#goldenfiligree

[sonatine]

back on The Get Down train with no stops passing all stations thinking about thor and dizzee creating a life together in the village in the 70s

via yours truly

After half a year in traction and another ten years pinned beneath medical debt, because getting clipped by a train is no small goddamn feat, Dizzee hauls himself up and back into the black just in time for the Crisis to hit the village, where he and Thor shared a life for the past fifteen years. Still in a gut trap flophouse that sixteen year old Thor squatted in when his stepdad said no faggot offspring of mine will live under this roof, but now Dizzee and Thor have made it a home with hot water and proper furniture and Sunday evening dinners open to one and all. Boo Boo begs them to fly out to the Caribbean and stay with him for a while, but Thor refuses to leave the home that took him in when he had no one and Dizzee refuses to leave the home that he chose even when he had everyone. They weather the storm together, watching their friends dwindle and the hedge fund predators snatch up vacant apartments barely cold from their owners’ graves and by the time the nineties and the yuppies roll in, their neighborhood no longer resembles the village they knew, but where else would they go? Still on Pier 34, now surrounded by galleries and glass boxes in the sky filled with lackluster art and computers, but their art stays. Thor has his galleries and Dizzee is in his, but their couch always remains open to any new orphan.

ao3 link

and @goldenfiligree

They pull down the boards over the bands of narrow windows that run down the sides of the warehouse, painstakingly taping over individual broken panes to keep out the wind. Strips of warm amber light fan across the floor in the afternoons, church-like. Holy. It’s colder, so he lives in a scarf and lined wool mittens lopped off above the palm. He gets used to painting in the daytime, in the scant hours before sunset when the light streams in, liquid gold in their little kingdom. Thor builds shelves for their supplies, scavenges wood planks from an abandoned lot and talks the guy at the hardware store into letting him use their saw. He comes home with an inch-wide stripe of pink sunburn across his forehead and curls of sawdust clinging to his hair. Dizzee spends long hours on the pier, knees tucked up to his chest, stuffed into two coats, woolen scarf pulled up over his nose, gloves, hats, staring out at the water. His family used to tease him for endless days of staring out at nothing, living inside his head, motionless like a doll waiting to be wound up. The beginnings of an idea pinballing around his synapses, a spark of new life in the universe. It begins all at once, out of nothing, exploding outwards, expanding. Pure chance.

ao3 link

[thepurplepuddle-blog]

RESTOCK ALERT 🚨 This gorgeous pattern is back with a vengeance & we couldn't be happier 🙏🏻😍 #thepurplepuddle • Pattern: Golden Filigree • • • • • • • #hamont #shophamont #leggings #burlon #toronto #the6ix #proudlycanadian #torontofashion #livinginleggings #leggingsarepants #leggingobsession #goldenfiligree #ilovegold #redblundstones #leggingsalldayeveryday #thecomfiestleggings #prettypattern #veryelegant (at McMaster University)

[aewriting]

RNM Fandom Creators Week: Day 4 - Fluff

Fluff is not really my wheelhouse - I am more an angst, hurt/comfort, AU fan. So just know that most of my fluff recommendations have a bit of salty along with the sweet (that makes it better, right? Like a chocolate covered pretzel, ha).

Love is a burning thing by @sabrinachill

AO3 author page

Oh I love this one. Love it. One of the best Alex portrayals. There is some tension (multiple fires, which silly me didn’t realize was a theme tied to the title till I’d read this multiple times, ha). And I have CERTAINLY read it multiple times. Really great meet-ugly right at the get-go, too. Can’t go wrong with any of this author’s works.

There was only one bed by @gra-sonas

AO3 author page

This is a short, cute, and sweet AU where Alex and Michael are strangers in an airport, their flight is delayed, they’re provided with overnight accommodations, aaaaaand cue title, ha. This is actual legit fluff and it’s very cute and fun.

Recovered echoes by @goldenfiligree

AO3 author page

This is a story about Alex getting a dog, and so much more. There are mentions of Michael’s childhood in this, along with other not so fluffy topics like Caulfield, but it ends well for everyone. It’s beautifully written.

Til it leads you to the one you love by @bellakitse

AO3 author page

It’s a Malex Holiday AU. I love it. My very favorite scene is when Alex and Michael meet g G or the first time. I really like the way Alex is written in this, too.

The spark before the dark (come a little closer) by @acomebackstory (is there an updated tumblr for this author???)

AO3 author page

This is Isobel/Kyle, and is single-handedly responsible for me even considering his pairing. It’s not all fluff (Isobel is post-Noah), but I do love what Kyle and Isobel are able to give each other here.

Make no mistake of the good times and bad by @andrea-lyn

AO3 author page

I literally read this yesterday, and really enjoyed it. As a warning, this is an AU that starts out as a honeypot situation, so you may want to avoid this if that’s not your thing, but I thought it was so entertaining, and I loved the build up to their encounter (and the subsequent reveals)!

[focusfixated]

june/july fic rec round up

i’m about a week late for july, and i didn’t do one of these for june, but i still wanted to collect up the good stuff that’s kept me going these past months. also going to slip in my own writing while i’m here - feel free to take it or leave it, but please read the rest of this fantastic bunch (grouped by fandom). 

--

tombstone by @yeats-infection

rating: T || fandom: good omens || pairing: aziraphale/crowley notes: aziraphale & crowley in arizona, 1881. vivid, earthy, poetic prose. nuanced and subtle characterisation.

--

the parting glass by @justlikeeddie & @the-omnishambles

rating: G || fandom: good omens || pairing: aziraphale/crowley notes: aziraphale & crowley through different periods in history. delightful, funny, on-point characterisation. an exploration of self-deception and longing. sweet & satisfying. 

--

collateral by @palebluehalo & loosecannon

rating: M || fandom: it || pairing: richie/eddie notes: post-pennywise, richie & eddie find their way back to each other. detailed, complex, masterfully-written, resonates with feeling. 

--

midnight oil by @bottle-of-smoke

rating: E || fandom: it || pairing: richie/eddie notes: set the night before richie and eddie’s wedding. extremely compelling characterisations. emotionally honest writing, and an arresting physicality to the sex.

--

the other half is me by @focusfixated : MY FIC

rating: E || fandom: it || pairing: richie/eddie notes: richie wants to wear a collar but isn’t sure it’s ok to ask for it. basically identity porn/sex as character exploration, looking at the intersection of who we are and what we want.

--

waiting for the day by @focusfixated: MY FIC

rating: E || fandom: it || pairing: richie/eddie notes: 4 + 1 times richie and eddie meet again before ch2. i wanted to do something a little poetic & romantic about memory loss & cosmic soulmates. 

--

liminality by @goldenfiligree

rating: T || fandom: the get down || pairing: dizzee/thor notes: dizzee reflects on his life, his situation, his relationships. a story about identity. poetic, soft and powerful at the same time. 

--

never let no one man worry your mind by @cimness

rating: T || fandom: singin’ in the rain notes: cosmo gets arrested. don finds out. sweet, original, keenly-observed. full of fascinating historical vaudevillian detail.

--

when there’s nothing left to burn you have to set yourself on fire by @drawsaurus

rating: T || fandom: tintin || pairing: haddock/tintin notes: tintin dies on the moon. deeply tragic, but sharp, quiet, romantic and extremely affecting.

--

previous fic-rec round-up posts

01 january 02 february 03 march 04 april 05 may

[michaels-blackhat]

My Little Alien.

Not part of my holiday project of doom, which I should really be working on, but still a gift for @alexmanesairstream also for @goldenfiligree because I love her

based on this post

The door to Kyle��s apartment was crack and Michael could hear snippets of the conversation inside. He could hear Kyle’s teasing voice and Alex’s gushing one, the one he normally uses to talk about the cute thing Michael had done for him that day, the one he vehemently denies exists. Michael had never actually heard it, though everyone else told him about it. It’s out now, Michael could barely hear the words, but the tone was coming in clear. He opened the door a little more, eager to witness the event.

“He’s my favorite, ok? He’s just so cute. I can’t stand it.”

Michael grinned to himself. He knew he was Alex’s favorite, but it was nice to get confirmation.

“Ok, he’s cute I can see that,” Kyle replied. Michael’s brows furrowed. There was no way Kyle agreed that Michael was cute. “But he’s just a tool for Disney to sell subscriptions. This was purposeful.”

Michael frowned.

“Yes, that’s why I’ve downloaded the episode. But also, have you considered that I love him and I don’t care?”

Michael opened the door and walked in. They were expecting him, it was why the door was left open, but he still felt awkward for coming in during their conversation. Especially a conversation where Alex was using that voice, but not talking about him.

Michael could hear Kyle’s snort clearly.

“See, I thought you’d be more upset that they still haven’t shown Pedro Pascal’s face?”

“It just makes no sense! Why hire Pedro Pascal if you aren’t going to show his face?”

Alex’s voice had changed from his “Talking about Sweet Michael” voice to his “Mildly Annoyed with Michael” voice. Michael did not like that whatever thing they were talking about elicited not one, but two of Alex’s Michael Tones.

“Disney has the money to hire anyone, that’s why.” Kyle paused. They were in the kitchen and they would see him any moment. “But, damn do I love that show.”

“What show?” Michael asked, finally revealing his presence. 

Alex grinned his sunshine smile. This wasn’t just for Michael, but it was seen most often in Michael’s company.

“The Mandalorian,” Alex said as he made his way over to Michael for a hello kiss. “It’s on the Disney+ App.” He smiled again. “Or it’s just saved to my laptop, because fuck Disney.”

“Okay,” Michael said, still not entirely understanding what was going on. “You ready to go? Isobel wants us to head to her place before we head home.”

“Yeah, let me just get my bag.”

Michael didn’t ask more about the show.

-

“Really Michael, how do you not know what this is?”

Michael just shrugged as Isobel came back with a glass of wine for herself and a bottle of beer for Michael.

“Why would I know it Is?”

Isobel smirked as she sat down next to him. She pulled the fuzzy blanket over her legs and said, “Maybe because your boyfriend is obsessed with it? Because he loves Baby Yoda a ridiculous amount? Because he hasn’t stopped talking about how cute it is in weeks?”

“I only heard about it yesterday,” Michael admitted. “And I only know about it because he and Kyle were talking about it.” He took a sip of his beer. “He said this thing was ‘his favorite’.” Michael knew that Isobel could hear his disgruntled tone. He didn’t particularly care.

“Aw, are you upset that you’re not his favorite alien anymore?” Michael glared at his sister. “Come on, we’ll see what all this fuss is about.”

-

“Yeah, ok,” Michael said after the end of the second episode. “It’s pretty cute.” He had his phone out and searched.

-

Michael stared at the gift bag, unsure. Yes, he was allowed to buy his boyfriend presents. Actually, it was highly encouraged according to his friends, family, and the internet. It’s thoughtful and it shows that you care.

Michael couldn’t help feeling silly though. Who buys their almost 30 year-old boyfriend a crocheted toy of a stupid alien from a stupid tv show? He did, apparently.

He sighed, grabbed the bag, and got out of his truck.

Alex met him at the door of the cabin.

“Everything alright?” He asked as Michael climbed the steps. “You were in your truck for a while.”

“Yeah, I am. It’s just,” Michael hesitated before he held out the bag. “I got this for you.”

Alex took the bag with a confused smile. He gestured for Michael to come in as he played with the tag on the bag. They sat on the couch, Buffy at their feet.

“To my favorite human,” Alex read. “From your second favorite alien. What?” Alex’s confusion grew.

“Go on, open it.”

Alex did. The confusion melted into a warm smile.

“I heard you and Kyle talking the other day. He’s your favorite, so I went searching…” Michael trailed off as Alex pulled him into a hug, Baby Yoda toy firmly smushed between the two of them.

“I love him,” Alex said into his ear. He pulled back so that he could see Michael’s face. “Just not as much as I love you.”

“He’s your favorite alien,” Michael said. He would have shrugged if Alex’s arms weren’t holding him so tight.

“He’s my favorite fake alien,” Alex explained before he leaned in to give Michael a quick kiss. “But you’re my favorite real one.”

“Yeah?” Michael asked with a grin, his special grin that was only for Alex.

“Yeah,” Alex replied.

-

“You have the popcorn?” Alex asked from the couch, wrapped in blankets with Baby Yoda in his arms.

“Yeah!” Michael replied from the kitchen. “You want something to drink?”

“No, I have water.”

“Okay.”

Michael walked into the living room with Buffy at his heels. He looked at Alex, cozy on the couch with a spot next to him perfectly Michael sized. His laptop was hooked up to their TV, so they could watch the most recent episode of The Mandalorian.

“Ready?” Alex asked, finger on the mouse.

“Wait,” Michael said before he wrapped his arms around Alex and Baby Yoda both. “Ok, I’m good.”

Alex pressed play.

[queermil]

millie’s long list of malex fics | recovered echoes by romancandles / @goldenfiligree

“I didn’t know you were afraid of dogs,” says Alex.

“I’m not afraid of dogs,” says Michael. He just doesn’t get the human obsession with them: loud, dirty, dumb, always getting into everything.

Alex adopts a dog. Michael takes a while to warm to her.

comment: i’ll never be tired of fics that focus on alex’s adoption of a dog, and this one doubles as a kind of slow-burn return for alex and michael. the characterisation in this one is absolutely stellar, which won’t be a surprise to you if you’ve read any of this author’s other fics. i adore ripley. alex has my whole heart. the first scene with maria’s comment made me burst out laughing. the slow, warm build up to a malex ending is second only to michael’s begrudging love of ripley. the dialogue is perfect and there are so many wonderful lines that instead of me listing them, you might as well just go read the fic!

have a fic you’d like to see on the list? let me know!

[el-gilliath]

33, 34, 38 :)

33) What’s the biggest compliment you’ve gotten?

This isn’t in my fic, but @goldenfiligree told me the other day I was soothing like an anxiety balm and I almost started crying. Tears in my eyes, trying to hold it back, the works. The most amazing thing anyone has ever told me.

As for fics, someone told me once that reading my fics made their day brighter when it had been the most horrible day they had every had. That did make me cry.

34) What’s the harshest criticism you’ve gotten?

Well. Back in the day when flames were a thing I got some pretty harsh ones. Someone told me recently that they didn’t understand why I kept writing when it was obvious no one liked my fics since they didn’t get notes/reblogs/kudos. I elected to ignore that one.

38) If you could collab with any other writer on here, who would it be? (Perhaps this question will inspire some collabs!) If you’re shy, don’t tag the blog, just name it.

Oooooooooooo. There are soooo many. I would love to collab with you one day, Marlo! :D And collabing(even if I only lent my voice) with @ubiestcaelum and @michaels-blackhat was a dream come through because it was so much fun and I would LOVE to do it again.

But yeah, to mention a few; @hannah-writes, @beamirang, @winged-fool (the dark fic we could write). There are so many others too!

There’s also been talks of a collab with @bisexualalienblast which I am really wanting to do! (Vacation plans hey oh)

[bella-monoxide]

This needs another share, because it‘s brilliant, and achingly beautifully written. So. There. Wonderful Malex story.

@goldenfiligree on tumblr 💖

[sandeejohnsonart-blog]

13 x 18 mixed media photograph #colorphotography #mixedmedia #mixedmediaphotography #mixedmediacollage #colorphotography #contemporaryphoto #contemporaryphotography #masks#filigree #goldenfiligree #crown #pensive #pensivemood #artcollector #photoart #photocollection #photocollector #ashevillefolk #ashevilleartist #gallerywall

[lilczechtreasures]

30 & 40% OFF! Coupon Codes on Banner!https://goo.gl/67u7FM $7.15 #Findings #GoldSquareFiligree #BrassSquare #BrassManufacturer #GoldBrassFiligree #Filigree #CarvedFiligree #GoldenFiligree #FiligreeFindings #BrassFiligree https://lilczechtreasures.com #outfy @outfyinc

[alwaysalreadyangry]

5 & 15?

5. Books or authors that influenced your style the most.

this is weirdly hard to answer. i think in part because i don’t want to claim influences that i feel i don’t live up to (as if that’s not the whole point of influence) but also because i’m not really consciously sure which writers i’m trying my hardest to emulate.

i certainly think a lot about the way helen oyeyemi writes sentences, and the kinds of little details that she puts in her work which bring them to life. that is something i’m sure i’ve tried to copy, to much less success.

i think a lot about @septembriseur/kvikindi’s prose and ways of telling stories/writing character, and try to use parts of that, i think. and escapement in particular is a fic that i feel really got inside my head at a crucial time and made me think a lot about structure and also structure of image, structure of – imagination? it’s hard to explain. but definitely that story. and especially the moments at which the story or the narration seems to break, change. it’s such a clever piece of writing and i also feel it in my throat every time i read.

about grace by romancandles/@goldenfiligree is the other fanfic that i feel like… i have re-read approximately a million times, and its generosity with its characters and its ways of reading people through each other has really stuck with me. and i don’t know if i’m ever going to manage anything like it, but i definitely think about it a lot. and its imagery and phrasing.

i love jane gaskell’s weirdness, fearlessness, spikiness, and want to inhabit it. i have definitely thought of her as an influence more consciously than i have with the others i’ve listed – in whatever way that matters. as in, i have thought about her when considering writing sentences that take courage, or when writing weird things that break the world i’m writing. which means she is not necessarily always there as an influence but she’s someone i think of to shore myself up?

what else? there are a lot of writers i want to steal images, or ways of forming images from. hilary mantel. sofia samatar has changed the way i think about so many things, not least of all story and image and structure, although i’m not sure yet if or how she’s changed the way i write. when i was younger, my ways of writing were definitely shaped by b.s. johnson, and frank o’hara. 

and the poet anne boyer has made me think so much about history & politics & speculation & magic in what i write.

ETA: i cannot believe that i forgot matt fraction. nothing has influenced my style -- either of like, dialogue, or of structuring a story in a non-linear way -- more than his run on hawkeye did. and i guess david aja, too. his way of drawing gesture, his way of making bodies move. i think about it a lot.

15. Where does your inspiration come from?

ha, god knows. i sometimes feel like i just gather images and small ideas in my head until they need to burst out, and then i end up with a weird poem that doesn’t make any sense to me. with poetry that’s a large part of it – phrases that get stuck in my mind, or sometimes/often a physical sensation or a gesture that i decide i want to explore or deepen. and if it knocks around in my head for long enough, if it sticks, i work out how to put it down.

for fiction, sometimes i get an image stuck in my head in the same way – often that’s where i get the very start of a story from. but i generally get ideas for story from history or non-fiction articles of some kind, or from podcasts, or from some small history that i already know about. so i wrote a story about remus and sirius as local newspaper journalists because my parents are and have been journalists on a local paper since the early 1980s, and i was interested in hearing my mum talk about the history of that and how the profession has changed. and… i guess i recently wrote a short little fic about arabella strange and her lodgings after the events of js&mn because i was interested in the construction of a house/home and the small objects that fill them after i visited dennis severs’ house last november. i guess i don’t really know how to write about big histories or anything, but small historical questions – even if they’re recent ones – stick with me. or at the very least. a small image from an article might lodge in my brain.

right now i’ve got the idea of the east anglian fens stuck in my head, especially the idea of skating on them. i know i want to write about it, but i don’t know my way in. so i guess that will percolate for a while. hopefully i’ll work it out.

anyway: who knows where thoughts come from? they just appear.

[michaels-blackhat]

for @goldenfiligree, enjoy <3

"And when you open to page four of your binder you will see the top five wedding venues in a twenty-mile radius, all indoor/outdoor venues with perfect spots for portraits. I’ve added profiles for each of them, some pictures included, along with their policies on catering, alcohol, and so on.” 

Isobel smiles over the large binder of wedding ideas. She had been preparing for this moment for four years and she can barely hold in her excitement.

“I know you guys aren’t really the ballroom types, so I only included cabins and really rustic looking venues,” Isobel says, smile still on her face.

Alex takes the binder from her with a light, inquisitive “hmm”. He flips to the first venue.

“This one’s out,” he says after barely a moment. “It looks like the cabin before we redecorated. We are so not hunters- no Guerin,” he cut Michael off before he could make a comment. “You are not making any jokes about being a predator of whatever desert animal you like today.”

Isobel looks over to see Michael’s reaction, a pout that tries to be as cute as Buffy’s but fails spectacularly. Michael grabs the binder from Alex’s hands and starts flipping through.

“I don’t know Is,” he says as he flips back and forth between the five choices. “I’m just not really sure any of these are really… us, you know?”

Isobel shakes her head in denial. “No, I really don’t know what you mean. These are all very you! The rough woods, they’re all in nature. It’s you, but polished,” Isobel explains as she opens the binder back to venue option 3. “I really think you guys would like this one, especially how it has an indoor/outdoor option.”

Alex and Michael exchange a look and Isobel is already dreading what they’re going to say.

“It’s nice Isobel, really it is,” Alex starts, hesitant.

Michael is anything but hesitant. “It’s just not us Is,” he says, almost cutting Alex off. “They’re all so fancy and formal, not really us.”

“It’s an old farm converted into a venue,” Isobel replies, her voice deadpane. “That’s like, the opposite of fancy and formal.”

“I think what Michael is trying to say,” Alex takes over, aware that Isobel and Michael would never understand each other, not about this, “is that it all feels very polished. Everything has been redone or rebuilt. It all lacks that authenticity.”

Michael nods his agreement, while still rolling his eyes over ‘authenticity’. As far as he was concerned, authenticity was not a word used in association to ‘farm’.

“Ok,” Isobel says as she forces herself to relax her shoulders and unclench her jaw. “Then what did you have in mind?”

“We honestly don’t-” Alex starts to say before Michael speaks over him.

“That barn over on that lavender farm we were at a few years back.”

Alex smiles. “Yes, I liked that place. A little rundown, but you could tell it was still being taken care of. And those lavender fields were beautiful.”

Michael smiles back at Alex. A slight thrill goes through him as he’s reminded just how in-sync he and Alex are now.

“Wait a minute,” Isobel interrupts the silent lovefest. “Wait, you mean the murder barn? Where the two of you definitely almost died? Back when you weren’t together?”

Michael shrugs while Alex protests. “Really,” he says, “it wasn’t that bad. We definitely did not almost die.”

“You both came back covered in bruises and Michael was unconscious!” Isobel’s voice rises as she speaks. She’s suddenly extremely grateful for her empty office.

Neither of them could argue with her though. It was the truth. They had returned to Roswell bruised, a little bloody, and almost a whole day later than they said they’d be.

“Okay, it was dangerous then,” Alex eventually agrees, “but we took care of the threat. The owner was extremely gracious to us too.” Alex adds the last sentence almost as an after thought.

“Yeah,” Michael says, head nodding. “She made us dinner and everything. We got to talking about the business. I fixed her tractor before we left.” He turns to Alex. “She was real sweet, pretty sure she’d let us rent out her barn for the day.”

Isobel sighs. She should have known.

“Ok,” she says, “we’ll talk to the owner of the murder barn about the venue.”

She glances up at her brother and future brother-in-law. She reminds herself that she loves them, is thrilled for them, and that she knew coming in that they would probably be her most stubborn clients ever.

“Okay, let’s move on to catering…”

Alex and Michael just look at each other and smile.

“Taco truck?”

“Taco truck.”

Isobel just sighs. It’s going to be a long meeting.

[queermil]

Rules: Post the first line of one of your WIPs and tag as many people are there are words.

got tagged by @andrea-lyn @chamblerstara and @mander3-swish which is very sweet!! so here’s the first three line from a wip!!

Michael knows what a broken wrist looks like. He’s intimately familiar with the way you have to carry your arm when you can’t get a cast put on it and very bump or movement is excruciating. He can see the too-thin bandage wrapped around the wrist of Alex Manes, and he might have dismissed it as none of his business, if it weren’t for the split lip that Alex is sporting in addition to the careful way he places his arm on the desk in front of him.

lordy who hasn’t been tagged? @indarkstars @captalexmanes @goldenfiligree @aewriting @evepolastried @usbournejez @unbreakablejemmasimmons @salmonthestoryteller

[el-gilliath]

I love your fics so much and you seem so lovely and supportive of others!!!

Thank you so much! @goldenfiligree told me once that I was soothing like an anxiety balm (which is why my ask is Let me soothe you like an anxiety balm) and it my most favorite compliment ever.

And the fact that others see me as supportive and lovely as well, nonnie you have no idea how much that means to me. Thank you <3

[mayramont]

El sello más elegante 💛 Tengo el sello indicado para ti 🔶💌 #sealup #sellosparainvitacionesdeboda #goldenfiligree #wedding #weddingplanner #weddingenvelopes #boda #invitationwedding #brochesparainvitaciones #spgg (en San Pedro Garza Garcia,Monterrey N.L)

[michaels-blackhat]

baker’s choice

day 9/31 of my massive holiday project

for @goldenfiligree, congrats your tiny kitchen fire is forever immortalized. Also, thank you for loving this friendship as much as I do <3. Also, I’m still doing exam work so I’m so sorry that this just... ends.

“I may have set a fire,” was the first thing Liz heard when she picked up the phone.

“Are you ok Alex? What happened?”

Maria turned to her in alarm. Liz put the phone on speaker.

Alex’s voice filled the kitchen as he sighed. “I’m fine, it was only a small fire, really.”

“What happened?” Maria asked again as she and Liz huddled around the phone.  “I’m glad you’re ok, but how did you set a fire.”

They could hear Alex as he paced through the cabin, the click of Buffy’s nails on the floorboards loud as he stayed silent.

“So, the starter on my stove broke,” he started as they heard the sound of a chair scraping on wood. “And so I had to use a match and well. There was apparently a towel right next to it and the next thing I knew there was a small fire in my kitchen.” He paused for a moment. “It’s fine, really.”

“Absolutely not,” Liz said, voice stern. Maria could hear Alex’s eye roll across on the phone. “You are coming over and we’re going to make the punch together. You can help me and Maria make the pies!”

There was a pause on the other side of the phone, Alex completely silent. Even Buffy was silent, seemingly aware that something bad was about to happen.

“Liz,” Alex said, hesitant. “Are you sure you want me and Maria to help you bake?”

Liz smiled at the phone while Maria shrugged in acknowledgement. Neither of them were the best at baking. “Of course I do! It’ll be just like old times!” Liz did her happy dance while she spoke. “And you can bring Buffy over!”

“Liz, are you sure?”

Liz continued her happy dance while she spoke. “Yes! We can bake and gossip! And you know how much Rosa loves Buffy! It’ll be great!”

An hour later, the kitchen was covered in flour, Liz was gone to buy more flour and eggs and butter because their pumpkin pie fell before it even got to the oven. The apple pie was faring better, if only because Liz had had it in the oven before Alex arrived.

“Don’t touch anything!” Liz had said as she ran out the door, the only member of their party who wasn’t covered in pumpkin filling and was presentable enough to face the public. “Maria, feel free to grab a change of clothes.” She had looked at Alex thoughtfully. “I definitely don’t have anything that will fit you, unless you want to relive your emo youth and wear girl jeans?” Alex  had made a horrified face and Liz had laughed. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. I’ll figure out something for you,” she yelled as she closed the door.

Maria sat at the kitchen table in an old pair of sweats and an old band shirt of Rosa’s. He was out of his pie-covered shirt and jeans, which had joined Maria’s clothes in the laundry. He ignored Maria’s teasing about his alien-head covered boxer briefs as he looked through the cabinets.

“You know, those look nothing like our aliens,” Maria commented as she scrolled on her phone. “How angry to do you think Alien Barbie would get if we made her underwear with her brother’s faces on it?”

Alex snorted, head in the pantry still. His voice was muffled as he replied, “Pretty sure she’d burn them immediate. Not worth the cost, really.”

Maria watched as Alex made a triumphant sound and pulled out a box of sugar cookie mix.

“What do you think you’re doing Alex?”

“Proving to Liz that we aren’t the kitchen disasters she thinks we are.”

Maria stood up and walked towards him. “You sure this is a good idea?”

He grinned. “Yes I do. That pie was perfect, the only reason it fell was because Rosa startled you. We follow directions well. We can do this. And then Liz comes home to the smell of baking cookies.”

Maria barely hesitated before she agreed. “Though,” she said as she walked over, apron in hand, “you may want to cover up a bit.”

He laughed in agreement and put on the apron.

“Ok, he said as he opened the box, let’s do this.”

Somehow, they both forgot that there wasn’t a single egg or stick of butter in the house. They remember sometime after they poured the milk into the cookie mix.

“We may have fucked up,” Alex said, bowl of slightly milky mix in hand. A mix that quickly ended up on Alex, on Maria, on the floor, and on Buffy the doorbell rang and Buffy came flying out of Rosa’s room and straight into Alex.

“Fuck.”

Maria groaned as she took in the mess, and then groaned again when she heard the laughter from the kitchen doorway.

“Well, if this isn’t a party,” Guerin said, shit eating grin on his face. He had a plastic bag full of clothes in his hand and Buffy at his feet. “Liz called and said Alex needed some clothes. Gotta be honest, this was not what I was expecting.” He took in the kitchen, the mess on the floor and the mess they were covered in. “Really don’t understand how you two are so bad at this. Maria, you own a bar, you have a kitchen! And Alex! I know for a fact you had basic cooking classes in the Air Force.”

Maria scowled as she looked at her messy clothes. “That’s why I hire a cook Guerin. Ugh, Alex why did you talk me into this? I think I milk in my nose now.” She tried to blow out the offending gunky while making her way back to Rosa’s bedroom.

As she walked away she thought she heard Michael make a comment about Alex’s alien-themed underwear. She definitely heard Alex yell Michael’s name in frustration before she heard the bathroom door slam.

Rosa just laughed when she saw Maria, once again covered in a failed attempt at baking.

“This is why I stayed in here,” she laughed. “You two just can’t be trusted.”

“We’re not that bad,” Maria tried to defend, but her heart wasn’t in it. Two costume changes in one baking attempt was a new low.

“You stick to drinks and Alex can stick to computers. Not everyone can be talented at everything they do,” Rosa said as she stood to find Maria a new set of clothing. “Just because Liz and I are perfect doesn’t mean you have to be,” she added with a smirk.

Maria retaliated by tickling her mercilessly. She was quickly joined by Alex, in a fresh pair of sweats and an Air Force hoodie, Michael, and Buffy. Liz returned to an all-out tickle war, a messy kitchen, and a full, though mildly annoyed, heart.