#except my buddy sid!!!

[pigeonpalacade]

H..hey smilers

[ilyasorokinn]

andrei “all star” svechnikov , andrei svechnikov

note, finally my all-star fic is here! this year, it was between sid, svech, ilya and petey. i did write a petey blurb, so go check it out. if you want. anyways, i hope you enjoy. another note, this fic is part of the "mr. and mrs. svechnikov" series. check out this masterlist for more. in this fic, theo is around 4 while ana is 3. pair, andrei svechnikov x reader summary, the svechnikovs go to their first all-star game together. warnings, children/kids word count, 2717 words

gif credit to bestie @ryanpulock

(gif not mine)

Andrei, the entire way home, was tying to figure out a clever way to tell you he had been invited to the All-Star games. It came to him as he turned down the street of your house.

He quickly pulled into the dirveway and hooked his phone up to the speakers. He made it to the doorway when he finally pressed play on the song.

"Hey now, you're an all-star, get your game on, go play Hey now, you're a rock star, get the show on, get paid"

He heard you let out a scream when the song first started and laughed, pushing the door open to find you gaping at him from the living room, "What the hell?!"

"I'm an All-Star, baby!" He exclaimed.

"There are so many better ways you could have done that." You tried to slow your beating heart. Even your watch was asking if you were okay due to your elevated heartrate.

"Oh, come on, it was funny." He pointed out.

"We'll get back to that when I'm not about to have a heart attack."

-

After the initial shock, you were excited. You were going on a paid vacation, most expenses were paid for (most) and the climate was set for hot and even hotter so you were excited, to say the least.

Because the Canes were playing till the very last second, you didn't get into Florida until Thursday morning, but you were set to stay until the next Thursday.

The moment you stepped off the plane, there were cameras everywhere, all part of the Canes media or the NHL media. Andrei held Anastaisa's hand and helped her down the stairs, flashing them a professional smile. You stood behind Theo, watching him carefully climb down the stairs behind his sister.

After you got settled into your hotel room, you went with Andrei to media. You weren't normally allowed to be with him, but exceptions were made.

The three of you stood off to the side, watching him and looking around at everyone else who was doing media. Theo ran up and hugged Andrei's leg, looking up at all the reporters nervously. Andrei, not wanting to lose his train of thought, only placed a comforting hand on Theo's head, acknowledging him.

When all the questioning was over, the Canes media wanted to get some shots of him "Is it okay if we ask Theo and Anastasia a question?" One of the media people asked, "We're asking all the kids questions and putting together a little compilation."

Once they were given the okay, the cameras were on Theo and Anastasia. Andrei was crouching next to them as Theo held an iconic tiny microphone for both of them.

"So, Theo, tell us, who are you most excited to see this weekend?" Theo looked around at all the other tables to see who else was at the event.

"Crosby." He answered, "And Ovi, oh, and Marner!" Theo exclaimed happily.

"And what about you, Anastasia?"

Anastasia pondered the question for a second before answering, "Moose and Juice," She stated.

Andrei smiled in response before translating, "Mikko Rantanen and Juuse Saros."

Theo tugged on Andrei's pant leg, grabbing his attention and everyone else's as well, "Can we go swimming now, daddy?" Theo asked.

Everyone laughed, "Yeah, we can go swimming, buddy."

-

Theo had stated that he wanted to walk the carpet with Andrei where all the fans would be and all the paparazzi would be before the Skills competition.

You got him dressed in his best outfit, one which he chose specifically for this situation, "Will people ask for my autograph?" He asked excitedly.

"I don't know, buddy." You tied his shoe as he answered all his questions best you could, "But I do know you're gonna get your picture taken by all those people with cameras."

"Really?" His face lit up.

"Yeah, really." You nodded, a smile finding its way onto your face.

"Like daddy?"

"Just like daddy." You nodded, smoothing down his hair.

When both Andrei and Theo were ready, both you and Anastasia sent them off, with a promise of seeing each other in a couple hours. You got yourself and Anastasia ready before you headed over to the arena.

She was sporting one of the jerseys you had customized with "Little Svech" on the back with the number 37. You waited for Andrei and Theo in the hallway near the locker room.

As more and more players started filing out of the room, her eyes would go wide as they walked past, giving each of them a high-five, even if she didn't know who they were.

"Mommy, you see?" She jumped up and down as she gave Kirill Kaprizov a high-five.

"I did." You nodded, before spotting Andrei and Theo coming out of the locker room, "Look, there's papa and Theo." She whipped around and ran over to greet them.

Andrei was wearing a reverse retro Canes jersey and a hat while Theo wore his matching "Little Svech" jersey.

"Mommy, mommy!" Theo ran over to you the best he could in skates.

"What, what?" You asked.

"I met Breadman and Hughesy," Theo told you excitedly.

"Did you really? Wow."

"We missed Sid and Ovi." He frowned.

"That's okay, I'm sure you'll meet them soon." You reassured. You turned your attention back to Andrei who was smiling so big, and opened your mouth to say something but switched your attention to Theo and Anastasia who were excitedly talking to each other about all the people they met.

"Hey, I have an idea," You grabbed their attention, "Do you guys wanna be with papa out on the ice or do you want to sit with me in the stands?" You knew the answer before you asked the question.

They each latched onto one of Andrei's legs in response, to which both you and Andrei both laughed, "All right, I'll see you both later. Be good." They both nodded, "Listen to the adults in charge." They wrapped their arms around you, "Love you." You kissed their heads.

"Bye, mommy." They each kissed your cheek.

You stood up to meet Andrei. You wrapped your arms around him, "Skate really fast." You told him.

He laughed, "I'll try." He responded, "And don't worry about them, I've got them. Have fun, or as much as you can."

"I'll have two beers in your honor." You pulled your head away, with a smile on your face, so you could look him in the eyes.

"Sounds good." He leaned down and kissed you softly before you both pulled away.

You found your spot rather quickly and took a sip of your beer. From the ice, Anastasia spotted you and waved enthusiastically. You laughed, waving back to her.

"She's cute." The woman sitting next to you commented.

"Thank you." You beamed.

Down on the ice, Theo and Anastasia were having the time of their lives, hanging out with all the other kids and meeting all the other hockey players.

Theo and Anastasia were sitting on the bench, Ilya Sorokin sitting in between them, babysitter. At the same time, Andrei participated in his skill, snacking on ice cream bars as they watched the fastest skaters.

"Ooh." Anastasia winced when Cale Makar tripped and went flying into the boards. She looked up at Ilya, who laughed at her reaction. She giggled in response.

Kevin Fiala skated around the rink, and both Anastasia and Theo enjoyed it, but when they saw their dad step up to the starting line, they jumped up off the bench and started cheering.

"Papa!" They both jumped up and down, garnering the attention of people around them, who simply smiled at the two of them.

They didn't stop once as he skated around the rink. They only stopped when he skated over to where they were. They all looked up at the jumbotron and saw that he was now in first place.

"Wow." Theo gasped, and Andrei smiled proudly.

After Stephenson and Larkin went, Fiala and Andire were announced as the two finalists, "Go fast, papa." Anastasia told her father

"I will." Andrei laughed, kissing each of their heads once again. He skated out to the center of the ice with Fiala.

Andrei wanted to win it, but in the back of his mind, he knew that his 3 biggest supporters would be proud of him regardless of what happened.

Kevin Fiala went first and got 14.114. Andrei lined up behind the line and took a deep breath before he skated as fast as his legs could carry him.

He blocked out the sounds of people cheering and all the eyes on him and just skated. He skated until he made it back to the starting/finish line.

Once the timer stopped, he slowed down and looked up at the big jumbotron to see his time. He couldn't help but smile when he saw the 13.699 in big numbers.

He could practically hear Anastasia and Theo cheering from their seats and jumping up and down. He skated back over to the bench to do the interview but waved over across the bench to Theo and Anastasia whose smiles were almost as big as his.

"Andrei you realize, with Brady looking at you, you just outworked every single guy here with that lap. How do you feel right now?" Kevin, the reporter asked.

"I think I just got lucky, to be honest." He could hear his own voice come through the loudspeakers around the arena, "But I would never expect to win this, and I'm kind of excited."

"You know everybody around the league now is going to look at you as a Speedster. Are you ready for that title?" Kevin asked.

"Ah no, I'm not sure if they're gonna look at that" Andrei chuckled.

"Wow, great job congratulations, your first All-Star Game. You're the fastest skater." Kevin shook his hand.

"Thank you so much. Appreciate it." Andrei nodded.

-

After the tournament and the rest of the challenges, you waited in the tunnel near the locker room with a few of the other partners. You were talking with Johnny Gaudreau's wife while you waited for the rest of your family to come out of the locker room.

When Andrei finally exited the locker room, he was dressed and carrying both sleeping children in his arms. Your heart swooned when Andrei smiled.

He handed Anastasia off to you, "I have to get my bag, but I'll be back." He turned to head back into the locker room, but you grabbed his hand gently to stop him.

He looked confused as he turned around, "I'm proud of you, All-Star." You whispered, leaning up and kissing his cheek.

-

The next day, Anastasia and Theo were up bright and early. Jumping out of their bed and into yours, "Wake up!" They both shouted, jumping up and down.

You groaned, shoving your head under the pillow, "You promised us chocolate chip pancakes last night." Even though your eyes were closed and you couldn't Theo's face,

"Why did we do that again?" You reached over and softly punched Andrei in the shoulder who was in a similar position as you.

"To get them to sleep." He replied, his voice muffled by the pillow.

"Come on, come on!" Theo jumped off the bed and grabbed Andrei's arm, trying to pull him out of bed.

You both eventually pulled yourselves out of bed and got yourselves ready then took Theo and Anastasia down to get breakfast. After breakfast and spending some time at the pool, it was time to get ready for the game.

Andrei got ready a little quicker because he had to be at the arena a little earlier than you had to be, but he helped Theo get ready before he left.

"Goodbye, I love you both." He kissed each of their heads, "Be good for your mom. I'll see you on the ice." He booped Anastasia on the nose, making her giggle.

"And I love you, too." He turned his attention to you, "I'll see you later."

"See you on the ice." You kissed him, hugging him and savoring the feeling of him being there with you, "Love you, too."

-

Theo was sitting next to you chowing down on some popcorn while Anastasia stood on your legs, dancing to the music blasting through the speakers.

"Stormy!" Theo pointed a few rows over to the familiar mascot. That caught the mascot's attention, and he looked up. Theo waved erratically. Stormy finished the interaction he was having and then made his way up to your row.

You were luckily sitting at the end of the row, so Stormy sat down on the steps next to your seats after giving Theo and Anastasia big hugs. Theo and Stormy talked (which was more just Theo talking and Stormy nodding along) while you waited for the first game to start.

Al the set pieces were set up on the ice already so you waited excitedly as Anastasia babbled and danced away. The lights eventually dimmed, and Theo screeched, clamoring into his seat, holding tight to Stormy's hand.

The Central Division was announced first, then Atlantic, then finally Metropolitan, "From the Carolina Hurricanes, Andrei Svechnikov!" Andrei skated out from the big monitors.

Theo stood up in his seat and cheered loudly. Stormy jumped up and down with him, "Look, papa." You laughed, pointing down to the ice. Anastasia followed your finger down to Andrei. She giggled, looking up at you.

-

After all the games and Takchuk was named MVP, Andrei was in media, Theo sitting happily in his lap, "How was your first Al-Star game, Svech?"

"it was great, I had a lot of fun, and getting to bring the kids along is a plus."

"What're you gonna do now that you have a week-long break?"

"We're going to Disney World." He laughed, eliciting a laugh from the reporters in the room.

"I'm sure Theo and Ana are excited."

"So excited." Andrei nodded.

Theo tugged on Andrei's shirt sleeve and Andrei bent down, his ear to Theo's mouth, "Ovi and Sid." He whispered, but his whispering wasn't very quiet.

The reporters chuckled, "We'll go find them later." Andrei whispered back before turning back to the reporters.

"We won't keep you for long, Andrei. Seems like Theo is excited." Andrei nodded appreciatively.

"Thank you." He picked Theo up and exited the room.

The TikTok of the kids answering who they would want to see the most went viral, and in particular, Theo and Anastasia went viral. Most of the comments were saying that now Theo and Anastasia had to meet their favorite players, so the media set it up.

You and Andrei led Theo and Anastasia to the ice where Sid, Ovi, Mikko, and Juuse were waiting to meet their Number one fans, media all around you.

Theo let out a gasp when the rink came into view and he saw Ovi and Sid standing on the ice. Anastasia heard and turned her head to the ice.

"Juice and Moose!" She announced your presence, causing the four players to turn to you. All of you laughed as they skated over to meet you halfway.

Theo, suddenly shy, hid behind Andrei's legs as Sid bent down in front of him, "Hi, Theo."

"Hi." Theo waved shyly.

"I heard you were a big fan." Theo nodded. Ovi produced a puck and handed it to Theo. Theo reached out and took it.

"What do you say?" Andrei whispered down to him.

"Thank you," Theo responded.

"You're very welcome." They both smiled.

Anastasia was just as starstruck as Theo, hiding her face in your neck as Mikko and Juuse stood in front of her. They both smiled as Juuse produced a puck and handed it to her.

"Thank you." She responded.

"You're welcome, Ana." They both smiled, "It was nice to meet you."

She only smiled, clutching the puck to her chest. You smiled down at her, "Wow, Ana. You met Juice and Moose." She beamed. Theo bounced up and down as he flashed you his puck, "Wow, look at that! They both signed it!"

"We have to add it to my collection." He told you.

"We'll do it at home." You brushed a hand through his hair, "Now, come on, Disney World is waiting for us."

-

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[thisisnotthenerd]

since shriek week doesn't really have formal combats/encounters, we're moving on to starstruck:

quick episode descriptions:

welcome to the spacin' life, buddy!: first episode and we're already doing battle. norman is an asshole. fighting jan de la vega. sidney and barry go for it. margaret is a busy businesswoman who nonetheless helps out. raymond zam wants to reschedule space battle. the intro flashbacks: use your tongue. fuck erotica ann. never go to the zoo. would you like to buy pleasure putty. young and hip people don't need to say they're young and hip.

all in the hot exit: running from the carbine kennel club dog show with aurora nebbins, princeps zortch and gnosis in tow. the pleasure putty factory is exploding. gunnie casts flash. two nat ones. my future is changing! are you hacking a dice? sidney throwing grenades. barry tanking so much damage. i'm hurt. margaret banking in pitched battle. that's the most advisable thing you could have been doing. nat 20 on the jib jobbers showing up. take care of my legs! riva yanking gunnie to the ship and glindaing jan de la vega. nat 20 death save that took so long. making it out with 30000 credits & a 5 star rating.

wallops at swallop's: skip's incredible back to back turns. freon blast. jumping into the rafter where everyone can see you. stealing back the kublacaine. popping off and not running and still winning. the sheriff is shitting in the bathroom. the first get nasty from margaret. skip shooting the sheriff for 21 points and then mounting his decapitated head on a cactus. killing the police force and then partying after.

baustin skiffy limits: running through the market. barry with the table. setting up for combination moves with the oil slick. ship style combat. fleeing amongst the skiffers. riva's persuasion with you hate the government. colonian turn. running from brigade tigers. hospitalizing crunch moon-jones. we're just going away.

flee from fantanimalland: my ass! sid & skip going down the elevator, margaret & barry with hogg cobb, riva vs barry nyne on the ship, and gunnie buying a maple cake. gunnie steals the maple cake, gets accosted by a vercadian & gets escorted out while carrying margaret. sid meets the junkmother & gets the krystals. saw a hole. had to check it out. riva gets barry nyne off the ship without zortch. arcadia prime monologues at barry while skip teaches gunnie to ram the ship into the building.

battle of the brands: the gang buys truly so much stuff. you are required to do a certain amount of drugs. barry is the angel of mercy. the sisters of the cosmic veil having a bikini party. taking kublacaine. we are the ball. barry taking brutus to the finals on a nat 20. nat 20 death save from aurora nebbins. margaret speaks to the plinth and then is down to 1 hit point. skip crits on the plinth. free teleportation shenanigans are not allowed. gunnie casts explosion. barry rapid shots the plinth and does product placement. operation slippery puppet. am i getting ocean's'd 11'd on my own fucking show? what the fuck is happening? a real son of a bitch is no more. sundry sidney has saved the dog!

the house always wins: barry kicks off with a 39 to grapple brutus. leap? oh no i fall out of the crow's nest. margaret walks up, says you suck and walks away. call to the guards. this is the sensible beardsley season. everybody going down and coming back up. except for gunnie. full on cleganebowl. we're going over the edge. it's only a 28. happy birthday murph. margaret inducing crises. barry & brutus bonding. the girl guides. i'm stacks. chasing down the nuns. and the house always wins! the casino paid for itself. bambi leroux.

jailbreak!: skip on handy annie, sneaking through the halls. barry & gunnie playing rock paper scissors. we're all really worried about you, man. why would that be mine? running with the other prisoners to get out. barry's fists are d6 weapons. stunning & killing. sid kisses the vercadian. i think mommy is nice. zortch & the girl guides betting on a horse. splitting the party for stealth. riva's big distraction. improved grade to space casting. sidney crits on the vercadian. it doubles damage. ship to ground is multiplier of times 10. 560 points. nat 20 stealth. plug shows up. with their guns trained on you.

the luckless, the abandoned and the forsaked (part 1): riva does customer service. zortch wearing a plaastic bag on their head. ponytail barry. u4f allies. danielle scrap. galatia 9. barry nyne is on the wurst. riva phase walking to uftp. plugging gnosis into the wurst. i'll roll as many d8s as you want me to. gunnie grows a shield generator. margaret's campaign office singlehandedly changing the course of the battle. zortch getting slugged & attacking skip.

the luckless, the abandoned and the forsaked (part 2): emily snarfed. command ships attacking each other. the guernicans are incompetent. the entire barry conversation. expertise in being a barry. a weird little cranny where maybe there could be turtles. exactly 14 damage. what is the nature of micro ftl jumps. gnosis rolls a 2. i might actually vomit. an off-camera bit. what's up, baby! it's space. loose duke's been on the ship the whole time. boarding party kicks ass. the kind is dead, long live the king. the random factor. sid releasing gnosis. filling rubian v with powdered egg substitute. lucienne was on the ship the whole time. barry crits & does 62 damage. while sid does 40. the ram does 16. capping it off with a wedding.

[lovethytendytenderly]

A Creature Comforts not!fic aka Goalies That nest Together Stay Together

prompt: Prompt 12. “Alpha, I’ve seen the way you look at (other Alpha/Beta/Omega), how about we invite him to spend my Heat/your Rut with us?” but nesting bc i don't wanna deal with secondary gender shit

Tanger/Jars/Ned (Tanger/Jars+Ned, Ned/Jars)

(Established past sidflower nest buddies - maybe side sidgeno)

The fic starts about a week before Tristan's nest. Tristan spends most of it in various levels of pre-nesting. The date is *mumble* the part of the season is ? and the schedule is not important. They end up on the road at some point and then are back in Pittsburgh the next day. Don’t question it. I am going for vibes not realism. This is a notfic.

~~~~_X_~~~~

Tristan nests regularly enough nowadays, once or twice a season. He didn't nest his first couple years in the NHL but being the guaranteed starter flipped a switch in Tristan's head and he's been a happy penguin ever since. Kris is the only person Tristan has nested with. At first, Kris couldn't believe Tristan would pick him, but they've been pretty exclusively partnered (in and out of the nest) since. They don't live together during the season for reasons. PO is definitely living with Tanger. It's pretty much expected that Tristan is going to nest with Tanger. That's what Tristan and Kris have been prepping for. That's what everyone has told the newbies. It's what he's always done. This nest shouldn't be any different except its day 3 of pre-nesting and Tristan isn't able to get comfortable enough to nap unless he's face planted into Ned's neck.

Tristan has been seeking Ned out for a while now, enamored with his new backup and the tandem bond (normal friendship not metaphysical nonsense) they've been building this season. Kris has eyes. Tristan might be better at watching but Kris knows how to keep his head up and his eyes on his goalie. (they’re not poly, but theyre not not poly. Kath and the kids may be around in a separated but not divorced status, idk. they've definitely had other partners and hookups but are mostly monogamous to each other). So while Tristan was busy stealing stuff from all of their teammates and prepping his nest, Kris was watching the way he was circling Ned - like he wants to pull him close and clamp down with his teeth and never let go but is afraid of scaring him off but also like he has no idea that he's even doing it. He’s also noticed the increase in Tristan's insomnia and the scents (and the players they belong to) that ease it. It's the usual collection of him, Geno, the defense, and Jake, with Karl and Ned being notable additions this year.

Ned, on his side of things doesn't even seen to notice the strangeness in Tristan's behavior. Or maybe he just assumes it’s nesting stuff and is leaving it alone. Kris doesn't know much about Ned's nesting history on his previous teams and its not really something you ask a goalie unless you're being actively invited into their nest or there’s a problem. This is the opposite of a problem. Kris knows that Ned was surprised by the lounge space set aside for the goalies with the permanent nesting rooms in the back, one for both the starting and backup goaltender. The nice thing about having a relatively new arena is Flower made his complaints about the Igloo very well known when they asked the players for feedback during the construction of Consol, and being Flower, with Sid as his partner, he got his wish. Tristan has reaped the benefits of it, even if Flower remains a sore spot in the arena.

Kris is paying attention is what I'm saying, and it's clear Tristan is not. Its after Tristan seeks Ned out for a pregame nap (literally leaving Kris in their shared hotel room) that Kris knows he needs to intervene. They need to talk about Ned. They need to talk to Ned. Kris is not jealous. Tristan is very much still into him and has not been showing any signs of not wanting him in the nest. That's not what the conversation they have to have is about. It’s very clear to Kris that Tristan wants Ned in the nest and Kris would rather have that conversation now, and not when Tristan is so deep in nesting that he’s nonverbal and hellbent on getting his way. As hot as Kris finds getting dragged into Tristan's nest by Tristan's teeth in his wrist (sleeve usually since it's not a safe place to bite too hard), Ned deserves words so he knows what he's agreeing too.

Kris has a list of examples that make it pretty damn clear that Tristan is courting Ned, but the most damning example was practice earlier when Jars refused to get out of the net except to give it to Ned. Tristan can't see the way he’s gravitating towards Ned but Kris is like you wouldn’t let Andy have the net for practice but you immediately gave it to Ned without hesitation. Not even Flower shared like that.

Kris is like do you want to invite Ned into your nest and Tristan gets blushy and reticent but it’s definitely a yes and Kris is so fucking soft so of course he’ll give Tristan anything he wants.

The conversation is the wake up call Tristan needed to go “oh right I shouldn't do everything based on instinct I kinda need to verbally invite Ned into my nest. Shit I want to invite Ned into my nest.”

Kris is smug. Unfortunately for Kris, Tristan immediately turns his best pleading eyes on him and is like you gotta be there for this convo cause youre gonna be in the nest too.

(note idk if this is plat nesting or sexual nesting - probably both - but while I’m in the mood for intimacy I am not in the mood to write sex. There's definitely room to add sex between Tristan and Tanger if horniness is part of pre-nesting. I could see Tristan getting himself off to thoughts/scents of Ned without realizing)

Ned of course has noticed some of Jars' clinginess and made his own assumptions. (No shame to Ned, he's doing his best with limited information). The problem is when Tanger tries to pull him aside to talk to him by himself (Jars got pulled aside by a trainer), Ned is like "ah, the other shoe has dropped. I’m about to get yelled at by my defenseman for messing with my nesting goalie partner. oh no."

Ned "smartly" decides to get the hell out of dodge and spends the next day and a bit avoiding Tanger which means he’s also accidentally avoiding Jars. This makes Tristan itchy because he doesn’t realize why he can’t find Ned. (Ned deserves soft things, of which his nest has many, and also Tristan wants cuddles. How dare Ned be MIA when Tristan wants cuddles).

This lasts all of a day before Kris sends PO over as a peace offering to talk to Ned instead. Not about nesting stuff per se, but the conversation has the general vibe of "if you won’t talk to my work dad/landlord about your reciprocated crush on dad’s partner then I guess you have to talk to me because no one wants a grumpy nesting goalie and that's where Jarry is headed. I've seen the aftermath when Jars is happy, I do not want to see the marks he leaves when he's upset"

(A happy Jars is a bitey Jars. PO doesn't want to see the evidence of Jarry being upset) (Jokes on PO an upset Tristan is way less likely to actually bite his partners and instead will probably self soothe by biting himself. This is only cute when its to stifle noises during sex, not as a stim. The amount of silicon stim toys he goes through during the stressful parts of the season is so many, he just doesn't use them around certain parts of the team because he doesn't want toddler or dog jokes. Rusty is Tristan's safe space for stimming. He bought Tristan his first chew back when they were both in WBS and Rusty was stimming through his speech therapy practice).

PO does not want to be here, having this conversation with Ned, but he promises Ned that Kris isn’t mad. Tanger is protective of his goalies but he's not mean, especially to a teammate who has done nothing wrong. (He’s not mad. He's not even disappointed. He just needs Ned and Tristan to talk to each other and neither are helping him so he's feeling exasperated).

Off in the corner actually practicing during practice is Sid who is like “the weird goalie shit is no longer my responsibility don’t get me involved but also Ned if you need help I’m right here.” Geno, A on his sweater, is standing next to Sid, putting off extreme “we’re not getting involved but also if someone is mean we will absolutely get involved” vibes. Geno will absolutely not meddle in his teammates' interpersonal drama — unless of course someone gives him big enough puppy dog eyes in which case he will absolutely make Sid meddle in his teammates' interpersonal lives.

Anyway PO has pulled Ned aside to see what the problem is and also make sure Ned knows that Tanger isn’t mad but the couple does want to talk to him, preferably together. Ned tells PO that he's not talking to both of them at once, so they put their heads together and concoct a plan where PO distracts Tanger while Ned goes to talk to Jars.

Kris knows exactly what PO is doing when PO drags him to lunch away from the rink after practice. (PO is not subtle and only pretended for Ned’s sake because Ned wants to believe Tanger is distracted). Kris is the one who sent him there in the first place so it doesn't matter how terrible a liar PO is since he was in on it from the beginning. If it makes Ned comfortable enough to talk to Tristan then Kris counts it as a win. He wants to be there to make sure Tristan uses his words because Tristan likes to not do that. If one on one is what it takes however, c'est la vie.

Alex (Ned) dilly dallies after PO has successfully lured Tanger out of the arena for lunch, but dutifully goes to find Jarry. Jake has that look in his eye like if Alex hangs around the locker room long enough he's going to ask what's wrong and Alex refuses to have another embarrassing conversation with one of Jarry's friends today. Might as well get rejected now. It takes him a bit to locate Jarry, but the process of elimination means he’s probably hanging out in the goalie lounge.

The lounge is something rather unique to the Penguins. It's basically a large room with a kitchenette in one wall, two doors set into the other, its own bathroom and shower through another door, and chairs and couches in the middle to hang out. It’s explicitly for the goalies only, no skaters or coaches allowed unless by invitation. Tanger, Alex has come to find, has a free pass to hang out as much as he wants. Everyone else gets turned away. It's the perfect place to nap in the arena because it's away from the hubbub and noise of the locker room and other player lounges. It also has their nests. Which made it doubly the perfect place to find his goalie partner who was close to actually nesting soon.

When Ned gets to the lounge, Jars is asleep on a couch facing away from the door, face shoved into a hoodie, door to his nest wide open. (The lounge door was locked when Ned got there—the only ppl with a key are Tags, Ned, Kris, Sid, and Sully— and the only people who would enter without knocking or an invitation are Tanger and himself). Tristan has absolutely acknowledged what his instincts were telling him and is prepared to have a verbal conversation with Ned. Tristan is not however immune to making a big gesture and there is no way Tristan could be more obvious about wanting to share his nest with Ned unless he was naked in Ned’s jersey.

Tristan didn't mean to fall asleep but Ned left his hoodie in the lounge and this deep into pre-nesting and with the way his insomnia is he curled up with Ned's #39 hoodie and started dozing almost immediately after sitting down to wait. Tristan is still probably a day or two from fully nesting - maybe less depending on how the next game goes. He’s good to sit on the bench tonight but it’s a good thing Ned is starting. (Tristan is looking forward to watching tonight for once. Plus the rest of the team is extra touchy when he's on the bench during pre-nest so he gets lots of backslaps and fistbumps and casual attention from the coaches and equipment guys).

In the present moment he's asleep when Ned walks into the lounge and sees a door wide open that he never expected to see the other side of. Behind him the lounge door swings shut and closes with a quiet click. Alex can't spare a moment to feel grateful that nobody else can walk in on this as everything in him is focused on the room before him.

Alex doesn't know what he expected when he signed with the Pens. He figured it would be a chance to stay in the NHL, a one year tryout on a new team as he worked to make his game competitive again. What he got was a team that really cared about its goalies —both of them —nowhere more clearly was that displayed than the fact that both of them had nesting rooms inside the arena set aside for them to use even when they were not nesting. Even the ahl goalies had rooms they could use somewhere in the bowels of the arena in case they got called up and something happened. Jars was always fussing with his; bringing bedding and trinkets to the arena before disappearing into his room with them and not emerging until later.

In contrast, Alex hadn't done much to spruce up the semi-generic hotel room he had been left with after DeSmith had been traded and the room cleared out. The odds of him needing to nest this year were rather low and he didn’t want to get attached since it was only one year. He had some Pens stuff in his room along with some old red blankets he'd brought with him from his previous teams. A couple of his new teammates had insisted on giving him jerseys so they were neatly folded in the chest of drawers next to a spare change of clothes he kept in case he didn't want to go home to get changed. The most personal thing that he'd added to his room was his goal puck from Wilkes Barre earlier in the season. It felt right having it at the arena and he'd brought his other pucks too so they'd all be together. They sat in a pile next to the bedside table, his goals, shutty puck, and first win with each of his teams. Chopper had seen the pile and offered to build him something, but Alex didnt feel comfortable asking during the season.

Alex's first instinct is to leave the lounge and come back later. He can't hear Tristan making any noise in the nest and he doesn't want to intrude on the other goalie's territory. His curiosity gets the better of him and before he knows it he's in the doorway to Jars' nest.

Jars' nest is different than Alex's. The walls are painted a light blue-gray color and it seems like every surface is covered in either blankets or jerseys. The overhead light is turned off but it doesn't matter because the room is softly lit by two bedside lamps that shed dim light and fairy lights that cover practically the whole ceiling, illuminating everything.

Alex finds himself drawn into the room, unable to resist touching everything. He can see the jerseys the team had surrendered earlier in the week woven in among the blankets on the bed, but what surprised him was how many other jerseys there were in the room. Alex recognizes the designs on some of them - the current third jersey, last year’s reverse retro - while others he's unfamiliar with - the bright yellow one looks like it should belong to a Preds player more than the Penguins if not for the logo on the chest. Some of the names and numbers he recognizes from the team and former Penguins he's met between games and traveling but not all of them. He catches sight of a 53 on the edge of the bed and a 6 on top of another jersey near the left bedside table, a nameplate with -vist half visible under it. The number 58 is unavoidable. Everywhere he looks there's 35s and 58s tucked in among the other numbers. The whole room feels cozy. It should stink worse than the locker room, especially with the sweaty game jerseys from earlier, but instead it just kinda smells like Tristan.

After doing a lap of the room, Alex finds himself just sort of lightly running his fingers over an ice blue blanket that reminds him of the color of the midwinter sky. It's one of the softest things he’s ever felt and if Jars doesn't kill him for being in his nest he wants to know where he got it. He wants one for his bed at home. At some point while this is happening, Tristan wakes up from his nap and quietly stumbles his way to the doorway of the nest.

Tristan lingers in the doorway, the hoodie he was sleeping on half on him, but putting it on properly isn't as important as watching the look of awe on Ned's face as he explores Tristan's nest. Tristan feels fondness bubble up inside his chest and he feels like he’s about ready to start purring from the way his instincts are singing. The only thing missing is Kris but Tristan knows he’s a big boy who will show up when he’s needed. His sleepy brain knows Kris was busy with something, but it's okay, Kris always comes home to him. He's not worried.

Tristan was a little skeptical when Kris asked if he wanted to nest with Ned because he’s never really wanted to nest with anyone but Kris. Seeing Ned here is everything he didn’t know he was craving. Tristan 0, his instincts (and also Kris) 1.

Tristan would probably be content to stay there forever but eventually Ned notices him in the doorway. Tristan can tell the moment it happens because Ned stiffens up and his body language goes tight. The sight of Ned's hunched shoulders pulls a wounded noise out of Jars chest which just further serves to drive Ned's shoulders higher around his ears.

Tristan abandons the doorway to walk up to Ned and pull him into a hug. Ned can't hide his flinch when Tristan first makes contact but he doesn't pull away or prevent tristan from getting his arms around him. It takes Ned a couple of moments to realize that nothing bad is happening, its Just one of Tristan's octopus hugs like he gets after good games. After a few seconds, Ned lets himself relax into the hug unsure what Tristan is doing. Tristan takes Ned relaxing as his cue to gently take the blanket from Ned's hand and lead him out of the nest. Tristan would love to just kiss Ned right there and hope the other goalie understood what he wanted, but he promised Kris he'd use his words so that meant talking.

Tristan doesn't take Ned far. He leads Ned back to the couch that he was sleeping on a short while ago, awkwardly shoving the nest door closed on their way past. It takes Ned a moment to realize that he's supposed to sit down, but when he does the seat is still warm from Tristan's nap. Tristan goes to sit down next to Ned and is stopped by their intertwined hands. Neither of them are sure when they started holding hands, but Tristan is not going to let Ned go that easy. In Tristan's other hand is the blanket. He takes a moment to carefully wrap it around Ned before plopping down on the couch. It takes everything in Tristan to not crawl into Ned's lap and go back to sleep but talking. He promised talking. (Tristan really does not want to talk but Ned's eyebrows are doing that thing where they try to hide how freaked out Ned is feeling and does not want that. Ned should not be upset while wrapped up in his nest.

For Alex, he has no idea what is going on but all of Jars' nonverbal cues have been nonthreatening, if not outright affectionate, so he's doing everything he can to calm his fight or flight instincts and not bolt. He promised PO and by proxy Tanger that he'd work this out. They have a game tonight. He can't upset his top defenseman and backup goalie. Sully would shout and everyone would be mad and probably take Jarry's side cause he's clearly fucked up tresspassing in Jars’ nest. Jars is just too nice to yell at him inside his nest. Okay that doesn't explain him wrapping him in the blanket but that's the other reason Alex hasn't fled — its so soft and it feels safe. Alex isn't going to make the first move tho. Jars can stare all he wants but Alex isn't saying shit.

They stare at each other in silence for a moment before Tristan decides this is bullshit and sits up to shift positions on the couch so that they can face each other better. As he does this, Tristan also realizes hes half wearing a hoodie and shrugs it on the rest of the way. The number 39 is unmistakable on his chest and startles an appreciative noise out of Ned. Tristan feels a smile break out into his face. He hadn't been totally sure if Ned was even interested in him that way, but all signs had pointed to yes.

"You know I'm nesting, right?" Tristan asked for a lack of a better opening.

Ned nodded.

"I've also kind of been all over you this week. —Thanks for that by the way. You do not have to humor me when I get like that."

"Of course I would. I'd be a pretty terrible hockey player if I couldnt take care of a nesting goalie. Plus us goalies gotta stick together against the skaters. Its not like the forwards are going to protect the net like it should be." Ned joked, trying to lighten the mood and shift the topic to one of their favorites, dragging their forwards for their pitiful backchecking. Unfortunately for him Tristan was a man on a mission.

"Kris and I had a conversation the other day. Thats actually why we wanted to talk to you —“

"Look if you need me out of here thats fine. We have a game tonight but after that I can stay as far away as you need me until your nesting period is over." Ned interrupted Tristan to say.

"I. The opposite. Please dont leave." Tristan reached out to grab Ned's hand from where it was worrying the edge of the blanket. Tristan took a deep breath and started over. "Kris mentioned that he’s noticed me doing courting behaviors. At you. He uhhh was pretty specific about it too. So, uhh, do you want to join us in my nest?"

Ned looked skeptical and every moment he didn't say anything made Tristan want to curl in on himself and hide. Damn the talking method, instincts based courting had worked for him in the past, he's doing that from now on.

Finally Ned took a breath, squeezed the hand Tristan was still holding, and said "Your nest?"

"Yeah. I'd uhh really like it if you were there. With me. Us. Kris—Tanger would be there too. If that's a dealbreaker. You don't have to do anything you don't want to, but I want to spend it with you. Both of you."

"This wasn't what i was expecting when PO said you wanted to talk to me."

"Is that a yes?"

"Yes."

"Cool." Tristan felt a big smile break out across his face. Ned returned one that looked equally joyful.

There was something bubbly in Tristan's gut that he usually only felt during buzzer beating big saves and the best wins. His smile was feeling big and giddy. He started to lean forward but the voice in the back of his head that sounded a little like a certain exasperated quebecois grumbled about words.

"Can I kiss you? We can talk about nesting and stuff later but I really want to kiss you now."

Ned nodded, smile still on his face, so Tristan leant forward and pressed his smile against Ned's.

They probably spent too much time making out on the couch like teenagers because eventually Tristan's phone buzzed with a text from Kris wondering where he was.

(End cause I dont want to write more or figure out if its plat/nonsexual nesting, semi-plat, or sexual nesting. Tanger enjoys having another person to help him spoil Jars. Alex likes getting to know the both of them better. If this is sexual nesting, Alex is not as into biting as both Tanger and Jars Kris and Tristan are but he still walks out of the nest with his own set of marks.)

Bonus bc this would be post post fic ie after nesting: Tristan also has his goal puck in his nest. Both the ahl and nhl pucks. Ned’s ahl pucks are in his nest. By the end of the fic both of their pucks are in a big pile together on one of the dressers.

[miracleonice87]

Nate's chubby little guy as a toddler and his sweet wife treating him to a whole special Father's Day celebration. Spoiling him with breakfast in bed, gifts, kisses, and tight hugs. Maybe his little guy got his Momma to write his message for him (a sweet long one) in a card and he did some nice drawings on it 🥹 I just know he asked his Momma to write "you're my hero" in there!

no doubt 🥹 love this! she definitely suggested that their little guy make his own card for his papa, but little dude, in true Nathan MacKinnon fashion, insists that she take him to the store and read through 10 Father’s Day cards out loud to him before he settled on the right one (it had a daddy penguin and a baby penguin on the front, which you made a mental note to take a photo of later and text to Uncle Sid, who would for sure find it hysterical, though Nate would grumble to you privately).

then, little man would dictate a loooong message for her to inscribe in the card, which read:

“Dear Papa, happy Father’s Day. I love you! You are the best hockey player ever and also my most favorite Papa. Even though you are my ONLY Papa, you are my favorite. Uncle Sid is my favorite Godpapa, but only YOU are my Papa. You are my hero. I hope that when I get bigger, I can be just like you. I love hugging you in the morning and cuddling you at night. I really, really love playing hockey with you, and Uncle EJ, and Uncle Gabe, and Uncle Cale, and Uncle Mikko, but especially YOU. I hope you win a thousand more Stanley Cups because that was really fun last time when you won your first one. I hope we get to eat Lucky Charms out of it again, but for right now, we can just eat it out of bowls. I love you, Papa. I am excited to spend the day with you and Mama. You are my favorite Papa - do not forget! Love, Your Little Buddy”

she definitely barely made it through the inscription without dripping tears onto the card, and she gave her boy a big hug and kiss and assured him Papa would love it. he insisted on drawing a photo right on the front of the card overtop of the printed photo of the penguins, which you let him go ahead and do as you knew Nate would get an absolute kick out of it.

while Nate giggled in delight upon first opening the card in the midst of your Father’s Day morning breakfast in bed celebration, he immediately dissolved into tears when he opened it and began to read the inscription in your handwriting from his boy. once he finished, tears were dripping down his cheeks and jaw, and he simply hugged his boy close, unable to say anything for several moments except a whispered, “thank you, buddy.”

[sportsthoughts]

It’s Sunday, so….BEER LEAGUE UPDATE!! Tonight eas another tie game, 2-2. So we’re 1-0-3. We really like ties, apparently.

The organization that this is through (HockeyFinder) has leagues in almost every state, but I’m from Minnesota which has by far the most. State of hockey, and all. It’s incredibly unusual that no one in my family played growing up. My older brother plays baseball (91 was randomly assigned to me at school, but I kept using it once I could choose because his baseball number is 19) but it’s a club team at his college just like mine. I like to give him a hard time cause he called me unathletic a lot growing up (the only sport I did past middle school is karate, and that’s not a team) and now we play sports at the same level, LMAO.

As is becoming typical, I skated half the game! It was tough the first time I did it but it gets more manageable every time. I’m used to having karate training 2-3 times a week and skating on my day off of work so I was already in decent shape. The first few practices at school nearly killed me though. I was not used to skating, much less with all that gear.

My highlight of tonight’s game was having a takeaway and then carrying that puck up the ice into the offensive zone! I’m getting better with having the puck…I don’t just hit it to the other team because I’m not looking up anymore. Lowlight was wiping out while getting ready for a face-off. I just fell with no contact whatsoever. Everyone got a good laugh out of that, including me. At school, big falls during practice get stick-taps, because falling generally means you’re pushing yourself. Who needs to be vertical to play hockey, right??

To answer your question from the last update, the Wild are my favorite team because I’m from MN, and Fleury is my favorite on that team. I yell his name in a terrible French accent any time he does anything because it amuses me and annoys my brother. But Sid is my favorite player overall, and the Pens are my second team. I have a lucky Crosby jersey that I wore for every game of their playoff push except for the Boston game (on accident). I’m pretty sure I was controlling fate via jersey. I never washed the jersey in all that time because that felt like the most Sid-like move. My goalie buddy’s favorite player of all time is Flower, so we find it funny that we completely coincidentally picked favorites that match our positions (forward and goalie) and also happen to be friends.

I am SO invested in these updates lol Congrats on your draw and the takeaway!

I am so impressed by the physical fitness it takes to skate for that long. Wow. I also love that you are unafraid to fall over and it's taken in good humour! It sounds like a really nice and supportive group.

I am so enchanted at the idea of hockey finder and have just spent about fifteen minutes clicking around the website deciding which game I'm going to join in my imagination. In my heart I will be at the women's pick up game at a place called Bloomington mostly because I like the sound of it and it says for beginners. That probably sounds so dumb but in the same way I think people dream of like... I don't know, coming to London and wandering around the landmarks I dream of Hockey In Small Town America. I have yet to convince my husband to come on a hockey holiday with me but I'll wear him down eventually.

You are inspiring me to look into whether there's any hockey I can watch near me though... I feel like there must be some in London...

Re: Flower I wholeheartedly understand your love. I missed the flower era in real time and have been reliving it through my ITR rewatch and oh my goodness. He's so delightful and I'm almost glad I missed seeing him be a penguin because I'm not sure I would have survived his trade. I am very glad he is well loved and appreciated by the Wild fans though!

Finally, I'm cracking up at your lucky sid jersey! You need to bring it back for this year please! The only thing I found that could accurately predict a win last season was me watching the game from the bathtub. I know that sounds bizarre, but every time I watched a game from the bath, we won, and won very well. Unfortunately, that only works with afternoon (evening for me) weekend games because taking a bath from midnight-2am on a weeknight isn't really it. Although as I write this I realise it's probably just that our old men played better earlier in the day because it wasn't too close to bedtime...

[twofrontteethstillcrooked]

Suptober 3 Oct.: Digital

"Shh," Dean said, his mouth hot and insistent below Cas's ear, as though Cas had been making too much noise, and perhaps he had been.

deancas, s9 au, human Cas

A hiss-thwip sort of sound emanated from the record player like a pulse, the black vinyl fresh out of Zeppelin songs for the time being. Cas managed to drag himself out of bed and gently lifted the turntable arm to its cradle. 

"Side B?" he asked the lump on the mattress as the concrete floor froze his feet. He caught a flash of green and white under the blanket. "What?"

Dean's grin was all teeth and a peek of pink tongue. "Dude. You're super naked."

Cas quirked an eyebrow. "Yes. It didn't seem necessary to be dressed just to turn this off."

"Come back and warm up." Dean wriggled himself into a seated position, draped in linens. He caught Cas's wrist and reeled him in like a spider wrapping prey in silk, and Cas found himself cocooned skin to skin again before he could even object.

Not that he would've. Up close, the freckles that ran across the tops of Dean's cheeks and nose were watercolor and iridescent, deliberate and dappled; Cas thought he could almost taste them. He rubbed his nose along Dean's rough jaw, causing a sensation that seemed to pass between the two of them like static. A snap, a shiver.

"Shh," Dean said, his mouth hot and insistent below Cas's ear, as though Cas had been making too much noise, and perhaps he had been.

"You don't have any compact discs," Cas said. His voice maybe sounded a little shaky; Dean's hand was snaking lower.

"Nope." Dean was not easily distracted in some situations, Cas was learning. Nor easily sated.

"I understand why, though." Cas bit out the last word, lifted his hands to Dean's shoulders. "The digital compression of the music…ah. It's a much worse way to listen. Even as a human I can hear the difference." He panted through several breaths and let Dean's fingertips trail to a stop at his bare hip.

"Hadn't thought about it before, but I bet you really could hear a difference as an angel, huh?" Dean was interested in this; Cas could tell and found it charming. "I never got into CDs. Couldn't afford 'em as a kid, plus what would I have played them on since we moved constantly, no room for extra shit like that. My cassettes – Dad's cassettes – those were more manageable. I don't think I missed much good music anyway."

His expression faltered, a little. Cas, severed from heavenly powers, could still feel a vestige of loneliness bleeding off Dean. Felt it mirrored in himself, remembering celestial frequencies ringing through time, a vibrating polyphony without earthly counterpart that he was unlikely to ever hear again. But what there was to hear, here, was sweeter than Cas could've ever imagined before. He let himself nuzzle against Dean's throat, to console them both.

After a few minutes of them resting against one another, Cas could tell Dean's mood had rallied. 

"You said once that you liked experienced women." Cas must've caught Dean by surprise, since he blinked, and Cas quickly continued, "So it's funny to me that you're, um. That we're." He couldn't figure out how to say what he wanted to say. "As relates to sex. Since I am not. Experienced. I appreciate your patience, is all." 

Dean blinked at him a few more times, like he was truly unsure how to respond. "You're welcome?" he said finally, a smile at the corner of his mouth and eyes alight. Cas was relieved that Dean was blushing, since it made his own bashfulness seem less out of place. "And, uh. I mean. Yeah."

Cas nodded. 

Dean's eyes softened. "Way to change the topic, buddy." He kissed Cas like he wasn't bothered in the least. His blush deepened when he said, not looking at Cas, "Besides. I'm making an exception for you. You're different." 

"Oh." Cas knocked his forehead against Dean's. "I said that to you once."

"Yep." Dean looked at him so steadily then, Cas's throat tightened with longing. "Hey."

"Yes, Dean," Cas said, gaze dropping to Dean's soft mouth.

"Ready for side B?" Dean asked, and if afterwards neither of them moved to leave the bed, that didn't mean there was nothing to listen to.

[eljeebee]

For the friends ask meme thingy, the way I'd say "please answer all questions" bc considering your interesting and wonderful dynamics for your OC's I would really want to know it all!!! LOVE 'EM <3 BUUUT, it's also quite an... amount, so I'll say 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 27 🙈

A loooong one! Thank you for the ask Evan!!!!

(4) Who's the group baby? Who has to be protected at all costs?

Answered here!

(8) Who is the one with the troubling lifestyle? Who makes sure they take care of each other?

Agents:

I won't elaborate on this one, because secret agents has enough troubling lifestyle to live with, especially with Priscilla who grew up in their organization, trained to be its weapon.

DLU:

My main families (Davises and Vanderburgs) doesn't have that lifestyle yet. 🤐

Though when it comes to troubling lifestyle, Percival has some... traits. Off-camera, Percy likes to have casual sex, hook-ups, so he tends to go to different bars and clubs. He once tried looking for another one night stand in Sanguine, but Lilith kicked him out. I know this isn't troubling lifestyle, and that there are people out there who does this, but to Valentina, it is.

Percy also likes looking for a fight, and would always come home with bruises barely there, almost healed. Valentina's worried the oath he had is still lingering there, with lust and bloodlust mixing together. Percy assures her he doesn't hear whispers anymore, and explained that sometimes Lana gets on his nerves so much he needs an outlet.

Lenora picked up on this as well, and makes sure that every time tension rises between one ancient vampire and one young vampire, she's there to remove Percy from the room. She would always ask him to help her out with the recipe she found online and from the magazines, help her in painting, and would always tell him stories from before.

Now, the fights are less, but the casual sex is still there 👍🏻 Valentina always reminds him not to bite anyone, and not let anyone injure him while having sex so a drop of blood can't seep through an accidentally bitten fuck buddy.

(15) If there is or could be a group chat, who spams the chat with memes?

Agents:

No sending of memes on official channels, as well as in private communications, because memes can also be a meme. I will not elaborate this one for "safety measures" as Priscilla told me.

DLU:

Mason Davis mostly send memes. Jason reacts with a dad joke. Sophia sends a 👍🏻 with Louie and Sid sharing another meme.

The Vanderburgs does have a group chat, but they don't send memes. More on "Margaux, your agency wants you to sign on this project, it's going to conflict on this engagement on this date, shall we skip this show?" and "Please do, Penny. Thank you."

However, Louie, Sid, Julie, Mousse, and with their newest member, Mason, has a group chat! Out of all of them, both Julie and Sid has little activity on this group chat because they tend to have a separate conversation in the chat...while the boys sends their memes lol

There's one whole group chat with the Beau-Asvangs and Strauds, created by Lilith herself. Lenora participates by sending a video of a recipe, Lilith sends memes. Percival replies back with another one. Helen promptly reacts, Caleb leaves them on read. Valentina, Vlad, and Lana will only send a message if it's something important.

(16) On a day out or a night out, who typically ends up with the bill? Is there ever arguments?

Answered here!!

(23) Who is the pretty one? Who is the smart one? Do they label themselves as anything? How do they see each other?

Agents:

The Secret Agent, The Rouge Mage, and The Handler. These were given nicknames of their colleagues, and they didn't mind so they stick with it.

DLU:

I don't think anybody label themselves as anything??? Louie and his friend group doesn't like labelling each other because each and every one of them has their own strengths. One can't be smarter than the other, because everyone has their own smarts.

Except for one vampire called Lilith Vatore where she calls the older vampires, "The Ancients" sometimes with a teasing tone, and sometimes with hidden anger when she's pissed.

(27) Is there a particular song or playlist that reminds you of them?

I think this is my weakest point when it comes to writing. I don't use songs to associate them with a person, I use songs to give myself the proper mood in writing but:

Gilded Lily by Cults reminds me of Priscilla so much. Haven't I given enough?

[biolums]

8, 12 and 13 💕💕

FUCK I WAS TYPING OUT MY ANSWERS AND THEY GOT DELETED OK TAKE TWO

8. If you have any, what are your special interests?

ok first and foremost. deep sea creachtures and jellyfish. ice age <33333. also heist movies

12. Do you headcanon any characters as autistic? If you want, tell us why you headcanon them as autistic.

OMG. ok LAN WANGJI!!! hes largely nonverbal, has an aversion to touch (except for the person he likes and close family. hes just like me fr), relies on structure and routine, masks for most of his life, until he gets sizhui and then moreso when wei wuxian comes back, prefers animals over human companionship. etc etc i could go on all day

OHHH. akk from the eclipse. relies SO SO SO heavily on rules and routine and structure, needs rules to understand how the world works, had anger issues, idk i just project onto him a lot

also. teh from ITSAY. feels emotions so strongly. misses/ignores social cues. uses repetitive gestures to calm himself. idk i just see myself a lot in him. season one him. i refuse to watch season two sorry

special mentions to: zuko from atla, karl from gaya sa pelikula, PRAN FROM BAD BUDDY, sid from ice age, me, keith from voltron

13. Tell us an autistic person that you really look up to.

honestly my roommate who helped me come to terms with being autistic. meeting someone who was so open and frank about being autistic was life changing and i look up to her a lot for that.

[endlessmediacorp]

Barbra Streisand - The Belle Of 14th Street (1967) (DVD) (M)

Barbra Streisand - The Belle Of 14th Street (1967) (DVD)

Media Condition:  Mint (M) Sleeve Condition: Mint (M) Factory Sealed, Saw Cut

Country:    US   Year: 2006 Genre:       Pop, Classical Style:         

. Act 1 1. I Don't Care 2. You're The Apple Of My Eye 3. Alice Blue Gown 4. I'm Going South 5. We're Four Americans . Act 2 6. Liebestraum 7. Mother Machree 8. A Taste Of The Tempest . Act 3 9. My Melancholy Baby 10. Everybody Loves My Baby 11. I'm Always Chasing Rainbows 12. My Buddy / How About Me? 13. A Good Man Is Hard To Find / Some Of These Days 14. Put Your Arms Around Me Honey

Barcode, ECT: Barcode 6 0349 70491 27 Matrix / Runout 3 970429.3 a VA04 Mould SID Code IFPI 2UR2 Mastering SID Code IFPI L928

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[broadstbroskis]

no better company than you | nathan mackinnon

a/n: alright, i’m rolling in late for @antoineroussel oussel summer exchange (thank you love, for running such a lovely exchange again, it was wonderful and i’m glad i was able to particiapte) and i’m very sorry for the lateness! i had the pleasure of writing for the lovely @ghstandpucks​ 💜 again, i am SO sorry about the wait but i hope you enjoy this! 

word count: 3.2k

-----

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry I’m late!” You slide into the booth and throw your bag down next to you, hoping to god you don’t look as frazzled as you feel; this restaurant is far too nice.

Nate just smiles at your words, too familiar with your family by now to know that you’re always running 5-10 minutes behind. He’s ordered a bottle of wine- a nice rosé, fitting for the beautiful end of summer day- and had already started pouring a matching glass for you the second you started sitting down. “How’d the interview go?”

You bite your lip. “Eh.” 

“I’m sure it went better than you think.” Nate says encouragingly. “You’re too hard on yourself. All three of you are.”

And well, that’s not a lie. Your siblings were just as critical of themselves as you were. Sid was famously known for it and Taylor, your twin, was as bad as you. But…

“Listen to you!” You laugh at him. Nate’s just as bad as the three of you. A mini-Sid in many ways, to many people in your hometown.

But that was in Canada. This was Denver. And here, Nate was cool. Laid-back. Lowkey. Everything a professional athlete should be. Nobody knew about what a dork he really was, except his teammates.

And now, maybe you too, if all went well with this job interview.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about.” Nate says, looking at his menu to feign ignorance.

You giggle, pulling your own up toward your face. “Sure, buddy.”

It’s not often that you and Nate spend time one on one like this, even if you see him all the time over the summer. He’s usually with your brother when you see him, politely trying to decline your mom’s invites to dinner or already hanging at Sid’s house when you invite yourself over to your brother’s house for pool or lake time. Usually time one on one with Nate like this is brief, usually like in passing while he’s waiting for Sid in the kitchen while you’re eating.

It’s nice. Nate’s funnier than people give him credit for and it’s easy to relax into dinner and conversation, to forget about the anxiety from your interview as you chat about what’s new for both of you and gossip about people you both know.

By the time he drops you off at your hotel, it’s late and you’re too tired (and maybe just on the right side of tipsy) to even worry about the interview. You just barely change into pajamas, run through your nightly routine, and climb into bed, before shutting the lights off. It feels like you’re asleep before your head even hits the pillow. 

In the morning, you’re awoken by the sound of your phone ringing, and it takes a second for you to place the sound, but when you do you pounce on it, recognizing the local area code immediately. “Good morning.” You say, trying your hardest not to sound like you woke up literally thirty seconds ago.

It’s human resources, from the job you interviewed for yesterday.

You got it.

-----

“Ew, no!” Your dad holds his hands up innocently, when you rush over to stop him from unpacking a box. “Why would you put that there?”

“Hey, sweetie, maybe it’s time for a break.” Your mom says gently, exchanging a look with your dad, who nods his agreement enthusiastically.

Which is fair. You’d just about almost taken his fingers off just because you didn’t like where he was unpacking colanders. 

“Dinner!’” Your dad latches onto immediately. “Nate offered to take us all out tonight, I’ll let him know we’re ready.”

“Ready?” You frown, looking down at your workout shorts and baggy t-shirt.

“We’ll be ready in an hour.” He amends, already texting Nate.

Nate knocks on the door to the new condo you’re renting an hour and fifteen minutes later, sheepishly grinning when your dad tells him that you and your mom still need a few minutes. “Thought I had my timing perfect.”

Your dad snorts. “Oh buddy. Keep dreaming.”

He’s not too off on his timing, but unfortunately for Nate, you don’t have too much else going for you in your condo yet. Your dad had gotten your TV all set up, but in addition to the TV and living room furniture, you haven’t gotten much else, and that includes food and beverages. So the two of them sit in mostly silence while they wait another few minutes for you and your mom to finish getting ready. 

“I told you that you should have just met us there.” You tell Nate, as he trips on a box on his way out the door.

“Oh, so this wasn’t deliberate sabotage?” He deadpans.

“You caught me. Just trying to keep you around the city full time until I have time to make better friends.”

Nate laughs, as the two of you follow your parents out the door. “Be nicer to me or I won’t introduce you to my friends.”

“Who said I want to be friends with your friends?”

“Children.” Your mom turns to look back at you and Nate smiles at her innocently, but it’s been a while since that’s fooled her. “Do we need to stay home?”

It serves to get the two of you moving, even as you laugh at her joke. Nate drives you to another one of his favorite restaurants, and dinner flies by, with Nate insisting on picking up the tab, even when your dad tries to fight him on it. 

It’s started to cool down a little by the time you’re walking back toward the car, Nate and your dad still fake-fighting about paying for dinner, and you find yourself not realizing you’re smiling at the two of them as you walk behind them until your mom bumps your shoulder. “A few hours off for dinner with some good company was just what you needed.” She says.

And even though the smile on her face seems too knowing, you’re too tired to ask about it right now, so you just nod in agreement. “Yeah, this was nice.” You smile back at her.

-----

Mel Landeskog pokes her head around the corner and you wave at her, trying to catch her attention. “Jesus Christ.” She shakes her head. “I didn’t think he was serious.”

“I mean.” You bite your lip. “I did have to work today.”

“I would have picked you up!” She shakes her head, muttering under her breath, and you know Nate’s going to get an earful from her later. “But no, no. That dumbass just let you come all the way over here by yourself. Sends me a text to come meet you by the door. All casual.”

“I mean.” You send her a look. “Did you expect anything different from Nate?”

It’s the way she looks at you and sets her face that almost has you nervous for Nate. You’ve known Mel for a long time now, but really, you don’t know her from more than just years of NHL events. “I do now.” She says.

You hope Nate knew what he was getting himself into sending Mel a text to come find you earlier.  

Once she leads you up into the box with some of the wives and kids, she’s back to smiling and laughing, making introductions all around. The mood all around is light and easy, everyone excited for the home opener of the season, and happy to be back with everyone again. 

It’s fun to be back in this atmosphere. Hockey’s been a part of your life for so long and there’s truly nothing like the energy of the first game of the season. You feed off the energy, catching up with some familiar faces and chatting with all the other girls, probably too excited when they invite you to a girl’s night later in the week, but it feels good to have plans that don’t involve trying to invite yourself to Nate’s when you’re bored.

“Hey, good job tonight.” You nudge him afterwards, catching up with him in the family room.

He laughs, pulling you in for a hug. “A little different than what you were used to?”

“It lived up to the hype, I guess.”

“I’ll turn you from a Pens fan.” Nate promises. 

It’s your turn to laugh. “Feel Sid’s wrath.”

“What’s he going to do? Check me into the boards? Bring it.”

Nate’s been hanging out with your brother and your family for years now, so he should really know better by now. “Okay, buddy.” You pat his shoulder patronizingly. “Sure.”

“I could take him.” Nate insists. 

“Throw hands. Next game. I dare you.” 

He side-eyes you, because you both know that’s not going to happen and it’s only a minute before you’re both laughing. 

“I better see you on Friday!” Ashley Kadri shouts out to you as she’s walking past with Naz and Naylah, interrupting your laughter. “No excuses!”

“I’ll be there!” You call back. “Promise!”

When you look back, Nate’s pouting-exaggerated, albeit, but pouting. “Are you ditching me this Friday?”

“Yup. Found better company.”

“How dare you?” He cries. “There is no better company.”

“Well.” You shrug. “I’ll know for sure after happy hour on Friday.”

“Find your own ride home.” Nate says and then he starts speed walking away from you at an absurd speed.

“Nate!” You protest, jogging to catch up and he finally slows down enough for you to catch up when you round the corner, bumping your shoulder right back when you purposely bump into him in retaliation.

-----

No one lets loose like a group of moms when they’ve got a night without their kids.

Someone has mentioned this to you before, at a bachelorette party or a wedding or something, but you don’t think you’ve ever seen it really in action before until this happy hour. 

“If the waitress comes back, order me another drink!” Kerry calls, before running off to the bathroom.

The waitress nods at her, before addressing the rest of you. “Another round?”

“Oh, please!” Mel nods quickly and repeatedly.

“Can we get a few more orders of mozzarella sticks too, please?” You look down at the empty plates in front of you. “And maybe some nachos too?”

“Yes!” Jackie lights up across from you. “Great call!”

It pretty much only goes downhill from there and by the end of the night, both Mel and Ashley are crying for reasons no one is sure of entirely and you’re pretty grateful to see Nate among the group of husbands and boyfriends to come to pick up all their girlfriends.

So grateful you scream his name the second you see him. “Nate!”

He winces, trying to pull his ear away from you, but he’s laughing. “Guess you had a good time, huh?”

“Uh huh!” You nod enthusiastically, not realizing how loud you are until he winces again.

Nate laughs. “Alright, I think it’s time to go home.”

You gasp loudly. “I can’t leave my new friends!”

“Your new friends are all leaving you!”

You frown, but look around and realize he’s right. Naz has already sneakily pulled Ashley out of the bar and Gabe and Erik were collecting Mel and Jackie’s things. “Oh.”

“Oh?” Nate parrots. “Come on, get your stuff, crazy girl.”

“Hey!” You protest, grabbing your purse. “I am the least crazy person in my family.”

“I hate to break it to you.” Nate says, as he guides you into standing. “But that’s not saying much.”

He’s right, but you bump him with your shoulder anyway as you walk past. That’s about sibling honor and shit.

Nate parked too far away and by the time you reach his car, you’re leaning on him, the adrenaline from hanging out with friends wearing off quickly. Nate’s nice about it, guiding you to his car and then helping you into his front seat before heading around to the driver’s side. 

“You guys had a fun time then?” Nate says, once he’s started driving and you’re half asleep leaning against the window. “Looks like it at least.”

“Yeah.” You nod sleepily. “But you were right.”

He chuckles. “About what?”

“There’s no better company than you.”

-----

Nate becomes pretty clingy after that night, texting and facetiming whenever he’s out of town, and stopping by pretty much anytime he’s got a free minute. It quickly becomes something you look forward to, missing his visits when he’s out of town and looking forward to his calls, smiling when his texts come in and breaking up your work day. And it isn’t long before you realize that you’re being just the same. Sending him messages before and after games. Inviting yourself over for dinner and making Nate cheat on his diet.

In a blessed move from the NHL scheduling department, Sid and the rest of the Pens are scheduled to arrive in town on a Friday morning and aren’t leaving until the end of the weekend. 

They have a practice scheduled for early afternoon, which is perfect for you to wrap up your work day before heading over to watch the end.

Geno lights up when he sees you watching from the glass, the first person to acknowledge you, and skating over in the middle of the drill, leaving behind two shocked linemates. “Mini!” He shouts cheerfully, even as you roll your eyes at your least favorite nickname. All because you happen to be the shortest of your siblings. “Great to see you.”

“You too, Geno.” You smile warmly at him, a little annoyed that you can’t get a giant bear hug from your favorite pseudo-older brother right away. “But I don’t think a few other people feel the same right now.” You jerk your chin back over his shoulder. 

He turns his head quickly but then looks back. “Psh. They’ll get over it.”

You bust out laughing, which is right about when your brother comes over, and in classic Sid fashion, is all about hockey. “Stop being a distraction.”

“I was minding my own business until Geno came over here!” You protest, even as Geno starts laughing and Sid eyes you skeptically. 

“Why don’t I believe that one?” Sid says dryly and sure, maybe you were making faces at some of the guys you knew well as they were passing you, but you weren’t actively being a distraction.

“That’s your prerogative.” You tell Sid, who shakes his head and pulls Geno back for the remainder of practice. 

Practice doesn’t last for too much longer and you spend a few minutes chatting with the coaching staff while you wait for Sid to change. But he and Geno finally come out of the locker room and you stop mid-sentence to throw yourself at your brother.

Sid’s laughing and so are you, but both of you start laughing even harder when Geno pulls you both into his arms. “Two of my favorite people!”

“Taylor’s going to be so offended.” Kris grins, watching the three of you amused.

“Taylor?” You grin back at him, going for a hug once Geno releases you. “How about his wife and kid?”

“Those are my other favorite people.” Geno reasons.

“Now I’m offended.” Kappy deadpans.

“You’re not even close.” Geno grins, roughing his hair.

Kappy tries to get him right back, but Geno just swats his hand away and then Sid’s shaking his head, like this is just the same shit, different day. “Look what you did.”

You grin, leaning against him. “Not sorry. I’ve missed this entertainment.”

Sid shakes his head. “Then you can round them up for dinner.”

You do. Easily.

Nate had suggested one of the team’s favorite restaurants and you’re happy to see that he’d accepted your invitation to join everyone, even if he rolls in a little late. You’re deep into Kris’ camera roll, looking at pictures of his kids and catching up on stories that you haven’t heard about them recently, so you don’t even notice he’s arrived and said hello already until he blows on the back of your neck.

You jump. “What the hell?”

Nate’s grinning. “Hey.”

You shake your head at him and bump your shoulders against him. “Hey.” You mimic and then turn right back to Kris.

But your shoulder stays leaning on Nate, and it remains there comfortably all night.

-----

Sid’s a little cranky when you first meet him for breakfast the morning after the game and you’re sure it has everything to do with the last minute turnover that cost them the game (and bragging rights over Nate this summer, which is really what he’s probably cranky about).

He gets over it pretty quickly though, and soon the two of you are laughing and talking, catching up about your family and your lives.

“-and I even love my office, the vibes are just great!”

Sid shakes his head. “Vibes.”

You grin. You know he hates that word. “Good vibes.” You confirm.

“So you’re liking Denver?”

“Love it.” You confirm, smiling.

“Meeting good people?”

You eye him skeptically. “Yes dad. I already said my coworkers are great and I’ve been hanging out with Nate and his friends a lot too. It’s good”

“Geno thinks there’s something going on between you and Nate.” Sid says casually.

The jump of your heart is far from casual. “Oh yeah?”

Sid eyes you but his response to that is surprising. “You know if there was something going on between you and Nate that would be okay?” He pauses, watching you again, but your face is completely neutral, purposely not moving. “Right?”

“You know if there was something going on between me and Nate that your opinion wouldn’t matter at all, right?”

He grins, laughing as he nods, but after he takes a bite of pancakes he says, “To you, yeah. To him, it does.”

“Why?” You blurt out, giving yourself away before you can stop yourself.

But Sid doesn’t say anything to that. He grins again and then changes the subject entirely.

-----

You only make it about a day before you’re knocking on Nate’s door, pretty forcefully.

“What’s up?” He swings the door open, with a frown. “You okay?”

“Does what my brother thinks really matter to you that much?” You blurt out. It’s been bothering you ever since Sid mentioned it at breakfast. That you lasted this long was probably a miracle.

Nate blushes and your jaw drops. “It-”

“Oh my god.” You grin delightedly. “Come on, really?”

“That’s not-” He blows out a frustrated sigh. “You’re really going to make me say it?”

You nod, but you’re pretty sure he’s not going to get far into what he’s going to say.

He sighs again. “It’s not about, like, his approval, or shit. It’s just- he’s important to you. So obviously he’s important to me-”

You kiss him. 

“You know that you don’t even have to worry about that, right?” At some point, you’d slid one hand to his hip and the other arm around his neck, and the hand there plays with the hair at the nape of his neck. 

“I’ll argue about that with you later.” Nate says impatiently and so you’re laughing when he kisses you again.

[strangerthings4theories]

The Demogorgon Is Billy’s Dark Reflection

At first glance, the Demogorgon seems irrelevant to the question of whether or not Billy’s coming back. But as I aim to prove, it has everything to do with it. 

Stranger Things deals heavily in the theme of reflections and opposites. Characters are designed to mirror each other, embody the opposite of each other, and sometimes both at once. Hell, the Upside Down is presented as a reflection of the real world. Literally.

(Damn. They ain’t subtle.)

By the term “dark reflection,” I mean a relationship like that between the Upside Down and the real world. The two are almost exact copies; the Upside Down has all the same landmarks, down to Will’s fort in the woods. But the Upside Down has been corrupted by the Mind Flayer, its inhabitants turned into unthinking monsters.

It’s like us. But it’s everything we hate about ourselves, everything we’re afraid of becoming.

When we probe relationships between characters, we find that pattern replicated across the board. I don’t have room to explore it in full here. However, Billy and the Demogorgon are one of the most obvious examples.

With the exception of El, the main character of the show, no one else has been compared to the Demogorgon like Billy has.

>>Billy fills the “monster” role in S3 that the Demogorgon filled in S1.

In S1, the Demogorgon stalks the inhabitants of Hawkins, kidnapping and killing them. In S2, we find out Demogorgons do not act alone, but are the puppets of a greater monster: the Mind Flayer. 

In S3, the Mind Flayer possesses Billy, turning him into His puppet. Billy then stalks the inhabitants of Hawkins, kidnapping and taking them to his master, which ultimately results in their deaths.

In S3, the Demogorgon wears a human face.

>>Like the Demogorgon, Billy is the puppet of a greater monster... even before he’s possessed.

Max tells us as much in Runaway Max when she’s watching Billy beat the life out of Steve:

I remembered how it had felt the first time I’d watched the Hargroves in action. Neil standing over Billy with the belt in his hand. Neil calling me a stupid little girl for having the guts to try to stop him. Making it so clear that he thought I was small and weak and pointless. And knowing Neil believed that still wasn’t as bad as the way Billy had hated me for trying to help him. He was damaged. Broken, maybe. And even if he’d been coherent enough to argue with, it wouldn’t make a difference. I understood now that Neil was in his head, and that meant he was just as dangerous as his father. (p 218)

This implies not only that Billy is the Demogorgon, but also that Neil is the Mind Flayer. The ramifications of that idea are... oof. Just oof.

Remember the definition of “dark reflection” that I gave you. A dark reflection is something that’s like us, but represents what we hate or fear most about ourselves.

The Demogorgon is Billy’s dark reflection because it represents his fear of losing his humanity to an abuser. 

>>Runaway Max draws on the grossest scene in S2 to give us a Billy/Demogorgon parallel.

In S2, Dustin finds a baby Demogorgon and names it D’Artagnan. At first Dart seems harmless. Then he molts and, in a scene I hate to watch, eats Dustin’s cat.

Keep in mind that Dustin’s cat is orange.

In Runaway Max, Billy seems harmless at first. Then, in a flashback to California, we’re told of the day Billy “molts.” 

One afternoon, he’s hanging out with Max and his buddies Wayne and Sid on the scrubby hill behind the Hargrove house. He’s bored and pissed at Sid for besting him on a history paper. Pulling out his lighter, he starts playing with it.

We learn there’s a corpse of a cat nearby:

There was a dead cat that had been lying under one of the sweet pea bushes for a while. A mangy orange tom with one white foot. (p 63)

Billy stalks over to it with his lighter. In a “hard, bright” voice, he talks about giving the cat a “Viking funeral.” Then, over Max and Sid’s protests, he drenches the corpse in butane and lights it on fire. The flames race down the hill, and the others have to stomp them out before they spiral out of control.

Max notes Billy’s reaction:

Billy just watched, standing over the burning cat, smiling that small, tight smile he got when something seemed funny to him....

After that, I knew.

Not that Billy was crazy or out of control, exactly - it wasn’t like the cat had been alive. But the fact that he’d done it meant something. (p 67)

Yeah, this scene means something, alright. Symbolically, Billy - a baby Demogorgon - has just eaten a cat. And, like Dustin with Dart, Max realizes he’s a monster in the making.

>>The show’s plot and cinematography choices emphasize the Billy/Demogorgon connection.

1) El first meets them in the Void. They’re both crouching, and literally or symbolically feasting, as she approaches from the right.

2) They stalk after the kids, shoulders hunched. In the Demogorgon’s case, the kids are trapped. In Billy’s case, he thinks he’s trapping the kids, but they turn the tables on him.

3) When the Demogorgon is activated, a crack rips through the tile wall of the lab. When Billy is activated, we see cracked tiles on the wall behind him.

4) El pins them against the wall with her powers. Then she screams in their faces before she deals the “death blow.” In the climactic shot, she’s on the left, they’re on the right. Mike and/or her friends are behind her.

All of that ^ is the equivalent of the Duffers banging pots and pans. “Hey guys! Billy is like the Demogorgon! The Demogorgon is like Billy!” When I first noticed it, it told me to look for other examples of “mirroring.” Do we get any other shots that juxtapose the two?

Turns out we do. Oh my god, we do.

Study this pair of shots very, very carefully.

In the first, the Demogorgon is approaching the Byers' house. It's in the center of the frame, moving straight toward us. We see woods in the background; a lamp post is on the left side.

In the second, Billy is running away from the sauna. He's in the center of the frame, moving directly away from us. We see woods in the background; a lamp post is on the right side.

I’ve already talked about how the Upside Down is the deep sea. However, it is ALSO the woods. In fairytales, the woods are a place of mystery and monsters. Some of the most famous tales happen there, such as Little Red Riding Hood and Hansel and Gretel. (If you want to read more about this topic, here’s a Wikipedia article to get you started. Also a cool article on Medium)

With that in mind, we can describe this pair of shots as follows:

In the first, the Demogorgon is emerging from the Upside Down.

In the second, Billy is going to the Upside Down.

Interesting, right? Ah, but that’s only half of the story.

Study this pair now and tell me what you see.

Yep... they’re related.

In the second shot, Billy is swimming into the ocean. It’s the last glimpse we have of his young, happy self before the Mind Flayer kills him. He’s in the center of the frame, moving directly away from us, just like the first shot.

With that in mind, we could say...

In the first, he’s going to the Upside Down in its ‘woods’ manifestation.

In the second - OUR LAST GLIMPSE OF YOUNG BILLY BEFORE HE DIES - he’s going to the Upside Down in its ‘ocean’ manifestation.

Interesting how we've only seen him leave. Yet we have this iconic image of the Demogorgon, his “dark reflection,” emerging from the Upside Down and coming to us.

I have a spooky vibe, y'all, that we're missing a final shot.

And we're going to see Billy... 

coming to us... 

from the water.

I have so much more to unpack here, but this post has gone on long enough! In future posts, I’ll lay out more evidence suggesting Billy will return from the water. I’ll also explore the mythological implications. They’re mind-blowing :3

»»————-　✼　————-««

P.S. I mentioned El has a unique relationship to the Demogorgon too. I’ll try to explain that eventually~~

»»————-　✼　————-««

The “Billy Is Alive” Meta Series (So Far)

Billy Is Not a ‘B’ Character In Stranger Things

The First Rule of Analyzing Stranger Things: The Upside Down Is Symbolized By Water

The Lifeguard And The Rip Current: Our First Big Hint That Billy Is Alive

Why Haven’t We Seen Dacre On Set?

Frequently Asked Questions

For updates, follow the hashtag #billy is alive meta

[myhockeyworld87]

Not So Dangerous Liaison - Sidney Crosby - Part 22

Word Count: 2,440

POV: Sidney’s

Warngings: Language

Notes: So it’s been a hot minute for this story. Sorry about that guys, but thank you for being patient with me. As always love your feedback and Happy Reading!

Not So Dangerous Liaison Masterlist

You couldn't believe that (Y/N) just wanted to up and go to Pittsburgh without even thinking about telling you. Well, she actually did tell you; it's just she'd made all the plans without giving any thoughts about what you wanted, and that's what aggravated you the most. She could've at least wanted you to drive her to the airport, but no, she'd simply called your sister to have her do it instead. It was going to be almost a month before you were able to see her and that just wasn't acceptable.

You were driving around in your car, not knowing where you were going until you landed at Nate's house. It was probably for the best that you didn't head to your parents, for they would probably take (Y/N)'s side. Nate was at the door before you could even ring the bell. "Hey man, what's up?"

 "Can I stay here tonight?"

 "Uh, sure." He stepped aside so that you could enter. "You and (Y/N) have a fight?"

 "Something like that."

 "Anything you want to talk about?"

 "Not really." Nate just sort of gave you a look. He didn't ask you anything more about (Y/N) the rest of the night which you appreciated. Instead, the two of you just ordered food and played video games, like you were twelve-years-old and not professional athletes. It was a nice change of pace but as you laid in Nate's guest bed tossing and turning you were regretting not being with (Y/N). Maybe she would have a change of heart and end up staying. That was doubtful, considering they needed her at the house, and she took her job very seriously. There was always the off chance that she would fly there then fly back. That option seemed more realistic and the one that you hoped would happen as you laid there staring up at the ceiling.

 Eventually, you were able to fall asleep, but it seemed like hours before that actually happened. You headed off to train with Nate in the morning like you usually did. As the two of you were warming up, he broached the subject again. "So ready to talk about what happened yet?"

 "It's stupid really. They need (Y/N) back in Pittsburgh. I told her that I wanted to go with her and she said no because we were in the middle of training here."

 Nate just waited for you to say more, but you didn't. "And you're mad about that because?"

 "Well, she could fly back after she takes care of things, but she's not. She's just going to stay in Pittsburgh for the next month while I stay up here."

 "Isn't it more like three weeks?"

 "God, you sound like her now." (Y/N) had argued the same point last night. "I mean I suppose if you want to get technical about it, it's three weeks and a day."

 "Weren't you already cutting training short to go back with (Y/N) though? Like I thought you'd at least be here another week or so."

 "Maybe, but she didn't need to know that."

 You could see Nate thinking things through, at least he was finally understanding your side of the story. "So, let me get this straight. You left your house mad because your girlfriend has to go back to work and she wants you to stay here so that you're ready for the season?" When he put it like that, it didn't sound the way it had in your head, so instead of answering you just nodded. "And she's flying back when?"

 "Today."

 "Now wait, maybe I'm confused again," he said giving you a dumbfounded look. "But you're clearly upset because you won't be spending time together, right?" Again, you nodded. "So, instead of spending your last night with her, showing her all the things she's going to be missing in the next couple weeks you spent them at my house, eating pizza and playing call of duty?"

 God, you were an idiot. Nate was right, you should've spent the night with (Y/N) giving her a reason to want to fly back here, or at least let you fly back to Pittsburgh early. "Fuck, I'm stupid."

 "Yeah, you are."

 You side-eyed Nate, but you knew he wasn't going to let it slide. Checking your watch, you noticed you had about an hour until her she'd have to leave for her flight. You could run home real quick, tell her your sorry, and maybe show her what she would be missing. "I'll be back in an hour." Nate just winked at you and laughed, and you vaguely heard him say something like 'Go get her buddy.' But you weren't one hundred percent sure.

 Luckily, where you and Nate trained was only a ten-minute drive from your house and you made it there in record time. You rushed inside the door, not even sure if you left the car running or not. "(Y/N)!" you yelled as you looked around for her bags. You'd thought they'd be by the door waiting for Taylor. "(Y/N)!" Running upstairs, you opened the bedroom door, to find the bed neatly made. You threw open the closet doors, checking to see if she'd left anything in there. She hadn't. Her side was completely bare, except for the hangers which were empty. Your heart started to sink. Maybe Taylor had just picked her up early and you could get her to turn around. You dialed her number, but it went straight to voicemail, so you tried Taylor instead.

 "Hey Sid," she said and you noticed she had a very cool tone with you.

 "Tay, is (Y/N) with you? You're not too close to the airport yet, are you? I mean there's still time to turn back around."

 "Sid, (Y/N)'s not with me. She took an earlier flight when someone," Taylor paused and you knew that she was pissed at you as well. "Decided to not come home last night. She didn't even let me take her, just called an Uber to drive her. I don't know what the hell happened between you two, but you fucked up big time brother."

 "I know that, why do you think I hauled ass home." You blew out a frustrated breath that she was already on her way to Pittsburgh. "Now what do I do?" You kept going before Taylor could even say a word. "Normally, I'd just jump on a plane and try and make things better, but I have a feeling that's the last thing (Y/N) wants me to do, but I can't just do nothing, you know?"

 "I repeat, you fucked up big time."

 "Thanks, you're so much help."

 "Look, you're stuck between a rock and a hard place. All I know is that you better fix it, because (Y/N) is the best thing that's happened to you besides hockey."

 "I know that." Taylor scoffed at your response. "Ok, so I might have had a lapse in judgment last night." And now you were regretting it, but you had no idea what to do.

 "I think it's safe to say, you better give her some time to cool off. I'm sure she's heading over to the house to get things straightened out as soon as she lands. Just call her tonight and…well grovel."

 It wasn't the best plan in the world, but what else could you do. "Thanks, sis, I'll definitely do that." The two of you said your goodbyes and then you made a quick call to your florist in Pittsburgh to have flowers delivered to (Y/N) as a peace offering. Only after that did you head back to the training facility. You threw yourself into the workout, trying to forget that (Y/N) was now in Pittsburgh and that you wouldn't see her when you got home tonight or any other night for the next couple of weeks. It was frustrating, but as Nate tried to remind you later on in the day, that was the way most relationships were. The fact that (Y/N)'s job with the organization let you see her every day was a bonus; a luxury that most players didn't have.

 It was around seven in the evening that you walked into the empty house. You'd picked up something for dinner on the way home and sat in the living room eating with Sammy watching, while you debated on what to say to (Y/N) when you called. You worried that she wouldn't answer the phone and that she'd send you straight to voicemail, so whatever you said had to be good enough to get her to call you back.

 It was something you didn't have to worry about, as she answered on the second ring. "Hey, Sid." She wasn't her usual jovial self, but she didn't seem extremely angry either. In all honesty, you couldn't really read her tone.

 "Hey (Y/N)." There was a pause as your mind went completely blank. "I'm sorry." It wasn't the fancy apology you had planned but it was heartfelt.

 "I'm sorry too, Sid." You really didn't know what she had to be sorry about. "I should've called you the minute I knew I had to come back to Pittsburgh." Before you could say anything, she continued. "And I should've let you drive me to the airport."

 When she finally took a breath, you jumped in. "No, you have nothing to be sorry for. You were just doing your job, and I…well, I was acting like a brat." She laughed then, and you would've given anything at that moment to see her smile. Why you hadn't facetimed her, you weren't sure at this moment, other than you were a coward. "I should've never stormed out of the house like that and not come back, that was completely juvenile of me."

 "It was, I won't argue that. I wish you would've stayed so we could work things out."

 "I promise that it won't happen again." Though you didn't plan on fighting with her again either. "I really am sorry (Y/N). Can you forgive me?"

 "Always." And just like that the world seemed right again, only you couldn't kiss her or hold like you wanted to, but you would definitely make up for that in a few weeks.

 "So, how's Pittsburgh? Is the roof still on my house?"

 "Pittsburgh is good, and I'm assuming your house is fine or someone would've called."

 "Aren't you there now?"

 "Um no, I'm at my place. Why would I go to your place if you're not there?"

 "Why wouldn't you?"

 "Because that's your house and I have one of my own." You could hear the irritation in her voice and knew you were headed down a slippery slope but you went anyways.

 "We've been living together for months now, so why wouldn't I think that that would continue."

 "Maybe because you never asked me to move in with you."

 "I didn't think I had to." As soon as the words were out of your mouth you wanted to take them back. They felt wrong, even to your own ears, and now you knew why you hadn't facetimed her, it was so that she couldn't see you wince when you fucked upped like you just did. "I didn't…"

 She was about to say something when you heard a man in the background yell. 'Hey (Y/N), the food's here.'

 "Who the hell is that?" She'd literally been gone for less than twenty-four hours and she already had a guy over at her house. You were livid. How could she do that to you? "We had one fight and you're already fucking someone else?"

 "Are you fucking kidding me right now Sidney? Did you really just say that?" She was yelling but then so were you. "You're un-fucking-believable you know that. I would never in a million years do that." Somewhere deep down you knew she was right, but at that moment you were too angry to see it. "For your information, I ran into Cully at the airport, and since Bridget and the kids are still in Minnesota, I invited him over to grab some take out. If you don't believe me you can call and ask him."

 Fuck, you knew Matt had been planning on going back to Pittsburgh early; you'd talked to him on the phone about it the other day. Now you felt like a complete ass. "(Y/N), I'm sorry…"

 "Save it, Sid. I don't want to hear it. Goodbye." She hung up the phone then, you could imagine her slamming it down if it actually been a regular one and not her cell. You pulled her number back up and called her back hoping to apologize. It went straight to voicemail.

 On the third attempt, you decided to leave a message. "(Y/N), I'm so incredibly sorry. Of course, I didn't think that you were sleeping around. Jesus, I don't know what's gotten into me. I sorry. I'm just so fucking sorry, babe. Please pick up the phone." You hung up, planning on waiting five minutes before calling her back, only you made it two. She still didn't pick up. Your only option was to try and call Cullen. He actually did answer.

 "Look Sid, I know you want to talk to her, but it's not a good idea right now."

 "Please, I just need to tell her how sorry I am. I fucked up man and I need to make it right."

 There was a pause on the line and you hoped that Matt was somehow convincing her to get on and talk to you. "She doesn't want to talk to you right now, Sid, and for the record, nothing is going on with the two of us."

 "Jesus, I know that. I just…fuck." If you could only talk to her. Make her see that you were just being a jealous idiot, that you loved her so damn much you couldn't see straight.

 "Just give her some time. I'm sure she'll come around," Matt told you. "And not like five minutes ok. Like some real time. I've been in your shoes before. She'll forgive you."

 "God, I hope so." You really, really hoped so, because there was no way in hell you could lose her over something like this. "Tell her I'm sorry."

 "I will."

 Matt went to hang up but you stopped him. "Wait…tell her I love her too."

 "Will do man." With that, Matt hung up the phone, while yours dropped to the floor, as you put your head in your hands. You'd really fucked it up time this time, and if she took you back it'd be a  miracle.

[whomst-art-thou-whomst-whomst]

Whomst Plot Bunnies for 2022

My New Years resolution was to try to relax, as I have all the chill of Shen Wei, so in the spirit of that, I’m announcing some plot bunnies who’ve been munching lotus leaves (idk if that’s toxic or not) and may or may not come to fruition in fic form. Ideas/critiques/requests/pterodactyl screeches welcome.

Killer and Healer

1. The serial killer post-canon fix it: listen. Sometimes writers and directors make *choices* that are the script equivalent of “hi I’m here to ruin everything” and we gotta fix it. Sometimes we fix things in fandom with a “oh that was prevented because something intervened” or “magically ignoring certain events of episode 36 onwards” and my brilliant idea (arrived at after hiding from relatives for two days) strictly falls in the latter category in order to let our boys have a full squad available for they do best: sexual tension and investigation. In this wicked wabbit of a plot, a serial killer with a grudge begins killing opium addicts in Jing City and the city’s finest (in every respect) are on the case. Little do they know that (just like 80% of the series bad guys) the killer is working for Jinma Hall as a main gig while undercover at the police station, and he has developed a specific target.

2.) AU of 9-1-1 Buddie except it’s Yuezhi: I have now watched three seasons of the 9-1-1 show faithfully and noticed some interesting parallels: one has a traumatic family past and has come to see the Chief as his father figure, is suspicious of then gets attached to the other guy, a quiet medical professional raising a kid by himself. So yeah I want Yuezhi on that show—Yuzhi is a paramedic and Yuelou fights fires and also his unfortunate tendency to have feelings.

The Untamed

1.) The Untamed is a popular pop group who secretly works with an international organization of crime-fighters until a betrayal (coupled with some miscommunication) results in the group’s implosion and the disappearance of several members. Join them 13 years later as they struggle to work together and heal in the face of upcoming reunion tour prep and assassination attempts!

The Lost Tomb

1.) Character study themed around weapons (Wu Xie and his knife, Xiao Ge and his sword, Pangzi and his explosives, Liu Sang and his hearing, etc)

2.) Li Cu post-canon found family where the move to the village has been postponed following a sudden upheaval in the nine families, so Wu Xie and Co. are still in Wushanju. That’s when Li Cu decides to move in and everyone decides this means he’s family for reals. Stay tuned for Li Cu trying to figure out what the fuck is going on around here.

Guardian

1.) Shen Wei returns powerless, as his brother accidentally(?) devoured them but cannot use them. He is still a consultant for the SID but is having a hard time coping—his relationship with Zhao Yunlan is under just as much strain.

[sequestering]

okay, how did i miss zach sill on the high button podcast telling sid and geno stories? including:

late at night, tipsy sid getting into a long argument when accused of not being a proper two-way player

sid not being very talkative in the room, preferring to lead by example

geno, as the team’s lone russian, constantly bringing other russians into the room who’d just hang out and wait for him 

transcript under the cut

[00:41:30] Q: Everyone always talks about Sid's leadership abilities, but no one's ever really seen it inside the room. What's his leadership ability inside the room? Is he talkative?

A: Not talkative, no. He's more of a lead by example kind of guy. There's a lot of good support around him as well that helps with the verbal side of things. When he talks, you listen, that's for sure. But it's not all the time.

When I was there, he was twenty-six, twenty-seven, too. He was playing with guys who were thirty-three, thirty-four, thirty-five, you know older guys.... So he had a lot of good experience around him that would speak up so it wasn't always on him, but he would just do it on the ice. Everybody would just folllow that.

Q: Did he ever scream? Like, “everyone shut up in here”? Did that ever happen? Or any sort of emotion that isn't just robot Sid?

A: I can't remember, I can't remember any occassion... I called him out one night though. One time we'd been drinking, had a couple of beers, and I told him that he wasn't a 200-foot hockey player.

Q: [Lots of laugher] What did he say?

A: We were at it for quite a while.

Q: Did he argue with you?

A: Oh yeah! He was like, "Why? Why would you say that?" He's a competitive guy. I skate with him every summer too, and he's very competitive.

Q: [More laughter] So why would you say that?

A: Beacuse I'm playing with him! I see him sometimes on the ice, maybe not going on the backcheck that hard or kinda swooping in looking for the quick breakout, you know. So I spoke up.

Q: That's unreal. He was probably a beauty about it at the end of the day though. Like, he wanted to know why.

A: Oh, a hundred percent. And it was more in a joking manner. It wasn't me sitting him down [for a serious conversation].

[01:03:00] Q: Is it true that Ovechkin just has, like, a Russian friend group that hangs out in the room?

A: Malkin does.

Q: Malkin has a Russian friend group?

A: There was Russians around all the time with Malkin. All the time.

Q: What do you mean? Like, in the room?

A: In the room! Just hanging around.

Q: No one says shit to them?

A: No.

Q: They in suits?

A: [Laughter] No.

Q: So what do you mean? Like, before game, practice? Give me the setting.

A: Like, after morning skate. After practice. Before the game - not before the game because coaches wouldn't like that. But after the game they're in there. Nobody talks to them except for Malkin. I think he was the only Russian on that team, when I was there.

Q: Oh, that plays a big factor into that scenario though. So what are they doing in there? Drinking beers? Smoking cigars?

A: Just hanging out. Just hanging out, walking around, you know, waiting for him.

Q: So did he live with them?

A: Yeah, I think that he had a lot of them living with him, but I actually don't know the whole story on that so you can't quote me on that one.

Q: But nonetheless, that's amazing. Talk about a power move, just have your buddies hanging out with you at the rink. "Coach this is my friend." And that's it, they're in here for the rest of the fucking year so. Power move. But I guess if you've been with one organisation, and you've won three championships, you got a little pull.

[winterrose527]

and ok hmm on her morning run Ella finds that a dog (ahem matchmaker greywind) has followed her home

omg of course this has to be the first one I wrote! also I am sorry because this turned out longer than expected?

***

It had started as she’d taken the exit at the reservoir. That feeling of being followed. She had just kept running, because she had a far better chance of outrunning someone than she did fighting them off. She didn’t bother looking back, not wanting to risk stumbling, and she extended her legs further.

Usually she ran so that she didn’t have to feel guilty for eating ice cream every so often, or to clear her head, but her legs reminded her that they were good for this, too. Getting away.

It was foolish to run this early in the morning in the park. Even though there were all those op-eds about how it had been so gentrified with outdoor yoga classes and early morning kids play groups, she’d grown up knowing that you never went into the park at night. And a self-defense class she’d taken in college had told her that most assaults actually happened in the early morning.

So she was an idiot for doing it, but it had been such a beautiful morning and she’d woken with so much energy that she hadn’t been able to stop her feet from bringing her towards the green lushness. By nine o’clock it would have been too hot to run, so she’d set out at six.

She felt better as she exited the park. Shops were opening up, people were out walking their dogs. She could still feel it though, that sensation of being followed.

She turned her head quickly but didn’t see anyone so she kept running, turning right off of 5th avenue and heading east.

It was still there though. She reached into her armband and pulled out her keys, sticking them between her knuckles.

As the dark green awning of her apartment building came into view, Sid standing outside, she got the nerve and stopped running and turned around.

“Hey!” she shouted.

An old man across the street didn’t even look at her. It would take more than that to shock a long term New York City resident. Even if there was no one standing there for her to yell at.

Except, that wasn’t exactly true.

“Hey,” she said more softly, bending down.

A big grey dog, some sort of Husky mix maybe, approached her, his amber eyes looking into hers. She held her hand out and he sniffed it before his eyes closed and he rubbed his face against it.

“Hey,” she all but cooed now, crouching down and drawing him towards her, stroking his soft fur and ears, “Are you my stalker?” He made some sort of grunt in response and she felt around his neck for his tags. It was a grey tag darker than his fur and on one side it said Grey Wind. “Hello Grey Wind, I’m Myrcella.”

She turned the tag around and saw an address and a telephone number.

Grey Wind wasn’t wearing a leash and though he’d followed her long enough that she didn’t imagine he’d run away from her, she didn’t want to risk losing him either.

“Alright, come on you, let’s get inside and call your human,” she suggested.

As though that made very good sense he let her lead him by the collar towards her apartment building.

“They must be so worried about you,” she told him, unsure of why she was talking so much to this dog.

“New friend?” Sid greeted her.

“He followed me home,” she explained, “I’m just going to bring him upstairs while I call his owner.”

She had never looked into what her buildings rule was about pets, though she imagined that if there was a weight capacity Grey Wind far exceeded it.

“I saw nothing,” Sid smiled at her.

She smiled back, “Thanks Sid. Come on Grey Wind.”

Grey Wind looked at Sid who held open the door for him and then looked at her so she went inside and he followed. They went over to the elevator and she pressed the button for the eighth floor, grateful that no one else got in with them.

She led him to her apartment and brought him into the kitchen and filled a bowl of water and put it on the floor for him.

Once he’d had some to drink she looked at his tag again and dialed the number.

“Hello?” someone answered on the first ring.

“Hi, you don’t know me, but I’m Myrcella Baratheon and I think I have your dog?” she offered stupidly.

“Oh thank god,” the man said, “He just took off like nothing I’ve ever seen before, I’ve been all over the neighborhood. Is he alright?”

Myrcella glanced at Grey Wind who had rolled over onto his side and lifted his front paw to give her access to his belly.

“Um,” she couldn’t help but laugh, “Don’t be offended but he doesn’t seem as shaken up as you are.”

The man chuckled, “Of course not. I can come get him, where are you?”

In addition to being warned from going into the park at night, she’d also understood from a young age that you never gave your address to a stranger. There was something about Grey Wind’s amber eyes though and the concern in this guy’s voice that made it seem somehow less stupid.

“168 East 94th Street,” she said, “Just call this number when you get here and I’ll bring him down.”

“That’s funny,” he said, “I’m 168 West 94th Street.”

“Only in New York…,” she said that phrase that encompassed everything from a random party taking place at a taco truck or someone peeing right next to you as you ate outside at a five star restaurant.

“I’ll be right over,” he told her, “And I’m Robb Stark, by the way, and… thank you.”

“See you soon,” she said.

She hung up and poured herself a glass of water, sipping it as she sat on the floor with Grey Wind. He laid his head in her lap and let her scratch behind his ears.

“I should have kept you a little longer,” she told him and then thought about the panic in Robb’s voice, “But then your Daddy might have really lost it. What were you doing, running away from him?”

Grey Wind looked up at her, almost like he was trying to tell her something and though she didn’t know what it was, she scratched underneath his chin.

In what had to be record time, her phone buzzed.

“Hi, Robb, are you here? I’ll be right down,” she said.

“Um, actually, your doorman sent me up,” he told her, “But uh, I totally get it if that’s weird, I mean I’ve basically warned my sisters never to open their doors to a strange man and actually maybe your doorman shouldn’t be doing this job but uhmm… I am outside your apartment.”

There was no way that Sid had let him up, it had to have been one of the other guys. Sid didn’t even let her grandfather up without her express permission.

“Oh, that’s um.. okay I’ll be right there,” she said.

She hung up and got off of her floor and Grey Wind followed her. Stangely, even though he was Robb’s dog and therefore his loyalty would be to him, she felt better about opening the door with him at her side.

When she did, her first thought stupidly, was that she wished that she’d showered. Her second thought was that whichever doorman had let him up was getting a huge Christmas bonus.

She took advantage of his attention being on his dog and checked her appearance in the mirror above the little table in her foyer. She brushed a few strands of hair off of her forehead and was glad that she’d chosen her light blue exercise shorts and matching tank top for her run.

“What were you thinking, buddy?” Robb asked as Grey Wind threaded through his legs, his tail smacking against the doorframe he was so excited to see him. Robb finally looked at her and then something passed over his gorgeous blue eyes and he nodded down at Grey Wind, “Okay, I get it now.”

“Hi,” she greeted him.

“Hi,” he smiled at her. “I’m so sorry about all of this.”

“That’s alright,” she waved him off, “He’s a sweetie pie.”

“I’m glad he was a good boy,” Robb said and then held out his hand, “I’m Robb Stark, which you knew already.”

“Myrcella Baratheon,” she shook his large one, feeling her fingertips tingling.

He looked down at where their hands met and released hers, his fingers trailing over her palm as he did.

“Um, so, since you already gave him a run, I have a bit of time before work,” Robb joked and she smiled. His eyes wandered over her face and he gestured behind him, “Can I buy you a coffee… as a thank you?”

“Oh I’m sort of a mess,” she demurred.

His eyes looked over her, “This is you as a mess?”

She blushed, “Not a stage five or anything,” he smiled and she felt something in her stomach, “But I can make us coffee here… if you want to come in.”

“Yeah?” he asked hopefully.

She nodded, “You’re not like a murderer or anything are you?”

“I am not a murderer,” he agreed, “But I’m a little torn here.”

“Oh…” she nodded.

He shook his head, “No, no it’s just that one part of my brain is like this gorgeous girl just offered you coffee, you take it. If she offers you horse manure, you take it. And then the other part of me, the part that has two younger sisters is wanting me to tell you not to invite me in.”

She nodded, “It’s the second one,” his eyebrows raised, “The second voice in your head? He’s the one I’m inviting in.”

He grinned, “Well, both of them would be delighted.”

“Come on in,” she said, opening her door wider to accommodate his broad shoulders, “Grey Wind can lead the way.”

His dog did just that and she followed them into her kitchen, which gave her a great view of Robb’s butt in his shorts and his muscular back in his t-shirt.

“This is a great place,” he told her.

“Thank you,” she smiled, “I’ve lived in the city my whole life but I’ve been here about a year, have you been in the city long?”

“Just about six months,” he answered.

She went over to her counter and nodded, “That makes sense.” He looked at her questioningly and she explained, “You’re still nice.”

“What’s your excuse?” he asked.

She shrugged, “Haven’t figured it out yet.” Then she gestured to her counter, “So I can make us French Press or if you prefer a cappuccino or latte…”

“I’d like to say I’m easy, but I’d really love a cappuccino if it’s not too much trouble,” he admitted.

“It’s no trouble at all, please sit,” she suggested and went about making their coffees.

She made his cappuccino first and then made herself a vanilla latte and brought them over to the table and handed him his.

They heard sirens go by as they sipped their coffee, but it was New York City so neither them nor Grey Wind thought much of it.

She learned that he was from Vermont, the oldest of five. That his sister Sansa was working at a fancy boutique in Soho and that he worked as a VC, but focused on giving opportunities to entrepreneurs from more marginalized groups.

She told him that she’d been raised a couple blocks west and fifteen blocks south, that her bedroom growing up had a view of the Met and that when she was six she’d decided she was going to run away there and live in one of the historical rooms. She told him that she had two brothers but that neither of them lived in the city anymore and that she worked for a publishing house and had just taken on her own authors for the first time.

When he finished his cappuccino she offered him another which he accepted but didn’t drink.

“I try not to drink more than one cup in a morning,” he told her when he noticed her looking.

“Oh,” she said, “Then…”

“I wasn’t ready to go,” he admitted.

She felt a blush rise on her cheeks but found the gumption to ask, “Will you think I’m terribly forward if I told you that you don’t need to make up an excuse to be here?”

“No,” he said, “But it’ll make it a lot easier to ask you to have dinner with me tonight.”

“Robb,” she smiled, “You don’t need to make up an excuse to be here.”

“Myrcella,” he grinned, “Will you have dinner with me tonight?”

She was about to answer when both of their phones flashed. They both picked them up off the table and she saw that it was just a Neighborhood Watch notification.

Robb was reading his and she saw the color drain from his face, so she looked down.

Attack in Central Park at 6:45 AM, victim is female, age 26 and has been taken to the hospital to address her injuries.

“Were you…” he started.

“Yeah…” she agreed.

They both looked down at Grey Wind who was sprawled underneath the table, touching each of their feet.

“Maybe somewhere outside?” she asked, “That allows dogs.”

Robb nodded, “I know a place. We’ll come pick you up at 7.”

She smiled, trying to get her heart rate to return to normal, and said, “I have lived in this city my whole life. I don’t need an escort, I just won’t run in the park in the morning anymore.”

He looked at her like he wanted to say something, and then his blue eyes softened, “Just looking for an excuse to get more time with you.”

And just like that, her heart steadied.

“You don’t need an excuse.”