#Teaser Thursday

[ksbbb]

Teaser Thursday (Paint the Town Red 🩸)

Tagged by @hemlocksandfoxgloves

“I think should we should count.” Liam replies, a wicked smile lacing his lips, and it takes a few seconds for Theo to wrap his head around what the werewolf is talking about.

“Count?” Theo sneers, not realizing his mistake, as the werewolf licks his tongue over the sharp edge of the blade, eyes growing wide with excitement.

“Oh. So you’re Scott’s lap dog now. Got it.” Liam laughs, a twisted mind game that Theo hasn’t quite figured out yet playing in his head and rendering him speechless.

“I’m not anyone’s lap dog.” Theo grows cold, eyes narrowing in agitation and fury.

Liam leans forward, holding the knife close to Theo’s neck, watching to see if he’s going to flinch. The thrill that takes over, makes it that much harder to get a grip on.

“Oh, so you’re not just nice to look at.” Liam’s face lights up, studying every detail of the chimera.

Tagging @wolfboy88 @thiamsxbitch @mmoosen @maplesyrizzup @theoceanismyinkwell @honestlydarkprincess @fruchtfliege

[kinardsevan]

wip thursday (almost friday)

I've been tagged by a handful of you this week (@perfectlysunny02 @typicalopposite @marvelousbuckley to name a few), but the evil covid got me this week and I've basically been asleep for days. The few hours I've been awake, I've tried to get more of the next chapter of Empty Bones written, so here:

-

“I try to tell myself that we should be grateful his legs weren’t as injured and that they’ve mostly managed to heal with rest. That- that, the internal injuries could mostly heal themselves. But this won’t be something that goes away. He’s going to live with it in some form or another for the rest of his life,” he replies. “And that’s before we start talking about the physical scars.” 

Maddie is quiet, and Tommy’s not sure, but knowing the petite woman and how protective she is about Evan, it wouldn’t surprise him if she was crying. 

“I worry that when he’s healed—fuck, I worry about it even now—that he’s going to see those scars and have more self-hatred,” he states quietly. “It bothers me so much to know they’re there.” 

“You have to tell yourself they’re a reminder he survived,” Maddie responds, her voice shaky, but firm in intonation. “That’s what I had to do with mine. They’re not a sign of weakness. They’re proof of life.” 

Tommy clears his throat at her words, bouncing his foot against the floor. He tries not to think about Evan’s scars in that context because it means that something happened in the first place. Something that put him in harm’s way. Something he couldn’t stop. 

“Are you doing okay with all of this,” Maddie asks after a pause. “I know it’s a lot, and I haven’t been around enough-..” 

“You have a toddler and a busy life too,” Tommy cuts her off, ignoring her question. “I might not have expected this particular line of events, but I agreed to this when I told your brother I’m in love with him, and I’m not going to walk now.” 

“It’s still a lot,” Maddie argues lightly. “And you didn’t answer me.” 

Tommy rolls the inside of his cheek between his teeth, staring down at the floor. “I’m in therapy about it. Spending far more time than I’d like to talking about what it’s like to see the person I love suffer. But no, I’m not okay about it. I’m not okay seeing him go into surgery when I feel like I should’ve been there to prevent it from happening in the first place. I'm not okay knowing someone I trusted hurt him the way he did. I'm not okay knowing how he hurt him, and that I saw it. I could’ve lived my entire life never seeing Evan like that.” He pauses for a moment, his face twitching with anger. His throat is tight with unexpressed feelings. “He’s finally starting to move forward, and I keep seeing-…” He huffs, shaking his head. “Seeing images you don’t need in your head.” 

“That’s good though,” Maddie says back to him softly. “That he’s starting to move forward.” 

Tommy nods, wiping at the angry tears falling. “You’re right. It is. But it makes me feel like an asshole for still having unresolved feelings about it.” 

[kmomof4]

Teaser Thursday!!!

Hello all! It’s been a long while since I posted anything, so I thought I’d jump on the bandwagon that booksteaandtoomuchtv started this morning. Calling it Teaser Thursday instead of Things I’m Typing Thursday (TIT Thursday) because while I am currently working on a new fic, I haven’t had time to work on it all week, so I can’t say I’m currently TYPING anything… anyhoo, I do have 3 fics waiting in the wings to post this fall and holiday season, and hopefully this new project will post sometime this fall as well, we’ll see… so I thought y’all would like some sneak peeks…

Orphan Girl is waiting on a beta read and was inspired by a song of the same name my local chorale group sang last spring as part of our concert featuring Songs from the Enchanted Isle, Folks Songs of Ireland, England, and Scotland. The song was originally written by Brendan Graham for the Annual Great Famine Commemoration in Sydney in 2012. The ceremony commemorates the relocation of about 4k female orphans to Australia after the potato famine took its toll.

Welcome to Drogheda Station, Miss Nolan,” he began. “My name is Killian Jones, and I am in need of a governess for my young daughter. She lost her mother closing in on a year ago now, and I just want to meet you myself before introducing you to my Alice and make sure you’d be a good fit with our family.” Emma nodded, but remained silent. His crystal blue eyes remained on hers as he spoke and she had to give herself an internal shake to keep herself from getting lost in them.

“So, tell me about yourself.” He looked down at a small stack of papers on his desk for a moment before looking back at her again. “I have quite a lot of information about you from your file provided to me from Granny, but I’d like to hear some of it in your own words.” He smiled and Emma instantly relaxed as she returned it.

“Ah,” Emma began, “the name… of the station? Drogheda? That’s Irish isn’t it?”

His smile lit up his face and Emma thought she would swoon at the pleasure she saw in his beautiful eyes.

“It is,” he affirmed. “My father was from Drogheda in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland. He immigrated here when he was a teenager. He died when I was small, but when I bought this land, I wanted to honor him and the roots he left behind by naming the station after his hometown.”

“I see.” She smiled back at him. “That’s a lovely tribute to your family. Thank you for sharing it with me. I’d never been to County Louth, but I had heard of it. I’m from County Mayo on the west coast.”

Killian smiled softly at her statement and nodded for her to continue. He watched the young woman in front of him intently as she continued speaking. Her manners were impeccable and her appearance was most pleasing. Her long golden hair was gathered at the nape of her neck in a ponytail against the summer heat, but it positively glowed in the sun shining through the windows of his office. There was a sadness in her green eyes that Killian found himself responding to. It was the look that he himself saw in the mirror every day. The look of an orphan. Given her circumstances, and where she came from, he wasn’t at all surprised.

What did surprise him, however, was how strongly he was responding to it. He wanted nothing more than to care for and shelter this lovely young lady. Her education and decorum were obvious in her comportment and Killian was sure she’d be a perfect fit for the position. He rarely had trouble discerning the character of a person upon their first meeting, and after just this brief introduction to Emma Nolan, he had no compunction whatsoever in bringing her on as Alice’s governess.

Our next sneak peek is from the Family Affair universe! After the response I got to the fics in the series, I wanted to share the couples Happy Beginnings, as well. And what better way is there then to gather the entire extended clan for Christmas? This fic picks up one year after Robin and Regina’s wedding, when David finally came home, and will post on Christmas Day.

Christmas was just a couple of days away. Emma, Killian, and Henry were feverishly getting everything ready to host the entire extended Swan and Jones families. They were expecting a total of sixteen extra guests for the holiday and excitement was running very high.

They didn’t usually have much snow in December, but this year, they were predicting around three inches on Christmas Eve. Henry had never seen a white Christmas, and with all his aunts, uncles, and cousins, in addition to his grandparents coming, this was sure to be the best Christmas ever!

Henry peeked into his baby sister’s bedroom, not surprised to see her awake and standing in her crib. Henry grinned and came in, followed closely by Shep.

“Eny, Eny,” Hope babbled as her big brother approached.

“Do you know what today is, Hope?” Henry asked his sister. “Everyone’s coming today! Mimi and Papaw, Aunt Ruby, Uncle Graham and Poppa, and you’ll get to meet your baby cousins in person, Aunt Regina and Uncle Robin, Aunt M’s and Uncle David, Aunt Elsa and Uncle Liam, Aaron and Dale, and Grandpa Nemo!”

Henry lowered the side of the crib and lifted Hope out, setting her on her feet on the floor. She wasn’t walking independently yet, but she was close and Henry just knew that she’d do it sometime in the next few days while everyone was here. He stood behind her and held onto her hands raised in the air as she started toward the door of her bedroom.

He followed along behind her as they toddled the short distance to their parents’ room. Once they reached the door, Henry knocked.

“Mom? Dad?” he asked, opening the door slightly. Shep pushed the door open the rest of the way with his nose.

“Mamamamamamamama,” Hope babbled. “Dadadadadadadada.”

The lights were still off, but the sun was poking through the blinds. Their dad sat up, his mouth opening on a huge yawn and swung his legs off the side of the bed, motioning for them to be quiet.

“Mom’s still asleep,” he whispered. “Let’s let her sleep just a little more. Go downstairs with Hope, Henry, and I’ll be down in just a minute to get breakfast started.”

Henry nodded and turned Hope around, back toward the door of the bedroom. As soon as they were gone, Killian leaned over to Emma, pressing a kiss to her brow and whispering in her ear.

“You can sleep for a little while longer, babe. I’ll send Henry up to get you once breakfast is ready.”

All he got was a muffled Mmmph in reply. Killian chuckled and made his way to the bathroom.

Our next fic is a continuation of A Christmas Surprise. Told mostly in Killian’s pov this time, it begins with Killian and Alice’s reunion and goes all the way to Killian and Emma’s wedding day! This is a long one and so will have two parts. Part One will post on Dec 8, and Part Two on Dec 15.

Killian Jones sat in the darkness of the giant present in which he was hiding, waiting for his daughter’s Christmas program to begin. He couldn’t wait to see his starfish when he surprised her after she sang her solo this evening. He was proud to serve his country, but the long deployments made things especially difficult. Having Liam and Elsa so close by and willing to care for Alice when he was gone was a blessing he didn’t take for granted in the least, but he was so thankful that he was home for good now and was eligible to retire in just a few more months.

Which made him think about what would come next. What the future might hold and how the lovely Emma Swan might fit into it. He’d been thoroughly gobsmacked when he laid eyes on the golden haired beauty who was Alice’s teacher when he arrived at the school earlier. And then the revelation that she was single sent his heart rate ratcheting up like he hadn’t experienced since he’d met his late wife. It had been six years since he’d lost his beloved Milah, and the thought of re-entering the dating scene hadn’t crossed his mind once in all that time. He was still relatively young and handsome, but with his very young daughter and Navy career, he didn’t have the time or inclination to put himself back out there.

But Emma Swan might just change his mind on that front.

He knew his countenance sported a goofy, thoroughly besotted smile when he heard movement on the outside of the present in which he sat. Bright light from the auditorium flooded the dark space as the box’s small door opened, helping him immensely in the schooling of his features before being confronted with the object of his thoughts as she handed him his dinner.

“Do you have enough light to see to eat in here?” Emma asked, looking around.

Killian grimaced. He hadn’t really thought of that. “Perhaps not.”

“I can stay for a bit while you eat, turn the flashlight on on my phone. So you can see to eat,” she stammered. The blush on her cheeks was adorable, and Killian’s heart rate picked up yet again.

“That would be great. Thank you, Emma.”

She smiled as she moved into the space with him. It was a bit cramped with them both sitting on the floor, but he didn’t mind it at all. He tucked into his Christmas meal of roast turkey and dressing, mashed potatoes, green beans and cranberry salad as Emma told him about some of the antics Henry, Alice, and her cousins had gotten up to this semester.

She told him about Liam Jr and Colin hiding Alice’s pencil box on the first day of school. Meant as an initiation of sorts, it had made Elsa’s morning that much more hectic and stressful trying to find it and make it to school on time. Emma related how she’d had trouble containing her giggles when the twins confessed what they’d done, handed over the pencil box, and got exactly what was coming to them from their mother. Later on the same day, in retaliation, Alice and Henry had hidden away the twins’ lunch boxes. Killian had to stifle his laughter at the story.

Then Emma told him about the time just a few weeks ago when Alice was delayed coming back from the restroom. When Emma went to look for her, she found the child peeking into the auditorium where her cousins were engaged in a basketball game with another school in the area. Colin had just made a shot, and Alice was cheering loudly for her cousin from the hallway when Emma found her. Killian’s heart swelled.

And finally, the new fic I’ve been working on is inspired by Francesca Bridgerton’s story. I wrote the entire first ch of the fic, almost 8400 words, in five days, so I’m hoping I’ll be able to finish it next month and post it sometime in November. No promises, but that is the hope…

There is a moment in every man’s life in which his future becomes clear. A turning point of sorts. The moment when he becomes a man, when he leaves the irresponsibility and temerity of youth behind and turns his eyes to the future. A future that he’d never allowed himself to think about before. Unfortunately, that moment came for Killian Jones when he first laid eyes on Emma Nolan, at a supper celebrating the imminent marriage between herself and Killian’s brother Earl Liam Jones.

After years of chasing anything in a skirt, Killian grimaced at the irony. In all that time, he’d never allowed his heart to become entangled with his many, many romantic exploits. Allowing himself to be chased until he conquered, his reputation as a rake and a scoundrel was well deserved. He’d even stopped attending church, although he assuaged the pricking of his conscience by telling himself the derelict stones of Kilmartin Abbey on the Kilmartin estate up in Scotland couldn’t withstand a direct strike of lightning, which would surely happen if Killian Jones ever showed his face inside. No originality among his ancestors there, when it came to naming. They were so proud of the title when it was newly bestowed about 300 years ago, that they attached it to everything they possibly could.

Killian Jones

Worst of Sinners

He would have had it printed on calling cards if he didn’t think it would actually kill his mother. He may never have seduced a virgin or slept with a married woman… Oh very well, if he couldn’t be honest in his own head, then what was the purpose? He’d slept with plenty of married women. But only those whose husbands were tossers, and only when they’d already produced at least two male offspring, three if one of others was sickly. He may have a modicum of honor left in his blackened soul… because this was the one thing that truly did it. Blackened his soul beyond all redemption.

He coveted his brother’s wife.

And had since that fateful moment two years ago. The day he met Emma Nolan. Emma Nolan Jones now. Lady Kilmartin. Countess Kilmartin. Wife of his brother. The Earl of Kilmartin.

He could torture himself for days thinking of every iteration of Emma Nolan Jones, but it would never change the simple fact. He couldn’t have her. She’d never be his.

I hope this whets y’all’s appetite!!

Tagging the usual crew. Please let me know if you’d like to be added or removed.

@jrob64 @teamhook @winterbaby89 @hollyethecurious @artistic-writer @xarandomdreamx @undercaffinatednightmare @the-darkdragonfly @stahlop @superchocovian @pirateprincessofpizza @tiganasummertree @anmylica @cosette141 @motherkatereloyshipper @zaharadessert @jonesfandomfanatic @ultraluckycatnd @jennjenn615 @allons-y-to-hogwarts-713 @kymbersmith-90 @booksteaandtoomuchtv @wistfulcynic @mie779 @snowbellewells @lfh1226-linda @aprilqueen84 @whimsicallyenchantedrose @pirateherokillian @elfiola @ilovemesomekillianjones @justanother-unluckysoul @poptart-cat-78 @myfearless-love @goforlaunchcee @searchingwardrobes @gingerpolyglot @gingerchangeling @djlbg @cocohook38 @cs-rylie @thisonesatellite @donteattheappleshook @deckerstarblanche @veryverynotgoodwrites @wefoundloveunderthelight @fleurdepetite @alexa-fangirl-forever @bluewildcatfanatic @qualitycoffeethings

[racerchix21]

Teaser Thursday

@nicotinewrites tagged me in something on Tuesday and I finally have something to share!! I’m only a couple days late posting this 😅

This is from a thing I randomly got inspired to write after rewatching Eddie’s breakdown season 5 and yes this will have a happy ending.

It seems poetic that water would take his life just like it took his boys away. It’s not that Eddie Diaz wants to die it’s just that since the tsunami he’s been a shell of a person. Five years ago today he took his son over to his best friend’s place and went to work thinking it was just a normal Thursday. Five years ago today he lost everything that ever meant anything to him so he today he’s gonna join his boys one way or another.

He creeps closer and closer to the shoreline. He feels the sand give beneath his feet. Feels the water begin to lap at his ankles as he takes the first hesitant step into the water proper. He takes another and another until the water reaches his waist. He holds his hands out in front of him and feels the coolness, lets himself be lulled into a false sense of security by the water.

“To Mom and Dad, I’m sorry I was so weak.

To Abuela, Pepa, Adri, Soph, sorry I couldn’t be stronger for you.

To Shannon, I’m sorry I wasn’t the man, the husband, the partner you needed. I’m sorry I fucked us up so badly.

To Christopher, the best thing that ever happened to me. I’m sorry I couldn’t be the father you deserved. I’m gonna join you and Buck real soon buddy.

To Chim & Hen, thank you for being my friends. My family. I loved and appreciated all of it but it’s finally time for me to go join my boys somewhere else.

To Evan, my best friend, the light of my life, I’m sorry I failed you so badly. For forcing you to leave the house with Chris when you didn’t wanna get out of bed.

To Maddie, May & Harry, I’m sorry I took your brother away from you.

To Bobby and Athena, I’m sorry I took your son away from you. If I hadn’t been so stupid and selfish Buck would still be alive.

I’m writing this because you deserve to know how much I blame myself for you guys losing Buck and Chris 5 years ago. If you’re reading this then I’m already gone to see both of them again.

Love,

Eddie “the fuck-up” Diaz

[imjustwritingg]

✨Teaser Thursday✨

Hi friends! I know we’re all in mourning over Upstead, but how about a little bit of happiness for those that read NBTLYG? Here are some teasers for the next chapter and I can’t wait to share it with you! 🫶🏼

[sweet-sammy-kisses]

Tagged by @ronordmann a little late but I am recovering from surgery.

The rain pounding against the window used to be soothing to Buck, he loved watching the rain trail down his windows but that was before. Before he got trapped in a elevator filling with water that nearly had him drowning. Before the plane crash that took innocent lives and nearly took Bobby's and his.

Then there was the tsunami that haunted him on nights like this.

Buck shuddered as he thought of that day, of when he lived through the horror of thinking he lost Christopher. As he did his best to help all those who had been caught up in it as he searched for the little boy of pure sunshine that had claimed his heart the moment he met him. He hadn't cared that he had been on blood thinners that day as he walked cut up and bleeding. His own wounds hadn't mattered all that mattered was finding Christopher and bringing him back to Eddie. Because a world without Christopher in it wasn't one that Buck wanted to live in. In the end it hadn't even been him who brought Chris back to his father. He had never forgotten that brief but horrible moment of sheer heartbreak and pain in Eddie's eyes when he thought that his whole world was gone. In the end it wasn't even him who found Chris but it hadn't mattered all that mattered was the fact that Christopher was alive and reunited with his dad.

Buck had been certain that was in, that Eddie was going to see what everyone else saw that he was toxic and no good, that he was going to cut him out of his and Christopher's lives and Buck was ready for it, yet somehow Eddie still trusted him with his son. He still trusted him to look after Christopher, it was something that Buck never wanted to lose.

Tagging anyone who wants to do this.

[shanie]

Teaser Thursday!!!

For no other reason than I want to share.

First section of the final chapter of "Never Say Goodbye" under cut:

Someone was touching him.

Kevin didn’t open his eyes right away as he awoke, but he did engage his brain trying to figure out what was happening. He was awake, he was almost certain he hadn’t been, but now someone was touching him.

Running their fingers through his hair.

Like an ocean breeze.

Kevin stirred slightly and, as he did, he heard a gasp as the sensation against his scalp abruptly halted.

It was then that he opened his eyes.... to see Generico, lips parted and eyes wide laying in bed facing him like he’d been caught.

It only took Kevin two seconds to process that he had.

“Generico...?” Kevin asked, his voice still groggy with sleep, “Were you...”

“Lo... lo siento,” the response came.

Everything was coming into view.

“Generico what were you doing?”

His partner’s only response was to look distressed.

“We don’t do that!” he continued, his voice raising, “We sleep together – I mean not really, we do, but not like – but we never do that!”

Generico let out a low whine followed by a word, just one word that Kevin couldn’t quite make out.

“What was that?” he questioned.

“P-Playa,” Generico stammered, “Beach. We go.”

“We go where?”

“We go to the beach.”

The sentence smashed Steen in the face like a Triple H sledgehammer.

We go to the beach.

The dream came rushing back to him.

We go to the beach.

No, Generico couldn’t have...

We go to the beach.

Nothing can hurt us at the beach.

He figured he’d ask.

“Generico? Were you... talking to me? While I was sleeping?

The luchador nodded against the pillow.

“I was having a nightmare. And you knew.”

Another nod.

“So you told me to go to the beach.”

The third nod was stronger than the first two and accompanied by Generico scrunching his face as though the revelation of his actions was making him emotional. And, upon seeing his friend’s face, the emotions it contained, and running off one of his wilder hunches, Steen did what had to be one of the most dangerous things he’d done in recent memory.

He asked a terrifying question.

“... Has this happened before?”

The final nod was an even bigger sledgehammer than the first.

It all made sense. Kevin had always felt more rested when he slept in the same bed as Generico, and Generico always seemed happier afterwards. How many nights had gone down just like that one? How often had he had nightmares that Generico had sent him to the beach to end? How many terrors had been dissolved and forgotten long before he awoke because on that night they had once again gotten stuck (blessed) with a room with only one bed?

How many nights had Generico laid beside him offering gentle comfort and touches, all in an attempt to give him a better night’s sleep?

Somehow, through some bizarre freakish act of God, nature, fate, or whatever bullshit was enacting upon him at that moment, Kevin didn’t know what to say.

The only thing he could do was reach across the divide and run his thumb against the stitching of Generico’s mask, as if somehow, someway, the reciprocated touch could offer Generico eternal repayment for his kindness.

Unfortunately, as Steen ran his thumb along the bottom edge of Generico’s eyehole, he found something else besides reciprocation awaiting him.

Dampness.

Generico had been crying.

Suddenly, the events of the previous night returned to him. The stuff from before he went back to sleep.

Before his nightmare.

And after Generico’s.

[tngrace]

Teaser Thursday

I keep missing WIP Wednesday so Teaser Thursday it is. This is not what I intended to work on when I sat down to write today, but this is what happened. So have another Maverick Chronicles teaser. 

“I….” Pete chews on his lip and stares out the window. “I couldn’t leave without telling Mom bye. She’d never forgive me.” 

“This is true. But…” Mike reaches over and squeezes his knee bringing Pete’s attention back to him. “But you wouldn’t ask me what to do if you were really leaving.” 

“No, sir.” 

“Pete… You’re not here as my Lieutenant. You’re here as my son…. I hope,” he tacks on at the end quietly. 

“I am. I just… It’s already dangerous enough that the brass might find out you took me in. How you’ve kept it a secret this long, I don’t know. Them not knowing protects us both and I…” he gets up to pace unable to sit still any longer. “I’ve already almost cost you a lot. I’m no good just like everybody says and if I tell you…” 

Mike cuts him off at that; he spins Pete to face him, gently cupping his cheeks. “Don’t ever say that again about my kid. You are perfect the way you are Pete and if people can’t see that, then that’s their loss.” 

Pete gives him a feeble nod. 

“We’ll tell you as long as it takes, just like when you were a kid. But you are perfect just the way you are.” 

“If I tell you I’m just asking you to keep more secrets, more things you’ll think you have to protect me from. That’s not fair to you.” 

“You’d be surprised at the things a parent would do for their kid.” 

[yeonjune]

YEONJUN ✙ ‘GGUM’ Official Teaser

[lazorbeanz]

BROTHERS TOGETHER AT THE FESTIVAL BROTHERS TOGETHER AT THE FESTIVAL!!!

Hehe all he wants is foooood (but he knows it’s not good to eat before rides)

LOOK AT TAILS ENJOYING HIS COTTON CANDY

(ofc sonic has to go all parent mode with the “chew and swallow before you talk” quote xD it’s cotton candy sonic, it practically melts in your mouth anyways!)

[arowyn-m]

So this was published on Ekko’s VA’s twitter…

If you look closely at the beginning of the text it reads e209, meaning this is footage pulled from episode 9 of season 2.

Looking at the shot this episode is paused on, we can see that Ekko’s still donning the same look he had by the end of season 1—no man bun and he still has his orange scarf. He’s standing on what could be Jinx’s lair but it’s difficult to tell at the resolution and without further rendering.

So if this footage is from episode 9 and Ekko still looks like his S1 counterpart, then there’s a few possibilities to explain why this is the case—

Ekko’s man-bun/crop top appearance is an alternate universe version of himself. The Ekko we know never changes into man-bun Ekko.

Ekko’s appearance changes earlier in the season only to change back later.

This is just a flashback.

This footage is from the beginning of the episode and Ekko changes outfits halfway through.

We’re getting more than 9 episodes.

[kinardsevan]

wip Thursday

tagged by the effervescent @perfectlysunny02, and in the same vein as them, don't I have a million WIPs? Yes, yes I do. But also, I mentioned this idea last week. And... well... oops? (And it's entirely their fault because of the violence they chose with THEIR teaser today.)

Alas, I give you unnecessary, momentary, legendary (working title)

-

Tommy wasn’t supposed to be here. That’s all he could think about; he wasn’t supposed to be here. 

He’d had a full day of plans while Evan was on shift. He was supposed to stop by Harbor and pick up a package he’d had shipped there and forgot to bring home the night before. He was supposed to have lunch with Howie and Jee-Yun. He was supposed to swing by the 118 and swap keys with Evan because something was going on with the Rubicon’s engine. He was supposed to spend the afternoon figuring out if it was going to be an easy fix or not. Evan would be home before sunset. 

He wasn’t supposed to be here. 

Except, Evan was back at work after being down with a nasty virus for the past few days, and the only thing that had really been helping him feel better was the honey citrus tea from their favorite café. It wasn’t even a drink that his boyfriend cared for that much, but Tommy had introduced it to him the first time he’d gotten sick a few months into their relationship, and it had been a game changer for him. It wasn’t a cure by any means, but it definitely helped. 

He wasn’t supposed to be here. 

“Natalie?” He croaks out her name, leaning half up off of the tile floor, hand pressed into his abdomen next to his hip. He can’t see her behind the glass casing that contains the pastries, and she hasn’t said anything in a few minutes. The higher he tries to sit himself up, the more pain shoots down his side. “Nat!?” 

It takes more than a few seconds, but eventually—too long—he hears the sound of what he assumes is broken glass shifting on the floor. A small whimper. 

“T-Tommy?” 

“Nat?” He calls back, turning his head towards the back of the counter again. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” 

She doesn’t respond, but then he sees the familiar flurry of jello-red hair appear from behind the pastry case, and then she’s climbing over the counter, her combat boots crunching glass on the floor as she moves towards him. Tommy looks up at her, his paramedic skills immediately kicking in as he takes her in. 

She’s got a cut on her forehead and her hands are bleeding—he assumes from all the broken glass. There’s a slash across her forearm where the knife got her, bleeding pretty decently. His eyes trail down to the side of her apron, the stain spreading across it and her jeans. She’s bleeding from somewhere on her leg. His gaze drifts to the counter and the streak of blood coming across it where she crawled over. 

“N-Nat, we gotta call the cops,” he tells her warily. 

“What if he comes back,” she asks anxiously, her voice shaking as tears come down her face. She sinks to the ground next to him, ignorant of the glass on the ground around him. 

Tommy shakes his head at her, digging into his pocket with blood-coated fingers, fumbling his phone when his fingers come into contact with it. He pulls it out as he looks back up at her. 

“You gave him everything, right,” he asks her. “Didn’t fight?” 

“No,” she sobs, leaning over him. “God, Tommy, I’m so sorry.” 

He shakes his head at her, reaching for one of the napkin holders knocked onto the floor nearby. 

“I’m just glad you’re okay,” he tells her. He keeps flashing hot and cold, and he can feel himself getting clammy. He tries to focus his attention on his phone, dialing the number into it. 

“Tommy, you’re bleeding,” she cries. 

“I’m fi-…fine,” he stammers, slumping back against the floor. “We’re fine.” 

“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?” 

“5943 Ventura Boulevard,” he rattles off. “This is off-duty Rescue 1701 out of Harbor Station, I need to be transferred to Maddie Buckley.” 

“Just a moment sir.” The line clicks off for all of ten seconds, and then clicks back on. 

“9-1-1, this is Maddie Buckley speaking,” her voice comes back. There’s just the slightest hitch of anxiety in her voice, like she knows being routed to personally isn’t normal. 

“Maddie,” he rasps, squeezing his eyes shut tightly, trying to get the tears out of them. 

“Tommy,” she replies, her voice suddenly flooded with panic. “What’s going on? Is Evan- a-are you- is Howie-…” 

“They’re fine,” he chokes out. “B-but, I need RA and police. S-Stabbing at the café.” 

His head drops back against the floor, and he can feel his vision getting fuzzy. He looks over at Natalie. She looks even more panicked than she did before. His gaze drifts down to where his other hand is. Blood is completely coated over his fingers. 

“N-Nat, I need you to use your apron to apply pressure,” he rasps. 

“Stabbing?! Tommy where are you,” Maddie cries from the other end of the line. Tommy rattles the address off to her again. 

“D-dont send Evan,” he rasps at her. “God, he can’t find me. You hear me, Maddie? Don’t send him. Do not let him see me like this.” 

She hiccups a cry on the other end of the line, and there are hushed voices clearly trying to get her off the line, but she speaks clearly enough that Tommy hears when she growls ‘no’ back at whoever is trying to get her to hand the call off. 

“You know I love him, right,” he continues. Natalie presses her apron into his side then and he can’t help the cry that falls out of his mouth. “F-fuck. M-Maddie?” 

“I know,” she cries. “Stay with me, Tommy. Don’t hang up on me.” 

He nods letting his head rest back against the floor. 

“No, come on, Tommy,” Natalie cries, pressing harder into his wounds. “Come on. Stay awake.” 

“Trying,” he murmurs, looking around the floor. “I-I, I want to marry him, you know,” he tells Maddie. “He just walked into my life like- like he was always supposed to be here. And I thought I’d lost out on my chance by taking too long to figure my shit out. Fuck, Nat. Yeah, that’s good, keep pushing down.” 

“He talks about you being it for him all the time,” Maddie replies. He can tell she’s crying. “Keeps telling me that he thinks you’ll be a great dad.” 

Tommy lets out a small laugh and then groans at the wave of pain that shoots across his abdomen and stomach. 

“I wasn’t sure, before him,” he replies, letting his eyes slip shut. The phone starts to sag in his hand, but the cry of Natalie’s voice and sudden, sharp pressure on his side has his eyes shooting open again. “Fuck, okay. Okay.” He swallows hard, taking a breath. “B-but if anyone could convince me that we could do it together, it’s him.” 

Maddie hiccups another sob. “I’ve watched him lose one relationship after another, think what he’s holding onto is the right one while knowing it isn’t. But I never said anything because I was just his sister, you know? And I know you said he walked into your life, but you spun into his with a literal hurricane and I’ve never seen him… I don’t even know, Tommy. This settled? Happy? Secure?” 

“H-he deserves it,” Tommy rasps, his head lolling back and eyes getting heavier. 

“Damn it, Tommy, come on,” Natalie cries. “Stay awake, please.” 

“s’getting harder,” Tommy slurs. “Maddie, I love him. So much more than I’ve ever loved anyone else. Want him more, dream about him more, choose him more. My life begins and ends at Evan Buckley.” The tears swimming in his eyes finally slip down the side of his face, his vision tight now, and extremely hazy. 

“Tommy, stay with me,” Maddie cries. Her voice seems farther away now. “The ambulance is so close. Please?” 

“Tell him I love him more than anything else,” he replies, coughing out another groan. “That I choose him. Every day, all the time. I pick him.” He pauses for a moment, his eyes too heavy to open back up. “I love you, Evan.” 

[campbenji]

s2 teaser is coming tomorrow i feel it in my bones please let it be tomorrow

[mysterious-moonstruck-musings]

WIP Wednesday Thursday

Thanks for the tag @nerdieforpedro! Figured I would participate and share a snippet of Closed Position since it's taking me FOREVER with the next chapter. I promise y'all, I'm working on it. It's about halfway done as we speak.

We get a little (a lot) of drama in this chapter. Enjoy. 😏

💜Mysty

“Dieter…have I done something to make you mad at me? I just feel like you’ve been closed off toward me the last couple of days.”  I sighed, “Mad…no. I could never be mad at you.”  Her brow furrowed, “There is something though, right? What is it?” I gave her a tight smile, “You really wanna talk about this right now? I’m sure I don’t have to tell you.”  She shook her head, “No, I wanna hear it. Say what you have to.”  I blew air out through my cheeks, “Fine. I’m not mad, I’m disappointed.”  Anger briefly flashed in her eyes, “Why?” I scoffed, “You really have to ask? That asshole physically assaulted you and treats you like shit. I’ve had people like that in my life and I know what they’re capable of. I don’t want that for you. I don’t want you to get hurt…because believe it or not, I do actually care about your wellbeing.”  Her eyes widened, “Is that the only reason?” What exactly is she asking me? The question took me by surprise and I didn’t really know how to answer it. No, it’s not, but I can’t say that. I stared at her wide-eyed, “D-Do I really need another reason? Just because we’re friends doesn’t mean I have to like him or approve of it. You're my only concern in this. He can fuck off.”

NPT: @trulybetty @lady-bess @avastrasposts @for-a-longlongtime @frenchiereading

CP Tags: @titlee78 @legendary-pink-dot  @survivingandenduring @wannab-urs  @harriedandharassed

@hisandsnakes  @misstokyo7love @readingiskeepingmegoing  @runningmom94  @sin-djarin

@cakipy-blog  @missladym1981  @guelyury  @weho2kcmo  @alokaerza  

@girlofchaos  @trulybetty  @rhoorl  @bitchwitch1981  @madnessofadaydreamer

@darkheartgatita  @jazzloveslatte  @timpletance  @musings-of-a-rose  @samiamproductions

@myloveistoolittle  @for-a-longlongtime   @copperhalfcent  @auteurdelabre @drewharrisonwriter

@burntheedges  @stevie75  @bunniboo0015  @quicax3  @jackie923

@sherala007  @pastelnap  @angelofsmalldeath-codeine  @jessthebaker  @rebel-held

@gwendibleywrites  @senorabond  @annalovesflorida  @sandaltoesocks  @katw474

[imjustwritingg]

✨Teaser Thursday✨

Happy Thursday friends!! Here are a few teasers for the next chapter of NBTLYG. Hope y’all are ready for some fun next week. 😈

[hairmetal666]

I forgot about WIP Wednesday, so here's a longer preview of Forever is the Sweetest Con chapter 7! (tw: parent death)

He's 25 when it happens. 

He and Robin are both in between jobs, and it’s a weird day and he’s been aimless in the kitchen for the last half hour, pacing around and opening cabinets, the fridge, without ever seeing anything inside. Nothing is wrong, but he’s got this buzzing in his chest, like there’s a bumblebee trapped in his ribcage. Usually, he goes for a run when this happens, but thunder rocks the windows in their panes. 

Steve checks the fridge for the 5th time as Robin walks in the front door. Her face is wrong. Her eyes too wide and her mouth doing a smile-frown that makes her look like she’s trying not to puke. 

“What happened?” he asks. He rushes towards her. “Did you get caug—”

“Steve,” she says and it’s all rough and wrong. 

“What is it?”

Instead of offering a verbal answer, she hands him her phone, already open to a news article. 

Richard Stephen Harrington IV, Dead at 67 the headline screams.

Steve can’t move. Can’t think. Can’t do anything but stare at the only picture of his father he’s seen since being kicked out almost a decade ago. He takes after his mom more, he thinks; has her eyes, hair. But the granite of his jaw and the straight lines of his nose are all from his father. 

Very vaguely, he thinks he might pass out.

He doesn’t realize he’s sank down to the floor, back against the counters, knees drawn up to his chest until Robin’s on the floor with him. 

“Steve?”

A couple tears trickle down his cheek. “I don’t know why I’m crying. I don’t care that he’s dead.” 

She wraps her arms around his knees. “You’re allowed to feel whatever you do about this, even if it’s complicated.”

He nods, presses his forehead against her fingers, and lets a few more tears fall free. They sit for a while in silence as Steve processes, but eventually his butt starts to go numb, so they unwrap and stand, stretching. 

“You want to go back?” She asks as they stretch. 

“No,” he answers without hesitation. “I don’t need to go back there.”

And he means it. Not just because their targets there, the Carvers and Hagans, are complicated, but because there isn’t anything left for him in Indianapolis. His mom sends money sometimes, still. He understands it’s her way of reaching out, of taking care, but the kind of care he needed, the kind that would have mattered, would have been her standing up to his dad all those years ago. 

He doesn’t go back for the funeral, doesn’t even think about it much. Steve did all his grieving for his father years and years ago. 

Chapter out on Saturday!