#(same for Jim I think he got a fist in his face first lol) | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

bbrandy2002 · 4 years ago

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Happy Birthday Burnsy!

The Country AU -- I'm Gonna Live Where The Green Grass Grows

Pairing: Drake x Alyssa, Liam x Riley, and a whole host of other TRR characters.

A/N: This was a silly little idea I had months ago for an AU built around the places and people where I grew up. I never had plans to actually write it, but I mentioned it to Burns, and well ... she wanted it lol so here we are. And she’s already read half of this and is the one who made the mood board for it and the song inspo hahaha. Thank you to @mskaneko for the edits of our OTP’s, and @charlotteg234 for pre-reading the first half of this.

Trigger warning: Gun usage, hunting, mild language ... I think that’s it

@burnsoslow

My dearest friend, when I think back at where we were one year ago, I can’t help but be reminded of the vastly different world we live in now. On February 5, 2020, there was no covid keeping us sheltered and fearful, families were complete, jobs were stable, and so many of the things we worried about then simply pale in comparison to now, Life wasn’t so bad. But here we are with all these new changes and mindsets. Through it all, one thing remained consistent: YOU. You have been my strength, my rock, the anchor that grounded me. We have cried together, laughed a lot together, worried for each other, and celebrated those small victories that were important to each other. And I get so happy when someone comments about how much they love the friendship between Riley and Alyssa because it's the most real part of Fearless. If anyone ever wanted to know what we’re like, it's all written out in that story. I’ve got your back, and you have mine. You’re my best friend and I just love the hell out of ya! I hope your birthday is amazing and that this fic is everything you wanted for this AU.

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On Sunday mornings in southern Georgia, you did one of two things: You woke up early for church services or woke up late to watch NFL football.

Some people figured out a long time ago how to do both.

Sitting in the back pew of the First Cordonian Church of Everlasting Peace, Alyssa Walker sat quietly with the sweetest southern belle smile, nodding her head along to the beautiful words spoken during Pastor Hakim’s sermon and hiding a pair of earbuds lodged in each ear.

She and her husband, Drake, had laid claim to the pew when they were teens trying to sneak a kiss or two during prayers. After ten years of marriage, they no longer needed to sneak kisses but stayed in that same seat, believing the biggest sinners should stay as far away from the minister as possible. Why be the barrier that may prevent the spirit from reaching the rest of the congregation? The couple felt it was the least they could do.

They were actually pretty good folks and well respected in their community. Alyssa had taught first grade for eight years at the local elementary school, where her two children, nine-year-old Audrey and six-year-old Patrick, also attended. Her best friend since third grade, Riley, was the art teacher there.

Drake worked nearby as the lead mechanic at Rys and Sons Chevrolet out on North Ramsford Avenue. Constantine had owned the auto dealership for 35 years before passing it down to his sons, Leo and Liam, when he ran for and became the town's mayor. Leo peaced out, heading to South Florida, while Liam took on the sole responsibility of ownership himself.

And while most people in this sleepy little town of Cordonia were Falcons fanatics, Alyssa grew up rooting for the team where her parents were born and raised before settling in Georgia as newlywed lawyers: The Chicago Bears.

With the game against the Packers blaring into her ear, she kept a keen eye on the rest of her fellow parishioners. When they clapped, she clapped. When they sang, she sang. She raised her hands in hallelujahs when they did. She had learned to read lips and could “Amen” and “Praise God” right on cue with the rest of them. All the while, she sat in contentment, listening to her weekly football games.

“The score with 14 seconds left in the second quarter is Chicago -- 14, Green Bay -- 17. The Bears have the ball on the 5-yard line. It’s third and goal. If Trubisky can score here, they’ll go into the locker room at halftime with a lead for the first time in this game, or possibly tie it all up with a field goal after this down. This is a huge, HUGE play, Jim ...”

Alyssa twined her fingers together and lowered her forehead onto them as she waited with bated breath for the announcer to call the play-by-play. As far as anyone else knew, she was praying fervently for the Hebrews crossing the parted Red Sea away from Pharoah's army that the pastor was chronicling.

“And here comes the snap. Trubisky backs up. He tosses to Robinson in the end zone. OHHH! So close… batted away by Alexender …”

“JESUS!” Alyssa yelled out in anger. With earbuds in, she didn’t realize how loudly that just came out of her mouth. Drake nudged her in the thigh. She glanced over at him for a second before he nodded to the 123 pairs of eyes that had all turned at once in her direction. It instantly dawned on her that everyone in the congregation heard the outburst.

Feeling the color drain from her face, Alyssa placed a hand over her chest and addressed, “I am soooo into this sermon, Hakim. Woohoo! Go, Jesus, go!” She pumped her fist in the air like she was rooting him on.

Drake dropped his face onto Patrick’s shoulder, who was sitting on his lap, to cover the incessant laughter that threatened to spill out of him. He was doing a terrible job of it, as a momentary burst of muffled snickers could be heard through the sound of the game playing in Alyssa’s ear. Her husband was nothing but a big kid himself -- she wouldn’t change that for anything.

“Mommy,” Audrey whispered next to her. “It’s about Moses. Not Jesus.”

Alyssa smiled, patting her daughter’s knee. “Same thing, baby. They both performed miracles.” She cut her eyes to the phone hidden under the cardigan draped across her thighs. “And the Bears need a miracle right now, guys,” she muttered, “Part those shithead Packer’s defensive line, Lord. It’s time to help my Bears get to the promised land.”

“Going for it on fourth down, Trubisky drops back. The Packer defense is putting a lot of pressure on the Bear’s offensive line. Every man is covered in the end zone. He has no one to throw to, Jim. They’re running out of time. Four seconds left. And, NOOO, they sack Trubisky on the 10-yard line … WAIT THE BALL IS LOOSE … THE BALL IS LOOSE ... he fumbled the ball. The Packers are scrambling to get it. There are green and white jerseys all over that ball. BUT LOOK … Green Bay’s Klark picks it up. He’s running the other way … and he just slipped … he just slipped, and the football fell right into the hands of Chicago’s Robinson --”

Alyssa grabbed Drake’s thigh, her fingers digging deeply with hope and panic. “Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck,” her stressed words weren’t audible to the crowd, but they were speaking volumes in her heart.

“--Robinson’s on the 20, now 15, he’s sweeping past the defense to the 10 -- 5 -- TOUCHDOWN, CHICAGO!!!”

"FUCK YES!" Alyssa jumped up, her arms outstretched in a V shape. “Hallelujah. Holy shit. Thank ya, Jesus.” She let out a huge sigh of relief, feeling nothing short of elated, not concerned in the slightest by the heads that twisted around again.

Hakim stood slack-jawed from the raised platform for a moment, his tallish physique slouching on the pulpit, before adjusting the microphone and clearing his throat deeply. "I'm certainly glad, Sister Alyssa is ... feeling the spirit this morning."

"I am feeling it, Brother Hakim," She shook her head profusely. "I. Am. Feeling it." She shot him a dimpled grin.

Drake snorted loudly, covering his face with one hand and grabbing the side of her dress to pull her back down with the other.

They turned to each other, neither one able to control the snickering and shaking of their bodies. Drake lifted a sleeping Patrick over his shoulder while Alyssa grabbed Audrey's hand; the Walker couple decided they were too immature for church this morning.

They laughed all the way to the parking lot.

"It's never a dull moment with you, baby girl," Drake chuckled, turning over the ignition.

"You know me …” She blew on her nails before rubbing them against her chest. “... just doing the Lord's work."

--------------

It was customary in Cordonia for families to gather together each week for a big supper after church.

The Walkers traditionally took turns hosting with Liam and Riley, and Constantine and Regina. This week's meal was at the elder Ryses.

Sitting down at the dining room table, everyone licked their chops, hungry and ready to dig into all the made-from-scratch southern goodness Mrs. Regina had prepared: Fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, coleslaw, macaroni and cheese, green beans with hamhock, corn-on-the-cob, deviled eggs, biscuits, sweet tea, and coffee. It was all accompanied by two containers of broccoli salad, Alyssa picked up from the Piggly Wiggly deli after church, and Riley's lopsided carrot cake.

There was always a lot of food, a lot of love, and what would it be in a small town without a little gossip here and there.

"Regina, you've outdone yourself on this meal," Liam raved while placing his five-month-old son in a high chair and fastening the clasps. "If it tastes as good as it smells, we're all in for a big treat."

Everyone agreed as she sat down, Constantine pushing her chair in with a peck to the top of her head. "Thank you, Liam." She looked up at her husband with a sincere smile, rubbing his arm. "Only the best for our family."

She meant every word of that as she and Constantine glanced around the table at all the cheerful faces of the people they loved most — that included Drake and his family.

Drake's father had been the sheriff for many years before his untimely death, while the younger Walker was a teen. Connie had never met a braver, more hard-working man than Jackson; the now mayor stepped in after that death to be the father figure in Drake's life. Drake was already best friends with Liam, and over time, the family just considered him one of their own. Drake and Alyssa's children referred to them as Mamaw and Papaw Rys.

As everyone settled in and passed the food around the table, the doorbell rang; 7-year-old Ellie -- Liam and Riley's oldest -- jumped up to answer it. With everyone focused on getting their helpings, Riley leaned over and whispered to Alyssa, "Any more scoop on Savannah?"

Alyssa passed the potatoes to her and answered in a hushed tone, "I drove past her house yesterday ... Chuck was there. His big rig was backed right up into the driveway. They're not even trying to hide it anymore."

"I knew it." Riley slapped a scoop of potatoes onto her plate, passing them across to Liam. "When does Bertrand get back from that Bankers Convention in Atlanta?"

"I think Max said on Tuesday. And I guarn-damn-tee, Chuck will be there until then."

"Of course he will. Have you told Drake yet?"

Alyssa shook her head, peeking over at her husband, who was in hog heaven, dousing everything on his plate with white gravy, blissfully unaware of their idle chitchat. She turned back to Riley. "Not yet. You know how protective he is. I'll need to hide the gun cabinet keys when he finds out ... if he finds out. You remember how upset he got when Bianca got caught at the Love's Truck Stop with Landon Ebrim over the summer. His mama can do what she wants, but not with a married man."

Riley agreed with a nod before taking a sip and swallowing her sweet tea. "Ya know, I've never seen sweet Emmaline that angry."

"Yeah, me neither. She sure whopped ass that day." They both giggled lightly. "Landon's dentures flew clean across that truck lot."

"I saw her the other day at the Food Lion, grinnin' like a baked possum. Got that ol' dog for everything he had."

Alyssa huffed, "Cept' his nuts."

Ellie ran back in and hopped in her chair. "Miss Olivia is here!"

Alyssa stiffened, clutching her fork a little tighter before letting out a faint groan. Not that she didn't like the Assistant Principal of Cordonia Elementary -- she was her boss, after all, and they grew up together -- she could just be a little off-putting, sometimes with her treatment of Drake. In light of Olivia's recent divorce, she had, however, started directing most of her scorn on her ex-husband, Anton.

Everyone greeted Olivia as she strolled in behind the youngster, shrugging her jacket off and tossing it on a counter with her purse. "I smelled your chicken and taters all the way from Lythikos Drive, Regina. You know how I love a good rib stickin' meal."

"Is Travis and Waylon here?" Patrick piped up eagerly from the children's table, hoping to have some boys to play with rather than the three little girls who kept ganging up on him.

Olivia pulled out a chair and started loading her plate down. "They're with their daddy this weekend, sugar. I'll tell them you asked about them."

Drake lifted his coffee mug, not making eye contact with anyone. "Speaking of ... I saw Anton yesterday at the Dollar Tree ... with someone." He smirked into his drink. While everyone else knew who and was trying to avoid the elephant in the room, he owed her for years of squabble.

"Who? Madeleine?" Olivia spat, adding heaping spoonfuls of sugar to her already overly sweetened tea. "Bless her rotten heart, he was seeing her before our break up. Moved in with her right after the divorce was final, so I hope she's enjoyed cookin' and cleanin' after my youngins' all weekend, cause she's gonna be doin it a hell of a lot more now that she got herself fired."

Madeleine was a bank teller in the drive-thru at First Cordonia and also Leo's ex-fiancee.

"Madeleine got fired?" Alyssa asked in surprise. "She's been there for years."

The redhead swirled the sugar around in her tea with a spoon before licking it off and continuing, "Mmm-hmm. Bertrand caught her on video, stuffing her gaudy drawers into the vacuum tubes at the bank and sending them to that bastard when he drove through to make a deposit. He was making deposits alright. Right between her scrawny, cankled ass --"

"Olivia!" Liam quickly interjected, knowing once she got going, it would likely turn R-rated with several little ears listening. "I'm dying to hear how the Christmas Festival for next Saturday is coming along." He shot a look across the table at Drake for getting her worked up. Drake simply grinned.

By late afternoon, supper had been eaten, dishes cleaned, and pants unbuttoned. After a couple of hours of chatting on the back porch and watching the kids play, the two younger couples packed up leftovers Regina insisted they take home and were ready to hit the road.

Liam and Riley lived next door and walked out with the Walkers who were making their way to the Tahoe parked on the street.

Alyssa bounced and cooed over baby Jacob before handing him back to Riley and getting into the vehicle's passenger seat.

Liam was leaning into the driver's side window, having a casual discussion with Drake about the opening day of deer season next Saturday and asking what time he wanted to head out.

Alyssa was half-listening and half-working the stereo when an idea popped into her head. "You know what would be fun?” Both men stopped talking and glanced over at her. “We should all go?”

Drake knit his brows. “Go where?

“Hunting. We can make it a double date. You and me, Riley and Liam. The great outdoors. Some quality time together. I’ll even make snacks for everyone. It’ll be fun,” her voice was chipper. She was excited about it.

She was also deadly serious.

So were the dubious looks Drake and Liam gave each other over the thought of taking their wives on the most important hunting event of their year. Not that either didn't enjoy spending time with their significant others, but hunting was a whole different world. It was a one-person sport where you spent the day away from reality and responsibilities and just enjoying the great outdoors —a place to be alone and experience the thrill of a good hunt.

“Guys, I’m serious. We go fishing together, and I’ve shot targets plenty of times. I really wanna go hunting with you. Riley wants to go too, don't you?” She cast an inquisitive glance out her window at Riley, who glared back with the biggest what-the-fuck look she'd ever made. “See, she wants to go too.”

“Baby,” Drake began softly, giving her knee light squeezes. “I don’t mind taking you, but this is opening day. We’ll be in the woods for hours, in the cold. It’s not really what someone would consider a ‘date.’ And we’re going to the Festival that night … we’ll get a chance to spend time together there.”

She held his gaze as her lips began to quiver. “I understand. You .. you need time to be away from me, and it was a dumb idea anyway --”

“No,” Drake cut in. His heart plummeted from the sadness in her voice and eyes. “That’s not it at all. I love spending time with you. And if you really want to do this, then … let’s do this.”

“Really? We can go together?” Drake nodded with a smile before she squealed in his ear and pulled him into a tight hug. “I can’t wait! Thank you!”

Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Liam let out a heavy breath as he looked over at Riley -- The woman he knew would not be a fun hunting partner next week -- still standing on the sidewalk, appearing like she might faint. “Yeah ... I can’t wait either.”

---------------------

Saturday. 5:15 a.m. The cellphone alarm on Drake’s bedside table let off a series of rhythmic beeping sounds and vibrations.

The alarm wasn’t needed. The man had been awake for hours, listening to his wife's gentle snores; the anticipation of bringing home at least a 12-pointer keeping him from falling back asleep.

Letting out a ferocious yawn and a hearty stretch, he picked up his phone to dismiss the alarm and rolled over to wake Alyssa.

With her ass perfectly curled into the space between his stomach and thighs, his hands settled on her curvy hip, jostling her slightly. “Time to get up, my little peach. We gotta get crackin’ before all the good deer are gone.”

“I just need one more hour, okay? Thanks,” she protested with a drowsy murmur, pulling the pillow over her head.

Drake chuckled, rubbing soothing circles over her back. “No. We have to get up now. We’re wasting time, sleepyhead. Unless … you don’t want to go.”

Alyssa’s heavy eyes stung as she tried to peel them open one at a time. “No, I wanna … go ...” she trailed. Her eyes slowly shut again, and she was out.

On a day like today, Drake was usually up and ready in ten minutes. Once he could finally get his wife out of bed, dressed, and back awake again from where she fell asleep on the toilet, it was close to 45 minutes.

Maxwell, who was also a childhood friend and the music teacher where Alyssa taught, rented the room over their garage. He agreed to come down that morning and watch the kids while the pair spent their morning in the woods. Bianca used to help out in that regard, but the kids complained she slept the whole time, and Alyssa was pretty sure her mother-in-law smoked pot around them.

Drake loaded up the truck, placing his rifle and a smaller .22 caliber for Alyssa behind the seat. Dragging herself slowly to the vehicle, the night sky still pitch black and her breath turning to thick vapors in the frigid air, she listlessly tossed a Taylor Swift tote bag on the floorboard and climbed in.

Drake looked at his phone after everything was packed up to see if Liam had sent a message about being late. It was unusual for him not to be there already. Typically, his best friend was up and at his house before Drake was even ready. He sent off a quick text to check.

Drake: Where you at, man?

Liam: Running late. Riley had to put makeup on and do her hair.

Liam: I’m having so much fun already 😑

Liam: snark

Drake: Lyss couldn’t decide which gloves looked the best with her orange vest. I guess she wants to impress the deer before she kills them.

Liam: We’re not catching deer today. We’ll be lucky if we catch a cold. Be there in 10.

Twenty minutes later, Liam’s gray Silverado pulled onto the Walker’s gravel drive. Riley had wanted biscuits and gravy from McDonald's, and she had to run back inside to pee, so that set them back. But, with everyone now there, they were finally ready to head out.

Just down the rural road from where Drake and Alyssa lived, the current sheriff of Cordonia, Bastien, owned several acres of unoccupied land that he used for recreation. He had been a close friend of Drake’s dad and agreed to let Drake and Liam hunt and fish on his property whenever they wanted.

Turning onto the dirt road and opening the gate, the four friends arrived at their spot just as dawn was breaking.

No one spoke much as they trekked through the mud, sticks, and brittle fall leaves that littered the path to the deer stands. Riley and Alyssa were too exhausted to say anything. Drake and Liam just weren’t used to talking at all.

"Riley, love,” Liam whispered softly. “Can you watch how you’re walking? The noise is going to scare the deer away.”

“I can’t help it if … " She reacted loudly in frustration before Liam placed a finger over his lips, and she resumed speaking more quietly. “I can’t help it if there're leaves everywhere. I’m walking on them as delicately as possible.”

“How much further? I think my toes are frozen and I need coffee.” Alyssa bemoaned while walking on the balls of her heels. Drake was basically dragging her sluggish body by the hand. Her eyes were still drooping from exhaustion with every careful step.

“Just over yonder of that fence row is our stand.” He pointed out.

Alyssa aimed her flashlight around the woods in several spots. "And where do we pee at?"

Liam lightly snorted as Drake answered matter-of-factly. "Just over yonder of that fence row below our stand."

"Oh ... " her tone was small and apprehensive, "... I guess that's ... okay." She glanced back timidly at Liam, who was following close behind.

He shielded his eyes from the beam of her flashlight in his face and frowned. "I'm not going to watch you pee, Alyssa."

Riley gasped, "Eww! I don't want Drake watching me pee either."

"Shhhhh." Liam was quick to remind her again of the volume of her voice.

"Stop, shushing me, Liam! Those deer don't know I'm out here."

Drake grunted, then whipped around to face the three of them. "Would you keep your voices down? No one's watching anybody take a piss," he whisper-yelled. "Lyssa and I will be at least a hundred yards away from ya'll. Riley, I promise you can piss your little heart out, and I won't see it."

"We're separating?" Alyssa asked wistfully. "What if I need to ask Riley something, and she can't hear me yelling across to her?"

"You'll just have to ask her when we're done, baby girl. And ... please don't yell questions to her while we're out here. Low voices."

They continued on with their noisy hike.

"Having so much fun," Liam grumbled to himself.

-------------------

Liam and Riley headed to their tree stand as Drake helped Alyssa climb up the ladder to theirs.

The stand and ladder were made of plywood -- chipped and faded from years of exposure to the elements -- and were attached at the apex to an oak tree about twenty feet off the ground. At the top it had enough room to take a step onto, with a wooden seat just wide enough to accommodate them. One plank rail came out on both sides.

Alyssa plopped down onto the seat, clutching her tote bag of goodies on her lap. She lifted the brim of the orange beanie she borrowed from Drake -- that smelled of animal carcass and gun powder -- above her eyes and peered out to the wilderness spread monumentally below. She closed her eyes and slowly inhaled the fresh, dewy air, taking in the sounds of twittering birds, branches clashing from the nearby squirrel frolicking on them, and the rippling of a bubbling brook streaming down the hill.

A pleasant warmth overcame her as Drake's much larger body sat down next to her and protected her from the frosty wind blowing in from his side.

Alyssa wrapped her arms around his waist, snuggling into him. "I can see why you like this so much. It's so quiet and peaceful ... look how purty it is out here, Drake. It's just real purty, isn't it?"

Working diligently on getting their gear together, he stopped briefly to look out; affection glowed in his eyes. “It sure is, darlin’. Almost as purty as you ... and notice I said 'almost.'” He winked, and Alyssa blushed, feeling that same love trickling up inside her she'd had since they were teenagers. Drake could charm the pants off a chipmunk, but she was thankful he only used that gift on her.

"Sooo ... " She drawled in her thick Southern accent. "How long will it be before the deer start coming out?"

Drake drew the barrel of her gun back after loading it with shells and explained, "Don't know. It could be minutes. It could be a few hours. Just whenever they head this way, I reckon."

Perplexed, Alyssa nodded slowly. "A few hours? I s'pose that's okay. What do you do while you're waiting?"

He shrugged, passing a gun to her. "You just ... sit here."

"You just sit here and do what?"

Drake leaned over to kiss into her orange cap and replied, "Wait."

"Wait." She acknowledged. "I can do that. I'll just sit here ... and wait."

Several minutes had passed, and Alyssa was already bored with listening to nature, Drake's gurgling stomach, and sitting quietly with nothing to do. Every so often, a shotgun blast was heard in the distance, signifying either someone out there had gotten their prize or Riley had driven Liam insane. It was the only break from the monotony that came with the boredom of sitting in a tree for who knew how many hours.

Letting out a giant exhale that caught Drake's attention, she propped her rifle against the railing and pulled the cloth tote that was sitting between her boots into her lap. Rummaging through the bag, she pulled out her phone and began thumbing out a message.

Drake furrowed his brows and asked, "What're you doin'?"

"Just texting Riley,' she answered dismissively. He shook his head and leaned it back against the tree while she formulated her message.

Alyssa: You still alive over there? How's it going?

Riley: This is boring as shit.

Riley: And now my texting is apparently scaring away the deer. F the deer Liam. F all the damn deer!!!! What were you thinking, Lyss?

Alyssa: I was thinking we could spend quality time with our husbands. The men we love and cherish with all of our hearts. I’m having a great time with Drake so far 😍😘

Alyssa: And no one twisted your arm to come bitch.

Riley: Liam's just staring through binoculars. He hasn’t spoken in 20 minutes except to tell me to point the gun away from him or to quit moving. Let’s go get our hair did at Adelaide's.”

Alyssa: OHHH Yes! And get Chinese food ... CRAB RANGOONS!! I'll have Drake drive us back. Girls Day Out. Love you!

Drake let out a belch and blew it away when Alyssa turned to him with a dazzling smile and a sparkle in her blues. "Can you drive Riley and me back to the house?"

"What? Right now?" he shrieked. She answered him with a cheerful nod. "What happened to all that talk about wanting to spend quality time with me?"

"I still do. But ... we're just sitting here, not really doing anything. I could be getting my hair done for tonight's festival. I also have a ton of laundry to do, some papers to grade, and I’m supposed to be making the Devereaux’s famous peach cobbler for the raffle. If I leave now, I’ll have time to do all of it.” Alyssa knew she probably wouldn’t do half of that, and Audrey would likely make the cobbler, but it made the situation sound more urgent.

"It's opening day, baby. I'm not leaving this spot." He reached into the pocket of his overalls and pulled out his keys. "If you and Riley wanna take my truck, I'll ride back with Liam."

She gave him an exasperated look. "I don't know my way back to the truck. And I sure as hell know Riley doesn't."

He smirked, stuffing his keys back. "Then you're stuck."

The next hour was brutal. Alyssa texted Riley to alleviate the boredom for several minutes, but there had been no responses in a long while. She wasn't aware that Liam tossed her friend's phone over the hill when she started making TikTok videos of her plight -- Liam took his deer hunting seriously: No noise meant no noise.

Drake wasn't much better; he was quieter than his usual self. It wouldn't have been so bad if she could at least talk. An occasional whispered word was not going to cut it.

Alyssa sighed heavily. She wiggled around for comfort. She unwrapped a Nutty Bar. She crunched. She opened a can of pop. She tapped her fingers. She flipped the pages of a magazine. Each one got that look from Drake that let her know it was too loud. If she ever made it out of there, she planned to jabber and stir until she couldn't do it anymore.

After another half-hour of stewing quietly in her thoughts without a sign of a deer anywhere, Alyssa decided now was the time to finally just talk.

"Do you ever think about having another baby?" It was a topic that had been on her mind for a while. To her surprise, Drake didn't give her a look or even freak out the way she anticipated. Despite his own rule of silence, he even responded in kind.

"Yeah. Kind of a lot."

Her right brow darted up. "Really?"

Drake took a breath and shifted the gun across his lap. "I mean, of course. It's always been my dream to settle down and have a bunch of youngin's with the woman I love." He studied her lit-up face; he'd swore she'd gotten more beautiful with age. That's why he hesitated when he added, "But ... "

Her shoulders slumped at his words, and a deflated look impressed upon her face. "But ... " The word barely made it past her lips.

Drake reached for her hand and gripped it tightly. "Lyssa, we have so much going on right now. You're working on National Boards, Audrey has piano recitals and basketball, Patrick has peewee football and Boy Scouts. We barely have time -- except for right now -- for just ... us. I'm not saying,"never"... just that right now ... isn't a good time."

"I understand that, but ... we've always made it work. And don't you miss those tiny little fingers wrapped around yours? And the way they smell fresh out of the bath? And those chubby little cheeks pressed up against yours?" she goaded.

“Of course I do. I remember the first time I held Audrey and PJ in my arms -- there’s just no better feeling in the world than ...to look down ... " Drake paused as his voice cracked, and his brown eyes glistened like glass. " ... and to see someone so small ..." When she sniffled, it made it that much harder for him to speak. "... that you created with the woman you've loved since you were 16 years old. But I like who they are now, and watching them grow, and doing things with them ... And, well ... there’s no shit clean up.”

“You obviously haven’t washed Patrick's clothes in a while,” Alyssa retorted with a chuckle that brought out one in her husband.

"I’ll have to talk to him about that." He gazed deeper into her eyes. "But I do love you ... more than all the peaches in Georgia, Lyssa Claire.”

Alyssa smiled.“That’s what you said to me when you promised to marry me when we were teens.”

Drake returned his own smile. “I did. I remember like it was yesterday too. Sitting in your parent’s basement, watching Friends reruns, eating pizza, making out. And hell, it’s still as true today as it was then. Somehow, even more."

Their cold lips parted and joined halfway for a fervent kiss, with Drake's hand meandering around the subtle groove at the junction of her waist. Just as it became more intense and desirous, a rustling of twigs off in a nearby thicket caught Drake's ear, and he broke away, his eyes scoping the perimeter. Alyssa wasn't offended, she heard it too, and her heart raced with excitement.

Lifting the binoculars hanging from his neck, he spotted two deer eating from a blackberry patch some thirty yards away. He pointed in their direction; Alyssa gave a quick thumbs up, letting him know she saw them too.

Drake carefully lifted the rifle resting in his lap as Alyssa leaned forward and squinted to get a better visual. "Is that a buck and a doe?" she whispered, not moving an inch.

"Sure as fuck is." He mounted the stock of his .30 caliber, Winchester, just beneath his collarbone; the rush of this moment coursed ravenously through his body. He lined up the scope and placed a steady finger on the trigger -- his thumb pulling the hammer back.

“Wait.” Alyssa loudly whispered. “You can’t shoot him.”

"I'm gonna. Better cover your ears."

"No, Drake. There's a doe with him. What if that's his wife? You can't just leave her all alone without him."

"Lyss, this is the whole reason we're out here."

"So you can make a widow out of her?"

"No ... so I can make deer chili out of him."

Alyssa's mouth flew open. "No. No. RUUUUUUUUN! RUUUUUUN!"

Drake pulled his face away from the scope and fired her a look. "What the hell are you doing? They're getting away!"

She tilted her chin boldly. "I don't care. That was her husband, and they're in love, and you can't take that away from them. I would be so sad if we were just out eating berries and someone came up and shot you, ALL SO THEY COULD EAT DRAKE CHILI!".

Drake dropped his head. He knew there was no point in arguing with her. As long as he’d known her, she was stubborn, and at that moment, she was dead set in believing those two deer were living out the greatest romance of all time. Nothing he said or did would change her mind on that.

A thought emerged while he attempted to comprehend the logic of the situation. Those deer ran off in the direction where Liam was set up. Maybe if he could give his friend a heads up, it was still possible at least someone would leave those woods with the prized buck.

Turning his back from Alyssa so that she couldn't stop him, he pulled a small walkie-talkie from his pocket and radioed Liam. Alyssa knew what was up and jumped to her feet, thrusting her arms around him in an attempt to stop the travesty.

"You can't do this, Drake," she hollered, "That’s her soulmate. And why don't I have a walkie-talkie? I want a walkie-talkie!"

While seated next to Liam, Riley was swinging her legs, purposefully making the soles of her boots scrape against the platform. Liam tried to ignore her; maybe he had been a little too uptight about every little noise and utterance she made. But this was playing a whole different ballgame now: she was now making it her mission to piss him off.

Prepared to pound his head against the tree, Liam gritted his teeth, skimming his eyes in her direction. "Love, do you have to do that?"

"Did you have to throw my phone in the woods?" She spat back.

Liam rubbed his hand over his face. "No, and I am sorry that. I apologize for all of eternity. I promise I will get you another one as soon as we get back, okay?”

Riley huffed. "Fine, but that phone had all of my contacts on it. It had our babies' pictures and videos on it ... our vacation photos. I can't get those memories back ever, and I have to find it, and God only knows where it landed. It could be ..." She stopped rattling on when she caught sight of the distressed look Liam was giving her. Knitting her brows, Riley asked, "What?"

"Nothing ... just ... can you lower your voice a little? You're gonna scare the deer away,"

He regretted it as soon as it came out.

“LIAAAAM!”

He saw the steam gushing out of her ears. There was no time to answer the incoming call on his walkie-talkie from Drake.

Belting out a furious screech, Riley jumped up and tried to jerk the gun from his hands. There was no question she wouldn't shoot him, but she'd sure as hell shred his favorite gun apart piece-by-piece and toss them all the way to Portavira Lake on the other side of town.

Riley tugged with all of her might. "I have HAD IT with being quiet for those damn deer, Liam. HAD IT!"

"Sweetheart, you need to calm down ..." He stood up in front of her, pulling back on the rifle even harder, surprised -- and not pleasantly so -- his considerably smaller wife had this much struggle in her.

"Don't you sweetheart me. You have shushed me for the last time, Liam Preston Rys!"

“Okay, I’m sorry! But can you at least admit us fighting over a gun is dangerous? Somebody is going to get seriously hurt, and I don’t want it to be you, Riley. Please. I won’t shush you anymore, I promise.” His face softened, eventually adorning a loving smile at his wife, who, with a sigh, was unable to resist that handsome face and relaxed her grip.

Riley gave him a half-smile in return. “I’m sorry, too. I’ve ruined your hunting trip.”

“Yes ... you did.” Liam agreed, dodging the playful slap she nearly made to his upper arm. “But I don’t want to fight anymore.”

With the War of the Ryses finally over, they went in for a makeup kiss until Drake’s voice called out to Liam again through his walkie talkie. Liam set the gun down on the bench and leaned it against the tree before he started digging into his pocket to answer the device. Riley dropped down onto the seat, her elbow brushed against the rifle and caused it to slide away until the barrel end hit the railing and set off a powerful blast.

When the ringing in both of their ears subsided, and the smoke had cleared, Liam and Riley collected themselves from the sudden spine-gripping explosion that shook them both. While Riley explained to Liam what happened, a hysterical sounding Drake came back over the walkie-talkie, wailing, “Alyssa’s been shot! Alyssa’s been shot! Help me!”

__________________

Later that evening, in the courthouse square, the street was lit up with zig-zagged rows of red, green, and white lights. Strands of garland were wound around every lamppost in perfect spiraled loops, and red bows hung and waved with the wintry breeze.

With traffic rerouted away from the area, vendors lined sidewalks selling local goods to put the town's citizens in the festive spirit. What would this small town in Georgia have been without boiled peanuts, low country boil, fried green tomatoes, barbecue, and peach everything?

Once Constantine had lit the 30-foot spruce, surrounded by hundreds of merry people from all walks of life that made up this small community, the festival was officially kicked-off.

In a large tent set up on the square, Liam and Riley laid out styrofoam containers and drinks they’d purchased from a barbeque vendor on one of several picnic tables inside. With their two young daughters munching away on their meal, and the stroller with their sleeping son beside them, they both sat down with heavy hearts and restless minds.

Liam bit into his barbecue sandwich, noticing Riley only prodding at her mac-and-cheese while staring off into the distance. He didn’t have to ask what was wrong; he knew what happened that morning was bothering her with guilt and worry. It wasn’t every day she accidentally shot someone.

“Are you going to be okay?”

Riley shook her head slightly with a sad look. “No. It’s just not the same without Alyssa here. You know how much she loves Christmas and the festival. She was so looking forward to it too, until --”

“You shot her.”

“Yeeeeeesssss,” she cried out. Liam reached across the table and gave her hand a comforting squeeze, his thumb caressing her smooth skin. Riley continued to sniffle as she grabbed a handful of napkins and wiped the barbecue sauce off Liam’s sticky fingers that were now smeared all over hers. “I didn’t mean to, I swear it. And the way … and the way Drake cried. It broke my heart. Now he has her on bed rest AND house arrest. He won’t let her take calls. I’ll never see or hear from my bestie agaaaain.” The tears continued to flow in steady streams.

Liam stiffened, feeling the eyes of everyone in that tent, gawking at his overly-dramatic wife breaking down. He started to tell her to lower her voice, but after the gun battle in the woods, he thought better of it. “Riley, darlin’, you know Drake is really overprotective of Alyssa. And as scary as what happened was, she only needed the one stitch and band-aid for her graze wound. Something tells me Drake won’t be able to keep her down long.”

---------------------------

Liam was right. As much as Drake tried to keep her in bed so he could wait on her hand and foot, protect her from the careless friends of the world who could inadvertently do his baby girl harm, and check to see if she needed a new band-aid every few minutes, he could not keep her down. She had been far too excited to hang out with the people she loved so much and celebrate at one of her favorite festivals.

Maxwell had left for the events with Audrey and Patrick an hour ago; they were part of the children’s caroling group and needed to be there early. Against Drake’s wishes, Alyssa showered, got dressed, and made sure he knew in no uncertain terms would he be able to prevent her from going. The only thing he knew to do was to go, follow her around the entire night, and make sure she wouldn’t get shot again.

They circled the block where everything was held several times, but spaces to park were impossible to find. Three blocks away was the church where they attended, and the parking lot was completely empty. Drake didn’t like the fact that Alyssa would have to walk so far in her debilitated condition and was prepared to haul her piggyback style if he had to, but this was the best spot he could find.

Drake moved the gearshift into park and reached over to grab Alyssa’s arm, who was already bounding out the door. He pulled Alyssa back inside, the chilly air blowing through her open door swept her straighten hair this way and that way.

She cocked her head to the side and exhaled, “Drake, I can open my own door. I’m not broken. It’s just a scratch. I’m fine.”

“I know.” He smiled that tenderhearted smile only Alyssa had ever seen. The same one sending a shudder through her already chilled body. “I changed my mind,” he replied simply

Alyssa slammed her eyes shut and groaned. “I just told you I was fine --”

“No, no,” He shook his head. “About having another baby. I want to start trying.”

Saddled with curiosity, she slid back into the truck and shut the door. “But, I thought you said we didn’t have time for that --”

“Yeah, I did say that. I still believe it. But … today made me realize that yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today …”

Alyssa’s hand flew to her mouth as she laughed out loud. Drake gave her a confused look before chuckling awkwardly to himself, “What’s so funny?”

She lowered her hand, still laughing. “You got that saying from a quote on a poster in my classroom. You’re the one who hung it up for me.”

The memory dawned on him, and he lowered his head, attempting to cover the guilty grin that spread over it. “Well, hell. Here I was trying to make you think I was all insightful and smart and stuff.”

Alyssa’s hand splayed across his rugged chest as she leaned over to kiss him.“You are very insightful and smart. You know I never settle for anything less than the best.”

“I s’pose.” he said, forking his fingers through his hair. “But … I guess what I wanted to say was … I know that bullet missed you, barely … but what if it hadn’t? What if I’d left those woods without you today? Just like you were afraid that doe might. Time wouldn’t matter anymore. There will NEVER be enough time with you. You’re my life, Alyssa Claire. You’re my lover, my friend, my heart, my confidante, my soul, my everything … my little peach. I want to experience all that life has given me with you as my wife … and forever make time with you.”

“DRAAAKEY!” she bawled, spreading her tiny arms wide around his bulky body. Alyssa drew him into her so hard it nearly crushed the wind right out of his lungs. “I -- love -- you -- so muuuch!” Drake patted her back and kissed into her hair as she sniveled into his shirt. He hated when she cried, but damn if this didn’t feel good to him. Anytime she was happy made him that way too.

They took a moment to kiss and pet each other a little before Alyssa sat up and asked, “So … when do you want to start trying for a new baby Walker?”

He shrugged. “Whenever you want, baby.”

Alyssa looked through the back window of the truck and scanned the parking lot. She bit her lip and looked back at him impishly. “What about … now?”

Drake’s eyes flew open wide. “In the church parking lot?”

Pursing her lips, she affirmed, “Yes. We’ve done it behind the Piggly Wiggly plenty of times. And let's not forget the ‘Great Ass Blow-out of 2019’ in the Atlanta Convention Center parking garage.”

“I will never forget that.” Drake shook his head as that momentous sexual experience replayed in his mind. “Mmmm, you performed magic that day, woman.”

She raised a brow and coaxed him on, “So? What’dya say?”

Drake took a tentative look around at the dark, empty lot, then back at her. “We’re so going to hell, but I’m in.”

“Eeeeeee,” she squealed, jerking his arm around in excitement. “Try to keep your ass out of the window this time, okay?”

Thirty minutes later, Pastor Hakim pulled into the church parking lot with Mara, the game warden, following behind in her truck. There had been several reports from passerby’s of loud animals howling and screeching behind the church. The stray cat population was out of control in that area, and several cats had burrowed their way inside the church on occasion.

Hakim parked his car, with Mara pulling in beside him. They both got out simultaneously and listened quietly to see if they could decipher where the commotion was coming from.

Within seconds, a load moan roared out, followed by several consecutive whimpers that were hard to make out by the duo.

Mara listened intently, then gestured with her flashlight to an area near the back of the lot where clusters of shrubs and dry brush bordered. Hakim ambled behind her, the noise getting closer and closer until the pastor's brow furrowed at the shaking of a nearby truck.

“Damn, teenagers,” he grumbled as they tipped toed discreetly.

Mara crouched down by the truck's tailgate, Hakim bending over while she duck-walked toward the driver's side door.

The game warden turned to the pastor and instructed, “On my three. 1 -- 2 -- 3.” They both jumped up at the same time, flashing the light inside the cab. “HAHA Caught ya! OH MY GOD!”

Alyssa, who was on top of Drake, completely naked except for the band-aid on her left arm, looked up in utter humiliation and shock. She crossed her arms over her chest to cover her breast, feeling like she might faint. Not knowing what to say at that moment to rectify their actions or why those two were still staring inside the truck, Alyssa smiled sheepishly. “I’m still feeling the spirit, Hakim.”

---------------------------------

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#drake x alyssa #Liam x Riley #gun usage #hunting

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taehyungsgrowl · 4 years ago

Text

Duncan x Sugar Babies Angst Pt 2

Can we just appreciate this gif for a moment? I forgot how much I love Duncan Shepherd.

Thank you all for hanging in there for a year for part 2 lmfao! I hope you enjoy it!

Italics to signify time jump! I hope it makes sense lol

love you!

also...... the fact that this..... is finally out a YEAR after part 1.... what am i?? a hollywood script writer? ugh i hate myself.

also.. this is really just one version of how the met! i know we’ve talked about different scenarios of how they came together but i liked this one for the storyline :’)

tw: duncan kink shames piss kink (as he should) jjnkdvjskv, a smutty mention, but genrerally pg-13, a lot of fluff.

word count: somewhere over 4,000 words i think

Duncan huffed as he walked down the narrow aisle of the plane. How the airline mixed his first-class seat for an economy one was beyond him. But after a stressful conference and being away from his home for so long, he didn’t have the energy to fight them. All he wanted was for this flight to be over.

He glanced at his boarding pass and back up to the numbers above the seats. 18 B. A middle seat. As if this could get any worse, he thought to himself.

Duncan’s sharp blue eyes found where he would be seating; he held in a sigh as he noticed his seat mates were already in their designated seats.

Y/N peeked up at the man who stuffed his carry on in the overhead compartment. She tried not to stare as his shirt rode up his tummy exposing a bit of skin. She looked over at her best friend, Jim who was watching out the window with his headphones in.

“Excuse me,” the older man offered her an almost shy smile as he asked her to stand so he could take his damned middle seat.

“Oh! Sorry!” Y/N stood from her seat allowing Duncan to squeeze in between her and Jim.

After Duncan was seated, Y/N reached over his lap to tap Jim on the shoulder, “Sorry, sir,” she told Duncan - he lifted his hands and nodded, “You’re good.” he flashed her a quick smile.

“What time do we land again?” she asked when Jim removed his headphones. Duncan glanced between the two; curiosity took over him as he wondered whether they were a couple. They were both very attractive, roughly around the same age, and had arrived together.

“10:00 p.m” Jim shook his head at his best friend. He loved her to death - truly. No one else could convince him to fly across the country with so much uncertainty.

“I’m sorry,” Duncan interrupted, “If you two are.. Together, I can switch seats with one of you.”

“Oh no! We don’t mind, sir! Thank you.” she glanced at him once again.

Duncan tried to get comfortable before the plane took off - he had a long day and an even longer flight ahead of him.

The flight attendant started to make her way down the aisle

“What would you like to drink,” she set down napkins on each of their trays.

“I’ll take a Sprite,” Jim answered, giving her a sweet smile. “Me too,” Y/N echoed.

While she worked on getting their sodas, she turned her attention to Duncan, who was taking out his AirPods, “Anything for you, sir?”

“Scotch; neat.” he nodded, putting his earpiece back in.

Thinking back to that flight, it’s hard for Duncan to recall how one thing lead to the next.

Y/N, always the extrovert in Jim and Her’s duo, asked Duncan what brought him to Washington D.C.

He told her he worked for a company there, being careful not to divulge too much personal information (like the fact that he was the heir of the company in question).

“And you two?” Duncan glanced at Jim. Duncan wasn’t used to small talk on planes - but he had a few drinks on an empty stomach making him looser than he’d normally be.

“Uh..” Jim hesitated, giving Y/N a panicked look.

“Work!” she answered,

Duncan gave her a puzzling look, but decided to not press it.

What Duncan had expected to be a long flight, literally, flew by, with conversation with Jim and Y/N.

They were careful not to give each other any information that felt too personal, but it was easy to just listen to his interests.

Before they knew it, the flight was over and they parted ways.

Duncan lingered with them as they gathered their bags. It’d been so long since he had real conversations with people who weren’t just interested in his power or company.

Duncan watched out the window of the car that his chauffeur picked him up in as Jim and Y/N stood by the curb, fumbling with their phones for an Uber.

‘I should have offered them a ride’, he thinks as the shrink off into the distance.

Not a week had gone by since Duncan arrived back home when he already had another event lined up for the weekend. Perks of being the face of the Shepherd Foundation often times felt more like chores.

At least the Gala was just out of a D.C and he didn’t need to worry about an airline messing up his seat again.

He smiled and waved at the flashing cameras.

As the night started Duncan made his way through familiar faces and strangers. A glass of champagne secured in his hand as he made rounds.

As elegant as these events were, they were often a bore - especially when he came alone. He found himself seated alone at the bar waiting for his eyes to land on someone he found vaguely interesting enough to chat up.

His eyes scanned the room until they fell on a pair that seemed to be new comers. The woman wore a silk red gown with a low back, tracing over her figure. When Duncan turned his attention over to the man that stood by her, he realized he recognized them.

Jim fumbled with the cuffs of his shirt, trying to keep himself together before his “date” got back to him.

Duncan recognized them from his flight back a few days ago. Truly, D.C was smaller than he realized. He picked up his drink from the bar and strolled over to them, easy grin on his face.

“Hey, 18 A and 18 C, right?” he glanced them up and down a bit. He almost could have gone the whole night without realizing who they were - they cleaned up so well from the old t-shirts and sweats they were wearing on the flight to the designer clothes they wore now.

Jim felt his face go hot. Both he and Y/N had gushed over the handsome man they sat next to after that flight.

“Hope our first clients are as hot as that guy...”

“HA!” Y/N let out a humorless laugh, “If only...”

Y/N kept her cool demeanor, offering Duncan a sly smirk. “Hi stranger,”

“Duncan.” his lips. tugged up into a smile, “Duncan Shepherd.”

Y/N and Jim had assumed right to think Duncan was just the kind of guy they sought after as a client. The way he carried himself screamed wealth and power.

“And you two are...” he raised a brow, waiting for their names. He hadn’t seen them at any other gala or even so he knew they were new comers. Maybe heirs to some fortune 500 company. His eyes wandered around the room wondering who their parents were. Duncan had the reputation of getting “inside information” on some of his competitors by pulling his charms on their trust fund babies.

“Working,”

Duncan chuckled, raising his champagne flute, “Work hard, play hard, right?” his gaze flickered between her eyes and her lips.

“Duncan,” his attention was called by a big name politician that had appeared at Y/N’s side. “It’s been too long,” he extended his hand out for a shake. “Tell me, how is the development of your app coming? We really could use someone like you before reelection,” he laughed.

Duncan didn’t fail to notice his hand on Y/N’s waist (or the tight lipped smile she had as soon as the man appeared).

“You’ll be the first to know when it’s ready,” Duncan answered, tearing his eyes away from his hand.

“James,” another man approached them. Duncan had seen him before at other events. The man looped his arm in Jim’s before handing him a drink. He leaned in and whispered something in Jim’s ear, making him blush.

Duncan lingered between them, easily making conversation until both men made their rounds for more drinks, leaving him with Y/N and Jim again.

If he knew anything, he knew the game the powerful in D.C played. And he knew well enough to know what kind of work Jim and Y/N were doing.

“Working,” he gave them a knowing smile. He raised his flute to them before taking a long sip, drowning back his champagne.

He watched the color flood to Jim’s cheeks again and it only made him chuckle. It wasn’t past Duncan to hire an escort. Dating as an up and coming business mogul doesn’t always allow him the time for dating or anything other than business. Sometimes, he just needed to secure his own private deals. Much less of a hassle than having to deal with the entanglements of relationships.

Duncan wasn’t a callous man. He planned on settling down at some point. He was an older bachelor. Well seasoned - he didn’t mean to sound cocky but it wasn’t that he didn't have the opportunity. He didn’t want that - not yet at least.

“Walk with me,” he nodded his head towards the hallway.

Y/N looked over at Jim, both exchanging in a silent conversation before following alongside Duncan. They turned the corner into a quiet hallway away from the gala.

“You both clean up nice,” he smirked, “Although, I personally loved your airport wardrobe,” he winked.

Y/N mirrored his smirk, reaching forward to adjust his pristine tie, “Are you wanting to talk business Mr. Shepherd? If not... our clients are waiting.”

Duncan chuckled. “I’d like to propose something more... exclusive.” He searched their eyes, smile tugging on his lips. He remembered enough about his flight with them to know he liked them. And now, seeing them look so... sexy. “Let me take care of you.”

Jim shifted back and forth on his feet. He was sure the offered only stood for Y/N. He looked down at the floor, chewing on his bottom lip.

“Both of you,” Duncan met Jim’s eyes.

“You two made for great... companions on the plane. If you’re willing to,” he coughed awkwardly into his fist for a pause, “extend your uh... companionship -- I can be very generous.”

“Like a sugar daddy!?” Jim finally spoke up, his voice dripping in a mixture of surprise and interest.

Duncan shrugged easily, his thumb running over his bottom lip. “That’s one way to put it,” he bit his lip. He reached into his card holder and handed them a beautifully embossed business card.

“Give me a call if you need to think about it. Unless you’d rather go up to my room to... discuss it further,” he chuckled.

Y/N and Jim remember ditching their dates to follow Duncan to his suite. Hushed whispers between them as they got the courage to take up Duncan’s offer.

None of them knew the love that was about to blossom for them that night. They sat out on the balcony of his suite, letting the cool breeze hit their skin. Always the gentleman, Duncan didn’t initiate any advances that night. He bought them room services and gave them a safe space away from the former clients.

They curled up in the California king bed just talking like they had on their flight.

“Uh so... what exactly do you like,” Y/N asked. She fidgeted with the gems on her dress. It was beautiful - beyond what she could ever afford, but it was starting to become uncomfortable.

“Cashmere and fine wine,” Duncan laughed, making Y/N roll her eyes. He caught her struggle with getting comfortable. He got off the bed and found his small suitcase they’d brought up for him, digging for his pajamas. He placed a few comfy items on the bed, “If you two.. wanna get more comfortable,” he smiled sheepishly.

Y/N sat up on her knees sorting through the clothes and tossing a tshirt at Jim. “Seriously like... we have to know what you... enjoy, daddy..” she pouted, playfully testing the waters.

It was his turn to roll his eyes, but there was no hiding the fact that he did like the sound of that. “I don’t have a piss kink or anything like that,” he scrunched his nose, “But,” he got closer, tilting her chin up, “I’d like to hear you that again for me some time.”

Y/N and Jim floated back down from cloud 9 a few days later when they were back in their not to luxurious apartment.

After that first night, they spent the next two days at Duncan’s penthouse slowly going over what the arrangement would entail (although, if they were being honest most of the time was spent between Duncan’s bed and sharing sharing pastries with Duncan on his balcony).

Duncan pulled up up to their run down complex. He’d been having so much fun during the past few days, he didn’t want it to come to an end yet.

Duncan didn’t say what he wanted to say, but he felt a strong distaste for where they were living.

They’d just moved to the city and started working when they met Duncan - they were still hoping to make enough money to find a nice place. This was just a temporary stay.

It wasn’t long before Duncan gave them an extra key to his place...

“I figured if where you’re staying is just temporary... you’d rather stay here..”

Duncan knew he could easily get them their own loft or apartment, but he was enjoying them being there more than he realized he would.

He knew starting this arrangement would be fun. He knew he liked them. He just hadn’t realized how lonely he’d been before.

He looked up at the ceiling as Y/N and Jim slept on either side of him... reminding himself that for them... it was just a job. A way to get their things paid for. But then again... it was he wanted, right?

Another realization that came far later for Duncan Shepherd was that to Jim and Y/N... it had also become much more than a job.

For Jim, he remembers the moment he knew he was falling for not only Duncan, but his friend of many years, was on one of the first trips Duncan ever took them too. Jim had always wanted to be near the ocean. He had such bittersweet memories connected to it. But for him now, the sweetest one comes from laughing in the sand after convincing Duncan to try and surf. Y/N was rubbing sunscreen on their backs soon turning into a pile of kisses on to one another with the sunsetting softly over the horizon.

From the beginning, it never felt “mechanical” or “strictly business” with Duncan. Not like their first few clients. It’d always been easy with Duncan. Maybe it was the initial crush Jim had developed on the plane that made the difference. Either way he knew he loved Duncan.

Y/N would be lying if she said she didn’t have feelings for Jim before the whole affair started. She often brushed it off as just a friend crush -- but after being with him and Duncan things began to develop quickly. She loved them both so much in their own way. They each filled different parts of her heart to make her feel whole.

The moment she knew -- the moment she took them to uncharted territory by being the first to say “I love you,” was after she’d spent the day in bed crying. Feeling so vulnerable after a hard day. She felt herself isolating herself from Jim... from Duncan.

She remembers them silently coming into the room to hold her. Duncan let her cry on his chest while Jim played with her hair. In that moment of safety, she whispered, “I love you,” and there was no question as to who it was directed to -- because they knew she loved them both.

“You want to what?” Duncan spoke, his composure faltering. “I don’t - I’m sorry.” he felt loss for words. He hadn’t noticed that his hands started to shake until Jim reached forward to take his hand in his own.

“Shh,” Jim cooed. Duncan wasn’t used to this. He wasn’t used to being the one who needed to be babied. He wasn’t the one who needed his hand held, for Christ’s sake.

“Hear us out.” Jim led Duncan down on the chair.

“Duncan.” Y/N’s voice was clear and steady. “We don’t want to be your sugar babies anymore. We don’t want this to be…” she searched for her words, “an exchange.”

Jim rubbed her back reassuringly. “You mean so much more to us than the nice things you buy us. We want you, Duncan. We want to end the arrangement because we want to be with you. Like, as a real relationship.” she peeked up at him from her lashes, “If you’ll have us,” she nodded her up towards Jim, who was all but vibrating next to her.

Duncan blinked back tears. The knot in his throat made it hard for him to say anything. All he could do was nod - nod and let the tears fall freely from his eyes.

Y/N reached up to his face, wiping it clean. “Is that a yes?” her lips tugged into a smile.

Duncan cleared his throat and took both of their hands in his, “Of course. Yes. A million times yes.”

The way they made him feel so loved - after years of feeling like he wasn’t capable of it, and here he was -- madly in love with two beautiful souls. They wanted - they loved him for him!! He knew it in his heart before that morning but hearing it sent his heart into overdrive.

He called into the office that morning to be able to spend the day with the people he loved the most. The idiots back at the Shepherd Foundation could figure it out on their own.

After that restless night, they all needed all the R & R they could get.

After a few mimosas and waffles, Y/N and Jim dragged Duncan out to their hot tub on their back patio. Duncan had that hot tub long before he met Jim and Y/N, but didn’t start to truly enjoy it until they moved in with him.

Duncan sighed as he slipped into the hot water, the jet pressure working against his calves. “Well,” he smiled up at them, “Are you not going to join me?”

Y/N smirked at him right before grabbing the hem of her shirt and pulling it over her head. She exposed herself completely stripping down to nothing before she slowly made it down the steps into the water, “Mhmm,” she sighed as she took a seat next to Duncan.

Duncan chuckled softly, shaking his head, “Baby?” he called over to Jim, his hand, already wandering up Y/N’s thigh.

Jim followed Y/N example and stripped off his clothing before climbing into the tub, on the other side of Duncan. “You’re overdressed,” Jim mumbled into Duncan’s neck, snaking his hand into the waistband of the little black trunks...

Duncan told himself he wouldn’t cry. After everything they’ve been through - it had led to this...

His toes dug into the white sand as he looked out into the sea. He couldn’t have chosen a better place - his their beach house was their haven. Their little slice of paradise. It was only natural for them do it there.

Every thing was picture perfect. The sky was a beautiful array of purples and pinks, reflecting on the clear water. To his left, a gorgeous set up of candles, blankets, twinkle lights, and a picnic of his babies’ favorite treats.

Jim and Y/N knew that Duncan had been planning something for weeks now. When he booked a getaway to their beach house, he didn’t allow them to lift a finger packing. Told them he’d take care of it all. And he did.

He had their outfits laid out on their bed for them. For Jim, he had a thin pair of linen pants in a light sandy colored with a baby blue shirt of the same material. Y/N’s wasn’t too different. He had a white dress of the same fabric. It was soft and flowy - perfect for the beach.

They made their way down to the beach where Duncan waited for them. He turned to face them, his hands behind his back, biting down on his lip to try and keep it together,

He knew they were his life and he was spending forever with them.

“Duncan,” Y/N breathed out, her eyes going over the set up. She reached for his hand, “This is beautiful,”

Duncan squeezed her hand, and took Jim’s in the other one.

“I have something for you,” he dropped their hands and dug a little velvet bag out of his pocket. “I know there isn’t anything... traditional,” he laughed, “about our relationship, but” he pulled the string of the baggie and dumped the contents of it into his palm. He played with the cool metal, shifting them around his hand.

“I wouldn’t want it any other way and,” he paused to look into their eyes, “I’d want to spend the rest of my days with you,”

He took his time, placing a finger on Jim’s finger and then YN’s. “Since we can’t really do a courthouse wedding,” he laughed, taking both of their hand again - this time adorned with the precious jewels he gifted them, “I figured, we could do something more our style,” he gestured towards the romantic scenery he’d set.

“Will you take me to be yours forever?”

Without an ounce of hesitation, Jim and Y/N replied their “I do”’s over each other. When Jim noticed the tears pooling in Y/N’s eyes, he reached over to wipe her cheek.

Duncan couldn’t smile any more if he tried. Jim loved the way the corner of his eyes crinkled when he smiled that big. Duncan’s hair blew softly in the gentle breeze. His peppered hair matched his graying beard, but like the fine wines he adored, he aged well.

He pulled them closer, caressing their cheeks before kissing them.

He loved them. Duncan Shepherd had found love.

Y/N and Jim embraced him with everything they had. They never wanted to let each other go - but when they finally did, Duncan popped the champagne, loving the way Y/N giggled when the bubbles poured out of the bottle.

By the time they downed the champagne and cake on the beach, the buttons of Duncan’s shirt where messily unbuttoned. He had sand in his hair and lipstick marks on his neck.

The sun was close to being gone, but the candles and fairy lights were enough for them. The were covered in the soft glow of the moon.

Duncan’s heart felt so warm as he watched Y/N feed Jim another bite of cake. Jim’s laughter like music to his ears. Jim caught his eye and crawled over to Duncan. He swung his legs over Duncan’s thighs and sat on him. Jim took his face in his hands and kissed him tenderly.

Jim found his place.

He found a home with Duncan and Y/N - a home with nothing but love to offer and he was ready for it.

They each had their space in each others hearts and it melted perfectly into who they were.

Who would think that a day would come when Duncan Shepherd would be thanking his lucky stars for an economy flight seat?

Tags: @desertsunflower00 @xavierplympton @quillanpie @spoo-per @langdons-pinkyring @little-grunge-flowerz @sexwon131 @leatherduncan @royalblueviper @shenevertricks1831 @sadhoecentral @chloelucia13 @shyvirgoanon @langdonswhoreprobably @littledemondani @bitchchatter @rpwithjayn @chloelucia13 @agonydearest @midnightontheearth @7-wonders @prophecy-is-inevitable @wroteclassicaly @ritualmichael @wickedlangdon @fckinsupreme @michael-langdon-appreciation @jimmason @brattylovee @dark-mei-rose @lovelylangdonx @blakewaterxx @dyns33

sorry if i missed someone!

and please LMK what you think 🥺

#duncan shepherd #duncan shepherd x reader #duncan shepherd x sugar babies #jim mason #jim mason x reader #cody fern

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the-halo-of-my-memory · 4 years ago

Text

Nitpicking & Picnicking (DA Gift Exchange 2020)

Paring: OC Female Inquisitor (Marzeyna Lavellan) x Cullen Rutherford

Word Count: 4,9k

Summary: The Inquisition overhear that Cullen and Marzeyna are courting but have yet to spend some time together outside of Inquisition hours. They decide to help them out with a picnic, much to the chagrin of Cullen.

Warning(s): language, second hand embarrassment, Cullen nearly having a stroke, the usual Inquisition shenanigans, and fluff.

A/N: This is a note to my future self. Future Jess, never sign up for another Secret Santa thing here again. You got so distracted by bullshit this year, you nearly forgot and then panicked for the last 48 hours of this. Nice job!

Anyways, @crqstalite this is my gift for you for the @dagiftexchange! I figured a sorta crack fic with fluff would be perfect for your Marzeyna and Cullen. And naturally, the rest of the Inquisition came with lol. I seriously hope you like it.

I also wanna thank @dorathedestroyer64 and @callthedarknessdown for helping me a million by beta reading this and just being all around sweet friends (ily you guys <3)

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When she wakes the sunlight is in her eyes, and in the not so far distance, the noise of the men and women of the inquisition sparring rings. Swords striking, armor crashing, and the voices of many speaking, yelling, and giving orders.

Nuzzling the corner of her pillow, Marzenya recognizes one voice among the others.

It’s Commander Cullen Rutherford.

Her Commander Cullen Rutherford.

The kiss on the battlements. . . it still leaves her breathless a week later.

It was everything she wanted and so much more.

Yes, she had been kissed before. It was some years ago, back when she was with the clan. It was with a fellow elf and it was just a kiss for the sake of kissing. There were a few others as well.

But with Cullen, she understood why people did it. To have him near her, hands on her cheeks, and his warm lips upon her own...it stopped her embarrassment right in its place after being caught by that scout. Jim was his name.

Nevermind him. The kiss! The kiss was what she wanted to think about at this moment.

When they connected, she forgot to breathe. That kiss robbed her of breath and the burning in her lungs was worth it.

It was becoming a part of her schedule. She would always come up to see him before breakfast, before going off on her duties. To see him not yet the commander and her, not yet the inquisitor. But simply as Marzeyna and Cullen. To say his name without speaking of war tactics or about Inquisition affairs is almost like singing a melody. She can and will say his name whenever she likes when she’s at his office.

And when he says her name, it’s like the winds have said it, biting at her skin, and giving her chills up and down her spine. It makes the blood in her heart run warm and gives her butterflies in her stomach. She’d be lying if she denied that one of the main reasons why she runs to see him was just to hear him say her name.

Marzeyna. . .

And so here she was, in his office. His face lights up at the sight of her, like the sun rising.

“Good morning, Cullen.”

“Good morning, Marzeyna,” he smiles back at her. Oh, the butterflies are back.

“Are you busy at the moment?” she asks.

“Not quite yet,” he says. “But I can spare some time if you’d like.”

“I would, thank you.”

And so they carve out that little space and time talking to one another. Nothing about the Inquisition. That could wait for the time being. Cullen would sit at his desk and she would sit atop it, next to his paperwork.

The moment was only that: a moment. And it had to end eventually.

Usually Marzeyna would usually slip off the desk and give Cullen a kiss on the cheek before leaving, but this time they were interrupted.

“Commander Cullen, we need to make preparations for today’s—”

It was Cassandra. She entered the room with a board in hand with papers clipped on it. Her eyes, glued to the ink, failed to notice the two at first. When she did, she trailed off.

An uncomfortable silence settled in the air. It was awkward, no doubt.

Although caught in only a chaste moment of closeness, it felt scandalizing all the same. This time they spent together was for them alone, and to be interrupted turned the pure intimacy of conversation into an act far more compromising and less innocent than the simple poetry of their enlaced fingers.

There were already rumors circulating around the barracks and the rest of Skyhold as it is. They just had to kiss outside for some to see, didn’t they?

And now Cassandra knows. Great.

Well, she already had her suspicions. Cassandra always kept an eye on Marzeyna (which she was always grateful for) and no doubt she caught the dopey smiles and doe-eyes she subconsciously made when she looked at Cullen during war table meetings.

Yeah, Leliana and Josephine probably know too.

“I beg your pardon,” Cassandra says, “am I interrupting something?”

“Oh! No, seeker,” Marzeyna can feel the heat coloring her cheeks. “I was just heading out,” She slips off the desk and gives a nod to Cullen, who nods back with that crooked smile she adored on his face. Too bad she couldn’t kiss him with Cassandra here. She bids them both a good morning before leaving.

*********

The moment had to end. And so be it.

If only it was a moment longer, Cullen sighs. He didn’t get the kiss he found himself looking forward to every morning, but it was obvious why she didn’t give him one.

Back to business.

The seeker steps forward and lays her board of papers on his desk.

“I know it is none of my concern,” she says, carefully picking her words, “but I must ask. Are you courting the inquisitor?”

“Uh-”

It was a simple yes or no question and yet he did not know how to answer it.

Courting. It was such a strange word. It felt too proper for him, the son of Fereldan farmers. A word meant for royals and nobles. He was neither of them.

But technically speaking. . .

“Er uh . . . yes, I am courting the Inquisitor.”

Cassandra raises a brow, a smirk pulling aside her lips.

"But I assure you, seeker! We are keeping our personal affairs away from our duties with the Inquisition. We will not shirk our duties and—"

"Cullen, that's enough."

She hides her smile with a fist and she's laughing? At him?

"I know you two will not neglect your duties and will remain professional when necessary."

Oh.

"Oh."

"Another question, if I may?"

"Go ahead."

"Have you spent some time with her?"

Cullen’s brows draw together. "Some—some time with her?"

"Yes. You are courting here." She reminds him, amused to have to elaborate further.

"Y-Yes, I am."

Cassandra’s head tilts to the side. "Have you not spent some time with her after hours? Perhaps have taken her outside of Skyhold?"

If there were words in Cullen's head, they seem to have leaked out of his ears.

"I uh. . . haven't had the chance." He realizes.

“A chance?"

"You do remember that we have an Inquisition to run?”

"Of course I do," Casandra scowls and crosses her arms. "But you must make time for Marzeyna if you expect this courtship to be successful."

"Excuse me?”

"Do not worry. Myself and the others shall help." And with that she picks up her board of papers and heads for the door.

Cullen was struck by a bolt of confusion.

"What in the blazes....”

****

Early evening arrived, the sun soon setting in an hour, and candles would need to be lit.

With a familiar ache in his neck and shoulders, Cullen sits hunched over his desk with stacks of paperwork that needed his attention.

Scout reports, operations that require his permission, requisitions, letters, etc.

He could feel a headache coming on. The dull, slow creeping from the back of his skull. Having had so many since withdrawing from lyrium, he knows too well that it will soon spread and pulse along to the beat of his heart and grow sharp, clawing at his mind from the back of his eyes.

A sigh escapes his lips.

Maybe he needs to eat something. It was time for dinner. Perhaps he could find Marzeyna and have a meal with her in his office. Or maybe the garden, have a little picnic there. Watch the sunset together.

Yes . . . that would be nice . . .

Just as he’s about to get up from his seat, the door opposite his desk opens.

“Commander Cullen, may I have a moment of your time?”

It was that Tevinter mage, Dorian Pavus.

This cannot be good.

“Uh, you may.”

“Wonderful!” The mage walks over and puts his hands on his desk. “A little birdie told me that our dear commander is courting our sweet little inquisitor.”

“Was the little birdie perhaps Cassandra?” Cullen makes a face.

“Perhaps,” Dorian says with a knowing look. “Though if I must be frank, we all had our suspicions before the little birdie came flying.”

“We?”

“Don’t be foolish, Cullen. We’ve seen the way you two look at each other. It’s so sweet and innocent, it makes me ill.” Dorian gives a sort of dreamy sigh. “Reminds of my youth.”

Meanwhile the commander had grown two shades pinker. He doesn’t need a mirror to know that.

“It-It was that obvious?”

“I’m afraid so. But nevermind that. The same little birdie also told you that you have yet to spend some time with her outside of Inquisition affairs. Is that true?”

It occurs to Cullen that he wanted nothing more in this moment than to bury his face in his gloved hands and scream.

“Yes, that’s true. Look, Dorian. I don’t know if you noticed, but we are part of the Inquisition. We are in the middle of attempting to close the breach in the sky and defeat Corypheus, all while in the middle of mage/templar war.”

A moment passes for his words to settle in.

“Alright, I see your point.” Tucking a fist under his chin, Dorian appears to be deep in thought. “Have you thought about it nonetheless?”

“Of course I have, it’s just—” Cullen sighs.

“Just what?” Dorian prompts.

“It’s just. . . we have business to conduct. We can barely see each other outside of meetings.”

“Have you thought about making time?”

Wait a minute. . .

“Making time?”

“Yes, making time. Cullen, I know you and Marzenya are busy people. I know we are in the middle of something awful and the two of you and the rest of us are trying to fix everything. The issue here is that you need to spend some time together or your work will consume your relationship. At the end of the day, you’ll want you to remember the memories you made with her, not with all this shit paperwork.”

For a second, Cullen doesn’t know what to say.

“Dorian, that was . . . incredibly touching of you to say.”

“I know it was. People think I like to talk just to hear the sound of my voice, which is true. I have a lovely voice. Now come on!”

By now, Dorian had walked over to the other side of the desk and was pulling the commander up and out of his seat by the arm.

“Where are we going?” Cullen asks.

“To make memories.”

“I can’t I have reports to-”

“What did I say about making memories?”

****

The magister ended up taking the commander to Skyhold’s own pub, the Herald's Rest. Inside, the pub was packed with familiar faces, all engaged in banter and drinks sloshing in their hands. The music was lively and there was not a sad soul in sight.

At least the morale was looking high, Cullen thought.

Dorian takes him near the back end of the pub where the Iron Bull and his Chargers sat and made their new home.

“Dorian! Commander! It’s nice to see you here! Come, take a seat!” Bull did look happy to see them. As Cullen takes a seat with the group, one of them, Krem, hands him a drink—though drinking is the last thing he wants to do while this headache continues to grow.

“So what brings you here?” Bull asks after taking a swig of his drink.

“I did,” says Dorian, “and you can thank me for that. And also, it turns out Cassandra was right. Our dear commander is courting our little inquisitor.”

The incredulous look on Bull’s face says it all.

“Shit, really?! Hey Cullen, congrats, man! Didn’t know you had it in you.” The “pat” on the shoulder he gave him nearly knocks him off balance in his chair.

“Er uh, thank you.”

As Bull is about to say something else, something across the room catches his attention.

“Varric! Blackwall! Get over here! We gotta talk.”

Oh, Maker take him.

The warden and the crossbow dwarf take with them, and Blackwall obliges to take a drink while Varric denies.

“Curly, it’s certainly a surprise to see you here.”

“I could say the same, commander. What brings you here?”

“Nevermind that,” interrupts an impatient Dorian. “What matters is this: the seeker was right. Cullen is courting Marzenya.”

The two men’s eyes go wide and turn to Cullen.

“I knew it!” Varric had a large smile on his face. “Who made the first move?”

The commander’s face felt as hot as a kiln.

“I-I guess it was technically I did-”

“Ha! You owe a sovereign, Tiny.”

Bull groans as he digs in his pockets. “Dammit. I was hoping Zey would be the one to grow balls.”

“I was thinking the same,” Dorian hands a sovereign of his own to Blackwall.

“Excuse me, have you all been making bets on my personal life?” Oh, that headache is coming along quite nicely.

“Relax, Cullen,” says Blackwall, putting a hand on his shoulder. “We mean no harm. It was just you two were quite the spectacle, even back in Haven.”

“He’s right,” Varric nods. “I know a romance in the making when I see it.”

“Alright now, this is the important thing. Cullen has yet to properly spend time with Marzeyna .”

“Oh yeah?”” Bull raises a brow.

Cullen sighs as he feels a blood vessel near his temple about to burst.

“There is a giant hole in the sky we need to worry about first.” He points out.

“That can wait.”

Now that blood vessel is really going to burst. The commander stands abruptly from his chair, nearly knocking it over. His mouth is open, ready to debate, when a hand lands on his shoulder and pulls him back down.

“Dorian’s right,” it was Blackwall. “This is more important.”

“How?!”

“This is a chance of love. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity and you can’t neglect that opportunity.”

“I don’t-”

Dorian interrupts him. “We need to come up with some ideas for him to spend some time with Zey, any suggestions?”

“Have you thought about having drinks with her here?” Varric asks.

“This isn’t the most romantic or intimate place for us,” Cullen rubs the back of his neck.

“Have thought about having dinner with her in her quarters?” gestures Blackwall.

The room is suddenly warming up.

“That’s far too intimate for the time being.”

“Mm!” Bull wipes his mouth after taking another swig of his drink with the back of his hand. “Have you thought about having sex with her?”

The room is now on fire.

“I-! We’ve barely started!” Cullen says through his teeth.

“No no, that’s a brilliant idea,” oh Blackwall, please no. “Sleeping with her will give you a good outlook on how your relationship is and will be.”

“Hell yeah!” Spilling his beer, Bull is adding fuel to the metaphorical fire. “Take those damn gloves off for once and show her a good time!”

Cullen knows his face is as red as apples and he blames the blood vessel that has surely now burst and his hemorrhaging underneath the surface of his skin.

“Knock it off, the both of you,” hisses Dorian. “You know damn well the two of them are not like that. They can barely kiss as it is. We need to keep coming up with ideas. Cullen, have you thought of any yourself?”

Rubbing his chin, the commander gives himself a moment to think.

“I was thinking about having a picnic with her in the gardens.” He divulges.

“Hey,” Varric crosses his arms, “that’s not a bad idea. A little fruit, cheese, and some wine and there you have it.”

“Now that,” Dorian puts a hand on Cullen’s shoulder, “we can do.”

“We?” That doesn’t sound good.

“Yes, we shall aid you in your romantic endeavors.”

“I don’t think-” Bull shuts him up with a wave of his hand.

“Please, it’s just a picnic. How hard can it be to set up?”

Dorian leans over in his chair toward the commander.

“Just ask her to have a picnic with you tomorrow morning and we’ll have everything set up by evening.”

It was honestly difficult to trust these men with personal affairs. Considering his schedule, to have everything set up tomorrow was a gift.

So he sighs and agrees.

****

It was barely mid-morning when Marzeyna’s heart burst out of her chest.

Alright, not literally, but still!

When she went to see Cullen, he had just asked her to have a picnic with him in Skyhold’s garden this evening.

Yes, they’ve shared a fair share of kisses and warm embraces. . . but everything was still so new and so precious, like a newborn babe. So full of love.

She is still in the state that she was in when they first talked at Haven, long before the kiss. Now, her affection is acknowledged by the weight of his own affection.

Marzeyna said yes to the picnic, of course.

Much still needs to be done today and the picnic lingers in her mind in the meantime.

She needs to seek some consultation. And she knows the perfect person.

****

“Oh Vivienne, I’m so glad you have the time to help me.”

“For you, my dear inquisitor, I’ll always clear my schedule.”

They were in Vivienne's room above the court near the library. Evening was in a few hours and Marzeyna wasn’t exactly calm about this.

It was just a picnic with Cullen. No big deal. Noooope.

Oh, there goes her imagination.

“I’ve never properly courted before. I’ve shared a few kisses back when I was with the clan, but nothing as serious as this. I’m afraid I’ll say or do something and he won’t be interested in me anymore.”

Vivienne chuckles as they take a seat on the settee together.

“Oh my dear, you’ve only just started. Do not worry about making mistakes. In fact, this is the perfect time to make mistakes. It shall aid you on how to improve both yourself and the relationship.”

“Really”

“Of course, really. Besides, I doubt a few ‘mistakes’ would deter the commander away.”

As the inquisitor spoke about her conversation with Cullen from earlier, their heads swiveled towards the sound of the door opening.

“Did you two really think you could make plans without us?”

It was Leliana, and behind her were Josephine and Cassandra. They walk over to them and take seats on Vivienne’s bed and a stool.

“What are you three doing here?” Marzeyna asks.

“We thought we’d come and help you with the picnic with the commander,” Josephine said with a smile.

“Help me? How do you all know?”

Cassandra clears her throat.

“We overheard Dorian speaking with Varric about the picnic and gathering things for Cullen. We three thought we would do the same for you.”

Marzeyna swears that though her heart has yet to burst from her chest and out her ribcage, it certainly swells right then and there.

“Oh, you lot are going to make me cry.”

The five of them start to converse and throw ideas of what to do.

“For starters,” Leliana speaks, “We need to figure out what you will wear.”

“Wear?” Marzeyna shakes her head. “This is just a picnic, not a ball. Isn’t what I’m wearing right now just fine?”

“Sure,” said Josephine, “but it doesn’t hurt to dress up for a small occasion like this. It will show the commander that you care and that you want to look good for him.”

“I guess. . .” Humans are a weird race sometimes but that line of reasoning doesn’t sound absurd.

Josephine continues.

“I think I might have some simple skirts in quarters you could try on if you like.”

“I believe I may have some blouses you borrow as well,” Cassandra smiles at her.

“I also have some jewelry if you’re interested,” Leliana said. “Something light like small earrings and a simple necklace. Maybe even a bracelet.”

“And I shall aid you with a little hair and makeup,” Vivienne already had compacts of face paint ready for her.

Okay, now she really is going to cry.

****

Cullen made his way to Skyhold’s garden as the sun was about to set. Soon the sky would turn to different shades of colors and the stars would make their way in the dark.

And to have Marzeyna with him when that happens would simply be a gift for him.

When he arrives, the gardens are eerily empty. Nobody is there except for Varric, who holds a small basket in his arms.

“Curly! I was wondering when you were going to show up. Got everything set up for you.”

Walking over to him, Cullen spots the display before the both of them.

On the grass lays a plain worn blanket, threading at one side. There’s a plate in the middle that holds fruits, cheeses, and sweets. Varric sets the basket down and reaches in and pulls out a bottle of wine and two glasses.

“There’s also candles and matches in here in case you want to stick around past sundown.”

For a moment, the commander loses his words.

“You alright there, Curly? We didn’t forget anything, did we?”

Cullen snaps back to reality.

“N-No. No, this is . . . perfect.”

“Good ‘cause it’s not gonna get any more perfect then this.”

As Cullen takes a closer look at the display, he expects Varric to walk away, giving him the much needed space and quiet he’d like to share with the inquisitor. Instead, the dwarf walks over to the ledge a couple feet away.

Just as Cullen is about to call out to him, he hears the sound of one of the doors opening.

“Dorian, what are you-”

“Oh, I’m just here to take in some fresh air,” the mage brushes off. “I’m also meeting Cassandra here for a game of chess. Don’t mind me.” He walks past him to the chess board where he once shared a game with the commander not far too long ago.

Again, why is he here? Cullen goes to open his mouth to say something when the door opens again.

“Good evening, Commander.”

“Er uh . . . good evening, Cassandra.”

The seeker walks past him to join Dorian at the chessboard. They speak in hushed tones that he cannot decipher.

And then the doors open again.

It’s Leliana and Josephine who also say “good evening” before rushing towards one of the garden benches and sitting themselves down.

And then Blackwall walks in and utters his good evening and joins Varric by the ledge.

And then another door opens, but it’s not from either entrance to the gardens. Instead, it’s from the upper level where the bedrooms are. There stood the tall forms of the Iron Bull and Vivienne in her headdress, arm and arm taking what appears to be...a stroll?

The blood vessel from last night suddenly wants revenge.

“What in the Maker’s name-!” he starts but then the door opens again.

Oh . . .

It’s her . . .

“Good evening, Cullen,” Marzeyna says, “I got your note.”

Oh, that's right. He left a note for her in his office that told her to come meet with him in the garden at her earliest convenience.

“Good evening, Marzeyna. . .” he breathes out. “You look beautiful tonight.”

It’s true. He rarely saw her outside of her armor and indoor inquisition clothes that she wore to look the part. But tonight, she wore something else. Her hair is done up with strands of wavy hair outlining her face, showing off the earrings with red gems adorning her ears. Her face itself is painted, her eyelids swept with a glittery yellow, almost gold dust, and her mouth painted a brilliant shade of red that complimented her vallaslin. Her blouse hugged her exposed shoulders and from her neck hangs a simple gold necklace. The sleeves are long and rolled up below the elbow. Below that is a long skirt that exposes her ankles, revealing bare feet half wrapped in cloth.

It wasn’t much, and yet it still steals his breath away.

“Thank you,” she says and walks closer to him.

Their hands meet and he leans over to her to give her a kiss.

Until that is when someone coughs and reminds him they aren’t alone.

Without speaking, Cullen gently pulls her over to their little picnic and sits themselves down on the blanket.

“I am sorry,” he says while pouring her a glass of wine. “But apparently the Inquisition wants to witness our little picnic.”

“Inquisition?” Marzeyna looks around, her eyes widening at every angle. “Oh hell, almost everyone is here. Why?”

“I don’t know,” Cullen rubs the back of neck. He’s seriously going to rub it raw one day. “I was about to tell everyone off when you arrived.”

“Oh shit,” she murmurs into her wine. “They expect some kind of show from this, like a play. Maybe if we just sit here and whisper they’ll eventually get bored and leave.”

“Let’s hope for it.”

Conversations were attempted, but just as they really get into the meat of it, someone whispers, someone coughs, someone giggles. A near dozen pair of eyes were on them and Cullen could feel them burning into him in all directions.

“They really are a persistent lot,” he mutters mostly to himself.

“I’m afraid so,” Marzeyna replies as she takes a bite from a sweet tart from the plate.

Time passes. It feels like an hour, but it’s really closer to twenty minutes.

“Any minute now,” she says, her smile waning away, “they will all pick up and leave and it’ll be just the two of us.”

They both sigh.

Another moment passes. Nothing happens. Cullen’s pretty sure now that Dorian and Cassandra have yet to even make the second move in their game. Varric and Blackwall pretend to be interested in both the sky and ground. Leliana and Josephine appear to lean against one another, ready to fall asleep. The Iron Bull and Vivienne have long since gave up pretending to walk up and down the balcony and now lean against it.

Cullen and Marzeyna no longer stare at each other as they space off into the distance, near tipsy on wine and full of fruit and sweets.

“Alright, I give up.” Marzeyna takes in the rest of her wine and stands up. Cullen joins her as well. “Have you lot gotten bored yet? Nothing’s gonna happen. I don’t even know what you all expected.”

“Honestly, neither did I,” says Dorian getting up from his seat to stretch his legs. “I’ll be off now.”

“Dammit Cullen, take the gloves off already!” Bull yells from the balcony while making obscene hand gestures that Vivienne does not approve of.

“I am not taking my gloves off!” Cullen yells back, his face quick to turn red.

“Prude!”

With that, everyone got up and made their way out, some laughing along the way.

When silence finally fell and the two of them were the only ones there, they sat back down with a sigh of relief.

The silence is broken when Marzeyna starts to laugh.

It starts off as a small giggle and then it builds up to a good chuckle and soon enough, she’s cackling like a child does at inappropriate jokes.

And he laughs with her. They laugh hard and loud until Cullen can feel another headache off in the distance. One he won’t complain about too terribly much.

“I have to say, Cullen,” she speaks as she winds down, “this was the worst picnic I’ve ever had.”

“My apologies,” he replies, clearing his dried throat. “I had a much better idea in my head. It was much more romantic and intimate and not full of witnesses.” She scoots herself closer to him and puts a hand on his shoulder.

“It’s alright, it’s the thought that counts.”

The commander puts his hand over the Inquisitor’s and holds it closer to him so he can kiss the knuckles of her hand.

“I appreciate that very much.”

Marzeyna leans towards him and he wraps an arm around her shoulders and holds her other hand in his.

“Let me make it up to you,” she says. “Let’s have breakfast in my quarters tomorrow morning. Just me and you. How does that sound?”

Just me and her . . .

“Dearest, that sounds lovely. . .”

“Good, I prefer the sun rises than sunsets, to be honest.”

“And why is that?”

Marzeyna shrugs. “It's something I've always enjoyed since the clan. I like watching the world wake up with me. It’s a beautiful sight that reminds me I am alive and have a day ahead of me to live. And it reminds me of you, when I see you in the morning before breakfast. You are the first thing I think of when I wake up with the sun in my eyes.”

She’s robbing him of words and breath again. He can’t help himself.

Taking a hand to cup the side of her face, he leans in, closing his eyes, and catches her lips with his.

With her, everything is perfect. With her, everything he’s been through is almost worth it.

They part and she starts to laugh again.

“What is it?” He can’t wipe the dumb smile he knows he has on his face.

“Nothing,” she shakes her head. “It’s just that my lip paint is now all over your lips.”

“Is it now?”

“Yeah. Here, let me help you make it worse.”

And she kisses him again.

#this fic destroyed my back #was it worth it?#i hope so #seriously i hope you like it friend #marzeyna is a big cutie #i adore her #my writing #female inquisitor x cullen rutherford #marzeyna x cullen #marzeyna lavellen #cullen rutherford #dragon age #dragon age inquisition #da #dai

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iphoenixrising · 5 years ago

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I love your writing so much. It brings me so much joy. I recently re-read your Omega!tony fanfic and I fell in love again. do you plan to continue? Maybe where you left of on part 3? I don’t want to pressure you to write, but your writing gives me life. College is huge pain in my ass and your writing just brings me back to life. BTW quick question, are you familiar with Detroit become human. Because it is amazing and I highly recommend.

Hi babe

I have not watched Detroit become Human, but I will try to check it out after Znation on Netflix lol.

Ah, you have always been so wonderfully supportive of the AOB stuff, and I appreciate you. I’ll be totally honest here when I say I have a Google Doc of like WIPs that I come back to once and a while, and crazily enough, the Marvel AOB thing is something I’d started at some point at least, so I have a bit of content.

I’m going to throw down a cut and put what I’ve got down there so you can check it out if you want. I mean, it’s not too much, but better than nothing? Lol maybe I’ll throw down what I’ve got of the Sentinel / Guide thing next ;)

There may have been things. Like this one first, this one second, and this one third. They’re from a bit ago, so probably more angst than you’ll see here, but I do love writing about WinterIronShield so there’s that. But, I do have a bit of an accent kink when it comes to the Brooklyn Boys, like how Steve kind of slips into it when he’s trying to talk Bucky down or soothe Tony’s anxieties. I just ah, well, yeahhhh.

***

Tony is writhing under that mouth, back arching helplessly. His inner Omega, now that he knows Jim and Steve wanted him before the truth ever came out, is right on board the care for the Alpha you’re been smitten with train.

Because it’s safe. It’s safe to finally, finally give in.

And Tony Stark never does anything half-way.

He faintly hears Steve make a choked noise when he wraps his legs around Jim’s waist and wiggles his wrists in the unforgiving metal hand pinning them to the bed.

He moans in Jim’s mouth and pushes back a little.

“A-Alpha,” is something he never thought he’d hear himself say again, not after everything, not after Obie pulled him out of Ty’s grip the first time (and again the second). But when Jim’s eyes dilate, when he purrs low, chest vibrating against Tony’s, the engineer feels the long trapped Omega deep in his belly start to unwind, the instincts take on a more powerful grip.

It’s easier to leans up gingerly to nose and nuzzle, fingers straining to rub at the metal wrist, knowing where the pressure sensors are, where Jim can feel it.

“So pretty,” and those winter grey eyes focus on his red mouth, “gonna take care a’ ya, sweet little ‘Mega.”

Tony tightens his thighs, hitches his hips so he rubs against Jim’s big Alpha cock, “I want– Alpha, I want–”

But he gasps when James Barnes meets his thrusts, helps work them both up to panting.

“Tell Alpha, Baby. Whadda ya need?”

And Tony’s eyes slide over to Steve, the other Alpha biting his bottom lip while he watches them together, takes in their scents, the sweetness of Tony now that the scent blockers are gone, Bucky’s musk even thicker with arousal.

They smell like heaven.

(They smell like his.)

“Steve, let me...Fuck yes, like that…” his hips twitch and jerk, “let me...let me–”

The Captain has to breathe through his mouth, try to keep them all somewhat sane here, make sure it isn’t just instincts and pheromones, needs to make sure Tony won’t regret this later, won’t run later–

(and God, Steve can just image if he lets them service him during his Heat, has to bite down on his lip hard enough to hurt, to clench his fists to keep from reaching out just by thinking of Tony wet and open for them, moaning and screaming for them, coming on their knots over and over until he can’t even move and has to let them take care of him…)

“Anything you want, Tony,” Steve tries to make it gentle, but his tone has already dropped, has the edges of a growl, “tell Bucky what you need.”

The metal hand unlocks, freeing Tony’s wrist, and the mechanic can grip the Alpha’s forearms with trembling hands since he’s already shaky with the surge of arousal, of adrenaline, of instincts long, long denied.

“Don’t–don’t bite me, don’t mate me, but I...I–”

The bitter edge to his scent, the fear of being mated against his will is enough for Jim to unceremoniously flop down on him, pin him, and nuzzle against his throat, to lick over his pulse without teeth. The nail in Tony’s coffin is when Jim moves just enough to nuzzle against his jaw and lick.

It’s a submissive move, Jim trying to ease his fear, trying to show him they won’t hurt him, won’t do something so heinous as to try and mark an unwilling Omega.

“Shhh, shhh. None a’ that. Ain’t gonna do that ta ya, Tones. Never gonna do that.”

It might be this, the way Jim’s scent gets calmer, muskier, deeper, that makes Tony’s body start warming up, getting slick, opening up to be taken, riding the instincts he’s been suppressing for so long. And he revels in it a little, shifting his hips while he stares up at Jim’s face looming over him, those winter grey eyes serious and sincere, just like when he’s settled in a perch, at peace every time he fires a weapon in the name of the Avengers.

It’s the same look when Tony’s been hurt and tries to hide away in the lab, the look when Wanda’s eyes are glazed over with old pain, and Clint gets too twitchy, too quiet. It’s the look when Steve shivers even in summer or Bruce has to back away a step, an automatic hand out to stop anyone from coming closer.

It’s not Rut or Alpha. It’s all Mother-Hen James Barnes.

And when he sees it, Tony wants too badly to trust, wants too badly to have this with an Alpha he cares about (or more, but this isn’t the time or place for all of that), an Alpha he’s wanted and denied himself over and over.

The residual fear from earlier, the panic at his long-kept secret coming out fades a little when the proof is right here on top of him, more evidence next to him sneaking a hand over the blankets to weave their fingers together.

“We won’t let that happen, Tony. I swear,” and Steve’s eyes are just as serious, squeezing Tony’s hand gently. “You don’t have to do this. It’s okay if you don’t want this, you understand that right?”

Jim leans up a little to nuzzle their faces together, “s’ good ta us, Doll. Ain’t gonna hurt ‘cha. Ain’t gonna do nothin’ ya don’t want.”

“Are you going to let me up if I panic, James? Would you let me walk out of this room right now?” It’s a terrifying thing to ask, something Tiberius would have punished him for, would have fastened his wrists and ankles with restraints, would have kept him tied to the bed for days just to make a fucking point.

Gently, Bucky Barnes rises up slowly, shaggy hair in front of his eyes, making him look like a predator backing off the hunt. He doesn’t move any further back, doesn’t get up from between Tony’s thighs, doesn’t even look away from the bare span of chest, or the curve of Tony’s cock pressing against his zipper, making both Alphas’ mouths water.

“That’s...unexpected. Nice,” the engineer babbles a little to soothe himself, “good to know that’s a possibility. But it’s not what I want–”

“Plain English for us, sweetheart,” Steve slide only close enough to press Tony’s wrist to his mouth, to roll his blue eyes up, half-mast with pupils blown, to watch the Omega while he does it.

And oh, endearing pet names?

That’s cheating.

“I haven’t had an Alpha in...years,” he rolls his eyes from one Alpha to the other, “I’m never going to talk about it, but it didn’t–there’s a reason I’ve kept it hidden. You get what I’m saying?” His hands automatically tighten down on Jim’s forearm and Steve’s hand.

“Tony,” is the rumble against his throat, gentle kisses along the tendon, the memory of their engineer’s terrified stance in the workshop.

Steve responds by standing, leaning over with his heart in his eyes, mind working at the implications, that he’d been right. Some Alpha hurt him, did awful things to make Tony this terrified for the world to know his orientation, to just let people assume he was an Alpha or a Beta. And in the years they’d been teammates and friends, all the years he’s had Iron Man at his back and Tony at Movie Nights or sparring practice, post-mission meals and impromptu picnics on the roof. So he knows, one of the few things Tony Stark respects more than smooth words and sentiments–

–is action.

He makes it clearer with the press of his mouth gently against Tony’s, gentle licks to entice him to open up, to let himself be had.

“You don’t have to hide from us anymore,” between submissive kisses.

“Gonna let us take care a’ ya instead, ain’t cha? Gonna let us be good Alphas ta ya?” And Jim leans up to watch Stevie at Tony’s mouth, the sight, the scent, bringing all his Rut symptoms closer to the surface, makes it so fucking hard to fight.

He’d had to suppress everything as The Asset, had been trained to ignore those desperate wants, had been put on suppressants to control his cycle for as long as he’d been under their control.

With the freedom to let it out, to be with his Alpha partner, to be completely open and possessive, marking what’s his.

After this, Tony Stark is going to be another thing his to add to the list. Another one he’s going to protect with his life, one his Alpha would scent mark obsessively, one his inner Winter Soldier would seek out first whenever there was trouble.

Tony turns enough to be able to talk, giving more of his throat for both Alphas. “Yes,” he pants out, even though this is a terrible idea. “I want it, want you. Both of you if I can have it.”

He closes his eyes, feels Steve nibble at his jaw, under his ear, while Jim is moving along his collarbone.

“Keep talkin’,” is lower, deeper from Steve, a hint of the Brooklyn Boy breaking lose. “How d’ya want us, Tony? Like this?” And a mouth slides lower, latches on to the tight nub on his chest, hot mouth sealing to suck.

“Maybe like this,” and Jim pulls off long enough to talk, to slide a hand in, fist the Omega’s cock at the base again while the metal one grips the back of a thigh, ruts against it with a groan.

And now it’s Steve’s scent getting heady, getting muskier, invading his senses, calling to the Omega in him, making him weave his fingers through the Alpha’s hair and hold him in place so he can arch into the sweet, sweet torture while his hips work against Jim’s hand.

“A-all of it. I want all of it,” is broken with a whine when his jeans and boxers are finally shoved down his legs, tossed carelessly away.

Both Alphas pull off him, pull away to sit back and look their fill.

It makes him squirm under their intense gazes, makes him turn away, his face getting warm.

“Sssh, sssh,” Steve come close enough to palm his face and turn him back, to make him look at them looking at him, “that’s it. We need to see you, Tony. We need to make sure you want this, so no looking away.”

“Be good fer us, Doll,” Jim moans, panting, running his hand up, up, up until he can feel the wetness, can open his palm to cup Tony’s balls, slide his other hand up to the base of their Omega’s cock, give him a few easy tugs. “That’s right, getting nice n’ wet. Betcha gonna be so tight f’ me, betcha I can make ya keen.”

“Yes, fuck, please,” Tony pants, trying so hard to be still when they’re still touching him, looking at him with heat and fondness. “I...I’ll be good.”

Steve leans in to nuzzle at his nose, being tender about it when his chest starts rumbling, a gentle purr while he makes his way to the engineer’s mouth. “If something isn’t right, what’s your safe word, Sweetheart?”

“I–” but his hips jerk uncontrollably when the first touch to his opening is so much and still moremoremore. He shudders, just tries to breathe out.

“Easy, Buck. This first,” and the smaller Alpha growls a little and shifts down to bury his mouth against Tony’s thighs instead.

“That’s it. Come back, Tony,” more nuzzles that feel nice and safe, slick tongue sliding over his femoral, kiss of teeth still making him breathless.

Jim keeps two fingers moving through his slick, teasing him with every pass over his opening despite the Captain’s orders.

“Color system,” helplessly, he pushes his hips into the touch, trying to get what’s just a promise with fingertips barely breaching him.

Steve gives him a dazzling smile, rewards him for being somewhat lucid with a thumb swirling over his nipple, teasing it into a peak.

“Red, Yellow, Green, Doll?” But Bucky doesn’t look away from the sight. Their pretty Omega laying out with Steve blanketing him, keeping him calm so Bucky can work him nice n’ dirty. He gets to move up and mouth at the Omega’s broad curve, running his tongue up the vein until he’s sucking at the head, teasing the slit to get a taste.

“Buck!” Steve reprimands half-heartedly when Tony cries out against his throat arching up into Steve’s hand.

“Yesyesyes fine, red, yellow, green, got it!” Tony manages to grit out between his teeth when warm and wet slides over him, and it’s a struggle whether to bury himself in Jim’s mouth or push back against those fingers, to get something deeper, closer to where he’s starting to need it.

His scent gets stronger, his arousal adding another layer of spicy sweet. Steve shamelessly buries his face in the side of Tony’s throat and breathes deep, a groan making his chest rumble.

“Come on already,” he pants, “isn’t there an Alpha in Rut somewhere around here?”

“Shh, Tony. It’s okay. Your pheromones are keeping him under control until we get you ready,” the blond licks over his throbbing pulse, shamelessly groaning when he gets to scent-mark their engineer.

“Are you kidding me? I’m ready, like yesterday kind of ready–”

Steve catches his mouth a second after a bite to his thigh in admonishment makes him jump.

“If you want Bucky’s cock, then you’re going to have to wait until he preps you,” is that Captain America giving an order kind of tone.

“This is such bullshit,” he whines, helplessly pinned by two beautiful Alphas.

“Don’t worry, Doll. We’re gonna take good care a’ ya.”

The next roll of his hips and the fingers catch on his rim, burying themselves deep. The noise is obscene, but Steve won’t let him turn away, licks at his mouth until he opens up.

His noises are muffled, his fists clenching when the slow slide starts, Jim trying to be easy with him, gentle.

Which is absolutely not what he needs, not after so long, not with how good they smell, how heady their combined musk is making him, how much he suddenly needs to take care of Jim’s Rut, help him sate the biological imperative.

He doesn’t realize Steve’s trying to worm his fingers between Tony’s still clenched in the bedding, just squeezes when longer fingers interlace. It’s as much holding him still as comforting him while he groans around Steve’s tongue at the quickening thrusts.

The low growl becomes a rolling purr, is James Buchannon Barnes sinking deeper into his inner Alpha, the instincts he doesn’t have to suppress, and that could be why he isn’t a raging animal right now – almost seventy years without a Rut notwithstanding.

By all rights, if he was a normal Alpha hitting Rut, he should be throwing Steve right the hell off his Omega and fucking into the engineer immediately to sate the growing need.

If he hadn’t been tortured out of his Alpha instincts by Hydra, if he hadn’t been on and off deep freeze, if it wasn’t Tony under him, he might have gone into a Rage and fucked the Omega until he screamed for it.

He adds another finger, mouth watering at the scent of Tony’s slick, the wet squelch telling him the Omega wanted this, wanted him, wanted them.

“Pleasepleaseplease,” said against Steve’s mouth when the thrust of fingers gets faster, harder, and he arches his back up into them.

“So good for us, Tony,” Steve noses his face to the side to lick over his pulse again, set his teeth in the meat of their mechanic’s shoulder. “Just a little more. How’s he doing, Buck?”

“Fucking beautiful, Stevie,” and Jim licks his lips, eyes all for the show, “he’s so ready, so wet. Gonna work ‘im a lil’ more, get ‘im crying for it.”

Steve looks over his shoulder and grins shamelessly at the expression on Bucky’s face, the one that’s completely focused on what he’s doing.

That’s when Tony gets with the program because he’s just about done being tortured. All it takes is for a hand to wiggle in front of Steve’s crotch and palm him through his pants, give a few squeezing strokes. It makes Steve rear up, gasping in pleasure as Tony planned, so he can move his other hand to Jim and pull those fingers out of his wet ass. It’s more instinct that guides him to rise to his knees and face the Alphas head on.

“Let me service you through your Rut, Alpha,” is all Jim needs to hear from the beautiful Omega, naked on his knees, smelling like ready, willing, and waiting. He’s flushed with pleasure, with their marks on his skin, and he’s–

–presenting.

It’s something so terribly traditional as Tony turns around and lowers his chest to the bed, spreading his knees to offer himself.

Jim’s mouth falls open in soft awe, and Steve makes a noise that sounds painful.

But Tony turns his face to the side, looking back, mouth open and kiss-swollen, pink down to his chest, and his hands move up the back of his thighs until he spreads himself, giving them the show of a lifetime.

“Alpha...take me.”

Is really James Buchannon Barnes’ undoing.

“S-Stevie,” is a low growl, the Alpha in him hitting some hard limits. “He yelps, ya pull me back, no matter what.”

Breathing in through his mouth, Steve moves off the bed with one last shuffle of fingers through Tony’s sweaty hair, “don’t worry, Buck, I won’t let cha hurt ‘im. You hear that, sweetheart? You’re gonna check in, okay?”

“Mmm,” Tony braces his elbows and lowers his back on instinct, feeling the muscles stretch, “green. Green, Alpha.”

#winter answers #with wip #AOB #tagged for anon #tony stark #Steve Rogers #bucky barnes #winterironshield #omega!tony #alpha!buck #alpha!steve #not finished #my fic #my writing

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kinetic-elaboration · 4 years ago

Text

October 30: 1x21 The Return of the Archons

Took a break from Halloween-ing to watch TOS with my mom. Today’s ep, the rather lackluster Return of the Archons.

A very in media res beginning! Unsurprisingly since a lot of the drama of this episode hangs on the audience not knowing the whole story.

Sulu is looking damn fine. These weird outfits really do it for him.

Maybe O’Neill had the right idea in running instead of waiting for the transporter. (Or maybe not, seeing as we later find out they caught him too.)

Look at the heels on their boots lol. I always forget about that.

Today’s official adventure: looking for the missing ship Archon.

“Sulu’s mysterious condition requires that I, the Captain, collect all of the most important people on board the ship and beam down into a planet we already know to be full of dangers.”

“Materialization completed.” Uh good to know Kirk.

Why is Spock wearing that dramatic-ass cloak? (I know it’s because he needs a hood to cover his ears but he still looks very much not of a piece.)

Whereas McCoy looks like a down-home Georgia gentleman. He looks like he’s returned to his natural habitat.

I bet these are the sort of outfits AOS Kirk wished he was wearing when he was sighing wearily at his closet filled with uniforms.

I love that this planet is clearly the set of a Western. Or... Maybury. Or also Miri.

Not only did The 100 steal S3 from this episode, it also stole the Red Sun from it, didn’t it?

They keep saying they came for the festival and yet it is VERY clear they don’t know what the festival is. This disguise is not working.

It got dark damn fast. They’re outside, it’s almost 12--one would assume that’s 12 noon--and then they go inside, talk for about 3 minutes, go to another room, and it’s pitch black out!

Is this like The Purge? (I asked myself this while we were watching and--spoiler alert!--it is! The Purge was based, perhaps subconsciously, on this ep.)

Kirk looks very handsome in this ep. Like whoever directed it looks like he’s in love with him.

“Crewmen, here are your various assignments... Mr. Spock... come with me, somewhere private. To talk.”

Spock sleeping with his eyes open. (Meditating, my mom says.)

Oh look, it’s the secret police, in their brown robes.

Landru doesn’t seem too gentle lmao. “No dissent is allowed. You will be absorbed.” Randomly killing that guy who kinda said “maybe, uh, the festival...isn’t great??”

Kirk makes one comment about how everyone’s slow on the uptake here, and slow to respond to questions and denials, and Spock goes heart eyes. “Captain, how are you so smart and logical?”

“Fascinating, this is merely a hollow tube, Captain.” And uh I guess we’re never going to explain how that hollow tube kills people then?

They’re communing...

Love that Spock points out that the people are being communicated with through telepathy. Though... I remain sightly perplexed how the computer can do that. The next stage in Apple computing I guess.

Why isn’t Reger affected by all this? Like they imply that some people are spared the “festival” festivities because of their age, but that doesn’t seem to explain why he’s not “of the body.” Like being of the body isn’t a choice that people make, you’re ether absorbed or you’re not. They say later that he’s immune--but that in itself requires explanation. Like idk it seems a major plot hole that there can even be a resistance when the computer has controlled the society for thousands of years.

So I guess the backstory on the Archon ship is that they were all either absorbed or killed when they objected to the computer and its creepiness.

I do think the little hints that the society used to be way more advanced are intriguing.

“What should we do about this body that’s going to act as a tracking beacon right to us?” / “Uh, knock him out again.”

This planet is so peaceful.. no war or crime... except for people occasionally beating and raping each other nbd.

Was that Starfleet Officer really just going to shoot that projection? Not the best and the brightest being recruited nowadays I guess.

“The creature called Landru.”

“Enough analysis.” Spock always wants to talk through the whole backstory of the weird situations they’re in, while Kirk is a man of action!

Bones is really not being used to full capacity in this ep. He’s just kinda there in the background, until he’s absorbed.

Spock is very concerned about what will happen to the Captain, but also kind of... skeptical about this whole thing. For someone in control of his emotions he exhibits a lot of emotions imo.

“Happy communing!” Just gonna say this all the time now.

Time for another mind meld. So casual about it now.

Spock’s face during Kirk’s Landru-imitating speech is HILARIOUS. That eyebrow! The eye roll! I really think he’s amused by all of this.

He’s not very good at pretending to be absorbed. He sees Jim and he’s immediately like “Captain...!” all normal like.

“The peace of the factory, the tranquility of the machine.”

“You’re thinking the same thing I am. Mr. Spock... I love you.”

It’s pretty awesome that the same ep that introduces the Prime Directive also immediately finds Kirk forming loopholes in it. “We’re not supposed to interfere.... in living, growing cultures, which this isn’t! Moral conundrum solved.”

Spock actually straight up punched a man in the face lol.

Interesting that the communicators work like that--Spock is talking to the Enterprise on his, and Kirk just slides into the conversation on his device, without Spock abandoning his call. I think because they became cell phones irl that I think of them as cells but they’re not. It’s just weird to see them casually used in these totally bonkers ways.

Lol he returned them to a simpler, easier time. I guess you could say Landru made Beta III great again.

So Reger had second thoughts about actually destroying Supreme Leader once it got too real?

Interesting how Landru’s lair is so much more sci-fi-y in aesthetic than the town. Another hint of what the society used to look like.

Spock without the cloak. Damn son.

“We do not intend to die.” That’s a good attitude.

Revealing the Wizard behind the curtain...

“The whole society is a machine’s concept of perfection.”

A man programming himself into an all knowing machine that lives forever really does remind me of Becca and ALIE except with a 60s aesthetic--a large, physical computer rather than an AI.

“The good of the body is the Prime Directive.” Tbh I feel like what this whole ep is saying is that sometimes Prime Directives need to be bent if the reality of the situation doesn’t square with the spirit of the directive.

I love when Kirk destroys computers using Extreme Logic.

That should be a presidential debate question "What have you done to do justice to the full potential of every individual of the body?"

“Well, now that that’s done, we’re going to go. Have fun rebuilding your entire society from nothing. We’ll leave you a single sociologist to help out.”

So Mr. Sulu is back to normal, and he immediately returns to the bridge to give a little, goofy sitcom smile-and-shrug and kick some random extra outta his chair.

Why do they assume Landru was a good guy lol? I mean he solved their extreme violence problem but he instituted a plenty of other problems instead. Also he was clearly a megalomaniac.

This society’s backstory sounds an awful lot like pre-reform Vulcan. Maybe they should just send a Vulcan to teach them Surak’s ways.

Honestly they were left alone for like an hour and had a handful of fist fights. I think they really were a very violent people! Maybe destroying the dictator-computer was a bad idea!

I find it very odd that the whole festival thing was never actually explained. I guess it must have been a purge idea--that because they are so naturally violent and terrible aliens, they need to let off that steam in some way every now and again, and they do this through a “festival” of no-holds-barred violence. Still kinda wish they’d explicitly circled back on that in some way though.

I think the most interesting part of this episode was the planet’s back story. Kirk acts in the end as if they were basically human, but they’re not. Also, I got the impression that Landru convinced people to follow him first, and then only when he died, set himself up as an eternal God/Computer. So he must have been a very interesting, charismatic person. And that one of his ideas was to return to a “simpler time” in everything from dress to architecture, as if that had any real correlation with levels of violence is... fascinating. Was that the hook that he hung his reform on?

Overall, as I said, not a super strong S1 episode, but not bad at all. Next week is Space Seed, a classic episode that unfortunately was absolutely wrung dry by too many repeats over the course of the franchise. (...Yes I am referring specifically to STID obviously.) Still that shouldn’t take away from the brilliance of the original!

#star trek tos #the year 2020 #2020: fandom thoughts #2020: star trek

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freddiesaysalright · 5 years ago

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My Man - Bonus Blurb

Ben!Roger Taylor x Reader

Word Count: 1.5K

Tag List: @bohemian-war, @kittygirlno, @rebelrebelyourefaceisamess, @rockyroadthepastryarchy, @goodoldfashionedloverboyy, @jennyggggrrr, @discodeacygotmorerhythm, @x1975sos, @slytherinxval, @cyndagoaway, @doingalrightt, @lovvliies, @hopefully-aesthetically-pleasing, @capsparrowtara, @they-call-me-peaches, @hyosong, @riddikuluslypotter, @orchideax, @shishterfackisback Sorry if you miss it, so many people have new URLs lol

A/N: I’ve had this idea kicking around for a while, so while requests are closed, I wanted to go ahead and write it. I hope y’all enjoy!

With a quiet click of the lighter, Roger lit his cigarette. The girls were inside and occupied, and you had Daniel with you to do your shopping. This meant Roger had one blissful moment to enjoy a cigarette on the back porch. He’d taken one drag when he heard the back door open. He almost groaned but he heard a little sniffle. He whipped around expecting to see blood or some other carnage, but Darcy stood in the doorway, just holding a picture frame.

“Daddy?” she questioned. “Who is this?”

Roger set his cigarette in the ashtray and beckoned his daughter over to him.

“First things first, where’s Ophelia?” he asked.

“Still napping,” she answered.

“Alright,” he said. “C’mere, lovie. Who are you asking about?”

She walked out to him and held out the frame. It was George’s military portrait. His eyes went wide and he wondered how she found it. You kept it in the bottom drawer of your nightstand. Roger knew that one day your children would have questions when they would inevitably come across photos of your previous marriage. He just never expected it to be so soon. And he certainly didn’t expect to be alone.

“Do you know him?” Darcy pressed as she crawled into his lap.

“Somewhat,” he replied. “I never met him. He actually knew your mother.”

“How?”

“He was married to her.”

She shot him a horrified look. He almost laughed, but held back. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her and gave her a gentle squeeze.

“Don’t worry, darling,” he said. “Your mother and I are married now.”

“What happened to him?” she wondered. “Why aren’t they married anymore?”

“Well, he died,” he told her. “You see the uniform he’s got on? That means he was a soldier.”

“He died?!” she cried. “Is Mum okay? Doesn’t she miss him terribly?”

Roger chuckled. “Yes, Mum’s okay. And she does miss him. In fact, when I met her, she still missed him so much, she was sad about him all the time. She carried around a smaller version of this very photo in her pocket.”

“So she loved him?”

“Very much.”

“As much as she loves you?”

He paused. It was such a complex thing to explain to a child and he wasn’t sure if he could make her understand.

“I think so,” he said. “She loves me differently because I’m a different man. But she married me and had kids with me, so I hope it’s at least as much.”

“They never had kids?” she asked.

He shook his head. “No. They didn’t have much time. After they married, he joined the Army and he was away a lot.”

“That’s sort of like you,” she said.

Roger swallowed the sting of that. “It’s different with me. I’m not in much danger where I go. He put his life on the line to help other people.”

“And that’s why he died?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“So which of you is Mum’s true love?” she asked.

He sighed and inwardly cursed Disney for perpetuating the idea of a single “true love.”

“We both are,” he said. “They loved each other when they needed each other. I love her now. Just because you lose someone, doesn’t mean you can’t fall in love - true love - again.”

“Oh…” she trailed off. “Mummy is very lucky, isn’t she?”

“I think I’m the lucky one,” he said.

“You are?”

“I am. You see, your mum didn’t have to let me love her. She didn’t have to let herself love me. She made a choice. She liked me, but she chose to let go of her grief and take a chance with me. It worked out for both of us, I think.”

She sat on this a moment, her little face scrunching with thought.

“I can’t picture Mummy with anyone else,” she said.

“Well, I wouldn’t want you to,” he returned. “Because now it’s gonna be me and her forever.”

“One more thing,” she said.

“What is it?”

“What was his name?”

“George,” he told her. “His name was George.”

She handed him the frame and he set it on the table.

“What were you doing looking through the nightstand, lovie?” he wondered.

“I was looking for glue,” she said.

“Glue? What for?”

“My school project,” she explained. “Making a family tree.”

“Ah, I see,” he said. “Just to be sure, you didn’t look in my nightstand, did you?”

“No,” she said, furrowing her brow.

“Good,” he said, clearing his throat. “Don’t. There’s - uh - no glue in there. Try the kitchen first.”

“Okay,” she chirped.

A beat passed.

“Hey, Dad?”

“Yes, love?”

“Does Mum still speak to George’s mum and dad? Like she talks to Nan?”

“No,” he said. “George’s mum and dad passed away shortly after he married your mum.”

Her mouth fell open. “Whaaat? So - Mum’s the only one around to remember him?”

“She’s the only one,” he told her.

“That’s no good,” she said. “Can I add him to the family tree? He’s Mum’s family.”

Roger’s eyes welled up at the sentiment. Just when he didn’t think he could love his little girl any more, she said something like that. How he fathered a child with such a pure heart, he would never understand.

“Of course, lovie,” he said. “Your mum would love it if you did.”

“And Uncle Jack too?”

“Yes, of course.”

“What about Uncle Fred, Uncle Bri, and Uncle John?”

“No, no, they’re ridiculous, you don’t need them on there,” he said with a laugh.

“But I love them!” she insisted.

“But you haven’t got room for their partners and children,” he reminded her.

“With enough paper and glue, I have,” she retorted.

“Alright then, Darcy, you do what you want,” he complied.

“Besides, Uncle Fred and Uncle Jim don’t have children.”

“Now, they will be very cross with you if you leave out the cats.”

They went back and forth another moment and brainstormed, but ultimately decided it would be too much to have the band on her family tree. Roger assured her she could include them somehow in her next project about family. Once she was satisfied, she scrambled off his lap and disappeared inside to work on the project. Roger looked at the now burned up cigarette. He glanced at George’s photo.

“That one’s yours, mate,” he said.

He lit up another and took a long drag. Then the door opened again. He turned to see you standing there with your sleeping son in your arms.

“Hello, love,” he greeted warmly as you walked out to place a kiss on his cheek.

“Hey,” you returned.

You wiped away the lipstick that had transferred onto his skin with your thumb.

“Rog.”

“Yeah?”

“Why is George’s photo out here?”

He chuckled and explained what happened. He told you what Darcy asked and exactly how he answered her. You looked thoughtfully at him.

“Was I wrong?” he asked.

“No,” you said, shaking your head. “I’m just a little surprised, that’s all.”

“She handled it well,” he assured you.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help,” you said.

“No worries, darling,” he replied. “I think it’s not nearly as big of a deal as we thought it would be.”

You smiled and hummed. With another swift peck to his cheek, you got up and went inside to start dinner.

After your meal with your family, Darcy insisted on showing off the family tree she had made. Roger waited to see your face. He left out the bit about her including George, and he was eager to see your reaction.

You read over the names, beginning with Roger’s mother and father. She included Roger’s stepfather as well. A nervous twinge went through you, since you’d never told your kids about your parents. She had left that area blank, but out beside your spot there were three lines. One for Jack, one for Roger (beneath which were the children), and then one for George. Your heart constricted at the sight.

“Oh, Darcy,” you choked out. “You are the sweetest girl.”

“I thought...y’know, we could be his family,” she said. “Because his parents are gone. But he should be remembered, right?”

“Yes, that’s right,” you told her. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome?” she returned, a little confused.

She ran off to put it beside her school things so she wouldn’t forget it in the morning. You turned watery eyes on Roger.

“How did we get her?” you whined. “How did we get to lucky? Is she even ours?”

He laughed. “I thought the same thing.”

You took his hand and brought him out of his chair to embrace you. You held him close, grabbing fistfuls of his shirt.

“You’ve given me everything,” you breathed. “A home, love, three beautiful children. Roger, you’re the greatest man. I can’t believe you’re mine.”

“Darling,” he said. “You’ve given me those things as well. We did them together.”

You pulled away and he wiped your cheeks.

“Come on,” he said. “We’ve got to put them to bed.”

“You want to tuck them in while I start on the dishes?” you offered.

He shook his head. “No, love. Together.”

Hand in hand, you went upstairs to kiss your children goodnight.

The next morning, you came downstairs to see Roger and Darcy placing George’s photo on the mantle. You smiled. What a gift it was to have your first family be a part of your second.

#roger taylor #roger taylor imagine #roger taylor x reader #ben!roger x reader #roger taylor x you #Queen #queen imagine #bohemian rhapsody #BoRhap #BoRhap cast #ben hardy #ben hardy imagine #ben hardy x reader #ben hardy x you #bohemian rhapsody imagine #borhap boys #borhap imagine #borhap boys imagine #my man series

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jeaneybean · 6 years ago

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Since two of our players were out, we pulled out this campaign

This was a really, really long session that had some hard bits in it for me as a person because boy howdy did I give Sam a lot of ammo to use against Vera.

SO the morning after the successful bank defense the Watch are all in the watchtower recovering from the previous night’s shenanigans, where even Y’all’d’ve was allowed to drink because Al was like “I watched him kill two people I’m not telling him anything he probably needs to drink.” The next morning there’s a group outside the tower, with a lot of city members coming wanting to join the watch.

The QC looks at the group and is like “Freddy, Ken, Y’all’d’ve, who’s the most sober?” As Y’all’d’ve was trying to sleep on Sara’s arm he was out of the running. The other two were sent off to get coffee. Al and Pava started their usual ribbing of the QC and she went outside to scare the shit out of people in order to give us enough time to sober up. With the help of coffee and bright ass sunlight the squads are ready to stand behind the QC as she gives her speech. Al stands back and makes punching motions with her fists because apparently she’s going to beat them up.

The other squads get paired up with their respective newbies and squad 3 gets pulled into the QC’s office for a conversation. Long story short: Because Sieger Medvedev is being an asshole and consistently requesting the guard look into the missing ring issue (not his wife’s probable murder) she’s sending her best and brightest. Namely: us three assholes. The half elf (Al makes sure to pull her hair back so her ears are showing), the human male (Who doesn’t do anything unless he has to) and the elf boy (Who has not worn shoes in his life and isn’t about to start now.).

They head to the residence and notice a few things about the staff: All Rutish maids, no butlers, the ones that seem to be in charge are the prettiest, and everything is very nice in the house. They’re shown into a sitting room and after fucking with the maids for a bit they get served tea. Y’all’d’ve perches on the couch, Pava drags a chair over from the desk to sit on it backwards, and Al sits on the seat at the head of the area, what would most likely be the seat Sieger would take.

Sieger guesses pretty quickly why they’re there, and Al wastes no time making his day as shitty as possible. Sieger tries to be like ‘Excuse you I just lost my wife and I am heartbroken’ but rolls a literal 1 on his bluff. Even Y’all’d’ve can tell he’s lying. Al states that they’ll need to search the house as a formailty, Siger is like ‘of course, you’ll be able to search all the rooms she was allowed in’ and Al is like ‘Uh no, all the rooms’ and Sieger was like ‘lol no come back with a warrant’ and Al was like ‘OKAY’ and goes out to talk to the queen commander.

Y’all’d’ve and Pava go to search Therese’ room where Pava keeps an eye on Sieger who’s trying to get away as much as he can. Y’all’d’ve is resepectful of the room as he can be, because he’s starting to feel bad for this dead lady. He talks with a bit with her maid and asks some questions, asks what other rooms in the house she frequents. The sitting room, the drinking room, the smoking room, her children’s nursery. (Me, as a player: OUCH) She hadn’t been anywhere else besides her room that day before she left. She’d been in good spirits (probably because she knew she wouldn’t be partying with Sieger, who essentially said he didn’t want to bring her along because she was an embarassment).

Meanwhile, Al tries unsuccesfully to convince QC to give her a warrant to search the whole place and QC is like ‘We have been trying for like 60 fucking years to get into that house to search and they haven’t slipped up I hate them so fucking much Al do you understand I have had to deal with Sieger his whole fucking life and even my husband, Geoff the literal saint, considered letting him walk free a crime’. and Al is like ‘I need in that house I need in all the fucking rooms I hate him and I want him in jail how can we knock him down a few pegs’ And the QC gets a horrible idea.

So they swing to pick up Y’all’d’ve and Pava and head over to a small but tall house and the QC asks the Butler to tell the Dame that she’s there. They get called up to the Dame’s room to meet her, and the woman that the QC has taken them to see, whom she thiinks will be all in for fucking with Sieger, is his Grandmother, the previous head of the family, Vera Medvedeva.

Dame Vera starts out the conversation with a quip about the QC not being able to die, which is a fucking great way to start the conversation. Al and Pava can both tell it’s a quip at her, but at the same time Dame Vera is playing. (She’s been playing this game for a while) It’s at about this point that the QC imminently regretted her decision of walking into this fucking house. Al is like ‘OH HEY GUESS WHAT YOUR SHITTY GRANDSON LOST YOUR FAMILY RING’ and Dame Vera is like ‘what a fucking moron’ and also was like ‘filing that away, he didn’t tell me, fucking idiot i find out everything’

Al and QC try to convince Grandmama to be on their side of ‘let’s throw your shithead grandson in jail’ and Grandmama is all”:) do you have proof :)” and Al is like ‘I will go to the queen herself if I have to get that smarmy son of a bitch in jail for a few nights” and Grandmama is all like ‘oh ho look at that, jack booted thugs. At least this is an improvement over the old group you ran with, they’re not killing people in the streets.” And Y’all’d’v’e is like -Jim face-

(Dame Vera also made a comment about Y’all’d’ve and hsi bathing habits that went mostly unnoticed)

The Dame is basically like ‘lol come back when you got some proof’ though she does give the group some nice backstory regarding Sieger, his ‘missing’ first wife, and some bits about the new wife. (She’s young, possibly thinks herself clever, hopefully not for her own sake, we all know what happened to Akulina) She also name drops his first son and adds that Sieger forgets he exsists half the time. Mentions his daughter that left the country.

(Dame Vera thought we were all ‘delightful’)

QC is exhausted and can’t even be too happy when Pava starts telling her about how everyone fucked with Sieger and she heads off. The idiots head back to the house to find out that the Master has left, but his son is there and Al is like ‘oh fuck yes, let’s talk to him’ but first talks with the maids in secret to get on their side and learn some info. She learns that Sieger went out, bought a pig, brought it into the basement and butchered it, and apparently that’s something he does when he’s in a temper and Al’s like ‘oh fuck that pig was me.’

After that in sashays Volya Medvedev who is like ‘oh, look at you. You, are you the one who perched on the couch?’ and Y’all’d’ve is like ‘uh yeah?’ “Pleas,e show me.” “Like this?” “Now sit on the couch.” “Okay?” “Rub your butt on it. Really get on there.” “I am uncomfortable.”

Meanwhile Al is like “TAKE OFF YOUR SHIRT.” And Volya is like “OKAY” and strips off his jacket and shirt and Al goes to town looking for signs of abuse. There’s no brusing or anything, but he does have scars. Al asks him about a few and he’s like “Oh yeah, that happend -insert horrible childhood memory here-” “What about this one?” “Oh, that was -additional horrible memory here-” And Al’s like ‘what the actual fuck, also would you come down to the guard tower and make a statement’ and He’s like ‘BUY ME DRINKS’ and Pava’s like ‘AYYYY’ and Volya puts his jacket back on but forgets his shirt and it becomes A Look. Al leaves behind the quill/parchment she’d taken with her before after breaking hte quill and writing ‘eat a dick’ on the inside of the letter.

So they walk him back to the guard tower and Volya gives his horrible, horrible statement, telling horrible stories of his past. Mentions the time his dad tossed his sister down a flight of stairs. When asked about the basement that no one went in he’s like ‘YUP, THAT’S A FUCKING THING’. Straight up offers to work with the guard and go back and purposely provoke his father into hitting him. Jokes a bit about if his dad goes too far and kills him that he’ll swing and somehow only Y’all’d’ve catches that he’s not joking. Volya is literally wiling for his dad to kill him if it means Sieger dies too.

Ont he way to the bar after Y’all’d’ve is like ‘uh guys i don’t think we should let him help cuz he wants to die and that is maybe not okay?’ and Al is like ‘we are trying to not get him killed’ and Pava’s like ‘yeah he is not in good shape’ but they go out bar hopping and Volya takes them to the two bars he was with his mom with on the night she died. Pava asks around to see if anyone remembers her, and att he first one he doesn’t get much luck but the second one he does, getting some information on the last person to see Therese alive. One of her friends stayed behind at the bar to have some fun with t he barkeep and he was like ‘it was amazing holy shit’ and talked that rich lady up. pussy game strong. The one Therese left with was younger, thick makeup, odd accent.

Al tapped out for a bit to go back and talk to her contact the bluter to see if he can contact both the Medvedva butler as well as the Medvedev maids to be like ‘hey, I want some info and I’ll make sure nothing comes back to you’. She joins back up at bar 3 and that’s when Y’all’d’ve makes his move.

He slides up to Volya and is like ‘hey there my dude, you seem to want to die’ and Volya is like ‘PsssSSSShhh’ and Y’all is like ‘I don’t think it’s cool to let your dad beat you to death when you kinda don’t act like you’d come back for a resurection spell’ and they walk and talk for a bit while Pava and Al follow behin (Al sneaking, Pava just walking)

Volya admits that shit is bad, and Y’all agrees. The world is fucking awful, and horrible things happen, and they keep happening, and they don’t stop. And Volya mentions that his brother left, his sister left (Me, as Vera: OW) and his mom ‘left’, goingout by getting Sieger arrested wouldn’t be a bad way to go out himself. And there’s his dad’s new wife and the kid she’s going to have, they’re going to get treated just the same. Y’all is like ‘it’s good to want to make things better, but like, shit don’t get better when you die. it just stops getting at all’.

They stop by the canal and Al and Pava are like ‘oh my god are they going to jump in’ after they’re like ‘shit, it’s easy to forget he’s been alive a long time’. Kid elf he may be, he’s older than all three of them combined. Volya seems to back from the cliff a bit, but Y’all’d’ve sees something sparkly in the water and, true to form, is like ‘Excuse me, I’m aware that this is a serious conversation but there’s something shiny, gotta get it.” and in he goes, failing his swim check remarklably and freaking out both Al and Pava.

Al grabs Volya and he’s like OH SCORE and Al’s like ‘Get Y’all’d’ve!’ and Pava’s like ‘My girl, I can’t swim.’ and Al is like ‘ffs you get HIM then’ and shoves Volya at him and Volya’s like ‘SCORE’ and Al goes over to check on Y’alld’ve.

Y’all’dve finds the shiny thing and pops up and is like ‘hey. saw a shiny. got it.’ and Al is like ‘you are a horrible fucking gremlin’ and Pava and Volya are like ‘AWESOME JOB’. He brings it up and it’s Therese’ missing necklace, but it’s broken.

Al and Pava (And Volya) seem to think that Therese killed herself, and Y’all’d’ve is in camp ‘why the fuck this neckacle broke tho’. At one point in the night Al and Pava have a conversation about if Volya swings both ways or not. Al heads home with Volya in tow to let him sleep it off with the old ladies and talks to Ethel and has her hide the necklace Y’all’d’ve found because she does not want any of this to come back on him. Ethel is like ‘do you fucking know who that is that is the medvedev heir’ and Al is like ‘i am aware we’re trying to get his father also his granny is great’ and Ethel is like ‘bitch what’ because apparently Ethel does _not_ like dame vera.

The next morning They take watch to the park and to distract Y’all’dve Al tells him to look somewhere, and he’s like ‘there’s nothing over th- is that a squirel’ and runs over to climb a tree and catch a squirel. Al and Pava talk about serious shit for a bit while Y’all’d’ve catches a squirrel. He’s like ‘I DON’T WANT IT ANYMORE’ and throws it at Watch, who catches it in one hand. Horrified, Y’all is like ‘please take that to al’ and as Pava and Al finish their conversation he lumbers over and holds out his hand to Al, opening it to reveal a terrified squirel who promptly bolts.

At the guard tower the QC is pissed because douchebag Sieger has sent a letter being like ‘HEY HOW BOUT YOU FUCKS BE PROFESSIONAL’ and Al and the QC have another chat where Al _almost_ tells her that Y’all’d’ve found the necklace but instead is like I WAS IN THE THIEVES GUILD THE TOHER TWO HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT and the QC is actually impressed she admitted that, but through other clues she’s given (Like admitting to the QC that she knew the necklace Sieger said wass on the body wasn’t there because we were the idiots who found it) that Al stole th rings off of Therese’ corpse.

Y’alld’ve and Pava go to escort Volya home and are like ‘Okay, don’t start shit’ and Volya’s like ‘Okay’ and in he goes to promptly start shit. They hear yelling and Volya opens the blinds a bit. Then things calm down and Y’all’d’ve and Pava are like ‘I got no where else to be’ so they wait. Volya comes out shellshocked. He yelled at his father, accused him of killing his mother, accused him of killing his first wife, came out as gay, and his dad didn’t give a shit. Didn’t yell at him. Didn’t hit him. Was like ‘I don’t care’.

Y’alld’ve and Pava: oh my god he’s going to fucking murder you.

They refuse to let him go back in the house and they walk him to Grandmama’s before heading back to the station to tell Al about this development. The QC drops a hint that she thinks that Al should return the ring to sieger for the reward money and to also be like ‘hey, asshole, look what the fuck I found’ and Y’all’d’ve is like -squinty eyes- because he suspects something’s up, but they distract him with gold to count. He makes it into shapes when he forgets he’s supposed to be counting it.

They head to Therese’ friend, the one who fucked the barman, and they get her account of the night. She gives them a bit of info on the girl that Therse left with. Her name was Peach, she wore thick makeup and out of style clothes and had an accent, but it sounded like she was trying to hide it. after Pava told her about hte barman’s compliments and she was like ‘he was so appreciative, he made me feel so wanted’ and Pava wingmaned hard for him she was like ‘oh, no, her name was Plum’. They talk with Therese’ other friend that sieger had told them about but she doesn’t have much to tell them, but both women say that Sieger’s people had been there to talk to them.

So the team heads back to the Medvedev residence and ask to talk to his fiance, and Sieger isn’t too happy. Howver, team asshole is on best behavior. Al’s brought her own quill and parchment, Y’all’dve is sitting and not perching on the (new) couch, Pava’s standing up straight. They talk with the future lady medvedev, who is from rusk and has an accent and the team is like HMMMM MMM INTERESTING. And Tatiana admits she was bar hopping and trying to network and did run in with Therese and how awufl she feels because the poor woman died that night. Al and Pava are like ‘oh you poor thing, it’s all right, she just had an accident’ and Tatiana shakes at that. The group is like ‘oh shit she knows something’ but they don’t say anything because Sieger is right fucking there.

Back at the guard tower the QC is like ‘you asshole need to finish this up because I’m losing squad one tomorrow you’re going to need to get interns.’ an Y’all’d’ve is like ‘hey, can I not get the elves? They don’t like me, I’m not elfy enough fro them’ and Pava’s like ‘WE GOTTA KICK THOSE ELVES OFF THE SQUAD THEY MAKE HIM FEEL BAD ABOUT HIMSELF’

#actual trash campaign

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trade-baby-blues · 8 years ago

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Supernova

Pairing: McKirk

Word Count: 1571

Warnings: Angst, major character death, can’t remember if there’s swears but it’s me so probably

A/N: I saw a post awhile back that was something like...how Bones dealt with Jim’s death? How he probably checked up on him more and touched him more and I’ve been thinking about it since before I even had this blog so I just really needed to write it lol. Sorry it’s angsty.

Like people, a star's death can be predicted by its pattern of life. If a star has enough mass after its birth, it will explode as a supernova when it dies, leaving nothing but debris and a black hole behind as it collapses back into itself. Leonard McCoy learned that at Starfleet, but never really understood it until Jocelyn left him and took Joanna with her, leaving him to cave in on himself.

He wandered empty for awhile, trying to fill the gaping hole in his chest with booze until he finally decided to join Starfleet. If he survived the shuttle ride there without having a heart attack, maybe he stood a chance of doing some good in the world again. Looking back, it was the best decision of Leonard’s life. It was how he met Jim.

James Tiberius Kirk was a force unlike any other. He was a star so blinding Leonard found it hard to look him in the eyes sometimes when they first became friends. They were just so warm and so damn blue. Leonard could get lost in them for hours. Leonard knew it was putting a lot on Jim, burying him in details about his divorce and the depression that followed, but for his part Jim was ecstatic to fill in the gaps Jocelyn left behind. He was excited to see Bones on any occasion, although Leonard was often less than happy to see Jim slinking into Medbay skull cracked with that stupid toothy grin on his face. Still, Bones couldn't help but grin himself while Jim recounted the details of whatever fight he’d been in this time.

Leonard McCoy was no stranger to death either. He was a doctor. Death came with the territory. It was always hard for him to lose a patient. The first patient he lost almost made him quit. He wasn't sure if he could keep doing it, but the same day a young girl had come up and thanked him for helping to fix her father’s back so they could play catch again. Every time Leonard thought of quitting, he pictured her family together again because of him. Even if he couldn't keep his own family together he could help others.

He adopted a gruff bedside manner too keep himself distant from patients. It quickly became the talk of most of the small town hospital in Georgia. Patients would come in from across the state to see him for his skills, and nurses would always warn them that Leonard was, well, less than tactful. Most of the time, patients appreciated his no-bullshit approach. Several patients, though, accused him of not caring, and he couldn't find the words to tell them exactly how much he cared. That it ripped his damn heart open every time he got a terminal case. That he’d taken more pro bono cases than he could afford. That he cared so damn much he felt like he was going mad sometimes.

So yes, Leonard McCoy was friends with death. He knew depression, and he liked to think he was strong enough for whatever life could throw at him, but absolutely nothing could have prepared him for Scotty grabbing his shoulder in the middle of the worst medical emergency the Enterprise had seen. Didn't he understand that Leonard had patients?

“Spit it out. I’ve got work to do,” Leonard said, exasperated. He’d been working nonstop for hours and he didn't have time to waste when Scotty couldn't even look him in the eye. He still didn't say anything, merely pointed to a bed with a body bag. That's when things clicked into place for Bones. That's when things started caving in.

Someone else unzipped the bag - his hands were shaking too much. He clenched them in fists at his side, setting his jaw and preparing himself for the worst but even the worst his mind could create wasn't as bad as seeing Jim lying supine on the table. At least someone had the decency to close his eyes. Those beautiful blue eyes that always twinkled with life. Leonard didn't think he’d survive seeing them go cold.

He stared at Jim longer than he should have, memorizing every line on his face, every wrinkle and pock mark he’d never noticed before. He catalogued it knowing full well he should have done it before. He should have known good things don't last around him. He was a sinking ship, crashing and burning. He was a black hole caving in.

When he fell into the chair at his research table, Leonard hardly believed it when the Tribble moved. Told himself it was a hallucination, the grief. But then it moved again. He grabbed his tools faster than ever, studying the creature’s vitals, heart hammering in his chest. When all the scans came back clear, Leonard laughed an honest to god, full belly laugh. He felt like he was going mad. He could do it. He could save Jim.

Putting him in the cryotube was hard, watching his skin go cold and waxy, hearing the empty flatline of the heart monitor all confirming that the last light in Leonard’s sky had gone out.

“But not for long,” he told himself as he dove into his work. It didn't take long to synthesize Khan’s blood into a treatment he thought could fix Jim. M’Benga had tried to stop him, but Leonard wouldn't listen.

“We don't know the risks,” Geoff implored, “It's unsafe, Bones.”

“Don't call me that,” Leonard snapped at him. “And damn the risks Geoff. The man’s already dead. What am I gonna do kill him twice?” With that, he took Jim out of cryofreeze, careful not to touch his skin or even look at him for too long, lest his resolve freeze along with Jim. He began the transfusion and prayed to every god he could think of.

When Jim finally opened his eyes, Leonard was still half convinced he was dreaming. He told Jim to stop being dramatic about something, but Leonard was on autopilot, eyes grazing over every inch of Jim’s body. He noted the waxiness of his skin, the sheen of sweat on Jim’s upper lip, the bags under his eyes - God those big blue eyes. Leonard had to excuse himself after scanning Jim, locking himself in his office as he began to shake. Sob after sob tore from his throat and he dug his palms into his eyes, trying to stop the tears.

Leonard didn't know how long it was before he managed to calm himself down, but as soon as he did he was on his feet, marching into Jim’s room. When he got in, Jim was sitting up, chatting to a nurse with the same toothy grin Leonard had dreamt about the whole time Jim was dead.

“Bones,” Jim called to him. Leonard’s chest tightened, but he stepped into the room, scanning Jim again wordlessly. “Come on, you scanned me 20 minutes ago.”

“Yeah, well given your track record I wouldn't be surprised if you hurt yourself sitting up.”

Jim laughed and Leonard wanted to live in the sound forever. “Glad to see even death didn't change you, Bones.” Leonard wasn't willing to admit to himself how much it actually had.

He checked in on Jim far too much, especially considering M’Benga kept trying to take him off the case. Leonard was too close to Jim and shouldn't have been working on him after the remedy worked, he knew that. Of course he knew that. That didn't mean Leonard could stay away, though. He tried at first, he really did - even went so far as going back to his office to take a nap. He woke up with a screaming, picturing Khan with his hands wrapped around Jim’s throat in the biobed, squeezing the life out of those blue eyes while the heart monitor beeped away until it faded into a flatline, a wordless droning that filled every inch of Leonard’s head as he sprinted out of his office back to Jim’s room. Leonard’s hands shook as he waved the tricorder over Jim’s sleeping figure. He pressed his fingers to the side of Jim’s wrist gently, not satisfied until he felt Jim’s pulse for himself.

After that, he checked on Jim at least once an hour, always with a physical exam. He put his fingers on Jim’s wrist to feel his pulse. A stethoscope under the cotton hospital gown to hear his heartbeat. Even when M’Benga cleared Jim to leave, Leonard insisted on giving him one last physical. Leonard told himself it was part of his own recovery, that the more he touched Jim the more he would believe he was actually real, but half a year later and they were on the Enterprise again, floating through deep space, and Leonard still gave Jim physicals. He was careful to bump knees with him in the conference room or squeeze Jim’s shoulder when they were in his quarters drinking. He still had nightmares about Jim dying, looking at him with glassy eyes that didn't see anything anymore. He could still feel the clammy, rubbery skin that came with death. Leonard had enough self control to wait until the next morning when these dreams woke him in the dead of night, but he’d almost always beat Jim to his chair the next day, tricorder out and waiting. Hands eager to feel the pulse that kept Leonard grounded.

Tags:

I didn’t know who to tag since this wasn’t a reader insert?? Sorry if you didn’t want to be tagged just lmk I’ll take you off!

@outside-the-government (also i promise I’m still working on I Told You So pt 2 and I will post it one day. I have two ideas for it right now and I’m having trouble choosing between the two lol)

@martinawalker @thevalesofanduin @goingknowherewastaken @yourtropegirl @trekken81 @feelmyroarrrr @yukki-art @atari-writes @pabegay1

#star trek imagine #bones imagine #jim kirk imagine #mckirk imagine #mckirk

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fastxandxtardy · 8 years ago

Text

///Out of Speed///

Gotham season 3 episode 14: The Gentle Art of making Enemies

I’m going to say one thing before I put spoilery things under the cut

This episode is the reason everyone should watch Gotham for. This, this is just IT. This was AMAZING and makes all the shitty episodes worth it. Gotham has had really good episodes before, but this one is phenomenal and I was completely speechless.

Now on to my massive fangirling.

JEROME FUCKING VALESKA

I knew it was going to be a good one because Jerome was in it, but jfc it’s like Cameron’s performance gets better each and every episode we see him in! How is that possible?!

David Mazouz also gets all the awards, all of them. He was brilliant and you could really see Batman in him. It gave me the chills and the last scene with him and Alfred about the Batman philosophy brought tears to my eyes.

Nygmobblepot was fucking heartbreaking. Oswald ; ; he really loves Ed, was willing to give up his life for him. And Ed didn’t expect that. Oswald defied all odds AND HE STILL FUCKING SHOT HIM! I need a seperate post to talk about this because jfc.

But he can’t be dead, right???? The Penguin cannot be dead.

Fucking Valeyne interaction tho! Fuck they have so much chemistry and yes I hate myself for thinking that. Remember how I said that I would not ship them other than platonic? I need to keep repeating that as a mantra in my head. Bruce is like 15 or 16. Underage. And Jerome is 18. So, nope nope nope, can’t go there.

I assume Jerome is still 18 because he’s been dead. Otherwise he would have been 19 probably. But his body was frozen, so technically he’s still 18. That’s my logic anyway.

Even worse is that Jerome is absolutely bonkers and cruel.

But DAAAAAAAAMN, I loved the shit out of the first line he said to Bruce.

“My my, look how big you’ve gotten!” with that crazy ass grin that’s somehow unfairly hot on his stapled on face. How does he do it? How?

OMFG Jerome! Do you know how much trouble they went through to get that thing from the Court of Owls!!! I shouted when it shattered. Hopefully they can still fix it.

“It’s been nagging at me ever since I woke up. The idea of slitting that pretty pink throat of yours.”

FUUUUCK, Jerome, don’t say those kind of things!

And Bruce BLUFFING, seemingly judging Jerome for wanting to kill him without any flair and egging him on, playing on his ego! OMFG that was amazing! Jerome realizing Bruce was trying to manipulate him but going along with it anyway because he makes a good point. You have to love how he’s rather vain when it comes to things like that. The thing he accused Dwight of; having no charisma or stage presence. He really finds that important. He’s so theatrical heeeee.

But his whole demeanor during that. Like he was first being all crazy eyed and about ready to kill Bruce, keeping that pose like that for a bit and then him rolling his eyes and turning away going “Ooh whadda ya mean?” And Bruce just kept being stone faced the whole time. You go, Brucey! I really love how he’s grown and am so so proud of him. Last time he was cowering in Jerome’s grip. That’s only about a year ago!

I loved everything about that scene. I’ve rewatched it on YouTube so many times I know it by heart.

That murder circus/carnival cite. How fucking terrifying was that? I’d seen glimpses of it during the white band trailer of course, but now I realized what it was all about. They were killing innocent people on every attraction.

The whole thing with “Face it, kid. Gotham has no heroes.” and then when Jerome is about to throw the ball, Bruce pushes him. YES! That right there already showed that Bruce wants to be a hero even if he doesn’t fully realize it himself yet. But Jerome does (with his later line of “You wanna be a hero?!” in the mirror maze.

The poor guy gets killed nonetheless and that was a gruesome scene ick.

BUT THEN omg, when Jerome puts the staples in Bruce’s arm after he mocked him, you can SEE that Jerome is intrigued when Bruce only briefly blinks his eyes but doesn’t make a peep. His brow furrows the slightest bit in confusion, disbelief. He’s amazed that this kid isn’t immediately crying out in pain and realizes there’s more to him than meets the eye. After the second one, he sees it as a challenge, and he’s pleased when Bruce pleads for him to stop at the third one. But jfc, two staples were put in his arm and there was only the blinking of his eyes. I was super impressed. Also, because Batman moment! I love it whenever Bruce shows his inner Batman and we haven’t even gotten close to the best part of Bruce’s scenes yet.

Jerome as a ringleader? Hell yeah. I loved the white straightjacket like suit on him more (it was super hot ngl) but I have to admit the ringleader suit was a lot more Jokeresque.

Jerome slapping his own ass.... *died* He’s a showman, alright.

I was appalled by all those people cheering for Bruce’s death though. Like jfc, that’s a teenager! You’re rooting for a teenager to be killed in a terrible manner! How can you people live with yourselves?! I get that they want chaos and anarchy because Gotham as a city... I wouldn’t want to live there either. Look at kids like Selina. They’re completely left to their own devices! No one cares about them. How horrible is that?! But these cult members are horrible too for wanting Bruce to be killed just because he’s an elite.

The little murderous shit waved goodbye at Bruce with a grin after he lit the fuse! What a troll! I can’t even. I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry at this part because daaamn that’s so cruel but also so Joker.

I was panicking so badly when Bruce lost that first staple and the fuse was almost up. The desperate look and sheer panic on Bruce’s face (again all the kudos to David Mazouz) completely sucked me in and made the rational thought that it’s impossible Bruce Wayne dies fly completely out of the window.

Thank you, Selina for teaching Bruce streetkid skills! I’m assuming it’s Selina that taught him how to pick locks during his stay with her on the streets. That saved his life.

“Oh Bruuuuce! Where are ya, boy? Come on out boy. I won’t hurt ya!” Yeah right. No one believes that coming out of your mouth, Jerome... And then when he saw him running into the mirror maze: “Bruce, darling... “ WHAT?! How can we not ship that? Please tell me how we’re not supposed to ship that? Because even with the shipping being platonic, some people are like omg that’s disgusting! But look at that writing! (which I love)

BATMAN! Sorry, but even without the suit and cowl, Bruce was so Batman in the mirror maze scene. First of all, he lured Jerome there and used the confusion of the multiple mirrors to his advantage. And the look on his face, it was just on point. That serious, intense Batman stare/glare, he had that down. This whole scene was my absolute favorite Bruce moment in the whole episode. Maybe even the whole show.

The whole moment where Jerome giggles at himself and goes “I have to tell ya, *giggles some more* This is way more fun than I was expecting! We make a good team you and me.” I was squeeing and holy shit, how much did he sound like Mark Hamill there? Amazing!

“Let’s do this mano y mano, my little conquistador.” I have no idea what that means lol. But I’m guessing it’s something like let’s fight this out as real men and I loved how he said “my” I’m terrible...

TACKLE!!!

“What kind of hero tackles someone from behind?!” lol Batman does! And ouch then Bruce got a kick to the face, but that’s about the only hit Jerome got in because daaaamn that training really paid off!

Jerome, your fighting skills suck. I also loved how he was treating the fight in such a silly way at the start. I’m not sure WHAT exactly he’s saying when he’s ridiculously pumping his fists up, but I think it’s “Put ‘em up! Put ‘em up!”

He heavily underestimated what Bruce was capable of LMAO

My heart stopped when Bruce seemed about to kill Jerome. (You can’t really blame the guy, he thought Alfred was dead) Not only because, you know, Jerome can’t die again!!! But also because Bruce is a good person. I wouldn’t want him to kill anyone, and it’s Batman’s biggest rule. Not to kill.

So I breathed a massive sigh of relief when he didn’t.

Jerome’s face starting to come off was really really gross though. It’s then that you realize that part of it is nothing but dead skin now. Gross. I wonder if they’re going to do plastic surgery on him or something. Because there is no way his face can heal by having part of it stapled on like that. I know little to nothing about medical things, but that seems logical to me.

Alfred and Bruce reuniting really made me emotional. It was such a heartfelt moment.

Jerome just had to go and interrupt that moment. Fuck I was so scared Jim was going to shoot him!

But instead he punched his face off.

Ew.

I love Jerome, but... a lot of blood squicks me and seeing an almost entirely bloody face (or non-face I guess) made me shudder.

BUT HE’S ALIIIIIIIIIVE YEEEEEEESSSSSSS!!!

The point I made in the former post still stands however... how is Jerome not going to be obsessed with Bruce Wayne as a person now? He defeated him, showing how worthy an adversary he is, but also made Jerome have a lot of fun at the same time, challenged him. I’m also pretty sure that in the moment, Jerome wanted Bruce to kill him to prove his point that everyone can be pushed to kill someone. He was cheering him on to kill him. Bruce defied him at every turn. It would seem really unbelievable if Jerome were to simply forget about him after all this... Even if he at some point realizes it was stupid to want him dead in the first place (That was something Galavan wanted him to do after all and he clearly and understandably hates Galavan for betraying him. So why does he want to carry out his will?)

I wonder how the writers will deal with it. Unless by the time Jerome is free again, Batman’s out to play already, and Jerome officially becomes the Joker. Which would admittedly be awesome. David Mazouz proved that he is more than worthy of taking up the cowl one day. In my opinion, anyway. The only problem being he’s still a bit young.

Maybe next season we’ll see Jerome in Arkham having his interaction with Harleen Quinzel (since apparently we’re going to see a glimpse of her in the last episode this season) and maybe even with Mad Hatter (though I hate that creep for his incest behavior) and Ed! (if he gets caught this season) While Bruce continues developing and figures out what he wants to do with everything he’s learned. Maybe he’s still dealing with the Court of Owls too if that doesn’t get resolved this season. That gives him another year to grow and we’ve seen what one year can do already.

Maybe Jerome even leaves Gotham for a while after he’s escaped Arkham. Who knows.

I really wouldn’t want a time jump and then a different actor playing Bruce. No way.

If they are going to go as far as having Batman on the show, that is. Originally that wasn’t the plan, I believe, but to me that seems a shame. They have an actor who undoubtedly will be able to pull Batman off, they have the perfect future Joker, the chemistry between the two is already there even before they are Batman and Joker. What more could you want? Personally Gotham interests me a ton more than the DC movies. And Jared Leto’s Joker... so far he hasn’t done it for me. Harley Quinn is awesome, but Joker... eh.

Okay back to the actual episode now. The last thing I want to talk about (I might make an other post for all the Nygmobblepot stuff. I’m not sure yet) Alfred and Bruce’s talk in the aftermath of what happened. Bruce being so damn mature and again, showing his inner Batman. With how that even though there is a fine line between justice and vengeance, like Alfred said, it doesn’t mean there isn’t one and Bruce doesn’t want to cross that line. He completely gets it.

The moment Alfred mentioned rules, I was already smiling. It’s like I already knew what was coming.

“Rules you cannot and will not break.”

“I will not kill.”

CHILLS! The way he said it and then repeated it, the determination and expression he put in it. Even just thinking about it is making me shiver again. Brilliant. If he wasn’t so young, I’d be in love.

Aaaand that’s it. I’ve rambled on enough about Jerome and Brucey LOL. I’d be surprised if anyone actually read through all of it X’D. If you did, congratulations! But seriously, if you like the whole Batman franchise, you’re definitely missing out if you don’t at least watch the episodes Jerome is in. I know a lot of people are super hung up on the fact that the Joker isn’t supposed to have an origin or name and blah blah blah. But Nicholson’s Joker had a name too. Jack Napier, anyone? And no one seemed to mind that.

And you have to see Gotham as its own thing. A different spin on the Batman mythos. The characters are portrayed wonderfully and really worth the watch. The first season is really slow, I admit that but once the show finally got going, found its pace, it kept getting better. I understand why it was so slow. The first season was where they had to start building everything up so that after that they could focus more on the individual stories of particular characters.

I’m personally glad I didn’t give up on it. Especially now that Jerome is back. They didn’t kill him off this time. We will be seeing him again. Even if we have to wait another year for it. Soooo...

#ooc #///Out of Speed///#Gotham #Gotham spoilers #spoilers #part liveblog #part review #part speculation #Valeyne #Fuck I'm such Valeyne trash #platonic but still...#that's bad enough I guess #I love their interaction okay?#little bit of #Nygmobblepot #but not much #may make a post about that later #Aah I can finally post this #been in my drafts since last tuesday

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welcometowcwmondaynitro · 6 years ago

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WCW Monday Nitro 29/07/1996

Here we go boys and girls...

You know, I just realised I have no idea what that “Q” shape in the top right hand corner actually means. To Google!

OK well, I had a brief check and I still don’t know. Answers on a postcard.

Something else I just noticed...

Hogan’s screaming face right next to a building that says “prescriptions”... I don’t think I need to comment any further.

“WCW Monday Nitro ignites once again!” screams Tony Schiavone as we get a high shot of the WCW set at Universal.

The magic kingdom has never been more magical.

As always we are welcomed by Mr Schiavone and “Living Legend” Larry Zbyszko. They’re both wearing Mickey Mouse shirts which is somewhat appropriate. Larry doesn’t look best pleased about it.

Tony informs us that there are two title matches tonight. The Giant will be defending his World Heavyweight title against Arn Anderson, whilst Rey Mysterio Jr will be defending his cruisweight title against Eddie Guerrero. I’m guessing one of those matches is going to be far more entertaining than the other. Tony also hypes the American Males Vs the Steiner Brothers, but... meh. The American Males suck.

Tony brings up that WCW has recently been under attack from the New World Order. Larry refers to them as the “new world odor”. Very clever, Larry. Zbszko says the nWo are in control and picking their spots. Really they’re just being allowed to do pretty much whatever they want. WCW could have these guys thrown out in their asses for all sorts of shit, but nope. Nobody ever questions why.

We go to footage that Tony says was sent to them (not established by who) of Hall and Nash standing outside some kind of building looking a little bit high.

Next up we see footage of Luger and Sting coming out the back of some arena. Apparently this is a WCW Saturday Night taping. I assume the Outsiders filmed this footage or had somebody film it for them, as you can hear them saying mostly unintelligible shit in the background. Luger gets called away, leaving Sting by himself.

At this point the Outsiders attack Sting from behind, shove him half way into the boot of a car and slam the door onto his back. They then beat Sting up some more before running off. This is all being filmed. Larry and Tony express minor disgust, as if they aren’t literally watching a guy getting the shit beaten out of him on tape, and say it’ll be dealt with at the Hog Wild PPV.

Obviously another way to deal with it would be to, I don’t know, send this tape to the police? A blatant, pre-meditated assault filmed in its entirety before and after. You aren’t going to get much more clear-cut evidence. But, y’know, wrestling.

Tony calmly states that Sting is OK and suffered “minor injuries”. Well, that’s fine then.

Some vaguely old school Western movie music plays and out comes the former Mauler, Mike Enos, aka one half of the worst named team in the world, “Rough ‘n’ Ready”. I think he was Ready.

His opponent is the ultra patriotic numbskull Jim Duggan. “Not Hacksaw” sighs Larry, and I’m with you living legend. Why? Why?

Mike “Ready” Enos Vs “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan

What a way to start the show. And yes, that was heavy, heavy sarcasm. For fuck’s sake. Couldn’t we have started with Rey Vs Eddie? Maybe just not had this match at all?

There are some contrasting emotions in the crowd as Hacksaw comes out...

The guy on the right seems happy to see Duggan. The guy on the left looks like me when I realised who was coming out. Come to think of it, I think that guy on the right was the dude aggressively booing Konnan last time. Loves ultra patriotic Jim Duggan, hates Mexican konnan to the point where it looked like his head was about to explode... pretty sure this guy is now a Trump supporter. I’ve just dated this blog, but for reference we’re in 2018, so that’s a relevant thought for at least another few years.

The crowd start chanting “USA” straight away. I think they’re both from the States so it’s not a chant that favours either man. Hacksaw is instantly furious, for some reason, and wants to start beating up Enos before the bell event rings.

The ref is like “bro, bro... calm down. We’re at Disneyworld.”

Duggan clotheslines Enos over the top rope after about a minute. Remember how last week Norton got disqualified for doing the exact same thing to Dave Taylor? No such luck here. Damn it.

I notice Enos has “Rough and Ready” on the back of his sleeveless jacket..

.What’s the snake meant to represent? Are snakes known for being rough or ready?

Enos and Hacksaw give each other some pretty nasty looking headbutts...

What’s funny is that Enos’s headbutt was more of a leaning his head in and pushing, whereas Hacksaw just went charging in there and smashed their heads together. Looked brutal. Also Hacksaw is fucking thick. And I don’t mean “thicc”, I just mean thick. Stout. Rotund.

Larry repeats his “new world odor” phrase for about the fifth time already. It’s not that original or funny Larry, give it a rest.

Look how empty the front row is. Where the hell is everybody? Normally that front row is full, and usually with really strange people too. I wonder if the black guy in the bottom left still has his “hulkster” shirt, or whether that’s now been disposed of...

Enos is putting on this really shitty looking chinlock.

It doesn’t look remotely painful. He’s literally just cupping Hacksaw’s chin in his hands. I mean, to go from those brutal headbutts to this is silly. This goes on forever. Even Larry basically says the chinlock is bullshit and not being applied properly.

This match has been going on for about 6 minutes and Duggan looks like he’s run a marathon.

Duggan comes off the ropes and goes for a roll up...

Did not want or need to see Enos’s arse crack, thanks. Sometimes I wonder if WCW understand their audience is predominantly heterosexual males. I mean, between this and that baywatch-esque clip from a few shows ago with Jim “Jobber” Powers, Alex Wright, etc stripping off their clothes in slow motion... I’m starting to wonder.

Tony actually calls attention to the four empty seats in the front row and wonders whether they’re for the new world order. I suppose it’s possible, and I can’t blame them for deciding against watching this classic.

Match ends when Enos is arguing with the ref, allowing Duggan to tape up his fist and crack Enos over the head.

Check out the black guy in the upper right. He’s loving this way more than I am.

“Hacksaw” Jim Duggan defeats Mike “Ready” Enos via Pinfall.

Expert shit-stirrer Mean Gene is in the ring to interview Duggan.

Poor Hacksaw looks like he’s ready to go to bed.

Okerlund asks Hacksaw for his opinion on the nWo. Not sure why anybody would be particularly interested in what Duggan has to say on the subject, but whatever. Hacksaw gets unusually serious as he asks people to listen.

Hacksaw asks “Hulk, what have you done?”

He reminds Hogan about the kids who look up to him, and brings up going with Hogan to the make-a-wish and special olympic events. Duggan asks why Hogan would turn his back on everything he loved, and everyone that loved him. Duggan says Hogan has held his children, and the first word his oldest child said was “hulkster”. That’s not weird at all. Duggan says “Hulkster, you’re a great technical wrestler” - lol - “but I don’t want to wrestle ya, I wanna beat ya up”. Broadly the same thing but OK. Gene says, referring to Hogan, “if you put a good apple into a basket of bad apples... enough said”. I guess so.

Hacksaw’s promo here was actually pretty good. He conveyed his emotions well, and his facial expressions really sold what he was saying as genuine. Just a shame I had to watch a match with him involved first.

We see footage of Arn creepily peering into a random limo last week...

Totally normal behaviour.

WCW loves showing this shot of Mickey. Maybe they were contractually obliged to do it.

Ric Flair’s music hits, and out come three of the four horsemen, plus the ladies.

As of yet no explanation has been given for Flair’s no-show last week. The horsemen don’t seem overly bothered by it though.

Sting’s theme music hits, and out come the Stinger, Lex Luger, and the Macho Man.

I’ll admit to having a bit of a soft spot for the “Man Called Sting” theme song. I actually like a lot of those older WCW songs - Man Called Sting, Steinerized, American Made... I have an eclectic taste in music. Don’t judge me.

Tony repeats that Sting only suffered “minor injuries” after being attacked and he thinks the Outsiders were “just trying to send a message”. Uh, no. If they were sending a message they maybe would have shoved him over, or yelled some threats, or something else vaguely threatening. The pair of them quite literally punched Sting repeatedly and slammed a car boot against his back. I love how the commentators don’t see this as anything major. Just another day in the crazy world of wrestling. Larry calls it “a game of chess”. Most people would call it criminal assault.

Well anyway, these guys waste no time, a brawl starts...

And the match is on.

Ric Flair, Steve McMichael & Chris Benoit Vs Sting, Lex Luger & Macho Man

The match starts with mostly brawling outside of the ring. Sting and Flair are in the ring fighting for about twenty seconds but they’re soon out on the floor as well. We have to go to a break, and during that break we see...

Remember how I noted the dates had been dropping from the “coming soon” part of Glacier’s promo? Now even COMING SOON has gone. Maybe eventually it won’t even show “GLACIER” any more, it’ll just be the symbol in the background. Then a black screen. Then maybe it’ll just become a Mortal Kombat advert. Would have been a better idea than what eventually happened, but let’s forget about BLOOD RUNS COLD for now.

We come back and the bell sounds. Things are finally under control.

We start off with Sting and Benoit. Sting takes charge and Benoit rolls over towards Flair and Mongo. Flair holds out his hand for a tag...

And comes in. Sting is going to tag Macho in but Flair knocks Macho off the apron before Sting can make a tag. Soon Flair and Savage are fighting on the floor, near that stupid unnecessary VIP table. The ridiculous candlestick in the middle gets knocked over...

Good. Although they’re lucky it wasn’t lit, or that shit could have ended up on fire. Meanwhile Savage picks up the bowl of fruit and dumps it onto Flair.

Fruit all over the floor. What a waste.

Flair runs back into the ring but immediately eats a press slam from Sting.

As you can see, the crowd are loving it.

Macho gets tagged in, which leads Flair to drop to the outside and plant a kiss on Miss Elizabeth. This angers Macho who runs over, but gets caught out and double-teamed by Flair and Mongo. The advantage doesn’t last for long though, and soon Savage is back on top. Annoyed by how useless he is at fighting, Flair walks off.

Bye, then.

For some reason Flair stops walking away, sees Savage coming after him and just drops to his knees begging off. This never works and I don’t know why he didn’t just start running. Schaivone says Flair was trying to hide, but if so that was a pretty shitty place to try and hide. Savage throws Flair into the metal bleachers. As he leads Flair back to the ring, I’m sure I hear someone in the crowd say “Macho, put some cheese on it”. What? He might have said “Nacho” instead, so I guess that is kind of a burn, but... not really. I suppose it’s possible he was advising a friend how to best serve nachos, very loudly, and just happened to get picked up on camera. You gotta put cheese on nachos, no doubt.

Next up Mongo and Luger are tagged in. Oh joy. The fans chant “Luger”. Say what you want about Lex, but until mid-1998 or so he was consistently over with WCW fans.

As Larry is talking about Mongo having “great teachers” in Flair and Anderson, Mongo completely botches running into the ropes and somehow falls through them.

Look at the faces on Lex, Benoit and Flair. W T Fuck? Mongo - unable to run the fucking ropes without botching, but still a member of the Four Horsemen. Both hilarious and tragic. The announcers cover for this by saying that Luger threw Mongo out of the ring through sheer strength. It’s not a bad save in fairness.

Thankfully Mongo tags back out to Flair, who is able to run the ropes without falling outside the ring. He just gets beaten up again though. Flair is just the worst fighter. He so rarely gets in any offence. Benoit comes in and kicks the shit out of Luger. Savage comes in and takes Benoit down, even though he isn’t the legal man.

Tony mentions that the Dungeon of Doom have “literally” put a bounty on Benoit’s head. I assume that’s just to beat him in a wrestling match, not actually kill him, but it’s the Dungeon of Doom so... who fucking knows. It might be to shave Benoit’s entire body. According to the Giant that’s what the Dungeon like doing.

Flair takes a brutal superplex from Sting.

That image is a second or so after they landed. Some serious impact. They both literally bounce up like they’re on a trampoline. Mongo is then tagged in again - uh oh spagettios. He basically clotheslines Sting in the corner, executes a tame looking backbreaker, and tags back out to Benoit. Good idea.

Eventually it’s back to Flair and Sting. Slick Ric puts Sting in the Figure Four.

Sting isn’t really selling it much. He looks mildly inconvenienced. Flair starts slapping Sting in the face.

This just annoys Sting, who ends up reversing the Figure Four. Flair tries locking it in again but Sting counters into a rollup.

Flair kicks out and tags in Benoit. The Crippler attacks Sting’s leg and hits him with a snap suplex. Sting kicks out at two. Benoit then puts Sting in a nasty looking Lion Tamer.

He struggles to get full extension on it due to the height difference but it still looks uncomfortable to say the least.

Luger comes in and breaks the submission up. Benoit tags Flair back in.

Suddenly Jimmy Hart comes running out, yelling at the cameraman that “we need help” and for him to “come to the back”.

What good is a cameraman going to do if you need help?

Drunk?

Well, regardless, the cameraman decides to listen to this lunatic and starts running towards the backstage area. Hart gets up on the apron and tries to get everybody’s attention.

Hilariously the wrestlers just totally ignore him, even though he’s going berserk on the apron.

Hart finally gets Luger’s attention and yells at him that they need to get to the back.

Who’s on the bottom of Jimmy’s insane tie by the way? I want that tie.

We cut to the back where the cameraman has assumedly ended up, and we see Arn Anderson is down. Hall and Nash are hanging around with baseball bats.

Not sure what that stain is down by Arn’s foot. Not sure I want to know.

I love how these two are just smashing the shit out of people with baseball bats, and still... no thought to call the police. I feel like at this point these two could literally cave somebody’s head in with those bats, murder them live on TV, and Tony would say they’re “sending a message”, Larry would say it’s a “game of chess” - where you smash the fuck out of your opponent’s pieces, apparently - and they’d try to settle it at a PPV.

Anyhow, the other guy laying on the ground is Marcus Bagwell.

His tag team partner Scotty Riggs comes out and turns his back to the Outsiders, oblivious to the fact they are obviously the cause of his partner’s injury. What a dunce. He’s also standing like he’s got rickets.

Hall cracks him over the head with something like light rigging. The camera turns...

And we see Rey Mysterio is standing on the rails here like it’s a turnbuckle. He tries a flying cross body onto Nash, but the big man catches Rey like he’s a small child, aims him towards the trailer and...

Tosses him into the side of it like a lawn dart. One of the more iconic moments of the original nWo invasion, one that everybody remembers. It looked like a rough bump to take, but kudos to Rey for taking it.

The Outsiders get back into their limo just as the Macho Man arrives. Savage dives on top of the limo and reaches through the sunroof as it starts to drive off...

This won’t end well.

The limo literally drives off with Savage riding on top. Nice knowing you, Macho.

As Savage rides off into the night atop of the Outsiders’ limousine, the backstage area is now filled with wrestlers and yellow shirt security. Just where the fuck were these fuckers when the Outsiders were beating the shit out of people? Obviously the wrestlers in the ring had a reason not to be there, but what were these security people doing? It’s a bit late to be out there now, assholes.

We come back from a break and Woman is cradling Arn like he’s about to die.

Liz and her boobs are there too.

A fire truck arrives. What incompetent idiot called for a fucking fire truck? You have three choices and the only wrong choice would be to call a fire truck. Yet here we are. What are the firemen going to do, hose everybody down?

Rey is on the ground, holding his head and yelling that “there were four”. Well, unless he’s counting the baseball bats as members of the nWo there were definitely only two. I suppose you could count three if you include the limo driver, but the assumption is that he was just a random dude hired to drive, rather than an nWo member.

An ambulance turns up. That’s more like it.

I’ve just realised this fucks the rest of the card. Eddie Vs Rey ain’t happening now, neither is American Males Vs the Steiners or Anderson Vs the Giant. Why do I get the feeling the replacements in these matches are going to be a significant downgrade?

Mysterio is having a neck brace put on, and during this time Alex Wright is yelling “Hey Rey! What do you mean by four? What do you mean by four?” ... dude, the guy just got thrown head first into the side of a fucking trailer. Screaming questions at him probably isn’t the best thing to do right now. The medics take Rey’s mask off to treat him. Tony acts shocked by this and says that in Mexico masked wrestlers never take their masks off. Of course, in Mexico they probably aren’t propelled head first into trailers either, so, you know. Hard to treat a head injury when the entire skull is covered by a mask, Tony.

Benoit appears to be crying over Arn’s condition.

Eddie wants to go to the hospital with Rey, but Alex Wright reminds Eddie he’s got a match, and he’ll go instead. The match was with Mysterio so actually Eddie doesn’t have a match anymore, but whatever. If I was Rey I wouldn’t want some German guy sitting next to me yelling “WHAT DO YOU MEAN FOUR?” over and over but the ambulance crew evidently don’t see a problem with it.

Benoit is still on the verge of tears. He looks like a little boy who’s just seen a dog get run over. Larry says “I know how much Benoit looks up to Arn. This is disheartening”. Disheartening? Is that the best word you can come up with, Larry? Disheartening would be if Arn forgot a conversation they’d had last week. The guy just got attacked and apparently severely injured by two big guys with baseball bats and all you can say is it’s “disheartening”? Jeez.

For some reason Benoit starts getting into it with Meng...

Good thing those ambulances are there. Benoit’s going to need one as well if he starts on Meng.

We go back to Tony and Larry who look a little lost. How boring must this be for the fans out there? As far as I’m aware there’s no screen anywhere showing them what’s happening out the back, so they’re just sitting there looking at an empty ring. I appreciate the tickets were free, but still...

We go to a break, and when we come back there’s still nothing of note happening.

Bischoff and Heenan (wearing the same shirt as Zybszko) have arrived, but Tony and Larry haven’e gone anywhere yet. I’m surprised the crowd are still hanging around to be honest. It’s surely been at least twenty minutes for them now.

Heenan says he’s not going to do the broadcast tonight unless he can be guaranteed he won’t be physically hurt. Probably a conversation that should have happened off-air, but whatever. Bischoff says he can’t give Heenan any promises and he should do whatever he feels he has to do. So Bobby leaves.

Tony says “the wheels are falling off here”. Bischoff says that “fortunately” the fans in attendance can’t see what happened or is happening in the back. Yeah, Eric, I’m sure they would much prefer to stand around staring at an empty ring for half an hour. What a fun time.

A funny thing to note whilst this shit continues to go down - apparently during this incident somebody legitimately did call the emergency services as they thought a gang fight had broken out. At Disneyworld. I’d like to know which gang has claimed the Disney/MGM studios as their turf. Going around spraying Mickey Mouse graffiti everywhere. You don’t fuck with the DisneyWorld Baseball Bat Crew.

Understandably, there’s a loud “BORING” chant from the crowd. Eric says the crowd are “anxious”, Tony points out more astutely that it’s because they’re not seeing what’s going on backstage and nothing is happening in the ring. Of course they’re fucking bored. This is a really cool angle on TV, don’t get me wrong, but those poor fuckers in the crowd are being screwed over big time.

An “nWo” chant breaks out. We see Arn Anderson getting loaded into the ambulance. Bagwell is then loaded into the same ambulance. Sting is holding one of the baseball bats that the Outsiders used. Bischoff calls it “evidence”. Should probably be handing that over to the police, although it only appears that an ambulance and fire truck have shown up. It’s almost like in the world of WCW police simply don’t exist. They’re never mentioned and never seen. The best we get are security guards who are absolutely useless. Remember a few Nitros ago when it took about a hundred security guards to get Hall and Nash out of the arena, and half an hour later the Outsiders were still backstage fucking shit up? WCW hires terrible security and has no understanding of how to file a charge with the police. No wonder Heenan ran off.

Fireworks inappropriately go off behind the WCW sign as we go into a commercial break. That’s the most exciting thing that crowd has seen in about half an hour or so.

It looks like High Voltage are replacing the American Males.

They’re both yelling stuff that makes no sense.

These kids have become so bored that they’re screaming in excitement for High Voltage of all teams.

“Here’s a story of two brothers, Rick and Scott...”

Scott’s gigantic arms are covered by his Michigan jersey. The Steiners come out looking quite subdued, with Rick constantly looking behind him. The Outsiders drove off in a limo with Macho Man on top, guys, I think you’re OK. Macho hopefully isn’t laying splattered on a pavement somewhere. Nobody really seems bothered that they saw Savage hanging onto a moving vehicle as it drove away.

Even though Rick is clearly bothered by what’s happened, he’s still barking. But it’s kind of a sad, tentative bark. You could argue that he shouldn’t be barking at all, but, that’s another story. A lot of things happen in WCW that make no sense.

The Steiner Brothers Vs High Voltage

Scott Steiner starts off dominating Chaos. Fireworks are still going off. Rick Steiner is still totally distracted and won’t get up on the ring apron.

Scott is starting to get pissed off.

Rick gets tagged in. He barks a few times, then turns away from Chaos and starts pointing towards the empty entranceway. Chaos takes advantage and hammers Rick with a few punches. Rage gets tagged in, and he and Chaos hit a double drop kick on Rick Steiner. Fireworks are STILL going off behind the WCW sign. I have to assume WCW has no control over this.

Rage hits Rick with a flying shoulder block from the top turnbuckle. Rick kicks out at two. The crowd bark in unison to try and lift Rick Steiner.

Chaos goes up to the top turnbuckle, and I think Rick is supposed to reverse Chaos’ jump into a powerslam, but Rick instead just kind of ignores Chaos and does a half-hearted slam motion as Chaos flips over him and crashes to the mat. Made Chaos look like a total chode.

Scotty gets tagged back in and hits Rage with an underarm suplex. For some reason Scotty tags Rick straight back in. Questionable decision considering Rick seems to be struggling to focus unless the crowd is barking “woof woof woof” at him.

Well anyhow, Rick tags Scotty back in after hitting a few moves on Rage and knocking Chaos off the apron. Scott picks Rage up in a Falcon Arrow type position, holds him there for a few moments...

Then drops him right on his head.

It’s basically the Falcon Arrow but way more hardcore.

Scott gets the three count and this one is over. Low Voltage.

The Steiner Brothers defeat High Voltage via Pinfall.

The crowd are very happy with this outcome. Two guys in the front row exchange a double high five. I guess they wouldn’t mind getting Steinerized.

Yeah... sorry. Anyway.

We’re back to the broadcast position and Bischoff calls it “A heck of a broadcast so far”. Yep. As long as you aren’t in the crowd it’s been a fairly good show.

Tony and Larry look like they’ve just been told Christmas is cancelled. Cheer up guys. Bischoff says “half of WCW have left in ambulances”, which is a pretty significant exaggeration. Bagwell, Riggs, Rey and Arn. That’s four. So unless WCW only has an official roster of eight people I think we can say that an estimate of half is wildly out. I suppose you can count Alex Wright, Sting and Flair as well, since they hopped into the ambulances too, but still.

I think Tony and Larry are supposed to be looking upset/irritated, but Tony just looks fucking depressed and Larry looks like a kid who’s just been given a time out. Eric says the Outsiders will go “wherever there isn’t security, wherever the weakness of WCW is. That’s where they’ll be”. Well, to review, they’ve come through the crowd and into the ring without being stopped. They’ve ended up at the broadcast booth multiple times without being stopped. They’ve been able to commandeer a live microphone and talk trash multiple times without being stopped. They’ve draped banners over the WCW logo without being stopped. They’ve broken into the production truck and fucked around with the broadcast without being stopped. They’ve powerbombed Bischoff off a stage on PPV without being stopped. They’ve attacked Sting after a Saturday Night taping without being stopped. And they’ve just beaten up multiple people with baseball bats without being stopped. So, yeah, WCW’s weaknesses are basically everything and I’m not convinced they even hire genuine security. If they do then they should probably look at hiring another company.

Oh, here comes Rey’s replacement.

You’ve got to be kidding. How is Big Bubba an appropriate replacement for Rey Mysterio? He weighs about five times as much as Rey and has about a fifth of Rey’s ability in the ring. The name graphic makes it look like Jimmy Hart is “Big Bubba”, which did make me chuckle.

Out comes Eddie.

Eddie Guerrero Vs Big Bubba

This match goes on for a while. I’m skipping towards the end because who cares about any match involving Big Bubba?

I skip ahead and get this visual.

Imagine waking up with that hovering over your face. Terrifying. He mumbles “Big Bubba Rogers” but I can’t make anything else out.

Match ends when Jimmy Hart attempts to throw Bubba his megaphone to use as a weapon.

Hart also hugs the referee.

Bubba lets go o the megaphone, which goes flying into the air, as Eddie grabs him in a rollup. Eddie gets the three, and that’s that.

Eddie Guerrero defeats Big Bubba via Pinfall.

We come back from the break to “the following announcement has been paid for by the New World Order”.

Cool. I think this is the first time we’ve had one of these on Nitro. The Outsiders and Hogan are in some kind of studio. The camera cuts randomly between them as the nWo music plays in the background. The video begins like a computer game struggling with inconsistent framerate.

Hogan says “it’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it”. Nash says “people wonder who’s gonna be next? Don’t call us, we’ll call you”. “Yeah,” says Hall. “It’s invitation only, chicos”.

We get a shot of the three nWo members, whilst video highlights of Hogan play behind them. Hogan says there’s a new world order, and he hopes that’s okay, because there’s nothing anyone can do about it. Nash lists “power, fame, money, and now our own corporation” as the positives. Hall says “think about it, nWo, we’re new, we’re taking over World Championship Wrestling, and we’re giving all the orders”. Not sure the nWo name really needed an explanation, but OK, sure. Hogan yells “it’s the new way, is that OK, billionaire Ted?” ... not sure if he intended to rhyme or not. Hogan quotes humpty dumpty be saying all of Ted Turner’s horses and all of his men won’t be able to put WCW back together again. That’s the second promo in recent times that’s referenced humpty dumpty. First the Giant, now Hogan. Coincidence, I guess? Or the WCW locker room really loves that nursery rhyme.

Hall starts talking about who the fourth or fifth member of the nWo is going to be, and Hogan starts laughing really loudly. A typical evil villain type laugh which kind of throws Hall for a second.

Nash is trying not to laugh at Hogan’s cartoon-villain cackle. Hall says that Sting and Luger have gotten soft at “billionaire Ted’s country club”. He says that he and Nash have had to claw and scratch for everything they’ve got, and that they want Sting and Luger. In the ring, I assume/hope.

Hogan says he almost forgot that he’s wrestling the Giant at Hog Wild for the world title. Liar. He says that he finds it ironic that WCW could be so weak to have to beg for the Giant to save them from the nWo. Hogan says on August 10th the Outsiders will become the Insiders, and with 500,000 “vroom-baa Harley Davidsons” by their side the nWo “will establish itself as the greatest wrestling organisation on the Earth, brother”.

OK. The nWo is not exactly a wrestling organisation. It’s just a faction with three dudes in it. Later on you could argue it’s more of an organisation, but right now? No.

Hall calls Sting a “painted face punk” and says “don’t sing it, bring it.” Nash says they call it “Armageddon” and that “Genesis has begun. It’s the beginning of the new world order”. Didn’t expect a shout out to the bible in here but there you go. Hogan finishes the promo by saying that as the Outsiders take care of the “top talent” in WCW, the Giant will crumble at his feet.

It’s amusing how in these promos Hogan is still basically in Hulk promo mode, yelling, hollering and using big words that don’t necessarily mean what he thinks they mean. Hall and Nash have much calmer, cooler delivery which contrasts quite sharply to Hogan’s more 80′s approach. They pull it together well by editing a lot of Hogan’s stuff to make it more succinct and to the point.

Eric Bischoff has left the broadcast position, leaving Tony and Larry to handle the last fifteen minutes or so of the broadcast. They recap events from earlier in the night. The crowd have had another long wait, between the end of the last match, the nWo promo which none of them would have seen, and now this recap of events earlier in the night that they’re also not seeing. Oh, and they had to sit through long matches involving Jim Duggan, Mike Enos and Big Bubba. I know they got into this show for free, but they still deserve a refund.

Still, we have the main event left. This is WCW’s chance to replace Arn Anderson with somebody exciting, somebody fresh, somebody who can get the crowd on their feet, somebody who...

Oh.

Greg Valentine.

Greg “charisma” Valentine.

I mean, if this was 1986 then this would have been a decent replacement, but it’s not. These poor fans.

On the plus side this is unlikely to lost long.

The Giant Vs Greg “the hammer” Valentine

It’s for all the gold. The WCW world title looked so awesome.

The Hammer manages to rock the Giant early on with a few chops to the chest and clotheslines.

Doesn’t last long though. Giant knocks Valentine down, picks him up, smashes him across the back, then puts him into the corner and chokes him with his boot. Giant then throws Valentine across to the opposite turnbuckle, goes for some kind of weird splash/elbow but misses in a move very obviously telegraphed, yet somehow the cameramen miss it anyway.

Valentine heads up top and hits a double axe handle. Giant is momentarily dizzy, but as Valentine scrambles up to the second turnbuckle to try another move, Giant drops the strap on his outfit, runs over and puts his hand around Valentine’s neck.

Uh oh.

Splat. Unsatisfied, Giant roars a few times then picks Valentine up and hits a second chokeslam.

Thanks for coming, Greg. Hey, I’ve just noticed, the dude in the middle on the left with the tash has definitely been at previous shows. So has the woman three to the right from him. I remember her dancing with her daughter to the Nasty Boys theme. The daughter doesn’t appear to be there this time. No Nasty Boys, no interest, I guess. I had no idea WCW had repeated customers for these shows, I always assumed it was just random park guests turning up.

As an aside, check out the guys on the bottom right. Either doing the most awkward wave ever or vicariously living through the Giant chokeslamming poor old Greg.

The Giant defeats Greg “the hammer” Valentine via Pinfall.

Post-match, Giant leans into the camera and says “I want you to listen real close Hulk Hogan. Pay attention, and listen real close”. He then walks away. I assume he’s going to be interviewed?

Yes, indeed, Mean Gene is in the ring with the Giant. Haven’t seen much of Gene-o tonight. I kind of missed the shit-stirring bell.

Giant is either ripping a major fart or mocking Hogan’s poses. Hopefully the latter, although Jimmy Hart’s expression suggests it could be the former.

Gene asks Giant about Hog Wild. Giant continues mocking Hogan by saying “well you know something Mean Gene, I’ve been to the top of the mountain brother, I’ve walked through the valley of the shadow of death...” Gene pulls the mic away and asks if the Giant has lost his marbles. “That’s a knock off on Hogan!” - no shit, Gene.

Giant laughs. He says Hogan “conned America”, because he didn’t believe the things he preached. Giant says Hogan started the nWo because he knew he couldn’t be “the big fish in WCW”. Giant says that whilst Hogan has been making movies, he’s been defending the title. Giant says if WCW doesn’t hang together, then they’ll all hang separately, and he’s got a chokeslam noose that’ll fit around Hogan’s neck.

For some reason Okerlund gives the mic to Jimmy Hart, who appears to have taken a shitload of High Voltage’s uppers. He’s all over the place, ranting about “living wrestling 24/7″ and says sometimes he lies so much he believes in his own lies.

Hart says that one day he’ll have to pay for the things he’s done, but at Hog Wild, they’ll take Hogan out. Well... OK, then. Sounds like Jimmy is involved in some pretty shady shit.

Gene bids us goodnight from Orlando, and WCW decide to show the Outsiders beating the shit out of the WCW guys one more time. Because why not, I guess? They show a slow mo of Rey getting lawn darted into the trailer, and the show ends with a still shot of this as the Nitro music plays in the background.

Nice. I’m sure Rey appreciates that.

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