#joan's beard

[seleneakp]

"No one normal could have done that. Do you know, this morning... I was on a train that went through a city that wouldn't exist if it wasn't for you. I bought a ticket from a man who would likely be dead if it wasn't for you. I read up on my work... a whole field of scientific inquiry that only exists because of you. Now, if you wish you could have been normal... I can promise you I do not. The world is an infinitely better place precisely because you weren't."

-Joan Clarke, "The Imitation Game"

[archivedcoach]

thinking abt the beard family again

[ellethespaceunicorn]

Nothing More Than An Animal

Title: Nothing More Than An Animal

Rating: Explicit, 18+, Minors - DNI

Pairing: Henry!Wolverine (Cavillrine) x Female!Reader

Word Count: 2.6K

Summary: After entering a dangerous biker bar alone, you’re almost assaulted. You are saved by a mutant with metal claws who might be more animal than man.

Warnings: alcohol use, swearing, unwanted attention, bar fight, Wolvie being Wolvie, unprotected p-in-v sex, creampie, mention of bodily fluids, claw kink

Beta: @peyton-warren

A/N: The title is taken from this quote from Savage Wolverine #13: “Most people think I'm nothing more than an animal!” Thank you to my amazing beta, Peyton, for giving me this idea in the first place.

Dividers by me

Support/Reblog banner by me

Cover Art by me

My Masterlist

You couldn’t help yourself. You stand across the street from the biker bar, a flickering streetlamp above you casting an off-white haze. The only thing keeping you from entering the establishment is your sense of self-preservation. This place, Torque Tavern, screams danger. But that only draws you in further.

You’re dressed in your usual style: your favorite Joan Jett shirt with the sleeves cut off, a denim jacket, a pair of figure-hugging black jeans, and a pair of Doc Martens boots. While normally you walk around with a sense of power, tonight was different.

A chill in the air makes you wrap your arms around yourself. You step off the curb into a dirty puddle, crossing the street after looking both ways. With your hand on the bar door, you pull it open and step inside.

The smell of stale beer and tobacco smoke hits your nostrils as the door closes behind you. A dozen heads turn to you, and your heart pounds. You look across the dimly lit room and notice one person who hasn’t paid you any attention, sitting on a stool at the L-shaped bar. You walk up and sit on a stool, a couple of seats away from the large man.

While you wait for the bartender to attend to you, you peek at the behemoth that sits near you. Wild, dark hair that comes to a point on each side, bushy sideburns, and a non-connecting beard outline his face. A white tank top stretches across his wide, thick frame. Bulbous, sweaty biceps glisten in the glow of the lights behind the bar. Hairy, veiny forearms lead down to strong hands: one grips around a lowball of amber liquid so tight that his knuckles are white, and the other balances a fat cigar between two fingers.

“Take a picture, bub, it’ll last longer,” the stranger says, letting out a plume of smoke from his chapped lips before turning his tidepool blue eyes on you.

After a few seconds that feel like minutes, you’re finally able to turn around and look away, mumbling an apology. You can still feel his eyes on you for a bit before he turns back to his drink and his solitude.

Your eyes shoot up once the bartender knocks on the bartop in front of you. “What’ll you have?”

“Uh, yeah. Moosehead and a shot of J.P. Wiser’s,” you reply, unsurprised when the bartender raises a brow at you. He then shrugs, cracks open a bottle of lager, and sets it in front of you. Grabbing a shot glass, he pours you a bit of the blended whiskey.

As soon as the light golden liquor is pushed toward you, you lift it and inhale the vanilla aroma. Tossing it back, the taste of licorice and cinnamon cascades over your tongue and down your throat. You exhale the burn and turn your attention to your lager.

You notice the murmurs behind you. A chair is pushed away from a table, and heavy boots are walking up behind you. A strong hand lands on your shoulder, and you freeze. “Hey, doll. Can I buy you a drink?”

You hold up your beer and decline, “I’m fine, honey.”

“Aw, come on. Just one drink. Promise I don’t bite, ‘less you want me to,” the source of the voice laughs, coming around to lean on the bar between you and the cigar-smoking stranger, his bald head glistening in the low light as he strokes his long, scraggly beard. His beer belly is barely contained in a Limp Bizkit shirt. This man is a walking red flag, and you roll your eyes and shake your head.

“Look, pal. Let me enjoy the drink I have, ok? This is my one fucking night off this week, and I’m not in the mood to let you ruin it with any of your shitty pick-up lines or the promise of hanging out with you and the rest of the rejects from Sons of Anarchy, got it?” You surprised yourself by bellowing these words to a stranger, one who could probably benchpress you with ease.

You flinch as his expression turns dark and he raises a hand. “You stuck-up little bitch, I ought to—”

The cigar-smoking stranger interrupts, seizing him by the throat and lifting him effortlessly off the ground as if he were a mere feather. While holding him aloft with one hand, the other hand balls into a fist while sharp blades appear from his knuckles.

He’s a mutant! You’d never seen anyone use their abilities up close, but now a man with incredible strength and metal claws is gallantly defending your honor.

“I think the lady has everything she needs, so why don’t you and your little friends scurry along before I get really angry and carve you up in front of everyone, eh?”

The sound of a pump-action shotgun being cocked has every head whipping to the bartender. “Get out of my bar, freak!”

The mutant simply turns and deposits the asshole on the ground in a crumpled mess. Blowing another puff of smoke into the ceiling, he throws back the rest of his drink before grabbing a bottle of whiskey from behind the bar and walking out. Halfway to the door, he turns to you and asks, “You coming or what, bub?”

You couldn’t scramble off your stool quick enough after he challenged you to follow him. Stepping over the man left on the floor, you scurry after your mutant savior. Once back in the night air, you look over as he stuffs the bottle into the storage of his Harley-Davidson. As he swings his leg over the bike and settles into the seat, you can't help but notice the bike sagging under his weight, as if he weighs a ton.

He turns back to his storage, taking out a helmet and holding it out to you. You’ve seen enough movies to know that riding with a stranger is a dumb idea. However, if that mysterious stranger happens to be attractive and cruising on a Harley, who could resist the allure of a thrilling adventure?

Taking the helmet, you pull it down over your head and lift a leg to get onto the bike behind him. As he turns the key, you clench your thighs at the vibration and wrap your arms around his waist.

“You don’t have to hold me so tight,” he informs.

“Oh, this isn’t tight," you remark, suddenly realizing that you don't know what to call this man. You offer your name, and he repeats it before giving his own.

“The name’s Logan.” He drops his cigar butt on the asphalt and stubs it out with his boot before putting up the kickstand and backing out of the parking spot. He revs the engine, and you are off on your way to wherever Logan wants to take you.

The drive is smooth, the city whizzing past you as Logan speeds down the highway. You end up at a garage that houses a few more Harleys in various states of repair. Logan puts the kickstand down and lets you get off the bike first. He watches as you take off the helmet and look around at where he’s taken you.

Exiting the bike, he takes the helmet when you hold it out to him. You don’t miss the way his fingers lingered on yours for a beat. He takes the bottle out of his bike pack and takes a hefty swig, then hands it to you.

You read the label, ‘Forty Creek Confederation Oak’, and put the bottle to your lips. Tipping it, you are delighted to taste the honey flavor. Handing him the bottle, you hold the liquor in your mouth until it starts to burn, and then you swallow and exhale the nutty finish.

He appears to be quite taken aback that you managed to drink without gagging, and his intrigue deepens as you begin to move closer into his personal space. The warmth in your chest from the alcohol has you feeling full and content. The heat coming off of his body as you stand close enough to breathe in his air has you feeling something completely overwhelming: pheromone-induced arousal.

Your libido is making itself known as you watch him watch you. Unable to stop your hands, they find themselves smoothing up his tank-covered torso until you tug at the collar. He gets the hint and sets the bottle down before removing his shirt.

You encounter a soft, furry chest that invites you to sink your fingers into its warmth. Tightening your digits in the hair on his pretty pecs, you revel in the growl he makes. He then levels the playing field, grabbing you by the nape of the neck with one large paw and bringing your face to his.

As you part your lips, a soft whimper slips out, unable to be contained, while he teasingly brushes his tongue against your lower lip. Growling again, he dips further to slot your mouth with his. He devours the moans that come out of you as he grabs a handful of your ass, chuckling into the kiss as you let him take the lead. His tongue licks into your mouth, and you feel drunk on his whiskey-laden kiss.

Breaking the kiss, he pushes down on your shoulders until you are kneeling at his feet. You start to unfasten his tight-fitting jeans, but he swats your hands away.

“Not yet, bub,” he warns. “I wanna try something.”

With that, he has you pass him the bottle. He takes a drink and then holds your cheek against his denim-covered cock. You can sense that he’s packing quite a surprise down there, and you’re eagerly anticipating the moment it’s unleashed.

“Eyes on me,” he commands.

You watch as he takes the bottle and pours about a shot’s worth of liquor over his chest. Watching as the liquid washes over him, you are more than eager to taste it directly from his skin. After you’ve cleaned his chest of all traces, he takes another drink. This time, he holds your face by the jaw and leans down, spitting the whiskey directly into your mouth.

You gulp it down eagerly, on the verge of pleading for another sip, when he scoops you up from the ground and twirls you around, positioning you over the bike you arrived on. He yanks down your jeans, your panties going with them. He lands a slap on each cheek before you hear him unzip his pants and feel his heavy dick teasing your clit.

He kicks your legs open further, pulls your denim jacket off, and lines himself up with your soaked entrance. Sliding in, he hisses at the heat of your tightness. You whine at his girth, stretching you more than any other cock you’ve ever taken. Once he bottoms out, the tip kisses your cervix, and his hairy ball sac rests against your puffy pussy. He pauses to let you get used to his size, but as he continues to take his time, it seems he is just tormenting you.

“Logan, please. Need you to move,” you plead, wiggling your hips to get any kind of friction.

You don’t see the toothy grin that covers his face, but you know by the way he tightens his grip on your hips that he is about to fuck you ten ways from Sunday.

Gradually withdrawing his hips, he eases out until only the tip of his shaft stays nestled within you, and then he thrusts back in with force. Doing it again, and then again, he pauses after each thrust to tease you. But on the third plunge, he doesn’t stop; he just keeps driving into you.

The rhythmic sounds of your sweat-soaked skin colliding form a captivating tune, harmonizing with the slick, squelching rhythm of his thrusts deep inside you. Coupled with Logan's deep, primal growls and your breathy moans, it creates an intoxicating symphony of desire.

You sense one of his hands sliding away from your hip, pushing your top up your back, and then a sharp SNIKT! pierces the air. You almost turn to inquire where the sound came from, but you soon feel something razor-sharp and hot to the touch sliding down your back. Once you realize that he’s touching you with his claws, you’re overcome with arousal, and your walls flutter around him. He fucks you through your orgasm and retracts his claws.

He slows his hips, pulling out and moving you both over to a nearby armchair. Sitting down first, he crooks a finger at you, and you remove your jeans and boots before straddling his hips. As you lower yourself onto him, you feel him fill you once more, the sensation overwhelming as you settle in.

You close your eyes and begin to ride him slower than before. Before you know it, you feel hot steel, or what you assume to be steel, at your neck and open your eyes to see his fist a few inches from your face. The claws, held within a millimeter of your jugular, glide across your skin.

“Hey, bub? You gonna keep pussyfooting around, or are you gonna ride this cock like the good little slut I know you are?” He asks, his pupils dilated until there is barely any blue left.

Your mouth opens and closes, but there is no sound coming out besides whimpers of fear that he might push those claws through your neck. Honestly, it added an extra little something to the experience, feeling that he might cut you at any moment.

The claws disappear back into the skin between his knuckles, and instead, he wraps a hand around your neck, guiding you to ride his length exactly as he wants. Your hands hold his thick wrist as you impale yourself over and over again.

“That’s it. Ride my cock just like that,” he praises, sticking two fingers in your mouth that you gluttonously suck. He locks his gaze on yours while you reach another peak of pleasure, your inner walls tightening around him as you release a wave of warmth that cascades down his length and between his legs.

When you threaten to slow down, he fucks into you, chasing his release. At this point, you are drooling over his fingers and looking like the fucked-out little doll that you are. You can tell that he is close as his hips stutter and his brows furrow as he removes his fingers from your mouth.

“Come inside me, Logan. Want it, need it so bad,” you beg, moving your hips as he drives into you with an intensity that leaves you breathless. He lets out a throaty growl and buries himself to the hilt inside of you. Feeling him twitch inside you, rope after rope of his cum painting your cervix, you reach back and play with his balls.

It’s minutes before his cock softens enough to slip out of you, and you rest your head on his chest as his jizz drips from your thoroughly used hole. To your astonishment, his hand rises to gently stroke your back while you find yourself gripping his chest hair.

Little did you know, this was only round one with the big lug. He’ll let you get some shut-eye for now, but later? He’d like to fuck you on every available surface in his garage. And what he wants, he always gets.

A/N: I intentionally used a line from the X-Men (2000), but then failed at “Chekov’s Gun” sort of. But this story only has two acts. So, fuck Chekov. I hope you all enjoyed my little fuckfest here, and please do let me know what you thought!! Writers are fed by comments!

**Tag List**

@littlefreya @mrs-solo-walker @viking-raider

Let me know if you want to be added (or removed). 😁

[linkman447]

Professor jaune

Yang: so I heard port retired

Blake: that is the rumor going around

Weiss: about time if you ask me that old blow hard

Ruby: your only saying that because he scolded you on our first day

Below them team jnpr consisting of Joan arc, Pyrrha nikkos, Nora valkyrie , and lie rin (jaunes baby sister and tend a girl)

Joan: oh I know completely who it is

Nora: oo oo tell us fearless leader

Joan: nope I promised I wouldn’t and you know us arcs and promises

Weiss: more like you don’t know and are trying to look cool

Joan: hey why don’t you shove it ice queen

Ruby/pyrrha: play nice you two

The door at the front opens and all attention was on who enters a tall man with a helmet on

???: ok students Butts in seats, my name is jaune arc

Joan: see ice queen

Weiss just huffs

Jaune: I’ll be teaching you Grimm studies as well as helping in the other classes of the first years

Yang: he’s going to be a hard ass isn’t he’s probably hideous under that helmet

Joan: you wanna bet

Yang: your on

Jaune: are you to done, Joan don’t think just because your my baby sister I’m going to go easy on you

Joan: jaune take that stupid helmet off you look ridiculous

Jaune: but mom said I need to look intimidating

Joan: take it off

He sighs but relents grabbing the sides of his helmet and pulls up to reveal a handsome late 20’s blond man with his hair pulled into a ponytail and a nicely trimmed beard

Yang: 🤤🤤🤤🤤😳

Blake: *internally* humina humina humina

Weiss: oh my *my daddy issues*

Ruby: hmmm you look like my dad *oh gods I’m a sick perv like Blake*

Pyrrha: *pyrrha arc, no arkos ya that’s it

Nora: oh my gods you wanna arm wrestle

Rin using her semblance to keep herself in check: n-Nora please

Nora: awww ok

Jaune: ok then back to the lesson

[judec4ptor]

happy pride everybody!! i made a redesign of the clone high characters (consider this a redesign of these designs as well)

EDIT: I FORGOT ABOUT ABE'S BEARD!!!! SO THERE IT IS, THAT'S WHY IN THE CLOSE-UP IT'S NOT THERE, SORRY FOR THAT!!!

five hours of drawing and drawing for this... sigh...

below are headcanons and perhaps some explanations of the redesign⬇️ :>

Joan... it's hard to give her a headcanon about her sexuality but i think shes questioning!!

joan has a precious stone in her necklace, harriet gave it to her as a gift for her friendship!!!

her bracelet was given by frida (maybe harriet and frida like to give things to their friends idk)

and thats it !!

JFK!! hes bisexual lmfao!! for me, he started to question himself after the chapter where joan pretends to be a boy, and then in the present he already realized that... well, he liked both

I gave him a sweatshirt, since in most series, movies, etc, jocks wear them ;p

harriet!! she (like joan) is questioning her sexuality lmfao

i gave her a vest because... well, there's no explanation, I just thought it would look good on her

and yes, i made her a little chubbier because that's my headcanon lololo!!!!

confucius!! hes a transman and pansexual :)

not much to add beyond his slightly different clothes and hair

cleo... she is a lesbian, as I believe her relationships with men never worked out and were only for interest, while with frida it is different

my headcanon is that in the 2000's she used to straighten her hair, and nowadays she leaves it curly :3

abe... oh abe i love him!! (in season 3 he was meh sorry) he is a closet bisexual (he has a lot to think about) and uh has a weird friendship/enemies with topher

as you can see, he shares a bracelet with someone... but with who??🤔🤔

EDIT: OH GOD I JUST REMEMBERED THAT ABE HAS A RACCOON TAIL!!

FRIDA!!! shes a lesbian and (maybe) she is within the non-binary spectrum

I can't add much either, in the original image you can see that I changed her clothes a bit lfmao!! the paint stains on her pants are now patches, as I think she tore a lot of her pants because of her skateboard tricks

AND FINALLY THE LAST ONE... TOPHER!! hes gay (duh)

in the first season of the reboot he is in denial, in the new season I feel that he has more accepted his sexuality

I can't add much either hehe!! i just change his clothes and stuff

and yes, he shares a bracelet with abe :3 (they have been wearing that bracelet since before THAT, but they do not want to take it off)

and thats it😭😭

[morganbritton132]

Crazy idea they dress Ozzy and Joan up in crazy costumes for event and holidays. Or when Ozzy goes on tour with Steve and Eddie 😂

Oh man, I love this.

Jonathan is secure in the knowledge that if he woke up one morning to his entire career being over that he’d still have work taking pictures of Steve and Eddie’s pets.

Jonathan doesn’t even live in the same state as them, but Steve pays him to take their holiday pictures every year. For every holiday.

Steve will come up with a concept and then workshop it with Eddie until they find something tastefully unhinged. They will either spend hours looking for where to buy the costume, try to make them themselves, or commission a local seamstress. It is a highlight to Steve’s Facebook friends.

It’s almost something that has never made it off of Steve’s Facebook until very recently. Steve’s page is private and he’s pretty particular about who he’s befriending on Facebook, so up until Jonathan did a reddit AMA, that’s where it remained.

Someone asked him what the most unhinged photoshoot he’s done, and he explained that he had a friend that recently commissioned him to photograph their pets dressed as presidents for Presidents Day. He says, “The real divas are the cats. They don’t listen to anything.”

People beg to see the pictures, so Jonathan posted one.

In the photo, it’s none other than infamous rockstar Eddie Munson, his husband, their dog, and their cat dressed as the presidents on Mount Rushmore. Ozzy is dressed as Teddy Roosevelt with round glasses and a fake mustache. He is taking the photo seriously. Joan is dressed as Abraham Lincoln with a little beard and top hat. She looks like she’s smiling with her fangs sticking out.

It is the only good picture Jonathan got that day.

[menacewithawolfcut]

gender is a performance, but i have never been to a single acting class (a long rant/stream-of-consciousness piece)

.

i am nothing and multiple things at once, changing depending on the context of interactions with my environment

no single word is able to fully describe my essence

i am no just a man, i am no just a woman, i am no just something else

my feeling of innate self is directly tied to my performance and how satisfied i feel performing

because none of us lives in a vacuum, and if i were in a vacuum, just by myself i am nothing, because then the performance does not serve its purpose, because it is sociological in its nature

however, there are certain things about this performance i do enjoy, or at least i think i might enjoy if i try, just for the sake of it, or, on the contrary, there are things i do not like and i feel rather repulsed by them

sometimes i close my eyes and try imagine myself being one these characters

a tired sailor, with a ragged face and a trimmed beard, smoking tobacco out of his pipe and taking a shot of whiskey, looking longingly into the distance, thinking of his wife

a stay-at-home wife, weaving threads, foraging for mushrooms and berries in the nearby forest, walking through a farmer’s market with a beautiful woven basket in her hand, and gently fixing her hair as she leans in to take a better look at the food sold there

a young ambitious student who also writes poetry and who also experiences secret homoerotic yearning towards his fellow male comrade from his university

a joan of arc-like knight, skilled and fierce in battle, a gentle lover of a woman they are fond of

i like all of these characters a lot. i would love to play these roles. i think they would feel like those clothes which fit you perfectly and you feel so confident going out in the world with them on

despite loving the idea of „wearing” a very gendered „costume”, there are some gendered things i do not like

i almost flinch every time someone calls me a woman or addresses me by she/her, i feel much more comfortable when perceived masculine or neutrally, however it does not feel complete or fully accurate all the time either

as for my body, i despise my voice and my chest almost at all times and contexts, sometimes to point it is physically painful

i feel imprisoned within my mortal flesh and by the way i am perceived by everyone around me because of it

when i was a bit younger and was still living in my home country, i was being gendered as male far more often, and even still sometimes strangers from my diaspora gender me as male, but now i am almost always being „ma’am”-ed by locals, which a bit confuses me, since the cultural differences are not supposed to be too vast in my case, and also when i look at myself in the mirror i cannot understand what apart from my voice makes me so „clockable”

eventually, i am just a consciousness within a body that tries to present itself in a way that it feels most comfortable at the moment, sometimes feeling more „masculine”, sometimes more „feminine”, sometimes „somewhere in between”, without it necessarily making me feel „fully like a a man” or „fully like a woman”, but also if i could have chosen, i would prefer to have a „cis male” body as a „shell” containing my mind, or the „canvas”, for expressing myself more accurately to the outer world

[whatthebodygraspsnot]

#me going ‘hot new neighbor older ian and smitten flirty mickey / is that anything’ and just thinking about it a lot -> 🤲 right here pls

oh boy cross. oh boy cross.

(age difference - 22/32)

mickey and mandy live together and are really close to the handful of neighbors on their street (all ages/personalities/occupations). like they've formed this family and spend a lot of time together. it's so normal for them to eat dinner together during the week that they have a rotation on who hosts and cooks. lil commune, almost.

this new guy moves into the empty house next to mickey and mandy and everyone's kinda ehhh about it until they start introducing themselves one by one. mandy gets a call from Joan two houses down and is on for a LONG time. when she gets off and comes into the living room it's with some scalding gossip for mickey. the new neighbor is apparently a total dreamboat and the kindest mf on the planet and mandy declares that she's going over to welcome him IMMEDIATELY.

when she comes back she is BUZZING with how charming and funny and down to earth this guy is and mickey is all uh huh...yup...etc. because surely this is just female hysteria (mickey you can't say that). but then he actually meets ian. idk how. idk when. running into him coming home from work? idk. and like.......wow, god damn the ladies were not kidding. dude may have a decade on him but he's all built and strong and has a beard and glasses and possibly worst of all, he's very nice. very charming. but all the fawning behind the scenes is really getting on mickey's nerves, so it kind of taints it a little.

yada yada yada oh my god ian is coming to dinner. Joan has invited him into their little circle. it goes really well and everyone gets along really good and mickey's just sitting there wondering how one man can look so impossibly hot while sheepishly dodging stray compliments. eventually theyre cleaning up and it's somehow just mickey and ian and it's nice. it's really comfortable. ian is really cool and has good advice from that extra decade.

time jump. lots of dinners and hanging out with the group. one night mickey hits up his other gay friend and they secretly go to the gay bar a little past the city limit. mickey's still in the closet, even to mandy, so he needs these nights to just like...exist. him and the friend are getting drunk as fuck. mickey is laughing and goes to wobble his way to the bathroom and accidentally runs into this tall dude who turns around and ope! guess who it is! uh oh! but is it uh oh? because mickey may be getting outted, but ian's also here for the same reason. and they're kinda just standing there for a second, their smiles falling and their brains turning with this new information, and then ian gets pulled back along track by someone.

next dinner. everyone is very normal and fine but ian and mickey are chomping at the bit. when dinner's over, mickey practically drags ian into another room and goes through the whole "you can't tell anybody, alright? nobody knows" song and dance. and ian is like "yeah no of course not. and i hope that would extend to me too." and they make a pact that this knowledge will stay between them.

which is very easy. except for the fact that mickey comes to the realization that oh fuck, they are compatible. oh fuck, he really likes ian as a person. oh fuck, he knows there's that decade between them but he would drop to his knees for him in a heartbeat if ian asked him to. which he doesn't. and doesn't. and doesn't. but mickey's getting more and more attracted to him and actually, the whole beard/glasses/life experience thing is really fucking hot to him.

so he starts trying to flirt. starts laying the groundwork. mowing the lawn with his shirt off. asking ian if he wants to work out in the garage together. keeping his bedroom light on while he undresses in front of the window. he even opens it one night when he sees ian's window open too and lets just say...puts on a show, not truly knowing if ian can hear him, but hoping so.

idk how it ends. idk how far it goes. all i know is ian is Very cognizant of the age difference and makes great strides to keep everything at an arm's length. SEXUAL TENSION (bass boosted). but mickey is mickey. and mickey has a lot of fun trying to get ian to fuck him.

[laundrybiscuits]

(FINE I guess this is a series now. whatever.)

“He’s where,” says Steve. 

“Off to see the wizard, my dude.” Argyle passes him a pipe. Steve’s not really sure where it came from or when Argyle packed it, but he’s got manners, so he takes a hit and hands it off to Jonathan. 

“Murray,” elaborates Jonathan, on an exhale. “The…you know. Oh wow, I guess you’ve never met Murray either. That’s weird, right? I mean, you were there, you were just…”

“Babysitting, probably,” says Steve. “Wait, why is Eddie meeting this guy?”

Argyle gestures in a big loopy way. It reminds Steve a little bit of how Eddie waves his arms around. “Eddie’s on, like, a spiritual journey. A dream quest, but…real life. The realest.”

“Not spiritual like church,” adds Jonathan. “Like, gay spirit. Is that a thing? Shit, why doesn’t anyone know Murray.”

“I don’t know Murray either, man,” says Argyle. 

“Is…Murray a real person?” Steve asks. He doesn’t think it’s an unreasonable question.

“Yes! Jesus. He’s real, okay? Nancy knows Murray, we—yeah. Nancy knows him.” Jonathan looks kind of dour and depressed, but he always sort of looks like that. 

“How’s Nancy doing?” Steve doesn’t really want to know, but it seems like the polite thing to say. 

“We’re fine,” says Jonathan. 

“Okay,” says Steve, who hadn’t asked that at all.

“Everything’s fine,” Jonathan repeats. Argyle reaches over to pat Jonathan on the head, then takes the pipe from Jonathan’s hand. 

———

“Hm,” says Murray. It’s hard to tell what he’s thinking behind all the facial hair and glasses. “Okay, I don’t usually do this, but…what the hell. Kiddo, you are way too young to be talking like that. Your life’s not over, and if you’re smart about it, it doesn’t have to be over any time soon.”

Murray sits back on the couch, kicking up his feet. There’s a hole in his left sock.

“You think happily ever after only looks like one thing? That’s the thought of a child. If you really want, you can make some kind of picket fence life for yourself, suburbs and all. But you’re a queer, so that means you don’t have to do that shit because nobody’s expecting you to anymore. You get to decide what matters to you.”

“I don’t know any way to be gay that’s not lonely as hell,” Eddie says. 

“That’s because you’re an idiot and an infant,” says Murray gently. 

“You don’t have a—a boyfriend.” It comes out a little too sharp and mean, but Eddie’s feeling cornered. 

Murray laughs. “Kid, what did I just say? I don’t want a damn boyfriend. Some guy coming over here all the time, eating my food? Hell no. We’re degenerate homos, we get to decide what to keep and what to shove down the god damn garbage disposal. I got some arrangements in place, and that’s the way I like it. The whole lovey-dovey romance shit isn’t for me.”

Eddie draws his legs up, wrapping his arms around his shins. His boots are probably leaving marks on the couch, but Murray can deal. “I think it…I think that is for me. I want that to be for me. Um. In general.”

Murray actually tilts his head down to give Eddie a scathing look over the top of his glasses. “No shit, Joan Jett. Your whole ooh please push past my defenses to prove you love me schtick is visible from space.”

“Fuck,” says Eddie, knocking his head against his knees. He closes his eyes, humiliated beyond words, feeling scooped-out and awful. 

“C’mon, it’s not that bad.” Eddie feels a tap on his arm, and when he looks up, Murray’s holding out a glass with about an inch of amber liquid in it. “We all go through something like that. It’s a rite of passage, just like it is to get so wasted you throw up on the stranger you dragged into a club bathroom. You’ll do that too. You’re gonna be messy and embarrassing anyway, so just enjoy the ride. And take the damn Talisker, it’ll help.”

Eddie takes the damn Talisker and knocks it back in one go, just to be an ass. Murray rolls his eyes but pours him another one.

“Ah, practical shit…” Murray scratches at his beard thoughtfully. “Been a while since I had to do this. Poppers are great, don’t overdo ‘em. Splurge on the fancy medical lube if you want but Vaseline or Crisco’ll do the trick just fine. And listen up, kitten, because you can ignore everything else that comes outta my mouth, but you can’t ignore this: always wrap it up. I mean always. I don’t care if he’s your soulmate, I don’t care if it kills the mood, I don’t care if he says he’s a blushing goddamn virgin. If he doesn’t want to wear a rubber, he doesn’t care if you live or die.”

Murray looks down at his own glass. For the first time, Eddie thinks he looks—tired. 

“I know there’s probably a big part of you that doesn’t care if you live or die, either. But you gotta remember there’s people who do. The kid who sent you to me. He doesn’t want to go to your funeral.”

“Yeah,” Eddie says. It comes out too quiet; he swallows and tries again. “Yeah. I know. I’ve—been to funerals too.” 

Murray barks out a surprised laugh. “God, you have, haven’t you? Think I was almost thirty, my first time. I’m sorry, Joan Jett, this isn’t a great time to be young and gay. Go make friends with some dykes, they’ll keep you sane.” 

Eddie, who has held Robin’s hair back as she ralphed into a bucket after losing a Peeps-eating competition with Steve, has his doubts, but he just nods.

Murray looks at him for a moment, then takes his face between two big hands and kisses him on the forehead. It feels neither sexual nor familial, but something beyond all of the easy categories Eddie’s known. 

“Now piss off,” Murray says. “Don’t get some crazy idea that this means we’re friends, or that you can start coming around whenever you feel like it.”

“So, just Tuesdays, Thursdays, and every other Sunday,” says Eddie, and ducks out before Murray can start cussing at him.

———

See, Eddie’s little crush on Steve is meant to be purely recreational. It’s fun to crush on unavailable guys he knows—way more fun than celebrities or whatever. It’s just nice, to feel his heart speed up a little when Steve’s around, safe in the certain knowledge that he’s never going to do a damn thing about it. It even feels good to hurt a little bit over it, achy and sharp, like pushing on a bruise. 

Yeah, Eddie knows he’s a little fucked up. But he figures this is harmless enough: a secret little vice that nobody’s ever going to know about.

Apparently, everybody knows. 

“Um,” says Jonathan, wide-eyed. “Was it…supposed to be a secret?”

“Yes,” hisses Eddie. “Because this is Hawkins, Indiana, and I don’t want to fucking die. Did we or did we not just have a conversation about the many and various perils this whole thing entails.”

“My dude, if you don’t want it to be, like, public knowledge, maybe don’t flirt with him so much?” 

“Betrayal!” Eddie gasps, staggering around like he’s been stabbed in the back, because he fucking has. “An unjust hit by Argyle the Assassin.”

“Argyle the Assistant,” says Argyle. “I’m assisting you, bro.”

“I don’t flirt with Steve!” Eddie screeches. “We’re friends! I flirt with you two dickwads more than I do with Steve, because I don’t flirt with Steve!” 

“You really do,” says Jonathan apologetically. “Kind of…a lot. Remember when we were out by the quarry, and you kept calling him princess.”

“As a joke!”

“Ohhh yeah,” says Argyle. “That was the day you, like…took his jacket, right?”

“I was cold!”

Jonathan grins. “Is that why you kept asking him how it looked on you?”

“As…a joke,” says Eddie, weakly. He’s starting to remember that it might’ve been even worse; the words do I look pretty in your clothes, Stevie may or may not have been uttered. 

“Hey, man, it’s no biggie. That was a million years ago and he didn’t say anything, so you’re free and clear. Totally righteous.” Argyle throws an arm around Eddie, who curls into him sulkily. Argyle’s tall and solid and kinda hot, so it’s a real shame Eddie can’t crush on him instead. 

Eddie sighs. “If Jonathan weren’t here, I’d ask you to make out with me until I felt better,” he says. 

“What,” says Jonathan. “You can’t—I mean, you can, and I, uh—support you? Should I leave?”

“Aw,” says Argyle, and ruffles Eddie’s hair. “That’s sweet, dude. If Jonathan weren’t here, I would.”

“What is happening,” says Jonathan. “I’m gonna—should I leave? I’m gonna leave.”

Eddie whines, “No, c’mon, stay, we’ll do that seance. That’ll make me feel better too. Maybe we can resurrect my deceased heterosexuality.” 

They don’t manage to raise any ghosts or any heterosexualities, but it does make Eddie feel a little better anyway.

[justporo]

A Night of Song and Laughter (Part 11)

In this Astarion gets scolded by a dwarf (naturally he hates it) and Tav and Astarion have to run from the police, because ACAB, amirite? (All Cityguards Are Beautiful) Also they really can't seem to catch a break...

There can only be one song for this: Bad Reputation - Joan Jett

Rating: Explicit

Pairing: Astarion/Fem!Tav (You)

(Gif from here!)

“Are we being kicked out?”, you asked the dwarf flabbergasted. “How rude and after we played circus monkeys for you”, Astarion immediately added and clicked his tongue.

“Nay, lass, it is nah that”, the dwarf answered and doubling over again trying to get some air in his lungs. Astarion looked quizzically at him and raised a pale eyebrow. “It’s the cityguard, they’ve been asking ‘bout ye. They’re already swarming in downstairs. Don sent me to find ye, he’s tryna hold their captain off by the entrance.” You turned to Astarion with shock in your eyes – would this night never end with all its damn surprises? The vampire looked just as shocked as you.

“Now, stop starin’ at each other, get outta here, come on”, the dwarf hurried you and waved for you to follow. “Maybe we can sneak ye out while Don is talking to ‘em. Gods, I always knew it’d be a bad idea to have no back entrance.” You swallowed but quickly went to follow him. So did Astarion.

You let the dwarf go a few steps ahead so you could lean back to the vampire while walking along the corridor. “Do you think this is about you showing Miyena and Eodin… you know?”, you whispered to him. “I don’t know but I don’t intend to find out”, he answered dryly.

“Did they say why exactly they were looking for us?”, you raised your voice to ask Kirin while rushing behind him. The dwarf threw you a look over his shoulder that asked if you were an imbecile and he actually even stopped walking. “Yeah, lass, of course. I brewed ‘em a nice cuppa and then we braided each other’s beards while talking ‘bout it. NAY! Of course, they did not!” Kirin was outraged and helplessly threw his hands in the air: “I don’t know and I don’t know what ye might’ve done to deserve it and I don’t want to know. All I do know, is, that there’s gonna be trouble. If they find ye, there’s gonna be trouble and if they don’t find ye there will probably be even more. We aren’t exactly popular with the city officials so they gonna take up any excuse they can get to annoy us.” Your brows furrowed at that and Astarion asked: “Thankful as I am for it, but why exactly are you trying to sneak us out then if you could just hand us over?”

The dwarf had already reached for the handle of the door that would lead back to the gallery. He sighed defeatedly and turned around once more, putting his hands on his hips: “Come here, elf, if ye please.” Astarion surely didn’t look inclined to do anything of the sort. “I said come ‘ere, boy!”, Kirin said through gritted teeth and curled a finger at Astarion. That made the vampire cautiously step closer, on his face a mix of distrust and disgust. Kirin angrily waved him to bow down to which Astarion reacted only begrudgingly. When they were almost nose to nose, the dwarf spoke, spittle flying from his mouth and hitting Astarion who’s eye twitched murderously: “Let’s get one thing very clear, little elven lordling, or whatever ye might be. I am nah doing this for ye!“ He stuck one stubby finger towards Astarion’s face. “I’m only doing this for ye lassie here. Because. I. Don’t. Like. Ye. Pretty Boy!” H  He  

Astarion’s whole being screamed murder. You remembered a certain threat he had offered regarding the dwarf’s nicknames for him and quickly dragged him back towards you by a handful of his shirt. “Let’s just go, please”, you begged the both of them. The men stared at each other a moment longer then Kirin broke it off and waved you to go. The elf wiped his face off by rubbing his upper arm against his face, still wearing a disgusted facial expression. Then he looked at you as if asking for pity. “Knock it off, Astarion”, you simply told him and went after Kirin.

There still were plenty of people on the gallery and in the tavern as a whole. But you could quickly make out several men and women in silver armour prancing about the place. Most prominently at the entrance was the supposed captain of the group of guards in argument with Don. It wasn’t hard to make out that they were arguing quite intensely – you could hear their voices but not what they said. As the three of you were walking downstairs while trying to look inconspicuous you saw the captain wave an order to two of his men who immediately propped up their halberds towards Don’s face. The bouncer lifted his arms in defence.

You had arrived at the bottom of the stairs and Kirin motioned you to follow him, walking mostly along the walls of the big room. You tried to bypass the guests and tables and especially the guards that had spread out downstairs. While slowly but steadily passing through the crowd you noticed how Astarion swiftly picked up a cloak from behind someone’s seat and in one smooth movement threw it around his shoulders. He lifted the hood over his telltale white curls and then softly nudged you to walk between him and the wall so he could try and also hide you with the cloak.

As you came closer to the entrance you could finally make out the discussion going on between Don and the captain of the city guard. “Drop the act! Tell me where they are or watch me and my guards tear through every crevice of this shithole”, the captain just screamed at the bouncer. You were almost at the entrance through which people walked in and out of the establishment. Trying to not raise any suspicion you lowered your gaze and moved closer to Astarion – just a pair of lovers passing by.

“What damned act, I’ve been trying to tell...”, Don was just about to say as the guard crossed his arms over his armoured chest, obviously done with his opponents excuses. His eyes wandered while zoning out from the bouncer’s words… and that’s when he spotted you when you tried to sneak a cautious look. The captain’s head perked up as he saw you and he immediately raised a hand: “Hold, you there! With the red hair! I can see you you know.” You cursed under your breath and gritted your teeth. “Shit”, you heard Astarion say beside you. He stopped and immediately also dropped the hood trying to seem as honest and innocent as possible. Kirin disappeared into the crowd once more having failed his escort quest.

You opted to act surprised, looking at the guard in confused fashion and pointing a finger at yourself in a “Who? Me?” sort of way. “Yeah yeah, you, don’t look so surprised, you little dipshit. Are you Tav?” Astarion immediately hissed at him for calling you names and taking a step in front of you. But you grabbed him by his elbow and took a step forth yourself. “I don’t know, depends on who’s asking. For example, for someone calling me ‘little dipshit’ the name’s ‘kiss my goddamn arse’”, you said and smiled sickly-sweet at him. You knew that it was a terrible idea for you to piss of the city guard but you’ve just about had it for the night.

Astarion snickered softly beside you, earning him a more than displeased and with the wave of two fingers two halberds pointing at his face. The vampire rolled his eyes and mumbled something about the state of humour in this city.

The captain sauntered closer to you, you nervously already thought about how you could possibly get out of this situation. When the guard stood directly in front of you so that the silver of his breastplate shone in your face, he spoke down to you. You could see that he was human – and quite a lot taller than you, at least one head and broad-shouldered too. You also saw that only his chest was covered by plating.

“For the formalities’ sake: I am Captain Gerrit of the Third Division of the Lower City Guard. Now you know, now tell me who you are!”, he ordered. You raised your chin at him defiantly and crossing your arms not letting yourself be impressed by his display of rank. “What’s it to you, Captain Gerrit of the so and so?”, you pressed him further. Gerrit’s eyes narrowed at you, you could see that his patience with you was fading. You heard Astarion chuckle again behind you, then wince: “Ouw, keep those away from me, as far as I know, laughing still hasn’t been outlawed, yet.” “Watch it, elf”, Gerrit spat toward him then he focused on you again, angling his head. “Oh nothing really, only that I’d be taking you into custody if you happened to be that Tav”, he answered. “Because if you were that Tav, I know you’d belong to a band of thieves I’ve been looking to capture for the better part of a year.” “And who told you that?”, Astarion chimed in and stepped closer to you despite the weapons pointed at him. He curved around them and stood directly behind you and stared up at the captain who was also at least half a head taller than the rogue. “A tiefling woman with a, dare I say, severe case of resting bitch face and a whimpering man that looked like a beaten puppy? Because may I tell you they have been pestering us the whole evening and of course they’d tell y…”, Astarion went on but was interrupted by Gerrit now being very annoyed at the both of you and lifting a hand in harsh motion that even prompted the vampire to shut up. You felt your time to act was running out…

“You are indeed correct”, the captain offered from behind gritted teeth “and I also happen to know that they were also part of your little band of thieves and they are already in custody. And so are you two go…”

Time was up. With all the force you could muster you lifted your knee to kick the bastard in the balls. Gerrit simply hmpfed and was sent to his knees.

Astarion didn’t lose a moment, whirled the stolen cloak around the two other guards who were still pointing their weapons at him but could only react with shock. He had them wrapped up as if they were wearing an oversized scarf and then tugged on the ends to make their heads in their shiny helmets clank against each other. They went down as well and you both turned to fucking run.

You stumbled through the crowd, pushing people out your way, without a word agreeing to try and make it to the balcony again. You raced directly to the stairs while Astarion had to take detour to dodge the swipe of another halberd and then was blocked by another guard. But instead of trying to fight him, Astarion leapt for the table next to the guard, placed his hands flat on it and swung his legs over it in a swift athletic motion. At the staircase to the gallery another guard was just about to block your way, screaming “Stop!” at you. But he was kicked in the knee pits and also received a mug of beer over his head once it was in reach for his assailant – Kirin. “Don’t touch the lass!“, the dwarf screamed viciously as the guard fell on his face.

“Thanks”, you shouted to him passing by and racing up the steps. Even Astarion mustered a wink for the dwarf and then ran after you. You made it to the balcony without further interruption. By the noise you had heard behind you, you had precious moments until your assailants would even reach the gallery.

“The dwarf grows on me”, Astarion said breathlessly. You simply waved in agreement, trying to catch your breath. “And also”, Astarion continued, gasping for air “Tav Hammerknee strikes again, it seems.”

You didn’t even have it in you anymore to react to his audacity, so you just went to the railing to look down. “It’s a bit of a drop, but after everything… I think we can make it. Although I almost broke my neck one time trying to get down there…” Astarion walked up next to you and looked down as well: “From this height? Darling, I guess you can be happy your career as a thief is over you must’ve been terrible at it.” And with these loving parting words he climbed over the railing and let himself hang from the bottom edge of the balcony before letting go and landing elegantly in a deep crouch before standing up again.

He dusted some invisible lint off his shirt then looked up at you: “Easy.” Asshole. “I’ll have you know that the last time I was blackout drunk”, you spat back. “So barely worse than tonight.” You snorted at that and started to climb over the railing, copying his moves.

“I’ll catch you, love, don’t worry. I won’t let this be the end after everyth…” You had already let yourself drop into his open arms. The sudden impact drew all the air from his lungs, but he did safely catch you.

“Gotcha”, he whispered and slowly put you down. Then he tried to sort out the mess your hair had become. “Well, running from the city guard certainly was a first time for me.” “Aww, I love when I can be there for your first times, Astarion“, you cooed at him and pressed a kiss to his lips. He looked positively done with you.

“Let’s just go home?”, he asked you with a smile. “Let’s!”

[queenquinzel715]

1. Alfie Solomons 18+

Word count 3,175

1. Alfie Solomons 18+

(Y/n) p.o.v

I've had enough of Small Heath, Birmingham, so I told Poll I'm going to London to visit Ada. Granted I was staying with my younger sister, but I spent most of my time with old friends that moved out of Birmingham. They told me about this club, it's supposedly the rage of London, and I'm dying to see just how big this place is.

"Hurry (y/n)! The car is here." My friend, Mildred yells for me.

"I'm coming!" I rush past Ada with a kiss on the cheek. "Be back in the morning Ada!" I yell over my shoulder.

"All because your name is Shelby doesn't mean you have to act like one!" I hear Ada as I climb into the car.

As Mildred, Joan, and I rode in the car we told stories of our lives, and we'd laugh. We finally got to the club, and I'm so thankful no one knows who I am, or my family. We walk in, check our coats, and immediately I get an idea of what kind of club this was. There were people doing drugs before you even got to the main club part, along with people having sex against the wall. I might as well have stayed in Small Heath for this. The only difference was this was high class instead of the dirty Garrison.

As the night went on I lost each friend to guys, one with snow, and the other to dancing. I stayed at our table, relaxing against my seat, just enjoying the music, and my drink. That was until some high-end guy sat in the seat next to me, and moved it closer. I slightly move to the side to take a sip of my drink, trying my best to ignore him, but he takes my drink out of my hand.

"You shouldn't be alone." He states. "It's not safe for a woman to be here alone."

"I'm fine." I say in a monotone.

"Why don't we get a drink? I can get you the top stuff." He boosts.

"I have the top shelf. Thank you" I state trying to reach for my glass.

He grabs my arm while he stands, lifting me up with him. I try to pull my arm away, but his grip hardens.

"Dance with me." He commands.

Before I can curse at him a big fist collides with his jaw, making him fall to the ground. I turn to my savior to see a man with a beard, top hat, and a cane. He moves to stand in front of me.

"Right, you say you're sorry to the lady." His cockney accent throws me.

"I'm not…" the man stops when he looks up. "Sorry ma'am." He then runs away.

"Names Alfie Solomons, love. " He tips his hat to me.

"(Y/n)." I purposely leave my last name out.

"You need a new drink, love. What you havin'?" He points to my spilt glass.

"Gin and water." I told him. I could tell it surprised him.

"That's fucking awful. Let me get you a proper drink." He sirs as he holds two fingers to the bartender.

"So, what has a gentleman, like yourself, in a club like this?" I smirk at him.

"I could ask the same, love." He chuckles.

We are a couple drinks down. Apparently the rum in London is a lot smoother than in Birmingham. We laugh at each other's stories. I say goodbye to my friends when they leave with their own men.

"I couldn't possibly drink another one." I giggle as I move the half empty glass away.

"Let me help you." He helps me stand straight as we walk out.

Alfie walks me to a cab that's sitting waiting outside. I laugh at myself as I slip into the seat. I lay my head against Alfie's shoulder as he tells the driver to go he moves to rest on my crossed knee, and the other over his cane. I run my hand along his arm until it wraps around his bicep, and the other rests on the top of his rough hand. He flips his hand to actually hold my hand. We rode in comfortable silence until I eventually leaned my head on his shoulder.

When we pull up to his hotel he pays the driver, and helps me out. I keep hold of his hand as he guides me up the stairs. Once we get to his door his hands go to my waist to pull me close to him. I run my fingers in his beard as I smile up at him as we lean into each other. We kiss like we haven't seen each other in years, like we needed each other. He starts to kiss along my jaw.

"Al…Alfie please open the door." I softly moan into his ear.

He gives me a smirk as he takes a small step back, but doesn't let go of me as he turns to the door. I squeal from being picked up from the waist, and I hear the door slam behind me. I giggle as I'm set on my feet again. I turn to Alfie, playfully hitting his arm.

"You awful man." I laugh.

He chuckles as he throws his jacket off letting it fall over a chair while his cane falls to the floor. He grabs me by my waist to pull me to his chest. I smile up at him as I move his suspenders down his arms. He backs us to the bed making us fall onto the bed, with my knees on his hips. I gasp when he starts kissing my shoulder to my neck. I grab the back of his neck as he starts moving his hand up my leg, bringing my skirt up with his hand. I rest my hands in his hair while I open my legs for him to kneel between them. He locks his eyes with me as he pulls my underwear down. With a tight grip on my thighs he begins to kiss along the inside of my thigh then doing the same to the other side. I tried to lean on my elbows to watch him, but the closer he gets the more intense I feel. I fall on my back with soft moans. He finally is close enough, but all he does is kiss my lower lips with a quick kiss. I almost whine, but it stops in my throat when he licks up my opening.

"Alfie." I reach for his hand on my hip.

He entwined our fingers, giving me a slight squeeze before completely devouring me like a starved man. My back arches into the air as I grasp the top of his head. I've never had a man do this, this good before. My thighs already start to shake from him playing with my clit.

"Alfie, please! I…" my head falls back as I beg.

I feel his free hand run up my stomach to my chest as he sucks my clit while pulling away. He uses his hand to hold me down while I shake under him, a moaning mess. While I catch my breath he stands to look over me, and slides his pants off. I quickly slide my dress over my head as he crawls between my legs. I rub my hands over his shoulders as he gets in between my legs. My body is just melted, a puddle under him. I actually need him. I've never needed anyone this way before, and it's throwing my mind off. I can't keep any sense to me while he slowly slides into me. He doesn't stop until his hips are against mine, and he leans down, his groans vibrating my shoulder.

"Fuck, love." He starts to move.

I move my hips along with his as he moves faster. He knows every spot like I've known him for years. The faster he moves the louder the bed squeaks, the harder I grip his arm, and he tightly squeezes me to his chest. I bite my lip to hold my moans in, but he rams hard enough to reach deeper than I could ever imagine. I have to hide my mouth in his neck as I moan out.

"Alfie. Please." I beg into his neck.

His movements become sloppy, and I can feel myself tighten around him, feeling every grove of him. With a deep groan and another deep ram we release at the same time. I tried to catch my breath, but Alfie pulling me to his chest didn't help. I usually leave after I relax for a moment, however his arms are so warm I fall asleep.

I wake up at some point in the morning, and begin to slowly leave. I have to get out of here before he gets up or it's going to be awkward. I don't have many one nights, but I know the rules. I get back to Adas while she is at work, so I just go back to bed for a couple hours. I'm woken by the phone ringing.

"Ada Thorne residents." I answer.

"(Y/n), I need you back soon. Come straight to the Arrow House." Tommy orders before hanging up.

"Oh yes Tommy. No problem Tommy." I grumble to myself hanging up the phone.

He's such a pain in the ass. I tell Ada Tommy's orders, and she just rolls her eyes as she helps me pack. I give her and Karl a final hug as I board the train. I can't stand how I have to follow Tommy's rules, and orders. I swear I'm gonna smack him one day.

Coming into the station I see Tommy's driver waiting for me, and helps with my bags. Of course Thomas Shelby couldn't meet his sister at the station. The drive to Arrow was peaceful, and all I thought about was Alfie. I start feeling guilty for leaving, for some reason. Pulling into the long driveway of the house I roll my eyes at Tommy's new living.

"(Y/n) welcome back. How's Ada?" Polly asks as she helps me step out of the car.

"Ada is fine, Karl is driving her mad with his shenanigans, but overall fine." I laugh with her while we walk inside.

"Well Tommy of course was ahead of himself, because his meeting isn't until tomorrow." She walks me toward the living room. "I told him you would already be here, but of course he didn't listen." She lights her cigarette as she talks.

"It's okay I wasn't really doing anything." I shrug.

She hums in reply, but Tommy stops her from actually saying anything. He doesn't even acknowledge us here, he just pours him a drink.

"(Y/n) my business partner will be here tomorrow afternoon. I need you there to have the papers in order." He simply tells me.

"Why can't Lizzie help you?"

"Because I have you doing something else." He walks away with no response from me.

The rest of the night I talked with Polly. I went to bed dreaming of ocean water. I woke to Polly shaking me awake for breakfast. I took my time getting ready, and setting the papers in front of Tommy making sure he saw I put them there. John, Arthur, and Tommy start talking business, so I just leave.

Around two in the afternoon I was called into Tommy's office by Polly. She has hard eyes when I see her, but I should've been listening to the voice in the office. As I walk in everything goes quiet.

"(Y/n)." When I hear that deep voice again I almost fall to my needs, but instead my head snaps up to the man standing next to my brother's desk.

"Al…what?" I try to gather myself, but of of course a girl can't do that when she has brothers.

"How the fuck do you know our sister?" Arthur stands from his seat.

Alfie just looks at me in shock as I do him, maybe in deeper shock. I look at Tommy as he stares at me. He knew. He knew, and that's why he called me to come here. My head begins to spin as John and Arthur start yelling, so I just run out of the room.

"(Y/n)!" I hear multiple voices call behind me.

I run to the side of the house, squatting down, and just take deep breaths. I slept with their business partner, and I might actually feel something for him. I already know it's not going to end well for me or Alfie. I stay leaning against the house until I hear my name being called.

"Love where are you?" I hear Alfie's voice call with the others.

I take a deep breath before walking out. Polly, John, and Alfie are watching me walk toward them. Alfie looks my body over with sad eyes before turning to his car. Polly puts her arms around me as Alfie drives away. I know we weren't together, but it still hurt he left.

"It'll turn out right (y/n)." John rubs my arm.

We walk back into the office we're a fuming Arthur is sitting with a calm looking Tommy. Polly sits me in a chair in front of the desk, and sits next to me as John stands behind my chair. The look Tommy is giving me is like he's looking at every depth of my soul. He clears his throat before light a cigarette, and turning his eyes to Arthur.

"His name is Alfie Solomons, and he runs the Jews in Camden Town. We started working with him when we went against Sabini, but Alfie decided he wanted the Italians." Tommy clears his throat. "You know everything after that, but he hasn't done anything lately." He looks at Arthur when he scoffs. "I need to know if you knew him."

"No, I swear we met at the club in London." I tell the truth.

"Do you care for him?" Tommy asks.

"I… well.."

"Who cares?! You go near him again, I'll cut him." Arthur storms out.

"Answer me." Tommy pushes.

"Thomas enough." Polly steps in, but Tommy just stares me down.

"I don't know." I shrug.

"You don't know, but yet you slept with him." He scoffs.

"Oh please like you are the Virgin Mary." I roll my eyes. "I did know he was a gang leader or something like that. He stood up for me and bought me a drink. He was different." I say the last to myself but of course Polly heard, and snapped her head to me.

"Alright that's enough. She hasn't done anything wrong,Thomas. What she chooses is her choice." Polly tells Tommy, and gives him the eyes that meant that the conversation is over.

She walks us up to my room, and shuts the door when I sit on my bed.

"Now it's my job to tell you what he said." She smirks at my reaction, and hands me a folded paper. "If you want to call him he will answer, and business is business not this." With that she left.

Over the next couple days I keep thinking of Alfie, so when the guys are gone I use the library phone to call Alfie, and when his deep force answers I freeze.

"Hello!" He calls again with frustration.

"Alfie?" I quietly answered.

"(Y/n)? Wha…are you okay?" He sounds so flustered.

"I'm okay. I just decided to call you." I hear something move in the background.

"I'm glad you called. I knew you couldn't resist me, love.'' He chuckles along with my giggles.

We talk until I hear a while blowing in the background. He grumbles under his breath.

"It's quitting time, love. I have to go."

"Oh okay." I pause for a moment. "Where do you work?"

"A bread factory in Camden Town." He tells me, but a loud bang is heard before I could respond. "Love I gotta go, I work with idiots."

"Okay bye Alfie." I giggle.

"Bye love." He hangs up.

I turn around to leave with a giddy smile on my face, but Tommy leaning against the door with his arms crossed.

"I'll deal with Arthur, just don't lie to us." He walked away before I could hug him.

I rush to my room, and throw things into a small bag. I have to get back to London. I tell my family where I was going, and the only thing Polly tells me is to be careful. The train pulls into the London station, and I see Ada waiting for me. When she sees me she gives me a smirk with her hands on her hips.

"I told you just because you are named Shelby doesn't mean you act like them." We laugh as we get to her car.

The next morning I got ready. I make sure everything is perfect before I get into the taxi. As the drive gets closer to where I'm going I begin to get nervous. What will happen? We stop close enough to the door. I knock on the big door almost getting hit with it when a scrawny man with an apron answers.

"I'm here for Mr. Solomons, the name's Shelby." I simply tell him.

He opens the door further for me, and I follow him through the bakery, up the stairs to Alfie's office. He points toward the door before going back down the stairs. I softly knock on the door before opening it slowly.

"What now, Ollie?" He doesn't look up from his papers until the click of my heels hit the floor as I walk to him. "What are you doing here, love?" I sit on the corner of his desk.

"Well I decided that I wanted to come see you, and that maybe we could talk somethings out." I nervously twist the bead on my dress.

"What is there to talk out? I assumed with your call the other day you were mine." He simply tells me as he stands.

"Well I guess so. I just…" He cages me with his arms.

"You wanted to see me." He finished for me. "I'm glad you're here." He kisses me deeply.

I stayed with Alfie for a whole week, and he almost had my brother banging down his door when he wouldn't let me leave. He ended up coming to Small Health for a few days until the smog got to him. After a couple of months of back and forth Alfie asked me to marry him. Arthur beat him up when we told everyone, but everything is overall okay. The day before my wedding Polly told me I was pregnant, and the baby was going to be famous. My sweet Sylvia was born. She was our angel. However our son Jack became a gang leader like his father. I love him to pieces, but he gives me heart failure.

[annahanover]

loganschwarzy -> annahanover

names: logan, duke, tatiana, quincy, matilda, anna, dorothy/dorothea, hermes, kobra, maddox, & moritz!

WRITING MASTERPOST

matching blog theme with @richie-shitlips! 🇵🇸

check out my rentry for my interests & other important things :)

MUTUALS: please tag anything postive about billford with #look away logan

fictionkin sideblog is @now-imstruggling-tofreemyself! say hi over there or ask questions or whatever :)

^^ matching blinkies with @average-book-enjoyer , @just-watching-dont-worry , & @paranormaltheatrekid !

^^ matching with @richie-shitlips <3

Roleplay blogs:

@duke-keane-official - Duke Keane, Hatchetfield

@ruthfleming - Ruth Fleming, Hatchetfield

@jeri-with-a-singular-r-i - Jeri, Hatchetfield

@notagayweatherman - Whizzer Brown, Falsettoland

@joan-of-hatchetfield - Joan Sanderson, Hatchetfield (OC)

@agent-slozhno - Tatiana Slozhno, Spies Are Forever (Modern AU)

@viviennekensingtonofficial - Vivienne Kensington, Legally Blonde

@nigel-bttm - Nigel Bottom, Something Rotten

@canyouseehim - Mark Chasity, Hatchetfield (The Gods are Real AU)

@judylerman - Judy Lerman, Little Shop of Horrors (OC)

@justgobap - Elder McKinley, Book of Mormon

@agentwilburcross - Wilbur Cross, Hatchetfield (Miss Holly's Toys AU)

@agenttatiana-slozhno - Tatiana Slozhno, Hatchetfield/Spies Are Forever (Miss Holly's Toys AU)

@woe-is-me-schwarzy - Logainne Schwartzandgrubinierre, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

@notfromnewjersey - Dorothy Donaldson, Love in Hate Nation

@m0dern-maj0r-general - The Captain, BBC Ghosts

@judy-denmark - Judy Denmark, Ruthless!

@think-about-the-sun - The Leading Player, Pippin

@damian-leigh-hubbard - Damian Hubbard, Mean Girls

@tatiana-o-slozhno - Tatiana Slozhno, Spies Are Forever (Camp Here & Spies AU)

@dorotheaowen - Dorothea Owen, The Lucky One (OC)

@the-thrill-of-firstlove - Whizzer Brown, March of the Falsettos

@pockmarkedfairy - Harold, The Boys in the Band

@bearded-vulturemask - (Freakboy) Irene, Spies Are Forever (Camp Here & Spies AU)

@meangirlfromnotadrugstore - Matilda Bishop, Headless: A Sleepy Hollow Story

@littlesniggle - Clover, Hatchetfield (OC)

@runs-the-yearbook - Heather Duke, Heathers

@fffordpines - Stanford Pines, Gravity Falls

i reblog theater stuff and make theater analysis posts at @we-made-a-world-of-our-own

[corpseprxnce]

In the last couple of weeks, I've bought several books:

All About Love - bell hooks

Slouching Towards Bethlehem - Joan Didion

Rosemary's Baby - Ira Levin

We Solve Murders - Richard Osman

Who Rules The World? - Noam Chomsky

Guilty By Definition - Suzie Dent

The Story Of Art Without Men - Katy Hessel

Emperor Of Rome - Mary Beard

Unruly - David Mitchell

I love books <3

[neutrallyobsessed]

EPISODE 10!!!!!!!!!!! THE FINALE: THE SUMMER VACATION!!!!!

I AM FUCKING MELTING!!!!!!!!

AND YOU CAN TAKE A PIC WITH JESUS CHRIST! NOOOOO VAN GOGH!!!! You wanna ride Lincoln's log? OH COME ON WHERE THE FUCK ARE THE TRAINS???? i know that the underground railway wasn't underground or a railway but- OH IM SORRY FUCK YOU TOO

amen brother!

Confucius with beard and moustache? Let's gooooo!!!!

Wait, Cloney Island is real? HELL YEAH ITS REAL WOOOOOOOOOO

whoopsie-doodle

OH so the intro isnt going to be the magestic sound we just heard??

Ah finally, Nostradamus!

hmmmJFrrietmmmmmmm

HMMMMMJOANABEMMMMMM

The themes have the same initials!! I love it!!

TOPHER!!!! he's just static there.... buT AT LEAST HE'S HERE!!!

ok, now im feeling like they're purposefully avoiding giving him screentime-

OH LIKE IN THE INTRO!!!

hehehe rebooting :v NOOOOOOOOOOO DON'T CANCEL IT!!! NOT AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!

AUGH

OH OK-

OH NOOOO NOT THE SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF!!!

WEEEEEEEEEEE

EVAAAA!!!! CAMPEONA DEL MUNDO AAAA

WAIT WAIT

WHAT ISLAND IS THIS ONE?????

OK

you didn't get Confucius yet?/Abe was closest to you?

INTERESTING/IN WHAT WAY

JIJIJIJI JAJJAJAJA!!

I'm glad they aknowledge Topher being Joan's friend rather than Abe's- anyways this is how joanpher can still win-

ooooo how considerate~~THE HISTORICAL JOKES ARE SO GOOD!!!JFRRIET!!!!!!!!

ssssssss ooooooo my knees dont work~~~~ yes YESSS YEESSSS

YEEEEESSSSSS!!!!

YES! I WAS SO RIGHT! I AM SO RIGHT ABOUT HIM!!!! YOUR ANGST RIDDEN ASS DON'T UNDERSTAND TOPHER... no no... Y'ALL DON'T UNDERSTAND CHRISTOPHER LIKE I DO! He doesnt hate himself! He doesnt hate being the clone of an eViL colonizer or whatever! HE LOVES IT! HE LOVES HIMSELF! HE LOVES BEING HIMSELF!!! HE WANTS TO BE HIMSELF AND BE PROUD AND SUPER ANNOYING ABOUT IT!! And he can be Christopher Columbus here and make people happy..... he makes me happy.............but if you dont leave you will die and thats no good, i promise that you'll find a place to be yourself or something i love youuuuu, i love him soooo muchhhh yknow~

Oh look, I can salivate again! Maybe I can EAT something for once....!

Hahahhaha even the trash can died lol

GAAASSSPPP!!!! WHERE IS THIS ALL COFFEE COMING FROM??

ok smartass, do you have a time machine that can comfirm us if that's a racist costume or an accurate portrayal of the real Confucius? eh? concha de tu madreeee.......

i love this kind of jokes sjksjskjksjkjskj

there was also one like that in the columbus ride lolol, it was so unsafe, just like the Ital Park~~ sighhhh♥

lmao i dont know if they're happy that they saved him or that the FUCKING TRAITOR is FUCKING DYING!!! MMMMMMMMMM

but if Christopher is happy then I'm happy ^^

JFRRIET LET'S GOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

NOOOOOO HE ATE THE OVERPRICED CHURRO!!!

ok this is the last one, it can only mean one thing!

Aww the cheesy line bout destiny and nothing is written in stone and yadda yadda~~ go read afterschool charisma~~

♪CAN WE START, START... OVER♫♫♫ IT'S ALL OVER~~!

Rating: TO BE CONTINUED...?!$@#;)/10!

Topher Bus *sigh siiigh* has appeared on screen... for 51 seconds. A total of 6:15 minutes..........let's go to bed, the fan is turned on.

[proshipear]

request are closed !! thanks again everyone! <333

[🍐] ... Inbox check!

– marie x may moodboard.

– beard moodboard.

– wittecest moodboard.

– joan of arc x topher bus moodboard.

– dawn moodboard.

– madoka ichikura moodboard.

– zack x shadowsan moodboard.

– roy x his uncle moodboard.

– tadano x komi moodboard.

– leon x hop moodboard.

[the-delta-42]

The Walking Dead Game What Ifs: What if Kenny was leading Delta?

[First] [Previous] [Next]

Found

What if Kenny was leading Delta?

Clementine went to kill Abel, only to feel a gun pressed against the back of her head.

“Is this really how you want to die, fucker?” Clementine froze, before slowly turning her head.

“…Kenny?”

Kenny froze, before looking at the girl who’d kicked Abel’s ass, “Clementine?”

“You know this bitch?” Spat Abel, as Kenny looked at the little boy.

“…Is, is that…?” Kenny lowered the gun.

“AJ.” Clementine looked at him, “This is Kenny.”

“The funny guy?” AJ looked up at Kenny, “That’s that on his face?”

“It’s called a beard, AJ.” Clementine let out a laugh, before she looked at Kenny, “H-how’d you survive? I saw Walkers…”

“Well, you’re not gonna believe it,” Kenny started chuckling, “but I got my ass saved, by Lilly.”

“Lilly?” Clementine frowned, “I thought she’d’ve killed you.”

“She was tempted.” Shrugged Kenny, “But, she didn’t.”

Clementine was silent, before glancing at Abel.

Kenny cleared his throat, “Look, Clem, we’re supposed to meet with the leader of a community, maybe you might make him a bit more comfortable with us.”

“Marlon?” Asked Clementine, looking at Kenny.

“Yeah, how’d you know?” Asked Kenny, making Clementine sigh.

“He’s dead.” Answered Clementine, “AJ…shot him.”

“What?” Kenny’s gaze snapped to AJ, “Why?”

“He was a bad guy.” Answered AJ, making Clementine sigh.

“I know,” Sighed Clementine, “I did a terrible job, I screwed up, I-”

“What do you mean he was a ‘bad guy’?” Asked Kenny, frowning at AJ.

“He was going to hurt Clem.” Answered AJ, “He was pointing a gun at her.”

“That fucker.” Swore Kenny, “If he wasn’t already dead, I’d kill him.”

“What do we do now?” Asked Abel, looking at Kenny.

Kenny looked at Clementine, then at AJ, “Why do you come with us? Be like old times.”

Clementine let out a huff, “Are the others there? I think I could use having Lee around.”

Kenny sighed, “I think we all could.”

Clementine looked at AJ, before making her decision, “Yeah, we’ll come with you.”

Kenny smiled, “C’mon, Clem. You’re gonna love it.”

F

Clementine looked around the boat, letting out a whistle, “So, I guess you finally got your boat.”

“Only after six years.” Responded Kenny, “Got a few people your age, you might rub off on one of ‘em.”

“I heard someone mention a war of some kind.” Said Clementine, “Who’s it against?”

“A bunch of psychos who’ve been raiding and destroying other communities.” Answered Kenny, “They call themselves the New Frontier.”

Clementine froze, “They’ve started again?”

“Again?” Frowned Kenny, “You know those guys?”

“Yeah, they raided on the orders of one of their leaders,” Said Clementine, getting a frown from Lilly, “they… ‘reorganised’. I, I can’t believe Javi of all people would start raiding again.”

“People change, Clem.” Sighed Kenny, “The way the world is…”

Clementine frowned, “Have you tried getting in contact with them?”

“They won’t answer.” Answered Lilly, “We’ve tried all other approaches.”

“Let me try,” Clementine looked at Lilly, “Please.”

F

Clementine frowned, waiting for Kenny to say if they were in range.

“Okay, try now!” Called Kenny, prompting Clementine to press the broadcast button.

“Javi?” Clementine felt anxiety crawl in her veins, “Javi, it’s Clementine.”

“Clem?” Javi’s voice came out of the radio, “Thank god, you’re okay.”

“Javi, I heard the New Frontier’s raiding again.” Clementine cut straight to the chase, “Please tell me it’s not true.”

“It’s not.” Promised Javi, “We’ve…we’ve got a bit of a problem.”

“What problem?”

“Some of Joan’s old loyalists.” Answered Javi, “We’ve been trying to round them up, but they’re like cockroaches. We’re fighting a war on two fronts.”

Clementine glanced at Lilly, “I think…I know someone who could help.”

F

Clementine wanted to laugh, she didn’t think she’d be so happy to see Javi and his family again. Clementine let out a laugh when Gabe hugged her.

“I’m so happy to see you!” Gabe grinned down at her, “How’re you?”

“So,” Clementine glanced at Minerva, one of the girls Kenny told her about, “Who’s the boyfriend?”

“He’s not my boyfriend.” Clementine felt her face heat up.

“Sure, I believe you,” Smirked Minerva, “Thousands wouldn’t.”

“Fuck off.”

“You’re still in his arms.” Said Minerva in a sing-song tone.

Clementine and Gabe immediately jumped apart, “R-right, so, theses raiders...”

F

Clementine ducked as the wall she was hiding behind splintered; they’d planned this attack with Javi’s group for nearly three months. So far, they were winning.

“Clem.” Kenny passed an object to her, “Wanna show off your throwin’ arm?”

Clementine gave Kenny a smirk, before pulling the pin out of the grenade and throwing it.

Meanwhile, back on the boat, AJ watched the fighting going on in the distance, wondering if Clementine was hurt.

“What’s on your mind?” AJ glanced at Lilly.

“What if Clementine gets hurt?” Asked AJ.

“Then we hope for the best and do our best to move on.” Said Lilly, “I almost lost myself by burying myself in my grief after my father died.”

“Was he bitten?”

“No, he had a heart attack,” Answered Lilly, “we were three months into the outbreak, back then, Clementine was a little girl, about eight.”

AJ listened to Lilly’s story, trying to wrap his head Clementine being a little girl.

F

Lilly walked through Richmond’s streets with AJ, looking for Clementine and Kenny. She paused when she saw Clementine’s hat. Picking it up, Lilly caught sight of Kenny. His right arm was bandaged up and he was slumped against a wall.

“Kenny?” The man jerked, before looking up, “Where’s Clementine?”

“Through there.” Answered Kenny, pointing at a park, “The damn fuckers were using Walkers as traps. One managed to get through Clem’s boot.”

“She’s bit?” Asked Lilly, dread filling her.

“They’re cutting her leg off.” Sighed Kenny, “The last few folks I knew who’d cut the bit off ended up dying anyway.”

“Clem’s strong.” Said Lilly, looking down at Kenny.

“Is she?” Kenny gave a humourless laugh, “Or is she so broken, she just looks strong?”

Lilly was quiet for a moment.

“Her getting bit wasn’t your fault, Kenny.” Said Lilly, “She’s practically an adult now, she’s more than capable to look after herself and AJ. She’s proven that multiple times.”

“I know.” Kenny’s tone was defeated, “I just, fuck, I keep seeing the little girl asking me was chalk or watching me work on the RV while Lee was on lookout duty. I look at her and I see a child I failed.”

“You didn’t fail her.” Said a new voice, Lilly recognised her as Eleanor, “She’s awake and asking for you.”

Kenny, Lilly and AJ followed the woman over to a bed, where a pale Clementine was staring at the sky.

“Clem?” Eleanor gently touched Clementine’s shoulder, “They’re here.”

Clementine looked at Lilly, Kenny and AJ, “Hey.” Her voice sounded weak.

“You look like hell.” Said Lilly, as Clementine pulled herself into a sitting position.

“I feel like hell.” Retorted Clementine, looking around, “I, er, I have to tell you something.”

“If it’s about the leg—” Kenny was cut off.

“I’m pregnant.”

Kenny fell silent.

“Well, I wasn’t expecting that…” Said Lilly, before frowning, “I take it that Gabe guy is the father.”

Clementine nodded, “He’s…still unaccounted for.”

“Maybe he’s rounding up survivors.” Suggested Kenny, getting a frown from Lilly.

“They’ve already brought the last group of them in.” Responded Clementine, looking down at her lap, “He’s dead. I don’t know how I know, I just…” Clementine swallowed, “I just know.”

Kenny sat down next to her, hugging her as she broke down.

F

“Are you sure I can’t convince you to come back with me?” Asked Minerva, as Sophie and a couple others gathered their bags, “I mean, you could bury that hatchet with the others.”

“No,” Sighed Clementine, “I’ve got AJ to keep an eye on, we might visit at some point, you know, help smooth things out with the coalition when it takes off.”

Minerva glanced down, “What are you gonna call her?”

Clementine let out a laugh, “Let’s wait for them to screaming their lungs out before naming them, alright? I don’t want to decide on Sam only for them to look like a Dan.”

“You guys got your radios?” Came Kenny’s voice, getting Minerva to wave it at him, “Good, we’ll be in the area for about a week, before heading back to Richmond to resupply.”

They said their goodbyes and waved them off. Clementine felt a smile forming on her lips, before some movement got her attention. Frowning, Clementine focused on it.

“Funny lookin’ Walker, Clem?” Asked Lilly, as Clementine’s frown deepened.

“What Walker stops to take a shit?”

Lilly frowned, before focusing on the ‘Walker’, “What the hell?”

F

“Oh, I never thought I’d be happy to see this dump again.” Groaned Sophie, as they reached the gate, “Hey, Justin, I think I can see your girlfriend.”

“Oh, fuck you.”

An arrow hit the ground in front of them, “Hold it!”

“Hey, Willy,” Grinned Erin, “we’re home!”

Willy stared at them, before yelling, “Guys! They’re back!”

In the blink of an eye, Mitch was at the gate, his face like thunder, with Louis and Violet close behind him. Mitch stared at Minerva’s small group.

“Well?” Asked Sophie, planting her hands on her hips, “Aren’t you going to let us in?”

The gate swung open, and Violet rushed at Minerva.

“Oh,” Sophie looked at Louis, “where’s Marlon?”

“Oh…” Louis scratched the back of his head, “he’s dead. I’m sorry, Soph.”

“He was murdered by some kid.” Spat Mitch, getting a scowl from Sophie.

“AJ is not just ‘some kid’,” Said Sophie, “he’s very smart, if you don’t antagonise him.”

“Wait, you’ve met him?” Asked Louis, disbelief filling him.

“Yeah, the Delta picked him and Clementine up nearly a year ago.” Said Sophie, as Minerva detangled herself from Violet, “She’s actually the reason we’re coming back here.”

“Yeah, she can fight.” Laughed Justin, “I mean, she thew that grenade like a pro.”

“T-they’re alive?” Asked Violet, looking between them, “Are they with you?”

“Oh, no,” Answered Erin, “Clem and AJ stayed on the boat, she’s got a baby coming.”

“What?” Asked Louis, freezing.

“Yeah, after she sorted things out with the New Frontier, she met up with some friends she had,” Shrugged Sophie, “She and Gabe, one of her friends, hit it off, dated, Clem got pregnant, the remains of the Rogue Frontier were defeated, Clem got bit, and Gabe died.”

“They might visit at some point.” Said Minerva, “I’m going to sit down.”

F

“This place…” Kenny looked around Ericson’s, “is a fucking fortress.”

“Kenny.” Said Clementine, reproachfully, covering her daughter’s ears.

“Sorry.”

“It’s been a while since we’ve seen them.” Said Lilly, as they trailed behind Javi and a couple of the other Coalition leaders.

“Oh, please.” Scoffed Clementine, “As if they’d be any different.”

“Let’s hope you’re right.” Said Lilly, as they walked through the gate.

“AJ, don’t wander off.” Warned Clementine as they walked through the yard.

The Ericson’s group had been laughing at something before they noticed their guests, Minerva grinning and jumping to her feet, “You’re here!”

“Yeah,” Chuckled Kenny, “word of warning, we got little ears about.”

Sophie perked up, “Wait, you mean Clem’s with you?”

Kenny nodded.

“So that means…” Sophie jumped up and rushed past the other leaders, making a beeline for Clementine, “Oh, she is so cute!”

Minerva quickly joined her, dragging Violet with her, Clementine tried not to laugh at how three of the toughest people she knew were cooing at a baby.

“I told you she was a girl.”

“Shut up, Min.” Scoffed Clementine, as her daughter gurgled.

“What’s she called?” Asked Violet, frowning at the baby’s spit bubbles.

“Hope.” Answered Clementine, “I know it seems a bit sappy, but it’s what I felt when I first held her.”

“Clementine didn’t tell me where she came from.” Said AJ, suddenly appearing next to Clementine, “Or how she stopped being fat.”

Clementine sighed, as Sophie cracked up.

F

“You know,” Kenny looked around the grounds, as Javi and Jesus watched Hope, “this place would be a fortress, if you cleared all the areas of the place.”

Mitch scoffed, opting to glare at Clementine and AJ.

“How’re we supposed to do that?” Asked Violet, from her place lounging against Minerva.

“Well, takin’ out the Walkers in the gym would be a start.” Said Kenny, before noticing Louis staring at Clementine, “Hey, Bob Marley! Whatcha starin’ at?”

“W-what?” Louis jumped, making Kenny frown, before he followed Louis’s gaze.

“Maybe he’s making sure that psycho and her brat don’t kill us.” Snapped Mitch, making everyone go silent.

“Well,” Minerva spoke up, “Marlon did sell Sophie and I to a bunch of raiders before Lilly and Kenny took over, so, I’m not losing any sleep over him getting shot in the face.”

“Back of the head.” Corrected Aasim, “Marlon was shot in the back of the head.”

“And he’d been planning on selling Clementine and AJ to the same Raiders.” Said Violet, “Louis and I heard a gunshot, but we thought Clem and AJ were dealing with a Walker or something.”

“No, she just tried to kick our teeth out.” Muttered Kenny, as Clementine looked over.

“What are they doin’?” Asked Ruby, as Tenn moved over to Clementine and AJ.

“Well,” Javi moved over, “Clem’s still recovering from giving birth, and AJ’s not happy over being take out of the field.”

“So, why’s Clementine playing with her leg?” Asked Ruby, as Clementine leaned down adjusted her boot.

“Her prosthetic’s probably chafing.” Said Lilly, as Clementine removed her leg, “Yep, looks like the wound’s reopened.”

F

“If you could change anything you’ve done,” Clementine thought out loud, “what would it be?”

Her, Kenny, Lilly and Javi were sitting around a fire, the Ericson survivors had decided to turn in, Clementine had put AJ and Hope to bed, and the other coalition visitors had gone to sleep.

“Anything?” Asked Javi, letting out a laugh, “I’d stop Mariana from being killed.”

“You’re niece?” Asked Kenny, before looking to the sky, “I’d try and stop Duck from getting bit, or not cave Larry’s head in, or removing Lee’s arm sooner, or, fuck, I don’t know.”

“I’d stop myself from shooting Carley.” Said Lilly, “I keep seeing her face, I mistook her being tired as her betraying us.”

“I’d not talk to that stranger,” Said Clementine, “stop Lee from getting bit. Who knows, it might stop Sarah from dying, or stop me from getting caught by that gang.”

“Maybe,” Lilly’s voice was quiet, “we’ll see them again.”

“Are you kidding?” Huffed Clementine, “The stuff I’ve done? There’s no way I’m seeing the pearly gates.”

“That’s bullshit.” Scoffed Kenny, “You mourn for the people you’ve killed, even in cases where you shouldn’t. If that don’t get you in, then none of us are getting in.”

“You know,” Said Clementine, “back when this started, I’d pretend that we were just one big family on an adventure. Lee and Carley were my parents, you and Katjaa were my uncle and aunt, Duck was my cousin, Lilly was my other aunt and Larry was my really grumpy grandpa.”

Lilly let out a snort, “What were Ben and Mark?”

“Neighbour and family pet.”

“Which was which?”

Next Story: What if Troy assaulted Clementine in the Comic Book Store? (TW: Implied/Refenced Rape/Non-Con)