#hand. placement. SOPHIE!!

[lambsouvlaki]

Happy holidays! Can we get some Jay Andy and Sophie Christmas fluff pleaswe? Maybe all of them doing a family date at a Christmas tree farm or decorating their tree? I love your dad fics on such a personal level hehe

Thanks!

Thanks for the fun request, anon! I really enjoyed this one, I hope you like it.

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Andy strolled back into the living room, sweeping up one of Sophie’s plush toys from the ground on her way to Jason, who was standing in front of the Christmas tree with his hands on his hips. He was in fluffy socks, cargo pants, and a hideous festive sweater. He assessed the magnificent tree like a worthy foe. 

Andy was more interested in the plush. It was a gangly elf in a green jerkin and pixie boots, red hat, and a little yellow belt and collar. Sophie had clumsily scribbled a domino mask over the eyes in marker.

“What was it like working for Santa?” Andy asked seriously. 

“Hm?”

She showed him the toy. 

Jason cackled. 

“For Christmas, little Jimmy, you get Justice,” he said in his best Dark Knight rumble.

“Holy milk and cookies, Batman!”

“Damian will hate that so much, remind me to take a photo later,” he said, then turned back to the tree.

She watched him detangle one of the tinsel ropes and rearrange it to his standards. He was taking this very seriously. 

Christmas back when they were just dating was never this big an affair. That first year she placed his present on the kitchen bench beneath a single pine cone. He got her a better antivirus for her laptop. Neither thought anything of it. 

But they weren’t just going out now. Not just two friends who fell in love, two dorks who hid their faces in each other’s shoulders on bad days, and giggled themselves to sleep over stupid jokes. He wasn’t just the guy who got her pregnant, either. 

She watched Jason pout over the exact placement of a bauble. 

That was her family now. 

Weird. 

She put elf robin down and slowly attached herself to his side. He put his arm around her shoulders, holding her in place, while still focusing on the tree. 

It was a real beauty.

She couldn’t get the time off work to go down to the farm to pick it, so Jason and Sophie went alone. The two-year-old only kind of knew what was going on but was very excited to be going on an important mission with her current favourite person. 

Andy pretended she wasn’t disappointed at missing out. She didn’t even know why she cared, the idea had never been very interesting before.

They brought back a massive douglas fir that made the most of the apartment’s high ceilings. She was gobsmacked at the size and laughed at the sight of Jason in a Santa hat hauling it out of the freight elevator. Sophie cheered and stamped her feet with excitement. Decorating it took half the day and Sophie drifted off to sleep on his shoulder halfway through. 

Jason started undoing the tinsel again. 

“What’s going on, babe?” Andy asked. 

“Not enough gold on this side,” he replied. “And that line of red baubles is too uniform. And there’s not enough tinsel.”

She looked around. There was tinsel everywhere. They were going to be vacuuming up sparkly bits well into January. 

“And the star’s too small,” he muttered. 

“Jay.”

“Hm?”

“Why are you obsessing over Christmas decorations?”

He blinked. “I am not.”

“I’ve seen you defuse bombs with less focus.” 

He huffed a breath. “It’s my first Christmas home with you two. I want it to be special. Sophie deserves–” He ducked his head. “She deserves a good dad.”

Andy leaned her head against his shoulder. “And a good mom.”

He scoffed. “Which she has.”

“I burned the gingerbread men. You’re making me look bad.”

He scoffed again, looking away now. He rubbed the back of his neck. “I guess I’m being silly, huh?” he said. 

She frowned and wished she hadn’t joked. She hadn’t realised how important it was to him. She wrapped her arms around his waist.

“You know,” she said, haltingly, “I don’t really… have any good memories of family Christmases.” 

He looked down at her, his brow lowered. “Oh.” 

It was her turn to look away. “I’m enjoying making these ones with you.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

He wrapped his arms around her. She rested her face on his chest. He put his chin on top of her head. 

“You’re doing great, Jay. I don’t think Soph’s ever been this excited before.”

He let out a gusty breath, and his shoulders relaxed. “Thanks, baby. I just… I want to do right by you. Both of you.”

“I know.”

He kissed her forehead. 

“Where is the little nugget, anyway?” she asked. 

He lifted a branch with his foot.

A toddler wrapped in tinsel squealed and retreated further beneath the tree. 

Next>>

[foxofninetales]

You get more leverage with a crowbar

"...I told you," bristles Elliot, stalking in an angry little half-circle around the open – very open – door.  It's a heavy door, fireproof, and designed to add an extra layer of overnight security to the collection in the room beyond, but it hadn't been able to stand against the explosives that had been packed around its hinges and lock.  "I told you there was something off about the whole setup. Or do you think that it's just a coincidence that someone else decided to rob the museum right after we took down all their security precautions?"  He prowls back around again, feet automatically stepping over the unconscious security guard who is dreaming happily on the low-pile carpet – one of several who lies scattered decoratively around the museum thanks to Sophie’s intervention. 

Hardison sees his point, but at the same time, it's not like mister punchy-man is the one who has been putting in the hard work on this heist so far.  "You're upset? Who spent hours”– okay, lie, it was like five minutes, but he has a mystique to cultivate here –"making sure all the alarms were disabled just to find that someone took advantage of his hard work–"

"Your hard work!" Sophie breaks in with an expressive wave of her hands. "You think it's easy spending two weeks being a docent? On a museum salary? During field trip season?!"  She shudders beneath the name badge (not hers) that she is still wearing. There are sticky handprints on the hem of her sensible grey suit.

"Quiet!"

They all stop and look at Nate, who is staring down at the fallen door with a deeply contemplative expression.  Hardison can almost hear his fans spinning.  "Do you ever feel," he says slowly – and that is his sit-up-and-pay-attention voice, his mastermind voice, his I'm-at-heart-a-deeply-creepy-bastard voice, "that we were being led the whole way here?"

Hardison knows by now that the best way to speed up Nate's processor is with a little kick of wounded pride, and he's got plenty of his own to share. "Naw – you're saying that someone mailing us a newspaper article about the failed repatriation attempts around the duke's collection might not have been a coincidence?"

"I'm saying," says Nate, rising predictably to the bait, "that I think this is less to do with the temple and more to do with some other person or agency about which we, currently, know far less than they apparently do us."

"I can tell you they're Chinese," interjects Elliot.  Nate's laser-focus snaps to him, and under that stare he gives a shrug.  "Or at least that they learned how to build explosives by working with fireworks in Liuyang.  Smell that."  He takes a deep sniff and let the breath out through his mouth, just like he's at a wine tasting. What a freak [affectionate]. "Notice how the sulfur tang hits the back of your tongue? The bitter finish?"

Hardison sniffs dutifully, but mostly smells...smoke.  And not even much of that – not even enough to set off the museum's smoke detectors even if they and everything else in the adorable little setup the museum thinks is a security system weren't sitting there obediently waiting for Hardison to tell them what to do.  "Mmmhmm, sure," he lies, with the ease of long practice.  "And you're trying to say you know where this guy trained from a smell?"

"It's a very distinctive smell," says Elliott, right on cue.  Damn, Hardison is gonna get Elliot bingo fast tonight.  "But the explosive placement on that door is more like the placement you'd use in underground structures, so we're dealing with someone who was trained on explosives in mines, or excavation, or–" 

He stops dead.  Stares at nothing, brows drawing down in a tangle, and mutters something that sounds mystifyingly like "cultural artifacts".  Then tilts his head back and yells like the tiniest, angriest rooster in the world:

"WANG PANGZI, YOU GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE RIGHT NOW!"

There's a moment's pause, and then a deep rumbling chuckle.  They all turn towards the source of the sound, just in time to see a man amble into the light.  He's a big man, fat-over-muscle, but he moves with the kind of ease that tells Hardison that he knows how to use every ounce.  Elliot is glaring at him like he's going to go for his ankles any second, but Hardison is saved from having to intervene (i.e., get out his camera) by the delighted trill that comes from Sophie beside him. 

"Pangzi, darling!"  She drifts forward like a battleship under full sail and is almost instantly wrapped in the big man's arms, both of them breaking into a fast-paced chatter in a language Hardison recognizes from his hacker forums and subbed dramas as a Chinese dialect (not that the man's features and the fact that he's apparently *also* robbing an exhibit of Chinese antiquities aren't also something of a tip-off). Whoever this guy is, Sophie knows him well, so well that their expressive movements as they both gesture effusively with their hands interweave effortlessly. 

Hardison's so busy bemusedly watching this unexpected love-fest that he misses the moment that someone else appears on the scene. What he doesn't miss, though, is Nate stiffening beside him.  It's almost a Sterling-level stiffen, and that has Hardison glancing over pretty damn quickly, but all he sees is another man, Chinese like the first but a little younger, and far too ordinary in appearance to be in a museum at midnight with an unconscious guard and a still-smoking door.  Hardison looks him over evaluatingly: the glasses say "geek" and the sweater says "prep", but the scar on his neck says either "danger" or "has a hell of a story about a power tool". 

"Wu Xie," says Nate, not so much smiling as allowing his teeth to surface from the depths.  Oh, Nate hates this guy.  Hardison perks up in interest.

"Nate," says the man, returning the smile – and Hardison may not know him, but he's stolen enough antiques to recognize a matched set when he sees one.  Innnnnteresting.  Hardison tries to remember where he's heard the name Wu Xie before – and 3.5 seconds later, it hits him like a box of rocks.

He flails. 

"Wait a minute," he says, loud enough to break through the sound of Sophie and the fat man (who appear to have started singing) all indignation at being used by the competition evaporating like smoke in the face of a much greater injustice.  "Wait. A. Minute. If that–" he points at Nate's latest nemesis, who blinks "–is Wu Xie, and that–" another, increasingly accusatory jab of his finger "–is Wang Pangzi, then does that mean"– he can hear his own voice getting higher –"does that mean that Zhang Qiling is around here someplace?" 

He spins around, futilely scanning the ceiling, and finishes his circle aimed squarely at his cheating, holdout, betrayer of a boyfriend who'd better enjoy having every internet link he clicks be a rickroll for the next week because he knows what he did.  "You know Batman and you didn't tell me?!"

** * **

In the quiet shadows of a balcony above, a dark figure crouches on a railing, his black clothing somehow managing to blend with the dimly-lit neutrals of the museum walls. His posture is attentive but comfortable; his hood is pulled down low over his face, and strapped to his back is a black and gold sword that would be worth a heist in its own right. 

Silently, a line drops down from the ceiling and a second figure in black – this one upside-down and with a blond ponytail that hangs down like an inverted exclamation-mark – slides down to hang even with the first.

"Hey, Xiaoge," says Parker, holding out an open bag of marshmallows that she'd liberated from the gift shop.

Not turning his head, Xiaoge nods, and takes a handful.

And together they chew in companionable silence, while their families sort things out below.

[tilly-tilly-2827]

Sweetest Pleasures

Reimaging An Offer from a Gentleman #6

Synopsis: The three primary desires of humankind; sleep, sexual desire, and also appetite. With Saphne, it was ice cream. With Polin, it was cake. With Benophie…well, why limit to one?

AO3 post from here!

Sophie was hungry. Very, very hungry. To the extent that Sophie could almost feel the bottom of her stomach twitching, craving for any kind of stimulation. But she knew that it was her own fault. After all, if she could avoid Benedict Bridgerton loitering in the hallway on the way down to the kitchen, she would willingly give up on a delicious plate of the morning porridge. Her sudden placement as the ladies’ maid and the extra attention she was receiving from the second son were already attracting suspicious looks and unspoken (but sometimes vocal) hostility from the staff. Benedict kept his hands to himself in front of his family and the ton, but he tended to be less cautious on the lower floors. And Sophie hated him for it. Thus, Sophie avoided Benedict Brigerton at all costs, often at the expense of meals.

So, it wasn’t helping that heaps and heaps of freshly baked cakes, biscuits, and scones, and plates filled with sweets, ice cream, and chocolate were laid out on the picnic table inside the Bridgerton tent, the rich fragrant aroma arousing her every senses.

And it also wasn’t helping that Benedict Bridgerton was sitting right in front of where she stood, keeping a respectable distance but the angle and the position were just enough to torment her.

And it definitely wasn’t helping that Benedict Bridgerton looked absolutely gorgeous that day*.* During their time in My Cottage, Sophie would see him in a white shirt with a pair of breeches, and a wild stubble around his chin. He was handsome enough to make her blush, but back in the city, Benedict Bridgerton was on another level. Clean and shaved, his soft brown curls slightly rumpled in the summer breeze. A fashionable turquoise cravat wrapped around his neck, with a ruby pin placed just on the knot. His wine-colored waistcoat was embodied with blue and yellow tulips, the vines intertwining from his broad shoulders to his abdomen. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, exposing his muscular arms as if he were teasing her, edging her to the cliff.

Sophie discreetly watched Benedict take a china plate from the table, slicing up the exquisitely looking three-layered strawberry cake. “Made with raspberries and strawberries, topped with white chocolate cream and biscuits”, Mrs. Hudson, the cooks had told her as Sophie helped with the decorations on the top, “Mr. Bridgerton’s long-time favorite,”

The slice of the cake on his plate was mesmerizing, with perfectly equal layers and a smooth textured sponge. Sophie’s stomach gave a hungry growl as Benedict took a large bite with the silver fork. Sophie couldn’t take her eyes off that cake, the fresh, juicy strawberry left on his plate, the lovely cream that was making her mouth water, Benedict’s thumb on his lips as he wiped off the cream, his green-grey eyes watching her in amusement,

Sophie quickly looked down at her feet, knowing that her face was on fire. Sophie could almost see Benedict’s knowing smirk as she nudged the patch of grass with her worn-out shoes. Just three more hours, Sophie repeated those words like a mantra, just three more hours and you’ll be freed from this torment...

But her inner strife instantly disappeared into thin air as she felt a gentle tug on her skirt, a pair of deep chocolates staring up at her with pleading eyes.

“Would you like to share a scone with me, Sophie?”

“I would love to share a scone with you, Master Edmund.”

As Sophie kneeled to the ground, the little boy with beautiful angelic curls broke out in a satisfied grin, reaching out his arms to her in the usual manner. In the corner of her eyes, she saw Lord Bridgeton, Lady Violet, and Ms.Hyacinth cooing the baby wrapped around a blanket in Lady Bridgerton’s arms. Sophie softly smiled, and with one swift motion, she picked up the toddler in her arms and carried him into the tent. Edmund giggled as he played with her curls, fascinated by how they twirled in his hands.

“How’d you like to take your scone, Master Edmund’?”

Seating herself in the chair with the bubbling Edmund Bridgerton on her lap, Sophie asked, mimicking the tone of a town merchant.

“Clotted Cream and apricot jam, please,”

“Oh, such an excellent choice, Master Edmund,”

As Sophie replied in a sing-along voice, the two-year-old puffed his chest in pride, but closely followed her every movement as Sophie cut the scone in half, spread the rich white cream, and poured an ample amount of radiently colored jam from the small jar. The fresh, fruity smell filled the tent, and Sophie was trying very hard not to drool.

“Just a moment, Master Edmund.”

Edmund’s eyes sparkled as she set the scone on the plate, and he squirmed impatiently in his seat as Sophie carefully wiped his tiny hand with a wet napkin.

“One plate of fresh scones at your service,”

“Thank you, Sophie!!”

Just as he was about to take a bite, Edmund suddenly stopped. A drop of jam on the white plates.

“Is there anything wrong?”

“I promised we would share,” Before Sophie could stop him, Edmund snapped the scone in half, both the jam and the cream slipping from the surface. With a satisfied puff, Edmund turned his head and stuck out his hand, the bigger half of the crumbled scone in his palm, his fingers creamed with butter and apricots. “For you, Ms. Sophie,”

“Thank you, Master Edmund…”

But the scone in his hand was smoothly taken by Benedict Bridgerton, popping the crumbles right into his mouth.

“Thank you very much, Eddie.” Benedict licked his lips in satisfaction. “The proportion of the jam is quite exquisite.”

Edmund Bridgerton burst into tears.

It took quite some time to calm Edmund Birdgerton from the wave of fits and cries. “But I wanted to give to Sophie!” between sobs he cried out, and with a panicked look, Benedict repeatedly pleaded for mercy, telling him that he would give something to Sophie for compensation. But Edmund only clenched his fist in anger, yelling at Benedict that he wanted to share the scone with Sophie, not with his uncle. But with a slice of cake and much coaxing in his mother’s arms, Edmund returned to his usual place on Sophie’s lap, his nose still sniffling. Benedict looked rather deflated.

“Well I hope everything is in order,” Anthony said with a soft smile at his son and a glare at his younger brother. “I still can’t believe my two-year-old son is much more of a gentleman than my thirty-year-old brother.”

Almost every adult scoffed in their teacups, and Benedict felt himself redden, his lips turning into a tight knot. Anthony slightly raised his eyebrows to Benedict’s silent response, normally Bendict would quip a joke or two. But Anthony chose to ignore the slight concern, cuddling baby Miles who started playing with his buttons.

Edmund was now returning to his everyday mood; talking to Sophie about the recent hike, the new picture book, and his small little pony in Kent, enjoying once again, the undivided attention she was giving him. The picnic tent was soon filled with the usual clamor of the Bridgertons; the usual gossip, the reviews on the latest opera with the quick banters from Kate and Anthony. Kate noticed that her brother-in-law seemed more focused on the sketchbook in his hands, rather than the conversation before them. But just as Kate stood up from her chair to ask, the tent fell into a sudden silence.

“Would you marry me, Sophie?”

Both Violet and Benedict respectively choked into their teacups. Kate and Anthony chuckled over their son’s innocent proposal. Eloise looked up from her book with a look of amusement in her crisp blue eyes.

“Why in the bloody…excuse me,” Benedict flinched as his elder brother and his sister-in-law shot him a killing glare, but he managed to continue, “W, Would you tell me why you want to marry Ms. Beckett, Eddie?”

“First, I wanted to marry Mama,” Edmund did the same exasperated sigh, (Sophie almost wanted to laugh how much it resembled Lord Bridgerton,) “But Papa said he wouldn’t let me.”

Sophie saw Hyacinth groan as Anthony took Kate by the waist, sealing a deep kiss on his wife’s lips. As their fingers intertwined, Sophie saw Lord Bridgerton whisper endearments against her cheeks.

“And Auntie Eloise loves books more than I,”

“What about me, Eddie?” Hyacinth chirped from her seat, “I thought you loved me.”

Edmund sank into silence, his eyebrows scrunching in thought just like Lady Bridgerton. After much contemplation, Edmund declared firmly that Hyacinths was too young for him, leaving the tent in bursts and cries of laughter. Apparently, Edmund and Benedict didn’t find it as amusing as the rest.

“Son, I’m afraid you are the one who is too young for Ms. Beckett,”

“Papa told me that he married Mama for love!” He pouted his lips, his nose high up in the air, “And I intend to do the same.”

“Then Eddie, are you in love with Sophie?” When Hyacinth asked him with a teasing grin, Edmund suddenly turned his body around, his rich brown eyes staring at her with an intense gaze.

“I am,”

Wrapping his tiny arms around Sophie’s neck, Sophie felt the little boy’s head rest gently on her shoulders. The soft chestnut curls hopping in the corner of her own eye, Sophie froze in her seat.

“I love you, Sophie.” Sophie suddenly forgot the emptiness of her stomach, or the plate of sandwiches before her eyes, something warm and soft was spreading across her soul like a nice cup of tea on a winter morning. “I love your hair, I love your voice, I love everything about you, Sophie. I love you with all my heart,”

Sophie suddenly felt something hot coming up to her eyes, her vision suddenly became blurry. Gently placing her hands on Master Edmund’s small back, Sophie closed her eyes and tried to focus on her breaths.

Perhaps it was only Violet who noticed the slight quiver in the ladies’ maid’s voice, who gently answered that she loved him too and Master Edmund’s words her the greatest honor of her life and would cherish his words until the end of her days. And Eloise was the only one who noticed that her brother’s grip on his charcoal tightened, his nails turning slightly white.

Sophie felt the anger pricking her eyebrows as she felt the presence of Benedict Bridgerton behind her back. Sophie couldn’t find out why she could now notice him with just the sound of his footsteps, the rustling noise of his leather boots.

Eloise had asked her to chaperone, declaring that she would be promenading with Ms.Cowper for an hour. Sophie was quite surprised by the size of Ms.Cowper’s sleeves. She kept a respectable distance between the two, five steps away, but Sophie noticed that Eloise Bridgerton was staring at her with a pleading look. Sophie took a step back. Eloise shook her head. Sophie took another step back. Eloise shook her head again. And when Sophie was thirty-four steps away from the couple, Eloise gave her a satisfied nod and started walking down the lane, arm-in-arm with the lovely lady.

“Would you call yourself a chaperone when you could barely see the two?” His teasing tone was bubbling a fire in Sophie’s empty stomach. “And would you call yourself a gentleman?” Sophie wanted to snap at him, but she knew her place in the society. Her a simple maid. Him a noble gentleman. But he had stolen her scone away from her. Right from his nephew’s hands. The perfectly baked, perfectly flavored piece of scone, with just the perfect amount of cream and jam. She adored apricot jam. She hadn’t eaten anything for more than 22 hours.

Sophie figured she had the right to be a little bit angry.

“Mr. Bridgerton.” Sophie bobbed her head meekly, a little curtesy that would annoy Benedict, and he pursed his lips, just as she imagined. Sophie began following the couple again, but as Benedict tried to walk by her side, she stopped. Benedict also stopped and looked back at her. Sophie took three steps behind. Benedict quickly shifted his gaze around him, slightly fidgerting his hands. But he quickly began walking, seeing Sophie slightly tilt her head. Sophie followed his lead, three steps behind.

“First time in Hyde Park, Ms. Beckett?”

“Yes, Mr. Brigderton.”

“Excellent weather, isn’t it?”

“Quite so, Mr. Bridgerton.”

“Your hair is quite fetching.”

“Thank you, Mr. Bridgerton.”

“…Are you angry that I took Eddie’s scone?”

“Not at all, Mr. Bridgerton.”

The two walked in silence.

But Sophie felt a rush of panic when she saw Ms. Cowper pull Ms.Eloise into an alcove, Ms.Eloise now out of her sight. Sophie quickly lifted the hems to hurry her pace, to run after her, but in a brief second, she noticed that she was the one being pulled behind the hedge.

“Mr. Bridgerton!”

“You said that you loved Edmund,”

“Oh, is that what you wanted to talk about?” Sophie slapped his hands from her waist, glaring at him with all her might. “Excuse me, Mr. Bridgerton, but unlike you, I have an occupation…”

But Benedict silenced her, pressing a finger on her lips.

“I believe Ms. Cowper and my sister are enjoying themselves,”

“But,”

“With just the two of them, Ms. Beckett.”

“Oh?”

Something in Benedict’s eyes told her that Sophie should stay behind the hedge a little longer. Perhaps for a half an hour.

“Oh.”

Benedict had a nervous look, his eyebrows slightly dipping with concern, but he saw Sophie’s expression soften, a little sparkle appearing in Sophie’s emerald eyes.

“I suppose you are good at keeping secrets.”

“Of course.”

Sophie wondered if she had been trapped in a wicked scheme with the Bridgerton siblings all along as Benedict changed into an enigmatic smile, just like the Cheshire cat.

“I believe we are in a place where we can enjoy ourselves as well.”

“Benedict, anyone can find us here.”

And Benedict knew that she was in the right. After all, he had just pulled her behind a dark corner of the hedge, anyone could just walk in; finding the two in a compromising position. Benedict would have to tip his hat to the two girls for their boldness, or perhaps to their recklessness?

But just as Sophie was about to step away from the shadows, her stomach growled. A very, loud growl. And it growled again. And again. Benedict had to grin seeing Sophie bury her face in her hands.

“Are you hungry, Sophie?”

Oh, the joy that sparked in Benedict’s tone.

“No, Mr. Bridgerton.”

“Is that why you were so upset that I took the scone, Sophie?”

Benedict tilted his head, trying to look into her eyes, but Sophie still kept her gaze averted, knowing her cheeks were burning.

“No, Mr. Bridgerton.”

Benedict softly placed his fingers under her chin, tipping her head up to his gaze.

“Bloody liar,”

“Wasn’t it few seconds ago, your brother told you to watch your language?”

“Close your eyes,”

“I beg your pardon, Mr. Brigderton…”

“Close your eyes for me, Sophie.”

“Why do I have to close my eyes…”

“Are you scared that I would kiss you, Ms. Beckett?” Benedicts eyed her seductively, his green-grey eyes with a dark gleam, “I would kiss you in a instant if you asked me to,”

Sophie almost stopped breathing as Benedict’s voice changed into a low, deep rasp. “But this is such a public place, Ms. Beckett. I wouldn’t dare do something…so scandalous.”

Infuriating man, Sophie glared at him, cursing her height as he loomed over her, looking down at her with a teasing smirk. Oh, Sophie could strangle him, or perhaps slap him right there, but she knew that the two were only hidden by a botanical wall and a small bush, and it would be stupid to provoke any attention in front of the ton.

“If I closed my eyes, Mr. Bridgerton.” Sophie tightly clenched the soft muslin of her violet-colored uniform, “Would it be possible for you to refrain from disturbing me with every step?”

“Your wish is my command, Ms. Beckett,”

“If you truly listened to my wishes, Mr. Bridgerton, I wouldn’t be…”

“Shut up and close your eyes, Sophie.”

Sophie scowled at his demanding tone, but Benedict only tilted his head, his chin urging her to follow his orders.

With a deep sigh, Sophie squeezed her eyes shut; tightly biting her lips in a curl. Sophie had known from experience that Benedict Bridgerton was a stubborn man indeed, and it was quite useless to talk back. And, No, she was not going to fall into his seduction, one kiss wouldn’t make her break her oath, it wasn’t the first time the warm sweet lips of Benedict Bridgerton were kissing her…

But despite her expectations (?), Sophie felt something cool and solid on her lips, and when she opened her eyes in surprise, she saw Benedict’s eyes sparkling, not with lust as she had imagined, but with pure delight. A round, petite-sized chocolate bonbon was placed between Benedict’s long fingers, softly pressing it on Sophie’s lips.

“Compensation,” Sophie heard him mumble, “But you don’t have to take it all in at once,” A sly smile spread across his lips, as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Sophie nodded unconsciously, feeling oddly flushed by his tone and the melting smoothness gently nudging her entrance.

“Open your mouth, Sophie.”

Sophie, somehow feeling dazed by his soft command, softly opened her lips, letting Benedict pop the sweet in her mouth.

Sophie softened her clutch on her skirt, the rich sweetness in her mouth melting her whole starved body. The thick, milky taste filled her every sense, and the gentle warmness spread across her body; to her lips, her stomach, and even to her fingertips. It was the first time Sophie had tasted such extravagance and she slowly rolled the chocolate on her tongue, wanting to make it last for a second longer. Sophie closed her eyes again, savoring the sweet-sour taste of raspberries and a faint whiskey flavor, leaving a gentle bitterness on her tongue.

“Is it to your liking, Ms. Beckett?”

Sophie noticed that his tone was oddly breathless. But she also noticed that the sweet rush of sensation had already disappeared in a brief second, the pleasure that Benedict had given her had been too quick, too swift, too fast. Sophie suddenly felt her heart deflating, it was sinful how she wished for more. She licked her lips, chasing the last remaining sweetness.

“I loved it,” Her eyelids fluttered open, and her lips turned into a satisfied smile, “It was absolutely delicious, Mr.Bridgerton…”

But Sophie’s words were instantly sealed by Benedict’s lips, him taking her in a hungry kiss. She gasped as his tongue darted into hers as if he were chasing the pleasure that filled her a few seconds ago. He was devouring her, ravishing her as she was the sweet itself. But his lips, she noticed filling her up with the rich sweetness yet again, and as her hands twined in his hair, Sophie felt the gentle warmth in her abdomen, filling her up with more something more sweeter than cake, more softer than scones, more hotter than chocolate… and she knew was just melting and melting.

“So, Sweet,”

Sophie was chasing his lips, stretching her tiptoes when Benedict suddenly broke off the kiss.

“Do you want more, Sophie?” His deep voice was hoarse against her lips, his tone dripping with honey, “Because I could give you much, much, more,”

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

Kate took a bite of a cucumber sandwich, looking adoringly at her husband snoring on the carpet with Miles also dozed happily on his father’s stomach. Kate had known that Anthony would be good with children, considering his 30 years of experience, but it filled her up with gentle sweetness when Anthony would nuzzle his sons with utter contentment and happiness. Putting a blanket on her husband’s stomach and gently placing Miles in the cradle, Kate returned to her chair, close to the place Edmund was completely captivated by the picture book on his lap.

Kate was always in awe of her first son’s gentleness and patience, she had heard that some children struggle when they welcome a younger sibling into their lives. But Edmund had been perfect, always the kindest, always the most considerate, but she knew how he rambled on excitedly on the maid’s lap, Kate thought that she might have been pushing too hard on him to grow up. Miles was a baby, but to Kate, Edmund was still her baby as well.

As Kate softly placed herself on the carpet next to Edmund, (Edmund looking up at her with a radiant smile, snuggling on her arm), Kate noticed that Edmund was looking at Benedict’s sketchbook, not the picture book she thought it was.

“Mama, look!” Edmund pointed at a small sketch in the middle, “I’m a model now!”

Kate almost dropped her cup of chai as she looked at the portrait of her son, Benedict expertly catching the softness of Edmund’s curls, the sweet dimples on his cheeks. But what made Kate’s breath take away was the girl who held her son on her lap, the petite, gentle girl with soft blond curls. It was as if she were alive on the piece of paper, smiling up at her with her long eyelashes and a shy glance. Kate somehow found herself blushing, the same reaction she had when Daphne had lent her “The Lady’s Guide to Basic Cooking” which contained tips for nighttime pleasures. But this was only a sketch for god’s sake!!

Kate quickly took the sketchbook from her son’s hands, despite Edmund’s protests to observe more. The sharp flavor of ginger and cinnamon was now lost in her thoughts, only feeling the bitter taste of Darjeeling on her lips.

#Writer’s Notes

My brief research on the Internet says Chocolate Bonbons were invented in 1912 in Belgium.But it had to be chocolate.

Historical accuracy flying out the door.

Alice in the wonderland was published in 1865. But Benedict just smiles like that.

After all, the very Nicola Coughlan had left the most important element of the Bridgerton drama series.

“In the world of Bridgerton, Death is less important than horniness.”

[margareth-lv]

💡 Let there be light 💡

In Bible God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness.

In the New Testament this phenomenon is even more concrete. … and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

*** *** *** In December 2023, on Tumblr, in non-biblical conditions, this is no longer so simple.

It's not enough to speak words to make them flesh. Magic wishes don't work here any more. The spell is broken. It's not enough to say "please stop writing this" to make me stop writing. The word "stop writing this kind of thing" is not going to become flesh on my blog. And I'm not sorry at all.

You know, it’s just like saying 'I'm not married to Sam' is not enough to make us believe she's married to 🧛🏻‍♂️.

Anyway, let's remember that retort:

Then, it is not enough to write:

... so Sam's hand, modified in a graphics programme, becomes a shot from the film.

Side note: I couldn't leave this comment unanswered. It is about Sam's deformed hand from my last week's note (link at the end of the text).

Sam is not holding the hand of Sophie Hart (played by Hannah Dominique E. John-Kamen), his on-screen girlfriend in 'SAS: Red Notice', in the altered photo above, which has been cropped to remove the 'female character'. Below are some stills from the film:

*** *** ***

By the way,  as I have already written, these two hands below were also modified in graphics software. IMHO.

However, even if the shot is from a film, the two hands below are intertwined in a real embrace:

*** *** ***

[December 6, 2023]

[sophieinwonderland]

Additional points that we...KIND OF made in two different posts yesterday (not even having to do with the current debacle, just...in general) that we feel is very important, and are just going to re-post in here:

You should believe endogenics exist first and foremost because they tell you they exist.

It's nice that science is starting to support us and the DSM and ICD are doing great at getting better for that, but it's still the weapon of our oppressors.

Just a few decades ago, you'd be anti-science for saying transgender people AREN'T a mental illness.

It is very, very easy to see how that can change back once you realize progress is not linear. "Progress is not linear" is the part individuals seem to forget (and we're not gonna lie, we sometimes do too, because that's terrifying to think about).

We feel like discourse wouldn't be discourse anymore if people acknowledged that because a lot of them would be forced to, we guess, question the acceptability of targeting X over Y and Z, and why they give A and B more authority over how X experiences their lives than even over X — if we can use letters in placement of actual groups of people here for a sec.

<Context note for people who do not know us, Rusanya: we agree with Sophie on a ton of points and enjoy her blog. We have an anti-psychiatry [institution, not the science itself, although we feel only bad-faith readers would see that?] and pro-mad-pride spin on our world view though, compared to Sophie. So sometimes we like throwing random things in her inbox because she's like the One Person who can pick our brain and it feels like she is not being an asshole.>

I do think in an ideal world, people would be respected for their identities regardless of opinions of authority figures.

But at the same time, I think the best path to acceptance is to direct arguments to the world you live in, not the one you want. And that means taking things that have historically been weapons of oppression and turning them against the oppressors.

Because the fact is that psychologists and psychiatrists are seen as a valid authority on matters of psychology.

Is there a possibility that the pendulum could swing the other way, that hard anti-endo sentiment could somehow take root in the psychiatric community? Sure. And if that happens, we'll have to adapt and figure out how to deal with that to the best of our ability.

But... I don't think it will happen. I mean, we already know the Stanford tulpa study is going to show neurological differences in tulpamancers. Whatever those differences may be, I think endogenic plurality being accepted as a real psychological phenomenon is inevitable.

On the other hand, we do have to acknowledge that we've seen backslides before. The False Memory Syndrome Foundation in the 90s successfully managed to turn an entire generation against trauma survivors and their therapists, and made diagnosing DID toxic to the point that therapists completely refused to diagnose it. So we can't say what the future will hold for certain.

To me though, I think this just means it's important to be vigilant, and try to foster positive relationships with the psychiatric community.

Because I also think most people who go into psychiatry do so because they genuinely want to help people. Yes, there are bad psychiatrists and there are abusive ones. And there are well-meaning ones who end up causing more harm than good because they think they know better. There are a lot of problems in psychiatry that need to be addressed. But I don't feel that fostering an adversarial relationship is a productive way to accomplish our community's goals.

[writingplotbunnies]

Best Served Cold (3/?)

Pairing: Jax Teller x OFC

Summary: After an eventful start to her day, Sophie meets more of Charming's residents and everyone wants to get to know her.

Word Count: ~3500

Warnings: angst, illegal activity, possessive behavior, sexual content, canon typical violence

A/N: This is my first SOA fic, so let me know what you think. This will be a multipart fic, so let me know if you want added to the taglist.

Walking into the station, Sophie felt a bit nervous because she might have fibbed a bit on her application. She’d filed paperwork before, answered a phone, but she’d never actually been a receptionist. Never worked in an office. Still, she figured in a small town like Charming, it wouldn’t be too difficult to engage in some on-the-job training. And she did possess the ability to fake it until she figured it all out. She hoped. No, what she needed was access. People who worked in buildings like this tended to believe in the system. Rarely did they go looking for a mole. They didn’t want to assume the worst, and most worked hard to ignore it even when they saw the signs because good people didn’t snitch. Good people followed the rules and allowed the laws to protect them. Until they didn’t. 

“You must be Sophie.” 

An older man with a mostly bald head and patchy grey hair on the sides came out of one of the offices. The weariness in his eyes reminded her of the base commander at her first station. He’d been counting the days until retirement, and always seemed lost in memories of earlier days. This man had that same distant gaze. 

She waved her hand. “Hi. That’s me.” 

“Wayne Unser. Thought I heard the sound of a bike.”

“You did,” Sophie said with a nod. “Jax gave me a ride. Had a bit of trouble with my car this morning. David told me to take it over to TM. It’s why I’m late.” 

“Hope it’s nothing serious.” 

Sophie shook her head. “Just a flat tire. Mostly just annoyed it happened today. Didn’t want my first impression to be showing up late.” 

Wayne made a dismissive hand gesture. “Don’t worry about that. Welcome to Charming. I’ll let David get you set up, but my door’s always open if you need anything.” 

“Thanks.” 

David came out of a different office a bit further down the same hallway and offered Sophie a wide smile. 

“Glad you made it.” 

She followed him to a large horseshoe desk near the front of the building. The placement made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, but she figured most people thought having her back to a bunch of cops would be a safe place to be. Maybe she could shift the desk just a bit, enough to give her line of sight both out of the building and down the hallway. She did like the view offered by the large plateglass windows. 

“I wanted to go over a couple of things with you before you get started,” David said as he sat on the edge of her desk. 

Sophie put her purse in the bottom drawer of the desk and turned to face him. “Sure.” 

“San Bernardino transferred your CCW documents to us, and given your military background, I’m sure you’re probably the best shot in the whole office, but I can’t have you carrying a weapon on the job. Not in a police station. But, you shouldn’t need to worry about your safety here. There’s a silent alarm wired under the desk. You feel unsafe, press the button.” 

Sophie wanted to roll her eyes at his very afterschool special approach to this conversation. California law only allowed her three weapons on her CCW, so officially, she owned three. She scrubbed the serial numbers from the others and figured what the good deputy didn’t know…

Playing into his clear need to make her feel safe, she placed her hand on his forearm and prepared to lie through her teeth. “I appreciate it, and I understand the rule. Even the Corps had places you didn’t take your sidearm; I didn’t bring it here. I’m just so accustomed to being armed that I almost feel naked without it. It might seem silly to you, but it’s like leaving the house without shoes.” 

David smiled. He did that a lot and she wondered how much of it was cop training and how much was him. 

“You can keep it locked up in your car if that makes you feel more comfortable. Just can’t be in the building.” 

Nodding her head, Sophie didn’t say anything. If Sophie felt, truly felt, unsafe? She’d need a damn good lawyer because the bodies would litter the foyer. For everyone’s sake, she just hoped none of the good citizens of Charming made her feel unsafe . 

David placed a hand on her shoulder as he stood from the desk. “I’ll go get you that coffee I owe you. Cream? Sugar?”

“Sugar.” 

She spent most of the morning filling out paperwork and sorting through the stacks of folders on the desk. It provided her the opportunity to learn more about the community, identify the players, and add some details to her still underdeveloped plan. Most of it was expected. Parking tickets, speeding tickets, a few notices about disturbing the peace. A lot of it was copies of permits for various things. California loved to create permits. It was when she was sorting through a stack of building permit copies that his name caught her eye. Ethan Zobelle planned to open another one of his fucking cigar shops on Main Street. As expected, the bastard had crossed every t and dotted every i . Her grip on the folder increased, she could see the way the papers warped around her fingers. He always appeared to be the perfect, upstanding businessman. No one cared that he associated with, supported, and endorsed neo-Nazi ways. Even fewer cared that he had strong ties to the Aryan Brotherhood, had killed or sanctioned the kill of many. The man was a murdering bastard. A criminal in a fancy suit. In the months following her sister’s death, Sophie hadn’t been able to figure out who kept protecting him, which left a short list of potentials that made her stomach roll. That’s why she’d followed him to Charming, why she’d gotten herself a job at the station. Something about him, about how he operated didn’t add up, and she needed answers before she blew his brains all over the pavement. 

“Hey!” 

The sound of someone snapping their fingers in her face drew her attention. Scowl on her face, she turned to see a blonde woman in a suit that screamed “I’m a federal agent, ask me how” standing over her desk. Sophie had worked enough operations with other agencies to recognize the scent of one. Not all of them were bad, but the ones that were always managed to cast a large shadow. 

“Can I help you?” 

Sophie couldn’t keep the irritation from her voice, but having someone she’d never met snap their fingers in her face didn’t make for a great first impression. 

“I’m sure it’s difficult to find the right pile in this game of Tetris you have going, but my team needs your help.” 

Sophie swung her chair around to face the woman, and crossed her arms across her chest. “Does your team sign my paycheck?” 

The woman rocked back a bit, as though surprised Sophie hadn’t been overcome with joy at being asked, rather rudely, to be a fetch and carry girl. 

“I haven’t seen you around here.” 

“I’m new in town. Just started today.” 

“June Stahl. ATF.” 

“Ah,” Sophie nodded. “Then you don’t sign my paycheck.” 

“Sophie,” Unser called as he came towards the front. He caught sight of Agent Stahl standing by her desk and his whole face changed. Giving the good agent a rather contemptuous look he said, “Oh, I see you’ve met Sophie.” 

Agent Stahl smiled, but it made Sophie want to press the panic button David had told her about earlier. She knew the type. Figured this woman was all about proving herself in a man's world. The type that figured the ends always justified the means, so long as she collected the acclaim along the way. 

“We’re getting acquainted.” 

“Yeah,” Sophie replied dryly. “We’re gonna weave friendship bracelets over lunch. Braid each other’s hair.” 

Unser made a sort of confused frown, shook his head. “Right, well, Sophie, I was going to tell you to head out early today. David told me you got into town yesterday. I doubt you’ve had a chance to unpack yet.” 

Sophie shrugged. “I’m used to living out of my pack, but I’m not gonna turn down an offer to get out of Dodge early.” 

Standing from her chair, Sophie reached for her purse before glancing over her shoulder at Agent Stahl. “Guess I’m gonna have to take a rain check on your offer, Agent Stahl.” 

The woman offered her a biting smile but didn’t say anything.

“Great,” Unser said. “I’ve gotta talk to Clay. I’ll give you a ride over to TM.” 

Like a dog who’d just caught the scent of a rabbit, Agent Stahl’s whole body perked up. “For someone who just came into town, you make friends quickly.”

The desire to roll her eyes nearly overwhelmed her, but she decided to feign confusion instead. “I guess? The mechanics were nice enough when I dropped my car off this morning, but other than telling them I caught a nail in my tire, we didn’t exactly exchange life stories.” 

She watched Stahl’s shoulders slump ever so slightly but also saw how her eyes narrowed. The woman had a hardon for the MC, and given the way Unser eyed her, Stahl had likely caused quite a stir when she and her team of suits rolled into town. 

Unser waved her towards the door, and she allowed herself to be escorted out of the station. They didn’t say anything as they walked over to his squad car, but once they’d both closed the doors, Unser tilted his head back against the headrest and let out a deep sigh. 

“She always that delightful, or is it just because I’m new around here?” 

Unser chuckled. “That was her being friendly and inviting.” 

“Can’t wait to see her again tomorrow.” 

Unser started the car, rolled down the window, and lit a joint. Sophie eyed him, a small smirk on her lips. He caught her gaze and held the joint out. 

“I’ve got cancer. It’s my medicine.” 

Sophie shrugged. “Hey, you’re the law around here. Ain’t none of my business how you spend your money.” 

“I haven’t figured you out yet.” 

At least he was being direct.

“Not sure what there is about me you need to figure out.” 

“A young, successful woman like you doesn’t just show up in Charming to be a receptionist.” 

“You don’t really need to talk to anyone at TM, do you?” 

Unser took a long drag. “Nah. But this way you and I get to have a chat. Exchange pleasantries.” 

“I don’t know what you want me to tell you, Sheriff.” 

“I don’t suppose you’d just tell me what brought you to Charming?”

She took the joint from his fingers and took a drag before handing it back. “It’s always been my life’s ambition to work the reception desk at a small town police station. Wrote about it in my dream journal, too.” 

He gave her an unimpressed look. “Course not.” 

They pulled into the TM lot and Sophie hurried from the car. She rounded the front and leaned her arms across the open window. 

“If anything brought me here, you know there wouldn’t be a damn thing you or anyone in that office could do about it including that bitch from ATF. I know you’ve read my file, but I’m just here looking for a little peace.” 

“You picked a hell of a town for that.” 

The sound of footsteps coming up behind her halted the rest of their conversation. Unser looked almost relieved. 

“Everything okay? Thought you were gonna call when you were done.” 

Smile on her face, she turned to face Jax, honestly glad to see him. He had more grease across his forehead, and she wanted to reach up and wipe it off. He leaned across her and glanced into the cruiser.

“Unser.” 

“Jax.” 

“The Chief offered to give me a ride. Seemed silly to bother you when he was coming out here anyway. Said he needed to talk to someone named Clay.”

Jax nodded, turned his gaze back to Unser. “Clay’s in the clubhouse.” 

“Right.” 

Sophie tried to cover her laugh with a cough. She could see Unser trying to come up with a reason he needed to talk to Clay. Jax wrapped an arm around her, gently moving her back from the car as Unser got out. The sheriff shot her a withering glance before heading towards the clubhouse. 

“Come on.” 

Jax led her over to the garage. Her car sat in one of the bays. Her lips turned down as she noticed the front passenger tire was still missing. Turning towards Jax, she glared as he held his hands out in front of her. 

“Why is my car still missing a wheel?” 

Sophie didn’t miss the twinkle in Jax’s eye, even as he took a small step back as she tried to close in on him. It had just been a hole in her tire. A tiny, little hole. She hated seeing her baby up on a lift all incomplete. 

“Is that the owner?” 

Seeking the voice, she looked over her shoulder, putting her back to Jax. A man with dark curly hair and a bit of a wild look in his eyes stood by one of the toolboxes, a rag in his hand. He reminded her of one of the demo experts she ran a couple of ops with. No matter the situation, he’d always seemed a heartbeat away from doing something reckless, but entertaining. The man hurrying towards her had an eerily familiar glint in his eyes. Maybe the two were related. Distant cousins or something.  

“Yeah. This is Sophie.” 

Unlike the other folks she’d been introduced to, this guy scooped her up into his arms and spun her around in a strange hug that had her throwing her arms around her neck for balance. A laugh tumbled past her lips as he spun a second time. 

“Tig! Put her down you horny bastard,” Jax growled. 

He set Sophie on her feet but didn’t let go of her right away. Before she could step back, or even really catch her breath, he pressed a sloppy kiss to her cheek. 

“You’re beautiful. And your car is a fucking miracle. Marry me.” 

She laughed because what else was she supposed to do? “You can’t have my car.” 

He gave the best set of puppy eyes she’d seen in a long time. Before she could say anything else, Jax snaked his arms around her waist and tugged her solidly into his body. Everything about the move screamed “hands off” and she couldn’t quite find it in herself to hate it. The solid chest at her back felt warm and the hands wrapped around her waist found a small patch of exposed skin at her hips. 

“Aw, come on, Jax. She’s gonna be too much woman for you to handle. I mean, look at that car,” Tig whined as he pointed at the Charger. 

“Given that it’s still missing a tire, seems like the car’s too much for you, Tig,” Sophie sassed. 

Tig threw a hand against his chest as though he’d been shot. “Aw, sweetheart, you wound me.” 

“I’m going to wound someone if you don’t tell me why there’s still no tire on my car.” 

“Calm down, darlin’,” Jax said as he turned her around to face him. 

She noticed how he kept at least one hand on her at all times, how Tig now kept a semi-respectable distance from her. It reminded her of how the War Boys had acted around Olivia, how she only ever rode on the back of Drifter’s bike. There’d been a clear order to things. Sophie had noticed it the handful of times she’d been around their clubhouse. Given Jax’s behavior, Sophie thought maybe the Sons had a similar set of rules. If they’d been dogs, she wouldn’t have been surprised to see Jax lift leg and pee on her. She’d have to spend some time thinking about how she felt about being owned in that manner. Olivia had felt secure in her relationship, and had known her man had her back. She’d loved Drifter, and Drifter loved her more than anything in the world. They were beautiful together. 

“I sent the prospect out to Lodi to get a new tire for you. The one you had on was shredded. You shouldn’t have driven in on it if you wanted to save it.” 

Sophie scowled. Jax laughed. 

“You’re cute when you’re all irritated.” 

“Shut up.” 

“Look,” Jax said. “I’ll have it fixed up as soon as he’s back with the tire. Go wait in the office with Gemma.” 

She wanted to snap a sarcastic “yes, sir”, but she didn’t want to give him the mistaken impression that he could give her orders, or that she’d always follow them. Without a better option, she nodded her head. 

“Come on.” 

He once again rested his hand low on her back as he walked her over to the office. Part of her couldn’t help but wonder if it was a ploy to keep her from wandering into places she shouldn’t, or if he really just wanted to keep his hands on her. It might even be a bit of both. 

“Sack’s not back with the tire yet, so Sophie’s gonna wait in here until her car’s ready,” Jax said as he escorted her into the office. 

Gemma looked up from the pile of paperwork on her desk, glanced down to where Jax’s hand rested on the small of Sophie’s back, and raised an eyebrow. 

“Sure thing, baby,” Gemma answered, voice a bit gentle. “Give us girls a chance to get to know each other.” 

Jax’s arm slid from her body as he pointed a finger at his mother. “Be nice.” 

Gemma offered him a mock innocent smile before turning back to her paperwork. 

“I’ll come get you when it’s ready.” 

Sophie just nodded her head as Jax left the office, the door closing behind him with an audible click. Glancing over her shoulder, she found Gemma’s eyes already on her. Walking over to one of the chairs in front of the desk, Sophie took a seat. 

“Nice to see you again.” 

“You looked mighty comfortable in that squad car.” 

“No handcuffs.” Sophie held her arms out and shook her wrists a bit. “It’s why Unser had me in the front seat.” 

Gemma raised an eyebrow.

“But, I won’t pretend I don’t know what you’re asking. I’ve been in the backseat more than I’ve been in the front. Unser claimed he needed to talk to Clay, so he offered me a ride here. The good Sheriff really just wanted time away from the station to ask me a whole bunch of personal questions. The type of questions I figure you’ve got waiting on the tip of your tongue.” 

“You’re very direct.” 

Sophie shrugged. “Sometimes.”

“Jax seems to like you.”

“You noticed that too?” Sophie crossed her legs. “If he were a dog, he’d’ve peed on me by now.” 

That startled a laugh from Gemma. Sophie grinned. 

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen my son take to a woman like that.”

It was Sophie’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “A man who looks like your son in a town this size with that kutte on his back has probably taken to every woman in at least three counties. Nothing special about that.” 

Gemma lit a cigarette and held the pack out to her. Sophie took one and let Gemma light it for her. She dragged a lung full of nicotine into her lungs before slowly expelling the smoke through her lips.  

“Look, Jax has been nice to me. Gave me a ride to work this morning, said he’d get my car fixed. Even though it’s still sitting up on the jack,” Sophie paused. “But, I’m sure the car still being up there has more to do with Tig’s new love affair with it and so long as he cleans up after himself, I hope he enjoys himself.” 

“And none of that bothers you?”

Sophie chuckled. “Nah. Tig’s not the first, maybe not even the worst, sexual deviant I’ve been around. I’m sure a team of psychologists could make their careers working with someone like him, and then likely end up admitting themselves to the ward before it was done. Just makes life interesting. I do hate being bored.” 

“That why you came to Charming? Boredom?” 

She wanted to laugh at the derisive tone Gemma used. The woman was intimidating, and she knew the power she held in the town. A power she leaned into and owned.  

“Everyone’s so interested in why I came here.”

“You’re an interesting person.” 

“Only because your son has a thing for me, and you’re not sure if you’re going to allow that or not.” 

“My son’s a grown man. He makes his own decisions.” 

Sophie took another drag from her cigarette. “‘Course he is, but you’re close, and what you say means something to him. I respect that. But, I’m not going to sit here and tell you my deepest, darkest secrets just because you ask.”

Standing, Sophie bent across the desk and snubbed out the remnants of her cigarette. Meeting Gemma’s gaze, she said. “I will tell you this, I didn’t come here for the Sons.”

Part 4

Master List

[sea-owl]

Before I forget I have the chronological order for how the couples’ stories in Spring’s Rebirth, as picked by the results of the polls, and me.

So the order goes:

Polin, Hades and Persephone: Obviously since I’m already writing the story

Kathony, Zeus and Hera: Not surprised by this one and to be honest in my head I was already waiting for them to picked as the next couple. Also makes sense in my mind as well since Anthony would probably see it as his duty to help his domain when it was discovered how adding Penelope as the Queen of the Underworld helped Colin. Still starts out as a marriage of duty for him but Kate is definitely gonna make him work for it.

Saphne, Hephaestus and Aphrodite: I will not lie this one kind of surprised me. Not mad about it at all though, and kind of happy I get to break up the brother’s a little bit instead of one right after another. I think this one will be cute too. Daphne seeing her favorite brother and the brother she serves as his right hand happy and in love. I could see her wanting that for herself especially as a love goddess.

Benophie Poseidon and Amphitrite: This one actually tied with Saphne on the third poll but since Saphne won the poll before makes it easy to chose which one. But I can see this working in story too with Sophie being a demigod, meaning she’s still mortal and lives by mortal rules with an advantage of godly blood. It can be a good wall for her and Benedict to overcome.

Franchael, Atalanta and Hippomenes: Back to the Underworld baby!

Philoise, Artemis and Orion: I like the placement of this one too. It gives me time to work Elosie and Penelope's friendship back up again.

Felicity and Geoffrey Albansdale, Orpheus and Eurydice: So I do want to add more side characters and some of the siblings of the spouses besides just the main eight. Felicity is of course an obvious choice as she’s already in the story and by this time would be mature up for her own story.

Hyareth, Heracles and Hebe - This one would be taking place very close to Felicity’s story. Like Felicity this would give Hyacinth time into her role as a moon goddess before she starts looking for love with Gareth.

Grucy, Eros and Psyche - These two were always going to be my final couple. Feels right to start with a myth I love and end with a myth I love that matches Gregory’s chaotic energy.

So that’s the chronological order, I would love to add more side characters and spouses siblings in there with there own myths. If anyone has ideas I would love to hear them.

[davey-in-a-minivan]

i relistened to ep 32 of the pasithea powder recently and was struck by how both jane's confrontation with blanc and sophie's conversations with the queen feel kind of like they're being dogged by bad exes?

blanc's dynamic with jane has obvious sexual overtones from his end, and his invasion of her privacy and eagerness to draw her back under his control brings the ex-handler/former-prisoner dynamic into the realm of the familiar bc, like, it feels like he's a creepy ex something who keeps harrassing her

and on the other hand reina valencia & sophie's dynamic feels like it has romantic overtones. omikron even says sophie is in love with the queen! she denies it, saying she just thinks she's hot and amazing, and i am willing to take her word for that, but the level of personal loyalty and admiration sophie has for reina valencia looks like infatuation. but what grabbed my attention on this relisten was when reina valencia calls sophie and jane says 'you don't have to talk to her' and sophie says 'yes, i do.' there's a level of personal entanglement that again feels like the aftermath of a bad relationship that sophie is struggling to fight her way out of. and when jane grabs the phone away from sophie and lays into the queen, telling her to leave sophie alone!!! that was anger stemming from a very personal way reina valencia had hurt sophie!!!

and, like with many bad relationships, jane and sophie have been raising the alarm about each other's relationship with blanc and reina valencia respectively and wanting the other to Get Out, when it's not that simple for the person in the relationship

anyway, giving sexual/romantic undertones to both of these dynamics made their side-by-side placement in the penultimate episode really interesting bc once jane and sophie finally cut off their respective specters it added another layer of, okay, now they're able to pursue a relationship with each other

[forgetthetimetravel]

MARY CHRYSLER @zerozeroren

Here's a short for sophietony

Tony placed another ornament on the tree and surveyed their work. He and Sophie had done well with the arrangement. Not that Sophie made an effort to balance it - she just grabbed and put things on. But she had a knack. And he did arranging of his own placements to accommodate. He smiled, admiring the shimmer and shine. It wasn't perfect, but it was theirs, and it was lovely.

Then something caught the corner of his eye. Sophie, eyeing the top of the tree. Her knees bending a bit as she readjusted her feet. The star topper in her hand.

Oh no.

“Sophie!”

She practically fell over. “What! Ack! Sorry!”

“Nothing!” Tony said automatically, but followed with, “I mean, I can help with that! The topper. For the tree.”

“I can do iiiit,” she whined, looking up at the tree again. “My jumps are getting better.” But she still slowly extended it to him.

Tony felt bad taking the opportunity from her, though Cow was likely to cause the tree chaos later anyway. But that was later. “Um, how about I help you?” He didn't take the star, but moved behind her, placing his hands on her waist. “Jump up and I'll help.” It was the best thing he could think of in less than 5 seconds.

Sophie paused, then lit up brighter than the tree. “Okay! One, two, three!” She pressed into the floor and jumped, arm outstretched with the star. Tony wasn't expecting her to go so quickly but hurried to lift and support her. She went up, high, and got the star onto the tree in one fell swoop.

She looked so gleeful, so excited and happy, Tony lost himself in watching her.

Unfortunately, his arms were not so lost, and reminded him they were not made for lifting people longer than .5 seconds. Or his legs. They shook, and Tony had only a moment to think ‘oh no’ before he fell. He managed to angle away from the tree, but brought Sophie down with him. 

Tony ended up on his back, and Sophie sprawled partially on top of him. She sighed, blowing hair out of her face, and Tony was afraid he'd just messed everything up. But then Sophie moved a little and looked up at him.

“Thanks for the help.” She smiled, then giggled, a small snort following. 

Tony grinned, relieved and endeared. “Anytime.”

[a-sexy-asexual-658]

The Twin Sister (Part 10)

We were sitting in the cafeteria when Sophie got up and walked out. I had just zoned back in on to what was happening when she left so I didn't know why so I asked Keefe. "She's just getting my amazing gift from her locker." He said and instead of saying something like 'how did you get in her locker' I just jumped out of my seat when I realized something.

"I forgot my cap!" Then Dex shoved something in my face.

"Yeah you did so I grabbed it before we left." He said as he continued to do whatever it was he was doing.

"Aw Dexipoo thanks!" Keefe cracked up.

"D-dexipoo!?" He practically yelled to the world. Dex scowled, he had never really liked the nickname. I grinned. Keefe laughed as I opened the first gift. It was a velvet red cloth made out of a soft silk. It had silver thread loopy designs on it and a little adjustable bow on the back. You pull it to loosen it then just push it to tighten, the beautiful fabric was long enough to reach a few inches below my shoulders if used as a headband and to a few inches above my midback if used as a choker. It also had a little placement area in the middle. I looked at the note that was attached to the box.

Hey, I noticed how you liked to use clothes for your registry pendant instead of the wires so I got you this. Hope you like it and if you want it can also be used as a headband. Don't want your hair getting caught while doing a prank now do ya! Anyway hope you like it.

~Jay

I just stared at the cloth rereading the note over and over. It was honestly beautiful and he was right, my hair always did get in the way when I was pranking. I smiled as I took off the blue cloth I was wearing today and put the crystal on the little placement area on the red one. I wrapped it around my neck twice so it wasn't too long but also made sure I wasn't choking myself. I tightened the bow at the end and tuned to the gang.

"What do you think?" I said and I regretted it immediately when Bianna gained that glint in her eye. Scary.

"Beautiful! The red compliments your brown eye like the silver compliments your blue one.-" She then went on a rant about what dresses would go with it and I turned to Keefe with the stare. We apparently were both obsessed with one of our features, for him it was hair and for me, its face and eyes. I take good care of my face, creams, oils, face masks everything. I also spent years training my eyes to look how I wanted them to, sad? Easy. Cold and cruel? Easy. Seductive? Easy. It's how I'm so good at hiding my emotions. . . . . don't read too much into that.

Anyway, Keefe handed me the mirror we always kept with one of us and Bianna was right, the red brought out the flecks of gold while the silver brought out the twinges of blue since alone my blue eye just looked gray and stormy. I smiled and moved to the next gift but Dex shoved something in my hands.

"Wha- wait is this my I pod! OMG!!" I grinned as I opened it and checked on my apps.

"Yup, I made it solar powered so you don't have to worry about the battery and it has a speaker so you don't have to plug those things in your ears." He said as I clicked on all my apps to see if they all still worked. YouTube. Check. Google. Check. Tiktok. Check. Everything else since I'm too lazy to say. Check. And most important, music. CHECK!!

I grinned and clicked on my music, playing my favorite song, oh how I missed you sweet sweet music. I put it on full blast so I could hear it over the whole room but apparently my silent question of what Dex meant that he put I speaker in when it already had one was answered. He enhanced it. The music blasted over the whole room and everyone went quiet to listen to it and turned our way.

Apparently, the elves were innocent little souls, thankfully, and didn't know what the song meant. By the end of the song everyone in the room dancing to the beat of the song and enjoying it. Ah, so music was what was missing from this celebration. Gifts, food, friends, chatting, and finally, I brought the music.

The adults unfortunately knew what it was about and all turned red. I just grinned and started to dance, but then the devil- I mean an angry Sophie walked in. What? She's scary when she's mad.

"(Y/N) FOSTER!" She yelled above everyone and the noise ceased and I froze. Ice practically shooting through my body. I turned around slowly to find my dear sister and Dex thankfully turned the music off noticing the tension to come. Everyone didn't dare make a sound probably experiencing the same fear, after all, she was like a demon when she was mad, she burned everything in her path and everyone made way for her. Scary. She's like honey, nice, sweet, and shy, but when angered or in the case of honey you took too much she was as deadly as, well, the deadliest thing out there.

Anyway, I slowly turned to see her with the most anger-filled face, she quickly converted it into a sickly sweet smile that can fool anyone with empty scary eyes. I shivered all too aware of that face. The last time I had seen it didn't end well, it was when I was ten and I had snuck out at midnight. Y'know that underground ring I was talking about and told you not to think about too much well I had gone there and apparently, she didn't want me going that night and hunted me down. When she found me she stormed past the guards that hesitated in stopping her well aware she was my sister, oh yeah I had a reputation. When she saw me I was sipping on alcohol, and let's just say she was mad. I am not getting into specifics. Too gruesome.

Anyway, she motioned for me to walk over to her as the parents entered the room and stopped noticing the tension. I shakily walked up to Sophie as she brought her hands up and placed them on my shoulders.

"What did I tell you about that song, (N/N)?" She said as her grip got tighter with every word. I grabbed her wrists as the grip got painful.

"N-not to l-listen to it w-without you." I stuttered as Sophie smiled wider. Heh, mom pick me up I don't feel safe anymore.

"And what were you doing?" She asked with a sadistic glint in her eye.

"I was listening to it! I'm sorry!" I yelled and she finally let go. She patted my shoulder a couple times returning to her normal not frightening self.

"Good. Now don't do it again or else." She said and I shivered as we sat back down. Keefe leaned over to whisper in my ear.

"She's scary!" He hissed and I gave him a hard stare.

"Ya think? Try living with her!" I whisper-yelled back and a cold sweat fell over both of us. We turned to find Sophie staring at us sweetly.

"What was that?" She asked.

"NOTHING!" I yelled before the commotion started and Sophie forgot about our argument.

"YOU BOTH PASSED!!" I heard the voice of Grady yell and I smiled. Keefe rose his eye brown at me.

"I passed, like I told you I'm fabulous," I said whipping my hair, which just so happened to be down today, in his face. I walked over to the hugging family and me being a secret introvert when it came to physical contact planned to sneak away or just stand there awkwardly but Grady had pulled me into it before I could escape and we were like that for like two seconds before our guardians released us.

We continued to speak then they forced me into another hug and I definitely did not melt into the warmth of it. Nope, I totally didn't. Just like how I'm definitely not touch starved. Nope, certainly not. I zoned out and as we were leaving Sophie rushed to her locker to grab something and I went on to munch on candy as Edaline just told me to try not to spoil my appetite for dinner later.

Sophie came back and handed me a box. It was black and when I opened it it had a silver pendant with a blue crystal in it. I rose an eyebrow at Sophie as she furrowed hers at the jewelry.

"Your locker was open and I found it inside." She said as she pulled out what looked to be a copy of it from her pocket. "I also got one." I just shrugged it off as we left. But before we left we heard an explosion and a stink spread across the room.

"(Y/N)!!!!" Fitz's voice roared as I snapped a quick picture of him with both my imparter and I pod and then sprinted out as he chased me covered in glue and glitter with a stench of soggy old socks and farts trailing behind him.

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

1624 words

Well here's the next part hope you like it. I thought to leave it off on a funny note since the endings have been a bit bland lately. 

Anyway off to stop avoiding my homework, goodbye. 

~Sahiko

[justsomerandomntmranking]

2. Jessica

Jessica’s shot, alongside Sophie’s, is the simplest of the week; the top 2 placements do show that sometimes, simple is best. Like Sophie, the pose is simple but sweet, her body in profile is a main issue for me but otherwise, I don’t have any issues with it, especially the hands dragging down to show the scarf. Jessica’s face is, as always, stunning. The past 2 weeks have been a time for Jessica to experiment with a new emotion and I think she nailed it. I like the hint of a smile and the loving look in her eyes piercing into the lens. This is another step in the right direction for Jessica.

[joeabdelsater2]

A Breakdown of Cuong Nguyen's Hand-Painting Process

In this blog post, I will be talking about Hoang Tri Cuong Nguyen's project of transforming a real-life plant into a stunning hand-painted 3D model. As a student in Games Art and Design, I am particularly drawn to his workflow process and techniques, especially as I am aspiring to dive deeper into hand-painted work myself. The RMIT University, School of Design student posted an article on The Rookies platform, where he described the methodology that he had to follow to create a hand-painted stylised flower.

Cuong Nguyen began explaining his workflow process by listing the main software that he used, such as Maya for modelling, Substance 3D Painter and Photoshop for texturing, and Marmoset Toolbag 4 and Sketchfab for rendering. His creation began with inspiration from Sophie Rose Stübinger's Sunflower 3D model on Sketchfab. He set out to photograph plants in his neighbourhood, finally choosing the lilac hibiscus because of its brilliant colours and interesting shape. His decision to draw a concept art instead of solely relying on photographs represents a deviation from traditional realism methods, as it allowed him to infuse his unique art style into the project. I feel like doing the same and making sketches for my environments and assets might also help me visualise my own projects in the stylised aesthetic.

He started by planning how to set up the model in Maya and Photoshop. He adopted a systematic approach of breaking down the model into its elemental components, like petals, buds, stems, leaves, ground, and the pot. He discovered that this method allowed for a more manageable workflow, particularly when dealing with soft surfaces. He chose to use planes with texture maps incorporating transparency for certain components such as petals, leaves, and the ground.

For the petals and leaves he started with the process of designing the general forms in Photoshop as drawings, which he would transfer into low-poly models using Maya later on. He exported the drawings from Photoshop as PNG texture maps, which allowed him to display only the appropriate areas of the model and hide the empty spaces even inside Maya. He thought of creating UV maps for the single components of his asset before duplicating them which led to a uniformity in his texture placement and better texturing optimisation.

Then, his texturing process started with a focus on refining his hand-painting skills using Substance 3D Painter. As a student, his approach to the texturing process gave me valuable tips that I can integrate into my own practice. His method of starting with flat colours to gain an overview of the model's composition aligns with the notion of building a solid foundation before adding more details. This can be applied in all stages of asset creation, especially in sculpting, where I unfortunately tend to jump into detailing very early on in the process. He also followed an intuitive path by basing his decisions on the final visual needs, rather than limiting himself to traditional methodology and order. His way of thinking exhibits the value of using an experimental approach which reflects a trial-and-error nature to the creative process, emphasizing the importance of adaptability.

His next step constituted in improving the texture maps in Photoshop by creating a mask to remove any colour from the transparent backdrop. This protects the integrity of transparency in render engines and lays the groundwork for easier integration. He then made subsequent subtle colour changes to improve the visual appeal of the flower which highlights the importance of doing some extra tweaking. He discovered the effectiveness of the 'Glass Distort' filter in Photoshop's filter gallery which allowed him to experiment until he achieved the desired watercolour look he was aiming for.

Cuong Nguyen rendered the flower in Marmoset Toolbag 4 and his task begins with adjusting the material settings, using the Albedo for the color map and leaving all other choices at their defaults. To ensure visibility of all plane sides for flowers and leaves, he activated the 'Cull Back sides' option, a common difficulty I've run across even in other software I've worked with. His favourite lighting arrangement consists of two lights, a primary one and a secondary one, used as a backlight. This arrangement gave the model some added depth and realism, and I'd like to remember this technique to use it in the future.

In Marmoset, a flat colour setting was used for the backdrop, focusing on simplicity and cleanliness to set the flower in the spotlight. In Sketchfab, the same conditions were applied to keep the rendered look consistent and unified between both render engines. He also employed default lighting conditions with the same light angle for shadow direction. He purposely chose 'Specular' over 'Metalness' for the unlit shading, to give the model a flatter drawing-like appearance. He also used an opacity cutout for the petals and leaves to improve their visual impact, then he finally made minor tweaks to guarantee that the final Sketchfab render closely matches the style and appearance of the Marmoset Toolbag 4 rendering.

Exploring Hoang Tri Cuong Nguyen's project has provided me with a different outlook on creative workflows as a student in game art. From his meticulous planning to his strategic use of tools in software, I've learned the importance of embracing experimentation and the adoption of creativity to infuse my unique artistic style into my projects, thus prioritising fulfilling artistic vision rather than adhering strictly to conventional methodologies.

Reference:

Hoang Tri Cuong Nguyen. (2023). Turning a Real-Life Plant into a Hand-Painted 3D Model. Discover | The Rookies [e-journal]. Available at: https://discover.therookies.co/2023/11/20/turning-a-real-life-plant-into-a-hand-painted-3d-model/

[marafilmblog]

On Set on 'The Hands of Men'

Boom Operator:

I was given the opportunity to be a boom operator for ‘The Hands of Men’ for their first day of filming. I went to set to help Sophie out with an issue she was having connecting lav mics to the Mix-Pre. I managed to solve the issue for her but found out when I was there the person who was going to be her boom op was unavailable. I offered to stay and was glad I did. This a great experience for me, the film is one of my favourites that has been produced this semester. I was glad to get some experience as boom op and feel like I did a good job. I was also there to support the sound recordist with any issues or help if she needed it. It was also good to get more experience putting lav mics on actors as this is something that will change with each person and their costume and more practice will help me to get the techniques for good sound quality and comfortable placements.

Beyond being on set for sound I particularly enjoyed the behind the scenes of the production design and how the shots were constructed as there are a lot of ambitious elements in the script/ final film.

[masterpieceofunderstatement]

If Sophie Okonedo and Maribel Verdu don’t play a queer couple in Raymond & Ray, I will throw hands.

…and still ship it. Because MILFs.

[hedgiwithapen]

DHD prompt: Five times that someone on the Leverage Crew faked their death, and one time someone didn't stay dead.

It was a slapped together plan in all of thirty seconds. Dammit, Hardison. Eliot thought, putting the microdetonator on an expired ketchup packet and attaching the whole mess to the underside of his shirt, too close to vital organs for real comfort. Hardison babbled in his ear that it was totally safe, that Sophie’s gun blanks were loud enough anyways that he could get away with just bursting the packets with his pecs. Eliot didn’t have time to tell him that that was not how things like muscles and faked gunshots worked. Next time, he decided as the O’hare goons dragged him into the warehouse, it was Hardison’s turn to be the dead guy. It went off fine, though, Nate’s mild panic hidden under his character’s much less mild panic. Eliot waited for Sophie’s heels to click their cue, then squeezed the detonator button he’d palmed, twisting to add more force than was really there.   He laid on the cold cement floor, like he’d left a hundred men before, only this time the blood was fake, until his team was there to signal an all clear. * Katherine Clive’s corner apartment exploded, and the minute stretched a hair too long before Sophie rejoined the team on the street.  Under any other circumstance, she’d have made a quip about something--fashionable arrivals, real estate value-- but her heart is still lodged in her throat. It’s not even grifting, staring up at the destruction. Katherine was dead now, and who mourns her? An ex-boyfriend, a fictitious mother? Sophie took the hand Nathan Ford offered her, jolted under the clap on the back from Parker. She nodded briskly. “Lets go catch my killer” *

Once, Parker had gone to a Birthday party for a child next door to her then-current foster placement. The cake had been good, the clown had not been, but the best thing had been the bounce house where she’d climbed up the inflatable walls to drop to the squishy floor again and again. Several of the kids played a game she didn’t know, but by watching thought maybe she understood.  Crack the egg, where one person huddled in a ball and tried not to move while everyone else bounced them higher and higher. It hadn’t looked like as much fun as falling from the top of the castle. Like the egg, she held perfectly still, the blue makeup on her lips and the purple around her neck an only barely annoying texture. She replayed a memory of stealing from the Louvre in her mind as she felt the mark, Vector, grabbing for her wrist and touching only the makeup covered pad made to hide her pulse from him, and did not move, not even to smile at the way his voice squeaked as he tried to call his lawyer and got Hardison’s tech instead.  Maybe Sophie was right, she thought. Death scenes are fun. * Rebecca Ibanz gave the tiniest of cries as she fell back against Michael Vittori, her fake Fiance, the man who would be president if this worked, a man who would be dead for real if this didn’t. The fake blood was warm from the packet being so close to her skin, and it spread over her blouse. She had always loved the top, but sacrifices had to be made. Sophie did not sigh, keeping her upper body stiff in supposed death. Her part was over now, the coaching and the guiding, leading the candidate to be his best self for these people.  Any minute now, Nate would make his deal with Rivera, and Moreau would find himself locked in the same dungeons he had used to cage too many. Michael spoke, raw shock in his voice as he used everything she had taught him to move the crowd and sway Rivera’s soldiers to his side. Pride tipped the edges of her lips, not enough for anyone to see. She wanted to tell him how proud she was. She never could, of course. Michael was too honest a man, too honorable. He would crack under the pressure of the lie, if he knew. Suddenly, Sophie felt a twinge of shame, something no grifter can ever afford. He was a good man, and he would go one thinking that she had died for him. Well. Some sacrifices had to be made. * One of these days, Eliot thought, he was going to have to take the day off and make a batch of fake blood that tasted good. The stuff on his lips now was far too sweet, pure corn syrup.  He staggered, as rehearsed, collapsing onto Kanic’s shoulder, letting his eyes unfocus as he brought an end to his scripted mutterings about probes and alien ships and unearthly suffering. That part took more willpower than making his breath go shallow or easing back the beat of his heart. Eliot hated not being able to see with absolute clarity everything going on, almost as much as he hated margarine and sickly sweet fake blood. Kanic scampered, abandoning him in hopes of saving himself from the horrors that “Lenny” had promised awaited him. Eliot waited until he was gone, and from the noise down the hall, truly panicked, then lightly got to his feet and left. He needed to spit this sugar garbage out. *

“Dammit Hardison,” Eliot said, counting off beats in his head. He felt a rib give way, the distinctive snap echoing in his ears. “Absolutely not, you do not get to die on us.” his wrists and elbows ached as he forced Hardison’s heart to keep blood circulating. Parker stood by, ready to take over if she needed too, or to flag down the EMTs that had to be on the way by now. The portable AED gave a chirp, and Eliot rocked back on his heels, staying clear. Hardison might have had a heart rhythm once again, but they weren’t out of the woods yet.

Scream at me in the discord: https://discord.gg/9cKfGc7b

[moldisgoodforyou]

on my mom's grave

wordcount: 3.7k

warnings: n/a

______

“How drunk do you think we’re going to get tonight?” Sophie asked, tipping back the last of a lemon White Claw as the two of them got ready for the night in her room.

“Dunno. I’m not really feeling it tonight.”

She paused, glancing back at him. “Do you not want to go?”

He shook his head and took the can from her, disappointed to realize there was nothing left. “No, no, it’s fine. I’m cool. Probably just won’t drink.”

“Is this about the phone call with your dad earlier?”

Rafe sighed, gritting his teeth. “It’s not - I’m fine, Soph.”

She crossed her arms and eyed him over, trying to get a read on his body language. “You’re sure.”

“I’m sure.” After Rafe tugged his shirt over his head, ready much faster than Sophie, he paced around the room for a few seconds before speaking up. "Hey, so...Sarah's getting presented at the annual deb ball in spring."

Sophie seemed unbothered, turning her back to him as she wrestled her way into a crop top to get ready for the night. "Those are still a thing? Cool, so you're going home for it?" She paused, glancing over at him in his polo. "Undo another button."

He did so, then rocked back on his heels with his hands in his pockets, trying to figure out what to say next.

She slowly turned back to him, realizing he was still tense across his shoulders. "What?"

Rafe rubbed the back of his neck, a tell-tale sign he was nervous and Sophie wasn't going to like what he was about to say. "Yeah...my dad wanted you to come home for it too."

"What? Ward? Why?"

"He, kinda, uh, wants you to be presented too?"

She just laughed, turning back to the mirror with her brow furrowed in slight concentration as she applied another coat of mascara. "Okay. Sure." But when he didn't elaborate, she turned back to him again, lips pursed. "Cameron. Tell me you told him no."

"...I didn't not not tell him no."

"Rafe."

He cracked under her stare. "I'm sorry, okay! Look, it's easy, all you have to do is throw on a pretty white dress and gloves -"

"A dress that costs thousands of dollars -"

"Hundreds, but - I'll cover you, obviously -"

"No." She turned back to the mirror, shaking her head. "Fuck no. I'm not going."

"Sophie." He nearly begged, stepping closer and running his hand through his hair. "Baby. C'mon."

"Don't call me that. No. I don’t fit into that part of your world.”

"Not even for me?" He pleaded, giving her a half-hearted grin. He ignored her last sentence, knowing any argument he had for her point would be dismissed in two seconds. "I wouldn't ask you if it wasn't important, you know that."

She turned back to him with crossed arms, fixing him with a glare. "Do I know that?"

"Soph."

"Don't, Rafe." She warned, holding one hand out, but he stepped closer anyways.

"Angel. Please. For me." He forced a smile, tried cracking a joke. "I really don't want to have to call him up and get read the riot act."

She furrowed her brow and Rafe reached out and smoothed out the lines in between her eyebrows before he could stop himself, making her soften just a little. "If I were to say yes. What would I have to do?"

"Just wear the dress, attend a dinner, party the night before and party that night." He paused, thinking. "And stay at my house for the weekend. Be civil to my dad.” At her eyeroll, he fixed her with a more serious gaze. “Meet my grandparents. Hang with my sisters. C'mon, Wheezie adores you."

"You're lying."

"I'm not. She thinks you're cool. Sarah too, but she’s less likely to admit it." He kissed her forehead, hands going to her waist. "Please?"

"It's that important?"

"I swear. On my mom's grave."

Sophie frowned immediately, reaching up to fix his hair. "That's not necessary."

"You'll do it?"

"...Yes." When he made a small fist pump, she fixed him with a glare. "Only because I love you."

“I'll go down on you every night for the next two weeks -”

She rolled her eyes at his promise, shoving lightly at his chest. "You basically already do that anyways, Rafe -”

"Okay, fine, I'll tie you up, something, anything, god, thank you, Soph. You don't know how big of a favor this is. I mean it." He sighed in relief, the tension draining from his body.

She ignored him, turning back to the mirror to apply lip gloss, carefully smearing the wand across her lips. “Why does he want me to do this? I don’t understand.”

“Is that the sticky stuff? I hate that stuff, it gets all over me when we’re kissing -” He started, then quickly shut his mouth as she flipped him off without looking. “Uh, ‘to integrate you into our society.’ Direct quote.”

“Oh god.” She groaned, setting the lip gloss aside after applying it, then started searching through her jewelry case. “So I’m gonna have to be on my best kook behavior?”

He snorted. “Sophie Flint, a kook. Not likely.”

“Watch it.” She pointed a warning finger in his face. “You don’t see anything weird with this? Your dad hates me.”

“He doesn’t hate you.”

“Rose does.”

“That’s not true either.”

Sophie raised her eyebrows, challenging him.

He shrugged, relenting with a sigh. “You’re not her favorite person, no, but neither am I.”

“You think this was more her idea? For Sarah to do it too?”

“Nah, actually, pretty sure it was my grandparents’ idea. Probably Granddad. My mom went through all this, so…”

She turned her back to him and gathered her hair, offering the clasp of her gold chain to him. “Your mom was a debutante?” She questioned with interest.

_______

Rafe rarely ever talked about his mom - Sophie had only found out how she died from a newspaper article in the online archives, and hadn’t wanted to bring it up since. All she knew was that Mrs. Cameron had passed away in a car accident when Rafe was fourteen.

Both Sophie and Rafe’s schools shared a building, despite them going to private academies, and overlapped for certain advanced placement classes. In freshman year, they were together for AP chemistry, with Sophie sitting proudly at the front of the class while Rafe sat in the back with a group of his friends, often cracking jokes at inappropriate times or throwing wads of paper at each other. Freshman year Sophie was the epitome of stuck-up - she resorted to insults instead of making friends and kept to herself, terrified someone might find out that she was on scholarship and wasn’t truly meant to be there.

The day after the car accident, Rafe was unusually quiet. Sophie hadn’t heard the news yet, it was barely second period and she wasn’t looped into the trail of gossip like the rest of the girls at Greenville. They were partnered for an experiment that day - Rafe had groaned when he heard Sophie’s name after his from the teacher, and Sophie barely suppressed a roll of her eyes. She took charge right away, getting all the supplies and set up their work station without even addressing him. After a few minutes, she slid the small glass of solution to Rafe, raising her eyebrows. “You can do the work too, you know.”

He was completely spaced out, only glancing up when she said something. “I wasn’t paying attention.”

Sophie rolled her eyes, lifting a beaker and extending it to him. “Yeah. I know. Just drop in 10 milliliters of the solution, it’s not hard.”

Rafe sighed as he rested his elbows on the edge of the table, rubbing his temples. “Look, can you just do it?”

She finally took note of the dark circles under his eyes, the way his shoulders were slumped, but misinterpreted it all. She smirked, taking on a taunting tone. “What, you’re still drunk from last night or something?”

He gritted his jaw, his entire body growing tense, and tugged at the collar of his polo. “Fuck off, Flint. Not in the mood today.”

She recoiled immediately, setting the beaker down with a little too much force. “Don’t be an asshole.”

“Don’t be a fucking bitch.” He spit back, standing abruptly. She winced as the stool squeaked across the floor, drawing everyone’s attention - as if they hadn’t had it already. Kelce stepped over and went to grab Rafe’s arm, possibly pull him away, but Rafe just wrenched his arm out of his grip. “I’m fine.” He growled, storming out of the classroom without looking back.

After a few moments of stunned silence, with Sophie on the verge of shocked tears, their teacher cleared her throat and redirected everyone’s attention, pointing one of the girls over to join Sophie instead. Molly made her way over, occupying Rafe’s seat in the space across from her. “Poor Rafe,” she murmured.

Sophie frowned, pulling her jacket tighter across her chest like a shield of armor. “Poor Rafe? What?”

Molly nodded, lowering her voice a little. “Yeah, you didn’t hear? I’m surprised he’s at school, honestly.”

“I didn’t...what happened?”

“Oh.” Molly frowned. “Um. You know that winding road, the one that goes downhill toward the ballet studio?”

Sophie didn’t, she didn’t even have a clue - the ballet studio was on the entire opposite side of the island from where she lived, the height of Figure 8, and she hadn’t ever had a reason to even venture that way. “Yeah? What does that have to do with Rafe?”

“Um, well, it was pouring last night, and his mom was driving down that road. I heard she lost control of the car and wrecked it. There was, like, a drunk driver that swerved into her lane, but she tried to avoid him and hit a tree.” Molly told her, careful on the details.

“I’m pretty sure the Camerons can replace a car.” Sophie replied, not wanting Molly to confirm where she thought she was going with the story. She dug her nails into the skin of her thigh anyways, feeling anxiety bubble up in her chest.

Molly shook her head, slowly. “Mrs. Cameron died, Sophie.”

Her heart dropped and she bit the inside of her cheek, hard. “Oh.”

“Yeah. I’m surprised you didn’t hear the sirens last night, I saw like eight police cars last night headed toward his house. I heard Sarah was in the car too, I think -”

“Is Sarah okay?” She couldn’t concentrate on anything but her ears ringing, her heart pounding in her chest.

“Oh, yeah, I think so. But god, how awful, right? The funeral is next weekend, Ward Cameron told my dad this morning. Is your family going?”

“Um...I don’t know.” Sophie glanced toward the door, hoping to god he would come back through the door and Molly would confess that it was all a joke, that she hadn’t just started something with Rafe on that day of all days.

________

Rafe nodded. “Yeah. ‘Course she was. I think she really enjoyed it, actually, she’d always tell Sarah when she was little about how pretty she would look in the dress, how important it was to learn the right etiquette and -” He cut himself off, realizing he was sharing too much, and deftly fastened the clasp before pressing a kiss to the top of her head, letting her step away. “All that.”

“Huh.”

He smiled to himself, thinking about how his mom would let little Sarah play dress up in her old ballgown with gloves that went up to her armpits, wobbling around in high heels twice the size of her feet. His mom would tell Rafe he’d have to watch out for Sarah with her escort, keep him in line, and that when he was in college he’d be presenting a girl as well. But he was nine and didn’t think of girls in that way quite yet, so he always scowled and left the room.

“It’s kind of cool, I think. The tradition of it all.”

“The ball? Have you been?” She caught his eye in the mirror as she adjusted her top, not wanting to push for too much information before he’d shut down altogether.

“No...I was gonna present Brooklyn at the one here in Columbus, sophomore year’s normally when the girl gets presented, but. Yeah. No, I meant, it’s kind of cool that you’ll be doing something my mom did.” He rubbed the back of his neck, meeting her gaze for a moment then looked away.

“Yeah?”

“She would have liked you. I know it.”

Sophie perked up a little, cocking her head. “You really mean it?”

“Yeah. She would have liked that you have an attitude with me.” He grinned when she turned back around and took his hand, tugging him over to sit on the bed next to her. “She was always saying I needed to find someone to match my energy, keep me in check. I wish she could have met you.”

“I did meet her. Once.”

He perked up, cocking his head. “You did?”

“Yeah, I served her when I was working at the restaurant at the country club once, I was only fourteen. I remember she made some comment about me being too young to work and I told her I liked it. Then she asked my name, and I remember she seemed like she knew already when I told her.” Sophie nodded. “She was really nice, left way too big of a tip and wrote my name on the bill. I always thought that was funny.”

Of course she knew, Rafe thought as he smiled to himself. She knew, because Rafe had come home and complained about a girl getting on his nerves every single week since seventh grade. She knew, when the complaints turned to “why won’t just be nice to me” and his mom had quipped that Sophie probably liked him - he had scoffed and walked away. She knew, because his mom had come home from the country club and told him Sophie Flint was a much nicer girl than Rafe painted her to be, and Rafe had immediately turned bright red and been embarrassed that his mom sought her out.

“I like that.” She leaned into him, taking his hand to play with his rings. “Will your grandparents be there? At the ball?”

“Oh, yeah. They sit on the board, I’m pretty sure, it’s this gigantic charity event. I’ll introduce you, but don’t worry, they’re chill. Nothing like my dad.” He adjusted himself so she was comfortable, then pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

She chewed on the inside of her lip, treading carefully. “I thought your dad grew up on the Cut.”

“He did. But my mom, no way. Kook through and through. That’s, uh, where a lot of my trust is from. After she died, um. She wanted to be sure me and Sarah were set.” He shrugged, ears turning red as he felt his throat getting tight.

Sophie frowned, feeling him closing off, and leaned closer to hug him, arms wrapped tight around his waist. “You know you can talk to me about this stuff whenever, Rafe? I’d like to hear more about your mom. She sounds like an amazing woman.”

“She was.” He nodded, settling his arms around her shoulders and rested his chin on the top of her head, closing his eyes for a moment. “Thanks, Soph. This is a really big deal to me, that you’ll go. I know it’s not your scene.”

“Love you.” She murmured. “You’d better buy me a pretty dress.”

He laughed, leaning back just enough to tip up her chin with one finger and kiss her. “You’ll be the best looking one there. I swear.”

“Oh, I already knew that.”

“Okay, okay, big head -”

She swatted his arm, laughing as she ducked out from under him. “Watch it, or I won’t go -”

“I was kidding!” He exclaimed, wrestling with her for a moment before grabbing both her hands and pinning them above her head.

Sophie sucked in a breath, caught off guard. “We are going to be late.”

“We’re already late.” He pointed out, taking a moment to realize the lack of innocence in the position, then slowly smirked. “We could be later. They’re not gonna miss us.”

“Rafe.”

“Sophie.”

“No.”

“You’re positive?”

She just gave him a look, staring him dead in the eyes and willing herself not to react when he leaned down with a grin and kissed the bridge of her nose.

“Please?”

“Fine. The ball or sex right now. You choose.” She raised her eyebrows, arching her back a little on purpose, pressing her hips up against his.

“That’s not fair.” He frowned, immediately shifting his hips away and moving so both his knees were on either side of her instead. “This is blackmail.”

“Your choice.” She reminded him, biting her lip for good measure.

He faltered, sitting back on her thighs and letting go of her wrists. “Soph, it’s - it’s for my mom. I swear. Not for my dad, Rose, anyone else.”

Sophie dropped the teasing act right away, propping herself up on her elbows. “Right, right, sorry. I won’t push it.”

“It’s alright.” He climbed off her, standing, and offered his hands. “Five bucks James makes some joke about us being late because we were having sex.”

“I’m not taking you up on that.” She rolled her eyes, accepting his hand and pulled him into a hug. “Love you long time, Cameron.”

He smiled, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “Love you too, favorite girl.”

“What do the dresses look like?”

“Uh...white?” Rafe shrugged, tugging on her hand to get her to follow him downstairs. “I dunno. When we go home for Thanksgiving I’ll book you an appointment to get fitted, I think it’s at some bridal shop on the mainland.”

“Sounds expensive.” She muttered, shaking her head.

“It’s…yeah. It’s not cheap.” He admitted, then shrugged as she followed him out the door, starting their walk toward the bars. “I’ll take care of it though. All of it. By the way, have you booked your flight home for Thanksgiving yet?”

“Um...no. I was going to look this week, it’s probably too late now though.”

“Hm.”

“Hm? Why, are you going home?”

Rafe nodded, not looking her in the eye. “Taking the plane.”

“Oh. Of course.”

“The plane...that no one else will be on...and it’s kinda ridiculous for you to waste money and carbon emissions on a separate flight…” He tried convincing her, a small smile playing on his lips as she rolled her eyes.

“You need to learn how carbon emissions work if you’re going to use that as an argument with me.”

“So that’s a no to sex on the plane?”

Sophie stopped in her tracks, confused. “That wasn’t - Rafe, what?”

“You, me, alone on the plane. Sorry, was I not clear enough?”

“I didn’t even say yes -”

“Oh, so you’re going to leave me all by myself on our one-year anniversary -”

She raised her eyebrows, challenging him. “When’s our anniversary, Rafe?”

He raised his back, stopping on the sidewalk to face her. “On my terms or yours? Because if we’re going with mine, it’s Halloween -”

“No, I had to ask you to be my boyfriend, it’s November 18th -”

“That is such an arbitrary thing, Sophie -”

“Hey! Stop stealing my vocabulary.” She interjected, pushing at his chest. “It’s the 18th, because I had to ask you out.”

“Okay. Whatever story makes you happy.” He shrugged, laughing when she shoved at him again. “Come on the plane with me.”

“...Fine. Only because I don’t want to miss our class reunion party on Wednesday night, I’m pretty sure some people still don’t believe we’re together.”

Rafe laughed loud at that, looping his arm around her shoulders and started walking again. “Pretty sure Topper still thinks it’s all an elaborate lie.”

“Does he know that we nearly hooked up in his room last winter break?”

“No.” He grinned. “Are you forgetting that you had to sprint into his bathroom right when I was about to kiss you because of some tequila thing you had?”

She tilted her head slightly. “You’re remembering wrong. That was sophomore year, before we were dating, I barely drank last year...you almost kissed me?”

“What? No, I think...remember, we were arguing over something, then you whispered in my ear to go up to his room and left. I went up a couple minutes later.” He shook his head. “I wasn’t going to make a move, Brooklyn and I were together then.”

Sophie scowled at the mention of Brooklyn. “I must have been hammered, I don’t remember any of this.”

“You wanted me.” He smirked, trailing his fingers along her collarbone. “One might say desperate.”

“No, no. All I remember is waking up in Topper’s bed feeling like shit, I had some crewneck on from your academy.” She ignored the blush creeping up her neck.

“How do you think you got there and got the sweatshirt?” He frowned. “I took care of you, Sophie. You really don’t remember?”

“I think I blacked out.” She confessed, shaking her head. “You took care of me?”

“Of course I did. Plus, I thought I was about to get some, I would have done anything for you.” He grinned, laughing when she shoved his shoulder. “Really thought that was the night I’d finally win you over.”

“Yeah, well, you can blame Sarah for her heavy pour that night.” She shook her head, smiling fondly. “I really wish I remembered that.”

“I wish you remembered too. Maybe you would have given me a chance before then instead of setting me up with Julia.”

“I - no! She asked to be set up with you, no, I did not instigate that at all.” She defended herself straightaway, cheeks flushing pink. “She said if I wasn’t going to make a move, then she was going to.”

“Sure. Whatever you believe.” He teased, pressing a kiss to the top of her head as they arrived at the bar. “Hey, Soph.”

She rolled her eyes, going to get in the winding line outside until he tugged her wrist back, pulling her to his chest. “What?”

“Thank you. I mean it.”

Sophie softened, smiling as she rose up on her toes to kiss him. “Of course, baby. I’ve got your back.”

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