#bailey is not changing though i nailed that one first try

[aurosoulart]

more sketches! all the player characters and their classes for @allthatyouknow’s upcoming Heart: The City Beneath campaign

[munson-blurbs]

BUUUG oh my god i also watched wicked last weekend and i literally have not moved on 😭 i haven’t listened to ANYTHING else aside from the soundtrack and it got me thinking.............theater girlie reader performing i’m not that girl and absolutely nailing the song because she’s actually pining over eddie 🥲 (i also relate to the song because jonathan bailey isn’t in love with me lmao)

Did somebody say...Wicked and pining? I'm in.

Warnings: idiots in love, dual POV, light angst, mutual pining, happily ever after, I don't know what year this takes place in because Wicked opened in 2003 but there's nothing indicating modern!Eddie

WC: 3.5k

Divider credit to @strangergraphics

It wasn’t love at first sight for Eddie. It was love at first sound. 

He was cleaning up after Hellfire on a rainy Friday afternoon, determined to race home and check the sofa cushions for change so he could order a pizza. If all else failed, he could always dip into his primary income source, kept locked tight in his lunchbox. 

Hellfire Club continued to be the best part of his week, as it had been since he’d joined six years ago as a gawky freshman, but there was something comforting about the stillness after everyone else had left. Sometimes Eddie didn’t get that privilege—especially when he was tasked with giving Henderson a ride home. The kid wouldn’t shut up if his life depended on it. But today, he reveled in the peace while he placed the game pieces back in their box. 

He barely registered the small commotion in the adjoining auditorium as you took the stage and began your vocal warmups. You couldn’t take any chances of straining your voice; not when your years of hard work and dedication to the Drama Club finally paid off. 

You trilled to the top of your register before taking it back down, repeating it over and over until you felt ready to practice. Ready to become Elphaba Thropp. 

You were wholly unaware that Eddie Munson stood just on the other side of the wall, whistling a Black Sabbath song under his breath. Maybe that was good, considering your ridiculous crush on him. Like he’d ever notice you—a theatre nerd who never stepped out of line. You certainly weren’t one of the cheerleaders he constantly tried to impress. 

There was no mistaking the way he blushed and stammered around Chrissy Cunningham, playing with a few strands of his curls as he shamelessly flirted with her. You could deny that the sight of it all turned your stomach, but everyone and their mother would know it was a lie. 

A relationship—even a friendship—between you and Eddie would never manifest naturally. You didn’t have many classes together, and it wasn’t like he showed up to them anyway. Rumor had it that he and Chrissy only started talking because she bought weed from him, but the idea of meeting up with him in the woods, alone, overwhelmed you. And Eddie Munson definitely didn’t frequent the school plays. 

You thought about this now, the way you would never measure up to the girls he wanted to be with. Closing your eyes, you inhaled deeply and let the emotions course through you. 

Frustration—towards yourself for harboring a crush on someone so unattainable. 

Envy—of Chrissy Cunningham, who happened to be playing Galinda, and the other cheerleaders who didn’t even have to try to get his attention. 

Dejection—because though Eddie had never outright rejected you, each day that you continued slipping under his radar twisted your heart more. 

You took it all and put it into the song. 

Hands touch, eyes meet Sudden silence, sudden heat Hearts leap in a giddy whirl He could be that boy But I’m not that girl 

Eddie was deciding whether to splurge for the meat-lovers pizza or stick with just pepperoni when he heard the voice of an angel coming from next door. 

Don’t dream too far Don’t lose sight of who you are Don’t remember that rush of joy He could be that boy I’m not that girl

His ears pricked up. Who was that? He’d been at this school for six years, and he thought he knew everybody. 

He rushed over to the adjacent wall, body moving faster than his brain. One sneakered foot caught on the leg of his Dungeon Master throne, sending him tumbling to the ground. In a moment of desperation, Eddie grabbed for the closest object in his vicinity—a mannequin, clad in a Captain Hook costume from last semester’s production of Peter Pan. It came tumbling down along with him, both hitting the ground with an unmistakable thump. 

The voice stopped singing mid-verse. 

“Shit,” Eddie grumbled, picking himself up and brushing the dust off of his ripped jeans. He waited for a moment, then another, in hopes that the song would resume. 

But there was only silence. Once cherished, but now a punishment for his own clumsiness. 

I should go over and apologize. He dismissed the idea almost as soon as it came. Except…what if it was just a coincidence? What if she didn’t hear any of that? I’ll look like a total moron. 

Instead, Eddie continued cleaning up, hoping the pink flush staining his cheeks would fade by the time he left school. 

Every so often we long to steal  To the land of—

A crash cut you off, your gaze flicking from the pretend audience to the stage door. Who was sticking around school on a Friday afternoon?

I should make sure they’re okay. 

You started towards the door, stopping in your tracks when a sinking thought washed over you. What if the person had made noise purposely so I’d stop singing? What if I check on them and they tell me that I suck? I’ll look pathetic. 

Fighting back a cringe at the notion of being humiliated, you scooped up your backpack and hurried out of the auditorium. 

Practice would have to wait until Monday. 

Eddie tried to hide his newfound fascination with the mystery girl who sang her way into his heart. Week after week, he insisted on cleaning up after Hellfire alone on the off chance he’d hear her rehearsing. 

But after that first time, there was nothing. Not a single note. Sure, other people used the auditorium to practice, but none of them were her. 

It was a rainy Friday when she finally returned. The weather—torrential storms all day—meant that Dustin would not be walking home. He begged Eddie to drive him, insisting that if his mom picked him up, she would thoroughly humiliate him. 

Having met Claudia Henderson on multiple occasions, Eddie could attest to that statement’s truthfulness. 

And while having Dustin around to clean up after Hellfire wasn’t a bad thing, he filled the room with incessant chatter and expected Eddie to respond. 

Eddie, however, was in a world of his own, losing himself in the somber lyrics and trying to tune out whatever the freshman was blathering on about. 

Every so often we long to steal  To the land of what-might-have-been 

“And then her dad took away her computer! All because she helped me change one measly grade!”

But that doesn't soften the ache we feel  When reality sets back in

“I mean, it’s completely unfair. Her siblings are batshit crazy and he can’t be bothered to care. But Suzie lies, probably for the first time in her life—”

“Henderson, can you just shut up for two seconds?!” Eddie hissed through clenched teeth, his nostrils flaring. His gaze softened slightly when he saw the shock and hurt on his friend’s face. “Sorry, man, I’m just…”

“Christ,” Dustin scoffed, regaining his composure. “What’s got your panties in a twist?”

Eddie cinched the dice drawstring bag closed, not making eye contact with Dustin. “Nothing. Just tired. Long week,” he added lamely. 

Blithe smile, lithe limb  She who's winsome, she wins him  Gold hair with a gentle curl  That's the girl he chose  And Heaven knows  I'm not that girl

Dustin noticed the way a smile tugged at the corners of Eddie’s scowl. A knowing grin spread across his face. 

“Why, Mr. Eddie. Look at you,” he said, donning a posh accent. “You’re lovesick.”

“W-What?” Eddie sputtered. 

Dustin rolled his eyes. “It’s a play on a quote from Wicked.” When the older boy kept his nose wrinkled in confusion, he continued with a huff. “Wicked. That’s the show the Drama Club is doing. That’s where the song is from.”

“Oh.” Eddie shook his head. “Yeah, it’s a, uh, a nice song.”

He fidgeted with his rings, spinning the skull around his finger until perspiration built up beneath the band. 

“Maybe we should see the show.” Dustin hoisted himself up onto the table, letting his legs dangle. “Y’know, actually watch your lady love on stage rather than secretly creep on her.”

“First of all,” Eddie pointed a finger at him, “she is not my ‘lady love.’ I don’t even know who she is. For all I know, it’s Jason Carver with a killer falsetto.”

The notion, while ridiculous, was the only way he could stifle the butterflies fluttering in his stomach at the term ‘lady love.’

“A possibility. Or,” Dustin countered, “she’s the love of your life, waiting just beyond this pesky wall for you to sweep her off of her talented feet.”

To his credit, Eddie considered the idea for a full second before shaking his head. Metalhead, music snob Eddie Munson watching the school musical? If anyone saw him there, he’d never live it down. 

Dustin, however, was relentless. The boy had a litany of tricks up his Weird Al shirtsleeve. 

“Well, I’m gonna go. My friend Robin is in the band. I wonder who else will be there?” He tapped his finger against his chin, feigning ponderance. “Oh, that’s right! Steve Harrington. You remember Steve, right? Great hair, great with the ladies…maybe he’ll even talk to your ‘friend.’”

Eddie’s blood boiled in his veins. Harrington showing up and being your knight in shining armor, parading around town with you on his arm—

“Fine. I’ll go.” Eddie grabbed his backpack and slung it over his shoulder. “But you keep that jockstrap with a toupee away from her, got it?”

“Alright, alright. Jeez.” Dustin put his hands up in surrender. “No need to be so testy, Nessarose.”

Eddie wasn’t sure what that meant, but he had a feeling he was about to find out. 

Opening night. 

You didn’t allow yourself to peek out behind the stage curtain for fear of someone seeing you in your green makeup, but if the loud chatter emanating from the audience was any indication, it seemed to be a full house. 

Fred Benson came backstage a few moments later, wearing his stage manager headset and a huge grin. “We’re sold out!” He waited for the cheering from your fellow cast-mates to die down before announcing: “Places in five.”

Five minutes. Five measly minutes until you became Elphaba Thropp, the Wicked Witch of the West. 

And if that wasn’t enough to send nerves spiraling through you, the next sentence you overheard certainly did:

“Eddie Munson is here?!”

No. No, no, no.

“Are you serious? I thought he only listened to shit that makes your ears bleed.”

Whatever stage fright you’d already been battling paled in comparison to what you currently felt. Eddie Munson, the man who unknowingly served as your muse for unrequited love, was sitting in the audience.

When Chrissy Cunningham laughed behind you, it all became clear. He was here for her. He wanted to watch her flit across the stage, tossing her blonde hair and waving a magic wand. 

Well, at least you’d barely have to act when Galinda got the man Elphaba pined after.

Eddie sat straight up in his seat when the lights dimmed, clutching the bouquet of roses close to his lap. He didn’t want to risk putting them on the floor and stepping on them, so he did his best to hold them in place without constantly crinkling the cellophane.

They weren’t anything special–he’d gotten them from the refrigerated display case at Bradley’s Big Buy–but he hoped they were enough.

Chrissy came onstage first, wearing a poofy baby blue ball gown and a sparkling tiara. Eddie’s stomach flipped. Was Chrissy the girl he’d heard singing? No, she couldn’t have been. Her voice sounded nothing like the mystery girl. Chrissy’s voice was light and airy, like a princess. The other voice had a slight heaviness to it, like it held some pain.

So…not Chrissy. Good to know, but that still left him with more questions than answers.

He clapped when the audience clapped, pretending to focus on the plot while actually scouring the stage for clues. Maybe she was one of the chorus members; that would definitely make it more difficult to pick her out…

Resignedly, he sat back, summoning every ounce of music training he’d acquired over the years to pick out the sound of her voice among the crowd. 

Nothing. 

“This is bull—” he started to grumble to Dustin, but then his gaze fell upon someone…green. Even covered head-to-toe in pure stage makeup, her beauty shone through. 

Eddie just sat there, fully entranced. He didn’t want to allow himself to believe that this was the girl—because if she wasn’t the one he’d been obsessing over, then he was totally screwed. 

Please, he silently prayed, please let this be her. 

Please, you silently prayed, don’t let Eddie be here. 

Though you willed yourself to keep your eyes on that dark spot in the back of the auditorium, you couldn’t help but scan the audience for him. 

And there he was, sitting between Steve Harrington and one of the freshmen who followed him around the school like a little sheep. He had a dopey grin on his face and roses in his lap. 

Roses, you realized, that he’d present to Chrissy as he held her and congratulated her on an incredible performance—

Focus. You shedded your own skin at the stage door and took on Elphaba’s green hue, and you needed to act like her, not you. And her first song was upbeat and hopeful. Heartbrokenness would have to wait. 

She sang. After what seemed like endless dialogue between her and the teacher—Ms. Horrible? He couldn’t remember, nor did he particularly care—she sang. 

And from that first note, Eddie knew. 

It’s her. 

He almost didn’t want to believe it. He wouldn’t allow himself to believe it, because how could someone be so beautiful and talented? No, this must be someone who sounded similar, but the girl who sang that melancholy song would be someone else. Someone he didn’t feel wholly inadequate when he approached her. 

“Shh!” Someone hissed behind him. Only then did he realize that he was flexing his hand around the rose stems, the cellophane crackling under his tight grasp. 

Eddie muttered an apology, never taking his eyes off of the stage. God, she was breathtaking. He could practically hear her calling his name:

Eddie…Eddie…

“Eddie!” Steve’s annoyed voice snapped Eddie out of his stupor. “Move your foot, man!”

Eddie looked down to see that he was sitting at the edge of his seat, legs spread far enough to nudge Steve’s sneaker with his own. He quickly composed himself, hoping the dark auditorium masked his pink cheeks. 

“What the hell is his deal?” Steve whispered to Dustin. 

The younger boy shrugged. “Pretty sure he’s in love with the girl who plays the witch. He just doesn’t know it yet.”

Eddie barely heard the exchange, too wrapped up in the way the notes seem to float from Elphaba’s lips, ethereal in nature. Normally when he listened to showtunes—which wasn’t very often, but his uncle was partial to his Annie Get Your Gun record—he would pass the time thinking about how he could rearrange the song to fit a more metal vibe. 

But for the first time in a long time, metal is the last thing on his mind. He wants to know more of Elphaba’s story, how she went from a shy college student to one of the most well-known villains in cinematic history. The rest of the world had gone quiet, like a background noise he easily ignored. 

The few scenes without Elphaba were torturous enough, but Eddie soon realized that there was something even worse than that. Someone, actually. 

Fiyero Tigelaar. 

He watched the man in a makeshift Shiz University clutching the stuffed lion toy, already sensing some sort of romantic tension between him and Elphaba. There was no denying the way Eddie’s body tensed when a green hand rested on the man’s cheek, so loving and tender.

As if sensing his friend’s inner turmoil, Dustin turned slightly and whispered, “don’t worry. Rumor has it that he’s more into Boq, if you catch my drift.”

That information allowed Eddie to relax a little, but only for a moment before Elphaba began singing again.

Hands touch, eyes meet Sudden silence, sudden heat

“That’s the song,” Dustin announced to Steve.

Steve nodded, offering a smirk. “So that must be the girl.”

Body wrought with emotion, you could only hope you could stave off the tears until you got offstage. It would be almost impossible to cry and remain on-key, especially given just how low you–not Elphaba–truly felt.

Blithe smile, lithe limb  She who's winsome, she wins him  Gold hair with a gentle curl  That's the girl he chose  And Heaven knows  I'm not that girl

You could get through this. It was no secret that you weren’t Eddie’s type. The girl he chose would be Chrissy Cunningham or someone like her, not the dorky theatre girl who only came out of her shell while performing.

Don't wish, don't start 

Wishing only wounds the heart  I wasn't born for the rose and the pearl  There's a girl I know  He loves her so  I'm not that girl

No, you were definitely not that girl. That girl was backstage, touching up her makeup and probably giggling about the flowers she’d receive from her metalhead crush.

The applause might have been thunderous; it might have been completely silent. You didn’t know. All you could think about was getting off the stage before you got another glimpse of Eddie and the stupid bouquet he was giving to Chrissy. 

The rest of the show was spectacular. Maybe you were a bit biased, considering you were the lead, but it couldn’t have gone any better if you’d tried. You’d even managed to stay in character, keeping your focus on your scene partners rather than the man in the audience who held your heart.

You couldn’t wash off the green makeup fast enough, an arduous process that your castmates thankfully expedited with a plethora of baby wipes and makeup remover. Despite everyone’s best efforts, your face and hands remained tinged with a green hue. You supposed you’d look like that for a few days after the show closed. 

“Excuse me?”

You turned around, still in costume, to see Eddie Munson now standing before you. The two of you were alone, the rest of the cast having cleaned up before you did.

“I think Chrissy’s with her friends,” you blurted out. 

“Oh. Cool.” Confusion creased his brows for a second before he continued. “You did, um, an amazing job tonight. Seriously, I was just…wow. I never knew being anti-establishment could sound so beautiful.”

You smiled, fiddling with a stray black thread on your dress. “Thanks. Elphaba really is a badass.”

“Yeah.” Eddie’s eyes flicked over your face. He noticed you looking at the flowers in his arms. “Oh, shit–these are for you. I hope you like them and you’re not, like, allergic or anything.” He shoved his hands in his pants pockets. “Maybe I should’ve gotten poppies instead, since, y’know…that was Elphaba’s thing.”

“I love them!” Too enthusiastic. Well, at least you didn’t say you loved him. “You didn’t have to get me anything, though. I’m just glad you liked the show.” Timidly, you admitted, “I’m kind of surprised to see you at the school musical, honestly.”

He scratched at the back of his neck. “Can I level with you for a sec?” When you nodded, he sighed. “I didn’t even know the school was doing a musical. I’m only here because I heard you practicing from the Hellfire room, and my friend told me about the show.”

You froze. Did you hear him correctly? Eddie was here because of you? Because he wanted to meet you?

“I wasn’t expecting you to be so green,” he added with a nervous laugh.

You quirked up an eyebrow. “You weren’t expecting the Wicked Witch of the West to be green? Please tell me you’ve seen The Wizard of Oz.”

“Of course I have! It’s a classic. I just didn’t know what Wicked was about.” He raked a hand through his curls. “Anyway, if you’re not busy tonight, I was hoping you might want to hang out? Maybe go to Benny’s and split some cheese fries?”

Your heart skipped a beat. “Y-Yeah! I love fries. And cheese.” You cleared your throat, trying to ward off the embarrassment. “Let me just get out of this costume and I’ll meet you in the lobby.”

“Cool. I’ll go tell my friends to fuck off or whatever.” Eddie smiled, shaking his hair out of his beautiful brown eyes. He started towards the door before half-turning to add,

“And, by the way, you look beautiful even when you’re green.”

--

[bronx-bomber87]

Happy Monday wonderful fandom :) This episode. It doesn’t need much of an intro. I remember just being so excited I couldn’t stand it ha (how I'll be in 36 days for the premiere) I had to wait an extra day cause I have Hulu and not live cable. This one is just amazing from start to finish. Once again did my best to get everything in within the limits of tumblr. 30 is just never enough especially in this season ha Off we go.

5x10 The List

Our babies get the cold open as they should this is basically their episode. They deserve the open and what a cold open it is. I can’t get over how much I love them both emptying out their closets. I wanna break this down with Tim first then Lucy. Our boy is SO SO nervous it’s so cute I cannot stand it. He wants to look good for Lucy and I wanna squee so hard at that. He’s trying so hard for her and my heart is gonna implode.

My fav for him personally was the black shirt cause god damn he looked delectable in it. But they’re all fine af on him. Man is a delicious treat we all get to enjoy with our eyes. The way he stretches out his arms each time trying to calm his nerves. It’s so cute. Loved them showing how very nervous they both were. Be still my heart.

Let’s move to Lucy. She of course is just as nervous as Tim. It’s precious. I also adore the nod to previous moments for them as she looks at her dresses. The ones from wonderful moments such as 4x12 and 4x18. Lucy looking at them and rolling her eyes. Having just as much of a struggle as Tim. Saw a good parallel between this and Bailey with her first date with John. Wanting to look hot but not too hot. Ha She nails that BTW When she finally lands on her final choice.

Tim is nervous and uncertain so what does he do? He calls Lucy. Because he doesn’t know what to wear to this. What does one wear when they’re in love with their best friend and going on their first date? So he defaults to calling his best friend about his problem. It just so happens he’s also going to be on a date with said best friend. hehe I love them so much I might die haha

Lucy sees Tim calling and immediately picks up. Makes me happy how open and honest they are right off the bat. Tim knows she isn’t ready because he isn’t ready. Just knows her so damn well. Lucy asking if he’s ready? The cute panic in his voice when he says ‘No!’ Oh my lord I cannot. Eric crushed that line. His panic continuing through asking her if this place has a dress code?

Lucy deciding messing with him is more fun than helping him. Saying he could wear cargo shorts if he wanted….Tim believing her for a moment. Then realizing what she’s doing. Calling her out for it. He is all smiles when he does though. My goodness this man is happy. So very nice to see. I love his Lucy smile it does things to me. Lucy rolls her eyes but is beaming just as much at his reply. This scene is them being love struck idiots and I’m here for it.

He couldn’t be cuter asking her what she’s wearing? Trying his best to match up. Lucy tells him she has a lot of outfits she knows she isn’t going to wear. LOL Tim reminding her about traffic is the most married thing. Doesn’t want her to be late. To their first date. Which is beyond adorable in itself. They’re both so excited I’m feeling their excitement as they get ready.

Lucy says it’s silly she knows. She just needs to make a decision. Then decides to go with the iconic green dress from 3x14. Tim knows exactly what dress that is when she mentions it. The man is legit beaming when she says that's her pick. Have we ever seen this man this happy? The answer is no LOL

He is so damn excited they’re doing this. Her picking the dress means it’s really happening. Lucy tells him it’s decided then looks in the mirror and says ‘No…’ I was rolling so hard. Melissa and Eric CRUSHED this scene. Hell this entire episode really. Cracks me up she changed her mind last minute but it’s a damn good change up as we will see below.

The awkwardness that is them begins at the restaurant. Talking about bread and the assortment being good. LMFAO What are you guys doing? It’s so funny to see Tim being so incredibly not smooth. He could not be more obvious in checking her out above. Man likes what he see’s and isn’t being subtle about it at all. Elevator gaze and no shame in the game as he does.

Lucy’s little shimmy. I’m dying. She’s very glad she decided to change from the green dress. As she should my god what a bombshell she is in that outfit. Holy hell. She nailed it. Shows off her body, plunging neckline, with the perfect necklace, and just enough cleavage she got Tim checking her out shamelessly.

Lucy came to play with this dress. She knew exactly what she was doing when she picked that whole outfit out. I think she’s very excited he’s checking her out. There’s a look of pride on her face above. Lucy knew she was driving him wild and was feeling pretty damn powerful in this moment. She has Tim Bradford panting after her. So she should be feeling as such. Well done my friend haha

Let's not over look Tim looking fine af too. I see you Tim. Mighty delicious. You know him looking hot as hell is part of Lucy's nerves as well. He dressed that way for her. So you know that's making her feel some things. They try and do some small talk and it’s quite painful tbh lmao. No one does awkward better than Eric and Melissa though. Talking about what they ordered for dinner. It's so awkward but I love it so much at the same time. Why you ask?

Because this means so much to the both of them. Neither of them want to mess it up or say the wrong thing. So they’re radiating nervous jitters. Which is adorable. Lucy answers his question that she ordered the sea bass. Tim continuing the small talk train replying he almost ordered the sea-bass.... Lucy’s reply ‘Oh, cool…’ Is it though? LOL I’m rolling at how stilted this whole conversation is. Not like them at all.

Lucy points out the awkwardness between them because she can’t not. Asking him why this is so weird? Poor Tim the panic and gulping he does when she says this. We see his eyes bulge a little too. He’s so worried she’s going to want to bail on this now. That she is regretting doing this at all. He wants this to work so badly. He’s afraid he’s messed this up already. My poor love. He is so nervous that it spills into his next comment. Awkward Tim is hilariously adorable.

He instantly regrets saying ‘Naked time.’ the minute it leaves his beautiful lips. You can see it written all over his face. Being as smooth as crunchy peanut butter my love... He has sex on the brain because of that outfit. Hence his comment. She looks so beautiful his brain is actually melting LOL Lucy is smiling so hard at his nervousness though. She loves her goober so much. Lucy knows how he is feeling what she is. So she doesn’t give him too much crap for the comment but her face and reply say it all for her haha

Lucy decides this is the time for them to have convo about expectations. I commend her for sharing this right away. It was good for her to set this boundary early on. These two are one massive boiling cauldron of UST ready to overflow. It was an important tone for her set for them. Lucy is just wanting them to date first. See what it is like to be a couple before entering into the physical part of this all. This really was a smart move on her part IMO.

We all love the sexy times and we get lots of it this season. But it was important they took their time like they did. Just like I was glad they didn’t get together in 5x01. I was glad they didn't rush this either. Delayed gratification is a beautiful thing. I LOVE how Tim is staring so lovingly at her as she says all this. That man would’ve done ANYTHING she wanted in this moment. Absolutely anything. He could not be more in love with her if he tried. Look at that man above as she speaks.

Looking like she hung the moon and stars. He would do whatever it is she wanted. Because he’s so gone for her. Lucy could’ve asked for the world and he would've delivered just simply because she asked. There is no hesitation or regret on his face. He is truly listening and wanting to do whatever she is comfortable with. Eric just crushing it out here with his facial expressions. He would give her whatever she wants whenever she wants it. That’s what his face is screaming to me In this moment. She has him hook, line and sinker.

Tim hears the back door open and looks up. Lucy sees the panic on his face and gives him crap for it. Asking if he’s worried someone from station will see them? Tim shrugs it off and says 'What are the chances? ' A fight breaks out in the kitchen and Lucy seems worried about it. Tim tries to play it off not wanting it to interrupt their date.

He just wants this date to go well so badly. Doesn’t want whatever this is to get in the way. Sadly it doesn’t go their way and the employees end up fighting and knife is drawn. Unfortunately the cops are called and their dinner is ruined. Lucy making the comment ‘What are the chances someone from the station walks in now?’ HA

They both look so sad and exasperated their date was ruined like this. All they wanted was to enjoy a meal together. Figure this whole thing out while they did so. AMAZING cold open for them though holy hell. Excellent way to open up this episode for them. Lots of goodness in it. I knew we were in for quite a ride from getting all that in the open alone.

The next morning they could not be more suspicious or obvious if they tried. Trying to figure out how to explain their presence in the police report. This whole scene is hilarious. It’s like they don’t know the entire station doesn’t suspect something to begin with…Trying so hard not to stand super close to each other while they figure this out. They’re so bad at hiding this it’s insane. So good at their jobs so very bad at this. I love Lucy just wanting to be open and honest about them. Chris had to drag every single moment out of her for months. Was like pulling teeth. Half a date with Tim she’s ready to shout it from the rooftops.

*sigh* I love this sfm. Tim warns her the dangers of them doing that this early on. He’s not wrong about Smitty LMFAO. It’s so true. Lucy’s brain kicks into gear saying could’ve been doing a UC OP. Tim getting excited by her brain. They start flirting while figuring this out. Their chemistry just coming off them in waves. The back and forth banter as they work out the details. The irony of them being all smiles and flirty while trying to hide their date. I cannot with these two dorks. Tim is beaming with love and pride by the time they’re done plotting.

Once again so bad at hiding your feelings and or relationship you two so bad…I saw a funny post saying this scene was a 'How to on not being good at hiding your secret relationship. ' LMAO YEP. John arriving and Lucy just going off about their OP without him even asking. I’m dying so much it’s hilarious. Tim going into protect Lucy mode when John is confused is everything. Telling Nolan decisively 'Nothing.' When he questions what they're talking about? Mmm tell him babe. Doesn’t want Nolan on their trail whatsoever. Good thing it was John though cause dude didn’t notice at all. He is a space cadet so they dodge a bullet.

They get called into Grey’s office for a heart attack basically. The way he starts off you think he is talking about them. The absolute panic on both of their faces. Especially Tim’s oh my lord. I love how Tim goes to reach out to comfort Lucy and has to stop himself. Now does Grey know at this point? I mean yeah probably.

I know lots of people think Grey was being a troll in this moment. Poking at them and knowing for sure when he had this talk with them. To gauge their reactions. I mean they are showing their cards like crazy in this scene. Their reactions alone are enough to solidify what I’m sure Grey suspects.

Luckily he says he’s just talking about Celia and Aaron. We watch them both relax and deflate their anxiety a bit. So happy Grey isn’t talking about them in this moment. He asks them if they’ll go and talk about this with them? Doesn’t want Celina to get off track in her rookie year. That Aaron is just out of long sleeves. They’re both so relieved they just say yes LMAO They would've agreed to anything to get out of his office at that point.

Tim holding the door for her my damn heart. Chivalry isn't dead with that man and I love it. There was a BTS post on how Eric wanted Tim to do that for her. Because well Tim Bradford and all that. It's just who he is. Of course he would hold the door for his girl. This next scene is pure married energy. Tim dreading having to have this conversation with Aaron. The last thing he wants to be doing but doesn't have a choice now that he's agreed HA

Lucy feeling it’s hypocritical if she tells Celina not to. Then realizes she can use Nolan to her advantage LMAO Smart woman being smart. Tim calls her out for cheating haha Or is she just being strategic Timothy? Lucy leaves him in the dust before he can pout any further with her. Tim being the exasperated husband as she walks away from him with her plan in place. Her 'Mmhmm.' as she leaves lol

We rejoin our beautiful couple on the sidelines of a hostage situation. One of the guys from Nyla’s bank robber situation has taken one. They’re all in a standoff waiting to see what they should do. Lucy commenting on the severity of the situation. Trying to make a light joke. Saying 'Remember when dating in secret was their biggest problem?' Love her using ‘Our’ it’s the little things.

Lucy asking him how his talk with Aaron went? Tim bringing up all the things that make their situation ‘problematic.’ To say the least. Yeah it sucks they have to face this stuff. But nothing worth having is ever easy. I love them forging forward despite this. Because as they decided in 5x08. They are worth the risk.

They needed time to figure this out despite the possible complications. So yeah there were potential problems but they were worth the risk of all those. They both knew it. It's why they didn’t bail at the first sign of possible issues. I just love it. It’s what makes 5x12 and the decision Tim makes so prominent and special.

They end up saving the woman who was taken hostage earlier. Unfortunately there is still two more on the run. Tim and Aaron get wind of them and end up in a parking structure. They make it to the top and don’t see them waiting for them. They push them to the very edge and leave them hanging. Literally. This is where Aaron becomes a damn icon. LOL

When Tim tells him to get out of the shop Aaron’s reply is the actual best. We all knew he suspected but this line of his confirms it. Also he’s not wrong…Lucy would kill him for letting Tim die. Kills me Aaron always telling it like it is to Tim. I love him so very much. He’s just saying what everyone is thinking. Being the mouth piece for the fandom once again. Tim doesn’t deny it but tells him to get out of the shop. LMFAO

They make it back to the station and Lucy is of course with Tim. Like a moth to a flame. Telling him she’s glad he didn’t die. Since he owes her for a re-do on their date. Tim being as sassy as can be in his reply. First off could they be any closer in this shot? Second the smirks and flirting are telling everyone in that bullpen what you’re trying so hard to hide you two lol my god. Tim is eating it up her wanting another date and it shows.

She is once again affectionately violent in her reply with Tim. He is all smiles when she says this too. The man is an open book of love for her. He couldn’t be happier with this banter going into their ‘second’ date. Anyone watching them can see something has changed but they're too lost in their own banter to notice that. Damn I love these two goobers so very much I might implode haha

Ahhhhh the Treats of Vietnam scene. I can’t get over how damn close these two are. It’s why that far away shot of them is my avatar. They are as close as two people can be in public sitting across from each other. She is basically sitting between his legs and I’m losing my mind about it everyone. Bouncing her leg against his. Legs for days and I'm ship drunk off this alone tbh. Also want to comment on how much I love the lighting in this scene.

The lights above them set this beautiful relaxed tone I adore so much. Tim making a slight joke thinking it's funny this where they ended up. Going from a super fancy romantic restaurant to a food truck. Saying he guesses this is their official first date. Lucy coming in hot with a curveball of an answer. Blowing his damn mind like only she can. Saying last night was for sure. Better story for the grandkids.

I love her face after she says this. Just gauging his reaction. No regrets whatsoever in saying this. This is the same Lucy Chen who couldn’t handle calling Chris her his GF. Legit panicked about it and fought him on it. Was one giant commitment issue with that boy. Half a date with Tim she’s thinking about grandkids with him. Lucy said she wanted to take it slow in the bedroom. She didn’t say anything about their life plans LOL *squee* She is so all in and this line screams that. Makes my shipper heart so damn happy.

Tim isn’t at all upset about her reply. This man was in a relationship with a woman who didn’t want any of that. Didn’t want any of his dreams. Now here comes Lucy Chen. Talking about grandkids on their second date. His face is pure joy. His dreams coming true with this woman next to him. He is beside himself with happiness. It’s written all over his face. Tim is giddy really. Lucy’s cute giggle afterwards I cannot. Her man making her laugh *heart clutch*

These two are gonna kill me with their cuteness. Give me diabetes from how sweet they are. Lord. Tim having cop eyes can’t help but see the idiot trying to break into a car. Says his frustration out loud. The last thing he wants is another interruption with his girl. Lucy is so lost in her date with Tim she doesn’t even see this guy. Which I love. She is so wrapped up in him her cop eyes are off. Not seeing this guy on her radar at all.

Tim doesn’t even get up from their spot. Just yells at the moron and shows his badge. Not wanting to do more than that. Lucy pointing out he’s just going to steal a car in another neighborhood. Which Tim could care less about tbh. The only thing that matters to him in this moment is her. It’s why this next line is so god damn romantic. We truly see how far Tim has come in this moment.

Why is this growth you ask? Because Tim ‘rules matters’ Bradford is picking his girl in this moment. She is more important than chasing some punk for breaking into a car. To touch back on an OTP line from S2. ‘Some things matter more.’ Lucy matters more in this moment to him. More than anything else and he’s letting her know that. Telling her in his own way she matters more to him.

I’m losing my ever loving mind at how romantic this is. I adore him declaring this and being the one to initiate their first real kiss. Lucy looks so in shock. Wondering if this is real life? Did Tim Bradford just pick her over arresting someone? Over the rules? He sure did and he would do it again. Nothing is going to stand in his way of being with her tonight.

Gah it’s the way he softly touches her hair and gently cups her face with his hand. Looking at her like she is the most precious thing in the world to him. Because she is. Let’s be honest she is. Lucy brought this man back to life in so many ways. There is nothing more important to him especially in this moment than her. Never be over her face when he touches her hair. Like she can't believe Tim is looking at her the way he is.

I adore Lucy smiling into this kiss. I’m sure she can’t believe her own luck right now. The man she loves, loves her right back and chose her in this moment. Over everything else he wanted to stay present in this moment with her. His hand on her face while the other is on her THIGH. Her thigh everyone. His love for her thighs continues on in this first real kiss. It was bouncing earlier against his. I'm sure he put it there partly to ground her during this kiss. Also because we all know he has a penchant for them hehe

I’ll never be over how tender and soft this kiss is. The complete opposite of the two they’ve shared before. Those were hot don’t get me wrong so very hot. But this one has a lovely tenderness to it that makes me giddy. The wind soft picking up her hair as they melt into one another. It’s the perfect first kiss. His hand in her hair, his other on her thigh, Lucy smiling dreamily into their kiss. I am a puddle.

It just shows it was never about the right restaurant or outfit. It was just about being together. This scene showing how at ease these two are with each other. That’s beautiful base of friendship they built over the years coming in clutch here. They just look at home with each other this entire scene. *dreamy sigh* Makes my soul happy.

If you didn't watch this scene million and one times when it premiered you're lying haha Hell I did it this time around. I remember losing my damn mind with this scene. Never be over how easily they went from friends to this. Every moment leading up to this is utter perfection. Beautiful start to something more.

~~~

Side notes -Non Chenford

Nolan’s conversation with Celina was so painfully awkward and hilarious I loved her reply to him asking about Aaron she crushed it.

Also Tim is sexy af figuring out how to get that woman out from her car like he did. Mmm love watching that man in the field. Delicious to say the least to watch him in action.

Aaron and Celina playing D & D 😂😂😂 made me laugh so hard. Aaron is SO embarrassed.

I forgot to thank you all last episode. Apologies thank you all who continue to support these reviews. I adore you all more than you will ever know. Your likes, comments and reblog are everything to me. Especially as I tackle these seminal moments in s5. I shall see you all in 5x11 :)

[rapha-reads]

IWTV rewatch

(from paper to screen, the comparative study continues... Back at it again)

Season 1 episode 4 [The Ruthless Pursuit of Blood With All a Child's Demanding] - part 1/2

- Oh, the sun! Hello, the sun. You're not a familiar presence here.

- Eyyy, we're opening with another Armandaniel scene. I mean, that Rashid guy and our Danny boy. "Mr de Pointe du Lac will be resting today" - Armand what does that meaaaaan. Armand giving Daniel Claudia's diaries. Oof. Are we ready for the paiiiiin.

- Shout out to the props department because those diaries are so pretty.

- Shout out to Bailey, I adore her voice.

- [Lestat] "'You were ready to abandon our home, and now you want a third.' [Louis] 'I just need her not to die. Please.'" - you know, there are hospitals. Yeah, skin grafts are not a thing in 1917, but the hospitals can still help her... She is not your penance.

Fascinating the way the scene completely changes tone and atmosphere in Lestat's recollection. Though, which one is the most real... Memory is a beast. But Louis remembers it as something quite romantic in a way, life blossoming out of darkness. Meanwhile, for Lestat, Claudia's rebirth is mired in desperation, anguish and Louis' loss of control. And the way Claudia writes it, well, she never had a say in it, didn't she? She was ready to die, she welcomed death. And then she was pulled back from it and thrust into a new life, and like she says, "I decided to make the best of it".

- [Louis] "'It's a special trick only folks like us have, like the nails and the teeth.' [Claudia] 'So you can hear me, but he can't? That make him the dumb one?'" - oooh, ouch. Right from the beginning, it's Louis and Claudia, and then Lestat left behind. You can hear the abandonment issues making themselves louder.

[Lestat] "'I'll teach you, just like I taught Louis here. But not if we're going to have family secrets.' [Claudia] 'We're a family?' [Louis] 'Yeah, but with no secrets.'" - points afforded for trying. Also, the different roles are already made: Lestat teaches how to be a vampire, Louis upholds humanity and family values. And Claudia is an excellent student...

Love how she immediately calls them "Daddy Lou" and "Uncle Les".

- [Louis] "Looks like she take after me" - aw, Lou, baby. You couldn't be more wrong.

That first hunt is interesting. First the way they talk about Claudia's outfit - she's a doll to them. It's all about how they can mold her, how they can make her into a reflection of themselves, and which one will have more influence, will be more represented in her. What she wants, who she is, barely even enters into consideration.

Secondly, there's the speed with which Claudia adapts to hunting. The way she lures the policeman by humming, playing the lost little girl, that's not something she was taught, that's something she's learned to do herself, naturally, instinctively.

- [Lestat] "An ominous observation, her young lady metabolism is permanent now" - nooo, you don't say? At least Lestat is aware. Welcome to eternal teenagehood. What a hell.

[Lestat] "'Histrionics.' [Louis] 'Some sleep is what she needs.' [Lestat] 'Sedation is what she needs.' [Louis] 'She'll settle.'"

Let me die of laughter first, that banter is perfect. Total old married couple vibes. Now. Looove how they're here talking about Claudia while not even paying attention to her. They're in their bubble, remodelling their family life as if their third member didn't have their own agency and free will, as if they could control and predict how she'll act, and meanwhile Claudia's like "sayonara dummies, I'm starving and I've got all the power to help myself, don't need you". And ain't that gonna be the heart of the matter, control versus freedom, life as a unit versus individual agency.

- Really love the way they show Claudia's... Is it madness? Is it the chaos of teenage hormones being brought to a hundred by vampirism? In any case, she is all over the place at the beginning. Eating human food and repainting the walls with it, playing with the sun's fire...

- [Louis] "'The sun comes up, we go down. That's never gonna change. We've got rules, Lil Miss.' [Claudia] 'Rules are for fools, Daddy Lou.' [Louis] 'Keeping you safe, little waif.'" - excellent back and forth, top notch, rhymes comprised. Nothing to say.

- [Lestat] "'She talked to the book again. Why do you talk to the book?' [Claudia] 'The book is my friend!' [Louis] 'The book is her friend.' [Lestat] 'The book is a book.'" - parent 1 being completely befuddled by their child, parent 2 being overly indulgent with that same befuddling child and patiently telling their partner "there there. She'll make sense to you one day".

- The fight in French, lmao, I'm wheezing. But aside from the humor of the scene, there's the important, deeper part too: Claudia asking questions, as all teenagers do, and Lestat refusing to answer. Lestat's refusal to tell either Louis or Claudia his history is another one of those extremely crucial point at the centre of the conflict.

- The coffin scene, how Louis gets seriously into the roleplay (I see your kinks, Lou), and when Claudia doesn't play along and the guy gets suspicious, how he knows immediately what Lestat's about to do, without even looking at him.

- "A girl vampire needs her own space if she's gonna find herself in this no-day world. And diary, you can already tell, the words come easier when you're locked in tight, wrapped in pink satin and Daddy Lou's feet ain't in your face. It's just me, my pen, my brain, my heart and the blood of the street car conductor I drained after he got off work. Thank you, street car driver. I hope they got more of you at your company to fill in for you. It's never great waiting for the car, especially when the weather gets hot."

She's just like me fr fr. Joke aside, round of applause for Bailey's narration, and another for the writers. There's something so innocent still in this Claudia, something pure and untouched - despite the great ease and joy she has in killing and feeding. Like a baby bird...

And then spying on her parents getting it on, but also, aaaaw, soft Loustat scene. What halcyon days.

- [Louis] "Sometimes, old people don't like talkin' much about the past. Sometimes, you gotta be careful where you dig, you understand." - what kills me here is Louis' understanding. He's fine with Lestat not telling him where he's from or who turned him. He's aware Lestat's already old, and may not want to revisit painful memories, just like he himself doesn't want to revisit Paul's death or his human family rejecting him.

Now the thing is, in the book, Lestat arrives in NOLA barely 30 human years old and 11 in the Blood, with his very human and very old and very sick biological father. So this Lestat and this Louis are starting more or less from an equal point, both starting this journey as vampires more or less together - yes, Lestat has 10 more years of being a vampire plus old secrets that are not his to divulge, and two other fledglings, one who goes insane and dies, the other one who wants nothing to do with humanity and prefer the wilderness. Louis is his first real companion, in a sense. The first who chose to come with him - Gabrielle he brought because she was dying, Nicki because it was the only way to protect him from Armand's coven. Louis, he brought him in because he chose him and Louis said yes, and Louis does stay with him willingly and lovingly - at least for a while. While they were both still regaining some equilibrium. Before the lack of answers, the lack of total trust, and their respective issues and trauma reared their heads, and then Claudia happened.

But here, Lestat has a century of advance on Louis. He has a whole history. And Louis is aware of this history, even if he doesn't know the details, and he doesn't feel like pushing. He wants to keep the peace. Alas they still have the same lack of trust, communication and the same issues to deal with.

- [Claudia] "'How does it work, love between two men?' [Louis] 'I don't know. Works like... It works like love.'" - I need an edit of s1 Claudia asking that and s2 Claudia going "now I know what two fat cocks etc". And character development! Louis is fully alright with his sexuality now. AND it is love, that's literally him admitting it.

- MUSLIM ARMAND YES PLEASE. Hi Rolin Jones please, pleaaaaase confirm Muslim Armand in season 3 pleaaaaaase I'm begging on my knees.

[Rashid/Armand] "'Do you have what you need, Mr Molloy?' [Daniel] 'A cure for Parkinson's?'" - careful what you wish for, Danny. He might take you up on that a bit too literally.

[Daniel] "For a killing machine, I kinda like her." - yeah, me too.

[Rashid/Armand] "Dubai is a child, Mr Molloy. No one's a native." - little nod to book Armand, that, Daniel pinpointing Kazakhstan or Crimea as his origins. And interesting little insight into the mind of a 500yo guy. He's seen empires rise and fall, ancient cities levelled down... What is Dubai for him but a mere second of existence?

- "Daddy Lou, when am I gonna grow into this? [...] Kill, spend. Kill, spend. Then the next thing you know, the leaves are turnin'." - that scene is fascinating. Not just Claudia starting to realise she'll never change and also be a little girl, but also, the visual itself. Lestat and Louis sharing a dance, lost in each other, in their own little world, and Claudia standing in the corner, isolated, alone, lost staring in the fire. That speaks for itself.

And the Lioncourt domestic family life carries on undisturbed... For now.

episode 1 | episode 2 | episode 3 | part 2 | episode 5 | episode 6 | episode 7

[angrelysimpping]

no thoughts,, just,, the pc finally paying all the debt that they owe bailey so they demanded him to finally let them go but,, bailey just,, can’t,, they can’t handle the thought of them leaving the orphanage,, leaving HIM,, so they just make up some bullshit excuse as a desperate attempt to make them stay,, the pc immediately saw right through him though and just,, blew up,, what is it this time?? what other shit are they gonna be forced to do just to be set free?? why can’t he just let them go?? BONUS POINTS IF THE SIDE PLOT IS THE LAST BAILEY FICLET U WROTE WHERE THE PC JUST USES BAILEY FOR SEX JDNWHJSJSJSJSJHWJSJWJ 😼😼

eheh so

[part 1] [part 2]

(gn Reader, you/you; amab Bailey, he/him; noncon; incredibly brief gun mention; aaaaaaangst; penetration, reader receiving; collaring)

Words: ~1.1k

"Here."

Bailey doesn't look up as you hold out an envelope, this week's "rent" tucked safely inside. He doesn't see you roll your eyes dramatically as he continues to work on his computer, slowly yet steadily typing away, but he doesn’t need to. Not really. He knows you by now, more than he's really willing to admit. 

You huff a small laugh, letting the door shut with a soft click as you take confident slides across the room. Unafraid. Makes his blood boil. Makes his jaw tense, his fingers twitch. You haven’t been afraid of him for far too long, since before the first time you took his cock. Of course not, not when you’ve just used him for a good lay. People don’t tend to fear their toys. Maybe mock shudder at the size, gasp about the thickness, mark out the length on their arm. But fear them? No. No, people don’t fear their toys, and that’s what you've been using Bailey as this whole time. A toy. 

That would change today. 

He’d make sure of it. 

You toss the envelope on his desk, laughing as you slide between your caretaker and his work. Laughing at how he lets you. It’s with a practiced ease that you straddle him, arms draping over strong shoulders and a hand coming up to thread through dark locks. It feels nice, having you close, body pressed to his, nails scratching his scalp. Still, Bailey sneers as you block his computer from view, scarred hands falling to rest on your hips as their place at the keyboard becomes useless. 

“Pouting?” you coo, laughing again when his only response is to give your hips a harsh squeeze. "Big bad Bailey, upset that his favorite is leaving? Mopey you won't get a nice fuck every now and then?” Teasingly, you rock your hips forward, pressing against the growing bulge in Bailey’s trousers. There’s a spark in your eyes, an infuriating grin on your lips as you delight in his body’s reactions to yours. “Want one last fuck before I leave the shit hole forever, hm?” 

He ignores the twinge in his chest at your words, instead meeting your mirth-filled gaze with a deadpan stare. "I don't have favorites-"

"Course not," you butt in with another soft laugh. 

"And you're not leaving."

Your laugh dies, body going stiff in Bailey's lap. "What?"

Squirming gets you nowhere, Bailey is more than ready for your reaction, his grip on your hips bound to bruise as he keeps you firmly in place. The bruises on your hips might even match the ones you’re giving him, fingers digging into his forearms. 

“This is my last payment,” you snarl, all the light-hearted teasing long gone as you keep trying to put space between you and your caretaker to no avail. The only thing you achieve is to unintentionally grind against Bailey’s cock in your struggles. 

“You still owe me.”

You freeze, fury burning bright in your eyes as you look at him. “That’s bullshit,” you all but spit. “I’ve paid your fucked up ‘debt’ back, I owe you nothing.”

There’s a beat of silence as you and Bailey stare each other down. Maybe you realize it then, that Bailey won’t let you go, that he can’t. Maybe from the way his pupils have blown wide, maybe from the tilt of his jaw, maybe from the way he hasn’t done anything to hurt you besides keep an iron grip on you. Maybe from the way his cock is still hard, straining against the fabric of his trousers. 

It doesn’t matter, really. 

With a half-strangled shriek, your hands wrap around his throat. That’s all he needs for him to justify slamming you back onto his desk, one hand keeping your wrists pinned so you can’t claw at his face, the other ripping away your clothing so he can show you where you belong. You want to tease him? String him along for months? Use him? Fine, he dealt with that, he dealt with the tightness in his chest and the long nights where he couldn’t keep his mind from wandering to you. He made plans and fuck if he wasn’t going to follow through on them.

You’re yelling, swearing, thrashing in his grip. But that doesn’t matter. It doesn't. Not when your insults turn to pleas or when your screams turn to sobs. It doesn’t matter. Bailey tugs down his trousers just enough to free his aching erection from the confines of his pants. It’s then that tears spring to your eyes as you feel the fat head of his cock press against your entrance, an act that makes something in his chest twinge even while it makes his cock twitch. Both are equally concerning if he were to be honest with himself, which he isn’t. Instead he ignores both, pressing into you with no prep, delicious friction almost painful.

It’s as he bottoms out, sharp hip bones pressed flush against you, that you go limp, fight dying out in you as Bailey sets up his customary brutal pace. Normally something like this would have you squealing, singing his praises with your ankles locked behind his back and any snarled demand for you to shut it only making you clench around him harder.

Not this time. Of course not, he knew what he was doing. Still, the way you just lay across his desk, taking it, eyes glassy with unshed tears and focused on some point behind him makes him want to get your attention. Fully. 

The hand not keeping your wrists pinned grips your chin, forcing you to look him in the eyes. “Don’t look away.”

“I hate you.”

If something cracks in Bailey’s chest at those words, he doesn’t show it. “I know.”

You don’t say anything else, don’t do anything else, silently fighting back tears of pain and frustration, enduring Bailey’s treatment of you until he cums with a soft grunt. 

He keeps himself pressed against you as he cums, painting your insides with his seed.

Marking you, he thinks dimly, before shaking the thought from his head.

You lay there, motionless on his desk as he keeps you pinned. 

Perfect.

Without looking, he pulls open the top drawer on his desk. Normally he’d have it locked, his gun tucked securely inside. Not today, though. Not when he knew you’d be stopping by to give your “last” payment. Before you get the chance to try squirming away again, his hands are around your throat, snuggly securing a shock collar in place.

Your hands fly to the metal, attempting to tug it off, but it’s already too late. 

“See,” he says with a sneer, “you’re not leaving.”

[tiffcore]

Eve has always been pretty demanding.

To be expected. The silver spoon his parents tucked into his baby blanket seemed to meld to his skin, and although he was never the most successful out of his brothers and sisters, he believes there is a very specific and logical explanation to why he is the only one with a partner. A fiancee to be specific.

Subsequently Sonny is the light of his life.

Although Sonny didn't come from good breeding, can barely leave the house on a good day, can hardly talk to cashiers and makes Eve book all his appointments with Harper,

Eve never forgets to remind Sonny how much he loves him. How much he needs him. How reliable and dependable he is in spite of Sonny constantly falling through on their promises...

There's no doubt in Sonny's mind how much Eve loves him! After all, they don't know another man willing to go through such lengths to put up with him and his anxieties. Willing to whisk him away from his bullshit life and his unsupportive parents, get him set up in a nice little apartment in his ... quaint little town. Sonny couldn't hate it even if he tried.

Everyone has their needs, though.

Sonny is a little too soft for how rough Eve likes to play. His reluctance might be cute in any other instance, but not when Eve is trying to unwind from a nice, long day of work!

He wants a sturdy toy.

"Figuring out how to break it is the fun part." He mentions to Sonny absently while they're watching TV, stroking along the underside of his chin. "They wouldn't replace you. They could never." Eve's face twists into a scowl as he curls a brown lock between his fingers. "But you know, they could spice things up a bit..." Eve trails off at the feeling Sonny shifting, looking up with doubting eyes.

"Don't gimme that...." Eve starts.

"You won't give them more attention right?" Sonny shifts upright, the gravity of his concern weighing Eve to the spot. "Nothing will change? You promise?"

"Nothing at all." Eve squeezes Sonny's hand, a botched attempt at curbing his excitement. "I promise."

new route unlocked: discussions of kidnapping, intense(?) sadomasochism, violence, noncon, stolkholm

Eve starts searching immediately. He's seen some freaks up close, but he's too busy with work to be searching out in the field. He'll keep his eyes peeled at the office, but he's mostly doing lots of google searching and deep web diving for the ideal slut. High tolerance for pain (or maybe not. screaming is fun), history of defiance, willing or unwilling ...

There's so much to choose from. So many aching for money, willing to debase themselves to just get a wiff of his wallet. It's the kind of power no man should have.

Sonny doesn't give much input. He's not as excited about it as Eve would like him to be, but that's okay for now, he should come around eventually when he sees what could be.

With you.

Eve is impartial to buying Orphans from Bailey, but there is also a chance you might get caught if you're snooping around the flats after dark.

He's looking for experience. A bitch that could take a beating and knows how to take a cock is high up on his list, though sluts that like showing off would pique his interest - a good way to get Sonny more on board with the idea in the first place.

Eve is still the primary user of you. You follow him around the house after he gets home and help him undress, help Sonny make him dinner, learn to rollover and let Eve play. He has a seperate room for it.

Where he keeps the toys that you play with.

Sonny is still wary of you, but often Eve's goading can leave him closer with you than he's used to. It's a bit shameful to admit how eager he is to go in after Eve sometimes, when he always gets that terse, crippling urge of wrong in his stomach. Eve remains convincing nonetheless, and the feeling of you wrapped around his cock is never disappointing.

Sometimes it's the flog. One time you were really bad, and it was the hammers and nails. Hardly ever that ever Stolkholm Syndrome sets in. Eve focuses on sensory deprivation, clamps, piercings. Shocks, slicing.

You become very familiar with painkillers.

You look so natural without clothes, he wondered if you'd wear them even if Eve let you.

It gives him... confidence. To see someone at their sloppiest, and knowing he's above that, in a way. He'd get bold enough to start asking his own favors of you. Do you think it's strange if he likes to watch? He can't be bothered to ask, when you do it without hesitation regardless.

He often admires your nudity.

Sonny isn't surprised he ends up liking you just as much. Eve is usually right about those kinds of things anyway.

[sinceileftyoublog]

Shamir Interview: A Post-Lil Nas X World

Photo by Marcus Maddox

BY JORDAN MAINZER

Shamir Bailey is a popstar--yes--but he’s also a pop master. Ever since his electropop debut Ratchet was released in 2015, he’s added a new dimension to his sound on every release. 2020′s self-titled record (one of our favorites of that year) even featured some country crooning, yet another feather in the cap. On his latest album Heterosexuality, out today and self-released, Shamir collaborated with producer Hollow Comet (Strange Ranger’s Isaac Eiger) to make an album inspired by dark, industrial music from Nine Inch Nails to The Haxan Cloak. It’s also the first record of Shamir’s to center around his queerness.

Though Shamir has been open about being nonbinary for pretty much his entire musical career and has talked about his queerness in past songs, Heterosexuality confronts it head-on. “I don’t wanna be a girl / I don’t wanna be a man,” he sings on “Cisgender”, essentially his ask to others to quit pigeonholing him and forcing labels on him. “I’m married to me,” he proclaims on funky bop “Marriage”, an anthem of self-love. Whether intentional or not, you could say Shamir does the same thing with his music by being so effortlessly varied in style and subject. Shoegaze guitars and stadium-sized snares back his blistering falsetto on one song; on the next, he raps. He closes the album with a bossa nova tune. And Shamir is also unafraid to tell stories from other perspectives. Standout “Caught Up”, a club track with acoustic guitar, propulsive beats, shiny synths, and ping-ponging arpeggios, is especially dark-sounding--“I couldn’t wait till I’d be killed,” Shamir sings--until you realize he’s writing a song from the perspective of someone whose friend is dying of cancer. It’s not that Shamir forces these dark thoughts onto himself; rather, his ability to empathize allows him to enter nadirs and come out changed--and with a song.

I spoke to Shamir over the phone last week from Washington, D.C. where he was on tour with Courtney Barnett. Read our conversation below, edited for length and clarity, where we talk about Heterosexuality, Lil Nas X, cold brew, and much more.

Since I Left You: Why did you choose "Gay Agenda”, “Cisgender”, and “Reproductive” as the introductions to the record? Was it to present a newfound aesthetic?

Shamir Bailey: Looking back I probably wouldn’t have done “Gay Agenda” as the first single. The only reason I did is because it’s the shortest song on the record. The other two after that are 5 minutes, but people have been enjoying these 5-minute singles! [laughs] Maybe even more than the 2-minute singles. I definitely feel like the titles “Gay Agenda”, “Cisgender”, and “Reproductive” link up.

SILY: You’ve said this was the first album of yours to explicitly confront queerness. What made now the time to do that?

SB: I’m older and wiser. I think I even had the foresight when I was younger to not tackle something like this until I was fully able to understand how to do it correctly.

SILY: What does “correctly” mean to you in the context of this record?

SB: I don’t think addressing it was the problem, just making an album like this. I’ve talked about my queerness in past records and songs before. I think now what’s different is that I’m not trying to preach anything or teach anything. With the times, people understand a little bit better. When I was first premiered as an artist in 2014, the concept of a nonbinary popstar was very new, and I spent the entire time talking about that. We live now in what I like to call a “post-Lil Nas X world” so being myself as an artist isn’t that crazy anymore. I can talk about my queerness in a way without having to carry the entire community on my back.

SILY: Are you a Lil Nas X fan?

SB: I mean, who isn’t? If you’re not, I don’t trust you!

SILY: A few of these tracks have momentary background speaking or vocal samples. Where did those come from?

SB: That’s Hollow Comet. He likes that. His production isn’t based around clips, but he really likes them in a way that I can’t describe because I’m not him. But when we made the record, he had me make him a YouTube playlist of my favorite funny YouTube clips. He used them. There was one we wanted to have on the record that was distinctive so you could tell where it was from, but we couldn’t get permission. [laughs]

SILY: What’s the inspiration behind the lyrics of “Caught Up”?

SB: It’s an older song. I wrote it in 2016. I was watching this movie [Miss You Already] with Toni Collette and Drew Barrymore, and the Toni Collette character gets cancer, and they’re best friends. It’s so sad. I immediately wrote that song, so then I started thinking about if my best friend since eighth grade were to die. It made me incredibly sad, so the song is about what I would do or how I would feel if I were to lose my best friend.

SILY: What’s the significance of the line “cold brew and ginger beer to get rid of these nightmares” on “Cold Brew”?

SB: I am a cold brew addict. I basically made it my personality the past couple years. That song is specifically about how over the pandemic, on top of COVID and everything, I had just quit smoking cigarettes and weed, so my brain chemical makeup was readjusting. [laughs] For a good couple months, I was having crazy nightmares. I drank cold brew to stay up so I didn’t have to go to sleep and have these nightmares. “Cold brew and ginger beer,” I just liked how that sounded, but they’re two things that have caffeine.

SILY: Do you make your own cold brew?

SB: I do not, but I want to eventually for sure.

SILY: The final track on the record, “Nuclear”, is another aesthetic about-face: a bossa nova tune. What’s the inspiration behind that song?

SB: That song is basically me doing my own version of “This Masquerade” by Carpenters. I love Karen. 

SILY: Are you playing these songs live right now?

SB: We learned a good amount of them, mostly for a session we’re gonna do, but on this tour, we’re doing “Reproductive” and “Cisgender”.

SILY: How was adapting the songs to the live stage this time around?

SB: Not that hard. Now that I know my live set up and have had the same live set up [for a while], I do write with it in mind. We’re only a three-piece rock band, one guitarist, one bassist, one drummer, so it’s a bit more stripped-down live, so I make sure the elements of my songs are still there so the lack of production doesn’t stand out.

SILY: Are you playing “Father”? On its own, that song is pretty stripped down.

SB: No, maybe eventually. We have an opening set, so I just want to do 2 new ones and plenty of self-titled, which I didn’t really get to tour!

SILY: How have the shows been so far?

SB: This was my first tour since the pandemic, so I was extremely nervous hitting the road, but it’s been going so smoothly I’m actually weary. It’s wonderful. [Editor’s note: Unfortunately, a day after this interview was conducted, the rest of the tour was postponed due to a positive COVID case in Courtney Barnett’s touring group.] Everywhere we go, people have been pretty good about wearing masks. It’s basically a quarantine tour, so once we get off stage, we just go to the green room. We don’t sell our own merch or go into the audience.

SILY: Are you the type of artist who’s always writing? Anything you’re working on?

SB: I have a whole other record already written and about a half a record’s worth of songs.

SILY: Anything you’ve been listening to, watching, or reading lately that’s influenced you?

SB: Heterosexuality was the first record where the influence is really clear, since I was working with Hollow Comet. Generally, I take inspiration from everything. Songs come to me. Heterosexuality is my first roughly conceptual album, so it’s funny going back to the older way I used to write. I haven’t been influenced by anything specifically. One of the songs is a really mournful tune about climate change, and another one is a really cinematic love story that’s not even mine, I just had the idea for it after watching It’s A Sin.

SILY: “Abomination” is the first time you’ve rapped in a while. Did you go into the record thinking you wanted to rap on a song again?

SB: Absolutely not. I have so much trauma about rapping, so it was actually really hard for me to do. I remember telling Isaac that I felt like I needed to rap on the song because I couldn’t sing on it, but I didn’t know if I could bring myself to rap on it. I’m glad I pushed myself to do it.

SILY: Do you have any upcoming tour plans?

SB: I’m not that eager to get back on the road. I’m only doing this one because I love Courtney Barnett. 

[necros-writing-stuff]

He held you down. Wrists pinned above your head with one of his hands, the other wrapped around your throat. His hips snapped into your's with little care or concern for your comfort, the harsh pace and rough movements forcing lewd moans and whoreish cries from your throat. You thought you would have lost your voice after he fucked your throat with his massive cock, yet you sang for him still.

The fine sheets underneath you would surely be ruined by morning, stained with the proof of your virginity and his lust. The wet slapping of skin against skin mingled with the sound of the heavy wooden bedpost hitting the wall. Every harsh thrust inside you making the bed shake, you distantly wondered if the wall would be okay. The wall was the least of your concerns now though.

You had never considered yourself special. Having grown up an orphan, living on the streets and just trying to survive. When the king had come to the city you lived in, you thought nothing of it. Your meeting was accidental. Your friend, Robin, had been tending to an injured dog in the streets. It was dangerous and you told her that, told her to move away from the horse-drawn traffic. She refused, too afraid of further injuring the mutt.

When the king's carriage came barreling down the road, the dog, weak as it was, scampered off to safety. It was by a miracle you weren't killed, the horseman stopping just in time. That said, you knew you were in trouble. King Bailey had a reputation for cruelty and a hate for orphans. Just your luck. When he stepped out of his carriage, he was furious. His gaze quickly found you and Robin.

You were pretty sure you were going to die when he approached you. Robin tucked herself behind you, whimpering apologies.  He sneered at your shaking form when you tried to explain yourself, taking the blame for Robin. You froze when a gloved hand squeezed your cheeks together, effectively shutting you up. He scraped some of the dirt and grime from your face.

"Disgusting." He snapped, releasing your face to shake the filth from his leather gloves. Then he got back in his carriage, and as you and Robin scurried off, he left along with his entourage. You thought you dodged a bullet, but the next day the caretaker got a letter and a large sack of gold. You were bathed, forced into new clothes and sent off to the castle to meet with the king.

Bailey squeezed your throat, cutting off your air supply and bringing your thoughts back to him. Back to now. You weakly struggled in his grasp, legs kicking out in an attempt to knock him off of you. It only served to change the angle at which his cock violated your tight heat, allowing it to hit a spot inside you that had you keening even as black spots formed at the edge of your vision. It was then that he released your throat, moving his hand to your hip so he could keep you in place.

The brutal pace he set against your sweet spot, mixed with the quiet sounds and muffled swears of the usually stoic, hateful king had that unfamiliar coil in your stomach snapping. A fiery euphoria momentarily whiting out your vision as your body went taught, back arching and your sex convulsing around the king's impressive girth. He continued using your body for his pleasure even as you climaxed.

He had made it explicitly clear when you arrived what he intended to do with you, even if you weren't sure he was being truthful. When you arrived, you were fed, bathed again and dressed in a sheer nightgown that left little to the imagination. Then you were led to the king's chambers. He roughly shoved you on to his bed and began stripping you.

"Listen carefully, I'll only say this once," He practically growled.

"I'm going to rape you. I don't care about you, or your feelings." Bailey tore the nightgown from your body, ripping it in his hands.

"I'm going to ruin your body every night until you produce an heir for me. If you don't behave, I'll kill you here and now." Little things here and there had pointed to the truth being something else entirely. He was intent on preparing you, stretching you on his fingers and kissing you like you were his lover. The sweet kisses were contrasted by the way he explored your chest, fingers pinching and pulling at your sensitive nipples ; mouth sucking and biting your buds and the breasts around them. He drew blood in more than one spot.

A painful burning in your thighs brought you back down to Earth again. Bailey had folded you in half, knees pressed to your shoulders. Your hands, now free and aware, flew to his biceps. Too afraid to push him away, you simply gripped them, nails digging into his skin. He was grunting louder now, his rhythm lost as he neared his end. You cried out when he slammed inside you one final time, grinding his seed into your fertile body as he came hard. His whole body was stiff, save for his hips that rutted into you. When he finally finished, you expected him to fall to the bed beside you and sleep. Instead, he pulled out, flipped you over and thrust back inside your now over sensitive sex.

Over the coming weeks, inspite of being ravaged nightly and through a little snooping and skulduggery, you learned two important things. You were from a noble house, one that had been close to the royal family and Bailey had been in love with your mother; who you bore a striking resemblance to. She had gone missing when she and Bailey were about your age. You didn't remember either of your parents, so you doubted there was a happy ending for her. You were smart enough to put the pieces together, and the thought terrified you.

Bailey saw you as a replacement for your late mother, and intended to keep you as such.

(- anon 🚩 Trying a new way of story telling. Also, using google docs first so I don't loose my shit.)

O-oh 😳

King Bailey, with total complete power and the ability to be the absolute worst is the shit.

This new way of story telling is very good, 🚩.

I could imagine him threatening all of the maids to keep their mouths shut around you. That the nobles should never ever share what they know. You're to be kept isolated and reliant on him for company until an heir is made. Then you'll raise them while he rules.

[kaimelia]

can you write a fic about amelink having multiples, like twins or triplets?

overjoyed

a/n: hi! thank you for the prompt! i hope you enjoy it <3

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

"Maggie! Let me in, please!" Amelia knocked on the door again, banging her knuckles against the surface. "Maggie, come on!" The door opened to reveal Winston standing inside, his eyebrows raised. "You're not Maggie."

"Nope. She's in the shower. You okay?" Amelia let out a breath, shrugging her shoulders.

"I need Maggie."

"You can wait for her." He held the door open further for her, and Amelia quickly walked inside, tossing her coat on the floor and dropping onto the couch. Winston picked up her coat and hung it up before walking towards the bathroom. "Amelia's here," he shouted, and the shower turned off. Maggie walked out a minute later with a towel wrapped around her body; concern spread across her face.

"Are you okay? I didn't know you were coming over," Maggie muttered, adjusting the towel on her head.

"I told Link I was coming here, and I can't lie to him, so I came here." Amelia looked down at her nails, picking at a hangnail.

"Let me go change, and then I'll be back, okay?" Maggie hurried into the bedroom, leaving Amelia alone with her brother-in-law.

"Can I get you something? Water, maybe?" The neurosurgeon looked up, nodding her head.

"Yeah, water would be great. Thank you." He handed her a glass after a moment passed, Amelia taking a large sip before settling the glass down on the coffee table.

"Okay, what's going on?" Maggie ran back out, dressed in a plain t-shirt and jeans. "Are we mad at Link?" Amelia shook her head, slumping down further into the couch cushions.

"No, I just think I'm pregnant." Maggie raised her eyebrows, glancing back at Winston, who raised his hands up in defense before leaving the room.

"Are we not happy about this? I thought you two were starting to try for another kid?"

"I just didn't think it would happen so soon, you know? And I know that Link is gonna be over the moon about this, and I kinda need a minute to freak out before I tell him," she rolled her head to the side, making eye contact with her sister. "He's super understanding about everything, but I want it to be a happy moment when I tell him, so I came here to get all of my anxiety out." Maggie placed her hand on Amelia's shoulder.

"Have you taken a test yet?" The brunette shook her head, letting out a heavy breath.

"Nope. A little scared to do that."

"Well, why don't we go to the store and get some, and then we can come back here so you can take them. And whatever it says, you can freak out or cry, and I'll go with it." Amelia's lip turned up into a small smile.

"Thank you."

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

"I mean, Scout's only a year old. So he and the baby would be what, 20 months apart?"

"Depends on how pregnant you are. The timer's got a minute left." Amelia sighed, continuing her pacing around the couch. "Hey, you and Link are incredible parents. You parented a newborn, Zola, Bailey, and Ellis, for months last year. So, if you're pregnant, I know that you two will be able to figure it out," Maggie consoled, watching her sister purse her lips tightly, clasping her hands together gently.

"I know. I just really wasn't expecting this." She froze as the timer on Maggie's phone sounded, the ringing loud in the living room. "Okay, here we go," she muttered, picking up the two plastic sticks from the table. She flipped them over one by one, her mouth dropping at the sight. "I'm pregnant," fell from her mouth as a whisper, a hand subconsciously moving to her stomach. She felt Maggie's arms around her, pulling her into a side hug. "Oh my god."

"Is this a happy oh my god, or a 'my life is falling apart' oh my god?"

"Happy, happy," Amelia muttered, tears rolling down her face. "I was super anxious before, but right now? I feel like everything is right. Like everything in my life is the way it's supposed to be." Maggie grinned, wiping her sister's eyes.

"I see the hormones are already kicking in." Amelia nudged her, standing up from the couch.

"Okay, I need to go tell Link. I can't keep this from him any longer," she spoke through tears, grabbing her coat from the rack. "Thank you for staying with me, Maggie."

"Of course. Let me know when I can get an ultrasound photo of my niece or nephew."

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

Amelia pushed the front door of her and Link's house open, a small three-bedroom place they'd purchased after Meredith's recovery. A smile spread across her face at the thought of the third bedroom being filled. Link grinned at her from inside, sitting on the floor with Scout. "Hey, everything with Maggie go okay? You seemed a little stressed when you left." Amelia nodded, walking over to her boyfriend, wrapping her arms around him as he stood.

"I love you so much," she whispered, feeling Link's arm around her.

"Are you okay?" Amelia pulled back, his arm remaining around her waist as she beamed.

"I'm pregnant," she raised her eyebrows, watching as his face froze as he processed what she said. "And, I was a little freaked out at first, but now, I'm super happy."

"Are you serious? We're having another baby?" She nodded, laughing as he pressed his lips against hers, her hands resting on the sides of his face.

"Totally serious," Amelia felt his lips turning into a grin. She pulled away, her hands falling down to his chest, opening her eyes to see his watering. "Don't cry; I'm supposed to be the hormonal one here."

"I love you." A tear rolled down his cheek, and Amelia brought her hand up to wipe it away. "There are happy tears, I promise."

"I know. I had my own share of them earlier," she laughed, kissing him again.

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

"Now, we know who the father is this time, right?" Carina joked, pulling the ultrasound machine towards the table. Amelia groaned.

"No question now. Unless there's something you need to tell me," Link joked, receiving a slap on his chest in response.

"Just Link." She rolled up her scrub top to reveal her stomach, the slightest curve of a bump forming over the past weeks.

"Alright. It'll be a little cold," Amelia winced as the gel was placed on her stomach, and Link watched Carina shift the wand around. "Okay, Amelia, it looks like you're about seven weeks along," she smiled, pausing her movements of the ultrasound, her face freezing.

"What's that face?" Amelia's voice was laced with concern as she watched her fellow doctor's eyes scan the screen. "Carina, if something's wrong, I need to know." Link squeezed his girlfriend's hand reassuringly.

"Nothing's wrong, Amelia. I just need to make sure that what I'm seeing is right." The mother shifted uncomfortably, her grip on Link's hand tightening. The OB turned the screen to face the couple, her finger pointing towards something Link couldn't quite make out. "You're pregnant with twins. You can see baby one right here," she pointed towards a gray blob on the screen, "and baby two hiding here, behind their sibling." Amelia's mouth dropped open, her hand slapping Link's chest again.

"You asshole!"

"What did I do?" He asked defensively, pulling her fingers away from his chest.

"You impregnated me with twins! How are we supposed to handle three kids under the age of two?" Carina laughed at them, hitting some buttons on the machine, wiping Amelia's stomach clean.

"I'm going to leave you two to figure some things out," she handed them a few printed photos, "but the nurse will help you schedule your next appointment. I want to see you in two weeks since this is considered a more high-risk pregnancy now. I'll email you some prenatal suggestions and websites with good information about multiples." Her hand squeezed Amelia's shoulder before she excused herself, congratulating the couple.

"How are we going to do this?"

"I honestly don't know," he breathed out a laugh, "but I know that we can figure it out. I mean, we dealt with four kids during a global pandemic for months. Whatever happens, we got it." Her eyes locked with his, her breaths steadying. He reached out to roll her shirt back down. "This explains why you have a bump already, though." Amelia's mouth dropped again.

"Are you saying I'm fat?"

"No! You know I love the little baby bump," he placed his hand on her shirt. "You didn't start showing with Scout until your second trimester. You're like, halfway through your first, and I can already see the bump." He grinned toothily.

"You look so overjoyed," Amelia muttered, using Link's hand to balance herself as she stood. "Because you're not the one who has to push two babies out of your vagina, now." She brought the ultrasound photo up to her face. "This is going to be insane," her voice was quiet, and Link's arm wrapped around her waist.

"It is. But, you're a superhero, both as a mom and a person. So, we've got this."

[oboevallis]

lost

sorry this is so long, i don’t know if it really makes sense but i was talking with him grandmother and she told me this story about how we went to the beach with the family and we went walking and it was late and high tide and we got absolutely completely lost and she didn’t speak great english and had no phone and we were just walking trying to find the hotel which all look the same while everyone was looking for us and that kinda inspired this story (lol sorry i feel like i do a lot of stories based on events that have happened to me so idk if that’s boring or not ill stop talking now tho)

Amelia quietly slipped out of bed once she realized her son was awake and babbling to himself, and she knew if she didn’t quickly attend to him, he’d start wailing causing the rest of the house to wake up. As much as she savored her sleep she enjoyed the early morning feeds, no one else was up, allowing her to be solely focused on her son. She quietly slipped out the back door to get settled on the lawn chair, and was startled when she saw Maureen, almost forgetting the two had come to visit.

“Good morning.” Maureen smiled, nursing her thermos of coffee.

“Morning.” Amelia reciprocated settling in the chair next to her.

“Hope you don’t mind I came back here. Eric is in a work call and I tend to distract him, and I just found myself out here.”

“No not at all.” The neurosurgeon responded truthfully as she guided her son to her breast, which he eagerly latched onto. “Thanks again for taking the kids for the day, it was much appreciated.”

“Of course. We had a great time with them.” The older woman smiled kindly, putting Amelia at ease. She tried so hard to make a good impression on her boyfriends parents and now felt at ease knowing they thought she was good enough for their son. “I don’t know how you and Link do it, especially in a pandemic. I mean you can’t take em to the park, museum, or anything.”

“Me either.” The woman absentmindedly chuckled, she was just taking it a day at a time. The women turned around once hearing the door open to reveal the oldest child.

“Auntie Amelia, I have a proposition for you.” Zola smiled as she walked further into the backyard still in her pajamas.

“A proposition huh?” The woman chuckled, it always impressed her when her niece would use a vocabulary word out of reach for a girl her age in the proper manner.

“Yep, I think we should not do school today, stay in our pjs, build a fort in the living room, and have a movie marathon.” The girl announced jumping on the balls of her feet, as much as Amelia wanted to oblige she knew she couldn’t.

“We can this weekend, but I’m sorry we can’t just not do school.”

“Ugh, but mom would let us.” This caused Amelia to laugh.

“We both know your mom would not in any capacity let you miss school if you weren’t sick.”

“It was worth a shot.” Zola shrugged.

“It was, but I’ll let you pick what we have for dinner tonight.”

“Pizza?”

“You’ve got it.”

“Do you think Link will still help me with my report.”

“I’m sure he’d love to, just let him sleep a bit more and once he wakes up ask him.” Zola nodded and ran back into the house, Amelia sighed in relief there wasn’t a tantrum.

“You’re good with kids, especially remediating a situation.” Maureen commented, admiring the younger woman more.

“I try.” Amelia chuckles, Maureen has only seen the kids well behaved and not in their tantrum state.

“So, I hate to be blunt, but my son doesn’t tell me a thing, are the two of you planning on getting married?”

“Oh, umm.” Amelia blushed awkwardly shifting her son. “Not at the moment, we’re going to wait until things calm down a bit.”

“As long as it’s in the cards.”

“I think it will be.” The neurosurgeon smiled, thinking about Links plans to get married in the French Quarter of New Orleans.

________________________________________

Bailey had an hour break before his next Zoom started up, so Link took the opportunity to take him out on their daily walk and get his energy out around the block while he tried to lull his son. This time though his father tagged along, he still had a lot of resentment towards his parents but was trying his best to be civil.

“That kid almost has as much energy as you did before..” Eric trailed off, but Link knew what he meant. Before his cancer tore his family apart, and made him a shell of the kid he was,but he was determined to only talk about the good things.

“Yeah he keeps Amelia and I on our toes.” Link quickly said, so no talk of his cancer came up.

“I know your upset with your mother and I, but we just want to help. And rebuild our family.” The ortho surgeon did his best to not roll his eyes at the statement, he couldn’t understand why they couldn’t have worked it out in the first place, why they decided to track along across multiple states during a global pandemic, and why they had to keep freaking his girlfriend out with the concept of marriage.

“I really don’t have the energy to talk about this right now, why don’t we just change the subject.” Before Eric could agree his sons phone started to ring. “Crap this is the hospital, I’ve gotta go in. Bailey! We gotta get home” He called up ahead to the boy who was scootering.

“It’s alright I’ll keep walking with them.”

“You sure?” The man asked wearily.

“Of course you know me I love a good walk.” He took the baby out of his sons arms and Link wrapped the baby snug across the older mans chest.

“Thanks dad!” He smiled as he jogged back to the house to grab his car and head to the hospital, while Eric caught up along side of Bailey as he turned another corner.

________________________________________

After Amelia finished helping Ellis with her math homework she realized it had been well over an hour since the boys had gone for their walk it typically lasted 40 minutes and the house was wearily quiet. She made her way downstairs to be met with Maureen folding the pile of laundry.

“Oh I’m sorry, you don’t have to do that.”

“Please, I don’t mind.”

“Do you know where the boys are?” Amelia asked feeling her anxiety start to rise as there was no indication of them being home.

“I assume they’re still walking, they haven’t walked in yet.” The neurosurgeon pulled out her phone and tapped on her boyfriends contact to be met with a scrub nurse who informed her, he was in fact scrubbing in on an emergency surgery.

“Link is at work.” Amelia informed Maureen rather confused, Link always told her before he left the house, but assumed he was so excited by the notion of a surgery and left the boys with his father.

“I’ll try Eric.” Once the older woman dialed the number they heard ringing coming from the coffee table where he left his phone. “I’m always telling him he needs to carry his phone around, he’s terrible with remembering it.” The woman huffed obviously starting to get a little startled.

“Okay.” Amelia took a deep breath. “I’m going to go look for them, would you mind staying with the girls?”

“Not at all.”

“Thanks.” Amelia quickly made her way towards the door and grabbed her keys from the hook, noting her boyfriend failed to bring the diaper bag as it was next to the door. Nonetheless she got into her car and tried the best to calm herself down, though all she could think about were worst case scenarios.

______________________________________

“Do you have any idea where we are?” Eric asked Bailey as he walked beside him, the boy had gotten tired and now just tracked the scooter along side them.

“No we usually don’t go this far.” Baileys fearless persona faltering, he assumed by this point he was late for class and was going to be in big trouble with his aunt and teacher.

“Everything kinda looks the same huh?”

“Yeah.” Bailey nodded nervously biting his nail, a habit he’d recently picked up from his aunt.

“Hey bud, it’s going to be fine we’ll find our way home.” Internally he was cursing himself for not bringing his phone along with him. After some more walking they found themselves on a street with convenience stores, Merediths house wasn’t far from the heart of Seattle but they were definitely far from where they were supposed to be. He was tempted to walk into a store and ask someone for directions but he didn’t have a mask and had two small children so that wasn’t an option. “Alright, let’s go back to that last street and make a left, maybe that right was a bad idea.”

“We’ll never get home.” Bailey said hopelessly.

“We will don’t worry about it.” And if things couldn’t get any worse the baby had started to fuss which in no time would turn into fill on crying.

Amelia slowly drove through the neighborhood looking for the three, not knowing she was on the opposite part of the neighborhood from them. Meanwhile after aimlessly walking and multiple turns Bailey started to recognize where they were and lead the way home.

“Where the hell have you been?” Maureen immediately asked as they walked through the door taking the now crying baby from her fiancé. “You need to have your phone on you!”

“Just strolling.” Eric responded nonchalantly.

“No we were lost. Really lost.” Bailey corrected as he ran into the kitchen to find something to eat since he missed lunch. Maureen followed taking out a bottle for Scout and calling her daughter in law informing her they were home, she heard a large sigh of relief through the other line.

Amelia happened to pull into the driveway the same time as Link, she wiped her stray tears as she had gotten herself into such a state and slammed her car door.

“Hey, where were you?” The ortho surgeon smiled brightly, he had just completed a rather simple surgery but just being in the OR at any capacity was heaven.

“Where was I? I don’t know, where was I?” Amelia chuckled on disbelief. “Where the hell were you? I spent two hours driving around trying to find your father and the boys.”

“What they never came home?” Link asked in a panic.

“They just did. They were lost and struggled to find their way home so they were aimlessly walking around while I aimlessly drove around in the wrong direction.”

“Damn it, how could my dad do this?” The man ran a stressed hand through his hair.

“This isn’t your dads fault it’s yours!”

“Huh?”

“Oh don’t act stupid. First you don’t even take the diaper bag in the walk with all the essentials and a first aid kit and then you up and leave for a surgery without even texting me.” The man was about to interject but Amelia held up her hand. “And you let your father continue the walk, even though the man has been to Seattle like two times and doesn’t know his way around.”

“I thought they were just gonna go the rest of the way up the block and back, and that he’d tell you where I went. That’s what Bailey and I do everyday.”

“Have you been living with Bailey for the past four months? Or has it just been me? Bailey will just keep riding that scooter no matter what and go any which way paying no attention to his surroundings, of course Eric is just gonna follow him around since it probably seemed he knew where he was going. You know what I can’t even look at you, I don’t want to say something I’m going to regret.” Amelia walked past him and quickly made her way into the house, to be met with her sons cries and quickly took the baby from Maureen cradling him closely, the baby immediately calming.

“I am so so sorry Amelia.” Eric apologized obviously upset.

“It’s not your fault.” Amelia forcefully smiled, she wasn’t entirely mad at him mostly at her boyfriend. Link then walked through the front door to be met with his mother scolding him.

“And what the hell were you thinking? Not telling anyone you were going to the hospital, and leaving your father with two kids in a place that’s foreign to him. Is surgery really all you can think about?” For the past couple of months he’d been complaining to his mother how much he hated not being able to operate.

“She would’ve done the same thing.” Link quickly pointed to his girlfriend who was cradling their son in the couch.

“What are we five?” Amelia asked when her boyfriend accused her in such a manner. “And I would’ve had the decency to tell you I was leaving and made sure you had the kids handled before I left.” Link backtracked and took a deep breath.

“Alright how about we just take a moment, they’ve been found so it’s fine.” The tired mother rolled her eyes and walked up the stairs with her baby, not in the mood for her boyfriends best case scenario talk.

“This could have been prevented by the both of you.” Maureen pointed to the two men who’s heads hung in shame.

“You should’ve made it clear to your father it was just up the block and back, and you should’ve texted the mother of your child.” She then directed her attention towards her husband. “And you need to pay more attention and keep your phone on you.”

“Sorry.” The two men answered in unison, ashamed to have messed up so greatly.

_______________________________________

The rest of the night was foreignly quiet, Bailey was exhausted and the couple was avoiding one another. After everyone had dinner together Maureen and Eric retreated back to the RV and the kids were all tucked in their beds. Once Link walked into the bedroom after his shower he sighed realizing Amelia wasn’t there. He quietly trekked into the nursery to be met with Amelia asleep in the rocking chair and her hand inside the crib, their sons hand was loosely holding her index finger. He would’ve smiled at the sight of he didn’t know what she was doing, her plan was to sleep in here tonight to avoid having to be in the same bed as him. He carefully removed her hand and picked her up out of the chair.

“Nooo.” Amelia sleepily groaned. “I’m sleeping in here.”

“No you’re not, your going to sleep in our bed.” He softly affirmed as he laid her down on her side of the bed. Once he moved to the other side of the bed and got settled his girlfriend was now wide awake and turned to face him.

“What happened today can never ever happen again.”

“It won’t I promise.”

“You know we’re so good at communicating within our relationship but not so great outside of it.” Link chuckled nodding in agreement. “You need to tell me when you get called in, and you need to let others know what the plan is, so they’re not getting lost in Seattle woth two small children.”

“I promise.” Link grabbed her hand in a reassuring manner. “I am so so sorry for what happened today, I was just so excited to be operating and I just lost my mind and didn’t think about anything outside of that operation.”

“I know this is hard for you, your not used to kids in the capacity that I am. You didn’t grow up in a loud house and you don’t have a large quantity of nieces and nephews. Your used to dealing with the occasional peds patient for like twenty minutes. I’m not saying your bad with kids I mean the peds floor loves you, it’s just this is a lot really quickly and non stop.”

“Wow you just articulated how I feel perfectly and I haven’t been able to even form a cohesive thought of what Im feeling.”

“Hmm, maybe that’s because you just sleep so you don’t have to think about feelings.” Link chuckled, sliding over to kiss her sweetly.

“I love you.” Link affirmed. “And I’m so sorry about today.”

“Tomorrow will be better.” Amelia agreed. “And I love you even more.”

“Impossible.”

[tiliamericana]

Muay Thai: 1.17

Lind A: bring me lunch!

It was after eleven. She should be getting up and opening the dojo. This argument wasn’t quite enough to compel her legs to move from the bed, however, so Nairi lifted her phone and answered the text instead.

What do you want?

Lind A: idk get something you like and we can share Lind A: im at my studio!!

k

The ‘a’ button on her keyboard was sticking something fierce, and the black coating was worn away on the space bar and surrounding keys. Maybe she should get a new phone. She let the blackberry slip back down to rest on her chest as she went back to staring at the ceiling of her bedroom. The blanket was too hot where it was wrapped around her legs, and her shoulder was starting to ache where it had been pressed into her pillow and mattress for too long.

What did she like to eat? What did she like to eat that Linden also liked? Or, well, what was between here and Linden’s studio that had vegetarian options and food Linden liked, was probably the better question.

It was another ten minutes before she could make herself stand up and find a pair of jeans.

Almost an hour after that she’d made it to Linden’s studio, coffee and pastries in hand. Loud music was pumping out the propped-open door, grungier rock floating past the concrete paint can in sharp opposition to the cheerful pop from the last time she’d been here. Nairi stepped inside with her offerings, looking around for Linden.

“Oh hey, I thought you’d abandoned me,” said Linden cheerfully, and Nairi tracked her gaze down to see her sprawled on the floor. She was grinning up at her, hips twisted with one knee folded over her thigh, back pressed to the ground.

Nairi held up the paper bag by way of explanation. “Never. There was just a queue. Are you okay?”

Linden nodded sagely and shut her eyes, rolling her hips back down and shaking out her leg. “I had to pick up a box of glue off the craft shop floor this morning and I foolishly bent with my back instead of my knees, so now I must pay for my hubris.” She groaned as she sat up, taking a coffee from the proffered tray and grinning at Nairi. “Twenty-seven is way too young to even be having these issues, I swear to god.”

“Maybe your back’s just advanced for its age,” said Nairi, setting her tea and the pastries down on an unoccupied stretch of counter space.

Linden got to her feet and laughed brightly as she leaned over to her beat up ipod where it was sitting in a dock on the sill, spinning the volume almost all the way down. She straightened to grin at her head on as she reached out for Nairi’s hand. “Dad always said I was precocious. Come on, I made something for you!”

“Oh, what?” said Nairi, feeling the corner of her mouth twitch up as she let Linden tug her across the studio. “I only just figured out how to hang the last thing you painted me.”

Linden laughed again, letting go of her hand to reach up and pull down one of the two jackets from a hook on the back of the far door. “Well, this one hangs in a wardrobe, so I’m sure you’ll figure that out on your own.”

Nairi looked at the leather being offered to her, then back up at Linden, who jiggled the coat hanger at her.

She took it. It was a heavy, white motorcycle jacket, with two crisp stripes running the full length of the sleeves in red and green. The cuffs were zipped with sturdy silver tabs, and the pockets looked to fall just under the ribs with the same zips as closures. It was high-necked and padded in a way she instinctively approved of, with extra buckles at the neck and waist over the front zip. On the back Linden had painted an ourobouros of a dragon in green and black, its eye the same bright red as the stripe on the sleeves.

“Try it on,” said Linden eagerly, nodding at her. “I snooped in your drawers before I bought the jacket, so it should be the right size.”

Nairi felt her mouth twitch again, and she slipped the jacket on over her shoulders. It was comfortably snug around her arms, and heavy in a way that made it feel like it belonged there. The leather was a little stiff, not yet worn in, and the zip sufficiently toothy so that it took a second try to tug it down again. “It’s great,” she said, looking up and smiling back at Linden. “Thank you, you didn’t have to get me this.”

Linden was reaching up bring down its twin, and she glanced back over her shoulder at Nairi as she pulled it on. “Look, I saw them as I was walking past and I wanted one for me, and then I saw the white and I just hadto.” Hers was dark, crimson like her favourite wine-red lipstick, with thick, soft, elasticated fabric around the cuffs and waist hem. The painted embellishments were little lines of matchstick fires around the wide pockets, and a cherry tree in full blossom on the back, with a vintage style painting of a pair of cherries over one shoulder like a fake patch. “It gave me an excuse to break out the good paints too, the ones I haven’t used since I was a student. I had a lot of friends who did costume shit for theatre, the hardcore kind, it was nice to use them again! And like, I know it’s totally the wrong time of year for warm jackets and I should’ve held out for your birthday ‘cause it would’ve been perfect, but I got excited when I finished them and it’s been hard enough keeping my trap shut while I waited for them to dry.”

“It’s totally fine,” said Nairi, watching Linden give a little spin to show off her jacket before she shrugged it off again. “It’s just an early birthday present. Very early—preparatory, so I don’t have to wait for my birthday once it starts getting cold, and now you don’t have to worry about getting something for the day as well.”

Linden laughed again, ushering her back across the studio towards the pastries. “Oh, nice try, but you’re not escaping the birthday fun that easy,” she teased, picking up her coffee and nudging her broken chair towards Nairi with one foot. “Come on, sit, eat, give me the good goss, tell me how you and Aggy are going.”

“There’s not a lot happening, really,” said Nairi blandly, taking her tea back from Linden and sitting gingerly. The chair held, thankfully, if with a little more bounce than she’d been expecting. “You know, everything’s just kind of… fine.”

Linden pouted over her coffee before proceeding to loot the pastry bag. “Oh, that’s boring though! You two never do anything exciting, and you’ve been dating for like, months now. Seriously, nothing new?”

The impulse to laugh bubbled high in Nairi’s throat, and she swallowed it, wondering briefly where it had come from. “I think I’m okay with boring, honestly. Is your dating life not exciting enough?”

That got a snort as Linden resettled herself to lean back against the counter, raspberry crown in hand. “It’s a little cooled down at the moment, I won’t lie. Like, Simon and I are technically still ‘on’,you know, we’re just not, doing as much.”

“Tapering off, or just laying low from Nicholas?” asked Nairi with a small grin, catching the pastry bag as Linden tossed it to her.

Linden rolled her eyes, taking a drink from her coffee. “Si’s a big boy, he doesn’t need Nick barging in to tell him how to live his life. He’s still fun, it’s just, you know, reaching the point where people start making comments about taking him home to meet Dad and it’s definitelynot that kind of relationship.”

“Because you’re not expecting a ring or because he’s not up to scratch?” asked Nairi, tearing at a croissant.

“Yes,” said Linden, laughing. “Fuck, jesus, I’m nowhere near thinking about that, much less with Si’! That and Dad would eat him alive, he’s got an English degree—the only thing worse would be fine art.”

She hadn’t said it with any malice, so it was probably a normal sort of joke to make? “High expectations to meet?”

Linden grinned wolfishly. “Any partner I nail down better be ready to jump,” she joked with a darkly amused tone to it. “Dad’s good at what he does so he has high standards—typical lawyer shit, you know?”

Nairi shrugged. “Most of the lawyers I’ve met have just been dicks, but I think it’s different when you’re working with them as opposed to like, being raised by one. Is he defence or attack?”

Linden laughed loudly at that, hiding her grin behind her coffee cup again before answering. “Prosecutor, he’s a DA,” she said, sounding a little lighter. “Highest conviction rate in the state, only the best efforts for his job.”

“Damn, alright,” said Nairi, raising an eyebrow. “Kind of a bigshot?”

Linden nodded, setting her cup down. “Yeah, he gets kinda high profile sometimes—I don’t know if you remember a couple of years back, uh, Maxim Bailey? That guy?”

Oh yeah, she’d heard he’d been arrested. Nairi nodded, making a general noise of affirmation, and Linden nodded along with her.

“Yeah, he’s still salty he didn’t manage to get him on the murder charge, despite getting the other convictions,” said Linden, still nodding like a bobble-head. “Caught a little bit of media at the time, too.”

“Hell of a job,” said Nairi. Her thigh vibrated and she set her tea down to tug her phone out of her pocket.

“Stressful, he’s been talking about changing up careers for a couple months now,” said Linden, finally stopping the motion of her head.

Aga D: How’s your day? Any students for the first couple of classes?

She hesitated, chewing the inside of her cheek as her thumbs hovered over the buttons.

“Is that your giiirl-friend?” asked Linden, her drawl long and amused, and she lifted a leg to prod Nairi’s knee with her toe, making the chair spin a little.

Nairi glanced back at her phone, tapping out a response quickly. “Yeah, she’s just checking in.”

A couple yeah. Just having a quiet day.

Aga D: I’m glad! I’ll let you get back to teaching and stop distracting you :)

She tucked her phone away and picked up her tea again, suddenly not feeling much like eating anything.

Linden’s eyes were unreadable over her coffee, but she was smiling when Nairi looked at her. “That’s nice of her,” she said with a funny note in her voice. “I’m really happy for you two, you know that right?”

“Thanks,” said Nairi, shuffling her unappetising croissant back into its bag to avoid Linden’s piercing eyes. “I’m, um. I’m glad you both, sort of, uh, adopted me? Even if it’s in different ways. It’s been good. Really good.”

She covered her expression with her tea, not really tasting it as she drank. Why had that been hard to say?

Linden’s mouth twitched at the corner, just a hint of her normal dimples. “I’m glad you let us,” she said warmly, and suddenly her eyes were back to normal. “You looked like you could use a couple of friends when we met, and god only knows Agatha needed a relationship that actually worked out after her streak.”

“Yeah?” said Nairi, leaning to set the pastry bag back on the counter.

Linden nodded, giving her a rueful look. “Yeah, I mean, she told you how we met, right? Her boyfriend of like, ten years or some shit was one of my regulars, and when she found that out she showed up on my doorstep in tears, it was kind of fucking rough.”

“Oh, damn,” said Nairi, for lack of anything better. Ten years?Agatha had left that out.

“Yeah,” said Linden with an exaggerated grimace. “I mean, fuck, I’m pretty mercenary when it comes to cheating and the job, but even I felt bad. I helped her do some vandalism on him, and then I introduced her to Flo and some nice single people who helped her figure out she was into women, so like, it all worked out eventually, but it was kind of a rough time for her, you know?”

“Yeah,” echoed Nairi, feeling the pastry sink to the bottom of her stomach. “I’m glad it worked out, in the end.”

“Like I said,” said Linden, nudging her again with a wink and a smile, “she just needed someone like you to swoop in and be the good, stable girlfriend for her.”

Her tone was light and teasing, and Nairi made herself swallow more tea before she answered. “Right, yeah. I don’t know how ‘good’ I am at the whole, Prince Charming thing.”

She’d been trying for a joke, but it fell flat between them.

“You’re doing fine,” said Linden, her tone softening a little, and she looked at Nairi with earnestness in her eyes. “Seriously, Princess. You’re doing fine.”

End of book 1.

[amelink66world]

Love of my Life

Heyyy guys!! Checks out the new chapter! Kinda steamy ;)

Patience...or not?

It's been exactly 2 weeks since their date. They had gone on four more dates each one ending just like the first one, though the feeling of need only intensified with the next. Even the slightest touch ignited a fire inside them.

This going slow thing is too much!! I can't bear it anymore. I have to talk to her! I mean, she's killing me here. Ughh but I need to wait. This is what she wants and I can do anything for her. Sooo, suck it up, Atticus Lincoln. He groaned thinking why in the world did he agree to take things slow when he knew it would be too hard to control himself in her presence, especially when she looked sooo sexy all the time! It's like she was doing it on purpose!!! He walked towards the coffee cart, waiting for Amelia as usual. He chuckled, she's always late.

Meredith and Maggie tried their level best to mind their own business but Amelia was making it really very hard. This whole past week, she was in a pretty bad mood. You could hear her soft groans and grunts from time to time. Some head banging on the table was involved too. One time, Meredith had to cover Bailey's ear when his dearest Aunty Amelia came down the stairs cursing. Of course, she hadn't noticed the child in the living room before muttering those horrendous words not suitable for a child to hear.

Maggie probed and prodded her occasionally but she just wouldn't budge. Meredith finally snapped. "WHAT?!" They were carpooling to the hospital, as usual. Amelia looked up from her usual seat at the back, astonished. She was continuously sighing which annoyed the crap out of Meredith. Amelia asked, " What? What did I do? "

" Obviously something's bothering you, Amelia. We can't see you like this anymore. What is it? Just spit it out now! ," Meredith said indignantly.

" It's nothing," she muttered.

Maggie sighed. Curiosity was turning into exasperation. " You know, you can talk to us, right? We're here for you," she smiled. Amelia returned her smile and told her genuinely, " I'm just not ready to tell y'all about it. I'll tell you two at the right time. Don't worry about me." Meredith seemed convinced with her answer too and nodded before continuing driving.

SHIT! I'm late again. Link must be waiting for me. Ugghh, she groans way too loudly. Amelia rushed to the attendings' lounge and quickly changed into her scrubs. She hurried towards the coffee cart and could not spot Link anywhere. He didn't wait for me?! Oh yeah right,who am I kidding? I'm 20 minutes late! He can't wait for me forever. He has patients to see, Amelia thought sadly. Dejectedly she stood in line which was moving way too slow adding to her frustration.

What she didn't know was that Link had noticed her almost dashing towards the coffee cart and wanted to tease her a little bit. He just moved a few steps back and his behind a tree until she got in the line. This was his favourite pastime now, to rile Amelia up so much that she would be forced to break that "going slow" deal and crack under the pressure. He would always pull away just in the nick of time before things got too far, making her mad. He just loved it when she got mad. Her cheeks flushed deep red and her eyes burned with such fire and desire when she got angry that he had a hard time keeping himself in check. Obviously what he was trying to do had consequences too. He always had to adjust his clothing to get rid of the sudden tightness he felt after such nuances.

Amelia suddenly felt the oh so familiar fingers sliding up her arm and her back being pressed to a sturdy chest. " You like to make me wait, don't you?", he breathed in her ear. The obvious innuendo was not lost on her. She shivered. Okay. That's enough! Do I really need to hold on for soooo long?! I'll jump him RIGHT NOW! Uggghhh...but he turned it into a competition now. No backing out now, Amelia Shepherd.

Link very well knew what effect he had on her. He wanted her to know the ridiculousness of the deal. Deciding to play dirty, he started peppering her exposed neck with feather light kisses driving her mad. They were in the middle of the park, for crying out loud!! Amelia clutched his arms wrapped around her waist for support. She was trying so hard not to moan that it seemed to physically hurt her. Her nails dug into his skin but he didn't seem to mind. Finally satisfied with his work, he pulled back before softly kissing her cheek from her behind.

Breathless, Amelia opened her eyes and smiled at his goofy face. She then mock glared at him and whispered fiercely, " You'll pay for this, mister."

His face gleamed with a dazzling smile, "Oh, that's the whole plan all along. I'll definitely wait for it." He winked at her. She blushed deep red and hit his arm. Both of them laughed. They engaged in a deep conversation about their surgeries for the day and planned to watch movies together after their shifts.

As usual, Link ordered her coffee and paid. Amelia didn't even bother to protest, he just never listened.

Their hands were constantly bumping while walking towards the hospital. Neither of them noticed who held whose hand first. It just kept happening again and again. It became like a routine. Meeting each other first thing in the morning after reaching the hospital, walking back together, having lunch in the cafeteria, making out in the on-call room for several moments between surgeries and then occasionally him dropping her off to Mer's place after their shifts. This became like a routine. THEIR routine.

The elevator was partly empty by the time they entered. They were standing next to each other with his hand on her back when suddenly a large group of people entered the elevator together. It had suddenly become very crowded. To shield Amelia from the occasional bumping, he pulled her behind him at the back of the elevator and stood stoically in front of her. She stared at him with adoration for several long moments. She was utterly grateful for this man in her life. He is so damn thoughtful! I've never had someone thinking so selflessly about me. God, I love him.

Link always wanted to protect her from everything in the world. He had decided he would always be her shield and keep her away from ever getting hurt. She could always lean on him and find him in her corner. He was pulled out of his thoughts when he felt her soft fingers gently wrapped around his waist from behind and she hugged him. Link felt his heart burst with emotion and a gleeful smile framed his face. He slightly leaned back to reciprocate the hug and caressed her fingers with one hand.

They were locked into a tight embrace till the elevator cleared out and they reached the Neuro floor. Link pulled her from behind him and towards his body. He kissed her deeply before whispering, "Have a great day." Amelia sighed with delight and kissed his cheek before pulling back. "You too!" She then playfully ordered after getting out, "Miss mee!!" She heard his laughter as the doors closed. She was highly enjoying the hospital nowadays.

Four hours and two craniotomies later, Amelia was starving. She missed Link terribly and had texted him immediately after her surgery but there was no reply. Maybe he's in surgery. Pcchhhh. She wanted to meet Link. She loved having him around. She loved their conversations, their silences, their routine. She was content and didn't want to lose all of this. She knew it was too soon to feel like this, yet she had never felt like this in her entire life! This was not irrational and impulsive Tumor Amelia. This was new. Wait, love? Is it really love? It's too soon. Nope.

She went to the cafeteria and suddenly found her eyes wandering aimlessly. Where IS everybody?! Suddenly quite surprisingly there was no one in this freaking hospital for her to talk to. There was always someone. ALWAYS. People never seemed to mind their own business here. Everyone knew about everyone and everything. Privacy actually is a thing of the past here. Groaning she grabbed a cookie and went to the pit to look for some interesting. A surgery always helps, doesn't it?

Going to the pit proved to be fruitful. Well not like thaaat, if you know what I mean. Not that I want people to have injuries. Her patient needed an ortho consult stat before going into surgery. Luckily, Nico took over for him in the OR and he came for the consult. Amelia was really glad.

Accustomed with Link's plan of action, she had already ordered an MRI. She was trying to read the scans in the room when Link suddenly brushed past her moving to the screen just next to hers. Obviously, it was intentional. Amelia hid her smile and acted nonchalant. In reality, her skin was tingling where his skin brushed hers. A devious plan popped up in her head and she smirked. No one messed with Amelia Shepherd.

Acting serious, she deliberately brushed past his body and moved to his left. Link worked an eyebrow and looked down at where her skin touched his. He shrugged and concentrated on the scans. This happened again. And again. He smirked and tilted his head towards her. " What are you doing, Amelia? Is this your weird version of Tit for Tat, huh?," he asked with amusement.

Amelia feigned offence, " Hey! First of all, it's not weird. Second, what are you talking about?," she asked with innocence and blinked. He just squinted his eyes accusingly and looked down at her, trying to break her facade but she just shrugged and moved. AGAIN. This time, the scan Link was looking at suddenly interested her too much.

Unabashedly she moved to stand right in front of him and leaned back slightly. Link's breath hitched and his hand involuntarily moved towards her. But he stopped them just in time. He wanted to see how far she'd go even if that meant taking a very cold shower in the lounge afterwards. He could practically see her smirk from the back of her head! Oh this woman will be the death of me! She knows what she does to me. Everytime. He held in a breath.

Feigning interest in the upper part of the scan, she stood her tip toes and leaned back furthermore to trace her finger on the scan. This movement pushed her ass right into his groin. Notwithstanding any of this anymore, Link groaned and grabbed her waist tightly. He pulled her body snug towards him and breathed down her neck. " Well played, Amelia," he whispered seductively. Before he could start kissing down her neck, Amelia rotated her hips once before turning in his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pushing her body towards him which he gladly accepted. She kissed along his jaw and moved to his neck before brushing her lips with his.

Wanting to dominate the kiss, Link deepened the kiss and softly bit her bottom lip. Several moments later, she pulled back and moved towards his neck. Her kisses ignited a fire inside his body and he pulled her towards him even more. His fingers played with the hem of her top. She slided her fingers to his hair and gently tugging his hair. He groaned and moved his hand inside her top. She sighed loudly and bit his earlobe before seductively whispering, "The ball was always in my court, mister." She tugged his hair once last time before completely pulling back, leaving him shocked and equally frustrated.

She was grinning triumphantly whilst adjusting her top, all the while maintaining eye contact with him. Link groaned in frustration, " Ameliaaaaa...nooo. You cannot do this to meee! ", he whined. Amelia only laughed and blew a kiss at him while moving towards the door. " Tit for Tat, baby. I...have surgery. And you obviously need to take care of...that," she pointed towards his lower half. Link looked down horrified and completely missed her disappearing in the hallway.

Her laugh echoed making him laugh at her feistiness. God, I love that woman. I promise, one day I'll marry her. This was what he totally loved about her, she never backed down from a challenge. He shook his head at her antics with a loving smile on his face and stared at the door for few long seconds and moved to look at the scans, all the while adjusting his pants which was almost impossible in the condition she left him in.

Amelia's surgery finished early and she decided to wait for Link. She had texted Link. She even texted Meredith informing her that she would arrive home late. Upon receiving double question marks from her, she texted her that she would explain later. Maggie was the only person apart from Jo who knew about them. People were getting to know about them but the word hadn't spread much. For that she was grateful. All of the hospital gossip was now directed towards Jackson which she did not mind. That's the least he can go through for dumping my sister the way that he did, she puffed her cheeks and rolled her eyes.

In the attendings' lounge, about twenty minutes later, Link came running. She looked up from her instagram and chuckled at his disheveled appearance, " I will never get how you can run so much." She shook her head. Link laughed and leaned close to her face, whispering hoarsely, " Got to keep myself in shape," he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. Amelia stopped chucking and looked deep into his eyes.

Link pulled back and removed his scrub too right in front of her face, his torso directly in her immediate lone of vision. Amelia's eyes darkened at the sight and she gulped. She suddenly found herself drooling and wanted so badly to touch those damn sexy abs. Her eyes patiently roamed his bare figure before meeting his eyes. He was enjoying it thoroughly. He was observing her face the whole time and smirked proudly. Her hungry, dark orbs met his playful, blue ones. They stared at each other for several long moments. His smirk grew even more and he flexed his pecks once before breaking eye contact and moving towards his cubby.

Amelia gulped and tried to calm her nerves. When did it get so hot in here?! She wanted to fan her face at the sight of his bare back but caught ahold of herself. She was ogling him shamelessly and she was painfully cognizant that he was aware of this fact. But she didn't care. That man is beautiful! It would be a shame not to stare at such a gorgeously sculpted man. But only I can stare! No one else. And why is he taking so long to change?!

" What?!," she shouted pointedly. She looked at him accusingly. Link turned around with pure innocence, " What?," he blinked like a child.

" Do it fast !"

" Do what fast?," he prompted feigning confusion. But he could not trick her.

" We're getting late. Change faster, Link!," she was getting really aroused and could not trust herself any longer. She even pointed her finger at him for extra measure. Link hid his smile and raised his arms in surrender. Suddenly he possessed the speed of lightning and was ready to leave in no time. He smirked and shrugged proudly.

Amelia shook her head and rolled her eyes at his petulance, " Couldn't you have done that sooner? " Link only laughed in response and took her hand in his.

They silently left the hospital and drove in Link's car. They were each telling how their day was when he pulled the car to a movie rental store. It was already late so they figured that they would rent a movie and watch at his place with pizza and popcorn. Each selected a movie of their choice, Amelia a rom-com and Link a superhero movie. Both of them laughed at the cliche an proceeded to get the pizza.

Amelia had spent the night at his place before so she already had extra clothes there. Link changed into his boxers and a loose tshirt while Amelia was in the washroom, freshening up. He laid put her pajamas on the bed before going to the kitchen to warm the pizza. He even prepared the popcorn and proceeded to keep the food on the on the sofa. He got comfortable by the time she arrived. He turned his head in her direction and felt the wind knocked out of his chest.

She had never looked sexier to him. She was wearing nothing but his old Mariners tshirt which was triple her size and hanged loosely on her body. It didn't even reach mid-thigh !! Her long, slim legs were completely bare and he had a hard time trying to concentrate on something other than her legs. Amelia dressed in his clothes made her ten times sexier. God, this woman surprises me every time! How does she expect me hold back when she's dressed like that?! Ugghh, Ameliaaaa. He silently groaned when she nonchalantly sat close to him and stretched her legs on the table in front. His eyes just could not leave her legs!

She snatched the remote from his lap and showed him a 'V' sign. She grinned and played her movie. Link stared at her, mesmerised. How can a person be so beautiful, both in and out?! She is the cutest human being on the planet. Wanting to feel her close to him, he pulled her close. He wrapped arm around her and she laid her head comfortably on his shoulder. They had their pizza while watching the movie. Well, Amelia watched the movie whereas Link watched her. He admired her completely and placed an impromptu kiss on her head.

Suddenly he reached into the pizza box only to find that one slice was left. Amelia had reached for a slice at the same time and their hands bumped. Both of them looked at each other with determination willing the other to back out. Amelia was quick to react though. She snatched the box and took off running. Link was both amused and determined to win at the same time. He followed her in the whole apartment and their laughter could be heard from a mile away.

Link was amazed. For such a petite person, she sure could run very fast. Her lack of clothing did not help his case either. His arousal was increasing by the minute. He followed her into the kitchen and it was now his turn to think quicker. He successfully trapped her between the kitchen counter and his body. Amelia tried to wiggle away but her efforts went in vain. He squinted his eyes and mock threatened her, " Give me the box, Amelia."

Defiance ran in her veins. " Nope. The slice is mine." She moved to open the box but before she could do that, Link pinned her hand behind her. The atmosphere in the room rapidly changed. Suddenly highly aware of their proximity, Amelia looked into his eyes only to find them dark with desire. Amelia wanted to melt at the hungry look he was giving her. I just don't want to wait anymore!

Link pushed himself closer to her to gauge her reaction. But she was visibly panting thereby encouraging him. He pried the pizza box from her hand and place it behind her on the counter, never once breaking the eye contact. His eyes fluttered closed and he inched his face closer but when he was only centimeters away from her lips, she whispered, " Link..."

Thinking she's asking him to stop so that they could take things slow, Link pulled back slightly but didn't remove his hands from her body. He desperately whined, " Please don't ask me to stop, Amelia. Screw 'taking this slow'. I don't want to take things slow with you, Amelia. I'm all in. Do you hear me? All in. And I really, really like you. So let's just please forget about that. I really wanna feel you close to me. It's been too long, Amelia and I miss you! Also, how do you even expect me control myself while you waltz in the room wearing nothing but MY tshirt looking so damn sexy that I couldn't remove my eyes from you! You're killing me here, woman," he groaned.

Amelia stopped his rant by putting a finger to his lips. She then cupped his cheeks and made him look into her eyes. She smiled widely at him and whispered seductively, " Shut up, Link and just kiss me already! " Link looked at her with astonishment before grinning mischievously and picking her up in his arms. He placed her on the counter. He pried her legs open and stood between them.

The tshirt rode way up exposing her creamy thighs. Link ran his hands up her thighs and groaned, " God, you're sooo sexy, Amelia." She moaned and pulled him in by his tshirt for a bruising kiss. It had been too long. There was no stopping them now.

Their tongues were battling for dominance. Link wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled body close to his. Amelia played with the hem of his tshirt and pulled it above his head, momentarily breaking the kiss. Link used this opportunity to his advantage and completely dominated the kiss this time. He was hungrily kissing, biting, nipping and licking her lips. Amelia desperately groaned and held onto his shoulders with dear life. That kiss was single handedly capable of making her cum!

He moved down to her neck and pulled his tshirt down to fully expose her left shoulder. Amelia tilted her head to give him more access which he gladly accepted. He slid her right hand up her body and grabbed her breast. She moaned loudly and tugged his hair with her fingers. She bucked her hips forward in desperate need of friction. He was palming her breast through the tshirt. She wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him even more towards her.

He pulled back slightly only to remove her, rather, his tshirt from her body. He blatantly stared at her, taking her in, mesmerized. She was not wearing a bra underneath!! She definitely wanted to kill me tonight! She had given him enough time to start at her body and couldn't wait any longer. She pulled him down and kissed him fiercely. She ran her hand down his torso along his strong abs. Oh, I wanted to touch them for soooo long! Wanting to completely devour her, he picked her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist whilst he carried her towards the bedroom, never once breaking the kiss.

He sat on the edge of the bed with her sitting on his lap. He squeezed her cheeks pulling her further towards him. Both of them groaned. Amelia pushed him down on the bed and straddled him. She leaned down to whisper in his ear, " No more of this 'taking things slow' crap. I'm all in, too. And just by the way... I like you a lot too, Atticus Lincoln." She grinned down at him. Her words pulled at his heart strings and he quickly changed their positions. He pinned her arms above her head and smirked down at her, "That's good, Amelia Shepherd. That's the nicest thing I've ever heard," before diving in.

Author's Note:

Heyyy guysss!!! Sorry for being AWOL for soooo long. I don't even know what came over me when I took such a long break. Huuhh, writing again is so refreshing! I missed all of my readers!

This is a brand new chapter for you. I hope you really, really it ;))) Again, I apologize for the delay in updating this story. ( please don't hit me, guys 😅🙈 )

Anyway, don't forget to vote and do drop some comments! I just looovee reading your comments. They encourage me so freaking much! Thank you guys for all the love!❤ I surely don't deserve so much. Next chapter will be up in a few days. Until then.

[haddonfieldproject]

<<PREVIOUS⏺<<CONTENTS>>

CHAPTER TWO CONCLUSION

Haddonfield, Illinois

The ambulance driver took a swig of his coffee thermos and looked over to his partner, “So then Carlson for the Sox hits this ball on a rope...I mean on a rope..to right field and you think the things gonna be all over right?”

His partner laughed, he was biting his thumbnail and spitting the flecks of nail out—a disgusting habit, but good for killing time on runs. “Yeah.”

“But the right fielder for the Cubbies, Santos, he dives into the ivy...I mean straight into the goddam ivy and comes out with it. End of inning...it was incredible.”

“I can't believe I missed it,” his partner said, looking out of the window. “I just passed out.”

“How the hell you just pass out?” The driver asked him smiling.

“Well you remember me telling you about that girl, Lawrence's friend who works at the cellphone store?” He looked back at the driver with a grin.

The driver's eyes grew wide, “The hot broad with the little tattoo on her wrist of the teddy bear or somethin'.”

“Butterfly.”

“Yeah yeah, butterfly. What's her name?”

“Darla,”

“Yeah yeah Darla,” the driver laughed, “You didn't get with that! No way man.”

“Oh I got with that,” the partner smiled.

“No way.”

“Way man,” the partner pulled out his cellphone, “I got pics man, she came over about eight, and we carved a pumpkin and shit, hung out, watched a scary movie.”

“You carved a pumpkin with her?”

“Yeah look,” he said, holding out his phone, “I carved a sick ass little Jack-O-Lantern, take a look.”

The driver leaned over and looked down at the screen. “What the hell is that?” He asked laughing.

“It's a goblin or some shit man.” The partner replied.

“Didn't look like no goblin,”

“Well fuck you then man.”

“Well just sayin'.”

“Well check this,” the man scrolled on his phone with his thumb, “Check out the little outfit she was wearing. Seriously, look at her titties in that?”

“She does have some nice titties,” the driver said, peeking over again.

“Oh yes,” he said, admiring the cleavage in the picture, “So you got to...”

“JESUS FUCK LOOK OUT!!!”

The partner screamed way too late to have changed anything. The ambulance had come up and over a small hill, on the other side of which lay the trailer of Gabriel Couture's Semi-truck. The driver of the ambulance's foot didn't even hit the brakes and the ambulance smashed right through the relatively thin outer skin of the top of trailer which, given that it was laying on it's side, was facing them. The wood floor of the trailer on the other side, was supported by steel beams and was therefore much stronger, so when the front of the ambulance struck this, the engine exploded immediately, turning the cab behind it into one huge smoldering fireball.

🎃

Reverend Taylor had just come back down from his bedroom when he heard the explosion. He had gone up earlier to try and force himself to sleep but that had not worked. He used a large box-fan as a sound machine when he slept, and the noise of that had prevented him from hearing the first accident involving Brad’s mustang, the Chumway Brothers, and Gabriel Couture's truck. Now as he looked out of his front windows, through the trees, he could see flames and smoke rising up in the distance.

The Rev went to the little closet beside the front door and pulled out his boots. His house sat in the center of a large lot on the top of the hill. The bluff adjacent to the park—the hillside Kyndra Bailey had fallen down, was to the rear of the property, and the highway, now strewn with smoldering pieces of car parts and bodies like a scene from the Terminator, was about twenty yards from the front of the property.

If it's a bad wreck, someone may be trapped in a car or something, he thought. He went back upstairs to his bedroom and retrieved his cellphone and his shotgun.

For all I know its another stupid prank from some stupid delinquents setting off homemade Molotov cocktails or something in the street.

He checked to see if the gun was loaded with shells...it was.

Better safe than sorry.

🔪

Amos Yoder sat straight up in bed again.

This time his wife wasn't next to him, but she soon appeared in the door way.

“Did you hear that?” Esther asked.

“What was it?” Amos asked, throwing back the quilt and reaching over to pick up his pants.

“Sounded like an automobile accident,” Esther said, wringing her hands. Gideon circled around her legs excitedly. “And you smell that horrible smell? What is that?”

“It's gasoline,” Amos answered, pulling his pants up and tying the ties on the inside. No buttons, the Amish did not believe in buttons.

“What are you going to do?” Esther asked her husband as he moved passed her.

“I guess I'm going to have a look,” he answered, “is it still raining?”

“I think it's pretty much stopped now,” she answered, “put on your thicker shoes though, I'm sure the ground is completely soaked.”

🎃

The monster awoke. It was dark...and Its face burned. Its eyes hurt and It realized that It couldn't open them...Its eyelids felt like they were glued together. It strained Its' face muscles. That brought even more pain, but eventually the eyelids did open a bit. Everything was still dark...and now a little cloudy.

The monster sat up. It knew It was sitting on a hospital gurney. It knew the feeling of it, even if It couldn't actually see it. The monster had been put on many hospital stretchers over the years. But most of the time the monster had been tied down. This time there were no ties.

The monster stood, and Its' head bumped the ceiling. The monster raised Its' hand, bringing pain. To move was painful...every inch of the monster's body was still burning. Only figuratively now—a few hours ago, it had been literally on fire. The monster rain Its' hand over the ceiling, feeling cold steel.

An ambulance. The monster knew. In an ambulance.

The monster could smell something too.

Gasoline.

The monster cocked Its' head to one side.

Could be on me, from the explosion.

The monster didn't think so.

The monster sidled forward, passed the stretcher, seeing the dim outline of the rear doors through blurry vision. Just making out the two rectangles of the door windows.

The monster lifted Its' leg and gave a kick.

BAM!

The doors were stuck tight.

BAM!

BAM!

🔪

Reverend Taylor's head popped up when he heard the noise coming from the back of the ambulance. He was kneeling over a corpse, so badly burned, it was almost unrecognizable as human. He had a dark feeling come over him.

I don't think I wanna know what's in the back of that ambulance for some reason.

He couldn't quite explain it. Maybe it was being saturated with all of the sick news all night and into the morning. Perhaps it was the lack of sleep.

It could have just been nerves.

He slowly stood up.

BAM!

My some miracle, the fire in the cab of the ambulance had extinguished almost immediately, and had not spread to the back. The vehicle had struck the floor of the trailer and bounced backwards, so now the front end sat crushed and smoldering within the trailer and the back lay hanging out in the roadway.

BAM!

To survive a crash like that, the Reverend thought, leveling the shotgun and taking a step toward the back of the ambulance. Can't be human.

BAM!

I should call the police. He thought.

BAM!

He or she could have been tied down back there, maybe survived that way.

Rev didn't think so.

BAM!

Stop it! It's a patient and they're probably hurt. His mind raced. You need to open the door and help them out.

BAM!

Rev didn't think so.

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

But if you haul off and shoot somebody, people are gonna think you went insane.

Reverend Taylor turned the shotgun around as he came up alongside the ambulance doors. The vehicle was literally shaking on it's axles with every BAM! Rev gripped the barrel.

Just in case, he thought. I can just give em' a whack if they're dangerous.

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

The door broke open.

The Shape staggered out.

The Reverend swung the shotgun.

NEXT>>

[btssunnyboy]

Partners In Crime - Jeon Jungkook Part 1

You had a vendetta, and this was your chance. You were gonna prove yourself, but now you got another person to worry about.

Word Count - 3,131

Warning - Undercover Agent! AU, profanity and mentions of drinking.

Masterlist

Also I’m back after a few months break I’m so sorry, but hopefully I’ll be back with a lot more updates!!!

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"I absolutely refuse! I'm more then qualified to handle this mission on my own."

The words slipped pasted your lips quicker then you intended. Venom laced through every word, as you stared stared at your higher up. His eyes threatened to roll back in his head ; agitation clearly visible through his stressed state. He released a heavy breath, while pinching the bridge of his nose. His hands form together into bone crushingly tight fist.

"L/n! Work with me! You need a partner for this assignment and he's the perfect coverup!" Mr. Jones ushered out as his eyes glanced cautiously at the clock. The small ticks that erupted from the small machine filling the tense silence that was floating in the air. His leg shook wildly in return in made the floorboards squeak underneath the shaky weight.

"I've been working Jackson Wang's case for over six months! His banquet is my shot to prove I'm worthy of my spot on this team!" You bellowed, comic stream bursting from your ears. Your face was red from embarrassment, disappointment and most importantly anger. Pure, boiling, hot anger seeping through every crevice of your body. This was chance to prove that you weren't a rookie anymore! This was a chance to live up to what you father used to be on this force.

"You've shown your worth more then enough times to be about of my department, but this is a mission that requires back up. It's too dangerous even for you." Mr. Jones sighed once more when he noticed your posture. Stick straight back, with clenched hands and jaw. You were passed the state of furious, and he knew hell was about to rain down. "Can I at least tell you his name."

"Of course it's a guy."

"His name is Jeon Jungkook. He's one of the top residents we have, and he's moving up through the ranks remarkably well." The sickly sweet comment rolled off of his tongue with such ease. It disgusted you down to your core. You didn't need a partner to handle Jackson Wang. You've dealt with his accomplices, and you sure as hell can take a guy like him on. "Now would you please stop making a big scene."

On one hand Mr. Jones had a point. Your reaction was starting to take the form of a five year old who just got told no to a brand new toy. You were overreacting, but with a good reason to back it up. This was your main chance ; you didn't want to be shadowed by some partner who would take all the credit. This was your shot, and you desperately needed it. Your worth in this department now rests on the hands of someone called Jeon Jungkook.

Before you mouth could open to add more snarky comment chief's door swung open. I'm walked a man who was almost your age, but maybe a bit older. His big doe eyes held so much innocence ; you almost pity the man who decided to work in a job like this. A job that requires you to be deceiving in every way, a job that tests your limits, and a job that puts your life in danger every time you walk out those doors. Being undercover has it's downfalls, and it may corrupt a sweet guy like him.

"This is your partner. Jeon Jungkook meet L/n Y/n."

"It's a pleasure to meet you! I've actually heard so much about you!" He beamed while staring softly at you. His hand was extended, and your whole body was hesitant to even shake his hand. He noticed the delay, and awkwardly pulled his hand away, and rubbed the nape of his neck. "It's gonna be an honor working with you."

You stayed silent through the entire exchange. The way his smile dropped ever so slightly, but the gleam never left his eyes. His stare was now directed towards the chief. Desperately trying to get the train moving along, and bolt as fast as he could out those glass doors. The chief gave a sudden scoff, before he started making his point clear.

"Jeon I'm sorry for this unprofessional like matter coming from one of our finest, but you two need to work together." The message was supposed to be loud and clear. Both of you were supposed to understand that this mission is going to take every once of willpower from the both of you. "This is his case file, learn it, live it, and then catch it."

Sharp nods left the both of you, as you reached for your file. Flipping through what felt like miles of charges against him. Things been drug charges, third degree battery, and many, many more. This just goes to prove that money will get your dumbass out of any situation. This man has ruined lives, and here he is still allowed to roam the streets without a care in the fucking world.

"Jesus Christ how can this guy live with himself?" Jungkook mumbled while pulling his chair out. His eyes scanned each charge, and loudly showed his disapproval. His scoff filled the small room, as if practically reverberated throughout. "What do you think about all of this?"

His question lingered in the air, as a response was settled onto your tongue. It was searing in your mouth, begging to have the cool air hit it and diminish the intensity of it. Instead you stayed silent. Letting your eyes linger on the file, even though you knew everything about this man. His motives, his relationship, his goddamn childhood. You knew it all, and a personal vendetta was pushing you towards getting this bastard in jail. Him and his stupid connections ruined your life, and you're never going to forget that.

"I know this isn't exactly your idea type of mission, but I'm just here to help." Jungkook softly said as he pulled his chair to the front of your desk. His famous doe eyes staring so softly into yours. They had a gleam that looked like a whole universe was settled underneath his cornea. His smile was still on his face, as if you silence wasn't affecting him at all. He didn't seem to care, as he continued on this conversation. "We still need to think of a plan to catch him."

He wasn't wrong. This whole mission still needed to be planned out step by step. And all you've got so far is the fact he's in town for the week, and once he leaves this area your team's jurisdiction will be useful no more. It has to be you, and your partner who take him down. The mere thought of him leaving made your hands clench in anger once more. Your knuckles going white from the harsh grip, and you could already fill your nails tearing the skin of your palms. His eyes glanced down at your hands, and he took it as his sign to leave.

"You don't have to go." Your voice was so soft he almost didn't hear it. This was a drastic change from your demeanor back in the chief's office. You tightly shut your eyes, and wished you'd just kept your mouth shut. He was just about to leave, and you could've been alone to make a plan layout. This could've be done all by yourself, but something made you want him. Something made it hard to see him go. "Like you said we need a plan."

"Y-yeah! A plan if were gonna catch him we need to make sure that he's caught in the act. I figured the only reason why he's never be truly admitted to jail is that he's never been see doing these things. Someone else always manages to take the fault." Jungkook stammered, as he pulled out his laptop. His eyes scanning every detail of the records he's looking at. Different people each lined up with charge that some how correspond with Jackson Wang's charges. They go down for him, and he just leaves them there. What a sicko.

You nodded your head in understanding. He would get charged and then everything would be dropped. Only for another man to take the place, and as they said coincidental at the time. This plan needs two brains working together, a different perspective is exactly what this mission needs. Yet you still can't bring yourself to accept that. It was stupid sitting here in a mood just because you have to have a partner

"We have less then a week to catch up so Jeon Jungkook. What's our first move." You sighed as you leaned back in your seat. A curt nod came from him as he typed away on his computer, original doe soft eyes were pressed in harsh glares. His min was set on finding an answer, and it looked like he was set on finding one fast.

"His banquet, like we've mentioned before is our only shot there's no other way. The only problem is that we need an invitation." Jungkook grumbled as he slammed his laptop shut. He knew this was a big opportunity, and now he can't do anything about it.

"I've got that covered, before Bailey's incident she's was assigned this case and already acquired two tickets. Now this is our last shot bring him back home. Do I make myself clear?"  The chief spoke loudly. Making sure this was getting through both of your heads.

"Crystal."

"You're both two of the youngest on this team, make this count. And be careful, Jackson Wang is many things, but he's not a fool. One slip up and this whole operation goes down."

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"So we have to look like a couple at this party." Jungkook sighed as he fixed the blazer that settled onto his broad shoulders. The sleek looking material complimented his body in an extraordinary way. He was actually looking the part of a wealthy business man, and that's exactly the cover up that was needed. "We still have a few days, maybe we should actually go on a date."

Your eyebrows shot up in a questionable look. Your head tilted to the side as well. The emerald dress in your hands suddenly worth a lot more attention then the dashing man in front of you. It felt stupid to get to know him considering after this mission you planned on never talking to him again. Hell you planned on staying quiet throughout the whole night at the banquet. Get in, get him and get the hell out. It wasn't supposed to be a bonding experience.

"Come on, I'm not that bad." He commented again, as he shrugged off the sleek material. He somehow looked even better without that jacket. His white button down shirt cling to his biceps, making him even more appealing. That same smile he always wore still graced his face. Almost like it was the only permanent expression he had. "I mean I'd like to get to know you considering we're gonna be on the same team after this."

You dreaded it when he spoke that sentence. You truly didn't mind him it's just, getting close to someone in this business has its consequences. Consequences that take every ounce of happiness in you, and rip it to shreds. You've gone through them enough to know just how terrible they actually are. You didn't want to experience that pain again, and Jungkook sure wasn't worth going through that guy wrenching pain once more. But you never know what could happen in the span of a week. Once more you stayed locked onto the target of the silky emerald dress in front of you.

"I just wanna make sure you're okay with being around me. If we have to look like a couple we're gonna have to be touching in some way to make it more believable. Maybe just tell me some lies, or say I love you. It's gonna be fake anyways."

The way he spoke so nonchalantly physically hurt your heart. It was so stupid to let those few words effect you in such a big way. You were gonna ditch him so you had no right to upset about this.

"Let's get take-out and go to my place tonight. This better be worth my night."

"Of course it's gonna be."

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It was a silent ride to your little apartment. The cars passing by providing only little bit of noise in the long car ride. You could tell he was itching to start a conversation based on the way his hand kept twitching. His eyes would shoot from the road back to your sleepy form. He just wanted to get to know you, and he's usually a talk active person. But he's scared he's gonna mess up things if he even speaks a word. He's worried that if he breathes the wrong way you're gonna complain even more. 

"Up here at the left." You said in a groggy tone, and rubbed the sleep from your eyes. A small yawn passing through once again. You honestly don't know if you're awake enough to even make it to your apartment door. But there is a hot takeout box in your lap, and it’s been a long day. Besides Lucy was definitely awake, and she’s always happy too see you. Well most of the time she is. Your keys wiggled in the lock as you tried to open the door. The sound of keys slapping against the concrete woke you up only slightly.

“Here let me do it.” He spoke softly as he took the keys from your weak grip. His hands softly guiding the takeout from yours. “If you want to reschedule it’s fine.”

“No it’s fine, when need this bonding experience anyways. Besides I think Lucy has already taken a liking to you.” You laughed lightly as the calico cat immediately rubbed her head against his jean clad legs. A soft purr erupting from her. The freaking cat loves him, but hisses at anyone else. “Well hello there.”

That little heifer has the audacity to love up on him, and completely ignore you. You’re the one who fills her green bowl, gives her half the food on your plate. And she goes to the stranger that smells like mint and chocolate.

“I swear she’s usually in a mood.” You commented, as you tossed your coat on the back of the couch. As Jungkook sat down she immediately made her nest on his lap. Like you said before, that little heifer. “Okay now lets start talking.”

“Okay, what’s your favorite tv show.” He softly said as he shoveled the noodles in his mouth. His eyes never leaving yours once more, as if he truly wanted to know. He’s actually taking this hang out session seriously.

“I’ve really been getting into body of proof recently, that was reason why I wanted to be a medical examiner at the start of my career.” You smiled at the memory. Your mom done everything in her power to put you on the right track. She was always worried you’d get chocked up dealing with dead bodies like that, but she was more worried you’d get caught in between a murderer and a victim. Like your new job was any better.

“Why didn’t you continue with that?” His question was innocent as all get outs. But it still hurt to even think about the reason why you dropped it from your worries all together.

“That a personal question for another time.” You sighed as you wiped the corners of your mouth. Your eyes staying down casted towards the hardwood floors. When you noticed how Lucy’s food bowl was empty you took that as your chance to leave. Slowly searching through your kitchen cabinets looking for favorite chicken meal.

“Oh, okay. I didn’t realize, that it was like that.”

“You couldn’t have know, it’s fine how about we move onto the next topic.”

He sucked in air through his teeth as he raked his mind for another topic. The air was tense, and that was the last thing he wanted. He cleared his throat, as he lightly stroked Lucy’s head. She dug her head further into his hand ; trying to appreciate the warmth that he was giving her.

“Look I’m sorry I keep making everything so difficult. I’m not trying too it’s just in this job I’m scared to open up. It’s gotten me in some trouble, and that almost took me out.” You confessed as you popped open the cat food. Hearing her small paws tapping against the hardwood floors once more. You wiped your hands off on your jeans, and turned to face him fully. His head was tilted in the way yours does, and his eyes held that curious gleam once more.

“I understand that to an extent, but we’re just talking right now nothing bad is gonna happen.” He smiled as he pushed himself up off the couch. Leaning down with a huff he sat beside of you and watched at Lucy lapped up the food that was left in her plate. As soon as she was done she moved towards the man behind her. She happily rubbed her small head underneath his chin.

“Lucy seems pretty content with you, maybe that’s a good sign.” You half smiled as you twirled her soft tail around you index finger. Successfully gaining her attention, as your little baby licked at the tips of your fingers. “How about we put in a random movie, and go from there.”

He smiled widely as he rushed towards the small component underneath the tv. His eyes gleaming happily as he traced the spine of each dvd. Before his eyes settled onto the marvel section. His hands grasped the dozens of DVD’s and sprawled the across the floor. Ranging from Captain American to the one and only Endgame. A small chuckled passed through his lips as he held up one of the Iron Man disc.

“We can bond over one of my favorite movies.”

“I’ll get drinks.” You smiled as you raced towards your cabinets once. Pulling out the wine from the back corner. The beautiful blue bottle shinning underneath the soft lights of your kitchen. Pulling out two wine glasses you jumped onto the couch beside of him.

“I’m ready whenever you are.” He tipped his glass towards you with a suggestive smile. His eyes lingering towards the alcohol in your hands.

“Okay then let’s play the infamous twenty-one questions.” You spoke as you poured the wine and let it flow into the glasses. Watching as the foam started to settle. Taking a sip, and letting the cool liquid soothe you throat. “What made you want to go undercover.”

“Let’s get ready for a story.”

[lcvingness]

&. *   —  a warm welcome to   LILLIAN BAILEY ,   the   FIFTY FOUR   year old   CIS FEMALE   born in   THE BRONX, NEW YORK .   as a local   HAIR STYLIST   residing in   BROOKLYN ,   SHE   is loved for their  LOVING,  OPEN MINDED,  CURIOUS .  but behind their back,  they’re described as   TOUCHY,  FANATICAL,  FUSSY .   still not impressed ?  what if i told you they looked exactly like   MARISA TOMEI   ?   that should do it.   

hey hi, first of all ... i’m andromeda and always a mess with intros, with both introducing myself and my muse so uhh here goes nothing, cause second of all you’re the ones who are going to have to suffer with me around !

HER LIFE SO FAR.

lillian grew up with one mom and funnily enough two fathers, not that they were entirely a poly amorous couple but at the time her mother made the mistake; or in lillian’s eyes miracle, to get laid with two guys at the time who both loved the woman equally and so did they love the little baby.

in 1987 she majored in cosmetology and moved from the bronx to brooklyn the second one of her father's connections checked up on them about a store going out of business and it was the perfect business opportunity to open a hair salon there.

so she packed her bags and had her parents help her move, restore the now sold property to lillian and funded all the equipment with a loan she eventually paid off. she was twenty-six when she opened her salon named ‘mirror, mirror’ for business.

if you didn’t catch it from the name of her business, snow white was her favorite fairy tale good night story and movie to watch right after school. her school friends also quickly learned the ins and outs of the story all cause of her and honestly, the nickname ‘snow white’ drifted around for a while throughout the years until high school.

she’s a big fan of queen and dolly parton so after closing time you’d most likely catch her jamming around to those songs from her time.

she loves to prepare and eat lunch together with both her colleagues and store owners next door.

it started out as simply a hair salon but over the years it changed into a beauty salon with added nail care where nail stylists became part of the business.

‘9 to 5’ by dolly parton is her alarm song and she never tires of it cause it’s literally her favorite song and movie ever.

she loves to arrange weekly game nights with friends and family, blood-related or not blood-related, lillian loves everyone just as much.

lillian will always help anyone in any way she can, either with advice or try her best to help them out physically if necessary. which brings us to the following: she is definitely the mom friend.

though she’s not just a mom friend, she became a mother figure at the age of forty six, eight years ago iris moved in with her. her dear niece came flying over all the way from sydney, australia. a girl that’s been through hell and lillian welcomed her with open arms. always gave her the freedom she needed, made her pick her own college, therapy if necessary and even helped her move out when the time came. though iris isn’t officially adopted by her, she does feel like she’s her mother and responsible for her.

lillian’s not just a hair stylist, she’s also semi famous for doing celebrities’ hair for photoshoots, premieres or other events, which also attracted more customers and honestly, business has never been better !

she’s been featured in a couple beauty magazines over the years, as shown at the bottom.

WANTED CONNECTIONS.

childhood friend who pretty much managed to deal with her all their life.

store owners next to her beauty salon.

colleagues even though she’s the boss of em, she sees em as friends & equal.

regular customer(s) who surely must be a friend of hers too. lbr, this darling loves everyone.

(best) friend(s).

queen/dolly parton fanatics cause that’s goals to have as either online or irl friends.

pen pal from a whole another country she wrote during her high school years.

anything you think of i’m open to a whole lot and so is lillian !

[boydeviil]

{   LORENZO   ZURZOLO   ,   CIS   MALE   ,   HE   /   HIM   }   way   out   here   in   the   ozarks   ,   i’d   never   expect   to   find   PARKER   MURPHY   ,   the   TWENTY   year   old   PART   TIME   BARTENDER   /   STUDENT   at   the   SILK   AND   SATIN   /   COMMUNITY   COLLEGE   .   on   the   afternoon   of   september   4th   ,   HE   was   WITH   FRIENDS   AT   CRESCENT   INK   but   i’m   not   sure   i   believe   a   word   they   say   .

hm   ...   f   -   finally   ?   hi   i’m   bailey   &   i’m   kind   of   a   piece   of   garbage   ,   but   i   mean   well   uwu   .   this   is   very   bare   minimum   as   much   as   it   pains   me   ,   someone   who   writes   like   novels   if   not   stopped   ,   but   i   really   wanted   to   get   it   out   so   sacrifices   had   to   be   made   (   i   ..   say   this   as   if   i   still   didn’t   go   over   1k   lmao   anywsgdfhdhnf   )

PINTEREST   /   primarily   blood   tw   ,   minor   smoking   +   food/drink   tw   .   also   ,   mentions   of   death   ,   blood   ,   very   briefly   food   ,   smoking   &   underage   drinking   in   intro   !!   nothing   too   descriptive   ,   but   still   there

—   ASSOCIATED   AESTHETICS   .

blood   -   stained   teeth   cracked   wide   in   a   mirthful   grin   as   loud   laughter   rings   out   .   fake   id   cards   tucked   neatly   in   a   shoe   box   ,   ready   to   replace   each   other   after   confiscation   .   holding   up   cigarettes   to   angel   statues   .   sneaking   alcohol   in   between   bible   pages   ,   in   coke   cans   ,   anywhere   .   blood   under   your   nails   but   you   aren’t   sure   where   it   came   from   .   nihilistic   tendencies   as   a   coping   mechanism   .

—   ASSOCIATED   TROPES   .

it   amused   me   .   honor   among   thieves   .   cool   people   rebel   against   authority   .   clandestine   chemistry   .   troubled   ,   but   cute   .

—   QUICK   STORY   .

prideful   and   stubborn   ,   thinking   yourself   on   top   of   the   world   for   no   good   reason   .   from   a   young   age   ,   you   believed   that   you   could   be   untouchable   if   you   put   your   mind   to   it   .   always   the   rambunctious   boy   on   the   playground   ,   spinning   tales   to   your   classmates   and   creating   schemes   which   landed   you   on   the   dreaded   timeout   wall   ,   everyone   either   flocked   to   you   or   steered   clear   .   understandable   ,   you   would   think   as   you   grew   up   .   you   were   an   acquired   taste   ,   and   that’s   something   you   took   satisfaction   in   .   your   mom   soon   found   scolding   only   spurred   you   on   more   ;   negative   attention   is   still   attention   ,   a   terrible   mindset   to   have   ,   but   what   you   adapted   .   tough   love   is   evident   in   your   posture   ,   the   way   you   speak   ,   it’s   what   you   know   .   what   many   thought   to   be   a   boyish   phase   didn’t   change   as   you   got   older   .   if   anything   ,   it   got   worse   .   your   schemes   elevated   ,   all   for   the   risk   .   all   eyes   on   you   .   it’s   like   a   heightened   middle   child   syndrome   ,   some   could   say   .   you   aren’t   sure   if   you   can   disagree   or   not   ,   but   you   would   sooner   bite   your   tongue   and   swallow   the   blood   than   admit   it   .   the   more   phone   calls   to   your   mom   ,   the   more   frustrated   with   you   she   became   .   understandable   ,   you   think   again   .   however   ,   you   didn’t   stop   .   like   always   ,   it   grew   with   you   ;   a   scab   you   couldn’t   quit   picking   ,   an   aching   tooth   you   kept   prodding   with   your   tongue   ,   bruises   you   kept   pressing   fingers   against   in   order   to   see   if   they   still   hurt   .   you   never   learned   .   not   how   they   wanted   you   to   ,   at   least   .

on   your   thirteenth   birthday   you   got   a   chemistry   set   —   your   mom   wasn’t   sure   if   it   was   worth   it   at   first   ,   knowing   you   spent   more   school   hours   in   suspension   than   in   a   classroom   ,   yet   the   way   your   eyes   lit   up   told   her   it   was   the   best   purchase   she   made   .   little   did   she   know   you   would   catch   small   fires   from   mixing   things   together   ,   because   you   were   bored   or   because   you   wanted   to   see   what   would   happen   ,   even   if   you   had   an   idea   of   the   possible   destruction   .   but   ,   despite   all   the   clashing   ,   your   mom   loved   you   .   you   know   she   did   or   else   she   wouldn’t   have   dealt   with   you   like   this   .   only   a   mother’s   love   could   adore   such   a   nightmare   like   you   .   as   a   teenager   ,   you   gained   a   more   notorious   reputation   .   in   and   out   of   the   local   police   station   ,   mostly   for   juvenile   crimes   ,   but   constantly   skating   on   thin   ice   .   we   all   die   one   day   ,   you   would   say   with   a   laugh   ,   let’s   have   interesting   stories   for   when   we’re   six   feet   under   .   despite   your   failings   ,   purposeful   or   not   ,   you   maintained   well   enough   grades   in   school   ;   specifically   in   sciences   .   chemistry   really   was   the   love   of   your   life   ,   next   to   unbridled   mischief   of   course   .

taking   a   break   year   after   high   school   graduation   ,   you   found   a   job   as   a   bartender   at   the   local   strip   club   .   it   wasn’t   what   you   wanted   to   do   for   the   rest   of   your   life   ,   though   it   was   good   to   pass   time   .   you   eventually   enrolled   in   the   community   college   for   chemistry   ,   but   it   still   left   you   feeling   restless   and   unfulfilled   ,   wanting   more   than   this   small   town   life   .   maybe   you   paid   too   much   attention   to   the   legacy   your   grandfather   left   (   perhaps   another   bad   mentality   of   yours   )   ,   or   simply   you   were   reading   too   many   comics   and   watching   too   many   crime   films   .   but   the   wild   idea   of   pharmaceutical   chemistry   for   an   ,   admittedly   ,   less   than   savory   gain   had   worked   its   way   into   your   head   a   few   times   .   no   one   knows   exactly   what   you   get   up   to   when   you   shut   them   out   to   mess   around   with   chemicals   ,   however   would   anyone   be   surprised   if   you   went   completely   off   the   rails   ?   the   answer   came   sooner   than   you   expected   ,   just   not   in   the   way   any   imagined   .

you   had   an   argument   with   your   mom   again   .   you   slammed   your   bedroom   door   like   a   child   ,   causing   your   out   -   grown   signs   to   rattle   at   the   impact   ,   angry   and   hurt   by   the   stinging   words   thrown   back   at   you   …   yet   again   too   prideful   and   stubborn   to   say   it   .   she   loves   you   ,   you   reminded   yourself   .   she   wants   what’s   best   for   you   .   and   the   bullshit   you   kept   pulling   ?   not   it   .   if   she   wasn’t   so   well   liked   ,   you   were   almost   certain   you’d   been   kicked   from   college   before   finishing   .   you   didn’t   mean   it   ,   you   didn’t   mean   what   you   said   —   you   never   do   ,   do   you   ?   words   come   out   hot   and   hastily   before   your   brain   can   stop   them   .   sometimes   you   can   blame   the   booze   you   stole   ,   most   times   you   can’t   .   when   she   turned   up   ,   dead   ,   you   felt   sick   and   violently   so   .   your   nihilism   turned   itself   up   in   order   to   protect   you   .   we   all   die   one   day   ,   your   own   words   echo   back   in   your   head   .   it’s   maddening   ,   and   you   just   have   to   cope   . 

how   do   you   cope   ?   you   aren’t   sure   .

—   QUICK   FACTS   /   HEADCANONS   .

place   of   birth   :   veritas   ,   missouri date   of   birth   :   august   8th   ,   1957 astrology   :   leo   sun   ,   sagittarius   moon   ,   gemini   rising   ,   aries   midheaven

positives   :   confident   ,   innovative   ,   steadfast   ,   fun   -   loving negatives   :   impish   ,   discontented   ,   boisterous   ,   intense

mbti   :   entp enneagram   :   type   8

romantic   orientation   :   demi   -   biromantic sexual   orientation   :   bisexual

dog   person   !!   would   absolutely   get   tackled   by   a   police   dog   and   be   like   omg   what’s   their   name

has   an   eyebrow   scar   cause   that’s   cool   ,   right   ?

favorite   flavor   combo   is   cherry   &   vanilla   ,   but   mint   &   chocolate   is   close

honestly   that   one   kid   in   class   who   makes   the   teacher   go   “   i’ll   wait   ”

a   nightmare   luv   …   but   he’s   trying   to   keep   his   vibe   …   acts   like   he   doesn’t   care   ,   actually   cares   a   lot

uhhh   i   project   this   onto   so   many   of   my   characters   ,   i’ll   admit   it   .   but   like   ,   he   has   gotten   a   nosebleed   after   stepping   into   church   before   jdfhbjdhnf

big   “   god   has   a   lot   to   answer   for   ”   energy