#i know: this quote is about liv

[crossbackpoke-check]

it’s all the rest of what i want with you

connor dewar/brandon duhaime :: 8k

Summary:

“Brandon,” Connor says with a sigh. “There’s no baby in there.”

“Not yet,” Brandon says. Connor feels his stomach twist, almost like what he would imagine a baby kicking to feel like.

in these trying times of dewvorce, may i offer you 8k of pwp inspired by @stillfertile’s wonderful art which i had. several breakdowns about 🫶 anyway please enjoy!!!

[langernameohnebedeutung]

*Then the Spirit led Jesus up into the wilderness so that the devil might tempt him. After Jesus had fasted for 40 days and forty nights, he was starving.

Matthew 4:1-2

aka: Blaine + 😈

[charlidos]

THE CHRONICLES OF THE CUNTYBAGO

I love the lore of the Fellowship, I can't get enough of it. And it's really turned into a kind of myth, hasn't it? The stories have been established, from being told again and again. Regardless if it's not the whole truth, or even not true at all. The lore has a life of its own. And it changes, depedning on who's talking, and over time.

The lore of the (inappropriately named) Cuntybago is a favourite; that famed make-up trailer bus where Orlando spent so much time with Viggo (hours and hours for years and years if you listen to Orlando) absorbing everything Viggo did.

So here's the Ultimate (very long) Cuntybago Post.

The Cuntybago is apparently where all the after-work parties happened. Most of what actually happened on it is still secret, private events not to be shared; after hours, after some wine/whisky drinking. What kind of special stuff was in the drawers? What did they really smoke? And, most intriguingly, who exactly was left onboard when everyone were ordered to get out... (Erm, V&O, perhaps?)I'm sure there are many more photos from the bus. Like a photo of Viggo & Orlando - which has yet to be seen. Oh, to have been a fly on that wall!

(A clip from the last day of the reshoots, in 2003. Because it's the time the bus has been talked about the most. Even if I'm unsure if this is the actual Cuntybago or not. Since it doesn't look green...)

Mortensen and Orlando Bloom spent much of their off-time on a green bus they named the "Cunty-Bago." Instead of the standard luxury lodging demanded by most stars on set, Viggo and co-star Orlando Bloom shared a converted bus while filming Rings. Viggo stocked the bus with a wine cellar and wallpapered the inside with candid behind-the-scenes photos. A source on the set said the bus was the site of frequent cast parties, with the motto, "Everyone is welcome, but when it's time to go, get out!" Indeed, they formed a club — The Cunty-Bago Club. [Viggo, Sean and Orlando] shared a make-up Winnebago, and through hours of beard and pointy-ear application formulated the rules of their society — most of which boil down to getting gossip and posting it on. [on what? I think the text is cut?]

There are very few quotes from Viggo. If you read his old interviews about life on set it sounds like he mostly worked 6 days a week, 14 hours a day. And in his free time, he went camping and fishing by himself and just drove around to get some me-time. That's it. It all sounds like mostly work and no play for Viggo. Cementing this image of him being ever serene, wise and a hard working method actor who never stopped being Aragorn. But then, we have the stories of this bus, which shows his wilder side...

(Viggo in ponytails, with a glass of wine and banana, in front of that mirror covered in photographs. They both took a lot of photos on set, so I guess a bunch of those photos are Orlando's.)

All Viggo's said is this:

"It was a crazy small bus." "Everything had cunt. It was 'cunt this' and 'cunt that'. We had a cuntmas tree, and we had cuntmas angels."

(Orlando on the makeup bus. )

Orlando has mostly mentioned the bus in passing, as he loves on Viggo, his great hero. And in his words, it always sounds like it was just the two of them... (when in fact it was from time to time also shared with Sean B, Bernard and Liv - but only Viggo & Orlando were there the whole time).

[Me and Viggo would] sit next to each other for a couple or hours each morning in a make-up truck. You get to know someone that way, more than by being in scenes with them. I used to sit next to him on the make-up bus, and find myself just staring at him while he was having his make-up done and drawing in his book or writing his notes. I would find myself fascinated. When I went back for re-shoots, I was on my own and he wasn't sitting there, and I suddenly was sitting in the makeup bus that we'd been driving around in for 18 months in New Zealand and got really emotional and felt that it was kind of weird to be there without him there and sort of reflected on all of the happy conversations and chats and glasses of wine and talks that we would have at the end of the day or whatever. He really had a huge impact on my life as an actor.

But he did say a few specific things too:

"Ahhh yes, the bus. It was mine, all mine. It was my precious." Bloom christened the bus the "C-word" when the makeup artist was fuming about someone and asked Bloom's advice. "You should kick him in the cunt and tell him to fuck off!" Viggo just lost it for half an hour. He kept saying, 'What did you say?' [The bus] became all about "the word. We took that word and took all of its power away. We made it the most loving word in the world. If you were a true cunt, you were the most amazing person in the world. It was a very free-spirited bus. It came about because me and Viggo kept being moved around, and we ended up on this bus one day. And the actors were fed up and we said, "This is it. This is our home and we are not moving. If they come, tell them to go away."

And finally from Orlando's IG in 2019 (obviously, to this day, a very important part of his life):

Our fondly named makeup bus, christened by Noreen my makeup artist and Viggo Mortensen, was, and remains in my heart and memory the most female and male empowered, joyful, disreputable and yet totally respectful place of work and creativity ever. Hours spent in the the makeup chair to apply ear’s and wigs and contacts." (They can't even agree who named it, Noreen never got any credit back then...)

(From the reshoots in 2003, Viggo gives Orlando some love and points out the photo message from Orlando on the mirror. But I want to know, who put up the pic of O with Brad Pitt? From this clip.)

The comments from everyone else in the cast about life on the Cuntybago are actually more enlightening. The rowdy gang reveal another side of life on set and of Viggo: as a drinking, partying prankster who loves crude language. It's definitely part of the fascination with Viggo. He's never one to talk about these things himself.

(I think they're wearing the special cuntebago t-shirts here. No idea from whence.)

Bernard Hill:

You are not supposed to know about it!" "There were five or six of us - Viggo, Orlando and Sean [Bean]. Liv came in and out [of the group]. Viggo has this special kind of crudeness that he is capable of. We were in the same make up bus [along with Bloom]. When I came back [from a break] it was called the Cuntybago. It was our private club. We had wine tasting sessions and had lots of parties. We also kept lots of food in there. Anything that was out [on the table], you could have. You could drink it, eat it, borrow it, smoke it… but don´t go looking in any drawers. That´s where we kept our 'special stuff'! [The Cuntybago bar would on occasion open very early] like 6:30am. There were days that we needed it. [I've made life-long friends with] everybody who was in the Cuntybago. Leaving the first time was such a huge wrench. Especially because of the Cuntybago, it was like our club. Fortunately we managed to get it back for Return of the king reshoots, so ROTK was the Return of the Cuntybago. We actually drove it out onto the streets for Viggo’s farewell. Viggo didn’t know we were going to do it, and when it started moving, you should have seen his face. I kept shouting, “Cunty libre! Cunty libre!” And the bus start leaving—we were breaking free. For propriety’s sake it was called the C-Bago Club, because you couldn’t put Cunty on the call sheet. Sean Bean came in, Liv was also a part of it. As soon as I get back to England I’m going to start the C-Bago web site: Orlando will do fashion and Viggo will do current affairs. I’ll probably do gossip — you know, the social calendar. Liv will do Hollywood and Sean Bean will do the art of war. It’ll be our little corner of the world.

(Bernard & Orlando Bloom getting make-up done. Here's the green bus again.)

Elijah:

Cuntybago is an amalgamation of 'Winnebago' and Viggo Mortensen´s cuss word of choice. I've gained an appreciation of the word cunt. Negative words - the best thing is to diffuse them by using and taking the meaning away. Cunt! Cunt! It's a great, great word. Very forceful. [Viggo] became utterly fascinated with it and it became the word of the film. Their Winnebago for makeup was called the Cuntybago. I was not a part of the Cuntybago unfortunately - it was the makeup room of Orlando, Viggo and Sean Bean - but it was a lovely place to visit. Cuntybago T-shirts were made up. There was a Cunty Christmas and we had a Cunty Christmas tree, all this stuff. Cate Blanchett [who plays the elf queen Galadriel] was deemed Her Cuntliness. I think we were all secretly jealous of the Cuntybago. I was anyway. I loved the atmosphere. Any place that had Viggo in the centre was always an interesting place to be… And that was where all the alcohol was. It was just spending all of that time with brits and Aussies. The word ‘Cunt’ came up quite a lot. I was fascinated by that and how it could become not so dirty. It’s one of the few swear words that still shock people." Is that why you called Cate Blanchett “Her Cuntliness? “Not my creation. She was called that by Viggo Mortensen. I put the blame on him. It was used during the making of the movie and seems a bit silly now. Wood says that his Cuntybago T-shirt is home in a drawer. "It's too big for me. I'm a small guy."

(A few photos up on the mirror in front of Viggo. I'm guessing it's Henry on the toilet (aww!), and Viggo and Orlando doing something something... Sharing a cigarette? Extinguishing a cigarette on Viggo's tongue? It looks kind of erotic. And who's the other dude?)

Billy:

"On Lord of the rings we'd go to Viggo and Orlando's trailer which was called The Cuntybago. Viggo was good for getting Irish whiskey, which was great but I keep trying to educate him on malt whisky. (To Billy it was just V&O's trailer. Like it's where they lived together...) Hobbits, an elf, a King of Men, maybe a dwarf. And quite a few times a wizard, sometimes a princess. Ha ha! That's enough to make anyone feel pissed. We had some good times on that one, some great times."

Peter Jackson:

"The actors had a spiritual connection to it. I liked the way they had photographs [Mortensen and Bloom] taken behind-the-scenes, plastered all over the walls."

(From the reshoots, I think. Beautifully blurry.)

Liv Tyler:

I can't believe he [Mortensen] talked about that. That was our private world. There was a lot of liquor on that bus. But the funniest thing about this bus is that this thing was a beast. It was so tiny; nothing worked. If they ever washed our hair it would go from scalding hot to freezing cold. There was no heat. Our makeup trailer became the center of things. It was given a really bad name that I cannot repeat. There were pranks, most of them also too dirty to tell. I love them all, all my costars. We would hang out mostly in the hair-and-makeup trailer, and after work at dinner. We would eat all the time and drink wine and laugh.  I think that a lot of that was the friendships that we made with each other and the fact that we all needed each other. It was vital that we all had each other to survive and to be able to laugh. Everybody had a really good sense of humor, thank God. We'd be constantly making jokes and decorating the trailer with ridiculous things and being rude and that was our sort of little bubble of escape in our makeup trailer.

(Photo by Liv, in the bus. You can see all the polaroids and stuff behind the unicorn elf.)

Cate Blanchett:

Viggo is the funkiest person I've ever met. I am far too polite to . . . he had this thing he called "the cunty-bago" . . . no, I guess I shouldn't go into that. So, yeah, he's incredible, very funny.

So, I can't quite figure out which bus The Cuntybago actually is: the green one Orlando is seen exiting? Or the yellow-ish one seen in the vids from the reshoots? Because they aren't the same. And in the vid from the final day, Bernard says the bus he drove on that last day was the same they'd had "for years" and which never moved before. While Orlando said they drove The Cuntybago around "for 18 months". So which bus was it? And did they drive the bus around or not? Or was it stationary? It's a mystery.

(This is the green bus - but is it the make-up trailer? Same as in the vid with Bernard.)

(Here in the reshoots, the bus is yellow-ish? And completely different. Looks more like a Winnebago than the green one really... So which one is The Cuntybago?)

ETA: it's the green striped one! Here's it's on the Cuntybago shirt:

ETA 2:

All my memories from that time is filtered through our bus, the famous C-bago. That was our haven, our social club and our home: it was our special place. We christened it the Cuntebago, but it had to be shortened to C-bago because Cuntebago couldn't go on the call sheets. It was a big make-up bus, and in one of its previous existences it obviously took people to and from places on a commercial basis, so it had the little place in the front that said where it was going, and we wanted Cuntebago on there: "Cuntebago - everywhere!" That was me, Viggo and Orlando. We were the cunts in the Cuntebago.

-Bernard Hill in Empire Magazine 2011.

That's all I have found about this infamous, mythical place, where all the magic happened, as they say. If anyone has info to add, please do! I want this post to be comprehensive!

[haru-dipthong]

Ep 9 of my Utena fansub is out!

しつこいのは一番嫌われるんだぜ、先輩

Stubborn people are the most hated, Sempai. (from ohtori.nu)

Learn to take a hint, vice president. (my translation)

I thought I’d talk about this line because my translation differs quite significantly from a literal translation. The ohtori scripts’ translation shown above attempts to translate the line more literally, and I think suffers greatly for it.

Let’s break down the line: しつこい is an adjective that’s used to describe people who won’t take no for an answer; connecting it to the particles のは make it describe an implicit (but missing) noun - that noun being “people”. The ohtori script chooses to translate it as “stubborn”, but I can’t help but feel this doesn’t capture the implications that しつこい has about harrassment. In fact, I couldn’t think of a good English adjective at all, which made me start thinking about alternative ways of translating the line.

Then Utena says 一番嫌われる. This means “are hated the most”. On top of the inadequate translation of しつこい, a direct translation of this creates an unnatural sounding turn of phrase. While attempting to rephrase it in a way that sounded okay, I realised I was better off trying to retranslate the line as a whole.

My translation’s number one goal was to preserve Utena’s passive aggressive suggestion that Saionji is harrassing Anthy. I think that’s the most important thing the audience should have been taking away from the Japanese, so it should be what they take away from my translation as well. “Learn to take a hint” doesn’t explicitly say that “if you keep bothering someone after they tell you No, they'll just hate you more”, but it does heavily imply it, which I think is sufficient.

The final thing I want to say about this line is how I translated “senpai”. Previously I’ve translated it as the character’s name, but here I translated it as “vice president” instead of “Saionji”. This is because I think it’s important to preserve the fact that Utena is standing up to someone with more power than them. There was also reference to Touga being the president in a line just 1.5 minutes prior, so it reinforces some of the power dynamics between those two as well.

-----

君の王子様っていうのは…俺みたいなやつじゃなかったか？

Your prince was just like me, wasn’t he?

I struggled a lot with this line. Touga either truly believes he is Utena’s prince based on his memory of the church, or he doesn’t know for sure but he’s trying to manipulate them into liking him anyway. Either way, he’s not just posturing to Utena and making himself out to be a prince here… he’s making himself out to be THE prince. He’s strongly suggesting that he’s the one from her memory. It was tough to find a snappy English translation that had the same strong suggestion while still staying implicit. I originally had “I remind you of your prince, don’t I?” but decided that it wasn’t a strong enough implication, and spent another long while trying out synonyms and rewording things until I came up with the translation I settled on: “Your prince was just like me, wasn’t he?”

-----

やつはいつも俺より先に、俺の知らない世界に行く

He was always one step ahead of me, into a strange world I didn’t know.

I don’t have much to say about the translation itself for this line (it’s a pretty straightforward direct translation), but my god this line gives me chills. I think it may be a metaphor for puberty and “maturity”. I put maturity in quotes because when it comes to these two characters, I think they both see maturity as how much of a patriarchal man you are.

-----

Utena: 生きてるなんて、気持ち悪いよね。 Touga: そう？ Utena: うん、気持ち悪いよ。どうせ死んじゃうのに、どうしてみんな生きてるんだろう？なんで今日までそのことを気づかなかったんだろう？永遠の物なんてあるわけないのにね。 Saionji: 永遠の物？

(below translation is from ohtori.nu)

Utena: Being alive is kind of sickening. Touga: I see… Utena: It's sickening... Why does everyone go on living knowing they'll end up dying anyway? I wonder why I never realized that until today. Eternity couldn't possibly exist, could it? Saionji: Eternity?

(below translation is my own)

Utena: Living feels wrong. Touga: Really? Utena: Yeah. It feels wrong. Everyone dies in the end. Why do they bother living? Why didn’t I realise before today? Nothing in this world lasts forever. Saionji: Nothing lasts forever?

As I’ve discussed previously, I decided early on that I would not be translating 永遠 directly as “Eternity” every time it appears. I think the theme of not wanting things to change is strong enough throughout the show that it doesn’t need to be carried by a recurring word. I’m translating it the way that flows best each time.

Utena’s bolded line literally means “permanent/eternal things don’t exist” or “there’s no such thing as something permanent/eternal” (little side note, this uses the same Japanese grammar as Juri’s “there’s no such thing as miracles”). This was actually a very easy translation. The first time I watched it, almost without thinking, I translated it as “Nothing in this world lasts forever” in my head. I think it flows super well, it works as dialogue from a small child, and captures the sadness of Utena’s loss perfectly.

However, the line does contain the words 永遠の物 (often translated as “something eternal”) and I can see how some might argue for translating this more directly, since the same phrase is used by many other characters to describe what lies inside the floating castle. I just don’t think that the upsides of this (consistent phrasing) outweigh the downsides (less natural, less thematic, less poignant). If little baby Utena suddenly starts talking about capital E Eternity, it makes her seem almost like she's privy to more of the weird lore than she actually is. It makes much more sense for her to use a phrase that a child might genuinely use if their parents had died.

-----

As always, thanks to @dontbe-lasanya for their fantastic editing (and words of encouragement)!

Be sure to follow for updates! For all episodes released so far, go here:

[nerdygaymormon]

Thoughts from Gather Conference

The first speaker at the Gather Conference was Dr. Greg Peterson, president of Salt Lake Community College. He described the model of a community college, which has a 100% acceptance rate, low tuition costs, and recognizes that not all students will get a degree but may be there just for a few classes or taking one class at a time as that's all their life can handle. A university, especially an elite one, has a low acceptance rate and a prescribed ways for how students should progress through school and earn a degree. It is designed for elite students who are likely to succeed in this model.

Gathering Zion should be more like a community college. It feels like Jesus runs a community college while our church runs an elite university as it caters to those who are likely to complete the covenant path without much to offer those whose life doesn't fit its model. As a queer person, I absolutely know what it feels like to not feel like I'm wanted or welcome at church because I'm don't fit the model and not likely (according to the leaders) to reach the highest heaven.

Jenn Blosil, who was a contestant on American Idol, is quite humorous and she performed a beautiful arrangement of the song "All Are Alike unto God." I hope her version gets released, otherwise I'm gonna have to rip an mp3 when the video is released.

In her presentation, Liv Mendoza Haynes commented "You can't parent a child who is gone" as part of talking about how parents need to be loving and affirming of their LGBTQ children because the consequences of rejecting this part of them has serious consequences. She also said when Jesus was suffering in the Garden, He didn't suffer for people simply because they're LGBT because that's not something to repent of, it isn't wrong.

I believe it was David Butler who said that being an LGBTQ Latter-day Saint is making communion out of contradiction. Many people think the two are incompatible yet we exist.

When we feel safe with others, we let down our guard and enter healing.

These next few quotes are something an individual (I can't remember her name) said to me.

"What do we know of God? One who creates and mentors. When we engage in acts of creativity and creation, when we engage in encouraging and including and loving others, that's when we're likely to feel the Divine."

"When we hide in the closet, when we hide who we are, we are hiding our light. Once there's a crack and we let someone know our secret that we're queer, the bright light comes flooding out of that crack. In a way, it is a birth. As we learn not to hid ourselves, we learn to see and be ourselves, to introduce ourselves to the world."

Someone asked, "Who is the protagonist of the Restoration? Is it Joseph Smith? Moroni? Neither, WE are!"

Dr. Lisa Diamond from the University of Utah shared some information from her research. Being a minority can feel like being threatened, we spend our time being on guard and feeling stressed. This causes our bodies to produce inflammation because that's useful if we might be wounded. But if there's not a physical wound, inflammation causes damage. As a result, minorities often suffer chronic health problems at high rates, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, anxiety, depression, and many other problems.

A panelist said that there's not a faith stronger than people who come despite knowing they aren't wanted. If there is a parable to exemplify this type of faith exhibited by queer people, it is the woman touching the fringe of Jesus' clothes.

[best-enemies]

I just (finally) listened to Time Lord Immemorial, an audiodrama featuring the 9th Doctor, the Lumiat, the Unbound Doctor and Liv... and oh my god. Oh my fucking god. My thoschei heart. Might have spoilers ahead, or not, idk, you've been warned.

I thought I couldn't love the Lumiat more but this audio showed how one of the many differences between her and her other incarnations (aka the Master) is that she's able to unapologetically express her feelings for the Doctor. Seriously everyone go listen to TLI every single time she spoke to the Doctor I could just hear her heart eyes.

Two quotes absolutely broke me.

"Hello, Thete!" - SPOKEN IN THE WARMEST, SWEETEST VOICE. MY HEART MELTED. All this made me think was that this is a snippet of what their relationship was like in their youth.

Oh and THIS:

"Say the thing, please!"

"Run!"

"With you, my friend, anywhere!"

LIKE!!! Imagine young Koschei loving Theta so much, hearing him ramble on and on and on about all the planets and stars he wants to see, and how they'll go together, and Koschei buys into that idea because yeah, it could be fun, but also because honestly? He'll go anywhere with Theta.

I have no words. I- I don't even know what else to say I just love them so much???

[innuendostudios]

oh lookie another bite-sized Alt-Right Playbook. back me on Patreon plz.

transcript below the thingy.

Say, for the sake of argument, you’re twelve or thirteen, it’s the mid-90’s, you’re sitting across the table from your conservative aunt at a family reunion. (This aunt will, a decade from now, become a Tea Partier.) You have - you sweet, innocent child - brought up the subject of evolution, being too young to know it’s politicized, and your aunt has not taken well to it. She goes on one of her classic tirades, dismissing the very concept of evolution as patently ridiculous, dropping a quote that will stick with you for ages: “You can’t get snakes from chicken eggs.” And you do your best to explain, with your limited knowledge-base, that, yeah, you can only get a snake from a snake egg, but that snake is going to be a little different from its parents, and the next snake will be a little different from its parents, and you multiply that by a few million generations and you might have something very different from that original snake. Maybe something with legs, or that can breath underwater, or see better in the dark!

And your aunt stares you dead in the windows of your soul and repeats, “You Can’t Get Snakes From Chicken Eggs.”

This is an ego-saving maneuver in which a complex truth is rejected in favor of simplicity. Your aunt has a statement that is true, though non sequitur to the argument at hand. And, after your explanation of how genetics work on long timelines, she repeats her original statement to herself and it still feels true. It’s the belief that the truth is easily recognized, and that it’s always simple, because the world is simple, and, if you can’t explain it to me like I’m five, then you’re probably wrong or making things up.

This heuristic very hard to argue with. You’ve heard that same aunt claim the hole in the ozone layer is caused by sunspots. Now, we’ve talked about the memetic power of statements that are short, quippy, and wrong, and this is a fine example. You might feel the correct response is a statement that is short, quippy, and correct, but here’s the conundrum: the truth is “the hole in the ozone layer is caused by chlorofluorocarbons.” Not only is that a more complex sentence, it’s a more complex idea. If the ozone hole is caused by sunspots, then it’s probably been happening for billions of years, it’s not caused by humans, and we don’t have to do anything about it. It’s reassuring, and tells folks all they care to know without further questions. But the truth of how aerosols deplete ozone is more complex, not least because, even without knowing the science of it, it implies it’s a problem we should do something about.

Ultraviolet light makes CFCs release chlorine into the stratosphere, where it bonds with ozone, converting it into oxygen and chlorine monoxide, neither of which do what ozone does to protect us from the sun. There may be people who can explain that more simply than I just did, but there’s a floor to how simple the truth can be and still be the truth. Falsehoods don’t have that. There is no limit on how simple an idea can be when it doesn’t have to conform to reality.

You play the game of “who’s got the simplest argument,” liars win every time. You can’t get much simpler than “sunspots.” But if you can convince people that the world is complex, then simplistic explanations, across the board, become suspect. It might be too late to do that with your aunt, but maybe there’s still hope for your cousins.

If you’re wondering what they do when confronted with something they cannot deny is complicated: well, that’s your fault. You, or someone like you, took their simple world and overcomplicated it. All the conspiracy theories and fingerpointing and screenshots they’ve squiggled over in MS Paint, all of that is the story of how you overcomplicated the world; it fills in the gap between the simplicity of the world they believe in and the unambiguous complexity of the one in which we live. And, yes, that story is at least as complex as the truth you’re trying to tell them, and, no, it doesn’t make any sense, but that’s a detail. Because the moral of that story is incredibly simple: it is this way because some people made it this way, and all they have to do is take the power back from those people and things can be simple again. This is their version of “a wizard did it.”

[cerismo]

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

P1. P2. P3. P4.

𐙚 . . . pairing. toxic!rafe x toxic!fem kook!olivia wilson

୨ৎ . . . genre. slow burn. everyone else can see it but them (trope)

.ᐟ . . . content warnings. cussing, arguing

Rafe Cameron and Olivia Wilson were too blind to see their love for each other.

“please please please, don’t prove I’m right”

“What was that all about?” Sarah asked taking a glance at me, while eating her snacks that I bought from the store.

“Oh nothing, just your dumbass brother being a dick.” I said sarcastically my eyes still on the road, my hands gripping the steering wheel tighter.

“Liv, don’t sweat it too much. You know he’s like madly in love with you.” She said now staring at me from her seat.

I looked at her so fast, we almost swerved off the road. “Sar what the hell? No he isn’t. If anything he hates me and I hate him.” I said my focus now strictly on the road.

“Literally everyone knows. It’s so obvious you too like each others. It’s been that way since like forever.” She said it like it was obvious.

After like 20 minutes we finally arrived at the beach. We hopped out of my car and made our way down the little trail.

We spotted the group and made our way towards them. “Hey guys.” I said giving everyone a hug starting with Kie.

“We missed you around here.” Kie said. I took a step back and looked around the party, then back at the group.

“Yeah guys I know, it’s just my mom has been holding me up lately, she’s been wanting more “family time” it’s crazy.” I said throwing up air quotes. I mean don’t get me wrong I love my mom but it’s like she’s hoarding me up at home. I literally have no idea why.

——

After like 10 shots I was starting to feel it. My throat was somehow still burning, but I got up anyway and made my way to the keg. I grabbed one of those red party cups and starting pouring. I felt someone’s presence behind me, so I stopped pouring my drink and turned around.

It was one of the kooks, if I remember I think his name is Travis? I’ve seen him a few times, at a few parties, and sometimes at school. But since summer just started I haven’t seen him since.

“Hey pretty lady.” He said eyeing me up and down. I slightly rolled my eyes at his comment.

“Hey pretty boy, my eyes are up here.” I said slightly slurred from those 10 shots I had earlier. I took a sip from my drink and watched a he licked his juicy lips. I felt his hands slip around my waist and pull me closer to his body.

“Hey why don’t we uh- get outta here.” He said starting to walk. I was following but then remembered my friends, and that I brought Sarah here with me.

“But what about my friends?” I said haulting to a stop and turning around to look around. But they were nowhere in sight.

“They’ll be fine. Just come on.” He said now pulling me to walk. We walked until we made it to the big tree on the upper shore. He pushed me against the tree, his hand still on my waist.

He grabbed my drink and placed it down on the ground his hand still on my hip. When he came back up he placed his free hand on my face and slowly caressed it.

“You’re so fucking beautiful…” He said moving a few stray hair out of my face. I giggled a bit at his comment.

Before I could even say anything his lips were against mine and his hands were trailing further down my body. He started leaving a trail of kisses and hickeys down my neck. One of his hands gripped my ass while the other made its way back up my chest and grapped my boob.

He parted his lips from my neck, and started at my boobs for a few seconds before making his fingers in between the straps of my dress and started pulling them down.

Before he could even get the straps fully down my shoulder, I heard a car pulling up. I had opened my eyes to take a better look at the car, and I noticed it was a black truck, one familiar to the one Rafe has.

I heard the door slam and footsteps approaching, Travis lifted his head from my chest and turned around to see who the hell was marching towards us.

It was fucking Rafe. He stomped his way over to us, throwing Travis to the side and grabbing me by my arm and pulling us away.

“Hey dude what the hell” Travis said walking after us. “Oh shut the hell up Travis.” Rafe said with a tone of annoyance in his voice. I winced at the sheer pain of his grip on my arm.

“Rafe let me go.” I struggled to get out of his grasp which only made it tighter.

The whole walk back to the bonfire was silent. Before I knew it we were approaching the group. Rafe damn near threw me into all of them when he let me go.

“Watch your fucking friend. She’s out here being a fucking slut.” Rafe said looking at the group then me in disappointment.

I paused in shock. The rest of the group and a couple bystanders gasped. Then I came back to reality, what the fuck did he just call me?

“HEARTBREAK IS ONE THING MY EGOS ANOTHER”

Before I knew it my hand was attached to Rafes face, and it stung. Oh shit I had just slapped Rafe fucking Cameron.

MO YAPS

tagged: @venusxsturnio, @flouvela, @monroesturnns

GUYS?!? This shit is actually interesting and i’m the one writing it. I know it’s not a lot but there will be more tomorrow. I’m scared for what happens next…

Lemme know your thoughts in the comments, or reblogsss

[australiancarisi]

A little drabble that was written on my phone.

No idea how many words

I’ll reformat and check it later i just wanted to post it heheheh

Bruno x reader

“If you don’t stop staring they are gonna know something is up”

“No they won’t”

“Yes they will”

“No they won’t”

“Terry-“

“I’m not even staring at you”

“Yes you are and Fin is already suss on the two of you” Velasco said sitting down at his desk opposite you. You glared at Bruno who just grinned at you.

“Honestly it’s like you want to get caught” Velasco smirked at him. Bruno just shrugged and went back to work. You quickly looked over your shoulder to Olivia’s office. She and Fin were talking about something thankfully with the door shut so they didn’t hear this whole thing. You and Bruno started dating only a month ago and you planned on keeping it a secret until you were ready to tell Liv. However Velasco has a habit of not knocking apparently and caught the two of you sharing a moment in the cribs after a particularly hard case.

In his defence, he doesn’t normally need to knock to go into the cribs.

“Bruno I swear to God” you felt his eyes on you again. You grabbed a stress ball you had on your desk, one that was kept there mostly for the boys to fidget with, and threw it straight at his head.

Luckily for Bruno he ducked the ball. Unluckily for you it happened to hit Detective Stabler. With an amused look on his face, Elliot bent down and grabbed the ball.

“Detectives” he tossed the ball at you.

“Sorry Stabler” you apologised as he headed towards Liv’s office. You waited until you heard the click of the door shutting before turning back to Bruno. “No sex for the rest of the week”

“WHAT?!”

“You heard me” you shrugged and turned back to your computer. Velasco let out a laugh and got up from his desk leaving a stunned Bruno, who just continued to stare at you.

//\\//\\//\\

“Your children are acting weird” Elliot said after he shut the door to Olivia’s office.

“What?”

“Your children” he point with his thumb back out to the bullpen “they are being weird”

“Bruno and y/n?” Fin asked

“Yeah”

“Don’t worry about them” Liv waved him off “They are ‘secretly dating’ but I don’t know who they are trying to fool. I think they are forgetting we’ve been detectives since they were in diapers” she used her fingers for the air quotes around secretly dating.

“They ain’t doing a good job of hiding it” Fin smirked “No one at this precinct is good at hiding feelings for there partners”

“We’re just waiting for them to hurry up and disclose. Carisi and 1PP are already aware, it’s in their files and I updated their emergency contact to be each other” Olivia said ignoring Fin’s comment.

“They’ll tell us when they are ready”

[callofdudes]

✨COD as text messages✨ (incorrect quotes)

(may or may not scar you)

Soap: I need to go to the hospital.

Gaz: Why?

Soap: Everytime I close my eyes I can't see!

Gaz: Idiot.

-------

Rudy: Wanna come over? No one's home 😏

Alejandro: Be there in a few minutes 😍

Rudy: K

Alejandro: I'm here where are you?

Rudy: I told you no one is home

-------

Price: Hey do you have any condoms I could use? I really need one for tonight.

Soap: Captain?! WTF!! Do you realize who you just texted?

Price: Ya I know that I texted you son. And I also know that you have some. I need one is that ok? I don't want to make the same mistake again.

Soap: Is the mistake me?

Price: ...

-------

Gaz: Dude what is your street name?

Soap: Lil Marco

Gaz: You live on a street called Lil Marco?

Soap: Ohhhh you meant my address?

-------

Alejandro: How do you spell 'me'?

Rudy: ummm... M and E

Alejandro: You forgot the D

Rudy: There's no D in me...

Alejandro: ...I can fix that

Rudy: I'm blocking you

-------

Nikolai: How was Price's surprise party?

Soap: it was great! We scared the cum out of him!!

Nikolai: Soap that's not funny.

Soap: omg! I'm so sorry I meant cum

Soap: NOOOO! I meant we scared the *CRAP out of Price!

Nikolai: ok because the other ones my job :)

Soap: ...

-------

Alex: Dude how drunk was I last night?

Gaz: Well, at one point I convinced you to try and bite your own nose.....

Alex: Then what happened?

Gaz: You were rolling around on the floor for an hour screaming "ITS GETTING AWAY ITS GETTING AWAY!!!!!!"

Alex: I hate you more then words can express....

-------

Soap: Simon there's a moth on the outside of the bathroom door can you get rid of it?

Soap: Pls hurry because I'm going to cry

Soap: Simon

Soap: Ghost!

Ghost: Ghost is dead. You're next. Love, Moth

-------

Price: In a meeting

Price: In a meeting

Price: In a meeting

Price: In a meeting

Price: In a meeting

Laswell: Are you in a meeting?

Price: No, why?

-------

Soap: You're so beautiful.

Soap: Let me take you out. I wanna get you a table at Liv

Soap: Boy I wanna write a song about us

Soap: What u want me to call it?

Ghost: Restraining Order

-------

Alex: What does IDK, LY & TTYL mean?

Gaz: I don't know, love you, talk to you later.

Alex: OK, I will ask Farah

-------

Price: How is practice going?

Ghost: Terrible I want to stab everybody here

Price: Okay just don't get any blood on your clothes

Ghost: You're a military captain you shouldn't be codoning this

Price: Don't tell me how to live my life

-------

Soap: Dude

Soap: Buttholes are like pockets

Soap: Like you can store stuff up there

Soap: And keep it safe

Gaz: no they are not

Gaz: do not do that

-------

Soap: Hey

Ghost: Hey

Soap: How are you

Ghost: I am fine. How about you?

Soap: I've been better

Soap: I'm actually really surprised you texted me

Ghost: You texted me

-------

Price: Hi babe, what are you doing?

Nikolai: Nothing much, 'em really tired. Just going to sleep now babe. And you?

Price: In the club standing behind you

-------

Gaz: So, I hear you like bad boys

Alex: Yea

Gaz: Well, I'm not trying to impress you or anything but my bedtime is 7:00, but I go to bed a 7:02!! WHAT NOW!!

Alex: IS THAT EVEN LEGAL???

Gaz: Idk, I just like living dangerously

Alex: MARRY ME!!!!

-------

Soap: How could you?? I trusted you and you cheated on me!!!

Soap: Oh, sorry Simon That was meant for (guy)

Ghost: Oh.

Ghost: On a completely unrelated topic, have you seen my shotgun anywhere?

-------

Nikolai: You got a letter.

Price: Ok.

Nikolai: From the bank, I think.

Price: Ok.

Nikolai: Tasted important.

-------

Ghost: Come downstairs and talk to me please. I'm lonely.

Soap: Isn't Gaz there?

Ghost: Yes, but I like you more.

-------

I don't know where this idea came from. I found a few funny screenshots that made me think of these guys so I went down a rabbit hole to make these. I'm sorry for any trauma these may have caused 😂. Let me know if you want to see more!

[vanillablankcanvas]

The night of the Battle of the Bands.

Everyone is preparing backstage.

Cider was changing things last minute and rattling everyone.

“Steel, you're playing the Sensitive set.”

“Floyd's Songs? You said we could do our songs tonight?”

“And now I'm saying you're playing the Sensitive set. It's not that hard of a request, Steel. Sheesh. Don't make me say it again.”

Steel death glared Cider as he disappeared from backstage.

Much to his brother's dismay, Floyd offered help to those on the opposing team.

Cider had apparently told the drummer of Head Lice to quote “Smile more, you look prettier that way.”

Hed and Les were also having issues with outfits that Cider had told them to wear.

Apparently the outfits ‘appealed to the audience more’ but it made them uncomfortable and it felt like they were purposely being hidden behind the looks.

Floyd stepped in to help the band prevent Liv from ripping Cider to shreds and also offered some encouraging advice about their clothes. “In the end, Cider wants you to perform at your best. Wear what you think will help you do that.”

Floyd offered words and assistance to Four The Madlads who were having similar issues. Everyone had been discouraged from their usual onstage quirks and flourishes.

Floyd had put two and two together and found that apparently everyone had been told off by Cider, except the members who were Rock Trolls.

Floyd helped as much as he could in the moment but could tell from their faces that they were apprehensive about going against what Cider had told them to do.

Floyd even helped Steel with his equipment.

“I thought you would’ve figured this stuff out by now, huh Steel?” Floyd tried to joke.

Steel grunted in response and snatched the guitar back from Floyd.

“Don't let Cider get to you. He's not worth the energy.”

“I owe him everything.”

“That doesn't mean he gets to control you.”

“He doesn't control me!” Steel growled.

Floyd sighed in defeat and started to walk away.

“Hey!” Steel shouted.

“What?”

“Did he… control you?”

“Every chance he got. I didn't even realize what he was doing till it was too late.”

Steel goes quiet as if thinking those words over.

Floyd turned to leave but stopped.

“Oh.. Steel?”

“What?”

Floyd smirked, “Don't be gentle.”

Steel snort laughed “You know I never am.”

In the background.

Otto frustratedly complained to noone in particular as he did his makeup. “Dafuq? We're all about to go on! What could possibly be more important that Cider's decided to disappear NOW?!”

@felsicveins @zivazivc wonderful characters ❤️

Where did Cider go? 🫨

[crossbackpoke-check]

a junkyard dog ain't always pretty but you always love that toothless smile

[silverystrings]

whether for good or ill

i think that there is so much tension and hatred towards house of the dragon and has been since the beginning, that hating on the writers and everyone involved has become too much. i just don’t think that sara and ryan are d&d. d&d and everyone involved in game of thrones were arrogants and misogynists and thought that they were better. i mean by the end they didn’t give a fuck that much.

but with ryan and sara, i think they aren’t those arrogants and misogynists despite the contrary beliefs. i think they geniunely enjoy the world and they tried a different approach. they are the not like the other girls. jk jk unless..

no but this particular history was difficult to do either way. we are talking about the targaryens; the incest made them mad blood purist “perception” of the audience//general/local audience. and they do start with “they are their own enemy/downfall”. so i don’t think they have forgotten that. they have “themes”. and yes they have tried to do a character arc for everyone in big and small ways. and yes hbo crossing two other episodes probably damaged this second season a lot. i mean season 1 was also like this until the last two episodes where shit it’s at its peak. and the second season probably could have ended up too in that way.

as some reactor said, it felt like in this finale everyone kind of found themselves, even more setting up to do for season three.

daemon in the finale of season 1 wasn’t really loyal to rhaenyra in the complete sense. the way he was looking at her at visenya’s funeral, the clashing in the council, the choking, the way he said “dreams didn’t make us kings, dragons did” ????????? and the scene in the second season with rhaenyra, the way she says my throne, and he throws it in her face what he thought all along, that viserys chose her because of daemon.. and then he goes to harrenhal alone, tries to be a king, gets haunted by all these “dreams” and finally understands and supports Rhaenyra fully, that she is the rightful queen, and the part they play in the greater story. we know that season 3 and potentially 4 are just deaths after deaths. and as a lot have predicted, they probably will be estranged again. but it won’t be for the throne, for the heir, for this thing that has been between them since the beginning of the show. it will be because of his daughters. (laena;have you looked after our girls)

alicent—i don’t think the writers did nothing with her. i mean they love liv and what she brings to the table and alicent. they never wouldn’t have a plan for her character. she is a character that is the only one who survives and dies the last. as i said i don’t define her character as her being a mother. in fact that’s why ryan and sara are better at bringing something different. constantly in game of thrones we have all the women or the contraversial ones like cersei or catelyn but especially cersei: have being a mother define her character. “your love for your children is the only redeeming quality. if it wasn’t for my kids i would have thrown myself off the red keep a long time ago.” there are so many scenes and quotes about cersei and her loving her children and doing everything for her children. and yes that’s great. but in the books, she wants to rule for herself because her time has come, and she doesn’t want tommen to rule or learn or anything. yes she cares deeply and is constantly concerned for their well being. but still in the show it was very exaggerated. because they loved cersei but the audience didn’t. so her one quality was her motherhood. and that’s great. but as i said sara and ryan don’t make motherhood their only quality. alicent is a child bride and she has a veeeery complicated relationship with her kids. and her crowning aegon is definitely moreso because her and otto truly believed in keeping the peace of the realm. having a female heir, war was gonna follow. so that’s why alicent did it. yes the viserys part it’s oopsies but i mean dreams and tragedy are a targaryen thing and not far fetched. so she did that. and she completely lost. and by the end she sees that this isn’t “right” and wanting war to end. she is at last herself. she did what she was supposed to do, the mission of her life, and now she is free. i am so curious to how her arc is gonna go from now. is she gonna go and meet up with daeron? maybe she will try to put him on the throne when the people turn against rhaenyra and she thinks he is the best of them?!?! i know people think her story was over in s1. i think those are very misogynistic fans. alicent isn’t a villain and it’s not gonna be one. the writers have said this since the beginning. and i for one love that. she is the most normal character in the whole show. i said what i said. otto for making her be a child bride was the worst. the targaryens and rhaenyra and daemon were always gonna be a problem for her. and she making male heirs was always gonna be a problem for them. she is free. is she gonna be like arya? idk.

rhaenyra— ooof. i think this season was her finally getting assurance that she is the “chosen” one for the prophecy and that she is the heir, not because viserys spurns daemon. and i think as daemon finally understands the dreams importance, rhaenyra also understands the dragons’s importance. i mean they completely turn the tide for her in this season. and i know how much criticized rhaenyra’s and alicent’s relationship is. but alicent coming to her at last and essentially confirming and wanting her to take the throne it’s like the last thing to come full circle. her father truly believed on her and not because of daemon, daemon finally accepts that she is the heir too and is firmly done with the “pursuit” of it. and alicent, her best friend, the mother of viserys’s other kids, her enemy, her best friend, finally “supports her”. it was a rollercoaster it’s true. but she came on top. and i think now she will not be stoping herself in blooding her hands or doing necessary things for keeping herself on that throne. i think others have done thinkpieces on how she was like sacrificing the people to claim the dragons. all those scenes. and how she will truly believe that she is that one for the prophecy and will do anything now. i think dragons dying is gonna be her weakness just as how she started to feeling powerful with the dragons. i have seen theories of fisherman lucerys. and this is exactly the type of thing that sara and ryan could do. we won’t even know what started the war in the first place. luke dying is sad, but not defining. i know it sounds crazy. but even if he died or not, the war was always gonna get ugly.

i think these are the big characters of the show. and others are all also in personal journeys. rhaena finally having a dragon and being “useful”, criston accepting his faults (i mean alicent’s brother questioned him in front of everyone, pissing in his honour as a knight, the thing he was obsessed with, almost killed himself over, killed joffrey over, is now accepting his faults and accepting his death, he fought in wars before but wanted something more for his name, and he lost all of it to the dragons. he is defeated in every sense. his only arc is fighting as he was before the kingsguard. we have helaena who again isn’t defined only by a tragedy as sick as b&cheese. she still touches jahaera after. she is a dragon dreamer. and i don’t want her to just kill herself because of sadness. i know that we criticize the show for the grief and how quickly it’s over. i do agree too. but again i m not gonna define them by it. helaena speaking to daemon and aemond knowing how their fates are intertwined or rather their deaths. why did they do this? i guess helaena never being heard for her dreams and she now herself reaches out at the end to speak her “wisdom” and is actually listened and believed by both of them. it’s some sort of progress. but doesn’t she see herself is the question? possibly the same day too?!? hmm. aegon and aemond. i think everyone has said a lot abt them. tragedy is always gonna be present in this show. shakespearean tragedy. and also everyone is grey. we see the tragedy of both of them bc they never were suited for the throne. and that power.. absolute power as otto says.. especially in this family period and in this war.. it was gonna be poisonous..

idk i get all the complaints.. but as i said i could never treat them as d&d. especially for the female characters. they are actual characters. and yes i was mad too, at the “women peace and men bad bc war”.. but that is present in the book too. it’s the women who bind the wounds. and i did want to see mother playing this game for her son, rhaenyra wanting the throne for herself and being vengeful. and i think we will see that. but in different ways. not in obvious ways, in caricature like ways. and men did want war and were thirsting for war. so much peace that the last “war” was with maegor. so everyone jumped at the chance to write songs for them without knowing the cost of war especially with dragons. this isn’t a theme only in hotd but in asoiaf too.

i think they and the adaptation has flaws.. but i can’t call all of it shit or soulless. it was always gonna be a hard story to do. especially in the pov of the targaryens. they are their own downfall and so are the dragons. that’s how it’s gonna end hotd and same with every adaptation.

i m almost excited for a knight of the seven kingdoms, but man not for aegon the conqueror one. i genuinely think we don’t need it. and everything post dance is so much more interesting so i won’t be mad at those adaptations. but again grrm is never finishing those books. and so sometimes the question does arise of what’s even the point of these adaptations. i guess we just can enjoy them but even that is a crime. however picking the story where all the dragons die isn’t a bad idea for a show. especially with the events of asoiaf and game of thrones. it’s just that the “heroes” are not obviously targaryens and so it’s kind of hard and depressive to enjoy them. idk idk idk and just thinking abt the years its gonna take to make these other seasons it’s insane. insane for the fandoms and not normal people obviously 😭

[novaksupremacy]

The Veiled Law of Affection- Chapter 2

The Veiled Law of Affection- Chapter Two

by PKJ @novaksupremacy

Takes place during the events of S5E8 “Abomination” with a brief mention of “Coerced” There's a little more context from the episode in this chapter since it touches on the issue of homophobia and helps establish more of the couple's relationship. Hope you enjoy!😊

angst, unapologetic smut, mentions of homophobia, typical SVU case talk

pairing Casey Novak x Olivia Benson

Read Part 1

Word Count: 5143

Liv and Elliot had just caught a new case. A young man had been tossed out with the trash. They had so far uncovered that he belonged to a conversion therapy program called ReGenesis and were now searching his apartment for some sense of who this man truly was.

“Me and Phil, Thousand Islands, June ’03. They’re happy.” Liv furrowed her brow, read the note on the back, and handed the picture to her partner.

“Unless he was the one he spent his last night with,” Elliot mulled, “Look at this,” he picked up a few envelopes from the drawer, “Four letters from Derek Singer, all unopened. I guess he was telling the truth.” He shrugged and put the envelopes back down on top of the stack.

Liv continued to search but could feel the anxiety bubbling up inside her, she trusted Elliot and she wanted so badly to tell him what had been going on with her, with Casey. She just- couldn’t bring herself to say it out loud. She knew there was no written rule forbidding what they had but if people knew it would change everything for them, their whole work life dynamic would come to a screeching halt.  “Those two were depressing. Trying to convince themselves and everyone else that they were happy.”

“Maybe they are,” Elliot shrugged,

“El you can’t tell me that repressing your sexual desires makes a gay person a good Christian.” She swallowed hard; she didn’t really grow up in any faith group but knew this was something that Casey struggled with from time to time.

“I don’t know, maybe some people choose to be gay, others choose to be straight?” he mused as he continued to work through piles of paperwork and letters on top of the victim’s dresser.

The brunette scoffed, “Oh so you chose to be straight,” she really hoped he didn’t mean this from a place of harm, she needed to trust him and know that he’d have her back.

“Me? Nooo,” he chuckled, “Check out these death threats, somehow I don’t think those are direct quotes.”

*  *   *  *  *  *

Upon figuring out that the death threats were being made by none other Reverend Shaw, the leader of one of the most homophobic “churches” in the country, the group had a brief encounter with him at the funeral of the deceased, and he was promptly arrested.

The squad was getting ready to gather in the bullpen to go over all the evidence they had against Reverend Shaw with Casey to see if they had enough to indict. Elliot walked by on the phone with Kathy deciding what to do for dinner. Fin leaned back in his chair chewing on his coffee straw listening to Munch drone on about his latest conspiracy theory.

"I'm telling you man, you better take your money out now, when the first of the year comes it's going to be chaos." John said waving his hands and continuing to prattle.

Something else had caught Fin's attention and he had already tuned his partner out about 10 mins ago. "Yeah man, I feel you." His gaze deviated to the bullpen’s coffee area.

Liv was struggling to get a new sugar cannister down from the top shelf, even attempting to stand on her tiptoes and coax it towards her with the tips of her fingers. Casey walked in right around this time and looked at Liv, then to the rest of the squad, and rolled her eyes. She tossed down her briefcase on to the desk and walked up behind the detective, trying to remain collected and resist the urge grab a handful of the attractive brunette. She was taller, if only slightly, with a longer arm span and reached over the detective’s back, brushing her fingertips against Liv's hand, and pressing against her subtly.

"Why don't you let Daddy take care of that for you, hmm" she whispered as quiet as audibly possible in the brunette's ear.

This caused a full-body reaction from Liv which resulted in her knocking over the cup, spilling some of her coffee onto the counter.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Detective! Did I scare you? You just looked like you were struggling there." Casey feigned remorse, doing her best to stifle a giggle. "Let me help you clean that up."

She grabbed some napkins and both women leaned over the mess, wiping it up.

"Why did you do that?" Liv chuckled low through gritted teeth.

"Couldn't help myself." the redhead smirked. "It was safer than what I wanted to do."

Liv stopped wiping and hung her head, "Are you trying to kill me?" Both women chortling at this point.

"I've got a few briefs to finish but I'll come over later?"

"That'd be great, yeah."

The straw fell from Fin's mouth in disbelief. "I must be trippin', did Novak just say "Daddy"?" he asked himself softly, confused at what he was witnessing.

Munch who had still been talking this entire time, turned his head towards his partner, "What?"

Tutuola snapped back to focus, "What? Nothin' man, nothin."

Everyone finished their respective menial tasks and settled in for the meeting. Liv sat at her desk and Casey sat on Elliots desk next to Fin facing Cragen and Munch. Liv tried not to pay too much attention to the fact that she has a perfect sideview of the woman she had been seeing regularly for the past few weeks now.

Munch laughed as they started going over the reverend’s interrogation, “I love that guy,” he said incredulously, “I want to invite him to the Christmas party.”

Cragen paced back and forth, “The Lord spoke to him. The Lord sent an angel to talk to the mother of his only son, but He spoke to Reverend Shaw.” He scoffed, shaking his head.

Casey smirked at the captain’s sarcasm and Fin chuckled out a response, turning to Liv, “He’s a very special guy,”

About halfway through the conversation Casey realized she was directly in Liv's line of view and decided this was the perfect opportunity to give the detective something to look forward to tonight. She continued her attention on everyone else but took her index and middle fingers and began to slowly, mindlessly trace small circles on the wood of the desk and then stroke back and forth, her fingers curled ever so lightly.

The brunette noticed her doing this almost immediately, it was almost impossible to keep her cheeks from being flushed. She was nervous that if she stood up, she wouldn't be the only one to notice how wet she had just become. She shifted in her seat, “How’s his alibi?” she inquired and cleared her throat.

The captain sighed, “Danville PD confirmed it, had their hands full with another picket organized by the Reverend the night of Reed’s murder.

The young ADA shook her head, “Then he’s nothing to us. Cut him and the rest of his people loose.” She ceased the movement with her fingers as she said this.

Liv looked at her, she was trying so hard to concentrate, she couldn’t let this interfere with doing her job. “He targeted Reed. One of his followers could’ve taken him seriously.”

The redhead tried not to stare too intently, she and the detective were having similar issues, “If you can connect him with one of the members of Shaw’s congregation, I might be able to get him on the fighting words doctrine. Til then the first amendment says he can enjoy his civil liberties like everybody else.” She scrunched up her face, knowing full well it sucked that this man was allowed to say and do these horrible things about people like her under the letter of the law.

Cragen pulled the coffee straw from his mouth as the conversation continued, “What did you get from the people at Reed’s funeral?”

Fin sighed heavily, “Not much. After the fight broke out a bunch of people left before we got their names.” He got up and walked over towards Munch.

“Yeah, but we got their pictures,” Munch stated calmly, holding up a very professional looking camera.

“Where the hell is that from?” The captain inquired, knowing he was about to get agitated.

“One of Reverend Shaw’s church members, he must’ve left it behind.”

Casey stood up and headed for the door. "I didn't hear that!" she shot back at Munch and shook her head. She made sure to catch Liv's eye and nod. The nod, a silent promise of "I'll see you later."

Fin looked up in time to catch this small exchange. "Did I get dosed? I'm definitely not trippin'."

*   *    *    *    *

"Hey Counselor, I just wanted to drop off those DD-5s you wanted" Liv said leaning against the door frame of Casey's office, just in case anyone was in earshot.

The redhead looked up from her desk, she grinned, "Hey Detective, I wasn't expecting those tonight but come in, close the door, I have a few things to go over with you since you're here."

Liv shut the door behind her and closed the blinds. Casey got up from her desk and walked over. She leaned her whole body against the brunette.

"Hi," she was still in shock to see Olivia. She wasn't expecting to see her until later.

"Hi."

"What're you doing here? Not that I'm complaining." She took a firm hold of Liv's neck, grabbing a fistful of her soft locks and kissed her passionately. She sank into the detective, all the day’s stress melted from her shoulders.

"I," Liv panted, trying to keep her voice hushed as Casey trailed kisses down her neck, "couldn't wait for later." She grabbed Casey's hand and slid it down her waistband and guided it into her slick.

The redhead whimpered as Liv immediately tightened around her fingers. She thrust hard into the brunette, slamming her back against the door. The detective gasped and pulled the collar of Casey's shirt to bring her in for a kiss. Casey obliged, kissing Liv hard, biting her lower lip, she excited her lover with more slow, hard thrusts.

They both moaned, knowing they both wanted more but couldn't get it here. It was a good minute before they realized they were rattling the door.

"Hey Case, everything alright in there?" One of the interns called out from the hallway.

Casey froze and Liv burst into a fit of quiet laughter, the redhead cupping her free hand over her mouth, shushing her, while also trying to stifle her own giggles.

"Everything's fine Brian, there was um, a particularly fleetfooted spider," she grimaced and shrugged, having to come up with something on the fly, "but I got it."

"Oh, well, uh, goodnight then!" the confused intern said as he walked away from the door.

She waited until she couldn't hear footsteps anymore and then the redhead flowed back into a kiss, slowly pulling back her fingers, making sure to draw out as much pleasure as possible. She stopped briefly to tease Livs clit making her shiver and whimper one last time, then drew the fingers to her mouth and licked them clean.

"Guess you'll just have to wait for later." She raised her eyebrows teasingly. "I promise not to be late." She kissed her softly. The brunette tried to catch her breath and straighten out her appearance before she opened the door and went back to the bullpen to finish up for the day.

*   *   *   *   *

Liv had just finished brewing a fresh pot of coffee when there was a knock at the door. "It's open." She called out over her shoulder.

"Hey," Casey walked to the counter and leaned in to kiss her, a smile of relief washing over her as she did, she felt something she hadn't felt in a long time, safe. "I brought Wo-Hop." She put the takeout down on the table.

The brunette smiled; she was completely in awe every time Casey kissed her. "Wo-Hop Wo-Hop or 69 Bayard?"

The young ADA cocked her head as if to say, "you should know better."

Liv chuckled, "69 Bayard" she nodded her head, knowing she should have seen that coming. "I made some coffee."

"Ah you're perfect! I mean, thank you." Casey blushed, terrified of being overzealous and scaring Olivia. She sipped the coffee to avoid saying anything else ridiculous.

"Oh, be careful, that’s..."

"Ah!" The redhead cried out in agony and emptied the contents of her mouth back into the cup. “Smooth, Novak. Real smooth.”

"Hot..." Liv sighed and furrowed her brow. "I'm so sorry I should've warned you." She moved to put the mug down on the counter and cupped Casey's face in her hands to soothe her. "Let me make it better" she said quietly and placed a soft kiss on the ADAs lips. She felt bad but it was the most adorable thing she’d seen Casey do.

The redhead fell apart, her body going slack in Liv's arms. Usually, she had this obsessive need to be in control but there was something about the brazen brunette that made her feel safe enough to share the reins. It didn't even hurt that bad, but it was worth milking in that moment.

"It's okay, the coffee can wait. I have something for you." Casey bit down on her lip, nervous if only just a little.

Olivia looked at her surprised, "Oh? Is that so? Honey chicken and broccoli are hardly a surprise," she giggled, "I always order that."

Casey laughed and backed up a little, "Not the food."

"Then what?"

"Me."

"Case, honey, you're hardly a surprise. I knew you were coming." She laughed, confused at where the counselor was going with this.

The redhead slowly undid the belt of her long rain jacket and then moved to unbutton it to reveal that in addition to her heels that she was wearing earlier in the day, she wasn't wearing much else. She let the coat drop to the floor revealing tight red silk boxers and a red lace pushup bra.

Liv leaned against the counter, propped up on her elbow, marveling at the gorgeous woman in front of her. This now marked the second time today that Casey made Liv knock over a cup of coffee. She hurried, grabbed a towel, and wiped the counter down, she'd worry about the floor later and then turned her attention back to the redhead standing practically naked in her kitchen.

"That bad huh?" Casey joked.

"No, no," Liv tried to catch her breath, "That good." She took her hands and ran them down Casey's smooth sides and pulled her hips against her. She kissed her deep, pulling her as close as possible moving one hand to her neck and the other grabbing a fistful of the young ADAs tight ass. Her hand now full of smooth silk and supple skin. "Oh God, Casey," she whispered, "I need you so bad." Her lips brushed the redhead’s neck as she spoke.

"So then take me," Casey quivered under Liv's touch. "Tease me, taste me, make me cum." She sunk her teeth into the brunette's sweet spot on her neck and suckled, her own arousal growing by the second. She was trying to find a way to let go without relinquishing full control.

Liv cried out as Casey did this, wet and throbbing, she needed relief. "Casey" she whispered breathlessly, "let's go to bed."

Casey nodded in agreement, kissing Liv intensely, relieving Liv of her clothes so that by the time they reached the bed she was left with nothing, but her matching black lace panty set. The redhead gasped in awe.

"See something you like, Counselor?" Liv flopped back onto the bed, propping up on her elbows, feet still on the floor.

Casey licked her lips and nodded, "Jesus Olivia, how are you so beautiful?"

"I could ask the same of you." Liv smiled softly, eyes full of lust. She scooted back onto the bed and propped her head up on a pillow. She grabbed the redhead’s hand and pulled her down onto the bed and into her arms. "Now come here so I can do all the things you asked of me and maybe, if you think I'm good enough, I can have you inside me for the rest of the night making up for the torture in your office earlier."

Casey quirked her brow, "all night you say?" She pursed her lips and pretended to think about it before leaning to kiss Liv and nip at her jaw line. She got up on her knees as the brunette tugged at the silk boxers.

"As sexy as these are, they're definitely in my way," the brunette mused and sucked her lower lip between her teeth. “These are gonna have to go.” She kissed her way up Casey’s inner thighs as the redhead rolled her neck moaning in pleasure. She kept kissing until she got to the hem of the boxers and sunk her teeth in, sucking and taking her time to make sure it would mark. Casey cried out as her breath hitched. Her juices, already starting to drip from her body. Liv pulled the boxers down, “you’re going to ruin these if they don’t go now.” Casey pulled them off the rest way and tossed them off the bed.

“Tell me what to do, Detective.” the redhead mewled. Her eyes glossy, her body throbbing. She grabbed the brunette’s hand and pulled it against her sex.

Liv playfully pumped her middle finger in and out, slowly, pausing here and there. “I want you on my face. I want to lap up all of this” She took her finger and brought it to Casey’s mouth, the redhead took it in, moaning at her own taste on the brunette’s finger. The brunette pulled her hand back and gripped her lover’s thigh, tugging it towards her.

Casey swung her leg over Olivia and hovered her hips above her face. Liv swallowed hard in excitement and grabbed the redhead’s thighs pulling her down to make contact. She tugged Casey down harder, making sure her full weight was against her. A strangled cry escaped the ADAs lips and she reached for the headboard to steady herself as the brunette pushed her tongue deep inside and begin thrusting. Casey’s hips bucked involuntarily, Liv’s name tumbling from her lips as she continued to moan and pant, setting a pace for herself. The brunette lapped up what had already spilled from her lover and then licked up to the redhead’s clit, planting light kisses, suckling just enough to illicit a wail of pleasure, and then back to light kisses.

“Mmm, that’s it baby, make noise for me.” Liv moaned, planting another teasing kiss. She grabbed the redhead’s ass with both hands and rolled her hips down against her own face.

All this teasing on its own was almost enough to unravel Casey, she knew it hadn’t been long but when Olivia called her baby it made her feel like she was hers. She liked the way it felt, like something she could get used to.

 “Mmmphhh,” she moaned, “make me cum baby, please?” She pleaded, rutting against the brunette’s face. Little did she know her use of the word baby had a similar euphoric effect on Liv, who moaned at her lover’s request and pressed hard against the redhead’s clit and began tracing small circles with the tip of her tongue. Casey bucked forward involuntarily again. The vibrations of Liv’s low moans and her swift tongue built her arousal up until she couldn’t take it anymore. Her entire body fluttered inside and out, and she came harder than she’d ever cum before. It took her so off guard she slammed the side of her fist against the headboard, crying out with pleasure and riding the brunette’s face hard as she came down off her high, “OH, LIV!” The detective lapping up all the juices dripping down on to her face. Casey dismounted and pulled herself close to her lover. She took Liv’s chin and turned her face towards her with her long slender fingers and stared into her honey brown eyes with longing. Her face softened, she knew she was falling hard and was terrified she was going to screw it up. She kissed the brunette, deep and passionately. When she did all her fears were assuaged, and she grinned as she came up for air. “That’s my good girl,” she planted a few more kisses on the older woman, “so good for me. Now what was that you said earlier,” she raised her brow, “all night?”

  Both women giggled and Liv pulled Casey on top her, she couldn’t get enough of the ADAs skin against her own. She quivered as the redhead suckled down her throat, “I need you inside me,” she whispered, “please?”

Casey moaned against the detective’s neck and slipped two fingers past the black lace into her core pushing her palm against the brunette’s clit.

“Casey!” Liv cried out, moaning, and panting her name repeatedly. “Oh, Case, oh G-d!” The redhead thrust hard, just like their earlier office encounter, knocking the brunette’s head against the headboard. Liv’s gasped and then grinned, her eyes full of desire. This was not something Casey was expecting, thinking she had accidentally hurt her. “Harder, Counselor,” she moaned, and she stared her lover in the eye. Casey bit down on her lip, smiled deviously and thrust again. “Mmm, Casey, harder,” the brunette moaned again.

                The redhead’s entire body went hot, she bit down into detective’s neck as she began a steady rhythm of thrusts. The brunette’s head knocked against the headboard each time as she cried out in pleasure, she held on tight to her lover’s frame. She could feel her heat building up inside her as she got closer to climax.

 “Harder,” she spurred on the luscious litigator and grabbed a fistful of her soft curly locks. “Finish me,” she whimpered.

Casey let out a stifled moan and curled her fingers against Liv’s g-spot, “Come on beautiful,” she kissed the brunette’s cheek, “let Daddy make you cum.” It was the first time she had ever used that term in a less than joking manner with the detective and it was enough to make her completely let go. Liv’s walls tightened, locking the redhead’s fingers in place. Casey also unraveled for a second time, just from the sheer excitement of the brunette’s undoing. She fell back onto the bed and kissed Liv’s forehead, “My good girl,” she whispered, “I know I owe you more, I just need a minute.” She laughed and wiped her damp forehead with the back of her wrist, and then brought her hand to her lips to lick her fingers clean. She grabbed Liv and pulled her to her chest.

The detective wrapped her legs around Casey, “No baby this is perfect, you are, so, perfect.” She kissed the ADA softly as the redhead stared back with wide puppy eyes.

“You know,” Casey chuckled, still out of breath, and trying not to draw attention to her reaction to the compliment, “at some point, one of us is going to have to get up and put the Chinese in the fridge.”  

* * * * *

                The next day Liv and Elliot found evidence to arrest Ian Tate, a conversion therapist’s son, who was seen in the roll of film that Munch had developed. After he was arraigned further evidence in his apartment showed that the DNA of the killer left behind on a patch of drywall wasn’t his but a familial match. Casey went to meet Tate and his lawyer in lockup to try to see if she could get him to tell her the real story.

                “Why does this matter?” his lawyer retorted when the ADA tried to clarify when exactly he disposed of the body.

                “I think your client knows exactly why this matters,” Casey snapped back and turned her attention to Ian, “He caught you didn’t he?”

                “Shut up,” the prisoner said with a quiet rage.

                “Going to jail isn’t going to help.” The prosecutor iterated with frustration. “We found your father’s blood in your apartment. We know what happened.”

                “Then you have an obligation to drop the charges!” his lawyer stood up and demanded.

                “And if your client wants to avoid accessory charges, sit down, now.”

                Ian’s eyes began to water, “You have…no idea.”

                “No,” Casey lied, her earlier conversation with Branch echoing in her head, “they want to make about straight vs gay, you make it about murder.” “But I can imagine how you must feel.” The truth is she did know, she was terrified if someone found out about her and Olivia that there would be hell to pay. It was bad enough that Cragen had almost caught them at the batting cages two weeks ago, just ten minutes earlier and he would’ve walked up on her arms wrapped around the detective, teaching her how to bat but also placing tender kisses on the nape of her neck. They hadn’t been together in public since. There was no written rule about ADAs and detectives but there was stigma. “But James did, didn’t he? What it was like to hate yourself, to want to change and know you can’t” Casey’s catholic guilt choking up in her throat like a lump. “For the first time somebody understood you.” Throughout her whole speech she just pictured her and Olivia, happy and holding on to each other, laughing in the kitchen as they each tried to toss blueberries in the other’s mouth. Her eyes watered. “You didn’t go to the hospital because James attacked you, your father did.”

                Casey tiredly walked into the squad room after her visit to the jail, Liv tried not to look too excited, but she knew her eyes must’ve lit up when the redhead came through the door frame.

                “Hey how’d it go with Tate?” the brunette asked following her across the room to the desks.

                Casey rubbed her temples, “Jurors eight and ten believe him.”

                “Enough to hang the jury?” Liv asked worriedly.

                “Maybe,” the young ADA sighed, “In which case all I did was out some poor kid, not exactly my favorite legal strategy.”

                “You didn’t have a choice.” Elliot muttered sitting down at his desk.

                Casey cocked her head towards him, “You got kids, you ever wonder if one’s gay?” She often wondered if her own parents knew but was sure they at least wondered.

                Elliot looked up at the tall athletic prosecutor, caught off guard. He thought about it for a few seconds, “I don’t know I haven’t asked.”

                Liv furrowed her brow, “C’mon Elliot you know your kids, you’d know if one of them were gay.” She said this out loud but internally wondered if her own mother had realized her predisposition, she probably would’ve preferred it to the man she dated at seventeen.

                “Exactly!” Casey exclaimed, “his whole defense hinges on the fact that he had no idea.”

                “You don’t buy it?” Liv looked at the redhead, trying not to expose how sexy she thought it was when she was on to a hunch.

                “No, but I can’t prove it. Find out.” She locked eyes with Liv as she grabbed her briefcase, in her mind she was picturing the brunette in black lace, her stare saying, “I need you soon.”

A little while later Olivia was in the copy room running off some blank forms when she heard a tap on the door frame. She craned her head, "Hey Fin, I'm just about done if you need the copier. Just give me two minutes."

He shook his head and swiped his hand, "Nah all good. You got a minute?"

"Sure Fin, what's up?

He stepped in and leaned against the wall, "I just wanted to say that I hope you know that I got your back. No matter the situation. You can always count on me."

"Thanks Fin." She gave a small nod of appreciation although she had to admit she wasn't sure where any of this was coming from.

"Yeah, you know, just keepin it real, be careful out there, the world is full of craziness." He shrugged, trying to come off as nonchalant.

"Okay thanks Dad." Liv laughed and went to retrieve her copies.

"Hey, we gotta look out for each other, right? Besides from the way I heard it, you already have yourself a daddy."

"What?" By the time she whipped around Fin was already headed back to the bullpen but saw him toss his hands up in the air playfully.

"Shit."

**  *  *  *  *   *

                Casey successfully got the doctor to take a plea thanks to the evidence Olivia and Elliot had uncovered that he did in fact know his son was gay the whole time. She spotted Ian sitting outside on a bench near the courtroom and made her way over.

                “They took the plea,” she sat down to the side of him.

                “It’s so weird you know?” his voice was distant, somber, “I’ve been sitting here for a while and I wonder, does he know? Does she? James used to always talk about how happy he was to be gay, that guys are so much more fun.”

                Casey chuckled, “Yeah, I agree with James.”

                Ian smiled, somehow, he knew she didn’t mean about men being more fun but about being gay.

                Casey winked and got on her bike fastening her helmet. She rode home and locked her bike up downstairs. She massaged her neck with her hand as she stepped off the elevator. The ADA had one of the longest days she had in a while and couldn’t wait to just take a hot shower and put on some comfortable clothes.

As she got closer to her door, she heard a familiar voice call out to her, “Hey.”

She looked up to find Liv standing against her door. She couldn’t have smiled bigger if she wanted to. They didn’t have plans tonight, she had no expectations, which just made this mean so much more.  Casey breathed a sigh of relief, dropped her briefcase to the ground, ran to the brunette and jumped into her arms kissing her fervently.

“Hi,” she melted into her, tears welling up as the tension left her body, “You’re here.” she whispered.

“Hi,” Liv whispered holding Casey’s legs tight around her waist and leaning her forehead against the forehead of the beautiful woman she was holding, “I know we didn’t have plans, I just, missed you.”

“I missed you too, I’m so glad to see you.” The redhead whispered back and kissed the detective softly and then nestled her head against her neck.

“I brought take out.” Liv said and leaned her head to kiss Casey’s shoulder.

“Wo-Hop?” Casey asked sleepily.

“Better.”

Part 3

[canirove]

Rice, Rice, baby | Chapter 8

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Masterlist

“And where do you say Kennedy is taking you?”

“I don't know, mum. It's a surprise trip.”

“She could have given you a clue.”

“She told me to pack clothes for two days, something fancy, my passport, and that she would pick me up from work.”

“Then you do know something, Olivia. You are leaving the country.”

“I guess” I shrug, closing my suitcase. This was Kennedy's birthday present: a girls trip somewhere for a couple of days to try and forget about work, kids… and men. 

While she joked that she needed to forget that Madders existed even if it was just for 48 hours, I needed to forget that my friendship with Alex had gone to hell. The fact that he had changed all his shifts at work to not be there at the same time as me, was enough to confirm it.  

“You are probably going somewhere that is close by. Like Spain or maybe Portugal.”

“Maybe. And I think I have it all” I say after double checking my bag.

“Will you call me when you know where you are going?”

“And once we've landed. Don't worry, mum” I smile.

“Ok, good. Now come here and give me a hug.”

“Mum, I can't be late for work” I chuckle.

“As if you didn't enjoy my hugs” she says. And she isn't wrong. I do love her hugs. 

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“I'm on the black BMW” I say to myself, quoting Kennedy's text while walking  through the carpark. “Most players have black cars. How am I going to find hers?” 

“Miss, Chapman?” someone calls behind me. “I believe you are looking for me. I'm Miss Kennedy's driver.”

“Oh, yes. Sorry if I made you wait.”

“It's ok” the man smiles. “This way.”

“Thank you” I reply, walking behind him. Turns out that the car wasn't that far away, but parked next to other super expensive black ones…

“Allow me” he says, gesturing towards my suitcase. “Miss Kennedy is waiting for you.”

“Oh, ok. Thank you” I say again, opening the car's door and getting inside. “You should have put a sign on the car or something, I almost didn't find… Declan?”

“Hello” he smiles.

“You… You aren't Kennedy!”

“Sorry to disappoint” he chuckles.

“Where is she?”

“At home, I guess” he shrugs. 

“At… what?”

“Oh, Liv. You look so cute when you are confused” he laughs.

“Don't make fun of me” I say, hitting his arm. “What are you doing here, Declan?”

“Surprise! This is my birthday present.”

“Your… what?” 

“Should we get going, sir?” the driver says, closing the driver's door. 

“Please” Declan replies. “Meanwhile I will explain everything to the lady. Though security comes first” he says, moving around me to put my seatbelt on, his closeness making my heart beat so fast I think it may rip my ribcage apart. Also, have I ever said that he smells like heaven? “There, perfect.”

“Thank you” I whisper.

“You're welcome” he smiles, making my heart do another flip inside me. Will I make it to the airport alive? Probably not. “Ok, so. Like I told you, this trip is my birthday present. I wanted it to be a surprise and I asked Kennedy to help me, to tell you that you were meeting with her instead of with me. And it looks like she was very convincing.”

“She definitely was, yes.”

“Aren't you happy about it, Liv?”

“Uh?”

“You look… I don't know. Not too excited about going somewhere with me.”

“No, no. It isn't that.”

“Then?” he asks. 

“I thought I had scared you off.”

“What?” Declan laughs.

“After meeting my parents at the Emirates the other day I thought that you… That… I don't know, that it had been too much for you and that you didn't want to see me again. You've been behaving kind of weird.”

Since that day he had barely texted me when he used to do it all the time, and we had stopped facetiming too, something we had started to do daily. And on my birthday he had only sent me a happy birthday message, nothing else. It didn't even have an emoji, and Declan loves emojis. 

“I'm sorry if I made you feel like that, Liv. But my life has been hectic lately. First I got injured, then sick, then when I recovered and was back in training they had us shooting stuff for the website for a few days and I ended up shattered, then I had to attend those music awards…”

Oh… The music awards. The ones where he presented “best female artist of the year”, and where the winner mentioned during her speech how extra nervous she was because he was one of her crushes, all that leading to everyone talking about it the next day. About that, and about how close they had been during the after-party, apparently spending most part of the night together. Some even reported that they had left at the same time.

“Liv… Olivia. Are you listening to me?”

“Uh?”

“You have not listened to anything I've said, have you?” Declan laughs.

“I stopped after you mentioned the awards.”

“I see… You read all the articles, didn't you?"

“Maybe” I shrug. “Is it true, tho?”

“What is?”

“That you and that singer spent the night together. Among other things.”

“Don't believe everything you read, Liv” he says, not answering my question. At least not properly. “Now, back to what I was telling you about. Where do you think I'm taking you?”

“I… I don't know. Spain?” I shrug again.

“Close.”

“Portugal?”

“The other side.”

“What?”

“Portugal is to one side of Spain. And to the other…”

“France?” I gasp.

“Have you ever been to Paris, Olivia?” Declan smirks. 

“I…” He is taking me to Paris. Declan is taking me to Paris for my birthday. Am I dreaming again? 

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“Oh… my God. Is this real?”

“Very real” Declan smiles. “You can look outside to be sure” he says, nodding towards one of the windows in my room. I still can't believe I'm in Paris. That I'm gonna be staying in the fanciest hotel I've ever seen, and that I have a room twice the size of my own back home all for myself. Though to be honest, just the bathroom probably is as big as my room. 

“That's… That's the Eiffel tower?” I gasp.

“The very same. Thought it would be something you would enjoy.”

“I do! Of course I do! I mean, it is a bit… lame to be this excited about Paris, but I don't care.” 

“Glad to hear that” he chuckles. “I'll leave you alone so you can unpack, call your parents and maybe rest for a bit. I'll text you later to go to our first surprise.”

“I thought this trip was the surprise.”

“Part of it” Declan winks, instantly making my body temperature rise. “Keep an eye on your phone, ok?”

“Ok… But wait” I say, running towards him and wrapping my arms around his neck.

“Yes?” he asks, resting his hands on my waist and trying really hard not to smirk, something I am very thankful for. Because if he did that while being as close as we are, I know it would be the end of me. 

“Thank you” I smile.

“You're welcome, Liv” he replies, kissing my nose.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“Liv…”

“Yes?” I say, turning around.

“Perfect” Declan smiles. 

“You are worst than a paparazzi” I laugh.

“I can't help myself” he shrugs. “You look stunning tonight, Liv.”

“Yeah, sure” I say, looking away so he can't see the colour of my cheeks. Though with the light on the boat he probably wouldn't notice. Because we are on a boat. On the Seine. And we've had the most romantic dinner ever with the Eiffel tower shining behind us. Cliché? Maybe. But like I said when we arrived at the hotel, I don't care. 

“You've actually looked stunning since we arrived in Paris” he says behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. “And it's all thanks to that smile that hasn't left your face.”

“You should be thanking yourself for it.”

“What?” he chuckles.

“If I'm smiling like this is because of you. Because of this trip. It is… perfect.”

“Well, it has just started” he whispers before kissing my shoulder and hugging me tighter.

[anastasiapullingteeth]

About Time

The past few days were so chaotic for me, but didn't want to let this week go without a submission from me, so here's a short, really short story for this year's @aggressivelyarospec's #AggressivelyArospectacular event!

“You deserve to be this happy, too”

That was something Olivia, “Liv”, was used to hear from her best friend, Cecile. When Jeff met his current boyfriend, “You deserve to be this happy, too”. When Amanda got engaged, “You deserve to be this happy, too”. When Nora welcomed her first baby, “You deserve to be this happy, too”.

Liv knew she didn’t say it with malice. They’ve talked about Liv’s place on the aromantic spectrum and Cecile had sworn she understood, but Liv knew it was still hard for her to fully grasp what it meant for Liv, for her future.

Cecile’s definition of happiness was nowhere near what Liv wanted, but she didn’t see the point in arguing with her best friend about it. Instead she just smiled and let her go back to celebrate their friends’ achievements. It wasn’t ideal, but it was easier and Liv needed easier right now.

Despite her inability to fully understand Liv, Cecile was a pretty good friend. She always made sure to include her in her adventures and even cancelled dates with her boyfriend if she already had plans with Liv. She respected and appreciated her, and that was more than enough for Liv. Who cared if she was a little confused about who Liv was. There was time for that. They had all the time and Liv was patient. She could wait.

“You’d be miserable if you were normal.”

Liv stopped on her tracks and stared at Cecile. They were at the local park walking their dogs and holding an ice cream cone each, taking their time to savor it as the little guys sniffed their way around. For a second Liv thought she’d heard her wrong, taken aback by the use of the word ‘normal’ in such a way, so she had to think for a couple of seconds before confirming that, yeah, Cecile had said that. “Sorry?”

“You’d be miserable if you were normal,” Cecile repeated, liking a drop of ice cream from her hand as she struggled to keep her dog away from a puddle.

“What do you mean,” Liv asked, striding to catch up with her.

“Well, I’ve been thinking. About what we talked about the other day? About you hating romantic stuff and all that?”

“If by ‘the other day’ you mean almost a year ago, yeah, okay. And the word ‘hate’ was never mentioned, but sure.”

Cecile snorted but Liv noticed she was blushing. “Okay, fair. But anyway, I’ve been thinking and realized… I can’t even see you doing all that stuff people are supposed to do.” She stopped and focused on Liv’ eyes, like she was looking for a confirmation of what she just said. “Like ‘normal’ stuff,” she added, actually mimicking the air quotes which made Liv smirk. “Like marriage or kids. That’s so not your thing, you know?”

“Okay?” Yeah, she knew.

Cecile resumed walking, finishing her ice cream in the process while Liv followed. “And now I’m thinking I’m really glad you never listened to me because you’d be miserable if you had to live that life and I don’t want you to be miserable,” she cleaned her fingers on the fabric of her jeans and threw her arm around Liv’s shoulders. “I like you like this, weird and a little bit ruthless. Society's expectations would look terrible on you, babe.”

“Well, I can do that. Anything for you, ‘babe’.” Cecile laughed and pulled her closer to her as they kept walking.

Maybe Liv didn’t have to wait that long for Cecile to fully understand her.