#FEISTY SASHA

[ratatatastic]

HELLO SASHA??? SASHA CHOPS??? SASHA HAD ENOUGH????

[zetterbabe]

as a barkov fan what was youre take on last night 👀 I hope hes ok

this really isn't a something I wanna keep harping on but for clarity:

it was a bad hit, okay? I was mad when it happened, even more so when all it got was a 2 minute rough. I think ld should've gotten 5 and a game. he left his feet before the hit, and the primary point of contact was to sasha's head. he got away with one.

yes, sasha is clearly my favorite player so I know my judgement can be colored but I feel like that's a fair assessment.

[tjarry]

tagged by beloved @thebrood1979 to do my top 5 players wrapped! i'll be doing this year only bc i'm lazy and too much brain power is required to do my all timers. most of these will be goalies. please act surprised.

tristan jarry. this should not surprise anybody, honestly and truly. my beloved feisty prettyboy goalie. happy birthday to his goalie goal. i'm so happy to see him doing better, it looks like the vacation in wilkes helped him out so much and i'm excited to see how he does for the rest of the year.

alexandar georgiev. the doe eyes do wonders when it comes to captivating a bitch, i'll tell you what. when he's on, he's ON. always supportive of his teammates and always looking to do better. i wish that man would show the silly goofy side more often but alas we will have to survive on tiktoks and clips from avsmin for goofy sasha sometimes.

elvis merzlikins. the jackets have wormed their way into my heart this year and everybody loves an underdog. i wasn't sure that there was a goalie feistier than jars, but i've been pleasantly surprised. with the amount of shit this man has been through i wish to give him a hug and a grilled cheese cut diagonal. everyone loves a hot dad.

drew o'connor. my beloved son. i am so fond of OC it's unreal. someone let the poor boy score before he actually punches somebody and gets folded like origami for it.

kurtis macdermid. dermy, kermit, big mac, i miss you so dearly. i hope they are being nice to you in NJ, but from the sounds of things and things i've read they all love you there. as they should. the devils are another i've started watching more often tbh. come home, kermit, the kids miss you.

honourable mentions: alex nedeljkovic, devon toews, owen pickering, joel blomqvist, jacob markstrom, and nikolai kovalenko

tagging @psyduc, @malkunts, @sibbycrobby, @podcasts-8-my-heart and @coffee-at-annies as well as anyone else who wants to play! kisskiss

[astridhoff03]

I also watched the Mermaid Magic, the new series from the guy who produced winx club, because I was curious…

And man this show rocks. It’s funny, emotional and has a beautiful message about not polluting the ocean and the environment in general. It shows that Rainbow and Iginio Straffi still got it if Nickelodeon doesn’t ruin their plans.

First to the characters: Merlinda is such a lovely protagonist, how she deals with the loss of her mother, trying to save her father and her kingdom, working together with her friends is just wonderful. She’s a dutiful, driven by loss and love Crownprincess, who be a great Queen one day. She has some great character moments, better than Bloom. My favorite scene is definitely when the whale mother is drowning and Merlinda reminds of the loss of her own mother. This moment and scene montage is for so many reasons one of the best moments in the entire series.

First I thought I wouldn’t like Nerissa and Sasha, especially Sasha because I thought she would annoy me. But she and Nerissa were actually kinda fun to watch. Sasha is so funny and also very nice and smart, how she uses her social media skills to fight the Kraken. Nerissa is the complete opposite, she’s serious and feisty but also selfless. I think she has a softer side to her or she’s just a baddie. So were Tyler and Celia. And we also have a Diaspro in this show lol. Also can we agree that Alex is the hottest guy in the show, Tyler is cute but Alex is Romantasy Material. Seriously he looks like a combination between Xaden and Rhysand. He reminds me a lot of these two. Orca is also a really cool mentor. I really enjoy his teacher-student relationship with Merlinda. He is a really lovable character. His ultimate test for Merlinda was phenomenal, testing her empathy, powers and strength at the same time. Also that he is her uncle really took me by surprise, I wouldn’t have seen this coming.

Second the villains: they were creepy as fuck and I love them. They have really good designs and motivations. Even if it’s revenge, revenge can be some sinister motivation.

Third the world: I love the whole design of Mertropia it’s like a Venice for Mermaids. I just wish we would explore more seas, there’s so much to learn about the oceans of our planet. But maybe in next seasons. I would love to see the girls interact with different species of the ocean, there is so much potential. And I would love to see more of the complex ecosystem of the ocean, the task every single ocean creature has in their ecosystem and they should introduce sharks as harmless and these are also just animals who want to life their life.

Also this show would be perfect for the Sirenix song from Winx Club. It would perfectly fit the ocean theme and how the merfolk is bound to it.

[cozza-frenzy]

Update on our situation

Terry here. I'll be honest, I'm only writing this down now things seem to have Stopped Happening so I can kind of take inventory. I haven't had any time to process any of this, so I'm just going to go through Simply Plural and list things. Thanks for bearing with us. It's been an awful couple of weeks.

Fusions Anarchy - Fused with Gadget, who briefly came out of dormancy Bitter - Fused with Mayhem, now goes by He/It/That Bastard (which is still funny to me) Dr. Brewer - Fused with Jeremy and Getter after a long negotiation period, to try and offset the harm they were doing to the system and to each other; seems to have succeeded, sometimes struggles a bit. Retained his identity post-fusion Holiday - Fused with Arcadia, minor changes to in-sys appearance Martin - Fused with Seamus (a new fragment); now carries some memories of our grandparents, no major change in appearance but has taken to using a cane to walk in the Inner World Papyrus - Still around but fused with Deedee (a new fragment); now in charge of "pathfinding" for Chaos' doors, increasing speed and accuracy, and making it easy to form permanent connections between areas of the Inner World Raine - Fused with Sasha, a new introject from The Magnus Archives. She identifies as both names (we sometimes call them Sasha-Raine) and uses She/They Taffy - Still around; lost Celeste's part but fused with Susan, now uses Any/All + Star/Stars Terry - Fused with Exi, I retained my identity and have a few minor changes to my in-sys appearance Returning Celeste - Returned from dormancy, and re-separated from Taffy Dagwood (Partial) - Nathan's part came out of dormancy and began communicating again; they have not re-separated Leaf - Returned from dormancy, re-separated from Raine Mello - Re-separated from Exi after they fused with me, because I'm not able to hold trauma long-term; they seem confident in their ability to tackle this, and want to try fusion again someday New Alters "Apple" (She/Her) - Introject from a source she doesn't want to disclose. In-system therapist; offers a private space for alters to process their feelings while not fronting. Soft-spoken, easily embarrassed, but a good listener Helena (She/They/It) - Brainmade. Aims to uncover repressed desires and counter harmful behaviors related to suppressing them. Uses a lot of italics while typing, speaks her mind, very flirty Hermes (He/They) - Brainmade. In-system "mailman", facilitates communication. Friendly and a little naive, "happy to help" Hex (It/They) - Introject from Discworld. Artificial intelligence that helps manage the library, and keeps an eye on the system's status. Finds human bodily functions to be "weird", can front via a hologram, not usually very emotional but very attached to their favorite teddy bear (anyone who knows its source will know why) Tabitha (She/Her) - Brainmade/"Factive" introject of our late grandparents. Holds memories of them, and is a caregiver to alters of all ages. Your pretty typical "feisty old lady", likes card games and doesn't like to be coddled Tellie (It/None) - Introject from Pendog Creative Library. Seemingly holds our knowledge of how to drive and operate the complex electronics and machines from our various jobs and hobbies. Seems to "hide in the wires" of the Inner World, existing as pure electricity until it makes itself known Yggy (Any/All) - Pronounced "Iggy"; seems to have a connection to the Inner World's giant tree. Sounds a bit like a stereotypical "hippie"; it's able to come and go as he pleases without using doors, and can help identify the source of emotional pain "Zee" (They/Them) - Introject from a source they don't want to disclose. Gender dysphoria holder; a bit jaded, prone to sarcasm, but open to exploration of their own identity, and willing to help others with theirs

I have no idea what our current headcount is, but I'll update it when I have the energy for it. We haven't had anyone show up in the past 48 hours or so, but I'll give it a full week before I decide this whole thing is finally over, and we can start picking up the pieces. Hope everyone's having a happy and safe holiday. I'll try and post something more positive tomorrow, if I have time.

[scattered-dreamers]

Oh…. Okay… Right. I just got through Mag 104 - Sneak Preview.

Tim’s interaction with Elias, Tim’s reasoning for being at the Institute—finding his brother.

There’s no way he isn’t going to be Desolation touched in my fix-it fanfic.

There are certain parallels between Tim and Michael that I am most now seeing.

Tim is what Michael might have been like if he had the knowledge of the Fears and other goings-on, if Gertrude had been up front with him about everything.

Instead we have a trusting golden Labrador who has walked, unknowingly, into danger. Now he’s twisted in a Spiral and is an angry boy.

So in the fix-it fic, he will survive the Distortion leaving him, but Oh Boy will there be changes—He’s feisty, bright colors and loud patterns physically hurt him now, he changes his clothing style, he’s angry to the point he wants to cause mayhem and destruction just to see the pain that inflicted on him cause others pain as well.

He doesn’t want the Unknowing to win but he doesn’t want the Archives to win either. Michael turns into a jaded bastard but he’s not entirely heartless.* He doesn’t want to be like Gertrude.

Tim goes in to destroy the Unknowing and comes out Desolation touched, but a Stranger Avatar. He makes it back to the Archives at some point way later—months after Jon is out of his coma—but he doesn’t know how he survived. [Jon doesn’t have the heart to tell him, not yet.]

Sasha ends up back at the Archives too and it takes Melanie seeing her again and confirming that it’s actually Sasha for Jon and Martin to trust her. [She doesn’t remember how she made it back to the archives. Last she fully remembers is being in the Artefact Storage Room. But she always vaguely remembers the wax museum and lots of blonde hair.*]

Meanwhile, at this point, they still think Tim is dead because he hasn’t returned yet. But he returns months*, no memory of what happened or where he was—aside from avoiding the Institute because he didn’t want to go back right away.

He’s cold now though, always cold to the touch. So is Sasha. Neither of them understand why. They don’t even understand how they’re back, but they are. They didn’t die—or maybe the way did, but they’re here now.

Tim doesn’t trust Sasha. They’re further apart than they ever were now. Melanie tries to reason with him, but he doesn’t trust her. He doesn’t even trust himself.

He doesn’t need food now. Neither does she. She eats. He finds he physically can’t and that fact makes his stomach churn.

They’re back all right, but they’re wrong. They’re different. Are they even still human? Sasha thinks Tim is overreacting, but he knows the last place he was. He remembers the circus, he remembers the Stranger. He stopped the Unknowing but it was always meant to be like this. He was always touched—in the Stranger’s sight since he went to save his brother.

*Michael’s jaded, but he’s not heartless. He finds Sasha and he finds Tim and he does his best to help them. He quietly helps them get back to the Institute.

But then there’s the fact that Michael doesn’t have a home anymore and he’s living on the streets, as opposed to going back to the Institute—He’d rather burn it to the ground.

So he goes and plops at a cafe where he meets Mike Crew—Mike recognizes him, calls him Blondie Locks. Mike recognizes him, knows who he is. He invites Michael to stay with him and gets him a job at the cafe.

[sweeteacrummble]

RATCHET!!!!! What did you do THIS TIME!?!

Sasha is baaaaaack and feisty as ever! I know she is not like this but to be honest this is how I see Sasha. Small, highly intelligent, loves authority status, and when she fights she the embodiment of Touhou. I guess you can say I switched Angela personally when I first drew her to Sasha and made Angela more chill haha.

Oh well, that's about it! Now I'm going to listen to Night of Nights for the quadrillionth time but imagining Sasha using bullets to attack Ratchet but failing miserably.

Ratchet is pretty good at dodging heh 🤭🤫

Happy blessing

Sweeteacrummble

[lazyneonrabbitt]

True Savior

TWD OC insert story.

Requested by @rexburn12 Lineup scene, following canon with OC inserted plot twists.

A/N: I do not take any more OC requests outside of close friends or prior knowledge of the characters. This was a tryout and concluded I'm not one for these kinds of requests.

With Maggie falling ill the group needed to move her to the Hilltop, the only community that had a doctor that could help her. It was already stressful enough to move a sick person between communities, but it only got worse with time.

The group had met with multiple blocked roads, guarded by either walkers tied to immovable fallen trees, chained up with what looked like their friends' belongings or cars and armed men. It took all day to get to where they were now.

Surrounded. Whistling could be heard from any direction they tried to flee in, eventually being hoarded onto the large open space in the forest.

Men rounded them up, taking their weapons one by one as more and more people appeared from the tree line and the back of a van that drove in opened up.

Rick watched along with his group that sat lined up as the men started to drag out familiar faces from the back of the van. Glenn, Michonne, Rosita and Daryl were thrown to the ground and forced to their knees along with the rest of the group.

Abraham keeps his head high as his eyes follow one of the goons walking up to the RV and knocks on the door, exclaiming “let’s meet the man!” with a grand gesture.

With grand bravado the door of the RV opens up and a man steps out holding a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire. It was like the cars' headlights followed him like a spotlight as he came down the steps. The man oozed confidence with his leather jacket, crisp white shirt and a wicked grin actoss his face.

He quickly points out to Rick, who he curses out for killing so many of his men in a scary manner. He continues on to explain his people’s code to the group, telling them how every single on of them now works for him and his group.

His Saviors.

“So you see, this whole thing. The road blocks and leading you all here,” Negan points the bat from one end of the line to the other as he goes on his monologue, making people flinch as the bat gets close to their heads. “It was all buying time and deciding who of you I’m going to kill.”

The group shocks, some backing down where they sat, except for Abraham who squared up to the man.

Negan moves along the line, stopping right in front of Maggie with his bat pointed right at her face, threatening her which had Glenn lunge forward at the man but quickly yanked back into the group.

“We got a feisty on over here!” Negan’s full body speech just kept going like nothing happened.

“I got an idea how to solve this issue we’re having.” He raised his bat again, one by one he passed the heads of the group on their knees chanting “Eeny, meeny, mi—��

“Negan, there’s something out there..” one of the Saviors interrupts Negan’s tirade, much to Negan’s annoyance. He snapped at the man, “it’s just a fucking walker.” but the man was somehow terrified, pissing Negan off enough to earn a punch to the face. With his nose smashed in he dropped to the floor screaming, but not without Negan’s boot shoving him and forcing him to look up. “Go out there, and fucking kill the damn thing.”

The man was hauled up by other Saviors and shoved off towards the woods.

“Now, where were we?” Negan turned back towards the kneeling group. “Oh, right.” He lifted his bat back up to where he left off at Sasha’s head. “Miny, mo.” With each word he moved from head to head. “Catch a tiger, by it’s toe..”

Without warning something flies past Negan, slamming right into one of the Saviors who was leaning against a vehicle. A loud cracking sound accompanied the impact of flesh against metal, shocking everyone around and pulling their gaze towards the two now dead men laying piled against the bent door of one of the cars.

“What the fuck?!” Negan exclaimed out loud as a sudden panic broke out among the group of Saviors. The whole place is filled with chaos until a loud growl emanated from the dense, dark woods. The place goes quiet as all the eyes go look towards the source of the noise, but all that was visible were two bright red eyes in the darkness.

Without a second thought people start to back up, away from the unknown thing lurking in the woods, but it was all for nothing as the large thing appeared.

Out of the tree line stepped a large beast. An enormous creature that blended almost seamlessly with its fur as dark as the night sky, slowly revealing more of itself as it walked into the beams of the cars’ headlights. On all fours it already stood eye to eye with the tallest human in the field and didn’t even flinch as one of the men shot at it. The bullet seemed to ricochet off the beast’s body, or did it pass through? No one could tell because there was no response at all from the creature.

After that first shot was fired, everyone else joined in the madness, guns blazing and men screaming as they emptied clip after clip on the monster who gave not a single kick. Slowly it rose on its hind legs, snarling and baring its teeth at it roared out loud. At its full height its chest rose far above any human’s head, thick muscled arms ending in giant clawed hands capable of tearing through steel. Its back paws as large as a man’s head, crushing one of the corpse’s skulls as it had moved forward. It was like the beast was armored with its thick, strong muscles that no weapon stood a chance against.

With the Saviors running out of ammo one by one the panic rose once more. One after another they threw their now useless guns at the beast that in turn charged into the group of attackers.

Off to the side the captured people had huddled together and watched the slaughter in front of them happen. Bodies were twisted in ways that should never be possible, choked screams and dying whines gurgling on blood were forever imprinted in the group’s minds as they saw the wolf like beast tear through flesh with long claws, cracking skulls under giant paws.

Dismembered and beheaded bodies laid strewn across the forest floor, shiny red blood highlighted by the cars’ lights that shone over the scene.

The monster sank back onto all fours, shaking out its fur and sending what remained of the Saviors that got stuck in his fur flying off.

The group all cowered together as the beast stepped over to where it sniffed out a cowering body hidden underneath. The scene was horrifying but they all couldn’t look away, watching as it shoved the dead weight off who turned out to be Negan, who in panic swung his bat at the beast but never made it far as a set of strong jaws snapped shut around the wood and splintered into tiny pieces.

A large, strong paw raised up then, and a loud snarl left the beast’s lips as it brought it down with enough force to shatter the man’s skull with ease, ending his reign of terror with a single strike.

The still chained down group stared in fear, in awe and with looks of curiosity between them as the beast wiped the blood off its claws until one of them gasped as another person appeared. It was a blonde woman, slender build and gorgeous green eyes that for s short moment glowed bright golden yellow over a gentle smile. “Please, don’t worry. We mean no harm to you.” She made her way to the first one in her reach, Glenn, and undid his bindings, moving on to undo Abraham’s as well who joined his free friend in untying everyone else.

A chorus of thank you’s and relieved sighs left the survivors as they all slumped together, looking after one another and following the large beast’s movements as it made its way over to its companion.

“You did well, mate.” The woman spoke, to which she got a content grumble in response as they both move on to head back out. Before they got too far off Maggie had gotten to her feet to run after them, catching them in time to thank them from the bottom of her heart. “Thank you, for saving my family.” She caught her breath from the earlier shock. “Truly, how can we repay you?”

Seemingly unbothered the woman stopped and turned around, shaking her head and spoke up. “No problem, really.” with one last kind smile she turned and moved to fall back into step with the beast who had moved ahead.

With the two strangers disappeared again the survivors moved on to scavenge for working vehicles. “This one runs!” Abraham had gotten a simple car to run, having three others join him.

“Pickup runs too.” The rumble of an engine summoned people towards the truck, Michonne hopping in beside him and others piling onto the back.

One more car ran and with that everyone had found a ride and they set off towards home.

In the back of the last car sat Maggie and Glenn in a tight embrace as the Sasha made way for Hilltop to have her checked out by the doctor.

The two other cars made it back to Alexandria without issues and everyone went straight home, agreeing to meet in the morning to discuss everything that happened and get into contact with Maggie and Hilltop.

[igotsnothing]

Thank you for the tag @alinelie! This was fun and super cute!

Two OCs. Two bags. One bad attitude.

Let's go:

what's in my oc's bag? (picrew) vessel

Gideon and Sasha

Sasha: Why do people need to know? What's in YOUR bag, huh?

Gideon: Calm down. It's supposed to be for fun. Do you want to play or not?

Sasha: Fine. You first.

Gideon: I don't normally carry a bag. Pretty much everything I need to do can be done digitally. But sometimes, if I am going to be offsite or there's a conference, I have this:

A Tom Ford leather messenger bag, Prada black leather gloves, Loro Piana vicuña scarf, Mont Blanc pen, an Hermès handkerchief, some tissues, my phone, computer, earpods, some change for incidentals, mints, Augustinius Bader lipbalm, the keycards to my apartment and office, a pair of Cartier glasses-

Sasha: Vampires need glasses?

Gideon: -My eyes can get tired if I have been looking at a computer screen for too long- and some cold-pressed plasma fruit juice. Your turn, kitten.

Sasha: Don't call me that.

Gideon: My feisty kitten.

Sasha: F*ck you.

Gideon: See? So fierce!

Sasha: Ok. Welcome to MY bag:

A Super Sim Saver Shopper reusable bag that Big Oso, the homeless guy near my house, gifted me for giving him a cigarette. My phone. It's about four years old and works perfectly fine, except that sometimes the sound cuts out randomly when you are playing music or on a phone call and the bottom right of the screen- like, the pixels are kinda f*cked up? It's OK, though.

Gideon: ...Do you want me to get you a new phone?

Sasha: This works fine.

Gideon: *Eye roll*

Sasha: I have my cigarettes and my zippo lighter.

Gideon: I thought you were trying to quit.

Sasha: I am, but it's wasteful to just throw it out! Then I have some change that some VERY GENEROUS customers left as tips for me at the diner. Next time I see them, I'm gonna-

Gideon: Um...Moving right along.

Sasha: This is an empty RadBull can. I think someone left it at the diner and we were closing and Hector told me to bus the damn table just as we were locking up, so I just tossed it into my bag. I should chuck it. Sh*t! I think it leaked a little! Oh, and this is the keycard to Gideon's. I keep it safe in this little pocket here.

Gideon: *Can't help grinning, pleased.*

Sasha: And these are some pretty leaves I saw on the ground at the Square in the Spice Quarter.

Gideon: That's really sweet, Sasha.

Sasha: Shut up! Now I'm going to smoke them! Oh, and there is a mechanical pencil and an eraser. Those are Tito's. I really should return them.

Gideon: That was fun, no?

Sasha: Wanna switch bags?

Gideon: [Chuckling] Do I get to keep you if I get the bag?

Sasha: Yeah...Whatever...*Finally cracks a rare smile.*

[eleanor-is-fine]

RQG 63 (Sky)Ship in a Bottle ⛵️ EDIT : RQG 62 😅

On the way to Prague… more food 🍗

Dazzling golden dragon display!

(Poor Zolf.)

Sasha “I don’t really believe in good news” 😭

Gosh I love that quirky separatist airship captain 🦚 (full disclosure, she’s the character I’d like to play in the amateur stage adaptation - short feisty female)

[edgessunflower]

Sasha Banks request pls

Gotcha

Error error

Pairing: Sasha Banks x Fem reader

Description: Sasha literally stops functioning when she sees you in a suit

Sasha laughs while joking around with Bayley smiling and jumping out of the chair hearing your voice near the doorway. She feels everything in her boil with warmth and arousal seeing you in the purple suit that showed a small amount of cleavage but also complimented your figure and each movement of your curves as you walked around taking her time to rake her eyes over your body until she sees you lean against the doorway talking to bayley and Liv Morgan only seeing you until bayley waves her hand in front of her face "I think you broke our girl here sweets" you blush and laugh seeing the purely lust filled and star struck look on your girlfriend's face at how purely attractive and wonderful you looked in the suit when you're all three given the signal to walk out to the ring. You hear many cheers, whistles, catcalls, and compliments as you walk to the ring next to sasha occasionally locking eyes with her throughout the promo not noticing the hunger and arousal that had grown in her eyes and throughout her body as the promo ends and the two against two tag team match begins winking and blowing kisses at you as you watch and cheer ringside feeling proud as you all walk backstage with the title belts across your shoulders wearing the suit the rest of the night, you and sasha head back to the hotel room the two of you shared feeling her eyes stare at you as you take the high heeled boots off your aching feet grabbing a drink until she grabs and pins you to the wall in a feisty and hungry kiss before throwing you on the bed standing over you with the most lust filled look you had seen on her face. "Fucking glad that I get to tear this suit off you" many open mouthed kisses are scattered across your body as the suit is stripped off you biting down on your lips as she rubs her knee against your nerves before replacing her knee with her mouth leaving you a panting, breathless, trembling mess for the next four hours until both of you were absolutely exhausted, covered in sweat, and trembling before showering "You need to wear more suits" you laugh as the two of you eat before going to bed.

[ratatatastic]

sorry still thinking about all finns getting a point... ekky 3 point night and finally getting his second goal of the season... and maffhew 2 goals... feisty sasha... wow...

[tea-plantz]

helloo!! can i request sasha waybright with an s/o that’s short and feisty, like is kinda like one of those chihuahuas that thinks they’re a pit bull?? peas and thank you 🫶🫶

Pls that is hilarious! Definitely one of my favorite requests.

She/her for Sasha

They/them for the reader

~Sasha Waybright x reader with chihuahua energy~

Ok so first of all, Sasha finds you really funny. She thinks it’s so amusing when you get all snarly and jump around, thinking you look scary, when in reality you just look like a stubborn fourth grader.

When you guys first met, Sasha definitely thought of you as one of those little ratdogs that was like two feet tall and just barked at EVERYTHING. But she found it cute, regardless.

I feel like you and Sasha have sort of matching energies, which also makes you two fit together even more! You both got that sort of intensity and overhyped energy, if you know what I mean. Even though Sasha tends to be the more mature and chill person in the relationship, while your kinda like the feisty little kid.

You guys definitely scare people, and are known as the “scary couple”.

A really cute thing you do is when you try to “protect” Sasha from other people. Like, for example, Sasha was sort of fighting with this one kid at school, because they said something that she didn’t approve of. So while they are peacefully standing there, arguing back and forth, you suddenly jumped up right in the other person’s face. You continue by holding your arms out (to sort of hide Sasha behind you) while aggressively screaming at them and jumping up and down, thinking you look super threatening, when you really just you looked like a rabid rat. Sasha found it extremely funny, looking at you “defending” her, while the person she was beefing with is kinda just standing there like: ._.

A sentence you often hear from your girlfriend on a daily basis is something along the lines of “hey babe, chill” while she placing her hands on her hips and looking down at you with those judgy eyes, meanwhile you’re standing there all like: >:(

You and Sasha do tend to get into arguments, and boy they can get quite heated. The main reason for this is probably because neither of you back down easily, and you’re both pretty aggressive arguers. The arguments are usually over some stupid thing too like “cheese is way better than ham, face it Waybright!” “No, you listen here L/n, HAM IS SUPERIOR!!”

Sasha loves to just randomly pick you up, especially since you squeal and frantically shake around when she does it. It’s also a pretty easy task for her to do since the blond is a whole lot taller then you, and she finds it super enjoyable.

Another thing the cheerleader does a LOT is to simply hug you close to her while kissing your face, while you’re kicking and screaming for her to let you go. She does this whenever you get to intense and keeps you there until you run out of energy (which usually doesn’t take that long), and you just give into it with a grumpy look on your face. (Though, inside you actually feel quite happy cuz y’know, free cuddles!)

Sasha also leans on you almost half of the time I swear. “Sashy, honey stop leaning on my head!” “Hmm, lemme think about it.. no” “>:O”

When it comes to Marcy and Anne, they’re… honestly kinda scared of you. Now, don’t take this the wrong way! They absolutely love to have you as a friend and they think you and Sasha are such a cute couple! However, you have quite a strong and unpredictable personality. Nothing wrong with that though, you just make them a bit nervous sometimes, especially Marcy.

In the end, you and Sasha Gaybright Waybright are such a great but chaotic couple. We have Sasha, the cool, laid back and dominant girlfriend, and then there’s you.. the gremlin! Match made in heaven fr.

Please feel free to leave more Amphibia requests, I love getting em!

[rainbowxocs]

FIREBIRD CHARACTER REF

Name: Firebird

Alt Names: Sasha Mayfleet

 Age: 26

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Bi?Demi?

Gender: Female

Species: Human(mutant?)

Disorders: ADHD, ODD

Job: Babysitter

Lives in: Smithsberg Oregon

 Languages: English, French

Height: 5’8

Color of Eyes: Amber

The color of Hair: Light brown, blond highlights

Hobbies: Music, Fire spinning, Arson, Parkour, Fencing

Fears: Does not trust anyone outside her core group, losing control, totally insecure and mistrusting of the world.

Assumed external perception: Most people consider her very capable and responsible, as well as kind and understanding.

Self-Confidence: Sky-high

Race: Caucasian

Accent: California Accent

RELATIONSHIPS:

Fox -Dating

Serenity – Friends

Mouse -Friends

Axum – were friends

Todd -Acquaintances

Vagabond- Dating

Mamma Dragon- Adoptive mother

Vehicle: Dirtbike/a repainted Schoolbus

Powers: Pyrokinesis

Weapons: Dagger, Meteor hammer (Flaming), Matches, Fire

Alignment: Neutral Good

Text Color: RED

 Main Animal: Phoenix

 Favorite Food: S’mores

Favorite Flower:  Red Celosia

Scent: Flame and Ash

Awareness: none

Birthday: March 18

Theme: Firebird’s Child by SJ Tucker

 Special Interests: Fire, Music

Fashion Board:

 Comfort Objects: Her Father’s deerskin drum, her mother’s old long Red Trenchcoat which she wears everywhere. Both have been fireproofed

Brief Personality: Firebird is a feisty confident young woman who has a moral compass that can be boiled down to “Don’t hurt kids and don’t let anyone else hurt kids” and “Murder is fine if they were hurting the people I care about.” Most people see her as a one-dimensional cheerleader/babysitter type. If you piss her off you get the “Demon sent from hell to get you specifically perspective. Due to childhood trauma she hates adults but she's recently agreed to get a therapist and might start trusting that specific adult in the next year or so. (This woman is 26)

Brief Backstory: After a burglary gone wrong, a 5 year old Sasha’s parents are killed. In a panic the young girl burns down the house, hiding in the bathtub with her mother’s coat and father’s Drum as the house burns around her. The Burglars died in the fire, but she ‘miraculously’ survived. Naturally she is immediately dumped into the American foster system and is soon labeled a problem child but also a jinx: when she’s placed in abusive homes they tend to burn down but it’s really hard to pin the six year old with no access to flammable materials as the one who keeps committing arson so it’s usually pointed at unsafe wiring.

 When she’s about 8 she imprints on an older kid who is involved in some serious gang activity. Said older kid figures out her fire abilities and she is for a short time trained as a weapon by the gang. Something goes sideways, four city blocks burn down, and Sasha is picked up by a government agency tasked with suppressing these newfound mutants so things don’t go out of hand.

While in the facility she starts taking a disliking to the name Sasha and preferring the Name Firebird. Nobody really knows where that name came from, maybe it was her parents, or a foster home that gave it to her. Maybe she made it up one day. She gives a different answer anytime you ask and no one will ever know but her. (When I went to neverland peter pan called me Firebird. Once I jumped over a bonfire and the name stuck. My red jacket flares out like wings when I ride my bike fast. Etc,) She also begins to hate adults in general as they have never done anything good for her or anyone else (so she believes.)

Firebird Befriends another child named Axum and they make their escape around the time she turns 10 years old. Firebird causes so many problems for so many people and discovers that bullets have a melting point. She can no longer be contained or controlled. She makes a bunch of friends in her year (10-11) on the street, including finding a young girl who has no real name, except the moniker Mouse, and a dozen kids and teens in various states of homelessness. She also pisses off a lot of adults who keep trying to human traffic the defenseless street kids only to find their best guys burnt up.

  Exactly a year later, on the other side of the country, Firebird appears in a locked sheriff’s office in Maine. She is shuffled through the foster system, makes a few more friends, then is shipped back to Oregon, and fostered by a few families before being adopted by Miss Trudy, or as Firebird immediately renames her; “Mamma Dragon”.  She also establishes her friendship with Fox and Vagabond, the three of them becoming very close and very capable young women.

   Nowadays Firebird runs a babysitting and daycare company, the HQ of which is an old hotel retrofitted to be one of the coolest community centers of all time, with space for kids and teens and designated art, music, and study rooms as well as a floor that’s been remade into a lasertag arena. This is what happens when you let 18 year olds design a kid and teen friendly space.  Once a year Firebird and her crew will head out on a roadtrip around the states to give the various bounty hunters and pissed off government agents with chips on their shoulders a shot to come for their heads- and then promptly get reminded why they stopped bugging her when she turned 15 and learned what “Proper fighting form” and “Control” were.

[thepaintedlady00]

Nightshade

Chapter 9 | Chapter 11

Chapter 10: The Idiots

TW: Jake's kind of an asshole at the beginning of this, more Howard ick, a bit of jealous Lena, a bit of jealous Jake, one very heated make-out session (lots of biting and lipstick stains 👀), sassy Sasha, Simone's a bitch (as usual), Jake's making progress with his shitty coping mechanisms this chapter, a nice calm ending before the spice storm.

Quinn stared at me as she sat on my bed, her eyes wide and mouth curled into a giant smile. “Say it again!”

“Jake kissed me.” I was breathless, clutching onto the giant tiger and awkwardly standing in my bedroom. Every inch of me tingled with an odd sense of numbness… One produced from my absolute shock and complete realization of just how fucked I was.

Prue was still squealing from the living room as she rushed to make snacks so I could tell them all the details with something for them to munch on. Then, finally, Quinn fell back onto my bed. “God, I’m fucking amazing!”

“Jake kissed me,” I muttered again, the numbness wearing off, and the crushing anxiety of what had happened hit me. I dropped the tiger to the floor and cupped my cheeks in my slightly chilled hands. “Oh my god, I kissed him back!” 

“I’d hope so!” Quinn replied, looking me over. “Isn’t this what you wanted?”

“Yes,” I answered. “No! I mean…” With a deep sigh, I looked at the tiger at my feet. “Yes, but it’s just so…” Complicated.

I remembered little about the drive back into the city, mainly the distance between Jake and me. He’d left with the rest of the group without speaking to me. I hadn’t heard from him since, not a reply to my goodnight text. Then, Quinn began apologizing for the limo digging up bad memories.

My heart hadn’t stopped hammering since the kiss, since the look we shared after. Nothing would be the same as it was before, and it terrified me. But, of course, I was used to bad-boy bartenders and their reputations among women, so hearing about Jake’s salacious history within and outside the restaurant wasn’t shocking. I didn’t hold it against him; I’d done the exact thing plenty of times. But it did make this particular situation difficult.

If I’d just been interested in the sex, then all this would have been so easy! But it wasn’t about that, not now that I knew Jake. I wanted him in every filthy and carnal way… But I wanted to be with him just as badly. The pull between us was electric and wild, the perfect storm for sex, but what happened after the deed was done? What happened when Jake finally conquered the feisty redhead that had been shutting down his advances from day one?

“I can’t sleep with him,” I whispered, fear nearly erasing the elated feeling in my chest. 

Quinn groaned. “Oh, come on! This has been months in the making, Lena! Why can’t you just-”

“Because he’s going to move on, Quinn!” I shouted. “He’s gonna get what he wants and move on to the next girl. And I…”

My friend’s face softened as she pulled me into a hug. “Jake likes you, Lena. I know he does.”

Simone’s words filled my head, and the so sure smug look on her face taunted me. “I don’t want to lose him… I can’t…”

“It’s okay,” she assured me. “It’s gonna be okay because he is heading over heels for you. He doesn’t just want to fuck you. He wants you.”

“How do you know?” I asked quietly.

Quinn smudged my cheeks and smiled. “Just… Trust me. Okay?”

“Okay…” She wouldn’t stand here and give me false hope for no reason. Quinn must’ve known something I didn’t, or that look in her eyes and the way she sounded so sure wouldn’t have eased my fear.

Prue jumped into the bed, nearly spilling the popcorn she had cooked all over it. Then, with a bright smile, she signed, “Start from the beginning!”

With Quinn’s hand in mine, the anxious fear slowly faded, and a hopeful, maybe idiotic joy took over as I told my friends every detail about the kiss I’d shared with my coworker, Jake… the boy I liked.

*

Jake kept as much distance as he could between himself and Lena until he finally got a chance to leave. He went home where no one could see how visibly shaken he was. This is ridiculous, he scolded himself. How many women had he kissed before tonight? Hundreds! He wasn’t some virgin, nor was he inexperienced in workplace affairs. But this felt different… All of it.

Kissing her had been impulsive, but after hearing her admit that she’d wanted him to do it during that dumb game, how could he not? He’d almost done it then… He almost couldn’t stop himself from kissing her there in front of their coworkers and her friends. Jake had waited, thinking it wasn’t what she wanted… But it was. Lena wanted him to kiss her, and he couldn’t deny that he wanted to kiss her too, had for a long time.

That kiss… It was better than he expected. Even the thought of it lingering in his mind made him feel heavy with lust and the purely sinful desire to show up at Lena’s door and kiss her. He was heavy with the want to kiss her until they both grew tired of it, which Jake was convinced would be never. Not for him, at least. As he lay in his bed, staring up at the ceiling, watching the lights from his windows flash on it, all he could see was her face. Her perfume lingered on his jacket, swarming around him in a cocoon of cherry, making it hard for him not to imagine her here, lying in his bed… doing much more than sharing one little kiss.

Lust was a feeling he was used to, but there was something more significant that absolutely terrified him. He liked Lena. He liked her personality, fun, feisty, and kind. He liked how she thought, how insanely smart and equally badass she was. Jake liked how she laughed, scrunched up her nose, and smiled so wide it looked like her face hurt afterward. Lena was so much more than just another back waiter; she was a person… was someone he cared about, and that wasn’t something he had expected.

He had his fair share of relationships, but those were short affairs. Simone had told him he wasn’t cut out for long-term things. She’d told him more than once he didn’t have the depth to take something as important as a relationship seriously. Simone also contributed some of the blame onto the women he’d chosen to pursue. All young and naive, without a clue as to how to handle him in any capacity. “They’ll never know you like I know you,” she’d say. “How did you expect this to end, Jake? It wasn’t going to work out, not when you can’t be bothered to hold anything sacred.” Simone was right - she always was. He didn’t have the capacity to love anything but her, and that was only because Simone put up with his selfish bullshit when most people would’ve left a long time ago. 

Lena wasn’t like most of the women he pursued. She wasn’t naive or too young. Instead, she matched him well, burning like a steady flame that made him want to follow her into utter darkness. The past few months being showered in her friendship and included in her tight-knit group of friends, family, and weird drug dealers had made Jake feel more alive and accepted than he’d ever felt. And, on top of all of that, Lena knew more about him than anyone, save Simone, did. She’d helped him without judgment after he stumbled to her drunk, high, and blubbering about his dead mom. She’d taken care of him without asking anything in return, and then she’d let him follow her around all day. He knew her too, he realized. He’d witnessed her at her lowest point and pulled her out of the freezing ocean. 

What he had with Lena differed from what he had with everyone else. The only relationship he could compare it to was the one he shared with Simone, but even that felt wrong… Even that wasn’t the same. Simone’s love was cold and filled with constant nagging, judgments, and hiding. They switched between lovers and siblings and a mother and son. Lena’s lov - friendship was warm, accepting, and full of fun and support. They’d agreed on being friends, but… That leap to lovers, that pull between them shouting that this was more, had always been there. They were so different, yet he could feel that pull tethering him to the redheaded woman just as he’d been tethered to Simone. It scared him, but what scared him more was the all too real possibility that he’d just fucked everything up tonight by kissing her. 

He wasn’t prepared to face her again, possibly have her reject him or abandon him completely. And so, lying in his bed, Jake looked at the small green frog and resigned himself to following the same plan he always did. He’d ignore her, brush her off, and put distance between them to lessen the ultimate blow of her departure from his life. He stared at the screen of his phone, at the simple goodnight she’d sent him, for a long moment before he rolled over, leaving it behind him.

That night Jake mourned a loss that hadn’t even happened yet because that was easier than hoping for more. It was easier to accept he wasn’t capable of love or being loved, especially by someone like her.

*

Quinn and Prue left after breakfast, knowing I had to swing by Ozzy’s to help Patrick move inventory before I headed to work. Even just the thought made my body tingle. I’d spent hours freaking out over what-ifs until I’d decided to just give in to Quinn’s advice and face the music head-on. Jake was still going to be Jake. Sarcastic, flirty, and every bit the bad boy bartender I’d been friends with for months.

I’d showered and tossed on a simple T-shirt scouring for pants and unintentionally reminding myself of his shitty marker tattoo that he’d quickly scribbled on my skin. The longer I looked at it, the more I liked it. The mermaid almost perfectly held the heart with the little J in her hands. I smoothed my finger over it, reassuringly that he wouldn’t have drawn something so intimate for nothing.

The slightly on-edge walk to The Ring wasn’t at all helpful in calming my buzzing nerves. Peter sat behind the front counter, a cat curled up on his lap as he read his book. Lifting his head, he offered me a lazy smile. “Pat’s changing. How was Quinn’s party last night?”

“It was good,” I answered. “Dinner, drinks, coney island. Quinn stuff.”

He took one look at my face and smirked. “Kiss any cute boys while you were busy with Quinn’s stuff?”

I scoffed, shifting on my feet. “Quinn told you?”

“Nah, I just know you better than anyone. It’s written all over your face.” He closed his book and sat up, carefully keeping the cat comfortable. “So, was it everything you’d been fantasizing about?”

“You don’t even know who I kissed.”

“Pleeaasseee!” He laughed. “Ignoring the blatantly obvious sex dream, I’ve seen you and Jake in a room together, little sis. That tension was bound to snap back at some point.”

Damn him. “It was…” For a second, I considered brushing it off with a simple fine, but Peter would see straight through that. “It was perfect.”

With a smile and a nod, he relaxed. “Good. I’m assuming he was a perfect gentleman about it.”

“Don’t know yet. We didn’t get a chance to talk about it after.

“Well,” he started. “If he’s an ass, just give me a call, and Pat and I will give him a stern talking to.”

“I hardly need you two for that.”

Peter shrugged. “Yeah, but it’d be fun.”

I shook my head, chuckling at my brother’s antics. “You shouldn’t think threatening boys I like is fun.”

“Oh, so he’s a boy you like now?” His smile widened. “Bout damn time. We were all getting tired of playing along with your dumb little game.”

“Shut up.”

Patrick barreled down the stairs, quickly moving through the gym toward the back with a breathless nod. “We gotta hurry. Oz is on his way!”

“Shit!” I hissed, jogging to join him. 

The bar deliveries always dropped things off at the very front of the bar, next to the front door. If it hadn’t been for Dom and his gang frequenting the place, we were reasonably sure it’d get stolen every week, but lucky for us, having a badass biker gang like you has its perks. Patrick dragged the boxes to the back, where I quickly opened them and started shoving things in their rightful places. We’d gotten almost all of them unpacked before Ozzy’s voice boomed through the bar. “Oi! What the hell are you two doin’ here so damn early?”

Patrick and I peeked our heads up from the other side of the bar. “It was all her idea, Oz!”

“Like hell it was you copperhead moron!” I shouted back, slapping his shoulder. 

“She’s been on my ass for weeks about helpin’ you out,” Patrick continued.

My mouth fell open. “Oh, yeah, well, Patrick’s been calling me every morning to talk about sneaking vitamins into your food!”

Ozzy held up his hands, waving them between us until we grew quiet. “Good lord,” he huffed. “You two are worse than your father! Always sneakin’ around tryin’ to do more work than me.”

“Oz,” I started. 

“Shut it,” he ordered lovingly. “I appreciate your concerns and your help. I ain’t as young as I used to be, and having you two idiots around to help pick up some of the slack ain’t too bad.”

Patrick looked at me with a thin smile. “So you’re gonna let us help out?”

“Hell no,” Ozzy replied with a deep laugh as he ushered us out the door with a wink. “Now get the hell out and worry about your own damn problems!”

“Stubborn ass,” I sighed.

“I heard that!”

Patrick shook his head, scratching the back of his neck. “Well, guess we’re gonna have to double down on the efforts.”

“He’s not gonna make this easy,” I warned. “We’ll probably have to switch to end-of-the-day stuff to fly under the radar for a while.”

“Smart,” he replied. “So, how was your kiss at coney island?”

I scoffed at him. “Unbelievable. Is it really that easy to tell?”

He narrowed his eyes. “Quinn told me. She was at Nana’s this morning when Oz left to head down here, so she gave me a heads-up and clued me in on your little Ferris Wheel makeout session.”

“You guys are so fucking annoying,” I complained, checking the time as we returned to the gym. “I gotta head out. Have a good day,” I hollered, giving Peter a quick pat as I rushed out the door.

The whole walk to 22West consisted of me doing my best not to freak out over seeing Jake again after our kiss. It was a kiss. One. And yeah, we both obviously liked it, but it shouldn’t change anything between us. He was my friend. Surely he knew that. 

I wove around the kitchen and went up the stairs to the locker room, where Jake stood, quietly buttoning up his shirt. My heart raged within my chest as I swallowed my anxiety and walked into the room, opening my locker and frowning slightly. Usually, he’d try sneaking his jacket into my locker, but there it was, empty, save for my bag of extra clothes at the bottom. Shit. Shit. Shit. 

“Hey,” I greeted, turning to look at him. Jake barely glanced back at me before he closed his locker and silently made his way out of the room. With a silent huff of air, I shook my head. “How was your night?” I asked myself, bitter frustration making my voice waver. “Oh, it was fine. Thanks so much for asking. Hey, we should probably talk about that kiss.” I shook my head, letting it fall onto the lockers beside mine. “Goddamn it.”

Isaac slid into the room, glancing between the stairs and me. “Everything okay?”

I shook my head. “No, I don’t think it is.”

“Anything I can do?” He asked, quietly setting his hand on my back.

“No,” I answered, looking at him with a forced smile. “Thanks, though.”

He bumped my shoulder. “Anytime, Red.”

Service felt slower than usual today. Scott put me in charge of plating, instructing me not to let a single dish go out without looking perfect. So I stood at the little metal table separating me from the servers and the dining room beyond, carefully wiping plates and handing them off to the servers. It was a slightly tedious task that required a lot of attention to detail. Still, I was good at it, having been shown exactly how each dish should look by the awry bitch that made the menu. Simone seemed happier than usual as well. She offered me soft, smug smiles whenever she picked up her dishes.

“Lena,” Howard called into the kitchen as he came sweeping in through the doors. “I need you to help run tables tonight.”

I quickly stripped myself of my apron and shrugged off my cooking coat. “Something going on?”

He smiled tightly. “It seems we’ve had another slight scheduling mishap.”

“How bad?”

“Nothing too horrible,” he assured me. “But I’d feel much better with your capable hands on the floor.”

I smiled. “You got it, boss.”

He set a hand on my arm, looking down at me for a moment. “Be careful not to fall.”

Rolling my eyes, I squeezed his hand and hurried out the doors with plates of food balanced perfectly on my arms. The dining room was full, packed with people who looked slightly put off by the slow service. I hurried through the chaos and did the job perfectly, only stopping to strip some of the tables on the second floor once the guests had left.

From the second floor, I could see Simone slide up to the bar with that fucking smile. She and Jake conversed for a moment, not unusual for them, but after receiving his cold shoulder in the locker room, the sight of him smiling at her and chuckling at whatever she’d said made my blood boil. The blonde woman vanished into the kitchen, mumbling about finding a specific bottle of wine for one of her tables when the front door opened and a woman quietly made her way to the bar.

*

“Hey, Jake,” he hadn’t expected to hear the soft voice again as he looked up to find Tess standing in front of the bar, picking at her fingers nervously.

He didn’t know what to say or do, not after how they’d left things and all she’d put him and Simone through. His teeth ground painfully together. “What are you doing here?”

That smile he once found cute and comforting fell. “I’ve been trying to get ahold of you.”

“And I think I’ve made it clear I don’t wanna talk.”

“Jake,” she huffed. “Just give me five minutes, please?”

No. He wanted to say the word more than anything, but something inside him… something he’d pushed so far down he thought it would never come back to the surface urged him to say yes. With a stiff nod, he dropped what he was doing, snapping his fingers at the first person that walked by toward the kitchen. Lena. Of course, it had to fucking be her. Her green eyes met his, and he felt like he was about to fall apart at the forced look of boredom they held, mirroring how she’d looked at him before they’d become friends. “Cover me for a minute.”

She glanced at Tess but slid behind the bar anyway, jumping into work beside Nicky with ease as he practically dragged Tess out of the restaurant to spare Simone the pain of seeing her again. “What do you want?”

“I want to apologize,” she answered. “I’ve wanted to for a while now.”

“There’s nothing to apologize for,” he replied coldly. “You did what you did and lost your job here for it.”

“Do you get why I did it, though?” she asked, big brown eyes looking up at him pleadingly.

Jake shook his head. “No, I don’t, and I don’t give a shit.”

“I did it because I care about you, Jake,” she insisted.

“Care about me?” he laughed dryly. “You went behind my back, you fucked Howard, and you tried to get Simone fired!”

Tess’s lips pulled into a thin line. “I know how it sounds… I didn’t really know what the fuck I was doing, but-”

“You were doing what you wanted,” he told her, unimpressed. “That’s fine, do whatever you want; just don’t expect a pity party to roll into town when shit catches up to you.”

“Just…” she sighed. “Meet me at Home Bar tonight? I want to talk… want to explain things to you, so you understand why I did it.”

He shook his head. “I. Don’t. Care.”

“Yes, you do. You’ve always cared, Jake. Please, just… come?”

“Fine.”

She let out a breath of relief. “Thank-”

Jake turned on his heel and walked back inside the restaurant, ignoring the newly dug-up pain that Tess’ unexpected visit brought up within him. For a moment, he took relief in seeing Lena behind the bar with Nicky, but then he remembered the kiss and the cold shoulder he gave her to avoid the inevitable. Her green eyes met his as he slid back behind the bar. 

“You can go,” he said, so tense he almost couldn’t get the words out.

“Are you okay?”

Fucking… Why did she have to care? “I’m fine. Go back to the kitchen.”

“That how it’s gonna be?” She asked, forcing eye contact with him. Forcing him to see the plain hurt and anger that stared back at him.

“Get back to work.”

In an instant, she closed herself off, bored disinterest retaking her face and shining back in her eyes as she shrugged past him. “Alright then.”

Jake closed his eyes, trying to ignore how brushing her off brought a sting to his chest. He couldn’t do this. “Fuck.”

*

“Who is she?” I asked Nicky, nodding to the window where the girl and Jake stood.

“Tess,” Nicky answered, not even looking. “She was a back waiter a few months before you got hired.”

“I’m assuming they were close, judging by the particularly grumpy pout he’s sporting.”

“All I know is that they got together, and shortly after, she… got close… with Howard, tried to get Simone fired, and basically burned all bridges with him.”

“Shit,” I breathed out, serving a drink. “Sounds complicated.”

Nicky nodded. “Tell me about it.”

Concern filled my lungs as Jake stormed back into the restaurant, quickly returning behind the bar. “You can go,” he said, almost through his teeth.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Go back to the kitchen.”

I scoffed, looking up at him with an angry, quirked brow. “That how it’s gonna be?”

“Get back to work.”

“Alright then.” I brushed past him and went back to work. If Jake wanted to play this game, he’d do it alone.

Service continued to rage, but now I could feel the familiar weight of Jake’s eyes following me every time I entered the dining room. What the fuck is his problem? I thought to myself, rapidly clearing another table. It was one fucking kiss. One good kiss… It… I shook my head. It doesn’t matter. The whole thing was stupid. I ignored the disappointment and the feeling of my fears being confirmed in favor of getting through the night with my head held high. Jake wasn’t the first dumb pretty boy to brush me off, and I refused to let him get any satisfaction from seeing me crumble.

I helped the kitchen close down, staying to wash dishes beside Santos and Isaac until it appeared that I was the only one left that hadn’t gotten changed. So I headed up to the locker room, that painful pang striking me directly in the chest when it was just Jake and I left alone once again. I changed quickly, not caring if he was going to turn around and peek, too afraid that if I snuck off to the bathroom, I’d miss an attempt of his to reach out and talk to me. 

When that didn’t happen after I finished putting my pants on, I looked at the back of his head, watching and waiting for him to do anything but stand there and ignore me. He was already dressed, save his jacket, but still, he just stood there in front of his locker, refusing to look at me. Finally, with a frustrated sigh, I moved. Fuck this. I slammed his locker shut and glared up at him. “Are you seriously gonna pull this shit?”

“What?” he demanded.

“You’ve been avoiding me all day, and every time I’ve tried to talk to you, you’ve been an ass.” I shook my head. “You kissed me last night. I kissed you back. It’s not that big of a deal. It certainly doesn’t change things and give you the right to be a stuck-up asshole to me.”

Jake’s eyes sparked with something as he turned to look down at me. “It doesn’t?”

I swallowed the urge to kiss his stupid lips. “No, it doesn’t. We’re still friends.”

“Most friends don’t kiss,” he replied, head leaning down ever so slightly. “So, did it change things, or didn’t it?”

“It didn’t change anything,” I hissed angrily.

He smirked. “Well then, when you want another kiss, I’m gonna make you ask me for it.”

Rolling my eyes, I turned away from him. “Good luck with that asshole.”

Storming back down the stairs and out the kitchen doors, I settled into a seat furthest from the bar and closest to the door, waiting to see who was coming to Ozzy’s. But when Prue walked through the door, I knew my plans to run home and hide my disappointed, frustrated anger among my friends, and the bar I knew like the back of my hand, was out the window. Instead, she turned and saw me, quickly sitting across from me to sign. “Hi! How’s your day been?”

“Shit,” I answered. 

She looked closer at my face, her brows furrowing. “What happened?”

I nodded to the bar. “Apparently, we’re sixteen-year-olds that can’t have a simple discussion about one dumb kiss without the whole world imploding.” I shook my head. “He’s been an ass all day.”

“Fucking idiot,” Prue replied. “Well, you wanna come with Will and me to the bar they frequent?”

“Not particularly.”

“Please,” she begged. “Apparently, Will’s ex is going to be there tonight, and he wants me to come for support. Buuttt we both know how…” Pausing, she searched for the word.

“Insane,” I offered. “Violent. Crazy. Unhinged.”

Rolling her eyes, she reluctantly nodded. “Yes to all.” She smiled back at Will, who’d just returned from the manager’s office. “You know how I get around people like that. Please come and keep me from jumping this bitch?”

Sparing one last look at the bar and the annoying bartender that just slipped back through the kitchen doors to leave, I sighed and nodded. “Okay. I’ll come.”

“Thank you! Go home and change for a night out! We’ll meet you there.”

I followed Prue’s advice, heading home to change into a simple long-sleeved black dress. It was simple but made my boobs look amazing. It was totally coincidental and not a deliberate precaution I’d taken in case Jake was there. Dressed and ready, I headed out, using my annoyance with Jake to keep the twinge of fear that every loud car and dark silhouette brought me.

They were waiting outside for me, huddled up together like two adorable little birds. Prue’s eyes lit up as she saw me, while Will’s lit up at the sight of her beaming smile and joyful face. “You two are adorable,” I said and signed. “This the shit hole, then?”

Will nodded. “Yep. Home Bar. We used to come here every night, but after you joined the group and introduced us to Jack and Ozzy’s, it’s gotten a bit neglected by us.”

“That’s because my bar’s better,” I teased, following them through the door.

Home Bar was filled with the sounds of a hundred conversations happening at once, accompanied by the loud clack of pool balls striking against one another. It was slightly smaller, with only a few booths and tables to hang around. However, the bar was large and clearly, the focal point as the woman behind it happily mixed drinks and served them to the surrounding crowd. With a tight hand in hers, Will led Prue through the space, and as we neared the back of the room, I saw them. 

My coworker’s loudness fit in here, almost causing them to blend into the crowd, but I’d know the feeling of Jake’s eyes anywhere. He sat on the end, likely so he would have access to leave whenever he wanted, with the girl from earlier sitting beside him and Olive sitting at a chair she’d pulled up to the table just so she could be near him. I rolled my eyes and tapped Prue’s shoulder. “So, who’s the ex?”

She nodded to the table, to the brown-haired girl. “That’s her. Tess.”

“Shit,” I sighed, drawing her curiosity. “Apparently, she’s Jake’s ex too.”

Prue’s mouth fell open. “We’re fucked, aren’t we?”

“I think we might be.”

“Well, at least Quinn isn’t here to encourage us.”

We sat in the booth, forcing everyone to smush together, aka Tess and Jake, with Olive leaning entirely into Jake’s free side. I bit the inside of my cheek and forced myself to breathe out the angry, bitter jealousy that burned my lungs. I didn’t have any right to be angry or jealous. Jake wasn’t mine, and I wasn’t his.

Sasha smiled at me. “Tiger Bitch! It’s so nice of you to join us here for a change!”

I shrugged. “It’s not so bad here. But I’ve gotta say my bar’s still better.”

“I have to agree,” Ari replied with a smile. “The girls there are cute.”

My eyes met Tess’s as she looked me up and down with a smile before she reached over and offered her hand. “I’m Tess.”

Prue was the one to shake her hand with a wide toothy grin. She pulled back and signed. “I’m Prue. Will’s girlfriend.” She looked over at me. “Will you translate?”

“Of course.” I looked back at Tess while keeping Prue’s hands in view. “She says: I’m Prue. Will’s girlfriend.”

Tess nodded. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Wish I could say the same.”

“She says: Wish I could say the same.” I shook my head and watched Will hide his smile.

With an uncomfortable laugh, Tess nodded. “Guess she’s heard about me, huh?”

I nodded. “Seems so.”

“Who are you?” She asked, looking at me.

“Lena,” I answered. “I started working at 22West a while ago.”

She looked sad for a minute. “That’s good. It’s a special place.”

A special place. I wanted to laugh at her but remembered when I’d once thought the same thing. “It’s just a restaurant.”

Sasha rolled his eyes. “Her auntie is Maddie Glover. She was used to the place long before us, Baby Monster.”

“Your aunt…” she paused, eyes growing even wider. “That means your Jennifer Glover’s daughter!”

Every inch of me tensed at my mother’s name. “Yep.”

Tess smiled, shaking her head in disbelief. “She’s the most sought-after ballet trainers in the world! That’s amazing! You must be really talented not just in the restaurant but in ballet.”

The crack of the stick against my leg stung, but I refused to cry. “Straighten your leg, Lena! For god’s sake, did you not practice at all?!”

“I practiced all night,” I answered, tired and stiff. 

I could feel the blood ooze between my toes as my mother shook her head at me with another crack of the stick against my hip. “Again.”

Prue’s hand squeezed mine, slowly easing me out of my head to answer. “Not really.”

Jake’s eyes were on me, and he looked like he cared for the first time all day. Tess sensed the tension but didn’t shut up about ballet for the next hour until Olive became even more apparent with her infatuation with Jake. She set her hand on his leg, whispering something to him with a giggle. I was shocked when he didn’t immediately pull away from her and give her the look of disinterest he always did. Still, when his eyes flashed to mine, smug and full of himself, I realized what he was doing. With a shake of my head, I rose from the table. “I’m gonna get a drink.”

If he wanted to play this game, then I’d play, and I’d make him fucking regret it.

*

Jake hadn’t expected Olive to be at Home Bar tonight, but for once, he was actually glad she was. She wanted to fuck him still, even after his harsh words at his apartment when she’d shown up with Simone. And he couldn’t think of any better way to rile Lena up than by entertaining the moon-eyed girl. But, of course, he hadn’t expected Tess to get jealous. So there he sat, crowded between the two dark-haired girls as they fawned over his arms and hair and desperately tried to catch and keep his attention.

It was a perfect plan that worked far better than he’d expected. Except for one fact. Lena. She’d gotten up to get a drink and stayed at the bar, just within earshot. So Jake only had a view of her back and the face of the new man who had saddled beside her, offering her another drink. It’d been thirty minutes of men coming and going from her side, all eventually returning with a new glass and compliment and crowding around her like moths to a flame. She flirted back, drinking slowly and shifting her hair over her shoulder to further expose the deep cut of her dress and the silky skin of her neck.

He watched her giggle at their stupid jokes and squeeze their arms as she laughed with a tight jaw. Every time she happened to glance over her shoulder at the table, he’d lean over to whisper in Tess’s ear or tuck Olive’s hair out of her eyes, hoping those small acts would be enough to make her break, but they weren’t.

Lena was pissed off at him, so she was out for blood. She wasn’t going to break. So Jake did. He slid out of the booth and shrugged off his jacket, setting it on the table in front of Olive’s chair before he made his way toward the bar with only one goal in sight. Her.

*

Jake slid in between the man at the bar and me, his dark eyes staring down at me for a minute before he leaned in and whispered, “Excuse yourself to the bathroom.”

“What?” I asked sweetly, making that burn of jealousy in his eyes glow as he shook his head and gently took my hand to lead me from the bar toward the bathrooms. 

Once he shoved the door open and quickly shut it behind us, he turned to me, leaning back against it with a simple tilt. “What are you doing?”

I shrugged, tucking a loose strand of my hair back. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Oh, please.” He chuckled. “You’ve been batting your eyelashes at every guy you pass and rubbing their arms and playing with their hair like you’re some doe-eyed dream girl looking to fuck one of them.”

“And you’re not doing the exact same thing?” I retorted. “Or do you just brush every girl’s hair out of her eyes and lean in to whisper in their ears?”

His smirk was unbearable as he said. “I thought that kiss meant nothing.”

“Stop pretending like you’re not fucking heated seeing every guy in this shit hole fawn over me,” I scoffed at him, taking a step forward. “I have eyes.”

Jake smirked wider, eyebrows rising as he matched my bold step forward. “I’ve got eyes too, princess, and you’re just as fucking jealous of Tess and Olive.”

“I don’t have any reason to be jealous of your two little groupies,” I insisted.

“Cause you think you could have me whenever you wanted me, I know,” he nodded, encouragement filling his voice as he whispered, “Ask then.”

My chest heaved as my heart raced beneath my skin. “What?”

He closed the space between us, backing me against the sink. “Oh, come on, princess, you were so confident just a second ago. Say it.” His eyes were dark, black against the shitty dim lights of the bathroom. “Say it, or I will.”

“Kiss me again.” I barely had time to get the words out before Jake followed the desperate command behind them.

His head ducked down the rest of the way, lips pressing to mine. My body molded to his, arching up into him as his hands took hold of my hips and pushed me back into the cold, stained porcelain of the sink. When his teeth tugged on my bottom lip, my mouth fell open with a sharp gasp that had him smirking. I ran my fingers through his hair, pulling him back down for another dizzying kiss, stroking my tongue along his to taste the remnants of his drink.

Tugging at his hair, Jake groaned into my mouth, the deep sound vibrating right down to my core. I pulled away, gasping for air as his hands pulled at the sleeves of my top, lips, and tongue trailing down my neck until his teeth wrapped around my collarbone. I saw the bathroom door open from the corner of my eye and watched Olive’s eyes grow even larger. 

We stared at one another for a moment. The pure rush of satisfaction her deflated face brought me mingled with the pleasure of Jake’s lips. I held her eyes, pulling Jake’s head up. I glanced briefly at his gorgeous eyes and slightly puffy lips before I tucked my head into his neck and wrapped my teeth around the skin beneath his ear. A deep, possessive part of me took over, nipping and sucking until a dark mark stood out against his skin. I kissed his jaw until Jake’s entire right side was covered in bite marks and the light tint of my lipstick. 

He brought his hands up to my face, cradling it for a moment before he pulled my hair free of the small clip and crashed his mouth against mine. I didn’t care if Olive was still watching. I didn’t care about anything but his lips on mine. His hands caressed and squeezed my flesh as he pulled away again to return his attention to my neck and the top of my half-covered breasts.

My head tipped back, hands fisting in Jake’s hair and clothes as a soft moan of his name slid past my lips, “Jake.”

“God, Lena,” he groaned.

“Oh. My. God.” A voice said from the doorway, pulling Jake and me away from one another to look. Sasha sauntered in, a broad smile on his face as he looked at both of our disheveled states. “Thank the white baby Jesus! I was worried you two would drag this out and cost me a hundred dollars!”

“Get the fuck out, Sahsa!” Jake growled, positioning his body in front of mine, reminding me of the compromising state of my top. I tugged my sleeves back up and ensured my breasts were covered again before gently pushing against Jake. 

His jaw ticked as he let me slide by to slap Sasha’s arms, yelling at him in Russian as I ushered him out the door and closed it with a sigh. “So… uh…”

“That was…” We started at the same time. Jake leaned back against the sink, looking at me for a long minute before he spoke again, “I’m sorry for today. I was an ass.”

“Yeah, you were,” I answered. “Are… are we okay now, though?”

The look in his eyes said no… it said there was still so much between us that was left unsaid that he couldn’t tell me for sure if we could go back to being “just friends,” but Jake nodded. “We’re okay.”

I looked down at my feet and sighed. “You were right. That kiss, and the one we just got caught up in… it does change things. I don’t… I don’t know in what way yet, but I don’t want it to cost me our friendship.”

“It won’t,” he assured me. “It was a good kiss.”

“Which one?” I asked, quirking a brow.

Jake smiled. “Both. I’d invite you back to my place, but I have a feeling I know what your answer would be.”

I bit my lip. You don’t, I wanted to say, knowing full well if Jake asked me to come home with him… if he kissed me again, I wouldn’t be able to say no. I wouldn’t want to say no. “Not tonight.”

“Not tonight?” He asked with a tilt of his head. He straightened up and moved closer, pressing me slightly back against the door as he looked down at me with a smirk, tugging on a loose curl before tucking it behind my ear. “That your way of saying I’ve got a shot?”

My eyes drank in his disheveled hair, the light tint of my lip marks against his neck, and the dark hickey I’d left beneath his ear. Then, finally, I shrugged as I reached up to wipe some lipstick off his jaw. “You might want to clean yourself up.”

He nodded. “I doubt it’ll help now that Sasha’s seen us.”

“Yeah,” I chuckled.

“You headed out?”

“Yep. It’s gonna be a long day tomorrow.”

Jake glanced at my lips briefly before he leaned back and said, “Goodnight, Lena.”

I smiled up at him, slowly stepping away to open the door. “Goodnight, Jake.”

I returned to the table where everyone sat, now all whispering about the juicy gossip Sasha had just told them. Prue looked up at me with a smile. “Heading out?”

“Yeah,” I answered. “I’ve gotta get some sleep.”

“Sweet dreams,” she replied, signing almost too quick for me to catch the, “About Jake,” she added at the end.

I shook my head, leaning on the table slightly to say goodbye to Will. There beneath my hand was the smooth leather of Jake’s jacket. With a sly grin, I slipped it off the table and shoved my arms through it. Tess glared at me from her seat across the table. “That’s Jake’s jacket.”

“Is it?” I asked with a knowing smile as I turned, catching Jake’s eyes as he emerged from the bathroom and giving him a smug wink before heading out the door and into the slightly chilled night.

*

The next day at work was a pleasant surprise. Nicky had the day off - an occurrence that happened absolutely never - which put me behind the bar with Jake. After the family meal, we migrated to the bar together, laughing at some stupid joke one of us had told. He settled into his usual spot, slicing one of the garnishes. “Alright, since you’re so new to this, I’ll give you a few pointers.”

I smirked over my shoulder as I finished stacking the clean glasses. “Oh, please! I can’t believe I’m finally getting the chance to be beneath the master bartender!”

“You coulda been beneath me at any point,” he teased. “Still can, just say the word.”

“Are you going to flirt with me, or are you going to teach me your special tricks?”

Jake bit his lip, letting his eyes wander. “I’m sure I can do both.”

I shook my head at him, finishing my job and sliding beside him, just a hair too close. “Well, come on then, teach me something.”

With a breathy laugh, he positioned me in front of him, carefully running through the steps of a signature drink Howard wanted us to recommend to the guests tonight. His lips skimmed the shell of my ear as his hands dragged up and down my arms, occasionally moving to grip my hips and manhandle me to one side or the other. I was lucky I already knew the cocktail, or I would’ve had to suffer the embarrassment of asking him to explain it to me again.

“Jake,” Howard said, bringing us out of our bubble of flirting to look up at the man. “My office, please.”

I looked up at him with a quizzical look. “Are you in trouble?”

He shrugged, moving to follow behind the angry-looking manager. “Probably.”

*

“Please, sit,” Howard offered as he settled in his chair.

Jake clasped his hands behind his back and stood up straighter. “I’ll stand.”

Howard gave him a displeased look like he always did when Jake refused to comply with even the simplest request. “Do you recall I changed some of the restaurant’s policies a few months ago?” He didn’t answer. “Implemented a new rule about employees disclosing romantic relationships to management?”

“Oh, I remember,” Jake assured the little manager. “There’s nothing to disclose.”

Howard sighed, his thumbs tapping against the wood of his desk in an offbeat rhythm. If Jake had been paying attention, he would have been annoyed by the inconsistencies of it, but he wasn’t. This was just another one of Howard’s sad displays of power. “She’s not like everyone else, you know.”

“What?”

“Lena,” Howard said. That got his attention. Jake could feel every inch of him tighten with repressed rage at the man’s implication that he knew her better than Jake did. “She’s not like all the other back waiters or hostesses you’ve run through over the years.”

With a slight tilt of his head, Jake asked, “What makes you say that?”

Jake saw Howard’s resolve crumble for the first time in a long time. “I say that because she is one of the most talented, determined, and pure souls to have ever worked here. She has done nothing but add to this restaurant, and I will not have you and your… habits… drag her down.”

“You think I’d drag her down?” Jake chuckled. 

“You do it with everyone else,” Howard deadpanned. “Just look at Simone after all the years she’s had to spend carrying you.”

Jake’s jaw clenched, as did his hands. “Like I said, there’s nothing to disclose.”

Howard nodded. “Good. Get back to work.”

When Jake left, quickly making his way back to the bar and the redhead waiting for him with wide, almost nervous eyes, he decided even further to pursue Lena, mostly because the two of them clearly worked together as friends with this odd twist, but now also because Howard of all people tried to tell him not to. “Everything okay?”

He nodded. “Yeah, he just wanted to remind me to help you keep up tonight.”

“Yeah, right,” she scoffed, returning to her task. “If anything, I should’ve been the one I pulled aside then.”

Jake let the comment side off him despite how it made him sick to his stomach thinking about Lena alone with Howard. “Just pay attention, princess.”

*

“Holy shit,” I groaned. “I don’t think my face has ever hurt this bad from fake smiling.”

“Yeah,” Jake agreed. “Lucky for me, I don’t have to look nice to get tips.”

I rolled my eyes at him, sliding back behind the bar, now in my regular clothes, as I massaged my sore cheeks. “Fuck off.”

We served a few drinks to the equally tired group as they filled the gaps between the seats to finally complain about the night. Heather accepted her drink with a smile. “God, Lena should work behind the bar every night. She makes my drink absolutely perfect!”

“And I don’t?” Jake asked with a raised brow.

“You always add too much rum.”

“Oh, so you prefer it the lightweight way,” he clarified, earning Heather’s long middle finger and flipping him off.

Howard left quietly, something I was grateful for today after feeling him watching me all throughout service. Simone had stayed in the back, away from the bar, swirling a glass of wine in her poised hand, seemingly minding her business. She and I hadn’t interacted with one another outside of remaining professional during our shifts. Even then, we didn’t linger a second longer than we had to. Every time we locked eyes, though, I could only quietly hope for the day Jake told me he was finished with her bullshit so I could finally make good on my promise to her. Then, finally, the front door opened, and everyone went silent as Olive strolled in from her day off, dressed head to toe in nice clothes and sporting new, bright red hair.

“Oh my god,” Ari breathed, quickly covering her mouth as Olive made her way around to sit at the bar next to the kitchen doors.

It was probably the shitiest hair dye job I’d ever seen, with huge chunks of brown still peeking through and a visibly uneven dye coating making her hair look like multiple shades. She smiled. “Hi, Jake.”

He bit his lip. “Need a drink?”

“Sure,” she said, twirling her hair around her finger. “Just a glass of Irish whiskey.”

Isaac and I looked at one another over the bar, quietly giggling at the obvious attempt she was making to associate herself with me. Jake slid the drink across the bar to her, and we watched her gag on the liquor. “How was your day off?” Santos attempted to ask kindly.

Olive shrugged. “It was boring. That’s why I came here. Are you guys going to Home Bar?” She batted her eyelashes at Jake. “Jake?”

“No,” he answered. “We’re going to Jack and Ozzy’s tonight.”

“Oh,” she deflated. “I was hoping you’d be coming to Home Bar so we could hang out.”

He clicked his tongue. “Sorry to disappoint.”

Sasha finally burst. “What the fuck is with your hair?”

“You like it?” she asked, never looking away from Jake. “I dunno, I just kind of decided the other night to dye it. I think it suits me, don’t you?”

Jake gave me an amused look before he just nodded to back. “I’m gonna go change.”

“I’ve got the bar handled,” I assured him, smiling happily as he slid by Olive without even glancing at her, no matter how obviously she twisted the new red hair between her fingers or shoved her chest out to make her boobs pop.

“Oh, sweet baby,” Sasha cooed, examining the splotchy red dye job. “Red fur does not a tiger make. It’s all about the stripes of the beast. The experience and the… sex appeal. You, little Olive, have neither.” He stuck a finger in her face and grinned. “There is only one Tiger Bitch, and it is not you.”

Heather giggled, lifting another poorly executed strip of her hair. “Ohh, I dunno, she sure has some stripes.”

Ari shook her head. “Sploches is more like it. But, seriously, if you were going to dye your hair to copy her, you at least couldn’t have done a better job?”

Olive shook everyone off her with an offended, proud look. “I didn’t copy her!”

“Red hair, brown hair, blonde hair,” I started from behind the bar. “It doesn’t matter. She’s not me, and she knows she won’t ever be me.”

*

When Jake entered the locker room, Simone was already there, half changed into her regular clothes. He greeted her with a smile and a polite nod as he moved to get dressed. “Tonight was certainly interesting.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “Good for tips, though.”

With a sigh, she replied, “Yes, it was. I saw Howard pull you into his office. Is there anything I should know?”

Jake glanced at her over his shoulder as he finished pulling on his shirt. “No. Just a reminder of his policy about disclosing employee relationships to him.”

“Oh?” She sounded hopeful as she continued, “Did you and Olive hit it off?”

He scoffed. “Hell no.”

“Why not?” Simone asked, continuing to change her clothes.

Jake’s eyes narrowed. “Guess she’s just not my type.”

She made an amused noise. “Everyone is your type, Jake. I figured Olive would be no different, and yet… You skipped over her. Maybe she is more like Tess than I thought.”

“She’s not like Tess,” Jake answered. Tess was naive and somewhat selfish in her choices, but ultimately, she was herself. Olive wasn’t. She changed her hair and personality, trying to fit whatever character she felt would get her what she wanted. “She’s just a girl playing pretend and embarrassing herself. Those people are always horrible in the sack. They never know what they’re doing or what they want.”

“And Lena’s better?”

He groaned, slamming his locker shut. “Jesus fucking Christ, how many times do I have to say we haven’t slept together before you believe me.”

Simone just shook her head, deep blue eyes shining and red lips cast into a frown. “Walk me home?” She asked, stepping toward him with a gentle hand on his chest.

That was their code. It had been for years. A whole year had passed since she last asked him to come home with her, to be with her how they used to be. In that time, she’d slept with Serena’s husband and Etienne. Her having other lovers never bothered him, but the fact that she’d lied about it did. Usually, Jake would push these feelings down and do as Simone wanted, but tonight… After everything that had happened between them and between him and Lena, Jake shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Excuse me?”

“When you slept with Serena’s asshole husband and Etienne, you didn’t tell me because you knew it’d hurt me. But it hurt more knowing you lied. I’m still not in a place where that’s not on my mind.”

Simone laughed humorlessly and shook her head. “Unbelievable. Are you such a child that you can’t get over things that happened months ago?”

Her words cut him to the core, as they always did when he received her ire. “I’m sorry Simone, I just… It wouldn’t feel right.”

“Go on then,” she urged. “Run down to the bar like the good lapdog you are, and when she’s broken your heart, just like I said she would, or you finally decide to grow up, you know where I’ll be. But you’d better have one hell of an apology prepared, or I swear to god, Jake, I’m just going to be through with you.”

Don’t say that… He thought, pain, fear, and sorrow welding to his chest as he watched Simone turn away from him and leave. For a minute, all he could do was stand there and stare at the empty doorway. Would she really be through with him? Would Simone finally abandon him like everyone else had?

A flash of red filled his vision as Lena paused in the doorway. “You coming?” Her voice brought air into his lungs, lifting that feeling from his chest. “Drinks are on Sasha tonight.”

“Yeah,” he said quietly.

“Everything okay?” She asked, narrowing her eyes and tilting her head to the side.

Jake nodded, pulling his thoughts from Simone and her anger and her threats to focus on her. Those green eyes, that red hair, and how her lips curved into a smile only made him want to kiss her again. Lena was here. Even after he’d been an ass and deliberately entertained Tess and Olive to get a rise from the fierce redhead. She was here, looking at him like he mattered like she cared. She does care, he realized. 

He cleared his throat and nodded again. “Yeah, everything’s good.”

She smiled, leaning forward on her feet to tap his chest. “You’re it.”

Laughing, he moved forward, laying his hand on her head. “You’re it.”

“You’re it,” she said one last time before turning and bolting down the stairs, laughing as he moved to follow her. “Last one to Ozzy’s has to buy shots!” She screamed through the front room, nothing but a blur of red hair and his leather jacket.

As Jake watched his coworkers, his friends, shoot out of their seats and rush after the woman with shouts and laughs, he couldn’t help but smile. Once he’d finally caught up to her and swept her off her feet, he nearly collapsed as she kicked and squealed. That red hair fell back into his face, filling his nose with sweet cherries and rose as he laughed breathlessly, his lips brushing against the back of her neck. A promise of a kiss. “You’re it, princess.”

“Laugh it up, tough guy,” she said, leaning back into him. “I’m gonna be tagging you right back once you let me go.”

I’ll never let go then, he thought to himself, quietly inhaling her scent, searing it and this moment into his memory. “We’ll see.”

[doodle17]

Top five favorite psychonauts characters and why?

Razputin Aquato

Hes a goofy fella, but for all seriousness, I love his character. Mainly in the first game because he's such a feisty brat and I love him he is my son-

His character design, among many, is PEAK

I love him more than any other Richard Horvitz character . Zim is cool, don't get me wrong. I've never been a fan of Helluva so I don't really care for Moxxie. But his voice with Raz? It's almost too good.

He swears its funny

Milla Vodello

Who wouldn't love Milla? She's such a sweetheart! But she's also such a boss bitch (respectfully)

I love her voice it's so soothing and calming.

Her backstory is so tragic but she doesn't let that hold her back! She's tough!

Character design, is once again, PEAK

Sasha Nein

Sasha is so stoic and serious. One of my favorite things is if you hit him he literally just wobbles side to side and says "ow"

What a Chad

I love the dad figure/cool uncle vibe he has

Hes just so COOL

His backstory is Hilarious no can convince me otherwise

Lili Zanotto

Shes so badass she is ready to throw down with ANYONE

I also love how boy crazy she is for Raz (I'm sad we see none of this is Psychonauts 2)

Hotheaded she just like me fr

Shes so sweet to Dogen 😭

Ford Crueller

Mainly scrambled brain crueller. He's just so funny

"Bat your head in punk"

His brain levels in Psychonauts 2 are so COOL looking and creative

Hes BADASS OKAY-