#like he has a longish face. he's probably late 20s/early 30s.

[bottlecaps-and-brimstone]

Is there a particular reason that absolutely not one of the single official arts of Arcade Gannon actually looks like his in-game version and seems like the person who drew him only had a vague idea of what human people even look like, or...what's the deal with that?

Like. Absolutely none of these are the same person to me.

[bapyess1r]

PuNK

WARNINGS: cursing

Pairings: Rafe Adler x OC, Sam Drake x OC

Tags: @desertvvitch, @tiecladartist, @courtenbae

Chapter 3

Lyric’s POV

There I was. Up at 6 in the morning. Standing in line. At Starbucks. For overpriced coffee. That he probably wouldn’t even finish. My eyes were dried out and my neck hurt a little this morning. ‘I gotta cool it on the head bangin’ tonight…’ I thought.

It was cold as hell and the street walkers of New York seemed ruder than normal. I somehow managed to get up and dress myself; a powder blue collared shirt tucked into a light gray pencil skirt with a well fitted blazer to match. My trench coat was thick enough to keep me warm but still I shivered. I was tired. I had just done a show last night and it was only the beginning. I sang and screamed my heart out and the audience felt my dedication. That was all I asked for. As good as we played, I should’ve been partying with the band. But here I was. Up at 6 in the morning. Standing in a goddamn line. At goddamn Starbucks. Waiting for overpriced goddamn coffee. That he probably wouldn’t even goddamn finish goddammit… “Order for Rafe Adler!” the barista called out. I took a deep breath and rolled my eyes as I went to retrieve the coffee.

When I arrived at work, I greeted the receptionist as I always did, said my what’s ups to the coworkers I was cool with, and entered the conference room to set up the stupid little snack plate and pitcher of ice cold cucumber water. Usually I would set up contracts and paperwork and files on opposite ends of the table but there was nothing like that for this meeting. He’d mentioned a couple times to me last week that the meeting today would be a little unorthodox. So I did the bare minimum and sat waiting. I snuck a few pieces of fruit while I did.

Some time had passed and I checked my watch to make sure I wasn’t crazy. My boss was usually no more than 10 minutes late if anything. I picked up my phone to call him. We told the Drake brothers to be here at 8:30. The first try, it went straight to voicemail at which I hung up and tried again. When he didn’t answer the second time, I left a very stressed out and slightly mouthy message. Then I went to the front desk to ask the receptionist if she’d heard from him. When she said no, I placed my hands on my hips and groaned. I went back to the conference room and sat down to wait a little longer, stress eating the fruit plate. The third time, he answered surprisingly. I gasped audibly in relief.

“What the hell, Rafe?!” I snapped. “It is now going on 8:20 and you are nowhere to be found! Where the hell are you?!” It was silent on the other end until he gave a tired groan.

“Shit…. the meeting.” He said.

“Yeah! ‘Shit! The meeting!’” I exclaimed. He sighed and I heard some rustling on the other end before he finally spoke.

“Are they there yet?”

“No not yet.”

“Good. Then I may have some time. I’ll be there soon. Get them whatever they want.” He ordered.

“Yes, sir.”

“Oh, and Ms. Lewis?”

“Yes, sir?”

“If you ever talk to me like that again, I will have you fired before you even think about having breakfast.” He told me. My heart stopped for a moment. Maybe I was a little too mouthy in my voicemail.

“Yes. Sorry, sir.” I apologized awkwardly before hanging up.

I stayed put and sat resting my head in my arms, staring at my watch. It was now 9:15. Neither Rafe nor the brothers had shown up yet. ‘This is fucking ridiculous…’ I thought. How was it that I was ordered to be present early and I ended up being the only one on time? I groaned loudly, rubbing my fingers against my temples. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. When it opened, a man’s head popped out rather curiously and obviously very lost. He was a little older than myself. Longish curly brown hair pushed back off of his ruggedly charming face. His thick salt and pepper brows raised above his bright hazel eyes almost like a puppy.

“Sorry to bother ya, sweetheart. I was told this was the conference room?” He asked, his voice sounding with a very distinct Boston accent. I made a face and pointed to the words on the door.

“It’s literally marked ‘conference room’...” I said with a bit of attitude. I couldn’t deal with riff raff this early in the morning. He looked at the door and chuckled.

“Ha! So it does. Guess I’m gonna need to invest in a pair of glasses soon, huh?” He said with a handsome grin. A small smile pulled at my lips and I found myself adjusting my hair like a teenager. He was a good looking guy. “Sorry, I’m a little late. Traffic is a bitch here. I’m Sam Drake. I was supposed to be meeting with Rafe here in his…..palace.” He smirked, walking out from behind the door. His little jab at my boss made me chuckle a little but still my stomach flipped at the mention of his name. However, I liked what I saw when he entered the room.

Rafe never mentioned that the Drake Brothers were this handsome. I quite literally had to look up at this man. He was freakishly tall. He wore a denim jacket with the fleece inside, a grey thermal, and dirty jeans with equally dirty work boots. And he had a tattoo of a flock of birds on the left side of his neck. In his long arms he carried a map and a few folders, a backpack slung over his wide shoulders. He put his things down on the table and extended a large rough hand to me. I barely met his chest and I was in heels. When I stood, I awkwardly pushed my hair behind my ear and took his hand to shake it firmly. I was a bit embarrassed that I’d been a little snippy with him.

“Lyric Lewis. Mr. Adler’s Assistant. I’m sorry for my mouth…” I said like an idiot. I hung my head and he chuckled. “I mean, I’m sorry for how I spoke to you when you came in.” I rephrased, suddenly getting lost in his honey colored eyes. I couldn’t stop looking at them. And the worse part of all, was that I was still holding his hand. I giggled nervously, pulling my hand away and taking a step back from him.

“Ah, it's alright. Rafe runnin’ you ragged I see?” He asked as he began to set up whatever he brought with him.

“Tell me about it.” I grumbled and he just smiled.

“Speaking of your boss, he’s not here yet is he?” He asked me.

“No, sir, he’s a little late himself.” I answered. His ears turned a little red when I addressed him that way but it was my job to be polite where Rafe tended to… well not.

“Well good. Maybe we can keep my being late just between us, heh?” He winked at me and it was like I’d been shot with an arrow. He had trouble written all over him and like the dummy I was, I’d fallen for it. I grinned stupidly and nodded. If this was one of the brothers, I couldn’t even imagine what the other was like.

“He doesn’t even have to know, sir.” I smirked. When he finished setting up what looked to be like a couple of maps and tools, he leaned over the table to look inside the water pitcher as the cucumber slices floated about and frowned.

“You got anything other than Rafe’s tears to drink?” He asked me as he sat down in a chair and kicked his large boots up on the table. I tried my best to suppress a laugh and answered his question.

“We have a soda machine…. and coffee from the break room.” I said.

“Regular coffee, right? Not that milky shit people are drinkin’ nowadays?” He asked brashly. I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I burst into laughter and he grinned from ear to ear, obviously scanning my body from head to toe. I placed a hand on my hip and eyed him just as he did me.

“I’m pretty sure it’s just regular shitty office coffee.” I responded, trying to compose myself but I had a smile on my face for once.

“Perfect. That’s all I need.” He said, taking off his heavy denim jacket to reveal an upper body swollen with muscle. I cried inside a little. Just a little.

Just then, the door opened and Rafe came barging in, a cloud of stress looming over him. You could feel it in the room, how he was going to be today, and it wasn’t a very positive vibe. He groaned, sitting his suitcase on the floor next to his chair and shrugged off his pea coat as he sat down in front of his coffee (which was now cold). Before I had the chance to warn him, he’d already taken a sip and he spat it out immediately. Just all over the table, dramatic as hell. I noticed Sam roll his eyes as I sighed. Today was not going to be my day. I didn’t really know what to do at that moment. I just kind of… stared. In surprise.

“This is disgusting!” He snapped, throwing a fit. “Jesus, Lyric, I asked you to do one thing!” He then glanced at the table, looking around. “Where’s my croissant?” He asked me and a light bulb went off so hard in my head that it was visible on my face.

“I completely forgot! I’m so sorry, sir! I can uh…. I can run to the snack machine and get you a Honey Bun or something.” I was rather serious about my answer but clearly he was not amused. He narrowed his eyes at me in annoyance and confusion.

“What the hell is a Honey Bun?” The look on his face was as if he’d just heard a really bad joke. As the words left his mouth, I hung my head. Sam scoffed aloud.

“Sorry, sir. It was a suggestion. But I can order you something small from a restaurant if you’d like.” I mumbled.

“That’s more like it. And when you speak, Lyric, use volume. I can’t hear you for the life of me.” This was all a bit much for first thing in the morning. I could only imagine what got him so pissed off. He rubbed his hands over his face, blinking repeatedly as if he were trying to wake up still.

“Of course, sir.” I replied, pulling out my phone to have food delivered to the building.

“Honestly, Lyric. Your work performance has been going downhill the past two weeks.” He mumbled in irritation. He was right. Ever since Floral and Fading wrote a slew of new songs, we were playing more than just the usual weekend gigs. We’d done a rock festival just last week, several rehearsals on my days off and playing shows… I had been running on fumes for a while now. But I had a feeling that it would be worth it soon. I just had to keep it up a little longer.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Adler. I’ll clean up my act. I promise.” I said, feeling slightly embarrassed that he just chewed me out in front of Sam, who still sat with his legs crossed on the table. After a moment of silence, I could sense Sam’s need to break it.

“Christ, Adler. How bougie can you be?” He said to him, fiddling with the skin on his fingers.

“Good morning to you, too, Samuel.” Rafe sighed, tiredly as he pulled a few things from his suitcase and sat them on the table. “I trust Lyric didn’t give you too much trouble.” He glanced at me for only a second before flipping through the papers he had gathered together. Sam looked at me and smirked.

“Not at all. Your darling assistant has been nothing but helpful to me.” He said, giving me a thumbs up as he made a goofy face.

“That makes one of us.” He snipped, marking notes on a few pieces of paper. I rolled my eyes and looked to Sam, placing my hands behind my back.

“I’ll be right back with your coffee.” I told him politely.

“Thank you, beautiful...” He smirked, admiring my ass as I turned on my heel. I grinned as I put a little extra sway in my hips to give a little show as I left.

Rafe’s POV

I heard Sam wolf whistle as the door closed and I looked up at him a moment as he opened his folders.

“She’s a good lookin’ girl, ay?” He nodded, smiling like a desperate dirty old dog. My eyes never left the paper.

“Who?” I asked, not really caring about the answer.

“Lyric!” He reiterated. My brows furrowed as I looked at him then back to my notes.

“Hmph… I never noticed.” It was true that I hadn’t really paid any attention to my assistant. But then again, I hadn’t paid many women much attention to begin with. Every now and then, if I wanted a good lay, I’d suck it up and socialize for a bit but other than that, I was focused on business. And treasure hunting.

“Oh bullshit, Rafe. You mean to tell me you got a girl like that workin’ for you and you never once took a look at how great her ass is?” He asked me. I shook my head as I continued to look over a few things.

“Not once.” I answered simply.

“Why?!” He exclaimed.

“Because looking at the rear ends of less than average women doesn’t make this company money.” I said. He flexed his lip and nodded.

“Fair enough but I’d say she’s above average. Which you’d know if you took a second to actually look at her when you talk.” I knew exactly what he was getting at.

“I’m not going to sleep with my assistant, Samuel.” I groaned in annoyance.

“I’m not sayin’ you should (even though you should or I will). I’m sayin’ just look at her. Having a beautiful woman like that workin’ for you, that’s a view to take the edge off!” He said. In an idiotic way, I sorta of understood what he meant. But I grunted and changed the subject.

“Where’s Nathan? He didn’t come to lunch yesterday.” I asked and he looked down, biting the skin off his lip.

“Listen, about my brother… I don’t think he’s comin’...” he told me. A bit of anger began to boil in me.

“He what?” I asked through gritted teeth.

“I called around and from everyone is tellin’ me… he’s out. He’s got a wife and all that. Nice job, nice house, the works. I don’t wanna pull him from that if I don’t have to.” He said. I shook my head in disbelief. I couldn’t believe the words coming out of his mouth.

“Nate’s out?” I asked.

“Nate’s out…” He mumbled in confirmation. I nodded, trying to accept the small change. I wasn’t happy about not having my full team but Samuel was the expert on the subject of Henry Avery. We were in a search for his lost treasure. But first we needed to track down a clue. The same clue that got this man locked up in a Panamanian jail for what was almost life. The broken, hollow Saint Dismas cross we found 15 years ago had a second. This one was still intact. We just needed to get a hold of it. Whatever was in the other cross was definitely still inside this one. So I bought up all the land around the St. Dismas cathedral in Scotland and sent people to scavenge the area. The problem was that I kept running into all these dead ends. But I could feel it in my bones. We were going to find it no matter the cost.

After a few minutes, Lyric had returned with Samuel’s coffee in hand and she strutted over to sit in front of him. His hand graced over hers a moment as he gave her a smile and a wink. “Thank you, sweetheart.” He said to her before sipping on his drink. Then she turned to me.

“Mr. Adler, I ordered for you a French toast with fruit and a latte.” She told me and I waved her off.

“Yeah, yeah that’s fine….” I mumbled. Suddenly I thought about what Samuel told me. And I don’t know why but the words “look at her” kept ringing in my ears. So I looked up, only to be met with a lovely set of brown eyes. Her dark curls framed her face in the most flattering was; her lashes were long and her makeup was fresh, her lips were perfectly curved and plush. Even with the exhaustion played out on her face, she was still a rather beautiful woman. “Thank you… Ms. Lewis, that’ll be all for now…” I managed to say. She walked over to me and picked up the coffee she brought me and leaned over to clean up the mess I made. I may have caught a glimpse of cleavage as she did but I quickly averted my attention back to the papers and blueprints before me.

“If you need anything…” she glanced at Samuel and they exchanged a cheeky smirk before returning her eyes to me. “I’ll be at my desk. I’ve got a mountain of paperwork I need to get started on.” She said. “I will bring you your breakfast when it arrives, sir.” I nodded as my eyes ran over her features. When she smiled, a pair of dimples imprinted into the skin of her round cheeks. ‘Cute.’ I thought simply. Not really thinking much of it. When she turned to leave, I found myself staring after her, admiring her backside. I hated to admit it but Samuel was right. She had a pretty great ass. I sighed tiredly as he looked over at me, wiggling his thick brows at me with a cheesy grin.

“I saw that, Rafe.” He said as he turned in his seat to face me. I scoffed and rolled my eyes.

“We have work to do.” I said, changing the subject immediately. Today was going to be a long one….