#diners are my safe space and i love to go eat eggs and read by myself

[eemolu]

took this bitch to breakfast

[indestructibleheart]

Hi, fam! Okay, so I'm going to be out at an appointment tomorrow morning, so I'm kicking this off a little bit early. It's technically Wednesday in several timezones and very nearly Wednesday in mine. I'm... also a bit eager to share this, ngl.

I know that I've shared a lot of angst lately, but I swear that's not all I'm doing. 😅 In fact, the actor/playwright AU decided to wallop me in the face out of nowhere after sitting in my WIP folder for months. I'm really excited about it, so I'm gonna share the first scene!

(Also, those of you who have been to New York with me will recognize my favorite brunch spot in this scene lmao.)

---

You probably didn't even know I was in the room, but I noticed you straight away. You were talking with your friends, happy and animated and fully alive—a person living in dimensions I couldn’t access—and so beautiful. Your hair was longer then. You were the center of attention, but you weren’t afraid. You had a yellow ipê-amarelo in your pocket. I thought, this is the most incredible thing I have ever seen; I'd better keep it a safe distance away from me. I thought, if someone like that ever loved me, it would set me on fire.

INT. MOM'S KITCHEN & BAR - HELL'S KITCHEN - LATE MORNING

"I'm telling y'all," Alex is saying, punctuating with dangerously large bites of his pancake burrito. "The dude's a dick." 

It's been two hours since the nightmare audition, but Alex has been on this tirade since June and Nora first slid into the retro diner chairs across from him (at least forty-five minutes ago).

They're at Mom's: a restaurant-bar in midtown that can only be described as millennial nostalgia incarnate. The trio fell in love with it two years back—post-karaoke, stumbling in right before closing—when Alex saw God in their Fruity Pebble pancakes.  Since then, it's been his favorite place to eat his feelings.

Mom's is just really fucking comforting in general, honestly; whether it's the televisions cycling through episodes of 'Rugrats,' 'Dexter's Laboratory,' and 'Hey, Arnold!' or  the rainbow straws and Lisa-Frank-looking menus, Alex can't be sure. It doesn't hurt that they've made friends with several of the waitstaff, including an eccentric bartender, Pez, whose pink hair and painted nails fit right in with the decor. 

Today, it's the combination of breakfast sausage, bacon, eggs and cheese wrapped up in a syrup-soaked pancake that's really doing something for him. It could also be the margarita the size of his face, which Pez placed in front of him before making himself uncharacteristically scarce. But it's fine. He's probably just busy.

Alex won't admit it out loud, but what really helps is having June and Nora here to talk to… even though Nora is scrolling on her phone.

"I'm sorry," June says. She pokes an ice cube with her straw, and Alex watches as it bobs around her mimosa like a buoy. "That sounds like it sucked, but if he's really that rude… maybe you didn't want to work with him anyway."

Nora doesn't look up as she pops a home fry into her mouth. 

"Several sources say he's difficult to work with," she adds, evidently reading about Henry on the internet. "Though, in his defense, his dad did just die, like, three years ago… and there was that whole thing when he came out after. Remember?"

Alex does remember. Henry's grandmother, Mary Mountchristen, runs a pretty major company that used to own half the theatres on the West End. When Henry came out last year, she tried blacklisting his shows from her properties to punish him—which totally backfired when it got around. At least a dozen other queer writers and producers started talking about how they were also denied the space, and Mary was stoned on the streets of the theatre district. Like, metaphorically. 

Alex, Nora, and June had just moved to New York, but between June's position at Newsday and both Alex and Nora on the audition circuit, it was all anyone in their new circles could talk about. They were some of the first to know when the Mountchristens were bought out of their properties and Henry moved to the States.

This show is the first of Henry's being produced here—and it's autobiographical, which Alex has to admit is pretty fucking baller. So, yeah, Nora's not wrong. He has reason to be standoffish. Still, it doesn't explain why Alex was only halfway through his audition monologue when Henry abruptly stood up and exited stage left as if pursued by a bear.

He shoves another forkful into his mouth. "It's just, like, they're the only people who let me into the room," he says, barely finishing chewing. "Nobody wants to take me seriously, and I really thought this was my shot, you know?"

June and Nora both know Alex is having a hard time landing serious roles after growing up on a sitcom—Nora more than most, as his former co-star. What they don't know is that losing this role, specifically, feels like a kick to the stomach. From the moment Alex saw the script, he wanted to be a part of it. He can't even explain why, and now he'll never figure it out. Henry wouldn't give him a chance.

"It wasn't your only shot, and you know it." Nora fixes him with a look. "Seriously, I get it—I do—but it's just one play, buddy."

June nods. "Something will happen for you, baby brother."

At that, Alex finally groans. "Okay, calling me baby brother doesn't help me feel better about the entertainment industry infantili—"

"—itty bitty, teeny weeny—"

Alex throws a home fry at her face. 

It bounces off her forehead and into the giant gauntlet holding her mimosa with a very unappetizing splash. Just as Alex throws his hands into the air with a victorious whoop, his phone buzzes on the table. 

A glance is all it takes for him to see that it's his agent, Zahra.

"Damn," he says, deflating. There goes that upswing. "You answer it."

June balks. "Me?"

"I don't need to hear how fucking badly it went. Trust me, I got the message." Alex blinks innocently, like he's six years old again, asking her to lie to their mom about that broken vase. "Please, Bug? Besides, Zahra actually likes you."

"Everyone likes me." June rolls her eyes, but she caves—answering the phone with a haughty, "Alex Claremont-Diaz's office," before breaking into a smile. "Yeah, Z. It's me… No, Alex is feeling a little sensitive today."

(He throws another home fry at her. This one misses.)

To her credit, June's face remains totally blank as Zahra no doubt tells her how Alex insulted Henry Fox's name and all of his inbred ancestors just by showing up, or whatever—which is extremely annoying and unhelpful—but, once she says goodbye and sets the phone back down on the table, her face breaks out into a grin.

"Guess you didn't suck too bad," she says. "They want you for the part."

He doesn't know if it's Nora throwing herself at him or the shock that knocks him onto the floor.

Tagging some lovelies. If you haven't been tagged and you want to be, consider this your tag!

@anchoredarchangel, @barbiediaz, @cha-melodius, @cricketnationrise, @guillermosfamiliar, @hgejfmw-hgejhsf, @hippolotamus, @inexplicablymine, @jettestar, @junebugclaremontdiaz, @kiwiana-writes, @lizzie-bennetdarcy, @missgeevious, @mulderscully, @myheartalivewrites, @ninzied, @nontoxic-writes, @notspecialbabe, @priincebutt, @rmd-writes, @rosedavid, @three-drink-amy, @treluna4, @vanillahigh00, @welcometololaland, @orchidscript, @ships-to-sail, @stereopticons

[supernatural-jackles]

The Man on the Side of the Road - Part 13

Title: The Man on the Side of the Road - Part 13

Pairing: Dean x Reader

Word Count: 3,834

Warnings: High Stress Levels, Mentions of the readers shitty Mom, FLUFF, All around cuteness! 

Summary: Driving down the road, going well over the speed limit. You come across a man walking in the opposite direction with a bouquet of flowers in his hands. His head cast down as he walked. Your gut instinct is telling you to check on this man, no matter what your parents told you growing up. Little did you know just how much this would change your life.

The Man on the Side of the Road - Masterlist

A/N: Three parts left after this one! I hope y’all enjoy this part! As always, feedback is greatly appreciated! Happy Reading!! 

Your head was pounding. Your vision was starting to blur and everything looked the same. You felt like you had been awake for forty eight hours. Your stomach was in knots, your chest was tight. You were beyond exhausted.

 Finals were going to be the absolute death of you.

 You buried your face in your hands, trying your hardest to clear your eyes and make them see one thing instead of eight. You had been at this for hours and nothing was sticking. You needed to pass this final. It was the most important one and you needed a seventy five in order to advance to the class you were taking next semester. You needed to learn the next twenty definitions and the process of seven more things and you literally had no idea how you were going to pull this off.

 “Knock knock,” Dean called out from behind your door. You took a deep breath, trying to compose yourself.

 “Come in,” you called out, trying your hardest to sound okay. Your bedroom door opened and Dean walked in. He was wearing his new pyjama pants that Sam had sent him as an early Christmas present. They had presents scattered all over them, and quite frankly they looked cute on him.

 “Hey you,” he greeted you. “Still studying?”

 “More like dying,” you sighed.

 “Nothing’s sticking huh?” he frowned, taking a seat at the end of your bed, giving you a bit of space.

 “Nope,” you shook your head. “I am not going to pass this final at this rate. I’m stressed out, exhausted and all I want to do is sleep for ten years.”

 “Don’t say that, sweetheart. You just need a break,” he suggested. “Why don’t we go make some dinner and pie. I did the groceries so we’ve got some food in the house. I can make you one of my dad’s recipes and after we can make your grandma’s homemade apple pie recipe.”

 “What are we going to make for dinner?” you smiled. “Mac and cheese? Winchester surprise?”

 “I was thinking I could make your favourite chicken with some mac and cheese,” he said with a smirk.

 “You know I can’t resist that,” you squinted at him.

 “I know. That’s why I’m making it. You gotta come out of this room and you’ve gotta eat something that’s not dried cereal or leftover beef jerky from our road trip nearly two months ago.”

 “You’re making me sound like I have a problem,” you giggled.

  “You do. It’s called being overworked,” he chuckled. “Kitchen. Now. Then I need you to watch a short movie with me. Give yourself a break. After that, we can kiss a little and I will help you study for however long tonight,” he declared proudly, looking at you with a sweet smile

 “Okay. We’ll go with your plan, chief,” you said with a weak smile. “You win this time. You had me at kissing you.”

 “Let’s go.”

 The second you got to the kitchen, you felt guilty for not having your books in front of you. The worry of not passing this final was really starting to get to you. You knew Dean was right; that you needed a study break because nothing was going to stick if you kept trying to cram it in. He offered to help you later, and you prayed to god that it would stick in better.

 Dean had the pasta noodles on, and the chicken already in the oven, like he was planning this all along. All that was left was to grate the cheese, and he was already halfway done. You just got to sit there, and watch him do what he did best.

 “When I was little,” you started, glancing up at Dean, “my mom tried to teach me how to bake. Red velvet cookies were what I wanted to make because I saw a picture in a recipe book one day. So she found one that would work and picked out an afternoon to do so. I thought it was going to be fun. You know, spending time with my mom, just the two of us. But I accidentally dropped an egg on the floor, and of course it broke. My mom was furious with me and sent me to my room for destroying her good kitchen floor. All because the egg slipped out of my hand and fell.”

 “That is terrible,” Dean frowned. “Accidents happen all the time.”

 “It was,” you nodded. “She came into my room hours later with a single cookie for me to eat. It was the first time I looked at something and felt like I didn’t deserve it.”

 “Why are you telling me this?” He asked, turning to face you.

 “Because I feel like I don’t deserve you sometimes. Especially on days like today when I’m cranky as hell, and not so fun to be around. You’re here making sure I eat and don’t overwork myself, and I don’t deserve to have someone as great as you in my life.”

 “Yeah you do,” he argued with a smile playing on his lips. “You deserve to have someone looking out for you, Y/N. You do the same for me.”

 “Well, I’m glad I’ve got you,” you smiled.

 “Likewise,” he smiled softly. “When I was growing up, my dad was the one who taught me how to cook. He told me it was a valuable life skill that I would need one day. I was always taught that it wasn’t just a woman’s job to cook for the family. I don’t remember a whole lot of my parents together. I was four when she died. But what I do remember is that they were happy together, and I wanted to have that one day.”

 “Do you still want that?” you asked him.

 “Yeah,” he nodded. “I’ve got you. I know my parents loved each other. Even if I remember them arguing, and such. I asked my dad about her from time to time, and he always talked about her with that same look on his face that he had when he saw her. Their love was something real. That’s what I want.”

 “The real thing,” you teased. “Growing up, my dad was my best friend. He had this big office in our house that no one was allowed in but me. He had a chair in there for me, and a computer there for me to do work at one end of his desk. It was our space that my mom couldn’t enter. It was a safe place for me. His Sunday’s were spent playing golf, away from my mom. Those were supposed to be the days I spent with her but she never wanted to. She had her girlfriends over for drinks and I’d be shoved into my bedroom, away from everyone and everything. My parents never spent any time together when I was growing up. My dad travelled during the week for work. I spent Saturdays with him. The more I think about it now, I wonder why they waited until I was twelve to get divorced. They were never happy together.”

 “That’s not fair to you,” he commented.

 “No it’s not. It’s like some sort of arrangement for them, I think,” you agreed. “You want what your parents had, and I want anything but what my parents have. How strange is that?”

 “Have you ever gotten along with your mom?” Dean questioned as he poured the cheese into the noodles. “I know Ketch said to you at the diner that night that your mom loved him more than she did you. Is that true?”

 “Unfortunately yes,” you shrugged. “And for the longest time, that was so hard for me. I mean, my mom loved my boyfriend more than she loved me, and I was her daughter. God, my mom was more excited when she found out I was going out with Ketch than I was. Sure, his family is the richest, and their house is a million times bigger than this. Ketch literally doesn’t need a college degree for crying out loud. It’s not like we ever struggled with money. I mean my dad still makes amazing money and he bought this house for me so I wouldn’t have to stay with my mom while I went to school.”

 “He’s got connections to everything and your mom liked that huh?”

 “It made her look good. It was good for the parties and for all the people at the country clubs. It’s like he’s fucking royalty or something,” you scoffed. “My mom didn’t want me to go to college at first, actually. That’s one of the reasons why I’m so late in graduating. I fought hard to go, and she would only let me go as far as here. My dad fought for me. He knew I wanted my own life. My mom was determined. A girl like me shouldn’t have to work hard for one. The job at the hospital was hard enough work. At one point, she even told me I wasn’t smart enough to get in, which was untrue. It’s just not me. I can’t just sit somewhere and have everything done for me. I’ve never been that way, even if my mom tried to raise me that way. It wasn’t right. I think she thought that Ketch was going to turn me into someone that she’d approve of. A housewife. Someone like her.”

 “I could never see you sitting back and doing nothing,” he chuckled. “You work harder than a lot of people.”

 “Thanks, Dean,” you grinned. “I’m at the point where I’m trying not to care about her. I don’t answer my mom’s texts anymore. Her calls are ignored. I’m done dealing with it all. All it ever does is upset me and I’m tired of putting myself in that position. I gotta move past it all.”

 “Good for you, sweetheart,” he nudged your shoulder. “You graduate in June right?”

 “Maybe! If I pass this final and all my classes next semester, then yes,” you let out a dry laugh.

 “You will,” he reassured you. “You’ll get home tomorrow feeling relieved that it’s over with and that you aced it. I’ll pick up some pizza and beer on the way home, and we’ll celebrate.”

 “And I can pick the movie?” you asked with a wide smile.

 “‘Course you can,” he winked.

 You and Dean ate dinner with a constant flow of conversation. For the first time all day, you felt relaxed, and you knew that was going to do your brain some good. When you were to go back to studying, there was a good chance you were going to retain more than you could before.

 Dean was the first one to finish, and he instantly started on the dishes. You couldn’t help but watch him as he worked. His muscles flexed beneath his shirt every so often. It had been a whole two months since you had slept with him that night, and the morning after. Your feelings had only grown stronger for him. You were taking it slow, enjoying the ride as you went on. Since you already lived together, you kept the sleepovers until Friday and Saturday nights. You didn’t want to rush this and ruin things.  You wanted to still have that friendship between you. It was the most important thing to you.

 You were slowly but surely moving past the whole, not good enough for him thing. There were still days when you felt like you weren’t good enough for him, and that was normal. Most of the time, he was the one who made you feel like you were. He was always making sure you knew that you were doing good, especially in the moments when you felt like you weren’t. There wasn’t a single doubt in your mind that you weren’t head over heels for him. This had the potential to become what his parents had. This had the potential to be something amazing.

 You got up from the counter, placing your utensils in the sink and your plate on top of his. You reached for the towel, taking the first mug out of the sink, drying it off. Dean gave you a soft smile before returning back to what he was doing. Your heart began to race in your chest.

 You wondered exactly what was going through his mind. If he was thinking about dinner, or anything else in specific. You wondered if he looked at you and thought the same thing you did when you looked at him. If he thought you were beautiful. If he thought he was lucky to have someone like you in his life. It was the little things.  

 There was a part of you that wanted to tell him that you loved him. You knew it wouldn’t be the worst thing to say, especially with how long he had been in your life. But at the same time, you were always the one who expressed how you felt first and that never worked out for you in the end. It was fear this time around. You didn’t want to push it so far only to have it crash and burn in the end. Dean was all you had at this point. You could wait. You could wait a lifetime for him. He was worth it.

 “Pie time?” he chuckled, pulling the apples out of the fridge. A few weeks ago, you had decided to go apple picking one Sunday. He remembered the day you met him that you mentioned something about your grandma’s recipe needing fresh autumn apples. He thought it would be a good date idea for the two of you and it was. It was one of the memories you think about that makes you smile.

 “Pie time,” you nodded.

 You opened up the cupboard, grabbing your book of recipes. Dean was already pulling out everything you needed from the fridge. You stifled your laugh, knowing just how excited he was for this. Quite frankly you were too. He was like a kid when he was excited and you loved that about him.

 He peeled and cut the apples while you made the pie crust. You worked side by side, bumping into one another a few times while you worked. You tried your hardest to focus on the pie in front of you, but when he stood so close, you couldn’t help but look over.

 “You’re cute,” he muttered, taking a slice of apple, bringing it up to his lips.

 “You’re cute,” you smiled, taking a bit of flour before flicking him. The white dust covering part of his shirt and his cheeks.

 “You’re going to pay for that,” he threatened with a laugh, placing his hand in the flour before rubbing your face. “Much better.”

 “Dean!” you shrieked, letting out a laugh. You smirked, inching closer to him, wiping your cheek on his shirt. He gasped, laughing in the process. “Okay, I actually have to finish this if you want to eat this tonight.”

 “Fine,” he grumbled, flicking you once more before getting back to work.

 You managed to get everything ready within half an hour. Dean added a lot of apples into the pie, and extra cinnamon. You smiled when he helped you with the top of the pie, patting it down with you. Your hands brushing against one anothers every so often. He took it when it was done, and put it in the oven for you. You were really looking forward to tasting it after this.

 His hands made their way to your hips, backing you up to the opposite counter until you hit it. He lifted you up quickly, his body settling between your legs before his lips were on yours. His kisses started off slow and soft; chaste. Moving in a perfect sync with yours as his large hands travelled over the length of your back. You melted against him, allowing yourself to enjoy being with him like this. It was really nice to have a boyfriend that wanted to kiss you the way he did on a constant basis.

 “You want to watch a movie, or a few episodes of Dr Sexy? You’re nearly caught up,” he pointed out as he placed a slice of pie on your plate. “Fuck, this pie is amazing.”

 “Dr Sexy!” you stated. “Gotta see if Dr Sexy and Dr Tara get together. I’m glad you like the pie.”

 “I love how into this show you are,” he let out a laugh.

 “This is your fault,” you side eyed him. “I wouldn’t be in this mess if it weren’t for you.”

 “Hey, this is on you too. I had no idea you had a medical kink,” he winked.

 “So do you, Winchester,” you teased. “You and I both know if I dressed as a nurse, you’d have a field day.”

 “There is no denying that,” he shrugged. “You’d make such a hot nurse.”

 Dean pulled it up on the tv as you sat down in your designated spot. Right next to Dean. It was one of your favourite parts of movie nights. He’d always end up playing with your hair while the movie ended, and you soaked up every second of the attention he was giving you.

 “Can I ask you something?” Dean asked about halfway through the episode.

 “You just did,” you turned to face him with a wide smile. “What’s up?”

 “What’s the plan after you graduate?”

 “Honestly, I’m not entirely sure yet,” you answered. “I have lots of options, and I think that’s what matters the most.”

 “Which one sounds the best?” he questioned.

 “Teacher’s college,” you breathed out. “The one my mom would hate the most.”

 “For that reason?”

 “That’s a bonus,” you chuckled. “But I think I could make a good career as a teacher.”

 “My mom was a kindergarten teacher,” he revealed, giving you a soft smile. “I think that would be an amazing career path for you. You know I’ll support you in anything you want to do.”

 “Thank you,” you smiled. “I have to apply at the end of January, so I still have time. But it’s definitely something I’ve thought about for a little while now.”

 “You’re good at helping people. I’ve learned so many things from you,” he added. “You’d make an amazing teacher.”

 The episode finished, and you needed to get back to studying. You couldn’t relax any longer. You needed to get these last few things down before you could go to bed. You flopped down on your bed, opening up your notebook. Dean was in not long after you with two mugs of peppermint tea. You knew that there was nowhere he’d rather be than here with you, making sure you got this material down.

 It was around midnight when you packed it all up and crawled into bed. Your eyes were drooping, and words started to blend together. You studied the best you could and you felt a million times better than you did earlier. Dean helped you get down the last eighteen definitions and you had memorized the processes you needed to. You have this final in the bag.

 Dean left your room to go lock up the house, something he did nightly for you. You flicked your side light off before curling into your pillow. A few moments later, you felt your bed shift, the comforter moving just a little, before the bed dipped next to you. Dean was sleeping next to you tonight.

 “Gonna sleep with you tonight,” he whispered, linking his pinky with yours.

 “Good,” you muttered. “Night handsome.”

 “Night sweetheart,” he mumbled, reaching over to place a kiss to your forehead.

                                  ------------------------------------

 You walked through the front door with a smile playing on your lips. Friday were the best days. The start of the weekend. The best damn part of the week. You kicked your shoes off, heading straight for the kitchen with your bag in hand. You couldn’t wait to start the weekend off right with the man you loved. 

 “I’m home!” you called out.

 “Hey beautiful,” a familiar voice filled your ears. Your smile only grew wider. Your eyes glanced over to the counter where he stood. The sleeves of his flannel shirt rolled up to his elbows, revealing his strong, toned forearms that drove you crazy.

 “Hey sexy,” you winked at him. “How was your day?”

 “Great. Bobby gave me a raise today,” he revealed. “He said I had been working really hard the last few months and it’s paying off.”

 “Dean! That’s amazing,” you grinned widely, dropping your bag to the ground. You circled the counter quickly, reaching Dean in an instant. You stood on your tiptoes, your lips crashing to his, kissing him hard as you wrapped your arms around his shoulders. “I’m so proud of you!”

 “Couldn’t have done it without you,” he smiled, licking his bottom lip. “You’re my rock.”

 “And you’re mine,” you whispered, reaching up to kiss him once more.

 “How was your day, sweetheart?” he asked, tugging you in close to him.

 “Good. No tears today. No parents to call. And it’s Friday,” you chuckled. “Today’s a good day.”

 “How’s our baby girl?” he questioned. His right hand slipped from the small of your back to your growing bump.

 “Why don’t you ask her?”

 Dean kneeled down to your stomach, pressing his lips to the bump. His hand held either side of your stomach. It had to be the best thing you had seen and he did it over and over again. She already had her daddy wrapped around her tiny little finger. She was going to be a daddy’s girl for sure. This was exactly what you wanted.

 “Hey baby girl,” he said softly. “You being good for your mom in there? Not kicking her insides too much?”

 “Not today,” you whispered.

 “I love you, peanut,” he muttered, pressing another kiss to your stomach. “And I love you, sweetheart.”

 “Not as much as we love you,” you smiled.

---------------

 You shot right up, your eyes opening widely. Your heart was pounding in your chest. You swallowed hard, realizing that it was just a dream and it was the middle of the night. Dean was still fast asleep, facing your direction.

 For a moment, it actually felt real. It actually felt like you and Dean were going to end up together, and you were having a baby together. It actually looked like life was looking good for the two of you. God, the way he kissed your stomach. Ugh, and the way he kissed you. It was everything you wanted and more. It was everything you wanted with the person you loved.

 “You okay?” Dean breathed out, shifting a little. He never even opened his eyes.

 “Yeah,” you whispered.

 “Bad dream?” He asked you, popping one eye open.

 “No. Good dream. Best dream I’ve had in awhile. I’m just sad it came to an end,” you admitted.

 “Dr Sexy?”

 “Something better,” you rolled your eyes. “I’ll tell you some other time.”

 “What if you forget?” He cocked his eyebrow with his one eye still open.

 “Trust me. I will never forget this dream.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Did you like it? What was your favourite part? Share your thoughts with me via reblog, reply or send me an ask! Your response is what keeps me sharing stories like this! 

[benkouji726]

Five times they behaved liked an old married couple and one time they really were

Written for MalexWeek 2020, Day 2. Fic Prompt: Trope Day.

Summary: They found their way back together.

The fic actually contains 2 tropes: 90% of “The Old Married Couple” and 10% of “Shipper on Deck” because I like cliches SO MUCH.

------------------------

1. Bickering

They had been staring at each other across the booth in Crashdown for five minutes now.

Michael broke down first. “Looks like they all bail on us.”

Alex snorted. “Gee, what clued you in? Is it the fact that we’ve been sitting here for half an hour now and still no one showed up? Or the texts we JUST received from our so-called friends declaring they all have to ‘BAIL ON US’?” He even made the air quote gesture, the bastard.

So something crawled over someone’s ass and died today. “Really? Your are gonna be like this.”

Alex ignored him. Great.

“Do you want me to leave?” He asked, and pathetically hoped Alex would say no. Because even a snappy Alex was still better than no Alex at all.

Alex answered his question with a question. Of course he did. “Do YOU want to leave?”

Michael shook his head, and decided to throw in some moment of truth. “Honestly? I think they set us up, because in the past two weeks I may or may not have whined many times to them about how much I missed you.”

Alex seemed oddly angered by that. “Well, you sure have a funny way of showing that. Because last time I checked, my phone number is still the same, and I go to the same bar and the same diner on a daily basis, safe to say I’m not the hardest person to find.”

Michael muttered something under his breath.

“What is that? I crack code, I don’t read lips.”

“I said I didn’t want to see you dating someone else!” Shit. That was a mistake.

Alex froze for a moment, then he said, slowly. “You mean you don’t want to see me dating after you and my best friend ended your relationship which lasted almost ONE YEAR right in front of me?”

Michael deflated. “OK. That’s fair. But I really missed you. Can’t we just like, be friends? We’re still friends, right?” He might sound a little too desperate, but he honestly didn’t care anymore.

“I don’t know, Michael”, shit, why did he always have this chill when Alex called his first name? It’s like Pavlovian reaction at this point. “How do we do it? Say ‘what’s up, bro’ every time we see each other?”

So he really was gonna be like that. Well, takes two to tango.

“Or we could, you know, discuss our mutual dislike of the disgusting eating habit of dipping the fries in the milk shake thing”, he pretended to think for a moment, “oh, sorry I forgot. It’s only MY dislike.”

Alex smiled at that. He took a fry, dipped it into his milkshake, threw it into his mouth, chewed, swallowed, and then said, still smiling sweetly, “Yet you screamed so loud that one time when I dipped your cock into the milkshake and licked it clean.”

Michael choked on his clean, fry-crumbs-free milkshake. “You are not playing fair.”

“And you’re surprised? I didn’t climb the military ladder so fast by being nice.” Alex smirked.

Michael smirked right back. “Yeah, you’re kind of a sore loser. You didn’t speak to me for two days when I beat you at Mario Kart”.

“That’s because you cheated!”

“How does one cheat at MARIO KART?”

“I don’t know! Maybe you used your Tele...” Alex stopped himself abruptly when their waitress appeared to ask them if they needed some refill.

They both declined and headed right back into their argument about who was the better gamer.

When Michael finally stood up to get their bills (they argued about who should pay the bills too, Michael won), it was already two hours later, and they both had a big smile on their faces.

Alex watched Michael go to the cashier, a little too intensely, so he didn’t notice the little old lady at first, she had to wave her hand in front of him to get his attention.

He turned to her, confused. “Uh, can I help you?”

She patted on his shoulder. “My husband and I were like this too”, she said, wistfully, “we used to bicker all the time, but our hearts were in the right place”, she looked at Michael’s direction and back to Alex, “you and your young man are gonna be just fine.” She patted him once more, and went away.

Huh.

——————————————

2. Finishing each other’s sentences

They were at the supermarket together when Alex said, “why...”

“Does Liz need so many eggs? Beats me. She said she needs them to do some kind of experiment, but I highly suspect it.”

“And why...”

“Did she send us to get these? According to her, we need the legwork and some fresh air because she said and I quote, you are talking in codes and I reek of oil at this point.”

“I’m...”

“Getting a little annoyed by me right now? You want me to stop finishing your sentences? Well, it’s not my fault you are this predictable.” He was asking for trouble, Michael knew. But he couldn’t help it. Alex and Forrest had broken up for a week now, and Alex still didn’t tell him, he had to be informed by Izzy, it was a little irritating.

Alex narrowed his eyes. “You think you know me so well.”

“Apparently I do.” He smiled innocently.

“You’re not that complex either, you know”, Alex stepped forward, right into his personal space, “I can read you like an open book.”

So it was game on.

For the next two weeks, they were trying their best to beat each other to the punch, finishing each other’s sentences, sometimes even saying things before the other could even open his mouth.

Kyle snapped at last.

“Would you PLEASE stop?” He groaned, “We get it. You’re dating now and you are stupidly in love and you know each other SO WELL. Just, get a room, OK? Other people are still trying to find their soulmates or something.”

“We are not...” They spoke at the same time.

“Great, you’re upgrading to saying things unanimously now?” Kyle threw his hand into the air. “I give up.”

They both blushed. Unanimously.

——————————————

3. Touching casually

They were both leaning onto the table to study some printed out files from another secret government agency that Alex found and hacked, Alex was writing out code patterns to determine which one fit the file, when Michael suddenly discovered something.

In a hurry to write down his thoughts, he didn’t try to get another pen. He reached out, grabbed Alex’s pen-holding hand, and wrote down a keyword. His head bowed beneath Alex’s chin, some of his curls brushed his face, so Alex used his free hand to brush it away, he lingered a moment there, as Michael finished writing the word but his hand stayed there, thumb gently rubbing Alex’s in a slow circle.

Then Alex pulled away, and they continued discussing the file.

Things escalated real fast after that.

At first it was just a hand on the back, a pat on the shoulder, that sort of things. But then they often stood near enough that their hips were touching, Michael sometimes threw his arm around Alex’s shoulder when they were laughing together, or Alex would play with Michael’s hair when they were sitting on the same side of the booth, listening to their friends or talking to them. It was nothing sexual, they were friends, friends stayed in each other’s personal space ALL THE TIME, right?

Then one day, they were having a group movie night. They decided to sit on the sofa, so naturally no one else wanted to sit on it. With that much room, they sat down, a foot or so between them.

Halfway through the movie though, Alex was rubbing his right knee. Michael took one glance at him, and immediately sat beside him. He lifted Alex’s right leg onto his left, and put his hand on Alex’s knee. Alex let out a moan.

The whole group was looking at them now. Alex blushed.

“I, his hand...” Alex took a breath and regained some control back, “you all know aliens run hot right? His hand is like a thermos, it’s good for my knee.”

“You know”, Liz began, “You don’t need to explain here. People do this all the time for their loved ones, it’s sweet.”

“But”, Isobel cut in, stopping whatever Alex was trying to say, “next time, don’t do it in front of us, maybe? If I hear my brother-in-law moan again when I die, it’ll still be too soon.”

“Guys, stop teasing them”, Max said, at which point Alex had already given up, “they’re not even dating”.

“Yeah”, Maria went in for the final blow, “because the old married couple don’t date anymore. You guys really should make more of an effort if you want to keep the sparks alive, you know?”

“You mean we should just ditch you all to enjoy our little world, just the two of us?” Alex crooked his head, playing along.

“Aww, honey, you’d do that for me, for us? I thought you said we should keep our friends company or they’d be too boring a bunch.” Michael added.

He never took his hand off Alex’s knee.

——————————————

4. Pet names

“Darlin’, I’m home!” Michael called out, as he entered their secret base.

Kyle looked up, confused. “Since when did you begin to use pet names for each other?”

Alex didn’t even spare Michael a glance. “I didn’t. He is just being a dick.”

“Oh, sweetheart, you wound me. And you’re such a pretty liar, considering you called me ‘Mikey’ just the other day.”

“Sarcastically, yes.” Alex rolled his eyes. “Now would you please cut the bullshit and come look at this?”

Michael fluttered his eyelashes: “For you, sweet cheeks? Of course.”

Kyle wanted to leave. He also wanted to die a little.

Then Alex turned his full attention to Michael, and said in an almost robotic voice. “Gee, you are so kind, my little teddy bear.”

Kyle was wrong. He didn’t want to die a little. He wanted to die A LOT.

Michael, on the other hand, smiled like a cat finally got the cream. “Don’t mention it, pumpkin.”

His eyes twinkling, his tone teasing. But there was also genuine softness and gentleness in his overall demeanor, like he was standing in front of the most precious person in his whole life, and he called his name.

Alex rolled his eyes again. But when he looked back down, there was a secret smile tugging at his lips.

——————————————

5. Couple’s therapy

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” How was this his life, Alex wanted to ask.

To his credit, Michael looked bashful for once. “I’ve been seeing this therapist for four months now. And she said we could use a couple’s therapy, so she gave me this Groupon. I thought it’d be great for us.”

Alex stared. “You do know we’re not actually a couple, right?”

Michael looked a bit hurt by that, but he recovered quickly, “We kinda are, though. We both haven’t seen any other people for about half a year now. We spend almost all of our free time together. We touch each other constantly. We talk about everything and anything. Everyone assumes we’re at least hooking up, some think we already eloped!”

“Friends also do that kind of things together. And other people’s opinions really don’t bother me”, Alex didn’t look at him while saying this, so there was still hope right?

At this point, any hope was worth fighting for.

“Yeah, except friends aren’t normally in love with each other.” He said, looking right into Alex’s eyes, daring him to deny it.

Alex hesitated, and resigned. “When is it?”

—————————————

Dr Brown already knew so much about him it was a little unsettling.

“Have you talked anything other than me during your sessions?” Alex couldn’t help to ask.

“Of course!” Michael sounded offended. Meanwhile Dr Brown said, calmly, “Very little.”

Michael threw a betrayed glare at her, but she just smiled.

“So, what do you want to know?” Alex was always direct, “fair warning though. I refuse to talk about my childhood, my parents, my family, my job, my gay struggles, or anything from my past, including my past with Michael.”

“That’s OK”, Dr Brown still smiled, not bothered at all. “I only have one question for you.”

“What’s that?”

“You walked in, already in combat mode, because you treat any foreign environment as a threat, not to mention this foreign environment might force you to open up which you only do when you are around a certain and small group of people. But then Michael walked in too, and your stance changed. You were still in combat mode, but you also put yourself in a protective position, slightly in front of him. Meanwhile, you relaxed noticeably as if you trusted him with all you’ve got. When you sat down, you leaned to him unconsciously, and every time he spoke or touched you, you were calmed and grounded.”

Alex’s voice was raw when he spoke. “That was not a question.”

“So my question is”, she continued, “why do you still deny it, when you’re clearly in love with each other and already in a steady relationship?”

Alex didn’t have an answer for that. He got up and left.

————————————

+1 “How is your headache”

He’d been avoiding Michael for three days now. He was miserable in all of the days.

He was debating whether he should quit being a coward and finally get what he wanted when there was a knock on his door.

He was not even a little surprised that it was Michael.

He was surprised by the flower though.

“What is this?”

Michael held out the flower, eyes pleading. “Wanna take you out for a date.”

“I haven’t slept well these past days, my head kinda hurts, going out is not something I want to do now,” Alex said, and rushed to say the next bit because Michael looked devastated, “But we could stay in, order some take out, and watch Star Wars together?”

Michael relaxed a fraction. “You mean rewatch Star Wars.”

“Yeah, well, I have this habit of falling in love with something and never managing to fall out of it, don’t I?”

Michael smiled, a little teary. “Guess we have that in common.”

——————————————

They ate, they talked, they watched Star Wars.

Then Michael was crowding Alex into the back of the couch, and asked tentatively: “how is your headache, honey?”

To that, Alex replied with a kiss.

[potatocrab]

Nothing Sweeter Than a Touching Scene (Noir AU Side Stories)

The Marmalade on 10,000 Pieces of Toast

Deacon finally gets the chance to cook breakfast for Charmer. In a tender moment, he shares some truths about his past and thinks about a future with Madelyn. 

(Takes place during Chapter 16 (17 on Ao3) of Salvation is a Last Minute Business.)

“Another day, another ball of fire rising in the summer sky. The city is quiet now, but it will soon be pounding with activity. This time yesterday, Jean Dexter was just another pretty girl, but now she's the marmalade on 10,000 pieces of toast.”—The Narrator as played by Mark Hellinger (The Naked City, 1948)

4393 words | [read on Ao3] 

May 31st, 1958

“The most intimate thing you can do for a person you love is cook them breakfast.”

Words to live by—echoes from a former life—advice Deacon still believed in after so many years. He’d always been somewhat of a hopeless romantic, and despite the amount of tragedy the universe—or God—had thrown his way, he remained steadfast in his convictions. A dangerous thing, given his line of work. If there was one thing he’d learned from watching Casablanca, it was that you didn’t fall in love in the middle of a war.

Not to say the investigation into the Institute was anything like fighting Nazis in Europe—or maybe it was. The days he was getting shot at certainly felt like it, not to mention the car bombs (okay car bomb—but one destroyed Volkswagen typically led to another). And then there were his fallen comrades—Railroad agents that had died at the Switchboard, Ticonderoga, and Augusta safehouse. This was war alright—Deacon only hoped that V-Day was sooner, rather than later.

Through the darkness of it all, he’d found someone—again—and was clinging to the hope that this time, maybe, it would last. That this time, the cruel hand of fate wouldn’t reach down and snatch her from his grasp, just as their connection deepened. He wouldn’t—couldn’t—lose her. Charmer—Madelyn—she was—

“Fuck,” Deacon hissed under his breath as he dropped an egg to the floor, frowning at the mess he’d made while distracted by his thoughts. He shot a glance down the hallway towards the half-open bedroom door, waiting several seconds for the telltale sounds of his creaky mattress and the even squeakier floorboards. But nothing came—good—she was still asleep. Full speed ahead with operation breakfast in bed.

Ignoring the broken shells and splattered yolk at his feet, Deacon considered himself to be a good cook. He hadn’t had very many opportunities to show off the skill and providing late night meals after Railroad ops to Drummer Boy didn’t count—the schmuck would eat anything without appreciation of the craft—couldn’t even tell the difference between Ragù and Bolognese. Madelyn though, she understood it was an artform, just like one of his many other clandestine talents.  

She’d watched him intently the evening before as he prepared their meal—beef bourguignon���just as he’d promised. It would’ve been easier to eat at the 24-hour diner down the block, especially after all they’d been through that day. Hell, the holiday weekend had barely started and Madelyn had managed to be shot at twice. But she insisted, even if it took all night just to have a home-cooked meal made by him. She meant it colloquially—the home in home-cooked—but it struck a chord with him, glancing over his shoulder as he sautéed vegetables to look at her perched on one of the barstools.

Madelyn had been smiling in that small, secret way, blue eyes bright and entranced by his every movement. Deacon contemplated telling her she looked like she belonged there, in the safehouse, in the closest thing he had to a home—had very nearly asked her something far more dangerous after watching her savor the first bite. He held back his words, filled his mouth and burnt his tongue on hot stew, and laughed with her about French cooking and red wine. But the thought persisted—how nice it would be to settle down with her—if she’d have him.

He always was the type to fall too hard, and too fast.

Their first time had been rushed, fervent and had resulted in a few smashed items along the kitchen counter. There was no less passion in their kisses that second night, dinner finished and wine bottle empty, but there was a cadence to it all as they took the time to better familiarize themselves with one another—get lost in each other. Deacon wasn’t entirely sure if he’d gone soft, gone mad, or had died and gone to heaven. Maybe it was a sick combination of the three. Love always was like that, it seemed—a little part of yourself breaking off and floating away as it found root in the heart of one’s beloved.

“Damn,” he breathed a curse again, softly laughing to himself about the circumstances and bringing himself back to the present. He was in deep.

He caught his distorted reflection in the shiny surface of the toaster as he retrieved the crispy bread from the appliance, stacking it onto a plate next to a tiny jar of orange marmalade. “Shallow ends’ for chumps.”

Deacon quietly hummed a showtune as he organized the food on the wooden tray, plating the over-easy eggs next to the crispy bacon and freshly made hash-browns. He placed the glass of freshly squeezed orange juice in one corner before situating the steaming cup of coffee in the other. He stood back to inspect his work, adjusting the silverware and lamenting that he didn’t have any fresh flora on hand to make the display perfect. Somehow he knew that Madelyn wouldn’t mind.

He balanced the weight of the tray in his hands before carefully making his way back down the hall, smiling at his efforts and rehearsing in his mind all the little ways he could wake her up. Deacon used his foot to push open the bedroom door but paused in the doorway as soon as he caught sight of Madelyn’s form on the bed. She was blissfully asleep, the picture of comfort dressed up in his button-down shirt from the evening before with the duvet pulled up across her waist, hair fanned out across the pillows like a golden halo of curls. With the sun shining in through the drawn-open curtains, she looked like she had walked right out of a movie—or maybe his dreams. Deacon suddenly cursed the fact Nick got to call her doll, but maybe he could stake a claim on angel.

“Are you going to stand there all morning?”

Madelyn peeked open one eye, lips curling up into a small grin as she looked at him, hardly a trace of drowsiness in her voice. 

“The view is nice,” Deacon replied, watching as she leisurely pushed herself up to sit against the pillows and headboard. She stretched, arms reaching high above her head and shifting the fabric of the shirt she wore just enough that he saw a sliver of skin. He smiled at the cute way she yawned, wrinkled nose and all. “Just how long have you been awake?”

“Since that first egg crack,” she shrugged, eyeing the tray in his hands. “I’m a light sleeper, don’t you know? You can’t sneak out or up on me.”

“As tempting as it was to follow you out to the kitchen and join you, I decided feigning sleep was a better idea,” Madelyn continued with a quiet giggle, hiding her amusement behind her fingers. The delight and mischief in her eyes was intoxicating. “Let you surprise me.”

Deacon raised his eyebrows, lifting the tray as if on cue. “Surprise!”

He finally entered the room, crossing over to one side of the bed as Madelyn shifted to create space for him to place the tray of food down before he sat on the edge of the mattress. He turned to face her, stretching to rest his chin in his palm, elbow sinking into the plush blankets. She grinned, eyes shimmering as they scanned over the platter.

“First dinner, now breakfast—”

“A show too,” Deacon joked, prompting her to snicker as he alluded to their more boisterous activities.

“It was quite the performance,” she replied, gaze running over his body and lack of clothing—an undershirt and boxers was good enough for a lazy day at the safehouse. “I feel thoroughly spoiled.”

“Good,” he responded, nodding at her. “Now eat, before all my hard work goes cold.”

Deacon stayed where he was, lounging sideways on the bed as he watched her eat. He stole the occasional bite of bacon, smirking to himself when he noted the little blush dusting her cheeks, seemingly flustered under his observation. In the morning light, without his sunglasses or dark-haired wig, the two underdressed in their most natural states it was all very domestic—something Deacon hadn’t experienced in years. Might as well have been a lifetime. No wonder she felt nervous.

His tongue felt heavy in his mouth, on the verge of saying something incredibly stupid and too soon, caught up in the afterglow and butterflies that continued to swirl around in his stomach. He quelled them with a generous sip of her coffee, even if the added sugar and cream wasn’t his preference. Madelyn laughed at his subtle wince, swapping the ceramic cup from his hands for a piece of toast. She’d spread a generous dollop of marmalade atop and had taken one bite before passing it to him.

“What’s the verdict?” he asked before taking a mouthful.

“With skills like this, you could replace Codsworth,” she quipped, smiling against the rim of the coffee cup. “What a shame you don’t have a third arm.”  

“I don’t?” he teased between chews, raising a curious eyebrow.

Madelyn nearly choked on her sip of coffee, spluttering out the liquid into her hand and reaching for a napkin as she laughed at his lewd joke. As flustered as she was before, she was completely flushed now, neck and cheeks tinted a bright red as she struggled to contain her amusement and embarrassment at the mess she’d made. Deacon laughed with her, taking the cup from her hands to place back on the tray and offering another napkin as he sat up.

“You’re too much,” she sighed, slowly pulling the cloth from her face to reveal a coy smile.

Deacon took it from her, dropping it across the food tray before sliding it away and placing it safely on the ground. He sat in the empty spot, leaning over so his arms boxed her in on either side, fingers gradually peeling away the blankets to expose her naked legs. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

Madelyn leaned closer, arms circling around his shoulders as she traced her nose against his, lips smiling against his in the ghost of a kiss. “Jury is still out…if you’re bad for me.”

She was teasing him, Deacon knew that. But still, his heart strained against his ribcage, though he hid his reaction well. He knew he wasn’t the best choice for Madelyn—out of all the eligible bachelors in Boston, she could do so much better than some Railroad spy that couldn’t tell the truth. Lately, he’d been honest with her, but there was still so much she didn’t know—so much he would never tell her, just to keep her safe. That’s not the kind of partner she needed in life, not the kind of person you chose to share a future with.

Yet, there he was—there she was—kissing him just as sweetly and enthusiastically as the night before, as she’d done the first night he’d brought her to the safehouse. She’d kissed him a few weeks ago too, outside her apartment door, full of want and silently pleading, confirming to him that she’d made her choice.

“You,” she’d breathed, hot against his mouth when they were perched on the barstools two nights ago. “Deacon, I want you.”

Invigorated by the memory, he tugged Madelyn closer, her legs shuffling from beneath the covers and body shifting beneath his desperate grasp so that her knees straddled his thighs. He groaned, the feeling of her soft hands and manicured nails sliding up beneath his shirt a welcome surprise that had him breaking away from the heated kiss so she could remove it completely. Deacon moved to do the same to the button-up she was wearing, make some kind of raunchy remark about how good she looked wearing his clothes, but she stopped him. Instead, Madelyn nudged him to lay down, adjusting herself so she was strategically straddling his hips, avoiding his ever-increasing arousal.

He gripped her waist, keeping her steady as she bent over to pepper his face with tiny kisses, trailing down and away to his ear. He bit back a moan, glancing at the top of her blonde head. “Cruel, cruel mistress.”

Madelyn softly chuckled against his skin, the sound and feeling doing nothing to placate his state. “Have somewhere you need to be?”

“No,” he answered in a breath, shifting beneath her, holding back from rolling his hips upwards. He smirked to himself, knowing she was just as riled up. “Well, inside of you. If those travel plans can be arranged.”

Deacon felt her smile, more importantly, the shiver along her spine at his cheeky statement. “I’ll book you on a first-class flight.”

Despite their obvious arousal, and her equally bawdy response (that had him tightening his grip and practically growling), Madelyn slowed her movements, pulling away to look down at his face. Her expression was hard to read, even as she softly smiled at him in that small, secret way, a few fingers brushing over the lines of his face.    

“Charmer?” he prompted, the worry from before suddenly worming its way back into his chest with an overwhelming sense of dread. Did she have the same doubts?

“Can I ask you something?” her voice was deadly quiet, just above a whisper and she was barely able to meet his gaze.

The open-ended question terrified him, and he had to admit that in that moment he was emotionally and physically vulnerable—what with being pinned beneath her body to the mattress. Even if he could easily toss her aside and run away, he’d still have to answer to her eventually. Unless he ran away for good—but that was not an option, not when he’d resigned himself to drown in her waters and die a sweet, sweet death.

So he answered, nodding once. “Yeah,” he squeezed her hip in a reassuring gesture. He bit the inside of his cheek as the next word came flying out without thought. “Anything.”

Even Madelyn seemed surprised, leaning further away until she was sitting up so she could trace the faint, ridged outline of a scar that ran along his chest towards his collarbone. Even though he’d given her permission, she was hesitant, teeth raking over her bottom lip as she studied the old injury. He recalled her lingering touch against it, and other marks along his skin as they fell asleep—it was bound to come up eventually.

Finally, her soft voice broke through the silence. “What happened?”

Deacon considered lying—it would’ve been very easy to make up some fantastical story about any one of his scars, but Madelyn always had been very astute at deciphering his wild tales and white lies. Most of the time she ignored it, let him have his fun, or added grandeur herself. Other times, especially as of late, she wanted the truth—and it likely had to do with their developing relationship. He owed her that much, and a part of him felt relieved at the decision.

“Normandy,” he started, Madelyn’s eyes widening in shock, a gasp on her lips. The assumption was there, that he had stormed the beaches on D-Day, but no. “I was fighting in Caen, in the city, with British Allies. German bastard got too close for comfort.” 

“I don’t know why I should be surprised that you served,” Madelyn whispered, still focused on the scar. “Hard to imagine you fighting somebody else’s war.”  

“Plenty of Railroad business overseas,” Deacon shrugged, catching her puzzled expression, eyebrow arched as she met his eyes. “Or at least what would eventually become the Railroad.”

Madelyn seemed to read between the lines, a slow, knowing smile creeping across her lips. “So, you’ve always been a spy.”

Deacon didn’t say anything, matching her grin instead. He knew it was harder to hide the deviousness of a non-answer without the help of his shades, but he was still going to try, if only to rile Madelyn up. She laughed, much to his delight, head tilting back and exposing her neck. He wanted to reach up and unbutton the shirt—his shirt—to expose more skin, wanted to kiss her, keep her there with him forever.

“I was sixteen in 1944…” Madelyn trailed, reaching down to thread her fingers through the hair along his temple. “Just how old are you, Deacon?”

There was humor in her question, but it startled him all the same and he had to quickly remind himself of how bare he was, how easily she could read the subtle emotions on his face. Not that he’d forgotten his age or anything, but he’d suppressed so much of his past and youth that the truth was murky. Just like his war-scars, or his name (which she hadn’t spoken aloud since discovering, to his surprise), this subject was fair game. It was amusing really, how completely backwards they’d gone about forming a partnership—relationship. Then again, their courtship was anything from conventional.

“Old enough to remember prohibition,” he finally replied with a grin, chuckling at her visible confusion as she performed silent equations in her mind. She leaned forward, palms flat against his chest as she scrutinized his face with a wary look.

“You aren’t robbing the cradle with me, now are you?”

Deacon guffawed, one hand tickling at her side and prompting her to wiggle against him in the delightful way he wanted as she giggled. “Not that old, sweetheart. And you aren’t that young.”

“Hey,” she pouted, mocking offense as she pushed away from him once again. “My birthday isn’t for another month.”

That’s right. If he’d read her license correctly (because yes, Madelyn had been correct to assume he’d been snooping through some of her things), she was turning thirty on July 1st. Well, it was only fair since he knew her age, that she knew his. Birthday and astrological sign could come later, maybe over a bottle of brandy, or after a blood oath—just kidding.

“Forty-one and some change,” he said, watching her expression carefully. Instead of amusement or uncertainty, there was a calm sense of wonderment in her baby-blues, scanning over his face like she was seeing him for the first time.

She lowered herself close again, bracing herself against his chest as she brushed her fingers through his hair again, trailing her fingers down across his temple and jaw line before tracing the angle of his nose and the line of his lips. Madelyn regarded him with the tiniest of smiles as she moved, painting him with her brush—he was all too willing to be her canvas.

She kissed the corner of his mouth before slowly erupting into a fit of giggles. “How much change, old man?”

Deacon laughed with her but was more preoccupied by the way she angled her head as she lost herself to her amusement, exposing the soft skin of her neck. This time, he couldn’t hold back and bucked the weight of her body from his hips, hooking his arms around her waist before flipping them so her back was flush against the mattress and he was hovering above her, lips already kissing a teasing line from her chin to her ear.

“How long do I have you for today?” he asked, trying not to sound as desperate as he felt.

“I don’t have anywhere to be but here, with you.”

Leave it to Madelyn to say something romantic, without a trace of lewdness. She sighed, softly moaning as he kissed along her neck and the collar of the shirt. Deacon slowed his movements, even before she spoke again, breathing out the words against the shell of his ear. “No need to rush.”

An affirmation, even as he was drowning in the deep end. Maybe it was time to come up for air, at least for a little while.

Deacon pressed a lingering kiss to her lips, holding her body to his as he rolled to his side. He nestled his head into the pillow, tightening his arm around her waist and smiling when she kissed him softly in return, tucking her arm around his middle. Slow—he could do slow. A nice, and wonderful change of pace to his wild and unpredictable, hectic life. He found comfort in the silence formed between them as they simply stared at one another, studying each other’s faces with quiet expressions.

“A secret for a secret,” Madelyn suddenly prompted, though Deacon was unsure of how much time had truly passed. As if she could tell that he didn’t understand, she continued. “I asked you something. You can ask me something, if you want.”

Tit for tat—Madelyn always was good about keeping things square. His mind swirled with the possibilities, and he very nearly responded with a hushed everything. She wanted the truth, right?

“A secret you haven’t learned about me yet?” she teased, tilting her head back so she could better see his face.

More questions floated through his head, but they all sounded too invasive, even for him, especially for where they were in their undefined relationship. Since she mentioned it, what was she like at sixteen? What were her parents like? Had she ever been overseas? She’d love Paris—or maybe Dublin, take her back to her roots. What did she look like on her wedding day? What was it like to be married to Nate, and…could she ever love again?

Yeah, those were all way too intrusive.

Deacon swallowed back the tightness in his throat. He needed to say something before his mood spiraled or he said something rash. “Can you help me get out of some parking tickets? Lawyers can do that, right?”

Madelyn flashed him a curious look, the faintest hint of disappointment at his deflection of humor before softly laughing. She’d expected him to ask something more personal, just as she’d done, and he’d goofed.

“When they aren’t providing legal advice to grisly detectives or being shot up at city hall, I suppose,” Madelyn spoke, with enough mirth in her tone to relax him, make him feel like he hadn’t offended her. “Which reminds me. I need more clothes from my apartment. I can’t walk around in dirty, blood stained dresses all weekend.”

“I’m sure I saw it as the latest fashion trend in Vogue,” Deacon joked in reply. “At this rate, Nick owes you a stipend. Or a shopping spree at Bergdorf Goodman.”

She grinned, obviously delighted by the idea. “You know, Nick doesn’t pay me. The city does. But I won’t pass up a trip to Fifth Avenue, if you’re offering.”

A day trip to Manhattan didn’t sound too bad, when she put it that way. He mirrored her smile, sliding his hand over her side. “You’re already the best dressed lawyer in Massachusetts.”

“Flatterer,” she said, a wistfully. “Save the designer labels for when I’m back in court.”

Deacon thought about that, and her time spent away from the District Attorney’s office as Nick’s legal aid. “Ever thought about opening your own practice?”

Madelyn’s eyes shined with a different kind of excitement, as if the thought had never crossed her mind. And if it had, she hadn’t given it much serious thought. Which was really all just a shame, all things considered. Her nervous silence didn’t deter Deacon.

“You belong with the big-wigs down at city hall, Charmer,” he encouraged, watching the corner of her mouth twitch up in a smile—good. “You’d even have a shot at becoming state attorney if you wanted.”

She breathed a laugh, but it wasn’t out of disbelief. Her cheeks were dusted with the lightest blush and he wondered if he was the first person to ever tell her something like that. But why not? Madelyn deserved good things, great things, and he would move heaven and earth to give it to her, if it was what she wanted.

“Big dreams for the future,” she responded. A non-answer, but he didn’t need one, based off of her bright expression. “What do you want?”

The question was a punch to the gut, stealing the breath from him. His heart seized for a moment before continuing, racing in his chest. Deacon knew Madelyn could sense the rapid pace of his pulse, and the anxiety etched into his features. For a long time he’d resigned himself to a life of subterfuge, to a life of lies and deception. After Barbara, he was married to his life as a spy and his life in the Railroad. There was nothing else—there could be nothing else. Until now.

Now he was shifting, suddenly dusting off cobwebs and morphing his life in ways he never thought possible to make room for somebody else. Somebody he wanted, somebody he needed. Somebody to share his life with. Terrifying, thrilling and mesmerizing all the same. He spoke the truth.

“Someplace to rest my head.”

“Hmm,” Madelyn sighed, softly smiling in agreement as she reached up to comb her fingers through his hair. He was beginning to think that she liked seeing him without the pompadour wig and preferred the auburn waves. “Well deserved.”

“Where have you been all my life?” he asked, well before he could hold back from saying it, tightening his jaw and inhaling sharply at the shock of his own words. At least Madelyn interpreted it as flirtatious banter rather than anything too serious, flashing him a cheeky grin as she closed the distance between them to kiss him sweetly, lingering there against his mouth.

“Boston,” she whispered. Before he could continue the kiss or bring her any closer she rolled away, onto her back, turning her head to look at him. She prompted him, beckoning him to snuggle against her side. “Come here.”

Deacon was considerably bigger than her, but she didn’t seem to mind the weight of his body laying halfway atop her, his head resting against her shoulder with her arm wrapped across his shoulder, their legs tangled together across the blankets. It was different, but a good kind of different—exactly what he needed.

“Just stay here a little while, like this?” she asked, quietly.

He didn’t mind staying like that forever. “Anything you want, Charmer.”

[queerchoicesblog]

Living The Dream

So, folks: as announced, here the first chapter of a new story for the wlw writing project I embarked on. This one is set in the Sixties, the golden age of travel, and our main character is a Pan Am stewardess, one of the era’s most stylish job. I had fun writing this and I can only hope you will have too reading this!

Hope you enjoy it: if you do, please consider spreading the word! 

__________________________

I like this time of the day. The in-between hours separating one day from another, the slow yet inexorable metamorphosis of night into dawn. Life seems to flow differently during these hours as if our bodies, used to be heavenly asleep when night comes, were forced to adapt to a new rhythm: sometimes it works, sometimes it's simply a poor mimicry of ourselves. The craziest scene happen during night shifts, after all, and I'm sure it's no coincidence. I'm not always lucky to be present to myself in moments like these. Most of the times I'm too busy to pay attention to the wonders of these dreamlike hours. I blow out the smoke of my cigarette: for once, I can. Sitting at a table on the cafe terrace, I look down to the stream of passengers moving beneath me. They wander like in a haze trying to make out the right direction to go. They're tired, jet-lagged: a kid is crying his heart out in the arms of his mother, causing a businessman nearby to sneer and speed up his pace to avoid such nuisance. A man is anxious, out of the blue he starts running probably cursing the little delay that slowed him: will he catch his flight? A group of foreigners is checking and double checking a map, someone is sleeping on a bench and a little girl is looking out into the night sky hypnotised by the tail lights of a plane flying away.

I like airports, their peculiar poetry. It's quite lucky since you could say they're my home. I still struggle to fully convince myself that yes, my dream did come true. Some nights I fear I'd wake up one day and find out it was all just that, a wild feverish dream, not my reality. Luckily, that day never comes. Mom and Dad fry eggs and bacon in a diner not far from Kansas City; my brother and I will always remember how tired they looked when they crawled back home but also how big their smile was when they produced a box of fries or a couple of milkshakes just for us. We both helped during the summer, wearing aprons and serving tables. They let us keep the tips and we spent them all in ice-creams and movies. Now I'm sure no costumer leaves without being told - maybe more than once and with great pride - that their daughter is now a stewardess of the Pan American World Airways. I still remember the day I received the good news: Mom cried tears of joy and even Noah dropped his tough act and pulled me into a tight hug, whispering how happy he was for me. My sweet little brother. Now at my parents' diner a picture is hung at the wall side by side with a framed stellar review by a local newspaper: Noah and I hugging each other and smiling to the camera in our favorite booth by the window. I'm wearing my dashing Pan Am uniform, he's in a brand new US marine attire. He was drafted one week after John F. Kennedy was shot, the picture was taken on our last family reunion around Christmas. Noah wasn't happy to go to war, he was scared. "I wish I could join you to New York and find a job in advertising maybe" he frowned when my parents were sleeping and we sneaked away to the back porch as we used to do as kids. Noah was good at drawing, the creative type. God knows how I would have loved to have him around, to keep me grounded and remind me of the reassuring warmth of sibling affection. To keep him safe. I moved to New York right after I got the job; Noah was still in high school back then, I had to go alone. They all promised to visit as soon as they could when we parted at the airport. And that's when my new life started. I was on my own in the big city, breathing in the wind of change. I wonder if that's how every girl feels when they leave their boring provincial town behind and make it big. I moved into a small flat downtown: not much, but big enough to contain all my hopes and dreams. The training supervisors were particularly strict and took so very seriously their duty to asses whether we were stewardess material or a lost cause. First, a medical evaluation then a grumpy lady would weigh us and fix our girdles: I wondered if I would have been able to breathe normally on a plane and I was not the only one by the look on the other girls' faces. The interminable daily classes on how to strip our face clean of makeup and start from scratch still haunts me just like the day I was told my hair weren't okay, an in-between length that didn't impress the ladies in charge: I had to choose between wearing a chignon or a wig. No way I would have gone for the latter! Our appearance had to conform to a certain code and I soon learned there are so many requirements to meet to be eye candy. But it wasn't all about our exterior, even if we were often reminded that our aim was to look runaway ready. The Pan Am stewardesses must have that savour faire that makes them unique, legendary. So aside from the standard training (what to say on board, what to do in case of emergency, first aid classes) I had to learn how to pour wine with that special twist of the wrist and pop champagne open without it exploding as well as how to cook and elegantly garnish certain menu dishes in no space. And I assure you, the standard for scrambled eggs in first class were so different from everything I had learnt at my parents' diner, even if the time I spent there gave me a head start. Once I completed my training, my career finally began. I was assigned to Us bi-coastal routes for the time being but I felt different already. People looked at me differently, especially when I walked through the Pan Am terminal in white gloves and my uniform designed by Italian stylists. The gleam of admiration and wonder in their eyes set my heart on fire: aside from my parents and Noah, nobody had ever looked at me that way before, not even my best friend. I take a sip of coffee and smile thinking back at my beginnings. Despite the hard work, I was constantly in a dreamy state of mind. A Pan Am stewardess made it to the cover of LIFE that year, I still have a copy of it. The journalist enthusiastically claimed that girls like me were not only icons of beauty and grace but also the peak of the femininity to come. "See these ladies? They're not just stewardesses, they're a whole new breed of women". I must admit that to some extent we are: we're so different from our mothers and the Angels of the hearth of the lady magazines. We wear heels and fine makeup, we speak several languages and see the world. We're emancipated and sophisticated: we are women of the world. My face didn't make it to LIFE but little girls and teens stop me and ask me tips, how can they be as elegant, as put together, what they have to do to land this job. They want to live the same dream. A little girl of five once asked if she could take a picture with me. I had some time left so I squatted down and placed my bowler hat on her head making her flash the brightest smile to the camera her father was holding. Before parting she handed me my hat and looked me right in the eye, whispering in awe "I wanna be like you when I grow up". And then she wrapped her arms around my neck in a grateful hug. I told the cute scene to my mother over the phone: she sounded touched and joked that she didn't know her daughter ended up being a starlet of the silver screen. "Remember us when you're famous, love" Dad added from another room. I missed them, I still do at times. But I would never go back: for the first time in my life I found a place where I truly belong here in New York. I met friends that could understand my hunger for more, to discover the world. I love the parks and lights at night, the buzz of the city that never sleeps. Most importantly, I love my job, even when I'm so busy all I do is hopping on and off planes, going back home, sleeping eating my breakfast and doing it all over again. No matter how hard I need to push myself to meet the Pan Am standards, I've always felt liberated, free here. As if this was what was meant to be, where I was meant to be all along. The day a gorgeous neighbor knocked at my door with a plate of freshly baked cookies and a charming, flirtatious smile on her lips, I had no more doubt. Here is where I was meant to be.

[maxineswritingcenter]

Class Reunion - Sam x fem!reader pt 4

Read part 3 here!

Summary: Sam and Dean hit up a case in a town they lived in for Sam's senior year of high school. While on a supply run, Sam runs into reader who he dated that year. Reader invites him to the class reunion. Sam is hesitant but the case leads to the reunion. SPARKS FLY BITCHES

To be on the taglist, send me an ask.

-------------------------------------------------

The next morning, (Y/N) was in the kitchen making breakfast. It was Friday, the day of the big reunion. Normally being nervous for that event was fine. But considering there was a murderer on the loose made everything more difficult. She was more on edge now that there was a connection between the victims and the perp. The football team, the cheer squad, and Liza who approved the prank. Would she be next? She was staring off into space when Sam walked in.

"Morning." He smiled and kissed her cheek. She blinked out of her blank stare and smiled at him.

"Good morning." He was wearing casual clothes: boots, jeans, and a flannel. Oh did he look good in a flannel.

"Need help with anything?" He asked and stood besides her.

"Well, I could use a little sugar." She winked at him. He smirked and leaned down, pressing his lips to hers.

"Awh, not over the food." Dean's voice made them jump apart. (Y/N) blushed a deep shade of red.

Dean yawned and sat at the table, "You guys have fun last night?" He winked.

(Y/N) hummed and brought the pan of bacon over to him, "Not a word, Winchester. Not a word."

Dean smirked, "Hey, if I get bribed with bacon, I don't know a thing." She rolled her eyes, putting a few stripes of bacon on his plate.

"Jared!" She called, "Breakfast!" Soon after a groggy Jared came down the stairs. He was wearing jeans and a blue long sleeve shirt. His brown hair was messy, but the intentional messy. Like maybe he ran a brush through it. He went to the fridge and got out the cranberry juice, pouring himself a glass.

"Isn't that stuff tart?" Dean asked, watching the kid down the whole glass in a few gulps. Jared blinked a few times and shook his head.

"Yeah, wakes me up." He poured himself another glass and sat at the table. (Y/N) came over with a plate of scrambled eggs and toast. She came back and patted Sam on the chest, "Whatcha want?"

Sam, resisting the urge to say 'you', shook his head, "Not really hungry." He grabbed a piece of toast from the the toaster. She smiled and finished cooking everything before sitting at the table with the food.

Just as she was about to start eating, both her phone and Sam's phone started to ring. Sam looked at Dean, "It's Witicker." He stood up and left the room. (Y/N) grabbed her phone from the counter. Dean and Jared ate silently.

In the other room, Sam answered the phone, "Agent Forester."

"Hey Agent, we got another one. Bus driver, Zack Dooley. Same MO as before."

"Alright, uh, Sheriff, we have a possible lead. My partner and I will be attending the reunion tonight to keep watch." Sam said.

"Sounds good." The sheriff said, "See you then." He hung up and went back into the kitchen just as (Y/N) came back.

"Who was that mom?" Jared asked, looking up from his plate.

(Y/N) sighed and sat down, "Sweetie, that was the school. Your bus driver got attacked by an animal last night. He passed away this morning. I'm sorry."

Jared looked at her confused, "Mr. Dooley? He was nice." He sat there for a minute, processing what he'd heard.

"How am I going to get to school?" He asked after a while.

"Uh, I can take you." Sam said, "Drive around town in the Impala." He suggested. Jared nodded and stood up.

"I'll grab my bag." He said softly and left the room. Sam stood up and moved around, putting a hand on (Y/N)'s shoulder.

"He was in student council too." She said, eyes wide, "Now he's going after us."

Dean looked at her, "Hey, we'll keep you and Jared safe." She nodded, putting a hand on Sam's before standing up when Jared came back. Jared didn't look okay. He hiding his face and rubbing his eyes to fight away tears. (Y/N) made him lift his head, brushing the hair out of his eyes. She gave him a soft smile.

"Sometimes life isn't fair. And really nice people get hurt. But you have to remember them as they were. Not how they died." She watched him nod.

"Come here." She said softly, pulling her into his arms. He hugged her back, hiding his face in her shoulder. She rubbed his back as he let out a few sniffles.

"I love you." She said as she pulled away.

"I love you too, mom." He wiped his eyes with his sleeve. He looked at Sam and nodded, "I'm ready."

Dean tossed Sam the keys from his pocket, "One scratch and I'm comin' after the laptop." He scolded. Sam gave him an annoyed look before leading Jared out the door.

-

The car ride was silent for the first half, until words burst from Sam's mouth after he spent ten minutes trying to figure out what to say.

"Your mom was right. Gotta remember people for the good times." When Jared didn't answer and just stared out the window, Sam continued, "Ya know, my dad died about fourteen years ago. I tried to think of the good times. And there weren't a lot. But when there were, those are the times I like to remember. We butted heads but, I understand why he raised us the way he did."

Jared spared Sam a glance before looking back out the window, "I never knew my dad." Sam pulled into the school and put the Impala in park.

"Well, even if you don't know it, your dad loves you. You're a great kid. It didn't seem like it, but my dad loved Dean and I." He said, not trying to spill the big secret yet.

"How can you love someone you don't know exists." Jared grumbled and got out of the car, leaving Sam feeling more guilty than he did before.

-

"Kid's breaking my heart already." Sam said as he came back inside the house.

"What happened?" (Y/N) asked as she put on earrings.

"He said how can someone love you when they don't know you exist?" He rubbed the back of his neck.

Dean shook his head, "Jared is really upset about this." (Y/N) shook her head, tearing up.

"I didn't know how hard this was effecting him. I didn't know." She let out a little sob, "I'm such an idiot."

"Hey hey.." Sam pulled her into his arms and rubbed her back, "You did what you thought was best. We'll explain tonight."

She nodded against his chest, "I just hope nothing bad happens tonight. You catch the guy and he goes behind bars."

Dean looked at Sam and nodded. Sam sighed, "I don't think he'll get out of this alive." She pushed away from him and took a step back.

"You're going to kill him? Where's the justice in that?" She put her hands on her hips.

Dean took a step forward and motioned to the table, "(Y/N), you might wanna sit for what were about to tell you." She reluctantly sat, looking at the brothers differently.

"We're not FBI. We're not even law enforcement. That's our cover." Sam began, "We hunt monsters. Real monsters like vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and demons. We go from town to town hunting them to keep people safe."

She was looking at them like they were crazy. Sam thought of a different approach, "Remember when we went to the diner one night and we saw something in the woods then Dean just happened to show up covered in black goo?"

She nodded slowly, "You said it was oil from the Impala."

Dean nodded, "It wasn't oil. It was ectoplasm. Because theguy you saw barfed it all over me and took off into the woods."

"And the pentagram you on the back of the Impala wasn't because dad was into metal, it's to keep the weapons secure." Sam said, watching as the gears turned in her head.

"Monsters are real. And you're telling me Danny is one. So you have to kill him." She said the thoughts as they clicked. Sam nodded slowly, trying to get a read on her.

"Which is why we're going to take him down so the town is safe, and most importantly, you and Jared are safe." Dean said, leaning against the table.

"Okay." Her voice shook. But then she cleared her throat and stood up, "Okay, so what's the game plan? Should I keep everyone to the gym?"

"That's a perfect idea." Sam said, "Just keep everyone there the best you can." She nodded, "Okay. I can do this." She smiled and grabbed her keys.

"I'm going to the school to set up the gym." She said confidently and went out the door.

Dean watched her leave, slightly impressed, "Either she's freak outta her mind or she's taking this well."

"I'd say a little bit of both." Sam said, watching her leave from the window.

-

That night, the brothers met with the Sheriff outside of the school. He was wearing jeans and a lettermen's jacket. Sam was having flashbacks to high school and not ones he particularly enjoyed.

"Alright, boys. I'll take first watch out here, you two search inside in case he's already in. And if you see anything suspicious, come find me." He said. Dean and Sam nodded and headed inside.

"Hold on there, Agent Forester." The sheriff said. Sam stopped in his tracks and took a deep breath in before turning around.

"Yeah, sheriff?"

"Now, you wouldn't happen to be staying with a miss (Y/N) (Y/L/N), would you?" Sam swallowed hard.

"Yes, she offered to let us stay with her and her son." He said, and that was true. For the most part.

"Listen, I know she's a babe. And she seems like the type to be protecting. But don't you worry, ole Lonny's got it covered." He winked. Sam raised an eyebrow, (Y/N) hadn't mentioned Lonny at all.

"Ya know, it's been in the works for a while but uh... I think I'm gonna be her knight in shining armour when Jared joins the police force. Keep her company while he's at the police academy." Of course, the sheriff talking about (Y/N) like that made his blood boil, but as soon as he mentioned his son? He was irate.

"Really? Cause Jared didn't seem all that interested in being a cop." Sam said, crossing his arms.

"That kid'll come around. I've been keeping a special eye on him, for (Y/N)'s sake, and I think he'd make a good lieutenant under me some day. We'll make in a father-son dynasty. Well, when I get her to marry me that is." The sheriff chuckled. Sam narrowed his eyes and smirked.

"Heh," he chuckled darkly, "We'll see, won't we?" And with that, he went inside.

-

Sam found (Y/N) by the DJ booth, where Jared was sitting and playing music from his phone and into the speakers. It was a mix of popular songs from the 80's and 90's , kid had good taste. She was standing in front of poster boards that were covered in photos blown up from the year book. The board she was looking at was from prom night. He came up next to her and looked at the photos. She looked up at him out of the corner of her eye and smiled. She pointed toward a picture near the bottom. The shot was focused on another couple, but in the background was a familiar pair.

"I still have pictures from that night in my old photo albums. I found them a couple days ago. I was so scared to show them to Jared." She said, playing with the necklace around her throat. It was a silver J, with a turquoise bead. Which complimented the blue, flowy dress she had chosen for the evening.

"Can I ask... Why didnt you get married?" He eased into the subject.

She scoffed, "Please, everyone in this town is a bonehead. I prefer tall, smart, and handsome." She turned and smiled up at him.

"You do know the sheriff is trying to seduce you, right?" He felt his ears get hot with anger.

She rolled her eyes, "He can try all he wants. My main duty is to Jared. Making sure he's happy."

"What about you?" He asked, "Can't you be happy?" She looked at him and minute then looked at Jared, grinning from ear to ear.

She looked back at Sam, "Nothing makes me happier than being his mom." Sam smiled and held her hand in his large one.

"We usually don't stay much longer after the hunts are over..." He watched her face fall, "But... I don't think the world would end if we stayed a little longer." She smiled brightly.

"I think we might have the room." She winked.

-

Jared looked at his phone screen, scrolling through Snapchat stories. When those were done he shut off the screen. And in the black reflection he saw someone close behind him. Too close. He opened his mouth to confront whoever it was, but in a flash he saw darkness.

-

Sam glanced at the DJ booth, but did a double take. Jared wasn't there.

"Where'd Jared go?" He asked, his chest sinking. (Y/N) looked around him at saw the empty booth. Her eyes widened and she hurried towards the table, Sam close at her heels. All that was left was Jared's phone, the screen was shattered.

"Oh god no." She said under her breath, shaking her head.

"Where is he?!" She cried, her voice barely loud enough to hear over the loud music and all the talking. Sam looked around the room, looking for his brown hair.

"Jared!" Sam called, adrenaline pumping through his veins, "Jared!" He saw an open door that led out into the hallway.

"Follow me." He said and ran towards the door, (Y/N) followed, watching Sam take a machete out of his jacket.

-

Dean walked around the school, machete in hand. He could barely hear the music from the gym, but everything else was silent. He came up to the library where the door was slightly ajar. He gripped the handle to the large knife and quietly walked towards the room. He slowly pushed it open and looked inside. His eyes widened at what he saw. The sheriff was dead on one of the tables, nearly decapitated. Dean walked closer, looking around to see if the vamp was still around. He looked around the body and found a piece of paper. The handwriting was messy, but the message was clear.

Bring me (Y/N) or I kill the kid.

-------------------------------------------------

This chapter has everything: the morning after, shitty cops, a jealous baby-daddy, a child in peril.

Read part 5 here!

Reblogs, likes, and comments are appreciated!

Taglist:

@happy-little-winchester

@hobby27

@somebodyto-love

@beanie-beebo

@vicmc624

@ria132love

@lilulo-12

@teenwaywardasgardian

@tloveswriting

@samros95

Class Reunion (You know the drill, I tag, I don't know why it doesn't tag people, it's a living)

@crazysquirrel504

@heavenlyholland

@vampsclassiffied

@palefiregiver

@comic-wanda

@stopsignsareafterthoughts

@kaptainkool-aid

@swiftlymoniquesblog

@toribentleyva

@levigrogan

@awesome-badass-cafeteria-sauce

[erinelezabeth920]

Love in the Time Of

Anxiety. Is the first thing that comes to mind.  Exhibit A- yesterday I woke up at 10:30 am. A thing unheard of for me without being out to 2am the night before, which rarely ever happens anymore. I generally like mornings. And it was Easter. And it was sunny and beautiful as all get up outside. I’m not a devout Christian, but I grew up going to church; I am closeted very spiritual, and I like human stories, community and meditative spaces. Therefore, Easter is usually the one day a year I like to go to church. It’s just a me thing; I was lucky to grow up in a progressive church so the guilt and pentinance thing doesn’t really bother me. My family was also just as likely to go out to breakfast at the local diner on a Sunday morning as we were to go to church. I think it was really just about the intentional time. (The hilarious part being that I grew up in a small town in Upstate New York, so we would have to leave the diner by 10:30 when church got out and the weekly patrons filed in for their cup of coffee and eggs tittering “oh HELLO Dunn family! We missed you today...” My dad would have his watch timed for a perfect exit. Today, empty nesters, my parents are devout patrons at what they call the Church of Danny Wegman, a Sunday morning grocery shopping ritual at Wegmans for any upstate New Yorkers out there. According to them, they’ve even converted a few friends.)  So anyway I woke up at 10:30 and stayed in bed until 11:30. Christ has risen, but Erin definitely did not. The stone was rolled away to find me still lying in bed. Eventually I roused myself out of sheer hanger to eat leftover pizza and pour some cold brew from a can into a glass. I muttered something angry to Andy about playing video games and not making me breakfast because it was Easter so he should just KNOW that I wanted to wake up to a nice breakfast without any communication on my part. Duh. Ressurection indeed. 

I was feeling hungry and sad and weird. You know that feeling when you sleep so much your body is confused about what time/ day it is and anything you should be feeling? Plus add the quarantine and the fact it was Sunday after a break from work aka Sunday scaries and the apartment was super dirty, because I’d been avoiding cleaning all week. I resented the sun outside, high in the sky, wishing I could roll back the clock four hours and calmly and serenly watch the sunrise out my window with the meditative curl of steam from my tea under a blanket, my cat softly lying next to me, contemplating the newness of the world.  But it was almost noon, so here we are. After I ate my cold pizza and cold brew I got back into bed, waiting for Andy to be done with his video games and check on me so I could leech his energy. I laid in bed hating myself with inner monolouge like “Bitch, if you were single HOW do you think you’d be getting out of bed right now? Strong independent woman my ass” (Answer: I wouldn’t.) Credit to Andy though, he’s nothing but supportive and reliable even when I’m shooting angry looks across the apartment for no reason over my cold brew as he chats away merrily with his brother via Fortnite. 

“I’m stuck,” I said as I laid under the covers. “I need an energy push. I want to stay in bed forever.” “Either not moving or going somewhere far away,” Andy said gently, nailing my reactions to anxiety (I had stayed up late the night before Googling School Psychologist jobs in small towns across the state). He laid down with with me for a moment, and then began breathing deeply vis a vis Terry Crews about to lift something gargantuous. “OKAY, HERE WE GO!” he yelled, and ripped the covers off, pushing me off the bed, pulling me up and and shoving me toward the bathroom with a towel. Again, credit to Andy.

The shower made me feel better. I think under all the anxiety and negative self-talk, I was really just sad. Easter has never been a huge holiday, but I always liked it in a kind of personal way, just connecting with spring, new beginnings etc. I missed my family I guess or any sense of celebration. And I get this thing like, I am a mental health professional, I teach yoga, therefor I shouldn’t have hard times during this, because I am above such petty emotions. (Logically it makes no sense, but the way our brains work it makes perfect sense.) I put on a nicer ish sweater and ripped jeans. Easter Sunday best, it’s all about doing the best we can. Our friends knocked on the door, and came in to stand safely in the doorway with a boquet of flowers and a bag of fried dandelions (what? but they were delicious I’ll have you know.) “Happy Easter!” they said. My towel was still on my head. My eyes would have almost teared up if I had been alert enough to feel emotions fully. They hung out for a bit in the doorway, pet the cat, then headed out. One of my friends had said he was practicing sleeping in to prep for a night volunteer shift, but only made it until 9:45 that morning. It made me feel like a lump. As they left, we said we’d go on a walk with them later. We didn’t. Flakiness doesn’t stop during a quarantine. 

(flowes, fried dandelions and Felix) Andy made eggs after I complained he hadn’t made me breakfast (to which his response was, ‘I asked if you wanted breakfast and you grunted and went back to sleep.” Well... my anger is completey justifiable. Obviously.) We watched Lego Masters- Star Wars episode. It was really good. The sun fltered in. I wanted it to go away, or I wanted to have the energy to go out in it. I had a headache. My jaw hurt. I laid on the couch and read for hours intermittently scrolling through my phone and checking how many people had viewed my Instagram story, and then immediately hating myself for scrolling through my phone, until we finally found the motivation to do some cleaning while listening to a DnD podcast. That felt nice. Then we went on a walk still listening to the podcast. The characters were fighting a giant invisible spider. I felt tired, and noticed how far you could see into the foothills of the mountains. I’m scared, I said to Andy, that when things return to normal I’ll be sad. Not for like the deaths and economy and stuff, but this- that we can see so clearly to the mountains. What happens when that’s gone? We were going to cook, but felt lazy. We orded sushi. It was okay. We watched Return of the Jedi. During the Lego Masters episode one of the teams had built the battle of Endor and made all the Ewoks’ primitive weapons. It was cool. I liked all the trees and ferns. I wondered about Carrie Fischer in her skimpy Jabba outfit, how did she feel around all those men? I contemplated searching Pornhub later for spin offs and then felt weird about it.  We drank wine. We turned the lights off. The cat meowed at the door to explore outside. I was annoyed at him, so Andy took him out. Andy went to bed. I laid on the couch and listened to a Brene Brown podcast about anxiety, My jaw still hurt. Anxiety she said, manifests in two ways. I thought okay Brene, sometimes you annoy me, because not to be pretenious here, but I know more about psychology than you. But you have a real way of getting people to listen. So I’ll listen. The two ways, she explained, are over and under performing. Over performers tend to do a million things, check off to-do lists, always have a task, something to be doing to stop themselves from feeling (I’m looking at all you bread makers. Just kidding, baking bread is a completely wholesome way of coping with free time, and really I’m just jealous...) 

Underperformers on the other hand tend to shut down, need help from others, seem helpless from the outside, tend to fold under pressure, exuding low energy. Neither is better than the other, although society definitely favors the over performers. But in reality, both are just a way to avoid anxiety- keep it lurking in the shadows like the monster of a horror film, instead of bringing it out into the light. And we all know the suspension of an unknown movie monster is so much worse than after we’ve just seen the damn thing.  

Then she went into birth order; first borns tend to be more over-performers with last borns more under-performing, which is fine and probably pretty true and all, but I don’t totally subscribe to those things as pre-destined. But I did like finding a name to a feeling or habit. Naming is the first way to remove power. I had been drastically underperforming all day. And it’s not even my fault. It’s just anxiety- that all of us have, lingering in the peripherals, and our habitual responses. 

And honestly, that’s okay. I’d spent time with my partner. I’d seen friends and been the recipient of kindness. I’d gotten outside. I’d cleaned the apartment. We’d had dinner and watched a movie. We were fed, healthy and both have jobs. I’d even called my parents before they went to sleep to wish them happy Easter. Why can’t that just damn be enough? 

Before I went to bed, I watched an online Easter church serivce from a local church. It was awkward. The pastor filmed himself walking around a cemetary. And yet, somehow, it felt nice. I felt a tiny bit part of something. 

Check the facts honey. It is enough. It’s always enough. You’re enough.

And that’s love in the time of. 

[tisfan]

TSB Blackout, Card 1

@tonystarkbingo Masterlist Card 1

* I actually finished writing this a while ago, but the posting schedule stretched it out until today when I can officially claim it

S1 S2 S3 S4 S5

T1 T2 T3 T4 T5

A1 A2 A3 A4 A5

R1 R2 R3 R4 R5

K1 K2 K3 K4 K5

small links above, full list below the cut

Title: Suburban Warfare Square: S1 - mutual appreciation society Warning: unadulterated fluff, suburban life, Home Owners Association Pairing: Tony/Bruce Summary: When the HOA makes his neighbor take down his adorable little garden gnomes, Tony sets out a plan of revenge, involving flying… robotic… flamingos. Who said suburban living was boring? Word Count: 2,215 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17669516

Title: Anything Goes (and Usually Does) Square: S2 - carnival Warning: hand job, sex in a public place, anal sex Pairing: Tony/Bucky Summary: A night at the fair, anything and everything goes... Word Count: 2,665 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18098183

Title: Let me Sum Up Square:S3 - GRRRR: sorc supreme Warning: inappropriate use of time travel Pairing: WinterIron Summary: Tony has a big problem-- and several medium sized ones, and a dozen little ones… but mostly… what the hell is he supposed to say? Word Count: 939 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18210038

Title: Add Three Eggs Square: S4 - learning to cook Warning: domestic assassins Pairing: WinterIronWidow Summary: After a mission, the Hydra team regroups in the safe house and spends a little bit of downtime… just being together. Word Count: 1,624 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17721488/chapters/42283466

Title: A portrait of a young man in the park not eating his lunch Square: S5 - writing format: breaking the fourth wall Warning: unrepentant fluff, humor, breaking the fourth wall Pairing: WinterIron Summary: Jan takes it upon herself to arrange a date for Tony Word Count 1439 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19940161

Title: Cheesy Pick Up Line Square: T1 - Diner / Restaurant Warning: fluff and meet cute Pairing: Tony/Bucky preslash Summary: There are food trucks outside of Stark Industries. Who knew? Apparently everyone except Tony Word Count: 865 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17662211

Title: Sleeper Square: T2 - Red Room Tony Warning: child abuse, red room conditioning, psychological torture of minors Pairing: Tony Stark  & Natasha Romanoff, Bucky Barnes Summary: “Something has to be done with the boy, Maria.” Little did Howard know, something, indeed, was being done with the boy... Word Count: 911 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17721488/chapters/41808236

Title: Excuse me, I think you have my Suitcase With @27dragons  Square: T3 - sharing clothes Warning: lingerie, oral, anal, condom use  Pairing: Tony Stark/Bucky Barnes Summary: Problem one: Tony and Bucky get their luggage mixed up. Problem 2: Tony’s suitcase is full of lingerie. Hijinks ensue. Word Count: 7,354 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17706326

Title: Neither Charming nor Ladylike Co-written with @27dragons Square: T4 - more than a partner Warning: drunk sex, friends with benefits, older couple Pairing: Howard Stark/Peggy Carter Summary: Twenty years after Steve goes into the ice, Peggy finds herself needing the company of someone who understands. Howard isn’t a good man, but he’s the one she’s got. Word Count: 3,142 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17683370

Title: Lost Boys and Girls Square: T5 - lost their powers Warning: fairies, magic, alternate history, dad!Tony Pairing: Tony Stark/Stephen Strange Summary: The queen of the fairies wants to meet Iron Man. Why does this sound like a really bad idea? Word Count: 1,690 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17721638

Title: Arms Deal Co-written with @monobuu & @27dragons Square: A1 - GRRRR: tentacles 2 Warning: implied/referenced torture, mermaid au, shapeshifting, amnesia Pairing: Tony Stark/Bucky Barnes Summary: When the Hydra finds a fish-tailed man in their trawling nets and makes plans to sell the creature to the highest bidder, Bucky Barnes' lifelong love of the sea sharpens into sympathy -- and something more. Freeing the merman is a risky undertaking, doubly so given the Captain's unforgiving nature, but the pull of Bucky's heart gives him no choice in the matter. Will Bucky's act of kindness ever be rewarded, or will it become an obsession leading him into a deadly trap? Word Count: 15,387 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19440886/chapters/46270126

Title: The Worst Job Interview Ever Take This Job (And Shove it Out the Airlock) Chapter One Square: A2 - AU: Sci-Fi/futuristic Warning: non consenting drug use, drinking Pairing: WinterIron (after this part) Summary: All Tony needed was a job…. But really, press-ganging wasn’t his style. Word Count: 1,487 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18431015/chapters/43658597

Title: From Russia with Purrs Square: A3 - FREE SQUARE Warning: no animals were actually harmed in the writing of this fic Pairing: Peter Parker & Ned Leeds / background Bucky/Tony Summary: Spider-Man doesn’t always get called in to help with the Avengers stuff, but when Peter is given a special, urgent mission from the Winter Soldier, he needs to call in backup Word Count: 2505 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17998925

Title: A Curse on Both of Your Houses (Chapter 2) Co-written by @27dragons Square: A4 - myths and legends Warning: none for this chapter Pairing: Tony Stark/Bucky Barnes Summary: Tony appreciates his werewolf boyfriend in both his human and lupine shapes. What he doesn’t appreciate is a visit from Bucky’s old boss, Nick Fury, with a mysterious (and likely magical) device he wants them to investigate. He ought to say no and throw Nick out -- but the thing is strangely compelling. Maybe if he’d read a few more fairy tales, he’d have seen that for the warning sign that it was. Now, he’s cursed, and the race is on to find the owner of the thing, or some other way to break the curse, before it results in something not only unpleasant but unrecoverable. Word Count: 2,324  Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19851631/chapters/47194783

Title: Vampires and Teens have a Lot in Common Square: A5 - writing format: diaries and journals Warning: none Pairing: Tony Stark & Janet Van Dyne Summary: For @gilajames: AvAc - someone appears in a vampire outfit and the others have to seriously figure out if they have actually been turned into a vampire or not Word Count: 852 (and mixed media) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17745359

Title: (Consider this) The Hint of the Century Co-Written by @27dragons Square: R1 - KINK: mind-controlled sex Warning: dub-con (ish), anal sex, ghosts, possession, Bucky has a plan, this wasn’t it Pairing: Bucky Barnes/Tony Stark Summary: It’s just a box that they found in the crypt of a desecrated old church that rumor says is haunted. What could possibly go wrong? Word Count: 7382 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19107763

Title: Horrible Working Conditions Take this Job (And Shove it out the Airlock) Chapter Two Square: R2 - quarantined! Warning: none for this chapter Pairing: WinterIron Summary: So... Tony meets his co-worker and it goes about as well as can be expected. Also, Tony doesn’t like being told what to do. We knew that, right? I mean, like, we all knew that. Word Count: 1,916 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18431015/chapters/43975924#workskin

Title: A little bit mean Square: R3 - KINK: held down Warning: blowjob, BDSM, tied up, held down, mild humiliation, self-acceptance, learn to accept a compliment already (NSFW image included) Pairing: Tony Stark/Bucky Barnes Summary: Tony wants Bucky to admit that he’s gorgeous. How much sensual torment can the Winter Soldier take before Bucky caves to the admission? Word Count: 2,534 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17698883

Title: What’s His is Mine Square: R4 - writing format: use of symbolisms Warning: humor, fluff, Star Wars quotes Pairing: Tony Stark/Pepper Potts Summary: Justin Hammer is selling his things to pay his legal bills… Tony has. Other plans. Word Count: 720 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18238208

Title: A Curse on Both of Your Houses (Chapter 1) Co-written by @27dragons​ Square: R5 - Explosion in the Lab Warning: none for this chapter Pairing: Tony Stark/Bucky Barnes Summary: Tony appreciates his werewolf boyfriend in both his human and lupine shapes. What he doesn’t appreciate is a visit from Bucky’s old boss, Nick Fury, with a mysterious (and likely magical) device he wants them to investigate. He ought to say no and throw Nick out -- but the thing is strangely compelling. Maybe if he’d read a few more fairy tales, he’d have seen that for the warning sign that it was. Now, he’s cursed, and the race is on to find the owner of the thing, or some other way to break the curse, before it results in something not only unpleasant but unrecoverable. Word Count: 2,764 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19851631/chapters/47010508

Title: The Blacksmith Square: K1 - historical Warning: none Pairing: Wanda Maximoff & Tony Stark Summary: During the Civil War (Shield Vs. Hydra) the common people find trouble no matter who the soldiers are.  Word Count: 1397 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17717330

Title: Accountability Square: K2 - Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier Warning: coffee shop AU, unrepentant fluff Pairing: Tony Stark/Bucky Barnes Summary: Tony wants to have a stable relationship by New Year’s Eve. Well, Bucky’s here to hold him accountable. Word Count: 2199 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17925155

Title: Exit Interview Take this Job (and Shove it Out the Airlock)  Square: K3 - alien planet Warning: Space travel, anal sex, infinity stone Pairing: Tony Stark/Bucky Barnes Summary: Captain America was down there, in the ice. Tony and Bucky are going to get him, or die trying. Tony’s not so keen on the dying part. Word Count: 2,176 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18431015/chapters/44579386#workskin

Title: Beautiful light of madness Square: K4 - Constructed Reality / the Framework Warning: soulstones, dream world Pairing: Tony Stark/Bucky Barnes Summary: In the Soul Stone, time is relative, people are at peace. It is a paradise, but also a trap. Can Tony break the trap and bring everyone home?Especially when he risks losing the only thing that matters... Word Count: 2,672 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18914755

Title: Indenture Co-written by @27dragons Warning: indenture, sci-fi AU, gladiator, virgin kink, anal sex, oral sex, fingering, mechanic Pairing: Tony Stark/Bucky Barnes Summary: See the galaxy on a two year work-contract. Well, Tony Stark figures, can’t be worse than home. When he ends up on Sakaar, in the hands of a gladiatorial team, it might be his mechanical skills they’re interested in… or it might be his virginity. Word Count: 14,587 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18921301

[huntertheblackwolf]

Assassins, Companions, And Family Chapter 2

This is Chapter 2 and I'm so excited!! Hope you enjoy!💋

Also, shout out to @lunavadash for liking my other two parts of this series!❤ ~Much Love!

So sorry this is short

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Excellent." Loki said smug and reached out his hand out, waiting for Hunter to shake his hand to seal the deal.

When Hunter firmly clasped their hands together, green, red, black and golden sparks and ribbons flew between and around their hands, and the deal was sealed.

"Now" Loki said as he let go of Hunter's hand and Hunter did the same. "My first order is for you to show me where you're injured. I can't have a injured worker, now can I?"

Hunter waved one flap of his cloak onto his back, undid the the shirt, and slowly showed Loki the injury, still wrapped in bandages. The bandages were slightly red from the movements and Hunter winced in pain as he moved to take it off. Loki got up, walked towards Hunter and slightly winced at what he saw.

The chest was swollen red and chunks of dead skin was shedding off. Mottled bruise littered his chest and purple was the most seen. It was dry, patchy and it was horrible to look at. Hunter clenched his fists and hissed through his teeth as Loki probed at it.

"He did hit you and severely at that, but you're resilient, aren't you?" Loki said as he settled his pale, cold hand onto Hunters chest, who shouted out silently, but kept still, trying hard not to shake.

'Cold, but soothing.' Hunter wrote shakey and Loki smirked.

"Yes. I run quite...cold. Bear with me now."

A green glow started to envelop his hand as Loki muttered under his breath and the healing process began. The skin was ripped off, and new skin grew quickly. The deep bruising started to disappear, and the red swelling started to go down. The only thing left on Hunters chest was a couple of bruising that didn't need help healing.

"There" Loki said as he slowly blew out a breath of air. "Sleep it off and you'll be fine. Speaking of such matters, I believe it's time to rest anyways."

Looking up from his chest, Hunter noticed the clock and the time. It was 1:23 a.m. Nodding, Hunter wrote something down and started getting dressed.

'Yes, of course. Thank you for healing me. When do I expect my first job?'

"We will speak of these matters tomorrow. Right now, you need rest. A growing 'boy' " , Loki chuckled as Hunter paused in buttoning up his shirt to glare, "like you, needs his rest. Once you complete your job, you'll have enough money to furnish your home and buy whatever you want. Especially for your family. For right now however, you will contact your employer and go to sleep. If you can, destroy the evidence as well. That is all."

'I understand. Thank you. One question however. While I'm grateful for you not asking about my...face, why not ask me more about it?'

"You have your secrets, I have mine."

'I'll contact the employer and I don't expect any trouble from them as they'll be dead soon, so don't worry about them. Goodnight and thank you once again.'

"Goodnight." Loki whispered as Hunter left and rounded the corner.

Loki started to clean up by magically vanishing it away. Leaving the dining room, he arrived in his room with a snap of his fingers and got dressed to sleep. Finally laying down, he felt drowsy and magically drained from everything that happened.

'Finally. Come tomorrow and the child should be set for his first mission. Mother would be proud. Not for what I'm about to do, but for saving him. More or less.' He thought he drifted off to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hunter entered the room and started to undress, marveling at the almost healed skin, and going to the closet to see if he could find some sleepwear.

Finishing, Hunter located his backpack and started to search for the phone his employer gave him. Finding it and fishing out something cylinder with a button on top, he took them with him. Reaching the bed, he slowly and gently started to shake Shadow awake. Opening his eyes, Shadown yawned, got up to shake himself, with also being careful of the egg, and moved himself. Moving over, Hunter gently picked the egg up and started to lift the covers up from the bed to slide between them. Shadow moved towards them and waited for his caretaker to settle the egg, so he could get under the covers as well.

With a soundless yawn, Hunter finally settled down and made space for Shadow. With Yin between them and his caretaker near him, Shadow fell asleep quickly again, feeling safe at once.

Turning the phone on and settling down the cylinder tube within reach, Hunter started to search for the employer's phone number and quickly found it, typing up a text to send to them.

'Проходящая миссия остановлена. Локи захватил и нанял меня с моего согласия. Больше не в состоянии это делать или слушать вас. Извиняется.'*

It didn't take long for the bubbles, indicating a text was being written, to show up.

'Что вы имеете в виду?! Я тебя нанял! Вы должны слушать меня! Выполни эту чертову работу, ублюдок!'**

'Я больше не принимаю заказы от вас. Повторяю, я больше не слежу за тобой и не хочу твоих денег. Миссия сейчас заброшена.'*

'Ты сукин сын! Я пришлю своего мужчину для тебя! Будь осторожен, потому что я убью тебя и твою семью, неблагодарная сука!'**

'Нету.'*

'Нет ?! Что ты имеешь в виду, нет !? Послушай меня, ты будешь сожалеть об этом, поэтому я дам один шанс забрать все обратно или я убью тебя сам!'**

'То, что вы говорите, не сбудется. В тот момент, когда вы связались и угрожали моей семье до всего этого, я планировал вас бомбить, ребята.'*

'Хватит играть в эту глупую игру. Ты убьешь Локи и вернешься сюда. Я проясняю себя?'**

'Я не думаю, что вы понимаете, я не шутил. Ты угрожал мне и моей семье, и теперь я собираюсь убить тебя.'*

Hunter lifted the cylinder tube, pushed the button, and dropped it next to the phone.

No reply ever came.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The news channel appeared on TV as someone turned it on.

"-explosion happened in an abandoned warehouse called the Brooklyn Army Terminal located in Sunset Park, at 2:07 a.m. It happened all of a sudden people have stated. Authorized figures however seem to say that the warehouse was used by a group of people storing weapons. Many were killed in the explosion and it seems to have come from the inside. We have footage of the building exploding, but we warn you that it's quite graphic." A news reporter said.

The news was then cut off to a blurry and gray video of an old abandoned building exploding. Fire was sprouting from the shattered window and was growing higher in size. It turned back to the news reporter once again.

"It seemed that it was intended and police are now investigating why and how this has occurred. If anyone has any answers to what and why this has occurred, please-" The TV was muted as Loki put down the control.

"Did you do this?" He said as he turned to Hunter who wasn't there in the living room. Loki snapped his fingers and a whiteboard with a black marker appeared, allowing Hunter to write down his answers.

'Yes.'

"With what?"

'Bombs.'

"How?"

'I planted them in secret when they stated that they were going to kill Yin and Shadow if I didn't cooperate.'

"Is that where your employer stayed?"

'Yes.'

"So this is what you meant when you said that I shouldn't worry. Who were they?"

'A Russian group. They were trying to obtain your body for experiments.'

"Hmm. Were they a small group?"

'Yes.'

"Alright then. Have you eaten yet?"

'No.'

"Are you hungry?

'Yes.'

"What do you want to eat?" Loki asked as he turned away from Hunter and walked towards the kitchen. "While Midgard technology is easy enough to comprehend, compared from where I am from, it wasn't that difficult to figure out. I'll order some breakfast from the diner below. You'll eat anything, won't you? I also found some fresh fish for the pup."

'Yes, thank you.'

"Yes yes. You're welcome. Can't have you and your pup starving, can we? You have have a job today and I'll tell you over breakfast. Just grab your pup and egg."

'Of course.' Hunter wrote down and placed the whiteboard with its marker on a flat surface. He walked towards the room.

Entering the room, Hunter noticed Shadow already up and about, exploring the room, different from when he left Shadow to continue sleeping.

Strolling over, he picked up the egg, wrapped it tightly in its blanket, settled down the egg onto the bed again, and made a soft sound, calling Shadow over.

Bending his knees, he started to move his hands in a certain way, Shadow's eyes focusing on it.

'Loki is boss now. Listen, learn, don't disrespect. Attack if only you need to protect self or egg. Clear?'

Shadow excitedly started to shake his tail and head, confirming he understood. Getting up, Hunter went towards his backpack, and fetched a bowl. He went and picked Yin up, cradling it, opened the door wide and left, Shadow right on his trail.

Going down the hall, Shadow kept up, already being bigger then he should be for his age. Entering the kitchen, Hunter noticed breakfast already set up. Loki looked up from a new thick book he had and looked towards them.

"You're here so now we can eat. I put the fish on the kitchen counter, so do what you can with it."

Seeing Hunter nod, Loki walked towards the table and waited for Hunter to finish, opening the book and starting to read. Approaching the counter, still cradling Yin, he started to wash and clean the fish, pulling apart the meat and bones separately, making it safe to eat. Mashing it, he served it in a bowl he brought with him.

Walking towards the table, he settled the bowl down onto the floor. Shadow, who was following him, waited near the table as he saw Hunter make a halt movement. Going back, Hunter fetched the whiteboard and marker, knowing he was going to need it. Hunter then sat down near Loki.

"You taught him well." He paused for a moment looking at Shadow and looked up. "I'll tell you your mission after we eat. Let's speak, however, about lighter subjects." Loki said as he put away his book and started to eat, Hunter soon joining him. When Hunter started, still gently holding Yin, so did Shadow who quickly gobbled down his mashed fish.

"How was your sleep?" Loki said between bites. "I hope it was restful for you and your furry family."

'It was. Yours?'

"It was restful. Now, I want to know why this group hired you? Care to explain?"

'I am well known in being hired for a low price, killing anyone they want me to. Usually, I do pros and cons on if I can kill them, not accepting if I know I can't. I never miss, except until you, of course. I told them I would fail, they didn't listen, but it seems they got what they deserved. Thought you would be an easy target however, considering the Avengers are after you. Should have know you wouldn't have let down your guard.'

"Hm. Were you trained or self taught? I'm guessing trained, however."

'You are correct. I am trained. Now, I have a question for you. What do I call you? What terms or titles do you want me to use? Master Loki, Sir Loki, Mr. Loki, or do you prefer a family name, Mr. Friggason?'

"I would prefer Loki. Just Loki." He said calmly. "And yourself?"

'Hunter. Just Hunter.'

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

*Passing mission is stopped. Loki captured and hired me with my consent. No longer able to do this or listen to you. Apologizes.

**What do you mean?! I hired you! You should be listening to me! Get the damn job done, you bastard!

*I no longer accept orders from you. I repeat, I no longer watch you and do not want your money. Mission is now abandoned.

**You son of a bitch! I'll send my man for you! Be careful because I will kill you and your family, ungrateful bitch!

*Nope

**No?! What do you mean no!? Listen to me, you will regret it, so I will give one chance to take everything back or I will kill you myself!

*What you're saying won't come true. The moment you contacted and threatened my family before all this, I planned to bomb you guys. You won't be able to do anything you're saying.

**Stop playing this foolish game. You will kill Loki and you will return here. Do I make myself clear?

*I don't think you understand, I wasn't kidding. You threatened me and my family and now I'm going to kill you.

[iimpicide]

My fnaf au, read it if you want :3

Generation 1. ????-1982 The grand opening of circus baby’s pizzeria! The animatronics are quite futuristic and really human like, there’s baby, ballora, Funtime foxy and Freddy! Plus their little pals bidybabs and minireenas. The pizzeria is really fun cause the kids can be entertained by fun fox and fun Fred or exercise with ballora, but the kids absolutely love baby! She can almost do everything like think, learn, teach, play and more. The pizza is delicious too, everything was fine, the animatronics were doing their job until that one day. I don’t know why she did it but baby didn’t want to play anymore, she didn’t want to be told anything anymore, before anybody noticed the little girl was gone and no one knew where she went. She’s dead. Baby killed her but it was an accident, as long as no one knows about this we’ll use something to snap them back to their old selves! Maybe something called “controlled shock” so they can be normal again, their robots anyways they can’t feel pain! But we need to put baby away so she won’t do that to anymore kids ever again.. - The day was great but our night shift always quit, maybe cause it’s too dark? Oh well. We’ll hire a new one and give them a better pay? That’ll probably keep them longer, anyways what will the kids think about baby being gone? Maybe just say she’s out of order, the kids will understand, we’ll just close up for today because it’s really late. The new night shift is here and ready to work! Just gonna lay back and relax and make sure nobody steals anything. CHOMP! Fun fox snapped at his head killing him instantly, the staff found the body but not sure how he died but their just gonna say he had a heart attack. Hire a new one and tell him to be careful this time, the second night shift is here and ready to work but they told him about calling 911 if he needs medical attention, also there was a dead body in the vent.. Have a nice day! The night shift worker was named eggs Benedict, they told him to use controlled shock on the animatronics so they will keep working. But then baby told him about the truth of this pizzeria and how he needs to help them, he helped them and baby just used him so they can escape and live happily. Eggs thought he would live but they took out his guts, his bones, his veins so they can use his skin and be human! It worked for almost a week, they were so happy but then he started to rot. Smelly, yuck, he turned purple and because that colour was inhuman they had to ditch the body and try to find a new one (instead they got their old robot “skin”), but they didn’t know he was still alive and now he’s purple man because of his skin colour, angered fuelled his soul, used then left for dead! Killed 2 innocents! Those rotten robots, evil robots! Purple man wanted revenge, he wanted to get rid of these kind of restaurants so he burned each one (around where he lived) even if those robots in the other ones didn’t do anything, he burned them but what he didn’t know what that there was still children, families maybe in those restaurants. Purple man the killer, hater of kids.. Robots too but he didn’t mean to kill the kids but it was too late to clear his name, his name was in the newspapers but not for a good reason. Purple man didn’t like this but then he ran away where he was never seen again.. Bye u jerk why u kill robots man

Generation 2. 1983-1987 fredbears family diner

Redesigned robots, soft n cuddly animals were better than human robots anyways, ah 4 years without an incident.. Feels nice to not close this one down too :^) fredbear and spring Bonnie were playing their instrument, they played country music which was calming cause it wasn’t too loud for the parents. The kids loved listening to them and sometimes the kids tell the animatronics stories too! They listen, but what the staff didn’t know what that the animatronics could learn, they learn’t how to love, feel, talk, notice things and they developed personalities. Fredbear liked spring but she didn’t notice even when it was obvious, fredbear tried to do things like humans do like making jokes even if he wasn’t programmed to do that, one day these kids were fooling around, fredbear told them to be careful but before he could stop them or make them stop there was a kid locked in his jaws, still singing he bit down and there was people screaming as they watched in horror, blood dripping down from his mouth and the kids trying to free the boy from his jaws. The staff called the ambulance then shut fredbear down and tried to remove the little boy, to be safe they shut spring Bonnie down too but meanwhile the boy was freed and the restaurant had to be closed down fredbear was sitting against the wall with spring Bonnie trying to tell her how he felt before anything happened to them, spring was happy he finally said that but while they were having a moment the staff didn’t know what to do with these learning robots so they shut spring Bonnie off first and put her in the safe room but since fredbear was too heavy to lift they left him alone to rot away, same with spring.

Generation 3 Freddy fazbears pizza! 1999-2006

New and improved animatronics, cuddlier softer and meant to look like plush but still look like animals. There’s Freddy, Bonnie, chica and foxy! They had jobs to let kids know what to do and not to do, of course they needed strict rules so no kids get harmed again. This pizzeria is going great! Freddy singing about pizza. Kids watching from a distance, maybe this pizzeria is gonna go without incidents! (Rip records lol) they even had their own cartoon! It didn’t last long due to budget but still going great, foxy on the other hand sadly lost his balance and fell down off the stage in pirate cove landing on a child only breaking his leg, poor foxy, his eye is broken and his right arm is loose, there’s a hole in his chest from the kids leg going through it, his jaw is busted and some teeth fell out. Yikes I don’t think the staff can fix this one this time, they closed the pirate cove down and said it was “out of order”. Poor old foxy left to rot just like.. Wtf there’s a strange bear in the cove, well shit, I guess they put him there due to space. The years went on and the animatronics are starting to look kinda crappy now, not like how they first started out. Maybe we should give them a reboot? While the restaurant closed and they since they really liked these robots they put them in storage for a bit while they sketch out the reboots, they also put all the furniture away except the boxes full of toys and party hats, while they did that Goldie tried to look for spring but then there was smoke? Where was it coming from? Purple man was setting the place on fire not knowing there was barely anything in there (no windows) Goldie escaped thinking spring would be safe, he was wrong spring burned a little from the fire before the firefighters put the fire out. The fire spread to the trees where purple man was caught in the flames, he died and his soul found a dying spring where he possessed but got trapped in the spring bunny and since he didn’t want to feel trapped he made spring feel trapped in her own body and now with a messed up voice, burned fur and broken a broken eye, spring seems really frightening to the staff and left spring in a new safe room/storage only to develop insanity, depression, trust issues and claustrophobia.

Generation 4 (reboot) 2007-current day

The new reboot looks great! Cute animals are the “it” thing today, the kids love them. Since they have a better build and they can’t loose balance their free to wander and talk to the kids! The parents can book party rooms if the child has a birthday, now there’s two more animatronics, marionette and balloon boy! One gives gifts and the other gives balloons to the kids, the rebooted foxy didn’t last long. She was pulled apart but children because they climbed and tugged on her arms too much, we decided to was best to loosen her arms and legs and make her easy to pull and put back together, she was turned into a building station but it was “for the best”; just like the old fredbears family diner the animatronics learned and grew personalities and they stored memories in their “memory chip” cause at night they turned the pizzeria into a hangout and they talked and are things even if they can’t eat but they found a way to eat anyways lol, one night while hanging out they heard kicking and yelling in the wall? Strange, they went to investigate but the toys were pretty weak so they went and opened the parts and service room and told the oldies to open the door for them and they did with Goldie’s help and there they saw a weird bunny thing, broken ear and burned slightly on one side. He was throwing things and kicking boxes like a little kid but it was literally the only thing he could do in that room, when they opened the door they scared poor spring and he hid behind the boxes like a cat, scaredy cat rabbit they said where spring got mad and came out of the room fast. The first look at the broken bunny kinda sent chills down their backs but then toy chica said “hi” and everyone else did the same and each of them got to know spring where spring was actually a sweetheart, changed attitude at times but he was really nice if you got to know him well, it was nice to watch him reunite with the old gold bear. Lefe is gud.

Generation 4 (never happened yet)

[thehungrykat1]

Food Exchange Manila Opens Weekend Buffet at Novotel Manila Araneta City

It’s been almost a year since the global pandemic started, but now we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel as the national vaccination program finally begins this month. While it may still take some time before we really go back to normal, I’m glad to see that a lot of my favorite restaurants and hotel cafes have already reopened to the public. It’s also been a while since I have seen some of my friends, so it was great to catch up with them last week over a delightful weekend lunch buffet at Novotel Manila Araneta City.

The hotel’s signature cafe, Food Exchange Manila, finally reopened last December to serve its Quezon City diners who have long been waiting for a venue to meet up with friends and business acquaintances. Guests can go on a gastronomic adventure in this culinary theater as talented chefs show off their skills at the different interactive cooking stations. For only P1,288 nett per person, diners can now enjoy all these at their lunch and dinner buffets on Friday and Saturday, and also during their hearty brunch buffet on Sunday.

Food Exchange Manila is located at the ground floor of the Novotel Manila Araneta City. We have had some memorable staycations here over the past years (Read: Novotel Manila Araneta Center: My New Staycation Hideaway) so I was happy to see it back on its feet. Just like before, Food Exchange Manila radiates a bright and cheerful ambiance with natural light coming from its full-length windows and a colorful contemporary design for its interiors. The main difference is that tables are now spaced farther apart, with social distancing measures and 50% maximum capacities strictly in place.

The restaurant is filled with classic and modern ornaments and decorations representing the beauty and diversity of the Philippines. This is a great way of promoting our Filipino culture.

Face masks and face shield are required to be worn when entering and walking around the hotel, but you can remove these once you are seated on your tables. Since restaurants are still subject to IATF protocols and guidelines, only guests 18 to 65 years old are allowed to dine in at the buffet. However, Novotel Manila also offers a food delivery service called Take Me Out by Novotel for those who still can’t go out.

My friends and I were seated at one of the colorful semi-private dining rooms at Food Exchange Manila. The place is quite spacious so it feels safe to dine in, especially with all the safety protocols in place.

Cups and utensils are sterilized and sealed in plastic covers so everyone can enjoy their meals in a safe way. All Accor hotels including Novotel practice intensified hygiene & cleanliness protocols called ALLSAFE to ensure guest’s safety.

Executive Chef Massi Pauletto showed us around the different culinary stations which have now been adjusted to conform to the new normal dining environment. Most of the food are now cooked and served a la minute, instead of before when the items are simply placed in chafing dishes.

Other items are placed in handy individual cups and jars so you can just grab them and go. The Salad Station offers a healthy and sustainable selection that includes Greek Salad with Feta, Caesar Salad, Salmon Lax, and more.

The Cold Cuts and Cheese section is always a welcome sight. I asked for a platter of cheese which was already pre-packed and given to me immediately.

The Food Exchange also has a themed section where they highlight their special “fruit of the week.” For this week, they were featuring mangoes so you can find several mango-themed items on display here.

I found this Mango with Cilantro, Lime and Cucumber Salad here so I grabbed one for myself. I also got their Pineapple and Prawn Salad which was also a refreshing appetizer.

Juices are also included in the buffet so I got some of their featured beverages. The Mango and Basil Iced Tea was quite a delightful drink.

Japanese cuisine is really my favorite so this is always the first station I visit whenever I go to a buffet. With the new normal dining setup, guests can just point to the items they like and the servers will plate the items for you. I got some Tuna and Salmon Sashimi but they also have octopus, California maki, and more.

One popular area at the Food Exchange Manila is the live Takoyaki Station. You can request as many pieces of takoyaki as you like and the server will prepare it for you. I actually went back here for a second round of takoyaki balls.

The Italian Station has their wood-fired brick oven ready to heat up exciting pizzas for everyone. We asked for their Six-Cheese Pizza, yes, that’s six different cheeses on one pizza! Other pizza variants you can try include Margherita, Meat Lovers, or Hawaiian. They also have a pasta station where you can ask for some carbonara and other pasta choices.

But the most exciting area at the restaurant probably has to be the Seafood Station where all these yummy crustaceans and seafood options are available. You simply have to choose an item and ask the server to cook it the way you want.

I had some Baked Mussels and Baked Oysters prepared for me topped with lots of melted cheese.

I just love eating prawns, especially the big juicy ones, so I asked them to cook some Prawns and Crabs in Garlic Butter. This is a simple but very delicious way of enjoying your seafood.

Another option is to simply have them grilled. The Grilled Salmon and Prawns was also a popular choice at the buffet.

For meat lovers, the Chinese Station has several roastings available such as the Pork Chashu and Soy Chicken. You can also have some Roasted Duck paired with Crab and Egg Fried Rice on your plate. Other items include the Pata Tim, Pancit Canton, and Vegetable in Oyster Sauce.

Our trip around the world isn’t done yet, because we still have to make a stopover at the Indian Station. Here you can ask for some Fish Curry, Prawn Masala Fry, and Chicken Butter Masala to pair with your roti.

They are also joining the mango theme this week because aside from the plain lassi, they are also featuring their Mango Lassi which is really so good and refreshing. I think I consumed three bottles.

Of course, don’t forget about our own Filipino Station which offers favorites such as Pork Sinigang, Kaldereta, Kare-Kare, Porchetta, Beef Ribs BBQ, Roast Lamb, and Roasted Chicken.

Even the Dessert Station is full of surprises. Some of the cakes and pastries on display include Oreo Cheesecake, Blueberry Tart, Brazo de Mercedes, Egg Pie, Chocolate Mousse, and Tiramisu.

You can also find some mango-themed desserts like the Mango Panna Cotta, Mango Tapioca, and Mango Mousse Cake.

I also had a few scoops of their Ice Cream of the Day together with some Bibingka and Puto Bumbong that you can even dip in a warm cup of Chocolate Batirol.

I truly enjoyed our weekend lunch buffet at the Food Exchange Manila. They really have one of the best value for money buffets in the city for only P1,288 nett. Friday and Saturday lunch buffet starts at 12:00nn to 2:30pm while the dinner buffet is from 6:00pm to 9:00pm. The Sunday Brunch Buffet starts at 11:00am to 2:30pm. Thank you Ms. Chana Mo and Novotel Manila for hosting our little get together. I’ll definitely be going back here soon!

Food Exchange Manila

G/F Novotel Manila, General Aguinaldo Avenue, Araneta Center, Quezon City

8990-7888

www.NovotelManilaAranetaCity.com

www.facebook.com/NovotelManilaAranetaCity

[303magazine]

With the perpetual boom and bust of Denver’s dining scene, the closing of a restaurant isn’t out of the ordinary. Every week there’s an establishment that’s either thriving or dying in this increasingly competitive playing field and often it goes relatively unnoticed. That was not the case of Rebel Restaurant. The RiNo joint, located off 38th and Brighton Boulevard, served its last meal Saturday, August 4 and there was a visceral reaction from the Denver dining community. Almost every publication and TV station rushed to interview Dan Laisy and Bo Portyko, the restaurant owners and chefs. Admittedly, the closure had a tint of topicality since the restaurant decided to shutter in part because of the debated construction on Brighton. But roadblocks and jackhammers aside — many are mourning the loss of Rebel for what it provided Denver’s culinary culture.

Bo Portyko (left) and Dan Laisy (right). Photo by Glenn Ross.

“We weren’t trying to do what everyone else was doing,” said Laisy — which in this case may be an understatement. Rebel was known for serving offal on the regular — including chicken hearts, cow’s stomach and a legendary fried pig’s head. Like many other nose-to-tail concepts or even farm-to-table restaurants, they did this to draw people’s attention to what they’re consuming and consider the impact. But it’d be hard to argue that eating a whole animal head is less memorable and life-altering than knowing where your carrots came from. And in this sense, they committed to changing peoples minds wholeheartedly.

“We have to get to that point as a society where we’re conscious of our consumption, because we’re kind of screwing ourselves right now,” Laisy said in an interview with 303 about offal. “I don’t think it’s right for someone to go to Whole Foods in the middle of winter and get mangoes from Argentina or a boneless, skinless chicken breast and not worry about the rest of the chicken.”

But even though it became known for its other meats, Rebel often broke its own rules. Case and point — the week Laisy and Portyko served a purely vegetarian menu. This might not seem outrageous but for the duo known for posing with pig heads and throwing anniversary parties called “The Slaughter,” taking meat off the menu was by far the riskiest and controversial thing they could do — and at first, not everyone loved it.

READ: Rebel Restaurant Explains Why You Should Eat the Entire Animal, Head Included

“We literally had people take the menu, and flick it at us and be like, “no meat?” and just walk out and, like, will be angry with us for trying to do something unique,” said Portyko.

But as Portyko explained, for people who were willing to open themselves up, ended up happy. (I can personally attest to that and distinctly remember equally enjoying both their giant fried broccoli and pigs heads).

“We tried to make really, really, really unique vegetarian dish,” said Portyko.

This risk-taking is ultimately what made Rebel so invaluable to Denver’s diners. No matter the time of year, you could walk into Rebel and expect to be tested or surprised. Did that mean every single dish that came out of the kitchen was a best seller or a home run? No. But thanks to the tireless efforts, Laisy and Portyko always kept it interesting.

But a big part of what made Rebel work, for the amount of time that it did, wasn’t only about the food — it was about fun. The team was constantly throwing parties, or special menus that would keep diners on their toes. And not just beer pairings or anniversary parties — we’re talking custom murder mystery dinners that involved special effects, a three-week long pop-up inspired by the night markets of Asia, “Kamayan” style Filipino holiday dinners, Hawaiian New Years and more weird shit they could cook up.

Kamayan style Filipino holiday dinner. Photo by Brittany Werges

In this, and almost every other way, Rebel really lived up to its name. This type of rule-breaking is what Denver needs more than ever right now because as competition grows there’s more immediate incentive for people to play it safe. Longtime Denver food writer, Ruth Tobias, explains:

“A new food town, like Denver, is only as good as its boundaries. If they’re not being constantly tested, if they’re not expanding, stagnation sets in prematurely,” she said.

Or as Laisy put it: “How many fucking burger restaurants can you go to?”

As the birthplace of fast casual, Denver has an affinity for whats quick and easy — but on the same vein, it also has a soft spot for innovation. Just look at the craft beer industry if you need any proof — who would have thought a milkshake IPA would be a thing?

Tapping into the latter is definitely harder but not unheard of. In fact, the new owners of the Rebel spot — Nocturne ( a part restaurant, part jazz club) is a prime example of making a unique concept work. Rebel wouldn’t point to their desire to innovate as their ultimate downfall either — it’s actually what made them happy and find success in its run (their average 4.9 rating on various rating sites would attest to that as well). Rather, the duo looks not at the risks they took on their menu but at the lack of funds they started off with.

“We never did this get rich quick scheme and we’d never expected to make a lot of money for this space but didn’t know how much it costs to actually operate it,” said Portyko. “You need a nest egg, just in case something goes wrong… just for surviving long enough to get through a bad patch.”

Bo Portyko (left) and Dan Laisy (right) the day before they closed Rebel. Photo by Brittany Werges.

Additionally, risk-taking is really only successful if you know how to market it and unfortunately Portko and Laisy agree they could have improved in that area.

“Our advertising budget is not what it should have been,” said Laisy. “Now you have to be in people’s faces. All day you’re going through Instagram, Facebook, and all you see is other people’s advertisements.”

And then of course, the construction on Brighton didn’t help because it made it more than a pain to access that area. However, despite some of the missteps — both Laisy and Portyko have no regrets, particularly when it comes to the food they served and the impact they made on people.

“We had this older couple. I’m taking my grandma’s age with the smock and everything and we were playing Metallica or Slayer and I thought, ‘oh they are going to fucking hate this,’ and they loved it,” said Laisy. “And that was our goal… we wanted to connect with people and kind of change their perspective.”

If anything, Rebel was able to move the needle in what some Denver diners were willing to try. And while going from burrito bowls to brains is a giant leap — testing those boundaries allows for new growth that benefits not only diners but chefs as well. Here’s to hoping that more will follow in their steps — or that Laisy and Portyko don’t stay strangers for too long.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Why Denver Needs More Restaurants Like Rebel With the perpetual boom and bust of Denver's dining scene, the closing of a restaurant isn't out of the ordinary.

[realestate63141]

How to Save Time (and Money!) When Visiting NYC’s Top 10 Best Things To Do

By Adam Groffman

SPONSORED – I know what you’re thinking: do we really need another post with the top 10 tourist attractions of NYC? Well, the answer is: we do. Big cities around the world, whether it’s London, Paris or New York, are places that people always want to hear about. We love these great centers of diversity, of street life, of fashion, art, and gastronomy. And one of the difficulties of traveling to these places is that the top attractions, even when commercialized and crowded with hundreds of tourists, are a must see. If you decide to skip them, you’re simply going to miss out. There’s no New York City without the Empire State Building, no London without Big Ben, no Paris without the Eiffel Tower, no Berlin without Brandenburg Gate.

This past winter, I visited New York for the first time in years and I renewed my love for the city. It wasn’t the fake connection you have with NYC while binge-watching Friends or Sex and the City. It was my life, unfolding before my eyes, while sitting in the sun on the High Line, while eating French toast in a diner and while letting my mind wander in the many amazing museums and galleries. It was all about my strolls in Central Park and my nights in Brooklyn.

However, a lot of my best memories of NYC from this last trip were, surprisingly, from the top 10 tourist attractions. Sure, I’ve been to NYC many times before. I have memories of visiting NYC as a child, or when I was younger and sillier in college, but now in my thirties, the city was speaking to me at another level: I could understand more the diversity, the eagerness of some tourists to capture all they could because they’re leaving the city and probably won’t visit it again. I understood the comfortably chill pace of the long-term residents.

So, in partnership with Smart Destinations, I’m sharing my thoughts about these top 10 places to visit in NYC. The New York Explorer Pass makes visiting these attractions both smooth and easy. And in a city with millions of tourists trying to beat you to it, the card makes it easier to not just save money, but to skip the lines. An essential part of that NYC culture.

Top 10 Tourist Attractions in NYC

American Museum of Natural History

From the Hayden Planetarium with high-definition images of our universe (narrated by Neil DeGrasse Tyson) to the skeletons of dinosaurs, this is my favorite place to wonder about our humanity, our thirst for knowledge and our natural history. The museum is obviously crowded with children and teenagers, dreaming of becoming astronauts, archeologists and marine biologists, but that doesn’t mean you should avoid it. It’s one of the largest museums in the world. And as one of the top things to do, it’s regularly crowded—save time by getting your tickets in advance!

Pro tip: Skip the lines with the New York Explorer Pass

MET – Metropolitan Art Museum

Walk out of the American Museum of Natural History, cross Central Park and discover the MET. Contemporary art and design (my favorite: Frank Lloyd Wright) lives here next to Egyptian tombs and Faberge eggs. It’s all about exploring the creativity of the human mind. Go out, buy an overpriced NY hot dog and sit on the MET steps. This is what NYC is all about. Entrance fee to the museum is by donation (official suggested amount is $25) and you’ll have to queue up no matter how much you plan to donate—unless you’ve already got the New York Explorer Pass and then you can skip the lines.

Related: Tips for visiting the Met from SmartDestinations.com

Empire State Building

A legend of the city, it stands silently between 33rd and 34th streets. But once you take the elevator all the way up, you’ll see the vastness of NYC. If you come around sunset, you can see the city slowly illuminate. Around the Hudson river and in Central Park, or inside the thousands of buildings, there are people working, living, loving, being alive. If you pay attention, you can see it all. The price might deter you, but this is one of the best views of NYC and with the New York Explorer Pass, you can save on the admission price and the waiting time.

Pro tip: Skip the lines with the New York Explorer Pass

Statue of Liberty – Ferry

NYC changes dramatically when you see it from the water. Take the ferry to visit one of the most iconic symbols celebrating the always-threatened ‘liberty’ and get that perfect skyline shot for Instagram. Enjoy your peaceful, happy moments there, but remember that freedom is – even today – something people all over the world still fight for. The Statue of Liberty, like most NYC attractions, gets long lines of visitors especially in the summer months. And if you want to visit for an iconic sunset photo then it’s best to have a New York Explorer Pass to skip the lines. It’s when everyone else wants to visit the Statue of Liberty so you’ll be one step ahead with a pass.

Get a discount: The Ferry Ticket comes with free entrance to the Ellis Island Immigration Museum

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMa)

Thousands of artists from all over the world have created beauty just to invite you to think and make you feel, and for me, this is one of the modern temples of human talent. Van Gogh, Dalí, Picasso, Rousseau, amazing temporary exhibitions and a great souvenir shop. Take your time when visiting the MoMA to appreciate beauty and forget the horrors of the world. Pro tip: don’t bring a backpack to avoid having to queue for the coat check.

Pro tip: Save money on your visit with the New York Explorer Pass

Use the New York Explorer Pass to save 15-25% on over 55 attractions in NYC. It helps to save not just your time, but your budget, so that you can see and do as much as possible during your visit. You get to choose how many attractions you want in your pass whether 3, 4, 5, 7 or 10 places and you’ll save time and money when buying in advance. Plus the New York Explorer Pass is valid for 30 days (and can be used on your smartphone) so you don’t have to rush to get it all done over just a single weekend!

New York Explorer Pass – from $84 per adult More information: smartdestinations.com

National September 11 Memorial & Museum

New York City has had its fair share of history, and the 9-11 memorial and museum serves as a place of contemplation, but also of confusion. One simply doesn’t understand. The flowers in the names around the memorial pools. The hundreds of people visiting, moving around a place that memorializes some of our darkest hours. We all lost something that day. But it’s important to remember and the stillness you’ll find in this safe space is a reminder. While the outdoor memorial pools are free and open to the public, with an entrance ticket you can get inside the memorial museum and visit the Oculus.

Pro tip: Visit the museum and get a bonus water taxi ride

Guggenheim Museum

A perfect place for healing your soul. It’s not just about the Kandinsky art or the mechanized art installations. The building, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, is a masterpiece. If it happens to be a cloudy, sad day in NYC, don’t forget to enjoy a cappuccino in their coffee shop, sit there and contemplate the rain falling slowly onto the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir just across the way in Central Park. While the exterior of the building is iconic and certainly photo-worthy, make sure to get inside to see the famous Guggenheim spiral gallery.

Pro tip: Save on the Guggenheim Museum admission price with the New York Explorer Card

Central Park

A romantic site where you can sit on the grass, read, go jogging and ride your bike. With iconic places like the Bethesda Fountain, the Belvedere Castle and the Delacorte Theater, Central Park offers a different type of chill-yet-hectic life as compared to the routine of NYC streets. Take some photos, explore the nature and enjoy riding your bike.

Discount! Get 50% of Central Park Bike Tours

Brooklyn Bridge and DUMBO

While there are countless things to see and do in Manhattan, it’s also important to step away for some hours. Plan a half-day at least to explore Brooklyn Bridge and the DUMBO area. While you can also ride a bike to get there, I definitely prefer the long walk over the Brooklyn Bridge. On a sunny day, you won’t be alone as thousands of others are there to take selfies. The DUMBO area offers great street food (don’t forget to try a true NY slice of pizza), a lovely view of both the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, and a mesmerizing view of the NYC skyline from the Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Pro tip: Rent a bike while in Brooklyn to explore some of the off the beaten path areas

Uptown/Downtown – Hop-On Hop-Off Big Bus

Do you love being stuck in traffic? Visit NYC. Driving in NYC is a nightmare, and downtown NYC is loud and in perpetual movement. From Times Square, to Madison Square Garden, to the High Line, Battery Park and Wall Street with its famous sculpture of the Charging Bull, all requires moving around NYC. So, let someone else do the driving, learn about these places with a guide and focus on taking good photographs. Hop-on, Hop-off buses may be super touristic, but with limited time in a city, it can be a simple and easy way to take in as many of the top tourist attractions as possible. It’s a guilty pleasure of mine when visiting new cities, and essential if you’re a first-time visitor with limited time.

Pro tip: Do the tourist thing, but do it smarter with a discounted ticket!

***

These Top 10 tourism attractions, as I mentioned before, are essential for any New York City visit—no matter if you’re a first-time visitor or travel regularly to the city. The thing about NYC is that it’s so easy to discover new places on each visit—from street food vendors, small indie bookshops, new street markets… But somehow these main attractions always seduce me and make me wonder why haven’t I yet moved to NYC (until I remember the real estate prices).

There’s no question: NYC is one of the best cities of the world. Unfortunately for many tourists it can be a challenge to see and do it all during a short holiday visit, but that’s why the smartest tourists use discount packages like the New York Explorer Pass to save money, but importantly: to save time. You don’t want to be that tourist who went to NYC and skipped the MoMa because of the queues!

Read more NYC travel tips here, or follow Adam on Instagram @travelsofadam.

The post How to Save Time (and Money!) When Visiting NYC’s Top 10 Best Things To Do appeared first on the Travels of Adam blog.

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2uhrl8o