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fuctacles · 3 months ago

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Ao3 | divider by @penny00dreadful

Steve was taking a break from calling clients and munching on his sandwich when his frazzled co-worker stormed in. He never liked the guy, and could never trust someone driven by money like that, but the stormy look on his face gave him a pause. Bill was always composed and giving off the air of a rich boy looking down on anyone else. Whatever put him in such a state must have been big.

When Bill disappears behind the doors of their manager, Steve curiously leans towards Angela.

"What's gotten into his pants?" he murmurs, hoping for a piece of gossip.

Angela scoffs.

"Idiot thought he could sell the Creel House."

Angela wasn't a pleasant person. But she was also blunt and always ready to talk shit. And she had the cutest cats, even if she was a bit obsessed with them. She was Steve's go-to for office gossip. And sometimes extra information he missed as one of the newer employees. Office lore, as Dustin would call it.

"What's the Creel House?" he asks genuinely. She eyes him like he's stupid, but he's dealt with those stares long before her, so he holds it down until she folds.

"It's this old house we haven't been able to sell for years, probably around a decade. There's all kinds of stupid rumors around it, like curses and hauntings," she tells him with an eye roll. He snorts to let her know he shares her opinion, as scoffs, snorts, and eye rolls were the language she understood the best. "Bill thought he could go for it after his selling streak last month. Guess the streak just broke." She smiled in that evil way only introverted old ladies could. A chill went down Steve's spine, but he snickered alongside her.

"What a loser," he commented and focused back on his sandwich, but his imagination was running wild about how the house might look. As soon as he was done with his paperwork for the day, he went looking for the file on Creel's House.

His manager eyed him weirdly, but he assured him it was mostly curiosity speaking through him.

The file had photos from soon after it was built and more recent ones, after a decade of neglect. There weren't many capturing the interior, but if it was anywhere similar to the outside, it should be in good condition for small renovations. It was big, too. Could become a home for a family, their dog, and visiting friends. Maybe someone's lesbian best friend and her love interest, too...

Needless to say, as soon as Steve found out about it, the house wouldn't leave his thoughts. It had a huge backyard that extended into the woods behind it. It was cheap for a house this size, probably because of its bad rap. And, the most important part, it was closer to Robin than the apartment he was currently renting.

The last thing to check off on his list was seeing it in person.

His manager didn't take his request well.

"You think you can do something Bill couldn't?" he asks with his eyebrows raised.

It takes all of Steve's strength not to scoff.

"I'm not planning on selling it. I'm actually considering buying it."

That seems to only amuse his boss further.

"Ha! You wouldn't be the first. Be my guest then." He shrugs, turning to reach a locked cabinet where the keys to the houses are stored. He hands him the ring of old keys. "Knock yourself out." He grins.

"Thank you." Steve nods and turns around to leave the office as soon as possible. He didn't share his plans with any of his coworkers, not interested in hearing their opinions, but he could feel the amused stares Angela was giving him over her coffee when he was packing to leave for the day.

When he's passing by her desk, she leans forward on her elbows, her proper, trimmed nails posed like claws on the mug.

"Any plans for the weekend, Steven?" she asks with all the charm of a feral cat.

Steve knows for a fact that Angela doesn't care about her coworkers' lives unless there are felines or police involved. There's only one reason she could be asking, and it's inside the pocket of his blazer.

"Not really. Might visit a friend." He shrugs. "You?"

"Well, good luck with that," Angela completely ignores his question. "I hope nothing spooky happens on your trip," she says as if she hopes something does happen to him.

"Thank you, Angela, you too." Steve nods to his coworker and leaves hastily so nothing evil attaches to him before he even enters a haunted house.

The house was located an hour's drive away, and he didn't want to rush his exploration, so he waited for the weekend to come around before he went to see it. According to the map, it's been built off the main road, giving a sense of privacy and solitude. It was more part of the forest than the nearest neighborhood. A great place for an eccentric loner or a loud family that didn't want to be a bother.

Steve packed the house files, a notepad, measuring tape, and some lunch for his trip. And, upon some consideration, the upgraded walkie Dustin had given him. He wasn't going to risk being stranded miles from civilization without the means of contact.

It was a Saturday, before noon, but he dialed the number he called at least once a week.

"Hello?" His favorite person picked up on the third ring, the tone of her voice indicating she had been asleep not so long ago.

"Hey Robs."

"Steve! What's up?"

His smile grew. Hearing her always felt better than he imagined when grabbing the phone, and soon he might be able to see her in person.

"Do you have any plans for tonight?" he asks coyly, leaning on the wall in his kitchen.

"I have some papers left to grade and might go grab drinks with the girls later. What about you?"

"I'm about to head out to scout a new house," he says, thumbing at the keys in his pocket. He doesn't want to share his plans yet, since they were mostly wishful thinking. Maybe the repairs were too out of his budget, maybe the house has gotten worse since the last photos of it had been taken. Or maybe there was something weird about it like everyone claimed. "It's on the way to Indianapolis, so if you don't mind, I could make a detour—"

"Do I mind?!" Robin screeches into his ear. He grins despite the volume briefly disorienting him. "I haven't seen you in a month, get your ass down here!"

"Well, how could I say no, when you ask so nicely," he laughs.

"Damn right, I do!" she snickers back. "Now go go go, the sooner you start driving, the sooner you get here!"

"Okay, Jesus, so bossy."

They say their 'see you soon's and Steve grabs his duffel bag. Even if the house is a total bust, at least he'll spend the weekend with his best friend.

The house is not a total bust.

He almost misses the turn leading to it, hidden behind overgrown bushes. The drive quickly turns from asphalt to gravel and then disappears completely, and he hopes the overgrown grass framed with young trees is leading him in the right direction.

His worries subside when he spots the roof peeking from between the trees and he's soon rolling into what probably used to be a driveway.

The sound of his car door closing resonates loudly in the rural scenery, scaring some birds above him. As he eyes the bushes between himself and the house's entrance, he wishes he had taken something other than a club with him. Albeit the worst of it has been torn or pushed aside, probably by Bill who's been here before him. The house itself looks like the pictures, maybe the ivy on the side has grown since then. Despite its age of about forty years and being abandoned, it still looks nice.

He rounds the car and opens up the trunk, where he always had a couple of necessities. A first aid kit, a fire extinguisher, a flamethrower, and such. And the metal bat he reaches for right now. It's better to be safe than sorry, as he's run into squatters before.

He locks the car and using the bat, moves the bushes out of his way to the porch. He tries the steps first, and they seem sturdy so he steps up to the door. The colorful glass in its frame forms a rose. He's not a big fan of the design choice and wonders if it would be hard to get a matching door without it.

The hinges creak loudly when he pushes inside and takes the first proper look at the house's interior. Whoever planned the placement of all the windows did a great job because it felt illuminated from the inside, despite the dust covering everything. On his left is a study room, covered by shelves and with a huge window to provide proper reading light. He gives the cozy-looking chairs a cursory glance and moves on. On the right extends the front porch but with a couple of steps he finds the living room, with an old TV and a collection of couches that indicate the previous owners had a huge group of friends.

Further down, he finds the dining room, the steps to the back porch, and the kitchen, where he stops for longer. Because there on the fridge, in colorful letter magnets, somebody has spelled 'fuck off'.

Steve snickers. He thought it was a nice touch for an allegedly haunted house.

Some of the magnets were holding up drawings of dragons and similar creatures. He spotted some yellowing Spider-Man stickers too, so maybe whatever kids used to live here were also little nerds like his friends. Curiously, he opened the fridge to find an ancient can of Coke inside. The cupboards held long-expired jars of herbs, rice, and pasta. It seemed like the house was never properly cleaned out.

Next on his journey was the upstairs, where he found three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The master bedroom held the biggest and most expensive bed he's ever seen. Dragging it upstairs, even in parts, must have been hell. It had a canopy too, semi-translucent and dark. It partially hid the painting hanging over the headboard, and he had to step closer to take a look at it.

It was another dragon, with its wings spread and toothy mouth dripping with drool on a small figure beneath it - a woman in a skimpy dress, with dragonfly wings. Steve makes a face.

"A man of peculiar taste, I see," he murmurs to himself, backing away from the bed. The rest of the walls had similar paintings of mythical creatures, making Steve wonder what kind of person the previous owner was. And why would he abandon art and furniture that must have cost a small fortune?

He opened the door on the side, which turned out to lead into a small walk-in closet. It had a full length mirror and the few things left on hangers looked more like costumes than regular clothes. The owner must have been an eccentric artist type. An actor, maybe? Or a musician, he notes, spotting an empty guitar stand in the corner.

At least the bathroom looks relatively normal if you don't count the gargoyle faucets added in.

The guest room paintings are far more tame, giving the impression the owner wanted the saucy ones for himself. Aside from that, there's nothing really exciting about them. The furniture looks to be on the more expensive side, but if Steve didn't have his realtor knowledge he proably wouldn't even notice.

He checks the windows, which seem to be in good shape, maybe one or two need replacing, and others just need extra insulation. The back porch looks even better than the front one, but the backyard is a mess. It's surrounded by a tall fence to keep the wildlife away, but throughout the years, the forest started creeping through, the roots digging beneath, plants dropping their seeds to grow. It would be a lot of work to get rid of it.

The whole house was a lot of work, but not as much as Steve had feared. The construction was solid and it stood against weather and abandonment for years without taking much damage. He probably wouldn't need professionals for most of it.

He stood in the middle of the foyer, listening to his guts while looking around the abandoned, empty house. He knew he had time to make a decision. He could talk it out with Robin if he wanted, although keeping it a surprise sounded more fun.

Giving the ground floor one last lazy stroll, he spots a door he had missed earlier. It's smaller than the usual door, making Steve assume it leads to the basement. Or, as the wooden plaque on the door claims, "The Dungeon". Which was not mentioned in the house plans he'd looked through.

He pulls out the key ring from his back pocket to look for the right one, though he doesn't remember 'basement' being among the labels. He flicks through all of them again.

Main. Back. Master. Guest 1. Guest 2.

No basement in sight.

Perhaps the key went loose from the keyring, or it was somewhere in the house. He wasn't about to go on a wild goose chase to see some cobwebs and spiders when the alternative was getting on the road to see his friend.

He steps into the library once again, probably the most normal room of them all, and takes a closer look at the titles on the shelves. It's more fantasy, as he expected, with some classics he's heard about from Dustin, but mostly titles unknown to him. He finds a whole shelf of D&D manuals, too. He picks one up with a curious hum, wondering if there's a way to get those even if he doesn't go with the house after all.

He's not sure how old the game is (Dustin had told him multiple times, but he always forgets) but he wouldn't be surprised if all the released material so far was in here. He gently places the paperback back in its place, assuming that they were stored in order and he didn't want to disturb that. He took a step back to take the room in.

Walls covered in books, floor to ceiling, a fireplace with figurines on the mantle, four cozy armchairs, and a low table with a map under a glass pane. Middle Earth, of course.

The Party would love it, he muses. It doesn't feel like a coincidence, that the house he considers buying, has things that would appeal to his friends. But he knows he has to make a smart decision. And nothing clears his mind better than a night out with his best friend.

read the rest on Ao3

#haunted house au #steddie #the cameos in this chapter were sponsored by Dunder Mifflin #ghost eddie munson #ghost!eddie #steddie big bang #stranger things #eddie munson #steve harrington #mine #steddie fanfiction #cj x big bang #steddiebang24

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herejusttosufferalong · 5 months ago

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I've been a Lukola shipper since last year, and I've been reading all the male POVs. So, I decided to ask the dudes in my life about this whole situation. I talked to some of my male BFFs and my brother. I'll start with what my brother, who's 15 (I'm 19), had to say.

Over the past three days, I showed him most of the interviews, especially the unhinged ones, all the hand-holding clips, Tif's edits, etc. Then I introduced him to the GF and gave him a brief rundown of all the antics - Instyle, NY and London premieres, Deuxmoi, pool pics, Milan, GQ.

Here’s what he thinks:

Luke and Nic LOVE each other. Luke probably loves her more, or maybe she's just better at hiding it. Nic is affectionate towards everyone, so it’s not as apparent. My brother thinks Nic is really funny and obviously beautiful, especially after watching her solo interviews like "9 Things I've Never Tried Before," ASMR, and accents.

Luke is being hot and cold. After I told him about the break after Brasil, he said that makes sense. It seems like whenever Luke goes back to his friends, he comes back acting like a dick. I showed him Luke's hot boy summer phase and the NYE video of them dancing. He said Luke acts like a dick when he's with his friends, especially Rory, who seems like the leader. He even noticed Tom and said Luke should hang out with him more. When I mentioned Rory breaking up with his GF and now dating Sienna (who's 23), he immediately clocked it and said, “Wow, Lukey did the same.” In a very not impressed tone. I couldn't stop laughing.

Nothing happened in Brasil. My brother thinks Nic would never do anything shady. The interviewers and overall vibes of Brasil were super chill, so Luke let himself loose a bit. However Nic seemed the same, maybe a little more giggly.

NY and London premieres:

NY: They looked fine, but Luke seemed pissed for some reason. The hand moment was insane. He thinks the GF blindsided Nic and set up the videos of them hugging, because why aren’t there videos of others?

London: Nic seemed a little wary, and Luke looked downbad. Luke T and Nic either need to work together or date, or both, because they're cute. Simone is definitely a shipper. He also thinks Golda might be a shipper, but she seems to have clocked Luke’s shit and is side-eyeing, which he is too. The Deuxmoi stunt was dumb and embarrassing.

About A, R, and S:

Rory: Luke hangs onto Rory’s every word, so the GF might not be going anywhere as long as she's in the friend group. My brother hates Rory and thinks he's Luke’s constant during the hot boy summer phase. Rory wasn't seen much before that. Other Anons, is this true?

A: A is in the relationship for the perks. The Hailey Bieber cosplay is gross. My brother almost puked when I showed him the thread comparing A and HB’s outfits. A is obviously trolling the fans, which is boring.

S: He doesn’t think there’s anything nefarious going on with S, and it’s good for her that she’s going to Jack M's classes, but it’s weird that it's only happening now.

In conclusion, my brother thinks this whole thing is going to drag on for a lot longer, but that’s a huge maybe since Luke and Nic are coming back for S4. If Luke's friend group manages to infiltrate the sets, it won't matter much because everyone adores Nic and seems protective of her. A is going to stay as long as she can. Right now, my brother hates Luke and thinks he screwed up royally, even as a friend. It’s a bigger deal if there are non-platonic feelings involved. He wants to see Luke make a thank you post for S3, because that's the least he can do. Luke needs to figure his stuff out, and it seems like whenever he's on vacation, things just get worse. Basically, he needs to GET A JOB and things will sort themselves out.

Wow, that was a lot. Never thought my brother would be so mature!

Also can someone clarify if R was still such a huge part of L's life before his HBS?

Damn the 15 yo is smarter than some grown ass folk in the fandom lmao

LOVE x

#this is all opinion #theories

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wandixx · 6 months ago

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Greeting comrades,

I’m Wandixx, a history enthusiast, baby writer and budding artist. Grab your tea/coffee/juice or whatever else beverage you favor and let’s go!

I’m part of the DPxDC fandom so my fics are from here. And this list exists so we all can find anything on this blog, welcome!

Here is my AO3:

My finished fics/prompt fills:

“Blood Blossom”:

Desperate times require desperate solutions. When, after escaping GIW, Danny gets trapped by the Justice League, he has only one way to get out of it. Eating a Blood Blossom. (this one includes a sad and happy ending!)

“Contingencies”:

Danny lives with Bats and it all seems to go pretty well. Until they find his contingency plans, including ones against himself, that were just over glorified suicide to-do list. How the hell are they supposed to handle that (that’s a chunky boi, over 20k)

“Ghost of fries and hero of cookies”

Duke wasn't expecting to wake up from his quick rooftop nap to some meta kid with fries. He also wasn't expecting kid to stay Or Danny asked Dani to stay safe while she was in Gotham. Where would she be safer than under the wing of a local hero? And he looked like he needed a bad day combo anyway. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, art AO3 link

“Reverse summoning”:

It’s always DC characters summoning Danny. How about we do this another way around? Danny was desperate for a mentor and help (and some cold medicine). How- What- Why is Wonder Woman standing in his bedroom?

“Unknown, the Wandering Hero”:

Unknown was who Justice League called the friendly anonymous hero, who kept helping them with ghosts. Only one with powers working on them. It just turns out, they were much younger than everyone expected. Danny went through a lot lately and the less people knew who he was, the less likely he was to return to the operating table.

M'gannxDanny one-shots: (their ship name is 💚Spearmint💚) (I love them so much, can you tell?)

M'gann and curious case of disappearing cities

M'gann was bored out of her mind and her monitoring shift with Green Arrow just started! Sure, it was important thing to learn and all, but also just a bit more interesting than drying paint. And then entire city just disappeared from the feed, so she stormed out to investiagate. And it went downhill from there

Fight over the Mars

Danny was ambushed by Vlad when he was minding his own buisness. It wouldn't be unusual if he didn't have a portal gun, that send them all over the world and then to the freaking Mars. And then Miss Martian showed up. Yeah, Danny was absolutely normal about that part

Relationship reveal with ghost summoning on the side

Young Justice fumbled a bit a mission involving the cult. Yeah, they managed to summon the wish granting ghost and only Aqualad had a way to touch her. Not the best look... But then Miss Martian said she had an idea! The idea was to summon another ghost... And it worked and he attacked the first ghost! Wait, when exactly did petnames get on the table?!

Actively posted fics:

"You'll never find the answers"

M'gann was having an amazing day. She met with her civilian friends, drank an amazing smoothie, saw a cute dog. For a few hours, she didn't have to think about problems that took more than 20 minutes to solve. For a few hours, she could just be Megan. And then there was a scream of a woman, mother, who thought too loud and faded too fast and M'gann wasn't enough to save her and it made her whole world come crashing down. And then Danny found her, with a soft smile and patient voice. He kneeled beside her to pick up the pieces. And shards cut them both in the process. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 AO3 link Art by Clockworkclown

"GIW made a lot of mistakes and the biggest one was going against Young Justice" (may change hah)

Young Justice wanted a chill afternoon for once, hanging out at amusment park. And then, Danny was attacked by some freaks in white suits. Well, it seems there are villains to make fun of and... did somone mention ✨an evil lab✨? part 1

Stuff that I shared snippets of:

"Danny and Wally are chaos incarnate"

"Dani's dress-up game and Batman's rouge gallery" (also known as "serious chaos one-shot snippet")

"GIW made a lot of mistakes and the biggest one was going against Young Justice" part 1

"Danny, the Young Justice member" random ideas part 1, part 2

The stuff I have somewhere on paper and would love to share if asked.

Make yourself at home, and I hope you’ll like it here!

#should i add links to my art and history ramblings?#did i even do the masterlist correctly?

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madelynhimegami · 2 months ago

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Ringo Ando Guide

As a reminder, you're free to request which characters I do these of! I've started the next one, but after that I don't think I have more on the docket. So please feel free to suggest! And/or ask relevant questions.

Anyway,

Ringo Ando has an insatiable curiosity. Her quest for knowledge is never-ending and she always wants to learn more.

Academically, her greatest strengths and interests are in math and physics, but this does not necessarily limit her to those subjects.

By default, Ringo tries to maintain a chill demeanor.

She speaks pretty normally, but has a tendency to utilize precise diction, even when it's not needed.

And sometimes she'll just say something completely off-the-wall and keep going like it's no big deal.

Ringo has a relatively high surprise threshold, but when she does get surprised she goes 0 to 60 pretty much immediately.

When this happens, her filter gets knocked loose and she speaks without processing her words before they're already out.

The one surefire exception to that low-surprise threshold is ghosts. Just mentioning them upsets her. She's also not crazy about environments that look like they might end up involving ghosts.

Being in the presence of a ghost usially results in either a meltdown or a BSOD.

While Ringo says she dislikes them for being unscientific, that's a cover (because of course it is, the girl uses magic).

The truth is her grandmother terrified her with ghost stories at a young age. One story in particular was about the ghost of a young girl that cheerfully spoke in puns before murdering her victims.

Speaking of her grandmother, the apple she carries around in manzai is from her.

When something manages to catch Ringo's interest, she tends to laser focus on it so she can hypothesize and/or experiment with it.

A sufficiently interesting thing will make Ringo excited.

When excited, she'll start singing an improvised song based on her situation. These songs often include spelling out a keyword (with English letters).

She's also prone to laughter when excited. This laughter can range from "eager giggling" to "mad cackling."

The more excited she gets, the more likely she ends up getting carried away by whatever she's doing.

Like forgetting her surroundings, or taking others for granted.

Things that tend to excite her are * Mysteries, puzzles, problems, and the solving thereof * Experimenting * Experiencing scifi and fantasy tropes firsthand * Sonic the Hedgehog and Space Channel 5 (probably other Sega franchises too) * Magical girl tropes * Adventures * Discovering and experiencing things that broaden her horizons

If it's not clear by now, Ringo Ando is a huge nerd.

Her boundless enthusiasm for learning means she tends to have a stronger memory than others, where spacetime shenanigans are concerned.

Her memory isn't perfect, though. Case in point, Ringo is absolutely terrible at remembering names. So she usually refer to people by descriptive nicknames for the most part. The exceptions are her closest friends. And Satan.

In fact, she always addresses him as "Lord Satan," whereas most of the cast just sticks with "Satan." My guess is because she gets a thrill out of being able to unironically call somebody "Lord Satan."

Your regular reminder that Ringo does not dislike Ecolo and considers him a close friend, and she did so before Ecolo ever did. In her own words, Ringo says that Ecolo isn't a bad kid.

Being the daughter of greengrocers, Ringo is very health-conscious when it comes to food.

She also knows how to cook fairly well… but her experimental tendencies combined with health focus means that she'll end up making something weird (but technically healthy!) anyway.

Ringo will, apropos of nothing, narrate out loud, like she's addressing an audience that isn't there. This includes expository introductions of characters as a greeting ("If it isn't my childhood friend and lifelong neighbor, Maguro Sasaki!")

Sometimes she does just refer to people by their full name. Might be because of the narration, could just be something she does.

Ringo's vision, at 20/4, is literally superhuman and on par with birds of prey.

Experiments she's performed in her physics club include sending chocolate through spacetime (successful), making a philosopher's stone with fruits and vegetables as ingredients (unknown success/failure), and figuring out what Ecolo is made of ("heck if I know").

But other than all of that, Ringo is a perfectly ordinary teenager.

#puyo puyo #puyo summations #ringo ando #ringo puyo puyo #apparently tumblr doesn't fucking do intented bulleted lists #that's annoying

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obxsummer · 2 years ago

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Break in the Line // The Pogues

pairing: platonic!pogues x maybank!reader

summary: having the maybank name attached to you was a curse. you've never had to pay for it until a drug dealer decides to take his revenge against your brother and dad out on you.

warnings: physical violence, cursing

navigation

When people heard the name Maybank, it generally didn’t mean anything good. Luke Maybank was a local piece of shit and JJ Maybank did enough to get himself into trouble more often than not. The one time the name meant something good, was when it applied to you. You weren’t your brother and you definitely strayed from your dad at every moment possible. People questioned often how you managed with an out-of-control sibling and a drug addict father, but it never seemed like that for you. Sure, your dad sucked, but JJ never seemed too out of grasp for you. In fact, your brother was one of your best friends, but that didn’t mean you had to act like him or vice versa.

The Pogues looked to you more often than not to keep them from doing something stupid, which happened more than it should. In turn, they tried to keep you from their shenanigans as much as possible. You didn’t mind when they did things that were slightly illegal but at some point, you had enough with the crazy adrenaline and left them to their own devices.

You weren’t oblivious though, as much as you wish you didn’t know what they got themselves involved in. You knew your dad painted a large target on yours and JJ’s back with the way he acted. Hence, the situation you found yourself in right now.

The day had started off fine. You were hanging out with the Pogues on the boat, happily content with the sun on your skin and the laughter of your friends surrounding you. These were the moments you savoured, when you could just act like kids and not have to stress about life at home or where you would get your next meal.

“Y/N, heads up!” You barely had time to open your eyes before a beer can was being tossed your way. Cold ice dropped on your skin from the drink as you sat up to shake the cold water away.

“I know you did not just throw my sister a beer, John B.”

You rolled your eyes. “Chill out, JJ.” You glared at him from behind your sunglasses, annoyed with the off and on babying he often treated you with. You guys weren’t too far apart in age but JJ took every opportunity to annoy the shit out of you when he could.

You’d grown comfortable being around your brother and friends for majority of your life. You had known John B since you were practically born with Pope and Kie close behind. Sarah was the newest addition but the two of you formed a relationship relatively quick. She understood what it was like to be on the shy side and a little more introverted. The others definitely were not in that boat in the slightest.

“Sooo,” Kie pulled the attention back as she sat down from getting her drink. “There’s a kegger tonight and I think it’s pretty much obvious that we should go.”

“I’m down,” John B instantly agreed, lifting his drink in agreement.

Pope shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t have to help Pops at all so count me in.”

“It’s not like I have shit to do so.” JJ turned his hat backwards as he looked over to where you were opening your drink. “Y/N?”

You hummed for a moment in thought. “I don’t know, guys. I might just crash at the Chateau for movie night.” In your defense, you’d spent the entire week with the group nonstop. Minus the few classes you didn’t have with one of them, you’d seen them every day and quite frankly, your social battery was past empty.

“I’m with Y/N,” Sarah raised her hand slightly only to be hit with a groan from her boyfriend. “Seriously, John B. You guys can go and Y/N and I will chill until you get back. It’ll be fine.”

It took a little bit of persuading but eventually, the rest of the gang piled in the Twinkie to head to the kegger while you and Sarah bundled up for a classic movie night. JJ said something about not burning the house down on his way out, to which you flipped him off in return. Sarah managed to find some not-expired popcorn in the cabinet and made it for the two of you before you settled in to watch your film.

“I’m really grateful you’ve been spending time with everyone,” Sarah spoke up about halfway through the movie. I gave her a deadpanned look. She shoved your shoulder lightly in return. “Seriously. I know it’s not really much of your scene but it’s nice to have another person around to buffer the chaos.”

You shook your head. “I definitely had my fair share. I’m just glad you backed me up about staying in tonight. They can go-go-go nonstop and I need a six day recovery inbetween school days.”

Sarah opened her mouth to respond to you but was cut off by a crashing noise coming from outside. The two of you froze, staring at each other in horror for a moment. You waited for a second before moving slowly and opening the patio door, wishing for once JJ was here with his gun. Sarah moved quietly behind you as you stepped down onto the grass.

“Who’s there?” You tried to make your voice seem menacing, to show no fear. You were terrified.

“There she is, there she is.” Your heart dropped at the sight of Barry jumping from around the corner with a clear taste for vengeance in his eyes. “Just the Maybank I was looking for.”

“What do you want, Barry?” You backed up slightly as he neared you. “I don’t have anything to do wit-”

He laughed and rubbed his hands together as he took you in. You felt small in your oversized sweats and a t-shirt that definitely belonged to one of the boys. “See, that’s the thing, princess. You seem to have everything to do with this.”

A harsh slap to your cheek had you cowering back, Sarah gasping out your name as she moved to your side to hold your arm. The two of you weren’t prepared for something like this in the slightest.

“Your shitty ass father didn’t give me my money, your brother still owes me, and since they seemingly aren’t bothered by it, I’m gonna send them a message instead.”

Barry ripped you out of Sarah’s arms and threw you to the ground before you had a chance to defend yourself. The pain came soon after, moving faster than you could keep up with. Punch after punch becoming numbing. You could vaguely hear Sarah’s shouts to stop but Barry was determined.

A sharp hand around your throat chopped your airflow off before Barry lifted you off the ground and slammed your back against the house. Eyes blurry with tears, you did your best to look him in the eye and act like you weren’t afraid, weren’t fearful that he could easily kill you.

“Sorry to mess up your face, princess. It’s nothing personal,” Barry let out a sick laugh before releasing you to the ground. You could hear the crunch of his footsteps as he ran away.

“Y/N, Y/N.” Sarah’s hands were shaky as she kneeled next to you. “I-I called John B and JJ, a-and Kie and Pope but nobody’s answering!”

You coughed aggressively once you got air back into your lungs. “Inside,” You choked out as you let Sarah pull you to your feet. A small yelp left your mouth as your left ankle gave out but your friend was quick to step in and help you inside.

Sarah was absolutely panicking as she helped you settle on the pull-out that the two of you had previously occupied for movie night. You hissed as you settled into the mess of pillows and blankets but thanked her regardless.

“You okay? What can I do?” Sarah ran over with a mix of frozen vegetables and ice packs that she could find before she was applying them to your already bruising skin.

“I’m okay,” You mumbled as you accepted a bag of frozen peas for your throbbing black eye. “Did JJ answer yet?”

Sarah took a quick glance at her phone before shaking her head. As much as she wanted to believe you, she could tell you clearly weren’t holding up well. Moving into the bathroom, she found some painkillers and some relatively new first-aid supplies that she figured would help.

You tried not to panic about what had just happened but in the silence of the room, your mind started wandering. What if Barry found JJ next? Did your dad set the two of you up? Would he come back if this pattern continued? You would do anything for JJ, that much was guaranteed, but you weren’t up for taking shots meant for your father.

“Whew! That was a good one if I can say so.” JJ’s voice rang through your ears just as Sarah was returning with some meds for you to take. You knew shit would hit the fan the second JJ, John B, and Pope caught sight of you. Sarah offered you a cup of water to take the pills with when the screen door swung open.

“What the fuck?!” Your brother’s yell rattled around the house as soon as he caught sight, causing you to wince at the sharp noise. “What happened?”

“Why are you yell-” John B’s question was cut off as he entered his home to see his girlfriend with various bandages and meds before his eyes drifted to your bruised and battered body. “Okay. What the hell happened?”

You groaned, “Please stop yelling, holy shit.” Kie rushed around the boys to climb on the other side of you. Her hand was gentle as possible as she took the frozen veggies from your hand so they could assess the damage.

“Who did this?” Pope’s question was demanding as he stood behind the other two boys, the three of them radiating enough anger to wipe out the island.

“Barry,” Sarah answered softly. She and Kie made moves to help you sit up as easily as possible to pull your shirt from your frame, leaving you in a sports bra with more bruises filling into view.

Pope shuffled over next, pushing pillows behind your back so you could lean against them a bit more comfortably. He took some of the supplies from Sarah’s hands and gently applied some Neosporin to the small cut on your cheek from Barry’s rings.

JJ’s vision was red as he took in the sight of you. He was supposed to stop this from happening, supposed to protect you as your older brother from the shitty people in your life. This was never supposed to happen. “I’m going to fucking kill him. Let’s go, John B.” The threat was real, all of you knew that. Once JJ got in a mindset like this, it was hard to pull him out of it.

“Jayje.”

The nickname was quiet coming from you. It was enough to snap him out of his rage for a moment, taking a second to consider his actions before he was replacing Kie’s spot and holding an ice pack against your injuries. He could see the heaviness in your eyes and knew it was taking a toll.

“I know you’re tired, but you have to stay awake.” JJ watched as you took a shaky breath but nodded slightly to him nonetheless. “Tell me what happened.”

Sarah had wrapped herself in John B’s arms, still shaken at the turn of events. “We were just watching the movie and heard this crashing noise from outside, so we went to investigate. Barry showed up right after.”

“Said it was a message to you and Dad,” You finished her story and blinked up at your brother with teary eyes. “I’m scared, J. What if he comes back?”

JJ was fighting every urge to bust through the door and teach the drug dealer exactly who he was messing with. He knew it wasn’t the time or place. “Not gonna happen. Not with me here, okay? I’m sorry, Y/N. I should’ve been here.”

“It’s not your fault. He’s a raging psychopath, can’t exactly predict when he’s coming. Just promise me you won’t do something stupid? Any of you.” Your comment was directed to the three boys, more so John B and JJ knowing they would take off as soon as you fell asleep.

It took some convincing for everyone to settle down and eventually, the six of you agreed to finish the movie you and Sarah had started hours before but never finished. You had fallen asleep soon after, wrapped in various blankets and tucked in between JJ and Kie as the sound of the TV lulled you into a deep slumber.

JJ was still raging, even if he wouldn’t admit it. He couldn’t stand the thought of someone putting their hands on you in regard to the shitty things he and your dad did. It made him sick to think that you would pay for their mistakes. You, who had absolutely nothing to do with the chaos he put you through.

John B glanced back at your brother, having a sense that he hadn’t let it drop. One look from JJ confirmed the Routledge boy’s suspicion: nobody messed with their baby Pogue and they’d make sure of it.

navigation

#outer banks x reader #obx x reader #outer banks writing #outer banks #outer banks imagine #outer banks one shot #obx2 #obx #obx imagine #jj maybank #john b routledge #jj maybank x sister!reader #maybank!reader #kiara carrera #pope heyward

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dullgecko · 3 months ago

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Assuming they can actually manage it, what does a rest day look like for each of the bad kids?

I feel like Riz might enjoy jigsaw puzzles and podcasts or something because that feels enough like work that his brain can be tricked into relaxing just a little bit. (Also puzzles are usually pretty cheap in charity shops which definitely helps).

Riz likes puzzles but he has to buy these massive 4000 piece monsters because otherwise they're done too fast. He also enjoys reading, mostly non-fiction books like field guides and encyclopaedias. He likes hanging out with Fabian on quiet days when he's trying to not get involved in more work. He usually gets dragged along to the half elfs relaxation activity (which is awesome because he could never afford it otherwise).

Fabian does full spa days. Massages and facials and getting his hair rebraided. Very relaxing. Likes kidnapping Riz to join him (someone has to maintain the goblins hairstyle and RIZ certaily wouldnt pay for it). Hates the noises Rizs bones make while getting a massage (all his joints pop because his posture is terrible all the time and he doesn't stretch).

Kristen does little craft activities. Usually ends up with a couple new tie dye shirts at the end of it. She has SO many already so usually gifts them to her friends. Everyone now has at least 2 spare shirts each at Mordred to use as pyjamas.

Adaine reads romance novels while drinking fancy tea. The novels are usually terrible but that's part of the fun. Worst one so far? "Kidnapped and ravished by the goblin prince". Riz read a passage over her shoulder and had THE most confused look on his face afterwards (that's NOT what their anatomy is like apparently).

Gorgug likes sitting in his garden and listening to music. Will usually fall asleep out there leaning against the tree.

Fig hangs out with Ayda. Not really doing anything just chilling in the same general area while Ayda is working.

#fantasy high #riz gukgak #bad kids #fabian seacaster #fig faeth #gorgug thistlespring #adaine abernant #kristen applebees

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raven-at-the-writing-desk · 2 months ago

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Ordinary Day

Isn’t it nice weather? Let’s take a short stroll and enjoy it.

This is part 16 of 20. We come close to the conclusion.

The Tale of the Cursed Raven:

Part 1 I Part 2 I Part 3 I Part 4 I Part 5 I Part 6 I Part 7 I Part 8 I Part 9 I Part 10 I Part 11 I Part 12 I Part 13 I Part 14 | Part 15

Information has a way of spreading by word of mouth. Without a form, there is nothing to restrain them from travel, and from the details straying from the truth. By the end of the school day, Kon has already picked up on at least seven variations of the same story.

The disappearance of one Raven Crowley, and the aftermath of it.

She hadn’t attended class for some time now, hadn’t shown her face in public. A wind blew through the grapevine, supposed tea brewing.

“I think she transferred. Didn’t really fit in here anyway. Probably at some all-girls place now.”

“No, no, she’s being homeschooled for safety reasons. The headmaster keeps her locked away in that tower and personally tutors her.”

“I heard she’s dead. She Overblotted and went on a rampage in the woods. The dorm leaders had to suppress her and collect the body afterwards.”

He grips onto his textbooks harder, fingers digging into the leather-bound cover and spine. Kon is always anxious, but the whispers tug at his nerves, pulling them taut.

It doesn’t come from a place of concern, he knows. Gossip is gossip, meant to amuse and entertain.

He wonders if he should confront them, ask them to stop--if they’d even listen to his pleas.

Because no one wants a story’s end to be as sad as that…

Instead, he ducks behind a column and waits for the chattering group to pass. The debate grows heated, turns into betting and rough housing. Ugly, unpleasant sounds.

The thought occurs to him again. If he tries…

“Are you going to say something?”

Kon startles at the sudden question.

He senses a figure beside him, but is too frozen with fear to turn his head, to see who it is.

From his periphery, he can glean glimpses of them. Auburn waves threaded with gold, a frilled gown colored as green as the springtime. A soft voice to belong to one of the rowdy mobs. It’s sweet yet flat, like a soda without the carbonation.

Who is this…?

His mouth won’t move to utter what he wants it to.

“No? You won’t?” they ask. “Ah, you choose to observe then. You are wiser than you would appear to be. A story is just meant to be witnessed. To involve oneself is to meddle. The impartiality, ruined.”

Shock dislodges the knot in his throat. “Wh-What are you saying? The rumors floating around… I don’t think anyone would want that.”

“Talk is what they have, so they relish in it. Action is difficult. Very few manage to scale the tower to witness the truth for with their own eyes. The chosen, the worthy.”

“I-I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

There is a scoff.

“Perhaps not now, but in the future you may.”

He sees a hand extend, cupping the sunlight. It is sheathed in a billowing green sleeve, nothing like the NRC school uniforms.

“This is a day like any other. Please enjoy the mundaneness to its fullest. We do not know for certain how long this peace will stay with us.”

“You’re not a student,” Kon says weakly. Already, he is sweating up a waterfall on his forehead. “Who are you?”

In the response, a slight smile.

“Just a visitor passing through. Pay me no mind.”

“’Scuse me! Sorry! Comin’ through!”

A ghost outfitted in a mailman’s uniform weaves his way through the hallways of Octavinelle. He doesn’t so much as go around students as he was fazing through them. The only trace of him left behind is a slight chill in the torso, like an ice flower has just melted there.

The mail ghost launches itself through the Mostro Lounge doors.

It’s a busy night.

Students are seated at the booths and at the bar. Friends with friends, soaking up jazz and the aquatic ambience. Plates of seafood and colorful drinks, served under glowing jellyfish.

The conversation flows like water.

“They shipped her off to a lab to get tested. Or maybe she got kidnapped.”

“Nah, she’s in hiding somewhere.”

“She opened up a portal to another world and hopped into it.”

From the podium up front, Jade bows to the mail ghost.

“Welcome to the Mostro Lounge, honored guest,” he greets. “I’m afraid we are fully booked at the moment, so if you wish for a table, you will have to come back in 45 minutes’ time. Though--” Jade eyes the bag of mail hanging from the ghost’s body. “--I suppose dining was not in the cards from the start.”

“Just here for the usual mail delivery.” He reaches into his bag and produces several envelopes, fanning them out.

“Thank you for your service as always. I will receive them for Azul.”

The exchange is made, and the mail ghost continues on his route.

As soon as he vanishes, Jade allows his smile to relax.

The merman begins going through the envelopes. It’s a distraction, but preferable to paying mind to the swirling hearsay. It will only make him irritable.

Plain white, mostly bills or spam mail and advertisements. Hardly anything worth gracing their dorm leader’s desk.

Azul.

Jade frowns.

Since Azul had been whisked away to the emergency meeting, he has been more alert than usual. Jade notices it in the subtleties. His breaths, his glances, the way his fingers drum.

Whatever happened that day, it still bothers him.

He had “spoken” with the other dorm leaders, of course—but none of them knew much, not even Kalim, who claimed to have found her. “Not sure why she was in the woods, but all that matters is that she’s okay now. Maybe she just wandered and got lost?”

Wandering and lost. Those were apt descriptors for how she had looked that night she had stumbled into him. She was haunted then, small and shuddering in the glaring moonlight.

Jade dislikes not knowing, dislikes being kept in the dark.

He barely bats an eyelash until he comes to the final envelope. It doesn’t look like the others, with their formal business addresses and postage. Pitch black, with golden embellishes.

His name is written on it.

In handwriting that makes his heart stop.

“... What is this?”

He tears it open at once, retrieving the letter inside.

Jade,

I realize receiving this may be awkward, given our history. However, I still hope it finds you well.

Lately, I’ve been reflecting about many things. Our time together, our relationship... and also about myself and what it is that I’m seeking.

I haven’t been very brave or honest. I think I can admit that now, though it doesn’t leave me feeling good. It’s like when a baby bird first hatches from its egg. It can’t quite see the world clearly, and nor does it have feathers to shield its vulnerable body from the forces of nature.

I have something important to tell you. Too important to scrawl on paper. It must be said face-to-face.

The apple tree in the courtyard is in bloom. It’s so very beautiful this time of year. I wish I could stare at them forever and ever. In the language of flowers, apple blossoms can mean many things. Love, peace, rebirth, good luck... a long life too.

Let’s meet there, in the shade of the apple tree and under the cover of stars.

Tomorrow, right before the stroke of midnight.

I will give you my answer then.

Best regards,

Raven Crowley

Life at Night Raven College continues.

A single cog it may lack, but the mechanism continues to churn. There is a spot in the core that is empty, where the missing cog belongs. Still, the machine operates without its heart.

Another day comes and goes.

And in the highest room of the tallest tower...

Something goes bump in the dark.

Someone stirs.

#twst #twisted wonderland oc #twst oc #Raven Crowley #twisted wonderland #Octavinelle A-kun #disney twst #disney twisted wonderland #Tale of the Cursed Raven #wow it only took me like over a year to get this installment out

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bittysfoodbaby · 3 months ago

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ok so on top of me being a diet film major at school i'm also on the executive staff of my school's college radio station and that combined with omgcp means it's headcanon time!

you're listening to 91.7 WSMU-FM. don't turn that dial!

lardo started doing radio to keep up the promise to do something technical to her parents after becoming an art major. she chose radio tech ops and programming because it was a chill and easy gig that didn't take too much time out of her day. she ended up being pretty decent at her job and later became known for her cable management skills.

jack first met lardo when he was dating camilla and eventually got involved with the station as a graveyard shift dj to hang out with camilla more as friends (#studentathletethings). lardo often took on the late-night shifts for tech ops, which is just making sure the station doesn't go down in the middle of the night, and noticed that Jack wouldn't use the automated software and do everything manually from spinning tracks to doing his talk breaks live. eventually they became friends over "the old days of radio" and jack referred lardo to becoming the smh team manager.

holster acted as a consultant to the promotions and PR team for one of his finals and observed a morning shift as part of the project. the "bro, we should start a podcast" part of his brain was promptly activated and convinced ransom to do a morning show with him. they mostly talk about college sports and get very heated over college hockey and how much cornell has fallen as a hockey team.

shitty grew up listening to wsmu and used radio as another way to be rebellious against his family. he appreciates the community service and outreach the station does and is ranked the best voice on the station. he hosts a show about local music in samwell and the greater boston area.

bitty joined the promo team after smh found out about his blog and convinced him to join radio after they all realized they did radio together. eventually he became the webmaster of the station's website because he was the only one other than shitty that knew how to use wordpress. his ego grew after he forced hosts to write blog posts during their shifts for the station website and be active on twitter.

chowder used to dj local events in high school and was a pretty decent dj and producer back in the day. when he found out the rest of the team was pretty much doing radio he convinced a radio show about live dj sets boiler room-style.

(side note: farmer finds out about chowder's secret life as a dj through a girl on the volleyball team who's friends with a wsmu sportscaster who knows holster.)

dex found himself working in tech ops after a freak accident involving the station's backup recording software went down. he ended up staying because it's the only non-hockey or non-school thing he had.

nursey was approached to be on the station's student spotlight show for his poetry and found out that the whole team was working on the station. he then romanticized the image of analog radio in his mind and what being a late-night DJ was like. he immediately switched to a mid-day jazz shift the next semester.

i swear i have more but i still have fics i need to write before posting more LMAO

#clark originals #91.7 wsmu #omgcp #omg check please #check please

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am-i-the-asshole-official · 8 months ago

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(tl;dr at the bottom)

this one is just petty, and i'm too much of a pussy to actually do anything (though my friends do say i absolutely should) but:

wibta for filing a complaint (?) against my table group for a class?

i take culinary for one of my classes, and it's one of the saving graces of my otherwise utterly shit high school experience. and while i do enjoy the class, i've recently been put in a group with people who do absolutely nothing and it's been frustrating me. for example, as of the day i am sending this, we made zucchini fritters. the dishwasher and i, the sous chef, did basically all the work and the manager and executive barely did anything unless we actively made them. i can understand the manager doing nothing, since their job is to basically just supervise the kitchen and they don't get to actually cook (worst role for me ngl) but the executive chef, who should be involved in the whole cooking lab, just sat around and watched. now don't get me wrong, i love the process of cooking and making stuff, but it's a little tiring when it's me doing most of the work while other people just grab their phones (they aren't supposed to get them until the lab is finished and the kitchen has been cleaned, for sanitary reasons) and idle about. anyways, the manager at least grated the zucchini while i worked with the green onions and garlic i guess, and during this the executive chef just kinda. stood there and watched? he always had earbuds in and i don't really know what he does, but i thought he'd at least be mixing the batter. he did not, and turns out he really was just standing there the whole time so i mixed the batter after i finished up with my veggies. while i was doing so, i also thought that they'd have put the zucchini in a bowl or a colander or something and started sweating it with the salt, but nope. the two of them just sorta went off to do their own things (stand/ lean against the counters and watch) and so i panicked and dumped the stuff into the nearest clean bowl, and i did manage to get the executive to salt it. then when it was time to squeeze the water out, it was again my job to do so, though i am currently missing about a quarter of my nail on one finger due to it snagging and ripping off. at this point, i think i should mention i have chronic back and joint pains and headaches, and i was starting to feel worse and worse, so i once again asked the executive to squeeze the water for a bit while i snagged a pain killer. when i come back, not even a minute later, he's just dumped the thing into the batter mix, instead of fully squeezing it like i asked him to. then he hands the thing to me and i mix it and then i have to fry it. by the time i start frying, all the other kitchens have finished, we have like half an hour till class is out, and chef puts on hell's kitchen for the class. me and the dishwasher (who offered to help throughout the lab occasionally. she's a godsend.) make them fry the rest (one fritter). while i did do the dishes after it doesn't count since it was as a thank you to the dishwasher who helped me. but other than that, it's like this for pretty much every labs except for when i'm dishwasher, and even then it's not too different since it just means i have to go back and forth between cooking and washing dishes.

i vented to a friend, who also takes a cooking class (catering) about this and he says i should email about it to chef. now this is where the question comes in. i don't feel good about reporting it to chef since i don't want to be a snitch. i, too, engage in listening to music and chilling, so i get the joy of doing these things. if i were to tell the teacher, though, they'd get in trouble for it and i don't think i want that. and i might be biased/ just cranky. last lab, which was hamburger and fries, the guy who was executive today threw away the fries because class was ending even though not everyone got their share of it yet. this instantly put him on the "i dont like this guy" list of mine, and on top of that, i was already feeling a bit cranky and gloomy since waking up, and it was only further worsened by whatever class cooked in the kitchen before my class, who leaves the dishes all dirty and gross every time without fail (specifically, it was all three pans sticky with grease and a glass mixing bowl encrusted with a white substance that set me off today) so i might just be being harsh on them. i usually enjoy getting to cook and actually do things, and thus i haven't had an issue with the lack of help from my tablemates (is that a word) until now, so this could just be me wrongfully directing my negative feelings to them and blaming them.

tl;dr: people in my group in culinary class do jackshit and make me deal with the brunt of the work except for this one girl, friend says i should report their asses to the chef

why i might be the asshole:

i was already cranky and might be just making them the subject of my anger and blaming them

i usually enjoy getting to cook anyways

i might be biased against one of them since he dumped potatoes before i could grab my full share

snitch

why i might not be the asshole:

should not have to do pretty much all the work and they get the same grade despite doing nothing

still have to do most of the work despite chronic back and join pains and headaches + injury

having to actively get them to help me is a pain in the ass since they just go right back to doing nothing after half assing whatever they were asked to do

sorry if this is a bit all over the place, i am bad at articulating my thoughts and the likes, and am currently being fueled by spite, pain, and caffeine.

(@sousanon so i get a notif when this posts)

#aita #am i the asshole

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rosemariilovesyou0922 · 11 months ago

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WHAT DID I JUST WATCH???

SPOILERS TWF4 !!!

It was the best thing I could ever experience rn, I'm pretty much ascending. The fact that there was ANIMATION?? ON IT??? Martin is extremely talented I swear to god.

Personally I think a Lot of My questions we're kind of answered. Deffinetly not the "Where the hell is Jack?", No I'm Even more confused about that... I THOUGHT LIKE- FELIX GOT RID OF HIM OR SOMETHING I DIDN'T THINK HE WOULD TELL THEM WHAT HE DID? I honestly thought he would hide it and kill anyone who knew (he didn't need to they're all pretty dead). I honestly felt slightly Bad for him, HE DUG A HOLE FOR HIMSELF 😭. I swear I was SHOCKED- mouth open eyes wide type of stuff, I COULD FEEL HOW AWFUL HE FELT, He reeks of guilt, desesperation and actual negativo emotions, where before I honestly think he only transmited me the smell of alcohol or something; I deffinetly feel Bad for him now.

Okay so aside from the whole Felix thing here's a few things I really enjoyed/noticed:

Beggining ANIMATION with Ed and Molly; knowing what happened that night it was honestly really sad and I felt like it was the Best way to start pt4

THIS HAHAHHA:

ROSIE VOICE REVEALL!!! Girl I swear, it's extremely obvious how hard I Stan Rosemary Peony Walten SO You know I started levitating ‼️‼️

"Bon" appears in the video early on so that's cool, aside from that uhhh Tv Guy is deffinetly going to be quite the goofy silly guy so stan

SUSAN AND CHARLES BEING SILLLLYYY!!!

Charles struck me as kind of a manager? Someone who does stay in the establishment and is involved but isn't actually like- an engenieer or chef.

Susan You wonderfull woman I swear the strong ass mecanic lesbian is all I needed in my life.

So the whole animatronics moving around and facial recognition actually clear up a bunch of stuff for me, for instance: How the hell would Bon be able to tell who Sophie was. Also I was screaming for them to run whenever an animatronic was lowkey near, scary stuff.

AWOOPPPP TIME SKIP!! Or something skip I have no clue, Charles and Susan talking about Rocket being there. Rosemary and Jack did not know Félix was an alcoholic aparently, that explains why Jack would ever let him drive his children anywhere from somewhere there would be alcohol at.

JACK?? JACK BANGING AND KNOCKING ON THE DOOR FOR FELIX TO OPEN ACTUALLY GOT ME SHOCKED TO MY GODDAMN CORE?? HIS VOICE IS CHILLING.

Félix and the whole cliff scene really broke me not going to lie, You dumbass of man, you're stupid and reckless but I feel awfull for you.

Felix told Rosemary and Jack what happened which actually throws my "Oh yeah Felix deffinetly sent killer animatronics to kill his Best friend and his family so the business wouldn't crash" theory down the drain. Also Rosemary asking for the doll, I cannot imagine how devastated She would have felt, She does not deserve that.

Alright that was terrifying!! Scary imagery actually got me bit scared at atimes, which is good, the show keeps me on My toes.

WHO THE HELL IS INSIDE OF BON?????? WHO IS THAT...

The fact that: We could actually SEE how he KILLED Susan but ED AND MOLLY HAD TO WATCH TOO 😨

Poor children, god.

The animation actually scared me really Bad, it was so unreal and disturbing in a sense that Made You feel like you'd get jumpscared at any moment, that's what makes this kind of horror amazing.

The whole conversation between "Bon" and Susan/Banny is something You have to watch for yourself.

She was ALIVE in the SUIT, GOD 😭

The fact her 'Wonderland' for has her neck snapped and everything, it looked so disturbing, it was really clear how she got killed.

THE MUSIC WAS CELESTIAL, I PRAISE WHOEVER PLANNED THE SONGS THAT PLAYED BECAUDE EVERY SINGLE ONE MADE IT TEN TIMES BETTER.

Ed and Molly at the end :[

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bijouxcarys · 3 months ago

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𝑻𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑩𝒊𝒏𝒅 (𝑹𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝑹𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒔 𝒙 𝑶𝑪) - 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑻𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆

Masterlist

Character Profiles/Face Claims

Playlist

A/N: Sorry this seems to have taken a really long time to get out, I've just been struggling a little with motivation lately. Anyways, I really hope you enjoy this chapter, and some of the characters that make an appearance ;)

CW/TW: suggestive themes, strong language

Tags: @trippinsorrows @empressdede @thetribalqueen @heauxvibez @bigsimperika

@cyberdejos2 @keyaho @headoftheetable @jstarr86 @southerngirl41

@tshepisho @cry1nwhileimcumm1n @maeb99 @thedesireds @dzdndcnfsd

@expert-texpert @niknakbucks92 @sillyteecup @trentybenty @pittieprincess22

(If you want to be tagged in any future Roman fics, just let me know!)

May 25th, 2013

“To the big man. Happy birthday, brother. May you finally learn how to relax.”

The bar was bathed in a soft amber glow, perfect for the intimate group gathering. It was a high-end joint in downtown Orlando, the kind of spot that was a bit too polished to be called a dive, but not quite swanky enough to be pretentious. It was the perfect mix—just how Roman liked it. This night was about unwinding, not making any sort of statement. The kind of place where the drinks were strong, and the vibe was chill.

Roman sat at the centre of the group, a smirk playing on his lips as he nursed a whiskey neat. He leaned back in his chair, shoulders relaxed, but eyes sharp, taking in everything around him. It was his birthday, after all, but it still felt like any other day. Though, his friends had insisted on a night out, and he wasn’t one to turn down a good time. Especially not when it involved Seth and Dean.

“If that’s the case, you’re gonna be waiting a long time, Rollins.”

“Ain’t that the truth? Big man’s got a stick so far up his ass, he can’t even sit down without it poking him,” Dean teased, a crooked grin on his face as he leaned across the table to clink his beer bottle against Roman’s glass. “Man, 28. You’re getting old, dog.”

Roman rolled his eyes, but the grin tugging at the corners of his mouth betrayed him. “Speak for your damn self, Ambrose, you only a couple years behind.”

Cackling, Dean slung his arm around Renée’s shoulders. She looked up at him with that soft, adoring gaze that only she could manage when it came to Dean. She was the only one who could tame the wild streak in him, and everyone knew it.

“Yeah, but I’ve still got my boyish charm,” Dean shot back, running his hand over each side of his beard, earning a playful slap on the chest from Renée.

“Keep tellin’ yourself that,” Roman quipped, taking a sip of his drink. His eyes shifted to Seth, who was busy whispering something in Leila’s ear, eliciting a giggle from her. “At least we’re not livin’ in la-la land like crazy ass over here…”

Seth glanced up, grinning. “Just keeping my lady entertained, man. You know how it is.”

Leila’s face flushed, her fingers playing with the end of her hair. “You know he’s full of it, right?”

“Absolutely,” Roman agreed. “But hey, if that’s what you into, that’s all that matters.”

Seth’s smile just grew, taking a long swig of his beer. He and Leila had been together for at least six months now, and despite the pure hectic nature of their lives, they seemed solid. For now, at least. He knew his friend had a history of prioritising his work before his personal affairs, and the cynic in Roman was waiting for the moment Leila got tired of being left behind, and inevitably threw a drink in Seth’s face. Metaphorically, and physically. Wouldn’t be the first time. But for now, it was good. Roman respected that.

In fact, he rather enjoyed his tight-knit group of friends. Really, it was DJ who was to thank for that. He was the one who introduced Roman to Seth and Dean in the first place. Renée and Leila came much later, but they both had quickly integrated nicely into the group’s dynamics.

And then there was Maria.

Despite Roman’s line of work, and his family’s dealings, Maria was still the wild card in his life. They had only just started seeing each other casually, even though they’d already known each other for a while now. Whilst he was intrigued by her, there was an undeniable air of… arrogance that seemed to follow her everywhere. She had a way of sliding into his life like she belonged there, but Roman, even at the age of 28, wasn’t blind to the signs. Still, he played along, curious to see where it would lead.

Tonight, she had reluctantly agreed to join Roman for his birthday celebration with his friends, and he was glad that she did. Even though he could only handle the woman in small doses, he still didn’t want to be sat there alone as Seth and Dean both had girls on their arms. Hell no, he wasn’t about to be the only single man at the table on his own damn birthday.

“So, Maria,” Renée started, “How did you and Roman meet? I’m not sure he’s ever mentioned you…”

“Oh, you know,” Maria began to respond, pushing a tight-lipped smile in Renée’s direction, “The usual places. Mutual friends, a couple of parties… Roman here just couldn’t resist me, I guess.”

Roman fought the urge to roll his eyes. “What she means is my mom introduced us at a party a few years back.”

“Three years ago, to be precise,” Maria leaned into his arm, her eyes narrowing a little at Renée.

“And you’ve been together for how long?” Dean asked, giving his girlfriend a comforting squeeze as he sensed the budding animosity between the two.

“Hmm…” Maria’s face twisted, before she tilted her head upwards to look at Roman. “Mio Dio, quanto tempo é passato, tesoro?”

With a sigh, the Samoan lowered his voice. “Te l’ho detto prima… English. Just when we’re here, va bene?”

Maria stuck out her bottom lip, and returned the sigh, although hers was far more dramatic. Everything about her was dramatic at this point. She turned back to Dean and shot him a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Two months.”

“Woah,” Seth gasped, widening his eyes at Leila. “Two whole months, babe, did ya hear that?”

“A’ight, you don’t need to be a bitch about it, Rollins,” Roman scolded. Maria’s hand found his leg, giving it a small squeeze. He wasn’t sure if it was out of affection, or if she was just feeling particularly handsy tonight.

“Anyway…” Leila, sensing the atmosphere’s shift, changed the topic. “What do you do, Maria? Y’know, when you’re not charming the pants off the big man?”

For the first time that night, Maria lit up. It was in her eyes, the sea green in them becoming more vibrant at the opportunity to talk about her favourite topic: Maria Larusso. “I work in fashion, mostly. PR and events. It’s all about networking and making the right connections.”

Dean snorted, clearly unimpressed. “Sounds like a lot of schmoozing to me.”

Maria’s expression hardened, but kept her tone light—almost professional. “It’s a skill, Dean. Not everybody can be good at it.” She glanced at Renée. “And not everybody has the natural ability to work in fashion.”

Dean’s eyes shot to Roman, as if to ask if he was just going to sit there and let his tag-along insult his girlfriend—and by default, him—like that. But Roman honestly just wanted to steer the conversation away from the growing tension.

“We’re all good at our own shit, ‘kay?” he said diplomatically. “But tonight ain’t supposed to be about work, let’s just enjoy ourselves for once.”

Seth nodded, raising his glass. “To Roman, the future Head of the Table—whether he wants to admit it or not.”

Everyone clinked glasses, though Roman couldn’t ignore the tightening in his chest at the title his friend had given him. It had been a running joke for the past few months, since Leila asked him what made him initiate the idea of working with Seth and Dean. The family business, The Bloodline, was always going to be there, but he wanted to see what else was out there. Prove to himself that he could do more than just assume a position because he was expected to.

Seth and Dean, and their whole organisation, was supposed to be a way to branch out, to find new opportunities. But now…. Well, it just didn’t pan out that way.

But the inevitable. Taking over as Head of the Table, the shot-caller, the rule-maker of his family… It was a role he knew was coming, one that carried both power and responsibility, but also a weight that he wasn’t sure he was ready to bear.

Maria leaned in closer, her breath warm against his ear as she whispered, “You’ll be great at it, baby. You were born for it.”

He turned to look at her with an unreadable expression. She was right, of course, but her words didn’t necessarily comfort him the way she intended. Instead, they reminded him of everything he was trying to avoid—the pressure, the expectations, the loss of control over his own life. Maybe he was just being stubborn. He knew he’d be the best leader his family had ever known. It was just… the idea of conforming, as unconventional of a job title it was.

But he’d figure it out. He always did. For now, he’d just enjoy this period of his life for everything it had to offer.

When the bar staff began shutting down for the night, the group decided to up and leave, the alcohol consumption softened the rough edges to Maria’s tone, which ultimately made the evening far more pleasurable. Their laughter trailed off as they made their way to the parking lot, Seth joking about how they’d all crash at his place, continue the party there, but the sight of the last man they wanted to see leaning against Seth’s truck brought everything to a halt.

“Shit,” Dean muttered under his breath, his usually playful demeanour replaced with irritation. Seth’s face darkened as he quickened his pace, Roman following suit, his eyes narrowing as he took in the sight of Hunter Helmsley. The man wasn’t just an annoyance; he was a constant reminder of the grip he and his wife Stephanie had on the trio, and by extension, Roman’s life.

Hunter straightened up as they approached. “Evening, gentleman. Sorry to crash the party, but this is urgent.”

“Doesn’t it always seem to be?” Seth shot back, his tone laced with sarcasm as he unlocked his truck.

The girls sensed the change in the air and exchanged concerned glances. Leila moved closer to Seth, while Renée gave Dean a questioning look. Maria, on the other hand, seemed more put out than worried, her pout growing more pronounced by the second.

Roman glanced at her, reading the frustration in her eyes. She hated being left out of things, hated even more that Hunter’s appearance meant the night wasn’t going to end how she’d hoped. She was acting out, and Roman could feel the tautness growing between them, the unspoken challenge in her gaze.

“I’ll call a cab for you all,” Roman said, pulling out his phone. He exchanged a look with Dean, who nodded, and Seth, who was already on the phone with the cab company.

Leila squeezed Seth’s arm. “Are you sure everything’s okay?”

Seth nodded, his expression softening slightly as he reassured her. “Yeah, babe. Just some business we gotta handle. I’ll see you soon.”

Renée gave Dean a quick kiss, muttering something about not doing anything stupid, to which Dean grinned and promised nothing of the sort. But Maria remained stiff beside Roman, her irritation palpable.

“You’re just gonna send me off like that?” Maria’s voice had that high-pitched edge to it, one that Roman had become all too familiar with. It was the tone she used when she was testing him, pushing his buttons to see how far she could go. “I thought this was your night.”

Roman turned to her, glaring down at her. “It is my night. Which means I have to deal with this first. I’ll call you when we’re done here, okay?”

Maria crossed her arms, her frown deepening. “Fine. But you better not keep me waiting all night, Roman.”

His eyes darkened as he closed the space between them, lowering his head to speak directly into her ear, his words meant only for her. “You know I ain’t gon’ do that to you, amore. I said I’ll call, and when I see you, I want you to wear that thing I like… you know which one?”

She felt a shudder down her spine at his words, his low whisper one of her favourite sounds. “Yeah…”

“Bene… So, go back to your place,” he continued, bringing his hand up to trace his thumb over her lower lip. “And I’ll see you later, yeah?”

A flush crept up her neck as she realised he was serious. The edge of brattiness in her demeanour softened, replaced with something more compliant, more submissive. Roman knew she liked the chase, the control he had in these specific moments. It was a dynamic they both enjoyed, even if they wouldn’t admit it openly.

She nodded, her voice a little breathless now. “Va bene, Papi…”

Roman gave her a final nod, then watched as she and the other girls climbed into the cab Seth had called. As the car pulled away, Maria’s eyes stayed locked on Roman’s until they disappeared into the night.

With the girls gone, the mood shifted entirely. Roman turned back to Hunter, who had been watching the entire exchange with a mildly amused look on his face. Seth and Dean flanked Roman as they approached Hunter, the three of them forming a united front.

“This better be good, Helmsley,” Dean said lowly.

Hunter didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he reached inside his jacket and pulled out a thin manila folder, handing it over to Roman. “We need eyes on both of them,” he said, all business.

Roman took the folder, his brow furrowing as he opened it and pulled out the sheet of paper inside. The first name on the list was one he recognised immediately—Dimitri Volkov. He’d heard of the man before, a figure in the Russian sector with connections to some dangerous circles. Roman’s family had dealings with the Russians before, but Dimitri was someone they’d kept their distance from. Volkov was known to be unpredictable, ruthless.

But it was the second name that made Roman’s blood run cold. He didn’t need to read the full report to know what this meant. His eyes flicked to the second name, and for a moment, he couldn’t fathom what he was seeing.

“Fuck,” Roman muttered under his breath, his voice barely above a whisper.

Seth and Dean, noticing the shift in Roman’s demeanour, leaned in to see the name for themselves. Seth’s jaw clenched, and Dean’s features turned to stone.

“Jesus Christ,” Dean breathed, running a hand through his hair. “What the hell are we getting into now?”

Roman handed the folder to Seth, who quickly scanned the details, his face hardening with every word. “This is bad,” he finally said tightly. “Really fucking bad.”

Hunter nodded grimly. “We’re not asking you to take action. Just keep your eyes open. Report anything suspicious. We need to know what they’re planning for shit hits the fan.”

Mind racing, Roman tried to piece together the implications of this new development. Dimitri Volkov was dangerous, but the second name—no, he didn’t see that one coming. And to be associated with Volkov of all people? Damn.

Seth closed the folder, handing it back to Hunter. “We’ll do it,” he said. “But we’re not your fucking errand boys. Remember that.”

Hunter gave them a curt nod. “I wouldn’t dream of forgetting. Just do your part, and we’ll all get through this.”

With that, Hunter turned and walked away, leaving the three men standing in the parking lot, the weight of their task settling heavy on their shoulders.

“Let’s get back to my place,” Seth finally said, breaking the tense silence. “We need to figure out what the fuck we’re gonna do.”

As the three of them drove away in Seth’s truck, Roman’s thoughts kept drifting back to that second name. So unexpected. A shame, even. But at the end of the day, even Roman knew that anyone who acquires a Volkov as an ally, is one dangerous son of a bitch.

⋆༺𓆩☠︎︎𓆪༻⋆

Nate stood poised, her stance grounded and shoulders relaxed as she squeezed the trigger of her Desert Eagle, sending another round straight into the forehead of the paper target hanging a dozen yards away.

The target bore the smirking visage of Boris, his smug expression now riddled with bullet holes. Nate lowered her gun slightly, exhaling a controlled breath as smoke curled from the barrel. The scent of gunpowder lingered in the cool, crisp air, mingling with the faint aroma of cedar that permeated the indoor range.

She adjusted her provocative earmuffs, momentarily silencing the aggressive beats of Marilyn Manson’s “The Fight Song” blaring through the Bluetooth speaker perched on a nearby shelf. The music reverberated off the concrete walls, matching the intensity simmering beneath her calm exterior.

Nate ejected the empty magazine with a swift motion, her fingers deftly retrieving a fresh clip from the table beside her. As she reloaded, her mind wandered, replaying the events of the past few days with a clarity that was both unsettling and exhilarating.

A month ago, it would have been Roman’s face adorning that target, his dark brown eyes and arrogant smirk serving as motivation for her impeccable aim. She would have taken pleasure in imagining each bullet tearing through his likeness, a symbolic victory over the man who had been a thorn in her family’s side for, apparently, a decade.

But now, as she stared into the paper eyes of Boris, Nate realised with a wry smirk that her animosity had shifted. Boris represented everything she despised—entitlement, arrogance, and the suffocating expectations of her father. Roman, on the other hand… Well, Roman was complicated.

She slammed the magazine into place, the metallic click echoing through the empty range. Complicated was an understatement. The memory of that night in Red Hook flashed through her mind, unbidden and vivid. The adrenaline-fuelled chaos of Bunny’s compound had spilled over into a different kind of frenzy between them—a collision of wills and desires that left her breathless and more than a little conflicted. It had been raw, intense, and utterly unexpected.

But she could vividly remember the way his ridiculously large hand took a hold of her throat, damn near cutting off circulation, and she could still feel the after effects of his size. She didn’t even get to take a look at him like that, but she sure felt it. It was like he was still there, the slight discomfort between her legs forcing her to relive it. But it wasn’t supposed to have happened. Nate shook her head, attempting to dislodge the lingering images that threatened to distract her. She was here to clear her mind, not dwell on questionable decisions made under the influence of hormones and poor judgement.

Still, she couldn’t deny that it had been some of the best sex she’d had in… Well, years. Maybe ever. But perhaps that was just the drought talking. It had been a long time since she’d let anyone get close, let alone someone like Roman.

She raised the gun again, taking aim at Boris’ already decimated face. The weight of the weapon was comforting, grounding her in the present as she focused her breathing. Inhale, exhale. Squeeze.

Another shot rang out, the bullet piercing through the centre of Boris’ forehead, right between his cold, dead eyes. Satisfying.

Nate allowed herself a small, triumphant smile as she lowered the gun once more, rolling her shoulders to release some of the tension coiled there. Her leg throbbed faintly, a reminder of the injury she’d sustained during the ambush. The wound was healing well, thanks to Roman’s impromptu field dressing and a subsequent visit to a discreet family doctor. The stitches itched beneath the bandage, but she welcomed the discomfort—it kept her alert, reminded her of the stakes.

That morning, she’d sent a terse text to Roman on her burner phone, requesting a call later in the afternoon. There was information he needed to know—details about the assailants at Bunny’s compound that hadn’t fully registered 100% in the heat of the moment but had crystalised in her mind over the past couple of days.

As bullets had rained down around them, Nate had caught a glimpse of a distinctive emblem above one of the tail lights of the attackers’ vehicle—a lineup of green, white, and orange. It was a flag most people recognised when faced with it, but to Nate, it ran so much deeper. So deep, in fact, that she began to second guess herself and her intuitions during this whole situation.

And if who she thought was involved was involved, things were about to get a hell of a lot more complicated.

Nate set the gun down on the table, flexing her fingers to release the residual tension. The music shifted to “The Last Day on Earth,” a much darker, slower track with a haunting melody. She closed her eyes for a moment, letting the sound wash over her as she pieced together her thoughts.

We are trembling in our crutches,

High and dead, our skin is glass.

Transparency. That’s what she’d demanded from Roman, and that’s what she intended to give in return. As much as it went against her instincts, against years of training to trust no one and reveal nothing, she knew that withholding this information would do more damage than good.

Her phone vibrated on the table, pulling her from her reverie. She glanced at the screen—just a notification from Lana, sending her updates on some new fashion line she’d invested in. Nate smiled faintly, appreciating the normalcy amidst the chaos. She typed a quick reply before setting the phone back down, her gaze drifting back to the target downrange. Boris’ face was nearly unrecognisable now, the paper shredded and hanging in tatters.

It was a fitting representation of her feelings toward him. The thought of being forced into marriage with that insufferable prick once again made her want to throw up everywhere.

The aura of the estate since Dimitri had sprung the news on her with the same casual indifference he used when discussing business deals, had taken a nosedive. And now that Boris was moving in, now that she was expected to share a bed with the man…. It was enough to make her consider drastic measures.

But then there was Roman. The memory of how alive he made her feel, his strength, the way he’d looked at her with that infuriating mix of arrogance and desire—it all made her question her own judgement. Getting involved with him was dangerous on so many levels, but at this point, she couldn’t deny the pull. It was like being drawn to a storm—chaotic, unpredictable, and exhilarating.

Nate’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching. After the ambush, she’d been on edge a little more than usual. She tensed instinctively, her hand moving toward the gun before recognising the familiar gait of Olga, her father’s secretary.

She entered the range, giving Nate a small nod of acknowledgement. “Practising again, Natalka?” she asked.

Nate offered her a small smile, easing her stance. “Always. Can’t get rusty, now.”

Olga chuckled, her gaze drifting to the obliterated target downrange. “Seems Boris has had a rough day.”

“Just getting started,” Nate’s smile widened.

Olga maintained a sense of professionalism at all times whenever at the estate, purely due to Dimitri’s vice-like grip on all employees, even his own family. But she relaxed a little in Nate’s presence. A little being the operative phrase. Olga was still fully aware of how dangerous Nate could be when pushed wrong, but she was nowhere near as patronising and overpowering as her father.

“Mr. Volkov is looking for you,” she said gently. “He wants to discuss some arrangements.”

Nate’s smile vanished, replaced by a mask of indifference. “Let me guess—more wedding plans?”

Olga’s expression was somewhat sympathetic. “Perhaps. But you know how he is. Best not keep him waiting.”

Nate nodded, suppressing the surge of frustration rising within her. “I’ll be there soon. Thanks, Olga.”

The smaller woman adjusted her blazer and nodded, before turning on her heel and leaving the range, the door closing softly behind her.

Alone once more, Nate exhaled slowly, trying to centre herself. She glanced at her watch—still a couple of hours before she’d expect a call from Roman. Plenty of time to face her father and whatever new demands he had for her.

⋆༺𓆩☠︎︎𓆪༻⋆

Roman sat on the patio of his villa in Pensacola, the warm Florida sun casting a golden glow over the pristine stretch of beach in front of him. The sound of waves gently lapping against the short was a soothing balm after the chaos of New York, and for the first time in days, he felt some of the tension begin to ease from his shoulders. This place was a sanctuary, far removed from the storm brewing in his other life.

But the peace was short-lived.

From inside the villa, the sharp, pointed voice of Maria echoed through the open French doors, cutting through the calm like a knife. Roman sighed, running a hand through his hair, now loose and tousled from the sea breeze. He’d invited her down here as part of his effort to be the father Ava needed, and because Maria had made it abundantly clear that she expected him to be more involved. But he knew better than to think Maria would let him enjoy this trip without a few verbal jabs.

“Roman, are you even listening to me?” Maria appeared in the doorway, her hands on her hips.

He took a deep breath, forcing a calm smile onto his face as he turned to look at her. “Yeah, Maria, I hear you. Just tryin’ to enjoy a minute of peace, is all.”

She scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “Peace? Must be nice to have that luxury. Meanwhile, I’ve been dealing with everything here while you’re off playing gangsters in New York.”

He bit back a retort, reminding himself that Ava was the reason they were all there together, not for them to rehash old arguments. “Look, I came down here and let you stay so I could spend more time with Ava, like you asked. Ain’t that what you wanted?”

Maria’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Oh, so now it’s what I wanted? Don’t act like you’re doing me a favour, Romano. You should have been doing this from that start.”

Roman felt the familiar burn of frustration rising in his chest but kept his expression neutral. “Yeah, maybe you’re right. But I’m here now. That count for somethin’, don’t it?”

Maria’s lips pursed as if she was considering a cutting response, but instead, she just huffed and turned away, retreating back inside. Roman watched her go, shaking his head slightly. This was the dance they always did whenever they saw each other—one step forward, two steps back. No matter what he did, it was never enough for her.

He leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes for a moment, trying to focus on the sound of the waves again. But even with his eyes closed, he could hear Maria in the background, talking to Ava in that overly sweet tone she used when she wanted to make a point in front of him.

“Dai, Ava, let’s go inside and get ready for lunch. Daddy’s busy out here.”

Roman’s jaw clenched at the passive-aggressive dig, but he forced himself to relax, letting it all roll off his back. It wasn’t worth it. Not today.

“Daddy, are you coming too?” Ava’s voice broke through his thoughts, soft and hopeful.

He opened his eyes and turned to see his daughter standing in the doorway, her big eyes looking at him expectantly. She was holding a seashell in one hand, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

“Course I am, princess,” he replied, his tone warm as he stood up and walked over to her. He ruffled her hair gently, earning a giggle from her. “You find somethin’ cool out there?”

Ava nodded eagerly, holding up the seashell for him to see. “Look! It’s got a little hole in it, like a necklace.”

Roman took the shell from her, inspecting it with exaggerated interest. “Wow, that’s somethin’ special, huh? Maybe we can make you a necklace outta it later.”

Ava’s eyes lit up, and she nodded again, more enthusiastically this time. “Yeah! Can we, Daddy?”

He smiled, genuinely this time, and handed the shell back to her. “You bet, kiddo. We’ll make it real nice.”

Maria appeared behind Ava, her arms still crossed, but her expression had softened slightly as she watched the interaction between Roman and their daughter. “Lunch is almost ready,” she said more neutrally. “Don’t keep her waiting too long.”

Roman nodded, placing a hand on Ava’s back to gently guide her inside. “We’ll be right there.”

As they walked inside, Maria lingered by the door, her eyes narrowing slightly as she watched Roman with Ava. She didn’t say anything, but he could feel the weight of her gaze on him, the unspoken expectations hanging between them.

Once inside, Ava ran ahead to the dining room, eager to show off her shell to Roman’s chef. Roman paused in the hallway, glancing at Maria, who was still watching him closely.

“Listen, Maria,” he began, lowering his voice. “I know I ain’t been the perfect father. But I’m here now, and I’m tryin’. I want what’s best for Ava, just like you do.”

Although she didn’t let go of her defensive stance, she did chill out a bit with the glaring. “I know you love her, Roman. But she needs more than just a few visits. She needs consistency.”

Roman nodded, understanding her point, even if he didn’t like the way she went about making it. “You’re right. I’m gonna do better. But you gotta meet me halfway, alright? It’s a two person job, whether we like it or not.”

Maria’s eyes searched his for a moment before she sighed, some of the tension leaving her body. “Alright. But don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

He gave her a small, almost weary smile. “I won’t.”

With that, they both headed into the dining room, where Ava was already chattering away with the chef, her excitement infectious. Roman took a seat next to her, listening to her talk with a smile.

But honestly… as guilty as it made him feel, his mind was elsewhere.

That morning, just as he’d settled into the idea of a quiet few days in Florida, a text from Nate had popped up on his phone:

We need to talk. It’s urgent. Call me this afternoon.

The message had been a sucker punch, coming out of nowhere when all he wanted was to disconnect from New York’s bullshit. He’d hoped she’d disappear from his radar for a while, let him regroup, but of course, Nate had to stir the pot just as he was trying to enjoy some rare time with his daughter.

Now it was lunchtime, and he was already calculating how he could sneak away for a call later on. It wasn’t just the logistics that bothered him; it was the gnawing guilt that came with it. He knew Nate wasn’t aware of his situation down here, of the fragile balance he was trying to maintain with Maria and Ava. But that didn’t stop the resentment from bubbling up.

Still, Maria’s eyes were on him, watching like a hawk as he tried to stay focused on Ava’s animated story about the shell she’d found. Her gaze was sharp, unrelenting, as if she could sense the disruption to his peace before he’d even said a word.

“You’re quiet,” Maria commented, her tone deceptively light as she took a sip of wine. “Something on your mind?”

Roman forced a smile, shaking his head. “Just enjoyin’ bein’ here, that’s all.”

Maria wasn’t buying it, he could tell. But before she could press any further, Ava tugged on his sleeve, demanding his attention. “Daddy, can we go to the beach after lunch? To make the necklace?”

He smiled down at her, his hand resting on her small shoulder. “Sure thing, princess. We’ll go right after.”

Maria didn’t say anything, but Roman could feel it. He knew she wasn’t going to let it slide if he disappeared somewhere for a call later. But you know… he’d figure it out. Always did, right?

After lunch, when Ava had gone to get her bucket and spade, Maria cornered him in the kitchen.

“You’re hiding something,” she said with an accusatory tone. “What’s going on, Roman?”

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “It’s nothin’ that concerns you, that’s for damn sure. Just some business shit.”

Maria narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Business with who? Who is more important than your daughter right now?”

“Nobody’s more important than Ava, don’t even go there,” Roman slid past Maria, shaking his head. “I ain’t in the mood to talk shop when I’m here tryin’ to spend time with our daughter.”

Maria wasn’t letting up, though. “If you’re gonna be here, be here. Not off in New York in your head.”

He clenched his jaw, knowing she did have a point but entirely unwilling to admit it. “I told you I’m handling it. Just drop it, I’m tired of repeatin’ shit.”

She opened her mouth to argue, but Ava came running back into the room, excitement radiating from the small human’s body. “Daddy, I’m ready!”

Maria threw her hands up, giving him a pointed look. “Fine, fanculo a me, cosa ne so?” she murmured to herself as she left the two alone. But Roman just ignored his ex-wife, crouching down in front of Ava to move some of her hair back to the correct side of her parting.

“Let’s go make that necklace, huh?”

Roman tried to enjoy his time at the beach with his daughter, his only child, but that nagging feeling in the back of his mind kept growing. In particular, the text from Nate was like an itch he couldn’t scratch. It wasn’t just the urgency of the message, though that was most of it; it was something a little more subtle, something he hated admitting even to himself. There was something about hearing Nate’s voice, something that made him feel more alive than he’d felt in a while. It wasn’t that he liked her—God, no. But she woke him up, made his blood hum with that infuriating confidence of hers, the way she wasn’t scared of him at all. That got under his skin in a way he couldn’t quite shake.

The hours slipped by, and Roman knew he’d have to make the call soon. He tried to push it off, focus on Ava as she splashed in the waves, but Maria’s mood swings weren’t helping. She was being her usual insufferable self, nitpicking every little thing. And when she complained about them being out of orange juice, he saw his chance. Finally.

“I’ll go grab some,” he offered, already standing up before Maria could even argue. He didn’t wait for her to say anything else, just headed back to the house to grab his keys, telling Ava he’d be back soon.

As he drove to the store, he kept glancing at his phone, feeling that familiar combination of annoyance and anticipation. By the time he pulled into the parking lot, he was ready to just get it over with. He parked, checked his surroundings, and then dialled Nate’s number on his burner phone.

She answered on the third ring, her voice carrying that familiar edge of confidence. “Reigns.”

“Hey, Princess,” he drawled, the nickname mockingly rolling off his tongue with ease.

There was a brief pause on the other end, and he could almost picture the eye roll and the light grimace on her face. “Look at you calling me when you actually said you would… I’m shocked.”

Roman couldn’t help but smile. “Don’t get used to it. You said it was urgent, so I figured I’d give you the honour of hearin’ my voice.”

“Lucky me,” Nate shot back, very little heat behind her words. If anything, she sounded… amused. “Where are you anyway? Dad said movement’s been quiet.”

“Y’know that doesn’t inspire much trust, knowing that you and your daddy have your eyes on us 24/7, right?”

“Oh, I’m sorry Mr. I’m the Head of the Table, your Tribal Chief,” she deepened her tone, clearly attempting a half-hearted impression of him. “You can’t handle a little bit of surveillance?”

“A’ight…” Roman rolled his eyes. “If you must know, I’m in Florida. Visitin’ some family.” He didn’t really want to give too much away, and didn't feel the need to divulge his personal issues with someone he barely trusted. That was a card he intended to keep close to his chest.

“Family, eh?” Nate’s accent was laced with curiosity. “Everything alright?”

Roman narrowed his brows at the unexpected layer of concern in her voice. “Is this your way of tellin’ me you care?”

Nate’s laugh was sharp, almost bitter. “Not particularly. But anything’s better than listening to Boris go on about exercises for the male genitalia.”

Roman barked out a laugh before he could stop himself. “What, you’re not into that, Princess?”

“Ugh, you’re disgusting,” she retorted, but he could hear that faintest hint of a smile in her voice. It was almost too easy.

“So what’s this urgent thing?” Roman asked, steering the conversation back on track. He didn’t want to linger too long on the banter, not when he was already feeling more affected by Nate than he liked.

She hesitated for a moment before she answered seriously. “It’s about the, uh… ambush,” she breathed. “Now that a few days has passed, things have kind of… pieced together.” She paused. “The car that rushed us. There was a… flag above the tail lights. I think—think—I know who did it.”

That caught Roman’s attention. He straightened in his seat. “Who?”

Nate sighed. “I’m not comfortable saying it over the phone, okay? But I will say this—I don’t think Bunny or any of his guys actually have anything to do with the shipment being stolen, or in taking out Priest.”

“You sure?” Roman asked through a jolt of surprise.

“Pretty sure,” Nate replied firmly. “But I need to explain it in person. It’s… complicated.”

Roman rubbed his jaw, considering her words. If she was right, this had the potential to change… a lot of things. New leads, new locations. “Alright. When I’m back, we’ll meet up. Your place in Tribeca sound good?”

The suggestion hung in the air for a moment, and Roman almost expected Nate to laugh it off. But when she answered, it was calm, resigned. “Yeah. My place.”

He was shocked she agreed so easily, but it made sense. Her penthouse was private, secure. She had control over the security, the way they entered the building. If they were going to have a serious conversation, that was the place to do it.

“Fine, fine… Gives us a chance to go over how we’re gonna tell the others. I’ll be back in a couple days.”

There was a brief silence, and then Nate’s voice softened slightly. “Roman?”

“Yeah?”

“...Be careful, okay?”

Roman frowned, caught off guard. “Why, you worried?”

Nate laughed wistfully. “No. But if you get yourself into trouble, who’s gonna make my life miserable?”

He shook his head, a small smile playing at the corner of his mouth. “I’m sure Boris has that job down,” he snorted. “But I’ll be careful for your ass, anyways, Princess. See you soon.”

Ending the call, he leaned back in his seat and stared out at the parking lot. The conversation had left him feeling… unsettled. He didn’t like how easily he could converse with Nate, how much he… looked forward to their verbal sparring.

As he got out of the car and headed into the grocery store, he pushed those thoughts aside. He had other things to worry about—like getting the orange juice before Maria threw another fit. But in the back of his mind, Nate’s voice lingered—as it fucking always did—and he just sensed that their next meeting was about to open a whole can of worms.

He just wasn’t prepared for how personal the can of worms would turn out to be.

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