#i know this is the lack of consistent sleep talking and the season change but oof | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

elysiashelby · 2 years

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In Another World - T.Shelby Imagine Ch. 31

Paring: Thomas Shelby x Aliena Welsh (OC)

Fandom: Peaky Blinders

Word Count: 21,521

WARNINGS: Cursing, Fluff, POV! Shifts, TIME SKIPS!!, SMUT! (NSFW): oral sex (female receiving), fingering, penetrative sex, unprotected sex, A LOT of hinted at sex

Summary: Aliena and Tommy have fallen into domestic bliss. Experience that with them and all it’s challenges.

MASTERLIST CHAPTER 30 CHAPTER 32

A/N: This chapter also took a lot longer than I thought it was going to take. Sorry about that. Anyhow, I just kept falling in and out of love with Tommy and made it harder to write. Plus, life. But I’ll try to be more consistent in the future.... Sadly, I won’t make any promises.

This chapter is another filler, ig? Season two won’t appear till about chapter 34... HOPE YOU ENJOY!!

A LOT OF POV! CHANGES SO PLEASE REFER TO THE LINE BREAK GUIDELINE IN THE MASTER IF CONFUSED!!

It’s been three months since Percy’s birth, and the majority of it has been great. You know, your child lucks out when they get two insomniacs as parents. So, the lack of sleep was bearable, but it was the crying that got to me. Tom was always a pillar of strength, but I had to learn not to cry when Percy was crying. It was somewhat embarrassing, but I was aware of the possibility.

There was a short time when he was two months old that I thought he had colic, but I think he was just feeling my stress. I have no clue! We asked the doctor, and he said it could be several things, but that Percy was healthy and did not have an illness. I’m guessing that colic was discovered in a different decade ‘cause he had no idea what I was talking about when I brought it up. It was frustrating. Plus, I had only heard of the “illness” and knew nothing other than it made babies cry uncontrollably.

Ah! I used all the tips I learned from the internet. I wrapped him in a towel and gave him a water bath. I held him in certain positions that mimicked him still being in the womb. I focused on meditating as much as possible, even though I despise the practice. After two weeks, Percy calmed down, and it was smooth sailing after that.

It was like all that crying regulated his little body or something ‘cause he’s been sleeping through the night since those past two weeks! Another thing is that despite us having a nursery, we hardly use it. Percy only sleeps in his crib for his naps; otherwise, he sleeps with Tommy and me. If I have to step out of the room, there’s usually a maid nearby to help me look after him. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve had to leave Percy in his crib while I had to do something while he was awake.

Sleeping through the night was a significant milestone for Tommy and me seeing as we’ve yet to have sex since five months ago. It was around the time the doctor put me on complete bed rest, and even though we were given the okay to have sex again— we just haven’t. So many things got in the way, sadly, including our child. Not that we were celibate either. A lot of oral sex. It was nice, and I never thought that there’d be a day where I’d rather be fucked, but here we are! I guess I just miss it, if I’m honest.

But then there was the fact that I haven’t been feeling great about my body since Percy’s birth. It was challenging juggling exercise and taking care of a baby, and I was managing, but not as well as I’d like. It’s easier to put off exercising to spend more time with my baby, and it’s obvious that I’d rather drop some freaking push-ups for an hour over staring at my son as he sleeps. I know that my body just needs time, but I wanted the time to be now. Not even for Tommy, but myself. It took so much hard work to achieve my ideal body, and I just really want it back.

My sex drive disappeared after Percy was born, and during the weeks, I was healing, but since then, it’s returned two-fold. Worth noting that Tom couldn’t keep his hands to himself during that time. Not even in a sexual way either, it was there— of course, but there were usually softer touches. I smacked his hands away from my breasts and hips more times than I cared to admit. I never thought that would be a problem either.

Tommy hasn’t helped my increased urges in the slightest. I don’t know if he realized it or not, but he hasn’t had a haircut in a while, and I swear I’m in heaven. Not that I hate his usual style, but there was something about the way he looks with his sides grown out a bit and the top being floppy! If I had to pick an era, Tommy looks like the Shivering Soldier from Dunkirk or William Killick from The Edge of Love. Sometimes I wonder if he feels my staring— if he’s seen the moments where I clench my thighs together or bite my bottom lip.

If you’ve ever seen Thomas Shelby playing with a baby, you too may just develop a breeding kink. You’ll be entitled to financial compensation for any emotional distress.

Hell, Percy doesn’t have a lick of me in ‘em. He’s all his father! Spittin’ image he is. Tommy loves to beg to differ, but the man is blind, so I don’t take his words to heart. I know when a child looks more like the father than the mother! I thought that perhaps Percy had gotten his hair from me, but now with Tom’s hair growing out— I figure I might not even have that.

I swear if this kid gets his attitude from me, then God help us!

I was sitting down on the sofa, staring down at those precious blue eyes of my Percy’s. He was having his dinner: milk. With a single finger, I began stroking the side of his face. Percy’s eyes found mine, and he smiled, then giggled.

“Are you happy? Huh?” I asked softly. “Filling your tummy up.”

Percy gave me another smile, cooed a little, and then began sucking again.

“Daddy is coming home soon, and then you’ll be stolen from me. But that’s alright, innit, ‘cause we’ll get to see that smile of his. No matter how big or small.”

Percy smiled at me again before he moved his face away from my breast, began moving around in my arms, and reaching from me while babbling away.

“What?” I asked excitedly while holding his tiny hand in mine. “What is it, Percy? Do you want to touch Mama’s face?” I giggled, which he mimicked. I leaned down ‘n began placing a bunch of kisses upon his closed fist. His giggles grew louder. As much as this was great fun, I knew he had to be burped sooner rather than later. “Okay, love. Up we get!” I rearranged Percy to face my shoulder where the towel I had there lay. Just in case Percy threw up.

I expected my son to claim his first victim among the Shelby clan, but they were all experienced with babies. All except Michael. John deliberately set up the poor lad; gave ‘em Percy after the bastard spent his time throwing him up in the air. Quite the sight.

I patted his back till I heard that belch. Stank like hell but always put a smile on my face. When Percy was done, he immediately tried getting away from me— throwing himself back while trying to push me away. He’d just started picking things up, getting a hold of things with an iron grip, building up the strength in his arms.

I chuckled as I held him in my arms. The little tyke was still throwing his weight back. “Alright, alright! Hold on a sec’!” I rose to my feet, hauling him up in my arms as I walked over to the blanket I had laid out from him to roam about in. I set him down gently, threw the towel on the table, covered my breast, and then gave him my full attention.

Percy started showing signs of learning how to roll from his back to his belly, but I don’t think that was his goal right now. His arms were flailing about, as were his legs, but he wasn’t fussing. He was just babbling. I leaned over, grabbed hold of a rattle, and then shook it near him.

“How about this, honey? Do you wanna play with the rattle?” I asked as I continued to shake it near him. Percy tore it from my hand and began shaking it like crazy. I chuckled at the sight. “Hmm, someone is trying to stay up for daddy. Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing, young man!”

The rattle went in his mouth for a second, then out, and then back in. This went on for quite some time before Anne entered the room.

“Ma’am, dinner is ready. Shall I leave it here, or are you eating in the dining room?” She asked as her eyes kept fluttering from me to Percy with a smile on her face.

“Uh, we’ll—!”

“--Aliena! I’m home, love. Where are you?” It was Tommy.

I gasped, crawled closer to Percy, and whispered. “Daddy’s home!” I turned my face away, taking Percy into my arms as I shouted. “In here, love!” I quickly rose to my feet and didn’t have to wait long as Tom’s head peeked ‘round the corner.

He smiled, holding out his arms. “There’s my little bugger!” Percy was calmly chewing on his rattle, but the excitement in Tom’s voice made him squeal.

“Oi, what about me?” I jokingly asked.

Tommy took his son from my arms ‘n replied. “Oh, hi, love.”

I tsked and smacked the side of his arm. He ignored me and gave his full attention to our baby.

“How were you, eh? Did you have a bunch of fun with Mummy?” Tommy bounced Percy in his arms before walking over to the sofa and sitting down. Percy released his rattle to take his father’s face in his hands as he spoke unintelligible words. “Yeah! Really? My goodness, it sounds like you had a busy day. Not as busy as Papa’s, though.”

Anne cleared her throat, saying, “Shall I prepare a plate for you as well, Mr. Shelby?”

Tom told her yes while he extended his arms, holding Percy in the air without looking back. Percy squealed happily with his little fist in his mouth.

I glanced at Anne and said. “We’ll be eating in the dining room, Anne. Thank you.” She nodded then left the room. “He already ate,” I said. “Just a little while ago, so be careful with him. So, how was your day?”

Tom was so wrapped up in playing with Percy that he almost ignored me. He thrust him up into the air then swooped him down for kisses. Tom only stopped to answer me. “It was good. As good as it could be.”

“Nothing else happened? Like I don’t know, um, I don’t know. Maybe someone fucked up the books again?”

Tommy shook his head. “Nah. It was just paperwork and deadlines.”

I hummed. “Well, come on then. We need to eat.” I waited as Tommy rose to his feet with our son in his arms. I locked arms with him, and we walked together to the dining room. Once we entered the room, a maid and a butler came rushing out with our meals in their hands. As we neared the chairs, they set down our food then pulled out our chairs.

The maid stood aside while the man stayed. I sat to the right of Tom, who sat at the head of the table as he still held Percy. The butler came ‘round and pushed my seat in for me. The poor man could only jerk toward Tom’s direction before my fiancé held up his hand and scooted his seat forward.

Tom cleared his throat before asking, “Now, in all seriousness, how was your day, love?”

I held a hand over my mouth as I hurried to chew my food. Once I was done, I replied. “Oh, it was a lazy day today. We spent most of our time upstairs, playing, talking, and taking naps. Speaking of, he, obviously, didn’t go right to sleep after he ate, so he’ll probably be sleeping through the night again if we’re lucky.”

“Did he give you any trouble? Throw any fits?”

I shook my head. “No, he hasn’t thrown a proper fit since last month. No bad moments today.” My eyes fell upon my baby, who was gumming his papa’s tie. I reached over and tickled his chin. “This little one has been giggling all day!”

Percy squirmed away from my touch with a big smile on his face.

Tom hugged Percy tighter as he hummed. “Growin’ up to be just like his Mummy, then? That’s good to hear. You had a good day with mummy, Percy, huh?” Tom leaned down and kissed the top of his head.

Tommy leaned forward and shoveled some food in his mouth, but proved to be a challenge as our son attempted to steal his fork from him. As we ate, Percy continuously tried to steal his father’s fork away from him to the point where he began letting out little whimpers.

“Tommy,” I began.

He peered up at me, saying, “I know.” He looked back down at Percy. “Percy, behave. Daddy’s trying to eat.”

We both knew that the babe wouldn’t understand exactly, but perhaps he would. Our hopes were swiftly crushed as our son continued to make grabby hands for the fork, and his whines bumped up an octave. Tommy and I shared a sigh. I glanced behind me, and as expected, Anne was standing near the threshold of the room.

I beckoned her over, asking, “Anne, can you take Percy upstairs for his nap?”

Anne hastily walked over to Tommy, who didn’t hesitate to hand over our son. “Of course, Madam.”

Tom cleared his throat. “Bathe the boy before you lay him to rest. Thank you, Anne.”

Anne nodded with a smile on her face. “Of course, Mr. Shelby.”

I ignored the soft whimpers from my baby, stuffing my face with food. There was an ache in my heart and a pit in my stomach whenever he was sad. I just needed to learn that some actions called for the proper consequences and that coddling him too much would do him no good.

Just like it had been done with me.

Besides, Percy was probably beginning to grow fussy from the nap he never took. That’s how it usually is with babies. I took a deep breath and soothed the worries in my mind. I glanced over at Tom and smiled.

I cleared my throat. “So, I was thinking with Percy born ‘n all, we should begin talking abar the weddin’?”

Tommy had this pensive look on his face before saying, “Right, I forgot all about that.”

I tutted, leaned toward him, and tried to smack him. Tommy didn’t flinch away, and my hand didn’t connect with his arm either. He just sported a smirk as he took another bite of scran.

“Right then, first things first. We need to ‘ave an engagement party.” He said before taking a sip of whiskey.

I nodded. “I was thinking we have it when Percy’s six months.”

“Six months?”

“Yes.”

“All right, I see no problem with that.”

“Why, thank you for seeing the logic in it.” I teased before taking a rather large gulp of my water. “Plus, it gives us ample time to prepare for the occasion.”

Tommy hummed in agreement. “We’ll announce it at the next family meeting. We have one coming up next week. We’ll do it then, and I’ll leave the party planning to you.”

My eyebrows raised in surprise, and I felt a wave of anxiety wash over me. “Me? Leave it to me?”

Tommy nodded with his face expressionless. “Yes. You are capable of planning a party, correct?”

The way he said it was like a taunt— a challenge.

I straightened my back and hardened my expression. “Of course.” ‘I’ve killed close to a hundred men in my life! I can handle planning a goddamn party!’

“Then, there’s nothing to be worried about.”

“Right.”

I squinted at him before picking my glass up and taking another sip of water. “I was thinking that we have the wedding next year instead of anytime soon. I don’t want to rush things, and well, how do you feel about it?”

Tommy nodded. “I agree. We can have the wedding next year but at the beginning of the year. Around January or February, but no later than March. Agreed?”

I snickered at how we handled this, and then the snickering turned into cackling. “Why are we talking like we’re doin’ a deal, Tommy?”

Tommy’s lips twitched upward before replying in a playful tone. “I was following your lead.”

I sighed. “¡Ay, Dios mío! ¡Chingados!” I took another deep breath before continuing, “Agreed. Probably in February, my love. I wouldn’t want to hold too many celebrations in January, and I want Percy to have his birthday month all to himself.”

“Ali, your birthday is just four days later.”

I cocked my head to the side as the information hit me like a bag of bricks. “Oh, shit! You’re right.” I giggled a little as I shook my head. “We could combine the birthdays then.”

“He’s not gonna like that when he’s older.”

I shrugged and pouted. “Time will tell. Besides, by the time he begins to even think like that, I’ll probably be too old to celebrate my birthday anymore anyhow.”

Tom huffed and smiled. “I’ll always want to celebrate the day you were born.” I smiled then reached for his hand. He took it in his and brought my hand to his lips for a kiss.

Afterward, Tom and I finished the rest of our meals briefly talkin’ about how we would tell the family and what my vision for the engagement party looked like. Then, we went upstairs only to find that Percy had fallen asleep after his bath as planned. Our baby had fallen asleep in his crib. Tommy ‘n I decided to leave him there for the rest of the night in fear of waking him up.

We continued to whisper, and we even took a shower together, but there were nothing but sweet touches— kisses on the neck and gentle caresses. I can’t describe the disappointment I felt when we simply went to bed without anything else happening.

Tom woke up just as dawn crept up. He had work today as it was a weekday, but he sensed it was nowhere near the appropriate time he should be awake. Carefully, Tom swiped his watch off the bedside nightstand and read the time. It was barely five in the morning, meaning he had an extra hour before he actually needed to be up.

‘There was no going back to sleep now,’ He thought pitifully. Tom placed his watch back onto the nightstand and then drew his attention to his side. Aliena clung to his side with a hand on his chest while the other was tucked under his arm. He raised his available hand and lovingly stroked her cheek.

This woman filled his mind 24/7, consciously and subconsciously. Tom wondered and worried if Aliena would ever understand the depth of his devotion toward her now that he had her. He didn’t care if no one else ever saw it— he just wanted her to know.

Tommy leaned down and placed a small kiss upon her lips. He continued to peck his fiancée till she stirred.

“Tommy?” She muttered questionably.

He gave her no answer and continued to kiss her with a bit more passion behind it now. The hand on his chest flew to his cheek as she propped herself up to meet his kisses.

Their kisses grew with passion, their breaths fell heavier, and their hearts were in their ears. Tom tore himself away from her lips and nestled his head along the crook of her neck, where he feverishly began laying his kisses there. Aliena let out a breathy moan as she ran her fingers through her lover’s hair, bringing him closer to her neck.

Tom didn’t cease his assault on her neck till every inch of skin was practically covered in his love bites. Ali was putty in his hands with her pussy throbbing for attention— almost on the verge of climax. He slipped the straps of her nightgown down her arms while kissing the top of her cleavage. Once Tommy uncovered her breasts entirely, he immediately went to wrap his lips around her nipple but was stopped.

Through heavy whispers, Aliena said, “Tommy, you can’t! Percy will need to eat soon.”

Tommy chuckled with a rasp that went straight to Aliena’s pussy. “He probably won’t be up for another hour, love.” He gave her left tit a teasing suck, breast milk filling his mouth slightly. “That means these,” he gave each breast a squeeze which caused milk to drip from each one. “Are mine for now.” Though he talked a big game, Tom stayed at her breasts for only a few minutes longer before trailing further down.

Aliena was utterly restless. She had been waiting for this moment for so long but was worried that their time together would be cut short. Tommy bunched up her dress so that it rested under her breasts— giving him full access to everything below.

“Tommy, please…” She rasped while throwing an arm over her eyes while her other hand found its place in Tom’s hair.

Tom chuckled breathily, “Patience, love.” He placed open-mouthed kisses down from her stomach to the top of her covered pussy. Tom pulled the garment down at a teasingly slow pace that had Aliena near tears.

She was a hair away from throwing a fucking tantrum, but somehow— she still had her pride.

Instead, the lass took a deep breath and calmed herself down. Tommy, who was beneath the sheets, kissed her labia many times before even daring to use his tongue against her. The bastard was truly going at his own pace, determined to kill his wife.

At the snail’s pace, Tom was going; it would take Ali, perhaps, thirty or twenty minutes to finish. That would leave enough window time for their early sleeper to awaken at any given time— during or afterward.

“Tommy, please. I want you to fuck me already.”

“All in good time,” he said before throwing her thighs further apart and began to ravish his lover as she liked.

The change in tempo forced Aliena to bite down on her arm as she attempted to stifle her squeal. This man knew how to drive her absolutely mad! The woman was a gasping, panting mess.

Tom was in utter heaven. He could eat her for hours on end— had done it before ‘n God, did he miss it. Some minutes later, Tommy added his fingers into the mix, driving Aliena wild. Her hips bucked, and her thighs desperately tried to clamp shut. Tommy wouldn’t allow it. Lord knows how he loves Ali’s plump thighs around his ears, but no. Any other time he might’ve allowed it, but this time he was in control.

Tommy had two fingers thrusting into his lover’s tight pussy while he suckled on her clit before he felt her shake.

“Oh, Tommy! Tommy, I’m coming!” She exclaimed softly, an arm still shielding her face while the other fisted the sheets. Tommy didn’t make an effort to respond as he was dead set on making her come. Within seconds, he got his wish, but he didn’t let up.

Aliena whimpered from the oversensitivity. “No… Tommy, no…” She begged against her better nature. She felt her sensibility slip from her with each stroke of his tongue. Falling deeper into her haze of lust.

Tommy’s cock was painfully hard— he had half a mind just to begin rutting against the mattress. But this wasn’t about his pleasure; the man didn’t want it to be about him. So, when he parted from this sweet cunt of his, it was but for a moment as he flung the covers off of his body.

Tom yanked Aliena further down the sheets causing her to let out a series of giggles. He groaned loudly as he returned to his ministrations. Aliena threw her head back, biting her bottom lip while both hands found a home in her lover’s hair.

Ali threw herself into the chase; the original goal was lingering in the back of her mind but coming again definitely topped the list. Tom’s grip on Ali’s hips was bruising, his pace was rapid, and he had no intention of stopping anytime soon.

“Oh, Tom! Fuck!” Aliena gasped as she arched her back. “I’m so close… Don’t stop!”

However, the room came to a standstill as a shrill cry came from the nursery.

Though deep down Aliena wanted to whimper and cry, she was already gathering herself together.

Tommy lifted his head and cursed. “Fuck! Aliena, love, wait! Let him cry a little. He’ll be alright.”

Already propped up on her elbows, Ali switched her gaze between her lover and the door to her son’s nursery. Her lustfulness was begging her to listen to Tommy, but the cries of her son weighed on her conscious. She shook her head. “N-No, I can’t. I’m so sorry, Tommy.” For reasons she can’t explain, tears sprang to her eyes as she scurried away from Tom.

Tom released his grip in defeat ‘n watched as his girl scrambled back up the bed, pulled the straps of her nightie up, and then climbed off the bed toward their son’s nursery. He got up to his knees, then sat on his legs, fists curled up on thighs. The man threw his head back as he heaved a large breath and closed his eyes.

He was so fucking close.

The tension in his jaw mattered not— the fact that Ali was now saddened did. Tom took one more deep breath before he sat up properly on the side of the bed. Checking the watch on his nightstand, he read the time, “6:34.”

That son of his was getting too good at tellin’ time, he didn’t make his wife come a second time, and now he was running late for work.

Today was not going to be a good day.

No way was that going to be the end of it. No fucking way! Tommy took a shower and got ready while I was still breastfeeding Percy. I think he was even running late ‘cause he zipped out of the house like a bat out of hell. I’ll give him that, but no way was I going to let that be the end of it!

I’m not even chasing my own high! I want his! I’m having sex with my fiancé today if it’s the last thing I fucking do! I’m a woman on a mission, and nothing is getting in my way today.

So I didn’t waste time as I made my arrangements. Tommy made it easy for me by never taking lunch, so I’ll use that as my excuse. I couldn’t decide whether I wanted to leave Percy with Cassie or Polly, but the thought of facing Pol’ with shagging her nephew in mind was too much a burden to bear. I rang up Cass ‘n asked if she could take care of her godson for a couple of hours. I was grateful that the nosy Nancy, for once, wasn’t prying.

She seemed genuinely ecstatic at the thought of seeing Percy. I wouldn’t have been surprised if she called Dougie to join her. Cassie and the lot of them haven’t been ‘round the house much, but that’s mainly my doing. My baby is barely three, four months! Usually, I wouldn’t even dare take him outside ‘de ‘ouse till he was six months old, but these were different times.

I couldn’t even do that if I tried; after all, I wasn’t raising him by myself. My mother would’ve had an absolute fit if she found out I took Percy out without all his shots. Though, to be fair, I don’t even think they have all the baby vaccines yet anyhow. Which is still worrying, but I know that none of the people around me will catch an illness anytime soon.

Well, excluding my friends…

I should probably be more cautious about that in the future.

In fucking conclusion, after feeding Percy, I ate breakfast then we both took a bath. I made it fun ‘n my baby boy was full of smiles the whole time. Even made a show of picking out my scandalous outfit that I was going to use to seduce his father, kinda like that scene in Look Who’s Talking.

However, he wasn’t old enough to sit on his own and join me by my vanity. That’s when Anne came in, and I enlisted her help watching him as I did my hair and makeup. Truthfully, the dress I was in was more appropriate for the summer as a nightgown, but I’m wearing it in the spring.

Do I care? No, I’m on a mission. I feel sexy in said dress, and I’m looking for something that I can easily slip on and off. It’s beige and best resembles a curtain, if I’m honest. It’s tough to describe, but it was a lace boho sundress. Spaghetti straps, by the way— not long-sleeved or anything else. I used foundation and concealer as my base. Added some mascara ‘n foxy eyeliner, added in some light brown almost nude eyeshadow, and a pink lip. Not obnoxiously pink, but not precisely nude either.

I left my hair to curl up on its own, only fixing up a few stubborn hairs. It was around eight in the morning by the time I was done. I retrieved my beige fur collar coat from the rack slipped on some black high heels. I have no idea what they were called. The salesperson surely told me, but one ear out the other with me.

Percy and I spent time together downstairs after I sent Anne on the hunt for a basket to put the food in. I had the good sense to tell the cook what I wanted made beforehand; otherwise, I would’ve been late leaving.

Lunchtime at Shelby Company Ltd. was at 1:30 for all office employees, and that’s the time I intended on arriving, which is why I had to leave at the latest nine! It was a two-hour drive to London from Warwickshire and another two hours to Birmingham. If all goes according to plan, I will arrive in the city around 12 or 1.

I should mention that I eventually managed to get my car onto our estate. I asked Cassie and Dom to make it a big thing ‘n act like I was being gifted the vehicle for the first time. Tommy wasn’t exactly happy about the extravagant gift, and I’m confident that when they switch up the company cars— I’m getting a switch as well.

However, I wasn’t driving today. I had other duties to conclude during the ride to London. You see, breast pumps weren’t really a thing in 1923. Formula is, for sure, a thing, but I didn’t want my Percy to be drinking that stuff. So, I needed someone else driving while I got creative in the back seat. Do you want to know what also isn’t invented yet? Baby car seats and seat belts are nowhere near being developed in the 1920s.

Yes, you guessed it. Anne was joining me on this journey. The driver (a Peaky Blinder) was in the front— driving. Eyes on the road! While Anne and I were in the back, Anne took care of Percy. My baby boy looked positively a-fucking-dorable! My little man looks like a sailor with a cap ‘n all. I was beside them with my coat open…and my tits out as I coaxed my milk out into bottles. I planned to fill four to six bottles, depending on how much I could get out.

I had never done this before, but I figured it would be the same method back home. Ya know, keep it chilled or at least refrigerated ‘n all will be well! Which is why I had a basket filled with ice packs to cool the milk. It’s not a particularly hot day here in England, but I wasn’t taking any chances in anything concerning my child.

Well, I am doing a lot just to get my own fiancé to make love to me. Quite embarrassing and telling about the things I do to satiate my sexual urges. Hmm, burying my head in a hole right now sounds nice!

Anyhow, you’re all caught up! Welcome to the present!

When I noticed we were nearing the Ritz, I quickly redressed myself and ensured everything was there for Percy. It didn’t matter that Anne and I had already checked thrice beforehand— I had to do it once more.

I managed to fill six bottles. It was hard work ‘n my tits hurt like hell, but my child would be fed. I pray Tommy will let them rest, but I could deal with the pain should he decide to pay special attention to them.

With a heavy sigh, I sat up straight after closing up the basket and faced Anne. “Alrighty, then. Give ‘em here, Anne.” I waved both arms then smoothed my hands around his tiny body. She passed my baby over to me. “Thank you,” I muttered. I shimmed back against the seats and ran a finger down the side of Percy’s face. “‘Ello, my love. You’ve been such a good boy.”

Percy just fussed in response with an absent look on his face. I giggled, then leaned down to nuzzle my nose against his. “Mummy is gonna miss you so much!” Guilt was starting to settle in ‘n fast.

‘I mean! I could’ve waited till Tom got home, but I didn’t wanna. There was something scandalous about what I was planning that I missed. Our spark is still there, and I want to make sure it stays lit. I don’t want him to get bored with me and with him not—! For lack of better words, penetrating me! It was creating dark thoughts in me head.’

I took a deep breath, trying to calm the nerves I had built up. I looked back down at my baby and smiled. “Mummy and Daddy will be there to pick you up, and you’ll have a fun time with Auntie Cassie. I know you will!” I kissed his forehead and continued to lay kisses all around his face.

“Mrs. Shelby, we’ve arrived.”

I picked up my head, and sure enough, we were outside of the hotel. I inhaled deeply before exhaling with puffed-up cheeks. I looked at Anne and nodded. “Let’s rip the band-aid off, eh.” She nodded with a slight smile on her face as she grabbed Percy’s things.

Cassie and Dougie were on the steps waiting anxiously as if they were adoptees about to receive their child. I swallowed down my anxieties and pulled on a smiling face. I shouted, “Hello, hello!” Cassie rushed over to me with Dougie close behind.

“Oh, it’s so good to see you!” She said before kissing my cheek. I replied the same. She looked down at Percy and gasped before glancing back at Dougie. “He’s gotten bigger since the last time we’ve seen him. Oh my god!”

Dougie scoffed behind her, sporting a smirk. “Jesus, love, you saw him only a few weeks ago.”

She sucked her teeth in annoyance and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, so? Babies can grow a lot in a few weeks!”

“It’s true; they can.”

She huffed triumphantly before her sights set on me. “So, are you sure about this? Maybe you can stay awhile, you know? Get him settled in if you’d like.”

I looked down at my perfect boy and felt my drive slip. I shook my head as if someone else were controlling me. “No… It’s alright.”

Anne cleared her throat beside me. “Perhaps I can stay with the young master if you’d prefer that instead, madam?”

My eyebrows furrowed, Percy made wiggling motions in my arms. It felt like he could feel my confusion and frustration. My mouth opened, and an utterance was let out, but not a word came to mind.

She looked over at Anne, her face just as conflicted. Dougie stepped toward me with his arms stretched out. One hand cradled the back of Percy’s neck while the other cradled his body. He said while gently taking Percy into his embrace, “We’ll be glad to have the company. I’ve had older sisters but never had them into my care this early on. Met the little ones when they were older ‘cause of the war. Plus, I’m not sure Cassie’s ever had to take care of babies, either? Right, love?”

Cassie pulled her lips in and shook her head bashfully. I nodded and smiled. “Oh, then, Anne, it’d be wonderful if you could help them.” I took Cassie’s hands into mine and whispered, “There’s nothing wrong with you not knowing. If Anne weren’t there to help me 24/7, then I’d be like a headless chicken. I promise.”

Cassie nodded again, her eyes flitting toward Anne. “Thank you,” she muttered. Anne simply flashed her a grin ‘n bowed her head.

I swallowed harshly with my eyes locked on Percy. “Okay, well, I hafta get going. Anne will help youse with everythin’ so—!'' Another deep breath. “This is see youse later.” I shuffled over to Dougie and smothered my baby boy’s face with kisses. “Mummy loves you and will see you later. I love you.” I gave the rest of them a kiss goodbye, told them I loved them too, and then got back into the car.

I spent a good half of the car ride just getting myself together mentally. Anne would help Cassie and Dougie take care of Percy. Everything was going to be just fine. I know it will be. I wanted this pit in my stomach to be gone. So, I began fantasizing about Tommy. About his body, his face— anything and everything about him.

Eventually, I began to feel the shift in my body. Blood rushed to my cheeks, my thighs were clenched together, and there was a throbbing between my legs. I cleared my throat and glanced over to the front. The man kept his eyes on the road. I didn’t remember his name. I probably should, but I’m hardly ever outside, and when I am, I’m accompanied by one of Dom’s men and one Peaky Blinder.

Their names were Will and Frank, good men.

I cleared my throat. “Hey, can you tell me what time it is?”

There was a bit of shuffling around before he replied, “12:22, ma’am. We’re almost in Birmingham. I’d say about ‘alf an hour more.”

I hummed and thanked him. I went back to fantasizing about Tommy. It just helped in general. It helped ensure I was in the right mindset for the awful stunt I was about to pull.

But was it genuinely awful? I feel like it’s actually quite common. I mean, didn’t Linda do this with Arthur? Well, that bitch wanted something from ‘em, didn’t she? Linda was manipulating the poor man. I just want to have sex with mine ‘cause I desire him. I think that makes me a way better woman. Yeah, conscious soothed.

When the streets became too familiar, I gathered the basket from the car floor onto my lap then started smoothing out my hair. Soon the car was pulling into the company street; then, we were parked right outside.

“What time is it?” I asked while scooting closer to the car door.

He cleared his throat with a stifled cough. “1:40, ma’am.”

“Good!” I bit my lip in excitement. “Um, you can return to the estate. I’ll get Tom to drive me back.”

“Are you sure, ma’am? I can wait if you’d like!”

I shook my head. “I’m sure. Goodbye.” I didn’t care if he responded or not. I had already climbed out of the car. There was no one to open the door for me, not that I cared, but usually, I caught someone as they were heading out. I beelined it directly to Tommy’s office, and I gotta tell ya, it was fucking weird seeing it so barren.

But I was glad of it ‘cause it meant no one would be here for the start of the show. “Shelby Company Ltd” was plastered on the doors to Tom’s office. I sincerely hated that he chose to have glass on ‘em. Granted, it’s not see-through glass, but they’re not wooden doors either. Those who would dare sneak a peek into his office could see what the pair of us were up to.

Sure the image would be blurry, but hardly the sound!

I knocked on the door ‘n waited.

He shouted, “Come in!”

I didn’t hesitate to open a door and walk on in. I turned ‘round to check if the coast was clear one more time, then shut the door. I was locking the door when I heard from behind me, “What is it?”

I steeled my nerves then twirled ‘round to face ‘em. Tommy’s eyes instantly met mine, and it was like all my worries melted away. I dropped the basket; my heart was beating faster. I worked on untying the belt of my coat, unfastening the buttons afterward— my breathing picked up. Tom didn’t say a word. He leaned back in his chair ‘n while keeping his eyes on me; he reached for his cigarette case.

I watched as he lit it up and did a French inhale. I couldn’t help but bite my lip as I let my coat slip off my arms.

Tom held the ciggie between two fingers. His facial expression was stone-cold but oh so sexy. “Are you not wearing a bra under that?”

I huffed, then smirked. “Why don’t you come over here ‘n find out for yourself?”

Tom raised his eyebrow as he took another pull. “Our son?”

“With his godparents and Anne.”

“Clever girl. Had this planned, did you?”

I bit my lip again but quickly released it. I nodded as I whispered, “Yes.”

Tommy hummed before rising to his feet. I went to meet him halfway. He walked to the front of his desk then leaned his body against it. I didn’t stop walking till I was in front of him. I slid my arms around his waist, pressing my body against him as I maintained eye contact.

His eyes were so beautiful and clearly showed how badly I was affecting him, as was the erection poking my midsection. Tom cupped my face, and we continued to stare at each other. His pointer finger from his left hand began stroking my face. Tom raised the other to his ciggie and hissed softly as he inhaled.

“You couldn’t wait till I got home to get was denied to you, hm? Even shipped our son away so that you could come here ‘n visit me.”

Heat enveloped my face ‘n my eyes became heavier as they fluttered. I was embarrassed, yes, but it also turned me on. “I need you, Tommy. Please, I need you.” I tried pulling his mouth down on mine, but he stood firm. I huffed, prodded my cheek with my tongue, and shook my head as I scoffed.

It was cute at first, but now it was all too “asshole-ish.” I stepped away from him as I continued to shake my head. “Okay, then. See you at home.” I spun on my heels and made it about five steps away from him before I felt his tight grip on my arm. Tom yanked me back toward him, and I was left breathless as he smashed his lips on mine.

I moaned in surprise, and it didn’t matter that all I wanted to do was be putty in his hands. The fucker pissed me off. I pounded away at his arms, trying to part away from him, but God was he strong. Our teeth clashed, and our tongues fought for control.

I wasn’t allowed to part from ‘em, not for anything. Not even to breathe. Instead, we parted till Tom trailed off from my lips to my neck. I gasped for breath and let out a moan. My eyes rolled back as his tongue ran over my neck, his teeth nipped at it, and he sucked.

I let out an open-mouthed, breathy chuckle before I rasped, “I fucking hate you sometimes.” Tom groaned into my neck as his hands traveled down south. Giggles erupted as he squeezed my arse while tugging my body closer to him. When Tom squeezed once more, I realized the ciggie was still between his fingers. “Tommy,” I whispered. Our bodies shifted slightly as he turned his attention to the left side of my neck. “Your ciggie, it’s still burning.”

Muffled, he replied. “Aye, hold it for me, will you?” The bastard didn’t give me a chance as he placed the stick between my lips. I held onto it for dear life. I didn’t want it falling on ‘em!

He successfully silenced me all while continuing his assault on my neck. My panties were getting increasingly more annoying. They were soaked, and I hated feeling it against me. We stayed there, writhing against one another as he littered my neck in love bites. God and I loved every second of it.

My eyes shot open when Tom abruptly stood up straight. His crazed eyes met my hooded ones before he plucked the ciggie away from my lips and inhaled. A hand roughly nestled its way in my hair, his fingers curling around my strands. I gasped as he forced me to walk with him back toward his desk.

Tom stubbed out the ciggie then faced me. His mouth crashed on mine, and I felt the bitter smoke enter my mouth. I didn’t hesitate to inhale. We continued to kiss for so long that I had no choice but to exhale from my nose. His other hand threaded itself into my hair, and it felt so fucking good.

My hands were fisting his lapels, but I decided to start unbuckling his belt. He let me and only gave me that before roughly pulling us apart. It was such a noisy parting.

Breathily, Tom whispered. “Woman, you drive me fucking wild.”

I scoffed. “Not too bad yourself.”

He chuckled, a smile on his face as he shook his head. “I don’t think I can treat you how you deserve to be treated right now.”

My eyes fluttered at the threat, a hand raising to one of his. I clutched his wrist and smiled. “Then don’t.” His tongue prodded his cheek before a smirk etched across his face. I didn’t think I could get any wetter. Our lips crashed onto one another, but this time he was leading me somewhere. I trusted him enough to follow his lead as he led me backward.

Nothing could’ve prepared me from gasping as I was roughly spun ‘round and pinned against the wall. Tommy kicked my legs further apart, and I’m so fucking glad I chose to wear heels with some height to them. With my breasts pressed against the wall as well as my hands, I waited for Tommy to unsheathe himself.

Could hear his zipper being pulled down, and then there was pressure around my hips along with a rip. I couldn’t help but giggle.

“Jesus, woman, you’re fucking soaked. Haven’t been treatin’ you right, ‘ave I, Aliena?”

I shook my head. “No, but you can fix that right here ‘n now.” I felt so lightheaded with adrenaline. I wanted his cock so fucking badly.

“Yes, ma’am.” Then without warning, Tommy thrusted into me. I cried out in a cocktail of pleasure and pain as Tommy moaned into my ear. “Fucking heaven,” he muttered. “You’re fucking heaven. So fucking tight. God, I fucking missed this pussy.” He pulled out till only the tip was in, then slammed back into me. My eyes rolled to the back of my head, and my toes were curling in my heels.

He continued with this a couple of times, and regretfully that was all it took. My thighs, my legs— they both trembled violently as I came. Tommy was laughing behind me. “Don’t even think we’re gonna stop just ‘cause you got yours! No, we’re not stopping till I say we are.” An’ like a flip of a switch, Tommy was pounding into me with newfound fervor.

A high-pitched squeal escaped from me as pleasure tingled all over my body. I was stuck between throwing myself into mindless abandon and being conscious of the fact that we were still in his office. I whimpered and let out a strained, long breath. “Fuck me…!”

Tommy was worse than me with his heavy, strained pants, moans, ‘n whines. But being both of us being pent up for so long meant quick finishes, ‘cause after a couple of more pumps, Tommy’s hips were stuttering ‘n then warmness spread within. It didn’t end there, though. No fucking way.

Tommy pulled out of me, but only to drag me toward his chair. He hurriedly threw his belt away, and I worked on the hundreds of buttons he had on his torso. Tom brought down his pants just enough before sitting down and pulling me onto his lap. My straps, which were already falling off my shoulders, were pulled down.

My breasts were naked, and my dress was hiked up. Both of us hurried to slip his cock inside me again, and we simultaneously moaned once he was. I kept the tempo slow, not wanting to rush into it. I would’ve, honestly, but the times I had— Tommy would be quick to stop me. So, I’ve learned to ease into it.

My hands were on his shoulders as I slowly rode his cock. My clit was rubbing against him, making it all the more pleasurable. Though, I guess I was going too slow ‘cause Tommy thrusted upward ‘n then kept going. I picked up the cue and hastened my pace. I loved the burn in my muscles, but not as much as the blissed-out look on Tommy’s face.

I felt the moan build up in my throat ‘n I couldn’t find myself caring to quiet myself anymore. Throwing my head back, my left hand flew to Tommy’s knee as I leaned back.

I can’t even describe what I was doing. I was following my body’s instinct. Was I just rolling my hips instead of bouncing? Was I grinding on him? I don’t care… God, I wanna come so fucking much!

“That’s it, love, chase it! Make yourself come with my cock. Wanna feel it.” Tom tugged my torso closer to him, and I practically shouted in my surprise as he began suckling my tit. He stayed there a bit longer, drinking my milk before parting. He kissed my nipple, then tugged on it with his teeth. While leaning back into his chair, Tommy’s gaze was locked on my breasts. His hands trailed upward from my sides to them. I hissed loudly when Tom squeezed.

“Fucking love these tits. All fucking mine.”

I giggled, my hips coming to a stop.

“What’s so funny, Ali?”

I shook my head, my hands falling back to his torso. “It’s just that. They’re not all yours.” Tom rolled his eyes. “Oi, if your son could understand the implication of what you just said, he’d throw a fit.” The thought made me laugh again. Tommy smiled and shook his head.

With a hand in my hair, we leaned toward each other and met with a kiss. Tommy hooked his hands in the crook of my knees, and then I was lifted into his arms. My heels were begging to come off my feet, but I arched them just enough so that they would stay on.

Tommy set me down on his desk ‘n led me down till my back was draped over his desk. I wrapped my legs around his waist. Our lips never parted. Not when he began thrusting— only when we grew near to our orgasms again.

We were practically moaning into each other’s mouths before Tommy stood up straight, grabbed my hips, and started pounding into me. I reached down and played with my clit— I was coming in seconds. Eyes rolled back, one heel came off, and my back was arching as my other hand fondled my tit. Tommy was not too far off.

When the ringing in my ears ‘n my vision came back, I realized that Tommy had dragged us back to his chair with me resting on top of him. Plus, there was rustling outside. I cursed under my breath as I closed my eyes again.

“What is it, Ali?” Tommy asked, somewhat breathlessly.

I shook my head, saying, “It’s nothing. I’d hoped we had more time to ourselves before the staff came back.” I picked myself up from his chest and swiped away the hair that had fallen into my face. I took a deep breath; my cheeks puffed up. “And I really wanted to get the chance to use the fucking restroom.”

Tommy scoffed softly; a grin flashed across his face. “Mm, looks like you didn’t have it all worked out then, eh?” He ran his hands over my thighs before spanking my arse with both of his heavy, ring-bearing hands. I gasped breathily, my body flinching.

He was lucky I was so exhausted. Otherwise, I would’ve hit him, but I just slumped against him instead.

“Fix it, Tommy.”

He sighed loudly before whispering, “What am I gonna do with you?”

I only blew raspberries as a response.

To save me from any further embarrassment, Tom called it a half-day, and we left his office together. Not before I hit the restroom on the way out, though. The drive to the Ritz was pretty hazy, and I ended up taking a nap in the car, only waking up when the car rolled to a stop.

We picked up Percy and Anne, thanked Cassie ‘n Dougie, and headed home. I was so happy to see my baby boy again and be with his father. We spent the entirety of the rest of the day with him after I freshened up a bit, of course.

It was like that weird block between us vanished ‘cause this fucker was insatiable. I had to actually deny him once! Plus, there was the addition of a condom when we made love. I was serious about not wanting another child so soon after Percy. I wanted our son to have his alone time with us as much as he could before we gave him a sibling.

The family meeting came up relatively quickly, and after Tommy ‘n them got business out of the way, we were going to announce our engagement party.

Keyword: Were.

We were rudely interrupted by Linda and, by association, Arthur.

I was standing beside Tommy with Percy in my arms. All attention was on us after Tommy called for it, and I was just about to open my mouth when Linda cleared her throat as she shot up from her seat. Arthur stumbled to follow her lead.

I couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. I bounced my sleeping babe, waiting for the woman to say what she interrupted me for; however, Linda only nudged Arthur.

The man stammered over his words. “Um, uh, sorry to interrupt you, Aliena.” I nodded. Arthur fiddled with the cap in his hands before straightening up. “I would’ve liked to do this once Tom ‘n Ali said their piece; however, plans change. They change all the time.” He cleared his throat as Linda nudged him again, even harder this time as she hissed his name. “I-I would like to announce that I’ve asked Linda to marry me ‘n she’s said yes!”

At that moment, I wasn’t proud to admit that I felt nothing but annoyance. I’m 100% sure that Tommy felt the same ‘cause he did not move an inch, not even his facial expression. He looked as deadpan as could be, but cheers erupted beside us.

I took a short shuffle closer to him ‘n nudged him like Linda has been doin’ to Arthur. He looked at me from his peripherals, and I demonstrated the facial expressions we should both be sporting. A big ole’ smile spread across my face, and he mimicked it. Since my hands were busy holding our son, Tommy clapped for us.

My gaze fell on Polly just as she turned to look at me. Her eyes said everything, and I felt the same. Tommy moved closer to his older brother to personally congratulate him. John ‘n Tommy took turns hugging and patting Arthur on the back. It was nice to see smiles on their faces, especially Arthur’s, seeing as Tommy’s was somewhat insincere.

I followed my fiancé’s lead and walked over to Linda to congratulate her more intimately. I held Percy closer to my chest as I leaned in to kiss her cheek as I congratulated her. Funnily enough, the thought did cross my mind that I was holding Percy closer to me to shield him from the awful person I thought Linda was.

‘She didn’t like my Tommy, and I’m sure she didn’t like me, so why the hell did I hafta like her?’

John cleared his throat, saying, “Right, congratulations Arthur, again! But Ali, Thomas, what did youse ‘ave to say?”

Everybody looked around the room before shuffling back to where we previously stood. Tommy and I took our places quicker than the rest, and we used it to our advantage.

I was staring up at him, hoping he could read my mind, and all he did was give me a nod. So, I took a deep breath before saying, “Right! Tommy and I wanted to tell all of you that we’ll be holding an engagement party in five months’ time, and we’ve decided that the wedding won’t be till next year. The date isn’t exactly set, but it’ll happen at the beginning of the year.”

Tom wrapped an arm around my waist, tucking me into his side. “We don’t have any details on the party yet. Only that Aliena’s friends are sure to attend as well, so you’ll all be expected to be on your best behavior. It’ll most likely be fancy ‘n posh—” The comment made snickers and chuckles spread throughout the room. “, so perhaps take the time to buy something for the occasion. Does anybody have anything to add before we end this meeting?”

Everybody held their tongues, and that was that!

Polly and Ada were quick to surround me to ask if I had any ideas in mind. I told them I had a vague one, and we spent a good hour just brainstorming ideas. I was utterly clueless about how to plan and host a party. It seemed easy enough, but it would take a lot of talking and— ew, work.

I knew I wanted to be either at the Ritz or home, but I just wasn’t sure which. The Ritz-Carlton has barely begun its rapid climb to fame, but it’s still fucking expensive. Cassie and Ange went halfers on the venue last time as a kind gesture towards Tom ‘n I, but we would probably rent out more than one venue this time ‘round.

When I met with the girls, my suspicions were proven correct. There were at least three separate rooms that I would need to book to host an engagement party there, and it wasn’t going to be cheap. I spent the first party meeting just shooting the shit ‘cause I didn’t want to make any moves without consulting Tommy first. Hell, we didn’t even discuss a budget, and I know we were making good money, but I didn’t know how “good” we were talking about here!

And the truth was that I could pay for the party myself. Probably put a dent in my savings, but I wasn’t above going back to work later in life. I could do a hit or two when Percy or my future children were at school. I got really good at disguise makeup to the point where I couldn’t even recognize myself at times. I’m sure I could get back into the game! Well, only if it came to that.

But like I said, the first meeting was filled with “what-ifs,” then when they left, I waited for Tommy to come home. When he did, I discussed everything with him. He told me that the starting budget would be £50,000 ‘n if I needed more than that, we could talk.

In all honesty, I thought that was enough. I asked if he wanted the party to be at home or the Ritz, and it took him a while before he could respond.

“Whatever you want, love. Just try ‘n stay within the budget, yeah?”

I nodded with my heart pounding away at my chest so profoundly I thought it was trying to escape. “Tommy, it wouldn’t matter to me where we have the party. Hell, I wouldn’t mind skipping it. All I want is you ‘n Percy. You know that, right?”

Tommy and I stared into each other’s eyes. The corner of his mouth twitched upward before he schooled his expression. He nodded, softly saying, “I know, Ali. I know. Now, hand over my son, eh. You’ve had your time with ‘em now it’s my turn! ‘Ello, ‘ello, you!”

Talking about money was always tricky and made me feel guilty. My mates were all rich toffs, richer than Tommy even. I just didn’t want to make him feel insecure or like inferior. I didn’t want to make it seem like we had to have all our events at the Ritz just because I was so used to being there. I would’ve been happy with the other hotel that Tommy’s destined to buy. I forgot what it’s called, but I’m sure it’s just as lovely.

I know that sounded somewhat backhanded, but I frankly forgot the hotel’s name! And the money truly doesn’t matter to me! I said many things in the past about marrying rich, but that was a survival tactic. You know, if I can’t live and marry for love, I might as well do it for the money. Or something along those lines, you know?

Anyway, soon all my plans were coming together with the help of my darling boy. Couldn’t bear to leave Percy alone for a second. I loved having him in my arms way too much, but I can’t deny that he was a distraction. He still helped, nonetheless. Percy forced me to take breaks and clear my mind when I felt it was all becoming a bit too much.

I met with the girls, including Polly and Ada (I invited Esme and Linda; they just didn’t come), and we hit the town. The first stop was the Ritz to get a quote on how much reserving three rooms would be, and it totaled £33,000. However, the catering would be an add-on, not a joint expenditure, and we would need to put some money down for any damages if any. The deposit would depend on if we chose to add in the catering plus an additional charge should we have to make any last-minute changes. In actuality, it was more around £38,500.

I talked it over briefly with everyone, and I decided to sign the contract. I made an £8,000 deposit for June 16th. It would be a Saturday and not too early within the month! I would have to make the full payment at most a week before the event. I would’ve paid upfront, but everyone advised me not to. I’m guessing they would’ve tried something…or something.

I had £11,500 leftover, and I was so glad I had all the ladies by my side, or else I would’ve probably given the money back to Tommy. I was dead set on buying my dress with my own money, but I think I could buy it with the budget instead. A lot was already settled by booking the rooms at the Ritz, including the floral arrangements, chairs, tables, and catering. However, it didn’t include entertainment, aka music. Angie and Cassie suggested I do party favors, but Polly was against the idea. She didn’t see the point in it, and truthfully, I saw both of their issues.

Hell, did you know Tommy and I weren’t even supposed to be throwing our engagement party? According to Angie, it’s supposed to be thrown by the bride’s parents or a friend or relative. It stung to hear that it was supposed to be my parents’ responsibility, but I was swift to bury the feeling.

I loved them with all my heart, but it was time to move on… You know?

I’m guessing the reason Tommy wanted us to throw the party rather than leave it into someone else’s hands was a grab at staying in control. I would’ve had an issue with someone else planning the party, too, but would’ve liked to have the conversation first. Plus, I didn’t want this to become a big thing on the day either.

I was dreading the whispers these posh bitches were gonna have! They would go on and on about us being lower class ‘n it showing ‘cause we didn’t have the party the “proper” way.

After booking the Ritz, we headed back to Cassie’s flat to reconvene and get started on those invitations. They were to be handwritten as per Angie’s instruction. Having about seven pairs of hands writing was better than only one, so I was thankful for the help. It was going to be a grand party, alright! Immediate families were definitely invited, but then came the outsiders.

While working for Dom, I made a few friends and thought it was only fitting to invite them. Some of them saved my arse a few times on the job, so might as well! Then I took Tom’s interests into mind and thought about inviting some businessmen to the party. Luckily, I didn’t even have to introduce the notion since my gals brought it up themselves. Angie said she’d be happy to invite some people she knew, as did Tina, but I reckon her connections were women rather than men. Cassie said she would as well ‘n ask Dougie for some names, including his father if I wanted.

I told them I’d ask Tommy if it was okay. Polly seemed to like my response as she rubbed my thigh under the table ‘n gave me a grin. We continued with the invitations till we decided to eat lunch. Afterward, we just hung out. Some point during that time, Polly and Ada both told me how they were upset with Linda since she did what she did at the family meeting. I aired my grievances too, and we took the piss outta ‘er. Refreshing really!

At the end of the day, when I was at home with Percy ‘n later on, Tommy, I asked him about how he felt with all these outsiders coming to our party.

This man was a fucking master at micro-expressions, but I had the eyes of a hawk!

Tom tried to appear indifferent about the proposition, but I saw the furrow in his brow. I never thought I would ever go through the whole “coaxing the truth out of my partner” event, but there I was. After softening him up with neck kisses and a massage, he finally told me the truth.

There were two things: he wasn’t sure that I would be 100% okay with him doing business on the day, and he didn’t like the fact they would be by default “my connections.” Like I worried, Tom felt emasculated that he was getting help from his wife-to-be rather than his own influences.

“Oh, my love.” I kissed his shoulder before shuffling off the bed, standing before him, then straddling his lap. I took his face into my hands and peppered his face with kisses. “First of all, I know you, Thomas Shelby. There will hardly be a day that you’re not working, and I know eventually that’ll get on me nerves. However, who gives a fuck, eh? It’s just an engagement party.” I chuckled.

Tommy scoffed with a smirk on his face. His eyes drifted all over mine just as he began stroking my cheek with his thumb.

I continued, “Meet these people, hmm? Give them a run for their money, or whatever it is you do.” We both laughed at that. “People will always talk, love. You told me that, no? They’ll gossip abar how we got together, our age gap, and our pasts. I say fuck ‘em. All that matters is that we persevere and appear as a solidified unit.”

“That right?”

I nodded. “Is fucking right. We’ll both give them one hell of a stern look. Make them shake in their boots.” I ran my fingers through his hair before placing a hard kiss on his lips.

Tommy took a deep breath through his nose, staring into my eyes. “Aliena Welsh, the love of my life, how was I so lucky to ‘ave found you?”

I looked away and pursed my lips as my head tipped to the left. I hummed, “I don’t know.”

Tom caressed me as he whispered, “Don’t ever change, Aliena. I need you. I need you by my side more than you know.”

“And I you.” Our mouths smashed together, which led to us having sex.

I asked about the entertainment the morning after, which was again left up to me. I met up with only the girls this time, seeing as Polly and Ada had work ‘n we went looking for a band or something.

See, I wanted a jazz band, but the loudness of the playing might’ve not been appropriate for this kind of party. I also wanted a female and male singer because as much as I love some good plain instrumentals— I fucking miss lyrics! I hired a Blues & Jazz band or company by the end of the morning. I don’t know. I let Angie handle this one.

I was there at the transactions, giving my input when asked, but I was more concerned about Percy. He’s been babbling more, sleeping through the night, loves colours, and has a bit more object permanence. That means he loves peek-a-boo right now, and his case of the grabby hands has gotten worse. But I love it all!

I was happy to tell the girls that Tommy approved of the extended invitation list, and we spent the rest of the day writing the rest of them. Once I returned home, I had taken the time to handwrite my loved ones’ invitations myself. It would’ve been too awkward had I done them at Cassie’s flat.

Eventually, I decided against doing party favors but welcomed Cassie or Angie to take up the job if they wished. They both told me that if I didn’t want them, then the idea was sacked. By the way, the entertainment cost £3,000 since it was £100 an hour and I decided 10 hours would be best.

The day after, I went dress shopping with Anne. I wanted to see if the dress I had in mind existed before I went ‘n visited Sinead, my dressmaker. Sinead was a master of her craft even at her young age. I’ve been with her from the very beginning, though I’ve only recently remembered her name.

‘Sorry, Sinead.’

I didn’t manage to find what I was looking for and, as such, went to give Sinead a visit. The lass always knew what I sought. My clothing descriptions sucked, but she never failed to understand my gibberish. It’s why I paid her so much. This outfit would cost me around £650. After ordering the dress and the matching headband, we went for a walk in the park. Playgrounds weren’t a big thing yet, and even if they were— I wouldn’t take Percy anywhere near one.

I didn’t want him contracting anything from other kids. He stayed in his pram the entire time and was only out in my or Anne’s arms. We went home around midday. Upon Tom’s arrival, I reported all my expenses to him and was happy to say that I had more than £7k leftover of the budget.

I swear to God that his eyes lit up like a Christmas tree! There was no way he’d ever express it, but I knew he loved having that much money left over from the budget.

I knew my soon-to-be husband. I asked him whether or not he would order himself a new tailored suit for the occasion. He loved the idea but acted indifferently. He was on cloud fucking 9. It led to some enthusiastic love-making that night! However, even if everything was in order— the party planning continued.

I had to pick the decorations, the table pieces, the flowers, the chairs, the tables, the food, the drinks, and then the music. I had to choose which pieces I wanted to listen to, what was acceptable ‘n at what point during the night. It was insane, and quite frankly, I wanted Tommy beside me. I wanted him to help me pick everything seeing as this was a party to celebrate us, and I was confident enough to ask him.

I don’t know why I was worried; he gave me an automatic yes. We made a whole day of it with Percy and Anne. Anne was only there if we needed her to take care of Percy. However, it was more like she got the day off, seeing as Tommy wanted to carry his son the entire time. It was so cute! Tommy was wearing his signature peaked cap, but he’s been wearing ones without a razor ‘cause of Percy’s grabby hands. Anyway, Percy eventually decided to attack his father’s hat ‘n the cap kept passing between them!

My ovaries were hurting at the sight! I almost broke my promise, I swear, just to keep that sight!

It was funny seeing Tommy ordering people ‘round with a baby in his arms. One I got to see all to myself! God, if this is a dream— I don’t want to wake up. By the way, this took place in the course of three months. When it was May, it was a lot of rehearsals and making sure everything was as planned. Yeah, another “event” that took place during May was another announcement made by the newly engaged couple.

Linda and Arthur announced that they would be having the wedding this year and two months after Tommy and I’s engagement party. Honestly, Tommy and I were miffed, but not as much as last time. I think if they tried to have it anywhere near the same time we chose, then it was going to be a real problem. Do I even have to mention that Polly was annoyed? No, right? Because that has to practically be a given by now!

May came ‘n went till finally, it was the big day!

June 16th of 1923 was a momentous day for the Shelby Estate. The lady of the house spent the whole morning being pampered by her maids. The madam was given a massage, a facial, a good scrubbing, a manicure, and a pedicure. Everybody in the house knows that the madam took special care of her body just for this one day.

Aliena Welsh exercised her arse off to fit into her new dress that was designed to be one size smaller than what she previously was. Every woman in the house was holding their breath, begging to all that’s holy that she fit ‘cause if she didn’t, then God only knows what will happen! They’ve yet to see their mistress freak out, and they were hoping today wouldn’t be the day. It would be pitiful.

She even got her hair done again since the roots had grown. Anyway, after the spa morning— they got into the real nitty-gritty of this operation! The Shelby maids have till 6 o'clock this evening to make their madam look the most beautiful belle of the ball.

Aliena’s hair was covered in pins seeing as she was going for finger waves. However, she had too much thick hair. That meant that while the top of her head was covered in pins, the lower half was to be curled. Though Anne wanted to be the one to take care of her mistress, she was given the task to oversee the young master. Perseus Shelby would attend the party for a good hour or two before being whisked away by his most trusted maid/nanny, Anne.

Speaking of the boys, Tommy took his son to visit the stables. He brought him real close and personal to the beasts he so openly adored. Percy loved them, especially their soft coats. Tom couldn’t describe how proud he felt that his son managed a smile. He wouldn’t know what he’d had done if he began to cry. Perhaps, Tommy would have just tried another time when the lad was a bit older. Seeing as babies are often frightened at loud noises and tall beings.

When they were done with the horses, Tommy and Percy took a bath together at Aliena’s request. She said it’d be a bonding experience for them to have. Tom didn’t think it appropriate at first, seeing as he’d never heard of it being done before; however, he grew rather fond of it when he actually tried it. It was a pure moment that Tom would remember for the rest of his life. Afterward, Tom handed off his little one to Anne.

It wouldn’t take long for the men to get ready, but it was best to prepare beforehand. After all, they had to be at the hotel earlier to ensure everything was perfect.

Tommy Shelby recently received a fresh cut, so his hair took up no time. He shaved, added aftershave, then wiped off the excess. Tommy took his time putting on his suit, which he had to do within the confines of his bathroom, seeing as his fiancée was hoarding their bedroom. After smoothing everything out ‘n tugging on his suit jack and cuffs, Tommy walked confidently into the room and chose his watch as well as his accessories.

Tom decided to wear the ring and earring Aliena had gifted him. How could he not after finding out she was doing the same? She planned to wear the same earring and the butterfly ‘n teardrop earrings. There was something oddly possessive about Ali wearing the jewelry Tommy bought for her. He knew she would be hard to resist come the time she adorns them.

Tom kissed her cheek as he walked by; the women were still fussing over her hair. His fiancée was in nothing but her white, lace undergarments and robe. God have mercy on his soul! After annoying them, he walked into the nursery, where it would seem Percy was having a grand ole time.

Tom had instructed Anne earlier that it would be best to put Percy in something light after his bath. Aliena had picked out Percy’s outfit, and Tommy was not going to run the risk of being the reason why his son managed to ruin it. So, his boy was romping around on the rug-covered floor with Anne. He and Anne were playing with the blocks Tommy had got him.

Tom sniffed loudly before hiking up his pants as he crouched down. “Is all right, Anne. I’ll take care of him now. Go ‘n help Aliena finish getting ready.” The man shuffled closer to his son before sitting down next to him. Anne rose to her feet gracefully and bowed before leaving Tom to his child.

When Anne returned to the bedroom, the maids were still fretting over Aliena’s hair. The older woman clapped her hands, and the room fell silent. “Okay, everyone,” She began, “let’s all calm down and tell me what’s going on.” Multiple women talked over each other, trying to inform Anne of their dilemma, but ultimately it came from the Madam herself.

Ali sighed as her right elbow rested on her vanity mirror. She looked pretty exasperated. “It seems they are worried about whether or not my curls will hold. My hair is too thick; they said ‘n fear they should’ve started earlier.”

Anne tutted as she waved off the other maids from her mistress’s hair. “Poppycock! Let’s see what we can do, huh!” Anne worked her magic as she added in styling products ‘n knowledge she wouldn’t divulge to any of her other coworkers. Perhaps she would tell Aliena all her secrets if she asked.

Though Anne solved the hair issue— they’ve yet to start on Aliena’s makeup. Only when she looked into the mirror Ali’s face was finished. The young woman glanced at Anne via the mirror and continued to apply mascara. Ali couldn’t help but chuckle at the older woman’s surprised eyes. Ali muttered, “I got it, Anne. Can you tell me what time it is?”

Anne cleared her throat silently before looking around the room. Another maid noticed this and said, “‘S 2:25.” Anne nodded, turned back to face Ali, and repeated the time.

Aliena sighed as she looked over her face. She applied her usual base but went with thick winged eyeliner, mascara, brown eyeshadow, white inner corner, blush, and a bold red lip. Aliena smiled at herself before turning toward her staff. “Anne, can you get Percy ready or tell Tommy to get him dressed?” Turning toward the rest of them, she said. “I’ll be putting on my dress; then we’ll take my hair down.”

Everybody took their places. Anne briskly walked back into the nursery, where the master and young master were taking a nap. Her heart soared at the sight, but she had an emotionless facial expression plastered on. Anne stood at the doorway with her hands at her stomach. “Mr. Shelby.” She began. Tom’s eyes flew open as if he were never awake.

“What is it, Anne?” He asked without missing a beat.

“The Madam would like Percy to be changed now. Shall I do it, or shall I leave it to you, sir?” Her gaze fell upon the sleeping five-month-old and found her heartbreaking at the thought of waking ‘em up.

Tom looked down at his son’s sleeping face. He was absolutely adorable with his drool ‘n all. Tom shook his head. “I can do it, Anne. Go ‘n help, Aliena, as I’ve told ya.” Tom slowly rose to his feet and gently tossed Percy higher in his arms just as Anne bowed before leaving the room.

There was no easy way to wake your child, but Tom was determined. See if Tom tried and let Percy sleep, then he’s the arsehole when the baby wakes up while he’s being changed. Tommy began rocking Percy ‘n softly, calling his name in the little one’s ear. Percy whimpered but slowly opened up his eyes.

Tommy cooed at the boy, trying to stop Percy from bawling his eyes out, but there was no stopping the floodgate. “Aw, I’m sorry, son. Daddy’s sorry, darling. Daddy’s so sorry.” He couldn’t help but chuckle at the situation he was in. Tommy never thought he’d have this. He felt he didn’t deserve it. “How about you help me get you all dressed up, and then you can go back to sleep, eh? Do a deal with Dad?”

Though Percy was too young to comprehend his father’s words, the bouncing ‘n his daddy’s voice soothed him to the point where his cries settled into whimpers again. The clothes had been lying on the changing table since Percy’s got out of the shower, so all Tom had to do was lay him on it.

It wasn’t often that Tommy had to change a dirty nappy, but when he could, he did. In all honesty, Aliena and Tommy left the dirty nappies to their maids whenever they could. That’s what they’re there for. But Tommy began changing his baby boy into a clean one. He put the dirty nappy in the laundry bin, wiped all of Percy’s private areas clean, and added some baby powder. Tommy made sure to rub the power into his son’s chubby leg rolls as Aliena instructed before finally slipping on the boy’s clean nappy.

Also, under his wife-to-be’s instructions, Tommy tried being as comical as possible. Tom made various faces ‘n talked in an exaggerated tone, but it was worth the smiles his boy gave him. Percy’s outfit includes a blue-collar white shirt with black trousers. There was an undershirt the baby was to wear as well. The only thing Tom was unsure about was whether or not she wanted him to tuck in Percy’s shirt. Tom voted tucked in, so tucked it was!

When Tom was done, he picked up his baby boy in his arms. He cleared his throat loudly as he hauled Percy up before reaching into his pocket and grabbing his watch. They were cutting it close for time. Tom sniffed before walking back into his bedroom.

Aliena was nearly done as she held out her arms for two maids to slip on her white satin gloves. Once they had, Aliena tugged them at the elbows and again at every finger as she started to walk back to her vanity. However, she caught her boys standing at the nursery’s doorway.

Simultaneously, Tommy was looking at his fiancée in awe. She looked beyond beautiful in her white beaded and fringed gown. Her makeup was bold, something Tommy had never seen her in. It was more sophisticated than the natural look she usually adorned. Tommy swears he’s never seen Aliena’s hair so short, and while it went well with the look— he wouldn’t trade it for her long hair for anything.

His Ali was standing there, dressed more appropriately to the times, but her personality still shined through. As always, Tommy was correct; the dress was designed to have a plunging sweetheart neckline which wasn’t common till about the 1940s. Her bejeweled headband was white and had a floral pattern. The length of her dress covered Aliena’s shoes, but they were white heels. The heels were no more than four inches, as were favored by the times.

Tommy smiled— genuinely smiled as he said, “You look beautiful, sweetheart.”

Aliena’s blush intensified, and she couldn’t help but act silly. She struck a pose before waving him off. They met each other halfway and shared several kisses. “You look rather handsome yourself,” Aliena replied as she stared deep into those familiar baby blues. Speaking of baby, Ali dropped her gaze to Percy, and she squealed. “Who is the most cutest baby boy around? Huh! Give me my baby!”

Ali reached for Percy ‘n Tommy helped her carry him. Ali limited her range to his temple to save Percy from having very apparent red kisses on his face. “You are just so cute!” She gushed while swaying him back and forth. The boy laughed in his mother’s arms.

“Love, we ‘ave to be leaving soon.” Tommy felt guilty cutting short such a sweet moment, but they had to be going seeing as they had a two-hour drive ahead of themselves.

Aliena groaned before parting from Percy, who remained all smiles. She exhaled sharply before holding Percy out for Tom to take. “All right, then! Let me take a look of myself in the mirror, and then we’ll be off.” However, she didn’t stop there. “Anne, go ‘n make sure we ‘ave everything ready for Percy. His nappies, bottles, change of clothes if necessary— everything! Marie, dear, fetch Mr. Shelby’s and I’s coats. The white one for me and—”

“Marie, I won’t be needing my coat,” Tommy cut in.

Ali’s gaze remained on herself, but she asked. “Oh? Why?” Before the man could respond, the Madam stood up straight ‘n dusted off her hands as she continued. “Nevermind his coat then. Just find a white scarf for ‘em, just in case. That alright, darling?”

“Yes, that’s all right.” Tom nodded, his eyes locking with Ali’s as she walked past him toward the bathroom. Tom looked around the room and noticed hardly anyone but Anne had moved. However, one glance from ‘em and they were scattering outta the room like rats.

Tom bounced Percy in his arms, noticing the boy was trying to get his small grubby hands on his bowtie. “Oh no, love, that’s Daddy’s. Aliena, will you be long, or shall I go ‘n get the car ready?”

“Go ‘n get the car ready, hun!” She shouted over the toilet flush. Tommy didn’t hesitate to walk out of the room with their son in his arms as he made his way throughout their mansion. Meanwhile, Aliena was upstairs drying her hands then rushing to put back on her gloves.

As she made her way out of the bedroom, Aliena caught Anne leaving the nursery. Aliena asked her, “Didja get Percy’s coat and hat as well, Anne?”

Anne nodded, her hands full with a suitcase and basket. “Of course, Ma’am. I’ve got it all in here.”

“Thank God! I swear, Anne, I’ve never been so nervous in my fucking life!”

Anne chuckled behind Ali. “Oh, you’re going to be just fine, Aliena. Relax and let your hard work pay off.”

Ali giggled as she waved off Anne’s words. “I know you’re right, but I can’t get that stupid pit out of my stomach. Oh well, not like I can back out now, can I?” Aliena laughed again as she hopped off the last step of the stairs.

Under her breath, Anne muttered. “No, you can not.”

Aliena was out the door and in the door in no time. “Is everyone out of the house? Who’s gonna lock up?”

Tom replied, “Yeah, everyone’s outta the house. I’ll have some men guarding while we’re gone, but gone ahead and told one of them to lock up once we leave.”

Ali nodded. “Good. Well, I’m ready. You have my coat, right?”

“Right here.”

“Good.”

“Leo, drive.”

“Yes, Mr. Shelby, sir!”

The party was going off without a hitch. Anyone who received an invitation accepted and elected to go. This included all the “outsiders,” Johnny Dogs, the Lees, and Isaiah ‘n Jeremiah. It made for quite a big event! One where Tommy never left his lovely fiancée's side.

Well, at least he didn’t leave her side till night fell.

But before we talk about the night, let’s start at the beginning. First of all, before the rest of the Shelby's arrived— Aliena was running around making sure everything was perfect with Tommy not too far behind. People didn’t start showing up till an hour later, and the first was Cassie and Dougie. Cassie lived at the Ritz, so it was hardly a journey. She arrived on the dot and practically kidnapped Percy from his father.

Next to arrive were Polly and Michael, who sucked at hiding his true feelings. Everyone could tell that the lad was more or less sad at the union, and I mean everyone! After was John and Esme, along with their horde of children. The pattern of arrival began switching from Shelby to Aliena’s mates.

A potential business connection would surprise the couple with their early arrival here and there, but they kept their calm appearances. Johnny Dogs and the Lees were tricked in their invitations. Aliena wrote them that the event took place two hours earlier than it was as a way to get them to arrive on time.

Dougie’s, Angie’s, Tina’s, and Horace’s parents arrived later than the rest. Dom came not long after the party began, and Aliena’s reaction to the man’s arrival threw Tommy off. If she had told him that Dominic Johnson was her father, he’d have to believe her ‘cause of her reaction! The girl practically jumped into his arms!

Tommy’s interactions with said parents were strained since many were classists at heart, but he managed to charm Dougie’s and Tina’s parents. Dougie’s father worked in a trade like Tom’s, so they bonded in that. However, with Tina’s father— well, the man was just weak. He was easy to befriend, charm, and manipulate. Tina’s mother was no better, and Tom realized where Tina got her timid nature from. Aliena came to the same realization.

Angie and Horace’s parents were so far up their own arses that they didn’t realize they were rude to the literal couple they were supposed to be congratulating. Aliena and Tom handled it like champs, though! They kept their smiles and took turns putting the older couples on their arses. Witty banter ‘n all that jazz!

Tom and Dom had a weird talk. Again, the older gentlemen came across as Ali’s father figure. Something he had never been expecting, seeing as the girl’s birth father is dead. Tom didn’t stand down and took Dom’s challenge head-on. He took the insults, the suspicions, and thinly disguised threats. Tom only hoped to God that he’d only have to suffer through it this one day.

Once everyone arrived within the allotted hour they were granted, Tommy and Aliena urged everyone to find a table as dinner began. Tommy and Aliena sat at the most oversized table surrounded by their families. The room was filled with chatter, smiles, and grimaces. The only saving grace was the food. Of course, they served sophisticated courses at the Ritz-Carlton!

Both sides of the family decided it appropriate to share stories about the celebrated couple. Something the two felt conflicted about. They were fine when the accounts were sweet and harmless but felt the sweat comin’ on when specific information was divulged. Shins were kicked often during dinner, as were subtle glares.

After dinner, the guests were allowed to move around all three rooms that Aliena booked for the evening. Percy stayed with them for at least another hour before he was sent to Cassie’s room to rest with Anne. Meanwhile, the party was roaring strong downstairs.

Tommy left Ali’s side in favor of talking business to those extra guests while Aliena spoke to anyone who came to her. It seemed to go reasonably well, and Tom made new contacts. However, throughout the night, two obstacles become clear to him—the gossip of his unfamiliar guests as well as the interference done by Aliena’s mates.

Just as they feared, loud-spoken people drawled on and on about how shameless the two were. They ragged on about their age gap, social standing, and Tom’s “obvious” shortcomings. They were both leeches, according to some of their guests. Aliena and Tom paid no mind to these loud whispers, and if someone dared to voice their concerns to their faces— they dealt with that as well.

“We are two consenting adults, who fell in love,” Aliena replied with a tranquil tone ‘n smile. “Did you feel the same when you married your husband, Mrs. Roberts? I’m sure despite the arrangement, it was still a happy union made, right?”

“Yes, I am indeed quite a bit older than my soon-to-be wife; however, you’ll find that we are both quite happy. She’s one of the great joys of my life, along with my son. But thank you for your concern. We’re going to be just fine.” Tommy would eloquently state.

“Yes, Tommy was born in Small Heath, Birmingham. He’s come a long way since then using his intelligence and drive. I’m proud to say I’ll be wedded to a man who not only fought for his country but fought for his ambitions in life. It built the foundation of his company and all we are thankful for. Not all men can say they earned what they own like my fiancé can.” Aliena said sweetly before sipping her champagne.

That was all one thing, but then there was the second. It was not only the mates Tommy was familiar with, no. There were people coming up to him— many of whom were men, telling him all about his Ali and how lucky he was to have her.

Tom was having a conversation with Douglas, who’s had a few since dinner. The man was 27 years old and fought in the war same as Tom. For that, Douglas had Tom’s respect, but he wouldn’t go as far as to call ‘em a friend.

Douglas cleared his throat before taking a pull of his cigarette. “Say, Thomas, do you know Aliena’s favorite colour?”

Undisturbed, Tom replied. “It’s teal.”

Douglass hummed. “Do you know what her favorite alcoholic beverage is?”

Tom blinked before replying, “Ah, I think it was a gin ‘n tonic. It’s been almost a year since she’s had a drink.”

“Yeah, it has, hasn’t it? God, you should’ve seen her, Tom! She was the absolute life of the party! Ali’s gone drink for drink with me before, has she told you?”

Tom looked down at his whiskey before shaking his head. “No, she hasn’t.”

Douglas hummed again, taking another pull. “You know, Thomas, I didn’t say this last time ‘cause it was our first time meeting ‘n all plus you scare the shit out of me. But, I love Ali like a younger sister, and that’s saying something ‘cause I have older sisters. So, I’ll just get this over with.”

“That would be nice.” Tom quipped.

“If you hurt her, I’ll hurt you, and despite us being on good terms now— don’t doubt my ability nor any of our abilities to make your life a living hell.”

* * *

“Oh, I’m a friend of Aliena’s. We met during her time in London. She’s a strong woman,” said an American man.

“I’m a friend of Aliena’s. We met at a party. She’s one of a kind, isn’t she! You’re one lucky man. A woman like her will walk with you through the fires of hell,” said another man.

“Oh, I was invited. Yeah, I met Aliena through a mutual mate. She was a real party girl when we met! Had all the lads lookin’ at her when she walked into a room, especially when she danced! And Christ, that girl knows how to dance.” The raven-haired woman looked Tom up and down before smiling. “I’m glad to see that she settle down. She kind of worried me from time to time. Hopefully, you ‘n her will live a long life together, eh!”

There were at least eight more interactions like that. It became so ridiculous that Tommy eventually felt annoyed. He was annoyed and confused. It had Tom so dazed that he naturally drifted back to Aliena, who wasn’t expecting him back that soon. He took her into his arms, hugging her from behind. Aliena welcomed the surprise and acknowledged him with a kiss before turning back to her conversation.

Tommy stood behind her like a pillar as he worked on compartmentalizing his feelings. Storing it away to be dealt with another day. He never questioned their relationship before, and he wasn't now. However, Tom was barely coming to terms that she had a life outside of the family. He knew the girl could befriend the damndest of people, but that was a lot.

The party ended around two in the morning. Everyone stumbled out of the hotel in droves. Tom drove his little family back home and delighted in the sight of his lover holding his child. Aliena tried to fight it, but she was yawning every five seconds. Tom's sure that she would've been passed out if it wasn't for the babe in her arms.

Percy was everything to them. They'd murder, maim, frame anyone for him. It's just instinct to a parent. Or at least, it should be. When they arrived home, it was four in the morning. They'd be sleeping all day if their little one allowed it.

Only as Tom watched Ali put down their sleeping son from the doorway connecting their rooms, he wasn’t feeling tired anymore. They ended the day making slow, sweet love.

Tom’s had a lot to deal with during these past two months. He was getting hit from both business and familial prospects of his life. Arthur asked him to be the best man at his wedding while Churchill put him through the wringer. The man wouldn’t tell him what he was needed for, not yet anyhow! Churchill was sending him on wild goose chases— tests! Testing Tom’s ability to see if he could handle whatever big mission he had in store for him.

The only thing that kept him going was his wife and son. Arthur was a pain in the arse because he became an awkward man after his “conversion.” His older brother was in this limbo between redeemed man and the dog he’d once been. The dog had been leashed, and ownership was taken— stolen. Linda swiped the leash from Tommy’s hand, and he knew there was no way he’d get that leash back fully. He could borrow Arthur but had to give him back by the end of the day.

That being said, the dog knew who his original owner was and remained submissive. As long as Arthur remained in his place, everything else didn’t matter.

The wedding would take place on the 15th of August as chosen by the happy couple. It was laughable how insecure and jealous Linda was of Tom’s family. Perhaps it wasn’t that; maybe she just wanted to secure her position as Arthur’s legal spouse. That woman wanted her claws so far into his brother that no one would question if there were ever there. Again, Tommy didn’t care as long as they both stayed in their place.

So, Tom accepted the position. He was honored and glad he could help his older brother in such a monumental moment in his life. Lord knows that Arthur would need the help if he wanted to be included in his own wedding at all. Otherwise, it’d be a one-woman show.

Rather fondly, Tom remembers the conversation he and Ali had as they made their way back to ‘de ‘ouse. They both complained about the couple. How Linda acted the entire time they’d known her, and how subservient Arthur had become. It was laughable, so they did. That’s when Tom knew that he didn’t like it when they stepped out of line either.

Tom was King, and since Aliena’s the mother of his child ‘n fiancée, she’s to be Queen. The sharks were sniffing for blood. The storm was brewing: Blah-blah and all that good jazz. Point was money was being made; the situation allowed for positions to rise. His family wasn’t idiotic; they were just slower on the uptake. Some desperately wanted a new King to ascend, but Tommy was never letting go. Not until he was good and ready, and since he’s barely received his crown— it wasn’t going to be any time soon.

Plus, Tom wasn’t so sure that he ever wanted to stop. Talking to Ali changed a lot of things. She made it his decision— it would be all on him whichever path he chose. If he tried to go straight and ended up soft, it might bite him on the arse later in life when the wolves come to the door. On the other hand, continuing on this path means he might accumulate more enemies over time, putting his family’s lives in even more danger. Either way, he’s fucked!

Tommy kept telling himself that he didn’t have to choose now and that he could put it off; however, deep down, he knew he had already made his choice. He just hopes Percy can forgive him. Hopes that all his children will understand his decisions.

Tom kept his head down as he walked into the building of Churchill’s office. Upon his first encounter with the man, he was instructed that he was to meet him at 12:30, always. Their meetings would, hopefully, only take 30 minutes to avoid being seen by Churchill’s secretary. Tom beelined it from the man’s office and knocked before he entered.

The older man was diligently sitting at his desk ‘n didn’t even lift his head as he acknowledged Tom. “Good afternoon, Mr. Shelby. Have a seat, and let us discuss business.”

Tom closed the door behind him before sitting down in the chair Churchill suggested. He fished into his pocket for his cigarette case. True to his word, Tom didn't smoke around his baby, but he smoked a helluva lot outside.

"So, I've read the report. You've impressed me with the results once again, Mr. Shelby," said Churchill as he shifted through a manilla folder.

Tom exhaled before leaning back. He didn't care to respond, seeing as no reply would benefit the conversation.

"Yes, well, I suppose killing a man becomes easier the more times you do it. After all, we had plenty of practice in the war."

Again, Tom said nothing to the comment. He only scoffed softly before taking another drag.

"Mr. Shelby, I've decided that you are now ready to receive the full details on what these whole tedious meetings have been for." Churchill reached down into his drawer and tossed a bulky manila folder toward Tom. "It would seem that we've recently come into business with Russia."

Jesus fucking Christ! Russia! What the ‘ell was the government getting involved with Russia for? How the hell was Tommy gonna benefit from this situation? And how far would this take his family up the food chain?

Churchill gave him a summary of the background of the mission before getting to his objective.

Churchill cleared his throat. "So it's finally out in the open. You can't tell a soul, and if you do, no one would believe you, and the government would hang you for treason. If anyone from your family should spread this information— because you will eventually tell them, they will reach the same fate. No matter the gender or age. Do we have an understanding, Mr. Shelby?"

Without hesitation, Tommy replied. "Yes, I understand." He wasn't threatened in the least. Well, he felt the weight of the threat, but Tom would never let it show. He couldn't deny the sharp pain in his heart when the man in front of him practically threatened not only his family but his future wife as well. He couldn't stop the image of her swinging past his mind no sooner than he'd like.

"Good. Now, enough with that. I'd like to meet with you at least one more time before we get into things, seeing as these meetings must be kept brief and all. It's been brought to my attention that someone is beginning to notice these secret meetings between you and me. As far as I know, they haven't discovered your identity, but nonetheless, the venue of where we meet will have to change. You see, there is a charity party being hosted in New York next month; I am working on getting you an invitation. Very exclusive this charity, but still, who could question your right to be there as a businessman and the social standing your fiancée has. I'm sure convincing your lovely fiancée will be easy for you, but make it happen."

"I don't want my fiancée anywhere near this business," replied Tommy as he flicked off the ash at the end of his cigarette.

Churchill sighed before stating, “Unfortunately, Mr. Shelby, that was not a suggestion. It was an order. Having Ms. Welsh there will provide sufficient cover for you. Otherwise, your appearance at an elite social level event will draw in wandering eyes.”

Thomas Shelby was a secure man who loved his fiancée with all his “cold heart.” Aliena’s time by herself proved to be fruitful since she made connections to influential people in a social class higher than theirs.

Thomas wasn’t used to the help or at least the help from someone he didn’t manipulate into helping him. Did it hurt his pride? A little, but he’d never admit it to anyone.

The point is that Tom always thought of Aliena’s higher social status as an advantage, but at that moment, he’d wished her friends had hidden her away like a dirty secret. Tom said nothing in reply to Churchill’s statement and took another drag instead.

The older man did the same to his cigar before asking, “Do we have an understanding, Mr. Shelby?”

Tom cleared his throat. “Yes, we have an understanding.”

“Good. I will send you the invitations for you and your fiancée as soon as possible. Dismissed, Mr. Shelby.”

Without reply, Tommy stubbed out his cigarette and left. Inside he was irritated. He desperately wanted to keep Ali away from this business, but there was no way out of this. He knew that if he gave it to her straight, she’d understand, but there was just something in the back of his head preventing him from talking.

Tom knew his lovely little wife was capable of bloodshed ‘n violence. She’d killed a man, and he had a front-row ticket to the bloody assault of a woman who messed with her best mate. However, the information just wasn’t sticking to his brain. He saw his quirky, crybaby Aliena.

He was the brooding grump who could make people tremble from a single look while she drew people in. After you got over your initial impression of her. As Aliena states, “She has a resting bitch face that makes people think she’s mad all the time.” Aliena was a short glass of giggles, smiles, twitches, and ramblings. Like the residents of Birmingham said, she was the Light of the Peaky Blinders.

There was something in him that wanted to keep that statement alive for as long as they lived. Tom didn’t want to wake up one day and hear people calling her the she-devil to his devilish status.

Tom made it back to the office around two or three in the afternoon. He spent much of his time catching up on work that the meetings with Churchill usually took. Tom didn’t eat lunch ‘n he didn’t stop working for anything— only to pour himself another drink.

On an average day, he’d sit in that chair till around ten at night or something like that. However, today would be one of those special days when he’d surprise his small family by coming home early. He left the office around six and arrived home at seven.

Tom had his last whiskey and smoke at the office ‘n now that he was home— he’d refrain from all his vices. Anne greeted him at the door and quickly helped him out of his coat. He handed her his cap as well before shouting, “Sweetheart, I’m ‘ome!”

He heard her pounding footsteps before he actually laid eyes on her. Aliena had a black headband on with a few framing hairs curling around the sides of her face. She had on a black silk slip and a gold dressing gown accented with various coloured flowers. As for shoes, she had on some black house slippers.

She was absolutely breathtaking.

Before he could greet her with his semi-usual embrace and kiss, she took his hands in hers as she shouted with a grin on her face, “Tommy, you have to see this! C’mon, c’mon!”

Her infectious happiness had a habit of rubbing off on him, so he tried his best to stifle the smile that threatened to stretch across his face. “All right, love, I’m right behind ya.”

She dragged him into the parlous-slash-family room, where his son was sitting down on a blanket as he played with his toy horse. “Sit,” Aliena commanded as she pushed Tom down onto the sofa. She gave him one last ecstatic smile before turning around and getting down on her knees. Tom patiently waited to see what she had in store for him and wondered how it involved their baby.

Aliena scootched closer to Percy before holding her arms out and saying, “Percy, my love, come to Mummy. Come to Mama, baby.” Tom’s heart skipped a beat, and he sat on the edge of his seat. Their son didn’t give Aliena any mind at first, but when he realized his Mama was calling for ‘em— he didn’t hesitate to throw his horse away.

Ali continued to call for Percy, and not a second after throwing away his toy, did their boy fall onto his hands ‘n knees and made his way toward her. Tom felt an indescribable amount of love and happiness that made him almost feel like he wasn’t in his body. Like this wasn’t his life, a life that he didn’t deserve to have due to all of his many sins. But here he was, with the loves of his life.

Percy crawled to Ali’s knees and was beginning to push himself up when Ali scooped him up. She pressed a bunch of kisses against his cheek and cheered him on for doing so well. Her gaze fell to his, and she smiled at him. “He just started today. We were working on it practically all day.”

Tom smiled without any reservations, but he didn’t know what to say. Aliena shifted her gaze from Percy, then back to him, then asked. “Do you want to see if he’ll crawl over to you?”

Surprisingly when he replied, “Yeah,” it came out soft and strained. Tom could feel all the beginnings of a good cry, but he didn’t want to deal with it. So, he tried calming down as much as he could.

Aliena kissed Percy’s cheek once more before placing him on the floor. “Go to Daddy, Percy. Go on. Crawl to Daddy.”

Tom bent down and reached out for ‘em as best he could. “Come to Papa, Percy.” Tom and Ali kept repeating themselves until Percy made his way over to Tom. Percy crawled up to Tom’s shoes and managed to curl his fingers around his Papa’s pant legs before being hauled up into his father’s arms. Tommy pressed a kiss to his son’s temples, then his cheek. He muttered against him, “Oh, my sweet boy. Eh, kiddo, you did it! Hmm!” Tom didn’t want to let him go, so he didn’t. The man was so enamored with his son that Tom didn’t want to hand Percy over even when Ali sat beside them.

“Soon, he’ll be saying his first words,” Aliena whispered as she stroked the side of Tom’s head. “Sometimes, I swear Percy calls for me. His babbles have been sounding more and more like ‘Ma-Ma-Ma’.”

Tommy pulled away from Percy and found himself staring into the same blue eyes he had. “He’s growing up so fast.” Tom stroked Percy’s face with his thumbs before pulling him back in with a kiss to the babe’s forehead. Percy was busy trying to take Tom’s tie.

Aliena hummed in agreement. “Yeah, he is.” She reached over and began stroking Percy’s tufts of hair, which was growing along nicely and had some waves to it. “So, how was your day?”

Tom kept his eyes on Percy but replied, “It was good. Had a meeting that ended early, so I was able to finish all I had to do today. ‘S how I was able to get home so early. What about your day?”

“Well, other than working on his crawling, I worked on introducing him to solid foods. He ate some cut-up pieces of fruits and veggies, but I don’t feel comfortable giving him meat yet.”

“How is he doing on his teething, love?”

Aliena audibly winced, which drew Tom’s attention. She began rubbing her breast as she said. “It’s still there if that’s what you’re asking. I’ve tried getting him to teethe as much as he could on anything other than my nipples, but something tells me that as long as he’s teething and I’m breastfeeding— I’ll just ‘ave to suck it up.” Ali chuckled humorlessly before shaking her head. “God, I hope it ends sooner rather than later.”

“I do too, for your sake.”

“Thank you.” They both looked back at their babe, who had snuggled closer to his daddy. Percy’s face was hidden in Tom’s neck, and his eyes were fluttering. Aliena sighed softly. “Aw, we outta take this little one to bed. C’mon, love.”

Aliena rose to her feet first and waited for Tom to stand with their son in his arms slowly. Then, they made their way upstairs to the boy’s nursery. Tom and Ali parted from Percy with kisses, laid the babe down to sleep, and then shuffled into their room.

Aliena sighed loudly before launching herself backward onto their bed. Tom smiled at the sight. She propped herself up by her elbows and stared directly at him. “I forgot to ask you downstairs, but were you hungry? I can ask Anne to whip you up something.”

Tom shook his head. “No, that’s all right. I-uh, actually have something I want to ask you.” Tommy sniffled loudly before walking over to Ali’s vanity bench. He hitched up his pant legs before sitting down.

Aliena scooted closer to the edge of the bed and let out a deep breath. “Uh oh,” she muttered just as Tom took her hands in hers. Not a second later did she let out a bout of nervous giggles and snap her fingers a few times.

Something Aliena did from time to time when she was anxious.

Tom shook his head. “Nothing like that, sweetheart.” It took him a couple of seconds to come up with a good lie. “That meeting I had today isn’t exactly a done deal. He’s a powerful man and harder to…persuade than most. He invited me to a charity in New York, and I was wondering if you’d like to accompany me?”

Aliena’s eyes widened, and she drew a hand over her mouth. “Oh, Tommy! New York!”

He nodded. “Yes.”

“What about the baby, Tommy? We-We can’t just leave him.” Aliena looked away with a hand pressed against her cheek.

“We can talk to Pol or Cassie about taking him while we take the trip.”

“How long is it gonna be?” She asked with furrowed brows.

Tom wracked his brain for a minute. The last time he seriously thought about making a trip to New York was when he was caught up with Grace, but he hadn’t gone that far into planning. “I believe it will take about a week or two to get there.”

Ali’s hand slapped over her mouth. “To get there, Tommy! But—!”

“Ali, love, think about it. We’ll have time together. Just the two of us. It’ll be like our honeymoon ‘cause you know, we’re not gonna be able to have one after the wedding.”

Aliena’s hand finally dropped back down, and Tommy didn’t hesitate to rub that one like he had been the other. She looked around the room, thoughtfully, before meeting his gaze. “That’s true…”

“So, what do you say? We’ll have about a month to ourselves. It’s gonna be you, me, and the sea. Then, we’ll take over New York.”

Aliena chuckled while shaking her head. “You drive a hard bargain, Mr. Shelby!” Tom waited for her answer. He could see her brain working. The worry in her expression, but he knew. Tom watched as her face softened. She nodded. “Yeah, alright. Let’s go to New York.”

Tommy was on top of her in a blink of an eye, and his lips muffled the squeal that wanted to escape her lips. “We’ll go to New York ‘n have us a grand ‘ole time. I’ll make love to you as many times as I like and hear those delicious moans of yours. Take you shopping, out to dinner— anything you want, love.”

Aliena ran her fingers through Tom’s hair and moaned softly, “Tommy.”

Tom pulled away from Aliena to take all of her in for a second. Safe to say, he fucked her all night long.

August 15th didn’t come soon enough. Lord knew Tom wanted to get the day over with ‘n just go home with his family. Not that he wasn’t happy for his brother— he just didn’t especially like Linda.

“Brother, I-I’m nervous. You don’t think she’d leave me at the alter, do ya?” Arthur asked Tom for the millionth time.

Tom shook his head as he cleared his throat. “No, Arthur, I don’t think Linda would leave you at the alter.”

Arthur fixed his stance, straightening up his back, then nodded. “Right, right! Just nerves is all.”

Tom didn’t respond. His gaze fell to Ali, who had Percy in her lap. She looked to be reading him the Hymn sheet. Tom couldn’t help but grin a little. Polly didn’t need one, but he knew his fiancée sure as shit needed it. The girl hadn’t stepped a foot in a church since Ada’s wedding, but before that, it was when she was baptized as a babe. Meanwhile, his mother had hauled him and his siblings to Sunday Mass for most of their childhood.

Tom had no plans of making Percy or any of his future children suffer through the same thing. He wasn’t religious, and it made it easier that Aliena wasn’t either. Eventually, the Bridal Chorus began playing, and everyone stiffened up as Linda started walking up the aisle.

Arthur and Linda were getting married in Birmingham’s nicest church, with the pews being side-by-side. Linda’s side was hardly filled, but some people were sitting in them. As far as Tommy knew, her mother was either dead or not in her life.

Think her mother was a whore, or at least a “sinful” woman in her daughter’s eyes. Linda’s father was definitely walking her down, but otherwise, there was nobody of importance on Linda’s side. A bunch of Quakers and churchgoers. The ceremony in itself was as plain as a wedding could be, and Tommy found himself inside of his head.

When the ceremony finished, everybody hurried outside. Tom didn’t hesitate to find his way back to Aliena, who was just as exasperated as he was, and Percy.

John rounded up all the immediate family as Finn corralled the women fighting for the bouquet away from the steps.

Tommy shouted, “All right, let’s take this photograph! Come on!” The photographer rushed to set himself up. Tom glanced over at Ali before saying, “Give me him, eh?”

Aliena said nothing in return but passed the man his son. She wrapped her hands around Tom’s biceps and smiled toward the camera. Tom managed a quick kiss to her temple before looking ahead.

John shouted, “Take the fucking photo!”

Blinding lights fucked with the lots visions a couple of times from the number of photos taken, and then it was time to get their cars ‘n drive to the reception. The drive to the place wasn’t long. The newlywed couple had decided to rent out a hotel just as Tom ‘n Ali did for their engagement party.

It wasn’t as extravagant as the Ritz, but it wasn’t a cheap place either. Tommy spent his time with Aliena and Percy. Mainly, Percy since his lovely fiancée as gossiping about the bride with his Aunt. Eventually, he gave Percy back to his mother ‘n went looking for his brothers. He had a drink with John and Arthur, but only one with Arthur since the man turned over a new leaf.

Arthur was swearing off everything— booze, drugs, fighting, and other women, which Tom was all the happy for ‘em, as long as the man didn’t become a thorn in his side. Didn’t want his older brother growing soft.

So, after sharing that drink with his brothers— it was time for dinner. After dinner would be Tommy’s speech. He went over it with Arthur beforehand and more with Ali. It was short and sweet. Arthur and Linda were together for such a short amount of time that he couldn’t put a lot of thought into it. So, short ‘n simple/sweet, it’ll have to be.

Dinner went well. Tom had a fun time trying to see which foods Percy would eat. Ali wouldn’t stop smacking him for “teasing” ‘em, but Tommy didn’t mind. To be fair, he was being a bit of an arsehole on purpose, making Percy reach for some things and wait for others. A part of him hoped to push his son over the edge so that he and his family would have to make a break for it. The victim himself foiled his plans. Percy was a naturally calm child, so even if he would be whining one second the next, he’d already be relaxed.

Once dinner was over, Tom put on his big boy pants, swallowed his ‘tsk,’ and rose from his seat. It was time to give the half-heartfelt speech. “Hello, everyone. We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of my eldest brother, Arthur, and his lovely new wife, Linda. Linda’s been an overwhelmingly good influence for my brother from the moment these two got together. He was in a dark place for a long time, but she made it better. Changed him for the better. Arthur has waited a long time to meet his match, and Lord knows he was impatient to find ‘er.”

Tom received chuckles from around the room, but he continued. “‘N now he’s found her.” He raised his glass, and the whole room followed suit. “To Arthur and Linda!” The room repeated his words. “And may their union be filled with happiness and long-lasting!” Everyone took a drink from their glasses and continued with their business.

Arthur and Linda thanked Tom for his words while others complimented him for his speech. Meanwhile, his little Ali had a hand over her mouth with her shoulders shaking.

“Have I said something funny, love?” Tom asked.

She shook her head, took a deep breath, and replied. “That was rather short, wasn’t it? You said like three lines at the most.”

Tom cleared his throat as his mouth twitched upward. “My mother used to say if you have nothing nice to say, then don’t say it at all.”

Aliena’s laughter grew an octave which caught Percy’s attention. He began mimicking his mother and laughed with her. The pair of them set their sights on the babe just as Tom reached over and began ticking Percy’s stomach— giving him something to laugh about. The babe’s giggles turned genuine, and Tommy couldn’t handle the cuteness. He took Percy from Aliena and began kissing his cheeks.

The day went into the night, and eventually, it was just immediate family. Before everyone was ready to say their goodbyes, Tom called a family meeting. Arthur looked hurt, but Tom tried to send him a reassuring look. It didn’t do much.

They all looked a little miffed at him if he was being honest. However, he also didn’t care. “Right, now that we’re all settled down, you all can stop with the glares. It’s not about business.” The stale air immediately lifted. “Aliena and I have an announcement to share. Just as Arthur and Linda will be taking a honeymoon, so will we. Aliena and I have planned to go to New York next month, and seeing as we’re going to the states— the trip will take a month. Fifteen days to get there and fifteen days to get back.”

“That’s a whole bloody month, Tommy!” John exclaimed.

Tom’s expression never changed. “Yes, like I said,” he repeated like he was talking to a child. “While I’m gone, Polly will be in charge, and I trust that you all hold down the fort. We’ll be leaving on the 24th, and we’ll be back around the 29th.”

Finn chimed in, “But you said it would take fifteen days each way.”

Aliena, who was closest to the boy, stroked his arm and replied. “He meant we’ll be leaving on the 24th of this month, and we’ll be back by the 29th of September, love.”

Finn went redder than a tomato but asked another question, nevertheless. “What about Percy? Are you taking him along, or…?”

Tom shook his head, his gaze falling on Ali. She immediately went crestfallen. “Percy’s gonna be with his godparents. You’re all welcome to check up on him from time to time, but he’s to remain in their care while we’re gone.”

Polly hmphed from beside him with her arms crossed. Ali giggled at the sight and walked over to the woman. She hugged Polly, who embraced her back. “You can take care of him too, Pol. I’m sure they’ll need your help.”

Polly hmphed again. “As if I’d let them hog, that beautiful boy from me!” Polly kissed Ali’s temple and shook her head. All eyes were then set back to Tommy.

The man looked over his family and nodded his head. “That’s all. Let’s say good night to the newlyweds and be on our way, eh.”

* “Oh my God! Fuck!”

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#in another world #iaw #thomas shelby imagine #thomas shelby #thomas shelby smut #thomas shelby fanfic #thomas shelby x reader #thomas shelby x oc #Peaky Blinders #peaky blinders imagine #tommy shelby imagine #tommy shelby x oc

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perriwinklesblog · 3 years

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I know some people prefer consistent content but I like to take it as it comes and sometimes life happens and other projects need to take priority.

So right now, I consider this to be a mid season break. Techno going into the prison was like the midseason finale for the Dream Prison Arc and Wilbur and Ranboo’s stuff was like their midseason finale and the Red Banquet where the egg was contained, was a midseason finale and alllllllll the mini episodes we’ve had since there are like specials etc.

You know, like how in Dr Who you can go a few years without a solid season but get a special at Christmas and New Year? You know like that.

So like all other programs, stories, videos I watch, I am coming up with ways in which the next bit could go. Some are a bit out there and definitely not happening, others I could see happening.

This is long and pointless and full or errors both grammatically and spelling wise but I had fun thinking of what could happen next. Read if you want.

Dream escapes prison with Technoblades help. A server wide man hunt comes for Dream but unlike his videos he had stolen the spare armour in the prison and so is pretty OP making it easier for him to put distance between his enemies and himself.

Technoblade returns to the artic and him, Phil and Will come to an in pass, a slight disagreement. Philza whilst having sided with Dream before, knows he’s not a good guy. Only used him to help destroy lmanburg for his own morals. It was not because he agreed with Dream. In his eyes, he was using Dream for his own goals. Plus, now he’s seen the aftermath of Dream’s terror on the citizens he realises the man perhaps shouldn’t be set to run entirely free. This slightly goes against Techno’s beliefs but the main issue of tension between them is Technoblade willingly placing himself in danger when he didn’t need too and helping release the man who tortured Tommy and clearly has something going on with Ranboo thats bad.

Wilbur is angry because Techno won’t say where Dream has gone due to an agreement between the two and Technoblade is a man of his word. Wilbur wishes to thank and meet the man who saved him. This also worries Philza because he’s worried he’ll revert back to the man he saw the day he blew up L’Manburg. Over all tension between the three

Niki and Wilbur finally meet and it is as heartbreaking as it is beautifully tragic. Wilbur apologises but misses the mark, misses what hurt her which hurts her more. There’s an explosion with their argument that leaves a stunned silence. Niki asks Wilbur to leave. He does so.

This leads to a Wilbur and Ranboo conversation where Ranboo tries to reason with Wilbur about Niki’s side. Wilbur brushes it off because much like the blue counterpart we all miss, he’s not a fan of the negative emotion. He tries to focus on the business etc and let’s slip that Dream has escaped somehow. Ranboo leaves. Wilbur is confused but distracted by a confrontation with Quackity.

Ranboo then starts his stream and he’s in the fucking panic room and he’s panicking because there are signs so many signs and they don’t make sense. Theres lesson rules, asking about the missing journal and it’s like every issue he’s ever faced is staring right back at him because Ranboo has never really resolved any issue, just pushed and moved on. He’s tried but that usually failed and for a while he’s ignored all the issues and here they are in front of him, all at one. A big volcanic eruption of anxiety and stress, and it ain’t sitting with him.

Dream appears. But is it really him? We never know because after a conflict and a back and fourth about everyone in Ranboo’s life eventually landing on a threat about Michael and Tubbo, he blacks out and the stream ends.

Quackity is livid with everything thats happening, the careful empire he’s building is falling apart and he’s shifting the blame around from person to person. He manipulates everyone around them into believing this is somehow their own fault and that they must make it up to him because he has been nothing but kind and loving to them. He gave them a place, a roof on their head when they had nothing. He misses out the parts where he insulted and or destroyed their homes, but it works and his employee “family” become the main bounty hunters for Dream, with Bad and Ant tagging along since they’re guards.

Now the streams relating to the manhunt displays everyones wants. They’re all doing this wanting something, and whilst it’s to gain Quackity’s favour back they’re all doing that for different reasons. Their motivations are somewhat different even if on the surface they are the same and so on the man hunts, because there will be many, this is slowly picked apart and through that the manipulation of Quackity is revealed and then we see a parrallel between Quackity and previous people in power where they start to get desperate to keep control over the thing they’ve created. Because that’s been one of (not the only) issues with every leader on the server, the control and their feeling of lack of, even if thats not truly the case. But you get these moments between all the characters where they’re trying to outwit one another, trying to figure it out without blatantly saying it. Maybe Foolish does. He’s a bit of a himbo.

Ponk always said he’d leave the door open for Sam and I truly think something happens, whether it be a look in the mirror with one of his guards going too far with someone or a conversation with Quackity where Quackity holds the mirror up to Sam maliciously, that causes him to hit the rock bottom and just break and I want that breakdown in front of Ponk. And I want Ponk not necessarily to give him the second chance off the bat but give him that peace offering, give him that hand to pull him up. I want him to take Sam to Niki and explain to Niki we’ve done bad things in the past, this is a safe haven and I believe Sam needs help and a place he can truly feel safe and for a moment Sam does and this begins his raid to redemption in gaining back the trust of the people in his lives. He becomes Tubbo 2.0 spying on Quackity like Tubbo did for Wilbur, but maybe less... bad.

But what of the Fiances? Wellllll,. With Dream escaping him and George meet in secret. George confesses he doesn’t believe it’s real and for a long time has been struggling with reality. He misses the early days, misses when they’d just have fun. Dream says he was having fun and George says I wasn’t. Dream shows true regret for George but says its too late now, can’t change the past. George agrees. Dream asks him what he’s going to do and he simply replies with “Sleep” Ending stream.

Sapanps stream is a lot more WE ARE GOING ON A DREAM HUNT WE’RE GOING TO CATCH A BIG ONE, I’M NOT SCARED. vibes. He’s gearing up, he’s suiting up and he’s saluting pets on the way. He made a promise and with everything else going on in his life, he’s ready to throw himself into a distraction. He tries to convince George to help him but he waves him off saying, what’s the point? and mumbles something about divine powers and dreams which Sapnap just shakes off. He tries to find Karl in Kinoko but instead comes across Quackity. They have a blow up about how They abandoned each other, both did wrong but neither see the other side of things and eventually he tells him to leave. Quackity says okay, and the place blows up. Foolish cries in the corner. All that heard work but the boss said so. Sapnap ends the whole thing saying at least he’s there for Karl and Quackity pauses and is like why? And Sapnap is all like you care. Just go, you’ve done enough damage, I can’t have you damaging him too. And after a little more but but but between the two, Quackity goes. Sapnap leaves the place to burn, going to find Dream and hopefully Karl on the way.

Karls in space. That’s where his latest travels have taken him and where the other side decided was his time to visit. Here I see a Wizard in Oz scenario where solutions to some issues will be revealed for Karl in relation to the other side. When it comes to his Dream SMP stuff, he starts confusing names and people more and Sapnap is worried about him, considering keeping him in a safe place. The only place that survived was the library with Karls books. Karl says he’ll stay there. Thats where the answers are anyway. Sapnap is unsure and gets bad vibes but is distracted by a lead on Dream and agrees, he tells him he’ll be back soon.

They don’t see each other for a long ass time

I’m not sure on the egg stuff but I do feel Niki and Puffy should have a conversation about all the shit thats happened and Puffy trying to help Niki and vice versa. I feel like Puffy should reach out to Foolish and try and comprehend what the fuck is he doing with Quackity. They have a little argument but it comes to a point where Puffy realises she cannot shield Foolish from harm and that her son ,just make his own decisions. All she can do is guide him where she can and hope that when it comes down to it he will make the right choice. She hopes she didn’t fail this dependant like she did with Dream her duckling. Though only she sees it as failure.

Jack and Niki finally talk. She goes searching for some things and comes to his new place, he tells her to fuck off and that he doesn’t need anyone. They all abandon him. Niki pretty much does the verbal equivalent of slap some sense into him as she and him discuss how he is not the centre of everything, how he is not the sun. She was hurting, and he didn’t bother, no instead they just fed off each others anger and once he couldn’t feed of her or anyone else he isolated himself. She tries to convince him there are better things in life, there are better ways to place your energy etc. A lot of healing talk with Jack being stubborn. Eventually Jack finds himself at the door of Quackity after sticking to stubbornness, not quite ready to heal and he becomes the next member of Las Nevadas. A big blow to Wilbur too.

They finally destroy the egg with magic. I dunno how but either destroy or hatch. Either or would be great. Red comes out the thing and I want a gay ass villain please. Bring it Red. Let’s go. Invite him to the server, bring the fire, bring the plant power Red. He can be the villain that unites everyone in a begrudging way. Like they all hate each other but fine i guess we’ll team to stop Red and Ant.

Skeppy’s dead.

Tubbo and Ranboo have a fight but Ranboo says “Weren’t we enough?” and it’s in relation to him and Michael (this happens before panic room). Thats when Tubbo realises where the wires got crossed and he immediately rectifies it but explaining he’s happy with the two of them but he wanted a job, something to work towards. Family wise he’s got it all, he’s content with it all but he wanted a project and one that didn’t incite violence. Fun rivalry sure, but he’s done with violence, he’s doesn’t want to add to the nightmares he already has. He wants competition but not one that will put all he loves in danger. So they talk it out and Ranboo feels more confident and Tubbo asks him to tell him if he ever takes anything too far because he can get a little carried away sometimes. Ranboo agrees and then they have a cute playdate with Michael. Then Ranboo does the thing with Wilbur and ends up in panic room.

Tommy and Tubbo discuss everything and lay it all out on the table because Tommy doesn’t want to be on the other side again with Tubbo. Tubbo doesn’t understand why everyone is making such a big deal about his burger business and Tommy tries to explain the issues with Quackity and the level of intensity he’s seen with Wilbur but Tubbo just laughs it off. They eventually talk about Ranboo and Tommy relents saying he likes Ranboo although he does sometimes get jealous of how Tubbo seems to have it all. Tubbo tells Tommy of his nightmares and so does Tommy to Tubbo. They come to an understanding with each other and understand that no matter how long they go apart, there is always a space shaped to fit them perfectly in their lives for them. Tubbo and Tommy then go play some pranks.

Wilbur is unhappy with the pranks and gives a lecture and they get into a fight. This leads to Wilbur talking man to man to Quackity. Theres some weird sexual tension. Once again they’re trying to outwit one another. That when we get to the crazy stuff.

And here’s where I get crazy with my stuff.

Ponk is digging in his lil cave when he accidentally breaks through to a random room buried deep underground. Tommy’s there trying to scam him out of something he has. Tubbo and Ranboo too. When they get to this room Ranboo thinking it’s the panic one and freaks out, but the others calm him down. Ponk thinking theres diamonds in the room storms ahead setting off some traps but surviving. Tubbo opens one of the chests and just says theres a bucket in there. Ponk pulls it out and says it has a named fish in it.

You see where I’m going.

They empty the bucket whilst asking what the fish is called. They are interrupted by a voice. It’s Sally.

Dream had captured her and bound her to a bucket and put her in the chest and hid her from Wilbur.

She has been released. She freaks out over how much time has past because for her nothing has changed at all. She thought it might have been a couple of hours or something since Dream pulled that prank on her but clearly not.

They all catch up and the season ends with Sally and Wilbur meeting in front of Quackity, Dream in the shadows and Sally and Wilbur turning to see Fundy who just freaks the fuck out.

Oh and just a side, Callahan is the last member of the syndicate and God of the server and is having fun playing with the mortals.

And then I have the next season planned out and how I’d end the whole thing but like until then. This is it. Mid Season to finale. How I picture things happening.

None of this will happen but isn’t it fun to imagine?

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nugnthopkns · 3 years

Text

eyes full of stars

word count: 3.1k

warnings: insinuated!fem reader, cursing, alcohol consumption, slight sexual innuendo (kind sorta maybe, minors please be aware)

recommended listening: cowboy like me | taylor swift

a/n: it’s cold and snowy. to combat the winter blues i wrote about a sunny minnesota summer with brock :))

You can’t remember the last time you’ve seen Brock this carefree.

The season was hard on him. There were large periods where he didn’t put up any points, and trade rumors started to circulate. Halfway through, before the playoff push even started, the negative social media comments came rolling in. You frequently saw fans request a trade or say that the organization should regret drafting him. Brock did his best to brush everything off, but it was beginning to waer on his mental health. You’re devastated when they fail to make it to the postseason, but you know it’s for the best. The injured team will spend the offseason recuperating and be ready for the next one. Besides, it means you and Brock will get to spend more time on the lake.

So here you are, packing the car for the twenty-seven hour drive to Minnesota. Brock insists on driving, says it’s relaxing, but you aren’t sure you agree. Prone to car-sickness so fierce you can barely look out the window, you’d much rather fly. Everything is exasperated by the fact you’re a nervous traveller to begin with, afraid of taking a wrong turn or missing an exit. You’re a terrible road trip partner but at least Brock could talk to the dogs. Coolie and Milo loved car rides, and you can typically hear your boyfriend having full on conversations with them as you fade in and out of consciousness.

“Ready to go babe?” Brock asks as he closes the trunk. The question is delivered with a bright grin, and despite your anxiety you return it with ease.

“I don’t really have much of a choice do I?”

He shakes his head, chuckling as he moves towards you. Sliding his hands into the back pockets of your jeans he kisses you lazily. It’s comforting and all-consuming at the same time; doing a great job of occupying your mind with thoughts of him instead of the journey ahead. “I suppose not,” he says, planting a final kiss on your forehead. “It’ll be fine. You can take a Gravol right before we cross the border and you’ll be asleep before we hit Seattle.”

It’s the best plan of attack, so you agree immediately. After taking one last run into your shared apartment to use the bathroom and make sure everything is in order, you make yourself comfortable in the passenger seat of Brock’s jeep. Music filters through the speakers at a low volume, and you focus on the retreating skyline of Vancouver. You’re excited to get back to Minnesota, to relax and see your boyfriend in his natural habitat. Countless days are about to be spent lounging lakeside enjoying each other’s company. It will also be nice to spend time with Brock’s family: they’ve been incredibly welcoming over the years and you can’t wait to catch up with them. You know Brock’s itching to spend time with his nephew, and just to be at home.

Just as Brock said, you’re asleep before Bellingham. It’s fitful, and you’re frequently woken up by the dogs barking a little too excitedly in response to something Brock said. However, it does a good job of keeping you from emptying the contents of your stomach onto the floor. Somewhere in Idaho, a good seven hours after you left Canada, you awake for the final time.

“Look boys, Mom’s finally awake!”

You laugh at the comment and lean over the center console to ruffle his hair. It’s still long from the season, and curls slightly around your fingertips.

“You’re hilarious.”

Brock takes his right hand off the steering wheel, unravelling yours from its resting place and entwining your fingers together. He places a kiss to the back of your palm. “You know I’m just teasing,” he whispers. “I know these drives are hard on you. Thank you for doing it twice a year.”

Instead of answering verbally, you squeeze his hand tighter. Though it’s true you hate driving through five states, you’d do it twice a week if it would make Brock happy. It seems a bit much to convey with a single gesture, but you can tell from the smile that graces his features that Brock understands. The two of you sit in silence, enjoying the scenery and trying to scout for a rest stop. Coolie and Milo are getting antsy and you’re also due to stretch your legs.

After letting the dogs run around to release some energy and using the bathroom, you start the final leg of the day. Missoula, Montana, is the destination. Not quite the halfway point, but close enough that you could tackle the rest of the miles tomorrow, the city has a wide variety of pet-friendly lodging. You insist you drive the rest of the way, giving Brock a well deserved rest. Looking at the interstate for hours can cause serious highway hypnosis. Not even twenty minutes after getting back on the road he’s asleep, snoring softly as he rests his head on the window.

You take a moment to admire your boyfriend. He looks so relaxed and peaceful, and the forehead creases that are starting to develop from over analyzing hours of tape disappear. Brock looks years younger, and you know the youthfulness will creep back into him the longer you’re in Minnesota. You can’t wait to see him without any cares again.

Less than two hours later, the hotel creeps up on your left. Pulling into the first available parking space, you turn the car off before waking Brock.

“Brock, we’re at the hotel,” you say softly, jostling his shoulder. “Let’s get checked in and then we shower.”

The mention of washing off a day’s worth of travel has him letting the door fly open. You had made sure to pack your overnight bags in an easily accessible spot, and work at getting them out while Brock wrangles the dogs. For being cooped up all day, they’re extremely well behaved. Once cleaned up you imagine you’ll take them on a long walk and grab some food.

“Hey, give that back. Milo!” you hear Brock yelp, and peek around to see what’s happening. The younger pup has Brock’s bucket hat between his teeth and is in the process of tearing across the parking lot.

With a giggle you call him back. “Milo, come here baby,” you say. Without a second thought, the dog bolts towards you, knocking against your shins when he fails to stop in time. You lean down to scratch Milo’s ear, and as soon as you ask him to drop the object he places it in your open palm. “Good boy,” you coo, letting him lick the side of your face.

“He’s your dog alright,” Brock huffs from where he’s standing, Coolie running circles around his ankles.

You toss the hat over the roof of the car as you laugh at him. “You’re just jealous he listens to me.”

“I sure fucking am. He’d be an absolute nuisance if it wasn’t for you.”

The rest of the night is spent unwinding from the long day. Dinner consists of the greasiest burgers you can find, and you roam around the city hand in hand, the dogs leading you. By the time you get back to the hotel you’re spent. Sleep takes over rather quickly, and you’re dozing off before Brock gets back from brushing his teeth. Once ready for bed, he slides his body against yours. The pair of you fit together like a puzzle, and after a quick kiss you let sleep consume you.

The second day of travel is much the same, except you do a better job of staying awake. You take a different anti-nausea medication and frequently switch with Brock. Conversation flows easily, ideas for summer excursions and repairs that need to be done around the house. The Boeser’s are kind enough to lend you their lake house during the off season, but the property can be a lot to manage. Brock takes it all in stride, and somehow actually enjoys spending hours mowing the grass. He says it’s relaxing, mind numbing work, so you let him handle it. Country music flows from the car speakers, and eventually talking turns into a full on concert. Milo and Coolie do their best to harmonize with Brock, and it’s too cute not to post somewhere. You sneak your phone from your pocket and manage to catch some of it on video, posting to Instagram immediately. Those from the Canucks organization you have on social media will love it; Brock’s teammates will most definitely chirp him for being tone deaf.

It’s late by the time you pull into the driveway of your temporary home, almost eleven. Grabbing only the essentials and leaving the rest to be unpacked tomorrow, you unlock the door before flopping on the couch. The dogs follow suit, laying on top of you. When Brock walks in he shakes his head, but still leans over to kiss you.

“Make sure you text your mom and let her know we made it,” you call to his retreating figure. “And let her know we’ll be over in the afternoon once we get situated.”

You swear he flips you off, no doubt poking fun at your maternal instincts. “Yes ma’am,” he replies.

“Ma’am?” you shriek. “I am not fifty. You’re so gonna get it Boeser.”

After gently nudging the dogs off your legs you’re chasing after him, laughing all the way. Brock’s a lot faster than you, being the athlete he is, but you don’t give up hope. In a last ditch attempt to get him back, you launch yourself forward, square into the middle of his back. The change in weight distribution has him falling to the floor, sprawling the width of the hallway. Both of you are giggling messes, delirious from lack of sleep and the knowledge you get to spend four months of uninterrupted time together.

“I love you, you know that right,” Brock murmurs into the crook of your neck. He dots chaste pecks along the skin and you sigh at the feeling.

Pulling him closer, you make sure to properly enunciate your words as you respond. “Yes sir.”

Brock eyes darken visibly, and he shifts his body so he’s resting on top of you. “You’re in for it now,” he groans, dragging himself to his feet. You quickly follow, meeting his lips in an eager kiss. The pair of you stumble the rest of the way to the bedroom, bodies intertwining like ivy vines, and Brock makes sure to kick the door shut to ensure your pets don’t interrupt the salacious activities he has planned.

☼☼☼☼

You settle into a routine fairly quickly. Mornings are spent alone while Brock works out, and afternoons are for lounging in the sun. The hours after the sun fades away are spent huddling around a bonfire with friends, and midnights are for just the two of you. Sometimes Brock lets himself rest and spends the day in the middle of the lake doing his best to fish, leaving you to spend time with his mom and sister. They’re lovely; warm and welcoming, making sure you’re never too lonely or bored. You and Brock also spend a lot of time with his nephew, doting over the toddler. Seeing your boyfriend with him makes you want kids, but that’s a conversation that is yet to be had in any serious light.

Sometimes you join Brock when he does typical professional hockey player in the summer things. It turns out you're quite the golfer, and have put him to shame many times. Countless days are spent helping him fix the roof of the lake house because he insists on doing it himself even though he knows nothing about roofing. At least seven phone calls to his father and a desperate run to the hardware store later, it’s completed; sealed and free of cracks. Though you’re a terrible fisher, Brock tries his best to teach you. Truth be told, you don’t have any interest in the sport, but his tongue pokes out slightly when he’s thinking about how to explain a concept and you think it’s adorable.

Coolie and Milo are loving being able to roam free, and you both spend a lot of time outside with them. You’re only ever really in the house at night, reading or playing games on the patio furniture Brock’s mom picked out. It’s peaceful; existing like this. You swear you could do it forever.

Being home allows an invisible weight to be lifted off Brock’s shoulders. There’s a pep in his step, and he’s always smiling. Even the intense at-home workouts can’t seem to bring him down. You’re delighted, how could you not be? It’s as if the only things that matter to him are enjoying a few beers lakeside and coaxing you out of shorts in the dark. You suppose that’s the truth.

☼☼☼☼

It’s incredibly warm out. The sun beats down on your back as you turn the pages of your novel, half listening to the conversation Brock is having with his friends. A group of you are on the boat, enjoying one of the last full days of summer. Later in the week you and Brock will pack up the car again, making the long trek back to Vancouver. You’re sad time has passed so fast, but you’d be lying if you said you weren’t excited to be back in the city. It’s your home, and the boys seem to be really fired up for the new season. You have a feeling some really good hockey is going to come out of Rogers Arena.

“Yo Y/N, who’s the better driver. Me or Boes?”

The question pulls you from the fantasy taking place on the pages, and you look to see who’s speaking to you. It’s Brock’s dearest childhood friend, someone you consider family at this point. “It’s absolutely not Brock,” you shrug. The comment earns a loud laugh from everyone and you find yourself joining in.

“Ouch babe, that hurts,” Brock says as he slides into the free space next to you. Casually wrapping a strong arm around your shoulder, he leans down to whisper into your ear. “Looks like you need to be taught a lesson.”

His words have a vaguely sexual connotation, and you look around nervously. Your swimsuit won’t cover the flush that will be sure to rise on your skin if Brock tries anything. Everyone seems to be engaged in their own conversations, but you still feel queasy about getting caught. Though Brock’s friends are the type to laugh it off, you’d be absolutely mortified.

Before your brain can overthink anything else, you’re being lifted from your seat. It only takes two seconds for Brock to hoist you over the side of the boat and throw you into the cool water. You land with a glorious splash, but take your time coming to the surface. Partly to bring your temperature down, partly to make your lover squirm.

“You’re a fucking asshole,” you yell to him from below, but the bright smile you flash him lets Brock know you don’t mean it.

He sets his hat on top of your book before climbing over the edge. “Shut up,” he fires back, diving gracefully to join you in the water.

A small splashing match breaks out, and soon everyone else is in the water, picking sides. You swim until your skin is wrinkled beyond recognition, pruned and puckered something akin to a raisin. Only once the sky begins to redden do you head for home. Brock keeps the boat at cruising speed, and you sit comfortably in his lap. Once back on land, dinner is quickly thrown together. A mish-mash of what’s left in your fridge and what others have brought, but it works. The boys huddle around the grill and everyone else swoons over the dogs, who are on their best behaviour.

Later in the night, once the dishes are cleaned up and some guests with day jobs have left, you settle into Brock’s side at the fire. Not caring if you get chirped for the PDA, you hold his face in both your hands and rest your forehead against his. The scruff that’s grown in since the last time Brock shaved tickles slightly, but you’re too in love with him to care. It’s been so refreshing to see him relaxed, acting without a care in the world. Hopefully the attitude he currently has will stick and not disappear once you hit the Vancouver city limits.

Brock takes a sip of his beer before offering the bottle to you. You gingerly place it to your lips, making a face at the taste. He laughs at your reaction, pushing a few loose strands of hair behind your ear.

“Still tastes disgusting,” you mutter, reaching for your own drink to wash away the taste.

The fire crackles gently behind you but you barely register the sound, in your own little world where everything is perfect. It’s you, Brock, and the dogs living in a house similar to the one you’re currently residing in, living life to the fullest.

“You gonna come back to me, space cadet?” Brock chuckles, tracing the outline of your nose.

“Yeah, yeah. Sorry,” you apologize. “Was just thinking.”

“About what?”

“Us. The future. Living in a lake house just like this one and spending all our time being so in love with each other that our friends constantly make fun of us. Maybe having kids in a couple of years. How I love seeing you like this; so at peace and full of life.”

In lieu of a response, Brock kisses you passionately. It’s a soft kind of passion: one that holds you tenderly and whispers sweet nothings in your ear. He tastes like the Coors Light he’s been drinking, but somehow the idea of beer is much more appealing when mixed with Brock. You lose yourself in him for a while, relishing in the gentleness of his hands resting on your waist. Eventually you return some of your attention to the others, but even then you can’t find it in yourself to focus. Your mind is filled with nothing but love for Brock.

It’s seems that he’s feeling the same way, because he continually leaves kisses across your shoulder blade. “I really, really love you,” Brock confesses, and you feel him smile through the thin material of your worn hoodie.

You intertwine your pinky with his and let them sit comfortably in your lap. “I love too. So much that it’s all consuming.”

Brock often leaves you breathless in more ways than one, but sweet sentiments like this will always take the cake. Especially when they happen on summer nights where he’s free to be his authentic self.

☼☼☼☼

taglist: @jamiedrysdales @kiedhara @tortito if you want to be added shoot me an ask :)

#why tf did i spend so much time detailing the car ride lmao #brock boeser imagine #brock boeser x reader #brock boeser fic #vancouver canucks imagine #hockey imagine #hockey fic #nhl imagine #nhl fic #cwrites

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dotthings · 4 years

Text

Ok, here’s the thing. I don’t find it at all plausible Misha would have been cut from 15.20 filming due to covid. If he’s not in it, it’s because it wasn’t part of the plan in the first place. If it wasn’t part of the plan in the first place, then I do have some questions for the writers, because not having Cas be a key figure in ep 15.20 makes no sense for the story they’ve been telling.

We’ve got Cas revealed as the only Cas in all of Chuck’s worlds who wouldn’t follow the rules. The only spanner in the works, the only Cas with a crack in his chassis. And oh by the way, the only Cas in all the worlds who fell in love with Dean Winchester.

We’ve got Cas getting yeeted away to The Empty, where he’s already come back from it twice.

We’ve got a heavy emphasis not just on found family, but on how important Eileen is to Sam, and Cas is to Dean.

We’ve got Cas getting to make a confession, and Dean left just...not dealing and not getting to speak, how is that an arc resolution? It’s not.

We’ve got Cas as consistently for 12 seasons always a key player in the A-level mytharc plots and pivotal in emotional plots. Suddenly he’s dropped off the board completely for the series finale of the entire show? For what, so the end can be all about Sam and Dean? Thus...throwing under a bus the point S15 has been attempting to drive into people’s heads with a mallet about family don’t end with blood and this love story between Dean and Cas and how unique Cas is in his own right. Don’t listen to ultrabitter nonsense about how unimportant he is and it’s all a brosonly conspiracy there at spn because that’s just insulting to this character and the actual role he plays on SPN.

We’ve got in S15 Destiel as an A-plot. Look at the way 15.18 was hinted up towards and talked about after by the spn writers and adjacent crew on twitter. 15.18 was clearly considered a pivotal episode, one of the most important episodes, if not the most important, of S15.

We’ve got in S15 Dean’s entire personal self-fulfillment arc heavily tied to Cas. To the point where the last missing piece that enabled Dean to step off Chuck’s hamster wheel was Cas’s love confession. Cas saved everyone not just Dean by loving Dean. Yet Dean’s self-fulfillment arc isn’t done (neither is Sam’s fyi, but he’s not as closely tied to Cas in this).

We’ve got this immensely important character knocked off the board 2 eps before the ending, with a majority of the fandom losing its godamn mind because we just aren’t buying that this was the end of his story.

We’ve got Cas’s self-fullfillment arc incomplete. Yes, I know, he felt fulfilled in saying the love and was happy as The Empty consumed him. But we’re still missing some major steps. Don’t even try to tell me that his arc is filled because he thinks dying for love is the best it can ever get for him. There’s big BIG missing steps here like uh...if Sam and Dean are able to pursue figuring out who they are now, when they’re off Chuck’s hamster wheel, but Cas just sleeps forever in the empty dreaming his regrets and that’s considered a resolution? Seriously?

With all this season has given us, do you really think the season was planned out with Cas’s absence in 15.20?

And do you really think, if the original plan is to have him be in 15.20, given the precedents here, the arcing of S15, the huge dangling lack of resolution here screaming for resolution that they have set up, that they wouldn’t make arrangements to have Misha film for 15.20 despite covid regulations? That he wouldn’t be pivotal enough to warrant it? Really???

You can say you’re worried the writers didn’t plan for him to be in there, that he’s not going to come back, that Dean’s never going to speak his heart’s truth back to Cas. I understand those worries. I personally would find that unsatisfying, and the argument I have always made is that if he was knocked down for a time, he’d be back. I’ve never rooted for Cas to be cut off and have his end be this.

Taking him off the board just so the ending can focus on Sam and Dean would be wrong, even if it was a covid consideration, it’s bad for the story, bad for Cas’s story, and bad for Dean’s story and bad for the show’s themes. There’s a lot of unresolved aspects to Cas, individually, just as there is for Dean right now. I’m sorry that Cas wound up cloaked in secrecy, that fandom is being so jerked around on this, to build suspense for a twist, or because he won’t be there and they don’t want to reveal the spoilers either way. That's been a pain in the neck. Please try to take deep breaths. Remember PR isn’t the story.

What has the story been telling you.

What is the story now crying out for resolution on, when we had a pseudo ending already but there is still one whole episode left.

And remember that the people trying to make pronouncements on the negative side of the speccing chain here don’t know any more than the people basing our spec on the substance of the story that’s aired so far. And we’ve all seen the same baffling and often contradictory PR and bts scraps of evidence. There’s nobody itk right now. I would also particularly mistrust meta takes that insist that it’s superior for the story to not have Cas return and not have Dean get to speak his heart’s truth to his face. That just seems like it’s short-changing Dean and Cas individually, not just Destiel.

But I don’t think covid was a factor. Things are set up the way they are in canon. Cas is too key a player every season for it to be feasible they could just last minute cut Misha from 15.20 filming because you can only have X number of people on set under covid regulations. My instinct is that he was always planned to be there, or he always wasn’t.

Cas deserves to have a full resolution on his arc just as much as Dean does and knocking him out too early just so SPN could be about Just Sam and Dean at the end...for those who grokked onto the inauthentic feeling of the end of 15.19, with its purposeful air of outdated nostalgia, and Sam and Dean not quite looking joyful about this freedom they just achieved, you really think this writing team would do that? With Castiel’s name carved on the table. Dean showing his grief for Cas throughout 15.19. After all the story we’ve seen. It makes no sense to me to cut each of these characters arcs off at the knees. No that is not a superior story if that happens. And Dean’s personal fulfillment arc is so entwined with Cas now, and Cas with Dean. You know, Dean. His north star, the one who taught him how to love.

Roll the dice. That’s all any of us are doing. I think this writing team knows what it’s doing, I hope I’m right and this pays off beautifully, because the set up is amazing, the tension is beautifully set.

#Castiel #spn #supernatural #supernatural season 15 #supernatural season 15 spoilers #meta

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ly-canthropewrites · 4 years

Text

Love or War

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Reader

Word Count: 2998

Rating/Warnings: SFW. Brief mentions of previous season drama.

Summary: “I saw you staring at each other, I wasn’t sure if it was sexual tension or murderous rage”

You can feel the heavy gaze from across the field. Intense eyes fixated on your figure as you rattle the chain-wire fence that surrounds the newest section of Alexandria. The post-apocalyptic town has been thriving since the end of Negan’s reign and with the undead being the town’s only consistent antagonist, it has given the community an opportunity to expand their borders. The chain-mesh fence was scavenged from the Sanctuary before the community fell off the map and serves as a strong protector as the new plot of land gets tilled. But it remains fragile when leant against and it has become a daily task during guard duty to rid the walkers that stumble near the temporary fence, a job you jump at to vent your frustrations.

The deliberate noise draws the attention of the few walkers close by and they turn, growling as they catch your scent in the wind and they shuffle your way. It’s second nature now, muscle memory, to shift your grip on the knife handle and strike at their heads, using the fence for leverage and stability. The motions do nothing to quench the frustration and fire that rages inside you and you growl, yanking your knife from the last walker’s head with more force than necessary. The bloodied blade gets cleaned on the rag that is tied to your belt loops and then you are left with nothing to do, no more walkers to distract you from the boredom or the swirl of emotions that fester inside.

You find yourself glancing over in his direction, succumbing to the gravitational pull of the universe and you don’t find yourself surprised at all to find him still staring at you, a dark scowl painted across his face. You sneer back at him, standing strong with your own gaze.

“Stupid, fucking redneck,” you mutter under your breath and the fire that burns in your chest grows hotter, feeding off of your anger.

The swishing of grass on your left distracts you and you are met with Carol only a few feet from you. You nod at her, giving her a tight-lipped smile as well before turning to look at the perimeter, finding nothing in the wilderness has changed and you sigh.

“I saw you staring at each other, I wasn’t sure if it was sexual tension or murderous rage,” Carol says lightly, walking to your side and mirrors your stance; arms crossed and back straight.

You scoff, openly showing that you aren’t in the mood for her banter today but it doesn’t deter the older woman.

“Most definitely murderous rage” you grit.

“See, I don’t know about that - I see a lot of passion,” She teases.

You throw her a withering look, disdain heavy in your eyes and if Carol isn’t careful; some of that murderous rage will be pointed at her soon.

“So if it is murderous rage, how long are you going to remain angry at him?” Carol tries a gentler approach, obviously getting the message and you wince, guilt beginning to set in as you mentally chastise yourself about your unrestrained attitude.

Shrugging, you refuse to make eye contact with your old friend. “I don’t know Carol, he humiliated me,” you breathe.

“He didn’t mean too, he was worried,” Carol begins to defend him but when she sees you shaking your head and the flash of hurt across your face, she stops herself.

“But he did it anyway. He humiliated me, he berated me in front of everyone, undermined me, treating me as if I am some soft fucker who hasn’t been beyond the walls” you spit and you render the woman silent, unsure about what to say next.

When the silence between the pair of you becomes stagnant, Carol realises it’s time for her to leave and she steps back a few feet, mulling over her next words.

“Talk to him,” she pleads and you snort, “Fuck no,”.

Carol says your name in warning, making you roll your eyes. “I’m not fucking submitting. If he wants to talk, then he can man up and come to me with a goddamn apology,”.

You hear her heavy sigh behind you before her retreating footsteps, leaving you to stew in your malcontent alone. It is your stubborn pride and bruised feelings that prevent you from talking with your old companion, from making amends and burying the hatchet, an ideal that is important in this world because life is too short and unpredictable to be so petty. And yet, you cannot help yourself this time. He hurt you, deeply, a stinging wound that will take time to heal.

It’s not like you have done anything wrong in the first place. With the apocalypse a decade old, resources are unimaginably scarce, leaving only items that are grown, hunted or handmade to be used. It was commonplace for you to be the first person out of the gates in the morning and the last to return in the evening, spending hours and even days hunting, refusing to go back to Alexandria empty-handed. You are too stubborn for your own good, too arrogant in your capabilities to survive and adapt to the dangerous world. As a repercussion, your last run was almost the death of you.

Enemies are like hydras; one falls and another takes its place. Negan was once considered Alexandria’s greatest threat, but that fear was usurped by the latest peril; the Whisperers. Negan ruled with fear and violence. The Whisperers rule with death. Their ability to influence herds is an obstacle that the community does not know how to overcome. The capricious nature makes every run, every scouting mission, every patrol dangerous and life-threatening. Therefore, it became law that no-one is to go outside the metal walls without a group and without informing the council. It should have been expected that you would struggle with this rule, never been one to abide by strict regulations, but the thought slipped the minds of the council and you kept slipping outside the gates.

Your last run is a perfect example of why the rule is in place; you got caught by the herd with Whisperers dotted within. Perhaps they tracked you down or perhaps it was just shit luck that you ran into them, but it resulted in a fight for your life and an injury that planted fear on sight. It was sheer, dumb luck that allowed you to escape with your life; an old tree fell whilst you were in the midst of swiping at walkers and humans alike, and caused a great enough distraction that gave you the opportunity to bolt. You damn well shocked Rosita who stood on guard duty that evening as you came sprinting towards the main gates, coated in two types of blood and clutching at your side, out of breath with wild eyes.

That night you had Siddiq inform you that you got lucky the knife wound at your abdomen was free of infection but he was stern to chastise that only one hour more and you wouldn’t have made it, wound too deep to be stemmed by only pressure and the combination of exhaustion and blood loss would have defeated you. His words didn’t shake you that night, instead, you shrug nonchalantly and smirked, telling him that death in this world is inevitable and you would greet it like an old friend.

You refused to stay in the infirmary that night, scrunching your nose at the thought of being surrounded by sick people in a sterile environment, rather opting for the privacy of your own place. He was unable to stop you, letting you go with an armful of supplies and a sigh, watching you stagger down the pathway. You made it only halfway home before you were halted by a loud yell, the noise capturing the attention of not just you but the other residents that were milling in the nearby courtyard.

“What the fuck wer’ ya thinkin’?” Daryl yelled, storming towards you with a glare that would frighten Hades. “How fuckin’ stupid are ya?” he adds.

He berated you in public that night, practically screaming in your face about your stupidity, your lack of respect to the council and their rules, your selfishness and conceited attitude. He didn’t let you get a word in to defend yourself as he raged, words becoming harsher by the second. You could handle the words but it was the venom in his voice that surprised you. It was filled with so much anger, so much hatred and spite that you lost the words that you wanted to scream back at him. Instead, when he took a moment to catch his breath, you just walked away, your eyes on the ground as you stifled the bewildered cry that ached in your chest.

The incident happened two weeks ago and you haven’t spoken since, avoiding each other like the plague but the distance hasn’t stopped either of your from directing heated glares at each other, consequently deepening the rift in your friendship.

----

The guard changeover occurs on dusk and when your replacement comes, you greet them with a tight smile as you pass over the unused rifle before quickly leaving the post. You don’t head home after the shift and instead, you go down to the armoury with hopes that working maintenance on the weapons will distract you from the words Carol has lodged in your mind. Daryl worried? You scoff at the thought. In a previous time, those words would have made sense - you and Daryl have been partners in crime since the fall of the world, similar in too many ways and it made sense that you were friends. But after seeing the pure acrimony he directed at you, you fail to believe it stemmed from a place of compassion.

It was well past midnight when the doors to the armoury creaked open. It was probably someone on shift wanting to pick up more ammo or something alike. What you didn’t expect was to see the rugged hunter ease into the room. You stared at him with furrowed eyebrows and a twist in your lips, hands paused on the shotgun you were working on.

“You weren’t home when I knocked,” Daryl states simply, gruff voice a melody to your ears after the long radio silence.

“You know I don’t sleep when I’m alone,”

It’s true; you struggle to rest when there is no-one watching over you, a position that is usually filled by the man in front of you.

Daryl nods, biting down on the inner side of his cheek as he reflects. Of course you don’t, you never have and he knew that. The poignant silence weighs heavily between you and Daryl shifts uncomfortably, moving further into the room to take a seat on the chair that sits in front of the sole workstation. You never sat at the workstation, preferring to sit on the floor so you had more space to work with but at this moment, you hated how you were positioned lower than the man.

“Yer gonna use that thing on’ me?” There is a ghost of a sly smirk upon his lips, a sparkle of mischief in his eyes but you aren’t having it, you won’t befall to his sparse charm.

“Don’t tempt me, Daryl Dixon,’’

The full use of his name and the stern attitude makes Daryl wince, the severity of damage he inflicted to you now evident before him. He nods silently, gnawing anxiously at his lip as you both fall back and stew in silence. You resume cleaning the weapon in your hands, needing to keep busy in an attempt to distract your mind from the chaos that sits in front of you. Daryl watches you, this time without the hatred and disdain, but his gaze is just as heavy as before.

“Why are you here, Daryl?”

He notes the tiredness in your voice, not the physical exhaustion that is a permanent state in this new world, but the emotional weariness that burdens you.

“‘M here to apologise,”

“Are you here because Carol told you to or because you actually want to?”

His hesitation is a loud answer and you scoff, glaring up at him with your teeth bared.

“Of course not. Daryl Dixon never apologises because he actually wants to, no, someone else has to puppet him. You are so fucking incompetent,” you growl, “You can’t even do the right fucking thing. Whatever ‘apology’ you have concocted to make this all better; forget it, Daryl. I don’t fucking accept it!”.

You take a predatory satisfaction in seeing the raw hurt flash across his face at your words. Your words are harsh, digging at old wounds that the man harbours but you can’t even conjure up the guilt or regret; hungry to dish out the same pain that you have received. Vexation and wrath raise its ugly head and you furiously rub at the long barrel of the shotgun, as if you would be able to transfer your rage through kinetic energy.

“Yer keep sacrificing yerself for the group ‘n’ and I fuckin’ hate it,” He breaks the icy air. His voice cracks despite his whispered tone but you catch it the little hitch.

Your cautious gaze meeting his is the signal he needed because he keeps going, as if the dam inside breaks and the words come spilling out; unrestrained, pure and honest.

“You’v’ done it since the beginnin’. Take the burden of the group on yerself ‘n’ takin’ all the risks. We’v only survived this long b‘cause of ya. You’v always kept us goin’. When the prison fell, you wanted ter round everyone up ‘n’ then Terminus happened and..” he breaks off, eyes squeezing shut as he recalls the horrible and degrading things the savages there threatened you with; how they held the machete to your neck and how powerless he was to stop everything. You were so close to death that afternoon as well, mere seconds away from being just an empty vessel.

“Then all the shit that's happened since. You’ve never stopped, never broke down. Just kept trudgin’ on. But it all caught up and you could’ve died out there… without me. ‘N I wouldn’t have known until it was ter late”.

“But I could have died in here and you still wouldn’t have been able to do anything, Daryl - that’s life,” you argue.

Daryl’s head whips up so fast, you are sure he could have suffered whiplash, but you get distracted by the flames in his eyes.

“It’s not life. You ‘ave no fuckin’ idea what yer do to me, woman,” Daryl groans, looking at you so helplessly, almost insulted at how you don’t get it.

“Apparently I piss you off!” you retort, “Ya know, with my selfish attitude and lack of respect” you parrot his own words back to him, a glare resituating across your face. “You yelled at me, Daryl. You screamed in my face, in front of everyone, and then gave me the cold shoulder. Me, out of all people, your fucking friend”.

He shakes his head while you speak, an action that only infuriates you more. You are ready to attack him about that, mouth already open as you reveal your disgust, “Stop fucking shaking your head as if I’m playing the vic-”.

In your rant, you don’t acknowledge the scrape of the metal stool along the concrete, given barely enough time to react to the new stimulus of rough lips upon yours and a hand that grips your chin. Daryl swallows your surprise, mouth unyielding as he crowds into you, pushing you back against the back leaving you no room to run. He kisses you desperately. Frantically. It is messy and unruly, a bruising kiss that steals the breath from your lungs and makes your head spin. You can taste every single secret that has ever danced across his lips, taste the fear that dwells within him but has never been uttered to another soul. You learn more about Daryl in this instance than you ever will in a lifetime.

You both are slow to break apart; lips barely separating as you catch your breath, greedily sucking in as much oxygen as you can to sate the burning of your lungs.

“‘M so fuckin’ sorry,” he cries against your lips.

His hand still has a firm grip on your jaw, which is sure to leave finger-shaped bruises in its wake, but like his kiss - his touch is desperate as well.

“You’v neva been a victim. I was just so fuckin’ scared that I would lose ya. I can’t lose ya,” he stresses, a voice that sounds so pained and winced; it sounds as if the wounds were personally inflicted upon him.

He drops his death-like grip on your chin, bowing forward to rest his head against yours, never straying too far from your space. Your arms wind around his hulking form; bringing him closer and Daryl lets himself slump against you, his head slipping to rest on your shoulder as he nuzzles into your neck and his body, although heavy, feels like comfort from a warm blanket. You can feel him utter endless apologises into the crook of your neck, lips brushing along your skin and you memorise the soft tone of his voice as he echoes “‘M sorry,”.

You hush him, turning your head to press a gentle kiss to the dark tresses, whispering “I know,” to every apology he mutters. Eventually, the apologises fade and you are submerged in peaceful silence, curled into each other. You don’t need to ask why he couldn’t have just told you all those words at the beginning, to save you both the agony and trauma of the last few weeks. But your Daryl is complex, a stunning mosaic of intricate emotions that aren’t easily given and you accept that this is who he is. The man would go to war for love; for you.

Tags:

@guywithacrossbow

@oncemorewithfeelingg

@rachelxxraucous

@gaenahelleborus

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writing-gifts · 3 years

Text

datura (moth!bruno x butterfly!reader)

—–

A/N: a pretty chill chapter!

First Chapter || Previous Chapter || Next Chapter

Reader is gender neutral!

—–

[Early Winter]

The first few days at Bruno’s home are disorienting. Your sleep schedule was already poor for a diurnal creature, but staying with the moth was pushing it one step further to full nocturnal. Even when you would try to sleep at night like you were supposed to, the sound of Bruno and Narancia moving throughout the house would sometimes wake you up.

Along with that, where Bruno’s home was located and because of the weather, daylight felt like it lasted a tick within the actual span of the day. You could see but it felt darker than your home on an overcast day. So even though you naturally felt more alert in the day, there was always a tiny feeling of needing to go to sleep within you.

On the brightside, you could spend more time with the moth this way. It had only been a few days but the both of you had gotten closer--in the non-platonic sense--ever since you kissed. You loved it and sometimes it felt too good to be true. But at the same time, even if you try to push it down, you still feel unsure. What exactly were the two of you now? You were partners, right?

You had to be. Now that the fully platonic barrier was gone, you both were always touching. Whether it was holding hands, cuddling or just leaning against one another. And between the flirty quips and the teasing looks, you would kiss...a lot. It was nice.

While thinking about this, you stare out the bedroom’s small window as you lie in bed. Only your face is exposed in the blanket cocoon you put yourself in.

Today you had woken up while there was still light out but were reluctant to actually get up. When you first woke up you literally felt like you couldn’t, but now suddenly the bed felt too empty. And the small image you see of the snow piled up outside makes you rethink staying in bed. It must have snowed a good amount while you were asleep.

You yawn. Abilene momentarily pops into your head and you wonder what they’re up to. They were definitely up way before you that’s for sure. You hope they were keeping extra warm.

It takes a moment but when you finally force yourself out of your covers, you immediately think to go outside. In fact, the alluring and bright beauty of the snow almost has you running out of the house completely unprotected from the cold. You barely stop yourself and head back into Bruno’s room to grab one of your blankets and put on a pair of shoes.

After slipping the simple shoes on, you let your wings droop so you can wrap the blanket around yourself.

You head back to the main room and quietly open the door to avoid waking up either Bruno or Narancia. Walking out, you shut the door behind you. You had barely been outside since you arrived here so it was nice to get some fresh air.

Shuddering the moment the cold hits you, you wrap yourself completely with the covers and take in your surroundings. The snow had piled up a good amount, And you wonder if Bruno had moved the snow out of the way earlier since the ground in front of the door lacked any.

You climb up the small slope of snow to get a better view. Everything felt brighter with the fresh layer of white everywhere. You even found that you could see farther into the distance between all the trees.

For some reason you get the urge to touch the snow on the ground under you, but immediately pull your hand back when you feel a sharp chill shoot up your arm. Snow was pretty to look at but not nice to touch which you already knew, but every year you’d find yourself making the same mistake. However, you were still hoping to eat ice cream later in the season.

You wander around a bit in front of the house before stopping in a spot where more light manages to break through the bare branches of the trees. It must get extremely dark in this area when the trees are full of leaves.

Time escapes you and you don't realize how long you’re outside until you try to move your leg and your knee is almost locked in place. Your eyes widen and you immediately shuffle back to the house with your stiff limbs, almost slipping down the slope in the process.

Once you’re inside, you accidentally bump the door closed too loudly with your body but continue to awkwardly move forward.

So cold, holy crap! Need more covers.

Before you can even leave the main room Bruno walks in. His eyes immediately take in your strange stance and he gives you a confused look..

You'd jump if you could. “Y-You're awake?”

“I had a feeling I heard the door close shut.”

You internally sigh at your carelessness.

“You're shivering really bad. Are you okay?”

"I m-m-might have gone outside f-f-for a tick or m-more."

Bruno gives you the most exasperated look you've seen in awhile before pinching the bridge of his nose. But right after, he reaches out towards you.

“Come here.”

You move towards him and he leads you over to the giant open space in the middle of the main room and gently prompts you to sit down on the rug.

"Be right back.”

You rub your legs and try to bend them as you wait for the moth to return. When he does, he has many of your blankets and pillows within his arms. You watch as he unfolds a few of the covers on the ground which you crawl onto while he places the pillows against the front of the couch. Once the moth’s done, he sits down and motions you over so he can pull you against him. He then covers you both with the rest of the blankets before leaning back against the pillows.

“Is this okay?”

“Y-Yea.” You felt less cold but it might take more time for your body to warm up to a comfortable temperature.

Suddenly Bruno’s body begins to vibrate rapidly.

“W-What?”

He rests his head in the crook of your neck. “This will warm you up a little quicker.”

“Oh, o-okay.”

You both sit there for a while and the vibrating starts to lull you to sleep. The combined warmth of his body and sweater was just too cozy for you, and you weren’t going to try to keep your eyes open if you didn’t have to.

You wiggle in Bruno's arms and the moth gives you a questioning hum.

“Just changing positions. I feel like I’m going to fall asleep on you any second…”

You turn so you can properly lay against Bruno's chest and press your face against the fluff around his neck that was sticking out from his sweater.

So soft.

Bruno’s arms close around you again once you're situated and you sigh. It was partially one of content but also a bit of uncertainty. You wouldn't say you weren't enjoying this but you still had that one worry in your mind.

You lightly play with his fur. "....Are we doing this as friends?"

You knew what you were saying was absolutely ridiculous but you weren’t sure how to ask what you wanted without sounding awkward. Where did both you and Bruno stand after that kiss? You’re enjoying how much closer you two had become over the last couple days but you need a straightforward answer to completely relax.

"____."

"Yea?"

"I need to tell you something--"

Before Bruno can finish, Narancia suddenly runs into the room. He yells before jumping onto you which forces a grunt from your throat. He was definitely heavier than you look.

Bruno looks down at his son. "Narancia why did you do that?"

"I wanna be--I wanna join too!"

You move from your comfortable position so the little bee can properly lay against you. “At least I'm fully awake now.” You yawn. “Kinda”

Narancia looks up at you. “Are you guys married now?”

You almost choke on your own spit from the sudden question. Well you couldn't blame him. You and Bruno weren't exactly conspicuous with your affections.

You look at the moth and he answers for you. "Well we aren't married but, maybe one day. If ____ wants to."

You struggle to keep yourself from gawking.

The bee nods in understanding. You wish you could accept things as easily as children did.

You want to ask Bruno to further elaborate on that but Narancia starts an enthusiastic conversation with you about flowers. The bee wasn’t able to visit them on his own yet but he seemed quite excited too.

“Do you have any favorite flowers Narancia?” you ask.

He mules it over for a moment. “I like the big ones.”

“Like a sunflower?”

He tilts his head. “What’s that?”

You raise a brow a bit surprised.

“There's no sunflowers around here,” Bruno chimes in.

You nod. To find them you have to go to an open field, so there must not be any nearby. And you remember Bruno saying that carrying Narancia could be troublesome.

“How about I take you to see some in the Summer? They love the sun, hence the name. But you have to promise you won’t move too much when I carry you okay?”

God forbid the bee managed to squirm out of your grip.

The bee nods enthusiastically.

All three of you keep one another company in your pile of blankets and pillows. But eventually Narancia starts to get restless from listening to you and Bruno talk about “boring adult stuff” and runs off to his room.

You lay on your stomach on the ground and look at Bruno. You can tell that the moth was ready for bed.

"You can go to sleep, you know."

"I’m not that tired--" he yawns.

"Sure you're not."

"Well I am but I want to spend more time with you."

You weren't completely used to such sweet words so you aren't able to respond right away.

“...I do too, but I’m going to be here after you wake up. Unless I go to sleep right after.”

“I’ll try to wake up in the afternoon before that happens,” Bruno says. He leans over and presses kiss on your cheek.

You lay there once Bruno leaves and you feel yourself drifting off until Narancia runs in with a container of blocks to play with you. It mainly consisted of you trying to build something and the bumblebee knocking it over though.

You spend up until almost noon playing with him and trying to keep him entertained. At that point he wants to go outside, which you were honestly hoping to avoid but you suck it up and agree.

After dressing yourself up properly, making sure to protect your hands and layer up, you help Narancia dress himself too before heading outside.

You hug yourself as you watch Narnacia run around and play with the cold snow. He squats down and makes a small pile from it before turning to you.

“Let’s make a snowbug!”

Oh jeez.

Even though you rather not mess with the snow after your brief contact earlier today, you nod. It would be fun. Probably.

You ignore the cold of the snow through your gloves and help Narancia start the head for the snowbug before you move on to rolling up the body. Once Narancia is done with the head he helps you with the body.

After moving the body to a good spot, according to Narancia, you move to find the head but can’t.

“Narancia where’s the head?”

“There...” he points to a weirdly shaped pile of snow on the ground.

You walk up to it and raise a brow. “Um...What happened to it?”

The bee looks off to the side. “I tried bu’ it wasn't round. An’ when I tried to fix it, it fell apart…”

You nod, “That’s okay let’s remake it now.”

You help start it again and have the bee roll it up again, coming in to help when necessary so the shape would stay spherical.

“Okay now roll it closer to the body so I can put it on top.”

Once Narancia rolls it over, you pick it up and place it on top of the body. The snowbug is now at least a head taller than the bee.

“Now we decorate it.”

“Can we pu’ a scarf so he won’t be cold?”

You chuckle a bit. “Sure. Do you have an extra one?”

The bee nods before running inside. While he’s gone you look for something you can use as the arms. While you're looking, Narancia comes back with a white scarf speckled with blacks dots.

“That looks good, help me find something for the eyes and mouth too!”

With that Narancia runs back inside.

You keep looking around and find some long dead grass sticking out of the snow next to the trunk of a tree. You go over and feel it. It was hard and thin so you surmise that it’ll be good for the arms. You yank out 2 pieces and break each one in half to create 4 arms. You also grab another one to make the bug’s antenna.

After sticking the arms in the body of the snowbug and the antenna into the top of the head, Narancia finally returns.

“Here!” He holds out something in his little hands to you.

“Thanks--Wait these are my buttons.”

The bee smiles at you and you shake your head but take them to create the face of your snowy creation. Slightly crouching, you grin a bit at the different color buttons making up the eyes and smile. It was kind of cute.

“I wanna pu’ the scarf!” Narancia exclaims.

You lift him up so he can better reach the neck area and he wraps the scarf around the snowbug.

Afterwards, you back up a bit to get a good look at you and the bee's creation. “He came out pretty good!”

“His name is Jon!”

“That’s a good name Narancia.”

And he smiles even wide at your praise.

You hug yourself and rub your arms. “Okay let's go inside, I don’t think my limbs can take anymore of this.”

-----

When Bruno and Narancia were asleep you'd spend most of the day working on some type of clothing. Your main focus was Bruno’s top though since you didn't want him to see it before it was done. You had been nervous to start on it but you didn't want to be stuck making little squares forever.

You hold out what you had so far in front of your lantern. It was barely anything and you had spent so long on it. You weren’t even sure if you wanted to put sleeves on it or not either…Other than the color you had pick--black--you weren’t really sure about anything.

"What are you making?"

You bring the lace close to your chest before turning towards the moth behind you. “Nothing!”

"Is it another top? It looks really intricate.”

You ignore the moth's curious tone. You mentioned making a top for him offhandedly but you wanted this to be a surprise more than you wanted to show off.

“It's nothing. You really need to stop sneaking up on me.”

"Okay mio amor keep your secrets."

Bruno smiles playfully at you but you just pout and put the lace out of sight in your satchel. It was getting dark anyways and your eyes were starting to hurt

You turn your attention back to Bruno. “What’s up?”

"I saw that Narancia is still in bed, and I was wondering if you want to read with me? If you're not tired that is."

“Oh that sounds nice!” You get up to do a couple stretches since you've been sitting down for so long.

"What are we reading? A romance?"

"Yeah, Abilene actually lent it to me."

Your smile becomes slightly tense knowing how some of the stuff they read could…get. Hopefully it's nothing too out there.

Bruno places the lantern a bit closer to the couch before making himself comfortable and beckoning you over. You decide to sit next to him but the moth looks at you.

"It would be easier to sit on my lap you know?"

You laugh a bit awkwardly from not sitting there in the first place but move onto his lap.

Bruno opens the book and you relax into his chest. The warmth coming off his body has any tension leaving you.

"How are you so warm all the time? It’s too relaxing..." You rub a hand against the soft wool of his sweater’s sleeve. For a split moment you think about cuddling up to him when you sleep in bed.

Bruno places an arm in front of you. “As long as you're comfortable.”

“Yea, but I don't want to drift off too quickly.”

The story starts off relatively normal, and you and Bruno quietly read together while you silently signaled when he could turn the page. But as you get further the expected supernatural elements kick in. You almost want to cover your face at the more explicit parts but push through genuinely invested in the plot.

Suddenly, you burst out laughing. “Abby why?”

"What?” Bruno asks. You seemed to have surprised him with your laugh.

"It’s just that this is so ridiculous. I still like the story but come on!”

Other than the transformations and dead coming alive, the miscommunication seems almost fantastical. Looking from the outside in, it seemed so easy to avoid.

“It’s a little frustrating isn't it.” Bruno says.

You hum. “Yea but I can't pretend I’m above it though.” It made for good drama and interesting situations.

As the two of you continue the book, you end up moving positions multiple times. And by the time you're really struggling to stay awake, you're almost laying completely on top of the moth.

Your head rests against his chest as he reads outloud to you since you were having a hard time keeping up with the words.

Bruno softly touches your back. “____?”

You grunt, half awake.

“Are you still listening?”

“...Yea, the mantis is about to risk a one night stand with another cannibalistic mantis.”

“...What?”

“Oh wait, maybe I half dreamt that.”

Bruno closes the book. "Okay, we are going to bed."

"Nooo, I don't want to move."

"We can't sleep on the couch."

You pout but reluctantly get up from your comfortable spot on the moth to make your way, along with your lantern, to Bruno's room. Once you're there you immediately place the lantern down and flop on top of the bed.

Bruno comes in a moment afterward.

"Don't you want to change into something more comfortable?"

You half reply mumbling something incorrehent.

Bruno sighs and walks over to you removing your scarf off your neck. He then carefully helps you out of your sweater struggling a bit to get your wings through since you won't sit up.

"I'll just leave the rest of my stuff on."

You crawl up farther into the bed before getting under the covers and resting your head on your pillow. You then watch Bruno fold up your clothing before placing it on top of the dresser. Before he can leave the room though you call out to him.

Bruno stops at the door frame and turns towards you in question.

“Um, are you going to bed?

It was quite late. So you would probably end up sleeping until late morning the next day.

“Not just yet but you don't need to worry and force yourself awake tomorrow. I'll just sleep in Narancia’s room until you wake up.”

“Well…”

You struggle to finish your sentence though. You want him to stay but was it okay for you two to share the bed already?

You barely dwell on that question though.

Who were you kidding? You didn't care if it was appropriate or not. You didn't want to sleep alone. And there was no point forcing Bruno into Narancias room when his giant bed could easily fit the two of you!

”I want to share...the bed,” you mutter quietly.

Bruno’s brows raise. “Sorry mio amor can you repeat that, I couldn't hear.”

You give him an unamused look when you realise what he’s doing, but he simply smiles and waits patiently for you to repeat yourself.

“I want to share the bed with you!”

“Oh, that's what I thought I heard just wanted to make sure.” He walks up to you and presses a kiss to your furrowed brow and you immediately relax your face.

The moth makes his way over to the floor length mirror and you watch him take out his hair clips and undo his braid.

“Your hair looks nice like that you know.”

“Really?” His fingers comb through parts of his hair.

“Yep! You look cute.”

He removes his fingers from his hair. “Well I guess I can leave it like this for now then.”

Bruno goes to take off his sweater and you immediately look away, but then you remember that you have seen him shirtless for most of the time you’ve known him. Something about this felt more private though.

“What’s wrong?” Bruno asks when he sees you looking off to the side quietly.

You struggle to explain though.

Realization dawns on the moth though from your few mumbled words and he chuckles. “You're so cute.”

“I know, I k--wait no, I thought you were going to say something else...”

Once Bruno gets in bed, you reach up and twirl some of the wavy strands of his hair as he looks down at you from his sitting position.

“____ I need to tell you something.”

You hum dropping your hand and doing your best to keep yourself from falling asleep just yet.

“I know it's not very romantic. But I guess when I’m with you I feel a little more impulsive. I really like you, and I want us to be together….as mates.”

That gets rid of some of the sleepiness you feel and you feel your face getting hot.

“I should have said this sooner. I don't want to pressure you into anything--”

“Bruno I've been all over you since I got here, you would definitely not be pressuring me.” You sit up. “I--I’m actually really happy! I really like you too! It’s dumb but, I’ve liked you for so long--”

This was the first time you'd seen the moth look flushed and it was sight to behold. A giant part of you already wants to cause it to happen more.

Bruno gently grabs your hand when he realizes you're looking at him and clears his throat slightly before smiling at you.

“Now I’m kind of curious mio amor. How long, if you don't mind me asking?”

You grimace a bit looking away from the moth. “It’s kind of embarrassing...But kinda first sight. I thought it was a silly crush that would go away but it just got more intense. It got really bad in Fall.”

Bruno massages the back of your hand with his thumb.

“What about you?” you ask.

“I’m not exactly sure when they started but I realized I felt feelings that were different than platonic in Fall after you got hurt.”

You nod. Part of you wonders how Bruno reacted when he found out what happened from Abbacchio, but most of you was okay with not knowing.

“...Now I have to give that season more credit.” You give the moth a small smile which he returns. “I’m glad that's out of the way now. Now I can clearly call you my mate.” You giggle, feeling a little giddy.

You can't keep down the smile on your face even if you wanted to.

“Ready for bed?”

You nod. “...You can shut off the lantern if you want.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yea, I know light like that can be distracting to fall asleep too.”

Bruno shuts your lantern, and you find yourself not minding the dark so much when he pulls you into his arms and you stare into his glowing eyes.

Your fingers feel at the soft hair at the back of his neck. Apparently, you couldn’t stop yourself from playing with his hair. “Are you even tired Bruno?”

“Not really but that's okay, I just want to lay here with you.”

Your chest thrills from the words. “...How do you say things like this so easily?”

“There’s no shame in what I feel for you. And I want you to know these feelings.”

You yawn and shut your eyes. “I...I hope I can be more like that...one day.”

“Well, you did ask me to get in bed with you.”

“But...that was so...hard.”

“We just got together so give it some time. And either way, you show you care in your own way.”

The moth presses a quick on your lips and you sleepily grin.

“Goodnight ____.”

#idk what long fic to pic up next #or go back to after this #we aint in kansas is just staring at me waiting for me to give it a proper outline lol #bruno buccellati x reader #bruno bucciarati x reader #bruno x reader #jjba x reader #reader insert

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cardentist · 4 years

Text

I’m relatively new to the marble hornets fandom, but one thing I’ve noticed is that people don’t seem to realize just How affected jay was (by the operator and by the investigation in general) and how early on it started. which I really think is relevant when people point out some of jay’s apparent Poor Decision Making. this is Definitely because of how deemphasized it is in the show itself (Especially season 1) but you really can get a feel for it when you go digging.

I’ve talked before about how it’s Very Likely that jay already had some form of ptsd by the start of the series (Link) but what gives us the clearest picture of jay’s health is actually his twitter account. (Link) If you’ve never taken the time to read it before then I Highly suggest scrolling down to the bottom and working your way through, it’s a surprisingly fast read! but for the purposes of this post I made a Highlight Reel of really anything I saw that was relevant to either jay’s mental health, his physical health, or his obsession with the case that you can see in full here: (Link)

I’ll be using the most Pressing screenshots from that post to make my point here, but you really do get the full Effect scrolling through.

putting a readmore down to hopefully not spam people with screenshots ljksfad Warning for spoilers, talk of chronic illness, eating issues, difficulty with unreality, and other various mental and physical health issues

just as a note: this is going to have a Lot of focus on season 1 because this is where a lot of jay’s issues are established. I definitely have a Lot to say about the other two seasons but I won’t report on every instance where he’s paranoid or sick, I’ll be focusing more on the extremes!

looking through the whole series, videos tweets and all, it becomes Very apparent that jay has a Consistent pattern of behavior where he fixates on the investigation (and the people affected by it) to the detriment of his own health and safety. from the more mundane (digging through hundreds of hours worth of footage to exhaustion) to the more Extreme (following alex into the abandoned building Knowing he’s dangerous and that he’s probably going to hurt him because he Might find some answers).

(which on that note, while it’s definitely due in no small part to the influence of the operator and the extreme stress of the situation, you could pretty easily interpret jay with adhd, hyperfixating on research and video making.)

while I knew I’d find that going in, but I wasn’t expecting it to be hammered in so Quickly. this was posted the Second Day after his twitter had gone up

this continues, with jay occasionally mentioning how tired he is from compiling entries, feeling disorganized, and not being able to sleep in between him actively posting about sifting through tapes on a near daily basis. Then in july he starts actively getting Sick

104 fever, not well enough to work for Three Days. and there’s no telling how long it’d been building up without him noticing until then. he mentions being sick throughout august for long stretches of time (at least a solid week once), and it only gets worse from there

And something of note here, while he Does mention when he’s feeling particularly awful sometimes, for the most part he mentions his health when it affects his ability to go through and post about the tapes. there’s no telling just how frequently he was sick or exhausted when it Wasn’t worth mentioning. He only mentioned the results of the doctor’s visit a week later after he was specifically asked about it

and it’s Very apparent that whatever’s going on is Pretty Severe

it’s after this point that he largely stops giving us specific updates on how sick he feels, but it’s also still very clear that he is sick. he mentions how out of it he is or how Bad a week’s been after he goes long stretches without updates. and he’s still going to the doctors in November

that leaves me with the impression that things haven’t improved, he’s just stopped mentioning it. he tried getting help for it with no luck, the sickness didn’t stop so there wasn’t much more he could do about it besides adapt. while I’m certain that his health would fluctuate over the course of the show, I don’t believe he stopped getting sick. tim’s sickness never really went away, and jay was bad enough by the end of the series that he was having seizures like he was (there’s really no telling if that was his first or if it was just the first time it’d been Caught).

so from here on out it’s a safe guess that everything jay does is with backdrop of sickness and exhaustion.

then, of course, this is where jay starts being more open about his paranoia (which has certainly been an undercurrent for a while now)

also of note: this isn’t the first time he’s mentioned having a difficult time trying to keep things straight in his head and it won’t be the last. he was already starting to doubt his memories and his senses back in 2009.

moreover, paranoia and fear (and possibly fixation) about the situation has him holling up in his house, to the point that he’s running out of food. how long has this been an issue? and if it’s an issue in 2009, then just how bad is it going to be when he’s running himself in and out of hotels too afraid to stay in one location? how often has he been forgetting to eat while burying himself in tapes and fear?

whether it’s from the operator, his slipping memory, the results of fixating on his work for as long as he has, his frequent sickness, the paranoia, or any combination therein, we can add brain fog to the list

and again, a case for jay’s fixation on finding answer. he wakes up in his house with no memory of how he got there, confused and in pain, digs through the footage on his camera, and has the entry up the same day. this was the point where he’d visited brian’s house again, only to be teleported around and meet the operator face to face. he says in the entry that he’s never going back to the house again, that he’s done with the case, but well.

much further down the timeline jay would say that he had no idea what he was doing with his life before he started down this rabbit hole, that he was miserable and directionless and alone. He didn’t know what he would do with himself when all of this was over, he just knew that while he was taking the case on he was at least doing Something. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that this was always true, that part of his obsession with it was tied to feeling absolutely nothing for his life without it.

and sure enough, a week later and we get the idea that his paranoia is only getting worse, followed by him breaking and going back to search through the footage.

He posts more about his paranoia in february, but it’s in march that he’s scared out of his house by totheark only to have his apartment burned down. he only seems to learn about this march 24th, and he uploads the entry with the news footage on the 25th

while it’s true that he seemed to have taken a break after that upload, he’s back again on 4th with the cryptic text message. It’s between then and the 18th that he’d start his Long tradition of hotel hopping.

the final entry for season 1 is up the next day. We can’t know for sure exactly how truthful jay was when he said he was feeling better in entry 26, operator sickness tends to fluctuate with exposure just like any other mental illness. what we Can say is that jay got exactly 10 days of quiet between his apartment burning down and alex contacting him again, and after he was contacted he was afraid enough to start hotel hopping.

if 10 days is what jay merrick describes as a break, then my god. the implication that in an entire year jay merrick hadn't gone a 10 day stretch without looking at the tapes is, Something.

this is where things take a real shift, both in the narrative and in jay’s tweeting patterns! this is the period where jay went radio silent working with alex for 7 months, only to forget everything. the only insight we have on how he was doing at this point is what came before, and the tapes he’d uncover in season 2. my best educated guess is to say that he is doing Not Great.

it’s of course after the operator wiped his and jessica’s memories that he starts up tweeting again, he doesn’t remember why he stopped at this point after all. but he’s also far less talkative between entries. in the beginning especially we’d Hear when he was sick, when he wasn’t sleeping, because he’d update frequently enough that he felt the need to explain when he wasn’t able to. this change is most likely due both in part to not feeling safe enough to be as talkative publically anymore, and on his focus on figuring out what’s going on.

that’s not to say that we don’t get Anything from this time period however.

we get quite a lot of talk about lack of sleep, exhaustion, etc throughout the beginning of the year. insomnia and jay staying up late to work on entries is to be expected, but this is the first time that we hear about jay Oversleeping. I’d say he’s long overdue for it considering how much he’s gone through at this point (and for how long), though it’s Also notable as possibly being a symptom of either illness or depression that we Aren’t hearing about.

this one just makes me sad

it’s Relatively quiet after this, with jay making light commentary here and there. the general vibe is that he’s hard at work when, of course, entry 32 comes along.

jay just Stops after jessica is taken. he doesn’t say anything, he doesn’t even start looking through the tapes for over three weeks. he couldn’t keep himself away from the tapes for that long after he was face to face with the monster or after his house was burned down. that says more about his state of mind than anything else could have.

there’s some mentions of possible sleep issues and jay feeling paranoid (more specifically, not feeling safe anywhere at all), but things don’t Really pick up until march

jay tries to upload entry 37 throughout the day, but no matter what he does he can’t remember the password for the account. this continues on into the 22 Until

“enttry #37“ is uploaded the next day, the footage of alex’s birthday, it’s linked on his twitter, and then six days later

He posts about how the footage he’d found earlier was deleted on his laptop and how he needs to get back Fast. he takes a rest stop on the 30th to charge his laptop and look through the red tower one more time to make sure he didn’t miss anything. and then Nothing until

he doesn’t get back for nearly an entire Week. now, it’s important to mention that there’s been speculation that this was going to be where the original skully reveal would take place, which is believable enough. but whether or not that’s what it was Going to be, the implications with what we have Now are, troubling to say the least. we’ll probably never know exactly what happened here but It’s Not Good. what did he eat? what did he drink? how did he sleep? Poorly, I’d Imagine.

this may also be what his earlier brain fog was leading into. losing track of the days of the week turning into losing track of the days entirely. but we’ll never know for sure

after this we actually get quite a lot about jay’s general discomfort, paranoia, memory loss, and regret scattered over the months. none of it is specific but a lot of it is tied directly to his discomfort with the tapes, which has turned into a constant with every upload. we can certainly tell that he isn’t doing well, but this message is particularly notable because it mentions a specific symptom that we haven’t seen before.

at this point jay’s paranoia and anxiety is bad enough that he can’t sit in silence anymore, and if he’s mentioning it so casually now it’s likely been an issue for a while. jay doesn’t tell us everything, and there’s almost certainly worse that hasn’t been said.

jay has Significant problems with sleeping throughout august that seep into september, to the point that he calls it “worse than usual.” but this is overtaken by his horror at entry 49. jay censored alex beating a man’s head in, but he had to watch it unedited, and it clearly took his toll. he didn’t even want to share it but ultimately decided that the world needed to have it if anything happened to him. but that wasn’t the end of it.

he spends nearly the entire month trying to find Any sign of who this man was. this is a specific aspect of jay’s personality that I think gets overshadowed by the perception of him as stupid. what he is is overworked, over his head, and impulsive, but he’s not stupid. but this is an Excellent example of jay’s dedication (bleeding into obsession).

this is obviously speculation on my part, but I think you can read this two ways (or a mix of them both): either jay is worried that something about the operator wiped away the man’s existence (like being taken made people forget about him somehow). Or he’s motivated by guilt, feeling responsible for having been there the day the man got crunched only to run away, desperately looking for any sign that Somebody had bothered to care about him.

things are relatively quiet after this until just after entry 50

something jay’s mental health really doesn’t need: more evidence of people breaking and entering while he’s asleep. what’s interesting here is that he went much quieter after this, just a handful of tweets relating directly to the next entry. I think you could either read jay being less open about how he’s doing on twitter as him being Well Aware that the people who want to hurt him (or who he Thinks want to hurt him in the case of hoodie and masky) have access to it, and in part because he’s doing so much Worse now.

the end of season two that the start of season three, of course, brings tim back into jay’s life and with it a Much needed distraction from his fear and paranoia. we’ll never know how jay reacted to the news that alex had tried to kill him in the moment, but we do know that it shifted his mindset from passively digging through the old tapes to actively trying to hunt alex down. tim was a Living Breathing lead, something he could actually Grasp Onto. and in light of what was likely something Very horrific that became a new fixation for jay.

he’d live blog about looking for tim from november 28th to march 8th, this was the most active he’d ever been on twitter and I think it absolutely speaks to how desperate he was for this to go somewhere. he even got to do some breaking and entering ! that said, having a distraction didn’t mean that there weren't a few noteworthy.

jay’s Current lack of trust is what’s going to lead to his and tim’s blowout later on. we can’t know how tim would’ve reacted if jay had been honest from the beginning (and it honestly would’ve gone poorly anyways), but tim’s confrontation with jay was honestly using his anger at being lied to as an outlet for the horror he felt at learning the truth of what’d been going on. he definitely would’ve still been angry and hurt, but he wouldn’t have had a direction for that anger. they might’ve started working together sooner.

however at this point jay doesn’t know who wants to hurt him and who doesn’t, he doesn’t feel safe talking to strangers on the street, let alone someone he already knew stalked him for two years. both of their reactions are understandable, and you can see the collision course coming when you step back far enough.

jay is Very quiet about what’s going on with him at this point. there are a few updates about his general paranoia and fear as well as him live tweeting about things relevant to the plot (thinking about coming clean to tim, posting tweets and pictures of trying to find tim after hoodie stole his medication, solving the totheark code that troy forgot to post a key for), but there’s only a handful of standout tweets that give us something new about his mental health scattered throughout the series.

this absolutely does not mean that he’s in a better place of mind, but what it does mean is that he’s being less open about it. tim didn’t know just how bad jay was and he’d been living with him. the fact that we have less to work with at this point is more an indication that he doesn’t feel safe sharing anymore (he hasn’t for a while) and a possible sign that he’s already gone into denial about his health (not wanting to connect it to the operator because of what that’d mean for him).

that said, we can take a look at what’s left for us.

this is from after jay had tim take him to the abandoned hospital for the first time and before the entry of it went up. this is notable because it’s one of if not the first time that it’s been directly stated that buildings associated with the operator can cause sickness. that or we can infer that the operator was actively strengthening its influence on them at the time (which might’ve also contributed to both of their irritability in the entry itself).

I don’t think this is notable because this is jay’s First nightmare, but rather I think it’s notable for him because his memory of it is totally gone. it’d make sense why this’d scare him at this point considering well, the entire series of marble hornets. but it does raise the question of how many more nightmares Weren’t worth sharing to him and how often they contributed to his sleeping problems.

next it’s worth noting that entry 67 messed jay up a lot. likely because it was solid evidence that alex was out there actively hunting them down (and just how close tim had gotten to being taken after he’d been throttled by the operator). He ends up posting about it Twice, as opposed to his previous strategy of not at all.

now finally, Finally. I’d like to talk about jay’s state of mind leading into his death. lets start with the timeline

jay doesn’t say anything at all between entry 74 and entry 75. tim had been running the account while jay was out of it, but jay had come to at least by august first, entry 75 was posted august 23rd. this is jay, and he has absolutely nothing to say.

he’s only just come out of his zombie state, he’s stolen the tape from tim (after trying to give him the chance to come clean), and he’s run off. we don’t get anything else out of him until september 3rd.

jay’s waited almost 2 weeks not only to watch the tape, but to even say anything at all. in my opinion? I think he’s afraid to not have anyone left to trust, let alone tim. he wouldn’t have given tim so much time to come clean himself otherwise, he wouldn’t be afraid of even looking at the tape otherwise. part of it is the sting of having his trust betrayed before, of closing himself off, and then trying to trust again. part of it is that he genuinely cared about tim. he wants to believe in tim, and he’s making it absolutely clear here.

it took him another 9 days to work up the courage to watch the tape, a full 20 days since the entry showing he got the tape was posted (and possibly longer, since we don’t know how long the video took to make). he was That afraid of not being able to trust tim anymore. of course, we know now that what’d actually get to him was realizing that jessica was gone. he’s mentioned before that he blamed himself for jessica being taken. that was what’d kept him going for years at this point and now she’s just, Gone. Gone For Good Gone.

the specific timeline here is a little harder to sus out. the gaps between some entries are too long to really make sense and what we’re getting on twitter aren’t as overt as they have been before. but here’s my best attempt to straighten it out.

jay sits on this for roughly a month, likely trying to process something that he’d used as a crutch to help him keep going bursting into smoke and grieving for someone he doesn’t really know but that he’d cared deeply for anyways. it eventually reached the point where the events of entry 82. he desperately goes back to the tunnel, the last place he saw jessica go in the video, for any last trace of her, any sign that she could still be alive, and doesn’t find any. he tries to reach out to tim, he tells him that he’s seeing things, that the world is shifting around him, that he’s sorry and that he understands why tim did what he did.

we don’t get an insight in what this month was like for jay, but it’s clear that he had a steady decline. he’s scared, he’s alone, he knows he needs help. and then the operator takes him. we never see exactly what happens to him after the seizure, and with the montages we’ve seen from tim’s titty cam it really could’ve been anything. but whatever it was it was enough to change jay’s entire attitude.

this is the last thing that jay posts before entry 77 goes up. it’s hard to say when this was posted for sure, because 77 was up 3 days later on the 16th, but I think it has to take place after jay was assaulted by the operator. jay thought he could call tim beforehand, we saw him try on video, and there’d be no reason to try to contact him through twitter if he knew he had an easier way. what this tells us is that jay woke up after the operator attack, tried to call him an unknown number of times, failed to reach him because the operator was still blocking his calls on tim’s end, tried to reach tim through twitter, and Then went out to try to confront tim likely believing that tim was intentionally trying to avoid him.

that mental image alone hurts me, but this means that even after everything jay was still trying to reach out to him.

at this point jay was in, some kind of denial just like everyone else. it hurt to feel like he was responsible for jessica’s death so he had to believe that she was still out there, he had to believe that it was someone else’s fault. he didn’t want to hurt tim like alex did, he didn’t want to push tim away like brian did, he wanted tim to laugh and pull jessica out of his closet where she’s been hiding this whole time. he wanted to believe the truth wasn’t real because it hurt.

the desperateness that he begs tim to leave his camera Also gets to me. jay’s mentioned for years that the point of recording and uploading footage was to make sure someone would know what happened if “something happened to him.” he pointed the camera away from jessica for 30 minutes and something Did happen to her. that's been weighing on him for years but never more than it has been for the past month.

then when hoodie comes for him, lets him free himself, and runs off one of the first things jay did was go to tim’s medicine cabinet and make a noise of frustration at finding all of the bottles empty. he knew that something was wrong, he knew that he wasn’t thinking straight anymore, and on some level he still believed tim. but there wasn’t anything there, everyone was gone, and he was running out of time.

now, I wanna paint another picture here. according to tim, the footage he found on jay’s laptop was dated the day before jay came to confront him. jay tried to reach tim through twitter at 8pm so it’s safe to assume that it was posted the day before he decided to meet him in person. jay spent october 13th getting his shit kicked in, he was hogtied on october 14th, and the entry showing their confrontation was up on october 16th.

jay follows tim, he searches through the school, and then chooses to keep watch in the building overnight.

jay’s had issues with food since the first day of marble hornets, Literally. it’s possible he snacked before he came to confront tim, or on the way to the school. it’s possible the upload dates are one off (the timeline certainly gets wonky going off of upload dates after this). but even still, at the time he was getting shot he was on at least day two without food (and likely much much longer), and at least 48 hours without sleep (again, almost certainly longer). On Top Of Everything.

jay merrick didn’t stand a chance

there’s so So much more I could get into, especially if I started poking more at the entries themselves or the Implications of some of the things I’ve talked about here. but that’ll have to come another time, I’m very tired jfklsd

#marble hornets #mh #jay merrick #slenderverse #creepypasta #spoilers #meta #god I hope tumblr doesn't block this from the tags again

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hermitcraftheadcanons · 4 years

Text

Zombie Apocalypse AU Masterpost

"There are a few groups that aren't aware of each other's existence. (Architechs, NHO, Convex, ect.) The NHO are made up of all men from millitaries across the globe. Cleo isn't a zombie either, she is a zombie whisperer. She can communicate slightly with zombies and they aren't usually negotiable."

(Paraphrased,) from @creator0fchaos' Zombie Apocalypse AU entry for The Follower Input AU.

Headcanons to start us off:

-Convex were two men from a small buisness. Jellie is also around but she's injured and is mostly carried around by Scar.

-Etho got bit pretty early on and everyone in the NHO knows they're gonna have to do something about it but they're putting it off. Etho seems fine.

-Bdubs is slowly going completely feral. (Possible reference to season 5's jungle feral?) DocM joked he had rabies and the two got into a fight.

-Iskall lost his eye after Mumbo accidentally slashed him with a knife while trying to protect Grian from a hoarde. Iskall ended up getting lumped in with the Architech group because Mumbo feels super guilty about it.

-Xisuma and Keralis came into contact with the NHO for a bit. Keralis and Bdubs nearly became friends but Beef and Doc scared em away. Angst.

-The zombies fear False.

-XB originally planned to just stay in his house and not go out. He was prepared, okay? He had tinned food to last him at least a decade, zombie proof armour and god knows what else supplies. His friend, Hypnotizd, is fleeing to there because he knows XB knows what he's doing.

-Wels wears armour because it's the best he had. Same with Biffa and Xisuma. In this AU, they probably wouldn't be wearing armour if not given the circumstances.

-Jevin has turned this into a game to kill as many zombies as possible.

-Impulse, Tango and Zedaph are all just having a good time trying to survive in the woods. Their main goal is to open a tin of beans Zed has but they don't have a tin opener.

-Rendog found a tin of dog food while scavenging. He was hungry and ate it. He now has an addiction to tinned dog food.

-Wels wears medieval armour in the zombie au because at one point he was trapped in a museum by a horde and like, the armour was technically there. On display. No one was using it.

-Etho wears the mask as kind of a mental reminder not to bite his friends.

-Joe and Stress are hanging with Cleo and even if the small group isn’t the best equipped or prepared, they have thrived thanks to Cleo’s ability to whisper to zombies. It might not stop the zombies but it buys the group time to escape.

–Zombie!Etho is hiding the fact that he’s turning, if not already turned into a zombie, from the rest of the NHO because he loves being with his friends. The problem is that it’s getting harder every day to control himself and he’s constantly fighting between telling the rest of them about it, and having them put him out of his misery to keep them safe, or just keep hiding it, afraid that one day it’ll be too late he won’t be able to control himself and bite them all.

-Someone gets like a really bad case of the flu, this is problem because usually survivors have to stay in the move consistently to survive and that’s hard when someone is really sick, it also bad because all pharmacies have been raided and there’s no medicine.

-Grian originally came from Sam and Taurtis's group but due to Sam's insanity, Grian pulls away and went surviving on his own. That when Mumbo came to photo and knowing that he won't survive the zombie wasteland alone, Grian took it as his task to convince Mumbo make a partnership with him.

-Joe was playing D&D when the outbreak started, and Cleo was in his group. They treat it as a game sometimes, though they toned it down a bit when Stress joined because she was still grieving Iskall. Stress makes them stay around where she lost Iskall, but Joe and Cleo don't mind because she has a base set up there.

-For no fault of his own, the nHo crumbles while doc is in control. They had been losing members for a while but when beef, Bdubs, etho, and doc part ways it’s the draw the broke the camels back, so doc is the only one left of the nho, the rest of them, having either left or died. Doc blames himself for everything going so wrong.

-For the zombie AU because nobody's representing my boy X: Xisuma is known as a master at evading the zombies (he can fight them well if needed but he is best at avoiding incidents altogether). He claims to wear the mask for practical reasons, but what the others don't know is that it hides how terrified he is. He hides his fear because he doesn't want people to lose confidence in him, but getting turned and losing control of his mind is his worst nightmare.

-TFC’s gone for a bunker theme for s6+s7, so maybe, he finds a nHo member, and just drags them down into his bunker, probably chewing them out for walking around alone?

-For the zombie au is ethos mask like a medical one, or was he in a kakashi cosplay for some reason and kept it because all the pockets were practical and then started wearing the mask because he got infected.

-After Stress and Iskall reunite, Joe and Cleo join the Architechs. False joins them after seeing Cleo whisper to the zombies and realizing that the group severely lacks fighters. I need the hermits to (at least mostly) get together!

-TFC is obviously a disaster prepper who has a fully furnished bunker that can house a lot of people. He has been broadcasting this to other survivors using a radio. Unfortunately, he lives in the middle of nowhere and it is a trek to get there, but the Vault (as he calls it) is self-sustaining. (I know this is obvious, but nobody has done anything with TFC yet, and that's a shame)

-Even though he’s scared about not being alert enough to protect his team, Xisuma hides his sickness, which is easy with the helmet, because he’s the leader and he can’t be weak. Due to the pain of the flu and the heat of fever staying trapped inside his helmeted eventually falls to his knees and breaks down.

-Mumbo is wearing a suit because he was on his way to a job interview when the outbreak started, he just never bothered to change clothes.

-Etho used to love making up little tunes, and that hasn't changed since he was bitten. Nevertheless, the others in his group haven't heard him make music since. He blames a lack of instruments because of being on the run from zombies. The morning after he left, though, they find an old recorder where his sleeping bag was, and once they hit play they're greeted with songs in a familiar style, backed by improvised instruments.

Even without saying anything they *know* what had happened, and the recorder is taken along on their journey to a safe haven. Sometimes, when the feeling of missing their friend gets too much, they put on the music in the evening and just allow themselves to cry.

-Well, i was thinking maybe stress was a loner, but like, not completely alone, she was with someone else, probably Cleo or Iskall, but they got bit, she felt too bad to kill them so she wanders around with a zombie friend on a madeup leash, sorry if it sounds sad but i like angst and it seemed like a good headcanon -🐿️

-TFC is the one to get to Beef and break down the wall he had built up after a while of wandering alone after breaking off from the nHo. He finds Beef fighting a group of zombies and after observing how violently Beef was hacking down the zombies, TFC did not see a hardened fighter, but a broken man and went to talk with him.

-Alternate timeline idea when grian was still traveling with Sam and tortoise. Sam end up doing something that results in grian and tortoise getting bitten, because of that Sam leaves them. Now grian is not a normal zombie he doesn’t crave human flesh but rabbit flesh because he’s so hell-bent on getting revenge for what Sam did to him and tortoise, tortoise ends up tagging along. Cleo ends up finding them and discover their not normal zombies and inviting them to stay with her group.

-For the zombie apocalypse AU, RE: Cleo and Joe's DND game - imagine them going into a fight and just screaming "ROLL INITIATIVE!"

-Ok but imagine if like that one anon said, grian was already a zombie but like, one that only wants animals. I imagine they could probably get him to behave normally and imagine the mumbo turning angst but grian is already a zombie and just helps him not loose himself.

-For the Zombie Au, instead of killing Mumbo before he turns, the group locks him in a room and leave him there in hopes that they can bring him back once theres a cure. Whether or not, Mumbo wants to be saved is up to you. If Cleo's still in the group then you could have her "talk" to Zombie Mumbo for bonus angst.

-After finding out that Etho's still out there, Beef becomes more determined than ever to help find a cure. In the bunker he often ends up buzzing around Scar and Cub, desperate for something to do to help. It can get a bit awkward but they understand he's just desperate to see his friend again and are usually able to provide small tasks to help him keep his mind busy (with something other than worrying for Etho) while they continue working toward a cure.

(All those above in red are from our community's lovely Anons!)

-Vintagebeef was the first to notice something was off about Etho. He asked Etho about it but Etho assured him he was fine. Beef asked, 'what if you spread it to the other people in group?' Etho claimed that 'if it was contagious without physical contact, everyone would have caught it by now.'

-Speaking of Vintage Beef, he feels the most lonely and hopeless out of all the NHO members. Etho is probably gonna die from being a zombie soon. Bdubs and Doc are always at each other's throats and Beef fears one of them may accidentally kill the other. He's terrified that he may be the only one left.

-Hypnotizd is the most likely to be bit next. Dude’s running to XB’s house basically defenseless until he gets there, we have no clue how far he has to travel.

(-@tomcatacaphe.)

-You could very easily bring s5 nho angst into this au... Etho leaves to protect his friends from himself, Beef leaves because he can't bare to see his friends fight so much, Bdubs and Doc get in a fight and Bdubs storms off, and Doc is left to try and lead the nho by himself (since you said it's a kind of paramilitary thing here). Ouch.

-Knowing Mumbo's love for bunkers and the dragon bro bunker from s6, the architechs have probably settled somewhere underground to have a somewhat normal life. And, given the combined tech prowess of Iskall and Mumbo, they could easily rig up defence systems to help.

-in regards to that ask about X getting ill, maybe that's where Keralis joins him! He's totally the type to stay with you when sick! :D

-Continuing from that anon, if I may. So far we have Griam, Mumbo, Iskall, Stress, Joe, Cleo, and False all living together... The chaos xD ! You could even bring in hermit challenges as smth they make to, y'know, lighten the mood :D

(-@rebloging-extravaganza.)

-OOF I never thought about Taurtis wandering alone but that's sad. Iskall was also originally with Stress. They are wandering together until a snow storm separates them. Iskall finds Mumbo and Grian and then Mumbo thought he was a zombie cause this man just came out of nowhere. Grian and Mumbo took him in. When Iskall came back to the place where him and Stress gets separated, they saw each other again. What's the first thing he did? He hugged the hell outta her.

-Stress was tired cause the next thing she knew after the storm is that she’s alone. So, she thought for the worst, she thought Iskall was dead. She made a small shelter in the place, tamed a lot of dogs and even made a gravestone for Iskall.

When Stress saw him, her first thought was to get the weapon from the sheath and attack but Iskall started talking. The next thing she knew was she is crying and hugging him tight.

(-@penumbra-rui.)

-After Beef leaves the nHo, he becomes quite a loner. He gets a nickname from other groups even though they don’t know who he is: the Butcher. He gets the name because when groups are being seized down by dozens of zombies, Beef comes in and kills the zombies - every single one - with only his token bloodied apron left behind, waving on a stick. He has hundreds of those aprons and is never seen killing the zombies by the besieged groups.

-When Impulse runs away, he runs into BDubs while in a run down brick building with part of it having been blown up in what looks like a plane bomb. The building seems to have been a local demolition business known simply as ‘Boomers.’

-Before the apocalypse began, Scar was an upper level agent of the FBI tasked with protecting top level cancer researchers across the United States. One of those top cancer researchers was patient 0 and was the original discoverer of the zombie infection (patient 0 was not a Hermit). However, Scar believes it’s his fault for not having intervened when he could have. It’s now his mission to find a way to fix it. He comes across business mogul Cub, who may have the funds to help.

-https://hermitcraftheadcanons.tumblr.com/post/618407386827423744/hypno-has-been-living-with-xb-for-the-last-two XB and Hypno meet: A post too long to copy paste here.

(-@creator0fchaos.)

-After Tango explodes the beans Impulse claims he’s leaving. Z and T think he just kidding but when they wake up the next morning Inpulse is gone. Now Zed and Tango are on a mission to find impulse while also terrified that he’s been bit.

-Continuation of the impulse leaves thing, tango and Zed find and save him just in time. They all reunite and are happy. The problem is that Zed was bit in the process, for now he’s binding it, because tango and impulse were so happy to be reunited and zed didn’t want to ruin it.

-Zed never ends up telling his friends that he was bit, the figure out themselves a few days after it happens. At first they’re mad that zed hid it from them, telling him how he could have turned and hurt them. But a minute late they break down in tears realizing what the bit means for them all. They will discuss what to do in the morning but for now they will grieve.

-Even more of the zit story: In the morning they decide to keep zed around until he really starts turning, they will then kill him so he’s not a zombie, zed protests this wanting them to kill him now, fearing for the other’s safety, but he’s actually really happy to have a bit longer with his friends. Impulse feels guilty because this never would have happened if he hadn’t left, tango also feels guilty because if he never exploded the beans, then impulse wouldn’t have left and zed would be fine.

(-@lookitsspacekween.)

-Xisuma is known as a master at evading the zombies (he can fight them well if needed but he is best at avoiding incidents altogether). He claims to wear the mask for practical reasons, but what the others don't know is that it hides how terrified he is. He hides his fear because he doesn't want people to lose confidence in him, but getting turned and losing control of his mind is his worst nightmare.

-Xisuma could be that person who gets the flu from an earlier submission! It would really scare him because of not being as alert or functional to avoid the zombies. I feel like he doesn't have a set group of people he stays with, so someone would probably find him holed up somewhere with a bad fever and decide to stay with him.

-If Mumbo ever gets bitten his zombie form is his cursed skin from after he sold his bits, it NEEDS to be lol.

-I came here to post immune!Rendog only to find that someone already did! Anyway, Ren is immune, which is good because the man gets bitten A LOT (the diggity dawg is not the best fighter). I feel like he gets lost and comes across the NHO base, and Doc won't let him in at first because he's covered in bites. He probably puts him in a containment cell out of typical Doc paranoia but eventually figures it out.

-Doc tried his hardest to be distant with Ren (because he thought he was going to turn/die soon and didn't want to get attached) but Ren just asks questions and talks 24/7 until Doc gives in and talks to him out of loneliness. Doc probably keeps him in containment for a really long time, first for fear of him turning and then because he's afraid Ren will leave (like everyone else left him.)

-Ren is very calm and cheery through the whole containment thing because he FULLY believes this is all a dream. Like, okay, this German robot man says I'm going to die in a week? Cool! Have to remember to write this one down when I wake up. Doc cannot convince him otherwise and it frustrates him to no end (when he does realize it's real though he's going to have a full breakdown.)

-Mumbo focuses in way too hard when he's working and blocks out everything else. If he gets bitten it will be because he was too absorbed in a redstone project and forgot to check his surroundings.

-When Mumbo gets bitten, Grian makes it his duty to comfort him and keep him calm until the end. Iskall, however, is overcome by guilt. He had been out for supplies when it happened; usually it was his job to watch Mumbo's back while he worked, alternating between fighting zombies and giving jokingly snarky commentary on Mumbo's redstone. He definitely blames himself and won't let the others out of his sight afterward.

-A break from angst! Zombie whisperer!Cleo's talents work by communicating with the infection in the zombies' bodies. Immune!Rendog has the infection, it just doesn't affect him in a dangerous way. Therefore, Cleo is now a Ren whisperer. Hilarity ensues.

-Once Xisuma starts feeling a bit better, he organizes his group to dig underground tunnels for people to travel with less chance of zombie attack (construction Keralis is a big help!) The leadership comes naturally to him, and the hard work is a good way of building up his strength again. Working late into the night on the tunnels is also the perfect excuse not to sleep....

-(post-cure). It takes several weeks, but Doc finally manages to find Etho. When he receives the cure his first words are "Thank you" and "I'm so sorry" (like a true Canadian). While his mind is returned to him, some parts of his body are too decayed to be salvaged, but that's no obstacle for Doc. He builds custom cybernetics and eagerly welcomes his old friend back to the land of the living.

(-@shadeswiftdraws.)

-Mumbo, being really good with redstone, obviously has anti-zombie weapons he made himself. One day he goes out scavenging to find Grian fighting zombies armed with only a large hunting knife, a sledgehammer (probably from whatever build he was working on at the time of the outbreak), and his tiny gremlin speed and agility. (-@my-cat-is-a-bastard.)

-One of the Hermits (up to you which one) is somehow immune to the zombie virus. The catch: they don't know until they get bit. Them and the rest of their group is scared and prepares to kill them when the transformation is complete, but it never happens. The scientist of their group does a couple of tests and discovers their immunity!

-I was thinking about it for a bit, and I doesn’t seem like there’s been much done with Ren... (besides eating dog food lol)

-Happy ending time 'cause I can't stand seeing them all turn! Once Doc realizes Ren is immune, they venture out trying to find another group to create a cure. After gathering some/most of the other Hermits, they come across Scar, and they work on and create a cure/vaccine. The rest of the Hermits take it, and maybe they're even able to cure Etho and the other zombified Hermits! (Sorry if this is too cheesy/happy; I just want everything to be okay, y'know?)

-All everyone speaks of are the physical changes, but one must set the record straight: No matter how horrifying the outward changes are, the mental and emotional ones are far worse. Your friend’s behavior will take a turn for the worse. They’ll become more aggressive, more impulsive, less cautious. They’ll start fights for a laugh, they’ll yell and thrash and scream at the mildest inconvenience, their mind will devolve and fade away. By the time you must say your goodbyes, they will no longer be the friend you knew. They will be childish, angry, insane, and horrible in every way. Even if they fight the illness and outer changes, their behavior will still be impacted and subject to change.

Be wary of this if you choose to let your friend live, and prepare not only your body, but your mind, for the worst.

-Patient Zero could be GenerikB.

(-@12u3ie.)

-I feel like team ZIT keeps putting off taking care of Impulse. Like Etho, Impulse just keeps fighting the changes. They all expect him to wither away, fall down and die one day, isn't that how it always goes?, but that's not how the infection works. They don't get sicker and weaker, in fact most of the people who die from one bite actually die from gangrene and/or septic shock. (Human mouths are GROSS.) But our boys don't know this. They've taken good care of his bite, even if it felt pointless at first, and avoided infection, and as a result he's physically completely healed now. So they end up never NEEDING to kill Impulse, but at what cost? He's constantly anxious about losing control. He can barely even sleep, what if it makes him sleepwalk and he bites his friends then? Tango and Zedaph see him changing still. They see his skin getting pale and dull, his eyes growing hollow, even see he's losing a lot of weight, but they put it up to his sleeplessness, to how they have to remind him, almost force him to eat real food. What sort of life does Impulse really have now? Is it really better to just end it? (What if he and Etho meet?)

Sorry, I've just seen the way this subversion of the Zombie Bite = Zombie Dead trope is going with Etho, and I HAD to get bitten!Impulse in on it as well. Now I can't stop thinking about exactly how this virus works, so I'm gonna hit post before I get WAY too into it and make a text wall.

-https://hermitcraftheadcanons.tumblr.com/post/618456845293633536/the-first-thing-you-notice-is-the-bite-it-stings How the virus works. (Tw gore, worms.)

(-@basaltdragon.)

-Bdubs definitely slept through the beginning of the apocalypse and had no idea what was going on for a while. He just kept doing his normal thing until someone told him what was happening. (-@miss-oleum.)

-I saw a post that mentioned Taurtis in the zombie apocalypse au, so I think this idea would be cool? I think from context clues Etho and Beef are kinda traveling together, but what if they run into Pause! Pause is super stoked to finally be around people in this mess (Team Canada, no less!!) but the dread kicks in when he notices the look in Etho's eyes, and how much paler he is than usual. Maybe he even notices the signs before Beef (who prolly def. noticed but is in severe denial about it). (-@853dragons.)

-https://hermitcraftheadcanons.tumblr.com/post/618477192694939648/you-know-what-im-just-going-to-add-my-2-cents-on

-To the surprise (and delight) of everyone in the Bunker, Beef is a deasent Redstoner. He's still a bit rusty at it tho. But he Knows how to work around those dust if he put his mind it. And after the... Insident with Mumbo, they need all the help they can get with the Redstone. And the first time he fix a redstone contraption on his own he said to his spectators (any Hermit of your choice), "What? You thought I was all Beef but no Brains?"

(-@tearosepedall.)

And now, Writing!

-It's the hunger that's the worst. Gnawing and ever-present, no matter what he eats, he can't escape the emptiness that's settled into his stomach. Etho stares dully down at the can someone - probably Beef - had pushed into his hands, before spearing a handful of syrupy fruit and swallowing it. It does little to satiate the hunger crawling through his every being. And why would it? It's not fruit he's hungry for anymore. (Anon.)

-Fear curls around him like an unwanted friend, a fiend of mist and smoke that blankets his nerves and quickens his heart. He stares dully at the scene before him, at the massacre his group had just barely avoided, as an awful storm of what-ifs swirl through his mind. His hands shake. "X?" Someone asks, "Are you okay?" Xisuma sucks in a deep breath, curls his hands into fists, and turns towards Keralis. "I'm fine," he lies. (Anon.)

-"Hello there. If you are listening to this, we are gone and long forgotten. This base of ours is yours to use now. I'm sure there'll still be some supplies and cans of food left-" "Not if I eat them first!" "Gr- Grian! I'm recording!" "I know that, you spoon." Grian took a few steps forward and stuck his face up to the camera lens. "Hi there!" "Grian! This is serious work." "C'mon, we're always serious! What's wrong with a little bit of fun during the zombie apocalypse?" (12u3ie.)

-(Biffa's POV) I met Xisuma a couple weeks ago. He saved my life, and I joined his crew. We're good friends now, and I hope he trusts me. It just seems like there's something off about him, but not in a zombie way. The way he hesitates before saying he's fine, how his eyes widen for just a moment before battle... the way he mumbles in his sleep about an evil counterpart... (12u3ie.)

-Hands corral him, pushing him forward. Mumbo twists and writhes, trying to escape from the iron grip pulling him forward. Where his tongue still capable of forming complex sounds, he would be protesting vehemently. Nowadays, words are harder to come by, too clunky and heavy for his tongue to try. As it is, he can barely even manage the word no. 'I don't want this!' He screams, but only Cleo spares him a glance. Her eyes shine, wet with tears and pity that turns his stomach.

"We'll find a cure," Someone else promises. From a haze of shattered memories, a face forms. It takes another moment for him to remember a name. Grian. His voice is flat, toneless, but edged with iron and a promise. With one final pull, he's dragged into the windowless room, lined with lockers and benches. Mumbo's breath rattles heavily in his chest, as the iron door swings shut behind him. "I'm so sorry." Whispers seep through the thin walls. "I can't believe he bit Ren." (Anon.)

More to be added!

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