#i love this band an obscene amount

[excelsior9173]

i think perhaps one of the neatest things about sleep token is that there are so many layers in every song that you can hear something new you never noticed before every time you listen

but the coolest part of that, for me, is that once i hear those new layers, those new harmonies and accents, i never forget them. they stay, and i hear them every time after, and so the song just gradually builds within my head as i listen more and more. every new layer adds so much more to each song

[wave2tyun]

policy of truth and lies | ☆

pairing: huening kai x reader

genre: highschool!au (kinda), band!txt, brother's best friend!kai, fluff, a bit suggestive

summary: a little white lie never hurts sometimes. to what lengths are you willing to go to protect it?

warnings: mentions of throwing up

word count: 3.3k

a/n: this all started just from my silly little desire to write a fic with the brother's best friend trope absdjhabj but honestly, this is one of the fics that i am most proud of, it has a special place in my heart :(<3 shout out to all my dear ningdungies!!!!😼😼💞 i love you all a lot!!!!<33 (and i hope you manage to survive this!!!)

☆ = repost from my old blog!!

“carefully planned-out coincidences” - that’s what your encounters with kai were; something that would appear unsuspicious to the naked eye, yet so obvious to a love connoisseur.

a fixed set of rules had been established in order for such meetings to be successfully completed, and continued.

1. no texting each other when you’re next to others. people love to snoop and steal a glance at your phone screen, getting you easily busted.

2. no form of physical touch is allowed on school grounds, unless you’re well-hidden. you never know what pair of eyes could be lurking around.

and, the most important one of them all: 3. do not, under no circumstances, get caught by soobin.

your brother tended to be more of a quieter person with an almost inhumane kind of calmness in him. that, however, did not apply when it came to unveiling lies. had he found out you had been kissing his best friend behind his back, it would have certainly not turned pretty. you knew that the longer you kept it away from him, the harder it would be to reveal the truth. even so, you kept postponing it, as you couldn’t figure out the right way to do it. you couldn’t just randomly go up to him and say: “remember that halloween party we held last year? yeah, me and kai kissed while you were in pain, next to the toilet bowl, releasing the obscene amount of sweets you had eaten that night”.

it was not the most romantic scenario, obviously, but it was one of the very few moments when soobin and kai weren’t glued at the hip, and neither of you could take the tension anymore. taking your brother’s pitiful cries out of the image, the kiss was actually quite sweet. and no, it wasn’t because of the jelly beans kai had eaten prior to that- maybe only party. the actual reason was kai’s hand on your waist, accompanied by the breathy “can i…?” that he whispered against your cheek.

as cheesy as it may sound, it’s a night that you will never forget.

-for various reasons.

one of them being the fact that it was pretty much the the starting point of a certain “shift” in your relationship with kai. from that day onward, it seemed like both of you tried to find as many opportunities as possible to be in each other’s presence. oh- kai came over and wanted a glass of water from downstairs? whew- well, you were thirsty too, looks like you had to go to the kitchen with him. kai was left on dish-washing duty after parties? you could spare a few minutes to help him out. movie night with the boys? the only free spot was so conveniently the one next to kai.

it was thrilling, adrenaline-inducing. you could never be too sure whether you were subtle enough, or completely alone, so you had to walk on eggshells every single time, no matter what. it got exhausting though, and you wished that, at least for once, kai could come over to your house to see you, not soobin.

kai, on the other hand, was definitely more of a risk taker than you, one that saw no harm in breaking some of the rules every once in a while.

and there are no risks, without possible consequences.

it was something that kai had learned…the hard way…on the lovely day of february 14th.

soobin had invited kai to spend the day together, playing games and trying out all the mystery flavors of a heart-shaped chocolate box. initially, they weren’t supposed to be the ones indulging in the sweet treat, but soobin had chickened out before giving it to his crush at school that day. sulking uncontrollably, he called his best friend so that they could console themselves from the soul-crushing fact that they were both (to soobin’s knowledge) “single”.

while he felt bad for his downcast pal, kai also couldn’t take his mind off you. love was in the air, after all: the rom-com that played on his tv as he was getting ready to come to your house, the lovey-dovey songs playing on the radio, the couples getting affectionate on the streets- they only added further to the burning desire that he felt today, more than ever, to see you. and perhaps…not only see you.

depending on the situation, those coincidences would often consist of: hand-holding underneath blankets or tables, winks sent to redden the other one’s cheeks and, if you were lucky, an exchange of swift, tiny pecks.

none of the outcomes above satisfied him though. the more he thought about crossing paths with you, the more he wished to caress your face, to hold you in his arms- to have an intimate moment with you that involved something more than a “kiss and run” type of situation.

“hey- the race started, why are you not moving?” soobin exclaimed, his mario kart character moving way farther than kai’s across the screen.

snapping out of it, kai shook his head, placing the controller down onto the coffee table before excusing himself “i have to go to the bathroom-” he said as he placed one hand on his stomach, mustering up all his theatre acting skills to put on a pained expression on his face “i think those sweets aren’t sitting right with me”

as soon as he finished that statement, kai basically flew up the stairs, skipping 2-3 steps at once. he made sure to flip the light switch to the bathroom before striding towards your room, to make it seem like he was there.

kai made his entrance with a finger over his lips and a catlike smile.

“what are you doing? you can’t be in here-” you whisper-shouted. kai had never- ever been in your room up until that point. it was too dangerous.

however, you still gave in, not pushing him back through the door he came in from.

he walked closer, coming to cup your face in his hands “i wanted to see you”

“is that so?” you asked coyly.

kai smiled more, sensing the bit of happiness sneaking into your voice beside your attempts to appear mad at him.

“it is so” he answered, waver in his voice from excitement.

“if you don’t believe me, then i guess i could go back to soob-”

“no-” you tugged kai’s arm, laughing “stay, i was kidding”

kai turned on his heel, lips falling into place perfectly on top of yours, transferring his smile to you in an instant “you know i didn’t intend on actually doing it” he whispered, caressing your cheek.

“i know” you chuckled “but you have to make it up to me for the teasing”

you pulled at the collar of kai’s shirt, waiting for him with closed eyes to initiate another kiss. kai chuckled before connecting your lips back together, starting off with agonizingly quick pecks, then attempting to initiate something more through longer, fervent kisses that trailed down to your neck, all while he slowly made you walk backwards to your bed. it wasn’t long before you hit the mattress and the two of you ended up tangled in your sheets, with one hand tugging at kai’s hair and the other one at his shirt as he hovered over you. soft gasps escaped through your mouth- the only acceptable way to lightly catch your breath, as it didn’t involve letting go of each other.

a knock on the door, however, sent kai flying through the air.

“y/n? can i come in?” soobin asked, completely oblivious to the events happening on the other side of the piece of wood that his knuckles had grazed a second ago.

the strong fear that he’d come barging in before you answered, turned you to push the poor lover boy away earlier, catapulting him onto the floor, the fluffy rug hardly alleviating his pain.

“what was that sound- are you hurt?” you heard a worried shout. it was a clear sign that you had no more than five seconds to prepare for disaster.

“i’m coming in, okay?”

seeing the doorknob twist, kai had no time to process his anguish. he wriggled his way underneath your bed, pulling down the blanket to hide his body.

“everything alright…?” soobin took two steps into your room then froze. the sight of your disheveled bed as well as your poor, motionless figure, scrambled up his feelings of concern with confusion.

“yeah- never been better” you replied, brushing out any folds on your clothes with your hand.

soobin’s eyebrow raised in suspicion; it was hard to make your breathing seem normal when your lungs burned like an athlete who had ran a marathon.

“i swear i heard a loud noise coming from your room-”

“nope, uh- nothing here. i was sleeping before you came in” you yawned, stretching your arms up in the air to reinforce your previous statement.

kai placed a hand over his mouth, careful so as not to move the blanket or make any sounds- why did you have to say something that would direct soobin’s attention right in his direction? your brother sneaked another glance at your bed, judging its unusually messy state.

“are you building a bird nest or something?” he huffed, placing his hand on the doorknob, about to leave “don’t answer that actually- i don’t want to know. i just wanted to tell you that the pizza is gonna arrive in about thirty minutes. if you don’t come down on time, i can’t promise that there’ll be any left for you”

with that, the door was shut, allowing your body to slide down to the floor in relief- and the breath trapped in kai’s lungs to be released.

it was only after this incident that kai’s venturesome nature seemed to be slightly tamed. not once did he try to sneak into your room again, nor did he dare to bring up the matter. the one and only thing that he could do, was to look up at you with troubled, wary eyes as he pecked your lips, knowing that it didn’t stand in his power to do more.

nevertheless, it wasn’t long before he proceeded to go back to his usual antics, the feeling inside his heart all too unbearable.

after all, not everyone can resist temptation, can they?

people knew that it wasn’t an unusual occurrence for you to be spotted in and outside the school with the most in demand band of the city, txt- your school’s pride and joy, which both your brother and his best friend were part of. so, whenever you tagged along with them, say it were to a local show, backstage, or during rehearsals, no one questioned a thing.

what was uncommon though, was you receiving private messages from the band’s notably fine pianist, kai, and giggling while responding to him, on top of it all.

this scene was witnessed by a certain someone who you thought had fallen fast asleep in the middle of class. little did you know how effective the bell ringing was to wake him up and how he had the most perfect view to the conversation taking place on your phone screen.

kai

[9:17 am] can you stay after the rehearsal today?^3^

[9:18 am] i miss you…

the witness slowly placed their head back on their desk, choosing to stay silent. this kind of matter required evidence, direct confirmation, and therefore they chose to follow you around for the rest of the day, like a shadow, thoroughly analyzing your words and actions; the texts were your first strike of the day, could there have been anything else you were keeping in the dark? the answer is yes, and you can take that literally- it turns out that the lonely, far corner of the school library makes a good spot for “discreet” pda.

you and kai were tucked away in that poorly lit spot, hugging, laughing- blissfully unaware of the third pair of eyes there with you, glossed with anger and action-driven by betrayal.

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

“and that’s a wrap- good job guys” yeonjun clapped his hands, turning from the microphone stand to face the group with a smile.

“kai, cleaning duty is on you today. make sure you don’t forget to lock up the doors before you leave” yeonjun threw the keys in kai’s direction, which he caught effortlessly.

“what? you always ditch on me when we get paired up together- what could have possibly gotten in the way this time?” kai’s brows furrowed in annoyance. he wasn’t one to enjoy picking a fight, but yeonjun was taking too much advantage of his compassionate nature. he had enough of all the chores landing on him every week, without fail.

“scored a date with that girl from the mall” yeonjun winked “which, by the way- starts in less than half an hour. so, i gotta go, sorry buddy. maybe you can get somebody else to help you”

everybody else’s eyes turned to the floor after yeonjun parted ways with them, blurting out random reasons to be excused: “i have a project to finish” “i did it last time” “i just don’t want to do it” ; nobody was enthusiastic about staying at school overtime.

nobody, except for you. you were about to say an excuse of your own when the realisation hit you: you and kai? alone? with none of the boys around? it was a rare occurrence, one even rarer than the blue moon. you couldn’t simply pass by it.

“i can help you”

soobin watched you from the corner of his eye, biting his tongue to prevent any words from slipping out. you had stayed behind to help the members out before, it would be weird if he only started commenting on the matter when it was kai you were going to stay with.

“we’ll leave you to it then” beomgyu swung his arms around soobin’s and taehyun’s shoulders, leading them towards the door before you could change your mind.

“yeonjun always does this” kai huffed, picking up the acoustic guitar from the floor “i love him but- for once, i wish he’d keep his word- or at least not cancel on me last minute” the more his spoke, the more reckless his movements became.

“careful with that- no matter how cheerful beomgyu might be most of the time, i don’t think he’d be too happy to see his guitar destroyed by you”

“sorry” he said bashfully, resting his body against the wall with a sigh “i guess i’m just fed up with everything”

as you placed a hand over kai’s cheek, his eyelids fluttered shut, comfort already washing over him.

“would a kiss make you feel better…?”

kai nodded eagerly “i might need more than just one kiss though” he whispered, bringing his hand to the back of your neck to pull you back closer.

his kisses were playful at first, with smiles and chuckles interrupting every once in a while. then, when he switched positions, bringing you to be the one trapped against the wall, he began alternating between pecking your lips and lightly biting them, chaste touches soon turning into something more…heated. hands brushing over each other’s bodies in a frenzy, swollen red lips caught in an endless, desperate chase, like you had never had a taste of something sweeter.

what had gotten into you both? doing something this risky in such an “honourable” place. it was the lousy heap of all your lies and yet the most enthralling point of them all.

too bad that adrenaline rushes don’t last forever though.

you felt kai’s heart thump against your chest as you cupped his jawline to bring him back for more, but your next kiss never came to fruition.

“am i interrupting something?” the person standing at the door’s threshold cleared their throat to grab your attention.

you felt your blood turn cold upon hearing the sound. having a hunch about the sight ready to greet you, you turned your head at an awfully slow pace.

“care to give me an explanation?” soobin stood with his arms crossed, the expression on his face indecipherable.

in a single day, all of the rules you swore you’d follow like a saint, for the sake of your relationship, had been broken.

kai was dismissed from the room by soobin without being given a chance to speak. it was your words he wanted to hear first and foremost, it was you who left him the most perplexed ever since he took a furtive look at your phone screen this morning, or since he saw what you were up to in the library.

you were silent, rubbing your hands with your head hanging low. lies can’t last forever, you knew that, but you wished the right to make that dreadful reveal was in your hands to hold.

your brother cleared his throat, awkwardly shifting his position in the plastic chair he sat down on. when he abandoned the boys earlier because he “forgot something” in the practice room, he didn’t have a concrete plan in mind.

“how long?”

“what?” you murmured.

soobin repeated himself “for how long has this been going on? this…thing between you and kai?”

your throat went dry- your first instinct was to spit out another lie. upon better thought though, you realised it was have been ridiculous to even try and deny anything, given the fact that you were caught mid-act. the only actual option left for you was the raw, honest truth:

“…a year” you said reluctantly. soobin only nodded his head.

the silence soon felt direful, and neither of you could tolerate it. soobin turned his head up to look into your eyes, he got the answers he was looking for, now it was his turn to be sincere with you.

“y/n, i’m not the one who chooses who you’re gonna love- and as much as it bothers me that, out of all the people, it’s my best friend who you fell for- i can’t tell you to stop seeing kai”

his words turned your mind in even more of jumble than before. that was it? no screaming? no need to pull out the classic “but i love him“? it was a rare occurrence for the two of you to settle things so easily, it felt like you were suddenly picked up and placed in an alternate universe.

“so, what i’m getting is…you’re approving of our relationship?” you asked, feeling the need to have a definite confirmation of his feelings; none of the scenarios you had imagined before where you revealed your relationship matched the result of this one.

soobin hummed “as long as you don’t hoard him on the weekends- he might be your boyfriend now, but he was my friend first. i’ll have him on saturdays and you can have him on sundays, deal?”

you smiled, shaking his stretched out hand “deal”

“shouldn’t kai have a say in this too though?”

“something tells me he’s already agreed to it” soobin laughed, pointing at a “totally-not-eavesdropping-kai”, the half-open door revealing his pink cheeks along with both of his thumbs up.

taglist: @huekalover3000

[salted-bird]

Unique interactions aside I adore how Sinclair Who Shall Grip's character is reflected on the gameplay side, we are told through his Uptie story that he doesn't believe in Faust's cause as much as he *wants* to, and it shows, because he is just godawful at the job she gave him.

For starters, Nails, the thing that defines the faction; Shall Grip Sinclair can't inflict any stacks of it.

All other N-corp IDs we have so far can apply at least one Nails, and we are informed in N-corp Don's Uptie story that the nails possess a symbolic importance for them because "the reason we pierce evil with nails beeth to utilize them as tools so the One Who Grips may enact justice". It's all about the One Who Grips, and even at his worst Sinclair is unable to aid her beyond the surface level, quite literally he can't help Faust carry out her Execution because the skill requires Nails and he can't give them.

Though it doesn't end there, the more you use them the clearer it becomes that the Faust Who Grips and Sinclair Who Shall Grip IDs don't mesh together at all. Faust's nails inflict Bleed count, Sinclair needs Burn Count, Faust's passives heal SP, Sinclair needs to stay at low SP, Whistle gives Fanatic to two allies, Sinclair hogs one stack due to always being the lowest SP ally by kit-design, but then there's how he can't make proper use of the Fanatic buff because of the SP heal ruining his tails flips, so rather than helping it's like trying to put a torn band-aid over a wound when that Fanatic could be going to someone actually capable of benefiting from it.

Sure, his skills include effects that involve other N-corp units, but first, it's a selfish interaction, they can help Sinclair but the most he will give them is a pathetic 2 Bleed on the last hit from Amoral Enactment, and second, what little ways they have to help Sinclair pale in comparison to letting him fight alongside IDs from other faction, what's a 15% damage increase compared to rolling 30 on each one of Self-destructive Purge's coins, and what's 5 Burn Potency compared the obscene amounts of Burn Count Liu Hong Lu can provide for his second skill and E.G.O? The N-corp effects are pretty much just there as lip-service, which applies to Sinclair's half-baked belief in their cause too, he shines the most when going against Nails and Hammer, and that keeps being the case even for the ID that's supposed to be on their side.

I find it funny how the closest to a synergy you can find between Faust and Sinclair is Faustie's Gaze buff, which sums up their relationship perfectly. She points to something and Sinclair kills stuff, Sinclair's core personality remains unchanged just like how the only thing that Gaze does is provide a crude damage-buff that doesn't help with any of Sinclair Who Shall Grip's obtuse mechanics, but the 'Sinclair kills stuff' part is enough for Faust.

Lastly, another point that I love is Sinclair's physical types and resistances.

All his skills deal Blunt damage, which is exactly what the N-corp Inquisitors are weak to.

Other N-corp units deal Blunt damage too, but they also have Pierce skills that the Inquisitors endure, Sinclair on the other hand doesn't waste a single bit of damage when it comes to killing them ASAP, and unlike the rest of N-corp Units, Sinclair Who Shall Grip has an Ineffective resistance for Blunt, at the same time his resistance against Pierce is normal rather than fatal, meaning he can go against the Inquisitor enemies without worrying about dying in a blink because they simply can't strike his weakness.

But of course, there's one N-corp character who Sinclair can't deal with, and it isn't Kromer, you must have seen already how she gets staggered if you bring Sinclair against her.

No, the one Nails and Hammer member who can claim the title of best counter against Sinclair Who Shall Grip is funnily enough, Faust Who Shall Grip.

Emitter is weak to Lust but it doesn't matter because Faust resists the physical type of all her skills, her passive ruins Sinclair's rolls to the point he can hit 0 as a coin value, and guess what, Sinclair's base E.G.O, Branch of Knowledge, has a fatal weakness to Pride, the element of Faust's Execution skill.

There's something so twisted yet beautiful about the fact that even in gameplay terms, Sinclair can't hope to go against Faust, while she could easily get rid of him if she ever felt like it.

But of course, what I find even more beautiful is that Sinclair Who Shall Grip has one small means of rebellion left, one last tool that can he could use to hurt Faust if he ever dares go against her: Branch of Knowledge, the E.G.O that encapsulates Sinclair's sin.

Emitter also has a fatal weakness to Gluttony, and unlike Sinclair Who Shall Grip's own skills, its physical type matches Faust Who Grips fatal weakness to Slash, making it the ideal tool for killing her.

Given how turning a blind eye to everything as a way to cope is a big part of Sinclair Who Shall Grip's character, I like how the one thing he could theoretically use to break free from his dependence on Faust is a manifestation of his inner psyche literally called Branch of *Knowledge*, I would assume these are all coincidences if it were any other game but PM has put crazier details on their works before.

[squintyeyedjoel]

Through Your Eyes | Part 3 - In the Blink of an Eye (Joel x Reader)

A/N: So this is the rest of what was chapter 2, but I broke it up to keep chapter 2 shorter, and good thing, too, because I ended up adding a lot more. 🤣 Also, I know in canon the garage is a separate building, and I have a plan for that, so bear with me, please.

I do not own The Last of Us or it’s characters. Sadly. But I carry them in my heart. Does that count for something? My soul says yes.

Warnings: Oooo, this one’s a doozy as well, but in a different way than the last one. So many things. (Let me know if I miss anything.) 😮‍💨 Some more original characters, lots of canon violence and swearing, (this one is a big one. Like a lot. There’s a hefty amount of swearing.) mention of attempted sexual assault without detail, Reader is a badass. We round it all out with obscene amounts of fluff and humor between it all, sweet moments, and just soft things. It’s me. I can’t not. No use of Y/N.

Word count: 13,464

Thank you to @fordo-kixed-rex for reading over this however many times it’s been now and fangirling over it when I was having my down moments. You’re the reason this still exists.

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Xxx

The next morning, your little band of six was up with the sun and making sure the horses were ready. Starting out with over fifteen, this smaller party felt like a speck of dust in the wind compared to the massive herd you were before.

Joel had introduced you to the remaining members, people he personally trusted, which from your brief time with him, you knew meant a lot. 

First was an older man named Jack, closer to Joel’s age with graying hair and a laugh that was infectious. He was a whisperer when it came to the horses. Well, any animal, really. You could have sworn you saw a butterfly land on his fingertip when no one was looking earlier this morning. 

He looked over both shoulders so slightly you almost missed it, but he did a double take when he caught your eye, a small smile spreading up one side of his face as you both watched the small winged creature take flight once again. Jack held his index finger it had been perched on up to his lips in a bid for your silence, to which you only pressed your lips firmly together and gave a single stilted nod to try not to draw attention toward either of you.

It didn’t work. 

“What’re you doing?” Joel asked from your right, drawing out the words skeptically to match the raise of his eyebrows in question. 

“Nothing,” you offered quickly, fastening your backpack closed and gathering the last of your gear before heading over toward your horse. Once your back was to him, you grimaced. That was much too fast to be convincing.

“Uh-huh. Sure,” he drawled sarcastically, mumbling something under his breath when you didn’t acknowledge him. Something along the lines of, “She ‘nd Ellie’ll be the death’f me.”

It was Jack’s whiskey that had helped Jane’s wound yesterday. He hadn’t hesitated offering his little hip flask out of a secret pocket on the inside of his jacket as soon as he saw the state she was in.

A man pulled you gently off to the side before you could make it over to Jane, Joel following quickly after you less than a step behind. 

You didn’t know his name, just that he seemed trustworthy, and slightly tortured. His eyes held a closed off level of pain you’d seen all too often since outbreak day, once or twice in your own reflection, and you knew not to judge how a man chose to fight his demons. 

So it was no surprise to you when he offered the stainless steel little demon chaser he obviously kept with him at all times, primed and ready. The liquid sloshed a little inside as he quickly tugged it from his hidden pocket. It was dented in a few places, worn and obviously loved. It had seen better days, but that was kind of the point…. It saw “better” days in order to help you see some better days yourself. 

Or to help you sleep through them. 

Whichever helped most.

It was the apocalypse. 

Who were you to judge?

“Take it,” the man said, holding it out, his hand shaking slightly as he gripped the lifeline with just the tips of his fingers in a hesitant extension. “She needs it more’n I do.”

“Y’sure?” Joel asked, as you eyed the tremble of the man’s fingers. “Withdrawal is no joke, Jack.”

The man who you now knew as Jack’s features curled up in some sort of shame, then determination. He bounced the flask slightly in a renewed offer toward the two of you, his extended hand more firm as he worked hard to calm the tremors. “Neither is being stabbed. What she’s going through is worse than a few uncomfortable nights for me. I’ll survive.” Try as he might, the flask started to vibrate slightly, and he looked down at it like it had betrayed him.

And in a way, you guessed it had.

Reaching out to gently cradle his hand in both of yours, the tremors seemed to still for a moment. Holding his gaze, you took the flask from his grasp, not missing the way his grip tightened just a little before releasing it. 

Withdrawing his hand back to his side after a delayed moment as if he had been shocked by some electric current, curling it into a tight fist and quickly stuffing it deep into his jacket pocket, Jack smiled brightly as he looked between the two of you. “Jus’ don’t shoot me when something crawls up my ass in a few days, Joel.”

“No promises,” the elder Miller grunted with a small grin, turning and ushering you toward Jane to make sure no one else interrupted you along the way.

Next was a younger man named Liam, who looked to be around Will’s age. Despite being new to patrols or going on runs and all they would entail, he was eager to learn and an excellent shot. 

Turns out he’d also come from Texas, though was much younger when everything had happened, probably only twelve or fourteen years old on outbreak day, so you assumed he and Joel hadn’t crossed paths until later, somewhere closer to Jackson. 

And you couldn’t help but feel like maybe Joel was playing a little bit of a favoritism card for his home state, allowing the much younger newbie to tag along with all the other more experienced travelers when he still had so much yet to learn. (You couldn’t blame him if he was. It was yours, too, after all.) 

It wasn’t until you heard Liam mention how his family had worked for Joel’s contracting company ‘once upon a time’ - to which Joel had walked past grumbling something resembling, ‘I ain’t that old’ - that things started making a little more sense.

Less of the home field advantage, and more of the home grown kind. 

It was becoming clear that Joel was a family man, although to be honest, that was obvious from the start. What you were coming to see was that family wasn’t all just blood. 

And that was a decision he made long before the apocalypse. 

That was just Joel Miller. 

That was his DNA. 

If you found yourself in his fold, you’d be okay. 

Taken care of. 

Even when the world went to shit and he ran into your kid thousands of miles away across the country when everyone was fighting against infected…. 

That boy would have a home.

You watched with a smile as Joel helped Liam adjust something on his rifle, then braced it on his shoulder and looked through the sights down the barrel with one eye squinted shut, before lowering the weapon and handing it back to the younger man. 

Liam copied Joel before pulling away only a step to meet the elder’s gaze, and they shared some quiet words. Some muttered joke drifted to you about old eyes before Joel lightly cuffed him along the back of the head with a smirk and a smartass as he turned to leave, Liam grinning with a chuckle as he turned and secured his rifle to the side of his mount.

With your own grin pulling up your features, you turned slowly and surveyed the rest of the group as you stroked your horse's mane. “I think we may just make it, old girl,” you mused quietly, turning a skeptical eye on your mare when she chuffed at you. Rolling your eyes, you looked back to the group, and mumbled under your breath, “If Joel were a horse…. You’d be it, darlin’.”

The last newcomer to you was a woman named Kate, about your age, and a walking encyclopedia of every living thing in the forest. What you could eat, what you couldn’t, what was medicinal, what was flammable…. Before the outbreak she had been a nurse, and her skills were invaluable to have around on an excursion like this. 

She had offered to help with Jane, but Will only let her supervise. No one could pull him away from the wounded seamstress. Under any other circumstance you would find it endearing, but at that particular moment, you found it anything but.

You tried to speak calmly, but the man was trying your last nerve. “Will, she knows what she’s doing. Let her help.”

He lifted his eyes to look at you from where he knelt on one knee on the other side of Jane, and you swore you saw tears brimming in them. If he blinked, you were pretty sure they would fall. But he hadn’t blinked as long as you’d been looking at him, which struck you like a bolt of lightning when you realized how long that had been. It was almost as if he was afraid to close his eyes. Like if he did, she would be gone when he opened them again…. Even if only for a second. 

“I’m not moving.” He pulled his gaze higher to meet the sympathetic face of Kate. “But she can supervise.”

You began to argue again, but Kate put a hand on your shoulder. “That’s fine. I can do that.” Her voice was soft and soothing. “Let me go grab my kit, and I’ll walk you through it, Will.”

He swallowed roughly and nodded once, not looking directly at her, his eyes falling back down to look at Jane who hadn’t woken up since she’d passed out at the raider camp.

“You’re lucky she’s unconscious, or else she’d be giving you an earful right now,” you sighed, letting your weight slump back onto your seat. Resting your forearms on your bent knees, you studied Will cautiously as your head lolled to the right with a tired huff.

“I’d gladly take that over this silence right now,” Will said so quietly, you almost missed it. He held one of her hands in his own, so fiercely and yet cradling it so delicately, you couldn’t even begin to hope to describe it should you have to. 

He maneuvered so her head was in his lap, and he peered down at her with a look you thought had died off on outbreak day. Something so tender, so soft, contented…. 

Come to think of it, you’d seen it on Joel a few times, usually when he was looking at Ellie, or Tommy, though the last was short lived. 

Occasionally when he would look down at his watch, though that fluctuated between pain and this sense of peace and contentment. 

Almost always when he was in his shop, tool in hand and project on the table.

And sometimes, when he thought you weren’t looking…. Like right now…. He had this look when he’d steal a glance at you.

Stealing your eyes over Will’s shoulder, you met the eyes of your current housemate, and instead of darting away like they usually did, he held your stare as he absently tended to his horse’s tack. 

“It’s weird to see her so quiet….”

Will’s soft words pulled you back to the matter at hand. And you could have sworn you saw Joel grin in your peripherals.

“You’re gonna wish you never said that,” Jane mumbled, groaning as she rolled her head to the side, her face screwed up in pain. “Once I start going, I don’t stop.”

You grinned. “It’s true. She doesn’t have an off button.”

Jane reached out and whacked your arm. “Be nice to me. I’m dying.”

“No, you’re not,” Will said around his broad grin, maneuvering her head off of him so he could get beside her for a better view. The smile he gave her then was nothing short of brilliant. “Not if I can help it.”

Speaking of….

“Joel? Where’s Will?”

He smirked with a gentle shake of his head. “Don’t worry ‘bout it.” Gripping the reins of his horse, he clicked the side of his mouth quietly as he got near the creature's head, stroking it softly with one hand as the horse nickered at him. 

You led your horse over toward him, reins pulled tight as the giant, powerful, dapple gray wonder named Delilah balked, digging into the earth and tossing her head side to side with a discontented snort. 

She’s as stubborn as he is. Fact, I’m pretty sure they planned this. Conspired and everything. 

“I plotted nothing with your horse,” Joel mused quietly, amusement heavy in his tone as you realized you said the last part out loud. “Only thing Delilah and I conspire ‘bout are sugar cubes n’apples.” He shrugged. “There’s the odd carrot talk here n’there, but….”

Joel sighed before you even really got moving, as if he were anticipating the whole thing. His head tossed back as he peered up at the sky as if to ask why.

Dropping the reins you closed the last few feet between you and Joel, arms coming to cross over your chest once you landed behind him. “Well, I’m gonna.”

Joel sighed again, resting his head against his horse’s, who let out a soft contented bray, before pulling back to look at you. “Will’s okay,” he said softly. “Now, leave it alone.”

“How do you know?” You swiveled to follow him as he walked over to gather your horse’s reins, shushing the large mare until she, too, was nickering at him, then he led her back over to you. 

Joel shrugged, pulling his face tight in amusement as he placed the horse’s tack back in your hands. “Jus’ do.”

“If you don’t tell me….”

He mounted his horse with a groan. “I patrol with the man. I just know his little quirks, okay?” Looking down at you from atop his mount, Joel’s expression was unreadable as his horse stepped back and forth, eager to get going. He reached out to pat the back of the large chestnut’s head, muttering calming words. “Shhhh…. Calm down, Old Beardy….”

“Your horse's name is-” 

“He’s not in trouble…. Yet,” Joel cut you off, sitting up abruptly, slightly wide eyed on the back of Old Beardy. “But if he keeps pesterin’ Jane like I think he’s wantin’ to,” his eyes narrowed in on you ever so slightly as he leaned back over his horses head to offer soothing circles of comfort on the side of his neck, “that could all change very quickly….” 

You scoffed, arms across your chest cinching tighter. “Really?” They rearranged to your hips as you leaned toward him with each word, most likely for emphasis, but you weren’t entirely sure. “Was that a not so subtle dig at me to stop pesterin’ you?” 

Joel shrugged, one shoulder going slightly higher than the other, as he sat back upright astride his horse and an amused grin started to pull up one cheek. “You said it. I didn’t.” With that, he nudged his horse forward, moving past you at a slow walk, and you could tell he was trying hard not to smile.

Xxx

Without Will here, the group traveled in relative silence. After a while, it became unbearable for you, and you steered your horse to sidle alongside Joel and his steed.

“Ellie told me Tommy was your patrol partner.”

Joel nodded. “Mmm-hmm. Usually is.”

You watched a butterfly fly in front of you, smirking as you glanced at Jack and found him already grinning in your direction. “So what changed?” You focused back on Joel and the road ahead.

Joel sighed, adjusting in his saddle. “He’s gonna be a daddy soon.” Your eyes bugged out of your head, making him chuckle. “Yeah, that’s ‘bout the same reaction I had.”

“Same reaction we all had,” Jack chimed in, making everyone laugh softly. 

“I dunno. Seems like he’d be a good dad,” Liam posed.

“What makes you say that?” Kate had turned in her saddle to face the youngest of the group, her eyebrows nearly in her hairline.

“It’s just a gut feeling.”

“A gut feeling,” Jack agreed distantly, staring straight ahead. “And by that you mean the thought of it makes your stomach turn.”

As Jack passed by on your right, you reached out and shoved his shoulder lightly.

“What?” The man protested, looking at you wide eyed. “It’s true! Ain’t no way the words Tommy Miller and Daddy ever came up together naturally….” Jack grimaced as he turned back to face forward again. “‘Least not in any way I care to think about.”

“Watch it,” Joel warned teasingly. “That’s my baby brother you’re talking about, asshole. He may be a stick in the mud and about as sharp as two spoons trying to pick up pudding-”

Your face twisted in confusion as Joel took a breath. “Um, spoons could easily pick up pudding. That’s not an insult. You must be tired.” Joel turned his glare on you, and you simply grinned around it, continuing on. “I think you were going more for something like spoons trying to cut through stone?”

The group all snickered behind you as the two of you simply stared at one another, amusement hiding deep in your expression while annoyance clearly painted his.

“I concur with Liam,” you agreed instead after a moment. Joel huffed and turned his gaze on the young man who only shrugged in response before he was looking back at you. 

“A Miller man an actual daddy,” you mused quietly, smiling softly as you stared straight ahead. “I don’t think the world could handle the awesomeness.” Looking back over at Joel, you expected to see him grinning at the playful banter, but instead he looked somewhat sad.

The same expression he had when he looked at his watch sometimes.

In fact, he glanced down to it now. It was brief, but you caught it.

It wasn’t the look Will had had with Jane. This was that sad, forlorn expression, like he was missing something. Like a piece of his soul was gone.

But as quickly as it came, it went. 

Without a glance your direction, he pulled his eyes up to the path ahead and squinted as the horses pulled into another clearing and sunlight shone directly on his face. 

“Yeah,” he finally gruffed, clearing his throat as he purposefully looked at the forest around him. “He’s gonna be great. Anyway….” He nudged his horse faster, seeming to head for the next pocket of tree cover a few yards away. But you weren’t that dense and could tell he was just trying to get away from the conversation, so you followed suit, falling into step beside him once again. 

Joel sighed almost imperceptibly when he heard your horse's footfalls lining up with his own once again. You could have sworn his eyes rolled slightly, too, now that they were not squinted in the shade of the tall trees. But he went on regardless. “Maria’s been sick a lot more the further the pregnancy’s gone, so…. Told him t’stay home.”

Nodding, you kept your gaze forward, allowing Joel a respite from prying eyes. This was all a tender subject, and you still didn’t know why, but you could respect that.  “Well, it looks like Will is a good one to take his place,” you mused quietly.

Glancing over, you saw how Joel’s expression brightened again, his eyes casting down to the ground like a bashful kid. “He’s alright.”

The group made it a decent ways, a handful of miles between all of you and the former bandit camp now that there were fewer of you, plus you didn’t have the cart to slow you down.

Even so, you still missed Jane and Will. They both added a quiet energy to the group even if they never said a word.

But they both always said plenty.

Joel had the group stop at an abandoned cabin on the very edge of the forest, letting the horses rest and grabbing a bite to eat from what was packed. Everyone was settled in and halfway through some sandwiches,  when suddenly you could hear muffled galloping through the cabin walls. It was approaching rapidly in the distance, back in the direction you had come from. 

The whole party sat up abruptly, food long forgotten as they reached for their firearms and listened closely.

“Everyone stay inside,” Joel mumbled quickly, striding over to the small fire in the cabin's hearth and setting his cup of water on the mantle, swapping it for his rifle already resting there, always within arms reach. 

Jack and Kate cocked their rifles, clicking them over to safety and resting them across their laps while they remained in their seats by the fire, watching Joel head out the door. Once the elder Miller had passed the threshold, the door softly latching shut behind him, Jack clicked his safety off. Kate arched a brow at him, and he shrugged.

“Better safe than sorry.”

Kate rolled her eyes. “And if it’s nothing? And you get jumpy? What then?”

Jack huffed quietly at her whispered admonishment. “I don’t get jumpy.”

Casting her eyes down to his still trembling hands pointedly, she pulled her eyes back up to meet his and arched a brow. “Maybe you don’t, but that leftover whiskey in your system sure does.”

Flipping his hand under the barrel over to grip the armrest of the chair in an attempt to stabilize himself, Jack glared at Kate, but quickly turned the glare down to his hand when the tremor instead began to rattle the loose wooden pegs holding the seat together.

“Point taken,” he grumbled, flicking the safety back on before sitting on his practically vibrating palms, his rifle braced across his thighs. After a moment he hurriedly grabbed the rifle and rested it against the stone fireplace in front of him, sitting back on his hands and adding a bouncing knee to the routine. He looked at Kate and shrugged. “It’s gotta work its way out somehow.”

Turning away from the two by the fire, you spotted Liam still asleep in one of the long abandoned bunks in the cabin corner, and you couldn’t blame him. An actual mattress that hadn't gone to hell was hard to come by. You smiled faintly after remembering how he had plopped in it within five seconds of entering the structure.

“Anyone wakes me sooner than morning, clickers are gonna be the least of your worries,” he said, flat on his back and eyes already closed, followed by a contented sigh as he melted into the slightly redeemable box spring.

The dust particles that had filled the air in a violent swirl when his back hit the mattress had finally begun to settle. They floated through the lazy sunbeams that danced through the remaining cabin windows, dirty as they were, reminding you of lazy weekend afternoons back before the outbreak.

A lawnmower going down the street.

Kids laughing in the cul de sac.

The smell of barbecue from somewhere nearby, or just a fire as people stood round to watch it for fun in their back yard with a drink in hand and relax.

Not to rely on it for warmth like now.

For food.

Usually outside and in silence for fear of what lurked just out of sight.

You hadn’t thought about these things in so long…. 

Since before moving to Jackson. 

Before Joel and Ellie….

Shaking your head, you shut your eyes to quit staring at the dust particles long enough to focus back on the matter at hand.

Liam. Hoofbeats. Focus.

Looking back at the peacefully sleeping young man, you grinned slightly. Shifting your weight side to side once, you sighed heavily through your nose.

Sorry, kid.

After absently adjusting the strap slung across your shoulders of the rifle you’d stolen from the raiders, tugging where it pulled tightly at the center of your chest, the weapon a heavy reminder at your back, you walked quietly over to him. 

Gently nudging his shoulder with your left hand, you then held the index finger of your right up to your mouth to indicate silence as he stirred and began to ask what was happening in a bleary voice.

Liam turned his head toward you, his face screwed up like you had a flashlight trained on his face in the darkest of nights. “Who dares to distur-” The hand rubbing one eye froze mid swipe, and he stared at you with the other eye that was still exposed.

Suddenly fully awake, his palm trailed up to rest on his forehead as he blinked a few times then looked wide eyed around the cabin and saw everyone with their weapon either in hand or at the ready. 

He sat up abruptly, his hand falling to his lap soundlessly as he continued to scooch closer to the edge of the mattress, miraculously avoiding every traitorous squeaky spring in the thing. 

Once at the edge, feet still propped up on the tiny cot, he reached down seamlessly into his open backpack resting on the floor against the foot of the cot closest to his head, and pulled out a machete, bringing it up to rest on the bed beside him as he gave you a single nod. 

It was a very Joel thing to do.

A snort of amusement pulled your attention back over your shoulder where you saw Jack looking on with a grin, nodding in approval. “Kid’s got the right idea,” he said just above a whisper.

“I learned from the best,” Liam mused around a grin.

“Yeah, Joel’s really been passing on some gems,” Kate said, looking slyly at Jack, and snorting in amusement when he turned a disapproving glare her way.

“The kid wasn’t talking about Joel,” he groused. “He’s my patrol partner, Kate. He meant me.”

“I actually meant Tommy.”

All three sets of eyes turned to Liam, before quiet snickers of laughter went around, the younger man beaming at the attention.

“Nah, I’m just joking.”

“We know,” Jack coughed softly, eyeing the door of the cabin when Joel still hadn’t returned, clearing his throat.

“I meant Ellie.”

This time the laughter was a bit louder and unrestrained, but still quiet. A thump on the cabin door was heard, then it swung open and Joel popped his head in. 

“Hush!” He hissed to the four of you, the continuous growing sound of approaching hooves filling the following silence of his deathly stare. “You four are louder than a horde!”

The cabin door shut silently, but it might as well have been slammed with the finality it gave. The four of you exchanged looks.

“‘Least we smell better than a horde, though.”

Jack’s off handed comment made the rest of you snicker quietly as you tried to follow Joel’s request.

“Speak for yourself,” Kate grumbled. “Most of us do, ‘nyway.”

Jack and Kate shared another little stare off as the tension of the impending approaching hoofbeats grew closer.

Meanwhile, Joel had slinked around the side of the cabin outside for a better vantage point before the newcomer on horseback could get any closer. You were able to track him through two of the cabin’s windows before you lost sight of him. If he stayed on the path you’d last seen him on, then he would have made it just behind a pile of firewood and out of sight when the rapidly approaching horse crested over the tiny hill and came into view. 

His footsteps were virtually silent, only the foliage crunching underfoot could give him away, and he was careful to not let it. Aside from one or two traitorous twigs that helped you all in the cabin follow his movements once he was past the windows, he was like a ghost. 

Suddenly his footsteps shuffled carelessly, every leaf and twig breaking under his weight and being kicked to the side with little to no effort to mask his steps as he slid to a stop at the same time you heard a second male voice.

It was familiar as it yelled, “Woah, woah,” overlapping the sound of a horse breathing heavily as the galloping came to a stop. Then a thud as someone hopped onto the ground from a height, you guessed from the back of the horse, the foliage underfoot crunching from the impact. 

You were so concentrated trying to place the familiar voice that had called out to the horse, you missed the pair of returning relaxed footsteps back toward the cabin. The low, muffled voices exchanged a murmured conversation you couldn’t quite make out even if you were paying attention. 

The cabin door suddenly swung open, and there stood Joel, a grumpy look on his features, followed by an amused looking Will. 

“Told ya he was fine,” Joel grumbled, holding your wide eyed gaze.

The other three members of the group let out a collective sigh, of what you assumed was relief, all of them stowing their weapons once again and settling back into the comfort and warmth that had been interrupted.

Will stayed outside to tend to his horse while Joel came back into the cabin, grumbling something about not signing up for this the whole way back to the fireplace. 

As Joel passed behind Jack, he pulled the chair the older man was seated in back, making his friend reach out to stabilize himself before looking up at Joel skeptically. “And you do smell like a horde. Go use the rain barrel out back and clean up, ya ass.”

“It’s the shakes,” Jack mumbled, staring at the floor in embarrassment as he got to his feet before heading for the door. “They make me sweat somethin’ fierce.”

“Then use this as ammunition to never let the whiskey get you this bad again, Jack.”

Pausing halfway to the door, the older man looked up to meet Joel’s piercing expression, the embarrassment on his own melting away into determination. The two men held each other's gaze for a moment before Jack nodded once and headed out the cabin door. 

“I’ll go with him. Make sure he’s okay.” Kate stood up, slinging her rifle across her shoulders and grabbing Jack’s from its spot still against the fireplace. “After everything, I’d prefer someone watch my back, too. Only fair I watch someone’sin return.”

Joel nodded and watched her follow after Jack. When the front door opened, you could see Will tending to his horse out front before it closed again and cut off the outside world. He, Jack and Kate traded muffled words before Will came inside, swiping his sweaty brow in the crook of his elbow with the sleeve of his outer flannel layer.

Once he got settled into the cabin, hogging a space by the fire despite a look from Joel as he adjusted to make room, and several pieces of beef jerky from the main stash despite you and Liam staring him down pointedly, an overly excited Will explained everything. 

Hold your horses I’m getting to it! How he rode all morning …. Can someone pass me some water? I think I swallowed a bug on the way here …. after sneaking out of Jackson …. Jerky has never tasted this good …. to try and catch up with the group once again after …. Man, whoever built this fire did a good job. It is hot! …. after Jane ‘threatened to maim him’ if he didn’t get ahold of her sewing machine. Shouldn’t be too difficult.

He had a starstruck look in his eyes the whole time, and you were pretty sure it was because he was living out his secret agent dreams by sneaking out of town and back to the group, but it was especially evident when he talked about Jane, making you smile. 

Does he realize he would have done it if she hadn’t even asked? 

He was wrapped around her finger already.

Kate and Jack had come back in by now and were in their seats by the fire once again, watching Will with bemused expressions. 

“We had to get out before dawn so the council wouldn’t put a stop to it. Things are crazy since we got back and those raiders wouldn’t say a word. Became freaking mimes.” Joel snorted in amusement. 

“Security was doubled instantly after we told them about the threats, so I had to pay off the south gate watchmen. By the way, Joel,” he turned toward the older man, “they get to choose their next three patrols.” He shrugged at the exasperated look from the elder Miller. “Was all they wanted. I told them they had to be done within the next three months or no deal, and they said fine.” Joel arched a brow.

Will took a deep breath, wincing slightly like he didn’t particularly want to relay this next part.

“Spit it out,” Joel growled, adjusting in his seat in front of the fire to face it, holding his hands out toward the flames.

“The council aren’t too happy that you didn’t come back with everyone.” He looked around the room. “Any of you.” Then back at Joel. “But especially you, since you’re partially in charge of security, n’all.”

“Well, ain’t that nice,” Joel mused quietly, the side of his mouth ticking up as he continued to stare at the fire. 

“They mentioned a disciplinary hearing once this is all sorted out.”

Everyone in the cabin groaned at the mention of more politics.

Everyone but Joel. He just grinned, rubbing his hands together in front of the flames. “Well, I think Ellie said it best….” He looked at you, then Will. “They can bite me.”

“Speaking of Ellie,” Will grabbed his backpack where it rested at his feet, pulled it into his lap and unzipped it, digging into its contents with purpose. “She was real worried ‘bout both of you when she heard what happened.” 

He looked up, his hand withdrawing from the bag and gesturing between you and Joel with his index finger, then went right back to rifling through the bag, making one side of your mouth pull up slightly at his antics. “So she sent these with me.” Pausing in his search, he shut his eyes in exasperation and tilted his head back toward the ceiling. “Don’t ask me how she knew I’d be leavin’, before you start yellin’, Joel,” Will disclaimed preemptively, his voice tired already as he focused back on the bag, returning it to the floor and withdrawing two items. “Girl’s got a mind of her own.” 

Will extended a hand to each of you, the one for Joel holding an old revolver that the man looked at fondly, his eyes softening as he took it from Will’s hand, and tucked it into the back of his pants. The younger man reached back into the bag and pulled out a bandolier lined with bullets for the gun that you’d seen Joel using his reloading press to make out in the garage a few times. 

Ammo could be hard to come by, depending on the caliber, so when Joel happened on some reloading equipment on a patrol, he’d been ecstatic. It didn’t matter that he’d thrown his back out trying to get the heavy gear home. Stubborn as he was, he made it work, he and his horse somehow tag teaming the equipment all the way back to Jackson from who knows where. He had not allowed Will to touch it the entire way back, some stupid childlike claim waging between them like finders keepers or something along those lines - you’d stopped listening with a roll of your eyes as they’d bickered the whole way into the garage with the equipment.

“Come on, Joel. I helped you get it here!” Will’s voice carried from the garage, his breathing heavy as he tugged the makeshift sled the equipment was on the last few feet over the threshold. 

“I said no! Now drop it,” Joel groused, the following silence after a loud clatter almost deafening.

“You said ‘drop it’,” Will said nonchalantly.

Joel’s hiss could be heard clearly all the way in the kitchen where you were doing dishes. “I meant the topic, not the tools….”

“Well, maybe I could think more clearly if I hadn’t just trekked thirty five miles with all that weight-”

“It wasn’t thirty-”

“Felt like it-”

“You’re acting like a child-”

“And you’re acting like a grouch-”

“Don’t test me, Will.”

“But grouch is nothing new for you, Joel.”

“Oh, just fuck off.”

“Make me.”

“Oh, I will….”

“Boys!” When you walked into the garage, the two of them were nose to nose, chests puffed up and about to bump into one another in a ridiculous display of strength. “Stop it. You’re both idiots.”

They both turned their heads to look at you.

“He thinks-” Joel started, overlapping Will’s “I didn’t-”

“What did I just say?” Your hands went to your hips in admonishment, brows knit together in an unimpressed glare.

Joel turned back to Will, a heavy puff of air passing through his nose before he smiled. “Fine. Finders keepers.”

Will scoffed in protest as Joel peeled off to start unloading the equipment.

“That’s not fair!”

“I said what I said. Now don’t touch my stuff, idiot.”

With a shake of your head, you left them to sort out their nonsense, letting the garage door close behind you and muffle their bickering as you headed back to the kitchen.

The night before you left, you’d seen Joel and Ellie out there together, working with the press as he taught her the basics of reloading. You wondered how many of those she’d made herself as you watched him take the bandolier delicately, holding it in both hands out in front of him like you would a newborn child. Practically cradling it.

The look in his eyes as he ran them up and down the lines of bullets, surveying each shiny casing, was much the same as that of a parent looking at their brand new precious offspring just after they’d entered this world. It was a look once adopted that never really left. Something a little precious, awestruck, filled with wonder and love, and a hell of a lot of pride.

You were ninety percent sure he was thinking about Ellie, and not the ammo, though.

Well, more like eighty percent.

Will cleared his throat to pull your attention back to him, jostling his hand still held out to you. 

“Sorry,” you mumbled, looking down at the offering. 

You saw your yellow fanny pack being extended to you, partly deflated and sagging as Ellie had obviously removed all your tools you wouldn’t need on the trip. 

When you took it from Will’s hand, an unexpected weight inside caught you off guard. Unzipping the main compartment once you’d clipped the belt around your waist, you pulled out a pocket knife you had seen Ellie flipping open and closed almost daily. 

She was never without it.

….Except now….

….Because she’d sent it with you. 

The room began to swim behind your unshed tears as they threatened to fall, but you blinked them away rapidly. This wasn’t the time for that. Nor was it the time for that thing catching in your chest as you traced the tip of your index finger over the worn housing of the blade. 

After a moment, you looked up at Joel, and saw the surprise on his face before his eyes pulled up from the familiar pocket knife to meet yours, something like fondness taking over his features as they softened. “That’s her most prized possession.”

“Besides the garage,” you shot back, trying to speak around the emotions building up in your throat, clearing it in an attempt to rid yourself of them. A wet chuckle took their place as you held his gaze, your grip tightening around the pocket knife protectively.

Joel snorted, shaking his head gently as he looked back down to the bandolier. “Don’t start.” He slipped the ammo belt over his shoulders and across his chest, adjusting it minutely like a man would a tie on Easter morning. 

It struck you for a moment how much life had changed since outbreak day. Men used to adjust their ties and now they adjusted their weapons.

These were thoughts for another day.

Setting the knife back in the main compartment of your pack, you dug out the rock Joel had given you to rest against your black eye from your jacket pocket, and really looked at it for the first time since he had given it to you. 

It was smooth, almost perfectly round, yet flat enough to hold in the palm of your hand easily. A rich dark gray, almost black with white streaks running through one part of it that made it look slightly off kilter. As it caught the firelight, the white streaks glimmered slightly. They were some sort of crystal, barely the width of a sharpened pencil, yet still they decided to shine. 

You wanted to be like that rock. Solid and steadfast, it knew what it was, until sometime when it was forming, something else came along to meld with it and left a mark, a scar, a blemish, and yet…. It was still beautiful.

Glancing up, you saw Joel already watching you curiously, his brow raised in amusement. Unable to hold his gaze, you shook your head slightly before looking back down to the bag, and tucked the rock in the main compartment right beside the pocket knife like you’d meant to do before you’d gotten distracted. 

The sound of the teeth stitching closed as you zipped the bag shut once again acted as an anchor to your wayward mind. 

“I’ll protect it with my life.” Looking back up, you caught Joel’s eye, and something unreadable passed across his face, his gaze fluttering down to the bag, then back up to meet your own, before turning to Will as they started in on another topic.

Holding out a hand to halt the conversation, eyes shut tight in confusion, you stopped them. “Wait, wait, wait.” 

Ignoring Will’s exasperated sigh, you forged on. Opening your eyes, you peered at him with furrowed brows as you lifted only your index finger, gesturing to your left a few times. “Back up.” 

He lifted his eyebrows at you in question. Bobbing your finger slightly as you continued for emphasis, you arched your own brows curiously. “‘We’?”

Faintly, in the distance the same direction Will had come from, you heard a wagon wheel squeak as it rolled closer toward the cabin. 

After only a moment of exchanged looks in hesitation, Will refusing to give away anything, you all piled outside to see who the newcomer was. Just cresting over the little hill before the cabin came a horse with a rider moving at a casual pace, the cart from before that had taken Jane and the raiders back to Jackson being pulled along behind them. 

Everyone smiled while Joel groaned and cradled his head in his hand when it was clear it was pulled by none other than Tommy.

“You guys have all the fun without me,” the younger Miller yelled good-naturedly.

Joel groaned a bit louder, starting toward the cart with determination. “Raiders n’infected’ll hear us comin’ a mile away with that wheel. What’d you do?”

Tommy scoffed. “First your hinges, now this? Why d’you always assume it’s me?”

Once Jack, Liam, and Kate saw who was atop the cart, and that he and Joel were quickly slipping into their usual ways, the three of them wandered back into the cabin, shaking their heads and rolling their eyes as the two men continued to bicker.

Will, however, stuck around for the show. He was a firm supporter of Miller Entertainment. So long as there was something to see, he’d be there.

Oblivious to the reactions of the others, Joel continued towards his brother, taking the reins of the horse he was atop as Tommy hopped off. “Because it is always you.” He handed the reins back to Tommy as he went to inspect the wheel quickly before they both returned to the now dwindling group. 

“Well, you’re fucking welcome, y’old fucker,” Tommy grumbled teasingly. “This wasn’t my idea, anyway.”

You smirked. “Jane got to you, too, huh?”

He looked at you with wide eyes. “That woman is frightening.”

You and Will laughed, as Tommy looked between you with the same, wide eyed look of fear.

After a quiet moment filled with your dying laughter and Joel’s grumbling as he glared at the wheel, Tommy turned back to his brother. “I just want you t’be happy, Joel.”

Knelt beside the wagon wheel, inspecting it up close now that they were beside the cabin, Joel didn’t even spare his brother a glance. “Then leave me alone, you ass.”

Tommy unhooked the horse, and you led it over beside Will’s where the two men started taking the gear off of them to rest for the evening.

After a long moment of messing with the wheel, Joel turned his head up to Tommy from his perch on the ground, wide eyed. “Who’s watchin’ Ellie?!”

Tommy looked down at his older brother, hands on his hips, unphased.  “Herself.”

With a shake of his head, Joel got to his feet and paced in a small circle with his hands on his hips. The two Miller’s looked like carbon copies of each other, and it made you grin. “They’re all doomed. All‘f Jackson….” He rounded on his brother, both of them squaring off with hands on their hips and a stern, stony expression. “What were y’thinkin’?”

You laughed. “You may not have your garage to yourself when we get back, Joel. She may take matters into her own hands.”

After turning his hard glare on you, he turned back to the wheel, wrestling with it for a moment and finally yanking out a small twig caught up in the mechanism, before standing back up and dusting off his hands with a dry, tight grin. “For everyone’s sake, she better fuckin’ not.” He nodded to Tommy. “‘specially him.”

“Why me?” Tommy scoffed.

“You’re th’idiot that left a teenager unattended in my house,” he groused.

“There’s not much she can-”

Joel just leveled a glare on him. “‘member when y’threw that party when mom ‘n dad were out of town, and I was watchin’ you?”

Tommy huffed. “That was so long ago, Joel, and she’s way different ‘n I was. She ain’t the social butterfly like me,” Joel snorted, “anyway, it’s Jackson in th’middle’f a goddamn apocalypse. What the hell is she gonna do that’d be so awful?”

They shared a look, something unsaid that had Tommy’s expression shifting to some sort of understanding. He softly amended, “I’m sure she’s fine, Joel.” He clapped a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “She’s stayin’ with Maria, anyway.” Tommy grinned at Joel’s groan. “I’m not entirely useless, big brother. I thought’f all that. Maria’ll make sure she gets t’school n’eats n’bathes….” That understanding passed over his face again, turning it to something soft, along with his tone. “She’ll be a normal kid, it’ll be fine.”

Tommy’s tone took on a teasing nature. “Besides,” he smirked. “That girl offered t’take my patrol shift for a week if I told you she was on her own.”

Joel’s eyes went wide as he stared at his brother, the shit eating grin on Tommy’s face only growing wider.

“My guess is for that very reaction.” He pointed at Joel, wagging his finger gently. “But of course I said like hell. She ain’t goin’ on patrol. No fuckin’ way.”

Joel visibly relaxed, his eyes closing in relief before they flew open and back on his brother with a skeptical brow raised. Waiting. 

“So instead,” Tommy went on, smile only broadening, “she offered t’take my shift muckin’ out the stalls in the stable for a week. Somethin’ ‘bout ‘it’s all shits and giggles, but now instead it’s shits for giggles’…. I don’t know. Half the time when she speaks it’s like another language.” He was grinning like a fool by now. “Reminds me of….” That same look of understanding passed between him and Joel again, only this time something heavier seemed to carry underneath. His voice softened. “She’s a good kid, Joel.”

As they sat in their shared moment, you decided after a minute to break the silence. “Too bad you didn’t tell him, then,” you said, crossing your arms over your chest. 

Tommy turned to you. “What d’you mean?”

You couldn’t help the smirk. “I didn’t hear anything ‘bout her bein’ on her own.” You turned to Joel. “Did you?”

He was grinning softly. “I didn’t hear nothin’. What ‘bout you, Will?”

Looking over at Will, you saw him grin like a cat with a canary. “Not a peep.”

Tommy sighed. “You bastards.”

“Takes one t’know one, ya idiot,” Joel hummed under his breath, turning toward the tack for the horses that had been set on the wagon to move it under the makeshift barn that had been set up for the evening.

“You’re so mean,” Tommy groused half heartedly as Joel passed by, pouting his lip out in an attempt to garner sympathy from his big brother who just turned to him and wrinkled his nose up at him in disgust. The younger Miller mimicked the face and lightly shoved the shoulder of his older brother, causing him to stumble sideways.

“Boys!” You called out, grinning when they snapped their heads your way in unison. “You’re how old again?” Turning toward the cabin, you called over your shoulder toward the men, “I’m just sayin’…. But just for shits and giggles….”

“Ah, shaddup,” Tommy called over the laughter of the other two.

The rest of the party had just stepped out of the cabin to see what all the fuss was about, when suddenly there was a very high pitched yet muffled sneeze from behind you.

Knitting your brows, you turned to Kate who had just walked past. “Bless you?”

She looked just as confused. “That…. Wasn’t me.”

You turned to Joel. Only making it as far as to open your mouth and take in a breath before he cut you off.

“Ha ha, very funny, darlin’. Wasn’t me.”

Another attempted assasination of a sneeze sounded from the back of the cart under a tarp, and all eyes went to it, staring in disbelief. 

Liam was the first to break the silence after a long moment. “Did that tarp just sneeze?”

A very quiet and muffled, “Ow,” came next, and you’d know that voice anywhere, no matter how squeaky it currently was. 

Your feet were moving before your brain was fully processing what you were doing, carrying you toward the cart. 

Jack was quick to chime in behind you, with an entirely necessary, “Did that tarp just talk?!”

A second female voice, this one much younger and sarcastic came from under the tarp, dry and droll, “Nice going, blondie.”

Joel’s eyes went wide. They pulled up to meet yours where you now stood on the opposite side of the cart.

He moved so fast, you could have sworn he had super speed. He was on top of the wagon wheel and ripping the tarp back to reveal your stowaways before you could even blink. 

To be fair, you were only half a second behind him, ripping the tarp off the rest of the way from the other side.

In the dying light of the day, Jane and Ellie blinked up at the two pairs of eyes peering down at them from around the edge of the cart, looking justifiably sheepish at the attention. Five more sets of eyes appeared slowly, trickling in as they realized what was going on, only adding to the squirming of the two stowaways.

You were the first to break the silent little stare off. Holding the gaze of your friend, you hissed quietly, “What are you doing here?! You just got stabbed! Are you crazy?!”

Jane wasted no time in coming to her own defense. “I told you!” She tried to sit up quickly, and hissed when her wound protested at the movement. Before you could even reach out to offer help, Ellie was quick to help her sit up fully, putting Jane’s arm over her shoulder to ease her into the right position slowly. She spoke through a grimace, “I want that sewing machine, and I’m gonna get it!” Her eyes opened fully, her voice strong. “Come hell or high water.”

After you let out a strangled puff of air through your nose in aggravation, hand still held out to help coming back to land on the edge of the cart with a smack, all eyes turned to the teenager beside her.

Ellie merely shrugged, Jane’s arm still over her shoulder rising and falling with the movement. “I’m just here for the show.”

Xxx

Your small party sat outside around a campfire, milling about as the evening wore on, tending to the horses and other menial things before everyone was set to take off in the morning.

Will would not leave Jane’s side. He was her human crutch. Literally. He helped her hobble around, and from the look on her face, she was about to shove him to the ground and run, damn whatever happened to her wound.

He was a sweet boy, but a girl needed to pee in peace, stab wound or not.

“Are you going to chew my food for me, too?” She snapped as he broke a piece of beef jerky down into smaller pieces for her to eat. 

He just stared at her for a moment, frozen.

“I’m injured, not broken.”

Will nodded after a long pause, looking down to the jerky in his hands as they rested in his lap. “You’re right. I’m sorry. This is just really tough stuff and I didn’t want you to hurt yourself trying to rip it apart.”

Jane sighed. “No, I’m sorry.” She rested a hand on his shoulder. “I appreciate all the help, I really do. I’m just a really independent person, and this…. All this needing help…. is driving me nuts.” Her hand fell down to rest on his. “Maybe we can compromise?”

He looked up and met her eyes with his own, smiling broadly. “I’d like that.”

Jane nodded once. “First things first,” she popped a bite sized piece of jerky in her mouth from the pile in his hand. “I get to pee without an escort.”

“But what if-”

“Will, I swear to God, don’t make me-”

“Fine! Fine, fine,” he held his hands up by his head in surrender, jerky flying every which way as he forgot he was holding it. He peered at it on the floor in disgust. “Oops?”

Jane had a sour expression on her face, her nose wrinkled up. “That’s yours now. Mmmm…. Floor jerky. Yum.”

You’d tried to return the pocket knife to Ellie now that she was back, but she wasn’t having it.

“Since you’re here, go ahead and take this….” Unzipping the main compartment of the fanny pack, you extended the pocket knife she’d gifted to you toward her. 

Ellie lifted a hand, shaking it as she took a step back. “No. I don’t need it.”

Cocking your head to the side in question, you bent your elbow but kept your hand out, letting the pocket knife rest in your palm between the two of you. “You need something to protec-”

The teen pulled out a machete from a belt along her hips you hadn’t noticed before. Holding it sideways, she tilted the blade side to side, letting it catch the dying light of the day and the errant twinkle of firelight. “Liam already hooked me up. I’m good.”

You snorted. “But this is yours-”

“And now it’s yours,” she countered. “….for now.” Her cheeks flamed pink. “I want that back.” A look of determination came over her features as she jut out her chin to look down her nose at you. “So you better not die, Miss Fanny.”

Grinning, you tucked the knife back into your pack. “I’ll do my best, Sparky. I’ll do my best.”

Ellie grimaced. “Sparky?”

Zipping up your fanny pack, you looked up at her through your lashes. “It’s what you remind me of.” Once the knife was secure again, you lifted your head to look at her fully. “A spitfire.”

Her grimace deepened. “But Sparky? That’s like what you name a dog or something…. Or elderly men like Joel.”

Joel, who was only a few feet away tending to the fire sighed heavily, obviously listening in, before he chuckled lowly.

“Then what do you suggest?” Your arms came up to cross over your chest, weight shifting to rest on one leg as your hip popped out to the side.

“I dunno….” She looked at Joel. “He’s The Contractor,” she said it in a ridiculous voice, making you giggle, “so can’t I be something cool like that? Like, I don’t know…. The Lumberjack…. The Carpenter….”

“You have to do all those things to get those names, smartass,” Joel chimed in, not even bothering to turn around and face the conversation.

Ellie stuck her tongue out at him.

“The Artist….” You offered, smiling when you saw the lightbulb go off behind her eyes. Nodding once, your grin grew when her own started up her face. “The Artist it is…. Sparky.”

You couldn’t help but laugh at the sour look her face instantly took on.

Tommy leaned back in his spot beside Joel with a loud groan, a mischievous grin starting up his face. “I just call it like it is. She’s Trouble.”

Ellie gasped, whipping her head over to look at him as her arms came to cross over her chest defensively. “And after I didn’t lump you into old man Joel territory over there.” She gestured to the elder Miller with a bob of her head before setting her sights squarely on the younger sibling once again.

Tommy shrugged demurely.

She glared at him, the ferocity of her expression causing you to chuckle softly as Joel let out a low whistle. “You’re dead to me, old man.”

It had dwindled down to just the two Miller’s, Ellie, and yourself. Everyone else was inside the cabin, tucked in and tightened down for the night.

“Come first light, we need to get out of here,” Joel mumbled as he leaned over at the waist, poking the fire with a long stick to rearrange the logs that had turned to coals before adding a few new fresh ones. He turned his head to peer over at you, then set his gaze squarely on the redheaded teen who sat across from the two of you, palms extended toward the fiery heat and her eyes studiously on the flames. 

“The council isn’t gonna take long to put two ‘n two together, and I want as much distance ‘tween us when they actually do so we can just get this damn thing over with.” 

Rising to his full height with a quiet groan, he didn’t even seem to register Ellie slapping her palm to her forehead and rocking her head back and forth in disbelief as he glanced down at you where you sat against a log to his left, his face twisted slightly in trepidation. “…. I didn’t mean-”

“No, I agree,” you nodded once, pulling your eyes from staring at the fire to look at Ellie in amusement before lifting them all the way up to meet his with a small smile. “Bleeding heart Miller over here probably got the town on red alert.” Bobbing your head to gesture across the flames where Tommy leaned against another fallen log beside Ellie, you grinned at Joel’s haggard sigh as he took his brother in. 

Ellie turned to look at the older man with a disapproving scowl, one side of her upper lip curling back as her eyes swept him from head to toe. You could see every Joel mannerism she had picked up on as she surveyed the younger Miller, and it took everything in you not to comment on it.

Turning back to the subject at hand, you tilted your head to the side as you took in the sleeping giant. 

Tommy’s legs were outstretched with one crossed over the other easily at the ankle, hands clasped loosely in his lap, and head tilted back as snores that grew with each attempt tumbled out of his lips.

“Not to mention they’ll raise the alarm when they notice Ellie and Jane’re missin’, too,” you added, watching Tommy begin to mutter softly in his sleep. You tried not to let Ellie’s wide eyes that snapped to you affect you from going on, not able to bring yourself to meet them. “Not to mention Will.” You looked up at Joel as you spoke softly, his own gaze meeting yours. “Tommy’s one thing. All four of ‘em?” You shook your head as your gaze fell back to land on Tommy. “All four of ‘em’s gonna set off all kinds of bells.”

“Not to mention a missin’ cart,” Joel grumbled, turning toward Tommy with a scowl that made the corner of your mouth tug up just slightly. You noticed in your peripherals it had Ellie grinning, too. “Which requires a horse….” He tugged off his gloves from tending the fire and tucked them into his back pocket with unneeded aggression, shaking his head. “Stealin’ all kinds ‘f’things, aren’t we, little brother?”

Joel sighed yet again, this one quieter and more to himself than anything, before taking a step over towards his sibling and kicking the bottom of his shoe with the toe of his boot. As Tommy sat up abruptly with a snort, making Ellie choke back a laugh, Joel eased to the ground beside you with a groan he tried to hide behind tightly closed lips. “Get up, mighty warrior. Get inside with the others. I’ll take first watch.”

“Wasn’t asleep,” Tommy mumbled dejectedly, rubbing his eye with the palm of his hand.

Ellie scoffed. “Dude, you sounded like a buzzsaw ate a bear. You were totally one hundred percent snoring.” She got to her feet, brushing off the front of her pants, then the seat. 

“You were sawing logs, cart thief. Now get.” Joel jerked his head backwards toward the cabin. “‘nd keep an eye on Trouble here.”

Ellie glared at Joel, but quickly turned her attention onto Tommy, helping him to his feet. “Come on, Uncle Tommy.”

“Told you not t’call me that, weirdo,” Tommy grumbled, blinking too many times against the firelight as his eyes still adjusted to being awake.

The teen threaded her arm through his and helped to stabilize him, starting toward the cabin. “That goes both ways, asshat.”

“Y’know what? You’re rude,” Tommy mused, pulling away just enough to look down his nose at Ellie.

“And you’re old. Now come on, cart thief.” She started to pull him back toward the cabin, looking over her shoulder and winking at you. She looked at Joel and offered a small salute before facing back forward and giving the man a tug that sent him stumbling forward slightly. “Beddy bye is just a mere few steps away.”

Tommy mumbled something nearly unintelligible, but you thought you caught the name Sarah, not missing the way Joel stiffened at the word, staring into the fire in front of him, and Ellie looking back at the two of you over her shoulder with a somewhat panicked expression.

The teen focused on Joel for a long moment, her features pulling into something sad, then determined as she looked at Tommy and finally yanked him toward the cabin, pulling him along by his ear until they were safely inside.

As Tommy slowly got to his feet and ambled toward the cabin with Ellie, you smiled, always enjoying their banter. They obviously loved each other despite how they bickered. 

And whatever this Sarah talk was, clearly it was something important, but it didn’t feel like the right time to ask about it yet. Maybe someday.

Joel glanced down at his watch briefly and cleared his throat before tugging the sleeve of his jacket down to cover it. Once the material was over the broken dial, he placed his palm over the shattered face through the fabric and rubbed it gently back and forth for a moment, staring at the flames before softly shaking his head as if coming out of a fog. He lifted his hand off the watch and set it on his thigh, his fingers gripping his flesh a little too tight and dimpling the denim under his touch.

It was then you made the connection that Sarah had to do with the watch. Somehow. And you knew that had to do with home. Texas. Back on outbreak day. The thing he missed the most.

You didn’t like where this was going.

Catching Joel’s eye, you leaned back into the log once again. “Mind if I join you?”

He just blinked for a long moment, making you grin and settle back into the log even further, letting your head loll back slightly. “Let me clarify. Mind if I stay?”

Simply shaking his head after a minute, Joel turned back to the fire after staring at you for a beat too long. “Don’t mind.” He was mumbling. “You’ll probably be bored silly, but so’ll I, so, I guess that makes me selfish.”

You snorted a laugh. “No, no. It makes you human.” Turning to the flames, you felt a different heat on the side of your face as you noticed his eyes on you again out of the corner of your field of view. He stared for a moment too long to be deemed just a friendly curiosity before Joel cleared his throat, looking down at his boots before his gaze quickly pulled right back up to you, painting your skin in varying shades of heat as you felt his eyes trace over your features once again. 

Something about that heat was much preferable to the little pile of coals inches from the tips of your shoes. Much more comforting, too, considering where your mind kept wandering to. “Can’t quite get to a place my mind’ll let me sleep, anyway. Not after everything….”

He nodded in understanding, and you saw his face turn back towards the embers after a last lingering moment of taking you in. The trail he had traced on your skin with just a look still felt warm and pleasant, but now began to cool under the loss of his attention. You found yourself angling slightly to lean just a bit closer to him to try and make up for it, catch just a wave of body heat. It wasn’t working.

“How’d y’learn all that?” When you arched a brow at him in question, Joel pointed back toward where everything had happened with the raider scumbag, and the general direction of Jackson.

Turning your eyes from him to the fire, you stared at the flames as they crackled. “I don’t want t’talk about it.”

“That’s fine,” he drawled softly, lowering his hand. A moment passed before an even quieter, “But that don’t come from nothin’.” He jerked his head toward the direction this time. “We’ve all got our demons. Hell, I’ve got too many t’count.” He turned back to the fire as you turned to look at him again. “N’most’ve us’ve killed our fair share. That’s just life now-”

“No,” you interrupted him, focusing back on the heat of the flames and away from the fire in his eyes as they landed on you once again. “That I’ve never done.” You waited a moment before adding a quiet, “Least not yet.”

A memory, sparkly and worn, something you’d viewed time and time again as it haunted your every quiet moment, awake or in the dead of night began to tiptoe behind your eyes. 

A voice you’d rather forget drifted to the front of your mind, clearer than anything else, as if it were right in front of you yet again.

“This is just how things work now.” 

Night seemed to be its favorite, though; when your defenses were at their lowest. It’d come slinking in like a thief, ready to steal your sleep, your sanity, your time…. 

The rest of a phantom conversation began to play in the theater of your mind, unbidden and loud, consuming anything else in front of you in favor of its wicked games once again on repeat.

“I said no.” Your voice was weaker than you ever wanted it to be as you struggled against hands that had always been helpful, but now they only sought to keep you still. Angry tears threatened to crack your resolve with every word.

The next thing you knew his gun was out of its holster and in your hand aimed at his stomach. How it got there, you still didn’t know. It must have jumped. 

Telekinesis. 

Something. 

It’s the only thing that makes sense. Because the alternative is that you grabbed it voluntarily, and that was a road you were not willing to travel down.

A sneer of disbelief colored his face as he held his hands up in surrender, looked down to the gun, then to you, eyes narrowing as he chuckled softly in amusement. 

“You wouldn’t.” 

He moved toward you, whether to move the gun or move you, you didn’t know. 

You’ve analyzed it over and over again for years, and this is the point where it always goes black, blissfully giving you a respite from the rest of the gory details. 

The echo of the hammer on the revolver cocking back in prime to shoot echoed in your mind then just as much as it did now. You remembered how the sound filled you with a grim satisfaction, a smirk crawling up your face now that was too terrified to even try then.

Blissful darkness continued to fill the next moments as you were lost in the memory, absently staring at the fire in silence, until a resounding phantom gunshot echoed around the walls inside your head when Joel said your name, making you jump.

When he said it again, the concern swelling in his voice made your breath stutter. 

Blinking the darkness away, you saw the fire once again come into focus in front of you, and out of your peripherals, Joel leaning forward beside you, tilting his head to the side in question as he tried to catch your eye. His features were drawn cautiously.

Pulling your knees up closer to your chest as a chill ran down your spine that was from anything but being cold, you gave him a sideways look before turning back to the flames. “I’m fine.” You wrapped your arms around your legs to hold them tightly to yourself.

“Y’look it,” he teased.

Cutting your eyes his way, you found Joel smirking slightly at you, but his eyes still held concern as they studied your face, then made a run up and down the length of you, pausing on your hands briefly.

That’s when you realize you’d clenched them into fists so tight, you had indentations from your nails on your palm when you released them. With a sigh, you turned your stare back to the fire. “I’m fine, Joel.” Repeating the words didn’t help for some reason, so you continued on. “I…. I’ve never killed anyone, but….” Tilting your head back and pulling your knees tighter to your chest, you looked up at the stars. “I’ve come damn close once‘r’twice. Too close.”

“You don’t have t’talk abou-”

“The first person I lived next to in a QZ,” you started, smiling gently at his attempt to give you space on the topic. “He didn’t like the…. What did y’call it? Smelly noise?”

Joel scoffed in amusement, meeting your gaze as you lowered your eyes back onto him before staring toward the fire again absently.

“Came over after about a week t’tell me so, and I guess somethin’ in the way I said hello sounded like an invitation-”

The man stiffened beside you. “Y’know that’s not-”

Reaching out, you rested your hand on his forearm. “I’m kidding, Joel. I know I didn’t do anything, the man was just a pig.” You looked at him. “But thank you, though.” Turning back to the fire to find the words again, you took a deep breath. “Long story short, he tried somethin’, told me it was just the times we live in now, so I grabbed the gun he was wearin’ and threatened to teach him how no means no.”

A snort of laughter left Joel along with a gentle shake of his head as he too stared at the flames, giving you the space to finish your story.

“He didn’t think I would do it.” You went silent. The next time you spoke, even you could barely hear your own voice. “I probably should’ve. He went on t’do it to many others after me. Joined FEDRA. Should’ve seen that one comin’.” Clearing your throat, you shook your head and went on, voice a little stronger. “I shot him in the foot. Well, first I fired a warning shot to the side. He made some stupid comment about how he likes them crazy and lunged so I….” You made a finger gun with your left hand, pointed at Joel’s foot to your right, and imitated a shooting sound. “He gave me so many nicknames after that. So colorful. You crazy bitch, and-”

“I think I can paint a pretty clear picture, no need t’go on,” Joel said softly. His voice was gruff, not towards you, but the situation you’d found yourself in and the man with no name. 

You nodded. “He’s why I left. After he joined FEDRA, he made my life hell. Made sure I got less ration cards, blacklisted me, caused all sorts’f problems. So I used what I had left t’pay someone to smuggle me out’f the QZ.”

“Nothing’s happened out here?”

“You mean outside the QZ?” He nodded. “No. I mean besides some infected, but I don’t count them. They’re technically already dead; it's just the fungus at that point. If we’re splittin’ hairs.” Looking out at the tree line, you sighed forlornly. “I used t’love mushrooms.”

After a second of silence, Joel burst out laughing, a low gravelly sound rumbling from deep in his chest. It vibrated you from your spot next to him, your very bones seeming to resonate with him. He was under your skin, and that made you smile. 

“Y’know,” he started after a minute. “I just heard ‘bout the most Texan come out’f your mouth in the last five minutes than the whole time I’ve known you.”

“The most….?”

“‘I’ve come damn close once‘r’twice,’” he mimicked your words from earlier, emphasizing you’re lackadaisical grammar. 

“Pfffft,” you blew out a huff at him. “Did not,” you countered, pushing his shoulder slightly.

“You’re slippin’” he teased with a grin, watching the flames.

His smile was contagious. “I’m just comfortable, is all. Comfortable and tired.”

“Oh good gracious, there it is again.” He looked at you mischievously. “Tired.” He drawled the word ridiculously now.

You narrowed your eyes at him. “I do know how to shoot a gun, Joel.”

He nodded once in understanding. “Yes, ma’am.” Quickly turning his eyes back to the fire, he glanced back up at you only once briefly, the side of his mouth twitching up before his eyes fell back down to the wall of heat.

As you sat around the campfire, it had dwindled down to just the two of you. You watched him as the firelight reflected in his eyes, a small smile continuing to pull up his face as he stared into the flames.

“What?” He asked after a minute, pulling only his eyes up toward you, his head still angled down. “I got somethin’ on my face?”

You snorted. “Besides your age, which you wear brilliantly, by the way? No.”

“Ouch,” he chuckled. “Thank you? ….I think?”

Grinning, you leaned your shoulder into his before sitting back upright. “You’re welcome.” Despite having sat back how you had been, the sides of your arms now brushed one another’s, and neither of you made an effort to move. 

“So.”

He finally turned his head to fully look at you. “Yeah?”

“Why are you so opposed to Ellie moving into the garage?”

He sighed, glancing over his shoulder toward the cabin before looking out across the small camp toward the tree line. “Ugh, not you, too.”

“Is there something you’re worried about, or is it just…. Puttin’ your foot down?”

Joel heaved another sigh, eyes darting back and forth along the trees as he stared at them absently. “It’s…. I don’t know.” He paused, letting out a breath before taking another deep one as he started again. “We…. We went on a really, uh, tough trip together to get here. To Jackson, I mean. All the way from Boston. It’s been a rough road for her.”

“For the both of you, it seems,” you offered quietly. He looked at you and you shrugged. “You traveled together. If it was hard for her, it was for you, too. That’s just how it goes.”

“Yeah, I….” He looked at the flames. “I guess so.” He smiled softly before it faded. “I guess I just don’t want her that far from me.” He looked down at his hands, fiddling with his fingers, the tips of them dancing along the band of his watch before he closed his hand around the worn fabric. “Not yet.”

“It’s five extra steps, Joel.”

“I can keep an eye on her better down the hall.”

“You walked across the country together, a few more steps won’t break you.”

“You don’t know that,” he objected quickly, somewhat defensively, meeting your eyes again with his own as a dry chuckle painted the last of his words.

Smiling softly, you leaned further into his side slowly as you looked into the dwindling flames. “No, you’re right. I don’t.” He began to relax, his shoulders rolling forward as his weight slightly melted into you, staring at the flames once again himself. “But I’d like to think I’ve come to know you.” 

Joel froze, his body tense once again as he listened to you go on.

Looking up at him through your lashes, you saw the firelight dancing across his face, sending him into all kinds of shadows. It could have been a trick of the light, but he looked almost nervous? His eyes were definitely apprehensive, and once you noticed that, you lowered your gaze down to his lap where his hand was once again digging into the fabric of his jeans.

“I don’t know what or who happened to you, and I’m not asking for details, that’s up to you. What I am saying is….” reaching up and across, you rested your left hand on his left forearm where it continued to press into yours with each deeper breath either of you dared to take. A small smile worked its way up your features as you saw his hand relax and unclench against the denim, his palm coming to rest on your knee instead. “You’re on a supply run for a teenaged girl to get paint. And to me?” 

You turned just enough to catch his eye, finding his gaze already on you. When you realized that, you had to really think to remember what you wanted to say, swallowing roughly to remember how words worked as your eyes flicked between his own, your voice now something incredibly soft. “To me that paints a beautiful picture.”

Joel scoffed, his eyes studying your face for a long moment before he turned back to the fire that was now mostly coals, and started laughing. The sound started quiet but grew with each new round until it was a truly ruckus thing. “That…. was truly awful. And you say my puns are bad.”

You grinned as you sat back upright, pulling your knees tighter to your chest so you could rest your chin on them. He kept his palm on your leg, letting it ride just a bit above your knee and squeezed. “I have a bad influence. My roommates? Awful. All the time. Horrible, horrible puns.”

“Oh, really?” He arched a brow at you, giving your leg still in his grip a small teasing shake.

With a sigh, you tilted your head to the side to rest on the backs of your hands on your knees, studying him and trying to keep the damn smile off your face. “Yeah, they think they are so funny, but it’s really sad.”

He tilted his head back, looking down his nose at you in amusement. “Well, maybe you should teach them a thing or two.”

You grinned. It was inevitable. “Yeah. Maybe I will.”

Xxx

Tags to come!

[zombiequeenblog]

Lusting over him bad right now, will have to write about him again soon

You’d never want this to be over

[iamthecomet]

I'm so wrapped up in how tiny Dew is this week 😭 even Aeon is slightly taller, Dew is just itty bitty, he climbs into Swiss' bunk and Swiss barely notices cause he takes up basically no room. and next to Aether, Dew is like an angry wet kitten, but he likes being able to hold Aether and feeling so safe

He is so so little tiny. I feel like there's a lot of "dew doesn't like being so small" or "Dew wishes he was taller" in this fandom, but I have a different take on that. I think Dew is fine being small. I think Dew likes being able to squeeze into tiny spaces. He's not that short anyway. And if he needs to reach something on a shelf that's too high he just climbs. He's small and agile enough to do it. He is content to be the little space heater between Aether and Rain on cold nights. Happy that he can squeeze into those little tiny bunks with his band mates. Aether and Mountain can't bunk together--they're too big, but Dew? Dew can sleep with anyone, anywhere and he loves it. I also think he takes up an obscene amount of space in a large bed if he's allowed. He starfishes, sprawls out. Aether often wakes up on the edge of the bed with Dew on his stomach, limbs outstretched. But all Aether has to do is roll over and gather Dew up in his arms. Dew will trill happily, snuggle his face right into the hollow of Aether's throat, and everything will be right with the world.

[ellaelsinore]

Corroded Coffin gets asked to be the house band for the local Hedwig production, clearly the only musicians skilled enough for a rock opera. Eddie didn’t think the show would be fun, but the music clearly rocks, the show is entertaining, it pays and it gives him more opportunities to perform. Costume even lets him wear mostly his own clothes, embellishing his battle vest further, not budging on the obscene amount of eyeliner they insist is “necessary to the plot”. Both Eddie and Steve kinda love it, even when Eddie looks like a raccoon the next morning. It takes all of his time for months, but by the end the boys are pretty proud of what they’ve accomplished and have learned a lot from the director and production staff about putting on a real show.

Steve comes to multiple shows, in the audience and backstage. He prefers being backstage, watching from the wings. He alternates between stage right and stage left, either able to watch Eddie from afar as he plays and dances and sings harmony, or right next to him so he can tell him how pretty he looks every break for the whole show. Eddie basks in the attention he gets from the community, the snobby theater crowd impressed by the skill of four heathens with guitars and a drum kit. The actor playing Hedwig tells them that they’re by far the most talented pit band he has worked with and will keep them in mind the next time he does a rock musical.

Eddie plays Wicked Little Town (reprise) every night like it’s the last time he’s going to play it. He studied the music for weeks, pouring over that particular song, first, because it’s the climax of the musical and second, it reminds him of Steve. Steve who is so much more than the stuck-up, pretty-boy jock he saw in high school. Steve who kept the party and himself alive and safe in the Upside Down, who picked up the pieces of a life that broke around him and built a new family with them. Who changed so completely that anyone from his old life would never recognize the man he had become, who sometimes didn’t recognize himself. Eddie wanted to be the voice Steve could follow, to rebuild this new life together.

Next Corroded Coffin show, Eddie plays a viciously emotional rendition of Wicked Little Town (Reprise), shirtless, black jeans low on his hips, jewelry shining in the stage lights. Robin and Nance made sure that Steve was front and center, Eddie dedicates the song to “his cosmic lover,” and plays to Steve like he’s the only one in the bar. Steve cries into Robin’s shoulder until Eddie slings his guitar over his back and hops off the stage, taking Steve’s face in his hands, kissing away the tears on his cheeks.

“You make this wicked little town worth every minute, Stevie.” Eddie kisses his forehead. “And you will never be alone again, never be a stranger, not if I can help it.” He pulls the ring box out of his pocket, not caring that they’re still in the middle of the Hideout and some asshole (Gareth) got them to adjust the spotlight to where the two men are standing in the pit. Not caring that the whole club has pulled back and is watching two men in desperate love, sharing in a moment that they should be grateful to see.

Steve laughs wetly as Eddie presents the ring, a woven silver band set with three sunshine-yellow stones, nodding before Eddie can even ask the question. “Steve Harrington, will you..” Steve crushes Eddie into a hug, whispering “yes” against his neck over and over. “You didn’t let me finish, Stevie,” Eddie laughs. Steve pulls back to look at his boyfriend, fuck, fiancé, and sees Eddie’s doe eyes misty and rimmed with red, but he’s smiling at Steve and god, Steve could look at him for the rest of his life. “Steve,” Eddie takes a deep breath, takes Steve’s hands in his. “Will you marry me?”

“Yes, a million times yes.” Steve lets Eddie put the ring on him, before finally kissing Eddie. However wicked this town was, Eddie was his home, and together they would pick up the pieces and make a beautiful life for themselves.

[seasidesandstarscapes]

Much Ado About…Well, Everything

Summary: Roger falls in love while Chuck is waxing poetic

Rating: G

Genre: Canon Era, Falling in Love, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Slice of Life, Shakespeare References

Words: 1434

A/N: for @sparrow-in-the-field !!! It was so much fun writing these two. Thank you for the prompt!!

~

AO3

or

The shell house is abuzz when Roger gets there.

He didn’t think he had slept in that late, but everyone else is already there, voices colliding in an echoed din.

When Roger joins his team, a piece of paper is immediately shoved under his nose. Chuck’s grin is wide, bright, and Roger wonders if Chuck got any sleep the night before.

“Stub, Shorty, and I got the parts. You better be there,” Chuck all but throws the flier at Roger before bounding off to hand out some more.

Roger blinks, looks at the bold text, the obscene amount of exclamation points. He remembers the off-comment Roger made about trying out for the local theatre’s spring play, but he thought it was a joke.

“What part?” Roger asks when Chuck eventually takes his place next to him.

“Benedick. Shorty is Claudio, Stub got Leonato.”

Roger tries to think back to his high school English classes, but he never was one for Shakespeare.

“You’ll help me practice, won’t you?” Chuck smiles.

With a swallow, heart beating in his ears, Roger nods.

He’s not going to survive to opening night.

~

The thing is, Roger never meant to fall in love with Chuck.

In fact, he doesn’t know how it happened. One day Chuck was just a friend and the next, Roger couldn’t keep his head on straight.

Had Chuck’s smile always been that beautiful? Was his voice that deep this whole time? Roger turns on his head trying to figure it all out.

It doesn’t help that he has no one to talk to about this. He’s sure he’s the only one on the team who’s like this. The unspoken side of the world no one wants to acknowledge. So, he has to fester inside himself, try to deny his feelings.

Except, it’s harder than it looks. Chuck is so casual with his arm thrown about Roger’s shoulder. When they’re out drinking, Chuck doesn’t even think as he leans in close to speak in Roger’s ear over the blaring band in the corner.

Roger shivers as Chuck’s fingers dance along his neck.

“She’s a looker,” Chuck points to the singer, a blonde bombshell in a form fitting dress.

She is pretty, Roger can see that, but it doesn’t stop the envy in his chest. “Yeah, she probably has a boyfriend already.”

“Yeah,” Chuck sighs wistfully. “Ah, well. We’ll find our girls someday, won’t we, Rodge?”

Roger knows there won’t be anyone but Chuck. At least not for many years. He forces a smile, nods before taking a sip from his drink.

Chuck has taken to rubbing circles in Roger’s shoulder now. It’s maddening, but Roger doesn’t move away. For just a little while he can pretend this is something more.

They take a few minutes to enjoy the bar scene, people-watching the variety of couples, bright colors against the dim lamplight. Roger sees one woman lay her head on her man’s chest as they’re dancing and his heart aches.

He won’t ever have that chance. He won’t know love like she does.

“Thinking about stealing her away?” Chuck’s voice rumbles in Roger’s very soul.

Roger closes his eyes, inhales sharply. Chuck’s breath tickles his ear and Roger thinks he feels lips just graze the outline.

“Thinking I should be getting back,” Roger mutters. “We. Practice tomorrow.”

Chuck gives a small laugh, slaps Roger on the back. “Ever the wise one. Shall we?”

Getting to his feet, Chuck throws his coat over his shoulder, raises a brow at Roger. Nodding, Roger shoves on his hat and follows.

They walk back to the dorms in relative silence and thank god for that. Roger’s mind is abuzz, all he wants is to just tell Chuck the truth. But then everything would fall apart.

When they reach their respective rooms, Roger looks back and freezes when he sees Chuck doing the same.

“Night, Roger,” Chuck all but purrs.

Roger uses all his strength to stop his knees from buckling, steadies himself on the door. “Night, Chuck.”

He rushes into his room, slams the door shut which makes Joe lift his head just a little from his bed. He mutters something but falls back asleep to Roger’s relief.

In the darkness, Roger finally takes a breath. He’s in a losing battle and he doesn’t know what to do. So, he trudges over to his dresser, gets ready for the night.

Maybe a good night’s rest will help.

~

“Alright,” Chuck slams down a thick booklet in front of Roger. “I need help.”

Roger glances from the table to Chuck. Here he was just having a nice moment in the sun room and now Chuck’s come to disturb the peace. Not that Roger is truly mad at him.

“Thought you were rehearsing with Stub and Shorty,” he frowns.

“Yeah, but they aren’t cutting it and I can’t get this part right.”

Roger doesn’t trust this excuse but he picks up the script anyway and flips through the pages. The amount of lines Chuck has is astounding and Roger’s stomach flips. How he must sound on stage, his voice shaking the auditorium, reverberating in everyone’s hearts.

“Which,” Roger clears his throat. “Which part?”

Chuck takes the script from Roger’s hand, turns to the last few pages. “From here.”

Roger raises his brows but starts where Chuck instructed. Chuck is a natural, he has all his lines perfect, even his cues, so what his plan is underneath all this is beyond Roger.

“Soft and fair, Friar. Which is Beatrice?”

“I answer to that name. What is your will?” Roger winces.

His reading is stilted but in his defense, he’s not supposed to be a masterful actor.

“Do you not love me?”

Roger pauses, glances up at Chuck. He forgets the script, swallows as Chuck stares right into his eyes.

He does. With all his heart.

Then, Roger shakes himself, tries to get back to the lines.

“Why no; no more than reason.”

Shakespeare himself is taunting Roger and if he could go to England, he’d do it in an instant to yell at the dead man.

“Why, then your uncle and the prince and Claudio have been deceived; they swore you did,” Chuck makes his way over to the couch, oh so slowly sits next to Roger.

“Do…do you not love me?” Roger stumbles over the line.

This is all too real. His heart threatens to burst out of him, the script crumpling in his tight grip.

“Troth, no; no more than reason.”

The next moment is a dream. Chuck leans in, his breath gracing Roger’s lips. Roger knows they shouldn’t, knows he should push him away but he just can’t. He wants this so much, he’ll destroy everything just to have Chuck.

He sighs when Chuck kisses him. It’s just like he thought. Chuck is harsh, but calm, guiding Roger through their bated breaths.

Roger falls easily, melts when Chuck takes his face in both his hands. They follow each other in their embrace, a reluctance to part until they absolutely must.

“How long?” Roger asks as their foreheads press together.

“I don’t know,” Chuck admits, voice just above a whisper. “Maybe always.”

Roger nods, covering one of Chuck’s hands with his own. He’s going to wake up any minute now. But as the seconds pass, Chuck doesn’t fade. They’re still in the sun room, the script long forgotten on the floor.

“Your…,” Roger points to it. “What about your lines?”

Chuck laughs, bright and loud, pulling Roger into a tight hug. “Rodge, opening night is next week. I think I’d be in deep shit if I didn’t have my lines all but perfect.”

Roger’s eyes go wide. It was a ploy after all. He’s not mad though. If this is what gets Chuck by his side, then Roger loves him all that much for it.

He joins in with Chuck’s laughter, loves the way Chuck stares into his eyes. The calloused hands on his skin are perfection and Roger wonders how he ever lived until this moment.

With a devilish grin, Chuck leans in close to Roger, breath hot on his ear.

“But…we can always rehearse some more,” Chuck murmurs.

Roger bites his lip, soaks in Chuck’s rich, tantalizing voice. With just one nod, they scramble from the sun room, tear off to Roger’s dorm. Joe’s always out with Joyce after all. As Chuck pulls him into another kiss, Roger flies into the clouds.

Sitting in the crowd next week will be torture but at least Roger will know that all the love Chuck recites will be for him and him alone.

[humorisstoredinthetits]

The Heathers+Veronica go to the Mall

I have returned because I actually had an idea for once

I also got too busy watching another show about a group of 4 color-coded girls who are all (probably) gay, guess correctly and you get a cookie

Its no secret that they like to shop

Between Chandler's massive ego forcing her to have the newest fashion trends to ensure she looks better than everyone else and Duke and Veronica's gremlin hordes of collectibles, they do alot of shopping

At least once a week they end up at the local mall and don't leave until they come out with just tons of unnecessary bullshit

Do they have a problem? Probably.

Is it a massive drain on their finances? Lol not even close, they have just obscene amounts of money, between their three incomes and the fortunes left behind from the Heather's parents they can afford to buy whatever the hell they please

Even with the amounts they donate to various charities, they still just have so much of it

This ends up with them buying just the dumbest things

By 'them' I mean Duke

Like once she rented one of those bouncy castles from a party company bc Duke always wanted once but her parents sucked and wouldn't get it so she said fuck it and rented one

Mac and Veronica quickly joined her on it and they all started fooling around in there (not in the nsfw way, ik some of you dirty people were thinking that)

Chandler was just like 'whatever' until she realized that it was crushing some of her flowers

The stakes planted in the ground to keep the castle in place were not meant to withstand the forces of 3 childish adults bouncing around in there so they came out and the forces of them jumping moved the castle onto her flowers

Chandler got pissed, grabbed a knife, and stabbed the castle, deflating it

Everyone was pissed at her for ruining their fun and she had to pay the company for the damages

But back to what this was actually about

The Sherwood Mall really isn't anything that spectacular, but there really isn't much to do in Sherwood so they'll take what they can get

They'll usually drive in Duke's Jeep, as its the only thing that will be able to hold all of their crap

Once they get to the mall they split into two groups

Duke and Mac go off on their own while Chandler goes with Veronica

This is because they usually look for clothes first, and if Chandler doesn't supervise her Veronica will get non-Chandler approved outfits and she will not stand for that

And she still can't accessorize for shit

Chandler will go into a store, grab so many different clothes and spend literal hours trying them on while asking Veronica her opinions

Veronica still sucks with fashion, even after all these years with her fashionista gfs, so she's clueless when Chandler asks her for her opinion

"Which Skirt do you think looks better on me"

"This is a trick question, they're the same fucking skirt"

" No, this one is black and this on is very very dark gray, God Veronica how can you not see the difference, it's clear as night and day!"

"Whatever you say Princess"

What's even worse is when Chandler is done and starts picking out shit for Veronica

She feels like a doll while Chandler argues with herself over very minute differences in clothes

Sometimes she will take pity on her and let her pick out a few outfits that she doesn't approve of, which usually ends up with Veronica at Hot Topic getting band t-shirts and ripped jeans while Chandler tries not to gag at how unfashionable it all is

Veronica used to get severely annoyed by this, especially when she first joined the Heathers, but she then realized that she does it from a place of love, she just wants her gfs to look good

Chandler is just very very very bad at expressing her feelings in ways that don't make her look like a controlling bitch

Plus she also appreciates it deep down, she knows that she would not be able to pick them out herself

Hell if it wasn't for Chandler she would probably still be wearing that stupid scarf she used to wear with literally everything no matter how badly it clashed

Duke and Mac, on the other hand, are having a good time

Chandler trusts them enough to know what looks good on them so they are allowed to go out on their own

They take things a whole lot slower, taking their time browsing and seeing what looks cute

And don't get them wrong, they love Chandler, but she can be a bitch sometimes when it comes to these kinda things so they're glad that Veronica is the one who has to deal with that

Once they finish buying things they bring them to the Jeep before heading back inside for lunch

Being a small mall, the options aren't great but they make do with what they have

Chandler doesn't like most of the options, being mostly unhealthy fast food, so she usually goes to Subway

She gets the Roasted Chicken 6in with a tea and Miss Vicke's Salt and Vinegar Chips

Yes, Chandler is one of those horrid people who likes Salt and Vinegar Chips

The employees there put extra toppings on her sandwich because she comes there so consistently

Duke goes to the Panda Express (Ik I'm saying the Asian gets Asian food and all that but I have like no ideas for Duke)

She gets the Orange Chicken Bowl with Fried Rice and a Diet Coke

Mac goes to McDonalds

She collects the Happy Meal toys so she'll get 3 4piece McNugget Happy Meals

She doesn't like the apple slices so Chandler will usually eat them

The employees know to give her 3 different toys bc one time they didn't and Mac was disappointed so Chandler went over there and demanded they exchange them out for different ones

Veronica goes to the local Pizza shop

Its called Smokey's and its one of those restaurants where if you eat the big slice in a certain amount of time they'll put your picture on the wall and give you free pizza

Well the first time they came to the mall Veronica decided to try it for the hell of it

She devoured it in half the time of the previous record holder

The Heathers were watching and were horrified at how she just inhaled it like she was a black hole

Now every time she goes she gets the big slice and just for the hell of it tries to beat her best record

Her current record is 2min 12sec

After they finish eating they'll get ice cream because they are responsible adults who only eat healthy things to ensure they are in the best health

Mac gets Vanilla bc she's basic af

Chandler gets Strawberry

Duke gets Chocolate Chip

Veronica gets Pistachio

The Heathers are once again disgusted by their gf's food taste bc who tf likes pistachio?

After finishing their ice cream they go shopping for other things

This time they don't split up and go around in a group

They often go to Earthbound Trading Co.

Mac likes the incense so she'll stop by and see if theres any new scents or just to replenish her stock

She also likes the animal diagram wall art they have

One time Veronica found these rainbow butterfly wings there and as soon as she saw them Chandler said "Veronica Sawyer I swear to God if you buy those I am going to kill you"

She wore them to pride that year

Chandler refused to acknowledge her the whole time

At BoxLunch Mac and Duke will go through the pin stand and show each other what stupid ones they have and laugh at them while Veronica looks at the anime figures

Duke will buy the enamel pins for her office at work bc they're more fun that the boring regular ones

They go to Gamestop and Veronica tells herself that she isn't going to buy any more Pokemon Cards, its just like gambling, she isn't guaranteed to get anything good, she should just order what she wants off of Ebay

She comes out the store with bags full of packs and no regrets

Of course they go to the Candy Store, they get so much candy that the owner insists on giving them discounts

Duke buys all of those weird sodas like atomic waste or whatever

**Line break bc Tumblr is Dumblr**

She never likes any of them and never takes more than a few sips from each before spitting it out

One of the few good things their mall does have is a Lego Store

Mac once made custom minifigures of the four of them

Chandler acted like she thought it was stupid but she actually thinks its really cute and keeps hers on her desk in her office

Chandler has to drag the three of them out of there sometimes becuase they cannot make up their minds on what sets to get

They have a Build-a-Bear too, Mac usually looks to see if they have any of the Pokemon ones in there and gets them if they do

Its also where Chandler and Mac had their first 'date'

They call it a date but they were 7 and it was Mac's Birthday Party and Chandler gave her bear to Mac who was upset that she couldn't get two

Mac still has those bears to this day

They go to Spencer's and head straight for the back after checking out the pride stuff in the front and seeing if any of it is good

They don't buy anything most of the time they just go back there and laugh at all of the stupid shit they have there

One time they found a skirt that was red with a heart that said 'bitch' on it and they made Chandler get it

Duke also got a lava lamp

I just think she would really like lava lamps

Finally they stop in Sephora bc of course they do they're the Heathers

They go there last bc they spend forever looking at makeup and nail polish and shit

On their way out Mac coerces them into riding on the carousel bc they are definitely mature adults

Mac rides the Unicorn bc of course

Duke rides the Tiger

Chandler rides the horse

Veronica rides the ostrich

She just thinks its funny that there are all these majestic creatures and then there's this giant bird

After that the leave and everyone is exauhsted, especially Chandler bc she just had to babysit her 3 gfs for the past several hours even through they are grown adults and should be able to handle themselves

Unfortunately for her, none of them are mature adults, not even her

[yenforfairytales]

We need an AU with teenage!Daniel in cut off shorts and band tees, and his long suffering neighbor young!Kreese (maybe on leave from the army?) who is totally tormented by this little tease.

Daniel, licking a vanilla ice cream slowly, leaning over the fence with his ass out, all sunkissed and gorgeous: Oh heyyyy John, didn’t know you were there!

John, dying on the inside: …hey kid. [Do Not Rail Him. Do Not Rail Him. Do Not—]

Daniel, sucks on the cherry: Mmm!

John: Yeah, jail’s worth it.

And they were neighbors! NSFW!!!!

----

Kreese braces himself as he passes by the nonfunctioning pool in his complex, taking the steps up to his second-level apartment as measured and purposeful as he can.

Because going up the stairs to his apartment means walking by his next door neighbor. There's no avoiding it.

And normally that wouldn't be a bad thing, but his new neighbor's kid has taken to hanging out right in front of his door, leaning over the railing like there's anything in the courtyard worth looking at.

Kreese curses silently to himself as he pulls his keys out, steadfastly facing his door and not the half-naked twink behind him.

Just his luck that the kid and his mother moved in near the start of summer.

Summer means no school.

Summer means the boy has nothing better to do than pester Kreese in the least amount of clothes as possible.

And he is a boy.

Sixteen, the boy's mother had said.

Although, Kreese wasn't much older when his own mother had died and he'd had to find multiple meager jobs to pay his own bills. Not long after when a gun was placed in his hands to defend a nation.

Kreese is interrupted of his musings by an obscenely loud suck.

He turns to see the little cocktease smacking his lips around some melted ice cream. The boy then wraps those lips around a cherry while creamy vanilla drips down the cone in his hand, leaving gleaming trails along a slender wrist.

"Hey, John," the boy says. "Hope you don't mind the mess. I'll clean it up, I promise."

Kreese can tell there's a smirking playfulness in the kid's eyes, even behind the aviator sunglasses he's wearing.

"Hey, kid."

Kreese can feel his pulse race as his heart beats wildly. It's not going to happen again. It's not.

The last time was the last time.

He's stronger than this. He should have never touched the kid-- Daniel to begin with.

But the thing was, the thing was...

Kreese hadn't felt good once since he'd come home from 'Nam. There wasn't a whole lot in his life that had ever felt good.

"Your mom at work?"

----

Gasps and moans fill Kreese's small bedroom as Daniel rides him like he'll die if he doesn't.

His skin is still hot, sunkissed from being outside, and Kreese groans as he watches his cock disappear again and again into Daniel's body as the kid bounces with enthusiasm in his lap. Just like the first time.

"Fuck, fuck."

Kreese is forced to throw his head back against the mattress. It's so good, so tight that he has to keep himself from shouting out.

Wet slaps in rhythm with the squeak of well-worn bed springs.

Daniel loves it. Eyes squeezed shut as he chases the feeling of something deep inside him, building and sparking. He braces his hands against John's chest for leverage; if he can just get John a little deeper, a little harder...

An itch that needs scratching.

John's hands grip Daniel's hips tight enough to leave bruises but glide down, slick with sweat, to squeeze Daniel's ass.

Daniel cries out, breathy moans getting louder as his body clenches around the hard cock inside him. So close, so close...

"Ah-! God, yes- please-!"

Daniel comes almost painfully on a down thrust. Feels it all the way down to his toes.

Kreese follows a second later-- the sounds Daniel makes, along with his body sucking him in deep as he rides out the waves of his orgasm, too much for anyone.

They moan together as they come down from the high. Daniel's hole occasionally clenching in aftershocks that make them both shudder in pleasure.

Daniel collapses over Kreese and nuzzles in close under the older man's jaw, completely blissed out.

Daniel hums happily. "That was great! Why'd you make us wait so long?"

Kreese wraps a muscular arm around Daniel to pull him in close. His other hand running along his own face to fight off the post-coital fatigue. To fight off the disbelief of his situation.

"Three days is a long time to you?" Kreese grumbles tiredly. "Don't come crying to me when your mother suspects something. I'll deny everything."

Daniel's heard this lecture before. Several times. About stopping before getting caught. About how John is too old for him, too bad, too wrong for him, too male. Too, too, too. He grins.

"C'mon," Daniel coos, running his fingers over Kreese's chest. "She's too busy working to notice. And besides, I'll be cleaned up and in bed before she even gets home."

Kreese stops brooding long enough to finally look at Daniel, a small smile forming before he places a soft kiss against the boy's temple.

Daniel snuggles in closer and laughs as they wrap their arms around each other a little tighter.

"I should get going, actually," he sighs.

Kreese grumbles again, placing more kisses on Daniel's cheek. His lips.

"Can I get my sunglasses back?"

"Not a chance."

----

Things continue on like this. Stolen moments whenever they have the opportunity.

John has the distinct feeling that if it were up to Daniel, with his teenage libido, they'd fuck no less than 10 times a day. But as it is, John is only one man, and he keeps the little punk at bay as much as he reasonably can.

He has to laugh at himself sometimes. He'll be lucky if he doesn't end up in Hell, let alone jail.

But since when has John's life ever been fair? And he's tired of denying himself something he wants.

Every day John grows a little bolder. A little angrier. It isn't fear holding him back. Fear doesn't exist.

It's that Daniel could be taken away from him. Separated. Just like--

And why shouldn't he have Daniel?

Who could possibly stop him?

----

John lets out a guttural growl as he comes inside Daniel, hips rolling as he continues to pulse and twitch inside him.

He has the boy bent over at the waist, leaning over him as he's pressed against the wall. They didn't even make it to the bedroom this time, fucking in the hallway after having gotten their pants down.

John pulls out and blows out a breath. His chest feels like he's run a marathon.

They right their pants as Daniel tells Kreese he has to leave soon anyway. His mother had called to say she'd be home early, and who knows when that'll be.

Kreese walks him to the door and smirks as he watches Daniel move a little gingerly. It makes his dick twitch again, but only because he knows Daniel loves the feeling.

Daniel opens the door and spins back around in the threshold.

"Oh! Hey, so I was thinking--"

"Careful. Wouldn't want to hurt yourself."

"--Hah. What a comedian. No, I was going to say, why don't I come over later tonight? You know, when my ma is asleep?"

It's risky. Makes plausible deniability more difficult.

They'd have to be quiet.

Kreese stares into the kid's hopeful eyes. They were initially what had drawn Kreese to him.

That first day when the kid's mother had caught him on his way to work. Introduced themselves to him.

Kreese had looked at the boy, standing off to the side with a defiant pout. Really looked. He had a black eye and was all the more beautiful for it.

Even then, the kid had stood out. Something in those eyes that called to the deepest parts of John and said chase me, I dare you.

His mother had explained that her son was always getting into fights, and Kreese had felt a tiny twinge in his heart.

Memories of being knocked into lockers. Books shoved off his desk. Bruised knuckles and detention.

Now, Kreese looks into those beautiful brown eyes, with their own light as bright and burning as amber, and knows it was always inevitable.

"I'll leave the door unlocked."

----

Kreese shoves Daniel down onto the bed, overwhelmed that they have all night.

He slicks up his cock with one hand while the other runs greedily over miles of smooth, golden skin.

Daniel spreads his legs in invitation, anticipating the first push of the older man inside him.

Kreese lines himself up with Daniel's glistening hole, soft and yielding as he slowly inches his cock into him.

Daniel sucks in a breath through his teeth. The initial stretch and burn always a little surprising, but always welcome.

John pushes and pulls slowly, rocking into the boy, letting the slick sounds of the gentle slide of his cock into that hole drive him even crazier.

Daniel's moaning quietly with every stroke, not that he thinks they'd really wake anyone up, but he knows they both have to reign it in a little, and for some reason that only adds to the little thrill up his spine. He lets out a shaky breath.

"Okay," he tells Kreese.

That's all the man needs to hear to start fucking him harder, picking up a steady and heavy pace.

Kreese spends long minutes in blissful pleasure, but suddenly it's not enough. He rises up on his knees and throws one of Daniel's legs over his shoulder, wrapping his arms around the supple thigh to pull the boy back onto every quickening thrust.

Daniel's huffing and gasping as Kreese starts pounding into him-- a man on a mission. All he can do is grasp weakly at Kreese's thighs, the sounds of the older man grunting and moaning going straight to Daniel's dick.

The orgasm catches Daniel by surprise. He had felt it cresting and just barely had enough time to wrap a hand around his bouncing dick before he was coming and sobbing.

Kreese chokes on a groan as he watches Daniel come over his hand, his own orgasm pulled from him quite literally. He leans over the boy with taut arms, stilling his hips to savor every pulse of his seed into the warm body beneath him.

Daniel's practically useless afterwards, halfway to sleep as Kreese grabs a cum rag and cleans them both up. He collapses on the bed next to Daniel, pulling him into an easy embrace.

After a minute, Kreese gets up again. He sets his alarm for 5am. That should be early enough for Daniel to sneak back into his own apartment.

Kreese frowns at the thought. But for now, he'll let the kid sleep.

----

It's one Saturday that finds Kreese milling around his apartment, waiting for his best friend to show up.

They have plans to look at potential locations for their own karate dojo. A shared dream that went from the enthused talk of young soldiers trying to pass the time to an actual, legitimate possibility.

John smiles as he hears the stomping footfalls of someone running up the concrete stairs. That must be Terry.

He grabs his wallet and keys but pauses when he hears voices outside his door.

One of them is definitely the smooth rumble of Terry's, but the other sounds an awful lot like Daniel's.

They're laughing together.

Something inside Kreese clenches as he flings the door open a little harder than intended.

Terry and Daniel turn to Kreese in surprise.

For some reason what's even worse, is Daniel dressed in nothing but a pair of red gym shorts. Kreese can feel his blood boil inexplicably.

"What do you want?" He snarls before he can stop himself.

Daniel's eyes widen like a deer in headlights before his brow furrows, eyes burning with bright fury.

"Nothin'," he snaps back. "I was on my way out."

Daniel makes a show of walking towards the staircase and Kreese can't help himself.

"Your mother let you walk around like that?"

Daniel sticks his tongue out and lifts one side of his shorts, revealing the black strap of a jockstrap framed around one round butt cheek. He's gone before John can say anything else.

"Jesus," Terry says with feeling.

Kreese has half a mind to run down the stairs after Daniel and beat the shit out of him.

He clutches the keys in his hand until it hurts.

"Let's go," he commands instead.

----

Daniel doesn't speak to him for one long miserable week.

None of the dojo locations had worked out either.

----

Daniel forgives John even if he never did apologize. He tells himself he gets it.

John is kind of like a caveman that way. Jealous and possessive.

It's only because he cares, Daniel reasons.

But he has to explain to John that California summers are ungodly hot. And he only has the one pair of shorts.

His friend was nice, though.

----

John gets a dizzying sense of deja vú as he and Terry shoot the shit in front of his apartment, ready for another day of dojo hunting.

There's a building for lease that looks especially promising, Terry says.

Daniel steps out of his apartment and waves at them as he passes.

At least he's wearing actual clothes this time; a black tshirt cut into a tank top and a pair of denim shorts cut from an old pair of jeans.

The kid could be a little less generous with the scissors, if he'd bother to ask John's opinion.

It's only a minute later when Daniel is bounding up the stairs again, stopping abruptly in front of the two older men.

"Hey, hi, do you guys have a dollar?" he asks excited and breathless with all the youthfulness of his age.

Terry makes a show of patting his pockets.

"Sorry, I'm all out," he says before leaning down towards Daniel conspiratorially. "You want a cigarette?"

Daniel laughs in surprise, absolutely delighted.

"No, no," Daniel honest to God giggles. "My friends and I wanna go see a movie, but I only have enough for the bus. I was hoping I could borrow a dollar? I promise I'll pay it back!"

Kreese is pulling out his wallet and shoving a five into Daniel's hand before Terry can say anything.

"Keep it," he smiles.

Maybe the kid can really treat himself and get some popcorn or something.

Daniel smiles back a little moony-eyed. Clearly wanting to say something he can't in front of John's friend. He moves back towards the stairs a little dazed.

"Hey, thanks. Really. I appreciate it." He bounds back down to the small group of neighborhood kids waiting for him. "See you around!"

Kreese watches them until Daniel disappears around the corner with the other kids.

He doesn't want to look at Terry, who undoubtedly will be looking back at him with every judgement in the world.

Instead, Kreese is surprised to see that Terry is turned away from him, still looking after where Daniel had gone too.

"Hm," Terry muses to himself before swiveling back towards Kreese. "Cute kid."

Kreese says nothing.

"Have you asked him about joining Cobra Kai?" Terry asks.

Kreese blinks.

"I- I hadn't thought about it."

He really hadn't. Daniel? In their world of warriors and battlegrounds? It never crossed his mind.

John catches himself, scoffs. "That skinny punk? He isn't exactly Cobra Kai material."

Terry's staring at him with a hard expression.

Crystal-eyes cold and calculating.

Hateful.

But just like that, the strange spell is broken, and Terry himself breaks out into one of his signature grins.

Even if it doesn't quite reach his burning eyes.

"Well, you have to start somewhere, right? C'mon," he claps John on the shoulder. "Let's get going. We can get some drinks after. My treat."

John stands a little frozen as Terry swaggers down the stairs.

There's ice and dread creeping up his veins. Something John hasn't felt since Vietnam.

Because Terry's never looked at him like that before.

----

[sam-loves-seb]

gallavich questions

thanks for the tag (and the questions) @callivich !!

What’s a fic you’ve read more than once? intro to quantum dating by @spoonfulstar, i think i've read it 3 or 4 times now, it's one of my all time favorites

What’s a gifset you always have to reblog? anytime i see a gifset from that one s5 deleted scene, yeah that one, i have to reblog

What’s a headcanon you can’t stop thinking about? i have a very specific headcanon for a tattoo ian gets post-canon for mickey, and i hesitate to even explain it now bc i think one day i do wanna write a fic about him getting it, but whatever--my headcanon is that he gets an M tattooed on his left ring finger and it's a subtle yet sweet nod to his husband. (i could talk about this for 9 hours but i will limit myself and stop here)

What’s a fanart you love looking at? i've spent an obscene amount of time staring at this fanart by @doodlevich it just checks all my boxes (domestic, husbands, fluff, etc.) and it's so well done, i'm obsessed with this pieces

What’s an idea you’d love to create if you had the time/inspiration? listen, i have this idea for a rock band au that lives rent fucking free in my head, and if i can find the time and the inspiration to actually turn these vibes and unorganized plot points into actual words and a coherent story in the new year, then maybe it'll see the light of day in 2024 but no promises. for now, i leave you with this: four milkovich siblings are in a rock band that is rising to success with the launch of their second studio album and subsequent tour, and ian gallagher is lead singer mandy's (fake) boyfriend--at least in the eyes of the public--and he spends some time that summer touring with the band and hooking up with their lead guitarist in secret until the band's manager/father catches wind of what's going on behind closed doors

What’s something you’ve discovered since entering this fandom? A new trope you love? A different analysis of the show? Something else? i've always been a post-canon enthusiast for almost all of my ships, but i think before gallavich i always envisioned them with a very cookie cutter standard american dream family with the house and the careers and the 2.5 kids, which usually fits a lot of my ships, but with gallavich i... don't have that same vision ?? i think they're actually my first ship that i hc more often than not without kids in their post canon life, which is a new vibe for me entirely but i kinda love reading/writing it. idk if that answers the question you asked, but it definitely answered a question

What’s an underrated trope or concept you’d like to see more of? honestly i want more s9/10 prison era gallavich fics (and/or fanart). i think it's a gold mine era with so much untapped potential, and there are very few fics/series/whatever that really get deep with it and get to the good stuff of these two boys who haven't spent any significant time together in years but still love each other like they did way back when

What’s your favourite season? And has this changed after multiple rewatches of the show? it flip-flops for me between s4 and s5, like right now i think it's s5 but idk if i could actually pick one or the other as my absolute favorite

What’s a plot hole you wish had been answered or resolved? i would give my left arm to know how the fuck (and why the fuck) mickey started rolling with his dad again in post-prison s10 era, like in 10x08 he's going to terry for advice on how to protect ian, just for terry to try to kill him again 3 episodes later ??? make it make sense john wells i'm under your bed

What scene or moment do you feel isn’t discussed enough? personally i think the promise ring scene in 10x09 is criminally underrated and not talked about nearly enough, like you don't understand how happy that scene made me (stay with me here) seeing mickey stand up and fight for the future he really wants with ian and not settling for anything less

What line/dialogue/description from something else (a poem, a book, a tv show, a movie, or something else) do you feel describes Ian and Mickey’s relationship? can i do song lyrics? i'm gonna do song lyrics--i've always thought the song godlight by noah kahan was very gallavich, especially the chorus, and especially during s4/5/6 era and it may or may not be a piece of inspiration for my big bang canon divergent fic

What do you think is next for Ian and Mickey post-finale? i think they take a while to really settle into their new place and and make it their own, and it's a bit of an adjustment (for both of them) to fit in with this new crowd and this new environment, but they're learning how to grow and evolve together and at the end of the day that's all that really matters to the both of them

tagging: literally anyone who wants to play bc my brain is tired and i am too tired to try and remember everyone i probably should tag

[zepskies]

hey!! this is for the supernatural ship exchange :)

* prefer male ships

* i'm a deeply empathetic person, i care a lot about others and sometimes i forget to care for myself because of it.

* I can be very silly, especially late at night. I like giving things voices, or petting every dog I see, or giving nose boops.

* on the flip side of my sensitive/kind nature, i can be very feisty. I’m also DEEPLY sarcastic

* i would consider myself a brave person. I don't struggle to have hard conversations with people (i don't like them but I'll do it),and I've stood up to every bully I've ever had

* i would consider myself a wise/intelligent person (i give good advice), resilient, but also easy going.

* INFJ | Pisces sun, cancer moon, libra rising, pisces Venus | Ravenclaw |

* In a partner, I look for someone who will support and listen to me. I also look for someone who is self sufficient (I can’t deal with laziness). Most importantly, they should be kind (i.e. If I’m ranting about things like sexism in a tv show, I want them to be able to understand why it’s important to me.)

* I’m the singer/guitarist in a rock band so music is very very important to me. I also love to draw and I read pretty much all the time. My ideal day is going to a coffee shop and then a bookstore. Which reminds me— I drink an obscene amount of coffee. I’m also a geek who does go to comic con (*boos are heard throughout the audience*)

Hey, lovely!! I’m very excited to dive into this for you. 💜

(For others’ context, we agreed to do a little ship exchange for SPN characters based on our personalities!)

I debated on this, but I kept coming back to one of our guys for you…

Sam Winchester

(More below the cut): ⤵️

Sam is also an INFJ: deeply a feeling type, introverted, intuitive, but also a very precise decision maker. Even though you two are the same personality type and have some hobbies in common, you still have plenty of differences to balance you out.

Sam would appreciate the fact that you're so deeply empathetic. Someone who cares about others is a very attractive quality to someone like him, who's very passionate himself, and has literally dedicated his life to saving people. And the fact that you take the time to truly listen to him is something he doesn't get very often (besides Dean).

He would also be very amused by your silly side, especially on late nights while researching for hunts, when you're both exhausted but trying to push through that invisible wall of tiredness. Maybe you'd take up funny ways to distract him from reading...

And maybe those funny distractions turn into fun distractions, where Sam may just have to clear off the table for you. 😏

Like you, Sam can also get a bit sarcastic at times. 😅 Sometimes you two might butt heads, all passive-aggressive like, but then he'll make it up to you with those earnest eyes of his, so you can talk out your issues more sincerely.

While Sam shares the quality of bravery, he would also see that and like that quality in you. He not only finds confidence attractive, but also someone who doesn't bend on her principles.

He respects the fact that you're so opinionated, and not only would he listen to your rants, but he would offer his own opinions respectfully, which could lead to some very deep and meaningful conversations between you. (Though he could also be a balancing force for you; if you have moments of getting a bit hot-headed, he'll figure out how to diffuse you. 😂)

He would find your career fascinating! He loves music himself (maybe not the same genres as Dean, but he does listen to rock music). He'd be very supportive, going to your concerts and sitting in the front row. Maybe he wouldn't be the most boisterous of fans, but he's certainly dedicated to you and your success. 💗

And as Dean so often teases him, Sam's a big nerd himself. He's probably never gone to Comic Con, but he's up for that experience with you, as long as you keep him close and help him navigate the cosplayers. (He has some experience with LARPing, so that's kind of close? 😂)

Sam would also love to go on bookstore dates with you. He'd take you to his favorite coffee shop (or yours), and he'd get coffee or tea depending on his mood. He might remind you every now and then that too much caffeine isn't all that good for you (but he really has no room to judge, so feel free to tease him about it 😂).

Then he'd browse the rows and rows of books with you -- whether it's a huge Barnes & Noble, an independent bookstore, or a second-hand thrift shop. He doesn't really care, as long as there's books (and you).

You two often find yourselves exploring the bunker's library together, wiping dust off of old books to see what little treasures you can find, whether it's a book you've read before, or something old and interesting you'd never find otherwise in this vast collection of knowledge.

You and Sam could snuggle up on the couch together and read in a companionable silence.

Sometimes his fingers brush up and down your arm absently, unintentionally distracting you. Or he smoothes your hair out of your face, or even sneaks a kiss or two. Moments like these are when he's his most content, and at peace.

Also, this man is by no means lazy. He may not be the best cook, but he has a "can-do" attitude to pretty much everything, and he's willing to figure it out with you and/or for you. If you need help, an encouraging word, support, or a listening ear, Sam can and will be your steady rock as a partner.

This was my first time ever writing a ship for someone, so I hope I did this justice for you @perseephoneee! I feel like I already know a lot more about you. 💕 And I'll be sending you my info shortly.~

[because-she-goes]

louder than bombs

warnings: some swearing, banter, matty brain rot, an obscene amount of music references, matty being hot, enemies to lovers. Enjoy!

Rooney stared at the document on her computer, the cursor blinking back at her. Books in piles around her and the quiet hum on the air conditioning being the only thing she is able to focus on… not the rough draft of the profile she’s supposed to have submitted to the first round of edits by the end of the week. Her home is normally a quiet, calm, serene environment for writing - the diffuser of jasmine oil typically comforting her mind whenever it got a bit too busy, yet now it only nauseated her. Now it only reminded her of him, and the way his jugular vein shot up out of the collar of his shirt past his perfectly angular jawline and into his side burn and also the way the gold cartier band wrapped around the bones in his wrist and pulse point and shined against his pale skin. Fuck matty healy she thinks, rubbing her temples. A deep sigh leaving her throat, the whole day had been like this.

Unable to concentrate properly on anything and mind adrift, the only real thing she could think of was how the few hours or so she spent with Matty talking about music over their respective caffeinated beverages felt like it was only a split second. Another wave of nausea as something dawned on her, like a sunbeam coming through the trees and into her home - she could have spent a lifetime talking to him about the music they both loved and grew up with in the north of england. She talked about The Hollies and the guitar sections in “Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress)”, he talked about how The Stone Roses had more grit and rock than her precious Hollies could ever dream of. Rooney recalled looking him dead in those fucking eyes and saying “Graham Nash and Allan Clarke. Case closed.” and how that had silenced the whole discussion of who was better, they then moved onto discussions about Joy Division vs. New Order and The Smiths vs. The Cure. They then drifted off music for a bit to a topic of utmost importance to Matty, who she preferred, Manchester City or Man United. They butted heads the whole time, but Rooney had never met another human on the planet who knew as much about Manchester music than herself. It was as if a human had gotten split into two and then the twins were sent in opposite directions of the music world, one the performer and one the critic.

She had to get out of her house, and quickly. If she festered in this mental rot any longer she was sure it would begin to decompose. Rooney grabbed her keys and shoved her writing gear into a bag and said a quick goodbye to her Bernese Mountain puppy Arlo. With that she was now in the open world and on her way to the local coffee shop near her house - where she had first met the man plaguing her every thought. She waved a hello to the baristas and plopped down in one of the comfier corners and got set up. Opening the document again, she felt more refreshed and as focussed as a laser. Funny what some fresh air and a change of scenery can do to the brain. That is until she felt a particularly strong tap on the shoulder, fucking brilliant right when she just got back into her groove. Annoyed, she turned around at whatever this disturbance was.

“Why hello there, clover! Funny seeing you here, thought you’d be cooped up in your house editing away our little interview. Which may I add, was one of the most delightful press things I have ever done so thanks for the chat, darling. I brought you your regular… iced peppermint tea right?” His perfectly coarse voice rang out over the Bob Dylan playing on the speakers.

Fuck him. Fuck Matty for being so attentive, so kind, so handsome… so Matty.

“You know, you still don't have to suck up to me right? I’m not gonna be putting anything in to help you impress some girl you're shagging so you can forget all about that… Darling.” She spat at him, snatching the iced tea sharply. Fuck him for getting her so riled up and out of her mind with… whatever this new emotion was.

“Jealous it isn’t you, clover? And for the record, she’s just a friend, nothing more - and you’d know if I was trying to impress someone. Enjoy the iced tea and good luck with the edit, Rooney. Maybe I’ll be seeing you around, I quite like it here.” He then walked out the door, lighting a cig and strolling down the road. The gray smoke perfectly matched the grays in his hairline.

Rooney huffed. Well, today was gonna be a wash. She closed her laptop and sipped her deliciousy sweet peppermint tea - fuck he remembered the honey she put in it. Another huff and sip.

Another huff and sip, Matty read his paper. He was sitting at the cafe from the NME interview, growing to quite like the calming energy and the cappuccinos were some of the best he had tasted. In the paper today, like every other day, the resounding message was that the world was going to shit. Another huff and sip of the now room temperature coffee, flipping the pages of the paper to the Art and Culture section. He liked reading these sections for obvious reasons, but especially since they typically focussed on new and emerging artists. People and musicians who may be getting the exposure for the first time, people who reminded him of his younger self and of simpler times. Back when the 1975 weren’t headlining festivals like Glastonbury or Reading and Leeds, back before they weren’t selling out arenas in New York or working on the set design of their global tours. He liked reminiscing on those simpler times, before the money or the fame or the girls that would sit outside of venues waiting for him. Don’t mistake him, he loved his life currently and everything, he just wished he could have some of that normal, mundane, quietness back. He longed for domesticity and peace. With that, and a few articles and mugs of coffee later, he felt the energy shift.

A soft breeze of the doors opening went through the cafe, a golden leaf landing at his foot. Looking up, he saw the flash of red hair go by him followed by a waft of cherry and almond - holy fuck, she even smelled divine. His heart began to pound against his ribs, he felt like it was in his throat all of a sudden. His mind dizzy with her, how her eyes were so fixed on him as he spoke to her that day and how easy it was to carry the conversation - like he had known her a lifetime already. He went up to the barista and quickly ordered her regular with honey as he recalled being perplexed by - a cold drink mixed in with something so sticky sweet. He swallowed his nerves as he could now hear his heart beating away in his chest - louder than bombs. He remembered talking about The Smiths vs. The Cure with her and how she had preferred Morrissey and how he was a Manchester lead singer. As if she couldn’t be any better, he thought in the moment.

With her drink in hand and his regular Truman Black persona in tow, he waltzed over to her table. Delicate hand tapping her rounded shoulder. A huff…no. A gentle gasp leaving her lips.

[justsomerandomfanfic]

Personality :p

Ello! My name is Gillian I am requesting a ship for supernatural

* i'm the type of person that people regard as being very well adjusted but honestly i'm having a mental breakdown most of the time.

* i'm a deeply empathetic person, i care a lot about others and sometimes i forget to care for myself because of it.

* on the flip side of my sensitive/kind nature, i can be very feisty. I’m also DEEPLY sarcastic when i'm frustrated i just want to beat up something, and i become very passionate towards injustice. my friends say i'm like a kitten with a knife.

* additionally, i would consider myself a brave person. I don't struggle to have hard conversations with people (i don't like them but I'll do it),and I've stood up to every bully I've ever had

* due to my trust issues and rejections, i tend to feel like an outsider in most of my friend groups.

* TO FINISH IT OFF (this has become too long), i would consider myself a wise/intelligent person (i give good advice), resilient, but also easy going.

1. INFJ | Pisces sun, cancer moon, libra rising, pisces Venus | Ravenclaw | Neutral good

2. Things I love in myself: I love that I’m good at giving advice, that I can skip many of my classes and still stay on the dean’s list, and that I’m bold when I need to be

3. In a partner, I look for someone who will support and listen to me. I have a lot of different mental ailments, and if they won’t be understanding of that, then I can’t be with them. I also look for someone who is self sufficient (I can’t deal with laziness). Most importantly, they should be kind (i.e. If I’m ranting about things like sexism in a tv show, I want them to be able to understand why it’s important to me.)

4. I’m straight, unfortunately.

5. She/her

6. I’m the singer/guitarist in a rock band so music is very very important to me. I also love to draw and I read pretty much all the time. My ideal day is going to a coffee shop and then a bookstore. Which reminds me— I drink an obscene amount of coffee. I also take too many naps, especially with my cat, who is my baby. I like to write as well. I really love things that make my house look like a fairy’s home, so I like to collect that stuff. I’m also a nerd who does go to comic con (*boos are heard throughout the audience*)

7. Appearance wise!! I’m hella short, but it just means my personality is big. I have reddish brown hair with very round blue/green/grey eyes (idk their color people just say that they’re pretty), and a button nose.

Hi!! I hope you like your SPN matchup! <3333

---

Romantic;

---

Supernatural;

💐 You met Sam after you had gone to a coffee shop to get a drink, you walked into the nearby bookstore - you weren't looking for anything in particular, but when you accidently let a book slip from your arms, Sam the gentleman came right up and helped you; picking the book from off the ground, he gave you a smile; and before you knew it, you ended up talking for a good thirty minutes or so

💐 During the next couple of months, you and Sam would often meet up and go to that coffee shop together - swinging by the bookstore after - and just talking about everything and anything; he was quickly becoming a close friend of yours, even being front row at some of your rock concerts

💐 Skipping to actually dating, Sam is really supportive, if you want to do something, he is there to support you (follow your dreams - and he's a very good listener, if you just want to rant about your day, he's there; and if you want to rant about sexism in a tv show, Sam will understand how important it is to you, and probably join you in the ranting

💐 If you go down for a nap with your cat, he'd probably join you, if not, he'd most likely sit on the bed beside you, quietly reading - and when you wake up, he'd probably see if you want to go out and go on a small adventure to the bookstore

💐 Sam is totally down to go to Comic Con with you, if you dress up, he'd dress up too - and if you find something you like there (maybe a little something that makes your home more fairy-like), Sam is more than willing to carry it for you if you get tired carrying it for the how many hours you wander around the Con

[delilahsbabyaccount]

Hey girll

My request, as discussed with you, is for you to write a ‘fanfic’ of me and my soulmate that you told me about in the reading you gave me.

You can write whatever you want with the knowledge of the reading, but I want him to be french lol.

Thanks alot! Love ya!

~Le Connard Français~

☆ pairing: requestee x soulmate

★ summary: two individuals unknowingly step into Fate's favourite dance

☆ warnings: inappropriate language, arguing, mentions of death, racial stereotypes, entitlement

★ word count: 871

☆ inspired song/s: La Seine (Extrait de la bande originale un monstre a Paris) - Vanessa Paradis, -M- ; Love, Maybe - MeloMance ; Ice Cream - BLACKPINK ft. Selena Gomez ; July - Sir Chloe ; Lights Up - Harry Styles ; Not Like The Movies - Katy Perry

a/n: this is written for a close friend of mine, I hope she enjoys it and if someone else finds it interesting - I hope they enjoy it as well! This is intended for both light and dark mode. This is a spiritual piece of writing - neither fiction nor fact.

"Which flavour would you like, ma'am?" The lady in her 'Ice & Spice' uniform stared at Reese expectantly as Ava peered over the varied choices presented to her.

"Uh, yoghurt sounds good, thank you." Reese responded as the employee nodded her head and reached for the sugar cone behind her.

The quaint little ice cream shop was bustling with an abnormal amount of customers for mid July as their holiday season was only in December.

Reese's head slowly turned to her sister, Ava, who was supposed to be picking an ice-cream flavour but had ended up speaking to her boyfriend instead.

He had come to visit her and she found it most appropriate to put all of her attention onto him, which - of course - Reese wouldn't have minded if she wasn't left with over half of their shared responsibilities because of it.

Despite time having past quite quickly and it had been a proper while, everyone's roots were still quite all over the place and things were still not at stable as would have been preferable.

Reese's thoughts circled into rushed trains, filled with worries over gruntled finances and the future of her siblings. Things are still tough and she couldn't help but feel like she was the only one trying to do the necessary work. Her hand grips the sugar cone tightly as her body ages through the trains of thought trailing around.

In that time, Ava and her partner had already made their way to the side-bar-esque seats at the back of the tiny shop.

"Yeah, so I invited for him to join us since he hasn't really seen the town yet-," Ava's boyfriend mentioned in between the feasting on his flavoured ice,"-oh! There he is now!"

< Her POV >

I had barely even tasted my treat before it had made harsh contact with my shirt.

Yoghurt ice cream crawled and spread itself all over my favourite black top, soaking itself down my waist and my jeans, the cold sent shivers down my spine as my eyes shot up.

The culprit's amused face registered quicker than the anger radiating from my shock. My face had contorted into a state of disgust as he started to laugh like it was just the funniest thing in the world.

'Laugh.'

'How could he laugh right now?! I just bought this fucking ice cream!'

My eyes shot daggers, yet he seemed to simply turn them into pieces of confetti - very poorly trying to hide his obscene sniggering behind his accessorised hand.

Although easily the most beautiful boy I'd ever seen, I had no where enough time to appreciate it as he stepped closer to me, bringing the highest level of pretentiousness along with him.

"Ah, désolé mon cher, don't look so serious, no?" His accent was vibrant and radiated through my space - it was gorgeous - at least until he shrugged with nonchalance and turned to face my sister's boyfriend as if nothing had even happened.

Soon enough, my skin reminded my mind of the cold dripping onto my shoes but my frown had already followed his turning figure in determination. I was absolutely knocked speechless and in the most aggravated way.

Ava had attempted to attend to my issue, but I was too preoccupied with what I had deemed the true issue.

I reached out and exasperatedly pushed him to face me. "Excuse me? You're just going to ignore what just happened?"

My frown deepened, pressing hard into my face as he looked me up and down - completely uninterested like I had asked him about a fly on the wall.

"I see not what you are talking about. It was accident." He scoffed, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his dark blue baggy jeans, blinking in slow - practically bored - beats.

"How was it an accident?! You walked straight into me!" My arms seemingly rose to my defense as I addressed him.

His black eyes gracelessly rolled around in their sockets and I had just about had enough of this insanely arrogant attitude when we had finally made proper eye contact.

Everything inside of me was immediately just...angry. Or rather, angrier. You could just tell from the way he carried himself and how he would address others in behaviour and attitude that this guy had never faced any true hardship. The childish, immature and entitled look in his petty eyes told me everything I needed to know about this french fuckboy.

"This fille can take no joke, hm?" He tilted his stupid head to the side, pointing his long finger with the ridiculously large ring into my face. "I buy you new one and you stop being such a idiote?"

I nearly hit him right then and there as he bent down to my height, bearing the most assholerary smile I had ever seen.

He was crazy lucky that I could no longer ignore the cold from the ocean breeze blowing on the sticky ice-cream. He was insanely lucky that my sister had thought of phoning my father to pick me up. He was brilliantly lucky that my father had arrived at that moment.

I was terribly, horrifically unlucky to find out an hour later that he would be around for a painfully long time.

*Credit to the owners of the pictures used <3

Do Not repost, steal or copy.

[innytoes]

“Good morning, sleepy head.” for Ray/Rose!

Work had been chaotic, between three shoots that had all been rebooked on the same day, an editing emergency that had kept him up two nights in a row, and a potential client who could not make up their mind between A Professional and Cousin Kyle Who Will Do It For Free and wanted to 'compromise' by Ray doing thousands of dollars worth of work for a hundred bucks and would not take no for an answer.

So he was incredibly glad it was Sunday, and he got to sleep in. Rose had spoiled him a little last night, letting him take a long bath, even bringing him a glass of wine. She hadn't even made fun of him that he was in bed at nine, barely able to keep his eyes open long enough to kiss her goodnight before she went back downstairs.

He slept like a log. He hadn't woken up when Rose had come to bed, but he had in the early morning light of dawn, wrapped around her, nose buried in her curls. He'd sighed happily, reveling in the warmth, in how lucky he was that she was still there after all they'd been through. And then he'd dozed right back off to sleep.

The next time he woke, the clock read ten fifteen, which felt obscenely late even for a Sunday. He stretched out, reveling in how well-rested he felt, before getting up and using the bathroom, getting in a quick shave, and putting on some comfortable jeans and a Henley.

He was just about to head downstairs when Rose intercepted him at the top of the stairs, her arm catching his waist as she pressed a kiss to his lips. "Good morning, sleepy head," she said, teasing and warm and bright.

"Good morning," he said, all thoughts of coffee temporarily forgotten as she peppered kisses along his jaw. Well, there was a reason he'd shaved. He inhaled happily, wrapping his arms around his wife. "Thanks for letting me sleep in."

Then, he inhaled again. Deeply.

"Why do I smell pancakes?" he asked. "Who broke something?"

"Nothing broke!" Rose said, but she said it so quickly that it just confirmed his suspicions that these were Bribery Pancakes. Or at the very least Buttering Up pancakes.

"Rose..."

"So you know how we always talked about how we wanted a big family?" Rose started, which was not where Ray thought this was going. He thought they were softening him up for another crazy DIY project he was going to regret halfway through.

"I do," he said. Though they'd also had a long conversation when Carlos was one, about how two small children were kind of enough for both of them, but maybe they could foster or adopt when the kids were older.

There was commotion downstairs, and some very familiar voices hushing each other, and suddenly, everything clicked. "Which one?" he asked.

"Which one what?" Rose asked, trying to go for innocence and landing solidly in 'shifty' instead.

"Which one of Julie's friends did you adopt while I was sleeping?"

It wasn't like they hadn't talked about it before. How they wanted to be a safe place for Julie's band members to go to if things got bad at home. They'd both been worried about Reggie and the way he flinched at loud noises. Ray had sat him down once and told him he was always welcome to stay with them if he didn't feel safe at home.

Luke constantly fought with his mother about music, and had run away to the Molina's garage to spend the night and cool down more than once. And Alex... well, after he came out, they made sure to let him know that there were adults in his life that loved him for who he was, and would keep loving him no matter what.

Rose didn't say anything, just entwined their fingers together and pulled him down the stairs. The amount of bags in the hall were a bit concerning. Then, when they turned and came into the kitchen, he became even more concerned.

Reggie's black eye was the first thing that stood out. But Alex looked like he'd been crying for hours, his eyes red and puffy, his face blotchy. Luke sprang away from where he and Julie had been wrapped around each other. Which was usually funny, but now was a little heartbreaking, considering how upset he looked. He was even wearing sleeves, the big cozy flannel he wore when things got really bad.

"Hi Ray," Reggie whispered awkwardly, giving a little wave.

He strode into the kitchen, pulling all three boys into a hug. Reggie went willingly, plastering himself against Ray's side. Luke quickly followed, and Alex tensed up before sinking into the hug with a sniffle.

"Pancakes first," he said, after a long while, looking over their heads at his wife. "And then I want to know how you managed to pull all this off."

Rose shrugged. "I had help," she said, and oh, that was either a very good thing (Victoria) or a very illegal thing (the Petal Pushers), and maybe Ray didn't want to know after all. Oh well, he had spousal immunity, he wouldn't have to testify against his wife.

"And then," he said, looking down at the boys as he let go. Alex fidgeted, and Luke drifted back to Julie, but Reggie stayed close, so he kept an arm wrapped around his shoulder. "I think we need to go to Ikea and gets some bunk beds, or something."

Alex let out a great big sigh of relief. Luke sagged against Julie, while she grinned and hugged him. Carlos gave a little cheer, high-fiving Reggie.

And Rose? Rose just smiled at him, like she'd known all along that he didn't really need pancakes to butter him up. Because Rose knew him, knew how much he loved these boys. And knew that even if he did have misgivings, he'd follow her no matter what anyway.

Together, they'd get through anything.