#i love the brothers dynamic between him and EZ

[basil-except-writing]

New au idea I make in my ez bake oven of a brain! (Everything after the end of the continuation is subject to change.) I KNOW IT'S REALLY FUCKING LONG BUT I KINDA WANNA MAKE THIS INTO AN ACTUAL AU- (I've already written the basic plot tho so I'd probably make some sort of side blog where you could submit asks about the au)

Crk au where Dark Choco did join the Cookies of Darkness but only for a small amount of time, enough to know the inner workings of the CoD but also was able to join gingerbrave and friends. The AU would mainly consist of literally nobody realizing he was a fallen prince and Dark Choco doing everything he can to hide that fact. The AU mainly centers arounds the idea of Dark Choco being a big brother/best friend to Custard Cookie III. I think this popped into my half baked daydream microwave because Custard Cookie III was originally my favorite CRK cookie (and can you blame me? He's cool, funny, a healer that worked with my playstyle, and is fatherless!).

Dark Choco meets Custard while hurt and Custard heals him. They quickly become best friends since Dark Choco treats him as an actual king. Sort of like a platonic dynamic between small little guy who is absolutely not threatening at all but extremely kind to everyone and Tall guy who is sort of threatening but isn't rude unless you hurt his friend.

I also personally headcannon that out of all the direct children of the ancients that have been revealed so far I believe Dark Choco would be the youngest out of them all. Along with that I think Dark Choco and Royalberry would know each other and Royalberry would know of Dark Choco's crimes but instead of outing him when he sees him though, he'd just protect him and make sure he avoided trouble. (I need wholesome platonic relationships people, WHOLESOME!! even though i love laughing at a good angst story-)

In the Dark Cacao Kingdom in this au the group would have split up into two, Gingerbrave, Strawberry, and Wizard Cookie would be looking for Dark Cacao while Custard explored the Citadel, Dark Choco would help him and try to guide him without being suspicious.

Painting of a Young Prince interaction in this AU: I really enjoyed this part in the game so I wanted to add my own AU flair to it!

Custard would be walking through the hallways with Dark Choco, who'd be wearing a disguise that'd mask his face, and they'd come across a painting of a young cookie with long black hair. "Hey, Do you know who that is?" Custard inquired, facing Dark Choco and pointing at the painting. Dark Choco looked at Custard then at the painting. "...!" Dark Choco quickly acted as if he wasn't suprised. "That is a painting of the fallen prince of this kingdom. He committed a traitorous act aganist the king and so he was banished from this kingdom. He brought dishonor and shame to his homeland." Dark Choco replied, keeping his composure. "Then why is this painting still up if he's bad?" Custard tilted his head in confusion. Dark Choco stared at everything near the painting and the painting itself. "That is what I'm trying to figure out myself... We'll figure that out later, right now we should really-" A voice quickly interrupted him. "I could answer that question, but I'd like to know how you got into the Black Citadel." The Cookie crossed their arms and glared at them. "I can answer that easily!" Custard remarked with full confidence. "I am King Custard Cookie III of the Pure Vanilla Kingdom! Me and my allies-" "My allies and I." Dark Choco coughed. "Oh, thanks! My allies and I have traveled to this faraway kingdom in hopes to find Dark Cacao Cookie and deliver a letter from Pure Vanilla cookie!" Custard was gleaming with pride. "Good job Custard." He whispered. "And you, what's your name?" He stared at Dark Choco. "My name is Semi-Sweet Chocolate Cookie, but please just refer to me as Chocolate Cookie. I am the cookie making sure that the young King-In-Training is safe." He bowed at the King. "And I assume that you are aware of who I am?" He looked at (Dark) Choco Cookie. "Yes, I believe you are King Dark Cacao Cookie." "Well in that case we need to go get Gingerbrave and the others!" Dark Cacao was annoyed by the two, sure the old man might have always looked stern but after living with him for several years of your life you learn to pick up on certain cues. "Custard let's leave the king alone for a bit, it seems we've interrupted something he was going to do." (Dark) Choco picked Custard up and put him on his shoulders and walked away to find Gingerbrave and the rest. [Cutscene End]

It would then continue with an interaction between Dark Choco (still in disguise) and Dark Cacao (suspicious of him since he's hiding his identity). "I heard about that small history lesson you gave the young cookie about the prince." Dark Cacao was behind Dark Choco while Custard ran off since he saw Gingerbrave and the rest. To be honest, Dark Choco knew he has been there for a while but didn't want to make himself suspicious, so he waited for him to reveal himself. "!... Oh, you did?" He tried to best to act slightly suprised and confused. "I could tell you dulled that down for the child, so please enlighten me on how my son brought dishonor and shame to his homeland." Dark Cacao stared at Dark Choco sternly and harshly, as if he said something to offend him. "Well he attacked you, did he not? Over an argument nonetheless, I've heard small stories of other things about him that make him sound like an overall disappointment and waste of time." He shrugged. "Though those small stories could just be falsehoods used to create interesting gossip." He could feel the king geyting more irritated and clearly angered by the way he spoke about his son. "I would like to warn you not to speak of or refer to MY SON in that way or manner ever again." Dark Cacao threatened.

Dark Cacao walked away angred beyond belief. How could somebody ever speak about his son like that without knowing him. Dark Cacao may have not been a good father to Dark Choco Cookie on his own, but if he ever heard anybody insult his boy he would make sure that person would never speak ill of Dark Choco Cookie again. Yet, there was something off about that 'Chocolate Cookie'. He spoke as if he knew everything about whatever Dark Choco did wrong or what he was shamed for, as if he knew because he was there. Dark Cacao clutched his hand on his chest. That would be impossible though, most of those moments were between my son and I! Unless... He clutched his chest, he was filled with sorrow. He hated thinking about that incident and he blamed himself for what happened, he wished that he could change previous events so hopefully it wouldn't occur, but Dark Cacao knew better, the past was the past and he was unable to do anything. "While the resemblance between that 'Chocolate Cookie' and my son was uncanny, my son wouldn't speak that way about himself, would he?" Dark Cacao had no idea how to feel, if that were his son he'd have no way of knowing. All of these thoughts he had, they were insane! Unless of course, he could find some sort of reasoning. Alas, the likelihood of the banished prince coming here on his own accord was minuscule. He sighed but then realized something. 'Chocolate Cookie' and him had just met yet he was clearly able to pick up on certain things Dark Cacao did when feeling certain emotions. It's either that cookie was remarkably observant and could comprehend small things like that, or he had known him for years. Dark Cacao knew of watchers who were older than his son and still didn't understand such cues, so for a random cookie to immediately pick up on that was odd. The only problem was that Dark Cacao needed a way to figure it out, 'Chocolate Cookie's' face was covered so he couldn't see any of his facial features, which would be the easiest way to tell who he was. Maybe the best way would be to listen to more of his little history lessons and see if he'd slip up and say private information. [Continuation End]

"Your Majesty, forgive me if I'm intruding but I couldn't help but notice that you seem deeply troubled... is anything the matter my liege?" Affogato Cookie asked. "... it is nothing." He turned away. "Do not worry about it." Dark Cacao said. "If you say so my liege." Affogato almost walked away but turned back around to face the king. "Oh and I noticed that there was a group of 3 random cookies looking around the Citadel, would you like me to get them so you may speak to them?" Affogato Cookie inquired. "Yes, gather them and bring them to the throne room." Dark Cacao commanded. "Understood my liege" Affogato walked off. Dark Cacao has already met the other two so he didn't see much point in gathering them, so he headed towards the throne room.

Affogato was walking down the hallway when he saw a cookie in disguise. "Excuse me, may I speak with you for a second." Affogato had a chance to recruit somebody else for his uprising aganist the King. The cookie turned around and looked at him. "Yes, is there something to need?" They asked. "Yes, I'd like to speak with you in private, follow me." Affogato wanted to learn who this cookie was in order to determine if they were a threat or not and if they were he'd recruit them. After bringing them to an empty room. "I'm Affogato Cookie and I'd like you to do something for me. I need you to take of that disguise. Don't worry I won't tell the King! It'll be a secret between the two of us." Affogato smiled, if he needed he would tell their secret to the King. The cookie reluctantly took off his disguise and Affogato stood in shock. "M-My prince!" Affogato realized that he was in trouble, the King greatly missed his son and would most likely listen to what he had to say. He started to panic internally until Dark Choco put his hand on his shoulder. "I know you're planning to betray the king." Affogato was confused, if Dark Choco knew why wouldn't he expose him? Unless, Dark Choco thinks his father wouldn't listen, maybe he wanted revenge. "Yes, but it's only because he refuses to help any of the citizens of the Kingdom, especially those outside the walls." Affogato lied, hoping, practically praying, that Dark Choco would believe him. "Hm, then allow me to assist you. Inform me of the details of your plan and I will assist you to the best of my abilities." Dark Choco knew Affogato was attempting to trick him, he knew Affogato only cared for the throne, the people outside the walls were just obstacles in his scheme. "Of course!" Affogato explained the details of his plan but left out parts about how Dark Cacao and Dark Choco would be left to die. "Alright, I can work with that. I will ensure that the plan succeeds." Dark Choco promised. "Great! Now I need to get back to my job, I'll allow you to stay here for as long as needed, goodbye!" Affogato ran off to go find those cookies the King was referring to. Once making sure Affogato was gone Dark Choco started to prepare. "What an idiot." Dark Choco muttered, he almost wanted to laugh at him. Dark Choco just said he would make sure 'the plan' would suceed, he never clarified whose plan. After putting his disguise back on he went off to find the others and inform them as to what would happen.

A few minutes later Affogato came back with all 5 of them. "Dark Cacao Cookie!" One of them exclaimed. "King Dark Cacao Cookie." Choco bowed. "Yes Gingerbrave, he is the king, we should be formal." The one with the cone shaped hat replied. "S-Shouldn't we introduce ourselves?" A Cookie wearing an outfit that resembled a Strawberry stuttered. "Right!" Custard cleared his throat. "Hello King Dark Cacao Cookie! Me and my friends, Gingerbrave," Custard pointed towards the cookie that had exclaimed earlier and he waved. "Wizard Cookie," Wizard Cookie had bowed after is name was said. "Strawberry Cookie," Strawberry Cookie grabbed the strings of her hoodie and pulled on them, making it so you couldn't see her face. "And you've already met me and my friend!" Custard looked proud. "Since you're so good at explaining, mind telling me why you trespassed into the Black Citadel?" Dark Cacao glared at them, he didn't think they'd be able to do any harm to him but, ever since his son struck him down he was always on high alert. "Please, do not be angry at any of them. They had only come here with the intent of delivering a letter from someone very important." Dark Choco stood infront of Custard, kneeled and looked down. "And what about you 'Chocolate Cookie'? Why have you come here?" Dark Cacao remained on guard. "I came here only to assist them." Dark Choco said. "I also asked to him to come so he could help me learn things about this kingdom! Like that portait!" Custard seemed really happy for some odd reason. "... Give me the letter." Dark Cacao sighed. Gingerbrave ran over to him and handed him the letter. Dark Cacao read through it not knowing how to feel. On one hand this group of cookies came out of nowhere and broke into the Citadel, but on the other hand they seemed to be, for the most part, harmless. "I thank you for this letter, you are all excused to leave. Aside from Chocolate Cookie, I'd like to speak with you." Dark Cacao put the letter back in the envelope carefully so he wouldn't damage it. All of them left the room except Choco. "Why is it you wanted to speak with me?" Choco stood up and faced the king. "I apologize but with everything I've learned about you so far makes me feel like you aren't who you say you are." Dark Cacao got up and walked towards him. "Tell me, is your name truly 'Chocolate Cookie'?" Dark Cacao stood infront of him and looked down at him. Choco was about to respond but was rudely interrupted by a loud noise. Affogato burst into the room. The two looked at Affogato. "My liege, the people of the Citadel are turning aganist you!" Affogato exclaimed. "We need to get you away!" Dark Choco nodded in agreement, the plan was in motion and Dark Choco had to do whatever was nessacary to make sure he could outsmart Affogato. "I agree, if it's you they're all after we should get you out of here to buy you more time." Dark Choco urged. Dark Cacao was out voted and there was no point in arguing. "Alright then where do you propose we go." Affogato looked at Dark Choco subtly. "The tallest wall, it'll take them longest to reach there so it'd be best if we could get there and form a strategy from there." Choco proposed. Dark Cacao reluctantly agreed, not fully sure if he should trust Choco but, there weren't any other good options so. "Fine, let's go." They all left to get to the wall.

They reached the tallest wall. Affogato put poison in the air. Dark Choco understood that this was the point where he'd have to put matters into his own hands. "I'm sorry you two but I cannot allow you to progress with any strategy making." Affogato chuckled. "But don't worry-" Dark Choco dashed behind Affogato and knocked him to the ground with a single hit from his sword. Dark Choco walked towards the cookie on the ground. Affogato grabbed onto the cape with the hood that covered Dark Choco's face. He took off his cape and threw Affogato off the edge. Dark Choco stared down to where Affogato was pushed off making sure he wasn't grabbing onto a part of the wall. "So my suspicions were right." Dark Cacao put his hand in Dark Choco's shoulder. "shit. Listen I'll leave soon I just-" Dark Cacao cut him off. "Don't worry, I'm not too mad. You've shown that you have no intent to betray me again so I'm fine with you staying." Dark Cacao patted his shoulder before removing his hand and turning around. "Though I am a bit irritated on how you had some many things wrong about that poster." Dark Choco was confused, he was sure what he said was correct. "Like what?" Dark Choco tilted his head. "Well you had said the prince brought 'great shame and dishonor to his homeland', but personally I would disagree. While I am confused as to why they did it, I was never truly ashamed." Dark Choco was suprised, he was sure his father would be ashamed of him. Dark Cacao walked off and motioned for Dark Choco to follow along. Despite being shocked from his father's response he followed.

Dark Cacao and Dark Choco were roaming the empty halls in silence. "Hm, I wonder where everyone is?" Dark Cacao looked around preparing for an attack. Dark Choco remained silent. The only noise in the halls was the King and his son walking. The reached the door to the throne room where the two heard chatter inside. They opened the door to see all the citizens of the Black Citadel had calmed. A small cookie ran up to Dark Choco and grabbed his hand. "The plan to ruin Affogato's plan went without a hitch!" He was beaming, extremely happy to have foiled an evil cookie's plan with just words. "I can see that, good job kid." Dark Choco gave him a small smile. "Where are the others? We did what we had to so we should get going." Dark Choco looked through the crowd of people to see if he could spot Gingerbrave and Co. "Ahem." The King cleared his throat and put his hand on Dark Choco's back. "There's no need to rush things, now is there?" Dark Cacao looked down at Custard. "Stay a while, the journey will be long and harsh so it'd be best to take a rest." Dark Cacao said. Custard giggled while Dark Choco seemed to have be annoyed. "Well then! I'm gonna go talk to people, bye!" Custard ran off filled to the brim with excitement. "He seems to be quite the energetic one?" Dark Cacao looked down at his son. "He is." Dark Choco answered. The two stood in awkward silence for a while. The two started to talk back and forth for a while and later split off.

OK IM FINALLY DONE WITH JOTTING THIS DOWN. THIS TOOK MONTHS AGHHHHH. please keep in mind this is just a basic thing and I'll probably fix it up later.

#dark choco #cookie run #cookie run kingdom #crk #dark cacao #dark choco cookie #cookie run au #cookie run kingdom au #custard cookie III au

[burningtacozombie]

Hi there. I really like reading your posts on Miguel and was curious, what do you think Miguel & Felipe's dynamic and/or interactions will be in season 5 now that Miguel knows Felipe is his father? Is there anything you could like to see happen?

hey, thank you for saying you like what I write, I appreciate it 🥰

what I would like to see is Miguel and Felipe finishing their conversation in the butchershop. knowing now that Felipe gets out of it alive, I hope he did the right thing this time and told Miguel everything. the whole truth about his mother and what she did, about the "Galindo bastard" his grandmother took in when Felipe was a child (I'm refering to THIS), all of it. the truth has to come out. but given they're doing another time jump of about a year, we probably won't see any of that. the aftermath maybe, and I think it's going to be very difficult for Miguel to wrap his head around it. but hopefully he can make enough peace with the situation to let Cristobal meet his grandfather. Felipe and Cristobal interacting as family is something I'd LOVE to see, as well as Cristobal and Maverick playing together.

but oh well, it's Mayans MC and not some soap opera so this might be wishful thinking, lol.

I don't think Miguel will kill Felipe at any point, but I do think Felipe will die. last year I had this theory, that I never elaborated on but now it's back on the table, that Felipe might have some terminal illness, cancer or something like it, and knowing he might not have much time left he wants to clean up his family mess to try and bring his children closer together. between EZ, Angel and Miguel there is a lot to clean up. initially the terminal illness theory came from him closing his butcher shop for no obvious reason because he might know there is no one who would take over once he's gone. I was ready to scrap this theory but this moment from the trailer brought it back because I do think, Felipe would do something along the lines of "before the illness takes me out, I'm going to take myself out".

also, there were some discussions about Miguel saying "YOUR brother" to Angel in the trailer instead of "OUR brother" in a way that Angel and EZ might not even know yet but I think it means Miguel simply doesn't see or even accept EZ as his brother. I'm sure they all know the truth at this point and while I can see Miguel and Angel get along eventually, Miguel and EZ is a whole other story. they might never accept each other as brothers, or in any other way for that matter. I also think it's going to be Felipe who tells Angel first and then Angel will be the one who has to tell EZ.

this is all I have for them for now and it'll be exciting to see how things play out once the season starts.

#thanks anon #danny pino #miguel galindo #edward james olmos #felipe reyes #clayton cardenas #angel reyes #jd pardo #ez reyes #mayans mc #mayans fx #anon ask

[exlibrisfangirl]

Oopsies. I may have fallen head-first down the Mayans M.C. hole. 😬

#i decided to watch it because JR and holland are in the current season #and i'm actually hooked #came for the guest appearance of the creepy handlebar 'stache #stayed for the beardy mexicano motorcycle-riding DILFS ayyyy PAPI #mayans #mel watches mayans #i am in love with angel #and i ain't even mad #also #i love the brothers dynamic between him and EZ #aaaand bishop is DADDY AF #hi yes hello i have a shiny new fictional problem to add to my ever-growing list of problems #tv shows

[lena-too-cool]

A Better Family

Ship: None really more of a friendship 

A/N: The continuation off of the blub New Found Family, I really hope this is what everyone imagined it to be. I really like the way that this turned out. I like the dynamics of the relationships. I want to thank everyone for the love on the first one and enjoy.  

Moving to Santo Padre was one of the best things to happen in my life. Moving there came at a time in my life when I need to start over. My dad had just died, and he was the only family I had left. My dad was my best friend, we didn't have a lot, but we had each other. When he got sick, I made sure I took care of him to the best of my ability. My mom if you can call her that. Left in the middle of the night when I was 4, I don't remember much of her.

After my dad was gone there was nothing keeping me in Seattle. Living in our house causes more pain than anything. So, I wondered for a while, and I ended up in California. If my car hadn't broken down in the middle of nowhere, I would have never gone to Santo Padre.

I meet the Mayans when they came into the bar, I work in. I noticed that most of the patrons would avoid them, and most of my co-workers didn't want to serve them. So, I had the job of serving them and I learned that they are a great group of guys.

First, I meet Bishop he would come in later in the evenings. He would sit at the bar and order scotch and simply sit there and drink it. I slowly started to have conversations with him over minor topics. From there our friendship bloomed, I think a part of me became close to him because he reminded me of my dad.

The next person I meet was Coco he would come in mid-day. He always sits in the back, always gets a beer, and always reads articles about conspiracy theories. I thought he was really interesting, so I asked him about some theory on aliens. Under the hard interior, he was somewhat of a nerd I'm glad I get to see this part of him.

Next, came EZ and Angel they came in one day and sat at the bar. They both ordered beers Angel was a huge flirt of course. I took to having a relationship with the two of them the fastest, they came in the most, between Ez's interesting conversations about literature and Angel’s flirty personality it was hard to resist. I like to think of them as the two brothers I never had.

After some time of getting to know all of the Mayans, I learned that a lot of them came from broken homes. I noticed that most of them didn't celebrate their birthdays; So, I decided to do something special for them when their birthdays rolled around. The first person's birthday was Johnny "Coco" I made him a cake with an alien on top. I showed up at his house at 7 in the morning with a cake, the surprised look on his face made it worth the 3 fails I had before I got it right.

Next, came Angel something told me that he wasn't a cake person, So I made him a home-cooked meal. I showed up at the scrap yard and delivered it to him. For a man so confident he sure did look flushed when I gave him the meal. The other guys made jokes that I had a crush on Angel but, I made it clear that it was platonic.

Then, came Ez I wanted to do something different this time, I decided to buy him a book that he had been talking about. Early in the year, he talked about how hard it was to find the book. I had to get a friend from Seattle to send it to me. The book came just before his birthday I made him one cupcake then, I ran it over to his house. Ez was so happy and promised to cherish the book, I was happy that the book was a big hit.

Finally, was El Presidente himself Bishop, this man was probably the hardest to think of a gift for, I mean I highly doubt that he wanted a cake. It took me a while to think of something then the perfect idea came to my mind. I found a Macallan Scotch online and thought it would be the perfect gift. I had to fly out to Virginia to meet with the seller, the man said that the Scotch was 60 years old. Bishop's reaction was something that I would carry with me for the rest of my life. He told me he would love to have a child like me. I was moved to tears he reminded me so much of my dad.

I finally had a family even if it was a found one.

#coco cruz #coco cruz x reader #bishop losa #bishop x reader #ez reyes #ezekiel reyes x reader #ez reyes x reader #angel reyes #angel reyes x reader #mayans mc

[drabbles-mc]

Old Habits

Obispo “Bishop” Losa x Reader

Request from my fave @masterlistforimagines​​:  I’m back with more requests for everyone’s #1 Daddy: “Do it, I dare you” and “I haven’t forgot you yet” (Prompts are from This Post)

Warnings: Light angst (with a happy ending), language

Word Count: 2.2k

A/N: Still working through a personal life slump, but I was pretty stoked to finish up this fic. Idk why I’ve been putting Bishop through some things lately, but this one does have a happy ending I promise!

Bish Taglist: @sincerelyasomebody​​ @sadeyesgf​​ @thesandbeneathmytoes​​ @tomhardydallasstarsgirl​​ @multiyfandomgirl40​​ @sillygoose6969​​

It had been months since you last saw Bishop. The breakup went about as well as anyone could expect any breakup to go. It didn’t end with yelling and screaming, just a lot of tears and the recognition that trying to force things to work was hurting the both of you. It was difficult to try and adjust to a life that didn’t revolve around each other. You put off getting your things from his house for a little longer than necessary, not wanting to admit to yourself that it was really over. For weeks he still texted you or called you once a day to make sure that you were doing alright. Both of you had to fight not to slip up and say, “I love you,” before hanging up the phone. Old habits really do die hard.

By your second month apart, you both had gotten to the point where you didn’t follow through on the impulse to reach out. Your heart sank a little every time you’d get a notification on your phone and you saw that it wasn’t from him, but you knew that it was for the best. It still sucked, though.

Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months. You still thought about him often, but you had gotten a grip on your emotions over it. He hadn’t tried to contact you, and that let you know that if he was over it, it was time for you to be over it too. After a lot of prompting from friends, you set yourself up on Tinder. It was a dumb idea, and all it really was, was a distraction. But it was an effective one. You’d had your fair share of disastrous conversations, awful first-dates, and not-terrible hookups since joining. Dating apps weren’t really your thing, but you hoped that maybe you’d stumble across someone who could start to fill the gap that Bishop had left.

After another awkward dinner with a man that you would never speak to again, you decided to meet up with your friends who were out at the club. The night was young and you didn’t want your entire Saturday night to feel like a waste. One of your friends was waiting for you outside the door to the club, and she beamed at you as she waved you over.

She wrapped you in a hug, “Date was that bad, huh?”

You laughed, nodding, “Another on the long list of disappointments. I don’t even know why I bother.”

“Well, come on, we’ll make sure the rest of your night isn’t so disappointing. Now that you’re here we can all do shots!”

The night was definitely the perfect distraction from your disaster of a date. You and your friends had spent all night on the dance floor, completely detached from everything else that was going on. You hadn’t even gone back to the bar to get more drinks, which was probably for the best. You were still just buzzed, not drunk, and that was much better for everyone involved.

You finally had to go get some water and sit down at the bar for a minute to catch your breath. You managed to maneuver through the packed groups of people and waited patiently for someone to free up a stool at the bar. You plopped down, taking a deep breath.

You were sitting back, sipping on your water when a familiar face materialized in front of you. Your eyes grew wide as a smile spread across your face. Hopping off of your stool you jumped and wrapped your arms around Angel.

“Holy shit,” you laughed as you stepped back so you could look at him, “What are you doing here?”

He chuckled, “Guy’s night out.”

You raised an eyebrow, “Since when does that not happen at the clubhouse, or over at Vicki’s?”

“It’s called branching out, querida,” he laughed.

“Who’s all here?” you looked around.

“Usual crew of troublemakers,” he nodded towards the door where Coco and Gilly were standing, chatting with a group of girls.

“No EZ?”

“He’s outside, him and Bish are having a smoke.” Your heart dropped into your stomach, and Angel saw the change on your face, “Still not talking?”

You shook your head, “Not in a long time. Never reached out to me.”

“Well, you got about two minutes before neither of you are left with much of another choice.”

“Fuck me,” you rolled your eyes and shook your head.

Angel ordered you each a shot and you took it, praying it would alleviate the nerves building up inside your chest. He wrapped an arm around your shoulders and pulled you against his side for a moment, “Quit stressing about it, Y/N. You’ll be fine.”

Before you could attempt to argue with him about how wrong he was, Bishop and EZ appeared on either side of him. Your breathing hitched as you took in the sight of Bishop after not having seen him in months. You forced out a hello to both him and EZ, and Angel took that as his cue to drag his brother off to find a different section of the club to hang out in.

It was just you and Bishop facing each other now. Every part of you wanted to get up and hug him, but you knew that it would undo months of work. You weren’t over him by any means, but you could at least pretend that you were.

“Wouldn’t expect to see you in a place like this,” you finally said.

He smiled, shaking his head, “Me either. It definitely,” he glanced around the club for a moment before returning his eyes to you, “wasn’t my idea.”

“Just being a good team player?”

He laughed, “Something like that,” he paused, “Can I get you a drink?”

You smiled, “Angel bought me a shot before you got here…but I’ll take a beer.”

He lingered close to you as the two of you talked. Somehow you managed to hear each other through the music and the sounds of a million other conversations happening around you. the bartender would wordlessly refill your empty beer glasses and neither of you commented to get them to stop. Every now and then Bishop’s hand would brush against yours as he reached for his glass and you didn’t comment on it, but you knew that you both noticed it happening.

You had been afraid that the conversation was going to feel awkward, or forced, but it wasn’t. Truthfully you had completely forgotten that you were there with your friends. By the looks of it, Bishop had decided to leave the rest of the club to their own devices. The two of you caught up about the safe topics. He asked you about work and you asked vague questions about the club, just inquiring to how everyone was doing.

“How’s my boy Chucky?” you asked with a smile.

Bishop laughed and nodded, “He is doing as well as he ever was. He and Leti are a dynamic duo now. Keeping each other out of trouble.”

You laughed, “That’s good,” you paused, biting down on your lip for a moment before saying, “I need to step out for a second and grab a smoke.”

“Want some company?” he was trying not to look too eager.

You smiled, “Sure.”

Bishop placed money on top of the bar and followed you towards the door. You’d caught Angel looking at the two of you and you purposely didn’t hold eye contact with him. As you were reaching the door to the club, you felt Bishop’s hand press lightly against the small of your back. You looked back and smiled, arching your brow.

“Hands to yourself, Bish,” you laughed as the two of you landed out on the sidewalk.

He chuckled, “Or what, you’re gonna fight me?”

You smiled as you leaned back against the outside wall of the club, digging your pack of cigarettes out of your purse, “You’ve seen what happens to men who get too handsy with me.”

He smiled, shaking his head as he took the cigarette that you offered him, “Do it, I dare you. It’s been a while since I’ve had to fight someone.”

“That’s not a streak you should be looking to break,” you laughed as you lit your smoke and passed the lighter over to him.

There was silence between the two of you for a little bit. Despite the fact that there was more physical space between you, it felt so much more intimate now that you were outside without the chaos of the club to distract you. If it had been a few months ago, the two of you wouldn’t have had any space between you—he never could manage to keep his hands off of you whenever the two of you went out. The gap between you felt wrong, but you weren’t going to be the one to close it.

“How badly do you want to be home right now?” you asked with a smile as you exhaled a cloud of smoke.

Bishop laughed, “You know dance clubs have never been my thing,” he stepped in a little closer to you, “But this part here isn’t so bad.”

You felt your face start to get hot and you couldn’t meet his eyes. He wasn’t touching you but you could practically feel the heat radiating off of his body. Without even meaning to he was making you feel so small, but part of you didn’t even mind it.

“Be careful, Obispo,” you were trying to keep things light but your voice came out so soft, “I think you’re forgetting who you’re talking to.”

His free hand came up and tilted your chin so that you were looking at him, “I haven’t forgot you yet, not even for a second,” he didn’t break eye contact with you, “And believe me, I’ve tried.”

You let out a shaky breath as you tilted your head up so that his hand was no longer touching you. You dropped your cigarette to the ground, snubbing it out with the ball of your foot. Bishop hadn’t back up at all and you were forced to look at him. There was a familiar light in his eyes, something that you had been missing desperately. He took one last drag before putting his cigarette out as well. You leaned back against the brick wall, trying to grant yourself a little more space between the two of you.

“I’ve missed this,” he said, visibly fighting the urge to pull you in close to him.

You nodded slightly, “Me too,” you swallowed hard, trying to force the words out, “You stopped answering my texts.”

He rested one hand on the back of his neck as he took a deep breath, “I figured that it would be best for you…for both of us.”

“I hate being broken up,” you blurted out. You quickly reached up and covered your mouth with your hand, unsure of where that had come from. It was true, sure, but you weren’t planning on saying it. You shook your head, “Fuck, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean, I know why we did but fuck, I just mi—”

You didn’t get to finish your sentence. He stepped in and pulled you into a rough kiss. One arm snaked around your waist while his other hand rested against the back of your neck, pressing you into him. After a moment the shock of it wore off and you fell into him, hands gripping his kutte and pulling him as close as humanly possible. He pushed your back flush against the side of the building and you couldn’t help but to moan into your kiss.

He finally pulled his lips off of yours. You tried to catch your breath as you rested your forehead against his. His grip on you loosened as his hands slid around your hips and found themselves nestled into your back pockets. You smiled at the comfort of the familiar gesture. You brought one hand up to the side of his face, tracing along his cheekbone and feeling his stubble slide underneath the pad of your thumb.

“I’ve missed you so much, Y/N,” his voice was hardly a whisper.

You gave him a quick peck on the lips, “I’ve missed you too.”

“I thought it would be better if we weren’t together anymore, and maybe it’s selfish of me, but I want you to come home,” he pulled away slightly so that he could look you in the eyes, “Please.”

You felt the anxiety melting out of your body. You had spent months imagining him saying those words and it was finally happening. “Can I come home tonight?”

He chuckled, nodding, “I’d love that,” he pulled you into a hug, letting your head rest against his chest, “And I would really love if we left now so I don’t have to go back in there.”

You laughed into his chest, “I guess that’s fair,” you pulled away, letting your hands slide so that your fingers interlocked with his, “Take me home Obispo.”

He laughed, tugging you in the direction of his bike, “It’d be my pleasure.”

#mayans mc #mayansmc #mayans fx #bishop losa x reader #bishop losa #mayans mc imagine #bishop losa imagine #bishop losa x you #bishop losa fanfiction #bishop losa angst #obispo losa #obispo losa x reader #obispo losa imagine #my writing #fanfiction #drabblesmc

[starrynite7114]

everything is you: one

A/N: Happy Sunday everyone! Hope you all are having a great weekend! Wanted to share this with you all as it’s a story I’ve been working on. It’s honestly taking over my life a bit, but I hope you all enjoy it! 

This may or may not be inspired by the Boyz II Men song. I love my 90s music and I heard it and then boom. And it also may have been inspired by a korean drama called ‘Fated to Love you’, at least the character of Alena. 

Should have three requests out before I update this and things you never knew! That’s the plan and I plan on sticking to that plan. Snapshots should be update soon as well!

Masterlist

Request list

tagged list: @justahopelessssromantic : @ifoundmyhappythought : @carlaangel86 : @marvelmaree : @woahitslucyylu : @encounterthepast : @enamoured-x : @whyisgmora : @briana-mishell24 : @bribri-82 : @briannab1234 : @chibsytelford : @agirllovespasta : @twistnet : @everyhowlmarksthedead : @trulysuccubus : @jadert15 : @sammskellington : @cind-in-real-life : @mheart27 : @claytoncardenasbabymama : @sadeyesgf : @thickemadame : @summertimesadnesswithadashofsass : @gemini0410 : @elcococruz : @samcrobae : @sesamepancakes : @iambabyharry : @blackmissfrizzle : @soamayansimaginez : @1-800-imagines : @phoenixhalliwell : @lady-pswrld : @dazzledamazon : @sesamepancakes : @getyourcrayoncas : @nich0lasmatthews : @lukealvxz : @scuzmunkie : @nakusaych9 : @danie1432 : @cocotheclown : @soaronmywings​ : @my-rosegold-soul​ : @samcrobae​

If you would like to be added to the tag list, please leave a comment below or message me! <3

Credits to the original GIF creator!

Alena groaned as she heard her phone rang for the umpteenth time. 

It was a Saturday.

She was allowed to sleep in.

Her eyes opened wide then when the day sunk in. Picking up her cell phone, she sat up and saw multiple missed calls from Angel, EZ and Felipe.

She clicked on Angel’s name, cursing under her breath. 

“Where the fuck are you?” Angel growled out.

“I’m so sorry Angel,” Alena groaned as she laid back on her bed. “I had a late night at work and I missed my alarm earlier.” She looked at the clock beside her bed and it read ‘10:35am’.

He sighed. “It’s fine, I was just worried. You didn’t even text me querida.” 

“I,” she bit her lip, internally groaning for forgetting to do such a simple task. “I thought I did. Sorry my-“

Angel cut her off. “Your co-workers took advantage of your kindness yet again and you did their work while they went out to party.” 

Alena hated how well Angel knew her. But she nodded her head meekly as if Angel could see her. 

“Cruz is looking for mama.” 

She smiled thinking of her son. Well, technically, Cruz wasn’t her son. Cruz was Angel’s son with his ex-girlfriend, Valeria. The woman didn’t want Cruz so she put him up for adoption without even telling Angel. She told him that she would rather he be in the system than have a father like him. That she wanted no reminder of him in her life. When Angel went to the orphanage to retrieve his child, they gave him a difficult time due to his criminal background along with his history with the Mayans. They told him he didn’t have enough stability to care for a child. 

Typical systemic bullshit. 

Alena had a good job, or well, a respectable job that people would see as stable. Being Angel’s friend, she offered to pose as his fiancé so that Angel could get his son. It was a fight, but eventually they were able to bring Cruz home and Alena has been taking care of Cruz with Angel ever since. On his birth certificate, it was Alena’s name that was on there along with Angel’s.

One may wonder why would Alena even adopt a child that wasn’t hers? 

Many people, including her family, have called her insane and too kind to help Angel out the way she has been doing for the last few years. They were never together and were only friends, yet, they were co-parenting.

But Angel saved her all those years ago when she was merely sixteen years old. Things would have been different if Angel wasn’t there.

Alena moved to Santo Padre with her mother when she was eleven years old. She lived in the apartment building down the street Angel’s home. She was EZ’s age, so she ended up being in the same class as him. For lack of a better term, she was EZ’s rival when it came to academics. She hardly participated in any clubs, sports or any activities, but when it came to academics, she definitely rivaled EZ. Angel always teased EZ that not even his spooky gift could beat Alena. Due to living in the same neighborhood, they always seemed to walk home together and she eventually befriended EZ then Angel. 

They weren’t her best friends, but she definitely considered them good friends. Her best friend, Carla, was EZ’s current girlfriend. Carla moved to Santo Padre at the age of fifteen and became a part of the triplet with EZ and Alena. Once EZ was out of jail, their feelings became more apparent especially since Carla stuck by EZ. Though, they couldn’t lay blame in Emily since EZ did push her away. 

She adopted Cruz four years ago and now, she was his mother and she wouldn’t do a thing to change it. Her and Angel co-parented well. Their schedule never veered from the usual, but she usually was in San Diego during the week and from time to time Cruz came with her. Mostly, he was in Santo Padre since Felipe could watch him when Angel was working. Angel insisted that she didn’t have to take care of Cruz, her helping him get his child was enough, but she grew fond of the child. 

She would do anything for Angel and now she would do anything for Cruz. They might not be blood, but he was her son.

“Shit, okay, let me just change into some clothes and I’ll head over.” Alena maneuvered out of bed. The guilt seeping in that she didn’t come home last night as she intended to do so. 

Well, she didn’t go over to Angel’s.

“Don’t bother,” her room door opened and the giggle that flooded the air made her smile.

“Mama!” Cruz greeted her, jumping on her bed. 

“Baby!” She opened her arms as Cruz jumped into them. Looking up at Angel, he leaned against the door frame and smiled at her. “I’m really sorry.” She pouted. 

Angel groaned. “Please don’t do that, you know that pout makes me powerless.” Alena laughed at his words. “I know, it’s fine, I know how you are.” Angel sighed walking over to sit at the edge of her bed. “Really wish you wouldn’t let them walk all over you.” 

“It’s not a big deal, I was staying late anyway and they didn’t anticipate it to be busy yesterday.” Alena’s eyes were focused on Cruz who was cuddled into her arms.

“That’s not the point Lenny.” Angel hated how kind she was, it was the reason she was stuck in California in the first place. She was going to Europe, Paris specifically, to become a curator for the Louvre, an opportunity that came once in a lifetime, but she stayed in Santo Padre, and was doing scut work. It upset Angel, but she wouldn’t leave, because if she did, Angel wouldn’t be able to have Cruz and she didn’t want that. It was Angel’s chance to be a father, to have a family.

“How was last night?” Alena knew how difficult it was for Cruz to sleep when he knew she was coming home.

“Awful.” Alena noticed the dark bags under Angel’s eyes. “He wouldn’t stop calling for you. And I tried calling you but your phone was off.”

“Sorry, I forgot to charge it and I just,” she kissed the top of Cruz’s head as she felt his breathing even out indicating he was asleep. “I’m really sorry Angel.”

“Stop apologizing, you didn’t do anything wrong.” Angel moved so he was sitting right beside her. “I’m going to have to either buy you another phone or those power banks.” He chuckled, shaking his head. “You have to start saying no querida, you’re not getting paid enough to handle everyone’s load.”

“I just want to help.” Alena laid down with Cruz in her arms. 

Angel followed suit, resting his hand behind his head. Even though they didn’t start off tangled in one another, eventually when he woke up, he knew Alena would be wrapped around him with Cruz in between them. They had a weird dynamic, Angel could recognize that, but he wouldn’t trade it for the world. 

“Baby, just say no next time. It was their work to do, not yours.” Angel turned and wrapped an arm around Alena and Cruz. “We’ll just take a nap then we can head over to Pops, family dinner.”

“Isn’t family dinner usually tomorrow?” 

“Two nights of family dinner, didn’t want to argue with the old man.” 

Alena laughed. “Okay, we got to stop by the pharmacy, Cruz needs a refill on his inhaler.”

“I already got it.” Angel closed his eyes. “Go to sleep, I know you’re tired, sleep in for once.”

Alena closed her eyes, kissing Cruz on the forehead one last time before her world went dark. 

=============

Later on that night, Alena was relaxing on the recliner at Felipe’s as Angel and Felipe grilled outside. She knew their relationship had been tense, however she knew they were trying to work it out. With EZ out of jail, she knew the dynamic would change. Angel always felt second best to EZ, but not to her. 

He was number one and he knew that. 

“Mama, do you have my crayons?” Cruz came up beside her, EZ following behind.

“Yes bubba, they’re in your bag remember? We packed it together.” She ruffled his hair, kissing his cheek.

“Oh yeah! I’ll go get it tio!” Cruz ran to Angel’s old bedroom where you had dropped off his things. 

EZ looked down at Alena and smiled. “Nice to see you relaxing for once.”

“Your father and brother won’t let me do anything.”

“Well you do everything for everyone else, hard not to spoil you.” EZ was still in awe that Alena took the mantle of mother for Cruz. He was always close to Alena and remained close to her while he was in jail. Besides Carla, she was the only woman in his life that he didn’t push away like he did Emily. He felt terrible for doing so, but he didn’t want to make her wait. When his father informed him that Valeria left Angel after informing him she was pregnant and that she was giving the child up for adoption, it broke EZ’s heart for his brother. He knew for a fact that Angel would be a great father. From what Felipe reported to him, Valeria was a grade A bitch. But then Felipe told him that Alena adopted Cruz to help Angel and that she was going to be Cruz’s mom.

EZ would say he was surprised, but he wasn’t. Alena had always placed Angel on some pedestal after he saved her all those years ago. He understood why she did, but he just didn’t think her gratitude would be this great. When he got out of prison and saw their dynamic, he was in awe. Cruz may like Alena a little more than Angel and it was slightly laughable. Not in a malicious way, but Alena wasn’t his biological parent, but he was so attached to her.

“Is Carla coming?”

“No, she’s working a late shift at the hospital.” EZ wished Carla was here, but he knew how short staffed it was and she had a four day break after this stretch of days. 

“Mommy, do you want to draw with me and tio?” Cruz cake running back, his bag in his hands. 

“Mommy is resting little man, we talked about this.” Angel answered for her. She looked up and found Angel walking in from the kitchen, trying to shoo Cruz and EZ away.

“No! I haven’t seen mommy and I want to play with mommy.” 

“Cruz,” Angel sternly called out his name. “Do you want mommy to get sick?”

Cruz looked up at Alena, a pout on his cute face, and shook his head. “No daddy.” Alena got sick easily and Angel tried to make sure she didn’t over exert herself. She tried to give her all to Cruz, but he knew how exhausted she was even though she didn’t complain.

“It’s okay, I don’t mind. It’s just coloring Angel.” She hated seeing Cruz pout. 

“EZ take Cruz.” Angel waited till they were outside before he crouched down beside Alena. “Listen I get it, you want to do everything with Cruz and you suck at saying no, but you can’t let Cruz have everything. I’m tired of being the bad cop.” He teased her.

Alena laughed. “I play the bad cop during bed time especially when you want him to stay up with you. We take equal amounts of sternness.” And they did. They were a team and sometimes, Cruz needed a stern answer from both of them. They tried to assure Cruz’s happiness, but they didn’t want him to not have boundaries or manners when it came to certain things. Bedtime was bedtime. Playtime was playtime.

“You okay? You want something to drink?” Angel asked as he stood up. 

“No, I’m okay. Can I bake the brownies now?”

“Nope, keep that cute ass of yours on that seat.” He winked at her. “I’ll bake the brownies.”

“No, Angel you literally don’t know how to bake.” Alena countered.

“It’s just following instructions.”

“My exact point.”

“Oh, you think you’re funny.” Angel chuckled. “It’ll be fine mi dulce.”

“Hey, wait, did you submit the application for Cruz’s school?” Alena called out since Angel went inside the kitchen.

“Lenny, would you stop? I got it, remember? You literally told everyone at the club to make sure I didn’t forget the deadline.” Angel found it annoying, but Alena knew him best. Every fucking turn he made, he had one of his brothers reminding him to submit Cruz’s application. Then his pops would text him. Then EZ would bug him, it was hard to miss the deadline. At the same time, he chuckled at the thought because no one knew him like Alena did. 

“Okay, I just, maybe we shouldn’t start school. Cruz is five, maybe it’s better for him to stay home for now.” Alena bit her bottom lip, unsure if she truly wanted to enroll Cruz to school.

Angel chuckled, helping Alena up so he could sit on the armchair. He pulled her to him, letting her sit on his lap sideways. “We talked about this, it’s gonna be hard, but Cruz needs to go to school. It’ll make it so much easier for us when it comes to childcare and he can meet kids his age.” He thought how insane it was that Alena was so involved in Cruz’s life but he wouldn’t have it any other way. Cruz was Alena’s son, even though he hears how the people around town slightly mocked Alena for her choices, there were more people who supported her. He always referred to her as his partner because in all intents and purposes, she was his partner. 

“You’re right.” She sighed, leaning her head against his shoulder. “I just, what if he gets bullied? Or he doesn’t have friends?”

“Have you met our kid? He’s too cool to not have any friends.” Angel scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous, he’s going to be fine.”

“Okay, but if he comes home crying even once, heads are rolling.”

“Okay mama bear, calm down.” Angel kissed the top of her head, laughing against her head.

Felipe called the two to come out, finding Alena sleeping in Angel’s arms. He gestured for Angel to come out, which he did after waking Alena. Once Alena was awake, they both made their way outside with Cruz already seated, Angel and Alena sitting on either side of him. EZ and Felipe sat across from them. 

EZ always found it fascinating when they all ate together. If there were carrots, Angel would put the carrots in the salad on Alena’s plate, not liking carrots since he was a kid. But Cruz would then put his little carrots on Angel’s plate, thinking they were just exchanging carrots. 

“Cruz, that’s for you.” Angel placed the carrots back on his plate.

“You put your carrots on mama’s plate.”

Angel looked over at EZ and Felipe who both had an amused smile on their faces. Angel grumbled as he took some carrots back. Alena laughed at the two, shaking her head. Her boys were too much at times. 

“Alena,” Alena looked over at Felipe. “Your mother came by the other day, she said you haven’t seen her. Are you avoiding her?”

She smiled sheepishly, letting out a nervous laugh. “Yeah, she just,” she looked over at Angel who was waiting for her to answer as well. He had gotten a few teasing text messages from Michelle, questioning as to why her daughter hasn’t come to see her the last four months. “My mom has been trying to set me up on dates with her friends' sons and I just don’t want to deal with it is all.”

Angel almost choked on the carne asada he had shoved in his mouth while EZ smirked. Felipe tried to hide a smirk, his eldest obviously bothered by the possibilities.

“And has she found a rightful match for you?” EZ loved watching Angel squirm. He missed this. He never thought he would miss his obnoxious older brother and Alena, he missed her too. He missed their academic competitions and how much she pushed him. He missed cooking with her on Friday nights, the Korean cuisines she would make were amazing. But mostly, he missed just being around both of them. He wasn’t exactly incredibly shocked that Alena stepped up to the plate. Her and Angel always had a connection, ever since she was eleven years old. The younger sister they never had, well, for EZ at least she was. With Angel, the lines blurred so long ago. “I’m sure your mother at least has fifteen candidates for you.”

“Cielo, don’t leave us hanging, how many candidates does she have?” Angel’s smile was tight, which made EZ even more amused to tease his brother. 

Angel only called her cielo, sky in Spanish, whenever he was trying to tease her or when he wanted something from her. Sunshine was reserved for when he was secretly annoyed with her, which she deciphered over the years. Lenny when he was frustrated and Alena for everyday things. She liked it when he gave her a Spanish nickname cause he just sounds so good speaking Spanish. 

“Um,” Alena opened her mouth to reply when Cruz got her attention.

“Mr. Vic is calling you.” Cruz held her phone up, which he had in his hands.

Angel raised an eyebrow at his son’s words and Alena excused herself.

“Who’s Mr. Vic?” Angel asked Cruz.

Cruz looked up at his father. “Mama’s best friend. He takes care of me whenever mama has to go to work.”

Angel looked at EZ and his father, who shared the same look as him.

“Is he nice?”

Cruz nodded his head, shoving a carrot in his mouth. “He makes mama laugh.”

Angel had never heard of Vic before. Tonight was a night of revelations.

And he was not liking it one bit.

Alena sat back down, apologizing for taking the phone call.

“Who was that?” Angel questioned.

“Just a friend, he takes care of Cruz. Remember, I told you about him, Victor. He was just checking if we were still going to this museum next Saturday with Cruz.” Alena was certain she mentioned Victor to Angel before, but with so much going on, he most likely forgot. 

“The museum?” Angel knew that Alena absolutely loved art, just like him. It’s what made them bond as strongly as they did. They would borrow one another’s materials, paint together. The third bedroom at their house was an art studio because she wasn’t sleeping in that room alone, it would be confusing for Cruz. But he did remember her mentioning Victor. He wasn’t even sure why he would think Alena would bring anyone around their child without checking with him.

“Yes museum, we’ve been planning for a while. You have a run to Vegas then right?” Alena wasn’t sure why she was nervous or she felt that she had to ask permission. It was mostly for Cruz since in all technicality, he was Angel’s son. She was like a glorified babysitter. Well, she was more than that, but at times she couldn’t help and feel that. People would always ask her who’s cute kid Cruz was whenever she was in San Diego and in Santo Padre, people would always come up to her saying how they admired her for stepping up to the plate. And of course there were the ones who gave her the oddest look, like she committed a crime by helping Angel. 

It was hard to push those looks aside at times because there were so many times she wished Cruz was truly hers. But she didn’t want to dwell on that.

“I do, I just thought we would spend the day together before I left.” Angel knew he was being a dick, but he did intend on doing that.

“Oh, we can do that, not a problem.” Alena enthusiastically agreed. “I can reschedule for Sunday.” She quickly shot Victor a text before continuing to eat.

EZ looked at the victorious smile on Angel’s face. He chuckled at his brother’s reaction, shaking his head. “So how many has your mother found for you?”

“Ten.” She murmured.

“What was that?” Angel asked. He heard, but he wanted to make sure he heard correctly. 

“Mommy said ten.” Cruz answered.

Felipe and EZ laughed while Angel rolled his eyes.

“And how have you been keeping your mother at bay?” Felipe knew how pushy Michelle could be, especially with Alena since she was too kind for her own good.

“She’s been ignoring her.” EZ cackled. “Alena, your mother is going to ambush you soon.”

“No actually,” Alena looked over at Angel. “I told her I was dating someone, which I’m not. But it’s keeping her at bay. I’m almost sure she set up a dating profile for me.”

EZ laughed harder. This situation was too funny. He loved Alena’s mother. She was tough as nails, but was also the sweetest woman he’s met.

“Why doesn’t she busy herself with your brother?” Angel wiped Cruz’s cheek. 

“My brother is, well, he’s been with Mina for years. I’m technically the only one without a commitment.” Alena knew her mother meant well, but she didn’t exactly have time for dates with Cruz and Angel taking up her time. 

“You do, it’s me and Cruz.” Angel stood up. “Anyone want a drink?” Felipe raised his beer indicating he wanted another while Alena just requested for water.

“I’ll come with.” EZ stood up, following his brother in the kitchen.

The two brothers entered the kitchen, Angel grabbing a beer for himself and his father.

“Hey, if you’re not happy with Alena being set up, why not just ask her out?” EZ grabbed a beer as well.

“Ask her out? For what?” Angel gave his brother a questioning look, making his way back out, but EZ stopped him.

EZ made a face, chuckling at his brother. “Oh, we’re still in denial. Haven’t you been in denial for like seven years?”

“Drop it Ezekiel.”

“Look, I know you don’t think you’re worthy of her, but you are. Alena is playing mommy to your son, no questions asked or expecting anything in return. You’ve protected her since she was fifteen years old, kept men away from her and kept her safe. Don’t let the voices get to you Angel, you obviously like her.”

“Well, you’re wrong, I don’t.” Angel pushed pass EZ, halting his movement when his eyes landed on Alena. 

She gave them a small smile, and moved past Angel. “Sorry, I’m going to the bathroom.”

“Did you,” Angel wasn’t sure what to say. He didn’t mean for Alena to hear any of that. “Did you hear any of that?”

“Any of what?” She gave him a questioning look. “You two are so weird.” She laughed, making her way to the bathroom.

But she did hear. She always knew Angel wasn’t interested in her but hearing it was definitely much more hurtful. It was okay, she knew her role in this whole situation and she was fine with that.

Anything for Cruz.

=============

Alena finished her skin routine, putting on her glasses as she walked out of the bathroom. Angel was already on the bed, Netflix ready to go. Cruz was knocked out in his room after a fun night with abuelito and tio.

She slipped in on her side of the bed, keeping her distance from Angel. The lines blurred between them time to time since Angel was very affectionate. He loved cuddling, but after what she heard, to protect her own heart, she wanted to keep a distance between them.

Angel knew Alena heard him. After she returned from the bathroom, he could tell that she was distancing herself. Her attention was solely focused on Cruz and rarely acknowledged him unless he specifically called her name. He hated it when she closed him off but would still smile at him and be very polite. He wanted her to lose it one time, but at the same time he didn’t.

They always said it was the quiet ones.

“Hey, about earlier,” Angel scratched the back of his neck, unsure of how to start.

“You don’t have to explain anything.” Alena cut him off before he could speak further. “It’s fine, we’re a good team Angel, we’re both here for Cruz.”

“It’s more than that, you’re one of the most important people to me.” And it was true, she was. He’s known her for quite some time and it was hard not to be overprotective over her. Alena always wanted to help everyone with no questions asked. She was a genuinely kind person and people walked all over her often. He tried not to, and he was successful most of the time, but sometimes, she pushed him to let her do things for him and he just didn’t want to argue with her.

She wouldn't even look his way and it upset him.

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it.” She placed her hand on top of his, giving it a squeeze. “I don’t expect for you to have feelings for me and we’re friends. Things can get blurry at times because of the dynamic we have. You don’t have to explain anything, we’re good.”

“Alena, don’t brush this off. It’s not that I can’t have feelings for you, our situation is just complicated.” Alena was a beautiful girl, he just, he doesn’t even know what he wanted.

“Angel, don’t worry about it, we’re good.” She gave him a reassuring smile.

Angel didn’t want to push her, so he let it go and just returned her smile. “What are we watching?”

“Lucifer?”

Angel put Lucifer on, Alena situating herself against the headboard. Looking over at her, he knew their situation was highly ideal, and complicated as fuck, but he wouldn’t trade it in the world.

But things were bound to change, they always were.

#angel reyes #angelreyes #angel reyes fanfiction #angel reyes fic #angel reyes fanfic #mayans mc fic #mayans mc fanfic #eiy

[nbapprentice]

You said a while back that while Supergiant games (Bastion, Transistor, Hades) was mostly okay, you had some words about them. I was curious as to what those words were, since Hades' full release is soon.

okay. alright. ive been playing hades lately so i definitely want to give my two cents (or dollars by the size this is gonna get). but let’s go Step by Step

the good: i want to throw a whole Endorsement over supergiant games with the art direction and its characters, which is what keeps me coming back again and again, and what i can assume is that most people are attracted to. 

gameplaywise, they have a Format they stick to which has become their staple, not to their detriment but to their advantage, like... gameplay tropes, so to speak, that they stick to (such as the addition of special conditions that give a disadvantage in exchange for more long-term rewards)

i fucking adore that they take one concept per game, go for it, and when they’re done they are Done; they don’t bother with sequels, they don’t want to run things to the ground and i fucking respect that. They have their themes, and they stick to them (to various degrees of success).

that said, like every piece of media, they are not perfect and this has to be analysed and spoken about

CONTENT WARNINGS: genocide and ethnic cleansing, antisemitism, misogyny, homophobia, suicide, and mentions of incest, and a general Spoilers warning

bastion: touches on ethnic cleansing, and not in a way i’d say is satisfactory. our narrator and one of our Sympathetic characters is one of the men who worked on a world-ending weapon meant to use against the Ura (a group of people coded as East Asian) which after a bit of googling is literally called “the final solution” if there was ever a war between the Ura and the Cael (who feel like rly tan white people to me). jesus fucking CHRIST.

we also meet more Ura other than our two named characters and we have to kill most of them. so that fucking blows.

the game tries for “being a genocidal monster will get you fucked up and blown up” which duh, but i feel we shouldn’t have had a person responsible for war crimes be one of our friends no matter how bad he feels about the whole thing, or the people victim of war crimes become villains in the latter half of the game. zia’s father could’ve taken ruck’s role ez pz.

transistor: the weakest of their games, imo; the lore and writing are fairly flimsy and i did not come out feeling Satisfied, especially because it had this rly good build-up that did not pay off. not to mention... their villains? 3/4 were gay people. lol. two married guys (not even explicit, you only realize by their shared last names) and the ps*cho lesbian trope (iirc she wanted to kill the protagonist’s lover or something). the female protagonist also ends up killing herself to live forever in a digital paradise with her dead lover. it’s. god. 

very Aesthetic, GORGEOUS music, interesting gameplay; had potential, i do not feel like it lived up to it at least as far as the story goes.

pyre: now this one. this one’s BEEFY. where transistor felt flimsy, pyre is rich; lots to sink your teeth into, rich in lore and loveable characters, again w the beautiful music, themes of cooperation and togetherness. my favorite of the cast is volfred sandalwood, the only Black (or, well, Black-coded) revolutionary i’ve ever seen portrayed with this amount of sympathy.

onto the bad: they literally have a Class of character named “Savage”; there’s the “mystical mentally ill person” trope; there is an overwhelming amount of explicit m/f pairs (one of them being. a romance that formed in a single day and then both of the characters were somehow willing to risk it all for each other? PLEASE) while the only hints of gayness are... hints. especially when Jodariel (another of my favs) is teased to have feelings for the player regardless of gender then only gets an ending with a male character with whom she has nothing in common 🙃

hades: and now. this one. music: gorgeous. character designs: spectacular (aphrodite is straight up naked but it’s so... natural and casual, it doesn’t feel sexualized at all). voice acting amazing. character interactions charming and endearing. as a greek mythology nerd, it was nice to see them go for the obscure shit like Zagreus at all, NOT portray Persephone and Hades as a loving couple, AND portrayed the gods as the bunch of petty assholes (some more benevolent than others) that they are. imo they’re too generous with their portrayal of achilles but i’ll allow it.

and finally... it seems all those criticisms about having all the gay characters hidden in the shadows paid off, cuz we got (aside of patroclus and achilles) a bisexual polyamorous protag. Holy Shit! and it’s not even playersexual, romance whomever you want shit without the routes recognizing each other: he explicitly talks about how he’s thinking abt them both (though it’s like “yeah usually mortals take one lover but gods love many huh” polyamory is a human thing too bro!!!!!)

and this is where it all goes, well, at least vaguely downhill lol. ok so the incest warning i gave up there? well. it’s not... outright incestuous. but it has some ugly implications. i want to emphasize: the characters never refer to each other as siblings, nor do they treat each other as such (thanatos, in fact, only recognizes hypnos as his brother, and megaera only sees the other furies as her sisters), but they were all raised by the same woman, Nyx... zagreus and thanatos even grew up together (im assuming megaera didnt meet zagreus until he was fully grown).

this is complicated even worse by the fact that they tried to trick zagreus into believing Nyx was his mother. he realized pretty early on this was not true but like... adoptive mothers, anyone? granted i can believe that bc of the attempt at deception that probably ruptured any attempt at actual familial closeness, and it’s not like hypnos and thanatos saw zagreus as their brother at any point, so they were p much aware of the truth too. with the fact that thanatos even looks like goth miles edgeworth (im not kidding you can google him up right now its literally edgeworth in a cowl) i rly feel they were aiming for Childhood Friend Anime Rival Man than the “surprise kiss bc ur not actually related <3″ shit. zagreus never once refers to nyx as his mother in-game, and also refers to thanatos and hypnos as her sons, never his brothers.

so yeah, like. if one’s feeling generous, zagreus and thanatos are more of a “my father is emotionally closed off and neglects me so my best friend’s mother basically raised me” kind of situation... just pulled off in, perhaps, the worst way possible (why didnt they just say Zagreus was told Hekate was his mom, that’s such an easy fix? or that he was born of nobody other than Hades??? [gestures at athena])

but then, the gods. aaaaaaaahhhhahahahh the gods. demeter shows up! and she calls zeus, hades and poseidon... her foster-brothers. which somehow would make the persephone thing less fucking awful, apparently. they really. really really did not need to do that. she could’ve just said “my fellow gods” or whatever. or my “god-brothers” or something, to pretend it was just a weird god alliance thing??? i dont know but implying that foster family isn’t family is just... bro, the dynamics still exist.

Don’t Like That.

i even contacted supergiant games over this. they reassured me they were even trying to avoid the incest of the original myths bc they didn’t want to mess with such a heavy theme. i believe them... but i really think they didn’t think this through. compared to something like fire emblem fates this is nearly benign, but the implications don’t look good :/

tl;dr of the tl;drs: i admire their artistic philosophy and the heavy emphasis on fresh gameplay, characters and their relationships; i appreciate that it seems that they listen to criticism?; i don’t appreciate that they didn’t think to at LEAST talk to adoptees when making a game about family.

#Anonymous #asks #mod nba #supergiant #supergiant games #bastion #transistor #hades #pyre

[mc-doppomine]

My Ranking of Buster Bros!!! Songs

As I’ve put with my previous posts about song rankings, this is all done in good fun. What I think slaps may be what you think sucks and vice versa. So take it with a fistful of salt. I will not include the battles as that will be on its own list. I will include BB City, Nausa du Zuiqu and Ez Do Rap for fun.

I honestly feel bad for the Buster Bros because discography wise, I actually like most of the songs. Like if they came on, I probably wouldn’t switch it off. But at the same time, they do not have many that really slap for me. Like songs I’m obsessed with. Which kinda makes me feel bad because since I usually listen over the songs while I write this, I think...yeah these songs are good. 

14) New Star - Probably the only of songs that I’d lean more towards not liking. It really made think of a middle schooler, which I guess is the point since this was Saburo’s introductory song. But you know when you find like old recording of you performing in school and you’re just like ‘oh no.’ But yeah got that feeling. Also I was like ‘man, what a little shit’ from his lyrics. Which, again, makes sense. Does not mean I had to love it. 

13) School of IKB - Maybe because it just felt like a departure from Jiro’s usual sound that threw me off. It isn’t bad by any means but I guess I wasn’t expecting it. It really is a song that says a lot about Jiro’s growth and I’m super proud of him. I will admit that the chorus confused me and I while writing this figured out that he meant ‘I wanna be a cypher that continues after sunset.’ Because the other lyrics that kept coming in between the other ‘I wanna be a...’

12) Ez Do Rap - It is catchy but probably still one more forgettable, especially since I have to go look it up if I want to listen to it. 

11) Run This City - Fallen so far but it did a good job of keeping with the series and making me think that I could get into hypmic. So thank you for your service? Honestly, weirdly I think Buster Bros is one of the crews that actually had their anime versions sound really good for the music? 

10) BB City - I don’t know how all these extra songs end up having this energy of like just feel good and fun? I thought the subject was funny more than anything. Especially since they go so into their pettiness, they forgot the real goal here. It reminds me of another song but I cannot think of what it is. 

9) Ikebukuro West Game Park - This one actually hits pretty hard. Especially the break down near the end. I just had stronger feelings for the ones above it. I don’t mind the callbacks but I think i have to be in a mood with it though. Still thinking about the beatboxing though. 

8) Re:start!!! - I feel so bad that this is where it is but it’s primarily because of just liking fast over slow. But it is such an important song. Like for all that it is. Like this is a song where Jiro is actually the one supporting the entire song when normally it is Ichiro doing so. Like it is proof of him trying to be his own man and yet he is still a loving brother. And ah, I’m just crying over how they remain so strong together (and all these crews need to stop bullying them just because their (sibling) relationships are in shambles). 

7) Ore Ga Ichiro - Honestly think this one and number six could be switched around dependent on what kind of ‘I’m coming to kick your ass’ I felt like being that day. I actually remember it’s small feature in the anime. And it had given me hope for the music of the whole thing (it was half right). And honestly it really does tell you about everything about Ichiro with one song. And I honestly feel a little...proud? Like this sounds more like him than his TDD self. 

6) This Means War - Eyo my name is Jiro! But no, seriously, this song sounds like the kind of thing I’d listen if I was prepping to go fight someone. And Jiro’s words are so intense and take no prisoners about it. Plus instrumental??? Also intense, I love it. 

5) Requiem - Okay so this song was set up for success considering I thought Dies Irae was a banger of classical song to begin with. Add Saburo’s rap to it? Absolute banger. Sounds like a villain origin story to me. Too bad he’s like ‘but Ichi-nii would not like that.’

4) Break the Wall - Look man, they knew what they were doing when they based it off those dance songs. I personally get reminded of Earth, Wind and Fire. But yeah, it’s a good song and such a hopeful song. I am often in the back at work dancing to this song because it just has that vibe. 

3) Nausa du Zuiqu - The one song I can never spell right. But pretty high up for an insert song, huh? But yeah, I got nothing. This one, like Wrap & Rap, just gives me so a boost of seretonin. Because my first thought is ‘is this fucking Ievan polkka? Ichiro, you weeb!’ And he dragged Samatoki down with him. Then it was hilarious to find out they’re fucking go at it in a sauna while doing trivia about saunas. Like Samatoki said, ‘why do you know so much about saunas?!’ 

2) Ohayo Ikebukuro - I’m aware a lot of this is them talking but it’s also so bursting with their personalities and their dynamics. It’s ultra charming to me. Also I thought the breakdown when they’re doing haiku raps (don’t at me, that’s what they are) sounded too great considering they were just doing honestly silly haikus except Jiro. Also I was laughing because I found Ohayo Ikebukuro while writing an outline for an Ichiro/Reader and was like ‘wait, what’ when I found this talked about the kind of girl they liked. And Ichiro’s type...was kinda what I wrote for it. Guess his type is obvious, huh?

1) 3 Second Killer - I know, crazy that we get a Rhyme Anima song top the list. I had actually half forgotten this song. Like I know I thought it was fucking great even with the TV version but I didn’t listen to it because the TV version was so short. So when I found out that the Straight Outta Rhyme Anima extended all the songs, I was like ‘wait what?’ Came to this one, awesome. But it absolutely fits my love of let’s fuck shit up and being a badass vibe. Also my god, this must’ve been such a pain to record because if you look, almost every line is a different brother rapping for like the chorus. It also alternates between which and how many doing the line. And it sounds awesome! Also you hear that guitar in the fucking back? It is going ham. 

#song thoughts #buster bros

[vivalaezra]

Questionnaire

BASICS.

FULL NAME: Ezra Elric NICKNAME: Ez, Shadow AGE: 27 BIRTHDAY: 23rd Sun of the 2nd Umbral Moon ETHNIC GROUP: Half Hyur Midlander/Half Elezan NATIONALITY: Ishgardian LANGUAGE/S: Hyuran SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Heterosexual ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: Straight RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Single HOME TOWN / AREA: Holy See of Ishgard CURRENT HOME: On the road PROFESSION: Sellsword

PHYSICAL.

HAIR: Dark shoulder length hair EYES: Crimson FACE: Serious and thoughtful LIPS: Thin COMPLEXION: Pale BLEMISHES: Freckles SCARS: Scar that runs upward along his cheek along the bridge of his nose up between his eyes TATTOOS: N/A HEIGHT: 6′ 00" WEIGHT: Moderate BUILD: Lean and muscular FEATURES: N/A ALLERGIES: N/A USUAL HAIR STYLE: Loose, shoulder-length  USUAL FACE LOOK: Thoughtful, serious, usually has a smirk USUAL CLOTHING: Black garments

PSYCHOLOGY.

FEAR/S: Loosing someone he cares about ASPIRATION/S: Finding his place in the world POSITIVE TRAITS: Caring, thoughtful, protective NEGATIVE TRAITS: Overly Suspicious TEMPERAMENT: Relaxed SOUL TYPE/S: Black Knight ANIMALS: A raven VICE HABIT/S: Sucker for conflict FAITH: Yes GHOSTS?: Yes AFTERLIFE?: Yes REINCARNATION?: Yes POLITICAL ALIGNMENT: Conservative EDUCATION LEVEL: Educated; Tutored

FAMILY.

FATHER: William Elric MOTHER: Luciana Elric SIBLINGS: Brother, Alphon EXTENDED FAMILY: House Dalton NAME MEANING/S: Named after his uncle who raised his father HISTORICAL CONNECTION?: N/A

FAVORITES.

BOOK: Adventure books and journals DEITY: Halone HOLIDAY: Moonfire Faire MONTH: Summer SEASON: Summer PLACE: Outdoors camping WEATHER: Warm afternoons, cool nights SOUND / S: Guitar playing, the sound of a stream SCENT / S: Sandalwood & mint TASTE / S: Ishgardian Red Wine FEEL / S: Warm breeze upon bare skin ANIMAL / S: Loves chocobos NUMBER: 23 COLORS: Blue, gold, red, black

EXTRA.

TALENTS: Sword fighting, mounted cavalry, tracking BAD AT: Building TURN ONS: Confidence, side glances TURN OFFS: Woman who smoke HOBBIES: Camping, tending to chocobos TROPES: N/A QUOTES: “Yes... That is a big sword.”

MUN QUESTIONS. Q1 : If you could write your character your way in their own movie,  what would it be called, what style would it be filmed in, and what would it be about?

A1 : Docu-series following his adventures with Aultena @roleplay-aficionado in the spirit of The Office.

Q2 :  What would their soundtrack/score sound like?          

A2 :  The soundtrack to The Life Aquatic

Q3 :  Why did you start writing this character?          

A3: I wanted to play a knight who fell from grace and was rediscovering himself. Things just fell into place for Ez.

Q4 :   What first attracted you to this character?          

A4 : His potential for growth originally. Now it’s his dynamic with Aultena that keeps meh coming back.

Q5 :  Describe the biggest thing you dislike about your muse.

A5 : His knack for getting into trouble.

Q6 :  What do you have in common with your muse?          

A6 : Dark hair!

Q7 :   How does your muse feel about you?          

A7 :  I believe he would think his mun is far to carefree and laughs to much.

Q8 :  What characters does your muse have interesting interactions with ?       

A8: Aultena who is his bae, Jhanna who is his friend in getting in trouble, and Honi, her brother who is his rival.

Q9 :  What gives you inspiration to write your muse ?        

A9: Seeing what else him and Tena are going to get into.

Q10 : How long did this take you to complete ?          

A10 : A couple hours... After I decided days ago I would fill this out >_< @roleplay-aficionado need a distraction? Here’s one! @thefreelanceangel one char down, one to go! @vylette-elakha Because I enjoy reading your stuff!

@silvertail-ffxiv Same for you breh breh

#ffxiv roleplay #ffxiv balmung #FFXIV crystal #ffxiv crystal rp #ffxiv rp #ffxiv balmung rp

[detectiveguapo]

Emily please!

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would banghogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff – I was kind of in between slytherin and ravenclaw for Emily because I think she exhibited her intelligence in episode four with her plan to vandalize the church and pin it on the rebels. But, I think, in her core she’s a slytherin but not an “evil” one if that makes sense.best quality: As I’ve mentioned, she’s intelligent. Even when she’s deliberately kept separate from the “other world”, Miguel acknowledges that Emily knows everything. She’s bold and she’s determined to do whatever it takes to get her son back and protect her family. worst quality: Emily knows what she got herself into when she married Miguel. She’s too smart to be unaware of the history of cartel violence, especially having grown up in a border town. Emily getting angry with Miguel for allowing his “other world” to bleed into her world demonstrates her willful ignorance. ship them with: Miguel. I think they have a more interesting dynamic right now than she does with EZ. I know Emily/EZ is inevitable because the show has only really promoted them as a couple (see: the Jax/Tara John/Gemma pose promo), but I don’t really KNOW why they’re still hung up on each other after all these years. I’m sure there are reasons beyond nostalgia, but the writers haven’t shown or revealed it to us yet so I can’t really get invested in that ship. Her relationship with Miguel, on the other hand, is complicated, passionate, toxic, and revealing. And by ‘revealing’, I mean it’s a relationship that exposes the lightness and darkness of their personalities in a way that I haven’t seen when they’re with anyone else. To me, it’s the most fascinating thing to watch.  brotp them with: There’s really no one, which is frustrating, but I do want to see dark!Emily and Miguel rule as queen and king of Santo Padre for a bit before the EZ/Emily thing happens. I also want to see Emily and Dita go on more incognito missions because they’re ~so great at it. needs to stay away from: Devante. I really don’t trust him. misc. thoughts: Emily is one of the more complex characters in the show, and I get that she may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I just wish more people appreciated the duality of her character. I also think too many people are dismissive because she’s not coming out episode one instantly aligned with the goals of The Reyes Brothers. I don’t think that’s realistic at all (and it’s anticlimactic af). 

#asks #mayans mc #emily thomas

[lurkerviolin]

The Gravity Between Stars (Star Guardians)

I wrote this for my dearly beloved @dunsparceus as a part of Fandom Loves Puerto Rico. Darling, I hope you enjoy it! I’m sorry this took way longer than it should have, so I really, really hope you like it. Thank you so much for helping the cause (and helping me contribute to the cause)!! Now that you’ve gotten me started, I have no doubt I’m going to write more embarrassingly fluffy League fics. Alas, such is life.

Here it is on Ao3, but there’s almost 13k words of star guardian found family fluff under the cut!

Pretty early on, Lulu realizes that Jinx doesn’t remember her Birth as a Guardian the way the rest of them do. It takes a while, though, for Lulu to understand that’s probably an intentional decision.

The moment Lulu, a whimsical girl with an imagination too big for a mortal body, wandered into the forest after a mischievous fae spirit, she was lost to any normal life. She heard many voices in the centuries she wandered the fae world with Pix, but the First Star speaking was never a voice, not exactly, and never left any room for doubt. The sunlight broke the miasma and crept through the ornately colored foliage and she knew, as she had always suspected, than she was destined for something bigger than aimless wandering, trapped in her own head.

Pix had chittered in terror and clung to her even as she glowed, even as she burned, bright and impossible, laughing at the sky and feeling it smile back. There was no need for fear, not from this, this fire was hers. The fear would come later, but to be able to face that, she had to let the light in first.

From that day forward, Lulu was with the First Star, felt the glowing warmth of her own starlight nestled warm and bright inside her ribs, always present, always close, always beating beside her heart. She bears this inside of her with a peaceful sort of joy.

But Lulu is getting to know her teammates. Even with the near constant scowl on Jinx’s face that is most often replaced by a smile so mean it scares the warmth from a room, the First Star only ever speaks of her with quiet sadness that is not exactly remorse, but close enough that Lulu understands. This piece of Jinx, at least, she gets.

To someone like Jinx, having something foreign and burning in your chest must feel like the worst sort of home invasion. She’s too mean to try and kick it out – she knows she can’t – so she convinces herself she’s taken it hostage and can do what she wants with it. She doesn’t want the truth, it doesn’t matter to her. When someone goes after their own memories with a rocket launcher, they aren’t really aiming for precision; Jinx rarely ever does.

They’d had to run for it after their first fight, after Jinx had nearly leveled an entire city block with weaponry they wouldn’t be able to explain to the authorities, even if Jinx hadn’t made one of the cops step in a trap. They’d been arguing the whole way home and Lulu was just about to enchant the both of them when—

“Honor my ass,” Jinx had said and she and Poppy had yelled for so long, Lulu had nearly shut herself in her closet until Janna and Lux gained some semblance of control. It wasn’t control; it was Lux tearing up and Jinx and Poppy slamming doors to blot out the image, but for 3am after a battle on a school night, it was enough.

Lux nearing her breaking point was usually enough.

They’re on the patio one night after another such stalemate, Jinx sitting in a lawn chair listening to music too loudly while Lulu sits beside her legs in the grass, staring straight up at the stars poking into view. Some are just stars, but others are like them, the First Star says. She doesn’t mention that right now; they have a long way to go and a lot of things to hit between there and here.

Instead, she turns to watch Jinx, the star who is already here, but quite obviously, somewhere else, too. She hasn’t lost her mind, not like she would have people think – but she did have some part of her burnt off. That crater was already in place when Lulu met her, leaving her callous and savage, a chaos goddess screaming with laughter. …Huh. She’d like that, if Lulu said it, but then she might get a little too inspired for so late at night and—

“What, Shrimp?” Jinx snaps too loudly, tugging out an ear bud and opening an eye to glare down at her.

Long past the point of being in any way afraid of her, Lulu just tips her head. She has too many questions and not the right words for any of them; she also knows that even if she asked, Jinx is not a fan of straight answers to those sorts of things.

“Where’s Lux?” she asks instead, and the First Star tickles at her for it, understanding what she means, but doesn’t betray Jinx for the sake of Lulu’s curiosity. That’s fine. Lulu’s not to the point of active concern yet.

Jinx sits up sharply like she’s been accused. “How should I know?” she says, popping her ear bud back into her ear and stomping into the house. Her reaction is answer enough to something Lulu couldn’t quite phrase, the answer to where this is going, where they’re falling.

She looks up at the darkness of Lux’s window and hopes they’ll land somewhere nice.

Something in her chest tells her it is.

Lux remembers her life before in a very abstract sort of way.

There was something mundane about the way her parents had wished her dreams were smaller, the way her brother had wanted her to stay home and fulfil a family duty instead of taking on the world. Lux was a headstrong little girl who always had light in her chest, even before the First Star woke her up. The only thing about her past that is distinctly clear is her Birth and Jinx, those two things inseparably mixed up in Lux’s heart.

When they were young and Jinx’s smile wasn’t so sharp and her hands were warm and tiny as they wiped the tears off a littler Lux’s face, cooing, “Clumsy little star, always falling!” And she’d giggled – giggled, not cackled – a bright and happy sound that made Lux’s tears stop faster than the bandage on her knee. Lux remembers Jinx’s laughter like it was a dream, like the warmth exploding in her chest and pinking across her cheek happened somewhere that doesn’t really exist.

The grass that was itchy under her legs and the stars twinkling overhead feel like they happened in a bubble, a closed off place in which this cheerful, light version of her best friend is held tight away from the reality of who they have to be now.

There’s so much light all around them, brilliant, beautiful light. Jinx doesn’t want any of it. Sometimes, on very bad nights, it twists in Lux’s chest to think she might not want any of Lux either. To top that off with the team dynamic struggling to stay even remotely cordial, let alone cohesive, Lux is starting to… to doubt. She doesn’t want to doubt the First Star’s mission for her, for any of them, not when she can clearly feel the golden light in her chest like she feels her own heartbeat. But something is not working and she can’t help but think it’s the fact that she’s the team leader.

Tonight it was only her tears that kept their internal fighting from escalating and now, sitting on a park bench feeling lost, feeling like a fool, she can’t stop them.

“Aw, what’s got the Starlight all dimmed tonight?”

Even through her stress, Lux can’t help but laugh a little at the sound of Ezreal’s voice. She shouldn’t be surprised he found her, she’s always in this park, with it’s wide open view of the sky and winding lamp-lit trail. It’s not the first time he’s met her here, not even the first time in the middle of the night. But…

Lux turns to him just as he sits down beside her, casually slouching in his joggers and wagging a handkerchief at her. “Why do you always show up when I’m crying?” she laughs gently, accepting it to wipe her face.

“It’s like a clarion call when stars cry,” Ezreal says with a wink and Lux can’t actually tell if he’s joking or not. He nudges her. “What’s the deal?” he asks, even though he already surely knows.

Lux has been trying so hard to get her team to work together, but they aren’t syncing up right. Ahri always seems so perfectly in place, her team always seems to know what to do the second she even looks at them. While Lux and the others bumble around and fight each other nearly as much as they fight the rift monsters. It’s frustrating for everyone and for Lux, at least, bordering on panic-inducing. She doesn’t use those exact words, but Ezreal knows this, because she’s told this story before, pacing just as she is now. She can’t stop herself until she looks up and sees the familiar sympathetic smirk on his face.

She comes back to his side to sit with a dramatic groan, “This is a disaster,” she says, head in her hands. “How does your team work so well together?” Their team has been together longer but it has to be more than that.

For a moment, Ezreal seems to think on that but then he just shrugs. “We’re not friends.”

The answer is quite straight forward, but confuses her. She still distinctly remembers Miss Fortune looking like murder personified when Lux – not her friend, not even a little – had called her by her first name. “But Miss Fortune said—”

“Sarah calls anyone who she doesn’t hate her friend. It’s a short list,” Ezreal says, smiling but there is a bit of sadness in his eyes. “It’s not about being friends. It’s not even really about trusting each other, just trusting our abilities. That’s it.”

Lux is a startled by how neutral he sounds about that, the same cool darkness of Ahri’s tone when she’d told Lux they were all just strangers. It’s a bit of a surprise to hear it from Ezreal. She shakes her head, a little horrified. “But I love my team.”

Ezreal eyes her. “Ok,” he says, like that’s odd and she flushes, a little annoyed. “Ok. That’s… I would say that’s all well and good, but, well…” he taps the hand that clenched around his handkerchief, “It doesn’t seem to be working out.”

That’s a low blow, but also—“Ez, that’s so sad,” she says, “Do you really think you can avoid loving?”

The smile on his face says is carefully vacant, so much so that Lux immediately feels bad for making him think of whatever he’s hiding. Star Guardians don’t get a lot of attachments, she knows that, but that’s where their teams come in, isn’t it? That’s the family they get to build in place of the things they’ve lost.

“We have a bigger mission that that, don’t we?” Ezreal replies eventually, he throws his arms out wide smiling up at the sky. “Exploring all the corners of the universe, even the darkest ones, and spreading light. Love isn’t really in those cards.”

If he looks a little longing at that, Lux is probably imagining it. She looks away from him, warmed and determined where she expected to feel resignation. “We do have a bigger mission, I understand that and I’m not going to shy from what the First Star chose us to do, but… Ezreal,” she looks back at him in genuine confusion, “Do you really think love is all that different from light?” She turns to face him more directly, “The Light that binds guardians together… It’s almost like the love that binds families together.”

“Families,” he repeats flatly.

Lux shrugs, sheepishly. It’s not a perfect analogy. “Well, sort of, yeah!”

There’s another long pause in which she thinks Ezreal isn’t going to grace her with a response, but then he’s shaking his head, laughing. It’s not a cruel or dismissive sound, not like he’s making fun of her, but more like he’s challenging her.

“Whatever, Starlight,” he replies, kissing her fingers as he stands. Then adds on, like he genuinely means it, “Prove me wrong.” But the laugh that follows is a little more teasing, “Show me the power of friendship and love.”

It’s just annoying enough that it’s the right thing to say, it’s a challenge, a dare. It lights a fire under her, dries up the last of her tears with the heat of it. Lux is extremely grateful to him for being able to find those moments so effortlessly, but she isn’t wrong and he’s going to admit that one day. “Fine!” she snatches her hand away making him laugh again, “I will!”

There’s something missing in their team, but it isn’t love, it’s…huh.

 …Huh!

Well, there’s nothing genuine or loving about being forced together, is there? The First Star put them together for a reason, yes, but this would never work unless they chose each other, too. Lux feels herself brightening with realization; she would never try to become friends with someone just because she felt it was her duty, there is more to friendships than that. They needed more than just an abstract mission to tie them together cohesively.

“Starlight, star bright, she thinks she’s figured it out,” Ezreal smiles, backing away, “I can’t wait to see this…”

Lux sticks her tongue out at his teasing, standing up as well, newly motivated.

To be truthful, she can’t wait to see this either.

It isn’t quite like surveillance, Lux tells herself, she’s just paying more attention than usual.

Honestly, it’s a little refreshing to remember that she is still a human girl in a house with other human girls, all of whom have hobbies besides the fastest way to kill a monster and plug the hole it came out of. There are things she knows about her team that she’s never paid much mind to other than accepting them as a part of their personalities. But the next few days, she makes herself take note – literally – of what her teammates do with their free time and starts planning. She wants them all to come together, their individual hobbies and likes overlapping into activities they can all participate in.

When she notices Janna one afternoon, curled up away from the others in the window seat reading, she pauses. It’s not a very big space, not for someone adult sized, but as far as the house goes, there isn’t a whole lot of room for quiet with four other people running around the place. It’s not hard for Lux to understand Janna is a person who appreciates moments of peace and quiet, or at least one of the two for more than a few moments at a time.

Now, Lux isn’t sure she can enforce a quiet hour. In fact, she’s pretty sure that would be an uphill battle to somewhere she doesn’t even want them to go. No need to aim for things that weren’t going to be particularly helpful on top of being difficult. So a middle ground, then.

Lux watches Janna turn the page and is struck with an idea.

Surely, a book club should be easy enough, right?

The book club is a disaster.

It had seemed so easy when Lux had sat down to make notes in her Big Team Togetherness Journal. Janna likes reading and Janna is the eldest. Even Jinx is occasionally willing to defer to her seniority when she isn’t feeling particularly cantankerous. It had seemed like the best way to kick off their new bonding journey, something simple and easily spontaneous. She knows it might sound sort of boring, but once they got into the swing of it, Lux could already imagine them having spirited discussions about far off lands and interesting people. So she doesn’t mention what they’re doing, just promises to buy hot cocoa once they get there.

That was probably the first mistake.

Simply planning a time to go was clearly not enough planning, because they spend so long in the bookstore, fighting about what to read that people are staring. Lux starts to panic.

“Ok!!” she exclaims, raising her hands when Poppy and Jinx look like they’re getting close to squaring up over the merits of history books over comics. “Ok, just—” think fast, Lux, this is about sharing right? “—pick the book you want to fight for.”

“We’re fighting with books?” Jinx says, grinning.

“No,” Lux answer sharply, ignoring her groaning. “We’re each going to pick a book to read and then explain to the group why it’s so great!” Thinking on her feet has never been her strong suit, she’s always been clumsy. So suffice to say she feels pretty good for spitting out that plan like she actually planned it. She jostles when Jinx groans, leaning on her shoulder.

“Luuuuux, that sounds boring,” she complains.

Poppy still looks annoyed. “And useless.”

Lux folds her arms. “Only of you pick bad books!”

Janna lets out a soft laugh and Lulu tugs on Lux’s shirt. “I want an art book,” she says agreeably, “I can explain why those are better than whatever boring books they’re picking.”

“You don’t know what I’m going to pick, Pipsqueak!”

“You just said something boring,” Lulu replies neutrally and Lux loves her. She’s not as easily motivated by challenges as Jinx is, but, well, no harm in playing into it if it works.

They split up, Jinx and Poppy trash-talking the whole time while Janna looks Lux over knowingly before wandering into the mythology section. Lux hadn’t actually thought about what book she wanted, so she finds herself in a bit of a flurry trying to find something by the time the others are done. The book of the month is a schmaltzy romance story that Lux is a little embarrassed to admit looks exactly like the sort of thing she would read with wide eyed suspense. She decides she doesn’t have time for self-imposed shame and snags it.

It takes some wrangling to track down everyone in the store and some finagling to get them to read all in one room once they get home. It’s not actually usual for them to just be in the den together, but this is a good opportunity. She drags Jinx down onto the couch next to her and turns her best ‘please’ eyes towards Poppy. It doesn’t appear to be working until Lulu spreads out on the floor, pointedly leaving the arm chair open as Janna sits on the sofa beside Lux. It could go either way, prodding Poppy like this, but today Poppy just huffs.

“Bought the damn thing, may as well read it,” she grumbles, jumping up into the chair.

For the mess this whole thing started with, the outcome is better than expected. She’s ecstatic when she leans back on the couch, even when – especially when? – Jinx sighs dramatically and tosses her legs over Lux’s lap as she opens her manga. Lux settles under the comfortable weight, unsure if Jinx did it to be difficult or not, and starts her book.

She makes it two chapters before she nods off.

Lux startles awake with a flash of guilt, but the first thing she sees is Janna smiling without looking up from her book, raising a finger. Lux blinks, looking around.

Lulu is sitting in front of Janna on the floor, several pages into her new sketchbook, happily doodling fantastical creatures and plants. Poppy is now lounging deep in the arm chair with her brow furrowed over “The History of Intra-City Warfare” – a book that probably has an unfortunate amount of stories directly related to Jinx.

Speaking of which, she realizes then that the reason she’d startled awake in the first place was Jinx snuffling in her sleep. Half her shoulder is trapped under Lux’s from where she’d slumped against her to get comfortable. Jinx had either been asleep herself when this happened or was just feeling kind enough to put her arm on Lux’s side and not bother her any further. Lux can’t quite explain why that makes her face go pink with happiness, the light in her chest fluttering weirdly, but she takes it to be a good thing.

Even when Janna teasingly presses her foot against Lux’s thigh, before curling her legs under herself and focusing on “The Evolution of Sea Deities and Their Worshipers.”

Lux watches her for a moment before she whispers, “Can I read it when you’re done?”

Janna’s smile doesn’t change, but she does glance up then and a little wisp of wind knocks some of Lux’s hair into her face. “If you tell me how your book ends,” she replies gently. “Go back to sleep.”

Lux considers fighting it, sitting up to actually do the reading she was supposed to be doing, but… this is still togetherness, in it’s own way. Sharing a space even if they aren’t sharing activities is more than they usually do. She likes where they are right now. So she sets her book aside, it will be there later, and settles back against Jinx. And besides, napping is one of her favorite pastimes.

Later that night, after dinner – and a debate about “The Blood Moon Riots” that Jinx claims no association with, no sirrie – Lux has just finished up the dishes when Janna snags her before she can get to her bedroom. Before she can even form a question, she’s being hugged tightly, Janna’s cheek pressed against her head.

It’s not exactly unheard of, getting hugs, but it’s been a while since she’s gotten one that feels so genuine. Lux doesn’t realize she’s waiting for Janna to say something until she’s already speaking quietly over Lux’s shoulder. “I believe it’s about time I followed someone who cares about where we fall when we aren’t stars, too.”

Lux almost lets her insecurity ask if that’s what a good leader does, but decides for herself that it is. They aren’t just warriors, they aren’t just a team. They’re teenagers going through the hardest challenge of their lives. She hugs Janna back and just nods, because of course she cares.

And tonight, she goes to bed feeling like they’re all finally starting to fall in the right direction.

In a lot of ways, Poppy is easier.

They may get to live like civilians most days, but they never forget they are here as a part of a bigger mission. They have to train to be ready for what the First Star has sent them to do and Poppy likes training, rarely does anything else with her free time.

She does take training just a wee bit seriously though.

“Nothing out there is going to be merciful,” Poppy says shortly and Lux might’ve flushed with offence had she not already been red – probably turning purple in some places – from the exertion of the fight. This wasn’t supposed to be the point of this exercise. “You’re going to have to pick it up or—”

“The goal isn’t to hurt each other, Poppy,” Lux defends, stunning her with a beam of light long enough to flash away. Her skin is tingling with the exertion of magic she’s had to use today, Poppy isn’t pulling punches on anyone.

“Aw, but hurting people is fun!” Jinx whines and Lux doesn’t have time to glare at her, carefully threading the needle between her chompers as Janna skids to a stop just short of them.

“If I don’t someone else will,” Poppy says ducking away from one of Jinx’s smaller rockets, eyes hard.  “You can’t avoid the fight forever, Lux.”

Lux grits her teeth and tosses Jinx a shield just before Poppy sends both she and Lulu flying backwards with a truly painful looking blow.

Lulu tumbles as Pix swoops in to shield her, but Jinx lands upright, the impact sending dust flurries up around her feet. It’s something about the blood on her lips that makes Lux, well… fear or concern would be the natural response, and it is there, but that’s not all. Jinx is always gunfire and blood, so seeing it now, Lux is overtaken with an almost giddy sort of confidence. Especially when a sinister smirk stretches across her busted lip.

“Yeah, but you’re counting wrong!” Lux yells at Poppy, sprinting out of the way when Lulu suddenly grows three times her size, ground shaking under them as she lumbers forward only to be blown back by Janna. “We’d never be against each other!”

Poppy pauses then, only a fraction of a second, an odd look flickering across her face, but it’s a pause just long enough for Jinx to zap her so she staggers. Lux doesn’t think before tossing a bind on her, stepping forward to raise an ignited palm.

She’d never touch her with it, of course. Poppy knows that, doesn’t even glance at it even as the orange glows across her face, fire crackling in her ears.

Poppy has felt an ignited palm before. “One day you might have to fight a star,” is all she says.

Lux tries not to let her face change even as her chest constricts.

Though not as old as Janna, Lux knows Poppy has been on other teams before theirs. It hits her that Poppy’s abhorrence of anything less than absolute respect and faith in the First Star’s mission is very likely not just a matter of honor. There is no doubt from the hard look on Poppy’s face that she is speaking from experience.

Lux wonders what it’s like to stare into a black hole knowing who it used to be. She doesn’t want to ever find out. That’s not the destiny written out for them, she believes that from the bottom of her heart.

Extinguishing her palm, gratefully, she shakes out her hand. “Not you, I won’t,” she says softly. “It wouldn’t be anything like fighting you.”

Poppy presses her lips together, her fang disappearing for a moment and Lux hears the words she doesn’t say. Has to fight back the silly urge to shift protectively in front of Jinx. It’s silly, because Jinx of all people doesn’t need her protection because she is not a traitor, so Poppy won’t hurt her and neither will Lux.

“Any of you,” Lux adds firmly. Janna is at her shoulder now and Lulu is lazily watching Pix bob up and down, chittering excitedly, but Lux knows she can listen to both of them at the same time. “I think we should train differently.”

“How? Knitting?” Poppy almost sneers.

So Lux’s attempt at bonding was not subtle, whatever, it’s working. She just crosses her arms, chin high. “If that’s what you want.”

Jinx slides closer. “Ooh, I know what! Let’s pick some real fights. I know this gang that—”

“No,” Lux cuts in, echoed by three other voices, “but you have a point. We should work on fighting with each other.”

“Against whooo?” Jinx insists.

“Against nobody until we’re sure we can do it right,” Lux says, then her eyes light up in thought. “Poppy, have you ever built anything with that hammer?”

//

The practice dummies are ugly, but they’re pretty damn tanky, too. Poppy makes sure of that.

It takes a few tries because, she hasn’t ever attempted to build anything. But even when she can’t just hammer away the problem, she finds she likes working on the dummies. They only break into large, reparable pieces when hit at full strength, thanks to Lulu and Janna infusing them with magic.

“We’d make a killing selling these!” Jinx exclaims after excitedly shooting the latest model for hours.

Poppy’s mouth twists a little, because that isn’t why she made them, but she can’t quite keep the pride out of her eyes. “I’ll think about it.”

They’ve fought together before, obviously, but those battles had been fought haphazardly, narrowly avoiding friendly fire. Now, Poppy looks over to find Lux glowing with joy and can’t even find it in her to roll her eyes. It’s annoying to admit, but it does feel like it’s working. Poppy feels just shy of unstoppable, feels like they might just be some sort of functioning team. When she lets her hammer fall at the end of the day and turns to give them a sharp grin, it feels like they’ve won more than a practice match against a bunch of dummies.

Lulu and Jinx crash into Lux, a sweaty and uncontrolled hug. Poppy shakes her head when their laughter turns to shrieking when Janna’s wind whistles around them, twirling them. When Janna’s gaze falls on Poppy, she raises her brows a bit, mostly amused, though Poppy knows the other part of that look.

No, she’s not as seasoned as Janna in this mission, but she’s been around. She’s seen things go bad, she’s seen things and stars go bad faster than she could keep track of. She doesn’t ever hope for better, because hope will never get you as far as working for it will. And her team is (mostly) working for it, she knows that. She’s just trying to wrap her head around not working all the time, when the darkness is always falling towards them, but… she can let them laugh. She can laugh with them, sometimes; when the moment truly calls for it, they can joke.

And ok, she acknowledges that using her hammer to launch them into the air might’ve been a bit far, but whatever.

She’s trying.

Lulu is a little complicated in the simplicity of her pleasures: she really likes getting lost.

She calls it wandering, but Lux fails to see the difference.

Lux can’t really deny she can be quite clumsy herself, but of all the things that personality trait has led her to, being lost has never been her favorite. But it isn’t like they can really get lost, they—or, well, at the very least Janna can read just about any star over her head like a map. They haven’t wound up anywhere from which Janna couldn’t navigate them safely home. There isn’t really any more risk in this than anything else they might do. That, plus the idea that they could find a new place to practice their magics in private makes her resign herself to a day of following Lulu’s whimsy.

Assuming she didn’t pick something else to do, anyway, but Lux thinks she knows where this is going when she knocks on the door to her room. “Lulu?” When Lulu looks up from her drawing, Lux wonders if there are any free art classes around and if Lulu would have the attention span to sit through one.

“Are we bonding again?” she asks, lowering her crayon.

Lux flushes, but stands upright. “Do you not want to?” she asks completely neutrally like the young leader she is.

She thinks Pix laughs at her.

Lulu just smiles. “My choice?”

Lux nods. “Sure, if you want to pick.” She doesn’t think Lulu would actually lead them to the fae realm. She isn’t overly concerned.

Still, after an hour on a bus, when they’re an hour a half into a hike she only very narrowly convinced Jinx to participate in – and during which Lulu has hardly spoken at all – she does get a little worried.

Jinx breaks first. “Where are we even gooooing?”

“We’re getting lost,” Lulu answers.

“Yeah, no kidding,” Poppy grumbles, looking over at Lux who may have said some only-probably-true things about a new training area.

Lulu tips her head back, pouting. “We’re almost there,” she mumbles a bit petulantly.

“To ‘lost’?” Janna asks.

“Yep!” Lulu says, then suddenly Pix darts away from her and she runs after him. “Right over there!”

Before Lux can even begin to say wait, she has to start jogging to catch up with the rest of the team. She breaks through a tree line and stops short when she comes up on an abrupt drop off. It’s a short cliff, straight down into the green-brown stretch of a lazily flowing river.

“How deep is it?” Jinx asks and Lux realizes why the split second after Lulu grins at her and they shuck their shorts.

“Wait!”

Jinx grabs Lulu and leaps off, going screaming towards the water below. Lux reaches the edge just in time to see them both breach the surface, gasping and shrieking with laughter. “Slow poookes!”

The three left up top glance at each other, Janna shrugging with an amused breath. She is a little more graceful in her descent, aided by her winds, but she does join them, swimming serenely on her back. Lux thinks Poppy might kick up a fuss, but when she meets Lux’s eyes, whatever she sees in her face just makes her sigh. She starts stripping and Lux is grinning, manages to rid herself of her over clothes and plug her nose, diving in right behind Poppy.

There’s a certain lightness to playing that Lux had almost forgotten about, but now loses herself in for hours. They splash and scream, push each other and laugh and collect smooth river rocks. Poppy and Jinx get into a rock skipping contest when they wind up sitting on the shore, Lux absently braiding Lulu’s hair as she dozes with her head against Lux’s knee. Janna is watching the sky like it’s easy today, like they’ve made it easy.

The sun is setting in the sky by the time they reach home, tired and still a little damp.

Lux showers last and when she comes back into the main area, she pauses in the doorway, struck.

Poppy is cooking and Janna is absently twirling the wind chime in the window. Jinx and Lulu are playing a slightly morbid game of exquisite corpse at the kitchen island.

Lux looks around at her team, her family and feels full to bursting. When Jinx calls her over, she finds herself yanked to sit pressed hip to shoulder on her bar stool with Jinx. She could move over, there’s another open seat. She finds she doesn’t want the open seat, she wants to be exactly as close to Jinx as she is.

She sits there as Jinx shows off all of the truly gruesome ways she’s turned the tail end of Lulu’s woodland creatures into weapons, Lux can’t help but laugh. The game expands to include her and the discussion that passes over them is familiar even though something in the air between them has clearly changed.

Jinx and Poppy are still going tit-for-tat and Janna is still looking somewhere as far away as Lulu had once wandered. But the distance between them tonight doesn’t feel nearly as far as it has some days. Jinx is warm and animated against Lux’s side and she can feel Janna’s presence at the window behind her like a warm breeze on a cool night. Lulu is smiling, not in the far off way of someone who’s seen more of the world than most people know exist, but in a sweet, tickled sort of way. She’s giggling less like she’s seen the turn of the century and more like a teenaged girl having dinner with her sisters.

It won’t be like this every night, Lux reminds herself firmly, it can’t be, but—

Poppy is shoving a spoon at her to taste her chili and Janna’s shaking her head over Jinx’s shoulder at whatever she’s drawing behind her arm and Lulu is laughing brightly, her hand on Lux’s arm as she talks excitedly about the things she’s seen in the fairy woods and just…

Love, like light, is never a mistake.

Some nights it will be like this.

Janna can sense things when they come in on the wind.

Before she goes to bed, she wanders the halls like the eldest members of houses often do, and feels for her little sisters. She feels the wind creeping in one’s cracked window, the turning of another’s creaky ceiling fan, the soft rumble of one’s breathing, the sigh of a mattress as the last falls onto it. These winds, she breathes, and feels better just for how easy they’re resting tonight. Their starlight is not fragile, but it is a soft glow – embers, still warm in a fire place, in the grill, waiting to spark something bigger. She can tell something bigger is coming, she can.

Janna is old, older than her face betrays unless you look in her eyes the right way. She’s old and has seen a great many horrible, wonderful, haunting things. She’s watched teams fall apart and sees it again and again behind her eyes more often than she’d like. She’s old. But sometimes she doesn’t feel it though.

Sometimes, like tonight, at least, her sisters and their bright, untarnished light, the gentle wind of their breaths, is all she dreams about.

As is usually the case, the game changes when something blows up.

As is usually the case when something blows up, Jinx is the one who threw the switch.

They live in the same house, so it’s more than a little ridiculous for Jinx to come diving through Lux’s bedroom window in the middle of the night. Lux nearly knocks her homework off her desk jumping at the intrusion. “Jinx!”

“I know you’re a square, so give me some props for waiting ‘til Friday,” Jinx says then squints at her desk, “Dude, are you doing homework on a Friday, you are a square.”

Lux is floundering to keep up. “Waited ‘til Friday to…?” she blinks and realizes Jinx has got on clothes she’s never even seen before. Her boots are strapped and the same dark leather as her jacket and collar, all splattered with flecks of dayglow green paint. She’s wearing her driving gloves. “No,” Lux says, but Jinx’s face is already lit up.

“Oh, come on,” she says walking over and actually knocking Lux’s homework off her desk so she can sit on it and grin down at her. “You’ve been doing all this teambuilding, let’s-do-what-you-like crap for months now. It’s my turn.”

Lux’s instinctual Jinx-specific nervousness kicks in, but it’s buzzing and bright in her chest, an almost welcome feeling. She should say no. “But…”

“One race. Out of the city limits. And I didn’t even steal the bike,” Jinx sings, dancing in place, “I got it from a junker who owed me a favor.”

…Lux should say no, but Jinx looks happy-manic, a look Lux loves dearly but rarely gets to witness when there’s no violence involved. In fact, she’d forgotten how different it is from the sharp smirk of a trigger-happy munitions expert, Jinx is just smiling. At her.

Lux looks down at her pajamas, pink and purple plaid with poros on the shirt, then back to Jinx’s sleek leather. “What would I even wear?” she tries weakly. Judging by the way Jinx’s smile only broadens, it’s not a very good defense.

“Starlight,” Jinx grins and Ezreal’s nickname sounds unusually sweet on Jinx’s tongue. Lux flashes warm. “I gotcha covered! Pun intended!”

Lux doesn’t wear a lot of dark colors, but even she must admit, she can appreciate the way she looks in midnight blue.

The hood tugged up over her head makes her feel a little conspicuous – which is ridiculous considering she has bright pink hair – but she stays still and lets Jinx tug it up over her head agreeably. She always goes a little still when Jinx smiles at her like that.

“You look almost like you might know a criminal!” Jinx exclaims, cackling when Lux swats at her arm.

Sprinting to the garage through the dark makes Lux’s nerves stand on end, but it’s a guilty sort of thrill, too. But Jinx is chattering excitedly, as close to a whisper as she ever really gets, dragging her along by the hand and the thrill isn’t nearly as guilty. Lux thinks better of asking where Jinx even got the key to this place, following her inside.

The bike is a beast, a huge grey and black clunker that seems almost alive, ROADHOG emblazoned across the tailpipe. It coughs and roars to life the moment Jinx twists the key. When Lux tosses her leg over, it does feel a bit like she’s straddling a wild boar.

Fitting for Jinx, she thinks. It doesn’t seem like the sort of thing that should obey any speed limits as Jinx takes them to the outskirts of the city. She’s surprised she recognizes the drivers gathered there when Jinx skids to a stop. The most surprising, though, is Ezreal.

To be fair, Ezreal is more than a little surprised to see her, too, judging by the look on his face when he pulls his helmet off. “Starlight!” he exclaims, happy to see her nevertheless.

Ekko – who she only recognizes from seeing him with Jinx when she’s skipping class – sizes her up. “She seems new,” is all he says, but Lux gets the feeling ‘new’ encapsulates a lot.

Jinx rolls her eyes at him. “She’s mine,” is all she replies, but it feels like that encapsulates a lot as well.

Judging by the grin that lights up Ezreal’s face, it must. “Good enough for me,” he gets on the back of his sleek blue bike, winking at her. “Good luck, Starlight.”

“Hey, I’m driving!” Jinx exclaims, plopping Lux’s helmet back on.

“That’s why she needs the luck, BB,” he replies, Ekko chuckling beside him.

Lux blinks between the two of them. “BB?”

Jinx grins even before Ezreal answers, “Biggest Bang,” with a smirk before pulling his helmet down over his face.

“Rules?” Lux asks a little hysterically, clutching Jinx’s clothes.

Ekko laughs, but it sounds like genuine amusement, not malice. “No guns unless you get caught,” he puts on his helmet, solid black with a white hourglass over his face. “Don’t get caught.”

“First ‘round the city wins! Gentlemeeeen!! Start! Your! Engines!” Jinx screams.

Ekko’s bike glows with a humming sea-green light when he turns it on and Ezreal’s purrs, but neither of them sound like much under Jinx’s monster. Ekko tosses up a trinket that blinks down – red, red, yellow, green – and the bikes spring forward and steal the breath from Lux’s lungs. It’s terrifying at first, how fast they’re going, how close they are to each other, to the ground on the turns, but then the road opens up and it feels like flying. She never quite understood Jinx’s tendency towards racing until now, arms around her and eyes on the horizon. Their hearts are pounding as they strain to close the narrow distance between them and Ekko, in first place.

Lux tenses as if it’ll make them go faster when she sees Ezreal creeping up in the corner of her vision. “Jinx!” she exclaims, but Jinx doesn’t even look over. She nudges something with her knee, starts flipping switches on the dash.

“Hold onto me, brace for it!!” Jinx screams and Lux’s blood goes cold.

“Brace for—?” she doesn’t even get the question all the way out before Jinx kicks out and the bottom of the bike ignites under their feet. Lux yelps in shock, tightening her arms around Jinx a moment before they get launched into the air.

Lux is screaming as Jinx whoops joyously.

The core of the bike is a rocket. Of course, it is.

Suddenly, the feeling of flying is literal as they blast off, flying well past Ekko into the lead. Jinx pops a parachute the second they pass Ekko’s trinket, still glowing on the ground, and the sensation of the sudden stop flips Lux’s stomach as it jerks them off the seat, lifted into the air. As soon as it registers that she’s not going to explode on a probably hastily-made, rocket-boosted monstrosity she starts laughing.

Yes, partly because it’s funny, but also because that was the biggest non-rift-monster related risk she’s ever taken and it was terrifying, but she loved it. They’ve skidded to a stop on the ground now, but she’s clinging to Jinx, half hunched over with residual panicked laughter. Jinx holds her up under one arm and when Lux looks up, Jinx is bright with mirth and chaos, cackling.

…And Lux isn’t thinking.

That’s not something a leader should ever say, she knows that, but suddenly she isn’t. She touches Jinx’s face like she knows it’s fragile and she still can’t keep her fingers off it. Jinx stops laughing instantly, confused, and Lux feels much the same.

They’re very close and Jinx’s eyes are bright and coppery and Lux hasn’t… she hadn’t ever really thought about kissing her, but the wonder she feels at the thought is just that – wonder. She wonders if Jinx would let her, what it would feel like, what her lipstick tastes like, if it would mean as much as the pounding in her chest implies it would.

But then Ekko’s bike is humming up behind them and Jinx’s face twists. She puts her down and steps back.

Lux flushes, startled. “Jinx…”

“Woo!” Jinx screams without looking at her, turning to face the guys as they pull up. “Having someone to fling magic toys around must be fun, huh, Ekko?”

“Cheater,” Ezreal says when Ekko just sneers at her.

“I didn’t use a single gun! Those were the only rules!”

They’re shit talking and Lux can hardly get in edgewise, even when Ezreal tosses an arm around her shoulder, jokes about her getting on her own bike. Jinx steamrolls the conversation to an alarmingly solid no. And she’s not wrong, but something about the implication that Lux is no longer invited to something Jinx loves scares the living daylights out of her.

“Jinx,” Lux tries again, more insistently when they’re alone and heading back to the house. It’s wrong, it’s all wrong now.

“Come on!” Jinx says, too enthusiastically, “Janna and Short Stack should be back from that fancy-ass cooking class. Maybe they flame broiled something, maybe they’ll let me flame broil something.” She doesn’t look back as she says this.

In fact, Jinx doesn’t look at her all through their late dinner or before she bounds up the stairs and slams the door to her room.

Lux feels cold inside.

Stars aren’t meant to burn cold.

Lux and Ezreal fight.

It is always good, it is a very good way to let off steam and Lux could really use it. Right now, there’s so much steam in the house it feels like a pressure cooker about to bust even when nobody’s inside. Whatever has changed between her and Jinx is cooking everyone, but Lux is too twisted up inside to know what has changed exactly, let alone how to fix it.

And so here she is, dripping with sweat and sore to the bones, stopping just a hair’s breadth from Ezreal’s ignited palm. He’s panting, holding his stance firm even as his brow quirks at her. “You’re about to kick my ass distracted,” he says with a bit of a pout, “My pretty face not enough today?”

Lux lets out a breathless laugh. “I didn’t come to whine to you,” she says, but before she can raise her hand to cast a spell, his palm flashes out and he curls it, fireside warm, around her wrist.

“Lux,” he says with a smirk that she’s come to understand is his approximation of a patient face, “You’re very pretty, but if I didn’t like listening to you, I wouldn’t hang around.” She feels herself go pink and his smile softens. “Is this about the race?”

Of course, he noticed. Lux should stop letting herself forget he’s pretty and perhaps a bit impulsive, but he’s also stunningly smart behind it all.

“It was working,” is the first thing she says when they sit down, because it was. Weeks on weeks of hanging out and training together and talking about books, being together has made them a stronger team. There haven’t been any botched incidents in months. Until Lux looked up at Jinx and saw her now, right then, in that moment and didn’t mourn for the smiling little girl she used to be. She saw Jinx and the fragility of her happiness and thought how badly she wanted to stay a part of it and wanted to be as bright for Jinx as she was for Lux and—

“You fell in love, didn’t you?” Ezreal asks softly, eyes on the ground, and Lux reels back from him, shocked.

“What? No, I—No, that’s…” Lux can’t even complete that sentence, can’t even complete the thought.

She hadn’t gone into this trying to fall in love, not in any other way than as a unit, a family lead together in the light of the First Star. And she does love them, she loves them so much she could burst with it, but with Jinx… It’s love, why wouldn’t it be? But it’s different than any other love she’s ever felt, different than what she feels for the others. It hurts because she can feel that the night she looked at Jinx like she hung the sun was too much, entirely too much and she broke it. She’s losing it.

“I’m…” Before she can even get it in her head to steel herself, to not cry in front of him yet again, tears are streaking down her face, her breath quiet and shivery.

Ezreal takes a sharp breath, lets it out on her name, “Lux…” he starts, reaching for her.

She wraps her arms around herself. “Don’t rub my nose in it,” she gasps, “I know, I know I messed up, I ruined everything.”

“Well, that’s not what I was going to do,” he says, shifting closer to her, one arm braced behind her back and the other fishing out his handkerchief. “It may have been an accident, but that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily a mistake.”

“Those are synonyms,” Lux points out sulkily, wiping her face.

“Sort of, but just because you didn’t do it on purpose doesn’t mean it’s bad,” he winces a little, “Even if it’s complicated. Jinx is…” he smiles like he’s embarrassed, “She’s not as dislikeable as she likes to think she is. And you really know her, of course you love her.”

Lux is surprised by that admission, but still looks at him sidelong. “You’re the one that said loving your teammates was a mistake.”

Ezreal shrugs. “Guess I’m learning from you,” he says cryptically, “and anyway, anything you love could never be a mistake. You just gotta figure out what to do with it.”

“Just like that,” Lux asks flatly, stunned by his sudden faith in her ability to not royally screw up something he’d warned her against in the first place.

Ezreal’s smile is sweetly confident in her. “Just like that,” She blinks, startled when he leans forward and kisses her cheek. “You’re good at thinking on your feet, Starlight, you got this.”

Though she’s normally – and even still now – encouraged by Ezreal’s easy manner that makes it seem like everything is alright, she only narrowly avoids pointing out that she barely managed to get the team to a good place after dozens of screw ups. They’re doing better, yes, but it’s still a newly establish balance, easily thrown off and lost.

And to top it off, she’s in love.

Great.

Just great.

It sits wrong on them, all of them.

The way they’d finally managed to fit themselves together, all those months of effort, are beginning to feel all crooked. Lux is desperate to get things back together and, of all things, Lux hates feeling desperate.

“Jinx, come on…” she says – maybe begs – the third time she misses the timing after Poppy knocks a monster into the air for her and just sprays bullets across the area,  sending dirt and monster goo flying everywhere before turning on the shrubbery. She says it because she can see something scathing held back behind Poppy’s clenched teeth and Lulu has been hearing something that’s making her shoulders hunch and Janna is staring off at the horizon like a different storm is brewing.

She says it because this is her fault in the first place.

Jinx’s hackles are up immediately. “Come on, what?” Lux doesn’t want to fight her, not like this, but Jinx’s knuckles are white on her guns and her eyes are livid bright. “You gonna give me a speech about how I should respect the light the First Fucking Star shat in me, too?”

“Jinx!!” Lux exclaims scandalized, anxiously feeling Poppy’s rage spike.

“Watch your mouth,” Poppy snaps. “You could at least act like—” she breaks off, bearing her teeth when Jinx stomps over to get in her face.

“Like I haven’t had an original thought in decades?” Jinx exclaims, “Do you ever unclench?”

Poppy looks fit to knock her over the head. “We’re Star Guardians,” she hisses through gritted teeth, “You could at least pretend like you understand what it means to be something.”

Lux sees the fight sliding away from the issue at hand faster than she can make a grab for it. “Guys…”

“Something other than a Zaunite gutter dweller, is that it?” Jinx bites back. This rarely comes up, but when it does it blows up fast.

“That’s not what she’s saying,” Lux interjects, “Jinx, it’s not an image we’re trying to uphold, it’s…” she flounders, hearing how unconvincing it sounds before it’s even out of her mouth, “we’re trying to uphold light.”

That has the opposite effect of what Lux was aiming for, Jinx’s face twisting furiously. “Oh well, I’m sorry I’m not light and ass-kissing goodness, I’m sorry I’m not the kind little…”

Lux shakes her head. “I don’t— we don’t need that! The First Star put us together for a reason, we don’t need you different.”

Lulu shifts, an anxious hum coming from her, but Lux honestly couldn’t tell if Lulu made the sound or not. She’s lifted a hand to her head. “The First Star wouldn’t have chosen you for this if you weren’t right.”

Jinx sneers. “So what? I wouldn’t have chosen this for me if I’d had a choice!” She laughs then, a caustic sound and Lux feels a frightening flash like the little girls they’d been together were never even real. “You know what? I do have a choice!” the guns pop away into Kuro and Shiro, before they faze into her gauntlets, “We’re done!”

Poppy grips her hammer tighter. “You can’t—” she starts, but Jinx is already stomping away.

Lux doesn’t realize the only reason she stops is because she unconsciously shot out a panicked hand to grab her by the wrist. Once she realizes she’s doing it, though, she doesn’t take it back, can’t imagine letting go willingly.

“Jinx…” she starts, waiting for Jinx’s eyes, surprised when she actually half turns to face her. “We were born together,” Lux whispers quaveringly and it sounds so loving and desperate, it scalds.

Jinx snatches her hand away, the scowl on her face obvious but not the pain in her eyes before she turns around to storm off. “You’re breaking my heart, Lux,” she spits savagely, “I know where the hell I was born.”

“Jinx, please.”

Watching Jinx’s back retreat hurts Lux in a way she’s never felt before. Poppy is glaring, which is bad, but Lulu and Janna just look vacantly sad which is worse.

Lux’s eyes are brimming, so she doesn’t turn to face them, can’t let them see her so close to losing it. “This isn’t…”

“We’ll pick up the slack,” Poppy says and Lux can hear the hard frown on her face as she turns to stomp the other way. “We should’ve been practicing without her anyway.”

Lulu comes to Lux’s room later that night and Lux is immediately grateful for it. Jinx is just one of them, but somehow the house feels horrendously empty without her clanking around in her room.

“The First Star says you didn’t do anything wrong and not to worry,” Lulu starts without preamble.

Lux shuts her eyes and lets out a frustrated breath. She’s not going to start crying again, she’s done, she’s tired. Her eyes don’t listen to her. “But it’s my fault.” She looks down, startled, when Pix floats into her hands.

Lulu lays down with her dirty feet on Lux’s pillow. Lux cringes, but doesn’t say anything.

“Sort of,” Lulu replies, but continues, “You made us a star cluster!”

Lux scoffs, rolling her eyes as she wipes at them. “Are you even passing astronomy?” she mumbles and Lulu rubs her feet into the pillow in retaliation.

“It’s gravity, Lux,” Lulu says. “We’re all stuck in orbit around each other. It’s just that you and Jinx are falling towards each other, too.”

“Great,” Lux groans, turning facedown into her bedspread. “Stars on a collision course, that sounds so much better.”

Lulu laughs and wiggles until she can rest her head on Lux’s back. “She would love that,” she says and Lux would be inclined to agree until Lulu continues, “Or, she will once it stops scaring her.”

It’s only her faith that keeps her from asking aloud when it will stop scaring her. Both her faith in the First Star’s mission and in Lulu’s belief in her as a sister and maybe even as a leader. It feels almost like her belief in Jinx doubled back at her.

But the monster is huge.

Lux supposes they should count it as lucky that they do get a warning of it’s arrival, even if it’s the sudden eruption of a rift on the edge of the city. The shockwave shakes their windows and leaves a heavy and oppressive aura over the whole city. The people shift, disquieted from the noise, but every star guardian’s hair stands on end as they leap into action.

Without Jinx there they all feel the hole of her presence, the way they aren’t shining the same as usual, but they don’t have a choice to back down, they can’t. Ezreal had asked her early on if she’d choose the world or her sisters, but in the moments when she’s dashing around the battle field shielding everyone trying to keep the chaos from expanding to the city, it feels like the same thing. Ahri’s charm hits the monster right in the face and it turns to her for long enough that Poppy can smash it in the head with her hammer, but it’s working slowly, so slowly.

Soraka can only heal so much of the damage on the move, even as Miss Fortune and Lulu try to take out all the smaller but just as vicious things making their way out of the rift. Janna sweeps one out of the way just before it gets it’s teeth in Ezreal’s calf. They’re being put on defense, pushed back from where they’re trying to hold the line. Janna and Syndra peel off to make chase when the line is broken and – Lux looks over when Ahri lands with less of her usual grace, sees it in her eyes, too – this isn’t working.

But this is what they do and they can’t quit.

So they fight until Lux is tingling and numb all over, hands burning with the over use of her magic and hoping, calling out to the First Star that Janna and Syndra are enough to keep the civilians safe. She ducks out of the way of Miss Fortune’s rain of bullets, the monster blood it sends flying – she hopes that they are all enough to keep everyone safe. When she finds her way to her feet, she’s shaking, Ezreal’s boost giving her just enough to attack all four of the monsters surrounding her, even though a tendril of the largest monster shoots up through the ground and knocks her into the air.

It takes all her concentration to land on her feet, but even still, she’s winded and dizzy, and has to gather herself.

She closes her eyes, just for a split second; she thinks of the First Star choosing her, of her sisters making her stronger, of all the guardians giving their all and how she will not let them fall tonight, and lastly, as loud as she can, she thinks Jinx.

Just her name, because that already carries the weight of all they have ever been and ever hope to be and the feelings for which Lux has no other name.

Lux opens her eyes, grits her teeth, and hopes, hopes, hopes as she charges back in.

The First Star does hear prayers, albeit in the profound way that something infinite and ancient can hear the whole of existence all at once. It does its best to listen, especially to the cries of its Guardians, its eyes and hands. Sometimes it even speaks back, like the constant not-quite-words whisper in the heart of someone like Lulu or the sense of oneness among all guardians. However, It also can make use of human voices when need be. They are so small, for however much it loves them, that it sometimes forgets this in the scope of All Things.

Yes, the First Star is in all things, but sometimes it is a struggle for people to recognize its will as a good thing. It must address those that distrust differently than it addresses the devout, of course it must.

Case in point, this time when the First Star reaches into Jinx, it lets her feel the desperate, faithful, loving shape of her own name in Lux’s mind, lets her hear what it wants in Lux’s voice. It is the first time Jinx doesn’t burn herself trying fruitlessly to shove it back out.

Jinx hears it and, just this once, manages to listen.

Ezreal is vibrating, but that’s mostly because he refuses to call it trembling.

It’s been a long fight, too long. They’re being worn down and – Lux tosses him a shield before he gets a face full of acid, thank the First – it’s only a matter of time before the rift overtakes them. Ahri’s face is pinched like she’s already made her way to plan W and man, oh man, Ezreal starts losing body parts at X so he’d really like—

He jerks when a monster body lands beside him with a splat, full of scorched holes and a metal trap on it’s leg. Relief floods him when he hears from above, “Yo, Pretty Boy!”

“What?” Ezreal shouts back, taking out another cog to his left, Jinx’s gun popping quickly through two more to the right. He’s excited now; he’s been tired for a long time, but he secretly loves running on pure adrenaline, he’s good at it. And Jinx is a heavy hitter, a tide turner. He’s feeling high just from her presence. Lux is too busy to turn and see and he’s not dumb enough to call out to her, but she’s already glowing brighter like she can feel Jinx there. Ezreal and the others glow in turn, completed.

Oh, he’s well and truly excited, this is gonna be good.

“Wombo-combo!” Jinx screams, landing beside him, singed and with a lit-fuse grin and house-fire eyes.

“What?” He blinks when she lifts a truly impressive sized gun off her waist, aiming at the writhing, roaring head of the terror before them, adjusting continuously to follow the monster’s shifting gait.

“Light ‘em up!!” she explains, “Hit ‘em with your best shot!! Gimme your biggest boom!!”

Ezreal doesn’t need to be told again, summoning everything in him, all he’s got left and more than that too, his biggest boom. It hurts, a little, but he can’t say he hasn’t wanted to try. He feels his feet lifting off the ground with the gathering power in his hands and it feels pretty “Hell yeah.”

“Hell yeah!” Jinx screams back, rocket whirring as she aims it, “3!”

Ahri sees the light gathering around his hands, eyes going wide even from a distance. She throws a heavy charm at the monster and Ezreal cannot let the fear touch him when it’s attention suddenly swivels to her, alone in a sea of cogs, he can’t ,he has to focus.

Jinx sees too and rushes through the end of her count, “2, 1, and lift off!!”

Ezreal lets everything go as soon as Jinx does, and lands on his ass just in time to watch it race forward.

A rocket riding a wave of pure starlight.

Though coursing with relief, Lux doesn’t turn when she recognizes the sound of Jinx’s rocket, feels the familiar heat of Ezreal’s magic, not yet. She faces the monster and trusts. Trusts their aim and their abilities and the idea—the fact that this will work. She summons her light to her chest, she feels time slow, feels everything fall away except the monster before her and her allies abilities around her. She has to time it right, so she holds her breath, holds her light, until the exact moment they pass harmlessly on either side of her. Then she lets out the most savage scream she can muster and lets out all the light she has in her.

It hits.

It’s gross, watching it’s head explode as it roars in pain, but Miss Forture’s wild laughter as she takes out every little monster left standing in her vicinity sparks off Ezreal and he’s laughing, it worked. The biggest of the monsters is slumping back into the rift and Ahri and Soraka rush forward to seal it, Janna suddenly sweeping in to blast the way clear. Lux is staggering on her feet, but with a wave of Lulu’s hand, she’s towering over them knocking monsters away and with a sudden flare of light the rift snaps closed. Anything left on this side is easy pickings, caught before it even reaches the edge of the field, particularly with two sharpshooters doing their best to show each other up in the after battle high.

“Well, fly me to the moon,” Ezreal mutters in something like awe, not even realizing he’s said it aloud until Jinx’s wild bright grin turns towards him. “A shooting star!”

Jinx laughs with her head thrown back, launching one final rocket into the sky with a shout. It’s that sound that finally makes Lux turn, holding her hands like they hurt even as Soraka cups both of them in hers. Her face is so open and longing, Ezreal feels a kick in his chest for her. He turns his gaze to Jinx. Though he doesn’t know her as well as her team does, not by a longshot, he can tell the cocksure way she saunters over to where their teams have gathered is mostly fake. Still, he follows, watches as she smirks at Lux.

Still, he sighs when the first words out of her mouth are, “Miss me?”

Lux isn’t sure what she’d been expecting. Surely not something heartfelt, definitely not an apology, but the fact is, yes. It’d been hardly a whole day since Jinx had left and Lux had missed her like a phantom limb, hoping for her to turn up for the whole fight. Not even because they were losing, but just because she wanted her there. Jinx and her stupid smart mouth and her ember bright eyes and—

Lux – breathing in the ashes, covered in monster blood – starts laughing. It startles everyone else as much as it startles her, but she can’t stop, covering her face and hunching over as she shakes with raucous laughter. It isn’t until Lulu puts a hand on her side, radiating concern, that she realizes she’s switched from laughing to sobbing.

Jinx has never known what to do with people when they cry, but for however long it’s been, Lux’s tears apparently still ring familiar. Her smile pinches a little as she steps forward, wiping Lux’s cheeks with hands that smell like gunpowder. “Oh, come on, fearless leader, we did it! What’re ya sniveling about, huh?”

“You—You’re such—,” Lux is so relieved and in love and tired, she just— “You’re such a piece of shit!”

Lulu actually gasps while Ezreal laughs aloud.

“O.M.G.!!! Did you hear that!!?” Jinx exclaims, excitedly, “She cursed, she cursed at me!”

“If you two are done,” Ahri says primly, pushing her hair out of her face. “I’d like to get this cleaned up before the sun rises.”

Jinx says something sharp because she can’t help herself, but they do manage to clean up relatively quickly, the worst of the damage having already fallen back into the rift. By the time they’re staggering home, the two teams closing ranks in opposite directions – except for the moment Ezreal pauses to squeeze Lux’s hand with a wink – Lux is very nearly asleep on her feet. Even with Lulu holding her hand, she keeps drifting closer to Jinx, like gravity.

“Jeez, are you trying to trip me?” Jinx says eventually, then just tosses an arm around her shoulder, “Walk straight.”

Lux goes warm at the contact, but she sees Poppy’s lips curl out of the corner of her eyes. “She might not be so tired if we’d been playing with a full deck from the start…”

They all sigh, but Janna is the one who closes her hand on Poppy shoulder. “Please…” Not tonight, not right now, give it a rest.

The fight they’re all expecting, doesn’t start though, because surprisingly enough, Jinx doesn’t respond. Her arm tenses around Lux and she looks more than a little annoyed, but for some reason, she holds her tongue. Lux is almost concerned enough to ask, but Jinx lets out a raspberry sigh and keeps walking.

They’re on the porch when she finally speaks up.

“I don’t care about fate,” Jinx says firmly, “Or destiny, or any of that. I barely give a shit about being a star guardian.”

“Jinx…” Janna says tiredly.

“Barely,” Lux repeats, shocky. In Jinx-speak, that’s a leap and a bound away from not giving a single shit. The look on Jinx’s face says she knows exactly what Lux is thinking and it’s giving her indigestion. She rolls her eyes to look straight up at the sky.

“Listen, the only thing I care about is keeping you safe,” though she looks down directly at Lux after she says this, she turns to the others, too. “If I gotta ride a sun bareback to keep you planet-saving do-gooders alive, then fuck it, I guess I gotta do it.” She looks flustered, maybe even a little flush at this admission, shrugging uncomfortably, “Or whatever…”

It doesn’t seem like anyone quite knows how to respond to that, but Lux knows they only have a few seconds until Jinx’s discomfort gives her the impulse to disrupt the silence with something crass. She doesn’t want that tonight, not when she’s just given them something so honest and still so very Jinx. So instead, she acts on her own impulse.

Lux pulls one of her pig tails until Jinx stumbles forward into her arms.

Jinx returns this embrace with a wondrous lack of hesitation, even if it’s only seconds later when she starts wiggling and crowing about how gross it is when all the others join in, too.

Falling into place around them as natural as the pull of gravity.

“Come on! Come on, comeoncomeon!!”

Jinx is bouncing excitedly trying to drag Lux from her room before she’s even fully dressed.

“Hold on, Jinx, jeez—hey!!” she shouts when the moment she tugs her shirt down, Jinx hefts her onto her back.

“But you’re so slow!” she complains, jogging down the hall and—”

Lux pales. “Do not run me down those stairs, do not—”

Jinx leaps for it.

And only narrowly avoids sending both of them flying through their new living room table.

“I just built that,” Poppy snaps in warning, already standing by the door with Lulu.

Lux jumps off Jinx, feeling chastised. “Where are we going?” she asks, changing the subject with a shameless lack of subtlety.

“You never tried to get us to do your thing,” Jinx answers and it takes Lux a moment to realize what she even means. She blinks, touched, but also a little embarrassed.

Not embarrassed enough to keep her from hesitantly clarifying, “…Eating?”

Their smiles are knowing and teasing as they glance at each other, sharing a group eye roll at her expense.

“Told you,” Lulu says as Poppy passes her some coins.

Lux flushes, crossing her arms stuffily. “I have other hobbies!!”

“Yeah, sleeping,” Jinx laughs, pinching Lux’s cheek until she bats her hand away.

Janna comes over to fix her hair. “We’ll try to account for nap time, too,” she teases, but Lux has to laugh a little because she knows without a shadow of a doubt Janna is only partly kidding. She hugs her just because she can and Janna lets out a soft breath that’s almost a laugh.

“Where are we going?” Lux asks, excited now.

The faire is just a spontaneous event, a few city blocks sectioned off and packed with rides and performances and the like. Lux visits a few, but most of her time is spent staring wide eyed at all the food stalls, stuffed to the gills with interesting delicacies. She should probably be alarmed by how much she’s spent on food, but she’s too distracted by how much she’s enjoying herself.

It’s a good day, a very good one. It’s not long before the man at the high striker gives Poppy the biggest stuffed poro he has and politely tells her not to come back. That’s a step up from the shooting gallery banning Jinx as soon as she comes into view. All in all, it leaves Lux quite tickled, especially when Janna buys a large blanket and asks if she’d like to lay out in the park.

Lux loves them all and is more inclined to share the admittedly absurd amount of snacks she’d purchased for herself. They’re eating together in the sunlight, showing off their wares and just generally relaxing. For however much Lux does love napping, the strangest thing is she feels almost too happy to fall asleep. She’s in the middle of complementing Janna’s new hair piece when Lulu speaks up out of the blue.

“The First Star says go for it,” she says, moving from where she’d been sitting in Jinx’s lap over into Janna’s. “It’s not a mistake.”

“Eh?” Lux blinks at her in confusion. While she loves that sort of advice, she doesn’t have the faintest clue what that could be referring to. Even when Poppy rolls her eyes, looking pointedly down at her bento box and Janna smiles slyly. “Go for what?” she asks, but then she catches sight of Jinx’s face in the corner of her eyes.

She looks angry, but not really angry, and actually, it’s a lot closer to annoyed embarrassment, she’s blushing. What in the world could make Jinx—?

Jinx hates being told what to do, she always has.

Even when she was a child and less difficult, when everything was less difficult, she never liked being told what to do. When she lost the only people who would even make an attempt at doing so, she decided that moment nobody else would. Not even when some star from the beginning of fucking time tried to tell her how special she was and how she could save the world, nope, not even then. These guns are hers and she’s going to use them how she wants, this is her life and she’s going to live it how she wants and Jinx hates being told what to do…

But the First Star has at least given her the power to keep her sisters safe, to keep Lux safe, which… that’s all she really wants to do at this point. So when they say she never listens, she can correct them. She listened that one time when her teammates’ lives were on the line; any other time she listens to the First Star’s advice for the same reason doesn’t count.

This time doesn’t really count either, though. It doesn’t matter what the First Star says.

Jinx has wanted to kiss Lux for years.

#fandom loves puerto rico #league of legends #my writing #long post #star guardian lux #star guardian jinx #hi pat<3

[itsworn]

10-Second 1963 Plymouth: The PERFECT Mix Of Street & Strip!

When Elwood Engle arrived at Chrysler in December 1961, it wasn’t a minute too soon. Dodge and Plymouth were hemorrhaging sales to Ford and GM as a result of the recently outdated “forward look” style by outgoing styling chief, Virgil Exner. Personally, we love Exner’s excessive, finned masterpieces, but the buying public is fickle and there was no denying that styling was having an adverse effect on sales. One of Engle’s first moves (along with penning the 1963 Turbine car) was to redesign the 1963 Plymouth, which you see here in the form of Baltimore native Ronald Nies Sr’s Sport Fury.

The iconic 1963 Plymouth marks a sea change in Chrysler styling. Its modern slab-sided body and simplified form was emblematic of the 1960’s modern design vocabulary, which cemented Detroit’s reputation as a world design center. In 1963, Chrysler’s superior engineering and manufacturing finally merged with a new, elegant style, setting dealerships afire with enthusiastic customers. All that’s wonderful, but the only thing Ronald Neis cared about is that his car was bitchin’. We agree.

Ronald grew up in a Mopar family. His father in fact had a ’63 Plymouth Fury wagon. Like a mind worm, it took over his psyche, and by adolescence there was but one future path for Ronald. By the age of 13, Ronald and his 18-year-old brother Gary would cruise the town looking for Mopars. “He liked the Road Runners and he was hoping to get one soon,” Ronald reminisces. “He was five years older than me, he liked Mopars, and it influenced me some. He just pointed them out. He knew where all of them were parked.”

It’s no surprise then that Ronald bought a 1966 Dart when he got out of high school. Within a couple of years he put a 340 in it, bolted on a set of headers, and went bracket racing with the original four-speed manual transmission.

Then came April 10, 1982. “I remember the day very well,” says Ronald solemnly. “I went to Capitol Raceway. I parked my car in the staging lanes, got out of the car to talk to other racers. You always do that. You get out and hang out. That’s the last thing I remember. I woke up twelve hours later in the shock trama unit in Baltimore. They said I was talking when I got out of the car, but I don’t remember any of it. When I woke up, my father was looking down at me. He said the rollbar saved my life.”

On that fateful run, a balljoint failed through the speed traps at 112 mph. The car turned violently and rolled six times. A helicopter air ambulance transported Ronald to the hospital, where he would spend the next two weeks recuperating. The car was a total loss, but it was the start of a new beginning. His girlfriend, Lydia, was by his side the whole time, and that impressed Ronald. Though now divorced, Ronald married the young woman the following year. “She treated me so good when I was recovering. She came over and took care of me every day. Helped my mom a lot.”

It would not be until 1995—well after the births of his sons Ronald Jr. and Timmy—that Ronald would finally get behind the wheel of another Mopar muscle machine. Ronald says: “I waited a while to get another Mopar. I wanted a car so bad, I got a ’72 Dart. By then, my kids were getting old enough that I could go work on it.” By 1997, it was running as a driver, and by the year 2000, it was going 12.30s with a mild 383. In 2003, he sold it to his son, Ronald Jr, who now has a mild pump-gas 400 in it. The Dart runs 11.40s with Ron Jr. behind the wheel, and he can often be found at the track with dad and his ’63 Sport Fury.

Ah, the ’63 Sport Fury. Over the years, Ronald had been a service technician at several dealerships including Towson Dodge in Maryland. As both an affable and talented mechanic, this presented the opportunity to meet and become friends with kindred Mopar spirits, including car nut Ken Wiley. Over time, Ken would press Ronald into service occasionally to help him with his modest collection of muscle cars, which included this 1963 Plymouth Sport Fury.

In 2003, Ken had asked Ronald to swap out the original ’63 rearend for an 8 ¾ unit out of a ’65. Ron recollects: “He wanted me to change it because the ’63s had a hub on the drum with a huge nut on it. You had to use a puller on it just to check the brakes. The ’65 rear has what you call floating drums. You can pull the drums off without all the hassle.” After doing the job, Ken mentioned that he needed to thin his collection from three cars down to two. “He had just bought a Mustang Pro Street car and didn’t have the room, so he sold it to me. He didn’t have the garage space for all three of ‘em.”

Other than the newer rearend, the Sport Fury was an absolute peach of a survivor. “I didn’t do anything to the body. It’s nice. It’s a 10-footer. You can find little defects if you look close, but it didn’t need any body work,” says Ronald. For $1,500 and some bartered work on Ken’s Mustang, the bright red Sport Fury found its way into Ronald’s garage. “I was just lucky actually,” says Ronald. “I was lucky he was a good friend of mine. I wouldn’t have got it if he hadn’t given me such a good deal.”

Ronald knew exactly what he wanted from the Fury: to make it a period-correct Max Wedge clone in a street/strip vein which could run 11s through the exhaust on pump gas and be driven to the track. After replacing the front floor pans—the only bodywork needed—Ronald pulled the tired 383 and built a mild 906-headed 440 with 10:1 compression. Behind that he added a 1970-vintage TorqueFlite, which has the pump in the front instead of at the rear like the original unit. This allowed Ronald to rebuild it with a reverse-pattern Turbo Action valve body and add a B&M Pro Stick shifter. (Ronald kept the “typewriter” instrument panel with push-button shifter, but it’s there for looks only.) To the beefed-up ’Flite, Ronald bolted up one of Frank Lupo’s awesome 4,200-stall Dynamic torque converters.

Between 2003 and 2006, Ronald worked hard to build the Sport Fury into his vision of the perfect street/strip machine. Upgrades to the fuel system, ignition, exhaust, and cooling all needed to be streetable, and not disturb the period-correct stock vibe. One area Ronald was not going to compromise on was the roll bar. Before hitting the track, he built a mild-steel roll bar—similar to the one that saved his life in 1982—using a kit from S&W. Fortunately, the stock interior with original upholstery was in great condition, and Ronald was able to preserve it mostly as-is, with the exception of a few instruments (tach, oil pressure, water temp) and a newer JVC radio unit. One concession to the stock exterior profile was the addition of a Max Wedge-style hood scoop, which puts the Sport Fury right smack dab in the middle of street/strip territory.

Likewise, the OE chassis, suspension, and brakes were largely maintained in a period-correct fashion, with Ronald only making concessions for better drag-strip launches. To that end, he installed Competition Engineering 90/10 drag shocks in front and Mopar Performance extended-travel shocks and Super Stock leaf springs in the rear. The front sway bar has been deleted and a 1968-vintage dual-pot master cylinder replaces the stock item. That 440-based 906-headed combo served Ronald well, running mid 11s (11.49 best) on 92-octane fuel while being licensed, registered, and driven on the street. He was enjoying the Sport Fury on the street, driving to shows, morning coffee get-togethers, and weekend cruises, but he was still paying close attention to improvements in the performance industry.

By 2011, Ronald decided to take the next step and push the Plymouth deep into the 10s. Ron says, “The technology was there to build a pump-gas 10-second street car without going nuts with it.” Historically, going 10s means higher compression, open exhaust, and race fuel, but one company—Indy Cylinder Head—caught his eye with their aluminum 440 EZ cylinder heads and dual-plane intake. If combined with a modest stroker kit from 440Source, Ronald reckoned he could build his own 493-cube Max Wedge big-block with enough stones to go 10s, yet be mild enough for the street.

Using a spare 440 block as a starting point, Ronald had J.B. Machine in Baltimore do the block machine work. Ronald assembled the engine himself using a set of Indy EZ cylinder heads (270cc ports) and a 440-2D dual-plane intake. These were port-matched to Max Wedge dimensions by Dwayne Porter, then combined by Ronald with a 440Source stroker kit, which included 440Source’s quench-efficient 10.6:1 D-dish forged pistons. A mild solid flat-tappet cam by Dwayne Porter (.585/.592-inch lift) works with a Hughes valve train that includes 1.6:1 rockers.

Though Ronald built the engine himself, he’s quick to praise Dwayne Porter: “I bought the heads from Dwayne Porter because he was an Indy dealer. He’s one of the best head porters around. Being a mechanic, I learned how to do a valve job years ago, but with my bad back, I just had him do it. He did a great job. I knew he was going to do a better job than me anyway. He does it every day for a living.”

With the Max-Wedge—inspired 493 hoisted between the fenders, Ronald reattached the 727 he had built earlier for the 440. You’ll also note that Ronald made his own heat riser shield out of sheet aluminum, which provides the 850cfm Holley double-pumper some protection against heat soak. Fortunately, much of that heat is already mitigated by a set of ceramic-coated 2-inch long-tube TTi headers, an Afco aluminum radiator with a mechanical fan, and a back-up pusher electric fan in front. All Ronald’s careful attention to thermal management has resulted in a classic Mopar that can hit the turnpike or sit in traffic without seeing the high side of 190 degrees. “Most weekends I’ll drive it. Once in a while I’ll miss a weekend if I’m having a bad day because of pain from my bad knees,” says Ronald. The farthest Ron has driven it is Chryslers At Carlisle: “It’s about 90 miles one way. There’s no problems with it. It just eats a lot of gas.”

Street driving, however, is only half the game plan. Ronald was able to capitalize on his engine upgrade program, proving out the Indy, Hughes, and 440Source components with a stack of timeslips in the 10s. In fact, Ronald’s best run to date is a 10.76/124.99—on motor alone, with a full exhaust, driving it to the track, and on 92-octane pump gas. “I’m happy with the way it is,” muses Ronald. “The future might be to make it a little faster, but because I’m on disability with a limited budget, I can’t afford to.” But just as we thought Ronald was done, the gears in his head started turning again. “I might want to upgrade to a Dana 60 because the 8 ¾ might break eventually. I might do a full port job on the heads to get it in the lower 10s, but that would be it. I don’t want to run in the 9s. There’s too much stuff you have to do.” Yeah, sure Ronald. We’ve heard it all before…

By Ron Neis’s own estimates, the home-built 10.6:1 compression 493ci big-block Chrysler Wedge puts out around 600 hp on 92-octane pump gas, but considering the trap speed for the 3,725-lb car is almost 125 mph, it’s probably closer to 680. Indy’s 440 EZ heads and dual-plane intake are largely responsible.

The Holley 850cfm double-pumper is well isolated from heat soak by an aluminum shield.

The original 1963 single-circuit master cylinder has been replaced with a safer dual-pot unit from a 1968 Road Runner. Ronald reports that the original ’63 dual-diaphragm booster provides ample stopping force in spite of idle vacuum between 8 – 11 inches.

Making big power with a Max Wedge is rarely an issue—it’s keeping things cool on the street that can be a problem. A mechanical flex fan inside a salvaged Dodge Dakota shroud handles the bulk of air movement through an Afco aluminum radiator. An auxiliary electric pusher fan can be called on for additional air movement.

The interior of Ronald’s 1963 Sport Fury is largely unchanged, including the original black vinyl seats and “typewriter” pushbutton dash. A B&M Pro Stick, Motorola tach, Auto Meter oil pressure gauge, and Stewart Warner water temp gauge have been added. The most important thing, however, is the S&W mild-steel rollbar.

Seen here with its Hoosier strip rubber out back, Ronald Neis Sr’s 1963 Plymouth Sport Fury is a nearly perfect specimen of the street/strip breed that combines streetability, 10-second strip performance, and period-correct looks. It was built over an eight-year period between 2003 and 2011.

Fast Facts

1963 Plymouth Sport Fury Ronald Nies Sr.; Baltimore, MD

ENGINE Type: 493ci RB-Series Chrysler big-block Max Wedge Bore x stroke: 4.350 (bore) x 4.150 (stroke) Block: 1970-vintage 440 Chrysler Rotating assembly: 440Source stroker crank, connecting rods, and D-dish forged pistons Compression: 10.6:1 Cylinder heads: Indy Cylinder Head 270cc 440 SEZ, port-matched to Max Wedge size by Dwayne Porter, 2.19-/1.81-inch valves Camshaft: Dwayne Porter custom-grind mechanical flat-tappet; 264-/270-degrees at .050-inch valve lift, .585-/.592-inch lift Valvetrain: Hughes 1.6 rocker arms, Manton pushrods, dual Comp springs, EDM lifters Induction: Indy Cylinder Head dual-plane 440-2D intake with Holley 850cfm double-pumper Oiling system: high-volume pump with Moroso pan Fuel system: stock tank, 3/8-inch sending unit, 3/8-inch line, Holley black pump Exhaust: TTi 2-inch long-tube headers and 3-inch custom dual-exhaust, Dynomax Ultraflow mufflers Ignition: Mallory distributor with Mopar Performance ignition box, 36 degrees total timing Cooling: Afco aluminum radiator with Dakota truck shroud, mechanical fan, and auxiliary electric pusher fan Fuel: 92-octane pump gas Output: approximately 600 hp (not dyno tested) Engine built by: Ronald Nies Sr. (block machine work by J.B. Machine; Baltimore, MD) Best e.t.: 10.76 at 124.99 mph Curb weight w/driver: 3,725 lbs.

DRIVETRAIN Transmission: 1970-vintage TorqueFlite 3-speed automatic with Turbo Action reverse-pattern valve body and bolt-in sprag; stock Mopar clutches, steels, and seals; built by Ronald Nies Sr. Converter: Frank Lupo Dynamic, 4,200-rpm stall Shifter: B&M Pro Stick Driveshaft: Victory Performance Driveline Parts, steel, custom Rearend: 1965-vintage Chrysler 8 ¾-inch with Detroit Locker, 4.30 gears

CHASSIS Front suspension: stock torsion-bar IFS with Competition Engineering 90/10 drag shocks, sway bar deleted Rear suspension: stock leaf-spring solid axle with Mopar Performance extended-travel drag shocks, Super Stock leaf springs Steering: factory manual Front brakes: factory drum brakes with 1968 Road Runner power-assist master cylinder Rear brakes: factory drums Rollbar/chassis: mild steel built by owner from S&W kit, custom frame connectors

WHEELS & TIRES Wheels: Torq Thurst 15 x 6 (front), 17 x 7 steelies (rear) Tires: Pep Boys 215/70R15 (front); Hoosier Drag Radial 30 x 9 x 15 (front)

INTERIOR Seats: stock black vinyl Instruments: factory “typewriter” instrument panel with Motorola tach, Auto Meter oil pressure gauge, Stewart Warner coolant temp gauge Stereo: JVC stereo with stock dash speaker

The post 10-Second 1963 Plymouth: The PERFECT Mix Of Street & Strip! appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

from Hot Rod Network http://www.hotrod.com/articles/10-second-1963-plymouth-perfect-mix-street-strip/ via IFTTT

#IFTTT #Hot Rod Network

[blackmissfrizzle]

Wild Child

Characters: Miguel Galindo x black!reader

Summary: Miguel can’t control his free spirited wife.

Warnings: Its filthy. I tried to put some plot in it but its barely there lol.

WC: 4.1K

A/N: I hit a couple of birds with this one stone. First its a request from @darlingcherrybomb-Can I have 11 & 15 w/ Miguel Galindo plz??? thank you :) and this is also my submission for my 2K Follower Celebration and Bad Bitch Challenge. The song I’m using is Hood Rat Shit. Also shoutout to @starrynite7114​ for indulging me!

Prompts are bolded

When Miguel Galindo started dating you no one really batted an eye. They simply thought the businessman/cartel boss was going through a mid-life crisis and wanted some young pretty thing on his arm. But when he slipped that engagement ring on your finger and made an honest woman out of you, everyone had questions. You were Santo Padre’s resident wild child.

If it wasn’t the Mayans causing trouble, then it was you. Growing up the Reyes family was your next-door neighbors and that instantly made EZ and Angel your best friends. Even as a child Angel was charismatic and that easily made you look up to him. Everything he did, you tried to do. That earned you the nickname, Angelita. If you could’ve joined the club, you would’ve.

So how you ended up married to Miguel was a mystery. Sure, you cleaned up nice and despite your wild ways you had a respectable job, but you still were considered as riff raff, nothing but a damn troublemaker.

Where everyone saw a crazy party girl, Miguel saw an independent uninhibited woman. Someone unafraid to speak their mind and can hold their own in this cutthroat world. Someone who could handle all of him. Someone who humbled him and made him enjoy the simpler things in life.

Although, he loved you, you were a fucking headache. Your free spirit didn’t sit well with the confines of his lifestyle. Any chance you got you ditched the bodyguards. Upscale lounges? Nah, you loved the dive bars. There’s a Mayans party? You’re there. Dress like you’re a powerful businessman’s wife? Nope can do. You were allergic to designer and preferred jeans and leggings.  Being driven around town? No thank you, you were a speed demon. As you and your friends love to say, “You’re ain’t nothing but a hoodrat hoodrat, hoochie mama.”

Like tonight, he specifically told you he didn’t want you hanging out at the clubhouse because he heard some rumblings of trouble with another MC. But of course, you didn’t listen. It was EZ’s patch party and you were gonna celebrate with your boys.

“Run me my money, Medina!” You folded your hand in the ‘gimme’ motion.

“Aren’t you already rich?” He asked, slapping the twenties in your hand.

Angel busted out laughing and nudged Medina with his shoulder. “We told you not to play her. I told you she’s vicious. Don’t ever fall for the puppy dog eyes.”

Everyone joined in at Medina’s lost. At this point most Mayans in the Santo Padre charter and other charters knew not to play pool with you or at least not to underestimate you, so finding someone not privy to to your skills was delightful.

Throughout the night, your goal was to set EZ up with Gabby and not just for a one-night stand. He desperately needed someone else to focus on instead of Emily. Currently, you were outside at a table with your crew: Coco, Gilly, EZ, and Angel.

“Just go talk to her.” You urged your best friend.

“Yeah, for some crazy ass reason she likes you.” Angel slapped the back of his brother’s head.

Tracing your finger along his arm, you pointed out the evidence. “It’s this damn vein that always making an appearance.”

Coco sat back in amazement. “That shit really turn y’all on? Simple stuff like that? One time I had a chick obsessed with my fingers. She got turned on whenever I held a cig. I thought she was into some freaky ass shit.” The whole table erupted into laughter. For Coco to be so experienced, he was clueless.

Taking his hand in yours, you began tracing his fingers and inspecting. “Oh ok, I see you Coco Cruz. These shits are veiny, long, and thick as fuck. Yeah, homegirl was obsessed!”

“But why, chiquita?” Coco flicked you on the nose.

“Do you not finger bitches, Cruz? These are prefect candidates for fingering. Like dude, when I see, Miguel’s fingers wrapped around a glass, I get all wet and tingly inside.”

If you were paying attention, then you would’ve noticed how quiet all the guys gotten. It wasn’t until Coco slyly slipped his hand out of your grasp that you felt a presence. “He’s behind me, isn’t he?”

“Yup, Angelita!” Angel hooked his arm around your neck and ruffled your hair. A gesture that didn’t bother Miguel. He understood the familial dynamic you had with the Reyes brothers.

“Hey babe!” You smiled at him like you didn’t just disobeyed him by showing up at this party.

Miguel gave you a small smirk. It was his way of telling you he was pissed off, but he wasn’t going to show it in front of company. “Sweetheart,” he kissed you on top of your head. “I’m going to talk to Obispo and then we’re leaving.” His tone told you there was no room for arguments.

Miguel left you to go to talk to Bishop and give you some time to tell your friends goodbye. Marcus stood by you as he watched boss leave. “Angelita, do you ever stay out of trouble?” He patted your back and kissed your temple.

You held your chin as if you were in deep thought. “Mmm, nope. Its too much fun not to.”

“We should’ve nicknamed you little Diabla.” Gilly joked.

“Screw you, Gilly!”

“No, that’s your husband’s job and by the way you’ll be walking like Bambi for the next week will be proof enough.” You slapped Angel upside the head, but the only further his laughing. They all loved to tease you when you got in trouble with Miguel.

You didn’t have time to quip back, because Miguel came back done with his conversation with Bishop and from the looks of it, Bishop got some bad news. Hopefully, none of it had anything to do with you.

When you got in the car the partition was already rolled up, a big red flag that you were in trouble. “Sooooo, what did you talk to Bishop about? He looked upset.”

Miguel cut his eyes to you before he looked back out the window. “That other MC was on the way to the clubhouse to shoot up the place. I handled it when I was on the way. Just dumb luck we stumbled onto them.”

“Wowwww,” you blew a raspberry and widen your eyes as saucers. You hated when he was right, it knocked down all your objections. “Lucky that you were on the way then, huh?” You gave him a nervous smile and scratched the back of your head.

“Lucky?” He repeated the word with venom. “You could’ve died!”

“But I didn’t!”

“You disobeyed me!”

It was true, you didn’t listen, but everything worked out in the end. “I know but-”

One of Miguel’s hand grasped your throat hard enough to make breathing a little harder, but not enough to hurt you. He pressed his face against to the side of yours, harshly breathing against your ear. “No buts- you deliberately disobeyed me and if it wasn’t for me coming to get your bratty ass, you would’ve been dead!”

“Miguel, I’m sorry.”

With his other hand, Miguel shoved his hand down your pants. “Oh, you’re about to be sorry, mi vida. I’ll show you what these fingers can do.” His fingers pushed your panties to the side and explored all your wetness. “Shit! You’re loving this, you dirty little slut. I bet if I wanted to, you’d let me finger you in front of all your little Mayan friends.”

You began riding his fingers as he fucked into you. It was too much not to move. Miguel was an expert in your pleasure and knew how to set you off in minutes if that’s what he wanted, and it appeared he wanted you to suffer. “Miguel, pleaseeeeee.” You pleaded with him, grabbing onto his wrist for support.

“Hmm, please what, querida?” He licked the side of your face then pulled your earlobe in between his teeth. “Dime que quieres. (Tell me what you want.)”

“I want to cum. Please Miguel.” You pecked at his lips giving him the chance to devour your lips. “If you want to cum, you’re gonna have to do it yourself.” Miguel murmured against your lips.

Miguel kept his fingers still as you rolled your hips. It wasn’t the same as him pumping his fingers in and out, but you knew there was one way you could get him to participate once again. Keeping your eyes on Miguel, you wet your fingers and let them find your clit. Not even one rub in and Miguel had his hand around your wrist. “Who told you that you could touch what’s mine?”

You bent down and whispered by his ear. “If it was yours, I would be cumming by now.”

Miguel growled and began furiously fingering you and rubbing your clit with his thumb. “Fucking brat! I better not hear any crying from you tonight talking about its too much. You’re taking everything I’m giving you.”

He wasn’t taking it easy on you anymore. Miguel pumped into you as fast as he could while suckling kisses along your shoulder up to his neck. “Te amo, mi vida. But if you ever do something that stupid again, I won’t have any problems locking your ass up.”

Your lips met Miguel’s for a searing kiss. “I love you too, Miguel.”

Taking some of your hair, Miguel moved it to the other side and kissed your neck. “Now cum all over my fingers.”

Your body immediately responded to Miguel’s command, making you leak onto the seat. That sight almost made Miguel unhinged, but he contained himself. The things he had planned for you couldn���t be executed in the back of a car. So, he allowed you to rest until you got back home, where he could teach you a lesson or two about obedience.

--

The thing about certain lessons with you was that they weren’t long-lasting. There was something that always drew you back to your rebellious ways. Tonight, was girl’s night and you were on your way out the door when you heard Miguel’s voice. “Go change.”

You stopped in your tracks and looked back at your husband sitting with Marcus and Nestor. “Excuse me?” Nestor rubbed his hand over his face and Marcus lowly chuckled. Looks like it was about to be an interesting night in the Galindo household.

Miguel put down the report he was reading and focused his eyes on you. “I said go change, mi amor.”

You knew this was a risqué outfit, but you thought if you walked fast enough, Miguel wouldn’t notice. “What’s wrong with this?” You asked, pretending like you damn well didn’t know what was wrong.

The chair scraped against the floor as Miguel backed out of the chair. He surrounded you as a predator inspecting his prey. A lion chomping at the bits to get to his meal. “You are not wearing that out. I will rip it off you. Now go change or you won’t see your friends until the next girls’ night.” He pulled the strap of your top, letting it slap against your skin. As you turned to go up the stairs, Miguel smacked your ass for his victory. It wasn’t very often that he easily won your compliance.

When you came back down, Miguel was much more appeased with your outfit. A simple flowy black tank top replaced the corset bodysuit you had on earlier. He genuinely wished you a good time as you left. Miguel knew that with a couple of drinks in you, you would be primed for some nasty sex later. Little did he know that you had your original top in your purse and had plans to ditch the bodyguards.

A little later that night, Miguel, Nestor, and Marcus went out to a restaurant to take a break from the tedious work. Nestor excused himself from the table when he got a call from the security team. Miguel flagged the waitress down when he saw Nestor pinched the bridge of his nose. It was the same thing he did when he heard you were up to no good. “She ditched the bodyguards?”

Nestor pulled out his phone to show Miguel a video. “Yeah and is having the time of her life.” Miguel grimaced as he fixed his suit jacket. “Let’s go get my wife before I have to fill my church pew.”

—

The lounge you and your girls went to was nice at first, but after the first round of expensive watered-down drinks all of you were ready to go. Especially, since the music wasn’t danceable to. It was $2 everything at one of your old haunts, so that’s where you went. They had the best mix of current and old hits, having everyone vibing.

With all the drinks being $2 and very strong, you were easily drunk enough not to have a care in the world. Unsurprisingly though you were the most coherent (drinking with bikers would do that to you). So, you knew that you shouldn’t have gotten on top of the bar, but you couldn’t give one flying fuck. What was Miguel gonna do? Put you on his church pew? Please, one bash of these eyelashes and you’d be out of trouble.

The dj began playing a set of Megan thee Stallion and you were in your zone. You and your friends were providing entertainment as y’all screamed the lyrics out.

I want to do it ‘cause it’s fun

It’s fun to bad things

(Hood rat shit)

Drive into a car (Ahh)

Didi you know you could perhaps kill somebody?

(Mwah)

Yes, but I wanted to do hood rat stuff with my friends.

Instantly, you and your friends got into your Megan squats and twerked just like the song told y’all. Its been so long since you did it that you almost got scared that your knees would buckle.

Hood rat shit (Huh) with my hood rat friends

(Ayy)

Everywhere we go (Ayy) we be drinking Hen

(Ayy)

Shake that ass, shake that ass, bitch, bounce that shit (Ayy, yeah)

If you weren’t so caught up, you would’ve felt the air in the room change. You would’ve felt the oxygen leave the room, making it harder to breath. You would’ve stopped making random people drive the boat while they had a great view of your cleavage due to your corset bodysuit that you secretly changed back into.

It wasn’t until you felt that overwhelming presence that you noticed your husband next to you. He rested his elbow on the bar and held his chin in his hand smiling up at you. “Oh, hi honey. Funny seeing you here.” You greeted him. Miguel couldn’t reach your hand, so he started rubbing on your ankle. “No, its funny seeing you here in that,” he nodded at your corset. “What happened to your other shirt?” There was no good answer, so instead you bent down and rapped the lyrics to Miguel, playfully having your fingers in his face.

You ain’t from my hood (Huh)

What you doing round here? (Hey)

Asking all them questions (Huh)

You must be the Feds (Ayy)

Better get from round here

Before you wind up dead (Yeah)

The corner of Miguel’s mouth quirked up as he patiently waited for the song to be over. Despite how mad he was, he enjoyed seeing you have fun with just the simple things. And it wasn’t from youthfulness, but from a good heart. That’s what made him love you. The only things you needed was your friends, family, and good times, and you reminded him that was important.  

“Terminada?”

“Yup,” you took his offered hand and jumped down from the bar. He draped your leather jacket over your shoulders and zipped it up. “Really?” Your eyes dipped down to your chest. Miguel cupped your cheek before he kissed it. “Yes, really. Now let’s leave before I have to shoot someone for ogling you too long.” Quickly, you exited the bar. There was no need for anyone to die because of you.

On the way back to your house, Miguel didn’t reveal how pissed he was. He just kept a possessive hand on your denim clad thigh and discussed his plans for the week. He didn’t go into gory detail, but just enough to prepare you for how busy he would be. That was practically a warning. With him being pissed about your activities tonight and pair that with his busy schedule, let’s just say your glad you’ve been focused on your flexibility and stamina.

Finally, at home, the both of you told Nestor and Marcus good night. You headed for your room, but Miguel gripped the back of your neck tightly and steered you to the playroom down the hall. Miguel specifically used this room when he planned to fuck you for hours. Dear lord, this was gonna be a long night.

You knew better than to speak as he sets up the room. Standing stark still you watched as he lit candles, turned on the fairy lights, and set the LED lights a mix of blue and purple. Miguel loved how the blue hue reflected off your brown skin. It highlighted every single thing he loved about you.

When he was finished setting the ambiance, Miguel circled around you until he was standing directly behind you. He said nothing as his hands went to the button of your jeans. His warm breath caressed your neck like a hug, his hands setting fire to your skin as he pulled down your jeans.

A yelp escaped your lips when you felt Miguel’s teeth scrape against your ass. Done with what you were for sure knew were gonna leave marks, Miguel ran his nose along your ass until he reached the crook of your neck. He dug his fingers into your ass while his teeth dug into your shoulder. The pain was welcoming, making you quiver all over.

“Hands behind your back.” Miguel ordered. Soon, you felt the cuffs around your wrists and then the sensation was felt around your ankles as well. “Stay here.” He whispered against your ear.

You watched Miguel swagger to what you called the ‘sex couch’, it was curved to accommodate your bodies, specifically for adult activities. He sat down, legs all wide and inviting while he loosened his collar. Crooking his fingers, he told you to come here.

The heels you were wearing made you the perfect height that Miguel’s face was directly at your navel. He pressed a light kiss there, then he reached up to your shoulders to push you down on your knees.

Unzipping his pants, he pulled out his cock and you were instantly hypnotized. Honestly, Miguel should just whip it out all the time when he wants you to do something. You’ll listen to him…momentarily.

“Aren’t you gonna take off your clothes?” You inquired.

Miguel wrapped his hand around your hair. “No, at least one of us needs to know how to dress. Now, suck my dick. It ain’t gonna suck itself.” Out of nowhere, he pulled out a cigar, lit it and began smoking it, his way of dismissing you.

There was no way you were gonna tease him. From the tension in his body you knew he would snap at any moment. Your mouth engulfed his length, only getting a couple of bobs in until Miguel roughly pushed your head into his crotch and pummeling your mouth with his cock. All of him took up the room in your throat, but it didn’t bother you. You loved that it was you making those moans come out of Miguel’s mouth.

He granted you a little reprieve and let you up for some air. He took one more puff of his cigar before putting it out. His hands went to your corset to pull your breasts out and for a moment he fondles them with interest until he slapped them and twisted the nipples. “Dressed like a fucking whore! Letting everyone see your tits. I should’ve fucked you right on that bar. No one would’ve stopped me.” Miguel’s hand was now around your throat and he pulled you towards his face. “Would you have let me fucked you there? Hmm, be my little whore?”

“Yes daddy! Whatever you want to do to me, you can.”

His other hand found your hair again. “Huh, you’re giving me permission? I know I can do whatever the fuck I want to you because you’re mines. The only one who seems not know this is you. Can’t follow simple fucking instructions. Is it that hard to listen to me?”

“No.”

“Then why don’t you listen?”

The brat in you just had to jump out, you smiled up at him like a madwoman before responding. “Because it’s fun and I enjoy doing hood rat shit.”

Miguel finally snapped. With unknown strength he ripped your bodysuit off your body and threw you onto your stomach on the couch, securing your ankle cuffs to the locks on the couch. Miguel didn’t bother to take off his clothes, you could feel the fabric of his Armani slacks as he pushed into you.

Even though it was about Miguel’s pleasure, it was about yours as well. Every one of his thrust got you closer to your end, but you wanted more. You wanted to touch your husband, you wanted your lips to leave the same marks he was leaving, you wanted to look him in the eye as he called you a slut, whore, and everything in between. “Daddy turn me around. I want to look at you.” You pleaded.

Miguel hips stuttered a bit, he couldn’t believe what his ears just heard. Leaning forward, his clothed chest was against your naked back. “Did you just give me an order? You think you can just get what you want?”

He couldn’t see your doe eyes, but he could hear the sickeningly sweet babied tone you use on him whenever you want something. “Yes, because I’m your baby girl.”

“Be careful what you wish for, baby girl.” Miguel flipped you over, his hand flew to your throat as he thrusted into you. He loved how you tightened around him when his hand found its permeant place on your neck. “So, fucking responsive to me. Tell me how much you love this cock.”

“I love it so much, daddy. I wish you could be in me every minute of the day” you gasped in between thrusts.

Miguel hovered over you and smoothed your hair. “How sweet, kitten.” He mocked you, then spat in your mouth and smeared it over your face, before shoving four of his fingers in your mouth. He chuckled at how your eyes widen. “What? I thought you wanted to look at me?”

You tried to say something, but your words were muffled by his fingers. “Hmm, what was that whore?” Miguel took his fingers out so he could hear you clearly. “Can I cum, daddy? Pretty please.”

Miguel couldn’t deny you anymore. “Since you asked so nicely, you can.” His thumb reached for you clit and rubbed on it until your legs were shaking and your eyes were rolling to the back of your head, but Miguel wanted your eyes on him. He grabbed the back of your neck and rested your forehead on his. “Look at me when you cum!” Once your eyes connected, Miguel reached his own orgasm and coated your walls with white hot cum.

In an instant, Miguel released the cuffs and carried you to the bed while giving you reassuring kisses and declarations of love. Despite your protests, he left to go get the both of you some water and towels to clean up. While he was gone you reached out for your phone that Miguel conveniently placed for you.

You: Sorry, guys I won’t be able to make it to our ride tomorrow. Raincheck?

Angel: I told y’all! I knew Galindo was gonna fuck her up for that outfit.

Coco: Damn! He broke you off that bad?

You: No, he broke me off that good!

Gilly: EARMUFFS!

You: Blame Dumbass #1 and Dumbass #2. Now am I gonna get a raincheck?

EZ: Yes, you will, Angelita. GN.

Knowing that the guys weren’t going to be mad at the fact that you weren’t going tomorrow, you silenced your phone, ignoring whatever argument they would no doubt get into. Instead you waited for your husband to return to continue breaking you off for the rest of the night.

Tagging: @starrynite7114​ @marvelmaree​ @thickemadame​ @woahitslucyylu​ @ifoundmyhappythought​ @chaneajoyyy​ @angrythingstarlight​ @sadeyesgf​ @teakturn​ @dearsamcrobae​ @strawberrywritings​

#frizzle 2k celebration #bad bitch challenge #miguel galindo #miguel galindo x reader #miguel galindo x black!reader #miguel galindo fanfiction #mayans mc #mayans #mayans mc fanfic #danny pino #frizzlesfic #frizzlefic #frizzlewrites #ask frizzle

[starrynite7114]

distraction: eight

A/N: Currently working on an update for ‘snapshots’, but for now, an update for distraction!

Thank you for all the love and support you’ve given this story!

taglist: @thegirlwhowritesfics

=====================

Emerson felt Angel’s fingers trace circles on her back as she laid her head on his chest. She smirked against his skin, placing a kiss above his heart.

“How long have you been awake?” She snuggled closer to him as his arm tightened his hold on her.

“An hour, maybe less.” His finger continued to trace his finger over her bare back. “Do you know I love you?”

“I do,” she giggled. “You okay babe?”

“Yeah baby, I just feel at times you begin to doubt us and I don’t want you to. I love you and that’s never going to change.” Angel knew that she’s had doubts lately since he’s been gone more due to club business. He wanted to reassure her that he was committed to her, no one else. “You ever regret leaving your family?” It was always his fear, that one day, Emerson was going to wake up and realize that their relationship was a mistake and go back to her family. He would never be able to give Emerson the financial stability she never had to worry about when she was under her father’s wing. Now, he knew how much Emerson loves her job at the bakery in San Diego, but how much longer would she be happy? Insecurities was a terrible thing and as much as Angel believed she was happy with him, it became hard at times.

“Nope, best decision of my life. I don’t need a family that chooses to disown their daughter for business purposes.” Emerson’s finger was doing traces on Angel’s abdomen, chills running through his body. Her hand moved down, coming into contact with his already semi-hard cock. “Hmm, I think I have a way to get you to come back to me.”

Angel chuckled. He was a selfish bastard, but he didn’t give a shit. He loves Emerson and nothing in this world would tear them apart.

Emerson’s eyes opened, her alarm blaring. She turned off her alarm, her eyes closing for a moment before it opened again. As much as she liked regaining bits of pieces of her memories, it was getting harder and harder to avoid this growing attraction she had to Angel. The only problem was that she wasn’t sure if she was actually attracted to him or she was attracted to him due to the past they shared.

As Angel had promised, he was whatever she needed. Whenever she remembered something, she would go to him and he immediately had a story behind it or at least, he had the pieces she was missing. Due to that, those parts of her memories come back and it just made it so much easier for her. In some ways, she was upset that she had decided to not remember anything, then again, she didn’t think there was anything worth remembering.

Evidently, she was wrong.

Elijah has been trying to speak to her and she’s blocked any attempts he had made. From what Miguel told her, Elijah went out of the country and had to go to Madrid for business and since Christmas was a week away, Elijah had to go back home and be with his family. She knew she had to talk to him eventually, but as of right now, he was getting the silent treatment.

Emerson got out of bed, letting out a yawn as she stretched. She did her morning routine before grabbing her phone and heading to the kitchen. After turning on her Keurig, she walked over to the refrigerator to make breakfast. It was 7 in the morning and she had to be at the bakery by 9 since she had to go to Letty’s poetry contest at San Diego at 5. Coco, EZ and Angel were tagging along with her.

A knock on her door broke her away from her Instagram feed.

“It’s too early for anyone to be here,” she groaned and walked over to her door.

When she opened the door, the butterflies in her stomach immediately appeared as her eyes landed on Angel Reyes who was holding a plastic bag in one hand and coffee in the other.

“Good morning mi dulce,” he greeted placing a kiss on her cheek as he made his way inside.

Emerson felt her cheeks heat up at his gesture before closing the door and doing her usual routine. She followed him to her dining table where he placed the items he brought. He sat down and gestured for her to sit next to him.

“Angel, you do know it’s like early right?” Emerson didn’t even know Angel’s habits, but she figured he was at the clubhouse late.

“It is, but I wanted to have breakfast with you.” Angel tried to spend as much time as possible with Emerson. He knew he could be pushing it at times, but this was what Emerson needed. If she wasn’t pushed, she would never really try and make an effort.

“Aw, that’s sweet,” Emerson sat across from Angel, appreciating the space between them. As much as she wanted to be close to Angel, she just couldn’t do it. With both of them knowing about what the other knew, she felt as if this weight on her shoulders regarding Angel. He wasn’t doing anything particularly but she knew he was waiting for her to remember, hoping that she would remember everything. It was a great weight on her, but she couldn’t find it in herself to push him away. She hurt him enough. Even though he stated time and time again he wasn’t pressuring her, she felt it.

“Anything for you,” Angel winked at her. “Are we carpooling to the event?”

“I believe so, save gas or whatnot.” Emerson shrugged. “I’m surprised you’re going.”

“I have a soft spot for Coco Jr.” Angel wasn’t fully lying, he has grown to like Letty, and she was a cool kid. But at the same time, he wanted to go cause Emerson was going. He was transparent with that, but he didn’t have to say that to her. “You really took Letty under your wing.” Angel took out the ham and cheese croissant he picked up for her, one he knew she used to love.

“She reminds me of better times with Sophia,” Emerson took the sandwich Angel was handing over to her. She didn’t even think she was that hungry till the smell hit her. “Oh man, this smells amazing,” she groaned as she took off the wrapper.

“How are things with you and Sophia?” Sophia Andres was such a thorn on Angel’s side. He was the biggest mistake he had ever made and he was forever reminded by it by Emerson’s memory loss.

“As good as can be, her wedding is coming up in 2 months.” Emerson took a bite out of her sandwich and groaned once again. “This is too good, I can feel my heart clogging up and that’s the best feeling.”

Angel laughed before he took a bite out of his own sandwich. “It was your favorite, whenever you were upset at me, the next morning it was hot and ready for you.”

“Well, look at you, you knew how to get back in my good graces, food.” Emerson happily took another bite.

“Of course, I know my girl.” He smugly told her. “I’m not surprised your sister is having a February wedding. Fits her ego.”

Emerson laughed. “You think incredibly highly of my sister. It does, but Sophia always wanted a February wedding.”

“Cause it’s as cold as her heart?”

Emerson shot Angel a look and he gave her a sheepish smile.

“When we were together, did you get along with Sophia?”

“We were amicable.” Angel didn’t want to give too much about his relationship with Sophia. Before the whole sleeping together, he really did tolerate Sophia, she had a rich girl complex and looked down on him and EZ. Though, Sophia was never disrespectful towards their father. Even Angel understood why Emerson was the favorite child. Sophia was manipulative, cunning and a bitch. Maybe he was biased towards Emerson, he acknowledged Emerson had flaws, but Sophia thrived on having a golden spoon in her mouth. While Emerson was the same way once upon a time, Emerson thrived even when she was disowned by her family. “She wasn’t the biggest fan of me.”

“I’m sure that’s not true, Sophia likes bad boys.” Emerson winked.

Angel felt uncomfortable with Emerson’s joke since of the history between him and Sophia that Emerson didn’t know about. He was almost certain this would be no joking matter if Emerson knew what really happened. Taking advantage of the situation was something Angel didn’t want to do, but the opportunity presented itself and he couldn’t help it. He hoped that Emerson regained her memories and if she didn’t that was fine with him, they could make new memories. Even though he thought their relationship was a shot of luck, he was hoping to get another chance again and this time, he wouldn’t let her go.

“She wasn’t into me,” Angel shrugged. “Have you spoken to your older brother?”

“From time to time, he’s the only sane one in my family. I’m surprised he wasn’t disowned, but then again, my parents had 2 other kids to marry of.” Emerson’s family dynamics was always peculiar to Angel. For him, what father would disown their child because she didn’t want to be arranged? It was so foreign and he wasn’t even aware people still do arranged marriages. It sounded so cliche, but he figured Emerson lucked out since Elijah wasn’t a complete douche. From what he remembered, Emerson’s older brother, John, married his college sweetheart. His parents didn’t show much disapproval since John was already heir apparent to their business. They needed Emerson to marry into a different family to strengthen business ties. He would think that her parents would just set Elijah up with Sophia, but from what he was told by Emerson, Elijah refused to marry Sophia and would only marry into their family if he was to marry Emerson.

“Does it upset you? That it seemed that they didn’t learn from the first time when they disowned you.”

“No, my father is a difficult man. He just expected for me to bend to his request since like you said, I was a blank canvas. I was reverted back to the time that I was in love with Elijah,” she saw the quick change on his face, but he quickly masked it again. At times, she wanted to question Angel about how their relationship was, if they were engaged, they were most likely happy. Emerson would like to think that she wouldn’t stay with Angel unless she was happy. But she wasn’t sure if she was ready to open that box yet.

“Great times,” Angel hated that there was a point and time that Elijah had Emerson. He knew why Emerson fell out of love with Elijah, but she wasn’t sure if she knew. As much as he wanted to bad mouth Elijah, he was already in deep shit and Elijah could do the same with him.

“I’m sorry,” Emerson wasn’t exactly sure why she was apologizing. She couldn’t imagine how hard this whole ordeal has been for Angel.

“For what?”

“This must be difficult for you. I can’t imagine how it’s been.” She frowned. “I’m just scared you’re expecting something from me that may not happen.”

“Which is?”

“If I don’t remember what we once had, what would you do then?”

Angel never really thought of that scenario. He has in some ways, but he has never tried to think too deeply into it because it was a scenario he wasn’t willing to accept. The most he has thought of Emerson not regaining her memories was for him to just create new memories with her. The connection they had would overcome anything. Their connection could not be forgotten and he knew that, he believed that. He didn’t want her to remember anything, he wanted her with him and he knew if she remembered, whatever hope he had would be wiped out.

He was a selfish bastard, but Emerson was someone he wasn’t willing to let go unless she specifically requested for him to do so. Even then, he would try to convince her to stay with him.

“I told you before Teddy, whatever you need, I’m here for you. I know you’re feeling the pressure, but I’m not trying to pressure you. If you feel that I am, I apologize.”

Emerson just nodded her head. What was she supposed to say to that? She appreciated his patience and his help, but the more she interacted with him, the more confused she became. She always thought he was attractive, but whatever she felt was never stirred since she always kept him at bay. But now, she was confused if she was genuinely attracted to him or knowing their past, it made her feel obligated to feel something. It was an odd conundrum she was facing. Everyone could attest that the Reyes brothers were handsome men, but with Angel, she always felt a pull. At first she thought it may be the whole mysterious bad boy bullshit, but it wasn’t. He was goofy, sweet and had an edge. But she didn’t want to do anything since she didn’t even know herself.

She felt that Angel was hiding something from her. He was cautious on what he shared with her and she knew that.

“Emerson, I’m serious, I don’t want to push you. If you want me to back off, I will.”

“No, you’re fine,” Emerson offered him a smile. “I do appreciate all the help you’ve given me, I just can’t help but feel terrible.”

“Stop, don’t feel terrible, whatever you need I’m here for you. Even if it’s just a friend.”

“But doesn’t it upset you that we were once engaged and now you’re basically a stranger to me.”

“Does it upset you?”

“I don’t know,” Emerson pursed her lips, the sandwich long forgotten in her hand. “You should be upset. My father pushed you away, I was almost married to Elijah and I just, I didn’t even know I had a life here.” So maybe, she was upset. Emerson just thought of what would have happened if she married Elijah? What if she remembered everything and realized Elijah wasn’t the person she wanted to be with? She was certain Elijah would have agreed to divorce her, but she knew Elijah would fight for her, he still was. At times, she thought of how simple life was when all she thought of was being with Elijah, she had no worries. Her life was set. But at the same time, she remembered how terrible her relationship was with Sophia and it was ultimately what made her so against the idea of marrying Elijah. She couldn’t risk her relationship with her sister. And at that time, she was feeling suffocated by her family and Elijah. “Shit,” Emerson closed her eyes. When did she feel that way about Elijah? Was this the first time or the second time? “When I decided not to marry Elijah, why did I decide not to do it?”

Angel looked on concerned, but stayed seated, knowing Emerson was trying to process something in her head. “From what you told me, you liked it in Santo Padre or just anywhere away from your family because there was no pressure. You didn’t have to watch what you said, what you did. You were carefree.”

“I didn’t have to worry about appeasing my parents.” Emerson sighed. “They were suffocating me and expected me to marry someone that my sister was in love with since Elijah refused to marry Sophia.”

“Why doesn’t Elijah want to marry Sophia?” Angel could name a few reasons why he wouldn’t want to marry her, but he was biased on thinking Sophia was a bitch.

Emerson frowned. “I’m not sure. Elijah has always been against the idea.”

“Maybe he was just being a selfish prick. Why have the lesser Andres sister when you can have the better one?” Angel smirked. He knew why Elijah picked Emerson or was insistent to be with Emerson. Unlike Sophia, Emerson wanted her own life and would be an asset for Elijah. Sophia was going to be a trophy wife and that’s not what Elijah wanted. He was all about equal partnership.

“You must not really like Sophia,” Emerson commented. “She never spoke ill of you, if anything, after she told me everything, she has never spoken about you.”

“There’s nothing to talk shit about, I’m transparent with you Emerson. Whatever you want to know, I tell you.”

“As long as it benefits you, of course.” Emerson sighed. “Sorry, that didn’t come out right.”

Angel’s heard it before, that’s why his faith that Emerson’s memories would come back grew stronger. She would say things that she would tell him before and even though they were hurtful, he knew where it came from.

“You’re fine, I told you, I get it if you have your reservations. But trust me, I’m looking out for you, you’re my main concern.”

“I was Elijah’s as well.”

“Elijah wants you to marry him, I understand why he would leave me out of your life.”

“You seem very forgiving of a man who actively tried to erase you from my life.”

Angel shrugged. “Can’t kill him, raises too many questions and he’s close to your cousin.”

For some reason, Emerson wouldn’t be surprised if Angel did kill Elijah. The bad blood between the two was apparent and they remained civil due to her. And as worried as she was for her oldest friend, she knew Angel wouldn’t actually do it. She was obtuse, she knew what the Mayans did and she knew what Miguel did. The looks she got from the people in town, she knew that there was this unspoken thing where if they fucked with her, they fuck with the cartel and the MC. As frightened as she should be, she always felt safe with them, but that may be due to the fact that she knew they had no reason to harm her, even more so now.

“Do you ever wish you could hurt him?”

“Yes, rough him up, get that smugness off his face.” Angel shrugged. “But you always protected him.”

“I’m sure that led to many fights.”

“I was never concerned about Elijah, I was secured in our relationship.” He was never worried about Elijah. Emerson made it very apparent she wasn’t interested. If anything, angel has to worry about himself because ultimately it was him who destroyed their relationship.

“Where you in the accident with me?”

The question surprised Angel. With Emerson exploring her past, she has never asked him once about the accident. It was always about their relationship, how everything started, what he has been doing since she lost her memory, but never about her accident. Now that she has, Angel was kind of stumped. To what extent should he tell her? That she got into a car accident because she got in her car after finding him in bed with Sophia? He was obviously not going to tell her the truth and her question in technicality didn’t require much detail.

“No, I wasn’t,” Angel kept it simple.

“Where were you?”

“Club business.”

And somehow, Emerson didn’t believe that.

=====================

Letty took a deep breath as her spot came closer and closer. She’s never read her poetry in front of an audience before. She thought it would be a smaller crowd, but there was a pretty good amount of people here.

“Hey, you okay?” Emerson startled Letty making her laugh. “Sorry! I’ve been calling you and you weren’t really responding.”

“No, you’re fine,” Letty offered her a smile. “I could really use a smoke right now.” Emerson smacked her forehead. “Ow! I said I could use one, I didn’t say I would smoke.” She rubbed her forehead. “That hurts you know.”

“Yes, well don’t say stupid things,” Emerson shook her head. “Why are you nervous?” She remembered when she first met Letty, whenever she smoked it was due to stress, which was a majority of people. Thankfully, she was able to get her off cigarettes. It was god awful for her lungs.

“Just never done this before,” she shrugged. “This is stupid, I don’t even want to do this.” She walked away from the curtain, crossing her arms as she sat down.

Emerson frowned and squatted in front of Letty. “Hey, don’t do that, you’ve been excited about this, to share your poem to people. Besides that, your dad is here along with the Reyes’, everyone is here to support you.”

“We both know Angel is here for you.” Letty was glad that Angel was helping Emerson out, but she knew he was hiding something. Whenever he saw them talking, she could see why Sophia favored Angel for her sister, but at the same time, she could tell he withheld things from her.

“No, everyone is here for you,” Emerson took Letty’s hand to hers, giving her a soft squeeze. “You’re gonna kick ass then afterwards, we can go wherever you want for dinner, on Elijah.”

“Elijah?”

“He gave me his credit card,” Emerson giggled. “Since he can’t be here, he gave my his card to take you out for dinner and maybe take you on a little shopping trip.” She wiggles her eyebrows, waving the card in front of Letty. “But seriously, he’s proud of you and this is how he shows his proudness since he can’t always be here.”

“Materialistic things,” Letty murmured. It was what Sophia was referring to. That’s why Sophia favored Angel. Elijah could give Emerson the world, but at the end of the day, Angel was more genuine and was here for Emerson.

“What?” Emerson gave her a confused look.

“Nothing, sorry,” Letty smiled. “He better be prepared cause I want steak.”

“His bank account can take the hit.” Emerson laughed. “You got this, we’ll be rooting for you!” She pulled Letty up and enveloped her into an embrace. She placed a missed at the top of her head before walking back to her seat.

Emerson sat down next to Angel. She leaned her body towards him, sitting down with her back towards the aisle. Subconsciously, Emerson placed a part of her arm on the armrest, while her hand reached for Angel’s. He noticed it, not saying anything and just letting her do it. He felt like an absolute dork for thinking about how much he missed holding Emerson’s hand. The simplest gesture gave him the greatest comfort and reassurance, it still did.

Emerson noticed their intertwined hand and moved to remove her hand, but Angel tightened his hold. She looked at him and he just offered her a smile. The butterflies in her stomach was definitely at ablaze. She was trying hard not to smile. It just felt right and natural for them to be holding hands. She may not remember much about Angel, but some part of her definitely remembered him.

#Angel Reyes #angelreyes #angel reyes fic #angel reyes fanfic #mayans mc fic #mayans mc fanfic