#Latina oc

[shotssblog]

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[michaels-reality]

Salena 🖤⭐

[romanarose]

If You Wanna Be Wild: Chapter 8

Co-written with @my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction my beloved Fen, who I could not do this without. Thank you for being my emotional sounding board, my dear friend, my wonderful cowriter and helpful beta reader. I adore you.

Javier Peña x Latina!Reader/oc x Santiago Garcia

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Summary: Santi wallows and Candy is hurt.

Content and warnings for whole fic, not chapter by chapter unless something is added: Sex work, drug trade, some drug use/pressured used, sex workers and the mistreatment/stigma surrounding them specifically in the 70’s (my blog is sex worker positive) but ima put potential dub con depending how you look at it as a sex worker who works with dangerous men, some action surrounding reader and the guys and the drug trade, SMUT HEAVY, corruption kink (were corrupting santi here, he’s young, 25), no loss of virginity tho, threesomes, some slight m/m smut but that’s not the focus here, but as you know this blog is an lgbt blog so I’m always open to gay shit. Talk of war and some PTSD but I won't be going a whole lot into it. Covert/emotional incest in the past, Santi's mommy issues, m/m dynamics, internalized bi/homophobia

Reader speaks Spanish and has hair. I've decided Candy is just latina bc she's a sex worker in Colombia so this is what I'm doing. Reader also has curly hair and dark skin.

ADDITIONAL WARNINGS!: Deep internalized homophobia

Amazing smut by Fen as always!!! send love their way!!!

2.3k words

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Santi flinched when he heard another plate crash against the wall, thrown by mamí’s hand and hurdled towards his sister. They were screaming at each other again, and it was bad this time. Elaina had been caught by a neighbor boy's mom, naked in bed with that neighbor boy and brought her to mamí for punishment. Santi had woken from his sleep to the knock, and when he opened his eyes to see Elaina’s bed was empty, he knew it was her. It was always her. Why couldn’t she listen? Why couldn’t she just behave? She caused mamí so much stress when she already worked so hard. Look where they were, the three of them living in a small 2 bedroom apartment, the two siblings were still sharing a room at 14 and 10. She needed to do better for mamí.

“Libertina!” Mamí shouts, slapping Elaina across the face. “How dare you disrespect me! How dare you embarrass your brother!”

Santi didn’t feel embarrassed. Should he feel embarrassed? Mamí said it was embarrassing. Yeah, yeah he felt embarrassed. Humiliated even.

“Mamí! Just listen! I’m trying to talk to you!” Elaina is crying, crumpled clothes had noticeable tearing at the collar. 

“Callate!! No quiero escuchar a una puta fea!” Mamí reaches for her shoe. Santiago closes his eyes, clenching his little hands up into fists, squeezing them every time he hears the smack.

*

When it was all said and done, Elaina was sobbing in her bed, and Santiago was pulled onto his mother's lap. He had the distinct feeling he was too old for this, but he didn’t protest. Mamí didn’t like when he said he was too old for something, or grew out of anything. He outgrew a pair of jeans last week and she cried about how soon he’d find another woman and leave her. She said he was hers. Her little man. Her esposito. Her Santito.

Mamí held him close, arms wrapped around his body as they watched TV, up past his bedtime, telling him how good he was, how he could never leave her.

“Don’t you ever leave, Santito, bueno? No woman will ever love you like I do. They’ll only hurt my baby. They won’t cook for you, women anymore don’t take care of their men. They don’t clean either. I’ll take care of you, always, just never leave me for another woman. As long as you are my good esposito, I’ll take care of my Santito.”

*

Santi would leave, eventually, but not for another woman. He left to join the military to pay for his mom's bills when she wasn’t making ends meet as she got sicker. Elaina took care of her, despite everything she put Elaina through. Elaina became someone Santi admired deeply, seeing her for who she was. She wasn’t the problem child. She wasn’t a menace. She was a normal kid. It was Santi that was strange. The guys in the force razzed him over his relationship with his mom, telling him his wife wrote him when a letter from his mom came. They also made fun of him for going to mass weekly or more, for praying even in the field, for not fucking the local women they encountered, but being called gay wasn’t anything new to him. He was called that in high school, along with a myriad of racial slurs.

Frankie never made fun of him, neither did Will. Ben did, but it was just friendly, nothing mean. Nothing like Tom. Will was religious, raised baptist and respected Santi’s ongoing commitment. Ben was a bit of a mama’s boy too, just not as bad as Santi. Frankie didn’t have a relationship with his family, so he thought it was sweet.

Santi thought it was normal. It was normal to constantly worry what your mom thought, whether or not you acted on it.

When Santi finally left his mom's grasp after she fell asleep on the couch, he felt a tightness in his chest. There was a sense that something was deeply wrong for laying there with his mom, a feeling that he was too old, that he didn’t want to do that anymore… but then a deep guilt for leaving her for the comfort of his own bed. He never knew what the right choice was, constantly second guessing every move he made when he went to war with his own wants and his mom's. Cracking the door to the room he shared with Elaina in their small apartment, he heard her crying. At first, he considered going back to the couch where mamí lay… but in addition to being mamí’s esposito he knew he needed to be there for Elaina too.

When he lay in his bed, Elaina eventually spoke. “She didn’t even ask what happened.” She sobbed. “I didn’t want to… I didn’t, but he- he- he, and his friends…” She broke down in heavy heaves once again, crying as the welts mamí gave her began to show in the moonlight and Santi began to realize what had happened to her. When she began to calm down, Elaina turned to him, her face set in anger he didn’t think was directed at him but he could never tell.

“Don’t you ever do that to a woman, do you hear me? If I ever catch you acting like that, I swear to god Santi, I swear to god…”

She never did finish that sentence, and Santi didn’t sleep that night, but he promised. He would never disrespect a woman, never. He would be a better man than their dad, than the men who did that to his sister. He’d make mamí and Elaina proud, he’d follow the word of God. He’d be good for his mamí. He’d make her proud. He’d be her good Santito.

*

“Good boy, Santito”

Cold ran down his back, through his torso and into his heart where it pumped the icy anxiety into every vein. He felt sick. Santi thought of his mom, thought of what she must think of him right now, what Jesus must think of him… in bed with a woman who isn’t his wife, kissing a man, feeling his erection in his pants as their bodies pressed into each other… and Elaina, what would she think of soliciting a prostitute?

He needed to go. He had to go. He had to get out of this room and maybe throw up and maybe switch jobs and go to confession and punish himself… he caused Candy to sin, he caused Javi to sin, if they go to hell it’s his fault, he’s going to hell, he’s going to burn in hell now and-

Santi realized he was already walking down the street, not remembering how he got there. He paid her right? Did he? Great now he was a sexual sinner and a thief. What was wrong with him? So many things… so many things…

Tucking himself into an ally, he doesn’t make it far before he starts throwing up, the little food he’s been able to get down coming back up. This is why his pants were falling off. He was a fucking disaster. He was a failure to everyone around him, he couldn’t even catch Lorea. There was no stopping the tears that came as he laid down on the disgusting floor. There was a needle by his leg and Santi was pretty sure someone had defecated nearby but he wasn’t in control of his own body anymore. The guilt was crippling, the sadness exhausting… He wanted to call Javi, Javi would make it better… but there was no better, was there?

It wasn’t going to be better.

Santi laid there until the sun set.

Javi opens his front door on the fourth knock, not bothering to check who is there before he flings it open, a scowl plastered to his features. 

His expression quickly softens when he sees you. Sees the redness to your eyes. 

“Cand-”

“Can I come in?” You cut him off quickly, you don’t want to see that sympathetic look, you don’t want to see worry in his eyes. This isn’t about that. 

You swallow down your emotions, force them down. Don’t think about Santi, don’t think about Santi, don’t think about Santi. 

You push past him before he can even answer, ducking under his arm that is holding open the door. 

“I… yeah?” He turns, shutting it and following you as you walk into the room. “What-”

Enough questions. You don’t need questions. 

You kiss him forcefully, slipping your tongue past his lips and lightly walking him backwards. 

Taken by surprise, he goes with the kiss, groaning softly. Your lips only break apart as you push him back onto his sofa. 

He tries again to speak. Tries to break through the shield you’ve put up. 

You don’t let him, dropping quickly to your knees between his legs and palming him through his joggers. 

He bites back a moan, eyes closing for a second as his body reacts on autopilot. His cock twitches under the warmth of your hand.

You don’t let him compose himself, pulling his soft dick from his clothes and quickly lean forward and take him into your mouth. 

He hardens quickly, growing as you swallow and bob until he nudges at the back of your throat. You groan, swirling your tongue as you deep throat him, taking him deeper. 

Javi’s moans grow in volume, mutters of praise slipping past his lips as the sounds rumble in his chest.

“Santi…” you whine as you come hard against him.

 “I wasn’t finished.” He smiles cheekily.

“Good boy, Santito.”

You choke, spluttering for a second as you breathe at the wrong time. 

“Baby,” Javi pulls you off him, salvia drinks down your chin as he takes your face in your hands. Worry in his eyes. 

That fucking look again.

“What’s wrong?” 

“I was just wondering if you… wanted some company tonight…” You say softly. “Free of charge?”

You hold his gaze as he looks over your face. You know that expression too. The one of a detective. You just wanted a distraction, and he could give it.

But after a moment he nods and doesn’t press further. 

You pull off your clothes quickly and climb into his lap when Javi has barely taken off his t-shirt. You waste little time, taking him again in your hand and pumping twice between you line yourself up with him and sink down. 

He groans, screwing his eyes up tight. 

You shiver. He’s big, and even though you’re used to him your body still reacts a little in surprise, clenching and hampering your intentions. 

You frown, wriggling, trying to take more and more even and fight the resistance. 

When Javi’s eyes meet yours you want to scream. To cry. 

You don’t want those soft eyes. You don’t need them.

Oh god, how much you need them. 

He doesn’t speak, doesn’t push. Simply rubs his thumb against your clit while his other hand holds your hip and stops you from trying to sink further down. 

It takes less than a minute for a spark of pleasure to run along your skin, for your hips to rock and for you to throw your head back in a soft moan. 

He gently pushes you down onto him, filling you and stretching you wide before he moves and flips you onto your back on the sofa with him above you. 

He thrusts slow and deep until you're digging your nails into his back and sobbing his name as he sucks bruises into your neck in time with the rapid rock and grind of his hips. 

“Javi…” You tense, gasping as your pleasure crests suddenly, overpowering and relentless. Robbing you of thought for one blissful moment. 

“That’s it, bebé, that’s it…” He whispers into your ear, slowing his thrusts but not stopping completely, letting you breathe and recover for a minute before he starts to build up again. “I’ve got you.” 

When you’ve settled, naked on his chest, Javi holds you close. He has a way of sensing when you need him, of when you need the extra touch and he’s there to give it.

A gentle kiss to the tip of your ear. “Do you wanna talk about it, Candy?” His voice was soft, letting you know you don’t have to answer. But you did, because it was Javi, your Javi, and you needed him.

“Santi’s mad at me.” You sniffle, clinging to him as the tears come for the hundredth time. “I- I don’t know what I did, but he just left- he left right after we… he wouldn’t even look at me, and he won’t talk me and it’s stupid, Javi I know it’s stupid because he’s a client, he’s just a client but, but-”

“Candy.” Long fingers tangle in your hair. “I know hes not just a client. It’s okay. You’re human. It’s normal for you- for us- to feel things… and I know how it feels to… feel… for him…”

You pause at that, then finally pull yourself off his sticky skin to look down at him. Your hair falls around, closing off the two of you to the world. “You… do?”

The look Javi gave you made your heart clench tight, something you’ve never seen in him. Worry. 

He gives a small nod. “He’s um… not talking to me either. I… kissed him… on friday. And he ran away so… I don’t think this is about you.”

You regard him curiously. You weren’t stupid, you were aware that those two were making goo goo eyes at each other for months, so this wasn’t a huge shock, and you and Javi were both on the same page of who gave a shit if someone was gay. You’d fucked plenty of girls during threesomes and group sex, and Javi…. Well, live and let live sort of man. But you didn’t expect the kiss at all.

Rolling over, you flop onto the bed beside him.

“You know how he is… guilt over everything… just a ball of anxiety. I wish… I wish I could take it away from him. I do. I wish I didn’t feel the way I did, but I do. It’s all gotten so… complicated.”

Javi’s hand takes yours, giving you a squeeze. “Yeah. it has.”

***************

thanks so much for waiting!!!!! it's been 5 ever, but not for lack of trying on my part. its been one thing after aother and then all of a sudden its been like 6 months????

anyway thank you to fen for everything, y deepest love to you always!!!!!!!

2 chapters left!!!!

love santi? want him dark?

Love Santi? Want him soft?

Joel handmiads tale au?

Want some dark logan howlett?

@runa-falls @lunar-ghoulie @campingwiththecharmings @whatthefishh @persephone-girl @criticalarchitecture @not-a-unique-snowflake-blog @beelzebeth87 @pimosworld @millerscoffee @heareball @thatwonderouswoman @poolboydivision @meveispunk @lovable-liar @millllenniawrites @read-and-wip @missdictatorme @the-fox-den @milkymoon2483 @k-ra @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin @rosellacwrites @legendary-pink-dot @dreamingofbucky @englandsgray @starsthatwatch @fairlyang @alwaysmicado @theywhowriteandknowthings @casa-boiardi @lostfleurs @ninebluehearts @puglover12 @sub-aro @laiisleiite @itspdameronthings @heareball @comfortlessjoy @csarab615 @calaveramangonda @bit-dodgy-innit @stevngrant @kirsteng42 @mrsjavierp @nanfafnan @lovable-liar @axshadows @cookielovesbook-akie @reallyrallyauthor@solar-fics

[audreyclimbs]

foreseen in shadows- prologue

chapter summary: Matt Murdock meets a strange woman... and punches her in the face.

word count: 2.5k

to access the entire story: foreseen in shadows masterlist + masterlist

The rain pelting against Matt's face had grown nearly unbearable.  The raindrops themselves weren't so bad, though the way they soaked into his black mask had grown to be something of a nuisance.  Rather, it was the whipping, harsh October air against his skin that made the weather so intolerable.  He seriously needed to get something nicer than this poor excuse for a suit. 

This evening had been fairly monotonous.  A few burglaries, a mugging.  There were a few drunk college idiots who tried to corner a woman on her way from work- a restaurant from what Matt could smell on her- who ended up on the receiving end of Matt's growing aggravation with the weather.  As he remembered the encounter, he briefly wondered if he had needed to beat them that hard.  Remains to be seen.  The deafening sound of the woman's trembling had been the only thing that pulled him out of his adrenaline-induced stupor.

Oh right, I'm supposed to be helping them, not terrifying them even more.  Matt had thought to himself, hands clenching and unclenching in fists.

"How far away is your home?" He huffed out, shoulders slowly dropping as the pounding of his heart subsided.

She had stuttered a few times before choking out, "Just a couple of blocks.  Thank you for... that."

Matt nodded silently before stepping back ever so slightly.  Without another word, the woman practically raced in the direction of what he assumed was her apartment.  He listened to the pounding of her heart as she made her way home.  Listened to her checking on her one— no, two— kids as they slept peacefully in their beds.  Then she slipped into bed herself.  He heard her greet a man, her husband based on the ring that he had heard her twirling anxiously on her finger when she stood in front of him just a little while ago.  Once assured that she had returned safely, Matt continued on his way.

To orient himself to his current position, Matt ascended to the rooftop of an apartment building.  He let himself open up to the bustling, raucous noises of Hell's Kitchen's nightlife.  For a little while, it was oddly peaceful.  A voice in the back of his mind laughed at the irony of Matt feeling uneasy about a brief moment of peace.  He wondered what time it was.  As if on cue, the chiming of a grandfather clock sounded in one of the apartments below him.  

2:45 A.M.

Exhaustion whispered into his bones, but he tried to brush it off.  Part of him contemplated sneaking back into his apartment for some coffee, but he knew deep down that once he stepped through the threshold of his rooftop door, he wouldn't bring himself to come back out.  Hell's Kitchen needed its masked protector more than Matt Murdock needed sleep, after all.  Only a couple more hours, then he would go to sleep for a bit before joining Foggy in their daytime hunt for clients.  God, he hoped they would catch a break soon.  He wasn't sure how much more his bank account could take.

In the distance, he tuned into the rapid beating of a woman's heart.  She seemed young, maybe a bit younger than Matt.  She was sprinting through the alleys below him, winding left and right through the web of dark lanes.  Finally, she rounded the corner of an alley that was one building to his left and barreled out into the sidewalk of the busy street.  Her shoes slipped on the rain-slick sidewalk as she tried to counteract her momentum.

"Hoooly fuck, oh my God," Her voice came out breathless.  She just... ran into someone?

"Watch where you're going, you little bitch," a gruff male voice snapped back at her, shoving her hands off when she tried to help him up.

Her cheeks, already flushed from her running, burned even hotter at his words.  "I- I am sorry, sir, believe me," her voice had a distinct lilt to it.  Matt realized with an internal eye-roll that she was not a Hell's Kitchen native.  Probably some tourist who got lost on her way back to... wherever she came from.  But why was she running so fast?  Her heart was beating faster than would justify a simple run.  He could practically smell the anxiety rolling off of her.

The older man stalked off without another word, muttering some unsavory words under his breath as he went.

Matt found himself walking closer to where the young woman was now standing.  He could hear her breathing start to level out, her feet shuffling.  Why was she so damn nervous?  

"Where the hell..." she trailed off and back-stepped into the shadows of the alley she had practically fallen out of mere moments ago.  A few beats of silence, and then he heard a humorless chuckle slip past her lips.  "Didn't see that one coming," she muttered.  Her head whipped around, presumably trying to take in her surroundings, and he heard raindrops whip themselves off of the bridge of her nose and the point of her chin.

Matt's brow furrowed in confusion.  What was that supposed to mean?  She definitely wasn't blind, though her grotesquely delayed reaction time to the street ahead of her would suggest it.  Call it momentary boredom or curiosity, but the young woman's new movements spark his interest once more.  Where was she going?

And why do I even care?  Matt thought to himself.  He considered abandoning her entirely and turning in early for the night.  Just a couple more hours, he reminded himself.

The woman began jogging through the alleys, keeping to corridors that were a small way away from the central streets.  She eventually scaled up the side of an apartment building using a rusty fire escape that creaked and groaned beneath her weight.  He heard her cringe at the unsafe method of ascent, but she carried on before finally reaching the rooftop.  The curiosity that had been simmering since the moment he picked up on her heartbeat finally boiled over, and Matt crossed the rooftops between them to reach her.

Her head whipped around to face the sound of his boots crunching across gravel.  Her heartbeat, which had slowed minutely since she left the older man, skyrocketed once more.  The sweat that had begun to cool on her brow perspired anew. 

She's nervous.  Matt noted internally.  A moment later,  No shit, you're a masked man dressed in all black, stalking silently up behind her at almost 3 o'clock in the morning.  

"Are you okay?" Matt asked across the rooftop.  You sound like a stalker, Murdock.  They were on opposite corners of the building, but he could tell it didn't feel far enough to her.  

"What are you doing, sneaking up on me at 3 o'clock in the morning?"  Touché, Matt thought.  Her voice was loud and snappy.  To anyone else, she would have sounded entirely fearless.  But Matt could make out the slight tremors of her hands. 

"Come closer, you're all shadows and it's freaking me the fuck out that I can't see you."  Her heart skipped a beat as she said it.  A lie for which Matt could not conjure a logical explanation.  Any other sane person would want this random stranger as far away as possible.

Nonetheless, Matt obliged and began slowly closing the distance between them.  As he approached, Matt tuned in his senses to her appearance.  Athletic build, strong legs, tense shoulders.  Her clothes, which Matt could tell fit snugly over her limbs, clung even tighter with sweat and rain.  The woman trailed slightly closer, pausing between steps once Matt reached about halfway.  Then, her heart skyrocketed once again.  She stood, frozen for some unknown reason.  Her boots crunched back and forth on the gravel as she seemed to snap out of a stupor.  Then, she broke into a sprint to her right.

It happened so quickly that Matt scolded himself for getting distracted with what she "looked like."  She catapulted herself to the next rooftop and landed in a roll, then kept pushing forward.  The woman's legs were pumping so fast that Matt wondered for a moment if she had some form of enhanced abilities.  The pace of her feet mixed with her skittering pulse into a cacophony of thundering adrenaline.  A part of Matt was tempted to shout at her to stop running if only to ease the burning of his lungs.

Matt Murdock was by no means out of shape.  So how was this lady, who was arguably around his age, so fucking fast? 

Do I need to do more cardio?  Is kickboxing and chasing criminals every night not enough?

Finally, Matt's opportunity to gain the upper hand appeared in the darkness.  A loose stone on the next rooftop.  Small enough for her to not see it shrouded in the darkness of Hell's Kitchen's moonless night.  Matt prayed that she didn't see it.

The resounding smack of her body colliding with the gravel as her foot caught on the rock's jagged edge was his answer.  Matt finally reached the rooftop, but by the time he'd gotten there, she was up again.  In a flash, Matt launched himself at the young woman with a well-aimed fist.  He hit his mark on her jaw and almost felt bad for the speed with which she hit the ground mere moments after picking herself up from it.  The shriek that slipped past her lips echoed through the city's noise, and Matt prayed once more that none of the residents of this building stirred at the noise.  

The young woman scrambled to her feet and arranged her body into a fighting stance at a commendable pace.  Especially considering the throbbing pain Matt could hear in her jaw.  That would definitely be a bruise in a few hours if the thrumming of her blood pooling in the area was any indication.  Should he apologize?  His fight-or-flight instincts stopped roaring in his ears for a moment and allowed the lawyer to realize he had just struck this woman technically unprompted.  Shit.  So much for a peaceful approach.

"What the fuck was that for?"  She barked at him, fists hovering in front of her chest.

"Why did you run?" was Matt's only answer.

"I-" her fists wavered for just a moment.  He heard her heart uptick ever so slightly, and he cocked his head to the side for a split second as she stalled.

Impatience and a sliver of fear seized Matt once more, and he lunged for her.  They hit the floor, Matt's arms coming to press her own by her head.  At this proximity, he could smell the sweat that had dried on her before the rain started.  How long has she been out tonight?  How long has she been running?  What has she been doing?  Was she with Fisk?  Question after question raced through Matt's head, but he didn't know why his instincts told him to not let her go.  

"Would you stop fucking attacking me?  Maybe that's why I ran, you asshole."  The distinctive twist of her words made Matt realize that she was Southern.  Based on the heat rising in her neck and cheeks paired with the feeling of her eyes on him, Matt could guess that she was currently leveling him with a lethal glare.  She thrashed under him, but he held fast onto his position over her.

For the record, Matt thought to himself, I didn't attack you until after you ran.

"Answer the question," Matt snapped back, perhaps a touch harsher than was necessary, but he had no idea who this woman was or why his gut was telling him that she was important.

She sputtered for a moment before replying, "What question?"

"Why did you run?" Matt repeated, voice cold.

He felt her go still for a moment and sensed the intensity of her gaze on him.  Then, her heart picked up once more.  He really should have seen it coming, but before he could begin to react, the woman beneath him had launched her left leg up and over him, using the momentum of his weight to roll on top of him, arms slipping out from beneath his grasp to shove away at his chest so hard that the air escaped his lungs.  Matt's back hit the gravel and he drew in a harsh gasp before reaching up to deflect a blow from her.  The woman practically catapulted herself off of his body and backed up several paces.  Matt sprang up in kind and tuned in to every signal her body could give him for what her next move would be.  Her heartbeat was fast but steady.  The rain still pouring onto both of them dripped down her arms and face, and he could tell she was shivering.  Whether it was more from adrenaline or the temperature, he couldn't be sure.  As he continued to listen, Matt felt his head tilt to the side slightly, arms remaining tense at his sides.  

There it was again.  Matt felt her eyes practically burning a hole in his head with a laser focus that surpassed a normal observation of one's opponent.  If he weren't trying to figure out if this woman wanted to murder him, he'd be worried that there was something stuck in his teeth.  She stared and stared, and Matt could sense every part of her body focusing on whatever she saw in him.  A small hitch of her breath reached his ears. 

Then, she advanced in a flurry of blows that Matt could hardly sense before they made contact.  She seemed to be using whatever reserve of energy she had left.  He began to deflect and attempt to drive back, but she met every strike a split second before it could hit its mark.  She was undeniably on defense now, but she was doing it flawlessly.  Frustration grew in Matt's chest when he continued to miss with what should have been sound blows and jabs.  As he back-stepped repeatedly, he realized that she was closing in on him quickly despite never lashing out with a punch of her own.  Then, in a strike so quick he didn't even sense its approach, she slammed her open palm over Matt's ear so hard that it knocked him to the side. 

Suddenly, the world was screaming and shrieking.  Matt drew in a gasp, hand shooting up to his ear as his knees hit the ground.  

"I'm sorry," she whispered so softly that Matt almost didn't hear it over the roaring and ringing in his ear.  Then, her knee made contact with his other ear, and Matt fell forward onto his forearms, jaw working back and forth futilely to relieve the sharp ringing that was overwhelming every one of his senses.

For a terrifying moment, Matt Murdock was in a dark world with no sound but shrill ringing, and he could feel nothing but the gravel digging into his arms and knees and the rain pelting against his back like shards of glass.  Is this what eternal damnation is like?  It could have been minutes or hours, he wasn't sure, but eventually, the ringing in his ears subsided, and he oriented himself to where he lay on this damned rooftop.  He hesitated to move just yet, but Matt listened around and realized that the woman was gone.

In the distance, a grandfather clock chimed four times.

[jackiequick]

The sounds of somebody take me home~ X-Men 🎵

Full Name: Evangeline Villanueva—Armas

Nicknames:

- Vani: A playful and affectionate nickname, adding a touch of spunk and personality to her character.

- Eva: Classic and elegant, providing a sense of familiarity and warmth.

- Other nicknames include Lina, Angel, Sol and Genie

Other Identity: Vani Armas

~~

Age: 23–28

Birthday: May 21st

Height: 5'3" (or 5'5" in heels)

~~~

Appearance:

— Evangeline possesses a fine beauty with delicate features and a graceful presence. She has dark, flowing hair that cascades around her shoulders, framing her soft complexion and piercing eyes. Her gentle beauty captivates with an air of intrigue, drawing others in with her enigmatic presence and hinting at the unique qualities she possesses.

Personality:

— Often quiet but has a kind smile. Gentle, yet outspoken and sometimes sarcastic, with a sharp wit. Alongside her sarcasm, she has a bit of a playful sense of humor, enjoying lighthearted banter. Fiercely independent and unafraid to speak her mind. Compassionate and loyal to those she cares about. Not only compassionate but also an attentive listener, offering support to others. She demonstrates resilience, willing to eventually bounce back from setbacks with determination and grace.

Languages:

Fluent in Spanish and English.

Occasionally struggles with language barriers and forgets certain words or phrases. This can lead to moments of frustration or embarrassment, especially when she is unable to effectively communicate her thoughts or needs. However, she compensates for this by using creative methods to convey her meaning, such as describing objects or looking up translations on her phone.

~~~~

Background:

Born and raised in Mar Azul, (later on become Genosha), a coastal town known for its pristine beaches and azure waters, situated on the southern coast of a fictional country.

Her mixed heritage includes roots from Argentina and the Dominican Republic and Cuba, contributing to her vibrant cultural background.

Immersed in the vibrant sights and sounds of her Latin American culture, surrounded by myths and legends of sirenas (mermaids) and sea creatures.

Powers and Abilities:

Canary Cry (Siren's Call): Evangeline's primary ability remains her powerful sonic scream, known as the Canary Cry, which functions as her Siren's call. This ability allows her to emit powerful sonic waves capable of disorienting opponents, shattering objects, and creating a mesmerizing effect on those who hear it, potentially influencing their thoughts or actions.

Aquatic Affinity: Evangeline possesses an innate affinity for water, granting her enhanced abilities when submerged or surrounded by aquatic environments. She can hold her breath for extended periods, allowing her to stay submerged for longer durations than a normal human. However, she still requires air to breathe, so prolonged periods underwater can leave her gasping for breath when she resurfaces.

Hydrokinesis: Evangeline can manipulate water to some extent, particularly when submerged or in close proximity to bodies of water. She can telekinetically control water molecules, shaping them into various forms or manipulating currents to her advantage. This ability allows her to create whirlpools, tidal waves, or even manipulate water pressure to repel or immobilize adversaries.

Challenges and Struggles:

Navigates language barriers and occasional forgetfulness with creative methods of communication.

Grapples with the complexities of her identity as a mutant with mixed heritage, confronting issues of prejudice and discrimination. Struggles with mastering her powers and coming to terms with her name given to her by a friend as "La Sirena de la Canción." Which means “The Siren of Song” in English.

~~~

—Expanding on Evangeline's immediate family dynamics

Parents:

— Diana Villanueva (née Ramirez): Evangeline's mother, originally from the Dominican Republic, is a warm and nurturing presence in her life. Diana is known for her kindness, patience, and unwavering love for her children. Despite her initial reluctance to enter a relationship, she fell deeply in love with German and embraced their life together in Mar Azul. Diana instilled in Evangeline a strong sense of compassion and empathy, encouraging her to always lend a helping hand to those in need.

— German Villanueva: Evangeline's father, hailing from a mixed heritage of Argentinean and Cuban descent, is a charismatic and passionate individual. German's romantic nature and adventurous spirit endeared him to Diana, and their chance encounter at a beach party in Mar Azul sparked a lifelong love story. While German can be strict at times, especially when it comes to matters of responsibility and discipline, he is also playful, silly, and deeply devoted to his family. He encourages Evangeline to pursue her dreams and aspirations, instilling in her a sense of determination and resilience.

~~

Siblings:

— Mateo “Matt” Villanueva: Evangeline's older brother, Mateo, is her steadfast protector and confidant. He inherited their father's adventurous spirit and their mother's compassionate nature, making him a source of support and guidance for Evangeline throughout her life. However he somehow managed to inherit a competitive spirt, as he tends to challenge himself and his siblings for daily tasks around the house. Other than that, Mateo shares a close bond with his sister, often teasing her affectionately but always standing by her side when she needs him most.

— Isabella "Isa" Villanueva: Evangeline's younger sister, Isa, is a lively and spirited presence in the family. She inherited their father's charisma and their mother's charm, making her a natural social butterfly with a knack for making friends wherever she goes. Isa looks up to Evangeline as a role model and often seeks her advice and guidance, strengthening their sisterly bond. Despite her repeated efforts to wanting to be alone and independent in her own life.

Extended Family:

— Evangeline's extended family includes a colorful cast of characters from both her Argentinean-Cuban and Dominican heritage. From doting grandparents to fun-loving aunts, uncles, and cousins, her family gatherings are always filled with laughter, love, and lively conversation. Despite the cultural differences between her parents' backgrounds, Evangeline cherishes the unique blend of traditions and customs that make up her diverse family tree.

———

—Evangeline's likes and dislikes

Likes:

1. Disney Movies: Films such as “Moana” and “The Little Mermaid” bring a level of vibrant visuals, storytelling and memorable soundtracks (she enjoys different types of movies & series as well)

2. Dogs: She enjoys the loyalty and joy animals can bring into someones life

3. Family & Friendships: She cherishes the close bonds she shares with her parents, siblings, and extended relatives. She also values the friendships she has cultivated over the years, finding strength, support, and laughter in others.

4. Music: Evangeline has a diverse taste in music, but she has a special fondness for Latin music artists like Natti Natasha and others who celebrate the rhythms and melodies of her cultural heritage.

5. Photography: Evangeline has a keen eye for capturing moments of beauty and wonder through photography. Whether she's exploring new landscapes, documenting cultural events, or simply capturing everyday moments with her loved ones

6. Creative Expression: Whether it's through dance, art, music, or photography, Evangeline finds joy and fulfillment in creative expression.

Dislikes:

1. Horror Movies: While Evangeline appreciates a good story, she prefers to avoid horror movies altogether. The suspense, jump scares, and graphic content unsettle her, leaving her feeling anxious and on edge rather than entertained.

2. Messy Environments: Evangeline thrives in clean and organized spaces, so she dislikes clutter, chaos, and disarray. A messy apartment or workspace can make her feel stressed and overwhelmed, prompting her to tidy up and restore order as soon as possible.

3. Big Crowds: Despite her personality, Evangeline feels uncomfortable in large crowds or crowded spaces. The noise, congestion, and lack of personal space can be overwhelming for her, making her prefer smaller gatherings or more intimate settings.

4. Heavy Snow: Growing up in a coastal town with temperate weather, Evangeline is not a fan of heavy snowfall or extremely cold winters. She finds the cold temperatures and slippery conditions inconvenient and uncomfortable, longing for warmer climates and sunny skies instead.

5. Cold Coffee: As a coffee lover, Evangeline enjoys her daily dose of caffeine, but she can't stand the taste of cold or lukewarm coffee. She prefers her coffee piping hot and freshly brewed, savoring the rich aroma and bold flavor with each sip.

6. Loud Chewers: Evangeline is sensitive to sounds, especially loud or repetitive noises like chewing. She finds the sound of loud chewers distracting and irritating, preferring a quiet and peaceful environment when enjoying meals or snacks.

7. Injustice: Evangeline has a strong sense of justice and fairness, so she dislikes witnessing or experiencing injustice in any form. Whether it's discrimination, inequality, or acts of cruelty, she feels compelled to speak out and advocate for positive change.

8. Wasting Food: Having grown up in a close-knit community where resources were valued and shared, Evangeline dislikes wasting food. She believes in mindful consumption, minimizing food waste, and appreciating the abundance of nourishing food available to her.

———

—Her small story

At 15 years old, Evangeline Villanueva experienced a life-altering event that set her on a path of curiosity and self awareness.

Living in the United States at the time, she found herself amidst a heated argument at a friend's house just a week after her birthday. As tempers flared and voices rose, the chaos peaked with an overwhelming surge of emotion from Evangeline.

Unleashing a primal scream, she shattered the silence and a nearby window, sending glass shards flying and leaving everyone in shock, including herself.

Her parents, Diana and German, rushed to the scene, struggling to comprehend the magnitude of their daughter's newfound abilities. They were deeply loving and supportive but chose to handle the situation on their own, without seeking outside help. Her brother on the other hand decided to take a step towards trying to help his young sister however never found a true answer, despite all of the love he had for her.

It just wasn’t in his favor, in none of there favors it seemed.

Their efforts to normalize Evangeline's life worked for a while, but as months passed, their confidence waned, and Evangeline felt increasingly isolated.

Seeking refuge from her turbulent emotions, Evangeline often visited the beach, where the rhythmic waves provided a soothing backdrop. It was in this tranquil setting that she began to explore the extent of her abilities, start testing her control and finding moments of peace.

However, fear and confusion about her powers eventually led her to stop experimenting and focus instead on simply enjoying the calming presence of the ocean.

At 19, overwhelmed by uncertainty and the burden of her powers, Evangeline made the difficult decision to leave home. Adopting the alias Vani Armas, her great grandmother’s surname, she embarked on a journey across the world, seeking a sense of normalcy and belonging.

Despite her parents' wishes, she traveled through various towns and cities, ultimately finding a semblance of peace in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at the age of 23.

In Rio, Evangeline found a job at a small shop that sold trinkets and also served as a café and restaurant. She enjoyed the vibrant culture, the beaches, and the music, which reminded her of home.

Here, she rarely used her powers, preferring to keep them hidden.

Occasionally, she would use a small whistle to catch a dog’s attention or subtly manipulate water in a glass, but she avoided drawing attention to herself.

One evening, Evangeline was invited to a house party by a co-worker, Lorena, near the De Costa side of the city. The party was lively until a gang of thieves broke in, seeking to steal valuables and take hostages.

As chaos erupted and Lorena was about to be assaulted, Evangeline’s fear and anxiety culminated in a piercing scream that shattered glasses and forced the thieves to retreat in pain.

Her scream, mixed with fear and a desperate plea for help, temporarily incapacitated the thieves. Some fled, while others attempted to gather what they could. The police arrived soon after, arresting the thieves and questioning Lorena’s younger brother, Hector, who seemed to be the cause of the intrusion.

The incident left Evangeline physically and emotionally drained, her throat sore from the powerful scream. She stayed home for a few days, drinking warm beverages to soothe her voice and avoiding work.

On the third night, a knock on her door brought an unexpected visitor: a tall woman with long grey-white curly hair, rich dark skin, and warm brown eyes, dressed in a fine yet casual outfit.

The woman introduced herself as Ororo, known to many as Storm.

————

———

—-

That’s all folks (for now)! Please let me know what you think about her and any thoughts you have

Remember to like, comment and share with your friends!

Tags: @gaminggirlsstuff @topgun-imagines @gcthvile @letsgotothefantasyworlds-blog @t-nd-rfoot @djs8891 @missstrawbs2001 @hardballoonlove @hangmanbrainrot @theloveoftoms @cherrysft @starkleila @buckysteveloki-me @ximehs @parisparker269 @yetanotherwells @daughter-of-melpomene @bluboirick and etc

[xxmiracle]

The Siren's Lotus (Leonardo x OC)

Prologue: Bradford's new friend (Unedited)

Ever since she was young she was taught to be a good fighter as she trained under her clan but as her father’s daughter she was taught to always cover her face and as the eldest daughter she must bear all the responsibilities of its legacy. It’s what she lived for all her life and it is what drives her to this day, wishing one day her father will see her worth as his oldest daughter. 

She sat near her father Oroku Saki, the Shredder. Outside the room where she sat she heard the quiet movement in the dark room of the other foot clans ninjas combat against Bradford. She imagines him standing there in the middle of it as they all surround him as he awaits their move. How one would strike him with their weapon only for him to catch  it in between his hand to throw him on the ground, as another came to strike him missing logging their weapon into the floor only for another to attack him from his back but that didn’t stop him. Punching him from behind, he pushed the ninja back enough to lay another punch and kick, knocking him off. Another ninja struggled to get their weapon free seeing he’s the last one but as he did so Bradford forced his weapon away and kicked to the floor before he could make a move. 

Standing in the middle once again but this time he’s the last standing. 

Standing she opened the sliding doors of the room revealing another person there with her father facing away from them to the window of the night. Seeing his appearance Bradfrod faced him bowing acknowledging his master. Knowing of this conversation, Shredder wants to know his training isn’t wasted and it all being useful as he informs his master that he settled an army of foot clan ninjas awaiting his orders. “Excellent.” Shredder said. “Cause I discovered an old enemy in New york.” The afro-latino man standing there with their master threw a photo to him. 

“Hamato Yoshi.” This surprised both Bradford and herself, always believing him to be dead from Shredder's mouth. “He’s training ninja’s of his own. Finally I will finish what I started all those years ago. I want them all wiped out!” He spoke with hatred in his voice she could almost flinch. Bradford bowed his head to Shredder. “I will not fail you master Shredder.” 

“I know.” Shredder responded. “But to be certain you will work alongside Xever.” The afro-latino walked in front to the other side of the door flipping a knife in his hands. “And she will continue serving alongside you until I deem fit.” He said obviously referring to her as the only ‘she’ in this room. 

Bradford stood up pointing a finger at Xever leaning against the wall as the man held a smirk. “I don’t need any help! Especially from this street rat!”  Xever held a sly grin on his face. “Are you sure rich boy?” He said it knowing it’ll set him off and like he wanted Bradford got into his face. She stood up ready to get in between both men but Shredder's blaring voice stopped them. “I am not interested in your Petty Rivalry!” He continued speaking of why Xever was needed, he was familiar with the dark undersetting of the city he forced it upon Bradford that ‘He’ will work together. 

Deciding it was time she stepped in front cutting into the two men. “Don’t worry Master Shredder, we will find Splinter and his disciples and destroy them.” She assured him by bowing down. Bradford let out scoff before leaving as Xever let out a breathy laugh mocking him. 

As Xever and the other foot ninja’s left too she was on her way out too before Shredder called her name. “Yes, Shredder.” She turned to face him. His back once again faced her. “Do not fail me, daughter.” His voice was low and raspy, warning her. “If you do, there will be consequences.” Her brows furrowed though he couldn't see, she understood what he meant and what he’ll do but there were various that she did not know what he’ll do. 

“I won’t fail you, father.” Is all she said before leaving.  

As per their orders she was forced to work with the two men and they bickered and couldn’t get along. The only way the two didn’t bicker is if they spoke between her, giving them the warning she will make their asses hell if they didn’t get along as long as in her presence and out on their missions. To save her from a headache they did what she said beside the small bickering that she found a bit amusing. 

Sparring with Bradford her body burned with the amount of movement and punching and being punched and thrown from. Going forward for a punch he continuously dogged her attacks one of her punches his hand grabbed her wrist throwing her over his shoulder. “You're too eager.” He warned. She groaned, turning her body towards him. “I know.” Throwing one kick towards his crotch he was one second too late as stinging pain struck him making him bend over covering his crotch. “You..Play dirty.”

“I know.” She said getting up grabbing a towel whistling to him to catch it then getting one for herself. 

“You’ve been learning to become Ninja these past few years. I believe you should’ve learned by now.” He said out of the blue. “I know, but I prefer what I was raised with.” He grunted in response. 

Perhaps he was right but she was in no mood right now to talk about how she must be a ninja. The martial art has nothing wrong that she finds it’s just something she’s not interested in. Especially when it’s forced upon her. The martial art of being in the shadows awaiting an attack. Perhaps she was arrogant in her strength but she liked the history and fighting style of being a samurai more. It was more comfortable for her, mayhaps. 

Alerted back to a small sound from her phone she opened it to find a notification from a social media website both her and Bradford share, well it’s mostly him who manages it. He just pressures her to post photos as well mostly because of how much he gets messages from girls and posting her will give the impression online he’s taken and he won’t be bothered. She only agreed as long as he doesn’t post her face too much and he gives her money so she could treat herself to food. 

Looking through the notifications she saw a faceless profile send a friend request to Bradford. The name was oddly familiar to those ninja turtles they fought in that alley a few nights ago, without thinking much though she accepted the friend request. Bradford always did for some reason, well it was more her accepting random profiles just because. For that she blames herself  for needing a fake girlfriend to show off but if he kept more to himself he wouldn't have that issue. 

Throwing the phone to the softest surface she leaned against the doorway of the room Bradford was stretching in. “Oh by the way you got a new friend.” Is all she said before walking away.

“What!” He almost shouted. “What Friend?! Come Back, What Friend?!” 

~~~~

Few nights later that day after an exhausting day of more training she decided to spend the evening cooking perhaps for herself if Bradford doesn’t come on time like he said would but she knows he doesn’t. Taking out the leftover tamales she had in the fridge she placed them in the fridge for a good fifteen seconds while she heated the pan with corn oil. Placing the tamale on the pan the oil splashed a little making her wince a bit from the sparks of pain it would cause on her from the oil but continued frying the tamale till it had a nice crisp outer. Plating it with crema and the refried beans she had warmed up today she was almost ready to sit down to eat before the opening of the door revealing Bradford and his guest. 

One of the ninja turtles is behind him. It wasn’t the smarter ones, it was the more gullible of the four, the orange turtle. “Woah! Bradford this is where you live!” The turtle looked around the condo with curious eyes. It was kinda cute. 

The young turtle dashed forward. “Sup dudette, Names Michelangelo!” He introduced himself, The orange masked turtle was almost flamboyant in the way he introduced himself and very extroverted it caught her off guard. It was very different from Bradfords and her personality. “Nice to meet you michelangelo.” She shook his hand as Michelangelo shook it a bit more enthusiastically with both hands staring at her amazed. “Wait! You live with Chris Bradford?” He pointed at the man next to him, she nodded yes. “Sooo, are you his girlfriend?” His arms crossed pointing at both of them. 

Bradford looked almost awkwardly at her before clearing his throat thinking of a lie to tell mickey. “She’s just here to stay for a bit as her agency readies her apartment.” He said while it was true why she was in the city, he lied about why she was here in the condo when she obviously had the freedom to go to other places. She nodded at Bradfords reasoning. “He’s just a friend that’s generous enough to let me stay for a few nights while my boyfriend is away. Now are you hungry?” 

Mikey grinned. “Heck Yeah, Dudette!” He exclaimed excitedly. “Pizza!” Following her to the kitchen the aroma of the food she was previously frying up filled the room. She had apologized to Mikey for not have pizza but tamales, something he never had but she encouraged him to try explaining everything he was being given.

Placing the plate down in front of him, he stuffed it in his face without a warning, seemingly he was the opposite of a picky eater. “Dude, this is soo good!” He complimented sparkles in his eyes. “Oh sorry, Dudette.” He fixed his way of calling her realizing she’s a girl. “Uh What is this again?” He asked, now being curious at what he’s eating when he’s almost finished.  

At the corner of her eye she watched Bradford stand not so far leaving it all upon her. “It’s corn tamales, They’re mostly called Tamales de maiz where I’m from. I usually like it fried up with a side of refried beans and crema.” She offered Michelangelo more to which he eagerly agreed and she was happy to offer him more. 

“As I clean, Bradford could give you a tour of the condo while you're here.” She suggested eyeing Bradford motioning for him to do it, and seemed like he would do it with a bit of complaining to which she gave a silent glare at him for. “Hanging out with Chris Bradford!” Mikey exclaimed excitedly, bouncing off his seat towards where Bradford was walking, probably talking and basking in the presence of a person he admires. 

Later after the young turtle left Bradford confronted her. “What Was That?! Are you trying to make a fool out of me?!” She looked almost offended. He would even assume that. “That kid clearly adores you, take advantage of his admiration and you’ll have the turtles like my father wanted.” She explained. Bradford furrowed brows in anger softened at her explanation. It was smart, this way they had an easy target through Mikey despite how cruel it’ll be. It was the way to fool one to get all of them. 

He backed off but pretended to be irritated pointing a finger at her. “Next time you consult me first before you do this.” She waved it off with a small ‘sure’ walking in the opposite direction. Taking a stop before her next step she turned to Bradford. “Just pretend for a little longer, ask him of himself or his family. Or leave the lying to me.” 

Walking into the halls she passed by Xever nodding acknowledging him. “You’ve done well, muneca” She turned to Xever hearing his voice surprised a little of the name he had called her by. “Deception, good choice.” He smirked her way. She nodded, turning her whole body his way. “¿Cómo te ha ido?” She asked him interlining her hands behind her back. “Bein.” He responded by messing with that knife as always. She didn’t see him much but every time she’s seen him now he’s always with that knife. 

“You like the knife?” He asked but as she went to speak he threw it to her, having her quickly catch it. He walked past the confused girl holding the knife. “Think of it as a congratulation gift with the new agency.” Now she was more confused, as much as she knew the only people that knew about the agency were Bradford and her father unless he overheard conversations which he looks like the person to do. Sighing she stared at the butterfly knife in her hand taking it with her to her room. 

~

Dressing in more formal clothing she met with someone from the agency providing her an apartment since she’ll be staying in New York mostly instead of being in high demand shows and having to travel a lot. Her father wanted her to stay focused on Ninja work and his vengeance rather than being a mercenary, while it is most time a toxic job to have from always being the idea of perfection it was good for her to stay away from her father, only visiting throughout the years for her sister. 

She listened as the business woman showed her a tour of the house, it had a lot of space for an apartment and while it didn’t have anything Japanese like she grew up with she was pleased with how beautiful it is. Though she had many other options her father had, her sister chose this specific one because it was some distance from the mansion, giving her the reason”You deserve some space from father”. She could almost laugh about it now. 

At the end of the tour, the older lady concluded it all. “It’s so nice Mr. Oroku is volunteering to pay for his daughter, not many fathers these days can do that.” She said, smiling at the young woman. She tried to smile back. “Yes, he does like to spoil me as much. I refuse, he still pushes.” It was all a lie, he did it to have some control over her. He always wanted control, especially over her but yet he also wanted space. 

But she’s nineteen now so he doesn’t have as much control anymore. Where he doesn’t expect her to be is where she’ll be. If she was being honest she was a bit afraid to rebel against her father so she decided with her own money she’d get a second apartment. It wasn’t bad either despite the neighborhood wasn’t considered a good place to live and it didn’t seem like the place a person like her would move but she had memories around there so it held a soft spot in her heart. 

Returning back to the condo she could feel a familiar presence around the corner. Placing her mask on she could already tell who it was. “Michelangelo, you're free to come out. It’s just me.” As she said that Mikey came out of hiding in the corner looking embarrassed rubbing the back of his neck. He looked like a cute little kid who thought he had done something wrong. “Sorry, Miss.”She gave him a small smile. “If you're looking for Bradford he’s not here yet, so you’ll unfortunately have to hang out with me for a bit.” 

“You're cool, miss, Michelangelo, will you keep you company..” He gave a big grin and a thumbs up. She let out a laugh. “Glad you think that.” Inside she placed all things down, motioning Mikey to come inside. “I have something to show you I think you will like.” She told him to which he followed with confused eyes. Opening the sliding doors she allowed him to enter then herself closing the doors behind her, in the room it was a bit empty aside from old ninja weapons Bradford collected and a few of her canvas paintings that were kept in there. 

“Whoa, cool look at that Katana?” He looked amazed at the old katana getting closer to the old weapon. “That looks old," he looked over the weapon, touching it across the designs. From where she sat on the desk in the room she looked over at Mikey admiring the katana. “It’s over four hundred years old.” She informed him of the weapon. “So, Mikey, do you have any family members who are skilled in ninjutsu? From the way you sparred with Chris the other day you look experienced.” 

Mikey turned to her and took the katana out of the saya. “Listen miss, there are some things I need to keep secret.” She understood that and he’s smart for thinking that, but even so he was still an easy target to manipulate. “If you're gonna be here more often I’m gonna have to know more about you.” She got up from where she sat and walked towards the turtle grabbing his hand to take the katana he’s been flinging around. “We’re friends aren’t we?” She asked in an almost genuine way. 

“You're right.” Mikey smiled. “We are friends and friends tell secrets. But where do I start?” He looked down in thought like he was thinking of what the next answer of an equation is. “For starters, do you have any siblings? I have a sister myself.” 

“I do have three older brothers but they don’t understand me.” He said pouting at the mention of his brothers. “Really? How so?” She sat over the couch that was in her, scooting over patting for him to sit as well. When he sat down he slouched. “They’re good dudes but they don’t respect me, anything I do they’re yelling at me though it’s because of something I did but that's besides the point.” He ranted. 

“As an older sister the only times I yelled at my sister was out of concern and care for her. I’m sure it’s the same for your brothers.” 

“Maybe so but they’re still mean.” He pouted. His hide popped up more, lighting up an idea in his head. “Miss how about I be your brother instead!” She looked somewhat surprised at his words. “Why would you want that?” She asked him, bewildered by his suggestion. “Uh- I can protect you!” He stood in that same pose Bradford poses for his billboard. Smiling at the young turtle she got up patting him as she walked past him. “Bradford will be here soon, I'll give you boys some pizza while you guys have your playdate.” 

[the-x-ladiesofnyc]

Learn Dominican Phrases with Eva. V 🇩🇴📕📖📓

What’s up? -> Qué lo que?

That way! -> Just point with your lips in a certain direction bro

I don’t know about that… -> Bueeeno…

A little -> Un chin

Thing -> Vania

You messed up/You fucked up -> Te jodiste

Bro -> Manín

Fine -> Ta bien

Awesome -> Jevi

Stop being annoying -> Para de joder

Something smells or Ew! -> Fo!

Getting hit on the head -> Cocotaso

~~

Those are just a few! Let me know what you think 💭

Tags: @gaminggirlsstuff @gcthvile @missstrawbs2001 @cherrysft @starkleila @buckysteveloki-me @ximehs @parisparker269 @yetanotherwells s @daughter-of-melpomene @fototingobug @ocappreciation @ask-starrk @missstrawbs2001 @purpleprincessonfyre @wizzzardofoz @thechoooooosenone @rickb-chaos @luna-d-marsh @marvelsfavoriteuncle @elzabeth-stark @jackiequick @blueboirick @gcthvile @cherrysft @meiramel @trulysummersprivate @ethan-lensherr

[dontspillthefrijoles43]

Incorrect Hoo #15

Leo: You’re being homophobic.

Breisa: Bitch, I am just as much as a flaming bisexual as you.

Leo: You’re being homophobic

Breisa: What? Cause what I said is true?

*Piper walking by: What’s going on with y’all?

Leo: My girlfriend is being homophobic.

Breisa: You can’t handle the truth!

Piper: Go on.

Breisa *Sighs* : We’re talking about our celebrity crushes and stuff. I was talking about different types of ✨women✨or whatever. But Leo kept saying the same type.

Leo: Tell her what you said.(— _—)

Breisa: So I said, man you like a lot of white guys. If I liked that much white chocolate I’d keep it to myself.

Piper: …

Breisa: As a joke.

Piper: I mean white guys—

[cepheusgalaxy]

Oh you're Brazilian, correct? *saw ur bio*

I was wondering if there's anything I should or shouldnt do when making a Brazilian OC.

Oh hi!

First of all, thank you for the ask :) I'm very happy you decided to make a brazilian oc, whatever is the reason (if any at all lol) 👍 Keep up the good work.

Now, generally, what you should avoid are the most common stereotypes assossiated with latin people in general (like the Latino Lover stereotype), and some specifically assossiated with us a lot:

The Soccer Player ("every brazilian [black] guy obv plays soccer"), the Samba Dancer ("every brazilian black girl dances samba"), the Sexy Brazilian (everybody has their preferences ig but try to step away from fetishization--also falls into the latino lover a little) and the Carnival Party Person ("brazil is a very big carnival party all of the time") are some examples of stuff you should avoid.

Some things I would advise you to consider aside from this are A. Their race, B. The area they're from and C. Cultural differences (I'm gonna list them in a bit).

I mention race here because a very common thing in Brazil, actually (at least if you don't consider the South/South East) is the miscigenation phenomena. Long story short, some centuries ago, the colonizers had an... "idea" of toning down the population of black people in the country, so interracial relationships were very incentivated to "breed" lighter skinned black people. Results: On this day, most brazilian people in the Northern areas are not 100% black, but very very mixed (like me). A lot of people have dark skin, though.

Now, the area where they are from would also play a big factor in the things you want to consider, because Brazil is big, so we generally divide it into five areas (this division was made in 1969 i think, by the IBGE--the brazilian institute of geography and statistics): The North, North East, Central West, South East and South. If you search for a map with this categorization you'll be able to see it.

Culturally, these areas are very different, but I'll go through them briefly here.

North - most of the indigenous folk are concentrated here (for many historical reasons) and here is also the Amazonic forest (a bit of it is in other countries' territorries but I don't remember exactly which). The demographic density (which is the amount of people per say, mile) is very sparse, and despiste it being the largest area out of the five it isn't the most populated. Indigenous cultural heritage is the strongest here.

Nort East - warmest area in the country. The majority of people here are black or brown (for a lot of other historical reasons i unfortunately can't go on about here but they are very interesting if you wanna search up) and African cultural heritage is the strongest here.

Central West - has a very little amount of states here, and also the Federal District--aka the capital, Brazilia (fun fact: Brazilia isn't localized in any state, like the capital used to be, it is separated, so that's why we say Brazil has 26 states + one federal district). I don't know a lot about this one, so I'm gonna rely on Google a little, but basically:

That's the only area that is not bathed by the Atlantic, so no sea here at all, and back in Colonization Days, it was a very explored area for mineration (one of the states here, Minas Gerais, was named because of that, fun fact). Most of the population here is white (50,5%) and brown [mixed race] (43%) source (wikipedia page for the Central West in portuguese).

South East - as we go down here, the areas start getting cooler and whiter. The biggest cities of the country are here: São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. White population, as I said before, is strongly concentrated here, because Back In Colonization Days, a lot of europeans (mainly italians and germans i think, although i might be wrong on this one) migrated to there and the South because the climate is more like in Europe than in the northern areas. This is probably what most people think when they say 'Brazil' (that or the amazonic forest, ofc), because media wise, it covers mostly carioca Carnival (Carnival from Rio de Janeiro) or the super urban city of São Paulo. Fun fact: One of the Seven World Wonders, the Christ The Redeemer statue is located there, in the RJ.

South - smallest area in the country. There are literally just three states here. It's also the coolest area out of the five, and there is even snow here! The European heritage is very strong here, also because of the migration from a few centuries ago.

If you want more insight on a certain specific area for your character, I'd be very happy to help! :) I myself am from the North East, so I have the most information about that, tho.

Now about the cultural differences in general.

A few important things that really differ are:

The culinary (depends of the area, though: up north it will have more african and indigenous dishes, down south there will be more european dishes and stuff)

The climate (if your character is from the northern areas, they will have a hard time adapting to any cool areas they might be in now--in the North East we're used to an average 25º C, or 70º F, for example, so if things go cooler they're gonna want to be very warm)

The measurements (celsius degreees vs farhenheit, miles vs kilometers, centimenters vs feet and inches, etc.)

The calendar: In the South Hemisphere, unlike in the North Hemisphere, summer is on the last and first months of the year and winter is in the middle. Basically, the seasons are inverted up there in relation to here

The school year also works a bit differenly, for that matter: Janurary and the first week of February are summer vacations, and then the year starts. A few weeks later, we have a few more weeks off for Carnival, so no school then too, and *then* you could say the year actually starts. In June (winter), we have a 10-day break for São João festivities (at least in the North East because São João is a cultural "festival"--if that's the right word), and then summer break starts around the end of November or the end or December, depending on the exact school.

Oh yeah, and one more big difference your character might find strange assuming they're in the US or a similar country now: In Brazil we have a thing called SUS - the Unique Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde), which is a free health service for everybody, funded by taxes. I heard that in the US all medical care is private, so I wanted to highlight that in Brazil we have free public healthcare and then also the private hospitals, so that could cause some cultural chock, lol

Same thing for college: There are a lot of public universities. There are actually many differences between usamerican and brazilian education system, but the main ones are that.

If you have any further asks, feel free to send them, I'd love to go deeper into one single thing if you want it. Good luck with your oc <2

[motomamisbizcochito]

Holding Back(Namor x Latina!OC)

Pairing: Namor/Maritza Stark

Rating: T for now but will go up to M in future chapters

Word Count: 10,027

Contains: Mentions of religion, superstitions, and spiritual cleansing

Summary: Maritza Stark had a strange encounter on the beach when she was seven during a family summer vacation in her mother’s hometown. The encounter became forgotten after her mother’s untimely death a few months later, her entire world spiraling out of control. As an adult she dismissed the encounter as a child’s overactive imagination. Years later when her father lands himself in a conflict with the king of an underwater kingdom, she starts to realize maybe she wasn’t as imaginative as she originally thought.

Author’s Note: The first fic I’ve ever posted on Tumblr🥳 This is a work in progress so there will be many future chapters. This is just the first of many. I loosely based it off the song ‘Holding Back’ by BANKS. I’ve been listening to her album Serpentina a lot while writing this. Really recommend listening to BANKS. I think she’s one of the most underrated artists. I will also be posting this fic on fanfiction.net and archive of our own. Sorry if the Spanish is bad in this chapter. I’m not entirely fluent and there’s also a spiritual cleansing mentioned in this chapter. I’ve never personally had one but I based it off a video of one I saw and the story my mom told me about the one she had when she was a little girl. Hope you enjoy the chapter!!!

Chapter One

2004

Punta Allen, Quintana Roo

Mexico

“God, could it be any fucking hotter,” Tony Stark grumbled as he and his longtime girlfriend walked along the shore of the seaside Mexican town. The same town his girlfriend originally hailed from. Years before she made it all the way to the US and years before she met him at a UCLA college party of all places.

“Stop your whining,” Yesenia told him as she rolled her eyes, walking arm in arm with Tony as she watched the waves roll along the sandy beach. “I know you hate being away from the lab, but you promised you’d participate in the family vacation.”

“I know I promised that but that was before I was sweating my ass off in Mexico,” Tony complained, and Yesenia knew her boyfriend was a big baby.

“Just try…if not for me then for Maritza,” Yesenia said, gesturing towards their seven-year-old daughter. Tony followed her gaze and he swallowed hard when he noticed their daughter collecting seashells on the sandy beach only to deposit them in her beach pail. “She needs normal family things like this. She needs normalcy period.”

“You’re right,” Tony admitted even though he still found the heat and humidity unbearable. He would much rather be in the lab back home, but he couldn’t deny this was nice. Quality family time. Unlike what he experienced during his own childhood. Not even his mother could manage to pull Tony’s father from the lab and Tony promised himself this would be different. His daughter would never have a childhood like his.

“Daddy, look at this one,” Maritza said, running up to Tony excitedly and showing off the seashell she just found. The little girl was a replica of her mother. The same brown skin, same smile, same nose, same eyes, and even the same laugh. Although she did get her dark brunette hair color from him. Tony already knew he’d probably have to play the overprotective dad part when she got into those dreaded teenaged years.

Something he wasn’t looking forward to.

“Oh wow…another shell,” Tony said, trying to sound impressed and Maritza pouted.

“It’s a conch shell,” Maritza said as if he should’ve known that. Tony nodded, recognizing the name and shape when she informed him of that.

“Right. The one where you can hear the ocean through it,” Tony said, and Maritza giggled.

“Silly. You can’t hear the ocean through the shell,” Maritza said, placing the shell in Tony’s hand and he looked down questioningly at the shell. “Air’s trapped inside because of the shape. You hear the air’s vibrations.”

“Huh…I didn’t know that,” Tony said before Maritza simply giggled before running back down the beach to find more shells. Tony glanced at Yesenia who just smiled.

“See? There are things not even the great Tony Stark knows,” Yesenia joked as she grinned at him and Tony scoffed. “She’s like you by the way. She just knows things.”

“Great. It means she’ll probably be a smart ass like me too,” Tony said with a joking tone, but it was clear that he was worried about her. She was already like him. More advanced than most kids her age. She was already at a seventh-grade reading level at the age of seven. Tony knew how isolating it could be being a Stark and being intellectually superior to kids your own age. It was very lonely. Tony had hoped that she wouldn’t be like him. That she would be a normal kid.

However, it was becoming obvious that wasn’t the case. She was like him. A true Stark.

In more ways than one.

“Good thing she’s way cuter than you,” Yesenia teased him, and Tony just rolled his eyes as they continued along the shore. Not noticing the pair of eyes that followed them from the ocean as the small family went along their way.

“I’d say she’s more like you. Interested in all that under the sea stuff,” Tony retorted, and Yesenia giggled. The young couple were oblivious to the pair of eyes as it would seem.

Maritza looked up and squinted her eyes as she thought she saw something in the distance. She hoped it was a dolphin. Maritza dreamed of seeing a dolphin, but she blinked a second later and whatever it was disappeared. She noticed some driftwood floating nearby and figured that the sun must’ve played a trick on her eyes.

The small girl went back to seashell hunting without further thought.

“There’s an old legend passed down from parent to child over many generations, you know. I told it to your mother and my mother spoke of it to me,” Maritza’s grandmother Palmira told her as she tucked the small girl in for bedtime. A tradition that always happened whenever Maritza and her parents visited her grandmother. Her grandmother would always tell her stories. “A cautionary tale.”

“What legend?” Maritza questioned, her curiosity getting the better of her as it always did. It seemed like Maritza was a little too like her father in that way. Her grandmother smiled at her only grandchild.

“The one of K’uk’ulkan,” Maritza’s grandmother told her, and Maritza furrowed her eyebrows at the sound of the strange name. “Which is what the Mayans, our ancestors, called him and the Aztecs called him Quetzalcoatl. The winged feathered serpent. A god to our ancestors but something else to everyone that ever lived here. He possesses many more names. Some not as kind.”

“He’s a snake?” Maritza asked in distaste. She hated snakes. Something about the way they slithered around creeped her out. “A giant snake? A giant flying snake? Abuela, that’s my worst nightmare.”

“He’s more man than snake,” Maritza’s grandmother said with a knowing look in her eyes. As if she knew this information firsthand.

“Who? Kuku?” Maritza questioned, completely butchering the name. Her grandmother smiled in amusement but shook her head.

“K’uk’ulkan,” She whispered but raised a finger to her lips. “But never speak his name too loud or you’ll summon him.”

“Why? Is he bad?” She questioned.

“He’s worshipped as a god in many parts of Mexico but it’s only in the small villages near the ocean that know the truth of K’uk’ulkan and his fury with those who live in the surface world,” Her grandmother told her, and Maritza was hooked on her every word. Her grandmother’s stories were always so interesting and different from the ‘Goodnight Moon’ type books her dad would read her before bedtime. “K’uk’ulkan lives at the bottom of the ocean. In his own kingdom. Every so often he’ll come to the shore to claim the lives of those of us who live on land as a ploy for vengeance. He and his people sing a song, luring the surface people into the ocean where they sink to their deaths.”

Maritza watched her grandmother with wide eyes.

“He is said to seduce beautiful women, luring them to their deaths as well,” Palmira listed off before meeting her granddaughter’s eyes. “And he even comes from the ocean to claim the lives of misbehaving children. He takes them to the bottom of the ocean with him. Only never to be seen again.”

“Yeah, right,” Maritza said, laughing nervously. “You’re just saying that to scare me. It’s the same thing as Mami and Daddy telling me to behave, or Santa won’t bring me any presents.”

“Believe what you want, Mi Nieta,” Palmira said before continuing. “But the legend of K’uk’ulkan is well known around here. He is to be respected but never acknowledged and you never want him to ever acknowledge you. Because once he sets his sights on you then that’s it. You’re destined for a cursed death. Never to escape K’uk’ulkan’s wrath.”

Maritza gulped fearfully and despite her logic, she was terrified of the tale her grandmother just told her. Terrified to think there was some monster that lived in the ocean just outside her grandmother’s house that would lure her to the ocean and drown her, not caring if she was just a child. A sea monster that liked killing people simply because he could.

“Yeah, but that’s only here. Right, Abuela?” Maritza asked hesitantly. “He wouldn’t be in Malibu, right?”

“The ocean is a big place, Maritza,” Her grandmother answered vaguely, and Maritza felt her heart hammering in her chest.

“Mami, you’re not telling Maritza about K’uk’ulkan, are you?” Yesenia questioned in disbelief as she leaned against the doorway. Tony raised his eyebrows questioningly as he joined Yesenia.

“Cuckoo who?” Tony questioned and Yesenia rolled her eyes.

“Not Cuckoo. K’uk’ulkan,” Yesenia elaborated as she tried to explain her mother’s superstitions to her very rational and very white boyfriend. “He’s a Mayan deity and a cautionary tale around these parts. Something parents tell their kids, so their kids behave. Like La Llorona or El Cucuy.”

“Daddy, Abuela said that he’s this monster that lives in the ocean and he hates people on land, so he lures them to the ocean and drowns them. Even kids like me,” Maritza rambled on, and Yesenia gave her mother an annoyed look. Tony just looked amused. “That once he sets his sights on you then you’ll never be seen again.”

“Mami!” Yesenia said in anger. “I can’t believe you told Maritza that. She’s going to have nightmares now. She’s going to regress. We finally got her to sleep in her own bed.”

“Don’t worry, Ritzy,” Tony told his daughter nonchalantly. “This Cuckoo guy would take you to the ocean for two seconds before you talked his ear off so much that he ended up sending you back.”

Maritza didn’t look very comforted by her father’s words and Yesenia smacked his shoulder. She didn’t find it very amusing that her mother probably traumatized their daughter into never sleeping again. Especially not with the ocean right outside the house. Yesenia remembered the nightmares she had as a child after her mother told her the stories about K’uk’ulkan. She couldn’t believe her mother did the same thing to Maritza.

“Mami, we’re having a serious conversation about this tomorrow morning,” Yesenia said seriously to her mother as her grandmother left Maritza’s side to join the other two adults leaving the room. Tony paused as Yesenia and her mother exited the small guest room.

“Daddy, don’t close the door,” Maritza begged and Tony smiled softly before nodding.

“I’ll leave the light on too,” He promised, and she returned his smile, grateful for that. Being enveloped in darkness right now wasn’t really what she wanted.

“Night, kiddo,” Tony told his daughter. “Don’t give that Cuckoo guy another thought. It’s not possible for anything like that to live in the ocean. You’re a smart girl. You know that. The scariest thing down there is a shark, and they definitely can’t walk on land.”

Maritza nodded, comforted by her father’s words of logic.

“I know,” Maritza said softly, feeling a lot better. “Thank you, Daddy.”

“Don’t mention it,” Tony told her. “Sleep tight.”

With that, her father left the room and Maritza listened to the patter of his footsteps down the hall. She nestled deeply into her covers. The heat was long gone at this time of night and now she just felt the cool ocean breeze.

He was right.

K’uk’uklan wasn’t real.

“Maritza…”

Maritza turned around in the darkness, but she didn’t see anything.

“Maritza…” The voice said again. It was a whisper that sounded both soft and aggressive at the same time. It chilled Maritza right to the bone. “Maritza, come here.”

“Who is it?” Maritza called out in the darkness. She didn’t know where she was or where her parents were.

“Maritza…” It hissed and Maritza’s jaw dropped as the voice finally revealed itself. Maritza looked on in horror as an enormous snake slithered out of the darkness. The girl trembled in fear as the creature lurked closer.

It was the worst thing Maritza could ever imagine. Scarier than any nightmare she had before. The creature’s eyes glowed red, its scales were withered, its feathered wings were stained with what looked like blood, and its sharp fangs gleamed under what little light remained in the room. It’s very appearance stroke so much fear into Maritza’s heart that she remained frozen to the spot.

“W-what do you want?” She stuttered, trying not to scream. The creature smirked at her, venom dripping from its fangs. “K’uk’ulkan.”

“Silly child,” he whispered to her. “Don’t you know you’re not supposed to say my name.”

Maritza whimpered as he came closer.

“What do you want?” She whined, unable to contain herself. Maritza felt that she was being toyed with. He was toying with her. He chuckled.

“A meal,” he said softly, and Maritza’s eyes widened in horror as he opened his mouth, displaying all his sharp teeth. Maritza screamed as she tried to move…to do anything to get away from the terrifying creature but it was useless. Her feet didn’t want to move.

She was stuck.

“Mami! Daddy!” She screamed in a ploy to get help. The creature just seemed amused.

“It’s useless. They’ll never hear you from down here,” he told her smugly. It was only then that Maritza noticed where she was.

It was alarming she hadn’t noticed it before.

Maritza gasped in surprise at the ocean floor beneath her. Air bubbles escaped her as she struggled to move through the water. K’uk’ulkan started laughing, his eyes glowing an even brighter red.

The gigantic sea creature then reared its head back as if it were getting prepared to strike.

Maritza shielded her eyes, blocking her view of K’uk’ulkan. The sight was too terrifying for her eyes to even comprehend.

“I’ll make it quick.”

K’uk’ulkan lurched forward and Maritza screamed.

“Maritza!” Yesenia exclaimed as she raced into the room followed by Tony and her mother. The small girl was a crying mess. “Maritza! What’s wrong, Mija? What’s wrong?”

“He was going to eat me, Mami!” Maritza cried, sobbing as her mother gathered her in her arms. The poor girl was trembling. Tony rested his hand on her back, looking concerned about his daughter.

“Who was going to eat you?” Tony asked with a furrowed brow. Maritza hiccupped before answering.

“K’uk’ulkan,” Maritza whispered, and Yesenia immediately sent her mother a heated glare. “He said he was going to eat me, and you guys wouldn’t hear me if I called for help because we were at the bottom of the ocean.”

“See?” Yesenia said in an accusatory tone. “I told you not to tell her about those silly K’uk’ulkan stories. Now she has nightmares.”

“I’m getting really tired of hearing about this Cuckoo guy,” Tony grumbled and both Yesenia and her mother glared at her.

“K’uk’ulkan.” They both corrected in unison before Yesenia’s mother glanced at her.

“These stories are told here. You know that,” the older woman said sternly. “It’s tradition.”

“Well, it’s not a tradition I want for Maritza,” Yesenia said seriously. “She’s not from here. She’s American. It’s different there. These superstitious tall tales were normal to me but they’re not normal to her.”

“I told her about K’uk’ulkan because she walks too close to the sea,” Palmira warned, giving her a serious look. “It’s not good for children to walk that close to the sea.”

“Because she’ll drown?” Tony questioned, not understanding her meaning. He rarely did. Tony didn’t know his girlfriend’s mother that well, but he knew her well enough to know that she didn’t like him. She didn’t favor the fact that Tony still hadn’t married Yesenia even after they had Maritza. She also didn’t like the fact that Tony was an atheist and made that very clear to him on a daily basis. “Palmira, we’d never let Maritza go down by the water by herself. She doesn’t go anywhere by herself. You know that.”

“She’s drawn to the water. She feels it’s pull,” Palmira was quick to say. “It’s not good. Not for here. People around here that are drawn to the water disappear. Especially women.”

“What?” Tony questioned incredulously. “You’re not actually saying you believe in this water guy, right? We’re all grown-ups here. We don’t believe in sea monsters.”

“Tony’s right, Mami,” Yesenia said, fixing her mother with a look. “K’uk’ulkan isn’t real. He’s a myth.”

“He might not be real to you in California, but he remains real here,” Palmira said, not backing down in her belief of K’uk’ulkan. Yesenia just shook her head.

“Whatever. Let’s just enjoy the rest of our vacation here and quality family time while putting this behind us,” Yesenia said, wanting to move on from K’uk’ulkan. “If I hear another mention of K’uk’ulkan then we’re going home. I’m serious, Mami.”

Her mother said nothing. Just remained silent in the doorway of the small room while her daughter glared at her, and Maritza remained trembling in Yesenia’s arms. Tony looked worriedly between the mother and daughter.

“Maritza, why don’t you sleep with Daddy and I tonight?” Yesenia said sweetly, as she rubbed her daughter’s back soothingly. “Does that sound nice?”

“I guess,” Maritza said in a small voice. Yesenia gave her daughter a small smile as Tony immediately picked her up from the bed.

“God, kid, you’re getting heavier and heavier,” Tony told her as he began to carry her from the bed. That seemed to get a small giggle out of Maritza. A good sign.

Palmira just watched her daughter and granddaughter leave the room, an unreadable expression on her face. Yesenia didn’t hide the glare she gave her mother as she walked by.

Palmira knew that Yesenia forgot where she came from.

That much was obvious.

Because K’uk’ulkan was nothing to be scoffed at. Not in this small seaside town. He was real. Frighteningly real to the town’s residents and everyone lived in fear of him and in fear of making him angry. Every time a storm hit the small town; the townspeople were scared if it was K’uk’ulkan letting his fury be known.

Or perhaps a warning.

A warning that he would lure more towards the sea to never be seen again.

K’uk’ulkan was never mentioned again during the Almanza-Stark family vacation. Even though Maritza continued to keep thinking about that nightmare and her grandmother’s story. Her interest in K’uk’ulkan had morphed from fear to curiosity. She wanted to ask her grandmother more questions about K’uk’ulkan but didn’t want to risk getting her grandmother in trouble with her mom so kept her questions to herself.

Still…she remained curious as she always gazed over at the ocean during family outings on the beach.

Her grandmother mentioned she was drawn to the sea and seemed concerned that made her more vulnerable to K’uk’ulkan. That people drawn to the sea were more likely to be his victims. She was seven but she wasn’t stupid. She knew there must’ve been some legend or story that made that certain quality a sign of being at the mercy of someone like K’uk’ulkan.

The seven-year-old had become quite obsessed with K’uk’ulkan. It had changed from being scared of the mythological sea monster to wanting to find him. Like he was a unicorn or bigfoot or even the Loch Ness monster. Maritza was determined to catch a glimpse of K’uk’ulkan.

Instead of searching the beach for seashells, Maritza now searched the beach for clues that might lead her to K’uk’ulkan. She was determined to find evidence of the mythological creature’s existence. Especially after seeing how serious her grandmother had been about the story. Like her grandmother was so certain that he existed. It was almost like her grandmother herself was afraid of him.

Her parents lounged on beach towels, soaking up the sun but Maritza was obsessed with finding clues. She didn’t know what she was looking for exactly. If he really was a feathered serpent, then perhaps he shed his skin like snakes did. Well, Maritza was really just basing her knowledge off that Harry Potter movie but still…

Maritza found a dead jellyfish that had been washed up along the shore and she found a couple discarded beer cans that were littered by tourists more than likely but not snake skin. It’s not as though it would leave footprints if it was a snake either.

Maritza was growing frustrated in her hunt for K’uk’ulkan.

“Mija, what are you looking for?!” Yesenia called out and Maritza didn’t even look up from the water. She was standing ankle deep in the water as she started moving rocks and seashells around with a piece of driftwood she found along the shore.

“K’uk’ulkan!” Maritza said nonchalantly as she continued combing through the sand for anything that indicated that K’uk’ulkan had been there.

“Are you kidding me?” Yesenia hissed under her breath as she narrowed her eyes suspiciously at her daughter who was poking at the sand with a stick. “This again? I’m going to have another talk with mom about-“

“Relax,” Tony said as he stopped Yesenia from getting up from the ground. Probably stopping her from running off to her mother for another argument. “Just leave her be.”

“Leave her be? Anthony…our daughter is currently hunting a non-existent sea monster that gave her a nightmare she woke up crying from the other night,” Yesenia said, angry at the situation. “I need to talk to my mother about this.”

“Does Maritza look scared?” Tony questioned, trying to stop another argument between Yesenia and Palmira. “She’s fine. This is healthy. She’s not scared of the Cuckoo snake thing anymore. Now she wants to hunt him and publish her discovery of a new species in National Geographic. This is how she’s overcoming her fear. Totally normal.”

“I don’t know,” Yesenia said, sounding unsure. Tony nodded.

“This is very normal. She’s an imaginative kid,” Tony reassured her. “Just be grateful she’s not building a robot like I was when I was her age. She’s a normal kid. Perfectly grounded. I’m seventy percent positive she’ll be a well-adjusted young woman someday.”

“Seventy percent sure?” Yesenia questioned and Tony shrugged,

“Well, she is a Stark, after all,” Tony said as if this was very factual stuff. “There’s never a hundred percent guarantee that anything will ever be alright.”

“I guess you’re right but she’s not from here like I am,” Yesenia explained, still looking concerned. “I grew up here. I’m used to all the superstitions and stories. I mean, I don’t really believe in them but at the same time I do. I’ve just always known how to separate urban legend from reality. It’s different for Maritza and you don’t believe in any of that stuff. Not a single part and I’ve never told her the stories my mother told me. She’s a sensitive child. I knew they would traumatize her and especially because I haven’t raised her in that culture. These stories could be very real to her.”

“You’re worrying too much,” Tony told her, and Yesenia knew he was right. She was worrying too much. It was just that coming back home was making her remember all the things she grew up with. Not something she really wanted for her daughter. To be scared to death of a mythological man who haunted the sea. “This is normal kid stuff. Hunting imaginary monsters. It’s good for her get out and enjoy some fresh air. We can’t really afford to do the same thing back home with all the media frenzy. This is good.”

Yesenia relented.

She realized he had a point.

They didn’t have the luxury of going out very often back home. Tony had gained the media’s interest in his younger and much wilder days. Not to mention he dated his fair share of pretty California girls. There was much public interest in his personal life which followed him when he started dating Yesenia Almanza. A young marine biology major at UCLA.

The attention magnified after it was discovered Yesenia was pregnant with a third-generation Stark. Potential genius and future heiress to Stark Industries. Tony and Yesenia had hoped the attention would die down, but Maritza was seven and it didn’t seem like the media attention was dying down any time soon. It wasn’t often they could leave the house and do normal family things.

“You’re right. I’m being crazy,” Yesenia confessed, and Tony shook his head.

“You’re not crazy. You’re protective. There’s a difference,” Tony comforted, and Yesenia rested her head against his shoulder.

“Thank you, Anthony,” Yesenia said, and Tony smiled, always hating being called that by anyone else but he loved the way his name sounded on her lips. “I hope you know you’re going to have a nasty sunburn in a couple hours because you forgot to put on your sunscreen.”

“What? No way,” Tony denied. He didn’t really bother with sunscreen between the smell and the dork he felt like whenever he wore it. “I feel fine. The sun feels nice on my skin.”

“Anthony, you’re so white,” Yesenia said, giggling as she looked at him. “You’re definitely going to burn. I’m going to spend the entire night rubbing aloe vera all over you.”

“Don’t threaten me with a good time, Almanza,” Tony quipped, and Yesenia just rolled her eyes before giggling again. Tony leaned over and stole a kiss. Yesenia happily kissed him back, running her hand through his hair. Usually at this point Maritza would make some exclamation about how gross they were but the small girl was too occupied with looking for K’uk’ulkan.

“Let’s let the kid wear herself out looking for Coco Puff and then we’ll work on giving her a little brother or sister tonight,” Tony joked, and Yesenia laughed again before smacking his shoulder. “What? She’d be so happy. She keeps whining about getting a little sister.”

“You’re awful,” Yesenia said although the smile didn’t fade from her face. Tony loved her smile. The way it lit up her whole entire face. Her dark eyes glimmered with warmth and somehow pulled him in further into her atmosphere. Tony wasn’t complaining.

“You love it.”

And she really did.

Maritza waited until it was dark and everyone in the small seaside house was asleep.

She knew they were asleep. The sound of her parents’ laughter died down just before midnight and she could hear her father’s snores from all the way down the hallway to her room. Maritza fought hard to stay awake, knowing the only way she was going to find K’uk’ulkan was if she went along the beach under the cover of darkness.

K’uk’ulkan obviously wasn’t going to appear in broad daylight. He was going to come out in the dark. Everyone knew that sea monsters only came out at night.

Maritza gathered her things.

Her K’uk’ulkan hunting materials. Hunting materials which included her mother’s dissection kit, a pack of crayons, a magnifying glass, and a disposable camera. Technically she wasn’t allowed to touch her mother’s dissection kit but if she found K’uk’ulkan then maybe her mother wouldn’t care.

Everything was stuffed into her Finding Nemo backpack. Her heart was racing with excitement. Her first adventure by herself…well, first adventure doing anything. Her parents rarely let her out of the house back home. The people with cameras were way too intrusive or, at least, that’s what she always heard her mother say to her father.

But there were no cameras here.

Everything was quiet.

Maritza crept through the house, butterfly net in hand as she tried to remain as quiet as possible. The only sound that could be heard was the sound of the ocean outside the small house. There was a moment when Maritza was convinced that her father woke up, but she merely heard him shift in his sleep before she heard more snoring.

She snuck out the door and she was free at last.

Maritza half expected her grandmother to catch her. Her grandmother who was always very sneaky, but it didn’t happen. Her grandmother didn’t show up and Maritza was outside in the dark with only the moonlight shining down through the darkness.

The air was still warm but there was a cool ocean breeze through her hair. It felt nice. A lot nicer than the severe heat felt throughout the day. Maritza admired how beautiful the ocean looked at night.

So calm and quiet.

Much different than during the day.

Maritza focused. She had to focus. She came outside to find K’uk’ulkan and she was determined to find him. Maybe not capture him because Maritza was grossed out by snakes, but she was going to catch a glimpse of him. Maritza refused to go back to the house without finding at least one clue that K’uk’ulkan left behind.

“If I were K’uk’ulkan where would I be?” Maritza asked herself as she walked along the beach, gripping her butterfly net tightly in her hands.

Maritza wasn’t sure how long she was out there looking for K’uk’ulkan clues. Maybe an hour. She just knew she was growing bored and tired looking for K’uk’ulkan in the dark. It was starting to seem no different than looking for him in the daytime.

She was close to starting to call his name in the dark even though her grandmother warned her not to say his name too loudly. Very close to giving up and calling for him to see what happened when something strange occurred.

Something very strange.

Maritza was near some palm trees that lined the beach. She was a distance away from the waves calmly caressing the sandy shores. Not just because her parents warned her not to go near the ocean without them but also because a part of her was still scared K’uk’ulkan would sneak up behind her and drag her into the ocean like her grandmother warned.

The strange thing occurring happened to be an individual coming out of the water.

Not just coming out of the water like a swimmer coming back up for air either.

Maritza witnessed a man come out of the water like he’d just gotten back from a nice, brisk walk. No gasp for air or any sign of exhaustion from swimming. He walked out of the water with far more grace than she had ever witnessed in her short life. Maritza’s eyes widened as she quickly dove behind a large piece of driftwood on the beach.

But like most times, her curiosity got the better of her.

She couldn’t refrain from not spying on the mysterious man who had come from the ocean.

Maritza peeked over the top of the driftwood to catch a better look at the strange man. It was a bit difficult to see through the dark, but the moonlight illuminated him well enough. She watched him with interest. She had never seen a man who looked like him before. Well, that wasn’t true. If she didn’t know better, then she’d say he looked like any one of the men she’d seen around town. His skin color just as dark as her mother and grandmother’s skin color if not darker.

That wasn’t what made him different.

It was the way he dressed. The way he carried himself. The man wore a pair of shorts. She would’ve said they were swim trunks, but they were embellished at the waistline with what looked like a gold belt. His chest was bare except for an extensive amount of beautiful jewelry that hung around his neck, capturing Maritza’s eye. What was even more curious to her was the large piercing through his nose.

Cool.

Maritza watched in awe because she had never seen anyone like him. He looked to be around her father’s age but wasn’t anything like her father or any man she had ever seen before.

Almost as though he sensed her eyes on him, he turned in her direction and Maritza’s eyes widened before she quickly ducked down. Praying that she hadn’t been seen.

Maybe he hadn’t seen her.

Maybe she was quick enough that he hadn’t caught her spying on him.

“I know you’re there,” his voice said. His accent was unlike any accent Maritza heard. Nothing like her mother and grandmother’s accent which proved to her that he wasn’t a local. “Show yourself.”

Maritza felt fearful.

What if this man told on her to her parents? Maritza would be in so much trouble. Her parents would never let her go outside again.

“Come now,” he said gently and though she couldn’t pinpoint his accent, his voice was strangely calming. Maritza was lulled from her hiding spot, and she immediately got up from her hiding spot to confront the strange man.

The man seemed almost surprised to see her.

As if he were expecting someone else. He chuckled at the sight of her, and Maritza felt almost offended.

“Shouldn’t you be in bed asleep, little one?” He asked her and Maritza nervously shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “I cannot imagine your parents would be pleased to find you out here at this time of night.”

“They’re asleep. They don’t know I’m out here,” Maritza didn’t know what compelled her to say that. She couldn’t describe the hold his gaze seemed to have on her. It was almost as if she was unable to stop herself from saying everything.

“And just what are you doing out here?” He asked and Maritza could tell he was amused by her. The same way her father was amused by her childish antics. She didn’t know why but she didn’t like it. It made her feel like he thought she was a joke.

“I’m looking for K’uk’ulkan,” Maritza said confidently, and the man looked her up and down for a moment, eyeing the butterfly net in her hands before breaking out into laughter. He acted like Maritza just told the funniest joke he’d ever heard.

“And what do you intend to do when you find him? Catch him with that net?” The man questioned and Maritza frowned. She was seven but she could tell when she was being made fun of. Mostly because her dad liked teasing her a lot and she could tell this man was doing something similar.

“Well, I don’t know…I haven’t planned that far ahead. I just want to see if he’s real,” Maritza elaborated, and he raised an eyebrow.

“Why do you have to know if he’s real?” The man asked her, sincerely curious. Maritza shrugged.

“Just because,” she answered, and he snorted.

“Just because?” He pressed and Maritza nodded.

“People act like he’s real, but he sounds too silly to be real, so I have to know if he’s real or not. I want proof,” Maritza explained, and the man nodded, crossing his arms as he spoke to her.

“Why do you need proof? Can’t you just accept that he’s real and move on?” He questioned and Maritza looked at him like he was crazy.

“No,” she said as if that were a dumb suggestion. “I need evidence. Daddy always says that you need to back up your hypothesis with evidence or else it will never hold up.”

The man took a step closer to Maritza and the small girl narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

“What if I told you I was K’uk’ulkan,” he told her, and Maritza shook her head.

“You’re not K’uk’ulkan. K’uk’ulkan is a magical flying snake,” Maritza said, sounding very sure of herself. “You’re a man.”

“You sound disappointed,” he observed, and Maritza took a step back. “I assure you that I’m not a snake.”

“All the books say that K’uk’ulkan is a serpent,” Maritza informed him, and he chuckled.

“Books can be wrong,” he retorted, and Maritza frowned because she didn’t understand that. To her, written words meant truth. If something was written on paper, then it must be true.

Right?

She never thought a book could be wrong.

“I don’t believe you’re K’uk’ulkan,” Maritza said stubbornly. She felt as if the man was playing a trick on her.

“What can I do to make you believe I’m K’uk’ulkan?” He asked calmly but the amusement still twinkled in his eyes. Maritza was stumped. It was only then she realized how little she knew of K’uk’ulkan. She was uncertain of any special traits other than the fact he was some sort of water serpent that flew.

“I don’t know,” Maritza confessed. He just smiled. He knelt down on one knee in front of her so he would match her height. Not that he was very tall. Maritza thought he was shorter than her father but still much taller than herself.

“Perhaps K’uk’ulkan has ears like these,” he said, and Maritza took a glimpse at his distinctly pointed ears. Ones that she hadn’t noticed before through the darkness. Elvish ears. She looked on in wonder. “And perhaps he has wings like these.”

He glanced down at the ground and Maritza followed his gaze, her eyes widening as she noticed the small fluttering wings seemingly attached to his ankles. Something she had never seen on a person before. Maritza was vaguely aware of something called birth defects, but she didn’t think these could be described as a birth defect. They were way too cool. Both his wings and ears.

“Cool,” Maritza said in awe. The look of amusement didn’t fade off his face. “Can you really fly with those wings? Do they work if they’re wet? Have you always had them? Were you born with them? How do your ears work? Do you hear better than most people?”

“You ask a lot of questions, little one,” he told her and Maritza gave him an impatient look. He didn’t answer a single one of her questions.

“Are you going to eat me?” She questioned bluntly and she was so blunt that it surprised the man…or K’uk’ulkan as Maritza was quickly discovering.

“What?” He questioned in surprise.

“My abuela told me that K’uk’ulkan eats children who misbehave,” she told him, and he chuckled. There was a look on his face that indicated that he knew something Maritza didn’t which bothered the small girl. She didn’t like not knowing things.

“And have you been misbehaving?” He asked her nonchalantly. Maritza looked slightly guilty.

“I snuck out of the house to look for you. I’m not allowed to go places by myself,” Maritza said honestly, and she hesitantly took a step back. He didn’t look like the type to eat children. K’uk’ulkan wasn’t scary looking at all. However, she knew that looks could also be deceiving and maybe he really did eat kids. K’uk’ulkan nodded.

“Well, since you’re being honest, I suppose I can forgive your misbehavior just this once,” K’uk’ulkan said, humoring the small child. “I also just had dinner so I’m not particularly hungry at this moment in time.”

“Thank you,” she said quietly, relieved that she wasn’t going to be eaten. K’uk’ulkan then gave her a serious look.

“Although you should not wander away from your parents,” he told her sincerely. “Not at this time of night. It’s not safe for someone your age to be wandering around the dark. You would do well to listen to your parents’ wishes.”

“Fine,” Maritza said although she didn’t seem happy about his advice. It’s not like she was going to argue with him. He was sparing her life by not eating her. She’d rather not push her luck. “Do you really live underwater?”

“The questions never end, do they?” He retorted, still amused by her nosiness.

Maritza was about to ask him another question when they were interrupted by the familiar voices of both her mother and father. She realized she must’ve been gone for a while. Her father was a restless sleeper and more than likely discovered her absence when he woke up as he did numerous times during the night.

“Maritza!” She heard her mother call out. “Maritza, where are you?”

Maritza was about to call out to her mother that she was fine. That she found K’uk’ulkan and all was right in the world when something stopped her before she could.

“Diablo!” Palmira Almanza exclaimed in horror. Maritza turned to see her grandmother standing a short distance away near the palm tree. Maritza looked at her grandmother in confusion, not understanding the terror on her face. “Diablo!”

“Abuela, I did it. I found K’uk’ulkan,” Maritza said excitedly as she tried to introduce her grandmother to her new friend. However, Maritza’s so-called new friend seemed unfazed by her grandmother’s name calling. He stared back at the elderly woman coldly before standing up from the ground. “He’s not a snake at all. He’s a person. See?”

“Aléjate de ella! No la toques!” Palmira started saying hysterically in Spanish. Maritza wasn’t well versed in her mother’s native language, so she didn’t quite understand what her grandmother was saying. Only that she was scared. “Tu maldad no puede tocar a alguien con un alma pura, Namor. No puedes quitarle su alma. Aléjate, Namor!”

“Mami! Tony went looking behind the house,” Yesenia called as she joined the three of them on the beach. “Have you found-“

Yesenia stopped midsentence as she saw the man standing in front of her daughter locked into a staring contest with her mother. Only it wasn’t just a man. Under the moonlight, Yesenia could make out his pointed ears and the wings attached to his ankles. The jewelry he wore around his neck also indicated to Yesenia just who he was.

She heard stories growing up. Especially in a town as small as the one she’d grown up in. In fact, Yesenia’s father, a now deceased fisherman, had once claimed to have seen K’uk’ulkan during a fishing trip. Yesenia had always dismissed her father’s story as another drunk tale of his but maybe her father wasn’t just some drunk telling tall tales.

Because K’uk’ulkan looked exactly as how her father described.

Exactly how many people around town had described him.

The few that had managed to capture glimpses of him over the years.

Yesenia was frozen to the spot as she stared at the being she previously thought was just an urban legend. She started feeling fear wash over her. All her mother’s stories coming to mind and just how close her daughter now stood to the man. Yesenia managed to gather her bearings enough to try to get her daughter away from him.

“Maritza!” Yesenia said, her eyes fearful. “Maritza, get over here. Now!”

“But Mami…I found K’uk’ulkan,” Maritza started to say, and Yesenia was growing more terrified by the second. Terrified that K’uk’ulkan would take her daughter into the ocean with him and she would never see her again…or Namor as some liked to call him.

“Maritza, get over here now!” Yesenia snapped and K’uk’ulkan broke his staring contest with Palmira to gaze down at Maritza. His gaze softened as he looked at her, reminded of the small children in his own kingdom. Children who were much too curious for their own good.

“I would go to your mother, my child,” he told her softly. Maritza nodded slowly.

“Okay,” she said, sounding disappointed. She still had more questions for him, after all. “Bye, K’uk’ulkan.”

“Goodbye,” he told her. Palmira continued to glare him down as Maritza returned to her mother’s side. Yesenia quickly grabbed on to her daughter and held tightly on to her as though she were afraid K’uk’ulkan would come back over and steal her.

“Mantente alejado!” Palmira hissed at him. “Mantente alejado, Namor! No te acerques a la chica! Malvado! Malvado!”

Yesenia continued to stare wide eyed at him, nearly trembling in her place. It was the equivalent of finding out the bogeyman was real. For so long, he was a thing of stories that her mother used to tell her but now he was real.

K’uk’ulkan acted as though Maritza’s grandmother wasn’t screaming at him. It was the strangest thing. He ignored her as he simply headed back to the water. Maritza watched curiously as he waded back into the water, her mother clutching her to her side tightly.

He was waist deep before he turned to the three generations of Almanza women. K’uk’ulkan locked eyes with Yesenia. Maritza heard her mother gasp.

“You should keep a better eye on your daughter…her father being who he is. A lot of people would want to hurt her,” K’uk’ulkan told Yesenia in a grave tone. “I don’t wish to see Tony Stark here again. He’s a risk. Your mother will tell you what happens when there’s a risk to my people.”

With that, K’uk’ulkan turned his back to the three of them wading further into the water until he was fully submerged. Maritza was disappointed when he disappeared from sight. There was so much more she wanted to ask him.

Yesenia and Palmira remained frozen to the spot. Neither of them moving as they stared at the quiet and calm waves flow back and forth along the beach.

“Why were you mad at K’uk’ulkan, Abuela? He was really nice,” Maritza questioned, breaking the silence. That seemed to snap her mother out of her state of shock. Yesenia immediately glared at her daughter.

“Maritza, what have I told you about talking to strangers?!” Her mother snapped and Maritza’s eyes widened in fear. She realized she was more than likely in trouble. Her mother was furious. Maritza didn’t think she had ever seen her mother look so furious. “And leaving the house by yourself? What if something happened to you…well, something did happen.”

“I just wanted to find K’uk’ulkan,” Maritza said quietly. “And I did find him. I don’t know why you and Abuela were being so rude to him. He was nice to me.”

“K’uk’ulkan is not nice,” Her mother told her sternly. “He’s evil. You heard the stories your grandmother told you.”

“You said those weren’t true,” Maritza argued, and her mother shook her head.

“Well, they are true. K’uk’ulkan hates people who live on land and takes them with him to the bottom of the ocean any chance he can get,” Yesenia told her daughter, trying to get her point across. “He’s evil, Maritza. To see him is a curse.”

“Daddy said there’s no such thing as good and evil,” Maritza retorted, and Yesenia huffed.

“Evil exists here and it exists in that water,” Yesenia said, and Maritza was confused. She didn’t know why her mother and grandmother seemed so terrified of K’uk’ulkan. He didn’t do anything to her. He didn’t eat her, attack her, or lure her into the ocean with him. She had the feeling K’uk’ulkan had been teasing her, but he hadn’t seemed evil to her…just normal. Aside from his ears and wings.

“Daddy’s not going to believe I actually found K’uk’ulkan,” Maritza said, oblivious to her mother and grandmother’s fear of the man that just disappeared into the water. “I can’t wait to tell him.”

“No!” Palmira said sharply, breaking out of her stunned stage. “You must not tell your father.”

“Abuela’s right,” Yesenia said before locking eyes with her daughter. The seriousness in her gaze was enough to capture Maritza’s attention. “You can’t tell your dad.”

“Why not?” Maritza questioned and Yesenia swallowed hard. She could see the fear in her mother’s eyes, and she wasn’t sure how to feel about seeing her mother so scared.

“He wouldn’t understand,” Yesenia said softly. “K’uk’ulkan doesn’t like people talking about him, Maritza. It’s why people from this town don’t speak of him outside of it.”

“But he’s amazing. People should know-“ Maritza started to say but her mother stopped her. The look in her eyes made Maritza freeze. Her mother looked so scared. It unnerved the small girl.

“Promise me that you won’t speak of this ever again,” Yesenia pleaded with her. “Not to your father and not to anyone back home. This is serious, Maritza. No one must know. You don’t know how dangerous it was for us to see him. It’s not good, Maritza. It’s bad. Very bad.”

“Mami, I-“ Maritza tried to interject but her mother wasn’t having it.

“Promise me,” Yesenia said, eyes filled with tears and her mother was right. Maritza didn’t understand her mother’s fear of the man she just met. “He’s not a good man. He’s not even a man.”

“Evil,” Palmira added, caressing her cross pendant. She looked equally as terrified as Maritza’s mother. “Evil. We’re all cursed.”

“Mami…” Yesenia hissed, glaring at her mother before returning her gaze to Maritza. “Maritza, please promise to not speak of this again. For me.”

Normally Maritza would refuse. Her mother often said she inherited her father’s stubborn streak. Yet the look in her mother’s eyes made Maritza feel scared. It was terrifying to see your parent terrified. Someone Maritza had always viewed as a protector and above things like fear.

Maritza swallowed hard.

“Yes,” Maritza said quietly, and her mother raised her eyebrows.

“Yes, what?” She pressed and Maritza sighed before continuing.

“Yes, I won’t speak of K’uk’ulkan ever again. Not even to daddy and not to anyone back home,” Maritza promised, and Yesenia was satisfied with her answer, leaning forward and wrapping her arms around her daughter. She was just happy that Maritza was safe and away from danger. Yesenia could not describe how terrifying it was to see her daughter standing so close to a creature she had heard terrifying stories about.

“Don’t ever do that to me again, okay?” Yesenia whispered as she held her daughter tightly. She didn’t know what she would’ve done if K’uk’ulkan had taken Maritza with him into the ocean. There were stories of that happening before. Yesenia never really believed in K’uk’ulkan. Not since she was a little girl, but he became real the second she saw Maritza standing so close to him.

He was no longer a thing of tall tales and legends.

He was real.

“You’re going to be grounded for a very long time,” Tony told his daughter as they packed their things the next day. Yesenia demanded that they leave at once. She was spooked after their encounter with K’uk’ulkan…or Namor as others called him. Tony didn’t know why she wanted to leave so suddenly but figured she must’ve gotten into another argument with her mother. It was no secret that the mother and daughter duo didn’t get along very well.

“That means no video games, no Legos, no TV, and no ice cream,” Tony lectured her which was out of character for him. Usually, it was Yesenia who was the disciplinarian but Yesenia had been strangely silent ever since the sight before after returning to the house with her mother and Maritza.

“No ice cream?” Maritza whined, not liking the sound of that. Tony nodded.

“Yes, well you should’ve thought of that before you went out alone last night looking for the chicken man,” Tony told her sternly and Maritza grew quiet again at the mention of K’uk’ulkan. She normally would’ve corrected him about the name, but her mother had scared her into never mentioning the pointy eared man she saw the night before. Her mother paused in packing the clothes at the mention of K’uk’ulkan. Or Namor as her mother and grandmother insisted on calling him now during the hushed whispers, she heard on the way back to the house from the beach.

“When’s the flight?” Yesenia asked quietly and Tony turned his gaze away from his daughter to look at his girlfriend.

“Eleven…” Tony told her, not knowing why she was acting off. He couldn’t really explain it, but she was unusually quiet and not her bubbly self. “But the plane leaves anytime we want. We could leave sooner if you want.”

“Okay. We’ll leave sooner then,” Yesenia said decidedly before leaving the room to go retrieve their items from the bathroom. Tony stared after her for a second before shrugging it off and returning his attention to Maritza.

“Don’t ever do that again,” Tony told her seriously. Her father was not a serious man, but she could tell he was serious this time. He was usually quite humorous. Amused more often than not but it was clear she had scared him. “You don’t know the area well and there’s dangerous people out there. Not to mention the fact that you could’ve drowned. You’re not the strongest swimmer, Ritzy.”

“I know, Daddy,” Maritza said quietly, looking quite ashamed of herself. She was ashamed because she went looking for K’uk’ulkan and now her mother was so spooked that they were leaving Mexico sooner rather than later. Maritza liked it here. It was quiet, sunny, and her father didn’t have a lab to lock himself away in. It was so much different than home. “I’m sorry I left. I won’t do it again.”

“Good,” he told her as he zipped up his suitcase. “You really terrified your mom. I’ve never seen her like this before. Now go grab your stuff from the guest room. Your mom really wants to leave soon.”

“Okay,” she said obediently before trotting off to her room to do as her father instructed.

Maritza passed by the bathroom as she was leaving. She noticed her mother hunched over the sink, eyes squeezed closed and fingers gripping a rosary tightly in her hand. Vague whispers came from her mother’s mouth. Maritza recognized enough Spanish to know her mother was saying some sort of prayer.

It spooked Maritza.

Maritza had never seen her mother like that before. She never really thought of her mother as religious, and her father definitely wasn’t religious at all. Maritza knew her grandmother was but never her mother.

Maritza quickly moved past the bathroom and headed to the guest room. The sight of her mother lost in prayer somehow more terrifying than the encounter the night before.

She didn’t understand it.

Why her mother and grandmother were so scared. Yes, K’uk’ulkan was different but there was nothing scary about him. No fangs, claws, or horns. He was just different and what was so scary about that? Maritza wasn’t even sure if he really ate children like the legends said. Not that she knew what someone who ate children looked like, but it definitely wasn’t K’uk’ulkan.

They acted like he was evil…but he didn’t seem evil.

He seemed normal.

“Maritza,” Maritza’s grandmother said as she walked into the guest room, breaking Maritza out of her thoughts. Palmira closed the door behind herself quietly. Maritza glanced up at her. “I need to give you something before you leave.”

“What is it, Abuela?” Maritza asked curiously as her grandmother sat next to her on the bed. Her grandmother grabbed her hand and placed something cold and metallic in it. Maritza glanced down.

“This was my grandmother’s,” Palmira said, and it was a silver cross pendant with a blue gem in the center. “She gave it to me when I was your age and now, I’m giving it to you.”

“It’s so pretty. Especially this,” Maritza said, admiring the blue gem in the middle.

“It’s aquamarine,” Her grandmother informed her. “There used to be an old legend that said aquamarine was taken from the treasure of mermaids to protect sailors from the sea. It’s also said to protect the wearer from evil spirits and demons.”

Maritza knew this was about K’uk’ulkan. She wanted to tell her grandmother that he wasn’t evil, and everything was fine, but she knew her grandmother and mother didn’t believe that.

“My grandmother grew up in a different time in this small town,” Her grandmother explained, a faraway look in her eyes. “A time when the men of this town started hunting the creature from the sea. The one who made boats vanish. The creature they called Namor. There were those that thought of him as a god…K’uk’ulkan but my grandmother only knew him as the devil. A lot of those men disappeared as a result. Including my great-grandfather.”

Palmira swallowed hard before locking eyes with her granddaughter. Maritza was so young and innocent that she couldn’t understand the gravity of what occurred the night before.

“Promise me that you will wear this necklace and never take it off,” Palmira told her seriously. “I fear that you’re cursed now that you’ve come face to face with the devil. The necklace may be your only protection from him.”

“But-“ Maritza started to say but her grandmother cut her off with a stern look.

“Promise me, Maritza,” Her grandmother demanded, and Maritza sighed before relenting. She nodded and her grandmother took the necklace from her hand, immediately putting it on her. Maritza obeyed her grandmother without another word. “Never take it off. There are not many that have seen the devil of the sea and lived. Your ancestors didn’t.”

“I promise I won’t take it off,” Maritza said honestly and her grandmother seemed satisfied with that. She glanced down at the necklace, examining the pendant. It was beautiful but Maritza was left even more confused about why it was needed.

Some sort of protection against someone her grandmother was convinced was the devil.

Was K’uk’ulkan really the devil?

Maritza felt like a person would know if they came face to face with the devil, but she honestly didn’t know. She pictured something red with horns and a tail to be the devil. Something cartoonish and terrifying but that wasn’t K’uk’ulkan. He didn’t look like how she pictured the devil to look like.

If anything, she was more confused than before. Maritza had come face to face with something her mother and grandmother were convinced was evil. She just wasn’t sure.

But her mother was.

A couple days after they returned to California, and Maritza’s father was back in the lab, her mother drove her to an old building almost two hours away. Her mother told her it was called a Botánica. Some sort of store that was different than any store that Maritza had ever seen before. Filled with candles, herbs, and statues of saints. It was some sort of cross between Diagon Alley and the Vatican.

Her mother didn’t explain much to her but the older woman at the front of the store led them to the back to a room that was dark except for an abundance of lit candles and incense. It had been very terrifying, and the woman instructed Maritza to shut her eyes then proceeded to say what sounded like a prayer in Spanish as she rubbed water into Maritza’s skin while Maritza’s mother watched quietly, clutching her rosary tightly in her hand. Water that was mixed with herbs as Maritza’s skin had a very odd scent afterwards. A scent that would be forever etched into Maritza’s mind.

It was a spiritual cleansing which Maritza found out years later as she described the memory to a friend of hers who’s parents were from Honduras.

The cleansing went on for a short while, but it might’ve as well have been years. Maritza remembered being terrified as the woman spoke in hurried Spanish and harshly rubbed the herbal water into her skin before running some sort of broom over her body. It ended with one last prayer and with seven-year-old Maritza with her tear-stained cheeks as her mother led her out of Botánica.

Her mother didn’t say anything on the drive back.

They both sat in silence in the car for the long car ride home.

With the cleansing, the topic of K’uk’ulkan was put to rest and never to be mentioned or referred to again. With time, Maritza would rationalize the encounter with the pointy eared man from the sea with wings on his ankles as not real. Just the exaggerative imagination of an only child which Maritza was.

The encounter became forgotten, anyways.

A few months after the summer spent in her mother’s native country, her mother died. An unexpected, tragic death that sent the small Stark family reeling and left Maritza without a mother. The time spent in Mexico became only a highlight for the summer spent as a family having fun before everything went to shit and the Starks’ entire world was turned upside down.

The necklace and cleansing had been intended to put K’uk’ulkan to rest. Yesenia’s death buried the matter entirely. Yet some things had a way of coming back to the surface.

Even if they were seemingly forgotten.

Translations:

Diablo(Devil)

Aléjate de ella! No la toques!(Get away from her! Don’t touch her!)

Tu maldad no puede tocar a alguien con un alma pura, Namor. No puedes quitarle su alma. Aléjate, Namor. (Your wickedness cannot touch someone with a pure soul, Namor. You can’t take away her soul. Get away, Namor.)

[shotssblog]

New telegram ( ass look good in them pants😍$

[floredaqueen]

⋆𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐚 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐚 𝐕𝐚𝐬𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐳 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐫⋆

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ ꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱ ˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞, 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐬𝐞. 𝐒𝐨𝐟𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐰𝐧 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬. 𝐇𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬, 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐎𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐥𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫. 𝐀 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐦 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞.

𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐚 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝, 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐍𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐲. 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐇𝐚𝐰𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐆𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐚, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐚 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥, 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐡 𝐛𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲. 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐮𝐥𝐭, 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐧𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥 ‘𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐝’ 𝐢𝐧 𝐇𝐚𝐰𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡.

𝐎𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 @mothmans-left-buttcheek! 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭 🥰

꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱⋆𝕀𝕤𝕒 𝔸𝕣𝕥𝕤⋆꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱

꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱⋆𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐚 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐭⋆꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱

˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆𝐈𝐬𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐚⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚

˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐚𝐢𝐫, 𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰/𝐈𝐬𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐚⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚

˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐚 𝐢𝐧 '86⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚

˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆𝐈𝐬𝐚 (𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐚) 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐚𝐯 𝐁𝐨𝐲'𝐬 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚

˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆𝐄𝐭𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐰/𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐚⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚

˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐰/𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐚 𝐧 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐲⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚

˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐃𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐭. 𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐚⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚

˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆𝐀 𝐅𝐥𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐧 𝐀 𝐅𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐚⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚

˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨 (𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐚 𝐱 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐲)⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐈 (𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐚 𝐱 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐲) ˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐈𝐈 (𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐚 𝐱 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐲)˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆𝐒𝐨𝐟𝐭 𝐆𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐈𝐬𝐚⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚𝐒𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐧 (𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐚 𝐱 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐲)˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚𝐈𝐧 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝 (𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐚 𝐱 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐲)˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 (𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐈)˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚𝐄𝐲𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐰/𝐈𝐬𝐚 𝐧 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐲⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚

꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱⋆𝐈𝐬𝐚 𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐢𝐧𝐤⋆꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 (𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐈𝐈)˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

⋆꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱⋆𝕀𝕤𝕒 𝔽𝕚𝕔𝕤⋆꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱⋆

⋆𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐀𝐭 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐒𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 (𝐈𝐬𝐚 𝐱 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐲)(𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝)⋆

⋆𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐀𝐭 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐒𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐈𝐈(𝐈𝐬𝐚 𝐱 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐲)(𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝)⋆

⋆꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱⋆𝐌𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞 (𝐈𝐬𝐚 𝐱 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐲)(𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝)⋆꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱⋆

⋆꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱⋆𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐄𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 (𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐛)⋆꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱⋆

꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱⋆𝐈𝐬𝐚 𝐊𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐲 (𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐛)⋆꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱

⋆꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱⋆𝐒𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 (𝐀𝐬𝐤 𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐛)⋆꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱⋆

⋆꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱⋆𝐇𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐌𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐭 (𝐀𝐬𝐤 𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐛)⋆꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱⋆

˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆𝐈𝐬𝐚 𝐧 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐚 𝐌𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐂𝐮𝐭𝐞⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚

⋆꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱⋆𝕀𝕤𝕒 𝔸𝕤𝕜𝕤⋆꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱⋆

𝐈⋆꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱ 𝐈𝐈⋆꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱ 𝐈𝐈𝐈⋆꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱ 𝐈𝐕⋆꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱ 𝐕⋆꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱⋆ 𝐕𝐈𝐈

⋆꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱ 𝐕𝐈𝐈𝐈⋆꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱ 𝐈𝐗⋆꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱ 𝐗⋆꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱ 𝐗𝐈⋆꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱⋆

𝐗𝐈𝐈⋆꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱ 𝐗𝐈𝐈𝐈⋆꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱ 𝐗𝐈𝐕⋆꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱ 𝐗𝐕⋆꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱⋆𝐗𝐕𝐈

꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱ 𝐗𝐕𝐈𝐈⋆꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱ 𝐗𝐕𝐈𝐈𝐈⋆꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱ 𝐗𝐈𝐗⋆꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱ 𝐗𝐗⋆꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱

[spaceferren-comics]

Valentina! FanArt by relaxasshole _ on Twitter!

[romanarose]

If You Wanna be Wild: Chapter 7

Co-written with @my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction my beloved Fen, who I could not do this without. Thank you for being my emotional sounding board, my dear friend, my wonderful cowriter and helpful beta reader. I adore you.

Javier Peña x Latina!sex worker!informant!Reader x Santiago Garcia

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Summary: Everything falls apart and evryone is alone.

Content and warnings for whole fic, not chapter by chapter unless something is added: Sex work, drug trade, some drug use/pressured used, sex workers and the mistreatment/stigma surrounding them specifically in the 70’s (my blog is sex worker positive) but ima put potential dub con depending how you look at it as a sex worker who works with dangerous men, some action surrounding reader and the guys and the drug trade, SMUT HEAVY, corruption kink (were corrupting santi here, he’s young, 25), no loss of virginity tho, threesomes, some slight m/m smut but that’s not the focus here, but as you know this blog is an lgbt blog so I’m always open to gay shit. Talk of war and some PTSD but I won't be going a whole lot into it. Covert/emotional incest in the past, Santi's mommy issues, m/m dynamics, internalized bi/homophobia

Reader speaks Spanish and has hair. I've decided Candy is just latina bc she's a sex worker in Colombia so this is what I'm doing. Reader also has curly hair and dark skin.

ADDITIONAL WARNINGS!:mentions of rape an violence, what happened to Helena, smut, repressed feelings, angst.

Almost everything was written by Fen <3

2.7k words

Support writers! Reblog and comment!

**************

There was no making up. There was no Javi bringing Santi food as an apology, there was no talking. 

When Santi walked into the office on Monday, he saw the fucking desks rearranged, Javier’s and Santi’s on other sides of the room instead of pushed face to face. Santi quickly rushed to the bathroom where he panic vomited and had an anxiety attack, resulting in him being 45 minutes late. Javi didn’t say anything about it.

Where Santi couldn’t eat, Javi couldn’t stop eating, munching down food and taking frequent trips to the vending machine. His doctor was going to kill him. Santi could barely function, even coming in late or leaving early which was a cardinal sin in his book. Still, none of it stopped him from seeing Candy. Occasionally Candy asked about him because all month Javi hadn’t been to see her either. Santi couldn’t get much answer either.

They worked, but mostly separately. Javi had even been trying to find somewhere else to work, but there weren’t exactly free rooms in the precinct. They talked occasionally but only about Lorea… making Santi desperately lonely. He had his family and he loved his tias, but they weren’t Javi. It was the day of the rally for the beatification of Laura Montoya, which forced them to be in close proximity as they dressed in plain clothes and scouted the area for any sign of the Lorea family. Not wanting to look too much like officers on alert, Santi tried making conversation, none of which was working with Javi, only getting few word answers. 

The boy was going to drive him absolutely batshit insane if he didn’t stop talking. It was bad enough he kept asking. ‘Should we get food’ or ‘it’s nice out today’, but his voice mixed with the crowds and noise and music and chatter or the rally, people shouting about whoever it was they were here for, politicians trying to stop them and constantly flashbacks of that night of the ball… Then Santi had to go and say 

“She misses you.”

“You mentioned her name one more fucking time and I’ll-”

“You’ll fucking what?” Santi snapped, his nerves had twisted, hardened suddenly by rage. 

His anger took Javi by surprise, he’d never heard him speak like that to anyone let alone him. 

Santi took his pause as indignation. “I mentioned Candy once. Once. And that’s only because you haven’t seen her, or called her or anything!” He hissed. “She’s worried about you actually, she-”

It was Javi’s turn to snap. 

He grabbed the younger man by the back of his collar and pulled him into a side alley, using his own momentum against him and slamming him up against the brick wall. 

Sant let out a little huff of air as his back collided, gritting his jaw as pain raced along his back. 

The action had been forceful, but not enough to cause discomfort for most people. However, a rough, uneven lump of mortar had poked oddly against the scar at the nape of his neck, sending a tingle down his back.

Javi rammed the heel of his hand into the wall next to Santi’s head, using his height to his full advantage as he leaned over him like he was interrogating a suspect instead of a colleague. A friend. 

Santi breathed hard, his frown pinching his eyebrows together, and Javi would say he even looked cute if he wasn’t so bloody annoying, so obsessed with getting under his skin. Unable to let anything go, constantly digging at him in his self-righteous attitude, just needing to push, and push, and push, and…

Cute. The thought caught him off guard. When had he started to think of Santiago as cute?

“What the fuck are you doing Peña?” He growled, puffing his chest out, but not pushing back. 

Javi shook his head slightly, trying to break his racing mind, trying to get back to reality. “Candy, look, you can’t just-”

“She’s an adult Javi, I can-”

“You’re going to get her killed!” His voice raised at the end, louder and more desperate than he had intended, with just the slightest waver. He hoped Santi didn’t hear it, but he probably did. Nothing got past him. “Do you understand?” Santi glared at him, the muscles in his jaw flexing. Those stupid large doe eyes looking painfully dark and enticing. “You’re flaunting her. Taking her to the ball and, and-”

Santi scoffed. “That’s none of your business, I asked her, I-”

“You’re gonna get her gutted and dumped on the side of the road!” Javier screamed, haunting flashbacks to Helena’s beaten and raped body, wrapping his coat around her and having to carry her out, not sure if she was dying or not. “You know how easy it would be for Lorea to do something? This isn’t even a put two and two together situation, Pope, it’s you waving a four right in his fucking face! And what do you think is gonna happen when he takes her, huh? When he beats her and rapes her an tortures her to get information on YOU!” 

Santi swallows, his face still hard, but that little bob of his Adam’s apple draws Javier’s eye, but he doesn't respond. Javier lowers his voice, fist still gripping Santi’s jacket.

“She’s not gonna give you up, she’s not gonna help them hurt you. She’s gonna end up dead. You’re gonna…” He closed his eyes for a moment, took a small breath. It was easier not to look at him, not to have to stare at his soft eyes and plump lips. “You’re gonna end up dead too, Pope. I can’t… I’ve seen it, okay?”  

Javier screwed up his face, opening his eyes so that he could look at Santi man to man. Implore him to see reason. 

“I’m not telling you to stop seeing her, I’m just saying.... I’ve seen shit happen to girls in her line of work. To officers like you that are still wet behind the ears to this kind of thing-” The second it was out of his mouth, he knew he’d made a mistake. 

“I’m not a fucking child, Peña.” Santi hissed, pressing forward and getting up in Javier’s face. “I know that’s what everyone at the station seems to think and all their little Virgin Maria mierda. I don’t care. I don’t give a fuck if all they see is that.” He pushes firmly on Javier’s chest, almost smacking as he punctuates his sentence. “But I thought you’d know better! I was black ops special agent, I spend years of my life in almost every goddamn continent doing retcon, assassinations, covert operations and rescuing women and children and getting SHOT! I’m not-”

“I’m not saying you’re a child-”

“You are! You are!” Santiago growls, smacking Javi’s chest repeatedly. He doesn’t care that he does sound like a child in that moment, arguing relentlessly on semantics. His emotions are bubbling over and muddying his head. “You’re saying that you know best. That your word is law. Despite all you do to endanger Candy!”

“I do n-”

“You do! You think you’re above it all, you’re just as bad, you pretend to care but you-”

“Shut your fucking mouth, Garcia!”

“Make me!”

He doesn’t think. 

There’s always times he doesn’t think. When he gets too lost in whatever emotion he’s letting overwhelm him. Sometimes rage. Sometimes guilt. Usually negative either way. That’s where Santi is a good partner, keeping a cool and level head while Javi plays bad cop.

Usually ends up with him throwing a punch, not a kiss. 

Santi knew ‘make me’ was childish. Knew it was playground nonsense reserved for kids still in single digits. But if everyone was going to keep calling him that, keep pretending that he wasn’t the only actual goddamned adult in the room then-

Then…

Javier’s lips on his steal his breath away, rob him of every thought that has ever run through his mind. And, for once, it’s blissfully quiet. The anxieties pushed away for the peace of a lover's kiss.

Javi presses closer, pushing Santiago further into the wall and cupping his face with his warm hand as he kisses him, body to body, warmth to warmth. Darting out his tongue to just trace Santi’s bottom lip and groans when he parts them immediately, no hesitation, and lets him lick into his mouth. 

The angle’s a little awkward, Javier’s body trapping Santi’s hand between their chests. But Santiago’s fingers curl into his shirt, pulling him closer as his kisses leave him breathless and desperate for more.

Javier’s leg bumps into his and Santi moves a step, moaning softly and then whining as his thigh presses against his half hard cock, a sharp spike of pleasure running up his spine and- 

His thoughts all come crashing down. What the fuck, what the fuck  was he doing? His mother’s voice rang in his head, screaming his name. 

He could get arrested for this, thrown in jail, worse. He was going to burn in hell.

Santi pulled back quickly, disentangling himself from Javier so quickly that both men nearly fell. He turned, not giving the older man a second look, and ran out of the alley into the crowded street. 

He didn’t even hear Javier call his name. 

*

“Are you okay, baby?” You asked, your naked body covering Santiago while giving him tender kisses, scooting yourself up and down his cock. You loved to tease him, get him whimpering and watch as all those troublesome thoughts left his pretty little head. He was too pretty to be so worried all the time.

He’d been stressed on and off about Javi, occasionally bringing it up, but you think he stopped when he realized it upset you. You were really good at pretending to care when old professors droned on and on about academic works or when men talked about themselves or complained about their wives and mothers again and again and again. You could’ve faked not being upset when Santi, but you didn’t fake anything with him. Javi’s absence hurt your feelings. You were worried about him, and you were angry at him for abandoning you and hurting Santi. For continuing to hurt his feelings. Bitch.

But honestly… you just miss him. A lot. It would take more than a poster to patch this, he’d have to make things right with Santi too, but you’d forgive him. You just wanted him back, and you wanted Santi happy again. He was already thin enough, and as your body slid up and down the sweaty length of him, you could feel he’d lost weight. 

Santi moaned loudly, gripping onto your hips as you bounced on his length, his eyes rolling back in his head as your heat engulfs him over and over. Pulling him deeper and deeper. 

The fat tip of his cock presses deliriously, perfectly rubbing over your walls with every slick slide. Stretching you so wonderfully like he was made for you. He was, he really, really was. Something was bothering him today, and he was finding solace in you. You were happy to give it to him. Pushing all other thoughts out of your head. 

He whines, babbling nonsensically with his eyes closed, “please, please, please,” He rocks up against you, letting his body override his brain as you fuck him into the mattress. “Please, gonna come, please, need you so much,” he gasps, almost sobbing from pleasure. 

You stroke his cheek and pick up your pace, even if he hasn’t said you could tell how close he was. The way his stomach muscles tense, how his eyes are screwed shut and head thrown back into the pillow, “it’s okay, it’s okay, you can come, give it all to me.”

He shakes his head rapidly, “no, please,” he moans, “need you, need mommy to come, please.” 

His whines change in pitch, the little sounds getting higher and higher as he reaches the point of no return. His mouth hangs open, his skin flushed and sweaty, and heat floods to your core. 

You brace yourself with your left hand on his leg behind you as you ride him, leaning back ever so slightly to change the angle just enough that he continuously hits perfectly inside, stretching you to your limit. 

Santi sobs, the position change sending a buzz up his spine, pressing on the thick length of his cock to a surprisingly maddening degree. His whole body pulsed, stealing the air from his lungs.

He bucks up once, his eyes fluttering open in surprise as he comes, his length pulsating. He empties himself deep inside you, his orgasm stretching onwards and overtaking every possible thought. 

You smile as you watch him, happy to see him so blissed out. You ride him throughout his high, trying to prolong his sensations as long as possible. He deserved it.

He sighs, shivering with aftershocks as he comes back to himself and looks up at you. You open your mouth to speak, the words on the tip of your tongue.

Santi grabs you by the hips, urging you up and off him and pulling your aching pussy onto his face. He lets out a small groan at the mess he made, his cum leaking out of your folds before he runs the tip of his tongue through them. 

You bite back a moan, grabbing onto his hair for stability as his mustache brushes against your clit.

His mouth feels like heaven as he lick and swirls around your clit, his movements soft but certain, quickly pushing you towards your peak.

Instinctively you buck your hips, grinding down on his mouth to chase your high. He rocks you against him, urging you tp move and fuck his eager tongue. 

“Santi…” you whine as you come hard against him, pulling fiercely on his hair. 

He continues licking, moaning against you as he drinks down every drop of your release. 

You breathe heavily, boneless for a moment before slowly moving away to lay down next to him. 

He pouts a little as you settle. “I wasn’t finished.” He smiles cheekily, your cum shining all over the bottom half of his face,

You giggle, and gently swat his arm and cuddle up next to him. Santi didn’t need instruction, scooting his back to your chest. In your arms, where he belonged. You loved being like this with him, but somehow it always felt like something was missing. You loved when Javi used to hold you, protecting you with a strong arm around your body, but again, you felt like something was missing, in your arms this time instead of around you.

You kiss the scar on his spine. “Good boy, Santito.”

It happened so fast. Santi teanses and you barely have a second to register how he turns to you, his eyes widen in panic, his skin turning ashen before he’s up, out of bed and pulling on his clothes so fast that it shouldn’t have been possible. What the fuck? Did you do something wrong?

“Santi?” you start, trying to keep your voice soft but unable to hide the fear that has overcome your words.Why is he leaving? What did you do wrong? Did you mess up things with Santi too, the one good thing left? You barely sit up before he’s shoving a handful of dollars at you, practically just throwing them in your direction and the bed. 

“Here.” His voice is quiet, distant. Like he’s not really there. A stark comparison to his panicked, edgy movements. He doesn’t even bother tying his shoes, simply shoving his feet inside them and stumbling towards the door.

“Wait, Sant-”

He slams the door on his way out. 

Leaving your bed cold, and you alone.

It was supposed to be sex, talking. Build a nice repour. That was it. You were good at it too, making old ugly men think you were infatuated, but yourself detached from even the most charming and attractive. Something happened with Javi and Santi, a line that became blurred, friendship and genuine attraction and care. Now they were gone. 

You hate yourself for how hard you cry.

***************

thank you so much to everyone whose stuck around while i sort my SHIT OUT (its never ending)

If you like me writing javi, i wrote a drable today too, and if you wanna see a totally insane version of santi, come to rooms on fire!

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I appriciate you all very very much, please let know your thoughts in the comment!!!

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[audreyclimbs]

foreseen in shadows- chapter one

chapter summary: cassandra returns to her apartment, and after a brief encounter with her best friend, she reflects on her night.

word count: 3.3k

TW: allusions to sexual assault! canon-typical violence, foul language

to access the entire story: foreseen in shadows masterlist + masterlist

I slipped in through my bedroom window as silently as I could, but the rain slicking every inch of my body had a different plan for my return to the apartment. In other words, I faceplanted on my hardwood floor—hard.

“Fuck,” I groaned under my breath, drawing out the vowel as I turned onto my back.  My eyes clenched shut as pain ached in every square inch of my body.  Exhaustion had settled into my bones hours ago, my body not yet adjusted to the demands of this new “night shift” of sorts on top of my day-to-day schedule.  Now, it was all I could do to scrape myself off of my now-slippery floors and shut the window before the rain blew in and soaked my bedroom.

As I turned around, I saw the hallway light flick on through the bottom crack of my closed door.  Dammit.  Could anything go according to plan tonight?

“Cassy, you okay in there?  Did you fall?” Jaimie’s voice called out from outside my door, groggy and scratchy with sleep.  She started to turn the doorknob.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.

“Uh— I’m naked!”  I yelped, my voice pitching unnaturally high.

To her credit, she did pause.  “Girl.”  Her voice, though tired, was a perfect deadpan.  “There’s nothing there that I haven’t been subjected to multiple times before.  Why the fuck are you naked at… what the hell time even is it?” She muttered, trailing off and pausing briefly.  “At 3:30 in the morning?  Oh my God, do you have someone in there?”  My best friend gasped, the sound of shuffling giving away how she was now pressing herself closer to the closed door as if to listen for clues.  “You bitch!  What have we said about telling each other when we have—”

“I don’t— no, no one is here!  Don’t have someone!”  I blanched.  Why didn’t I just go with that, the fuck—  “I got sick, so I’m just changing into fresh clothes.”  That’s believable enough, I guess.

I watched as the shadow of her footsteps shuffled back to a normal distance from the doorframe.  “Aww, I’m sorry, Cass.”  I am such a piece of shit.  Guilt chewed away my bones at the sincerity in her voice.  “Do you want me to make you some broth?  Or.. or I can run out and get some of that juice you like?  I think the Petersons’ place down the street is still open for a little—”

My words came out in a rushed blur, “No, no it’s okay, seriously!  I appreciate it though.”  I began struggling to strip myself of the drenched clothes that clung to my body like a second skin.  The relentless aching of my muscles certainly didn’t make matters easier.  “I think I’m just gonna go back to bed and try to— uh— sleep it off.”  Hopping on one foot as I attempted to tug a boot off, I reached my dresser and leaned my back against the strong oak frame.

Jaimie hummed empathetically from the other side of the door.  I could practically see the distinct furrow of her brow, her hand coming up to run through her blond tresses.  The air came a little easier into my lungs now that I didn’t run the risk of her stumbling across the state I was in.  Drenched to the bone, beaten up in a way I’ve never been before— I couldn’t imagine the terror and worry that would take my best friend by the throat.

Her shuffles back from the door almost didn’t reach my ears.  “Well, if you need me, just come get me.  You know where I live,” she called out, yawning at the end of her sentence.  

“Will do— thank you,” I replied, drawing out the last word to serve as my farewell until the morning.

Her footsteps finally retreated from my doorframe, and the hallway light flicked back off.  Now, the only light in my room was the faint glow of streetlights streaming in from the rainy streets.  I kicked off the last boot and finished tugging off my long-sleeve shirt, tossing it in the vague direction of my hamper.  I’d pick it up in the morning and do a load so that I had something to wear when I go out again tomorrow night.  Or rather, tonight, I guess?  I resisted the urge to groan dramatically at the realization that I would have to go do all of this all over again sooner rather than later.  I couldn’t stop now, especially after whatever that encounter with the blind-but-not-blind guy was.

I so do not have the energy to begin processing that beatdown.

My back slid against the smooth, cool wood of my dresser as I sunk to the floor, head tilting back and eyes sliding shut.  Pain radiated in constant, throbbing waves from my jaw, my ribs, my legs.  

What the fuck even happened tonight?  It had started simply enough.  As simple as you can get when it’s your debut as a… vigilante?  Technically, I guess I’d fall within that category.  But I didn’t break the law, so do I actually?  Okay, I did technically assault a man, but he was about to assault a minor, so does that count?  I need a lawyer or something.  Is there a vigilante rubric I can grade myself on?  

As my eyes closed, I thought back to the start of my night.

Who am I even kidding right now?  Vigilante or not, nothing that happened tonight could fall within any category of normal.

---------------------------------------

1:55 A.M.

I crouched against the exhaust pipe that protruded from the rocky terrain of the rooftop, arm wrapping loosely around it in case my feet lost their purchase due to the torrential downpours currently soaking the streets of the Upper West Side.  

“What am I even doing right now?”  I muttered to myself.  

Deciding to take to the streets as a start, I released my grip on the pipe and dropped myself onto the fire escape below, landing in a crouch before rocking to my feet with the momentum of my brief fall.  The fire escape creaked and groaned, its joints squeaking from lack of use as I began lowering myself from ladder to ladder, moving diagonally as I tossed myself quickly and used each bottom rung as a monkey bar of sorts to propel myself to the next tower of fire escapes, steadily making my way down to the street.  

Upon reaching the last fire escape before the side of the building gave way to the street, I used the last of my momentum to swing off of the bottom rung and roll onto the rough concrete below, tucking and rolling as my feet made contact.  I quickly rose to my feet and began walking slowly to the street running perpendicular to the last few yards of the alley I had chosen for my descent.  As the distance between myself and the street began to close, I could hear the bustle of nighttime traffic and the relatively sparse nightlife roaming the streets of the Upper West Side.  Finally, the alley gave way to the street, and I looked around, orienting myself to where I now stood.

I turned left out of the alley and walked to the street corner, eyes squinting through the rain to read the sign of the street running parallel to me.  85th Street.  I hadn’t realized how far I had wandered in my nighttime escapade, but I couldn’t stop now.  I didn’t know how, but I knew I was meant to help.  Someone, somewhere, somehow.  The visions still flashed across my mind every time I closed my eyes.  So much blood, so much grief, and I knew that I had some way to stop it.  If I could see this coming, however far off it may be, then I could stop it, right?

Feet pivoting to turn my body around, I began walking further away from my apartment and toward whatever trouble awaited me tonight.

2:45 A.M.

It had been almost an hour.  Nothing.  Weariness crept into my mind as I continued wandering and pacing through the streets of the Upper West Side.  There was a certain kind of liberation that came with the pitch darkness of the night.  The mask that draped across my face, hiding my identity from someone or something— though I truthfully didn’t know what— didn’t seem to faze any passersby.  Then again, it was New York City.  I had learned fairly quickly that genuinely nothing could make this city’s inhabitants bat an eye.  

A smile tugged at my lips as I remembered how Jaimie and I had outright gawked at the absurdities we witnessed on our first day in the city before starting at Columbia.  It had been four years since then, and we both had changed so much, but I doubted either of us would ever be truly acclimated to this place.  Jaimie, in all her blunt and brutally honest glory, had yet to return to our shared abode in the evening without some story about some odd person she had seen out and about.  

Then, I saw it.  As I passed by a fairly normal-looking man, maybe a few years older than I, it began.  A sudden, frigid sensation passed over my skin as the world before me blended with the vision beginning to form in my mind’s eye.  The inky, misty scene began to unfold, voices drifting in various levels of clarity and volume, colors and shapes drifting and floating in and out of focus outside of the man standing before me.  

“I said, get on your knees,” he spat out, hands coming forward to shove harshly on my— her— shoulders.  

A sob tore from my lips in a voice that was not my own.  My— no, her hands, a milky white and freckled complexion that did not match my tanned, olive skin, shook in front of me as they came up to protect my face futilely.  The sleeves of her black jacket were muddy and dirty, evidence of a likely tumble to the wet ground of the dark alley she was now trapped in.  The dumpster pressing against her back effectively shielded her from the sight of passersby.  

(Not that anyone would glance twice even if they did see the scene playing out before them.  God help me, I fucking hate New Yorkers sometimes.)  Ripping myself from my bitter thoughts, I tried to focus on the milky, foggy scene before me.  The tears welling in her eyes did nothing to aid my vision through her eyes.

“Please,” the girl croaked out, and I could feel the hot tears streaming down her cheeks as if they were my own.  “Please, my mom is waiting up for me.  I won’t tell anyone, I— I s-swear,” the last syllables of her words trailed off in a hysterical cry, fear practically oozing from every fiber of her being.  

In my own mind, rage and indignation flared as the premonition continued to play out.  

Through teary eyes, she lifted her head and I saw the face of the origin of her fear.  It was the man I just passed by.  Blindly, I willed my body to turn around in the present and walk in the direction he had been going.  I prayed that I didn’t hit anyone as I moved unseeingly through the streets.  Focusing back on the vision as best I could while also trying to devote some of my attention to the present world, I watched as he began reaching for a knife strapped to his belt.  Oh God.

Desperation bubbled up in the girl’s throat, and I willed my present body to breathe deeply— to keep the barriers between us up and not give in to her emotions.  The man’s lips curled sadistically back, but they slipped back into a growl when she began scrambling backward.  He lunged forward and went down to the ground with her, body pinning her down as his hand holding the blade positioned it to the side of her neck.  His other hand came up to grip at her hair, and I felt a harsh pain to the side of my head as he tugged on her long, wet hair.  Rain dripped off the bridge of his nose and fell onto her forehead, and his breath fanned hotly across her face, a stark contrast to the biting cold of the October night.  

“I told you to get on your knees,” he panted, a manic sheen crossing over his eyes.  In the present, my skin crawled.  “But did you listen?  No, no you didn’t.  You know what happens,” he pressed the sharp edge of the blade into her throat, not hard enough to draw blood, but enough to stir a new wave of panic and fear in her.  

It was getting harder to stay in the vision and keep walking through the present, but I needed to know.  My autonomy in these visions was still weak, but I was getting better at controlling them— at making them play out instead of flashing chaotically behind my eyes like they did the first several times.  

Then, I felt it.  He pressed his hips down, and I felt the bulge press into her outer thigh— my outer thigh.  Bile crept up in her throat, and I willed myself to take deep breaths through my nose as I kept walking, vaguely seeing his form walking ahead of me.  It took everything in me not to pull out of the vision right then and throttle him with every fiber of my strength, but I kept walking.  Kept trying to see through her eyes— just a few more seconds.

The girl screamed and I felt it rip through my vocal cords, a harsh and desperate cry of terror.  She sounded so young— only a teenager.  The man shook her harshly and hissed in her ear to stay quiet.  Then, with his other hand, he reached down and fumbled for his belt—

I barely ripped myself out of the vision before I slammed into a lamp pole.  For fuck’s sake, Cassandra.  I scrambled back and found the man again.  Because of my clumsy error, he had gained a few extra feet on me.  I let him have it, trying to appear casual and we walked— together, though he didn’t know it just yet— through the night streets.  He paused, so I paused.  The man’s head whipped left and right, and I saw him focus on a distant bodega.  The street corner he had stopped at was on the opposite side of the intersection from the small shop, but he watched it steadily.  At that moment, I realized that he hadn’t been wandering at all.  He positioned himself next to a streetlight, arm coming to rest against the green, painted metal.  In the brief pause, I took a moment to observe him as best I could from the somewhat substantial distance between us.

He had a black zip-up hoodie on, the hood of which was pulled over his head.  His pants were just jeans, and I strained to see where exactly he had the knife I had seen in my vision.  One of the faults of my new abilities had to be the clarity— or rather, lack thereof.  If I focused with all of my strength, then I could usually get the scenes playing behind my eyes to clear up.  More often than not, however, that just wasn’t possible due to the present’s demands of my attention.  The jacket ended just past his hips, effectively blocking my view of his belt.  No matter, I’d figure it out soon enough.

A bell sounding from the bodega drew my attention across the intersection.  A young girl with fiery red curls stepped out, waving goodbye to whoever remained inside.  

“See you tomorrow, Mr. Lopez!”  She called out cheerily as the door snicked shut.  Then, she began walking away, pulling the hood of her black jacket up over her hair.  

Oh. 

The man ahead of me began following her, subtlety clearly gone in the wind.  Internally, I begged the girl to turn back— to go back inside and wait, to walk home with the man inside who she seemed to trust, to do anything.  She kept walking, arms crossed tightly across her chest to fight the harsh, whipping October air and rain.

His pace picked up, and the horror washing over me was far colder than the frigid rain currently soaking through my clothes.  He was gaining on her quickly.  I broke into a run, blindly crossing the street and praying that I didn’t get hit.  Then, he reached her and grabbed her through the hood of her jacket by those red curls.  Her scream was muffled by the arm that came up around her, presumably cupping over her mouth.  They backed into the alley to their left, and I sprinted as quickly as I could, rounding the corner and barrelling into the alley.  

This monster would not have her.  Not ever.

The man’s head whipped around to face the sound of my approaching footsteps, and before he could react, I yanked on the collar of his hoodie with all of my might.  Luckily, his grip on the girl broke, and she stumbled forward.  I released my hold on his collar and let momentum take him the last few feet into the wall behind him.  With blind instinct, I whipped my leg around to slam the flat of my foot into the soft part of his side below his ribs.  A groan slipped past his lips, and he doubled over but recovered quickly and stumbled in my direction. 

“Go!  Run!”  I screamed blindly in the young girl’s direction, hoping she would understand despite my gaze never leaving the monster of a man before me.  From the corner of my eye, I saw her figure dart behind me and out into the street.  I sent up a silent prayer that she would go back to the bodega.  That she would get home safe.

In my moment of distraction, the man managed to land a clumsy blow to my shoulder.  I stumbled back, grunting from the force.  Based on the uncoordinated path of his fist, I guessed that he was not experienced in combat.  Good.  My fighting left much to be desired, but I at least remembered most of what I learned during my time in Columbia’s Women’s Kickboxing Club.  I willed myself to recover quickly and assumed a somewhat awkward fighting stance.  I was rusty, sure, but not as bad as him.  

With a swift inhale, I wound my core tight, swung my leg around, and hit my mark on that same soft spot.  This time, it did the trick.  The monster gasped as he tried to regain the breath I just kicked out of his lungs.  I kept on him and wound my other leg around to strike his opposite side.  He fell to his knees.  A small, sadistic part of me was satisfied at the dark irony of this situation— at the fear he was now feeling, rather than inflicting on an innocent teenager.  Blind rage took over the forefront of my mind, and I kept landing blow after blow until he was nothing more than a crumbled mass on the wet floor of the alley.  I stared, eyes wide, and air finally came back to my lungs when I spotted the rise and fall of his chest.

A rustling sound from the dumpster behind me pulled me back to the present, and I stepped back shakily.  Has my heart always been this loud?  Trembling breaths shuttered in and out of my wet lips, and my hands shook violently as I reached up to wipe the rain from my eyes and brow.  A quick scan of my surroundings somewhat eased my worries about being seen or attacked, and with that, I took off running.

[jackiequick]

ABC Family ~ Baby Daddy OC 🍼

—> Expanding on a OC from this playlist

Skylar Chez

Full name: Skylar Chez Gonzalez

Nickname: Sky, Mama, Chez, Wonder Twins, Picasso, Ms. Wheeler

Age: 25

Height: 5’2

Place Of Origin: New York

Nationally: American

Ethnic Background: Colombian and Mexican descent

Relationship status: Single on and off again, until she realizes her feelings for Ben.

Occupation: Artist

Season: 1-6

Relationship to family: BFF to Ben, Danny and Riley since they were kids. Bonnie babysat Sky since she was 2 because her mom is friends with her. So in result she grew up closely to them. Later on, she met Tucker during early college years.

Personality: Sweet, artistic, nerdy, good with the flow and very open. However she can be strong and stubborn, as well as a little crazy. Overall usually pretty chill. Oh yeah I forgot to mention, she’s a huge foodie!!

————-

Skyler was brought into the group from day one once again when she moved to New York for her career, little did she know that she would be living together alongside her best friends. In the same apartment. Working at the bar and studying art as well. It was good until everything changed the day Danny moved into the apartment since baby Emma came too!

—> The boys were freaking out and confused calling for Riley’s while Skylar was cooing at Emma. She was so cute.

The guys looked at her waiting for her to pick Emma up. Sky just joked, "What? You guys see boobs and automatically think mommy?"

Riley snorted at her joke.

Everyone, especially Bonnie believed Ben couldn’t make it a few hours with Emma but the girls disagreed, and thankfully they were proved right. Since then, Emma stayed with the 6 of them after 48 hours. They were happier than ever!

Her and Danny are like siblings! The two are them are sometimes attached to the hip, always helping each other and supportive. Tall and short besties for sure! They are such nerds, always going to the movies, sports game and concerts. Skylar even sometimes steals Danny’s graphics t-shirts when hers are dirty, styling them to fit her outfits.

With Bonnie, it’s like they are aunt and niece! Bonnie says that Skylar is like the daughter she never had while she glares at her sons in annoyance. Just as insane and sweet as her mother, I guess that’s why Bonnie loves her.

Tucker! Let’s just say those two are sassier than ever before when they’re together in one room. Tucker and Skylar are each other’s back up no matter what. Finishing each other lines and chasing each other around. Skylar can say, “Hold my earrings!” And Tucker would smirk like, “I got you girl!” But those two fight like crazy if allowed!

Riley! As much as she jokes and teases Riley, she’s her girl. Besides she does the same thing to her, dragging Riley into doing crazy stuff. Always by her side to snap her out of it and tell her the truth, when needed.

—> When it came to Emma, Ben and Skylar practically shared the same brain cell! As much as Ben and Sky were complete opposite for certain things, the two of them shared the same ideas for plenty of things. Ideas for plans, work, ways of dating, strong attitudes, the way they acted and especially their parenting style. You name it, they have probably have or heard it.

-> They’re great friends! Always by each other’s side. Very supportive about their plans and smacking some scene into each other.

Speaking of Emma, during late season one and early season two of the series. 2012. The duo made a decision that changed their lives. Mama and Daddy.

It all started when Ben was looking for a future wife for himself but mainly a mom for his daughter, he figured his daughter deserves a mother figure or two in her life. He dated looking up and down, tired of scanning waiting for the girl to see Emma the way he sees her. Until Bonnie made him realize that girl was standing right in front of them.

Ben found her sitting alone that late afternoon on the fire escape sipping a beer and softly smile, asking if he can join. She nodded handing him one, Skylar was tired and annoyed with her love life after dumping her boyfriend, Johnthan, two days ago. Ben decided to comfort her and show her in care rather seeing his best friends smile than upset. After a while they talked…

“So how’s the mom search going?” She asked reopening another beer smiling, handing him one.

He opened him beer and replied, “Not the greatest. Due to, Emma already having a mom.”

“Yeah Angela! I told you it wasn’t the best idea..”

“No, not her. You.”

“What? Uh Ben I wasn’t the one who pushed her out and put that cutie on your doorstep. She did.”

He laughed and nods, “I know that! But since Emma been here you’ve been nothing but wonderful and I love you for that. And I believe Emma deserves someone like you in her life.”

She smiled sweetly, “She already does…wait Ben, do you want me to be like her Mama?”

“If you want. You don’t have to play house or anything, unless you want too of course..”

“Yes.”

“R-really?! Cause I know it’s a big deal and our careers are friendship will be on the line.”

“Nothing will change.”

“Nothing will change?”

Skylar took his hand, “Yeah it won’t.”

“And what if it does?” Ben replied squeezing her hand gently.

“Then I don’t know.”

“Okay.”

It was steady and still, the two friends started to become parents overnight. Closer than ever. They drank and talked smiling the whole way through the whole night.

————

It was a darling, sweet and absolutely comfortable transition. It felt natural, nothing truly changed. They were supportive parents like always, playing house sometimes and teasing each other. Sometimes they would get carried away and start calling each other “Mama” and “Dada”, especially in hopes Emma would say one of the two first sooner or later.

-> Ben walked into the kitchen with Emma and smiled softly, “Hey mama.”

“Hi.” She replies handing him a slice of toast as she chuckled, “Hi Emma.”

The baby girl giggled at the kisses being peaked on her face. Ben put his daughter in her high chair along with a bowl of cereal, then walked over to Skylar wrapping his arms around her to steal a bite of toast.

“Hey!” She yelled laughing, “Get your own.”

“What? Danny does it.” He joked laughing and poured himself coffee, “Uh where is Danny exactly?”

“Slept over at a girls place. And Tucker is still asleep, hangover times ten.”

“Oof been there, done that! Mom is coming over to pick up Emma so that means I get extra time before work and you can take your classes.”

“Yes! You know how hard it is to paint a castle in the forest with a baby and two idiots running around?”

“Hahahahaha! I bet, hey—! I’m not a idiot.”

———

-> When it came to dating life, Ben went on his dates such as Riley or Veronica for insist meanwhile Skylar went on her dates such as Kyle or Jordan. Nonetheless it was fun and extra supportive about it. Even comforting each other as well when Danny wasn’t there to do.

Believe me, if someone breaks Skylar’s heart or hurt her feelings, best believe you will have a Danny Wheeler after your ass like a pissed off Superman.

Especially if Tucker heard about Skylar being hurt.

A) He’s gonna fight him or trick them into being screwed.

B) Encourage her to fight back and ignore the dumbass.

C) Drag Bonnie into a plan for revenge.

Note: Bonnie, Tucker and Skylar are a little bit of a trio. They get into the craziest stuff 😼 haha. Bonnie and Tucker even tracked down Angela after Skylar stupidity suggested something but they took that literally! During that time Ben was trying to date Riley so that caused a small rift between them with Emma’s biological mom being there.

—> Even Skylar got pissed off! Angela was trying to play house, Bonnie wasn’t too happy that insulting the women.

It got to a point where Skylar dragged her into the apartment and told Angela, to her face that, “You may have carried and birthed Emma, been her mother for 6 months. But afterwards you were gone! Biologically you may be her parent but I’m the one who helps put her to sleep, change her diapers, feeds her, brings her play dates when her daddy, grandma or uncles can’t. And I make sure that girl is happy! All you’ve done while being here is try to win Ben back and play house.”

Angela scoffed with a slight laugh, “And what are you? His best friend? His side piece when Riley isn’t around? If I’m correct Sky, we used to be friends. What happened?”

“I still am a friend to you, Ang. But I’m also Ben and Riley’s. And I’m more of a mother to Emma over the last year or two than you ever were.”

“Sounds like Ben has a lot of women in his life. Especially Bonnie! I’m just trying to figure out how to make a plan here, okay? I’m sorry, and your right, it’s clear that you all Emma’s family here. Especially you.”

“Good. Ang, your my friend and want you to figure out that plan. Tucker and Ben said you’re trying to find a place to stay that isn’t our apartment.”

The girls smiled and hugged it out, still bitter about the situation but didn’t show it. However Bonnie and Tucker were in the corner listening into the conversation silently cheering hoping that Angela leaves soon. Also very proud of Sky having the strength to call her out on her bullshit. A few days later Angela left, not without leaving her mark within Ben and Riley’s relationship, they broke up. Going as far to jokingly tease Sky that she should make that ‘mom thing’ official and go on a date with Ben.

Things went back their chaotically sweet and glorious ways after that. But that romantic debate still hung over their heads. Riley went on dates finding a boyfriend name Philip, Danny slept with a couple of girls but his heart belonged to Miss Riley Parton. Ben stayed within the dating scene teased how Riley still liked him until life took a turn in his direction. And that direction was Skylar Chez.

—————-

Ben Wheeler was thrown into a loop and knocked off course. Yeah sure he will always love Sky but those feelings started to shift into something stronger perhaps. It started during Emma’s first birthday seeing her dresses in a viking inspired outfit and carrying his almost one year old daughter in matching clothes, made his heart flutter. He smiled, leaning forward to kiss Emma’s cheek and grin at Sky giving her a kiss on the cheek.

“What was that for?” She asked with a darling smile, bouncing the almost one year old on her hip.

Ben shrugged with a smile, not knowing that came over him and replied, “You both look really pretty. You know i love you right?”

“Always. And we do look pretty.”

“I have to head out with mom, to figure out the whole thing with Deluca’s ice cream parlor.”

“Oh right Bon Bon mentioned something about it, what happened?”

“I might have another kid, with Jenny Deluca this time.”

“Ben!”

“I didn’t know, okay? I swear women keep have babies and won’t tell me about it.” He added with his hands in the air and shake his head, “It’s starting to hurt my feelings.”

Sky tried not laugh and sigh, “Aww poor baby. Focus! We have probably another kid on our hands here.”

“Don’t worry, i tried talking to Jenny beforehand but she busy. So we’re gonna try again today.”

“Alright, meet you at the parlor in an hour. No funny business!”

Both of them tried talking with Jenny Deluca about the situation but she just shrugged pretending to ignore it, telling them to have their kids party and leave. Her father showed shouting and claiming for them to get out, especially not wanting to see Ben again.

Bonnie shouted over him and pointed out confidently, “Frankie Deluca, you would lucky if my son ever impregnated your daughter!” Tucker nodded in agreement saying ‘Hell yeah!’. The man ignored them upset as ever until Jenny revealed Ben wasn’t the father it was somebody’s else kid, she just blamed Ben cause it would leave less questions from her father.

It was sorta fair, still they would’ve welcomed the kid regardless. Afterwards Emma fell asleep and they had to celebrate her 1st birthday at home instead, none of them minded the change. But that whole time Ben saw how loving and supportive Skylar was the entire day with the chaos of the news, he truly loved her for it.

~~~~

The next time was when Skylar eventually started getting jealous of his dates, snapping him out of it and then fixing the problem by the end of the day. But Ben wasn’t far behind since he started to question her dates more often and had to end up saving her by the end of night, coming up with a lame excuse that somehow worked.

Catching each other’s falls at work, sharing food together, leaving random kisses on their cheeks, adding text messages for one another, teasing the other person and bickering over the smallest thing.

Tucker even joked, “Damn. You two sound like your dating..”

Skylar and Ben turned to him yelling, “Stay out of this, Tucker!”

He laughed, “You sure?”

“She’s not my girlfriend.” Ben replied with a scoff pointing at her.

“He’s not my boyfriend. You don’t get it, Tucker.” Skylar added.

“Why would he? Us together wouldn’t make any sense.”

“Yeah, if I were to date him I must be insane.”

“Exactly!”

“Let’s go, baby.”

“Right behind you!”

The two walked out together heading to the park to meet up with Danny. But truth was Tucker was right, the two were practically dating each other from day one without actually doing that dating part. They just didn’t know it yet. Skylar’s smile always grew around him, loving how supportive he is, adore the patients he has at times and dragging Ben Wheeler into doing the most silliness things. He was her world, she was dating the man without even noticing it herself. To Ben, he always grinned widely around her, she was one of the reasons he’s where’s he is today, adoring how gentle she can be to how crazy she may act, and he was proud to have her in his life.

——— ~~~

— They’ve seen each other fall and rise, Ben held her when she may cry til midnight and Skylar hugs him when he feels like died a little inside. They didn’t notice how much love and opportunity there was for them until Danny and Tucker pointed it out. So in result that same week during 4th Of July, everyone was on the rooftop celebrating the fireworks while eating outdoors, when they realized that needed more ice, water and beers. Skylar offered to bring it upstairs and Ben followed behind, knowing she was need help carrying that upstairs.

The two were chatting as they entered the apartment and collecting items that they believed could also be needed. Ben saw more fireworks from the window, taking Skylar’s hand climbing onto the balcony taking a seat next to each other. The fireworks stopped for a moment, or at least the ones that could be seen for them since you see hear the booming noise from the streets afar from the building, they started with smiles. Ben realized they were alone as so did Skylar, as the pair yelled out in unison ‘I have to tell you something’ ‘No you first.’ The two laughed.

Ben chuckled, “ this is ridiculous but Danny said that we’re dating but not dating, I mean we’re dating while not actually dating.”

“Oh my god, Tucker said the same thing! Ay that’s hilarious. He pointed out the stuff we do.” She replies chuckling.

“But we’re not dating right? We haven’t kissed or anything! Unless we were drunk and i don’t remember..and I think I would remember.”

“I mean yeah we do, some things are typically seen a couple. I kinda wanna prove Danny and Tucker that they’re wrong..”

His eyes perked up and leaned against her shoulder with a grin, “Oh really? Oh how so?”

“Like this.” She replied with a matching grin, leaning forward, “Kiss me. Prove that they’re wrong and we’re right.”

“Oh I like the way you think women! 20 bucks this kiss would mean nothing.”

“Ooh a bet? Make that 25.”

“25 it is!”

Ben leaned over taking the back of her neck gentle as his hands gliding around to her cheeks. Skylar rested her face in his hands, her hands sliding down to his cheeks with the cheeky eyes that matched his. They were too excited, finally touching their lips brushing against one around to a simple one time thing. As they did, the fireworks in the sky went off.

The kiss lasted around less than 3 seconds or so, until Ben decided to turn around and make the kiss last less than a minute. Skylar rested her head against his, pulling back for a moment with a smile and said, “So Danny and Tucker were wrong?”

“I think I will need to test out that theory again.” Ben repiled with a shrug, lacing his lips onto her with a laugh, “We’re right, they’re wrong! But they can’t know that.”

“Oh yeah! Hmm, we can still openly date whoever we want to like Riley and Johnthan?”

“Oh yeah! If not, my bedroom is right next door. I mean we’re practically dating without actually dating.”

“I think another kiss might seal the deal, we created.”

Little did they know Bonnie Wheeler was unlocking the door and walking in to grab the beer bottle since they were taking too long. She joked and grumbled, “Damn it Danny! He couldn’t have—” her eyes fell onto the balcony to see her son and practically daughter in law sharing a smooch, “—WHAT THE HELL?!”

The two heard her practically falling onto the floor, gasping and stumbling into the room, yelling out ‘MOM!’ and ‘BONNIE!’.

Busted.

—-

The paired found themselves the next time stealing kisses in secret, sharing winks and preparing the other for a date. They coined it as a open relationship, trying to not let anyone else know about this little affair. Especially Riley, because then she will tell Danny, who will in result tell Tucker.

Ben was bouncing loopy and sleepy Emma as Skyler walked out, fixing her collar for a date. It was her turn for a night out. She played around with her hair with a smile, “How do i look?”

“I would gorgeous but then i would have steal you from your date.” Ben joked, placing their daughter into the playpen before walking over to her zipping the back of the dress.

“You sure you’re okay with me going out? I could just cancel, you know?”

“No go out! I got a boy’s night planned out with Danny and Tucker here in the apartment.”

“No strip poker like last time! Tucker still mad about that.”

“In my defense, we shouldn’t have betted too high. If you need anything call me.”

“Okay.”

She quickly peaked his cheek and walked out, earning a grin and a playful friendly catcall from the boys who walked inside. Skylar laughed twirling as she left, leaving Tucker, Danny and Ben chuckling.

The whole night went all, her date with Tad with nice meanwhile the boys played a simple game of poker. Bonnie saw Tad and Skyler out again, rolling her eyes because she saw her and Ben kissed two weeks ago—but she kept their dirty little secret to herself, knowing the others will find out soon enough.

—> The next time, Danny found out one morning. He was walking into the kitchen, greeting Emma who happily ate her cereal and Ben who sat was eating his bagel with a cup of coffee. Tucker was still snoring. The brothers chatted, joking around and figuring out their schedules for the day.

That was when Skylar walked out of the bathroom, placed a kiss on Ben’s cheeks and stealing fruit off Danny’s plate with a grin, before walking out to the bedrooms. Danny grinned, “Did she just?”

“Yup she did. She got a 100% on her art project, so that’s why she’s happy.” He replies smiling.

“Yeah that’s great, i know that! But she just kissed your cheek!”

“So what? It’s normal, right? She’s happy and so I’m happy.”

“Ohh—Holy crap, you still like Sky!”

“No I don’t!”

“Holy crap, you really do still like Sky!”

“Shut up, I don’t.”

—> Other time was Riley, catching them finding them at work behind one of the walls near the entrance chatting. She walked in ready to unwind and have a drink, stopping short turning to her left to see Ben’s hands on Sky’s shoulders with a smile. They didn’t notice her, since it looked like the pair were speaking onto something rather important.

“I’m telling you, the accident wasn’t your fault, okay?” He replied with a smile.

“It was a mishap i know! But Jonathan looked at me and then Tad saw me.” She said with a sigh.

“Hey you spooked! Same thing, happened with Angela and Riley months. I split for god’s sake.”

“That’s because your clumsy Ben and an idiot.”

“Yeah well, Riley still loved for me it.”

“Haha, you’re right. I’ll got tell them what happened.”

They walked to their separate sides of the bar. Riley was sitting at the couch, walking over to the counter to order a drink waiting, that’s when Sky scurry around the corner.

The girl smirked at her latina friend, “Sooo?”

“So what?” She asked her blonde friend, confused.

“I saw you and Ben talking, then i saw Jonathan and Tad were in the room.”

“We were just talking about me screwing up with both guys.”

“Ohh? And Ben?”

“He was reassuring me that everything is alright and Jonathan will forgive me.”

“I hope so, he’s a catch! You know, you and Ben have been rather close lately.”

Sky chuckled, “Riley, he only got eyes for you!”

“I don’t know, Sky.. what if-?” She replies with a soft chuckle.

“He loves you. I know that for a fact.”

Riley smiled, picturing her relationships with Philip vs hers with Ben. She knew she had plenty of other options and opportunities at her door.

———————

Ben and Skylar little affair didn’t last long, they love each other but felt that they needed to explore their other options first.

Riley and Jonathan to be exact since those feelings were clear as well. So they dated their lovers, Ben and Riley’s relationship was long but felt brief but Skyler and Jonathan relationship lasted longer than expected.

However the pair broke up one night, since Jonathan wanted to see other people, as in someone named Veronica who was in her art class. Hell he was secretly trying to see her already. They may have said it was mutual break up..but it didn’t feel like it…

Skylar returned home that night, finding her daughter on the floor and sat on the couch cuddling Emma who played with her bunny. She tried not to cry but Bonnie, who was babysitting, noticed pulling the girl into a hug telling it that it will be okay.

“It’s not okay Bon-Bon! I wanted more..i thought we had something specific and special but he practically dumped me after dinner..” She explained, with tears in her eyes, “It should be me in his arms, not stupid Veronica!”

Bonnie kept in her arms, kisses her forehead, “I knew sweetie. Just let it out, some things just happen and he’s an idiot for letting you go. But hey, your talented and smart and so sweet! Any guy would love to have you..i know Ben did.”

She scoffed, “It was a fling, a small thing. We both agreed to stop it before anyone got hurt. He loves Riley.”

Bonnie winced, “Yeah he’s not only the one who loves Riley.”

“I know Danny does, i figured it so. But i want revenge on Jona…” Sky stood up from the couch, smirking she stormed into the bedroom area, “TUCKER! I need you!”

-> To say Skylar got her revenge was a understatement. Her and Tucker tricked Jonathan, giving him a temporary job at the Mary Heart Show only for it go crashing down on the man, literally.

A bucket of huge ice cold water with fish fell on him during production while the show was on the air, causing the man to run out screaming like a cartoon character in Looney Tunes.

Mary Heart got a bunch of rating for that episode and new followers for the show meanwhile Jonathan got to smell like fish for a week, and got shown in the embarrassing videos section on YouTube. It took some work but the duo got it done, even involving Danny and Bonnie to set the prank up perfectly.

It was a win win situation for Tucker and Sky. She got her revenge and selling her artwork to Mary, meanwhile he got promoted to production manger, working his way to TV producer soon. The duo high fives at their success!

——

Skylar’s career pretty much took off a lot further from that. She was already studying art, selling it and working at the bar with her co-workers. But since Mary loved her artwork so much and photography skills, Sky was able to get a lot more offers, putting her name out there for people to see.

Designing artwork, stylish decor for people when it came to working with Brad and Bonnie’s realtor jobs. And having her sketches be used for fashionable people in the New York industry.

It felt good, she felt like her job was being seen a lot more. Danny, Tucker and Riley even displayed her art pieces on the walls of offices, hallways, suggesting it to people they meet. Ben already had the artwork display around the bar since day one, since Skylar’s style was shown throughout The Bar when she just starting out working there.

——

But the question some if you may be asking. Did Ben and Sky end up together afterwards? Short answer, yes.

Long answer, it took some time to find themselves stable enough to admit how much they still love each other. But when it did happen, the pair found themselves arguing on a Saturday afternoon getting ready to close up the empty bar…

The two were in the mist of an argument, screaming, shouting to the top of their lungs and going as far to point fingers at each other.

Ben slammed the chair onto the table and had a serious look on his face, “I can’t believe you! God you’re such a liar.”

“Me?! You couldn’t care to listen to everyone, stupid!” Sky shouted, wiping the whiteboard clean and searching for new markers.

“You knew that Riley and I weren’t gonna last! You stood there like an idiot.”

“Um hello?! Danny was always in the damn picture and clearly had the hots for her. You stood there like an idiot.”

“An idiot? Me?”

“Yeah! Too blind to see the signs, Ben. Hell even Riley didn’t notice, cause both of you were on separate planets.”

He walked over waving his hand and scoffed, “Funny. I didn’t know we were playing the blind game here. Who’s next? Oh yeah, you!”

“Me?!” She scoffed this time whipping her head towards the man, “I did nothing wrong here!”

“Oh really? Let me thing, Jonathan and Tad this! Jonathan and Tad that! What about me?”

“What about you?”

“Did you forget our little affair? All the hugs, morning kisses and secret fun! We had something going on!”

“Y-you still think about that? I thought..I thought you forgot about it.”

“No of course not! It was one of the best times of my life and we stopped because we had other people in mind. I love Riley and i fought my own damn brother to have her but then you were..you came along and i messed it up!”

“Well, you were all up in Riley-town, and I was wondering around Jona-city that we didn’t bother to continue it! You wanted her Ben…then you wanted another girl afterwards. You never know what you want!”

“Yeah right, you’re right I’m sorry. I don’t always know what I want, but when I have it..I tend to lose it. A lot! I lost Riley and screwed up. Every girl i mess up relationships with. I had an affair with you and decided to stop us from having fun. But you never know what you want either..”

She sighs, “Cause I um..I can’t choose my own way to which guy I want. I had it good with Jonathan then he dumped me and I screwed it up with Tad cause I kissed his twin brother by accident. I had it and I screwed up everything! I don’t think I can ever find a guy that can keep up with me and make it work with our lives.”

The room was silent for a moment as they looked at one another, not saying a word but their eyes said it all. Every moment shared between the mishaps to the arrangements made that lead them here.

“I guess..the only girl I’m destined to be with aside from Emma, is you.” Ben confessed with a chuckle.

She blushed and smiled, “Yeah? You mean that? Because if you don’t then we will have to start this argument all over again.”

“Yeah I mean it. I’m sorry, I never went with my gut feeling in the first place.”

“It’s okay. I’m sorry, I didn’t went straight to you about everything.”

Ben gently walked over to her and a sheepish smile, “How about we start over? Hi, I’m Ben and I think your really cute.”

“Oh my god.” She chuckled shaking her head, feeling silly.

“Come on try it! Go back to the way it was, with me.”

“The way it was. Hi I’m Skylar, do you have any idea if this bar is open?”

“Yeah I do and I know what are the specials this weekend.”

“What are the specials?”

Ben smile grew bigger by the second, leaning his head towards her face and placed a daring kiss on her lips. Skylar chuckles grew, resting her head against his forehead and returned the soft kiss. A hand wrapped around the other, with a gentle touch and whispering mumbling only about god know what.

It felt slow, knowledgeable and gentle. Like a rather passionate peck of sweet idiotic love.

He laughed, pulling her into his arms, stumbling his back against the wall and cupped her cheeks brushed against her lips against his very own. Standing on her tippy toes, she laughed at the ridiculous jokes they made, cupping the back of neck as she placed a few smooches on him.

“Wait-wait are we really doing this? Like full on addressing this?” Sky asked with the biggest goofy grin.

“I think we are. Let’s grab a couple of beers and head over to the apartment.” Ben replies with a even bigger grin.

She grabbed his hand without a second later scurrying out the door as he rushed to grab the beer bottles and keys. The two stumbled upon the streets of New York, coming back to the apartment for quiet quality together with no interruptions, due to Bonnie watching Emma that afternoon. It also helped that Tucker was on a date, meanwhile Riley and Danny were hanging out together.

So in response, they were hushing and giggles along the way.

——

As for marriage and family, they got accidentally hitched in Vegas—I mean what?! No, they didn’t!

Ok byeeee!

Was this an accidental extra HUGE excuse to write for one of my fav extremely underrated sitcoms? Yes, yes it is. Anyways, i hope you like it tell me what you think about in the comments below!

Please like, share and reblog for more. Btw, you can watch ABC Family's Baby Daddy on HULU/Disney Plus! Or on Freeform.com

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