#but listen i love their dynamic

[justplainwhump]

Marta

Adrian takes Blanca/Bea to see an old confidante.

[pet safety masterpost]

Content: BBU (mostly discussed via pet lib shenanigans), part of a recovery arc. A lot of family background on Adrian, but like, kind of loving.

The gallery was in one of the side streets, tucked between a shawarma place and a high end dental clinic. Laurel Crane, Art Gallery & Classes, it said in the window, and underneath the name hung the poster of a past exhibition. It wasn't a particularly popular place, it wasn't a particularly shady one either.

While Laurel Crane didn't exist, the art classes were real, so was the art, and it was quite a stretch for anyone to assume this was the main hub of the city's pet lib movement.

Even more so when looking at the gallerist, a slender woman with long dark locks pulled into a loose braid. She wore a simple-but-stylish sleeveless black dress, her muscular arms underneath littered with specks of paint on top of dark bruises.

"A-", she called out, but let the syllable hang between them in the moment her gaze fell on Bea.

"She knows my name," Adrian said with a half apologetic smile and folded his arms. "She knows a lot about me."

"Oh?" Marta raised a brow, perfectly covering up the frown he knew was hiding underneath. "Looks a little like you, too. Nice shirt."

Adrian grimaced.

"Thank you." Bea smiled, and it stung, how real it felt. There was no reason for her to trust Marta, she knew nothing about her at all, she'd lived her entire conscious life in a surroundings where everyone was ready to hurt her, and yet she easily called up a radiant, heartwarming smile at a stranger. "You look beautiful, too."

"That's not what I said," Marta replied softly. "I didn't compliment your beauty. I like your choice of clothes. I'm Marta."

"I'm..." Bea glanced over at Adrian, asking for permission, and he nodded. "Bea."

Marta pointedly looked at the shape of Beatrix Kiddo on Bea's yellow T-shirt and then at him. "Boys will be boys, Adrian, huh?"

"Coincidence," Adrian said stiffly. Of course she commented on it. She was a pet lib leader, a strategist and commander, but some things would never change.

Marta had directed her attention back at Bea. "Hi, Bea. I work with some people who help pets that got away from their owners. I'll help Adrian to find a place for you at-"

"She's not free."

Marta's attention snapped to him, eyes narrowed, searching his face, and finding a reply way to easily. She sighed deeply. "Oh, little one, no."

"Yeah." Adrian averted his gaze. "Things didn't work as planned. I bought her."

"You can still free her."

"You know I can't."

Marta closed her eyes for some seconds, before she nodded. "Yeah. No. You can't."

She exhaled deeply. "Hey, Bea? I would like to talk to Adrian alone for a moment. Are you okay, looking at the paintings here, while we step into the office?"

Bea looked at him nervously, before Marta pointed at a glass wall with a neat little desk behind. "It's just over there. We'll leave the blinds open so you can see him at all times."

"Okay." Bea bit her lip. "I... It's... it's not his fault, Madam Marta. He helped me. I, ... please don't send me away."

"Oh, Bea, sweetie," Marta said, and rested a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. He's not in trouble."

-

"You're in trouble," Marta said, once the door fell close behind them. "And it's not just because you gave my heartfelt gift to someone else."

"I know," Adrian replied and let himself sink into her office chair. "That's why I came here."

Marta reached a water carafe and filled two glasses, pushing one over to him. "It's been a while since you last came to me about advice dealing with cute girls."

Adrian grinned sheepishly. "Or cute boys."

Her face darkened, before she shook her head. "Still think I messed that one up though. Anyway. Let's talk about Bea." She jugged her chin into Bea's direction. "How did Jack Donnell's Chewtoy end up in my T-shirt and your possession?"

"Ray told you?"

"Not all of it, it seems."

"Izzy is out. Tried to run the job across her, declare Bea dead. But WRU is getting more careful with access to their systems."

Marta ran a hand through her hair. "So you bought her?"

Adrian pressed his lips together and nodded shortly. "You know what the alternative was."

"I know what the consequence of this choice is, too. Given that for all I know you've gotten yourself another complaint. We need you at your best at WRU, considered completely loyal. Trusted."

"I couldn't let her die."

"I know." The smile that tugged at Marta's lips was melancholic, almost sad. Marta smiled, and it looked almost melancholic. "I've always known you're not cut out for the job."

"But I'm the one who volunteered for it."

"And nobody else did sacrifice as much as you." She sighed. "Point is, you're too good for WRU. Too good for us, too."

"Whatever you or Ray say, Matti, I won't give her up."

She nodded. "Yeah. You're right. Ray will want you to."

"And you?"

"I like her shirt." Marta bit her lip. "You've sacrificed enough, Adri. As your leader, of course Ray is right. As your big sister, I want you to get out of this. Take Bea, get her to Canada, be..." She shrugged. "Whatever. A bus driver, as you've always wanted."

"When we were like, five." Adrian smirked. "I hate traffic. I'd make a horrible bus driver."

She raised an eyebrow. "You're implying what, now? You want to go on?"

"My boss thinks I bought Bea as a career move. If I don't mess up, I think she'll recommend me for a promotion soon."

Marta frowned. "Management level access?"

"Yeah."

She leaned back. "Fuck. We can't let that chance pass."

"I want to do it. I don't want to run." He searched for her gaze. "And I won't give up Bea either."

"She's not Eric, you know that, right?"

Adrian's jaw clenched. "Not everything I do is about Eric."

"Bullshit. Everything you do is about Eric." She grimaced. "Everything I do is about Eric, too."

"I can save her."

"Can you?" Marta folded her arms. "You want to work on deconditioning her under the eyes of your hyper-aware colleagues at WRU who know exactly what that looks like, while spying on them and their clients at the same time?"

He followed her gaze, looking at Bea walking through the exhibition room. They both stayed silent for a while, until Adrian shrugged. "I do."

"Even if you think you're capable of that. Is she? She'll need to keep your secrets. Your life depends on it, then. And by proxy, many more."

"Her life depends on me keeping her safe." Adrian kept his voice even, his gaze on Bea standing in front of one of the paintings. "She trusts me with it. And I trust her." He glanced back at Marta. "I didn't just give away your shirt. I also used your recipe for cheese sauce. First meal she picked. She loved it."

"Appropriate. It's very good. Very comforty, too." She considered him with a frown. "That going to be some sort of emotional manipulation? You do you, little brother. I've got your back. Always."

"It's only twenty-one minutes," Adrian replied, like he'd done his entire life.

Her reply was new, though. "How many minutes did it take for you to fall in love with her?"

"I- I didn't..." Adrian looked at Bea, then back at Marta.

She grinned. "Few minutes can make a big difference. That's all I'm saying." She reached out to ruffle his hair, but her hand froze midair and she hissed sharply.

Alarmed, Adrian looked at her, the bruises on her left arm, the way she held herself. More stiff than usual. Weight shifted to the right side. Broken rib, he thought. Why hadn't he seen it sooner? "You're injured. What happened?"

She smirked and lowered her hand again. "Officially? Fell off a rock while bouldering."

"And the unofficial one?"

"Rerouted a WRU shipping truck." Marta looked up at him with a half grin. "Your colleagues didn't go down without a fight."

"But they did go down?"

"They did." She grimaced. "Permanently. Should've seen their obituaries in your company mail."

"Security are external contractors. Company won't write obituaries for them." Adrian bit his lip. He'd had a chat with one of the delivery teams just recently, talked with them about how to handle the boxes, going over into a chat about working conditions at WRU. Steve, the guy he'd been talking to, had hated his job, just done it to get his daughter through college. By shipping out the sons and daughters of other parents, who'd never see their kids again. Adrian sighed deeply, pushed back all the sympathy he felt for Steve. "And the pets?"

"Think they're with their owners. Happy, as far as the definition goes. We got six out, this time."

Six. Six lives, turned to the better, thanks to Marta's relentless fight. He whistled. "That's impressive, sis. Congratulations."

"We used your intel," Marta replied. "You're aware of that, right? I didn't bring you in on it before, but that success? It's on you. We know how they plan their routes, how they staff them, how they guard them, even how they stack these fucking boxes, thanks to you. You might not see your own successes, but this one, out of many."

Adrian's gaze shifted back at Bea. "I want her to be happy, too," he said. It felt like a confession.

"I know," Marta said. "And I've run enough deconditionings over the years to know the two of you will make it. She seems like a nice girl."

"You've said that about every girl I ever liked."

Marta shrugged. "Could mean I'm lying. Could also mean you're doing something pretty right."

"You'll help me?"

She pulled him into a one-armed hug, wheezing for a moment when he slung his arms back around her. "Always, little brother."

---

-

pet safety tag list (ask to be added or removed): @gottawhump @flowersarefreetherapy @whumplr-reader @highwaywhump @tauntedoctopuses @pigeonwhumps @whumppsychology @labgrowndemon @whumpinggrounds @somewhumpyguy @whumpzone @tragedyinblue

[slavhew]

hm

[lotus-pear]

hngghh domestic......

[demaparbat-hp]

Beautiful

[purplecatghostposts]

You don’t understand, I NEED to see how Adrien would pretend to be Félix for something. I need some sort of situation where Félix needs Adrien to pretend to be him for a few hours so he can get away for a while and for Adrien to at first be like, “You sure? I’m kinda rusty but I think I can pull it off!” And then for Adrien to immediately dial up the dramatics the second he’s in Félix’s clothes.

I need Adrien to exaggerate all of his cousin’s traits, being over the top cryptic, cold, and snarky one moment then a dramatic showman the next. I need Adrien to visibly be having so much fun because he’s helping his cousin by making fun of him a little. I need Félix to witness Adrien’s performance and be like, “Oh no, he’s terrible, this was a mistake—” but then be absolutely wrecked by the knowledge that NOBODY is noticing a difference aside from like, Kagami and have a mini crisis of “Is this how I act?? That’s not how I act?? How are they falling for this??”

And by the end of it Adrien is like, “Y’know, that was really fun! We should do this more often, I see why you do it all the time! :D” And Félix is just sitting there. Head in hands. Grappling with this new information.

Also just:

Adrien, pulling out an absurd amount of stolen rings out of his pockets: Also what do you do with these once you’ve got them? I might’ve committed to the role a little too much.

Kagami, nodding along very seriously: Your method acting is incredible.

Félix, staring in horror: I’m not a kleptomaniac… Am I?

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

some misc Barn & Wally doodles from the past week or so <3 i heart them

[fiovske]

ngl the early s3 post-divorce pre-making up era angst of he-means-a-lot-to-me-but-if-any-of-you-ever-mention-him-in-my-presence-i-am-going-to-kill-everyone-in-this-room-and-then-myself crowley and aziraphale are gonna be delicious.and brother i am but a dickensian orphan waiting for my food to arrive

[doctorsiren]

“I’d rather take my whiskey neat, my coffee black, and my bed at three.”

[doodlingdoods]

This has been a PSA from Kazuma

[moonsnqil]

Kevin watching Jean ask Jeremy if he's okay, watching Jean offer to hold Laila's bag so she can fix her shoe, watching Jean hand Cat a granola bar before a game because she looked a little unsteady. He's not jealous, he had his time by Jean's side. Maybe it's grief. Grief for something that was never so innocent, never so untouched by cruel hands, something that could've been better if they were anyone else. Grief for something that's long passed and can never be fixed to be made better than before. He had his time at the receiving end of Jean's concerned glances. Maybe he's just a little sad that when he's at an away game, he no longer buys post cards for a friend. Maybe he just misses this person who used to always be by his side but they both knows it's better this way. Jean is happy, it's not with Kevin, and that's okay.

[saturnsconstellation]

Barty Crouch Jr would be the uncle that would rant to 6 year old Luna about his issues with Evan while she paints his nails pink and puts hello kitty hair clips to hold his hair back, and then he would 100% follow her advice.

He’d be THAT bitch and that’s why he’s Luna’s favorite. (I’m kidding) (or am I)

[scruncheduppaper]

GABRIEL: JUDGE OF HELL

(A practice sketch that accidentally turned into a whole thing)

[turtleblogatlast]

Mikey and Leo episode centered around Mikey wanting to push Leo and Draxum together since Leo’s the most reluctant to give Draxum any grace (for good reason!) But, thinking on the spot, Leo says he’s gotta go do something for Hueso and “just can’t hang out right now 😔” (yes, he says the emoji out loud.)

Mikey calls his bluff and now the three of them (Mikey having grabbed a weary Draxum along) go to Hueso’s to find that yes, he actually does have a job for him. Said job asks for Leo to go with Hueso to deliver multiple pizzas to this giant yokai quite a distance away, and Hueso figured it would probably go better with Leo’s help (emphasis on probably.)

Well, Mikey decides that this would be a great bonding opportunity for them and basically invites he and Draxum along. Unfortunately for Leo, Hueso doesn’t care enough to wave away more help, though he does side-eye the wanted criminal Baron Draxum coming with them. But who is he to judge? (This choice has consequences.)

The journey goes about as terribly as you’d expect, but at least the pizzas get delivered on time.

[ruporas]

special operatives (silly interaction beneath read more)

[ID: Digital Art in color of Trigun Maximum, characters included are Wolfwood, Elendira, and Legato in a casual meeting situation. The piece consists of orangey yellow lighting and purple shadows. Wolfwood sits on the left side, facing Elendira who’s on the right. He’s seated on a plain wooden chair with one knee up and he’s holding the strap to his Punisher in his left hand while his right sits against his thigh, He has an irritated expression as he speaks to Elendira. Elendira is sitting in a fancier seat, her right arm rests against Wolfwood’s propped up knee, her left hand holds her suitcase. She’s sitting cross legged with an amused expression. Legato can be seen in the back at the center of the image in his mobile body case, one of his eyes shown to be glaring at Wolfwood. End ID]

[ID: Sketch, uncolored comic. Elendira says to Wolfwood, “I’m not telling you to dedicate yourself to him, but just accept the situation at hand. We could get along better if we were on the same page.” Wolfwood responds, “Don’t peg me me for an optimist. I’m not dumb. But, I’m also not going to just live in resignation. Plus, I don’t have any interest in getting along with ya.” Elendira coos, “Aw, you sure? I have a wonderful shoulder to cry on when the weak people you’re trying to protect eventually dies in the coming months. Though, I guess it’s fine. Someone like you might just die before then anyway...” She snickers in her hand while Wolfwood is speechless and just glares. Legato is faintly drawn in the back, glaring at Wolfwood, muttering “worthless” repetitively. End ID]

[noodles-and-tea]

Hey there! I've said something before but now I want to say that your art is great and that you are responsible for getting me into Sherlock & co. But I have a burning question regarding your thoughts on Guy Richtie's Sherlock. Do you like it?

I actually do like it!!!

[bree-paints]

This chapter was peak dynamic for them. Back when Yuji's biggest grief in life was his slime? Apparently?