#captive best friend

[ashintheairlikesnow]

Is He Safe?

CW: Captivity, creepy whumper. For @amonthofwhump Tropeathon Day 5: Covert Identity. (Jax, as always, used with permission and oversight from @comfy-whumpee)

Takes place during Jax’s first captivity.

The Motherfucking Gallaghers Masterlist

-

The ocean sounds like it’s breathing, a constant rhythm of water against the shore. Further down the way, groups of people laugh, throw beach balls, or otherwise enjoy the brilliant sunshine and growing warmth of the day.

Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows of one of the Marcoset vacation homes, the beach is perfectly empty. Private, and privately theirs. At a white table in a white kitchen, Savvie sits, one hand laid over his, watching her best friend speak to his father on the phone. 

Jax is allowed one phone call per week, with Savvie by his side of course. She’s written out a few ideas for him on what to talk about on a little piece of paper. 

If he asks about:

How you are: Great! 

Mention foods you have eaten recently that you like

Change the subject

What you’re doing: Hanging out with friends! 

You love traveling around with me

We have a goal of seeing all fifty states! You’re really looking forward to seeing Alaska

Where you are: Tell him we’re at the beach in Florida

Seashells

Walking by the ocean

Sunshine

Talk about that concert we went to

Ask him about himself as often as possible

I will end the call if he upsets you

They’re really… optional.

Just guidelines on how to keep the conversation nice and light. He doesn’t have to use them, if he doesn’t want to, although of course he wants to. Easier, that way, it must be so much easier than trying to come up with things to talk about all on his own, right? Besides, she’s been able to keep his collar off all week here, and she’d like to not have to put it back on before they even get back home. 

Taking him out to eat and to shops feels like regular, normal life - briefly, Savvie forgets her grief over the loss of her parents, which still sometimes appears in deep waves that knock her over and leave her lying in bed weeping for a day or two on end, Jax cleaning somewhere in the house while Savvie can’t even begin to know how to go check on him or see what he’s up to. 

It doesn’t matter. He’ll just be cleaning, anyway. Unless she forgets to let him out of his room, and then he’ll just be sitting on his bed, or staring at nothing. 

“We, uh-” Jax clears his throat, and it jerks Savvie out of her reverie. She shoots him an encouraging smile, and he answers it automatically before he looks away from her again, looking out at the sea where it laps against the shore. His arm shifts under her touch, and she watches with fascination as goosebumps rise. She rubs at them, watching with delight as he shivers. His voice trembles, but only a little. His dad probably can’t hear it. “We’re in Fl-Florida, right now. Spent last week at the beach, yeah. Picking-... seashells and shit like that.”

“You picked… seashells?” There’s a note of something Savvie can’t read in Jax’s dad’s voice - he sounds almost doubtful, although it’s honestly true. Not the Florida part, but they did spend the last week at the Marcoset family beachhouse in North Carolina. Close enough. In any case, Jax absolutely spent a couple hours yesterday picking up the seashells Savvie pointed out to him, putting them into a little bag to wash and take back home. She'd even found a little bit of rock washed smooth by saltwater in the shape of a heart.

“Uh, yeah, we-... my-... my friends are into it, I guess,” Jax says, and looks at her again. She nods, and smiles, and gives his hand a little squeeze of approval. He’s doing so well. “Honestly I m-mostly just… hang out.”

“Getting a tan, then, are you?”

“B-bit of one,” Jax responds. He’s pale as a ghost, he hardly ever goes outside. When they lay out on the beach, Savvie makes him wear SPF 100+ sunscreen that lathers on as thick as chalk paste. But… his dad doesn’t need to know that either.

“Well, that’s good, then. But, Jax… these... friends of yours that you're with…”

All the conversations happen on speakerphone, but Savvie stays quiet and neither of them mention to the soft-spoken Brit on the other end that she is there. Jax knows better.

His eyes close, briefly, and then he looks steadfast out at the ocean. “They’re nice, Dad. I t-told you.”

“Right, but-”

“How’s Mam?”

The subject change isn’t done well, but his dad goes with it, answering reluctantly and allowing himself to be led away from questioning Jax’s mysterious friends. The first few times he asked, Savvie reached over and hung up the phone, and then made sure Jax didn't call him for weeks on end.

Now, Jax makes sure the wrong kind of questions stop fast. 

She isn’t forcing him to. It's not like they aren’t friends, like they aren’t on a beach trip, like he isn’t having a great time. And he can still call his dad, of course. It’s not like… a threat, or anything. Just that Jax gets so worked up, and it’s better for him to just not talk to his dad at all for a while if it’s going to cause him so much pain and worry.

That doesn’t happen anymore. Jax cuts it off before it can.

Content, Savvie curls her fingers until the tips brush against his palm, and feels his muscles twitch in response. Savvie tells herself he’s squeezing back. They’re friends now. She tells him everything, and he’s such a good listener. They go on weekly coffee dates, just as friends of course, where he sits in the sun by the window, sipping black coffee and watching Savvie as she tells him about… anything. Everything. She’s gone on three dates during this monthlong beach vacay and told him all the dirty details the morning after each one, while they wait for breakfast to be delivered from the bakery down the road.

One man she'd even brought back to the beach house, and Jax had been there, an unobtrusive presence cleaning up after breakfast that her date hadn't even asked about.

All her thoughts and feelings spill out of her with Jax, and it’s amazing. She’d been feeling so alone when her parents died, and Jax has made sure she knows she’s never, ever going to be alone again. 

He’s been such a good friend to her. And she’s been such a good friend to him in return, giving him these trips out and days off his work cleaning her house, letting him speak to his dad as long as he doesn’t start telling him lies or anything like that. Letting him come out of the shell the training place had put him into, letting him be sober most of the time instead of drugged like her uncle keeps telling her he should be.

He’s such a good friend.

He’s so good.

They’re going to be best friends for their whole lives. 

She gives his hand another little squeeze and smiles. He echoes the expression, a half-second delayed, his attention torn between her and the voice coming through the phone.

“... -coming home any time soon?” His dad asks, a little hesitantly. He’s asked that before, and Savvie’s smile briefly fades away, her brows furrowing in distaste. 

He keeps asking. 

Jax’s eyes flicker to her, searching her face for what he’s supposed to say - this isn’t written on the paper in front of him. She’d figured the old dolt would stop asking by now. She gives a slight shake of her head. 

“N-not soon, Dad, no,” Jax answers, without looking away from Savvie. The sun warms the handsome lines of his face and sets those hazel eyes to sparkling. Honestly, you could get lost in eyes like that. If she ever meets a man she wants to marry, and lets Jax date once she has someone else to spend her time with, some girl is going to fall head over heels for him just because of those pretty eyes.

She ignores a twist of some faint ugly feeling, refusing to see it as jealousy. He and his girlfriend can both work for her, that would be fine. Isaac probably has some staff he could choose from, if he wants a girlfriend or a wife. Or maybe one of the other families would have someone. Savvie would have to approve, of course. He'd have to marry someone Savvie thought was good enough for him.

Maybe she should pick someone out for him, she'd know better than he does what he needs, anyway.

“We’d like to see you,” Alfie offers, voice soft, not judging or angry. “We all miss you. Your mam, too, and your sisters-”

“I-I know, Dad.” Jax swallows. There’s a pain in his face Savvie wants so badly to soothe, to hug right out of him. She squeezes his hand again, harder this time, and he jumps a little, as if shocked back into awareness. “Sorry. You… you know h-how it is in America.”

His dad hums, noncommittal. He probably doesn’t know anything about living here, really, and Savvie can’t blame him - she knows more about Russia than she does England, and one day Jax can go with her to visit Moscow and see the ballet…

The thought makes her smile, wistful and daydreaming already about how Jax will get to see so many new things, living with her. She’ll be as good a friend to him as he’s been to her and show him so, so much…

Jax’s shoulders relax just a little bit when he sees her expression back to pleased. He chances a look back at the phone, but of course there’s nothing there but the call screen, the number, the time ticking away in seconds and minutes until Savvie tells him to say his goodbyes for another week. 

“I’ll let you know if I-I can come sometime,” Jax says. His breathing isn’t quite as steady, now. He isn’t looking at her. 

She doesn’t like him as much when he isn’t looking at her.

“Jax, are you-... are you safe?” His father’s voice softens even further, hard to hear through the phone. “Is someone keeping you from having your own phone-... I don’t know, just. We miss you. You know if you ever need to talk-”

Savvie’s eyes narrow. She leans over and firmly presses her index finger down on the red button to end the call. 

Jax exhales in a rush, looking over at her with wide eyes that look oddly hurt. She pulls the phone back to herself and turns it off in case the stupid old man calls back. 

“Don’t look at me like that,” She snaps, her good mood dissipating now, dissolving as she thinks about the question.

Are you safe?

His hands are rough, calloused and with skin that cracks and peels from the harsh chemicals that he cleans her house with. There are circles under his pretty eyes because he doesn’t sleep very well. Savvie isn’t much of a cook and the two of them mostly live on delivery and whatever can be safely popped into an oven and ignored for a while. He has scars around his neck in a little circle, like an odd reddish necklace. 

Sometimes she has him sleep in her room and she holds him, feeling the careful rise and fall of his breathing beside her. She has given him new clothes to wear when they go out and takes off his collar so no one will realize that he’s just staff. She lets him call his stupid family when Savvie should be all the family he needs, and his dad has the gall to not even be grateful for it. 

Is he safe?

What kind of question is that?

“Miss Savvie-”

“Shut up.” Jax’s mouth snaps shut, and Savvie fights a prickle of guilt, trying to tell herself it isn’t what it seems like from the outside. “Honestly, how dare he? As if I would ever let any harm come to you. How dare he!”

She throws the phone. Jax flinches when it bounces off a wall and hits the ground with a crack, shoulders hunching in an attempt at self protection. 

“He, he’s just-... w-worried, Miss Savvie-” Jax is leans away from her when she stands. She ignores it - he’s her friend, he’s not scared of her, he’s just surprised by the phone being thrown, is all. They were nasty to him at that place where he learned how to work, and he just… doesn’t like sudden movements. 

That’s all.

He knows Savvie would never really hurt him, if he’s good. 

Savvie stalks over to the fallen phone and picks it up, rolling her eyes when she sees the screen is cracked now. “Not again. Ugh, Jax, your dad drives me crazy! Maybe I should take you to see him just so he’ll stop asking all the damn time about it!”

“If-... that’s what y-you want, Miss Savvie,” Jax answers, cautiously. Savvie hates this version of him the most, where he gets quiet and barely speaks. Hates even more that it’s her own anger that made him that way.

No.

It’s his dad asking stupid questions, that’s what did it. Not Savvie’s perfectly logical response to them. 

“He… he is just awful, isn’t he?” Savvie says, voice flat and angry, setting her broken phone down on the counter. She’ll have another one delivered today. “I don’t know how you can stand to even talk to him, Jax, he’s so… rude.”

Jax is silent, now. 

That rankles even more, that he doesn’t agree with her and he doesn’t argue. He just watches her, and she can feel the weight of his eyes and usually it just means he’s listening to her but right now she’s sure it means he’s judging her. 

“Right. Well, he’s clearly stressing you out.” She straightens her shoulders, taking in a deep breath. She makes her voice cheerful and relaxed, hoping her body will follow suit. “So. Here is what we’ll do. Until I think you’re okay to talk to him without getting so worked up, then we’ll take a break from the calls, huh? Doesn’t that sound like a good idea?”

He still doesn’t answer.

His answer is not required.

Honestly, she’d just get angrier if he did answer.

Is he safe. It circles around and around in her mind. She’s the best thing that ever happened to him. She was given a cowed, frightened, silent slave to clean her home and now he’s got his own room, his own things, he’s her very best friend. He goes everywhere she goes. She hardly even lets him out of her sight. 

Is he safe?

“Get your swimsuit on,” She says, turning away and pointing towards the stairs to the second floor, watching as he hesitantly gets to his feet, watching her still. “We’re going swimming.”

“M-Miss Savvie-”

“Not one word about it, Jax. You can talk to that nasty creep again when I am damn good and ready.” She finally looks back at him. "You don't belong to him, Jax. You don't owe him anything."

“Yes, Miss Savvie.” Whatever he must see in her eyes keeps him from trying to talk it out any further. Good. 

He heads for the stairs, and she falls in just behind, running her fingers over the cracks in her phone screen, her skin catching at the edge of one, just a little.

Is he safe?

He’s the safest he’s ever been.

As long as he doesn't care about anyone else more than he cares about her. 

-

@whumpyourdamnpears @burtlederp @finder-of-rings @arlin-always-writing @wildfaewhump @whump-tr0pes @iaminamoodymoodtoday @orchidscript @sableflynn @pretty-face-breaker @raigash @whumptywhumpdump @boxboysandotherwhump @thefancydoughnut @mylifeisonthebookshelf @whumpinggrounds

[captainmaxatx]

Late Mermay idea!

Orca mer Ghost in an aquarium but he is almost always hiding and quite depressed so the aquarium decide to give him a little more enrichment.

With humans lack of mer knowledge they come to the conclusion that because orcas eat seals then surely an orca mer would eat a seal mer. They decide that during closing hours (to avoid guests seeing the blood bath that will surely follow) they will drop a live seal mer into ghosts tank so he has the natural experience of hunting instead of just being fed slabs of meet.

But mer’s don’t eat other mers, regardless of secondary species.

So when seal mer soap is dropped into his tank, ghost just thinks he’s being given a very energetic handsome roommate.

And the humans are confused as to why ghost hasn’t eaten the seal mer yet

[tsukiyo-7]

Something I absolutely adore about the Captive Prince fandom is the Nikandros x Jord pairing that is based almost purely on the fact that they're both Tired™ and Deserve Better™ and they're second in command/best friend to a couple of insufferable dumbass kings.

[dontyoulistentome]

Reading the second Bloodright Trilogy book and I just know the Captive Prince girlies* would love Bonds of Brass

*gender neutral

[aurorawest]

Bargain of Blood and Gold by Kristin Jacques - 3.75/5 stars

Reminiscent of Jordan L Hawk's Widdershins series, but with vampires and werewolves. Also takes place in Maine, which isn't a very common setting. Unwittingly, I bought the second book in the series months ago, and I realized as it got to the top of my TBR that I didn't have the first book! I had to scramble to order it and I was happy I enjoyed it since, obviously, I already have the second book.

Ander & Santi Were Here by Jonny Garza Villa - DNF at pg 2

Captive Prince by CS Pacat (reread) - 5/5 stars

Prince's Gambit by CS Pacat (reread) - 5/5 stars

Kings Rising by CS Pacat - 5/5 stars

I think I loved these books even more on my reread.

Gravity by Tal Bauer - 4.25/5 stars

Probably my favorite hockey romance that I've read.

The Modern Mythos Anomaly by Juniper Lake Fitzgerald - DNF at pg 132

I actually liked the story, the characters, and the writing in general, but this book just needed another few edits to slim it down a bit.

Lose You to Find Me by Erik J Brown - 4.5/5 stars

Leeward by Katie Daysh - 4.5/5 stars

The blurbs on this book are hilarious, because they're all like, tall ships people, and then Mackenzi Lee, hailing it as a lovely queer historical romance. This was a really lovely book and I'm excited for the sequel. Also hoping for more kissing in the sequel since this was a serious slow burn.

Riley Weaver Needs a Date to the Gaybutante Ball by Jason June - 3.75/5 stars

Starseer by Katya Hernández - 4/5 stars

Be Dazzled by Ryan La Sala - 5/5 stars

I loved this book so much!! Oh my god. Super funny, very romantic. It revolves around cosplay which is of course a special interest of mine.

Northranger by Rey Terciero and Bre Indigo - 4.5/5 stars

Flying Without a Net by EM Ben Shaul - 2.75/5 stars

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley (reread) - 5/5 stars

Striking Distance by Sarah Rees Brennan - 4.75/5 stars

I didn't expect to like this as much as I did. The graphic novels were good but changing to a novel format allowed for much deeper characters. Surprisingly devastating and also really funny.

The Old Haunts by Allan Radcliffe - 4/5 stars

The Gay Best Friend by Nicholas DiDomizio - 5/5 stars

Main character is the best friend of both the bride and the groom, and everything surrounding the wedding becomes a train wreck beginning on the weekend of the bachelor party, when the bride asks the MC, Dom, to keep tabs on the groom for her. As someone who is extremely conflict avoidant with friends but not family and romantic partners, I heavily related to Dom. There's also a romance that I really loved.

Romance Languages by AJ Truman - 4.25/5 stars

I think this was my favorite of the South Rock series. It deals with some more difficult topics—Julian's self-loathing over his body image is heartbreaking (and relatable), and Seamus's guilt over the way his gambling addiction hurt his ex was very well done. I'm a sucker for stories where a character learns to ask for help, not to mention difficult parent-child relationships, and this had both. I also appreciated Julian's arc re: sex and virginity.

Darkhearts by James L Sutter - 5/5 stars

Another bandmates-in-love treasure, with a twist—the main character, David, left the band right before they got famous. He ends up falling for one of his ex-friends/bandmates after they reconnect. The author is a musician himself, and it definitely shows (in a good way). I'm really a sucker for The Burdens of Fame, which this book definitely had, but there's actually a really good arc for David and how he deals with his jealousy and resentment over being left behind. Plus he wants to be a carpenter rather than go to college, which was cool.

Brute by Kim Fielding - 4.25/5 stars

We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian - 5/5 stars

What can I say about this book? Why was it so lovely? Why did it make me feel so much? Why can I not rate things higher than 5 stars? It's a million stars in my heart. Aside from just being a gorgeous mid-century America m/m romance (my favorite), this one features an Italian-American main character. The stuff with Nick's family was spot-on. I just loved this book. I felt like I was wrapping myself in a big, comfy, historical gay romance blanket.

Drowned Country by Emily Tesh - 5/5 stars

The sequel to Silver in the Wood. Had a very mythic and sort of folk horror vibe. This one is from Henry Silver's POV instead of Tobias Finch's and takes place two years after Silver in the Wood, which is time that Henry has mostly spent sulking in Greenhollow Hall, sans Tobias. Really highly recommend this duology. Emily Tesh is a treasure.

The Alchemy of Moonlight by David Ferraro - DNF at pg 11

[necrophilemagpie]

as much as i love the idea of fan kids in media with immortals in it[and i do find peoples fankid ocs generally fun], i don't think Integra would do that even adopted even whatever, at least not intentionally.

I gotta be real, I don't think she'd want to do that to Alucard unless there Really isn't another choice. One would assume he is bound to the bloodline/inheritance line and another heir is kind of just... extending the capacity of this to hurt him for at least another generation.

Unless the powers that be threaten to do something bigger than him otherwise, Integra, who seems to have intentionally picked the under-equipped for the position and non-related Penwood jr to get the organization after her death, her plan here is pretty clear. She wouldn't have a 'real' heir if she can help it because she wants Alucard free of the bond after her, she wants to be the last person with the capacity to take away his autonomy like that.

none of the characters in this show are good people exactly, but I do think she feels a kind of remorse for both her family's past likely uncountable abuse towards him, and personally for perhaps overstepping a boundary or two. because that just Will Happen if you have that kind of 100% control over someone.

Legit, that's why you rarely hear her specify something as an 'order' even when he obviously acts out, only in real key moments/after their back and forth they do for that. I genuinely do not think she likes to use the full extent of the power she has over him, just more so fill that role in his life so he feels... comfortable for a lack of a better word? There is fun powerful and there is 'this is something my father would do to you' and i reckon hard orders are a lot more of the latter

i don't think she'd trust an heir or a potential heir's heir to tell the difference.

partially because i don't know how much she trusts herself to.

[mrwooglewogle]

[ninicaise]

I love your posts so much! I’m curious, what do u think would be Laurent and Damen’s thoughts on open relationships, do u think it’s something they would try?

interesting question. i've made it into a joke already in this post and also there are these fantastic tags from @/not-a-coral-snake and it's the best thing ever so true so funny so them.

it's quite evident laurent has no interest in being with anyone other than damen. furthermore we don't see damen being interested in anyone ever again after he has a night with laurent + it makes both of them very jealous when they see or think about the other with someone else. so at least in the universe they're in i doubt they'd be genuinely interested in that kind of relationship. know that if they ever tried it they'd be miserable, and in an easy happy peaceful world they wouldn't even think about it.

unfortunately these people do not live in an easy happy peaceful world. it's inevitable that they at least discuss the possibility. however the only way i could see them having an open relationship agreement is through some sort of misunderstanding of each other's needs.

there's the fact that at least akielos is a culture in which people and esp nobles are expected to have multiple lovers/a harem. laurent goes above and beyond and a bit too much when trying to compensate for something he did (trying to die for damen for example) and i think for a certain period of time he would be respectful of akielon culture to the point of being too much. forcing damen's own culture onto damen himself, kind of thing.

it's likely damen has had open relationships in the past (jokaste anyone). he knows how they work, he grew up knowing it to be a natural thing, he knows that as king he is expected to have a variety of lovers. and likely in any other circumstance he would. he just isn't interested unless laurent is involved. damen hates the idea tbh but he will give laurent what he wants bc he thinks well. maybe laurent wants to explore his sexuality a little more with more people who aren't damen after years of repressing it (he doesn't) and if he is insisting so much then he must have a good reason (objectively he doesn't).

plus, and i think this one is the most likely, laurent knows he's not exactly an easy lover. ppl overestimate the amount of both self-respect and self-confidence laurent has wayyy to often. laurent is canonically insecure about anything sex related and a future-oriented control freak, so he'd try to have control over any affair damen might have if at some point laurent stops being enough by ensuring he will be able to claim that he knew all along, that laurent was the one who allowed it, laurent was in control the whole time. kind of like with th i know who you are damianos thing. i've known all along. i know you'll get tired of how complicated i am eventually i know everything i am prepared for every possible outcome you can't catch me chaos of this world etc etc.

it's not that he can tolerate the idea of damen being w other ppl, it's just that he thinks he has to tolerate it bc 1) he doesn't deserve a say 2) the alternative (damen getting tired, feeling trapped and leaving altogether) is way worse 3) he thinks it will happen eventually anyway and this is the only way he can remain dignified. or so he thinks. lol. this mindset is of course unhealthy. so he should work on that.

[fisheito]

I forgot my stylus at home

Anyway here's a phone finger drawing of Guard Wolf Karu

[belong2human-kind]

Guys, I made my best friend watch Ahsoka. Guys I made her like it WAY MORE THAN I EXPECTED GUYS, IM SO HAPPY TO DISCUSS MY CRAZY STUFF WITH HER!! I used to already do in the past, but she would be like "yeah aham sure girl, no idea what you talking about but I agree with ya" and now she JUST FREAKS OUT WITH ME TOO OMG

She is SO OBSESSED WITH SABINE (AND SHIN TOO) YAAAASSS

Also, she loves hates Ezra due to his annoying way of being a sweet Disney princess w/ abilities to attract and talk to any type of animals LSODKFOFKFOG He's getting himself a spot into her heart and I love that

[lightasthesun]

merthur love confession but make it river song style!!!

When you love the Doctor, it's like loving the stars themselves. You don't expect a sunset to admire you back! And if I happen to find myself in any danger, let me tell you... the Doctor isn't stupid enough or sentimental enough and he is certainly not in love enough to find himself standing in it with me...

River is Merlin. Merlin is River. Arthur is the Doctor.

[aoitakumi8148]

...I’d make you look, I’d make you lie, I’d take the coldness from your eyes...

𝐵𝓊𝓉 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒯𝑜𝓁𝒹 𝑀𝑒: ‘𝓘𝓯 𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓛𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝓜𝓮, 𝓛𝓮𝓽 𝓘𝓽 𝓓𝓲𝓮’.

[v.1-v.6] Some gaps left to fill in ✏/✏ The answers would not have any weight on the LO𝓟 content.

The Law 𝟘. I thought I'd somehow learn something that'd drastically change the way I feel about... quite the opposite. More questions now to Venigni, Sofia and Manus, rather than to...

What Is The Principle Of ‘Communication Through Ergo Wave Lengths’?

What Is The ‘Ergo Amplification’ Effect?

Is Romeo's ‘Deal With The Devil’ About Becoming A Puppet?

What Is The Interval Between The ‘Deal’ & The ‘Experiment’?

Does The Creator Still Work With The Organization? 𝒫.𝒮. It Is Coherent On A Short-Term Basis, ‘Former Colleagues’ [+ Before The KD]. Systematically? Doubtful. Why Would He? If Not Only As A ‘Compulsory Measure’. ✒ The Creator And Manus' Goals/Views Are Fundamentally Conflicting. ✒ & His Skeptical Attitude is Plausible, Persuasive. ✒ Not To Mention The Leader Of [The Alchemists] ‘Praise[s]’ The PD. 𝒫.𝒮. Which Exactly Causes Carlo's Death.

Rhetorical Question. Why Admonish 𝓟? ‘Read’ Geppetto's Mind? Think You Know? Leave It Be.

A plan that is complicated to proceed, a combination of provoked events and ‹fortunate› circumstances, generating one genius technician's intention growing stronger each day... or all at once. It matters not.

Despite everything he observes, discovers, hears from others, the boy is eager to be with Geppetto, to reconcile x make him happy. Even at the cost of his life, even if that happiness will not be theirs. 𝓟's Creator, his Trigger, his Father gave him the reason to. The reason to feel like a real human. Because of the man's craft, he regrettably missed the time for Carlo in the past, but it's 𝓟's present that does define him... Our crippling, gentle, disorienting, astonishing present.

LO𝓟 is a great writer's philosophically fond tale taken by great minds & implemented in the form of melodious x glamorous ideality, NOT destined to burn the ‹core› of this tale to dust. Something that intense cannot be an illusion.

...With the full force of a dying star ~ I will find you, If you’re near or far, wherever you are...

[tiabwwtws-art]

My lines were fighting me, so epi's lacking some of his

[moldy-flowers]

Taking Naruto scenes out of context then stripping it down to like its bare essentials is so funny to me.

Ah man remember that one birth scene where the president saved a baby from a bomb with his lightning knives?

[riftdancing]

Pepper, where is your brain this morning...?

• hot pepper tuna ♪ hot pepper tuna ♪ hot pepper tuna? ♪ hot pepper tuna. •

[ashintheairlikesnow]

Too Late

CW: Implied captivity/isolation, referenced ankle bracelet, shock collar (it’s on his ankle but still), creepy whumper, friendly whumper

The Motherfucking Gallaghers Masterlist

Written for @amonthofwhump day 6: Too late. Jax Gallagher belongs to @comfy-whumpee and is used with permission. Takes place about midway through Jax’s first captivity.

-

Melody leans forward on her elbows, looking over the counter towards the large window at the front of the shop. “What do you think?”

Paulo looks at her, then follows her gaze. Nearly silhouetted in front of the window, against the backdrop of the people walking by with their shopping bags and laughter, are two people sitting at a small table. A woman and a man, early to mid-twenties maybe. The woman’s come in before, with friends or dates, but the guy… the guy, they’ve never seen before.

“What do you mean?”

“Look at them. Does something seem... weird to you?”

Paulo narrows his eyes, taking a closer look. The woman has a wealth of gorgeous curly brown hair, pulled back from her face with a clip, waterfalling down her back nearly to her waist. She’s some kind of violinist - Melody’s mom knows who she is and just about freaked with excitement when she saw her once, had her autograph a CD, but Melody can’t remember her name.

Our own hometown celebrity, as if a violinist counted.

The woman leans hands on her coffee cup, speaking with enthusiasm to the man sitting across from her. 

The woman, she just looks like anyone else having a nice Saturday morning out. She’s got burgundy lipstick on and wears a matching shoulder that slips off one shoulder to reveal a camisole strap, cute bootcut blue jeans, cute shoes. she looks drop-dead gorgeous, could be a model, even. Big wide eyes, and Melody thinks she remembers them being really, really blue. The kind where people think you’re blind sometimes, because people have no idea what blind looks like and just make shit up. 

It’s the man that’s harder to get a read on.

He’s thin, not model-thin but doesn’t-eat-enough thin. Good-looking, but like he’s had a really rough couple of years. His hands are on his coffee cup, too, but he rarely takes a sip and only then it’s like he forgot the coffee was there until just that second. His eyes are on the woman’s face, taking her in, but there’s a lack of expression about him that makes Melody wonder if he’s even listening.

He’s got a turtleneck on - weird, since it’s sort of unseasonably warm, but maybe he just likes it - and a nice pair of jeans, slim-fit, that he seems distinctly uncomfortable in. When he shifts a little, the hem of his jeans rides up, and between his too-white, barely-used tennis shoes and the shadow of his leg she catches sight of something that makes her look closer.

The man’s eyes shift, and briefly meet hers.

Then he looks right back to the woman. It’s not even noticeable, not really, except that Melody had been blatantly staring at him. She turns bright red, face burning, and turns away. “Oh my god, he saw me looking. He’s going to think I’m such a fucking creep.”

“Oh, shit, there’s gonna be a one-star review on Google if his friend figures that out,” Paulo says, still good-humored as always. “She’s a monster. She’s in here all the time, she’s one of those that makes sixteen million ‘quirky’ little changes and then yells if you forget even one. Like, Lady, this isn’t a goddamn Starbucks. Still… you’re right. Something’s up with them. Like, look at his hair.”

Melody nods and makes a show of cleaning something along the espresso machine, taking quick little sidelong glances while she does, focusing on the guy’s spiky auburn hair. It’s patchy, like he lost all of it and it’s growing back in but it hasn’t quite remembered how yet. She wrinkles her nose. “That could be chemo, though, right? Hair loss, weight loss… my sister looked kind of like that after hers.”

“Nah, that’s not chemo hair. Also-”

“His ankle, right?” She drops to a whisper. “Something’s on his ankle.”

Paulo raises one eyebrow at her while wiping clean a water glass. “I was going to say he looks like he’s high on something. His ankle, Melody? Seriously? It’s probably just-”

“No, it’s not his fucking sock, Paulo, look.”

Paulo hums, and just at that second the guy shifts around, the leg of his pants moving up more than before. As if he knows they’re looking, although his eyes stay on the woman now, listening to her speak with perfect focus. Or pretending to. Man, the guy looks exhausted. Paulo takes a look and then nods. “Yep,” he mutters. “That’s an ankle bracelet.”

“Like…”

“Like for DUIs. Like the kind that track where you go, and send the cops out if you go too far or try to mess with it.”

“Huh. Maybe he’s her friend or cousin or something, out of prison? Got a tracker for parole?”

“Maybe… I don’t think so. I think you’re right, something’s… fishy. Hm.” Paulo sighs, leaning his chin on one hand. “He’s not saying anything, have you noticed? She does all the talking, and there’s a lot of talking. But he’s not even… making those noises you make to show you’re listening. Just… staring at her.”

The guy picks up his coffee cup, and his hands are all red, red enough to see from this far across the room. Irritated, like he’s had them up to his elbows in buckets of bleach. Just then, some people come in, the door blowing open and setting the little bell to jingling. Melody watches the guy flinch.

“Something’s really, really wrong,” She mutters.

Paulo and Melody handle the new customers, a group of six who all want a different kind of latte - easy enough, and it’s a zen thing for Melody. She disappears into the simple action of add syrup, brew espresso, steam milk, pour and hand. It’s like meditation for her, and there’s a reason she loves this job so much. 

“I’m going to talk to him,” She decides, voice firm, as the last drinks are set on the counter. She turns to look-

They’re gone, the doorbell jingling as they walk out. The guy never even looks back over his shoulder.

“Damn,” Paulo mutters. “We’re too late. I got a photo of him, though. Look at this, I do this little trick-” He shows her his cell phone, and Melody stares as he uploads the photo he’d taken - zoomed in on the guy’s face - and searches for similar images.

The first thing that comes up in some photos from some old Instagram, of a guy in a band. It’s a little filtered and blurred, but it sure looks like the same guy. Melody nods, but it’s the photo after that that catches her eye.

It’s a news site photo. The image looks a little older, but it’s someone looking into the camera without quite smiling, and it’s definitely the same damn guy. She has absolutely no doubt. He has more weight around his face in the photo, and his hair isn’t half-grown, but it’s him. 

Desperate search for missing Manchester man continues…

“Manchester… this is British. This is the Mirror.” Melody leans around Paulo and taps the photo, bringing up the article. Her chest feels cold and tight as she quickly scans the text. Months after his disappearance, Jackson Gallagher’s father and mother keep the search for their son alive despite a lack of evidence… Jackson’s father is certain foul play is involved… “He would never go so long without contacting us-”

“That woman he was with, that’s one of the Marcosets, right?” Paulo’s lips barely move. “That family that has the, like, huge house out behind Starkwood? They basically own everything in this town that doesn’t rely on tourism. Isaac Marcoset is basically the town mayor without the title or something.”

“... yeah, Marcoset sounds right. My mom loves her albums, she plays violin. Why?”

“Well, haven’t you heard about the Marcosets?” Paulo raises an eyebrow. “They keep people.”

“You mean like…” Melody touches her hand to her throat, thinking of the guy’s unseasonable warm turtleneck. 

“Yeah. Supposedly Isaac Marcoset has a Box Boy, and people say the rest of their servants aren’t, uh, paid, if you get my drift. There’s like a ton of gossip about it.”

“No way. If that was true, a cop or something would go investigate and free them-”

Paulo actually laughs, shaking his head. “I would love to have your upbringing. The cops, help? Nah. What they’ll do is get paid off by Isaac Marcoset to do absolutely nothing about it, or find no proof that anything bad is happening in a perfect clean house. Rumor has it the Marcosets always know when the cops are coming.” Paulo shrugs. 

Melody catches sight of the woman’s head of hair, moving into a shop across the street, the man just behind her, trailing like a puppy without a leash.

Unless the ankle bracelet is the leash.

Melody steps back, fingers going to the ties to her apron, yanking at the knot ineffectually. “I’m going to ask him myself.”

“Melody-”

“If he’s some cousin on parole or whatever, he’ll tell me, right? You can handle it, right? Right, you can handle it. Thanks, Paulo.” She goes up on her toes to kiss his cheek even as he rolls his eyes.

“Be careful!” He calls after her as she runs out the door, customers looking up startled as she goes, the door banging into the wall and rattling the bell like Melody’s nerves as she races across the street. A car horn honks - she ignores it. 

But when she gets into the store, she discovers the woman isn’t there. She left out the back door, the customer service rep says, bright and cheerful and pretending not to be perturbed by the sudden entrance of the half-panicked young woman with pink hair. Ms. Marcoset is in a hurry today.

Melody feels her stomach sink.

She heads out the back door herself, wondering at the store with a back door, and her shoes crunch on loose gravel wearing away from the pavement in a little parking lot. The spots are all full, except for one.

Even as she watches, a small red sports car pulls into the space. 

Melody looks up and sees that head of brown hair, the spiky auburn beside it, in a sleekly expensive silver something-or-other - probably a fucking Lexus, why not. The car pulls away down the road, and Melody can’t quite see the license plate.

She fishes her cell phone out of her pocket, thinking about what Paulo said.

They always know the cops are coming before they arrive.

She makes the call anyway.

They don’t even write down that she called.

-

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