the center of his head, giving him something of a curly mohawk which his dad adored—before handing him over to Eddie, while you raided the cabinets for more ingredients.

Eddie helped shift some of the bowls around before a realization dawned on him and he groaned. “They’re both gonna need a bath after this."

That seemed to catch Penny’s attention, she piped up from her spot at the table, “OH YEAH, DADDY! How comes I don’t have uh penis?”

You did a double take, blinking hard over at her before you turned to your husband who was already watching you with a smirk. “You still haven’t told her?”

“Oh no,” he laughed, and so did Wayne, though he only did it because he was amused with his dad laughing. “We agreed that if we had a boy I would explain it, and if we had a girl, you would explain it to her. There’s our girl, honey.”

You shoulders slumped in defeat. Damn, you did remember saying that. “I’ll remember this,” you threatened, all smiles despite the circumstances.

“She’s waiting, hon.” He kissed the top of your head, still chuckling as he moved to open the fridge and grab the butter with the arm that wasn’t holding Wayne. “You don’t have a penis, because you were born with different parts. See, mommy has the same thing as you. But daddy has a penis, just like Wayne.”

It looked like the wheels were turning in her head. “ ’S because Way is a boy and imma girl?” You could tell Eddie was trying to act like he wasn’t actively listening, but there was only so many times he could open and close the fridge when most of the ingredients are already out on the counter.

“In this case, yes. But not always, sometimes boys have penises, sometimes they don’t. Sometimes girls have vaginas—that’s what ours are called—and sometimes they don’t. What we have down there doesn’t always make us a boy or a girl. Sometimes it doesn’t make us either. It all depends on the person, and who we are.” You grabbed the little bowl containing a little bit of extra dough you had from earlier, and a bag of chocolate chips, setting them down in front of her with a wooden spoon. If anyone had told you you’d be having this type of conversation with a four year old while making cookies, you definitely wouldn’t have believed them.

Penny immediately picked up the spoon, waving it around in the air. “So I can be a boy?” “Of course, if that’s who you are, absolutely.” You poured a couple of chocolate chips into the bowl, and made a mental note to watch her while she mixed it when she began eyeing the chocolate chips with longing.

“O’ a girl?” “Yup. You can be a girl.”

“Whatuf I dunwana be a girl o’ boy?”

“Then you don’t have to.” “Whatuf I wanna be boff?” “Then you can be both.” “Okay! I few wike imma girl wight now. ’S dat okay?”

You loved her innocence so much, there wasn’t an ounce of judgment in her little body, she was so accepting. It scared you to be sending her into the real world like this, where you had no real way of keeping her away from the negativity, where she’d be exposed to it. But you and Eddie were determined to raise her to be a good person, regardless of who she turned out to be once she truly began to discover things for herself. “Yes, baby. You can be whoever you want. Just remember, no matter what, you’re always gonna be my baby.”

Penny seemed to be losing interest in the topic as she had started to mix the chocolate chips in with the spoon. “Wook, mama! Imma cook!”

“Yes, you are. And if you don’t steal out of the bowl, you can lick the spoon.” You could tell she wouldn’t be trying to eat the cookie dough with that promise having been made so you returned to your place by Eddie’s side. “Why are you looking at me like that?” He was staring at you in awe, a small smile on his face as he cradled Wayne to his chest. Apparently, he was daddy’s boy for the moment, snuggling right into Eddie.

“I just really lucked out with you. Really glad I knocked you up.” “You’re so romantic.” “I’m also stealing a lot of what you just said, by the way. It was really good and I wasn’t too sure of how I was gonna explain it when he starts asking questions. Thanks, honey. There’s a ton of butter in that, by the way, I got pretty distracted.” “That’s okay, I’m planning on getting distracted while you try to bathe the both of them later.” “That’s fair,” He grinned, leaning in for a kiss. Wayne babbled in protest as he was squished between your bodies.

Two hours later, the cookies were plated and cooling on the counter.

You and Eddie were both kneeling in front of the bath, shirts absolutely soaked due to some heavy splashing as you made sure Penny and Wayne were squeaky clean. “I knew you didn’t mean it.” His lips were curled up into a smug smirk.

“Shut up.” You laughed, squeezing your eyes shut when Wayne began to slap his hands on the surface of the water again. “God, I love you.”

#eddie munson x reader #eddie munson #eddie munson x reader fluff #dilf!eddie munson #girl dad!eddie munson #dad!eddie munson #mom!reader #stranger things #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things 4 #stranger things volume 1 #stranger things volume 2 #joseph quinn #joe quinn #eddie munson x you #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson x fem!reader #eddie munson x black!reader #eddie munson blurb #eddie munson x y/n #pennyverse

[king-bumis-armpit]

The Wedding Weaver

Written for Maiko Week 2024 - Wedding

Summary:

The master matchmaker and self-proclaimed Wedding Weaver is going to be in Ba Sing Se for the first annual Peace Extravaganza hosted by Avatar Aang. Inspired by his message of love and unity, she will be offering a discount on her services for the week of the festival! Find your peace and harmony with your perfect other half…

Mai and Zuko are brought together by forces beyond their control.

Author's Note:

This is admittedly a big stretch of the prompt. After I wrote this, I saw that “matchmaker” was actually a prompt back in 2022! I didn’t have the desire to write back then, but I’m a long time reader of Maiko fics. If you’ve written one, I have probably read it multiple times and I love you <3 That being said, this is my first foray into writing so please be kind ^^

Also, I should mention this is probably not an accurate portrayal of matchmakers and it is certainly not meant to be a representation of any cultures that have historically utilized matchmaking. It’s just a silly idea I had and I wanted to write.

The Wedding Weaver

The master matchmaker and self-proclaimed Wedding Weaver is going to be in Ba Sing Se for the first annual Peace Extravaganza hosted by Avatar Aang. Inspired by his message of love and unity, she will be offering a discount on her services for the week of the festival! Find your peace and harmony with your perfect other half…

Mai looked at the paper with disdain. “Why exactly are you showing me this, Mother?”

Michi sternly met her daughter’s gaze. “You have been moping about this house for far too long. I was engaged by the time I was your age!”

“Look how well that turned out.”

“Young lady!” Michi seemed to be about to launch into a tirade, but for some reason she held back and sighed. “You know we are traveling into the city for the festival. I thought perhaps it would give you something to do, since you are always bored.” 

Mai’s Aunt Mura landed a very lucrative business deal with a guild of artisans. She would be providing florals and arranging the decorations for their stalls during the festival. Merchants from all over the Fire Nation, and doubtless the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes as well, were traveling to Ba Sing Se for the event. The set up process would be intense and Mai and Michi both were planning to help. But once the festival was underway, the two of them could step back and enjoy a peaceful vacation. Mai was planning on taking Tom Tom to the zoo that Aang helped build, buying Earth Kingdom daggers, and getting a cup of tea at the Jasmine Dragon (at a time when she knew Zuko would be in a meeting of course). Meeting with a Matchmaker and possibly having to entertain a stranger was not on the top of her to do list.

“No thank you.” Mai replied curtly.

Michi sighed, “I was afraid you'd say that, but it's too late. Your aunt and I already signed you up.”

Mai expected this kind of treachery from her mother, but not her aunt. “What on earth were you thinking? Why would auntie do that to me?”

“I was thinking that you needed to get out of the house. And Mura agrees. You’ve been more despondent than normal. All we want for you, Mai, is to be happy.”

Mai shook her head. She could probably get out of it if she really wanted to, but when her mother put it that way it sounded depressing. Maybe she should give it a try. What's the worst that could happen?

— — 

“Is that all for the agenda?” Zuko was in a hurry to get out of there. His combined meetings with the Fire Sages and his Royal Advisors always seemed to drag on. It felt like they were all ganging up against him. No wonder all of his ancestors were so cranky.

“Actually my Lord, there is one more item we wish to address with you. As you well know, there have been two assassination attempts on your life in the past four months. Furthermore, you are in the precarious position of lacking in heir,” an elder Fire Sage began. 

Zuko did not like the sound of this. “What of it?”

“Well your majesty,” one of his advisors continued, “we were hoping that you might start to make some progress in that department.”

“Surely you're not suggesting that I go out and have a child tonight.”

“Not at all. Not at all. But perhaps you could enter another courtship?” the Advisor replied.

Zuko stiffened. He knew that he shouldn't still be so hung up on her. It’s been months since our breakup, and she has a boyfriend. Kei Lo. May he suffer the torment of Agni’s eternal flame.

Oh Mai. She’s so beautiful, and lethal, and witty, and she’s always bored but never boring. 

“My Lord?” The spell was broken.

“How about I name Kiyi my successor and we all call it a day?” 

“That is a… fair enough solution in case of an emergency. But consider what the burden would be like for her if she were to ascend. A significant number of the people are struggling to accept you as they're rightful ruler, but she does not even have Royal blood. What do you think would be her reception?” Shiu- the Great Sage- prodded him gently.

Zuko bit his lip. He hadn't thought of that. “I don't know what you want me to do. Being the head of state doesn't give me much free time to go around meeting young women.”

“We believe we have a solution,” The advisor who spoke passed him a paper. It appeared to be an advertisement of some sort.

“You want me to see a matchmaker?”

— — 

Mai hated to admit it, but she was nervous. After the festivities had begun, the vendors assured Mura that they didn't need any additional help for the day. Consequently, Mai had nothing to do while waiting for her appointment with the Wedding Weaver except imagine worst case scenarios. What if she asks me a bunch of weird personal questions? What if she tries to set me up with a creepy old guy? What if her office is all pink and lovey-dovey?

In reality, the Weaver’s office was relatively large and open. The walls were green, and the furniture seemed to all be locally made. At the back of the room privacy screens prevented her from seeing the countless filing cabinets of her clients’ information. In the center of the room was a large desk, but instead of thin wooden chairs, on either side there were great comfy recliners. Mai sat in one, the matchmaker the other. Mai's mother, Aunt, and little brother had all accompanied her and sat on a couch behind her. Against the wall was a large standing loom, with a project clearly in-progress. It seemed the Weaver had chosen that moniker for a reason.

The Wedding Weaver herself was a petite woman. Her snowy hair was held in a tight chignon and her eyes sparkled with something that Mai didn’t entirely trust. “Don't be nervous dear,” the Weaver said while pouring some tea. She passed Mai a cup which she accepted gratefully. “Now, tell me about your ideal husband.”

“Umm… That’s a bit broad, don't you think?”

The older woman laughed. “Let me help you out. Do you have a preference for if he's Fire Nation or not? Do you want him to be a bender? Do you have occupational preferences? What values do you most look for in a partner?”

Surprisingly, Tom Tom spoke up first. “He has to live nearby. Mai can't move away.” The boy toddled from the couch and up into his sister’s lap. She accepted him without question. The pout on his face was very convincing, but even if it wasn't, Mai agreed. Best to limit the results to her own country. What if she actually liked the guy?

“Yes. Fire Nation. I don't really care if he's a bender. But if you do choose a bender, I want him to have conventional weapons training as well.”

The matchmaker raised her eyebrows. “Do you get into a lot of fights?”

Mai smirked. “Not so much anymore. But a lot of benders can be sort of pretentious to non-benders like myself. I'm trained with knives, you see.” Mai pulled one from her sleeve to prove her point, as Tom Tom looked on in awe. That was something she loved about Zuko. He thought her deadly precision was just as magical as making fire appear. They would train together for hours, each taking turns to watch the other in admiration and desire… Mai mentally kicked herself. This was NOT about him. It was about her. 

Her mother spoke next. “Mai comes from a noble lineage. We would prefer someone with a title or a respectable job in the service of the Fire Nation.” The Weaver noted that Mai shifted uncomfortably at this. Curious, she thought. Perhaps the girl is self-conscious around higher nobility. The Weaver dismissed it as a non-issue. She is dignified and reserved, she would fit right in.

The matchmaker smiled. “Yes of course. Many such men are in town for the festival, and quite a few have booked with me. That shouldn't be so hard.” She thought about her next appointment with anticipation. That woman has no idea how impressive my clients are.

Mai spoke once again. “When it comes to values, I don't know how to classify this but I want someone who treats me like an equal. Someone who is trustworthy and is willing to share their heaviest burdens with me.” 

She blushed at this confession, but the matchmaker did not know why. Surely anyone would want such a dedicated girlfriend?

“What about physicality? Any preferences with regards to appearance?”

Mai thought for a minute. “I don't have strong feelings about that really.”

Mura objected. “Oh no! Find our girl someone handsome!”

The Weaver laughed. “I think that can be arranged.” She had taken diligent notes throughout the meeting, and it seemed she already had a few names in mind.

She had Mai fill out a parchment questionnaire before leaving so she would have some additional personal info and more detailed preferences, but the Weaver liked to start by getting a sense of the person through conversation. She found it produced a much more accurate tapestry of a person’s desires. 

— — 

Mai’s family left late in the afternoon, as they had claimed the last spot on her schedule. However, today she had accepted a special request for an out-of-hours appointment from the Fire Lord himself. He, naturally, had diplomatic appointments throughout the commencement of the Peace Extravaganza. But beyond that he required the utmost discretion.

He did not arrive in her office until the sun was setting, but she did not mind in the slightest. He was her most important customer to date, and she was determined to find him a good match. When he walked in, he was accompanied by two older men: one of his advisors and one of the Fire Sages. She bowed to him in the Fire Nation custom as they all took their seats. She thought about offering tea, but remembered that his uncle was the best tea maker in the city and decided against it. Her brew surely could not compare.

She began in her usual way: “Don't be shy. Tell me about your ideal wife.”

“Oh! Uh…” Zuko was at a loss for what to say. His traitorous thoughts ran rampant: Her name is Mai. She lived across the street. She works for her aunt in a flower shop. She kissed me when I was thirteen and my life has never been the same.

The Matchmaker smiled warmly. Her clients weren't so chatty today. “That's okay, dear. Does she need to be Fire Nation? Do you want her to be a bender? Are there requirements for being the Fire Lady? What values do you most look for in a partner?”

Zuko took a breath and tried to remember all her questions. Maybe it was because of his mother’s theater background, but whenever he was nervous, he found it helpful to put on a persona. I’m not Zuko, I’m the dragon emperor and I am looking for a bride. He put on his best royal voice and began, “I think it would be best if she was from the Fire Nation. If she is to be my wife, then she will be their ruler someday. And a ruler should be well acquainted with her people. In that vein, a good education is also important. I want someone who can help me make decisions and be my true equal. I don't want her to feel imposed upon because of my station.” Zuko almost choked up during that statement. He couldn't stop thinking about Mai and all of the ways he failed her. He desperately wanted to be anywhere but there. 

The matchmaker’s eyes darted to the forms on her desk. She shuffled through until she found what she was looking for. The Royal Fire Academy for Girls, eh? The matchmaker knew she was entering dangerous territory. It was always tempting to pair up clients who had sessions back to back. But she’d learned well enough from the Kangaroo Island Incident that this was not always wise. 

“A fire bender would be strongly preferred,” the Fire Sage cut in.

Zuko's response was immediate and involuntary. “No!” Everyone looked at him, and he scrambled to regain his composure. “I mean… a fire bender would be fine but I don't have strong preferences in that regard.” 

The Weaver’s eyes twinkled with mischief. He probably wanted a young lady who he could impress with his bending. She’d met many a man like that in her day, and some of them were quite impressive indeed. The gloomy girl wasn’t a bender, but she would still be hard to impress. Perhaps that is what he needs.

She pursed her lips: “Are you trained in any martial arts other than bending?”

Zuko was surprised by the question. “I trained with Master Piandao in dual dao swords.” For some reason, this answer seemed to please the Weaver greatly.

“Don't forget, Fire Lord Zuko, your prime directive in this union is to produce an heir. And it would be most beneficial for the nation if that child was a firebender,” his advisor at last spoke up.

Zuko responded icily: “I do not care if my child is a firebender or not. And for your sake, you had better not care either.” 

The Weaver recalled how the knife girl had cradled her brother in her arms.The pair would be good parents. Perhaps a tad over-protective, but a little prince or princess would require a greater level of care.

The Fire Lord continued speaking, “But since you reminded me that your rush for an heir was spurred on by multiple assassination attempts, I would like a woman who knows at least basic self-defense. My guards can only do so much. It would ease my mind if she could protect herself.”

The Matchmaker nodded in agreement. Truly this job was getting too easy. “Do you have any preferences on how she should look?”

Zuko blanched, and instinctively reached up to touch his scar. “I really don't think I have any room for judgment.”

The Matchmaker tsked. “Nonsense. You are quite handsome, and everyone is attracted to different traits. Is there anything- a certain eye color or hair style- that you find particularly compelling?”

Before he could stop himself, Zuko answered, “Long hair. Straight. And silky smooth.”

The Matchmaker smiled. This time was nothing like Kangaroo Island. The two were obviously meant to be. “How do you feel about bangs?”

“I think they're really cute,” he said with a small voice.

The Matchmaker handed him his exit paperwork, and leaned back in her seat. She couldn't believe her luck! Those two kids are perfect for each other. And to think they wouldn't meet if it weren't for her planning their date. She was confident there would be a wedding within the year.

— — 

“You’re kidding!” Ty Lee squealed. “You’re really going on a date!”

“Yeah.”

“And it was set up by the most famous matchmaker in the world?”

“I guess so.”

“Do you think he’ll be handsome? Or rich? Oh! What if he’s like Earth Kingdom royalty or something?”

Mai sighed, “Honestly, Ty Lee, don’t you think I’ve had enough of handsome, rich royalty?”

Ty Lee had the decency to look ashamed. “Oh yeah. I guess I still kind of think of Zuko as our childhood friend. It’s hard to believe he was my boss. Even when I was guarding his life, he still just seemed like Zuko.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask, why did Zuko send you all away?” About four months ago, Zuko had seemingly out-of-nowhere decided to send the Kyoshi Warriors home. Against her reasonable judgment, Mai took the action personally. Not only did she employ them in the first place, but she had become good friends with Suki and the other girls. She often met up with them for lunch, shopping, sparring, and passing the time in general. 

Ty Lee rustled at her wording. “We were honorably discharged, thank you very much. The opposition to his reign was calming down and so I think he wanted his guard to be all Fire Nation again. There was some pretty nasty talk about us being a foreign militia in the palace, but I don’t know if that affected his decision.”

Mai nodded. She knew firsthand how brutal Fire Nation court gossip could get, but she hoped that wasn’t impacting Zuko’s security decisions.

“Anyway, don’t think you can get out of this date talk by bringing up your ex boyfriend.”

Mai shrugged. “There’s not much to tell. I won’t meet him until tomorrow.” It had been less than twenty-four hours since her appointment with the Wedding Weaver and Mai had already received a missive notifying her that a match had been made and the date was going to take place the following evening. The message arrived during her lunch with Ty Lee, squashing any hopes of keeping the rendezvous secret from her friend. 

“Can I see the note?” Ty Lee asked, and Mai dutifully handed it over. She read aloud, “‘To the lady Mai, the Wedding Weaver is pleased to inform you that she has followed your string of fate and found your perfect match. As your lives twine together, never forget your dear old matchmaker.’” The note then detailed where and when they were supposed to meet, as well as the level of dress. The Weaver suggested semi-formal attire, which felt a bit pretentious to Mai. “‘P.S. The person you are seeing is of very high rank, and so you must be discreet with the information about your meeting.’ Oops!”

Mai smirked, “Oh c’mon. He’s probably lower level nobility with a big head! And besides, discretion wouldn’t stop me from telling you.” Embarrassment would, but never discretion. 

Ty Lee laughed. “What if it’s King Kuei or one of his relatives? Oh! Or someone related to Chief Arnook! You could tell people you dated multiple world leaders!”

Mai let out a rare chuckle. “That would be pretty epic. But I told her to keep it Fire Nation. Long distance seems so boring.”

“Yeah, I seem to recall that not touching for two seconds was long distance for you and Zuko back in the day,” Ty Lee joked.

Mai tried to act offended. “Hey! We were deprived of affection in childhood. We had to make up for lost time.”

“And you certainly did,” Ty Lee quipped back and Mai rolled her eyes.

Ty Lee resumed her question barrage. “So what are you wearing? And what are you doing for make up? Do you wanna try out a new hairstyle? I’ve had a lot of practice with the girls.”

“Who appointed you as my stylist?”

“I appointed myself! Please, it’ll be so fun!”

They spent the rest of the day trying out various outfits in the market and testing make up and hair at Mai’s hotel. Ty Lee insisted she do something different with her hair, but in exchange Mai was able to get her to agree to a dress that wasn’t pink. In the past Mai might have complained about the cringiness of it all, but after four months of missing her best friend– and going even longer without an excuse to get dressed up– she found herself having fun. When she went to sleep that night, she decided that however the date went the next day, it was already worth it. 

— —

On the third day of the Peace Extravaganza, Zuko rose with the sun as always and made his way to the Earth King’s palace courtyard to practice his fire bending katas. To his surprise, Aang was there as well.

“Good morning Sifu Hotman!” he said cheerfully. Zuko smiled and nodded in acknowledgement.

Normally he would protest at the nickname, but he had hardly spent any time with Aang this week because of the various meetings and peace ceremonies. He hoped he could catch up with everyone once the schedule slowed down.

“Want to go through your fire forms with your old teacher?”

“Always!”

By the time they finished, it was still too early for most of the palace to be awake. But Zuko managed to flag down a servant to bring them some breakfast in the courtyard. 

“So what’s on your schedule today, your royal fieriness?” Aang asked.

Zuko sighed. “The usual, you know what it’s like. I have a meeting with Earth Kingdom’s office of veteran affairs to trade strategies for dealing with the reintegration of troops into civilian life. Then King Kuei and I are attending the opening of Ba Sing Se University’s exchange student program. After that, he and I are set to have lunch. And then it’s on to a panel discussion with the Water Tribe officials about navigation treaties. And after that we have rehearsal for the Ceremony for Perpetual Peace on the last day.”

“Wow! That’s more than me and I’m the event organizer! Do you think you could have dinner with us after the rehearsal?” Aang looked at him hopefully. 

“I wish I could but–” Zuko hesitated, “promise you won’t make fun of me for what I’m about to say?”

“Okay?” Well that wasn’t much of a promise, but Zuko figured it was the best he was going to get. 

“My advisors bullied me into seeing a matchmaker. The Wedding Weeder or something like that.”

“The Wedding Weaver!” Aang exclaimed. “She’s really famous over here. She boasts a 95% success rate. Excluding the Kangaroo Island incident of course.

“Well I’d never heard of her. But I met with her a couple of days ago and she said she already found my perfect match. She arranged for us to get dinner tonight.”

“TONIGHT?!” Aang yelled, startling a pair of passing servants. 

“Hush up!” Zuko hissed. “No one knows yet except Uncle and my council.”

“But what about Mai?” Aang asked. In the months after the war, he and Mai had become fast friends to everyone’s surprise. Retrospectively, it kind of made sense to Zuko. Aang was a lot like Ty Lee, and being the avatar meant that his life was far from boring. And despite his “upbeat attitude,” he was very accepting of “gloomy” people. It took Katara a little bit longer to warm up to Mai, but not by much. Ever since Mai broke up with him, Aang has been encouraging him to try to fix things.  

“She’s still with Kei Lo as far as I know. The last time I saw him, he told me to back off and Mai took his side. I think it’s over.”

Aang was visibly disappointed by this, and Zuko added uncomfortably, “You said this matchmaker was really good, right? I’m sure whoever she sets me up with will be… lovely.”

Aang seemed to realize he was affecting Zuko. “Oh! I’m sure she will! But don’t you think it’s a bit dishonest to try to date someone else while you still have feelings for your ex? Isn’t that like cheating?”

Zuko thought about Aang’s words. “I… I don’t know. But I don’t really have a choice. I have a bunch of old guys breathing down my throat to have a kid. I have to start somewhere.” 

Aang gave him a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry. That’s rough, buddy.”

— —

Zuko took a deep breath and began to ascend the stairs. The Weaver had reserved an entire rooftop balcony for them. He wondered what his date was thinking about all of this. The matchmaker had not revealed his identity, but had apparently told her that he was an important official who required privacy. What if she’s angry that I didn’t tell her my identity first? Mai had always hated surprises. Spirits, she was beautiful when she despised things.

Uncle had given him a gift basket with an assortment of tea leaves and several coupons for the Jasmine Dragon. He assured Zuko that if his date was caught off-guard, the smell of the tea leaves would calm her. Zuko wasn’t sure if he believed that, but he trusted that uncle knew better than him, so he figured he should probably lead with the gift. When reached the door to the balcony, he rearranged the items of the gift basket one last time.

As he stepped on the terrace, he caught sight of a female figure. She was standing at the edge of the balcony, looking out over the city with her back turned. She had long black hair that she wore loose, and for a moment he almost tricked himself into thinking it was Mai. Maybe bringing up the hair was a mistake.

“Hello–”

She spun around, knives in hand. Agni, it was Mai!

“Zuko, what the fuck? How did you find out about my date?”

Zuko gaped at her, “I– I didn’t. This is supposed to be my date.”

Mai took in the gift-basket and his gelled hair. No doubt both courtesy of his uncle.

She buried her face in her hands and her shoulders began to shake. Zuko felt his heart fall into his stomach. He dropped the basket and ran to her side. “Please don’t cry. I didn’t mean–”

She let out a snort. He pried her hands away from her face to see she was… laughing. She giggled and chortled and it was honestly a bit disconcerting at first. He had never seen her so unrestrained. 

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” She apologized breathlessly through her mirth. She finally composed herself enough to be coherent. “I just can’t believe I traveled to the other side of the world to be set up on a date with you!” 

Zuko glowered and dropped her hands. “I could say the exact same thing!”

Mai suddenly became serious, “ I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just that I was finally trying to move on and here you are.”

Zuko couldn’t believe this. “Again, I could say the same! No! I should be the only one saying that. You broke up with me. And you’re dating Kei Lo. Why are you even here? What do you mean ‘move on’?”

Mai crossed her arms. “For your information, Kei Lo broke up with me because I couldn’t let go of you.” Zuko felt a fluttering in his ribcage, but she didn’t stop there, “And I tried to be a good girlfriend, but you weren’t interested in my support. You would rather keep all your emotions locked away in your chest.”

Zuko rolled his eyes. “You’re one to talk–”

“Hey! I’ve been doing better and you know it.” 

He supposed that was true. After all, she was expressing herself with gusto today. He remembered Uncle’s calming tea and retrieved the basket. Luckily, it had landed right side up.

He walked back to Mai and extended it to her. No use in letting it go to waste. “For you.”

Mai looked like she was about to make another cutting remark, but then she noticed the contents. “Is this from Iroh?” He nodded and she accepted the basket. She picked up a sachet of spiced oolong and inhaled. “This always was my favorite. Thank you.” She hesitated, “Are you sure you don’t want to save this nice array for the next girl?”

Zuko huffed. “What next girl?” 

He looked around the balcony for the first time, as if he thought some beautiful woman would emerge and save him from this awkwardness. There was a table piled high with food that was rapidly growing cold, and two chairs. Mai was glad she pilfered some dumplings before he arrived. Ty Lee made her spend hours getting ready and so she was starving. And now Zuko was probably going to kick her out before she got dinner.

Mai shrugged. “I don’t know. Whoever the Weaver sends you after me?”

“I didn’t actually see her of my own free will. It’s kind of a long story. Would you like to sit?” He gestured to the table. He pulled out her chair for her. Mai raised an eyebrow, but she set her basked to the side and accepted the gesture nonetheless. He sat across from her.

“So, start talking.” Mai quickly piled food onto her plate. If Zuko actually had a long story, she could finally eat.

“My advisors are concerned that I don’t have an heir. I currently have Kiyi listed, but… if something happens I don’t know if the people will accept her.”

Mai felt a chill run up her spine. “Zuko, you’re talking as though you’re going to croak any minute. Ty Lee told me that the situation was stabilizing and that was why you sent the Kyoshi warriors back to their island.”

Zuko took a bite of a steamed bun and refused to meet her gaze. Mai glared at him until he spoke, “The situation is stabilizing, but it will never be fully secure until the Fire Nation can operate independently. I heard some of the girls talking outside my office one day. They were feeling homesick. It was always meant to be a temporary post, and I didn’t want to force them to stay if they were unhappy. Anyway, Suki and Ty Lee had been personally training the replacement guards for some time anyway. So I ended their contract. And I gave them generous severance by the way.”

“Maybe independence isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Have there been more assassination attempts since they left?” Just like Mai to cut to the chase. For some reason, it made Zuko want to smile despite the serious topic.

“There have been two in the last four months. But the guards are improving, truly. I would not put my family in their care if I didn’t trust them.”

Mai nodded. “All the same, you would tell someone, right? If you were concerned.”

Zuko blinked in surprise. “Who would I tell?”

Mai wanted to flip the table. Instead she took a breath. Pretend you’re explaining a really difficult concept to Tom Tom. “You could tell Aang, or Katara, or Toph, or Sokka, or Suki, or Ty Lee. You know, any of your friends,” she deadpanned. 

Zuko smiled, but it was bittersweet. “I’m trying to be better about reaching out. I acknowledge that in the past I haven’t been the best about that. But there are certain things that our friends can’t help me with. They all have their own responsibilities far away from Caldera City. This is something I need to figure out as the Fire Lord.”

Mai felt her heart twist. He didn’t hesitate to include her: ‘our friends.’ She forced herself to speak before she lost her nerve. “You could talk to me. I know things are awkward between us right now, but you’re one of my only childhood friends. I still care about you, Zuko. And I’m not volunteering to be your personal bodyguard or anything, but I don’t mind helping you vet the new recruits or spending some afternoons at the palace to help out.”

“That would be great!” Zuko accepted her offer without hesitation. He would always take whatever she was willing to give him. But then he remembered something she had said earlier. “Only if you’re sure that won’t interfere with your attempt to get over me. I don’t want to stand in the way of your happiness.”

Mai narrowed her eyes, trying to determine if he was making fun of her. And then she remembered what she said only moments ago in the heat of their argument. She felt her cheeks get hot. “Oh! That was… a bit of an over-exaggeration. I didn’t really want to see the matchmaker either. My mom and aunt were pressuring me, and then Ty Lee got on board. I guess their enthusiasm rubbed off on me more than I realized.”

Zuko smirked, “Yeah, you’re so easy to enthuse.” 

Mai rolled her eyes and threw a dumpling at him. He had the good sense to duck and he came up laughing. 

“So,” he began. “If you wanna hear about my problems, maybe we could start with this festival.”

Mai nodded, “You can tell me all about it until this table is empty.”

Zuko chuckled and quickly launched into complaints about his overbooked schedule and his ridiculous advisors. Mai listened intently, and, in turn, she regaled him with the trials and tribulations of the floral industry. When they finally parted, Yue was well into her nightly journey. Mai rejected Zuko’s offer of a personal escort home, but he insisted she take at least one of his guards. “I know you don’t need the protection, but I can’t have the restaurant owner think I’m an inconsiderate date.” As the pair disappeared into the city streets, Zuko couldn’t help smiling. Maybe Mai didn’t reciprocate his feelings, but she was miraculously his friend again and that was enough. He ought to send the Wedding Weaver a generous tip.

Later, as Mai slid into bed, she thought about her conversation with Zuko. He was so much more open now compared to when they broke up. Had she overreacted in ending things with him? Was it… possible that he was still willing to try again? She didn’t have satisfactory answers to these questions yet, but she had gotten one of her best friends back. That had to count for something.

— — 

The First Annual Peace Extravaganza went on smoothly and historic treaties were agreed upon by the remaining three nations. However, nothing that happened was quite as historic as the Third Annual Peace Extravaganza, where the Fire Lord announced his engagement to his long-term girlfriend, Lady Mai. He shocked the world by declaring that their wedding would take place on the summer solstice, just three months away.

There was some talk about whether or not the two would be suitable rulers. In their not-so distant youth, the couple was said to have a tumultuous on-again and off-again affair. But she had been his steadfast companion for the past two years, and the royal council was happy to simply have the promise of a stronger bloodline. 

The Wedding Weaver smiled when she heard the news. Since that fateful day, she learned that she was not the reason for the royal couple’s first meeting. By the time they reached her door, their life lines had long since been plied together into a single thread. She took up her place at her loom and began to weave.

— — 

For Mai and Zuko, the time between their engagement and their wedding day passed in a blur. On top of their usual responsibilities of keeping a country running, they had to plan what was shaping up to be the largest party of the century. The festivities would take several days. 

The first day was their traditional betrothal ceremony, made awkward by the conspicuous absence of their fathers. The awkwardness only grew. Mai’s uncle, the Warden of the Boiling Rock, had offered to take the place of her father, and kept threatening to revoke his approval, making Zuko promise and swear repeatedly on all the Spirits that he would never hurt Mai emotionally or physically. Uncle Iroh, who had taken the place of Zuko’s own father, found the situation quite amusing. Iroh and Mai had to hold back their laughter and the Warden made Zuko get on his knees and repeat his vows.

The second day was the wedding ceremony itself and Mai’s coronation. Zuko would always remember how beautiful Mai looked in the traditional robes. To the crowd’s– and Zuko’s– surprise, Mai openly cried tears of joy as she said her vows. She accepted her position as Fire Lady earnestly, and even the Sages were pleased. The entire Nation celebrated that night, while Mai and Zuko slipped away to celebrate privately.

The third day was reserved entirely for opening gifts from whoever the council deemed noteworthy. King Kuei had gifted them a large and rather unsightly bear statue that Mai decided could live in one of the many basement sitting rooms. Chief Arnook presented them with heavy duty and finely embroidered Water Tribe tunics for their next visit. Zuko was grateful but slightly disappointed. (On their previous trips to the North, Mai had clung to his side like a burr, seeking his inner fire. Now she would likely burrow into her heavy robes instead.) Chief Hakoda, at his children’s recommendation, gave them matching whale tooth knives. These were privately both Mai and Zuko’s favorite gift of the celebration. 

Yet even after this event, they were left with an entire storeroom of gifts from citizens and well-wishers that would have to be dealt with eventually, which is where Mai and Zuko found themselves that evening. 

“I don’t even know where to start with all of this,” Zuko sighed. “I don’t mean to be ungrateful, but it’s not like we’re lacking. I wish people would save their money.”

Mai wrapped her arms around her husband. The festivities were making her much more sentimental than usual. “I agree, but think about it this way: they gifted us these things because they appreciate what you’ve done as their leader. It’s all well-deserved.”

Zuko smiled and returned her embrace, “They’re your gifts too. The people are excited to have a Fire Lady again, and I’m so grateful that it’s you. I couldn’t imagine doing this with anyone else.”

Mai smiled and kissed him on the cheek, but she broke away from his hold after that. She wanted to make her way through at least some of this stuff before they left for their honeymoon after a few more days of public festivities. Everything had already been inspected for security purposes and the servants had created a separate section for gifts from people that they may have known personally. Mai made her way there, thinking it would be a good place to begin. Zuko followed and picked up a wrapped parcel with a familiar seal.

“No way,” he said, chuckling. “Mai, this is from our matchmaker!”

“Really?” she leaned into his side to read the attached note.

Dearest Fire Lord and Fire Lady,

From the moment I met the both of you, I could sense that you were destined to be a match. The string of fate between you is strong! By chance, I met you on the same day, and when the young Fire Lord spoke, it felt like he was describing you, Mai dear. It would be months before I learned that was perhaps truer than I could have guessed. Even though I did not bring you two together for the first time, I hope that the two of you are bound to stay. Please accept this token of my congratulations.

The Wedding Weaver

P.S. Zuko darling, thank you for the generous donations to my business.

Mai raised an eyebrow at ‘Zuko darling’. “You’ve been sending her money?”

“Well she got you back with me,” he replied. “I don’t regret a single copper piece!”

Mai laughed and unwrapped the parcel. Unsurprisingly, she gifted them a tapestry. It depicted the two of them standing side by side, surrounded by a border of their birth flowers. It was an impressive likeness considering that she had only seen them once and that she had rendered them in thread and not ink. 

“Woah!” Zuko ran his hand along the stitches. “Do you think my council would let me hang this up instead of a royal portrait?”

“Unfortunately, I don’t think so,” Mai replied, “but this is way nicer than the bear statue. We should put it somewhere visible.”

“We should.” Zuko pulled his wife into another embrace. “Do you believe in strings of fate?” he asked, although he suspected he knew the answer.

“No,” Mai answered, “but if such a thing existed, then I believe it would exist between us.”

Zuko buried his face in her hair and smiled. This was about as sappy as Mai got. “I think so too.”

#atla maiko #atla mai #atla zuko #maiko #mai #zuko #atla #avatar the last airbender #mai x zuko #zuko x mai #maikoweek2024 #if Mai and Zuko don't get married in the Zuko movie I will RIOT

[coallise]

My Deer Overlord

An idea of how the overlords ended up stopping Alastor from taking them all out and invite him into the fold.

Zestial sighed as he looked over the current overlords. There were only four of them left that the so called ‘radio demon' hadn't made disappear.

“We need a plan to deal with him,” Carmilla said, “maybe if we pulled all our resources together?”

“Marque and Isabella tried that and they had twice the resources we all have combined.” Zeezi complained.

“Well, does anyone have a better idea?” Carmilla said, taking a deep breath. She had her daughters hide, the demon was going after overlords and powerful targets and she wanted to keep the target off of their backs.

Zestial raised a hand, “I do, but I hesitate to offer it.”

“Tell us,” Carmilla urged. She wanted to spend time with her daughters again without fearing he would go after them.

Zestial coughed and turned to Rosie, “I believe thou might be able to get close. Offer him a meal or such. Information shows he is a cannibal and he only attacks women when they attack first.”

Rosie gulped, “you want me to try and charm the most dangerous sinner we've seen yet?”

“Please, maybe even offer him a spot as an overlord? Have him sign this,” Zestial handed over a contract that said those who sign can not directly harm the others. Zestial had already signed it. “Felt it was appropriate to bring back the pack.”

The gathered overlords looked it over before signing it. Rosie held it close to her chest and went searching for him.

“Well hello, what is a lovely woman like you doing in this part of town?” A man in a red overcoat and microphone staff bowed, holding out his hand. Rosie put her hand in his and he kissed it.

“Just looking for a rascal that was running around,” Rosie smiled. He had a big grin and the look of a cannibal. She felt safe with one of her own.

“Oh, who is this rascal?” 

“The radio demon, I heard we had the same taste and wished to dine with him,” Rosie flashed him her sharp teeth. The man pondered something before locking their arms together.

“Oh what the hay! Lead the way, ma’am. The name's Alastor,” he smiled and Rosie felt panic.

“It's Rosie, darling,” she said. They started walking to the colony together.

“The cannibal overlord?” A bit of radio static could be heard.

“The very same. Behave yourself and you won't end up on the menu,” Rosie gripped his arm tighter. The other cannibals waved and greeted Rosie happily, a few stopped them to ask for advice before they could go on their way to the bistro.

“Quite the popular lady,” Alastor said, pulling Rosie's chair out for her.

“We're a tight knit bunch in the colony. You have to be in this world,” Rosie ordered her meal before putting her elbows on the table and head on her fists, “shall we continue with pleasantries or shall we get down to business?”

“And what kind of business are you offering?”

“I want you to keep my colony out of your murder rampages. I would be delighted if you dropped some of the bodies here, but my first priority is their safety.”

Alastor hummed and swirled his glass of blood, “I suppose I can agree with that. Provided that no one harms me here either.”

“You reek of death, dear, they will see you as one of their own. If you make regular visits, even more so.” Rosie waved off before offering her hand, “so, a deal? You leave my cannibal’s alone and you can freely come and go?”

“Hmm, the ones that are ‘yours’ only count as being in here? Is it every cannibal?” Alastor asked.

“Other than a few exceptions, mine consist of those with a winning smile and black eyes,” Rosie waved to show almost everyone in that area fit the description, “thou I suppose we can just say that polite cannibals are mine.”

Alastor hummed before shaking her hand, the area flashed with Rosie's ink black magic.

“Now that is settled, the other overlords wanted me to offer you a seat,” Rosie smiled as the waiter came with their food.

“Oh, I’m not interested in being an overlord, I just enjoy the chaos,” Alastor waved off, taking a bite of his spaghetti. Rosie leaned over to wipe the sauce off his chin, noticing how stiff his right side seemed to be.

“Shame, the overlords you haven’t killed are the ones that are tough to piss off. Tell me, are you afraid of spiders, Alastor?” Rosie asked, taking a neat bite of food.

“Not particularly,” he said.

“How about spiders as big as people? Ones that, when they die, spew acid? How about ones where a small bite paralyzes you. Those are the ones under Zestial’s command,” Rosie took a long drink of her blood, “then there is Carmilla. The angelic weapons dealer who has connections with all layers of hell. Do you want to risk her ire either?”

“Hmm, and the others?” Alastor hummed, twirling his spaghetti on his fork.

“Well, you know me, I have the colony on my side. Zeezi is much the same, she has her, I believe they call themselves kaijus.”

Alastor hummed and took a few bites of his food, “pray tell, if I did accept the generous offer, what is in it for me?”

“Well, we have an overlord pack where none of us can directly hurt another overlord and their family, also we get together monthly to decide what goes on in the pentagon. Sometimes Lucifer and his wife join in,” Rosie took out the pack and showed him. He carefully scanned it and memorized the signatures. “Would you prefer one of them to take advantage of you being injured? I am sure Zestial has already begun weaving a web.”

Alastor touched his shoulder and narrowed his eyes at the smiling woman, “you are an observant one, Rosie.”

“I need to be,” Rosie said. “Are you signing or should I tell the others you refused?”

Alastor looked at the paper before taking one of the feathers off of Rosie’s hat, pricking his finger and then signing the paper with his blood.

“You are so dramatic! I love it!” Rosie laughed, the pack disappeared, probably went back to Zestial. The two continued to chat between themselves until they had to leave. Alastor promising he would host their next dinner together.

#hazbin hotel #hazbin alastor #hazbin rosie #radiorose

[sunlightmurdock]

Sub Rosa | Part Two: The Cover Up | Bradley ‘Rooster’ Bradshaw (18+)

Masterlist

Warnings: Secret relationships, pinv, unprotected sex, oral (m&f receiving)

…

“So how long have you been fucking Ice’s daughter?”

Rooster paused, his hands still on the folded pile of clothes in his locker. He took a deep breath and turned, looking Jake in the eye and raising an eyebrow at him.

“What did you say?” Rooster gave him a chance to move on and let this go. Jake grinned at him, placing a toothpick between his teeth, “I said: how long have you been fucking Ice’s daughter, man?”

Hangman had known about Rooster’s dirty little secret for three whole days now, and he had just been brewing over what he should do about it. On the one hand, he was kind of impressed that Rooster had a dangerous bone in his body. On the other, Rooster was an asshole in the air and Jake liked to mess with him on the ground.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Rooster turned towards his locker, pushing his clothes to the back, zipping up his flight suit and slamming the thin metal door shut. Hangman chuckled, passing the toothpick from the right side of his mouth to the left.

Jake followed Rooster as he began to leave the locker room.

Today was the final day of Admiral Kazansky’s birthday celebrations. It was his sixtieth and after forty years of service, the Navy was making a fairly big deal out of it. Rooster checked his watch. The airshow was beginning in ten minutes, where they both, along with four other pilots, were going to fly in sync for some of the biggest names in the United States Navy.

“His youngest too,” Hangman tutted, his eyes twinkling as he walked alongside the other pilot. “Shit — you didn’t take her virginity did you?” Rooster turned, cornering the shorter man and invading his space, “Would you shut the fuck up?”

Jake raised his eyebrows, “You did, didn’t you?” Rooster rolled his eyes. He hadn’t, and that was none of Jake’s business either way. Jake’s smile grew regardless, he clutched his stomach as he began to laugh, “Ice is gonna fucking kill you, dude.”

“Are you gonna tell him?” Rooster’s voice was lower now as he checked the hallway for others that might be listening in.

Hangman laughed again, shaking his head, “No fucking way — I’m not getting involved. It’s your balls on the line, bro, not mine.” He scoffed, finally nudging past Rooster and continuing along the hallway. Rooster let out a breath, following Jake along the hall.

“She is hot. Always walking around in those tiny fucking dresses, can’t say I hadn’t thought abou-“

“Watch it.” Rooster warned with an elbow into Jake’s ribs, looking seriously at the other pilot.

Hangman rubbed at his aching ribs as the pair rounded the corner, “What? — you fuck Ice’s kid under his own roof and I’m not allowed to say she has a nice ass?”

Leaning against the wall, his eyes on his watch, Maverick lifted his head and stared at the two young pilots before him. Both froze, like caught schoolboys. Even with sunglasses on, Rooster could feel Maverick’s glare.

“Mav, I can explain, I—“

“Don’t!” Mav didn’t want to know. He didn’t want to hear any more. He didn’t even want to hear what he had. He knew better than anyone, the dangers of screwing an Admiral’s daughter. Last time he did that, he had ended up in Bolivia for two years.

Sure, Penny was the best thing that had ever happened to him, but that was different.

Maverick sighed, putting both of his hands up, “Get outside. We’re gonna do this airshow, we’re gonna pretend everything’s fine, and then you and I are gonna talk.”

Rooster knew better than to argue. He nodded his head. Maverick turned and left the building, leading the idiots behind him out onto the tarmac. He heard a soft ‘oof’ from behind him as Rooster drove his elbow into Hangman’s ribs.

Standing out on the tarmac between your mother and father. Lined up right next to about eight more nicely decorated Admirals. Ice had made a lot of friends in his career, and they were all here to support him.

Every single person with the power to decide upon the rest of Rooster’s career, standing neatly in a line with the one girl who had the power to derail it completely.

Rooster avoided your gaze, adjusting his shades and staring straight ahead as he walked towards the planes. Maverick and Hangman, however, were staring straight at you. Your smile faltered slightly, your heart falling into your stomach as you realised they both knew now.

You glanced up at your father’s standing proud as he said something to Admiral Caine, his hand resting on your shoulder. He squeezed you gently, turning and giving you a proud grin.

The airshow went seamlessly. You had been terrified that either Mav or Hangman would say something stupid over comms. Or that Rooster would say something himself to try to straighten things out. That something would go wrong. It went seamlessly. He flew perfectly, like always.

After the airshow, it became more of an informal event. Drinks and food in the Officer’s club. You had been here many times, at many events like this. Each more boring than the next for the child of an Admiral. You stayed with your mother, listening to her chide you about frowning so much.

You weren’t even really listening, you were just watching the door while stirring the ice in your lemonade with a straw. Waiting for him.

Hangman and the other pilots entered the room with your father, all of them smiling. Your father patted Jake on the shoulder and shook his hand before they went their separate ways. You wondered if he would ever accept Rooster like that if he knew about you two.

Currently, your father liked Rooster a lot. You knew the story, how he had flown with Bradley’s dad back in Top Gun. Your father had a lot of admiration for the things that Rooster had accomplished. With Mav being his best friend, they talked about Bradley a fair bit.

You knew that if you were older — if your relationship had begun under different circumstances — that your father would have been thrilled with your choice of a partner.

You waited patiently for him to walk through the door behind the others, but he didn’t show. Neither did Maverick. You frowned, glancing around to see if you had missed them entering, only to be quickly scolded by your mother for frowning again.

“How long has this shit being going on, Bradley?”’

Rooster sighed softly, letting his head fall back against the wall behind him, his arms folded over his chest as he waited for this to be over. “Since Thanksgiving…” He mumbled, avoiding looking Maverick in the eye.

“Thanks— Since Thanksgiving?” Maverick whisper-yelled, hitting Bradley in the arm. Bradley shrugged his shoulders, unsure what Pete wanted him to do about it at this point. “Brad, that was five fucking months ago!”

“I know…” Rooster sighed, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

“W- Hold on,” Maverick pinched the bridge of his nose, “Do you mean when you were at my place on Thanksgiving?”

Rooster’s lips quirked slightly, fighting to keep the smile off of his face. He couldn’t help that he found it funny. Maverick’s jaw dropped.

“Are you kidding me, Bradshaw? What is wrong with you? — she’s been away at college, how the hell have you even been seeing her?”

“I go up on weekends.” Rooster shrugged, like that was going to be an acceptable answer.

Maverick sighed. He reached out and gripped the back of Rooster’s neck, forcing his nephew to look him in the eye. “Look, Ice is one of my closest friends — but I can’t protect you here. If he finds out, you’re done.”

Rooster rolled his eyes and squirmed out of Maverick’s grasp, “He’s not gonna find out.”

“You have to just end it.” Maverick pleaded, searching Rooster’s face for any sign of regret whatsoever. He found none. “Maybe you can start seeing her again in a couple of months, do it right, take her on some dates. Alright?”

“Look, Ice isn’t going to find out. If this goes somewhere, we’ll tell him. Until then, he doesn’t need to know.” Rooster answered. He wasn’t just going to end it. He didn’t know if he could.

“This doesn’t end well for you, alright?” Done listening, Rooster had already begun to walk away. “Do the smart thing, Bradley. Just end it.”

Rooster rolled his eyes, not bothering to look back as he headed into the event room with the others. He fit in with the other pilots like he hadn’t been missing at all, smiling at something Fanboy had said to him.

You turned back to your mother before anyone caught the longing stares you were giving him across the bar. Your phone buzzed on the table, and was in your hand before your mother could even notice it was making a noise at all.

From Nick: Hangar D, 20 minutes

Your cheeks flushed with heat as you glanced back at Rooster excitedly. He had been saved as Nick in your phone for weeks now, after you had realised that you didn’t like the thought of your parents seeing his name pop up on your phone. Nicholas was his middle name but they wouldn’t put that together.

“Mommy, you don’t mind if I drive myself home, do you? — I have kind of a headache.” You asked gently, reaching out and placing your hand over your mother’s. Maverick, standing on the other side of your mother, deep in conversation with your father, shot you a look. You smiled sweetly at him as your mother handed you the keys to her car.

He watched you grab your bag and leave with an impressive level of calm. Then, he watched Rooster check the time on his watch. Exactly five minutes later, he narrowed his eyes as he watched Rooster make up and excuse and leave through the same door.

Hangar D was the furthest Hangar from the events hall, and also the closest to exit C, which had the least security. You parked in your mom’s car beside the door to the hangar, busying yourself with fixing your makeup whilst waiting for Rooster.

You flinched at the sound of something hitting your window, sighing in relief as Rooster opened the car door, laughing at your reaction.

“Move up, honey.” You moved over the centre console, sliding into the passenger seat, sitting up on your knees and leaning across to kiss him as he took the driver’s seat.

“You look so fucking good in this dress.” Rooster hummed against your lips, “God, I’m a lucky man, huh?”

You smiled against his lips, sitting back down in the seat and locking your fingers between his. Rooster squeezed your hand gently, bringing it up to his mouth and kissing your knuckles as he turned the keys in the ignition.

He pulled the car away, heading along the road far enough that you reached the automatic security gate. It scanned the licence plate — no need for guards that might spot the two of you together.

“So, I take it Mav wasn’t happy when he found out?” You asked, stroking his strong hand delicately with your thumb. Rooster chuckled, shaking his head slightly, “He wasn’t thrilled that we fucked in his bathroom, no.”

You groaned, “Why would you tell him that?”

“I mean, I spared him the gory details but I told him it was at thanksgiving - he figured it out. He wouldn’t have known at all if Jake wasn’t such a loudmouth.”

You squeezed his hand, “Sorry for getting you in trouble with them.”

“I can handle those guys.” Rooster shot you a wink through the lenses of his shades, turning his eyes back to the road. “Anything for you anyway, honey.”

You giggled softly, setting his hand on your thigh with yours over it, sliding it up to the edge of your white dress, “Anything?”

“Baby, we’re like ten minutes away.” Rooster glanced between you and the road as he pulled up at a red light. You raised an eyebrow at him, batting your eyelashes playfully, “Is that a no?”

Rooster laughed breathily, squeezing your thigh, “I don’t think I’ve ever told you no, have I?” He realised. You smiled at him sweetly. He slid his hand between your legs, pausing as he realised you weren’t wearing anything under that classy white dress of yours.

“Baby.” He breathed, turning his head towards you, “You did not stand next to the most important men in the Navy with no panties on.” You could tell he was trying not to laugh.

You licked your lips, pushing your hips forward against his hand, “Jealous?”

He chuckled, shaking his head at you as his thumb circled your clit, his eyes on the road ahead, “You are somethin’ else, Kazansky.” He pulled away from the red light, hand resting casually at the base of the wheel as his other worked between your legs.

You took your lip between your teeth as you watched him drive. Something about watching him drive an eighty five thousand dollar car in a flight suit made you want to tell him to pull over right then and there.

He glanced over, watching you squirm against his hand, leaning in and kissing you gently, “Almost home, honey.”

Rooster’s place was a cute little white cottage on the coast with a porch out front and a sunny backyard. His neighbours were all in their eighties. The first time he had brought you over, you had thought he lived with his grandma until you went i inside.

You just hadn’t been expecting him to live somewhere that was so nice and peaceful. You had been expecting a bachelor pad.

He swung the car into the driveway, switching off the engine and crossing in front of the car to open your door for you. Once you were on your feet his hands were on the backs of your thighs, hoisting you up and over his shoulder in one swift move. His hand came up and landed on your ass, ensuring your dress was covering your modesty as he shut the car door, his lips quirking as you squealed in his arms.

“You feel like fucking in a bed that’s actually made for adults this time, baby?” He fished his keys out of his pocket, balancing you over his shoulder with his other hand, turning his head and kissing the back of your thigh, making you laugh even more. It was once he had said this that you both caught the sound of a hose turning off, looking to the side to see one of Rooster’s elderly neighbours looking entirely scandalised at what she had just heard.

“Sorry, Mrs. McKeldrick.” He waved at her, keys in his hand, you still over his shoulder. Your cheeks burned as you forced yourself to also wave, unable to keep yourself from laughing. She stared you down as Rooster slotted his keys into the door and carried you inside.

He whistled casually, turning and locking the door behind him, tossing his keys onto the side table and walking you through the house, his hand on your ass. He thought back to what Hangman had said earlier; you did have a nice ass.

Rooster set you down on your feet in front of his bed, brushing your hair back down into his previously neat style like he wasn’t planning to mess it up completely soon after. He lifted your chin and just looked you over, his soft brown eyes taking in your features.

“What?” You whispered, feeling suddenly self-conscious in the quiet of the room. Bradley smiled, brushing his hand over your cheek, finally leaning in and pressing to yours, “Just admiring that pretty face.”

You rolled your eyes playfully at him, swatting at his chest, “Don’t go all soft on me now, Bradshaw.” He chuckled, shaking his head, “I’m rarely soft when you’re around, baby.”

You giggled as he grabbed your hips and pulled you against him, pushing you down onto the mattress with his knee between your legs, “Especially not now I know you’ve been out here wandering around with no panties on.” He murmured against your lips, sending shivers down your spine. He tucked his arm under your back, flipping you over onto your front, sliding your hair over your shoulder and kissing the back of your neck.

You hummed, arching your back and pushing your ass back into his crotch. He pushed harder again you, sliding your zipper delicately down your back, leaving kisses along your skin as he went until it hit the bottom. He slid the dress down, dropping it to the floor and leaving an open-mouthed kiss at the base of your spine before pulling your hips up off of the mattress and turning you back onto your front.

“Get comfy.” He murmured, already slipping between your legs. You whimpered gently, shifting up closer to the pillows, watching him take off his sunglasses and drop them onto the rug. Though Rooster wasn’t the first person you had had sex with, he was the first guy who had gone down on you. And he loved doing it.

He had been visiting up at college every weekend since January, and he knew you like he knew how to fly now. His nose nudged you clit slightly, his hands under your knees, pushing them up to your waist, out of his way as his tongue teased at your hole.

Your friends back at college had made fun of you when they heard you were spending your spring break at home instead of going to Mexico with them. You would make the same choice a hundred times over to be here, with him, like this.

“Were you hoping I’d fuck you on base?” He stopped, pressing his lips against your thigh, trailing his fingers along your hip. “That why you had no panties on?”

You took your lip between your teeth, pushing your fingers into his curls, batting your eyelashes at him, “Maybe I was.”

His eyes stayed on yours as his hand slid between your legs, stroking at your clit, “My dirty girl.” You shivered as his tongue teased at your hole once more, letting out a breathy moan and pushing your head back against his pillows.

The thing was, Rooster knew he was good in bed. He knew that you went crazy for him. He knew that the guy you had slept with before him didn’t even close to compare. This afforded him certain luxuries. Such as being the biggest tease in the fucking world.

“Tell me what you were thinking out there today.” He slid his ring and middle fingers into you, making you hiss at the certain stretch.

“I was thinking…” You paused and swallowed as he curled his fingers expertly inside of you. “Fuck. I was thinking that my boyfriend looks hot as fuck in his… shit, Rooster — in his flight suit.”

Rooster hummed against your clit, turning his head and sucking a kiss into your thigh, “Is that right?” He murmured, not looking at you as he buried his face between your legs again.

“And I was hoping that he might, holy shit, let me ride him while he wore it.”

Rooster groaned against your core, pulling your hips towards him, feeling you shudder. His eyes flickered up to you, watching you writhe under him as you came, cursing his name breathlessly.

You blinked, feeling him kissing his way up your body, grabbing your hips and your waist as he did, humming softly as he reached your jaw.

“I think that can be arranged, baby.” He breathed, already tugging at the zipper of his flight suit. He sat back on his knees and slipped his arms out, tugging off the black t-shirt he usually wore under the suit, then slipping his arms back into the suit.

You smiled as you slid into his lap, pushing the fabric off of his chest just enough to kiss his collarbones, sliding your fingertips along his toned torso, sliding the zipper all the way down. Rooster’s hands came up to rest on your hips as you pushed his boxers down, wrapping your hand around the base of his length, pumping it slowly.

“Tease.” Rooster challenged, his eyes flickering between your hand and your face. You smiled at him cutely, wriggling between his legs, sticking your tongue out and pressing it flat against his tip, pumping your fist up to almost the tip and then bringing your mouth back down on him with your hand.

Rooster’s hand came to rest on the back of your head, his fingers curling around the hair at the base of your skull. You moaned gently around his length, making him groan. What a sight. Him with his head leaned back against his headboard, eyes shut in bliss, his sandy curls resting against his forehead, slightly disheveled.

“That’s it, honey,” Rooster guided your head down a little further, “Doing so good.”

You looked up at him through damp eyelashes, blinking back tears as you held him at the top of your throat, your fist pumping around the base of his cock. Rooster’s cock twitched at the sight.

Rooster groaned, nudging you back and tugging you back into his lap, grabbing the base of his cock one hand, then you jaw with the other. You steadied yourself on his broad shoulders, leaning in and pressing your lips to his as you sank down on his length.

“Fuck, baby…” Rooster’s grip on your jaw kept your eyes on him. He slid his hand down from your jaw to your chest, groping at your breast as you rose back up on your knees.

He took his lip between his teeth, grabbing both of your hips, guiding you as you bounced on his cock, his eyes on your face as your brow furrowed in pleasure, your head leaned back.

You felt him shift slightly, pressing his heels into the mattress for better leverage, bringing one hand up to grasp the back of your neck. He snapped his hips upward, meeting you halfway, dropping his mouth down to suck at your breast. Grabbing a fistful of his hair with one hand, you grabbed onto his knee for leverage with the other.

“Hold on, shit,” Rooster panted against your chest, swallowing hard as his fingertips pressed bruises into your hips, “Fuck — you’re gonna make me cum.”

You smiled, leaning down and kissing the spot just below his ear, your lips grazing it as you spoke, “I want you to cum.”

“You and that filthy fuckin’ mouth.” He dragged his lips across your throat, his grip on your hips tightening as he guided you. “Are gonna be the death of me, baby.”

You knew he was close, trying to hold out. His voice strained, the veins in his throat pressing out against his tanned skin, his cock throbbing each time you bounced down against his length. You gasped, digging your fingernails into his thigh, shuddering as he buried himself deep and spurted inside of you, his lips kissing lazily at your throat.

“God, I fucking love you.” Rooster confessed breathlessly against your chest, holding the back of your neck as he cradled you against him, still rutting his hips up into you.

You opened your eyes and blinked at him, lips already parted in a breathless haze. You raised your eyebrows slightly, waiting for him to realise what he had said.

“I love you.” He slid his fingers up your neck and into the hair at the base of your skull, pulling you down into a kiss.

…

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#bradley rooster bradshaw #bradley bradshaw #bradley bradshaw smut #miles teller #rooster bradshaw imagine #rooster x you #top gun smut

[vroomvroommbtch]

Only us - DR x fem!OC

Masterlist

Summary: It only took Daniel four years to ask that question, but it was worth the wait.

Pairing: Daniel Ricciardo x fem!OC

Warnings: Fluff all over the place.

Word count: 4.4k

A/N: How are we feeling after yesterday, DR girlies?! One Monday not being sad is a tiny victory so I take it 😌 Here some fluffy stuff to enjoy on this Halloween day. Now I can go back to my regular schedule of watching The Addams Family movies again and again. ANYWAY, let me know what u think? Send me asks if u want? Thanks for the likes and love, kiddos. Means the world. Kay see ya bye 🫰🏻

---

Only us.

-

April 2022.

Having one second of silence when they were in Australia was something nearly impossible, but Jas loved it. She loved the mess that included being there. She loved the noise that included being surrounded by family and friends, so Jas was nothing but happy. Spending some days at the farm in Perth was like a breeze of fresh air that they all needed, but especially Daniel. Plus, the fact that the race in Melbourne had quite a decent result was a big plus, so things were good, at least for those weeks.

With yet again another season that started poorly and another car that wasn't as fast as Daniel was promised, things weren't looking good, but none of that really mattered when they were home. All they cared about was spending time with their families. Not a race, a CEO, a car or a team principal was gonna ruin the happiness that gave Jas seeing Daniel with his parents and sister. But especially, nothing was going to ruin the joy that brought them watching Olivia spend time with their family, and especially watching her play with her cousins. Listening to Isaac, Isabella and Olivia giggle together was something too pure, too magical and too perfect, and nobody in the world was going to ruin that.

But even in the middle of the beautiful mess and noise, her tiny little family of three always found a way to spend some time being just them. It didn't happen often all things considered, but Jas loved the little moments that included just her, Olivia and Daniel. They were pretty counted, so she cherished every single one of them, even if they included dirty diapers.

While everyone was chatting in the living room and Aoife, Grace and Esme were starting to make dinner, Jas was in their room, dealing with a change of diapers, which was probably her less favorite part of being a mom and having a baby. But as she was cleaning and drying Olivia, two arms suddenly hugged her back. She couldn't help but smile as she felt Daniel place kiss after kiss against her head, shoulders and neck, making her laugh like a little happy girl. That was the effect Daniel had on her since they met, but it all became somehow bigger since Olivia was born. If Jas loved Daniel before, she loved him a hundred times more since she saw him turning into a dad. She felt in love with him again and again and again every single time she saw him with their daughter, and that day wasn't different.

"You smell nice" Jas smiled, looking over her shoulder for a second as she stroked Olivia's tummy with her fingers. "Not like you, you stinky little butt. You need a shower after dinner, you hear me? Well get you a nice bubble bath" Jas said to her daughter, which she answered with some cooing and a big toothless smile.

"I just took a shower but that bubble bath thing sounds like something mom and dad should do tonight too" Daniel suggested, placing one last kiss right on Jas's temple before he moved to her side to look at Olivia, but still hugging Jas with his arm around her waist. "I'm sure Maggie and Michael won't mind looking after her for a night"

Jas couldn't help but giggle when she heard her sister and Michael's names coming from Daniel. She couldn't help but laugh not because they wouldn't want to take care of Olivia like they did countless times, but because she imagined they were going to be kind of busy that night. "You mean Michael and Maggie the ones that mysteriously left in a boogie like two hours ago? I don't think so, babe"

"Remind me again why the hell they say they're on a break if they're fucking around like mad rabbits anyway?"

That was a very nice question that Jas has been asking herself again and again, but she couldn't really find an answer. Plus, she didn't want to mention the subject in front of Maggie, knowing it was nothing but delicate to bring that up. She really couldn't bring it up in front of Michael either because his answer was always the same 'We're trying to make it work', but Jas doubted it. So not being able to talk to them, they all just looked away when Maggie and Michael were basically undressing each other with just one look. Or in this case when they disappeared on the farm, not really giving any explanation of where they were going. "Don't remind me what my little sister and my friend does. And I don't know. It's their thing"

"We can always ask your parents. Or mine" he proposed, looking down at Olivia as Jas made her laugh and move her adorable tiny legs in the process. "What's so funny, uh? Mum's tickling you, baby girl?"

And like any other day, Jas couldn't help but stay looking at the picture in front of her with a smile on her face. Daniel tickling Olivia's tummy with his fingers to make her giggle even more was just the most beautiful thing in the world. Hearing her cute little giggles was music to their ears. See the way her husband and daughter looked at each other was simply everything Jas ever wanted, so it made her heart be filled with nothing but happiness. And to see Daniel being a dad was something difficult to put into words. The way his whole face changed and lightened up when he was with Olivia was magical. The way his eyes seemed to spark and the way his smile just grew bigger was incredible and it all just made Jas melt of love and happiness.

"Wanna spend the night with grandma and grandpa? Wanna do that so mum and dad can have a little bit of fun sleeping tonight?" Jas asked Olivia while she secured a new diaper around her tummy. And once it was done, Jas took the chance to grab her chubby perfect legs to kiss first her right feet and then the left. "You've the most adorable tiny baby foot in the world! They're like paidrín. Look at those fingers!"

"We can sleep but maybe also we can give her a sibling" Daniel whispered, as if their three months old daughter was able to understand what they were saying.

Jas knew Daniel's suggesting was nothing but a joke, but she also knew that deep down it wasn't just a joke. They wanted more than one kid, they wanted at least one more sibling for Olivia and then maybe another one because three was the magic number in their home, but timing was far from right. Olivia came in whenever she wanted and it's magical how she ended up picking the perfect timing to show up in the lives. She appeared when they needed her the most, and for that everyone in their family was thankful and happy but for the next one they wanted to do things right. They talked about it when Jas was pregnant and again when Olivia was born, so no matter how badly they wanted to perpetuate the Ricciardo name, they were going to wait for the right timing for their next Baby Badger.

"Ah, no so fast cowboy. Not till she's at least two or three. We can barely survive with one" Jas reminded him, standing straight to give Daniel a loving kiss on his lips. "It'll come, you know that, right?"

"I know. We can practice some meanwhile" he affirmed, kissing Jas head once again. "Can I?" he wondered, pointing to the onesie that was waiting right besides Olivia.

With a smile and a fast kiss on his lips, Jas left Daniel took care of putting Olivia's clean onesie on her body. She didn't say a thing as she looked at them, too scared to ruin the moment. With the crazy, busy schedule he had, there were counted days Daniel could dedicate his full time to being a dad. There was always some event with sponsors, there was always a meeting, there was always some publicity thing to do, especially when they were in Australia. But on the days that he was free, he would put his heart and soul into it. From changing dirty diapers and clothes, making bath times a complete mess and tummy time as fun as possible to inventing the most ridiculous stories, warm perfectly her bottles or sing lullabies absolutely out of tune, Daniel wanted to do every single thing that would include Olivia. They knew it was the most normal thing for a dad to do, but Jas never complained when she was the one taking care of it weekend after weekend. She never complained when she was the one getting up in the middle of the night or when she had to take care both of an exhausted Daniel and a sleepy Olivia. It was her job as a mom and his partner, so she did it all with a happy smile on her face, thanking her lucky stars for having her wonderful family by her side.

But the days that she got lucky to see Daniel being a full-time dad were her favorite ones. The constant happy smile on his face, the constant shine on his eyes, but especially the constant relaxed state he was it was something amazing to see. Since they met, people used to say nothing and nobody made Daniel smile as Jas did, but Olivia replaced her. Since she was born nobody made Daniel smile as much as their baby girl, but Jas was more than happy to give that place to their daughter. She couldn't blame him because nothing made her smile more than Olivia.

As Daniel carefully dressed Olivia while tickling her, Jas just watched them with a smile on her face, just as big as the one on Daniel's face or as the toothless grin on Olivia's face. She just looked in silence, letting them do their thing and have another one of their moments.

"Remember what I said to Michael the night we met?" Daniel suddenly asked, buttoning the green material in the front part of the onesie.

"You told him you had no idea who I was but you were going to marry me. But he told you that first you needed to talk to me" she remembered, smiling even more at the memory. "I mean, first you stuttered and then your tried to charm me with the whole Enchanté thing, but then you got to talk"

Even after four years Jas could remember that night perfectly. It felt like it was yesterday when she was sitting on the side, talking with the girls as she saw Michael walking up to them. It felt like no time had passed since that handsome tall man with Australian accent apologized for interrupting them, saying that his stupid friend was tongue tied and dying to know if he could invite her a drink. It felt like it was just some hours ago since Jas smiled all happy as she was trying to act cool and chill when in reality she was dying because she couldn't stop looking at Daniel since they walked in. Sometimes, and even when they already had a daughter and a life together, it felt like they were the same kids. Even four years older and with shorter curls, somehow it felt like no time passed for the Daniel who got all blushed as soon as she started speaking French, making him think he fucked up with the Enchanté trick.

Everything that happened between them was like a weird fairytale and every single day since that night Jas thanked her lucky stars for meeting Daniel, for them falling in love but also for them getting stuck together side by side on good and bad days. From Monaco to Dublin to London to Perth and the rest of the world, Jas got to live her dream life all thanks to the man of her dreams, so she was nothing but thankful to whatever put them together, that also included Michael for getting up and going to talk to her back then.

"You really had to be completely perfect and talk fluid French. And Italian and Irish. Beauty and brains that's why I was so convinced there was no way you would ever want to leave with me. Thank God you did" he affirmed, placing one last kiss over Olivia's forehead, making her giggle. "Thank God your mom was drunk enough to ask me if I wanted to leave with her" he stated, grabbing Olivia in his arms and holding her against his chest.

But the second that Olivia saw Jas, a sad pout appeared in her face which meant he wanted to go with her. "What's us with you? You missed mum in the six seconds she was away?" Jas asked Olivia, who answered with some baby sounds, as she placed her tiny hands in her mom's face as soon as Jas grabbed Olivia in her arms. "Yeah? I missed you too. I always miss you when you ain't around. You're my práta, right? You're our paidrín"

"How many words you Irish people have to say potato? Cause I feel there's a new one every single time you speak" Daniel wondered moving his arms around Jas' waist, getting as close as possible to his girls.

"Ninety. Every single one means something different" she explained with a little shrug. In the four years they had been together Daniel really tried to learn some words in Irish, but it was just simply impossible. The only thing he could remember was how to say 'I love you' because Jas would say it to him and Olivia all the time but then that was it. But after four years Jas wasn't really surprised, especially when he barely knew how to talk a few worlds in French after a decade of living in Monaco. "Wanna go back to the living room?"

"In a minute. Can I talk to you about something first?"

"Alright. Now I'm scared. What did we do?" Jas asked, looking up at her boyfriend who was suddenly serious. That was more than rare considering it was Daniel and he was with them. Jas knew there was no way something was wrong between them and Dan promised not to talk about work for the rest of the week, but she could see how something in his eyes was eating him.

"You did nothing wrong. All's good" he promised, kissing her lips to then rest their foreheads together. "You know how much I love you, right?"

"I do know. I love you too. We both love you" she whispered, suddenly getting emotional. She knew. Clearly, Jas knew. For four years all Daniel did was to show her day by day how much he loved her. In every single way he could find, Daniel showed Jas his love for her and then for their family. She could have doubts about everything in her life, even herself, but never in her life she would have doubts about Daniel and their love. She would never do that, especially not when the proof of their love was right in their arms. "What's going on, babe?"

"I just- I love you. I love you so fucking much, baby. I'm the luckiest man in the world cause you're my girls. I see you every day with our baby and then I see you carrying our family with so much love while you also handle all the shit we have around us and I still don't know how you do it. You've so much on your plate while being pregnant but you keep holding all- holding me up in the worst days. I really have no idea what I would've done without you last year. I really don't know how I would've get through it if it wasn't for you there by my side. I really don't know what I did to deserve you, J. I've no fucking idea but I want you to know I don't take anything from granted. Especially not you and her" he explained, big brown eyes looking down at her, shining with love and adoration, all while he stroked her cheek with his right hand.  

"I know you don't take anything from granted, especially not us. I know you, Dan, so you don't have to say anything" she whispered, holding Olivia with just one of her arms to place the other one against Daniel's heart. "I told you hundred times, I'd do it hundred times and I mean it"

"Actually I do have something else to say. You know I don't regret things in my life, but there's one thing I do regret not doing years ago. I like to think it didn't happen cause it was the wrong time. I should've done it earlier but then pandemic fucked us all over and you were right when you told me we should wait to be able to celebrate with our family. Besides last year was shit and then this one decided it was her time to shine" he smiled, looking at Olivia and kissing her tiny nose fast to keep talking. "I also know its pretty stupid to do it now cause the question's gonna sound stupid considering there's no better bound that our baby girl. Also I wanted to do it more special and remarkable but I can't fucking wait. I love you, Jas. I love you since the moment I saw you and I love how you always leave me speechless by just looking at me. You leave me so speechless that I had all this thing prepared in my head and now its all gone cause you're looking at me and I can't with those brown eyes. I love you so I'm just gonna-"  

And right there in the middle of their bedroom, Daniel kneeled right in front of her, all while he took a little red box out of the pocket of his shorts. Jas knew it was gonna happen one day. She knew Daniel wanted to marry her just as badly as she wanted to marry him. They knew it wasn't really necessary, they knew it was just a silly paper and that none of that was gonna change their relationship, but they wanted it. Even when he had been saying for years that Jas was his wife, he was dying to make it official, so there he was, finally ready to make it.

"Danny, babe, you don't have to…" Jas whispered, grabbing Olivia with one arm as she reached down to stroke Daniel's cheek while tears started to stream down her face.

"Let me. Please, just let me" he begged, kissing her palm before he grabbed her hand in his. "I love you, Jas. I love so much it's insane. And I know the last four years weren't a walk in the park and they probably haven't been what your expected. I'm wide aware you deserve more, you both deserve more and better. You deserve a better husband and a better dad, but I promise I'll do better for you. There's nothing I wouldn't do for you. I just- I've no idea what's gonna happen in future, but all I know its I wanna keep living with you by my side. None of it will ever make sense without you so, would you please, please finally marry me, babe?"

In the middle of the pandemic and during one of her lower days, Daniel called her like he normally did every day. He was away working in X and she knew he was tired, she could see all over his face how tired he really was after a day of practice and quali. But even with all that, Daniel called to cheer her up. With some cute compliments and words, Daniel made her smile like nobody could. Jas had no idea how that turned into wedding talk. She had no idea how they ended up talking about their plans, but suddenly Daniel was confessing more than he should have. He was planning to do it some day that year but all his plans got ruined before he could even get a ring. He didn't want to ask while they were locked and away from their families and friends. He didn't want to do it without being able to celebrate with them. He wanted to wait, but that day he was so tired and she was so sad he almost did it. He was about to drop the question right there over the phone, but Jas stopped him. Promising there was nothing she wanted most than to marry him, Jas begged Daniel to not ask. Not when she couldn't hug him, not when their families were away, not when the whole world was a disaster.

But the thing that she asked for was a specific detail about the ring. Since he didn't buy it just yet, Jas told him that whatever he decided to do with the ring was his thing, but she wanted it to have three stones. She didn't care about color, size or karats, she just wanted three. 'I want you in everything, but especially in my ring, you heard me?' were her exact words over the phone, which made Daniel laugh as he promised he was going to make it happen. But then the pandemic and the lockdown came and went, they couldn't go to Perth, then the pregnancy and Olivia and everything in between. But after two years, an insane amount of kilometers, places, laughs, tears, love and a baby girl, there was Daniel kneeling in front of her with the most beautiful ring she ever saw. On a silver band there was an oval cut red garnet that was nothing but breathtaking, and on the side as accent stones were two smallest diamonds. It was just like she wanted. It was exactly as she had dreamed. 

"Get up, grá" she stated, kissing Olivia's head as she waited for Daniel. She didn't need any of that. She didn't need him kneeling in front of her, or a big proposal, she just wanted the love of her life in front of her as she gave him an answer. She just wanted him and that's exactly what she got when suddenly he was back on his feet, stroking her cheek carefully to clean her wet cheeks. "I knew I was gonna marry you when you said 'Enchanté' the night we met. And I knew it again when I woke up by your side. I've known it for the last four years. I've been dying to marry you four years and there's nothing I want more than being your Mrs. Ricciardo, so of course I'm marrying you"

They had to be more than careful because Olivia was right in the middle of them, but the way Daniel kissed her was just the most perfect and beautiful thing in the world. They were just two giggly messes, trying to not smile as they kissed, but it was impossible. They both were so damn happy to finally be doing this that they just couldn't help it. There was nothing more Jas could ask for than being with Daniel and Olivia for such a moment, so she was all smiles and giggles as Daniel hugged them. "You've been my Mrs. Ricciardo since day one, princess"

"And I'm the luckiest for that"

"You're really marrying me?" Daniel asked again, double checking as he kissed her head during their hug.

"Of course I'm marrying you, sunshine" Jas insisted, tiptoeing to give him a short kiss. But as soon as she did, she could hear such a soft, adorable little giggle coming from Olivia, who was looking at both of them. "And I think she's happy about mum and dad finally doing it"

"I think she would be happier seeing mommy wearing this" Daniel affirmed, taking the ring outside the box and then grabbing Jas' hand. She shouldn't be surprised about it at all, but it fitted perfectly. It somehow felt like a dream when he grabbed her hand and put the ring in the right finger of her left hand. It felt like a dream the fact that Daniel asked her to marry him, especially with their daughter there. It felt like a dream to have both of them by her side, so like every day, Jas couldn't help but mentally thank all her lucky stars for them.

"You designed it, didn't you? Cause that's her birthstone" Jas pointed out, looking at her hand and its new acquisition, still not believing how beautiful it is.

But her favorite thing was the red garnet. It wasn't just her favorite color but also Olivia's birthstone, so Jas was absolutely happy that Daniel decided to leave behind the common engagement ring and go for something different.

"I did design it. I spent a lot of time looking for the perfect one and it seemed like it didn't exist. Nothing was good enough, that's why it took me so long. Besides I can give you diamonds any other day, that's why I thought this was way cooler. This way you can have us always with you" he explained, holding her hand to kiss her finger and the new shiny stone decorating it. "Thank you. For saying yes, for her and for everything"

"Don't thank me. It's my thing to look out for you and specially to love you. Its what I do best and its my favorite thing to do. Wouldn't change it for the world. Wouldn't change you for the world. We said its us forever, so I'm here to make it happen" Jas smiled, remembering the promise they made again and again, especially in the worst of the days.

Whatever happened, it was gonna be them forever. Two or three or whatever the number of their little family was going to end up being, it was them and that was the important thing. As long as they had each other everything was gonna be alright. That's what Jas promised to Daniel again and again, especially on the worst days when he needed a reminder that they were gonna be together no matter what happened in his racing career.

"Its us forever" he repeated, kissing her once again. But before Daniel could kiss his future wife once again, a little incoherent cooing interrupted them, making them look at Olivia. "Did you hear that? Mum and dad are finally getting married!" Daniel exclaimed, kissing Olivia's cheek, making her laugh with the scratching of his stubble against her skin.

And Jas wanted to make a joke, saying it was about damn time for him to ask her, but she decided to keep it for later. After all, she had the rest of the night and the rest of her life to do it.

---

Taglist

@amsofftrack @d0ntjudgemy50shades @a-distantdreamer​

#daniel ricciardo #daniel ricciardo imagine #daniel ricciardo fanfic #daniel ricciardo oneshot #f1 #f1 fanfic #f1 oneshot #f1 imagine #formula one #formula one fic #formula one imagine #formula one fanfic #formula one oneshot #formula 1 #formula 1 fic #formula 1 imagine #formula 1 oneshot #formula 1 fanfic #house of memories fic

[aydann-runs]

“Okay Emms, I think that's the last of it, yeah?” Michael asks, surveying the room. There are a few boxes that still need to be unpacked, but all the heavy lifting is done. He's running out of reasons to linger, and at this point, anything else he’d do would just be delaying the inevitable.

Emma pokes her head out of the closet, scaled down and compact like everything else in the dorm room, and looks around. “Wow, Dad. That was fast,” she says with a knowing smirk.

“Four years of moving your brother in and out of rooms just like this one was pretty good practice,” Michael responds with a shrug.

“Yeah, that and…” Emma scrunches her face in mock concentration and wiggles the fingers of her outstretched hand.

“Hey!” Michael exclaims, indignant. “That was one time, and it was mostly for show. I'm not some lame Jedi that has to rely on hand gestures to get the job done. The face though, I'll give you that.”

“Oooh, Daddy, are you just gonna let Dad insult Luke Skywalker like that?” Emma asks, turning to Alex who’d walked back into the room just in time to hear Michael's dig.

“Nope, you're not dragging me into the middle of whatever you've got going on by evoking Star Wars,” Alex laughs, setting down the bag of forgotten essentials he'd run out to buy while Michael and Emma unpacked. “You got a lot done while I was gone. I don't know that there's much more for us to help you with.”

“I think the rest of it is just odds and ends that will take me a while to find homes for,” Emma agrees. “So…”

Alex wraps his arms around Michael from behind and hooks his chin over Michael’s shoulder. “I think that’s our cue, sweetheart,” Alex murmurs in his ear.

“Okay, kiddo. We’re gonna take off,” Michael forces out around the lump in his throat. “But if you need us, we’re only a few hours away.”

“Dad, I’m gonna be fine. You didn’t worry this much when Lucas went to college. It’s not that big of a deal,” Emma protests.

“It is a big deal, and your Dad worried at least this much when we dropped Lucas off for his first year at school,” Alex says. “We’re your parents, it’s kind of our job to worry about our kids, no matter how old they are.”

Emma rolls her eyes, and it’s just so Alex that Michael can’t help but smile. “I’m not going to miss that attitude,” he teases. “Now c’mere, and then we’ll go and let you start figuring out college life.”

He pulls Emma in for a hug, and Alex takes a half-step back to give him a moment alone with their daughter. Reluctantly, Michael kisses Emma’s forehead and lets her go for Alex to take his turn.

“I’m really proud of you, baby,” he hears Alex say quietly, and while a lot of Emma’s personality comes from Alex, Michael knows that the way she blushes and hides her face in Alex’s neck is all him.

“Don’t forget that Aunt Isobel and Uncle Kyle are taking you out for dinner on Wednesday,” Alex says as he pulls away.

“Yup. It’s cool they moved to Albuquerque. I’ll have Auntie Iz around to spoil me whenever I want.”

“Make sure you take full advantage,” Michael advises. “And don’t let Valenti force any of his wheatgrass smoothies on you. It’s not health food, no matter what he says.”

Alex laughs and pulls both Emma and Michael in together for one last hug. “We love you, Emms. Call us if you need anything.”

“I love you both, too.”

Alex squeezes his hand and Michael follows him through the door, sparing one final glance over his shoulder at their daughter as they go. He and Alex walk out of the dorm building in silence, and once they reach the car, Michael wraps his arms around Alex, holding him tight.

“I thought I’d be more excited about having both kids out of the house,” he mumbles into Alex’s neck.

“No you didn’t,” Alex replies fondly. He pulls back far enough that he can kiss Michael, sweet and slow. “But, there are advantages to having an empty house…”

“Mmm, there are,” Michael agrees as he leans in for another kiss. He keeps it shorter than he might usually–they have a three hour drive ahead of them, and he’s too old to be making out in a college parking lot–but they’re both a little breathless when he pulls away.

“Let’s go home?” Alex asks.

And, even though both their kids have now officially moved out and it’s the third house they’ve lived in since they got married, anywhere Alex is, that’s his home.

And so he doesn’t hesitate to agree. “Let’s go home.”

#30 day writing challenge #day 27 #write an ending without a beginning #kind of a loose interpretation of the prompt here #roswell new mexico #malex fic #ficlet #my fic

[azulas-lightning-bolt]

you guys remember how I said I was going to schedule drafts to post. yeah hi again. I’ve got school so I’m probably just gonna lose my mind over the weekend and then save some of this stuff for later. also if anyone cares I would love asks? I go insane in some peoples’ inboxes and would be sososo giddy to have that energy reciprocated

so today I’ll be talking about the inherent transness of mako’s character.

want to begin this by saying: by ‘transness’ I mean whatever kind of trans your heart desires, but the transness my heart desires is transmasc. so. transmasc mako it is.

so i have, in at least every mako related post I have made, mentioned his chronic eldest daughter syndrome. that alone is inherently very gender of a guy, but I also mentioned two posts ago that mako is a genuinely ‘feminine’ character in how his personality and major traits are defined. there’s a section where I talk about the standard women are held to (right above “did you feel like you were reading a transcript of that one barbie movie scene?”) and how mako is actually a solid representation of those.

so you know how kids learn by observing and mako’s parents were from fire and earth, the two more traditional nations? in the case he’s trans, mako would have literally grown up as the eldest daughter, implementing those behaviors probably as early as three or four, when bolin needed less constant attention from their parents. so by eight, these traditional gender role ideas are already in his head. but then his parents are being murdered and their last requests of him are to run and take care of bolin. the trauma and guilt of this would probably force even heavier protectiveness from mako.

and then we get to the trans part. up to this point, mako is a little girl, the first child and daughter of naoki and san, rather traditional fire nation and earth kingdom immigrants to republic city. mako’s grown up wearing dresses and given dolls and playing pretend makeover as naoki tries to teach mako how to use makeup the way they do in the fire nation.

but then they’re in the orphanage (mako watches the little boys running around with short hair and ragged pants and not getting scolded for tumbling around in the dirt, and pulls her? braided hair back jealously.) and then they run away from the orphanage.

there are creepy old men leering at mako on every street corner. she finds it lessens when her braid is out and it hangs around her face. that has to change too, when mako realizes long hair without frequent baths is more of a hazard than short. she cuts it with a shard of broken glass, let’s it frame her face in a way that’s jagged and sharp. her face is sharp. mako finds she doesn’t mind.

people mistake mako for a boy frequently. mako tries not to think about the warmth that bursts to life at each mistake, no matter how quickly corrected.

it becomes more and more obvious, over the span of a year, that mako is not a girl. no, mako is very much a boy like bolin. bolin sort of just—knows. mako appreciates not needing to explain. bolin declared having a big bro is cooler that a big sis. (for my own sake, the constant “bro”-calling in the show is for sake of gender affirming and affectionate reciprocation, because no real siblings just call each other. bro.)

but then puberty happens. mako is “running numbers and stuff” for the triad at this point. he thinks he might be dying, because of course reserved, traditional naoki never talked to her child about periods at eight years old. his… chest, is growing. a triad member who takes pity (an older girl, probably in her twenties, by mako’s recollection) gruffly explains periods and how to deal with them. she jokingly suggests finding a good bloodbender to take care of it, and mako genuinely considers it for a while, between debarking offing himself.

he also has HORRIBLE fucking cramps. he’s me. and then the chest issue. he starts binding in the worst way possible—he either layers up as much as possible and slouches horribly or wraps himself with dirty old bandages until he’s flat. he fractures a rib at least once doing this, which he continues to do through his pro-bending days.

toza would know. he’d see something in training and, with how honestly progressive republic city is portrayed (as I remember; last I watched this show was literally 2017 😭) he’s probably met an open transmasc or two. he pitches in a couple yuan for a real binder for mako, which he somehow still manages to ruin by constantly sleeping in.

then korra enters stage left. shit goes down. i think, in my heart of hearts, he never told her. the way she asked if he was “a criminal, or something?” when he opened up about his work for the triad would shut him down about telling her much else.

when he’s dating asami, he probably tries to tell her a couple times, but is so not-blunt with it that she totally misses it. asami is a genius, but she was sheltered and probably never encountered a queer person or was acquainted with queer slang mako picked up on the streets. which, by the way, this post talks about hypothetical queer slang in each of the nations which was cool as hell.

so yeah basically mako is out to no one except his brother and the old guy who fell off the face of the earth. until detective work, because momboss and detectiveson!! for medical reasons, he needs to come out to lin. she’s uptight and scary as hell, so at first he’s terrified he’s about to get fired. but then she’s like, “you’re a good boy, mako. don’t let me down.” and he’s almost crying.

then canon continues and he almost died. kya heals him, mako entrusting lin to disclose his transness to her if need be.

then comics! korra and asami come back and come out and mako is, for a split second, like ‘damn i messed up that bad huh’ but then he’s like “oh yeah sick I’m trans by the way.” then it’s korrasami’s turn to 😧

asami’s like ‘ohhhh damn that’s what you were trying to say,,,’

then makorrasami takes over the world because they all had time to grow as people and become good for each other and polyships are fire!! this is me outing myself as a (specifically post-canon/comics) makorrasami shipper btw. but wuko is cool too, I don’t have too heavy opinions between the, like, normal ships n stuff.

#mako lok #lok #tlok #legend of korra #mako tlok #transmasc mako #cannot believe that isn’t a tag already #bolin lok #bolin #toza lok #does anyone use that tag?? #korra #avatar korra #asami sato #asami lok #lin beifong #chief beifong #kya ii #korrasami #makorrasami

[abbatoirablaze]

Captain Penisi, Chapter 3

Word Count:  1.3k

Warnings:  jealousy, slight angst.

“What’s going on here?” Eddie asked as he noticed a school bus outside of the station, “we got another group of fourth graders that we gotta babysit for the education system?”

“Worse.  It’s the academy students making their rounds through the stations,” Granny groaned as he looked at Captain Penisi, “What are you doing down here on the floor with us?  Aren’t you and the chief supposed to be heading these things up?  How don’t you remember?”

Eddie shrugged, “so what?  It didn’t make the top of my calendar.  No big deal.  I’m great at public speaking and I can think on the fly…and do you know why?  It’s because I’m Eddie Penisi!”

“Well, I’m sure you’ll love this tour,” Granny chuckled as he started walking away from the captain, “they already roped chief in and he’s been taking them around the outside of the station to show them the lot.  I think he was stalling so that you’d have to do the tour with him.  Oh, and cap…the academy has someone tagging along on the tour that doesn’t normally do it.”

“Who?”

“And this is my home station,” an all too familiar voice called out loudly, interrupting his very question.  Granny took his leave, and made his way over to the edge of the floor where Ike and Andy were doing chores and cleaning up.  Eddie grimaced, as his father came into view, smiling broadly; his arms spread out as he gestured to the floor  Behind him, Terry was walking, eyes rolling, “stationhouse twenty-four!  And right now, my daughter’s husband is the chief, and my son is the captain on the A-shift!  But long before I was the commissioner, I was the chief of this amazing station!  Does anyone have any questions?”

“Gampy, can you tell the story about the time the-“

“Lucy, I’m sure your grandfather doesn’t want to tell the story of-“

“Actually, Terry, I’d love to!” Commissioner Penisi smiled as he started his story about the time he’d rushed into a fire where an explosion ripped into his back. 

Eddie felt himself smiling as he saw a familiar doctor who had made her way over to where Granny, Ike, and Andy were rolling the hose.  He was quick to make his way over as well.

“Funny…I didn’t think you were a recruit…”

“Oh-uh, Captain Penisi,” Auggie smiled politely as she held up her notebook, “I-I’m not.  Not for the academy anyways. Today, I’m lucky enough to be the representative with the hospital.  I’m actually supposed to be on the tour today to speak with each of the EMT’s at the stations for my next rotation in the ED.”

“Ahhh…” Eddie replied shortly, “still though…shouldn’t you stay with your group?  You’re on the tour, after all.  You should be paying attention to what the commissioner is saying.”

“I-I’m sorry, Captain Penisi,” she muttered as her head dipped.  She looked quickly at the boys and bit her lip, “I-I’ll talk to you guys later, I guess…”

The guys watched as she found her way back to the group, which then started in towards the kitchen and breakroom. 

Granny playfully hit Eddie’s shoulder, “dang cap, what was that about?”

“What was what?”

“When did you become the hardass?” Granny quipped, “you jus-“

“I wasn’t a hardass!” he proclaimed, looking at Andy, “tell Granny, Mywani!”

“You were…a little short with her…weren’t you?” Andy asked carefully,  not wanting to entirely contradict the captain, “I mean….it wasn’t really all that nice to just push her away when she’s supposed to be talking to the medic.” 

Eddie’s brow rose, and he looked towards the door, where the tour had already gone through, “what?  No.  I was being playful.  Joking.”

“I don’t know, cap,” Ike said nervously as he shook his own head, “it sounded kind of mean…like you were mad that she was talking to us instead of being with the group.”

“I was being playful!”

“It didn’t sound very playful…” Granny added in, “sounded like you were annoyed by her coming over to us!”

Eddie looked back to the door once again and he felt a bit of guilt rising up in his chest.  Ever since he’d heard her announce to Lucy that she’d had a crush on him, he’d been walking around the station a little taller. 

Yeah, he was used to women flirting with him, just as he had to them, but there was something about Auggie that made him feel victorious, just knowing she was interested.  But hearing how the guys thought he wasn’t being kind to her put a definite stutter in his step.

“You guys really thought I was being mean?”

“You kinda kicked her away from talking to us…”

“No, I didn’t.”

“You really did!” Terry pointed out, joining the conversation.

“No one asked you!” Eddie grumbled.  Terry chuckled, clapping Eddie on the shoulder.

“No one had to, Eddie!”

“I like her though!” Granny smiled, bringing the conversation back to the original point, “she seems really nice.”

“She did seem really nice…” Ike agreed thoughtfully.

“You guys talked to her for thirty seconds…max.  How would you know?”

“She just seemed really genuine!” Andy shrugged, “only person from the hospital that tries to talk to us is Vickie…I don’t ever remember a representative actually coming and talking to us when the tours went on.”

“And she’s really, really nice!”

“Yeah Ike…” Andy chuckled, clapping the larger guy on the shoulder, “you just think she’s cute…”

“Oh man, she never answered my question!” Ike began, realizing that they hadn’t finished the conversation, “Guys…she never-“

But Ike stopped himself when he saw the first of the recruits sliding down the pole. 

“What are you talking about?” Eddie asked quickly, looking between the trio. 

“I-uh…it was-“

“Hey…Ike…”

Ike stopped speaking once more when he saw Auggie running up to him. 

“Oh-uh, hey Auggie…” he smiled, leaning up against the truck.  When he couldn’t get comfortable, he shifted again, placing one hand over his head and leaning against the truck, “what’s up?”

“I just…uh…in case I don’t get the chance later,” she offered politely, giving Eddie a momentary glance before handing Ike a piece of paper, “I just wanted to give you, my number.”

Granny and Andy looked at one another, before turning their attention to the EMT who was blushing.  Ike swept his hair from his face and reached out, taking the piece of paper, “oh…yeah…yeah, I-“

“And by the way…I’d love to go out with you later tonight and get some drinks!” she smiled, before bouncing away from the group of firefighters and back to the rest of the group. 

Andy and Granny’s eyes went wide, and they silently began hitting Ike’s chest and shoulders.

“You did it man,” Granny grinned, “she said yes!”

“So where are you going to take her?” Andy asked playfully.

All the while, Eddie’s rage grew inside of him.  He kept hearing her voice drunkenly admitting that she’d had a crush on him.  He kept seeing how cute she looked, getting ready to go to the concert.  And it was making him quickly feel dizzy. 

She’d accepted a date with Ike. 

But she was supposed to have had a crush on him.

Eddie snatched the piece of paper out of his hand and threw it on the floor.  The guys looked at their captain, shocked by his actions.

“What was that cap?”

“Be happy I don’t tear it up,” Eddie grumbled, already feeling the rage boiling over, “you’re a firefighter…and you’re on duty.  You don’t need to be picking up chicks!  Or asking out anyone on the tour while you’re supposed to be working!”

“Come on, cap…we’ve all seen you flirting with women on duty.”

“And in gear!” Ike said quickly, adding it into Granny’s previous statement, “what’s so bad about me asking Auggie out?  She’s really cute…and she’s interested in what I have to say.”

“Toilet duty,” Eddie growled, turning on his heel to stalk away from the men, “Toilet duty for a week, Crystal!”

Chapter 4

#captain penisi #eddie penisi #tacoma fd #firefighter #firefighters #ike crystal

[ask-the-chan-family]

Nova surprise to older brother

Outside at the canterlot royal gardens, Princess Celestia and Luna are having some tea time with Thomas the and his daughter Dashie writer, Dashie and Luna were both having a conversation while eating cake at the same time, but as for Thomas and Prince, they were having eye contact with each other, but haven’t said a word for some time now. Thomas was looking his tea and try to come up an ideal conversation with Celestia, without making a fool of himself, but before he could had say anything, one of Celestia royal servant stop by and brought an important message to her.

Servant: greeting your majesty, I’m sorry to interpret your tea party, but you have a very important letter that you need to read at once.

Princess Celestia: where the letter came from?

Servant: it came from the canterlot embassy, there some issue going on and they need both the two princess sisters assistant.

Princess Luna: *she swallow a big piece of cake* what kind of problem that need the both of us, can’t they solve it on their own.

Princess Celestia: I’m afraid not Luna, said here that a few visitors from a far away land are having some argument with the members of the embassy, if we don’t go and solve this.

Princess Luna: I know, I know, there be an all out conflict. For once can we have a nice tea party, without any problems.

Princess Celestia: I’m sorry about this Tommy wommy, I wanted this little party just the four of us.

Thomas the writer: it’s no problem Tia, it was nice while it lasted.

Dashie writer: hey Dad, why not let Celestia make a birthday party for you also.

Princess Celestia: your birthday?

Thomas the writer: yeah, today is actually my birthday. I wasn’t going to say nothing about it, but Dashie did for me anyway

Princess Celestia: oh dear, I didn’t know it was your birthday Thomas, you should have told me

Thomas the writer: I know Tia, but we both know where busy all the time and a birthday party isn't a big of deal

Princess Celestia: nonsense Tommy wommy, once I’m done with this little problem at the embassy, we will have a party for your birthday.

Thomas the writer: are you sure about that, we could just have something simple at least

Princess Celestia: nothing simple for my beloved husband, now excuse us, Luna and I are running late and we need to get going.

Princess Luna: I prefer we stay, but duty calls.

So Princess Celestia and Luna both left the garden and head for the embassy, Thomas place his head on the table and sigh a little, Dashie notice that her dad feeling sad and she does her best to speak to him.

Dashie writer: is everything alright dad?

Thomas the writer: everything is fine Dashie, wish you didn’t told her that it was my birthday

Dashie writer: come on dad, I wanted to let everyone know that today is my coolest dad birthday and I’m happy to celebrate it with you.

Thomas the writer: thanks Dashie, but I kinda was hoping just a simple birthday, nothing big or fancy, just a simple birthday with the ponies I care about.

Dashie writer: I understand Dad, I kinda forget you like things simple nothing crazy, but you of all ponies that done so much, deserve something big on your day and you know what, I going out and get a cool gift for you dad.

Thomas the writer: but what about helping me at the book shop today?

Dashie writer: sorry dad, I’m going to be a little busy, I got to deal with my two young sisters from doing something silly again. But I will stop by a little later.

Just when he try to call her back, Dashie was already gone and he was by himself. Thomas look at his cup of tea and take a few sip of it, once he done with his tea, he plan to head out to the canterlot square and work at the book shop. Just before he took another step, he felt a present that someone was standing nearby. He take a look around to see who was there, but didn't see anything at all. He sigh to himself thinking it was nothing at all, and head on his way. Once he was gone, a pony appear out of nowhere that happen to be his little sister Nova. She saw her brother walking of, which part of her wish she could had say something to him. However: part of her felt nervous of wanting to say anything to him, since their past situation hadn't been good. But she know that he care for her no matter what. Nova pull a letter she had by her side and place it on the table. It was a birthday letter she made for him, hopping he will read it one day. Nova knew she can't stick around much longer and have to get going. She use her magic to vanish, which one day they will speak again.

The End.

Thomas the writer: hey everyone hope you all doing well. So this story was written about 5 or 6 years but never had the chance to post. Since today is my birthday so I figure to finish the ending part and post what I got here. Hope you all well and wish you all the best.

#ask uncle #Short Writing #MLP OCs #MLP

[oldbutnotyetwise]

The View From Where I Sit

     My perspective has changed over the last year, both literally and figuratively.  A year ago I was walking around, albeit with a slight limp, with no idea what was waiting up ahead for me.  Now, less than a year later, I am confined to a wheelchair.  I assure you, it is a pretty drastic perspective shift.

     One of the definitions of perspective is “a point of view”.  My point of view has changed from someone who stood around 6’2” to someone who now is always seated and views life from somewhere around 4’.  I’m not sure, looking at life from 4’, was that where I was in Grade 4 or 5?  One of my few attractive traits to the opposite sex over the years was my height, it allowed my date to wear high heels if she chose to, and I would still be taller than her.  Just another box that I no longer would receive a check mark in.

     Previously when we went out shopping together and would part ways, my wife just had to stand still and look around and she would see my head wandering in one of the aisles.  Now when she loses sight of me she has to walk along the ends of aisles to see where I have rolled myself to.  This is further aggravated by the fact my dear sweet wife is a worrier if she hasn’t seen me for a few minutes there is a panic that arises in her similar to a mother who has lost a four year old toddler in a Super Store.  This also applies to loud noises around the condo, any bang, bump or crash brings her running from the other room, as she enters her eyes sweep the floor expecting to see me sprawled out and helpless.  What she normally sees is me looking down at whatever I have dropped, perhaps using some inappropriate language while I ponder if I really needed whatever it is that is now laying on the floor out of my reach. 

     My need to be in a wheelchair also brings with it a constant condition of dehydration.  You see if I need to pee it is a big deal, I can’t just pop into a nearby restaurant or even just go and pee behind a tree.  More often than not the restaurant will not be accessible, or if it is, the washroom won’t be.  Do you know how many restaurants I look at enviably wishing I could try them out, but the step, or steps at the front door may as well be the Berlin Wall.  So the point being, I limit my liquid intake so when I go out I won’t be in a urinary crisis.  We walk our dogs three or four times a day, I can almost hear them snickering at me as they casually squat and pee wherever and whenever they want to go.  I’ve even had to forgo my treasured after lunch tea for fear it will interfere with the afternoon dog walk. 

     When we lived up north we had our go to restaurant, Match, at the North Bay Casino.  It had good food, good service, decent prices and was totally accessible with an accessible washroom.  We haven’t found a comparable place in the Cambridge area yet.  We recently took my wife’s daughter out for her birthday dinner.  The call was made ahead of time to the restaurant and they said yes they were “Accessible”.  We arrive and roll up to the front door, no automatic door opener.  The door gets held open but there is a ridge at the front door that the wheelchair can’t get over.  A fellow customer is kind enough to help get me and the chair through the door with me feeling like the spectacle I very much have become.  We have our dinner, and everything goes smoothly but then I need the washroom before we go.  I go to the accessible washroom but it is locked, I wait and wait and things are approaching Crisis Level and I am desperate enough to try to get myself into the regular washroom when the Accessible washroom door opens and out walks our able-bodied waiter who has just had the dump of the century.  He can’t even look at me, and I am seriously angry because I had already paid the bill and given him a good tip which I wish I could now take back.   

My wife’s favourite restaurant is Swiss Chalet, as you approach you will see the friendly wheelchair sticker in the window, they even have the buttons to open the front door, so can someone explain to me why there is no automatic door opener on the washroom? Just picture for a second me in my manual wheelchair, I need both hands on the wheels, having only one hand on the wheel you will just be going around in circles, so if both hands are on the wheels how am I going to open the heavy bathroom door, especially on the way back out when the door opens in?

     You see places call themselves accessible, stick the handicapped sticker up at the front of their establishment, but they really aren’t and to the best of my knowledge there are no set standards that are enforced as to what “accessible” really is.  So I will be that dehydrated guy sitting in the corner the restaurant that has no stairs, but I will be sulking because I can’t have a beer because ….. well we all know that as quickly beer goes in, it comes out.

     When we had to leave our northern home I wanted to go somewhere else where no one knew me.  I didn’t want my old friends and coworkers seeing this retired detective, runner, hiker, dog walker rolling around in a wheelchair.  I am in a new city, I’m just that guy in a wheelchair that is often seen out walking, I use this term very loosely, with his dogs, wife and/or daughter.  No one knows me and I kind of like that anonymity as more and more of my body stops working.  

     A very dear friend has loaned me her old electric wheelchair as she has a new one.  First thing you need to know is that these things are the cost of a small car, they tend to run from $25,000 - $45,000.  They are 400 pound monsters capable of doing much damage if you are not careful.  Within about thirty seconds of trying it out for the first time I ripped the end piece off the kitchen island in our new condo because I hadn’t noticed one of the foot rests had turned out.  So far I have managed not to drive it through any of the glass doors in our Condo building.   Now all those nice sloped sidewalks that look like they are designed for wheelchairs, not all of them are.  I am constantly scraping the bottom of the wheelchair or getting myself stuck when trying to cross streets.  These are things I never would have noticed until I was actually using a wheelchair.  The manual wheelchair which we often use when going out is even worse, the front wheels hit a ridge on the sidewalk or doorway and it is almost like an eject button has been hit as the wheelchair suddenly stops but I’m still going forward.  More often than not I have to go through the doors backwards.  

     I’ve always been quite happy in my role as a wallflower, the guy who isn’t really noticed and who just sits back and watches everything that is going on.  Well those days are gone, there is nothing at all discreet about a 6’2” guy sitting on a 400 pound power wheelchair.  There is no getting around it, I am now a spectacle.  One day as my wife was helping me into my wheelchair she spotted someone on the restaurant patio who appeared to be taking our picture.  I was tempted to go up and offer to pose for him if he was so interested in taking my picture but chose instead to just ignore it.  I tend to be a pretty observant person so I see the looks when people think I don’t notice.  Now I admit I have no idea what they are thinking when they look at me, is it pity, curiosity, compassion or perhaps discomfort at being so close to the disabled person.  The point is, I miss the anonymity of blending in and not being noticed.

     I will tell you about a recent visit to an Ikea store, a place that I mistakenly presumed would be “accessible” because they are such a forward thinking store.  I attempted to use two of their Accessible washrooms, neither was big enough for me to get off my wheelchair and use the toilet.  One of them had such a sharp turn going into the washroom I managed to get myself lodged in the doorway because besides the sharp turn, I was also trying to hold the door open as there were no automatic door opener.  Yes I was making a scene, jammed in the bathroom door, trying to dislodge myself while people were standing there waiting to get in.  The other thing I was constantly was turning down aisles only to find them blocked by merchandise on skids causing me to have to back out because there isn’t room for me to turn around.  I don’t know that I will return to an Ikea store anytime soon.  I emailed Ikea to tell them of my experience when I visited their store, but never received a reply.

     Our new Condo is right beside a rather large theatre that would appear to have some good shows coming up.  My dear wife is working so hard I thought it would be nice to take her to the upcoming show but there aren’t many seats left, and there certainly aren’t any “accessible” seats left.  In the old days I would have just bought those tickets even if the seats were in the middle of the row, that’s not possible anymore.  Lyle Lovett is coming to the next town over soon, I’ve always wanted to see him perform in person, but to be honest, the thought of being in a wheelchair, surrounded by hundreds if not thousands of people makes me pretty uncomfortable.  So once again I will be staying home.

     Now those are some of the negative things I have encountered so far, but I have also experienced much kindness from friends but also from strangers. The truck driver that sees me waiting to cross a busy street and pulls his truck across two lanes to block traffic so I can get across.  The cars in the long stream of traffic that stop, again blocking traffic so I can cross.  These aren’t one time things, these are things that happen frequently.  The people who hold the doors open for me, or hold the elevator, yes maybe they would do that even if I wasn’t in a wheelchair but I think I am shown more kindness because of the wheelchair.  All the incredible kind, caring people involved with the  Sunnybook Hospital, ALS Society, all the care people that have looked after me so well up until this point.  So many amazing people I would have never met if not on this challenging journey.

     Some former work colleagues and friends came and we all went out for lunch wandering downtown (they wandered, I rolled).  We were enjoying our visit and not paying attention as the sky turned dark and a torrential downpour started.  Now normally you would call an Uber or Cab, and they could have, I even encouraged them to, but they refused because they didn’t want to leave me racing through the rain in the wheelchair on my own.  One friend got a large garbage bag to help keep my seat dry and then we rushed back to the Condo and upon arrival we were all drenched…but we were also laughing and I was grateful, these three friends know how important it is to stand by your friend, through thick and thin, wet and dry.

     A rather sad note, travelling in the power wheelchair does not fool my iPhone into thinking that I am walking.  For the guy who once would average around 10,000 steps in a day, my average over this last week is 54 steps a day, and I assure you each one of those steps was exhausting.

     So I am adapting to life at this new lower perspective, and although there are many, many challenges that come with living your life while seated, there are also many good things if you take the time to look for them.  Life is just as beautiful from 4’ as it is at 6’.  Perspective is your point of view, both where you see the world from, as well as how you chose to see the world.

     What goes through your head when you drive or walk by someone in a wheelchair?  Do you ever stop to ponder what your life would be like if you were the one in the wheelchair? 

#wheelchair Perspective ALS

[wanderinglotus7]

SUMMER SUMMER SUMMERTIME

Wow! It feels like summer just arrived and it’s almost already gone. Soon all the kids will be going back to school and the leaves will be changing. For now, we got to deal with the heat & humidity. I’m not complaining too much. However, I would prefer my 70 degree weather and sweaters. Or I would like the nice weather I experienced while I was on vacation out on Cape Cod. Talking about Cape Cod, it was a wonderful & relaxing vacation. I’m sorry Alex couldn’t join because of her unexpected fever. Yet, me & Caroline still enjoyed ourselves. We explored Cambridge/Boston, Mashpee, Martha’s Vineyard, and Provincetown. We had nice beach weather and we ended our last day at the beach watching a beautiful sunset. I can do another staycation.

Starting in September my finances are increasing partly because my living expenses have increased and the student loan pause will end. So traveling abroad will be on pause after 2025. Summer 2025, I’m planning to go to Montego Bay, Jamaica with a group friends. As a good compromise, and somewhat last hooray, I’m looking into staying at an affordable all inclusive resort. I’m debating on whether to invite a big group of people or kind of keep it small to those I know will make an effort in planning this trip & go. I have an year and half to feel the water. Next years trip will either be a mother & daughter trip or a family trip with my brother’s family. Destination: Charleston, South Carolina. I still like the idea of doing a solo trip and rent a treehouse or cabin for myself somewhere like in New Hampshire or Vermont. Just a four day weekend for myself. I enjoy my alone time. I would do this in the Fall. This could give me the peace & silence to do some writing and/or reading. There’s plenty of places in the U.S. I still want to visit but Portland, Oregon is next on my list. Abroad, Amsterdam, the Netherlands and the Democratic Republic of Congo (I have to visit the motherland of my African ancestors).

Circling back to my day to day life…work makes me want to pull my hair out sometimes or just runaway. I don’t believe that it just being the summer is what is leading to burnout, the pressure of the the job along with our sucky safety nets, lack of staff and influx of people in need; cracks my spirit. I’m not feeling hopeless…things just need to get better. We have to open positions: CVPR social worker and Adelante social work advocate (my position but with BWH). With all the extra work I’ve been doing with On-call (acute response), I should be getting compensated more. More money or more PTO. When I discuss what’s been happening at work with others, they tend to ask me what else am I interested doing? I’m still figuring that out myself. It seems like the people I’ve spoken with are satisfied with their current roles after trying one or two other jobs before the current one. Or leaving their current job because they found a better opportunity more exact to what they vision themselves doing in the long run. Or looking for part time work to make extra money as well as fulfill/add to their passion.

Nothing is really poppin for me. Professional goal: LICSW which will take me two years to get. So I’m not really going anywhere anytime soon. If or when I leave BIDMC, I don’t think I want to go to another department or continue to work in a hospital. If I stay in the medical field I would want to work at a community center whether that be a community mental health center or a small community health clinic being a regular social worker. I would love to continue my work with trafficking survivors. The alternative would be working with adolescents and young adults. Casandra said she could see me working with the elderly. Am I becoming my mother LOL. She’s mainly worked with young children and the elderly, but she’s burnt out too. Praying that these positions will be filled soon so I can adjust my schedule to fit my work lifestyle. Two days remote, three days on-site. Mondays: Administrative. Tuesdays & Thursdays: clinical and case management. Wednesdays: Team meetings. Fridays: Acute Response.

I’m still in the process of finding some answers with my physical health. So far, its just been one exam/test after another. At the end, whatever is causing things to change my body, I hope its nothing too serious that I can’t change for the good naturally and I can resolve in a short timeframe. On the upside, my spiritual & mental health is good. Family is family, and I don’t have much to say about that. Until we speak again…

#my life #working process #adulthood

[therandomavenger]

Liminal Space

I’m going to be honest here, people, it’s been a rough couple of weeks. I thought I had everything worked out with regards to my housing situation, but in the middle of march it became apparent that my fiancé and I were not going to be approved for a mortgage on my house, and my parents desperately needed to sell it, so the hammer fell. My fiancé moved back to his house and started working to get it out of the state that it was in. So, I had to move out of my house and in with my parents, which really makes you feel great about yourself when you are my age.

It is what it is. In six months, or so, my fiancé will be ready for me to move into his house, and that will happen. For now, I have taken over One and a half rooms in my parents’ house. I’m grateful they’re giving me a place to stay for a while, and we get along, in general, but it still has been a rough transition.

When bad things happen to me, such as when I suffer a loss, my general strategy is to pivot to whatever is next and focus on things that I can actually control. Now, as strategies go, that is not the worst one, but it usually means that I never deal with the big feelings the loss as brought up, sometimes never. I’ve been working through a lot of this in therapy, finally grieving things that happened years and years ago. And it’s allowed me to accept my role in some of what happened and speak honestly about for the first time.

So, when this happened, and it kind of happened out of the blue, for a lot of reasons I won’t go into here, I did what I usually did. I focused on moving my stuff and Jimmy’s stuff, deciding what was going where, renting a storage unit for the stuff I didn’t have room for but didn’t want to give away, then moving into my parents’ house and getting things set up in a way that suited me. None of those were bad things. They needed to be done. No actual mistakes were made in this stage. That was all the first week of April, which coincided with spring break.

Then, week two hit. I’d done all the stuff I was excited about, the stuff I’d pivoted towards. Now came the work of removing everything else from the house and doing the clean-up. It was a big job, and I started the process and then … I just kind of unraveled.

I didn’t sleep for four days, even though I felt extremely tired. I couldn’t face anything. I had fantasies about driving my car off a bridge (no serious ones, but still). My parents and my daughter and son and law were helping me in this stage. I got everything out that I wanted, and then just collapsed for a couple of days. Still not sleeping for more than an hour or two at a time once or twice a day. School had started again. I skipped all of my classes for a week. I did no work.  I don’t even remember exactly what it was I was actually doing. Nothing helpful, that’s for sure.

It just so happened that, on the Wednesday of that week, I had an appointment with my therapist. I was honest with her about what I was feeling, and said, “I don’t know why I’m like this right now. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” I think if she’d had a rolled-up newspaper she would have smacked me with it. She was like, “I know exactly why this happened. You just lost your home. This is grief. And also, probably a dysphoric mania episode. You did okay last week because you had something interesting to do and did not think about what was happening. Now … here you go …”

And she was right. That night, I took a larger than usual dose of my anxiety medication (which I’m allowed to do occasionally) and I finally slept through the night for the first time in a week. In the morning, I helped Dad with a dump run and then I went to my afternoon class. I emailed my professors and said basically, “Hi. I just moved and had kind of a mental breakdown, which is why I disappeared, and everything is late. But I’ back now and will catch up.” They were understanding. Turns out, I’m not the first student to take an unscheduled vacay in the middle of a semester.

So, I’ve taken the last few days to kind of embrace the grief and really feel the feelings, which is super uncomfortable. I’d much rather pivot, but that will only kick further mental breakdowns further down the road. So, yeah. I moved. I lost my home. The place I raised my children, the place I first became myself. The first place I lived with my fiance. And it wasn’t my choice. I don’t really know exactly what is coming next.

My fiancé and I are committed to living mostly apart for at least the next six months. Our relationship is fine. We are still planning on getting married (probably next summer), but a lot of stuff has come up for both of us and we both have some work to do. I won’t be discussing the nature of that work because it’s very personal, but we are still in love and committed to each other. Last year for a lot of reasons we sped-run through a lot of relationship milestones and it’s probably a good idea to pull back a bit and then move forward together from a stronger place. 

What’s going to happen in six months? I have some ideas, but I don’t really know. None of us really knows anything about the future, no matter how much planning and preparation we do.

So, I find myself in a sort of liminal space. The past is gone. The future is only in dim view. I find myself in the doorway between one place and another. I can’t stay in the doorway forever. But I can stay here for a while and enjoy what I can of my present circumstances. I have a roof over my head. I brought most of the stuff I loved about my house into my new space, so it feels like home.

I have a place to sleep and a place to work and even a place to relax. I spend at least one night a week at my fiance’s place. I am good for now, and as I write this, I realize that we are all of us in a liminal space, no matter our circumstances. The Past is gone. Any certainty we have about the future is an illusion. We live in an eternal now. But here’s the good news: present you has solved every problem you’ve ever had. It will continue to do so.

Of course, I’ve done no writing this month. But the house is finally sold and out of my area of concern. I left it for the last time this past Friday. I can finally move on to what’s next. And writing will begin again this week. The truth is, I have everything I need to be happy. I am thankful for the time I spent in my home, and the safe space it provided me to become myself fully and express myself in my environment, but I do not actually need it to live or feel safe. So, I thanked it for its service and said goodbye. And then cried in my car. Lol. Shut up.

This entire post is probably an overshare, but I don’t regret it. That’s the state of things. You can think you have things figured out, but sometimes life is waiting to ambush you. It’s a feature, not a bug. I will be okay. You will be ok if it happens to you.

#blog post #productivity #life lessons #starting over

[adventures-of-the-creeping-bam]

NEVER SPLIT THE PARTY: THE ADVENTURES OF THE CREEPING BAM,  BOOK FOUR: THE HUNT - CHAPTER 4

If you’re new to the story, please go check out Book 1 first …

Boof 4 Chapter 1 is here …

IMPORTANT:  Please note this story includes content that may be considered mature, such as moderate battle violence, some strong language and occasional mild sexual scenes.

If you want to support my writing, feel free to swing by my Patreon or Ko-fi.

CHAPTER FOUR: KESLA

Darwyn’s small enough Shay can carry her in cradled in the crook of one arm while she’s holding Ashsong’s sword low and wary in her other hand, not convinced we’re safe even though the young guard clearly looked human.  The halfling’s in a hell of a lot o’ pain, wincing with every jog even though the half-orc’s definitely moving careful to make the ride smooth as possible for her, but ‘least she ain’t passing out instead.  It’s a better sign, at least.  But that wound … I seen ones like it before, and she’s in a bad way.

I lead the way through the doorway, crouching low with my own sword gripped tight in both hands, cuz I ain’t taking any more chances than my friend, even if I did recognise the girl.  I just saw those nightmares ooze outta a near dead kid just outside this room, and it was only Krakka’s quick thinking made sure we didn’t all suffer the same fate as every other poor bastard we found so far in this place.  Suddenly meeting a healthy live one in here don’t put me much at ease.  I’m paranoid as hell right now, but that don’t mean I don’t have cause.

Leaning my shoulder to the door, I give it a gentle push to open it out the rest o’ the way, then step into the room beyond.  It’s darker in here than it was outside, but I realise now that having Lady Naru’s fancy lights right now might actually have made us walk right on by without noticing candles burning under the door as we passed.  Yes might’ve picked up on the new scents in time, but given the pervading stink of death in here that even I can’t miss I wouldn’t wanna place money on the outcome o’ that bet.

There’s a few individual candles burning round the room, but by and large it’s barely enough to pick much of anything out right now.  Most of the illumination now we’re bringing in with us, my own sword in particular lighting things up a whole lot more, so as I step inside I just start to pick up on exactly what’s going on here.  And where I actually am.

When I was a kid, growing up in our apartments over the training barracks in Tabaphic, I had my own room, and it was nice enough, I guess, but I was never really the homiest person if I’m honest.  I spent so much o’ my time out in the world or training under da an’ the other sergeants, my room was really little more’n just the place my bed was.  Even in my adolescence, when the moodiness started to kick in and I found it harder to get up in the morning, I still mostly thought of it more as a room than mine.  Truth be told, don’t reckon I really got the whole idea of girls actually having their own personal bedroom as a haven, their safe little space apart from the rest of the world, until I became more’n just friends with Janna.  First time she took me into her room it was genuinely like stepping into another world.

I catch something o’ that here but it’s a hell of a lot more extravagant.  Then again, we’re dealing with rich girls here, never mind they’re the Hellcat’s daughters.  It’s very … rich, and a whole bunch o’ fancy too, a good deal more o’ the kinda overblown foofaraw as da would’ve called it, the kind I try not to roll my eyes at when I do deal with rich folks, particularly the women.  The bed alone … fucking hell, that thing is huge, it’s big as whole bedrooms I seen other people inhabit before, actually, and there’s just so much space.  There’s bloody big posts supporting a canopy over the top of it, with big, thick velvet curtains hanging round it, while the mattress is almost alarmingly high off the floor, not enough to cause a nosebleed but enough to hurt if you fell out at night.  And the bedclothes … it’s all satin, I swear, smooth and soft and … bloody hell, there’s fucking lace too.  And it’s just some of the lace I see decorating this place, actually.

That being said, there are enough touches scattered about to tell me this girl ain’t entirely devoid of her mother’s martial character, even if I hadn’t already gotten a suggestion last time I met her.  Instead o’ toys or whatever else I might expect a small child like Mara to prize, I see weapons hanging on racks or set on the vanity table in the back of the room alongside much more feminine accoutrements, which instantly mark this as Pela’s room.  Certainly there’s no way I’d ever expect to find Thura standing a room like this for herself.

“Who’s there?”  A very familiar voice breathes with fragile hope from just past the bed, and I see now that someone else is peeking up from behind a fancily decorated post.  It’s the tone of her voice that shakes me, I never would’ve expected it – Lady Thura Vezrim, the Hellcat of Kumehn Valley, is scared out her mind right now.  “Who …”

As her words peter out she squints in the relative gloom, although I suspect it might be more to do with the glowing blade I’m now moving to hold out to my side to redirect the light some.  Then I notice her looking me over, some strange, oddly wistful kind of recognition in her eyes as she takes me in, and I’m bloody slow remembering I’m wearing da’s armour, right down to my own specially commissioned new helm.

Kesla, you fucking moron.  You look just like a Rundao Regular right now.  Poor woman prob’ly reckons she’s seeing a ghost.

“What … are you … who is that?”

“Shit!”  I hiss under my breath, and before I even realise what I’m doing I stab Hefdred down so it pierces a good six inches into the floor like the boards are made of soft cheese, sticking up so I can let go.  Only now realising I just jammed my sword through the carpet of her daughter’s bedroom, I’m already dragging my helmet off as I spit out a rather muddled:  “Oh fuck … I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to –"  while turning her way again.

But her eyes just widen as she must recognise me, ‘spite of my greased hair and the black strip painted across my eyes, and there’s the slightest touch of a smile that reaches her lips now.  Fragile hope, kindled a little more brightly in her now.  “Oh, wait … Mistress Shoon?  Kesla!  You’re here!  But … oh, I’m a fool … of course, Sulin said you were coming for us …”

Her voice is breaking a little now, and I realise she’s crying, has clearly been crying for a while now, looks like, given how ruddy her cheeks have gotten, and the redness of her eyes.  For a moment I’m reminded of when she started to weep when we met her in her office, remembering her men, in the Valley, but even so … no, this is just wrong, it’s so strange, the Hellcat crying like some small, scared child.  I can’t fathom it at all.

Hooking my helmet onto my belt, I straighten up a bit as I yank my sword free again and take a few more steps into the room, looking round now.  “Yeah, well … I mean ‘course we came.  Are you okay?  What’s –”

“Help me … oh gods please help me, Kesla …”  Her breath’s hitching badly now as her voice cracks entirely, finally just dropping to her knees outta my sight, and I’m spurred on to follow her quicker now seeing it.  Even though I’m almost scared of what I might find …

Thura ain’t so much ducked back down as simply collapsed onto her side behind the bed, and as I come round I finally see why.  Okay, Mara’s all right, and Pela too, at least, the elder daughter hugging the younger tightly to her, while their younger brother Thadeon sits by with a deeply haunted look on his face, not really seeming to see anything right now.  There’s a lot of blood on him, I see, but it’s clear it’s not his, most likely it came from some poor bastard who died protecting him whenever it was he was clearly traumatized.

Most likely it’s his brother’s, I realise now.  Thura’s eldest child, Deriel Vezrim, virtually a man already but still so fucking young all the same, too young for this … Thura’s not really tending to him, mostly she’s just slumped at his side while she just holds onto his one remaining arm, gripping tight enough for her fingers to dig right in as she’s really starting to lose her fight to stop herself from just shattering right here.  The young guard, stood by waiting now, whose name I now realise I never caught, is watching me like she’s almost pleading with her eyes for me to help him, but even as I look down at the boy I realise any care that could be offered likely won’t do any good by this point.  His eyes are glassy, pupils wide, empty now as they just stare up at the ceiling, unblinking.

Gods … he was laid right open.  Poor kid, clearly he barely had time to throw on a simple pair of britches over his nightshirt and grab his sword, so he was entirely unarmoured when … whatever happened to him.  Then again, given what we’ve already seen, it’s not hard to work out.  I suspect he did exactly what the son of Thura Vezrim would have done when his little brother was threatened, bearing the brunt of the horrible attack instead.  I just hope he was dead before he even knew it had happened …

“Oh fuck …”  I barely manage to breath it, both my arms going limp as I just slump into myself standing over ‘em all now, the weight of sudden, unbearable sorrow settling on me like hot lead.

“What is it?”  Shay’s at my side now, I realise, her own blade bringing a little more illumination, and this just lights the whole awful scene up brighter.  “Are they … shit.  Oh my … oh fuck no … oh, Kesla, I’m so …”  Her voice falters at that, but I still sort of feel her reaching up to grip my shoulder the best she can, the effect still largely lost with my pauldron.

Finally Thura just gives up trying to compose herself and just starts openly bawling, finally shattering as her grief just takes over.  She’s realised as well as I have her son’s gone, maybe just while she was begging me for help, and her heart is breaking sure as her composure now.

When I try to take a breath I find it hitching a little too, my throat suddenly very thick, and I turn to look back towards the door, finding the others flooding in behind us now.  Art’s already on his knees next to Darwyn, working to get her out of her now damaged armour as Yeslee’s settling on her other side, fishing through her modest field kit for anything she might use to patch her up.  Krakka, meanwhile is almost entirely doubled over on his knees, hugging Bloodmoon while his glassy eyes really don’t seem much more focused than Deriel’s now.  Fuck … even before I step forward to ask after him I know my plea’s gonna be pointless.  “Fuck … is he … Krakka, are you with me?  We need you right now –”

“It’s no good, Kesla.”  Lady Naru’s dropping to one knee beside him now, hanging onto her staff while her free hand settles on his shoulder, but she looks up at me, solemn and contrite.  “He’s burned himself out.  We would be lucky to have him back on his feet by morning, certainly not anytime sooner.  There’s nothing he can do.”

“No, I can …”  He blinks as he tries to straighten up, but barely even manages to raise his hand off his hammer, his head still hanging while he completely fails to gain any more focus.  “I can … you need … fuck …”  Lady Naru doesn’t even need to try and hold him down, he’s so weak.  Fuck … damn it, Krakka, why’d you have to be so effective getting us out of that mess?  Now we’re stuck …

Taking a very clumsy step back, I don’t so much turn back as simply stumble round in a clumsy swing, and I guess it’s a miracle I’m still managing to hold onto my sword at all as I just sway along automatically now.  I’m … fuck, the fact I can’t help Thura when she needs me the most, that’s … even though we’re here now I feel like a failure seeing this.  I barely even realise I’m doing it as I push past Shay and stab Hefdred back into the floor before dropping to my own knees, very noisily I sort of realise but there’s nothing I can do now.  Pela flinches at the metallic clanking and hugs her sister a little tighter, but there’s no reproach in her wet eyes as she watches me look over her brother and mother.

Finally I reach out, leaning forward as much as I can with careful gentleness to touch Thura’s shoulder, warily hesitant as I try hard not to spook her.  Even so, when my heavy, gauntleted hand settles she stiffen instantly, a little sob escaping her as she jumps, and I freeze too, instantly regretting my action but knowing I gotta keep going all the same.  So I lean in a little more and take another shaky breath, very carefully choosing my words now as I speak:  “Thura?  I … I’m sorry … we can’t … there’s nothing we can do … for Deriel, I mean … Krakka’s outta power …”

Slowly she raises her head, still sobbing, and I can tell she’s trying to get herself under control again, but it’s not working any better than before.  When she finally looks up at me her face is enough to break my heart all over again, I’ve never seen grief quite like it before.  There’s anger in there too, hot and fierce, but mostly it’s just pure, broken, jet black sorrow.  I remember her telling me about how she lost her husband, the way he went, it was so ugly and unfair, and it’s clear to me now that she knows as well as I do that this is even worse, how her son’s gone before he even had a chance to really live.

“Kesla … what the fuck is going on … what are they … they took him … my boy … Deri … they took my boy … MY BOY …”  The rest of her words disintegrate into a formless howl of pure anguish and she just falls into my arms as I lunge forward to catch her, pulling her close and hugging her as tight to me as I dare given how heavily armoured I am.  I want to comfort her so badly but I’m painfully mindful that I’m covered virtually head to foot in hard, unyielding tempered steel …

In the end it don’t matter, she clings to me sure as if she’s drowning and I’m a pylon at the end of a dock.  So I give up trying to be gentle and just crush her tight as I think I can get away with, and just hold her while she vents and rages and screams.  And the whole time I’m unable to take my eyes off Deriel’s lifeless body as the guard crouches beside him and gently closes his eyes and lays his arms over his chest, finally reaching over to drag one of the quilts off the bed to snap it out the best she can to cover him.  She’s crying hard too, I realise.  Looks like this family means as much to her as it does to me.  But at least she actually got to know them.

I’m crying myself now, I can’t help it, but at least I manage to hold onto myself enough that it’s just hot tears and a little hitch in my breathing, no sobs.  I gotta be the strong one right now, even though I’m hating it.

“I’m sorry.”  I whisper to her, my voice low and soothing as I can keep it with the hitching of my own breath, and rock her gently.  “I’m so sorry, Thura.  I’m so, so very sorry.  There’s … fuck … there’s no words, I … I’m sorry …”

There’s no telling how long we stay like this.  I suspect it probably ain’t more’n a matter o’ minutes, but it seems to be hours to me.  She quiets by increments, not so much calming as just wearing herself out, the grief exhausting her as her wailing gives way to sobbing to shuddering and sniffing and low, keening moans.  Finally she just slumps in my arms, becoming soft and limp and helpless while she just breathes into my shoulder, still hitching and shuddering all the way, but largely spent now.  I tighten my grip a little more, keeping the crush gentle but hesitant, and take a breath of my own.  It’s more than a little relieving that it comes in smooth this time …

So when I look up, turning my head enough I can take in what’s going on across the room again, I see the others still fussing over Darwyn, who’s been largely stripped of her leather now, a lot of bandages wrapping her shoulder, arm and much of her chest.  She looks very unhappy, and I don’t blame her at all for that, even while I was tending to Thura I couldn’t miss the cries and whimpers behind me.  She’s looking clearer than before, at least, but even paler too, wan and weak now.  Art’s got her swaddled in his arms now as he sits behind her, while Yes finally rocks back in her heels, looking up with a particularly deep frown.  She looks right at me now, almost on cue, and while it’s subtle her expression says everything it has to.

“That bad, huh?”

“If we don’t get her to a healer soon she’s going to die.”    She shoots a cautious look to Art, whose own eyes perceptibly widen at that, then Darwyn hisses as he hugs her a little tighter without really meaning to.  “We have to go.  Now.”

Thura must have caught that, I feel her shift in my arms now.  It’s still weak, and clumsy, but she’s with it enough all the same.  I relax my grip a little as I subtly shift my position, making a little room for her to push herself up if she chooses, but for a few moments at least she don’t move again.  “Um … Thura?  I’m sorry, but … um … we need you to be with us now …”

“Oh …”  It’s less of a moan than a grunt really, and when she starts to push against me now it’s with more strength, so I just let her, shifting back myself to let her now.  Finally she reaches up and starts working her fingers up across the front of my armour, clumsily questing for the top of my cuirass.  After a moment I just reach up and take hold of her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze, and now she looks up.

She’s … fuck, her face is a ruin, it’s flushed red and angry but streaked through the dirt where her tears have run, eyes raw and bleary and fighting for focus now, while her lip’s still wobbling even though her own breath is evening out a little more.  Mostly she just looks haunted now, and I’m scared she ain’t even there enough to answer me.

“I …”  Honestly, I ain’t got the first clue what to say now, my words have just completely dried up.  Then she reaches up with her hand and grabs hold of my pauldron, dragging herself a little closer, and now I might be the only thing holding her up.  “Thura, I …”

“What …”  she croaks now, and her voice … fuck, she’s screamed herself hoarse.  “What’s happening … how did … who did this …”

“Vandryss.”  Lady Naru surprises me, seemingly to sweep in out of nowhere now with her little globe of light still hovering above her as she crouches at my side with her usual unfathomable graceful ease.  She looks solemn but … still so composed all the same, even while her tone is as gentle as I’m trying to keep mine.  “We believe it must be Vandryss.  They’re making their move, it seems.”

“But …”  Thura blinks up at her now, still struggling to focus, I see.  “But why … how did she even know …”

Lady Naru’s eyes flicker to mine now, and there’s that worry again, deep down.  She licks her lips before answering, seeming to be working hard to choose her words very carefully.  “Darion … they must have broken him.  He … he’s been compromised.”

It’s a long beat before Thura can answer, her brow furrowing deep as she looks back to me, then to Naru again, then down, just searching randomly now.  Finally she mutters something low under her breath I can’t make out, before finally looking up at her friend again.  “But … but how?  He would never … I know him, he … no, it’s not possible –"

“They have Gael.”  The words are out before I can help it, and I look down now, unable to face her.  “His … Darion’s child.  Our friend.  They took ‘em when … it was a mess, and mistakes were made and …”  Fuck.  Honestly, I don’t know how I can make it sound any better than the shitshow it already is, now it’s made things so much worse.

Thura slips free from my armour with that first hand, and I have to look up as she drags me somewhat to the side as she reaches out for Lady Naru now, vaguely grasping like she still can’t quite make her out.  “Oh … Sulin, I’m … I’m sorry …”

Naru takes hold of the proffered hand in both of hers, and I can see her face breaking a little now, her composure slipping.  When she looks down she breathes a heavy sigh, her voice seeming thicker as she breathes:  “We’ll get them back.  I swear it.  I will … I won’t rest until … until …”

“Got to go.”  For a long beat I can’t identify the voice that rasps that loud little croak from the far side of the room, I’m so focused here now.  Then I look up, and I see Brung’s moved into the room too, coming towards us, but being real cautious about it now.  As he clears the bed and comes into view of the family I see how uncomfortable he is now, real reluctance in him, and he’s looking down as he steps very deliberately.  “Something … can’t explain.”

First I actually realise others have seen him is the sharp intake of breath and the sudden flurry of movement as the guard starts fumbling for the sword hung at her hip.  I reach out my hand quick as I can to check her, hissing a warning, but even so she’s already cleared a foot of steel before Lady Naru finally pipes in:  “Uhra, it’s all right.  He’s with us.  Brung’s a friend.”

The young woman checks herself at that, at least, but even so she don’t relent yet, looking the goblin over for a long beat before finally letting her sword settle back in its scabbard.  She stands ready too, still fiercely tense as she watches the little merc close.  “Okay … if you insist, my lady, but …”

The children are looking him over with wide eyes too, I see, but then they likely never seen a real live goblin before in their lives.  I wonder now what kinds of stories they actually been brought up on regarding ‘em, if they been filled with the same kind o’ cold, bone-deep prejudice as most o’ the big society types I met.  Somehow … I dunno, I can’t imagine it, not with Thura.  Not after how I’ve gotten to know her.

That said, this is all clearly too much for them right now, one more startling development on top of so much bad that’s already been piled on them this night … so I finally let go of Thura, who releases her own hold as I start to push back up onto my haunches, instead grabbing hold of Lady Naru, who wraps her up in her own close embrace.  I’m already turning to the new arrival as I don’t bother standing up, instead just shifting my feet so I can face him while staying in my crouch.  Keeping very much on his level now.  “What is it?”

“Can’t explain.”  He cocks his head towards the door, his eyes never leaving mine.  “Easier to show.  Quick.”

Frowning, I look back at Naru and Thura, who are still locked in their awkward hug, the sorcerer rocking the former warrior gently while she just stares at nothing in particular, more haunted than ever now.  “Just wait.  I’ll be back.”

Not waiting for a reply, I push myself up, already starting to move before I’ve straightened, and I’m even more careless yanking Hefdred free than I was planting it in the first place.  Brung’s words are already gnawing at me, I really don’t have time for a mystery right now.

He leads me to the door, and Yeslee’s already stepping up as I pass, plucking her bow off the floor and falling into step with me without hesitation while giving me a particularly cool, sidelong look down.  Sensing my own mood, I’m sure.  I don’t say anything, just letting her make up her own mind about what we’re about now.

Shay’s already waiting for us, holding her own glowing sword off to the side and, now I’m actually paying attention, very much inside the room, so that, especially with the door barely open more’n a crack, it don’t really shine much light out into the corridor.  She’s looking out into the darkness without, and even as I approach I can almost feel the tension coming off her.  Something’s really rubbing her the wrong way.

I’ll admit, for a beat I’m struck enough by Shay’s sword to be a tad distracted.  Given the blade’s strangely crystalline-seeming structure, the glow of the god-light in it seems to manifest in a different way to our steel.  It almost seems to shift and ripple, subtly pulsing in lazy waves from hilt to point, while the blade itself seems almost hollow beneath it.  It’s uncanny and quite beautiful, but in a slightly unnerving kind of way.

Brung stops a little short, and I pause with him, leaning somewhat now so I can get a little closer to his level again.  “What’s up?”  I breath in the lowest whisper I can manage.

“Out there.”  He cocks a clawed thumb towards the door, and his expression remains as unchanged as ever.  “Just look.”

Frowning deeper still, I ponder for a moment before sheathing Hefdred and stepping up to Shay’s side.  I notice her tense a little more as I arrive, but only for a beat, as she must register that it’s me cuz she simply takes a step back and turns towards me.  She looks somewhat shook, I notice, and that just worried me too.  “You need to see this.”

Opening my mouth, I almost asks her what she means, but after Brung dodged the question twice I wonder if Shay might gimme the runaround too, so instead I just step up to lean into the crack between the door and frame.  Then I realise that all I can see out there is varying levels of shadow, and I genuinely have to fight the urge to curse under my breath as I step back again and start fishing in the pouch on my belt.  Finding my goggles.  Unwrapping ‘em, I toss the cloth to Shay with greater irritation than I’d like to show and, while she jumps to catch it slip the gear onto my head, uncomfortably mindful now that I’m getting grease on the strap from my hair.  Nuts …

Even so, when I finally take a breath and step to the crack again, suddenly I can actually see into the hallway again … and it’s enough to make me forget about anything else.  Fuck … yeah, she was right, this is serious …

I mean sure, it takes me a moment or two to even make sense o’ what I’m actually looking at, to begin with it just looks like … well, something just shifting and growing out there, slowly seeming to increase in size and form as it staggers around out there in the gloom.  More than one something, in fact, once I start to look.  At least three definite shapes out there … no, four, or maybe five, another one seems to make itself known as I start to make some kinda sense o’ what I’m seeing.  But not really.  It’s still bloody strange and pretty disturbing looking at this.

Pieces of the bodies out here … they’re forming new bodies.  But not the same bodies, no, the corpses themselves ain’t coming back to life, or whatever it is undead things do, Krakka’s got a fancy word for it, I remember … reanimating, that’s it.  No, this is something else … honestly, it’s more like something else is just taking whatever’s immediately to hand and reforming in whatever way’s most convenient in order to create something that’s simply functional.  Gods know, the first thing, which seems to be the most fully put-together and is already starting to slowly lurch towards us from some way down the corridor, don’t appear immediately recognisable as any specific form of … well, I sure hesitate to call any o’ this shit life.  For one thing, it’s got too many limbs, with too many … I guess they’re joints, in the loosest sense.  And no immediately discernible head, ‘least not that I can immediately pick out.  ‘Course it’s still forming, but …

“Fuck me …”  I growl with deep unease as I pull back, slipping the goggles off careful as I can so I don’t slather the lenses in grease too.  Finally I flick ‘em to Shay, who again has to scramble some to catch ‘em, and take a few big steps back away from the door, my head still reeling bad from what I seen out there.

Frowning herself at my reaction, Yes steps up where I was and has a look for herself, and pulls back almost immediately, her eyes unusually wide now.  She don’t swear like I did, but still lets out a deep, uncomfortable sharp hiss that says more than enough for her own opinion.  When she looks my way she bares her teeth, looking about as wild as I ever seen her.  “That … that is … just wrong.”

“You ever seen anything like that before?”  I almost don’t ask, but reckon I have to.

She watches me for a long beat before growling:  “Fuck no.”

“Great.”  I mutter, turning back to Shay, who’s bundled my goggles up again, now holding ‘em out to me to collect.  She don’t look any calmer now than before, I see.  Reckon she’s thinking the same thing I am, that we are in deep shit right now.

Turning back to the room at large, I find Lady Naru’s on her feet again, still stood by the bed with her staff clutched close to her in both hands in such a way she looks strikingly like Gael in this moment.  Her expression seems mostly expectant, but … maybe she’s just picking up on our bad vibes.

Stuffing the bundle back into the pouch, I step up to the cluster on the floor again, looking down at Darwyn as Art cranes up at me, looking like he’s picked up on my mood too.  “How is she?”

“Bad.”  He’s stroking her hair, keeping it out her face as he half-cradles her.  She’s looking up at me too, but her eyes are heavily lidded, and she’s clearly having trouble focusing, her face the palest I ever seen it.  “I … I can’t … we gotta do something –”

“Yeah, I know.  We will.”  I look down at Krakka now, finding the cleric’s finally sitting up without slumping, although he’s still cradling his hammer tighter than a child.  He looks pretty miserable, but ‘least it seems like he can actually see me now.  “Can you move?”

“I don’t know.”  His croak is particularly raw, and it don’t make me feel any better than the look he’s giving me now.  “Honestly, I’m really feeling my age right now.”

“Shit.”  I mutter now, more to myself really, but it still prompts a little tightening frown from him too.  Instead of replying to it I simply take a breath and turn away to move back towards the bed, unhooking my helmet from my belt again as I go.  I can’t help squaring my shoulders as I walk, sucking in a deeper, heavier breath now as I try to prepare myself for what I know I gotta do now.

Lady Naru steps into my path as I approach and I give her a sharp look as I look her over.  “Kesla –”

“I need you to get ‘em out.  Right now.  D’you reckon you can port ‘em all outta here at once, or is that gonna be too much?  Cuz if not I need you to get Thura and her family back to the temple right now and then come straight back for Darwyn an’ Art.  And I guess Krakka too, state he’s in right now he’s no good to anyone.”

For a long moment she don’t say anything, she just looks at me, and again I get that subtle sense that she’s grown so very tired, her veneer slipping now so it’s easier to pick up on, or maybe it’s just anxiety in the situation.  Finally she leans into her staff again, letting a heavy sigh go as she looks down, licking her beautiful lips.  “I … can’t.”

“What … what d’you mean?  You have to, there’s no time, something’s –”

“I’m sorry, Kesla, but I can’t.  I don’t know what it is, exactly, but …”  Shaking her head, she looks back up, and gives me a more sheepish look now.  “I suspect it might be something like the effect that Driver 8 seemed to be experiencing down below.  There’s something here that … I can’t really explain it, but it’s blocking me.  My senses, or at least my focus.  I can still see, and hear, and feel, but I don’t have a sense of place like I normally have.  I need two points of focus to achieve an effective portal spell.  Firstly, I need a strong sense of where I’m going, either a specific location in my own mind or someone else’s, or at least a strong enough idea that I can take a blind jump on faith and hopefully luck out of ending up inside a wall.  But I also need a sense of where I am, a solid fix in time and space.  And here, now … I just can’t find one.  I know where I am, I’ve been here enough times, but … somehow, that familiarity has been stripped from me.”  She sighs again as she must catch the scepticism in my look, and it’s a weary thing.  “I know, it must sound … ludicrous, but it’s simple fact.”

For another beat I hold my tongue, searching her face for any hint that she might at least suspect she’s wrong about this, but … no, she’s the expert here, she’d know what she’s talking about.  “Fuck.”  I turn away, clenching my empty fist while tightening my grip on the helm in my right, and it’s all I can do not to spit right here in Pela’s bedroom.  “We just can’t catch a bloody break …”

“What is it that’s –”

Turning back, I just run right over her now.  “It don’t matter, we can’t stay here.  It ain’t safe.  I need you to get ‘em out anyway.  Any way you can.  You with me?”

Her frown deepens as her eyes narrow.  “What are you going to do?”

“Whatever I have to.”  I look down at the helmet in my hand now, the one I commissioned special from Janna, made to measure but intentionally styled close as I could get to the one my da would’ve worn back in his day.  “Yeah.  Whatever it takes to give you time to get out.  I just need you to promise me you’ll get all of ‘em out.”

Naru looks ready to argue, but she stops herself short, finally letting another weary sigh go as she must realise I ain’t backing down.  Guess she’s gotten to know me enough since we met … gods, however long ago it was now.  Feels like an age, the way things have gone lately.  In the end she simply nods, frowning again, and there’s a little bit of a growl to her voice as she breathes:  “All right.  I promise.  But you have to make sure you get out as well.  You have to help me find Gael, remember?”

That makes me smile, I can’t help it, and I reach up with my free hand to touch her cheek before I’ve quite realised I’m doing it.  She don’t shy away from my touch, and her own more subtle smile is brief and sad but … well, it’s warm enough at least.

Nodding, I step round her now and duck down behind the bed, dropping to my knees gentle as I can at Thura’s side.  She’s slumped over her son now, head on his arm, and while she don’t seem to be sobbing she still looks pretty thoroughly out of it now.  I look round at the others now, seeing her elder daughter still quietly weeping while the younger’s got her head buried in her sister’s side, but Thadeon’s just watching me with quiet intensity.  Seems he must’ve cried himself out now, mostly he just looks angry.

Finally I turn to the guard, who I realise is watching me with more of a cold, calculating wariness now.  She’s gripping the sword at her hip now, and while I don’t feel any actual threat from her right now, I still choose my tone real careful as I speak to her.  “What’s your name, if I may?”

This just makes her blink, she clearly weren’t expecting it, and for a long beat I wonder if maybe she just won’t answer anyway, and I wouldn’t blame her, she don’t know me, not really.  She’s seen me twice now, and the last time barely.  But finally she lets a little sigh out and licks her lips, her eyes flickering up to, I imagine, Lady Naru for a moment before returning to mine.  “Uhra.  Uhra Sedrun.  I’m … well shit … honestly, I’m scared I might be it for our security force, now.”

“Well I’m sure you’re capable enough to serve just fine.”  When I say it, her brows prick right up high, but I don’t back-peddle.  Time’s too short.  “I need you to help me out here.  Help us all out.  It’s about to get proper scary up here, and you have to get her Ladyship and her children outta here fast.  There some other way down outta here, besides the stairs?  Any way at all?”

“I don’t …”  Uhra looks down again, frowning more thoughtful now.  “The east wing was burning before, an’ with all that shit going on I doubt anybody’s had a mind to fight it, if they even are still alive … so may be half the house is on fire by now.  The garden balcony probably ain’t much good now …”  Her frown deepens, and she pauses for a long moment, then looks up, to Lady Naru again, I’m sure.  “The library?  I forgot all about the Black Helix, nobody uses it anymore.  Not since … um …”  She turns awkward now, her eyes going to Thura.

“Since Terth … passed.  Of course.”  When I look up, Naru’s stood right over me, thoughtful now, but still wistful, likely from being reminded of the death of another person she cared deeply for.  “It’s probably the surest way out.  I can lead the way if you think we can get past those –”

“Oh, don’t worry about them.”  I let a deep sigh out as I look back down.  “They’ll be plenty busy, I can promise you that.”  Leaning forward, I finally reach out and lay my hand, as gently as I can, on the grieving mother’s shoulder.  “Thura?  I’m so sorry, but I need you with me now.”

For a long beat she don’t stir, and I think maybe she really is just broken now, that the death of her eldest child has taken the last lick of strength she had, whatever she had left over after so many years without her husband.  But finally she raises her head again, slow and faltering, seeming shaky but still responding, and while she looks every bit as broken as before, there’s … focus enough, at least.  “What … what’s happening?”  Her voice is still little better than a rasp, but she’s all cried out now, looks like.  “Are you –”

“It’s time to go.  I’m sorry, I know you don’t want to … I get it, I’d wanna just stay here and die, I felt the same when …”  Fuck … I have to stop myself there, look down and take a deep breath, fighting the slight hitch in it as I feel my own past trauma starting to stir inside me, the old wounds pricking again.  It really ain’t the time.  “We’re in deep shit, Thura.  You need to get your family out now.  I’m sorry about Dery, but there ain’t nothing you can do for him now.  You gotta look out for the rest o’ your kids now.  So you gotta get up, and you gotta run.  You might have to fight too.  Probably have to fight.”  I look her right in the eye now, deep and close as I can.  “Can you?”

Blinking, Thura watches me for a long beat, then looks down at her son’s body again.  Then at her daughters, and her remaining son.  For a moment it seems like she might be fit to burst into tears again … then she sets her jaw, bearing her teeth a little, and with the subtlest frown her face hardens.  Oh … that is a fierce look, it’s enough to give me chills, just looking at it.  I wonder if that’s her war face?  The deepest part o’ me gets the slightest thrill to see it, I swear.

Then she reaches over, behind her, and picks something up from the floor on her hidden side.  It’s her sword, that beautiful bastard sword I remember from her office.  The same blade she made such a name for herself with.  “Lead on.”

Nodding with the subtlest smile, I roll back onto my heels and push myself up, flipping my helmet over as I do so to flare the cowl out.  As I straighten up I slip the whole thing back into place over my head, taking a moment to adjust it until it’s perfectly comfortable in place, and turn back to Lady Naru.  “I’m gonna need some light out there.”

That makes her frown.  “But we already have light.  This follows me, so of course it should be enough for you to –”

“I’m not gonna be with you, though.  Somebody’s gotta keep those things distracted, cover your escape.  I’m the best fighter here, ‘least after Thura, and she’s gonna be busy getting her family out.  Which you’re gonna help her with.”

“What?  But –”

“No arguments, Sulin.”  Her brows rise at the sudden familiarity, but I don’t regret the slip.  To be honest, reckon I’ve gotten used to her enough now it fits.  “You’re leading ‘em out, and I’m trusting you with my friends as well as yours.  You got me?”

I say that just as I’m sure she was gonna try and argue again, and for a moment she just stands there, watching me with her mouth open, before finally closing it with a particularly frustrated little frown.  “Damn it … all right.  But you remember your promise to me.  I need you as much as you need me right now.”

Watching her for a beat, I finally just extend my hand, and after a loaded beat she reaches out and give it a healthy grip.  Then she nods, lets go, and turns back to her friend.

Now I look at Uhra.  “You up to this?”

“Of course … yes.  I am.”  She lays her hand on her sword as she steps to Thura’s side and gives me a stern look.  “It’s my job.  But I mean … I would anyway.  They’re … y’know …”

“Yeah.”  I nod in response.  “I get it.  Good.”

When I turn round this time I’m already starting to step away, but I’m stopped short when I find Shay’s stood less than three feet behind me, giving me a particularly dark look.  “Don’t even think about telling me to abandon you too.  If you’re staying, I’m staying.”

I almost argue with her, but I stop myself as I realise I don’t want to.  To be honest, I know I could use the help.  So I just nod as I sigh:  “Yeah, all right.” Stepping forward, I give her shoulder a soft little slap.  “I’ll be glad to have you.”

She just frowns at that, and clearly I surprised her since she must’ve been preparing to argue her case.  Instead she gives a clipped nod and steps back out my way, and as she moves I see Krakka behind her, pushing himself to his feet.  Still unsteady on ‘em, but smoother than before.

“Don’t start, you’re going with the others.”

Narrowing his eyes, he gives me a particularly stern look as he grabs hold of Bloodmoon’s shaft and gives it a hard yank that largely fails to pick it up off the floor, instead just pulling him over to lean at an angle.  “Come off it, I’m … I’m getting better now.  My Lady is … I think I have something in me again.  Another few minutes of prayer and I might –”

“There’s no time, Krakka.  Besides, if there is anything in your tank right now, they’re gonna need it more’n we are out there.”  I let my hand settle on Hedred’s hilt now.  “You already helped us, it’s up to us to give the rest o’ you a chance to get out.  Then we’ll be right behind you.”

He watches me for a long, loaded moment, and I genuinely can’t tell if I’m winning him over or he might try to argue again.  Then he lets a grunting, raspy sigh go and nods, or maybe it’s more like he just drops his head in clear exhaustion.  “Shit … all right.  But you’d better follow, as soon as you can.  Otherwise I’m coming back in the moment the others are out.”

“Fair enough.”  I step up to him now and grab hold of his shoulder by the pauldron, giving it a gentle but firm tug to drag him to his full height so he can finally pick his hammer up again.  He blinks up at me in somewhat flustered surprise as I let go, but I’m already moving on.

Art looks up as I reach him, already picking Darwyn up in his arms as he gets one foot under him and straightens his back.  Ready to lift.  The halfling looks deeply uncomfortable, but I also get the sense that her clear pain is at least giving her focus as she blinks up at me, managing to focus now even if her eyes are still heavily lidded.

“Okay, I need you to –”

“Yeah, I got it already.”  Art growls under his breath as he pushes himself upright, giving me a pretty scathing glare.  “I can read a room.  I’ll be ready.”

“Fine.  Well just go fast, and stay close to Krakka.”  I reach out now and give his shoulder a little squeeze too.  “And be careful.”

“You too.  No stupid risks.  Don’t do any more’n you got to to cover us, then haul your arse out.  I mean it, I’m with Krakka.  I’m gonna be pissed at you if you die in here.  Gael needs you.”

Giving his mane a little ruffle before he can stop me, I drop him a nod.  He don’t bat me away this time, just steps back, giving me a sharp look, but he’s smiling a little all the same.  Finally I tip Darwyn a quick wink and she manages a tired half-smile of her own in response, and I turn for the door now.

Yeslee’s already stepping towards me, her bow still nocked as she keeps half-turned towards the door.  Ready in case anything happens even as she regards me.  “It’s getting ugly out there.  We have minutes, and not many of those.”

“Yeah, I’m on it.”

“Do you want me to back you up, or …”  She don’t finish, instead just frowning, looking round at the rest o’ the room, and I pick up on her reluctance immediately.  It’s almost enough to make me take her up on the offer, but I can’t.

“No, you’re my best hope for ‘em all getting out good an’ fast.  Brung too.”  I look at the goblin now, who’s already turned away from this place at the door to look at me now as he catches his name.  “You’re cool with that, right wee man?”

“Yes.”  He turns away without another word, going straight back to his sharp-eyed vigil through the crack.

Cocking a brow, I turn back to Yes.  “Guess that’s good.  You okay with that?”

She quirks her own brow just a little even though I know there’s no way she could’ve actually caught my gesture with the helmet, then just shrugs.  “If you think it’s best.  You’re probably right.  I’ll do my part.”  She turns to Shay now, giving her a look over.  “Watch over this one.  I’m starting to like her.”

When I turn to the half-orc I see her own brows have shot right up, her eyes wide as she looks at the Fir Bolg with clear surprise, but there’s a little bit of a shy smile touching her mouth too.  Then I spot Lady Naru making her way over, weaving something between her hands while Thadeon follows her with her staff grasped in his little hands, and I realise she’s making another one of those light globes.  I step back towards her now as she arrives, already holding out her hands as it takes form between ‘em.  “Great, just in time –”

”Here.”  She thrusts it right at me without ceremony.  “Hold your hands out.  Quickly, please.”

Catching the slightly flustered urgency in her tone, I do as I’m told, and as I bring my hands together in front of me she essentially tosses the globe into ‘em.  I scramble a touch to make sure I don’t drop it, but it don’t actually fall, as if it seems to sense my own intent, and simply floats above my palms.  “Um … right, sure, what do I –”

“Blow on it.”  She has a subtle smile of her own now as she gently plucks her staff from Thadeon’s grasp.  “Gently.”

Frowning, I closely raise my hands, and the globe rises with ‘em.  “Um … okay?”  Leaning forward and feeling entirely ridiculous, I breathe a gentle puff of air onto the little ball of brilliant light, and I swear it brightens just a little when I do it.  Then it starts to rise, and as I take a surprised step back it follows me.  Oh … wow, that’s actually really cool.

“That’s it.”  The sorcerer beams at me, already taking a step back.  “You’re all set.”

“Great.”  I take a deep breath, suddenly realising I’m actually committing to this plan now, and take another step back, opening room around me now as I reach for the back of’ my belt and unhook the other little something I picked up from Stormshield’s workshop in Bavat.

Taking a moment to strap it into place on my left wrist, I check the fit over for a couple o’ beats until I’m comfortable with it before giving the handle the little twisting squeeze that the Silver Order’s master weaponsmith explained to me.  It feels a little rudimentary, I remember at the time I wondered if it might not be a little foolish since I’m just as likely to repeat the gesture without thinking about it in the middle of a battle, but he assured me it wouldn’t be a problem.  The way he made it, the enchantment he wove into the mechanism means that it's designed to pick up on my intent when I do it, so once I twist it’ll activate and then lock until I intentionally close it up again.  Even so, I don’t really believe it’s actually gonna work until I actually do it … and it activates just as it did back in the Academy.

Essentially it’s a shield, but it’s the fanciest one I ever seen.  Not so much in its actual design, although I’ll admit it’s pretty sweet looking in a largely functional kind of way, built for practicality more’n style.  Or maybe that’s just why I like it.  It starts out as just a tightly folded block of thick, dark dwarven steel plate less’n a foot square, but with that simple motion the whole thing seems to uncurl, almost like a flower opening to the sun.  Albeit a good deal louder, with a lot o’ clicking and metallic shunting, until it’s fully unfurled.

Now I got a subtly curved shield with a tilting diamond shape strapped to my arm, three feet tall and two and half across at its widest.  Once again I’m a little surprised that it’s nowhere near as heavy as I expected it to be, but then Hurrig promised me that was very much taken into consideration when he made it in the first place.  Even so, I find myself shifting my stance immediately to compensate for its simple bulk, years of deep-ingrained drilling and muscle memory taking over almost entirely without conscious thought.  It’s been a few years since I actually used a shield, but it feels like I never stopped …

“Bloody hell …”  Shay breathes beside me, which perks my attention a little, and I look up to find her eying my shield with surprise.  “So that’s what it does?”

“Beats having to lug a regular one round all the time.”  I mutter as I test its heft for a few moments, just getting a read on how it effects my balance.  To be honest, it might’ve been better if I’d got a little practice in with it first, I’m usually pretty wary about jumping straight into a fight with an untried piece o’ kit, and like I said it’s been a little while since I actually fought with a shield.  But this time round circumstances ain’t really been too conducive to opportunity.  So I’m going with what I got.

“It’s very impressive.”  Yes offers up, and while her face is completely straight and her tone entirely even, I can’t help feeling like she’s taking the piss a little bit.  So I give her a sharp little glare that she likely misses thanks to the helmet anyway.

“Whatever.”  I finally growl under my breath, reaching over now to draw my sword.  If I’m gonna do this, might as well do it properly.  Then, as the blade flares bright when I slide it free, I turn to Thura, who Lady Naru’s now helped to her feet, supporting her friend even as she holds her sword low at her side, preparing herself for … well, whatever.  “You ready?”

“Enough.”  Her reply’s honest, I’ll give her that, but then she’s still too worn out from just pure grief to really convince as a warrior right now.  “Someone … can someone come back for Dery?  I don’t want him to … burn ...”

“We’ll do what we can.”  Shay surprises me, but she’s looking down at her sword when she says it, testing the edge of the strange crystalline blade as it glow in her hands.  Like she’s preparing herself for what’s to come.

“Yeah.”  I agree with a clipped nod.  “We get done up here, I’ll bring ‘im down myself.  We don’t manage it, it’ll be cuz we’re dead.”

Naru cocks a brow at that, while Yes narrows her eyes a little, but it’s Krakka who reacts most to my words, his own eyes widening considerably while he seems to be searching for an admonishment.  But then Thura simply says:  “Thank you.”  her voice cracking a little, and it seems to smooth the mood somewhat.

I turn to give Yes one last look, and for the life o’ me I can’t think of anything to say in the moment, but she just nods at me, seeming to read me even with the helmet, and that’s enough for me.  So I turn round without another word and start for the door, just trusting Shay to pick up on it as I go.

Brung’s already dragging the door open wide now, springing aside as I approach so he don’t trip me up, and he gives me a little nod of his own as I pass him by.  I start to charge now, squaring up my shoulders as I tighten my form, bending my back so I can draw myself into a ready guard soon as I’ve cleared the door.  Adjusting my grip on my father’s sword as I rush out into the corridor, taking a cautious breath and holding it in anticipation of what I’m about.

In the end I only look round with my eyes, and I keep the glance short and focused, taking in only what I need to right now.  The first one of … whatever the fuck these things are, it’s almost right on top of us already, I reach it in three big, quick strides, and there’s ‘least half a dozen more behind it now, or maybe that’s just all I can make out in what seems to be an ugly growing jumble of … unpleasantness.

Soon as I’m close the smell hits me, stronger than before by a wide margin.  It’s a truly nasty stink, not necessarily rotten meat, but it’s gone bad all the same, more like it’s been badly burned, but greasy too, a really fatty odour that catches in the back o’ my sinuses.  But worse is the sound, these things seem to creak and crackle as they move, wet and sinewy as only raw meat can be, and it’s enough to give me chills on its own.

Their movements, now I can really see it, are jerky and somewhat … off, really.  Now I’m really looking they don’t really seem like they’re actually alive, it’s just a trick o’ their animation, they remind me more of puppets, but they got something really wrong with ‘em, like the joints or strings or whatever it is making ‘em move don’t work right.  Maybe there is something of the undead in ‘em, but … no, this is something else, something truly strange and unfathomably wrong.

At least my own instant revulsion helps to spur me to action, even if it’s just to get this thing outta my way quick as I can.  So I swing the moment I’ve closed the distance, turning in a low cut to arc up to cleave it in half through what could generously be called its waist and up through its lower chest.  Eldritch horror or not, this thing’s just meat, I don’t see it putting up much of a fight against my white hot blade.

Except that it reacts to my attack while I make it, and while my blade does cut a substantial gouge up through something resembling a ribcage, it still manages to dodge a full, cleaving stroke.  And I suddenly realise it’s got a whole lot more limbs that it has any right to as it snaps something like a mix between a leg and a heavily segmented whip round towards my face as I reel aside, attempting to recover from my aborted cut.  Intent on battering my down, or maybe worse.  I saw what those shadow things did to Darwyn, I don’t wanna see what these things could do with whatever they got.

So I bring my shield up quick, planting my feet best I can as I turn my shoulder as much into the coming blow as I can … and it still hits me like a battering ram.  The shield holds up magnificently, bearing the brunt of the strike, but I still fold under the force of it, and it knocks me hard into the wall before I bounce off again.  Suddenly unbalanced …

Then Shay’s there, her sword flaring spectacularly as she spins it in a blazing flourish which sheers the offending appendage clean away with a hissing hot sizzle before following through with three cuts to the body which are so fast I have trouble tracking ‘em.  Certainly this thing don’t have a chance to dodge this time, and as I start to topple now it’s already coming apart as it starts to sag.  Then I’m falling and I got more immediate concerns.

Growing acutely aware that, comparatively light as it is, the shield’s definitely thrown off my balance from what I’m used to, I just throw that arm out to the side as I hurl myself forward into a hard roll, judging the coming tumble well as I can for the weight of my armour.  ‘Least I manage to hold onto my sword as I just barely make it without throwing myself onto my face on the recovery, but I’m still clumsy regaining my feet.  In the end I just chuck myself at the wall again, this time intentionally bouncing off it so I can come up ready on the other side.  Just as another one comes at me with startling speed, jerky as the first and, now that I’m starting to get a read on ‘em, damn unpredictable.

When this one tries to take a swipe at me with one of its nasty feelers I don’t try to dodge this time, instead swinging my shield up in a wide, forceful arc fully intended to swat it away while I charge in to meet it.  I hear the dull, wet, heavy thwack of meat and snapping, cracking bone but the check works, and I’m already turning my shoulder into its centre of mass, gritting my teeth as I hold my breath, trying hard not to breathe when I’m this close to the fucking thing.  It's like barging into a chunk of solid oak, it’s got no right to be this bloody solid, but it ain’t rooted like a tree, so I still manage to knock it off balance.  So I plant my feet and this time when I cut up my attack works without a hitch.

Thorin, it’s a beautiful stroke, actually.  I don’t just shear clean through its main trunk in a near perfect forty-five degree angle, but I sever three more o’ those nasty dishevelled limbs in the process, all the pieces tumbling aside around me as I manage to step right through it without quite meaning too.  Already planting my feet now as I see more of ‘em coming up fast beyond.

“Are they clear?”  I call out without turning, reluctant to take my eyes off the threats as they present themselves.  “Tell me they’re clear!”

“They’re gone!”  Shay’s already coming in close on my left, bent low at the ready as she takes up a wary stance with her sword cocked high in both hands.  “It’s just us!  What do you want to do?”

Chancing the quickest sidelong glance at her, I shift my footing and adjust my grip on Hefdred, moving my shield now to cover me again as I prepare for the next attack.  “Just hold the line.  We can’t break yet, we gotta stand.  You good?”

“Good enough.”  she breathes, tightening up just a little more.  “You?”

I almost grin at that.  Honestly, now the fight’s on I almost feel good again.  “Oh yeah.  Don’t mind me.”

TO BE CONTINUED ...

#never split the party #the creeping bam #the adventures of the creeping bam #book 4 chapter 4 #original fiction #fantasy fiction #original fantasy fiction #to be continued

[dailyaudiobiblechronological]

3/23/2023 DAB Chronological Transcription

Joshua 1 - 4

Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible Chronological, I'm China. Today is the 23rd day of March, welcome. I am excited about today. Today we start a new book, and I bet you can't even guess what it is. We are starting in the book of Joshua, chapters one through four, and we continue on in the New English Translation for this week.

Commentary

So again, we hear this phrase, be strong and brave. And the Lord repeats it so, like, two or three times in this first little section of him commissioning Joshua. And so this is a big deal. I'm thinking about it. I'm thinking about what the word strong means. I'm thinking about what it means to be brave. And, I mean, this is my daughter's middle name, so this word really means it's spoken to me my whole life. Essentially, brave means to be afraid and still doing it or to have some fear in you and to still go forth. And so the Lord is telling him, listen, you can be strong and be brave. And he told Moses, don't be afraid. Be strong, be courageous. And now he tells Joshua, be strong. And like, he tells him, like, I repeat, be strong and brave. Don't be afraid and don't panic, for I the Lord your God, and with you and all you do. Like, honestly, this I feel like I could have read this one chapter and could have, like, paused and been like, okay, that's it for today, because this is really profound and it feels so simple. But really, this is it is just so good for the Lord our Father, to be speaking this over us, to be strong, to be brave. Don't be afraid, don't panic. Whatever is going on in your life right now, I could come up with some examples, but really, the Lord knows, holy Spirit knows. You know, right now it's already coming to mind. And the Lord is, I believe, like this. We can apply these things to our own life what he is saying. Don't be afraid and don't panic, for I the Lord your God, am with you in all you do. Something my therapist had said to me, one of the last sessions that I had with her was we were talking about just, like, different emotions, and she was like, that one sounds like dread. And I was like, yeah, I don't really fully understand dread. I don't really know the definition. Don't understand it, don't know how to put that to a this is the definition, sure, but what's like, the feeling behind it? And she said that oftentimes we dread things because we think we're doing them alone. And that really spoke to me because I was like, oof, this is challenging in my beliefs because, yeah, I'm dreading because I think that I'm doing this alone. And so for me to read the scripture again, that the Lord says, I'm with you in all that you do, that's so comforting when you hear that? It's kind of this peace that rests over you. And you're like, Man, I'm really not afraid because the Lord is with me in all that I do. So I'm going to use this with wisdom. I'm not just going to be like, great, I'm taking all the land, or let's go back to Egypt. The Lord's with us. He has wisdom in this and he's been commissioned. And these things that the last few things that were told to Moses is being told to Joshua. And I don't think there's a coincidence there. And I think the Lord really wanted to instill in Joshua this new leader of these people, listen, don't be persuaded by the things of man and what's going on in front of you. I'm with you. I have you. I have it all under control. You don't have to. And what delight, what peace comes from that. So there's other things that we could talk about in today's message, but that really just stood out so deeply to me. And so I just feel like that can apply to us, even all these years later, through whatever it is that you are going through, whatever it is that you're walking facing, whatever the word you want to put in there, you're not alone. The Lord is telling us that to be strong, to be brave, don't be afraid and don't panic. I'm with you.

Prayer

And so, Lord, I thank you. That that's the truth. I thank you that you are with us, and I thank you that we don't have to do anything in our own strength and on our own, because we know that we can't. And so I am just so grateful for Your Word that encourages us to reposition our heart and to steward Your Word in our hearts well. And so, God, I pray that we'd be people who understand that Your Word was true way back then, and it is for us today still. And so I pray, God, that we would be a people of strength and of boldness and of courage. And Lord, even if we fully have no fear, great. But if there's still some fear in us, Lord, I pray that we would be a people who choose to place our hope, our trust, and even a holy fear in you. And so I just thank You, Lord, that you care for us and that we have Your Word to guide us and direct us and to steward us well. And thank you for Joshua, who was bold and courageous. And Lord, I just thank you again for Your people, and I pray that Your Word would fall in good soil. And it's in Your name we pray, amen.

Announcements

Dailyaudiobible.com is our website. That's the place of connection. You can check it, check out what is happening there. I will say keep your eyes peeled. There are some new things coming that's that too much. If you have any prayer requests or things that you are wanting prayer for. You can call in 800-583-2164 if you have the app and that's where you listen. You can also send your prayer request in through there and they get sent in and played at the end of every day's podcast. That is all for today. I'm China. I love you know the waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer Line

Hi DAB family. This is Caitlin from British Columbia. I am a longtime listener of all of you, but this is my first time calling in. I have a request for prayers for my mom. We've been having a really hard relationship. She's very controlling and she's having a hard time now that I'm learning to set healthy boundaries and being able to talk about them is a really hard thing. So prayers that she would look for healing would be able to communicate with me about our relationship and above all, that she would find Jesus and find love from our Lord to help her with healing. Thank you so much, family, bye.

Hi. This is Cynthia from Texas. I'm calling to pray for two people. First of all, I want to pray for Chastity who lost her job and her son was in the hospital. Lord, I just lift her up and I pray for Your provision for her, Lord God. I pray that you would provide for her and for her family according to your riches and glory. You are our provider, Lord God, and I just pray that you would give her everything she needs, that you would provide for the medical bills and that you would give her a job. And I just pray that you would encourage her heart, Lord God, and she'd know that you are with her and that you will carry her through this time. Lord God, I also wanted to pray for the brother I don't remember your name who is struggling with the pornography addiction. Lord, I lift this brother up to you. I pray for freedom, freedom for him from just the lies that the enemy says when we mess up and the enemy points his finger at us and says that we're bad. And I just declare that he is your son. You love him. You love him so much and even when he falls that you love him. And I pray, Lord, your word says that it is your kindness that leads us to repentance. And I just pray that he would know your deep love for him and Your kindness. And I pray that you would surround him with men of God who would encourage him and strengthen him and help him through this.

Hi, this is Purehardt from Tennessee and I was calling to join with Cat from Idaho and God Sunshine as they pray for their relatives that are both 92, Floyd and Lloyd. I wanted to include my aunt, Aunt Noni along with that as well. She'll be 91 March the 20th and she still hadn't received Jesus as Savior and I'm believing that the seeds that we've sown into their lives would be going into good ground. And as we join with our DABC family, praying for them, that the Holy Spirit will just cultivate those prayers and those seeds and water them, and they'll come good fruit from that. Father God, I just thank you right now for your grace and mercy and love and kindness that you've shown them. Father God, you're not like us. We give up easily, but you continue to pursue us and pursue us, Father God, and I just thank you for your grace that You've shown towards each of them. And Father God, I just believe right now that their stony hearts will be made into hearts of flesh, that they'll receive you as Lord and Savior and renounce every evil thought, every sin that is holding them captive, and they would just relinquish their lives to you in the mighty name of Jesus, we thank you, Lord.

Hi my DABC family. This is his light from Tennessee. I am calling in because I just heard Zach from California talking about how he fell off the wagon and he broke promises to the Lord and he's feeling shame and all of those things that I know God doesn't want you to feel. He doesn't want you to go through. He doesn't want you to go through that. Zach, he knows your heart is to do the right thing. He knows you don't want to do it, obviously, because otherwise you wouldn't be making those promises. But Lord God, I pray for Zach right now. Father God, I know that you say there is now, therefore, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Father God, please help Zach to change his promises and to ask you for help to give him the strength that he needs in you, to help him to stay away from those the desires, to look at things in. A lustful way. Father god. And I pray for other people that are feeling this condemnation when they make promises to you, God, that they know they are just not strong enough to make those promises and to keep them. Father God that I pray that they would change their prayers to you and ask for help. Because we are just dust. We are flesh and there's no good thing in us. I guess right now, Father God the only that is good in us is your Holy Spirit, Father God. And we pray that your Holy Spirit would help guide us in the right direction and make the right choices. Father God, I thank you in Jesus name.

[highjust]

Younghollywood poducer

#YOUNGHOLLYWOOD PODUCER MOVIE#

WHO is Young Hollywood? Not to play that “I don’t know her” game, but I don’t know who this is, and I know a lot about pop culture. It's sad that people actually think like this. In this clip, Dominican singer Amara La Negra face intense colorism and racism from producer Young Hollywood. Nina Gregory edited this story for broadcast.I’m not a watcher of any of the Love and Hip Hop franchise, but I had to take a moment out of my day to write about the controversy that flared up during the first episode of Love and Hip Hop Miami. Until then, you can watch Marsai Martin playing the boss in Little - which opens on Friday. When asked where he sees her in a decade, he laughs: "as my boss." Kenya Barris definitely has not underestimated Marsai Martin. "Like, a lot of people kind of underestimate me because I am a kid," she says. Marsai points out that anyone coming off 18 interviews would be tired. Like, 'Are you good? Are you good?' OK, she's done 18 interviews in a row, you know." "So we are all kind of checking in on each other. "The billboards are now on the sides of buildings, and it's amplified in a way that is new for all of us," she says. Marsai's mom Carol Martin says the family can already feel the difference between their daughter being on a sitcom vs. It's a tough, tough industry and I would encourage her to take heart and find solace and community - in solidarity with other women of color." "I mean, we know that it can be difficult to maintain a certain high-profile standing and standard within the industry, and that opportunities don't come along as often, as readily, as easily for women of color. "Because I'm concerned about what is going to happen after this film has been released and what comes next," Mask says. Specifically Ava DuVernay, Kasi Lemmons (director of Eve's Bayou) and Dee Rees, whose screenplay for Mudbound was nominated for an Oscar. Mask hopes Marsai looks to other women of color creators for mentorship and inspiration. "I do think it's a way to sell the film," Mask says. She's a film professor at Vassar College who studies African-American cinema. Universal Pictures president Peter Cramer said he looks forward to moviegoers seeing Marsai in Little and "watching her evolve as a filmmaker." "Basically, all the ideas you come up with, or anything that you have in mind for TV, film, any of that - in my case, you talk to Universal about it, and it goes to them first," she says. In February, Universal signed what's called a "first-look" production deal with Genius Productions - the company Marsai runs with her parents.

#YOUNGHOLLYWOOD PODUCER MOVIE#

"'Well, remember that movie Big? I want to do a movie called Little.' And I was like, 'I'm going to stop you right there.' Nothing more needed to be said."īarris is one of the producers on Little, which is being distributed by Universal Pictures. "She said, 'Well a lot of people tell me I kind of remind them of Gabrielle Union or of Taraji P. She ran the idea by her boss, Kenya Barris. Her parents kept that promise, and submitted the photos to four. The photographer was so impressed with the way she took direction that he offered a bigger discount - if her dad promised to show the photos to a few talent agencies. Marsai was 5 at the time, and they signed her up to get her portrait taken. Martin says the family was minding its business at a mall near their home in Texas when a woman handed them a coupon for glamour shots. "We stumbled upon this by accident," says her father, Joshua Martin. She's now 14 years old - "almost 15," she says. In fact, she's been acting for almost a decade. Marsai may be new to the big screen, but she needs no introduction to fans of the ABC sitcom Black-ish, in which she's starred since 2014. In the end credits, the movie screen reads: "Introducing Marsai Martin." Little is a comedy where a big and powerful tech executive wakes up as a little kid. The youngest executive producer working in Hollywood makes her big-screen debut this weekend. Marsai Martin stars as little Jordan Sanders in Little, a wrong-body comedy inspired by the 1988 Tom Hanks film Big.

#Younghollywood poducer