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imagines-r-s · 4 years ago

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sticking it - j. farabee

chapter 3

a/n: um, so, here’s this. enjoy it. there’s not much to say, just that this is super cute tbh and that farabee definitely knows his Megan :))

taglist: @butgilinsky @barbienoturbby @sunsetholland @lovenhlboys @sortagaysortahigh @hockey-racing-fubol @oopsiedoopsie23 @iwantahockeyhimbo @bbbbruins (if you want to be added, just let me know)

warnings: fluff, this chapter has a lot to do with mental toughness of an athlete, swearing, nothing else i can think of

sticking it masterlist

wc: 3.0k

BZ: hey, i’m outside whenever you’re ready

You grabbed your gym bag and made your way downstairs, finding Joel standing outside his car holding a smoothie and granola bar, “I figured coffee might not be the best thing for you right before practice, so I’m hoping you like smoothies.”

“You might be surprised how many times I made that mistake when I was younger,” you added walking closer to him, watching as he opened the door for you, “oh wow, a true gentleman.”

“I have to get on your good side. Especially if I want to see you in my jersey again,” he said before shutting your door, “do you have good music taste?”

“I like to think I do?”

“Ok, well you seem somewhat confident with that answer, so you can have aux if you want,” he handed over his phone that was already opened to Spotify. Unsure of what he would like, you decide to put on your pre-practice hype playlist that featured Kendrick Lamar, Childish Gambino, Chance the Rapper, and Meg Thee Stallion.

Deciding to just hit shuffle, ‘Captain Hook’ by Megan Thee Stallion was the first to play. You expect Bee to just sit there and let you play your music without objection, but you were shocked when you heard him say, “real hot girl shit.”

“Do you know the whole song or just that?” but as he continued to sing the rest of the song, with the obvious censorship, you were shocked to say the least, “wasn’t expecting that one.”

“I love Meg, not even going to lie to you,” Joel said, shrugging his shoulders.

“Don’t we all, don’t we all.”

Eventually the two of you made it to your gym, Joel bidding you a quick farewell and waited for you to get in the building before driving away. As soon as you entered the gym, you put your gym bag in your locker and joined Nicole and your other teammates on the floor. “Ok, ladies. For warm up today, we’ll be doing 15 minutes of running outside, two ab circuits, and two rope climbs. Nicole and y/n, we need to speak with you right after.”

“Not the ‘Nicole and y/n, we need to speak with you’,” Nicole said, getting her running shoes on.

“I’m more concerned about the cardio, babe,” you said, grabbing your running shoes from your gym bag.

The two of you were the first ones to finish the run, doing your ab circuits and rope climbs as quickly as possible, and went straight to Michelle and Marcus. “Alright, so, your performances at the American Cup were amazing and we’re super proud of you both. But with there being about two months until the US Classics, we want to make sure both of you are practicing safe routines, and safe landings especially,” Marcus said.

“Right now, we just want you two to get a few full out routines a week and marking the rest. Obviously, we will dedicate time to our dismounts and tumbling, etc., it’s just not safe to be going all out and overworking yourselves,” Michelle added,”Nicole, you’re free to go, you’ll be starting on bars with Coach Collins.”

Once Nicole had left, both Marcus and Michelle looked towards you, Marcus being the first one to break the silence, “we assume you heard about Kathryn working the dismount?”

Simply nodding in response, Michelle quickly spoke up,”look, we’re going to be honest with you right now. There is a possibility she isn’t going to compete it and just posted it to scare you, but we do know that you have been cleared to work on twisting dismounts, we just want you to start off doing a single full and the highest you’ll go this week is double twists. We’ll continue working towards the triple and eventually the 3.5, but we’re going slow and most won’t be an actual landing.”

“We have a plan in place we think will work, but you have to follow the plan. It’ll only work if you agree to pace yourself correctly,” Marcus added.

“So, we’ll start week 1 of 8, easing back into twisting. So, twisting drills, lots of twisting into the pit, but we stick with just doing fulls. Week 2 of 8, is going to be starting to work on twisting off the beam, we will just stick with 1-1.5 twists, maybe try a double, but nothing more. Week 3, is going to be getting doubles consistently, and maybe try a 2.5. Week 4, is consistent 2.5 twists and try more drills to get the triple twisting back. Week 5, we do the triples for real and getting them consistent. Week 6 will be working on getting back to doing 3.5 twisting. Week 7 and 8, will have less focus on beam and just work on getting everything else consistently in time for the Classic,” Michelle told you, showing the board that had all of this marked on there.

“Keep in mind, we are just working on getting the dismount back, but that doesn’t mean you only do beam, we have to do other events, too. And you have to follow this plan, do you understand?”

“Yeah, I understand,” you replied.

“Alright, today you start on floor and end on beam.”

…..

The first week was easy enough, you were just doing drills that you had been doing since you were younger, but you knew these next two months would not be as easy as you wanted them to be. Eventually, you had to start working towards the actual dismount. With week two, it was a lot harder than you expected. Although you were doing a skill you had had for years, the idea of doing anything similar to what hurt you still scared you.

Once you were able to get your single twists back consistently, it was onto adding more twists. By week three, you were working on double twists, which was something you used to do as warm-up and now here you were standing at the edge of the beam, unable to move towards the landing mat on the other side. You knew that if you didn’t get it at some point this week, it would push back the plan, which was something you couldn’t afford.

Somehow you got past doubles and 2.5, working triples by week 5. Week 5 consisted of doing the dismount into the pit, which was something you were able to do, but you were stuck in the same spot as you moved onto week 6.

At the start of week 6, Kevin took note of how you were getting home later than he was even after his practice. He took note that you seemed a lot less excited about going to practice, hardly talking to anyone, other than a few spare texts here and there. “Kev, you still planning on coming to the lake with us this weekend?” Carter asked, as the team headed back to the locker room.

“Yeah, I think so. I have to make sure y/n/n is okay though. She’s been overworking herself again and we all know what happened last time she did that,” Kevin replied. He was familiar with how you were able to invest so much time into your sport, and although he was happy that you were able to after so long, he knew that it could be your downfall.

“If she wants to take time off, there are enough rooms at the condo, she’s welcome to come. Plus, I’ll ask Teeks to bring Karly, so she has someone there,” Carter offered.

Kevin appreciated the offer, but he still felt bad. This was a ‘guys’ weekend that had been planned months ahead of time, but he also knew it was an amazing option for you to come and be away from the gym. “Check with the other guys first. I would feel awful ruining the plans we have.”

“Yeah, of course, I’ll ask them as soon as I can and let you know,” Carter answered just as Nolan, Travis, Morgan, and Joel walked into the locker room. He quickly called them over, “Ok, so Kev noticed that y/n/n has been overworking herself and is worried about leaving her here, would it be cool if she came with us? I already offered, but he wanted to make sure it was cool with you guys.”

A series of yes’ echoed through the group. “I can see if Karly wants to come, too, just so y/n/n doesn’t have to deal with all of us by herself,” Travis added, “I can tell Beezer is a little bit too happy about this one.” The group turned towards Joel, who was now sporting a huge smile on his face.

“Listen, I just like spending quality time with my team and their family. Team bonding, you know,” Joel replied.

“Mhm, that’s definitely it,” Nolan said rolling his eyes, “don’t forget the PowerPoint.”

As Kevin left the rink, he checked the time and realized now was the time that you were usually at lunch, he decided to head to the gym to talk to Michelle and Marcus. “Ah, Kevin, it’s so good to see you. Congrats on a good season so far,” Marcus stood up from his desk to shake Kevin’s hand.

“I need to ask something. I know y/n has been overworking and it’s concerning me. Now, I get if this might not be a mutual concern, but if it is, I wanted to ask if she could have the weekend off?” Kevin said.

“Oh my god, please get her out of here. I know if we let her, she would sleep here, but right now, she needs to play it safe or else she’ll get hurt,” Michelle said as she walked through the office door towards the pair.

“Would the lake be playing it safe or no?”

“As long as she doesn’t follow after you and your friends, she’s making somewhat smart choices,” Marcus said.

“That’s valid, I respect it. I’m coming to pick her up from here tomorrow morning during her private lesson with you guys,” Kevin said, to which both of your coaches nodded.

After making some more small talk with your coaches, Kevin made his way back down to the parking lot, running into just the right person, “Nicole, I need a favor.”

“Oh, hey, Kev. How are you? I’m great, thank you for asking. What’s up?”

“Can you possibly sneak into y/n’s apartment tomorrow while she’s at her private lesson and pack her a bag for a four day trip to the lake?”

“Oh, thank God, you’re getting her out of here. And yeah, of course. She’ll get here at 7, so what time do you plan on leaving your place?”

“Well, she’s supposed to be here til 10, so I’ll leave at like 8:30, so just drop the bag off at mine?”

“Yeah, that works. I’ll see you then.”

…..

Shortly after you left for practice, Nicole made her way to your apartment. You had given her a spare, so she had a way in. She quickly grabbed all your hair stuff, a toothbrush and toothpaste, and then 5 outfits, 4 swimsuits, socks, shoes, and anything else she thought you might need.

She made sure to water your plants before leaving towards Kevin’s apartment. Knocking on the door, Nolan was the one to answer, “Hey, Nic.”

“Hey, Nol. I come bearing gifts - well if you consider all my friends stuff I took from her apartment to give her a break from her stubborn self - then Merry Christmas.”

“Nicole, thank you so much. I owe you one,” Kevin said as he rounded the corner.

“Don’t worry about it, I’m here to help her out,” Nicole stated simply,”her chargers are in the side pockets and everything else is in the main part of the bag. Ok, I have to go now, have fun this weekend.”

Nolan and Kevin got the rest of their necessities together before jumping into Kevin’s car and heading to your gym. Michelle was the one to let the pair into the gym, having locked the doors for the private lesson.

They took their time, watching as you were working on some drills with Marcus, but when Marcus’ eyes found Kevin’s he stopped what he was doing. “Hey, look. You’ve been working yourself a little bit too hard recently, so we’re letting you take this weekend off,” Marcus said, guiding you towards Nolan and Kevin.

“I don’t need time off, I’m fine. I- what are they doing here?”

“You’re going with them to the lake for the weekend,” Marcus continued guiding you closer to them, knowing you would try to make a run for it.

“Hey, y/n, we have a bag packed for you already, so c’mon,” Nolan said, calmly.

“I’m not going,” you protested.

“You’re going,” Kevin said, walking closer to you before picking you up and throwing you over his shoulder. Nolan picked up your gym bag from the ground and followed behind Kevin.

“Guys, what the hell? This is like kidnapping or something?”

“We love you,” you heard Michelle say as Kevin made his way out of the gym with you on his shoulder. As soon as you got to the car, Nolan opened the backseat doors and Kevin pushed you in there. You assumed that as soon as they left you would be able to just open the door and run, but you were quickly denied that option when you saw that the child locks were still on.

“The child locks? Seriously?”

“We knew you’d run. C’mon, your coaches said you needed to stop working so hard, so it’s not just us saying it. Now we have about a four hour drive, so I say either sleep or just go on your phone, but please just take this time off peacefully,” Kevin said.

“How am I supposed to do this peacefully when you kidnapped me?”

“Ok, well, that sucks. But Karly is coming too, so you can rant to her when you get there.”

“Bee will be there, too,” Nolan interjected.

“Thanks for the warning.”

“Don’t act all tough, sweetie. Not all of us are blind,” Nolan said, looking towards Kev.

“I’m not blind, I just choose to ignore it,” Kevin replied.

…..

“So, you and y/n, huh?” Karly asked Joel while Travis and Carter were over by the grill, Morgan still inside unpacking.

“I mean I don’t know,” Joel responded honestly.

“Do you want there to be?” Karly quickly took note of the slight blush and small smile that gathered on his face.

“I wouldn’t object, if that says anything,”Karly laughed at the fact that both of you had similar responses to the same question, “what? Did I say something bad?”

“No, hun, no. You both are just a lot alike, that’s all. I think you’d be good for her though, she deserves something good in her life.”

“Yeah, I agree with you on that one,” Joel said, hearing his phone go off, “oh, guys, they’re here, but they need help with their bags.”

As the boys made their way outside to go help with bags, Karly waited inside for you to come in, only to see Kevin carrying your sleeping form with Joel following close behind with your bag.

“Awe, babe. Did you see Bee carrying y/n/n’s bag? That’s so cute,” Karly said when Travis returned.

“Awe, babe, how come you never carry my bag?” Travis said, only earning an elbow to the rib from Karly.

“y/n has been out most of the way home, so we honestly don’t know when she’ll be up,” Nolan said, walking towards the pair.

…..

Shortly after dinner was served, the group made their way close to the deck, Joel quickly finding a spot on the hammock after pushing Morgan off. Travis and Karly sitting near the edge of the water, Morgan sitting right next to the hammock near his best friend, and Nolan, Carter, and Kevin standing and talking.

You had woken up in the familiar room of the condo, quickly changing into comfier clothes and attempting to find the others in the house. When you saw that the house was silent, you quickly came to the assumption that everyone was near the docks, so you got a bottle of water and made your way over there.

“Ah, sleeping beauty has finally arrived,” Travis said, seeing you make your way towards the group.

“Fuck off, dude,” you yawned, “I was tired.”

“Awe, poor baby,” Joel said from the hammock, earning an eye roll from you.

“Bee, you’re in my usual spot right now, I would watch it if I were you.”

“You’re free to join me,” he said, a smirk evident in his voice.

“Oh, wow, the girls are fighting,” Morgan’s voice could be heard from beside the hammock.

You eventually made your way over to the hammock after those on the deck started their conversation up again, “Bee, can I sit by you?”

“Awe, babe, I am going to need to speak up,” Joel said, cockily.

“I’m not doing that again,” you said, walking towards the hammock and quickly pushing the hammock to the side, which caused him to fall out, “awe, babe, it looks like you fell.”

You quickly got back up on the hammock, expecting him to push you over the way you did him, but were shocked when he simply laid right on top of you, his head on your chest and arms wrapping around you, “plot twist,” he said, softly.

“Your face is in my boobs right now,” you stated, causing him to lift his head to look at you, you kept one of your feet towards the ground to keep the hammock moving.

“Your heart started beating faster when I laid down, so either you’re about to have a heart attack or I make you nervous. But honestly, if you want me to move though, I will.”

“No, no. You’re fine,” you spoke softly as he rested his head against your chest once more, your hand finding its way towards his head to play with his hair.

“Hey, we are still over here by the way,” Kevin yelled towards you two.

“Kev, stop. They’re adorable, let them be,” Karly quickly scolded him.

“I’m just going to move, so that way I’m not third wheeling again,” Morgan grumbled.

#sticking it #joel farabee #joel farabee x reader #joel farabee imagines #philadelphia flyers #nhl imagines #nhl imagine #hockey imagines #hockey imagine #joel farabee x gymnast!reader

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smoljoelito · 5 years ago

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Congrats on 200!! 🔥🔥 you’re amazing and this ship idea is so creative. I hope I’m not too late jumping on this lol So I’m 5’1, long brown hair, green eyes, light skin. I’m an ENTP. Cancer sun, Sagittarius Moon and Rising. Fluent in sarcasm and Spanish 😂 I love to go to the gym and be active. I like exploring new places and activities. I love to listen to all different kinds of music, not a part in my day where music isn’t in the back ground. Again, you’re AMAZING 🤗🤗

Thank you so much wow!

Lover ship: Joel! Since you’re an extrovert and he’s an introvert, you two would balance each other well, and your horoscope agrees! At first, Joel would not understand your sarcasm, especially if it’s directed towards him LOL. He’d also love that you’re fluent in Spanish, which would make him 10/10 wanna introduce you to his family right away. Gym dates are a must as well! When you’re not in school or working, he’d take you on tour with him to travel and you guys would always go on little adventures if you have time. Expect lots of music in your lives, pretty much playing wherever you guys go!

friend ship: Chris! He’d love your extroverted side and sarcastic side, probably finding it hilarious. He’d also joke around with you a lot to draw out the sarcastic side haha. 10/10 would only speak Spanish to you. He’d probably join in on you and Joel’s little adventures since he loves to explore.

hope you like it :)

#cnco ships #ships #ships are now closed #señor anon

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joelmgrif · 5 years ago

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JUNE 2019 Family Update #1: Hard Doesn’t Always Mean Bad

If you look back at any past blog posts on this page, you know it’s been a while and my life has changed in more than a few ways since then. You can also tell because this is tumblr, and honestly I’m not going to put much effort into the formatting (sorry to any designers reading, including my sister & my wife).

I’ve always enjoyed writing from time to time, but it’s been on my heart more recently. I have to admit with all of the recent changes in my life--becoming a husband, a father, settling down, etc.--I’ve become such a sap. I’m talking tearing up at weddings & really good movies; journaling and reflecting on every stage Jenna goes through; stopping to, literally, smell the roses...Yeah, I think it’s about time to add some testosterone to this household. Which brings me to what prompted me to start writing again.

As you all know by now, we’re expecting our second child (a boy) at the end of August. I’d like to push it to October or November but for some reason Maddie didn’t like that idea--something about being uncomfortable? Anyway, this baby is already making things interesting. After going to his first ultrasound at 20 weeks we were thrilled to see him moving around and excited to share the news with everyone that Friday. Throughout the weekend, Maddie and I both had a weird feeling about it, but chose not to worry. The following Monday, Maddie got a call from her doctor revealing some hard news to hear-- that our baby was diagnosed with a Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH). Discovering this was surreal, and the countless questions started swirling in our heads. A lot has happened since the time we found out, so I’ll try to keep the details brief -- I’ll say first that he’s going to be okay.

CDH is a hole in the diaphragm, which allows organs from the abdomen (most commonly intestines, stomach, liver) into the chest cavity. They impede lung development and usually cause other developmental issues such as congenital heart defects.If you’d like to read up on it, here’s a good resource: https://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/service/f/fetal-care/conditions/congenital-diaphragmatic-hernia

At first, this was a pretty scary thing to learn about, especially considering the average survival rate is 50%. We got referred to Children’s Hospital for more testing and consultations. After a long couple of days of tests on Maddie including an MRI, multiple ultrasounds, an echocardiogram, and a 2-hour long meeting with doctors, we finally had some good news. The hole in his diaphragm is small enough to keep major organs out of his chest, only allows his intestines in, and his lungs are developing fine at this point! This could change and it’s still serious, but given the potential for worse, we are very thankful.

What this means for Maddie and baby boy: she’ll continue to go in at least weekly to monitor his condition, and she’ll be watched closely as the due date approaches. When he’s born, he’ll need a breathing tube immediately to ensure proper lung inflation until he is stabilized. Then, they will perform surgery on him to put his intestines back in place and repair the opening in the diaphragm. After surgery, he will likely be in the NICU for about a month, maybe longer depending on recovery.

So, in short, it will be a difficult few months for us coming up, but God is good all the time. He has been gracious with his timing, given us an amazing support team with family and friends, placed us right by the #2 ranked children’s hospital in the nation, and given us grace in so many other ways. I’ve always said that God is faithful in tough times but this, so far, has been one of the most tangible ways I’ve seen. Maddie and I have to laugh a little because we were so determined to leave Ohio and the Midwest after college, and God had better plans. Plans to keep us near family/friends and a hospital with a team of experts on this relatively rare defect. As with most things, we think we know best and God gently leads us back to his ways (see James 4:13-15).

We are so humbled by all of you who have expressed your concern, asked thoughtful questions, and especially have been praying over us. I can genuinely tell you we feel the prayers and support (told you I was a sap now). I’ll try to post somewhat frequently to share updates on baby boy and our family. If you’ve made it this far, congrats! You’ve earned the right to find out his name (unless you cheated and scrolled to the bottom--shame on you). Given the circumstances, we decided to reveal his name before he is born. We were also worried about Jenna spilling the beans, so here it is...

Weston Jeremy Griffith

Thanks for reading, and we humbly ask for your continued prayers over Weston--or “baby Wesh” as Jenna calls him--and the upcoming birth.

With love,

Joel & Maddie

“If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,’ even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.” -Psalm 139:11-12

P.S. Jenna (20 months) has been cracking us up lately so I’m going to include some “Jenna-isms” at the end of my posts to keep things light-hearted.

-*looking at baby brother’s ultrasound pics* “Dolphin! Dolphin right there!”

-watermelon is “materwelon”

-She wanted my dad (Papa) to do get a toy out for her and when he complied, she said, “good boy”

-Being sick, she let me rock her to sleep before a nap. She looked up at me, smiling, and said, “you an angel daddy.”

-Her current version of the alphabet: “A B C D E F G H I K ‘ELMO’ P Q R S T U V W F Y and Z, now I know my c, c, c’s next time sing me!”

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sweetly-cider · 6 years ago

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Burning Bridges

((Canon RP with @juliet0129/ @juliets-oc-isle , @mamajebbun/ @peripendulum))

"Where the hell is everyone..." Ale couldn't help muttering to himself in confusion as he rubbed the back of his neck. After the dinner rush finished out, the bar had become oddly... empty. A certain hour had hit, and every last customer had filed out the door without a single ons returning. It wouldn't have normally bothered him, had he not been attempting to do his job right this time. He'd even promised not to touch a single bottle for himself -- and that was more than even Applin could guarantee most nights! Though, now he might be tempted. It certainly didn't help this strange lethargy that had hit him today. Maybe it was that depression over his breakup hitting him again. "No... Stop it. You ain't broken up, you just gotta give 'er space then work 'ta make it right," he told the empty room, then turned to wipe down the clean counter yet again.

Max walked towards the bar, one hand shoved into his pocket while the other held onto his pipe. He sighed, exhausted from having felt with the normal day work he chose to do recently; building sheds. The work wasn’t hard, far from it. What made it difficult was the overbearing heat of the summer sun. He had to wake up early and work during the cool hours, which were mostly dark hours, and then try and rest when the sun reached the center of the sky. He yawned, having not gotten used to his recently new sleep schedule. He had planned on finishing up the job that night though, after he helped Applin with what ever he needed him for. He pushed open the door, walking into an empty bar. He blinked in confusion then shrugged. Maybe he needed to fix something big? He walked over to the bar where he found Ale. “Ey, where’s yer brother?” He asked.

"'M not sure," he said, dropping his cleaning rag onto the counter. "I haven't seen 'im all day. I figured maybe he'd get here later? Whatever it is, it must've scared away all 'a the customers tonight. It's been empty all evening. Ah, here, siddown. I'll get ya whatever ya want, on the house." Ale waved towards the barstools, then turned towards the shelves. "I've got no clue what he needed help with, either. Everything around here's just fine. Ain't nothin' with the building that I can see. I checked after I tried 'ta go by Swirl's place earlier."

Suddenly the door opened as Peri let himself in. He wasn't as overly dramatic as he usually let himself be. That changed though when he saw Ale and Max. "Well working life suits you Sir." Peri smirked at him. "How amusing. You still don't look like a owner of a bar. That goes to your brother. Applin is a delight to talk to." Peri then turned to face Max. There was a scowl as his eyes lit up. So this was the man who hurt Quil. Not quite what he imagined but it didn't matter. "Where is your brother?" Peri turned to Ale. "Is he ready to get his life back?"

"Great. It's the brass bastard," Ale muttered under his breath, turning away from the alcohol. "What do you want, freak. My brother ain't here. Haven't seen him all day. You got a problem, you gotta take it up with me."

"I'm guessing he didn't tell you." Peri muttered softly. "Oh well. I thought he would join us but its understandable if he is busy." "You and I need to have a little chat."Peri turned to Max and sneered at him. "And since you both don't understand. Applin asked this... Max here so we can speak. Its the deal we made. I get a meeting and Applin gets his debt paid."

Max raised a brow at brass man, surprised by what the guy was saying then realization hit him. “You’re a collector,” He said, a scowl on his face. He turned to Ale, completely ignoring Peri’s presence. “ At least we know why Applin ain’t here, all collectors are asses, after his run-in with Joel last night, I don’t blame him for going dark tonight. He don’t deserve it. Anyway, got any Whiskey Ale? Might need it to keep myself in check.”

"... Yeah. I got ya," he said, shooting the visitor a sideways glance. His eyes were dark, though contrasted by a forced, overly done smile. "Well, then, come on in, buddy," he said, waving to the empty room. "Take a seat. We're all ears." Then, he turned on his heel and went back to the shelf.

“Make it quick though, cause I gotta go and finish up a job.” Max grumbled our in annoyance to the brass collector. It was obvious that he didn’t really care about the collector wanting to talk to him, or the fact that he was a demon. In fact, he seemed pretty at ease about it all.

"I'm here to talk about Quil." Peri decided to sit down away from them. Expecting the chance of them maybe two teaming him. He put his umbrella on the table though as a sign of peace. "She been under my care. I didn't have the heart to give her soul over. I want to know why you hurt her."

Ale just returned silently with the bottle and glass, setting both within reach of his friend. If this was the topic, he figured Max was going to need every bit of it, though he was definitely going to keep an eye on the wax man.

The mere mention of her name hit him hard, making him clench his fist and bite his lip. He didn’t waste a second once Ale set the bottle and glass in front of him, he grabbed the bottle and poured the alcohol into the glass, nearly to the rim. “So yer the one she went a runnin’ to with her poor me sob story.”He said sourly. He lifted up the glass and took a swig of the alcohol. “At first, I thought she’d go running to Joel. That’s really why I thought he showed up last night.” He glanced at Ale, tilting his glass to him with a smirk before he turned and looked at Peri. “So, she’s in your care now, eh?” He asked spitefully. “And you want to know why I hurt her?” He turned to him and looked at him skeptically. “What are you, some rebound lover she sicked on me?”

"Oh dear, did we hit a nerve?" Peri asked, how spiteful this person was. He hadn't seen it in someone for a long time. He really wished he didn't have to keep his cool around this idiot. "She spoke about you a lot. So much so it used to annoy me how gullible Quil was. If you truly cared about her you wouldn't of let her sell her soul... Especially when you had no soul to give in return." "Congrats by the way. Making her fall in love with you. That must of felt great toying with a girls emotions for your own gain." Peri looked at his claws with interest and then played with one of his nails.. " I thought us demons were bad but you mortals are more disgusting when you want to be."

Max chuckled at what Peri said. “Heh, you’re funny. You’re almost as ignorant as Joel.” He swirled the whiskey in the glass before downing the rest. He set the glass on the table, glancing at Peri with a smirk. “Although, Joel always did his research before approaching someone about something. You’re a poor excuse for a demon if you can’t do that, shameful even since you’re a collector.” He turned to the bar and grabbed the whiskey bottle, filling the glass once again. “And what’s this talk about Quil trying to give you her soul for me? Even if she wanted to, her soul would be worthless to the devil.”

"I don't know this Joel personally but I do hear whispers about them." Peri muttered not liking learning this fact. What would the devil's spawn know about all this? Quil was the devils toy. He didn't want to mess with this Joel too now. "That's how she came to me. She gave up her soul for your debts. I'm only taking in what I have been told. You don't seem guilty at all." "I don't think she worthless now. I gave it back to her. I made sure she didn't owe your debt." Peri shook his head at this person. Maybe he was just defensive. Peri rubbed some sore of his arms the price he was paying for helping these mortals out. "I just... don;t understand why you aren't fighting for her. I would do anything to protect her."(edited)

Max eyed him for a moment before grabbing a hold of his glass. “Yer honestly gonna sit ‘ere an’ try ta squeeze info from me based offa half truths?” He shook his head, a scowl plastering on his face as he looked at the glass of whiskey before he took a drink. “Look, I don’t know what she told ya, but even she didn’t stick around fer the entire story, and I don’t blame ‘er.” He shrugged and took another swig before continuing. “If she doesn want to know, I’ll respect her and not push it in her face to justify what I did. I did what my heart was tellin’ me ta do back then, and I will stick with it. If she interprets it as me being a bad guy, so be it. I still got what I wanted, I still get ta see her walk around freely, an’ that’s all that matters to me. Even if she hates me for the rest of eternity, I will still be happy knowin’ I don’t have to see her behind bars tied up like a wild animal for some stupid dark circus.” He lifted the glass to his lips. “That oughta show that monster of a father of mine that I was right. I will never be like ‘em. That I am capable of lovin someone.”

"I think you should slow down on the alcohol." Peri muttered as he tried to make sense out what he was talking about. So he was being defensive. This was making things difficult mostly since he understood what he meant. But it wasn't good enough. "You love her right? Why didn't you help her out? I could of sold her as a whore if I wanted too. You lead her on... for years, knowing all is information and you couldn't tell her sooner? Why was it?" Peri got annoyed. "I need to know where you stand and if you are going to fight for her. She got so upset and scared. Sometimes she too scared to leave the house since her wings are back. You are right I don't have the full story so make me understand."

"Uh... He's right, buddy, maybe ya oughtta slow down," Ale muttered, watching his friend down the drink. He'd never seen Max like this before, and he wasn't sure he wanted to see the result. Especially when he was trying -- for once -- to keep things calm and out of trouble. However, he didn't want to interrupt, either.

Max looked over at Ale in surprise. “You know I can hold my liquor better than you can, bro.” Still, he set the full glass down onto the counter and crossed his arms as he glanced at Peri with a scowl. “Yer a contractor, it’s yer job to get others to sign their soul over to the devil. Ya ought to know there are terms when it comes to the kind of contract when it comes to winning someone over.” He mumbled grumpily. “I give everything up so she can have a better life. Thing is, I can’t control her, she still has free will, which is out of reach of the devil. Not even God can control that.” He leaned forward with a cocky smirk. “So I didn’t keep ‘er from sleeping with Joel’s carnival staff, didn’t make her sleep with me. She chose to. I can’t stop her.”

"Poor you. Shall I get my tiny violin out?" Peri sneered back and stood up. His umbrella in hand now. "She should be thankful shouldn't she? Is that what this is about? Ooo you poor thing. You don't even understand that your wish was born out of a selfish need. Were you ~really~ doing it for her? It doesn't quite sound like it. Setting someone free shouldn't have a price if you really cared about her." Peri twitched when he brought up sexual matters. It hit a nerve him speaking like that about Quil. Why did that matter? Was he really that childish? His eyes glowed softly from his actions.

Max grabbed his glass, purely out of habit as he leaned against the bar. “Sí, sí, tienes razón, it was completely selfish. I should have left her in that literal hell hole, let her slowly suffer in torment as the devils demons plucked her wings to keep her grounded, chained her to a ball to keep her from going far, kept her in a literal cage in a dungeon of a demon’s house not even able to see the sun until they brought her out to bathe her like an animal and put her up on display like some amazing attraction at a zoo. Yup, yeah, totally selfish.” He raised the glass to his lips but paused before he took a swig and placed it back onto the counter. “Ya really know nothin’ ‘bout Quil, do ya? Here ya are, “carin’ for her”, and ya still know next ta nothin’ ‘bout her. She’s a Nephillim, cabrón, which means she is literally half angel and half demon. She will never be a full angel, and she will never be a true demon. “Gettin her ta fall in love with me wasn’t something I wanted ta gamble, but it ended up bein’ a part of the conditions ‘n my bet with her father....mi medio abuelo.....” he grabbed his pipe and brought it to his lips, blowing hot air on the tobacco that was in the end until smoke trailed from the pipe. “The only reason why gettin ‘er to love me was part of the bet was because demons hardly ever have positive emotions as such. True demons. They don’t have a heart, don’t have a soul. Power, pleasure, destruction, these are all things demons enjoy and live for.” He blew smoke towards Peri, mockingly. “Yer different though,” he muttered. “Yer only ‘ere askin’ me all this shit ‘cause you love her, dontcha? Ya fall fer a demigod too, ya fake demon? Feel sorry fo’ya.”

Ale couldn't help eyeing the smoke curling from the pipe. He wasn't used to seeing that when he was sober, so it was only now that his brain was beginning to process what the trigger might be. Then again... he couldn't help but feel bad. He'd only ever really teased Max about his history with the feathered girl, but to see him get so passionate over her? It made yet another spear of guilt shoot through him, adding to the rapidly growing collection of them already piercing his very soul. However, he didn't dare interfere. No, knowing his track record he'd only make things worse, even if he tried to ease the situation. Best just to stay silent and keep everyone's glasses full. Maybe he should get one of his own before the end of this.

"Hmm. What if I do love her?" Peri asked in a tired tone. "I have soften up because of Quil. I don't see how it's bad thing when I was out of control before her." "The first deal was out of your control. Okay, there must of been a reason for those terms but that's not the reason I'm here. Since I only know her side story...so if I get this wrong I know more likey you will happily tell me how wrong I am. Why did you get yourself into another situation where souls could only solve your debt?"

Max scowled at his question. It was really something he didn’t want to talk about in front of Ale. Still, he puffed on his pipe as he glanced away. “Because that’s all I had that was truly mine when I was young. And where I come from, souls are more valuable than money. mi papa, erm, father, he wasn’t happy that I was born with one, he was hopin’ that mi mama...didn’t have a strong hold on me, and here we are, me more wax than fire.” Max shrugged. “The bet I made is no different than a contract where I come from. Only, we don’t lose our souls like normal people do, it doesn’t change us like normal people. It just leaves us vulnerable, without the safety of abuelo.” He reached over and grabbed his glass with a free hand, his other holding his pipe as he took a drink. “For a devil, he sure does his best to protect his children.” He mumbled to himself. “It doesn’t really matter to me if you love her or not. I just find it funny that a mortal turned demon is allowing himself to soften up.” He mused. He grinned at Peri, pointing his pipe at him. “Funny thing is, you think it’s you falling for her, when in fact it’s really her making you fall for her. You think she will stay with you? Nah, she never stays with one person. She’s a whore who craves love, but never wants to fully give it to others. Un ángel to the eyes, but un demonio en el corazón.”

"I’m sorry that you’re insecure about yourself and you think insults are a way to make yourself look big. I think we are done here." Peri growled to himself. Selfish prick. He would love to deal with him if it wasn't for Applin. Max was something much more worrying than he thought. He will need to speak to Quil as soon as he could. He moved himself to the bar and putting up the coins for Max's drinks. "You haven't added onto your debt?" Peri asked Ale however his tone is dangerous. "It needs to be the right amount."

Max huffed at Peri’s tone, smoke trailing from his mouth. “ oh no, you don’t get to just barge in here and asked personal shit about me without explaining why.” Max spat angrily. Not only was he the same demon that had control over his friends, he was possibly very demon who had changed oil‘s perception on things. He had to know, Quil was very easy to influence, easy to manipulate. He didn’t want to see her falling into the same trap by another demon, a fake one at that. “Why do you even care about her to begin with? You work for me for mi familia. You’re not supposed to care about someone’s well-being.” He sneered. “If anything, I’m A far better person than you.”

"Actually I can. I got what I wanted." Peri turned around to face Max. "This was nothing more than a study session. You didnt have to answer anything but you did. You are very open when you think your opponents are dumb. Also if you think I'm going to sit here and listen to you calling her a whore, you have another thing coming."

“You’re holding mi amigos soul hostage for some petty info from me. Yeah, I’m sure ya would have given it back to them if i’da said nothin’.” Max snapped back angrily. “And I will call ‘er a whore, because that’s what she is. Una Puta. What else would she be when she slept with so many others after I helped her with ‘er heat, eh?” He finished off his drink, a smug smirk on his face. “What’re ya gonna do ‘bout it? Abuelito gave me immunity from shits like you, and I’m not just some regular mortal ya can push around either.” He narrowed his eyes at Peri, his expression challenging. “*Ya don’t scare me one bit, perra.”

Ale had gone to accept the coin and answer Peri's question, but only ended up scrambling backwards out of Max's way. For a moment, he wasn't even sure what to do. He'd never seen Max get this angry. Ever. This was already enough to swallow without seeing his friend in such a state. "Max, calm down," he hissed, the words foreign coming from his mouth rather than recieving them from someone else. His friend had always kept a close eye on his temper, so there must have been a good reason. For once, it was his turn to play the peacekeeper. Sort of. "You don't know what this guy is gonna do! What about Appy, man?"

"Maybe... Quils realized she had standards and went looking for someone who could get the job done." Peri brought is umbrella to Max's neck. He was done being friendly. His eye gave a his old crazed look. " It is her body after all. She can do what she wants. For someone who doesn't care you are very angry Max. Is it cause I can actually look after her? You look like some dirty commoner with no place to call home. How many jobs do you do? OR do you just get plastered cause you can't even keep a woman excited?"

"C'mon, guys, that's enough," Ale said, holding out his arms between them. That's usually how people broke up arguments, right? He never really paid much attention, being the one usually being calmed. "There ain't no reason for the low blows, guys. C'mon, just siddown and take a drink."

Max smirked, his scowl still on his face as he reached over to block Peri’s umbrella from his neck. “Naw, I ain’t gonna back away from a petty doc who thinks he’s above the devils own kind....” He grumbled at Ale, a sneer in his tone. “I ain’t gonna let him walk out without charring him some.” Small tendrils of steam smoked from his hands, smoke from his mouth as he glared at Peri with glowing lavender eyes. “I’m gonna kick his ass.”

"I suggest doing what the your friend says. He needs to clean up." Peri didn't move at all. "You are just making things up now just to get yourself more angry.. I respect most of my kin. Most."

“A mistake ya’ll learn not ta make again,” Max sneered. Not even a second after he spoke he swung his arm at Peri’s umbrella, knocking it away from him as he spit toward Peri.

"Max!" Ale attempted to try to jump between the fighting, but only ended up tripping over the counter and sending Max's bottle spilling across the counter. Rather than try to clean the mess, the barkeep scrambled back and tried to find the key to the counter gate. "Stop! This is enough!"

"Ouch... so your the kinky type." Peri felt the spit burn under his eye. He jumped back to get some space away from him. "Hot wax and bondage coming right up~" Peri laughed as two chains shot out of his jacket sleeves. They launch a Max in hopes of being able to hold him down before he burned the place down.

“Kinky? What the hell-!” Max was caught off guard by what Peri had said so much so that he didn’t realize what Peri was doing until too late. The chains smacked into his shoulders with a dull thud as he fell back into the bar from the force, his hat flew off his head from the force. He looked up at Peri with a scowl, his eyes glowing brighter. “So that’s the way you wanna play.” He growled out. He reached over and grabbed at the chains, his hands sizzling and the cream white color of them starting to glow. Sweat began to drip down from his hands onto the chains as his hands began to heat up. “Can ya handle the heat, pendejo.”

"You keep going with this I might explode." Peri chuckled in amusement. His dirty mind working into overdrive due to Max confusion. Using it as his defense. "Your ticking my boxes. Although wouldn't want to rip that hole." Then he felt the chains heat up. He winced in pain but played it off with a laugh. "Abit of pain just makes it more exciting!" Peri pulled the chain in a quick motion towards him in hopes to make him fall forward. He summoned more chains but waited as they stayed by him. "Mr Simon. If you get your arse over her and help chain me this idiot before you loose you bar in a fire? That would be fantastic."

"A-ah..." When things had begun to grow heated, Ale found himself pressing back against the rear counter, avoiding the crossfire as best he could. When it was suggested he work against his friend, he couldn't help but look at the collector in disbelief. "It's just wax," he said at first. Then, his eyes were drawn towards the sizzling trail of liquid that was strewn across the counter. In the heat of the moment, the spilled alcohol had spread quite far, and the chains and fiery temper were beginning to aggravate it. Then, the edges began to lick with light, and he found himself frozen. "F-fire...?" He didn't know why, but the thought had him suddenly struck with fear.

Max was oblivious to the alcohol catching fire, no all he was focused on was Peri and his blinding anger. When he was jerked forward by the chains, instead of making him stumble out of balance, he used it as a sort of encouragement. Without any kind of warning, he yanked the chains downward, small flames flickering from his hands as he pulled on them, the temperature in his hands increasing sharply. Hot wax dripped down the chains as he pulled Peri towards him while he was distracted, landing a flaming blow on his cheek. “How about I blind ya eye like I tried to do with that whore of yours.” Max said in a low voice, his eyes glowing a vivid magenta and wide with a crazed expression. His inner demon was in control now, and small chit chat wouldn’t break him from it easily.

"Max-- no!" Ale could only watch in horror as the fiery blow sent the rest of the liquid up in sudden flames. The old, aged counter easily caught on, the laquer sending an almost sweet smell into the air as it quickly spread along the length of the bar. That finally gave him the motivation he needed, but just enough to scramble away from the shelves of alcohol as the flames started to stretch towards them. "No, no, no, no," he yelled, trying to grab a towel, and apron, anything to beat the flames with. It wasn't doing much good.

"Which demon are you?" Peri flinched realising the sitution he put himself him. With a slight of panic he was hit and felt the burn go deep. He screeched in anger and pain as a mark was left. Peri despite knowing it would hurt him, clawed at Max's face. Making sure he took hot wax with him under his nails. He had to get this guy under control but he didn't think his powers would work in this state. Peri's eyes lit up anyway. If could slow him down that's all he needed to tie him up.

"Fuck!!" Max cried out in pain when Peri clawed at his face, long claw marks left on his face as he let go of Peri, his hands immediately going to cover the wounds. The fire on his hands went out as he touched his face, the wax on his face smoothing out slowly as he pressed on it.

Ale couldn't help ignoring the rest of the fight. No, his eyes were following the sudden wall of flames that had crept from the wood to the shelves and shelves of glass bottles and barrels beneath them. It had ahead begun to spread to the floor where the alcohol had spilled, forcing Ale to scramble away from his stock. "No-- dammit!" Turning on his heel he manged to break through the old counter gate, grabbing onto the nearest person. "Continue this outside because this is about to get real bad!"

"I don't want to continue it at all! He won't stop untill it calms down." Peri jumped feelin Ale grab him and took the moment to slam his head into Max. "You have tons of liquids here yet you can't put it out? Where is the water Mr Simons?! " He didn't turn to face Ale due to his powers being active. Suddenly he frown and brought out all the chains he could muster and launch them at Max. "Help me pull him out. I'm strong but not not enough to to deal with him melting me and carrying him."

"The water pump's all the way in the back! I don't think I could get anything out here in time," he said between clenched teeth. He didn't want to acknowledge there was some strange pull that was preventing him from attempting to put out the blaze. It made him want to run without looking back. However, it didn't stop him from grabbing ahold of some of the chains as they wrapped around his friend. "Fine! I've got no idea what the hell is goin' on, but fine! Just put 'im out! Hey, Max," he called out, starting to pull. "You better cool it before I gotta drag you home for once!"

Max still had his hands over his face when Peri tied him in his chains. He clenched his teeth angrily, his eyes still glowing magenta as he struggled to free himself. “Hell no!” he shouted back rebelliously. Seeing Ale helping Peri, or what he assumed was helping because one of Peri’s claws had scratched one of his eyes and he couldn’t see well. Either way it only made him even more furious. “I ain’t gonna ’cool it’ until that Fucker begs fer mercy!!”

"Max!" Ale could only watch as his friend grew even hotter, the wood at his feet beginning to smoke and char. He could feel the heat of the chains even through his gloves, but grit his teeth in an attempt to ignore it. The flames had quickly reached the inventory, and the sound of lids popping and glass cracking made him cringe. "Look, pal, I'm gonna tell you the same thing you tell me! It ain't worth it, man! What's she gonna think if she sees you," he called out, giving the brass chains another yank, trying to get him even just to take a step forward. "You've had enough, Max! Now cool it before the whole place comes down around you! You might bring it to flames, but I'm sure as hell not gonna lose someone in it!"

"You are strangely okay that your besties is burning down this place." Peri rolled his eyes and yank also. His body was aching though due to the heat coming from Max. Probably any hit could knock him down. "I guess I'm the idiot that's gonna have to pay for this too?!"

"You think I'm okay with this?!" Ale glanced over at him in obvious disbelief. "Hell, no, I'm terrified! But I'd rather lose a damn building over the only real friend I've ever had, and you bet I'm gonna make sure he's safe first! I don't care if he's burning it down!" He grit his teeth again and ignored the burning on his hands as he pulled again. "And you're talkin' about money at a time like this? Really?!"

"Yes I am, cause you brother loves this place. You still haven't learned anything have you Mr Simon. Family should come first." Peri grunted and pulled more. His voice broke. "It should... and here I'm playing the big brother role again. You just lucky I worked my ass off and my demon is hibernating."

"Yeah, and if he were here I'd be draggin' his ass out, too! I don't give a crap about this... demon stuff! I can't even do a damn thing til he's chilled or he's out on the street, so don't you dare tell me I'm not doin anything!" Ale growled, then hoisted the chains over his shoulder before trying to pull from the other direction. Slowly but surely, it looked like they may be making progress, leaving a dark black streak in the floor, some places smoldering or starting to flicker. "C'mon... When'd you start putting on so much weight," Ale yelled, giving another pull.

“When’d I what?!” Max shouted back, his eyes blazing brightly. So furious at what Ale said, he failed to notice the tug on the chains. He stumbled forward, the floor creaking then cracking under him. “Shit!!” He yelped as he fell forward, landing onto the unburnt floor with a loud thud. He squirmed angrily, his fists clenching and his arms flexing against the heated chains as he spun slightly as he climbed to his knees.

"Fuck! fuck! fuck!" Peri heels screeched as he was pulled to the hole from Max crashing down. "This is getting ridulous."Peri growled lowly as his jacket flared up and darkness seemed to flow from him. He released Max and started putting his chains back. "Run out. I will follow once he is up. He too pissed to not give chase."

"Tch-- fine. Hey, fatty!" On a normal day, Ale might have been snickering to himself as he stumbled backwards, waving his arms through the air. It was a strange thing for him to get mad at, but, hey, it'd worked so far. Ale tried not to stare at the rising flames. Instead, he turned and began running towards the door, ignoring the hot air that seemed to choke his lungs. He skidded to a stop as he slammed into the door, throwing it open before turning to see if the wax man was giving chase.

As Ale sprinted away from Max, he tried his hardest to struggle out of the chains to chase after his friend. That was until the chains unwrapped from around him and returned to Peri. He rubbed his arms in confusion, small impressions on his arms from the chains being warmed up. He grinned and glanced up at the both of them, his eyes regaining their crazed look. "You guys have false hopes if you think you can outrun a wildfire."

"Dammit," Ale grumbled under his breath, then a thought drifted across his mind. Forcing a smirk to his face, he called out to the demon. "Oh, yeah? Well, with a hot head like you, it's no surprise that feather bitch ditched you for a real demon, eh? Hey, if I'm single now, maybe I oughtta give her a try!" It may have been a little far, but today was not the day to go halfway. He just hoped his mouth didn't get him killed this time.

"Careful what you say or I will start chasing you too." Peri followed suit and grumbled. The pendulum winced as he felt each burn on him and it only felt like it was getting hotter and more painful.

“You wouldn’t dare...no!! I’ll fucking kill ya!!” Max shouted angrily, his eyes burning brightly. The heat coming off of him intensified, making the floor literally light up with fire the minute he started running after them. Unfortunately, before he could reach them, each step he took sent his feet through the floor. He literally was burning so hot with his anger that he burned through the floor as he ran after then.

Ale tried to ignore how the ceiling groaned over the flames. He tried to ignore how it was spreading further and further across the wooden frames and beams, and the many pops and shatters from the ruined alcohol. Each sound made the flames flash, only growing brighter as the wax man added to them. He tried so hard to ignore the business that had been in his family for generations as it began to burn. "Fine, then! Come get me," he called out, backing out of the door. "You wanna prove you're worth it? Then step outside like a real man, Max!"

"This is so stupid." Peri pushed Ale outside. "I know I said he would give chase but for god sakes you don't need to get his flame hotter. "

"Well, it worked, didn't it," Ale said, stumbling out onto the sidewalk. Turning, he looked back towards the burning building. "Is he still coming?"

Max bolted through the door, his hands in fists crossed over his face as he skidded to a stop looking around for Ale. His eyes had nearly been blinded by the fires bright light. Once he found him, he stormed over towards him. “I’m gonna end ya both!!”

"Take that as a yes." Peri summoned another umbrella for protection for Ale. "I wouldn't want a fist of that. It burned though my metal."

"And you think an umbrella is gonna be much more help?" Ale raised a brow in skepticism, but held onto it without opening it. It didn't mean he was about to confront the other about it, though. "Hey, come on, Max," he said, holding up his hands as he stumbled back a step. "Don't let that thing take 'ya. I know ya told me you can't burn down, so why let it happen now? Just cool down, buddy."

"Needle bit goes in the eye or neck." Peri chuckled and brought out one for himself.

"Right..." Ale grumbled as he looked at the sharpened tip, still uneasy at the thought of hurting his best friend. His only friend. "Come on, Max, don't make me do this."

Max’s nearly bright magenta eyes were unyielding as he stormed close to them. Yet, as he walked, his flames on his hands flickered frantically as the cool air blew against them. He slowed to a stop rather quickly as he realized this. Shit he was out of his fire, and willingly walked right into the airflow his flames needed. He grinned as he rubbed his hands together. That's fine, only way to keep himself from going out was to try and bring the fire out here. Right? Then he could get back to kicking that poor excuse for a demon and...and...wait, why was he going after Ale again?

"Uh... Max?" Ale watched the man warily. He wasn't exactly on fire anymore, so that part was good, right? However, a motion behind him caught his eye. There was a loud screeching and crackling that began to groan out from the burning building, making Ale's eyes widen. "No... No, no, don't do that, don't--" Then, with a loud crash, the entire upper half of the bar began to cave in, collapsing into the center of the building with a bright flash and sending a wave of hot air out into the street.

A sharp surprised yelp escaped Max as the hot air hit him. First the cool evening air dimmed his flames, now the hot air hit him, knocking the wind out of him. His flames went out, hot embers skating across the ground as he struggled to keep standing. He looked up at them both with a glare. “You assholes....” He growled.

"Look like he will be cooling off soon..." Peri examined himself. His outfit was in tatters from embers and flames. There were burns everywhere. He growled lowly at Max. "This whole thing was ridiculous. There goes my tiny bit of trust I had with Applin. THAT! That thing right there! Is an selfish prick."

Max smirked, a low deep voice escaping him as the glow in his eyes began to dim. “Pobrecito,” He sneered, embers sparking from his mouth. “Vete a llorar a tu puta” He laughed at himself lowly, taking a step forward towards them. His mouth was glowing in the dark around them as he once again spit towards Peri.

"What... what did he say," Ale stammered, unable to tear his eyes away from the now flaming ruins. "Max... Max, just stop," he said, finally pulling himself back to their situation. "There's no reason to keep going like this. Just... just stop! There's enough damage already!"

"For fuck sakes!" Peri gasped as the spit hit near his left eye. He grabbed at his face in agony as a scream out.

"I'm done." He glared at Max while holding his eye. It hurt like hell itself was burning it. "Belphegor doesn't want to hurt a son of Amon. No matter how stupid they are." "Applin's debt will be sorted while I heal." Peri started to walk away from the fire. "Tell him to come down is he is too impatient to go pass the red light district and find the only mansion there."

"Ah, right." Ale was only half listening as he kept his eyes glued to the slowing Max. "I'll tell... Appy..." Slowly, his face began to grow slack. His mug was bubbling faster and faster. "Applin... Oh, God, what am I gonna tell Applin. Or Swirl or pop. They're going to kill me!"

Max wasn’t focusing on what was being said. With every second, the demon in him fought for control, trying to keep from being snubbed out. Only, it didn’t take long for them to burn out. The moment Max’s eyes stopped glowing, his body almost immediately went slack. He fell to his knees then slumped over, his head hitting the ground hard, but not enough to break his cooled off wax. He laid there, unmoving, yet still breathing.

The sudden slapping sound made Ale yelp in surprise before he realized what had happened. At first, he was hesitant, slowly walking over and poking his friend with his foot. Then, when he'd judged that he was safe, he began dragging him over towards one of the other buildings, sitting him up against the wall. With a sigh, the barkeep watched his burning bar, then reached for his phone. "... Guess I've gotta clean up my own mess this time," he muttered, holding it up to his ear.

#long post #text post #chrono #important!

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yahoo-puck-daddy-blog · 7 years ago

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What We Learned: Who could have bounce-backs, setbacks in goal-scoring

yahoo

Every year, there are guys who go on scoring runs they’ve never seen in their careers before, while other players take huge steps back for seemingly no reason.

People don’t like to be told that “luck” is often a big reason why this happens, but it has to be said that oftentimes, that plays a huge role. With all the preseason standings predictions now coming out, I was thinking about this in the context of the Washington Capitals overall, because they’re a team that had the highest shooting percentage in the league to go along with the highest save percentage.

Some of that is obviously skill-driven, because the Capitals have long scored more goals than it appeared they “should have” thanks to their talent level, but the extent to which it happened last year should be worrying, especially given how much the team lost this summer at both the forward and defensive positions.

But after looking at some things, where a lot of that concern I originally had about the Caps as a whole largely settled with T.J. Oshie. Here’s a guy who scored a career-high 33 goals in just 68 games in his age-30 season. In fact, that scoring rate obliterated his previous career best, at nearly 50 percent more goals per game. Not surprisingly, this was driven by a shooting percentage north of 23. Only seven other guys have cleared 23 percent shooting in 60-plus games since the league instituted the shootout. Like Oshie, they’re mostly skilled guys, but they didn’t shoot for nearly as much volume. And to a man, they all experienced big steps back in goal-scoring rates the next seasons.

T.J. Oshie is due to regress after shooting 23 percent last season.

The stat that best illustrates this issue for Oshie, and several other guys in the league, is the difference between the number of goals they scored at 5-on-5 and the number of goals they mathematically “should have” scored based on the location, type, volume, etc. of their shooting.

Oshie actually led the league in the difference between actual (1.5 goals per 60 at 5-on-5) and expected goals (less than 0.7 per 60). Again, you can attribute some of that to his quality as a player — he has more skill than an average NHL forward, to be sure — but that doesn’t mean you should’t expect a big step back from him in terms of putting the puck in the net.

But certainly, Oshie is not alone in this regard, and there are a few others for whom their scoring last season should be a point of concern. The red dotted lines here are the league averages for expected and actual goals, separated by 0.01 goals per 60. (And here we should all say, “Thank you, Corsica, for coming back to us in our hour of need.”)

(via Corsica)

More worry for the Capitals should come in what newly re-signed Brett Connolly, who outperformed a subpar expected goals per 60 by more than double, brings to the table. His actual goals per 60 was 13th in the league last season among forwards with at least 500 minutes at full strength; expected goals was just 230th.

You also see Rickard Rakell, Jonathan Marchessault and Patrik Laine fill out the rest of the top-five in terms of goals-above-expected. The first two guys here are interesting cases because they’re good players who had breakout years, but whose teams can likewise expect them to take a step back. But you have to be curious about Laine. His skill threshold, I mean, he’s gotta shoot the puck better than any rookie teen since Ovechkin just in terms of pure lethality, and that made up for what was a pretty subpar season in terms of actually shooting the puck in a way that’s normally conducive to goal scoring.

Laine is a guy you can mostly expect to keep outpacing his expected goals. All the greats do, and we know what Laine’s pedigree is. Nonetheless, I think it’s also fair to say he probably doesn’t have “shooting 18 percent forever” talent, and it might be fair to set standards for him a little lower than the 36 he netted last season, even if he takes a step forward in terms of his actual on-ice process. He’s still only 19, and has plenty of room to grow, but this is something worth watching all year.

At the other end of the spectrum there are a handful of guys who had awful years putting the puck in the net — Riley Sheahan, come on down — but who aren’t that great to begin with. Sheahan of course needed to get to the last game of the season to score his only two goals in 82 games, and that’s not something that will happen again. Likewise, Jimmy Hayes, Matt Moulson and Kyle Clifford are three perfectly okay bottom-six players whose goal-scoring went sour this year and who could see more pucks go in for them this time around if they get the opportunity. Not a lot more, of course, but if they get back near the league average for 5-on-5 goals they could be okay contributors once again.

But there are three guys in the chart above who had rotten luck last year by their own fairly high standards who should be highlighted: Zach Hyman, Taylor Hall and most interesting I think, Patrick Sharp.

Hyman was a guy who should have scored a lot more goals than he did just based on what his linemates, Auston Matthews (who led the league in expected 5-on-5 goals per 60 last year) and Willie Nylander, presented to him. He’s not the most skilled guy in the world, of course, but he should have scored more 5-on-5 goals than the six he actually put in the net. In fact, based on expected goals, he should have scored 15. That’s a lot of goals; it’s what Blake Wheeler, Jeff Carter, and John Tavares actually scored last year. Obviously Hyman isn’t at that level of player, but even if he’s not that good, if he’s put in the same position he’s still likely to boost his 5-on-5 scoring significantly, and that would only be good news for the Leafs.

Hall is another guy where you look at what he should have scored (35th in expected goals per hour) versus what he actually did (261st in goals) and say, “Well that’s not gonna last.” Poor Taylor Hall. The kid can’t buy a break.

Finally, maybe the most interesting player in this batch is Patrick Sharp, who returns to Chicago on a cheap contract thanks to one of the worst years of his career. As you can see, he didn’t deserve to only score eight goals in 48 games, but suffered through concussion issues and had hip surgery at the end of the year, both of which are likely to hamper performance, especially for a 35-year-old skill guy. If he’s anything resembling healthy, and Joel Quenneville puts him in a position to get time with skilled players, he could return to form and be a solid bargain. Most recently, he’s been skating with the third line of Ryan Hartman and Artem Anisimov, but if things don’t pan out with Richard Panik for some reason, maybe he gets bumped up to the Saad/Toews line.

As much as people don’t want to hear it, “luck” and a lot of other factors play huge roles in player (and team) production, and it provides observers a basis for what they should be looking for over the course of the full 82.

What We Learned

Anaheim Ducks: Can this team really reach a higher goal than “Western Conference Final” because it doesn’t seem like it.

Arizona Coyotes: As always, this team is going to improve, but improving from being awful still doesn’t get you a lot of wins.

Boston Bruins: You’d probably rather have Matt Grzelcyk than Rob O’Gara, just given their skillsets and what needs to be replaced with Torey Krug out a while, right?

Buffalo Sabres: Nah, probably the defense will.

Calgary Flames: Calgary media very dialed in on credulity as to Mike Smith’s capabilities this season. Doesn’t seem like the right tack to me, but hey, have fun out there.

Carolina Hurricanes: Psst, it’s actually the goaltending.

Chicago Blackhawks: They really gotta hope this stuff is precautionary.

Colorado Avalanche: Weird to remember Joe Colborne and Jonathan Bernier are on the Avs, but here we are.

Columbus Blue Jackets: This is one of those things that’s not gonna go away until the Avs just do something about it. Trade him to Columbus or Nashville or the moon. Whatever.

Dallas Stars: Horrible news about the legend Dave Strader. One of the greats. Peace and love to his family.

Detroit Red Wings: We’re still doing this, huh?

Edmonton Oilers: Ya don’t say.

Florida Panthers: Owen Tippett will get his nine games then go back to the OHL. Let’s not read more into this than we have to.

Los Angeles Kings: Yeah I’d still be concerned about Jonathan Quick, given who the backups are.

Minnesota Wild: Ah yes, “momentum” coming out of the preseason.

Montreal Canadiens: Brendan Gallagher looking to rebound? He should have probably had double the amount of goals he actually scored, and only shot 5.4 percent, so yeah, expect a bounce-back year.

Nashville Predators: “They don’t have a real second-line center and Ryan Ellis is out for four months” sums it up nicely.

New Jersey Devils: Not surprised Jimmy Hayes ended up earning a contract. He’s an okay bottom-six guy.

New York Islanders: That time was about five years ago.

New York Rangers: They’re gonna Keith Yandle poor Kevin Shattenkirk, I just know it.

Ottawa Senators: Oh ya think so?

Philadelphia Flyers: Seems like the answer will probably be “too many.”

Pittsburgh Penguins: Calling the Penguins the best team in the league with the best chance to win a Cup again seems crazy but man, they keep doing it, don’t they?

San Jose Sharks: I love Joe Thornton but this should be seen as a huge point of concern.

St. Louis Blues: Uhhh, congrats?

Tampa Bay Lightning: Everyone is healthy open-parentheses for now close-parentheses.

Toronto Maple Leafs: The Leafs used their last game before the end of preseason to give all the borderline players one last chance to impress. They lost to the Red Wings. Cut ’em all, baby! Vancouver Canucks: This could turn into a weird situation.

Vegas Golden Knights: Is Gerard Gallant actually all that good? I’m still not convinced, and we’re not gonna learn anything with this Vegas team, so … cool?

Washington Capitals: That thing I was saying about the Caps exceeding their expected goals by a crazy amount last year? Yeah.

Winnipeg Jets: They’re gonna hand Mason the No. 1 job. Pretty clear the day they signed him.

Play of the weekend

Carey Price, hello.

Gold Star Award

The regular season starts this week and I am extremely crying.

Perfect HFBoards Trade Proposal of the Year

User “DudeWhereIsMakar” is in midseason form.

To Los Angeles:  Ryan Nugent-Hopkins , Kris Russell,  Ethan Bear

To Edmonton:  Drew Doughty , Jeff Carter

Signoff

You got the dud! Hey, he looks just like you, poindexter!

Ryan Lambert is a Puck Daddy columnist. His email is here and his Twitter is here. (All stats via Corsica unless otherwise noted.)

#_revsp:21d636bb-8aa8-4731-9147-93a932d2b27a #_lmsid:a077000000CFoGyAAL #_author:Ryan Lambert #_uuid:aa827e75-b17c-3ab7-8d86-a2fa5650e024

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