#i feel like she'd lean a little bit into the whole nature thing of being this itty bitty prey for the big bear man

[mercymaker]

ok as much as i love the sex mod because hells yea who doesn't want to make their blorbos fuck nasty

making it look good??? look decent??? requires so much work dsfsdf

[herweirdass]

the waitress 2 | vh

part one here!

A few weeks had passed since Vinnie had mustered the courage to ask Y/N out for coffee. What started as a simple hangout had quickly blossomed into something more, something neither of them had quite expected but both had secretly hoped for. Their connection was effortless, and Vinnie found himself looking forward to every text, every phone call, and every chance he had to see her again.

Tonight was no different. Y/N was coming over to Vinnie's place for a laid-back movie night, something they had been doing regularly. As Vinnie prepared the popcorn, he couldn't help but smile at how natural it all felt—how comfortable they'd become with each other. He'd already set up the living room with pillows and blankets scattered across the couch, dim lighting creating a cozy atmosphere.

When Y/N arrived, she greeted him with her usual bright smile, making his heart race the way it always did. She was wearing one of his oversized hoodies, something she'd started doing more often, and he loved it. 

"Hey, you," she said, walking into the kitchen where he was pouring the popcorn into a bowl. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before stealing a handful of popcorn.

Vinnie chuckled, pulling her closer by the waist. "You always do that," he teased. "I don't even get to eat any before you've taken half of it."

"Well, that's because I'm saving you from yourself," she replied, grinning up at him. "You know you'd finish the whole thing before the movie even starts."

He laughed, loving how playful she was. "Alright, alright. Let's get this movie started before you eat the rest of the snacks."

They settled onto the couch, Y/N curling up beside Vinnie, resting her head on his chest as he draped an arm around her. It felt perfect, like they fit together seamlessly. The movie started, but Vinnie found it hard to focus. Instead, he spent most of the time glancing down at Y/N, marveling at how lucky he was.

She noticed his gaze and smiled softly, tilting her head to look up at him. "You're staring," she pointed out, playfully poking him in the side.

"Can't help it," Vinnie shrugged, tightening his arm around her. "You're kind of hard to look away from."

Y/N rolled her eyes but smiled, snuggling back into him. "Well, don't get too distracted. You promised me we'd watch this one all the way through."

"I'm trying, I swear," he said with a laugh. "But you're just too cute. It's distracting."

She laughed, her fingers tracing lazy circles on his chest. "You're such a sap, you know that?"

Vinnie grinned, knowing it was true. Being with her made him feel soft in a way he hadn't expected. With Y/N, it was easy to let his guard down, to be vulnerable. She never pressured him to be anything other than who he was, and he loved her for that.

Halfway through the movie, Y/N shifted, sitting up a little so she could look at him. Her expression softened, her eyes filled with warmth. "Vinnie, can I tell you something?"

He nodded, his heart skipping a beat at the sudden seriousness in her tone. "Of course. What's up?"

She bit her lip, as if trying to find the right words. "I just... I want you to know how much I appreciate you. Like, for real. You've made me feel so safe, and I've never had that before. Being with you feels... different. In a good way."

Vinnie's chest tightened with emotion as he listened to her. He reached up, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Y/N, you don't know how happy that makes me. I feel the same way. I've never been this comfortable with anyone before. You make everything feel easy, you know? Like... it just works."

She smiled, leaning down to kiss him, this time slower, more meaningful. It wasn't just the sweet, playful kisses they often shared. This one was filled with emotion, like she was pouring her heart into it.

When they finally pulled away, Y/N rested her forehead against his, their noses brushing lightly. "I'm really happy, Vinnie," she whispered.

"Me too," he murmured, his thumb gently brushing her cheek. "I didn't expect this when I walked into the restaurant that night. But now... I can't imagine not having you in my life."

She beamed, her eyes shining as she kissed him again, a little lighter this time. "Well, you're stuck with me now. Hope you're ready for that."

Vinnie chuckled, pulling her back into his arms as they both lay back down on the couch. "I wouldn't want it any other way."

For the rest of the night, the movie played in the background, but neither of them really paid attention. Instead, they talked, laughed, and enjoyed each other's company, wrapped up in their own little world. Vinnie felt a warmth in his chest that hadn't been there before, a sense of peace he hadn't realized he needed until Y/N came into his life.

And as the night went on, with Y/N asleep in his arms, Vinnie couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, this was what it felt like to be in love.

The next few months were like a dream for Vinnie and Y/N. Their relationship had deepened into something more than either of them had ever expected. It wasn't just about the excitement of new love anymore—it was the little moments that made them feel like they had found something real and lasting.

One Saturday morning, Vinnie woke up early, sunlight streaming through the window, casting soft golden light across the room. Y/N was still asleep next to him, her face peaceful, her hair slightly tousled. He loved mornings like this, when everything felt quiet and perfect, as if the world had paused just for them.

Unable to resist, he leaned over and kissed her forehead softly, not wanting to wake her just yet. But Y/N stirred, her eyes slowly fluttering open. She smiled sleepily when she saw him.

"Morning," she mumbled, stretching a little before snuggling closer to him.

"Morning," Vinnie replied, his voice gentle. "Did I wake you?"

She shook her head, her arms wrapping around his waist as she rested her head on his chest. "No, but if I'm being honest, I'm glad you did."

He chuckled, running his fingers through her hair. "I was just thinking how perfect this is."

Y/N tilted her head up, her eyes meeting his. "Yeah? What's perfect about it?"

"Everything," he said simply. "Waking up with you, having these quiet moments. It's... I don't know, I've never felt this content before. Like, even the smallest things feel special when you're around."

She blushed slightly, her heart swelling at his words. She reached up to cup his face, her thumb brushing over his cheek. "You're making it really hard not to fall even more for you, you know that?"

He smirked, pulling her closer. "That's the plan."

They lay there for a while longer, wrapped up in each other, neither of them wanting to break the peaceful silence. But eventually, Vinnie's stomach grumbled loudly, breaking the moment.

Y/N laughed, sitting up. "Alright, Mr. Hungry, I guess that's our cue to get out of bed."

"Or," Vinnie said, raising an eyebrow, "we could just stay in bed and order breakfast."

She playfully pushed him. "We can't stay in bed all day, Vinnie!"

"Why not?" he teased, grabbing her hand and pulling her back down next to him. "I don't see the problem."

Y/N rolled her eyes but smiled. "Okay, maybe just a little longer."

They ended up ordering pancakes and bacon from a nearby café, and when it arrived, they sat in bed eating, talking about everything and nothing at all. Vinnie couldn't stop himself from stealing glances at Y/N as she laughed at one of his jokes, her face lighting up the way it always did. Every moment with her felt easy, as if they were perfectly in sync.

As they finished breakfast, Y/N rested her head on his shoulder, letting out a happy sigh. "You know, I think this might be one of my favorite days so far."

Vinnie smiled, his hand finding hers and giving it a gentle squeeze. "Yeah? What makes today so special?"

She looked up at him, her eyes soft. "Just being with you. It's like... I don't need anything else. We could be doing absolutely nothing, and it would still be the best day."

Vinnie's heart swelled at her words, and in that moment, he realized just how deep his feelings for her had grown. He wasn't just falling for her—he was already there.

"I feel the same way," he said, his voice quiet but full of emotion. "You're it for me, Y/N. I've never felt this way about anyone before. I—" He paused, his heart racing. He hadn't planned on saying it, but the words were already on the tip of his tongue.

"I love you."

Y/N's breath caught, her eyes widening slightly as she processed what he had just said. For a moment, she was silent, and Vinnie's stomach dropped, worried that maybe he had said it too soon. But then she smiled, the brightest, happiest smile he'd ever seen.

"I love you too, Vinnie."

Relief washed over him, and without another word, he pulled her into a deep kiss, one that felt like it was sealing the moment between them. When they finally pulled apart, they were both grinning like idiots.

"Wow," Y/N said, her voice a little breathless. "That... that was perfect."

Vinnie chuckled, resting his forehead against hers. "Yeah, it was."

From that moment on, things between them only grew stronger. They spent more time together, their connection deepening in ways that surprised even them. They found comfort in each other's presence, joy in the little things, and love in every shared glance, touch, and word.

Vinnie had never been more sure of anything in his life. Y/N was his person, and he was hers. And as they lay there, tangled up in each other, he couldn't help but think that this—this love, this connection—was exactly what he had been searching for all along.

[wexhappyxfew]

Also! 29 on OTP dialogue for Annie and Brady?

HI JAMIEEEE!!! thank you so much for this other prompt as well!!! sorry it took a bit to get to! :) i must say, this idea swirled in my head for a bit and then, when i felt things in writing were finally going the way i wanted them to, i felt ready to post this!! thank you again!!!! :D

a little while longer

(a/n): for the annie x brady girlies, with a mix of angst and fluff all at once!!! to say the least, these two have my whole heart and just !!!!!! there was an anon awhile back talking about brady freaking out if he ever saw annie injured or wounded in the slightest way - and well....here ya go! prompt: don't lie to me. i was there.

The soup was probably the best thing she could've had in that moment - despite what little warmth this place provided, the soup was sure to give her enough strength to keep her going. She'd been up most of the night with a nasty, wheezing cough, her nose running and her throat sore as all get-out. Now, with her stomach feeling sour, nose run red from the amount of times she'd wiped it, she felt like she'd been drug behind a truck and tried standing again. But, for now, this little bowl of soup was making her incredibly happy.

Annie looked up and towards where Brady was, sat taking up spoonful after spoonful of soup himself, getting every last bit her possibly could. She had to admit, she was worried about him more often than not - because he spent the majority of his time worrying about her, especially in the past few days. So seeing him eat his fill and focus on himself, settled her for the time being.

"Guys. Guys!" yelling started down the hallway, along with a banging all along the wooden walls of this sad excuse for barracks. Annie met Buck's eyes from beside her at the table and watched as everyone in the tiny bunk room looked towards the doorway to find Benny DeMarco racing in, eyes wide and bloodshot as he made an attempt to catch his breath.

"What is it, Benny?" Bucky said, pushing up from where he leaned against a bunk, forgetting about his soup and focused on the rather frantic nature of Benny there in front of them. Benny took a minute to catch his breath and then pointed outside.

"They got a new group comin' in. Margie may be in that group. We gotta go look." he said quickly, before disappearing again out the door. Annie watched that now-empty doorway and slowly turned to meet Kennedy and Bessie's eyes - there was something unspoken between the three of them that the boys hadn't entirely clued into or focused on. But coming in as a woman was one thing; having survived that level of interrogation was another.

Margie had to.

She had to be in that group.

She was more hopeful than half of them combined.

"Let's go." Annie said, moving to her feet, buttoning her coat and wrapped that scarf around her neck, "C'mon." She was the first out the door, hurrying down the hall, a few echoing footsteps behind her as she pushed outside and attempted to seek out Benny in the crowd. She caught sight of his beanie, and began, rather slowly, moving through the open area towards the gates.

As she got closer, she watched, as if in shaky, frantic real-time capture, as Benny moved along the fence, yelling out, over and over again, before tearing around the edge of the wiring and disappearing into the crowd.

Annie felt her face grow cold and stoic, her shoulders pressed high, her chin pointed up. Her heart pounded as she turned around the edge of the gate and found Benny there on the ground, pulling a rather fragile looking, collapsed, corpse of Margie Harlowe on the ground, her face bloodied, her clothing practically hanging off of her form, and her one shoulder looking twisted in all the wrong places. Then, standing over them, was whom she could only assume as one of the German soldiers who had been begrudgingly dragging Margie along.

This was one of her girls, her flight engineer; bright, sunny Margie, with that beautiful blonde hair that was now all haphazard angles around her shoulders, bright blue eyes that were red and filled with tears and beautiful rosy cheeks that were scarred and bloodied.

Annie slowly looked up at the German who stood silent and still, overtop where Margie was half alive in Benny's arms, her cries weak and pained, Benny's comfort only doing so much to erase the pain of reality.

Annie couldn't take it anymore.

She took three, wide steps forward right into the German's face, without much thought for her own self and stared up at him, her body rigid, her eyes narrowed.

"She's already half-dead," Annie practically spat out, "did you really have to drag her in the dirt like a dying dog!" Any sort of celebration and welcoming immediately went quiet as people turned to look at the female lieutenant who was currently losing it on one of the Germans. Annie's throat tightened.

"How can you just stand there!" Annie managed out again, but she knew she had messed up long before she even had opened her mouth. She should've stayed with her soup, let Benny handle all this. But she couldn't. This was one of her girls, this was Margie Harlowe.

Without warning, the German had grabbed her by the shoulders and swung her around him right into the dirt, her body hitting the ground with a rough whimper, her eyes closing at the pain shooting through her body.

"Annie, don't," came Margie's quiet cry.

"Don't touch her." Benny said, his voice drowned out by the sudden kick of the German's booted foot into Annie's side. She curled into a ball with a strangled cry, tears squeaking out of her eyes, her body begging for some sort of reprieve that wasn't this.

When the German had stepped away, angrily spitting down on her, she heard yelling and a commotion somewhere behind her, which was enough to make her sit up, weakly at that, looking past Benny and Margie in his arms and a few stragglers hanging about.

There, just past them, was Brady, screaming and yelling, being held back by Bucky and Murphy as best as they could hold him, Brady's eyes dead set on the German officer who walked away casually and calmly. Annie turned her quivering eyes to Brady again and watched as he broke free of the bodies holding him back and stomped across the open bit of land, taking his hands on the front of the Germans uniform and slamming him against the rusty wiring, yelling, over and over.

"Don't you dare fucking touch her again!" Brady yelled, his voice sounding like a wild animal's, guttural and raw, as the German yelled back, "Don't lie to me. I was there! I saw you hit her! Don't touch her again!" It didn't take long for the German officer to yell something in German, before swinging at Brady, sending him to the ground.

The brawl turned into a power struggle, the German kicking and punching Brady there on the ground, Brady all but weakened and defenseless. Finally, the two were separated and bodies were left behind and the few groupings that had been out were left behind by the Germans, only watched by guards in the towers. Annie watched as Bucky helped Brady to his feet, Brady struggling to find his footing, before ignoring any possible help, as he ambled over to Annie.

"Annie." he managed out, his voice sounding weak as he collapsed on the ground beside her, his hands reaching forward - he was always reaching for her, they always were with one another - and placing themselves against her cheeks, his thumbs rubbing in circles, "He should've never have hit you. I swear to fucking-"

"John." Annie whispered, slowly bringing her hands to his own cheeks, "You've gotta calm down."

"Not when they hit you, Annie. He did it because he-"

"John." she managed out again, "I'm okay. It's…..Margie." Brady watched her and some sort of realization seemed to hit him. He knew how important the women of Silver Bullets were to her, beyond anything, beyond even herself.

Slowly, the two looked over to Margie there, wrapped in Benny's arms, those tears running down her bloodied cheeks, grasping onto Benny like it was her lifeline. Annie managed to pull herself to her feet, Brady beside her, their hands linking to one another for some sort of support, before she fell to the ground in front of Benny and Margie, her hands shaking as she reached forward. Margie flinched at Annie's touch, her eyes immediately welling with tears - what could they have done to you?

"Hey, Margie, it's me." Annie whispered, reaching her hand forward and softly cupping the girl's cheek, brushing her thumb over her pink, wounded skin, "You're okay." Margie looked up at her with those water-filled blue eyes and let out a croaky cry, reaching up a free hand to lay gently against Annie's hand and nodded.

"I can't believe….I found…you all." Margie managed out, "Benny saw me first……I didn't want anyone to get hurt." Benny let out a quiet, wet laugh, as if holding in any tears he was trying not to shed. Annie looked to Brady, whose face had grown soft and gentle. Brady watched Annie, his face full of love and adoration, that same look she'd gotten the privilege of seeing anytime he watched her.

"You didn't have to go beat up any Germans, Brady." Margie managed out, her hand still grasping Annie's tightly, "You're too kind." The three of them laughed again at Margie's words, before Annie's eyes filled with tears and Margie seemed to notice.

"Don't cry, Bradshaw, I'm still here." Margie said softly, "Look at me."

"I thought you were dead," Annie managed out, her throat filled with emotion, "I should've looked for you….tried to get you to safety-"

"Don't go saying that, Bradshaw," Margie managed out, before letting out a wet, rattling cough, "I got to see Brady beat up a German for a bit. It was worth it."

"I promise it felt just as good as it looked." Brady said quietly.

"Don't give yourself that much credit." Benny offered and the group fell into small bits of laughter again.

By the time they'd gotten Margie up and in the comforting arms of Benny and Bucky who had come racing over like a bat out of hell, Annie had turned to Brady, looking at him bathed in cold sunshine, his face more stressed and sunken in these days, but still the Brady from that first day on base. They watched one another and she smiled slightly, reaching up to run a finger beside the cut near his eyebrow.

"Let me help you dress that," she whispered quietly, her hand cradling his cheek, as he watched her, "thank you for doing that." Brady clenched his jaw.

"He shouldn't have even touched you."

"I shouldn't have gotten in his face. I shouldn't have said a word-"

"You did the right thing, Annie, I know that. They gotta have a little humanity in this place."

"There's barely an ounce of that here." she whispered, voice sorrowful and sad. Brady watched her, before bringing up a hand to clasp around her one against his cheek. For a second, it looked like Brady was going to say something else, but he bit his tongue and continued to watch her instead.

"Does your chest hurt?" he whispered to her, "I'll help you wrap it. I'll scrounge some bandage."

"Only a little," she whispered back, "I'm more worried about your chest. He hit you pretty hard." Brady smiled softly at her and stepped forward, cradling her face in his hands, his beautiful eyes on her own.

"Let me take care of you." he whispered to her, "Let me hold you, just a little while longer." Annie stared up at him and flitted her eyes across his face and lips, before settling on that scar again.

"Only if you let me wrap up your chest." she whispered back to him.

"Only if I can wrap yours." he said back. She stared at him and then smiled softly, nodding, "Is it tender?"

"I'll be okay." she whispered, "You know that."

"I know." Brady whispered, "Sometimes I just….." Annie watched him, her big eyes holding him in her gaze, watching as he watched her back, their emotions hitting a head.

"What?" Annie asked quietly, her voice hidden it felt by the sweeping winds this place had. Brady couldn't get his eyes off her it felt, and like it were the most delicate thing in the world, he pulled her into his arms, probably the warmest hug she'd had since arriving here, and stayed like that. Her heart raced in his embrace and as he pulled back, she looked up into his face right in front of her and licked her lips. The corner of his mouth lifted upwards and she felt her body shiver. Something pulled her closer, she wanted to be closer than they already had been.

"Hey!" Brady and Annie seemed to bounce apart, and they turned to find Bucky walking closer, all smug, hands in his pockets, "We're gonna get Margie comfortable."

"Right." Annie said, stepping back and smoothing out her normally, crumpled clothes, catching Brady's eyes for a second and then pushing her hair behind her ears, "Let's go." She hurried away, towards where Benny was still walking with Margie, as Bucky came to Brady's side. Brady stared at Bucky, who smirked and clapped his shoulder.

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing," Bucky said, "quite the dragon slayer though, huh."

"Shut up."

"You tell her yet?"

"Shut up, Bucky."

[live-laugh-lenney]

Hiiii I love your George ficssssss 😍😍

Can you write one of George during a water birth pleaseeeee. I feel like he would want to be so involved and trying to make things so peaceful and trying to make y/n comfortable

oh my goodness. :'((

a water birth.

it was one of the few labour options she was told about by her doctor and her midwife when she went in for her last few check-ups and her pregnancy appointments ...

... and, when they were coming up with a birthing plan and discussing the options that they had, it was the labour she found herself wanting over a natural birth. the thought of being soothed and relaxed under the warmth of the water, feeling more comfortable and at ease with her muscles submerged underneath the surface.

and, upon their arrival at the hospital, she felt instant relief wash over her when she saw the birthing pool in the corner of the room she had been given in the maternity ward. wanting to cry on the spot because it was the one thing she hoped she had access to during her delivery.

she starts off on the bed, allowing her contractions to get closer and closer together, waiting for her waters to break before she decided to move herself into the water that was tepid and warm enough to keep her shivering at bay. changing out of the old and ratty t-shirt that she stole from george's closet when they first started dating and asking him kindly to tie up the bikini top she'd brought to give herself a little bit of modesty in front of the nurses.

"feel good?"

she hums in content at george's question and closes her eyes, head resting on the arm she had resting on the edge of the birthing pool, the inflated side giving her intense comfort and she could feel her eyes beginning to close from how sleep deprived she was feeling, the water and the gentle waves lapping against her skin almost making her lull to sleep.

"looks relaxing," george smiles softly, cupping the back of her head with his hand and allowing his thumb to stroke at the strands of hair, "reckon they'll let me in with you?"

"if you want to then you can," the nurse says from the corner of the room and he looks over at her, "just, make sure you have appropriate clothing on and it shouldn't be a problem."

"i brought trunks, just in case."

"that will be fine," the nurse smiles and he looks back at yn, eyes still closed as she breathes through another contraction that pinches her muscles together and rolling across her belly, "not many partners come that prepared."

"george is always prepared," yn says tiredly and he leans over to press a kiss to her forehead as he stands to his feet and grabs the trunks in the overnight bag that she'd brought so he could go and get changed into them in the bathroom, "prepared for everything, this man."

the room is silent for most of the time as her labour progresses, with the occasional humming of the song playing from her birth playlist or the soft singing as she tries to distract her mind from what was going on.

and he's so gentle with her during the whole process.

holding her hand and letting her squeeze as much as she wants and as hard as she needs to in order to help out her pain management. he wipes her forehead when her fringe gets stuck to her skin from the sweat that was covering her skin. getting her cups of cold water so she was kept hydrated. re-doing her messy bun to keep her hair from falling into her face and to keep anything from frustrating her so she was as calm as possible. and, even now and then, he'll flick water at her to try and lighten the mood which she does have a giggle at and she'll respond back by flicking water at him and there's still a sense of humour going on, even though he knows how much pain she's in.

"come in with me?"

"now?"

she nods and he obeys, kicking off his shoes and taking off his socks, keeping his t-shirt on because it wasn't a holiday and he didn't want to look weird in the pool.

"you're right," he hums, coming out a little strained as he situated his body behind hers so she could lean back against him, "this is pretty relaxing."

"i know," she grins tiredly and lets her head drop backwards, resting on his shoulder, "i'll look like a prune at the end of this."

"reckon she'll be a water baby? loving with water from the moment she comes out? swimming in the nationals?" she snorts in response to him and rolls her head, his hands flat against her bump and he felt the kicks and the movements of his little girl, "she's so wriggly."

"she knows it's showtime," yn whispers, resting her hands on the top of his hands, lacing her fingers with him, "it's go time for us though. it only gets manic from here."

"we can do it though," he presses a kiss to her ear, thinking he was getting the side of her head, "we're team clarke. the best team known to man."

and when their baby is born, he's right there behind her as the nurse sets their crying baby on yn's chest, his eyes watering from just how immensely proud he was of how well she'd coped with labour and he couldn't keep his eyes off of his newborn baby. how her hair was wet and matted to her head, how she had a good set of lungs on her, how she was so tiny and looked so fresh on her mother's chest.

"i don't want to get out," yn laughs wetly, her voice cracking from the guttural grunts and low groans she was letting out with every push she had to endure, shaking her head, "i feel like i won't be able to walk or anything."

as the nurses take their little baby off to get cleaned and weighed and to give them a check-up to make sure they were healthy and good to be left with the two of them, george stands to his feet and steps out of the pool and onto the towel to keep the floor from getting too wet, holding his hands out to help his girlfriend to her feet, slowly and very carefully, letting her take control so he didn't hurt her anymore than she was already feeling.

and in that moment, she just wants to be held.

her arms wrapping around his waist, his arms wrapping around her shoulders, and he just holds her as they stand in the middle of the ward as the nurses and midwives move around them.

"i'm so proud of you, baby," he whispers into her ear, "so, so proud of you." xx

[tossball-stick]

personal kieran headcanons 😋

tagging: @aintan0driscollnomore

hiii im here to ramble about my kieran hcs. these r all my personal ones. i hope u enjoy :3

i am not gonna he/him this guy for the whole post so first things first to get it out of the way: i think shes trans!! yeah i think shes a trans woman who just hasnt realized yet. a long life of hardship has left her in a perpetual state of "im probably actually a woman but im going through life ruining trauma so i cant deal with that rn"

therefore....... i think her spending more time with the women is to be one of the girls. its the closest shes gotten, im sure, im sure its probably the first time shes even properly been around women, socially, in years, even.

i like to think her and bill eventually start warming up to each other. a shared history in the army makes her sympathetic towards him, to a degree. i can imagine her listening to him pour his heart and soul out about dutch and feel a little bad for him. especially the closer she gets to the ladies, the more of a safe space she has away from bill, should she desire. it works out.

before the vdl gang very rudely starved her, she was actually a little thick around the middle. in aus where shes allowed to eat reguluarly for a good while, i think she needs to fill back out

i think shes flat out lying about how significant her role with the o'driscolls was. i think she was actually pretty notable in the gang, maybe even being close to colm. other posts have explained this much better than i could dream to.

i also think she doesnt exactly hate outlaw life!! people often forget thst her time in the army "didnt end well," and that after the army she joined another gang that later abandoned her. she seems to lean towards gang life, as well as horse management. interesting!

while she actively pursues mary-beth for the most part, i think she has crushes on most of the other ladies. i think she'd even admit grimshaw is mighty pretty for her age, and that she'd be fooled to find out grimshaw was as old as she was.

very inexperienced with dating. just has never really been around women much, as i ssid before.

i think she has a bitter crush on arthur. gets all huffy about finding him handsome. maybe has asked him for a dance while drunk once. i like to think he obliged her but realistically i doubt it

i think "fishing" is moreso just an excuse to look out at nature and enjoy it, as well as an excuse to ride around on branwen, though dont get me wrong, i still think its one of the few connections she has left with her father.

i think in an ideal world sean would be her outlet to have the childhood she never quite got. based on their campfire interactions, despite the violence, they seem to think not poorly of each other. irish immigrants 🤝

i think shes a bit more cruel and tricksy than people give her credit for, but i dont think shes a horrible person or anything. shes done bad bad things. she doesnt feel good about much of it i imagine. i think her phrasing of "the o'driscolls gave me a choice: ride with them or die" as more along the lines of how the vdl gang members view dutch as having saved their life yknow. kiersn only went to the o'driscolls for food and safety to survive, otherwise she might not have had any.

i think she would tbh respect pearson!! she isnt sick of his navy stories like the rest of the vdl gang is, and the navy is highly respected amongst the rest of the military. i think she would humor him a little. plus, he feeds her. a+ in kierans book.

[iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia]

Hello! I am here with a humble request:

Could you do how the M6 would react if the MC was hard of hearing and had to wear hearing aids? Love all of your work btw!!

The Arcana HCs: M6 when MC is hard of hearing

~ I'm honored, I will do my best, and please don't hesitate to call me out if I make a mistake. I've had a few hard of hearing friends and I did a little research, so here you go & I hope it's good! - brainrot ~

Julian

This man speaks loud and this man speaks fast

After the first few requests to slow down he becomes much more mindful of his speed, but as soon as he gets excited about something he's back to running his mouth as fast as he can

Very good at talking to you in noisier situations because it's an excuse to lean into your space and speak next to your ear

Unfortunately, if it's a conversation about something he's passionate about, he'll forget everything and talk over people constantly

Already knew a little bit of sign language for his hard of hearing patients, dedicates himself full-time to learning it after meeting you and is a fast learner

Being a musician, he has nimble fingers and no difficulty signing quickly

The only issue is when, again, he gets excited about the thing he's telling you about, and his signing gets super fast and sloppy to the point of being flat out frantic

Super relieved when he learned that you have hearing aids. It means he can still make you swoon with his vielle

Don't get shiny hearing aids. Malak won't be able to resist the temptation and he will steal them for his nest

Asra

They already have a bad habit of mumbling things under their breath or into your clothes, and they're naturally soft-spoken in general

You are going to have to ask him to repeat himself constantly. He'll thank you for the reminder each time and often feels bad for being so quiet

On the plus side, they started learning sign language from the moment they met you, and has been fluent for years now

He does take advantage of this to sign at you over a customer's shoulder and try to make you laugh at inappropriate times

Super tuned into your comfort levels

Crowded area? They're holding your hand and sticking to the edges

Noisy space is getting overwhelming because your hearing aids keep picking up all the background noise? He has the case and will hold them for you if you need to take them out for a bit

You'll never have to worry about them talking over anybody else, they're slow to speak as it is and rarely interrupt

Faust is so smug about being able to speak straight into your mind

She has been known to talk to you while your hearing aids are out so you can't notice Asra calling you, just to mess with him

Nadia

So easy to understand when she speaks

It's the years and years of public speaking. She always speaks at a measured pace, perfectly enunciating her words, with a noticeable but appropriate volume

Very mindful of including you in her conversations and is quick to ask others to slow down and speak one at a time

Quick to pick up basic sign language

As soon as she feels like it's okay, she'll ask you so many questions about your hearing aids and how you use them

She's very fond of tinkering with things, if you have an old pair she'd love to take them apart and look at how they work

Will also ask if they're the sort of thing that you'd like to have more than one pair of

If the answer is yes, she's getting you different types to play around with and might even try modifying them herself (with your permission)

Will find ways to style them. Don't ask how. But she managed to put together a whole ensemble around them once

Always double checks if you have them in or not so she knows how best to communicate with you

Still worries about you sometimes, and will send Chandra to check on you if she knows you're going somewhere loud or crowded

Muriel

He speaks slowly. He never interrupts. He's infinitely patient. And ... he hates being loud

Being around you and communicating effectively requires him to listen to his own voice instead of mumbling, and it's uncomfortable, but deep down he knows it's a good habit to get into

On the other hand, he adores sign language

Communicating with his hands? Without noise? Sign him up, this is the best thing he's ever learned about and he's fluent in it sooner than either of you expected

Often prefers using sign language to communicate his thoughts and opinions when saying them out loud makes him anxious

Very careful around your hearing aids and handles them so delicately. He's terrified of crushing them somehow

Didn't really appreciate what your hearing aids do for you at first (all that loud noise being muffled sounds like a blessing to him) until you mention that they let you hear birdsong and water

Now he's infinitely grateful that you have them and will specifically request that you wear them to the spots in the woods where the sounds of nature are the most beautiful

Inanna likes to pant next to your ear when your hearing aids are in, just to annoy you

Portia

She speaks even more loudly than her brother, unless she's in a situation where she has to use her palace diplomacy skills

And like her brother, she also speaks quickly

Generally pretty good about slowing down a bit when she speaks to you without sounding patronizing or impatient

She spends her life in the middle of loud crowds and excited people talking all at once, so when she wants to talk to you she'll just pull you into a slightly quieter corner

If anyone gets remotely frustrated or impatient with you when you have a hard time understanding them she will beat them up, no matter who they are

Had a very difficult time learning sign language at first

She has a hard time tracking which part of her sentence she's in or keeping her vocabulary straight when it's so quiet

Mindblown when she sees you speaking and signing at the same time. Once she switches over to doing that she learns a lot faster

So on top of things with your hearing aids. Always has spare batteries and will remind you to take them out every night

Pepi is so annoyed that meowing in your ear doesn't work to wake you up for breakfast as well as it does on Portia

Lucio

He's so used to being the center of attention and addressing large groups of people that he's surprisingly easy to understand

This guy loves loud, busy places and fast-paced conversation. Is it even interesting if there aren't multiple people speaking at once?

He's happy to repeat himself as many times as he needs to, but it takes a while for him to notice the way his preferred spaces make it more difficult for you to follow along

Will tell other people to speak clearly two minutes into the conversation before it's even necessary

Did not have the patience to learn sign language at first. Does he think it's cool? Yeah! Does he want to speak to you easily? Yeah! It just takes more effort than he has the attention span for

Until you teach him how to swear

He loves to swear

Lights up like a firework the first time he uses bad language in sign in public and can't get corrected by anyone but you

Now he uses it all the time. He likes to think of it as a secret code for just the two of you, and it's especially useful on jobs

Taking the hearing aids out is a blessing in disguise when Mercedes and Melchior have their nightly howling sessions

[yosaflamesworld]

give me fumus x god reader smut

topic can b up 2 u i just need more fumus x reader content

FUMUS X GOD!READER

Warnings: NFSW, cursing, angst at the start.

Reader has no gender but has a clit. With a symbol that covers it. Like etihw.

—

You lay in your shared bed waving your hair in your hands peacefully, as your lover fumus went out as always to either watch husband creations train or just sleep in his office or discipline his angels as he says. Those poor darlings. But he says it's nothing to worry about as always, you've kept watch over a few, especially taffy, the one that suffered the most out of all, poor him, you felt bad for all of them especially elwine, recently Nadine had disappeared. It gravely upset the cat like angel, she came crying to you about her, you asured her she'd return eventually. She'd hugged you so tightly. You cradled her sobbing form that moment. She thanked you for making her feel better after that, she usually hung around you when she wasn't happy.. to think now I think it's time to get up

You get up and dress up brushing your hair as your aura flows around you, you then look presentable with your perfect outfit, you head towards the door and open and step outside, everyone's around, training, fumus no where to be seen, ofcourse.. taffy teaching his class how to get rid of demons, natural. Maybe just grumpy again. You go off to do your own thing, for the whole day

TIME SKIP.

It's almost nighttime, you decide to watch the sunlight, your hair floats in the wind.. you feel a presence, a strong and forceful one.. you turn around to see your loved fumus. Smoking behind you..

"Mm... come on.. were going inside now."

"Ah.. okay.."

There's no way you can disagree or argue. Your punishment may be worse than taffys, more brutal. You follow him inside, best to be obedient, you follow him to ypur shared bedroom, then he's nowhere to be seen, you suddenly lifted and thrown into the bed. He puts ĥis warm hand and fingers to your thigh and began hand rubbing it roughly. You shutter and whimper as he towers over you.. still kissing you. He breaks off the kiss, panting a bit from how long you were kissing for. He leans into your neck and puts kisses and hickeys. "Slut. My pretty little cum slut"He then uses his free hand to move your underwear and pants and move it down your legs forcefully.. you whimper due to the contact he's making on your neck, you don't notice the contact he's gonna make on you, He straightens his posture, taking your pants and underwear.. revealing your clit, with symbol on it. Specially a cloud symbol, he then sticks a finger into your clit, he already begins pumping it in And out harshly. You choke sob and Moans to this, it hurts, but it feels so good at the same time, God you were beginning to reach your high between your pain and pleasure high. As soon as you almost did he pulls out his slick covered finger. It dripped, he plops it into your mouth, He smirks as you struggle to keep his finger in your mouth, "Your being so good for me... you deserve this dick don't you..?"

You nod almost to your high if he kept this up.. he puts his hand to his pants and zips it down and then pulling his boxers down enough for his massive, veiny dick to come out, he just shoves it into your aching clit, and begins moving after a 5 seconds pass. He's just thrusting carelessly, you moan and arch as he keels this up at a fast but soon he'll be going at a harsh pace, his dick going into your aching wet folds. He's gonna fucking oversimulate you badly, you won't be out of the bedroom for days. He doesn't care though. You reach your high as he's still rotting into your wet folds, ruining you each time, but your almost close to cumming"A-Ah... fumus! I-I'm.. gonn- cum..Please!"He smirks as he Thrusts harshly into you"Heh..Whore."

He Thrusts and fucks into you Relentlessly as you moan and cry for him to stop, and be slower. But he just degrades you and Thrusts harsher each time you beg... you then.. reach your second climax of the night.. but.

"I'm not Finished With You yet. Slut."

.

[satans-left-asscheeky]

Pining Fo4 Companions react to getting stuck under the mistletoe with sole

Maccready

"Oh wow! I actually had my first kiss under some mistletoe back in the little lamplight days..."

He'd lean in extremely close so sole would understood what he was getting at, but he didn't have the nerve to initiate the kiss... at least not when sole meant so much to him, thankfully sole did it for him placing their hands on either side of his blushing face as the kissed him deeply. Mac giggled into the kiss and placed his hands on the small of their back pulling them closer to him. This was turning out to be a good Christmas indeed.

Hancock

"Would'ya look what we have here? It'd be a shame to let this moment go to waste..."

He'd wrap his arms around soles waist and gently touch his lips to theirs. The second he felt them kiss back he deepened the kiss moving one hand to cradle their head. If the ghoul had his way they'd make out the rest of the day no matter where they were

Cait

"If you wanted to smooch me all you had to do was ask"

She'd pull them close to her and kiss them deeply. Caits not exactly the kind to do anything half and the same goes for kissing...

Danse

"I wonder where on earth the scribes found this plant. Could've sworn it was extinct"

The whole thing went over his head. It wouldn't be until about a week later that he'd realized and he'd beat himself up over ruining the perfect moment, but also wouldn't try and recreate it because of his insecurities :/

Curie

"Oooh this is a tradition is it not?"

The kiss would be more like a peck, but to be fair it was also the synths first kiss. Her face would be burning and no matter how hard she tried to return to whatever task she had been doing before her mind would keep wandering off to the special moment her and sole had shared

Deacon

"Well would you look at that, some conveniently placed mistletoe, almost like someone placed that there just so we would kiss..."

He put it there. Might seem a bit ballsy for Deacon, but he was sick an tired of this silly crush and wondering if they liked him back. Now that's not to say he wasn't internally screaming and blushing profusely, but despite himself he'd lean forward. He kept just close enough for sole to get the hint, but far back enough they could pull away if they were uncomfortable, but oh boy did they got the hint and they threw themselves on him with such intensity he had to take a step back to keep from falling as they crashed their lips into his with vigor. in the end it was all worth it when he had his lips on soles. Mission accomplished 😎

Piper

"Oh wow mistletoe... Ya know I've always found it kinda weird how people kiss under a poisonous plant. Not that I wouldn't kiss you! I mean not to imply we have to kiss or anything! Unless of course you-"

She was interrupted by sole kissing her. The kiss felt natural, like they'd been doing it for years, inspite of this being the first time. Piper felt like she could easily get lost in the others lips. As nice as it all felt Piper still wasn't entirely convinced it wasn't just to shut her up, but either way it's the nicest way anyone has ever asked her to shut up so she'd except the gesture gladly

Nick

"Think the universe is trying to tell us something doll"

Him and Sole had been walking home to the agency on a particularly cold night, so he had stopped to put his coat on his shivering companion when he noticed the mistletoe. The kiss was extremely chaste and brief, but it still made him feel oddly warm on the cold evening

Preston

"Wow that mistletoe looks so pretty. I'll have to thank whoever put it up..."

Much like Danse if goes completely over his head, only when he realizes he takes sole back there and nervously pecks their lips with his, of course he ends up bonking their forehead with his and then ends up apologizing profusely before sole laughs and gives him a proper kiss. He relaxes a bit after the kiss and him and Sole going back to do whatever they were before walking hand in hand. Task failed successfully 😎

X6-88

"I've heard the plant can be poisonous... perhaps we should test it against our enemies"

Hes not aware of the tradition, but he totally killed the mood for sole. If someone was to tell him of the tradition he'd think it was foolish, if he wanted to kiss someone he would kiss them, and besides he doesn't take orders from a damn plant

[xoemilyblunt]

you knock me out, i fall apart || bluntinski

who - emily blunt, john krasinski. || @jbkrasinski where - woodhull hospital, brooklyn ny when - morning of october 22, 2024 what - john and emily prepare to leave the hospital after the birth of their daughter when they receive unexpected news from the doctor. triggers - pregnancy, hospitals, mentions of hearing loss

John: It was surreal, having a third child – a third, perfect daughter – with Emily. In the days after her arrival, all they seemed to do was snuggle, Emily with Marigold curled in her arms while John wrapped them both in his embrace. It was amazing, and awesome, and all of the fears John had for the future regarding schedules and absences from one another paled in comparison for the love he felt when he looked into Marigold’s eyes, and then to Emily's with gratitude he couldn’t seem to adequately express. He wound up writing a letter and buying a necklace he intended to give her at home, but he still told her thank you over and over to the point it might be considered ad nauseam. Goldie was just so gorgeous that it hurt, and he couldn’t help but feel like the luckiest man alive. "Look," he said, watching the way the infant's fingers flexed inward. "Should we count them again?"

Emily: All of the ups and downs of this pregnancy, Emily thinks, were worth it to get to this bliss. Marigold is perfect, a little bundle of sweetness that has both her and John fawning over her every move. Now that a few days had passed, Em was comfortably in her sweatpants under her hospital gown, feet tucked underneath a blanket as she leaned her head against her husband's chest. "Do you think the number's changed in the last five minutes?" She teased lightly, one hand in the bassinet next to the bed as she tenderly runs a finger over Marigold's forehead. "I was going to suggest we bottle this smell and sell it, actually. So the counting may need to wait."

John: "We're not selling anything. That newborn, magical, not-quite-baby powder smell is just for you and me, thank you," John said, kissing the top of his wife's head as he watched her affection with their daughter. He'd never forget having Hazel or Violet, not for a moment, but there was something new ignited within their family after so many years that made this whole thing so special. And Hazel and Violet were just as excited, even Violet had started to come around and love on her little sister once she saw her small and innocent she was – not the screaming monster she'd imagined, at least when she visited the day prior. The screaming was sure to come later. "She's all ours."

Emily: She grinned up at him, teasing look in her eyes before she continued. "What, you don't want to make another quick buck, Mr. Richy?" It was easy to joke about that, everything having felt a little bit lighter since Marigold made her arrival. The disputes about having to get back to work, the temper tantrums their youngest gave them about not quite being the youngest anymore, none of that seemed to matter. They were a family unit, only made stronger by the newest addition. "She's ours. She has your nose, you know. Look at that." She lightly traced the curve of Marigold's nose, eliciting a little wriggle in the swaddle that has Emily chuckling under her breath. "Those Krasinski genes really pass through."

John: “I’d happily give up every dollar for those eyes,” John mused, almost but not quite tearful as he watched the love of his life with their newest arrival. Emily was such a perfect natural as a mother – a mum – that it was almost a sin that she didn’t have more children, the process of her being pregnant a pain that paid off perfectly with how easily she acted around the newborn. “Nose and name, she’s not going to forget which family she belongs to anytime soon. Think she’s warm enough? Does she need to be burped? …yes, it’s possible that I’m looking for an excuse to hold her. It’s been a whole ten minutes, you know.”

Emily: “Quite beautiful, huh?” She turned her own eyes back up to him, blue just like their newest’s, and adoringly stroked his cheek. There was a chance her eyes would darken as she aged, but for now, Marigold looked so much like Emily that it had her heart full. “Always looking for an excuse, I know you. I don’t think she’d turn down another daddy snuggle. Take her.” She settled down further in the hospital bed, trying to get comfortable still to no avail. They’d be going home soon, right? She longed to be back in her own bed, maybe they’d do the car seat check and get to leave today. Emily picked up her cup of water, sipping through the straw as she looked over at John and Goldie. “She looks so little compared to you, baby.”

John: John wasn’t one to say no to the opportunity or offer to hold any of his daughters, and he carefully cradled a slightly dozing Marigold against his chest as he sat on the edge of the bed and grinned across at Emily. He could tell she was uncomfortable in the hospital bed but she seemed happy, and he told himself that in this moment that was the main thing. Rocking the baby, he nodded at his wife’s words. “She makes me look like I’ve actually being working out. We should have a newborn every year. Irish twins, you said it was called?” And then he looked across at her and winked playfully, turning so she could see the baby better when there was a gentle knock at the door and an unfamiliar doctor entered with what had to be an intern in tow.

Emily: Emily gave a little, amused hum at John’s suggestion, because as much as she did enjoy being pregnant and the end result of it, having another baby straight away sounded unenjoyable. “Oh, Lord. That is what it’s called, but we’ll see just how that works out for you.” The two doctors at the door had Emily turning her attention with a little grin, setting the water cup down as they entered and greeted the pair. The older woman pulled a seat up with her folder cracking open, as the intern hung closer to the foot of the bed, peeking at the baby with an uneasy look on his face.

“So, everything’s looking like you’re going to be able to be discharged later today. Vitals have been looking good, Marigold passed her PKU and Bilirubin screening with flying colors.” The doctor flipped through the pages, scanning over the document as if double-checking something. “But interestingly enough, she did not pass the hearing screening. We did it twice, once last night, and once again this morning, and the results didn’t seem to change.”

Emily’s face visibly fell, as she sat up higher in the hospital bed. “Okay, so…what does that mean?”

“All it means is that I have to mark the box for abnormal results and you have to take her for further testing. We have some great pediatric audiologists we can refer you to, in New York and Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, they’ll be able to get some more specialized diagnostic testing done. It’s possible it’s just as simple as that, but beyond that, it’s just something you should monitor and take to a specialist. Have either of you noticed any delayed responses in the past two days, especially to loud noises?”

John: John’s face fell with Emily’s. He didn’t know much about the news they were being given except that it wasn’t good news, at least based on the failure of a test and the almost somber look on the doctor’s face. He held Marigold closer and tried to process the information, consider the question, glancing between the medical team and then across at his wife, answering before she got a chance to. “…I mean, she’s a newborn. She’s the loudest thing in the room. We’ve intentionally kept it quiet in here, even with the girls. I don’t… is this a permanent situation?” He swallowed the lump in his throat and looked over at the intern, fervently scribbling down notes like this was any baby girl and not their daughter. “She passed every test with her amnio and the anatomy scan with flying colors. Right, Em?”

Emily: Emily nodded along with John, confused look etched on her features while agreeing with him. “Yeah, we didn’t hear of anything abnormal during the pregnancy, or anything else.” The doctor closes the folder up, looking between the two with a sympathetic look on her face.

“Like I said, all I can tell you is that she didn’t pass our standard twice. There’s nothing further I can diagnose as the postpartum attending, but I’d highly recommend you getting her to a specialist by…” She checks her watch, to get a feel for today’s date. “Maybe either right before or right after Thanksgiving. I know the holiday makes it tough, but it shouldn’t be sat on for longer than her turning 1 month old.”

Emily’s heart sank in her stomach, especially with knowing she was expected to be on set right after Thanksgiving, but she tried not to show it on her face. Instead, she nodded, tucking her hair behind her ear. “Okay. Yeah, um…I guess we’ll take all your recommendations for people and we’ll…talk about what works best for us.”

John: Thanksgiving? That felt like tomorrow and a million years away at once. John looked down at Marigold who was resting in his arms so soundly before delicately passing her into her mother’s arms, mumbling “I’ll be right back” before following the doctor into the hall. But there was no purpose for it, no answer to his questions. And he felt like his life was falling to pieces before they’d even reached a conclusion. He gave himself a minute and breathed in sharp and deep, before heading back into the room with a fake but hopefully reassuring smile on his face.

Emily: The doctor passed along the paper of referrals, prestigious hospitals that made Emily’s stomach turn at the idea, before leaving the room and the three of them back to their own devices. She folded the paper and set it down on the little side table, before John was leaning to pass Marigold back over to her so he could step outside. It was overwhelming, to say the least, and Emily envied the way he could step away from it all for a moment. Here she was instead, lightly rocking Marigold in her arms and looking down at her, like she was trying to piece together what any of this meant. The blonde glanced up at her husband when he came back in, but immediately brought her gaze back down to her daughter. The silence that sat between them felt louder than anything.

John: The smile quickly faltered when Emily looked up and away, and John knew immediately that he’d made a mistake by stepping out of the room. He could have apologized, but his words felt small and inadequate. So instead he did the only thing he knew how to do in that moment, sliding onto the edge of the bed and reaching up to rest his hand on Emily’s shoulder. “I love you, and I love her, and it’s going to be okay.” It was a promise he couldn’t keep, another thing that just felt plain not enough, but he had to offer something in the moment or the silence – the very silence that Marigold might just be living in – might destroy them.

Emily: She didn’t tear her eyes away from the baby, but leaned into his touch all the same. “I know.” She offered quietly, because even if she didn’t really know in that moment, she knew enough to accept that later on. “It’s okay.” Who she was reassuring at this point, she didn’t know, but Marigold’s big blue eyes were looking up at her and Emily wanted so badly to believe that it was in response to her words. “It could be a fluke,” she mumbled back a minute later, “those tests are wrong all the time. We don’t know anything for sure yet.”

John: “Yeah, maybe it’s a fluke.” John echoed, even though in his heart and soul he felt otherwise. He looked down from Emily to their baby, who was to them in every way perfect. Who hadn’t done anything wrong, yet, and as far as the adoring parents were concerned never would. He took in a deep breath, trying not to let it sting the way Emily didn’t return his love - she was stunned, he knew, from the news and from his running out after the doctors. “You should rest, Emily,” he whispered, swallowing. “I’ll – I’ll follow up with the nurse about being discharged so we can get out of here, okay? I’ll bet Marigold’s dying to see her big sisters.”

[eparvierr]

hot peace girls dynamics in honor of i got a california king getting 180 hits

harmony/zoey

harmony is cooler than zoey, objectively. yeah she's witty and snarky like zoey, but she's not as arrogant as zoey is (/aff)

so when harmony flirts with zoey, it's a game. and an easy one! she just has to toy with zoey to make the regina george hatchetfield knockoff flustered.

harmony knows what buttons she needs to push to make zoey blush. and zoey absolutely "hates" it, because yeah harmony might be her roommate but that doesnt give her the right to act like that with her! not even when she's...super hot and towering over her and leaning against the doorframs and her voice is low, and zoey's brain feels a little fuzzy, she can't think of a witty comeback or insult so she just stands there, as though in a trance, until harmony smirks and leaves.

this can sorta go both ways once they are actually in an established relationship.

i think when zoey has accepted that she finds harmony hot and is maybe a little bit (incredibly so) in love with her, she embraces the whole "fuzzy head no thoughts just compliments" thing. she's harmony's princess!

a pillow princess.

sorry i couldn't not make that joke. anyway.

she'll tease harmony when she's taking care of some online petitions, try and get her attention, and it usually works every time.

harmony gives her compliments and buys her stuff cause zoey likes to feel special, like a princess, and harmony's happy to oblige.

they're a power couple. a mean lesbian with an even meaner lesbian on a leash like a chihuahua.

hailey/harmony

harmony would kill a man for hailey. she'd absolutely maim someone.

in a town full of stupid assholes and murderers and ape men and a child fighting ring, harmony is the only one that really gets hailey—they're both autistic, but harmony is better at masking and dealing with issues stemming from it (like sensory issues)

she knows what she needs. when hailey has a meltdown, harmony knows how to comfort her. she knows hailey's safe foods.

and hailey knows when harmony is feeling down. comforts her when harmony is upset that no one else seems to care about the planet.

hailey admires harmony, her ability to give people a piece of her mind, and harmony admires hailey for the way her brain works, her ability to show restraint, her knowledge of musical theatre & her passion for it.

theyre each others everything. they love each other, god, they do. it's obvious—every glance, every kiss is full of love.

when hailey feels insecure or anxious because she gets in her head about something, harmony can help her calm down. they're always completely honest with each other

i don't think a lot changed when they got in a romantic relationship. they still take care of each other. they still love each other.

zoey/hailey

zoey and hailey are complicated. because zoey doesn't like being in love with hailey. and hailey doesn't like being in love with zoey.

hailey admires zoey. in a way. she just wished she'd be a little nicer sometimes.

zoey is mean to hailey to keep up the cover of stone cold bitch. but really she's desperately in love with her.

it's a classic toxic homoerotic friendship! zoey wants hailey. hailey wants zoey. zoey can't admit it to herself. hailey is...confused.

she really does care about zoey. she helps her a lot, like with rehearsing lines. she makes zoey tea with honey for her voice. she loves to hear zoey sing.

and even though zoey would never admit it in a hundred years, she's impressed by hailey's acting skills.

i think they just genuinely really like each other. and they get healthier with time, when zoey starts to actually let herself have feelings. she's still kinda a little mean to hailey but not as much, and just because it's in her nature. hailey doesnt mind.

[lionydoorin]

On the train and wanted to give you some blorbo time. When do you think Tara realized she wasn’t straight? (Also, unrelated: do I really have to say that “Songs About Death” by The Wonder Years is Carpenter sisters-coded?)

(i loved songs about death and i agree it is very carpenter sisters coded <3)

i like this idea i've seen before here on tumblr of woodsboro being a small, religious town. tara's parents getting married for convention right before they graduated high school, as soon as sam was born, and, with it, the carpenters being the kind to try to look like your perfect american family. this would make the impact of sam and tara's dad leaving even harder, because this dream in particular was ruined and the façade fell and shtuff. but anyway-

i believe queerness wasn't something they spoke about, at all. it was only the whole "women are meant to be with men" and "men are meant to be with women" and that's it.

as a child, tara didn't have much of a reference. she only had her bedtime stories about princes and princesses, male and female toys to make husbands and wives and the little dollhouses. she never thought much of it.

sometimes, when she was on her own, she did mix up and make different pairings, such as putting two female barbies to sleep on the same bed. she thought to herself that it was simply because she had less ken's to play around, but she never treated any of them as males and kept them as couples.

when her dad left, of course, her mother decided to not give a shit about anything and sam changed, so tara was left to discover who she was all on her own, leaning onto her friends for support as they all navigated growing up together.

tara and amber, in particular, had always been inseparable. you know, the whole childhood best friends thing: both were super clingy and amber was totally possessive and overprotective of tara, her best friend, and would push any kids that tried to bully her from the playgrounds.

they were the kind to always walk holding hands, the kind to share lunch and sit together and have almost daily sleepovers that they didn't even need permission to, because their parents wouldn't notice nor mind them missing.

tara always loved her; something childish and pure, an innocent love that she had never even thought about.

but puberty came, and talks about who's cute and who's not, and first kisses, and first dates and boyfriends and girlfriends became a natural thing in her group. tara was never unsure of her attraction to men. she knew she could see herself dating one or getting married to one – but women were always a tricky subject, one she could recognize, but chose not to tackle.

everyone felt a little bit jealous of her best friend starting to get attention, right?

amber was always more of an extrovert between the two of them; with that, it was natural that she had made a lot of new friends, and, of course, people would fall for her charm pretty easily. and it bothered tara endlessly.

she thought it was natural to feel her chest tighten at the sight of amber laughing at something bethany from her film club said. to not want to share her best friend's attention with jimmy from chem lab, who everyone knew had the biggest crush on amber, because she was afraid she'd want to hang out with him instead of her.

she'd ignore the way her heart would be crushed at the mere thought of amber liking him back, of her having her first kiss with him, of her ever actually dating him.

(not because she wanted amber, but because she was her best friend, and she didn't want to lose her, of course. she didn't like girls. not like that.)

until mindy came out, and tara was vehemently supportive. they were at the meeks household, and mindy started talking about her experience, about how she had butterflies in her stomach whenever a pretty girl smiled at her, how her cheeks flushed whenever she thought about kissing one, and holding one, and calling someone their girlfriend.

it all felt way too familiar for tara's liking.

she became more self aware after that; of how she loved playing with amber's soft, dark hair, how she felt so safe cuddling with her whenever they watched something, how she'd blush when amber gave her a compliment and called her pretty.

how she thought amber was the prettiest girl she had ever seen.

[mercurygray]

Was feeling frisky this morning and @junojelli said something about Vampire Joan, and. Yeah.

It's really too easy, finding a meal.

The same tricks that worked in Washington still work here - a little bit of lipstick and a pretty blouse in a bar, leaning over, just a little charm for effect. "Buy a girl a drink, soldier?"

And it works every time, just like it has for centuries. Ages pass, wars come and go - but men are still blindingly obvious. It used to make her feel powerful, being able to bend men to her will like that, but time and age have taught her better. He'll buy her the drink, and then maybe another, watching her over the top of his own glass as she giggles and grins and finally consents to find 'somewhere more quiet.'

He never knows that she's been watching him the whole time, the drunkenness an act. In the morning he'll think it was a dream - the headache and tiredness will pass much like a hangover. There will be no memory of the dark alley, the cold of the wall, the feeling of her body beneath his hands, her lips on his lips…her teeth on his neck.

Kings and princes, beggars and fools - blood is blood and it still runs red. She drinks just enough to feel sated and leaves the man where he lies, buttoning her charm back in as she walks back to barracks. That's her true power, now - to remain unremarkable, even when she'd like to shine. No amount of practice will ever make it all go away, of course, but with it muted she can almost trust that men like her as she is.

It's easier to control herself when she's full. When she's hungry everything starts escaping, her whole body looking for the easiest route to her next meal. The trick is not to let herself get ravenous, because if she does every kind of hunger she possesses will come out -- and she hungers in particular for him.

"Why him?" Lew asks, one day after field exercises.

"Why who?"

"You know full well who," her friend responds with a scoff. "When he looks at you, you go…flat, somehow. Like you're trying not to be noticed."

He's not wrong - she does do that, become more conscious of her power. "He reminds me of someone I used to know," Joan says, recalling the smell of wool, the strike of flint on steel and the consuming of a candle flame, the lines by Rilke - A young knight comes into my mind, as in some old, old saying. He came. Thus comes the storm to bind you in its mantle, all entwined. They are not the same man, but they are close - the way he half-smiles when something frustrates him, the color of his eyes. In a past life he's lead men before, and it shows - command comes naturally to him. And she wants him, desperately, not just to drink, but to know, to have him drain the depths of her. But not because she charmed him. She can charm anyone.

"A lover?" Well, how can she hide from that? She nods. Trust Lew to get right to the bottom of things. Lew's really the only person who knows - the only person who noticed. (He had strange friends, at Yale - was known to run with the set who liked to try new things, was willing to take risks.) But her secret is safe with him - We're going to war. Why would I give up on six hundred years of experience? "Show me," he says. "Show me how he saw you."

Joan looks at Lew, feeling the pang of it. She's lived this double life for so long that it feels dangerous, to let down all her guards and let her power out. She fixes her eye on him and exhales.

She can see the change in him immediately - the way his eyes widen, his breathing hitches, heart-rate picks up. He sits up a little straighter in his chair, and she notices even his smell has changed, desire seeping out of every pore. "Fuck me, Joanie. Who says no like that?" And she knows, all too well, that he means it literally - a neck is easier to bite when it's naked and in bed.

"No one," she says, and reins it all back in, flattening herself, as he so eloquently put it. She watches his eyes return to normal, although his pulse is still up, the desire still real. "I don't want that for him."

Lew laughs, still a little breathless. "I hate to tell you, Joanie, but you're still pretty without your vampire tricks. I'll just have to work on making sure he sees."

[pangolinheart]

Because the page I turned to had some really great questions on it:

Where is home? What does it smell like? Have you been there recently?

What's an adventure that you'd like to have again?

What's the most trouble you have ever been in? How did you get out of that situation? What consequences did you have to face afterwards?

(Bonus) If they had a playlist for their life what would it look like? Why?

Feel free to take your time on these. Think how Z'rhiki would respond to these questions and the why.

Where is home? What does it smell like? Have you been there recently?

Hmmm this is a difficult one, because Rhiki doesn't have a backstory (and, barring divine intervention, it's possible she never will lol). So, it's hard to say if she would have a home from before the MSQ to go back to, though I lean towards "no."

At least during the main story, Rhiki never really has a home. She doesn't really feel comfortable at the Rising Stones and never really has. She enjoyed spending time at Camp Dragonhead, then at the Fortemps manor, but I think she still often felt like a guest rather than a resident. During the Ala Mhigan/Doman Liberation, she never really stayed anywhere long enough to settle in. As nice as most people were, she felt like a total prisoner in the Crystarium (and. between ghosts, ascians, and a catman with a crystal ball and a poor understanding of boundries, she pretty much never felt like she had any privacy.)

If she had to pick the place she feels the most at home, well... she would probably say it smells like sweat, stale alcohol, and maybe a little bit like vomit depending on the day. It's not really a place you go for the ambiance. As to whether or not she's been there recently, she'd probably say something along the lines of, due to the actions of a certain totally unhinged catboy who shall remain nameless, no.

What's an adventure that you'd like to have again?

The first thing that came to mind with this question was the treasure hunt with Alphinaud and Arenvald. Most of her adventures are, um, of a highly traumatic nature. They do have their elements of beauty, awe, and fun, but those are usually tinged in hindsight with all the blood and suffering that surrounds them. But looking for a mad king's treasure was just fun. She got to see new and interesting things, fight weird monsters, and find real treasure (the friendship we found along the way is also nice, but actual treasure is pretty cool.) And, though there were dangers, the stakes were pretty low. There was no threat of another calamity, of the fall of a nation, of the deaths of thousands, of the end of the world. Given her confidence in her ability to best regular monsters, dodge traps, and navigate ruins, the worst thing that could really happen was that they didn't find what they were looking for, which would be a bummer, but also not literally the end of the world. Other candidates for "adventures she'd like to repeat" are some of the Beast Tribe quests - particularly the Namazu, the Qiqirn, and the Dwarves. The namazu are cute and funny and just so dumb. She got to have fun planning a big festival and she laughed a lot. It was silly and fun. With the Qiqirn, she was very into the Great Serpent of Ronka, once again because the whole thing was... kind of silly, really. Compared to all of the doom and gloom of the first, it was so bizarre and incomprehensible that it really ended up being a good time. (Plus she got to dress the Great Serpent in little hats!) Building a tank with the dwarves was great mostly because they started fermenting their own alcohol really early on. She stuck around less for the thrill of innovation and more so she could get smashed with the totally-not-just-lalafels.

What's the most trouble you have ever been in? How did you get out of that situation? What consequences did you have to face afterwards?

This one is also kind of hard due to the aforementioned lack of backstory. It feels like cheating to pick something from the MSQ, but I have to imagine, given the connotation, the most trouble she's ever been in would have been when she was much younger, but the nature of it and her reaction would kind of depend on what kind of upbringing she had. She starts the MSQ in her early twenties, so while she could theoretically get in trouble with people of higher station... it doesn't really count. Maybe she's been scolded for not acting appropriately dignified at a diplomatic function? Or for repeatedly forgetting the names of strategically-important Garlean enemies? Or for faking an Echo episode to get out of listening to one of Urianger's boring explanations of magical theory?

If they had a playlist for their life what would it look like? Why?

Once again, I can't say I know what a playlist for Rhiki's whole life would be, because I have no idea what her whole life has been like. I do have a playlist for Rhiki, but it mostly reflects her time since becoming an adventurer. It's hard to describe what it looks like, though? There's not a lot of genre consistency. I guess I would say it's a mix of peppy, upbeat, optimistic tunes and songs about dealing with grief and anger?

[sincerelyjxyy]

Gold Rush - Ten

Invisible String - Gold Rush

Chapter Ten - Moments Littered In Between

Song Of The Chapter - Somebody to You by BANNERS

✧ i was happy three days ago. today I'm depressed. what happened? nothing. an inner crutch slipped. some poorly suppressed memory rose to the surface. — mihail sebastian, for two thousand years ✧

Summary: The pogues’ plan of stealing the drone is set in motion, and JJ is determined to bring Josie's mood back to standard protentional.

Warning: Bit of negative body images and eating disordered language

Word Count: 9.4k

Gold Rush Masterlist

JOSIE SPRAWLED HERSELF ACROSS THE BENCH OF THE TWNKIE AS SHE POURED HER FEELINGS INTO HER JOURNAL. She found her mood slightly lifted as she put her honest thoughts into physical form, but not nearly enough to make her feel normal. The pain of her morning lingered with a brick-like ache that weighed heavily on her bones.

Her heart rate slowly calmed, having skyrocketed from her urgency to avoid being caught. And as the group discussed what the next step of the plan was, she grew entertained by Pope's pouting.

He sat with his arms crossed and an exasperated glare, insistent that what they'd planned was a horrible idea. Josie's feet laid across his, which he'd propped up on the back seat, and she shook them teasingly.

JJ sat on the floor of the Twinkie, slightly biting his tongue in absolute focus as he prepped a joint. Josie peeked at him from the corner of her eye, and she couldn't hide the smile that grazed her face at the sheer concentration that painted his expression.

"Pope, we're not stealing the drone. We're...borrowing it," John B assured from behind the boy. Josie shrugged, agreeing that their brunette friend had a point.

It was eighty-million dollars each, after all. They could afford to execute a little grab-and-go.

"Humans are the only animals that can't tell fantasy from reality," Pope quoted. Josie's brows furrowed as she tried to surmise where he might've heard it from. It seemed vaguely familiar.

"Wait, did you come up with that?" John B questioned, and Josie snorted in amusement.

"No, Albert Berstein came up with that, but it applies to this whole treasure-hunting thing," Pope smartly critiqued.

John B was silent for a moment. "Oh," he muttered.

Josie clicked her fingers conclusively, pointing at Pope in an aha fashion as she sat up in her seat. "Psychologist! That's why I didn't know who the hell you were quoting." She leaned back and buzzed with pride at her deduction. Albert Berstein had been the author of a book her mom had hounded her to read a while back.

Something about comparing people to vampires—Josie never did read it.

Pope shot her an amused glance, brow cocked, and she smugly nodded her head back at him. He then turned back to address John B in the driver's seat. "So, which is it?" He held out his hands to mimic a scale. "Fantasy or reality?"

"Why're you so weird, Pope?" JJ nonchalantly responded.

Josie leaned down with her right arm to slightly slap the blond's calf, but nevertheless still chuckled at his inquiry. She scrunched her face in subsequent agreement; to be fair, Pope's peculiar nature was just part of his charm.

"It's fantasy, but possible reality," Kie offered with a slight shrug as she glanced at Josie.

During the time she'd spent mulling through her thoughts, Josie concocted the idea that maybe the answer to calming her spiraling thoughts was to find an opportune distraction. And this seemed perfect. What better thing to grab onto than John B's treasure hunt?

"Oh, come on, guys!" Josie placed her journal down at the end of the bench, turning to sit upright in her seat. She glanced around at the attention she'd gathered and laid her hands flat on her lap. "My entire life, everyone has said the exact same thing about Avery's treasure and Libertalia. That it's a fantasy—a figment of my own imagination running wild. But I know that it's real."

She shared a look with John B, who returned it with an appreciative smile over his shoulder. Josie gave him an encouraging nod, indicating that she was ready to believe in it if he did. She admired the willingness her friend so valiantly showed and found herself drawn to it. She knew all too well what it felt like to chase a dream of gold.

"Reality," John B easily declared, sharing a determined look with both girls. Josie grinned, pleased with his response, and moved to lay back across the bench. She lightly kicked at Pope's feet, before placing her own back over them.

"Virtual reality," JJ added, joint hanging out of his mouth as he clicked his lighter to life. But, his action was interrupted as Pope reached down to snatch the joint from him. He flicked it away onto Josie's lap, and she picked it up to teasingly wiggle it at JJ.

"Keep the signal clear," Pope chastised.

JJ dramatically slammed the lighter shut with his palm, and Josie giggled as she twirled the joint in her fingers. The blond looked up at her with a pout, begging her to give the item back in support of him. But she simply shrugged and leaned to squeeze his leg in faux sympathy.

"Don't worry, Sunny. I'll keep it safe." Josie reached down to place the joint in the front pocket of her bag. She giggled when JJ loudly groaned and swung his head back against Kiara's seat in defeat.

Soon after their discussion, they arrived back at the docks. Prior to them leaving for the club, John B had hooked the Pogue up to Kiara's SUV. And, coincidentally, it happened to be the exact situation they'd needed to use for their plan.

As they pulled off to wherever the SUV had been left, Josie made haste in packing her belongings. She slung her bag over her shoulder and leaned forward to tap Pope's leg. "Good luck, love you guys."

Pope jokingly swatted at her hand as JJ opened the sliding door, unmoving from his spot on the floor. He let her step over him and clamber through, laughing as she stumbled a bit climbing out.

She huffed, turning to lean in and lay a dramatically loud kiss to the top of his hat. "Behave."

"Me? Best behavior," JJ bid dismissively, and Josie let out a sarcastic laugh. She pushed at his head, causing him to theatrically fall to his side, and gave one last smile goodbye to Pope.

She shut the van door and followed Kiara as they made their way around the front of the van. John B leaned out of his window as they passed, giving them a reassuring smile. "Hey, don't worry. You guys got this."

The girls shared a look of humor. "It's not us I'm worried about." Kie emphasized her claim by pointing toward the boys arguing in the back as she walked backward to her car. Josie patted John B's arm in solidarity.

"Got it." He offered a thumbs up.

As Josie turned away, the call of her name stalled her. She turned to face her best friend, and it was clear that he had more he wanted to say to her. She waited expectantly, raising her brow, for him to speak.

"You sure you're alright? You've been...off today. Y'know you don't have to do this."

She smiled appreciatively at the sentiment and offered him a shrug. "Just one of those days, JB. But what's important right now is helping you. I got this." She threw her thumb behind her toward Kie's car. "Besides, I'll have that one looking out for me."

John B stared at her, unconvinced, but she sent him a smile of promise. "Seriously, I'm good. Love you. Be careful!" Josie waved, before she turned to jog to Kiara's passenger door.

Opening the door, she sat her bag down on the floorboard and climbed in. Kiara's curious stare burned into her as she settled, but Josie convincingly shook her head to explain that the conversation was nothing of concern. Without saying more, Kie turned the car on and pulled ahead, the Twinkie trailing them from afar.

Josie sighed and peeked back at the van following them, before she settled in her seat again and faced Kie. "So, remind me one more time?"

Kiara nodded through a chuckle, adjusting her grip on the wheel. "Okay, so there's gonna be a guard, right? He's probably gonna be the slimy type." Josie nodded in acknowledgement, fully aware of the type of men that frequented the salvage yard. "So, when two young girls show up about a flat tire, of course he'll have no choice but to help us. That's when the boys will sneak in."

Josie narrowed her eyes in uncertainty, doubtfully tilting her head at John B's plan. Sure, the boys had quite the knack for stealing things, but what they were doing was a big task. Despite these concerns, Kie shrugged in response, and Josie settled back into her seat.

After a few minutes of thoughtful silence, Kie spoke back up. "Do you really believe that the gold's on the ship?"

Josie sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. She leaned back against the door, mulling over her words before she let them spill into existence. Her lips lifted in a pout as she got lost in her thoughts.

Did she believe that the gold was there? Or was it only for an ulterior motive that she expressed her belief in her friend?

"I think I want the gold to be there, I guess. Because it would mean a lot to John B..." Josie paused, debating whether or not to speak her next words. "But also, I think I, like, selfishly want it to be there too."

"Why do you say that?" Kie glanced at her friend, confused.

Josie sighed, favoring to look down and stare as she picked the skin around her nails. "I don't know; different reasons, I guess. Part of me wants this whole thing to be real so that I won't have to face the reality of real-world problems. Y'know, like health insurance and bills and taxes—stuff like that. We spend our whole lives basically raising ourselves to slaughter. I mean, sure, me and you? We're lucky. We come from money. But do you think our parents are gonna financially support us when they find out what we wanna do with our lives? I know damn well mine won't." Josie breathed out a sardonic laugh.

"But, let's say the gold isn't there. Even so, doing all of this treasure hunting business will allot me enough distraction from my otherwise draining mental state. The last thing I need to do is focus on the possibility of my addict-of-a-father creeping around Kildare, threatening to pop into my life at any given moment. Not to mention the suffocating chokehold my mother has decided to maintain."

"Honestly, I just hope that, for everyone's sake, the gold is there."

"Wow..." Kie trailed off, sighing as she contemplated the right way to address Josie's heavy statements. "Jo..."

Josie cut her off, too deep in her own head. "And then I think another part of me believes that if we find this gold, it'll solidify the idea that Avery's treasure is a possibility. Like, existence by proxy or something." Josie's forehead scrunched as she held her hands out in front of her. "Almost as if seeing hidden treasure will prove to me that it's all more than just a concept."

Kiara was grateful for the turn of conversation that she could grasp. "Are you having doubts?"

"Never," Josie swiftly answered as she vigorously shook her head. "It's just that; maybe if we find the Royal Merchant treasure..." Josie trailed off, shaking the rest of her thoughts from sticking to her brain.

Maybe her father would be impressed and proud enough to want to repair their relationship.

That was too much for Josie to consider.

These weren't even things she'd pondered mere minutes ago in the van. She'd only assumed her acceptance of John B's plan was an attempt to control the overwhelming anxieties that spun in her head. That she just supported him because she knew that it would've been reciprocated the other way around.

But, as her thoughts raced and her brain considered every possible feeling she'd ever had, her hidden desires and wants slowly uncovered themselves to her.

There was zero doubt that one of her deepest hopes was to finally earn the love and acceptance of her father, no matter how estranged they were. Anyone who knew, even a bit, of her past could make that observation simply by having a conversation with her pertaining to her childhood.

The only thing she and her father had ever connected over was her love for exploration and treasure—a passion passed down by the very same man she yearned for. After all, she'd been named after Joseph Cooper, who was a pirate that her father admired for his decision to avoid capture by exploding his ship's cabin. It was unsurprising that, because of their shared passion, Josie then assumed that the acquisition of eighty million dollars from a sunken ship would be enough to draw her father back into her life.

The little girl inside her chest banged on the cage Josie had locked her in, and she begged to be loved by her father. Older Josie closed her eyes and tried her hardest to swallow the longing words of that girl that threatened to spew out of her mouth.

"If we find the treasure...what?" Kie urged Josie.

The older girl shook her head again and pressed her lips together as she opened her eyes. "Nothing. Never mind." She straightened in her seat once the salvage yard was in her sights, and Kie slowly pulled up to the gate.

Kiara looked like she wanted to argue Josie's disregard, but the redhead had climbed out of the car before she could get any words out.

Josie walked around to the driver's side as Kie exited the car. She surveyed the parking lot for the signs of any approaching teenage boys, eyes searching for familiar tufts of golden hair.

"Jo."

Her attention was pulled by her companion, who leaned down at the end of the Pogue to release the air from the boat's back tire. Josie questioningly glanced at her, and Kiara paused her sabotage to motion for Josie to remove her hoodie.

Josie's eyes widened, an incredible feeling of unease and embarrassment washing over here. "What? Why?"

"Because he's probably disgusting, and we need to use that to our advantage." She stood from the tire, wiping her hands on her shorts. "Just take it off."

"But-" Josie's rebuttal was halted by the sternly pointed look Kiara shot her, and she huffed. She walked back to open the driver's side back door, grabbing the bottom of her hoodie and tugging it over her head. She peevishly tossed it onto her seat at the front, before slamming the door shut.

She adjusted the tank top, which barely covered the sight of her bra. Her insecurities rang clear in her ears, spitting out the words about her linebacker shoulders and chubby biceps that were carved into every part of her brain. She crossed her arms over her chest and self-consciously rubbed at the place on her arm that her mother had criticized earlier that day.

As Kiara turned to lead them toward the gate, Josie's gaze wandered to scrutinizingly scan herself in the reflection of the car.

She cringed, immediately regretting the decision to look, as she started to take note of everything she found wrong. Her ponytail was a mess from the repetitive lift and removal of her hood, her tank top did nothing to cover most of her skin, her face was beet-red from the heat, and she hated the way her shorts looked paired with the aforementioned tank top.

Before she could judgmentally glare at herself anymore, Kiara hissed out her name again.

Josie went to follow her and promptly ignored the concerned look her friend sent her. She could only hope that Kiara hadn't witnessed much of her self-loathing; she dreaded being asked about it. Instead, she tried to focus on putting their plan into motion.

"Hello?" Kiara called, waving up to the security box that sat just behind the gate. "Excuse me?"

The security guard leaned up in his seat to peer out the window, and Josie plastered on a fake, distressed smile. She waved when he made eye contact, and the girls approached the gate and waited for him to address them.

He exited his station on the other side of the gate. "Can I help you, girls?"

Josie put on her best sweet voice, hand placed on her side as she leaned on one hip and slightly popped it out. She raised her other hand, as if to guard her eyes from the sun. "Hi! Um, our boat actually caught a flat on our way home." Josie pointed back at her friend's car and batted her lashes. "And when I called my dad, he said that you guys had been so nice to help him before—with his tire. We were hoping you could do the same for us?"

From the corner of her eye, Josie could see Kiara politely nod in agreement.

The guard looked around the salvage yard suspiciously, his gaze raking up and down both girls before moving to the SUV behind them. He nodded and gave a flirty smile. "Yeah. Yeah, sure."

"Great, thanks so much!" Josie turned to Kie, silently gagging once he was out of sight.

Kie smirked humoredly. "It's too easy."

"Well..." Josie shook her hand in an iffy motion, differing in her opinion on the ease of deception.

She placed her hands on her hips as they watched the guard open the rolling gate. Both girls plastered on fake smiles again as the man crossed the gate and motioned for them to lead the way.

☆

"How's it going with Kiara?" JJ asked as he peeked over their hiding spot to look at his favorite redhead. He silently applauded her efforts, along with Kie's, to woo over the security guard.

"It's, uh, not awkward, weird, or anything," John B sarcastically offered. "Yeah."

JJ snorted in amusement. "Honestly, I did not think you were gonna actually listen to me."

"What?"

"I was one hundred percent sure she was into you, bro," JJ defended himself. He glanced back at Josie, who he'd suddenly noticed was sans her hoodie. He coughed to cover his noise of surprise, eyes lingering over the exposed fabric of her navy bra. "Pope would agree."

The eldest boy shrugged, slightly tilting his head back and forth. "Ehh..."

"So, like...Kie, she, like, definitely gave you the Heisman?"

John B nodded confidently. "Oh, no question. Yup." He smirked. "Like you and Jose level Heisman."

JJ scoffed, shuffling as he tried to shrug off his offense at John B's accurate statement. "She didn't give me the Heisman."

"Yeah, she did," Pope cut in as he continued to watch for the girls' signal.

JJ leaned behind John B to smack the back of Pope's head and glare at him. "Did not. She can't give me the Heisman when there's no mackin' involved, genius. JB lipped Kie." JJ turned his attention back to John B, who cringed at the reminder. "That's why she canned you."

"Maybe she's just into somebody else," Pope nonchalantly offered. The other two turned to look at him curiously, and questioningly, but he avoided their stares.

☆

Kiara took the head of the trio and walked them down the driver's side to the back end of the boat. "It's just this back one right here." Kie raised her arm to lean on the boat, and Josie stood close behind on her left side. "I mean, it must've been a slow leak or something."

Once Josie was convinced his focus wouldn't wander, she subtly waved her right hand behind Kiara's back—the signal for the boys to move. Wherever they were hiding, she could only hope that they could actually spot the signal, considering she hadn't seen them.

After a few waves, she moved her hand to pretend she was picking something off Kie's shirt.

"Probably just been sitting in the yard too long?" The guard offered, and Kiara verbally agreed through a nod. Josie tried to subtly scan around for any sign of a familiar head of blond hair, before she shot a smile at the guard to keep away any suspicion.

She brought her finger to her mouth, playing casual as she bit down on her index nail. Her heart clambered in her chest as she considered the fact that they were relying on the boys to get in and out efficiently. Two words that never complemented each other well.

She did not want to be on the receiving end of any anger from the guard if he found them out.

Her gaze drifted toward the front gate, behind the guard, just in time to see three bodies squeeze their way through as it closed. She immediately averted her eyes in an attempt to avoid drawing attention to them.

"Yeah, I got this." The man nodded assuredly, smiling at the girls as he motioned down at the tire. They both returned the smile as Kie thanked him. Once he kneeled down to get to work, the duo shared an anxious look. Josie motioned her head toward the gate and nodded, confirming that all they had to do was wait for the boys to get the drone and get out.

Josie continued to chew on her nail, and her leg began to bounce as her eyes darted from the man to the gate and back again. She kicked around some of the gravel with her foot, trying to appear unbothered, when a noise of amusement drew her attention.

Her gaze darted to the man, who glanced up at her. "Got it?" Josie asked, hoping that she conveyed some sense of nonchalance as she politely smiled down at him.

"Anxious?"

Josie paused her leg and gaped at him, wide-eyed. "Uh, n-no. No..." Josie drawled, dismissively waving her hand. "No, I'm just a fidgety gal. Can never sit still."

The guy let out a chuckle and nodded, leaning back down to continue pumping air into the tire. Kiara subtly hit Josie's shoulder with her hand and disdainfully tilted her head. Clearly, one of them had not bought Josie's award-winning performance.

Josie shrugged, crossing her arms, and brought her nail back to her mouth. She actively refrained from bouncing her leg, limiting herself to one anxious tick. Kiara moved to lean against one of the vehicles parked beside them, and Josie made herself comfortable against the boat.

After a few minutes, Josie couldn't help but feel a bit optimistic. Maybe they were actually going to get away with their plan. There hadn't been any signs of failure from the boys yet, and no signs were good signs.

That was, until the distant sounds of barking came from somewhere among the property. Josie's head whipped up, and she silently cursed at the boys. Kiara vigorously shook her head at Josie, a command to keep their act up, and the redhead's gaze moved to the man just as he looked up at them.

"Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Kie asked in faux-confusion. In any other circumstance, Josie would've cackled at Kie gaslighting a man. But she braced herself as the man stood from his crouched position.

"Oh, Tebow's got somethin'."

"It's probably just a raccoon, maybe. Y'know?" Kiara quickly offered.

Josie nodded as she rose from her leaned position against the boat. "Yeah, there's been an infestation of them lately. Probably just ran up a tree to escape your dog," Josie tried to casually reassure.

Kie nodded, raising her hand toward Josie in agreement. "Nothin' to worry about."

"Yeah." The man agreed, bending back down beside the tire. Josie had to thank him; either he was incredibly gullible or extremely oblivious.

Josie's eyes moved upward to meet Kiara, who pointedly stared at her as she motioned her head behind the boat. Josie furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head in confusion, earning an eye roll from Kiara.

"Oh, shit, Jo. Didn't you tell your dad you'd call him once we got here?"

Josie's face contorted in perplexity, forehead creasing as she tilted her head. Kiara raised her brows as she wordlessly commanded the girl to follow along. What the hell was Kiara even saying?

"Yeah..." Josie slowly agreed, still quite puzzled, as Kiara motioned toward the car. She took a few moments to mull over Kiara's insinuation and rack her brain, when a lightbulb went off. Her brows raised in realization once she'd remembered her earlier claim about the tire, and she nodded.

"Yes, and I left my phone in the car. The one right there." She awkwardly pointed at the SUV. "So, we should go get that—my phone, that is—and call my dad."

Kiara impatiently observed Josie's attempt to sound convincing. And when the redhead promptly turned to race around the boat, Kiara followed, hot on her best friend's heels, as they left the man unattended.

As soon as they were around the vessel, Kiara removed her hairclip and crouched down by the boat's other back tire. She used it to push into the pressure valve and release the air, while Josie continued her path toward the car. She figured that the sound of her footsteps would cover the sound of Kie's pausing.

She turned to walk backwards, so that she could keep an eye on her friend. Her gaze widened when she saw the man rounding the back of the boat. Hurriedly, she darted forward to the girl and hissed out her name, but it was too late. Once he'd stopped to glance between them, her movements paused.

"What are you doing?" He, quite bewilderedly, asked the girl by the tire. Josie cringed, knowing that there was no way they could get any further with their plan.

But Kie maintained her composure. "This one looks a little low, too."

Finally choosing to heed his guard dog's barking, the guard shoved past Josie and sprinted back toward the yard. Kiara pleaded for him to stop, but he'd already pressed the button to open the gate by the time either girl had the chance to concoct another excuse.

"Shit!" Kie claimed, and Josie impetuously pushed at her shoulder to turn her around.

"Go, go! Get in the car!"

The both of them raced toward the doors—Josie getting in a bit before Kiara as the brunette raced around the boat. As Kie climbed in and started the car, Josie looked at her in bewilderment. "This one looks a little low, too?"

"Oh, whatever, says the fidgety gal," Kie snapped back.

Josie scanned the lot once again for any sign of the boys. "Should we wait? Do you think they're good?"

"I know we won't be if that guy comes back," Kie stated matter-of-factly. Josie sighed and nodded in agreement, still casting her eyes across the property. Kie quickly drove the car out of the lot and back onto the road, while Josie pulled her hoodie back over her torso.

She sighed, both in relief and anxiety, and leaned back into the seat. "I swear to God; if they get caught, I'm gonna kill all three of them."

Kie humoredly rolled her eyes and threw a sarcastic smile in Josie's direction. "As if you'd harm a hair on JJ's filthy blond head."

Josie scoffed and sat up, coming to her own defense. "Please! I literally smack him all the time. I'd have the capacity to kill him if I was angry enough."

Kie dubiously hummed, not sparing a glance at her friend, as she nodded. And, for a reason unbeknownst even to herself, Josie felt offended. She smacked her lips and crossed her arms, huffing as she slouched back in her seat. She ignored Kie's amused smile and pressed her tongue to the side of her cheek in annoyance.

Josie wasn't sure why Kiara's statement bothered her, but it certainly did. Why did she assume JJ would be the one she couldn't kill? Was it because they were the closest? Josie knew she joked about favoritism a lot when it came to JJ; maybe there was some truth to it.

It was a no-brainer that JJ was not only her favorite pogue, but also just her overall favorite person. There was no doubt he had the rest of the pogues beaten out for that spot, and everyone knew it. It just stung a little bit when it was so bluntly pointed out to her, and the negative connotation behind Kiara's words wasn't lost on Josie.

She could detect the slight bitterness in her friend's tone, despite her words being hidden behind humor, and it made her sad. She wanted her friends to know that she would do absolutely anything for all of her best friends. The last thing she would ever want was for them to doubt that.

The two of them stayed silent the rest of the drive back to Chateau. The only noise that accompanied them was the sound of the wind blowing through the open windows. Josie's eyes never diverted from their passing surroundings, and she tried to bury the tickle of emotion in her throat.

Once Kiara pulled the car to a stop in John B's driveway, Josie exited and completely disregarded her friend.

Kiara huffed, exhaling from her nose, as she jumped out and marched around the front of the vehicle. "Okay. What gives?"

Josie crossed her arms and leaned back against the SUV, staring down the driveway for a sign of the Twinkie approaching. Kie smacked her lips, obviously not in the mood to let another one of Josie's avoidant maneuvers slide. She slightly shoved her friend's shoulder to gain her attention.

Josie rudely swatted at the girl's hand with a seriously annoyed expression on her face.

"I'm sorry, Jo. It was a joke. Stop being so snubby."

"I'm sorry. Just a bad day." She shrugged off her friend's stern confusion, shuffling in her spot as she stared out into the darkness. She purposely avoided meeting Kie's gaze, stubbornly refusing to admit just how ridiculous her pouting was.

She just needed to sleep off her bad vibes. She just wanted to go home and snooze into her pillow.

Her irritation was stupid; Josie realized that. All Kiara had pointed out was what everyone already knew. But she couldn't help the strain in her throat, which was a direct reaction from her best friend so flatly pointing out that JJ would always garner special treatment.

To be honest, she felt a little called out. Maybe a bit too seen.

Josie rubbed her nose with her sleeve. "Can we please drop it? I promise, I'm just being a sensitive baby right now."

"Stop." Kiara quickly cut her off, shaking her head and grabbing Josie's biceps. Josie finally looked at her friend, who shot her a light-hearted glare. "Don't talk shit about my best friend like that."

Josie rolled her eyes and looked away, tongue pressed against her teeth as she fought the smile that threatened to grow. She tried to find a distraction, but Kiara gently shook her arms to draw her attention back. "Seriously, though. I get that you'll talk to me whenever you're ready, okay? Just don't be a bitch about it."

Josie questioningly raised her bows, and Kie shrugged. "I told you not to talk about my best friend like that. I said nothing about me."

Josie scoffed good-naturedly through an eye roll, lightly kicking the side of her friend's leg with her foot. She opened her mouth to teasingly retort back, when they were blinded by the headlights of the Twinkie.

She shielded her eyes with her hand as John B creeped up toward them. They made their way toward the van, and Josie leaned on the open passenger window. "So, what's the verdict?"

John B smirked at them, and JJ leaned between the front seats from his spot in the back. "Four hundred milli, here we come!"

The girls shared a laugh of disbelief, shaking their heads, as the boys shared a high five. Kiara gently nudged Josie aside and leaned into the open window beside her, glancing around at all of the pogues.

"I say we celebrate. Anybody hungry?"

"Hell yeah!" The boys shared cheers and victorious whoops. JJ frantically opened the back door of the van and reached out for Josie. She cackled as her best friend dragged her into the van, obviously energized at the mention of free food. Kiara was left to climb into the passenger seat.

JJ made himself comfortable next to Josie on the bench seat, and she reached over to share a celebratory pogue-shake with Pope. After, she turned back to her best friend, who'd thrown his left arm over the back of the seat as he impishly ran his hand over the top of her head, her ponytail practically ruined.

He then grabbed her opposite shoulder, shaking her excitedly, and she struggled to push him off as she merrily laughed at his antics. She complained that his hands were disgusting, and she groaned about him getting gunk in her air. But there was no real seriousness in her tone, and she grinned as she pinched his side playfully.

She subsequently failed to notice the bittersweet smile sent back at her from the front of the van.

For the rest of the drive to the Wreck, JJ took it upon himself to recount the entire experience of what they'd actually accomplished.

She'd smacked him in scolding when he told her about the dog and how he'd stupidly lured it toward him for a distraction. She bit her tongue when he mentioned how he'd used his dad as an excuse to get away. And, she cheered out toward John B when JJ told her about how he'd broken the lock with a pipe. A shared laughter rang through the Twinkie as John B waved his hand and pretended to bow.

Halfway through the drive, having mellowed, JJ decided to instead mess with Josie at any chance he could get. From gently pulling at the ends of her ponytail until she smacked him, to playing really short rounds of I-Spy because she somehow always guessed it on the first try.

By the time they'd arrived at the Wreck, the adrenaline from their escape had dwindled significantly.

"Stealing drones makes you hungry," Kie sighed out. Josie laughed as she let out a noise of agreement.

Pope slid the back door open, waving his hand toward the duo, and Josie let JJ go first. She amusedly watched him take his time to hop out of the van. "What I would do to a beer and shrimp and grits right now."

"It would not be pretty," Pope commented. He clambered out of the van in front of Josie, who climbed out last. She leaned back in to grab her backpack and slung it over her shoulder. Stretching her arms out above her head, her joints clicked as she wiggled her fingers and groaned.

JJ smiled down at her, before he shut the door and threw his arm back around her shoulder. But, just as quickly as it was around her, Josie shrugged off the contact.

His hand had fallen a little too close to her sleeved bicep and, by proxy, her armpit, and she still felt off about drawing any attention to that part of her body. She purposely ignored the sad, confused look he gave her.

Instead, she marched through the door to join Kiara in greeting her dad.

"Hey, Boss-Man." Josie waved as Kie hugged her dad, and the man smiled back at her. Josie was incredibly lucky to have her best friend's parents as bosses. They were incredibly lenient about schedules, and they almost never made her work when she had no desire to.

Guess it helped to have known your bosses for a large portion of your life.

"Hey, kid. Long day?"

Josie sighed and leaned back against the counter. She dramatically rolled her eyes and threw her head back. "The longest. How was business?"

"Well, like I just told Kiara, not great," he said, honestly, as he shook his head.

Kiara pursed her lips as she continued to hug her dad, and she shared a brief look with Josie. "Guess now is not the best time to ask for free food for me and my friends?" She pulled back to flash him an innocent smile and grabbed Josie's elbow to pull her in for backup.

Josie flashed him her best smile, pleading to feed the boys that wandered around the dining area like raccoons searching for food. He sighed and leaned on the counter with an unimpressed stare. "Look at them. They're greedy pelicans.""

The girls turned to glance at the boys, who were basically standing over the table of some customers. They all looked like they were mere seconds away from snatching the plates from the table. If she hadn't known them, Josie could've sworn that they hadn't eaten in months.

"I thought I told you to stop hanging around these guys." He raised his eyebrows at Josie. "And I know your mama told you to stop."

"Well, everybody at the Kook Academy hates us, Dad," Kiara bitterly retorted. She glanced over at Josie, who nodded in solidarity.

The Grey girl had some kook acquaintances who she was friendly with—it came with the territory. But, for the most part, she'd signed away any friendships with kooks the moment she'd decided to befriend the mischievous eight-year-old she'd sat beside in the third grade.

"'Cause you never gave 'em a chance."

"I did give them a chance," Kie countered. Josie pursed her lips and averted her eyes from the conversation, feeling a sudden awkwardness being in the middle of the debacle. "They got stuck up on me. I mean, they care more about shoes than surfing. What am I supposed to do with that?"

Mr. Carrera sighed in defeat, knowing he couldn't fight his daughter's stance.

Josie softly smiled when Kie wrapped her arm around Josie's back and flanked back at the guys. "These are my friends."

The boys noticed the three of them staring, and they all gave their own little versions of awkward waves. JJ sent Josie a look of inquiry, but she just shook her head and smiled.

Mike scoffed out a chuckle and sighed. "Well, I-I got-" He sighed, and the relent in his tone caused Josie to look up at him enthusiastically. "I gotta throw it out. Might as well. Take it."

Josie fist-bumped the air in celebration and let out a little cheer as Kie jumped to hug and thank her dad. Josie leaned in to give him a grateful side-hug, laughing when he patted her head.

Kie turned to the boys, smile dropping to maintain her chill façade. "Sit down," she commanded flatly, and they all groaned in relief at the confirmation.

All three of them raced to crowd around the table the girls approached. JJ rushed to sit next to Josie, pulling her chair out just before she could, and plopped down on the one next to it. Josie chuckled and sat down as she shoved his shoulder, turning to full laughter when he caught the hand and gently bit down on her index finger.

Her eyes scanned the table, smile quickly fading when, like a cold shower, the discussion she'd shared with her mother that morning washed over her. It'd completely left her mind—the fact that she was expected to heavily diet those next few days. She'd been too busy wanting to celebrate their victory.

It quickly registered that she'd have to avoid eating while also trying to hide it from her friends. She could already feel the incoming panic gnawing at her belly.

JJ could immediately sense the change in Josie's behavior. He lowered her hand, the one already in his grasp, to sit on his lap as he slightly leaned toward her. "What? What's up?"

"Huh?" She looked over at his furrowed features, and she held back from reaching out to smooth the crinkle of his forehead. "No, it's, uh, it's nothing." She pulled her hand from his, physically shaking the question and his touch off as she glanced over at her other friends.

Kiara and Pope were in a heated discussion, and John B was excitedly watching it as he cheered on whatever side he thought was winning.

"Jose..." JJ playfully drawled the nickname as he faux-scolded her. He leaned in to jestingly push his forehead into her cheek. Against her best interest, a giggle slipped past her lips. She shoved his head back, groaning when he resisted against her palm.

"Promise, Jay, I'm just being stupid." She let go of his head and politely smiled when Mike set down some plates at the center of the table, but she refrained from reaching for anything.

The blond to her left lifted from his seat to snatch a plate of shrimp and grits toward him. Once he realized Josie hadn't picked anything, he, like it was second nature, casually grabbed a plate of hushpuppies and crab pot-pie and placed it in front of her.

Her favorite.

"Don't promise if it's not true, Jo." He sat back down in his seat, almost immediately digging into his food. "And don't say you're stupid again, unless you wanna throw hands." He faced her and lifted his arms in a boxing stance, pretending to punch her shoulder.

Josie rolled her eyes and smacked his hands, subtly pushing her plate away. She, instead, reached for the water Kie had so kindly poured for her when she'd walked around with drinks. As she sipped it, she tried to ignore the way her stomach growled at the smell of her favorite meal.

She opted to dig into the bag that she'd hung on the back of her chair. She rummaged through the main pocket, before pulling out a packet of gum. She popped a piece into her mouth and took another sip of water.

Hopefully, the strong taste of peppermint could curb the grumble of her stomach.

"Can I have one?" JJ spoke through a mouthful of food, nodding at the pate of hushpuppies. Josie snickered and pushed the plate toward him.

"You can have 'em all."

The boy's eyes widened as she shook his head, shocked by the words that left his best friend's lips. He swallowed the food he'd shoved into his mouth and stared at Josie as if she'd just told him she hated surfing. "You're not gonna eat any of 'em? The same girl who ate fifty-five of them suckers, and then threw up to eat another twenty, isn't gonna eat any?"

Josie cringed at the memory, her stomach queasy at the mere thought. "I'm just not hungry, Jay." She swirled the straw in her water cup, watching the ice as it tapped against the paper sides.

JJ continued to shovel food into his mouth, but the redhead barely strayed from his eyesight. "Butsd yourfg dibnht ebem ert oh dah boarft."

Josie chuckled and scrunched up her nose at his attempt to speak through a mouthful of food, smacking his shoulder lightly. She grinned, amused, and shook her head. "I got none of that."

He dramatically swallowed, reaching out for the soda cup Kie had given him to wash it down. He then turned to fully focus on Josie. "You didn't even eat on the boat. Which means you're goin' on about ten hours of no grub." He reached out to jokingly squeeze her stomach, and Josie instantly slapped his arm away. She gave him a stern, scolding look, but he rolled his eyes as if she were being ridiculous.

"Now, I may not be as smart as you and Mr. Vanderhorst over there..." JJ's voice rose enough for Pope to hear from the seat he'd moved to, which was behind them up at the counter. The older pogue retaliated by throwing down a hushpuppy at JJ, which he successfully ducked from. "But I know that you need to eat more than one bowl of cereal a day, maybe two."

Josie struggled to find a response to her best friend's unusually serious statement. There hadn't been much thought given to how she was going to explain to everyone that she wasn't supposed to be eating. She just hoped no one would be preceptive enough to question her when she said that she wasn't hungry. After all, it's not like she was a terrible liar.

Before she had a chance to reply to JJ, a fry came flying at him.

John B's obnoxious laugh rang throughout the Wreck, and JJ grinned as he turned his eyes over to the humored brunette. He was obviously growing bored with the lack of attention given to him. He threw another fry at JJ, who leaned back that time to catch it in his mouth. He missed, but he cheesily smiled as the fry plopped onto his lap.

Their conversation was seemingly tabled, as the group continued to chow down on the free food without conversation about Josie's lack of participation. She was even able to pull her Polaroid out of her bag and snap some pictures of her friends messing around.

She got a disgusting picture of JJ cheesing through a mouthful of grits, and she captured the exact moment a plate of ketchup-covered fries tipped over into John B's lap. Everything was perfect, and her discussion with JJ slowly slipped from her mind.

That was until Kiara began to try and convince John B to dance with her. While the two of them were distracted, JJ turned to Josie with a semi-serious expression. "Alright, Grey, spill. You've been acting wack all day."

Josie exhaled through her nose, staring into the deep blue eyes that would always deliver a familiar sense of comfort to her soul. He stared at her as if it really bothered him to not know what was wrong with her—like it was eating at him. JJ was a lot of things, and among those, he was too stubborn to just let something like Josie's discomfort go unnoticed.

Josie dug around in her head for the correct way to phrase what she was feeling—experiencing—without fully saying what she knew was wrong with her. How was she supposed to tell her friend that she was uncomfortable with the way she looked because of her mother? How does one explain that every bad thought they've ever had about themselves originated from the same person who created them?

If there was anyone Josie knew who understood that feeling, it was JJ.

"If I ask you something, swear you'll be honest with me?"

"Brutally," JJ immediately answered through a grin.

Josie nodded in relief and turned to face him in her seat. Her knees brushed the side of his thigh as she moved them to rest in between their chairs. She exhaled, rubbing her newly sweaty palms on her jean shorts. "Do you-" She paused, closing her eyes as she recoiled from her own question.

"Do you think I'm...pleasant-looking?"

"Pleasant-looking?" JJ chuckled, brows furrowed as he repeated her statement like he didn't understand what she was inquiring.

Josie huffed, wishing he'd just answer the question without asking his own. "Attractive, JJ. Do you think I'm, like, objectively attractive?" Her eyes stayed shut, unwilling to face whatever expression he'd held. But the sudden sound of choking and coughing caused them to shoot back open.

The sound went as quickly as it came—not enough to draw attention to him. But it was enough for Josie to feel like she needed to reach out and pat his back. As her hand rubbed vertical motions, her face scrunched, and she avoided directly looking at him.

She felt completely embarrassed by his reaction.

"Where the hell did that come from?" JJ shook his head, bewildered, and gulped down his soda.

Josie retracted her hand from his spine. "JJ, please, just answer the question."

"W-Well, I, uhm, I-" His stuttering made Josie dread his answer even more. JJ was not easily flustered.

Still, she persisted. "You can be honest with me."

JJ paused, thoughtfully, and turned to fully stare at her, knees touching as he slightly scooted his chair back to make room. He could finally make out the catastrophic waves of dread that filled her eyes and painted her expression. His shoulders shrank as he took in the severity of her question.

He grabbed both of her shoulders and playfully narrowed his eyes, slouching to match her line of vision. "Jose, of course, you're a freaking smokeshow. You're, like, insanely hot and pleasant-looking." He wiggled his eyebrows to tease her prior wording, before he let go of her and turned back in his seat.

"Jay," Josie groaned out as she pushed his shoulder, realizing she wasn't going to receive a serious answer.

He grabbed her hand through his own laugh, squeezing it to get her to look back at him. "Jo, I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Jo." He smiled, tugging at her hand a bit. "No, actually, though; don't ever doubt that shit. You're easily one of the best-looking people I've ever seen."

Josie smiled appreciatively at him, placing her right elbow on the table and resting her chin on her knuckles, and felt the clench that perpetually surrounded her chest let up a little. His words made her feel supported, particularly in her need to remind herself that she was beautiful. No matter how she looked.

Her gaze lingered as he held it with his own. All sorts of alarm bells rang out in her brain. Reminders of a certain handsome, six-foot-one kook flashed across her vision. She couldn't help but consider how inappropriate this entire conversation might seem to someone like her boyfriend.

Josie could feel the energy between herself and her best friend shift like gears in a clock tower. For some strange reason, a faint bubbling feeling grew at the bottom of her stomach, while her heart rate picked up exponentially.

She stared into the blues of JJ's eyes—a color much like the ocean he'd found a home in throughout their childhood. But, while he had found his home in the actual water, she had always preferred seeking comfort in the color of his eyes.

She was certain she'd never seen anything so blue.

Their hands laid flat on his lap, her left one clasped in both of his with her palm facing out, while the right one still held her head. The soft skin of his thumb brushed against her palm, gentle caresses moving back and forth as if almost subconsciously. In the exact places where their hands met, Josie could feel the heat of his soul combining with the heat of her own. Like two flames merging together to make one enormously vibrant fire.

If she didn't know any better, she'd almost say that the distance between them had steadily closed the more they talked. Similar to how two magnets were drawn to each other, no matter the circumstance. Two ends of something that are always meant to meet and create their own middle.

It was overwhelming—the puffs of breath that brushed the strand of hair that had fallen from her ponytail. They were too much for her to bear. She feared she might willingly suffocate in them if it meant staying in her best friend's proximity.

The palms of her hands grew sweaty once again, and she made the decision to pull her hand away from the blond. Her head lifted from her hand, and she felt the built-up energy between them slowly melt. But it didn't completely disappear.

Never completely.

She internally tried to calm her racing heartbeat, not-so-subtly rubbing her hands off on her thighs. She ignored the furrowed look JJ gave her, and she covered up her labored breaths with a couple of coughs that she tried to play off.

She glanced around at her friends, hoping and praying that none of them had also witnessed the intense energy shared between the two best friends. She continued to ignore the unwavering stare of her companion, opting to look up and smile at her dancing best friends.

She peeked over her shoulder to spot Pope, only to find him watching the brunette duo with saddened eyes. Josie could see through his expression just how heavy his heart lay in his chest, and her own clenched at the thought. He looked like a kicked puppy—like someone had just torn his heart in half right in front of him.

Her eyes widened in realization, flicking back and forth between the dancing duo and the frowning boy. She'd seen that look before.

She'd seen it when Rafe Cameron found out that she'd started dating the new kid, every time Cory caught a glimpse of a photo the girls had with their dad, or that one time in the fifth grade when JJ found out that Josie had picked John B to be her first-mate instead of him.

She'd seen it in her own eyes earlier that morning, after she'd seen the beauty of Sarah Cameron twirling in her dress.

Jealousy. Bitter and green.

A variety of emotions flooded Josie's veins at the realization that Pope was jealous of what she could only assume was Kiara dancing with John B. What other reason would he have to have looked so longingly and so hurt by the innocent act of enjoyment? He had to have been harboring a crush on one of the two.

She felt bitter that some of them were still finding a desire in themselves to cross that line. She felt fearful at the idea of what those feelings could do to Pope's relationship with them. She felt annoyed that they had to repeat this process right after what'd happened when John B kissed Kiara.

But, surprisingly, the most evident emotion Josie felt was sorrow.

Pain weighed heavily in her chest as she thought about how awful Pope must feel. Not only because he probably felt embarrassed for harboring feelings for one of them, but because he also had to watch his crush get kissed by one of his best friends. Then he had to watch that same crush flirtingly dance with that same best friend.

She couldn't bear for him to wear a look of melancholy any longer. "C'mon, P."

Josie stood from her seat, squeezing past behind JJ to step up toward the counter, and held out her hand. Pope squinted at her in confusion, shaking his head to show that he had no clue what she was asking of him. She grinned and wiggled her outstretched fingers at him, humming in finality. Once he realized what she was requesting, his expression dropped even further than before. He stared at her, unimpressed.

But, naturally, it didn't deter the redhead as she rolled her eyes at him. "Pope..." She drawled out his name. "Come on! In the wise words of a young poet, 'dance with me. The earth is spinning, and we can't just stand on it!'" She grabbed both of his hands and pulled up off his seat toward the middle of the restaurant.

"Who the hell said that?"

"No clue; I read it somewhere online once. The sentiment still stands, though!" She grinned and lifted his hand to twirl him under her arm, and she obnoxiously laughed as he obliged. He then did the same to her, frivolously pulling her into him, and she placed her hand on his shoulder.

They began to over-dramatically waltz around in a tiny circle, movements coltish, as Pope occasionally spun Josie under their hands or into his chest. He theatrically dipped her, before allowing her to do the same to him as they shared a gleeful laugh.

They were no way in time with the music, but Josie didn't care. All she cared about was the wide smile she'd been able to bring forth on Pope's face. She silently hoped the distraction offered him at least some respite from the heavy weight of his suffering heart.

In fact, she was so focused on distracting Pope that she unknowingly disregarded the bitter gazes that settled on the pair. And just like that, jealousy broke free of its hold on Pope and chokingly grasped onto two others, filling their throats with calamitous longing.

⋄ ⋟⋆ june 21, 2020

i love home. i love the place where i learned to love so deeply that, sometimes, it pains me. but there are days, moments littered in between the rise and fall of the sun, that I wish I was one of those people who moves thousands of miles away and never looks back. someone who has adventures untangled from their past and where they come from. but I could never keep myself from looking back. I'll always look back. I find I am forever diligently defined by every person or place I've ever loved. I love, I love, I love. so why can't I love myself the way I love life?

- josephine grey ⋄ ⋟⋆

[purpleenjoyer]

For the Meta OC Ask: Not sure if I’m allowed multiple but the ones I wanted to pick are #9, #18, and #20

Yes multiple questions are okay! Well wait let me organize my thoughts first—

Starting from the beginning (#9), I think she could fit into a couple of dynamics depending on who she's spending time with. I mean, I feel she's the one who creates trouble from time to time, but not because she wants to be troublesome, but because she just... failed on her mission of being normal. She strives to be the designated driver on a drink night out, yet she'd probably end up being in the top 3 of people who drank the most. She wants to follow the map during a roadtrip, but she'd probably end up lost in the middle of the mountains trying to find a way out of a field full of cows.

If you allow her to be rational, she will be (as much as she can); if you give her the benefit of the doubt, she will probably do something dumb or borderline dangerous. I think she's the "I don't like mess but mess seems to be madly in love with me" kind of person—you should be careful with what kind of friends she makes lol.

And I think that might be also linked to question 8 on the list, as I believe being accidentally disastrous is one of her flaws. I think it is something she cannot quite control, and as soon as she feels threatened by her own inestability, she will start losing confidence and making poor life decisions in order to free herself from her own actions. She can ask you to go to a haunted house to spend de night after watching way too many horror movies, but she'll probably regret it as soon as she's actually there and remembers she's afraid of ghosts. Moving to the next question (one you actually asked), I'm not sure what I would do if I met her, I like her gaslight gatekeep girlboss attitude but it's too much for me. I'd probably suggest her to go to therapy.

And huh, there's way too many unreleased stuff about her! I think some... might count as spoilers for some things that will happen next in my fanfic, so let me see what I can actually talk about...

Well, at first she was going to be more of a Y/N kind of main character, you know? Someone with far less personality and better adaptability skills in order to act as her System wanted her to. The fic was planned to be a normal, cliche-ish, not-at-all-deep love story with lots of scenes straightly ripped-off of popular romance dramas and some transmigration manhwas (the low-quiality ones I mean) so her first draft was.... not at all like what she is now.

In fact, in the fist version of the story (the Spanish one I mean), you could probably see how she was much more compliant and passive during the first, I don't know, 25-30 chapters. When I started translating it into English and rewriting a few (a lot) of scenes, I decided to infuse her with her own voice, making her a little bit more loyal to her final version, the one she naturally morphed into by the time I finished writing the story. The whole rivals to friends to lovers was quite bland in the Spanish version, so I made it a little bit more literal while translating it. I also made her feelings a bit stronger this time, more black/white if you asked.

Another thing I changed about her was her sexuality. She was going to be quite straight at first, but when I started writing I noticed I... simply cannot write that kind of characters. I said "why would she care, anyway? She's too busy doing other stuff" and in the end I wrote what I'm most comfortable writing: her being asexual and aromantic, leaning to the demi side of the spectrum. I don't think this is something I actually portray a lot in the story, not because I don't know how to write it, but because... She gives so little fucks about it that I never found a good timing to make her actually worry about it. She's just living inside her own little word, I mean. If some asked her, she'd probably be like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ and move to other topics.

Well that's all, sorry I write a lot lol. Feel free to ask anything else if you want to.

[shallowseeker]

okay you know how mary was like weirdly against jody just bc she was A Woman In Her Sons Lives (she had a sarcastic comment about Jody mothering them....mary babe they were born in the same decade). anyway. with that in mind how do you think mary would react to meeting ellen, her son's actual surrogate mother?

I so love questions like this. My bestest tumblr friends give me excuses to ramble into the quiet of the night. Anyway, there are some wonderful opportunities for tensions between Ellen and Mary, but I'm not convinced the main ones have anything to do with Sam or Dean.

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1. The old wound of John using Bill as bait. There's potential for Ellen to distrust Mary. At worst, she might displace anger of Bill's death onto Mary. This could manifest as Ellen refusing to go around Mary or being contrarian to the point of undermining Mary's authority, questioning her tactics, and nitpicking her decisions (in the guise of playing Devil's advocate ofc).

This would aggravate and heighten Mary's natural defense mechanism for dealing with fear and insecurity: "my way or highway."

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2. Training Jo. Jo has some personality characteristics that are very like John: a heritage of hunting but being new to hunting itself and the very nature of hunting to feel close to a father. So, I think this hunting partnership would feel very comfortable for Mary.

When it comes to her own children, Mary wants to protect Sam and Dean from hunting (at least, at first). This is part of why she leans into blaming Cas as "co-protector-surrogate-spouse" in season 12 & why she's so vulnerable to the British Men of Letters' pitch, "a world without monsters."

But with Jo, there's none of that parental baggage. Mary naturally operates in a fatherly way to Jo. To Jo, Mary becomes Samuel. Ergo, you get an unhinged Ellen trying to forbid a Mary-Jo mentorship. Depending on the timeline and how frosty things are with Winchester dynamics, you might also get a frustrated and jealous Sam or Dean (of Jo)!

I'd bet my whole ass that Ellen would not jive with the above two mistakes of Mary's: Ellen naturally gravitated towards Cas's personality and stability, so she'd hold a grudge here, and she's so naturally suspicious of others that she'd hate British MoL. (Jo, on the other hand, could totally get sucked in for the grand sense of purpose, I think.)

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Mode of hunting: Ellen does hunt, but her whole way of operating is different to Mary.

Ellen likes having a homebase and she likes being a shelter. She's a bit like how older Dean turned out in this regard. (Interesting that one of Dean's dreams was to own a safe harbor/roadhouse/hunting bar.)

Ellen gets very explosive and controlling when it comes to protecting loved ones, and when danger arrives, her first instinct is to yank everyone else out of the fight. Her fears are big and strong, and they come out mean. (It's not that Ellen is scared for herself. She's brave enough to face a bear bare-handed; just don't put her husband/daughter/loves ones in the line of fire)!

Mary, on the other hand, seems more comfortable being more nomadic in general, despite having relatively stable-ish parents + family home growing up (by hunter standards, anyway).

This is a part of Mary that's like Sam. I think having Samuel and Deanna somewhat stabilized her childhood and made this "mode" of operating feel safer for Mary, just as having Dean as caretaker made branching out feel a little safer for Sam (comparatively). At their worst though, like practically everyone in Supernatural, both give away their personhood to missions. That age-old desire to make up for personal failings in life / spare their loved ones / save the world, etc., and so, they become become reckless.

Whereas Dean and Ellen both crave being a little more stationary, or at least tethered to a home, to feel more emotionally secure.

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Anyway, that's all I thought of tonight!

I might add to this later and revisit some Ellen-Jo arguments! I recently rewatched those seasons, and though I remembered Ellen fondly, she never struck me as particularly motherly to Sam and Dean, outside of the abstract notion of it.

As for Mary, her aloofness to Jody was influenced by her British MoL brainwashing, I believe. Her bitterness was informed by her fresh grief, loss of purpose, feeling iced out, not fitting into current time, and plugging that space with the heroic depersonalization of mission above all else. I'll throw away my personhood to get rid of the monsters, so you can be happy and get the life you deserve. I don't matter (and maybe my happiness is lost to me, anyways).

The bitterness that accompanied it all was so interesting, too.

At some point, she uses the SPN-time-honored phrase, "I'm doing this...for you. (To protect you.)" Mary chooses war and goes soldier-mode. Ellen doesn't seem to dissociate/compartmentalize quite the same way--at least, not that we see on screen?