#i miss my lucky contestant henry

[the-omega-artist]

love how the fandom just agrees he’s a habitual smoker, the stress of running so many businesses near bankruptcy is doing a toll on the poor guy

[incorrect-finding-frankie]

*Lucky didn’t join him*

Real Frankie: I miss my contestant, Henry. I miss him a lot.

Real Frankie, turning away: I’ll be back.

[cartoon-buffoon]

Short fanfic that I randomly made when being bored outta my mind during classes:

"ROUND 2"

Featuring: Monster Frankie & The Lucky Contestant!

Lucky burst through the doors out of one of the play areas into the maintenance tunnels used by staff. Despite currently being winded from parkour, this season was off to a great start. Unlike last time where they were chased at every opportunity by mascots, their only respite being puzzles which they would have to exercise their authentic skills to use, Lucky had ran into no such obstacles. The starting line was an honest to God starting line that all four contestants used, Lucky actually competed with three others this time around rather than being a sole survivor. Well, they competed at first.

For some reason the further they got the more strange occurrences occured. Certain puzzles were already finished, vent openings were busted open and some parkour challenges like the rotating logs were turned off and stagnant. Now this could have been all dismissed as a simple case of the other Frankie forgetting to reset everything but Lucky couldn't help but shake the feeling something sinister was afoot. One by one each of the other contestants vanished, at first it was contestant 2 who they assumed just wondered off but after contestant 1 went missing it became clear something wasn't right. Lucky and contestant number 4 continued to run side by side by each other but not to long ago in a section where they had to crawl through the vents did Lucky find themselves all alone. Just like the previous season they were now running along, by themselves with their only company being the occasional directions from Frankie over the intercom. Of course any questions asked to the rabbit would be simply dismiss so they didn't even bother. Instead they carried on, running just for the sake of the game.

"Long time no see"

Lucky stopped running, a voice oddly familiar interrupting their train of thought. They couldn't make out who was speaking but the voice came from all the way down the hall. With both the mask obstructing their vision, and the general darkness of the area they could barely make out a vague silhouette, no bigger than three foot.

"Who's there?" Lucky asked, their voice reverberating off the walls.

"Aww come on, don'tcha recognize lil ol' me?"

Lucky could finally see who was talking, their body coming partially into view. They could only see the red shoes and floppy ears that protruded from the shadows but it was more than enough to deduce who it was. It was Frankie—but not the one watching the cameras. The voice was all different and while the other Frankie was small in comparison to the monster this one was small. By what they could see, it was a version of the rabbit similar in appearance to the proper mascot of the place.

"uhh.." Lucky struggled for words "I mean... you're a Frankie? Not one I've met yet at least..."

"Oh you've met me alright, I think we're all too acquainted if you ask me!" The rabbit spat.

The words were spoken with such harshness that Lucky was taken aback. So far his tone seemed eerie but held a sort of warmness but it was clear whoever this Frankie was he was no friend. Lucky pondered who on earth this rabbit could be, was this the obstacle the other Frankie said? After Henry's head popped and the killer was incinerated they needed something to make the game interesting once again. Lucky thought nothing of it, after all what could be worse than being chased by a 10 feet tall killer rabbit? Whatever the new obstacle would be would be a major upgrade in safety and easier to manage.

At least that's what they thought.

The Frankie had stepped into the light showing himself proper and it suddenly made so much sense all of a sudden. With a crazed smile and coated in blood ear to shoe they stood, glaring at Lucky with nothing but contempt. Red shoes and gloves held a much darker hue than what they should have been, grey fur was frizzled and messed, even the black top-hat they wore looked like it was partially torn from a struggle that had happened. The most striking part of this Frankie was his eyes, they glowed a bright red and held the fury of somebody craving vengeance. The fury of somebody who had lost at their own game. The fury of somebody who was burnt to a crisp and came back with even more murderous intent than the first time.

"Those other three put up quite the fight" Frankie said with a chuckle and finger wag "This new body ain't as strong as my old one but it DEFINITELY does its job" Frankie stretched one of their robotic limbs back into the darkness. Like a snakes body it slithered into the black until he found what he was searching for "I understand the issue though, I understand it all! Hehehe"

SPLAT

A line of disembodied heads with their faces covered by rabbit masks were thrown at Lucky's feet. A chain had been plunged right through all three keeping them in a neat row, from the top of the firsts' skull down to the third's neck-hole the bloodied metal made a soft rattle next to the loud splat that the heads made when they were thrown. Even though they were masked Lucky could tell who the heads belonged to, the lifeless eyes that hung open barely visible through the black of the mask's pupils was a perfect match to the previous competitors who went missing suddenly.

"Ya see–they fought! They prolonged it, I didn't WANT to do that to them but they just wouldn't accept it and tried and tried and tried, and tried to fight back all because I'm SMALL!" Frankie grasped at his ears and tugged them down, his words frantic and rushed as he grit his teeth and glared down at the heads "they didn't play the game right! They tried to cheat! DIRTY FUCKING CHEATERS EACH AND EVERYONE OF THEM!" His eyes snapped up to Lucky, their trembling body making him smile "but you? Noooo, you play the game right! That's what I like about you!" Frankie walked forward as one of his arms searched for something else in the darkness "one of my favorite things about you is how you don't try to fight back! You know the rules and your role, I chase, you run, I try to catch, and if I do catch you tyen I get to rip out that heart that should have stopped beating LONG AGO!"

shing

Lucky stepped back, finally seeing what Frankie had grabbed a hold of.

"But it's fine! We can fix that heartbeat of yours" Frankie said as he brandished the bloody steel of an axe. With a smirk on his face he pressed the blade to his face, letting the sharp edge drag against his synthetic skin causing a mysterious black liquid to dribble out "now I think we've talked enough, what say we get started on that rematch that I'm just DYING to have!?"

Lucky took a step backwards, their heat racing in their chest. They couldn't believe it, they didn't want to believe it. After the first time they believed they would never see that Frankie again, well I mean they weren't seeing that Frankie exactly but whatever this was was way worse! Why the hell did he get a new body? Who the hell gave him a body? Lucky didn't know, all that they knew is that their legs were carrying them in the exact opposite direction the second they realized the space between them and Frankie was minimal. They prayed that this new body of his was as slow as the old one although by the murderous chuckle that the rabbit gave it was clear he was more than capable of covering distance. Still, Lucky ran as fast as their legs could take them while Frankie laughed and laughed.

[rwrbmovie]

RE: Taylor & Nick's chemistry

Quotes from interviews on #RWRBMovie about Taylor & Nick's chemistry

This post will be updated as content is released

Click here for the other roundups

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Last updated: August 8

From Wonderland Magazine

"I was cast before Taylor and Matthew Lopez, our director, and Amazon really put me through the wringer, as I had to do a bunch of chemistry reads with a few different guys. Again it was all about finding commonality. Taylor came in and smashed it, he's so funny and charismatic and willing to play. He's become such a good mate of mine and we had such a fun time filming this movie."

From Entertainment Weekly

What wasn't hard? Finding chemistry with Perez. "We have the same sense of humor," says Galitzine. "We're both idiots in some way. We speak the same language as people. It was a different chemistry. Finding the levity and the light in each other, finding a sense of play in the scenes. Because you want them to have that banter that back and forth, that zippy dialogue."

From Glamour

“They were a dream come true,” López says of working with Zakhar Perez and Galitzine. “Taylor and Nick have an astonishing chemistry together. You could see it from their first audition together. They genuinely liked and trusted each other from the start. And individually they each take these characters and make them their own. I cannot imagine any other actor playing these roles, and I haven’t from the moment I first met them.”

“Nick and I hit it off right away,” says Zakhar Perez. "We had our chemistry read on Zoom, and then we went straight into rehearsals on day one. We didn't even have a lunch or a, ‘Hi, nice to meet you.’ We just had to trust each other.” Adds Galitzine, “Taylor and I have this level of insincerity with each other. We have this public [banter] with each other, but privately we're really, really close mates. That's kind of Alex and Henry in a lot of ways, negging each other and pushing each other's buttons. Taylor and I spoke the same language, had the same humor. You need to have a partner in crime to embody these roles, and I think it's so palpable when costars don't have the chemistry [that we do.]”

From People

About how he and Galitzine, 28, built the chemistry fans will see onscreen, Perez says, "It all comes down to trust with your scene partner, and we immediately had it. There had to be a level of vulnerability between us, and we quickly found our way into it." "We were lucky to have rehearsals and many meals together before we began our first day of filming," he adds. "We both knew we had a lot on our shoulders, given the success of the book, and that was a big motivation for us to be locked in at all times."

From GQ

When auditioning for their roles, Galitzine read with other prospective Alexes, never quite finding a rhythm. But when they met over Zoom for a chemistry read, it was instant fireworks. Director Matthew López noticed their spooky chemistry right away. When the actors first got together in person to rehearse, López recalls leaving them alone. “I came back about 10 minutes later and they were the best of friends already,” he says. “It was like they had known each other all their lives.” On and off set, the pair would bond by turning every little thing into a low-stakes contest: competing over silly minutiae like who’s really taller (“Alex is supposed to be shorter in the book, and then this little shit comes in at six foot two!” Galitzine says) or who could finish their scene in the fewest takes.

Up close and in person they are waves of chaotic energy bouncing off each other. (“It is kinda like water when we’re together,” Zakhar Perez says.) They tease each other relentlessly. They push each other. They finish each other’s sentences and bicker like an old married couple. Wind them up and off they go. “I don’t like Nick,” Zakhar Perez jokes. “But I respect him.” “Mine’s the other way!” Galitzine counters. “I don’t respect your game, but I do like you very much.”

From Out Smart Magazine

Looking back fondly, he jokes, “I didn’t have to manufacture chemistry between Nick and Taylor. My biggest problem on set was getting them to shut up and do the scene.”

From What to Watch

"We knew that we would not have a movie until we had our — I was about to say “until we had our Taylor and Nick”! — until we had our Alex and Henry. In all honesty, I don’t know if we would have ended up making the movie if we felt like we were compromising on the casting, because you get that wrong and you just don’t have a film. So it took months of searching, particularly for Alex, because I wasn’t at all certain who was going to be out there for this role, and as a Puerto Rican filmmaker I was acutely aware of the opportunity to cast this role in a way that was gonna sort of bring a new name and a new face to the public. To my delight there were a lot of young Latin men out there who auditioned for the role and it was so exciting to go through all their tapes. [The leads] both emerged singularly, and then the big trick was to see if they would work together as a couple." "I knew that both Taylor and Nick were perfectly cast as their roles, but what I wasn’t sure of until I put them in a chemistry read was ‘would they play well together?’ The nightmare scenario for me was finding two perfect actors for the role who did not gel at all together — so the degree to which this could have gone wrong for me, with the casting, was just stratospheric, and the fact that it went so well in terms of finding the right people for the roles who were also just the right people for each other was a lucky break that came at the end of a very long process! [laughs]" "And I didn’t have to teach them that! They possessed that from the beginning. I mean, we worked hard on their performances together but what was innate from the moment they first met was they got each other, and they got along so well together, and they played so incredibly well together."

From Hindustan Times

A dream! I love those two so much. You are lucky if you get one of them working at that level, and to get both of them working at such a high level, and so astonishingly well together is just a great, great hit of luck. The thing is that they are both so perfectly cast individually but the most important thing is that we cast two people who worked well together as a team. The moment from which they first met on Zoom, they had such tremendous chemistry. We rehearsed several weeks before we started filming and then over the course of rehearsals and then the film, there became a real shorthand between them. They trusted them and I was able to then, in many instances, direct them less as individuals and direct them as a team. They worked as a team and that is exactly what you need from a film like this. I genuinely cannot imagine this film with two other actors in it. In many ways, they made this film possible for me to make. The evidence of that is on-screen every time they are together even when they are not together, it is there.

From The Queer Review

"I really wanted Taylor and Nick to have a good solid chunk of time together, working together and understanding one another, coming to trust one another and figuring out how they each work. It was less about rehearsing like you would for a play and more about acclimatizing. I guess you could liken it to getting new goldfish and putting them in a plastic bag and then putting them in the water before you let them out into the general goldfish population!” “I needed those two to problem-solve together. I needed those two to have lunches together and talk about their nights when they saw each other in the morning. I needed a familiarity that I didn’t want to leave to chance on the first day on set when everybody’s a little tight, everybody’s a little nervous, nobody knows each other and everybody’s figuring each other out. You had a filmmaker who’d never done this before and the last thing I wanted was for Taylor and Nick to start to get to know each other then because I think that would have been too late.”

From Attitude

Responding to these criticisms López told Attitude exclusively: “Anybody who criticises their chemistry doesn’t know what chemistry is.” He continued by praising Galitzine and Zakhar Perez as “trusting” and “respectful” of one another and their approaches to acting. “They gave room to each other to breathe and grow. I don’t think you can make a movie like this with two actors who don’t trust each other. You might be able to, but I don’t know if it would work. Those two from the very beginning made a decision to trust each other and to support each other.” Away from the serious side of acting, López also told Attitude that they all had fun on set. Occasionally, he explained, he had to be the one to calm the fun so they could shoot. “But those two are wonderful human beings,” López also added. “And I loved working with them. And I know that they took their jobs incredibly seriously. But, we made sure that we never took ourselves too seriously.”

From TV & Satellite Week

López was acutely aware that the key to the film’s success would be in casting lead actors with credible chemistry, and he was delighted that Zakhar Perez and Galitzine sparked together instantly. ‘The nightmare scenario for me was finding two perfect actors who did not gel at all,’ says López. ‘But what was innate from the moment Taylor and Nick first met was that they played so incredibly well together.’ The two leads were equally keen to make their characters’ relationship evolve believably.

From CineMagna

Nick: It's been such a joy working with Taylor, and I really couldn't have imagined anyone better suited to play Alex. I think the most important thing in casting Alex was to find someone who could really go tête-à-tête with me and with Henry. This film is a two-hander and it's all about the chemistry and the banter that you could have between the two of them. Taylor, he's such a fun, loving person, such a joy to be around, and so much of the filming process for me is about finding an acting partner who just loves being here as much as I do. I can't say enough good things about him.

Taylor: Working with Nick has been excellent, we've gone through a lot. You know, we got here a couple weeks early for rehearsals. It's a very intimate movie so we had to become close very fast and kind of trust each other right away, and we did. It wasn't hard, it was really just committing to the text and trusting our director Matthew. And it's just, it's great working with him because I think we have a really good banter on and off screen which helps our characters when we are acting together. But I mean, we get in a lot of trouble, like we really do. We get yelled at by our first AD, Ben a lot, and Matthew tells us to calm down. Just because as soon as you're out of a scene, you're like, critiquing each other, critiquing yourself, and I think we're each other's biggest supports in the room. We both care so much, I know he cares, I know I care, and we just want to make the best product possible.

From The Fresno Bee

That chemistry sparked when the two met via Zoom for a script reading. “It took a long time to find them, but it was very obvious that they were our guys.”

[spencersstrawberryjello]

Merely Luck

Summary: As the team hits dead-end after dead-end, Spencer becomes disheartened about the case, and after being yelled at by a local police officer, he finally snaps.

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Reader

Category: Angst-ish (more angry than sad)

Content Warnings: Swearing, arguing, and mentions of violence (in regards to the case)

Word Count: 1468

A/N: For @spencersawkward​‘s writing contest!! :)

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

You watched from a distance as Spencer taped a photo of the most recent victim to the board, seeing the way his shoulders sagged as he took in the ever-growing collage of innocent people who were murdered. 

“Hey babe,” you crossed the room to him, “You doing ok?”

He sighed deeply, his eyes flicking from you to the board before shaking his head slightly.

“Do you want a hug?” 

He nodded, his voice soft when he said, “A hug would be nice.”

Immediately, you pulled him in, feeling him tuck his head in the crook of your neck as you ran your fingers up and down his back. The two of you stood like that for a few minutes before Spencer broke the hug, pressing a quick kiss to your lips before heading off to the kitchen to get another cup of coffee. 

Now it was your turn to look at the board, taking in the people that had been killed by the monster you were trying to catch. For the hundredth time, you tried desperately to see some sort of rhyme or reason in the unsub’s victim selection, but it was fruitless. As far as the team could tell, he was picking victims completely at random. 

You huffed a sigh before turning back from the board to go hunt down your friends for another brainstorming session. 

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

“What about the golden ratio? You know, the whole ‘perfect face’ thing that Henry Grace was obsessed with? Have we cross-referenced all the victims faces with that?” Derek asked before taking another bite of the takeout you’d all gotten.

“Garcia already checked, none of them are matches,” You were standing in front of the board, addressing the team sitting around the table in front of you.

“Damnit,” He muttered under his breath before his eyes flicked to Spencer, who was sitting quietly at the back of the table, gaze laser focused on the board. “You got any ideas, pretty boy?”

Spencer just shook his head, his face expressionless. Derek leaned back in his seat, sighing. 

“We checked their jobs, Reid did a geographical profile, we cross checked all their routines and economic standings… what the hell are we missing?” Emily pinched the bridge of her nose, her face contorted in concentration. Just as she opened her mouth to pose another theory, the local police chief burst into the room. A clearly irritated Hotch followed closely behind him, and everyone’s heads snapped in the direction of the door swinging open.

“Alright, I’ve had it,” He started. Immediately, Hotch cut in.

“Sir, as I’ve told you before, my team is working very diligently to put together a comprehensive profile, but there’s a lot of variables that we just don’t have enough information to fill in yet -”

“People are dying, Agent Hotchner. My people are dying. I don’t have time to just sit around and wait for your team to bullshit their way to an answer. I was against this from the start, and I’m sure as hell against it now that I’ve realized all you people do is sit around and wait to get lucky.”

“Sir, I can assure you that we’ve caught many killers using a profile alone. It’s not merely ‘waiting to get lucky,’ it’s a scientific study of behavior -”

“Bullshit,” He turned to address the rest of you, as well as Hotch, “You’re the FBI’s perfect con-team, funded by our hard-earned tax dollars to sit around and eat takeout while more members of my community are killed every single day. You don’t give a rat’s ass about helping anyone other than yourselves, and I’m not just going to stand around waiting when I could be knocking down doors right now, actually doing something to help someone.”

You all stared at the officer, dumbfounded, and in various degrees of hurt. It wasn’t the first time you’d heard it, but it never stung any less to hear people say that the practice you’d devoted your life to was all a scam.

For a moment, nobody said anything. Until Spencer.

“You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

It was quiet, muttered under his breath. His face was still unreadable as he stared at the table, and you knew the officer’s outburst couldn’t have been easy to hear. He’d been taking the case really hard, and for someone to insinuate that he didn’t care… 

The officer’s voice snapped you out of your thoughts.

“What did you just say to me, boy?”

“I said that you have no idea what you’re talking about,” Spencer repeated, louder this time. He raised his head, looking the man directly in the eye. “We have been working our asses off on this case for the last two weeks, and for you to come in here and call our work a con is completely disrespectful, not to mention -”

“If you’ve been working your asses off, then where is the killer? We’re no closer to catching him than we were before you lot showed up!”

Spencer’s eyes darkened at being cut off, and you were surprised by his assertiveness. He glared daggers at the officer before speaking again.

“I wasn’t finished. Not to mention that saying my team - my friends - and I don’t care about anyone but ourselves is… it’s…” He trailed off, shaking his hands out as he got progressively more overwhelmed with emotion, “I don’t even have a word for how heartbreaking the very notion of that is. We’ve dedicated our lives to helping people. Multiple of us have been shot, or kidnapped, or tortured, because our biggest concern was helping people. So please trust me when I say that we are just as distraught about the lack of progress in this case as you are. And we will continue to do the best we possibly can to catch whoever is endangering the lives of those in your community. But for you to come in here and accuse us of being heartless cons who are merely coasting off luck discounts the work we’ve done both on this case and on hundreds of other cases. We will continue to work just as hard as your team has been, but we’re not going to tolerate being shit on and disrespected just because you don’t understand what we do.”

He sat back in his chair, a look of defiance on his face even as his gaze fell back to the table, the eye contact becoming too much. The weight of his words hung heavy in the air, and your heart felt like it was going to explode with pride. The officer looked from the door, to where Spencer was sitting, to us, and then to Hotch, not saying a word. The expression on his face was a mixture of what seemed to be shame and anger, and Hotch was the first one to break the silence.

“We need to have a conversation,” He said to the officer. The man nodded, and he and Hotch left the room yet again, leaving you all sitting there in various states of shock. After a moment, everyone started to speak at once.

“Damn, pretty boy! I didn’t know you had it in you,” Derek said, followed by Emily saying, “Reid you are my new favorite person,” and JJ’s simple, “What just happened,” before you asked, “Spence are you ok?” as Rossi merely chuckled.

He held up his hands, silencing the chorus of people. You could tell he was still a little bit emotionally overwhelmed, but he smiled before addressing everyone.

“I will be right back but I need like five minutes - Y/N come with me? Please?” 

You nodded, following him out of the room and into the police station hallway. Immediately, you looked at him with concern as he clenched and unclenched his hands, his back resting up against the wall.

“Babe? You alright?”

“I’m fine, I just don’t get this angry very often. It’s a lot.”

“I know. But if it’s any consolation, you were an absolute badass back there.”

He looked over at you, a small smile gracing his face. “Really?”

“Really. You’re incredible, Spencer.”

A blush overtook his features, and you laughed. You two hung out in the hallway for a couple more minutes, giving him time to just breathe until he seemed to have calmed down, his emotions more in check.

“You feel better?” You asked. He nodded.

“Much better. Thank you.”

“Of course,” You pressed a quick kiss to his lips before grinning, “Now are you ready to go solve this fucking case?”

“I mean, we kind of have to at this point. There’s no way in hell I’m letting that officer get away with thinking the work we do is ‘merely luck.’”

You laughed, and the two of you headed back into the conference room to continue working.

[anika-ann]

Just a Human (S.R.)

Type: mini-series turned one-shot, SHIELD recruit!reader

Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader     Word count: 8750

Summary: Being a SHIELD recruit was a dream come true, especially with people like Sergeant Barnes or Captain Rogers offering an input to your class’ training.

It was also hard work for many different reasons. One of them being all those guys around; not all of them were exactly fit to become heroes, simply because they were not good people.

Maybe you shouldn’t have pointed it out so openly though. Then again, what would the world turn into if you kept your mouth shut when feeling like speaking up?

WARNINGS: so-so graphic description of assault almost turned sexual, violence and a bit of blood, boys being boys in a real bad way, language

A/N: Steve Rogers vs assholes, round 2. Also, ‘you’ vs. assholes. And Bucky in the mix.

A/N: This was originally posted as a miniseries on AO3, but now edited, I decided to thrown it in as a long, sort-of three part one-shot. Enjoy and mind the warnings.

(gif source dailymcugifs, divider by firefly-graphics)

A Handful of Spite

“Can you believe the fucking nerve on him?!” Henry hissed, punching the bag harder and catching your attention. The statement was followed by his companion nodding grimly.

You tried to ignore the walking testosterone jerks; you never liked either Henry or Jim. The reason was simple – they were, as you loved to remind people, an advertisement on toxic masculinity. Bullies on top of that. The kind of people you wanted to avoid at all costs.

You weren’t that lucky to have that chance though.

So instead, you scoffed under your breath and continued your sit-ups series. You had more important things to do than wonder about what they were talking about this time.

It was your regular training session with the other SHIELD recruits led by Sergeant Barnes – which--- oh my. When joining the academy, you had no clue that the director’s ‘you’ll be learning from the best’ meant that of all things; trained by the more-than-once-believed-late James Buchanan Barnes. Everyone here knew his story – or at least some of it. The brainwashing. The murders. His heroics to make up for them as much as he could. His everlasting friendship and a nickname that was tied to it. Bucky; the very best friend of the oh-so-praised Captain America.

Oh, speaking of which, he joined the sessions too. You were being trained by not one, but two supersoldiers slash war heroes. You couldn’t believe this was your life sometimes, but you were not one to dwell on it. You just accepted it as a fact. An abso-fucking-lutely incredible fact.

“He’s just a fucker, man. Forget about Barnes, you have Cassie in your pocket. Just ‘cause he’s all sticky sweet on her doesn’t mean she’ll suck his-“

You made a disgusting face, pushing harder to tune out the conversation. You wanted to gag and at the same time, your blood was boiling.

Could there be a jerk who was objectifying women more than Jim? A guy who was using his lower brain more frequently than him? Doubtful. You really wanted to throw up at rubbish that was leaving his mouth.

Not to mention that he was throwing dirt on Sergeant Barnes who absolutely didn’t deserve it.

“-he’s like that to all of them. The chicks. And they fucking dig him, it’s disgusting. He makes the poor brainwashed kicked puppy face, reminding the sob story of his and they’re all dropping to their knees I swear…” Jim continued, practically spitting the venomous words.

You squeezed your eyes shut, half furious and half guilty; the sergeant did have a heart-breaking backstory and many girls were making eyes on him, their hearts softened by the tragedy and his bravery, yes. And you couldn’t say it wasn’t moving you as well, filling you with compassion – but compassion only. Obviously, Sergeant Barnes was objectively a very attractive man too, but what they were saying… ugh.

He didn’t deserve these insults; he was not trying anything on anyone, he wasn’t offering his ‘sob story’, actually being rather secretive about it for obvious and no doubt painful reasons. He couldn’t really couldn’t be blamed for the girls fawning over him a bit more because of it, could he? What was he supposed to do? Stop breathing? Stop doing what he chose to be his job?

It wasn’t his problem – and thank god for that – that these two assholes had egos the size of Texas and couldn’t handle a little competition.

Seriously. Walking testosterone-filled jerks. You seriously considered moving from the station you had been given, eyeing Captain Rogers, checking if he would notice.

“Well, he’s not. Getting. Any. From. My. Chick. Asshole!”

The bag swung wildly under Henry’s blows despite Jim holding it. You laid off, taking your fifteen second break.

“I bet he’s fucking them all on side. Always so… so soft on them. I bet he’s leaving all the hard shit for bed,” Jim snorted, somewhere between angry at him competition and amused at his own crude joke.

You were gonna puke. You were sure of it.

“And he’s too hard on us. Showing off for them. I would fucking want to see him holding up against us without that metal arm-“

You had enough. You sat up sharply, panting, your face flushed, unsure whether it was from the exercise or the exchange you were listening to.

“Are you serious?!” you hissed their way, earning their shocked glances.

And then, Jim’s face twisted in annoyance and disgust.

“Oh geez, you’re one of them, aren’t you?” he snarked, rolling his eyes. “The fangirls.”

More heat burned in your cheeks. You weren’t kidding anyone; both the sergeant and the captain had showed up in your not so innocent dreams, but you were only human, alright. There was only so much time you could spend with two very fine men like them in one room, a bit sweaty and rough (or just slightly gentler with the ladies) until your brain reacted. Mostly to the captain. Not the point.

But actually crossing the line? Being a part of the thing they were describing if it ever existed? Waiting in the line until one of them picked you for the evening with a promise to do it again after they… Jesus what, tried all the others? No, thank you. You had some dignity left.

Also, you simply couldn’t imagine them doing such thing. Raised in a different era, tried by war and pain and lost, yet remaining the great men they were? Just nope.

“No! Jesus, are you even listening to yourself?” you hissed, minding your volume. You hoped that the low hum of voice in the room, of others working out, giving each other pointers and the noise of the machines would offer you a cover from the rest of your companion.

“What, you wanna tell me they’re not going easy on you? On any chick, really?”

“Yeah, well, maybe because they don’t actually want to break our bones during training. Supersoldiers. Superstrength. Does that ring a bell?” you pointed out, reaching for your water bottle, hoping either of your trainers would forgive you when seeing you only took a sec to have a sip.

Henry scoffed, leaning onto the bag. “Sounds like someone has a crush…”

You couldn’t help the motion of your hands, inconspicuously throwing them in the air in frustration.

Why were you even speaking to them? You should have kept your mouth shut!

“Oh go to hell, Ulrich! You’re just jealous and scared that your girl whom you treat like a piece of shit will run off,” you murmured, wiping your forehead off sweat.

“Yeah, because they’re sure pulling their punches with guys too,” Jim complained again, rolling his eyes as Henry now watched you, eyes narrowed in anger – oh you hit a nail on the head, alright.

You couldn’t but mirror Jim’s action, deciding to stick to Devil’s advocate, because…. yeah, because it wasn’t fair to either Rogers or Barnes. They were good people and didn’t deserve this.

“So they’re not beating the shit out of us like they do with you, get over it.”

“They’re humiliating us! Showing off their big muscles, trying to impress all the chicks-“

You chuckled incredulously as they actually admitted the real reason behind their bitching so openly; as if you hadn’t known the whole time. Ego. Ohhh, the ego was bruised. Call 911, CPR is gonna be needed! God, how did they even live with ego this big? Compensating for something?

“They’re doing their job. Training. Yes, they go a bit harder on you, because your physiology can take it. Did it ever occur to you that they have bigger problems than entering a pissing contest with you just so they could steal the girls? Jeez… just… maybe try to be less of assholes and the girls will be into you too… ”

You missed the hard look Henry gave you, laying down again, this time on your belly to work on your back.

You wheezed when a knee suddenly dug into your back, violently and painfully knocking the air out of your lungs. Before you could react, one of your arms was twisted behind your back, Henry’s voice raspy right into your ear, low and dangerous.

“Listen, you little bitch, you don’t get to talk to me like that. Understand? Huh?”

He was so proving your point, but you didn’t have the time You tried to breathe in properly, and free your arm while pushing up on the free one, your muscles burning with the effort. Shit, he was heavy. You wheezed again instead of the answer.

“Can’t hear you, sweetie. What was that?”

Peripherally, you could see heavy boots approaching rapidly, making a quick guess of who that could be. You gritted your teeth, tears of humiliation pricking your eyes. You were not about to give Henry the satisfaction of proving his point of your trainers being sweet on all the girls even if this so wasn’t that.

“Screw. You,” you let out with the last oxygen left, grabbing his left calf and sharply tugging to the very same side. A half-second later when his weight of you eased just a fraction, you threw your body to the left as well, adding a jerk of your legs.

Both of you rolled over, him ending up under you and you quickly spun away, gasping, desperately fighting for air. As it burned your windpipe, it was as painful as welcomed. Little spots danced inf ornt of your eyes, but you quickly blinked them away – luckily for you, Henry didn’t dare to attack you again.

You shook your head before pushing to sit up, only to meet with Captain Rogers’s strict gaze.

“What the hell is going on in here?” he demanded, sharp blue eyes flickering between the three of you.

Maybe you were hallucinating, but he seemed to be murdering Henry with his eyes. Uh-uh. You would have been glad he was, hadn’t Henry been talking about favouritism only few moments ago. You pushed up simultaneously with him and you both stood straight, facing the captain.

“Apologies, sir,” you stated mechanically, his gaze immediately shifting to you. Your heart stopped. Oh wow, you would swear the blue of his irises was on fire. You gulped. “We had a slight disagreement with Mr. Ulrich. I’m aware I shouldn’t have been talking to him in the first place. I’ll take whatever punishment is given to me.”

“Yeah, I bet you’d liked taking a punishment from him, wouldn’t you…” Jim muttered under his breath, making your gut twist in disgust.

Was he ever not thinking about sex? You prayed the captain didn’t hear him and you had to stop yourself from shooting Jim a murderous glare.  

“I don’t think that’s necessary. Consider it a warning. Mr. Ulrich? You have something to add before you take a few laps?”

You could literally hear Henry’s blood boiling. You opened your mouth to ask for the same punishment, not wanting to have his point proved. You never got the chance to speak.

“No, sir. I only don’t understand why I’m the only one being punished,” Henry questioned innocently and you gritted your teeth.

Maybe because you attacked me, you dickhead?

Captain glared at him for a moment before his gaze shifted to Jim. “You’re not. Mr. Larkin is following your example.”

You pressed your lips together, this time to stop a smile threatening to spread on your lips. God, who knew America’s Golden Boy could get that sassy? You cleared your throat.

“If I might speak, sir, I deserve to run the laps as well,” you noted carefully, earning a curious expression from your superior. You could tell he wavered, a strange spark appearing in his eyes.

You desperately wanted him to let you run too even if you breathing was still a bit difficult; because otherwise Henry would be proved right. Yeah, nope.

“Very well, then. Ten laps around the gym, recruits. Then you move to the station free at the moment. Go. Don’t let it happen again.”

The three of you nodded dutifully and picked up a pace. For some reason, you could feel the captain’s eyes on you while he walked back to assisting his friend with hand-to-hand training. You glimpsed the sergeant leaning to him, probably asking what was that about, but the blond just shook his head.

Towards the eighth lap, you were being overpassed by Henry and Jim, who ran together; faster than you, whether you liked it or not.

“This isn’t over, bitch,” his hateful hiss reached your ears and you picked up speed stubbornly, not showing them that they might intimidate you even for a second.

They wished.

Even when leaving the room after the session was finished, you would swear there was a pair of blue eyes burning a hole to the back of your head. You hoped that you’d soon be free of the captain’s attention.

You sure didn’t want him to watch too closely. You didn’t need him behind your back to see mistakes you sometimes made just like anybody else. Also, it would be harder to admire and ogle him; you did that occasionally, okay. You were just a human, after all.

A Handful of Mistakes

Shauna, your roommate and bestie from science division of SHIELD, was very patient listening to your lament about guys being dicks; she was awesome like that.

So you vigorously vented your frustration with male population, rolled your eyes when mimicking the silent threat of ‘this not being over’, had a very unhealthy piece of cake at the cafeteria that afternoon and moved on.  

You should have known better.

Henry’s words came haunting you few days later; which was too bad, because you had already forgotten about them, until the very moment they had punched you to the face.

…or rather to your shoulder and it wasn’t even a punch, more like one of those bumps people did, especially when they were being jerks, shoving you too hard for you to believe it was an accident.

“Sorry, didn’t see you there,” you threw over your shoulder sarcastically, continuing your way to the women’s locker room.

In hindsight, that was probably mistake number one; ignoring Henry and not starting a fight right there, not to mention being mouthy.

To be fair, you had no interest in further interaction; you were exhausted from the training, you were sticky and sweaty and all you craved was a shower. You would have just gone to have one at your dorm, but Shauna was having a hot date and you didn’t want to step on her toes. So you had taken your toiletries with you, using the showers near the gym.

Using the gym shower; mistake number two. It meant all of the students being gone by the time you emerged in fresh homey clothes, hair dripping water, because you hated hair-dryers and avoided them unless they were completely necessary.

You had spent much longer in the shower than needed, allowing your muscles to completely relax under the spray of water. That was mistake number three.

The fourth mistake was your pride. When you saw Henry, Jim, George (at least you thought, you weren’t sure, not having many classes with him) and Frank in the corridor, clearly waiting for you, since they bounced off the wall they had been resting against when you appeared, you should have probably been smarter and scream for help right away.

But no, you were being Miss Future Agent and you weren’t intimidated by four equivalents of high school jocks. Yep, this one was definitely the biggest mistake of yours.

“Fellas,” you beckoned to them, passing them gracefully, your bag over your shoulder along with the wet towel.

You barely made a few steps before a hand gripped your arm, harshly tugging you back. Your heart jumped into your throat, but you tried your best not to let it show. You turned to Henry, looking at his face, head tilted back just slightly due to his height.

“Is there a problem, Ulrich?” you asked calmly, earning a lift of his eyebrows at your tone.

“You know there is. I told you it was not over.”

You tried to ignore your pulse skyrocketing and the panic rising in your gut. You were not that stupid – you understood the implications. You knew that with four guys slowly circling you, you would have to fight bites and nails if it came to it and probably still lose. Sometimes it was just better to walk away and swallow your pride; a concept Henry and Jim clearly didn’t understand.

You jerked from Ulrich’s grip, still hoping you could walk away and call it day.

“It is over for me. Now if you’ll excuse me…“

Yes, you were being naïve thinking it would work.

The bag was torn away from your shoulder, your fingers automatically letting go to stay attached to your hand. You gritted your teeth, blood slowly reaching the boiling point.

Also, maybe you were more than just a bit afraid. Not that you would ever admit it to them.

Henry’s hand reached for your chin and your snatched it away in disgust before he could even make contact with your skin. Amusement dances in his eyes along with a flash of anger.

“Oh, kitty has claws?”

You felt another hand on your backside, sending a shudder up your spine, so you grabbed it, shoving it away as well.

Jim. Why weren’t you surprised? Pigs. What the fuck was their problem?

“I’ll let you know when I meet any. Now get out of my way,” you spat, your gut twisting as a sly grin spread on Henry’s face and he made a step right into your route.

“Or what? You’ll scratch, kitty? Or you’ll scream? Like a little girl?” he mocked you in high-pitched voice, his face lowering to yours so you were only inches apart.

“Bet you’d like that,” you murmured, narrowing your eyes when his breath with an unmistakable hint of alcohol fanned over your face. “No, I’ll offer you a breath-mint, because honestly you should do something about your breath.”

Yep, that was the mistake no.5 and definitely an enormous one.

You heard one of the guys chuckle, but you never got to enjoy the thrill of victory.

Out of blue, there was something around your neck, the weight of the towel shifting (add that to the mistake list) and your body flew backwards, colliding with a male one. George was it?

Your hands went to instinctively grab after the towel crushing your throat, but suddenly they were wrested down and pinned to your sides by strong arms. Jim had caught one, Henry another. Fucking cowards.

With your breath coming out short with both lack of oxygen and rising fear, your pulse thundering in your ears, you tried to jerk from their grip, but they wouldn’t budge, having an undeniable advantage.

Oh fuck, fuck, you were so fucked.

“Sassy little mouth, aren’t we?” Henry hummed, wry expression on his ugly face. “So dirty, feels like we should wash it with something. Who wants to go first, fellas?”

Loud alarm bells rang in your head, icy shiver running down your spine, stomach turning over.

Oh no, you don’t.

Your knee snapped up on instinct to gain the momentum, followed by a swift low kick to Jim’s knee.

He yelped and let go of your arm, allowing you to send an elbow straight to George’s face; and finally, your airways were free as the assault as the towel trap loosened.

You coughed, fighting for oxygen and mindlessly threw the item away to have at least one arm free.

“Bitch!” one of the men yelled; you weren’t sure which one, but you didn’t waste time thinking too much. Survival instinct took over.

Tears prickled in the corners of your eyes and you barely silenced the scream when Henry took advantage of your hesitation, twisting your arm behind your back. Fuck he really had a thing for that, didn’t he?

You tried to kick him, but someone else’s leg somehow managed to swept their leg under yours and you fell on your knees. Sharp tug on your hair caused you to cry out and obediently tilt your head back. Few tears escaped you, but you pushed up in attempt to get up again.

A kick coming from behind threw your body forwards and you nearly fell on your face when Henry finally let go of you. You tasted blood as you bit your cheek, but you managed to at least land on your shoulder instead of face-planting.

It still hurt like a bitch, but at least you still had all your teeth… or you thought so, not having time to check. Catching a movement from the corner of your eye, you managed to roll over before a kick to your side could hit you with full force. Frank’s foot only brushed you, but you were sure you’d have a bruise as a souvenir anyway.

A punch landed next to your face when you dodged it in the last moment, someone grabbing your legs and holding them together. Between your efforts to free them, you didn’t have time to chase away the body suddenly holding your arms as well.

“Fuck--- she’s a handful.”

A ragged battle cry erupted from your throat as you tried to jerk your body from their grip on pure instinct, every self-defence move you had ever learned flying of the window.

“More fun to break her, don’t you think?” Henry purred, his hand sneaking around your waist under the hem of your t-shirt.

Your head spun like crazy at the skin-to-skin contact and nausea hitting you hard. You wanted to puke and scream and punch and you couldn’t make yourself to do either, tears rolling down your cheeks as your body convulsed in a desperate attempt to break free.

There was ringing in your ears, disorienting you, but aware of the hand suddenly covering your mouth you tried to bite it on instinct holding you down.

“Oh-ho, biting!“ you heard, strangely muffled as if you were under water.

“I like them feisty-“

“Playing hard to get!”

“Shit, SHIT-“

The pressure on your legs eased all of sudden and you immediately kicked with all you had, catching the rising figure in the calf, knocking them off balance.

“Fuck!”

You would swear the floor vibrated, but in must have only been your mind playing tricks on you. George disappeared from your field of blurry vision; you only saw a fist sending him flying sideways.

Yep, your mind was fucking making up things, because there was no way he could have been thrown away like this by a single punch. You weren’t complaining; the relief the illusion provided was almost blissful.

Henry’s body weight vanished as well in nearly supersonic speed as if he wanted to escape the illusion. So you did the first thing that came to your mind; with your hands free, you grabbed his ankle, stopping him from running away. Which, thinking about it, was stupid, because only a moment before, you would have given anything to get him the fuck away from you.

He kicked back blindly, but his sole never met with your body – he was dragged away and… and lifted to the air as if he weighted nothing.

Blinking your tears away, your fuzzy mind cleared.

Only to reveal a very muscled and very much pissed off blond slamming Henry against a wall and then letting his suddenly unconscious body slide down.

You gasped, your eyes catching a glimpse of the fourth figure – Frank – several feet away, running for his life.

“Buck?!” came a shout and before you could question it, a metal arm emerged from behind the corner, stopping Frank dead as he rushed straight into it.

“Yep?!” the dark-haired supersoldier yelled back, sounding almost amused.

What the hell was happening? What the hell just happened?!

You blood sizzled in your veins, loud and rapid thump-thump-thump banging in your ears, face damp with several shed tears, body aching and your mind fucking racing.

You heard a whimper on your left, automatically turning to the sound. It left Jim’s lips, his form crumbled on the floor, struggling to stand up.

The captain’s knee seemed to come out of nowhere, digging into Jim’s back and pinning him down again before you even registered a movement.

“Is it fucking over now?”

“Steve, let him be. Not worth it,” Barnes’ voice tried to reason, sounding rather growly, but not nearly as loud as before. He approached your group in rapid pace and Rogers scoffed and let go.

You gulped at sergeant’s angry grimace, crazily convinced he was angry with you for all the mistakes you made that lead to this; but his expression softened when his gaze fell on you.

“Hey there,” he greeted you almost casually, holding out a hand to help you up. “Can you stand?”

You blinked several times at the suddenly dispassionate tone, even if you still sensed something bubbling under it. You shook off the thought and accepted the offered hand – the flesh one. The detail didn’t escape you, your bran in overdrive. Of course he hadn’t offered you the metal arm. He didn’t want to scare you. He was thoughtful like that-

-or not. The strength he dragged you up with was way too much for you, more so when combined with the speed and your state. You stumbled over your feet, a wave of dizziness messing with your balance.

You awaited the upcoming reunion with the floor, unable to stop the fall, but it never happened. Before you could as much as reel, gentle hands supported you in a firm grip, pleasantly warm against your bare arms.

“Whoa, take it easy,” Rogers’ voice warned you, soothing. For some reason, it felt more like ‘I got you,’ instead of ‘take it easy.’

You took a deep breath, Barnes’ hand letting go of yours as he semi-voluntarily handed you over to his friend.  

“You’re bleeding from your mouth.”

Thanks for the reminder, I noticed.

You swallowed the snarky remark, well-aware of the sergeant’s care. You fought against the urge to spit the blood out.

“Is fine…” you muttered, wiping your mouth with the back of your hand. “Bit my cheek. I’m pretty sure I—“ you quickly ran your tongue over your teeth just to confirm your theory, “-still have all of my teeth.”

Sergeant Barnes gave you a tiny smile, the worried crinkle that had found its way between his brows disappearing.

“Whatever you say.”

His gaze flickered to something behind your head, probably in order of exchanging a wordless conversation with your still present crutch. Not that you were complaining. The weight of what had happened was slowly settling on your shoulders and you were grateful for any support – and who were you kidding, Captain America made for a pretty reliable support.

“Why don’t we leave you in pu- Cap’s capable hands while I-“ Barnes’ jaw clenched, pale eyes scanning the four bodies on the floor, calculating. “-take out the trash?”

You nearly choked at the choice of his words, wincing. Captain Rogers’ hands squeezed your shoulders reassuringly and you nodded, not sure what else to do.

You didn’t want to look at Henry. Or Jim. Or their loyal companions.

So when the captain carefully spun you on your heels, you didn’t protest and your feet started moving on autopilot in the direction he had set.

“You okay to walk without support?” he asked softly, a stark contrast to the voice you remembered from earlier or from the training sessions.

You knew that if you said yes, he would let go of you. Honestly, his touch felt damn nice, firm and yet somewhat gentle, a pleasant contrast to harsh fingers of the men who had the nerve to attack you – you had to swallow bile rising to your mouth at the awfully fresh memory. Fuck, it had been so close, just a minute later and--- you shook your head mentally and tried your best to erase this memory from existence.

You decided not to abuse the kindness the captain was offering. After several indulging steps, you quietly confirmed he could release you. You found out that sensing his large frame by your side as if he was your bodyguard was nearly as comforting. Nearly.

You didn’t have the strength admonish yourself for basking the light of his protective persona. Future agent of not, you still had the right to want to feel secure at times.

After all, you were only human.

A Handful of Truths

You didn’t realize you were shaking until a blanket was tossed over your shoulders.

You were sitting on a short couch in what looked like a cosy office, hair still damp, body finally registering the ache caused by previous events, just like your brain was slowly taking in what had happened.

Captain Rogers, whose courtesy was to escort you from the hellhole you had been attacked in, had clearly took it as a personal mission to take care of your injuries; it hadn’t dawned to you until you were seated and your mind helpfully supplied you with ‘This isn’t the infirmary’.

He pulled a swivel chair to sit face to face with you, a box of medical supplies left open on the coffee table at your side. You didn’t realize he had moved the chair or dug the box from god-knew-where until the items were simply there.

“How do you feel?” he inquired, attentive eyes scanning your hunched form. You instinctively curled onto yourself, snuggling further into the blanket. You knew you should come up with an answer, but your brain started to hurt with the effort to do so. “I guess that’s fair. Can you tell me what hurts the most?”

You quickly glanced at his openly kind face, his baby blues still watching for any reaction that would clue him. Your throat went dry at the compassion of display and you had to swallow before speaking – and think. What hurt the most…?

You didn’t know what possessed you to tell him what you did, but it came out before you could stop yourself.

“My pride,” you croaked, causing his eyebrows jump just like the corner of his lips.

“That’s probably fair too. Then again, I’d rather know about something I can fix.”

You felt your body relax a little at his informal tone – you might even say a jovial one, but you could still sense too much worry behind it to call it that. You attempted a tiny smile at least to show him that you were more or less fine – you weren’t – and brilliantly failed.

“Landed on my shoulder. Probably gonna have a bruise on my side from when… when they kicked me. Ribs and arms might be a bit tender for few days, ‘cause they were heavy as they--- they’re heavy,” you voice wavered as you saw the muscles on the captain’s forearms clench and his hands curled up in fists. You sheepishly looked up to his face. “I got lucky.”

His eyebrows rose again in a ‘figures’ manner as he leaned back to the chair.

“Nothing else apart from that, your cheek and your pride?”

“I’m a little cold, but you took care of that,” you admitted, taking a deep breath in as you tugged on the blanket pointedly.

Despite what you were saying, you didn’t feel okay, the tremble never quite leaving your body. It wasn’t hard to figure out why. You stared at your knight in shining armour, gathering courage to do what was needed. You tried your best to meet his gaze, feeling so small and embarrassingly weak in front of him.

“Could have been much worse if you haven’t showed up. Thank you.”

He pressed his lips together, shaking his head. He leaned in, his elbows on his knees.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t faster... I should have kept closer eye on Ulrich,” he muttered under his breath, making you wonder if you only imagined it. “Your pride shouldn’t be hurt. You held yourself against them just fine.”

Your heart skipped a beat at the honestly his voice held – and you were honestly grateful for the slight shift of attention. Oh. Had he forgotten how things had been when he had arrived?

You weren’t sure whether you should remind him. You definitely didn’t want to remind yourself, but before you could solve your little dilemma, he clarified.

“You haven’t started training the combat against multiple opponents yet. Let alone four opponents, all of them having both height and weight advantage. You couldn’t exactly go all Black Widow on them if no one showed you how.”

He accented his words with a reassuring smile and you almost believed him. The shivers finally eased, most likely thanks to the warm treatment you were being given in all senses of the word. The inner cold gradually melted and you were left in nothing but pleasant warmth.

Mentally, you patted your pride gently on its head; you couldn’t quite disagree with him. No matter how helpless you had felt earlier and how ashamed for it you were, the truth was you were still learning. You weren’t a finished agent yet.

You breathed in and out, avoiding the gaze that was still on you. It felt like a freaking brand with how intense it was. You couldn’t say you hated it necessarily, you only wished you at least didn’t look so pathetic. No make-up, probably red with a smudge on blood somewhere, perhaps with some bruising already forming, hair wet and messy. You absently ran your fingers through it in attempt to fix it a bit as if it could help.

What had you been talking about? Right… those assholes being cowards and coming at your four against one.

“I… I just fucking hate bullies,” you grumbled darkly, your hand immediately covering your mouth when you realized what you had said. Oh. Language. Still your superior you’re talking to, no matter how nice. “Sorry. Please, pretend you didn’t hear the f-word. I just hate bullies, period.”

“I might have sworn earlier too, so let’s call it even,” the captain offered, one corner of his lips raised. Oh. He had, hadn’t he? ‘Is it fucking over now?’ What did that even mean? “And so I heard.”

“What?” you yelped, your mind racing again in search for the meaning behind his words.

“I mean… I heard you. When you were defending Bucky, in the gym. I’m pretty sure your exact words were about a ‘pissing contest’.”

“Oh god,” you breathed out, your face no doubt set aflame. He had heard you; that was why he had said he should have kept a closer eye on Henry. Oh. Ohhhh.

Also, did he just say ‘pissing’?

“You weren’t wrong by the way. But… neither were them.”

You blinked in surprise. What? “About?”

You knew he didn’t mean the sleeping around with recruits, your gut was screaming that at you, because they wouldn’t, but still, you rather asked for clarification. If he didn’t mean that part, which one then?

“Ladies do fall over for Bucky,” he hummed with a lopsided smile, a playful twinkle in his eyes. It did something to your belly, a strange familiar shift that was very inappropriate, but hell, people needed to cut you some slack. He was impossible not to ogle and you didn’t have the energy to control your reaction after today’s events. “And I don’t really pull my punches when I’m training those two in particular.”

“Why?” you blurted out before you could stop yourself and think better of it.

His gaze bored into yours, burning with intensity and with a glint of something you couldn’t quite put your finger on.

“I don’t like bullies either.”

Did he lean in even more or were you so focused on his face it only seemed closer?

You weren’t able to look away. His blue eyes simply locked you in, not allowing you to escape. The strangest thing was that it wasn’t scary. It should be, he was— he was a freaking captain, your superior, a superior to a lot of people, which you were constantly forgetting ever since he had saved you from falling on your ass in the hallway and you had to remember that.

Before you could though, your racing mind packed up and let your body, your mouth to be precise, act without supervision.

“Not trying to impress the ladies then, huh?”

His tiny sheepish smile cut off the uprising panic in your chest when you realized how bold of you was to say that. He lowered his gaze, giving a subtle shrug. “Guess I wouldn’t want one falling for guy’s muscles and a show-off of dominance.”

“What for then? Honesty? Sincerity? Kind eyes? Strong moral compass?” you heard yourself prying, internally horrified how far you had come when saying that. Your face was drained of colour when it clicked. You were literally naming things you liked about him, absolutely shamelessly putting them in the open. Oh shit. Fix it, fix it, fix it! “…the sass?”

His eyes went wide and he burst out laughing so loud it startled you for a second, especially as he threw his head back with the outburst. Then you reluctantly joined him, covering your face with your hands in embarrassment.

“The sass!” he howled, unable to hold back another fit of laughter and when you peeked at him through between your fingers, you saw his palm resting against his chest as if it could help him stop laughing.

Just like that, blood rushed back into your cheeks.

“Oh god, I made it worse!” you cried out, wishing for the earth to swallow you, frantically looking around for the fastest escape route. “Oh my god, I have to switch schools now… excuse me-“

You hastily got up from your seat, but a quick hand snatched yours, pulling you back.

You stumbled, landing ungracefully right back in your place, this time without the blanket. Captain Rogers was watching you with the corners of his lips high, his eyes sparkling with amusement.

“Sorry for grabbing you like that. But no, please. Stay.”

Your throat closed off when you heard his soft plea, only traces of humour in it. Yeah, you bet he hadn’t met anyone with such big mouth for a while, so he thought it was better to keep the comic around.

“Captain Rogers, I-I- what I said, it was completely out of line-“ you stuttered, only to be interrupted.

“Were you making it up?” he questioned.

You gulped, your mind screaming at you to say yes to save you the humiliation. And yet, with the cerulean irises staring into your eyes, your mouth did the exact opposite.

“No.”

Dammit.

“Then why would you go?” he questioned softly. His hand still didn’t leave yours, only easing the grip into a kinder one. You felt like a brand was being burned into your skin. A pleasant one, so you didn’t retreat. Oh, you’d never. But what on Earth was he getting at? “We need someone honest like you. People who stand up for others, even if only to defend their honour. That is the kind of people who should be in this line of work. The good ones.”

You opened your mouth, no sound coming out as his speech shook you to your core, tickling your stomach pleasantly along with your pride. His words seemed to be coming from heart, genuine, which was not helping your blood pressure and suddenly wobbling limbs.

“Even when they have potty mouth and put their foot in it? ‘Cause I seem to excel in that.”

“Especially then,” he chuckled and you could tell there was no pinch of a lie in it.

Something was in the air, crackling deliciously, and you liked it. You wouldn’t be able to describe it properly, the feeling simply too unique, but it was tickling your fancy so weren’t about to complain.

“O-okay. Thank you, Captain,” you whispered, revelling in the sight of the gentle curve of his lips.

“You started with the compliments, Agent.”

And just like that, you wanted to run for your life again, drowning in embarrassment.

What were you even still doing here? Complimenting him? Enjoying his touch? Flirting with him?

Were you nuts?!

Him, a captain— no, the captain. And you, an agent--- hell, you were not even an agent yet!

The captain whose eyes flickered to not-an-agent’s lips for the shortest of moments, widening a fraction before returning to her eyes.

Oh, now you were definitely going nuts. You were hallucinating. You must have hit your head too. He wasn’t into you and you being into him was very stupid.

You should go.

…any moment now.

…just get off your ass for god’s sake-

“Can I ask you something?”

You blinked yourself back to reality, shushing the voice in your head, curious smile appearing on your lips involuntarily. The softness of his voice felt better than the blanket before and you wanted to cocoon yourself in it, postponing the leaving plans to never.

“Sure,” you replied, the smile remaining on your face despite your better judgement.

He lowered his eyes to your joined hands, his thumb running over the back of your hand in a feather-light touch. You heart positively stopped at the moment, your breath hitching. Holy shit, what was he doing?

“This, does it… do you hate it?” he whispered the question, not meeting your eyes as if he was too shy, which was… ridiculous. He had no reason to be shy.

It still felt like a shot through your heart – a nice one, though, it that was possible. The words combined with the way they were spoken, it stirred something in your belly, warming it up and you couldn’t deny it anymore.

You really wanted this man; whatever this was, it was getting beyond a silly crush. Also, for some reason, it seemed as if he was trying to tell you he was interested too, which you thought was pretty freaking crazy.

“Stay honest, please,” he pleaded when you didn’t answer right away.

Did you hate it? The chastest display of affection if you dared to call it that? Your mind raced, trying to figure out why on earth he would ask that. Because the only reason you had come up with so far was completely impossible.

“No,” you said simply, earning a brief glance up before he looked down again. His Adam’s apple bobbed.

“Good. That’s good… and would you… I’m aware this is out of line and I—I want you to answer truthfully without fearing the consequences-…“

It was your turn to swallow loudly, because what? What did he want to ask that he considered it out of line? He was your superior – you could think of thousand ways of how you could get out of line, but him? And why should you fear the consequences?! Did he want you to help him to hide a body?

That’s not it and you know it. You know what he wants to ask, you rational side admonished you.

Oh please, shut up. Since when you switched sides?

“O-okay. What— what is it-- Steve?” you stuttered out, freezing when his name left your lips and his head snapped up, his hand giving yours a squeeze. Oh boy.

“Would you possibly say you like it?” he blurted out and your brain went to overdrive at the hope behind his expression.

Huh. He really just asked that. Oh shit. Oh wow. Your jaw fell into your lap – only figuratively, you hoped –, your ears buzzing, your blood bursting in excitement.

Oh yeah, you understood why he mentioned the consequences. Either you could say no and you’d fear he might treat you differently or you could say yes and you’d ‘fear’ he might treat you differently.

The fire in your insides burned hotter at the idea of the latter.

His hand slowly left yours, giving you a simple choice you still couldn’t believe you were given.

Holy shit. What do you even say to something like that? Coming from someone like him? Your brain froze as you only managed to stare.

Did his— did the corners of his lips turn down? Was that sadness pooling in the sea of blue of his eyes?

Oh no, you don’t.

“Y-yes,” you admitted sheepishly, closing your eyes at the heaviness of your confession.

You could feel the weight on your shoulders as silence fell, only interrupted by your soft breathing that sounded ominously loud.

Your fingers twitched when his warm palm covered them again, your lips parting in surprise. You kept your eyes closed, indulging the strange moment. His free hand caressed your other as well, the gentlest of touches, tender, contrasting with rough callouses on his fingers.

“I like it too.”

At that, you gathered enough courage to look at him, only to see him inspecting your face closely, observing your reactions. It shocked you that it wasn’t uncomfortable as you would expect; must have been the kindness and wonder in his gaze. You forced your lips to curl up in a tiniest smile. Steve smiled back with same hesitance, his face lighting up.

He looked like a boy next door (making it to a modelling agency), shining eyes and happy grin forming on his lips. He was more gorgeous than ever.

Still keeping your hands, he raised his right one, his knuckles brushing your unharmed cheek. The gesture was so tender it brought tears into your eyes, causing him quickly retreat.

“Sorry-“

You shook your head with a self-deprecating chuckle, squeezing his fingers before he could let go of you completely.

“It’s not you—I mean… it is you,” you babbled nonsensically, taking a breath to gather your thoughts. “It’s just— that was really sweet. No, that’s not-“ Not the right word. “It was beautiful. I swear I never felt so…” loved “-cared for in my life.”

He frowned, a shadow of pain running over his face. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I know that today was… unpleasant.”

Seeing his reluctance and discomfort, you went for the first thing that came up to your mind. You straightened up and pressed a light kiss on his cheek, withdrawing much slowly because once you were in his orbit, it was hard to leave.

His breath hitched, his eyes glued to you intently, flickering to your lips again.

“You didn’t upset me, Steve. That’s the last thing you could do with that,” you assured him, face still inches from his. His name rolled off your tongue easily this time, even though it still left your heart fluttering.

“And if I asked you to have dinner with me?”

Your stomach twisted in a pleasant knot at that suggestion, your lizard brain already thinking about having a dessert for a second; and you weren’t thinking cake or ice-cream.

Yeah, barely. This was a guy ready to treat you right, you were sure of it. He certainly wasn’t about to kiss you now, not afar what happened today, he might go for it after the dinner and that was only if you got lucky enough. You swallowed the disappointment at the idea, quickly shaking it off.

Make up your goddamn mind, woman. You should be glad that men who weren’t thinking with their lower brain still existed and one of those was clearly interested in you, which… yeah, what the hell, that might take a while getting used to. Add the fact that he was being incredibly considerate of how you might feel after being assaulted and you had a winner of your heart. You realized you were actually happy he wouldn’t try anything even nearly ‘funny’.

You were fine with hand-holding and brushes of his fingers on your face, which honestly, the tenderness behind that gesture made you toes curl. You didn’t care much if that made you a freaking sap.

“Still not upset,” you gave an answer at last, deciding he probably liked when you were a bit cheeky.

He offered a closed lipped smile in response, confirming your theory.

“Does that count like a yes?”

You shrugged, the corners of your lips twitching. You had no idea when the change had happened, but all you wanted now was to giggle. And maybe snuggle, but you weren’t about to say that out loud.

“You tell me.”

He licked his lips and shook his head as he retreated. Before you could protest – or have a heart attack, because the motion of his tongue attracted your gaze like a magnet, setting your core on fire –, he sat beside you, leaving enough space in case you didn’t like it.

You liked it, subtly moving an inch closer to his side. Damn, he radiated warmth. Maybe just a bit closer…?

“Cheeky dame, aren’t you?” Steve more stated than asked, reaching for the blanket pooled around you to cover you again.

You didn’t realize you had goosebumps before his hands gently tugged you in, careful not to touch you where you could consider it inappropriate.

Yeah, forget about any funny business any time soon.

You huffed. “Clearly. It did get me into trouble before.”

His eyes darkened a bit, his face noticeably falling.

No, nope, bad move, miss not-an-agent.

“I should walk you back to your dorm,” he remarked, already rising to his feet.

You first reaction was to say no, because you weren’t ready to say goodbye yet. Your second was to say no also, because Shauna probably still had her hot date.

Instead, your hand shot up to catch his, effectively stopping him. He froze before returning to his seat, tiny question mark in a place of his face right next to his soft smile.

You cleared your throat, deciding to give him the latter reason.

“Uhm… my roommate has a date. If I go there, I’ll probably find a sock on the doorknob,” you admitted, biting your lip when he raised an eyebrow and relaxed to the cushions.

“People still do that?”

You chuckled, the fact that not only he was a captain, but also Captain America, which meant he was about hundred years old, hitting you like a train.

“Yeah, people still do that,” you assured him, amused.

He pouted, which you found unfairly adorable and… kissable. Nope, later.

“Sure, make fun of the old man…” he uttered, but a spark of laughter lighted up in his irises, so you assessed he wasn’t too offended. He was most likely used to the teasing.

As an idea of interpreting his words differently popped in your mind, you grinned.

“Is that a permission to make fun of Sergeant Barnes?” you pried playfully, sending Steve into another surprised fit of laughter, not unlike when you had complimented his sass. Your heart swelled at the joyful picture of him and the prospect of seeing more of it in future.

Due to his laughter, you didn’t hear he knock on the door if there was any n the first place. The door simply swung open, revealing the other supersoldier. Speak of the Devil…

Seeing his friend, Steve burst out laughing once more. Sergeant Barnes closed the door with a puzzled look.

You just shrugged in response, opening your mouth without a sound coming out and he took in the scene in front of him again, a smirk appearing on his lips. Under that gaze, you felt your face heat up. You could only imagine how that looked like, Steve cosily close to you, laughing, your hand right next to his thigh as his outburst had sent it sliding from his hand.

The smirk on the supersoldier’s face only deepened when he noticed how flustered he had made you.

“Punk?” he questioned and Steve wheezed once more, raising a palm in the sergeant’s direction, turning to you first.

He offered you a hand to shake. Confused, you accepted as his eyes twinkling in mischief bored into yours.

“Deal,” he mouthed, sending your lips twitching, and only then he shifted his attention to his friend. “Buck?”

The supersoldier had his eyes narrowed, watching you suspiciously.

“I’m gonna regret sending you with her instead of doing it the other way around, aren’t I?” he stated, not actually asking as his gaze flickered between the two of you.

His expression pushed you over the edge and the giggle building up in your chest for the last few minutes finally broke free. You simply couldn’t contain it anymore despite having two superiors in the room. Steve gave you a warm smile as the sound left your lips, clearly not bothered by it.

You hoped you’d be forgiven by Sergeant Barnes as well. After all, you were just human.

“Yeah, Buck, I think you are.”

S.R. masterlist

Sorry for the cavities at the end. Or should I say ‘you’re welcome’? Whatever works for you :))

Thank you for reading! 

[findingjoynweirdstuff]

Dream SMP Underrated Memories/Moments

Everyone’s always talking about the wars, but I wanted to just gather a list of some of my favorite lesser-appreciated moments that aren’t remembered as much! I’ve been thinking about this list for a while and thought this might be a nice time to post it, seeing as it’s really the start of something new :’)

Just some of my fond memories from the past several months

---

- Shortly after the first revolution, Tubbo announces that he has finally seen Hamilton and understands all the references. He, Tommy and Wilbur then spend like 15 minutes arguing which characters they are. Wilbur explains that Tubbo most resembles John Laurens, and everyone’s like “oh cool” until they remember that that would mean that Tubbo has a tragic death in the future. Tommy says, “Let’s not foreshadow the next WAR, GUYS!” in a joking manner. Haha, very funny Tommy.

- Dream and his parrot. The parrot dies, Dream instantly ends stream, then starts it again and builds a memorial, heartbroken. Rest in peace.

- Sapnap borrowing Spirit only to instantly lose the horse to a creeper explosion, THEN accidentally crafting some leather into an item frame that was meant to hold Spirit’s leather. No wonder Dream no longer keeps pets.

- Theropay and premium bonds

- The original L’manberg war being pushed back a day for Dream’s serious stream, and Tommy reacting to it live in the most hilarious way possible. 

“No, George and I are not dating--” - Dream

“--NOOOOOOOOOOO” - Tommy, immediately

- In the days leading up to the L’manberg war, Tommy builds a fight club underneath the embassy but gets distracted with speaking Dutch to Fundy, eventually leading to him wandering around the Prime Path putting signs down that say “The green bastard shall die!” in different languages, as propaganda to Dream’s viewers who may be able to speak those other languages

- Wilbur asking Dream out on a date with Tommy as his wingman (before he joined the SMP? I think? Not sure), leading to the most infamous conspiracy/plot that would go on to stretch all the way to the ELECTION. New fans...you have no idea how lucky you are to have missed the torture.

- Wilbur and especially JSchlatt joining the SMP in general. Tommy being in awe of his SMPLive heroes. The SMPLive Cuck Shed is replicated in the Dream SMP. Wilbur logs off for what was going to be his last time in the community house, giving Tommy ownership of his ball house. Schlatt is kicked and banned.

- Tommy gives a surprisingly good performance of Macbeth and then Hamilton to Dream while held at gunpoint, winning over Dream’s favor with the power of music. Dream mentions Heathers in game chat, but Tommy doesn’t know what that is. Is there a word that means “unintentional foreshadowing?”

- Tommy and Wilbur construct a park composed of alleyways and drug pits to attract drug dealers and women, instead attracting a mysterious Dream. They challenge Dream to a trivia contest and he loses to Wilbur, then jumps off a cliff in despair. We should’ve known trivia was his greatest weakness. Again, is there a word that means “unintentional foreshadowing??” 

- Tommy is ecstatic at Jack Manifold being whitelisted after the L’manberg war, only for Dream to try and get Jack to join the Dream SMP side instead through bribery and secret-code-filled books...and it kinda worked?

- Fundy gathers obsidian for the new Manberg flag, leading to the hilarious sequence of him desperately trying to google common English phrases that Schlatt says, as he doesn’t know what they mean.

“I’ve taken a few pages out of his book” - Schlatt

*Fundy googling “take a page out of his book meaning”* “Yeah”

“do you know what 'idioms’ are?” - Schlatt

*Fundy immediately googling what an idiom is* “uhhhh yeah yeah - yeah, of course”

- Niki joins the SMP after the L’manberg war. They take down the original Camarvan, and Wilbur performs the L’manberg anthem for the first time. 

- Tommy getting Quackity into a VC to try and intimidate Skeppy (he fails) before asking Dream to whitelist him. Dream promptly does.

- That one day that Quackity felt that Tommy was giving more attention to his new pet Henry than to the cartel, so Quackity kidnaps Henry and forces Tommy to play a cruel Saw-like trivia game to bargain for Henry’s life. Tubbo betrays Tommy and cheers on Quackity for the entertainment. It ends in bloodshed, but thankfully Henry is safe... Yeah, we all just kinda forgot about that day, huh?

- Tommy and Tubbo building the nuclear war bunker

- The birth of Big Law at Fundy’s trial over the mysterious disappearance of Beenis. “Be careful, I’m a lawyer!” 

“What do you do for a living, Tubbo?”

(After proclaiming that he’s a lawyer for 30 minutes) “I paint...sofas”

- Karl joining the SMP, creating a new ugly beautiful Minecraft skin...and putting it on backwards

- Purpled starting his stream right before Eret betrays L’manberg in the war, having no clue of what’s going on. He occasionally joins the VC to hear things without context, and stumbles upon where people are gathered, only to be baffled at what’s happening.

- That early on stream where George texts Dream’s mother that he’s Dream’s boyfriend, and she replies. He and the other SMP members spend an hour going back and forth on how to respond.

- The entire Church Prime stream. Honestly the funniest stream I’ve ever seen, no doubt. I was literally crying tears of laughter at times while simultaneously on edge worrying about them getting cancelled.

- The original Deal or No Deal stream where Tubbo won his Happy Meals

- The hunt for Taco Bell

- Drista. Enough said.

- Fundy joining L’manberg, and Tommy accusing him of plagiarizing the L’manberg outfits due to his crayon suit, only for Wilbur to explain that Fundy is his son. Tommy is, as expected, quite confused.

- Dream giving Fundy and Tommy hundreds of dollars in gifts in the most intimidating and nerve-wracking way possible, holding them at gunpoint.

- Purpled’s fall trap at the Socializing Club causing multiple people, including Dream, Fundy and Tommy to all fall down and die, causing their items to get mixed together, leading to arguments and drama.

- Tubbo’s Stress Relievers

- Tommy and Tubbo, during the Pet War, going up Punz’s tower to defend Fundy. They aren’t in VC, and start saying identical things in chat in Perfect Grammar while in full netherite, ominously looking slowly back and forth at each other, looking like evil twins straight out of a horror movie.

--- Feel free to add on with your own :)

[lemon-patches]

Handon Pre-Legacies Headcanons

(So I was rewatching some the originals clips and these just popped into my head)

-It's already been established that Landon worked at the Mystic Grill and that's probably where he met Hope for the first time

-Now don't get mad at me but I'm gonna be honest, I don't think Landon stood out to Hope all that much...at first

-Keep in mind that at the time she did have a crush on Roman and we've all seen how committed she can be when it comes to romance

-But on the other hand Landon's trying to get his heart to start functioning properly again because who is that???

-And why does she have such a weird milkshake order???

-So anyways time goes on and whenever Hope's not locked in her room on campus she's at the Mystic Grill

-Thanks to her reclusive nature she doesn't really interact with anyone sans her server and kinda just sits there quietly enjoying her food and the scenery

-Meanwhile Landon's just in the background drooling and pining silently

-And don't get him wrong, he wants to talk to her but he always chickens out halfway through and just writes down his feelings and thoughts onto a napkin or something

-lowkey the reason why he's always writing her letters. because he got used to expressing himself best that way

-So even more time passes and Hope vaguely notices that Landon's the only waiter that's memorized her orders for the most part

-Hope being Hope, she calls him out on it. Politely of course but Landon still panics and nearly has a heart attack while he stutters and sputters out a defense that he's not a creeper

-okay so maybe he's kinda cute or whatever

-Hope thinks it's sweet and tells him so. Leaves him pretty good tips too (which sends Landon into a spiral because she's nice and she tips well?!?)

-True interaction doesn't really take off until she notices Landon being harassed by some Mystic High goonies and sees him forcing himself to bite his tongue

-But just because he has to hold back doesn't mean she has to and she's ready to rip these little shits a new one until they lock eyes and Landon shakes his head at her

-cue the start of hope wanting to hit shit and landon presenting another option...not to mention protective!hope

-Hope respects his wishes but still feels bad that he has to deal with it. Since she can't be reactive maybe she can be proactive

-She's seen him bobbing his head or singing under his breath to the music that plays on the speakers. So one day, during a moment of particularly vicious heckling she asks him who his favorite musicians are as a means of distraction

-And ladies and gentlemen they are off. Shy as he may be, if you want Landon to open up to you almost immediately ASK HIM ABOUT MUSIC OR SCI-FI SHIT

-They go back and forth talking about which artists they like and why and constantly go off on tangents. Almost like they can talk to this person about anything and they'd get it (how strange...)

-It's on one of those tangents that Landon finds out that Hope is from New Orleans which just sets off another 20 minute conversation

-They talk for so long that not only did the bullies get bored and leave but Landon gets scolded by his manager for abandoning the other customers

-worth it

-Before they know it, an odd little friendship has formed in a place that seemed to exist suspended in time, away from both of their worlds

-Hope spends more and more time at the Mystic Grill since she didn't really have friends at school (leave me alone, it's canon)

-At some point Landon just starts spending all his breaks with her and when he's working Hope is still content to watch Landon scurry around while she doodles or does her homework

-Discounted milkshakes anyone?

-They don't really talk about deep shit but their presence becomes a comfort to one another

-And Hope has to regularly remind Landon to get back to his job before he gets yelled at again

-They talk about and do so much random shit

-Ranking the menu items? Check

-Scoring all the contestants on karaoke night? Check (those two are utterly ruthless btw)

-Playing darts or pool over free leftover fries? Check

-Silently judging rude customers? CHECK

-And yes, Landon's crush just grows steadily day by day because he can tell even without knowledge of the supernatural that Hope Mikaelson is quite special

-And Hope is just so damn happy to have a genuine friend who doesn't judge her or want her for family's past or her powers

-Hope only comes over like 2 or 3 times a week but it's almost like a refuge for both of them to look forward to during a tough week

-That is until Hope gives Henry her blood, she gets suspended from school, and life proceeds to go to utter hell

-Hope's life is chaos and Landon's wondering where his lunchtime buddy went

-First it's just a couple days and then Hope's gone for weeks

-(the napkin notes just pile up)

-During that time separated Landon decides that he can't just rely on her being at the Mystic Grill to hangout with her. He's been extremely lucky so far and now's the time to buck up and finally ask her out

-Especially when he gets the news that his latest foster parents don't want to keep him and he's probably gonna be leaving soon

-Eventually he does see her again but doesn't comment on how much more...subdued she looks

-He figures it's none of his business unless she tells him and remembers the promise he made himself

-Sure, he wasn't expecting an audience (hi uncle Elijah) but it's now or never

-He gets shot down. Politely. But shot down nonetheless

-But hearing about his #1 tormentor's car blowing up did cheer him up quite a bit

-He's literally packing all his meager belongings when he decides to go out into the town while he still can

-AND GUESS WHO HE RUNS INTO?!?!?!!!?!?!

-Sure, they only really spent twenty minutes with each other but they danced. They danced.

-Landon's smiling like a goddamn idiot for the rest of the night. And sure enough, the following morning, there's a social worker waiting for him ready to relocate him

-He's sad, not so much because he'll miss the town or school or even his job but because he'll miss her

-But at least he can remember how they danced together

-About a month later, when Hope can think of human interaction and not automatically curl up inside or want to bare her new fangs Hope actually finds herself at the Mystic Grill

-Yes, she wants a milkshake, and maybe a burger but she mostly wants to see Landon

-She's actually there about half the day until she figures he's not coming in today (and to think she thought she had his schedule mostly memorized)

-It takes about a week of not seeing him before she finally asks another worker about Landon only to find out that he doesn't work there anymore because he moved

-”...oh.”

-After that Hope kinda just goes back to school and stays there

-She still goes to the Mystic Grill but only once or twice a month if she's nearby (no one gets her orders quite right anymore. especially the milkshakes)

-Now if Hope's not in class or training, she's in her room by herself, locked away from the world (no one else can leave her if she's always alone)

-Life goes on

-But every now and then she'll wonder how her friend is doing

-Little does she know that he's wondering the same thing

(flipping hell. look at them. disgustingly adorable. i love it)

[keanureevesisbae]

Coach Cavill - Chapter 11

Summary: Amelia and Henry are going apple picking.

Coach!Henry Cavill x Amelia Jung (Asian ofc)

Wordcount: 5.7k

Warnings: None

A/N: I don’t know Henry’s family (well duh 🙄), but I wrote them in a way it would fit into this story. However, please keep in mind that this is in no way reality. Also, I know it has been over a month since I last updated this fic, so thank you for your patience 🥰

Masterlist // Previous chapter // Next chapter

After what seemed the longest day at school, I quickly drove home, so I could get ready for my date with Henry. I’ve been looking forward to it since the moment we agreed to it. I love apple picking and the fact that I get to spend even more time with Henry, is definitely something I’m not saying no to.

Yesterday morning and this morning Henry came by to bring us all something nice to drink (a caramel cappuccino in the morning just hits different) and to pick up his sandwiches. I can’t believe that this is actually happening right now. After divorcing Dean, I thought dating was out of the question, really. I figured Dean would move on with his new girlfriend (and I mean, he certainly did: they’re getting married and have a baby—I think that definitely qualifies for moving on), while I would sit in my house, surrounded by my kids and my friends and I’d probably date when I was over fifty, when the kids would be long off on their own.

I mean, I wasn’t opposed to it. I had been with the same man since I was eighteen, being on my own felt like an entire lifetime ago and I was thoroughly enjoying it.

However, I met Henry and it seems to fit. I wouldn’t have dared to dream someone like him fitting here so perfectly.

My house is filled with kids. They all know I’m going out and when I’m gone, they have the place to themselves and don’t have to—and I’m quoting both myself and Eve here—use their inside voices as Eve is still working. While Benji, Lola, Jake, Isabella and Yara are all hanging on the couches watching some tv, I’m frantically running around, in order to get myself ready for this date. I took a quick shower, to clean myself up a little, since there was a slight peeing incident today at school and unfortunately, some got spilled on me. Not on accident of course. Poor kid was really anxious the entire day, since it’s not going well with his grandma. Besides, my own kids and Eve’s kids all peed or puked on me at least once, so you could say I have seen my fair share.

‘Amelia,’ Lola says, as I’m pacing through the living room, ‘why are you nervous?’

‘I’m not nervous,’ I tell her.

Benji smiles. ‘Yes mom, you are. Relax, it’s not a big deal. It’s just a date.’

I sigh deeply, knowing deep down that it’s not a big deal and I should relax. It’s indeed just a date and I already know Henry. He comes by in the morning and gives me a kiss. Nothing to worry about. ‘Am I looking too casual?’ I ask them, as I look down to my tight blue jeans, the thick black sweater and the black ankle boots. I have my warm white coat ready on the backrest of the seat. ‘This is too casual,’ I conclude.

‘Mom,’ Isabella says, while she sits on Lola’s lap, ‘you look really pretty and I know that Henry thinks so too. This morning he said that you looked really pretty.’

He did what? ‘When did he say that to you?’ I ask her.

‘When you were checking your bag.’ Isabella smiles and I can’t even hide my blush.

The doorbell rings and I let out a high pitched scream.

Yara starts to giggle. ‘You can do this, Amelia,’ she says. ‘Really you can.’

I can’t believe I need a few kids to hype me up, but to be fair: I am a bit rusty in the whole dating department. If they think I’m a nervous wreck now, they should’ve seen me seventeen years ago when I went on a date with Dean. ‘I know, I’ve got this,’ I say as casual as possible. I walk to the door and when I open it, I’m met with the beauty that is called Henry Cavill. His coat hangs open, only to reveal yet another cable sweater.

‘You are absolutely breathtaking,’ Henry says with a smile. ‘I’m so lucky.’

My mouth falls open. ‘You have got to be kidding me,’ I laugh. ‘Seriously Henry, you are already the embodiment of perfection and then you say this.’

Henry looks at his shoes and from the looks of it, he is trying to cover up a blush. That is adorable, really.

‘I just have to get my coat. You want to come in?’

‘Of course,’ he says, when I step to the side to let him in.

‘Where is Kal?’ I ask him. ‘I haven’t seen him in a while.'

‘Greg and Annabelle are watching him. I can’t say no to that sweet face.’

‘Whose sweet face?’ I ask with a chuckle.

Henry simply rolls his eyes, but lets out a laugh anyway

‘Oh, by the way, you have to know there are three teenagers and two young girls sitting in the living room.’

He nods. ‘Nothing I can’t handle.’ He closes the door behind me and presses a light kiss on forehead. ‘Did I already say to you that you’re pretty?’

‘You told me I was breathtaking,’ I say with a smile. ‘But I did hear you were talking to my daughter about how pretty I looked this morning.’

He chuckles. ‘I might’ve.’ I feel his lips on the tip of my nose and my stomach twists and turns in a pleasant way. I almost forgot how the first weeks of a new relationship type of thing feels like.

I clear my throat as I try to regain some composure and together we enter the living room. Jake starts to make kissy sounds, causing me to roll my eyes. ‘Grow up, will you?’ I say to him, as I grab my coat.

Henry gently pulls it out of my hands, before holding it up for me, so I can easily slide my arms through the sleeves.

This man… Is he honestly real? I hope every minor on that couch is making mental notes, because this is peak gentleman behavior and I want them all to remember this for when they start dating.

‘I won’t,’ Jake laughs. ‘This is way too much fun.’

‘Well, I’ll keep this in mind for when you start dating,’ I say, as I zip up the coat. ‘Remember, I can embarrass you even better. Remind me, how old were you again when you peed on my porch?’

Yara pretends to vomit, while Isabella exclaims: ‘Ew, you peed on our porch? That’s disgusting!’

‘I think he was six the first time, mom,’ Benji says with a chuckle and Lola starts to laugh as well, before adding: ‘And the last time he was ten.’

‘You wouldn’t, right?’ Jake asks, his eyes enlarged.

‘If you don’t zip it, I definitely will. I have tons up my sleeve,’ I say with a smile. ‘Okay, kids, I’ll be back around dinner time. Isabella and Yara, please don’t touch the stove and oven. If you need something, ask the older kids, okay?’

‘Yes,’ the two of them say.

‘If you guys need anything, just remember, Eve is next door and I’m one phone call away.’

The five of them nod. ‘We know.’

‘Also, I’d rather have something left to eat here, so please don’t be swines and eat everything.’

‘We won’t,’ they all say.

‘And—’

‘Amelia, just go!’ Lola laughs. ‘We know how to behave ourselves here. It’s not the first time we’re alone here.’

‘Yes, mom, we’ll manage,’ Benji adds.

I nod, realizing I’m totally overreacting. They are home alone here all the time, while I hang out with Eve and Johnny. This isn’t new. ‘Right, you are totally right. I’m so sorry.’

‘Have fun,’ my daughter says.

‘We will,’ I say, ‘and Jake, for the love of God, don’t say: but not too much fun.’

‘How did you know I was about to say that?’ he asks, his voice a bit higher from sheer surprise.

‘You are fairly predictable,’ Henry says. ‘Even I knew you were going to say that.’

I finally manage to leave the place with Henry and when we’re finally in his truck, I lean over to give him a long kiss on his soft lips. He hums against my mouth, as he places his rough hand on my cheek. I can’t believe he actually deepens the kiss, but I’m not complaining at all. I could kiss this man non stop for hours on end, without getting tired of it. When we let each other go, I smile. ‘I really missed you,’ I say, ‘though I saw you this morning. Is that too clingy?’

‘Not too clingy at all, because I missed you too. I can’t get quite enough of you.’ He starts the car when we put on the seatbelts and he says: ‘I bought the ingredients you told me to buy for the pies. I also bought some whipped cream, because Greg told me if I were going to eat one of your apple pies, there has to be whipped cream on top of it.’

‘Greg is an absolute angel for reminding you, because I am out of whipped cream and he is totally right. Did you know I won the pie baking contest back in middle school with my fabulous apple pie?’

‘I did not know,’ Henry says, as he drives off. He mindlessly places his hand on my leg and I can’t stop myself to place mine on top of it. ‘I really look forward to this,’ he admits. ‘I have never been apple picking before.’

‘It’s so much fun. Pro tip: you have to walk at least twenty minutes before you start picking. Then you find the best apples.’

‘Good thing I have an expert with me,’ he says. ‘Greg told me it would be fun.’

‘You tell Greg quite a lot,’ I say with a chuckle. ‘Well, no wonder he kept wiggling his eyebrows at me yesterday.’ I wrap my arms around his thick one, before placing my head on his bicep. When Dean and I were still married, I could never sit against him like this in the car, because our seats were separated. Henry’s truck allows me to scoot over a bit to the middle, so I can melt against his broad frame. ‘I’m sorry about Jake,’ I say.

‘Well, don’t be. I really love the way you are with not only your kids, but also with Eve’s. It truly shows how close you guys are. I think it’s great you two live next to one another and you can always lean on each other.’

‘It sure is.’

‘Tell me, Amelia, how was your day at school?’

I tell him about how the kids were sweet today and how we made some Halloween related drawings. I even mention the slight peeing incident, but also that it was no big deal really. ‘How was your day?’

‘It was okay,’ he says, but I can hear his voice flatten a bit.

I look to the side, only to discover a deep frown between his brows. From the looks of it, today was not okay. ‘What happened?’

‘My mother called,’ he says, ‘telling me to come back home.’

‘Oh,’ I say. That can’t be good? ‘Are you going back?’

‘No of course not, I just arrived here. Besides, my life here is much better than in Jersey.’ He sighs. ‘She thought it was a horrible idea to move here. She also didn’t approve of my choices of work and sure doesn’t like it I’m doing it overseas now.’

‘Why not?’

‘Well, when you have four brothers who are either with the Marines, lawyers and all that stuff, you could say I’m the loser of the family.’

‘Or are you the only one that followed their heart?’ I ask. ‘I mean, do you even know if your brothers enjoy what they do?’

He simply shrugs. It’s been hard on Henry to open up, I can see that. ‘Henry,’ I say, ‘when I grew up, I wanted to work at the mortuary.’

‘What?’ he asks. ‘Really?’

‘Yeah, I went to my granddad’s funeral and I was in that age where I wanted to experience everything. The woman who helped us arranging the funeral, I was in awe of her. I went with her probably the entire time and she told me what she did for a living. I was actually planning on becoming one, figuring out to what colleges I had to go to, but then I went to Korea. After I came back, I realized I didn’t want to work with the dead, but with the living and preferably our future.’ Realizing that, per usual, I’m about to miss the point I was going to make. ‘What I’m trying to say with this, was that every career move I had in mind, it wasn’t something my parents wanted me to do. They envisioned me becoming a doctor, or a a lawyer, owning my own business. But they just accepted all the choices I made, whether they liked it or not.’

Henry laughs. ‘Wow,’ he says. ‘I just can’t believe you wanted to work at a mortuary. You sure are quite something, Amelia.’

‘I like to keep on surprising.’

‘Figured. What about your kids?’

I chuckle. ‘They have interesting plans. Benji wants to become a career judoka, but I told him he needs to think about getting a degree. He might be quite the judoka now, but what if one day he gets injured or he doesn’t make it? So he came up with the idea of either becoming a dentist or a coach, like you.’

‘Really?’

‘Mhm and to be honest, I’m leaning more towards coach. I think he would be really good at that. He really has an eye for the details, with not only himself, but also with others. And Isabella wants to be famous, but she hasn’t figured out how she’ll get famous.’

He nods. ‘And you support them?’

‘Of course, they are my kids. The point is that your parents should accept you and your choices. The idea of parenting is that you prepare your kids to be ready for the world, not to dictate their lives. You might have an idea of what type of career fits them best, but they have to decide for themselves, make their own choices and mistakes. Besides, I could think of worse career moves. I mean, a judo coach is a great job and being famous… It’s quite something, I have to give her that and with Isabella’s personality, she would enjoy it so much. She loves being in the spotlights, preferably alone.’

‘You’re an excellent mother. Mine could learn a thing or two from you.’ Henry parks the car on the lot, but doesn’t get out. It’s almost like he wants to say something else to me. Knowing how hard it can be for some people to open up, I decide to wait and see whether or not he wants to tell me what is on his heart. ‘You know,’ he starts with a sigh, ‘my mom never went to one of my games.’

‘Are you kidding me?’ I ask him. ‘I’m so sorry.’

‘Seeing these kids here, with their entire support system at the games, it warms my heart. I’m happy they have that.’

I study his face. ‘But you can be a bit jealous,’ I say. ‘That’s allowed.’

‘By you?’

‘By everyone. We all want something we didn’t have growing up and that’s normal. Parents try—or at least it appears as if they do—but they can never give their kids what they deserve. It pains me to know that there are things that I can’t provide for my kids or that I can’t meet their needs. I remember when I was doing my first internship at a primary school, I saw this mother who had four beautiful daughters. That’s what I wanted: sisters or brothers. I was all alone growing up and people would kill for that, but I just wanted a companion within my family. But my parents couldn’t give me that.’ I send him a reassuring smile. ‘Believe me, it can be hard to see kids who have what you have always wanted growing up or kids that are deprived of that what you had.’

Henry nods. ‘Wise woman you are.’

‘Shut up.’

‘I mean it! And just know that when I look over at the bleachers now and I see you, I realize that you are my support system.’

That is the sweetest thing someone has ever said to me.

We get out of the car and all the nerves I experienced back in my own house, are all gone now, especially when he reaches over to hold my hand. Being around Henry is so easy and it worried me  a bit I didn’t feel so tense and nervous around him. When I first started dating Dean, I was a nervous wreck for at least two months. But maybe it’s unfair to compare teen Amelia, to adult Amelia who is divorced and has two kids.

When we arrive at the apple picking field, Henry hands me a bucket and together we walk over the grass, finding the spot with the best apples. ‘So tell me all about the divorce, Henry.’

He chuckles. ‘How long have you been thinking about this?’

‘To be fair? The second you told me about it. I mean, who would divorce you?’

‘I could say the same thing about you. You are the catch of the town.’

‘You are too,’ I say.

He bites his bottom lip as he stares ahead of him. ‘Okay, so I told you that my parents wanted me to marry her and her family wanted her to marry me.’

‘Yes.’

‘And how she dated my friend behind my back and we got divorced, right?’

‘Yes. I’m just curious to why you agreed to it?’

He snickers. ‘It had to do with a trust fund.’

‘Trust fund? That is honestly a thing?’ I ask.

Henry nods. ‘It is. So, if I married her, I would eventually get access to the trust fund.’

Eventually. That isn’t promising. ‘But you got divorced,’ I note. ‘What happened to the trust fund?’

‘It is now a yacht, owned by my parents.’

I place my hand on his arm. ‘Are you fucking kidding me?’

‘Never expected the word fucking to leave the lips of kindergarten teacher Amelia Jung,’ he chuckles. ‘But no, I’m not kidding. When I divorced Vera, that’s my ex, they knew she slept with my best friend, but they blamed me.’

This is absolutely infuriating me. ‘You have to give me your parents’ number,’ I say in all seriousness, ‘so I can call them and tell them their parenting style is honestly unbelievable. Henry you are a grown man! You should decide for yourself who you are dating or what kind of career you want to pursue. And that trust fund thing, how low, my goodness.’

Henry chuckles. ‘You understand why I had to leave?’

‘Oh, I more than understand, I just wonder why you didn’t leave sooner. I really don’t want to talk badly about your parents since I don’t know them, but this crosses a line. What an idiots.’

He nudges my side. ‘This fired up look really suits you, Amelia,’ he admits. ‘I like it.’

I look up and he smiles. He is so beautiful, my oh my. ‘Can I ask you something?’

‘Always.’

‘How rich are your parents? I don’t need a number, but just an indication.’

‘They are pretty rich,’ he says. ‘Like, there is a possibility we would have marry a distant cousin to keep the money in the family, if there are no more trusted family friends who are single.’

Why do I know exactly what kind of family this is about? ‘I didn’t know Jersey had those types of rich.’

‘We keep on surprising,’ he chuckles. ‘Honestly, I never really fitted in, always the black sheep of the family. I’m just grateful I’m out of there and living my own life, even if it’s at age thirty eight.’

‘Luna Meadows sure is lucky to have you here.’ I stand on my toes, to give him a kiss on his soft lips. ‘You sure you don’t want me to call your parents?’

‘I don’t think they are ready for that,’ he smiles. ‘If they find out I’m dating you, they’ll flip.’

Oh my, we’re dating? Is that what he is saying? ‘Is it because I’m Korean?’

He shakes his head. ‘No, it’s more you having kids.’

‘Don’t your parents want grandkids? I thought everyone with kids is desperate to become grandparents.’

‘They do, just blood related grandkids.’

I simply scoff. ‘Your parents are a piece of work.’

‘You can say that again.’ I’m already opening my mouth, but he is way ahead of me. ‘Don’t even think about it,’ he chuckles. We start picking some good looking apples, as the late autumn sun warms my back. ‘Okay Amelia, I see a nice apple, but I can’t reach.’

‘Well, that sucks,’ I say, ‘because of you can’t reach it, I certainly ca— Oh no! Henry, put me down!’ I scream as he wraps his arm around my legs, lifting me up.

‘It’s the one on your right,’ he tells me, but I have closed my eyes shut. ‘Come on, Jung, it’s not that high!’

‘It is!’ I say. ‘You know I’m afraid of heights.’

‘I know you are. Just pick that one apple.’

I manage to open only one eye and quickly grab the one on my right. After I nearly broke the branch while picking it, he carefully puts me down. ‘That wasn’t funny, coach Cavill,’ I tell him, pointing dangerously at him with my pointer finger.

‘Oh look at that,’ he chuckles, ‘the teacher-finger.’

I try not to smile, but I fail. ‘Shut up.’

He bites his bottom lip, only making my heart pound really fast. Is he aware of the effect he has on my heart, especially when he does that? Henry leans in to give me a quick peck on my lips.

Amelia, please, now is not the time to faint.

‘Excuse me,’ I hear a voice behind me say and I cannot believe it’s Trixie again. Of course she is here, to ruin my fantastic date. She accidentally sat in the booth next to me on my second date with Dean, together with her friends. ‘Coach Cavill, I wanted to talk to you about George, is now a good time?’

I want to smack that smug grin of her face. No, now isn’t a good time and any human being with even one braincell could’ve figured that out.

Henry clears his throat, obviously a little caught off guard. ‘Uh, what did you wanted to talk about?’ he asks, as he scratches himself in the back of his neck.

‘His progress.’

Well, I can tell her all about that: her twelve year old is just as bad as he was three years ago. There is no progress with George Yates.

‘I think we should have that conversation a little later,’ Henry says with a professional tone, ‘when we’re at the center for example. I have video material and all. We could have a chat tomorrow, before training.’

‘Can’t wait,’ she says. ‘Amelia, are you having fun?’

‘Mhm, we’re going to make an apple pie at his place,’ I say, holding up the basket. ‘Remember, back in middle school when we were in that pie baking contest and I made one of my famous apple pies. What did you make again?’

Her face grows pale.

‘Oh right, pecan pie, with that very dark crust.’

Trixie is ready to skin me alive and honestly, I can’t really blame her, because I have been in her shoes more than once. For years her words would stab me like knives and now it’s the other way around. I remember when I came back from Korea, the way she gave me a hard time because my band Forever Hope disbanded. I mean, what did she accomplishment in those years? A date with Lucas Yates?

However, back then I just ignored her, but now I can’t. She will do anything to discredit me, but after that last phone call I had with Eve, when Trixie told me how I did not want to host a baby shower and a sweet sixteen at the same time, I felt this newly gained power to not allow her words to get to me.

I came to the realization that Trixie is still stuck in her high school mentality, while I grew up and actually matured. This gossiping and undermining thing was ridiculous back in school, but now… It’s still ridiculous, but also just plain pathetic. And maybe my comments aren’t exactly mature, but this is honestly just a small part of the payback she deserves after all those years of nearly bullying me.

‘Well, Trixie, Henry and I have some baking to do. See you later.’ I grab Henry by his hand and pull him with me. Henry doesn’t say a word on our way back to the truck, but once we’re both seated, he starts to laugh. ‘What?’ I ask.

‘How much underlying anger was in that conversation?’

‘Oh, quite a lot,’ I chuckle. I try not to think about the whole kid thing, because I honestly think it’s too soon for Henry and I to have that discussion. ‘Trixie and I go way back and I just felt this need to tell her off. Sorry.’

‘No need for apologies, remember?’ He places his hand on my leg and gives me a comforting squeeze. ‘Just so you know: I like you seeing you like this.’ He leans over and presses a kiss on my lips. ‘Now let’s go and make that famous apple pie of yours.’

✰ ✰ ✰

Making apple pie with Henry was nearly impossible. For starters, I had to make a checklist of every single thing that needed to be done at his place and spoiler alert: it’s a lot. I don’t want to call this place a dump, but… It kind of resembles one, if I’m being honest. When I finally managed to get myself to the kitchen, he continued to distract me with hugs and kisses. I mean, it’s not the worst thing I could think of (it was quite romantic), but once I’m baking pies, there is just this instant switch and I have a severe case of tunnel vision.

But of course, I managed to pull it off, with shockingly little help of Henry (but he made it all up by being handsome and handing me the stuff I needed). Now we are waiting for the three pies to cool a bit, as we are sitting on the couch. ‘I didn’t get any texts from the kids,’ I say, as I stare at my phone. ‘Or Eve for that matter. Are they okay?’

‘I think you are worrying too much.’

‘I’m not,’ I tell him, but when I look up and see his eyes, I realize I’m lying. ‘Okay, maybe I worry too much. It’s a trait I got only after the divorce. I usually was pretty chilled, very laid back, however when they went to their dad for the first time after the divorce… I was a nervous wreck. I think I finished up an entire bottle of wine and some.’

‘Oh no,’ he chuckles. ‘I’m sorry.’ He wraps an arm around my shoulders and lets out a sigh. ‘But I think it’s a mom’s job to worry.’

‘Yeah, part of the job, indeed.’

He doesn’t say anything for a while, but then he breaks the silence by saying: ‘You know, I keep thinking about Benji and that… anger outburst he had the other day.’

‘I know, I know, we’re trying to work on it, but… He just bottles up all of his emotions and then they come out uncontrolled. It’s so uncharacteristic of him, but he has been having them since he was little. I just worry sometimes he might hurt someone.’

‘I understand,’ Henry whispers.

‘But when he was younger, he would also save it when it was just us, when his dad wasn’t around. Probably because I just let him have his rage, before finally stopping when it was about to get out of hand. Dean on the other hand would get really angry. I think he felt and still feels safer to do it when he is with me.’

‘Understandable.’

‘I just worry a lot and that resulted in quite a few grey hairs.’

‘Listen,’ he says, ‘you are doing an excellent job, that I can guarantee. I mean, listen only to my parents and how much of a train wreck they are.’

I chuckle. ‘That’s a wonderful compliment, thanks for that, Henry.’

‘You understand what I mean.’

‘I sure do and… I know I’m doing good, but sometimes I just lack so much in my own opinion.’ I lean towards him, to press a long kiss on his lips. Before he can say anything to that last statement I made, I say: ‘We should get going. Think the pies are ready.’

‘And you desperately want to get back to your children, copy that.’

Henry and I get in his truck, with the slightly steaming pies covered in tea towels so you won’t burn your hands when you hold them. I adore being in a car with him, especially when he places his hand on my thigh. When we arrive home, Henry holds the pies in his hands and when I open the door, I only hear Isabella’s and Benji’s laughs, meaning the other kids went home. I’ll bring the other pie to Eve’s tonight. ‘Hi sweeties,’ I say when I walk into the living room, seeing the two of them on the couch.

‘Mom!’ They jump up and rush towards me and hug me close. ‘How was it?’ Benji asks.

‘It was wonderful,’ Henry says, ‘and you kids are lucky your mom loves you a lot, because otherwise I would’ve eaten all of this all by myself.’

Benji holds out his hands to help Henry out and brings the pies to the kitchen. Isabella jumps up and with one arm he balances her on his hip. ‘You wouldn’t, right?’

‘Oh, I think he would,’ I chuckle.

We walk to the kitchen, where Benji already has four plates prepared. ‘Oh shoot,’ I say to Henry, ‘I left the whipped cream in the car.’

‘I’ll get it, no worries,’ he says with a smile, before turning around, as he grabs his keys from the counter.

When he is out of hearing distance, Isabella pokes my arm. ‘And?’

‘And what?’ I ask her.

‘Did you two kiss again?’

The fact that I’m stammering, is the answer to her question. ‘Why do you care?’ Benji asks his little sister.

‘It’s just so romantic,’ she exclaims and wraps her arms around my shoulders, pressing her cheek against mine.

Henry walks back in with the whipped cream, tosses it up, before catching it with his other hand. Show off, I think to myself. ‘Who wants some?’ he asks.

‘I do, I do!’ Isabella says.

‘On your nose or on the pie?’ Henry asks with a smile.

‘On the pie,’ she chuckles. ‘You are a pig.’

‘You can’t just call people pigs,’ I say to her, softly squeezing her side.

‘You do it all the time, mom.’

‘Some things need to stay within the Jung family, honey,’ I whisper in her ear. ‘Okay, Isabella, pick a piece.’

We take our plates with the piece of pie and the whipped cream and sit at the table. Benji is seated next to me and when I look to the side, I notice him looking at Henry and how he is treating Isabella. I bump my knee against his and our eyes meet. My sweet boy, I think to myself. He sends me a quick smile and I chuckle.

‘Benji and Isabella, do you mind if I talk to you two about something?’

‘Is it something we did?’ Benji asks, his voice dripping with worry.

I place my hand on his wrist. ‘No, sweetheart, it’s nothing you did.’

Henry shakes his head. ‘It’s just something I need you to know.’

Isabella looks up to the side, as she takes in the broad man next to him. ‘What is it?’

‘Well I want you two to know that… Just because I’m dating your mom, doesn’t mean I’m trying to steal her away from you nor to become your new dad. She is still your mom and you two are her number one priorities.’

My daughter chuckles. ‘Henry, we know all that.’

‘And we are more than happy to share our mom with you,’ Benji tells him.

While Henry is a bit surprised, I am not, because I just knew my kids would react like this. ‘Really?’ He can’t help but smile and that melts my heart.

‘Really,’ my two kids confirm and I smile when I see how happy the three of them are. ‘Is there anything you wish I know or you expect from me?’ He looks over at Isabella, who already opened her mouth. ‘And that does not involve watching television with you passed your bedtime,’ he says, causing her to pout.

‘Just make my mom happy,’ Benji says and if my heart wasn’t completely melted away, it is now.

‘Honey,’ I say, as I wrap my arms around his neck. I can feel he is rolling his eyes. ‘You are too sweet.’

‘Mom, stop,’ he laughs.

‘My boy is such a darling,’ I continue, simply to pester him.

‘Mom!’ Benji says, trying to push me off, but I’m simply too strong for now.

‘I did such a good job raising you,’ I chuckle, as I pepper his cheek with kisses.

‘Mom!’ He starts to laugh and I actually let him go now. ‘Don’t hug me like that again, but I meant what I said. Just make my mom happy and then I’m happy.’

‘I can do that,’ Henry says. ‘I promise.’

[casper-the-musical-archive]

A Search for Casper The Musical

Hi there! My name is Pinkoctopede (or Pink for short) and as the title suggests, I been on a hunt for this obscure lost musical for weeks now and I wanna spread the word around!

What is it: It’s an actual short lived musical based on the character, Casper The Friendly Ghost (leaning towards the 1995 film and 1996 tv series) that ran from 1999 to 2000 but got a revival in 2001 and 2019.

1999 London Production: This version ran in the UK from December 4th 1999 to February 26th 2000 directed by David H Bell with Henry Marsh and Phil Pickett making the music. The plot reads “Casper helped a team of ghost hunters wage a high-tech battle with the supernatural to save a gothic Manhattan mansion from being overrun by zombies.” Probably the most interesting thing about this version is that the ghost characters are played by puppets (but Casper himself is just a costume with the actor’s face showing). There are mentions of a full bootleg of one of the shows that was up on Youtube but unfortunately, the video is private and there haven’t been any findings of reuploads and the only evidence of it existing is a few screenshots and a single clip. The full soundtrack has been found and there is a Youtube link in one of my posts.

2001 America Revival: Premiering in June 4th 2001, Casper would come back but this time, at Pittsburgh CLO. Besides from the sets and the title, everything have changed from the story, song, and cast. The plot reads “Vaporized 50 years earlier during a freak lightning storm, Casper and his three uncles are living a rather uneventful life in the family mansion…until Magdalena Monteverde, former maid turned media celebrity, re-enters their lives. She wants the deed to the house…not because she wants the house, but because she thinks there's a message on the back of the deed that will lead her to 'the greatest treasure of all.' As reality-based TV shows are all the rage, Magdalena hosts a live 'Find the Deed Treasure Hunt' in the 'haunted' mansion, on Halloween. One lucky contestant could win $1 million if they find the deed. During the search for possession of the property between its ghostly inhabitants and those intent on displacing them, young Casper and friends finally find the greatest treasure of all…each other. With a motley group of children, greedy parents, and Casper's Ghostly Trio of uncles to contend with, friendship, loyalty, and affection win out in the end." (long i know.) This version was somewhat more known since a famous broadway actress, Chita Rivera stars as the main villain, Magdalena. 20 minutes of footage are found on Youtube. A professional recording exists but has yet to resurfaced. Unlike the 1999 version, most of the songs (not all) have been found on Tumblr. The missing songs are: “There’s No Such Things As Ghosts”, “Happy Haunting Ballet”, “What If?”, “He’s a Nerd”, “Dot.Com”, and “Footloose and Fancy Free.”

2019 TCT Revival: Around October 12th 2019, The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati decided to bring Casper back from the dead to do the last theatre appearance. Not a whole lot to say since it is just the 2001 version with the same plot and songs (think that the runtime is a bit shorter but not that sure.) There is actually a full recording of the show found on Bilibili.com and I’ll be sure to link it on one of my posts.

Conclusion: So as of now, my main goal is to find the full recordings of both 1999 and 2001 shows. While I won’t promise that the musical will be the best (or even good), I still want to find it because the very concept of a whole musical based on Casper is just fascinating to me (and i’m a bit of a Casper fan in general.) If you find anything that isn’t on this blog, PLEASE submit a post or PM me on https://www.instagram.com/pinkoctopede64/ !

[baconsoupforthesoul]

The Ink Demonth - Day 11 - Bargaining

Keeping the Peace

A/N: I might be streaching the prompt a bit here, but I couldn’t resisit doing something for my friend’s Wild West AU. Henry in this au belongs to @doberart and Harrison belongs to @inkspottie​ and I hope you all enjoy!

“You don’t need to always be checking up on me, you know?”

Henry looked up from his drink into his younger brother’s slightly annoyed face.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I’m just here for a drink. Can’t the sheriff get a nice refreshing glass of water while he’s on duty from his favorite local establishment?” Henry gave Harrison a cheeky grin as the shorter boy rolled his eyes.

“Oh really now?” Harrison raised a suspicious eyebrow at his brother, to which Henry could only chuckle.

“I promise Harrison, I’m not trying to hover,” Henry told him honestly. “Just this late at night, at the town’s most popular bar, if there’s going to be trouble anywhere in this town, it’s going to be here. I’m just keeping my ear low to the ground.”

“Alright, I’ll let you off the hook,” Harrison sighed as he picked up his dish rag. “This time anyway.” Harrison pointed an accusatory finger at Henry, but he couldn’t suppress the playful smile on his face.

Henry chuckled as he watched his brother go off to wipe down more tables. The Palette was certainly a lively place tonight. Folks from all over Inkwell and even quite a few out of towners were packed into the salon. Henry had to admit, he and Harrison had it pretty good here. After spending only two years as deputy, he had been made sheriff of this place and the town hadn’t given him too much work in the past 3 years. Inkwell was a fairly law-abiding place. Still, trouble could find you anywhere, even in a town as quiet as Inkwell.

Just as Henry was about to take another sip from his drink, he’s startled by a loud bang just outside the Palette. A gun shot. Henry turned around sharply, but he didn’t see anyone wielding a pistol, and no one appeared to be injured. Most of the bar goers were staring out of the tavern doors. He could see Harrison out of the corner of his eyes looking as white as a sheet. The younger boy gave Henry a worried look as his brother got up and uncliped his gun holster.

“Careful Henry,” he said softly, his playful mood from before long gone.

“Don’t worry, Harrison. I’ll handle this,” Henry said as he gave Harrison a reassuring smile.

The sheriff pushed open the tavern doors and surveyed the late night street. He didn’t see any evidence of a fight or any sort of shoot out. So who had fired that gun?

He turned to his left to see two gentlemen laughing loudly, practically falling over due to the force of their laughter. One of them was mostly bald except for the scruffs of hair around his ears and the back of his head, along with a scar on his forehead. The other man had a full beard and was wearing a cowboy hat and an eye-patch. The sheriff also took note that one was holding a pistol, and that there was an apple set up on a barrel a ways away.

Henry didn’t recognize either of them from around town. He believed he had seen them as they strolled into town today though, and when asked had introduced themselves as Charley and Barley.

“You couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn!” Barley hollered, slapping his knee.

“Shut up!” Charley yelled, brandishing his pistol. “I just had something in my eye. I’ll get it this time.”

“Excuse me gentlemen,” Henry called out as he approached. “Mind telling me what all the fuss is about out here?”

“What’s it to you, sheriff?” Charley grumbled, shooting Henry a dirty look as he stepped into his personal space. Henry wrinkled his nose as he smelt the strong smell of alcohol wafting off of the man.

“There’s no need to be rude, Charley,” The bearded one lightly chided his companion, taking a step forward as he pulled Charley back slightly. “How you doing, sheriff? Wanna see Charley here miss his shot again?”

“You shut your yap!” Charley spun around and slapped the other man’s hands off him. “I’mma put a hole right in the middle of that damn apple, you’ll see!”

Henry frowned, the situation becoming all the more clear to him. He could smell booze off the both of them, and it appeared like they were having some sort of shooting contest out here.

“As entertaining as that sounds, why don’t you put the gun away, yeah?” Henry advised, eyeing the pistol wearily. “I’m afraid you can’t just have a shooting contest out in the middle of the street. Someone could get hurt.” Henry would hate for some innocent bystander to get shot cause two drunken men wanted to show off their aim.

“Like I give a damn,” Charley scoffed. “This don’t concern you, gold star. If ya don’t like it, then you can kiss my ass.”

The sheriff narrowed his eyes at him. “I think it very much concerns me when the good people of this town’s safety is at stake,” he argued, voice stern.

“The two of you seem a little worse for drink,” Henry continued, trying again to pacify the situation without it escalating. “Why don’t the two of you go sleep it off. I know a couple places you could get a bed for the night, at a reasonable price too.”

“Are ya deaf!” Charley yelled, spinning around to glare at Henry. The intoxicated man stomped up and got right up in Henry’s face. The smell of alcohol off the man’s breath was so strong it almost made Henry gag. "I said this ain't any of your business! If you're so bothered by it then ya can get lost before you end up getting hurt, goldstar." The underlying threat didn’t go unnoticed as Henry took a step back, his hand hovering over his holster.

"Woah, easy there Charley," Barely stepped up and gently but firmly pulled his friend back. Charley shook his friends hands off but stepped back, still clearly fuming.

"I apologize for my friend here, he just gets a little riled up once he's reached the bottom of the bottle," Barely tried to explain. "We don't want any trouble. Why don't we all settle down and… put all this behind us, yeah?"

Barley reached out and grasped Henry's hand, giving it a firm shake. Henry blinked in confusion as he felt something like paper in the palm of Barley's hand. Or rather, it kind of felt like a dollar bill. It took a second for his brain to put two and two together before it dawned on him.

This man was trying to bribe him.

"Huh?" Barley let out a noise of surprise when he felt the cold metal cuff lock onto his wrist.

"Mighty bold of you to try to bribe me, sir," Henry told him, his tone ice cold. “I think the two of your can sleep off your night of drinking in the jailhouse tonight. Now if you would kindly put your other hand behind you please?”

Barely stood frozen as Henry carefully guided his other hand behind him and secured the cuffs. “But-but-but surely we can sort this out sheriff! I may have some more coins jingling in my pocket here…”

“Not interested,” Henry deadpanned. “Now if you could also put your hands behind y-”

“Like hell!” Charley yelled, cutting Henry off as he pulled out his pistol. “You ain’t taking either of us anywhere!”

“Easy there,” Henry cautioned, his whole body tense as he stared down the barrel of the gun. “I’m just taking you boys in for one night in the jailhouse. That’s all. No need to do something you’ll regret.”

“Oh, you’ll think I’ll regret it, do ya?” Charley scoffed, cocking the gun back.

Henry could feel his blood run cold as he stared at the armed man. He’d been lucky in his job so far, having not had too many violent crimes to deal with. But now he was staring death in the face, all over a dumb shooting contest. His thoughts raced as he tried to think of his next move. How could he get out of this without anyone getting hurt?

“Henry!”

The sheriff's eyes widened as he heard Harrison call out to him. No… Harrison was supposed to have stayed in the salon, not out here with a drunken trigger happy man who could easily turn the gun on his brother. He can’t help but glance back, seeing Harrison standing on the steps of the bar looking horrified.

Before Henry has a chance to say something though, and before Charley can even pull the trigger, Henry hears a soft click from behind the armed man.

“I’d put the firearm down, son,” a gravelly voice drawled. Charley went as white as a sheet as he felt a gun being prodded into his back.

“Norman!” Henry startled, feeling the tension slowly fade away. “I didn’t even hear you come up. It’s good to see you.”

“Same, sheriff.” Norman replied. “I was just moseying about and saw that you could use a hand here. Now,” Norman turned his attention to the man he was holding at gunpoint. “if you could put that ol’gun away and put your hands up, that would be mighty kind of you son,” Norman ordered Charley, who gulped and did as he was told. “You wanna pass me another pair of cuffs, Henry?”

“Sure thing, thanks for help, Norman,” Henry shot his friend a grateful smile as he passed another set of handcuffs to him.

“Are you alright, Henry?” Harrison exclaimed as he rushed forward, almost tripping over his own feet to go check on his brother.

“I’m just fine, Harrison,” Henry turned to look down at his brother’s worried face. “Don’t worry, I got this.”

“Yeah, like you had it just five seconds ago,” Harrison argued, letting out a long sigh. “Don’t scare me like that, Henry! If Norman hadn’t shown up…”

“I did though, no need to worry yourself about the what ifs son,” Norman told him gently. “I’ll help your brother with these two fellas, don’t you worry Harrison.”

Harrison looked between the two of them before heaving another long sigh. “Alright… you guys just be careful, okay?”

“Sure thing, Harrison,” Henry agreed, a soft smile on his face, reaching out to ruffle Harrison’s hair. “I’ll see you back at home, Harrison.”

“You better,” Harrison huffed, batting Henry’s hand away before crossing his arms. Henry only chuckled in response as he and Norman led the two men away.

“I may have a real nice ring in my back pocket, if that helps sheriff?” Barley tried again, turning back to look at Henry.

“No thanks,” Henry scowled at him. “How about you do less bribing and more walking, yeah?”

Henry sighed as the four of them made their way to the jailhouse. This was the first time someone had ever tried to bribe him. It made him feel sick just knowing that there were plenty of lawman out there who would have happily taken the money and looked the other way. He couldn’t imagine letting greed get in the way of maintaining the peace of this town. People counted on him here, and he refused to let them down.

“You know, your brother does have a point though,” Norman spoke up, looking over at Henry. “You’re lucky I showed up when I did. I think you might want to think about finding yourself a deputy, Henry.”

“Yeah… I really should,” Henry agreed with a sigh. Night’s like tonight made that all the more clear. “I just need to find just the right one for the job.”

[papermoonloveslucy]

LUCILLE BALL: NUMBER 1, BUT STILL TRYING HARDER

July 29, 1974

Editor's note: following is the final part in a series of eight profiles on America's self-made women.

By PHYLLIS BATTELLE 

“Success - whaddya you mean by that?” rasps Lucille Ball in that rowdy voice which strikes adoration into the hearts of Lucy lovers. 

“If your concept of success is happiness in what you’re doing, in being a mother, in being a wife, then I’m a success. I’m also damned lucky that I have my health and guts life takes guts and that my work paid off. 

“But if you’re talking of the kind of success that’s about dollars and cents, forget it. The real wealth is not out here in Hollywood. Its all highly taxable, honey, and who cares? Money has never been important to me. I hate looking at bills. I hate math. I’m a typical Leo: money-blind. What I’m saying is that not one of us out here has more than $25,000 to buy a stamp with! 

“Pennies, Pickles Or Something" 

So much for Lucy’s petty cash. Aside from stamp funds, she has assets: a million-dollar home in Beverly Hills, another in Palm Springs and an apartment near Aspen, Colo.; investments resulting from the sale of her Desilu Studios to Gulf & Western for $17 million in stock, her own Lucille Ball Productions Company: earnings from 23 years of “Lucy” series (now running in 77 countries); a percentage of “Mame”, the new super-movie musical; not to mention the proceeds from diligent work dating back to 1913, when she was two years old in Jamestown, N.Y., and spoke little pieces at the grocery store for pennies or pickles or something. 

At 62, Lucille Ball Arnaz Morton is No. 1 - but still trying harder. (1) Husband Gary Morton says proudly, “Her work is an obsession and a labor of love, and as long as the public likes her shell never retire.” 

Lucy recently did terminate her “Here’s Lucy” series, at least temporarily, but will hold her "business family” (about 500 staff and cast members) together while she produces TV specials. Now, she leers at her orange-haired image in a dressing room minor and says, “I’ve loved to work, always. I discovered very early that the way to please people was to make them laugh at me. So I appeared at church, school, Girl Scouts, anything and anywhere. Made the tickets, sold them, starred in my own shows. That seems backward now. That’s gone out. The business has been hanging itself, and the kids with it, by making stars and superstars out of strange, young people who don’t know their craft."

Drums And Records 

An example, Lucy says, could be found in her own son, Desi Arnaz, Jr. "When he was nine, he was very good on drums. Used to beat them while the records played as background. He got a group together with a couple of kids at school Dino Martin and Billy Hinsche and they called themselves Dino, Desi and Billy. Then Sinatra heard them, and they made a record and had a hit. 

"A magazine took off on them, and they went on tour. Poor waifs - thank God, they didn’t have any more hits. But it left its mark, this being made a star when you don’t know anything at all, and after two years it was damn hard for Desi and the other kids to get back to doing their homework." 

That sort of "big payoff for mediocrity" was not what happened in Lucy's own youth. Her family in Jamestown was "lower than middle-class, hard working, had a truck garden and was never hungry." 

Most Influential Man 

Lucy's father, a mining engineer, died when she was four. (2) Her stepfather was the most influential man in her early life. To encourage young Lucy’s "flair," he took her to see Julius Tannen, a monologist. (3) “When I saw Tannen sitting on a empty stage in a dark theater, making people cry and then laugh - oh, it was magic, pure magic," she recalls. 

At 16, she went to New York, where her stepfather entered her in drama school. "I found out how shy, awkward and unable to cope I was. The teachers put me down, said I had no talent whatever.” Lucy's blue eyes flash. “New York frightened me. Still does. You have to take me out of the hotel on a leash to get me on the streets of New York today. Being tall, lithe and well-sculptured, Lucy took up modeling. But then, almost tragically, she contracted pneumonia with complications and was bedridden for eight months. It took three years of convalescence before she regained complete control of her legs. At 21, through an agent, she was hired to become a Sam Goldwyn showgirl in Hollywood for an Eddie Cantor film, “Roman Scandals”. 

Would Take Any Part 

“Out here in California, I knew as much as the rest of the girls in movies, which was nothing,” she says. “The difference was I would take any part. I never sought to be a star. I didn't mind being typed. I wanted to be typed. One of the greatest thrills of my life was hearing a director say he wanted a Lucille Ball-type for a picture. 

Of course, later it was different, she growls, "when they said they wanted a young Lucille Ball-type. 

In 10 years as willing “Queen of the B movies," Miss Ball was out of work only two days. 

In 1939 she met a young Cuban bandleader named Desi Arnaz, and they married in 1940. From the beginning, their marriage was a difficult venture: Desi toured the United States with his group, while she stayed in Hollywood making movies. Then Desi served in the army, while Lucy starred not in films but a popular radio series, “My Favorite Husband”. They split. They tried again. 

Finally, in 1951, in a desperate move to keep their marriage alive. Lucy sold CBS on what, at the time, seemed an unlikely television series: "I Love Lucy.” 

It was the beginning of greater professional success, but not the end of domestic upheaval. Their first child, Lucie, was born when her mother was 40; Desi was born when Lucy was 43. But the much-adored children were not to save the marriage, and in 1960 - tearfully, knowing her diligent efforts had failed - Lucille divorced Desi, citing his outbursts of temperament, instability and violence. Desi did not contest the action. 

In parting, they split a $20-million television empire. They are better friends today - at arms length, with new matrimonial ties - than they were during the 19 years of marriage. 

Today, Lucy’s sense of well-being with one-time comedian Gary Morton (who is executive vice president of her production company), is obvious and delightful.

"It s really a super life, grins Gary, living with a thoroughbred." Says Lucy, I guess its very possible to live without a good man. Possible, but no fun. To bake a cake is no fun without a man. It’s no fun to make a garden without a man to watch it grow." 

Lucy also is, and always has been, a proud and over-protective mother. Is that bad? I don’t think so." 

A Share Of Problems 

But despite Lucy’s mother-hen" closeness to Lucie, now 22, and young Desi. 20, the Arnaz offspring have strayed into their share of problems. Desi and actress Patty Duke had a much-publicized affair when he was 16 (and Patty was 28); later he became engaged to Liza Minnelli, but that broke up last summer. Lucie was married in 1971 to actor Philip Vandervort, but the couple quickly split. 

Lucy is convinced her daughter, who is featured on “Here’s Lucy," will be a star. “Lucie," her mom says, “has all the material of stardom - ability, inclination, vitality, intelligence, beauty, good sense and good taste. 

“Wholesome Movies Alive" 

In fact, one reason that Lucille Ball finally agreed after three years of rejecting the role to star in the movie “Mame” is that Gary convinced me it could keep wholesome movies alive for talented people like my daughter. 

"This industry," Lucy shudders, “has turned into a sex-and-violence factory. The whole thing’s ugly, with thousands of ugly people ripping-off their clothes and ripping-off the public. If that’s what makes good box office, and if box office is what they mean by success, then success is out of kilter!”

#   #   #

FOOTNOTES FROM THE FUTURE

(1) The advertising slogan “We Try Harder” was developed in 1962 for Hertz Rent-A-Car company, who was perpetually number two in popularity to Hertz Rent-A-Car. Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett satirized the campaign on “The Carol Burnett Show” on October 2, 1967. 

(2) Henry Ball, Lucille’s father, was actually a telephone lineman, not a mining engineer. One story had Hunt as the executive of a mining company in Montana. his death certificate listed him as a ‘laborer’. 

(3) Julius Tannen (1880-1965) was a monologist in vaudeville. He was known to stage audiences for his witty improvisations and creative word games. He had a successful career as a character actor in films, appearing in over 50 films in his 25-year film career. He is probably best known to film audiences from the musical Singin' in the Rain, in which he appears as the man demonstrating a talking picture early in the film.

[mwolf0epsilon]

Story about Joey being a vampire hunter and Sammy being a vampire. You can bring in Norman ((human or vampire))to to safe him

Summary: In which Sammy is sometimes a very ugly bat, and his boss might want to kill him. Normal workplace issues.

---

[[MORE]]

     Hypsignathus monstrosus. Commonly known as the hammer-headed bat (or big-lipped bat if you preferred a more unusual denominator), is a frugivorous species of megabat widely distributed in West and Central Africa. It's the only member of its genus, Hypsignathus, which in itself is part of the Epomophorimi tribe alongside other four unique genera.

The largest bat in continental Africa, with wingspans approaching 1 m (or about 3 ft), and the males being almost twice as heavy as the females. It's a sexually dimorphic bat species, with differences including several adaptations that help males produce and amplify vocalizations. Mainly the differing size of the males' larynges, which are about three times as large as those of females, and the large resonating chambers on their faces that give them such a distinct look. 

The females in turn, appear more fox-like as is the norm of most megabat species.

All in all, information that really didn't help Sammy in the slightest, as he tried to make sense of three different books that, in theory, should give him a vague idea of what the hell was going on with his body this time...

     To put it in simpler terms, he'd turned into a bat, as per say of those ye olde queer tales of vampires that were capable of shifting into those little chittering flying rats that flew out of caves and dreary old castles at night… 

But then what he'd seen reflected (because most modern mirrors were not backed by silver or other such pure metals) had most definitely not looked like a squashed-nosed winged rat. It had looked truly like a freakish monster. 

But that was getting a little ahead of himself really...

There were things one had to note beforehand to really comprehend what Sammy Lawrence was currently going through: Starting with the attack.

Two years ago he'd been assaulted by what he'd once assumed to be a creature of mere legend, although at the time he'd thought it was a random dog attack because what had taken a chunk off of him looked inhuman (more like a very warped looking pug-snoutted thing now that he really thought about it). 

On awakening the next morning at the hospital, he'd been informed that he'd henceforth be barred from entering such facilities because he now suffered from vampirism, and that his name and records had been archived by some secret governmental agency that then directed him to a sub-civilization of non-humans. 

Shocked and confused, he'd been quickly integrated into a coven that took no time to teach him the basics. 

He was to live life as if nothing had changed, hidden among mere humans, yet he'd be judged as a pest by those that recognized specific documentation he now had to carry for "security reasons" (aka clearance for services to deny him due to his ailment).

Oh and he had to cope with the harrowing realization that food did nothing for him other than eliciting a form of pleasure (through stimulating his taste buds) and that he needed to instead find nourishment in human blood, otherwise he'd either die or go into an uncontrollable frenzied state (in which case he might end up dead anyway because if he so much as killed a person he'd be put down like a rabid dog).

No pressure right?

Funnily enough, Sammy had actually adapted to this drastic change. The poor man had to, otherwise he was screwed.

And then again it hadn't been all that difficult since the coven was less of what you'd assume from the olden tales of groups or communities of vampires living in the same roost, and more of a civil service in of itself. 

It was like having a parole officer really. One that gave you some pointers in the right direction, and that reminded you of feeding schedules.

Feeding itself wasn't as bad either, twice every month in specially assigned locations where cattle would be provided to them by a few sponsored ranches.

What really bothered Sammy about all this was the maturing of his vampirical traits. Specifically the part when one night he found himself ripping out of his clothes and seeing his body grotesquely transform into a quadrupedal flying thing that he couldn't quite put a name to. Hence why he'd come to the library in search of answers.

Still the best description he got was for some African fruit bat that had a face that not even a mother could love.

How could a vampire seemingly become a herbivorous bat, when he knew for certain he'd slaughtered two horses the previous night?

  "Found anything yet deary?"

     Sammy startled slightly as Mrs. Harrison, bless her for being the supportive sweet old grandma figure that she was in his time of need (and one of the few humans who knew of his predicament and didn't judge him for it), joined him with a couple of books.

She'd taken them both, plus Abigail, to the library to help him figure out about his strange transformations. 

She was also the one who took Abby on the nights he needed to feed because he couldn't trust himself not to attack her. 

He was too akin to a wild animal on a frenzy when he felt the hunger calling, which Mrs. Harrison had stated was normal for fledgeling vampires like himself.

  "Honestly, just this ugly looking thing… it's the closest I've found to what I saw in the mirror."

  "Ah, the hammer-headed bat! They're quite unique I'd say… My dear husband, god rest his soul, used to stuff them back when he hunted in Africa. He thought they might bring him luck, the nutter." The old linguistics teacher smiled, the gaps where she was missing teeth making it look slightly crooked but no less endearing. "It isn't unusual for vampires to instinctively take on forms that don't quite match their dietary needs. Most who change become similar to a species that best suits their needs. This one I'd say has qualities befitting of you deary."

  "That's… not very comforting." His nose had always been a sore spot. Turning into an animal whose face was 90% nose was just insulting to him.

  "Don't take it so badly deary." Mrs. Harrison chuckled. "What I mean to say is these bats, specifically the males, are known to be quite vocal. You, my dear, are quite vocal, are you not?"

Well, when she put it like that…

  "That's a yes in those pretty eyes of yours deary. And besides, not many new vampires can say they naturally became megabats. You're very well endowed in that aspect."

She took great joy in getting him to blush at such a comment. He could see the devilish glee in her kind old eyes, accentuated by crows feet and wrinkles.

They picked up a few books on the "specialized" area, Sammy vehemently ignoring Abby's questions of why his face was so red, and soon enough the trio was on their way back to the apartment.

Sick leave (which he took twice a month as mandated by the coven) would be over tomorrow, so Sammy needed to prepare.

Because working in an enclosed cartoon studio run by Joey Drew would definitely spell trouble for a vampire that had just earned their shifting ability.

-

     There are a set of very specific rules for new vampires. Don't expose yourself, don't expose the community, don't expose the sponsors or patrons.

Sammy had gotten pretty lucky, Mrs. Harrison was a patron and one of the best at her job.

She provided rehoming possibilities to fledgeling vampires, and ensured their safety within the communities they'd been integrated in.

She also kept an eye on hunters.

So of course Sammy was quite aware that Joey Drew was a person he needed to watch out for.

Joey Drew, who was notorious for having at least 36 confirmed kills under his belt. Here's where things got tough: Joey knew Sammy was a vampire, so he tended to keep a pretty good eye on the music director as well.

It was a perpetual game of cat and mouse.

A very dangerous one that had just reached a new level.

Because Sammy's overall safety lay within what his coworkers thought of him vs what they thought of their boss's eccentricities.

No one was crazy enough to believe that their coworker was secretly a vampire, or that their boss was essentially the equivalent of a vampire poacher.

And that is what Sammy wanted to maintain. A veil of normalcy to keep himself safe. One that would be much harder to maintain now that he had matured out of the first two years of being a fledgeling and developed such a large and rather monstrous looking shift.

     Hazel eyes locked with icy blue ones as the music director locked eyes with the founder of Joey Drew Studios. They drank coffee in the break room, surrounded by oblivious employees, and maintained this tense stare-down until Henry came by to drag Joey away.

Then Sammy would let out a quiet sigh of relief and go back to work ironing out the flaws in his current composition.

Jack would pass by his office to drop off a few new lyrics, he'd point out which needed a bit of tweaking, and then he'd be alone with his thoughts and his sheets up until he had to help Susie with recording.

Then he'd spend a good hour or two conducting the band, catching the brief glimpses of his ever watching boss in the corners of his eyes.

The staring contest would restart on every break, and Sammy would have to seek safety by mingling with coworkers (some of which he could not stand).

Norman was often his go to, as Joey never risked these sorts of behaviours with the larger southern man around.

The projectionist was a very bright man after all, and could dig up dirt on anyone that so much as rubbed him the wrong way.

It was a miracle he hadn't figured out Sammy's little secret thus far.

  "Runnin' from the boss again?"

  "That man is insane… I swear he's obsessed with me, Polk. It's creepy!" He'd replied after sneaking away to practically glue himself to Norman's side during another much needed coffee break. He desperately needed a smoke, his skin felt tight and uncomfortable.

  "Drew don't know no boundaries. Yous should consider takin' it up to Henry." Norman suggested. "Only man ta boss will listen to."

  "I wouldn't want to bother Henry because of Joey." Sammy huffed. "The poor man isn't his keeper."

  "Sure coulda fooled me." Only three more hours of this. Three more hours and he could go home.

  "Mr. Lawrence, a word." Speak of the devil… Joey Drew himself feeling bolder than ever as he moved over to address Sammy in Norman's company. "About the most recent composition."

  "Devil's Swing. What of it?" He'd worked hard on it to act as a counterpart to Angel's Tango. One of his finer masterpieces if he did say so himself.

  "I find it's going in the right direction… But it just lacks this… shine to it." Joey gestured vaguely "Like it's missing something that'd make it just right."

  "Shine… you think it's missing some shine?" Sammy suppressed the need to growl. What was the man on about? Just this morning he'd been happy with it!

Lord forbid Mr. Drew could ever make up his mind.

Norman watched the exchange quietly, keeping a close eye on both of them as Joey gave one of his signature grins. The kind that'd make the little devil darling himself quite jealous with just how much tooth it showed.

  "As we're on a tight schedule, I have to ask you to fix it by midnight tonight. Since you were on sick-leave recently, I'm sure you can compensate for setting us back with overtime." Oh, oh dear.

Sammy could now see what he was up to.

By midnight the studio would be virtually empty. Just him, the ever oblivious Wally Franks, and Joey Drew himself.

Oh he was in trouble… Unless he could do the alterations well before, but then if Joey wanted to trap him in the studio where he couldn't get help, who's to say he'd accept any of his corrections?

  "I…"

  "Well, on with it then! No time to waste!" Joey gave him an overly friendly pat on the shoulder, those icy blues glinting with manic glee as he walked off.

Norman wrinkled his nose.

  "That man ain't right in the head… Yous just came back from the doc."

  "You know how it is. Only thing Drew cares about is money." And Henry, to an obsessive degree actually. More so than following Sammy around now that he thought about it.

Either way, he had to get to work now, or he'd be screwed. "I'm going back into my office. There's no way I'm sticking around until midnight."

  "Best o'luck. I'll be in my booth if ya need anythin' from me."

Sammy needed an escape from their boss, but he couldn't exactly tell Norman that. He was the last person that needed to find out one of his coworkers was a damn bat-shaped leech. The blackmail would be horrid!

-

     The clock read 23:47 by the time Sammy had finished, and honestly the blond was ready to break.

One by one everyone in his department had packed up for the night and gone home. Susie had come by to give him a quick peck on the cheek before she'd saunters off humming a chipper tune.

Jack had come by to remind him not to stay too late and then been on his way as well. Wally himself was nowhere to be seen, probably cleaning that spill he'd heard about in Heavenly Toys, so the music director was completely and utterly alone.

And he was running out of time. 

Joey was going to get him.

  "Damn it… I've been good with this. I haven't even tasted human blood, and I'm still going to get put down by some crazy asshole…" he put his face in his hands and groaned. The tightness if his skin had only worsened as his stress piled up.

Stress-shifting was very much a thing and he really didn't want to chance transforming in the studio to release some of the tension.

With his luck Wally might walk in on him.

  "What do I do…?" He could try scaring his boss into letting it go. That bat form of his was pretty ugly, it'd scare the devil right out of Drew himself.

Or it'd just make him step up to the challenge.

A knock startled him out of his thoughts.

  "Y-yes?" He chastised himself for sounding so shaky, especially when it wasn't that grinning bastard who opened the door.  "Norman?"

  "Hey Sammy, I need a favour." The Louisianian greeted him. "I messed up my arm pretty bad while fixin' one o' them projectors. Yous wouldn't mind drivin' me to the hospital right?"

  "I… No of course." He was surprised, noticing the makeshift dressings on Norman's arm. They were messy but he couldn't see or smell his injury so it was likely a burn of some kind. Those projectors tended to overheat and catch fire at times.

  "Good, I'd ask Henry but he wents home early tonight… Strange really, Mr. Drew let a lot of folk go home early tonight..." Norman shrugged "And even if he could drive, I wouldn't bother ta boss t'do this for me."

  "I'll drive, I was done anyway." He left the sheets out so that Joey would find them as they were with ease. "Nearly midnight too, so Drew can't get on my case for leaving a little earlier."

This was the escape he needed.

He owed Norman his life, even if the other man didn't realize it.

     The two made their way outside at a leisurely pace before Norman motioned for Sammy to follow, much to the blond's confusion.

They ended up in an alleyway (not dodgy at all, nope) where Normal pulled off the bandages and revealed his arm was just fine. Sammy stared, eyebrows raised.

  "I lied, I don't need to go to the doc, but I don't think that butcher needs to know that… Have a good night Sammy, and stay safe." The much taller man grinned cheekily before transforming before Sammy's very eyes, into a truly massive Mauritian flying fox.

  "Oh you're kidding…" The larger vampire chittered, clearly amused by his reaction, before flying off into the night. "So much for having something over Polk…"

The music director huffed and began walking towards his car, stopping when it dawned on him. Norman would likely cash in this favour when he least expected it…

  "Son of a bitch, that man better not ask for something impossible…"

You win some, you lose some.

As much as he hated to lose to Norman so often, Sammy was at least glad to win this despute with Joey.

For the time being at least.

[treatian]

The Chronicles of the Dark One:  Breaking the Curse

Chapter 8:  Debt Transfer

While he was confident that all Ashley had taken was the adoption agreement, he was also a competent businessman, and that meant that he spent the day at the shop taking inventory. In truth, it wasn't a terrible idea. Other than a quick pre-cursory check for the items he most wanted when he'd first awoken, he hadn't done any kind of formal inventory on the shop. It was good now that he had to. It allowed him to take out each individual card he had for every item he owned, see if he could identify it's proper history, not the history the Curse had given to it, and then determine if he needed to keep that item or if he was willing to sell it. He made it through the morning before he felt like his headache was finally going away, but after lunch, he was so tired the letters began to blur together on each of the cards, it was mid-afternoon, and he was thinking very seriously about laying down to take a nap just for an hour or so. If he needed, he figured he could call Dove and ask him to call back in an hour. If he didn't answer, then he should call 911. He was about to make the call when the cell phone in his hand began to ring. It took him a second to process what was happening, to realize he didn't recognize the number on the screen, but finally, his brain made the connection to answer, and he smiled at the news.

"Mr. Gold, this is nurse Cullen. I have a note here in the chart of one Ashley Boyd that you are to be informed when she comes in to deliver her baby. That new girl, Emma Swan, she just brought her in. If I were you, I'd get down here. She's going to have this child any minute now."

He didn't care that the paramedics had told him not to drive, suddenly he felt alive and awake and aware as he shuffled to his car and made the five-minute drive to the hospital. Emma Swan never once called him, even though by now, she surely had ample opportunity to. "I will help her," the girl had said. He hoped that was true. He hoped that as she'd searched for the girl, some of her story had come out. He hoped that Cinderella had convinced her that she was ready and willing to have the baby and raise it. He hoped that the Savior was prepared to accept a deal that she didn't know was coming because he'd been ready for well over twenty-eight years to make it.

Storybrooke Hospital was small; the Curse had equipped them with just about everything they'd need while they were here, so they didn't have to venture out into the world, but it was still a single building that often left him wondering how they fit it all in. The maternity ward consisted of a single dead-end hallway, and it shared a waiting room with about three other departments. Ashley Boyd's baby would be the first baby that Storybrooke ever had, though still not a child of this realm. Though she was a child of this world, she was conceived in the other world and therefore always would somehow belong to it, just like Emma Swan. Unlike Henry Mills, who through and through was a child of this world.

He sat spotted the boy easily enough, sitting in a chair as Emma spoke with him in the waiting room, about what, he wondered. What had transpired? Some secret plot she had? He assumed so since she obviously hadn't found the time to contact him as their deal stipulated. He longed to get into her head, to understand what she was plotting, and planned to ask her, but before he could a young female doctor he didn't recognize approached the Savior.

"Miss Swan, baby is a healthy six-pound girl, and the mother is doing fine," she announced.

"What lovely news!" he exclaimed, forcing a surprised Emma to turn and look at him. "Excellent work, Miss Swan. Thank you for bringing me my merchandise," he smiled back at her, gleaming with what he hoped looked like pride in her. She might not have called him, but he wanted her to feel responsible for bringing her here where that child was in danger of being handed over to him. "Seems I've some calls to make, paperwork to fill out…"

He strode away from the girl, beaming at the look of horror he'd left on her face. It was that look that told him to make a detour on the way to the nurse's station. Well…that look and the fact that he was once again exhausted. He couldn't wait for this to be done if only because he'd decided that once it was, he was going to go back to his home, take a shower, and sleep for a month. For the reason of speeding this whole process up and bringing that future to himself as quickly as possible, he baited his trap and waited for Emma to fall into it.

Damn, he hated hospitals. At the hospital's crummy little coffee vending machine, he inserted some money and glanced at Emma telling Henry something while she danced on her feet between him and her son. Finally, she proceeded. He banged against the machine when it didn't work properly, and just as Emma approached, it began to work for him...like magic. Though he hoped the deal to come would go smoother than the machine.

"Well, well. Must be my lucky day," he muttered as Emma drew nearer. "Care for a cup, Miss Swan?"

"A baby? That's your merchandise?" she chastised with disgust. He'd never been happier to hear such a tone from a woman. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well, because, at the time, you didn't need to know."

"Really? Or you thought I wouldn't take the job?" He smiled at her boldness, the volley they had going back and forth. She certainly was her mother's daughter. But he was hoping that there was a bit of her father in there too.

"On the contrary, I thought it would be more effective if you found out yourself. After seeing Ashley's hard life, I thought it would make sense to you. I mean, if anyone could understand the reasons behind giving up a baby, I assumed it would be you."

The Savior narrowed his eyes at him, staring him down with the same look of disgust she'd had when he'd seen her go up against Regina in his vision. Shame she had no idea which side she was truly on…for now.

"You're not getting that kid."

"Actually, we have an agreement. My agreements are always honored. If not, I'm going to have to involve the police, and that baby is going to end up in the system. And that would be a pity. You didn't enjoy your time in the system, did you, Emma?"

"It's not going to happen."

And there were the other half of her genes. Her mother was bold and clever, defender of all things just. Her father, on the other hand, had always been stubbornly drawn to lost causes, to helping those who couldn't help themselves, to problems with difficult solutions. He smiled in awe of it, in wonder at what neither of her parents could see just yet. What a relief to see both Snow White and Prince Charming residing perfectly in one body, one daughter. They'd be so proud. But how far would she go, he wondered, to make it so? As far as her parents would? He did have a hunch, something he'd been preparing for since the Enchanted Forest.

"I like your confidence. Charming. But all I have to do is press charges. She did, after all, break into my shop."

"Let me guess – to steal a contract?"

He shrugged. "Who knows what she was after?"

"You know no jury in the world will put a woman in jail whose only reason for breaking and entering was to keep her child."

He raised his cup to his lips then, partly to make her feel like he was nervous, but also to keep Mr. Gold from telling her that he was well aware of that fact, being a lawyer himself. But he wasn't trying to get Ashley Boyd in jail…he had something far more sinister in his mind.

"I'm willing to roll the dice that contract doesn't stand up. Are you? Not to mention what might come out about you in the process. Somehow, I suspect, there is more to you than a simple pawnbroker. You really want to start that fight?"

Confident, defiant, strong, and now he could add smart to the list of adjectives that described the Savior. She'd analyzed him perfectly, not that she'd ever find proof of it, not in the world. But that worked just fine for him.

"I like you, Miss Swan. You're not afraid of me, and that's either cocky or presumptuous. Either way, I'd rather have you on my side."

She smiled. "So, she can keep the baby?"

"Not just yet!" he insisted, strutting away, trying to make her feel like this could slip away all too easily. It wasn't something that would have riled Snow White, but her dear father, on the other hand… "There's still the matter of my agreement with Miss Boyd."

"Tear it up."

"That's not what I do," he pronounced. "You see, contracts, deals, well…they're the very foundation of all civilized existence. So, I put it to you now," he pressed, stepping closer to her, letting her feel like she was reeling him in when in fact, it was the other way around. "If you want Ashley to have that baby, are you willing to make a deal with me?"

"What do you want?" she drawled skeptically.

He smiled, hearing the Seer's words in his hands and imagining the feel of magic between them. He didn't need for there to be magic to know what it felt like when the tendrils of one agreement loosened from one and snaked themselves around another.

"Oh, I don't know just yet," he lied. "You'll owe me a favor."

"A favor." The thing he'd been plotting forever since he'd first told Cinderella she was pregnant and wanted the child. A favor…it was costly enough to cover a multitude of sins and yet cheap enough to buy a baby. Emma breathed in and out for a few heartbeats as if she knew he was tricking her with something. But he held her gaze, dared her to challenge him to a contest of dominance. She'd lose. No one ever won in a deal with the Dark One.

Finally, she took a step forward. She didn't blink as she muttered the word "Deal."

She turned to walk away, not saying a single thing to him as she retreated back to her son. He beamed at the daughter of Prince Charming and Snow White. She truly was the perfect embodiment of both her parents. And one day, she'd know it. One day she'd see it, and so would the entire town. One day, when a precious debt from a woman of ash would find his boy of fire…one day.

[starchildrenofdustand-ashes]

My Six The Musical Review

Once again nobody cares— BUUUT I saw SixChicago yesterday with Adrianna Hicks as Aragon, Andrea Macasaet as Bolyen, Abby Mueller as Seymour, Brittney Mack as Cleves,  Anna Uzele as Parr. Here are somethings I noticed (essentially this is a rundown of everything you wouldn’t get just from listening to the album lol) ((Also im so tired and its 12.28 am and im sorry for any mistakes))

❤️💚💛💗🖤💙

👑 So before the show, they were playing a ton of pop music, but it was on an instrument that kinda sounded like a lute or harpsichord. 👑 When the Queens walked out from behind the curtain in a single file line to take their place on stage, the crowd went crazy. They all came out through a tiny crack in the curtain,, but when they belt “LIIIIVE” the curtain falls to the floor as is dragged off stage. 👑During the dance breaks in Ex-Wives, they go from dancing hip hop, to dancing with each other in a style they would’ve done back then to the beat. It was cute. 👑It was so weird hearing their accents! I’m always expecting “divooced” but it felt like they were almost emphasizing the r “ divoRRced” 👑Before Catherine of Aragon starts singing in Ex-Wives she says “Remember us from PBS??” 👑When Jane Seymour sings her bit in the song she moves Stage Left and when the Queens all say “Hey!” She looks surprised and shrugs, continuing to sing 👑Anna really played up the “JA’s” during her bit and IT WAS SO CUTE (you will find I am partial to clever, bc my gay ass is in love with her.) 👑There is so much dialogue!! After they say “Chicago!! How’re you doing tonight!!” They say we are “SIIIIX” in their harmonies and “Welcome to our divorced, beheaded, LIVE TOUR” 👑Aragon says “WE HAVE SO MUCH IN STORE FOR YOU TONIGHT— WE HAVE THE RIFFS TO RUFFLE YOUR RUFFS” before she does a really sick riff 👑A few of the other queens add on to that,, I forgot what they said but then  Howard says “AND A WHOLE LOT OF HISTORY” and Parr cuts her off and says “OR AS WE SAY A WHOLE LOT OF HERSTORY” 👑then they introduce their band (who are on the stage with then) as their ladies in waiting and I was soft 👑 So then they go on to explain the deal with the show; they are all competing against each other for the crown of the “ultimate” queen based on who had to put up with the most shit from Henry 👑 When they’re going down the line to explain why they say 💛Who lasted longest was the strongest 💚The biggest sinner is obvs the winner 🖤 I have no idea what Seymour said I don’t remember DX ❤️Who was most chased is first place 💗The most glorious will be victorious 💙The winning contestant was the most protestant (but she says it so it rhymes with contestant and then all the queens look at her like ??? And she sighs and says ‘protestant’ with its correct pronunciation 👑Aragon says “How in the purgatory are they gonna choose a leading lady??” 👑”The queen to take the crown will be the one who had the biggest, the firmest, the fullest…. LOAD OF BS TO DEAL WITH FROM THE MAN WHO PUT A RING ON IT 👑There is a reprise of Ex-wives but this time they change the lyrics to “welcome to the show to the coronation” 👑💛lol Aragon cut the reprise off and was like “It doesn’t matter, because I’m the winner” and then she asked the drummer for a beat 👑💛So with the beat, Aragon begins to tell her story, and the bass is strumming the baseline for no way 👑💛”Okay, I’m thinking its… a bit weird they want me to marry my… dead husbands brother”… 👑💛So then she continues recounting the story and she says “I saw lipstick on his collar and I’m like… okAY… so now he wants to annul our marriage and moves this sidekick into mY palace and wants me in a CONVENT” and she’s on a RANT so she pauses and breathes really heavily before smiling really widely and sighing “Now… I don’t think I look that good in a wimple so I said. No. Way.”  And the song starts immediately after that 👑💛Idk what else to say except that Aragon was a total badass and Adrianna Hicks  was a fucking QUEEN 👑💛When she asks him to name when she’s ever caused him pain, she’s all the way upstage on the same platform/semi circle that the band is on, and she’s on her knees kinda begging kinda. She pauses for a LONG time and waits for an answer and her face is smug when she’s like “no?” 👑💛She said “I had the most to deal with AND I hit that high c so that crown is mine,” 👑The other Queens stop her and are like theres another really REALLY IMPORTANT one… the one that overlapped with you who is she?? The famous one that people actually care about!” Then they all start chanting “The one you’ve been waiting for” and the lighting turns green,, while they’re chanting, Anne Boleyn looks really confused and shrugs and walks to the back of the stage and picks up her phone 👑💚The Queens eventually say “The temptresssssss” and they hold it out like a snake “ANNE BOLYEN” and they sing this very choir like 👑💚They all turn to her and Anne is just sitting there cackling at whatever is on her phone and she’s like “ Whoops sorry,,” and Don’t loose your head starts 👑💚Andrea Macasaet has SUCH a high pitched voice she was absolutely ADORABLE 👑💚When she said “get ahead” she smirked and everyone laughed 👑💚Instead of her voice going down on “Pret a Manger,” it got even higher almost In a mocking French accent. 👑💚She is pissing Aragon the fuck off this entire song lol 👑💚When she says “Are you blind??” She gestures between she and Aragon 👑💚 “What was I meant to do?” Is sung like a confused toddler lol 👑💚 So the bit where they play the wedding song, all the queens bow to her and she walks past, smiling and waving and she gets to the end of the line and is like “Hold up,, let me tell you how it went down HENRY’S OUT EVERY NIGHT …. Etc” 👑💚”Bro just shut up!” Instead of mate 👑💚She even asks the band what was she meant to do, and everyone is repeating her and she screams “OH MY GOD SERIOUSLY HE REALLY WANTS TO CUT MY HEAD OFF” 👑💚and then she grins again after a long silence and she’s all smug like “I guess he really liked my head…..” While kinda licking her lips lol 👑💚DEAR GOD HER RIFFS JESUS FUCKING HREHTTLTURHGUEHURL 👑💚And she was like “yeah… that was such a weekend… I like died… and it was so extra! So im clearly the winner. So now, I have to sing a song I wrote when I found out that Catherine of Aragon had died. Its called WEAR YELLOW TO A FUNERAL SING IF YOU KNOW THE WORDS. And the bass came in and Boleyn sings “Catherine was a massive C-” and the other Queens immediately shut her up 👑Aragon and Boleyn start arguing until Seymour is like “its my turn now…” 👑Everyone looks at het before they burst out laughing, telling her ‘bye’ and ‘girl, please’ 👑And Seymour is like yeah,, I was in love and I was really really lucky. 👑🖤 And Seymour goes into this really heartbreaking monologue about how she missed her songs future and how she had a picture of her family. She said that Henry was really sweet and that she loved him 👑Boleyn cuts her off and is like “yeahhhh,, there was this one really cute time where he, like, cut my head off :) 👑🖤Seymour said that Aragon and Boleyn were badasses. Then she said that she promised to always stay by his side and didn’t yell at him back like the other two because she loved him. Then she dedicated the song to him 👑🖤Heart of Stone started and honestly,,, its not my favorite song and I usually skip it. But mY GOODNESS. Abby Mueller is a fucking goddess wow. The amount of control she has on her voice is astounding 👑🖤(fun fact abt me— I have perfect pitch lol)  they pitch changed it into A major and it transposes into B major which was SO BEAUTIFUL. It made me actually like the song lol 👑🖤Its not really eventful,, she just stands in the middle of the stage. 👑Seymour is like,, “what hurts more than a broken heart?” And  Boleyn is like “A chopped off head” 👑Almost immediately  after it transfers to Cleves and she’s like “soo he’s running out of options in England he had to expand his fields and adjust his location settings to find his next queen. We are Heading to Germany where  he got the help of Han….. 👑At some point during the song, the other queens ran off stage to get their glasses and ruffs 👑They all run back on stage in their glasses and ruffs (Cleves still hasn’t said his last name yet) and they all whisper “Holbien” 👑WELCOME TO THE HOUSE 👑lol this song is SO funny… and Cleves is so fucking adorable (she was flossing at some point). The dancing was so… German…it was hilarious. 👑So after the song is done,, the girls still have their ruffs and glasses on and it kinda turns into a mobile app like tinder.. 👑Basically there are two queens before Cleves and they all stand up and walk downstage as they are introduced, they smile and their picture is taken and they wait for about two seconds before Henry swipes left or right. 👑The two in front of Cleves are played by Parr and Howard. 👑After Cleves is selected their is a Holbein reprise 👑❤️The other queens run off taking the ruffs and Cleves is left on the stage sighing comically several times. She’s at the back of the stage sitting on a makeshift stone 👑❤️”Its the tragic story of a princess-educated, savvy, young- deemed ugly by an ulcer-ridden, wheezing, winkled man 20 years her senior.” 👑❤️WHATS A MORE DEVASTATING FATE THAN BEING FORCED INTO A BEAUTIFUL PALACE IN RICHMOND WITH MORE MONEY THAN I COULD EVER SPEND AND NO MAN TO TELL ME WHAT TO DO WITH IT 👑❤️Get down is also key changed 👑❤️When she sings “I’m the Queen of the castle” she is skipping across the stage 👑❤️When she gives her fur to the footman, she actually takes off her coat and hands it to one of the queens. The crowd went crazy and she’s like “guys stop,’ and like acting all shy but secretly enjoying it-she says “Okurrrrrrrrr” . Then she’s like “AS YOU WERE” and everyone is quiet lol 👑❤️the part where it slows down and she’s like “SIT DOWNNN YOU DIRTTTY RrrrrrASCALLL” she opera sings it and I shat myself 👑❤️she uses her microphone as a lute lol 👑❤️YOU CANT (nope) STOP (nuh-uh) YOU CANT STOP ME 👑❤️At some point she squeezes her boob. I love her. 👑❤️after she kills us all by belting that last note she points to a girl in the front row and is like “YOU IN THE PINK DRESS!” and she gestures for her to stand up. And the girl stands up and they bop together with Cleves ad libbing in the background 👑❤️Eventually she says “Okay sugar this is my song, GET DOWN” 👑❤️And then after a moment of silence she’s like “So yeah it was really tragic…” 👑Aragon is like that doesn’t sound difficult at all and Ceves is like “oh… yeah.. I probably won’t win this thing… WELP BACK TO THE PALACE!” 👑the queens argue more and honestly it’s iconic 👑Seymour is yelling at Aragon and her voice is so loud and Cleves interrupts her and is like “guys,… I have the plague” and they all gasp and she’s like “HAHA JUST KIDDING MY LIFES AMAZING” they roll their eyes and Parr is like “our next queen! K HOWARD!” And everyone is like who??? 👑Aragon is like “ The least relevant Catherine,,” and Boleyn is like “Yeahhh i get it and I still don’t care,,,”
👑Howard is like “You’re right… I need all the help I can compete. What happened to you was terrible,, and so were you songs,,” Then she proceeded to roast everyone. She says “Anne you obviously had it worse I mean you lost your head……. Oh wait…..” 👑💗And then she says “but seriously Anna, getting rejected for your looks really sucks…. cant relate…I’m really hot…. So yeah. I can compete like this” or smthing and then all you wanna do starts. 👑💗At the beginning of the song the queens touch her everywhere and she leans into it willingly 👑💗Blowing the flute,, she winks at the audience and when she says C-D she puts her hand in front of her crotch and squeezes. 👑💗 “There was this guy… Francis and he asked me to be his little piece of aaaasssssss…istant! 👑💗The song goes from upbeat to upsetting very very quickly after Francis she starts to become less trusting and she gets more disoriented as the show goes on. 👑💗”Apparently men only hire women to get them into their private chamber… times were different then…” 👑💗When she says “He says  we have this connection,”  about Henry Seymour comes from behind her and touches her stomach — all you can see is her hand touching her sensually. She looks a little surprised and then she’s like “I guess its not so different..” 👑💗By the time we get to Thomas Culpepper she is flustered and VERY uncomfortable. The girls are all touching her now and she looks down and stares at their hand before pushing them away and finishing the end of the song. she keeps pushes them away but they keep coming back. She looks utterly heartbroken and you can see her unraveling. 👑💗THAT RIFF WAS SO GGHRSILGBRLGKJBJL 👑💗she screams “WHEN WILL ENOUGH BE ENOUGH” as they keep touching her and she fails as she pushes them away. 👑💗Eventually she gets them off but she ends up by herself on the stage with her face facing up and a dim pink spotlight is on her. 👑💗There is a chilling silence and then she’s smiling and says ‘YEAH and then I was beheaded and I won this competition!” 👑Then they get into another argument. Boleyn starts talking about how her beheading was more relevant because Henry humiliated her more and Aragon was like,,, um I won the humiliation game and she counts her mistresses 👑Then they start yelling about the miscarriages they had and Boleyn says she has three and Aragon says “You know what Anne BO-LOSER I HAD FIVE” and Parr is like “this is not okay, don’t compare miscarriages, thats hella insensitive” and they push her to the center and tell her to sing her song 👑Theres a random baseline again and Parr looks like she’s about to start singing but she stops and says,,”I’m good,” and tries to go off stage. They all accuse her of being a sore loser because she survived and knows that she had no chance of winning. 👑Parr is like,,, NO its pitting us against each other and the queens all groan  and make fun of her and she’s like okay,, imma sing the song then. And Katherine Howard says “Are you sure?? Are you sure you dont want to stick to backing vocals where you belong?” 👑💙And Parr softly says “Queens take a seat,” before turning to the pianist and saying “Can you give me a Bb maj7, please?” 👑💙Parr shuts down all the queens and says her life wasn’t all rainbows because she survived. And she talks about her love tom, and I never realized that the song is a letter to tom. She starts off “Dear Tom, You know I love you boy,” 👑💙 Anna Uzele was so fucking good. And Tbh,, this is my least favorite song so I don’t remember much about the staging (I’m sorry) 👑💙Side note,, parr is such a badass and an amazing woman 👑At the end of the song, she turns to the queens and is like ��without Henry we all disappear ,” and Boleyn is like “I don’t get it” and parr asks “How does anyone know who we are” and Boleyn is like “mY SiX fInGeRs-“ before Aragon cuts her off and is like “Put it away, baby” 👑Parr then asks Henry the 7 and 6’s wives names and nobody can answer. “but, when we get together as a group-“ Boleyn cuts her off and is like “EVERYONE NOTICES THAT JANE CAN’T DANCE!” “NO WE COMPARE OURSELVES” 👑when Boleyn finally gets it she explains the situation like she’s an encyclopedia and it was so funny and fast and oMG 👑”UGH if we had realized this before we started we could have done something else like make a fake competition to show everyone how messed up comparing us is and then we could reclaim our story and all become the leading ladies…” “:/ and they are all saying this dialogue its just split up and I dont remember it very well 👑IF ONLY WE HAD THOUGHT OF THAT BEFORE 👑then they look at each other and smirk at the audience before reprising Parr’s song as “We don’t need your love,” 👑Which was so good bc THEY DON’T NEED HENRY’S LOVE YES 👑Then they point out “We might only be remember for marrying the same man,, but why does anyone give a sh- who he is? It’s because of his,,” then they all harmonize ’SIIIIIIX WIVES’ 👑AND WE ALL HAVE A ROYAL HAPPY EVER AFTER but Boleyn cuts Seymour off and is like “But we didn’t” 👑then they go onto explain how none of them had happy endings and they’re like,, but we can rewrite them! So they do and that leads into Six which is such a soft song. 👑Six, actually starts off very slowly. It speeds up after they say “we’re six” 👑It was such an energy ending I was speechless and gold confetti poured down on them and OMG I was shaken to my core. 

[blkgirlcafe]

Control PT. 2

Henry Cavill x Jazmine (OC)

Warning: Smut, Cheating

Wordcount: 2345

Flashbacks are in italics, text messages are bold and italics. 

Teaser

Part 1

Waking up to her was magic to him. He could watch her sleep all day. Jazmine was curled into his side, lips slightly parted. He didn’t get many of these mornings. 

Henry quietly slid out of bed, not wanting to leave her. But knowing if he didn’t his assistant would barge in thinking he overslept. 

Henry grabbed his phone on the way to the bathroom, texting his assistant to see what was on today's calendar. 

Meetings, meetings, and more meetings. He sighed pushing his hair back as he started the shower. Henry stood under the hot stream letting it wash away his stress and bad mood. He always got like this after a night with Jazmine. Angry because he couldn’t have his way or what he wanted. 

The glass door opened and she walked into the shower, giving him a smile. 

“Morning handsome.” 

“Morning babe.”

Jazmine came up behind him, wrapping her arms around his center, laying her head on his back. 

“You okay?” He asked her. 

“Yes, just enjoying you.” 

He turned around so she laid against his chest, “I’m not okay.” He said. 

“I know baby.”

The rest of the shower was silent and they washed each other before getting out. She chatted as she got dressed, Henry just happy to be in her presence. 

They both got into his car that had the darkest tints legally allowed. 

He would drop her somewhere so she could take a Uber home and if he was lucky he would hear from here today or tomorrow. 

——

Jazmine slammed the door of their home, letting Vik know she was home. 

“Babe, that is you?!”

“Who else would it be.”

Her husband came out his study, “What is your problem?” He grabbed her by the arm. 

“Let go of me, don’t pretend to care when you let me walk out last night by myself with no way to get to Claire.” 

“You wanted to go, what am I supposed to do, hold you hostage, have some fucking common sense Jaz.”

His grip was tight on her arm. 

“My husband been gone to Russia for 3 fucking weeks and when he gets back all he does is talk ‘business’ with John. What do I have to pay you to get some attention.” 

“Is that what you want? Attention?” He growled. 

Camila yanked her arm away, going up the steps. Their bed was unmade because Vik never made it. He followed her upstairs. 

“Answer me Jaz, you want attention now you're getting it.” 

Jazmine begins to strip her clothes off, ignoring him, walking into the closet to set out a change of clothes, something to workout in. 

She walked out the closet down to her panties. Viktor grabbed her arm, pulling her to his wide chest. 

“Stop ignoring me Jaz, baby look at me?” He tipped her chin so she was looking up at him. 

“I’m sorry baby, you are right. I’ve been gone and the first thing I should have done when I got home was make sure my wife knew how much I missed her.” 

Vik pecked her lips. 

“Stop being mad at me so I can make love to my wife, then take her shopping.” 

Jazmine finally smiled at him, “you better not complain when we go shopping we hitting all my spots and then you are taking me to dinner.” 

“Of course baby, I wouldn’t dare complain and I always feed my baby.”

“And no damn business I swear Vik, you take one call or respond to one email, and you're in the guest house.” 

“Not even the couch but out the house, you drive a hard bargain lady but I think I can manage. Now come here.” 

Jazmine giggles as he picks her up, tossing her on the bed. 

“My baby missed me?” Vik crawled onto the bed, easily topping her. 

“Yes.” 

“I know, I missed you too. Missed waking up to you, missed cuddling with you, missed kissing you.” 

His head dipped down, sucking her neck. 

“Mmm Vik.” She looped her arms around his neck, pulling him down closer. Jazmine legs went around his waist. 

“You just wanted some dick, next time ask instead of acting like a brat.”

“Yes Daddy.” 

——

Henry wondered if he should call Jaz, maybe text her. He was in deep and he knew it, he couldn’t go a day without talking to her. And most days she made time for him. 

“Henry, I am. It sure what women had you this spaced out but your 2oclock is here.” 

Henry could never be mad at Mrs. Lowe his assistant, but he didn’t appreciate being called out. 

“Who says it a woman?”

“Because I have worked for you for over 10 years, I know you well enough now. Would you like me to bring them in?”

“Yes, thank you.” 

Henry stood to greet both men as they entered, let them sitting before he took his seat behind his desk. He zoned out soon. 

——

Henry walked around back, following the decorations to the backyard where the pool party would be happening. Viktor and Jazmine we’re hosting a summer get together, and of course they had invited him. They had become friends since the dinner meeting. And to be honest any chance he got to see Jazmine he took it. 

Henry had kept it simple, black Gucci swim trunks and a blue tank top. 

As usual he bought a gift, at first it was for the house but now it was exclusively for Jaz. To see her smile. He walked into the open fence and was instantly greeted by people he couldn’t remember. 

He looked around for the hosts, seeing Viktor standing with a group of men and Jazmine by herself on a lounge chair. 

She looked like an angel just laying there tanning. The sun did wonders with her skin, she looked like shimmering gold. The white 2 piece bikini perfect complimented her skin. She looked at Henry , catching him staring. Jazmine smiled at him and suddenly he felt shy. She made her way over to him. 

“Hey Henry, glad you could make it.” She placed her hand on his chest reaching up to give him a kiss on the cheek. He was flustered. 

“I wouldn’t miss this for anything. I bought you a gift, for always being a great hostess.”

He handed her the small gift bag. 

“You didn’t have to Henry, you know I am always happy to have you over, such a gentleman. Thank you.” 

Henry rocked back and forth as she reached into the small bag, hoping she liked it. 

“I noticed you always wore a bracelet so I thought I would get you one, just to say thank you for always welcoming me into your home.” He babbled nervously. 

“Oh Henry, it’s gorgeous, thank you so much, here put it on.” She held out her wrist and Henry put the diamond bracelet on her. 

“Thank you so much!” She gave him a big hug, Henry told himself to calm down that now wasn’t the time to be sporting a hardon. 

“You deserve it.”

“Come I’ll introduce you to some of my friends.” 

He followed her around the party like a lost puppy as she introduced him to her friends from college. Viktor came over at one point, pulling her into his chest. 

“Babe let’s get in the water.” He teased. 

“No way Vik and if you throw me in the water or splash me your ass is on the couch tonight.” 

“But baby…” he picked her up right off her feet. 

“Babe stop!!!” 

He held her over the water, “it’s a pool party, everyone is getting wet.” 

Seems all the men but Henry were chanting for him to do it. 

He threw her into the pool and jumped in after her. Henry waited for Jazmine to surface and finally let go of the breath he was holding when she did. 

“Fucking asshole!” She screamed at her husband who was grinning on the other side of the pool. She got out, grabbing a towel from the rack before storming into the house. Henry followed her while Viktor laughed with the other men. 

Following the trail of water he found her in a bathroom next to the kitchen. 

“You okay?” 

“Yeah just hate how he gets around other men, everything is a dick measuring contest to see who can be the bigger asshole.” 

She turned her back to him, “untie me please.”

Henry reached out and pulled the string holding her top together. Henry should shield his eyes but he did, when she turned back towards the sink he could perfectly see her breast and her hard nipple. 

He turned away out of respect. 

“So what do you think of Claire?”

“Are you trying to put us together?”

“Yes, is it working?” 

Out the corner of his eye he watched her wring out her top, letting the water go down the drain. 

“No, why are you trying to find me a girl?” He asked. 

She looked at him, “you want the truth and you promise not tell Vik.”

“Marine honor I won’t tell him.”

“Because I’m hoping that if you are with a woman I’ll stop thinking about riding your face.” 

He turned to face her shocked, “what?”

“You aren’t dumb Henry you heard me. Every time I see you I just wanna ride your face, see what you will feel like between my legs.” 

“Jaz…” but he didn’t get to finish, she kissed him, running her hands down his chest. 

“Don’t you want to taste me?” 

He swallowed thickly, “of course.” 

Jazmine pushed him to his knees, he undid the strings on her bikini, pushing his face between her legs. 

Henry licked and lapped her folds, eager to taste her. She leaned against the sink giving him more access to her, Henry wasted no time sliding his tongue around her clit, the delicate bud peaking for him. 

“Fuck Henry.” Her hands invaded his thick locks, pulling them. 

When she exploded in his mouth Henry knew he was hooked and would do anything to be with her again. 

—-

“So that is our plan.” The guy finished talking and Henry didn’t hear a thing. 

“Have someone send over the written plan so I can go over it with a fine tooth comb and if everything is fine we can go forward, I look forward to working with you gentlemen.

They all stood, Henry shaking hands with both men before seeing them to his office door. 

Henry had a date tonight, he had once again been set up by a friend who refused to take no for an answer. 

Henry knew he looked good, he took pride in his body, at 36 he looked a lot better than most men who sat in meetings all day. He worked out a lot, ate right, and kept himself together. 

He briefly thought about going home to change but decided against it, he wasn’t fighting traffic just to come back. Besides he was only going to show his face, to make it look like he was trying to date when he wasn’t. 

He ran a hand through his hair and checked his phone, nothing from her at all. Usually she sent him a meme or a post on Instagram throughout the day. He checked her Instagram, seeing she had posted her stories. 

He never used Instagram until her, but now he had a secret account that didn’t post anything and followed a few random people and her. 

He watched her story a few times before setting his phone down, upset. 

Her story showed a day spent with her husband, them kissing and being cute while out shopping. Things he wanted to do with her. 

Mrs. Lowe entered without knocking,” I am ready to fax these papers over to Mr. Adrik, did you want to check them once more?” 

“No, and I’ll drop them off on my way home tonight.”

Just an excuse to see her. 

“You have a date tonight, right?”

“Yes.”

“So why rush home to deliver papers, enjoy the date.”

“I can do both, you can head home, thank you.” 

Mrs. Lowe handed him the papers and left, leaving him to himself. 

——

Jazmine was walking behind Viktor too busy on her phone to see him stop and she bumped into his back. A whine was on her lips until she saw why he stopped. 

At a table sat Henry and he was on a date with a very attractive young lady. 

“Henry, glad to see you out of the office.” 

Henry stood, “same here Vik, Jazmine nice to see you.”

Jazmine barely acknowledged him, upset to even see him here. 

“Well let you get back to your date, hopefully in the future it can be a double date.” Viktor steered her towards their table. 

Normally Viktor wouldn’t sit with his back to the door, but Jazmine whined her way into the seat so she could see Henry table. 

He didn’t tell her that he had a date. Usually he complained about people setting him up, he was happy to be ‘single’, even though technically he  belonged to her, it was selfish of her but she didn't care. Jazmine has been seeing Henry for a year, she loved having her cake and being able to eat it too. Eventually all good things come to an end. 

“What's that frown on your face babe, this is your favorite place.” Vik asked her.

“I wanna go home.”

Her husband set his menu down, looking her over, wondering what killed her mood suddenly. 

“Let's get something to go, you okay?”

“Yeah babe, just tired of being out, I wanna be laid up with you.” she whined. 

Viktor flagged down the waitress, ordered their food to go, always ready to please his wife. With the takeout containers came the check, Vik singing for it. He grabbed their food and led her out the restaurant, not once did she look back at Henry who she was sure was staring daggers at her back.