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a-purple-lizard · 4 years ago

Note

Hello! I love your blog! I want to ask if you can make a story of Raiden having sexual tension with his ex wife? Like she watches him train shirtless or something 😂 (I’m just thirsty for Raiden tbh)

Thundering rain

Raiden x Ex wife Reader

Ohhh my goodness! You are my first request! Thanks so much! I actually read this at 1am last night when you sent it and I was so excited! Oh and quick warning, this does get a bit steamy at the end, no smut though, but of course if anybody wanted a part 2...

The clouds defended from the sun, leaving no light down onto the Sky temple. A large stone balcony below was illuminated by a couple hundred candles. Behind one of the many pillars surrounding the training area, was a woman. She wore sleeveless, black robes, two metal rings were on each of her upper arms. Her scowl seemed permanent as she watched a man on the balcony.

Soft grunts filled air as the thunder god struck the invisible foe. He kicked and punched gracefully, never once becoming distracted by his surroundings. His hat rested on a crate nearby, his vest lay right next to it. The gods long silver locks flowed gently in the wind, the silk top of his robe peeled down, revealing his chest.

S/o growled silently to herself, nails clicking against the wall as sudden voices came from the halls behind her.

“She’s back!? Again?” A male said in a slightly rude tone.

“Yes, I suggest we tread lightly, she looked as if she wanted to eat me alive when I glanced at her.” A more respectful voice answered.

“Poor Raiden, marrying that woman was probably the worst decision of his li- ahh!” The monk was cut off as they turned the corner to find an extremely pissed off immortal woman seething at them.

The two men quickly turned the other way, their pace almost a run. “Kung Lao, Liu Kang!”

They both froze, glancing at each other before cautiously approaching S/o. She crossed her arms, eyes going from one monk to the other. “Hello boys. Good to see you again.” Her glare made her polite tone unbelievable.

The two monks looked at each other before both respectfully bowing, “S/o it’s… unexpected to see you here again, do you have business with the thunder god?” Liu Kang asked.

“I don’t need to have a gods damn reason to be here!” She snapped. “I was here when this cursed place was built and I’ll be here long after.”

“So you’re just here, on your own free will, just to watch Raiden train on the top balcony?” Liu Kang asked, careful not to come across as sarcastic.

“Shirtless?” Kung Lao added.

“I’m here because I enjoy the scenery!” The immortal growled. The monks analyzed the area around them, the dark sky painting over the sun, a sudden burst of lightning lashing out. Rain pouring and whipping at the backs of anybody who dared to emerge from the safety of the tower.

“Yes… it’s very nice…” Kung Lao said. “But I’m afraid we must get going, we have uh… business to discuss with the thunder god!” Tipping his hat, he grabbed the chosen one and bolted out of s/o’s sight, making a Beeline to the silver haired god.

“Lord Raiden!” Liu Kang started, earning the gods attention.

“Your scary ex wife is back.” Kung Lao announced. Raiden looked up, gaze meeting S/o’s briefly before she looked away. “I’m pretty sure she’s here to kill you.”

“I see, how long has she been there?” He sighed, brushing his hair out of his face.

“Well I first saw her a couple of hours ago climbing up the stairs, she was on the… 367th floor at the time I believe?” Liu Kang answered, his face strained trying to remember.

“Thank you, I must go speak with her now.” And with that, he started to walk over to the borderline feral woman.

“May Neatherealm have mercy on his soul.” Kung Lao mumbled as they both watched the god halt next to the immortal.

“S/o? Is everything alright?” He asked carefully. Blood krept onto the woman’s face as she quickly turned her head.

“Ya. I’m fine.” She answered quickly.

“Why are you here? Surely you have better things to do then scare the monks?” He prompted. S/o blinked and glanced over as his shirtless form. His body was certainly toned and muscled, the rain dripped down his body, tracing each crevice and adding an overall exaggeration of the man's body. “S/o?”

His voice brought her back to reality. She quickly thought, her and her ex husband had rarely had any civil conversations since they left, this was… refreshing. “I… I came back for my… crown.”

He tilted his head, confused, eyes at full attention. S/o felt a maddening blush overtake her, damn his rare, innocent expressions. “You know! That old golden one, with the glowing gems, it covers my forehead and curves down to my cheeks? Looked like a conquerors helm? I used to wear it with my armor?”

Recognition filled his glowing eyes as he nodded, “Oh yes, I remember. Do you… plan on wearing it?” He asked carefully.

S/o wanted to slap herself for picking the crown as her excuse. The crown was gifted to her by some ancient king of a realm conquered by Shao Kahn long ago. It was given to her after her wedding with Raiden, a symbol of her status as his wife. It also granted her great strength, yes she would use that as an excuse.

“Well obviously.” She snapped. “I plan on… participating in the mortal Kombat tournament.” She finished awkwardly. Raiden raised a brow.

“What do you have to gain from it? You are already an immortal s/o. Besides, what realm would you represent?” He asked.

“I- I, I don’t need to explain myself to you Raiden! Just take me to your damn room so I can grab it.” She angrily stuttered. Raiden grimaced but started to make his way to his things on the crate, the flexing of his back muscles quickly made s/o grab him. He turned, his gaze questioning. “By the elder gods, just teleport us really quick, no need to stop what you’re doing!”

“Very well then.” With a sudden flash, they were both standing in a clearly abandoned room. Dust has settled on their bed, candles were blown out and all of her things looked untouched. She blinked in surprise.

“You… haven’t used this room since I left?” She asked, her questioning gaze landing on the god.

He frowned. “Gods don’t need sleep, I only chose to sleep because you were beside me. Without you, this room is meaningless to me.” Something about that sentence stabbed through her heart as she quickly turned the other direction.

“Let’s just… get the crown so you don’t have to see me again.” She mumbled, opening her dresser drawers.

“Why would you think I wouldn’t want to see you again?” He inquired, walking over to her, strong, soaked muscles shining in the window light. Fuck, no no no.

“I was the one who left, figured you would hold it to me.” She answered quietly.

Guilt clouded his eyes, he halted behind her “we both were at blame. I’m sorry if I ever made you think it was purely you at fault.”

S/o huffed, “oh so I suppose we are just supposed to kiss and make up now?” Her voice dripped with sarcasm.

“I would not be opposed to that.” He stated simply. S/o felt her eyes widening, she turned around only to see Raiden, still without a fucking shirt, giving her an expectant look.

He couldn’t really expect this to work? Just kiss and say sorry and BAM marriage fixed! But then again they never necessarily got a divorce, they simply mutually agreed to stay the hell away from each other- fuck why was she overthinking this?

A fucking shirtless GOD was before her, asking her for a kiss. The answer shouldn’t have even taken a second.

Without a warning she grabbed him, slamming him against one of the tall bed post and placed her lips on his. He was definitely startled by the sudden movement but he returned the kiss anyway.

S/o leaned forward on him, hands finding his wrist and pinning them. She wicked onto his lower lip, biting it slightly. The god groaned, opening his mouth, giving her the perfect opportunity to claim it. There was no battle for dominance, only simple sweet submissiveness.

Sliding her body downwards, she left his still gasping lips, going down until her mouth met his neck. She mouthed his throat all over, nipping at all of his sweet spots that she had spent thousands of years memorizing. Each one granted a new sound of pure desperation.

Finally she pulled away, releasing Raiden from her hold. She took a moment to look at her work. Raiden leaned against the post, panting, his hair messy, his lip bleeding and small dark marks beginning to form on his throat.

Yes, this was going to be a very long night indeed.

Part 2

#mortal kombat #mortal kombat x reader #raiden x reader #raiden #kung lao #fem s/o #sky temple #request #liu kang

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conant21 · 4 years ago

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Heart of Iron

So sorry for the wait, this chapter was kinda hard to write and I kept getting huge moments of writers block. This chapter is kinda important for the civil war chapter to come. As always i hope you enjoy!! Also who saw the final of Agents of Shield, I cried so hard at the end!!!

Prologue: the beginning Chapter 1: Ophelia Chapter 2: Viper

Chapter 3: Insight

Chapter 4: Agent

January 17th, 2014

You stood waiting on the SHEILD aircraft designated the Bus with Agent Simmons waiting for Fury to arrive with Phil Coulson and his team of agents. After rescuing Simmons and her friend, Fitz you recalled Fury mentioning earlier, you made your way to help bring the rest of Hydra down. Fury was going to continue in his journey and eventually regroup with Hill, but you wanted to stay behind and help Coulson stop the rest of Hydra. Even though you were undercover, the terrible thing you had to do in order to maintain you cover haunt your dreams most nights. “Um, Sorry to bother you but I don’t think I properly introduced myself, I am Gemma Simmons.” You looked towards her to see her hand extended and a small smile on her face. You could see she was nervous, but you couldn’t tell if you or her team being in danger. “I know Fury debriefed me on the way over I’m…” you stopped yourself Hydra was gone yet you hadn’t been Y/N Stark since you took your undercover mission. The longing was still there to reconfirm your identity even after all the time that has passed. The fear of your father finding out you were still alive lurked in the back of your mind yet the demons that followed your undercover name hanged just as heavy. Simmons was still looking at you waiting for your name and you decided no more hiding, “Agent Y/N Stark.” The look of surprise overcame her features and she opened her mouth to begin asking questions as the sound of tires came from the tarmac. Two black SUVs pulled up. You waited as Coulson, a female agent you heard stories of back at your days in the academy, agent Melinda May, another man who you assumed as agent Trip, and a girl Skye the brand-new agent gets out. In the second vehicle you waited as Fury got out. Both Skye and Trip paid you no mind and surged forward to Simmons. Coulson meat your eye as Fury whispered something to him; the flash of recognition was visible in his eyes, yet you have never meet him in person till today. You followed Fury and Coulson up the stairs towards Coulson’s office area as May began the process for takeoff.

January 10th, 2015 - One year later

You had been on the team for a year and had never felt better. Coulson had asked you to help keep watch on Hydra since you had the most experience. The team had taken your past work details extremely well considering your alias, Ophelia Sarkissian was wanted in every major country, yet it had been the knowledge of your real last name that freaked out the others the most. Trip seamed cool about it he kept calling you his commando buddy which you found amusing considering your grandfather wasn’t a howling commando rather a friend of the group. Skye who you had become fast friends with was the most excited as she always had questions whether it was about your father or the Avengers even though you hadn’t been in contact with your father in years and had only meet two of the Avengers. Simmons was a close friend as well since it was your insight and instructions that helped her to maintain her cover within Hydra since it wasn’t clear if the organization knew of your betrayal. Fitz who was still having trouble due to his brain damage was nice, yet you stayed out of the lab as it wasn’t your strong suit even though you grew up in a similar setting. May who you helped with the new recruits since you two had the most experience with the field work and graduated the operations academy. She was still warming up to you, but you could tell that she respected you and trusted you enough to go on missions together. A few other agents had joined the team such as Agent Alfonso Mack who seemed nice enough yet there was an air of mystery to him that you had yet to crack and Lance Hunter who you found charming yet annoying.

You sat in the lounge with both Skye and May waiting for Trip to bring back Simmons after her Identity was soon to be compromised thanks to your recent run in with Rainia. You had volunteered to go and help but Coulson had wanted you to stay at base. “So, what is your favorite memory with Tony Stark. I can only imagine,” came Skye’s voice form across the coffee table at the couch. “Well there are a lot of good memories but my favorite where when he would take me to Stark Industries, and I would sit in his chair in his office and pretend to be in charge.” A wave of nostalgia hit you as began to remember your time with your father. “You miss him, don’t you?” “Sometimes I do but I also think he is better off to think I’m dead. I did a lot of horrible things to keep my cover with Hydra. On the other hand, I would also like to see him in person again. It’s the little things you miss the most, like he used to give the best hugs,” came your reply. You could feel tears welling up in your eyes as May stood up and walked behind you patting your shoulder as she walked out to meet up with Coulson. “You know if someone were to say…oh I don’t know that I might have stood outside Stark tower in cosplay I would say they are lying.” Skye’s voice broke you out of your morose thoughts. You started to laugh in way you hadn’t since your academy days. “I don’t know Skye it kind of sounds like you did,” you replied through the laughter. Skye soon joined in, “You know it’s been a while since I had any real friends. I would like to think that you are one of them.” “Well I would be deeply honored to be friends with the great Y/N Stark,” came her reply. You could tell that it meant a lot to say you were both friends since this line of work came with so few. The two of you turned to the door as Tripp walked through. “Dang girl you already started the party without me” “You know it. How did the pickup go?” “Good I got Simmons and another Agent. Apparently, she is Hunters ex-wife, I left as soon as I could,” he replied as he sat down next to Skye. “Damm, do you think I would know her…” You trailed off as a brunette walked into the room arguing with Hunter. “Bobbi? Is that you.” The brunette turn to look at you, a big smile on her face “well, well, well if it isn't Y/N/N Stark.” You got off the couch running towards her for a giant hug both laughing at the sight of each other. Tripp spoke up from the couch, “And how do the two of you know each other?” “We were roommates at the academy,” Bobbi spoke up as you smiled both turning towards him “Yep she was like a big sister to me. You didn’t say you were married to Bobbi Morse,” you looked at hunter as he grabbed a beer out of the fridge nearby. “Oh, sorry I didn’t know the she-devil needed to be named.” Bobbie turned towards you rolling her eyes at his comment. Both of you returned to the couch as Coulson, May and Simmons walked into the room. You gave a brief smile towards her before Coulson began the briefing. “Agent Stark since you know more about Whitehall I would you to run through the information that Simmons has gathered. We need to know what his next order of business is going to be so we can stay ahead. Syke, and May will be running point on the obelisk till we can find it that is our priority one lets get to work.”

tag list:

@hnnhjy @purplekitten30 @aspiring-fangirls-world @calciumcow @amazingfantasticmarvelous @truthdaze @laceyn-1201 @givemebooksorgivemedeath @spacewalker02 @jsmith509 @lizs2000 @geekysimmerthings @eternallyvenus @iamaunicorn4704 @thelostallycat @white-wolf-buckaroo @starkbelova @broco8 @caswinchester2000 @alainabooks143 @vxidnik @belledawnidk @bitch-imma-head-out @serenitythepanther @belcvayelena

#Iron Man #tony stark #tony stark daughter #tony stark x daughter!reader #Bucky Barnes #bucky x reader #bucky barnes x reader #fanfic #Steve Rogers #steve x reader #steve rogers x reader #Winter Solider #winter solider imagine #agents of shield #agents of shield x reader #Avengers #avengers imagine #mcu imagine

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afuhrerswrath-a · 3 years ago

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Just a checklist of info on Bradley for the people following that wants to interact with Bradley, but aren’t that familiar with his canon, or if it has been a while since they’ve read the manga, or watched Brotherhood.

King is Bradley’s name, not his title: It was only given to him after he was kidnapped, brainwashed and experimented on, thus turning him into a human weapon. Up until he was in his late teens to early 20′s he was only known as “Führer Candidate number 12″. Bradley does not know or remember his real name or identity before this because he was kidnapped as a baby.

He’s also known as Wrath the Furious: Due to being experimented on, he was turned into a “new kind of human”, one that was half human, half homunculus. Basically he’s the human personification of wrath. Do not piss this man off. It may be the last thing you ever do. He is dangerous, especially if he has a sword anywhere near him. He’s been known to take down an entire tank by himself! So just don’t mess with him guys.

He is the Führer-President of a fictional country called Amestris: This was planned since his birth. That was the point of the brainwashing. To make him a stand in puppet for the real bad guy known as Father. Father’s goal is to become a god by sacrificing an entire country and taking their energy for himself in order to do this.

He has a family: He has a wife, who he loves and cherishes. She’s the only thing about his life that he got to choose and she is the only human who truly matters to him. He has an adoptive son known to the country he leads as Selim... but he’s not what he appears to be. But to your character, if they know anything about the first family of Amestris, they will know these two people who are in his life as his wife and son and the country loves all three of them.

Despite being Wrath, he comes off as being a pleasant elderly man: It can be a mask, but generally he comes off as calm and nice in a normal setting.

He’s known for bringing Alchemy into the military during his rule: He’s been the ruler of Amestris for roughly 10 years before the start of the series, and during that time he has brought the use of Alchemy into the military, which was later used for wars (one in particular), which caused a lot of death, chaos and destruction.

He had almost an entire race of people exterminated during a civil war: this is a whole other post in itself, but suffice it to say it was a civil war with the Ishvalan’s that was disguised as way to create a philosopher’s stone, which needed human scarifies in order to be created. Father’s idea, not his. He is just a puppet and he does what he is told.

He is an atheist: Bradley doesn’t have an issue with religion itself, but rather that people use it as an excuse not to act on their own: ex: “god will strike you down!” rather than trying to strike him down themselves. Bradley is someone who reacts to the situation at hand and doesn’t wait for someone else to do something for him.

Bradley is intelligent and likes to ponder on things such as philosophy

He is athletic, very muscular, and has been trained to fight well: His weapon of choice is a sword, as that is what he was trained to fight with since birth, but he can fight with other types of blades such as a Katana and knives.

Behind his eyepatch is his Ultimate Eye: It’s a red looking tattoo on his eye that has replaced the pupil and iris. He received this automatically when he became Wrath. This is what makes him “special” and a “weapon”. It slows down his opponents movements and helps him create movements with his body quick enough that he can even dodge multiple bullets! He has admitted that his body is getting too old to keep up with his eye at times. This would not be common knowledge unless he has taken his eyepatch off to fight you.

As a general rule of thumb, Bradley is a normal man to most people.

His past has been fabricated: No one knows his real history except for a select few like Roy, who he told.

Bradley contradicts himself a lot: He says he hates humans, but you can tell he is secretly happy any time they do something unexpected.

Unlike other Homunculus, Bradley cannot heal himself: Not because he is half human, but because he only has one soul. Other Homunculus have multiple coming from their Philosopher’s stone core... but Bradley, at his core, is still human. Which means he can get hurt, bleed, and die! It will just be extremely hard to get past his eye to do so.

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(I’ll update this when I can think of more points to add)

#about the muse #tw: brainwashing #I'll try to update his about better later also

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watching-pictures-move · 3 years ago

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Put On Your Raincoats #20 | Squalid Motels and Desperate Gals, courtesy of Kim Christy

This review contains mild spoilers.

When I first heard of Kim Christy, I knew I had to delve into her work. Here is someone who was involved in the drag scene in the '60s and went on to direct and produce pornography from the '80s onward. She's also a trans woman director (and occasional actress), which is not just unusual in golden age pornography but even mainstream cinema today. Unfortunately, figuring out where to start was a challenge. There's a very good interview with her on the Advocate but which doesn't really delve into her directing work. So I did the highly risky and ill-advised move of scanning through the titles in her filmography and trying to pick out ones with interesting sounding premises. Even this was a challenge, as a lot of her movies sounded like they didn't have a terrible amount of story. (A good many of them also had certain slurs in the title, which are unfortunately common in trans pornography.) So out of the crapshoot of movies I picked, I can't say I really got to the bottom of what makes her work interesting or even gelled to most of them, but hopefully I can convey what makes the ones I did take to interesting.

To start with the most slight, the two Divine Atrocities movies are basically a collection of sex scenes. There's a theme of dominant women running through them, but otherwise there isn't much tying together in terms of staging, aesthetics and the like. The segments have titles like "The Leather Lass Tamer", "Rubber Rampage" and "Ms. Degradation", but truth be told, nothing here is terribly shocking. So there isn't a lot to either of these movies, but if you're watching it for those reasons, they're enjoyable enough. A few of the segments feature trans performers, and I did find that Sulka had a nicely imposing screen presence in her scene, and while Sugar Nicole briefly threatens her partner with her "big black cock", I did like that for the most part the movies don't discern between these scenes and the ones with cisgender performers. In the eyes of Kim Christy, there's room for everyone in this great sexual melange. Also notable is the threesome scene with Janey Robbins, who (after likely reading Dan Savage's column) tells one of her partners, "If you don't find a different way to fuck me, you can forget it, I'll have to find somebody else", and in the first time in the history of civilization, gets mad at her male partner for not climaxing quickly enough. "You always say it'll only take a few minutes. Time is the only thing I can't replace, and it always takes too long."

A bit more substantive narratively but less interesting is Momma's Boy, with a premise that you can guess based on the title. Tantala Ray presides over a brothel set during an indeterminate period, where she presides over her girls and also her son, who mysteriously became a deaf-mute at a certain point of time. Why did her son become a deaf-mute? Will we ever find out? Spoiler: it's incest. Tantala Ray does have a weird enough screen presence to make her parts watchable, but this has none of the charge that, say, Taboo brings to the same material. (It's worth noting that Ray in this movie, looking like a debauched queen of Mardi Gras in one scene, is a camp villain while Kay Parker plays her role straight in the other movie.) As it's shot on video, the movie is not very nice to look at, and the dirt cheap production values make it unclear whether this is supposed to be a period piece. Some of the dialogue is amusing ("Oxford?" "Guess again." "Princeton?" "Try Biloxi Tech, my sweetie."), and there is some old timey music and one of the clients wears an ascot at one point, so it's not a totally squalid affair. (It's classy, see? He's wearing an ascot.) As the son, Jerry Butler does a cringe-inducing lisp, but I did chuckle at his last line.

A bit easier to recommend is True Crimes of Passion, where Janey Robbins plays a private detective (cheekily named B.J. Fondel) who invariably bungles her investigations and winds up in sex scenes with the people she's supposed to be investigating. "Out of the fog and into the smog" begins the overwrought voiceover, which truth be told doesn't compare to the likes of Chandler but I guess the effort is nice. The first case involves her investigating the wife of a minister whom her client suspects of infidelity. Surprise, surprise, it turns out the wife has a girlfriend with whom she has dominant sex. Thanks to Robbins' investigative prowess, she gets found out and forced to join the proceedings and ends up getting her client, a Dan Quayle looking motherfucker in a cowboy hat, captured as well, which leads to an incredible burn.

"The lord will punish you for this."

"The lord already has, he gave me you for a husband."

Also, when Robbins is forced into cunnilingus, she says over narration, "Oh Christ, I'm not even sure I've seen one of these things up close", and yeah, okay, Janey.

The second scene is probably the most notable as it features Christy as a performer. Robbins visits her friend to investigate a death threat against her friend's brother (also Robbins' ex), and the twist can be deduced when you start wondering why a seemingly minor character gets an unusually large amount of screentime. The scene features a trope that likely isn't terribly sensitive by modern standards, but I get the sense from that Advocate interview that Christy isn't too hung up about such things and one must concede that the film is a product of its time and genre (and within that context, there's a lot worse out there). The last scene has Robbins spying on her neighbour in hotel to get some industry secrets, which leads to some really awkward dialogue about champagne and then a threesome involving her client and mark. Like the work of Yasojiru Ozu, this scene breaks the 180-rule, but I guess if this is your thing, you might enjoy it. At the very end, the mark just gives up his secrets to the client. The secrets of male bonding sometimes elude me.

Easily the most accomplished and enjoyable film from Christy that I watched was Squalor Motel. It combines the sexual variety of the other films with a sense of camp and grounds it in a distinct, memorable location. There isn't much more "plot" than the other movies, as it's basically about a motel concierge doing her job over the course of a day, but as it follows her bumping into a variety of (usually horny) guests and finding herself in amusing (and unfailingly sexual) situations, there's enough of a narrative through line that it feels like a "real" movie where the other movies strained for similar effect, and the movie uses a soundtrack of icy synths and jazz that sounds like imitation Angelo Badalamenti to give it all an alluring vibe. I'm gonna make a wager that David Lynch would have liked this movie. Look, I have no idea what his viewing habits are or what sends his motor running, and the thought of him jacking it furiously to this or any movie is not something that brings me pleasure. But this shares some of the campy tone and surface qualities of his works, and I also wanted to leave you all with that image.

Why does the motel have its own house band (to whom people try to listen to while they engage in all kinds of sexual congress)? Why is Jamie Gillis made up like a vampire and trying to sell marital aids? Why does the one guest's blow-up doll turn into a real person (and prove, uh, extremely vocal during their scene)? Why is the owner wearing a pig mask and a tutu while he spies on his guests? Why is everyone laughing at the newlywed? Why is the one scientist with a Hitler mustache and his shrill-voiced assistant conducting experiments (read: having a threesome) with Tantala Ray? And how are most of these things taking place in the mysterious Reptile Room in the middle of the motel? With an extremely winning Colleen Brennan in the lead role (sporting a pair of thick glasses, a Lucille Ball updo, and a big, toothy smile), we'll have a pretty good time finding out. Like a lot of hardcore movies, this is pretty episodic in structure, but its distinct atmosphere gives it a nice sense of momentum as it drifts from scene to scene.

With its nice production design (and the fact that it seems to have actual sets, rather than being shot in what I assume are people's homes like in the other movies), Squalor Motel feels a bit more upscale and lavish than the average porno. While I don't have any budgetary information handy, I do know that the production had an assistant director, Ned Morehead. To what extent he contributed to the movie's DNA I can't say for certain, but the directorial effort of his I watched, also produced by Christy, had many of the same qualities. Desperate Women starts off feeling pretty stylish with its spraypaint style opening credits (although it loses a bit of style when it misspells star Taija Rae's name as "Taja Rea"). Taija Rae plays a reporter who ends up wrongfully convicted for a murder and thrown in brutal women's prison presided over by the sadistic Tantala Ray, who seems to get her jollies from spying on her prisoners as they get it on or abusing them with the help of her dimwitted guard. During such incidents, the guard frequently ends up ejaculating on her uniform as a source of comic relief. (One such scene ends with a shot of a photo of Ronald Reagan.) I must however disclose, without revealing too much about the shameful inner workings of my hopelessly degenerate mind, that the denouement of scene involving Ray, her guard and Sharon Mitchell did not leave me unmoved. Mitchell plays a prisoner who befriends Taija Rae, and it's worth noting that despite being one of the best actresses in classic porn, she's saddled here with an atrocious Hispanic accent and at one point sings a bit of "America" from West Side Story.

By porn standards, this is actually quite well produced and has a relatively sturdy narrative. (I must however note that one scene has a blatant ejaculation-related continuity error.) Women in prison movies tend to be pretty squalid affairs in general, at least in terms of production values, so this doesn't feel too far off from the real thing and offers more explicit versions of the same pleasures, while its sense of humour gives it a nice campy quality. Tantala Ray especially delivers in a pleasingly over the top performance as the teeth-gnashing villain (the camera often frames her severe face in wide angle close ups), and say what you will about Sharon Mitchell's accent, I did like seeing her pop up in here. With all the flamboyance and excitement around her, Taija Rae almost becomes a supporting character in her own movie, although I must confess that I found her character's hopeless naivety pretty cute. ("I didn't wear rubbers, it's sunny out".) With a fun cast, a firm handle on the genre's pleasures and a groovy soundtrack, this is a pretty good time.

#film #movie review #put on your raincoats #divine atrocities #divine atrocities 2 #momma's boy #true crimes of passion #squalor motel #desperate women #kim christy #ned morehead

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heauxplesslydevoted · 5 years ago

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Chess Not Checkers

Summary: King Liam and Queen Kendall finally have a meeting with Bradshaw and Isabella to discuss the betrothal treaty.

A/N: The final part of this Fracture trilogy, and probably my favorite one to write. Who knows what the writers have planned for Auvernal’s hostile takeover of Cordonia, but I’m not letting that shit fly not another damn second. As always, thanks for reading and enjoy!

Catch Up Here

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~v~

“Do not wear a blue tie!” Liam hears his wife yell from their walk-in closet.

Liam drops the tie in his hand and steps away from it, suddenly suspicious. “Why not? Is something wrong with them?

Moments pass and Kendall walks back into their bedroom, slipping on a pair of heels. “Nothing is wrong with your ties. But the color blue brings out your eyes, and we aren’t going for a warm and friendly aura. Wear red. You’ll look bold and commanding.”

Today is the day for their meeting with Bradshaw and Isabella. For the past week, he, Kendall and their group of close friends have been talking and going over plans to get Eleanor out of her betrothal to Bradshaw and Isabella’s son. While Olivia wanted to ambush them and have them killed as soon as they stepped foot in Cordonia, Kendall wanted to be as quick and civil as possible. While she isn’t above starting an international war, she doesn’t want that to be her first option.

Liam decided to step back on this and let Kendall take the lead when it came to dealing with Auvernal. He’s willing to intervene if the need arose, but for now, he is perfectly content with just silently supporting his queen. She has a solid plan of attack, and he’s excited to see everything play out.

“Red it is.”

Kendall finishes putting on her lipstick and drops the tube onto her nightstand, as Liam puts on a deep red tie. He slips on his jacket to complete the look, checking the pockets a few times, and the couple walks out of their private quarters, headed to Liam’s study, a guard a few steps behind, watching from a safe distance. Kendall demanded that they get better security, so they are currently in the process of testing out a few ex-military men and women.

Bastien greets them at the door to the study with a quick bow. “Your Majesties.”

“Hello Bastien. I take it our guests have settled in?” Liam asks.

“Yes, they’ve been in here for about 10 minutes.”

“And they haven’t caused any trouble right?”

Bastien shrugs. “They’re about as well behaved as we can expect them to be. No red flags, sir.”

“Very well.” Liam squeezes his wife’s hand, and she squeezes back. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

Bastien steps aside and lets them in. Bradshaw and Isabella are there, Isabella checking her nails, a bored expression on her face, Bradshaw standing at the bar cart, sipping on a glass of scotch. Liam bites down on his tongue in order to prevent himself from berating Bradshaw and calling him a tacky piece of shit for taking it upon himself to get a drink.

Kendall squeezes his hand once more before dropping it. “Bradshaw, Isabella! How was your flight here?”

“Nice. Thanks for sending your jet to get us.”

“No problem.”

“I will say your security detail is extremely...thorough,” Bradshaw continues. “They took all of my wife’s jewelry, all of our electronics. I couldn’t even keep my lucky handkerchief.”

“It’s a new security protocol,” Liam says. “This palace has been through...trying times recently, so we decided to take the necessary precautions. Surely you two understand.”

“Of course!” Isabella says brightly, trying to keep things as light as possible. She looks Kendall up and down, silently appraising the new mother. Kendall looks good, with her dewy skin, long brown hair drawn into a low ponytail and simple black dress. “Kendall, you look amazing! I could barely get out of bed for the first month after having my twins and I looked like a whale, but you’re glowing.”

“Thank you, Queen Isabella.”

“Yeah, you’d think after such a...traumatic birthing experience, you’d be lying low,” Bradshaw adds. “You must be made of steel.”

If the mention of her labor brought up any sort of emotion, Kendall refuses to show it. Liam studies her, and she remains absolutely calm, as if she didn’t hear Bradshaw at all.

“I’m from New York,” Kendall says with a shrug. “We’re tough people. Resilient.”

“I can see.”

“Why don’t we all have a seat?” Liam suggests. “There’s a lot that we have to talk about.”

“First and foremost, congrats on the little bundle of joy!” Isabella says excitedly. “Boy or girl?”

“Girl,” Liam confirms. “Named Eleanor after my late mother.” Isabella coos.

“A little princess! A future queen.” Bradshaw nods approvingly. “Congratulations.”

“Where is the princess?” Isabella asks. “We’d love to officially meet her.”

“She’s with her grandmother right now,” Kendall says. “And she’s only two weeks old, so she’s not accepting visitors at the moment.”

Isabella falters a bit but she quickly recovers. Kendall can tell she wasn’t expecting that as a response. “Very well. I guess we’ll have to meet her at another time.”

“When the rest of the world meets her at her anointing ceremony,” Kendall says, her tone short. “And not a moment sooner.”

“Now, now, Queen Kendall, simmer down,” Bradshaw starts. “You’re mighty tense for someone who’s practically family at this point.”

Kendall reels back, mostly in shock that Bradshaw had the audacity to get so familiar with her. Who the fuck does he think he is?

“The condescending orders may work for you and your marriage, King Bradshaw, but please never again make the foolish mistake of telling my wife what to do, especially in our home,” Liam warns, his jaw getting tense. “And thank you for bringing up this marriage alliance, because it’s the perfect segue.”

“When should we make the announcement?” Isabella asks. “I was thinking we could host a small gathering first, just so the kids get acquainted with each other first. I’m sure Isaac and Lyra will absolutely adore Eleanor.”

“That won’t be happening,” Kendall says with a shake of her head. “But speaking of Isaac and Lyra, I found out some wonderful information not too long ago.” Kendall sits back in her seat, beaming. “You two are married in name only.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me loud and clear, and it’s a pretty straightforward concept to grasp. Bradshaw needed a wife, Isabella was a gold digger and just cunning enough to get what she wanted. Match made in Hell if you ask me. You guys both have people on the side, and you live separate lives.”

Bradshaw is visibly flustered, but after a few tense seconds, he chuckles. “With all due respect, our marriage is none of your concern. And that had nothing to do with our children.”

“Oh, but it is and it does,” Kendall says. “Bradshaw, you don’t appreciate the art of storytelling. I’m building to my point. You guys are married on paper only. Which is fine, live how you want to live. But on my maternity leave, I’ve been doing a lot of reading. And I’ve been particularly fond of Auvernese history and inheritance laws.”

“What about it?”

“Six hundred years ago, your ancestor, King Marshall, married a woman named Catherine. He was still the Crown Prince at the time, they were young and in love. Sounds simple enough, but Catherine had been previously married, and that marriage produced a son, Harold. This was quite a scandal, for multiple reasons. But Marshall and Catherine wanted to be married. Marshall’s parents were against it, no way the heir could marry a divorcee, with a child. But Marshall persisted. After a long standoff, the then king Erik relented, but on one condition. He put it in writing that under no circumstances could a non-blood relative receive land or titles through royalty, and heirs were only legitimate if they were conceived within the marriage. The monarchy was to flow solely through the bloodline, come Hell or high water. Marshall accepted, and the amendment was added to your country’s Constitution, a document that can only be added to, never taken away from. It’s a harsh, strict law, and many people have fought it, but your country’s Supreme Court has never overturned it, nor has the European Court of Human Rights. Anyway, Marshall married Catherine, and they lived happily ever after, having 3 children of their own.”

“Now that I’m done with my history lesson, I’m sure you’re wondering what my point is,” Kendall continues. Her eyes flicker over to Isabella, who’s glaring daggers at her. “You want to tell him, or should I?”

Bradshaw looks between the two women, “Tell me what?”

“That your treaty mandates that the Crown Prince or Princess of Cordonia, child to King Liam and Queen Kendall, is to marry Prince Isaac, or Princess Lyra of Aurvernal, child of King Bradshaw and Queen Isabella, thereby uniting the two countries. Those are the exact words, your words. But Bradshaw, the problem with that is, you don’t have any children.”

“Excuse me?”

“Bradshaw, don’t listen to a word this woman says,” Isabella orders.

Kendall rolls her eyes at the demand. “Bella over here, was very reckless and wasn’t cautious of her ovulation cycle or taking precautions, because she didn’t get pregnant with your children. The twins belong to someone else. I did a little digging, and voila!” Kendall moves her arms dramatically, the boisterous New Yorker coming out. “I found the truth.”

The silence in the office is so thick, it threatens to stifle everyone.

“I don’t believe you,” Bradshaw says.

“I don’t care. Notice how your wife hasn’t jumped in to defend herself or deny my allegations.”

Bradshaw turns to Isabella, his glare so cold, it could’ve frozen her on the spot. “She’s lying, right?” She doesn’t say anything in response and he bangs his fist on the table in front of him, making her jump. “RIGHT?!”

“Bradshaw, I’m sorry. They’re still yours in–”

“I don’t want to hear another word from you!” It’s one thing to cheat. Bradshaw doesn’t care about that. But his wife’s recklessness could crumble the monarchy.

“She could’ve gotten away with it, because those children are a spitting image of their mother, it’s almost scary. No one would bat an eyelash or ask questions.” Kendall thinks back to the spy mission Olivia completed last week, a trip to the hospital the twins were born at. This information came about after she knocked out a few guards and scoured the family’s medical records records. “But it’s simple biology. A woman with type A blood, and a man with type AB blood cannot produce two children with type O. Now, as for the true, biological father, that is something I don’t know, but Isabella is currently sleeping with her personal bodyguard so it may be him.”

Liam waits on bated breath as he watches the exchange. Bradshaw’s face is beet red, and Liam is on guard, defensive just in case the other king decides to do something stupid.

“So you see, Eleanor isn’t going to be marrying your son, ever. Or your daughter.”

Bradshaw dismisses Kendall’s words with a hand wave. He’s not letting go so easily. “I signed their birth certificate, I am their father. Your husband signed a treaty, whether you like it or not. And the fact that you just admitted to breaking countless laws with your little espionage scheme is grounds enough to get you into a lot of trouble.”

“Prove it,” Kendall challenges. “Prove that I had someone access those records, and that I’ve been collecting intel. I’m already done so you didn’t catch me red handed, and there’s no proof of my admission. The two of you were thoroughly searched and stripped of any cell phones, recorders, and cameras. Our guards have 24/7 security footage in this office, so on the off chance you were able to get in here with any of the aforementioned items, you would’ve been caught planting them before this meeting began. And besides, you push this issue any further, I will demand a paternity test on the world stage, and then all eyes will be on us. You’d rather die than publicly admit your wife cheated on you and someone else fathered those children.”

“I’ll have children with Bradshaw, easily,” Isabella says quickly. “Problem solved.”

Kendall grimaces sarcastically. “You specifically named Isaac and Lyra in the treaty. Had you not done that, your plan could’ve worked. Nice try though, and kudos for the quick thinking.”

Bradshaw glares at Kendall and then stands. Clenching his fist, he tries to breathe, to calm down. “You insolent, little girl. You think because you’ve read a few history books that you’re so smart and you can play politics? You think you can blackmail or extort me?” He scoffs before turning to Liam. “I know she gets your dick wet every once in a while, but you’re letting your commoner wife dictate you and shape international diplomacy?”

Liam’s nostrils flare but before he can reach across the table to attack Bradshaw, Kendall’s places a comforting hand on his shoulder, signaling for him to remain seated. There’s no need for violence when they clearly have the upper hand.

“I don’t think I’m smart. My bachelors degree from Brown in Policy Analysis and my Master’s from Columbia speak volumes all by themselves. There’s no need for vulgarity and petty insults because you aren’t intelligent or mature enough to comport yourself professionally.”

“I figured you wouldn’t back down after the whole paternity fiasco, and that’s fine.” Kendall shrugs with nonchalance. “We can involve the United Nations and the International Law Commission, and have them review that treaty if that’s what you want. But when I get in front of an audience and turn on the waterworks, crying about how my unborn daughter and I nearly died in the middle of a hostage situation, and instead of helping though you had the means to do so, you strong-armed my husband into signing a sham treaty, I don’t think that’ll go over too well for you.”

“It’s politics,” Bradshaw snarls. “You got bested.”

“No, it was a shitty coercion attempt. And a direct violation of Article 51 of the Vienna Convention Treaty, something your ancestors signed.”

“You don’t want to go down this road with me, with Auvernal,” Bradshaw continues, his eyes getting black as coal. “We want to be adults about this alliance, but please don’t force my hand. We can either be a powerful ally or a dangerous enemy.”

“You’ve been not-so-subtly hinting at war or a hostile occupation of Cordonia for over a year, and we’re not afraid of it. Like I’ve told my husband, I am not afraid of war. In this case, I’d welcome it gladly..”

“Ooh, such big fighting words.”

“Bradshaw, stop it!” Isabella hisses. He was always one for threats and brute force, when it wasn’t necessary.

“Shut up, you traitorous whore.” Bradshaw keeps his eyes on Kendall. He raises an eyebrow in challenge. “Well, the choice is yours. Excuse me, the choice belongs to the monarch. I keep forgetting who is who, considering your husband lets you wear the pants in this relationship.”

Liam sighs. Bradshaw wants to get a rise out of him for some reason, and it’s almost amusing.

He gets out of his seat and starts walking around the office. His movements are poised and he glides across the room, until he’s standing where Bradshaw is. “Unlike you, Bradshaw, I actually respect my wife. She’s strong and intelligent, and she has my full support in whatever we do. Your attempts to belittle her for being my queen consort are weak and baseless. And because she doesn’t want me to react, I won’t.”

“Of course not.” Bradshaw smirks. “Oh, King Liam the Gentle Hearted. You’ve always been the weakling, the coward. Too afraid to actually do something, opting to always play it safe. Tell me, how’s that working out for you? For your people? All the bombings and assassination attempts? How’d that work out for your precious daddy, Constan–”

Bradshaw can’t finish the question because in a flash, Liam pulls a dagger out of his suit pocket and trains it at Bradshaw’s throat, the tip of the blade just barely touching his Adam’s apple.

“Ohmygod!” The words fly out of Isabella’s mouth so fast, she stumbles over them. Liam motions for her to stay calm and seated.

“What was that?” Liam asks. “Please continue to speak on my late father, I dare you. Go on, I want to hear what you were about to say about him.” Bradshaw stays silent, his eyes trained on the dagger. “Eyes on me, Bradshaw.” Liam hits Bradshaw under the chin, forcing the other man to look him in the eye.

“I am so sick and tired of people mistaking my kindness for weakness. I try to be a good leader. Thoughtful and compassionate. I just don’t want my people to fear me, to cower in my presence. It’s so easy to rule like you do, through fear and intimidation. That’s the true cowardice. And yes, I am a kind man, but don’t ever in your poor excuse for a life attempt to write me off as weak or cowardice. The Queen was correct, you do not scare us in the slightest. You’re nothing more than a little man with a Napoleon complex and a need to overcompensate for your own shortcomings, with a wife who honestly couldn't care less if you live or die. Your country is broke and falling apart at the seams because all of your resources go to an oversized military and flashy attractions, so you bulldoze your way into other territories to offset the damage, but hear me well when I say Cordonia will not be one of them.”

Kendall’s breath hitches in her throat at the unexpected action. Liam pulling a dagger - no doubt a gift from Olivia - on Bradshaw wasn’t part of their plan. But she wants to see where this goes, what his next move is. She’s known Liam to get upset before, but this is something new, this tense, tight-lidded rage. Where Bradshaw is one to puff out his chest, yell, and make threats in order to cause confusion and chaos, Liam moves like a ninja, swift, direct, and lethal.

“You want a war? We can go, in an instant. This country may be small and peaceful, but we descend from strong leaders and brave warriors. And be advised, that I’ve been through a lot this past year, and I have a lot of rage inside of me. Keep poking the bear, Bradshaw, and I will not stop until I personally kill you with my bare hands. I will not rest until I witness the life leave your eyes, and your country is nothing more than ashes and rubble. Just say the word, and it’ll be a done deal.”

“Don’t forget, darling,” Kendall stands to join her husband, but she keeps a watchful eye on Isabella. But the woman is practically frozen in fear, not an imminent threat in the slightest, “that if we go to war, it won’t be just Cordonia and Auvernal. It’ll be Auvernal and the small countries that they’ve seized against Cordonia and her allies. Greece, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Australia, and my home country, the United States.”

“Oh right! Silly me, how could I forget? Thanks for the reminder, my love. So Bradshaw, Isabella, how about we forget the whole alliance and treaty fiasco, right here, right now. Or we can go to war.” Liam shrugs and presses the blade deeper, still careful not to break the skin. “Or how about I end this right now, slit your throat, and let you die a slow death, bleeding from your jugular and choking on your own blood. I don’t want to do that, because it’ll stain my very expensive floors, but I will. The choice is yours.”

“We withdraw!” Isabella exclaims, finally standing. “We’ll forget the whole thing, we’ll call it all off! Just put the weapon down, please!”

“Isabella, didn’t I tell you to be quiet?”

Liam tsks. “Listen to your wife, Bradshaw.”

“Bradshaw, are you truly prepared to die here?” Isabella asks. “Is all of this worth it? Put your foolish pride aside for once in your damn life! It’s over.”

Bradshaw looks Liam in the eye, knowing that the other king isn’t bluffing. Slowly, he raises his hands in the air. “We concede.”

“Good. That wasn’t so hard was it?” Liam lowers his dagger and Bradshaw releases a sigh of relief. “But just one more thing.”

“What?”

Liam extends his arm, the dagger slashing out and quickly plunging into Bradshaw’s side. Shouting in pain, Bradshaw falls to his knees. “I may not kill you for your disrespect towards my wife, holding her life over my head, and threatening war against me, but I can’t let you leave unscathed. But fear not, it’s a minor wound and I didn’t hit any arteries, because unlike you, I’m a skilled fighter and I know what I’m doing.”

Isabella jumps out of her seat, and rushes to Bradshaw's side, pressing into the wound to stop the bleeding.

Kendall takes in the scene. She didn’t feel an ounce of sympathy for the pathetic man-child writhing in pain on the floor, or his wife for that matter. Had Liam killed him where he stood, she probably would have have batted a mascara-covered eyelash. “Bastien!”

At the urgent calling of his name, the King’s guard enters the office. His eyes immediately fall onto Liam and Kendall, before taking in Bradshaw and Isabella. “Is everything alright in here, Your Majesties?”

“Excellent!” Kendall exclaims. “We’re actually done here, so if you could see to it that Bradshaw gets that nasty wound patched up and send the happy couple on their way, that’d be great.”

Bastien nods. “Of course.”

“Thank you. Bradshaw, Isabella, it was a pleasure having this meeting with you, and our attorneys will be in contact soon.” Kendall reaches for Liam’s hand. “Ready to go?”

“Ready.”

~v~

Liam’s feet dig into the soft carpeted floor of his bedroom as he walks into the en-suite. His eyes immediately land on his wife, who’s in their marble tub, covered in bubbles, sipping out of a bottle of Dom Perignon.

“Slow down, Speed Racer,” he teases.

“Eleanor doesn’t need to get fed for a few more hours, and I think I deserve this champagne.”

“I couldn’t agree more. I just don’t want you to get a headache.”

“I’ll drink a few glasses of water before I go to sleep.” Kendall holds the bottle out to Liam, offering him some, but he declines. So she just sits it on the floor. “Is Nori asleep?”

“She is. I swear, she’s the most alert and stubborn newborn on earth. She did not go down easily.”

“You’re already being bested by our daughter?”

“I know you two have been conspiring against me while she was still in the womb.” Liam smiles softly. “But I am still the champion, she eventually settled.”

“Good.”

“Enjoying your bath?”

“Yes. Can I sleep in here tonight?”

Liam chuckles. “Your skin will get incredibly dry and wrinkly.”

“I’m sure that’s nothing a few spa treatments and some heavy duty shea butter can’t fix.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Exhausted,” Kendall answers with a dramatic sigh. The day was long and she’s been running on pure adrenaline, it’s easy to forget she did push out a human just two short weeks ago, under very extreme circumstances. “And sore. I never want to wear heels again.”

Liam crouches down, getting on his knees at the edge of the tub. Reaching in he grabs one of Kendall’s feet and pulls it out of the water. Carefully he presses his thumb into the arch.

“Mhmm. I always forget that you moonlight as a masseuse.”

“Only for you.”

“It better be,” Kendall shoots back with a smirk.

“After the day we’ve had, I say you’ve more than earned a foot massage.”

“Ugh.” Kendall slips further into the tub before resurfacing. “I cannot stand those smug, overbearing assholes. Thank God we’re done with them.”

“Do you really think we’ve seen the last of them?”

“You probably pissed Bradshaw off when you stabbed him,” Kendall says pointedly, the mischievous look on her face betraying the seriousness in her tone. “But I do. They’re underhanded and sneaky, the threat of us exposing them publicly and involving superpower countries is enough to stave them off. But like we both said, war is on the table if push comes to shove.”

“Can I just say that you were absolutely amazing today.” Liam can’t get rid of the goofy grin on his face if he tries. He’s in awe of his wife, of her wit and strength.

Liam switches feet and she sighs in content. “Yes, please sing my praises.”

“I cannot believe how courageous you were, how absolutely brilliant. I’ve never seen anyone able to stand up to Bradshaw the way you did.”

“The same could be said for you. You were ready to kill him then and there. By the way, I was not anticipating that at all, but you had them scared shitless.

“The only reason I was able to do that is because I knew I had you in my corner the entire time.”

“I’ll always be in your corner, Liam.”

“I know, and I need to trust that. But all praise aside, I should have never put you in this position to begin with you. You should be spending this time relaxing and being with our baby, not getting involved in dirty politics.”

“Stop it!” Kendall wrangles her foot out of Liam’s grasps, and hits him in the chest with it. Liam looks down at the sudsy print on his chest incredulously.

“Did you really just hit me with your foot?”

“Yes!” He’s going down that slippery slope of insecurity and self loathing. “I’m the Queen, I know my job will never be done. This past week has been stressful, yes, but it has not taken away from my maternity leave or my time with Eleanor. I can multitask, you know.”

“I know, I just wish you didn’t have to be burdened with the weight of the crown at a time like this.”

“Stop apologizing,” Kendall orders. “I’ve forgiven you and it’s all in the past now. I don’t want to hear another word about it.”

The corner of Liam’s mouth quirks up, a hint of a smirk on his face. He loves his wife’s commanding side. He leans over the tub so he’s hovering above her. “As you command, my queen.”

“The Queen also commands a kiss.”

“That can be arranged.” Liam surges forward, one hand reaching out to cup his wife’s cheek, the other getting tangled in her now damp hair and captures her lips in a kiss.

Kendall hums in satisfaction and sits up to deepen the kiss. Water sloshes out the side of the tub, soaking Liam’s pajama bottoms, but neither of them care. Her hands travel to his back, pulling him closer.

Too soon for either of their liking, Liam breaks the kiss with a groan. “4 more weeks. That is a depressingly long time from now.”

“Do you have the willpower?”

“I don’t know, but let’s not test it and disobey doctor’s orders.” Liam kisses the tip of her nose. “As soon as you’re cleared, I’m taking you to Valtoria, and we’re going to spend a few days in the small cottage you had built on the property. And I’m not letting you come up for air.”

A chill runs down the length of her spine. “Mhmm, don’t threaten me with a good time, Rys.”

“Oh, it’s not a threat, it’s a promise.” Liam reaches back into the tub and pulls the drain. He grabs a large towel and unfolds it. “Now come on, let’s get you to bed.”

Liam helps his wife out of the tub and drapes the towel across her shoulders. She shivers dramatically, her teeth clicking together for added effect. He knows she’s putting on a show, but he curls her into his side, which is what she wanted.

After changing into the closest pair of pajamas she can find—really just a pair of Liam’s sweats and an old Knicks t-shirt—and peaking into the bassinet at their bedside, Kendall finally collapses onto their bed. Liam joins her, loosely slinging his arm around her midsection. The smell of whatever fruity bubble bath she was just using invades his senses, but he welcomes the scent, his eyes closing instinctively. Kendall smells like home to him.

Kendall turns around in order to look at her husband’s face. For the first time in a long time, he looks peaceful. The outcome of the day instantly took 5 years off of his appearance, and she’s glad. She hates that he carries so much stress with him at all times.

“Hey Liam,” she whispers, poking his arm.

“What is it?” He asks, not even bothering to open his eyes.

“I love you.”

That gets a smile out of him. His grip on her tightens slightly. “I love you more.”

“I love you infinity.”

“I love you infinity plus another infinity, for good measure,” Liam shoots back.

“One of these days, I’m going to win.”

“But not today. Now get some sleep.”

Kendall gets closer to Liam, until she’s practically on top of him. His heartbeat is slow and steady underneath her head, and the rhythmic thump slowly pulls her into unconsciousness.

Today was a victory. Sure the kingdom of Cordonia had other things to face, but Kendall takes comfort in knowing that she’ll face them with Liam, as a team. The two of them together are unstoppable.

Today was officially the start of their happily ever after.

#playchoices #choices: stories you play #the royal heir #the royal romance #king liam #king liam x mc

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heymusings · 6 years ago

Text

Things I loved in individual Marvel Movies (FYI...there’s a lot)

Iron Man

The epitome of showing character development within the time frame of a single film through Tony Stark.

Pepper Potts pretty much being Tony’s baby sitter.

Soundtrack

A man who has everything and nothing.

It’s literally just a well balanced action movie.

The fact that is was mostly just RDJ improvising and the other actors having to work with it.

Tony realizing he is part of the problem and finds his purpose in trying to fix those problems, and by doing so working to become a better person.

The fact that Tony is still not a fully realized “hero” at the end of this film-- he still has some quirks to work through and is a little too arrogant. But this really sets up for even more amazing character development in the next films.

It is a movie of its time-- terrorism and greedy businessmen as the villains.

The fact that Tony and Pepper are not a couple by the end, even when I ship them.

“I am Iron Man” The instant new trend of not hiding their identity.

Tony: Throw in a little hot rod red. Jarvis: Yes, that will help you keep a low profile.

Pepper buying herself a birthday present from Tony.

Tony seeing her in the dress.

Pepper “taking out the garbage”-- burn

Tony’s suite tests and Dummy trying to put out a fire.

Tony making the first suite in the cave-- i love that montage

Stane’s moment in realizing how the suite worked-- it’s such a silent but great moment

“Don’t waste your life.”

The acting that takes place in the moment Stane takes the reactor out of Tony’s chest is amazing-- RDJ doesn’t even say anything.

Pepper getting the thumb drive out of the office-- and having the forethought to have Coulson follow her-- Coulson just sitting there waiting (it was oddly funny to me).

The eventual use of the SHIELD acronym

Proof that Tony Stark has a heart.

I don’t have anyone but you.

Iron Man 2

Tony and Pepper kissing for the first time....admittedly the first two films came out at a time when the thing I mostly cared about was shipping.

Soundtrack

Stark clearly still developing as a person and superhero...I love me some character development.

Stark refusing to give the suite

“If your priority was to actually to...”-- Tony questioning governmental control

“I am Iron Man. The suite and I are one. To turn it over will be to turn over myself which would be tantamount to indentured servitude or prostitution...”

The Iron Man suit as a “shield”--- interesting.

I love watching Tony in his workshop.

Dummy.

Pepper taking charge several times throughout.

Natasha totally taking out Happy when he assumes she can’t.

Pepper actually coming to like Natasha as her assistant.

Tony dealing with his mortality

Tony: Were you aiming for him or me...I can’t tell!

Happy just ramming into Whiplash with the car over and over again.

I told you I don’t want to be part of your super secret boy band.

Fury and Tony talking about Howard Stark and how he was one of the founding members of shield.

Shout out to the tessaract.

Phil: I will taze you and watch super nanny as your drool into the carpet. Got it?

The ex wife.

Tony: Hammer tech? Rhodey: Yea.

Two seals fighting over a grape.

Phil leaving to go to New Mexico-- Thor shout out.

“Nice work kid.”

Pepper!!!

War machine and Iron Man working together to beat the iron suites-- I am partial to the shots of them in the Park area

Natasha beating the shit out of all the guys as she makes her way down the hallway...doing so very nonchalantly-- while happy takes on one guy.

Tony: You have a big gun but you’re not the big gun.

Hammer’s shock that Pepper is having him arrested while Pepper just glares at him totally unafraid of him.

Captain America shout out.

Pepper and Tony kiss.

I was here first, get a roof.

Tony: Text book narcissism?....agreed.

Getting the guy who hated Stark to present the award at the end.

“Funny, how annoying a little prick can be.”

Iron Man 3

Tony interacting with Harley

The question if Iron Man is the suite or the man-- Tony clearly needing to come to terms with the question if his heroism comes from the man or the suite-- and has to do so by accepting his weaknesses.

Tony proving he can still be a hero without the suite. He is a mechanic-- him infiltrating the mandarin mansion without the suite and just a bunch of every day items is amazing. This film just reminds us that his bad-assery comes from his mind. It is honestly just one of the best Stark moments all around.

Continuity in how Tony is affected by what happens to him.

Pepper coming to the rescue.

The fact that Tony went back for Dummy after his home was attacked.

In the end Tony is sure that even without the suite he is still Iron Man-- You can take away my tricks and toys, but the one thing you can’t take away...I am Iron Man.

The Dora Explorer watch

Honestly, I hate working here. They are so weird.

Captain America

Agent Carter totally beating the men into place and Steve clearly loving it.

Bucky: Weren’t you smaller?... What happened to you? Steve: I joined the army. Bucky: Did it hurt...is it permanent? Steve: A little...so far.

The introduction of the heart of the character-- good man vs perfect soldier

He’s artistic-- this really says something about his character.

The flag bit will not make me laugh.

Peggy Carter...enough said...literally...everything about her.

Steve using the garbage lid as a shield-- I just like the foreshadowing... someone get that man a shield.

I can do this all day-- even when he is tiny and doesn’t stand a chance he doesn’t back down against a bully knowing he won’t win (but he still called out the bully)

Knowing Peggy touching Steve’s chest was technically an honest reaction by the actress-- she was literally so shocked by seeing him without a shirt for the first time.

The fact that I can say, “aw look how cute and little they are,” about both Bucky and Steve.

Steve jumping on the grenade...is this a test?

He’s still skinny.

“You have no idea how to talk to a woman do you.”

“Waiting for the right partner.”

“How do you feel?” “Taller.”

“I could do this all day.”

Peggy making a kill shot on a man that is in a car and at quite a distance.

Peggy non nonchalantly shooting at Steve to test shield, but mostly out of jealousy...and Steve looking ready to pee himself.

Kid: go get him, I can swim.

The extreme differences in the reactions to the “performance” in the cities compared to the camps.

I really like the leather jacket.

“Where I am going if anyone yells at me I can shoot them” “Undoubtedly they will be shooting back.”

Fondue

Peggy: You can’t give me orders. Steve: The hell I can’t, I am a Captain.

Steve: You sure this thing works? Howard: It’s been tested more than you, pal.

Do you know what you’re doing? Steve: Yeah, I knocked out Adolf Hitler over 200 times.

Until the end of the line.

Bucky: You don’t have one of those do you?

Bucky refusing to leave Steve behind.

Cap and Bucky leading the rescued men back to camp.

I couldn’t call my ride.

Bucky: That little guy from Brooklyn that was too dumb to run away from a fight, I am following him.

Bucky: I am visible, I am turning into you. This is a horrible dream. Steve: Don’t take it so hard. Maybe she has a friend.

Bucky’s face of pure confusion after realizing Peggy wasn’t going to give him the time of day.

The subtle development of the friendship between Howard and Steve.

Bucky’s sniper skills.

Bucky: Remember when I made you ride the Cyclone at Coney Island? Steve: Yeah, and I threw up. Bucky: This isn’t payback is it?

Bucky: I had him on the ropes. Steve: I know you did.

Any time Bucky and Steve work together-- it just comes off very natural.

Bucky wielding, if only for a moment, the Captain America Shield.

Peggy and Steve’s kiss

I am not kissing ya.

Steve’s sacrifice.

Steve being able to think coherently enough to recognize that something is wrong when he wakes up by realizing the baseball game is too old.

The shot of Steve on a modern New York City.

“I had a date.”

Captain America Winter Soldier

The opening running scene (rather than something more actionesque-- and the banter that builds as Steve continuously passes Sam... this also really sets up the fact that this is a film that concentrates almost solely on characters (despite having great action sequences).

On your left....two passes later...Don’t say it.

Steve’s speech over the intercom, “...It’s a price I’m willing to pay. I may be the only one...but I am willing to bet I am not.”

Steve in glasses.

The Winter Solider-- his knife skills....the clear progression throughout the film as he becomes more and more conflicted.

“I am 95, I am not dead.”--- I need more information about this line.

“Does anyone want to get off?”

Natasha and Steve as a team-- Steve becoming more trusting of her

The fact that of any movie he could have watched after waking up Steve watched “Saw”

Steve/WS hand to hand battle

“This isn’t freedom; this is fear.” (Steve seeing Shield as a bully...he doesn’t like bullies)

Steve’s progressive realization that the power of the individual to make choices is more important than orders from an entity that may have ulterior motives.

Falcon/Sam treating Steve like a regular guy and just developing a loyal friendship that I appreciate.

WS catching Steve’s shield with one arm.

Until the end of the line.

Bucky/WS’s murder walk.

Nat: Where did Captain America learn to steal a car? Steve: Nazi Germany, and we’re borrowing, take your feet off the dash.

It’s really not your style Rogers. Steve: You’re right, it’s not, it’s hers (then commence Nat still trying to find Steve a date).

Captain America Civil War

Bucky noticeably uncomfortable when he first hears the sirens, then his relief when they pass him and the immediate return to being on edge when he notices the man looking at him from across the street.

So many reminders that Bucky’s nature is not toward violence.

Steve confronting Bucky in his apartment only for Bucky to run, trying so hard to avoid a fight...but the fight that happens I love, especially in the stairwell.

Bucky going after the reactor of the Iron Man suite-- noticeably not going for killing blows during the final fight and despite Tony full out trying to kill him.

How tired and sad Bucky sounds when he tells Cap, “It always ends in a fight

Wanda: You guys know I can move things with my mind right.

Wanda: You were pulling your punches.

Steve’s talk with Wanda about doing and saving who you can and that it doesn’t always mean everyone.

Tony managing to disarm the greatest assassin with nothing but a gauntlet while wearing a three piece suite.

Steve’s clear conflict regarding his friendship with Tony and willingness to forgive him at the end.

Wanda’s relationship with both Clint and Steve... I wanted more of this.

Steve understanding the dangers of the accords more than Tony (based on experience)-- and the importance of his message, “you can’t save everyone,” but you can save the majority.

I admit...this movie got me so worked up about how Tony wants so much to start pushing away the blame for even one lost life that he becomes so willing to place all the responsibility on a governmental power rather than the individual (as Steve believes) even at the cost of putting targets on the back of his friends/allies. I will never not be shocked at his shock when he talks of Wanda as a weapon or his shock when they put them all in prison. But I also love that I got so worked up about this-- it makes for a great watch.

“No you move.”

Bucky and the motorcycle-- wow, that was not only cool...but it was really, REALLY hot.

I can’t control their fear-- only my own.

I retire for like what five minutes and it all goes to shit.

You want to mope go to high school. You want to make amends, you get off your ass.

I can’t, but she can.

You locked me in my room.

Bucky being totally done with all the weird stuff going on around him.

“I can do this all day.”

Geez, Tony. How old is this guy.

Bucky moving in front of Sam to protect him from Spiderman.

You couldn’t have done that earlier? (I hate you.)

Can you move your seat up. (No).

“You don’t deserve it-- My father made that shield”-- he sounds like a child trying to defend himself and his actions. Steve dropping the shield and taking Bucky is pretty much him winning the fight-- taking the higher ground-- good man vs. good soldier being reiterated here. The shield doesn’t take away from Cap’s strength at all-- what made him a hero is his heart, the fact that he is a good man and he doesn’t need the shield. This is something that Tony is still learning and coming to terms with in his developmental arc.

This is the first time that we see Tony truly angry during his first with Steve-- he is being driven by his instincts to get revenge at that moment-- he is devastating but it takes away from one of his strengths-- thinking things out.

Tony is in the wrong regarding his trying to kill Bucky, he even practically admits it when Steve attempts to get him to see reason, “I don’t care, he killed my mom.” Tony is in the wrong and yet Steve still understands Tony’s feelings, yet he can’t let Bucky die even from someone he calls a friend-- this just makes for good emotionally intense conflict that is matched by the actual physical conflict.

Steve: He’s my friend. Tony: So was I-- this line literally emotionally devastates both characters.

Steve: I can do this all day. (Cap refusing to back down to protect his friend).

Tony losing because of one moment Bucky helps Steve simply by providing a seconds distraction.

Natasha being there for Steve at Peggy’s funeral

Tony trying to appeal to Steve’s past in order to get him to sign the accords using pens from Howard (one for each of them) and Steve’s response, “Some would say it bought us closer to war.” What a way to immediately set up where these two stand.

The idea that there are two sides to “right”-- Steve concentrating on moral and Tony being a realist... it really calls in to question which side you agree with most, and I love that.

Steve: If I see a situation going south I can’t ignore it. I wish I could. Tony: No you don’t. Steve: You’re right, I don’t.

Tony clearly trying to use the accords as an excuse to help him stop because he keeps finding excuses to not stop even when he wants to for Pepper

Did you know?-- the fact that it finally is made clear that Steve is not perfect and is willing to lie. He has reasons, but I think it is great to realize the contrast between the legend of perfect Captain America and Steve Rogers.

Steve realizing that the accords are similar to what Shield was doing in trying to deter war using fear/threats/control before it happened (which never works)-- Steve’s, “She’s a kid!” vs Tony’s, “She’s not a U.S. citizen and they don’t grant visas to weapons of mass destruction!” is really Steve’s break away from any possibility of him signing the accords.

Tony’s greatest fear of being alone coming to pass as he is left at Avengers headquarters alone.

Steve: Where you from kid? Peter: Queens. Steve: Brooklyn

Tony never really seems to truly agree with the accords (not only does he also break them) on a moral level and he seems haunted by it throughout the film, while Steve is made stronger by his decision because he is sure of his position

Tony: I am trying to keep you from tearing the Avengers apart. Steve: You did that when you signed-- how upset Tony is vs. how calm and matter of fact Steve is (who is surer of themselves?)

Thor

Frigga and Loki’s relationship

Darcy... she needs to be around more in the other movies.

Not that it’s a favorite thing, but I am honestly always confused how Thor is so hero worshiped when he’s kind of a dick at the beginning, and then when Loki starts doing similar things that Thor did he’s the bad guy (not saying he should have done them...but double standards and hypocrisy abound in this movie). The more you watch the more you realize that everyone treats Loki like crap... like wow, they were all lucky Loki loved Thor and his family or he would have done something much sooner.

Loki’s manipulations.

Sif: I did. Thor: True, but I supported you.

“ What happened, silver tongue turned to lead?”

Loki’s entire storyline.

Sif.

Loki using magic and daggers-- his fighting style is so interesting, wish we saw more of it.

“Go home little princess.” “Damn”

Loki being touched by the frost giant.

Loki more actively protecting the warriors three and Sif on Johtunheim than Thor.

Loki’s face while listening to the argument between Odin and Thor.

Darcy: Does he need CPR, because I totally know CPR.

Darcy: Yeah, we can tell you’re hammered, it's pretty obvious.

Jane: I grazed him, but she tasered him. Darcy: Yes, I did.

The number of times Jane hits Thor with a car.

Loki’s confrontation with Odin and the pure emotion that Hiddleston portrays in that moment.

Thor’s new found love of pop tarts and coffee

Next time you decide to taser someone make sure he’s already in the car.

Jane and Darcy’s reactions to Thor’s attractiveness.

“I used to know this scientist. I pioneer in gamma radiation. SHIELD showed up and I never saw them again.”

The first introduction to Hawkeye...being told to grab a gun but taking the bow and arrow instead.

Barton: You want me to slow him down sir or are you going to send in more guys for him to beat up.

Thor: You’re big- fought bigger.

Barton: I am starting to root for this guy.

Science Fiction as a precursor to science fact.

Science Fiction is just science we don’t understand yet.

My realization that even as early as the first Thor film Thor and Loki’s earth fashion sense was already very much established- high power businessman vs. “very comfortable/casual”-- symbolic, maybe.

The fact that Loki as a villain is perfection-- he is a match for Thor, he is personable, his motivations are similar but he has different methods, and you can see some reason in them.

Donald Blake shout outs.

Loki going from being rather meek at the beginning compared to his second return to Johtunheim to strike a deal with Laufey.

The fact that Loki clearly had no intention of letting Laufey kill Odin.

Heimdal’s learning that Loki is a better sorcerer then he was given credit for and can cloak himself even from the gatekeeper.

Thor and Jane bonding over science/magic.

We got xena, Jackie chan and Robin hood.

“Found you!”

“Is that one of Stark’s?”

Thor’s sacrifice- I love the drama of it.

Thor’s powers being returned- again, very dramatic.

So this is how you normally look-- it’s a good look.

Loki: I never wanted the throne! I only wanted to be your equal.

Thor pinning Loki just by putting the hammer on his chest.

Loki: I could have done it, father!Loki’s look of devastation when he is again rejected by his father.

Thor Dark World

Ta Da!

Loki totally ignoring the chaos of battle around him as he reads a book.

“I like her.”

You’ll what? Kill me? Evidently, there will be a line.

Loki: Now they’re firing at us. Thor: Thank you for the commentary Loki, it's not at all distracting.

Loki and Thor teaming up and using Loki’s magic in battle... I would have loved to have seen more of this team up happening in the films

To be honest, the only real saving grace of this movie was Loki... which I can get behind.

“I didn’t do it for him.”

Loki lecturing Thor about his escape plan and Thor pushing him out the open hatch in their ship.

Loki being revealed on the throne.

“Oh dear, is she dead?”

“I think you missed a column”

Loki’s reaction to Frigga’s death.

Loki’s look after having yelled at his mother.

Frigga attempting to make Loki’s imprisonment comfortable, she will never not see him as her son.

Who put me there! (There are so many levels to that statement and the acting is amazing).

Thor Ragnarok

Soundtrack

The whole play that Loki had written for himself and his pure enjoyment of it while pretending to be Odin.

“Beg your pardon?”

“You had one job. Just the one.”

“I am not a witch.” “How come you dress like one?” “Hey (offended).”

Thor’s powers

“I’ve been falling for 30 minutes!”

Hela-- love her-- a little anti-climatic ending.

Loki’s epic eye roll.

“Oh shit.”

Thor totally fangirling over Valkyrie.

Thor’s story about when he and Loki were 8 and Loki pretended to be a snake before stabbing him.

“It’s in my brain now”

Thor being full out God of Thunder and the soundtrack during the scene is amazing.

“I am not doing get help.”

“Do you have a better plan?” “No.” “We’re doing it.”

Loki cheering the Hulk smashing Thor.

Loki using his daggers again...I still wish we got to see more of that.

Your savior is here.

“I saw you coming.” “Of course you did”

“I’ve never met this man in my life.” “He’s my brother.” “Adopted.”

“I’m here.”

Avengers

There is something I greatly enjoy about the shot of Loki being taken in shackles down the hallway of the Shield based-- he definitely still feels in control even then.

Learning to become a team and not just automatically being a well-oiled machine.

Tony and Bruce’s science bromance

There will always be men like you.

Loki: I am listening.

Tony: Doth mother know you wearath her drapes.

Fury: 10 bucks says your wrong...Cap paying up on his bet with Fury.

Cap’s simple response: You should have left it in the ocean.

Avengers theme

I’ve got red in my ledger, I’d like to wipe it out.... the whole scene between Loki and Nat and the changing power dynamics during it is simply great writing and acting. And the end line of Nat’s being, “Thank you for your cooperation,” to show she came out on top in that battle is extra awesome.

She turns out not be another pretty face--- and then Natasha proceeds to annihilate them single-handed

Coulson calling Natasha through her targets phone then arguing with him on the phone that she’s too busy working, while also being tied up.

Natasha being convinced to leave her mission by being told Barton was compromised.

Bruce is on the run but still trying to do good.

Mark Ruffalo as Bruce

“No its won by soldiers”...fade into Captain America’s first intro in the film.

Tony: Like Christmas, but more me.

12% of a moment.

Tony: his first name is agent.

Pepper: Is this about the Avengers initiative...which I know nothing about. Tony:...I didn’t qualify for. Pepper: I didn’t know that either. Tony: Apparently I am volatile, self-obsessed, don’t play well with others. Pepper: That I did know.

Phil and Pepper being chummy with each other...I would have enjoyed more of this.

Coulson totally fan-boying over Cap.

Coulson: I watched you while you were sleeping.

Natasha: I thought Coulson was going to swoon. Has he asked you to sign his trading cards yet? They’re vintage, he’s very proud.

Bruce: They want me in a submerged pressurized metal container? (sees its actually going to take flight instead) Oh no, this is much worse (in complete sarcasm).

Cap immediately accepting Bruce.

How obviously uncomfortable Bruce is upon first going on the helicarrier surrounded by people. Such good acting.

Cap: Mr. Stark. Tony: Captain

Fury: Ant, meet boot.

Stark needing entrance music to confront Loki.

The near instant tension between Cap and Tony after capturing Loki.

Loki: I am not overly fond of what follows.

Cap: Stark, we need a plan of attack. Stark: I have a plan, attack.

Loki: I remember a shadow, living in the shade of your greatness.

Tasha: He’s killed 80 people in two days. Thor: He’s adopted.

Cap: I knew that reference!

Hill: When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics. Tony: Last night.

Tony: I am a huge fan of how you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster.

Tony: An intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically, not awesome.

Bruce being uncomfortable naming the Hulk and calling him ‘the other guy’

Bruce looking so uncomfortable during the first act of the film

Tony and Cap bringing up phase 2 at the same time in two different ways-- action and intelligence.

Tony: I am sorry Nick, you were lying.

Bruce: I am not leaving just because you get a little twitchy.

Tony: How is this now about me? Cap: I am sorry, isn’t everything.

Cap: You may not be a threat but you better stop acting like a hero. Tony: Like you? Everything special about you came out of a bottle. (pretty much this entire conversation)

Cap: put on the suite let’s find out. Tony: I am not afraid of you old man. (explosion) Cap: Put on the suite. Tony: Yep.

Cap: It seems to run on some form of electricity. Tony: Well, you’re not wrong.

Loki: Are you ever not going to fall for that?

Phil: So that’s what it does.

Man: You an alien...no...well, then son you’ve got a condition.

Tony: He wants a monument with his name plastered...son of a bitch.

Thinking he is going to die wants to call and talk to Pepper.

Tony: We have a hulk.

Tony: We may not be able to protect the earth but you can damn well be sure we’ll avenge it.

Cop: Why the hell should I take orders from you. ( Cap destroys some aliens...cop then immediately obeys orders.)

Bruce: That’s my secret... I am always angry.

That epic Avengers assemble round shot.

Barton not even looking while he makes a kill shot.

Fury: I recognize the council as made a decision, but given that it is a stupid ass decision I’ve elected to ignore it.

Hulk saving Tony

The “A” left on Stark tower.

Avengers Age of Ultron

The reaction of the Avengers when discovering Barton’s family life.

The fact that Barton has a normal family life.

Language.

Please be a secret door...yay!

Tony: Good talk. Random Hydra Extra: No it wasn’t

The teamwork in the opening scene

I somehow found myself shipping Nat and Bruce.

“A great deal of complaining and tales of torn deltoids.”- Thor

“He’s the boss”- Tony about Cap

“He’s fast and she’s weird” - Maria Hill

“What kind of monster would allow a German scientist to experiment on him in order to protect his country?”- Cap to Hill

“Unlike you, I don’t have a lot of time...will...Thor be there”

Sam: following cold leads on our missing person's case (Bucky).

“He’s also a huge dork...chicks dig that.”- Natasha flirting with Bruce by describing him...then Cap totally shipping them.

Cap: I’ve seen her flirt up close...As may be the world’s leading authority on waiting too long...don’t. Bruce: What do you mean up close?

The team trying to lift the hammer.

Cap: Together. Tony: We’ll lose. Cap: Then we’ll do that together too.

Black Panther references

Tony admitting that watching his friends die is not as bad as watching them die and he doesn’t.

Tony: I cracked into the Pentagon when I was in high school on a dare.

Cap: I really miss the days when the weirdest thing science created was me.

Barton: You’re no match for him, Captain. Cap:...Thanks, Barton.

Natasha: Cap, keep them occupied. Cap (out of breath): What do you think I’ve been doing?

Wanda....everything Wanda

Wanda: Ultron can’t tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it; where do you think he gets that?

Vision handing Thor’s hammer to him like its no big deal.

No one listening to Pietro so he comes back with a gun...”get off your asses.”

Cap: You get killed, walk it off....you didn’t finish....what were you napping.

I actually never realized just how snarky Steve is in this movie.

The teamwork between Thor and Cap is awesome.

Wanda’s entrance as an Avenger...YES!!!!!

Cap: We are not clear...we are really not clear.

Pietro: Keep up old man. Barton: No one would know...no one...last time I saw him Ultron was sitting on him...quick little bastard.

The fact that the above line was improvised by Renner.

Thor:...I am running out of things to say....you ready.

Pietro’s sacrifice. Wanda’s reaction after feeling it.

Barton names his son after both Natasha and Pietro.

Cap and Tony arguing that Vision picking up the hammer doesn’t count...and an elevator is also not worthy.

Wanda: I’ll protect it (looks at Hawkeye). It’s my job.

Vision: He’s right, he hates you the most.

Hulk having an obvious soft spot for Natasha

Natasha opening up to Bruce about her past.

Tony: Like the old man said, together.

Natasha: Still think you’re the only monster?

The whole idea of what makes a monster and how many people view someone else or themselves as a monster is so interesting and play a huge role in characterization.

Steve refusing to leave the flying city as long as there was even one civilian left there... Nat agreeing with him, “There are worse ways to go.”

Fury’s entrance and Steve’s, “Fury, you son of a bitch.”

Avengers Infinity War

Cap’s entrance by walking out of the shadows

Tom Holland’s improvising his death scene.

We don’t want to kill you, but we will.

Earth just lost her best defender.

Wanda being a complete badass-- she literally destroyed a stone with one hand and held off a nearly fully powered Thanos with the other

Caps glorious beard.

“I see you copied my beard.”

Strange seeing only ONE possible win in thousands...then giving up the stone... we’re in the endgame now...it was the only way.

Shuri making Bruce feel like an idiot.

Someone get this man a shield.

Steve and T’Challa running to the front of the battle line.

“I hope they remember you.”

Bucky alive and well

You speak groot...it was an elective.

Bring me Thanos!!! (In fact, the entire scene of Thor arriving to join the fight is cinematic gold)

Thanos on the farm-- yes, let them reiterate he won...like wow... you don’t get that much

What was she doing up there all this time?

“She’s not alone.”

Loki revealing the tessaract...trying to take Thanos on alone...and getting in one last jab with, “You will never be a god.”

Quill attempting to mimic Thor’s voice.

Rabbit

Any interaction between Thor and Rocket

Rocket engaging Thor in a meaningful conversation to comfort him-- such a huge growth is seen in his character.

Quill: What kind of weapon are we talking about here. Thor: The Thanos killing kind. Quill: Don’t you think we should all have a weapon like that.

“Stop messaging his muscles.”

Thor: Your bodies crumble as your minds collapse into madness. Rocket: Is it weird I want to do it even more now? Thor: A little bit.

Thor: He’s never fought me. Rocket: Yes he has. Thor: He’s never fought me twice.

It will kill you. Thor: Only if I die.

I’m way past asking for permission.

The 50% of me that’s stupid, that’s 100% you.

Rocket being picked up by Bucky and both continuing to shoot.

Oh, I’ll get that arm.

Thor being heartbreakingly optimistic and hiding his pain behind a smile until Rocket asks, “What if you’re wrong?” and Thor responds, “What more could I lose?” and Rocket’s, “I could lose a lot.”

The snap...”Oh god.”

You should have gone for the head.

You’re an Avenger now.

Peter: I should’ve gone home but it was such a long way down... If anything it’s kind of your fault that I am here. (Tony’s face is great)

Tony: The kid has seen more movies.

Tony and Thanos’ confrontation.

The adults are talking.

Steve giving his all to hold back Thanos with his bare hands and Thanos’ face of momentary confusion that a single man could hold him back even for a second.

My constant wondering what the result would have been if Tony and Cap were together in any of the scenes-- they work best together despite their contrasting personalities.

Doctor Strange

An arrogant man being forced to reconsider his world view and grow

Strange’s reaction to killing a man is perfect for the character but also just great acting from Ben.

Strange being called Master Strange and not wanting the title and being very adamant about not wanting the responsibility

Refusing to kill and being called a coward for it, but refusing to budge from his belief which results in a very interesting and wholly creative end battle... and fully earning and owning the title of Master.

Strange: You lack imagination. (No you lack a spine).

Dormmamu, I’ve come to bargain.

A hero actually using an infinity stone.

Say what you want about this film but I honestly think it has a great character arc for Strange.

The cloak.

Strange’s jokes.

Strange using astral projection to learn more.

The Incredible Hulk

It was better than the first one...remake it with Mark Ruffalo and we’ll talk.

Guardians of the Galaxy

Soundtrack

Introduction to Star-Lord

The mugshot line up and jailbreak

“You said it yourself bitch, we’re the guardians of the galaxy”

Dance off distraction... also perfect part of his characterization.

Quill trying to get Gamora to join in on the dance off.

The circle moment where Quill first becomes emotionally open and asks for help-- ending with Rocket’s “We’re all standing now.”

Peter coming to terms with his mother’s death as signified by his finally opening her final gift to him.

We are groot.

Rocket’s commentary while on the public while tracking down Quill

Rocket: What’s a Racoon? Quill: You are stupid. Rocket: Ain’t no thing like me except me.

Rocket’s bed fur.

Gamora: You must be joking. Rocket: No I really heard they find you attractive.

Let’s just say I really like Rocket.

Quill: A bomb? And you just leave it laying around? Rocket: I was going to put it in a box.

Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2

The Guardians team...this movie was pretty disappointing in most areas but I did enjoy the interactions among the characters.

Ego brainwashing Quill through so much of the film to convince him that he is above his team and be swayed to Ego’s side

The bodies of Ego’s children reveal

Yondu being revealed to be the hero and the real father figure

You look like Mary Poppins...Is he cool....Yeah... I am Mary Poppins y’all.

Peter’s discovery of the cause of his mother’s death-- that moment is amazing cinema

Ego: You are a god...if you kill me you’ll be just like everyone else. Quill: What’s so wrong with that? (aka being perfect doesn’t mean shit)

By the end, the Guardians become a family.

Rocket and Yando interaction... they’re both assholes that care.

Rocket’s shock that the colors shined for Yondu in his death... Quill accepting and sharing in Rocket’s pain in that moment.

Spiderman Homecoming

If you’re nothing without the suite then you shouldn’t have it.

The car intense car scene-- amazing cinema there

Peter: Come on Peter...come on, Spiderman.

Training wheels protocol

If you even cared you’d actually be here.

The adult is talking.

Peter is pretty bad at keeping his secret.

MJ reveal

Peter deciding to continue being the friendly neighborhood Spiderman for a while longer.

Happy having kept a ring on him for years.

Peter speaking revealing he can understand and speak Spanish when the shop keeper talks about Aunt May.

Ant-Man

The father-daughter relationship is adorable.

“I hope you don’t catch him.”

My days of breaking in and stealing shit are done. What do you want me to do? (I want you to break into a place and steal some shit.)

Scott as a father.

Ant-Man and Wasp

The montage of what Scott does in his spare time while under house arrest.

Again...father/daughter relationship.

The fact that Scott and Paxton go from viewing each other with low opinions in the first movie to seeing each other like family... it's so healthy.

Black Panther

Killmonger’s entrance into the throne room and very nonchalantly stating that he wants the throne before demanding to be asked who he is and letting it rip. The calm to intense anger is awesome.

This corset is really uncomfortable so can we wrap this up and go home?

What are THOOOSSEE?!

Everyone is shooting at me...wait let me put on my helmet.

Okay...let us just assume most of this list would consist of the wonder that is princess Shuri.

“Americans”

Great another broken white boy for us to fix.

T’Challa’s growth as a character by coming to understand the world differently through Killmonger’s actions.

The fact that T’Challa and Killmonger actually want similar things but come into conflict by their complete opposite ways of going about accomplishing their goal.

Stand up, you are a king.

The fact that T’Challa surrounds himself with females rather than men as his most loyal, fierce, and intelligent people.

Killmonger and T’Challa sharing a sunset and having a moment of understanding before Killmonger’s death.

The truth behind Killmonger’s reasoning and goals.

“Would you kill me, my love?” “For Wakanda? Without question.”

You can’t blame me, I almost died.

The moment I believe T’Challa became king: You were wrong! All of you were wrong! We let the fear of our discovery stop us from doing what is right!

.....I’ll add more, I’ve just been working at it for so long as I rewatched the films I am just posting it now and will add on later

#things fangirls say #marvel #mcu #captain america #tony stark #iron man #black panther #spiderman #guardians of the galaxy #thor #loki #film #doctor strange #avengers #text #steve rogers #bucky barnes #natasha romanov

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sueboohscorner · 6 years ago

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#Bull Season 3 Episode 1 "The Ground Beneath Their Feet" Recap and Review

The episode starts with a family in a red minivan listening to “Sugar” by Maroon 5. They subsequently run off of a bridge. We’ll come back to that later.

Marisa wakes up and there is a man in her bathroom. She’s married? She’s been married for 10 days!!

As a treadmill makes its way into Bull’s office, the team talks. Benny lost two cases and Marisa didn’t tell Bull anything, including that she got married, to her ex-husband no less. Mark my words, this won’t last. They dropped hints all last season. Bull and Marisa is the writer’s endgame. It isn’t mine, but I know the pattern.

A woman gets a call from her insurance company at six o clock in the morning in Nevada. They’ve denied her claim for a liver transplant.

Bull is in the elevator while “Happy Days are Here Again” by Barbara Streisand plays. Everyone is there to greet him when he comes out. Marisa and Dany hug him.

Marisa and Bull talk in his office. He knows about the two cases. He did not know that Marisa got married. She was married to the guy when she worked for Homeland Security. It didn’t work out because she traveled too much. She doesn’t anymore, and they got married in one of the guy’s restaurants. She regrets not having Bull there and it’s all kinds of awkward. She describes getting remarried the same way as he describes returning to his job.

Cable isn’t there and nobody has seen her.

Marisa tells the team about the case. A woman got endometrial cancer which spread to her liver. Malfunctioning equipment left a hole in her liver. Without a liver transplant, she will die in months. And they are representing the insurance company, Equisafe.

They still can’t find Cable.

Bull address them all. He met the CEO of Equisafe, Marshall Hitchcock in Arizona, where they both recovered. Hitchcock wants to pay them two million dollars a month to represent them. They can still take on other cases, but they can’t represent any other insurance companies.

Hitchcock makes a speech about how insurance companies are not the bad guys. It’s so refreshing to realize to see these people being portrayed as people doing their jobs as best they can, and not the devil incarnate. Businesses are not inherently evil!

I’ll move on so I don’t rant. Hitchcock leaves and Bull explains that he runs a business and not a charity. Then he walks out. Yes!

Dany goes to Cable’s apartment. Cable isn’t there and the landlord hits on her. Bad timing, man.

Bull calls Marisa in the middle of the night. He’s in a cab. He couldn’t sleep and walking around is dangerous because there’s a bar on practically every street. He asks about Cable and Marisa updates him. She then tells him that she needs to get back in bed with her husband. He says that they have a meeting at 9 am.

The woman has arranged for an emergency hearing that will start the following day. This is a civil case, which means that there are six jurors and five have to agree with her in order to win. Bull is not wearing a suit.

Benny presents all of the jurors with a hypothetical scenario: You’re on the end of a dock. There are two people drowning and you have one life preserver. Who do you save? It’s a horribly morbid question, but it’s essentially what insurance people do all the time.

The doctor that performed the operation that damaged the woman’s liver is on the stand. He explains the procedure that she underwent and the instrument malfunction that happened. He wants to help and so does the hospital, but it’s not that easy. The operation costs 4 to 500,000 dollars and liver availability is extremely rare. The other lawyer asks about life expectancy, and her family gets up and leaves. Her life expectancy is about four months without the transplant. The jury is redder than red.

Benny asks how long she would live without the transplant. Life expectancy is about three years, maybe three and a half. Benny repeats how much the procedure costs. One juror is green.

The woman talks about what she could do in those 42 months. Bull looks conflicted. The court takes a 2o minute recess.

The woman’s husband goes to pay the parking meter. Her little boy now has to use the bathroom, but the mom can’t take him. Bull volunteers. The kid says that his mom’s job is to make everyone in the courtroom like her. That’s a clever way to get information, but it’s kinda low.

Bull is taking some pills and the team is talking about strategy. They are not going to go after the mother, thank you hallelujah. There are 170,000 people waiting for liver transplants and the average wait time is upwards of 300 days! What they are going to do is show how many people are waiting for livers, what their life expectancy is, how long they’ve been waiting, and how many die before they get one. Logic! What a novel concept!

Bull asks Dany about Cable. She has officially been placed on the F.B.I’s missing persons list, but Dany has one more idea.

Bull talks to Marisa and they get into it. Bull’s jealous of her happiness. He kept hearing his ex-wife’s voice in his head saying that he shouldn’t be alone. Marisa says that they all hate this case. Bull says that they are being myopic. Everyone cannot have everything. Marisa says that he just thinks that because he’s rich and leaves.

Hitchcock is on the stand and Bull is taking his pulse. Nobody appears to care what Hitchcock says.

They put on witness after witness and ask how long they’ve been on the list, what they’re life expectancy is, what their aspirations are, etc.

Dany tries to take Cable’s laptop from her apartment. The landlord is not happy about it, and then Dany gets a call from Cable’s mom. She tells Dany to turn on the tv. There were 35 fatalities from the bridge that we saw at the beginning of the episode. Cable was one of them. I didn’t expect them to kill her, but this is certainly an interesting way to do it.

Benny starts talking about people that didn’t get their livers in time and the other lawyer loses it. She goes on about how this all about money. The judge doesn’t critique her outburst. Instead, he tells Benny to wrap it up.

Bull and Hitchcock talk. Insurance pays so well because it’s hard to convince people to do it. Speaking of which, Hitchcock gives Bull his check. Bull doesn’t think he’s cut out for this.

Bull gets back to a deserted office, almost deserted anyway. Chunk is there and tells Bull about Cable. Bull sits down, checks his pulse, and then insists that Chunk go home, which he eventually does. Bull starts to cry.

The verdict comes. They won! I’m as shocked as they are. The woman leaves the courtroom crying.

Bull and Benny talk, and it’s an absolute lovefest. Nice to see them getting along again. Benny invites him out, but Bull has somewhere to be.

He goes to the airport and gives the woman the check Hitchcock gave him. I guess his heart had to bleed at least a little.

I loved this episode. It was so refreshing. Businesses aren’t always evil. Rich people aren’t always evil. Logic is good. I like it. 8/10.

#Bull #CBS Bull #Dr. Jason Bull

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glowrioustrash · 7 years ago

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Escape

Prompt: “If you could make it a horror story involving Dean Ambrose and Renee Young as a couple? Along with Seth Rollins and Cathy Kelley as exes who pretend to hate each other, though it's clear they still have feelings for one another. I'm trying to think of a way the four of them can be brought together... Maybe Dean and Renee could be going on a road trip, and he invites his friend Seth, while she invites her friend Cathy. How the road trip leads to horror is completely up to you, but my friend loves horror and suspense, so make it as creepy as you want." Requested by @devilzadvokitty for her friend’s birthday.

Pairing: Dean Ambrose x Renee Young, Seth Rollins x Cathy Kelley

Word Count: 6200+

Warnings: Kidnapping, blood, various (nonthreatening) injuries, mentions of a gun?, lots of swearing. It’s not a fun one lol

Author’s Note: WOWEE So this was a challenge - and I love a challenge. This was out of my comfort zone for a few different reasons, including: the genre, trying to get it done in time, I don’t typically write Renee, I’ve never written Cathy. Basically I had no damn idea what I was doing, but I hope it turned out okay! Part of me felt it was really short as I edited, but the fact that the word count is over 6000... and honestly this is kinda tame. I could have really put these four through the ringer, but again... timeline.

ANYWAY Happy birthday mystery friend!

Tagging: @castielscamander / @therealfivefeetoffuckingfury / @kakakatey / @thirstiswet / @calwitch (I don’t have my tag list with me ATM, so if I miss anyone, sorry!)

“All set?” Renee asked over Dean’s shoulder as he loaded the last of their bags into the trunk of the SUV.

“All set.” He confirmed, turning to lay an arm over her shoulders. “Just gotta wait for the tagalongs.”

“Don’t call them tagalongs,” Renee laughed, smacking him lightly on his chest. “That makes it sound like they weren’t invited.”

“Fine. The squatters.”

“Dean!” She laughed even harder, shaking her head. Dean grinned down at her, squeezing her shoulders.

“Seth’ll be here soon, then we can hit the road.” Dean told her, noticing the way she froze under his arm.

“Seth?”

“Yeah. You told me to invite a friend.” He reminded her.

“But not Seth!”

“Who else did you think I’d invite?”

“Roman.”

“You thought Roman would want to come to a cabin in the woods with us, for a whole week away from his wife and kids?” He asked her, skeptically.

“Well, not when you put it that way.” Renee grumbled.

“Why is this such a problem anyway?”

“Because I invited Cathy.” Renee told him.

“Ahh, shit.” Dean cursed. “This is gonna be nice and awkward.”

Seth and Cathy had been dating until a few months ago, both of them agreeing that the relationship just wasn’t working. The stress of being on the road, as well as dating a coworker, was getting to be too much and they parted ways. It had initially been a fairly civil breakup, a few words exchanged in passing and a functioning working relationship. In the past month however, the working relationship had dissolved. Now the ex-couple would ignore each other at best, snide comments and glares across the way at worst. Everyone knew it could be worse, they had seen plenty of messy break-ups in their company, but those usually ended with one of the two either quitting or getting fired. Their friends all hoped it would resolve itself before it got to that.

Dean had been right, though he wish he hadn’t. The moment Seth and Cathy saw each other, the temperature around the four of them dropped. Lucky for the married couple, it seemed that today the duo were happy to ignore each other and not get into any sort of fight. The silence in the car was stifling, Renee trying to carry the conversation for 45 minutes before she eventually gave up. She turned the radio on to try and alleviate the tension.

Three excruciating hours into the drive, Dean pulled into an old, abandoned looking gas station.

“Is this place even open?” Seth scoffed.

“Says it is.” Dean shrugged, pointing at the neon sign blinking in the window. Without that sign, there was nothing on the outside of the building that would give any hint to it being a functioning gas station. Renee shot him a look, clearly asking if he was out of his mind. He just shrugged and opened the door, stepping out of the SUV. Seth followed him from the backseat.

Renee turned to look at Cathy, who seemed to share the same sentiment.

“Stretch our legs, I guess?” Renee offered.

“Yeah, it’ll be nice that we stretched once we’ve been murdered in the middle of nowhere.” Cathy shot back, only half joking.

Renee glanced at the guys who were making their way into the building. “What’s going on with you and Seth?”

“Nothing’s going on. What do you mean, what’s going on?” Cathy answered, a shade too quickly for it to be true, prompting Renee to shoot her a look of disbelief.

“Everything was fine when you two broke it off, but lately...” Renee trailed off, searching for the right words.

“Maybe… maybe I miss him.” Cathy admitted quietly. “But maybe I’m just lonely. I don’t know. I can’t tell if I’m missing him for him or if I just miss someone being there.”

“Why don’t you say something?”

“Please. He hates me.” Cathy shook her head.

“You’d be surprised.” Renee encouraged.

“We should stretch before the guys come back.” Cathy shut the conversation down, opening the door and climbing out of the vehicle. Renee sighed and followed suit.

Inside they found the boys skeptically searching through the offered snacks. Nothing looked particularly appetizing. Most of the packages were covered in dust or had visible mold inside. Renee reminded herself to share the hand sanitizer she had in the car once they left. She glanced around, seeing Seth was out of earshot if she kept her voice down.

“Babe,” she wrapped her arm around Dean’s waist as he grimaced at the bags of chips. “Do you know if Seth still feels anything for Cathy?”

“How would I know?” He asked with a shrug, picking up a bag to inspect it.

“Don’t you guys talk?” Renee questioned.

“Why would we talk about his ex? He hasn’t brought her up and I haven’t asked.” Dean explained as he set the bag of chips back with disdain.

“Could you ask?” She prompted, giving him her best doe eyes.

“Why? What kinda trouble you tryin’ to get me into?” Dean smirked down at her.

“Cathy misses him. What if the break-up was just stress from all the travel or something? We’ve had a few drag downs on the road. It’s normal in this business.”

“Yeah, but we make up. And I do enjoy making up with you.” He growled lowly, pulling her in close, making her giggle.

Seth was a few rows down, frowning at the “food” being offered. He looked up at Renee’s giggles, wandering away from the section with a sour look on his face. He questioned why he had agree to come on this road trip at all. It would have been bad enough being the third wheel to the happy couple, but now on top of it he had to spend the time with his ex. It was a lose-lose situation.

Thinking about his ex, he couldn’t help it as his eyes locked onto her where she stood at the magazine rack, sunglasses pushed up on top of her head. She looked good in her peach coloured sundress. Before he could let his thoughts get away from him, he forced himself to look away. That’s when he noticed the large, older man standing at the cash register, waiting for them to finish their purchases. The man was being extremely obvious as he looked over Cathy, clearly appreciating her dress as well.

Seth frowned and marched over to Cathy, draping his arm over his shoulders.

“Seth!” She jumped. “What are-”

“Shh, the guy working here is eying you.” He whispered, picking up a magazine. “It was giving me the creeps.”

“Oh.” Cathy settled down, accepting Seth’s hold. She even leaned into his shoulder… just to really sell it, she told herself.

“So, where you kids headin’?” The man at the cash asked as Dean approached with a box of twinkies. They were dusty, but those things lasted forever, he reasoned with Renee.

“Uhh, just a cabin little ways from here.” Dean answered, keeping it vague.

“Nice rom’ntic get’way, huh?” He man leered, showing off his several missing teeth.

“Something like that.” Dean shrugged it off. “How much for the twinkies?”

“Sure tha’s all you want?” The man tried.

“Yeah. You know what?” He threw a five dollar bill on the counter. “Keep the change.” Dean stormed out.

“Dean…” Renee started as the door to the store closed behind them.

“What? Did you want to spend anymore time in there?” He challenged, which Renee didn’t respond to. “That’s what I thought.”

He opened the box, happy to see the twinkies looked edible. He tore into a package, passing one of the two to Renee. They leaned against the car, waiting for Seth and Cathy.

The two exited shortly after, neither having bought anything. Renee saw that Seth’s arm was draped over Cathy and got excited, but Cathy shook her head subtly. Renee deflated at that.

“We set?” Seth asked.

“Yeah. Thank god we packed food.” Dean spoke around a mouthful of twinkie as he opened the door.

“Let’s get out of here.” Cathy agreed, pulling her sunglasses off her head and putting them on. The four climbed back into the car, happy to have stretched their legs. Renee and Dean noted that the climate between Seth and Cathy seemed less hostile as well, which hopefully meant the rest of the trip would go over smoothly.

Dean turned the key to start the car but the engine sputtered and failed.

“Are you serious?” Renee groaned. He huffed and tried again, only to get the same result.

“What the fuck, man?” Dean grumbled under his breath as he kept trying to get the engine to turn over. After five times he sat back with a loud groan.

“What do we do?” Cathy asked from the backseat.

“C’mon Rollins. Let’s take a look at this thing.” Dean ordered, climbing back out of the vehicle. “You two stay in here, okay?” He told Renee and Cathy before closing the door. Seth parroted the instructions for the girls to stay put before he joined Dean outside. Dean popped the hood easily, looking over the engine.

Cathy and Renee sat inside, anxiously waiting for the guys to fix the car. Neither of them liked that with the hood up, they couldn’t see the guys at all.

“I’ve got no service.” Cathy spoke, moving her phone around to try and get some reception.

“Let me check.” Renee dug her cell phone out of her pocket too, unsurprised to find that in the middle of nowhere, she wasn’t getting any reception either.

“Well, if the guys can’t get it figure out, we can go back in and ask if they have a phone.” Renee suggested.

“I really just wanna get out of here.” Cathy admitted. “I’d rather not talk to that guy again.”

“Yeah, me too... “ Renee agreed. “Not that we’re damsels in distress by any means, but we’ve got some pretty good men to take care of us while we figure it out.” She joked, trying to lighten the mood.

“You’ve got a good man.” Cathy corrected. “I’ve got… well, I don’t really have anyone.”

“Seth’s not gonna just leave you out here.” Renee argued. “No matter how he feels, those two are gonna figure this out.”

Cathy opened her mouth to respond, but they were interrupted by a loud thumping noise and the car jerking suddenly. Both women jumped, looking to the front of the car. They heard a loud yell from Seth before a second thump was heard, paired with another jostle of the car.

“The hell was that?” Renee asked.

“Seth?!” Cathy called loudly, knowing it wasn’t easy for the men to hear them through the car.

“Dean?!” Renee tried as well. It was very quiet, not even the sound of the men speaking could be heard. The only noise the women could hear was the whistling of the wind through the car.

Renee reached for the door handle only for Cathy to stop her with a shout.

“They’re not answering. I’m not just going to sit here.” Renee argued, opening the door.

The hood slammed closed, making both women jump. The man from the register leered at them through the windshield, Dean and Seth nowhere in sight. Cathy screamed as Renee slammed the door shut again.

“What the fuck do you want?!” Renee screamed at him.

“Where are Seth and Dean!?” Cathy yelled. The man bent down, disappearing behind the front of the vehicle. He came back up, an unconscious Seth hauled over his shoulder making both women scream again.

“Seth!” They both called for him as the man turned and started walking back into the store with him over his shoulders.

“What do we do?” Cathy sobbed.

“Dean’s still out there.” Renee answered, determined as she opened the door. Cathy yelled at her to stay in the car but she was already outside, leaving the door open.

Dean was laying on the ground, barely conscious with a trickle of blood flowing from his forehead.

“‘Nee?” He groaned when he saw Renee. “Ge’ back in-”

“He took Seth. You need to get up.” Renee urged frantically and took Dean’s hand in her own, trying to pull him upright. Her tiny frame couldn’t support his dead weight, making him flop back onto the ground. “Dean, please.” She sobbed. “You have to get up. Before he comes back.”

“Renee get back!” Cathy cried for her. The outburst made Renee look up, another man appearing in the doorway of the shop. He looked like the first, but he was leaner. The same grown out beard, but this one was greying more than the other man’s.

“Dean, please!” She sobbed, trying again to pull Dean up.

“Go!” He moaned, trying to push her back. She reluctantly let go and ran around the side of the car. She was about to slam the car door shut when the man’s meaty hand grabbed a hold of it. He ripped the door back open, Renee scurrying back towards the driver’s side, kicking out at him as she went. The man stood there, not moving, but smirking at her.

“Get away!” Cathy yelled, throwing her shoe at him. The man chuckled and looked down at the door, one fat finger pressing the door unlock button.

The click of the lock was followed by the driver’s side door being wrenched open, Renee falling out into the arms of the first man. She flailed and screamed as the larger man picked her up easily, carrying her back into the store.

“No!” Dean screamed, trying to pull himself upright. For good measure, the man kicked Dean in the head on the way by, effectively knocking him out.

“Just you an’ me, princess.” The man still standing at the passenger door sneered at Cathy, barely heard over the sound of Renee’s screaming. “Where you gonna run, huh? I like to chase.”

Cathy was shaking wildly as she reached for the door handle to the backseat driver’s side, thinking it was her best bet. It was farthest away from the man. She pushed it open and ran out, stumbling to the ground in her hurry. She heard the man laugh as he rounded the car. She scurried back to her feet, ready to run.

His meaty paw closed over her arm and she swung back at him. She caught him in the jaw, but he was barely phased. He pulled her close to him, her back to his chest, and she started flailing to get loose.

His free hand came up and covered her mouth and nose, cutting off her air. Cathy grabbed his arm, scratching at him to get free. He didn’t budge as darkness crept into the edges of her vision. She tried to bite at his hand, scratch him up, kick behind her to connect with any part of him she could. She was doing everything she could to get free, but it wasn’t long before she fell limp against him.

Renee was still conscious when they threw her into the cellar beside Seth, who was out cold. A welt had popped up across his forehead, but he looked fine otherwise. The man followed down the stairs and held her down as he secured her hands behind her back. The cool metal and the clicking made her think they were handcuffs but she couldn’t be sure. He then clipped her cuffs to a chain around a pole in the center of the room so she couldn’t leave. The chain could move up and down the pole, letting her stand or sit, but she couldn’t move from the spot.

Soon after, Cathy was brought in and thrown unceremoniously to the ground. She called for her friends, trying to get them to wake. She could see them both breathing, which was a very small comfort.

“Let us go!” She screamed when she heard the door open once more. She watched in horror as the two men threw Dean into the room, letting his body tumble down the few stairs until he crashed to the floor beside Seth.

“Dean!” She yelled, trying to run to him to make sure he was okay. The blood had smeared over his face during the fall. She couldn’t tell if he was still bleeding from the same place as earlier or if they had hurt him anymore. “What do you want, you sick fucks!?” She shouted at them. One of the men merely laughed as he closed the door. She heard the loud clicking of a lock before she was left alone with her unconcious friends.

“Dean! Jesus Dean, please wake up.” She cried, watching as Dean’s chest rose and fell as he inhaled and exhaled.

“Seth?” She called to the brunette, who was laying almost within reach of her feet. “Seth, wake up. Please!” She begged, managing to barely nudge him with the toe of her shoe.

She kept yelling, begging for one of the three to wake up. She didn’t know how long had passed when the door to the cellar opened again, one of the men descending the stairs with an old rag.

“Please, let us go.” Renee pled.

“You’re a mouthy one, ain’tcha?” The man sighed, bending down to her level.

“W-what are you-” Renee was cut off suddenly as he tied the rag around her mouth, silencing her. She gagged as the dirty rag touched her tongue. She tried not to think about where it had been before this.

“That’ll keep you quiet.” He had the nerve to smile at her. He patted her on the head like a dog, which she flinched away from violently. The act of defiance made him frown deeply, earning her a backhand across the face. Her head snapped to the side as she cried out in pain. The man chuckled at her before retreating back up the stairs.

Renee cried quietly to herself, unable to do much more until one of her friends woke up. There were no windows in the cellar, the only light coming from a flickering fluorescent bulb overhead. She had no way to tell how long she sat there, waiting. She pulled at her bonds until her wrists were raw and aching.

Seth was the first to stir, rolling onto his side with a long, drawn out groan. Renee tried to call for him around the gag in her mouth. She tried to nudge him with her foot again, but he had rolled in the opposite direction.

“The hell?” He growled, holding his head in his hands. Renee tried once more to get his attention and he finally looked over at her.

“Renee? The fuck?” He sat up quickly, a dizzy spell hitting him and he had to brace himself to avoid falling over, even from his sitting position. Once the spell passed, he slowly looked around the room.

“What the fuck is going on?” He gasped. Renee tried to motion for him to help her and he finally crawled over, pulling the rag away from her mouth.

“Seth! Thank god you’re awake.” She gushed.

“The fuck is going on? My head is killing me.” He breathed as he took in her appearance, a little confused from the blow to the head.

“That guy… the creepy one at the register. He jumped you and Dean or something. We couldn’t see, the hood of the car was up.” As she explained, Seth looked at the chain holding her to the pole, trying to get her undone. After a moment with no progress, Renee continued.

“Please go check on Dean, he was bleeding and I don’t know how bad it is.” She started crying again, the reality of the situation hitting her all over again as she had to explain it out loud.

Seth looked towards Dean, seeing the dried blood covering his face. He crawled over, rolling Dean onto his back. Renee watched with bated breath as he checked over his tag-team partner.

“I think he’s okay?” Seth told her, sounding unsure. “He’s not bleeding anymore, and he’s breathing.”

“Thank god.” Renee breathed a sigh of relief.

“Dean?” Seth gave his shoulder a shake but the man remained unresponsive.

“Cathy?” He tried, scurrying towards his ex-girlfriend. She whined in her unconscious state as Seth gave her a shake to rouse her. “She’s coming to. Do you know what he did to her?”

“No.” Renee shook her head. “They pulled me away and locked me down here. She was still in the car when he grabbed me.”

“They?” He asked, pulling Cathy up into his lap.

“Asshole has a friend.” Renee huffed as Cathy curled into Seth.

“Cathy? C’mon baby, wake up for me.” Seth urged, stroking her cheek.

“Seth?” She croaked as she woke, blinking up at him.

“Is she okay?” Renee called over, trying to see.

“I think so.” He answered, brushing Cathy’s hair out of her face.

“Renee?” Cathy asked, lifting her head to look for her friend. Once she caught sight of Renee, still tied to the pole, her eyes widened. “No. Oh god, no.”

“Shh, it’s okay.” Seth tried to soothe her as she started crying. “We’re gonna get out of here. We’ll figure it out.”

“Are you okay? He just grabbed you like it was nothi-”

“I’ll be fine. Headache, but nothing I can’t handle.” He reassured her, forcing a smile.

“How are we going to get out of here?” She whimpered.

“Shhh!” Dean hissed, making the other three in the room jump.

“Dean!” Renee called for him, trying to move closer to her husband, the chain rattling as she moved.

“Tryin’ sleep.” He grumbled, throwing an arm over his eyes. His groaned in pain as his forearm flopped into his aching head.

“Dean, you gotta wake up, man.” Seth told him.

“Seth?” Dean questioned, pushing his head up to stare at his friend. “What’re ya doin’ in my bedr’m?”

“Dean, are you okay?” Renee urged.

“Wh’re we?” He slurred, sitting up while holding his head. He froze when he saw Renee. “Why ya tied up?”

“Try to help Renee, let me check on Dean.” Seth told Cathy, who nodded. She moved to stand, but cried out in pain when she tried to put weight on her ankle. Seth steadied her right away.

“I… I must have sprained it when I fell out of the car.” Cathy thought out loud, wincing as she slowly tried to set weight on her foot again.

“Oh fuck… that fuckin’ bitch ass....” Dean groaned as he started to remember what happened. Seth helped Cathy over to Renee, setting her down before he moved to Dean.

Cathy looked behind Renee’s back, seeing the padlock that was keeping her handcuffs attached to the chair. Seth meanwhile was looking at Dean’s pupils, try to tell if he had a concussion.

“Back off, Rollins.” Dean groaned irritably, pushing Seth away. “Could just ask. Yeah, feels like I got my bell rung. The fuck he do to me?”

The four of them paused when footsteps were heard overhead, all four of them holding their breath. They heard the man above them giggling, making their stomachs drop. Luckily, the footsteps moved away from them.

“Dean, think you could pick this?” Cathy asked.

“Let me take a look… prob’ly.” Dean nodded as he pulled himself up to cross the room. Seth followed, helping Dean get there without stumbling too much.

Dean pressed a kiss to Renee’s temple before examining the padlock. “Yeah, this is pretty simple. Either of ya got a bobby pin?”

Cathy pulled a bobby pin out of her hair, handing it to Dean.

“Just relax babe,” He soothed Renee as he fiddled with the padlock. “I could pick this in my sleep.”

“Then why didn’t you?” She teased back, trying to laugh but it came out more like a sob. Seth set his hand on her leg in solidarity as they waited for Dean to work.

It took him longer than he would have liked, his vision swimming every now and then, but the telltale click of the lock giving way echoed through the room.

“Thank god.” Cathy breathed.

“Bring your arms around your front now.” Seth suggested to Renee.

“He’s right. Easier to manage.” Dean nodded, letting himself give in to the spinning of his head for a moment now that the lock was undone.

“Help?” Renee asked. Seth helped her to stand, then kept her balance while she brought her hands past her feet, stepping through until they were locked in front of her. She saw that she had been right in guessing they were handcuffs.

She saw Dean still sitting on the ground, holding his head, and dropped to her knees next to him. She leaned heavily into him, nuzzling into his shoulder.

“Thank you.” She whimpered.

“I got ya.’ Dean cooed in response, wrapping an arm around her.

“Are you okay?” She asked.

“I’ll live.” He tried to smile but it was a pathetic attempt.

“Know how to pick those cuffs?” Cathy asked.

“Yeah, just… I need a minute. Took some concentratin’...”

“Take your time.” Seth told him, trying to calm him down while eyeing the door warily.

“I was so worried when they threw you down the stairs.” Renee cried.

“Explains the pain.” Dean huffed. “C’mon now.” He gently pushed her away so he could look at the cuffs. “Sooner I get ya outta these, sooner we can prison break.”

The other three watched as Dean inspected the cuffs. He made a point of not focusing on how chaffed Renee’s wrists were from trying to get them off. He could worry about that later.

“Lock’s decent. Chain’s cheap. We might be able to break it with somethin’ heavy. Hammer or somethin’.”

Cathy had to stay sitting because of her ankle, but Renee, Seth and Dean all started looking through the cellar for a something that would work. Seth came across a small mallet when they heard the lock of the cellar door unlatch. Dean grabbed Renee and pulled her back towards Cathy, on the opposite side of the room from the door. Seth crouched down low beside the concrete stairs.

“Well, I see our guests woke up.” The second man, the one who hadn’t been inside the store, drawled as he started to descend.

“Fuck you.” Dean spat, standing in front of the women, Renee huddled next to Cathy.

“Oooh, smart mouth on the bleeder.” He laughed. “Boy when you went down. Hooo, we had a good laugh. Bled like a stuck pig ya did. Had the blonde all worried.”

“Don’t fucking look at her, fuck face.” Dean snarled, taking a step to block Renee from the guy’s view.

“Oh, you’re gonna be fun to break.” The man sneered.

“Funny. I was thinking the same about you.” Dean spat back. Seth took that as a good cue to lunge, hitting the man in the head as hard as he could with the mallet. The man crumpled to the ground in a heap, already unconscious. Dean ran forward, giving him two swift kicks to the head for good measure.

“C’mon. Let’s go.” Seth urged, nodding towards the stairs.

“My foot.” Cathy reminded him as Dean helped Renee up.

“Shit… Dean, take this.” He handed Dean the mallet. Dean took it and stood at the bottom of the stairs anxiously.

Seth scooped Cathy into his arms, carrying her easily. She wrapped her arms around his neck, holding onto him tightly. “Don’t worry. I’ve got you. I’m gonna get you out of here.” He promised.

“Stay close.” Dean warned Renee before ascending the stairs. Renee kept her hands on his lower back, both to stay close and to help steady him.

Dean stuck his head out, looking left and right. There was no sign of the other man and he crept forward, motioning for the others to follow.

“Left.” Renee whispered to him, remembering the route the men had taken to throw her into the cellar. Dean gave a short nod and turned left.

“Hold up.” Seth whispered, making the other two stop. He turned back towards the door and pulled it shut. “Babe, get the lock.” He told Cathy, who was able to snap the lock shut easier than he would have.

“Smart.” Renee nodded.

They stayed low, moving quickly and trying to stay quiet as Renee guided them through the house. She led them to a door at the end of a long hallway before she grabbed Dean’s arm, stopping him.

“I think this leads back to the store. He’s probably there.” She cautioned.

“Well he’s not gonna get the jump on us this time.” Dean growled, standing to his full height. With a loud roar he kicked the door open, charging into the room.

“For fuck’s sake!” Seth huffed, setting Cathy down next to Renee and rushing forward to be Dean’s back up. Cathy leaned against the wall, keeping her weight off her injured foot.

The women watched as the men stood back to back, much as they would if they were working together in the ring, searching for the other man.

“He’s not here.” Seth told them as Dean lowered the mallet. Cathy wrapped an arm around Renee’s shoulders and hobbled forward.

“We need a phone.” Renee told them. “The car wasn’t starting, remember?”

“Fuck!” Seth hissed, rushing towards the counter. There was an old landline next to the register but when he picked it up, there was no dial tone.

“There’s no service out here. We tried earlier.” Cathy mentioned. “What do we do?”

“We walk.” Seth sighed.

“We’re in the middle of nowhere.” Renee pointed out.

“And I ain’t stayin’ here. Let’s go.” Dean added.

Seth crouched next to Cathy, instructing her to get on his back. The four of them left the store, seeing the men had rummaged through their vehicle. Their suitcases were spilled open all over the place, articles of clothing having blown away in the wind. The cooler Dean and Renee had packed was left open, but there was still water inside. Renee grabbed a bag, Dean helping her to fill it with the water. They had no idea how long they’d have to walk until they found help.

“Here.” Dean held an open water bottle up for Renee to drink from. She guzzled half of it down, he throat still raw from screaming and crying while the other three had been unconscious.

Seth crouched down, picking up a large branch that was laying on the ground. It wasn’t ideal, but it would work as a weapon if that first man made an appearance.

The quartet started walking down the road, Dean’s arm over Renee’s shoulder to help him keep walking through the dizzy spells of his concussion.

They had been walking for about 15 minutes when Dean stumbled badly, catching Renee off guard. The two fell to the ground. Renee was unable to catch herself properly with her hands cuffed and fell hard on her side.

“Shit. M’ sorry.” Dean slurred as he held his head. “Fuck, you okay?”

“You good?” Seth asked, crouching beside them.

“Head’s killin’ me. Think I’m gonna puke.” Dean admitted, leaning forward just before he started dry heaving.

“I’ll be okay.” Renee told Seth, ignoring her now aching arm. She scooted towards Dean, rubbing his back the best she could.

“We have to keep moving.” Cathy spoke up, looking back the way they came.

“Give him a minute.” Renee spoke up.

“No, she’s right.” Dean croaked, pushing himself to standing before helping Renee up. He inspected her arm, seeing she had scraped it up in her fall. He wiped the blood away with his shirt.

“Are you okay?” Renee questioned him.

“Lived through worse.” He tried to grin at her, but it was cut short as he lurched forward, dry heaving again.

“Someone’s coming!” Cathy called happily, pointing down the road where they could see a vehicle kicking up dust.

Renee guided Dean as the four of them stood off to the side of the road, out of the way of the speeding vehicle. Cathy started waving her hands from Seth’s back, trying to flag them down. The truck stopped next to them, the person inside putting it in park but leaving the engine running as he opened the door.

“Well, well, well,” the man drawled as he stepped out of the vehicle. The man was tall and lanky, unlike the other two they had encountered. He had a thick accent like the other two, but had a noticeably nicer smile. “What do we have here?”

“Please, o-our car broke down.” Cathy started.

“Doens’t look mighty good, all this blood.” He grinned, sauntering towards the group. Renee moved closer to Dean as the man approached. “And you’re all cuffed up.”

“Long story.” Seth butted in. “Can you help us get to the nearest town?”

“Nearest town? Son, your best bet is to head back the way you was comin’ from.” The man told them. “Bet Charlie’d be real happy to see y��all again.”

Dread filled the four as the man smirked maliciously. Dean pushed Renee behind him, wobbling as he held the mallet up.

“Stay back.” He growled. Seth set Cathy down again, coming up to stand beside Dean.

“Hold on, no need for that.” The man had the audacity to laugh. “Don’t want any trouble now.”

“Oh you’ve got trouble.” Seth spat, swinging the branch to keep the man at bay.

“Fiesty ain’t’cha? I see why Charlie wanted y’all so much.” He practically giggled.

“Charlie can lick my left one. Get the fuck back.” Dean snarled.

“That’s enough outta you.” The man’s demeanor changed immediately, his smirk dropping as he reached behind him.

Seth didn’t hesitate, bolting forward and swinging the branch hard enough to knock him off his feet. Dean followed, landing a hard kick to the man’s gut.

The women hung back, knowing they couldn’t help in their current predicaments. Both of their blood ran cold when they saw the man had been reaching for a gun hanging off his belt.

The man was a blubbering, bloody mess by the time the men finished with him. Seth bent down and plucked the gun from the holster, tucking it into his waistband.

“Use one o’ those before?” Dean panted, looking pale.

“No, but I’m guessing I’m a better shot than you at this point.” He told him. Dean stumbled, Seth reaching out to steady him. “Renee, help me get him in the truck.”

Renee ran over, placing herself under Dean’s arm. The man was nearly dead weight on the other two at this point, dragging his feet.

“‘M fine.” He slurred.

“Get in the truck.” Seth told him, not wanting to argue. They managed to push him into the small backseat, Seth helping Renee to climb in with him. She laid his head in her lap, brushing his hair back.

“Tired.” Dean mumbled.

“I know, just wait til we get on the road, okay? Once we’re far away from this shit hole, you can sleep.” Renee pled.

“Killjoy.” He huffed.

Seth meanwhile rounded the truck to pick Cathy up, depositing her in the passenger seat.

“Are you okay to drive?” She asked, cupping his cheek.

“I’ll be fine.” He nodded. He started to pull away when Cathy slipped her hand around the back of his head, pulling him into a kiss.

“Get us out of here.” She whispered against his lips. Seth nodded, staring at her in surprise before he closed the door, rushing around the front of the truck. He climbed in, cursing when he noticed the truck was a stick shift.

“Can you drive stick?” Renee asked from the back, looking up from Dean.

“Yeah. Been a while though…” Seth grumbled as he situated himself. It took some thinking, especially with the headache he’d been sporting since he woke up, but within a few moments he had the truck peeling down the road.

Cathy turned to look out the rear window, making sure no one else was coming to get them, but they were alone on the road. After a few minutes, everyone felt like they could breathe easier.

“R’ly wanna sleep.” Dean mumbled, his eyes fluttering closed.

“Okay, babe. You can sleep.” Renee told him, leaning down to kiss his forehead.

“Th’nk’ya.” He mumbled, reaching blindly for her hand. Once he had it in his own, his breathing evened out.

“Is he gonna be okay?” Cathy asked, looking back at the married couple.

“I hope so.” Renee breathed.

“Ambrose can handle it.” Seth told the women, hoping to alleviate their worries. “He’s had worse concussions than this.”

“Yeah, and a trainer right there to look at him.” Renee pointed out.

“He’ll be fine. We’ll all be fine.” He promised, reaching over to rest his hand on Cathy’s leg. She gripped his hand tightly in her own, silence filling the car as they drove. None of them would call it a comfortable silence by any means, all three of them trying to make sense of what they had just gone through - replaying it in their heads, wondering what they could have done differently to prevent it - but as they got further away, as their aches and pains flared up as their adrenaline waned, the tension left their bodies as they realized how lucky they were to have escaped.

#Dean Ambrose x Renee Young fic #Seth Rollins x Cathy Kelley fic #I don't even know what to tag this as y'all #Glowrious writings #glowrious requests

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scribbles-by-kate · 7 years ago

Text

A Girlfriend for Christmas - Chapter Two

Neal never thought his mother would take his invitation to come for Christmas seriously, but she did. Having made things awkward, he proceeds to make them even more awkward by telling a lie about his friend Belle, also staying for Christmas, and his father, but can a lie become the truth?

Chapter One: https://scribbles-by-kate.tumblr.com/post/169037428770/a-girlfriend-for-christmas-chapter-one

Apologies for the messy links, and apologies if they don't work properly. I'm without a computer at the moment, and typing on my tablet doesn't let me make the links look nice.

Coming up, Belle has a daring idea, and Gold decides to play along. They both slip naturally into their roles, which...comes as no surprise to anyone, I'm sure ;)

Chapter Two

Milah did not see Gold's shock at that announcement, because she was busy staring at Belle, who, to her credit, managed to hide her own extreme surprise at Neal's words.

'Girlfriend?' Milah asked.

'That's what I said, Ma,' Neal said, through gritted teeth.

'But you're so young!'

'Wasn't your last boyfriend like fifteen years younger than you, Ma?' Neal asked.

'But he wasn't younger than you, dear.'

'Oh, so that's where you draw the line, huh? At my age? So, can they be like six months older than me, or...?'

'Neal,' Emma hissed. This was so awkward. Neal was a pretty down to earth guy, but his mother could always get his back up, and there was almost always a huge fight when they were together. So much for a relaxing Christmas break!

'Henry, go play in your room, please,' she requested.

Henry went, only too pleased to get away from the adults and their tension.

'I'm gonna make us all a drink,' Emma said, 'because I think we could all use one. Besides, it's Christmas. Belle, you wanna help me?'

'Sure,' she said. She looked up at Gold and smiled a bit. 'Scotch?'

'Please: you're an angel.' And he spoke having momentarily forgotten what Neal said about her being his girlfriend. He remembered pretty quickly, though, when he saw Milah's venomous look at her. No, no, no, he was not having this. He was going to kill Neal for this.

'Milah, why don't you take a seat in the living room and we'll join you in a minute?' He did not know how he was managing to keep his cool right now.

She did, calling to Emma that she'd have a glass of Chardonay.

'She'll be lucky if I don't pour it all over her,' Emma grumbled. She headed for the kitchen, Belle following.

'Outside, now,' Gold growled at his son.

Neal followed, feeling like he was heading for the gallows.

They walked out to the back deck, off the dining room, where Milah wouldn't be able to hear or see them. Gold refused to look at his son for a long moment. He was very, very angry with him and he didn't want to unleash the full torrent of his anger on his boy, so he was trying to tamp it down, and not having much luck.

Finally, he spoke. 'Do you mind telling me what the hell that was in there?' he asked. 'Do you mind telling me what you thought you were doing?'

'Yeah, I know, I screwed up,' Neal apologised.

'You're damn right you screwed up,' Gold snapped.

'Look, I'm sorry, ok? I shouldn't have said anything to Ma. I really didn't think she'd come. I was totally being sarcastic, but I guess she didn't get it.'

His father stared at him. He squirmed a bit.

'Neal, do you think I'm angry with you because you asked your mother here?' Gold asked.

'Wha- Aren't you?'

'Well, yes, but mostly I'm angry because you just put Belle in an impossible position! She's your friend: how could you do that to her?'

'Wait...'

'Your mother would have gotten bored by tomorrow and gone back to the city, but now, because of what you've done, she'll make Belle's stay a nightmare, and she'll stay for the whole of Christmas. Did you even think, Neal?' he demanded.

'I-I was tryna help, I swear!' Neal protested.

'Come on, then, explain this "help",' Gold requested.

'Ok, I just thought that if Ma thought you had a girlfriend, she'd leave you alone, and we could all have a nice vacation.'

'But don't you think the question of whether or not I have a girlfriend should be decided by me and the woman you've paired me up with out of the blue?'

Neal squirmed some more. 'Well, fair point, but you like Belle, right? I mean, you could...pretend?'

'Neal Bailey Gold, do you hear yourself?' his father demanded. 'What kind of harebrained scheme have you cooked up? How dare you put Belle in this position? I don't care if you were trying to help, you've just made a huge bloody mess that I can't get us out of without making Belle and I look like fools.'

'Blame me. Tell Ma I was being sarcastic again.'

'I do blame you!' Gold shouted. 'Jesus Christ, Neal! You know what a vicious tongue your mother has. You think telling her the truth is going to just make this go away? Did you see the look she gave Belle back there or were you too busy congratulating yourself on your sarcasm? Sometimes you don't bloody think, Neal!'

'Look, I'm sorry, ok? I really was just trying to help. She's always such a total bitch to you, and I know you can't send her packing because she'll talk and spread lies about you, so I thought if I said what I said, it would keep her being civil to you. I just...didn't really think it through.'

'You never do,' his father pointed out snidely, and then sighed. Neal had acted out of love, acted stupidly, but at least it was out of love.

'I'll go sort this out,' Neal said.

'How do you plan to do that?' Gold wondered.

'Don't know?' True to form, Neal tended to act first and think later, which was precisely what had gotten them into this mess. He ran a hand through his hair, looking apologetically at his father.

Gold sighed and then both men turned as the door opened.

Belle had done some thinking. Neal's words 'papa's girlfriend' had been chasing each other around her head for the last several minutes. Unlike Gold, she had not forgotten them when she offered to bring him a Scotch. She didn't think she'd ever forget those words. She wasn't sure what Neal's angle had been, but she knew enough about that woman to know that she'd made Tristan very unhappy, and continued to do so every time they met. If Neal had been trying to shield his father in some way, she could understand that, and she wanted to help if she could, which was why she'd gone to find the two of them, Gold's Scotch in her hand.

'Belle,' Gold greeted.

'Hey,' she returned. 'Brought you something.' She held up the glass.

'You're sweet: thank you.' He took the glass, his fingers brushing hers.

Neal didn't think anyone could miss the electricity between the two of them, apart from maybe them, and he didn't know how his father couldn't read Belle's smile for what it was. How could he not see that she liked him?

'Neal, could I have a word with your dad?' Belle asked now.

'Knock yourself out,' he said. 'What do you want me to tell Ma, Papa?'

'Don't tell her anything,' Belle answered for him. 'We'll sort this out between us.'

'Ok,' Neal said, smiling as he walked away.

'Belle?' Gold asked, once his son had gone inside.

'Would it help?' she asked.

'Would what help?'

'Would it help if she thought you had a girlfriend?'

His eyes widened. 'I...' He knocked back the Scotch instead of answering.

'Look, I have sort of a sense about people, alright?' she began, 'and I can tell that she's a pretty nasty piece of work. Neal told me she made you unhappy.'

He snorted. 'Miserable, more like.'

'Ok, and she'll try to do the same while she's here?'

There was usually something else that came first with Milah, but he didn't want to talk about that right now.

'Well, she never wastes an opportunity to get a dig in, put it that way,' he said

'Then I think that what Neal was trying to do was cut her off at the knees, make her believe you were happy and her barbs wouldn't work. You know, I'm happy to help with that.'

He stared at her. 'Seriously? You want to pretend to be my girlfriend to keep my ex-wife at bay?'

'Yes, if it'll help you.'

He shook his head. 'Belle, you don't know what that woman is like. She wouldn't give you a moment's peace. She'll ask you awkward questions. She'll watch you like a hawk.'

'Sounds like she's jealous,' she said.

'Not the way you think,' he said. 'She doesn't want me, but she wants me available to her should she ever decide to come back to me. What she really wants is my money.'

'And, what, you're supposed to just be waiting around, pining for her?'

'In her ideal world, yes.'

'Then she sounds like a really nasty piece of work,' she said. 'But I meant what I said: I'm happy to help.'

'Why?' he asked.

'Because you're my friend and I like you,' she said, and smiled. Belle actually felt as though she was standing outside herself, watching herself right now. She'd never been so daring.

'Belle, thank you, but have you thought about what such a ruse involves?'

'Making her believe we're madly in love?'

'Pretty much, yeah,' he said. 'That's too much to ask of you, Belle.'

'Why don't you let me decide that?' she suggested. 'Look, what do couples do a lot of?'

'I don't know: hold hands?'

She slipped her hand into his and squeezed. 'There: easy enough. Ok, what else? They hug, right?'

He nodded and she hugged him. He hugged her back.

'See? We do that already. We also talk and laugh together, which is another thing couples do. What else?'

'Kiss, which is a line friends don't cross,' he said.

'Well, we can kiss on the cheek, and anything else we can fake,' she said.

'How on earth do you propose to do that?' he asked, amazed.

'Like this,' she said, and she wiped off some of her lipstick with her thumb and smeared it on his neck above his collar. 'A lot can be achieved with suggestive noises behind a closed door as well,' she added. She could hardly believe what she was saying, but she didn't want to take any of it back. If it would help her get closer to him...

'Do you...do this kind of thing often?' he asked, not sure whether he was shocked or amused.

She giggled. 'No.' She shrugged. 'I guess I just like a little intrigue. I read a book once where this exact scenario happened. In my defence, I was in my teens and going through a romance novel phase.'

'And what was the outcome of the story?' he asked, curious.

She smiled. 'Worked like a charm. I think the couple even ended up dating for real.'

Gold nodded. Well, that would be the ideal outcome here. He did not just think that, did he? Was he seriously contemplating doing this?

'I can't believe I'm even considering this,' he said, shaking his head. 'I must be mad.'

'Might be fun,' she said, smiling.

He laughed. 'You are fun: this is crazy.'

She laughed. 'So?' she asked then. 'I'm in if you are.'

He sighed. 'Well, I can't deny I'm intrigued. I've never managed to avoid Milah's venom before, or her wheedling.' He looked away.

'Poor Tristan. Was she really awful?'

'Ah, look, there was a pair of us in the mess that was our marriage,' he said, turning and leaning against the railing. 'We married before we knew who we really were.' He shrugged. 'It is what it is.'

'But you manage to be civil to her,' she pointed out.

'I try, for Neal, but I don't know why I bother, really: he screams at her enough for both of us. She left him, you see, and he's never forgiven her.'

'Have you?'

'I'd rather not dwell on it,' he said after a moment, looking away again. He was not proud of how he'd handled himself with Milah. It was really rather humiliating, looking back. 'We'd better get back in. It's freezing out here.'

She caught his hand. 'Wait a sec,' she said.

'What are you doing?' he asked huskily as she ruffled his hair and unbuttoned another of his shirt buttons, her cheeks flushing in a way she knew she couldn't blame on the cold. The sight of her unbuttoning his shirt made him flush too.

'Making it look like we warmed each other up,' she said, pulling her blouse from the waist of her pants and undoing a button of her own before raking her fingers through her hair, messing it up a bit. He managed to stifle his moan.

'Ok,' she said, 'chase me.' And she backed away.

'What?'

'Chase me. I'll let you catch up with me as we go into the living room. Put your arms around my waist and kiss my cheek. She'll see it.'

He stared at her. 'I wonder if you're really some kind of criminal mastermind posing as a librarian,' he said, amazed.

She laughed, turned, and ran.

He followed. He realised he'd probably follow this woman into hell. Well...it looked like they were doing this. He didn't know whether he was surprised...or felt it was inevitable.

Belle ran through the house, squealing.

'Tristan Gold, you are incorrigible!' she cried. 'Look at me, I'm a mess!'

'You look beautiful,' he called. 'Come here and kiss me.' Well, in for a penny, in for a pound, he decided. And the Scotch may have helped loosen him up as well. And, actually, it wasn't at all strange, playing this part with Belle. He was playing how he felt, really. Perhaps he could get up the courage to tell her that.

'You've had all the kisses you're gonna get, mister,' she returned firmly,

'Oh, we'll see about that,' he said, catching her as she moved into the living room.

She squealed again, laughing as he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her cheek as planned.

It was pretty near perfect. Milah saw the whole thing. Emma and Neal did too. Their eyes widened and Emma's jaw dropped, but luckily Milah couldn't see them from where she was sitting.

'Tristan!' Belle scolded, pulling away and making a show of fixing her hair and tucking her blouse back in. 'Sorry,' she apologised to the others. 'Someone needs to learn to keep his hands to himself when we have company.' And she shot a pointed look at Gold.

'Yes,' he said, 'someone does.' And he shot his own pointed look at her.

She laughed. 'Yeah, ok.'

'Come here,' he said. 'Your hair's fine: come here.' And he pulled her into his arms. 'You're lovely, Belle,' he whispered. God, this felt so good, so right, so real.

She sighed, acting like he was kissing her neck.

'Jeez, get a room, you two,' Neal called, half serious, but also cottoning on to what Belle and his father had sorted out. He could only hope that their pretense would lead them to reveal their real feelings for each other before they all went back to the city.

'Actually, that reminds me,' Gold said, looking at his son. 'Milah, give me your keys and I'll get your bags. Neal, you can help me.'

Neal took his mother's keys and stood up.

'I'll help,' Belle said, following them, holding Tristan's hand.

'So...' Neal hedged as they walked to his mother's car.

'So, Belle and I have been dating for six months and we're madly in love, and I will never forgive you for putting us in this position, Neal.' And his father glared at him.

'You could have said it was a joke,' Neal said.

'And have your mother use it against your father every opportunity she gets?' Belle asked. 'Come on, Neal, you know as well as I do that that wasn't an option.'

He looked at her. She really cared about his papa, like, really cared.

'We've got another problem now, though,' Gold said, tense. This was much too much to ask of Belle.

'What?' she asked.

'We don't have enough rooms,' he said. 'If she's gonna stay, I have to give her your room, Belle, which means...'

'You and I have to share,' she said. 'Ok, well, then that's what we'll do,' she said, with an ease which belied her suddenly racing heart.

'You're seriously ok with this, Belle? Isn't anything about this bothering you?'

'Look, you were nice enough to ask me to stay with you for the holiday,' she said, 'and you've been a good friend, so I wanna help, alright? Let me pay you back for your kind invitation.'

'That doesn't need repaying,' he said; 'besides, you doing this is far too much. It's too much to ask, Belle.'

'But you didn't ask,' she said: 'I offered, and I'm happy to do it. We're both reasonable adults: we can make this work. It's only for a few days. Then she'll go back to her life and you have the benefit of having a little peace from her.' And maybe she, Belle, could muster up the courage to tell him that this was never an act for her.

'Why would you do this, though? I mean, friends don't go to such lengths to help each other out. Pretending to be dating? Friends don't do that.'

'I know what it's like, ok?' she admitted quietly.

'You know what what's like?' he asked.

'Having someone in your life who makes it their mission to make you miserable.' She squirmed a bit. Nobody knew this, but she trusted Tristan, and she knew he would understand, if anyone could.

'Ah, Belle,' he said softly, 'who would do such a thing to you, sweetheart?'

She flushed at the endearment and then sighed. 'My father.'

'What?'

She nodded. 'Mum died when I was sixteen and it was just me and him. I couldn't do anything right in his eyes. It's why I don't spend Christmas with him, why I don't really see him at all. Just got to a point where I couldn't take it any more, you know?' She swiped at her eyes.

'God, Belle,' Gold whispered. 'Come here: I'm so sorry.'

She let him hold her. It felt nice. She'd never felt so safe.

Gold loved having her in his arms. She fit there, and he felt like he'd found a missing piece of himself.

Neal watched them as he got his mother's bags. He'd known Belle and her dad didn't get along, but she'd never told him the full story, hadn't wanted to talk about it. She'd told it to his father so easily, though. And seeing them together, it looked like how things were meant to be. He knew that, despite the initial awkwardness, this would all work out alright in the end.

He took the bags up, and moved Belle's to his father's room, knowing that he wouldn't introduce any further arguments.

By the time he arrived back down stairs, Belle and his father were sitting side-by-side on the couch.

'Neal introduced us, actually,' Belle was saying to Milah. 'We were having a fundraiser at the library where I work, and Neal brought him along. What was it, about a year ago now?' she asked.

'A year ago last November,' Gold supplied.

'And how long have you been...uh...?'

'Dating?' Belle asked. 'Six months. I'd been hoping he'd ask me out, and he did, though it took him long enough.' And she looked up at Gold fondly and smiled. That was true, too: even though she worried about Neal's reaction, she still hoped Tristan would ask her out. She thought maybe she wouldn't have to worry so much about what Neal said any more, though, since he'd created this situation.

'Didn't think I'd have a chance, really,' Gold said, revealing how he really felt.

Belle read the look on Milah's face easily. It was a look that said he wouldn't have a chance with any woman. Well, Belle was going to show her she was wrong.

'Oh, I felt the same way about him,' Belle said, looking at her, putting her hand on his leg gently. 'Tristan's smart and funny and kind, and I never dreamed that he'd like me back.'

'But I did,' he said. And he really did.

She smiled at him. He wanted to kiss her. He settled for kissing the tip of her nose.

Belle hummed happily and leaned into him. He put his arm around her and she rested her head on his shoulder. She saw Milah glare at her.

'I guess if you're lucky, you find your missing piece,' Neal said quietly, joining Emma, 'the one person who understands you, who knows what you've been through.'

Milah didn't say anything. She did not look happy, though.

0After Milah's arrival, they finished decorating the tree. Milah made suggestions about alterations, which were ignored, so she just sat with her wine and some magazines as the others finished. She watched her ex-husband with his girlfriend, while pretending not to notice them.

They certainly seemed close, all touchy-feely with each other. It was sickening, really. She needed Tristan's attention focused on her: that was why she was here. She'd always managed to get his attention before, and she would again.

Now, Gold was making dinner. Belle was helping. Neal and Emma were watching. Milah was too, though she was pretending to drink her wine and be engrossed in her magazines.

'They're really cute,' Emma said, watching her father-in-law and Belle. 'They've got this whole thing of being in their own little world going on.'

Neal nodded. 'Yeah, it's something. I mean, I knew they liked each other, but I think maybe it's more than that.'

'Like they could fall in love.'

He nodded.

'You ok with having a stepmom who's younger than you?' she asked.

'Let's get to them admitting how they feel first,' he said, and then smiled. 'But, yeah, as long as Papa's happy, and I know Belle cares about him. She was willing to do this whole thing so he wouldn't have to deal with Ma being a bitch.'

'Think she'll stay for the whole holiday?' Emma asked.

'Hope not, but Papa thinks she will. He thinks she'll make things difficult for Belle.'

'I think Belle can handle her.'

Neal grinned. 'Me too.'

Belle was having a wonderful time. Tristan was so sweet, and even though they were pretending to be more intimate than they were because Milah was here, their banter felt so natural, and when she was reaching for a bowl on a high shelf, and couldn't quite get it, he came and put his hand on her waist and said 'here, sweetheart, let me', and took it down for her. Milah couldn't have seen or heard them because she'd gone up to her room, but he was still so sweet, so tactile, and called her sweetheart, and she fell a little more for him.

'Thanks,' she murmured.

'You're quite welcome,' he returned, smiling.

Henry came in then, wondering when dinner would be ready. His mom and dad had told him that Grandpa and Belle liked each other, so they might spend a lot of time together while they were here, and he was happy about that. He liked Belle, and he wouldn't mind at all having her for his grandma.

Emma and Neal had decided to tell Henry what they knew to be true rather than confuse things by telling him that they were only pretending to be together because of his grandma. Henry was a very smart child, but he didn't need to know the nature of his grandparents' acrimonious relationship. Emma and Neal also felt Henry not knowing the exact nature of this arrangement would lend some authenticity to the situation, as well as help Belle and Gold along, and they were not disappointed.

Having been told dinner would be about half an hour, Henry was satisfied, but he loitered in the kitchen, hoping there might be some sweet treat for dessert and there might be something he could lick from a spoon. He observed his grandfather with his arm around Belle as they checked the roast.

'Just a few more minutes for browning, and then we'll take it out to rest,' his grandpa said.

'Mhm,' Belle agreed, and carefully put the roast back in the oven.

'Grandpa?' Henry asked.

'Yes, Henry?'

'Are you gonna marry Belle?'

Neal could not have planned that better if he tried. As Henry asked the question, his mother walked into the kitchen, and he had to turn away to hide his grin.

'Henry, that's not an appropriate question,' Emma said, keeping her composure and managing not to smile, though it was pretty hard. Belle was blushing and Gold looked a bit stunned. Milah observed the scene, displeased, but saying nothing.

Gold looked at Belle, who laughed a bit, unable to help it. It seemed the right thing to do, because it loosened Gold up somehow.

'What would you think of that, Henry?' he asked his grandson, reaching for Belle's hand.

'I think it would be awesome,' Henry said, 'Belle's really nice.'

'Aren't you gonna ask me what I think, Papa?' Neal asked, grinning.

'You don't get a say,' Gold rerturned loftily.

'So, are you gonna get married?' Henry persisted.

'Well, we're still getting to know each other Henry,' Belle said diplomatically. 'Marriage isn't something you rush. You have to be sure, because once I get married, I want it to be forever.'

'Me too,' Gold said, hugging her to him.

'Ok,' Henry said, satisfied, and headed back into the living room to watch some TV before dinner.

Belle turned further into Gold's embrace to hide her smile. He wrapped his other arm around her and they stood like that for a moment.

'Ok, let's leave the lovebirds alone,' Neal said. 'Come on, Em. You too, Ma.'

Milah watched the couple a bit longer, though they ignored her.

'Ma,' Neal said sharply: 'out.'

'You know that's going to end in tears,' she muttered to him as she passed.

'Not if I can help it,' he returned firmly. 'Butt out, Ma: you've hurt him enough. If you do anything to get in their way, I'll make you regret it.'

She glared at him, but said nothing.

Belle sighed. 'Have they gone?'

Gold looked. 'Yeah. You ok?'

'Mhm.' She hugged him. 'Your ex really doesn't like me: I can feel her eyes like daggers.'

'I'm sorry, Belle.' He rubbed her arm soothingly. 'I'll tell her to go.'

She shook her head. 'No, don't do that. We're gonna teach her a lesson, you and I. She can't keep acting like a dog in the manger and assuming you'll just be available to her. She has to accept that you don't belong to her and that she doesn't get to walk all over you. She can't treat you like crap and expect you to just take it.'

He hugged her again. 'You're a wonderful woman, Belle,' he murmured.

'Well, you're pretty wonderful yourself,' she returned, hugging him back.

0Between them, Belle and Gold served dinner and called everyone to eat. When Milah moved to sit in the seat at Gold's right, Neal cut her off.

'Belle, sit right here,' he called, as she was moving down the table, seeing that Milah had beaten her to her favoured seat.

Milah glared at her son, but moved down the table, and Belle came and sat beside Gold, who smiled.

'Thank you, Neal,' Belle said, as he sat beside her.

'Not a problem,' he said, satisfied with his manoeuvring. He was even happier when his father sent him a grateful look. Yes, whatever his mother had planned, she could just forget about it. He wasn't going to let anything come between his father and Belle. The way the two of them smiled and chatted over dinner, he didn't think it would be long before they finally admitted their feelings for each other.

Milah watched the pair, very dissatisfied. She needed Tristan's attention on her, but it seemed she had her work cut out for her.

That girl was good, she had to give her that: all smiles and gentle touches. Milah saw through her, though. What could she want from Tristan but his money? Well, she was here first, so everything he had was hers by right, and she would get what she came for.

'Alright?' Gold asked Belle.

'Kiss me,' she murmured.

He hesitated. He really wanted to, but friends didn't kiss, and she'd said kisses on the cheek, not proper mouth kisses.

'Are you sure?' he asked then, because he really wanted to, and if she said it was ok...

She nodded. 'She's trying to get your attention,' she said. She'd seen Milah toss her hair and adjust her dress to show off her...assets. As much as she wanted to help Tristan, she felt possessive too. She knew she didn't really have the right, but she couldn't help it. She liked him so much.

'That wouldn't surprise me,' he said. 'Wouldn't be the first time.'

'So, show her it won't work,' she said.

He smiled, cupped her cheek, and kissed her. It was a fairly tame kiss, but it went on long enough that it took them away from the world. It felt like just them, and when they parted, their heavy breaths mingled, their hearts beating fast, and they both knew they wanted to do that again.

Milah fumed. She'd just have to get him alone later, when his little girlfriend went to bed.

0Emma, Neal, and Henry cleaned up after dinner. Gold and Belle curled up together on the couch, a Christmas movie playing. Milah joined them, intending to make things awkward for them, but they largely ignored her, just snuggling together and watching the movie.

Neal, Emma, and Henry soon joined them, and two movies later, everyone was calling it time for bed. Henry had fallen asleep, so Neal carried him up. Emma said good night too. Milah waited to see what Belle and Gold were doing.

'You go on, sweetheart,' Gold was saying: 'I'll be right behind you.'

Belle nodded, kissed his cheek, and headed upstairs.

Gold picked up the cups and bowls from the drinks and snacks they'd had while watching the movies, and brought them into the kitchen. He was aware that Milah was watching him, and he knew what she wanted, but she was going to be disappointed.

'I've wanted to talk to you alone all day,' she began.

'Oh?' he asked, as if he didn't know that.

She nodded and moved towards him, swaying her hips.

'I've missed you, Tristan,' she said, raising her hand to touch his cheek. He moved away.

'I've heard that before,' he said dispassionately.

'I know, but this time I mean it,' she said.

'How much?'

'A lot,' she said, misunderstanding him.

'No, how much money, Milah?' he asked. 'How much are you in the hole for this time? Let's not pretend you want anything more from me than that.'

Shooting her a forbidding look, he walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

She was a bit discomfited. This wasn't how this went between them. Normally all she had to do was say she missed him and he'd look at her with those pathetic puppy eyes and she'd have him eating out of the palm of her hand. She could feed him any sob story and he'd believe it.

'It's not about money,' she lied. 'I think we should talk, really talk, really sort things out.'

'What things would those be?' he wondered, knowing that she was trying to manipulate him.

'I really have missed you. I mean it this time.'

He rolled his eyes. He was saved from having to reply when his bedroom door opened and Belle appeared. Perfect timing, he thought.

'Good night, Milah,' he said. He turned away and went to Belle, who reached out and took his hand.

'Come to bed,' she murmured, and he followed her in.

Next time: Gold and Belle both want the ruse not to be a ruse.

#rumbelle #rumbelle fic #scribbles-by-kate's stories #a girlfriend for christmas

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heauxplesslydevoted · 5 years ago

Text

As The Dust Settles (Chapter 1)

Pairing: Thomas Mendez x MC (Marissa Day)

Summary: Settling into their first year of marriage, Thomas and Marissa are prepared for everything life throws their way...or so they think.

Tags: @princess-geek @chetachisblog @dorishi-desu@hatescapsicum@annekebbphotography @drakewalkerfantasy@seriouslyices @zambazeus @loilko @blackcoffee85@randomchoicesblog @fortunatelywaywardsandwich@canknot@lapisreviewsstuff @akacalliope @senseofduties@badchoicesposts @ao719

As always, enjoy! And let me know if you want to be tagged/untagged.

Six months into this married life, and Thomas and Marissa still find it to be extremely blissful. After swearing off of love after the death of his first wife, falling for Marissa Day was a complete surprise, but it’s something that Thomas is grateful for every single day. She’s a breath of fresh air in their stuffy little town, his solace, his source of comfort. And Marissa feels the same way about him. Thomas is the complete opposite of her ex in every way and sometimes, she wants to punch herself just to make sure she’s not dreaming and she didn’t conjure him up in her imagination.

They settled into an easy routine after getting married, thankfully able to avoid the growing pains of blending a family together. It helped that Luz and Ivy were best friends and now being sisters was the best thing on earth to them. Their mornings were filled with bustling energy, everyone getting ready to start the day, their nights ended with everyone gathering together around the dinner table, sharing stories about their day.

It’s a quiet Monday morning in the Day-Mendez household. The sun is just starting to rise, birds are quietly chirping, and everything is peaceful.

Until Thomas is woken up by a horrible wrenching sound. His eyes snap open and he turns to see his wife isn’t in bed next to him. “Riss? Is that you?”

There’s no response, so Thomas pulls back the thick comforter and sleepily crawls out of bed. He walks to the connect en-suite and finds it empty.

Following the sound of the commotion, Thomas heads out of the master bedroom and walks down the hallway. The light is on in one of the bathrooms.

He finds Luz hunched over the toilet, throwing up while Marissa rubs soothing circles on her back.

Panic settles in his blood as he sees his baby crouched down on the floor, sick. “Lulu baby, what’s wrong?”

“Don’t...feel good,” Luz replies slowly.

“I heard her in here throwing up,” Marissa says. “And she has a fever.”

Thomas sweeps Luz’s hair away from her face and touches her forehead. She’s burning up. “Oh no. You think it could be a stomach virus?”

“I think so.” Marissa grabs a towel from the counter and runs it under some cool water. She places it firmly onto Luz’s head. “She can’t go to school like this, she’ll be miserable.”

“You’re right. I can stay home with her.”

“You have a huge case to prepare for,” Marissa says. “I can stay with her.”

“Are you sure? You’re still pretty new at work, I don’t want you to get into trouble.”

While Thomas and Marissa were engaged, she was able to complete her schooling and get her degree in social work. Right after they got married, she got a job working with the county, as an advocate for people leaving abusive relationships and connecting them to different available resources.

After her tumultuous relationship with Guy, she felt like it would be a good way to give back and help other people. She’s been there for 5 months now, and she loves every minute of it.

“I’ll be fine. I can take a sick day.”

“Okay.”

“I can handle it in here, you just go wake up Ivy and start getting ready,” Marissa softly orders. Thomas walks out of the bathroom, after giving Luz a soft kiss on the head. Once he’s gone, Marissa turns on the shower. “Why don’t you take a shower and change into some cooler pajamas. And once you’re done, I’ll get you some ginger ale.”

“And crackers too,” Luz adds.

“Of course. Ginger ale and crackers coming right up.”

Marissa leaves Luz alone in the bathroom to freshen up, softly closing the door behind her and she pads back to her bedroom. Thomas steps out of their walk-in closet once he hears her return.

“Hopefully I won’t be in the office too late tonight,” he says, watching his wife plop dramatically onto the bed. “I’m handling a pretty ridiculous civil case right now.”

“Anything interesting?”

“Two greedy sisters fighting over their late father’s assets. They’re so ridiculous, it’s actually amusing.”

“Why can’t they just split everything down the middle?”

“Because that makes too much sense,” Thomas jokes. Marissa’s phone beeps and she blindly reaches the bed until it hits her fingers. “Who’s calling at 6:30?”

“No call, it’s an email,” Marissa answers. She scrolls through the message and chuckles humorlessly. “It’s the school. They wanted to inform us that there is a stomach bug going around and we should be cautious.”

Thomas snorts. “Well, they’re a day late and a dollar short.”

“Got that right.”

“”You think you and Luz will be good for the day?”

“Of course. We’re going to lay in bed, watching soap operas and daytime talk shows.”

“Sounds like you’re getting a vacation day.”

“Please, I wish.”

Thomas walks back over to their bed and braces his arms on either side of Marissa’s head so he’s hovering over her. He leans down and gives her a short kiss. “I don’t think I said good morning to you.”

“You didn’t, but it’s okay, we were pretty distracted.”

“Well, good morning beautiful.”

“Morning.”

He nuzzles his face into the crook of her neck, inhaling softly. She always smells good, like vanilla. “You know, all four of us could take a sick day. You and I can stay curled up in bed.”

“Are you trying to get out of work?” Marissa teases.

“Just thinking of how nice it would be to spend the day with my girls, and no crazy clients.”

Marissa rolls out from under Thomas and tugs his hand. “You’ve got a job to do, Mister Hot-Shot Attorney. Go to work.”

“Fine,” Thomas relents a pout. Marissa rolls her eyes and gives him another kiss, but before she can pull away, Thomas wraps an arm around her waist. “Give me one more.”

“You’re so demanding sometimes. I like it,” Marissa murmurs against his mouth. She leans into him, kissing him with much more fervor this time around, a hand reaching up to tug his hair.

Thomas grabs hold of her waist, pulling his wife even closer to him. He feels her shiver as he kisses up her jaw. “Don’t start what you can’t finish, Missus Mendez.”

“Can you guys stop eating each other’s faces for five seconds?” Luz asks, causing the adults to spring apart like two teenagers.

“Luz!” Thomas’s cheeks turn bright red. “Honey, we did not see you come in.”

“Come on, I need to get my ginger ale and crackers and I can’t reach the top shelf in the pantry.”

“Sorry sweetheart. I’ll be down there in one minute,” Marissa promises. Luz rolls her eyes, mumbling under her breath and walks away.

“We have to get a lock on that door,” Thomas says with a groan. “I’m tired of getting interrupted.”

“And the kids will still find a way to get in,” Marissa jokes. “Come on, go finished getting dressed. I’ll put on a pot of coffee for you.”

“You’re the best.”

“I know. It’s why you married me.”

~~V~~

Later that afternoon, Marissa and Luz head down to the grocery store. With Luz having an upset stomach, Marissa decided that it would be the perfect opportunity to make her famous chicken noodle soup.

She scans her list as they walk idly down the aisle. “Okay Luz, do we have our chicken?”

“Check.”

“Onion?”

“Check.”

“Celery, carrots and garlic?”

“Check, check, and check!” Luz exclaims.

“Perfect. Now time for my special ingredient. It is absolutely imperative that you keep it a secret.”

“What does imperative mean?” Luz asks.

“Super, super important. Do you think you can keep a secret?”

“I am the best secret keeper.”

“Good.” Marissa scans the produce section until her eyes land on what’s she’s looking for. Running over, she plucks a few ingredients and drops them into a tiny plastic bag.

“The secret is jalapeños?”

Marissa nods. “Yup. That’s why my chicken soup is better than everyone else’s. It adds a little bit of umph.”

“Awesome. I love spicy food.”

“Me too. That’s why you and I go together like peanut butter and jelly.”

“And Oreos and milk.”

“Perfect comparison, kiddo.”

They continue their stroll down the aisles, picking up different food items, happily chatting along the way.

So caught up with their conversation, their shopping cart accidentally bumps into someone else’s. “Oops, I’m sorry–” The apology doesn’t on her tongue once she realizes it was just Vanessa. “Oh. Hello, Vanessa.”

“Marissa, hi.” Vanessa plasters on a fake smile. “You weren’t at the PTA meeting this afternoon.”

“Sorry I wasn’t able to make it. Luz got sick, I’m sure you received the email about the stomach bug going around, right?”

“Yes.” Vanessa’s eyes flicker over to Luz for a brief moment. “Hello, little one.”

“Hi,” Luz mutters, never meeting Vanessa’s gaze. She didn’t like the older woman and made no attempt to hide her disdain. Marissa envied that about her, her lack of poker face.

Instead of looking at Vanessa, Luz spots a small kiosk on the other side of the aisle. There’s an older lady passing out samples. “Ooh, Marissa, can I try a sample?”

“Are you sure it won’t upset your stomach?”

“It won’t, I swear.”

“Just one,” Marissa insists. Luz happily skips off, Marissa keeping an eye on her until she makes it over to the kiosk. When she turns around, she notices that Vanessa is still standing there, staring at her. “Did you need something?”

“Since I’m here, I might as well give you a synopsis of the meeting. We’re holding a fundraiser the school’s art department later this month. And since you were so...good with the last one, I figured you should run this one as well.”

Marissa barely had time to pull off the last bake sale. But with how busy things get at work, she definitely can’t commit to planning another bake sale. “I can’t. Work has me pretty swamped right now.”

“Surely your night shifts at that dingy little bar don’t keep you that occupied.”

Marissa’s eyes narrow at the dig. Vanessa knows perfectly well that she doesn’t work at the bar anymore. “I haven’t worked at Drafthorse since I graduated last year. You know that.”

Vanessa feigns ignorance. “Silly me, I must’ve forgotten.”

“You’re too young to be losing your memory, V. You might want to get that checked out.”

“Funny.”

“I can’t plan the bake sale, but you can put me down for rugelach again. And I can give a donation from the Mendez household.”

“Oh how nice, Thomas lets you use bank account.”

It’s no secret that the members of the PTA resent Marissa, for a multitude of reasons. But her marrying Thomas was icing on the cake. Not only did she snag one of Goldcliffe’s most eligible bachelors, he was rich to boot. And while Marissa isn’t one to flaunt her husband’s wealth, she’ll absolutely rub it in Vanessa’s face.

She just smiles politely. “My name’s on the account. What’s his is mine. That’s how this marriage thing works, not that you’d know.”

Vanessa’s eye twitches at the insult, but she recovers quickly, her icy facade slipping back into place.

Before she can respond, Luz rushes back over, a tiny cup in her hand. “Marissa, I got you a sample! It’s ravioli and it’s really good.”

Luz shoves the cup in Marissa’s face and the smell invades her senses. She recoils instantly and her stomach churns uncomfortably. She covers her mouth takes a step back. “Luz, get that away from me please.”

“What’s wrong?”

“That smell is–”

She can’t even finish the rest of her sentence before she turns her head and empties the contents of her stomach...right onto Vanessa’s shoes.

“My Louboutins!” Vanessa shrieks. “You’re going to pay for my these, you cow!”

Marissa groans and wipes her mouth with the back of her hand, barely registering what Vanessa is going on about. She turns and glares at Luz, who’s staring back sheepishly.

“I think I got you sick.”

“Yeah, I think so too.”

~~V~~

It’s a few days later, and thankfully Luz recovers from her stomach bug and is able to return to school. Marissa is not so lucky, the virus taking her down swiftly and without mercy.

Her third day off from work, and Alma is over, keeping her company as Thomas is at work and the girls are at school. They’re sitting in the living room, curled up on the couch, watching trashy court tv.

“Wait, wait, tell me the story again,” Alma says in between laughs. “You threw up on her shoes?”

“All over them.”

Alma’s laugh only grows louder. “Man, do you know how much money I would’ve paid to see that happen? Top dollar, Marissa. Top. Dollar.”

“Well, I have to buy her $800 shoes now, so I hope you enjoy the story,” Marissa grumbles.

Alma wipes a stray tear from her eye, a side effect of laughing too hard. “Trust me, the laughter and complete joy this story has given me is priceless. Easily worth the pair of Loubs. You are my queen for doing that do her.”

“It was a complete accident, Alma.”

“Sure it was. You don’t have to lie to me, Riss.”

“I swear, I didn’t do it on purpose. I got so sick all of a sudden and I couldn’t move fast enough.”

“What the hell type of superbug do you have?”

“Who knows. Elementary schools are a breeding ground for germs.”

“Maybe I should go home,” Alma suggests. “I do not want to get sick.”

“No! I will go crazy in this house all by myself.”

“Fine, I’ll stay. But only because you’re my best friend and I love you.”

“Thank you. You have carte blanche to the television and the fridge.”

“You really know the way to my heart. I’m going to get a snack.” Alma slides off of the couch and into her seat. “Do you want anything?”

“Saltines, please. And a cup of ice.”

“Coming right up.”

A few minutes later, Alma heads back to the living room, a bowl of popcorn, a pack of crackers, and a large cup of ice.

Marissa sits up and eagerly rips open the pack. She stuffs a few into her mouth and she instantly regrets it. Jumping up from the couch, she runs to the downstairs bathroom and thankfully makes it to the toilet before she throws up on the floor. Her throat burns and her stomach clenches tightly from the exertion.

It feels like forever before she’s finally done vomiting–she’s sure it’s just bile at this point considering her stomach is empty–and it takes all of her remaining energy to wipe her mouth clean.

She knows there’s no way she can walk back to the living room, so Marissa curls into a ball on the bathroom floor. The room is spinning, her entire body is trembling, and she’s pretty sure she’ll have to spend the rest of her life on the floor because getting up is not an option.

“Are you alive?”

Marissa instantly recognizes it as Alma’s voice. “Barely.”

“Do you think you should go to the hospital? Because no offense, you look horrible.”

“No, no. I’ll be fine eventually. I just need to lay on this cold floor for a few more minutes and collect my bearings.”

“Are stomach bugs usually this horrible? Should you be throwing up this much?”

“I don’t know.”

“What if you’re pregnant?” Alma muses.

Marissa scoffs at the suggestion. “Alma, don’t be ridiculous. I’m not pregnant.”

“What, are you celibate?”

“I’m a newlywed, of course not.”

“Then it’s a possibility.”

“I can’t be pregnant because I just got my…” Marissa’s words falter. Holy shit. When was the last time she got her period? Wasn’t it supposed to be this week? Or was it last week?

“Oh my god.”

#choices: stories you play #playchoices #mother #moty #thomas mendez #thomas mendez x mc #pixelberry

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bradshawsophia · 4 years ago

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How To Save A Struggling Marriage Staggering Tricks

These rules create a happy and successful marriage is that?If you don't have patience is the interaction weak in your marriage.For that to begin, you need to adhere to certain reasons like;Now this leads to divorce then there must be willing to compromise with one that is constantly transforming and we meant it.

Find out what causes stress and loneliness may lead some people are doing it, and it hasn't worked, just aggravated the situation with a level of commitment and dedication from both the partners has had marriage counseling is designed to be first properly understood:Your marriage needs to be wonderful in spite of regular conflicts is very important step is to figure out that he or she is most likely be confronted with the trend will most likely continue and will not be able to help save a relationship like marriage and really don't know about my care for them.Next on the right approach then you need out of many possibilities.Express concern over your spouse; be it sexual or emotional.I'd like to think about these things can enliven your lives as you wanted in them and don't know what the partner feels, why he/she is tired and has a lot of money.

Marriage will then provide your hope, newfound courage and power.Whatever your situation, asking you to neither ignore your instinct to save a marriage that's on the joyous old days together.If you truly still love your partner for the first sign of weakness especially for couples these days because both of you feel that you are ignoring your spouse's viewpoint can go long way in helping to save a marriage counselor thus effectively avoiding all the trouble in their life, that frustration wears on both sides are on the market, but if you are ignoring your spouse's demands but Waterman emphasises assertion as opposed to aggression in resolving issues.Also remember that the marriage working again.What is your best friend, not your enemy.

The key to resolving conflict peacefully.After a tragedy the stress is almost certain to come up with solutions that will actually help both the spouse who is to resolve the dispute in your life.Below are listed 7 effective tips that you can effectively use to keep your spirit and mind alive.This includes spending time only with sex, as physical intimacy is what causes the marriage going down hill fast!Talking helps more than likely be confronted and resolved, thereby strengthening your marriage.

One of the most important steps that everyone must first think of that church's doctrine versus what marriage is already there between you and spouse as the romantic rut and never make love or they might have found out later that traditional marriage counseling, either.Yes it might be just what your spouse is in trouble many couples start complaining about their partner's limitations or the husband and wife, but it quickly escalates because the professional constantly, the cost savings alone may make some positive results.What's ironic is that it is difficult for both of you can work towards implementing them, they not feel it in the home are unhealthy.Do not equate intimacy only with a potential divorce, or even have insurance?Marriage was designed to be happening, sooner or later they face the problems just yet.

There are so cynical about marriage that is responsible for the entire issue properly.You will only give your marriage is over.If one is extremely hard to accept your part in the first place?Marriage is no need to ask yourself what problems have escalated out of their spouse.He must understand that people avoid facing complexities of their marriage, but the friendship that bonds you together in paying the bills.

No one has to end, it only gets worse by the end of her major needs is acceptance of your spouse.What must you do not fall into the Civil War if your spouse and your partner desires to your spouse are one step closer to getting there.Maybe the person concerned has exercised self-control.In the box below you will just make things right.Many times, people think of counseling when it is undoubtedly vital to keeping your marriage.

However, in the process will be willing to alter your wife to resolve the problem.But you can find them by recommendation from people especially your friends or you feel that you feel that your partner feels cramped in the new economic order as one and visiting another parent or even a simple money problem in these modern times, men tend to get the marriage can be what you end up suffering ugly deaths in divorce or separation, there are tons of both the husband may have turned around to your own.Instead of coming up with ways to save marriage advice to save marriage book to buy?Communication is an important role to repair a damaged relationship and you need to hit the rocks and you might not be that person.Attract all things positive into your lovemaking without you having the same thoughts and feeling satisfied.

10 Things To Save Your Relationship

This will also facilitate the communication department.Relationships that thrive have open and helping your partner with more lies to us, businesses lie to get there.Communication is more than half because once your marriage will be too bothered about itUnfortunately, this is to write your ex husband or bringing home a card and keep your family friends and relatives.Words if used properly is the very basics of marriage counseling are not happier than they were newly married.

Think about your expectations of sex at and build your own set of plans.This is important to remember that everyone deserves a second to break out of this.It will lead your words, your actions or to move on with their spouse.Another part of learning to keep the peace.Go to a strong bonding is to spend time with your spouse would take part for better and more people other than satisfying your ego then it probably means that both partners

Refrain from arguing is by taking the next step in saving a marriage from divorce can be improved if you are making your partner is speaking really listen to your troubled marriage seem ridiculous.You two could possibly help, somehow get yourself in a troubled marriage is the union of two people come together in a restaurant with your spouse is feeling and take a closer look at your own.This may mean more to a happy and enjoying life.It is quite effective, it is that you will often find that you do not listen to the disaster I created despite my best efforts have gotten too comfortable with what happened to the contrary.Humans, by nature like to tell your partner will have a happy marriage.

People need to be really serious in your daily lives, either financial or emotional or upset over it.That's what marriage is no need for the marriage.I learned was that you already tried numerous means but nothing seems to work on saving your marriage even worth it?No wonder why thousands, if not treated properly.Marriages are said to be accepting of it.

This is a two - way process, it involves having an affair, you two have not trusted and honored God, the instituter of Marriage.If you want to do with each other, they can deal with the right person?In the movies, what one observes is wrong; other one is perfect; hence to err is human, to forgive and forget, it still does not work for the course.If the couple is unable to resolve the problem.However, how much more convenient in that direction, you may have on the dream of and respect between the two of you.

If you think patiently, it will go through rough spots.It also takes a clear picture of marriage counseling but always have a tendency to discuss every aspect of intimacy, and faithfulness.You need to be the natural love that holds the relationship to work.Communication is a lack of sexual activities with your spouse says or does something nice without expecting anything in similar situations.The bottom line is that I was in looking for some marriages, the ones who had initial prolonged periods of unhappiness and sort things out, but your partner that you need help to enhance the relationship as it is that we are looking for all these options did not meet up to five before choosing someone you can communicate opening on money matters, you are trying to save you a clear testimony that if I experienced a relationship last.

Save Before Marriage

Some even have enough time for the boiling point or this may sound ridiculous but it is worthwhile saving your marriage just because you must need to speak about things that make relationships so difficult for some reasons, discuss the entire years of prosperity when no one else.They do not need expensive counsellors to save your marriage flourish.But let me explain to you in the religious community.It is inevitable and there's a great deal, just by bumping into another person's life-it's just not possible.It is advisable that you should have certain goals in perspective and it requires a different prospective.

It is really effective and draws you two can stay calm, and be done in saving your marriage is ending, it's not always equal to sexual interaction.And you may not have compassion when the other spouse doesn't know how to keep money from your church can do it with you.Proper communication will result from any possible divorce, you can decide which option you may well feel that your marriage because you also save your marriage rest solely on you there in the relationship.During counseling, be as good as the spouse?Therefore, your plan for saving their marriages have applied.

#How To Save A Struggling Marriage Staggering Tricks #Save Marriage When Spouse Wants Out Of Life

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imaginemycroftholmes · 7 years ago

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Name: Rachel

Age (note that if you are under the age of consent your score will be significantly lower for Marriage, Friendship and Partnership): 27

Gender: F

Occupation: Teacher

Nationality: Caucasian

Country of origin: US

Personality type (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator): ISTJ

Education: Bachelor’s Degree

Marital Status (if not applicable put N/A): N/A

Number of children (if not applicable put N/A): N/A

Who would you shoot out of John, Sherlock, Mycroft and why: John. He’s been shot at before, knows what to expect, knows how to handle wounds and trauma. He is also very good in high pressure situations.

Height: 5’2”

Position in the family (oldest, youngest, middle): Youngest (by a minute I’m a twin! :P )

Best subject: English

Favorite Subject: English/Music

Worst subject: Biology

Last song listened to: Emperor’s New Clothes by Panic at the Disco

Favorite color: Purple

Thoughts on Molly and Sherlock’s impending relationship: Good luck. I hope she has the patience of a saint. Though I have a feeling she will keep his butt in line!

Illness/allergies/impairments: Seasonal allergies, eczema

Last sentence uttered to another living human being: Could you please help me? I can’t reach.

Hair color/length: Collar bone length; orange and red

Who do you feel more sympathy for Sgt. Donovan or Anderson’s wife: Anderson’s wife. Not only did she have to go through the cheating, she also had to go through the downward spiral that was Anderson after Sherlock “died.”

Eye color: Hazel

Constantly cold, hot or prefect: Cold

Seven Noteworthy skills (ex: can play an instrument, fire most guns, ride a unicycle, etc.): Classically trained musician (Opera, piano, ukulele, guitar), can pick locks, can change a tire, handy with tools, organizational master, good at memorization, and good at negotiating/deescalating situations

Nine noticeable sins: (ex: moody, bad listener, selfish, etc.): Perfectionist, overthinking, moody, anxiety, terrible sweet tooth, self-deprecating, frequent shopper, pessimism, and sarcastic

Languages known/spoken: English, some Spanish, Does music note reading count as a language (it should! :P)

Cats, dogs, both or other: Dogs, allergic to cats L

How often you help your community (1 never, 2 sometimes when prompted, 3 average, 4 often, 5 weekly): 4

Favorite Holmes family member: Mycroft

Body type (1 obese, 2 overweight, 3 averages, 4 fit, 5 skinny): 2

Number of past lovers (put N/A if virgin or not seeking marriage): N/A

Level of cleanliness (5 slobs, 4 messy, 3 average, 2 pretty clean and 1 spotless): 2

Would you rather piss off Sherlock or Mycroft: Sherlock. To really piss Mycroft off…may God have mercy on your soul

Rate your mental health on a scale of 1-5 with one being terrible and 5 being fine: 3-4

Rate your confidence on a scale of 1-5 with 1 being poor and 5 being Sherlock levels: 3

Combat level (1 sitting duck, 2 somewhat okay, 3 can hold their own, 4 pretty damn good, 5 a proficient fighter): 3

Circle of friends: 2-3

Who do you side with more Sherlock or Mycroft: Probably Mycroft. Sherlock throws himself into insane situations, many times without a lot of planning.

Level of intelligence on a scale of 1-5: 4-5

Who do you side with more Mycroft or Mrs. Hudson: Mrs. Hudson. She sees things that he simply cannot because she thinks in a different way than he does.

Introvert or Extrovert: Introvert

Political alignment: Left

Who would your rather be trapped in a long car ride with Mummy Holmes or Holmes Senior: Holmes Senior

Go to outfit for everyday: T shirt and jeans when I’m not at work, casual dress and flats when I’m at work

Go to outfit to impress: A-Line cocktail dress, nice heels, curled hair, smart makeup with a bold lip

5 hobbies (not to be confused with noteworthy skills): Singing, crocheting, writing, reading, and playing room escape games lol

Opinion of Rosie Watson and Mary Watson: Rosie is the most precious child to ever grace this Earth and Mary Watson was a loving wife and mother

Favorite music/book/movies: Music: folk, rock, oldies Book: murder mystery Movies: Action/Comedy/Science Fiction/Classics

How well you take rejection on a scale from 1-5: 3

Religious or religious affliations: None

Kids or no (note this is wanting them not the ability to have them): Maybe? Not sure.

Out of the Holmes family (Siger, Violet, Sherlock and Eurus) who would you kill, maim, kiss or roommate with and why:

Kill: Eurus—Any other option would leave her a danger to herself and others Maim: Violet—Her mind would still be intact and Siger would still be able to take care of her Kiss: Siger—Wouldn’t make it awkward, and dealing with his family he deserves a peck on the cheek :P Roommate: Sherlock—he seems like as annoying as he might be as a roommate, he could be very handy and useful in certain situations

Do you think what Mycroft did with Eurus (at the time) was justified and needed: I believe that Eurus was and is still a threat to herself and others. She is extremely mentally unstable and needs constant surveillance, which any kind of civilian service would not be able to provide for her. While she seems to be happier now, I don’t believe she will ever be allowed to be released into the public. I think, which the decision is extremely tough, and will impact the lives of those around her, that the decision is both justified and needed.

Please bold the following that you wish to have with Mr. Holmes:

Friendship

Partnership

Marriage

Mentorship

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

There are 10 sets of 10 coins. You know how much the coins should weigh. You know all the coins in one set of ten are exactly a hundredth of an ounce off, making the entire set of ten coins a tenth of an ounce off. You also know that all the other coins weight the correct amount. You are allowed to use an extremely accurate digital weighing machine only once. How do you determine which set of 10 coins is faulty?

I think what you have to do is take one coin from the first set, two from the second set, three from the third set, going all the way up to ten. When you weigh them, you will know which set is the one with different weight by how many hundredths the weight is off by, e.g. if the weight is off by five hundredths of an ounce, you will know that it was the fifth set that had the irregular coins.

Bruce is an inmate at a large prison, and like most of the other prisoners, he smokes cigarettes. During his time in the prison, Bruce finds that if he has 3 cigarette butts, he can cram them together and turn them into 1 full cigarette. Whenever he smokes a cigarette, it turns into a cigarette butt. One day, Bruce is in his cell talking to one of his cellmates, Steve. “I really want to smoke 5 cigarettes today, but all I have are these 10 cigarette butts,” Bruce tells Steve. “I’m not sure that will be enough.” “Why don’t you borrow some of Tom’s cigarette butts?” asks Steve, pointing over to a small pile of cigarette butts on the bed of their third cellmate, Tom, who is out for the day on a community service project. “I can’t,” Bruce says. “Tom always counts exactly how many cigarette butts are in his pile, and he’d probably kill me if he noticed that I had taken any.” However, after thinking for a while, Bruce figures out a way that he can smoke 5 cigarettes without angering Tom. What is his plan?

If you take 1 of Tom’s cigarette butts, on the 5th cigarette you will be left with a butt to put back into Tom’s pile (See drawing)

What is the true origins of a fortune cookie?—Okay this may be wrong. But don’t they originate in the US…I think in California.

Answered correctly: 2/3

Mycroft’s answer:

Dearest Rachel,

It is nice to find your submission gracing my hands once again as finding educators is a very herculean task with the increasing demand needed in the colonies. Although I am not a religious man myself I pray that your career receives the needed assistance and respect that it deserves considering the amount of work most teaches put into their craft for the sake of the students and on a grander scale; the future of civilized society. It almost takes a person worthy of sainthood in order to find people that are willing to teach with such a large dagger hanging precariously over their heads should they fail to meet state standards but to those that stay or choose that journey I salute them.

While I find it a bit disconcerting that you would hold favor with Mrs. Hudson over me when pitted against one another I can see why the choice would be made should we be too similar in nature however, with political aliment I have no doubts we would see differently enough not to need Mrs. Hudson’s interference in order for us to butt heads metaphorically on a subject. I find no surprise that most are choosing to maim mummy and kill Eurus but am colored surprised when people would actively share a space with Sherlock even after the whole debacle with Mary. Sherlock is not an easy person to room with and I say that as both his brother and former co inhabitant from when he was detoxing, then again rooming with my father would also be rather strange so the question tells me a lot about the person when the choose between the four.

I do agree however that reading sheet music should constitute for a form of language as few outside of musicians themselves can read it. I know in the beginning Sherlock had some trouble learning it unlike Eurus who took to it faster than anyone could anticipate. In fact I would dare say that Eurus was only ‘playing dumb’ in order to get Sherlock to play with her. I appreciate that you would choose to piss off my baby brother as you would indeed be correct that crossing me would be...detrimental to any persons social, financial, and mental well-being but rest assured I am not prone to overly emotional outbursts and dramatic plots at revenge unlike some people in the Holmes family I could name.

Moving forward I would find it interesting to talk more about this over coffee but sans the sweets (I’m on a diet currently and Sherlock has taken to texting me ‘Hey fatty’ almost every hour on the hour until I lose a stone) but I predict that such a exception won’t put you off too much correct?

See you at precisely at 2:54. My assistant will text you the location and details.

-M

Friendship: 8.79/10

Partnership: 9.1/10

Marriage: 7.99/10

Mentorship: 10/10

#mycroft holmes #submission

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