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shadeofazmeinya · 1 year

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How to Plan a Simple Heist: A Guide for the Current Sorry Soul Leading the Fakes

A/N: Here’s my fic for the Achieve! Zine that I was a part of! If you enjoy, I highly recommend the rest of the zine! As always, reblogs and comments are super appreciated!

AO3 Link

A man stands outside the tall marbled columns of the Maze bank, sunglasses reflecting the heat of a Los Santos day. The city bustles with movement; cars, people, planes soaring up above. But this man is stopped, considering the imposing structure in front of him as the doors swing in and out with people.

He leans back against the parking meter, hands buried into the pockets of his brown leather jacket, a wolf snarling on his back. No one cares to look at him and he doesn’t care to look at them. After a moment he adjusts his baseball cap a little lower over his brown curls and his eyes flicks to his watch. His mouth twists as he counts down the seconds before he pushes himself up and heads inside.

Pushing past the glass doors, his shoes echo across the marble floor. A second story balcony hangs above and he spares a glance up. There, a lithe man in a tailored suit stands. His blonde hair shines in the light, matching the gold around his neck and wrist. He stares down at the people going about their days alone. The two men catch eyes. Smirks pull at both of their lips and just as suddenly the man up top slips back into the crowd. And the man below continues his march to the teller's window.

“What can I help you with?” the teller says pleasantly, unknowing of the plan already unfolding. The parts already moving into place.

The man in leather grins and starts to hand a note-

“Then you seduce the bank teller!” Joe interrupts with a grin, a hand slamming down on the wood table that is sprawled with various maps, scrawled notes, and surveillance photos all centered on Maze Bank.

“What?” Alfredo laughs, others in the room bursting into giggles. “Why do you always want to fucking seduce the marks on the heist?”

“I can do it! Let me try!”

“No,” Trevor sighs, hand pinching the bridge of his nose. This planning session has already gone on for two hours and they’ve yet to even properly plan getting to the vaults. “No seducing. Michael just passes a note saying that this is a robbery.”

“That’s so boring though,” Joe huffs.

“He’s right, we can do better than a note,” Lindsay nods.

Trevor sighs, able to tell the battle he’s losing. “Then just tell the bank teller you’re robbing them. The note was the finesse.”

“Am I supposed to ask to go in the back or hold up the front?” Michael says, turning them somewhat back on track.

“You are the distraction. Your job is to keep the focus on you, while the others are setting up in the back-“

A large, detailed painting hangs in one of the meeting rooms, something expensive even if the subject is hard to make out with the mesh of colors. The room sits empty, silent until the painting creaks. Thudding against the wall, once, twice, third time it knocks off the hanger and clatters to the ground.

Replacing it is a hole with two figures inside. Both are dressed in all black with masks covering their faces and slip out with bags of gear on their back.

They move swiftly with practiced ease. They pause at the doorway and one leans out to listen. They listen closely and then give a quick hand motion and they both move out. Running down the hallway.

The camera flickers, red light blinking. Connected is a screen that shows the figures moving around. Then the screen flickers; the figures disappear mid walk. The screen shows just an empty hallway. Leaving silence and a lulled peace once again.

“How come Matt always gets to be the man in the chair?” Alfredo huffs, leaning back as Trevor is again trying to explain.

“Because I’m the hacker. That’s what I do. Besides, you said you wanted to be the one in the tunnel.”

“I did say that,” Alfredo laments. “Joe convinced me on the outfits.”

“Black and slim is sexy,” Joe grins. “And we get to use the big drill.”

“The hole will be made before the heist even begins,” Trevor reminds, pointing out their floor plans and maps that were labeled with the drill spots.

“Ky and I get to do it, right?” BK beams. “Pretty please, Trevor? We can sneak around and easily get it in place.”

“What?! No, I want to!” Jeremy protests. “Matt taught me how to use it!”

“Cmon, Jeremy, you know Team Friendly Fire has it covered,” Ky cuts in.

“Ky and BK can do it, Jeremy we’ll need you for setting up other parts of the heist,” Trevor says.

Ky smirks and sticks her tongue out at Jeremy, who returns the gesture.

“Now let’s focus and talk about how we’re getting out-“

The back door bursts open, several figures flooding out into the back alley. Voices shout and the wail of sirens isn’t far off. But the figures don’t stop moving, each carrying a bag draped around them. Cash sticking out from every stuffed pocket.

The figures bolt, taking off running in the same direction. All sharing bright grins as they run with their steal.

“We’re almost at the pickup spot,” one shouts, tapping a small piece in their ear.

“I’m right there,” a voice responds, a curl of red hair shouting over the loud roar of a helicopter. A shadow crosses over them, a cargobob hovering as the wind rips around.

Below the machine, there was a chain hooked to something hanging below it. A bright pink plastic box, swinging, with words on the side of it reading-

“We’re not using the fucking Porta Potty!” Michael shouts as Lindsay bursts into giggles.

“It’s the perfect plan, Michael!” Lindsay defends. “Listen-“

The room floods with bickering and teasing and complete lack of focus as they battle out the pros and cons of the portable toilet. Trevor lets out a deep, but fond, sigh. He knows when they need to focus they will. In the meantime, though, it's like herding cats.

Out of the corner of his eye, Trevor spots Jack give an amused smile as she lounges back in her chair. A knowing smile, having seen the chaos of these people the longest. But when she locks eyes with Trevor, she gives a subtle nod. An encouraging look, a deep set of trust. Trevor feels his nerves settle, looking back over all the maps and notes. All the work they’ve already put in. Trevor takes one more deep breath and gives a sharp whistle to get the room’s focus.

“Alright,-“ he says, leaning over the table and looking them all in the eyes. “Let’s take it from the top one more time.”

#achievement hunter #rtah #fake ah crew #fahc #ragehappy #my fics #its a gen fic so no ships haha #but i hope you all enjoy!

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alfryco · 1 year

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I know shipping isn't as big of a thing in the RT/AH fandom as it was a few years ago, but I'm curious to see what everybody's feeling nowadays and how much the fandom has changed since then. I only included one ship per person just to keep it fair, so sorry to all the Gavin ships out there.

Also this is just for fun and if anyone sends me anon hate about me including this in the AH main tag I'm gonna take you out by the kneecaps :) If you don't like it then pls scroll past it!

#rtah #achievement hunter #rooster teeth #ragehappy #rtwriting #mine #am i hoping alfreyco wins? maybe. do i think they're going to beat mavin? probably not.#i just miss the vibes of the fandom pre-2020 when the shipping part of the fandom felt a lot more uh present

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heisttheblackflag · 1 year

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Let's get ready for Alfreyco Appreciation Month!!

For Alfreyco Appreciation Month, I’ve assembled a list of prompts to use as inspiration for your art, writing, or whatever else you want to make! The month will be officially starting on June 18 and ending on July 15, and each week has weekly prompts listed with their dates below. (If you’re not able to finish your piece(s) until after the 15th though that’s totally fine; I want this to be fun and chill for everyone so feel free to post whenever you can!)

The first group below is a bunch of prompts intended for posting at any point during the month. Feel free to combine any of them, and use them for any kind of media you want!

Following those are all of the weekly prompts, which will also be posted individually at the start of every week. There are two kinds of prompts intended primarily for writing (one combination of prompts and one single prompt), and one that is intended more for visual art! Please don’t feel obliged to write or draw something for every week, but if you do choose a weekly prompt it would be great if you could post it during that week so that everyone doing that prompt can talk about your work together! <3

During the month itself, you can post all works on AO3 to the Alfreyco Appreciation Month collection, and tag “Alfreyco appreciation month 2023” or “Alfreyco month 2023” on Tumblr so we can see and reblog your works!

I hope you all are as excited for this as I am!! As always, dm me with any questions, thank you so much for sharing and contributing, and I’ll see you all in June!!

Free prompts:

Pining + “red string of fate” trope

Soulmate + reincarnation (“in every lifetime I will find my way back to you”)

Fake AH Crew sparring practice

Friends-to-lovers, person A is a prince and person B is their loyal bodyguard (bonus prompt, there’s an attempt on the prince’s life and they have to figure out who it is)

Wearing each other’s clothes

Investigating a paranormal situation which turns out to be a spirit that’s trying to matchmake them together

Friends-to-lovers, person A stands up for person B to B’s terrible ex-partner when they see how poorly they’re being treated

Hit men/assassins au

Minecraft au [a classic!]

One-shot within a YDYD season (could be Minecraft or Seven Days!)

Hurt/comfort (e.g. sick fic, FAHC post-torture or injury, rescue from a murderous cult…)

Werewolves/shifters/monsters/cryptids

Helping each other escape from being kidnapped or taken as hostages

They’re in space!

They’ve become the MCs in your favorite movie!

They’ve become the MCs in your favorite video game!

Week 1 (June 18 - 24):

Writing Prompts - paired prompts: zombie apocalypse au + fluff/sweet moments

single prompt: person A is a witch/magician looking for their human familiar/assistant, and they unexpectedly encounter person B

Art Prompt: post-apocalypse

Week 2 (June 25 - July 1):

Writing Prompts - paired prompts: cowboy/Wild West au + heroic rescue

single prompt: strangers trapped in a room together for a seemingly unending amount of time (either by violence outside or extreme weather)

Art Prompt: sheriffs or gold prospectors

Week 3 (July 2 - 8): (Red Web’s three-year anniversary is this week!)

Writing Prompts - paired prompts: Red Web actual investigators au + “Run! You have to keep running!”

single prompt: person A gets kidnapped under mysterious circumstances and person B goes after them (potentially revealing scary/bamf side of them they haven’t shown before)

Art Prompt: inside the Red Web canon! (aka if they actually were the leaders of a mystery-solving taskforce)

Week 4 (July 9 - 15):

Writing Prompts - paired prompts: fantasy au + facing off with the big bad together

single prompt: person A is easily scared and gets paired with person B to go through a haunted house together Art Prompt: high fantasy archetypes

#any of these can be gen or shippy but i did aim the weekly ones more gen and the free prompts more shippy #just so i don't exclude anyone or make them uncomfortable by making everything shippy ;-;#(but like. lbr most of mine is gonna be shippy lol)#anyway i'm so so excited for this!!!!#thank you to the three people who contributed prompts btw!! it was anonymous so i'm not certain who they are (besides erin ily)#but i appreciate all of you!!#alfreyco #alfreyco appreciation month 2023 #alfreyco month 2023 #rtah #ragehappy #rt writers discord #rt writers community #ah writers #ah fanfiction #ah fanart #red web fanart

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weaponizedtit · 1 year

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the walls are too high and the casing is slippery, overgrown with greens with shallow-grown roots. there are no strong ladders to climb up and reach the open roof. but trapped inside her well, she does not need to move, she is well off in the world built inside this little room.

you look down and see a tight closed up space. no bars, or cars and no one to dance with, there is no escape. and you say, she should try harder to leave this empty place. you have seen bigger, so you know what is better - for her too? you both are the same!!??

maybe, with your open wide sky and her open round sky, you experience the same yellow lights of day. and the golden nights. but, you are from the outside, you can never speak for her kind, even if you all have the same blood type. from your twenty feet distance, you see limits, for her it is home, it is paradise. it may be a rabbit's hole, but there is a whole world inside, much bigger than you realize. put on some skin, she can disguise, too.

- don't throw ropes!

#ragehappy #angry rant #writing #words #poetry #dark academia #writeblr #poetryblr #naturecore

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urfavesarequadranted · 11 months

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Geoff Ramsey and Jack Pattillo from the Fake AH Crew are moirails!

#fahc geoff #fahc jack #fake ah crew #fahc #moirails #jackeoff #rage happy #mod lollie #lollies requests #cw homestuck #ragehappy

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arctosv · 5 months

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Hauntober Prompt 15: Moonlight

Amaizing

“Dude, I’m pretty sure we’re lost, we can just take a shortcut and leave Trev.” Alfredo sighed as he followed his friend around a corner. Dried up stalks crunching under their shoes as they continued forward.

“Listen, I know what I’m doing Alfredo, I’m not going to let a corn maze beat me.” Trevor declared, trying to pump up his companion into finishing their journey. “Plus we paid fifteen dollars to enter this maze and get a t-shirt at the end and I’m not-I mean we’re not leaving here empty handed.”

Alfredo just groaned in response and threw up his hands in defeat, “Fine, but you’re buying me dessert from Gourdough’s if you can’t find the exit.”

“Deal!” Trevor agreed, sticking out his hand for the two to shake on it. Once done the pair marched forward along the winding paths, Trevor leading the way and choosing which turns to take. Fallen corn stalks crunched under their shoes as they walked while the moon above helped illuminate their route. Sounds of laughter and music grew louder as the two neared the unseen exit.

“I’ll be damned, you didn’t lead us in circles for a few hours like I thought you would.” Alfredo chuckled, clapping his friend on the back as they saw the two torches marking the exit farther off.

“Oh ye of little faith, I told you we would find the exit…” Trevor started as they rounded the corner and the path ended with a wall of stalks in the way. “Well, that’s not ideal.”

“Alright, instead of backtracking for thirty minutes, why don’t we just slip through these stalks to the path just on the other side. I can barely see it with the moonlight, but I know it’s right there.” Alfredo suggested, just wanting to eat some food at this point.

Trevor stopped for a moment and pondered their options. They could just take a shortcut and get their shirts and then some food or they could just backtrack and spend another hour lost in a corn maze, one definitely sounded more appealing than the other. “Yup, let’s just cut through the corn and leave. I’m tired, cold, and hungry.” He gave in, ready to finish the maze.

Alfredo raised a finger to his mouth motioning for his friend to be quiet as they huddled close, “More than likely they’ll have someone at the exit waiting for people to leave so they can get their shirt, so we need to be silent or else we might forfeit our chance for free stuff. We’ve spent too much time to be walking away from here empty handed.” He explained as Trevor nodded in agreement thoughtfully.

The two silently ventured into the corn carefully and treaded lightly over the fallen stalks, letting the moonlight guide their way through to the other side. Emerging uncaught they both cheered and raced down the path, rushing out of the exit towards the stationed attendant, stopping to catch their breath as the worker chuckled at the pair.

“Y’all know you were the last pair inside, right? Wasn’t sure when you’d turn up or if we would have to send in a rescue team.” He explained as he handed over the shirts.

“We were going to take as long as we needed to get these shirts.” Trevor explained as he shoved his new shirt inside his bag.

“You know you didn’t have to finish the maze to get it right? It came with your ticket…” The worker trailed off.

AO3 Link

#hauntober #ragehappy #rooster teeth #achievement hunter #trevor collins #alfredo diaz #fanfic

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specialofficerlemons · 8 months

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Started this idea with Alfreyco, but now I'm curious about other AH Duos. Would love others input.

Alfreyco:

Necro: Trevor

Cav: Alfredo

House: 6

Team Nice Dynamite:

Necro: Gavin

Cav: Michael

House:

Team OG:

Necro: Geoff

Cav: Jack

House:

Team Friendly Fire: (i don't know BK and Ky well enough yet to decide which is which)

Necro:

Cav:

House:

Team Hive Mind:

Necro: Matt

Cav: Jeremy

House:

#ragehappy #achievement hunter #tlt au #team nice dynamite #alfreyco #team og #team hive mind #team friendly fire

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sorcererinthestars · 2 years

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Tattoos, Lattes, and Ghosts?

RED WEB AU! Written for the Secret Springfairy event as part of the @rtwritingcommunity! This one is for the lovely @deleriousfromcoffee. I hope you enjoy!

Word Count: 3372 AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/38843610 Ship: Trevor/Afredo

Their town was known for the occult and the spooky, the supernatural and the just plain weird. Alfredo knew that when he picked out the location for his new tattoo parlor. The little venue had only been on the market a week before he had leapt on it. It was right on the main drag, perfect for tourists and locals alike. People would want a tattoo to commemorate their trip to the city, right? It was the perfect spot.

Two weeks later, he was moved in. The place was snug, but cozy. He had vintage movie posters hanging, two fun tattoo chairs for him and his assistant to work on people, a rad sign-in desk that he had worked to DIY. It was fun. It was sanitary. It was really exactly what he needed.

Opening day is a smash hit. People come from all over to get tattoos and support him. (Although the extra savings on tattoos probably also helps.) He probably does twenty in the day before they have to close up shop. But right as Alfredo moves to go close the door and clean up from a long day’s work, slender fingers wrap around the doorknob and catches it from the other side. “Hey!”

Alfredo jumps and curses. “Fuck, man, you scared me.”

The man, pale and handsome with dark hair and dark eyes, just blinks. “Sorry, sorry. I just — uh.” He’s got a small letter in his hands? Alfredo’s eyes flick to the letter back up to the man and something starts his heart beating. He’s not sure why he’s so confused by this man. “We’re closed,” he says. “If you want a tattoo, you can come back tomorrow, we’re open 10am to 4pm.”

The man at the door shakes his head adamantly. “No, I didn’t want a tattoo,” he says quickly. His slender mouth quirks into a smile. “I wanted to give you this. It’s from me, obviously. I run the bookstore next door. Just wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood.” He pushes the envelope closer towards Alfredo. “I’m Trevor, by the way.”

Alfredo freezes. It’s like his brain goes on lockdown for some reason. Are people normally this nice around here? Back in San Francisco, he didn’t normally see people welcoming others to another block. But what the fuck was he supposed to know about Massachusetts? He grabs the letter and rips it open as delicately as he can.

Inside is a small card with a black cat on it — a cheesy welcome from the historic city. He opens it and skims it before breaking into a grin. Inside is a $10 gift card to the man — Trevor’s — shop. “Man, you didn’t have to do this.”

Trevor shrugs. “It’s just to welcome you. Come on over and check it out. I got all sorts of cool shit a guy like you may be into.” He gives a fake little salute and another winning grin. “I’ll leave you to clean up. Talk later.”

With that, he’s gone, and Alfredo is left holding the letter, feeling completely out of his depth.

It’s over a week before Alfredo has a moment to check out the bookshop next door. He had almost forgotten about Trevor, but it was really hard to fully forget the man after that somewhat weird interaction. As soon as he pushes through the door — which chimes pleasantly — Trevor looks up with a bright grin. “Hey, I was wondering when you would come over.”

Alfredo shrugs sheepishly. “Sorry,” he says, but is immediately distracted by the décor of the place. It’s all brick like his building and the shelves are a lovely mahogany, but the books are all old hardbacked things that seemed to be yellowed with age. There’s strange art and posters on the wall, but honestly, its nothing different than anything else he’s seen in this town. “Nice place.” Trevor just chuckles. “It’s kinda my thing. You into like — the supernatural and shit? I mean you must be, right?” He chuckles again, to himself, like it was some inside joke. “I mean, you moved here.”

Alfredo just shrugs. He supposed he did move to the town that prided itself on being as spooky as possible. “I guess so. I like mysteries.”

“Mysteries!” Trevor jumps to his feet, looking eager to help. He still has a sort of wild enthusiasm, the same that Alfredo had sensed the last time they met, making him feel a bit unpredictable. “Let me help you find a book. There’s a ton of good mysteries. Do you like them solved or unsolved?” He moves away deeper into the shelves, rummaging among the books as Alfredo trails along behind him, leaving him no time to answer the question.

The titles of the books are batshit wild as Alfredo starts to skim them. Stuff about vampires and werewolves and demons and witchcraft. Something turns in Alfredo’s stomach as he turns to look back at Trevor, eyeing the man carefully as the other feverishly scans the shelves.

Despite being oddly pale, Trevor seems normal. Alfredo quickly shakes his head, trying to cast that thought aside. What is he, insane? But he’s knocked out of his conspiracies about if Trevor was a vampire or not when the man suddenly straightens, a bright grin on his face, and pushes a book towards him. “This one. This one’s a book about the Phoenix Lights. You know, the time that all those lights were seen over Phoenix, Arizona and everyone thinks they’re aliens?”

Alfredo’s brain truly does do some sort of factory reset at that. He must stand there for a few seconds, dumbfounded, before he narrows his eyes and tries to form a sentence. “Excuse me… what?”

That devilish grin creeps back onto Trevor’s face and without another warning, he reaches out and grabs Alfredo’s hand, gently tugging him towards the front desk. “Sometimes I forget that you’re new here and haven’t heard all my random stories,” he teases. “I’ll give you the rundown because it's one of my favorite mysteries. On an evening in 1997 or so, there was this series of strange lights seen over Phoenix. Thousands of people saw them, and …”

Alfredo leans over the counter and just listens to him as the book store owner starts talking and gesturing wildly. At first, he wants to go. This man is like nothing he’s ever seen, all insane comments and a weird shop and an almost overly-friendly demeanor that leans right on the side of creepy. Like a cat when you’re not sure if it's going to turn around and bite. But he’s just so — welcoming, and he’s got this way about him, and despite not knowing what the hell he was talking about, Alfredo can’t help but sit and listen, leaning against the counter and let the man rattle passionately on.

He must have been there almost an hour, Trevor explaining the story of the lights. After a while, Alfredo can’t help but get into it and shares theories and comments. He doesn’t think either of them realize how late it's actually gotten. No one had come in this entire time but this doesn’t feel like a bad thing. Trevor doesn’t seem to care, so Alfredo doesn’t comment.

“Sorry,” Trevor does say to Alfredo though as he finishes talking, a bit of pink coloring his cheeks. Not a vampire, then, Alfredo’s mind helpfully supplies. “I didn’t mean to keep you for so long and I think I spoiled the book.” He grimaces. “Take it. Free.”

“How about I use my gift card?” Alfredo asks, digging into his wallet and pulling out the $10 card Trevor had given him the first time they met. Trevor smiles a bit. “Didn’t know if you would use it.”

“Course I will,” he replies smoothly, “and now I want to know more about those damn lights.”

They’re both leaning against the counter, close enough their fingertips can brush. Trevor abruptly leans back and Alfredo can’t help but mourn the end of their closeness, coughing a bit before he says, “Uh. I can come by again sometimes? And if you want a tattoo, just ask, man. I can schedule you in.”

Trevor nods and smiles. “I’ve got more mysteries, if you’re interested.”

“Done.”

“Great.” There’s a slight pause before Trevor smirks. “Be smart out there, Braveheart.”

Alfredo lets the door jingle behind him as something swells in his heart. Braveheart.

“Owls?? It ain’t about the damn owls, Trevor!” Alfredo bursts out as they sit, side by side, in the local coffee-shop. Alfredo can’t really trace back the exact pattern of events since that first unforgettable conversation about lights, aliens, and conspiracies. All he knows is that he’s got a pile of books in front of him and a friend(?) across the table.

They’d been doing this a while. Alfredo really doesn’t have the heart at this point to correct Trevor that he wasn’t really interested in conspiracies or time travel or unsolved murder cases or whatever the hell was the topic this week. Except… was that even true any more? At first, he was just humoring Trevor. The man was so excited about what he was saying. There’s a certain sort of edge to Trevor’s actions that Alfredo can see mirrored in himself. A little cut of loneliness that makes him lean a bit too close. Hunt a bit harder than he should for a shred of connection, a glimpse of shared experiences or pleasures.

Maybe it was that loneliness and ache for a friend — a companion, something more? — that kept Alfredo coming back. But at this point, a month into their time together, he actually cares about the mysteries. They banter more, taking their chats away from the counter in the bookshop or the tattoo shop and now into coffee shops, restaurants.

Were they dates? Neither had said anything, but both of them felt something. That, Alfredo could tell. If their hands brush when they’re waving them in excitement, neither say anything but they don’t pull away. Braveheart is a term more and more frequently used, turned first from a joke into a term of endearment.

Today, the lattes warm in their hands, Trevor finishes discussing an internet mystery named after a bug — Cicada? — that had led them through very nearly three “dates”. Alfredo had kept up as much as he can as they reference a small book that Trevor was pulling his info from. They had been jokingly calling their meet-ups “book clubs”, if that could be used for two people.

Trevor leans back when he’s finished and Alfredo just pounds the table. “That can’t be it,” he complains. “Seriously? No one knows who they were?”

“No one,” Trevor smirks. “Sorry. You should know by now I really don’t like stories with simple-ass endings.”

“I guess not,” Alfredo grumbles, “but god, it’s starting to get frustrating.”

Trevor’s smile does fall away a bit at that. “You don’t have to come out with me if you don’t like it,” he says, sounding a bit wounded. Alfredo’s quick to throw up his hands.

“No! No, no,” he backpedals. “I like it. I like you.”

There’s a pregnant pause where Trevor just sort of stares at him for a moment and Alfredo feels himself turn six shades of red. “I mean, I like your stories! I like this!”

Trevor just grins a bit. “I like you too, Fredo,” he says smoothly before standing up as Alfredo flounders. “Same time next week?”

Alfredo can barely squeak out a yes before Trevor’s gone.

They don’t talk for the next few days and Alfredo thinks he’s ruined whatever good thing they have. He can’t bring himself to start the conversation. Did he make it awkward? He wasn’t even sure what he meant with the 'like' comment. It seemed so middle school. Did he like like him? God.

But the thing is, the more Alfredo spent time here, the more he thinks he does like Trevor. More than friends. There’s got to be a reason why he’d subject himself to these horrifying tales on more or less a weekly basis. But Trevor is just so genuine when he talks, so passionate about making sure Alfredo has all the facts, and there’s something so charming about that. He has fun, too. Enjoys Trevor��s company and learning all this wild shit.

He’s just about to call Trevor to — do what, apologize? — when Trevor beats him to it. Alfredo is in the middle of a job, though, and can’t answer, letting the phone go to voicemail. When he finally grabs it, Trevor’s voice comes through. He sounds a bit awkward, nothing like his normally smooth, knowledgeable tone. Somehow even more authentically Trevor.

“Hey, Fredo. I — uh. I know you don’t really like scary things, but I was thinkin’ it could be fun if we did a walking tour of the city. I know you’re new here and it could give you a good history of the area. Plus, it’s spooky!” Trevor’s chuckle comes through faintly. “Call me back. Figured we could…you know… make it a date?” There’s the sound of shuffling as Trevor must have quickly moved the phone. “Just let me know!” he squeaks before hanging up.

Alfredo sits, holding the phone in his hand, and then bursts into laughter before quickly dialing. Trevor picks up on the second ring and there’s just the sound of his breath. No hello’s, no nothing. Just waiting.

“Count me in.”

Trevor meets Alfredo outside his tattoo shop at 9PM the next evening, looking a bit nervous. He’s dressed nicer than normal, maybe because this was a date. He looks slick and even more like the vampire Alfredo isn’t certain he’s not.

“Hey,” he hums, meeting him at the door. He’s also dressed up a bit, but nothing too wild. Trevor’s hand flickers, like he’s not sure if he should take Alfredo’s, and Alfredo just rolls his eyes. “Let’s not make this weird, man,” he says quickly. “Let’s just see where this night goes? I cannot fuckin’ believe you want me to go on a ghost tour as a first date.”

That breaks the ice and gets Trevor to laugh. “You don’t know what to expect from me by now? Me and all my conspiracy theories, weren’t like five of them about ghosts?”

Alfredo huffs. “And you should know I don’t like them, so you better be out there watchin’ my ass.”

“I’ll keep an eye on that booty,” Trevor chuckles smoothly and Alfredo can’t help but blush. It’s natural after that quip to take his hand and Alfredo doesn’t pull away as they stride down the street towards where the ghost tour starts. Despite all his teasing, Alfredo actually feels quite… calm. There’s just a touch of a chill in the air and the moon is bright overhead. It’s a rather nice night.

They join a gaggle of tourists, some dressed up, some not, some nervously looking around. Alfredo sympathizes and inches closer to Trevor as the guide appears. The man is young and has a deep voice, introducing himself as Christian. Fredo finds the name somewhat ironic, but doesn’t say anything.

After giving a brief history of the sordid affairs of the town, they start walking down the street back up towards their shop. Alfredo doesn’t let go of Trevor’s hand and Trevor continues to give him a whispered commentary about whatever Christian is saying. He cracks jokes, which helps Alfredo laugh and feel a bit braver. Stupid shit like a ghost called ‘Babyhands’, for one, based on the size of some old handprints pressed into cement on the ground.

Some of the history Alfredo already knows, based on Trevor’s extensive knowledge of the area. He had spent so long listening to the man rattle off information about this or that topic and now he’s honestly grateful he did. He has Trevor on his arm, for one, which is a fantastic bonus, but he’s also not as spooked when he already knows the story.

That is, until they approach the graveyard. It’s quiet at night. Eerie. There’s a low fog, which really isn’t fair because it makes it look just like something out of a horror movie. “So, none of the actual hangings were done in this town,” Christian says. “They were actually all conducted in about twenty or thirty minutes down the highway, back when the borders of this town stretched a lot farther. Behind the Walmart, actually.” He smirks. “But bodies are here, and so are memorials, and I want to walk you through here and see if we can’t rustle someone up to say hello. Shall we?”

The moment they pass through the gates, Alfredo knows this was a bad idea. The hairs on the back of his neck goes up and he starts clinging closer to Trevor. It’s darker now, later, probably pushing 10:30PM. Everything seems scary in the dark of the night. Trevor tries to calm him, but Alfredo's heart is racing. He’s not the only one in the crowd that seems nervous, people peering around cautiously.

As they approach some specific graves, Christian stops to talk about their history, but also the history of the hauntings that have happened on site. It’s after the third story that something in Alfredo snaps. It’s just a simple story, really — a restless ghost that likes to inhabit bodies for a while — but in the pause afterwards that Christian takes, there’s a loud sound.

Later, Alfredo probably could have described it as wind pushing something against a building, or a transformer blowing, or anything. It could have been really a whole host of things. But the combo of the eerie story and the sound is enough for his shallow nerves. Everyone jumps, but Fredo just bolts. He wasn’t about to be the one who dies for no stupid ghost tour.

“Fredo!” he hears Trevor call, but he doesn’t care about that, just backing up frantically before turning into a run. He makes it about a hundred feet before his foot catches on a small grave marker and he goes sprawling, face first, into the mud.

As soon as he hits the ground with a painful thud, reality filters back in. Maybe it was the cold of the mud, or the pain, or the embarrassment, but he realizes that he’s running for no reason after a fucking scary story, running away from his date, from a good time. He was such a coward.

He picks himself out of the mud and pulls himself to his knees, but as he turns around, he sees Trevor there. He crouches nervously, gentle, like you would with a nervous animal. “Fredo?” he asks quietly. Hesitantly. “Braveheart, you ok?”

“Should probably get rid of the name Braveheart,” Alfredo says weakly, trying to brush off his pants. “I just ran like a scared kid.”

Trevor laughs quietly once he sees Alfredo is ok, just a few scraped palms for his trouble. He takes his hand. “Nah, man. What I see is a guy who did all this, mustered up all his courage to do this thing because I wanted to and he didn’t want to let me down. Faced somethin’ that freaked him out just to give me a nice night.” Trevor’s look was earnest. Soft. “That means more than you can say. No one’s ever listened to me before, not like you have, let alone done something like this.”

Alfredo glances from the mud on his pants up to Trevor. “I wanted to spend the evening with you,” he admits. “Still do. Just no more ghost tours.”

The moon breaks out from behind a cloud and illuminates how muddy and dirty they both are. Trevor takes both his palms and gently kisses where the scrapes are. “No more ghost tours.”

There’s half a second of hesitation before Alfredo leans up and catches Trevor in a kiss. It’s soft and warm, Trevor pulling him close with no second thoughts.

He may have been a tattoo artist who ended up in a quirky town that likes its spook a bit too much for his shallow heart. He may be stuck tattooing witch hats, cats, and pumpkins until the day he dies. But with Trevor by his side, telling him the stories that fascinate him so much, maybe that won’t be so bad.

Who knows? Maybe he could be a Braveheart after all.

#red web au #fahc #achievement hunter #rt writers discord #ragehappy #alfreyco #my writing

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