#I felt this way in my other play but had already gotten married to Pablo

[reclusivedouche]

Listen, I told myself I'd go slower on the love interest front and focus on the farm and getting things accomplished in teh first year but my desire to potentially pursue Kenny is so real rn.

[themangolorian]

look how long this love can hold its breath

Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five

pairing: javier peña x reader

summary: (slow burn/fake married) When Pablo Escobar escalates his war on Colombian law enforcement, the DEA is getting desperate to pin down his location. Reader is forced to go undercover with another agent, one she can’t stand, Javier Peña. Worst of all, she’ll have to try to infiltrate the Cali Cartel while pretending to be Peña’s wife.

warnings: mild language

a/n: i know it’s a generally overdone trope but i couldn’t resist doing my own version of fake married Javi with a pretty antagonistic reader. hope you all enjoy!

You’d been assigned to an undercover assignment of sorts. You were infiltrating the Cali Cartel. Sort of. The mission was simply to gain inside information on Escobar’s whereabouts. To finally bring that hijoeputa down.

The only problem was your assigned partner.

Javier fucking Peña.

You’d never worked with him, but you knew his reputation as a womanizer. His machismo. And, worst of all, he was an American.

You’d encountered him briefly on separate occasions in the briefing room and each time he’d rubbed you the wrong way. He had a habit of talking over you and every other woman in the unit. Well, honestly, him and his partner Murphy liked to talk over everyone but- to put it plainly, you didn’t like Javier Peña.

“What’s the plan?” You asked in your typical no-nonsense way as you joined him and Murphy in the briefing room.

Incredibly, the up aboves had put these two pendejos in charge of the operation.

“Hola amor,” Peña lilted at you with a smirk from his seat across from you, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

You glared at him. “What the fu-.”

“You’re married.” Murphy tossed the manila envelope on the table in your direction, interrupting your outburst.

He knew you and Peña got on each others’ nerves. This was his way of avoiding the inevitable bickering. It was a shitty way of doing so though.

You cursed under your breath as you fell into a chair and swept the envelope open.

The other two were quiet as your eyes scanned the documents.

“Fuck no.” You pushed the papers containing your’s and Peña’s aliases back at them.

Señor y Señora Villalobos. Dealers disguised as diamond salespeople. Married. To each other.

“Told you.” Peña told Murphy, his tone all-knowing.

“Cállate,” you snarled at Peña.

“You first,” he glared back.

“Hey,” Murphy exclaimed. He rested the tip of his index finger on the files and glared at you both now.

“This isn’t a request. These are orders.” He rubbed at his mustache and this time directed his gaze at you. “You either follow the mission or find another job.”

You glared from him to Peña who didn’t meet your gaze, too busy staring at a point on the table.

You threw your hands up in defeat, reached across and snatched the folder then huffed out of the room, muttering all the while. “Estos tontos Americanos vienen a mi país y piensen que tengo miedo de ellos, malparidos...”

Murphy looked from your retreating figure to Peña who was watching you walk away with amusement in his eyes. “What was that? What did she say?”

“She’ll do it,” Peña said, smirking. He stood and picked up his own file. “And learn Spanish while I’m gone, cabrón.”

Peña rapped Steve on the arm with the file affectionately and then he was gone.

Steve rubbed his face again, tiredly, worried that given the short fuses of both you and Peña, the DEA was making a huge mistake.

*****

“¡Apúúúúúúrateeee!” You dragged the word out, tapping your foot impatiently against the brake.

You were in an agency assigned car waiting around the corner from Peña’s flat for the pendejo to come outside so you could start the long drive to Cali.

Finally.

He threw his bag into the backseat then slid onto the passenger’s seat.

“Amor,” he greeted you with a sardonic smile as he slipped his sunglasses on.

“¿Y por qué tardaste tanto?” You ignored the stupid nickname he was no doubt using to taunt you in order to ask him what had taken him so long.

“I couldn’t find the rings.” He held up a shiny golden wedding band, and you saw a matching one already around his own finger.

For a beat you merely glared at the ring as if all of this was its fault, then you were taking it and roughly sliding it onto your own finger.

“Careful,” Peña said as he inclined his seat so he could sleep. “Keep being so charming and all the narcos are going to want to marry you.”

You revved the engine and took off jerkily, turning the volume of the radio up to drown him out.

The trip was a long one. You both took turns driving. Peña kept turning down the radio while you drove so he could sleep, and you kept changing the station while he was driving. You argued over where to eat and what temperature to keep the air at or whether to open the windows.

“We’re supposed to be married, not divorced,” he’d quipped at you once while he was driving after you’d knocked his hand out of the way of your water bottle as you reached for it.

You turned the heater up then, knowing it would bother him, even though you were already sweltering. He left it though, too stubborn to engage you at your game.

Until you opened your window. Then he was slamming the shut off button for the heater.

You glared at him...then- A mansion outside his window caught your eye. You watched it whiz past.

“What?” He slowed and turned the radio volume down.

“You passed it.” You sat back in your seat. “Coño.” You muttered under your breath.

He pulled the car over. When he let the car idle instead of turning around, you looked at him to see him already watching you, sunglasses off.

“What?”

“This is it. One wrong move and we’re both dead.”

You couldn’t believe your ears. You glared fiercely his way. “Are you reminding me how to do my job, Peña?”

He sighed. “Just- I know we don’t get along, but this weekend, we don’t have a choice.”

You rolled your eyes. “Look just because you swooped in from the grand US of A to save all us heathens,” you fluttered your hands mockingly, “doesn’t mean I need you to remind me of my job. I’ve been doing this for longer. If anyone in this car understands what’s at stake, it’s me.” You finished, angry.

“That why you hate me so much?” He asked thoughtfully in a tone so soft you had to look at his face to discern his intent for asking.

He wasn’t glaring anymore. If anything, he seemed curious.

“I don’t hate you,” you muttered but your tone belied your words.

He chuckled. “That’s a good start.” He started turning the car around. “Amor.” He added and suddenly you were fuming again.

*****

The introductions with the narcos and their wives went well enough, better even than you’d hoped. They accepted you as one of their own. It wasn’t hard for you to fit in, you were Colombiana to the bone. Peña on the other hand… But he’d sold it well. Almost too well. This had been your first opportunity at seeing how much he’d picked up during his time in Colombia so far. And it seemed like he’d picked up a lot.

Peña hadn’t been wrong when he’d indicated some of the narcos would take an interest in you. They greeted you both warmly, but their hands enveloped yours tightly and their eyes lingered just a moment too long. You thought Peña must have noticed too, and surely he worried that allowing such blatant flirting would endanger your cover.

That must have been why you suddenly felt his arm encircling your bare shoulders. You tried not to tense in surprise, so much so that you let yourself relax against him in a natural manner. He continued the pretense, kissing your forehead as he made a joke with the narcos about keeping the wife happy.

Inside, though, you were having a crisis and you hoped the look on your face was one caught between amused and loving. A shock had gone through you when Peña’s lips had met your skin. His act was so convincing; how was he so good at this?

You thought back to the first stop you’d made earlier on in the car drive. When you’d gotten out of the car, Peña had whistled softly upon seeing your sundress, warming your cheeks and angering you simultaneously. But he’d said nothing else. And you’d thought on it during the ensuing drive. Normally you wore suits to the office, pants and skirts, but suits all the same. And you’d made a point of never going out with Peña or Murphy. So he’d never seen you in anything else. Against your will, you wondered what the whistle had meant. Not that you cared, but you didn’t need to add one more thing to the long list of things you already had to think about.

You smothered the thoughts. They were distracting and unnecessary and right now you were lucky that Peña was so good at this because he was carrying you both.

As you trailed the narcos out back to sit and have drinks by the pool, you slipped your arm around his waist, needing to carry your weight in the farce and not wanting to have to hear later from Peña about what you should have done.

“Así,” you heard him murmur approvingly.

You dug your nails into his side and heard him grunt in pain.

Your smile then at the wife of one of the narcos holding out a drink for you was genuine.

You spent an hour bantering back and forth with the other couples.

If you didn’t know any better, you would think Peña was happily married in his private life. He played the part perfectly.

As you were both sitting at the poolside table, he would reach over absently and take your fingers in his. The first time a jolt went through you again. But you took the cue. You alternated touches. You would rest your hand on his thigh. You swore he jumped the first time you did that, but he hid it well. He took long draws from your glass. Once he even fed you an olive. If you didn’t know any better, he was enjoying torturing you. He knew you hated olives. But the gesture drew laughs from the men and awwws from the women. It was then you noticed how they were swooning over Peña. It upset you only because you realized that if the pinche idioto was in the position to do it, he’d sleep with all their wives.

Finally and blessedly, your hosts suggested that you two retire to your room before dinner. Peña was to join the other men in Pacho’s office just before dinner for a discussion. You assumed that was when any useful information would be recovered. You realized then that you were here more for decoration than anything.

You fumed as you let Peña lead you by the hand up the mansion’s grand staircase. You both followed the housekeeper who led you to your room.

You dropped Peña’s hand the second the door closed behind you. He gave you a look but then the two of you were scouring the room, searching for any hidden recording devices. You shook your head at him, but he put his finger to his lips and tilted his head toward the bathroom. You raised your hands questioningly but followed him all the same.

He was reaching into the shower and turning it on full blast.

“¿Qué haces?” You hissed at his ear, having to get close to be heard.

“We don’t know for sure it’s clear. We only talk freely like this.” He murmured into your ear, his breath tickling your skin. You shivered involuntarily at the sensation.

You both established that your cover had been bought. And what most likely awaited him at the meeting. You left him to take a shower and went to lounge on the bed.

Several minutes later, the door to the bathroom opened releasing a wall of steam and-

You sat up, glaring, “What are you doing?”

Peña put a finger to his lips furiously. “Adonde está mi maleta, amor?” His sweet tone was a direct contradiction to the furrow in his brow. He shook his head at you, gesturing to his suitcase as if to ask how you expected him to get dressed without clothes.

“Allí, corazón.” You said for show, just in case, glaring at him as he took his time going through his bag to find an outfit. Your eyes tried not to linger on his bare skin and the way water from the shower trickled down his toned back.

You averted your eyes when he turned back, but he was smiling as if he knew you’d been watching him, so you flipped over on the bed to face the other direction.

When Peña left the room with the sound of a fake kiss, you were too nervous to sit still. You had to get ready for dinner anyway. But you were anxious all the same. Your cover could be blown at any second. You stored a handgun under the bathroom sink before getting into the shower and kept an ear out for any strange noises. But nothing happened. You dressed and put your perfume and makeup on. Still Peña was absent. You slid a smaller gun into the holster on your inner thigh and went to join the other wives wherever they were.

They turned out to be in a bar off the kitchen. Luckily already tipsy and talkative. They handed you a drink, but you took only tiny sips as you engaged them in conversation. You struck gold when one of them brought up Tata, Escobar’s wife. They were gossiping over who had a better kitchen. You hung onto every word while providing input as shallowly as possible. Apparently your and Peña’s kitchen was inlaid with marble and dark hickory wood.

Nothing they said gave up the location of the Escobars though and the subject soon turned to jewelry, at which point the women fawned over the diamond necklace provided to you by the agency. Which was your cue to try to sell them diamonds.

Soon enough the staff came in to lead you all to the formal dining room where the men were waiting. They all stood but it was Peña’s face you were focused on.

His lips parted when he saw you and his brow smoothed over. His eyes traveled from yours down along your entire figure. You couldn’t help but get the slightest bit flustered. You avoided his gaze, but he was coming your way to take your hand and lead you over to the seat next to his. It was strange. Surrounded as you both were by actual enemies, it felt like you were the only two in the room. It confused you and irritated you, but you managed to catch your breath again once you were seated at the dinner table. You ignored Peña’s dark eyes on you and took a long sip from your wine glass, trying to focus on the mission at hand.

“Not too much,” you heard him whisper as you placed the wine glass back down.

And there he was.

Underneath the table, you adjusted your feet, “accidentally” stepping on his shoe with one sharp heel.

The curse he muttered in pain under his breath had you smiling as you dove into the conversation, ready to take on a room full of the people who had played the bad guys in your life for so long.

masterlist

[talesofafangirlwithadvr]

February Picks

And just like that another month is coming to a close. I can’t believe how fast it has gone by. I’ve continued watching some favorites from last month and am sad some have come to an end. Meanwhile a bunch of shows came back from their winter hiatus, so it was a lot of fun getting back into their story-lines again.

Be prepared for spoilers once again...

SANDITON

Masterpiece’s Sanditon ended this past Sunday, here in the states, and I am jumping on the campaign that we need a season 2! It can’t end like that with so many open ended story-lines (okay maybe just one or two, but still we deserve more). 

Who would have guessed that Esther would become one of my favorite characters in this series and that’s mainly thanks to her well written character development. From the “villain” in episode 1 she grew into so much more and was such a complex character. I really enjoyed watching her story unfold. I am SO HAPPY she married Babington and his speech to her about living side by side, knowing he loves her more and just wants to see her happy. Wow....Goals. I want to see this relationship progress even more (if that’s possible) with a season 2. Speaking of things I want to see: Will Sanditon be rebuilt and how long will it take? Will there be an alternative allowing Sidney to be with Charlotte? Major twist there as their relationship doesn’t end with a happily ever after (very un-Austen like for the main protagonists). When he returned at the end stopping Charlotte’s carriage, I seriously thought he would have said he broke up his engagement, but alas. The previous episode I really wanted them together (thanks to Sidney’s speech to Charlotte when he told her his ex-fiance left and how Charlotte makes him a better person *melts* and of course their dancing scene the episode prior was amazing). In the early parts of the season, while I knew Charlotte and Sidney would be a thing-eventually, I couldn’t help but have a soft spot for Young Stringer’s character and my appreciation never truly left. I felt he was paired well with Charlotte. Such a tragic ending for him. He wanted to better himself (much like the Parker brothers) but after his father’s death he no longer will. Throughout the series, I enjoyed Miss Lambe’s character, but I agree with many reviews that I was reading that her character was kind of dropped at the end. I’m curious what her reaction will be when she finds out about SIdney’s engagement...

Thank you again, Andrew Davies. I was not expecting to like this adaptation so much.    

ZOEY’S EXTRAORDINARY PLAYLIST

The best way to describe one of NBC’s latest shows is that I feel happy and in a good mood whenever I finish an episode. (And then I’m immediately upset that I have to wait a week for the next one. I watch them too fast.) I’ve heard many people compare it to Glee and while I could definitely understand that I keep getting drawn back to Abc��s short lived Eli Stone. There Eli (played by Jonny Lee Miller) could hear people around him sing and dance, which helped him solve upcoming law cases. In this show he was experiencing a brain tumor, but so far Zoey seems all clear. Instead, a freak accident while she is getting an MRI scan and listening to music, allows for her to hear people sing (and perform) their innermost feelings. There’s still some logistics to discover like what Zoey looks like when she watches these performances (does she move around or look like she’s just staring into the air. I might be thinking into this too much...I know). We just recently found out that sometimes she can speak to others as they are happening. Each time she hears someone sing she is meant to help them with something in their life. It could be a family member, co worker, friend, or like this past week her boss. While there’s one major problem (that she has to fix), there are often multiple songs in one episode which I really enjoy. The cast is also very strong, both musically and as actors. I can’t wait to see where the rest of the season is headed!

TO ALL THE BOYS P.S. I STILL LOVE YOU

When the first film was released on Netflix about 2 years ago, I was instantly a fan. I was unfamiliar with the book, but quickly added to my TBR list. (My to read list is extremely long, so I still haven’t gotten to it. Story of my life.) I really enjoyed watching Lara Jean experience the results of having her secretive love letters distributed to her past crushes. I was definitely Team Peter and Lara by the end of the film. They were adorable. The sequel was released earlier this month and I kind of forgot about it. It felt like we had been preparing for the sequel for a bit and then I must have been watching too much Disney Plus to miss the trailer. Watching P.S. I still love you, I just missed the original film. There were parts I liked and I was a big fan of John Ambrose (and of course Jordan Fisher because he’s great), but overall I felt like much didn’t happen. Also, Lara and Peter’s relationship kind of bothered me in parts. I understand that for both of them this was the first time they were in this kind of relationship and could feel awkward about certain things (like the Valentine’s singing-gram or writing an original poem). The main part I did like about them was towards the end when he arrived at the retirement home. I don’t say this often, but I have no want to re-watch it any time soon.   

VIOLETTA SEASON 1

Speaking of Disney Plus....

In a quick month and a half I have successfully watched ALL 80 episodes of season 1 of Violetta. I feel so accomplished and know the withdrawal will happen very soon. (I just finished last night and I’ve been listening to the music a lot recently). I’m so upset that season 2 has not be released on Disney Plus yet. I thought it would be by now because the streaming service has been up for a good amount of months and this show was so popular around the world. Unfortunately, I have not been lucky with my Google searches for when they’ll release it and no luck with YouTube either (no English caption options). I’ve been hearing that season 2 is really great because season 1 did a nice job of establishing these characters and now we get to see more story-lines. I will miss the students and teachers at the Studio as well the home-life at the Castillo’s house. Throughout 80 episodes it’s understandable to love and hate several characters as you’re with them for a good amount of time. For some people it was a roller coaster, but there were a good amount that I liked pretty consistently. I am a fan of Violetta and Leon and they had some super cute moments. I think it was about episode 35 where I truly felt like connection. When Tomas left the love triangle for a bit I actually grew to like him and would often joke how he never smiled and had a Tomas face. I really liked You Mix and the introduction of Frederico. Some great songs came out of that section like Ven y Canta and Tienes el Talento, but my favorite is definitely Ser Mejor. And of course, I will always have love for Pablo. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m going to miss reading subtitles (I really do feel like I know more Spanish now). Definitely check out this show if you want something drama filled and funny at the same time. 

LEGACIES

I know I dedicated a whole post to Chris Wood’s return as Kai Parker on Legacies. (See the article here:https://talesofafangirlwithadvr.tumblr.com/post/190761328673/omg-legacies-2x12) But I still had to include it in this wrap up because once again Legacies is doing a great job this season. I was so excited to see it when it came back from the mid-season hiatus. Since the return of Wood it has gotten more of a TVD vibe than usual, which is great. I haven’t watched the last episode, but have seen a clip of Kai masquerading at the school. I am going to be very interested to see for how long he hangs around and how long it takes for them to discover him AND how Josie handles the evil inside of her. 

BROOKLYN NINE NINE

Thank goodness this show got renewed (and picked up from NBC). When it started a couple of weeks ago, I was reminded how much I missed it. I can’t get over that this is already the second season on NBC. As usual the hi-jinks of the Nine Nine have been entertaining to watch. The Jimmy Jab games were great. I loved how Hitchcock was so desperate to win that he was taking Scully’s array of pills. What an ending with Debbie! Did not think she could be capable of that. I can’t wait to see the outcome next episode. I’m so excited for a Santiago-Peralta baby. It was a great episode when they were hiding it from Charles and Adrian returned. I’ve seen the movie Memento and it is great! It was hilarious each time he was like, ‘I don’t know what that is’ and then saying ‘Finding Dory’ solved everything. I am so happy that this show was suggested for me to watch and fill my Office and Parks and Rec void. Whenever a new episode’s on the DVR I can’t wait to watch it.      

LEGENDS OF TOMORROW

And last, but certainly not least, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow has once again not disappointed me this season (I know it’s still early, but I’m optimistic). It started at the end of January following the events of Crisis and I liked how this season transitioned with all the changes (the major one being the introduction of Zari’s brother). I am really happy to see her again though and how she is having these flashes of her old life on board the Wave-rider. I can’t wait to see that reveal happen (especially because as of right now only Nate knows the ‘truth’). I love seeing Ava as a permanent part of the Legends crew and as stepping in as Captain when Sara was away. She is a great addition and I like how quirky she is since we first met her. Her and Sara are perfect. I also love Ray and Nora. Nora as a fairy godmother is fantastic. One of my favorite episodes was the one with the 80s dance. Her role in all of that was great and her realization with what she can provide for these kids. I feel like this is going to be the reason Ray leaves the Legends. I remember seeing Brandon Routh’s Instagram Post about leaving the show and this feels like the reason he will. I hope that isn’t for a while though because I am going to miss him a lot. 

Until March!   

[artificialqueens]

Bloom Ch. 2 (biadore)- Taurus's Splattered C*nt

A/N- We’re back back back back back again! Your favourite triple threat is back. Sorry for the wait, we hope you continue to enjoy this story and feel free to leave feedback. Thanks for all the love and support!

I just want to put it out there that our group chat gives me life. I have learned so far that Taurus and I are going to get married and move in with C*nt and Mrs. C*nt to mooch off of them. Also, Taurus is a ninja spy and has a really hot voice, and both of them are really freaking pretty and it’s not fair because I’m a toe (YOU ARE NOT A TOE YOU ARE AN ETHREAL GODDESS OF THE OCEAN -C*nt [She’s lying. I’m a toe. -Splatt]). That is all. Love you two ladies! That’s all. Hope you all enjoy! (C*nt and Taurus didn’t know what to put for an author’s note so I got to write it! Yay!)

Danny’s alarm woke him up at 6.30am. He had always been something of a night owl, so these early starts and the Drag Race production schedule were absolute hell on earth. The only way he could make sure he wouldn’t knock his alarm off and sleep through was by starting it an hour early and setting four alarms, so invariably, by the time he finally dragged himself out of bed and into the bathroom to get ready for the day ahead, he was grouchy.

He was half-asleep leaving his room, running late and desperate for a coffee. He couldn’t get into Adore’s mindset without coffee, so he was grateful to find Trinity waiting with a large coffee for him at the minibus, which seemed to bring him back to life after a few sips. He was beginning to feel a bit more alive, a bit more like Adore.

Adore. It occurred to him as he got into the minibus that he didn’t know anyone’s boy names, and everyone only knew him as Adore, except for Laganja. It seemed weird, now that they’d all been through a few challenges together, that they only knew each other by their drag names. He felt like they should all at least try to get to know each other, and no one else seemed to be taking initiative to start a conversation.

“What’s everyone’s boy name?” Danny asked, breaking the sleepy silence.

“What do you think my name is?” Roy challenged, raising an eyebrow.

Danny smirked and then studied the older man. He honestly had no idea what his name could be. He could see that he was of Hispanic origin, so maybe he had a Hispanic name?

“Um. I don’t know, Pablo?” Danny guessed the first Hispanic name to pop into his head with a shrug.

Roy cackled loudly, his distinct laugh magnified even louder in the shuttle. Danny frowned, feeling incredibly stupid, yet strangely endeared by the man’s laugh.

“Pablo?! You got me bitch, you got me.” Roy laughed.

“Well what is it? The suspense is killing me!” Shane asked, grinning.

“It’s Roy.”

Roy. Danny felt his heart flutter as the name echoed in the back of his mind. It was a hell of a lot better then Pablo. Looking at him, Danny realized the name actually fit him perfectly.

Roy was looking at the young man intrigued now. He realized didn’t know his name either, and really had no clue but his heart was fluttering at the anticipation of finding out.

“So what’s yours then?”

“Well if it’s like a formal setting then it’s Daniel, but I usually just go by Danny.”

Danny. The name made Roy’s heart skip a beat. What a bizarre feeling, he really wasn’t understanding the weird pull he was experiencing towards him but he decided to ignore it. Danny smiled at him and he swore he could feel his nerves settle. Despite the unbreakable, confident front Roy had been putting up, he was nervous everyday. He never knew what to expect when he re-entered that work room.

“I’m Shane!” Shane exclaimed breaking the weird tension between the two of them.

“Well I wasn’t expecting that!” Danny laughed.

“What were you expecting?” Shane replied, curious as to what name people thought he looked like.

“I dunno, Shane is such a macho name, I would’ve thought you’d be more like a Jamie or something.” Danny responded.

“Excuse me, I’m very macho.” Shane said sassily, wagging his head with his hands on his hips.

Darienne burst out laughing. “The oldest living twink in history, everyone. I’m Greg, by the way.”

Dela piped up. “Guys, this may come as a shock to you all… but I’m Ben.”

The bus broke into a chorus of laughter, and soon everyone was trying to guess each other’s names. Danny made a mental note of everyone’s names - Trinity was Josh, Milk was Dan, like him, Joslyn was Patrick, and he already knew Laganja was Jay from before. It was nice knowing everyone’s real names, it felt like he automatically knew everyone a little better.

Adore caught Bianca’s eye. Roy’s eye. That was kind of a hot name, now Danny thought about it. Roy. It seemed strong and masculine, which was funny, considering Roy was a man who wore dresses, but now Danny took a moment to look at him properly, he was quite manly out of drag. And loathe as Danny was to admit it, he was pretty.

Danny blushed - he’d gotten completely lost in his own mind and didn’t realise he was still staring at Roy. Roy was wondering why Adore - Danny - kept staring at him. It was making him uncomfortable, in a weird way. Uncomfortable, but not bad-uncomfortable. All of a sudden, Danny whipped his head around, turning back to face the front of the van. He didn’t talk the rest of the journey. Roy wondered what his deal was, what was going on in his mind. Danny.

The minibus pulled up to the studio, and they all piled into the workroom, ready and excited for another challenge. Adore was feeling better than she had going into any other challenge - she’d done well in the musical and the Snatch Game, and felt like things were finally starting to go her way after the disastrous first couple of challenges. She felt like the Snatch Game and the musical really let her shine on her own terms as opposed to being dragged down by trying to lead a team. She was excited to see what the day would bring, speculating with everyone what the day might bring, and hoping for an individual challenge.

“I’m not a group person, I’m more of a Beyoncé myself.” she said, looking around.

“At least Beyoncé’s dresses hit the floor.” Bianca said with a smirk. She couldn’t pass up that chance for a read.

Adore smiled. Bianca had always made fun of her, but it didn’t hurt as much this time, it felt more fun. “So do your tits.” she said in response, making Bianca laugh unexpectedly. Adore could really hold her own in a war of words, she was quicker and wittier than Bianca had initially given her credit for.

Ru came in, and Bianca immediately saw the glasses, and knew it was time for the reading challenge. She knew that this would be a fairly easy mini challenge to win, especially since back home she was dubbed the queen of mean.

“Bianca, you’re first.” Ru announced.

Bianca strode up to the front with ease, and started reading her sisters to absolute filth. When she got to Adore, she paused. There was so much she could read her for, it was almost too easy. But for some reason she really didn’t have the desire to be overly mean to her.

“Adore.”

Adore covered her eyes and shuddered in anticipation. This bitch was going to take her to church with her insults, she just knew it.

“I know what you got on your SAT’s.” Bianca started, grinning.

Adore looked around the room confused. She didn’t know where she was taking this. Didn’t she know she went to continuation school?

“What?” Adore finally asked.

“Ketchup!”

Ru cackled loudly, the other queens roaring with laughter as well and Adore smiled. Well, that wasn’t nearly as bad as what she was expecting. She didn’t know what exactly Bianca would say, but she was happy it wasn’t something cruel, and there was no way that a lot of her reads would make it on air for how off-color they were. After Bianca finished, the other queens all took their turn reading each other. Adore had done a pretty decent job at reading her sisters, she knew she did good once she heard Bianca’s distinct laugh echo throughout the set after she read Laganja. She was proud of herself for that one. Laganja had been just starting to get on her nerves, and Adore had a sneaking feeling that the other girls felt the same way. Adore also noticed a weird energy between BenDelaCreme and Darienne, and both of them ended up saying pretty nasty reads to each other. If Adore was honest, she didn’t think they were really reading each other so much as just trying to hurt the other person.

Darienne was determined the winner of the mini challenge, and Ru announced the main challenge of the day: a rap challenge. Since Darienne won, she got to pick her team.

“Who’s got a fast mouth…” Darienne pondered. “Bianca! Come here.”

Bianca joined Darienne and waited the rest of her team. She was curious to see who all she would pick. The next person she chose was Laganja, and although she understood why, she internally rolled her eyes at the choice since she was a pain in the ass 99% of the time. She was surprised Darienne didn’t choose BenDeLaCreme, since she had already won 2 main challenges and was proving herself to be a pretty fierce competitor. But, there was obviously some sort of rivalry there.

“Well of course I have to have my two idols, Adore Delano and Courtney Act!” Darienne exclaimed.

The two younger queens glided over to form their team and left Bianca wondering confused. Idols? She knew Courtney was on Australian Idol, but didn’t remember seeing Adore on any tv show.

The leftover queens formed the other group, and they all split up to begin writing their verse for their team. Each queen had to write a rap, and then star in a music video. This was going to be one of the more challenging tasks that Bianca has had to do, especially since she can’t really dance and she had never really tried to rap, but maybe she could play up the comedic aspect of it and at least be safe.

Adore had this challenge in the bag. Rapping and dancing? It was like her YouTube videos all over again. She let the words flow out of her onto the paper, and soon enough she had a pretty good rap written. She hoped the judges would like it as much as she did.

“How is your rap coming along?” Courtney asked, looking at Adore’s page curiously.

“Good! I’m finished. Do you guys want to hear it?” Danny asked.

“Sure mawma.” Laganja nodded.

Adore read out her rap and felt like it was absolutely perfect. When she looked up from her page after she was done, the other queens nodded and smiled with encouragement.

“That’s really good.” Bianca smiled. Adore beamed, happy that she had impressed Bianca yet again and thanked her. Soon they were all finished writing, Darienne had a bit of trouble writing her verse, but the queens all pitched in and helped to write something that would hopefully keep their team safe.

After that, they started changing and got ready to film the challenge. Once they had made it to the filming area, Darienne started to get really nervous which worried Bianca. It could fuck up their whole vibe if the team leader didn’t do well. It was, after all, a group challenge. If one person fucked up, everyone could go down.

The queens went in to film the video, and Bianca was up first. Adore watched as she nailed the rapping portion with one take. She was incredibly talented, Adore hadn’t seen one thing Bianca couldn’t do. Adore was up next, she stumbled a couple of times but finally got it after the third try. She was proud of the last take, and walked back to her place in the background feeling confident. Courtney had breezed through her lines and choreography, and Laganja struggled a little bit but got the job done.

When Darienne had stepped up to do her lines, she immediately started fucking up. Bianca held her breath worried, she had yet to be in the bottom and if Darienne didn’t get her shit together, her dismal performance could drag her down with her. Bianca didn’t look as fishy as Courtney and Adore, she didn’t realize that she needed to dress as girly as they had. Even though she nailed the challenge, if the judges were to determine a bottom two from their group it would most likely be her and Darienne just because Bianca was a lot more butch. She had seen Darienne lip sync, she was incredible. Bianca most likely would get sent home if she were to go up against her.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Darienne got a good enough take for the final cut of the song. Bianca was crossing her fingers that it would be good enough to keep her safe. Adore was also nervous, because she had been the leader for the movie challenge, and got a lot of shit for how poorly she had led her team during that challenge. So Darienne not doing good, could take away from her performance today and cost her a potential win.

————————–

Afterwards, they headed back to the workroom and started getting ready for their runway. The theme tonight was “Crazy Sexy Cool” which was to highlight their favorite body parts.

“What body part are you highlighting tonight Adore?” Courtney asked scanning Adore’s outfit. It was a sheer lace dress that left little to the imagination when she turned around, showing a more cheeky look.

“My ass, duh!” Adore exclaimed, turning around and bending over.

Bianca caught herself gazing at Adore’s ass a little too long. It really was the one of the best asses she had ever seen.

“What about you Courtney?” Adore asked.

“Well I love my whole body, so I’m just going to go out in a bra and underwear underneath this blanket.” Courtney shrugged.

Bianca raised an eyebrow, unimpressed with the outfit choice. Courtney’s looks were starting to get repetitive, she was either wearing something to show off her body or something that she had worn a million times over in Australia. She idly wondered how the judges would react, but she had to hand it to her for playing on her strengths. Courtney definitely had a gorgeous body, but the judges didn’t necessarily want to see that week after week.

“I don’t have washboard abs or a great ass, so I just decided on my eyes.” Bianca shrugged, pointing at the gemstones around her eyes.

Adore felt her heart skip a beat as Bianca told her she had a great ass. She really did have a nice butt, she would have to thank her mom the next time they talked. Adore studied Bianca’s eyes, and noticed she hadn’t put the harsh white line for the first time. She actually thought her eyes were much prettier without it, not even realized how unique in color they were. They were a dark amber color, like salted caramel in the light but deep and chocolatey otherwise. It was different, and Adore found herself staring at them for a second before she looked away quickly.

After they all walked the runway, Adore was excited. She had loved this challenge, and couldn’t wait to see how they’d done. Now that she was doing well in challenges, she was really starting to enjoy the competition, and the fact that she was finally getting along well with everybody made it even better. The rap videos were shown, and Adore fucking loved the song. She was so excited to have been a part of it, and thought she nailed it, and when Ru told her she had won the challenge, she felt ecstatic.

Finally, she had won a challenge.

Finally, she felt validated.

She felt worthy of being there.

After the elimination, the queens headed back to the work room to de-drag, and Bianca was enjoying the view in front of her. Adore’s hips swayed back and forth as she walked towards her station, her ass visible through the black lace pulled tight over her thong bodysuit. Adore joked about having a hog body, but from what Bianca could see, it was more of a hot body. Bianca felt a tight ass deserved at least a compliment, even if that ass was attached to Adore Delano.

“Great job on winning your first challenge Adore! The view walking back here wasn’t too bad either.” Bianca winked.

Adore stared at her in disbelief, processing what Bianca had just said. She was shocked that she would even pay her a compliment, especially with the way they had been clashing lately, and she was especially surprised by the brazenness of the complement. Was Bianca… flirting with her?

Bianca read the shock on Adore’s face, and berated herself. “Oh great, I stepped over the friend line and she thinks I’m a pedophile.”, she thought to herself.

“Thanks. You did really good too.” Adore smiled as she began to de-drag. That complement felt good coming from someone as hard to impress as Bianca. She felt elation fill her heart, especially now that her competitors were starting to look at her in a different light. She was excited for tomorrow.

————

The next day, the queens realised the competition was getting tighter as they were down to the top 8. The cliques had already been determined, but rivalries had also bloomed. In particular Laganja and Adore were having a hard time getting along, especially after the argument in Untucked where Laganja claimed that Adore had ‘come for her’. Bianca had recognised Laganja’s ridiculous behaviour then, and stood up for Adore.

Meanwhile, Bianca was becoming irritated with Trinity and her excuses. Last night, she had asked her what she was successful at doing since she literally complained about every challenge. Bianca could tell she had annoyed Trinity with the question, but she hoped at least she’d stop complaining. This ended up making the tension between the two of them unbearable, especially when Trinity couldn’t even answer the question.

Ru announced the main challenge, but this time had a calculating look in his eye. Adore felt a weariness fall over her as she awaited the announcement. The energy she was getting from Ru was weird, and had a feeling today’s challenge was going to be harder than it seemed.

“I will be putting you guys into pairs.” Ru smiled.

Shit.

“Adore you will be paired up with Laganja today. Darienne with BenDeLaCreme, Bianca with Trinity, and Courtney you will be with Joslyn.” Adore saw what Ru was doing. He’d paired up all of the queens who’d argued in the past, obviously to try stir the pot. That fucker.

For the first time in this competition, Bianca felt her heart weigh heavy. Trinity did not have a good track record with speaking, and that was the whole premise of this challenge. That, and they had literally just gotten into it yesterday. If Trinity were to drag her down into the bottom with her, she wouldn’t be able to win that lip sync. It would be a catastrophe.

———————–

Bianca was starting to hear Adore’s voice raise as she talked with Laganja at the table across the room.

“I didn’t come for you girl! What the fuck are you even talking about?!” Adore exclaimed frustrated.

“Oh god, not this shit again. Just drop it Laganja, if she really ‘came for you’ you’d actually remember what Adore said especially since you won’t drop me ruining your fucking moment.” Bianca snapped.

Laganja’s jaw dropped and Adore had to fight to keep the smirk from creeping up her face. When Laganja went back to taking notes, Adore mouthed thank you to Bianca and smiled shyly. Bianca was really starting to grow on her. They had gotten off to a rocky start, but Bianca was fair and level-headed. Adore would never have expected that Bianca would actually stick up for her. She could actually be really sweet, once you weren’t on the wrong side of her.

Bianca returned her full attention to helping Trinity with the ad challenge. As they started to work together, Bianca realized it wasn’t necessarily Trinity’s speech that was the problem, even though that’s what the judges had been reading her for, it was her confidence. When Trinity was feeling confident about what she was saying, the words came out loud and clear. Bianca just kept encouraging her to be confident in what she was rehearsing, it was all she could really do at that point.

The queens went to another part of the set and filmed their ad campaigns. Adore thought she had done well, but Laganja had definitely struggled a little bit which was worrisome. She hoped that she would end up safe at the very least. Bianca was really impressed with Trinity, and thought that they were going to win the challenge based on how smooth it had gone. She thought their ad was pretty funny in the end. Trinity had really stepped up for this challenge, and she was really happy to see that.

After they returned from filming, the queens started getting ready for the runway and Bianca pulled Trinity aside and away from the cameras.

“I just wanted to say, that I’m so proud of you. You worked your ass off today and it showed.” Bianca encouraged.

“Thanks girl. Do you think we’re going to win?” Trinity asked hopefully.

“I don’t know kid, but I think we have a pretty good shot.”

———————–

They all finished getting ready and walked the runway in their black and white eleganza looks. Once they stood on stage, Adore crossed her arms nervously as she watched all of the advertisements. Despite Laganja having quite a few hiccups during filming, the ad had turned out great. She also really liked Bianca and Trinity’s, it was pretty funny and she was very surprised at how well Trinity had done.

Darienne and BenDeLaCreme’s ad was weird to say the least, Bianca observed. They were most likely going to be in the bottom tonight, which was unfortunate because she really liked both of them. She thought Adore and Laganja’s was funny, but it was clear Laganja was uncomfortable and Adore had carried the pair. The ad was totally Adore’s sense of humour, and while it was definitely good, she thought her and Trinity had worked together better. Courtney’s ad was very middle of the pack, but her runway was cute which made up for it at least in Bianca’s mind.

“The winners of this main challenge are..”

Bianca held her breath. She really hoped it was her and Trinity.

“Adore and Laganja.”

What? Are you serious? This could not be happening! Bianca threw her arms down angrily and huffed frustrated. Adore carried Laganja through that entire challenge, and because of that she didn’t think that they deserved the win. Laganja also looked like a wreck on the runway, which angered Bianca even more.

Michelle made a snide comment about their win, and the judges announced that they needed to deliberate. It took everything in Bianca not to stomp all the way back to the Untucked lounge. She definitely needed a drink after that.

Once they all settled into the lounge, a heavy overwhelming energy filled Adore. Someone was pissed about her win, she could feel it. It was almost too much to bear, she sipped her drink quicker than usual and leaned back on the couch.

“First win, mama!” Laganja squawked.

“Please, you did not deserve that win.” Bianca snapped.

“Excuse me? Why not?” Adore asked as she sat up straighter.

“Laganja, really? You got read for your runway look, and you were completely outshined by Adore. It was so obvious she wrote the whole fucking thing. Pair, my ass.”

“So you’re trying to invalidate our win?” Adore snapped.

“Okay Bianca, if you don’t think we should’ve won who do you think should have?” Laganja asked.

“Personally, I think it should’ve been us.”

“Oh hell no-” Adore started.

“Adore, wait.” Courtney interrupted. “Maybe what Bianca is trying to say is, that it should’ve been a tie. I think you guys both did well.”

“Shut up Courtney, don’t speak for me. That’s not what I’m saying. We should’ve won.” Bianca argued annoyed.

Adore grabbed another drink from the tray slyly and started sipping on it even quicker than the first one as she watched Courtney and Bianca argue. She was surprised that Courtney was sticking up for her against Bianca, considering those two were usually bosom buddies. Adore realized that Courtney was looking really attractive in her black and white eleganza look. She scooted her leg a little bit closer to her as Courtney spoke with Bianca and felt the buzz going to her head from the cocktail.

Bianca was getting really annoyed with Courtney. It was clear that Adore basically did all of the work and Laganja sailed through the challenge on her coattails. It was irritating that she was even suggesting the possibility of a tie between the two of them. Trinity had worked her ass off, and wasn’t even getting recognized for how well she did in the challenge.

“Okay, okay maybe I didn’t do as well as Adore. But at least my nails are better.” LaGanja flicked her nails, trying too hard to seem relevant in Adore’s shadow.

“Bitch they’re all tangled!” Adore laughed, brushing up against Courtney ever so slightly. Instead of moving away though, she stayed enjoying the contact from the younger queen. Adore was a very attractive queen, Courtney thought, and she was not opposed to receiving attention from her. Danny was pretty hot out of drag. She liked where this was going.

Eventually Trinity made the decision to move to the silver lounge, taking some of the other girls with her. This left Darienne, Bianca, Adore, and Courtney alone in the gold bar where Adore had managed to sneak a few more drinks. While Bianca and Darienne threw shade, Adore caught Courtney’s eye and felt an unexpected spark. Courtney had really beautiful eyes, Adore realized as she stared deeply into them. She felt her chest warm at the sight of her lips and blushed, smiling as she remembered it wasn’t just them in the room.

Bianca glanced over at Courtney and Adore eye fucking on the couch and felt a sharp pang of rage fill her even more. So this was why Courtney was defending Adore’s main challenge win, it was because she clearly wanted to fuck her. She was irritated that Adore was flirting back with her, and decided that she would just ignore the both of them for the rest of the night.

They got the call to go back to the main stage, where DeLa and Darienne were determined the bottom and neither one ended up getting sent home. The tension throughout the workroom afterward as they de-dragged was intense.

Roy was over it at this point, and just wanted to go home so he was thankful when the shuttle finally pulled up. He usually sat with Shane on the bus, but tonight he didn’t want to be anywhere near him so he took Josh’s hand and dragged him to the back of the shuttle.

Shane raised an eyebrow at Roy sitting with Josh tonight, but shrugged when he realized that he could just sit with Danny and flirt with him some more. Now Adore was in boy form, as Danny, the flirting was even more fun. Shane always felt more flirty as his boy self. Once they all boarded and the conversations enveloped the other queens, Shane leaned a little closer to Danny.

“How have you been dealing with not getting any trade? I’ve been so horny just sitting in my room all by myself.” Shane murmured.

“Girl don’t even get me started it’s so hard!” Danny exclaimed.

Shane smiled faintly, although slightly disappointed that Danny didn’t get the hint and they sat in silence for the rest of the way back.

Roy completely disregarded both Danny and Shane, and went straight to her room near the end of the hallway. Danny rolled his eyes as he hesitated by her door. Today had been extra stressful and Danny really needed something more than a good night’s sleep to help him relax. He noticed Shane had been idling at his door as well. Danny looked around and noticed they were the only two in the hallway. Perfect.

“Hey Court?”

“Yes?”

“Wanna fuck?”

Shane smiled flirtatiously.

“Sure.” he said, grabbing Danny’s face and kissing him.

Danny wrapped his arms around Shane’s waist and pulled him into his room. He couldn’t wait to relieve his tension, and Shane was cute.