#damn you raul esparza

[snapeysister]

Liv and Rafa live rent-free in my head right now 😳😭😁

[the-wandering-wonder]

No Further Questions

Just a fun, angsty oneshot I threw together due to my current Raul Esparza obsession. Pairing: Rafael Barba x Reader

Word Count: 1,211

Rating: T (angst, swearing)

Chapter: 1/1

Summary: You get called as a witness for the defense, and Rafael has to cross-examine you. And we all know how ruthless he can be, even to the SVU detectives. Hurt feelings and anger come out, and you don't quite know how to handle it.

“No further questions.”

Rafael Barba’s words echo in your ears as you step out of the witness box. You can’t bring yourself to look at him as you walk past the table, anger and humiliation flooding through you. You walk out of the courtroom, Carisi right on your heels. 

“Hey, are you okay?” Carisi calls, trying to keep up with your brisk pace. “That was rough…”

“You're telling me.” 

“I mean, I get that he had to do his job, but damn.”

You stop before reaching the elevator, Carisi nearly stumbling into you. You turn, pinching the bridge of your nose as you let out a sigh.

“I-” You shake your head. “Look, I’m just gonna get back to the station. I’ve got paperwork to finish.”

Carisi looks like he wants to say something, but just gives you a sad nod instead, watching as you get in the elevator. As the doors shut and you’re left alone, you feel your lungs tighten and you take in gulps of air that burn your chest. Your eyes begin to burn and you feel tears threatening to fall.

“Dammit!” You slam your fist against the elevator wall. You’d never cried in the courthouse before and you were not about to start now.

~~~~~~~~

You knock back the shot of whiskey, feeling the burn in your throat and grateful to feel something besides the aching knot in your stomach. You’d left the squad at their table, preferring solitude at the bar. You fight back a tremble as you push your glass towards the edge of the bar.

“Another for the lady.”

Barba’s annoyingly smooth voice floats over the noise of the bar and you turn to see the A.D.A. sliding into the chair next to you. You feel your heart racing as memories of the day flood through you. The green of his eyes are almost swallowed in the dim light of the bar and you can’t help but remember the fire that had been in them as he ripped you apart on the witness stand. Or had that been hurt…?

“Look, about today-”

“Today?” You interrupt Barba, turning to glare at him. “Today fucking sucked.”

“Listen-”

“I’ve got nothing more to say, counselor.”

You spit out the title, taking notice of the pinched look in his eyes at your vitriol. You’d begun to trust Barba, but maybe that had been a mistake. You zip up your jacket, shoving your hands in your pockets as you push away from the bar. Swinging by the table, you give the squad a nod.

“I’m gonna call it a night,” you say quickly. “I’ll see you guys in the morning.”

Barba turns to watch you stride out of the bar. Tossing back his drink, he moves to follow you, stopping when Carisi moves to block him.

“Hey, man,” he says, his hand resting on Barba's chest. “I don't think you-”

He glances over Barba's shoulder, letting his words die as he sees Olivia shake her head softly. He steps aside, letting Barba follow you out into the brisk city air.

“Detective, wait!” He calls, frowning as he watches you walking away.

You ignore him as you continue down the sidewalk, and you hear the scrape of shoes on pavement as he follows behind. You stop short as he calls you by name, his voice cracking. You stop, pausing for just a moment before turning to face Barba.

“I’m sorry about today,” he says briskly, placing his hand on your arm.

You jerk your arm away, not missing the hurt that flashes across Barba's face as his jaw tenses. You sigh, feeling your chest tighten as the corners of your eyes begin to burn. You open and close your mouth, unable to form words that won’t end with you crying in front of him.

“You have to know that I didn’t enjoy that,” he continues, “it’s just…it’s my job.”

“I know what your job is,” you reply. Your voice begins to shake and each swallow feels like broken glass lodging in your throat. You let out a shaky sigh before continuing, “and I know why you did it. But it fucking hurt me. It blindsided me.”

“If I could have given you a heads up, I would have.” Barba lowers his head. “But I couldn’t risk accusations of tampering.”

“I know,” you nod your head slightly. “I’m just gonna go home, watch the game, and try to pretend today never happened. Good night, counselor.”

~~~~~~~~

You nurse your glass of wine, wrapped in your blanket as you watch the highlights from the game. Your team won, but you don’t feel your usual joy, instead sinking into the comforting embrace of numbness. You’re contemplating a second glass when there’s a soft knock at the door. You groan slightly as you disentangle yourself from the fabric and shuffle to the door.

You glance through the peephole, feeling a pang of surprise and irritation as you see Barba standing at your door, an almost shameful look on his face and a pizza box in his hand. You open the door, leaning against the doorframe as you look at him. He shifts his weight from one foot to another as he holds the pizza out towards you.

“I-uh, well, I know you like pizza when you watch a game,” he offers, his eyebrows knit as he searches your face for any sign of reaction.

“Game finished 30 minutes ago.”

Barba’s face falls at your words and despite wanting to hurt him earlier, it makes your heart ache slightly. You feel your anger and resolve slowly crumbling as you take in the man standing at your doorstep. He's in his usual fancy suit with a rich, brown overcoat, but his usual cocksure expression is long gone, replaced with a placating gaze and frown etched into his features. 

“I was about to put on a movie,” you continue, pushing off the door frame and walking back inside. “Wine or whiskey?”

“Whatever you have open,” Barba says quietly, taking a tentative step into your apartment.

“Wine it is, then.”

You grab a second glass, nodding at the door as you pour. He takes your meaning and closes it behind him, setting the pizza box on the counter once he reaches the kitchen. He sheds both overcoat and suit jacket, laying them on an empty chair. You hand him the glass and walk back over to the couch, settling into the comfort of the cushions and blanket. Barba stands by the counter, his gaze shifting from you to his glass and back again before he approaches the couch. Your name tumbles out of his lips with a sigh, his gaze filled with a plea for forgiveness.

Glancing up at Barba, you lift the blanket, scooting over to make room for the A.D.A. His eyes widen slightly and you see his posture soften ever-so-slightly before he lowers onto the couch, tentatively settling beside you.

“Today sucked, Raf.”

“I know.”

His arm slides around your shoulder and you instinctively curl into his side, his warmth radiating through your body as you feel his body sighing in relief, relaxing against you.

“It still hurts.”

Barba presses a gentle kiss against the top of your head before resting his chin there.

“I know…”

[jittyjames]

bootleg watching sunday!!

(here's what i watched/listened to earlier this week!!!)

JCS 2012 revival opening night

i got to listen to the jcs revival opening night audio and! oh boy! it's horrible! so we're not starting out strong here. this was the night josh young went on despite being sick (it was like a chest infection or something? bronchitis? pneumonia? he said in an interview that it got to a point where he couldn't even hear himself) and it is VERY OBVIOUS OH NO. his lower register is pretty okay in the first act, but he can not hit those high notes, baby. he's going into falsetto (and a weak one at that) every time. it's not the best look for the first number AND your broadway debut. and it goes downhill from there. he's trying his best and the acting is strong, but vocally, he didn't have the chops unfortch. i had to turn it off at superstar bc the second-hand embarrassment got too strong. it was that bad. by the end he was basically just screaming through it. paul and chilina and the rest of the cast were very good and were trying to make up for it. bless him. he was really trying. butttt on a positive note, i liked how growley and breakey his voice was in the last supper. it made for good emotion. he has to speak the "christ you deserve it" line (bc man is struggling) but mannn. that hit. that's worth the whole boot tbh. his voice was also fine in cwsap. but... it does not make up for the horrible jesus hold in superstar, but we're acting like that doesn't exist. oki dokie. poor guy. he had an off-night. it genuinely does not reflect on his talent at all because from the headlines around that time he was veryyyy sick. so moving right along

Evita (National Tour 2013)

josh young in evita! he's a cutie! i typically like my che's with more bite and glare (raul esparza is my favorite. no one will ever beat raul for me. not even josh. so it’s gonna be hard not to compare) but this was a nice spin and he's so adorable and snarky. he's not playing che guevara here but just... some dude named che. we actually get to see him smile! halfway through i realized that bluedas only smiles ONCE in jcs and it's barely a flicker. so yippee. like i usually like the money kept rolling in to be sarcastic and snappy but he was just so damn adorable looking excited with the money. I CAN'TTTT. and josh hits high notes so gorgeously and clean that they made me gasp so it's different from what i usually like but it's still so good! and lemme get sidetracked to talk about how clean his vocals are? he does a lot in jcs but you can tell he vocally improved a ton between the jcs revival boot and this tour. he's killing it. BUT CAROLINE BOWMAN. WOW. WOWOOWOWOWOW. she might have become my favorite eva. she was excellent. and stunning. and her voice was absolutely CRYSTALS. side note, i have to admit. my tennessee education, no matter how private it was, didn't educate me on the peróns all that much. so i don't know the story beyond the musical. like idk is they’re like… reallly bad. so sorry if talking about this musical is problematic. just let me know💀

Life After

PAUL ALEXANDER NOLAN!!! okay i've found that i like his voice better when it comes to modern musical theatre. and god he does quirky and dad so well. he's adorable, too. all of these actors are just so damn adorable. i had never heard of this musical actually but i received it in a trade and actually REALLY enjoyed it. it's a fun, modern, grief tale. kinda reminds me of deh a little bit stylistically (not plot wise.) it was a proshot and i absolutely loved it. AND I COULD RATE IN ON LETTERBOXD. it's very very very quirky and a nice story. it should have more life tbh. just very cutesy. i loved it. and the lead actress was very good too! and i might have related to the sister character far too much (and it's not just bc i'm a vegetarian o7) i recommend this one if you can get your hands on it.

Jesus Christ Superstar Dutch Tour 2024

SAVED BEST FOR LAST SO I COULD EAT MY PASTA WHILE WATCHING!! AMSTERDAM 2024 JCS AMSTERDAM 2024 JCS AMSTERDAM JCS 2024. oh lord the whump in this one. a pretty jesus. a pretty mary. a pretty judas. and oh my GOD they are suffering. i’m not going to spoil much bc it’s still a new boot and i want people to have a chance to go end blind but HOLY SHITTTTT. i literally had full body chills at the start. genuinely believe this was my fav jesus and that’s HARD (jack and ben i still adore you.) AMAZINGGG vocals from him. AND JUDAS IS TATTED WHICH IS ALWAYS A CROWD PLEASER. mary and simon were also SPECTACULAR. mary is so well done and i adore her character in this. and i never really pay much mind to simon but he was so perfect here and had more depth too. the ensemble in general was fantastic (and fruity!!) the main ships for me in this one is jesus x mary and judas x floor. annas and judas has flavor here tho 👀👀) AND HEROD?? (camera disappointed by not getting jesus during… that but it looks like someone was blocking the camera) @feerz was right everyone. it’s good food. GREAT food even.

[roosterbox]

It’s Done

I’ve finished watching Hannibal. And honestly idk how y’all survived that finale back in 2015. Goddamn.

Anyway, I took notes. Spoilers, obviously.

Notes on The Wrath of the Lamb

Oooooooh boy here we fucking goooooo. Idk if I’m ready for this, guys

Poor Chilton. Really.

And poor Reba! She’s so awesome.

Richard Armitage is really great as Dolarhyde.

He’s got such a deep fucking voice, damn son.

Go Reba go!

This is my last time seeing this intro. *sighs*

Side note: at least half of the ads I’ve gotten on Hulu since watching this show have been kind of queer themed. I’m not gonna say it was because of Hannibal, but I’m not not saying that either, lol.

Will and Reba, awww. These two.

Will is such a good, ugh. I love him.

Dig dat memory palace

Get you a man that looks at you like Hannibal Lecter looks at Will Graham.

“What a cunning boy you are.” HANNI you’re such a FLIRT, stahp.

Is he stopped? Is he really, Will?

All of Will and Hannibal’s scenes in the second half of season 3 are like two birds doing a matching pair of outrageous mating dances. While also shit-talking each other the whole time. Their courtship game is next level.

THE HAND ON THE GLASSSSSSS my hearrrrrrrt

Will tries breaking Hannibal’s heart again, lol.

Oh shiiiiiiit. Told you he wasn’t stopped, Will.

Francis, if you hurt my baby boy…

Jimmy and Zeller! I’m gonna miss you guys when this ends. Even you, Zeller.

Bedelia! I’m sure I’ll see you again…

Also Will is sooooooo bitchy to her, lmao. He’s so jealous.

But Bedelia does know all.

“Meat’s back on the menu” FORESHADOWING, lmao. I love jealous, bitchy Will so much.

Yeeesh, poor Chilton. It’s kinda strange, because if this had happened to movie!Chilton? I wouldn’t have cared. Movie!Chilton is a true and irredeemable asshole of the highest order. But something (be it the writing or Raul Esparza) made series!Chilton into a more interesting, sympathetic, well-rounded character than his film counterpart. Never would have thought going in that I’d actually like Frederick Chilton, lol.

Gotta say, I’m not super fond of Alana’s post time skip hairstyle. But that’s just me.

Hanni hopes Chilton won’t be very ugly. Nice reference to the Red Dragon book, though he was talking about Will in that.

I love it when Hannibal gets all menacing. I don’t actually find Mads that intimidating as a person, but when he gets like that? Almost.

“I’ll say pretty please.” Oh I’m sure you will, Will. I’m sure you will ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

All of their fucking scenes are supercharged with sexual tension, my god.

“I need you, Hannibal.” And just like that, all of Hanni’s fantasies are coming true. Well, almost all of them. We’ll get back to that…

The escape. Yessssss.

Oh hey Francis. Fancy seeing you here.

“Going my way?” ASDFGHJKJHGFDS THESE GUYSSSSSS

The way Will looks at Hannibal ASDFJKLBFJBLK I cannot.

btw I still remember that Bryan Fuller said that Will and Hannibal’s “lips were busy” while the time passed. Don’t think I’ve forgotten, lmao.

And they’ve changed clothes, hmmmmm

There’s the Goldberg Variations again.

“My compassion for you is inconvenient, Will” might as well have said he loves him, lol.

IT BEGINS.

Hanni deliberately stood in front of the window (and Will) to take the bullet.

WILL! Francis, you touched his FACE! His beautiful FACE! How could you?!

Pull out that knife, Will.

They kill as a team. How romantic 🥰 And thus marks the moment when literally all of Hannibal’s deepest fantasies came true.

Damn, son. Daaaaamn.

I love to see my baby boy go so FERAL. It’s my favorite headcanon about how they kill together: Hanni is very clean, collected, almost elegant. Whereas Will will go straight savage on a motherfucker.

The blood spreads like wings. That’s cute.

Oh my goooooood it’s HAPPENING.

“This is all I ever wanted for you, Will. For both of us.” AHHHHHHHH!

“It’s beautiful.” I AM SCREAMING AND CRYING AND ROLLING ON THE FLOOOOOOR.

I think I love this song tbh.

The EMBRACE.

The FALL.

And then they went on the run. Also they got married. And fucked. A lot.

OH HEY Bedelia. Bon Appetit!

And with that… my first time Hannibal viewing journey comes to an end. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t very emotional about it. Also about that cliff scene, GODDAMN. I’ll see about doing a big write up about my thoughts tomorrow. It’s getting a bit late for that now.

Summary: I loved it.

I’m off to read more fanfics, lol.

[tinyboxxtink]

I posted 1,881 times in 2022

262 posts created (14%)

1,619 posts reblogged (86%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@storiesofsvu

@beththebubbly

@beardedbarba

@moocowofdoom

I tagged 736 of my posts in 2022

#spring break 86 - 78 posts

#rafael barba imagine - 73 posts

#eddie munson - 68 posts

#rafael barba - 68 posts

#eddie munson imagine - 64 posts

#ask - 61 posts

#eddie munson x reader - 58 posts

#rafael barba x reader - 53 posts

#raul esparza - 51 posts

#law and order svu - 50 posts

Longest Tag: 132 characters

#genuinely very curious about this because back when i liked them the first time obviously basically everyone found them through avpm

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

"Spring Break '86" *Chapter 5*

Chapter 4

Chapter 6

So, GOOD NEWS:

This chapter is 22 pages long. [on a Google doc.]

BAD news: It's this long because I really don't think you'll get a new one until Monday. [Well I guess it's technically Sunday now, but-- you get my point.]

ALSO--

So I'm gonna need you to suspend your belief a TAD more for this chapter. The events in this story aren't quite syncing up to events in the show, so-- we're just using the season as GUIDELINES, more than actual rules, yeah? [Where my POTC people at!]

Also, in the show Rick's house isn't high up, but for the purposes of the story it's very high up above the water, mmk?

Oh um, also-- Vecna can possess people. YEAH. Because I said so.

I think that's all the changes. If you see any other weird different things, IT'S JUST A FANFIC OKAY. CALM DOWN.

Also I really, really love this chapter. I know I say that about all the new chapters but really, I do love this one. <3

Doin my best on the tag list guys, I think I'm gonna put it at the end of the chapter though. It's getting pretty long. Thats what she said.

_—-----

"No….No….No Eddie I'm sorry…" 

You were whimpering in your sleep as you tossed and turned. Eddie had fallen asleep next to you after his shower. He took a risk sleeping in some clean boxers, thinking you'd rather sleep next to a clean body than his old rank outfit.

You were snuggled against him, so when you started your thrashing it immediately woke him up.

"Y/N?" He groggily turned over, not taking in all of your distress. After two seconds however, he realized what was happening and began shaking you. 

"Y/N!!! WAKE UP!!!!!" 

His frantic screaming and jostling instantly woke you from your nightmare. You looked up into his terrified brown eyes, realizing you were covered in sweat from the stress. 

"Eddie," you breathed, thankful he was present day him, and not the sad senior you had just seen him as. 

"It's okay," he tried to soothe you, running his hands down your shoulders. "It's okay, I'm here…"

".... So are we," 

The new voice made the both of you leap from each other, Eddie fell to the bed clumsily. You would've helped him but your full attention was taken by the sight of your Steve, Robin, and your baby brother staring at you.

"JESUS CHRIST Y/N," Dustin screamed when he realized how scantily clad you were, throwing his hands on his face. 

"Shit," you quickly remembered that your attire was most definitely not appropriate for little brother viewing. 

You grabbed the comforter and pulled it up to your chest, only now noticing Eddie was less dressed than you were. 

"Oh my GOD!" You yelled in a panic. "Eddie, why are you naked?!” 

 You turned to the others: “didn't know he was naked, I swear,"

"I'm not naked, for fucks sake," Eddie grumbled as he picked himself up off the floor. 

See the full post

406 notes - Posted June 12, 2022

#4

"Spring Break '86" *Chapter 4*

Chapter 3

Chapter 5

Whoof!

Okay first of all, I noticed that not a lot any writers put little "notes" at the beginning of their chapters, they just...post them.

But I don't know, I kinda like letting you guys know what exactly is going on with me, so you kinda know what to expect going forward, ya know?

Is it annoying? I guess if it's annoying to you, you can just skip all of this and just read the damn thing, but-- yeah, I thought I'd share.

SO--

I bought a new laptop, but it won't be here until Monday. [Boo!]

So, what I have done literally ALL day, is write on my phone. Yes. On my phone. And then there was a point where i thought I didn't save it on the Google drive, and it didn't transfer, so I freaked out, but it's fine now.

And I kept writing and writing because I'm probably not going to be able to write for the next two days. Not just because of no laptop, I also work nights and the next two days are doozies.

I wanted to at least get enough for two chapters, but I think a well-rounded meaty one chapter is good. And I still have some left over to hopefully finish when I get home tomorrow night. If I'm not exhausted. And my sister will let me use her laptop to post like I'm doing now. [thank you sissy!]

ANYWAY, once again I continue to remind you that I've literally never had something like this take off as fast and as much as this has, so I'm doing my best at the tag list! Please continue to be patient with me and remind me if I have forgotten you.

Tag list:

@neenieweenie 

@loliakeoghan23

@rexorangecouny

@sugabops

@llanababy

@broccolisoepj

@Fangirling-4-ever

@nostandards94

@adrienette715

@uglynuggy45

@nightless

@bilbobag9ins

@hellfire-club

@buckys2thicc

@iluminsz

@10blurredsmoke10

See the full post

478 notes - Posted June 11, 2022

#3

"Spring Break '86" *Chapter 2*

Part 1

Part 3

WOWOWOWOWOWOWOWWWW!

Cannot believe the traction this story got in less than 24 hours! I love it!

I THINK I got everyone on this tag list who asked to be on it. I think. I tried my best. If you asked me and you don't see your name or didn't get notified, please let me know.

I should clarify [if it wasn't obvious before] that this story is going to have major Stranger Things 4 spoilers. If you haven't watched it yet, I don't know what you're doing with your life.

I'm going to have to re-watch ST4 as I write, maybe. Just to keep an accurate timeline. At this point, Chrissy's dead and Eddie made a run for it, and we don't pick back up with him until the next night in the show, correct? So, this chapter falls in-between that time.

I'm going to keep this updated as much as possible, but as of late my writing time has been somewhat limited. I DID find a cord for my laptop though, so I have means!

Again, thank you all for reading and sharing this! You all are awesome!!!

Tag List:

@neenieweenie

@loliakeoghan23

@rexorangecouny

@Sugabops

@llanababy

@broccolisoepj

@fangirling-4-ever

@nostandards94

@adrienette715

@uglynuggy45

@nightless

@bilbobag9ins

@hellfire-club 

@buckys2thicc

@Iluminson

@wanniiieeee

—------------

You drove and drove for what seemed like hours, trying to figure out where you could possibly go. You definitely didn’t want to take him back to your house, that was for damn sure. Finally, you ended up in a field of corn, of all places.

This was so horror movie-esque it was not funny. 

See the full post

588 notes - Posted June 9, 2022

#2

"Spring Break '86" *Chapter 3*

Chapter 2

Chapter 4

Oh KAY, hi GUYS!

Don't know if anyone saw my earlier post but BASICALLY:

I've been writing for like, 10 hours now right and my laptop DIES. Flat out CANNOT TURN ON.

Somehow I got it to 50% and am posting this before it dies again.

So, I tried adding as many people to the tag list that I saw. If I missed people, please let me know and I will add you next time!

ALSO--

I've decided that while this fic will follow the basic storyline of ST4, but seeing as we've got a brand new OC, stuff is gonna happen differently. I'm not gonna try and sit here and make it match word by word, kay?

.... Except for the end of the chapter that's exactly what I did.

Whatever. Just...suspension of disbelief, right?

I wrote SO SO SO SO much more than this, but like I said in my other post I think I got way too deep WAY too fast, because I was flat out sobbing. So, you're gonna have to wait on it. I promise you it's so super good ohmygod.

ANYWAY, I hope this suffices for now. I don't know what the fuck I'm gonna do if I can't get this thing to turn back on, so...enjoy it now.

PS- If it wasn't clear, I didn't exactly clearly proof-read this, but I did my best. Once I get a working computer, I'll fix editing stuff.

Tag list

@neenieweenie 

@loliakeoghan23

@rexorangecouny

@sugabops

@llanababy

@broccolisoepj

@Fangirling-4-ever

@nostandards94

@adrienette715

@uglynuggy45

@nightless

@bilbobag9ins

@hellfire-club

@buckys2thicc

See the full post

615 notes - Posted June 10, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

"Spring Break '86" {Eddie Munson/Reader}

Part 2 is here!

Yeah, I did it. I started a series about Eddie Munson.

This one should go really well because I actually have an outline/timeline to go by. [Stranger Things Season 4, Part 1. Maybe going into Part 2?]

Basically, you are Dustin Henderson's older sister, with a secret "history" with Eddie Munson. And that history is slowly being uncovered when you come home from college for spring break, and find that Eddie is best buds with your little brother.

You get caught into the events of S4, and the truth becomes more and more clear.

I have a full, thought-out plot and story with this, regardless of how S4 ends. Meaning if Eddie dies. But Eddie will NOT DIE. NO. HE WON'T. I LOVE HIM AND WON'T LET IT HAPPEN.

I have a tag list, but it's for Rafael Barba fans so I will not include them here. If you would like to be added to a tag list for this story, please let me know!

I hope you guys like it!

===================

“Ughh where are you, you little worm…” 

You grumbled under your breath as you stomped out of the still cheering gymnasium of Hawkins Highschool. You had just driven back home to Hawkins Indiana from Chicago, and you weren’t in the best mood. 

It was the Spring Break of your freshman year at college, and rather than head to the coast with your new college gal pals, you had stupidly opted to come back home for the week instead. Truth be told you weren’t exactly the “beach babe” type, and you would never admit it but you missed your mom, Mews, and your little brother Dustin. 

However, at this exact moment you were in fact not missing him in the least. Here you had driven all night to surprise him at his best friend’s basketball game, and he wasn’t there. How could he not be there? This was the very first time in any history you knew that Hawkins had made it to a tournament, and you knew for a fact that one of Dustin’s best friends Lucas Sinclair was on the team. How could Dustin and his little “party” not be there cheering him on?

Before you reached your car in the parking lot, you heard cheering come from inside the school. Which was odd, because you were pretty sure anybody who was supposed to be there was in the gymnasium. Then a thought occurred to you:

Your brother wasn’t exactly the “normal” high schooler, like his friend Lucas. No star athlete, not really Mr. Popular. He liked really weird things like sci-fi and nerd stuff, Star Wars, shit like that. But the one thing he loved above it all was his stupid Dungeons and Dragons group he had, which included his only friends. Obviously.

If you were being absolutely honest with yourself, the whole “Satanic Panic” about D&D had started running rampant through your school newspapers, and you’d never admit it but it actually started to freak you out. As far as you knew, those games were harmless. Stupid, but harmless. 

But whether or not it was true, you knew your small town was easily poisoned. Some whiff of any kind of controversy, a threat, a rumor, could roll into that town and the people would be burning people at the stake by the end of the day. You couldn’t let them try to “save” your brother from the “devil’s game’.

All of these thoughts ran through your head long enough to stall you from walking into the school before a group of teens came bursting out in cheers and joyous chants. Among them was your little brother, who stopped dead when he saw you standing there in the parking lot. 

“....Y/N? What are you doing here?” Dustin asked warily, totally confused on why you would be in his High School parking lot at 10 o'clock at night. 

“Jesus Dusty,” You let out a soft laugh of disbelief. “I drove all the way down here to surprise you and all–” 

You were just starting to chastise your brother when the last person you ever expected to see came strolling out of the dark school halls. 

Eddie Munson.

Your nose scrunched as you watched him saunter over to your brother giving him and the others high fives. He quickly stopped and changed his demeanor once he saw you standing behind the group. 

“Henderson, you didn’t tell me your mom was such a babe,” Eddie eyed you up and down devilishly. 

“Shut up,” You narrowed your eyes on the long-haired man.

“Dude that’s my sister, not my–” Dustin started to explain to Eddie who you were.

“He knows who I am, Dust,” you cut him off, still glaring at Eddie. 

“What?” Dustin blinked in confusion. “Why? How is that–”

“Didn’t expect to see you hare, princess,” Eddie smirked back at your daggered eyes, while Dustin and his friends looked between the two of you in shock. 

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1,175 notes - Posted June 8, 2022

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[rom-e-o]

So I didn’t know until now that Luke Evans and Raul Esparza shared a damn musical together??? HELLO???

Well okay sure fine

Thank you SiriusXM on Broadway for jumpscaring me with this info

[eighthmark]

[doctorwhatwhenandwhere]

I love Raúl Esparza so much. I have a ritual everyday of watching him sing

1)there’s a sucker born a minute

2)franklin shepherd inc

3)lonely house

God I just love this man

Rafael Barba being unfairly seductive in every episode

↳ Pornstar’s Requiem (S16E05)

[literalliterature]

-1 to Charisma be damned my girl can get it

Click for quality blease

(Obvious reference photo under the cut because everyone should see it and if you've already seen it you should look at it again)

[ID: A drawing of three young people from the chest up, all standing very close together. In the middle is Keet, a stocky, light-skinned woman with white freckles across her face. She has black hair streaked with white that is swept and tied back into a bun, with a gold hair clip on one side. She wears a navy suit jacket with no shirt underneath, as well as a curved wooden pendant and a gold arrow-shaped brooch. Her mouth hangs open in confusion, but she focuses on and leans toward Rhea, the woman on her right, as the latter goes to kiss her. Rhea is a dark-skinned woman with a black afro that has star-like points of light throughout it, as well as a spiked, crown-like headpiece. She wears a shiny, rouged purple dress with sheer ruffled sleeves with glittering yellow stars on them, along with a silver crescent moon around her neck. On Keet's left, leaning his face against her shoulder with a pained expression, is Hydor. He is a water genasi man with light blue skin and long, wavy, darker blue hair. He wears a laurel-like golden hair ornament, gold earrings, several gold chains, and nothing else. The background and overlay are rosy pink. End ID.]

[ID: A photo of Anne Hathaway, Audra McDonald, and Raul Esparza in a production of Twelfth Night, in the same positions and with the same expressions as Keet, Rhea, and Hydor above, respectively. End ID.]

[delcat177]

Have you ever watched the Hannibal series (the newer one)? It can be a little cheesy at times but you might dig Hannibal and Will’s dynamic. They remind me of Wilson and Maxwell in some sense

Okay, so here is the singular thing:

These two will always be my OG Hannibal OTP. Possibly unpopular opinion, I don't know. My God, how long I have loved them. Garage sale VHS long. Silence of the Lambs is a very favored movie by one of my OCs, and she was rather put out that Anthony Hopkins was not reprising his role at the time, in an expression of my own deep, deep longing for a full series of Iconic Murder Husband.

(She also eats people. And we all go ssst 'cause it's so hot good god damn Mr. Hopkins and Mz. Foster class! act! so! good! pecs jesus)

But once I got over that, I fully embraced Murder Husbands 2.0!

They ABSOLUTELY have the dynamic, except if my Maxwell brought Woundson food in his sensory-controlled autist den (A++++++ scene, life-sustaining, This Shit Everything About It), it would be dubiously cooked and also slung directly at his head with "EAT DAMMIT" and a snarky slapfight would ensue. Hannibal has endless restraint and patience, and Maxwell is more like Wilson than he likes to let on--he gets bored easily and is a curious man, and despite the chess mastery, he's impulsive, doesn't think too far ahead. He's not unintelligent, but, well...nobody's Lecter but Lecter.

(Lecter is on tier with Freddy, Mikey, and Jason for humanity. Maxwell retains more personhood by way of not having a body count, and by way of getting body horror'd for his actions. I Have Opinions About Killer Psychology, Excuse Me)

I will admit that I have only seen a little of Hannibal, I'm not even through the first season--this is because for awhile, I was watching it with my fiance, we ran into timing issues and started watching other things, that song and dance. That keeps me from claiming true ship status, probably, but it's something I'm working on remedying. I have deeply enjoyed every moment I've seen, and fully plan on watching the series in full, I just need to open up time for it.

It doesn't help that I started watching during what my friends/relatives call "the black hole period" after my describing it as such, an extremely affected span of years after my mother passed where I really wasn't taking in much at all because grief is able to block out many suns--even these dark stars.

(All of them. Like, damn these two are great, but I always loved Fishburne on CSI, Raul Esparza is incredible whatever he's in, I understand Gillian Anderson and Eddie Izzard I have yet to get to, just...Jesus this CAST)

I'd say I'll be ready for it once I finish hyperfocusing on the last AGDQ and once I get some words down on paper for my Maxwell/Woundson so I don't get character seep right when I'm finally seeing them straight on again, it's been a hot second but they're finally back IC, totally, in my head, and I want to grab that while I can. Then I can have precious reward of hot neurotic meets hot psychotic and oh god no why are there deer

(Three of my favorites!)

tl;dr: I love, I agree, I'm behind, I want more. Thank you for reminding me, I'm pushing this one up The Big Media List!

As a thank you:

From I think October? My Hannibal is the oldschool one, new one is my sister's, they both protect precious son.

Thank you for the great ask!

[storiesofsvu]

Hey, so I did a bit of research (I looked up their names together) and I don’t think Raúl Esparza and Elizabeth Marvel have work together before SVU but I read an interview he did about starting SVU and ‘25 acts’, etc. (You might have read it idk)

In which he said, and I quote “Elizabeth Marvel is like a goddess, playing the opposing counsel.”

Like yaassss, HE GETS IT!! I mean of course he does she is a literal Goddess!!!

It just made me so happy 🙂

Hahah bless you nonny!!!

There’s still a chance they did some theatre shit together, but really who knows until one of us has the balls to @ Raul lololol.

I did read that interview! (Pretty sure)

AND LIKE...OBVI he gets it, he knows what good acting is, and Ms Marvel, damn is she fucking fire. I don’t know if I’d be able to handle working a scene with her (and not because of the sheer OMG ITS HER) just the sheer level of talent like...

#notworthy

Fuck....

[lannister-slings-and-arrows]

This may be painful but: what do you like best/worst about Raul Esparza’s PERSONALITY only on SVU? Do you have any headcanons about why he is the way he is?

I love every single gosh darn thing about Rafael Barba. Literally, in my eyes that man has no flaws.

But what I like best? The suits. And the sass. And how fast he runs his mouth. And how he has his own moral compass and he sticks to it. Even if that means pissing off his cop friends. (Boy has great hair too and come on, it’s obvious by now I love a Belly lol)

Man, his style is fantastic. Is it realistic that an ADA could afford suits like that? No. Not. A. Chance. Not unless he had family money which of course, we know Rafa doesn’t. But honestly I don’t even care because damn those ties and those vests and those SUSPENDERS. Damn son just. I will never get over a man who wears a suit that well.

The sass and the mouth? I myself am a fast talking asshole who can’t stand not to have the last word and has a snappy retort for everything. So I obviously admire these traits in the Sassiest ADA Around. Gosh he just. He never lets an opportunity to demonstrate his wit pass him by, he never lets an opponent have the last word. He’s the smartest man in the room and he won’t let anyone insinuate differently. When he knows he’s right, he makes sure that everyone else knows it too. Are these normally traits that annoy the shit out of people? Yes. However they are mine, I embrace them, and thus I embrace him.

And that moral compass? You can see it in every single case he tries, he wants to Win and he wants Justice and sometimes yeah, that means railroading some people, and making some calls that others might disagree with. And you can see how it evolves over his six seasons on the show. The culmination of his character development with Rafa’s exit from the show? Flawless. Perfection. The man is a God.

And I mean. Like. He’s fucking hot which is a MAJOR plus lol.

[thegreenmeridian]

The final chapter of my Toptumov fic is up

It took a while to get this to a point I was willing to just let go and post the damn thing, so I hope you enjoy it.

@fmasha-l @raul-eduardo-esparza @valerafan2 @potter012 @elenatria @az-5-elimgarak @boisinberryjamarama

[roosterbox]

Update: did not, in fact, puke. Still feel a bit like I might though, so who knows. I won’t blame Hannibal for it if I do, lol.

Speaking of which, that’s two more episodes down. At this rate it’s gonna take me a damn year. Fucking executive dysfunction.

I didn’t take notes, but I have Thoughts(tm). Cut for spoilers, of course.

RIP Beverly. You were a real one.

And mad respect (even more than before) to Raul Esparza (and kinda Bryan Fuller too I guess) for making Chilton so damn… likable? Like Frederick Chilton is a douchebag of the highest order. So much so in fact that the general reaction to the ending of Silence of the Lambs, wherein Dr. Lecter not so subtly implies that he’s going to kill and consume him, is met with some variation of ���well damn, couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.” AND YET, here I am rooting for him. Fucking shit, Bryan.

Hannibal and Alana. Hannibloom? Ech, no thanks.

Took me a hot minute to remember where I’d seen Johnathan Tucker before (The Ruins). I was expecting him here though - I knew about Matthew Brown. Recall that I’m not going into this series completely blind. In fact, I noticed him before in an earlier episode. I was taking notes, and I almost thought to bring it up (“hey wait a minute was that Matthew Brown???”) but I didn’t.

These two gay losers outsourcing their murder of each other. Hanni’s gonna get his own chance at it in a couple episodes. Jesus Christ can’t you assholes just awkwardly flirt with each other like the rest of us?

And it’s always a pleasure to see Eddie Izzard. Especially in this - she’s wonderful in this show.

Next episode, my baby boy will finally be free, lol. And then… the honeytrapping can begin in earnest.

[adashofmercuryandtea]

It never fails that every single time I watch Hannibal (the series with Mads and Dancy) that I never understand how the fuck the show didn't win every single goddamn award out there! Best directing, best editing, best script, best actors, best sound etc. Even just the smallest of scenes, where they show you a simple glass and liquid being poured into it is show excellently. The movements, the writing. The script is just beautiful. The scenes that give you a perspective from either a main or minor character, I love it. I really do. I never understood the whole 'best directing' category but Hannibal really changed that. I fell in love with the directing, the editing, the music; sound effects. I love it. God, I miss this show!

[lovemesomerafael]

EL AMOR TODO LO PUEDE Chapter 21:  Playing Charades

GIF Source:  All-things-raul-esparza

Read Previous Chapters 1-20

If Mazie Anderson was having difficulty handling her emotions after being raped, she did a good job hiding it.  Nonetheless, she was entitled to the same support any victim received.  Which meant that, when she insisted on attending the arraignment of the man who’d attacked her, Laura went with her.  The arraignment docket dragged on and on, with little to break the monotony.  Eventually, however, the case was called and a junior A.D.A. Laura hadn’t met stood to request a very high bail.  Mazie looked the rapist full in the face and sat calmly as he was arraigned.  Bail was set at $100,000, which meant he couldn’t bond out for less than $10,000.  It was enough.  

Laura put Mazie in a cab and headed to work herself.  Since becoming a cop, she’d always hated court days because she felt like she was missing out on the action.  Today was no different.  

When she got to the station, Fin and Carisi had a goofy-looking guy in the box who appeared to be in his mid-thirties.  He was pale and sweating, but that seemed to be his normal state, because he wasn’t frightened.  He was mad. As Laura stepped up to the window into the interrogation room, she could hear him spewing venomous misogynistic slogans that sounded like they came straight off the internet.  Which they did.  “Involuntary Celibates,” or “Incels” as they liked to call themselves, had possibly been created by the internet.  They were guys who couldn’t figure out how to relate to women and had convinced one another that all women were part of a conspiracy to deny them attention, love, and especially sex.  They spent all their time on hate-filled websites with like-minded idiots, regurgitating the idea that women owed them all of those things, without them needing to be worthy of any of them.  They repeated it to each other until they believed it.  

Lieutenant Benson and A.D.A. Barba stood at the window, watching and listening.  Laura figured that, given their last conversation, it was the better part of valor not to stand next to Barba.  She took a place on the other side of Benson.  

“Incels.  I love these guys,” Laura said by way of greeting.

“You love these guys?” Benson asked, raising an eyebrow.

“They’re so easy to break. All you have to do is give them what they want, and they freak out.”

Barba kept his eyes on the interrogation as he muttered, “Define ‘give them what they want’.”

Amanda Rollins stepped up at that moment.  “Act interested.  They don’t know what to do with a girl who says yes, so they fall all over themselves and give you everything.”  

“Want us to give it a try?” Laura looked hopefully at Benson who, in turn, looked at Barba.

“We don’t really need to listen to any more of this crap, do we?”  She asked him.

“We’ve got plenty to show motive.  But we’re nowhere near a confession.  It couldn’t hurt.”

Olivia nodded. “OK.  You’re up.”

Laura turned to Amanda. “You or me?”

Rollins held up a fist. “Loser goes in.”

Laura put up her fist, they shook three times, and Laura threw paper.  Amanda threw scissors.

“Damn it,” Laura laughed, not really disappointed.  This could be fun.  “Help me get ready.”

When Parker and Rollins returned to the interrogation room door, Laura had removed almost all her makeup. She had on just enough mascara to highlight her large, brown eyes.  Instead of the chic suit she’d spent too much on, she wore a simple white sleeveless turtleneck, a skirt that came to mid-thigh and swung around her legs as she moved, and low heels.  Her hair was down, in a simple style with the front pulled to one side in a barrette, and she was wearing glasses.  The changes were subtle, but the effect was dramatic.  She looked vulnerable and insecure as she stood there clutching a clipboard to her chest.  Barba instantly wanted to protect her.

“OK,” Olivia smiled. “I’ll go pull Fin and Carisi out.”

“Don’t let ‘em clean off the table,” Rollins suggested.

“I know what you have in mind.  I’ve already briefed Fin.”

As Benson went into the interrogation room, Laura turned to Barba, addressing him directly for the first time since she’d gone to his office the night before.  Her eyes were full of mischief, something he suspected was not unusual with her.

“I could use your help.”

“What do you need?”

“Remember what we talked about yesterday?  Could you give me time to bond with him a little bit, and then come in and do your thing?”  

“Now you want me to talk down to you,” he said drily.

“Might as well use your powers for good.”  She smiled up at him.

Jesus y Santa Maria.  For a moment, he was dumbstruck as he felt the full impact of the impish, conspiratorial expression she beamed at him.  What would it be like to share plots and secrets with this woman?  Barba’s dislike of Peter Stone doubled in that moment.  

 “Fin, Carisi, I need you to come with me.  We have a situation,” Benson ordered, keeping her hand on the doorknob as though in a hurry.”

“We need to finish in here,” Carisi complained, exchanging a surprised look with Fin.

“Parker can finish this,” Olivia said.

Fin’s face fell. “Parker.  Is gonna finish our interrogation.”

“Detective…” Olivia’s voice held a note of warning.

They shrugged and stood, moving toward the door.  Laura walked in past Olivia, clutching her clipboard and standing with her shoulders hunched, as though uncomfortable.  Carisi and Fin stood and moved toward the door.  Fin gestured toward the table, strewn with soda cans and crumpled papers.  

“You can get this stuff for us, right, Laura?”  He didn’t wait for an answer.

She stepped to the table as the door closed behind her.  

“I’m Laura Parker,” she said, holding out her hand to the suspect.  “I’m one of the detectives here.”

He awkwardly touched her hand, but barely grasped it.  She clasped his softly but definitely, holding it just long enough for him to register the feeling of her hand in his.  “Yeah, I’ll just call you Stacy,” he sneered.

Laura blinked at him as she took the chair closest to him.  “It’s… It’s Laura.”

He guffawed and rolled his eyes.  “Oh, brother.”

“You’re Brian Cudahay, I know.  Is it all right if I call you Brian?”

“Whatever.”  

She smiled as though he’d granted her a favor.

“Before we start, are you OK?  Do you need anything?”  Her demeanor was kind and interested.

“I could use a blow job,” he leered.  

She looked slightly uncomfortable and turned her eyes to the table.  “Maybe later,” she muttered shyly.  “Let’s do the paperwork first.”  

That threw him.  She was supposed to have turned red and bit his head off.  “Weren’t you supposed to clean this stuff up, detective?”  He tried again to insult her.

She stood and began placidly picking up the mess from the table, tossing it in the trash.  As intended, he watched her legs and backside as she moved around, deliberately giving him plenty of opportunity.  

“At some point those guys will figure out I can do more than clean up after them,” she remarked.  

Rafael, watching through the one-way glass, rolled his eyes.  This Cinderella act is never going to work.  But those legs might.

“So, Brian, another piece of crucial police work they let me do is fill out these forms.  Can I ask you some questions?”  

For the next twenty minutes, Laura wrote useless information on a form she’d quickly printed out before coming into the room.  It was actually used for new NYPD employees to sign up for health insurance, but it gave her the opportunity to be fascinated by every detail of Brian Cudahay’s personal information, and begin to draw him out.  Few people can resist talking about themselves to someone who appears to find them enthralling, and this guy was a frustrated virgin being played by a very experienced flirt who happened to be adorable.  

Barba could feel Cudahay thawing toward her, then beginning to melt.  Cudahay didn’t even notice when she completely abandoned the charade of filling out the forms.  Soon, he was telling her about his ant farm.  An ant farm, Laura thought.  If this guy wasn’t such a woman-hating piece of shit, he’d actually be kind of cute.  

Forty-five minutes in, Cudahay was on his fourth story in which he featured prominently in some heroic role, this time finding a way to repair the milkshake machine at the fast-food place where he worked.  Laura hung on every word.  Barba smirked as he watched, shaking his head.  Poor sucker never stood a chance.  I feel for ya’, buddy.  

“I think it’s showtime,” Olivia told him.  He straightened his jacket and moved to the door.  The rest of the team continued to watch Parker carefully weave her web around the clueless Incel.  

As Barba assertively threw the door open and strode into the room, Laura sucked in her breath and moved noticeably toward Cudahay.  She stammered a bit before standing up so quickly she knocked her pen to the floor. As Barba had expected, she leaned over from the waist to pick it up, giving Cudahay the opportunity to experience her swingy skirt up close as it slid up her thighs.  Por Dios, Barba thought.  She’s shameless.  

“Oh… Mr. Barba… Are you…?”

“I’ll take it from here, Miss Parker,” he said, spreading his leather-bound folder on the table and sitting across from Cudahay in a position that took up as much space as possible.  He didn’t look at her even when addressing her.  

She awkwardly sat down, muttering so quietly only Cudahay could hear, “It’s Detective Parker.”

Had the squad not known better, they would have joined Cudahay in believing that Barba was the biggest prick in the city and that Parker was terrified of him.  

“I’m A.D.A. Rafael Barba. I just need to ask you a couple of questions about your attacks on these women,” he arrogantly tossed a set of photographs across the table.  

“I didn’t attack anyone,” Cudahay began, puffing out his chest as he took in the new dynamics in the room.

“Normally, I’d be entranced, but I’m due in court.  So let’s skip the fairy tales, hmmm?”

“Hey, man-“

Laura put a hand on Cudahay’s arm and looked up at him through her eyelashes as though trying to warn him, or protect him, or something.  She was on his side.

“Mr. Barba, I-“

“Miss Parker, please. I don’t have time.”

“Sir, I’m, um… well into questioning the suspect.  You really don’t need to stay.”

Barba gave her a look that she never wanted to see for real.  Holy shit, but that man could scowl.  

“Are you suggesting that you can do my job better than I can?”

“Oh, no, Sir, it’s just that-“

“I’ll tell you what, dickwad,” Cudahay interjected, leaning across the table toward Barba.  “Get lost.  I don’t have to talk to you.  I’m only talking to her.”  

“Her.”  The single syllable dripped with condescension and appalled amusement, but it was the raised eyebrows coupled with the slightest upturn of his lips that had Laura biting her lip to keep from grinning.  He inspected Cudahay as he would something foul he’d just discovered stuck to the bottom of his shoe.  

Cudahay seemed to think he’d won a point.  He sat straighter in his chair and lifted his chin.  Laura mirrored his posture, moving yet closer to him.  It’s us against him, she silently signaled to her new protector, Brian.

Barba’s posture and expression as he pointedly closed his folder were half disappointment, half disbelief at the stupidity of some inferior people.  It was a masterful performance that Laura thought had probably been perfected over years of doing the same thing to signal that some plea deal was too idiotic to even consider.  

“Very well,” he said quietly and with careful enunciation.  “Miss Parker can take your statement.  I’m due in court.”  

Laura and Cudahay watched in silence as he swept from the room.  As soon as the door closed, Cudahay turned to Laura.  

“Are you OK?”  He was all solicitous concern.  

“I’m, um… I’m…” she faltered, her voice close to breaking.

Outside the room, the whole squad was chuckling.

“Are those actual tears?” Carisi asked with delight.  

Barba shook his head yet again.  “That woman is not to be trusted.”  

“Y’all are pathetic,” Rollins smiled.  

Laura knew she had him when Cudahay handed her a crumpled tissue from the pocket of his jeans.  She let him comfort her, clumsy and inept, while she leaned on his shoulder.  

“Thanks for being so understanding, Brian.  I appreciate you being on my side.  You must have a lot of girlfriends.”

“There it is,” Fin laughed outside the window.

“See, I woulda gone for the puppy dog eyes right there,” Rollins weighed in.  “She loses a couple of style points on that one.”

“I feel bad for the guy. I kinda wanna go in there and rescue him.”

“Carisi, you are too soft hearted for this job,” Amanda told him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

 “Actually, Laura,” Cudahay said, trying to find the courage to put his arm around her, “I don’t have a girlfriend.  Women don’t really… like me.”

“I don’t believe that,” she responded coyly.  

“In fact, a couple of them have been real bi-  witches about it.”

With that, the story began to unfold.  For an hour, all Laura had to do was look at him with doe eyes and make sympathetic noises while Brian Cudahay confessed to four attacks on women: one more than the NYPD had even linked to him.  

The change in Cudahay when Fin came in to arrest him was blood-curdling.  That little bitch had just confirmed everything he and his Incel buddies believed about whores using sex to get whatever they wanted and denying him his rightful share.  The noxious, vindictive things he said to and about Parker were nothing new in that room, but Barba made a note to represent the People personally at Cudahay’s bail hearing.  Best if he didn’t have the opportunity to go looking for her for a while.

Laura wasn’t gloating when she came out of the interrogation room.  She was glad to have gotten the confessions.  Cudahay deserved to go to prison for what he’d done to those women.  But she wished this guy would have had the opportunity to go out and meet someone, rather than getting sucked into the self-fulfilling misery of the Incel websites.  He could’ve been OK.

Rafael could guess what she was thinking.  It was to her credit that she wasn’t taking a victory lap.  

“Hey, thanks,” she said to him.  “You were amazing.  Remind me not to get on your bad side.”

And then she grinned and held out a fist.  

Rafael Barba had never fist bumped in his life.  No one would ever have thought to suggest such a thing.  Rafael Barba did things like shake hands and clink crystal.  Yet here she was, grinning and waiting with her fist out.  Could she really have that mistaken an impression of him?  He didn’t think so.  He thought she probably had quite an accurate impression of him.  And she was laughing at him.  He should have hated it.

He grinned back and bumped her fist.