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wiypt-writes · 4 years ago

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Riding On

Ch23: Unnamed, Generic Baked Item

Summary: Fliss picks her wedding dress, whilst Frank has some great inspiration about a birthday present for his future wife…

Warnings: Bad language, 18+, Smut (NSFW 18+)

Pairing: Frank Adler x OFC Fliss Gallagher

A/N: This is totally dedicated to @sweater-daddiesdumbdork . But it’s still a f**kin’ biscuit!

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Fliss Gallagher and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Riding On Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Chapter 22

“Mary, enough!” Frank’s voice rose and Mary glared at him, folding her arms.

“This is so unfair!” She exclaimed and Frank took a deep breath as he fed Alex another spoonful of porridge.

“You know what? You might think that, and I’m not even digging into the reasons why you’re wrong, but Fliss is already nervous enough about today and you kicking up a fuss over it is not going to help,” Frank levelled her with a look, “so get it out of your system right now, because if you’re still moaning when she comes down the stairs, you and me are going to fall out. Big time.”

Mary blinked, and then frowned. “What’s she nervous about? She’s only picking a dress.”

“Because it’s her wedding dress. It’s a big deal.”

“Which is why I wanna go!”

“And it’s also why you’re not!” Frank shot back, turning and feeding Alex some more as the baby had started to protest due to his dad’s attention being elsewhere. “Stack, you got bored within twenty minutes when they took you for your bridesmaid dress last week, so no, you’re staying here.”

“But-“

“It’s not open for debate,” Frank’s voice dropped even further, the warning tone unmistakable, “but feel free to carry on, see where it gets you.”

Mary was saved the trouble of responding as, at that point, Alex gave a loud yell and the bowl of porridge Frank had been feeding him from was knocked from his hands and landed all over the leg of his jeans. There was a pause, as Frank glanced down at the slop spreading over his thigh before he looked at Alex whose eyes were watering and seconds later a loud wail of frustration at the lack of food burst from his son’s mouth.

“For fffff sake, why?” Frank groaned, cutting the swear word short as he ran his hand through his messy hair, shaking his head.

“You know, I’m not much of one for all that fate and philosophy stuff,” his mother spoke as she walked into the kitchen, “but this, Frank, really does feel like straight up karma.”

Frank glared at her as he stood up and took the tea towel from the side and wiped at his jeans. “Fuck my life,” he muttered under his breath as Thor happily trotted over to the spilt porridge on the floor, cleaning it up with laps of his large tongue, Fred also hopping down off the seat at the breakfast bar to investigate the coveted, spilt human food.

“Karma for what?” Mary asked, from where she’d successfully manage to distract Alex from his tears by waving his little stuffed lion at him, the baby making grabbing gestures towards it.

“His own spectacular ability to misbehave.” Evelyn looked at Mary as she handed Alex the toy. “You know, he once sat down in the middle of a supermarket and refused to leave because I told him that it was Wednesday and Wednesday does not begin with the letter S”

Mary roared with laughter as Frank tossed the dirty towel into the sink before reaching into the cupboard for another jar of baby porridge.

“Look, that big yellow feathered bastard on Sesame Street told me that day was brought to me by the letter S.” He looked at Evelyn, then to Mary who was still howling with laughter, Alex now joining in, all tears forgotten. “He lied.”

“That was a particularly furious melt down, Francis.” Evelyn grinned and Frank rolled his eyes as he got the replacement porridge ready.

“What did you do?” Mary asked.

“It was your Grandfather that sorted him out, darling. He threw Frank over his shoulder and carried him straight out of the shop. I don’t know what he said or did, but by the time I got back to the car Frank was quiet as a mouse.”

“I think he threatened to feed me to said big yellow feathered bastard.” Frank chuckled as he sat back down and offered Alex another spoon of porridge which the baby eagerly took, making little appreciative noises as he did so. “Did you not notice I never watched another episode?”

“Another episode of what?” Fliss asked, and Frank looked up smiling at her as she crossed the room, Alex’s noises getting more excited as he looked at his momma.

“Sesame Street.” Evelyn supplied as Frank gave Alex another spoon of his breakfast, as Fliss dropped a kiss first on Mary’s head, then Alex’s, before finally pressing one to Frank’s cheek

“I’m not even gonna ask.” She snorted, moving to pour herself a coffee.

“Probably wise.” Mary nodded and at that Frank laughed.

“First sensible thing you’ve said all morning.” He teased, drawing another glare from the ten year old.

“Shut up.”

“Erm, enough.” Fliss looked at her, then to Frank. “The pair of you are worse than he is.” She nodded to Alex and then turned to Evelyn, waving the coffee pot in a silent question.

“Oh, no thanks. I had a tea before.” Evelyn smiled.

At that point, Thor gave a little woof and ran to the utility room, as Verity’s voice rang out in greeting.

“Nanny V!” Mary ran to her, giving her a huge hug as Verity smiled, bending down to give her a hug.

“Hey Pudding!” She beamed, standing up, before she glanced around the room, smiling. “Oh, where’s my little man?”

“I suspect at home on the sofa.” Frank quipped, earning him a light slap round the head as Verity leaned down to give Alex’s head a soft kiss, the baby laughing and grabbing at her hair. Frank hastily un-fisted Alex’s fingers from his Nanna’s auburn locks and handed him the spoon to play with instead.

“You ready?” Verity asked, looking at Fliss. She nodded, taking a large gulp of coffee before setting the mug down on the side.

“I’ll just go grab my purse.”

As Fliss left the room, Frank looked at Verity. “She’s nervous. A little overwhelmed I think.”

“Yeah, well it’s getting nearer and this is a big deal to most girls.” Verity smiled. “Plus, we all know she didn’t get to choose her last one so…”

“Well, let’s do what my mother did to me.” Evelyn smiled, as she looked up from where she’d been examining her lipstick in a pocket mirror. “Ply her with enough champagne and make it fun. She’ll be fine.”

Verity smiled and Frank rolled his eyes. “The last time you two plied her with champagne she barfed all over the bedroom.”

“Well,” Verity smirked, “that’s your problem now, not mine. Lord knows I’ve cleaned up enough of her and Steve’s drunken messes in my lifetime.”

“Thanks V.” Frank nodded seriously. “Thanks, a lot.”

*****

Fliss took a deep breath, zoning out as she rifled through a rack at the back of the room. Verity, Evelyn, Bonnie and Sian were all chatting away behind her but it was merely background noise as she scanned dress after dress, nothing catching her eye.

“Have you any idea on what you want?” A soft voice behind her made her jump and she turned to see the assistant, a slight, grey haired woman called Sofia who had been assigned to help them today.

“Nope.” Fliss sighed. “I’m sorry, I’m totally useless.”

Sofia laughed and shook her head. “Don’t worry about it Miss Gallagher, a lot of women come in with either no ideas at all or tonne of ideas that don’t work out. If you don’t know what you want, do you know what you don’t want?”

“Yeah, that’s easy.” Fliss nodded. “I don’t want anything huge, or full of tulle or, you know-” she held her arms out to the side. “-princess bride like. Did that last time, hated it.”

“In that case we can completely ignore these two racks!” Sofia smiled and Fliss grinned as she allowed the woman to lead her a little further round the room. “And that’s half the battle. So, have you been anywhere else before here?”

“Two other boutiques.” Fliss nodded. “And I found nothing.”

“You know, most people think it’s all easy and fun hunting for dresses but, well, I know when I was looking it was so stressful!”

“You’re not wrong.” Fliss stopped at one dress which had caught her attention. It was a plain, off white colour with a simple skirt and bodice with a little beaded detail and chunky straps. “I kinda like the cut of this one.”

“Ah, a trumpet cut.” Sofia supplied, nodding.

“But I don’t know about the neckline, it’s a little…”

“Boring.” Sofia smiled as Fliss snorted. “But, we’ll take it for reference.” The woman lifted it off the rack, placing it onto the rail she’d wheeled alongside them. “So where are you getting married?”

“St Pete’s Public Access.” Fliss smiled. “Which is another reason I don’t want a huge dress. I’ll melt.”

Sofia laughed. “Not to mention the sand getting stuck in it.” She grinned. “Okay, what about this one?”

She lifted a similar cut dress off the rail, this one with a slightly more detailed neckline and Fliss nodded. “Yeah, I quite like that.”

“And this one.”

As Sofia held up the third dress, Fliss paused, tilting her head to one side. “I love the back of this.” Sofia gushed, turning it round. “It’s so detailed.”

“It’s beautiful.” Fliss smiled, her hand reaching out to brush the detailed lace as she studied the garment in front of her.

“Oh, wow!” She heard her mum say and she turned to look at her, then Bonnie who held up the bottle of champagne, Fliss handing over her now empty glass. “Lissy, that’s stunning!”

“It’s gorgeous isn’t it?” Fliss beamed, taking the refilled glass off Bonnie with a thanks.

“The detailing.” Evelyn mused, before she looked at Sofia. “Is that a Nicolle Miller by any chance?”

“Yes.” Sofia looked at Evelyn, frowning, and Fliss turned her head to look at her future mother-in-law, raising an eyebrow.

“She’s from Massachusetts.” Evelyn smiled. “I’ve seen a few of her dresses from time to time, they’re quite recognisable if you know what you’re looking for.”

“My fiancé’s from Boston.” Fliss informed, and Sofia’s mouth made a little O of understanding before she smiled.

“Well, if that isn’t a sign then I don’t know what is.” She beamed. “Would you like to see it on?”

Fliss bit her lip, before she looked at her mum her gave her a huge smile. With a grin on her face, and for the first time that day, a feeling of excitement in her stomach she nodded. Handing her champagne over to Bonnie, she followed Sofia into the changing room at the back, and was soon out of her denim shorts and t-shirt, stepping into the dress. Sofia came in to help her do it up, and it wasn’t even half way fastened before Fliss simply knew this was what she wanted, not even caring it was the first one she’d tried on. Nothing was going to come close to this.

“It’s a little big, around the bust so just give me a second.” Sofia moved to the back of the cubicle and picked up a few clothes pegs, tugging the dress around so it fit right and Fliss smiled, smoothing her hands down over her stomach as she stood, admiring it.

It was hard to guess at the actual shape as its bottom dabbled somewhere between a trumpet and mermaid cut. Her hips were accentuated by the firm fitting cream colored, hand stitched floral lace sewn into a nude overlay. Her back and side panels were completely different. The creamy lace design covered her back and sides with just her soft and delicate skin underneath, the nude underlay that covered her breasts and behind a near match to her skin. It hugged her curves perfectly, the lace covered her shoulders and down her chest in a two finger width and came together in a beautiful heart shape neckline, showing off her delicate décolletage shoulders. It kissed her skin, allowing enough cleavage but much to the imagination as it elegantly, and yet still incredibly sexy, covered her body.

It was something Fliss would never have dreamed of getting married in before but now, well, it felt right. It felt like her.

She took a shaky breath, her vision swimming with tears before she locked eyes with Sofia in the mirror, the older woman giving an appreciative nod. “It looks gorgeous, Honey!” She then handed Fliss a tissue and Fliss took it, giving a little shake of her head.

“I’m sorry, I-“

“Don’t apologise,” Sofia waved her away, “it’s a big thing. Now, you ready to go show the rest of them?”

Fliss nodded and Sofia gathered up the train of the dress, and Fliss stepped out of the little room and into the main area of the boutique. As she moved into the room, the other four women turned to face her and Verity’s hand immediately flew to her mouth.

“What do you think?” Fliss asked, shyly. “I know it’s the first one I’ve tried on but I don’t think I want to bother with anymore, I love it.”

Bonnie raised her eyebrows, her mouth falling open. “Oh my God, Fliss.” She gasped. “It’s…”

“Stunning.” Evelyn nodded in agreement, as Sian gave a hum.

“Liss, you’ll knock him dead.”

Fliss gave a smile and then looked at Verity. “Mum?”

Verity’s hand was shaking as she moved it down, and she opened her mouth, before she closed it again, taking a deep and shuddering breath, Sian curling her arm round her shoulder.

“Oh, Lissy…” Verity sniffed, her face creasing up as the tears began to slide down her cheeks. Immediately, more tissues were offered as Fliss also felt her eyes watering at the sight of her mum crying in front of her.

“Mum, don’t!” She gave a little laugh and Verity shook her head, dabbing at her eye.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart but I never thought I’d be here with you, trying on dresses as last time…” She stopped herself as Sian gave her a squeeze. “And now seeing you there with that look on your face, in that dress, ready to marry a man you deserve to be with, well, this is all I ever wanted for you.”

By the time Verity had finished there wasn’t a dry eye in the room, even Sofia had shed a tear. Verity stepped forward and carefully pulled her daughter into a hug, before she stepped back, kissing her forehead.

“I love you, my baby girl.” She sniffed. “God, your dad is going to bawl his eyes out when he sees this!”

Fliss smiled, and Sofia then directed her onto a little box before she called over to another woman who headed across the room with a tape measure. As they took a few measurements for the alterations, Fliss was vaguely aware that her Mum and Bonnie were both taking a photo, but in all honesty her eyes were glued to her reflection in the mirror in front of her. And she wasn’t looking at her dress. She was fixated on the huge smile that was on her face, a smile that no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stop.

****** “Hey, Stack, how about we go outside for a little while?” Frank opened the door to the den. “Alex has gone down for his nap so it’s just us.”

“In a minute, I’m just looking at something.” She replied, her eyes still on her laptop as she lounged on her beanbag, Heartland playing on the TV in the background.

“Come on, you’ve been sat in here for hours.”

“Yeah but this is really cool.” She looked up. “I’ve been tracing Monty’s lineage again for my collage, and then I got looking at Heidi’s and dug into all this cool info on her and the other horses that she was bred from.”

Frank obliged as Mary gestured to him, taking a seat next to her on the floor as she moved the laptop so he could see it.

“So, this is Heidi, ‘Sandybrook Hideaway’.” Mary’s fingers pointed to the box at the left of the screen. “And this is Heidi’s dad, ‘Louella Inschello’ and this is her mom, ‘Tremontano Esmerelda’. I can go even further back and find like her grandparents and great grandparents all the way into the seventies.”

“How come Heidi had the name Sandybrook?” Frank asked. “And not Louella or Tremontano or whatever?”

“It doesn’t work like with humans.” Mary shrugged. “You can’t use people’s prefixes that don’t belong to you when you’re naming a horse. Fliss said that the people who bred Heidi made the prefix Sandybrook because of their farm being near the beach in England, and there was a brook running alongside the fields. That’s what all their horses then became called, Heidi being the first, look…”

She moved the screen along a little, and Frank traced the little line that ran from Heidi’s name to another box. “’Sandybrook Typhoon’, sire- Renkum Renogade, dam- Sandybrook Hideaway…” he trailed off before he looked at Mary. “Heidi had a baby?”

“Yup.” Mary nodded. “Fliss showed me photos of him on their website. He’s huge. And real pretty. He was a big, fancy dressage horse that one her friends used to compete and they kept him at the stud farm to breed from because he was that pretty, but he died three years ago. He broke his leg and couldn’t get better.”

“Ouch.” Frank grimaced.

Mary nodded. “I know. This was his last foal, look. ‘Sandybrook Cleopatra’. She was born in 2017, and check out her mom’s name.”

“Sandybrook Dirty Diana.” Frank smiled, and let out a chuckle as Mary smiled at him as she clicked on a small link which opened up to show a beautiful bay filly with four white socks and a white blaze. Her face markings instantly struck Frank as being very similar to Heidi’s even if she was a different colour.

“So this would mean that this one is Heidi’s granddaughter?” Frank asked.

“Yup.” Mary nodded.

“That’s pretty cool, Stack.”

“Mom thought so too.” Mary grinned. “She showed me how to do it as I wanted to check out Monty’s history. I asked her about Heidi’s and she showed me this and she was like, really smiling when she saw Cleo, she didn’t know they’d had a foal from Typhoon the year he died. And there’s lots of photos of Heidi as a baby too on their history page, and she has a really cool profile.” She took a pause for breath and Frank gently dropped his hand to the back of her head, smiling at her enthusiasm. “They added a bit last week to say she’d died and it’s kinda sad but also kinda nice. They thanked Fliss her for giving her a wonderful home and said there was no one better on the Earth for your horse to be sold to than an Olympic Gold Medal winner.”

“How did they know she’d died?” Frank asked. “Did Fliss call them?”

“She emailed them. She said she had also asked them about Cleopatra.”

“Asked about her? You mean to buy?”

“I think so.” Mary nodded. “She sold Bronson the other month and now Heidi is gone she only has Cap left.”

“Yeah, I know. She mentioned maybe getting another but I didn’t know she’d been looking.”

“I don’t think she has, it’s just because she saw Cleopatra. I mean, it would be cool if she did buy her.” Mary shrugged. “She’s a part of Heidi in a way isn’t she?”

“Yeah, suppose she is.” Frank mused. “So, was Fliss not sure about her then or…”

“She said she liked her.” Mary shrugged. “But she’s not for sale on the website so I don’t know what they said. They might have said no, or maybe it’s because she’s busy. You know what she’s like.”

Frank did, only too well. When it came to buying things for herself to enjoy, Fliss was actually very reserved. She didn’t think twice about buying stuff for the house, or for the family, or her work, but her own, personal things, she seemed to have a real reticence to simply splurge on, and he had a feeling that went back to when she’d been married previously.

As his eyes flicked over the details on the screen, an idea flashed in his head. And it was a crazy one but…

“What do you think she would do if we bought her one for her birthday?” He turned to Mary.

“What, bought her a horse?”

“Yeah.”

“This horse?” Mary pointed at the screen to the picture of the bay mare and Frank nodded.

“Yeah.”

“Probably call you a crazy asshole, start crying and say it’s the best present ever.” Mary looked at him and Frank chuckled.

“I can live with that.”

“You know, you better hurry up if you’re gonna do it. Mom’s birthday is like, weeks away!”

“It’s not until the end of July.” Frank replied. “We got nearly two months. Do you not think that will be enough time?”

“I don’t know, I’ve never shipped a horse over here from England!” Mary scoffed, before they shared a look, almost identical expressions of realisation crossing their faces as they instantly realised they both knew someone who had. “Poppa Bill!” Mary stated excitedly. “He’ll help!”

“Sure he will.” Frank nodded. “Right, you better get me the email address, Stack. And not a word of this to Mom okay? This is top secret.”

“What do you take me for?” Mary looked at him indignantly and Frank looked at her, raising an eyebrow.

“You really want me to answer that?”

Mary pondered for a moment before she snorted. “Not really.”

******

“So, did you have a nice time today?” Frank asked as they lay in bed later that night.

“Yeah.” Fliss smiled, snuggling further into his chest as his hand gently ran up and down her arm, his fingers softly tickling her skin. “I did.”

“Good.” He kissed her head. “I’m glad. You were so worried about it all.”

“That obvious, huh?” She sighed and Frank chuckled.

“To me, yeah.” He shifted a little to look down at her. “But that’s only because I know you so well.”

“I didn’t know what to expect.” She shrugged. “I was just a little overwhelmed at the thought, you know, of having to make the decision but when we got to the first shop, I dunno, I kinda realised that I’ve been making decisions about our wedding all along. And, when it came down to it, it wasn’t really that much different to when we picked your suit.”

Frank chuckled. “To be fair, Sweetheart, we’d been in the shop all of five minutes before you spotted the one you liked.”

“Hey, it wasn’t just me.” She protested, tilting her head to look at him. “You liked it too.”

“I do.” Frank agreed. “But I saw the look on your face when you saw it which is what completely sold it to me.”

A lightweight wool three piece suit dyed a stunning steel blue shade had fit Frank expertly. It made his eyes pop and the crisp white button down underneath offered a nice contrast. But what made Fliss fall for the ensemble was the tie. The flash of burgundy, sand, white and grey stood out against the white dress shirt with the stripes of blue pulling in the blue of the three piece. The tailor suggested a printed silk pocket swath with polka dots and paisley printed against a deep blue background.

Frank caught Fliss’ eye in the mirror as the tailor straightened the back of his jacket and arched his brow. She hastily released her lip from between his teeth and gave him a little sheepish look, and he bit back the snort at the fact he’d just caught her looking at him in the way she usually did when she was feeling a little bit ‘frisky’ for want of a better word.

“But I’m clean.” Frank joked, causing the tailor to look up a little, puzzled expression on his face and Fliss laughed.

“Yeah, well this is clearly your Professor look, not the dirty boat daddy one.”

At that the tailor scooted off, Frank watching him go before he turned to Fliss and shook his head. “You’re terrible, you know that?”

She shrugged and smiled as she looked him up and down appraisingly, stepping forward and smoothing her hands up the lapels of the jacket. “You look incredibly handsome, babe.”

Frank gave her a smile and leaned down, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. “You almost sound surprised.”

“Not at all.” Fliss shook her head.

A cough from the tailor interrupted them as he had returned with a shoe box and Frank gave him a nod as Fliss stepped back. Once he had laced up the shiny, burnt brown oxfords, Frank moved again to take in the final, finished look and took a deep breath, smiling.

He liked it. A lot.

“So basically, you picked the first suit you tried on and I picked the first dress I tried on.” Fliss snorted and Frank shrugged. “We’re getting married on the beach, having what is basically a barn dance with food trucks…are we taking any of this seriously?”

“Nope.” Frank shook his head and Fliss laughed again as he moved, rolling her a little so she was on her back and he was hovering over her. “But, I think both of us have taken life far too seriously for far too long enough, time for a little fun.”

“Well that fills me full of confidence since we’re writing our own declarations.” She teased and Frank arched his brow.

“You’re talking to an ex Philosophy Professor-”

“Assistant-“

“Whatever, the point is, I’m very good with words.” Frank smirked and Fliss scoffed. “I got you to go on a date with me, didn’t I?”

“That wasn’t down to your words.” Fliss shook her head.

“No? Was it my devastating good looks?”

“That and the fact you’re basically the best man I’ve ever met.” Fliss smiled. “Well, apart from my dad. And Steve. So you’re definitely in the top three best men I’ve ever met.”

Frank laughed and took a deep breath, before he moved, propping himself up a little on his elbow, brushing Fliss’ hair back off her face. “Joking aside, marrying you is something I’m taking very seriously. I can’t wait to say ‘I do,’ get that ring on your finger and finally call you my wife as well as the mother of my kids. But the minute that bit is done then, all bets are off. No stuffy formalities, no pointless, boring traditions, well, apart from the ones we decide we wanna uphold and absolutely no vowing to obey,” he looked at her as she took a breath, “which is a relief because, frankly, I don’t want to spend the rest of my life being bossed around.”

Fliss smiled, knowing full well what he was saying. That vow had been one that John had insisted on, and whilst she had never raised the issue to Frank directly, because in all honestly she didn’t feel she needed to, the fact he’d picked up on the way she’d subtly opted for the other vows when they’d had to pick them for the official, made her heart swell in her chest.

“So, I err, I also had another off the wall idea.” Fliss looked at him.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, I know we said we weren’t gonna give each other presents and stuff for the wedding, but, I thought…actually, forget it.”

“No, come on tell me.”

“No, it’s…”

“Liss!” He said, looking at her and she sighed, her eyes moving away from his, scanning the inked words just below his collar bone.

“Tatoos.” She whispered, looking back at him. “I thought, well, that we could get one each. Not matching as such, but you know, for each other.” Frank blinked and she snorted. “See it’s a dumb idea, I just really want another and well, that was another thing I was never allowed, and-”

“I didn’t say it was dumb.” Frank cut her off, shaking his head. “I think it’s a great idea.”

“You do?”

“Yeah, I do.” He nodded. “I’ve been thinking about getting another for a couple of months now, I want one for Alex, so having one for you too, well then I’ve got a full set.”

She smiled, her fingers reaching up and tracing the Taurus on his bicep, Mary’s star sign. “What you thinking of getting for Bean?”

“The time of his birth, and the date underneath all in Roman numerals. On my other arm.”

Fliss beamed. “I love that.” She pondered. “I thought about one for the kids too, maybe on my wrist but I don’t know what yet.”

“Well, l can speak to Jake.” Frank kissed her nose. “He’s fucking sweet at art, tell him what we want he’ll draw us a couple of designs and then we can go to the place I got my last one done and book in.” He paused. “So, where you gonna get the one for me?”

“Well, I errr think, I mean if-” She paused, looking at Frank as he waited for her answer and she realised that for a split second she’d been about to ask his permission. But as he simply looked at her, she licked her lips and smiled. She didn’t need to ask, she could just tell him. “I know exactly where I’m going to have it.”

“Show me.”

“So bossy.” She smirked, pushing on his shoulders and making him sit up. Biting her lip she lifted her cami top up a little, her hand pushing up her left breast and she traced the area underneath, just along her rib cage. “Only you will really see it then, well, other than when I’m in a bikini, I suppose.” She stopped talking as she spotted the familiar darkening in Frank’s eyes as he took her in, his eyes sliding up her frame to meet hers. She bit her lip, smiling as he crawled back over her, pushing her back onto the bed a little, her top still hitched up.

“You know,” his hands gently slid up her side, fingers tracing the spot she was talking about, “that area is supposedly quite sensitive.”

“Really?” She whispered, her eyes closing.

“Hmmhmmm.” He hummed, dropping his head, placing a soft kiss just there, and her breath hitched, before she emitted a soft little squeak as Frank’s lips were replaced by his teeth when he gave a soft nip. “Oh, yeah, definitely sensitive. You’re gonna need someone to hold your hand.”

“Luckily I know just the guy.” She sighed, his mouth now trailing a path across her body to her sternum.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I’ll take Steve.”

“You really want your brother there when someone’s tattooing under your boob?” At that she stilled and looked down at him. He paused, his chin resting in between her breasts and he gave her a quizzical look. “What?”

“Are you okay with that?”

“With what? Your brother being-“

“No, idiot!” She slapped his head lightly and he gave an ow of protest. “I mean with me having it there? I mean, if it means the guy there’s gonna see-“

“Are you okay with that?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Then, yeah, I don’t give a shit.” He shrugged, his lips returning to her skin. “Now, can you shut up and let me give you an orgasm?”

“Just one?” Her voice was a breathy whisper as his lips traced their way up her neck and he gave a little growl, nipping at her jaw.

“Greedy bitch.” He mumbled, causing her to chuckle a little, before his lips met hers in a heated kiss. Her hands snaked into the back of his short hair, nails scratching his scalp a little as his tongue curled against hers in dominating swipes, a rumble in the back of his throat flowing into her mouth.

His hands curled around her hips, before they slid upwards and grasped at the top she was wearing which was bunched unevenly up around her chest. He pulled back and Fliss sat up a little to allow him to yank it off and he tossed it carelessly behind him, where it dropped somewhere onto the bedroom floor. His lips crashed back to hers with an urgency she met back movement for movement. Frank shifted, nudging her legs further apart with his knees, so he could settle in between them, his lips moving back to her jaw, down her neck, moving himself downwards, taking his time and lavishing affection all the way down her body. His hands curled round her knees as his nose skimmed below her bellybutton and he placed a soft kiss onto her tummy before he felt her tugging on his hair.

“Frankie, I want you.”

He peeked up at her, and arched a brow. “I thought you wanted more than one?”

“Changed my mind.”

“Fickle.” He muttered, as he sat up, pulling down her sleep shorts before he discarded his boxers, kicking them down his legs. He gently nipped at the inside of her thigh before he brushed his cheek and beard up her leg, smirking as he heard a tiny mewl from above. With a pace that was agonisingly slow he moved back upwards, his hands moving up the side of her body as he went, gently moving across, thumbs brushing over each of her nipples which were pebbled in anticipation. Fliss arched her back, inhaling sharply as her groin bumped against his, dragging a low grumble from his throat as she twitched underneath him, pressed up against where she needed him most. Taking her hands in his, his thumbs skated over her knuckles before he interlocked their fingers and pressed her hands down on the pillow next to her head.

“God, you’re beautiful." He mumbled leaning down and running his nose alongside hers before kissing her deeply. Fliss gave a little preen of delight at his praise, and he broke the kiss, his lips remaining on hers. “My perfect, Lissy.”

She responded by kissing him hard, a kiss which was broken when he slowly pushing inside her in a gentle, fluid moment, eliciting a moan from them both. He drew back a little and then thrust forward deeply, before he kissed her again, his hips finding a languid, rocking rhythm, his bottom lip nibbling on hers. Fliss rolled her body up taking him deeper, moans and gasps slipping freely into each other’s mouths as he slowly built up his rhythm, his fingers curling around hers tightly as he watched her, felt her shudder as he hit her spot again and again with every rut of his hips until she was writhing underneath him, begging him not to stop.

And he didn’t, not until he’d dragged two orgasms from her, and he’d almost managed a third when he knew he couldn’t fight off his own release any longer. With a whimper that was almost pathetic, he slowed down, his hand dropping between them to stroke at her sensitive nub, and with a hoarse sob she bucked violently as she came again, her walls tightening around him and with a choked cry of her name he let go, his release coating her walls and he throbbed inside of her as she pulsed around him. His elbows gave way and he pitched forward, his sweaty brow pressing into the crook of her neck as his chest heaved, both of them completely spent.

Fliss happily welcomed his weight on top of her as he caught his breath, both of them trembling in the afterglow. She flexed her fingers and he let go of her hands, and she slid her arms round him, fingers dancing up his spine. Frank gave a soft hum of contentment as he lazily raised his head, catching her mouth in a soft kiss before his nose bumped against hers.

He was in no rush to move, which suited Frank fine as he lay there, on top of her, slow kisses being traded before eventually he pulled back and she gave him a soft smile, which lit up her entire face.

“Was that enough for you?” He asked cheekily and she laughed, swatting at his back with her hand.

*****

The next week or so passed in a whirl of work and overseeing the construction at the yard. Frank was still mad busy, but he’d pushed his nagging feelings about his job to the back of his mind. He and Fliss had talked about it at length and he’d decided to wait until the wedding was done before he made a final decision. Whilst Fliss had told him she’d support him either way, he didn’t want to throw his career into turmoil whilst they had so much going on.

The yard expansion was progressing to schedule, despite a pretty nasty storm which had initially set them back a day or so, but Frank had to hand it to the guys Bill had recommended, they’d pulled the lost time back. And, to top it all off, he’d even managed to finish the final mechanical works to his boat, which meant now all he had to do was the cosmetic work. For that, he was happy to let Bill help, his future father-in-law very eager to lend a hand on Friday evenings, especially when the job came with a steady supply of beer.

It was win-win as far as Frank was concerned. Fliss and her mum would sit in the garden, drinking wine, dipping in and out of the pool whilst Mary was at Roberta’s, the four adults taking dinner together, which he always enjoyed, and it also meant he could rope Bill into his master plan for Fliss’ birthday. When he’d first told him his idea, Bill had grown a little emotional, admitting to Frank that seeing him care so much that he want to do something as thoughtful as that for his baby-girl was something he appreciated beyond belief. Frank also consulted Joanne, and between the three of them they now had a pretty watertight plan. Bill was lending Frank the money, for which Frank was grateful for as, whilst Joanne had helped him to the negotiating on the price for the animal, the transportation and associated veterinary fees were more expensive than the damned horse herself. Should the overall amount it was going to cost him go missing from their savings, Fliss was going to start asking questions and he wanted it to be a total surprise.

All in all, Frank was as settled and happy as he had felt in months. Life was good, and as the middle of June rolled round, the feeling in the Adler-Gallagher household was as relaxed and as happy as it had ever been.

“Awww you want a biscuit, Baby?” Fliss looked at Alex who was making grabby hands at the one she had in her hand. “Okay, here…”

She snapped the cookie into two and handed him a half. Alex looked at it for a second before he shoved it in his mouth, turning to look at Frank as he walked into the kitchen. The little boy raised his hands making cooing noises before jamming his precious treat back into his mouth.

“Hey, you got a cookie, buddy?” Frank smiled as Alex made a little noise of delight at the taste, and Fliss cleared her throat.

“He has a biscuit.”

Frank looked at Fliss, rolling his eyes before he moved and picked up the packet, pointing to the label.

“They’re cookies, Fliss.”

Fliss groaned. “Cookies are a specific type of biscuit. What he has there is not a cookie!”

“Look, Lissy, you’re gonna confuse the boy.” Frank looked at her. “Poor kid’ll be going to a restaurant and askin’ for a biscuit, expecting cookies, and then they bring him like biscuits and gravy and-“

“Don’t even get me started on those, Francis.” Fliss narrowed her eyes, pointing at him. “They’re not biscuits, they are scones.”

“The hell they are!”

“Oh piss off, Frank!”

Frank gave a loud laugh. “Hang on, are we actually arguing about this right now? Over what we call a certain baked treat?”

Fliss bit into one of the offending items and smirked. “Get it right and we won’t be.”

“You are such a fucking brat at times!” Frank shook his head as Fliss grinned and shrugged.

“So?”

“Just stating a fact, Sweetheart.”

“So am I. They’re biscuits”

“Oh for the love of-look,” Frank once again nudged the packet on the island, “they’re cookies and nothing you say or do is gonna make me call them anything else!”

“Nothing?” Fliss raised her eyebrows.

“Nope.” Frank folded his arms.

“Hmmm.” Fliss took a step towards him, her hands wrapping round his arms, pulling them away from his chest before her palms flattened on his pecs, smoothing up to his shoulders. “Call them biscuits, Sailor, and I’ll go down on you so fast you can’t even remember your own name.”

“They’re biscuits.” Frank replied immediately, the second she played that card, he didn’t give a shit what the hell they were called.

Fliss laughed, her hands sliding up round his neck. “Like I said, brains are in your dick.”

“Yeah, and now my dick’s gonna be in your mouth, Cowgirl.” Frank shot back, causing Fliss to snort. “Better get to it, I need to go pick Mary up in ten.”

“Hmmm, yeah, I didn’t specify when.” Fliss patted his chest and stepped back as Frank blinked, before he shot her a playful glare.

“You fight dirty.”

“Oh, Sailor.” Fliss tossed her hair over her shoulder as she moved back to the kitchen to move their used breakfast dishes from the sink to the dishwasher. “You should know this by now.”

“So, you basically expect me to drive down to St Pete’s now with a semi hard-on?”

Fliss looked at him. “It’s your own fault?”

“How is it my fault?” Frank laughed, incredulously.

“If you’d have just agreed I was right in the first place, then you wouldn’t have a problem.”

Frank blinked before he shook his head, turning to Alex. “Your momma’s logic blows my mind, Bean.”

“That’s the only thing that’s getting blown, Fliss quipped and at that Frank let out a loud laugh, “for now.”

She shot him another look over her shoulder and Frank groaned, knowing full well that if he didn’t leave he was going to end up pounding her over the kitchen island. And, as tempting as that was, he had places to be.

“Come on, Son.” Frank unclipped Alex from the seat. “Let’s go get your sister.” He reached over and grabbed a cookie from the packet. “Here, have another unnamed, generic baked item for the trip.”

**** Chapter 24

#riding on #frank adler #frank adler x ofc #frank adler x original female character #frank adler smut #frank adler fic #frank adler fanfiction #gifted #gifted fan fic #chris evans #chris evans characters

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what-is-your-plan-today · 4 years ago

Text

Riding High Ch 22 : Reconnecting

Chapter Summary: Fliss and Frank both move to put recent events behind them, but Mary isn’t quite as forgiving…

Chapter Warnings: Bad Language words. SMUT (NSFW) NO UNDER 18s!!!

Chapter Pairings: Frank Adler x OFC Fliss Gallagher

A/N: Ok, I’m sorry I upset you with the last chapter…

Chapter Song: Slide Away by Oasis

Series Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Now that you’re mine, we’ll find a way of chasing the sun. Let me be the one, that shines with you…in the morning, we don’t know what to do. We’re two of a kind, we’ll find a way to do what we’ve done…let me be the one, that shines with you and we can slide away.

Fliss hardly spoke a word on the drive back to the apartment. She held onto Frank's hand, gently cradling it in her lap when he wasn't using it, her eyes fixed out of the windscreen of the truck, Thor sat on the seat next to her nearest the door. Frank didn't bother making small talk, there was no need. The silence wasn't awkward, so bar asking her if she was hungry, to which she smiled and replied that she was just tired, he left her to it. He parked up and they all jumped out, Thor heading up the familiar tread path on the lawn in front of them. Frank gently took Fliss' hand and they walked up the steps where he opened the door and let her in. He followed her into the living room where she stopped and looked around, a soft smile on her face. "Better than the annex." She said, looking at him "it felt so lonely and...I dunno actually." "That's because it's not your home anymore." Frank said gently "your home is here." She stepped towards him and slid her arms round him, slipping them through his open white and blue checked shirt, pressing her cheek to his chest, nuzzling into his white t-shirt. He gently placed his hands on her back, holding her close and dropped a kiss to her head. After a moment or so she pulled back and looked up at him. "Sure you don't want eats?" He asked, "Coz I'm getting kinda hungry." She pondered for a moment "not really. But if you get pizza I might steal a slice." Frank gave a chuckle "ok, I'll order in." She gave a smile and then stepped back, her left hand going to her right shoulder as she gently rolled it back, grimacing slightly, the movement didn't go unnoticed. "You ok?" Frank frowned "Your shoulder bad again?" "A little. I jarred it a few days back." She said "How?" "I err..." she took a deep breath "I had a nightmare and fell out of bed. Landed a little awkwardly" Frank watched her for a moment, for the first time really taking in how exhausted she looked. She clearly hadn't been sleeping well either. "Sweetheart, why don't you take a bath?" He looked at her "Go relax whilst I order us some food." "I'd like that." She smiled. "I'll, err...go... "You don't need to ask." Frank shook his head, looking at her. "You're not a guest. You live here." "I know. I just..." she sighed "I left.”

“And now you’re back.” “I know, honestly, I'll be ok after a good sleep. I promise." She leaned up to give him a kiss before she headed down to the bathroom. Frank watched her go before he retrieved 2 beers from the fridge, rubbing slightly at his eyes. It felt a little well, not awkward, but almost tentative, like they were both slightly unsure of how to play the situation out. But then again, he supposed, until things settled back down that was to be expected. "Frank?" He heard her calling and he pushed off the counter, taking a beer with him as he headed to see what she wanted. "I err...did you get rid of my stuff? I don't mind if you did I just..." she looked at him, her hands fiddling with one another as she asked him nervously.

Shit. "No, it's all in the cabinet." He said, handing her the beer before he bent down to pull out the wicker basket out. There was a moments silence as he set it on the side. "I just..” he trailed off as he looked at her. “None of the rest of your stuff has moved. All your clothes and..." "Frank." She said softly, touching his arm "You don't need to explain. I get it." There was another moment of silence before Frank couldn't take it anymore. He wanted to hold her, feel her and assure her they were going to be ok. He reached out, his arm curling it round her waist and he pulled her to him, pressing his lips to hers. His free hand slid up her back and gently cupped the back of her head, keeping her face pressed to his as he deepened the kiss slightly, his tongue sliding into her mouth. She pressed against him, a soft sigh escaping her as she let him lead before he pulled back, his head pressing to hers, both slightly breathless. "Think I am kinda hungry after all." She smiled and he gave a chuckle. "I'll order a large then...and a portion of fries each." He smiled, nodding to the beer "I've no wine though so..." "Beer is fine." She smiled softly. He gave her another quick kiss before he turned for the door and left her to it. He called through their order before he changed into a pair of sweats and a clean t-shirt before he headed back into the lounge and sat down on the sofa, flicking the TV on. Fred glanced up from his spot on the windowsill as Thor circled slightly before he flopped down on the rug, his tail thumping lazily against the floor as he let out a loud yawn. "You and me both Pal..." Frank said, mimicking the dog with a large yawn of his own as he nestled further back into the cushions. He was relaxed, and for the first time in over a week he actually felt like he was home, despite the fact he had never left. Half an hour or so later their food arrived and he carried it through to the kitchen before he made his way to the bathroom. Poking his head through the door he smiled as Fliss was led, surrounded by bubbles, eyes closed, her long hair piled up on top of her head. "Lissy, food's here." He said gently. She turned to look at him and smiled. "I'll be right there." He flashed her a wink and headed back out of the bathroom. After a moment or two Fliss climbed out of the bath and wrapping a towel around herself headed into the bedroom. Flicking on the lamp by her side of the bed she glanced around. Nothing had changed, Frank was right. Thor’s bed still lay in the corner of the room, the cushions were still on the made bed…all except one thing. The photo of her and Mary that normally sat on Frank’s night stand was face down. Fliss gently walked towards it and reached out, hesitating slightly, before she blinked back her tears and set the photo back correctly before she sat down on the bed.

She’d fucked up, big time. She realised that now. How she had thought keeping the threat from him was the best thing to do she had no idea. But then again, she hadn’t been thinking at all really had she. Her dad was right, she’d been fucking stupid. Rolling her shoulder again she took a deep breath and made her way over to the dresser, pulling out one of her sleep sets. As she dried off and pulled it on, she yawned and realised how fucking drained she was, both physically and mentally. Over the past 10 days she’d probably managed an average of 4 hours sleep a night and after the emotion of the last 24 hours or so, she was utterly wiped. She bit her lip, before she made a decision and reached for her phone which was charging on her nightstand. First off she fired a message to Joanne telling her she wouldn’t be working tomorrow, explaining that she was back with Frank and they needed to take some time together. Joanne replied almost instantly telling her she would contact her client’s first thing to explain and re-arrange. Then she messaged her dad telling him she had gone home and she would call him in the morning.

Bill replied with a single word. ‘Good.’ She placed her phone back down, pulled her hair out of the messy pile on her head and into a neat braid before she headed out of the room.

Frank, who was just finishing his first slice, looked up as she walked in, smiling at her as she flopped down next to him, tucking her legs underneath her and reached for a piece of pizza. "Franco's?" She asked, taking a bite. "Dur." They sat eating, watching the TV, as if the past 10 days had never happened. Deep down Frank wasn’t naive enough to believe that everything would simply go back to normal but it was already feeling a million miles away from when they had first entered the apartment little over an hour ago. He knew that the 2 of them would need to work through their little blip but he was confident they would. Whilst he was still frustrated at her, he understood her reasoning and in a strange, unexplainable way he almost loved her more for it. That she has been willing to sacrifice her own happiness, surrender control of her life again to that ass hole to keep him and Mary safe.

When they had finished eating Frank cleared the boxes away, grabbed them both another beer and sat down. Fliss extended her legs down the sofa, her feet resting in his lap and his hand gently curled around her leg, thumb skating the bare skin of her shinbone.

“What time are you working tomorrow?” he asked.

“I’m not.” she shook her head “I cancelled before. I’m exhausted and, well, to be honest I thought us spending some time together was more important.”

Frank smiled at her “When Mary’s back from Roberta’s, how about we go out for the afternoon?” “We could go to the Alligator Attraction place she’s been talking about since that guy came to the Guides to give them a talk.” Fliss suggested and Frank nodded.

“Yeah, she’ll like that.”

Plans made, they fell once more into silence, their attention on the latest episode of Rick and Morty. Frank chuckled along and just as it ended he cast his eyes to Fliss and gave a soft smile as he realised she’d fallen asleep. Gently, he moved her legs and placed them down on the cushion as he stood up to let Thor out and make sure all the doors were locked. When he came back, she had rolled onto her side, still asleep.

“Lissy?” he crouched down at the side of the sofa, hand reaching out to tuck her hair behind her ear. “Sweetheart, you wanna come to bed?” She murmured something and nodded slightly. With a smile he hooked his arms round her, one under her back, the other under her legs and lifted her up. She nuzzled into him, her arms curling around his neck as he carried her into the bedroom and gently set her down, pulling the duvet around her. She shifted slightly onto her side, leaving herself facing his side of the bed. He dropped his phone onto this bedside table and noticed that the photo he had slammed down in a rage had been set the right way up. She must have set it right before when she was getting changed. Thankfully, the glass was still intact. With a soft sigh he stripped off to his boxers before he slipped into bed besides Fliss, Thor getting himself comfy in his basket with Fred happily curling up alongside the dog seeing as Mary wasn’t around. Frank lay still for a moment, simply watching his girl sleep before he himself felt the tendrils of tiredness tugging at him. Shifting slightly so that his arm softly dropped over her waist he closed his eyes and allowed himself to slip under.

***** “No..I’m sorry, I said…”

Frank heard Fliss’s voice and he blinked slightly, her anxious protests pulling him from his sleep. It was still pitch black outside and his eyes struggled to focus slightly, but when he did he saw Fliss’ face was contorted into an expression of fear, her eyes still screwed shut as she continued to mutter in her sleep, her voice getting louder. She was clearly in the throes of a nightmare.

“Liss…” his voice croaked, deep with sleep. “Hey, baby, come on…” He gently shook her, hand on her waist and she jerked awake, eyes wide, sitting bolt upright in bed.

“Hey, hey…” he sat up, gently reaching out for her.

“Frank?” she turned towards him, her eyes wide and shining in the dim light as she blinked gaining her focus.

“It’s ok…you were just dreaming…” he said. She took a deep breath and he wrapped his arms around her, the pair of them gently sliding back down.

“Sorry, I…” she swallowed, pressing her face into his bare chest as his hands ran up and down her back. “I didn’t mean to wake you…” “It’s ok…” he said softly “Wanna talk about it?” “Just…it’s been the same one for a few days.” she swallowed “Just him and…” “Well he’s not here now.” Frank said softly as her breathing began to regulate, her arms curling around him.

“I’m sorry.” she said gently. “I really am, I should…I should have…” “Liss…” he said, pulling back slightly to look at her “Stop apologising. I know you’re sorry, and so am I ok?” “You’ve nothing to be sorry for.” she sniffed gently and he took a deep breath.

“I shouted, I lost my temper…” “Which you were entitled to do…” “Maybe, but like I’ve always told Mary, you should never stay angry if you can help it.”

She fell silent for a moment before she tipped her head up to his and caught his lips in a soft kiss. She pulled back for a second or two before she pressed her mouth back to his, seeking him out, this time her actions slightly more urgent and he let her lead, let her set the pace, his strong arms simply holding her close. Fliss rolled onto her back, and he went with her, his body leaning over hers, arms still cradling her as she kissed him with such an intensity it was sending every single nerve on his body into a frenzy.

“I missed you…” she whispered into his mouth and he let out a groan.

“I missed you too…” he said, his lips back on hers as her hands carefully slid up his back, dancing across the muscles of his shoulder before she moved her mouth, soft kisses peppered across his jaw and down his neck. Frank closed his eyes, the touch of her mouth on his skin sending him sky high and his breath caught in his throat as she moved slightly, her lips back on his. The kiss was blazing, doing nothing to help the ache he was feeling for her, and he was trying his best to hold back, to let her take control but he couldn’t stand it any longer.

His hands reached down to her hips, grasping the vest top and Fliss moved allowing him to pull it up over her head before his lips crashed back to hers with an urgency which she met back movement for movement. Frank shifted so he was completely led over her, his hands and legs caging her between him as he gently brushed his lips over her jaw, to her neck, and then moved himself downwards, taking his time and lavishing affection all the way down her body as his hands gently parted her legs. His nose skimmed below her bellybutton and he placed a soft kiss onto her tummy before he felt her tugging on his hair.

“Frankie, I want you…” she said, her voice leaving him in absolutely no doubt as to what it was she was asking. Gently he pulled down her sleep shorts and discarded his boxers before he kissed his way back up, all the way to her sternum before he gently stroked his thumbs over each of her nipples which were pebbled in anticipation. Fliss arched her back, inhaling sharply as her groin bumped against his. Frank gave a low grumble which rose from the depth of his throat as she twitched underneath him, pressed up against where she needed him most. Taking her hands in his, his thumbs skated over her knuckles before he interlocked their fingers and pressed her hands down on the pillow next to her head.

"I love you so much Cowgirl." he mumbled leaning down and running his nose alongside hers before kissing her deeply.

"I love you too Sailor." she responded holding eye contact with him as he slowly slid inside her in a gentle, fluid moment, eliciting a moan from them both as Fliss lay back. His mouth found hers again and he kissed her passionately as he started to roll his hips, driving into her deeply, slowly, his bottom lip nibbling on hers. Fliss rolled her hips up taking him deeper, moans and gasps slipping freely into each other’s mouths as he slowly built up his rhythm, his fingers curling around hers tightly as he watched her, felt her, shudder as he hit her spot again and again with every thrust of his hips until she was writhing underneath him, begging him not to stop.

Whether it was the fact they’d been apart for over a week, or simply the pure emotion of the last 24 hours or so, Frank had no idea, but to him it felt like the most intense love they had ever made. Every single brush of her skin against his, each little grind of his hips, each stroke and glide he made left him completely and utterly confounded, lost in his unadulterated love for the woman underneath him.

When they both fell apart completely immersed in one another, cries of names and curses tumbling from lips, Fliss happily welcomed his weight on top of her as he caught his breath, both of them trembling in the afterglow as he pressed his forehead to hers, gently kissing her nose.

“Ok?” he asked her softly, finally releasing her hands. She flexed her fingers and gently slid her hands round his back, nails softy skating against his skin and Frank closed his eyes in bliss at the feeling it was sparking from his already heightened senses. She nodded, her eyes flickering shut before they opened again and she gave him a soft smile.

The first glimmer of daylight was beginning to break outside as they simply lay there for a while, neither speaking, utterly wrapped up in one another, but eventually Frank gathered enough about him to roll himself to the side where Fliss immediately curled up into his chest. He pressed a soft kiss to her head and closed his eyes, listening to her breathing as it evened out.

***** Frank woke a few hours later, the room now light as the October sun crept through the various spaces in the shutters. He stretched out, smiling as he turned and glanced at Fliss who was flat out next to him on her stomach, her arms folded underneath her pillow. Dropping a soft kiss to her head he swung his legs out of bed, his feet falling flat on the floor whilst he gave a yawn and glanced at his phone, raising his eyebrows as he realised it was almost half 10. Silently he stood up, pulled on his boxers and headed to the kitchen, Thor following him eagerly, clearly dying to get outside.

Leaning against the counter he watched as the dog cocked his leg and peed against a bush by the path, his usual pee spot, whilst the coffee brewed behind him. He knew Thor wouldn’t go far, despite the lack of fencing to keep him in so leaving him to his normal morning sniff around, he tossed some bread into the toaster and poured himself a mug of coffee. Almost as if she could smell it, which in fairness she probably could, Fliss padded into the kitchen, yawning slightly, giving Frank a smile.

“Morning baby.” he said, dropping a kiss to her cheek “You want any toast?” She nodded, reaching behind him to grab a mug “I’m starving.”

Frank gently took the mug from her, poured her a coffee whilst she grabbed herself the creamer and orange juice from the fridge. She frowned at the lack of contents, and Frank watched as she straightened up.

“Don’t” he warned her, teasingly and she shrugged giving a snort.

“We need to go shopping.”

“We can go later.” he said as she fixed her coffee how she liked it and then watched as Thor was now rolling on his back in the grass.

“Do you want me to book the tickets to the animal place online?” she turned to him and Frank pondered for a moment.

“Let’s see what Mary says first.” he said.

“Sure.” Fliss said, her eyes flickering down to the floor “She might not want to go…especially not with me.”

“She’ll come round.” Frank assured “I know her. She’ll have her say and then…well, we move on.” “That simple huh?” Fliss looked at him, as his attention turned to the toast that had popped up.

“That simple” he nodded, pulling it out and dropping it to the board on the counter, before he turned to the fridge for the butter.

Whilst he made their breakfast Fliss dug out the dog food for Thor which was still in the cupboard, along with his food bowl, his water one having returned to its normal place the night before. Upon hearing the noise of his food hitting his metal dish, the dog came lolling back inside and Fred also appeared, looking up at Frank and winding himself between his legs.

“Get out of it Fred…” he grumbled as Fliss chuckled, bending over to pick the ginger cat up.

“Ignore him Freddy.” she said, scratching his ears causing the cat to purr loudly “He loves you really…” Frank rolled his eyes before he slid the plate of toast over the counter. Fliss set Fred on the floor, picked up her plate and the two of them headed into the lounge with their breakfast. Once they had both eaten and had another cup of coffee, Frank showered, dressed casully in a pair of sweats and a blue t-shirt and then headed over to Roberta’s, Thor trotting behind him as he went to collect Mary.

“She behaved?” he asked Roberta as Mary came bounding out of the house.

“She always behaves…” Roberta said.

“Sure she does…” Frank looked at the woman, before he looked at Mary, eye brow raised.

“I do for Roberta.” Mary shrugged. Frank gave a snort, before Mary frowned. “Why is Thor here?” “Because Fliss is at the apartment.” he said gently.

“You two sorted things out?” Roberta asked and he glanced over at her.

“Yeah, we’re ok.” he said, smiling.

“Good.” Roberta folded her arms and she looked at Mary who was scowling “Sort your face out, young lady…” Mary glared at her as she scratched at Thor’s ears, before she turned to Frank and looked at him. “So you’ve forgiven her for leaving?”

“Yeah.” he said, looking at her “I have. And I’m hoping you can do the same.”

Mary didn’t reply, she simply shrugged.

“Good luck with that.” Roberta said, snorting. Frank looked at her, rolled his eyes and thanked her again before he gently dropped his hand to the back of Mary’s head, guiding her back to the apartment.

“Listen, Stack…” he stopped just outside and crouched down to face her. “I know you’re angry and upset, and you have every right to be. But Fliss left because she didn’t know what else to do. She’s gonna try and explain to you as best she can ok but…you need to listen to her, think you can do that for me?”

Mary looked at him, her head cocking to one side before she gave a soft sigh “ok.”

“Thank you.” he said, dropping a kiss to her head as he stood up. She headed up the steps in front of him and walked into the house, heading straight into the living room. Fliss looked up from where she was sat on the sofa.

“Hi…” she began, but Mary cut her off.

“Let’s hear it then.” she demanded, flopping onto the chair opposite Fliss, arms folded. “Why did you leave?”

Fliss took a deep breath and looked at Frank who simply nodded at her. She swallowed and looked at Mary, the girls large, blue eyes studying her face.

“Do you remember Frank telling you about my ex-husband? How he was in prison but he got let out?” Mary nodded.

“Fliss moved away from Boston for a reason Mary.” Frank took over, sitting next to Fliss, leaning forward, his body language open as it always was when he spoke to his niece “To get away from him and everyone when he went to prison. But since he got released, well he’s been sending her things.” “Last week he sent me something that made me worry that if I stayed here you and Frank could be in danger” Fliss looked at her.

“What do you mean, danger?”

“It’s an empty threat.” Frank said, “He won’t, and can’t do anything, but Fliss got scared…same way you’re scared of snakes getting into your bed…even though there’s like zero chance of that happening. Not with Fred on patrol…” Mary frowned slightly, before she looked back to Fliss “So you didn’t want to leave?” “No, baby, of course I didn’t…” Fliss said as she stood up. She dropped to her knees in front of Mary and looked up at the girl. “I’ve never wanted to do anything less but I honestly thought I was doing the right thing. But I wasn’t…”

Fliss bowed her head “I should have told Frank, not tried to deal with it all on my own. I hurt you, I hurt Frank and I was wrong…” she looked up at Mary, “I’m so sorry sweetheart.”

“So are you back now?”

“If that’s ok?” Fliss asked “If not, then I can stay at the Annex and just come over a few nights a week, like I did before I moved in.” Mary looked at her, then to Frank, then back to Fliss before she shrugged “Maybe. I’ll think about it.”

Frank made as if to speak but Fliss held her hand up, telling him to stop.

“Thank you.” she said and Mary nodded as Fliss stood up. She looked at Frank who was perched on the sofa watching Mary carefully. He licked his lips and glanced at Fliss who gave him a smile.

“Ok, so…now that’s kind of sorted…” Frank spoke, and Mary looked at him. “Fliss thought you might like to go to the Alligator Attraction place.” “No, I mean yes, please, can we?” Mary looked at him, her eyes wide with excitement “I’ve wanted to go for weeks.” “Don’t you need time to think about that too?” Frank teased and Mary stood up rolling her eyes.

“You’re not funny, Frank…” she sing-songed at him as she made her way to the door “I’ll go grab my stuff…you two better change, you can’t go dressed like that.” Frank glanced down at his outfit, then to Fliss who was still in her pyjamas.

“Guess she has a point.” he chuckled, pulling Fliss down onto his lap. “You ok?” “Yeah, yeah I’m good.” she said, giving him a quick kiss “But I have a feeling if we keep her waiting I won’t be.”

******

The Alligator Attraction tuned out to be pretty fun. They spent the entire afternoon walking around viewing the 50 plus gators, the other reptiles and small mammals that the centre cared for, Mary taking particular liking to a sloth which was hanging around on a branch in one of the areas they walked into. She also enjoyed feeding the small alligators whilst standing on a bridge over the pool they were kept in, dangling small pieces of meat into the water using metal rod. It was perfect for her as she could ask questions to her curious, little heart’s content, their guide answering her expertly, smiling at her as she gabbled on and on. Her favourite bit, however, was when she got to handle a small gator, one that was less than a week old. Her eyes wide, she had gently cupped the animal and grinned, turning her face up to Frank.

“No.” he said, snorting “You can’t have one.” “Dur.” she rolled her eyes “I know that, it would eat Fred and probably Thor. Maybe you.” she shrugged

“Glad to see where I come on your list of priorities.” he snorted and Fliss laughed as she simply shrugged.

After giving Mary twenty bucks to spend in the gift shop, which she took ages over, they headed back to the truck, Mary’s hand linked into Frank’s as they walked, the bag containing the books and activity packs she’d picked in his other. To Fliss’ surprise, and delight, Mary reached up and took her hand too, and Frank glanced over at Fliss, giving her a wink.

“So….” Frank spoke as they got to the car “I was thinking…what about McDonald’s for tea?” “Mmmm.” Mary made a face, and Frank’s eyebrow raised at the fact she was turning down a Happy Meal.

“You want something else?” Fliss asked her.

“Could you make us my salad?” she asked, “Frank really can’t cook and I’m sick of burgers.” Fliss gave a chuckle and ruffled her hair as Frank scoffed, folding his arms.

“Rude.” he mumbled.

“True.” Mary looked at him.

“Get in the truck.” he said, pointing in, mock anger on his face. She grinned at him and slid into the middle seat as Frank looked at Fliss over the roof. “Well, suppose we better go shopping.”

An hour later they were walking back up to the apartment, laden with bags. Mary spotted Roberta and in typical Mary style immediately invited her over for dinner. The woman began to protest at first until Fliss eagerly assured her it was fine.

As Fliss bustled about in the kitchen, Frank and Mary were sat on the floor by the coffee table looking at some of the stuff Mary had bought from the shop before. Roberta wandered into the kitchen and watched Fliss for a second before she spoke.

“Can I help or…”

“If you don’t mind, you could slice the pears?” Fliss asked, nodding to the pack that was on the side, “Just into rough slices.”

“Sure.” Roberta smiled, reaching over for a knife. “How as Mary this afternoon?” Understanding what she was asking, Fliss took a deep breath “She was ok. She listened, I hope I explained well enough but… I did her wrong and it’s gonna take a bit of time I suppose.” “Well, she seems ok now.” Roberta said, chopping the fruit “And the fact you’re still here means she ain’t kicked up too much of a fuss.”

“Yeah, she said she was going to think about whether I could stay or not.” Fliss smiled, gently opening the oven to check on the chicken as Roberta gave a snort.

“She’s a little madam…” she said, shaking her head.

“She’s great.” Fliss said fondly before she felt herself tearing up slightly.

“Oh, honey…” Roberta said, with a sigh as she placed the knife down and moved to pull Fliss into a hug “It’ll work out…” “I know, I just…” Fliss took a deep breath “I can’t help feeling bad about what I did…”

“Frank told me why you left.” Roberta soothed her, “And I’ll tell you exactly what I told him…” she pulled back, allowing Fliss to wipe at her face before she locked eyes with her “Maybe the way you did it wasn’t ideal but, well, I understand why. When you love someone so much you’ll do anything to keep them safe, just like he did.” Fliss nodded, giving a small smile as Roberta squeezed her arm “I’ve never seen him, or that little girl as happy as they are with you, in the entire 7 years I’ve known them. The two of you just work, and I know that you’ll get through this. You just might need a little bit of patience.” “Thanks Roberta…” Fliss smiled at her, nodding before the older woman gave her a last smile, before they both turned back prepped the salad, Fliss tossing the chopped ingredients into a bowl before Roberta handed her the dressing at the same time she pulled the wine bottle from the fridge.

“Time for a refill?”

Fliss gave a laugh and smiled as Roberta topped up both their glasses.

“Any cooking going on in here or just drinking?” Frank asked, leaning in the doorway.

“Oh hush.” Roberta looked at him, “We’re women, we can multitask.”

“That so?” he teased, heading to the fridge for a beer. “Bet you can’t do this though…” He popped the lid off his beer before tossing it in the air and catching it expertly on the back of his hand.

“Wow…I’m sure that’s a skill you’ll need to use in life again and again.” Roberta deadpanned as Fliss laughed. Frank arched an eyebrow at her as the woman pushed past him in the doorway, giving him a significant look as she headed to find Mary. Frank watched Fliss as she began to toss the dressing through the salad slightly, stepping forward he placed his beer down and wrapped his arms round her from behind. He dropped a soft kiss to her neck and stayed pressed to her as she finished off the salad with the blue cheese and walnuts.

“You’re gonna need to move.” she said gently, and he shook his head.

“Nope. I’m good here…” “It wasn’t a request.” Fliss chuckled as she turned to face him, his hands resting on counter behind her, trapping her between him and the kitchen surface.

“Cost ya.” he shrugged. “What?”

He arched an eyebrow and she grinned, leaning up to place a kiss on his lips before she gently pushed his chest.

“I’ll burn the chicken…” she said and he grinned, stepping to the side to let her move out from before him and pull the tray out of the oven. “Can you set the table?” she turned to him “It’s done.” “Sure.” he nodded and began grabbing the stuff from the drawers before he moved over to the dining area.

Fliss quickly sliced the chicken and placed it on plates before she walked through to the dining area, dropping them around the various place settings before returning a few moments later with the salad. Mary was waiting eagerly and Frank couldn’t serve the damned stuff out fast enough for her as she started shovelling it into her mouth the minute it hit her plate.

“You’re gonna choke.” he told her. She responded simply by turning her eyes onto him, giving him a reproachful look. Fliss gave a smile at the look on Mary’s face, turning her attention to her own plate. She listened to the two of them as they began to bicker, Mary giving smart ass come backs to everything Frank shot at her as she chewed her food, lost in her own thoughts. It had been a nice day, but she still couldn’t shake off the feeling of anxiety she had over Mary not being completely happy she was back, even if the little girl had seemed fairly affectionate before as they left the Alligator Park. As she shifted in her seat slightly, under the table she felt Frank’s hand softly rubbing at her leg and she dropped her hand over his, giving his fingers a gentle squeeze.

“Girl you got your costume for the Scout’s Halloween party yet?” Roberta looked at Mary and she nodded.

“Yep, I’m going as a Pirate.” “A pirate?” Fliss asked and glanced at Frank, who rolled his eyes.

“It was her Idea, not mine.” “I’m going as Captain Jack Sparrow.” she looked at Fliss who nodded.

“Well, as far as Pirate’s go that’s a good choice…”

“I think so too.” Mary nodded, turning to Frank and indicating her empty plate “Is there anymore please?”

Frank nodded and took her plate off her, giving her another helping of the salad before he plated himself more up and then offered some to Roberta. She declined as did Fliss, who leaned back in her chair, her wine glass in her hand simply watching as Frank and Mary tucked in to their seconds. Once the salad was done, everyone managed a decent sized bowl of fruit salad and ice cream before Mary retreated to her room under Frank’s instruction to take a quiet hour or so before bed. Roberta stayed as Frank opened another bottle of wine, the three of them chatting away until the bottle was finished and Roberta stood up.

“I’ll walk ya home…” Frank offered and Roberta turned to him and laughed

“Anybody wanna try anything with me on my home patch then they’re in for an ass whoopin’” she spoke, eyeing him up and down. “I’ll be fine, you stay with your girl.” “You sure?” “Positive.” she nodded “You want me to call you when get in, so you know I’m back safely?” she added sarcastically and Frank sighed, folding his arms. Roberta laughed, gently patting his arm before she looked at Fliss who was stood in the doorway behind him. “Thanks Fliss, the dinner was great.”

“Any time…”

“Don’t; tell her that…” Frank said in a loud whisper “We’ll never get rid of her.”

“Piss off.” Roberta flipped him off as she headed down the steps, and across the lawn towards the lit footpath which wound between the various apartments. Frank watched until she was out of sight before he closed the door and locked it behind him.

“Sorry.” he looked at Fliss who frowned at him.

“What for?”

“Having Roberta over probably wasn’t what you had planned…” “Oh, I don’t mind.” Fliss smiled “I like Roberta, you know that.”

Frank’s hands dropped to Fliss’ hips as her arms slid up over his chest, coming to rest on his shoulders.

“Leave the dishes…” he smiled, “Come to bed.”

“There’s not that many to do…” she began to protest but Frank’s fingers flexed on her waist and she gave a small laugh “Ok, ok, you’re the boss.” “Sorry, say that again…” “Don’t push it.” she narrowed her eyes as Frank gave her a cheeky grin, dropping a lingering kiss to her lips.

“Go on, I’ll be in a moment.”

Smiling at him she headed down the hallway, pausing outside Mary’s room. She gently knocked on the door and then poked her head round to see Mary was led watching her TV.

“We’re going to bed now Mary.” Fliss smiled at her “Just wanted to say goodnight.” “Ok, goodnight.” Mary said, her eyes not moving off the film.

Fliss hesitated for a moment, as this would be the point where normally she’d head over and give her a hug and a kiss goodnight but she didn’t want to push things. Instead she gave a nod and then turned to leave.

“Thank you for today.” Mary spoke again and Fliss paused, spinning back to face her. “I enjoyed the Gators and stuff.”

“You’re welcome.” Fliss smiled.

“Can we ride tomorrow?” Mary asked her, yawning slightly and Fliss nodded, eagerly.

“Of course we can. We can do the trail if you like?” Mary smiled giving another small yawn. “Ok, night Fliss…” “Night honey.” she smiled, “Sweet dreams.”

She once again made to leave but Mary stopped her again.

“I’ve decided you can stay.” Fliss took a deep breath, and turned to face her. “Thank you.” Mary held her arms out and Fliss smiled, walking over to her. She stood on the bottom rung of the steps which led to the raised cabin bed and wrapped her arms around the little girl.

“Love you.” Fliss said gently into Mary’s hair, blinking away tears, as Mary’s arms tightened around her neck.

“Love you too Lissy”

She smiled, dropped a kiss to Mary’s head and turned to leave, smiling as Frank walked into the room.

“Time to turn off Stack.” he said, gesturing to the TV as Fliss left the room. He watched her go before he looked back at Mary “Everything ok?”

“Yeah.” Mary said “We’re going riding tomorrow.” “That so?” he asked, his arms hanging over the wooden boards that surrounded her bed, smiling.

“Yeah. Do you think Verity will be doing a roast dinner as its Sunday?” “I’m sure she will.” Frank smiled, brushing her hair back. “I’ll get Fliss to ask her.”

“I said she could stay.” Mary looked at Frank. “Fliss, I mean. I don’t want her to go again.” Frank smiled and dropped a kiss to Mary’s head “She won’t. And thank you for giving her another chance. It means a lot.”

“Well, you say we should always forgive when we can.” she looked at him “Because it’s the right thing to do. And that staying angry isn’t nice for anyone.” “True, I did.” he smiled again “Guess you do listen to me, huh?” “Sometimes. Other times you talk rubbish.” she shrugged. Frank gave a chuckle and then reached for the remote, turning the TV off.

“That I do.” he agreed and watched as Fred hopped up onto the dresser before he jumped and landed on the bed, curling himself up around Mary’s head on her pillow. Frank scratched his ear slightly before he smiled again “Goodnight Mary. “Night Frank.”

He closed the door behind him and headed into their bedroom, Fliss was looking at something on her phone, Thor sprawled on the bed on his back, one of her hands gently rubbing at his belly.

“So she said you could stay?” Frank mused, pulling off his T-shirt. Fliss looked up and set her phone on the side, smiling.

“Yeah.” she said as Frank settled next to her, flicking the TV over to find something they could both fall asleep to. “I’m relieved, not gonna lie.”

“I told you she’d come round.” Frank said, as she snuggled up to him, her head on his chest. He glanced down at her, his lips brushing against her forehead “She loves you.” “I love her.” Fliss said softly, her hand brushing over his stomach “And you.” “Well, that’s a given…” Frank smirked as she looked up at him, as he gestured to himself with his hand “I mean, what’s not to love?”

There was a pause and quick as a flash, Fliss grabbed one of the throw cushions and hit him with it.

“You’re a dick.” she laughed as he caught the pillow, and wrenched it out of her hand, tossing it across the room. He grabbed her hips and gave a quick tug so she was led flat on the bed as he hovered over her, grinning.

“But I’m your dick.”

Fliss smiled at him, her hands running through his soft hair. “Yeah, yeah you are.” she nodded, her eyes locking onto his as he kissed her again and once more they lost themselves completely in one another.

#riding high #frank adler x ofc #frank adler #gifted #gifted fan fic

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gameboyrocket · 6 years ago

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Splatoon: The Outcasts - Episode 5: “Splatfest Scramble”

In the city of Inkopolis, Splatfest is in full swing: A celebratory festival, independent of the usual Turf War league, in which Inklings duke it out to prove their side’s superiority and lay claim to Inkopolis’ pop culture, at least until the next Splatfest is announced and the rivalry starts up all over again. Following a rousing opening ceremony from the Squid Sisters, the squids of the city are fired up to battle for the next 24 hours in the names of Team Early Bird, comprised of those who prefer to wake up early and pride themselves on punctuality, and Team Night Owl, twilight-loving rascals who are always ready to stay up late into the wee hours of the morning.

The Outcasts, the newest team of rookies on the streets of Inkopolis, have been spending the evening preparing themselves for the matches ahead, though not without unforeseen detours: Felicity, the team’s youngest and peppiest member, found herself unexpectedly roped into participating in the opening ceremony alongside the Squid Sister Callie, dancing onstage to the idol’s latest single, Bomb Rush Blush. After the excitement died down, the four Outcasts – the captain Amber, the Roller-wielding André, the Splatling user Marjani, and the aforementioned Felicity – each headed back home to get ready for the Splatfest before congregating just outside Amber’s apartment.

Much to their surprise, however, they didn’t all pick the same team: Amber has just exited her apartment to find that while she and André both joined Team Early Bird, Marjani and Felicity have instead chosen to support Team Night Owl, meaning that the four teammates will not be able to battle alongside each other – and may even encounter each other as opponents in the hours ahead. With the realization that they didn’t coordinate their team choice dawning on all of them, the Outcasts are about to face tough decisions and pair off with surprising allies for a night they’re sure to remember…

SPLATOON: THE OUTCASTS

Episode 5: “Splatfest Scramble”

Amber glanced back and forth between her three teammates, slowly processing the fact that Felicity and Marjani were wearing dark purple Team Night Owl shirts while she and André had bright yellow Team Early Bird tees. She looked to André as if he could say anything that would help the situation, eliciting little more from him than a defeated shrug. “Dammit!” she hissed under her breath before raising her tone, “We didn’t join the same team?!”

“I thought Lissy was gonna tell you guys we were joinin’ Night Owl!” protested Marjani, turning to Felicity with a flummoxed look. “N-no!” cried Felicity, “I-I just asked which team you were joining! I didn’t know you wanted me to tell the others!” “André, I thought you were going to tell them to join the same team as us!” argued Amber. André folded his arms and shook his head. “All I did was suggest we should join Team Early Bird,” he countered, “Not on me to communicate that to them.”

“But I–!” Amber began to object, only to be cut off. “–André’s kinda right, Cap,” interrupted Marjani, crossing her arms with a scowl. “Hey, now,” interjected Felicity, putting her hand on Marjani’s shoulder gently, “I mean, it’s not really worth arguing about, right? So what if we’re playing for different teams tonight? It could be fun!” Amber sighed. “No, they’re right,” she accepted, “It’s my bad. I… completely failed as captain. I got distracted by everything and totally forgot to make sure we were all on the same page.”

Felicity bit her lip and looked down at her feet. “Oh…” she murmured. “No, no, Felicity, I didn’t mean it like that!” Amber reassured her teammate, “There’s… I’ve had some other stuff on my mind lately.” “Like?” asked Marjani. “It’s… personal,” Amber hesitantly explained. “And you didn’t tell us?” Felicity added. “It’s kinda private,” retorted Amber, “Look, the point is, if I were a better captain, I’d be able to compartmentalize all this, but I’m not, and I’m sorry.”

“Not much to be done about it now,” sighed André, “But… not like it’s the end of the world.” “Yeah!” agreed Felicity, “We’ll play for our teams, see who wins, and be back together before you know it!” “Yeah, I guess it could be fun,” Marjani reluctantly agreed, “Plus, we get to play with other people for a change.” André nodded, unfolding his arms. “Change of pace might even do us some good,” he added, “Let’s get down to the plaza and find out who our teammates are.” “R-right,” stuttered Amber, nodding. She walked past André and headed down the hall toward the stairwell, the others following after her.

André scanned the plaza as the group arrived back at their destination, furrowing his brow as he did. The Inklings present were dividing up into groups and meeting their new teammates for the Splatfest beneath numbered signs dotted around by the Splatfest’s staff. Most of the Inklings had already been assigned to their teams, but a few were still in line at a long table located near the central Inkopolis Tower, where several older Inklings sat with ledgers that listed every registered participant and which team of four they would be playing alongside.

The Outcasts got in line and waited as the Inklings ahead of them found out their respective teams’ numbers. André tried not to sigh as he got to the front of the line and produced his Turf War ID wordlessly. “André Dorado…” mumbled the coordinator sitting before him as she read the card, “Why do I feel like I’ve heard that name before?” “Just imagining, probably,” replied André. “No, I definitely…” the coordinator murmured as she looked up to André and squinted upon making eye contact.

After a moment, she gave up trying to recognize him and looked back down to the list. “André Dorado… Team 21,” she finished simply. “Thanks,” replied André, heading off in the direction of a sign looming over the crowd with a yellow “21” printed on it. “Marjani Kulevya,” said Marjani as she stepped forward, placing her Turf War ID on the table before her.

“Is that with a ‘C’ or a ‘K’?” asked the coordinator, adjusting her glasses before inspecting the ID card. “Ugh…” Marjani scoffed, “A ‘K.’” The coordinator pursed her lips and flipped through the alphabetically-sorted list to find Marjani’s name as quickly as possible. “K… Kulevya… Marjani Kulevya, Team 37,” she replied, “…Hey, if you don’t mind me asking, are you related to–”

“–The Turf War DJ?” interrupted Marjani, “Yep. My little brother.” “That’s gotta be cool,” the coordinator said with a smile. “Yeah, I guess,” Marjani replied nonchalantly as she headed off toward the sign with a purple “37.” Felicity stepped forward stiffly and presented her ID. “Fe–” she started before clearing her throat, “Felicity Quinn.” The coordinator checked her ID thoroughly before flipping through the ledger to find Felicity’s name.

“I’m… not seeing it…” she replied, “There’s no entry here for that name.” “Wh-what?!” panicked Felicity, “B-but there m-must be some kind of m-mistake! I got m-my official Splatfest Tee and everything, see?!” Amber put her hand on Felicity’s shoulder from behind and stepped forward next to her friend. “Try looking under ‘O’Bryne,’ ma’am,” she suggested. “A-Amber!” exclaimed a stunned Felicity quietly. The coordinator flipped through to an earlier page. “Ah, there it is,” she said as she spotted it, “Felicity O’Bryne… Why the difference?”

“Qu-Quinn is my mother’s maiden name,” stammered Felicity, “I-it’s, uh… it’s complicated. I-I must’ve forgotten th-that my registration uses my father’s surname…” “Says here you’re in Team 37, Miss Quinn,” read the coordinator, “And, I’m just curious, but you were Callie’s backup dancer during the opening ceremony earlier, weren’t you?” At this, Felicity beamed. “You r-recognized me?!” she asked excitedly. “Of course, it was the opening song!” replied the coordinator, “You were great!” “Th-thanks!” Felicity blushed as she smiled before turning around to head off toward her team’s sign.

“Miss, don’t forget your ID!” the coordinator shouted after Felicity. “Oh! Right!” Felicity yelped as she rushed back over to the table to grab her ID before leaving again. “Wait a sec…” murmured Amber to herself, “Wasn’t Marjani also–” “–ID, please,” continued the coordinator, jolting Amber out of her thoughts. Amber placed her ID on the table wordlessly. “Amber… Amber…?” the coordinator furrowed her brow in confusion, “Miss, this… doesn’t have a last name on it?”

“I know,” replied Amber, “Just look it up under that.” The coordinator flipped to the first page. “I’m not seeing anyone just named that,” she said, shaking her head, “I… I’m not sure I can help you. This is a real ID, right?” Amber sighed. “Are you sure it’s not under that?” she asked, “Maybe it’s at the very beginning or end of the list?”

“Hey!” interjected another voice from the next line over, getting Amber’s attention. She glanced over before looking away, squeezing her eyes shut. Standing nearby with her hands on her hips and a cheeky grin on her face was none other than Caroline Humboldt, the captain of André’s former team, Spice Splat.

“Try looking under ‘Blaine,’” she suggested. Amber glared at her furiously, her eyes widening in a combination of rage and surprise. The coordinator did as Caroline suggested, flipping to the next page of the ledger. “There it is, Amber Blaine, Team 21,” she tapped the page lightly as she spoke, “But why does your ID–” “–Don’t ask,” interrupted Amber, snatching her ID off of the table and walking toward the “21” sign. “What, no ‘thank you?’” asked Caroline casually, following after her. Amber whipped around, pointing her finger in Caroline’s face.

“How did you find out about that?!” she seethed, gritting her teeth, “That’s not on my ID for a reason!” Caroline backed away slightly and held up her hands, her smile waning. “I read it on your official Turf War registration,” she replied sincerely, “I read up on you, Marjani, and Felicity when I found out about André’s new team, before our first match, to get a feel for what you three girls are like.” “You have no right!” hissed Amber angrily, turning around and walking away.

“No, actually, I do have the right; it’s public information, after all,” retorted Caroline nonchalantly, putting her hands in her pockets and following Amber, “One responsibility of the captain is to learn about the enemy team. Usually, I leave the specifics to Moruga, but I like to know who I’m going up against. ‘Know your enemy, know yourself, and you will not lose a thousand battles,’ right?” “Ugh!” Amber grumbled disgustedly, glowering at Caroline as she continued.

“What I don’t get is why,” continued Caroline, “Moruga and I looked into the name, thinking we might find something that would explain why you don’t want people knowing about it, but we didn’t find anything. Like, at all.” She quickened her steps to keep up with Amber’s increasing pace, the latter clearly annoyed with and trying to escape the older squid. “Why would you not want to be associated with a name that doesn’t have anything associated with it anyway?” she asked.

“Because if I could have my way, I wouldn’t have it at all, but legally, I have to keep it!” retorted Amber angrily, “So don’t you dare go looking into it again!” “I don’t get it, you got some kind of beef with your family?” asked Caroline, “Look, you know that if you’ve got issues, you shouldn’t keep them bottled up, right? Talk about it with your team, you’ll feel better.” “I don’t want to feel better!” snapped Amber, “Now quit following me!”

“I’m not following you, I’m just making small talk since we’re going to the same place,” Caroline corrected her. Amber stopped and squinted at her senior in confusion. “The same… what?” she asked. The red-tentacled girl pointed over to the sign for Team 21. Amber followed Caroline’s pointing to the sign itself, seeing André already waiting there, with Moruga Oaxaca, Caroline’s stone-faced right-hand man, standing right next to him. They seemed like they were practically ignoring each other, avoiding eye contact with their arms crossed.

Amber looked back to Caroline in horror. “No…” she murmured, “No way… How… how did we…?” “When you’re in Turf War as long as I’ve been, you get some strings you can pull,” Caroline explained, “I got two of our teammates swapped with each other. Right about now, Marjani and Felicity should be meeting up with Jolokia and Butch.” “You… I cannot believe you!” exclaimed Amber, “You bitch! First you go digging into my private life, then you get us stuck together for the Splatfest?!”

“Calm down,” bellowed Moruga sternly. “Don’t you tell me to calm down, you were probably in on this, too!” shouted Amber, “You rigged our coddamn Splatfest teams to scramble us together?!” “Amber!” rumbled André, finally breaking his silence, “…Let them say their piece.” “Not you, too!” growled Amber. Caroline stepped around Amber casually and looked her junior in the face. “Just relax,” she calmly started, “Look, Moruga and I’ve got some catching up to do with André, and I wanted to see how you play.”

“You… what is it with you wanting to know more about me?!” asked Amber. “It’s my job as a captain,” retorted Caroline, “You should be doing the same, since this is going to give you an inside look at how Moruga and I play Turf War. I’m curious as to how you operate. I want to see you captain.” “Wait, what?!” asked Moruga, unfolding his arms and stepping forward. He walked over to Caroline and looked her in the eye.

“Well, it’s not gonna be me,” argued Caroline simply, “I do enough of that, I want a break.” “Are yuh sure abou’ dis, Caroline?” asked Moruga, “I mean, me or André, I’d understan’, but Amber’s a tyro captain, a rookie. She’s got de leas’ Turf War experience of all of us; she’s only a captain ‘cause she made her own team.” Caroline smirked back at Moruga. “All the better for her to learn, then,” she countered, “Besides, Splatfests are just supposed to be fun, right?”

Moruga sighed, putting his hands in his pockets. “Fun is one thing, but we also picked a side. Dey’re gonna be countin’ on us to pull our weight and give it all we got,” he argued, “Yuh think we’ll be juss as effective wit’ her givin’ orders instead of yuh?” “Trust me. She’ll be fine. One team of four isn’t going to sway the outcome that much. If Team Early Bird loses, it won’t just be because of us,” replied Caroline, “We’ve got a unique learning opportunity right now, Moruga, the kind you don’t get outside of Splatfests mid-season, and I don’t want to waste it.”

Moruga was silent, but stared Caroline in the eye disapprovingly, knowing that his captain wasn’t going to back down, not in time for them to get to their first match. “…Fine,” he finally acquiesced, “But I’m keepin’ a close eye on her.” “That’s the spirit, crabcakes!” rejoiced Caroline, patting her teammate on the back as he sighed. Amber simply shook her head in sheer disbelief. “What is wrong with you?!” she asked, “I didn’t even say I wanted–”

“–Well, it’s already decided,” interrupted Caroline, “Honestly, guys, stop taking it so seriously. Let’s get out there and splat some turf for Team Early Bird!” She turned to look at André and grinned. “And you, big guy,” she continued, pointing at him lazily, “You have got to tell me all about what you were doing for a year before you came back.” André sighed, but smirked. “If you’re trying to make it just like old times, Captain,” he muttered, “We can’t just go back. You know that.”

“Whoa, what?” asked Amber, shooting a look at André, “You call her ‘Captain?’” André realized what he’d said and scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “Sorry,” he apologized, “Force of habit.” Amber shook her head and breathed in and out deeply, trying to process the situation. “But you just said…” she grumbled, “…Alright, whatever, we’ll do it your way, Humboldt. When’s our first match?” “Dat’s up to yuh to find out,” replied Moruga, having turned and walked a few steps away from her and Caroline, holding his hands behind his back. “I’ve never even been part of a Splatfest before,” protested Amber.

“Clearly,” replied Caroline with a patient smile, “All you gotta do is listen for an announcement on the–” “–Teams 44 and 21 at Kelp Dome in ten minutes,” a voice blared over a loudspeaker before continuing to name other teams whose matches were coming up, “Teams 44 and 21, Kelp Dome in ten minutes.” “That’s… us,” muttered Amber reluctantly, “We know anyone who’s on Team 44?” “No clue,” replied André, “Won’t know until we see ‘em at the tower.” “Well, that makes a quick strategy meeting a little more screwed,” sighed Amber.

Moruga simply huffed and crossed his arms quietly. “Got something to say?” asked Amber, shooting her interim sniper an irritated look. “Unpredictability is intrinsic ta Splatfests,” Moruga replied, speaking loudly and clearly to ensure he was heard, “It’s supposed to be part of de fun dat yuh don’t know who yuh gonna go against before de match.” Amber sighed and looked down at her feet, putting her hands on her hips. “Then I guess all we can do is figure out what we’re gonna do,” she accepted.

“And that’s part of why I got the teams set up the way I did,” explained Caroline, “This way, Moruga and I have weapons types that you’re just as familiar giving orders to, a Charger and a Splatling. Just think of us like we’re Marjani and Felicity.” “I am not like Felicity,” interjected Moruga, “She is a vain child who does not recognize her own potential.” “Wonder how they’re doing,” muttered André, “You said they’re with Jolokia and Butch, right? Sure that was a good idea?” “They’ll be fine,” replied Caroline, grinning at André, “I can’t wait to find out which one they’re gonna pick to be captain.”

“We’ll find out later,” replied Amber, “For now, we should get to the tower, we don’t have long before the match.” She turned toward Inkopolis Tower, adjusting the bag carrying her weapon on her hip, and set off before stopping briefly to turn back and look at the others, who were simply watching her. “Are you guys gonna follow me or what?” she asked. “Of course,” replied Caroline, “Aren’t we, boys?” Moruga sighed again before fixing the strap on his Charger’s bag so that it sat even more tightly on his shoulder.

André took a few steps forward before stopping next to Moruga as Caroline followed after Amber. He looked down to Moruga, who reciprocated André’s uneasy glance for a moment before looking back ahead awkwardly and breaking eye contact as he began to follow after the girls. André sighed and hefted his Roller bag on his shoulder, shaking his head as he plodded behind the others, catching up in a matter of moments.

“So… Caroline arranged for us to end up on teams together?” asked Felicity in confusion. “Yes, she wanted to–” Jolokia was interrupted as she started trying to explain her captain’s actions. “–Ugh, that fuckin’ bitch!” snarled Marjani, “What, did she think she was bein’ funny or some shit?” “Marjie, language,” Felicity reprimanded her teammate. “Squirt’s right,” added Butch, “Youse don’t know what da boss is like.”

“I know she thinks she’s better than me!” retorted Marjani. “She is bettah den youse!” argued Butch. “Oh, yeah? And how do you know, Mafia Boy?” growled Marjani, puffing out her chest as she walked up to Butch, putting her finger on his chest in an attempt to intimidate him despite being a few inches shorter than him. “Marjani, please don’t bring that up,” pleaded Jolokia. Butch gritted his teeth and looked down at Marjani, tilting his head enough that he was now looking at her over the top of his 18K Aviators instead of through them.

“‘Cause she’s da boss, and youse ain’t,” he replied threateningly, “And she put us on da same team ‘cause she trusts me ta be da boss while she’s away teachin’ your boss a little respect.” Jolokia took a few steps forward. “Now, hold on, Butch,” she protested, “Caroline didn’t say anything like that to me.” “I thought it was obvious, ain’t it?” asked Butch, “She wants me to captain–” “–With less years in Turf War than me?” Marjani disputed the boy’s assumption, “Yeah, right! I’m the Splatling user, just like her! If anyone’s gonna be captain, it should be me!”

“Now, Marjani, I’m not sure that’s–” Jolokia was interrupted once more. “No, let’s just put it to a vote!” Marjani interjected, “That’s how you guys work, right? I vote for me!” “An’ I vote fuh me!” replied Butch. “Oh dear…” Jolokia hung her head as she shook it, “Well, then, I vote for myself, as well. Both of you are clearly too hotheaded and inexperienced.” “Wha–?! JP, I thought you’d have my back on dis!” protested Butch.

“Great, now we’re at a stalemate,” replied Marjani. She stepped back from Butch and turned to look over to Felicity, who had been quietly avoiding the argument the whole time. Butch looked in the same direction as he realized what she was thinking. Jolokia looked in the same direction with a worried expression. Felicity shrank back as the others watched her expectantly. “Come on, Lissy, just vote for me, at least you know me!” Marjani urged her teammate with a smirk.

“I-I… uh…” Felicity stammered. “If you know her, den you know she’s not captain material,” insisted Butch, stepping forward, “Come on, squirt, I’m obviously da one who should be in charge, right?” “Don’t pressure her!” countered Jolokia, stepping over to Felicity and placing a hand on Felicity’s shoulder, “Just ignore them, Felicity. Vote for who you really think is best suited to be captain. Or perhaps you’d like to lead us? If you want to, I’ll support it.”

Felicity blushed as she tried to think of what to say. “Lissy? Come on,” Marjani repeated herself, pushing past Butch. “Zip it!” snarled Butch, stepping forward again. “Both of you, enough!” retorted Jolokia, stepping between them and Felicity as if to shield her from them, “Let her choose on her own!” Felicity looked between the three of them, clearly distressed from the responsibility of being the deciding vote. Marjani and Butch simply harrumphed and crossed their arms, almost in synchronization.

“I-I think…” Felicity started. “Yeah?” Marjani and Butch both smirked as they watched her intently. “I… um…” Felicity stuttered, “Well… I…” Jolokia shot the other two a fierce, protective look as she waited for Felicity’s answer. Felicity looked down at her shoes, trying to come to a decision. She squeezed her eyes shut. She sighed as she realized that it would not be so easy for her to make a decision that would make everyone happy.

Amber sighed and wiped the sweat from her brow as she and the others exited Inkopolis Tower for the third time. The Splatfest matches were in full force, and Team 21 had yet to win a single one, despite the combined experience of André, Caroline, and Moruga. Amber could feel their eyes on her as she tried to maintain her composure, knowing full well that with the amount of experience between the others, it was her own lack of skill as a captain that made her solely responsible for their three defeats thus far.

While it was no different from the usual matches of the Outcasts, even with the team’s sniper and Splatling user replaced with ones of greater skill than Marjani and Felicity, the stress weighed heavily on Amber, and feeling as though Moruga and Caroline were constantly judging her every action made the losses sting even more than usual. She breathed heavily, turning to the others as another team of four passed by them to enter the tower.

“It’ll be okay…” she tried to reassure herself quietly, “We’re just not used to being a team yet…” Caroline yawned and stretched. “I blame our team,” she stated nonchalantly. Moruga raised an eyebrow as he crossed his arms behind his back, entering his usual rigid stance. “How so?” he asked irritably. “I mean Team Early Bird,” replied Caroline, interlacing her fingers and putting her hands behind her head, “We’re a team made completely out of squids who hate staying up late, and we’re playing in the middle of the night.”

“Think it’ll get better as more Early Birds wake up and join the morning matches?” asked André, folding his arms. “Not if dey keep goin’ de way dey are,” retorted Moruga, glancing at Amber. Caroline shifted her gaze between her three teammates and sighed. “Amber, let’s go get some drinks at the café,” she suggested, clearly hoping to diffuse the tension, “You guys want anything? My treat.” “Grape soda,” replied André simply. “Coffee,” added Moruga, “Black.”

“Got it,” replied Caroline, putting her hand on Amber’s shoulder as she began to turn around, “Let’s go.” Amber moved her arm slightly to brush Caroline’s hand off her shoulder dejectedly as she turned to follow her red-tentacled senior. André uncrossed his arms and glanced over to Moruga. He sighed as his teammate refused to look in his direction, maintaining his position as if he were guarding the ground on which he stood.

“So…” André started awkwardly, “How’ve you been?” Moruga looked at André quizzically for a moment before resuming his forward stare. “Fine,” he replied simply. André nodded slowly as he looked away from Moruga. “We, uh…” he cleared his throat before continuing, “We haven’t seen each other since then. Other than that match a while back.” Moruga was simply silent, unable to think of something to say, though his expression betrayed that he was putting forth his best effort to do so. “I suppose… I didn’t really try to see you guys again,” continued André, “I’m partially to blame for that.”

Unsure of how to continue, André simply looked to Moruga, who was still staring straight ahead, as if he was ignoring his teammate. “You know, you could at least look me in the eye, Moruga,” he added. Moruga huffed and shifted his stance so that he was now facing André, looking up into his teammate’s eyes. “Better?” he asked frankly, though with a hint of venomous sarcasm in his voice. Andre gritted his teeth, his mouth curling into a slight snarl, before he finally took a step forward and looked down to Moruga.

“Dammit, Oaxaca, what the hell is your problem?!” he bellowed, “Here I am, trying to reconnect with you as a friend, and you won’t even look me in the eye without being asked to! I know things aren’t the same as they used to be, but will you at least try to pretend that we’re supposed to be friends?” Moruga furrowed his brow and squinted angrily.

“My problem?” he asked incredulously, standing his ground, “My problem is dat we have been followin’ de orders of a complete rookie and have not won a single match yet! An’ in spite of all dat, yuh are tryin’ to make small talk like de entire last year never happened!” “You think I don’t know that?!” retorted André, “I know we can’t go back, but we can at least try to move forward instead of leaving these bridges burned!”

“We can’t just forget what we did to yuh, André!” argued Moruga, “What I did to yuh! Not a day has gone by since den dat I haven’t regretted votin’ against yuh! It seemed like de most logical thing to do at de time, of course, to sacrifice de one for de good of de team, but it was just de opposite! I was throwin’ away a skilled player, all because we were lettin’ our worries and emotions about our reputation get in de way!”

He let out a guttural sigh before continuing. “Butch has proven himself to be useful, but it’s not de same as when we had yuh! We ignored our friendship wit’ yuh and voted yuh off de team like it was easy for us!” he ranted, “I should have tied de vote wit’ yuh, and instead I destroyed what we had as friends and teammates and made yuh quit Turf War for a year! How can yuh not hate me for dat, André?!”

André was taken aback my Moruga’s sudden outburst before furrowing his brow in confusion. “Wait, Moruga…” he murmured quietly, “Did you just say ‘tied the vote with me?’” “Yes, of course,” replied Moruga, “I should have tied de vote wit’ yuh. Do yuh not remember? Caroline said dat if de vote was split two-and-two, we would count it as bein’ in your favor and keep yuh on de team.” “I remember,” André confirmed, “…And you wouldn’t have tied the vote with me. I didn’t vote to stay on the team.”

“Wha… yuh… wait, what?!” asked Moruga, his eyes widening in surprise, “What do yuh mean, yuh didn’t vote for yuhself? Dere were three votes against yuh and one for. Are yuh sayin’ dat yuh…?” “Voted against myself, yeah,” replied André, “The one vote for me to stay wasn’t mine.” “But den, if it wasn’t yuh, who…?” Moruga’s voice trailed off as he smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand and sighed. “Jolokia…” he murmured, “Of course, it must have been her… Even now, she still carries a torch for yuh…”

“Moruga, the vote never mattered,” said André, “I probably would have left the team even if all three of you had voted for me to stay. You guys were never sacrificing me for the sake of your own reputations. I had to take one for the team, and you know that. But I knew that if I voted for myself, Jolokia would tie it, and then I wouldn’t be able to bring myself to leave. And now I can’t even look her in the eye without remembering that I broke her heart. So, you tell me: Why would I hate you for voting the same way I did?”

Moruga sighed again as he processed what André had just revealed to him. “For a year… an entire year…” he muttered, “I thought we were responsible for destroyin’ yuh. For makin’ yuh quit Turf War entirely and cuttin’ off all contact wit’ us.” “I took a year off because I thought that I should distance myself from the sport,” replied André, “I wanted to keep playing, but I thought maybe it would be for the best if people forgot about me for a while. I quit wearing my Takoroka Mesh and told people to stop calling me ‘the Kraken’ so that maybe they wouldn’t be so quick to recognize me when I came back.”

“Why would yuh do dat to yuhself?” asked Moruga, “We were a good team, André. Statistically speaking, one of de best. We should have stuck togeddah, reputation be damned!” “I know, and I wanted to so badly, Moruga,” agreed André, “But I also didn’t want to risk action being taken against us. If we tried to fight it, we risked the League forcing us to do what happened anyway; tearing us apart because of what others thought of us. This way, it was my choice. And I chose to live with it.”

Moruga relaxed and dropped his arms. “An entire year…” he mumbled, shaking his head in disbelief, “I’ve wasted an entire year thinkin’ yuh hated me…” “I don’t blame you, Moruga,” replied André, “I never even tried to get back in contact with you guys, even after the dust settled. But now you know the truth, so…” He took a step forward and held his hand out. “Let’s try again,” he started. Moruga took his old friend’s hand with a grin and shook it.

“How’ve you guys been, Moruga?” asked André. “As of late, we could be bettah,” replied Moruga as he let go of André’s hand, “We had to cancel a match last week ‘cause Jolokia came down wit’ somethin’. Yuh know how delicate she is; gets sick very easily.” “I remember,” replied André, smirking as he and Moruga looked away from each other and began to scan the plaza, watching for Caroline and Amber’s return.

“Butch has been a handful,” continued Moruga, “He’s been gettin’ later and later for practices, always helpin’ his uncle wit’ who-knows-what. We try not to pry, but we’re worried for him. We think his uncle wants him to take over de family business, and we’re not sure what dat is.” “Hm,” André quietly acknowledged Moruga’s comment about his successor, “And Caroline?” “Yuh’ve seen for yuhself,” said Moruga, chuckling, “Same old girl as always. Unflappable, dat one. Even to a fault, I’d say.”

André smiled at this as he spotted Caroline and Amber returning from the café, refreshments in hand. Before the two were within earshot, André turned to Moruga and lowered his voice. “Listen, Moruga, between you and me…” he whispered, “…Could you tell Jolokia that… that I’m sorry?” Moruga looked his friend in the eye and nodded. “She needs to hear dat, I think,” he said, “I’ll let her know.” “Thanks,” said André simply as the others arrived.

Amber handed André his grape soda as Caroline held out Moruga’s coffee for him. André nodded in gratitude as he took the soda, engulfing nearly the entire bottle in his massive hand. “Careful, it’s hot,” Caroline warned Moruga as he took his coffee. “And de night is cold,” he quipped back, “Just de way I like it.” “You sure seem to be in a better mood, crabcakes,” murmured Caroline with her usual grin, “You two kiss and make up yet?”

“Somethin’ like dat,” Moruga confirmed quietly as André’s soda hissed upon being opened. “Drink up fast,” Amber advised, “Our next match should get called pretty soon, I think.” There was a moment of silence as André and Moruga recalled where they were and what they were doing, having forgotten the Splatfest around them in the heat of their discussion. “Any second now…” Amber muttered, her already-shaky certainty waning. The awkward quiet resumed for a moment as the four of them each sipped their refreshments expectantly.

“Teams 21 and 37 to Hammerhead Bridge in ten minutes,” the loudspeaker finally cut through the noise of the crowd of Inklings around the teammates before repeating itself, “Teams 21 and 37, Hammerhead Bridge in ten minutes.” “That’s our cue,” sighed Amber, raising her drink semi-confidently with a half-smile before her eyes widened. She looked up to André as a realization dawned on her. “A-André…” she stuttered, “Wasn’t Team 37…?!”

André looked over to the purple “37” sign across the plaza to confirm what Amber was talking about, spotting the four members of Team 37 heading toward the tower. “Yeah, looks like it,” he sighed as he turned back to Amber, “The others. We’re going up against our own teammates.” Caroline raised both of her arms as high as she could excitedly. “Woo!” she shouted, “I was hoping this would happen! This is gonna be interesting!”

André smirked and chuckled. “Moruga’s right, you’re as unflappable as ever,” he said. “He said that about me?” asked Caroline, turning to her right-hand man, who rolled his eyes and avoided her suggestive smile, “Have you boys been talking about us behind our backs?” “Only in passing,” André interjected, eliciting a disappointed pout from Caroline. “Guys, can we stay on track here?” asked Amber, “We are going up against our own teammates. This is… I mean, this could be–”

“–All in good fun, of course,” interrupted Caroline, “Come on, let’s get going. I’ve got a good feeling about this one.” She picked up her Splatling’s bag and headed off in the direction of the tower before stopping. “Ah, wait,” she mumbled to herself as she turned around to face Amber, “Lead the way, Captain.” Amber sighed as she picked up her own weapon and walked past Caroline, trying not to shoot an angry glare at her easygoing teammate as she did, Moruga and André following behind.

As the four rose out of the spawn point at Hammerhead Bridge, Amber surveyed their surroundings. The clear night sky was lit by a bright nearly-full moon, which was accompanied by fireworks going off on either side of the bridge, launched from small boats below. “Whoa…” she whispered, her voice barely audible as she marveled at the sight, “I’ve never seen this view at night…”

“I’m surprised you can with those Tinted Shades,” replied Caroline, “If you took th–” “–Not a chance,” Amber snapped pointedly, “I’m not giving up Last-Ditch Effort.” Caroline simply shrugged. “Alright, if you say so,” she conceded, “I guess everything else with that is too expensive.” “Are you saying I–?!” Amber started, before catching herself and biting her tongue, “Never mind. Let’s just get ready for the match.”

“Three!” a voice spoke over the loudspeaker system. “That was fast,” muttered Caroline, “It’s almost like you have a sixth sense for these things.” André cracked his neck and tightened the grip on his Roller. “Two!” the announcer continued. “My timing was off back at the plaza,” replied Amber, “I just get lucky sometimes.” “One!” the announcer called out a third time. “Ladies,” growled Moruga, “Focus, please.”

“Go!”

The team charged forward from the starting point. “Moruga, I want you on the upper path going straight down the middle!” barked Amber, “Caroline, take the right! André, drop to the lower path and get to the center! I’m taking the left and then I’ll join you!” “You got it, Cap!” said Caroline, giving a short salute as the teammates spread out toward the positions Amber had commanded.

As Amber reached the end of the pathway she had taken, isolating her from her teammates, she could see that Jolokia and Marjani had already gotten to the center of the field in the lower area, inking it just as André arrived from the path he had taken. Moruga was lagging behind, unable to move quickly across the grates without being able to ink and swim along them in his squid form. “Marjani, get behind cover!” commanded Jolokia. Marjani quickly ducked behind a wall as André flicked his Roller in her direction, trying to catch her with his ink.

“Your Inkstrike is ready! Fire on their right path!” continued Jolokia as she dodged André’s assault, pointing to direct Marjani, “Felicity, I need some cover fire down here!” Marjani fired off an Inkstrike as Felicity took aim at André. “Crap!” Amber dropped down to the lower area to try and back up André, only to be too late as Felicity released her shot, splatting him instantly. Marjani’s Inkstrike touched down on the end of the right path just as Caroline reached it, splatting her and sending her back to the spawn point with André.

“Yes!” Amber could hear Marjani celebrating her minor victory over her senior Splatling user, “Finally!” “No, no, no, no!” Amber sprayed ink madly in front of herself as she tried to evade Felicity’s continued shots, “Come on, Moruga, where are you?!” She inked a pathway up the side of one of the support towers in the center area and swam up, just in time to see Moruga get splatted in front of her, covering her in the other team’s purple ink. Wiping her eyes clean, she had just enough time to see Butch swing his Inkbrush a second time, this time into her to finish her off.

Moruga shook his head as he stepped off of the spawn point. He wasn’t used to being splatted as much as he’d been that night, and it wasn’t getting much easier to shake off the sensation. André and Caroline had already headed back toward the center to try and hold off the other team. “I’m gonna have to have a talk wit’ Butch when dis is over about how hard he hit me just now…” he mumbled to himself before stopping as he heard something behind him. As he turned back around, he saw Amber, on her knees with her weapon dropped on the ground in front of her, her arms wrapped around herself, and trying to halt her shaking and stifle her crying.

Moruga took a few steps toward Amber. “Dere will be time for dat later, Amber,” he barked sternly, “Come on, let’s get back out dere.” “I-I can’t!” Amber sobbed. Moruga took a deep breath and bent over to pick up Amber’s weapon. “I-it doesn’t matter wh-who I’m on a team with!” Amber wailed, “I-it’s always the same! Every s-single time! I-I can’t win! I can’t be a c-captain! Moruga, please! J-just take over! I c-can’t do this!”

Moruga held Amber’s weapon out to her. “Dat would be de easy way out,” he replied strictly, “On yuh feet. It’s not over yet.” Amber ignored Moruga’s outstretched hand as she continued bawling. Moruga took her weapon in his hands and began to inspect it more closely. “Yuh know, dis thing has fascinated me ever since we first looked into yuh Turf War registrations,” he mused, “Yuh are a rookie from out of town, but yuh own an Octoshot Replica. Dis weapon is only awarded to de best players. How did yuh get one wit’ no record to speak of?”

Amber sniffled and stood up. “I-it was a hand-me-down from my teacher…” she muttered hoarsely, “He wanted me to have something to remember him by when I came to Inkopolis, so he gave me his old weapon…” “Yuh mentor was a high-rankin’ Turf War battler?” asked Moruga curiously. Amber nodded. “One of the best,” she murmured. Moruga furrowed his brow and curled his mouth into a slight frown.

“Tell me somethin’, Amber,” Moruga said as he looked his stand-in captain in her eyes, “Would dis mentor of yours be proud to see yuh as yuh are now, turnin’ on de waterworks mid-match? Would ‘one of de best’ be glad to see his student actin’ like dis?” Amber sniffled and shook her head. Moruga held her Octoshot Replica out for her again. “Make him proud, Amber,” he instructed. Amber took her weapon from him and sighed.

“I-it’s no use, though,” she whimpered, “No matter what I do, it seems like things always go wrong. I thought I understood the different kinds of weapons and the players who use them, how to take advantage of those and how to beat them. B-but every time, things somehow go wrong right away and we still lose. All my training… it was for nothing…” Moruga slung his Splatterscope onto his shoulder with its strap and put both of his hands firmly on Amber’s shoulders, gripping them just a little more tightly than was comfortable for her.

“I see many flaws in yuh strategies, Amber, but dose are problems to be solved by experience, one by one. De one ting dat sticks out to me is dat yuh play as though yuh live on borrowed time,” he pointed out, more gently than he had been speaking up until then, “What is it dat yuh are waitin’ for? What has yuh so worried about where yuh’ll be when de clock runs out? Instead of focusin’ on de end, fight like you must hold de line for all eternity, and den yuh will muster de strength to do so.”

Amber took a deep breath and sighed again. After a few moments, she held her weapon up firmly in her hand. “O-okay,” she stammered, the confidence in her voice slowly returning, “Change of plans, then. Moruga, I want you where I sent Caroline originally, on the right side. I know it’s not ideal and doesn’t give you good coverage of the left, but try to hold them off from there. I’m going back out there to give new orders to Caroline and André.”

Moruga nodded and transformed into his squid form in synchronization with Amber, taking off through the ink as Amber performed a Super Jump to Caroline’s location. Seeing Amber heading her way, the veteran girl charged up her Mini Splatling and protected the area where Amber was set to land, casually splatting Marjani in the process. Amber landed next to her and immediately opened a barrage of fire on Felicity just above the two, splatting her temporary opponent.

“Caroline, I need you up above on the grates!” shouted Amber urgently, her voice filled with resolve, “Keep as much of this area inked as you can! I’m going to cover Moruga’s blind spots on defense!” Wordlessly, Caroline smirked in understanding and ducked into her squid form, swimming up the side of a nearby wall and onto the upper path. “André!” shouted Amber, “What’s your location?” André swung his Roller at Jolokia, who dropped into her team’s ink and beat a hasty retreat, giving the giant squid a chance to ink the area.

“Over here!” he bellowed in reply. “Focus on survival and turf coverage, not splats!” yelled Amber, “Build up your special and Super Jump to me!” André nodded and planted his Roller on the ground in front of him, dashing forward to cover up the purple ink of the opposing team. “Alright, Amber,” Amber whispered to herself, “No one gets through. No one gets through…” She took aim at Jolokia as the Slosher user neared her, out of Moruga’s range, the two of them each trying to cover the same turf.

“I can’t get close…” she muttered to herself, looking around, “Where’s André?” As if on cue, her larger teammate crashed down just behind her, landing on both feet with a snarl on his face. “Kraken’s ready!” he shouted, sweeping his Roller horizontally over Amber’s head to try and fling ink in Jolokia’s direction. “Not yet!” barked Amber, “I need you to save it!” “Save it?!” asked André skeptically, “What for?!” Amber scanned the field as Jolokia retreated from the two and spotted Butch headed toward them, his Inkbrush on the ground.

“Moruga, take aim at Butch!” shouted Amber across the field to the sniper. Moruga did as he was told. Butch noticed the laser sight from his senior’s Splatterscope dancing about his feet as Moruga tried to get a lock on him and simply laughed. “Hah! Not today!” he shouted before turning his gaze back to Amber and André. Butch’s tentacles gleamed in the dark of the night as André sidled up next to his teammate. “Watch it!” bellowed the latter, preparing himself to transform.

“I said not yet!” repeated Amber, “Wait for it!” Butch raised his Inkbrush and began to transform into his squid form, growing in size and becoming a large purple Kraken. Amber watched closely as Felicity and Marjani closed in on the central area with Jolokia. “Whenever you’re ready!” insisted André as he and Amber backed up. Just as Butch’s Kraken form neared the two, Amber took a deep breath as time felt like it was slowing down. It was now or never.

“Now!”

André wasted no time tapping into his Kraken form, swelling to a massive size that dwarfed Butch’s counterpart. He immediately swam forward, roaring loudly through the waves of yellow ink crashing around him as he neared Butch. Just before the two could clash, Butch suddenly felt his power waning, and transformed back into his normal bipedal form, his 18K Aviators sliding down his nose slightly in surprise.

“Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap!” he shouted as André crashed right through his position before he could get his Inkbrush on the ground and flee. “Butch!” cried Felicity as the ever-evasive Inkbrusher was unexpectedly splatted. “Get as many of ‘em as you can, André!” cheered Amber, covering turf around the central area as André began to pursue the others, “Moruga, you got your Killer Wail up yet?”

“On your mark, Captain!” replied Moruga. “Let ‘er rip!” replied Amber, “Use the angle you’re at to cut off their escape and pick off anyone you can!” Moruga did as he was told and activated his special weapon, producing a Killer Wail, a large megaphone-like construct from within the ink around his feet and placing it down in front of him, aimed toward the small ramp out of the center area that the other team would have to use to elude André.

A moment later, the Killer Wail sprang to life, blasting a wave of sound straight in the direction it had been pointed. Marjani froze up as she found herself trapped between André and the sound wave, being splatted by the former just before his special ran out. Felicity and Jolokia scattered in two other directions to try and escape the onslaught. Heading away from the direction of Moruga’s Killer Wail, Felicity climbed a wall onto the upper path, only to be greeted by a quick barrage of ink blots from Caroline’s Mini Splatling.

As Jolokia fled André’s pursuing Roller, now opposite Amber’s position, she realized she was now briefly alone with all of her teammates splatted. Glancing to her left, she suddenly found herself being hit by a blast of ink from Moruga’s Splatterscope from her left side. An explosion of yellow ink splattered around the ground where she’d been standing as she was sent back to the team’s spawn point.

“They’re all down! Now’s our chance!” commanded Amber as the team inked turf in the direction of the opposing team’s base, “Caroline, if your Bomb Rush is ready, save it for when they get back! We need to keep them on the ropes and on their toes now that we’ve got the advantage!” The battlefield quickly began to turn yellow as the team pushed forward, the line roughly separating the two sides moving forward all across the map as Team Early Bird pushed forward.

“Here they come!” Caroline called out, spotting their four opponents making their way back onto the field, the charge led by an ornery-looking Butch. “Everyone, get ready for round 2!” shouted Amber, “Don’t give them an inch!” All of a sudden, a loud whistle rang out through the battlefield. “No need!” replied Moruga, lowering his Splatterscope with a smile, “It’s over.” Several of the eight squids all breathed a collective sigh of relief, Amber in particular falling back and simply sitting in the ink as she panted.

“Amber!” said Caroline as she dropped down from above, “It worked! Getting all four of them splatted at once gave us enough time to turn the match around. We just won by 3%!” Exhausted and relieved, Amber began to uncontrollably giggle as she realized how far the team had managed to push into the Night Owls’ territory. “Grouping yourself together with André as bait and having Moruga get Butch to waste his Kraken,” continued Caroline, “That was ballsy! I love it!” Moruga and André regrouped with the team as their four opponents all joined them.

“Aggh! Butch, what is wrong wid youse?!” cried Butch, throwing his head back as he placed his hands on either side of it as if to squeeze it in some form of self-punishment, “Youse let da Kraken getcha dis time!” “Man, I told you I shoulda been captain!” insisted Marjani. “Oh, hush, Marjie!” retorted Felicity, “That was the first match we’ve lost so far, and it won’t be the last. Jolokia’s been a good captain.” “Thank you, Felicity,” replied Jolokia, “I’m not used to this, so it’s reassuring to hear that.”

André breathed a sigh of relief as he hefted his Roller up onto his shoulder. “Not bad,” he rumbled, “Not bad at all. It was risky, but you made the right call at just the right time. I had no idea what you were thinking, but your gamble paid off.” He reached his free hand to Amber to help her stand up. She took it and let him pull her to her feet, ignoring the ink dripping off of her clothes. “Thanks, André,” she panted. Caroline waded through the ink to give Amber a hug. “I told you that you could do it, girl!” she exclaimed, “I said I had a good feeling about this one!”

Amber sighed as she reluctantly reciprocated Caroline’s hug for a few moments before they separated. “Yeah, you did,” she muttered, unsure of what else there was to say. She turned to the other team. “Nice to see you guys,” she said, “Good game.” “The same to you,” replied Jolokia, “You seem to be coming into your own as a captain nicely.” Amber quietly smirked, trying to hide her smile. “I had some help,” she muttered sheepishly.

“Eh, fuggedaboutit,” retorted Butch, having calmed down, “Give yourself at least a little credit, eh, rookie?” Amber smiled as she glanced over to Moruga, who calmly nodded at her, struggling with himself to maintain his stoic image and avoid returning her infectious grin in full. “Alright, guys, it’s about time for us to clear out for the next match,” interjected Caroline, “Good luck out there, Night Owls. We’ll catch up with you guys after the Splatfest is over.” The two teams separated, heading back toward their own spawn points to return to Inkopolis Tower.

“You’re getting better at this, huh, Captain?” mused André, fighting the fatigue in his rumbling voice. “Looks like it,” replied Amber quietly, “I guess I just… needed someone to have faith in me. Maybe… I can be a captain after all.” “I sure hope so,” Caroline chimed in, “It’s the whole reason I wanted you to take charge from the start, so we could draw out some of that potential.” “Watch yourself, Humboldt,” Amber warned her, smirking at her senior, “Keep it up and someday I’m gonna be a better captain than you.”

Caroline simply laughed in response. “That’s the idea,” she agreed, “Turf War’s barely any fun when no one can give me a run for my money. You’ve still got a ways to go, girl, but you’re finally on your way, so don’t you dare give up.” “Be careful what you wish for,” Amber cautioned her, “‘Cause you’re gonna regret wanting to make a rival out of me someday.” “We’ll see,” Caroline asserted, “But for now, let’s just have a little more fun, huh?”

Amber nodded and sighed contentedly as the team arrived at their spawn point. The Splatfest was far from over, but somehow, through all the chaos, pain, and heartbreak that had happened thus far, one small victory had turned everything around, and Amber had discovered a new vigor that would keep driving her to the end of the festival. She knew that time would tell if she would have the mental fortitude to maintain this resolve through the hard times no doubt lying in wait for her beyond the Splatfest, but she would put everything she had into holding that line as though the end would never come.

SPLATOON: THE OUTCASTS

EPISODE END

André opened the door to the bedroom in his apartment, sighing as he flicked the light switch on. As the Splatfest had gone on into the night, the four members of Team 21 had eventually gone back home to catch a few hours of sleep before resuming their matches the next morning, playing through the day into the following evening and only stopping for quick meals. The results for the Splatfest had been announced later that night at the closing ceremony, and while Team Early Bird had ultimately lost the competition, André felt a sense of fulfillment from having participated.

He set his Roller bag down on the floor, sat down on his bed, and began undoing the laces on his large Tan Work Boots, eventually removing them and the socks underneath. The feeling of the cool air in his apartment against his worn, tired feet was something he looked forward to every day. He exhaled deeply again as he flexed his toes, stretching his feet in ways he’d not been able to during the long day of matches he’d just endured.

He reached down and grabbed his custom-sized Splatfest tee from the bottom, removing it and leaving himself shirtless on his bed. “Hope Moruga remembers to talk to Jolokia…” he muttered, “…Wish I could figure out what to say to talk to her myself, though.” He breathed deeply and sighed again as he turned and laid down across his bed. “Finally,” he whispered to himself, “Peace and quiet. No more noise.”

As if responding to his words, his cell phone resting on his nightstand suddenly buzzed, alerting him to a text he’d just received. He grabbed his phone in his large hand and checked the message; it was from Amber. “Lunch with the others @ Café Cardamari tomorrow y/n?” the text read. André texted back a short reply: “Sure”. He set his phone back down on his nightstand and smirked as he placed his hands on his chest. “…Peace and quiet,” he muttered again, “…No more noise.”

#splatoon #outcasts #splatoon the outcasts #amber #andre #marjani #felicity

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rmuldrake-blog · 7 years ago

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Twin Peaks Part 14 Coffee Time

Well here we are we are now 4 hours away from twin Peaks finishing “the return” story, the pile driver punches just keep coming.

So the episode kicks off with Cole calling the sheriffs department in Twin Peaks he is returning Frank Truman’s call, Truman is providing Cole information on the missing page of Laura’s diary. There a wonderful little scene between Lucy and Cole. I can only imagine was Lucy and Andy’s trip to Bora Bora would of been like.

We stay with Cole and the team for an explanation of the first Blue Rose case

Olympia, Washington, 1975

2 field agents investigate a murder in Olympia, Washington. (Cole and Jefferies)

They arrest Lois Duffy at a motel. They kick the door in after hearing a gunshot, there are 2 women inside. One on the floor dying the other holding the gun then drops it whe the agents entewr

The wounded women is Lois Duffy on the floor she speaks

“i’m like the blue rose” and then smiles then dies and disappears

The other woman is also Lois Duffy she doesnt have a Twin sister Albert comments.

While awaiting trail Lois Duffy swears she didn’t commit she hangs herself.

Tammy is asked what question should she ask she returns with

“whats the significance of the blue rose”

“blue rose does not occur in nature its not a natural thing, the dying woman was not natural, conjured, whats the word a tulpa”

Tulpa (Tibetan: སྤྲུལ་པ, Wylie: sprul-pa), nirmita (Sanskrit: निर्मित), or thoughtform, is a concept in mysticism of a being or object which is created through spiritual or mental powers. The term comes from Tibetan "emanation" or "manifestation".

“Good” Albert retorts.

This scene plays out very much like X files, so its probably why I liked it so much, The tulpa has also appeared in X file law in season 6′s Arcadia (the one where Mulder and Scully play house) and in season 10′s home again (the band aid man)

Cole enters the room with his thumbs up Coffee time

Diane is on her way but before that we get the window cleaner, Moving on quickly...

Then we get the bombshell, On the last night that Diane saw Cooper did he mention Briggs Cole asks, she doesn’t want to talk a bout that night, but Cole pushes her. She confirms that he did, Albert then spells out what has happened to Briggs and the ring that was found

The next part I was shouting at the screen over and over again in Doctor who fashion.

Diane’s half sister is Janey-E and is married to Douglas Jones everyone calls him Dougie. Shes estranged but last heard they were in Las Vegas.

So my initial thought straight away hit me, Cole Albert and Tammy have now asked about Vegas, Diane got that text basically asking as much, We don’t know which side of the fence she is sitting on but she did seem genuinely shocked when they asked about Janey-E could it be that things are starting to make sense to her now the pieces are falling in line?

Cole calls the Vegas office there are 23 Douglas Jones in the area, (why did they not mention Janey-E is anyones guess surely that would of narrowed the search a bit.)

“How are we going to find the right one”

“WILSON HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU THIS IS WHAT WE DO IN THE FBI”

Brilliantly funny my x file fandom also struck a chord albeit in a slightly different way.

““Thats why they put the I in the fbi” Xfiles pilot.

So were no more than 15 minutes in wow, so much stuff to mull over already,

After Diane leaves we get Cole bringing everyone up to date with the missing pages of Laura’s dairy, with the revelation of 2 coopers but after Cole’s first case I can see now why this may be more low key than I imagined it to be, A footnote in another Blue rose case. There are 2 coopers we now know what we are dealing with, but suspicions were probably already there this acts more of a confirmation to them,

Monica Bellucci dream, “Oh boy” Albert sighs and Tammy... well her look say’s it all.

So the dream:

Paris Cafe, the music is deliberately tense and suspenseful. Cooper was there but no face could be seen only his chin,

Monica was pleasant and had brought friends. While having a Coffee Monica quotes the phrase

“We are like the dreamer who dreams and then lives inside the dream, .... but who is the dreamer”

Monica looked beyond Cole while he was feeling VERY uneasy. As he looks back we see scenes from Fire walk with me.

Cooper says it 10:10 February 16th. Cooper was worried about the day because of his dream, Jefferies appears and points at Cooper asking

“who do you think that is there”

Cole and Albert both hadn’t remembered that. Its seems to be a running theme I am picking up on at the moment. more on that later.

I don’t want to theorise too much but dreams are a kin to the lodges, are we seeing a guiding force to the final act or a we seeing some very timey wimey stuff going on.

So back in Twin peaks the boys are getting ready to go into the woods, sandwiches are laid on the table and Andy is having just cheese, Reinforcing the fact that he is a simple standard guy very plain non corrupted. well thats the way I see it especially with what happens shortly,

They arrest Chad and I can pretty much imagine the whole fandom punching the air, screaming yes. I did. I can only assume that because they all were leaving for the mountain that they wanted him out the way now.

Up in the mountain I had a very uneasy feeling, we had the hum but we also had Andy at the back and a bit behind them in a couple of scenes while they are walking, it gave us milliseconds extra screen time but it did feel like something was about to happen.

The listening post is gone Bobby remembers lots of machines and then we arrive Bobby laughing on seeing Jack rabbits palace. One thing to note here

The pan up the trunk is VERY reminiscent of the purple place before we see the Giant/Fireman and the birth of the golden Laura Orb.

253 yard due east with soil in their pockets we find Naido, Andy comforts her a vortex appears and he ends up sitting across from what we now know is the fireman. Andy is basically shown the entire history of the twin peaks story the explosion, Convenience store, GOTTA LIGHT, Laura’s death, Coopers ganger and even some future events (Lucy being shown something by Andy it would be funny if this was only a self fulfilling prophecy and there is nothing to the scene whatsoever ) Also included is the post where the kid got killed and the number 6 I have a feeling this post has been in the show before i’m guessing fire walk with me but not sure.

I feel that Andy must of been picked as he like cooper is not corruptible he is pure, plain like the sandwich no additions just who he is.

We return to planet earth, Andy is as confident as we have EVER seen him, he now has a purpose and he will do everything he can to complete his destiny. Naido must be protected and no one must know where she is.

Truman and Hawk are struggling to remember what happened, its a running theme throughout then whole show with Cooper, Cole, Diane, People in the bar, anyone who may of been close too or in contact with the otherworldly beings or supernatural vortex's etc,

We get an Andy and Lucy scene in the cells, a dog got lost and Lucy must have stayed the night Andy remembers that night too, Please don’t tell me Wally was conceived there Ha Ha.

Chad gets a lecture from Andy and we get a really bizarre guy mimicking everything, With blood or some other substance coming from his mouth, its a genuine WTF moment. I need to know more.

We find ourselves at the Great northern with Freddie cracking nuts with his distinctive green glove and finding out its James birthday.

It appears James is after another married woman (sighs), Renee, could that be the girl who was at the bar when he was singing. Also I have had the thought that is this scene prior to our first bar scene, James doesn’t know who is on. Surely you would know if Lissie was on? No?

We then get the green glove Iron fist story, Where did he start bleeding? it must of been terrifying to the doctor We also hear a lot of what the fireman had said, he has never spoken so much (off screen obviously), Freddie says London Town, when was it last called London Town the Victorian ages?? The fireman tells him that he will possess:

“the power of an enormous pile driver” we get the Jobsworth story and the cockney slang (i’m not a fan) of snapping his Gregory, (Gregory Peck=Neck), There is also a red card metaphor just in case you didn’t realise he is English, The fireman tells him to go to Twin Peaks to for fill his destiny.

James heads down to the furness’s we get the same noise down hear from up above in Ben's offices and a door, The whole scene seems to call back to Bob we see him in an area very much like this one i think in Fire walk with me if memory serves me right.

SOOOOO we come to Sarah Palmer, I can only guess it leads on from her boxing scene, no more drink needs one goes to bar.

An obnoxious guy tries to hit on her, which turns out to be a HUGGE mistake, once Sarah takes off her face we get spikes clawing out of her face a hand which has a blackened spirit finger (as discussed on the plane by Cole to Tammy) and then a smile worthy of the cat from Alice in Wonderland, once the face is back on we get a devastating chomp on his neck. Is Sarah aware is she possessed or is she in complete control, does she have that creature in her from episode 8, is it as i have been educated recently Babylon from the box has it taken her over, Is it even Sarah soo many questions its left deliberately ambiguous. Her final remarks, “sure is a mystery huh” is just chilling.

So we are back at the bar another 2 random people talking about getting high, (Twin peaks seems to have a really big drug problem), Then we come to Billy, This girl is supposedly the last one to see him, she goes on to tell the story in the kitchen she thinks her uncle was there she is not sure, Billy jumped over a 6ft fence got into the kitchen blood coming from nose and mouth, he’s looking really strange, they don’t tell anyone? (did they remember it at the time my guess is it just left there mind as these things keep happening.) and we also find out that he has been having a relatioship with her mom TINA, The moment we get her name ominous music comes over. The girl looks down and then asks “and then he just ran out again” its almost as if the previous question didn’t happen like she forgot, its all links in thematically. She also now doesn’t know if her uncle was there, where as before she thought he was.

There are Probing questions here “have you seen Billy”

“ive heard you were the last person to see Billy”

“Whats your moms name”

All these questions feel deliberate the others are lighter in tone.

To me this probably was the most intriguing part of the whole episode. what an episiode it was.

Who is Billy? Is he having multiple affairs, Audrey, Tina etc, Who’s the dreamer, Is it Cooper, Is it Audrey in a COMA, Whats that thing in the CELL near Naido and Chad? Who’s after Naido is it the experiment? Whats happening with Sarah? Is she polar opposite to Laura now? Is the fireman creating a force to protect the white lodge? There is a plan in place it seems.

We have a lot to get through in 4 hours, and its going to be glorious.

#twinpeaks audreyhorne jameshurley billy part14 cole cooper

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mandibierly · 8 years ago

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‘Good Behavior’ Season Finale Postmortem: Co-Creator Chad Hodge Talks Letty and Javier’s Fate

Juan Diego Botto and Michelle Dockery (Photo: TNT/Good Behavior)

Warning: This interview about the Season 1 finale of Good Behavior contains spoilers.

Good Behavior’s first season came to a satisfying conclusion in “All The Things,” with Letty (Michelle Dockery) and wanted hit man Javier (Juan Diego Botto) driving off together with Jacob (Nyles Steele). And what about that police siren heard in the distance? “To me, that siren isn’t literally a siren that’s pulling them over. That siren is very much an indicator of what’s to come,” co-creator Chad Hodge says. “It’s just a thematic, ‘Oh, this is a hit man and a thief and her son on the run. Like, good luck with that!'”

While we wait to see whether TNT orders a second season of the drama, Hodge takes us inside the final hour.

Yahoo TV: We’ve watched Letty imagine seeing Javier multiple times when he wasn’t really there, like at the diner in the penultimate episode. When he comes up the steps and into the house at the end of the finale, a part of me was bracing for it not to be real. Chad Hodge: That was exactly what I wanted you to feel. It’s like, is he really there? We had it in the pilot, when she imagines stealing his wallet but then she didn’t steal his wallet. And then, in the episode where she goes home for her high school reunion, she imagines him several times — coming up behind her at the kitchen sink, and kissing her. Then, as you said, with the milkshake at the end of Episode 9 at the diner. Here, it’s like another one of those “he’s not going to really be there,” and then he is.

Why does he come back? Is it what he ends up telling Jacob in the car? He came back because he knows he loves her, which is the simple answer. He doesn’t want to let her go. He knows that, in a way, giving him up [to the FBI] if that meant she could get her son back is a very admirable thing. Especially since he’s a hit man. He understands that. He’s as flawed as Letty is in some ways, and he knows that they’re perfect together. He’s never going to find another person as perfect for him as Letty, and he knows that.

Have you planned for a Season 2? We don’t have an official pickup yet, but we spent time in the writer’s room planning what would happen. Just like we had the whole first season mapped out, we have the whole second season now mapped out, so hopefully we get a pickup and we can continue telling the story.

Season 2 would pick up right away with the siren? Yeah, it picks up very shortly after that, which is one thing I very intentionally do in the show. You literally start where you end, going from episode to episode. It doesn’t leave very much breathing room in between because I don’t want you to feel like you’ve missed anything. If something happened, we should see it.

Related: ‘Good Behavior’ Postmortem: Juan Diego Botto Talks Javier’s Past

We have to talk about the song over the final moments, Lissie’s cover of “Go Your Own Way.” Was that something you had in mind or something a music supervisor brought to you? It was perfect. Our music supervisor, Gabe Hilfer, is a genius and he’s introduced me to so much music. Music became a much bigger part of the show than I ever thought it would be in the beginning. That song, however, I will take 100% credit for. [Laughs] That was a very, very hard song [to choose] because of what that song needed to be, because of where it starts. It starts when she sees Javier, when he comes up to the door of the house, and it continues all the way through the end of the show. It needed to be something hopeful, but also tense in some way. That was very hard. I must’ve gone through 26, 27, 30 songs on Spotify, sitting in the editing room with my editor, Doc [Crotzer]. Gabe had introduced me to Lissie’s music months and months before. I thought, “I kind of like that song that Lissie sings. … I wonder what else she has.” I went to her page, and her No. 1 song, the one that gets the most plays, was “Go Your Own Way.” I thought, “Is that like the Fleetwood Mac ‘Go Your Own Way'”? I played it and it starts like, “Dun, dun, dun. … ” It’s that bass riff, and I was like, “Oh my God!” I literally jumped up and high-fived my editor. We both were like, “Yes! That’s it!”

(Photo: TNT)

We also need to discuss that sex scene. When we spoke earlier this season about Episode 2’s role-playing sex scene in the motel, you said you were excited for people to see the one in Episode 10 because of the way it was shot. I don’t know if you noticed, but the whole scene is one take. It never cuts. A sex scene is a very delicate thing. It’s usually a very cut-up thing, editing-wise. You’re cutting to all the hottest parts, and it’s very fast and it’s very this and that and breathing. This is literally all in one take, from beginning to end, so you just see all the parts of it. It was very interesting and cool to shoot it that way, and Michelle and Juan were so game for it. It was the director of that episode’s idea, Magnus Martens. He thought, “What if we just did the whole sex scene in one take? The cameraman and everyone moving around the room with them.” It made it feel very intimate yet also very real.

Related: ‘Good Behavior’ Chad Hodge Breaks Down the Season’s Penultimate Episode And it’s the reverse of the sex scene Letty has with Sean in the episode before. Sean was putting his hands on her and she was knocking them away. Now she’s putting Javier’s hands on her and he’s pulling them away. I assume that was all in the script? Yes. It was very, very detailed. The majority of the other writers on the show are women, and I talked with them very extensively about this. I was like, “It’s this role-reversal thing, and I want her to be in charge of the scene but also punishing herself for what she did.” We literally wrote the motions of that scene very, very specifically into the script. … I think this is a very bold character that she’s playing — someone who’s very protected by her shell. That black dress and the black hair and the boots and everything — it’s almost like warrior.

Joey Kern as Rob and Lusia Strus as Estelle (Credit: TNT)

A relationship I wasn’t expecting to love as much as I did was Rob (Joey Kern) and Estelle (Lusia Strus). Rob and Estelle forever! I loved the way Rob handled it when Sean showed up at the house looking for Jacob. He took it seriously and was ready to defend his wife and grandson, but he didn’t overreact. He was fair. He was mature when it mattered. I love Rob so much. He has the biggest heart of any of the characters. He’s probably the most successful person on paper of anyone. He’s the type of person you look at and you think one thing — and of course, he’s the sweetest, nicest guy. He loves Estelle so much. Loves Letty. It was always that he and Estelle were going to end up together.

I have to say, that character was very much inspired by Joey Kern’s take on Rob. We had to cast that role for the fourth episode. You meet him in the reunion episode when she goes home. In the original script of that episode, he had, like, three lines maybe. We had to write additional stuff we hadn’t written yet for the actors to audition with. We wrote that whole speech that’s in the eighth episode. We just randomly made it up when he talks about what Javier did at the bar the night before. Joey came in and did that monologue just like that, and we were like, “Oh, this is Rob.” So he really informed that sort of loving spirit and smiling face. He’s a person who’s the opposite of any other character in Good Behavior. He just sees the good in everybody.

Estelle’s conversation with Letty near the end of the finale, when she’s telling her all about Jacob — it’s sweet and heartbreaking at the same time. I love that speech so much. I wanted it to be a speech that was very detailed, where Estelle is giving her advice on how to be a good mother, but without it being a speech about how to be a good mother because I didn’t want it to be treacly or sappy or weepy. I was talking to the writers and it was, “Let’s have it be just this list of things.” We all just sat around and came up with a list of things that Estelle tells her, but the subtext, of course, is that Estelle’s letting Jacob go and she doesn’t want to. It is so hard for her. She’s been raising him for all these years. She’s giving him to her daughter, who she has so many issues with and guilt over and jealousy of. Lusia, in that scene, is so amazing. It’s like, just give her details and everything else will come through under that.

Terry Kinney as Christian (Photo: TNT/Good Behavior)

I also loved that Christian (Terry Kinney) and Letty got their final hurrah together, and then Christian ended up with the FBI agent. Was that something that you had planned all along? Their chemistry together — Terry and Ann Dowd, who plays Agent Lashever, is just so funny. It was all planned out from the beginning, but Christian coming back into Letty’s life that way. … When we saw how amazing Michelle and Terry were in Episode 5 together, in the casino-hotel episode, I knew he was going to come back, but I amped up his involvement in this last episode because I just wanted to see more of that — how he helps her steal the phone from Lashever and the whole thing. I love that Letty broke him out of his shell.

Would we see Christian and Agent Lashever in a second season? Definitely. Yes, absolutely.

Last question: Looking back at Season 1 now, what are most proud of? I think what I’m most proud of is the tone of the show, the dark humor and the beauty of it. To go from really dark stuff to laughing about it, back to the dark thing, back to laughing about it, is something that I think we accomplished in Good Behavior, and if we get the chance to do a Season 2, we’ll keep doing that. It came from a combination of the writing and these actors — we all sort of somehow knew what show we were making before we were able to see what we were making. I’m really proud of that, everybody coming together to make this tone work so well. I think it comes from the honesty of it all — allowing it to be real.

#_uuid:ce9c4d58-e2ec-34b7-a4c3-96909c8f8ec4 #_revsp:wp.yahoo.tv.us #_author:Mandi Bierly #Good Behavior #Juan Diego Botto #TNT #Michelle Dockery #_lmsid:a0Vd000000AE7lXEAT #Chad Hodge

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wiypt-writes · 4 years ago

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Riding High

Ch22: Reconnecting

Chapter Summary: Fliss and Frank both move to put recent events behind them, but Mary isn’t quite as forgiving…

Chapter Warnings: Bad Language words. SMUT (NSFW) NO UNDER 18s!!!

Chapter Pairings: Frank Adler x OFC Fliss Gallagher

Riding High Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Chapter 21

Now that you’re mine, we’ll find a way of chasing the sun.

Fliss hardly spoke a word on the drive back to the apartment. She held onto Frank's hand, gently cradling it in her lap when he wasn't using it, her eyes fixed out of the windscreen of the truck, Thor sat on the seat next to her nearest the door. Frank didn't bother making small talk, there was no need. The silence wasn't awkward, so bar asking her if she was hungry, to which she smiled and replied that she was just tired, he left her to it. He parked up and they all jumped out, Thor heading up the familiar tread path on the lawn in front of them. Frank gently took Fliss' hand and they walked up the steps where he opened the door and let her in. He followed her into the living room where she stopped and looked around, a soft smile on her face. "Better than the annex." She said, looking at him "it felt so lonely and...I dunno actually." "That's because it's not your home anymore." Frank said gently. "Your home is here." She stepped towards him and slid her arms round him, slipping them through his open white and blue checked shirt, pressing her cheek to his chest, nuzzling into his white t-shirt. He gently placed his hands on her back, holding her close and dropped a kiss to her head. After a moment or so she pulled back and looked up at him. "Sure you don't want eats?" He asked, "Coz I'm getting kinda hungry." She pondered for a moment. “Not really. But if you get pizza I might steal a slice." Frank gave a chuckle. “Okay, I'll order in." She gave a smile and then stepped back, her left hand going to her right shoulder as she gently rolled it back, grimacing slightly, the movement didn't go unnoticed. "You ok?" Frank frowned "Your shoulder bad again?" "A little. I jarred it a few days back." "How?" "I err..." she took a deep breath. "I had a nightmare and fell out of bed. Landed a little awkwardly" Frank watched her for a moment, for the first time really taking in how exhausted she looked. She clearly hadn't been sleeping well either. "Sweetheart, why don't you take a bath?" He looked at her "Go relax whilst I order us some food." "I'd like that." She smiled. "I'll, err...go... "You don't need to ask." Frank shook his head, looking at her. "You're not a guest. You live here." "I know. I just..." she sighed "I left.”

Shit. "No, it's all in the cabinet." He said, handing her the beer before he bent down to pull out the wicker basket out. There was a moments silence as he set it on the side. "I just..” he trailed off as he looked at her. “None of the rest of your stuff has moved. All your clothes and..." "Frank." She said softly, touching his arm "You don't need to explain. I get it." There was another moment of silence before Frank couldn't take it anymore. He wanted to hold her, feel her and assure her they were going to be okay. He reached out, his arm curling it round her waist and he pulled her to him, pressing his lips to hers. His free hand slid up her back and gently cupped the back of her head, keeping her face pressed to his as he deepened the kiss slightly, his tongue sliding into her mouth. She pressed against him, a soft sigh escaping her as she let him lead before he pulled back, his head pressing to hers, both slightly breathless. "Think I am kinda hungry after all." She smiled and he gave a chuckle. "I'll order a large then...and a portion of fries each." He smiled, nodding to the beer "I've no wine though so..." "Beer is fine." She smiled softly. He gave her another quick kiss before he turned for the door and left her to it. He called through their order before he changed into a pair of sweats and a clean t-shirt before he headed back into the lounge and sat down on the sofa, flicking the TV on. Fred glanced up from his spot on the windowsill as Thor circled slightly before he flopped down on the rug, his tail thumping lazily against the floor as he let out a loud yawn. "You and me both Pal." Frank mimicked the dog with a large yawn of his own as he nestled further back into the cushions. He was relaxed, and for the first time in over a week he actually felt like he was home, despite the fact he had never left. Half an hour or so later their food arrived and he carried it through to the kitchen before he made his way to the bathroom. Poking his head through the door he smiled as Fliss was led, surrounded by bubbles, eyes closed, her long hair piled up on top of her head. "Lissy, food's here." He said gently. She turned to look at him and smiled. "I'll be right there." He flashed her a wink and headed back out of the bathroom. After a moment or two Fliss climbed out of the bath and wrapping a towel around herself headed into the bedroom. Flicking on the lamp by her side of the bed she glanced around. Nothing had changed, Frank was right. Thor’s bed still lay in the corner of the room, the cushions were still on the made bed…all except one thing. The photo of her and Mary that normally sat on Frank’s night stand was face down. Fliss gently walked towards it and reached out, hesitating slightly, before she blinked back her tears and set the photo back correctly before she sat down on the bed.

She’d fucked up, big time. She realised that now. How she had thought keeping the threat from him was the best thing to do she had no idea. But then again, she hadn’t been thinking at all really had she. Her dad was right, she’d been fucking stupid. Rolling her shoulder again she took a deep breath and made her way over to the dresser, pulling out one of her sleep sets. As she dried off and pulled it on, she yawned and realised how fucking drained she was, both physically and mentally. Over the past ten days she’d probably managed an average of three hours sleep a night and after the emotion of the last twenty four hours or so, she was utterly wiped. She bit her lip, before she made a decision and reached for her phone which was charging on her nightstand. First off she fired a message to Joanne telling her she wouldn’t be working tomorrow, explaining that she was back with Frank and they needed to take some time together. Joanne replied almost instantly telling her she would contact her client’s first thing to explain and re-arrange. Then she messaged her dad telling him she had gone home and she would call him in the morning.

Bill replied with a single word. ‘Good.’ She placed her phone back down, pulled her hair out of the messy pile on her head and into a neat braid before she headed out of the room.

Frank, who was just finishing his first slice, looked up as she walked in, smiling at her as she flopped down next to him, tucking her legs underneath her and reached for a piece of pizza. "Franco's?" She asked, taking a bite. "Dur." They sat eating, watching the TV, as if the past ten days had never happened. Deep down Frank wasn’t naive enough to believe that everything would simply go back to normal but it was already feeling a million miles away from when they had first entered the apartment little over an hour ago. He knew that the two of them would need to work through their little blip, but he was confident they would. Whilst he was still frustrated at her, he understood her reasoning and in a strange, unexplainable way he almost loved her more for it, because she had been willing to sacrifice her own happiness, surrender control of her life again to that ass hole, to keep him and Mary safe.

“What time are you working tomorrow?” he asked.

“I’m not.” She shook her head “I cancelled before. I’m exhausted and, well, to be honest I thought us spending some time together was more important.”

“Yeah, she’ll like that.”

***** “No..I’m sorry, I said…”

“Liss…” his voice croaked, deep with sleep. “Hey, baby, come on…” He gently shook her, hand on her waist and she jerked awake, eyes wide, sitting bolt upright in bed.

“Hey, hey…” he sat up, gently reaching out for her.

“Frank?” she turned towards him, her eyes wide and shining in the dim light as she blinked gaining her focus.

“It’s ok…you were just dreaming…” He soothed. She took a deep breath and he wrapped his arms around her, the pair of them gently sliding back down.

“I’m sorry.” she said gently. “I really am, I should…I should have…” “Liss…” he pulled back slightly to look at her “Stop apologising. I know you’re sorry, and so am I ok?” “You’ve nothing to be sorry for.” she sniffed gently and he took a deep breath.

“I shouted, I lost my temper…” “Which you were entitled to do…” “Maybe, but like I’ve always told Mary, you should never stay angry if you can help it.”

“I missed you.” she whispered into his mouth and he let out a groan.

“I missed you too.” And with that his lips were back on hers as her hands carefully slid up his back, dancing across the muscles of his shoulders before she moved her mouth, soft kisses peppered across his jaw and down his neck. Frank closed his eyes, the touch of her mouth on his skin sending him sky high and his breath caught in his throat as she moved slightly, her lips finding his once more.

The kiss was blazing, doing nothing to help the ache he was feeling for her, and he was trying his best to hold back, to let her take control but he couldn’t stand it any longer. His hands reached down to her hips, grasping her vest top and Fliss moved allowing him to pull it up over her head before his lips crashed back to hers with an urgency which she met back movement for movement. Frank shifted so he was completely led over her, his hands and legs caging her between him as he gently brushed his lips over her jaw, to her neck, and then moved himself downwards, taking his time and lavishing affection all the way down her body as his hands gently parted her legs. His nose skimmed below her bellybutton and he placed a soft kiss onto her tummy before he felt her tugging on his hair.

“Frankie, I want you.” Her voice left him in absolutely no doubt as to what it was she was asking. Gently he pulled down her sleep shorts and discarded his boxers before he kissed his way back up, all the way to her sternum before he gently stroked his thumbs over each of her nipples which were pebbled in anticipation. Fliss arched her back, inhaling sharply as her groin bumped against his. Frank gave a low grumble which rose from the depth of his throat as she twitched underneath him, pressed up against where she needed him most. Taking her hands in his, his thumbs skated over her knuckles before he interlocked their fingers and pressed her hands down on the pillow next to her head.

"I love you so much, Cowgirl." He mumbled leaning down and running his nose alongside hers before kissing her deeply.

"I love you too, Sailor." She responded holding eye contact with him as he slowly slid inside her in a gentle, fluid moment, eliciting a moan from them both as Fliss lay back. His mouth found hers again and he kissed her passionately as he started to roll his hips, driving into her deeply, slowly, his bottom lip nibbling on hers. Fliss rolled her hips up taking him deeper, moans and gasps slipping freely into each other’s mouths as he slowly built up his rhythm, his fingers curling around hers tightly as he watched her, felt her, shudder as he hit her spot again and again with every thrust of his hips until she was writhing underneath him, begging him not to stop.

Whether it was the fact they’d been apart for over a week, or simply the pure emotion of the last twenty hours or so, Frank had no idea, but to him it felt like the most intense love they had ever made. Every single brush of her skin against his, each little grind of his hips, each stroke and glide he made left him completely and utterly confounded, lost in his unadulterated love for the woman underneath him.

“Morning, Honey.” he smiled back, dropping a kiss to her cheek “You want any toast?” She nodded, reaching behind him to grab a mug. “I’m starving.”

“Don’t” He warned her, teasingly and she shrugged giving a snort.

“We need to go shopping.”

“We can go later.” He said as she fixed her coffee how she liked it and then watched as Thor was now rolling on his back in the grass.

“Do you want me to book the tickets to the animal place online?” She turned to him and Frank pondered for a moment.

“Let’s see what Mary says first.”

“Sure.” Fliss said, her eyes flickering down to the floor “She might not want to go…especially not with me.”

“She’ll come round.” Frank assured “I know her. She’ll have her say and then, well, we move on.” “That simple huh?” Fliss looked at him, as his attention turned to the toast that had popped up.

“That simple.” He nodded, pulling it out and dropping it to the board on the counter, before he turned to the fridge for the butter.

“Get out of it Fred.” He grumbled as Fliss chuckled, bending over to pick the ginger cat up.

“Ignore him Freddy.” she cooed, scratching his ears causing the cat to purr loudly “He loves you really…” Frank rolled his eyes before he slid the plate of toast over the counter. Fliss set Fred on the floor, picked up her plate and the two of them headed into the lounge with their breakfast. Once they had both eaten and had another cup of coffee, Frank showered, dressed and then headed over to Roberta’s, Thor trotting behind him as he went to collect Mary.

“She behaved?” he asked Roberta as Mary came bounding out of the house.

“She always behaves.” Roberta said.

“Sure she does.” Frank looked at the woman, before he looked at Mary, eye brow raised.

“I do for Roberta.” Mary shrugged. Frank gave a snort, before Mary frowned. “Why is Thor here?” “Because Fliss is at the apartment.” He said gently.

“You two sorted things out?” Roberta asked and he glanced over at her.

“Yeah, we’re okay.”

“Good.” Roberta folded her arms and she looked at Mary who was scowling “Sort your face out, young lady.” Mary glared at her as she scratched at Thor’s ears, before she turned to Frank and looked at him. “So you’ve forgiven her for leaving?”

“Yeah.” he looked at her “I have. And I’m hoping you can do the same.”

Mary didn’t reply, she simply shrugged.

“Listen, Stack.” He stopped just outside and crouched down to face her. “I know you’re angry and upset, and you have every right to be. But Fliss left because she didn’t know what else to do. She’s gonna try and explain to you as best she can ok but you need to listen to her. Think you can do that for me?”

Mary looked at him, her head cocking to one side before she gave a soft sigh “ok.”

“Hi.” she began, but Mary cut her off.

“Let’s hear it then.” She demanded, flopping onto the chair opposite Fliss, arms folded. “Why did you leave?”

Fliss took a deep breath and looked at Frank who simply nodded at her. She swallowed and looked at Mary, the girls large, blue eyes studying her face.

“Do you remember Frank telling you about my ex-husband? How he was in prison but he got let out?” Mary nodded.

“What do you mean, danger?”

“It’s an empty threat.” Frank cut in. “He won’t, and can’t do anything, but Fliss got scared, same way you’re scared of snakes getting into your bed even though there’s like zero chance of that happening. Not with Fred on patrol.” Mary frowned slightly, before she looked back to Fliss “So you didn’t want to leave?” “No, baby, of course I didn’t.” Fliss said as she stood up. She dropped to her knees in front of Mary and looked up at the girl. “I’ve never wanted to do anything less but I honestly thought I was doing the right thing. But I wasn’t…” Fliss bowed her head. “I should have told Frank, not tried to deal with it all on my own. I hurt you, I hurt Frank and I was wrong…” she looked up at Mary, “I’m so sorry, sweetie.”

“So are you back now?”

“If that’s okay?” Fliss asked “If not, then I can stay at the Annex and just come over a few nights a week, like I did before I moved in.” Mary looked at her, then to Frank, then back to Fliss before she shrugged “Maybe. I’ll think about it.”

Frank made as if to speak but Fliss held her hand up, telling him to stop.

“Thank you.” she said and Mary nodded as Fliss stood up. She looked at Frank who was perched on the sofa watching Mary carefully. He licked his lips and glanced at Fliss who gave him a smile.

“Ok, so, now that’s kind of sorted…” Frank spoke, and Mary looked at him. “Fliss thought you might like to go to the Alligator Attraction place.” “No, I mean yes, please, can we?” Mary looked at him, her eyes wide with excitement “I’ve wanted to go for weeks.” “Don’t you need time to think about that too?” Frank teased and Mary stood up rolling her eyes.

“You’re not funny, Frank…” she sing-songed at him as she made her way to the door “I’ll go grab my stuff…you two better change, you can’t go dressed like that.” Frank glanced down at his sweat pants and scruffy T-shirt, then to Fliss who was still in her pyjamas.

******

“No.” he said, snorting “You can’t have one.” “Dur.” she rolled her eyes “I know that, it would eat Fred and probably Thor. Maybe you.” she shrugged

“Glad to see where I come on your list of priorities.” he snorted and Fliss laughed as she simply shrugged.

“You want something else?” Fliss asked her.

“Could you make us my salad?” she asked, “Frank really can’t cook and I’m sick of burgers.” Fliss gave a chuckle and ruffled her hair as Frank scoffed, folding his arms.

“Rude.” he mumbled.

“True.” Mary looked at him.

“Can I help or…”

“If you don’t mind, you could slice the pears?” Fliss asked, nodding to the pack that was on the side, “Just into rough slices.”

“Sure.” Roberta smiled, reaching over for a knife. “How as Mary this afternoon?” Understanding what she was asking, Fliss took a deep breath “She was okay. She listened, I hope I explained well enough but I did her wrong and it’s gonna take a bit of time I suppose.” “Well, she seems fine now.” Roberta said, chopping the fruit. “And the fact you’re still here means she ain’t kicked up too much of a fuss.”

“She said she was going to think about whether I could stay or not.” Fliss smiled, gently opening the oven to check on the chicken as Roberta gave a snort.

“She’s a little madam.” She said, shaking her head.

“She’s great.” Fliss whispered fondly before she felt herself tearing up slightly.

“Oh, honey.” Roberta sighed as she placed the knife down and moved to pull Fliss into a hug “It’ll work out…” “I know, I just…” Fliss took a deep breath “I can’t help feeling bad about what I did…”

“Frank told me why you left.” Roberta soothed her, “And I’ll tell you exactly what I told him…” she pulled back, allowing Fliss to wipe at her face before she locked eyes with her “Maybe the way you did it wasn’t ideal but, well, I understand why. When you love someone so much you’ll do anything to keep them safe, just like he did.” Fliss nodded, giving a small smile as Roberta squeezed her arm “I’ve never seen him, or that little girl as happy as they are with you, in the entire seven and a bit years I’ve known them. The two of you just work, and I know that you’ll get through this. You just might need a little bit of patience.” “Thanks Roberta…” Fliss smiled at her, nodding before the older woman gave her a last smile, before they both turned back prepped the salad, Fliss tossing the chopped ingredients into a bowl before Roberta handed her the dressing at the same time she pulled the wine bottle from the fridge.

“Time for a refill?”

Fliss gave a laugh and smiled as Roberta topped up both their glasses.

“Any cooking going on in here or just drinking?” Frank asked, leaning in the doorway.

“Oh hush.” Roberta looked at him, “We’re women, we can multitask.”

“You’re gonna need to move.” she said gently, and he shook his head.

“Nope. I’m good here…” “It wasn’t a request.” Fliss chuckled as she turned to face him, his hands resting on counter behind her, trapping her between him and the kitchen surface.

“Cost ya.” he shrugged. “What?”

He arched an eyebrow and she grinned, leaning up to place a kiss on his lips before she gently pushed his chest.

“I’ll burn the chicken…” she tried again and he grinned, stepping to the side to let her move out from before him and pull the tray out of the oven. “Can you set the table?” she turned to him “It’s done.” “Sure.” he nodded and began grabbing the stuff from the drawers before he moved over to the dining area.

“Girl you got your costume for the Scout’s Halloween party yet?” Roberta looked at Mary and she nodded.

“Yep, I’m going as a Pirate.” “A pirate?” Fliss asked and glanced at Frank, who rolled his eyes.

“It was her Idea, not mine.” “I’m going as Captain Jack Sparrow.” she looked at Fliss who nodded.

“Well, as far as Pirate’s go that’s a good choice…”

“I think so too.” Mary nodded, turning to Frank and indicating her empty plate “Is there anymore please?”

“I’ll walk ya home…” Frank offered and Roberta turned to him and laughed

“Any time.”

“Don’t tell her that…” Frank said in a loud whisper “We’ll never get rid of her.”

“Sorry.” he looked at Fliss who frowned at him.

“What for?”

“Having Roberta over probably wasn’t what you had planned…” “Oh, I don’t mind.” Fliss smiled “I like Roberta, you know that.”

Frank’s hands dropped to Fliss’ hips as her arms slid up over his chest, coming to rest on his shoulders.

“Leave the dishes…” he smiled, “Come to bed.”

“Go on, I’ll be in a moment.”

Smiling at him she headed down the hallway, pausing outside Mary’s room. She gently knocked on the door and then poked her head round to see Mary was led watching her TV.

“We’re going to bed now Mary.” Fliss smiled at her “Just wanted to say goodnight.” “Ok, goodnight.” Mary said, her eyes not moving off the film.

“Thank you for today.” Mary spoke again and Fliss paused, spinning back to face her. “I enjoyed the Gators and stuff.”

“You’re welcome.” Fliss smiled.

“Can we ride tomorrow?” Mary asked her, yawning slightly and Fliss nodded, eagerly.

“Of course we can. We can do the trail if you like?” Mary smiled giving another small yawn. “Ok, night Fliss…” “Night honey.” she smiled, “Sweet dreams.”

She once again made to leave but Mary stopped her again.

“Love you.” Fliss whispered gently into Mary’s hair, blinking away tears, as Mary’s arms tightened around her neck.

“Love you too, Lissy”

She smiled, dropped a kiss to Mary’s head and turned to leave, smiling as Frank walked into the room.

“Time to turn off, Stack.” he gestured to the TV as Fliss left the room. He watched her go before he looked back at Mary “Everything okay?”

“Yeah.” Mary said “We’re going riding tomorrow.” “That so?” he asked, his arms hanging over the wooden boards that surrounded her bed, smiling.

“Yeah. Do you think Verity will be doing a roast dinner as its Sunday?” “I’m sure she will.” Frank smiled, brushing her hair back. “I’ll get Fliss to ask her.”

“Well, you say we should always forgive when we can.” she looked at him “Because it’s the right thing to do. And that staying angry isn’t nice for anyone.” “I did.” he smiled again “Guess you do listen to me, huh?” “Sometimes. Other times you talk rubbish.” she shrugged. Frank gave a chuckle and then reached for the remote, turning the TV off.

He closed the door behind him and headed into their bedroom, Fliss was looking at something on her phone, Thor sprawled on the bed on his back, one of her hands gently rubbing at his belly.

“So she said you could stay?” Frank mused, pulling off his T-shirt. Fliss looked up and set her phone on the side, smiling.

“Yeah.” she said as Frank settled next to her, flicking the TV over to find something they could both fall asleep to. “I’m relieved, not gonna lie.”

There was a pause and quick as a flash, Fliss grabbed one of the throw cushions and hit him with it.

“But I’m your dick.”

**** Chapter 23

#riding high #frank adler #frank adler x original female character #frank adler x ofc #gifted #gifted fan fic #chris evans #chris evans characters

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