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cartoonfangirl1218 · 2 years ago

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Exes and Ohs

Hortensia glanced around the glittering chandelier that was suspended over her head as her senses took in the sights and sounds and salivating smells of Satu’s grand ballroom. Tonight, it was filled to the brim with ambassadors, delegates, and royals to celebrate in a Interkingdom Friendship Celebration Festival. It had been Elena and Julio’s idea to upgrade the Feast of Friendship by inviting curious citizens to see what other kingdoms had in store, to promote tourism and curiosity in other lands. Emperor Toshi was generous enough to offer his kingdom to be the first to host.

Cordoban flamenco dancers wowed the crowd with their lightning steps just after the raucous fiddling of Norburg’s best, soon to be followed by a Marswickian opera group. Satuenese tofu smelled delectable alongside Galdonian latkes and Noctem spices and Avaloran and Parasian chocolate vied to make the most mouths water.

Tongues and accents drifted delightfully around the room as the people danced and mingled, spots of righteous laughter breaking the crowd, creating a warm, joyful atmosphere having all these nationalities in one place. And barring her favorite Navidad sales boom, it was one of the most fun parties Hortensia had been to. It was almost overwhelming with so much to do as well as witnessing the best talents and eating some of the best food.

She had just finished a long conversation with King Juan Ramon who was recounting a conversation he had with a centurion from Tir na Nog, woch was basically a retelling of the country’s numerous wars. While she enjoyed hearing the king’s excitement about it, it also felt like she was living through the Hundred Years War he was telling her about. She wanted to head to the food table where some Avaloran peaches were calling her name.

Hortensia casually glanced around at the brightly-dressed guests, some more sparkly than others like Princess Valentina. That was another thing she enjoyed about this party. All the opportunities for people watching. Like the slightly amusing reaction of the sirenea prince and princess who were tasting spicy Napurna peppers for the first time and ran to douse their tongues. Or King Joaquin getting a tag-team greeting with a big squeeze from Princess Chloe and hearty slap on the back by King Hector.

But the one thing distracting her from all the sights was the mouth watering smell of those peaches. She could practically feel the sweet juice dripping off her chin. She had to have it!

“Sorry Your Majesty, but I’m a little famished-” Hortensia interrupted and King Juan smiled understandingly, “Go and try the carizan pralines, they’re delicious!”

Hortensia made her exit and filled her plate with peaches, tamales and the pralines her uncle suggested. As well as a small helping of chocolate. Avaloran and Paraisan. Although Esteban did not have to know that last part. Even though the two kingdoms were in a steadfast alliance, having buried their feud, the Chancellor still maintained Avaloran chocolate was the best.

Hortensia glanced around looking for the chocolate loving Chancellor and felt an unconscious smile curve her lips when she spotted him. His bright gold blazer was unmistakable among the tables of pastel red and blues. Esteban always managed to separate himself from the crowd.

She manuevered her way through the crowds and found an empty seat beside him. Now would be a good time to goad him about who the better Magister was. Julio may have been reigning for three years and had brought new ideas but she should have the credit for building the foundation for him to go wild with festivals and fluff.

But when she came closer she saw that he was next to their least favorite Paraisan ambassador, Lorenzo Veracruz. Their least favorite as he managed to outpace King Hector in not shutting up ever.

Hortensia raise an eyebrow, conveying everything she didn’t need to say out loud, they just got each other that way. “How long has he been at it?” Esteban raised a matching eyebrow with an eye roll, “Too long.”

Hortensia smiled and tried to calm the feeling of her cheeks blushing. Something that had happened far too often lately. It was annoying.

She didn’t know why but everytime she thought about the history she and Estenan shared, the way they got each other without words like at this moment, she felt warm and happy. Like she was on an inside joke. He was also comfortable, a different sort of comfortableness than what she had with her family in the past nor the same as when she’d gossip with Lady Yolanda and Countess Dolares.

It was the coziness that she could spend the whole day with Esteban and never tire of conversation. Or more accurately arguing and bantering. The security of knowing someone that just ‘got her’ that even though they didn’t have the same pasts and regrets, he understood her and that he’d always have her back, and she for him. It was a great relationship they had.

But she hated the obvious blushing feeling. The spark she felt trailing up her spine when Esteban gave her a look. A look yhat felt like she was the only one present in his world and how she wanted him to look at her like that all the time.

It was veering dangerously close to a crush just like when she was young and first met him, before he opened his mouth. It was ridiculous. They were just friends. They would only be friends.

Not that Esteban would be an awful person to date.

On the contrary, despite the bluster and arrogance Esteban possessed, it was a cleara cover up for his insecurities and guilt. Esteban cared for the people. He had high principles and sense of justice. He lved his family. He stood by his friends now. Plus he was witty and some of his more childish antics just amused her.

So she wasn’t particularly opposed to dating Esteban. . .

But they were friends, she reminded herself.

Esteban only saw her as a friend and that was great. Certainly a step up from their first impressions of each other.

“Oh, Klausa’s here!” Esteban interrupted the ambassador mid-rant and Hortensia’s thoughts, by waving over their heads. Hortensia searched the crowd for the returning wave and saw the blonde flash of hair.

She suddenly remembered who Klausa was. She got up immediately, sure she had the face of someone who stepped in shit but she couldn’t hide it. Esteban knew how she felt about Klausa.

She took a step back and stared suspiciously at the man who was sitting placidly at his seat, “Klausa? Are you lying just because I sat down next to you? If you are-”

“Ello!” A litling Marswickian accent joined the conversation.

Hortensia turned and tried to force a polite smile, a good distraction from her thoughts running after each other. But she was pretty certain that Esteban heard her groan, “No!”

Klausa was tall. That was the first thing that one noticed. She was about Esteban’s height even in flats but her red hair swept into a sophisticated updo gave her added height. Her face looked freshly washed with a glow of healthiness and happiness as if she greeted every day with blue birds helping her get dressed. Such an earnest face.

Her dress mimicked her light aura, colored in shimmering pink pastel with floral motifs, reminding Hortensia of the decorations for springtime festivities and Sweetheart’s Day. But she was a performer to the end, and Klausa’s dress was cut to acce her figure with a low V-cit giving a scandalous glimpse at her lack of underclothes. She wasn’t even classy enough to know that you were supposed to leave something to the imagination.

In her unfavorable opinion, Klausa was an opera singing bimbo that Esteban appreciated more for what came out of her blouse than what came out of her mouth. She was also a complete idiot who believed everyone was her friend. It was so innocently naive and it seemed to charm everyone Klausa met. She despised it.

The worst part was that Klausa didn’t understand sarcasm. Do you know how frustrating it was to insult someone without it? She tried to drive Klausa away by telling her she hated her. The imbecile thought she was joking! She wasn’t joking!

“Hello, Klausa,” Esteban warmly welcomed her, kissing the blonde on the cheek. And Dona was sure it wasn’t imagination when she thought his voice sounded warmer when he said Klausa’s name.

Klausa skipped the kiss on the cheek and pulled Esteban into a big bear hug and kiss.

Esteban, blushing, pulledback. “Um, you remember Dona.”

A mischievous smile, “Avalor’s own Miss Congeniality.”

Klausa’s eyes lit up with delight as she shook Hortensia’s hand, “Congratulations! I didn’t know you were into pagents. Well, I’m sure you did well. Obviously you did well. You got Miss Congeniality! That’s wonderful!”

Really and truly sarcasm-impaired that woman was.

Hortensia grimaced, and it took all her self-control not to stalk off at Klausa’s sincere congratulations. She wasn’t going to let Esteban drive her off like this! If he was going to try to annoy her with this migraine inducing woman she could dish it right back!

“And this is Lorenzo Veracruz, Paraiso’s ambassador to Avalor,” he introduced, which Lorenzo frowned in response at Esteban’s brief introduction, skipping over the man’s full title.

“Wow, Estedan, you know such fascinating people! I mean, a Magister, an ambassador. I could never do what you do.” Klausa shook Lorenzo’s hand and bowed which seemed to soothe Lorenzo’s wounded ego already. These men were so simple.

“Oh, opera is quite difficult too,” Esteban turned the conversation over to Klausa, “What shows have you’ve done lately?”

As Klausa sat down and talked about her arias and the travelling companies she had been part of, Hortensia glared at Esteban, willing him to look at her.

Did he not hear that Klausa called him Estedan? When she had accidentally called Esteban “Estefan” he wouldn’t let up for years! Yet when Klausa distorted his name, he didn’t even correct her! He didn’t mind at all.

This is why she hated Klausa’s presence around Esteban. He acted like a different person.

But he was himself Hortensia knew just from the perfectly curled bangs, spit shined boots, and immaculate yellow blazer. He was always so fastidious in making sure he looked his best. He always looked so suave. So handsome. . .

Hortensia shook that thought from her head.

Was he really that into getting the opera-singing bimbo’s dress that he didn’t care what an idiot she was to not even pronounce a simple name correctly?

Sure, if you heard Esteban tell it, Klausa was a musical genius who knew everything about the profession. Then he’d lecture her about how learning Italian and breath control was no joke, and how many languages did she learn hmm?

Hortensia knew better.

The girl in question had other things than opera in her mind. It was so obvious. Klausa was leaning so forward that she looked in danger of popping a breast out of her dress and Esteban was doing his best to pretend not to notice as his eyes darted from there and back up to her face.

Even as Hortensia reminded herself that she couldn’t let herself get too worked up lest Esteban get his satisfaction, Klausa was just too annoying. The breathless way she talked, no way it could be natural. Especially as she cooed over Esteban’s blazer and nodded in awe as he explained the rules of olaball as if it was as complex as the formula for free capitalist systems was irritating her more. It was obvious what Klausa was thinking in regards to Esteban.

And why shouldn’t she? A rational voice argued in Dona’s head. They hooked up several times before. This is what they do. Talking at the party, he admires her solo and they head to the nearest empty room. That’s fine if it’s what they want. It’s their business.

But she expected Esteban to have better taste than that. This woman was. . . she was so simple. Literally simple in the head. All he could have from her was sex and breathless praise in that high soprano voice.

Sex and praise, how shallow. How simple.

Then again . .

What if Esteban wants some simplicity in his life? A doubting voice whispered in her head.

After all that he’s been through, the isolation, the exile, the continued rumors and still deep-seated feelings of guilt. What if he wanted the praise of someone who thought he did no wrong. Someone who did not have such complex feelings to navigate. Regrets that haunted her.

Regrets like her and who she had become. The constant clash between how she grew up and her hatred of the hypocritical elite who never worked or starved a day in their life like she had. And how she was now, that she had all the money in the world but an empty home. She didn’t allow herself to dwell on those thoughts too much but they lingered. Not that she could ever burden others with it. Especially he who she still argued and disagreed and bantered.

Not that it all mattered. Hortensia wasn’t comparing herself to Klausa. It wasn’t like she wanted to vie for Esteban’s affections.

It was fine they had one night stands. Hortensia considered herself very open about those things. People had short term needs. Hell, she indulged in it once or twice with a handsome stud.

But thinking about Esteban's one night stands.

An acidic, chruning feeling grew in her gut and her teeth grinded instinctively. Then she exhaled. This was a stupid and crazy feeling. She needed a distraction to compose herself back to normalcy.

Away from Klausa and Esteban and thoughts of their history together.

Hortensia gave into her normal choice when it came to Klausa. Stalking off to walk around with more intellectual minds. Not that Esteban noticed. Klausa did, she smiled and waved with her inane face.

She exhaled and inhaled, counting them until she felt herself de-tense. It was fine. She had been ridiculous with those thoughts. She and Klausa were nothing alike and meant different things to Esteban. No need for crazy jealous feelings. Not romantic jealousy Dona told herself, platonic jealousy and irritation of Esteban’s hypocrisy treating Klausa like a goddess when she was a true idiot!

Hortensia inhaled again, trying to assure herself. It was platonic jealousy because there was no way Esteban would want someone who was as complicated and. .

A hand tapped her shoulder and she whirled around to connect with Esteban’s concerned, brown eyes.

“Hey, why did you walk off so quickly?” Esteban asked, “Usually you like to get a few insults in there before leaving with a migraine.” “Oh you noticed I left with Klausa around?” Hortensia sniped, surprised by the edge that came out instead of the retort she meant to say.

Hortensia covered her mouth, a blush spreading up her cheek and down her neck for a very obvious reason this time. This was embarrassing. She hadn’t meant to say something so revealing. As if she wanted Esteban’s attention. She never did. But with Klausa, all these feelings and thoughts that she never had before start springing up. It was so. .

But Esteban did not react with confusion or worse, gloating triumph as Dona thought he would at her catty comment toward his lover.

Esteban bit his lip, thinking like he wanted to word everything he said very carefully. Strange since he was never careful what he said to her.

“Klausa is nice. But she’s. . she’s a good person but trust me, in a room with the two of you. You’d steal the attention everytime.” Hortensia hoped he thought her blush was still flaring in embarrassment because she swore it was becoming deeper by the second as she absorbed those words that were meant to be a rare compliment instead of a backhanded insult.

“But you allow her to call you Estedan.”

Esteban sheepishly rubbed his neck, “She’s Marswickian. It’s sometimes difficult for her to say Avaloran names with an accent.”

Hortensia’s embarrassment disappeared as she raised a doubting eyebrow at him that clearly said, “If she can learn Italian opera with her accent, she can pronounce his name.”

Now Esteban blushed, muttering, “Her accent’s cute.” The acidic feeling came up again but Hortensia pushed it down as Esteban continued to speak, “I used to have some. . . fun nights with her,” he phrased carefully though they both fully knew what that implied, “It was a dark time and she sometimes helped me forget all about that. But I’m not in the same place as before. I have my family now. I’m bettering myself. Everyone knows what I’ve done and some people still stand by me anyway. I have you. . you still give me hell about everything. Yet we have a-a something. I don’t know. We get each other.” Hortensia felt her heart flutter as Esteban sort of put into words what she had been thinking earlier. They got each other.

“I didn’t have that before and now that I do, I certainly wouldn’t trade the pleasure of your company for Klausa’s any day.”

Hortensia smiled, tehs subtext behind his words lifting the tension off her shoulders. Even though she didn’t quite have a handle on her complicated feelings for Esteban at the moment, she didn’t care. He’d rather be with her over Klausa!

Her and their arguments and fights and complexities then go for shallow simplicity.

He had her back. That was enough for her.

#ocs #elena of avalor #estoma #esteban flores #exes and ohs #my fanfic #my fanfiction

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limoteethw · 1 year ago

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We typically go to a Christmas Eve candlelight service in the God bless america except north dakota screw north dakota shirt. Those are crowded but not nearly as packed as the evening services. Then we meet at my sister’s house along with her family, my other sisters and their families, and Mom. Like good Texans we feast on the traditional tamales, accompanied with fresh guacamole, cheese dip, and cold beer. Our kids run around and catch up with their cousins. After dinner it’s Mom’s birthday party! She was born on Christmas Eve. For the last 25 years or so my wife has baked the birthday cake, always with a different recipe. Mom opens her birthday cards and gifts while we enjoy the yummy cake. After that it’s time for the cousins’ gifts. When our children were little all of the adults gave presents to all of the kids. Now that our children are grown they exchange gifts with each other. Sometimes they’re pretty funny. When my nephew completed law school he received an official looking barrister’s wig. He was thrilled. Rome and her provinces were very dependent on the tim.

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But wait a The 1975 Noacf Photo New Shirt . Mars long time ago had the same conditions as earth(flowing water etc) but why did it become like this? All the atmosphere might have washed away by the solar wind . Even now due to solar wind 100grams(not sure of the number) of atmosphere of mars is washed away per year. So even if we now emit green house gases there they are going to be washed away and become useless. But its not happening to earth, because the solar wind cannot reach till the atmosphere , our magnetic feild stops it (yes we first need to pray for that magnetic feild looking at a compass needle). Mars has no magnetic feild (it has local magnetic feilds due to some astroids with metals collided with planet but doesnt work for our purpose). Since there is no magnetic feild all the plan is waste of time. 🙁 . But wait for earth magnetic feild always changes with ti

God bless america except north dakota screw north dakota shirt

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me. So may be the same for mars. Wait for some years (not few) and then mars may develop magnetic feild. One more interesting thing mars doesnt have its own magnetic feild but sun has magnetic feild.

Home Page: Limotees

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ejzah · 2 years ago

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A/N: Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Enjoy some fluff.

***

Thankful Indeed

Thanksgiving 2022 looks a little different this year. Kensi and Deeks decided to keep things simpler this year, in part because of the general chaos of the last several months.

They’re all still sniffling a little from their tangle with the flu, but it’s not enough to keep them from looking forward to Thanksgiving dinner. Of course, they’re having the traditional turkey and mashed potatoes-because Rosa has never experienced the feast in its totality-but they’re also including a few Guatemalan delicacies amongst sweet potatoes and casseroles.

For once, Roberta had consented to sharing the kitchen, and everyone had chipped in. In between crushing up cranberries and oranges, Kensi snapped not-so-discreet pictures of them in action. Deeks knows there’s at least one of Rosa laughing while he sports a dollop of mashed potatoes in his hair which will probably end up hung somewhere around the house.

He doesn’t mind too much because everything else aside, he can’t remember being this happy before.

“Rosa, you never told us what Thanksgiving is like in Guatemala,” Roberta says once they’re all grouped around the table. She efficiently adding a healthy serving of turkey to each of their plates before passing them over to Kensi.

“It’s not a traditional holiday in Guatemala, but many people do celebrate. Though we usually had tamales and pupusas like I made today,” Rosa answers. “And my mom always made a special chicken soup.” Her smile is wistful as it always is when she talks about her mother.

“Oh, well you should have told me and we could have made that instead of turkey.”

“I don’t mind. I’m excited to try out an American thanksgiving dinner. I’ve never had green bean casserole before. Or sweet potatoes with marshmallows.”

“Then you are in for a treat,” Deeks says, spooning a large helping of each onto her plate. “Or, conversely, you’re going to hate us forever.”

“Why would she hate us? Everyone loves green bean casserole,” Kensi comments with a frown like he’s crazy. “Ooh, give me a pupusa. And a roll.”

“This is Kensi’s favorite day of the year,” Deeks stage-whispers to Rosa, who giggles.

“Hey, enough of you two ganging up on me. You’re supposed to be nice on thanksgiving,” Kensi protests.

“Sorry, Kensi,” Rosa says without a hint of remorse.

Deeks grins, getting up to pour little glasses of sparkling grape juice for each of them. Roberta picks hers up with an unimpressed expression.

“You know, a little vodka would really liven things up,” she mutters.

“Mama…”

“I’m just sayin’.” She holds up her hands, but makes a face as she takes a sip from her glass. “Oh Marty, Sweetie, you need some more mashed potatoes.”

“Mom, I’m not exactly wasting away,” he says, but accepts another spoonful of potatoes anyway. It’s not like she’s going to take no for an answer.

“Oh, like you have to worry about that” Kensi scoffs lightly, pinching at his side. She kisses his cheek, looping her arm around his neck. “Not that I would care either way.” With her head leaning on his shoulder, she turns her head towards Rosa and his mom, who is now convincing Rosa to take another roll.

“Even with juggling rides to school, all of us getting sick, and all the other really hard things this year, we have a lot to be thankful for,” Kensi says.

Deeks watches Rosa and Roberta for a moment more. Sees Rosa smile at something Roberta says—knowing his mom it’s probably incredibly inappropriate. It’s everything.

“Yeah,” he agrees softly. “I’m beyond thankful for you, for them.” He kisses Kensi gently. “Happy Thanksgiving, Kens.”

#ncis la fanfiction #densi #marty deeks #kensi blye #rosa reyes #roberta deeks #thanksgiving with the Deeks family #fluff #thanksgiving 2022 #ejzah fanfiction

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setzappersto-pew · 3 years ago

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Holy Puns, Batman!

We all know and love the plentiful puns in Holy Musical B@man!, so I took the liberty of writing down all the puns or play on words. Was it a waste of time? Perhaps...but here it is nonetheless. The vast majority of puns were said by the villains, specifically Sweet Tooth, played by the wonderful Jeff Blim in his electric debut StarKid performance!

First up is all the candy puns, as those are the most fun! Unless otherwise noted, all puns were said by Sweet Tooth. Of the 46 listed, there are 36 that had a corresponding candy pulled; I have put those candies in bold.

"Well well well. Looks like you guys are up to your old Twix!"

"The Joker was a sucker!"

"It's been quite the Spree, hasn't it?"

"More like the peanut gallery"

"Kidnap the mayor and ransom him off for 100 Grand?"

"How many licks does it take to kill you?" [reference to Tootsie Pop, with which Sweet Tooth kills Chilly Willy]

"Now quit your Snickering...”

“...you Airheads."

"We've got a bat in our belfry, and if we ever want it to be Pay Day..."

"See, divided we rogues are just Runts...”

“...but together we pack a Sour Punch.”

"Sorry Batman, but I'm no Gusher." - Penguin

"Godiva good plan."

"Haven't you and Batman enjoyed my latest batch of M&Ms? Murder and Mayhem, there they are."

"Aren't you a Smartie?"

"You're the one who's nutty if you think I'm going to the nut house, my Almond Joy Wonder."

"Bout time we candy coated this Robin's breast red!" - Joe

"We're gonna tear out your Jelly Belly!" - Gob

"You're not going anywhere, Miss Dawes. Gob, stop her [Gobstopper]."

“I'm the only jawbreaker around here." - Robin

"Hand me my Bazooka, Joe." [Bazooka Joe brand gum]

"And I thought I was a gumshoe!" - Robin [gumshoe is another word for detective]

"Your sugar high is over, Sweet Tooth. And you're right about to crash; into Arkham Asylum, that is. Get ready to trade your Peppermint Patty for a padded cell." - Robin

"Doesn't Candy here look good enough to eat? She's my little Sugar Baby!"

"Yeah, and he's my SweeTart!" - Candy

[Miss, did he hurt you?] "No. It felt like a Kiss." - Candy

"What do you say, S.T.? Should we kill him Now or Later?" - Candy

"I have plans for this little Chiclet."

"Take 5, boys!"

"Candy, be a Dove and tell my troops to advance on Gotham Square."

"It's gonna be a Hot Tamale in the old town tonight!"

"The Boy Wonder Ball!"

"Poor Robin. He risks his life trying to be Gotham's Lifesaver..."

"I've devised a little, a little Whatchamacallit, a death trap!"

"Feast your eyes on this: my nuclear Warhead!" [this isn’t a candy pull, but it is still visualized with a prop]

"It's going to be quite the Fun Dip!"

"Skittle me this: will Gotham forsake its heroes, or will its heroes forsake Gotham?"

"So unless Batman betrays you all and shows up at Gotham Square to save his little Nerd..."

"That's the sound of chaos Good & Plenty."

"What are these little Dots?"

"Do it, you Dum Dums!"

"Oops! Butterfingers!"

"Now he's Red Hot!"

"I'm gonna Crunch you in two." - Batman

"Oh come on, Batman. Gimme a break!" [Kit Kat]

"I've got one last treat for you Batman, and it's a real Whopper!"

I’m going to list the rest of the puns by who said them or at whose expense they were said, i.e. what the theme of the pun is.

Catwoman

"Enough pussyfooting, Penguin, and let's get the meeting started meow, shall we? “

“We better catnip this thing in the bud before that mouse with wings sends us all to the pound"

"I hate to let the cat out of the bag, but your two theme is a cat-astrophe!"

"What a positively purr-fect plan!"

"Oh hiss and vinegar, what are we supposed to do meow?"

Mr. Freeze

"Well, isn't this a cool crowd. It is so ice to see you all again."

"Because of Batman, my operations have been put on ice. My assets are frozen."

"Snow way!”

Poison Ivy

"I've been uprooted."

“Leave.”

Scarecrow

"He's giving me an awful fright!"

Penguin

General bird/penguin words like “chick”, “tweets”, “flipper”, “ruffle my feathers”, etc.

"You're a lame duck, and you know it!"

"I'm cock of the walk around here!"

“Fly the coop!"

"Let's get this jailbird back to the cuckoo's nest!" - Robin

Two Face

Every sentence that man says has “two”, “second”, “double”, etc., but they’re not really puns...he’s just staying on brand. So am I going to write down his entire monologue? Nah.

"Two Face, you deuce-bag!" - Poison Ivy

"Get your broke ass out of here, Two Face." - Mr. Freeze

Egghead

"Alright, you turkeys...yeah, egg-cellent!"

"Hey, what the deviled was that?"

"Scramble!"

"We heard you were hatching a scheme, Egghead" "But we've cracked the case!" "It's over" "Yeah, over-easy" - Batman and Robin

Calendar Man

"Now it's time to March to your death!"

"Looks like today's not your lucky day.”

“Boxing Day is comin’ early!”

“I'm gonna punch you weaklings into next month.”

“Come at me, you April Fool!"

"Calendar Man, Your days are numbered!" - Batman

Honorable Mention

Sluggers and Matches, the gangsters played by Nico Ager and Jim Povolo, say this:

"We got lots more racketeerin' to do, yeah yeah yeah!"

"Then it's a good thing I brought...my racket."

#starkid #rewatchers1000 #holy musical b@man

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adashofniallandasprinkleoflunacy · 3 years ago

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one of the girlies moms at work made all of us dinner tonight because of the winter storm she wanted to make sure we were fed at least and my heart 🥺

she made tamales, rice and beans, salsa and flautas, and a whole tres leches cake i’m literally feasting. i usually live off pistachios and an energy drink because i always forget my lunch

Wait that’s so precious 🥺 IM HAPPY YOU FINALLY GOT A GOOD HOME-COOKED MEAL, ITS WHAT YOU DESERVE

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noladyme · 4 years ago

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La Cuervo - Chapter 3

She is used to the biker-life, having grown into a woman in the familiar embrace of SAMCRO. A bad decision and a gun-shot later, she gets whisked off to Santo Padre, and put under the protection of another club. What is supposed to be a short stint in the Mayan headquarters just north of the border to Mexico, turns into something more; when la quervo begins to develop feelings for el angel - and he seems to return them in kind...

TW: violence, blood, drug use, alcohol, smut, fluff, angst

In the spirit of "The Crown Princess of Charming", this is a story about O.C. Nina and Angel Reyes. It is obviously non-canon, as characters who have passed on on Mayans M.C. are present in it, and others have been excluded completely. Nina is written as a cis-female, but I have tried to keep her race and looks as ambigous as possible. Should you find any of this story offensive, please let me know.

Bishop was standing outside the clubhouse, smoking a cigarette, when they rolled in. Nina got off the bike, feeling strangely like a teenager caught breaking curfew. She nodded at the president, and was about to move towards the trailer, when Angel grabbed her hand, and leaned in to kiss her cheek. “Thanks for… last night”, he said. “You too”, Nina said. He gave her a crooked smile, and was about to say something else, when Bishop called out for him. “Angel… Inside. We need to talk”. Angel nodded. “Daddy’s angry”, he muttered out of the corner of his mouth. “Yeah”, she replied, and Angel walked off.

“Yo, sweetheart!”, Bishop called after her, as she once again moved towards the trailer. Nina sighed, and turned to look at him. “I made a promise to Chibs. When you pull a stunt like this, you make it really fucking hard to keep that promise”. Angel halted behind his president, a confused look on his face. “I didn’t leave without a patch”, Nina replied. “Followed your rules”. Bishop narrowed his eyes at her. “His patch ain’t the one you should be worried about…”. Nina swallowed hard, and nodded; though slightly confused at his words. “Ok. Sorry”. Bishop’s expression softened. “Look, just… be careful, ok?”. Nina nodded, and he smirked slightly. “You know, you’re lucky I make him get tested every two weeks”. Angel frowned, and Nina chuckled; before finally turning around, and walking over to the trailer, letting herself inside.

She quickly got dressed in clean clothes. The heat hadn’t exactly waned, so Nina decided to switch jeans for shorts and a top. She reminded herself to ask someone about taking her to a laundromat; not having packed a lot. She’d been told to leave her small apartment at home in as normal a state as possible. In case someone did come looking for her, SAMCRO didn’t want to let them know she’d run. She picked up her jacket to hang it, and a shudder went through her body, as she fished her .38 out of the pocket. It felt heavier than it should, in spite of its smallness, and she felt bile rise in her throat. A hard knock on the door made her jolt, and she quickly hid the gun under her helmet; before she went over to open. EZ was standing outside, with a friendly smile on his face. “’Morning”, he said. “It is”, Nina replied. “I got breakfast-burritos in the clubhouse”, he offered. Nina shook her head with a smile. “You didn’t need to do that”. “I know what’s in my brother’s fridge. I doubt he fed you”, EZ grinned. “Come on”.

She followed the prospect back to the clubhouse, where EZ gestured for her to take a seat by a table. Nina noticed the ginger woman Coco had been spending time with the night before, was seated by the bar; legs crossed and tits pushed out, smiling at the biker, who was trying to ignore her, and focus on his game of pool with Gilly. EZ put a plate on the table in front of Nina, with a delicious smelling burrito. “Gabby… She’s a good cook”, he said, his voice adoring. Nina bit in to it, and couldn’t do anything but agree. “This is delicious. Tell her thanks”, she smiled.

The door to templo opened, and Bishop came out with Taza, Riz and Angel in tow. “She’s business, Angel. You treat her like any other business we have going on”, Bishop said, and walked over to the bar, accepting a beer from the girl behind it. “You wouldn’t shove your dick down the barrel of an mk47, would you?”, Taza asked. Angel stood with his back to Nina, not having noticed her. “It wouldn’t fit, anyway”, he shrugged. “Just, don’t complicate things”, Bishop said. “Bish, it ain’t like that”, Angel said. Bishop looked at him in disbelief. “We fucked, yeah; but…”. Taza noticed Nina watching them, and patted Angel’s shoulder. He turned around, and locked eyes with her; looking like a handsome deer caught in headlights.

Nina looked down, and chewed her lips. At least they were on the same page, she tried to convince herself. She didn’t know Angel from the next guy; all she did know, was that he was damn good in bed, and liked beers, babes and bikes. They’d had sex, that was it. Still, she couldn’t help but feel his words chafe a bit. There was a long moment of silence, before Nina decided to put Angel – and herself– out of their misery. “I was bored, and his shower has good pressure”, she said. Angel let out an embarrassed laugh, and shrugged, while his friends shook their heads, letting a roaring laughter fill the room.

Everyone went about their biker business, and Nina went back to her breakfast; having lost most of her appetite. She wrapped up the burrito, and pushed away the plate. A mug of coffee was set down in front of her, and she looked up to meet EZ’s apologetic eyes. “I’m… sorry, about that”, he muttered. “My brother… he’s a good guy, but…”. “I know how it is. Don’t worry about it”, she smiled in reply. “How is it, then?”, Angel asked, having walked over to them. EZ left them to it. “I got an itch scratched, and you got your dick wet. Life goes on”, Nina said. Angel made a labored sigh, and scratched his bearded chin. “Look, Nina. I’m…”. She got on her feet, and put a hand on his arm. “It’s fine, Angel. We’re good”, she smiled, and got on her toes, to kiss his cheek; doing her best to avoid enjoying his scent. “We had fun”. He chewed his lip for a moment. “Yeah, we had fun…”. Taza called for him, and Angel took a step back. “I gotta go take care of something. See you around, Nina”. He went off to talk to the VP.

Nina took a few sips of her coffee, before walking over to get behind the bar. She smiled friendlily at the blonde girl standing there – the same girl, in fact, that Angel had turned down the night before – who looked at her indifferently, and handed her a rag to wipe down the counter. This was familiar territory, and she smiled to herself, as she handed a pair of cold ones to Gilly and Coco; who’d finished their game, and came over to the bar. The redhead immediately pressed up against Coco, who looked like he wanted to dig himself into a deep hole. “Can I get you anything else, baby?”, she asked, making clear her intentions. “Nah, I’m good. Let me talk to my brothers for a moment, yeah?”, he replied. “Sure… I’m just gonna go fix my lipstick”, the woman winked at him, and walked towards the bathroom. “When’s the wedding?”, Gilly asked. “Fuck you”, Coco snarled, before nodding at Letty, who’d just walked in the door – looking hungover. “I can’t get her to leave”. “Who?”, Letty asked, and accepted a coke from Nina. “Just some chick. I told her the deal, but it’s like she didn’t hear me”, Coco said.

Letty rolled her eyes, and gave the woman a once over, as she came back from the bathroom. When she was once again pressed against Coco – who was looking more and more uncomfortable by the second – Letty took pity on him, and walked over to the pair; putting her head on Coco’s shoulder. “Are you my new mommy?”, she smiled innocently at the ginger; who froze in place. Suddenly, it was like she couldn’t get out of there fast enough. “Sorry, I gotta go”, she muttered, and scuttered of in haste. Coco smiled crookedly, and shook his head. “You’re crazy, mija”, he said. “Nah, I just don’t want a stepmom, who wears that shade of lipstick”, Letty said, and went back to her coke.

Bishop cleared his throat. “Well, if everyone’s got their dicks back in their pants, we got some business to tend to”, he said. The Mayans all scattered, and went to their respective jobs around the yard, and wherever else they went, when they did their business.

---

Nina spent the rest of the day getting her bearings around the scrap-yard, and its office. Chucky’s filing-system might have seemed chaotic to anyone else, but Nina knew it well, and was happy to be occupied with something other than thinking about a certain Mayan and his well-shaped body – especially how it looked naked. A gorgeous Latina girl showed up in the afternoon, carrying a fantastic smelling bag of Tupperware, and looking for EZ; and Nina was finally introduced to the person who had made her delicious breakfast. She immediately understood why EZ was smitten with Gabby, and couldn’t help but smile at the sight of the two of them dancing around each other like a pair of puppies in love. They took off after an hour or so, so EZ could drive Gabriella home. He returned with the largest smile she’d ever seen on anyone’s face, and went straight to work on a road king in the garage.

During dinner, feasting on Gabby’s delicious tamales with EZ, Nina asked about laundromats. “There’s one, but there’s only one functioning dryer, and it smells like feet”, EZ said. “I can wait a few days, but I still need to go at some point”, Nina said. “And I need to get a prescription filled. That’s kind of urgent”. Her inhaler was almost empty, she’d realized that morning. A roar of bikes came from outside, and Nina got on her feet, taking the plates to wash them behind the bar. EZ followed her, nodding at Bishop, Riz and Angel, as they entered the clubhouse. “Drug-stores round here are closed at this time of night, but I’ll ask Bishop if I can take you in the morning”, he said. Nina groaned, and looked out the corner of her eye at the president. “It’s like needing a fucking hall-pass if I even think about leaving this place”, she muttered. EZ chuckled, and wiped off the plates after she’d washed them. “Yeah, why is that? Are you on the run from the cops or something?”. Nina looked down at her hands, suddenly feeling the need to wash them thoroughly. Scrubbing them hard under the tap, she shrugged indifferently. “Chibs is just protective, I guess. And I hear this area is overrun by outlaw bikers”. “You know it!”, Riz exclaimed, having arrived at the counter with Angel. “Coffee, please; sweetheart. I’m gonna be spending the night prepping for the run tomorrow”. Nina poured Riz a mug, and looked at Angel. “Dos Equis”, he said, his demeanor cool. Nina served him the beer, avoiding eye-contact.

“Do you need me for the run tomorrow?”, EZ asked. “No. Why?”, Riz asked. “Nina needs to take care of some stuff in town, and I was gonna take her”. Angel took a sip of his beer, and looked between Nina and EZ. “What stuff?”, he said with an edge to his voice. EZ scoffed, and shook his head. “Bro, come on…”, he said. Riz raised his brows, and backed away from the counter; obviously uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was taking. “The drug-store, Angel. And then we might go have an orgy; I haven’t decided yet”, Nina said sarcastically. Angel raised his hands in mock defeat. “Hey, Bish told us to look out for you. I’m just keeping my eyes on business here”. “Yeah… I’m gonna turn in. See you tomorrow, EZ”. The prospect looked at her apologetically. “I’ll talk to Bishop”, he said. Nina nodded, and walked towards the door.

A strong hand grabbed her lower arm before she could walk outside. Nina scowled up at Angel, who looked remorsefully at her. “I’m sorry, Nina. That was shitty of me”, he said. “Don’t worry about it. You should be sorrier about suggesting that your brother would cheat on his girlfriend”, she replied. Angel looked back at EZ, and nodded solemnly. “Yeah. I know”, he muttered. “Are we good, cuervo?”. “Of course”, Nina said. “Goodnight, Angel”. She pulled out of his grasp, and left the clubhouse.

---

The next day, Taza, Riz, Creeper, Angel and Coco got on their bikes, and in a van, to go north for the SAMCRO-delivery. “Say hi to Rat and Quinn for me, would you?”, Nina said from the porch, unable to hide the sadness in her voice. “Will do”, Taza promised, and started his bike. “Let’s not keep reaper waiting”. Angel sent Nina a slight smile, before Coco patted his shoulder to make him start the van.

EZ had managed to convince Bishop of the urgency of Nina’s drug-store run, and after helping out at the office for a few hours, she got on the back of his bike, to have him take her in to town. Angel had lied about his brother’s ability to ride with a passenger – a fact that didn’t surprise Nina, by the way – because he was probably the safest driver she’d ever ridden with. Overly safe, some might say. The prospect avoided every bump, and kept well bellow the speed-limit all the way.

After Nina had used her fake ID – No paper trail, luv, Filip had said – to get her new inhaler, EZ asked if she’d be ok with a short stop by his pap’s. Nina couldn’t say no to meeting the elder Reyes; curious to see what kind of man had sired two such different men. Seeing Gabriella behind the counter of Felipe Reyes’ butcher-shop, Nina understood the prospect’s real reason for wanting to visit his father; though there was no lack of love between him and Felipe, that much was evident by the way they looked at each other.

“She’s playing pop-music again, Ezekiel”, Felipe said, gesturing at a small stereo that was blaring the charts, as he came over to greet his son. “Amas mi musica”, Gabby grinned. “Hi, Nina”. “Hey, Gabby. Thanks for all the food!”, Nina replied with a smile. “You’re welcome”. After EZ had kissed his girlfriend’s cheek, he gestured towards Nina. “Pap, this is Nina. She’s new in town”. Felipe shook Nina’s hand. “Is my boy giving you a tour of the potholes?”, he asked. “No, he’s the most boring biker I’ve ever ridden with”, she replied with a smile, getting a guffawing laughter from the man. “See, EZ? I told you!”, Gabby grinned. “Hey!”, EZ laughed. “I’m just safe”. “Boring!”, Gabby said.

As EZ and Gabriella went to whisper sweet nothings behind the counter, Nina went to examine the bookcase Felipe had exhibited in his shop. “Looking for some light reading?”, Felipe asked. “Always… And, giving the lovebirds some space”, Nina replied, and looked towards the smiling pair behind the counter. She picked up a picture of two smiling boys, each on a bicycle; smiling proudly at the camera. For a second, she felt a sting in her heart. “That’s EZ”, Felipe said, and pointed at the smaller boy. “And the other one is my eldest”. “Angel”, Nina said. Felipe chuckled. “You’ve met him”, he said. “I’m staying at the scrapyard”, she replied. Felipe raised a brow at her. “You’re the one who has EZ sleeping on my couch”. Nina felt her cheeks beginning to burn, and put down the picture again. “Yeah, I’m… sorry”, she said. “Don’t be. It’s good to have him home at least some of the time. That… club, takes up a lot of his time”. Nina chewed her lips for a moment. “You don’t like the club”, she said. Felipe met her eyes for a second, looking tired suddenly. “Sorry, it’s not my place”, she muttered. “No… No, it’s alright”, he said, a smile forcing it’s way onto his face. “I suppose all parents have higher hopes for their children, than…”. “Riding around on motorbikes, and wearing leather in the 100 degrees desert sun?”, Nina said, returning his smile. “That too”, Felipe said. “Are you what they call a… hangaround?”. Nina’s jaw almost dropped to the floor. “Pap, that’s rude”, EZ said, having joined them by the bookcase. “I’m sorry, Nina. I’m not clear on the lingo”, Felipe said. Nina laughed heartily. “It’s fine. Really”, she said. “I guess I am. Sort of. It’s a long story”.

EZ put a hand on Nina’s shoulder. “Angel called. They’re on their way back. We should get back to the yard”. Nina nodded, and went to follow him to the door. “Come back some time if you need something to read”, Felipe said. “Or a steak”. “I might take you up on that”, Nina smiled, and followed EZ out to his bike.

They rode back to the yard; this time with EZ hitting a few bumps on the way there.

---

The Mayans that had gone on the run returned to the clubhouse shortly after Nina and EZ. She got right to work behind the bar. It was easy to fall in line as a club hangaround; Nina knew the deal. Serve the beer, keep out of the way, smile, and pretend like you don’t hear or see any of the illegal stuff going on. Her role also made it easier to avoid eye contact with Angel. She was, for lack of a better word, furniture. It hadn’t been completely the same in Charming, though. There, she’d been far from the regular hangaround, and her status as family made it near impossible for her to be a croweater – god knows, Juice had tried, in his day. The memory of the biker made her frown in sadness for a second, before she shook herself, and served a round of whiskey to a Riz, Creeper and Angel; accepting a shot herself.

“Oh yeah. That scrawny guy, Rat, brought something you forgot at their clubhouse”, Riz said. He handed her a leather-bound journal. Nina sighed when she took it from him. She hadn’t as much forgotten it, as left it behind; telling herself it was by accident. Opening it was always a strange mix of warm emotions and pain. “Thanks”, she muttered. “Is it a diary, or something?”, Creeper asked. “It’s… yeah, something like that”. “Yours? Like; dear diary. Today I drank too much tequila, and lost my panties…”, he jeered. Getting a little tired of Creepers attitude, she smirked at him. “More like; dear diary. Today, a stupid ass biker kept bringing up an embarrassing drunk-story; so, I shot him in the head…”. Her heart dropped as she said the final words, and she cleared her throat. Riz and Creeper laughed at what they found to be a great come-back, while Angel seemed less amused, as he examined her face. She gave them all a strained smile. “I’m gonna go get some air. Leave you gentlemen to it”, she said, grabbed the journal, a cigarette and a lighter, and hurried out of the clubhouse.

Once outside, she went over to the cage she’d been told the club settled their internal arguments in. It was cooler now, and the sky was full of stars. She went inside the cage, and sat down on the ground; lighting her cigarette, before opening the journal. For a long moment, she just sat there, looking at the picture fastened to the inside of it; of two young boys, smiling. The youngest one was sitting on the back of a pony, that the older one was holding the reins of.

“You want me to kick Creep’s ass for you?”. Nina looked up at Angel, who’d followed her outside. He stepped inside the cage, and leaned against the fence. “I’ll fuck him up. I don’t care if he is a brother”. “No, it’s fine. He was just joking around”, Nina replied. Angel sauntered towards her slowly. “He’s trying to get in your pants, querida”, he said. “Well, add enough tequila to the equation, maybe he’s got a shot”. She raised a brow at the tall biker. “Ouch… Moving on so soon, cuervo?”, Angel said with a slight smile. “Jealous?”, she teased. “Always”, he replied – exactly as she’d hoped – and sat down next to her.

For a long moment, all that could be heard was the sound of cicadas. Angel ran a finger over the picture of Abel and Thomas. “These your kids?”, he asked quietly. “No… But, they’re family. Sort of”, Nina replied. “You got kids?”. “I fucking hope not”, Angel grinned. “I’d just screw them up”. “You’re not so bad”, she said, and nudged him with her shoulder. “Mind telling my pap that?”. Nina raised a brow at him, not wanting to push him to talk about something he wasn’t comfortable with. He took the journal out of her hands, and looked at the two smiling boys in the picture. “Family, you know. Shit… My old man looks at EZ like he’s the sun and moon combined. Me… I’m the fuckup. Even more now, that I dragged his golden boy in to the club”. “EZ’s a big boy. He makes his own decisions… we all do, at the end of the day”, Nina said, and took back the journal. She took a few huffs of her cigarette. “You look at him that way too, you know”. “I do?”, Angel frowned. “Fuck, I hope he hasn’t noticed”. “It’s not wrong to be proud of someone worthy of it. And in spite of your… bad-boy demeanor, he seems to be proud of you as well”.

Angel pondered her words for a moment, before looking at her “Sorry, I was supposed to make you feel better. That’s why I came out here. I saw how you looked when Creeper was talking about that thing”, he said, and nodded towards the journal. “It’s ok”, Nina said, and closed it; hugging it against her chest. “I’m just protective of it, is all”. “Like with the helmet?”, he asked. Nina nodded. “You wanna tell me about it?”. “What?”, she whispered. “Those kids… Whoever you got that helmet from… Why we’re sitting on you here, like you’re under witness protection or something…?”. He nudged her shoulder like she had his, and smiled a little. His expression was warm, like he actually cared about what she had to say. The closeness between them felt dangerous, at the same time as it felt perfectly safe, and right.

Nina took a breath, and was about to shrug him of – give him some half story, about being friendly with SAMCRO – when she met Angel’s eyes. His gaze was earnest; trustworthy, even. “The helmet used to belong to my… someone I used to be really close to. Those are his kids in the picture…”, she said. “I’m holding on to this until they get older. He asked me to give it to them when they're old enough to read it”. “And he died?”, Angel said. “Crashed his bike into an oncoming truck…”, she said. “Shit… I’m sorry. Who was he to you?”. Nina sighed, and smiled softly. “The sun and moon combined”, she said. “Your brother?”, Angel asked confusedly. “Not biologically”, Nina chuckled. “But he took care of me. Treated me like a sister. After he died, the club still kept me close, like family”. “So, you have a whole club of family back in Charming. Why leave?”, Angel asked. Nina’s throat instantly went dry, and she looked at the ground. “A bad break-up”, she replied, her voice breaking. “I needed a fresh start”. Angel didn’t question her; merely seemed to accept her words for truth, and moved on.

They sat in silence for a moment longer, before he suddenly looked like he was beginning to put two and two together. “Your… brother. He was SAMCRO…”. She nodded. “And he crashed headfirst into a truck”. “Yeah…”, Nina whispered, the air thick with the truth being exposed. “Holy shit… I fucked Jackson Teller’s baby sis!”, Angel exclaimed. Nina felt her stomach churn at his words. “That’s like… royalty! I should get my dick silvered or something”. Nina stubbed out her cigarette. “If he was still around, he’d probably do it himself; while it was still attached to you”. Angel winced. “Shit, yeah. That man had a reputation. He was like the boogeyman to Mayan prospects in my day. I heard that one time, he shot a guy in both legs for pinching some hangaround chick’s ass”. “He didn’t shoot him, he just broke all his fingers”, Nina muttered. Angel’s eyes widened. “That was your ass, huh…”, he said, more as a statement, than a question. “It wasn’t Chucky, was it? Is that why he’s got those…”. He wiggled his fingers in the air. “No… That was something else…”, Nina replied. “Jax wasn’t just that, though. He was a good man”. Angel nodded. “Yeah, I heard that, too”. He studied her face for a long moment. “You loved him”, he said, finally. “Like, loved him”. Nina looked confusedly at him, before she caught his meaning. “What? No…! He was family. Just that”, she replied truthfully. Angel smiled crookedly. “Good. It ain’t easy fighting a ghost over a girl”, he said.

Nina felt a smile tug at her lips, but wasn’t ready to be sweet-talked by the guy who’d openly admitted she was a one-night stand, just the day before. “I thought we agreed what this was…”, she said. “Did we? I didn’t agree to anything”. He raised his brows at her, and smiled wryly. “What happened to consent?”. “That’s not how that works”, Nina laughed. “Let’s agree to disagree about that, ma'”, Angel said. Nina sighed deeply. “You told Bishop; we fucked, yeah. But… “. Angel looked taken aback. “Are you like my brother or something? Do you remember everything?”. “I remember that”, Nina said, a slight edge to her voice. Angel frowned at her. “You never considered maybe I was about to say; we fucked, yeah. But I like this girl? Or; this girl is different?”. “You were probably about to say; she gives good head”, Nina scoffed. “You don’t know me well enough to like me, or think I’m special”. “We could change that”, Angel said. “Spend some time together… I get that you’re just passing through, and that you kind of belong to another club, because of this thing with Teller, but…”.

Nina felt a sudden rage bubble through her. “I’m not a goddamn trophy!”, she hissed. “You don’t get to use me like some big fuck you to SAMCRO, for tapping one of their girls. Fuck that!” “That’s not what I’m saying", Angel said. Nina got to her feet and backed away from him. Her breath was catching, and she felt an oncoming asthma-attack. She often got them when got upset, but couldn’t find it in herself to calm down. “Don’t try to bullshit me. I know guys like you; measuring your pride in the amount of pussy you can get to climb on the back of your bike”. She didn’t realize the harshness of her words, before she saw Angel’s expression. He got on his feet himself, and looked at her with hard eyes. “You should be careful sitting out here, Nina" he said, and looked at the cage-fence surrounding them. “Someone might thing you’re gunning for a fight". While Nina stood frozen in place, he walked out of the cage, and got on his bike; driving out of the lot.

“Fuck!”, she growled at herself, and stumbled towards the trailer. Once inside, she scrambled to find her inhaler, and took a hit; feeling her lungs return to normal function. “Fuck…”, she repeated, and collapsed on the cot; clutching the journal in her arms.

---

#angel reyes #angel reyes fic #angel reyes x oc #mayans mc #mayans mc fic #ez reyes #coco cruz

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benhardypout-archive · 4 years ago

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004. thank you, alex

a/n: so this is one of my Wonty "comfort fics" - so it's far from canon or never followed the original plot - which i would probably never publish (unless there's one i would like to share), but this time in this fic which i titled "Dirty Little Secret", I'm just going to post some chapters which I enjoyed writing. So the number is the chapter of this fic, and this is the chapter 4, hence, 004. Enjoy reading! 🙈

Perhaps, my crush on Monty was getting out of hand.

I flipped through the Liberty yearbook which Tyler lent me only to feast my eyes over the photos of the guy in Jersey no. 32 through the weekend, as I sat on the floor with my back against the bed.

Montgomery de la Cruz, I chanted in my head, reading his name printed in bold letters.

I stopped by a certain picture of his, running my fingers over the glossy paper, tracing his face. Tyler was lucky to have taken this rare shot of him smiling beautifully like this; those white teeth showing. He was leaning back and wearing a blue tank top. For once, he looked really happy…

I should probably ask Tyler the story behind this shot.

My phone rang a message.

I, mindlessly, searched for it, not keeping my eyes away from the image. I could feel my heart expanding by this simple picture of him.

Bringing my phone to my face, there’s a message from Alex: U free this afternoon?

Basically, I'm free for the whole day.

I typed a quick reply: Yes.

And not long after, Alex texted back asking us to meet up at this mall, only a five minute drive.

I wonder if this hang out thing meant anything or just platonic. Anyway, Alex seemed nice. I would love to get to know him more and perhaps get acquainted.

Looking back to the yearbook, I'm so tempted to cut the picture. Or maybe I could just ask Tyler just give me this specific yearbook, like a gift.

* * *

Alex took me bowling. And I'm not so good with the game but so far I'm having fun.

"You're so good at this," I said as Alex hit another strike.

He smiled. "Nah."

"Now, don't be modest on me," I chuckled lightly and took a bowling ball from the rack and positioned it on my hand, adjusting to its weight. Walking by the lane, I put on a stance and ran my tongue over my lower lip, aiming for a strike. Not that I'm expecting to hit one, which of course didn't happen. I looked at Alex, throwing my hands in defeat. "No, not good at this."

Alex went to hit next and of course, another strike. He raises both his arms dramatically and spun around facing me, smiling victoriously, cocking a brow.

"I give up!" I chuckled and sat down by the bench.

"You're named Winston for a reason," Alex commented, sitting beside me.

"What does that mean?"

"Winston, like Winner. Root word, win."

I laughed, throwing my head back a little. "Damn. I think I'm not doing my name justice, then."

"Practice makes perfect."

"Let's just eat. I'm starving."

"Sure."

We walked aimlessly along the mall in silence, with a few side comments about the boutiques or the shops we passed on. Then we saw and spotted some familiar faces. Well, Alex introduced me to some of them, simply pointing from afar and telling their names, since I barely knew anyone from Liberty yet, who also worked here.

Then my stomach decided to embarrass me and did a growl as we reached the food court.

“Someone’s whining,” Alex retorted.

“I know right.”

Since it’s the afternoon, there’s a lot of tables to choose from, not to mention, stalls without queues. A lot of options for us. But we just settled on some corn dogs.

"We should see some movie some time," Alex suggested. "How about tomorrow?"

"Oh, okay." I thought back if I had plans. Is looking at pictures of Monty in the yearbook counted as one?

He smiled and told me the time and rendezvous. And then added, "I-it's a date,"

I blinked. "A d-date?"

"I meant friendly date," he quickly clarified, faking a smile. I could see dejection in his eyes.

I wanted to apologize but perhaps I’m just overthinking the situation and putting meaning on how Alex was acting the past days. I may try to brush it off and act like I’m not noticing anything, but it’s there. Yet, he said so himself ‘friendly date’, maybe he really just meant us to be friendly.

"So you like someone else?" Alex asked after a moment which of course caught me off guard. I should’ve expected that question to come. I almost coughed my Coke out. Good thing, I had swallowed it down. My heart began to skip.

Should I tell him?

I avoided his gaze, and took another sip on my drink. "Uhm… yes," I said in a low voice.

"Oh…. right. Of course."

"Alex-"

"I-I'm just asking," Alex cut me off. Though, I’m afraid I’m already ruining this budding friendship and it’s the last thing I wanted. But, if he ever decides and calls off our little friendly movie date, I'd understand.

"I… Maybe I just need some company," he went on, resting his arms on the table as if for comfort. "And I… I actually like Zach," he glanced at me.

Zach. Oh. I know him.

"I kissed him," he murmured so low I almost didn’t catch it. Then he snorted, lightly. "But… of course he said he's straight."

"I'm sorry," I said in empathy. I wanted to reach for his hands but then decided against it. Then a scenario flashed in my head where I kissed Monty and then he said the same thing-- Ouch!

"It's all right. Thanks for going out with me, and listening." Alex interrupted, saving me from my disastrous thoughts.

I nodded. But then... he asked the question I’m shit scared to answer.

"May I ask who you like?"

Fuck...

I shifted on my seat. "Oh… uhm…It's..." I looked at him, warily. He was indifferent… yet. Wait till you hear this.

With a deep shaky breath I say, "Monty."

* * *

No words had been spoken since, besides the sensational "What the… fuck?" reaction from Alex who wavered before saying the word. And an awkward "Yep" from me, popping the 'p'.

We just went to our own cars and left after.

I'm sure Alex hated me now, or worse, despised me.

I knew it.

Maybe liking Monty would make you lose some friends-- lose some potential friends, rather. We're not even friends.

Was that what Monty meant when he said I got no friends here, as his own experience? Because people didn't like him?

I received a text from Alex later that night, apologizing from how he reacted. Which relieved me a hundred fold. And then he added…

Alex: But… Monty? I just can't believe it! And I think he's as straight as a ruler.

Winston: It's all right. Still a plastic ruler can be bent.

Alex: Correction. Wooden ruler. It just breaks in half, and he'll just break you.

Okay, I couldn't argue with that.

Winston: I guess. But could you keep a promise not to tell anyone?

Alex: Ok

Winston: Thanks.

Alex: So tomorrow. Same time. Same place. And move on from Monty. There's far better guys than that asshole.

Hope it's that easy…

* * *

I'm glad that Alex didn't change towards me. He still smiled and spoke to me as if I didn't tell him something, which he found horrible.

After buying two movie tickets, we went to the snack bar to buy some popcorn.

"Oh you gotta be kidding me." I heard Alex mutter under his breath, causing me to turn and follow his gaze, only for my world to stop, seeing Monty by the entrance.

I forgot the ability to move until Alex nudged me. I blinked and turned to him. He has this amused smile.

"Seriously, Winston, close your fucking mouth. Some fly would literally rent in there."

I blushed, and sneaked another glance at Monty, longer than necessary, then to the other jocks he’s with. They’re standing by the ticket booth. I shifted closer to Alex and poked his side. "Zach's among them."

"I know. I hate it." Alex then stepped forward as it's our turn. "Two medium-sized popcorn please. Plain... And two cokes?" He told the guy behind the counter and turned to me.

"Coke," I confirmed.

And he went on ordering. But half of my attention was on the noise from the jocks. God… I couldn't believe I would see Monty here.

Oh, fuck.

I desperately searched for any mirror or any surface where I could see my reflection and fixed my hair as I saw them making their way towards us!!!

"Hi, Alex." Zach said beside me. I, discreetly, give Alex another nudge.

Alex barely glanced. "Hi."

"Zachy, I'm gonna have these Hot Tamales," Monty announced, tapping his fingers on the glass display counters, pointing over the Hot Tamales candy bars wrapped in red.

He caught my gaze and it was too late to retrieve my eyes back. So, I threw a soft smile at him, hoping I wasn’t too obvious about my loud attraction.

"Hey, Winston. You and Alex on a date?" he asked instead, and I swore I felt blood rush through my cheeks.

"N-no," I shook my head at once.

"What about you and Zach, Monty? You guys on a date?" Alex cuts in.

"Yeah. Actually it's the four of us, Scott and Charlie."

Scott and Charlie smiled and waved, making Alex roll his eyes.

Zach cleared his throat and looked at Alex. I guessed that maybe he wanted to speak to him… alone, so being a good friend as I am, I stepped aside and took the chance to stand beside Monty. But I made sure to be discreet and just tapped my fingers against the counter, my eyes fixated at the menu posted in front.

Zach whispered something to Alex and I could only catch a few words like 'mad' and 'me', giving me enough hint of what he's saying.

I tensed feeling Monty moved closer to me. "Never thought I'd see you here."

I blushed and glanced at him. "Yeah. Small world."

Then he asked me if we’re going to watch the same movie. A horror one.

“I think we should just sit together, then." Monty suggested, glancing over to Zach and Alex. "Especially, it looks like Zach and Alex have something to talk about."

I chuckled, "Sure." Would love to sit next to you.

"Winston," I heard Alex called and saw that our popcorn was ready. I took one last glance at Monty and uttered a "See you later," before making my way back to Alex.

"What did Zach tell you?" I whispered as we made our way inside the cinema.

"He wants to talk. I said yes."

I just hummed.

"Dammit, Winston. I still like him and I hate it," Alex whined a moment later, making me smile.

We took the seat in the middle section, since it's not too far and not too close, and we could watch properly. Different trailers were being shown and I noticed that there were only a few cinema-goers or maybe only few wanted to see this movie.

Later, I spotted Monty and the group inside looking for a seat, so I gave a secret wave at them, specifically, at Monty. He called his friends after he saw me. Then they made their way to us. I hid a smile. My heart wouldn't shut up about it, and it literally wanted to jump off my chest when Monty took the seat next to me.

Calm down, Winston. I’m afraid he could hear it from here, screaming his name.

Zach tried and asked Alex if he could sit beside him, only receiving a nod from Alex. But I could practically read his mind regretting taking the middle seats, when we could just take the space on either right or left wing, and have all the spaces on our own.

"Are you following me?" I heard Alex mumble to Zach.

"No. I… Monty pointed us here and…maybe I did, by deciding to sit next to you," Zach admitted.

I decided and just diverted my attention to Monty and his Hot Tamales. "Does that taste good?"

"You wanna taste?" He gestured one to my direction. I swallowed, not expecting his sudden offer. Or maybe it's because his shoulder brushed against mine.

"N-no. Thanks."

"Come on," Monty began tearing one package open and handed it to me, "Have some."

I glanced at him and reluctantly reached, staring intently at his hand, tempting to hold it.

"No, don't taste that." One of the jocks interrupted. I stopped. "You will get addicted," he added, grinning.

"Oh, fuck off, Charlie," Monty waved. "Come on. Gimme your hand."

"You're not trying to poison me, are you?" I tried to joke.

And I blushed seeing his boyish smile. "Oh no. It's a love potion," he winked.

Now that sent me. If I happen to be an ice, I've melted by now.

You don't need to give me any love potion, Monty. I wanted to say.

With a trembling hand, I held my palm out and he poured some on it. I uttered a thanks and put everything in my mouth, letting it melt in my tongue.

Charlie was right, it's kind of addicting.

"So?"

"I think I'm in love," I blurted, not breaking eye contact.

He looked away.

Oh no! Wrong move, Winston.

"I mean your friend's right. It's addicting."

He turned back to me and smiled. "I know right." He, then, handed me the Hot Tamales. “Here, have it.”

It would be a shame to take his offer down, so I just took it, our fingers brushing; enough to send electricity down my body. I wondered if he felt it too.

Wishful thinking, Winston.

"Why are you taking Monty's food? It might be contaminated," Alex whispered.

I shrugged him off and offered it to him. "You should try."

"No thanks."

I couldn't help but find Alex's distaste towards Monty, funny. Even though I shouldn't. But I'm afraid I might continue teasing him about it.

The movie finally started. And it's supposed to be scary as it's a horror film. But I'm not a bit scared. However, I'm tempted to hold Monty's hand that was on the armrest between us. But more tempted to pull the armrest up and just lean onto him. Maybe act scared?

As he took his hand away to get some popcorn - since I decided to share my popcorn with him and his friends, who I now know the names of: Charlie and Scott - I, sneakily, placed my hand on the armrest in hopes to be held by him.

Sadly, after he took a handful of popcorn he didn't put his hand back, but my hand stayed where it was. And I just forgot all my attempts on flirting.

"Holy shit!" he exclaimed.

And I tensed not because the scene was scary but because his hand, finally, landed on mine. I hid a smile. And when I thought he would notice and take it away, he didn't, and just stayed there. Though, I wasn't sure if he was ever aware of our hands, or he's too focused on the movie to even notice.

My heart pounded so loud, I could barely hear the show, and could hardly concentrate on it, blocking everything around me but only his presence. I’m only aware of the warmth and the weight of his hand on mine, making my throat dry. I just dreamt of kissing him, or simply lean on him, and embrace more of his scent.

Ugh! Shut it, Winston. Try and hold yourself together.

But how, when he’s close like this? Needless to say, his hand on mine?

The movie just ended without me really understanding everything that happened.

Monty made some comments about it, asking me some of it as soon as we got out to the lobby. I just nodded along, agreeing with everything he said. But Charlie argued with him and they went on, leaving me completely clueless, even though we all watched it together. I should've tried and focused on the show, so I could have a proper conversation with him. But until now, the heat of his hand pricked on my skin.

"Winston," Alex called, and began to walk. I hesitated and followed him outside, not giving me the chance to say goodbye to Monty and his friends.

"Are you alright on your own?" he asked

I frowned, blinking once. "Y-yeah."

"I need to go with Zach," he glanced at Zach, who’s busy chatting or probably saying parting words with his buddies, and rolled his eyes back to me. "Said he wants to talk."

"Oh. Sure."

"Again, beware of Monty. Don't be fooled by his good looks."

"So, you admit he looks good."

Alex stammered but soon gave up, sighing. "Whatever Winston. Don't say, I didn't warn you."

"Okay. Have fun with Zach." I gave his shoulder a pat. "And thanks for inviting me. I really had fun," I smiled.

Alex had to roll his eyes again. "I think I know why."

#13rwedit #13rw #wonty #winston williams #montgomery de la cruz #alex standall #zach dempsey #13 reasons why #zalex #winston x monty #zach x alex #*writings #*wonty #*wonty:dirtylittlesecret #*excerpt #otp:igotthegoodsideofyou #*2021 #hope you guyss like!!!! ♥

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pynkhues · 4 years ago

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Hello! How are you? You’re probably sick of this question lol but was just wondering if you know when you’ll post the next chapter of the Brio Christmas fic? I’m hooked on the C&C universe and always look forward to anything you post in that installment!

Hey! I’m good today actually, anon, thank you for asking! Melbourne’s back into lockdown which sucks, but I did a virtual Pilates class this morning, rang a friend for her birthday and did some gardening while listening to a really fun podcast about scammers, so I’m feeling pretty relaxed which is a really nice, especially after an exhausting few days.

I’m hoping to get the next chapter up really soon! I ended up changing something in my edits which meant I had to rearrange and re-write a few things, but I’m really happy with how it’s shaping up now. I’m planning on working on it this afternoon after I finish a little prompt fill ficlet, and seeing where I get to. But yes! Hopefully soon! I’m in a writing mood today, so that’s a bit of magic, haha.

You can have an excerpt though if you like!

And the still-crusty mixing bowls, licked spoons, pools of milk would be one thing, but it ain’t just the sprawl of Elizabeth’s feast-making that has him arching an eyebrow as Emma plays with the collar of his shirt. Nah, it’s the six meticulously laid out sheets of paper, covered in colour coded scraps of paper, tiny illustrations – instructions for cake assembly he’s guessin’ from the arrows – the numbered, neatly ruled timeline that takes ‘em from 3pm today to 8pm Christmas evening.

Hiking Emma further up his hip, his gaze slides sideways to where Elizabeth’s rolling out sheets of homemade pasty.

“What’s all this?”

“The Elizabeth Boland Holiday Experience” Annie hums, a spoon of cake mix in her mouth as she swings on her stool behind the kitchen island, and something in him tightens at the words, and it’s just frustration – the leftover shit about Aida, her dumbass ex’ mom – but also, shit - -

“Mami, we ain’t even gonna be here most of tomorrow.”

“I’ve got a few set-and-forget dishes which’ll cook while we’re out,” Elizabeth says easily, grabbing the pastry wheel to start slicing. Rio works his jaw, feeling Emma lower her head to his shoulder, her tiny hand moving from his collar to ball in the front of his shirt, holding onto him tighter.

“Elizabeth, we - - ”

But before he can say a damn word, Elizabeth’s gaze is on him, hard and fuck, she really is pissed about his face, can see it in her tight mouth, and he rolls his eyes at her, shakes his head, but she don’t break eye contact as she grabs a handful of flour to sprinkle over her pastry. He feels more than sees Annie’s gaze dart between them.

“Do you know what your mom’s bringing tomorrow night?” Elizabeth asks. “I’d like to pencil that into the schedule.”

“She’s bringin’ the ingredients for her tamales. She wants to teach your kids how to make ‘em.”

At the word, Emma perks up in his arms, lifting her head off his shoulder to look at him, and Rio tilts his head back to meet her.

“You wanna learn that, huh?”

It’s almost too damn sweet, her shy little smile, and something in Rio loosens when she nods.

“Do you think Judith’s ever had a tamale?” Annie asks, and shit if that don’t make his gaze snap back to her. “All I’m saying is that that lady complains about too much salt on fries, so her palette’s - - you know. Bland enough to create someone like Deansy.”

It’s instant then – the way he feels Emma tense in his arms, the way he sees Elizabeth’s head jerk up, a glare furious on her face as she gestures with an elbow towards Rio and Emma, and Annie winces apologetically.

“Not that good taste is genetic. If it was, you’d like way cooler stuff,” Annie says too loudly, and Rio rolls his eyes, lowering Emma to the floor.

#the center and circumference #to face unafraid #my fic #welcome to my ama #Anonymous

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limoteethw · 1 year ago

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Hot 21 phút trước vnexpress.net

I’m A Tulane Green Wave On Saturdays And A New Orleans Saint On Sundays 2023 shirt

We typically go to a Christmas Eve candlelight service in the I’m A Tulane Green Wave On Saturdays And A New Orleans Saint On Sundays 2023 shirt. Those are crowded but not nearly as packed as the evening services. Then we meet at my sister’s house along with her family, my other sisters and their families, and Mom. Like good Texans we feast on the traditional tamales, accompanied with fresh guacamole, cheese dip, and cold beer. Our kids run around and catch up with their cousins. After dinner it’s Mom’s birthday party! She was born on Christmas Eve. For the last 25 years or so my wife has baked the birthday cake, always with a different recipe. Mom opens her birthday cards and gifts while we enjoy the yummy cake. After that it’s time for the cousins’ gifts. When our children were little all of the adults gave presents to all of the kids. Now that our children are grown they exchange gifts with each other. Sometimes they’re pretty funny. When my nephew completed law school he received an official looking barrister’s wig. He was thrilled. Rome and her provinces were very dependent on the tim.

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cateyesinlove · 5 years ago

Text

Tarlos 1x05 Missing scene

——————————————

“And then he just came back with the saddest face I have ever seen him wear, you should have seen him Carlos” he sighed finishing putting the silverware and making sure the table looked good.

”Well that’s such a shame” Carlos replied from the kitchen, “She is passing on a great guy like Paul,” he said as he was looking through the drawers for a utensil, “ he is a keeper.”

”Well isn’t Paul Strickland’s #1 fan” he scoffed looking at Carlos with a surprised face.

”Is that jealousy I hear on your tone tiger?” Carlos asks teasingly.

”You wish cowboy” he replied winking an eye at Carlos as he sits down in the chair, “I’m not an insecure man” he throws Carlos a smirk, “and you didn’t spend your day of cooking for Paul so I feel pretty confident on my chances”

”Hey looks like someone is feeling very important right now,” Carlos jokes, “I already told you, my mother came because we had to talk about some stuff for next month's family reunion and the only time we actually have a conversation is while we cook,” he said while checking the food, “I literally came out to the women while we were making flautas on my birthday” he looks at T.K. “ She really thinks I’m starving myself even though I have been living alone for 5 years.” he rolls his eyes.

“Didn’t you just talk to her yesterday?” T.K. asks as he drinks from his glass of water, “ and like every other day before that.”

“No, she talked and complains about dad and I listen” he explains while serving the tamales in the plates, “ the worst part is that if I haven’t had to call her she would have called me and gave me the whole sermon of “Oh Carlos you never call, you don’t care about your mother anymore, Carlos Roberto Reyes! I raise you better than this!” And in the end, I’m gonna have to listen to her complaining about dad and how he is now all day in the house since he retired,” he explained after re-enacting his mother's accent and movements.

”Oh I see,” says T.K. smiling at Carlos, “So I was only invited because there was extra food?”

“ Just imagine if I had told her I was inviting you for dinner?” He shakes his head and brings the plates to the table and sitting on the opposite side of the table, “she would have made a feast.”

T.K. knows is stupid to feel like this, he is the one who asked Carlos to keep things casual and yes, they are exclusive but they haven’t defined their relationship yet and probably won’t any time soon but some part of him, one that not even Alex’s betrayal could hurt, expected that maybe Carlos would take the lead and just call him his boyfriend while the reasonable and logical part of him is terrified of that single thought, yes Carlos was sweet and wonderful, in just so little time he had shown T.K. he cared and was there for him, anytime and any day he needed him which was so much more than what Alex did for the entire time of their relationship. So yeah it was very fitting to say he was conflicted. He was a Gay disaster, a gay disaster for Carlos Reyes.

”You haven’t told your parents about u-..I-...me?” He asked nervously while fidgeting with the fork.

”Well No,” Carlos says while putting his fork down, “I hope that’s okay, I mean we hadn’t talked about that and I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable or make you think I was putting pressure to uh... this,” he says looking for the right word while avoiding T.K. ‘s stare, “Do you want me to tell them?”

TK takes a deep breath and nods, “Yeah, I think that we could try this,” he smiles and feels a small blush spread through his cheeks when Carlos walks around the table and comes to hug him from behind, “ I think I’m ready to bring color to this side of my life.”

”Well tomorrow when I call her, I’m gonna tell her all about this wonderful firefighter I meet and make her listen to me complains about how crazy he drives me,” Carlos says and T.K. knows he has a huge smile, he doesn’t need to see it. “but you better be prepared because Blanca Reyes will fight tooth and nail to meet you” he warns kissing T.K. 's cheek.

“Bring it on” he whispers in Carlos's ear.

”Okay,” he answers

He smiles at Carlos as he makes his way to his seat, “Okay.” he imitates Carlos teasingly.

“Hey,” Carlos calls his attention after they both fall in a comfortable silence eating, “I was thinking why don’t we go out with Paul?’

”have you been thinking about Paul while we are eating dinner? Really Carlos?” he says playfully, “That’s a low blow”

“You know what I mean,” he answers frowning, “I know a club we could go, it's a gay club tho.”

“Officer Reyes, are you telling me you actually go out?” He teases but at the same time a little surprise.

“Hey! The fact that I’m a cop doesn’t mean I don’t go out and have fun,” he says pointing a fork at him.

”I just never thought you would be the clubbing type,” he answeres honestly and keeps eating, “Mostly when you have plans you tell me you are going to someone’s house or a restaurant.”

“Well I’m not really a clubbing guy anymore but I still have it in me to woo you with my dance moves,” he jokes and moves his hands pretending to dance,

”Oh yeah? You really think you can woo me with your dance moves?”

”Oh I know I can tiger.” He winks at T.K. and smiles when he sees him blush a little while biting this lower lip trying to contain a smile.

” It's on cowboy,” he says

“Well see cariño,” he says and looks at his watch, “Do you know what time Paul shifts end?”

”No but I can ask the probie,” he says while taking his phone out and starts texting Mateo.

”Then let us finish eating and start getting ready.”

”Sounds good.”

#tarlos #carlos reyes #tk strand #tyler kennedy strand #carlos x tk #911 #911 lone star

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yrpspiritsintheshadows · 5 years ago

Text

Tech Time

Okay, something’s amiss here.

Mom spent all day yesterday doing a big ol’deep clean of everything.

Now, there’s tons of food being made…

Hikaru hummed in thought, trying to think of what kind of event it was. He still wasn’t too familiar with the extended family. Not too ready to meet a bunch of people yet still.

Hm… Then again…

“Is it auntie? Cause you know she loves to talk-” Ken stopped mid sentence as Carmen raised an eyebrow, saying nothing. “Crap.”

“No.”

Yeah. If it was her side of the family, we’d probably have heard something.

Hikaru walked around the house, leaving Hideki and Carmen to their cooking. He didn’t wanna interrupt, they seemed pretty content to be where they were.

He moved to the back deck, finding Ken playing with Okami.

“C’mon, you want it?” The six year old asked as Okami hunched down, her tail wiggling in the air.

“Go… GET IT!” He threw the ball in his hand as hard as he could as it ricocheted across the yard. Okami nearly tripped over herself chasing after it.

“Geeze, she’s hyper today.”

“Ahuh.” Ken smiled, bouncing in place as Okami found the toy, rushing it back over. “Good girl!”

“So, what’s up with Mom?” He asked, thumbing inside, dodging as the ball sailed over his head. “Hey, watch it!”

“Sorry! What about Mommy?” Ken tilted his head.

“Why’s she doing all the cleaning and… and that freakin feast! Tamales, fried plantains, all that freaking steak and the tortillas?”

Ken smiled as it clicked now.

“Oh!” He giggled. He knew exactly what this was all about. “That’s cause Uncle Joseph’s coming over!”

Uncle Joseph…?

Hikaru tilted his head, confusion in his eyes.

“Huh?”

“You’ll see.” Ken took the ball from Okami again, running off to play with her in a different area. “Wanna keep playing with us?” He called after.

“No thanks!”

“Awwww!” Ken pouted. “Why not?”

“I got a robot to tinker with! Just be careful, no falls!”

“Okay!”

Hikaru looked off towards the road and downhill, the wind that picked up blowing his hair around.

“Uncle huh…?”

I wonder if they’re like Dad…

Or like us.

Hikaru hung around outside until the sun was starting to set. He was content to just have his tablet with him, texting Marco via Skype.

The wind was picking up as he shivered a little.

He looked up, meeting Carmen’s eyes as she peered out of the door. Her eyes widened before opening the screen door.

“Hikaru, why aren’t you wearing a jacket!?”

“I’m fine. Who’s Joseph?”

Carmen looked behind her towards the kitchen.

“Eiji?”

“I’m on it love, go.”

She grabbed something before heading outside, joining her son offering him a black knitted sweater that had a dark blue shark fin stitched into the back.

“Ponte un sueter.”

Hikaru shook his head.

“Hikaru, this isn’t up for debate. It’s cold. Put on a sweater or go inside.” Carmen crossed her arms, raising a single eyebrow.

Hikaru gulped, taking it and slipping it over him… He hated to admit, it was just what he needed.

“Sorry.”

She sat down next to him, looking down the hill towards the road.

“So, who is this Uncle Joseph Ken mentioned?”

Carmen smiled, leaning back in her chair. There was a nostalgic look in her eyes.

Of course, it’s my little inventor who is the most curious.

“Well, Joseph isn’t really my brother but we’re close. He’s my best friend.” She chuckled, shaking her head. “Honestly, I don’t get to see him often but whenever I can, it’s just wonderful.”

“So, that’s why all the food and stuff?”

“Gotta pay him too.” At the confused look, she got, she grinned. “A couple of months ago, Eiji’s computer was infected with a pretty bad virus. His computer that he uses for work.”

Hikaru’s jaw dropped open a little.

“Yeah, that’s the face your father made too. Kenny had thought he won a free video game system and… yeah. He clicked a link that he wasn’t supposed to, thus, infecting the computer fully with a virus that was going to destroy work Eiji had uploaded since high school.”

Hikaru winced, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. Ken was a good kid, but he was still that - a little kid, who didn’t fully understand the effect his actions had on others sometimes.

“Ooooh Titan…”

Carmen nodded, sighing.

“So, I called up Joseph. He and I went to college together too, we had the same graphics design course and hung out sometimes. He’s extremely skilled with computers, so anytime something like this happens, I call him up. He recovered everything successfully and yeah. So, he’s coming over to give a check on the computer and see if anything hardware wise needs repair too.” She smiled, giggling a bit. “He insists it’s nothing but I like giving him a good meal at least.”

“I get ya… Huh. Good to know.”

They saw headlights coming up the hill as they both stood.

“And that’s his car. C’mon.” Carmen lead the way to the front of the house near the driveway, waving to the driver.

Hikaru kept a few paces behind her, curious.

The car came to a stop, parking behind Eiji’s, the driver stepping out. He was a young man with dark skin and brown hair, a bit of cowlick sticking up on the back of his head. He was wearing a black jacket with a graphic tee under it. His teal eyes were full of warmth as he waved to them.

“Hey, Carmen!”

“Joseph, good to see you!” She hurried up to him, giving him a hug.

He chuckled, hugging her tightly.

“Great to see you too. Trust you’ve been well?” He asked as they pulled away, heading up to the door.

“Really well.”

Joseph nodded, looking to Hikaru. A curious look came to his eyes as he nodded to him.

“And whom might this be?”

Carmen brought an arm around her son’s shoulders as Hikaru gave a sheepish smile.

“This is Hikaru. He’s my eldest son.”

“We… We joined the family not too long ago.” Hikaru bowed his head quickly. “It’s good to meet you!”

“Nice to meet you too, kiddo.” Joseph shook his hand, a gentle look in his eyes. “It’s great to meet another nephew.”

Hikaru smiled, perking up.

“Yeah... Oh! Wait till you meet Hideki. C'mon!” He hurried inside.

Joseph looked to Carmen, a chuckle escaping him.

“He seems like a good kid.”

“He’s a great kid. Bit like you too.”

“Ah, I see. Maybe I can have some tinker time later.” He suggested, following her inside.

The house was as it always had been… provided there were two new voices, joining the cacophony of sound within.

Joseph barely had two seconds in the doorway before Ken bolted up to him, arms outstretched.

“UNCLE JOSEPH!!!”

“Whoa!” He laughed, scooping him up. “Missed you too Kenny! Oh, look at you, you’re getting so big!”

Ken giggled, throwing an arm over Joseph’s shoulder.

“Not too big for hugs!”

Joseph chuckled, ruffling his hair.

“There’s never such an age!”

“Heee!”

Eiji poked his head out of the kitchen, a smirk on his face.

“Ah, the man of the hour. Hope things have been well?”

“Oh, plenty.” Joseph chuckled, carrying Ken into the kitchen, inhaling the scent that was wafting around it, a content sigh leaving him.

This was definitely a favorite part of his visits.

“Carmen, you outdid yourself. It smells incredible.”

Carmen laughed, walking in behind him, a proud look in her eyes.

“Wish I could take credit for it.” She admitted. “I did a few of the dishes and we made the tamales all together as a family… but the rice? The pork?” She gestured to Hideki, a grin on her face. “That, goes to my favorite chef right here!”

Hideki blushed, smiling sheepishly, giving a quick bow.

“H-Hi.”

“Hey there. You must be Hideki.” Joseph gave him a gentle look. “I’m Joseph. It’s a pleasure to meet you… and I look forward to trying that food.”

“I promise, it’ll be good.” Hideki smiled.

“I have no doubt.”

Goodness, they’ve been busy.

“Hey, hey, Uncle Joseph!” Ken poked his shoulder, getting his attention. “I got better at my rolls and cartwheels. You wanna see?”

“How about after dinner? You can show me while I’m doing the computer check.” Joseph offered.

Ken smiled brightly, hugging him again, letting out a small giggle.

“Okay!”

Hikaru opened his mouth to say something, instead choosing to go help set the table.

Would he be okay with me helping? If he knows about tech stuff… Maybe I could ask him for some advice…

It wouldn’t be too much, right?

After dinner, Joseph went down to the garage with Carmen to see what currently was going on with the computer.

Hikaru and Ken followed after, the smaller boy more interested in the parkour hurdles and balancing beams placed around the opposite side of the room.

“Ah, still a beauty.” Joseph chuckled, looking over the computer. To some, it would’ve been a powerful gaming computer. Electronics lit up the console’s side paneling, the keyboard having inset lights that glowed an eerie shade of blue. No one would have suspected it housed over ten years of paranormal evidence, files and server information.

“It should be. You helped make it.” Carmen smiled, leaning against the wall.

Joseph nodded, setting down his tool bag, getting out a few specialized tools. Hikaru’s eyes went wide as he watched.

“Whoa…” He knelt down next to him, peering down into the bag. “H-How’d you swing these? These gotta be custom, right?”

“I made them myself.” Joseph held up one in particular as it lit up with teal colored light. “All for really seeing what’s going on inside and keeping things in check.”

“Incredible.”

Carmen exchanged a glance with him, gesturing with her head towards Joseph. Hikaru shook his head slightly…

“Hikaru?”

“Y-Yes?”

Joseph had a gentle look in his eyes, offering one of the tools and a headset to the teen, as Hikaru gave him a stunned look.

“I could use an assistant. If you want to.”

Hikaru nodded, excitement coming over him as he slipped on the headset. In an instant, he could see numerous codes appearing across the screen, commands and options appearing as well.

Joseph glanced at the necklace around his neck. He knew all too well what that symbol meant.

I think my brand of weird would be right up his alley.

“Comfortable?”

“I might never give this back.” Hikaru admitted, letting out a small chuckle as he took a tool into his hands.

Joseph got to work, sifting through the programs and files, smiling as he saw no signs of virus activity or malware.

“You really like working with technology, huh?”

“I wanna dedicate everything to it.” Hikaru replied, his voice soft as he entered a code. “I’m in the bot club at school, actually. We make robots to take to competitions and fight but I wanna also make stuff for the world.”

Joseph gave him a curious look before going back to his work.

“That so huh? What kind?”

“Robots that can assist people who need help getting around. Round the clock carers. Robots that, if you're allergic to pets but want a robot animal, you can have one and have it as a therapy pet that can detect stuff like seizures or anxiety.” Hikaru replied, grinning. “And develop some new types of bots for surgery too. I’m already trying to figure out the coding for the precise movements. One of the new fighters we’re making is a cobra so I can really practice how fast but precise it needs to move. A-And video games.”

Joseph was impressed as he logged into Hikaru’s headset, noting how fast he was going. Fast but thorough. He looked at him, reminded of himself.

“Ah, I’m quite familiar with that stage. Eager to learn everything so you can practice and refine those skills later.” He smiled. “Very good choices… and I have no doubt that you’ll reach those goals.”

“Think so?”

“Try know so. I was like that when I was your age. Programming, tinkering… All of it fascinated me so much. I could hardly get enough of it… Dedicated my life’s work to it.” Joseph threw one of his tools into the air, catching it behind his back with ease.

“What exactly is it you do?”

“Well, I run two things - I have Frost Laboratories, which is the medical equipment company my family runs.” Joseph explained, exchanging a look with Carmen. She gave a nod as he continued. “And my cyber security company, Glitch Pulse.”

“Whoa…” Hikaru’s eyes widened. “Mom, was not kidding when she said you were skilled.”

Joseph chuckled as he finished the software check. “I’ve just had a lot of practice.” He adjusted the headset. “Alright, now for the hardware check.”

“One quick thing.”

“Hm?”

Hikaru pointed to the left side of the room as he turned.

Ken waved to them before taking a running start, grabbing one of the hurdles and leaping over it.

“Ta-da”!

“Hey, that’s getting better! After this, I’ll show ya something really cool.”

“Joseph, no!”

“Yessss.”

Hikaru raised an eyebrow.

“Okay, what? Does everyone do parkour now?”

“Oh no, no, I don’t do that crazy stuff but I’ve got a few things useful for it.” Joseph unscrewed the console panel, revealing the motherboard within. “Alright, speak to me… I’m listening.”

“Huh…” Hikaru looked at the equipment in his hands. “... Hey, Uncle Joseph?”

“Yeah, kiddo?”

“Can… Can you teach me some stuff? Any of this.”

Joseph looked up, giving him a warm look.

“Consider it a deal, kiddo. C’mere, lemme show you how this beauty was put together.”

Hikaru nodded, getting closer as the two started to work, Joseph showing Hikaru where certain panels were meant to go or explaining the algorithm of programs he had developed for the system.

Carmen leaned her head back, content.

Her sons were happy, one of her closest friends was there.

All together… Just like it should. Happy and safe.

She smiled softly at the look of wonder Hikaru had on his face.

You’re going to do great things.

I just know it.

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