#i need a gustavo to cheer me up too

[squid2corn]

Some quick night doodles

[unexpectedbrickattack]

short king and his shorter kings

[morning-star-joy]

the holidays linger like bad perfume

a stranger's heart without a home Chapter 2

Pairing: rivals to friends with benefits Joel x F!Reader, Post-Outbreak

Chapter Summary: Your first meeting with Joel and Ellie.

Chapter Warnings: Language, Brief References to Sexual Situations, Canon-Typical Violence (Raiders)

A/N: (lowkey chapter spoilers) Love to the game this chapter with a dam scene incorporated, if only for that bit where Ellie is recounting what happened to Joel and he's concerned and asks if she's hurt. Her voice when she says "no!!" always makes me laugh so I had to include it here.

Wordcount: 10.4k

chapter 1 || chapter 2 || chapter 3 || masterlist

ao3 link

Excited chatter and cheerful caroling surrounds you as you lean your head back, resting it on the top of your chair as you try to filter out the sounds in favor of the gentle strumming of the banjo beside you.

You didn’t hate the jolly atmosphere of Jackson around this time of year. Deep down a part of you knew these people needed that sense of normalcy, at least for morale if nothing else. But the animated atmosphere could be overwhelming at times. 

It was in these moments, when it all got to be too much, when you sought out the presence of Gustavo and his ever-present banjo. The older man never said much, preferring the solitary company of his instrument and the music he made with it. But he never complained whenever you sat beside him. He never asked you questions, and you never asked any of him as he kept playing his music.

A quiet whine catches your attention, followed by a nudge to your knee. Your eyes open to glance down at the black and white dog looking up at you, a tennis ball in his mouth.

“Alright, Buckley,” you murmur as you pull the ball out, smiling fondly at the dog’s excited bark while you look for a clear spot to throw it. Once you find one you chuck it, laughing softly as Buckley chases after it with more excited barking.

Moments like this, it was almost easy to convince yourself you had found some sort of peace. Ignorance was bliss, and surrounded by the walls of Jackson, that ignorance came to you easier. Easier to forget the horrors you escaped, as well as those you had committed. Over time, with memories muddled and lines blurring, it was hard to tell which had happened more often; if you had been the victim more, or the culprit. 

Buckley returned with the ball, dropping it at your feet with a happy wag of his tail. You sighed fondly, leaning down to pick it up and throw it for him to chase again. Buckley's presence also helped you when you felt overwhelmed. The simplicity of the dog's happiness as he played was calming to you, and you were glad he could usually be found around Gustavo.

This time when Buckley brought the ball back, he didn’t drop it at your feet, but in the path of an unsuspecting girl walking in front of you.

You watched as he spun in place before barking up at the short, brown-haired teenager, who laughed and bent down to scratch him between his ears. Leaning forward to rest your arms on your knees, you looked from the girl you had seen arrive with Joel up to where Maria stood behind her. You offered a respectful nod in greeting to the woman, which she returned.

“It looks like he likes you,” you smiled as the kid looked up at you, a bright smile on her face from petting the dog that turned more tentative, more cautious, when she made eye contact with you.

“Your dog’s cute,” she said, looking down at the dog with another grin and giggle as he sniffed at her face. “What’s his name?”

“Buckley,” you answer, smiling as the dog looks back at you, head cocked in confusion at the sound of his name. “But he’s not my dog. He kind of belongs to everyone.”

“Ah,” the girl nodded, a look of understanding crossing her brown eyes, sharp with cleverness and a hint of mischief. “Communism.”

Your brows furrowed, glancing from her back up to Maria. The woman bit her lip like she was holding back a laugh, but offered no explanation as you looked back down at the teenager. 

“Sure,” you said slowly, your hand coming down to pet Buckley out of instinct when he came trotting back to you.

Your head tilted as you watched the girl rise to her feet, trying to find similar features between her and Joel, or even Tommy. From a glance, her face seemed softer than the sharp angles of the Miller brothers. Both men had strong noses, but the girl’s nose was smaller. The only physical similarity you could see was the color of their hair and eyes, but the brown of the teenager’s was lighter than the brothers. From the mannerisms you had witnessed so far, though, she and Joel seemed to be one in the same.

Lost in your own thoughts, you hardly registered your hand extending to her, offering a shake as your name left your lips.

The girl stared blankly at you.

“If we’re introducing ourselves,” you added with a shrug, watching recognition light up in her eyes now at your offered hand.

“Oh, uh,” she nodded as her smaller hand shook with yours, “Ellie.”

“Welcome to Jackson, Ellie,” you say with a kind smile you usually reserved for Dina. “Are you and Joel planning to stay for a while?”

Ellie blinked, a look of surprise crossing her face, and you realized that in her mind, there should have been no way for you to know Joel’s name. Maria spoke up now, explaining to Ellie that you and Tommy knew each other, having fought in the Fireflies together before you ended up in Jackson.

You winced at that, both the dropped fact that you had been in the Fireflies, as well as the renewed interest Ellie looked at you with when she heard that new information.

“You were in the Fireflies?” she asked in a rush, and you found it hard to shut down her excitement, even if you had to force your smile this time.

“For a while, yeah,” you nodded, hoping the topic would change soon, but it looked like Ellie had sunken her teeth into this change in the conversation and wouldn’t let go until she got whatever information she wanted out of it.

“Do you know where they are now?”

“Well,” you started as you shifted uncomfortably, “they tend to move around a bit.”

“But like, what about a base, or something? You would know about that, right?” Her gaze was intense as she leaned forward, and you wondered what the reason for her fixation on the Fireflies was. It seemed to be beyond a simple childlike wonder for freedom fighters.

Freedom fighters, you thought bitterly to yourself. Your gaze flashed to Maria as the woman stepped forward, placing a hand on Ellie’s shoulder.

“Come on, Ellie, we’re going to miss the start of the movies if we stall any longer.”

“But—”

“Any answers you need, Ellie, I’m sure Tommy is telling Joel,” you offered with a small smile. You got the feeling that this girl was tenacious enough not to move an inch until she got what she wanted.

Ellie sighed, deflating as she nodded at you. She gave a small wave of farewell before leaving with Maria, a wave you returned amiably before leaning back in your chair.

Eyes closed, you tilt your head back again as you hear Gustavo’s raspy chuckle beside you.

“That girl’s a spitfire,” he muttered, and you laughed quietly.

She was, and it was admirable. You could only hope that this cruel world wouldn’t snuff that fire out.

You began to fall into the peaceful ambience of the banjo music again, content to let the sound drown out the children singing around the tree decorating nearby, until a loud bang made you jolt. Head jerking towards the sound, you searched for the source to find a man exiting a building in a hurry, a few doors down from where you were sitting.

That surge of anxiety you felt at the sudden, sharp noise began to ebb, your muscles relaxing from the immediate strain they had tensed into in case you had needed to spring into action. Old instincts were hard to shake off, even in the safety of Jackson.

You watched as the man—Joel, you realized—pulled his jacket on as he stalked off. He didn’t make it very far before grabbing an old, frosty streetlight to lean against, and you frowned.

There was no way to see his face from where you were behind him, but the way he leaned so heavily against the freezing pole for support caused an inkling of concern to grow in you. You pushed yourself slowly to your feet, moving towards the man before you could think twice about what you were doing. 

If he was anything like Tommy—which he seemed to be, though ten times more severe and lacking all the Southern charm—he liked his privacy. Not to mention Joel lacked any knowledge or fondness of you that Tommy had, the only thing that could soften a hard reaction to the foolish attempt at comfort you were about to make.

Still, you couldn’t find it in yourself to stand by as Joel seemed to be struggling to stay upright. As you were making your way towards him, you saw him turn and stumble a few steps closer towards the tree decorating. He seemed to be pulled towards it as if by some magnetic force, and you stopped.

You turned your gaze out over the crowd of family and friends that had gathered to celebrate the holiday tradition, but there were too many people to tell exactly where his gaze had fallen. It was impossible to tell what kind of look was on his face from where you stood a distance behind him, but you wondered if he felt in any way similar to how you did about being around these kinds of gatherings. The twinge of sympathy you felt at that thought spurred you forward again.

“Hey,” you tried to keep your voice soft as your hand landed on his shoulder. Not soft enough, judging by how he jumped back from the touch and spun around to face you.

Whatever look of alarm that might have been on his face hardened in an instant, dark gaze flickering over your face as his eyes squinted to take you in. You wondered briefly if he recognized you from the food hall, but surely there were so many new faces surrounding him today that he couldn’t tell you apart from the rest of them.

“What?” His voice was gruff as he watched you warily. Somehow, he managed to make the single word sound confrontational, while also holding the power to shut down any argument that may arise.

“Just—” you hedged, hands shoved in your pockets as you leaned back on the balls of your feet because, Jesus, he was intimidating. Way more than Tommy ever was towards you when you met him. “I just wanted to make sure you were alright.”

Joel’s brows furrowed, his expression turning from suspicion to mild confusion, though his eyes remained carefully guarded. He watched you silently for a moment, as if he was waiting for the catch. His voice was no softer than before when he finally asked bluntly, “Who are you to care?”

A short laugh leaves your lips unbidden, a sound of disbelief as you raise your eyebrows back at him. You were Tommy’s friend, so of course you cared—not that he knew that, but still. Even if you were just a stranger—which you were, some small voice in the back of your head reminded yourself—was it so odd to try and help somebody who looked like they were struggling?

Yes, that cynical voice in the back of your mind answered your own question. It was strange. Life was different in Jackson than the other places you had been to in this desolated country. You knew that from your own experience, but you also didn’t know the shit Joel had gone through just to get here, let alone what he had experienced before that. 

Joel was much older than you, probably remembering what he lost in the Outbreak more vividly than you did. He might have had to deal with even greater atrocities than you.

No, that wasn’t a maybe. He most certainly did. You were still a child during the first years of the Outbreak, but Joel was already an adult. He had a life, a sense of normalcy that he must have lost. Tommy did too, but from what little you knew, Joel seemed to have felt some kind of responsibility for his younger brother. You could sympathize with the weight of that responsibility.

Still, Joel had led his brother down a path of banditry and smuggling that you knew haunted Tommy to this day. But you also knew Tommy understood the reasons behind what they did, as did you. Morality could be swayed in this godforsaken land. Survival was non-negotiable.

But the way Joel looked at you now, like you were nothing but a nuisance—a stain on his shirt that wouldn't come off, or some annoying bug that had gotten squashed under his shoe—made you forget your sympathies momentarily as your hackles rose.

“Does the kindness of a stranger mean nothing to you?” you shot back, the comeback weak as you didn’t even believe the sentiment yourself.

“Not really." The deep baritone of Joel's voice made the Southern accent sound rougher around the edges than Tommy's. It was still a smooth drawl, serving as a sharp contrast to the harsh words he spoke.

His words should have made you angrier, if not for his borderline condescending tone, but any anger you felt began to loosen its tight grip as you watched him.

If you looked closely enough, you could see two lifetimes in Joel Miller's eyes. One was hidden far behind the other, but you could feel the impact of both; how heavy they must weigh on his shoulders, just in the way he carried himself. If what little you knew through Tommy of their harsh survival after the Outbreak was any indication, you couldn't imagine how weary Joel might be. He hid any faults well under his foreboding exterior, but you had seen that brief slip-up after he had walked out of the bar, the only indication you had so far that Joel was as human as the rest of you. This fact alone is what gave you pause in your anger.

“Yeah,” you assent as you reach a hand up to scratch absentmindedly at your cheek. Some of the sense of fight he had somehow drawn out of you was deflating at your line of thoughts. “I can’t really fault you there.”

Silence fell. You waited for the sound of crunching snow as he walked away, but when you looked back up, Joel was still there. Still standing stiffly, staring at you with that same guarded, inscrutable expression.

“What?” you snapped, the fight instinct flaring back up at the veiled judgement in his gaze. While his face was unreadable, you were almost certain he was reading yours. 

The most frustrating thing about it was that you didn’t know what he was reading. You didn’t know what words from the pages of your life reflected on your own skin; what pain lurked in your eyes, what trauma was etched into the lines of your face, as real and palpable as the calluses on your fingers or the scars on your body. You didn’t know what parts of yourself you should be hiding from his harsh judgment.

Joel shook his head, his expression shifting from wary calculation into cold indifference as he leaned away from you.

“Maybe you shouldn’t poke your nose into other people’s business,” he shot back over his shoulder after he turned, the words biting in how rude they were, and you bristled.

Okay, maybe he did recognize you from the food hall. Maybe he had even heard your scoff as you walked away, a judgment you made only by the briefest hint of distaste in his scathing remark.

Or maybe that was just how Joel sounded towards everybody, but you couldn’t help but take it personally as you automatically followed his footsteps away from you.

“Hey!” you called out, not sure what you were going to say, but you were unwilling to let him get the last word; either from some stupid sense of pride this godforsaken world hadn't stamped out, or from tenacity that had helped you last this long.

Joel paused, shoulders tensing before slowly looking back at you, almost as if the action was pulled from him against his own will. His eyes now held a hint of growing animosity, and you got the feeling that you were starting to walk down a very dangerous path. Being the subject of Joel Miller’s ire was probably a very, very bad place to be; you suspected the life expectancy was drastically short.

That didn't stop your mouth opening to snap back at him, despite your best intentions or better judgment. You were unsure what words were about to come out, only that they wouldn’t be any kinder than his, when a series of loud pops cut you off.

You turned away with a start as the strands of lights stretching above the town blinked out, followed closely by the lights on the large tree being decorated, startling the families surrounding it into shouts. Sudden darkness plunged down the buildings that lined the street, and you tensed.

A frown formed on your face, mind moving quickly as you looked from Joel back towards the building he had exited from. There was most likely only one person he would have been with; the very person you needed to find, if your suspicions were true.

Casting one last look at Joel, you moved towards the now dark bar, reaching the door at the same time it opened and Tommy walked out. He called out your name when he saw you, his face one of concern.

“How bad?” he asked, not bothering to question how you had known to find him there, details like that not important now as you fell into step beside him.

“Looks like it’s at least the whole street,” you reply with a gesture of your hand towards the rows of dark buildings that residents were beginning to exit from, flooding into the street in confusion. “I don’t know about the houses. Do you think there’s trouble at the dam again?”

Tommy tugged his gloves on as he kept your conversation in low tones, “Didn’t Bonnie and Greg just do a sweep of that area today?”

“Yeah, well,” you frowned, glancing back over your shoulder at where Joel was standing to see that he hadn’t moved, and was now watching the two of you closely. Gesturing towards Joel with a jerk of your chin, you finished shortly, “maybe they were a bit distracted.”

Tommy looked from you to his brother, hands bunching up into fists as he muttered, “Shit.”

“Trouble?” Joel echoed your earlier word choice, and you winced as you realized he had heard. That was on you, you should’ve been quieter.

There was a strange look that passed between the brothers, a palpable tension in the air that you couldn’t help but lean away from. Just what the fuck had happened between the two in that bar before Joel had stormed out?

“Maybe,” Tommy assented, glancing around at the residents who had started to drift over to where he stood. One of the downsides of being a figurehead of the community, you supposed. But Tommy smiled easily, showing he had earned that position as he laid that Southern charm on thick to address them, “Nothing to worry about, folks. It's probably just a generator that blew. We’ll take care of it shortly.”

You watched how easily satisfied most of the people were at the simple explanation before you followed Tommy’s steps down the street, ready to take orders. Old habits die hard, you guess.

“Get together a group of our best guards and a few engineers. I want you beside me,” he added with a firm pat to your shoulder. The action was not without fondness, even though it held a familiar gravity when accompanied with his orders, and you nodded seriously.

“Always,” you answered without hesitation.

You were about to break off from the man to go about your tasks when you heard a deep voice, one that was already growing annoyingly familiar, call from behind you, “I’m going with you.”

Both you and Tommy looked back to see Joel, gaze determined with something unreadable behind those dark brown eyes as he glanced between the two of you.

“Joel—”

“I’m going,” Joel repeated, his eyes hardening as much as his voice did within an instant, that unreadable look disappearing in favor of sheer determination. His tone was resolute, leaving no room for argument.

Tommy sighed beside you, pinching the bridge of his nose as if trying to keep a headache away. You looked between the two, knowing you should butt out of their business—not to mention that you weren't exactly fond of Tommy's older brother right at this moment—but if Joel had half the talent Tommy did, you would both be fools to turn down his assistance.

“If what little I know is true,” you caught both men’s attention as you spoke, “we could use a man like him, Tommy.”

You shrugged at the half-glare Tommy fixes you with. Whatever argument they may have had be damned, you wouldn’t let your friend be an idiot and turn down good help. 

“Just in case,” you added, and Tommy sighed heavily, staring at you for a moment longer before glancing back at his brother.

“Fine,” he bit the word out before looking back at you. “You stay with him, then. I’ll round up the troops.”

“Tommy—” you started, but he waved off anything you had to say before stomping away.

Jesus, what the fuck had gone down between the two of them?

You turned back to see Joel looking at you again, gaze still closed off, but not as borderline aggressive as before. There was still caution in the way he regarded you, perhaps even more so now that he had seen you and Tommy interact with each other.

Walking backwards, you nodded for him to follow you before turning and making your way towards the armory. Whatever dislike you felt growing for him, you had a job to do now. You were a professional, and your natural protective instinct wouldn't let either of you go in unprepared.

“Just in case, what?” Joel quoted your words as he easily fell into step beside you. “Trouble?”

You glare at him as he tosses your ambiguous word choice back in your face again. From one glance around you at the Jackson residents in the streets, you could tell the air of holiday cheer had been dampened by a new sense of worry. It wasn’t the first time power had gone out, but it never failed to blanket the settlement with a sense of unease whenever it happened.

Once you cut through a narrow space between two buildings, a shortcut to your destination that ensured you wouldn’t be overheard, you finally answered Joel, “Sometimes, it’s as simple as a blown fuse. Easy fix, usually doesn’t require more than a few men. But sometimes…”

You looked back at Joel, watching the rapid calculation in his eyes as he put the pieces together.

“Maria mentioned raiders. It didn’t sound like you got too many, though.” He arched an unconvinced eyebrow at you, something in his eyes daring you to defy his statement. Your stomach flipped at the sight and you quickly looked away. “According to her.”

“Yeah, because we don’t,” you snapped back, rising to that bait you had seen in his gaze despite knowing it would be in your best interest to let it go. You cleared your throat, pushing the intense, fluttering sensation you had felt when he raised his brow out of your mind as you neared the building that housed your weapons. 

“Not really. We have established patrols to make sure we deal with any problem before it arises. There’s been a few issues with attacks on the dam in the past, but it’s rare. Most of the time it’s just technical issues; old equipment and whatnot. Still…” You shrugged as your words trailed off.

Apparently Joel picked up on what you left unsaid as he finished simply for you, “You’d rather not take that chance.”

He didn’t say again, but you could hear the silent question hanging in the air, to which you gave a short nod of confirmation.

“Yeah,” you said quietly, and that was the end of that conversation.

You sent a brisk, though not unkind greeting towards the guards stationed outside the armory when you arrived, making it clear that Joel was with you before opening the door. You left it open, letting the light of the winter day guide your way with the lack of power, beelining towards where you kept your weapon trunk.

Kneeling down, you quickly tug one of your gloves off with your teeth, ignoring Joel’s sharp gaze as you let it fall to the ground so you could enter the combination on the lock and pop the top of the trunk open. You reached into the container, pulling out your beloved bolt action rifle.

Glancing over it, you checked the cartridge, scope and extra ammo, making sure everything was in order before swinging the strap over your shoulder and looking up at Joel to see he was still watching you, brown eyes unreadable again.

“Not as powerful as Tommy’s, but it gets the job done,” you remark with a shrug, taking out your pistol and holster to go through similar steps of care. Satisfied after a moment of inspection, you strap it to your hip before looking back into the trunk, eyes settling on a double barrel shotgun in the back.

It should have been gathering dust from misuse, but you never missed a chance to keep at least the outside polished along with the rest of your weapons. You hesitated, stomach twisting as you searched for another weapon to supply Joel with, but from just a glance at him, you could tell he needed something heavy-hitting, and those types of weapons were missing from your arsenal.

Except for that shotgun.

Maybe you could borrow somebody else’s? You shook your head, knowing that while most everything was shared in Jackson, guns like that were something sacred. Weapons like that shotgun had a story, something you didn’t share with others unless your survival counted on it. And maybe Joel's life would depend on it, a thought that steeled your resolve as you grabbed the gun. Besides, you didn’t have the time to work out a trade, even if you could.

“Are you any good with a shotgun, Miller?” you asked as you stood, not giving Joel a moment to respond before you tossed the gun to him.

He easily caught it, quickly releasing the action to check the chambers in one smooth motion, even with his gloves on. That same feeling you shook off from earlier curled in your gut again, and you convinced yourself it was nerves from seeing somebody hold the gun after so long. Definitely not in the way he held it, you told yourself as you cleared your throat, watching him inspect the shotgun thoroughly.

Joel snapped it back into place before looking up at you.

“Are you?” he asked, and you blinked, dumbfounded at how discourteous the statement was. Your face must have looked as affronted as you felt, since he lifted the gun in his hands and added, “It hardly looks used.”

You let out a soft breath, kneeling down again to dig out another handgun for him, conveniently hiding your face and whatever expression may betray your thoughts as you did so.

“Yeah, not for a while,” you admitted as you straightened again with a revolver. “I prefer long range.”

Not a lie, but he didn’t need to know the story.

Quickly checking the chambers of the revolver, you closed the cylinder before holding it out by the barrel, offering it for Joel to take by the grip. “You look like a revolver man.”

He pulled off a glove before his hand wrapped around it, taking it from you as you struggled to look away from the way his large hand completely enveloped the grip. Joel rechecked the cylinder, but you couldn’t find it in yourself to be offended by the action. Doubting others probably helped him survive this long.

“Did the accent give it away?” His voice was low, but it held a hint of dry humor to it. Maybe it was at your expense, or maybe you were even imagining it. Still, you couldn’t hold in your short burst of laughter. Joel looked up at the sound, the faintest hint of surprise flashing across his stoic features.

“Just a bit,” you smirked, grabbing some spare ammo and holsters for the both of you, carefully ignoring the weight of his gaze that you could feel honed in on you.

You didn’t look back up until you felt his attention finally shift away.

Once you were both properly armed and your trunk was safely locked up again, you led the way out of the armory and back to the stables. Joel’s presence was heavy at your side, urging your attention, but you forced yourself to ignore it by staring stubbornly ahead.

Yes, you were curious about the man. Probably more than you should be, especially after how uncivil your interactions had been so far. It was hard to curb that curiosity, after finally being able to put a face to the name you had only ever heard from Tommy for so long. That tension between you was palpable though, so you tried to forget your own spark of interest in the gruff man by avoiding his gaze. 

It was strange, knowing who Joel was through association alone. Even though he now walked beside you, armed with your own weapons, he was no better than a complete stranger, with nothing but one common thread tying you together: Tommy.

Joel seemed to have a similar train of thought, given by the question that finally broke through the tension that had continued to grow between you as you walked through the bitter winter air, “So how do you know Tommy?”

You bit back a sigh, glancing out of the corner of your eye at him to see that he was still staring straight ahead, almost as if he was purposefully avoiding looking at you too.

For a moment you wondered how much you should tell him. It would be easy to lie and say you met Tommy in Jackson, but you had seen the hints of keen analysis in Joel's eyes as he regarded you. Not to mention he had already seen you interact with Tommy. If he was as smart as you were giving him credit for, he could probably tell there was history you had with his brother that went beyond the secure walls of Jackson.

Besides, there was no real reason to not tell at least a partial truth. There was no justification in distrusting Joel. It was doubtful he would hurt you; not in Tommy’s town, and not with that kid in his care.

Hopefully.

“He helped me get out of Seattle when things started to go bad there,” you say with a small shrug. “I stuck with him after that. Didn’t see a reason not to.”

There was no indication from Joel that he was listening to your explanation, the sound of your voice met only with a long stretch of silence. 

Your eye twitched as you turned to look at him, planning to give him a piece of your mind for asking a personal question and not even having the decency to reply when you gave him an answer. 

The intensity of Joel's eyes stopped you short, and you realized he had been looking directly at you, maybe had been during the whole time you were talking.

An odd feeling of…something passed between the two of you in that instant. You refused to be the first to back down from whatever it was, taking that charge you could feel sparking in the air as a challenge. Courage flared in you, and you raised your brow as you dared him to break the silence this time.

Joel finally looked away, jaw ticking as he squinted ahead of you.

That tense air in the space that separated him from you grew thicker.

“I heard about that back in the Boston QZ,” Joel finally broke the strained stretch of silence that had grown taut between you, almost uncomfortably so, as he adjusted the strap of the shotgun across his chest. His voice was rough, a spark of electricity shooting down your spine at the sound, before he cleared his throat. “There was some kind of rebellion against FEDRA there, right?”

You were surprised at his attempt to continue the conversation. Especially after that weird, indefinable moment you just shared, but you nodded slowly as your mind began to turn away from him at the question.

Seattle felt so distant now. So much had changed since then, but there were bits and pieces you could remember from your life in Seattle as clearly as ever, even if you tried to forget.

Which you had.

“Yeah, the Washington Liberation Front," you said slowly, gaze cast downward under the weight of your memories and the regret that tainted them. "I’m surprised you heard about it all the way in Boston.”

“News of freedom fighters tends to travel far,” Joel murmured, distaste coating the words. You glanced sideways at him, wondering what caused his sour expression and bitter words.

“Yeah, freedom,” you shake your head with a quiet, bitter laugh. Spite coursed through your veins as more memories began to flash through your mind. Unwanted, but you were helpless to stop the downward spiral of moments past. You grabbed the strap of your rifle on your shoulder as a lifeline, your only defense from the barrage of memories of your life before. “Kind of funny, jumping from one rebellion to the next. What a bunch of fucking bullshit.”

The last words were more of an angry mumble to yourself than Joel, so you were startled when he spoke again, “You were a Firefly, then?”

Every muscle in your body tensed up, your hand gripping the strap of your rifle harder as you adjusted it on your shoulder. You could hear the judgment in his words as he said the word “Firefly”, but it was dampened by another emotion. Pity, maybe? Reservation, drawn from the sound of your anger?

“Yeah,” your reply was short, inviting no further discussion. Joel actually seemed to respect that as he backed off from the conversation.

You appreciated that.

When silence fell upon you again, it felt less antagonistic than before, but that tension between you and Joel didn’t ease. The crisp scent of snow in the air helped calm your emotions, and the flashes of memories receded from the forefront of your mind back to the dark crevices where they took up permanent residence. You let out a slow breath, watching it form a small cloud in the air as you relaxed minutely.

After more prolonged tension that begged you to look at the man walking by your side, you finally gave in. Your gaze was drawn back to Joel, and despite your best intentions, you began to realize that there was something else you could appreciate about the surly survivor.

Your eyes traced the lines of Joel's face, down the sharp angles of his side profile. You silently admired the slope of his aquiline nose, the salt and pepper dusted facial hair, and the strong jaw it covered. Since meeting him, you hadn’t really had the time to think about it, and you wouldn’t really admit it to yourself even if you had but, goddamn.

Joel Miller was fucking handsome.

Tommy was handsome too, of course, but you never found yourself attracted to him. There was no reason, no desire to cross the boundaries of friendship you had with him, even long before Maria was in the picture.

Joel, though?

Fuck, you didn’t know what it was, but all those unnamable sensations you had felt, that tension that hung heavy in the air, began to make sense the longer you looked at him. Maybe you just had a thing for older guys, you reasoned with yourself. A kink you hadn’t realized until now because Joel had unlocked it or something.

No, no that wouldn't do either. That was admitting there was something about Joel in particular that had awakened a part of you that should lay dormant, because you did not want to be attracted to your best friend's grizzled older brother, no matter how handsome he was.

Joel was just a really fucking hot old man, and that was all.

Whatever, you thought as you shook your head sharply. It wasn’t something you really wanted to analyze at this moment.

You probably just needed to get laid, an explanation you settled on quickly to reassure yourself that your attraction wasn't specific to the stoic man at your side. Jackson was such a small community, it was hard to have even one-night stands without somebody else knowing about it the next day, and for that reason you had gone months without fulfilling that kind of desire.

Yes, that was all it was. You just needed to fuck somebody, and Joel had nothing to do with it. He was just a handsome face at the wrong time.

“What?”

You blinked rapidly, the smooth baritone bringing you back to the present, eyes refocusing on Joel as you realized you had spaced out while staring directly at him.

And now he was staring back, waiting for an answer as to why you were staring in the first place.

Shit, you think to yourself as Joel arched an eyebrow in question, dark eyes inquisitive and fixed on you, like he was daring you to respond. 

Daring you to say exactly what you had been thinking.

Your stomach flipped as that feeling he had been evoking—desire, you now recognized it for what it was—began to stir inside of you again.

Shit balls fuck goddammit—

The sound of your name being called saved you, and you looked over to see Tommy waving the two of you over from outside the stables. Shit, you hadn't even noticed how close you were to your destination. How long had you been staring at Joel?

A fucking embarrassing stretch of time, apparently, you winced as a flush dusted your cheeks at the thought, a reaction you blamed on the cold, and you hoped Joel did too.

Letting out a quiet sigh of relief at Tommy being your savior yet again, your steps quickened towards him as you left Joel without an answer, since you didn’t have one yourself.

At least, not exactly one that you could admit out loud.

With your back turned, you missed the way Joel watched you walk away, eyes trailing down your figure briefly before they snapped back up, and he followed after you with a quiet grunt.

Potential attraction be damned, you had a job to do.

It was a blown fuse.

“So we all trudged out here for a fix that doesn’t take more than a few men?” a bitter voice rang out from the scaffolding that served as a lookout point above the gates to the dam.

“How about you keep your incredibly thought-provoking questions to yourself, Seth,” you snapped back, exchanging a glare with the older man from where you stood on the ground.

You rolled your eyes at his angry muttering, not needing to hear whatever he was saying to know it was probably offensive and definitely not worth your energy. A sigh pulled from your lips as you rotated the shoulder that didn’t have your rifle resting on it, glancing behind you to where Ellie was grumpily kicking at a pile of snow.

She had shown up at the stables with Maria, and after some brief arguing with Joel about her place in the party heading up to the dam, the teenager ended up getting her way. It was impressive that she had won the argument, judging from the glimpses of Joel’s own tenacity that you had witnessed so far. You knew now that Ellie could definitely face off with Dina if she could manage to wear down Joel.

Ellie had seemed to be in a sour mood on the ride up to the dam, her gaze alternating between Joel and Tommy. Although the brothers hadn't interacted on the trip—other than a sharp look Tommy gave at the shotgun you supplied Joel with, which you dismissed the question of with a shake of your head—you remembered how warmly the brothers had greeted each other, a stark contrast to how cold Joel’s attitude was towards Ellie from what little interactions you had seen. Maybe he wasn’t her father, then. Or maybe it was just a difficult relationship, you mused as you remembered your own father.

Still, there was a fondness hidden in the way Joel treated Ellie. It was obvious in how he had tried to get her to stay in Jackson, and how he had eventually given in and let her come along. He wasn’t completely frozen to her, but maybe it seemed that way from Ellie’s point of view. Your sympathy towards how she must be feeling is what urged you to speak to her now.

“Hey, Ellie,” you called out to her, gesturing for her to join you once you got her attention.

“What’s up?” Her voice wasn’t unkind as she walked over to you, but it also wasn’t as bright as when you had met her earlier that day. That made you feel a bit sad, to see her fiery personality doused under the weight of her emotions, and it's what inspired you to try and cheer her up.

“Do you wanna help me keep watch?” you asked with a nod towards the walkway at the top of the gate, patting the rifle at your side as her eyes lit up.

“Can I use your sniper rifle?”

You laughed at the blunt question, shrugging as you turned to walk towards one of the ladders that led up to the walkway. “You can look through the scope, sure.”

“Hey, hey!” Joel called out sharply from behind the two of you as Ellie began to scurry up the ladder, “I don’t think that’s such a good idea—”

“Oh, they’ll be fine,” you heard Tommy drawl, though one look back at Joel’s deep frown and hardened gaze showed how not fine he thought it would be.

Tommy went on to reassure Joel that you were not only perceptive and a great shot, but that he trusted you, while Joel still looked unconvinced. You could feel the heavy weight of his gaze on you at that mention of trust, a different kind of intensity simmering between you compared to the tension from before.

You couldn’t help but think that that kind of attention from Joel Miller was not a good thing as you pulled yourself from the top of the ladder onto the scaffolding. Trying to ignore it, you pulled up your rifle, looking through your scope to scan your surroundings around the dam. Nothing looked out of the ordinary, so you kneeled down next to Ellie as you held the gun out, showing her where to hold it while making sure her finger rested off the trigger.

“It’s really fucking heavy,” she grunted in annoyance as she struggled to hold it on her own, and you laughed as you held onto the stock to help keep it upright.

“Usually you can set it up on something to keep it steady, like a window pane or a fallen tree," you explained, surprised that she didn't seem to know how to hold a rifle. If Joel was so hellbent on survival, why hadn't he taught Ellie this? "You’ll be able to hold one when you’re older, though. Just gotta get those scrawny arms into shape.”

Ellie pulled back from where she was trying to look through the scope to fix you with an unamused look as she snapped, “I went to FEDRA school back in the QZ, I know how to use a gun.”

“So did I, and they didn’t teach me to aim for shit,” you shot back, watching as she blinked before matching your smile with a cheeky grin of her own, eyes lighting up from the new knowledge of the similar background you both shared.

“Where did you learn how to shoot?” she asked, one eye closing as she looked through the scope again.

“My dad,” you answered quietly, finding no reason to be dishonest with Ellie. She was curious, perhaps too much for her own good, but you couldn’t find it in yourself to crush that spirit by not being kind. 

You were her age once, and you remembered wishing you had somebody who would answer your questions. Even though you hadn't known Ellie for more than a few hours, you could sense that she may be a kindred spirit, similar in ways to how you had been when you were her age.

Before everything went even more to shit.

“And he wasn’t FEDRA?”

“No.” You shook your head, her question drawing you back to the present as you realized you had gone quiet, distracted by your own thoughts. “No, he was an army vet way before the Outbreak. But war kind of disillusioned him with the government.”

“So was he, like, a smuggler? Or something?” Ellie didn't pause in her line of questioning, even as she was focused on looking through the scope of your rifle at the snowy landscape. You had to admire her unshakable curiosity, and how determined she was to get the answers she wanted. Even if they did trudge up some memories you would rather remain buried in the subconscious of your mind.

“What, like Joel?” You laughed as you shook your head again, ignoring the surprised look she gave you when she realized you probably shouldn’t know that bit of information—it was one of the few facts about Joel you had learned from Tommy. “Nothing like that. He was—”

You paused, scratching at your cheek again, fingernails pricking at the small scar there. An old nervous habit. “He was part of a rebellion. A...freedom fighter, I guess.”

“Oh! Was he a Firefly? Like you?” The excitement was back in Ellie's voice again at the mention of freedom fighters, and you winced.

Shifting on the balls of your feet, you glanced away towards the nearby treeline that groaned under the weight of snow on their branches. “His rebellion wasn’t on that large of a scale. It was localized in the Seattle QZ, a fight against FEDRA for control of the city.”

Ellie paused, her glee fading as she pulled back from the scope. “I saw a fight like that in Kansas City,” she said quietly, eyes somber, and you realized then that she may have already faced more shit than even you did at her age. The unmovable force of her determination, her sharp wit and the scar that cut through one of her eyebrows spoke volumes of the hardships this poor kid may have already gone through. “It was…”

“It’s an ugly fight,” you said gently, and she nodded in agreement. “There’s no winner in a war like that.”

You hoped that Ellie knew you didn't pity her, but that you sympathized with whatever pain she's had to deal with already in her short life. You knew well how tragedy could rob somebody of the childhood they deserved, and you hoped that Ellie could have some semblance of happiness while she was still a kid; that she could hold onto her curiosity, good humor and childlike wonder for as long as she could.

Clearing your throat to try and shake the heavy atmosphere the topic had created, you looked across your surroundings again. You took a moment to appreciate the view the vantage point offered of the vast winter landscape. While Jackson could be overwhelming with its invasive holiday cheer, you enjoyed the snowy surroundings of the settlement this time of year. It reminded you of those parts of Seattle you had called home for a time.

After a moment of peaceful quiet, when that heavy topic loosened its claws on you, you looked down at Ellie with another smile.

“So, catch any movement?” you asked, not expecting any confirmation, but your smile froze as Ellie tensed up, her hands gripping the rifle tighter.

“Uh…” her voice was nervous as she pressed her eye closer against the scope and nodded, “yeah, actually.”

“What?” Your voice was sharp, causing Ellie to wince, and you would have felt bad if you weren’t too preoccupied with keeping the both of you safe, along with everybody else at the dam.

“Over there,” she lifted a free hand to point as you carefully took the rifle from her, “in the treeline.”

Your gaze followed the direction she was pointing in before lifting the scope to your own eye, finding a few men slowly slinking out from a break in the trees that was close to the gate—far too close.

“Tommy, we got company,” you called behind you, as a few more men walked out. Masked and armed.

And then more behind them.

Shit.

“Tommy—”

You were cut off by a shot ringing through the air and you ducked, automatically hunching over Ellie, protecting her body with your own as another shot rang out, and shouting rose up around you.

“Go for the ladder, get back to Tommy and Joel,” you urged Ellie as you gently pushed her towards the ladder.

“But—”

“Go, now! ” you ordered, leaving no room for argument as you watched her scamper down the ladder. You glanced back towards where Joel was with Tommy, seeing the older man was hurrying to where Ellie was descending as you looked back out through your scope at the approaching raiders.

Inhale, finger on the trigger, you track one raider’s movements, waiting for his head to pass between the crosshairs. Exhaling as he walked right into the center, your finger pressed down on the trigger, and—

“Shit!” You heard one of them yell over the loud bang that filled your ears. Grunting at the kick of the butt of the gun against your shoulder, you quickly ducked down, ejecting the cartridge as they continued to yell, “They got George!”

Focusing on steadying your breathing, you listened carefully to the sounds of the raiders shuffling forward as they traded fire with the Jackson guards positioned on top of the gates. When there was a break in the gunfire you popped up over the edge, eye against the scope, searching—

A shot whizzed past you—too far to have been a real danger, but still too close for your comfort.

You fired again, hastier this time, only hitting one in the shoulder but effectively sending them flying backwards. Chaos surrounded you as you slung your rifle back over your shoulder and descended the ladder. Your position up top was too open, you had to find another vantage point before—

Heavy thuds hit the gates as you landed on your feet. You ran forward to grab Ellie from where she was out in the open when you saw she hadn’t reached Joel yet, pulling her with you behind the cover of a pile of crates nearby.

The doors burst open as the two of you ducked, the sounds of an ensuing firefight now flooding your senses as you ejected the cartridge in your rifle again.

“Stay down,” you urged Ellie quietly as you weighed your options.

Your rifle wouldn’t do much good now in close combat, and you didn’t want to bring unnecessary attention to your position, not when you were suddenly responsible for keeping this kid alive.

Not wanting to be hampered by the weight of your rifle in case you needed to move fast, you carefully laid it on the ground and pulled your pistol out of its holster. You pivoted on the balls of your feet, listening closely in case any raiders came closer.

“You’re not going to go out there?” you heard Ellie hiss, and you looked back over your shoulder at her.

“Not when I’m trying to keep you alive, I’m not,” you whispered firmly, and she went quiet.

You winced as you heard somebody cry out and hit the ground near your hiding place, feeling a twinge of pain in your heart as you didn’t know if it was one of your men, or theirs. Grip tightening on your gun, you resisted the urge to look for a clear shot to help your comrades.

Distracted by our own sentiment, you didn't hear the raider creeping closer to you until a hand clamped down on Ellie’s arm and tugged her out of your hiding place. Spinning around, your eyes widened with fear as they pulled her back, their face covered by a bandana as they moved to point their gun at you.

That was their mistake.

If their gun had been pointed at Ellie, you would have been fucked. Pointed at you, though?

You could deal with those odds.

Whipping your gun up, your own shot rang through the air before they could even find their aim on you, their grip releasing from Ellie’s arm as their head sprayed with blood and they dropped dead to the ground.

You hastily pulled Ellie behind you, apologizing to her when she shouted from shock as you tried to take up as much space as you could in front of her, creating a shield for her with your own body.

Like fucking hell you were going to let an innocent kid die on your watch.

Your hands steadied as you pointed your gun at another raider, taking a moment to aim before squeezing the trigger and watching as they dropped before looking for another target.

Luckily, it seemed like the forces of the raiders were dwindling, the fight quickly turning in your favor, especially when you had both of the Miller brothers on your side.

Distracted as you were by your own struggle for survival, Joel and Tommy working together was a sight to behold. Despite having spent years apart, the two fell into step beside each other like no time had passed. A raider ran at Tommy, grabbing his rifle, and in the time it had taken you to aim at them, Tommy had turned and used his weight to shove the bandit to the ground in the same breath it took Joel to point the double barrel shotgun down and shoot them point blank.

After another moment of fighting that ended with the remainders of the bandits either lying dead on the ground or fleeing through the gates, you finally allowed yourself to let out a breath of relief.

Looking behind you, you shouted Ellie’s name at the same time Joel did as she ran towards the man. With the adrenaline fading and the guards of Jackson moving to take care of one another’s wounds, Ellie stopped in front of Joel as he looked over her in concern. Her words tripped over each other from the adrenaline that remained as she recounted her story of how you both had descended from the top of the gate, and how you had fought for her behind the crates. 

Ellie's voice was full of childlike wonder for adventure even as she told him how you shot the man who had grabbed her, and you laughed quietly to yourself at how strangely wholesome it was. Especially as Joel grabbed her shoulders to interrupt her, shaking her gently as he finally got a word in to ask if she was hurt.

“No!” Ellie cried, her excitement not fading even at the sight of his blatant worry, and your lips turned up in a soft smile. You hoped that she could see Joel's concern, and the warmth that had just broken through the chilly exterior he tried to keep up around her.

Shuffling pulled your attention from the wholesome moment and you turned, heart leaping into your throat as you watched a wounded raider that had been unaccounted for rise up from behind a couple of barrels. Fear kicked in, adrenaline coursing through your veins again as they lifted a knife and launched themselves towards Joel and Ellie.

You didn’t know who the raider was aiming for with their knife, but it didn’t matter as you ran towards them. Luckily they were wounded and you were faster, your own knife unsheathing and coming down in a swing into their neck before they could reach their target.

They gurgled, choking on their own blood as you twisted the metal, making sure they were dead before you pulled the knife out and let them fall at your feet.

Your chest rose and fell with heavy breaths from the surge of adrenaline, the blood of the raider you just killed splattered across your cheek as you looked up to find yourself face to face with a shocked Joel.

Joel, you realized somewhere in the back of your mind. They had been aiming for Joel.

There was a small sense of relief that it hadn’t been Ellie that could’ve been hurt. You hadn't wanted Joel to be harmed either, but given the choice, you would always save an innocent child.

You watched as surprise broke through his guarded gaze, combating with other emotions you couldn’t name that were obscured in the depths of his brown eyes.

“Joel!” Ellie shouted, making both you and Joel jump as you snapped back to the present. “Joel, she totally just fucking saved your life, man!”

The sound of her excitement was nearly drowned out by Maria’s rapid-paced orders for the guards to carefully sweep the premises to make sure no further surprises occurred. You sheathed your knife, looking from Ellie to Joel as she gestured at you and argued about something that you couldn’t hear through the sound of your blood rushing through your head.

Joel’s expression was closing off again, but he hadn’t looked away from you yet. Something indecipherable, something intense was in his gaze, only looking away when Tommy walked up and clamped a hand down onto his shoulder.

“What did I say?” Tommy said with no small amount of pride, a sound that made a smile flicker onto your face, the tension in your body beginning to ease as he grinned at you. “Told you that you could trust her.”

You watched as Tommy walked over to Maria, only looking away when he began to carefully check her for injuries, feeling that the act was too intimate, too personal to watch.

When you turned back, Joel's gaze was on you again, watching you closely. Adrenaline from the thwarted attack was fading as you reached a hand up to wipe the blood off your face, watching as something in Joel's eyes darkened at the action. You blinked, stomach flipping as your heart thumped in your chest, but the look was gone as soon as it came, leaving you stunned and wondering if you had imagined it.

What the fuck was—

“Joel!” Ellie hissed, delivering a not so gentle elbow to his ribs, judging from his wince.

He shot her a look of annoyance, some sort of silent understanding passing between them before he glanced back at you. Joel shifted slightly, almost looking...uncomfortable? That was certainly a new look on him, one you were taken aback by as his gaze darted away from you and back again.

“Thank you," he finally muttered gruffly, and your brows shot up as your eyes lit with surprise. That was...unexpected.

“Oh,” you leaned back, busying yourself with adjusting the strap of your knife around your thigh as you found it hard to respond to the unexpected sincerity he displayed—even if it had been drawn begrudgingly from him by Ellie. “Uh, you’re welcome.”

Looking back up at him, you nodded with a small smile, the first real smile you had given him since you had met. When Joel’s gaze darted back to you at your words, he saw that smile lighting up your face, and he paused.

There it was again, that growing tension that threatened to smother the both of you. You resisted the urge to shift from underneath it as it pressed down on you, your gaze locked with Joel's. Neither of you wanted to acknowledge it, but neither wanted to be the first to back down either.

Down by his side, Ellie’s gaze was flickering quickly between the two of you, a troublemaking grin slowly growing on her face.

“And now, you ask her to get a drink sometime.”

“Now I—” Joel stopped himself from automatically repeating whatever Ellie had said, his head jerking to the side as he glared down at her with a hard, unamused look. “What? ”

“Damn, Joel,” Ellie snickered as her shit-eating grin seemed to grow impossibly larger at his visible irritation, “got no game in your old age?”

Despite your better judgment, you laughed, harder and brighter than you had in what felt like a long time. Too long, you remarked internally as Ellie’s own laughter joined yours, the two of you slowly cracking up as Joel stared between you both in disbelief.

“Fucking hell,” he muttered to himself as he started to pace away from the both of you as you still cackled amongst yourselves. “Stop laughing, there are dead people. Goddamn ridiculous...”

But neither of you stopped. If anything, you only laughed harder at the sight of Joel’s exasperation. 

“Are you—what are you, his wingman?” you asked between giggles, making Ellie snort as she punched your arm.

“Stop! Stop, I’m gonna pee my pants,” she cackled as she doubled over in laughter, and you wiped at a stray tear forming in your eye.

Joel was right—it was probably wildly inappropriate, being in stitches over dumb jokes while surrounded by the bodies of the raiders you and your fellow guards had just shot down. But the release of adrenaline made people do stupid things.

And somewhere away from the two of you, out of sight from prying eyes, the corner of Joel’s lips twitched as he fought off a tiny smile of utter disbelief at yours and Ellie’s combined stupidity.

[kieranxworld]

Cheer up Call [Peppino Spaghetti]

➜ Peppino Spaghetti x Jessica Rabbit like! Reader

➜ Pure Fluff, Suggestive Content!

➜ Peppino was having one hell of day, so his buddy Gustavo calls the one person who could brighten his mood up.

➜ No really big warnings, besides suggestive content (no full out smut today folks), cursing, the noise being...the noise. Reader being sassy and not putting up with anyone disrespecting Peppino.

➜ A/n: This was inspired by This Post by @thatgirlgames and- I LOVE THIS CONCEPT! I might write a full fic based off soon, anyways. Enjoy the fic and hope you enjoy!

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Peppino wanted to rip what little hair he had left out of his head.

There was a lunch time rush of customers, and normally that wouldn't be a bad thing. But these people were Rude.

They were rushing Peppino, yelling at poor Gustavo and Pep, one of whom barely could understand what they were yelling at. And poor brick, who they sometimes used to bring the pizza's to the customers, was getting kicked around too.

Then once that shitshow ended.

They trailed in.

Who's they one may ask? Well, The Noise and Pepperman. Two of the most annoying people in the world.

You see, after the destruction of the Pizza Tower that threatened his business the villains that inhabited the castle has no where to go.

Peppino took in his clone, allowing him to work along side him at his pizzeria.

The Vigilante did end up finding work at a bar down town.

Pepperman was an artist, so he wasn't out of a job in the first place. Neither did The Noise, he was a mascot for Domionions (don't know if spelt that right-). But they found great pleasure in coming to bother Peppino.

And today they decided to do just that.

Right after the rush, no more than an hour later they decided to come in.

"Hey Fat Man!~"

The Noise thought it would be a bright idea to bring a bomb inside the Pizzeria, which led to the group freaking out and trying to disarm the comically large thing.

Only for the thing to explode confetti all of the place.

Peppino let out a scream of frustration as he had to clean all of this up, and pray that no other customers came in.

Gustavo, saw how irritated his poor friend and coworker was. He knew the man was on the verge of having a mental breakdown.

So knowing what he must do. He pulled out his phone and quickly dialed a number.

Peeping around the corner, seeing Peppino angrily clean as he curses in Italian at the two trouble makers, he sighs in relief when someone answers.

"Hello? May I-a speak to Mrs. Spaghetti?"

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"Aw, what's the matter Italian man? You getting tired of your dear old friends?"

"You-a two are not any friends of-a mine..'

"He's right! We're just here visiting an old pal."

Peppino tapped his hand on the counter. He was counting down until he had to close up shop so those two could LEAVE.

He slammed his head on the counter, another deep groan of annoyance about to leave his body until the familiar chime of the bell.

Peppino didn't really want to deal with another customer right now so he kept his head down.

He only heard the conversations.

"Oooo~ who's the babe?"

"My, My I need to capture her beauty"

Peppino finally sat up, his eyes widening at who was standing in the middle of the pizzeria.

There was a (h/c) woman dressed in a business casual like dress. Her heels were high and her makeup was stunning. She held an irritated look on her face as she looked down at The Noise.

"Hey toots! I asked ya what ya-AH!!"

He didn't get to finish his sentence before he was smacked by her purse.

"I am a married woman thank you very much!" She said before turning on her heel, her anger instantly melting away when she set her eyes on Peppino.

"Darling!!" She quickly ran over and snatched the male from behind the counter, taking him into a hug.

Peppino felt his face heat up as he felt her litter his face with kisses.

"I came as soon as Gustavo called me! He said you were having such a bad day and you needed me!"

Peppino looked back at his dear friend who only gave him a thumbs up.

"Vita Mia, you didn’t have to-a get off work."

She scoffs placing another kiss on his cheek. "Nonsense! My Peppy was feeling down and I came to cheer you up!"

While this happened, Pepperman and The Noise stared in confusion.

"Um hello?! Ya can't keep kissing his face infront of us like that!!"

Peppino rolled his eyes and was about to speak before he was interrupted by the woman.

"Excuse you?! This is my husband, and right now, you're in his restaurant!!" She quickly snapped. "Now question me again and I'll shove my damn foot so-"

"Ah ah! T-thats enough-a Vita Mia. Do not waste-a your breath on them."

Pepperman speaks up before Noise can "Husband?! Not to be rude....um Mrs. Spaghetti..but-"

"My name is (Y/n) and-"

" Fuck it! Ill say it! How does someone like him get with someone like you?!" The Noise finished making (Y/n) sigh.

"Because, Peppino is a wonderful man, who makes me laugh, smile and does his hardest to make sure I'm okay" she says placing another kiss on her husband's cheek.

"That and I just love the way he sounds in the bedroom, the way he manhandles me and-"

Peppino hurried placed a hand over his wife's mouth as his face burns red with embarrassment.

"Tesoro Mio t-thats enough-"

"Oops~, sorry Peppy! But come on!" The (h/c) woman pulls him by his hand towards the exit. Pushing past the two males who stared on in confusion.

"B-but wait! What-a abou-"

"Gustavo said he'll close for you! I have a surprise waiting for you at home~" She winks at him turning the male into a stuttering mess.

Peppino doesn't get to respond before being pulled out the Pizzeria, leaving Gustavo, Brick, Pepperman and The Noise.

"How in the hell did he meet her?!"

"She just-a came in one day, from the big city-a and fell in love with Peppino at first sight."

"Huh????"

"Yea. Small world right?"

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Hope you enjoyed! I love reading over works and being inspired by them!

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[crazyk-imagine]

Crushes Don’t get Easier

Pairing: James Diamond x Fem!reader Characters: James Diamond, Fem!reader, Katie Knight, Kendall Knight, Hortense “Logan” Mitchell, Carlos Garcia, Gustavo Rocque, Kelly Wainwright  Warnings: Fluff, Katie trying to be a matchmaker, everyone rooting for reader and James to get together,  Word Count: 1,087

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Katie walked away so she could search for you, feeling that she needed to take matters into her own hands. 

She had a feeling you were around here somewhere and aims for your apartment. She knocked on the door. 

You looked through the peephole wondering who's knocking on your door. You haven't had visitors... maybe ever which is even weirder. 

You sighed and opened the door. "Katie." 

She smiled and you instantly knew she was not up to any good. 

"No, Katie." 

"You don't even know what I'm going to say." 

“And I don’t need to. I’ll be seeing the guys… at some other time,” you said before your face scrunched in displeasure, not liking what you said. 

“Well, we need to talk now.” 

“Can I ask why?” 

“You know why.” 

“Katie,” you groaned and rested your forehead against the door. “It’s not like that.” 

“He still likes you.” 

You turned your head and leaned against the door. “Don’t- don’t say that.” 

“But it’s true and now that you’re here… and he’s here. Maybe you can, give it a shot?” 

“Katie, my dear.” You place your hands on her shoulders. “You are far too young to be trying to play matchmaker.” 

“I don’t think so.” 

“Goodbye, Katie,” you closed the door on her. 

She threw her arms up and sighed. 

“How did that not go as planned?” Kendall asked. 

“You did not give me enough time to think of a well-executed plan.” 

“You said you work better under pressure.” 

“I did not say that. When did I ever say that?” 

“Okay,” Logan said, extending the word. “Knight siblings no more fighting. We have to go back before your mom wonders where we are and then we can come up with a plan.” He looked between the two of them, “does everyone agree?” 

The siblings sighed, “fine.” 

“Good. Now, come on.” 

-

“I can’t go in today.” James held his hand up to his face, fake coughing. “I’m sick.” 

“You’re not sick,” Kendall said, crossing his arms. 

“You’re faking it,” Logan added. “But that’s okay because she doesn’t go into work today. Kelly said that Gustavo wants a little more time with us before we’re thrown into the chaos.” 

James narrowed his eyes to his friends. “Why don’t I believe you?” 

The two boy’s shrug. 

“Now you know how we feel, not so sick James,” Carlos pointed out. 

The pretty boy rolls his eyes and chucks the blanket off his shoulders. 

“Fine.” 

The three boys cheered and high five one another. 

-

Gustavo started them off with recording one of their songs. 

You walked into the studio, handing the producer and assistant their coffees. “So, how’s it-” You paused and raised a brow at the sight of James who slowly fell to the ground. “I’m gonna go.” 

“What? Why?” Kelly asked. 

“No, it’s- it’s fine. I think it’d be better for me to leave, anyway. I’ve got home- homework.” You pointed over your shoulder and take slow steps backwards. “I’ve gotta go.” 

“Is she gone?” 

Kendall stared down at his friend with a grimaced expression. “No.” 

“Now, you’re lying.” 

“Maybe.” 

“I should go talk to her before I…” 

“Do that again?” Logan offered. 

“Yes, and shut up!” 

“Well, go!” They forced him out of the booth. 

“Where’s that one going? Why is one of my dogs running away?” Gustavo turns to Kelly. “Why is he running away?” 

She shushes him. 

-

“Wait! Wait!” You turned around and put your hands up to stop James from running into you. “Woah! Woah! James.” 

“Sorry, sorry. I just- I needed to face it.” 

“Face what?” 

“I- uh-” 

“This reminds me of the many times when we were paired up in school and you couldn’t even ask me anything,” you smirked, shaking your head. 

“Hey, that’s not fair.” 

“I know but, me teasing got you to calm down.” 

“Wow, you’re right.” 

“Obviously, you forget who helps you get an A on our projects.” 

“Oh, shut up.” 

You don’t think you’ve ever really taken the time to look at him, at least, not since you were younger and all you did was- nope, you shook your head. 

“This isn’t awkward.” 

A fake chuckle escaped you. “Yeah, so uh- what made you chase after me.” 

“I didn’t chase after you.” 

“Okay.” 

“You know, I just remembered why I didn’t want to ask you out in the first place.” 

“Oh, yeah because it’s my fault. You know, I’m not the one who forced you to come out here and talk to me.” 

“You might not have done that but-” 

“But nothing.” 

He stared at you without saying anything. “I forgot how pretty you look when you’re mad.” 

“I- what?” 

“I said that out loud?” 

You chuckle, “you did… do you mean it?” 

“Of course, I do. Why would you ask me that?” 

You glanced him up and down; you stared into his eyes before yours traveled down to his lips and back up again. 

Thoughts race’s around in both of your heads. 

‘Am I going to risk it?’ 

‘Is she going to-’ 

You leaned forward and pulled him in for a kiss. 

The other three pushed each other out of the doorway, watching as you two share a moment and celebrated, high fiving one another. 

You slightly pulled back, chuckling against his lips. “I think your friends are excited that you finally did something about your crush.” 

“You knew?” 

“Of course, I knew and besides, I had a little one on you too.” 

“You did?” 

You place your index finger over his lips and shushed him. “I already said it once, I’m not going to say it again.” You smile when you feel him smile against you. “We’re going on a date.” 

“Now?” 

“Yes, I’m not dealing with dumb, dumber, and dumbest right now.” 

He nodded. “Okay.” 

-

“Great. They’re going on a date,” Kendall said. “They’re going on a date.” 

“We still need James. We’re not done with song,” Logan pointed out. 

“Hey guys-” 

Carlos glanced back at the two, “they’re gone.” 

“Maybe we can try and-” 

“Do not come back until all of you dogs are together!” 

“Nevermind,” Kendall sighed. 

“Are we going to go looking for them?” Logan turned to him. 

“Not yet.” 

“That doesn’t sound good,” Carlos added. 

-

You and James walked back into the studio, looking as happy as ever. 

“Finally,” Kendall stood in front of the two of you. “We need him.” “Have fun.” 

“You’re coming with us,” Logan and Carlos grabbed you, aiming towards the studio room. 

You groaned with a smile.  

Previously: Part I

[mirai1269]

Pig shenanigans(Vincent x [MC])

That ask about Vincent's hypothetical pet pig inspired me.

Stuck in a Yandere Visual Novel... HELP!! is made by @pumpkin-spike18

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

It never accured to [MC], that he would step into a place like this. 

"Welcome to my humble home, [MC]!" 

Though the 'home' itself wasn't humble as Vincent stated, it was pretty moderate for the home of a family as rich as Vincent's. [MC] fell silent at the sight before him. Once they stepped through the large, double winged door, he was greeted by a wide staircase leading up to the next upper floor, and a man, who was dressed in a butler suit. 

"Greetings, young master!" The older man bowed his head slightly at the taller boy. Then with an emotionless face, he turned to [MC]. "I didn't know we'd have a guest over." 

Finally realizing the suddenness of it all, [MC]'s face turned red in embarrassment. Is he going to be a bother for these people? Is it really okay if he's here? What if he damages something? Like accidentally scraping the furniture? Or dirtying the Persian carpet? Or worse, breaking something, they would've wanted to put on an auction, like a century old vase?! He was shaking like a leaf at these thoughts.  

Vincent gave a light chuckle at the boy's reaction. His arm found its way around [MC] shoulder, pulling the burnet close, the sudden contact making the shorter boy snap out of his thoughts. 

"Bernard, this is [MC], a very good friend of mine. [MC], this is Bernard, my personal butler." As he said this, a chill ran through [MC]'s body. "If you need anything, don't fret to ask him, okay?" 

The shorter boy weakly nodded as a reply. 

"G-good evening, si-" 

But before [MC] could even finish, a loud scream-like noise ran through the house. In fear, [MC] grabbed onto Vincent, greatly surprising the red head. Once the scream died down however, [MC] quickly let go, muttering out an apology. 

"WHAT THE F*CK WAS THAT?!" [MC] shouted mentally, another, more gory kind of thought process sprouting in his mind.  

Surprisingly, instead of hurrying, thumps, paired with the sound heavy panicked breathing coming from the basement as [MC] imagined, a series of rapid little clip-claps echoed from upstairs, paired with... oinking? Finally, the causer of these confusing noises made an entrance at the top of the stairs. 

"William!" Vincent cheered, crouching down, with his arms spread wide open. In an instant, the pink, chubby figure of a piglet dashed against his chest, which Vincent embraced warmly. "Aww, did you miss me that much~?" 

[MC] watched the two of them quietly, pondering at the pair before him. The piglet was happily grunting into Vincent's chest, and Vincent stroking its head with great care. Seeing Vincent like this felt so foreign to [MC]. Yet in his chest, it awoke something warm. Subconsciously, a small smile bloomed on his face. Completely unrelated, his face started to feel warmer too. 

Vincent, not forgetting about his guest, straightened up, the pink pet still secured in his arms. 

"[MC], this is my 'son', Prince William Erik Ferdinand Albert Alfred Gustavo Malfred Minyon Raul de Champagne the 1st!" Seeing [MC]'s stunned face, Vincent quickly added. "...or Will, for short." 

[MC] hummed, then gave a light, warm smile at the little animal. "Hi William! It's nice to meet you! Huh?" He exclaimed, pointing at Will's nose. "Is that a little heart there? How adorable~!"  

Other than the nose, little heart marks were also present on William's ears, around his eyes, and, like a cutie mark, on both sides on his upper thighs. 

Vincent smiled, his teeth glinting in the sunlight. "Oh but, be not fooled!" He continued, lifting William up to his face. "This one right here is a known troublemaker around these parts. A stealer of hearts!" He announced, sounding as if he was scolding the pig. "And also, a thief of anything left on a plate, he he!" 

[MC] smiled at Vincent's remarks, looking back at the pink little creature. In turn, it looked back, with its dark, abyssal eyes. Its nose wiggled, head reaching closer to the young boy. At first, [MC] began to extend a hand towards the pig, but quickly decided against it when the pig stretched its head towards him. Noticing this, Vincent lifted the animal to him. 

"Don't worry, he doesn't bite. He's a very friendly piggy, right Wills?" Vincent cooed. 

The two, [MC] and William, stared at each other for a short moment, then fuelled by a little confidence, [MC] gently reached for the pig's nose, letting it smell his hand. After some happy grunts from Will, [MC] went in, and started petting its head. His fur felt surprisingly soft, but thin. 

"Wanna try holding him?" Vincent asked, not waiting for an answer as he placed the piglet into [MC]'s hands. In an instant, William made himself comfortable in the unsure hands of the burnet. As [MC] started scratching the lower part of his back, William let out a series of short, happy grunts. 

"See? He already likes you!" 

[MC] became more relaxed as the pig breathed slowly and calmly in his hold. "What a good boy." [MC] breathed out. Vincent gazed at [MC], his smile softening at the sight.  

"I knew he would belong here." 

After a while, Vincent started to feel that perhaps William was taking up a bit too much of [MC] affection and attention. 

"Well then!" Vincent broke the moment, clapping his hands together. "I say let's go to my room. It's perfect for studying, plus little Wills here still needs his naps. Come here Will!" But as he reached for the pet, it let out an angry yelp, tucking itself deeper into [MC] arms, leaving both boys shocked. 

Confused and unsure, [MC] looked at his host helplessly. "It's okay, I'll just put him onto the ground." But oh, William isn't some weak-willed pig. When the burnet tucked a hand under his belly, the pig gently bit into the sleeves of [MC]'s coat. Vincent let out a loud horrified gasp. 

"William! Bad pig!" 

In the end, Vincent literally had to tear William off of the poor boy. Thankfully, the coat didn't tear, but it was stained with saliva. 

"Bad, very bad pig! I raised you better than this!" Vincent scolded the pet, then turned to his guest.  

"[MC], I'm so, so, so sorry! He's never done this before!" With William still in his hand, Vincent pulled out a pristine white handkerchief from his pocket, giving it to [MC], who hesitantly accepted it. 

"... t-thanks." He replied, trying to get off as much of the stain as possible. It barely did anything. "... I'll try running it under some water." 

Vincent nodded. "I'll show you where the bathroom is." On their way, Vincent kept glaring angrily at William. "Little traitor." He whispered in a stern tone, but William just grunted happily. 

With [MC]'s coat drying on the back of the chair in front of Vincent's desk and with William calmly dozing off in his little bed, Vincent and [MC] were on the red head's bed. Vincent lying on his stomach and [MC] sitting sideways, both of them studying chemistry. Turns out, Vincent wasn't as good at raising his grades as he was raising William. Lucky for him, he became friends with a star-student of their high-school.  

[MC] wondered how this could even be possible. He had always assumed Vincent had private tutors or that his parents made sure Vincent had his studies as a priority. In the end, [MC] realized that even the fact that Vincent studied at a public school and not some fancy private one is a question not worth prying. 

"So, in more simple terms- hey, are you listening?"  [MC] called out, snapping the red head out of his daydream. 

"Of course! All my attention is reserved for you~!" Vincent replied, a cocky smile widening on his face, resting in his hands, his elbows digging into the soft mattress, while swinging his legs back and forth, giving the picture-perfect image of a schoolgirl from an anime. [MC] let out a tired sigh, turning back to the notebook. "But god, this is really boring." Vincent continued, also sighing tiredly. 

"I know, but this is important. Especially since you have a test coming up. So, pay attention!" 

Vincent huffed in annoyance, turning to lay onto his back. 

"Vincent, come on! I don't have all day, you know." [MC] pleaded, to which Vincent huffed more. 

"He's acting like a toddler." 

"Why should I even know how to solve a problem like this? I mean look!" Turning back to the notebook, pointing at the unsolved chemical equation. "Why should 'I' know this? It's not like I'll be a chemist or something." 

[MC] looked at the irritated boy, petting his back in empathy. "I wholeheartedly understand, but the sooner this is done, the less we'll have to suffer with it." 

Vincent looked back at him with puppy eyes, as if it wasn't him who asked [MC]'s help with the subject. Though, with Vincent lying on his stomach, face half buried in his arms, paired with these eyes, he looked more like a helpless kitten. [MC] almost felt his heart melt at the sight (only almost). 

"I know!" Jumped up Vincent. "How about we ditch this, and watch a movie?" He continued, with such confidence, [MC] started envy it.  

"He's not taking this seriously..." 

"Vincent, if you fail this test, you'll have to rewrite it, and then you'll have to suffer with practicing this again. Do you want that?" 

Vincent stayed silent for a few seconds. 

"Would you help me again if I asked?" He blurted the question out. 

[MC] felt his stomach tighten. That question felt a bit dangerous. He didn't know why. 

"I-I guess... but only if-" 

At that, Vincent flashed a smile. 

"Then what am I supposed to be worried about?" 

[MC] didn't know whether he wanted to laugh or cry. 

"Then why am I even here?" [MC] thought out loud. 

"Huh?" 

"If you don't care about the grade, then why am I helping you study?" [MC] asked again. Vincent remained silent. Without a proper response, [MC] jumped off the bed, and headed to the bedroom's door. "Tutoring's over." 

"It's about time I go home anyway."  

Jumping off the bed, the burnet remembered something. 

"[MC], wait!" Vincent called out, but the other boy didn't pay much attention to it. 

"I almost left without my jacket..." 

Quickly turning around, [MC] didn't see Vincent getting off of the bed, and crashed into him, resulting in both of them falling back onto the bed. 

"Oof- sorry! I- " [MC] blurted out, before realizing the predicament he was in. Vincent's hip was caged in between his arms, and said young man was staring into his brown eyes, like a surprised baby deer. Face flushed, breathing slow, eyes fixated on each other. 

[MC] figured he should stand up and let the man go, but Vincent quickly caught his hand, holding it firmly, but not in a hurting way. 

"Please... don't leave yet!" Vincent asked. "I'll take it seriously. Promise! Just... stay a little longer!" 

[MC] let a defeated sigh. He really needed to go home, otherwise Newt will think Vincent had kept him prisoner. Plus, he and Leon had plans. 

"Vincent, I must go. I could come back another day or-" 

From the corner of his eye, [MC] noticed his jacket... moving? It fell off the chair and bolted through the half open door. 

"MY JACKET!!" [MC] shouted. 

"My god, WILLIAM!!" Vincent joined in. 

And thus, the pig hunt began. At first, they couldn't track down where William ran off to. Heck, [MC] didn't even understand why he even stole his jacket. 

"I really don't understand what got into him. He's never done this before." Vincent wondered. [MC] continued to look around in the dining area, believing that perhaps William got distracted by hunger. 

"Vincent, I'd appreciate it if you helped me here." [MC] replied. Vincent huffed in annoyance. 

"Why do you even need to leave? It's not even that late yet." He mumbled. [MC] rolled his eyes. 

"Vincent, if you're not helping me, I won't come back anymore." [MC] retaliated. Before Vincent could even move, the familiar grunts of William rang from the room next to the diner. 

"He's there!" The burnet exclaimed, rushing towards the sound, Vincent following him close. Lo-and-behold, William was rolling around, playing with the sleeves of the jacket. 

"Stop right the-" 

Vincent, swiftly and elegantly, rushed to his pet and picked him up. 

"Got him!" He cheered, proudly. William shrieked and kicked in his hands, but Vincent's grip was firm on him.  

Much like the first time, the jacket was cowered in saliva and... bits of carrot? When did Will have the time to- 

"Here. Sorry, it got dirty again... ew." Vincent handed the jacket over, holding Will in one hand, pressing him to his chest. "I could have it washed here and give it back on Monday, if that's fine with you." He offered. This put [MC] in quiet a dilemma. He'd still need a jacket for that outing he had planned with Le- 

"I can lend you one of my cloaks. Would that be okay?" 

Even the thought shook [MC]. 

"B-but what if I ruin it?" He stuttered. With a calm smile, Vincent shrugged. 

"It's just a piece of fabric. Who cares? You on the other hand could catch a cold without one." With a blush growing on his face, the red head averted his gaze. "I'm more concerned about that." 

[MC] felt a quick flutter in his heart. 

"Wha- what is this? He's just worried. ...yet-" 

"So, when are you coming back to help me study?" Vincent continued. [MC] stared at him in silence. "What? I helped you, and you promised!" 

"What a way to ruin the moment, Vincent." 

With the warm cloak keeping him warm, [MC] bid goodbye to Vincent. 

"Don't forget then! You're mine for the weekend~!" Vincent yelled. [MC] rolled his eyes at him. He was starting to get used to these antics of the red head. With a final wave, [MC] stepped into his house and Vincent signalled to the chauffeur. 

As the car pulled up to the front door, a chuckle tried to escape from Vincent's throat. He ran straight up to his room and let it all out. Once done, William trotted over to his owner and snuggled up to his leg. Vincent picked him up into his arms and dig into his pocket. Feeding the pig a few carrot slices he kissed the pet's head. 

"Good boy." 

[jokerman9540]

Wario: “Alright, what are we up against?”

Gustavo: “Well, we need to go through Crust Cove, Gnome Forest, Deep Dish 9 and Golf”

Waluigi: “Golf, you say? I think I’ll have a go at that.”

He smirked, being a master of the sport

Gustavo: “Alright then. I’ll be heading to Gnome Forest, seeing as I know it best.”

Wario: “I’ll go to Crust Cove. I wouldn’t mind a relaxing beach adventure.”

Snick: “And I’ll go the Deep Dish 9!”

Noise: “OH! Me and Peppino volunteer for Golf too!”

Peppino: “WHAT?! No we don’t!”

Noise hurriedly slammed a bottle of milk into Peppino’s mouth, forcing to drink and then gag on the contents.

Funky: “I might as well go too. I’m fairly familiar with the sport.”

Cannoli: “I’ll join you Gustavo, you seem… saner than the others.”

Gustavo: “Umm… thanks?”

Stinky: “I’ll come too!”

Antari: *BLOOP*

Gustavo: “And Antari makes 4. That’s us ready!”

Mona: “I guess I’ll go with Snick, that way I won’t have to deal with Wario”

Pepperman: “Me too! I’ve always wanted to shine among the stars!”

The whole group rolled their eyes in response

Fakey: “Me too?”

Snick: “Sure thing Fakester!”

Fakey made a noise that Snick silently hoped was a cheer.

Old Manton: “Me an’ that apple in the cowboy hat r’ going with the yeller feller.”

Pizzano: “I’m going as well. I don’t wanna miss out on the fun!”

The groups now divided, they entered the gates

[depressopax]

First of all. Love, love your writing! It's so good!

Secondly, if I may request some Mike ehrmantraut headcanons with a lover(reader) who is about his age. Who is just as hardened by life (they both work for Fring) but is soft with Mike when the two get close. Thank you<3

Heyyy! THANK YOU SM for your kind words! 😭❤ I'm so glad you like my work ahhhh <3

And thanks for the request!! I had so much fun writing this. It's not the type of text and genre I usually write, so it was a fun challenge! Also, I know it said headcanons, but once I started writing I came up with a whole story lol

Hope you like it and have and AMAZING day <333

The things we do - Mike Ehrmantraut x gn! reader

Fandom - Better Call Saul

Pairing: Mike Ehrmantraut x gender neutral reader Genre: Feel good, fluff, hurt/comfort Warning(s): Mentions of grief, unemployment, divorce, mental health and growing up. Cuss words. Reader is gender neutral, is 50 y/o and has two kids.  Words: 1K Summary: As close as possible to the request! Reader is turning 50, Mike 60 y/o for this story. - You and Mike have been together for about a year. The two of you share so much experiences and can relate to one another. Both being older and working for Gus Fring, you make a good team, despite the scars from the past... English is not my main language, if I make any spelling mistakes please let me know so I can improve my writing! <3 AO3 link

“Hey… Cheer up! It’s your birthday tomorrow.” 

Mike says. You turn to give him a tired smile. It’s a rare thing to hear him be optimistic, but you love it.

“Yea… I’m just sour because she can’t be there.”

Your daughter is a free soul, ever since she was a kid, she had dreamt of a life away from Albuquerque. Now she’s 21 and studying abroad in the United Kingdoms. She was gonna travel back to New Mexico to celebrate your birthday, but with snowstorm chaos and exams coming up, she had to cancel. You’re not angry at her, rather sad, since you haven’t seen her in half a year. You still talk on the phone daily, despite the different time zones. At least you have your son, too. He’s 17, in high-school and lives at home with you, in a beautiful apartment on the calm streets of Albuquerque. You’re a bit paranoid, since you know the dangers of town. In your almost 50 years alive, you’ve seen and met many dangers. Keeping your kids safe has been the priority since. Being a single parent has made you even more protective of them. The divorce between you and your ex was bad and you haven’t heard from them since.

When Mike’s phone buzzes you feel relieved, happy to be distracted from your bitter thoughts. Since Mike is busy driving, you take his phone.

“It’s the boss”

“Can you reply?”

The two of you talk about it so casually, as if working as enforcers for a drug kingpin like Gus Fring is nothing weird. But to you and Mike it isn’t weird. 

Working for Gus is challenging and dangerous, so you’re happy to do it together with Mike. You know the risks of the work, but happily do it to provide for your kids. The things you do are for them. 

It’s been a year now, since the company you worked for shut down, and left you unemployed and in need of money. The only perks of having a criminal past is the work opportunity Gustavo Fring gave you.

That’s where you met Mike Ehrmantraut, an older ex-cop from Philadelphia, with a past just as fucked up as yours. 

At first you didn’t trust anyone in Gus' team, and to be honest? You weren’t really popular amongst your new colleagues. You were one of the oldest assets to the team, and your trust issues made it hard to get along with people. Luckily, Mike was the same. He was only a couple years older and just as “bitter” as you. The two of you went from sitting quietly next to each other, to exchanging a couple words to each other. One day, you took the courage and started a conversation with him, and some days later he kissed you. Since then, you and Mike have been inseparable. He is your partner in crime, literally, tho. You both struggle with guilt from the tasks you’re forced to do, but being together helps you both heal and forgive yourselves. 

“It’s just the things we do, for ourselves, and our families”

Mike usually says, giving you the reassurement you need. He’s been in this career for longer than you and knows his way around things. 

An odd pair, but still, you like to believe he’s your soulmate.

Mike can be very intimidating, and you too. So the two of you together tend to make people avoid your eyes. Your colleagues see you as the “grumpy old couple”, but to you, it’s the opposite. Mike makes you feel things you thought you could never feel again. He made you believe in love again. 

You answer the phone and recaps the completed mission for Gus, who seems satisfied with your work. As you hang up, you look at Mike.

“Fring told us we did a good job. Mission complete, as usual. Wanna celebrate?”

Mike chuckles.

“I thought you didn’t wanna celebrate?”

“I wasn’t talking about the birthday.”

“I think you’re having a mid-life crisis, y/n my dear”

You scoff at his words, even though it’s kinda true, but you can let him know that.

“I just don’t feel like celebrating.”

You don’t need to explain further, he knows what you mean. He doesn’t like celebrating birthdays either, since the loss of his son. 

He brings your hand to his lips, making you melt as he kisses your knuckles whilst driving through the cold night in Albuquerque. 

The sun almost blinds you when you blink your eyes open. The thin white curtains in your bedroom let in the morning sun. You let out an annoyed grunt. How many times haven’t you promised yourself to change curtains? You yawn as you turn around in bed, facing the left side, which is empty. 

“Mike?” 

You call out with a low, raspy voice. You start wondering if he had to leave early…

No, his phone is still on the nightstand. The door opens to the bedroom and he walks in, wearing a morning robe which originally is yours. You can’t help but smile.

“Hey there, sleepyhead. Happy birthday.”

Right… Your birthday.

“Let’s pretend I turn 40 and not 50, ok?”

He chuckles.

“Absolutely. I made you some coffee.”

As you get dressed, you get stuck by the mirror for a bit, noticing the love-drunk smile on your lips that doesn’t fade. It’s a change from your usual serious, almost intimidating expression. A good change.

Life hasn’t been easy and apart from the dangerous work for Fring which often makes you question yourself alot. Sometimes you wish that life was more normal, or that you could turn back time and do things differently. But not anymore. You’ve met your soulmates, after everything you’ve gone through. 

When you walk into the kitchen, Mike is already sitting in the kitchen, saying something that makes your son laugh. You smile at the sight, and look at your boyfriend, realizing that you love him, and you don’t wanna be without him. He always tells you how you made his life better, but he did the same to you. 

As you sit down with them, the thought of celebrating a birthday doesn’t seem to be so bad. You feel at peace. 

Crying shaking throwing up I love Mike THE WAY I SOBBED WHEN WRITING THIS 💀

[bibaybe]

Since I’m currently watching Big Time Rush and making some OCs for myself… tell me all about Cordy!! How did she and Carlos meet/get together? What kind of music is she into? What’s her background/family like? Tell me all the things, please!! <33

dolly,,,,, you mean everything to me for asking about her. thank you for unleashing the beast

cordelia 'cordy' love is the only daughter of tabitha o'connor and isaiah love

tabitha is the personal assistant to a bigtime modeling agency CEO (currently unnamed) and sister of gustavo rocque and isaiah is a failed musican turned club promoter

tabitha and isaiah divorced when cordy was 4 due to isaiah's alcoholism and cordy hasn't seen her father since he almost died during a visitation for her 5th birthday due to drinking too much

cordy's been modeling for the modeling agency tabitha works for since she was 5

tabitha has a Plan for cordy's life, which starts with modeling and working their way up to becoming a famous actress. cordy doesn't actually want to be a model or actress, she wants to do music, but her momis extremely against it

cordy's entire life as revolved around The Plan and influences everything she does, from who she dates to what she eats to what she wears

she goes by delia due to her mother thinking it sounds more professional

when the boys come to the palm woods, cordy's currently dating brett griffin, arthur griffin's son and an up-and-coming actor

she doesn't live at the palm woods, but she does attend school there due to influence from her mother's employer

brett is immdiately a dick to them bc he doesn't think they'll make it in hollywood and think they're just a waste of space in the palm woods, and well, cordy's dating the dick, so the guys don't really like her

well, except for james and carlos, who are like 'she's so hot and mean. please step on me'

carlos is the first one to call her cordy and she immediately loves it more than delia, but she pretends she doesn't bc her mom thinks it sounds childish

she's kinda frenemies with the boys for most of the first season, but carlos is always sweet to her anyway

brett cheats on her with either an oc or one of the jennifers, i'm not sure yet, but cordy freaks and dumps him

but then brett and the AP starts being dicks to her too and trying to bring her down, so carlos starts leaving notes for cordy to cheer her up

cordy figures out pretty quickly that he's leaving the notes and knows he likes her, but she feels like she's A) not ready to date after brett and B) not good enough for carlos

he leaves a note telling her that she looks pretty in yellow and she starts wearing it constantly

she keeps the first note he left her in her phone case and at some point jo and camille ask about it and she mentions that she knows who it is, but she doesn't want to tell him

jo and camille feel like she's leading mystery guy on and complain about it to the boys, which makes carlos sad 'cause they're girls, they have to know what cordy's thinking, right? so he stops leaving notes and tries to move on

around this time she starts to be dealing with more issues involving her parents and carlos moving on just makes everything worse and she just kinda starts unravelling bc she's been attempting to take control of her life from her mom but everything falls apart and long story short, ends up having a meltdown in front of the guys due to seeing her father for the first time in 11 years

he starts leaving the notes for her again bc he knows she needs them

after this she starts actually becoming friends with the guys and starts really falling for carlos bc he's just so different than anyone else she's ever known and makes her feel like she's worth the affection he gives her

they start dating after she leaves a note for him saying 'you make me brave. i want you <3' and he's practically vibrating until they're alone and it's just really cute

when she starts posting music on youtube, carlos is the only one she tells and swears him to secrecy. does it stay a secret? no, but man's tried his best

she loves pop music! very much olivia rodrigo and sabrina carpenter vibes for her own music, but her listening taste is very much katy perry, kesha, avril lavigne girlie

also likes alternative and r&b, but pop is her main beloved

the way i could go on for days about her and specifically her relationship w her parents, but i'll leave that for another time since this is already p long lmao. but thank you sm for asking about her!!

[myloveforhergoeson]

That's All She Wrote - Chapter 20

Chapter Index

Find me on wattpad + ao3!

Chapter 20: Everybody (Backstreet's Back) (2.1) ~ 13k

There was nothing more in this world Roxy longed for than the comfort of her own bed. Her aching, toured-out body was starting to break under the pressure of sleeping on the couch for three entire months; she deserved the world’s longest nap, even if she and the band were currently barreling through the doors to the lobby of the Palm Woods. 

Big Time Rush, however, did not share this sentiment, noisily cheering as they ran into the building - duffel bags flying this way and that with every step they took. 

“There’s no place like home!” Cried Logan, dropping entirely to his knees and bowing his head onto the disgusting, blue-green carpet before planting a kiss on the well-traveled entryway. 

The lobby, full as ever, was crowded by faces the teens didn’t recognize, but this fact didn’t bother James at all, calling out “Hey! Big Time Rush is back!”

His four friends let out their own shouts of excitement, hoping at least someone before them would remember their arrival date, but the hotel patrons just stared at them, googly-eyed, as if they had just screamed in the middle of a library before going back to their previous conversations. 

Cocking his head to the side, Carlos scanned the crowd, presumably looking for one of their many friends, before confusedly asking, “Who are all these people?” 

“It’s fall,” An annoyed voice, Bitters, shared as he walked by the teens on the way to the front desk, “And all the new kids with new dreams have arrived. Whoo.”

“So sad to see the hotel isn’t doing well…” Roxy trailed off, attempting to crack a sarcastic joke as she tried to find the fastest route to the elevators. There was no question: she needed a nap, then she needed to see Jo and Camille immediately afterward to break down everything that had happened to her on tour with the band. 

Spotting an entrance to slip through between two new cliques, she moved to step forward before Mrs. Collins blocked her path. Their teacher wore a dazzling smile, gently peering between Roxy and her friends as she held up a mountain of paperwork. 

“Welcome back! You’ve missed three weeks of school.” The woman deadpanned, going down the line of teens as she dropped a load of papers into each of their hands. “You’re behind on your book reports, all your math homework, and your science projects”

“Okay-” Logan tried before their teacher spoke again, “And they’re all due tomorrow.”

The studious boy and his assistant let out a pair of twin cries at her words, watching in horror as she made her way back to the tiny classroom at the back of the hotel. 

Gripping the papers in her hand, Roxy grit her teeth, “What the hell? Gustavo said he talked to Mrs. Collins about our time off, didn’t he?”

“Guys, guys, chillax!” As he held up one of his hands, Kendall tried to calm his friends. “The tour is over. We’re back at the Palm Woods, and everything is gonna be cool.”

“If you think you can steal me from my old boyfriend, you’re right.”

Familiar sound floating down the hallway, Roxy lit up at the sound of Jo’s voice - not even taking time to process her words or take note of the beautiful boy walking beside her as the pair emerged from the elevators. 

Too engrossed in whatever they were doing, Roxy watched in confusion as the boy slipped his arm around Jo’s shoulders and led her out towards the pool. 

She got my letter, didn’t she? I swear I wrote our return date.

Though she felt Kendall tense up beside her, the writer was far too concerned with her own situation to even feel slightly sorry for him - even as his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he began to fall backward onto the floor with a thud. 

Carlos and James were quick enough to try and help him up, allowing the girl to decide she was more interested in what was happening with Jo, but as she went to walk away, Logan caught her arm. 

He opened his mouth as if he were trying to say something, but only managed to lift his widening eyes up and down from her to the massive pile of schoolwork resting in their hands. 

“Oh come on!” The writer tried. “Don’t you want to go see Camille?” 

By the way he began to pale, Roxy, at this point, would be a terrible friend to abandon him. 

Silently, the five trudged up to their apartments, papers weighing them down with every step. The girl thumbed through them a bit, though it was quite hard to do that, and carry her suitcase and guitar up the stairs. They seemed to be mostly comprised of worksheets - easy - but the last chunk in the back was a lengthy section of project instructions. 

Mrs. Collins had to be out of her mind if she thought the five of them would be able to do this much work in 24 hours. 

Once they reached 2-H, the band dropped their assistant off before taking a few more steps to 2-J.

“See you soon!” Carlos called as if they hadn’t spent every waking moment of the last 90 days together. 

While Roxy sure loved his optimism, she was in desperate need of some alone time. As her key turned in the door’s lock and she entered her apartment, that was exactly what she got. 

Closing the front door and flipping the lights on in her dim front room, everything in her apartment had been exactly where she had left it - including the pillow she had meant to bring on tour but ended up leaving in the middle of her couch. On the way to her room, she was sure to give it a slap for good measure before picking it off the cushions and flinging it back onto her bed. 

Realistically, she probably should have washed her sheets before she flopped backward onto her bed, but she left the soft, inviting mattress call out to her. 

Nap first, talk to Jo and Camille second, homework third… 

And that was her final decision before an unexpected knock knock rapped at the door 2-H and 2-J shared. 

“Go away!” The girl called, not bothering to hide the annoyance in her voice. “I’m busy!”

“You’re not busy, Roxy.”

Voice effortlessly sliding through the door, James didn’t wait for a response before opening it and making his way into her bedroom without bothering to knock again; an action that made Roxy’s blood boil. It was bad enough she was exhausted from their travels, but she wasn’t particularly cool with her friends barging into her space without her permission - especially considering what it led to the last time they’d done that. 

Not bothering to move from her comfy spot, she let James stand in the doorway, gently leaning to one side as he glanced over her room.

After their whirlwind journey from Los Angeles to Minnesota then back to Los Angeles and then on to the rest of the United States, there had been no time for her to revamp her room back to its once poster-covered glory. The bland, beige walls felt uninviting - like he hadn’t just stepped into a familiar and relaxing place.

“Now that you’ve seen I’m pretty busy, you don’t need to stick around.” Roxy sighed, closing her eyes. 

Simultaneously comfortable and uncomfortable, she felt his gaze shift to her and tried desperately to ignore the way his scrutinizing eyes carried themselves up and down her frame. 

Roxy wasn’t stupid; Their relationship was different now, but if he thought he could just walk into her place uninvited and get a few kisses out of her, he was sorely mistaken. 

Even if she did really want to make out. 

Sucking in a breath, James loudly exhaled before moving to sit on the edge of her bed. “Who was the hot guy Jo was with earlier?” 

That made the girl open her eyes, stealthy sneaking a peek at her crush through the layer of blankets separating them. With his eyes cast downward, twiddling his thumbs like he was in a Sunday morning cartoon, she took note of how long and dark his eyelashes were. The small bits of sunlight cascading through her half-closed blinds aided as well, lighting up the green flecks speckled inside his hazel eyes. 

God, he’s just too beautiful.  

“No clue… They seem pretty friendly though.” 

Flashes of her friend and the boy walking together through the lobby ran across her mind. Is tall, muscular, pretty boy her type? Not that I can blame her.

“Right…” 

It seems as though James had something else he wanted to say, but couldn’t figure out how. 

He’s not interested… Is he? 

At the thought of James seeking a romantic partnership with someone else, Roxy felt her stomach drop. While normally she’d have no problem playing wingwoman for Kendall and Logan when it came to Jo and Camille, there was no way she’d even think about helping him try and date someone else. 

But, we’re not together so I can’t be mad at him… Maybe I can be annoyed?

“I’m just… Worried about Kendall, I think. He doesn’t take to break-ups all that well, not that anyone really does, but we kind of really need to establish our cred at this hotel again and I need his help. He’s no good to me if he’s wallowing over losing Jo.” 

“Why don’t you go talk to her about it, then, because I doubt this new guy is any threat to Kendall.” 

James blinked a few times, ducking his head down to avoid the beams of light hitting his face. “Yes, yeah, duh…” 

A small chuckle escaped his lips as he moved to stand up. 

“Maybe talk to Carlos and Logan, too, just in case…” 

There was nothing about Jo that had her friend even entertaining the idea she had been or currently was cheating on Kendall with the newcomer, but in the event of the worst-case scenario, it sounded like Kendall would need all the support he could get from his friends. 

“Oh! That’s why I came in… Logan is having, like, a category five meltdown in the kitchen right now. Think you can help him?” 

Shooting up from her covers, Roxy’s eyes widened. She had seen plenty of Logan meltdowns before, but a category five? This could get very ugly, very fast. “Of course! You should’ve led with that!”

“I would’ve, but then you’d have gone running to help him…  It doesn’t leave any time for me to catch you solo, right?” He said as he stood, effortlessly moving through the doorway and holding out one of his hands to beckon her into 2-J. 

Though she thought about accepting his offer, she scoffed at his words and pushed past him, “I had plenty of solo time this summer.” 

Stepping into the apartment next door, completely forgetting about the way James had attempted to flirt, she was met with the sweet smell of baked corndogs coming from the oven. 

Despite it being so early in the morning, it was sweet to see Mrs. Knight back in the swing of things. 

I hope she and Katie had a good time together.

“Well,” The woman began, noticing James and Roxy trail down the hallway. “The quiet was nice, but I did miss you kids!” 

Completely bypassing Logan, who was breathing far too heavily as he dug through the mountain of homework on the kitchen table, and Katie, on the couch, Mrs. Knight pulled the tray out of the over dumped her array of corndogs into a large, clear bowl in front of Carlos. 

Not even bothering to check the temperature, the boy dug both hands in, eagerly picking up two fistfuls of his favorite food, making his assistant wince a bit. 

“And I missed your home cooking!” He squealed before shoving as much corndog in his mouth as humanly possible.

Shutting one of the large textbooks on the table beside him, Logan gave out a pained, “How can you be happy? Look at all the work we have to do by tomorrow!” 

“I am impressed, though,” Katie piped up, motioning to the boy in front of her. “I figured you’d be all freaked out and yell-y.”

“Oh, you mean like this?” 

Taking the mountain of papers off the table, Logan tossed them all into the air with a tortured scream, standing there huffing as they fluttered down around him. 

It reminded Roxy of confetti as she watched the pages fall, before taking inventory of the items scattered around the room around her. After James’ dream bachelor pad remodel, she thought 2-J might never look the same, but Gustavo and Kelly had done everything in their power to return it back to its original state in their absence. Toys, video games, decorations, everything was exactly where it had been before she and James had temporarily moved in together. 

By the time she had jumped back into the conversation, blinking away her diverging thoughts, James had broken away from her side and pulled off his outer layer button-up. Beneath, his black tank top stood out against his tanned skin, perfectly matching with a black headband that seemed to materialize out of nowhere around his forehead. 

Completely steering the topic in a different direction, James tightened the knot holding the bandana over his forehead, showing off his toned arms. 

Pretending not to notice this, Roxy took in his words. 

“This time we’re gonna announce our presence with more authority…” 

When the others in the room just stood there, staring at him as they tried to understand what he meant, the boy cried, “Nobody even said hi!” 

Which, his assistant came to realize, was a good point. The downside of not being able to recognize anyone in the lobby was nobody in the lobby recognized them either. 

“We are popular here, okay?” He continued. “Now who’s with me?” 

“Not me,” Roxy crossed her arms, leaning into the table as she looked over all of their schoolwork. “I think staying in school might be more important for our careers right now… And for Logan’s mental health.”

Popping up from beside the long-haired boy, Carlos emerged, dressed in a nearly identical outfit, but holding two more corndogs in his hands. “I’m in! We need to reestablish our Palm Woods cred with the new kids.” 

Sharing a fist bump, Carlos and James looked mighty pleased with themselves, as Logan threw his hands up in anger.

“We need to finish these projects! See this blank science display board right here?” Cumbersomely holding up the red tri-fold, the studious boy showed it off to his friends. “It’s blank!”

Once again, the conversation was pulled elsewhere as Katie called out, “Hey, has anyone even noticed Kendall might be dead?”

As his friends looked over to the orange couch where the girl pointed, Kendall lay there, sprawled out and staring at the ceiling. No doubt what Jo had said to her new boy-friend had gotten to him. “I’m freakin’ out!”

Would it kill him to have a little faith in her? “Go talk to Jo, you idiot!” 

Wincing at her words, Mrs. Knight brushed past the assistant and pulled her son off the cushions, back into the upright sitting position. Taking a seat next to him, she pulled him into a comforting side hug. “Honey, I have always liked Jo, and this does not sound like her.”

Eyes widening, Roxy held her hands out in a “See?” motion. 

“And if you want to be in a relationship with someone, trust is number one.”

“Because we have all seen how lack of trust ruins a relationship…” The writer chimed in, trying to remind her friend that making wild assumptions about his girlfriend was very dangerous. “Even if you get a really good song out of it.”

“Now go find her, be open with her, and just ask her what’s going on.” His mother picked him up off the couch and walked him to the front door, which Katie was swift to open. “And if something is going on, I always hated her.”

Just as soon as she sent him stumbling out the door, she closed it, dusting her hands off as if the task were no big deal.

Bang!

Sound ripping through the apartment, Roxy jumped as she turned her head to find the source: Camille, foot on the wooden door now laying at her feet, staring Logan down as a predator would stare down their prey. 

As kooky as she was, she looked so insanely beautiful - hair crazy, shirt askew, chest heaving, as she growled, “Where is he?” 

When everyone turned to face Logan, they noticed his jaw drop to the floor as he looked her up and down. 

“Okay, no, Camille, please, not now- I have a lot of work to do, and I’m freaked-”

“Eeee!”

Entire demeanor changing once she heard his voice, the actress let out an excited scream and sprinted toward her crush. Once she eagerly sped past James and Carlos - not even sparing them a second glance - she tackled Logan to the ground with a loud thud, placing kisses across every inch of his face. 

James’ cry of, “Finally! Someone around here that knows us!” was senselessly drowned out by the sounds of Logan and Camille making out, right there on the uncomfortable apartment floor. 

“Well then…” Roxy tried to change the subject as she addressed her friends, though the noise from the floor was getting a bit irritating. “You two have fun re-establishing our cred while Logan and I play catch up.”

When she motioned to the mountain of work on the table ahead of her, Camille suddenly popped up and grabbed her hands. 

“Oh, not a chance! We’ve got to see Jo, right now.” 

In the most unsubtle motion possible, the actress glanced at Roxy before turning to look at James. “There’s a lot we need to talk about.”

Knowing there was no harm intended in her actions didn’t settle the sudden flip of the writer’s stomach as she let out an uncomfortable laugh. “What? I don’t- Ha!”

 Before anything more embarrassing left her mouth, Camille was dragging Roxy over the wooden door she had broken minutes ago. However, as she looked back, attempting to plead to her friends not to let the girl take her, she noticed James standing with brows sky-high as he watched her leave.

There’s no way he’s… blushing?

Just the thought of it made her cheeks flush as well, a crucial detail Camille’s expert eyes noticed as the doors to the elevator slid closed, carrying them down to the first floor. 

“Roxy?! You made out with him?!”

“Aw… It’s so nice to see you too, Camille.”

“Like, lips, teeth, tongue?”

“The greetings I get after three months away… Wait- Teeth? Ew!” 

“Well, Logan does this thing-”

“Ew!” The writer cried again, though this time she caught a smile as the ding of the elevator let the girls know they’d arrived on the first floor. Of all the things she had missed most on tour, it had been her girlfriends.

Between the two of them, it was hard to contain their laughter as they entered the lobby - the lobby in which Jo and her mysterious new friend just happened to be hanging out. 

As they sat together on one of the many orange sofas in the room, Roxy stopped dead in her tracks as she watched the boy drape his arm over the back of the cushions and lean into Jo. 

“No!” The blonde called, aggressively jerking her head back, hand held between them in a “stop” motion. “I told you. It’s-It’s wrong.”

Though Roxy’s audible sigh of relief was embarrassing, she gently set one hand on Camille’s arm to steady herself, “Phew…”

In an instant, the air had been sucked from her lungs once more as the handsome stranger pulled Jo up from the couch, resting one hand on her hip as he dramatically cooed, “But it’s so right!”

The pair stood, embracing one another for a moment as they stared deep into each other's eyes. 

It almost feels like Teenage Lycanthrope live… Roxy thought before she watched each of them lean in, eyes beginning to close. 

“Woah!” She felt herself yell, also hearing it from somewhere else in the lobby, startling the two who were quick to snap out of their trance-like state. 

Thankfully, the voice louder than hers - which she quickly learned belonged to Kendall - was the one Jo heard, causing her to whip her head around, blonde locks flying across her shoulders. 

From one of the planters in the hotel lobby, her boyfriend, tree hat and all, rushed over to the pair and physically separated them as he pulled Jo to his side and stepped between her and the newcomer. 

“What is this? How could you? Who’s the dude?” He asked her, pointing an accusatory finger her way. 

As much as Roxy didn’t love the romantic-like interaction Jo was having with her new friend, she didn’t like Kendall yelling at her even more. Anxiously tugging on Camille’s arm to get a bit closer, the girls stepped into point of view and caught Jo’s eye in silent solidarity. 

The confused look on her face, mixed with Kendall’s sudden questions didn’t make for a perfect “Hello!” after months of being apart. 

Her boyfriend wasn’t doing much better, though, slurring out, “Girl, supposed to kiss me, boy!” 

What does that even mean?

The other boy present raised a finger, “Uh-”

“Back off!” 

Jo’s jaw was wide open, eyes flickering between Kendall, her friend, Roxy, and Camille, reaching to brush some hair out of her face with shaking hands. “I, uh… This is a scene from my script!” 

On the couch beside her, Jo picked up a bright blue script book displaying the name New Town High in bold black letters. “I could, because I got a lead role in the new CW show, New Town High!”

When she passed the book off to her boyfriend, it was his turn to look back at her, mouth agape. 

“The dude is my costar, Jett Stetson, who plays my love interest in the show, and I was gonna surprise you and our friends with the news when you got back, but you’re back, so…” She leaned forward to press a quick kiss on the frontman’s cheek, “Surprise!”

It took a lot for the writer not to speed in, sweep Jo up in the greatest hug known to man, and ask her a thousand questions about her new role, but she understood this was something she and Kendall needed to work on on their own. 

After a moment, Kendall audibly swallowed, wringing his hands together. “Okay. That explains it.”

“Were you spying on us?” His girlfriend asked.

“No!” 

In a second the tree hat was knocked from his head down to the ground with a gentle thud.

Sensing the entire ordeal with Jo and Kendall was over with, Jett - tall, brunette, and handsome - stepped forward a bit, extending his hand to the blond. “Kendall! Hi, I’m Jett.”

In an instant, Katie, who Roxy presumed had been hiding behind the planter with her brother, sprinted towards the newcomer, launching herself into his arms. 

Though Jett caught her with ease, it did shock him, causing him to shuffle backward a bit. 

“I’m Katie!” The young girl introduced herself, flinging her arms around the actor’s neck in a way that made her older friend chuckle. “I manage hot talent for TV and movies. I’m also a modeling agent and available for limited dating in six years. Wait for me!”

At this point, Katie had leaned in so close to Jett to gaze into his sparkling blue eyes, that she might just kiss him if he moved the wrong way. 

“Oh, look at the time…” Jett joked, immediately turning to look anywhere but at the girl in his arms before dumping her onto Kendall. “Uh, Jo, we’re gonna be late for that photo shoot.”

“Damn,” Camille grumbled next to Roxy, this time pulling on her arm and leaving them over to where their other friends were standing. Just as Jo kindly asked Kendall if he wanted to come to the shoot, which was very cool of her, the new pair had joined in the conversation and her boyfriend politely declined, making off hastily with Katie. 

Before Jo was able to sneak away, Roxy cleared her throat before letting out a small, “Congratulations!” as she pulled the blonde into a hug. Under her arms, the writer could feel her shaking a bit, whether it be from excitement or anxiety, she didn’t know. 

“Oh, my God, I was beginning to think you’d never walk over here…” Jo sighed into her ear, squeezing her friend tight. “And thanks, I couldn’t wait to tell you!” 

“We have to talk later!” Camille reminded Jo as she broke the embrace, hands on both of her friend’s shoulders. 

That comment left Jo to crack a bit of a smile, looking at Roxy and wiggling her eyebrows in jest. 

The sound of shuffling feet came from behind the actress, and Jett let out a small “ahem,” to grab her attention. 

“Oh! Jett, this is Roxanne, remember? I told you about her letters like every day on set.”

Flashing his white teeth, the boy nodded to the writer and shot her a wink. “Right! How could I forget…” 

It definitely sounds like he forgot.

Nonetheless, Roxy gave him a little wave, “It’s great to meet you, Jett! I can’t wait to see your show.” 

“Of course, you can’t! I’m in it, Jo’s in it, what more could you ask for?”

A quick side glance at Camille let Roxy know she was doing her best to hold in laughter at his over-confident words. 

“Yeah… Have fun at the shoot,” were her final words as Jett grabbed Jo’s hand and led them out of the lobby to their next destination. 

Catching her attention again, Camille poked her friend in the side, “You’re so lucky I’m not going to interrogate you until Jo’s around.”

“There’s nothing to interrogate me about! I was pretty clear about what happened in my letter, and as you can see, nothing’s come from it.”

“So you want something to come from it?” 

Blinking, the question caught the writer off guard. 

“Talk to me when Logan’s officially your boyfriend.” 

The sharp, offended gasp from the actress sent her friend into a fit of giggles. 

As Camille opened her mouth to respond, a horde of kids ran by her as they made their way to the pool. Each one of them were dressed in the familiar red and blue Magic Middle School uniform, talking all over one another as they, Roxy presumed, practiced their lines. 

“Ugh… I hate fall at the Palm Woods! Too many new faces… Too much competition…” 

With a snort, Roxy covered her mouth as she laughed even harder at her friend’s words, “Those kids are your competition? You were in their place three years ago!” 

“And I haven’t landed another permanent role in a show since!”

Tone of the conversation shifting, Roxy felt her smile disappear as she understood just what Camille was referring to. In just a few short months in L.A., their best friend had landed a lead role in a network show, and though the assistant knew Camille was just as excited about Jo as she was, there was a twinge of jealousy lingering in her statement.

“Aw, Camille don’t be like that. You were the star of Merteens 4! It was in movie theaters! Just because Jo found a role in TV doesn’t mean you have to as well. Or discount your impressive acting CV… I can’t think of an actor our age who’s been in more pieces of media than you.”

Silently there Roxy stood, wrapping an arm around Camille while taking in all the new faces around them. 

Bitters had been correct, there were so many people crowding around the space, that she almost felt a bit strained by the sheer number of individuals in the room - which was a bit silly, considering she had been in venues housing more people all summer. By the elevators, a group of teens that looked just a bit younger than she was were carrying around heavy, chainmail shirts and swords fit for a medieval king. Stunt actors? 

The couch beside them boasted a kid who couldn’t be any older than six or seven, repeating a few jokes over and over to his mother sitting next to him. Child comic? 

By the door, a duo of teenagers, maybe around her age were taking their belongings off of a luggage rack, and an older woman they seemed to be with was talking to the front desk manager. 

There was something familiar about them, Roxy realized, as she noticed the taller one take his guitar case and sling it around his shoulder, but with his back turned, hoodie covering every inch of him, it felt impossible to tell. 

“Oh, oh, oh-oh, oh…”

The sounds of “Big Time Rush” unexpectedly playing from the pool area startled the girls out of their moment, causing them to look at each other and roll their eyes in sync. If they knew one thing about their friends, it was that they had a tendency to be a bit dramatic when they wanted attention.

When they made their way out to the pool deck to see what was up, Carlos and James were lounging at one of the small tables around a large boom box blasting their song. They must have been trying to show off the band’s first album, pretending to be nonchalantly hanging out around the pool while sipping on some lemonade they had gotten from the cafe. Still in their get-ups from earlier, the sight of the boy she liked in a tight-fitting tank top flustered the assistant a bit, causing her to grip Camille’s arm a bit too tight as she practically collapsed in the chair next to Carlos. 

Choosing to stand behind James, arms crossed and peering down at him, Camille nodded her head to the music player. 

“That’s your grand plan?” 

A cheeky smile erupting on his face, Carlos did his best to yell over the song, “Yeah!” before turning to James and asking, “How long has it been?”

“It’s been 30 seconds and nobody has come over to say ‘Hi’ or ‘Hey’ or ‘We’re new to the Palm Woods and we heard you guys rule the pool!’”

The boy was clearly perplexed; cheeks puffed, arms crossed - giving another amazing view of his muscles - completely upset that no one was paying him any attention.

Hm. The assistant thought. Karma.

“Or,” Camille tried, “These kids have been here for weeks while you were on tour, so to them, you’re the new guys.”

As their friend pointed out some of the different cliques that had formed, Roxy stealthily reached out and stole some sips of Carlos’ lemonade.

“Yeah, see those guys over there investigating that stain? They are the new stars of Teen NCSI, and they are always in character.”

Across the water, the three teens hunched over a small spot on the pool deck, taking pictures, investigating it under a magnifying glass, talking among themselves using strange chemistry-adjacent terms Roxy wasn’t sure were all that accurate. It reminded her of the mountain of homework waiting for her back in 2-H before she joked, “Oh, I’m sure they’re real fun at parties.”

“Yeah-ah!” 

On the opposite side of the deck, a young man in a long, trashy blonde wig and multi-colored and patterned leotard let out a cry reminiscent of an ‘80s rockstar as he stood upon a planter, gyrating his hips to the beat of a non-existent song. That was until he noticed two pretty girls chatting in front of him and leaped down from his spot to wrap them both up in his arms.

“And say hello to Lil’ Lee Roth. He’s single-handly bringing back their hair band!”

“Don’t you need other people for-” Roxy began before James cut her off.

“No matter how big they are, they should know us and want to hang with us! We’re Big Time Rush!”

Tossing some beautiful locks over her shoulder, Camille sighed, “Yeah, but, I mean, I didn’t hang out with you guys until I found out how crazy you are with your fire pit jams and parties and general youthful antics.”

At that, Roxy rolled her eyes. As if she didn’t do everything she could to be around Logan before that!

“That’s it!” Carlos called beside his assistant, cutting off her thoughts. Standing, he grabbed his helmet from the table and slapped it on, causing James to rise in excitement as well. “I know what to do!”

Without another word, he ran off into the lobby, leaving his three friends standing in his wake, completely confused… Until they heard his tell-tale scream from one of the balconies on the floor above the pool as he hurled himself over the railing. 

Screaming continuing all the way down, it didn’t stop once he reached the water. A gigantic blue wave splashed out over the pool's residents. When he surfaced, he let out a “Whoo-hoo!”

The smile it brought to James’ face as he raced out to help pull his friend out of the pool was almost worth the water that now covered half of Roxy’s body. Had she not still been wearing her ratty travel clothes, she might not have let Carlos resurface from his little stunt. 

Unfortunately, she wasn’t the only one at the pool, standing around soaking and dreaming of hurting the boy who had ruined their day. A chorus of angry yelling was thrown his way from all sides of the deck, making one thing very clear: He had gotten their attention, just not the kind of attention he had been hoping for. 

***

By the time Roxy had trudged back up to her apartment, changed, and dried off her hair, it was no surprise her phone rang, Logan’s name flashing across her screen. 

“Hello?” She picked up, cradling the phone on her shoulder as she slung one of her bath towels onto the shiny golden rail in her bathroom. 

“Big Time Rush is on the Rocktoberfest lineup!” His tone of voice sounded more panicked than excited, but his words resonated with the girl all the same. Rocktoberfest was one of the biggest music festivals of the year, surly Gustavo would’ve told them they were putting on a show there. 

Immediately, she raced out into her bedroom and flew to her most recent copy of Pop Tiger, practically ripping the pages apart to find the festival ad she had seen while glancing through it earlier. “Logan… Are you kidding? They posted the band list ages ago and we’re not on it.”

As her eyes scanned the large list, she felt her heart drop when she read Brand New Day. 

“Three words: Griffin. Rocktoberfest. Poison!”

Again with the panic, “What’s the issue then? I can hear you heaving through the receiver like you normally do before you pass out.”

“Remember when we were trying to get out of the School of Rocque and we used the big list of ASPA rules to trick Gustavo and Kelly?” 

“Like it was yesterday, dude.” 

As Logan formed his next thought, it set in that it hadn’t been just yesterday… It had nearly been eight entire months.

“Well, without our schoolwork in, we’re scoring F’s in every subject. One of the rules is we’re not allowed to perform unless we have a C plus average.”

Feeling a light skip of her heartbeat, she began to understand the reason for his concern. If their work wasn’t in by the show - dated tomorrow in the magazine she was gripping - they’d have to pass up the career opportunity of a lifetime. 

“Okay… Okay, okay,” Roxy pushed out, hand pressing against her forehead to try and ward off the massive headache she knew she was about to receive. It was hard to keep her breathing steady, but she knew if she began to panic, it would only make Logan’s anxiety worse. “What do you need?”

“Report covers, a glue stick, a protractor, green glitter number three, 23 sharpened pencils, eight pens, 15 Monstrosity energy drinks, three plants, one watermelon, two copper wires, one battery, and, like, 40 clean towels.”

“That’s… Oddly specific, but give me 20 minutes to run to the store and I’ll meet you back at the Crib.”

A dutiful assistant she was, bouncing out of 2-H and down to the lobby with her reusable shopping bags in hand. After a quick trip to the grocery store in the strip mall next to the Palm Woods, she and the band should be well on their way to playing Rocktoberfest - assuming the supplies Logan claimed to need would help him take care of his work and the other boys’. 

No way they’d manage a C-plus average alone… 

She felt a bit guilty for thinking that, but everyone had their struggles. There was no doubt in her mind that completing three weeks of missed school work was currently nowhere near the top of Kendall, James, and Carlos’ list of importance, considering their minds were all far too occupied with other worries at the moment. 

Wherever Kendall had run off to, Roxy didn’t know, but as she passed by the first set of large doors leading to the pool, she nearly tripped over her own feet when she noticed James - and Carlos, though it took her a few seconds to register he was there too - sunbathing shirtless on the spackled pool deck. 

It wasn’t right of her to weasel her way out to one of the planters on the other side of the water, ducking down between the palm fronds and placing a tree hat on her now-dried hair, but she did it nonetheless. Even if she was a bit upset with James about their conversation earlier, she shouldn’t have to deny herself the simple pleasure of admiring her sunbathing crush for just a little while. 

He’d do the same if it were me. She tried to justify to herself before blinking a few times, turning the thought over in her head. 

After a few silent moments of contemplation, she watched as the Jennifers approached her friends and said something inaudible that caused the boys to hop up and put their tank tops back on. 

Wait- No he wouldn’t. He didn’t even give me the time of day when we were at the beach this summer… Stupid.

In frustration, she reluctantly picked the hat up by its brim and threw it back down into the base of the planter. There was already enough relationship drama going on around her, considering Kendall and Jo were on the edge of a breakup and Camille and Logan’s will-they-won’t-they was driving her crazy, there was no need to add to the mix by trying to figure out what thoughts about her might be running through James’ mind. 

He needed to tell her exactly what he wanted of her before she’d let anything happen between them again. 

No more games, Roxy told herself as she entered the lobby again, making her way towards the front entrance. He said ‘You should always be with a guy who makes the first move’ so if he wanted to date me-

“God, what can a guy do to get some pool towels around here?” 

An unexpected call ringing out from the lobby behind her made the assistant freeze.

“Front desk… Maybe?” Someone else added, tone halfway in between a whisper and a mumble. 

The doubly unexpected reply sent the hair on the back of her neck standing up. 

“Oh, yeah! Good call, Dani!”

The sound of that voice, something she had once loved enough to write plenty of songs about, now scratched at her ears like a cat running its claws down a chalkboard. 

Every second they walked closer to the front desk was a second that led Mag McAllister and Dani Huron closer to spotting their ex-bandmate, numb with fear, at the next set of doors leading out toward the pool. 

No time to think, or even register that Bitters would just send them out to the towel attendant by the cafe, Roxy focused all of her energy on placing one foot in front of the other before she tore out of the lobby to the last place she had seen James and Carlos.

She just needed to find them, then she’d feel better, braver even, and maybe she could even eliminate the tremor that wrecked her body at the thought of seeing the two people who had caused her the most pain and grief she had ever known standing in the lobby of her home. 

There was just one issue with her plan, however, as James and Carlos were nowhere to be seen. 

Panicked gaze falling over every face she could see in the pool, she checked their usual lounge chairs first only to find them occupied by the Teen NCSI cast. The firepit where the band and their assistant played their usual fireside jams was taken up by the Knights of the Round Table wannabes from earlier. Every square inch of the pool was taken up by the Magic Middle School swim team. 

It was only when Roxy took a complete 180 that she noticed James had tucked himself away from the rest of the poolgoers, sipping on a tall cup of lemonade with furrowed brows as he leaned against the brick wall of the hotel’s north wing. Just her unbelievably bad luck he happened to be mere feet away from the towel station.

Even at the sight of him, she felt a bit more relieved, but at the moment, she needed something more than relief. Something she couldn’t put her finger on as she backtracked toward him.

“Thanks, Reginald!” Mag yelled over his shoulder from the lobby, voice carrying as he walked side-by-side with Dani into the pool area. 

Instantly, Roxy dropped the bags she was holding and ducked her head as she quickly made her way to the wall of the hotel closest to her, hugging it as she grew closer and closer to her friend. Even the thought of seeing their faces drove a spike through her chest.

Trying to move speedily, but not so much as to draw the attention of those around her, she felt her heart skip in reprieve as the two individuals she was desperate to avoid turned their heads in the opposite direction to take in the area around them. 

One good thing about new Palm Woods residents was that they’d never know the hotel as well as she and her friends would. 

With their backs practically turned to her now, she finally reached James, who looked up from his drink long enough to spot her. With a smile, he set it down on a nearby table as he waved. 

“Hey! R-” The boy began to call, and her stomach dropped as she saw the tight curls atop Mag’s head begin to turn in their direction.

Protection! Her brain screamed at her, finally able to place what she had been looking for, and she felt her hands reach out toward James to catch the straps of his maroon tank top. 

Using all the momentum she had from her rapid movements, and using James' surprise to her advantage, she tugged at the fabric in her left hand and managed to pull the singer halfway off the wall. 

In one fluid motion, she completely switched places with him, feeling her back roughly hit the brick behind where James had been leaning. Doing her best not to wince as she felt a particularly rough piece of masonry bite into her arm, her plan was executed flawlessly as James’ hands shot out in front of him to stop from colliding with the solid surface toward which he was heading, landing on either side of her head to completely obscure her from view. 

The only thing her plan hadn’t accounted for was how close it would bring the boy to her, practically caging her against the wall as he let out a weak, “-Oxy”

With mere seconds to register what she’d done in panic, Roxy heard the sound of flip-flops growing nearer to where she and James were attempting to catch their breath. 

A million thoughts ran through her brain at just what would happen if James ended up moving away from her in the next few seconds. All of them ending with Mag and Dani catching sight of their old writer; All of them causing the hands gripping James’ tank top to continue to shake with terror. 

It was getting harder and harder for her to focus when she glanced up at him, noticing the way his eyes widened as he felt her chest rapidly fall and rise against his own.

New plan… Stick to his strengths… Keep him near you-

“Tonsil hockey!” She whisper-yelled, yanking him down to her eye level to make sure he soaked in every word. “I really, really, really need you to teach me to play.”

Roxy certainly didn’t need to ask him twice.

At her words, he moved swiftly, though incredibly deliberately, as he bridged the already minuscule gap between himself and his assistant. 

Then, there were so many things happening at once Roxy could hardly reign her attention in long enough to focus on any one of them as her eyes fluttered shut.

The sensation of James’ lips moving fervently against her own, the sound of a cell phone ringing somewhere behind them, the feeling of one of his hands beginning to slide down her back, the gentleness in which her fingers ran themselves through his hair, the groan of two hotel patrons trudging back towards the lobby, the pressure from his palm on her lumbar region that pushed her closer towards the boy who drove her absolutely crazy…

Until all at once, it stopped.

No more fervor. 

No more hands on her body. 

No more air left in her lungs. 

As Roxy felt James pull away from her, her eyes shot open to see him shaking his head back and forth, running his hands through his hair to straighten out the mess she had made of it.

“No, no…” She heard him muttering before he took a few more steps back glancing between the hotel to his right and the girl in front of him. “This isn’t right. There’s too many people here.” 

There was nothing her assistant could do besides let her jaw drop as she felt a sharp pang radiate through her chest. When he continued to move away from her, jabbing two of his thumbs back toward the hotel, she felt her cheeks heat with shame. 

“Yeah, I’ve gotta-” 

Without even finishing his sentence, James took off toward the lobby, not even sparing his assistant a second glance. 

***

K: Jo convinced me to come to the New Town High set 

R: That’s nice of her!

K: Yeah, except I had to watch her and Jett almost kiss 25 times, then actually make out a 26th time

R: Well, at least you knew it was coming

R: Besides, you can’t think of it like it's Jo kissing Jett - it’s her character kissing his.

K: Easier said than done. I think she’s mad at me, anyway. 

R: I’d be too if my boyfriend was acting like he didn’t trust me

“Woah, woah! Roxy, your heart rate is spiking! Keep thinking about whatever you’re thinking about!” 

She had found out too little too late that going to Logan to confide in had been a massive mistake, especially when he started placing little electrodes across her forehead and hooked her up to a heart rate monitor he just seemed to have lying around. 

After kicking Gustavo and Kelly out of 2-J to shop for the boy’s desired list of items, the assistant had landed herself unwittingly part of one of his science experiments.

“Yeah, I’d love to keep thinking about trust and communication issues in relationships.”

Even though his back was turned to her, hunching over one of the math worksheets Mrs. Collins had dumped on him, she knew he was rolling his eyes. “Perfect! And while you’re at it, think about how much you cared about Dak and how little he cared about you… Or you can think about James for a bit.”

The rapid beeping of the machine his assistant was hooked up to increased slightly at the thought of her ex and he tore his focus away from the math book to write something down on a spreadsheet pulled up on his laptop. For a moment, Roxy thought about tossing the book she had in her hands that she was supposed to be skimming to write a book report on right at the back of his head until she glanced out the window and noticed Carlos, James, Guitar Dude, and Camille at one of the firepits.  

“See? I can tell you were thinking of him just now.” Logan mused, switching back to the math page once the beeping sound increased further. “We’re practically proving Love Science in real-time.”

“That’s rich coming from the guy who can’t even make the girl who's been throwing herself at him for eight entire months his girlfriend.”

That comment caused Logan to whip around and shake his pencil her way. “I’ll have you know I’m taking her out on a nice, romantic date on Friday to ask her just that!”

When her heart rate spiked again, the boy let out a grumble of annoyance and unplugged the machine from the wall to stop its incessant noise. Before Roxy was able to get an excited word in he shook his pencil again, “I’ll tell you about it later. Just finish skimming the book and get to the reports!”

Of course, she normally wouldn’t let him talk to her like that, but she understood that he was under an extreme amount of stress as he worked on his friends’ projects. So, for now, she let it slide and settled back into the couch to finish looking over Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. 

A writer herself, Roxy was quite apt at spotting different literary devices in a multitude of texts and had a better understanding than most as to why an author would choose to frame their work with these techniques. That, and he had seen the Romeo + Juliet movie with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes about a million times. While she eagerly stuck various sticky notes on the pages she was half skimming through to tack her thoughts on the novel, Logan promised he’d take care of the rest of the work. 

Sometime around the beginning of her second essay, Gustavo and Kelly came back from the store with all of the supplies Logan had requested, and the three of them set about in a frenzy to make sure all the rest of their schoolwork was completed. 

While she sat quietly on the couch, typing away on her laptop about the different motifs in the story Mrs. Collins had assigned, Logan was being wheeled around the room in his blue desk chair to different workstations he and their bosses had set up. There was some intermittent yelling in place of a kind request to be moved around the room, lots of mumbling as the studious boy worked through his math problems, and so much Monstrosity energy drink spilled over the floor that everyone’s shoes were beginning to stick to the wood at their feet. 

As time sprawled on, Roxy reached her fifth and final essay while it also appeared that Logan only had a few more worksheets left in order to complete his end of the bargain. Though she felt as though her amount of work was insurmountable in comparison to his, she did feel a small sense of pride that she was able to help her friends to the best of her ability - even if she did write James’ name at the top of the paper she was currently writing, knowing it would be the worst one. 

Maybe it would be easier for us if we were stuck in a fictional romance story, she thought, ignoring the ache of her fingers as she tried to reach the two-page limit Mrs. Collins wanted for each essay. Instead of all this stupid nonsense, James would have 400-something pages to tell me exactly how he feels and we’d live happily ever after.

A body collapsing onto the couch beside her, head falling down onto her shoulder, pulled her from her thoughts as she glanced at her exhausted friend. Ignoring the syrupy blue stains on the white of his lab coat from his drinks and how it was seeping into the fabric of her t-shirt, she paused for a moment and rested her head on his before closing her laptop with a soft thud.

“Kelly and Gustavo went out for coffee…” Logan slurred, eyes drifting shut as he snuggled further into Roxy’s shoulder. “Just a five-minute nap….”

With a small chuckle, his assistant reached up and gently tapped on his cheek a few times, “Not until you tell me about asking out Camille.”

“Not until you tell me about asking out James.”

While she didn’t appreciate the mocking tone in his voice, she took a deep breath and reminded herself of all the incredible work he had done for her and her band that day. 

“I can’t do that,” was her poor excuse for a reply as she felt Logan smile against her sleeve.

“Then I guess I can’t tell you about me and Camille.”

Between the two, there was a brief period of silence before Roxy felt herself begin to laugh. 

“It’s really stupid honestly…” A few more chuckles sent Logan’s head bobbing up and down on her shoulder. “I tried a few times while we were on tour and I just… freeze. Like full-on deer in the headlights freeze! The only reason I managed to get him to kiss me today was because I needed a distraction before he eventually said ‘This isn’t right’ and literally ran away from me… How messed up is that?” 

“Ew.” 

“Don’t ‘Ew,’ me! You were the one who wanted to hear about it!”

“In less graphic detail! My brain is already numb!”

Finally, her laughter caught on and Logan found himself able to let go, at least for a small moment in time, as his friend continued. 

“I just don’t get it… He’s made it clear he’s all traditional and thinks the guy should make the first move but here I am, waiting, writing songs about him, putting up with whatever games he’s playing because I can’t stop thinking about him, even after I told myself I wouldn’t do that anymore-”

“His longest relationship, ever, lasted one whole month. A whirlwind kinda thing with this girl we knew on the volleyball team before he dumped her in front of her entire family at one of her games.”

That comment gave her pause, blinking a few times in order to try and understand what Logan was trying to tell her. 

“What do you think a messy breakup would do to this band, Roxy?” 

An incredibly fair point she had not considered at all. What would happen if one day, the relationship she so desperately wanted to find herself in with a famous pop star ended?

“You couldn’t even stand to be in the same room as Dak when we were practicing for tour…” Logan continued, bringing up a bad memory from months ago his assistant had been doing her best to repress. 

There was no doubt she hadn’t acted in a professional manner that day, and everyone on Team Big Time Rush had seen the way she dragged her ex out of the studio and yelled at him before excusing herself to go hide in Gustavo’s office. 

“He’s worried about dating me because… I’m a co-worker?”

With a sigh, Logan lifted his head and looked his assistant straight in the eye, “He’s worried about potentially losing one of his closest friends based on his less-than-stellar relationship track record.”

“That’s not fair!” She cried, feeling a bit like a child in the beginning stages of a tantrum. “I’m supposed to sit here and suffer because he’s scared to put some trust in me? To assume that we’d be a lost cause from the start… Asshole!”

Hands flying up in frustration, Roxy found herself at a loss for words. All she wanted was to hear the cute way one of her best friends was going to ask out another one of her best friends but had instead found herself trapped in a conversation she wished she’d never started. 

“Yeah…” was all Logan managed, straightening out the wrinkles her sudden actions had placed on the lapel of his lab coat. “We’re working on it. Maybe it’d help to tell him you’re looking for a boyfriend? Like when Carlos pulled that stunt in Boston it kinda riled him up-”

Before Logan could finish whatever he was about to say, his assistant shot up from the couch and ran to the kitchen counter where she had placed her bag earlier in the day. Though it was a bit of a struggle to fish through all the items she had collected in there on tour, at the very bottom she was able to find her songbook and pen which she eagerly threw open to the first blank page. 

Looking for a boyfriend?

I see that, give me time, you know that I should be that

Though you’re scared to come put your trust in me

Can’t you see all that I could ever be

As your boyfriend?

Just before she could turn around and continue her interrupted conversation with her friend, the front door slowly opened, James, Carlos, and Kendall trudging in. 

Between the three of them, no usual goofy smiles or discussion of antics could be found, only shuffling feet and eyes cast downward as they drew closer inside the apartment.

Once they reached the dining table, James finally managed to push out, “I am so sad.”

Turning back into assistant mode, Roxy snapped her book shut and was just about to discover what was causing such a mighty case of the blues among her band. That was, until Logan sprung up from the couch, sprinted towards his friends, grabbed them by the shirt collars, and dragged them over to the projects he had completed for them.

First up was James, who was shown to a beautiful science fair-ready tri-fold board boasting the project “Different Types of Hair.”

 “Write 25 over 63!” Logan demanded, shoving one of the many pencils he had in his coat pocket into the long-haired boy's hand and pushing his head down into the paper.

Then, Carlos’ turn, though he tried to step away from his crazed friend he ultimately wasn’t quick enough. His project was simply titled “Laser” and though Roxy had a lot of questions, she was a bit worried at the idea of getting in Logan’s way.

“Write C-A-R-L-O-S here!” The boy growled, once more handing over a pencil and shoving his friend down toward the table. 

Much nicer when he held his hand out to Roxy, he led his assistant over to a beautiful pink poster board displaying an experiment titled “Love Science.”

“Write notes of the status of your last three relationships… here, please.” 

Kendall looked too dejected to even care that Logan was pulling him over toward an experiment called “Does Bleach Effect Plant Growth?” where the “E” in effect had been weakly crossed out, an “A” replacing it at the top of the board. 

“Pour this-” Logan handed the frontman a measuring cup full of bleach and motioned towards three living houseplants, “On that.”

Buzz buzz

Finishing writing out what Logan had asked of her, even if it was “NO COMMENT” three times in a row, Roxy pulled her phone out of her back pocket and noticed a message in the group chat she shared with Camille and Jo.

J: I just broke up with Kendall.

Not even waiting to find out what the conclusion of the experiment ended up being, Roxy didn’t think twice before rushing out of 2-J, moving as fast as her legs could carry her to Jo’s apartment. 

***

Jo, Roxy, and Camille had a long night together. Ice cream, crying, pulling down Big Time Rush posters, more crying, putting everything Kendall ever gave Jo in a box to throw in the hallway, and crying some more until Jo finally managed to fall asleep. 

So, when Roxy finally woke up as the soft sunlight bled through the windows of her friend’s bedroom and managed to untangle herself from the knot she had found herself in with Jo and Camille, it was no surprise she had managed to sleep in far later than she had been hoping. 

It was getting a bit tiring, running from place to place around this hotel, but she managed to make her way down to her apartment, change, and grab all of her schoolwork before racing down to the Palm Woods School classroom where the rest of Team Big Time Rush were waiting for Mrs. Collins to give them their final grades. 

Moment of truth, the girl thought as she handed her papers over to her teacher with a small mumbled apology. 

Mrs. Collins didn’t look bothered in the slightest, in fact, all emotion was absent from her features as the seven watched her go through every paper in her large stack with a bright, red pen to grade all of the work she had assigned her students. 

For one whole hour, Team Big Time Rush stood there in silence, watching as their teacher combed through each page piled high on her desk and calculated each of her student’s final scores. 

When she finally stood, she collected everyone’s work into neat little blue folders and walked down the line of science fair boards that had been propped up on a few of the desks in the back of the classroom. 

“Kendall Knight,” She started, placing the blue folder down on top of the plants he had wiped out with a bath of bleach, “C-plus” 

There was a chorus of cheers from Kelly and Gustavo, but their celebrations were a bit premature. There were still four more students to hear about before the band was officially able to perform at Rocktoberfest that evening. 

Slowly, the group took a few steps to the right as Mrs. Collins continued, “Roxanne Somerset… B-plus”

A wave of relief passed over the writer, even if most of her grade had been at Logan’s expense she was ecstatic to be allowed to play at one of the biggest festivals of the year. 

“James Diamond… C-plus... Carlos Garcia…” Reaching out to touch one of the buttons on the laser Logan had constructed, the band and their assistant ducked as a bright red beam shot out of the contraption and burned a large hole in the wall behind them. “B-plus!”

“Ha! I’m smarter than you!” The helmet wearer proclaimed, poking both Kendall and James in the chest as Mrs. Collins gave out her final grade. 

“Logan Mitchell… C… Plus!”

The scream of excitement Kelly let out was nearly inhuman, causing a still very tired Logan to cover his ears and fall to the floor, but it was Gustavo’s enthusiastic “Rocktoberfest, here we come!” that shocked the writer the most. 

Kneeling to the floor to help Logan gently sit up, a group of people shuffling into the classroom doorway caught her attention. Lil’ Lee Roth and the Teen NCSI cast filled the back of the room, “Are you guys playing at Rocktoberfest?” 

“Yeah,” James said, a hint of caution in his voice, “We’re one of the bands.” 

Instantly, they and a whole horde of teen Palm Woods residents behind them flooded the small classroom, all shouting at once about how they wanted free tickets to the show. It was the most attention any of them had shown Big Time Rush over the last 48 hours. 

Once Roxy was able to get Logan back on his feet, though he did have both his arms slung around her shoulders, the five of them faced the horde of people. None of them knew what to do, looking anxiously at each other as they all tried to form a plan to fend off the large mob. 

“You can all watch from the V.I.P. area thanks to Big Time Rush!” Kelly declared, stepping in front of the teens and pulling out a handful of V.I.P. laminates to Rocktoberfest before tossing them into the large group. 

There wasn’t much Roxy could do as Logan, Carlos, and James were pulled away from her and up onto the shoulders of many individuals in the group, chanting “Big Time Rush, Big Time Rush!” as they carried the boys through the hallways of the hotel. 

When she noticed Kendall had hung back, staring at the picture on his phone’s lock screen of him and Jo, she was quick to pull out an extra pass from Kelly’s ledger and hand it off to him. Looping her arm through his, she gave him a small smile and motioned her head towards the exit, “How about we go leave this at her door? If she comes, she comes, if not…” 

It wasn’t much of a pep talk, but it was all she could manage for now as Kendall nodded slowly, pulling her towards the rest of the hotel. 

***

A quick stop at Rocque Records allowed time to gather everything the band would need to put on their show. Now, Team Big Time Rush and their bass player, Mick, and drummer, Austin, were waiting for their turn to take the Rocktoberfest stage. 

Tensions were a bit high, considering they were to take the open-air stage right after a little band by the name of Brand New Day, and Roxy explained to her friends what she had seen of Mag and Dani the day before. But when she saw her friends side eying the duo as they played, the assistant found herself far more confident at the prospect of running into them now than she had yesterday - Big Time Rush was closing out Rocktoberfest, not Brand New Day, and that felt far better than she had ever imagined. 

Though it did slightly suck to have to listen to their set from side stage, as she gripped the neck of her guitar and practiced a few chords of “The Rock Show” by blink-182 to play during her introduction, she thankfully didn’t have to listen to the end of their last song when Logan slid up next to her.

“I’m taking Camille to the observatory and setting up a nice place on their big lawn where we can star gaze together. Of course, while we’re lying down, I’ll draw her into my side and when I’m pointing out all of my favorite constellations, I’m going to show her Perseus and Andromeda and tell the story of their love… Then, I’m gonna ask her to be my girlfriend.”

Just as she opened her mouth to respond, she was cut off by Gustavo pushing the pair of them out of their seats and toward the other members of the band who were waiting for their turn to hit the stage behind a large black curtain.

For now, she bumped her hip into his, “Aw!” and joined up with the rest of their friends, stealthily peeking out at the crowd from behind the partition. In the front, standing right on the barricade were almost all their friends, old and new, from the Palm Woods, eagerly bouncing around to the music playing in between sets. Behind them, there was a sea of fans with all kinds of signs proclaiming their love for the members of Big Time Rush. Even though the change to the Rocktoberfest lineup had only been announced that morning, it looked as though the majority of the crowd couldn’t wait to see the boys. 

“Oh, it really is a Rocktober miracle!” Logan practically swooned, leaning back into Carlos and James as he scanned the crowd in more detail. 

Pulling the curtain back a bit further, James gushed, “The entire Palm Woods is here!” before his assistant elbowed him in the ribs, causing him to wince.

Among all their friends in the crowd, none of them were able to spot Jo. 

Offering Kendall a light pat on the shoulder, Carlos sighed, “Sorry, Buddy.”

“Okay!” Gustavo called from behind them, clapping his hands to get everyone’s attention and not caring in the slightest that they had been in the middle of their own conversation. “We’re going to perform the same setlist we did from tour, got it?” 

“I want to do the new one.”

Kendall’s statement confused everyone, including Roxy, until she noticed that the comment was directed at her. 

“What new one?” His assistant genuinely asked, worried he had broken into her songbook and seen the mess of songs she had written about his best friend. 

Running a gentle hand through his hair, he glanced to the side, “You know… The one you kept singing in your sleep…”

“Oh! I know that one!” Carlos chimed in, “Dance hard, laugh more, turn the-”

“Carlos!” Roxy hissed, eyes growing wide as she noticed the other two boys bobbing their heads along to the tune he was singing. “All four of you… know it?” 

“Yeah… Sound travels easily down a narrow bus hallway.” Offered Logan, her official bus mate, “I’m pretty sure we all know the words, right?” 

“Mhm,” James mumbled, looking extremely interested in his shoes. She knew that he knew the words, considering he had been there when she had written most of them, but his reaction to admitting that was a bit off putting

The grip she had on the strap of her guitar grew tighter. While they hadn’t gone through her things, it still felt a bit scary to know they had learned an entire song she had written simply by sharing the same space as her for a few months. 

If they know that one… Which other ones do they know?

“Roxy, let’s start with that one,” Kendall said, placing a comforting hand on her arm and drawing her gaze upward to the rest of the band. “Trust me?”

The answer that left her mouth didn’t surprise her at all. 

“Always.” 

There was a quick shuffle of logistics backstage, where she quickly had to describe the beat she had written to Mick and Austin who caught on just quickly enough, and when the band finally ran out on stage, the fruit of Roxy’s labor paid off with a perfect version of “Til I Forget About You.”

Not only had the musical accompaniment nailed it, but the band had perfectly dolled out the different parts of the song, obviously letting Kendall take the lead, and put together a quick portion of choreography to go with the chorus. 

During this song, everyone except Kendall who was singing his sweet little heart out, noticed a mystery blonde and blank sign weasel their way to the front of the crowd to link up with Camille in the Palm Woods section of the crowd. 

When the sign turned around, revealing Jo, it revealed a far more beautiful message. 

I <3 Kendall

***

After the show, the band stopped by Rocque Records to drop off the equipment they had used for the show and once Roxy had finished inventory, placing everything back in the tech room where it belonged, she made her way into Studio B to try and fit in a little bit of songwriting. 

The band had done phenomenal earlier, taking “Til I Forget About You” and making the song theirs just as much as it was her own, but she didn’t feel comfortable letting another incomplete song out into the world again. 

Since she hadn’t had the time over the last two days to take her work in progress of “Invisible” and add the piano part she envisioned in the background, what better time than the present to give it the melody she had been hearing over and over in her head since she began to put her ideas on paper. 

Sitting down at the large, grand piano Gustavo had in the studio, she slowly opened the cover to reveal the black and white keys. Gently running her fingers over the first chord, she tried to piece the correct notes together. 

It was easy to compose a piece on the guitar, once she heard the note in her head, it was second nature to move her fingers along the frets and sound it out. On the piano, however, she had to take a lot of extra time to play the right chord since she wasn’t as used to this instrument as she would have liked. 

To her, the guitar felt a bit like having an effortless conversation where both parties involved could talk freely and openly, but the piano was almost like an interrogation, having to focus and coax the information out of an unwilling participant. 

Though piano could be a bit exhausting from time to time, she began to play out the melody she had in her head, doing her best to sing the lines she had written along with the tune to make sure nothing was out of place.

As she warbled, very much off-key, she could also hear the guitar piece she had written playing along with the piano notes she was forcing out of the instrument. That, paired with the beautiful harmony she knew the boys would have no trouble pulling off could make this an easy Big Time Rush hit. 

If I ever give it to Big Time Rush… Maybe there are some things I should keep for myself, She thought until she finished up the song and heard the sound of slow clapping coming from the doorway behind her. 

With a small yelp, she turned around to find Kendall making his way across the room toward her, still clapping until he drew near enough to say, “God, Roxy! That was incredible!” 

Embarrassed mostly, she opened and closed her mouth a few times before she was able to spit out, “I thought everyone went home.”

“Everyone else took Logan home, so I figured we could walk back together, but when I went to the tech room to find you, you weren’t in there. Turns out you were hiding in Studio B with a beautiful song this whole time.”

“It’s… whatever.” She deflected, trying to turn the conversation back on him, “Shouldn’t you be busy making up with Jo? I had a hell of a time with her last night…”

Sitting down on the piano bench next to her, he sighed, “She had to work late tonight, so we set a date for tomorrow. Now play the song again!” 

“Maybe when it’s finished-”

“Again, again!” 

“Say it one more time and I’m going to force you into the booth to record ‘Til I Forget About You!’”

Threat making the blond hold his hands up in defeat, she finally got Kendall to back off. “...I just thought I should tell you I liked it.”

And now she felt bad for snapping at him, not thinking about her next words before saying, “Thanks, it fits right in with all the other shitty songs I’ve written about James.”

“That song… is about James?”

Way to go, Roxanne, the girl winced once the words left her mouth, wringing her hands together when she noticed his green eyes blow wide. No turning back now.

“Sure is, in a roundabout sort of way. More like… things I wish he’d say to me,” She paused, digging into the songbook in the bag at her feet. “Wanna hear the other ones?” 

Kendall cringed, “Do I have a choice?”

“Do you want a career?” Roxy bit.

A slight nod of his head gave way to his answer. 

“Great! Let me go grab my guitar. Be back in just a moment.”

Buzz buzz

When she raced out of the room, she felt her phone go off in her back pocket. 

M: Loved the set tonight, Roxy. Your new band seems cool… Even for mainstream pop.  

R: Sorry, I don’t recognize this number. Who is this?

There was no way Mag could possibly know she was lying as her shaking fingers sent the message. 

M: Oh, don’t be like that… Can’t wait to see you around the Palm Woods. 

R: The Palm Woods? I’ve never heard of it

M: Still? Our producers talked at Rocktoberfest and yours said that's where you were staying. How did you trick Gustavo Rocque into signing you and your wannabe friends? 

R: Lose my number, Mag. I’m really not in the mood for this

M: All I did was compliment you on the set! 

R: Lose. My. Number.

M: Whatever, Roxy. Seems like Hollywood has changed you too much for my liking anyway. 

R: It’s Roxanne. Only my friends call me Roxy

M: Roxanne, Roxanne, Roxanne… Catch you later Roxanne!

--

As always, thanks for reading! <3 I'm so excited to share "season" two with y'all :)

[storydays]

Chapter 4

(3rd POV)

Mirabel froze and turned around to face her grandmother with an awkward grin. "What are you doing?" Abuela asked, raising an eyebrow at her youngest granddaughter. "Uh, they were just asking about the family and..." "SHE WAS ABOUT TO TELL US ABOUT HER SUPER AWESOME GIFT!" shouted Ana, with a super excited grin on her face.

"Oh, Mirabel didn't get one." squeaked Dolores as she poked her head out before walking away, her Abuela following her example.

The children surrounding Mirabel, looked in on her. "You didn't get a Gift?" asked Elizabeth. "Um.." Mirabel stuttered as she turned to Gustavo who called her.

"Mirabel! Delivery! I gave you the special, since you're the only Madrigal kid with no Gift." He dumped the basket in the teen's hand, oblivious to her uncomfortable expression. "I call it the 'Not Special Special', since, uh, you have no Gift." "Thanks." replied Mirabel through gritted teeth. "Oh, and tell Antonio good luck. The last Gift ceremony was a bummer...last one being yours, that-that did not work. "Uh-huh." mumbled Mirabel.

"If I was you, I'd be really sad." Elizabeth said, nodding her head as cutely as a five year old could. Mirabel smirked at the girl.

"Well, my little friend, I am not. Because the truth is, Gift or no Gift, I am just as special as the rest of my family." She and the children turned to the house watching Luisa, Pepa and Isabela.

Pepa made a rainbow over the house, Isabela decorated half of Casita bloom with pink flowers, and finally Luisa lifted a wagon with one hand, calling out, "All right, guys, where do I drop the wagon?"

Elizabeth placed her hands on her hips, frowning. "Maybe your Gift is being in denial, making Mirabel pout. "Anyway, you kids should shoo shoo, we've got work to do." With that, Mirabel entered Casitia.

"Get the chairs out of the way." A woman said to some of the men, as Mirabel bumped into several people. "Sorry, excuse me."

"Dolores, can you hear if anyone is gonna be late?" called Pepa.

"Lift it higher. Higher. Abuela commented to Jose as she walked past Casita's stairs turning towards Antonio's room.

"Hey, nice job over there." Camilo pointed to some of the workers, as he leaned on one of Casitia's banisters. "Yeah, yeah." they cheered.

"Camilo, we need another Jose." "Jose!" He cheeered, shifting into the man.

"Luisa, the piano goes upstairs!" "I'm on it! Careful, sis." The strong woman might be big on the outside, but she's always been gentle with her family, especially her younger sister.

Suddenly the winds picked up, as Pepa began to tornado. "My baby's night needs to be perfect and it's not perfect, and people are going to be coming! And nothing's ready.." She ranted as her husband tried to calm her. "You're tornado-ing the flowers! The flowers!" The tornado stopped as the redhead her husband.

"Did someone say flowers?" Isabela called before swinging down on her vines, dancing in the air. "Isabela!" "Our angel, our angel!" Felix cried as his sobirna gave Pepa a bouquet of flowers. "Please don't clap." Isabela cooed. "Thank you." Pepa beamed, walking away with Felix's hand on her waist, cooing words of love to her. "Oh, it's nothing." Smiled Isa, flipping her hair over her shoulder, unintentionally or intentionally hitting Mirabel in the face with hair and flowers.

She opened her eyes, to her sister sputtering flowers out of her mouth and rolled her eyes. "Ugh..a little sisterly advice? If you weren't always trying too hard, you wouldn't be in the way." Isabela spoke softly as she walked away, smiling at people, with Mirabel hissing: "Actually, Isa, this is called helping. And I'm not in the way, you ar--uhh!" Mirabel was so into trying to get Isabela mad, she walked right into a pole.

She wiggled her nose around, as she heard laughter coming from the entryway where her older brother was currently doubled in laughter. "Sorry, hermanita. It's hard not to laugh when you're nearly as accident prone as Papi." Mirabel grinned at her brother as she walked over to admire a few of the art and ice structures he was making along Casita's walls, filled with animals and other things that Antonio adored.

(Y/N) noticed her staring at the art and smiled. "I did the same for you, Camilo and Luisa. They helped comfort you 3 as you walked to Abuela. Tonito is no different. And-and look! Casita can make them move, mirada." He tapped twice on Casita and Mirabel laughed seeing the pictures move and make a moving picture. Her brother's drawings never ceased to amaze her.

"Anyway, you should take that basket into la cocina, so Mami can use some of those ingredients." Her brother sent a swirl of water butterflies that hardened into ice and flew around Mirabel's head, making her smile.

Her hermano was always so kind, even when he was dismissing someone.

The bispectled girl waved to her brother and stumbled into the kitchen to unload her basket.

(With (Y/N) )

He sighed to himself, watching as his sister walked away. "Hey, (Y/N)..." the oldest Madrigal boy yelped, making some of the art on the wall look disfigured. (Y/N) grumbled as he turned to be face to face with the woman of his dreams, Natalia Fuentes. He immeditaly turned red and backed up, avoiding her amused and curious gaze.

"H-Hey, Natalia. What can I do for you?" He could feel his nerves getting the best of him as she smiled, a sparkle in her gray gaze. "I'm part of the band for Antonio's ceremony, and was taking a break from rehearsing and wanted to talk to you." "M-me?" he asked, praying for the ice behind him to stop crawling up the wall and destroying his work.

"Yes, you" the brunette girl laughed, before tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "I was wondering, if everything goes right tonight, would you like to grab a drink with me?" Natalia asked, as she watched (Y/N)'s face get red, yelping as a wall of water sprouted between them, and up into the sky, catching the attention of several townsfolks in the village. Some of the Madrigal's turned towards the two to see what caused the leak. "(Y/N)..." the muscian girl called hesitatnly.

"I-I'd love to, Natalia." came the response, as he willed the water to go away, being so flustered, he couldn't find the strength too keep himself dry, and he was soaked, some of his hair falling in his face. Natalia smiled, revealing her adorable gap between her front teeth, pink dusting her cheeks slightly. "Great!" She turned to the sound of her name being called. "I gotta go, but I'll see you later." she promised, walking away with a wave.

(Y/N) sighed, calming his racing heart, noticing the water shaped hearts that began floating around his head. "Shoo! Shoo! Shoo!" He demanded swatting them away, as he wild himself dry, and started to re-draw Antonio's ceremony decorations. "Ay, my bebito is growing up." "Hola, Papi. You got stung again?" the young man asked, amused at his father's antics and continuing to draw. He summoned an ice pack to hand to his father to ease his injuries while he talked.

"Yes, but that's not important right now. I saw those hearts after Natalia left. Take it from me, mijo, the love of your life will find their way into your arms whether you're ready or not. Tu mama came into my life when I was least expecting her, but she was the most wonderful sorpresa. Other than you and your sisters of course." (Y/N) smiled, softly before gagging at the swelling of Agustin's swollen hand on your back. "Gracias, Pa. But I think you should go see Mama now." (Y/N) insisted, before spraying his father with water. "Ay, que frio!" Agustin snickered before wandering away to his esposa.

(With Mirabel)

"Whoa." Julieta stated as she watched her youngest bring in her delivery. "Excuse me." grunted Mirabel. "Mi vida, you okay? You don't have to overdo it." She wiped her hands on her apron and turned to finish some of the food. "I'm fine, Mama. I just wanna do my part like the rest of the family." She grunted before turning face to face with her father's swollen nose.

"Eesh." "She's right, amor." Agustin scratched his neck before patting Mirabel's hand. "First Gift ceremony since yours, lot of emotions."

"Bee stings!" Mirabel called to her mother, shuddering as she slid her hand from under her father's engorged hands, just as her brother did not too long ago.

"And I've been there." continued the man, ignoring his daughter's reaction, in turn of trying to comfort her. "Ay, Agustin. " Julieta rolled her eyes affectionately at her husband before walking to grab an arepa. "When me and your Tio Felix married into the family, outsiders who had no Gift, never, ever would, surrounded by the exceptional. it was easy to feel...un-ceptional." "Okay, papi." Mirabel laughed softly. "I'm just saying I get it." He nodded, before Julieta shoved the snack in his mouth. "Eat." She stated, before turning to her daughter.

"Mi amor, if you ever wanna talk...." "I gotta put out the stuff." Mirabel shrugged her mother's hand off her shoulder. "The house isn't going to decorate itself." Casitia creaked sadly, making Mirabel smile. "Sorry, you could..you look great." She whispered.

"Corazon, remember." Julieta called, "Yeah, remember!" Agustin echoed. "You've got nothing to prove!" "Nothing to prove!" "Mmhm!" Mirabel gave them a thumbs up before disappearing.

Julieta sighed softly, leaning into her husband. He kissed the top of her head. "Don't worry, Juli, she's our strong girl. If she doesn't talk to us, there's one person she'd talk to....(Y/N)." He assured her; everyone in the family usually went to (Y/N) to talk.

"I hope so."

[victorianwestpiano]

What would it be like if Colette and Holt lived in 2020 (without the virus!) but there was no Dreamland? What jobs might they have? How would they meet? How did Holt lose his arm (war? accident?). Is Colette famous? If so, for what?

Oh so many ideas, but here’s the one I’ll respond this ask ;)

Kentucky, June 2020

Holt Farrier, ex horse showman, was reading the newspaper in the morning like he always does every day. Although today, it was for him to concentrate because of his son Joe, who was playing with his new Xbox he got last Christmas.

It annoyed a bit the cowboy that Joe was so addicted with this technology with high volume and at this early hours. His daughter Milly was not different, when she was younger once in a while sat on her father’s lap and read the paper together alongside with his wife Annie. But now she prefered watching the news on her cellphone, searching science updates in the world. The worst part was the uncountable TikToks they do with their friends, now that summer began, TikTok was their only way to communicate apparently.

But in some way it didn’t surprised Holt at all that his kids were so submerged in their gadgets. Since their mother died of an illness almost an year ago, his children coped with their loss in the best way they could. In some parts, Joe dealt with Annie’s death better than Milly but it was still hurtful for both of them.

However, Holt felt he was suffering the loss the worst, he lost the love of his life while he was away on a excursion on the mountains with his friends Arav, Puck and Rongo. He felt guilty for not being there for her and for his kids. And if it was not enough, some days before Holt received the news of the death of his spouse, he had a terrible accident while he was climbing on the rock mountains. According to his friends, Holt was barely on the top, trying to reach one of the picks, but out of nowhere he slipped and fell many feet in the air. His body crashed somewhere in the rocks and woods. The last thing the cowboy remember is that he waked up in a hospital...without an arm. His left arm was gone and some days after his wife was gone too.

Holt and Annie were horse showman and woman, touring around USA doing  tricks with their stallions since that was the thing they loved to do the most. Their connection with horses was one of the things that united them even more. They loved the aesthetic of old-school circuses, but nowdays people are not longer interested on circuses anymore which brought Holt many economic problems.

Now without the love of his life, without an arm and without a job, Holt’s world was no longer the world he adored, so he decided to move with his daughter and son to his childhood town and buy a small house with the few savings he had kept. It wasn’t much but it was something, they had at least a roof upon their heads, electricity, hot water and of course wifi which is very expensive. Not living in tour anymore felt weird; static like a rock and being in just one place, it was practically boring.

Holt’s friends, who came from different parts of the country and the world, tried to convince him and lend him money until he find a job, however, Holt was so proud to accept money from his friends. If he wanted money, he had to earn it and he did not want to be in debt with the people he cared.

Just in very rare ocassions he accepted his friend’s monetary help and became stubborn promising a lot of times he’ll return what he owes, even though his pals said to him is not a big deal, that he’ll pay when he can.

That’s why Holt was reading the newspaper, so he could find a decent job, although, what job would accept a handicapped guy?. The rider from Kentucky was desperated, mostly for his children.

Suddenly, a knock of the door was heard, Holt reacted to the sound and quickly lifted his head up. The cowboy looked at his son sitting on the couch, which was nearer to the door, playing with his Xbox, super concentrated.

“Joe would you get the door?” Holt asked the boy.

“I’m busy dad, I’m in the middle of a mission right now.” the kid responded.

Holt rolled his eyes and spoked again, “Joe, c’mon, or I’ll plug off that damn thing this instant” he warned out loud.

Joe turned his head to see his father and reluctantly the kid obeyed him. He paused his game and circled the couch to get to the entrance.

“It was an important mission you know?” Joe protested.

“Yeah you said that yesterday 12 o’clock PM, you’ve been playing all week boy”

Joe’s eyes widened and then he nodded embarassed, “Non taken.”

The boy headed to the door and opened it, only to find a short man, he was the same height as Joe. He was around his sixties, had white curly hair, a pair of shades on his eyes, brown shorts, black flip flops and a radiant colorful hawaiian shirt.

“Hey Max!” Joe exclaimed in surprise seeing their family friend.

“What’s up little buddy!” Max responded in glee, “Tell me, is your dad here? I have excelent news for him.” the short man said excited.

“Max!” Holt waved him from the kitchen, “Come on in and sit.”

Max Medici, a not very succesfull sales man, was best friends with Holt’s dad and him when the rider was just a lad. Holt enjoyed his company, his optimism was very contagious even when his plans not always go as he wanted. Anyway, Medici’s smile made everyone smile too, that was one of his gifts.

“What is it Gustavo? Please sit” Holt invited his friend to sit with him at the kitchen table.

Max sighed at the mention of his real name, “Please Holt, just call me Max, ok? You’ll ruin my reputation here.” he took off his sun glasses and cliped them into the collar of his shirt.

“Ok sorry,” Holt chuckled, “What are this incredible news you have for me? Oh, please don’t tell me you had another fail in your bussiness and you need cash.” Holt sat slowly, expecting the news to be bad, since, now he’s used to them “Don’t ask me money pal, I still owing you those $100 bucks from last month---”

“Can you please shut up cowboy” Max interrupted him. “Jeez, I didn’t came here to bother you, on the contrary, I came here to cheer you up, bud.” he said with a huge smile.

Holt rose an eyebrow and listened. “So, what is it?”

“Look, a friend of a friend, of a friend, of a friend of mine, said that a famous actress has a ranch here in Kentucky, and she needs a foreman to take special care of it, mostly the horses.” Max said with a trusting glance.

“Wait, wait, wait a minute. Work for a famous actress? Who?” Holt was curious and wary of proposal.

“Colette Marchant the french actress of course!” the old man made a happy gesture with his hands to encourage his friend.

The name of the woman ranged on Holt and Joe’s ears, so much so that the boy left his game and turned around to face the adults.

“You’ll work for Colette Marchant dad!?” Joe asked happily, “I love her movies, and she’s so pretty. You will work with her dad?”

“What happened? Why is Joe so excited?” Milly enetered to the living room with cellphone in hand and her curly hair combed into a bun.

“Dad is going to work for Colette Marchant, the actress!!” Joe was very happy about the news.

“Wow, really?” Milly looked curious at her father.

“Kids uhhmm, I haven’t decided this  yet, I just found out. Go to your rooms and I’ll tell you later, or go outside.” Holt said to his children who obeyed him after a few minutes.

After that, Holt continued, “You want me to work as a foreman for a celebrity?” This didn’t conviced the cowboy very much,”Remember Max, I used to be a celebrity as well, I was like a superhero on top of my horses, if my friends find out that now I work as a foreman... they’ll think I fell so low.”

“Yes I know, but now things changed lad, this is a great job and the pay is very good. Look, this woman will stay in America all summer, from June to September 3rd. The rumor says she wanted to leave her home France for a couple of months and be alone, or somethng like that. She says she loves horses and needs somone efficient for the job. And don’t worry, she does speak english.”

Holt started to think massaging his chin, “And how is she, I mean, she’s bossy or calm?”

Max inhaled through his nose, “I heard she’s quite, well, spoiled but nothing that you can’t handle.”

“And where’s her ranch?”

“In Louisville, right in the north.” Max answered.

Holt’s eyes opened wide, “Louisville? But that’s too far! Mhmmm, I don’t know Max, I’ll have to think about it...” Holt was trying to considerate the offer.

“Well,” Max said a bit nervous, “in your place I won’t think it that much because... I’ve already talked about you and maybe I’ve send you refferences as well.”

Holt looked at his friend in shock, “You did what!!? How can you do that without telling me!? Are you insane!?.”

“I did it because I knew you were going to doubt and think this kind of job is below you.” Max stated strictly. “Here,” the older man took from his pocket a card with a number, “this is the phone number of her butler, if I were you I’ll call him now and accept the job.”

Holt gave a glare at Max, he couldn’t believe that his friend did all this behind his back.

“Holt c’mon, is a good payed job, surrounded by nature, taking care of horses and have your kids taking fresh air, isn’t that what you wanted?” Max stood up and left the card on the table. “Do it pal is a great opportunity.” the short man put his shades back on his face, approached the door and left.

Holt passed his only hand through his hair and looked at the card, this was all new to him he didn’t know what to do. But at the same time, working for a celebrity could be very interesting not to mention to payment, it could be higher than he can imagine. Also, the most important thing for Holt now are his children, he needed to give them a secured and stable life.

The cowboy reached for his laptop and searched about Colette Marchant, some pictures were showed on Instagram and the most recent one was a photo of her black and white, already in Kentucky sunbathing, in the backround there was her big house of her ranch.

Then Joe’s words about her resonated on Holt’s mind, She looks...pretty... I’ll give her that, he thought. He had never seen any of her movies but now he knows why a lot of people admires her or talks about her as soon as he read the reviews of her films. Then he searched for more pictures of the place, including her horses, which looked very healthy and beautiful. Holt went to the kitchen table and stared at the card with the number one more time. He made a long sigh and took it.

“I must be very crazy right now.” he said trying to grab his phone too.

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

A couple of days later and some other calls made, Holt and his kids finally flew all the way from the south of Kentucky to the north in Louisville to get the foreman cadre. In the airpor they were greeted by Sotheby, Miss Marchant’s english butler.

He gently guided them to the car, which he personally drove, and headed to Marchant’s ranch.

After 30 minutes travelling by car, they finally arrived and admired the big splenderous house. The vehicle parked in front of the property.

“Wow!” Milly and Joe said at the same time in awe looking the place through the window. “ Look at this place! I want to get in now!” the Farrier boy exclaimed opening the car door.

“Now, now lads,” Holt stoped Joe making a sign with his hand, “This is gonna be my working place, let’s go with calm.” Holt exited himself from the car and then his children followed him. He was wearing a dark blue short sleeved t-shirt, blue jeans, snikers and his lucky white cowboy hat. As soon as they were getting closer to the house, Milly took a couple of pictures of it and post them on Twitter.

Once they were on the porch, Sotheby told them to stay there, “Just wait here, Miss Marchant will talk to you in a couple of minutes, please sit.” the english butler politely offered to the Farriers.

Three minutes passed and Holt was already getting nervous, so he decided to talk to the children.

“So, how do you imagine Colette Marchant is behind the cameras?” Holt asked.

“I don’t know,” Milly answered “I heard she’s a diva, I watched her latest film Femme Fatale with my friend some months ago, she was very good in it, but...the plot sucked.”

“I see...” Holt rised his eyebrows. He remembered when he read Colette’s film reviews, some the critics said practically the same, Colette was stunning, but the direction and script by the known famous director VA Vandevere, where just ok or not very good.

Suddenly Sotheby appeared again, the Farriers rose up from porch couch and waited for the butler to speak.

All of the sudden, coming out from the door, there was a woman on her mid thirties, with almost wavy black hair, black dress, make up on her eyelids and intense blue eyes. It was her.

“Mademoiselle Marchant, this is Holt Farrier and his children, he came here for the foreman job.” Sotheby intoduced the cowboy and the actress.

Joe and Milly where in awe by looking at the elegant actress, Joe tried his best to not squeal, while Milly couldn’t contain her big grin.

Holt put his head steady and took a deep breath. “Hi, is a pleasusre to meet you,” the rider offered his hand to shake with hers.

But when Colette turned around to see clearer the man, her face showed a shocked expression. Then she started to talk.

“Uhhhmm, excuse moi but, what is this?” the french lady questioned staring at the cowboy.

Holt’s eyebrows frowned in confusion, “I’m sorry? I came here for the job Miss. that’s why I’m here.” he retreated his hand took off his white hat.

Colette’s eyes were fixed on on the man’s left side.

The cowboy noticed that and looked at where his left arm once was. Holt exhaed a quiet laugh and spoke up again. “Yeah, I know what you’re thinkin’ but don’t worry, it didn’t hurt that much.” he said trying to erase the uncomfortable topic, “and it doesn’t hurt now---”

“You don’t have...an arm monsieur.” the french celebrity was obviously dissapointed.

Milly and Joe glanced with concern at their father. They knew how hard it was for him to deal with a missing limb, it was something that made him more insecure with time. But they also knew that their dad tried to ignore it and move on, he hated when others feel pity for him.

“Well, yes Miss,” Holt started to get even more puzzled, “I mean....you didn’t know?” he looked at Sotheby who was just as confused as him.

Colette sighed impatiently “Do you think I would’ve hire a handicapped man as my foreman if I knew he was handicapped?”

“But, with all respect, I thought they had send you my refferences. My friend send them to you.” Holt explained.

“I have recived them and nothing in there mentioned a missing arm.” Miss Marchant said bluntly.

Holt started to breathe through his teeth with impotence, “Max you idiot!” he quietly muttered a bit enraged. First Max send his refferences without asking him first and he didn’t even mention the thing about his arm? The rider wanted to kill his friend at that moment.

The european lady sensed Holt’s discomfort and clasped her hands, “I’m sorry, but I cannot hire someone who is not capable.”

Holt turned his head to face the woman, breathing deeply and swallowing , “I am capable, please Miss, give me a chance.”

“You are not up to my standards, ma cherie.I cannot force a cripple to do this kind of work, because they can’t---”

That word hit Holt right in the chest, like bullet to his heart. That single word made his blood boil and encreased his anger, “I’m not... a cripple.” he said low and serious.

Colette’s eyes opened wide giving him a sarcastic shocked reaction, “Then I am not french!” she stated joking with irony, “Oh, my parents will be glad to hear it!”.

“Very funny.” Holt gave her an unamused sideway smile, “Look, if I’m going to stay in this place to be insulted, I’ll get the hell out of here. Let’s go lads.” Holt put his hat on, taking his children with him while walking away from the woman and her butler.

Colette crossed her arms, exhaled an unimpressed sigh, denying her head. She looked how the Kentucky rider was leaving the porch walking by her loan, until she spoke again.

“With that attitude of yours you are not going to get anywhere. You are too proud, cherie.”

The Farriers stoped as soon as Holt stoped, the rider bit his lip and slowly turned around. He wasn’t going to let this woman to have the last word.

“And you, princess,” the cowboy challenged, “you’re too spoiled”. His kids looked at eachother in surprise for what his father had just said.

Colette’s mouth fell open at Holt’s statement, “What an attitude.”

“What an ego.” Holt interjected again teasing her, imitating her tone and with a rised eyebrow.

“You have a problem?” Colette’s voice became demanding. She started to walk towards him.

“You’re my problem. Princess.” Holt smiled like a child.

“Do not take that tone with me. Do not disrespect me!” Colette approached the cowboy until she was just one meter from him. “And please, do not call me a ‘princess’.”

“You called me a cripple, and I call you princess. I think is pretty fair.” Holt rested his hand on his hip. “It is what you’re. You’re spoiled, believing you’re better than me, also, you like to whine when people tells you the truth. Oh, I’m sorry, did her majesty got her feelings hurt.” he teased her with a exagerated pout.

“How dare you---!” before Colette would say or do something else, the cat and dog fight was interrupted by Sotheby who ran towards the two of them.

“Miss Marchant, if I may please!” Sotheby calmed his boss, “Try to considerate this man, we have read his file, he may not have an arm, but his expirience is very good. Better than the other ones, and Miss, if I you give me your permission to say this, yesterday you said you liked his profile, that it was what you needed.”

“Don’t worry mister.” Holt stated directly to the butler. “Is not necessary to defend me, we’re going now, have a nice day. C’mon children.”

But Milly did not move, “No dad wait.” she exclaimed and turned to face Colette.

Holt and Joe stayed where they stood when Milly spoke. Her dad whispered to her, “Milly, what you doin’?”.

Milly walked towards the actress with her chin held high and honesty in her eyes, “Miss Marchant please forgive my dad, I know he can be a bit, well, stuborn.”

“I saw that.” Colette gave a glare at Milly’s father for a second. Holt rolled his eyes.

“But... he tried for months to get a job that we don’t know if he’ll ever get another opportunity like this one anytime soon. Please, give him another chance.”

The girl’s pleading moved a little the french woman, she amired how determinated she was, it reminded of herself when she was Milly’s age.

“Please Miss,” the Farrier girl’s voice suddenly became melancholic, “since...my mom died, life has been hard on us.” she turned to see her family, “It was very hard for my dad too, he lost his arm in an accident, but he’s still strong, he always was.” the girl smiled at her dad.

Holt felt overwhelmed by his daughter’s words and smiled back at her. Then he faced once more at the actress who was just moved as him. Sotheby also felt the emotions of the girl.

Miss Marchant placed a hand on her heart and showed a genuine worried expression, “Your mother died, petit? I’m so sorry...I didn’t knew.”

“It’s ok.” Milly answered.

“What was her name?” Colette asked.

“Annie.” Holt responded for his daughter, “Her name was Annie. She left us an year ago.”

“I see, and what is your name petit?” Colette asked to the girl.

“Milly”

“And yours monsieur?” the actress looked at the boy at Holt’s side.

Joe froze as the famous celebrity talked to him, “I-I’m Joe, a-a-and I’m your biggest fan.” Joe said nervous.

Colette laughed a bit at the boy’s presentation, she thought it was kind of cute. She glanced over Holt again and approached him litte by little, making him suspect on what this woman is going to do now.

“How much do you need this job?” she sternly asked at the rider, not breaking eye contact.

Holt blinked and inhaled deeply, “Honestly....very much.”

“Tres bién, I’ll give one more chance, I’m not giving it just because you are capable, we will see about that with the time. But also because this will be good to your children as well, do it for them, not just for you.”

“I am”. Holt answered firmly looking at the woman’s sapphire eyes.”My kids... are the most sacred thing I have left in this world.”

She gave him a trusting grin, “That’s the attitude I wanted. You are hired ma cherie.” she gave him her hand.

Holt looked at her elegant and white hand and gently, he took it and shaked it, sealing the deal. He glanced again at her face forming a tiny smile and feeling the softness of the lady’s hand.

“And I’m sorry if I insulted you, is just you can really push a person’s buttoms, monsieur.” Colette said not letting go the gentleman’s hand.

“I can say the same thing about you, but I’m sorry too. Thank you for givin’ me this chance, I hate to admit it but I’m forever in your debt.” Holt’s voice became quickly smooth with real remorse on his apologizing words. Then, he winked at her to give her trust.

All of the sudden, Colette’s cheeks turned pink, she was blushing. She didn’t know if the cowboy noticed, they were in summer so he could see her cheeks became hot for the heat. But Holt would never guess what was happening inside Colette’s body, because Holt’s commentary and the soft look in his eyes made her heart skip a beat.

The woman coughed and gently released her hand, she still could felt the roughness of the rider’s hand on her palm and fingers. But... somehow....she liked it.

“Tres bién! Let’s go inside, shall we?” Colette guided the Farriers to her house. Milly and Joe rushed inside the mansion, leaving Holt and Colette behind. The two giggled at the kids’ enthusiasm.

“They are very charming, monsieur.” Colette said walking alongside Holt, Sotheby was heading to the house a few meters away from them.

“Yes, they are. I’d give my life for them.” Holt turned to see the actress.

“I know they will enjoy being here, you will have good rooms to stay and later I will show my horses.”

“That sounds nice.... princess.” Holt teased her, containing his laughter.

Colette, as soon as she reached the entrance door, she turned again back to him with a warning stare, “Do not play smart with me Holt, I mean it.”

“Sorry...” he took off his hat and put it behind his back, he was smiling in a very naughty way.

“Non, you are not.” Colette crossed her arms, smiling in the same way as him.

“True.” with that Holt entered in the house. Leaving the french lady denying with her head, rolling her eyes and laughing to herself.

“Oh mon dieu, this man!” she entered to her house and closed the door behind her.

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

THE END.

@vavandeveresfan​ This was fun, not my best work but still fun, I hope you liked it ;)

[callie-the-snarky-geek-blog]

RvB16 Episode 7 Review: It Just Winked At Me

Last time on Red vs Blue: O’Malley came back bitches. That’s it. That’s all you need to know. No need to go into how Grif is all alone with only a talking lens flare and all the potential angst that writers can dig up from that. Or that Atlus is a dork who obliterated Tucker and Sister into subatomic particles. None of that’s important at all. Only O’Malley matters.

Alright, so this episode has been hyped for awhile. Joe hyped it up. Kyle Taylor (the Machinima director) hyped it up. Even Gus hyped it up. Any of this can mean anything. So as we enter the shortest episode so far (only 7 minutes… I guess Joe couldn’t make the episodes longer unless he’s holding them back for later), what has all the talk been leading up to? Well… I can say it was like nothing I’ve seen before!

Overview

So good news, Tucker and Sister are alive! Yay… yeah I knew that was coming. There is no way that they’d kill a long-time character and a fan favorite character they finally made a main like that. Also it looks like the blast sobered them up. So there’s your lesson kids: if you are drunk off your ass, being blasted by God is how you sober back up! Atlus tries to kill them a couple more times before finally realizing that ‘his’ protection is making that impossible. Also we find out that Kalirama is his sister, which explains her being the Queen of the Cosmic Powers. So goign into some speculating, Kalirama mentioned being the Daughter of Time. My guess has been that the villain is Chronos, the Personification of Time. It can also refer to Cronus, the King of the Titans and father of Zeus. If Joe made Chronos and Cronus the same person who Atlus overthrew and he and Kalirama and his kids trying to keep him locked up… wow and I thought the Church and Grif families were fucked up.

Since Atlus can’t obliterate Tucker and Sister, he goes with the option of ‘let my mindless minions do it’. So he summons up a cyclopes… I am NOT joking. Some may find this too bizarre, but as someone who likes mythical shenanigans I do NOT give a shit! Plus it fits the myth theme since cyclopes’ are part of both Greek and Roman mythology. So the cyclopes obviously isn’t a Halo character, so what did they do? They… put Gus in a costume/a ton of makeup and made him do it. Yes, you read that right. The cyclopes was RvB’s very own Gustavo Sorola. It is also, I believe, RvB’s first implementation of live-action within the show, at least on this level. It’s pretty good! I mean the cyclopes is butt ugly, but I’m pretty sure that was the point… sorry Gus.

So Atlus sicks… Grugh, I think? Screw it, I’m calling him Gus. My blog, my rules. Atlus sicks Gus on the two Blues. They understandably, make a run for it. At least until Sister quips that Tucker could prove how great a fighter she is. Which she meant as sarcasm… but Tucker of course has to decide to be Mr. Macho and face Gus. The result? Both the time gun and the sword get knocked away from him. I should also point out that Gus is about 100X larger than Tucker. So he can easily crush him… yyyyeah… not your best plan Tucker.

Back in the 6th Century (not the 16th like I wrote last week, Past Callie is stupid), Huggins is trying to figure out what to do now that O’Malley has gotten away and both she and Grif are stranded. Grif is currently… I guess looking for mushrooms since he mentions eating them later. Guess since he can’t talk Italian, that’s the only way he can survive, I mean it worked on the moon! Anyways, Huggins contemplates her options. Now because she’s talking fast, it’s hard to make out everything and for whatever reason,t he RT site doesn’t have a subtitle option that I REALLY hope they fix soon. But anyways, Huggins comes u with three potential solutions:

Wait it out and let time move along until she’s back in present day. This is ruled out because it would take far too long. This one is declared a ‘maybe’.

MURDER! Kill Grif and prevent at least one dirty shisno from fucking everything up! This is also ruled out as it goes against Huggins’ code and it’s also forbidden. Oh, but Atlus can obliterate people? I sense abuse of power!

Talk to Grif and convince him to team up so that they can find a way out of the 6th Century. But if she does this, thee penalty is getting tortured int he Underworld for all eternity. But this is the only option that could work, so… ye, she risks it.

Alright, so reasoning! Huggins goes to Grif, who is pretty much refusing to believe anything that is happening. Huggins tries to convince him to help her since otherwise hey’re both gonna die. Grif doesn’t buy any of it, especially when Huggins reveals that the Gods sent her to spy on them. SO he just walks away and Huggins is probably re-considering the murder option now.

Alright, back to the moon! Tucker tries to shoot Gus… and of course fails. Stupid guns! Sister retrieves both the time gun and Tucker’s sword as Tucker himself ducks inside the base. He tries to think of what to do… and sees his old armor set, giving him an idea. Gus reaches in and grabs what looks like Tucker, eating his head. Eww, Gus! That’ll ruin your teeth!  Also is this an Attack on Titans reference? I’m positive that it’s an Attack on Titans reference. But of course it was really the empty armor which Tucker stuffed with grenades. Which go off, distracting Gus and Tucker drives in with the Warthog, driving it straight into hos face. It finally knocks Gus down and Tucker along with him.

So it looks like Tucker wins, right? Haha… yeah… about that. Sister points out that normally when you beat the boss, they come back twice as powerful. You’d think that Tucker, living in a video game, would know this but meh. SO yeah, Gus gets back up and he is not happy. Hey Tucker, tell him that they should go to Vegas! That’ll make him REALLY angry I bet! Tucker runs into the caves and seems safe since Gus’ hand is too big… until Tucker says he needs to do it one finger at a time. And Gus can understand English, so… yeah…

Fortunately before Tucker can get grabbed, Sister channels her inner Xena and attempts to use the sword, jump down form the cliffs, and stab Gus in the head. But Tucker informs her too late that the sword only works for him. SO she gets smacked away and when Tucker exits the cave to help, he gets knocked over to her. Sister points out that cyclopes’ have a fatal weakness, so Tucker goe sin and… attacks Gus’ groin. I… don’t think that’s what she meant Tucker… but it works as Gus finally hits the ground. Well… not the defeat I was expecting, but it was a defeat!

Unfortunately, Atlus decides to sick Gus’ wife on them who is rather peeved that due to this, they can’t do hanky panky and have kids. Having had enough, Tucker and Sister FINALLY do what they should have done before: open a time portal and get the fuck out of there. Where do they end up? Well remember the medieval scene from Episode 1? Well they FINALLY connected it to the main narrative as the two end up on the same tower as medieval Grif and Simmons. And the two get arrested… WELP.

Review

This episode has had a lot of mixed reception so far. I haven’t seen anyone hate it, but many were disappointing. It’s understandable why. After all the hype, it was really just about a dumb joke. A very well shot dumb joke, but a dumb joke. There’s still so little about he plot we know, nothing advanced any further here, the episode was incredibly short, and it’s still unclear what all of this is leading us to. We’re on Episode 7 and no progress has been made. I think so far Joe has the opposite problem he had last year. Last year, he rushed it because he only ha done season. This year he has more than one, but due to it he slowed down. A little too much maybe. This coming off the heels of last week’s O’Malley plot bomb and… yeah I don’t blame people in being disappointed and viewing this as completely pointless.

I didn’t know how to feel during the first viewing… but when watching ti again to write this review, I was laughing so much. I got a LOT more enjoyment out of it. To be fair, I am always like that. I always like stuff on the second watch than the first one since I knwo what’s coming and I can better process it. And watching ti again… I don’t think that this was pointless at ll. There’s no major progression with the plot, and I agree that it’s been long enough. But… I got a lot out of this episode, even form Grif’s brief scene. Not just with plot, but the work on this episode is truly impressive imo.

Before we talk about that, lets do Grif’s scene. It’s only about a minute long and the only machinimated scene. Yeah, 95% of the episode was CGI animated. But Grif’s scene, while brief, was good. I wish we saw a bit mroe follow-up on how he’s doing after O’Malley left him stranded, but him living off mushrooms I can buy. Him also goign into denial over everything I can also buy. So not as much as I was hoping for with him, but good stuff that matches his character.

The scene’s actual importance is mainly setup for what’ll happen later. It also FINALLY gave us some time with Huggins’ since Episode 1. And OMG, I absolutely love her. Her rapid fire dialogue is kind of hard to make out, but her actress did a good job at it. Huggins is cheerful, but serious about her job. She understands the importance of what’s coming, but has to resort to breaking law since she’s in a position where otherwise, everyone is doomed. She’s cute, but also sassy as evident with her response when Grif calls her Tinkerbell (is that gonna be his nickname for her when he warms up to her? I want it to be!) Seriously I am already loving the interactions between Grif and Huggins and I am really excited to see more of it! Now how they’ll get out of the 6th Century IDK, but we’ll just have to wait.

Okay, back to the res tof the episode. As I said, pretty much the entire episode is CGI animated. it’s the first major CGI fight in the season, and it was awesome. Okay it was mostly running, but it was fun to watch. Tucker plowing the Warthog into Gus was freakin’ badass. The voice acting was also on point. I have never laughed harder at Jason Saldana’s performance than I have today and Becca continues to crush it as Sister. Seriously, going all Xena with the ‘alalala!’ war-cry had me dying. An ProZD as Atus… OMG ProZD. He was fantastic in this episode and it added so much to Atlus as a character. Like he is just enjoying the show and is so unimpressed with Tucker and Sister even when they win. His animation where he’s just celebrating watching Gus winning was also so freakin’ fantastic and again, dds to the character. Seriously, I wasn’t sure what to think of Atlus before, but he has already become one of my fav RvB villain ever after this episode alone.

So onto Gus… I have no idea how Joe talked him into this. I mean he’s done worst and IDT anything will be as bad as when he did the Baby Gus RT Short. That short man… anyways! I think Gus did really well! It felt like he was truly interacting with the environment. He didn’t have to do much acting aside form grunting and going around wildly, but it felt like he was playing a monstrous cyclopes. Credit also to Joe and his directing. I don’t knwo what inspired him to do this, but OMG I am so glad he did. I mean it looks weird and it’s ridiculous.., but it’s RvB. It’s always been weird and ridiculous. Plus using live action again sells the effect that the cyclopes is a monster compared to what we’re used to with the machinima. It sold the effect really well. So kudos to Joe and to Gus because shooting this and then editing it in had to be a nightmare.

It’s why I don’t think the episode was at all pointless. I mean we DO have some minor things. We find out that Kalirama is Atlus’ sister, the villain si indeed a locked up time God, get a taste of how powerful the Cosmic Powers forces are, have some characterization for Atlus, setup for Grif and Huggins’ plot, an actual fight scene after so long, and it FINALLY ties in the medieval scene. It’s also huge on a cinematic scale, which is probably why it’s only 7 minutes. I mena Joe and his team had to fully animate the episode, shoot Gus’ scenes where he’s pretty much just interacting with air, combined the footage together, likely do re-shoots if the live action was even slightly off, edit it all together with the machinima, and… yeah. This was likely a huge pain it he ass to do for everyone involved. But I appreciate that they did. Joe is going above and beyond what he has to do. he could just do solely machinima and it would be fine. But he’s trying new things, implementing more CGI, and taking the show to the next level. Is it a hit? That’s for one to decide on their own. I think it worked here, but I don’t think they should regularly implement live action as they did. Special occasions are fine though. But I still appreciate Joe trying things and putting in the effort when he doesn’t have to. He wants to make the show as good as he can, and I can absolutely respect that.

Final Thoughts

Did they hype this one too much? Maybe a little. It was not what I was expecting at all. But I don’t thin that’s a bad thing. Again, I appreciate them going out of their way to do this. Plus the animation, dialogue, and voice acting were really good. Can I understand why people don’t like this episode and are getting weary of the season? Absolutely yes. I do hoe that Joe starts to speed up the plot soon. But I still had a fun time watching the episode, and in the end that’s what matters: having a good time. It was weird and ridiculous and I wouldn’t have it nay other way.

[calliecat93]

RvB16 Episode 7 Review: It Just Winked At Me

Last time on Red vs Blue: O’Malley came back bitches. That’s it. That's all you need to know. No need to go into how Grif is all alone with only a talking lens flare and all the potential angst that writers can dig up from that. Or that Atlus is a dork who obliterated Tucker and Sister into subatomic particles. None of that’s important at all. Only O’Malley matters.

Alright, so this episode has been hyped for awhile. Joe hyped it up. Kyle Taylor (the Machinima director) hyped it up. Even Gus hyped it up. Any of this can mean anything. So as we enter the shortest episode so far (only 7 minutes... I guess Joe couldn't make the episodes longer unless he’s holding them back for later), what has all the talk been leading up to? Well... I can say it was like nothing I’ve seen before!

Overview

So good news, Tucker and Sister are alive! Yay... yeah I knew that was coming. There is no way that they’d kill a long-time character and a fan favorite character they finally made a main like that. Also it looks like the blast sobered them up. So there’s your lesson kids: if you are drunk off your ass, being blasted by God is how you sober back up! Atlus tries to kill them a couple more times before finally realizing that ‘his’ protection is making that impossible. Also we find out that Kalirama is his sister, which explains her being the Queen of the Cosmic Powers. So... I made a post a few days ago about Kalirama’s titles and she mentioned being the Daughter of Time. My guess has been that the villain is Chronos, the Personification of Time. It can also refer to Cronus, the King of the Titans and father of Zeus. If Joe made Chronos and Cronus the same person who Atlus overthrew and he and Kalirama and his kids trying to keep him locked up... wow and I thought the Church and Grif families were fucked up.

Since Atlus can’t obliterate Tucker and Sister, he goes with the option of ‘let my mindless minions do it’. So he summons up a cyclopes... I am NOT joking. Some may find this too bizarre, but as someone who likes mythical shenanigans I do NOT give a shit! Plus it fits the myth theme since cyclopes’ are part of both Greek and Roman mythology. So the cyclopes obviously isn’t a Halo character, so what did they do? They... put Gus in a costume/a ton of makeup and made him do it. Yes, you read that right. The cyclopes was RvB’s very own Gustavo Sorola. It is also, I believe, RvB’s first implementation of live-action within the show, at least on this level. It’s pretty good! I mean the cyclopes is butt ugly, but I’m pretty sure that was the point... sorry Gus.

So Atlus sicks... Grugh, I think? Screw it, I’m calling him Gus. My blog, my rules. Atlus sicks Gus on the two Blues. They understandably, make a run for it. At least until Sister quips that Tucker could prove how great a fighter she is. Which she meant as sarcasm... but Tucker, of course, has to decide to be Mr. Macho and face Gus. The result? Both the time gun and the sword get knocked away from him. I should also point out that Gus is about 100X larger than Tucker. So he can easily crush him... yyyyeah... not your best plan Tucker.

Back in the 6th Century (not the 16th like I wrote last week, Past Callie is stupid), Huggins is trying to figure out what to do now that O’Malley has gotten away and both she and Grif are stranded. Grif is currently... I guess looking for mushrooms since he mentions eating them later. Guess since he can't talk Italian, that’s the only way he can survive, I mean it worked on the moon! Anyways, Huggins contemplates her options. Now because she’s talking fast, it’s hard to make out everything and for whatever reason,t he RT site doesn't have a subtitle option that I REALLY hope they fix soon. But anyways, Huggins comes u with three potential solutions:

Wait it out and let time move along until she’s back in present day. This is ruled out because the Reds and Blues will still be time traveling, evil time God goes free, and the universe dies. This one is declared a ‘maybe’.

MURDER! Kill Grif and prevent at least one dirty shisno from fucking everything up! This is also ruled out as it goes against Huggins’ code and it’s also forbidden. Oh, but Atlus can obliterate people? I sense abuse of power!

Talk to Grif and convince him to team up so that they can find a way out of the 6th Century. But if she does this, thee penalty is getting tortured int he Underworld for all eternity. But this is the only option that could work, so... ye, she risks it.

Alright, so reasoning! Huggins goes to Grif, who is pretty much refusing to believe anything that is happening. Huggins tries to convince him to help her since otherwise they're both gonna die. Grif doesn't buy any of it, especially when Huggins reveals that the Gods sent her to spy on them. SO he just walks away and Huggins is probably re-considering the murder option now.

Alright, back to the moon! Tucker tries to shoot Gus... and of course, fails. Stupid guns! Sister retrieves both the time gun and Tucker’s sword as Tucker himself ducks inside the base. He tries to think of what to do... and sees his old armor set, giving him an idea. Gus reaches in and grabs what looks like Tucker, eating his head. Eww, Gus! That’ll ruin your teeth!  Also is this an Attack on Titans reference? I’m positive that it’s an Attack on Titans reference. But of course, it was really the empty armor which Tucker stuffed with grenades. Which go off, distracting Gus and Tucker drives in with the Warthog, driving it straight into his face. It finally knocks Gus down and Tucker along with him.

So it looks like Tucker wins, right? Haha... yeah... about that. Sister points out that normally when you beat the boss, they come back twice as powerful. You’d think that Tucker, living in a video game, would know this but meh. SO yeah, Gus gets back up and he is not happy. Hey Tucker, tell him that they should go to Vegas! That’ll make him REALLY angry I bet! Tucker runs into the caves and seems safe since Gus’ hand is too big... until Tucker says he needs to do it one finger at a time. And Gus can understand English, so... yeah...

Fortunately, before Tucker can get grabbed, Sister channels her inner Xena and attempts to use the sword, jump down from the cliffs, and stab Gus in the head. But Tucker informs her too late that the sword only works for him. SO she gets smacked away and when Tucker exits the cave to help, he gets knocked over to her. Sister points out that cyclopes’ have a fatal weakness, so Tucker goe sin and... attacks Gus’ groin. I... don’t think that’s what she meant Tucker... but it works as Gus finally hits the ground. Well... not the defeat I was expecting, but it was a defeat! 

Unfortunately, Atlus decides to sick Gus’ wife on them who is rather peeved that due to this, they can't do hanky panky and have kids. Having had enough, Tucker and Sister FINALLY do what they should have done before: open a time portal and get the fuck out of there. Where do they end up? Remember the medieval scene from Episode 1? Well, they FINALLY connected it to the main narrative as the two end up on the same tower as medieval Grif and Simmons. And the two get arrested... WELP.

Review

This episode has had a lot of mixed reception so far. I haven’t seen anyone hate it, but many were disappointing. It’s understandable why. After all the hype, it was really just about a dumb joke. A very well shot dumb joke, but a dumb joke. There’s still so little about the plot we know, nothing advanced any further here, the episode was incredibly short, and it’s still unclear what all of this is leading us to. We’re on Episode 7 and no progress has been made. I think so far Joe has the opposite problem he had last year. Last year, he rushed it because he only has done season. This year he has more than one, but due to it he slowed down. A little too much maybe. This coming off the heels of last week’s O’Malley plot bomb and... yeah I don’t blame people in being disappointed and viewing this as completely pointless.

I didn’t know how to feel during the first viewing... but when watching ti again to write this review, I was laughing so much. I got a LOT more enjoyment out of it. To be fair, I am always like that. I always like stuff on the second watch than the first one since I know what’s coming and I can better process it. And watching ti again... I don’t think that this was pointless at ll. There’s no major progression with the plot, and I agree that it’s been long enough. But... I got a lot out of this episode, even form Grif’s brief scene. Not just with the plot, but the work on this episode is truly impressive imo.

Before we talk about that, let's do Grif’s scene. It’s only about a minute long and the only machinimated scene. Yeah, 95% of the episode was CGI animated. But Grif’s scene, while brief, was good. I wish we saw a bit more follow-up on how he’s doing after O’Malley left him stranded, but him living off mushrooms I can buy. Him also going into denial over everything I can also buy. So not as much as I was hoping for with him, but good stuff that matches his character.

The scene’s actual importance is mainly setup for what’ll happen later. It also FINALLY gave us some time with Huggins’ since Episode 1. And OMG, I absolutely love her. Her rapid-fire dialogue is kind of hard to make out, but her actress did a good job at it. Huggins is cheerful, but serious about her job. She understands the importance of what’s coming but has to resort to breaking law since she’s in a position where otherwise, everyone is doomed. She’s cute, but also sassy as evident with her response when Grif calls her Tinkerbell (is that gonna be his nickname for her when he warms up to her? I want it to be!) Seriously I am already loving the interactions between Grif and Huggins and I am really excited to see more of it! Now how they’ll get out of the 6th Century IDK, but we’ll just have to wait.

Okay, back to the res tof the episode. As I said, pretty much the entire episode is CGI animated. it’s the first major CGI fight in the season, and it was awesome. Okay it was mostly running, but it was fun to watch. Tucker plowing the Warthog into Gus was freakin’ badass. The voice acting was also on point. I have never laughed harder at Jason Saldana’s performance than I have today and Becca continues to crush it as Sister. Seriously, going all Xena with the ‘alalala!’ war-cry had me dying. An ProZD as Atus... OMG ProZD. He was fantastic in this episode and it added so much to Atlus as a character. Like he is just enjoying the show and is so unimpressed with Tucker and Sister even when they win. His animation where he’s just celebrating watching Gus winning was also so freakin’ fantastic and again, dds to the character. Seriously, I wasn’t sure what to think of Atlus before, but he has already become one of my fav RvB villain ever after this episode alone.

So onto Gus... I have no idea how Joe talked him into this. I mean he’s done worst and IDT anything will be as bad as when he did the Baby Gus RT Short. That short man... anyways! I think Gus did really well! It felt like he was truly interacting with the environment. He didn’t have to do much acting aside form grunting and going around wildly, but it felt like he was playing a monstrous cyclops. Credit also to Joe and his directing. I don’t know what inspired him to do this, but OMG I am so glad he did. I mean it looks weird and it’s ridiculous.., but it’s RvB. It’s always been weird and ridiculous. Plus using live action again sells the effect that the cyclops is a monster compared to what we’re used to with the machinima. It sold the effect really well. So kudos to Joe and to Gus because shooting this and then editing it in had to be a nightmare. 

It’s why I don’t think the episode was at all pointless. I mean we DO have some minor things. We find out that Kalirama is Atlus’ sister, the villain is indeed a locked up time God, get a taste of how powerful the Cosmic Powers forces are, have some characterization for Atlus, setup for Grif and Huggins’ plot, an actual fight scene after so long, and it FINALLY ties in the medieval scene. It’s also huge on a cinematic scale, which is probably why it’s only 7 minutes. I mean Joe and his team had to fully animate the episode, shoot Gus’ scenes where he’s pretty much just interacting with air, combined the footage together, likely do re-shoots if the live action was even slightly off, edit it all together with the machinima, and... yeah. This was likely a huge pain in the ass to do for everyone involved. But I appreciate that they did. Joe is going above and beyond what he has to do. he could just do solely machinima and it would be fine. But he’s trying new things, implementing more CGI, and taking the show to the next level. Is it a hit? That's for one to decide on their own. I think it worked here, but I don’t think they should regularly implement live action as they did. Special occasions are fine though. But I still appreciate Joe trying things and putting in the effort when he doesn't have to. He wants to make the show as good as he can, and I can absolutely respect that.

Final Thoughts

Did they hype this one too much? Maybe a little. It was not what I was expecting at all. But I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Again, I appreciate them going out of their way to do this. Plus the animation, dialogue, and voice acting were really good. Can I understand why people don’t like this episode and are getting weary of the season? Absolutely yes. I do hope that Joe starts to speed up the plot soon. But I still had a fun time watching the episode, and in the end, that’s what matters: having a good time. It was weird and ridiculous and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

[glitterysummerkitty]

Dr Bombshell & Mr Hollywood

Prologue// Chpt 1// Chpt 2// Chpt 3// Chpt 4// Chpt 5// Chpt 6// Chpt 7// Chpt 8// Chpt 9// Chpt 10

Chapter 11

      Behind his eyes, in a state of deep slumber, he saw a pair of deep, mesmerizing ocean with golden waves and soft but plump, intricately carved lips, painted a sinful red. They only kindled intoxicating and wild thoughts in his head. He wanted to keep admiring her, not let his gaze slip away even for a second, for he knew that if he did she would be gone and he didn’t want her gone. He wanted to reach out and pull her into his arms. But God! That annoying noise in his ears won’t go away.

      Jake groaned, as the mystic being began to slip back into the depths of his sub- conscious memory, out of his reach.

“What! Whoever this is you better have a very good reason for waking me up in middle of a damn sexy dream.”, he yelled frustrated into the phone without even looking at who it was.

“It’s your mother.”, came the cheeky reply and Jake nearly dropped his phone, now fully awake.

“Mom!”, he squeaked. His eyes scrambled to check the time on the alarm clock and saw it was only seven in the morning. Had he missed the alarm or did he slap it shut and went back to his dream? He couldn’t be sure.

“Jheez mom. Why are you calling at this hour? Is everything alright?”, he mumbled, embarrassed at his earlier statement. It was his personal phone and he knew that his parents wouldn’t call this early, unless there was an absolute need, so he had assumed that it was either Maggie or his brother- in- law or someone else entirely.

“Yes everything’s alright. I am standing in the lobby of your building. It would be great if you could allow me in.”, this made Jake sit up straight and even more alert.

“Wait. You’re here? In New York?”, he felt incredulous.

“Yes.”

“On my way.”, he said and scrambled out the bed. He grabbed his t- shirt from the arm chair and wore it. It smelled and needed to go into the laundry basket immediately, but for now they would have to do. Grabbing his house key card he dashed off to meet his mother.

      When the two walked back into his apartment, Naomi was greeted by an enthusiastic Remus, Jake’s 2 year old Labrador. She bent down to pet him and scratched his ears. Remus whined happily and asked for more.

“I am sorry I interrupted your sexy dream by the way.”, Naomi suppressed a grin as she stood up to follow Jake to the kitchen area.

“Jheez mom. I didn’t know it was you sorry.”, Jake mumbled without meeting his mother’s eyes as he filled a glass of water and passed it to her.

“May I know to what do I owe this surprise visit? Not that I mind. It’s just you didn’t call or say anything about visiting New York.”, Jake asked glancing at her.

“Well...”, Naomi looked around in the kitchen before replying, “How about I make some coffee and breakfast for us while you take a much needed shower and change of clothes? I will tell you all about my visit while we eat.”

      Jake sighed but listened to her and began to re- trace his steps towards his room. He had been trimming his beard when he heard his mother in his room, whining and chastising about what a mess his room was.

“It looks like a storm had ripped apart this room... Oh God! Have mercy! How long have these clothes been not washed? They smell as if they have never been washed... A Dorito bag, candy wrappers! Lord have mercy!”, on and on went Naomi.

      Jake listened to all of it silently and chuckled to himself. In his defence he had just returned from a two day short notice trip to DC. Quickly going about his business he stepped out with a towel tied around his waist. By the time he stepped out his mother had left but not before fixing his room partly. Jake walked across the room to and entered the closet. He flicked the light on and grabbed a pair of fresh clothes and quickly got dressed, his mind still occupied with the woman in his dreams, the woman he had seen at Gustavo’s.

      By the time Jake made his way down back to the kitchen, there was a feast waiting for him at the large dining table made from Bubinga wood. It cost him a fortune but he thought that its elegance and rarity was worth the price. The piece was quite unique and Maggie had been envying ever since she had first laid her eyes on it.

“Mom you didn’t have to cook so much. A simple meal of pancakes and bacon would have sufficed.”, he kissed her on the cheek before taking a seat.

“It’s not like I make you breakfast every day.”, Naomi patted his arm before serving him some baked eggs, Italian style.

“How are you? It’s been so long since I last saw you.”, she poured herself some coffee before sitting next to him and facing. Jake dug into his over flowing plate, confused what to try first.

“I am great ma. How are you? And why aren’t you anything?”, he remarked eyeing her empty plate. Naomi waved off his concerns.

“Don’t worry about me. I need some coffee first. Besides I already ate during my flight here, so I might eat some later.”, Naomi assured. Jake nodded and took a Ham and Cheese roll up. He shut his eyes and relished the delicious flavour of the food.

“So you still haven’t told me the reason for your sudden visit.”, he points out, chewing his food.

“First of all, don’t talk when chewing your food. Second of all, I am here for work. Maybe you can say that.”, Naomi ran a finger along the rim of the coffee mug, as she briefly contemplated on where to start.

“I recently stumbled upon a book that interested me and although it was a little...”, Naomi raised the mug to her lips and took a large gulp of her coffee as she searched for the right words. “The book was very different with really strange characters and then the ending of the story was then even stranger. Until I talked to the writer, it hadn’t made much sense. But ever since the writer of the book, Lynne Brooks, explained a few things. I sensed that this might be really a good book. There’s just something about it. So I am here to meet her. She’s promised me to explain in much more detail.”

      Jake inhaled his food happily but carefully listened to everything his mother had to say. When she had finally finished talking he decided to ask his queries.

“I have never heard of this author before.”, he took a sip of his coffee.

“She’s new. But she’s already sold about ten thousand copies which is a great considering it isn’t like one of those traditional stories. It has elements such as love, passion, affairs, crime, and what not.”, Naomi informed.

“What really attracted you to the book?”, Jake was curious.

“I have no idea Jake.”, Naomi sighed. She really didn’t know why she had picked up the book in the first place or continued to read it even after it had gotten a little frustrating to read in between.

“I don’t know what caused me to read the book but I can tell you what compelled me to fly across the country to meet her. I really like some of the things she has mentioned in her e- mail. I like how she has portrayed love in a much different light. I mean it’s something that isn’t much written about. It’s not all fancy and frilly. It’s more realistic I suppose?”, Naomi placed her empty mug back on the table. Jake scratched the back of his head. Having finished his breakfast he had turned to his side as well, to face his mother. He poured another mug of coffee for himself and considered his mother’s words. He could sense that she was genuinely captivated by the book. If she believed in the story so much Jake knew that he would be interested in it too. He knew his mother too well to know that she wouldn’t be this fascinated by an idea if it didn’t mean something.

“Alright. I am convinced. But... If you are thinking of adapting this into a screenplay then I would like for my production house to help produce it.”, Jake smiled at his mother.

“Well. I really appreciate that but I am not thoroughly convinced yet. Only after I meet her and talk to her will I think about it.”, Naomi replied.

“Hhmm... When are you meeting her?”, Jake got up and began to gather the dishes and the mugs.

“Tonight. I am meeting her for dinner at Central Café.”, she joined in helping her son but Jake stopped her.

“Mom I can do it. Just relax.”, he chastised her. “You know what? I am free today. Do you want me to join you?”

“Hhmm... I don’t think that would be necessary.”, Naomi fiddled with her phone, answering a text from Claire, Lynne’s literary agent while Jake put the rest of the food away.

“Are you sure? I mean I don’t mind at all.”, Jake asked again. He dumped the soiled dishes and utensils into the dishwasher, a heap of powder and shut the door.

“Ya. I am sure. Besides I am glad you are free today. I have something else to discuss with you as well.”, Naomi put her phone away and patted the seat next to her on the couch. Jake groaned. He knew what was coming.

“Mom can we please literally talk about anything else than that?”, he slumped next to her and leaned his back.

“Oh good! You figured it out. So I can get straight to the point then.”, Naomi cheered.

“Mom seriously don’t, please.”

“What happened with Tia?”, she asked.

“Who?”, Jake was genuinely surprised and this upset Naomi a bit. Tia was one of her close friend’s daughter.

“The girl I introduced you to at Laurel’s party months ago.”, there was slight irk in her voice that Jake caught. He really didn’t remember her thou. It’s wasn’t like he went out with a different girl every night. He had been working too much for that.

“I honestly don’t know who you are talking about. I have been working and nothing else.”, Jake said.

“Jake...”, Naomi sighed. Jake braced himself. “Work is always going to be there. Always. You are thirty seven now. That’s not going to last trust me.”

“Mommmm.... I am aware of that. I just don’t have the time for it.”, he whined as he slid a little down the couch and let the back of his head rest on the couch.

“You don’t have time because you’re not making time for it.”, Naomi pulled her legs up and tucked them together on the side and turned to face Jake. Reaching out, she ran her hand through his unruly hair. “I know you have been hurt in the past Jake. Several times you thought this was it only to find your heart broken but it isn’t going to be like that always.”

“I know but with these really amazing projects lined up and with Zenith Productions just starting out, I simply don’t have enough time. Don’t you think if I involve a woman in my life at this point, it would be totally unfair to her.”, Jake reasoned although he knew that he could totally handle it. If the woman was worthy of it.

      Naomi knew it was pointless. Of course she knew all about his projects and how much effort he would have to put into his production company but, she also knew that Jake was throwing himself in work because he didn’t want to think about anything else. She had a certain slim as a pin actress to blame for that. Tessie Stamos maybe slaying the Hollywood and winning hearts around the globe but she isn’t going to win her heart ever. She had never liked her and now detested her even more after everything she had put Jake through.

      Seeing his mother deep in thought Jake closed his eyes. Her mind maybe occupied with coming up with new ways to convince him but at least her fingers were still running through his hair. Jake would never admit it but he loved how it felt. Then it abruptly stopped and Naomi pulled her hand away. Thanks to whoever was calling on her mobile phone, he thought.

      As Naomi spoke to the caller, Jake’s mind drifted back to the woman. My, my! Was she a definition of beauty or what? There was so much innocence in her tantalising turquoise eyes and yet at the same time it felt like she was a sagacious woman who had seen enough of the world. There was also that mystery and pain and then there was that sparkle of curiosity. Jake had never met another person whose eyes could express so many things at the same time. His gaze had slipped smoothly down her defined nose and ended on her luscious red lips. They had been parted slightly and glistening under the harsh yellow lights of the restaurant.

      She was truly exotic, mysterious and extremely beautiful. He had never seen such a beautiful girl in his life and that was something considering he belonged to a profession where he was surrounded by beautiful women on a daily basis. Like an iron to a magnet, he had found himself getting pulled towards her and he would have gone ahead and talked to her had that man not stepped in.

      Of course it had to be Ancil! That Bastard! He had been meddling in his life since school days. The way he had looked at the woman it seemed he was also trapped in her charms. At first Jake had thought they were together and had instantly left but afterwards when he kept replaying the night in his head he realised that the other women at the table had been curious and lost at seeing Ancil stand there by their table.

        Whatever it was, Jake had gone back to Gustavo’s five times since that night. He had even asked around and then asked Gustavo himself but nobody seemed to know who she was. Now he didn’t know Gustavo well enough to ask him to check for the reservations and collect contact details of whoever had booked the table. Jake didn’t think that Gustavo would appreciate such a request. He sighed wondering where he could find her, in such a huge city, where more than millions of people lived.

[gokinjeespot]

off the rack #1241

Monday, December 17, 2018

 I got sucked into the vortex that happens this time of year for social events that I couldn't avoid. We went out to dinner on Friday at Grow Your Roots Café in Kanata with our vegetarian friends to celebrate my and Brian's birthdays, which are two weeks apart in December. I actually enjoyed my beyond meat burger platter. Way better than A&W's, although to be fair I haven't had the fast food version yet, but Brian has. And their fries were excellent too. Saturday was date night with dinner at the Yangtze Restaurant on Somerset Street and then crossing Arthur Street to Bar Robo to see the Tony D Trio. I've always wanted to see Tony D play live and this was a great chance to do that. It was intimate and we got a great table. We stayed for both sets and got home just before midnight. Not bad for an old fogey. The rocking music helped me stay awake. Sunday morning found us at the Carleton Tavern having breakfast at 9 AM. We try to see Sam the chef before Christmas and wish him and his family all the best for the holidays. Sam spoils us. You can tell he piles a lot more food on our plates than for other diners. You get that when you've patronized a place for 40 years. And finally, I venture out tonight to go see the Aquaman movie with my Jee-Riz partner Chris. I hear Amber Heard is in it.

 X-23 #7 - Mariko Tamaki (writer) Diego Olortegui (pencils) Walden Wong (inks) Chris O'Halloran (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). X-Assassin part 1. You can safely jump onto this book right here with this new story. Laura and Gabby help out the NYPD with a serial murder case and the killer is something brand new. I like the connection between the assassin, X-23 and Honey Badger and the new art team did a great job so I'm going to keep reading.

 Doctor Strange: The Best Defense #1 - Gerry Duggan (writer) Greg Smallwood (art) VC's Cory Petit (letters). By the Vishanti was this ever good. These Defender one-shots are thoroughly worth reading if you're a big Marvel Fan. Greg did a wonderful tribute to Steve Ditko in a two page spread and I loved his Clea. The stabby guy in the bed sheet is still killing aliens too.

 The Silver Surfer: The Best Defense #1 - Jason Latour (writer & art) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). My hopes for all of the Defenders one-shots to be stellar were dashed with this one. Norrin Radd doesn't even appear until way later in the story. It starts off incomprehensibly with a bunch of aliens and ends with a lot of new age gobbledy goop that the Surfer spouts while floating in space. The crazy knife wielding Halloween ghost only shows up in two panels so that was disappointing as well. The only thing I liked was when the Surfer's board takes off eh.

 Magic Order #5 - Mark Millar (writer) Olivier Coipel (art) Dave Stewart (colours) Peter Doherty (letters). This is the penultimate issue with many shocking revelations. It sets up next issue's conclusion beautifully. I can hardly wait to find out what happens.

 Miles Morales: Spider-Man #1/LGY #241 - Saladin Ahmed (writer) Javier Garron (art) David Curiel (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Yay! This did not suck. I was so afraid that the new Miles book would not stand up to the high standard that I put on it when Brian Michael Bendis was writing his adventures. Saladin Ahmed did an excellent job here and it helped that Javier Garron's art rocked the whole issue. You get all you need to know to enjoy this Spider-Man even if you didn't read the 240 issues leading up to this. I admit I did a little eye roll when the super villain showed up but then there's a twist that made me give a cheer. I can't wait for the next issue, and that's the magic that Brian used to make that kept me reading.

 The Batman Who Laughs #1 - Scott Snyder (writer) Jock (art) David Baron (colours) Sal Cipriano (letters). I was going to give this 6-issue mini a pass because I didn't like the whole Dark Nights Metal storyline but I thought I'd give Scott Snyder another chance. He presents a very different kind of dark knight that I still do not like so I won't finish reading this story either, but that's just me. If you want to see what happens when Batman gets turned into the Joker (WTF?) then you'll want to read this.

 Goddess Mode #1 - Zoe Quinn (writer) Robbi Rodriguez (art) Rico Renzi (colours) Simon Bowland (letters). This new Vertigo book takes place in a very colourful future where folks live in a virtual reality because the real world sucks. Cassandra Price is a coder who works for the corporation that controls the VR. A glitch sends her into another reality and there she meets three other women and I think they go fight evil forces. This book is very bright and very tech and text heavy. I felt like I didn't get to know Cassandra very well before she gets transformed into a goddess and her situation is very confusing. This book is not to my taste unfortunately.

 The Unstoppable Wasp #3/LGY #11 - Jeremy Whitley (writer) Gurihiru (art) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). A.I.M. has broken into Pym Labs to steal tech and Nadia must save her friends and keep the bad guys from getting away. These foes are quite formidable and even with the help of the original Wasp and Mockingbird, the bad guys win. I like the new A.I.M. villains and want to learn more about them.

 Avengers #11/LGY #701 - Jason Aaron (writer) Ed McGuinness & Cory Smith (pencils) Mark Morales, Scott Hanna & Karl Kesel (inks/finishers) Erick Arciniega (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). It's the calm before the next storm. According to the cover Jason's other story in Thor, "The War of the Realms", will cross over into this book in 4 months. Meanwhile, T'Challa meets with some international super heroes to try and form an alliance to keep the world safe. Thor and She-Hulk go on a date and Phil Coulson explains why there's a Squadron Supreme of America. See, it's not always massive alien invasions and war with Namor.

 Fantastic Four Wedding Special #1 - This lead in one-shot to Fantastic Four #650 has 3 stories.

"(Invisible) Girls Gone Wild" by Gail Simone (writer) Laura Braga (art) Jesus Aburtov (colours) & VC's Joe Caramagna (letters) is a silly bachelorette party at a strip joint with Alicia's friends and some of Sue's super powered buddies. I expected better from Gail.

"Father Figure" by Dan Slott (writer) Mark Buckingham (pencils) Mark Farmer (inks) Matt Yackey (colours) & VC's Joe Caramagna (letters) reminded me of who Alicia's step-father is. I was touched as I remembered asking Mr. Fowler for Penny's hand in marriage. I loved the job the two Marks did. I would have sworn Jack Kirby drew this.

"The Puppet Master's Lament" by Fred Hembeck (writer & art) & Megan Wilson (colours) was a monologue recap of Ben and Alicia's relationship. It was typical Fred Hembeck humour.

You really don't have to read this since there's nothing here that impacts the wedding much but it's a nice accompaniment to the big day.

 Sasquatch Detective #1 - Brandee Stilwell (creator & writer). This $7.99 US 64-page special continues the beloved tradition of silly funny animal comic books that used to rule the racks. Too bad it doesn't cost 25 cents like back in the fifties. You get the origin story by Ron Randall (art) Ross Campbell (colours) & Dave Sharpe (letters). This will tell you how Tonya Mae Lightfoot from the Appalachian Mountains leaves her Sasquatch family to go to Los Angeles and join the LAPD. What follows are five short stories where Tonya solves crimes. I would not have wanted to read this big book normally, but the art throughout is really good. Thanks to Gustavo Vazques (art) & Chris Sotomayor (colours) in "Sasquatch Anniversary"; Gustavo Vazques (art) & Ross Campbell (colours) in "Unsolved Mysteries", "Neighbourhood Watch", "Arrest and Relaxation" & "Smoke and Mirrors". There are even some cameos by some DC heroes as a bonus.

 Batman Annual #3 - Tom Taylor (writer) Otto Schmidt (art) A Larger World's Troy Peteri (letters). If Tom King ever leaves Batman I hope that Tom Taylor takes over the writing chores. I love when Alfred is featured but only if it's very well written and this story is very well written indeed. The relationship between Alfred and Batman/Bruce is special and this story proves just how special. If you're a Batman fan but don't normally get the annual, you have to get this one.