#Honourable Mention|Seal Luka O'Rian

[brooklynislandgirl]

~*~ She could smell them almost the instant Andy appeared in her bedroom doorway with the distinctive box. They aren't exactly Leonard's but what they are is an entire half-dozen fresh malasadas. Breathing deeply, Beth could even tell that they are lilikoi filled. There's something earthy, sweet, and floral all at once that even pastry cream can't quite filter out. She pushes back her covers and half imagines herself rising from bed like those in one of those old cartoons, drifting along the air currents of warm, mouth-watering scented bliss, eyes closed in a trance. What Andy sees though is her running over on the tips of her toes, absolutely enthralled by the box. She makes what he might call 'gimme-gimme' fingers and she's just about to lean up and kiss his cheek when he shakes his head. "Don't thank me, your Sasquatch sent them. I don't know how, fucker's on a boat in the middle of not-on-my-watch." Beth blinks. And again, more slowly. "Wha?" But does the question stop her from grabbing one and shoving the entire thing into her mouth, so her cheeks are puffed out like a chipmonk's? No, no it doesn't. "He sent me some shit for you so that it would get to you on time, but this is blowing my mind. I didn't know anyone around here even made this shit. Liliha's the best though." "Bite me, Leonards." Or at least that's what it would have been if her mouth wasn't stuffed with malasada. They grudge glare at one another before at the same time they both agree in unison. "Kamehameha Bakery." Then her eyes narrow again."You said...sent you da kine?" "I'm not supposed to let you have it until he calls." They both know for him to be able to send a call home, he's moved heaven and earth, and probably owes a few favours. It goes unspoken that his rank probably helped.Beth knew going into this whole thing that life would be hard. That she and Luka would not always get to be together to celebrate milestones and anniversaries, that they would go up to a year at a time absent of one another. It is a hard life and takes its toll, which is why it's called service and duty, and why so many relationships end so quickly. Why the one left at home so often seeks comfort and support in someone else, though the service person isn't always spotless in that regard. She knows Andy and Luka are different, but she is too. Having been raised in the life and having so many responsibilities on her own narrow shoulders, she often doesn't have time to miss him in the moment, and it isn't til the end of the day that it hits her how long he's been gone, or how far away and dangerous his life is. "Yeah, okay." So they spend the rest of her birthday doing sibling things, and while walking through Central Park, Andy snaps a couple pictures that are in keeping with the rules of just what Luka is allowed to receive, none of them in any way risque. But the entire time, she's distracted. The anxiety of waiting only mounting as time got closer and closer. Eventually, she's settled at the dining table, laptop set up and ready to go. And while there's skips, delays, freezes, it is when he smiles and wishes her happy birthday that Andy enacts the other part of the plan. He brings her the dessert that was promised, a little snail of vanilla custard ice cream, white chocolate, raspberries, a caramelised brown sugar branch. She blows out the candle for Luka, and they both know what her wish is, even if it isn't spoken aloud. She opens the gift, and immediately puts on the jewelry which sparkles against her tawny skin, purple and sea blues. Luka makes her promise to further still wait until later to read the letter. She agrees, if reluctantly.The rest of the next few minutes are spent making promises and talking soft, inconsequential things. But just before he's cut off, she asks... "How even did'ja sen me malasadas?" He smiles. "Jayden's a roc-" The screen goes blank.

[tarnishedhalo]

Half Baked

Indulgence || Accepting

Half Baked: a bad idea/poor planning headcanon.

They’re all sitting around the living room, and of course maybe too many drinks have been shared over the course of the evening. He’s got an unfinished beer between his thighs and just finished the three fingers of whiskey when Riggs asks the question. And for a moment he freezes. Tries to think of a moment. Doesn’t get very far when there’s a chorus of feminine voices all saying “The GOAT!”

He almost chokes up laughing. Good point. Runs a hand through his hair, a wreck since he hadn’t bothered to style it and for a moment, recognises if he doesn’t get it cut, he’s gonna start looking like Riggs any day now.“Okay, okay. So. Ulster here,” he leans over and slaps a palm across Luka’s chest. “Is on a ballistic missile sub and so me an’ a couple of guys mail him a gay porno mag. Of course, him and his squaddies get smoked for it. So he gets even… first, he gets Beth to send me cookies. I had to do one handed push-ups while feeding myself cookies til I puked.”

Riley’s already laughing as he lights up a smoke. “So I have Jay send him a big purple dildo, right, that he gets to carry around everywhere for weeks.

“Anyway, there I am, clever as fuck and get shipped to Bumfuck K…somewhere in the sandbox. I’m in the camp down hill from him. In a brilliant bit of black ops, asshole and his squaddies manage to sneak a goat into my hut. Tie it to my bunk. After a long ass day, we getting ready to fall in and then I see this poor thing. Now I’ve got maybe five minutes before walk-through. And I’m trying to get it outside. But the little stubborn fucker won’t budge right?“It’s running around the hut, under bunks and over trunks and shit. Pissing itself the whole way and I’m finally in reach and dive for it. Face right in its junk, hands around its back legs as our CO comes in.

“So Cappy takes one look…and says…”In unison, Luka, Beth, Jay, and Riley himself turn to Riggs. “Six, I don’ know if you is dat way, but if you is…you better GO THE FUCK AWAY!”They all start laughing then. 

“So no shit, there I was, covered in goat, laying chest down on the hut floor looking up at the biggest, angriest motherfuckin’ ring-knocker in the joint… and my new best friend for months is this goddamn goat. We named him Schmiffy and he was our mascot. And then, eventually when it was time to pick up our kit and move on, we left Schmiffy with a local family.”

[brooklynislandgirl]

👌🛌 [ seal ]

Ain’t Exactly like Barry White || Not Currently Accepting

There are some things that Beth’s not even aware of that transpire around her. Part of it is her trusting nature, part of it is the way she processes the world itself. She can hear the neighbours down the block arguing over whether or not the husband remembered to file their taxes jointly this year, and the kids up the street shouting increasingly insulting expletives as a way of ribbing each other. She can hear the background noises from Jay’s coffee shop and the hum of the wires in the walls. What she doesn’t hear is the quiet way the front door opens. She doesn’t detect the faint smell of bus exhaust that lessened over the time spent walking across the street. She doesn’t hear him close the door behind her or really take note of heavy tread -combat boots are a common sound, after all- as he comes to stillness on the rug before the door. She doesn’t see his reflection in the glass of her floor to ceiling mirrors just how tight his tee-shirt is as it spans his broad shoulders and chest. Maybe the desert khaki of his BDU bottoms works just as well as in an urban environment.

Maybe she’s just wrapped up in the that complicated pose she’s been on about in her letters for months. She calls it Bhairavasana, which she assures him means destroyer of the universe. Even as he’s watching, she starts in a one-arm plank form, both feet on the ground, before the lower leg gets dragged up and up until it’s lodged firmly behind her head. Then she lifts her free arm toward the ceiling, and stares upward. All while carrying on a conversation with her sister. “So hones’ly, dunno wha’ I’m doin’ wrong. Like...I don’ put on a mask before bed. I put my hair up so it no get in da way. Wore no kine but one his shirts. Candles for mood lightin’...I even put on dat Shakira song about hips no lie. Teeth all brush, limbs all soft and smell good. An’ still... no kine. I have drop hints like you say, ‘bout cherry pastry an’ stuff. I’m startin’ t’ wonder if you know...he’s mebbe no interest in girls.”

Jay’s laughter can be heard from speaker mode. “Babe, I don’t think...” “No, for reals. An’ mebbe if he is interest in girls, mebbe he’s jus’...maybe it’s jus’ not me he want.”

“Okay so have you just flat out said you wanna sleep with him?” “Yeah, an’ I even aks wha’ side of da bed he want.” “You know that isn’t...oh, Fuck. Look, I’ll call you back. My dad just turned up.” “Oh! Give Uncle Harvey kiss for me.” “Not if you paid me a million dollars. See ya.” The call ends and Beth slowly starts to disentangle herself from her human pretzel shape.

[brooklynislandgirl]

“Oh no! I sense a fuckboy nearby!”

For minutes, seconds at least, Beth looks absolutely confused. She doesn’t really know what that word means, exactly, but she doesn’t want to seem dumb. So she takes a moment to look around the little Thai restaraunt. There’s a lot of strange faces, some interesting. Some that don’t register. Most of them eating lunch. But then something darkens, and gives her a certain slant to her dusky features. She’s stern when she addresses Darcy.“Dat guy? Da one dat’s like seven feet tall? Dat’s jus’ m’ frien’ Lulu. He in da navy. Didn’ know he was gonna be in port, dis week.”The little Hawai’ian turns in her seat and shoves a hand in the air, waving it like a flag. “...’Ey, boy! Howzit! Come si’ wi’ us!”