#Joey repeatedly says she wants to go | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

persevereforahappyending · 5 months ago

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A Beacon in the Dark |4|

Pairing: Joey x Reader

Summary: Joey likes helping people, it's what she's best at. Hunting down the monsters of myth and legend might be the best way to save people.

Warnings: None?

Word Count: 6.1k

Main Masterlist | Series Masterlist

Ana tapped her foot repeatedly as she kept glancing at the clock. Her ex texted, saying he couldn’t get Caleb from school yesterday and he would be there at three on Saturday to get him for the weekend. It was now almost four and you were supposed to be there at four to pick her up. The party for the mission started at seven thirty but the two of you needed to meet up with Grace and get ready and go over the plan.

“Is he here yet?” Caleb asked coming out of his room. Ana shook her head and watched as Caleb’s eyes drifted to the floor and his shoulder’s slumped.

Ana tried not to think about her shitty ex but the only other thing to think about was you. This was her first mission. She had done hundreds of jobs before, both when in the army and out of it. She was used to following orders, but she didn’t know how you’d be at leading a mission. It was clear Grace was the boss, but she wasn’t going to be at the party, it would only be you and Ana, and you had much more experience doing this sort of thing. She truly didn’t have a problem with you, you just didn’t strike her as a leader, with the way you listened to Grace you were more of a follower.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door and Ana got up to answer it. She opened her mouth, ready to rip into her ex as she flung open the door when her eyes widened. “What the hell are you doing here?” She whisper yelled, glancing back to make sure Caleb hadn’t entered the room.

“Picking you up?” You said, clearly confused.

“You usually don’t get out of your car.”

“I texted,” you gestured at Ana. “You didn’t answer.”

Ana rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone rather aggressively. She suppressed a sigh, there it was, a text from you, from ten minutes ago. Before she could put her phone away a text from her ex came in, saying he was on his way up. Ana’s eyes widened and shoved her phone back into her pocket.

“Hey,” she called back into the apartment. “Get your stuff ready, your dad’s on the way up.”

“Okay!” Caleb called back.

“You need to leave,” Ana snapped. You let out a chuckle and looked at her, clearly wondering if she was serious. “My ex can’t see you and I don’t want Caleb seeing you.” You frowned at her words but nodded, nonetheless. “Good.” Ana slammed the door closed a little harder than she probably needed to.

She didn’t know where you were going to hide, and she didn’t really care. She went back to the kitchen, leaning against the counter as casually as possible, like she and been before. She smiled when Caleb came out of his room with his backpack, which should have just contained his schoolwork that he needed to do and any games he wanted to take over. Just as he walked into the room there was another knock at the door.

Ana sighed and put on a neutral face before opening the door. “Come on let’s go,” her ex said, gesturing for Caleb to hurry up.

Ana rolled her eyes, of course the jackass would not only be a day late but be late picking him up the next day as well, then pretend he’s in a hurry. Caleb wordlessly nodded and moved to follow his father. Ana couldn’t help but peek around her ex, there was no sight of you anywhere, it had barely been a minute since you were standing at her door.

“Call me if you need anything,” Ana said, ruffling Caleb’s hair as he passed her. He looked up, clearly not thrilled to be going with his father before following after his dad down the stairs.

Ana closed the door behind them then grabbed her keys and left, making sure to lock the door behind her. As soon as she turned around you were there, she had to step back with how close you were.

“Don’t ever come here,” she said, pointing to the spot she was standing. “Again. I don’t want Caleb to see you. If this job works out, then it stays out of my personal life, got it?”

“Got it,” you said. You gave her a small smile, but it seemed forced.

Ana followed you out to your jeep and hopped in like usual. The only unusual thing was that this ride wasn’t a comfortable silence. The radio played quietly but there was a tension in the air. You weren’t overly talkative on the drives, but you seemed unnaturally quiet, opting to keep your eyes solely on the road.

Ana would be stupid to not think your silence had to do with her snapping at you. She wasn’t about to apologize though; she didn’t want anything from this life coming into her home. She was fine risking her life, to an extent, but she wouldn’t allow anything to come back to her son. She tried to ignore the slight bit of guilt bubbling within her as she glanced at you out of the side of her eye, you were looking straight ahead, your eyes glued to the road, you usually would sneak glances at her during the other car rides.

Despite the tension the ride seemed to be shorter because you were already pulling up to the large iron gate. Ana prided herself on her observation skills, however, this was the first time she realized how reinforced the gate was. The bars of the gate were thick, no one, not even a child, would be able to squeeze through them, and going over was out of the question given how spiked it was. The same could be said about the wall, the bottom half looked to be made out of a solid grey stone, then coming out of the stone was more sharp metal spikes. On the outside it just looked like a really old house that was well kept, but upon closer inspection Ana could see it for what it really was, protection, Grace didn’t want any unwanted visitors getting anywhere near her home.

“Come on,” you whispered, speaking for the first time since the two of you left Ana’s apartment,

Ana followed you through the large oak doors as usual. You didn’t lead her down the familiar hallway that she knew held Grace’s office at the end. Instead, you led her up the long-curved staircase. She couldn’t help but look over the balcony as she got to the top. The foyer was massive, the black tile forming a gorgeous pattern below, which she hadn’t noticed while walking across it.

You took her down the hallway to the right, passing several rooms in the process. All the doors were closed so Ana didn’t know what they were actually being used for, if they were being used at all. She assumed most of the rooms were bedrooms. Thinking about bedrooms made her mind wander to you, you were clearly close with Grace, had been working with her for a little while now. Your dynamic didn’t seem romantic though, but it also wasn’t quite the one of siblings, your loyalty to Grace was unmatched. The only way she could describe your and Grace’s relationship was that of a savior and protector. She didn’t know your past at all, but it was clear you felt as if you owed Grace.

The two of you finally came to the end of the hall where there was a closed door. You glanced back at Ana and smirked before twisting the doorknob and letting the door swing open. You stepped back, allowing Ana to pass into the room first. Ana glanced at you questioningly but any questions she had died on her lips when she saw a large room filled with clothes.

“Joey, welcome,” Grace said. “We don’t have much time, so we have to do this quick.”

“What is all this?” Joey asked.

“Our work involves a lot of powerful people.”

“Turns out being rich isn’t enough,” you said. Joey turned to see you leaning against a small desk against the wall. “They have to have an edge,” you chuckled humorlessly. “Anything to get more power.”

“Sometimes we,” Grace gestured between herself and you. “Have to go to events. It helps keep up appearances. Others,” she gave a little shrug. “It’s like tonight and we need to infiltrate and sadly your clothes will not allow you entry.”

Joey looked down at herself, she couldn’t help but pull at her leather jacket. She knew they were going to a super-rich and exclusive party; she should have known her normal attire wouldn’t be acceptable.

“Which is why I have this,” Grace continued, gesturing to everything around her. “These,” she walked over to a rack of gorgeous dresses. “Meet the criteria for tonight.” Joey’s eyes widened, she had only ever seen dresses like these in movies or on the cover of magazines. “Go through them and pick one out you like.”

“Seriously?” Joey couldn’t help but ask. Grace nodded and Joey made her way over to the rack, gently running her figures across the soft fabric before she started to rifle through them.

“Go get dressed,” Grace said, waving you off. “Your stuff is already in your room.”

You let out an exaggerated sigh as you pushed off the desk and made your way out of the room. “I let them pick out their outfit one time,” Grace said, shaking her head. “Never again.” Joey couldn’t help but smile at that, you definitely didn’t seem like the type to love wearing fancy clothes and dressing up.

“They live here?” Joey couldn’t help but ask.

Grace opened her mouth, pausing as she flicked her eyes back to Joey. “Sometimes,” she settled on. “They have a room and stay more often than not.”

Joey let out a little hum and went back to flipping through the dresses. After going through them all she flipped back through, stopping at a simple black dress that had a thigh cut. Her hands played with the edge of the fabric; it was probably the softest piece of clothing she had ever felt.

“Gorgeous,” Grace whispered, appearing behind her. “Try it on.”

Joey hesitantly took it off the hanger and went behind a curtain that was across the room. She had worn a dress a few times, they just weren’t her preference. Joey preferred to be in jeans and a T-shirt, with the occasionally leather jacket. She also wasn’t sure where she was supposed to hide a gun while wearing a dress.

Once Joey quickly got changed, she couldn’t help but look at herself in the mirror. The dress fit her perfectly, hugging her in all the right places. She pulled back the curtain, still looking down at herself as she stepped back into the room. She didn’t look up until she heard Grace suck in a breath.

“Gorgeous,” Grace whispered. “You definitely won’t have a problem gaining the attention of the entire room.

“Is that what the plan is?” Joey question. She couldn’t help but run her hands down the front of her dress, she wasn’t sure if she was trying to smooth the fabric out or wipe the sweat off her hands. Joey had never been on a job where her mission was to gain the attention of others, usually she was meant to not draw attention to herself.

“Let’s do your hair,” Grace said. She walked over to a small vanity near the window before Joey could respond.

Joey followed, taking a seat in the chair. Grace began running her hands through Joey’s hair and fiddling with the ends. “Up or down?” She asked.

“Up?” Joey said, she hadn’t meant for it to come out like a question.

Grace narrowed her eyes and nodded. Joey could only watch as Grace got to work, pulling out sprays, a curler, and several clips. Joey raised her eyebrows but didn’t question it, Grace seemed to know what she was doing. At one point Grace spun Joey around in the chair so Joey was no longer facing the mirror, she’d truly have to trust Grace now.

After several minutes Grace spun her back around. “What do you think?” She whispered, moving a few strands of Joey’s hair so they perfectly framed her face.

Joey’s mouth fell open. “Wow,” she breathed out.

She didn’t miss the way Grace smirked, clearly proud of her work. She had every right to be proud, Joey’s hair had never looked so good in her entire life, she almost felt like a different person. Her hair was being held up by various clips and other things, her bangs fell neatly down in front of her forehead, and a few longer strands hung loosely to the side to frame out her face.

There was a light knock at the door, but Joey could barely register it. “You can come in,” Grace called out.

“Alright, let’s do…” Joey swiveled around in the chair when you trailed off. You were in the middle of fixing your cufflinks, but your entire body seemed to be frozen as your eyes were focused on her. “Wow,” you breathed out. “You look…” you shook your head, your eyes never leaving her. “Wow.”

Joey slid out of the chair and walked over to you; she didn’t miss the way your eyes somehow widened even more as they scanned over her body respectfully. She glanced you up and down as well, you were wearing a black suit, a white shirt underneath, and your pocket had a pop of color with a red handkerchief. She never expected you to pull off a suit so well, but you definitely looked the part of a rich millionaire or someone surviving off their trust fund. It was clear you had showered and had made your hair presentable enough but were keeping it to its standard look, not that there was anything wrong with that, you still looked amazing.

“You don’t look so bad yourself,” she said. “Can’t deny, I’m surprised by the suit.”

You smirked and went back to fixing your cufflinks. “Didn’t want a dress to clash with the lovely Ms. Knight’s.” Joey rolled her eyes. “Besides, I wouldn’t want to overshadow you.”

Joey couldn’t help but chuckle at that. “I can picture you in a dress even less.”

“Don’t be jealous,” you straightened out the rest of your jacket. “You just know I would look hot.”

“Behave,” Grace said. “Let’s go, you need to head out soon.”

The two of you followed Grace out of the room and back downstairs. She led the two of you to a room near the one that seemed to be her office. When she opened the door Joey’s eyes widened at the large garage-like room. There was a table in the middle of the room, a work bench off to the left just past the door, a large metal cage lined the wall across from the door, which was filled with guns and various other weapons, and on the far wall there was another workbench with more equipment hanging from the wall.

“Damn,” Joey said. She dealt with her fair share of weapons and people who liked weapons, this was probably the nicest setup she had ever seen though.

Grace moved to the closest workbench, opening the drawer underneath the table. She pulled out a little black box and tossed it to you. You flipped open the lid and pulled out a small earbud. You held out the open box for Joey and she grabbed the other earbud and placed it in her ear.

“It should be small enough and rest far enough in your ear to not draw suspicion,” Grace said. “I will remain here but will be in communication with you the entire time.”

You tapped the ear you had placed the earbud in. “Can you hear me?” You asked.

A second later Joey heard your voice come through the device in her ear. “All clear,” she said.

“They shouldn’t be screening for weapons since it’s an exclusive party,” Grace said. “But in case they are make sure your weapons remain hidden. This has to go down quietly.” She flicked a knowing glare at you.

You gasped in offense and held a hand to your heart. “I’m not the one who makes it loud,” you said. “I’m innocent.” You raised a hand as if you were swearing to the gods above.

Grace scoffed, clearly not believing you. Joey also didn’t believe it and she didn’t even have the history you and Grace had. From the first meeting it was clear you were a troublemaker. Joey wouldn’t be surprised if you ended up making the missions harder than they needed to be and caused a bigger mess because of it.

“Whatever,” you rolled your eyes. “You know,” you gave a little shrug as if you were trying to appear nonchalant. “This is a high-end party.” Grace hummed and crossed her arms, as if she knew where you were going with this. “Looking the part is important but so is showing up in style.” You gave her an innocent smile.

Grace narrows her eyes, continuing to glare at you. “Please,” you pouted, making sure to give your best puppy dog eyes. Joey had to admit, it was quite convincing.

“Fine,” Grace rolled her eyes. “If there’s a single scratch on her-”

“I know, I know,” you raised your hands in surrender.

Grace rolled her eyes and mumbled something that sounded like she’d regret this. She turned and opened another drawer at the workbench. She pulled out two little envelopes and handed them out to you and Joey. “Your covers,” she said.

Joey opened the envelope and saw a very good fake ID. “Josephine?” she asked, wrinkling her nose at the name.

“Joey doesn’t sound very high society.” Joey shrugged; she couldn’t argue with that logic. “And I assumed you wouldn’t want to use Ana.” That was also correct, Ana was her real life, Joey was her cover, and now Josephine was her covers cover.

You chuckled; Joey only caught a glance, before you slipped the ID into a wallet then into your pocket, but it was clear you got to keep your name for your cover. “Get going,” Grace ordered. “Remember just because you’re arriving together doesn’t mean you’re together.” You and Joey both nodded. “You’ll need to divide and conquer to investigate both people.”

“Understood,” Joey said.

“Be safe,” she was talking to the both of you, but she was looking at you when she said it.

“I’m always safe,” you said, giving Grace your famous smirk.

You nodded to a door at the other end of the room and Joey followed you. When you swung open the door Joey was met with the sight of a large garage, filled with various expensive care. You stood in front of a brick wall with a little box that contained the keys to all the vehicles. You clicked your tongue as you thought about which key to grab. Joey didn’t think you could go wrong, she was sure if the two of you pulled up in any of them, you’d both pass as high society. Joey was even tempted to say your Jeep could pass as well, you kept it in very nice condition, at least when it wasn’t covered in mud.

You smiled as you finally picked out which keys you wanted. Joey followed you over to a two-door black convertible. She furrowed her brow when she saw you walking to the passenger side but tilted her head as you opened the door and gestured for her to get in. She didn’t understand you, there were times you were annoying but then you could turn around and be a perfect gentleman.

“Thank you,” Joey said, giving you a small nod. You just smiled at her and gently closed the door after making sure her feet and arms were fully in the vehicle. It was really hard for her to be mad at you when you were being so considerate. She had almost forgotten she yelled at you before coming here.

She couldn’t help but chuckle as you excitedly jogged around the front of the car to the driver's side. You slipped in, instantly running your hands over the steering wheel. It was clear you didn’t get to drive this car very often. Joey had only been in the car with you a few times, but you were a decent driver, though she also wasn’t surprised that Grace didn’t let you regularly drive cars that were probably well over a hundred grand.

As you started the car the dashboard and all the buttons lit up blue. You tapped a button and the garage door in front of you opened. You smirked before pressing the gas and speeding out of the garage. Luckily the gate was already open because Joey wasn’t sure you would have stopped. You glanced at the GPS when the directions popped up for where you were headed.

You let out a whistle and turned the car out onto the road. “You ever been there before?” Joey asked, nodding at the GPS. She couldn’t see exactly where the place was, but it was clearly in the middle of nowhere, she wondered why all the weird shit happened at mansion’s in the middle of nowhere.

“The address or the area?” you asked.

“Either.”

“Nope,” you shrugged. “Neither.” Joey flicked you a glare, you were such an ass. “Super high end, more than this,” you gestured around as you passed mansion after mansion. Rather secluded, miles between each house.”

“Sounds like the perfect place to cover up murders.”

“It always is,” you mumbled. Joey spared you another glance, her eyes flicking from your clenched jaw to your hands that were gripping the steering wheel. If you had super strength Joey was sure you’d rip the steering wheel in half with how tight you were gripping it.

You seemed to relax further into the drive. Joey wasn’t sure what it was, you were very good at controlling your emotions, but it seemed like random things that set you off. Luckily, the drive from Grace’s place was only half an hour, though Joey would admit the view was amazing.

When you got closer to the address Joey noticed how the environment changed. The roads were perfectly paved, the trees lining the street on both sides were perfectly trimmed back, and once they passed a house it was at least another five-minute drive before the next one, sometimes more depending on how much land the person owned.

You finally pulled down a long driveway which was lined with other cars. You pulled behind a red corvette. It seemed the line of cars led to the front of the house. Once a car got up to the front its passengers got out and ascended the stone steps that led to the mansion that sat atop a small hill. A valet seemed to take over driving afterwards and would park the car in a reasonably sized lot off to the side.

When you finally got to the front you parked the car, quickly hopping out and making your way around to the passenger side. Joey had just taken off her seatbelt as you were opening her door. You held out your hand, helping her step out of the vehicle. You smirked as you looked her up and down one more time. “You look gorgeous,” you whispered. You tossed the keys across the car to the valet on the other side.

Joey kept her hand on your arm as the two of you began your walk up the steps. She couldn’t help the way her mouth fell open at the size of the mansion. She thought Grace’s mansion was huge, but this one was more than two times as big. There was a large fountain in the middle of the pathway that led to the house. The double oak doors at the front of the house were wide open as a line of people showed their invitations to get in.

Joey looked down when she felt you pull your arm away. She watched as you reached into your coat and pulled out an invitation, the same invitation Grace had shown her the day before. Joey smiled at the doorman as he took the invitation you handed him and watched as he placed it in a neat stack with the others. The doorman gave the two of you a nod but otherwise showed no hint of an emotion. He was dressed in black pants, black dress shoes, a long black coat, and white gloves. As the two of you entered the house Joey could see all the waitstaff wearing the same thing.

You led Joey into a grand ballroom where a live band was playing, and people were already dancing. You effortlessly weaved your way through the people as if you had done it a hundred times. Joey started to question whether she was wrong about you, maybe you were familiar with this life, though nothing before this indicated that, everything about you actually pointed to the exact opposite.

When the two of you finally emerged from the small crowd Joey saw you had brought her to the bar. She rolled her eyes and turned her attention to the crowd. This was her first mission, and it seemed you intended to drink, one minute you were completely professional then the next you weren’t. As her eyes scanned the crowd her ears were filled with fake laughter, everyone seemed to be partnered up or in their own little social circle.

She couldn’t help but jump when she felt something cold and wet brush against her arm, her eyes snapped down to see you holding out a glass with a clear liquid and some nice. “I don’t drink,” she said and moved to continue watching the crowd. It was still early but she was hoping one or both of their suspects were there already.

“It’s sprite,” you said.

“What?” Joey snapped her eyes to you, but your eyes weren’t on her, they were on the crowd. You raised your drink to your lips, but your eyes never left the crowd.

“It’s Sprite,” you said again, giving the glass you still held out to her a little shake.

She hesitantly took the glass from you and took a sip. It was Sprite, just like you said. “Thank you.” You only gave her a small nod in acknowledgment.

The two of you nursed your drinks, waiting and watching as more and more people slowly began to fill the room. When the hour hit, and the party officially began the band switched their tune and began playing a slower song.

“Care to dance?” You asked, already holding out your hand to her.

She looked down at your hand and couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle. You tilted your head and raised an eyebrow at her. “You’re serious?” She asked.

You nodded. “We gotta act casual.” She took your hand, and you instantly led her to the middle of the dance floor. You put your hands on her waist while she rested hers around your neck. “Besides, I got to show off my moves if I stand a chance of getting Ms. Knights attention.”

Joey just hummed in response and followed your lead as the two of you began to move in sync to the music. “So, that’s your plan, seduce one of the suspects?”

You gave a small shrug. “If it works it works.” She rolled her eyes at that. She didn’t disagree with you but seducing an unknown supernatural creature that kills people didn’t seem like the smartest idea. “Figured I’d take the lovely Ms. Knight while you take Mr. Carter.”

“I’m not sleeping with him.”

“No, one’s asking you to,” you said quickly, wrinkling your nose in disgust. “God,” you shook your head. “That’s not what we do here. Just dance with him, flirt, try and get him to murder you.” Joey glared at you. “Nothing is going to happen to you,” you stared straight into her eyes. “I’ll be right there.” you pulled her closer. he could feel your lips brushing against her ear. “Do you see them?”

Joey flicked her eyes around the room, Marcus Carter had entered a moment ago and was already at the bar, drink in hand, as he chatted with a couple men. She then flicked her eyes across the room to where Karoline Knight was standing, she was at the top of the steps by a doorway, overlooking the whole room. “Got them,” she mumbled.

You leaned back and smiled at her before giving her a little spin then pulled her back into your arms. “Before we get this started,” you mumbled against her ear. “I wanted to apologize for earlier.” Joey’s entire body tensed up, but she didn’t say anything. “I didn’t mean to overstep. I won’t do it again.”

“Thank you,” Joey whispered. “I’m sorry as well, I might have overreacted a bit.”

“Don’t apologize.” Joey furrowed her brow as the two of you broke apart, the song as well as your dance finally coming to an end. “You’re just protecting your son, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

Before Joey could respond you were disappearing through the crowd. When she glanced around people, she could make out you subtly making your way over to Karoline. Joey shook her head, you were so damn considerate, it was quite annoying. She decided this meant it was time for her to make her way to Marcus.

She weaved in between people, casually making her way over to the bar. When she got there, she didn’t so much as glance at Marcus as she leaned on the counter asking the bartender for the same thing she had before. She could feel Marcus’s eyes on her the second she got close to the bar. She thanked the bartender as he slid her another sprite in a glass and then turned to continue watching the people on the dance floor.

“Where’s your partner?” Marcus said, sliding over next to her.

Joey still didn’t bother glancing at him as she found you across the room talking to Karoline. “Don’t have a partner,” she finally said. She watched as you grabbed two glasses of champaign from one of the waiters walking around, handing one to Karoline before toasting.

“Really? Cause you sure looked cozy dancing with them.” He slid closer to her, so his jacket was just barely brushing against her arm.

“They asked,” she shrugged. “Guess they were a good dance partner.” You were a good dance partner; Joey didn’t even realize in the moment how effortless it had been dancing with you.

“Are you open to other dance partners?”

Joey finally turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow in challenge. “If they can keep up.”

Marcus chuckled, he finished off his drink before taking Joey’s hand in his own and brought his lips down, kissing the back of her hand. “Marcus Carter, it’s a pleasure to meet your acquaintance.

“Josephine,” Joey said, smiling as the fake name rolled off her tongue easily.

“Well, Josephine,” Marcus looked up at her, barely moving away from her hand. “Would you honor me with a dance?”

Joey nodded and allowed Marcus to lead her onto the dance floor. They got to the middle of the dance floor just as a new song started up. She allowed Marcus to take the lead, the dance with him was a little faster than the one with you and it didn’t require her having to be close with him for too long. As he turned her and spun her around, she caught sight of you talking to Karoline, leaning closer and whispering in her ear, until finally she saw Karoline grab your hand and drag you out of the room.

Joey tried not to panic at losing sight of you, you still had your earpiece so she could still talk to you. She wasn’t usually nervous on a job but considering this was her first official mission dealing with something supernatural and the fact that neither of you knew what you were actually dealing with, she wasn’t exactly at ease not having you in her line of sight. She kept telling herself that you have been doing this longer than her, that you and Grace have been at this a long time, you know what you’re doing, even if you act like you don’t.

Joey had her back to Marcus as he led her from behind. Joey turned her head, smiling back at Marcus as he gave her one last spin, ending the dance. “Join me for a drink?” he asked.

Joey nodded. She followed him back through the crowd to the bar. The bartender seemed to already know his order because he had a drink ready for Marcus in seconds. “Just water,” Joey said when the bartender looked at her. Marcus scrunched his eyebrows at her choice. “Need to rehydrate,” she smiled, trying to brush it off. “All that dancing, need to make sure I can go all night.”

Marcus smiled, handing Joey her water when the bartender put it on the counter. “Cheers to that.” He raised his glass and Joey happily clinked hers against it.

As she brought the glass to her mouth she stared into Marcus’s eyes, getting a good visual of his left hand as he raised his own glass to his mouth. Joey turned away, leaning back against the bar as she looked out at the dance floor, the next song was much more fast paced than any of the previous ones.

“You know,” Joey said, turning back to Marcus with a smile. “I’m a little famished, I’m going to see what’s to eat.”

“No, no,” he said, smiling at her. “Anything in particular?”

“Surprise me.” Marcus wandered off into the crowd towards a table lined with food.

“Grace,” Joey whispered just in case anyone else was listening. “Can you hear me?”

“What’s going on?” Grace’s voice came through the earpiece.

“Is Marcus married?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?” Joey moved her head, glancing around the people as best as she could to see Marcus at the table loading up a little plate.

“There’s no evidence of a marriage, why?”

“His ring finger has a tan line.” When she got an actual visual of his hand it had been so obvious, it was clear he wore a ring on his left ring finger. The tan line was so obvious it seemed he had just taken it off for the night.

“Give me a second.” Joey nodded and watched as Marcus grabbed another plate. Once both plates were loaded up, he turned and slowly began making his way back towards Joey. “There’s no indication he’s married, no official documentation, no photos, literally nothing.”

“Something doesn’t feel right about this,” Joey mumbled. “Can you get ahold of Y/N?”

“You lost them?” Joey tried to ignore the concern in Grace’s voice.

“They’re with Karoline,” Joey defended weakly.

“Dammit, pain in my ass,” Grace mumbled to herself.

That made Joey feel better, she at least knew you wandering off with a potential killer was nothing new. She smiled just as Marcus returned, handing her a plate of something. “Thank you,” she said, taking the plate from him. She looked down at the small portions, each item looking like finger food, though she hoped no one asked her what it was because she would not be able to tell them.

“Joey?” Grace’s voice came through the earpiece again. Joey gave a little hum as she ate one of the items on the plate, it was the only way to show Grace she was listening. “Y/N’s not answering comms.” Joey sucked in a breath; she really was starting to not have a good feeling about this. “Don’t panic, stay the course. They know how to handle themselves, if there’s trouble they would have called.”

Joey nodded to herself and continue to smile as Marcus talked about something. She decided to believe Grace, though Grace herself didn’t sound all to convinced. Joey kept at least one eye scanning the room for you, she wanted to get eyes on you again. She never thought she’d say this, but she was honestly hoping you were just hooking up with Karoline and nothing was seriously wrong. Joey’s life was never that lucky though.

Taglist: @thinking1bee @so-to-aqui-pelas-fic @alexkolax @pianogirl2121

#joey abigail #joey (abigail)#ana lucia cruz #ana lucia cruz abigail #joey (abigail) x reader #ana lucia cruz x reader #melissa barrera #abigail 2024 #abigail movie #ana lucia cruz (joey)#a beacon in the dark

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pastelchaos12 · 5 months ago

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I saw this post by @adobe-outdesign where it was batim but with Pixar style bloopers and people kept making more and more so I wanna do something like that for batdr.

- Porter saying Audrey's name repeatedly and sometimes saying it like how Wilson does until Audrey starts laughing hysterically

- Sammy just showing up in random scenes because he wants more screentime

- The Ink Demon just coughing off camera because doing that gravelly voice just kinda hurts

- Alice just straight up flirting with Audrey until she's too flustered to do the scene

- Audrey and the Ink Demon messing around on set like siblings and every time someone tells them to act serious the Ink Demon replies "we are being serious, how dare you assume otherwise"

-Alice drops the tommy gun during the boss fight and she has to go down to the ground to get it

- Little Bendy tripping over constantly and Audrey having to help him up

- Henry drawing graffiti in his cell instead of doodling on some paper like he was supposed to

- Allison doing anime poses with her sword

- Tom and Boris doing that one Spiderman meme

- Audrey and the Ink Demon bickering like siblings

- Henry slaps Joey despite them never being in a scene together

- The cast would quote random snapcube sonic fandub lines ex:

Wilson: YOU HAVE 13 SECONDS BEFORE THE STUDIO EXPLODES YOU HOT TOPIC WANNABE (Bendy) AND YOU BLUE GUMBALL SON OF A BISCUIT (Audrey)

The Ink Demon talking about Alice: Whoa she's bisexual, I didn't know that

Audrey: Haha haha one!

Henry: I miss my wife Audrey, I miss her a lot. I'll be back...

The Ink Demon: Audrey it's me the devil, I've come to convince you to do sin!

#pastel says stuff #batdr #bendy #bendy and the dark revival #bloopers #audrey drew #the ink demon #henry stien #joey drew #sammy lawrence #alice angel #allison pendle #tom boris #boris the wolf #willson arch #porter

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changingplumbob · 1 year ago

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My top 23 gameplay moments

Thanks to @anamoon63 for tagging me! You've probably seen my top 23 screenshots but as I was trying to narrow them all down I did feel like my favourite storyline moments were not the same as my favourite pictures. So I'm going to take this tag and tell you the top 23 gameplay events I've had this year. Not all have screenshots as some of them happened before I started writing down and capturing my gameplay.

23. I did actually enjoy writing Bella and Mortimer pulling away from each other as Mortimer began to prioritise his writing over his family.

22. Seeing in thought bubbles that Paris and Samir both had crushes on the sims I wanted them crushing on. Sweet success!

21. Back when my game correctly did university grades and three out of five of my university students earned their degrees with honors! Devin, Luna and Cassandra.

20. Adding in Dina and Nina Caliente. Sadly Mortimer died so they haven't gotten a lot of screentime yet BUT I think they look great and have plans to bring them back in in time, they still control the Goth fortune after all.

19. Getting Bob his dog Dale which allowed Bob to get fit and healthy. He's still heavy set but it's mostly muscle now.

18. When Reece got a pop up about his crush randomly showing up at football practice despite his actual crush Samir being on the football team...

17. When Deanna and Paris completely ruined my story plans by kissing during a shopping trip in a different rotation, and I had to do sneaky screenshots so you couldn't see them in the background. Then when I went back to play Deanna she still had the first kiss option so I could write things my way.

16. When I was able to edit settings so that Devin and Luna could have kids that would be genetically related to them both. I usually like to keep my gameplay semi realistic when it comes to having kids but I knew Devin would not get pregnant being an actress and wanted the chance of a kid that looked like her.

15. My sims commiting home invasion before it became EA official. See Devin walking into the Pancakes house like modern day Goldilocks. Taking a bath, cooking a white cake, and only half eating some food.

14. Joey's glow up from little kid to attractive young adult was a nice surprise. I'm so glad he rolled wanting kids because if I can't get a Devin lookalike, maybe I can get a Joey lookalike down the line. Note to self, put eyelashes on more of my male sims.

13. When this new blonde girl in high school kept looking miserably at Deanna during the lesson. And I had Deanna go cheer her up only to discover when looking through her traits that she was also a lesbian. Cheers Paris for spawning at just the right time.

12. Kelly rolling the evil trait after being a destructive toddler was hilarious. I never would have picked it by myself but now I revel in writing him being a jerk to others.

11. When I got Milton to waddle across the road after Bella went missing. And again when I got him to ditch Dina and Nina and run away to see Alexander.

10. Rahul repeatedly spawning outside the Goth house for no apparent reason. This of course led to a friendship and eventual romance with Cassandra. Stalking may pay off???

9. Just watching Kaori ski has honestly been so fun. I look forward to it when I play her household. For those that don't know Charlie used Mix & Mingle for a blind date and Kaori was the second woman she met from that.

8. INFANTS! Specifically playing with alien infants like Silas and Pollock who are even more adorable and hilarious than human infants.

7. Writing Bob and Eliza as being in love. Taking the opposite nature of their personalities and finding a way where they actually work well together. I always smile when they go to woohoo and Eliza also dumps her clothes on the floor like Bob rather than in the basket.

6. When Reece got a crush on Samir after literally saying one thing to him, guess they'd been bonding off screen. In the York rotation Samir had come over and yelled at Reece, and my brain went he's probably just a closeted gay. Then I checked and he actually was! For storyline purposes though I have him as never being in denial of that.

5. Savannah and Mercedes being mini clones of Rahul. I love it so much. I also have really liked playing this latest storyline where they are not pleased at the idea of a sibling, they can be two little terrors.

4. Adam accepting the birth of both of his kids despite not wanting children. I didn't know if I could do enough to get him there but each time he was able to.

3. Keira getting sick during her Halloween party date and Marta looking after her. Not planned but ended up pretty sweet.

2. James proposing to Alexander when he was a townie, despite autonomous proposals being turned off and the fact that he had a living wife at that point. You rebel against the code James!

1. When Adam ignored autonomous proposals being turned off, and showed up in the middle of Suzanna's shift at the science lab to propose. They were living together by this point and clearly he got sick of me ignoring his wants while I played him at home.

So @azuhrasims @marcishaun @sharona-sims and anyone really if you have some top gameplay events from this year, doesn't have to be a whole 23, want to share? Also @julesbbsea17 I KNOW you must have had some kind of crazy memorable gameplay events in your game this year... *flashes back to that random unknown thing bobbing in the water beside your lot in Sulani that we still don't have the identity of*

#sims 4 #the sims #the sims 4 #Top 23 #simblr #Dag dag or tag tag

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dis--mayed · 5 months ago

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The other day, my mom told me I shouldn't blame her for my problems. Here's the overwhelming amount of things she does/has done to me:

Mom - treats me like an extra limb, emotional support animal, empty void for her emotions; constantly guilt trips me into taking care of “the family,” compares and belittles my trauma, shaming me for how she got out of her bad environment (her mom let her stay in one of her homes), compares our family to ones with murderers in them, saying that our family could be worse and using it as an example of how she’s a good mom

She tells me these horrendous stories about my dad abusing her even before I was born, even blaming Joey’s problems on him; he fought with Joey on the night Joey slept with his accuser, my dad didn’t want my mom doing things and, especially, for Joey, like taking him to rehab, and would accuse her of “abandoning” her children if she left us with my 20-something year old capable cousin, he never changed our diapers or would help us get our things together before leaving the house, he tried to stop her from leaving once by blocking her car, he went to the police to accuse HER of abusing him, she went to family therapy and the therapist told her that she needed to get Joey away from my dad, she went to battered women shelters and they told her to leave my dad, there was a surprise party for her and he “distracted” her by berating her

she started turning to me to have emotional breakdowns when I was 16/17

I became like a replacement for her sister - she started talking about us doing things together that she would do with her, like go to church and have dark rum shooters on the beach, for example…

Said I always focus on the negatives, should remember the "good times," excuses traumatizing me by saying she “was” sick, but denies turning to me to have emotional breakdowns

I took care of her from when I was 14-21 when she had gallbladder attacks

Comes into my room when I’m sleeping, waking me up

Expects me to help her clean up uncle's messes and go food shopping for him, (expected me to) fix up sheds to save Joey money

When I complain about having to help her fix up the property, she says it’s going to be mine, one day. (The properties will be split between her and my cousins, and this will be settled in court - who knows what will happen.)

Helped me drop out of high school, drove me to get my GED and to take the written exam for driving, and tried getting me on SSI, but she was, also, trauma dumping on me as she drove me to and from school (getting upset when I ignored her) and guilt tripping me into doing things with her because she felt suicidal and said she wouldn’t crash her car, if I was with her. She said she didn’t kill herself because I needed her. She, also, had me read the threatening text messages my uncle sent her while she drove me to/from college

She insisted on driving me to college because she thought taking the bus and train would be too much for me

When she talks about me withdrawing from college, she says I “dumped” her. When she talks about me not having my license, she’s complaining about how I can’t drop her off at the front door and park the car

Sometimes, excuses dad’s drug abuse; was in physical pain, lost his parents, thinks he’s dying, his dad beat him as a child, was molested by his babysitter, etc.

Says that I’m “spoiled” for having the only room in the house

Shames me both into eating and for eating what she cooks (if I don’t want to help her with something), acts like I’m starving myself, or gets mad at me because she cooked, if I don’t want what she made. Kept doing my laundry, and ignoring me repeatedly asking her not to, until I was 29.

She’ll “ask” me for permission to do things, like go to the bathroom, or she’ll blame me for why she doesn’t do certain things, like dye her hair purple, because I don’t like that color

Told me that one of the reasons why she didn’t want to take me to a dental school for braces is because she didn’t want to pay $7 at the parking garage, as if there wasn’t free parking nearby.

She made me a curtain out of the table cloth that my dad burned while he was passing out high in my teens. There’s a burn mark in it.

Wanted me to do something for her and asked if I was doing “my little survey’s”

Tells me she loves me when I do things for her, calls me a “brat,” “problem child,” and “mean” when I don’t, will shame me for not helping her to other people

She knew there was something wrong with my dad that caused him to barely sleep and pass out throughout the day, still let him drive me places

When I was little and made food for myself, she would tell me to make more for my dad. She would play Christian music, even though she knew I had death anxiety, massive attacks

Pinches/slaps my butt, will slap my thigh in the car

Always wants to know what I’m cooking for myself, gets frustrated and takes over when I’m too slow for her after she asks me to help, or gets upset with me when I’m doing it wrong.

Has complained a couple times about me doing the laundry for myself, saying how she’s not selfish and does it for everyone

Has been passive aggressive towards me, calling me a bitch to my dad for not helping her, knowing I could hear her

#toxic mom #childhood trauma #emotional abuse #parental abuse

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oscars-dumbass-central · 2 years ago

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The Sound of Dead Flesh Breaking

Part Three in Deathwitch, Dead Witch series

"I said what I said,” Scott snarled down at Joey. “You’re just some underachieving overpromising hack with powers that you don’t even deserve or—” He was cut off as Joey punched him in the gut heavily, but the sound that the punch made both of them freeze in place. It was a horrible and startling and sounded like a mixture of someone hitting maggot-eaten flesh and old dry bones shattering. /or, Scott and Joey get into a small fight, Scott panics, Joey calls Cleo for help, and then Scott and Joey talk

Words: 1058

( Masterpost | Part One | Part Two )

Joey shoved Scott up against the wall firmly. “You want to say that again?” he tightened his grip on Scott's silken cloak. “Maybe this time to my face instead of behind my back.”

“I said what I said,” Scott snarled down at Joey. “You’re just some underachieving overpromising hack with powers that you don’t even deserve or—” He was cut off as Joey punched him in the gut heavily, but the sound that the punch made both of them freeze in place. It was a horrible and startling and sounded like a mixture of someone hitting maggot-eaten flesh and old dry bones shattering.

Before Joey could even react, Scott shoved him away hard and scrambled away, tripping over the uneven carpet and falling to the ground. But he continued to scramble away, one hand pressed against his side.

“Scott, are- are you okay?” Joey went to take a step forward, but backed off when he let out a horrible panicked whine-like sound. He paused for a moment, unsure of what to do before he realised something and pulled his comm out, fumbling it a bit slightly.

fire&icemaster: CLEO

ticktockfuckyou: wwwwwwhat is it ticktockfuckyou: and if this is something completely unimportant then i’m sticking you in a time loop again

fire&iceamaster: I KINDA PUNCHED SCOTT AND I THINK I FUCKED UP

ticktockfuckyou: Joey. What the fuck did you do.

Within a second, not even long enough for him to respond, his comm buzzed loudly with an incoming call. “Joey,” Cleo’s sharp and cold voice immediately greeted him. “I need you to answer a few questions.”

“Yeah, okay, yeah.”

“Stop stammering asshole,” they snapped at him. “Okay, do you think you broke any of his bones? Did you hear anything break?”

“Well it sounded like I punched one of his fucking zombies so I don’t have a single idea of what is going on right now,” he rambled, running a hand through his hair repeatedly and pacing back and forth/ He at least one eye kept on Scott who was curled up in the corner and refusing to look away from him. “I don’t think that was supposed to happen. And also now he’s just in the corner crying and I don’t know what the fuck to do, Cleo, please.”

“Shit.”

And with that final word in the conversation, Cleo hung up on him, leaving him back to panicking and pacing. Joey began chewing on his fingernail unsure of what to do except hovering around the still-crying Scott. “Are you okay?” He asked, getting no answer except more sobs as he buried his face into his knees. “Okay… I’m guessing that’s a no.”

Pausing, Joey went to stay more but was interrupted as Cleo kicked the door down before politely and quietly closing it behind them. “Sorry about that,” She nodded a small greeting at Joey before crouching down beside Scott and nudging his knee softly. “You alright?” They asked, their voice quiet and soft.

Shaking his head Scott managed to say something that Joey couldn’t pick up but sounded something similar to ‘found out’. He pressed his head against Cleo’s shoulder as his tears somewhat slowed down, his hand still clutching his side to the point where Joey had punched him. Void, was he a bad person? Maybe, but also this was not the time to have that life crisis.

“Is- is there anything I can do for help?” He asked as he wore the brim of his hat down under his hands, bending it back and forth constantly, the warm red fabric giving him something to focus onto.

“You can leave,” Cleo immediately shot back, not even sparing a glance from Scott. “And if you even tell one person about what happened here today, I will fucking murder you.”

Joey couldn’t sleep, every time he closed his eyes he heard the sickening wet crunch and saw the shocked and terrified look in Scott’s eyes. Eventually he rolled over, snatching his comm from his bedside table.

fire&icemaster: u awake?

emobitchboy: What do you want, Joey?

fire&icemaster: couldnt sleep fire&icemaster: was worried bout u

emobitchboy: What?

fire&icemaster: i hurt u fire&icemaster: wanted to make sure ur okay fire&icemaster: u dont gotta tell me whats wrong fire&icemaster: but i just wanna know if ur ok

emobitchboy: I’m fine.

fire&icemaster: if there is smth i can do to make it up to u i will fire&icemaster: really anything

emobitchboy: Joey. I am fine.

fire&icemaster: ok fire&icemaster: i was just worried :(

emobitchboy: I am fine, I just overreacted earlier. Everything is fine now. You don’t have to watch over me like I’m breakable, okay?

fire&icemaster: i know i know fire&icemaster: i was just prtty sure i broke one of your ribs earlier

emobitchboy: I’m fine. Stop worrying.

fire&icemaster: ok

Sighing, Joey placed his comm heavily back down onto his bedside table and turned to face upwards to stare at the small stars which floated gently in his room. It was beautiful, but right now he couldn’t find solace within the beauty of the sky. He was rattled and needed something to draw him back to earth and keep him there. He pushed himself up to sit and pulled his knees up to his chest, void he was exhausted.

He barely made it downstairs the spiral staircase due to the exhaustion which was weighing him down and made him stumble, clutching desperately onto the railing. The quiet hiss of the kettle under his hands was something he could focus on but it wasn’t enough. Burning his tongue on the too-hot cup of tea, Joey pressed his body against his large window, staring out into the darkness which refused to give up its secrets. Something outside moved about through the bushes outside, probably some sort of just cat or something.

After he finished the cup of tea, he made his way upstairs each step feeling like he had to pull his leg out of concrete. But eventually he made it, collapsing into his bed he let his need for sleep to pull him into unconsciousness. All without even seeing the message waiting for him on his comm.

emobitchboy: Thank you. For worrying about me. emobitchboy: I think you need to give yourself more credit, you are a good person.

#undead deathwitch #witchcraft smp #witchsmp #scott #cleo #joey

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abeat · 1 year ago

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22 - Fulsome

“What do you mean that gorgeous viera in there is your father?!” Lavender shook Joey repeatedly.

“What-more-did-you-want-me-to-say-Chef-should-I-start-writing-my-autobiography?!” Joey spoke through rattled breath as the viera woman continued shaking him.

“I - oooh - sorry, Sous Chef!” Lavender finally stopped shaking her dear friend. “I just…I just…well I have a massive hangover and now this!”

“Glad it cured you of your hangover at least…” Joey grumbled as he waited for the world to stop spinning.

“Oooh I’m sorry!” Lavender let go of him finally. “I just mean - you - him - I - just explain!”

The gorgeous viera man and bringer of apparent chaos and confusion stuck his head out into the hallway of the free company. “I don’t mean to eavesdrop, but if you come back inside and sit down, maybe we can discuss this? Instead of, you know, out here where everyone can hear us?” He offered with a slight grin on his face. “I mean it’s not like the origins of my own son are a secret from me.”

“O-oooh!” Lavender realized she had been acting foolish. Even by her own standards. “Oooh you’re right…I’m sorry..” She turned back to Joey. “Sorry, Sous Chef..”

“Let’s just go inside.” The other viera rubbed his head.

They returned to her quarters. She had always loved having company, and as such she kept a small portion of the room private for herself and the rest of the room furnished with a variety of chairs and tables. She even had her own mini bar, although she did not want any more alcohol at the moment.

Even if it felt like she might want some soon.

“How about some tea?” Joey offered as he went over to her mini bar. Indeed, along with her collection of cider, spirits and wine, she kept an even bigger collection of tea. Normally Lavender would get up to assist him, but her pounding headache told her to sit down so she could take in the entire situation. Besides, Joey was Sous Chef for a reason - more than capable of making tea.

Father and son, when they looked as though they could easily be twin brothers.

She could only imagine how startling the fulsome version of the story would be.

Joey brought over some tea. Lavender recognized the golden hue of her beloved, faithful oolong tea, and what seemed to be peppermint tea for Syo and Joey both.

“Thanks, son.” Syo smiled. He took a sip of his tea. Once he had a good gulp of the hot beverage, he put his cup back down. “So, er, who should start?”

“Maybe you should since it started with you in the first place?” Joey offered helpfully. “I can fill in the gaps.”

“All right.” Syo nodded as he turned to Lavender. “Well…it’s like this…”

Syo then told her such a fantastic story that she could scarce believe it. She had few questions or comments as the pair of them filled in all of the pertinent details as they went along. Lavender went between sipping the cool water that Syo had brought over and carefully sipping her oolong tea as she learned of their origin story.

She thought her own life in Eorzea was messed up. Evidently she had been living a simple life when compared to these two, and her own life was nothing short of bizarre. Especially when her younger sisters were a miqo’te, an au ra and a lalafell, going from oldest to youngest. Whenever she introduced her sisters to anyone and people assumed they were adopted by some kindly woman, Lavender never corrected them.

The fulsome truth boggled her own mind sometimes. Especially since they were all, in fact, related by blood. Even her miqo’te sister with skin as pale as the moon. The fact that the story of Syo and Joey could boggle her mind said a lot about their own origins. Not that she could ultimately judge them for it, or really say anything given her own origins.

“I…wow…” Lavender rubbed her head. “You two have been through a lot.”

“Eh, is what it is.” Syo rubbed the back of his head.

Joey looked to the side. “That’s why I don‘t like to talk about it.”

She sipped her tea again. “I promise not to tell anyone, not even my sisters, without your permission. Though if anyone asks me about you two, what should I say?”

“Tell them he’s my son and say nothing else just to see the look on their face.” Syo grinned at her, which made Lavender laugh.

“They can always ask us if you forget something.” Joey added.

“All right..” Lavender drank some more water. Whether it was the copious amounts of water with lemon or the magical healing properties of her favourite oolong tea, she could feel her headache start to abate slowly.

“How long are you here for?” Joey asked his father.

“It seems like a fun place to explore, so probably for a little while.” Syo answered as he helped himself to some of the baked treats Lavender always kept handy in her room.

“Join our linkshell. That way we can all talk to each other if you need something,” said Joey. The viera had always been focused on helping people first and foremost.

“Maybe we can go traveling together too.” Syo grinned at his son.

“I… don’t want to bother you….” Joey looked to the side. Given everything she had heard, Lavender wondered if her friend felt a bit awkward around his father. She could completely understand that.

“You never bother me. I’m sorry for not being there.” Syo put a hand on Joey’s shoulder.

Joey nodded vaguely and sipped his tea. He didn’t say anything as he put the empty cup on the table. It didn’t seem like he did anything in particular, but Lavender saw Syo put two fingers to his left ear. “Here’s the invite. I’ll finish Chef’s laundry.”

“Oh I can do my own laundry, you two go ahead-”

“I already started! You stay here and get the alcohol out of your system.” Joey narrowed his eyes at her. He had always been a good friend first and foremost, although his tolerance for her nonsense only went so far. It seemed she had hit it today.

Lavender hung her head. “Thank you, Sous Chef.”

“Good, good.” Joey nodded as he went to collect the discarded laundry basket from earlier. Refilling it with clothes, her own and his it seemed, he left the room to do his laundry magic.

Leaving her alone with Syo, which was perhaps Joey’s actual intention all along.

“How’re you feeling?” Syo grinned at her.

“A mixture of having my mind blown and feeling like an idiot.” Lavender replied honestly as she drank tea.

“The two feelings mixing into a cocktail?” Syo chuckled lightly at his own joke.

Lavender giggled. “It’s definitely the strongest drink I’ve had in awhile..”

His laughter raised into its usual wholehearted volume before he drank tea. “Like I said before, next time if you have something on your mind, how about you just come talk to me about it? It’ll be even easier now that I’m in your linkshell.”

“Ah…yeah…ah ha ha ha..” Lavender answered sheepishly.

“So, what drove you to drink so much?” Syo asked. He looked friendly enough, but his eyes bore into hers. She had the feeling he would not accept anything short of the whole truth.

Lavender drank more tea. “Do you have time for one more long story?”

Syo leaned forward until his elbows rested on his knees. “I have all the time in the world.”

Thank you to @adeat for Joey and Syo!

#ffxiv #ffxivwrite #ffxivwrite2023 #lavender helltear #joey madison #syo kurote

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jflashandclash · 6 months ago

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This was one of the few rooms where Pax didn’t feel like he had to smile. Or hold himself together.

Which of course meant he smiled and held himself together while entering.

The entrance had to be elaborate. He had set up acrobat swings, smoke machines, laser lights, and a disco ball. There were, in fact, projectors that could be used to create a whole line of backup dancers along either wall. They were on remote-controlled swivels, in the event he wanted the dancers on the ceiling or floor.

Today, he went with a basic powerslide into the room.

When he fell several feet short of Joey’s statue, Pax scooted forward with as much dignity and honor as he could muster. Firelord Zuko would be proud. Once he reached her, Pax crawled up beside her and leaned back against her legs.

Pax had spent a long time brainstorming something that would…

Annoy her

Give her human contact, if she could still feel it

Not be creepy. They’re Greek demigods. They don’t need more creep.

Pax had vetted different options with Euna, Axel, and Alabaster. They all agreed on using her legs as a back rest.

“Joey, may I say your makeup looks like it came from an exceptionally well aimed canon today?” Pax asked.

Her makeup looked fantastic. He and Lou Ellen spent a long time painting her face to Joey’s exact makeup preference. Pax dusted her bangs with a different color each week—this one was Flamingo Fuchsia. Now, her bangs matched his tie and sock line up for the week, so they could be twinsies. After each makeover session, Pax would take a Polaroid of her face and hold it up for her as it developed. That way, she could never accuse him of painting her like a clown without her consent.

When they got her changed back, he was definitely going to do a clown makeup night.

Pax slipped out a CD—yes a CD, Euna said Joey preferred it old school—from his vest. He leaned to plop it into Joey’s equally old-school CD player. They’d taken it, her bookcase of CDs, her band posters, and her dresser from her house, after explaining to Mr. Song “Sorry, pertrification is an occupational hazard. No, Camp Half-Blood doesn’t offer worker’s comp.”

Through this, Pax thought that they had the perfect new business model: Statuary Storage: Better than Medusa. Axel and Alabaster seemed unfortunately underwhelmed by such promise.

Pax hit play, engulfing the room in upbeat playfulness. “Girl’s Generation released a new alllbuuummm,” he said, “And I found something for you.”

He fished it out of his vest as well. It was another Polaroid and had become Pax’s favorite photo. Well, he also loved his beach photos of Alabaster and Kally. And the photo of that play he directed where they reenacted Pax repeatedly kicking Jason in the balls. THAT was great.

“Do you remember when we took this, your Songness?” Pax asked, holding up the photo of them posing for the camera in Camp Half-Blood shirts. “I do remember us comparing eye liners. And discussing the best black nail polish. And—”

“Ajax.”

Pax shrieked and scrambled to his feet, clutching the Polaroid to his chest.

Alabaster stood in the doorway, raising an eyebrow at him. He held a massive chunk of... white rock. He looked ready to flop onto his side from the weight, cartoon-style.

Pax threw his arms around Joey’s legs. “This is my Joey time, Ala. You get your cool witch time with her tomorrow. And I do not appreciate that you’re trying to upstage my gift of Girl’s Generation with a rock.”

“Girls--?” Alabaster started to ask, shook his head, and staggered into the room. “Ajax, I’ve been looking for this since you showed me Ms. Song. This is a piece of Pygmalion’s statue.” He was near panting as he plopped it onto the ground beside them. Unfortunately, not sweaty enough to want to take off his shirt. Or the rest of his clothing. Thalia and Reyna didn’t know how easy they had it with Axel’s shirts’ propensity for wandering. “And don’t call me Ala.”

“You spent months looking for a pig’s statue?” Pax sighed. “Ala—”

“Don’t—”

“I know you didn’t know Joey very well.”

“She was dead when we became reacquainted.” Alabaster straightened and flipped notebook from his jacket pocket.

“So was Jack, and that doesn’t stop you from asking his swine preferences. That doesn’t even look like a pig.”

“Suid preference,” Alabaster absently corrected, “Ajax, Pygmalion was the statue that was turned into a human. This is part of the base. I think I can use it as a channeling base to create resonance between Ms. Song and something inclined to become animate. Transfiguration has never been my specialty, but—”

Pax perked up. “Your pig stone can change Joey back?!” He hugged her tighter, heart thudding.

Alabaster’s severe expression cracked to a confident smirk. “I enjoy challenges. I think I can handle one from the Queen of the Gods. Let us prepare for some witchcraft.”

Pax glanced at the photo of Joey with her tongue stuck out, looking so happy. She had added sparkles and a note. Pax couldn’t wait to tease her about it and make her pin it into their van.

-------

I LOVE THIS!

Jace's art is always incredible, and I keep wanting to post little shorts as a thank you. <3 I hope you like this one!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SUCH WONDERFUL FANART!!! PAX AND JOEY ARE SO HONORED!

Souvenirs for when it's over

Characters from @jflashandclash 's series: The Traitors of Olympus

#the traitors of olympus #TOO #Joey Song #Ajax Pax #Jace's INCREDIBLE ARTWORK #art #THANK YOU #Pax is immediately going to piss off Alabaster #“You're so sexy when you talk spell casting.”#I am legitimately sad I didn't get to explore Joey and Pax's friendship more #I think they make such fun friends!!!#THANK YOU AGAIN JACE

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brown-little-robin · 2 years ago

Text

33: Adeline

part one | previous | next | masterlist | ao3 version

Joseph is insane.

Adeline has never claimed to understand him, but she thought she understood him better than this! Joey, her tender-hearted son, the one who rarely speaks of anything negative, who hates the sound of gunfire, is adopting Inertia?!

Adeline knows about Inertia. Information is her business, and she keeps track of the most dangerous metas. A new Inertia has appeared on the news every so often for the last seven years, and Adeline thanks her lucky stars every single time she sees that green blur that she is not involved with any speedsters.

Was. Was not involved.

She pauses a YouTube video of a suspected Inertia spotting and massages her temples. She’s trying to do her research, but it’s hard to concentrate. Her leg itches. She’ll need to elevate it soon. Also, her best information comes from what she already knew about the Inertia that Deathstroke, her ex-husband, recruited.

Inertia was Slade’s mad dog—the most dangerous one on the team, barring Deathstroke. He was a clone of Impulse; Inertia is more well-trained than Impulse, but still has the feral energy of a third-generation speedster. In every image she had of that Inertia, he had the same sneer on his face—except for that one time when she got a security camera view of him begging Slade for something. She couldn’t hear him or see his lips, so she doesn’t know what he wanted, but Slade had to slam him into a brick wall to get him to shut up. He was sullen as a kicked dog afterwards.

Even years later, Adeline wonders why Inertia didn’t dodge. She suspects that Slade had psychological control over him. Fatherless young adults have done weirder things than let a new father figure rough them up.

That Inertia was one of the most dangerous people Adeline has ever had the displeasure of learning about. He nearly blew up San Francisco. He killed Impulse. Deathstroke seemed to have to threaten him repeatedly to keep him in line. Adeline knows he was only one example, but all Inertias are made to kill. All Inertias come with a jealousy streak a mile wide. And Joey wants to let one of them into his life?! It’s like he wants to get hurt!

She argued with Joseph, of course, when he came to her house and announced that he was adopting a son. That he was adopting… Inertia.

She’d said, “I can’t believe you!”

Joseph smiled a little.

“Inertia? Inertia?”

“He’s not Inertia anymore.”

“He says.”

Joseph shook his head. “I trust him.”

Adeline shook her head in despair. “What in the world did the Flash say to you to get you to consider this? You’ve been content with your life for so long now…”

She wondered—and still wonders—if Joseph misses the excitement of the vigilante lifestyle. If maybe that’s why he’s so ready to jump into a dangerous decision.

Joseph signed, “It wasn’t the Flash. It was my decision. I’m keeping him, mother. I’m just here to ask if you want to meet him.”

Adeline’s face flamed, and she felt the danger of reacting irrationally. She took a moment of silence to recover.

“Joseph,” she said, low and serious. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

Joseph nodded. His hand went to his heart.

After a moment, Joseph signed, “I want to live with you and help out. But if I have to break that promise, I will. He needs me more than you do.”

Adeline… didn’t know how to react. She was proud of Joey for deciding to settle down. But why did it have to be like this? With a half-insane, traumatized speedster clone? Joseph has been hurt enough in his life.

One last time, Adeline tested him.

“You do realize that the best-case scenario here is that you have to parent a traumatized speedster. A speedster clone. Let alone the health risks—” and her mind fills up with all the information she found today about clone decay— “he’s never been parented before. You are going to have to work through years worth of neglect, Joseph, and that’s exhausting work.”

Joseph gave a single dignified nod. He was looking at her with that gentle, steady look that he gives whenever he has made his mind up.

“Well, I’m proud of you,” Adeline said. “Come here.”

And she gave Joseph a hug.

Adeline shoves her computer across the table. She isn’t getting anything productive done, and Joseph will be here soon with the clone.

Sophos Thaddeus Free, Née Thawne, stands beside and slightly behind Joseph at the front doors. Like a dog at heel, the clone waits for Joseph to wave to his mother and for her to say hello back before speaking to her. He puts his hands behind his back and bows.

“Adeline Kane.”

His voice is raspy.

He looks up at her through his long pale lashes. In person, Adeline is struck by the poisonous yellow of the speedster’s eyes. But they are not what Adeline expected: the eyes of a killer. Instead, he has the wary, serious look of a child in a warzone.

Adeline greets him, “Thad Free.”

She moves aside to let them in. The clone moves forward one step, then stops, because Joseph hasn’t moved. Joseph is looking around, glancing at her leg in its cumbersome cast and boot. He signs: “Why did you get the door yourself?”

“May has Sundays off now,” Adeline sighs. She doesn’t mind the maid getting religion, but what an inconvenient time for her to start being a pious churchgoer. “It’s been a bit of a rough day, but come on in. I just need to elevate my leg a bit.”

Joseph gives her a concerned look.

“I’m fine, Joey,” Adeline says, and fondness slips into her voice.

The clone looks away. To hide what? Jealousy?

Adeline clunks herself through the foyer, then steps awkwardly over the bump into the great room. She clunks over and settles herself into the green rocking chair with an involuntary sigh. She lifts the footrest and elevates her leg.

The clone comes to a halt in the middle of the room and looks at Joseph for guidance.

“Pick a chair and sit down,” Joseph signs gently. He gestures to the plushy armchairs all around and the couch on the foyer-side wall.

“Actually, can I stand for now?”

Again, the clone’s raspy voice unsettles Adeline. Such a damaged voice from such a small body, still with baby fat on his cheeks. It doesn’t seem right.

“If you want to,” Joseph signs, still looking inexpressibly tender.

As Joseph turns to take the creamy chair across from Adeline, her eyes return to the clone standing in front of her.

“Thad,” she says. “Joseph has told me about you, but I want to hear it from you. Can I ask you some questions?”

“Go ahead.”

“Why did you decide to give up being Inertia?”

The clone pauses, then laughs.

“Wow. You don’t pull your punches.”

“No, I do not.” Pulling your punches makes the punch useless and unlikely to even land. Always follow through.

The clone bares his teeth in a flash of a grin. Then his gaze flicks to Joseph, like he’s trying to get this right for Joseph. He’s meeting the parents, Adeline thinks humorlessly. He is just lucky that all he has to deal with is Adeline’s brand of overprotective prying.

Quietly, the clone says, “I gave up Inertia because… I realized that the entire feud between the Thawnes and Allens was pointless, and I didn’t want to be involved. I stopped being Inertia because I wasn’t Inertia anymore.”

Adeline raises her eyebrows. That’s kind of profound. The clone’s smart, she’ll give him that.

“And then you… stayed in the speed force for seven years?”

“Yes. Not by choice.”

He speaks tersely. His time in the speed force—or wherever he really was—must be a touchy subject.

“But you’re back now. Why?”

“I don’t know,” he snaps. “The speed force spat me out.”

“Easy there,” Adeline says firmly, like she’s soothing a horse. It seems to work. The clone visibly regroups.

She asks, “Now that you’re out, what are you planning to do?”

“Go to college.”

Adeline nods. Joseph told her that. She is more interested in why. Education is just a halfway point to a different life.

He adds, “And before you ask, I don’t know what I’ll major in. I’m a clone. I don’t have life figured out. Sue me.”

Adeline laughs. She likes this kid.

“Fair enough. But tell me this, Thad. What are you looking for?”

He sighs.

“You probably won’t believe me, but peace and quiet, mostly,” he says. “I spent most of my life on this stupid one-sided war and I’m sick of the entire concept of heroism. But I’ve got to justify my existence somehow. So… college.”

Wow. If this is a lie, it sucks.

“To justify your existence?”

“Well I’ve got to tell the Flash something to get him off my back.”

“So college is your excuse to get away from the Flash.”

The clone bares his teeth at her.

“Is that such a bad thing?”

“Maybe.”

Joey snaps his fingers for attention. The clone jumps. Joseph gets up, comes over to the clone, and puts his arm out in front of his chest protectively. Okay, sheesh. Adeline gets the picture.

“What?”

Satisfied that he’s made his point, Joseph signs, “Mother, you don’t have the whole picture.”

The clone is looking up at Joseph, watching his hands, and his eyes are very wide. Startled. Adeline does not feel friendly toward people who forget that Joseph still has opinions even if he doesn’t have a voice.

Hands flashing, Joseph signs, “Thad was raised to kill the Flash.”

“I know that.”

“You’re upsetting him.”

“She is not!”

Joey ignores him. “Be gentle,” he signs to Adeline, then gives her an I-mean-it look that’s as good as a scowl from her tender son.

Adeline is a little shocked.

“Joseph,” the clone says, and he sounds just as shocked as she is. “You don’t have to—”

“Yes I do.”

He subsides, but he looks upset. Joseph asks him, “Do you need a break?”

The clone’s voice is surprisingly gentle as he says “No, thank you. I’m fine. You can sit down.”

Joseph smiles and nods at him, and he sits down again.

“Thad,” Adeline says, trying her best to be gentle. She never wants to upset Joseph and she doesn’t actually want to upset the clone, either. She just needs answers. “Why do you need to get away from the Flash?”

His yellow eyes meet hers, wary.

“He stresses me out.”

Could the clone really be as uncomplicated as this? Adeline is used to dealing with people who lie. Her whole business is uncovering the dirty truth. But he might just be telling the truth. His story makes sense.

Again, Adeline looks into those yellow eyes and gets the gut feeling that he is not a killer. And she feels that he’s not a liar, either.

Thad says, “I’ll have you know that I have a semi-official diagnosis of C-PTSD, and wouldn’t you know it, a lot of that trauma was tied to speedsters.”

Joseph signs, “He needs a home.”

Maybe he does. Maybe that’s all he wants. Adeline takes in the speedster’s deadly little body poised like a soldier in the middle of the room and reminds herself that he is a member of the family now, whether she likes it or not.

Adeline says to Thad, “So. You want to stay with us and try to recover?”

He makes a choking noise.

“Sure,” he says, blatantly insincere.

“You don’t expect to recover,” Adeline recognizes.

“Of course not.”

Joey winces. He has always been so empathetic, and this child is a walking minefield of horrors. Why in the world does Joey think this is a good idea?

The clone continues, “Look, you have to know. Medication doesn’t work on me. Therapy can only help a certain amount. PTSD changes the physical structure of the brain. And I’m hyper-decelerated. That means—”

“I know what it means.”

Thad looks unnerved.

“…well then. You know that my body—including my brain—does not change fast. I’m going to be…”

His voice wavers.

“I’m going to be like this for… a very long time. So no, I don’t—I don’t expect to recover.”

Adeline nods slowly. The clone’s cheeks are flushed, she notices. This must be frightening for him. When you’re a tool, you don’t get to be un-fixably broken. If a tool is broken, it gets thrown away.

“I don’t know that you’ll never recover. You may be hyper-decelerated, but you’re a speedster. You could heal from a gunshot to the gut in two minutes.”

“Provided I had enough energy, maybe.” But despite his skepticism, Thad looks thoughtful. Adeline waits.

After a moment, the clone admits, “There… may be a possibility you’re right.”

Adeline raises her eyebrows. She didn’t expect such a civil response.

Thad wrinkles his nose at her knowingly. He comes and flings himself into the armchair to her left, about five feet away. His body bounces a bit off the red leather cushions. He is so small for such a deadly thing.

Joseph is in the seat opposite them, forming a triangle of equals.

Thad says, “You have no guarantee that I’m not lying. You’re just going to have to make a decision on whether to trust me or not. And—”

Joseph snaps his fingers. Thad shuts up immediately, eyes on Joseph like a German Shepherd waiting for a command.

Joseph tells him, “I’m sorry. I need to talk to my mother alone, please. Just for a minute.”

“Yes, sir.”

He gets up and walks straight through the wall to the foyer like a ghost. Joseph watches him go with a fond half-smile.

When he’s gone, Joseph turns his attention back to Adeline and signs, “Please be gentle with him.”

“That’s the second time you’ve said that,” Adeline points out.

“You didn’t really listen the first time.”

“Because I need to know the truth about him,” Adeline says. “You need to know the truth about him. I know you trust him, but you’re making a lifelong commitment here, Joseph. You need to know what you’re working with.”

Joseph spreads his hands in agreement. Then, slowly, he signs: “He’s not Slade.”

Adeline’s eyes widen. Joseph never talks about his father.

“I know he’s not Slade,” she says. “If anything, he’s more like Grant, isn’t he?”

This time it’s Joseph who flinches minutely. Adeline never talks about Grant. Her poor foolish dead son. Joseph’s older brother. He wanted to be like Deathstroke. So he went and got himself killed trying to be a mercenary.

Joseph’s face softens. He signs, “Thad isn’t Grant.”

Quietly, Adeline says: “I know. But you have to admit that he’s like Grant.”

Joseph looks unconvinced. “He just wants peace and quiet.”

Adeline shakes her head.

“Someone like that?” she asks. “He’s never going to be normal. He’s restless. Like Grant. Once he’s been with you for a while, he’s going to start acting up. I can see it. Please tell me you can too.”

Joseph gives his breathy version of a sigh.

“Maybe he is like Grant. But he needs me—”

And, in unison with Joseph’s hands, Adeline says: “He needs us.”

She sighs. How can she say no to that? She is walking into heartbreak with her eyes wide open, but…

“Fine. You can live here. Both of you. I’ll be his damn granny.”

Joseph smiles at her, sweet and incorrigible. Adeline looks at her son’s lovely face, the dimples on his cheeks, the tiredness in his eyes, and she shakes her head at herself. For Joey, she’d walk straight into hell.

Joseph goes out to the foyer to get Thad. It takes longer than Adeline thought it would. Her leg starts itching again.

The door opens, and Joseph, smiling brilliantly, comes in with Thad beside him. Thad is holding Joseph’s hand. Maybe he’s less like Grant than Adeline thought. Grant would never have allowed someone to hold his hand. Too independent.

The clone looks up at Joseph for approval, gets his nod, and then comes and sits in the armchair by Adeline again. He licks his lips and shifts toward her.

“You can stay,” she tells him.

He blinks rapidly.

“Why?”

“Well, I can’t say no to Joey,” Adeline says.

Thad snorts. “Yeah, me neither.”

And then he sits there and stares at her, frowning slightly, like he’s trying to solve a math problem in his head.

Adeline doesn’t want to let him get weird ideas in his head about that. So she gets down to the practicalities.

“What college are you going to go to?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t?” Adeline looks at Joseph, and he shrugs, looking surprised. “It’s August nineteenth! Metropolis U. is starting in two weeks! You’d better make a decision pretty quickly, Thad!”

The clone flinches. His shoulders draw up to his ears. He wraps his arms around his knees.

“I didn’t know,” he says hoarsely. “I—what can I do?”

“Which colleges have you applied to?”

Thad looks like a deer in the headlights. “Um—none—I didn’t know I needed to, I—only took the ACT a little while ago—”

Joseph gives Adeline a desperate look. Right. She can work with this.

“The situation can be salvaged,” she says firmly. “Metropolis U. has a program called the “special circumstances initiative” where you can apply late. It’s a Federal requirement for State colleges. If you get in, you’ll have a sh—a ton of work to do to catch up, but you can handle it, can’t you, Thad?”

His eyes lose that wide, panicked look in the blink of an eye. He’s still pale, but focused.

“Of course.”

“Special Circumstances Application,” Adeline repeats. “It’s a pain for colleges to deal with. Metropolis U., Metro Community College, and New Jersey City University are the only colleges in New Jersey that offer them. But you can probably get in on that.”

“Okay.”

“Come here—”

She isn’t even done with the sentence before Thad is standing at her elbow. Maybe she could get used to working with speedsters after all.

“Online application,” she tells him, and leans painfully over to pull her laptop from the computer case hanging over the arm of the chair. She puts in the password and then hands it to Thad. He can find it faster than she can. Heck, he might even be able to work at his own speed for once, using a computer.

She looks up to see Joey raising his eyebrows at her, laughing silently.

“What?” she mouths.

He signs, “You just trusted him with your computer.”

“Ah, so what,” Adeline says. Thad looks up from the computer, confused. Adeline clocks it as a potential weakness—becomes intensely absorbed in work, could be ambushed—even as she thinks he looks kind of cute.

“What’s my story?” Thad asks them.

Adeline hesitates—and abruptly finds the computer back in her hands. She nearly swears, but manages to stop herself. She doesn’t know much about being a granny but she knows you shouldn’t swear in front of kids.

She’s going to have to clean up a lot of her habits, probably. The way Thad panicked when she snapped at him was—unexpected. Like he thought she was going to hurt him and he couldn’t defend himself.

“Your story?” she asks.

“Essay question.”

She looks at it. In five hundred words or less, describe the circumstances that led to your applying to Metropolis University using this application. Right.

Joseph signs, “You could tell the truth.”

Thad looks at him like he’s gone nuts.

“Why in the world would I do that?”

“It’s confidential. They legally can’t release that essay.” Joseph hesitates, waving his hand in the air uncertainly: I don’t know, though.

“That’s right,” Adeline says. “Searchers has used this application before. It was originally built for rehabilitating aliens and metas. Civil rights and all that.”

“So the information is confidential… still, why go for the truth?”

Does he not have any sense of morality? But Joseph’s expression goes soft and concerned. “People will want to help you.”

“No they won’t.”

Joseph repeats, “Thad, people will want to help you. I promise.”

Thad covers his mouth with his hand. Adeline can see his chest move as he breathes deeply. Overwhelmed—and childish in how he deals with it. So that flinch was about thinking his application would be rejected if he told the truth?

Adeline is about to say something about everyone loving a rehabilitation story when she sees something change about Thad. A slackening in his muscles, a dulling of his eyes. He’s gone. If they were in the field, Adeline would have to carry him out of danger.

Joseph told her about this. It doesn’t make it any less bizarre to see it in person. No warning, no trigger. Just Thad’s mind rejecting reality for a minute.

Adeline looks at Joseph, and he looks back calmly. They wait it out.

Thad comes back without fanfare. He glances around, readjusting, and grimaces at Adeline. He says, “It happens.”

Now there’s a good, solid response for you. Thad may be messed-up, but he’s practical about it.

Adeline says “Sure.” And then she thinks of something. “Okay, rule: don’t go in the pool without someone with you. I don’t need you drowning in my house.”

“There’s a pool?”

Joseph snaps his fingers. He’s grinning.

“Do you mind if I take Thad on the tour?”

“Go for it,” Adeline says. “I’ll call Mr. Crandall about that application.”

Joseph comes over to Thad, grinning, and leads him toward the dining room, already signing animatedly about the house. Adeline gets busy on the computer. She has plenty of time to call Thad’s guardian, and she has some other things she wants to do first. Now that she knows she’ll be hosting him long-term, she has a lot of research to do about speedsters. Dietary needs, exercise needs, metahuman characteristics, the list goes on. Oh, and she should brush up on the current research on psychological trauma, too. The kid is clearly screwed up in the head.

#The Strange Redemption of Thaddeus Thawne #Adeline Kane #Hey!! A Thursday update—after a forever hiatus!#and the next five chapters hOPEFULLY should be easier. since they're not Adeline's POV #it was like pulling teeth to write her. Adeline ily but do you have to be so... direct #anyway!! excited to be back into writing this with an actual plan and stuff.#oh btw this will probably be polished up a bit when I post it to ao3. but tumblr folks get it early. that's the deal

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noridoorman · 3 years ago

Text

Tempted [2] - Frank Morrison x Reader

Never in my entire writing hobby/career have I had such problems writing a request. The quality is really poor, I haven’t proof-read it yet but will soon. Hopefully this is good enough, I’m tired.

Never has class felt like an eternity than before. The ticking of the clock felt like it fooled you into thinking that time actually passes. The painful monotone voice of your teacher supported that boredom along with the sounds of the occasional scribbling on the paper. People usually say the quietness is relaxing and calming. But school quietness? It's the definition of unnerving, annoying, and boring all at once. It grinds all your gears while putting your brain to a halt. You could get a brain aneurysm at the moment, proving to everyone that school is indeed deadly. You'd be praised as a hero, but alas, you didn't get that sweet release. Instead, it was the sweet chime of the bell that ripped you out of your daydream, proclaiming happily that the lesson passed.

"Hey..." You looked up from your messy desk to see Susie, one of Frank's best friends, approach your table. "You're (Y/N), right?"

"Yeah, that's me. And you're Susie, right?"

"Yep! Nice to meet ya!" Susie stretched her hand out for you to shake. "You know, you're always invited to hang out with me and the rest!"

"The rest?" You and Susie push through the crowd of students.

"Yeah, y'know Frank and two other friends."

"Oh- okay, thanks, but why are you telling me this. I mean, we barely talk."

"Cause Frank seems to like you! And I will never reject an opportunity for a new member!" When the hallway split in two ways, she took the one opposite of yours, waving you goodbye with a toothy grin.

Your heads got trapped in your clouds, processing what she said took you an embarrassingly long time. And when you did, your entire face was almost engulfed in flames as the blood rushed into it in supersonic speed. You frantically put your books in your locker but waited a few seconds, hoping Frank would appear. After a while, you decided he must have skipped the lesson and wouldn't need to come to his locker. You exited the school building along with the rest of the students. Looking around, you spotted Frank himself with Susie and two other people leaning against his jeep. He looked impatient with his foot tapping repeatedly on the ground and his arms crossed. His gaze went to the school exit and then to you where you were standing. He moved away from his car and flashed you a smile and a wave as if you were the one he's been waiting for. Susie notices this and turns around and sees you, waving with both of her hands. The two other people just stare at you with friendly smiles.

You wave back awkwardly, not sure what to do. Susie motions for you to come over and as if you've been cursed, you started approaching them against your own will.

"Hey, (Y/N)! That's Joey and Julie. Julie and Joey, (Y/N)" Susie points to the tall guy and then the blonde girl. Joey looks to be older than the rest but Julie seems to be around your age. "And you already know Frank!"

Frank turns to you and smirks. "Yeah, I've only heard your name though." He stretches his hand out for you to shake. "I'm Frank. Frank Morrison"

"I'm (Y/N)" You took his hand and the warmth of it engulfed you in seconds, making you not want to let go. He seemed to feel the same as he stared at your hands, taking several seconds to let go.

"Heya, I'm Frank-"

"YOUR FUTURE BOYFRIEND!" Susie called out, followed by excited "oohs" from Julie and Joey.

"Shut up!" Frank turned to them, but you couldn't help but notice his face heating up. You don't judge him though yours did too.

"Don't try to hide it. You want it to happen!~" Susie sings out the last tone, making the other two giggle.

"Anyway!" Frank clears his throat. "We wanted to go to the lodge, didn't we?!" He glares at the three, silencing them immediately.

"Yeah, sure" Julie opens the car and jumps into the backseat along with Susie and Joey. They all giggled like little schoolgirls and whispered among them. Frank opens the passenger seat door for you.

Your jumpy heart made the car ride feel more like you were going at supersonic speed when in reality, you could hear how much Frank's car suffered carrying five people at the same time. The others paid no mind though, the rattling of the engine didn't disturb their conversation. Or rather, screaming competition cause you swear you felt like you were in a heavy metal concert with people trying to talk over the music.

"We're here" Frank sloppily parks his car near an abandoned lodge. Some of its walls were reclaimed by nature. Some, if not all, mirrors were shattered and broken. You had to squint your eyes a little to see the sharp shard in the snow.

Franks pulls the door open, making the car shake a little. You unfastened your seatbelt and stepped outside, instinctively hugging yourself as the cold has set it. Frank took notice of your trembling form and took his jacket off. You turn to him and see him hanging it in front of you, offering for you to take it. You stared at him for a second before slowly grabbing his jacket and draping it over your shoulder.

"It's really cold here. Make sure not to get sick." Frank awkwardly stuffs his hands inside his pockets and sends you an uncertain smile. But his uncertainty made him look more adorable than you'd like to admit.

"But what about you?" The others have already rushed inside the resort, all surrounding a campfire and chatting with one another. They didn't pay any mind to you and Frank distancing yourself's from them.

"Nah, don't worry! I'll be fine. I rarely get cold anyway." Just as he finished his sentence, an involuntary shiver ran down his spine. He grabbed himself by the arm and looked sheepishly to the side. "I'm not cold."

"If you insist." You moved a little closer to him for some extra warmth but also because you felt touch-starved as fuck. Mostly because you felt touch-starved as fuck.

You and Frank looked over to the three messing around, and you couldn't help but smile along with him as you witnessed the shenanigans these three do. He took notice of your staring and smoothly wrapped an arm around your shoulder.

"They're really fucking dumb." He starts, letting his arm glide down to your hands. "But I like 'em for that."

"You guys are really close." You shivered at the contact of his hands against yours. His skin was rougher than you anticipated, but you sucked it up anyway. "How come?"

"Hmm, I dunno." His attention was now fully turned to you, captivating you with his softened expression. "I guess we all just clicked."

"Sometimes, I mistake you guys for a family. Joey is the only adult."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" He pouts playfully, making you giggle.

"He tries to deescalate situations while you and the others try to make it worse!" You two no longer leaned against the wall and instead fully faced each other with gleeful expressions.

"No, we're not! We're just fixing things OUR way. The, not Joey approved way." Frank crosses his arms.

"Which is more often than not, the stupid way." You tried to mumble that beneath your breath, but Frank caught wind of it.

"Wow, so know you're calling me stupid? Your letters said the total opposite!" You felt all your air being punched out of your chest, the smile no longer present on your face. Instead, you paled with eyes open wide, staring at the smirking Frank who ate up your reaction.

"What?"

"You read my- how did you do that?!" Franks smirk faltered a little as you took a few steps back from him.

"You dropped them on the ground, and I saw my name on them so I thought I could read 'em." He scratches the back of his head. His smirk disappeared and was instead replaced with yet another uncertain expression, realizing the gravity of his mistake.

"I-! I'm so, so sorry! You weren't meant to see them." Your entire face turned red in a matter of seconds as you covered your tomato face with your hands. Frank grabs your wrist and pulls them down, now staring lovingly into your eyes.

"Hey, it's alright!" Now it was his turn for his face to turn crimson red. "I like you anyway. Reading these letters made me happy if anything." He tries to avert his gaze as he feels like he could crumble under your eyes. He truly felt like a prisoner to his feelings.

"Really? I mean, I'm happy they did!" Your bright smile complimented your red face perfectly. Frank gathered the courage to look straight into your eyes and almost melted at the adoration building up inside of him. The corner of his lips turn upwards as he leaned down to peck your lips, holding your hands lovingly in his own.

And yes, Susie is fangirling.

#dbd #dead by daylight #frank morrison x reader #the legion x reader #the legion frank x reader

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black-coffee-and-sugar · 3 years ago

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Azie killed it!!!

me praising a supergirl episode? i know, shocking. but 6x12 just came for me where i live! i knew it was going to be great but it surpassed my expectations. sister are really doing it for themselves! so many things to point out that were phenomenal but here’s what comes to mind rn:

- the camera work while kelly’s all distressed at the hospital, lil joey struggling to breathe, orlando looking so helpless > i was already stressed within 5 mins

- rankin literally saying “i’ll do everything i can to help these people” while rolling away to her private hospital room with access to trial medication when the residents of the heights probably don’t even have insurance or money to pay the bills. also rankin literally sucking the life out of this disadvantaged community, building wealth and pushing her political agenda on the backs of black people is the most realistic portrayal of true villainy that this show has ever given us

- kelly’s phone call to james in the stairwell, talking about how exhausting it is was so personal to me. i work in these types of communities all the time and it’s a hard fight. i get emotionally tired too. it does feel like screaming into the void, like one step forward and ten steps back. and i felt this for kelly.

- alex’s solution is to send respirators and nothing else? just makes me realize that while the super friends were protecting mxy and trying to capture nxyly, they were pretty much neglecting the heights. people who were literally dying and it’s horrifying to think of where their priorities lie. especially considering the fact that they could have handled the nxyly issue without alex so she can support her gf

- writer 1: how do we make the audience hate rankin some more?

writer 2: have her kill a guy for a sandwich on white bread. it’ll make her look like even more of an asshole

but seriously, what kind of psychopathic shit was that?

- andrea has always been portrayed a shameless capitalist who only cares about grabbing eyeballs but it has never been highlighted as negatively as it was in this episode in that phone call with kelly

- i think kelly reaching out to lena who isn’t even in national city really speaks to her desperation to have someone see her. someone hear her. someone fucking help and i’m glad she had at least diggle’s support

- that slim stack of bills is all it took for that woman to sell her soul to rankin? bruh...

- the super friends showing up to the heights, only concerned with tracking nxyly, not giving any amount of fucks about what kelly is trying to say enraged me. i know that was the point of the episode but STILL

- kara telling kelly that mxy can fix all this once they get him out of the crystal. what are you five? give me a goddamn break with this foolishness kara! so lil joey’s lungs are just supposed to hang on til whenever the fuck y’all save mxy? lena, please come and collect your wife

- kelly looking directly at kara when she mentions the word hope while dragging the super friends for their nonchalant behaviour > oof, a slap to the face

- i see nia had the one brain cell this week. she’s the only one who attempted to help kelly in whatever way she could.

- brainy really said racism is still a problem in the 31st century and it did not surprise me.

- seems like having tunnel vision is a danvers sisters trait. i get alex not being able to relate to kelly’s struggle but come on she’s your girlfriend. can’t you tell when she’s upset?

- i’m glad that they addressed j’onn choosing the appearance of a black man and how even though he may have been a target because of it, he still can’t relate fully to the experiences like kelly, james and diggle can. it’s optional for him. they don’t have that luxury to check out whenever it suits them

- kara talking about the anti-alien hate with the col and i would like to remind kara that she genuinely thought things were improving and that the division didn’t exist despite j’onn and brainy repeatedly telling her otherwise. because, once again, her physical appearance affords her privilege that no black person or visible alien will ever receive

- every kelly scene was so emotional i was bawling wtf. her talking about pushing her pain and anger down and trying to be positive and all smiles > 100% accurate

- i can’t believe i’m saying this but i did not need the lena scenes. they should’ve just kept those out. on the other note, magical amazon package delivery

- guardian’s suit is so fucking badass!!! i’m glad little black girls will feel SEEN and INSPIRED in this episode. thank you azie

- kara was really out there getting her ass kicked by a human who just got powers for a few hours? stop nerfing her abilities!

- the way we got an actual scene of kelly carefully wrapping her hair, the say her name t shirt, the books on the coffee table > well done azie

- alex and kelly in the final scene was a good portrayal of an interracial relationship where one partner wants to but just will never understand the issue fully. alex just needs to be there for kelly and i’m glad that they didn’t make it a moment to educate her white gf about racial discrimination. they kept the focus where it needed to be. i’m also glad that unlike the other soical justice topics we’ve had, they didn’t try to make it seem like something that is so engrained into the fabric of society can be wrapped up with a neat little bow and be done with. there’s more fighting to do but at least it seems like kelly will have the support going forward

- the promo after such a powerful episode gave me whiplash. back to our regularly scheduled nonsense i guess

This episode holy shit. man it was amazing. azie is a talented writer and it’s easy to tell that she was drawing inspiration from real and personal experiences. it was very easy for me to relate to these scenes, especially the hospital ones. also makes me annoyed because they’ve been wasting all this potential and this episode is proof that the show and it’s storylines can be nuanced and still include superhero aspects. too bad this episode will likely become one of few in this show’s entire run that actually accomplishes that.

#supergirl #kelly olsen #john diggle #dansen #supercorp

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insomniac-dot-ink · 4 years ago

Text

The Invention of Kissing

Would it hurt? Noel had heard of people bumping noses on the way in. She heard of people biting lips and braces scraping skin. She had heard that first kisses often suck.

It could be wet and slimy with too much tongue and not enough person in it. There was a chance she may even feel terribly afterward or want to stop eating or sleeping in the more dramatic versions. She could give into hysterics like an 18th century maiden who was never allowed outside.

It didn’t help that it was her last year in high school.

She had been keeping it a secret for years. Noel was almost eighteen years old and had never been kissed. Sometimes boys would offer to take her to dances or dates or out to the movies and she would consider saying yes-- perhaps the wrong kind of kiss was better than no kiss at all. In the end, she always said no.

Throughout 9th grade and into 10th, she had tried to summon an image of kissing Tristan or Mike or Joey and there just came back a big dull greyness. How their hands would feel or mouth would taste just left her imagination flatlining.

And she would think about flatlining and then she would think about Sandra Oh in her mom’s favorite medical drama, Grey's Anatomy. Then she would be right back to the problem of telling Joey she was too busy to go to any dances this year.

And in the end, she would rather be alone than not herself. Today was not like most days however.

Noel slung her backpack over a shoulder and checked the hallway twice. The lights had been dimmed for the night and left a ghost town-- even the janitors were done for the day. The tall arched windows cast slim moonlight over the lockers and Noel held her breath against the stillness.

The trombones always stayed the latest but they were gone now. The flutes all carpooled together and most of the drumline had left the second they were dismissed. Marching band was out.

Noel adjusted her mellophone over her other shoulder and darted down hall with her head bowed. Her throat was too dry and swallowing repeatedly didn’t seem to be making it any better. Her shoes clattered against the school floors and her heart beat rapidly in her chest.

She slipped outside at almost a full jog and a chill hit her face. The door clicked as it locked automatically behind her. Noel sucked on her bottom lip and surveyed the back of the school until her eyes landed on the metal bleachers nearby.

A figure was hunched over on the grass behind them with long straight chestnut hair tied back.

Noel was running before she knew what she was doing. The blaring lights of the football field were still on and the air smelled like frost and the mint gum she had been chewing earlier.

Her palms were damp despite the cold and something squeezed painfully in her chest. Was this the wrong thing? It was too late to turn back now as the head swung up and their eyes met through the gloom.

Harriette Jacobs gave her a thoughtful look before bursting into a grin. “Sup.” She said casually with a lift of her chin. She had a thin nose and thin lips. Would that matter? Her eyes were strangely large on her face and she still had the thick marks of color guard makeup smudged along her cheeks. Her flag was discarded off to the side.

She was wearing a dance outfit underneath her puffy black coat that hugged her athlete’s build. “Hey,” Noel nervously shifted from foot to foot. “Hey, Harri.” She tried to mirror the other girls loose tone.

Harri gestured for her. “Well, come down here.” Her voice was always a bit hoarse and lazily slow-- which felt unexpected in a couple ways.

Noel bent like folded paper and her knees went damp against the crunchy frosted grass. “Hi,” she said again as she came down to her level. Noel tried to tuck her hair back, but she remembered it was too short to do that now.

Harri chuckled. “Hi yourself. Greetings. All that.”

Noel flushed two shades darker at the way Harri’s eyes dragged over her. “Are you sure?” Noel blurted out like her thoughts were an indoor cat finally finding an open door.

Harri shifted closer. “I’m the one that should be asking you that.” She tugged on her long straight ponytail. “You’re almost shaking, man.”

“Oh.” Noel inched somewhat closer in the dark. She’d have to bike home soon. She had chem homework to do soon. She had her mom’s dinner to reheat. “Sorry,” she said lamely and Harri shrugged.

“I was just happy there was another gay girl in our year,” she smiled again in a lopsided manner. “It’s cool you came out like that.” Noel looked down at her knees. “Didn’t mean to,” she said without facing her. “I just . . . got angry.” Noel had written a piece on LGBT+ rights in her school newspaper that last week and outed herself in the process.

“It’s hot.” A little flare spiked through Noel’s chest right down to her toes, she bit her bottom lip like a penalty point. “You’re, um, hot. Too.” A long moment passed before Harri tossed her head back and laughed. Noel flushed again. “That was wrong, right? Like, like definitely not it.”

Harri snickered slightly. “It was right, babe.” She said with a grin, “I’m flattered, for real. When I heard you tell everyone at the party you were swearing up and down that you’d definitely kiss someone, what was it?” She tilted her chin further up. “If it kills you?”

Noel flattened her coat down in the hopes less of her would be showing. “I said definitely with a girl, but yes. If it killed me,” she cringed. “Or them.”

Harri shook with laughter. “Alright.”

“Not that I’d do that to you!” She quickly put a hand up. “Uh, scout’s honor.”

“Man, don’t say that.” Harri gave a sneaky grin before pushing her ponytail over one shoulder. Her eyes seemed to crinkle and it turned Noel into pastry dough inside. “I’ve always wanted to die for a good cause.”

Noel made a sound not unlike a squeak. She had reached the squeaking portion of her attempt at a first kiss.

Harri gave a low whistle, “But for real, I almost had a heart attack when it was me you texted.”

Noel relaxed down onto the ground. She rubbed her nose. “Sorry,” she said again and wished she would stop saying it. Harri snorted. “But you know,” she leaned in closer. “We don’t have to kiss just cause we’re the only gay girls in our class.” She made a wiggling motion with her hands. “There’s more fish in the sea, babe. Promise.” Noel gave a slow, easy smile. “That’s not, um, why I asked you.” She felt the moment rising like a hot water in a kettle. She hovered closer. “You don’t have to like me back or anything,” she said quickly, ripping the band aid off. “I was just . . . I just want to know what it feels like. So I asked.”

Harri’s eyebrows lifted all the way toward her hairline. “Like me? Really?” she drawled. Her eyes drifted to the sky for a moment and Noel watched her breath puff white in the air. “Cool. Yeah, very cool.” She nodded and then they both looked at each other, expectant. Harri’s eyes shone slightly and she cocked her head to the side. “Should I? Or . . . you?” Noel grinned a bit foolishly. “I dunno.” She slid slightly closer. “I’ve never done this before.” “Me neither.” Harri tipped closer and Noel could count her eyelashes at this point, they were long and almost regal. “You nervous?” “Yeah,” Noel said truthfully. She gulped. “Really nervous. But maybe . . . Do you wanna be friends even if it’s, uh, bad?” Harri had always been sleek and fun and known for skipping class. Noel was known for playing the mellophone and writing detailed op eds in the school newspaper.

They had talked, but they hadn’t really talked. Their friend groups mixed in places like marching band, but they didn’t really mix. Today was not like most days, however. “Sure. And do you wanna be more than friends if it’s good?” There was a cheekiness to the way she said it, teasing. And it worked. Noel boiled over. The heat flooded her as she studied the grass for a long moment. “That’s a lot of pressure,” she murmured, self-consciousness toying with the other part of her. The one that ached. “I don’t want to . . . do it badly.” “I don’t think it works like that,” Harri hummed softly. “But I guess we could find out.”

And maybe it would be bad. Maybe it would be sloppy and gross and wet. Maybe it wouldn’t be like the movies and no music would swell. No one would clap. None of it would matter.

However, Noel leaned in. She closed her eyes. And they met in the middle with her heart squeezing and the whole world capsizing forward.

Warm, warm and alive and pressing in, like a dream. She slotted right there into that corner of heat and movement and another person clutching at her, wanting her, and her wanting right back.

And it felt like the invention of kissing.

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#flash fiction #wlw #sapphic #spilled ink #short story #flash fic #lesbian writing #gay story #my work #f/f

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