#but in Joey's case she's coming back

[thethistlegirlwrites]

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep

Olivia Quintero has seen a lot of dead people. 

She never got a chance to see her mother’s body. As soon as they heard what had happened, Joey had bundled them all into the car and they’d run as fast and as far as possible before someone decided they were a loose end.

But she’s seen a lot of them since.

People died in the transient camps all the time, for one reason or another. Age, illness, violent fights, overdoses. She’d been the first to find two of them. It hadn’t really scared her, not like it scared some of the other kids.

She was pretty sure one day, it would be her. When the seizures kept getting worse, and the doctor in the camp kept turning up only half-sober, with shaking hands he couldn’t even be bothered to wash properly and coughing at the end of every sentence. 

But even after they got across the border, got Via into a good hospital, it hadn’t meant the end of death following her. She’d seen patients wheeled out of the building with white cloth over them. She’d watched the girl in the bed next to her in the pediatric ward lose her own battle with her failing body. 

And now, she’s looking at her own sister’s lifeless face in a coffin in a dingy cemetery. Her black dress itches her neck where the collar touches, and she already popped the button off one of the sleeve cuffs, but she feels oddly numb in spite of it all.

Maybe because Joey doesn’t look dead. 

Tía says it’s just what they do at the funeral homes to make people look nice for their families, but Via knows what people look like when cars hit them. She watched a boy playing soccer in one of the camps dart into the road after his battered ball and get run over by someone speeding by. They hadn’t even stopped or turned back to see if he was still alive. 

She can’t see any bruises on Joey’s face or hands at all. There’s a thick layer of makeup on her face that Joey would have hated in life, but Ramona across the hall covers up the times her boyfriend hits her the same way, and Via can always see the purple and yellow underneath. 

Joey just looks like she’s asleep. Almost peaceful, aside from the way her lips curl a little, like they’re pulling back from her teeth. 

Via chews on her own lip. She can taste the vanilla chapstick Tía is always smearing on too thickly, and the saltiness of blood from the spot where she peeled away a bit of the skin. She wonders if that will remind her of Joey now, the way the taste of ripe papaya makes her think of Mami, because it was what Via was eating when the phone rang and Joey went all stiff like she was the one having a seizure and then told them Mami was never coming home. 

Mauri presses something into her hand. Via looks down at it. The faded colors and crumpled edges of the picture of their family that Joey carried with them all the way from home. The only way Via still knows what Mami looked like.

She and Mauri both agreed, Joey should keep it. Maybe she’ll be able to look at it in heaven and think of them. Maybe it’ll help her find Mami if she’s forgotten her as much as Via and Mauri have. 

Via reaches into the coffin and tucks the photo in between Joey’s hands and the lining of the worn leather jacket she always wore when she went out at night. The edge of the photo sticks on a tear in the fabric, and Via pushes a little harder. 

Her hand brushes up against Joey’s. Joey’s skin is cool, makeup smoothing out the roughness in her chapped fingers and her chipped nails, now painted an overly garish red, scraping against Via’s thumb. She pulls back, blood welling up from the tiny gash, a single drop falling onto the corner of the photo, and shoves her finger into her mouth, sucking on the cut. 

Via doesn’t cry when they close the lid on the coffin.

She doesn’t cry when the men from the funeral parlor lower the whole thing into the ground, or when she and Mauri and Tía throw in handfuls of dirt on top, Tía sniffling into her black lace handkerchief the whole time and Mauri’s lip quivering.

She doesn’t cry when people flood their tiny apartment, bringing food and empty words and emptier cards, when the room is filled with so many voices it makes her head hurt.

She wakes up at five in the morning, when the last guests have finally gone, when the smell of spilled tequila has faded, when the moonlight slanting through her window turns everything a pale blue.

Somewhere, out in the darkness, the sound that woke her echoes back again.

A woman’s scream.

Via normally sleeps through those sounds. They’re as common in this neighborhood as barking dogs and crashing pans and breaking glass and angry arguments. But there was something high and harsh and terrified in this one that woke her.

She rubs her fingers against her thumb, slipping one blunt nail under the edge of the forming scab on her cut, and tugs it away again. 

Another drop of blood wells up, glimmers in the moonlight, and falls to her stained blanket. 

Out in the night, something howls. Clearer and sharper than a coyote, but just as mournful. Just as haunted. Via buries her head under her pillow, and lets the sob she’s been clinging to all day tear through her.

(You can read this story and others from this universe on my WorldAnvil here!)

@catwingsathena @nade2308 @the-one-and-only-valkyrie @telltaleclerk @ettawritesnstudies  @writeouswriter @the-lovely-wren

[midnight-els]

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the West Wing would have been even better if they'd had a White House cat. Some headcanons bc I was thinking about it today:

Jed gave the cat a very grand, biblical name. Everyone else has shortened it to something very stupid.

Obviously all of the press and the public adore the cat. There's a minor upset in a polling themed episode when Joey confirms that once again the cat has higher approval ratings than the president. Josh is cross that they are polling on this at all.

There is one chair in the Oval Office that is The Cat's Chair. The staff know not to sit there as you'll get a. covered in fur and b. screamed at by an irate cat trying to force you off. They never warn any of their least favourite congresspeople about this.

The cat wanders around in the background of episodes, often being chased or petted by the extras.

The cat is not allowed in the situation room. The cat is always in the situation room. They had to come up with a special bug detecting protocol for the cat in case anyone tried to take advantage of this.

Ripped from the headlines plot about a congressional investigation into something related to the cat, based on the incident about Clinton's cat's postage.

The cat LOVES Air Force One. The Secret Service do not love having to get him on board or captured to get back off.

Leo and the cat are best friends. They're basically this meme. Leo's the grandma. Jed is the mom.

Aside from Leo, the cat loves the secretaries best. They always have lots of treats for him in their desks. Debbie is the only one he doesn't get on with; she has resorted to using a plant mister to spray him when he tries to get on her desk.

Josh thinks he and the cat are archenemies. The cat hasn't paid more than 2 seconds notice to Josh in his life.

CJ and the cat are archenemies. CJ was very pro-cat until she caught it fishing in Gail's bowl one day. Now she's at war to keep it out of her office. She's still trying to convince Danny to write a piece exposing the cat's dark side to its adoring public. Carol is very tired.

Sam wants so badly to be best friends with the cat. The cat thinks he's trying too hard. Will ends up exactly the same way.

Toby and the cat have never properly interacted and both are very happy to leave it that way.

The cat is supposed to stay in the residence during big events. Abbey stopped enforcing that after he got out and scratched Lord John Marbury when he picked him up against his will.

The cat has a secret service code name. One time, the code names are changed and an overenthusiatic reporter tries to break a story on the first lady's 'unusual activity' by following what he thinks is her code name. It's the cat's. CJ dines out on this for weeks.

The cat occasionally goes missing. The secretaries and Charlie have a recurring B-plot where they have to go and recover him. Somehow, the cat has always ended up somewhere relevant to the A-plot.

The cat properly goes missing after the incidents with the Thanksgiving turkeys and the goat in CJ's office (aka prime cat territory). Each time she claims she'll be nicer to the cat when it returns. Each time it lasts about two days.

Margaret thinks the cat has psychic powers and frequently provides warnings based on her interpretations of 'the signs'. Usually she's right.

The cat somehow makes off with the final edits for the state of the union one time (of course they were only handwritten on one piece of paper). Chaos ensues.

Jed tries to send the cat to Manchester partway through the series. After large-scale outcry from the staff, press and public he is returned to the White House. Unfortunately, after a couple of months as a barn cat he is even more badly behaved than before.

The cat is in both Jed and Abbey's official portraits.

[straykidsftw]

Daddy Daycare | dad!bang chan

genre: fluff

summary: chan looking after his kids for the first time as 4

ages: joey = 8 / leo & dan = 6 / jemima = 2 months

warnings: none (purposeful use of lower case cause i cant be bothered with capitalisation anymore)

______________

“are you sure you’re going to be okay?” you asked, cupping chan’s face in your hand, his sleepy eyes blinking back at you; the time on the clock too early for him to properly register the words you were saying.

you were leaving for a weekend away with the other skz wives, all flying over to jeju island, as paid for by your husbands. and that meant leaving early to make it to the airport (so you could make the most of your time).

chan swatted your hand away, making a ‘pshh’ noise, “it’s fine, y/n. i’ve been a dad for 6 years, i think i know what it takes.”

“yes but you’ve never looked after four kids, chan. i’m telling you, it’s a level up,” you pleaded with him.

chan rubbed his eyes before getting out of bed, placing his hands on your shoulders and walking you to the door of your shared bedroom. “y/n, please. i know what i’m signing up for, i know our kids. now go, have fun, and stop worrying.”

you smiled, turning round and hooking your arms around his neck, chan’s hands holding onto your waist firmly as you pressed a kiss to his lips.

“okay, go,” he mumbled into the kiss, “you’re gonna be late.”

“okay,” you smiled, getting your bag and beginning to walk down the stairs, waving to chan as you went, “bye kids!”

the kids, who chan hadn’t known were awake, all responded with choruses of goodbyes from their respective rooms, chan’s eyes widening at all four of his kids being awake at 5:30.

“oh god,” he grumbled, hearing jemima’s cries start up as the front door slammed behind you.

he walked into the nursery, now forever jemima’s room, to see his little girl stood up in her crib, gripping at the bars and bouncing up and down slightly, laughing happily now that she’d gained someone’s attention.

“hello princess!” chan cooed, running over and pulling her out of the crib, cradling her in his arms, pressing kisses all over her face, “oh my little girl, how did you sleep? hmm?! hmm?!”

jemima’s screaming laughter bounced off the walls, chan chuckling alongside her as he got her out of her pyjamas and put her on the potty. potty training was almost done, but jemima still had to be put on the toilet routinely, in case she forgot to ask.

“good morning dad!” joey yelled, chan barely seeing a flash as he ran out of his room and down the stairs.

“woah! woah! woah!” chan called after him, trying to keep an eye on jemima at the same time. he could hear banging and crashing happening downstairs, wincing every time another loud noise echoed.

“i done daddy!” jemima smiled up at him, chan grinning and bringing her off the potty, cleaning her up and putting her in a fresh set of clothes, before carrying her downstairs. “i don’t need carry, daddy! i walk!”

“okay, okay,” chan laughed, placing her on the ground, jemima immediately starting to run to her older brother, who was still zipping around the kitchen. “woah, woah. joey, bud, please. what’s happening?”

“i’m making something!” joey exclaimed, gathering bits from all over the kitchen up into his arms before beginning to make his way back upstairs, chan catching him before he could.

“hey, hey. i could really do with your help today, buddy. do you think you could continue this project at the dinner table? then we can both keep an eye on your sister as i make breakfast, hmm?”

joey smiled with the big brother responsibilities, nodding firmly, “i just– i– i need a few bits from upstairs, okay?! i’m coming back!”

“okay,” chan laughed, peering into the living room to find jemima perched happily on the sofa, her mop of curls a mess atop her head. “mima, do you want some milk?”

jemima looked at him and nodded with sharp motions of her head. chan smiled, nodding back before heading to the kitchen to prepare some formula in a bottle. as he stood against the counter, stirring the bottle sleepily, he suddenly felt a rush of air as someone ran past him again.

“joey!” chan stopped, looking at his twins running round the back garden. “huh, not joey.”

“i’m here dad!” joey exclaimed, his grin displaying a couple of lost teeth, as he sat at the dining table and continued his arts and crafts project.

“yo! leo! dan! come here,” chan called, standing at the back door, “what’s happening here?”

“we’re pirates, dad!” leo yelled, shoving his pretend sword up at his dad, “argh!”

chan played along, pretending to be afraid as he backed off, going back to jemima’s formula. the little girl in question now stood by the dining table, watching her brother in curiosity.

“do you want to sit in your high chair, mima?” chan asked, beckoning the little girl over as he put her milk on the tray. he lifted her up with a fun noise, sitting her in there as she happily drank her milk and watched her brother. “what do you guys want for breakfast this morning?”

chan was mindlessly asking as he looked through the fridge at all the banchan and regular ingredients stacked up. he gasped, “wow, mum left us some beef from last night! and some kimchi jeon, do you guys want that with some banchan?”

joey nodded, jemima staring at her dad with an amused look. chan pulled a face so she started giggling, her feet swinging back and forth.

“joey what this?” she asked, her attention going back to her older brother.

“its for mummy,” he smiled, whispering the words as he glanced to his dad, chan too pre-occupied with cooking to hear him, “she’s away for two days so i’m making her a sign for when she gets back.”

“mummy gone?!” jemima exclaimed dramatically.

“hmm?” chan called, absentmindedly, “yeah mummy’s away for the weekend, mima. but we’re gonna have fun, aren’t we?! yay!”

“what are we doing today, dad?” joey asked, his colouring pencils scribbling against the page.

“um, i thought we could meet up jiyoung and haein today,” chan said, “me and your uncles have a little bit to do but we don’t have to go to the stud—”

“oh please can we go to the studio?!” joey begged, looking up at his dad with a pleading look in his eye.

chan laughed, shocked, “yeah, of course we can, bud! wasn’t expecting you to want to, but of course!”

“just more to do there, you know,” joey shrugged.

chan nodded, “yeah, i’m sorry you don’t have any cousins your age, joe.”

“it’s okay,” he hummed, “it’ll be fun when we’re older.”

chan smiled at his son’s maturity, plating up the food, “yeah, it will. and at least you know they all look up to you, right?”

joey smiled bashfully, not looking up from his work. chan placed a plate down in front of him, as well as two more for the twins, placing a plate of extra banchan in the middle of the table. he pulled up a chair beside jemima, starting on his own food while keeping an eye on the littlest member of the family.

“twins! food’s on the table!”

the boys, still in pirate mode, ran into the kitchen, crashing into the table as they started eating.

“thank you for the food,” joey said, before tucking in, the rest of his siblings following, despite the food already bulging in their cheeks.

“you’re welcome, babies,” chan cooed, playing with dan’s hair gently, “see? we don’t need mummy, daddy’s got everything covered.”

[poppadom0912]

Hi, Would you make a Halstead!sister where she is a teen and have her very first boyfriend and when she decides to break up with him he hits her. She wants to hide it from her brothers but they found out anyway

Warnings: Abuse and violence, swearing, canon-typical injuries.

A/N: Okay, this fic will be the last one for a while and I mean it this time. Writing this was so random but I got sudden inspo when I found this half written soooo please do enjoy!!

You swear that this wasn't supposed to get as bad as it did.

You were still in high school and it might've been your first boyfriend and it definitely took too many tries to convince your brothers to give you permission to date but somehow, you got it in the end.

Several times, both Jay and Will but mainly Jay, warned you of abusive, manipulative and toxic partners which you knew existed but never thought you would date someone as such.

Joey was nice at first. After inviting him over for dinner a few times, your brothers began to be more lenient towards him though they would never admit it aloud.

Yes, they were still quite wary considering you were both still young and in school but over the course of a few months, you were finally allowed to go on a date alone without them acting as chaperones.

Then, it came to your break up.

During school, you and your best friend found Joey and another girl in your year locking lips against her locker without any shame at all. It was there and then you decided that evening you were going to break it off with him.

The two of you met up in the school car park where he would usually drive you home but unbeknownst to him, you had different plans for that today.

You hated how he was acting so nonchalant, the biggest smile on his face when he noticed you walking up to his car. You felt sick, desperately wanting to smack that smirk off his face.

"Y/N! Baby, I missed you at lunch. Where-" Joey started, opening his arms to embrace you but was cut off.

"Don't call me baby." You said sharply, your tone showing you were being completely serious. "We're done Joey."

Joey blinked, tilting his head to the side in confusion before laughing. "Oh Y/N, you're hilarious! Come on, we're going to my house-"

Once again, you cut him off, harshly shoving his hand off your elbow. "No, I'm being serious Joey. We're breaking up."

His face immediately fell at your words. All of a sudden, with the flip of a switch, he changed completely. It was so fast that it started scaring you.

Before allowing him to get a word in, you turned around so you could walk away and go home on your own but you were held back. A hand was suddenly tightly gripping your wrist, pulling you back towards Joey.

"What the hell!?" You exclaimed, trying to rip your hand out of his but he wouldn't budge.

"Joey, you're hurting me. Let go." You said, trying to reason with him but nothing was working.

You tried to calm him down, Jay's voice in the back of your mind explaining step by step what to do in cases like this but you found yourself frozen, unable to defend yourself alike to how you were taught.

It was all so sudden. One moment you were angrily staring up at Joey and the next you were looking to your left, your right cheek burning as it tingled with numbness.

Both of you were shocked at his actions. Using his shock to your advantage, you pulled your wrist out of his hand, ignoring the burning sensation you felt and ran.

*****

Unfortunately for you, it was a friday night and that meant both your older brothers were at home. Typically, on the weekends, you swapped and went to Will's before going back to Jay's for the weekdays. So that meant Will was at Jay's apartment to pick you up.

You were still breathing heavily as you entered the house, unintentionally slamming the front door shut as you came to your senses.

You were home. You were safe.

"Y/N, are you okay?" Jay shouted from the living room. He heard the door slam and was confused since he knew he specifically told you to never slam doors.

"Uh- yeah." You hesitated, licking your lips as you answered. "I'm, I'm good."

"You're red and sweaty- did you run all the way here?" Jay asked after a moment of studying you, taking note of your red cheeks and sweat collecting forehead.

"Yeah I did, I'm bursting for the toilet." You quickly thought of an excuse, lying about why you ran home.

Before he could reply, you dashed past him towards the bathroom to keep up with said lie.

"Hey Y/N-Oh..." Will words were lost as he watched you disappear as quick as he saw you.

"What's up with her?" Will asked, looking confusingly at Jay and down the hall where you disappeared.

"I'm not sure."

****

Joey went back to disturbing you as soon as monday came. The weekend seemingly getting on his nerves because he was buzzing monday morning to the point that you turned back around whenever you saw him.

But you could only run so far from him because at the end of the day as you waited for your best friend, he was grabbing you way too hard.

This process only repeated itself for the next two weeks, becoming almost routine where you only missed him for two days overall.

Three weeks since he first laid hands on you, you were now covered in an amalgamation of redness, bruises and finger-shaped marks.

Today though, today something changed.

It was friday, nearly a month since you broke up with Joey and you were walking to Med. Will was supposed to pick you up but his latest patient was causing problems and asked for you to walk to the hospital only ten minutes away.

So you and one of your friends who lived near that area walked together, departing as you reached the ED doors and she walked home.

As you waved her off, your smile bright and hurting still from how much both of you were laughing, you weren't paying too much attention to your surroundings. You didn't think there would be much danger outside a guarded ED but alas.

One second your waving your friend off and the next, your on your hands and knees on the floor. It happened so fast you couldn't comprehend what even occurred.

"What the-"

Someone harshly pulling you up stopped your trail of thought, their grip so tight that you couldn't focus on the burning in your palms and knees.

"Joey! Let me go you dickhead!" You shouted at the boy as soon as you looked up at the perpetrator.

Pulling your wrists from grasp, you grunted when his grip didn't let up, instead it did the opposite and tightened to the point that your hand was starting to go pale.

"Please Joey- Please just let me go and we can talk this out, I promise." You pleaded with him, eyes going glassy when he started pulling you away from the hospital entrance, panic finally setting in.

You tried pulling yourself away, heels digging into the ground to stop him but he was too strong, his height and build giving him an advantage along with being on the football team while you barely even participated in gym.

"Joey your hurting me-" You were cut off when he shoved you up against the wall head first and then repeatedly shoved your head back when you kept talking.

"Shut up bitch!" He almost screeched, hand on your forehead to prevent your head from moving, ensuring your eyes remained on him.

Your vision blurred, head banging with what felt like the worst headache in the universe. Your reply was simply a whine, no words possible due to the pain he inflicted.

His elbow was digging into your torso, your lungs and ribs restricted from any movement because of the pressure.

"J-Jo..." Everything of his increased, his grip, his shouts, the pain he caused.

Your breathing was taken away from you when he suddenly brought his fist to your torso repeatedly.

All of a sudden, he disappeared and you were falling, your legs unable to support you.

Before you could meet the ground, you were caught and being hauled into an embrace you hadn't felt in a decade. The familiar cologne one you bought with your own pocket money and a voice you'd known since birth.

"I've got you Y/N." Will whispered to you, cradling you gently in his arms.

"Ethan, you got him?" Will called out to his colleague but you were so out of it you couldn't see the other doctor.

"I'll handle him, get her inside." Ethan replied as he restrained Joey, his past military training helping him plenty.

The last thing you remembered was Will's reassuring words before everything went black.

*****

"We have to wait for her to wake up to determine how bad the concussion is but besides that, she's okay." Will finished explaining to Jay the prognosis who arrived five minutes ago.

"She's also got old bruises." Jay finally looked up from your face to Will's, anguish clear on the latter's face. "This has been going on for a while now."

Jay was speechless.

He was at a crime scene when Will called him, something neither brother did when they knew the other was at work and despite trying to anticipate what was going to happen, he could never guess it would be this.

Will explained that he and Ethan were taking a quick breather outside together after the death of their last patient when they heard a man shouting and though they couldn't see you, Will easily recognised Joey.

While Ethan subdued Joey, Will wasted no time in getting you to safety and inside the ED where Connor treated you.

There would be no long lasting effects from any of the injuries but they were bound to stick around for a while and they would definitely hurt.

Will couldn't get it out of his memory - seeing your ex boyfriend continuously punching you with no remorse and almost strangling you with the death grip he had. Will saw it every time he blinked and felt like puking.

Jay had walked passed Joey when he entered the ED and to say he felt like throttling the boy was putting it very, very lightly.

But Jay had plans for little Joey, he was more than confident that Voight would let him have a few words with him later. Especially if it involved you - his boss seemed to have a weak spot whenever you were involved, everyone did.

"I need to find Goodwin and get off shift early, I'll be back." Will said. Maggie could only do so much for so long.

Jay hummed. "I've got her, she's not going anywhere don't worry."

Will hadn't been gone for long when you started coming back to. Jay was messaging Hailey, asking for updates on what they were doing with Joey when he felt your fingers twitch in his other available hand.

Jay waited patiently, forcing himself to let you take your time and not rush you just in case. Will mentioned a concussion that they weren't too sure on the extent on its damage.

Your whimpers had his heart in your control, a lump in his throat at you clearly in pain and his inability to cure and rid of all your ills.

Seeing your eyes, the colour so bright under the hospital lights and because of the fear you felt so vividly, Jay found himself unable to breath for a moment.

"Is he gone?" You whispered, voice hoarse as you squinted up at your older brother.

"Yes he is." Jay nodded, ignoring the burning that randomly enveloped his eyes and brushed your hair back with such a feather light touch that you didn't register the gesture. "He's never going to touch or bother you ever again, I promise."

The only response you could formulate was tears, the waterworks instant as soon as the words came out of Jay's mouth.

"Will and I will make sure nothing happens ever again, we promise."

[tavolgisvist]

Paul and drums

Our kid was first in a group with John called Quarrymen, and apparently, I’d forgotten the set of drums fell off the back of a lorry, as we say in Liverpool, and landed up in our house. So I was learning drums, and one of the Quarrymen came back and said, ‘I remember you’re coming down the house, and it was great when you played drums for us.’ I said, ‘Did I?’ I’d totally forgotten. But then I realized why I forgot. It’s because I broke my arm in a scout camp, and this hand dropped. It was dead, paralyzed. So it took several years to get it back, and at that time, those drums that I was learning on, first of all, my brother, no wonder the drums on the band on the road are good. That’s where he learned it from my drums. But I couldn’t play anything then. So I’d forgotten that I was even the drummer, and Ringo got the job.

(Mike McCartney)

Mersey Beat Founder and Editor, Bill Harry wrote a guest column for Beatle Fan Magazine in 2019. He stated “For their August 7, 1961 gig, the Litherland Town Hall classified advertisement in the Liverpool Echo carried the message: ‘Hear Pete Best Sing Tonight.’ Best had been talked into performing the song “Pinwheel Twist,” which Paul had written for him to sing. Pete recalled in a conversation with Spencer Leigh: ‘Paul wrote the song and asked me to do it. He coupled it with Joey Dee’s hit “The Peppermint Twist.’ I used to get up and do the twist onstage and Paul played my drums. It was a little novelty act and it went down well with the fans. When The Beatles performed it, Paul took over on drums, George played Paul’s left-handed bass right-handed and Pete sang.”

(Source)

I used to get on Pete’s case a bit. He’d often stay out all night. He got to know a stripper and they were boyfriend and girlfriend. She didn’t finish work until four in the morning, so he’d stay up with her and roll back at about ten in the morning and be going to bed when we were starting work…

(Paul McCartney, Anthology, 2001)

Q: When did you first play drums? A: My first recollection is in Hamburg. You’d get behind the kit to try and show the drummer what you wanted. That gradually grew to messing around on other people’s kits, which were lying around because there were a lot of groups playing in the places we played. You picked up the simplest beats very naturally. I remember one evening when Tony Sheridan’s drummer didn’t show up, so Tony said, “Come on, man, sit in!” I said, “No way! I can’t do this.” And he said, “Yeah, you can.” So I did it and then I was thinking, “Well! I’ve actually done a professional drumming gig!” Later, with The Beatles, there was a period where John, George, and I operated as a trio and picked up little bits of work. I remember playing in an illegal club in somebody’s basement on Upper Parliament Street in Liverpool’s Caribbean Quarter. One day this guy called Lord Woodbine, who ran the club, asked if we’d come in and accompany this stripper called Janine. We said, “Wow! Yeah, man! There’s a job.” He even paid us money. Q: It sounds like you would have paid him for that gig. A: Exactly [laughs]. So she came in and said, “Okay, I need you to play Ravel’s Bolero.” We said, “Oh, gee. Sorry, luv. We don’t read music. But we’ve got ’Raunchy.’ That might do.” I had somebody’s old drum kit, and I sat there with a broomstick between my legs, with a microphone tied to it so I could do a bit of vocals and drum at the same time. It was hilarious.

(Paul McCartney, interview with Robert L. Doerschuk for Drum!Magazine, 2005)

Q: When Ringo joined the band, that must have interrupted your emerging career on drums. A: Yeah, I was completely redundant. We loved Ringo so much. He was our favorite drummer in Liverpool, and when he joined the band, it was an explosion: Every song sounded new and fresh. He could pass what we felt was the true test for drummers, which was to be able to play “What’d I Say” — the cymbal work and the toms.

(Paul McCartney, interview with Robert L. Doerschuk for Drum!Magazine, 2005)

We did do a few little bits and pieces together before we all went our separate ways. John and I and Yoko did ‘The Ballad of John and Yoko’. He enlisted me for that because he knew it was a great way to make a record. ‘We’ll go round to Abbey Road Studios. Who lives near there? Paul. Who’s going to drum on this record? Paul. Who can play bass? Paul. And who’ll do it if I ask him nicely? Paul.’ He wasn’t at all sheepish about asking. He probably said something like, ‘Oh, I’ve got this song I want to record. Would you come round?’ And I probably said, ‘Yeah, why not?’

(Paul McCartney, The Lyrics, 2021, about Dear Friend)

Steve Miller happened to be there recording, late at night, and he just breezed in. ‘Hey, what’s happening, man? Can I use the studio?’ ‘Yeah!’ I said. ‘Can I drum for you? I just had a fucking unholy argument with the guys there.’ I explained it to him, took ten minutes to get it off my chest. So I did a track, he and I stayed that night and did a track of his called My Dark Hour. I thrashed everything out on the drums. There’s a surfeit of aggressive drum fills, that’s all I can say about that. We stayed up until late. I played bass, guitar and drums and sang backing vocals. It’s actually a pretty good track. It was a very strange time in my life and I swear I got my first grey hairs that month. I saw them appearing. I looked in the mirror, I thought, I can see you. You’re all coming now. Welcome.

(Paul McCartney in Many Years From Now by Barry Miles, 1997)

I really had to ask myself, “Do I want to give up music, or keep going?” I got a four-track Studer recording machine, like the Beatles used for Sgt. Pepper, put it in the corner of the living-room at my house in London and tried a very simple technique of just plugging directly into the back, not going through a mixing desk. It’s a cool way to record because it’s pure. If, say, I was doing a drum track, I’d play the drums, record it with one microphone, listen to it back, move the mike a little if there wasn’t enough hi-hat or cymbal, and then re-record. Then I’d add bass by plugging the mike into track two and overdubbing while listening to track one through headphones. I’d do that with all with four tracks. It was very hands-on, primitive way of working. <…> It was funky, and still sounds good to me.

(Paul McCartney, “Wingspan” documentary, 2001)

We did not see Ringo until the next night when he arrived at the session. He walked in and went straight to his drums…fiddled with them, then fiddled with them some more. “Somebody did something to my snare drum,” he said irritably. “Paul was here last night. He played them,” explained John. “He’s always fucking around with me things!” It sounded as though Ringo were back in Liverpool and all of them were still teenagers and nothing in their lives had changed. I realized then, that no matter what might happen among them, this was the way they would always relate to each other.

(May Pang, Loving John, 1983)

(Krla Beat, pic by lisamarie-vee)

So, I got into my studio in Scotland and started working, doing the drum track. I normally start with the drums. I sometimes use drum machines, but I like to redo it with real drums. I enjoy drumming. Then I put some bass on it. I was just doing an experimental thing. I was messing around and experimenting. Slowing down tapes, or speeding them up.

(Paul McCartney, The Lyrics, 2021, about Coming Up)

Paul and I were in England, having dinner together [along with our wives]. I told him I was making an EP, and I said, “Why don’t you write me a song?” He wrote the song [Feeling the Sunlight] and put bass on it, he put piano, he put the drums on — and I had to take the drums off. [Laughs.]

(Ringo Starr, interview with Rob Tannenbaum for AARP, Nov 2023)

George was the first one to make a solo album [Wonderwall Music], and I was the drummer. John started the Plastic Ono Band, and I was the drummer. Paul likes to play drums himself, or I would’ve been on his albums too.

(Ringo Starr, interview with Rob Tannenbaum for AARP, Nov 2023)

Q: As strong as you are on bass, keyboards, guitar, and as a singer and writer, is it frustrating to play your drum parts at a more limited level? A: That never intimidates me, though it probably should. I just have so much enthusiasm when I do things that I don’t even consider it. I’m lucky, because some people would wrack themselves with doubt, but when I came to this project I was like, “Man, let’s just have a bit of fun!” It didn’t occur to me that I was some idiot jumping on the kit. I know that a lot of drummers can play rings around me, but as long as I keep it simple and don’t get too flash, I can play with a steady, swampy feel, and that’ll do the job.

(Paul McCartney, interview with Robert L. Doerschuk for Drum!Magazine, 2005)

@i-am-the-oyster, I hope you will enjoy :)

+ this

[persevereforahappyending]

A Beacon in the Dark |8|

Pairing: Joey x Reader

Summary: Joey likes helping people, it's what she's best at. Hunting down the monsters of myth and legend might be the best way to save people.

Warnings: Threats, Language, Broken Bones, Talk of Death, Talk of Sacrifices

Word Count: 5.9k+

Main Masterlist | Series Masterlist

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8

“Are you sure?” You asked, not taking your eyes off the bulletin board in front of you.

Your arms were crossed as you stared at all the research. There were old newspaper clippings going back a couple hundred years ago, old photos of shadowy figures that somehow never appeared clearly, and current photos and articles all from within the last year. It was evidence you and Grace, mostly Grace, had gathered over the years. Grace had been working on this case since before she had even found you.

“Yes,” Grace said confidently. You released a deep sigh. “This is the closest we’ve ever come.” You nodded, it was true, you had never had the location of this group until now, it was always gathering evidence and narrowing down the location before. It was too big of an opportunity to pass up, despite what day it was, this day was actually the reason you couldn’t afford to wait.

“I’ll go alone. Take them down and be in and out before the moon even rises.”

“No,” Grace instantly denied. “It’s too dangerous. You need a partner, I-”

“No!” You snapped. You closed your eyes and took a deep breath then slowly released it; you did that a few more times before opening your eyes again. “I’m sorry,” you whispered, much more calm than before. “But you can’t come.” You looked up at Grace, she was just staring at you softly, she hadn’t even reacted to your outburst, she was used to it by this point after all.

“Then it has to be Joey.”

“No,” you shook your head. “It’s too dangerous. She can’t, not today,” you stared Grace in the eye, pleading with her to just let you go alone.

“You can’t do this one alone.” Grace stepped forward and gently rested a hand on your arm. You were sure she could feel the tension, your entire body felt stiff, like you’d snap at any moment.

“Not tonight, it can’t be tonight.” You knew how useless it was to beg. It wasn’t even Grace’s fault, if she had control then there was no way she’d even consider doing a mission today of all days.

“This is our only shot,” Grace said the words you already knew. “Otherwise, we have to wait another year, more girls will die, and we’ll be having the exact same conversation.” Your head dropped to the floor, and you gave a small nod, not able to lift your head again. “I’ll call Joey.”

You nodded again as Grace stepped back to call Joey. You usually liked making the call, you liked talking to Joey, especially since you only saw her for missions for the most part. You knew you couldn’t call her for this one though, you’d say something stupid and talk her out of joining you, then you’d be on your own and would probably get yourself killed. Grace wasn’t wrong either, even if you didn’t go today, you’d be having the exact same conversation next year, these people just happened to do their little ritual at the most inconvenient time for you, every year, like clockwork.

“Alright,” Grace said, walking back over to you after finishing up with Joey. “She’s going to pick Caleb up from school, drop him off at a friends, and then she’s good to go, said he would just stay the night with the friend.”

“This is affecting her time with her son too much,” you whispered.

“She didn’t say anything about it over the phone,” Grace furrowed her brow.

“She probably wouldn’t,” you shrugged. Joey told you her son came first, she said she didn’t want this job interfering with her time with him too much. It had worked out perfectly before the mission with the sirens and now this one. It was only twice but you didn’t like that she kept having to ask a friend to watch her kid when she should be with him, but she was instead having to help you. “I just know she doesn’t want to disappoint him.”

Grace nodded but didn’t say anything else. You didn’t think Joey would ever have a problem telling you or Grace no when it came to Caleb. If a job really was going to hurt her time with him, she wouldn’t have any issue passing on a mission, if not leaving this job all together. If Joey didn’t say anything then it probably really wasn’t a big deal, you still couldn’t help but hate this mission even more now that you knew it was costing Joey another night with Caleb.

You still had a few hours to kill before having to pick up Joey. You spent the time going over everything you knew with Grace and what the plan was, everything had to go perfect, if the moon hit its peak and the mission wasn’t accomplished, then it was a failure. You listened to Grace and read up on the ritual, you did anything to keep your mind occupied and not focus on what would happen later. You even jumped on the treadmill and ran for about an hour until it was finally time to leave.

You hopped in your car and made your way to Joey, not even bothering to turn on the radio. You had to bring Joey back to the house so she would know exactly what she was walking into and then the two of you would head out and make it to the location before sunset. It was rare to start a mission when the sun was still up, nighttime was usually when the monsters came out and the darkness worked to your benefit but this time you were on a time crunch.

You pulled up outside Joey’s exes building just as she stepped out the front door. She looked up and started making her way to you as you came to a stop. She hopped in and as soon as the door was closed you took off, headed back to Grace’s.

“Sorry you had to find someone to watch your son,” you said, breaking the silence.

“It’s okay,” Joey said, resting her head on her hand. “Figured it had to be serious if it was this last minute and Grace was the one calling me.”

You sucked in a breath; you needed to stop being surprised by how smart Joey was. She was only half right about why Grace called her though, if it wasn’t for the fact that you’d talk her out of coming you would have called her. “It is,” is all you managed to say.

“How bad?”

You felt her eye on you, but you couldn’t turn to look at her. “Grace was researching this group before she even met me.”

“Group?”

You nodded. “Everything will make more sense when we get to the mansion. But basically, this has been going on for a very long time and this is the first time we’ve found their exact location.” Joey nodded, seeming to get why this was such a big mission. “The reason it’s so last minute is because we just learned this information and tonight is the only night we can try and stop it, every year on the same day this happens.”

“So, if we miss tonight, they get away with everything.”

“Until next year and there’s no idea if the location will be the same. If they discover we’re after them, assuming we live, despite this always taking place in this area they might pack up and move.”

“And you have to start all over.” You nodded.

You continued the remainder of the drive in silence, but you could feel Joey’s occasional glance in your direction. You also didn’t miss the way her hands fiddled around in her pockets until she pulled out a sucker. You wanted nothing more than to talk to her and ease her anxieties about the mission but all you could bring yourself to do was focus on the road ahead.

Before you knew it you were pulling up to Grace’s. Without a word you got out of the car, still held the door open for Joey, and led her back to Grace’s office. As soon as Joey stepped into the office her eyes widened and darted around the room, scanning the amount of files stacked on the floor and papers taped to the wall, this was the biggest case you and Grace had been working on and the chaos definitely showed.

“Good, you’re here,” Grace said, as she quickly shuffled through more papers. “Sorry for this being so last minute but we don’t have time.”

“I heard,” Joey said. She slowly walked around the room, and her eyes scanned the bulletin board. “This is a lot.”

“The first incident came on my radar about four years ago, one of my first actually.”

“What is all this?” She gestured around. “This is years’ worth of incidents, going all the way back to,” she looked at one of the older pieces of paper. “1800s!” Her voice went high, seeming to process the information as she said it.

“Even further actually.” Grace moved across the room to where Joey was and pulled down a paper. The original had been handwritten and nearly crumbled upon touch, but Grace had a copy scanned. The date, incredibly faded, was written in ink in the top corner, but it was still legible.

“The 1400s?” Joey asked, looking at Grace with wide eyes.

Grace nodded and stuck the paper back on the board. “There’s a few gaps, years where I couldn’t find anything,” Grace said taking in the entire board. “But I found enough in a consistent time frame to theorize this ritual takes place on this day every year.”

“What are we dealing with?”

“Witches.”

Joey broke out into a light chuckle, her eyes going from Grace to you but neither of you were laughing. “You’ve got to be kidding me, magic is real?” Her mouth fell open.

You couldn’t deny that it was kind of adorable how despite surviving vampires, facing off against a succubus, and fighting sirens, she was still surprised by things. Joey turned back to the board, seeming to be looking at it in a new light. You had done the exact same when you first learned about the case.

“What are they doing?” Joey whispered. “What’s the goal, power? Are they just crazy?”

At that you did actually let out a small chuckle. “Their victims are the same every time,” you said. “Every year around this time twelve girls go missing, usually between the ages of sixteen and twenty-three, all of them virgins.”

“You’re kidding me?” Joey raised an eyebrow. “Virgin sacrifices, really?”

You shrugged. “Classics had to come from somewhere,” you joked, you just couldn’t help yourself.

“Okay,” Joey shook her head, not even bothering to glare at you for your joke. “So, what’s the plan? Clearly, we have to stop more sacrifices from happening,” she pointed at the board again. “But how do we fight off witches? Who I assume have magic,” she really emphasized ‘magic’.

“It’s not going to be easy,” Grace admitted. “This is the most dangerous mission I could possibly send you on.” You stared at Grace, silently begging her to change her mind and not send Joey, it would be safer for everyone if you went on your own. “If you want to sit this one out,” she looked back at Joey. “I would understand.”

You clenched your jaw as you waited for Joey to decide. Knowing Joey in the short time you had you were pretty sure she wouldn’t take too kindly to being ordered to sit any mission out. You understood why Grace would give her the option; Joey liked deciding things for herself once she had all the information.

“How many girls have been taken?” Joey asked, her voice almost a whisper. You could only let out a sigh, that was enough of an answer for you.

“That we know of?” Grace said. “Hundreds but if my theory is correct, twelve girls a year since the 1400s we’re looking at”

“Thousands,” you rasped out.

“How has no one figured this out?” You saw the confusion in her brow as she tried to come up with a reason so many people could go missing and never turn up and no one else put it together.

“They try and stay under the radar, picking up the homeless, runaways, the kind of people no one will miss,” you whispered. Your eyes found a spot on the floor to focus on as you spoke, you might not have dealt with witches during your incident, but the methods were similar enough. “The few that did have people look,” you shrugged. “It’s such a big area,” you gestured to the map with the woods this took place in. “It’s not surprising when someone disappears in there.”

“Eventually cops have to let a case go cold with lack of evidence and progress,” Grace said. “All they ever had was a missing girl and her last location.”

You flicked a glance at Joey again, seeing the determined look in her eye as she stared at the board. “I’m in,” she said.

“Okay,” Grace nodded. She glanced past Joey and met your eyes; you could see she was apologetic without her even having to say sorry.

“Do you have some sort of special weapon for killing witches?” Joey asked, almost sounding hopeful but clearly knowing it wouldn’t be that easy.

You couldn’t help but chuckle and even Grace smiled at the question. “No,” Grace shook her head. “They have all the normal weaknesses of a human-”

“Decapitation,” you said, cutting Grace off. “Heart ripped out. The good stuff,” you smirked.

Joey rolled her eyes at your comment but took note when Grace didn’t deny what you said. “They’re also weak to iron. So, you’ll be armed with weapons mostly made from that.”

Joey nodded. “And what kind of power are we looking at here?” Joey flicked a glance from you to Grace. “I know I’m new to all this, but in movies there’s all different types of witches and powers.”

You and Grace glanced at each other. “We don’t know,” Grace admitted. “We’ve only come across one once. Witches like to have a coven; we got lucky to catch one on her own.”

“Are we assuming there’s twelve members of this coven,” Joey pointed to a few of the images on the board. “Because twelve sacrifices.”

“Probably at least twelve, potentially more, it depends what they’re using the sacrifices for.”

“We don’t know if this coven is the same as the one from back in the 1400s,” you added.

Joey furrowed her brow and looked back at you and then back at the board. “You don’t mean…”

“Possibly, they could be using their life force to extend their own.”

“Or maybe it’s coven tradition,” Grace said. “Some rituals are passed down, it all depends what the coven believes in.”

“Great,” Joey sighed. “So,” she turned back to you and Grace, crossing her arms. “What’s the plan.”

Grace nodded to follow her, so you and Joey did. She led the two of you to the weapons room where she once again had a large duffel already sat out and filled. You stepped forward, unzipping to see the guns, knives, and anything else useful. You furrowed your brow and pulled out a bottle of water. You held it up and raised an eyebrow at Grace.

“Holy water,” she said. You tilted your head and raised your eyebrow even more. “Just in case!” You silently chuckled and shoved the water back in the bag.

There were so many rules to witches, so many differences. No one knew what was true and what wasn’t, it’s why they were so dangerous. Some sources said witches were weak to holy water, it burned them, but it was supposed to burn vampires as well and that was bullshit. Even if the water didn’t do anything, throwing water on a witch might distract it enough to actually get a real hit in.

“You need to make sure you save the girls and get back here before the moon reaches its peak,” Grace said. You nodded, giving her a knowing look as you hoisted the duffel up and swung it over your shoulder.

“Why?” Joey asked.

“Because the ritual ends when the moon reaches its peak.”

“But-”

“Just trust me on this,” Grace wasn’t unkind, but her tone left no room for argument. “It’s better for everyone if you get back here as quickly as possible.”

Joey furrowed her brow, her eyes searched Grace’s face as if she’d find the answer she was looking for there. She looked at you and you kept your face as neutral as possible. As much as you wanted to avoid her gaze you knew that would draw more suspicion, so you met it and gave her a nod to let her know it was okay.

“Okay,” Joey said, hesitantly nodding.

Joey led the way out the door but before you could follow Grace rested a hand on your arm. You looked over at her and felt her slip something into your jacket pocket. “I’ll be listening,” she whispered. “Be careful.”

“Always,” you whispered. You tried to give her a confident smile, but it didn’t quite work out.

She gave your shoulder a squeeze before letting go, allowing you to follow after Joey. By the time you got to your car Joey was already in the passenger seat, so you tossed the duffel in the back and then hopped behind the wheel. You turned the key and started the drive, even the music Joey had turned on couldn’t keep the dark thoughts from entering your mind. It was sunny out, you rarely got daytime missions, and this one took place on a nice day. You were even going to the woods, which was your favorite place, and yet you couldn’t enjoy any of it. Deep in the pit of your stomach you just knew that this wouldn’t go the way you or Grace wanted, you just had to make sure Joey made it out alive.

You were almost an hour into the drive and still had another twenty minutes. You kept glancing up at the sky, the sun was still up, but you couldn’t help but focus on the long drive. When you got done with the mission you still had over an hour’s drive to Grace’s, if you were late at any part, you would be pushing your luck. The last thing you wanted was to be in the car when the moon rose, Joey would have better luck out in the woods, maybe. You kept flexing your grip around the steering wheel and you could feel Joey side eyeing you and your fingers every time they tightened just a bit more.

“You’re tense,” Joey said. She kept her head facing forward but you knew she would be aware of every move you made.

“It’s a dangerous mission,” you said.

“They’ve all been dangerous so far.”

“This one’s different.” You rolled your neck, trying to get rid of the irritation from the simple questioning you usually never had a problem with.

“Clearly.” You didn’t need to turn to know Joey was now facing you, her eyes scanning your face, looking for the most subtle reaction to anything she asks or what you might say. “You and Grace are acting different, keeping things secret.” You clenched your jaw and tightened your grip on the wheel a bit more. “You’re keeping something from me.”

“You know everything we know about the mission,” you tried to brush it off. You tried to focus on your breathing, the steps were simple, deep breath in, then slowly release it through your nose.

“Yeah but-”

“Just drop it!” You snapped, your voice getting deeper than you had intended. You didn’t look but it didn’t go unnoticed how Joey flinched from the power in your tone.

You closed your eyes for half a second, took a deep breath in then slowly released it. When you opened your eyes again you flexed your fingers, relaxing your grip just a bit on the wheel for the first time since you left. “I’m sorry,” you rasped out. You still didn’t look at Joey, you weren’t sure you wanted to see the look on her face. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that.”

Joey watched you for a moment. You really wanted to know what was going through her head, but you still refused to look at her. “It’s okay,” Joey finally said but her tone sounded almost cautious, like she wasn’t sure how you’d react.

“No, it’s not.” You looked down, you hated her simple questioning getting to you. “You’re just asking questions, rightfully so,” you admitted. “Just because I’m irritable today doesn’t mean you deserve for me to take it out on you.”

“Are you okay?” She asked after a moment.

You flexed your hands again. You turned down a dirt road, finally arriving at the woods. “Yeah,” you sighed. “We just need to do this as quickly and safely as possible.”

Joey nodded and remained silent the rest of the drive. You continued to drive down the dirt road until you finally got to a clearing. It was technically a park, and the area was still open to the public, but people didn’t go to that specific area too often. During all your research you learned that hikers and campers who came to the park tended to not come back. Some missing people were found miles away, completely out of their minds, rambling nonsense. Whether that was because the witches did something to them, or they were just they traumatized, you still didn’t know.

You put the Jeep in park and looked up at the sky again, the sun was still shining but when you glanced at the GPS you knew there was still a bit of a hike, and you probably wouldn’t make it until the sun started to set. Any other day you were sure hiking through these woods at sunset would be gorgeous, what you would give to be there not on a mission and freely run through the woods.

“Ready?” You asked.

When Joey nodded in confirmation the two of you hopped out of the car. Almost as soon as you stepped out of the car you could feel the shift in the air. It was fall and already a bit chilly to most people, but this was different, when the wind blew you seemed to be able to feel the chill down to your bones.

As you grabbed the bag of weapons from the back Joey looked around, seeming to analyze the empty parking lot. Calling it a parking lot was being generous; it was just a giant dirt area with little wood signs to indicate spots for parking. You looked down at the ground around you and back at the path you had driven down, there was only one way in or out of the area, and the only tracks you could see were from your own Jeep, meaning someone hadn’t been there in quite a long time.

You swung the duffel bag up over your head, so it was resting on your shoulder. “This way,” you said, nodding off in a direction that was the complete opposite of any intended trail.

You and Joey hiked through the woods, hopping over rocks and fallen branches. There was still plenty of light, but nothing could stop how eerily quiet it was, the only sound you could hear was the crunch of leaves beneath your and Joey’s boots. If the witches had any scouts watching out for unwanted guests, you were surely going to get spotted. You just hoped they were either cocky enough to think no one would stumble upon them or that you were better and would pick up on them quicker than they caught onto the two of you.

“How do they even get out here?” Joey asked, huffing as she swatted a branch out of her face.

“Brooms?” you said, giving a little shrug.

Joey rolled her eyes. “At least being moody hasn’t disrupted your sense of humor,” she mumbled under her breath.

You smiled to yourself and chuckled quietly. “I’m just saying, there’s a lot of stories with witches on brooms,” you held your hands up in defense. “Everything comes from somewhere.”

Joey seemed to reluctantly nod at that. Every story involving monsters did come from somewhere, whether it be eyewitness accounts, survivors of whatever horror, or just made-up stuff. As you were sure Joey knew, crosses and garlic did nothing against vampires, it was all stuff made up by Hollywood. Some myths were created for film while others were created by the monsters themselves, to trick people and mislead them so their actually weakness wasn’t discovered.

You suddenly came to a stop, your head snapping up. You barely registered Joey bumping into you. “What the hell?” she asked. “What’s wrong?”

You looked around, searching for anything off, you even strained your ears, not hearing anything besides the sound of your and Joey’s breathing. “Don’t you feel that?” you whisper. You weren’t sure why but there was a significant temperature drop, like the two of you crossed some invisible threshold.

You looked down when you heard static coming from the GPS. The screen flickered from the map with the little red dot with your position to one of static. You smacked it a few times, furrowing your brow as the screen seemed to go back to normal only to shut off completely. “Shit,” you whispered, pocketing the now useless device.

“Guess, we’re close,” Joey whispered.

You glanced up at the sky one last time, it was almost set, there was just enough light still to not need flashlights yet. “Don’t leave my side.”

“Got it.”

“I’m serious,” you turned your head and looked Joey directly in the eyes.

“I know,” she assured.

You slipped off the duffel bag and unzipped it just enough to pull out a dagger for yourself and Joey. You handed Joey her dagger and as she hid it away, tucking it under her jacket you hid your own, making sure Joey didn’t see that yours wasn’t made of iron like hers. When you swung the duffel back over your head you gave each other a final nod before you began leading the way. You tried to move as quietly as possible as you approached the target location, before the GPS died you knew you had been close.

You came down a hill and pushed through some shrubbery until it finally opened up into a clearing. The two of you froze in your tracks, there was a large bonfire already started and flags circled the bonfire. Each flag was a different color and seemed to have some sort of symbol on them, there seemed to be twelve in total. You didn’t recognize any of the symbols, but the flags were certainly old, all of them caked in dirt and tattered, the edges frayed, it looked like each of them had each been in a war zone at some point in their lifetime.

“Something doesn’t feel right,” you said, taking a step back.

You looked back when Joey didn’t respond only to see her lying on the ground, passed out. “Ana!” you rushed to her side, not even realizing you called her by her real name, you dropped the duffel as you got down next to her. You gently turned her head; she looked fine, and she was still breathing, but you hadn’t even heard her go down. A branch snapping made you look up, your eyes widening as you saw several cloaked figures coming out of the shadows.

“What did you do to her?” you shouted. You carefully moved your hands away from Joey’s head and stepped over her as you stood up again. You had just taken a step, ready to face all of them on your own when your mind was invaded by a thousand whispers.

You doubled over, gripping your head as you tried to stop the voices. You couldn’t make out any of the words, they seemed to be in a different language, but it felt like each word penetrated your brain, sending a sharp pain radiating throughout your skull. You let out a scream that turned more into a growl as you collapsed to your knees. You looked up and through blurry vision you could see the cloaked figures getting closer, though you couldn’t make out any faces.

You collapsed to the ground the rest of the way, still clutching your head. You thought the only way to relieve the pain might be able to rip into your skull. Your eyes were pinched shut but you pried them open just enough to see boots in front of you, you turned your head, trying to get a look at the face under the cloak above you before everything went black.

You jolted awake, yanking your arms to the side only to have them catch. You whipped your head around, blinking rapidly to clear your vision, it was completely dark, the only light coming from the bonfire that was blazing even brighter and the moon. Your heartbeat picked up; the moon hadn’t reached its peak yet, but you could already feel the burning itch beneath your skin. You weren’t near the bonfire, but you could make out several figures cloaked in black standing around it, each of them in front of one of the flags.

“Good, you’re up,” a feminine voice said. You snapped your head in the direction the voice came from to see a cloaked figure approach out of the shadows. When she got close enough, she flipped back her hood, revealing long black hair intricately braided and a beautiful youthful face, though her eyes told you she wasn’t as young as she appeared. “You should be proud of yourself,” she paced back and forth in front of you. “It took all of us to bring you down, not many can do that.”

“What can I say,” you said, venom dripping with each word. “I’m just that good.”

The witch appeared directly in front of you in a flash. She held a knife to your throat, the silver glinting in the moonlight, you recognized it immediately, it was the one you had taken out of the duffel. “That you are,” she whispered. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen one of you.” She smiled to herself and ran a hand down your chest. “I almost don’t want to kill you.” You snarled and lunged at her but were pulled back by the chains around your arms. She just laughed at your reaction and shoved your chest with her palm, pressing you against the tree.

“We’ve been doing this for centuries,” she said. “Everyone who’s ever tried to find us has ended up dead, did you really think you were any different?” she tilted her head.

“I’m going to kill you,” you said through gritted teeth.

She only laughed at that, shaking her head as if you were the funniest person she had ever met. “I think you’ll be a little preoccupied ripping apart your little girlfriend over there,” she nodded her head across the way at another tree. You looked in the direction to see Joey tied to a tree as well, though with rope.

You snarled at her and strained against the chains, trying to break away with the intent to rip the witches head clean off once you did so. She clicked her tongue at you and waved a disapproving finger. “Patience,” she said, giving what was probably her closest thing to a sweet smile. “It’s almost time,” she pointed up at the sky. “I’ll see you when you’re done with your meal,” she smiled, running her hand down your chest once more before turning and heading back to her coven.

You struggled against the chains, trying everything to break free. You could feel your body getting hotter, the itch to tear off your skin getting stronger. You shook your head, trying to fight back against those thoughts and keep control for as long as possible. “Are you okay?” you called out.

“Yeah,” Joey said.

“You need to get out of here.” You looked up at the sky, the moon was only getting higher. “Do you still have that knife-” your words instantly died when you heard the sound of the rope dropping to the ground.

Joey ran over to, instantly assessing the chains restraining you. “Way ahead of you,” she smirked. “We need to get these off.” She lifted the chain, looking for a way to break them.

“Don’t,” you said, whipping your head around, trying to get her attention. “You need to leave.”

“I’m not leaving you,” Joey appeared in front of you.

“You need to go,” you insisted.

“No, we’re in this together.”

She reached up to caress your cheek, but you backed away from her touch. “Now!” your voice got deeper, taking on an almost animalistic sound. Joey slowly retracted her hand and took a step back away from you. You dropped your head and closed your eyes, you just needed to keep control for a few more minutes.

“My pocket,” you said through gritted teeth.

Joey seemed to understand as she hesitantly stepped forward again and began digging around your jacket pockets until she pulled out the device Grace gave you. “What is it?” she asked, turning the small device in her hand.

“A tracker.” You slowly opened your eyes and looked up at Joey again. “Press it and Grace will be here, but you need to run like hell first.”

“I can’t just-”

You doubled over as your knee snapped back. “Wha the fuck,” Joey whispered, slowly stepping away from you. Your arm shot out, pulling against the chain before your elbow snapped in the opposite direction it should go. You collapsed to your knees, your back arching as your bones continued to snap and rearrange.

You pressed your hands into the ground as your shoulder dislocated, making itself bigger. You felt your claws begin to rip through your fingers before they were finally digging into the dirt. You could taste copper as your fangs tore through your gums. Your head snapped up and through gold-filled eyes you could see the horror on Joey’s face. “Run!” you growled out.

Your body continued to twist and turn, your bones snapping apart and reforming in a different direction. You ripped your jacket and shirt off, looking for any sense of relief. The last thing you saw before everything went black and your mind was overtaken with the natural desire to hunt, and kill was Joey running away from you.

Your mind, human mind was locked away as the beast took over. The transition was complete, and the beast stood tall on its hindlegs. It snarled and snapped its jaw until its ears twitched, picking up the sound of chanting. Its eyes snapped to the group of witches surrounding the bonfire, its other ear twitched, picking up the rapid heartrate of someone running away. It let out a thunderous growl before ripping its left arm forward, instantly snapping the chain, it repeated the action with the right arm. The beast stood to its full height, tilting its head as it looked from the witches to the direction of the person running, it let out a snarl before taking off, having decided who it wanted to kill first.

Taglist: @thinking1bee @so-to-aqui-pelas-fic @alexkolax @pianogirl2121 @thatshyboy1998 @chxrry-lov3 @bella423 @morganismspam23

[joeys-babe]

Joey B Imagines: Welcome To The Jungle

————————————————————————

summary: even nine months pregnant there’s no way you’ll miss the bengal’s first real game of the season, though joe is completely against the idea even if you’re with his family in the box.

warnings: fluff, pregnancy, birth.

pairing: joe burrow x reader

imagine universe: into the mystic

————————————————————————

"you're 9 months pregnant baby, i don't think it's a good idea for you to go to the game.." - joe

"joe there is no way i'm missing your first game of the season." - you

"you went to all the preseason games so you'll be fine to sit this one out." - joe

"you didn't play during preseason. joe i'm going to the game." - you

"what if you go into labor and i miss it." - joe

"i'll hold them in. but i'm not due for another week." - you

"i don't know about this..." - joe

"i'm on maternity leave right now so i'm gonna be in the suite with your mom and dad. i'll have people with me just in case, not taking pictures on the sidelines." - you

"okay, just please if you do go into labor, call me. i'll run off the field mid-play if i have to." - joe

"i will, joey." - you

"i put the go bag in the car just to be safe." - joe

"you're the best." - you kissed him

"okay, let's get going." - joe

he helped me into the car, along with putting his bag in the back seat next to the baby’s car seat. if only you two knew you weren’t coming back home with that empty.

right before we arrived to the facility joe called his mom down to help me up to the suite since he wouldn't be able to.

when joe pulled in the back entrance and drove to his normal parking spot we both saw his mom was waiting at the elevator.

"y/n, you are about to pop!" - robin

"shhh don't say that around joe, he'll drive me back to the house." - you

"no he won't, don't worry." - robin laughed

"yes, he will." - joe

joe turned to me, i felt a speech coming on.

"if anything happens. and i mean anything, call me okay. i'm not missing anything." - joe

"okay, joe listen to me okay. good luck today, it's the first game of the season and i want you to know i'm so proud of you. i love you so much, baby." - you

joe smiled and placed a kiss on my lips.

"i love you too, mamas." - joe

when we pulled away, joe checked the time on his phone before sighing.

"i have to get inside, thanks mom." - joe

“you're welcome, joey." - robin

joe took a glancing look back at me, his eyes wandering down to my bump as he anxiously licked his lips. he looked away and closed his eyes for a second, trying to still his racing thoughts. once he collected himself he gave me a brief hug.

"bye, guys." - joe

"bye, baby." - you kissed him one last time

joe grabbed his bag and i watched him walk towards the players entrance.

robin encouragingly rubbed my back as we walked into the elevator. she was fully aware that if joe was nervous, you were nervous as well.

once we reached the burrow suite his brothers and their girls were already there.

codie, joe’s older brother jamie’s wife, went wide eyed when she caught sight of you in her peripherals.

"y/n, girl! what are you doing here?!" - codie

"here to watch joe!" - you laughed

"you are about to pop!" - codie

"i know.. but there is no way i'm missing the first game of the season." - you

"i don't know what joe did to deserve such a supportive wife." - jimmy laughed

i sat down on the couch and leaned back against the couch, trying to get comfortable.

"joe’s just as supportive jimmy. i think he's more nervous about me being here than he is about the game." - you

jamie was standing up next to the glass and he could see joe anxiously looking up at us after the team ran out.

"y/n, joe keeps looking up here." - jamie

i practically rolled off of the couch and walked over to the glass, holding up a thumbs up.

when joe saw me, and his anxieties were eased just a little bit, he focused back on warming up.

the fact that joe was more anxious than normal was evident to the whole family, and it went silent till joe’s other older brother, dan, spoke up.

"you can tell his nerves are up." - dan

"yeah that’s obvious, but i know he'll still do amazing." - you

*time skip*

it was after the second quarter and the bengals were up 25-12 against the bills.

it was halftime so i decided to get up and walk around to grab some food from across the room.

but when i stood up, i felt and heard a splash.

"oh… no…" - you

"did your water just break?!" - codie yelled

"oh my god! we need to get you to the car, we're going to the hospital!" - robin

"no no no! i can wait till after the game, i can't make joe leave now, they're winning!" - you

"y/n, you have to go. do you know if joe will answer his phone?" - jimmy

"no, it's off in his locker for sure." - you

"i'm calling zac." - jimmy picked his phone up

as i was being rushed out of the suite by codie and robin i felt a sharp pain in my stomach

"owww!" - you

"contraction?" - codie

"yeah" - you hissed

*zac's pov*

i was talking to the team during halftime when my phone started ringing and the name "Jimmy Burrow" popped up.

knowing that y/n was nine months pregnant with twins and at an nfl game i figured it was probably about her so i answered immediately.

"is everything okay? is it about y/n?" - zac

i tried to whisper but when i said her name, joe’s eyes shot up to me and he speed walked over to me.

"everything is okay. just please tell joe that y/n went into labor. robin and codie are taking her to the hospital. let him know she’s in safe hands, i don’t want him to worry." - jimmy

"okay, will do." - zac

before i even put my phone down joe asked what was wrong and who it was.

"taylor, what happened? who was that? is it about my y/n?” - joe

"it was your dad and he called because y/n went into labor, codie and your mom are taking her to the hospital." - zac smiled

"i- i have to go with her! can i go?" - joe

"yes, joe you can go. good luck!" - zac

joe pretty much sprinted to his locker and grabbed everything he needed before running out the door in full uniform.

"joe where are you going?!" - tee

"y/n's in labor!" - joe smiled

the whole locker room heard and erupted into cheers as joe ran out of the locker room.

(joes pov)

i ran at full speed out to the car and saw my mom and codie shutting the back seat door.

"joe, you're here!" - robin

"of course! you think i'd miss this?!" - joe

"get in the back with y/n. she needs to see your face right now." - codie

when i slung the door open and dipped my head down inside the car, i watched y/n's face lit up.

"joe!" - you

"hey baby, are you ready?" - joe smiled

"as ready as i'll ever be!" - you

"OWE" - you

as soon as i was sitting down i grabbed her hand, rubbing the back of it in a way that told her i was there for her.

"you didn't even change?" - you

"nope, i ran out before even thinking about changing." - joe

"i'm sorry for making you leave your game." - you

"you and those twins are way more important than a football game.” - joe

“i love you.. so much.” - you

“i love you more, y/n.” - joe

joe pulled his shoulder pads off, leaving him in just his tight compression shirt.

he grabbed a pair of his nikes when he had ran over to his locker so he also took his cleats off.

"i'm so happy you're here joe. i was worried we wouldn’t get ahold of you." - you

"i'm happy too, but you know i'd drop anything to be here with you." - joe

"i know." - you said before a contraction hit and you squeezed joes hand

"ouch, my hand." - joe

all three women in the car looked at him with faces that said nothing but shut up.

"joe, i love you, but shut up!" - you

"okay, yes ma'am!" - joe

*time skip 2 hours later*

(joe’s pov)

when we got to the hospital we were taken to a room which is where we would be till transported to the delivery room.

i finally got the rest of my uniform off and put on sweatpants and a sweatshirt.

y/n was laying in her hospital bed as i sat on the couch.

"joe, it hurts.." - you

i stood up and walked over to her bed, taking her hand in mine and pressing a kiss to the back of it.

"i know baby, you're so strong. i'm so proud of you." - joe

"i love you, joe." - you teared up

"i love you too baby, more then you'll ever ever know." - joe

i leaned down and kissed her forehead, when i pulled away a nurse walked in to check on y/n.

"how far apart are your contractions?" - nurse

"uh-" - you went to answer

"8 minutes." - joe answered

"uh okay, thank you." - nurse

the nurse asked a few more things and then left the room.

(y/n's pov)

"joe." - you

"mhm?" - joe

"i could've answered those questions." - you

"sorry.. i got a little excited i guess." - joe

"it's okay." - you smiled at how cute he was

joe kissed my head and then walked back over to the couch.

"joe, turn the game on." - you

"what?" - joe laughed

"turn the game on." - you

"wouldn't you rather watch like the office or new girl or something?" - joe

"no. it's the first game of the season, put the game on." - you

"okay.." - joe shrugged

he picked the remote up and turned the game on.

it was the last quarter and the bengals were still winning. it was 37-25 with 3 minutes left.

3 minutes later i was clapping my hands and cheering as the boys celebrated their first win of the actual season and ran back in the locker room.

i got a text from my best friend alexa, who was dating ja’marr, that's said where are you? so i decided to tell joe to facetime her with my phone.

"y/n where are you and why did joe leave- oh hi joe." - alexa

"hi alexa!" - joe

"where are y'all?" - alexa

joe flipped the camera and showed me in the hospital bed.

"holy crap are you in labor?!" - alexa

i nodded my head and gave her a thumbs up.

"oh my god!!" - she excitedly squealed

"y'all should be proud of me! i didn't tell her that y/n went into labor!" - ja'marr

"bro do you want a cookie?" - joe joked

"are you guys excited?!" - alexa

"i am, what about you baby?" - joe

"i'm thrill-" - you started but a contraction cut you off

"that's 6 minutes after your last one!" - joe

"thanks for the observation joe!" - you fought through the pain

"i guess the mood swings don't go away during labor." - alexa laughed

"yeah i think we established that.. i'm gonna go. bye guys" - joe

"bye mom and dad!" - alexa

after joe hung up he stood up and walked back over to me.

he kissed my forehead again and grabbed my hand.

"you can squeeze my hand during your contractions." - joe smiled

"stop being so cute, i'm supposed to be mad at you for causing me this pain." - you

"hey it's not all my fault, you participated in the process just as much as i did. don't act like you didn't enjoy that process either." - joe quipped

"go back to the couch." - you rolled your eyes and dropped his hand

"you sure?" - joe

i was about to say yes when i got another contraction and grabbed joes hand, squeezing as hard as i could.

"please don't leave!" - you choked out

"im staying right here. don't worry, my love." - joe

*time skip*

"you're ten centimeters dilated, ready to start pushing?" - the nurse smiled

i looked at joe, a sudden rush of panic and excitement falling over me.

he gave me an encouraging smile so i turned back to the nurse and nodded.

i was transported to the delivery room and joe never left my side.

*time skip*

long hours of labor later i heard a baby crying and a loud gasp from joe.

a couple nurses rushed over to a corner, holding the first twin.

"be careful with him!" - you cried

not even 20 minutes later another set of cries were heard.

"oh my gosh.. they are so tiny. look how tiny they are, joe." - you basically sobbed

"i know.." - joe smiled back to you

once the babies were cleaned off just a little bit the nurses placed both of them on my chest.

"oh my god, you guys are so cute." - you cried

joe snapped a picture of me holding both of the babies.

"joe, we made them." - you smiled up at him

"we did didn't we. you did amazing by the way, i'm incredibly proud of you baby." - joe

"i couldn't have done it without you by my side, baby..." - you

joe kissed my sweaty forehead before i pulled his face to mine, kissing his lips.

after a few more minutes of bonding with the twins, they were taken away to be weighed, measured, and various other things like that.

"joe can you get in bed with me?" - you

"what?" - joe laughed

"can you lay down with me? please?" - you

i scooted over slightly and joe laid down next to me, my head leaning onto his shoulder.

"i can't believe we made life." - you

"i know, and thank you." - joe

"thank you? for what?" - you chuckled

"for carrying the babies for 9 months, and giving birth. you're a strong woman y/n." - joe

"you make me feel like the luckiest girl in the world every day joe. you're the best husband ever." - you

one thing about our relationship is that we were deeply appreciative of the other, and how amazing they were.

i wrapped my arms around joe and moved my head from his shoulder to his chest.

i took a little nap till joe woke me up when the twins were given back to us because i was utterly exhausted.

my parents flew down as soon as joe called them and said i was in labor so they arrived shortly after the babies were given to us.

joe was holding a baby, and i held the other.

"you're so tiny... i love you." - joe

"you look really really good holding a newborn, shiesty." - you smiled

"look at him, he's so stinkin cute!" - joe

"we need to establish names, we can't keep calling them him and he." - you

"okay well.. we know the names so now we can just pick which ones which." - joe laughed

"okay... uhm. i think i know." - you

"i think i do too." - joe smiled

before we could even say anything the door opened and at least 4 people walked in.

it was my parents and alexa and ja'marr.

"oh my gosh!" - alexa gasped

"my baby is a momma.." - your mom teared up

"aww, momma." - you smiled

"my baby girl had twins.." - your dad also started to cry

"what are the names?" - your mom smiled

i whispered into joe’s ear for confirmation about which twin was being named what name.

he nodded and i went on.

"i'm holding Tyson Lee" - you smiled

"lee is joe’s middle name right?" - your mom

"yeah, it was really important to me that one of the twins was going to be named after one of the most important guys in my life." - you smiled

in the corner of my eye i could see joe looking at me and when i returned the look a tear fell down his cheek before a huge smile appeared on his face.

it seemed like neither of us could stop smiling.

"this is so sweet.." - alexa

"what's the other name?" - your mom

"joe, baby you can say." - you

"the baby that i'm holding is named Miles Anthony." - joe smiled at ja'marr

"wait-" - ja'marr

alexa looked at the two confused before it clicked, and her hands covered her mouth.

"you named your kid after me?" - ja'marr

"ja'marr anthony chase.. meet miles anthony burrow" - joe

ja'marr walked closer to joe and looked down at miles.

"damn bro." - ja'marr sniffled

the whole room laughed at ja'marr being somewhat emotional; a side no one sees of him.

once everyone stopped crying the twins were passed around and everyone got to hold them before they were returned back to joe and i.

when ja’marr was holding miles and alexa was holding tyson, ja’marr cleared his throat and faced joe.

“i mean we got our next qb’s they just need a wide receiver.” - ja’marr

“if you have a boy in the future we gotta train em. we gotta keep the ‘burrow to chase’ connection going.” - joe

“it’s a good thing we won’t have to wait too long.” - ja’marr looked at alexa and smiled

“what do you mean?” - joe

one of my hands went over my mouth as my other slapped joe’s arm in shock.

“i’m pregnant. with a boy, too.” - alexa smiled

“no freaking way!” - joe

“how far along are you?” - you grinned

“3 months.” - alexa smiled

“congratulations guys, that’s awesome!” - joe

they stayed for awhile longer, we talked about all the things we wanted to do with our boys once they were older before they left.

the twins were back in joe and i’s arms and soon after there was another knock on the door.

when the door opened, joe’s parents with wide grins on their faces.

robin let out a small gasp as she walked closer to joe and i.

"oh my gosh… they're so perfect. jim look, they look so much like joe.” - robin

“sorry guys.” - joe whispered to the twins

“don’t listen to your daddy guys, he’s the most attractive man in the world and a total heartthrob. tons of women have eyes on him.” - you smiled

in my peripherals i could see joe roll his eyes but the blush on his cheeks told me that he appreciated the compliment.

“the only women’s eyes i want on me are yours, baby.” - joe kissed your cheek

jimmy and robin both got to hold each of the babies before the nurse came in and said that i could leave tomorrow morning.

it was around 9 pm when everyone had left and it was just joe and i.

the babies were in their bedside bassinets and joe was laying on the couch, giving me "personal space" in the hospital bed.

"joe you can go home if you want, i know you'd like to shower and wash your hair with your fancy shampoo and conditioner." - you

"are you crazy? you think i'm gonna leave this hospital?" - joe

"i don't know, i just figured you'd want to go home eventually." - you

"the only time i'm leaving is with you tomorrow morning." - joe

"are you sure?" - you

"absolutely sure, now get some rest baby. if the twins wake up i'll take care of em', you just need to rest." - joe

i shut my eyes and fell asleep extra grateful. i had an amazing husband, and beautiful healthy twin baby boys.

————————————————————————-

authors note: fluffy imagine for friday 🫶🫶

hope you enjoyed! ❤️

[kaleldobrev]

Jennifer Love Hewitted (6) — The 15 Year Problem Series

Pairing: Dean Winchester x F. Reader

Feat. Character(s): Reader, Dean Winchester, Joey Baxter (Ghost!OC) & Dr. Falko (Ghost!OC)

Series Summary: Needing help on a poltergeist case, you ask fellow hunter Sam Winchester for help. Despite having a broken arm, Sam agrees to help you. But, just as he’s about to head out and meet you, Dean tells him that he’ll take his place and help instead.

Word Count: 3.3k

Warnings: Cursing (2x), Age Gap (15 years), Emotional Bonding, Vulnerable Dean, Vulnerable Reader, Misogynistic Comments & Sexual Tension

Authors Note: Get ready for some traumatic reader backstory of why she got into hunting | One more part after this guys! | Takes place a few days after Dean is cured from being a demon in 2016 (please read this post for reasonings why it’s 2016, not 2014) | As always, thoughts are in italics and the “POV’s” switch between Dean & Reader | If you liked this, don’t forget to like & reblog. I really appreciate it! Feedback is always welcome ♡

⋆ The 15 Year Problem Masterlist ⋆

⬸ Go Back & Read Chapter 5

Dean took over driving for you, as you looked out of the passenger side window; tears still slightly in your eyes. You were almost done telling the story of how you started hunting, but yet, there was still so much to tell. But even with the small amount you had told Dean, it was an amount that people rarely got — it was basically the extent of the knowledge your parents were given.

“Can I ask you something?” Dean asked, breaking the silence.

You turned to him, and nodded. “Of course.”

“It’s about Joey,” Dean began. “And I’ll preface this now, you don’t have to answer. I just wanna understand.”

“What about Joey?” You asked.

“Is the reason your speciality is in poltergeists, is because Joey was one?” He asked, and you felt your heart almost sink, and your face slowly dropped into a frown.

“Y-yeah,” you mumbled. “Yes,” you answered again, but more prominently. “His…his spirit was attached to his dog tags but…not anymore. I um…I was able to put him to rest.”

“Without burning them?” Dean questioned, slightly intrigued. “Huh,” he said, tilting his head.

You nodded. “When his parents got his dog tags and the flag, they told me that if I ever wanted to come over and just sit in his room, I could. And for the longest time, I just…I couldn’t do it. I felt like if I did, I would break down, and I didn’t want to do that. I didn’t want to just sit in his room and stare at all the pictures of him and reminisce about all the memories we had together. But, that changed when I overheard his mother talking to my mom about how things in his room wouldn’t be where they used to be. Or how randomly certain objects would be broken.” You sighed, thinking back. “I asked her if I could sit in his room for a while, and when I did, it felt…weird. Weird in the sense of, there was this energy that was there that was confused.”

“And that was Joey?” Dean asked, and you nodded in response.

“When I was sitting in his room, I…saw him. And, it’s weird because…I wasn’t scared. I would have been I mean, normal people get scared when they see ghosts but…not me…I was…happy in a way because I didn’t properly get to say goodbye to him.”

5 years ago…

As you sat on the floor thinking about all of the memories you had with Joey, and the moments that you knew would never happen with him, your heart felt crushed, and your stomach felt like it was in knots. You had lost a person you had known practically your entire life, someone that you had loved with all of your being, and you never got to say goodbye to him; and never got to tell him how much he truly meant to you. Yes, Joey knew how much you had loved him, but he (at least you thought), didn’t know the extent in which you did.

Your parents and his would often joke that the two of you would end up together; and what started out as a joke, was something that sounded like a strong and real possibility to you, it was something that you didn’t dislike by any means. He was kind, funny, and made you feel safe. He was someone that you could talk to about anything, and would always listen to you ramble on about anything. You loved him, and even now, you weren’t entirely sure if it was romantic or platonic love — you just knew that you loved him, and loved the idea of spending the rest of your life with him, no matter what that looked like.

“Oh Joey,” you mumbled, hugging your knees close to your chest, staring down at the floor.

“I miss you so much,” you heard a male voice say; the voice sounding scarily similar to Joey’s. “I wish you could see me.”

You felt like you should be scared hearing his voice, but you weren’t. Everything in your entire body was giving the exact opposite — you were glad, glad to hear the sound of his voice.

As you started to look up from the floor, you noticed brown boots with legs attached to them, that weren’t there previously. Your heart was rushing, but you felt calm at the same time. When you had looked up, the legs that were attached to those boots were Joey. He wasn’t solid, but he was solid enough that it felt like he was actually standing there. “Joey,” you said, and smiled briefly, trying to contain the tears in your eyes.

“You can see me?” He asked, his tone mixed with happiness, confusion and relief.

“Yes,” you nodded. “And I miss you too.”

Present Day…

“I was able to put him to rest by telling him that I loved him.” You stopped picking at your cuticles and looked up at Dean, who was now looking back at you. You couldn’t tell what look he was giving you, but it was far from pity; and you were extremely thankful for that, because the last thing you wanted was for him to pity you. “And I think that’s all he wanted to hear, because as soon as I said that, he said he saw a woman that wanted to take him.”

“He saw a reaper,” Dean stated.

“He did,” you replied back. “And that’s why my specialty is in poltergeists, and why I got into hunting the way I did. I wanted to be able to not only help people but…monsters that might have lost their way.”

“You’re the only person besides me that knows the full story,” you stated.

Dean didn’t know what to say, but he was intrigued to say the least, hearing how you got into hunting so young, and how you viewed monsters compared to other hunters he had met over the years. When he first started out, he didn’t view it the way you had viewed it, nor did he view the way he did now. He was raised to believe that hunting was black and white and there was no gray area. There was either good or evil. But over the years, he had come to realize that hunting wasn’t as black and white as his father had led on; that there were so many gray areas he didn’t realize were there. And besides Bobby, brother, and Garth, you were one of the first hunters to have that point of view. It was refreshing.

“Thanks for telling me,” Dean said. “I know it must of been hard to. Getting into this line of work ain’t easy, that’s for sure.”

“It sure isn’t. My parents didn’t want me to do this obviously but, they know that there is nothing else I’d rather do than this,” you said, and he could hear a slight smile on your lips. “I feel, I feel like hunting is what I was meant to do.”

Dean couldn’t help but agree, as much as he wanted to disagree. For years, he had mixed feelings about hunting. He’s loved and hated it on and off. At times, he felt that this was the only thing he could see himself doing, but at others, he saw himself doing a variety of other things than this. Mechanic, firefighter; those were his top two. Hell, even rock star at one point.

Multiple times, he had tried to have a normal life away from all this; but each and every time, he always managed to get roped back in. He knew, that as long as he was alive, this is what he was going to be doing, whether he liked it or not. He was meant for this like you were.

Arriving at the university, Dean didn’t pull into the lot as when the two of you were doing some reconnaissance on the place, you had found that the university parking lot (mainly the medical building) had a crap ton of cameras; and the last thing either one of you wanted was to have your truck or his Baby tracked by the police. You have never been on the police’s radar, but Dean on the other hand, had been on the FBI’s Most Wanted list more times than he could count at this point — an impressive yet not so impressive feat in itself.

Walking to the back of the building, you managed to find a dumpster that was conveniently below a window that the two of you could jump on and use as a way to get in. “Jack pot,” you grinned. “Lift me up?” You asked Dean.

As Dean lifted you, you couldn’t help but notice how gentle he was weirdly being; and you weren’t quite sure why. “Now’s not the time to be gentle,” you said, and you heard Dean let out a small chuckle.

“Kinky,” you saw him wink, and you rolled your eyes at his response.

Getting on top of the dumper, Dean followed you up, and you opened up the window; thankful that it was weirdly not locked, and shimmied your way in; followed by Dean, who had a little bit more of a struggle getting into the window than you did.

Compared to your graceful fall to your feet from the window, Dean on the other hand…not so much, as he practically fell almost face first onto the floor. Hearing the loud thud, your heart started to beat wildly, praying no one else was here that could have possibly heard that. You turned to Dean, who was currently getting up from the floor, wiping his jeans off as he stood up. “You okay there Spider-Man?” You joked, smirking at him.

“You okay there Spider-Man?” He mocked, mumbling.

Finding the medical instruments was the easy part, but the not so easy part was them being behind some glass. “Okay MacGuyver, you have anything to break this?” He asked. “Because the only way I see breaking this glass is with my gun.”

You gave him a confused look. “Shooting the glass is your first instinct?” He shrugged. “Interesting,” you said, tilting your heard. “I have this.” You went into your pocket and pulled out a large hunting knife, handing it handle first to Dean. “Would you like to do the honors?” Dean looked at the knife for a moment, eyeing it up and down. “Take it, it won’t bite,” you said.

Taking the knife from your hand, Dean held it in his for a moment. “This fit in your pocket?” He asked. You were intrigued that, that was what he was most interested in, not the fact that you had a large hunting knife like that in your pocket to begin with.

“Yeah. You can never be too prepared,” you said, shrugging.

“Couldn’t agree more,” he grinned, as he started making clean cuts on the glass.

He was impressed by how sharp this knife was, and how easily you had managed to fit this in your jacket pocket given the length. What impressed him even more was the fact that you didn’t even have anything covering the blade; it was simply just protected by the pocket inside your jacket.

The more time he spent with you, the more he didn’t want to spend without you. In the short amount of time he had spent with you, he had felt a sense of peace and comfort; something he hadn’t felt in a long time. Yes, he felt a sense of peace at the Bunker, and sometimes around Sam and Cas; but, with you, it was a different kind of peace and comfort, like he could be more himself around you. And he guessed that you may have felt the same way, as you told him the story about Joey, a story that you never really told people, but had told him. You even cried in front of him.

Holding you in the truck while you were crying, he didn’t feel bad for you, and he didn’t pity you; he understood the hurt that you were feeling, and understood the kind of pain that you were feeling. So many times in his life, he has had to say goodbye to the ones he loved; and it always felt like a knife to the chest or a bullet to the heart. It reminded him of the feeling he experienced when the Hell Hounds ripped him to shreds before he went to Hell.

Once Dean cut the glass, he handed you back your knife, and he started to remove the instruments one by one. The both of you exchanging looks of confusion. “Why does this feel like it’s too easy?” You asked him.

“If it’s too easy, we’re probably missing something,” Dean suggested. “It’s never this fucking easy.”

As if that was some kind of cue, Falko appeared in front of you. The look on his face wasn’t one of anger, it looked almost confused. “What are you doing?” He asked, and you and Dean exchanged looks again before looking at Falko.

“Please tell me you’re seeing that too?” You asked Dean.

“I sure am,” he said, continuing to make eye contact with the spirit.

“Do I need to repeat myself?” Falko said, this time, his tone was angrier; his hands behind his back.

Dean looked at you, and gave you the look. “What?” You whispered to him.

“Do the thing,” Dean half whispered.

“What thing?” You whispered back.

“That poltergeist sixth sense shit you did with Joey,” he said.

“What makes you think it’s gonna work on him?” You whispered through gritted teeth.

As if Falko was tired of you and Dean going back and forth, he snapped his fingers, and both you and Dean were on the other side of the room, pinned against the wall. “I don’t like when people touch my equipment,” he said calmly. He tried to touch his own equipment that you and Dean had removed from the glass, but it was useless, his fingers just went through them. “All I want to do is finish my work, and I can’t do that if people keep taking what’s mine,” his voice was starting to get angry now.

“Are you sure you can’t do the thing?” Dean asked, looking at you, the two of you still pinned to the wall.

You rolled your eyes. “No Dean, I can’t do the thing.”

“Can you try?” Dean asked, his voice almost begging, but not fully; it almost sounded a tad desperate.

You rolled your eyes again. “For the love of,” you mumbled. “Hey doctor Falko,” you said, and Falko looked at you. “I know how you can finish your work.”

He tilted his head and walked toward you; the smell of blood and rubbing alcohol hit your nose. “How my dear?” He asked. “Are you going to let me continue my work on you?” He reached out his hand toward your hair, and much like the instruments, he couldn’t touch you.

“No, but, I can do you something better,” you began. “You may not like the sound of it but, it’s the only way you’ll be able to finish your work. You just have to trust me.”

“Trust you?” He asked, and he let out a small chuckle. “But you’re a woman my dear. Why should I trust anything a woman has to say?” Wow, misogynistic much? You thought, trying your best not to roll his eyes.

“Fine don’t trust me. Then you’ll never know how you can continue on with your work,” you said. “Your life’s work, might I add.”

Falko looked between you and Dean, and it seemed as though Falko was starting to get frustrated with you. You were teasing him, and his ego wouldn’t allow someone like you to do that to him. That’s when Falko looked over at Dean. “Do you know what she is talking about?” He moved close to Dean, and it was his turn to smell the rubbing alcohol and blood in his nose now. “Huh, what’s this?” He asked, and reached out toward Dean. Part of his sleeve had fell down his arm, revealing the Mark. “Never in my years have I ever seen such a thing.” Again, Falko couldn’t touch what he wanted, and both you and Dean were starting to see him getting more and more frustrated.

“I’ll make you a deal —” Dean began.

Falko chuckled. “You’re in no position to be making deals with me, son.”

“Fine. Don’t make a deal with me. Then you’ll never know what this beauty can do,” Dean teased, grinning at the doctor.

“The both of you are infuriating,” Falko mumbled harshly. “What’s the deal? I need to finish my life’s work. I’ll do anything to be remembered.”

Jackpot, Dean thought. “I’ll tell you what this can do if you listen to her first. If you don’t listen to her, then no deal.”

“I could always just kill you both,” Falko said, as he started pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back.

“You could but, then you’ll never know the things that him and I know. We’re the only ones that can tell you how you can finish your life’s work without interruption and all of the resources you could ever dream of,” the words you spoke rolled off your tongue with ease. How many times have you done this before? Dean wondered.

Falko was starting to get more angry, items in the room you were in were starting to shake, and shake violently. “Last chance doctor,” you said. You had no fear in this situation, and Dean was impressed at how calm you were right now. The items kept shaking violently, and you were still calm as could be. “Five…four…” you started to count down, and the more you counted, the more violent the shaking got. “Two…”

“Okay!” Falko shouted, and everything stopped shaking, you and Dean fell to the ground. “Tell me,” he said, as he stood over you. Dean couldn’t help but start to tense up, seeing how close the doctor was to you. He didn’t want anything to happen to you; he would never be able to forgive himself if something did. But he knew deep down, that you could handle yourself — he needed to trust you in this moment like you’ve trusted him this far.

You got up, and the doctor towered over you. “May I?” You asked him, his facial expression not happy in the slightest. You were the last person he had wanted to trust right now, but he nodded.

You walked over to his instruments, and picked them up, placing them in a small metal bowl on the table. You made sure to keep eye contact with the doctor so he could see every single one of your movements. You bent down just enough to grab the rubbing alcohol from below the table and started to slowly pour them onto the instruments. Falko was about to open up his mouth, but you started talking before he could say anything. “I’m cleaning them. Once I clean them, I’ll be able to show you,” you reassured him. His hands quickly turned into fists. “I’m going into my pocket to grab my lighter.” You slowly went into your pocket and grabbed your lighter, Falko watching your every move. You didn’t know how this was working, but for a doctor, he was incredibly naive.

Quickly, fire appeared from it, and you placed it into the bowl, Falko’s face changed instantly. “What…” he mumbled. And he looked down; flames starting to appear at his feet and moved upwards towards his torso. “What did you do? You stupid girl!” He screamed.

You smirked. “Showing you how to continue your life’s work. I thought that’s what you wanted?” Your smirk continued as both you and Dean watched Falko disappear into flames, listening to him scream in an agony that you were strangely used to when it came to a salt and burn.

Within minutes, Falko completely disappeared, and the instruments started to blacken. “You full on Jennifer Love Hewitted him,” Dean said impressed.

⤑ Move Forward & Read The Epilogue (Not yet available)

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[writing-rat]

Professionalism At it's Finest

Pairing: Joey x Reader, minor Sammy x Reader but not established

Content: 18+ Content, Thigh riding, masturbation, Sammy watching

Summary: Joey needs you to be professional after she caught you masturbating. She knows what she needs to do now.

WC: 720

Joey was a professional. Or she was meant to be? That was when she caught you in the bathroom. “Jesus, fuck. Sorry,” she apologised immediately before she went to leave. That was when she saw what you were doing though. You were masturvsting. “Aren’t you meant to be checking all the windows in case they missed one?” Joey asked with a raised eyebrow. You, blushing madly, nodded. 

“Yes ma’am, sorry ma’am,” you immediately responded, embarrassed about being caught fingers deep in yourself. Joey raised an eyebrow as she glanced behind them, checking no one seemed to be about before she kicked the door closed. 

“If you really need pleasure I can help. I don’t expect to see any more fingerings,” Joey grunted, pinning you against the wall as you nodded. You had just pulled your fingers out too as you were both flustered and embarrassed. Joey smirked. “Words baby girl,” she teased. 

“Please mommy,” you begged, feeling your need rise. She nodded and smirked at how you were acting around her. “God, you are a slut, huh?” she teased. “Lambert said no grab-ass but here you are, wanting me,” she added.

“Aren’t you meant to be a professional?” you bit back. 

“You play dangerous games don’t you Star?” she teased. She was ready to fuck you. “I can be professional. This is so you stay professional,” she finished. You nodded before she suddenly grabbed you by the neck. “I found a bedroom, we can use that,” she explained. You were nodding. 

“Yes ma’am,” you responded, barely able to breathe as she was choking you but it turned you on more.

Soon enough you were in the bedroom and she pushed you against the bed, kissing you deeply. What you both weren’t aware of was Sammy in the corner, looking out the window. She was about to say hi but you already were kissing. Joey kept holding you, having you pinned down as she was groping at your chest and your hips. “God, you have to be one of the hottest people on the team,” she commented. “Those tight jeans look good against your ass too,” she stated. 

“They really do,” Sammy finally chimed in, having that little smile that she did when Joey said she came from money. You looked up in shock as Joey smirked. “You want her to watch?” Joey asked, her eyes dilated. You blushed, nodding.

Sammy was excited as she sat down on the bed, Joey sitting up as she was against the headboard of the bed, setting you on her thigh. “Grind,” she commanded. Doing as told you started to ride her thigh, moaning while doing so. “I caught Star here masturbating. Thought she would need this to be more professional,” Joey stated with a smirk. Sammy nodded as she kept watching, Joey soon pulling her shirt up. She still didn’t feel comfortable revealing her arms to anyone just yet. “Suck,” she demanded. You nodded, then sucked as you wanted to be good for Joey. You knew she could be a good punisher if you needed to be punished and you didn’t want that. Sammy meanwhile watched. 

“She seems to be doing good at least,” she stated, hearing how Joey was practically moaning. Joey nodded.

“She is talented with her mouth,” she commented as she was holding you, glancing down as you were leaving wetness on her jeans. It was getting more and more visible. Sammy couldn’t help but get excited over it too. 

“After this job, is it ok if we fuck together?” Sammy asked. Joey nodded, watching as she saw how you were soon stuttering your hips. 

“You close baby girl?” she teased. You nodded, moaning.

“Come for me,” she spoke. Under her command, you came instantly. Joey smirked as she was panting, you still sucking on her nipple. She admittedly came just from that as Sammy was excited. Safe to say, you knew you would get more after the job if you were professional. It was proven soon after. “If both of you are professional during this mission then yes, we may fuck after this. But be professional,” she spoke, slowly getting you off as she got herself ready, her jeans were still wet but she didn’t care. You nodded and glanced at Sammy, more excited. You would be good for Joey.

[screamintoad]

Silanche kid-Alaric Vanrouge

I liked both vers so take em. RSA pride and Diasomnia pride

“I was hoping to attend NRC like my sister but…maybe I fit in better here.”

Voice claim: TBA

Character info

  Alaric is a quiet and sometimes timid young man. He prefers his own company unless he’s around people he likes. Sometimes others will find him curled up somewhere taking short naps in between longer classes. Sometimes the third year students will poke fun at him because they know his sister went to NRC but he always brushes them off, until they find a snapping plant in their dorm rooms a few hours later. Despite that though he’s a straight A student, he’s quiet but he’s learned a lot from growing up in Briar Valley and around the royal family. He actually talks a lot to his roommate, especially about books they’ve read or are reading. 

  His household is quite large since it’s him, his older sister, his parents, grandpa, and great grandmother all living together. Not including the animals. But, he wouldn’t have it any other way. His mom told him about when it was just her and her grandma living together with their old dog and he’s always thought about how lonely they both must have been. At home in Briar Valley he’ll be all over town, from helping at his mama’s bakery, to his granny’s flower shop, to hanging out at the castle when Silver is on duty. 

Fun facts: Aroace icon. Certified mama’s boy. He doesn’t want to become a knight but he would be around his sister when she was training so he learned some things that way. Blanche and Granny Primrose made sure to teach him all about plants and botany, y’know, just in case. When he visits home, him and Fleur have a tradition of going on a trail ride past a waterfall that they’ve dubbed the “Fire Fall” because at sunrise the water appears golden-orange, then they’ll race back home and the winner chooses their next activity. 

Basic info

Age: 16

Height: 173cm/5’6 during first year, 185cm/6’ at graduation 

B-day: February 2nd (Aquarius) 

Dominant hand: left

Family: Blanche and Silver (Mama and Dad), Fleur (sister), Lilia (grandpa “old man” for funnies), Granny Primrose (great grandma “granny”)

Nickname: Lil bat (by family), Ricky (by friends)

1st year

Class B

Club: Horseback riding club

Best subject: Botany

Hobbies: Gardening, reading, baking

Pet peeve: People who can’t mind their business

Favorite food: His mama’s cooking

Least favorite food: His grandpa’s cooking

Talent: Tending to plants

Character dynamics

Fleur: Thick as thieves, they’re inseparable when either of them comes home. Even as kids he would always follow her around. If he’s busy with something then she’ll be the one to find him and hang out until he’s finished. 

Jane: Opposites into best friends. He doesn’t encourage her late night visits but he always hints that it’s okay. 

Luna Howl: If he has bite marks they’re from her. Somehow she always drags him into her and Jane’s shenanigans, yet he never complains. 

Joey Howl: Big bro. But seriously they’re close as well, he helped push him into confessing to Fleur. 

Mika Bucchi: Roommateee. They spent the first week at RSA in complete silence, until Alaric saw him reading one of his favorite books and got so excited he asked about his thoughts on it. Ever since then they’ve talked to each other a lot more. He still forgets to warm him when Jane visits. 

HOWL SIBS BELONG TO @blood-red-bumblebee AND MIKA BELONGS TO @twtysevapr

anddd extra tags: @gimmeurmoneyagh @babyghoul138 @bunniehunn @angelwishess @moonyasnow

@skibidibabygirl @justm3di0cr3 @midnightmah07 @beneathsakurashade @4necdote

@theolivetree123 TELL ME IF YOU WANT TO BE TAGGED OR NOT

[lushlovers]

Milfiestest, J. Burrow

summary; an early midspring saturday morning for the burrow's

warnings; swearing, petnames from joey yum, mention of the manspread, domestic married couple activities, discussion about how much of a milf and dilf u and joe are...

word count; 1.2k

note; i've been needing to write some girl dad! joe for a while, i love writing domestic family stuff its the best ever when all else fails. i will add to and possibly make an au out of this, you guys will be introduced to Dallas at some point.

Saturday's in the spring are arguably the most peaceful yet stressful days in the Burrow household. Having to entertain three kids all day was quite a chore, but Joe's home so, how difficult can it be? the answer to that question is probably not what you'd expect. With their husbands around most people get more done, but when you're husbands here, you might as well count him in with the kids.

Waking up at 7:40 instead of the crack of dawn to get everyone ready for school is the highlight of the morning. Joe's in bed too.

"Rise and shine, Joseph," your voice was barely understood due to your face being shoved into your pillow, glancing over in your man's direction proved he was no where near rising and shining. Invading his personal space was amazing, especially when he still warm from sleeping.

The skin of your cheek nuzzled against his chest, listening to the thump thump of his heartbeat. His presence alone was beyond comforting, he was just the person who could calm any stress or anxieties you felt. You pressed quick, chaste kisses to his bare collarbone, inhaling his scent, allowing it to flood your nose.

He began to stir ever so lightly, his lashes fluttering a bit as his eyes opened. The stare of his piercing eyes on you was inevitable when waking up this way, "morning, mama," he spoke up for the first time. His voice was still riddled with sleep, sounding a bit deeper, "Good morning," you beam, still giddy over the nickname that's stuck for as long as you can remember, long before you even were a mama.

Joe enjoyed the way you hid your face in his chest when he called you names or told you how much he loved you. Still blushing like the teen girl in glasses you were in high school, he'd never get over your reactions.

You both soaked in your bit of quiet time, Annika was old enough to be sleeping in a bit later than she used to in the earlier stages, thank God. But she still screamed bloody murder if left alone in her crib for long enough. Meaning times like this were few and far between.

Geo, on the other hand, climbs out of his bed and runs straight down the hall to bang on your bedroom door. Who needs an alarm clock when you have a five year old anyway? Speak of the devil, the all too familiar knocking of tiny fist against the white wood was a snap back into reality.

"Mama, I'm hungry," he whined, slapping the surface of the door he hadn't yet master how to open. Baby proofing the doorknobs proved very effective in his and his sister's case, however Dallas had figure out the concept rather quickly, he knew his boundaries in the house so no problem there.

"Mom's coming, Geo, go check on your sister, yeah?" Joe shouted slightly, just loud enough for the boy to hopefully hear him, his tiny feet could be heard across the hardwood floors. Joe watched you slide out from under the warm linens, stretching out your muscles, and heading in the direction of the in suite as you yawned.

Joe took advantage of this time to get himself up as well, opening to bedroom door so the kids could come and go if needed. The sound of the door creaking caught your attention, peeking your head around the doorway, Joe laughed a bit at your state. Hair pulled back so it was in your face, purple tooth brush pressed against your cheek, and tooth paste adorning the corner of your pretty lips, always so gorgeous to him, even when you didn't feel it.

Back to what you were doing, in the bathroom, watching your husband join you in the massive mirror, "I've missed you guys so much, y'know?" He mumbled, putting a bit of toothpaste on his toothbrush, keeping a close eye of your reaction.

Nudging him with your shoulder, "We've missed you more, it's not the same unless we're all here," You inform him, truly, if Joe's not around any bit of fun is dulled considerably. Like there's a void that's only filled by his existence. When Dallas was little, you were able to take him to most of the games, but traveling only got more difficult as your little family expanded, leaving you to stay home and watch the games on tv most of the time.

Kissing his cheek as you dropped your toothbrush into the storage cup on the counter, "I need to go check on Geo, God knows what hes gotten into by now," Joe simply hummed as you headed into the room down the hall that was drowning in pink.

In your defense all the pink was not your idea, Joe was meant to have a little girl at some point and when he found out he was, he drenched her room in Disney princess and pink anything and everything.

The light was on and Geo had his face squished against the bars of the crib, having a conversation with his babbling little sister. The boys loved their girls unconditionally. "Geo baby, go get Dallas up so we can figure out breakfast, please," Geo's a good boy, the most helpful, productive five year old you've ever met, maybe you're biased because he's your baby but even so.

Scooping her up, Annika sat on your hip as you found a diaper in the tiny cabinet you had situated next to her changing table, they were all growing up so fast. Pretty soon she'd be focused on potty training and looking for a time for her to start going to daycare for the entire week. As of now, she went twice a week and on those days you'd be working with Joe's parents on important business stuff.

"I wanna do it!" Joe shouted, running into the door as you laid the baby comfortably on the table, stepping aside for him to do the job instead of you, "Since when do you like being on diaper duty," you asked, arms crossed over your chest, staring up at his face with creased brows. "Since," he glanced at his non-existent watch, "Right now, don't complain Mrs Burrow."

This form of Joe was someone almost no one but you and immediate family knew, comfortable sweats, unruly hair, and a random t-shirt he's probably had since high school, cooing at his little girl. Wrapping up the dirty diaper and dropping it into the trash can, "Good morning, little mama," He greeted, lifting her up into the air as she laughs at his goofy faces and voices.

"Why are you the dilfiest dilf ever?" Another good question, this time asked as you grab a handful of his ass, "Woah there, ma'am watch the hands," He grunted turning to face you, so his bum was out of your reach, "Good question, baby, why are you the milfiestest milf ever?"

Annika looked at you both, trying to comprehend what was going on around he, but she was too invested in the necklace around your neck, her chubby arms reached out for you, just so she could play with the metal. Just as you went to grab her, Joe moved way from you quickly, distracting her from you with more silly faces.

"I don't think milfiestest is a word, Joseph."

[melanieph321]

Kenan Yildiz x Reader - Thick Part 3/8

+ 18

Part 1 Part 2

Kenan and Reader share the same high school friend group. As graduation is near, Reader sets out to pass her drivers license test but ultimately struggles to. Thankfully Readers friends agree to help her with driving lessons and take turns doing so. It is during one of Rader's lessons that it becomes clear that Kenan likes her. A chock to Reader, who has a crush on someone else in their friend group.

Enjoy!

"He called you what?"

"Fat. Or Not skinny, to be exact."

"Stronza." (Asshole).

You enjoyed driving with Rebecca. She wasn't as instructive or patient as Maria, and it was nearly impossible to communicate over the loud music playing in her car. But after your experience driving with Kenan, you could withstand a couple of false notes sung by her. 

"Do you want us to talk to him, maybe ask Gio to give him a slap upside the head?" She was also very sympathetic to the incident involving Kenan, naturally taking your side.

"Tempting." You chuckled. "But no, I'd rather let it go and ignore him for the rest of my life."

"That will be a hard thing to do."

"Trust me, I've managed to block out a couple of fat-shamers in my life, Kenan will be no different."

"Yes, but what about our road trip to Bari? I imagine it'll be difficult ignoring someone for ten hours straight while confined into a cramped car."

"Right." 

Just the thought of the road trip with your friends triggered an unpleasant feeling in your gut. It had more to do with the fact that you still didn't have a driver's license, and judging by the way things were going, you wouldn't possess one any time soon.

"How about we try the roundabout again? It should be more crowded at this hour."

"Yay."

Rebecca took you back to the roundabout that you and Kenan had tackled the week before. But unlike Kenan, she wasn't one to talk you through things, assuming that the actions needed were as obvious to you as they were to her. It resulted in you having some trouble finding the right gear for the approach into the right file, and unlike Kenan, Rebecca's hands weren't on the wheel, ready to spot you in case you'd need the assistance.

"Check your mirrors Y/N!" She shouted in panic.

The car swirled in the lane on your attempt to get it out of the roundabout. It swirled before coming to an abrupt stop. 

"My car!" Rebecca cried. 

Smoke rose from the hood of it. You had bumped it straight into the sidewalk. The car had to be towed and taken to the nearest mechanic shop right away.

"I promise to pay for all the damages." You assured.

"Of course you will. And I want compensation for the trauma that was inflicted on me. You're not a bad driver Y/N, you're a basket case."

"Ladies, ladies, please." Gio entered the small garage. He was wearing stained overalls, a plaquet with the name Joey on it. Joey, or Josef, was Gio's dad, owner of the shop. "There's nothing that yours truly can't fix. So please, no catfighting in my garage, as tempting as that would be to watch."

Rebecca rolled her eyes. "Just fix my car Gio, or else we won't have a ride to Bari this summer."

"Judging by the way Y/N is driving we might not even make it to Bari with her behind the wheel."

"Hey?" You hissed.

"Kidding, just kidding." 

Gio approached the vehicle, taking a good look at it. It was clear that he was better with his hands than his brain. And he didn't seem to mind following in his father's footsteps, taking over the shop and running it one day. "Yeah, this is gonna take some time fix it and it's gonna cost you." He nodded. "It's gonna cost you plenty."

"Well, what are you waiting for, get started on it."

"Sorry Beck's, but I'm closing the shop at six."

"Six, why so early?"

"Didn't you hear, Luca and his band have a gig in town. All of us are invited, no?"

"Right, I totally forgot about that. Are you going Y/N, I'd rather just go home."

"Erm....I think I'm gonna go." You blushed.

"Alright, then you can ride with me." Gio said. "I'm picking up Kenan once my shift is done. The guy is probably still asleep as we speak."

"Kenan's coming?" You asked.

"Yeah, why?" Gio turned to Rebecca who made a grimace similar to yours. 

"You know what, perhaps I should go." She said, "The more the merrier, no?"

"Right?"

"I'll call Maria and tell her to meet us there."

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

You have seen many bands play live before. It always fascinated you how brave and care free the artists seemed on stage, going off on their instruments. Luca was no different, letting down his hair while rocking out on stage. It wasn't often that he let the world see what hid beneath the strings of his man-bun, — oh but when he did.

"Thank you everybody, I hope you've had a goodnight!"

"Go Luca!" 

The crowd, including yourself, shouted his name at the top of your lungs. You weren't the only girl who had eyes for the band's lead guitarist, however, you were one of the few people who knew him personally.

"Great set man. You were awesome." Gio said, as your friends gathered backstage at the end of the night. The five of you had danced the night away like maniacs, influenced by an unhealthy amount of cheap alcohol. 

"Thanks alot for coming guys, it means a lot."

"The night isn't over man, we're having drinks back at my place, aren't you coming." Said Gio.

"Sorry guys, gotta help the band pack up. But I'll see you guys at school on Monday. Y/N?" He said, stunning you with a smile.

"Y...yes?"

"I'll pick you up in the morning. You can drive my dad's Cadillac to school."

"It's a date." You grinned. It was really nice of Luca to want to stay and help his band. "He's so kind." You blurred out, during an intoxicated rant at Gio's house. Only you, Kenan, Gio and Maria made it back. Rebecca had her dad pick her up at the bar.

"So if you had to spend the night with someone in our friend group, it would be Luca." Gio nodded.

"Yes, but don't tell him I said that." You blushed. It was a messy game of truth or dare. The four of you were too drunk to perform any proper dares, which resulted in the majority of you choosing truth.

"Kenan, truth or dare?" You asked. It was your turn and you only asked him since it became obvious that you were ignoring him.

"Dare." He said.

"Okay, I dare you to make out with Maria for one minute."

Kenan grinned, but did not hesitate to scoot closer to Maria who sat next to him on the sofa. The two of them shared seductive glances before leaning in and engaging in the sloppiest make out session you've ever seen.

"My turn." Kenan wiped his mouth with a swipe of his tongue. "Gio, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Which girl in our friend group would you rather spend a night with?"

"Maria. My turn. Kenan, same question, which girl in our friend group would you rather spend a night with?"

"You guys are so annoying." Maria sighed, although you couldn't help but to notice the soft shade of pink that had blossomed on her cheeks. It might have been the aftermath of her make out session with Kenan, however, you noticed how she and Gio would throw glances at each other when they thought that no one was looking.

"Y/N."

"Huh?" You turned your head, noticing how all eyes were on you now, how Gio and Maria were holding back their giggles. "What's so funny?" They refused to answer you, drunk fucks. However, that's when you felt a hand on your thigh, with Kenan leaning in to whisper in your ear. "They're made for each other, don't you think? Almost like true love."

"What do you know about true love?" You shrugged his hand away.

Kenan's expression faltered. "You're still angry with me."

"Hah!" You laughed, but did not intend to sound as cruel as you did. "Try humiliated."

"Y/N, what happened during our…"

"Save it Kenan, I'm over it."

"You don't seem over it."

You turned to him, surprised by the way his eyes glowed beneath the dimmed lights of Gio's living room. "If there's anything I can do or say to make you forgive me...."

"You can't and there isn't."

His shoulders withered. "I never meant to hurt your feelings. I just....I get so tired after training. Sometimes I just can't help but run my mouth because I am so exhausted."

If this was Kenan's attempt to make you feel sorry for him you weren't buying it. Although it did strike your heart earlier, when Gio had gone to pick Kenan up at his house, revealing that he was missing a lot of days at school due to his commitments to Juventus. It was clear that Kenan lived a life different from all of yours. But surely he will go on to do great things in the future.

"Y/N?"

"Huh?" You had tuned out of the conversation for a second. But apparently a second was enough for Gio and Maria to have snuck upstairs, leaving you and Kenan behind. He stared at you with big eyes, the alcohol on his breath strong but sweet. "Can I kiss you?"

"What?" You snorted, however, Kenan had already closed his eyes, leaning into you, his lips pressing against the corner of your mouth.

You flinched. And as your hand went to push his weight off of you, the kiss deepend, Kenan's tongue seeking entrance to your mouth. It was granted as you gasped for air, his hand snaking behind your neck, railing you back in to kiss him again. It was unexpected, how good it felt. How a drunk kiss could be laced with so much passion, persuading you to make a series of bad decisions.

"Let's go upstairs, I brought condoms." Kenan traced his lips at the edge of your jaw, nipping at the skin. 

"Okay." You whispered, however, your need for him became urgent, your legs wrapping around his hips, pulling him down to lay on top of you. Kenan's mouth moving down your neck tickled like feathers. His hands found their way underneath your shirt, stopping to cup the swell of your bra. But in a moment of indecision, like a child in the buffet line, his hand slipped down your tummy, to your thighs.

"What?" You giggled, seeing as he stopped to stare at you, eyes foggy from the alcohol.

"I don't want you to regret this."

"What is there to regret?"

"I'm serious Y/N, I want you to want this. I want you to want…me."

Your eyes widened. "Kenan." Your brain was clouded from the alcohol but not smashed enough for you not to recognize the change in his voice. Your hands went to this face. "I want this." You nodded. "I want you."

It was all the reassurance he seemed to need. Kenan leaned into kiss you and the tenderness of the kiss flared a swarm of butterflies to invade your stomach. He squeezed your thighs not minding the size of them. He was almost obsessed, eager to strip you of your skinny jeans. He did so promptly and you helped by raising your hips. However, you were not as comfortable during the next phase. The liquid courage in your veins ceased to flow once the realization hit that you were about to see Kenan naked for the first time and he you.

"You, okay?" He asked, noticing how your hands weren't running down his body anymore.

"Kenan I…?" 

A fear sprung his eyes, A fear that you may have come to the conclusion that this was a mistake.

"I'm not as confident about my body as people think." You said.

"Your body?" He frowned, and shamelessly stared at what lay beneath him. 

"Yes, my body." You sighed. "You said so yourself, I'm not skinny and guys like you like skinny girls without belly pouches and what not. "

"Guys' like me?" Kenan repeated, and if he was planning on playing dumb, you were grabbing your things and heading out the door. "Y/N, I don't know who's made up such lies about me, or if it's just you who likes to have a guy repeat how fucking sexy you are?"

"Pardon?" It felt like being hit by a brick. A brick that snapped you out of any cloudiness you previously felt.

Kenan smiled and broadly so. "I meant it the first time I said it, I like you Y/N, all of you."

It was as if a vail unraveled before you, revealing the beauty that was Kenan. His smile, his dimples, the cocky way that he arched his splintered brow, it was all offered to you, all you had to do was accept. A few minutes later you were going at it again, tongue deep, your bodies grinding against each other as if you were trying to start a fire. It was the wildest thing that you had ever done, to ride someone on a living room couch, not holding back on the moans, a pure reflection on how good it felt to have Kenan inside of you. He was merciless, shameless even. And after the first round he had you spread your legs while he went down on you for twenty minutes, refusing to let back to back oragsms stop him from making you squirm. You would certainly regret it in the morning and the near future, but for now you let yourself go under.

Part 1 Part 2

[pensat-i-fet]

More Gavi (Pablo Gavi x Reader)

**Another cute request. It was fun writing this one and adding a bit of Spanish. I never want to put too much because some people might find it annoying but it obviously makes sense here. Let me know your thoughts about that. And enjoy reading ❤️**

Word count: 2328

Masterlist

Wattpad

"Hey".

"I need your help", he said, getting inside the house without looking back.

"Hello to you too, mister rude".

You walked to the living room right when Gavi turned to look at you, expression serious.

"What's going on?"

"I have to do an advert for Nike".

You couldn't help but hit his arm when he said that.

"Don't come into my house talking as if something horrible has happened and then say that, you idiot. You scared me!"

"I have to speak English!!", he said, raising his hands as if that explained everything.

"So?"

"I don't know how to. You do. So you need to help me".

“Alright then. First lesson. How do you say por favor in English? Easy one to warm up?”

But as much as you wanted to tease him, when you saw his worried face, you knew you would help him. Of course, you were going to. You’d do anything for him.

“I’ll help you”, you said, rolling your eyes.

“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

When he hugged you, you sighed. You didn’t need to ask him how to say that you were the stupid girl who fell in love with her best friend and that kept getting friend zoned because you knew that one already.

“What do you need to say?”

“I’ll show you the script they gave me”.

You cleared the table you had been using for work and picked up a notebook just in case you needed it at some point.

“Here”.

A quick look at the list made you frown. “That’s it?”

“Yes”.

“Pablo, it’s just a couple of words that are almost the same as in Spanish”.

“But I pronounce them weirdly!”, he complained again.

“Because you’re Spanish!”

“So are you and you can speak English well”.

“I’m the exception”, you joked, flipping your hair.

Gavi groaned and hit his head against the table, making you laugh. He was so extra.

“How do you say mi amiga es insoportable? (My friend is unbearable)”

“My friend is the most beautiful girl in the world”.

“Hilarious!”

While he still looked at you, pouting, you picked up the notebook and wrote the words down.

“Ok. So we got intensity, which is intensidad”.

“Yeah”.

“So repeat: in-ten-si-ty”.

“In…tensi…ty”.

“You sound like you are afraid of the word when it describes you perfectly”.

“I’m afraid of saying it. Did I do well?”

“Could have been worse. Let’s just say it again but a bit faster”.

You kept practising until he felt confident and you could move to saying the whole sentences in one go.

“Ok, precision now”.

“What?”

His confused face made you laugh. He was so adorable…and you needed to stop thinking about him being adorable.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“The way you said it was funny”.

“Also, the correct way. It’s almost like precisión. Come on…”.

“It’s nothing like precisión”.

“We’ll go slowly with this one then”.

You wrote the syllables down and pointed at each one so he could repeat after you.

“Pre”.

“Pre”.

“Ci”.

“Ci.”

“Sion”.

“Sion”.

“Precision”.

“I can’t!”

This time, instead of putting his head against the table, he put it on your shoulder. One of his hands went to the back of your chair, but the other was on your thigh. You knew he’d always been like this but ever since you were aware of your feelings for him being so strong, it became hard to deal with him touching you so much.

“You know what this reminds me of?”, you said, moving so he could go back to his chair and changing the subject to distract yourself.

“Of what?”

“That episode of Friends in which Phoebe is trying to teach Joey French and she talks slowly and he’s doing fine. But then he has to say the whole thing and says some gibberish. That was you, literally”.

“I’ve never watched Friends. I don’t know”.

You were shocked. How could you have known him for so long and not know this dark secret?

“We can’t be friends, then”.

“Why?”

“I love Friends!”

“We can watch it later. I’m not leaving until I know how to do this so get the guest room ready. Or maybe I’ll fall asleep in your bed again if I convince you to keep teaching me until you literally fall asleep”.

Yeah…that wasn’t going to happen. That was something that happened “before”. Not now.

“You’re doing really well. We’ll be done soon”.

“Really?”, his happy face always made you smile. “How do you say eso es porque tengo la mejor profesora?”

“That’s because I have the best teacher. And yes, that's exactly why".

You continued working on his pronunciation until it was time for dinner. Teaching was exhausting and Gavi run from training straight to your house so you were both starving.

“You don’t have to cook after all you’ve helped me. Let me order something”.

Before you had time to move, Gavi was right behind you, hugging you and putting his chin on your shoulder to look at what you were preparing.

“It’s just pre-made stuff. Move back so I can put it in the oven”.

The way you took his arms off you made him frown. You’ve never reacted like that to him hugging you.

“Are you ok?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”, you asked, putting the food in the oven and avoiding looking at him. Too afraid he’d noticed the reason why you didn’t want him to touch you. “Should I make a salad too?”

“Sure”.

Once the food was ready, you took your plates to the sofa and you found online the episode of Friends you were talking about before. “The one where Joey speaks French”.

You loved screening movies and shows for people. You would look at them whenever you knew something interesting was about to happen and most were annoyed by the spoiler, but Gavi never minded. Especially with horror movies. You saved him from being scared so many times.

“I’m cold”, he said suddenly, and you took your blanket and gave it to him.

He moved closer to you so it could cover both of you and you tried to just focus on the show. No longer interested in looking at him because he was too close and your heart was beating fast enough already.

“I’m still cold”.

“I’m not turning the heating on in March”.

“Cuddle me, then”.

It was too dark, thankfully, for him to see your face at that moment. “I can get you a hot water bottle if you want”.

“Or you could just cuddle me like we have done a million times”.

“My back hurts. I’m comfortable in this position, sorry”.

“Really? Is that why you pulled away from my hug earlier?”

Now you did turn to look at him. Not only had he noticed but he was worrying about it.

“Yeah”.

“Do you need some medicine? Or I could buy some pomade and help you apply it”.

Why was he coming up with the worst ideas?

“I’ll take some paracetamol later, don’t worry. It’s nothing”.

Even though he wasn’t convinced, he didn’t talk about it more. At least he had an answer now for your weird reaction when he hugged you. It had hurt him so much to feel rejected by you…by the best friend he was in love with.

                                    **

Having Fridays off was a blessing. You got to sleep in after a week of early mornings…except for when you got calls at 8.30 am.

“Who on Earth is calling me…”, but then you say the name on the screen and answered immediately.

“I need you!”

Oh God…

“And I need sleep, Gavi”.

“You have to come to film the advert with me, please. I’ve forgotten everything you taught me”.

“No, you haven’t. You’re nervous. And I’m sure they have people there who can help you”.

“But I don’t want them. I want you”.

How you wished he was saying that in another context.

“I’ll be there. But you owe me one. Well…another one”.

“I love you!”

“Yeah yeah yeah”.

Getting out of your warm bed was hard but knowing you were going to spend the morning with Gavi made it a little easier. Even if it was getting harder and harder to just be his friend.

By the time you got there, everyone was getting a bit impatient about having to wait for “a friend”.

“Sorry, traffic was bad”.

“Can we start now?”, said one of the guys with the cameras.

“Yes”, told him Gavi, side-eyeing him. “She has to come with me so she can help me read the lines”.

“As long as we can start working, I don’t care if she wants to be your foot stunt double for the shoots”.

The guy’s grumpy tone made you laugh.

“You don’t want me to kick the ball”.

“I know”, laughed Gavi, kissing your cheek and telling you to follow him.

It was hard, but you managed to resist the urge to touch the area where he had kissed you. You could still feel his lips there. He was making it so difficult…

Gavi was actually way more nervous about speaking those few English words than you expected. He was criticised so much for his on-the-pitch behaviour that he didn’t want this to be another reason for people to make fun of him. So you took this even more seriously than back at your place.

Finally, after some struggling, he was done. And you could tell the crew was so happy to be done with this advert. Something so simple had taken so long.

“More Gavi, yeah…just what the world needs”, you joked when he was going back to where you waited for him.

“It’s what you need, don’t lie. How do you say cuanto más Gavi, mejor?”

“The more Gavi, the better. But that’s a lie so don’t say it to people. Your mum taught you better than that”.

He laughed and put his arm around your shoulder, bringing you closer to his side. And even if you knew this wasn’t helping, at all, you let him. Putting your arm around his waist, you let him hold you because it felt so good to be that close to him. Better than it should.

“How do you say…”, he wasn’t going to stop now, “te como la cara?”

You snorted at that. “I wouldn’t recommend you telling people you want to eat their face. It sounds weird”.

“It doesn’t sound weird in Spanish”.

“That’s because we are weird. So one weird cancels the other”.

“I want to do it anyway”, he said, pretending he was going to bite your cheek and making you move away from him.

“Stop that!”

“But I’m hungry!”

And you kept bickering on the way to your car, not realising once again that the feelings were mutual. That you moved away from him to protect your feelings or that he wanted to be always as close to you as possible because there was no one else that made him feel the way you did.

                               **

Pablito ❤️: the ad is out. I posted on IG. Go see it!

You: compliment your teacher on my behalf. Brilliant job she did.

Pablito ❤️: I’m on my way.

You: I didn’t mean literally!

The doorbell alerted you that Gavi was already there. This boy…

“What is that?”

“Your favourite cupcakes as a thank you”.

“You still owe me but thank you for always enabling my sugar addiction”.

He stayed in the living room while you went to the kitchen to get some napkins and plates for the cupcakes.

“Ok, the one with all the fruit for you and the one with all the chocolate for me”.

“Can I have a bite of your one?”

“Sure”.

You watched the ad while you ate, laughing at all the moments you knew had to be redone more than 20 times.

“You really made that crew earn their salary that day, Pablito”.

“I don’t think they’ll ever want to work with me again”.

“Who could blame them?”

Seeing you laugh was always special for Gavi. It was while you were laughing at one of his jokes that he thought, for the first time, about how beautiful you really were. He always knew you were but…he fully noticed what that beauty meant to him. The sound you made when you laughed was music to his ears, but it was the way your face lit up that hypnotized him.

“What?”, you asked when you saw him staring at you. “I have chocolate on my face?”

But he couldn’t talk, so he just shook his head.

He was tired of hiding his feelings. Of pretending he wasn’t in love with you for fear of you turning him down. It could ruin your friendship and he knew that. He feared that could happen. But living in fear was painful too. He had to do this.

“Can we have another lesson?”

“Sure”.

You didn’t look very convinced because he was worrying you a bit.

“How do you say te quiero?”

You swallowed. He should know that. Why was he asking? “I love you”.

He nodded. “And how do you say te quiero pero no quiero quererte solo como un amigo?” (I love you but I don't want to just love you as a friend).

“Pablo…”.

“Or should I just say it in Spanish so nothing gets lost in translation?”

“Do you mean it?”, you asked, full of hope.

“I do”.

Seeing you’re reaction gave him the final push to get closer to you. He held your face with his hands and spoke quietly.

“You’re the best friend I could ask for. And a pretty good teacher too. But I want more. Do you want more?”

“More Gavi?”

You both laughed and then you kept leaning forward until your lips finally connected. Finally showing each other how much you really wanted this. And kisses had no language. Everyone could understand what they meant.

[sculkapologist]

Was suddenly possessed with the desire for a lil set of profiles for everyone in the Corrupted World minecraft AU!! you can probably tell by their names that these guys started life in the Bendy fandom, but then we got really carried away with MINECRAFT LORE...

the Basic Premise of Corrupted World AU is that when a bit of code gets corrupted, or degrades over time, the world replaces that code with something similar -- a corrupted bit of grassland will be overwritten by the code of nearby grassland. This works fine for most things, but there's nothing else like a Player in the world of Minecraft.................... these little bits of encroaching mob data have been mostly benign, until Joey's curiosity stretches the world to its limits, and the world's corruption becomes more aggressive.

Some basic notes on everyone under the cut!

Jack is an old player whose code changed so slowly that he honestly can't remember a time when he wasn't a little sheepy. A peaceful, friendly guy who loves to explore and makes contacts wherever he goes -- moving from village to village, build to build, to bring items he's found in his travels to trade and sell, sounding his own broken goat horn to announce his wares. Thanks to Jack, the world's far-flung players might be able to start to connect again...

(design by Mochi and Shazz, character by Mochi)

Sammy is a grumpy and strangely cautious player who keeps to himself ever since he escaped from an Ancient City..... changed. He was once an adventurous builder with an exacting sense of aesthetics, but now he's just trying to survive quietly with his sheep. Afflicted with painfully sensitive hearing and infected with sculk, he hides in an underground, wool-insulated home out in the hills and lives the most pacifist life he can manage, avoiding any death that could spread the sculk in his body.

(design and character by Shazz (me!))

Henry was always driven to look out for others, and when he died defending a village from attack, the grateful villagers helped to revive him the only way they knew how. He kind of wishes they'd just let him respawn... not realising some glitching armour had scrambled his health too badly to come back normally. In any case, Henry's gotten attached to the village... becoming more protective of the people there... almost unwilling to leave.

(design by Maf and Shazz, character by Maf)

A bit of a loner with a strange sense of humour, Norman often lingered near the ocean and didn't notice the little changes like not needing air when his water-breathing potions should've run out... until the corruption of his code made it sort of impossible for him to return to land. That's alright; he's perfectly happy to hassle the others when they wander into his territory.

(design by Shazz and Boo, character by Thren)

Wickedly clever with a knack for experimentation, Susie was left stranded in the Nether a long time ago and was determined to thrive even in that hellish domain -- and thrive she did. Now she's gotten a bit of reputation even on the Overworld, both for a mastery of potions and magic, and a cruel willingness to take what she wants.

(design by Boo and Thren, character by Thren)

Ever since Joey defeated the Ender Dragon and heard that conversation between two mysterious voices, he hasn't been able to let go of the idea that there is something more beyond this world of blocks and code -- but this charismatic dreamer has been prying at the world's secrets well before that. He convinced Susie to join him as the first to explore the Nether, talked Sammy into delving into an Ancient City with him, and tried to get Henry to join him in his quest for the End, gifting him code-modified armour that was better than anything his old friend could get. For some reason, though, they all lost contact, and Joey found himself alone in the End, where more code experiments in a land where only one mob is really prevalent had... an effect on him....

(design and character by Boo)

Pete isn't a player at all, he's a villager... but one day he found himself outside of his village, suddenly realised how big the world is, and couldn't resist the urge to explore. He's close with Jack, and has joined up with him on some expeditions to aid his own work as a cartographer. Without the ability to respawn, though, it's significantly more dangerous for him, and the two of them MAY have poked into some evoker magic looking for an alternative...

(design and character by Thren and Mochi)

Linda is deeply interested in the world's history, curious what sort of people or ancient players must've once populated the ruins, and she's also an experienced crafter with a penchant for metalworking. While the world of Minecraft has no real concept of monogamous relationships, she's settled with Henry as her one-and-only... which works out now that he's partially made of metal. Linda hadn't experienced any code corruption until data replacement became more aggressive, and it's still subtle for now. But it's handy to be able to touch things that are burning hot without taking damage!

(design by Shazz, character by Thren and Maf)

Fixing Sammy should be easy enough, Joey thought. Some of his data was corrupted by sculk -- if they can find that lost data in the code somewhere, it just needs to be reintegrated with Sammy. Attach it to an eye of ender, replace one of Sammy's eyes with the eye of ender -- simple! A complete Sammy! ...the lost data itself had other ideas. This strange construct that collected around the eye Joey provided is a mix of Sammy's lost data, garbled junk data, and -- he claims -- the remnants of an Ancient Player from the days when end cities were populated, before everything went so wrong and Minecraft's world became so lonely. His speech is glitchy and garbled, struggling to describe a Game and Code and a True Player that he believes must reset a world that has been "running too long." In lieu of a username, this apocalyptic anomaly goes by "the Prophet".

(design and character by Shazz)

[persevereforahappyending]

A Beacon in the Dark |6|

Pairing: Joey x Reader

Summary: Joey likes helping people, it's what she's best at. Hunting down the monsters of myth and legend might be the best way to save people.

Warnings: None

Word Count: 2.6k+

Main Masterlist | Series Masterlist

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8

Your eyes were closed, focusing on the music coming from your earbuds as you ran on the treadmill. You had been at it for a little while, there was a light coating of sweat across your body, though your heart rate remained steady, like usual. You needed to stay active but there were so many sights and sounds that tended to distract you, you found listening to music and closing your eyes during a workout was the best way for you to focus.

It had been a little over a week since your last mission and you had only seen Joey once since then. You only saw her because she insisted on returning the dress the next day. She had offered to drive out to you and though you didn’t need to go into the city you didn’t want her going out of her way just to return the dress. When you had picked it up, you had to come and go before Caleb got back, you had barely gotten to see Joey and despite Caleb not being home you waited in your Jeep and texted Joey when you were there.

You flinched, your eyes snapping open when you felt something brush against you. You closed your eyes, taking a deep breath as you slowed to a stop, it was just Grace. When you had slowed your pace enough you jumped off the treadmill you popped out of your earbuds.

“Sorry,” Grace said. “I did try calling you.”

You looked down at the earbud in your hand before taking the other out as well. “Sorry,” you said. “I had the volume up today.”

“Something on your mind?” Grace tilted her head in a knowing way.

You gave a little shrug. “Just a lot happening lately.” It wasn’t a lie, adding Joey to the mix and then you almost dying on the mission was a lot to take.

You weren’t afraid of dying, that’s not something you had feared in a long time now. You didn’t dislike Joey either, you weren’t used to worrying about someone else, no one else besides Grace at least. Joey could hold her own, and you knew that, but you also knew she had a son, you made a vow to yourself that no matter what Joey would make it home to Caleb.

“What’s up?” You asked. “New case?”

“Potentially,” Grace sighed, running a hand through her hair. “Hard to say, there is weirdness.”

“There’s always weirdness when it comes to us.”

Grace chuckled and couldn’t help but nod. “Get cleaned up and meet me in the office.” You nodded, already headed out of the gym. “And I made breakfast.”

“You’re the best!”

You ran back up to your room, quickly tossing your workout clothes into the hamper before jumping in the shower. It took almost the whole week, but it finally didn’t feel like you were still scrubbing away succubus blood. You closed your eyes and tilted your head up towards the shower head. If running didn’t help calm you, then showering always did. You weren’t sure what it was about water raining down on your head that brought you peace like nothing else, it was the one time you could actually focus on calming yourself down or whatever it was you needed.

When you stepped out of the shower you were definitely refreshed. It wasn’t often Grace found a potential case right after finishing one up. There were countless horrors out there, countless rich people willing to sell their souls or sacrifice innocents to get more money and power. It still took time to investigate and confirm if something going on was supernatural bad or just normal rich douchebag bad.

As you made your way to Grace’s office you passed through the kitchen. Even though you were always hungry you were terrible at feeding yourself, but Grace always made sure you were well taken care of. The first time you didn’t eat for a whole day, and she found out she had scolded you and then forced you to sit at the kitchen counter as she prepared a meal, then watched you to make sure you ate it all. It was delicious and you had never made that mistake again, you had never felt more like a scolded puppy in that moment.

Your eyes lit up when you saw a stack of waffles and a side of syrup waiting for you. You grabbed the plate and made your way to Grace’s office, already grabbing a waffle and biting a chunk into it. You held the waffle in your mouth, opting to not set it back down on the stack, so you could turn the doorknob to the office.

“What we got?” You asked with your mouth full of waffle.

Grace looked up from the paper she was looking at. “Don’t talk with your mouth full,” she said.

You held in a huff but quickly swallowed the waffle. “What do we got?” You asked again. You sat the plate on the corner of her desk and ripped the remains of the waffle in half. You took one of the halves and dipped it into the syrup before shoving that into your mouth as well.

Grace rolled her eyes, but you knew she was totally use to your antics at this point. She got up from her chair and made her way over to the investigation board. You grabbed your plate of waffles and followed behind. The previous case about the succubus was completely cleared off, everything put together and filed away in a cabinet in the room. Grace never got rid of anything when investigating, one never knew what could be useful, so saving everything was the best solution. You also never knew if you would need to reference another case, or if a friend of someone you took care of would be coming for revenge.

Now the board was filled with new articles, all from the same town. Blurry images of something in the water were spread out in between articles. There were charts and weather patterns, info on the tides with dates printed in the corner of everything. “Mermaids?” You asked hopefully.

Grace let out a little chuckle, you couldn’t help but smile to yourself. If you did nothing all day but make Grace smile, then you always considered it a successful day. Grace had definitely lightened up ever since she took you in, she was such a different person when you first met her. Of course, she had reasons for reacting the way she did when she first met you, you would never blame her for that, but she also had valid reasons for being so closed off before that. It took a long time to get to where the two of you were now, which was crazy to think about because there was no one you were more comfortable with, no one knew you like Grace did, there were times where you were sure she knew you better than you knew yourself.

“Sadly, I don’t think we’re that lucky,” Grace said. “I’m thinking it’s the other one.”

“Nessie?” Grace gave you an unamused look. “What? She could be real!” You tried defending yourself.

“The Loch Ness Monster isn’t real,” Grace glared at you. “I meant the other one that’s actually real.”

You grabbed another waffle, taking an aggressive bite as you pouted. When you first started working with Grace you tried so hard to prove Nessie was real but time and time again Grace proved that just was not the case.

“If it is one of them,” you said, finally done being childish, “what evidence do you have?”

“Boats going out to sea and never returning,” Grace said. “When the coast guard or whoever finally stumbles upon the boat, it’s completely empty, no crew insight, as if they just up and walked off.”

“Probably because they did,” you mumbled.

Grace nodded in agreement. “So far, all the reports have written the disappearance off.” She grabbed a stack of papers on the side table and began flipping through them. “Lost at sea, raided by pirates, and of course, if the ship was smashed against rocks, they just assumed the crew drowned.”

“How many?” You asked, taking the stack of papers when Grace held them out to you.

“Generally, two or three boats over a year.” You flipped through the papers as Grace talked, flipping sheet after sheet at the victims lost, pictures of ship wreckages from several vessels.

“And how many this year?” You flicked your gaze from the paper to Grace, you had a feeling you knew where this was going.

Grace sucked in a breath and met your gaze. “Twelve within the last month.” Your eyes widened. “I went back,” she walked across the room, grabbing a stack of folders off her desk, each folder a slightly different shade of yellow. “There’s a pattern.” You furrowed your brow as she came to stand at your side again. “There’s only two or three boats that go missing every year but every ten years, this time of year, that number skyrockets.”

You nodded, supernatural entities seemed to really love routines and keeping their patterns. It was never a good thing when the number of casualties shot up the same time of year over the course of several years, more often than not it usually meant human sacrifices. At least that’s what it seemed like in your experience.

“Shall I find us a boat?” You asked. You gave her your best innocent smile, she never let you pick out the vehicles, she said you always got something expensive and not needed.

“I already have one,” she said, making you frown. “And a captain.” You raised an eyebrow at that. It wasn’t often a captain familiar with the waters would agree to something like this. If the man was a local or had heard the stories at all he would refuse. “Everyone has a price.”

You couldn’t help but nod at that. Everything seemed to be about money and power. Grace used her fortune for good; to help people but how easily she could bribe someone was unsettling. You weren’t unsettled by her but the people she was paying, how easily they’d compromise their morals at time and time again for money.

“You can head out whenever, I just need to let the captain know what day and time,” Grace said. “We don’t know how many we’ll be dealing with, so we need make sure to prepare accordingly, I don’t want you out at sea with no way to fight back.”

You nodded, you were good to leave whenever, you had done it plenty of times but now you needed to consult Joey, she couldn’t just drop everything and run wherever with you. This also wasn’t a simple mission. The first one was relatively easy, despite you almost dying, it was mostly about investigating then finding and neutralizing the threat. This mission would be much different, it would just be the two of you out at sea, no one else around, besides the captain, and it would be all about you hunting down the threat. You had dealt with this kind of monster before though, no matter how often you thought you were the hunter you quickly learned they were watching you the second your boat entered their waters

“I’m going to call Joey,” you said. You stepped back, Grace already knew everything, it had nothing to do with privacy, you just didn’t want to be in Grace’s way as she continued to gather her files.

“What’s up?” Joey answered after a few rings. She sounded exhausted, you looked at your watch, making sure you weren’t calling at an unreasonable hour. You saw you were reaching her just before she would have been going to pick up Caleb from school.

“How do you feel about boats?” you asked, a smirk tugging at your lips.

There was a long pause on the other end, you knew you had Joey’s mind racing. “Well, I don’t get seasick,” Joey answered slowly. “If that’s what you’re asking.”

“Fantastic,” your smirked widened. “Cause we’re going after a siren.”

“You got to be fucking kidding me,” Joey mumbled.

You couldn’t help but chuckle, she really was getting thrown into the deep end at this point. “When?”

“They tend to strike when it’s dark,” you said. “Grace already found us a captain; we just need to let him know when we want to leave.”

There was a deep sigh on the other end of the line. As excited as you were, you knew you were asking a lot from Joey at the moment. It was the middle of the week, and she had her son to take care of.

“Let me make arrangements for Caleb if I’ll be gone all night, I’ll have him spend the night at a friends.”

“Okay, I’m sorry,” you whispered. You couldn’t help it, you knew it was part of the job, you knew she said she could find a sitter or someone to pick him up or take him to school if needed. You also knew she didn’t want that, she wanted to be there for her son, like she had to prove to him and herself that she was a capable parent.

“It’s fine,” Joey dismissed your apology and for once she didn’t seem annoyed by you. “I’ll call you back in a bit once I have an official answer.”

“Thank you.”

Right after you got off the phone with Joey you turned to Grace again only to see her watching you. “What?” you asked slowly. You couldn’t quite place the look on Grace’s face.

“You like her,” Grace said.

You chuckled and shook your head. “Of course I like her,” you shrugged. “She’s cool. We’re working together, it would be weird if I didn’t like her.”

“You know what I mean.”

“I barely know her,” you continued to try and deflect. “We haven’t even known her a month.” Grace watched you with a knowing look. Your eyes slowly drifted from Grace to the floor. “And she certainly doesn’t know me.”

You didn’t look up as you heard Grace cross the invisible threshold, so she was standing in front of you. “She can’t get to know you if you don’t let her.” Grace caressed your cheek and gently forced you to meet her eyes again.

You shook your head. “She wouldn’t like what she sees if she did.” If she got to know the real you, she would see you for what you really were, a monster. She deserved better than that. “I don’t want to mess this up, keeping things professional is still the best course.”

Grace let out a sigh, there wasn’t a lot you’d argue with Grace on, but this was the one thing you’d never waver on. It didn’t matter what she said, you knew what you were, what you would always be.

“She still deserves to know.”

“It would scare her off.”

“Don’t you think she deserves to form that opinion for herself?” Your eyes flicked down again; Joey definitely didn’t seem like the type to be okay with people deciding things for her. Joey liked to have all the information and then make a decision based on having all said information. “If you continue to work together, it’s only a matter of time before she finds out,” Grace said softly. Your eyes snapped to Grace, you knew she was right, the longer you worked together, the more you got caught in life and death situations, it was only a matter of time before she found out. “It would be better if she heard it from you, rather than finding out on her own.”

Taglist: @thinking1bee @so-to-aqui-pelas-fic @alexkolax @pianogirl2121 @thatshyboy1998

[inkyvendingmachine]

Mobs and Stalkers Season 4, Episode 3

💀 Call of Cthulhu: Haunted Hijinx Masterpost 💀 Call of Cthulhu Season Four Masterpost (Coming Soon)

Warning: This campaign is an edited version of  a Call of Cthulhu scenario from the Tales of the Crescent City book. While a lot has been changed, there IS spoilers for it throughout these posts.

Who is this guy and why is he following us? Why are we following him?? Why are we interreacting with mobs again??? How does this keep happening to us?????

Art Credit: @inkdemonapologist : sketching + inking @inkyvendingmachine : concept + colouring

IT IS THE NEXT MORNING. EVERYONE WAKES UP AND NOBODY (who slept over at JDS) IS MISSING, OR DEAD.

THAT’S GREAT.

Bendy even slept on top of Jack during their slumber party, trying to give the same comfort as an Beans might give. It might’ve been weird otherwise, but after all the hectic nonsense going on and not being able to feel safe going home, in this case it was welcome.

Joey slept on his research notes. 

But it is a work day (at least it’s friday,,,) so the cots are shuffled away before people start coming in and questioning the group about the spontaneous night in. And foreseeing this might be a future issue if stuff goes haywire and they have to hide out at JDS more, Joey takes the holiday opportunity to get everyone out of the office for a while.  Enjoy New Years Eve off, go party! Also New Years, to recover from the party. And also… the day AFTER New Years, to do all the things you meant to do on New Years but you were recovering from the party!! Look how nice Joey Drew is, giving so many thoughtful days off. Nobody come back until Thursday or else.

While everyone else is getting some work done, Joey checks in on Norman who didn’t even call in. He seems fine, but he’s still adamant about staying at home. Okay you do you.

(Joey sends Susie to hang out with Norman, as his inside woman and also because the Norman vs. Susie perception of the world will be nice when more things just. C h a n g e.)

The team has two big leads for trying to find Alan Leroy: Chandler Kreel and Amanda Cornish. Both of them are apparently good friends with him, and with addresses in hand, they split up to try and track down the danged clarinetist that they probably need to get to.

Jack and Sammy drive downtown to a bunch of law offices with apartments above, searching for Amanda. They’re able to get to her door pretty easily, but Amanda isn’t the one who answers. Her sister does! Luckily Jack’s there to run introductions because otherwise Sam’s scowling face probably would have just been turned away at that point. Sitting in the waiting room, Amanda soon joins them and admits that the last time she saw Alan was at a christmas party they went to… but seems to be kind of standoffish about any other information.

After some more charming by Jack, it’s revealed that she thinks he might be in trouble with the mob, and uh, Sammy… looking the way he does……. Maybe made her think they were the mob?? But with confirmation that, no, they super aren’t the mob and in fact are trying to find Alan before he possibly gets in trouble with a mob or two, she’s a bit more relaxed. Something weird is happening, because Alan really doesn’t seem like the type to be in trouble with the mob. And the last weird thing she remembers happening with Alan was… well, he got freaked out over some book she gave him for the holidays!

What’s so scary about a book? It was a pretty interesting read, here she’ll go grab it for ya!!!

Sammy is looking away Sammy is looking away Sammy refuses to look in any direction near Amanda as she, indeed, brings out a little black book with the Yellow Sign on it. 

Jack immediately feels it wiggle into his head. But at least he’s able to wrap up the conversation with her in a… semi-normal manner? While Sammy’s eyes, darting anywhere else, find a photo on the mantelpiece that features Alan Leroy and friends, hanging out at a party scrawled with the note: Skinner Place, May, 1934… and Sammy is CERTAIN he recognises the man.

Oddly, his clarinet in the photo is missing one of the extensions he'd expect for a professional player...…….

Joey and Henry take the brown Mercedes to check out Chandler Kreel, who luckily lives in a nice part of the city that feels like a Mercedes might be somewhat… less… easily noticeable. 

He answers the door but seems extremely nervous, like Amanda was. Leroy is great! So good at clarinet you wouldn’t even know he was down a finger!! Also totally a swell guy who shouldn’t be in any trouble so why are you heeerree?? 

Through Joey’s uh, storytelling skills, and Henry's good calming daditude, they get the idea he’s a loyal friend who wants to make sure he’s helping his buddy and not handing over information to the mob or any other parties that might be after Alan… Which means, he probably has information on where Alan is. Since it’d be suspicious to just plain ask, Joey goes the heartfelt “please reach out to us we’re here to help,” direction and hands off contact information. 

While returning to the car, Henry and Joey find someone oogling over it… and this time it’s not some girl trying to declare herself Henry’s lifelong love, but the pale-faced man in a black suit that’s been seen everywhere recently. Their conversation is short, as the man mentions looking for a “wandering player” that needs to be returned to his place, and he walks off after some vague threats about what happens if you are in his way. Or if you lie to him, don’t do that either.

His mask-like face doesn’t move while communicating any of this.

Henry tells Joey once they’re alone that he thinks that guy is Fowler. He has the same nervous fidget Fowler used to…

Jack and Sammy go to stop by Norman’s on the way back, and find that… his place is apparently a block down from where it used to be!! 

GREAT!!!!

When he answers the door and is immediately and frantically questioned about this, he takes a look around and confirms, shrugging and simply stating “it seems like I’ve moved.” 

He invites them in for a housewarming party.

Susie and Norman have been playing cards. There’s no updates on Avadon. Jack and Sammy update them about the few tidbits of information they’ve found, and Norman finds a piece of junk mail to hand off to Jack before they head out. Since… the address on there seems to have changed too, so if Norman ends up moving again, well… they’ll know where he is!

The four of them meet back up at JDS to exchange information about Alan Leroy, and also eject the yellow sign from Jack’s head asap. Sammy's still worked up about this clarinetist's missing E flat extension, but Joey dismisses this as old news -- obviously; he's missing a finger. Keep up, Sammy. Peter has kind of also met back up with them, leaving a message on Joey’s phone talking about sightings of the masked man going through some magic shops in the city. And the fact that despite all his digging, he really can’t find anything about where this Leroy guy came from…

Joey tries to call Peter back by memory and it doesn’t work. We’re not going to talk about the fact that Joey has Peter’s number memorized. Pulling out his phone book, indeed, Peter’s number on paper has changed and that one DOES work. 

Before they get much of a conversation going at all, Joey hangs up on Peter to try something. Instead of dialing a number in, or looking one up… he just wills himself to dial a number in to call Alan Leroy.

It kiiiindaaa works.

Joey manages to call Alan Leroy’s phone, but the same servant picks up and insists that Alan hasn’t returned home. Joey hangs up on him. 

Peter gets a call back. Okay so there’s those Magic Shops he wants to check out, and also he has a lead on the gangster guy who shot the gun during the charity event. To keep Peter from doing nonsense alone and probably being abducted to Carcosa, Jack and Joey decide to go with him to investigate magic shops, while Sammy and Henry uneasily go to the bar to find info on the gangster guy, once Sammy is reassured that this won’t be like last time and all he has to do is eavesdrop. This surely will only go well.

At the bar, Henry casually brings up the charity dinner shooting while trying to fish for information, and maybe he talks a little too much, because suddenly all eyes are on him. What! Sammy wasn’t doing any talking so Henry was just trying to… do….what Joey would do? Henry trying to do what Joey would do has never gone wrong before…

Sammy and Henry are in a mob car, only kind of against their will. They are escorted to a restaurant, where they meet the extremely average looking Italian mob boss, Johnny Nero, who wants to know what they know about this pale masked man. At first it seems like they’ve made another great terrible get-yourselves-kidnapped-by-a-mob mistake, but the boss seems surprisingly rattled, and after some grilling from Sammy, Nero admits that… he’s seen some stuff that shouldn’t be…

… and Sammy hits the nail on the head when he asks, have you seen the y͟el͜l͘ow sig̵n?

Henry steps in and decides to offer to help him… to get him on our side, and understand that we are not a threat to him, we’re simply trying to remove the same thing from the city. After some pressure, Nero is convinced, and goes through the extremely normal process of Henry writing eldritch symbols with his own blood to remove the sign from him. After the nightmare has been yeeted from his brain, Nero turns out to be a wee bit nicer: he gives us all the info he has, but insists that if we find whatever the pallid mask guy is looking for, to give it to him so he can use it to get the guy gone.

And then he kicks them out without even offering them a ride back to their car at the bar.

Wrow.

What an extremely average super not classy even mob boss. 

That’s gonna get you a terrible review on yellowp my dude.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, it’s time for

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*SHOPPING✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*~~!!

The first store is called Cool Jewel Skull. It has cool jewels and skulls. Surely that’s exactly what it says in the book, because it’s extremely not a legit shop, and Jack spends the entire walk to the next shop dunking on it to keep Joey's spirits up. They did find out that not just the Phantom but Leroy had been through it though!

The next stop is an apothecary, and it does seem a lot more actually occult stuff. The guy recognizes a photo of Leroy and confirms he came through looking for protective charms, but when he went to buy one, he dropped it upon touching it and immediately left?? Then the Pallid Mask guy came through later… Not much info on him, except that he was creepy, but we already knew that. The interesting thing is though, the charm that Leroy dropped? It has the same symbol on it that Henry uses to expel the yellow sign from people’s heads. So… weird that he didn’t take it with him…. And seemed allergic to it as well.

The three leave and try to go to the last shop on the list… but the address is missing from the paper now. Like… completely gone. Joey gets the great idea to try his “I'm going to will myself there” trick and closes his eyes, imagining a route to this store he’d never been to before, and giving Jack directions to drive there. Suddenly Jack slams on the brakes and manages to keep from completely smashing into… a man in a suit… and a pale mask…. There’s definitely a dent in the bumper now though, because Jack wasn’t that quick, and apparently a moving car is not more solid than this thing is. 

Joey immediately starts cursing him out, but he insists that Joey called him?? before going around to the side of the car and opening the back seat door… where Peter is sitting. Not having this AT ALL, Joey tries to beat him out of the car with his cane, only to be thrown back against the dashboard. 

With Jack frozen in terror and Peter having an oddly difficult time moving to even the other side of the car away from this pale jerk, Joey immediately decides he cAN AND WILL RIP THIS ASSHOLE OUT OF EXISTENCE. 

And… somehow, it works.

It sure tears something into him alright, and manages to boot him out of the car, giving enough time for Joey to demand Jack step on it. And Jack, panic stricken, somehow manages to follow the command and at least not run into anything else as they drive off into the night – But just as he’s hit the gas pedal, he does feel the cold of both glass shards and … something else, as  he gets touched by a hand smashing through the window in the last second. 

Luckily Jack bought the first car on the market in the US that had safety glass so he’s not going to be fucked up much from this in the physical department, except for his wallet maybe.

Mentally though? Memories flood in… 

memories of a time he visited a dream with his eyes closed, and almost had his head removed.

After they’re at a safe distance, a shaken Peter manages to pull the door closed. 

And thank them.