#like you want me to drive around in a car that looks like MATER or smth omfg

[robotpussy]

i remember when i said i wanted to have a pink car when im able to buy one and my friend was like no don't ever get a pink car men target cars that look like they belong to women and im like..... you realise they will target any car regardless of it is pink with barbie stickers on it you know that right as long as they know a woman owns a car they're targeting it

[beefycupcakes]

I watched the Cars trilogy recently and with that came a wave of nostalgia and a strange desire to make my own designs for the cars as humans. Aka taking all the charm out of Cars but scratching the brain itch.

So, no need to drag out the intro any longer, I have some notes written out about em for those who might be interested or just bored.

Lightning McQueen:

I tried to make his suit look as professional as possible, with references pulled straight from McQueen's paint job/stickers, while also keeping in mind that I do intend to draw him more so I didn't want to go too crazy with the design. In a perfect world I would've let my maximalist cravings win, but alas let's keep it digestible for my sanity.

I feel like everyone's kinda on this unspoken agreement that McQueen as a human would pretty much look just like Owen Wilson, and that's the big picture here. I used Wilson as inspiration while tweaking and exaggerating a few things to my preference. (Okay, well not everyone, lmao.)

The chevron markings on the front cut off at the side seams not wrapping around the entire suit as to not clash with the sponsor logo on the back.

Also, he's wearing special gloves to help him grip & have control over the steering wheel. I think sometimes that looks a little weird when his sleeves are down & cuffed, but I just feel like he needs to have the gloves there— especially when he comes out of the top half of the suit. (It's also lowkey supposed to mirror his 4 tires when you consider his shoes are also black.)

So yeah, that's basically all I have to to say regarding Lightning McQueen's page. I feel like a lot of my design choices are self explanatory and, honestly probably shared universally... I mean, he's really cut & dry. (But I love him ⚡︎)

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Mater:

I'm not gonna lie, Mater was a bit challenging for me. I definitely had to step out of my comfort zone but I wanted to stay true to the character and not butcher anything.

My first thought was to give him a fishing pole to substitute for the tow hook— but then the more I was thinking about it, the more that felt so... out of place? Radiator Springs is in Arizona, which is (not entirely, but mostly depicted in the movie as) a desert. And even though there are beautiful bodies of water in Arizona, in the movie I don't recall seeing any prominent ones, at least in relation to Mater. So, scratch that, instead I gave him a lasso, which isn't supposed to entirely substitute for the tow truck— no, he still drives a tow truck, but the lasso is so he can grab people/things similarly to Tow Truck Mater (very cartoony). My explanation for this is the cattle ranch. Yeah, Mater is a tow truck driver but perhaps he has a side hustle, or hobby, if you will.

Also, I didn't want to make him... dirty(??) Like, yeah, of course, Mater would obviously get a bit filthy from time to time, it's just in his nature, but that is NOT going to be the core of my design. In regards to the rust happening on him, I felt like instead I would substitute this with being very tan. Again, Arizona is a desert. Because of this, he would take off his shirt often, and this would substitute for the missing hood like on Tow Truck Mater. The removal of the shirt also reveals just how tan Mater actually is.

It's his uniformed overalls that have his original aqua color, but from years of wear & tear they've been patched up with brown patches, this would also reference the rusting. The one strap is supposed to mimic the one headlight being broken, and I know that's a stretch, believe me, I wanted to do something with his eyes but eyes are not the headlights in the Cars universe..... think about this. Think about it really hard... if you know what the headlights are in the Cars universe then this actually makes perfect sense.

He is taller and wider than McQueen, which is a reference to the literal frame of their vehicle counterparts. (A little hard to picture with these images, but eventually I'll draw them together!)

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That's all I have to say really, but do let me know what you guys think! Gas it up and it might encourage me to make a part 2 with some of the other characters! Who would you like to see next? ♡ Thank you so much for reading & have a great day, Kachow!!

[octuscle]

Welcome to Overland!

Overland Park in Kansas. I really had to google it first. Where the hell did my father get the idea that I would really study here? I mean, I have offers from Stanford and Cambridge. I'm not going to Overland Park. Kansas! Sure, it might have been a good fit for my dad. My dad is the prototypical corn-fed athlete. He looks dazzling for his 42 years, still a cross so wide that my two younger brothers and I can hide behind it. His mullet is a bit of a show-off, if you ask me. But he seems to go down well with his customers. His car dealership is the biggest in the state. My two younger brothers both have petrol in their blood. They both want to get their MBAs at Overland Park. But I'm much more interested in law. And Harvard would be my dream for that.

Anyway, my father gave me a car for my 18th birthday. A super impractical Dodge RAM. Doesn't suit me at all. And the car came with a gas voucher and a voucher for a mall around the corner. Well, I hope they'll have a Brooks Brothers store. But I'm quietly guessing that they'll only have cowboy boots and plaid shirts… Okay, not to be ungrateful, I'm making the trip to Overland Park in the monster car. I'll also attend his alma mater's orientation event if I absolutely have to. But I'll sign up over my dead body!

The drive to Kansas wasn't so bad. I admit that the car is really huge and comfortable. But the closer I got to the Midwest, the less comfortable I felt. Guys with arms thicker than my legs asked me about the car at gas stations and rest stops. I have no idea how much horsepower it has… I'm not interested either. But here you're obviously only defined by your car. And most of the muscular rednecks here made no secret of the fact that they didn't begrudge me this car. It got even worse when I parked the car in front of the hotel in Overland Park… The valet service looked almost sympathetic when I got out of the car. Tomorrow I'd better take the bus to the information day at the university.

It's incredible how many people are interested in this pathetic campus. It's pretty full in the auditorium. The dean gives a speech that is as boring as the landscape here. And the faculty members either all look like they're coaches of the football team or gardeners on campus. Hillbillies. All of them! The professors introducing each faculty call on the potential juniors who have signed up on the list for that faculty. I didn't put a cross anywhere. All uninteresting for me. And so the auditorium empties out with each professor dragging a train of high school seniors behind him. And at some point, the auditorium is empty. Only three people are still sitting here. A redhead who spends the whole time reading a book. A skinny guy playing with his cell phone and me. I speak to the skinny guy. "No desire to go to Overland Park either?" "Not on your life. I'm not studying thousands of miles from the nearest decent opera." The redhead interjects, "And pretty much everything else you'd call civilization." We laugh and introduce ourselves. Erik, the redhead (how appropriate, I'm not joking), the skinny one is Brayden and I'm Callan. We start talking. Somehow we all have a similar fate. Either our fathers or our brothers studied here. We all have more artistic than sporting interests. We all want to study either in California or New England. Erik suggests that we go out and sit on campus. The weather is nice. It's a good idea. We're sitting in the sun talking when we suddenly hear a voice.

"Hey squad! Finally found you, fam! I've been straight up grinding and hunting all over this place to link up with my homies!" Towards us comes the epitome of everything I loathe about university. An unkempt muscleman, his greasy mullet tamed with a baseball cap on backwards, in a sweaty tank top. Four bottles of beer in his hand. He hands each of us a bottle and says "Yo, yo, yo, what up fam! The name's Ryder, my professor homie spilled the tea that there are three total bros up in here who ain't about that study life, and guess what? Yours truly got the task of keepin' it real with y'all. Haha, I'm the king of slacking off, ain't nobody got time for studying and whatnot. Let's kick back and chill, my dudes!" Ryder stinks of sweat. Disgusting. But somehow also hypnotizing. He opens his bottle and says "Cheers". As if in a trance, we open our bottles and say "cheers".

"Yo, fam, check it out, I'm gonna give you a lit tour of the campus, but not that lame-o typical stuff. Like, forget about the snooze-fest library or whatever. Bro, regular dudes walk in there and walk out looking like they just stepped out of a nerd convention with their thick glasses and wack sweaters. Let's bounce and hit up the real vibes, ya feel me?" Ryder almost chokes with laughter at his own joke, which Erik counters with a fist bump. What the…? "Yo, peep that cafeteria comin' up! It's legit crucial for gettin' in that dank protein intake, ya feel me? And bro, protein is like, the holy grail of gainz. That's the fuel for them epic protein farts, man! Rock on, get that fuel, unleash the beast!" As if on cue, he lets out a fart. Shit, that stinks. Erik laughs. And farts too. Shit, didn't he actually want to study piano? At the conservatory in Boston? Strange behavior for a pianist….

Ryder tells us to wait a minute. He runs into the cafeteria and comes back with four fresh cold bottles of beer. Shit, yes, the beer tastes good. I take a deep swig. And…. BUUUUURP! Ryder and Erik are laughing uproariously. Brayden looks irritated. And I reply ""Yo, it's gonna be, like, forever until those protein farts are unleashed. So, a real dude just gotta let out a mega burp, bro!" Erik and Ryder give me a high five. And Ryder says that he's about to lead us to the source of all protein farts.

You can smell the gym changing rooms before you see them. Erik and I take a deep breath. Brayden holds the sleeve of his jacket in front of his nose. "Yo, bro, it looks like we're getting closer to your second home, huh, Ryder? Watch out for the vibes!" says Erik. Ryder does a double bicep pose and says that Erik can fucking take it. Poor Brayden is standing right next to Ryder. His nose is basically right in the sweaty bush in Ryder's armpit. "Dang, I forgot my gear for the gym! I'm totally itching to pump some iron, man." comes out of his mouth. "Dude, no worries, at our next stop we'll totally score something way cooler for you to rock." says Ryder. "Yo, dude, spit it again - what's your name, pumpin' pal?" Braydon copies Ryder's double bicep pose. I didn't think he had muscles like that. "Yo, my dudes, I'm Beau, like, duh, isn't it obvious? I mean, come on, who else could it be, right? Beau in the hizzouse, representin' like a boss!" The two of them do a chest bump. Erik and I actually look at each other a little enviously. I mean, everyone wants to be best mates with Ryder, the hottest guy on campus.

"Yo, dudes, head to the most lit spot on the whole campus. And watch out! If you think it already smells like sweat and musk, you haven't seen anything yet!" We walk across the student parking lot towards the football field. Past my baby. Ryder raises his eyebrows appreciatively and says that you rarely see cars this cool here. I pose proudly: "Geez, check out this 410 horsepower beast with eight cylinders and 581 Newton meters of torque! My 6.7-liter monster needs that kind of power too. Rocking full leather interior, a massive 12-inch touchscreen infotainment system, and a killer 750-watt sound system with 17 Harman Kardon speakers. Damn, could never roll in a hybrid after this!" Ryder gives me a chest bump too. Shit, I'm in the club!

Erik thaws out when we're finally in the changing rooms of the football stadium. He takes a deep breath. "Yo, peeps! You feelin' me on this? This smell is like pure home vibes, amirite?" he says. Ryder points to the pile of dirty laundry in the corner. "Yo, dudes, wanna toss some balls around? Let's get our sporty vibes on and slay the game with our rad skills! Let's flex our muscles and show off our mad throwing game. Let's get that adrenaline pumping and have a blast on the field. It's gonna be lit, so don't miss out, fam! Let's do this!" He really doesn't have to say that twice. In no time at all, we're undressed and rummaging naked through our clothes for something to pass. Erik deliberately lets his cock swing for a very long time before putting it into an XXL urine and cum yellow jockstrap. Dude, that boy would make horses jealous! And he can impress Ryder. Out onto the pitch and with a well-directed throw he chases the ball the length of the pitch through the goal. Four-chest bump! Shit, we all can't wait to play for the college team!

"Yo homies, any more burning questions for your boy? The sickest crew on campus is definitely mine - Alpha Phi Alpha, baby! Don't stress, you guys are total Alpha bros, so of course you'll get in. If you're down, we're throwing a lit party at the frat house tonight. Crash on the couch if you want, solo, duo, trio… whatever floats your boat. Just remember, never make eye contact, that's like, no homo!" Beau asks where he can get a cold beer now. Rick has a mega boner. And I can't wait to suck him off right away. Unless Ryder beats me to it. Shit, I'm so proud to be a business major at the University of Kansas on the Overland campus. My dad will be even prouder.

"Yo, so you wanna join the sickest crew of all the raddest universities in the damn USA?" I love the information days on campus. Lots of hot fresh meat. And the premium meat belongs to Alpha Phi Alpha, just like us! "Yo, peep this dude with the sickest Mullet ever, that's my bro Beau. And check out the fiery buff dude over there, that's Rick, the top quarterback of the football squad for real. I'm Cletus, and we 'bout to show y'all the raddest spots on campus. But first, in honor of the hottest dude to ever grace this campus, let's crack open a cold one." We take a big sip. And burp "Ryder" loudly!

[jerzwriter]

Kaycee reflects on how life turned out exactly as she imagined it and how it didn't when she and Ethan dropped their daughter off at college for the first time. When they leave, they know their journey will lead them back to Boston, but will it lead them home?

Book: Open Heart Pairing: Ethan x Kaycee (Past) Rating: Teen Words: 3,800 (sorry!) Summary: Please see above. A/N: This really took on a life of its own! @tessa-liam asked for two prompts from this list, and I merged it in with an anonymous ask from the same list. The three prompts are highlighted below, and they made for an angsty story! I hope you enjoy it!

This is not part of my HC - but a one-off, one-shot.

Participating in @julychallenge Pink: Love, Black: Loss.

Kaycee raised a cup of hot chocolate to her lips and smiled. It didn’t matter that she was now in her forties; she’d always prefer its silky, sweet taste more than coffee, and she didn’t care who knew it.

Sitting in the passenger seat of Ethan's parked car, she closed her eyes to listen to the sound of a gentle breeze rustling through the leaves outside; the moment felt almost perfect. It was exactly the day she had envisioned when she imagined dropping Emma off for her first semester of college. But as quickly as the thought entered her mind, she heard Ethan’s voice and was reminded – it wasn’t exactly as she had planned.

She stepped out of the car as they walked down a tree-lined path toward the car, Ethan’s arm wrapped protectively around their daughter’s shoulder.

“Now remember, you do not go out alone at night, no matter what. Wait for your roommate, another friend, or call campus security.”

"Yes, Dad," Emma said rolling her eyes. "You seem to forget I grew up in Boston – I have street smarts, Dad.”

The young woman looked to her mother, desperate for a save, and Kaycee reached out to embrace Emma one last time.

“Ethan, I don’t want to leave her either, but it’s getting dark, and it’s a long ride back to Boston.”

Ethan smiled tenderly as he stared at his “little girl.”

“It’s funny. I always imagined it would be me dragging you away, not the other way around.”

“Well,” Kaycee smiled curtly, “life has a way of surprising us.”

It had already been three years. Three years since their assets were divided, custody was determined, and with the scribbling of two signatures on a lifeless document, a marriage of almost twenty years came to an end. They’d come a long way since that painful day. Being in each other’s presence no longer elicited queasiness. The sight of each other didn't lead to dampened eyes or a feeling of guilt that consumed them. Still, it wasn’t easy. But today, they did what they always did best – they showed up for their daughter.

It was a two-hour drive from Boston to Hanover, New Hampshire. Ethan had hoped she’d pick his alma mater, Brown, where she’d only be 52 minutes away. But Kaycee reminded him that Emma’s top pick was originally UCLA. All things considered, Dartmouth wasn’t that far. But when Emma asked if they could all drive her to campus together, that two-hour journey suddenly felt much longer.

They were all surprised at how pleasant the ride up had been. Emma was a ball of nervous energy and chattering non-stop. The joy of heading off to college was mixed with the fear of being away from both her parents for the first time was familiar to her parents, and they both offered reassurance. They marveled over how it felt like it wasn’t so long ago that they were off to college – beginning their adult lives – at the starting line of all their dreams. They hoped Emma would realize as many of hers as they had, but they hoped other dreams would have happier endings than theirs.  

“...and I’m thinking I might double major,” she said without taking a breath. “Because Poli Sci is what I want to do... that’s my passion... but if I want to get into a top-tier law school, I think double majoring in English would be beneficial.”

“Sweetheart,” Kaycee smiled from the backseat. “Why don’t you get through your first semester? Then you can make that call.”

Ethan shook his head with a gentle chuckle. “Can someone tell me how a child with two parents who are renowned in the medical field is hell-bent on becoming a lawyer?”

“Dad,” Emma exasperated. “You always told me to pursue whatever I wanted to...”

“And I meant it,” he interrupted. “But you have to admit, this was unexpected.”

They arrived on campus and unpacked Ethan’s Porche Cayenne – the SUV Kaycee insisted was his mid-life crisis, even though he had already passed that point when he bought it. They could have left as soon as all the boxes were in the dorm room, but they refused to leave until her new bedspread was in place, the matching curtains hung, and little fairy lights twinkled around the perimeter of the room.

With no excuses to stay left, Kaycee turned to her daughter, her voice cracking with emotion. “Well, I guess this is it.”

“Mom!” Emma scolded. “We said no crying.”

“I know. But my baby’s all grown up. I’m entitled to a tear or two.”

The mother and daughter were wrapped in a hug when Ethan returned to the room holding a cardboard tray with two cups of coffee and one hot chocolate – he was elated that his daughter had his refined tastes in hot beverages.

“What did I miss here?” He asked.

“Mom’s starting to get weepy,” Emma smirked.

Kaycee wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. “Just finishing our goodbyes,” she said. “I’ll go to the car to give you two some privacy.”

“You don’t have to leave...” Ethan started, but when he realized his ex-wife was about to burst into the tears she had promised Emma she’d hold back, he understood. “Fine,” he said, handing her his keys. “Why don't you wait in the car?”

Kaycee adjusted the passenger seat, admiring the soft leather. Ethan had always preferred to drive, and she’d spent a good portion of her life sitting beside him, but it was the first time she sat in this car, purchased right after their divorce. Remembering a life now lost was already difficult, but her mind rushed to places she had no desire to go.

Ethan had never been forthcoming about his relationships since their split. Of course, she had heard the rumors... some said he was dating the new Director of Nursing, others swore he and Harper had rekindled their old flame. But she never asked Ethan about them; it wasn’t her place. Their conversations revolved around Emma, and that’s how she kept it. Still, as she sat in a seat she once coveted, she couldn’t help but wonder if others now filled that space.

The sound of the driver’s door opening quickly ushered her back to reality, and she was grateful she could blame her tear-filled eyes on Emma.

Ethan turned to her with a tender smile that Kaycee hadn’t seen in some time. “She’s going to be OK," he reassured.

“Oh, I have no doubt about that,” she replied, dabbing her eyes. “It’s me that I’m worried about.”

Ethan had to chuckle. “I know that feeling quite well.”

An awkward silence fell between them. At another time, they would have hugged and offered each other assurances. He would have told her their new chapter was beginning, too. They could focus on the dreams they had planned together, but now, he just fumbled to find a classical music playlist as he started the drive.

“Thank you for agreeing to drive up together,” he finally spoke.

“Of course. Emma wanted both of us here. I’d never deny her that.”

“No, but if I’m being honest, I half expected you to tell me you were taking a Greyhound on the return trip home.”

A slow smile spread on her lips, and she confessed. “I did price them.”

“I bet you did,” he laughed.

The conversation turned to the other comfortable topic between them: Medicine. He lauded her recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine, and he told her when he planned to retire. Kaycee reminded him that Emma embracing law wasn’t too odd; after all, it had been her second career choice, too. He quickly reminded her that he remembered. He remembered more than she knew.

They drove for about an hour when a pinging sound began getting louder and louder. Kaycee tried not to chuckle when the expensive car came to a halt, knowing her trusty old Toyota would have never stranded them like this. Ethan looked under the hood, then returned to the car with a sigh.

“Tripple A will be here shortly,” he informed. “There’s a Porche dealer a few miles away, but of course, they’re closed until the morning.”

“Of course,” she half grinned.

Ethan turned to her with a smirk, and she couldn’t decide if it was one of annoyance or amusement, so she decided to believe it was a little of both.

“Are you enjoying this?” He said sarcastically.

“I always told you that simple was better when it came to cars. There’s no need for the expensive bells and whistles.”

“Yeah,” He chuckled sadly. “You told me a lot of things.”

“I’d tell you what Greyhound could get us back to Boston, but the last one left forty minutes ago... “

“Yep! I think we’re stranded here for the night, too. Not just my car.”

When the Tripple A driver arrived, Ethan and Kaycee hopped into the cab of his tow truck.

“There is a hotel nearby,” the man said. “I’m happy to bring you there. But there might not be any vacancy. A lot of local colleges are welcoming students this weekend, and a lot of parents who aren’t letting go stay nearby.”

“Yeah,” Kaycee barked out a laugh. “We’re familiar with that!"

“Oh, I see,” the man grinned. “You’re those parents. Well, as someone who has been through this, I can tell you it gets easier. Just think of it as the start of your second honeymoon.”

“Oh, no, we’re not...” Kaycee started but decided to skip it as they pulled up to a Comfort Inn. “You know, never mind.”

“This is the only place around here,” the driver informed. “If you can get a ride, there are more places about twenty miles down the road.”

Ethan looked at his watch. “The vacancy light is on, and it’s been a long day. This will do just fine.”

Kaycee ran to the restroom in the lobby while Ethan went to the front desk to secure rooms. When she stepped back out, she saw him grimace.

“Before I tell the desk clerk yes, are you sure you don't want to get an Uber to another hotel?”

Kaycee scrunched her nose. “An Uber in these parts? At this time of night? Unlikely. What’s the matter,” she chuckled. “Did you check the reviews and find out it’s not a five-star rating?”

“No, wiseass,” he smiled, enjoying the banter that used to be part of his daily life. “The problem is, they only have one room left.”

“Oh,” Kaycee said with a fallen face.  

“Exactly.”

“Well,” she laughed nervously. “We’ve round ourselves in this position before, haven’t we?”

Both their minds drifted to the conference in Miami during Kaycee’s intern year.

“Yes,” Ethan replied. “But that was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.”

“Ethan,” Kaycee shrugged. “We’ve been in each other’s lives for decades. We have a child together. We can share a room for one night unless...”

Unless there is someone in your life who would prefer you didn’t, she thought as Ethan asked her to continue.

“Uhm, never mind. We’ll be fine for one night.”

The walk to their room was peppered with small talk in an attempt to break the tension. But they were both so tired that they really didn’t care. They’d fall asleep, wake up, and find a way home. Everything would be back to normal. That's what they thought until Ethan opened the door.

“There’s only one bed?” Kaycee gasped.

“The front desk said there were two queen-sized beds!” Ethan insisted.

“Well, by my calculations, there is only ONE.”

“Obviously, they were wrong.”

“Noooo!” Kaycee mocked to Ethan’s chagrin. He looked around the tiny room; the only other furniture was an uncomfortable looking chair and desk.

“I’ll sleep in the chair,” he declared.  

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Kaycee insisted. “Ethan, it’s not like we haven’t slept in the same bed before.”

“Yeah... that was the norm for us... until that... changed.”

They exchanged an uneasy look, and both understood the best thing to do was go to sleep quickly. After kicking off their shoes, they both lay perched on the edge of the mattress, facing away from the other. Though they weren’t touching each other at all, their presence was obvious, and as exhausted as they were, suddenly, neither could sleep.

“Kaycee, are you still awake?” Ethan whispered.

“Yes.”

“How is our little girl already in college?”

“I don’t know,” she said sadly. “The years just flew by. And it’s odd because some of those days and weeks felt like an eternity, but I turned around twice...” she audibly gulped. “... and they were gone.”

The room went silent; all Kaycee could hear was her ex-husband's breathing. “So many precious days,” he lamented. “I know I haven’t thanked you enough."

“Me?” a startled Kaycee replied.

“You’re the only one here,” he chuckled. "Emma is a remarkable young woman, and I’m not just saying that because she’s my daughter."

“I know she is,” Kaycee laughed, rolling on her side to face Ethan, who had already turned her way.

“Well, that’s in large part because of you, and I should thank you more often.”

“You’re just as responsible,” Kaycee insisted. “You’re an amazing father, Ethan. You always were.”

He fell silent, hoping the darkness of the room would prevent Kaycee from seeing the emotion in his eyes, though there was no way to conceal it in his voice. If I had been an amazing father, I wouldn’t have let our family end. If I had been an amazing father, I would have fought harder for us to work, he thought, but all that came out was a broken.

“Thank you. You know, when you walked into Edenbrook all those years ago, I had no idea how much my life was about to change,” he smiled as Kaycee shifted uncomfortably.

“Ethan... it’s probably best if we don’t talk about this. I think we should just....”

With that, the lights flicked on, and Ethan was sitting upright.

“Why not?” he asked. “Not making time to talk is where everything started to go wrong for us.”

“It was,” she concurred. “But the time to fix that passed a long time ago. The ink on our divorce papers is long dry, Ethan. This isn't how it works.”  

“It can work anyway we want it to,” he countered. “Kaycee, we may not be together anymore, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be a part of each other’s lives.”

“We’ll always be a part of each other’s lives. We have Emma.”

“I don’t mean because of Emma. I want you to be a part of my life because, with the exception of our daughter, you've been the single most important person in my life. For the past three years, I’ve felt like a stranger in my own soul without you. I miss hearing your voice. I miss your laugh. When I have exciting news, you're the only one I want to tell it to. I want you to be more than the person I arrange drop-offs with, and now that Emma is grown, we won’t even have that.”

“Are you telling me you want to be friends? She asked.

No. I don’t want to be friends. I want us to be so much more, and I wish I had the nerve to say it.

“Ethan,” she repeated after an extended silence. She saw the tears glistening in his eyes as he reached over and pushed a strand of hair away from her face.

“Friends.... or something,” he choked.

Kaycee’s head fell into her hands, partly because she was tired, partly because she was trying not to cry.  

“Ethan, where did it all go wrong?”

Their minds drifted back in time to the days of trying to manage two busy careers with the needs of their child, long days filled with demands, exhaustion, and the feeling that they could never get it right. Sometimes, they fought; sometimes, they held it all in. Sometimes they turned the guilt inward... they weren’t good enough, they were failing, they should be better at this... and sometimes, they projected it onto the other... "You never...", "You used to...", "I can't believe you..." In time, they learned being alone isn't the worst feeling in the world, being in a relationship, but feeling alone was, and when the loneliness became too much to bear, they decided it should end.

“Why did we let it go?" Kaycee sniffled. “There was no affair, no hatred, even our fights weren’t all that bad. Our marriage was like a boat, just drifting away as we watched, and neither of us thought enough to help it change its course.”

“We were focused on work,” Ethan sighed with regret. “Focused on Emma. Then we had elderly parents to care for... it took so much of our time that in the end, we forgot to focus on each other.”

“But we knew what we had was special. Why the hell didn’t we fight for it!”

“You wanted to,” Ethan whispered. “You wanted to. I... I blame myself.”

“Ethan, you weren’t the only one responsible for our marriage ending.”

“I’m the one who stormed out of counseling, telling the counselor that it was absolutely useless. I’m the one who began to withdraw. You begged me to try.”

Feelings they believed to be long buried began to rise to the surface again, and the pain was as raw as it had ever been.

“You withdrew... but I never asked you why you did. I let my imagination get the better of me and...”

“And?”

“Did you stop loving me?” She asked, tears now streaming down her cheeks.

“No!” Ethan gasped. “Oh, God no, I never once stopped loving you.”

“I allowed myself to believe that you did,” she said, wiping her nose with her sleeve. “I felt like an obligation... like if we didn't have a piece of paper decreeing that we had to be together, you'd be long gone. And I swore I’d never be in a marriage like that.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that?”

“I thought I did,” Kaycee replied. “Maybe not with words, but with actions. I tried to give signs, but..."

“Kaycee, I never learned to read  your mind.”

“I know that... and that’s why I’m as responsible as you for letting our marriage die.”

“I wish I would have fought harder,” Ethan wept as Kaycee’s floodgates opened.

“Me too,” she shuddered. “Me too.”

Ethan instinctively reached for her hand, surprised when Kaycee fell into his arms. His arms encircled her and held her close. Both were overwhelmed by the warmth and familiarity, a feeling of comfort from a time long gone when they were each other’s port in a storm. When they were each other's home.

“I’m sorry,” Ethan cried. “I’m sorry I let it end.”

“I’m sorry, too,” Kaycee cried into his shirt. Ethan went to pull away, but she refused to let him go.

“Please... can you hold me just a little longer?"

“Of course,” he whispered, resting his head on hers as she nuzzled into his shoulder.

Comforted by his touch, Kaycee fell into a deep sleep and slept better than she had in a long time. But Ethan found no such relief; he remained awake all night, never letting her out of his arms until he got up in the early morning hours.

The sun was shining through the window, and Ethan was seated at the desk with an abysmal cup of coffee in hand when Kaycee woke up with a startle.

“Hey, are you OK?” he asked, as she groggily nodded. He moved to the edge of the bed and sat beside her. “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing... you’re here,” she replied.

“Did you forget? The car broke down, we had to stay here, there was only one room...”

“No... no,” Kaycee stopped him. “I remember all that. I just had a bad dream. I dreamt that you left me during the night, and I woke up alone.”

“Well, you made sure I couldn’t do that, even if I had wanted to,” he smiled. “You basically slept on top of me all night.”

“I did!”

“You did," he smiled. "Did you at least sleep well?"

“Like a baby – and you?”

“I slept OK,” he fibbed, pointing to the paper cup on the desk. “That cup of swill parading as coffee should help wake me up a little more.”

“Yeah,” she laughed. “I think I’ll make myself a cup, too. If you have to suffer through it, I should, too.”

She flung her legs over the side of the bed, but Ethan grabbed her hand and pulled her back to the mattress.

“Kaycee, I have to tell you something before I lose my nerve.”

A line formed between her brows. “What... what is it?”

“I need to tell you what I should have said three years ago. That I’m sorry. I took us for granted and allowed life to come between us, which was so foolish because you... you were my life. I've felt like a stranger wandering in a strange land where he no longer belongs for the past three years. See, I love you, Kaycee. I never stopped, and the biggest regret of my life is that I let you go. So, I know the answer is probably no, maybe you'll think I’m crazy, and I could be... but is there a chance... any possibility that you and I could try again. If we can, I promise, I'll get it right this time."

He sat in nervous anticipation in every silent moment that followed. Kaycee’s eyes were wide, and her lip trembled, but he wasn’t sure why. It was taking too long. It was taking too long, and he braced himself for rejection... the rejection he now realized that he had feared so desperately that he found it easier to let her go. But it only took a moment for all that to change.

Kaycee threw her arms around his neck, holding him tight as she peppered him with kisses and pushed him back on the bed. Her lips found his, and they came together; their hearts raced as it deepened, their hands caressing the curves they still knew by heart. At long last, they were home.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he smiled breathlessly.

 “What gave it away?” she giggled, kissing him again. “But we have to take it slow. You’re the love of my life, and I want this to work more than anything, but we have to think of Emma. The divorce was hard on her, and we can’t let her know about this until we’re sure... 100% sure... that we’re forever.”

“I agree,” he smiled, his hands running through her hair. “You take all the time you need, but I know... if you’ll have me... this is forever. I don’t want to know a day without you again.”

“Can I have a week or two?" she grinned.

“As long as I can see you during every one of those days.”

After another lengthy kiss, Ethan reached for the hotel phone.

“What are you doing?” Kaycee asked.

“Calling the front desk.”

“Why?”

“Because check out is in a half hour, and we’re going to need this room longer.”

"Are we," she grinned. "I'm not on the schedule tomorrow; what about you?"

“Me?" Ethan beamed. "I’ll be calling out.”

"Good," Kaycee smiled, "Because we're going to need this room for another night."

@choicesficwriterscreations @openheartfanfics

Tagging others separately.

[roe-and-memory]

its been enough time for me to stop gatekeeping and Immediately talk about how, in a human au, i choose to interpret the night in cars 1 where lightning and sally talk.

sally listens to mater and lightning talk, mater slowly driving down the main road and lightning trotting along beside, talking to him through the open window. the conversation goes how it does in the movie, nothing much changes there, but when they split lightning makes his way into the motel office to get his room key.

hes Dirty. hes got mud in his hair and sally just cringes because the rooms have white sheets and she does NOT want to scrub dirt off of them. she tells him that, he cant sleep in the room if hes gonna track dirt everywhere. he just kind of winces and apologizes. its not like he really has anything with him, and, on his crash into town, he cut his arm open pretty badly and has gauze wrapped around it. doc still isnt too fond of him, and he tells sally that he cant really shower because doc will Kill him if he ruins the bandages.

without hesitation and out of nowhere, sally is like well i can help you wash your hair in the sink right here! and she cant even process her offer until its already out of her mouth. he gets a kind of shocked look on his face and is like oh! okay. that’d be nice. and they both stand there awkwardly before one of them makes the first move (its sally; she quickly runs into the “back room aka her little apartment” to grab her shampoo)

lightning wanders around the counter, studies the stuff on her desk, and flinches when she reappears. he doesnt really know what do to so he just stands there and waits for instruction.

they get to talking, conversation Basically the same as it is in the movie, shes helping scrub the dirt out of his curly hair and its dawning on her that maybe hes not an awful person after all. maybe he Is a little misguided.

its a generally quiet scene, a majority of the light in the little office/lobby is from the streetlights outside, and its very comfortable. they get more comfortable as they chat, and its at this moment that she realizes maybe she even likes him.

the end of the conversation is the same, he thanks her for letting him stay and Also helping him feel a little cleaner considering he hasnt showered in what feels like years (its been like 3 days)

the next morning shes talking to flo and she thinks she can casually talk about how lightning is actually kind of nice and flos like ohhh honey ure so in love with him arent u. she immediately gets flustered and tries to deny it and all flo can do is give her the knowing motherly look of “u love him dont bullshit me!!!”

her and sallys conversation, though, kind of opens flos mind up to the idea of hearing lightning out — maybe he ISNT that bad.

anyways silly domestic salqueen Gets me . i think stuff like this becomes a little tradition between the two like just quiet comfortable chats over random little things. do you get me.

[fryktheciller]

with you, though

anderperry + charlie being a slut

summary: neil freaking out at the flower shop

Wind through the hair, sunlight on the face, and sunglasses sitting proudly on the nose—that’s definitely not Neil, at least not now. That's, most definitely, Charlie Dalton, driving a car that wasn't his, without a license, and with Knox's clothes. He's so cunty one might actually think he owns both the car and the clothes and has the right to drive. 

Neil’s poor soul is tortured and has been for quite a while. He had asked Todd out, and the interaction went a little like this:

–Todd, listen… would you like...i mean, if you want to of course, to hang out- I mean, go out? Next...next week, perhaps? After the latin test?

The blonde blushed at the request and the eloquence it was made with. He replies in one breath and with anxiety:

–Yes, I mean... It would be great. Saturday's good. Sure

Neil noticed, other than the embarrassment the roommate replied with, a glint in his eyes, bright and sparkling, perhaps even more than the light that was kissing his face and brown locks. That light—that's what tortures him ever so sweetly; it has bewitched him completely. 

With Charlie, he had to get flowers—not really because he wanted to, but rather because of Charlie himself, who claims to know everything about dating. They get out of the car (alive and well, against every expectation) and get into the tiny little flower shop, filled with bright and intense-smelling blooms.

 –Whatcha getting him?

–Have no clue, honestly.

–Now that's the spirit!– and Dalton smiles, patting Neil on the shoulder. –I'll be over there with the short brunette; call me if you need anything. 

Perry nods, without even listening, and watches him leave. He had thought about everything but the flowers and blames himself for that, partially because he doesn't have a clue about what flowers Todd likes and because he doesn't really know if he wants flowers in the first place.

He starts wandering slowly between the big, black buckets filled with seasonal blossoms. Pretty much everything blooms in that period; if there were fewer flowers, it could have been easier, Neil swore. 

Asking Charlie isn't an option. "He'll make me get some roses and end it there. I adore Charlie, but for pity's sake.” He thinks, reading the Latin names written on some wooden signs inside the buckets. 

“Which nouns were irregular? Uuh… mater, matris; pater patris, and then what? The flowers, god."

Some wild roses had something mischievous in the way they stood proud, with open petals and straight stems. “It's a Goethe reference, you silly!” they looked like they were saying.

Neil falls for that a little and bends down to look at them better: florid yet so young, sweet and wild, and a rosy color that was so elegant and bright at the same time. 

“Like when he comes out of the shower and into the room, all flushed with wet hair,” and blames himself for thinking such things in a public place.

He gets up and walks away, over to a table filled with green and smaller buckets. There were tulips, standing like they were about to wither, even though sunlight was over them entirely. 

“Tulipa sylvestris… Tulipa is from the first declination; Sylvestris is from... Sylvester, perhaps?

Did he write something about them? Did I read something? 

No, no, no, he said his mother loved them.” 

And he moves on, walking over to the hyacinths, the purple ones. They stood proud, almost stern, in the shadow. 

“They mean joy... or I’m proud of you? Don't remember.It would be cute, though; I give him the flowers and go, “I got these for you because I'm proud of you,”” and he smiles stupidly, like only a fool who’s in love does.

He sees clearly now. Looks over at Charlie, who turns around and flashes one of his iconic grins. “I love Charlie; like, look at him” and smiles again.

He moves on, now with an actual idea in mind. 

“Philadelphus coronarius, both from the second declination. Oh, so pretty,” and smiles once again. “They look like orange blooms. That’s what that poem was about; where did he even see these?” and he looks at them, white and canid. Petals so thin they were almost transparent; the faintly colored pistil; the thin stems, somehow so resistant to hold 8 to even 12 buds of flowers; and then the leaves, so dark and intense, almost to compensate for the purity and innocence the petals transmitted. He moves his attention to Charlie’s coarse and vibrant laughter and the girl’s sweeter one. “He's taking her to bed tonight.”.

There was a tiny ant breaking the flower’s fairness, walking expertly between petals and blooms.

“He wanted to spend a summer in Greece or Italy; that’s what he told me. They have such a faint, bitter scent, too.” and he bent down, his gaze still following the ant. 

“The light in his eyes when he told me that...” and he smiled foolishly. 

A second later, he’s looking at a blondie, wrapping up a sprig of mock oranges and a couple of wild roses that begged him so much to choose them in a light brown paper. “How did Calvino’s story go? Je voyage en amour? Perhaps.” That’s not really his case: traveling for love, but he felt the same way. The blondie’s delicate hands were now tying a fine white lace around the small bouquet. 

Charlie reaches him, holding the flowers as Neil paid for them. Once done, he turns around and smiles faintly, to which Charlie replies with a much sweeter grin than usual. "Homosexuals,” he thought, with irony and fondness, as if he weren't bisexual himself. 

–Think he’ll like them?

–Of course, trust me. 

Neil smiles at him, a weird feeling in his stomach and dizziness seizing him again. He got in the car, followed by Charlie.

–The short brunette wanted to get to know you, told her you were taken.

Charlie blurts out with a chuckle; the other laughs heartily and smiles sarcastically, turning at him.

–Yes, Charlie. Thank you.

***

With a heavy breath and the hair sticking to his sweaty forehead, Todd wakes up abruptly and sits up on the bed. The room's dark, the air stale and hot. He takes off the light wool blanket from his knees and gets up, opening the tiny window and moving a thin curtain. April’s moonlight enters shyly into the room, lighting a messy bed with undone sheets and a perfect one: sheets tight and covers straight. 

“It was a dream; I was dreaming,” the blonde whispers to himself, in front of the window, all cold from the night's humidity. The knot in his throat tightens, his limbs are numb, and something like butterflies starts to move in his stomach. His eyes burn with tears that start to fall, hot and slowly, one by one, wetting the pajama shirt or making a slight plop on the wooden floor. 

–I did want to go to Italy or Greece. With you, though. 

The blonde goes back to bed, body heavy and mind numb. The thought of the next day’s classes makes it hard to breathe. His head hurts,his lips contort downwards, eyebrows furrowed and it hurts to keep that expression on; there’s nothing he can do anyway, tears steaming uglily and wetting the messy flannel sheets, his arms wrapped around his stomach, in a fetal position under the blanket, freezing and sweating at the same time, as the cool wind moved slightly the curtain. 

One second later, he’s awoken by the loud halls and the sun lighting up the room. His face is still sticky from the tears; a sense of tiredness in every inch of his body only made him want to cry more, but he’s just too tired of the swamp of pain he’s been in for almost 6 months. Images of spring are still running through his mind, as if nothing happened: long afternoons spent studying in the sunlight and coming back into the dorm rooms when the sun starts peaking.

Spring is when everything is reborn—everything, but Todd.

notes: hi!! i want to start by apologizing, i have no right to write such outrageous things; with that being said, this has been sitting in a corner of my google docs page for like months, and after editing for weeks it still feels really off but i cant tell if its just me or the whole idea is completely mad ok

[callsign-jinx]

Seeing Red | Ch. 9: Missing firsts📲 ✍️

Pairing: Jake “Hangman” Seresin x ex-wife!Reader (Call sign: Red Queen)

Word count: 2.3k

Warnings: a new meaning of the 'there was one bed' trope, mentions of death, abandon, sad feelings, Jake guilty era continues... and Beau Cyclone Simpson.

Masterlist on pinned

There’s a tingling feeling in your heart when you read the words ‘our son’. You shouldn’t feel like that; you know it. But Liam is happy because he gets to see his dad at last—that’s something you can’t ignore. 

If he’s happy, you’re happy. 

Your mom has been asleep for at least one hour, extremely tired after all the driving she has done today. You tiptoe to Liam’s room, which is actually your room because you didn’t expect your mom and baby to appear out of the blue. They were supposed to be here tomorrow. And Charlotte had clear instructions: never bring Liam to Top Gun. 

But Jake has always been in Charlotte’s heart. She thinks that Jake had a good reason for getting a divorce. Maybe your mom thought that bringing Liam to Top Gun would make Jake regret every single second he had been away from you and ask for forgiveness. You don't know why she is still trusting him. You also assumed that he had a reason for leaving your life and that once the problem that had caused him to leave was resolved, he would return, explain everything, and you would be happy ever after with the son who was growing inside you. 

He never came back. And by the looks of it, he’s not going to give you an explanation, either. It’s okay. You don’t need to know. You honestly don’t want to know. Knowing the reason might ease the relationship between you two, and you can’t allow yourself to fall for this guy again. 

Again? As if you had ever stopped feeling something for him. 

And if those feelings had faded away during the last two years, seeing him lying down in bed with Liam sound asleep over him, his face hidden in the crook of his dad’s neck, doesn’t help a lot. 

That’s the image of a loving father. 

“I can’t move,” he whispers, kissing Liam’s head. “Not that I want to.” 

You smile a bit, walking closer to the bed, and lie down next to him. “It’s funny because I never thought this would be your reaction after meeting Liam.” 

“You thought I’d leave?” 

“Honestly?” He nods. “Yeah, I thought you’d leave again. But your dad instincts took control over your body.” 

Jake sighs, hugging Liam closer. “You know I’ve always wanted to have a family.” 

“That’s why I named him Liam.” 

“Thank you for that.” 

There’s a silence after his words. It’s not awkward. Silences have never been awkward with him. 

“You told him who I was.” 

“Every kid deserves a dad, Jake.” You grab Liam’s hand, his tiny fingers closing around yours. “And you’ve always been a good man to me.” 

“Until I wasn’t.”

“You’re never gonna tell me why you left me, right?” 

“I can’t, Red. I literally can’t. Just… Just know that if I had a choice in the matter, I would have stayed with you. Always.” 

You shake your head. “Let’s not talk about that.” 

“Tell me about Liam. What does he like?"  

“Well, he likes planes,” you chuckle. 

“Guess that’s in his blood.” 

“Yeah… He likes cars. But not cars in the sense of automobiles. The movie Cars.” 

“Tell me his favorite character isn’t Mater.” 

“Okay, I won’t tell you that.” 

He groans. “That’s Rooster's favorite character.” 

You bit your lip. “Why do you know that?” 

“We watch a lot of movies with Payback’s kids.” He confesses, grabbing the blanket and covering Liam’s body. You help him, making sure that Liam’s arms stay under the blanket, but he moves them again, one grabbing Jake’s hair, the other searching your hand. “Sweet baby.”

“Yes, he is. He also likes chocolate. Bluey. Dogs, of course. And his grandma.” 

“I also love his grandma.” 

“I swear, if she was younger, you would have married her.” You joke, trying your best not to laugh. 

“I don’t know. Your father would have come from death and killed me.” 

“Oh, yeah. They loved each other so much.” 

“Are you… seeing someone? Because explaining why the father has suddenly appeared will be interesting." 

“No… It’s kinda hard to date when you're a single mom. I don’t even have time to read a book; how am I supposed to date?” 

“It’s bad that a part of me is glad that you’re single?” 

“It is. Are you single?” You close your eyes and mentally facepalm yourself for asking that question. Why do you care? 

“It’s kinda hard to find someone to date when you had the perfect woman in front of you and had to let her go.” 

A tear slides down your face. Fucking idiot, why does he say things like that? “I’ll sleep on the sofa.” 

“No, no, please. I’ll shut up, okay? Stay here.” 

Something tells you to leave. That you should go and sleep on the sofa, creating the distance you need right now. 

You are proud of yourself for being a very strong woman. Always doing the right thing, following the rules, thinking before acting. 

But if the world ended in this exact same moment, this bed is where you'd like to be. 

"Was it Valentine's?" He asks, somehow closer to you, his breath tickling your skin.

"What?"

"When we made him."

"Oh. Yeah, it was on Valentine's." 

"So his birthday is in November?" 

"14th" 

"Nine months exactly?" 

"A perfectionist" 

"Just like his mama." You both say it at the same time, and Jake's laugh makes Liam stir in his sleep. 

"Mama?" He raises his arms, looking for you. 

"Shhhh, baby. Mama's here. Wanna sleep with Mama?" Liam nods, and Jake moves him, so he is now lying down in between the two of you, his face pressed against your chest. He falls asleep in seconds. 

"You should get some sleep." Jake says, looking at the time on his phone. "I'll leave early in the morning." 

"Stay and have breakfast with him. Told him that you make the best pancakes." You close your eyes, slipping into Morpheus' arms. 

It's weird, because you could swear the last thing you remember is someone's lips pressing against your forehead. 

"Can you explain to me why I am in a toy store at 9 AM?" Payback groans, sipping from his coffee. 

"Cause you're the only friend with kids I know and I need advice." Jake reminds him, comparing the two Mater toys in his hands. 

"Another Mater boy?" The taller man laughs, and now it's Jake's turn to groan. 

"Mater, Mater… He's not that cool. Doc Hudson. That's a good character!" 

"You always go after the fatherly figures, Jake. Doc, Mufasa, Tony Stark... Do you, perhaps, have daddy issues?" 

"I love and respect you, but I'm not going to stop myself from throwing this toy at your head." Jake warns, raising the toy. 

"I bet you wouldn't throw that if it was Tony Stark." 

"I hate you." Jake looks at the toy; it doesn't seem to have small pieces that could break. "Okay, this one's good." He leaves the toy in the cart and keeps walking down the Cars section. 

"Did you really not know she was pregnant?" 

Jake had been waiting for that question since he parked in front of his house one hour ago. The other daggers would also ask him along the day, is something inevitable. 

"No, she was like… almost three months pregnant, and all her symptoms showed up when I left. I can assure you there wasn't a baby bump or anything the last time I saw her." 

"Man, that sucks. I don't know how I would feel being in your place." 

"Wanna know how it feels?" Jake turns around, holding his gaze. Reuben would never admit it, but Jake looks like he's about to cry. "I'll never know how it felt the first time he kicked his mom's belly. I'll never know what it feels like to run to the store at 3 AM because the baby is craving strawberries. I never went to childbirth classes. I didn't read a book about how to raise a kid. I wasn't there when she went through labor. I missed his first laugh, his first steps, and his first words. How the fuck did I end up hurting a son I didn't know I had?" 

"I don't think you hurt him, Jake" 

"Can you be sure that Liam didn't cry, not even once, asking for his dad?" 

Payback knows how improbable that scenario is. Kids cry, asking for their parents. Of course, Liam had cried asking for his dad. 

"Jake, you didn’t know. You're not the one to blame, and neither is Red. She did what she had to do." 

"I'll never blame her. She tried to contact me,butd she couldn't because I blocked her. Dammit, I'm such a dickhead." 

Payback chuckles. "Stop it. What's done is done. Just try to be part of that kid's life for the next 16 years." 

"Only 16?" Jake frowns. He wants to be in Liam's life as long as he breathes. 

"You never know what your son might do when he turns 18." 

"18? His 3rd birthday is in six months, and I'm already panicking." 

"Oh, first-time fathers are so cute." 

"Stop joking and help me find more toys, please." 

"Okay, what else does he like?" 

"Bluey." 

"A boy with taste." Payback concedes, walking with his friend to look for more toys. 

"Where's Liam?" Mickey whines when you enter the briefing room. 

"Well, hello to you too, Garcia." You laugh. "And Liam is at daycare. My mom was so tired that I left her home to rest. Poor woman spent all day driving yesterday." 

"But he's coming, right?" Bob pouts. How can a man so tall pout like a baby?

"You all want to meet him?" 

Mickey, Bob, Nat, and Rooster nod at the same time, smiling like idiots. 

"You can come over this weekend and have dinner with me and Liam." 

"I'm gonna meet my nephew." Rooster fist bumps, and you're about to chuckle when you notice that Payback, Jake, and Javy are missing. 

"Where are these three? Mickey, where's Payback?" 

"Dunno." 

You take a deep breath. Second day being the team leader and people are already arriving late. 

Your phone pings, and you look at it. It's Jake. 

Just when Jake sends you the last message, your phone turns off, completely out of battery. Amazing. The beginning of a great day. 

Almost an hour later, Jake, Javy, and Payback are still missing. You’re supposed to prepare for a special class that Dagger Squad needs to teach to the new Top Gun students. But without three pilots here, it is hard to move on. 

The door opens, and you’re sure that Jake’s stupid smile will be at the other side, but what you see is Liam running inside the briefing room, looking for his mama. Cyclone appears behind him.

“OH MY GOD IS HIM.” Mickey screams in joy, scaring poor Liam, who starts to cry. 

“Mickey, why do you have to be so loud?” Bob smacks him. 

“Hispanic people are loud, I thought you knew by now.” 

“It's okay, baby. What are you doing here?” You whisper to the baby, calming him down. 

“He started crying and calling for his mom. They couldn’t reach you, so they contacted me.” Cyclone explains, playing with Liam’s hands. “And we played for a while with some planes until he calmed down, right buddy?” 

“Planes are cool.” Liam agrees, nodding. 

“Oh, god. My phone turned off an hour ago, and Jake was supposed to bring me a charger. I’m sorry, baby, Mama’s phone didn’t work.” You say while kissing his head. 

“It’s otay. Boo is cool.” 

“Who’s Boo?” 

“I think that’s me. Cyclone was a hard word for this little guy, and Beau turned into Boo.” 

“Thank you so much, Cyclone. I’ll make sure to keep my phone charged from now on.” 

He waves it off, smiling. “Don’t worry. And please call me Beau.” 

“Well, thank you again, Beau. But now I’m in a bit of trouble. What am I supposed to do with you little trouble maker?” You tickle him, the sound of Liam’s giggles making everyone in the room smile. 

“You’re still planning tomorrow's class, right?” 

“Yeah, we’re missing a few pilots. They’re bringing me some reports I needed.” 

“And you sent…” he turns around, looking at the people in the seats, counting which are the missing pilots. “Three men for such a simple mission?” 

“Seresin is involved. You need one to stop him from creating chaos and another one to actually do what they’re supposed to.” You are trying your hardest to cover for him, because he really had to go buy toys on a job day. 

“You could have just sent Payback.” 

“And have to see Hangman’s face all morning? No, thank you. Now that he knows who Liam is, I won’t stop seeing him for the next 16 years.” 

Cyclone laughs. “Yeah, it’s true. You told me before.” 

“She told him before?” Nat whispers to Rooster. 

“I saw them talking in front of his office this morning.” 

“It’s Cyclone trying to make a move on Red?” Bob mutters, and all of them look at the Vice Admiral with loathing in their eyes. 

Jake may be a dick, but there’s no denying that he loves Red and that he would do anything for that kid. 

Cyclone is now public enemy #1. 

Tag list: @purplevortexx @shrimping-for-all @caitsymichelle13 @callmemana @abaker74 @starkleila @topgunmenbefinebruh @blue-aconite @tayrae515 @alexxavicry @xoxabs88xox @mercurio23 @smells-like-perfect-senses @dempy @djs8891 @indynerdgirl @countryclubswifey @lauenderhaze @avaleineandafryingpan @poppyalice2001 @emorychase @wildxwidow @agentwayne17 @shanimallina87 @khaylin27 @fudosl @rhirhikingston @hotch-meeeeeuppppp @ducks118 @teacupsandtopgun @impossiblebaglecowboyfreak @marissat1998 @blairfox04 @phoenix1388

[graciedragonet23]

Hola Hola todos!! Gracie here again! In a random burst of motivation, I thought what would Lightning McQueen look like if he was in FNAF and boom this was created! I based Lightning's designs on the IRL Lightning McQueen animatronic from Disney world in Hollywood Studios and the withered animatronics from FNAF 2 and Security Breach Ruin.

I made two designs for Lightning, the first one being if he was in proper working condition and the second being if he was left to rot and withered for many years. You guys could let me know which one is your favorite!

Little lore about FNAF universe Lightning:

* Lightning McQueen is an animatronic race car who loves children.

* He is located in Disneyland California Adventure in Cars Land along with his best friend Tow Mater and his protege Cruz Ramirez.

* He is known to do meet-and-greets in front of his girlfriend's office at the Cozy Cone Motel.

* He tends to take children on little joyrides around a small race track where other children and guests can race him in their own go-karts. Of course, he doesn't go to his full max speed for safety regulations, but he still loves the thrill and the screams of joy of his guests.

* Lightning is equipped with a real V8 hybrid engine and has the ability to drive around on his own. And he can talk with a voice box built inside. He also has a jaw and teeth to properly speak. Lightning instead of needing to drink gas like in his movies, he instead is electric. He has an electric station for him to be charged at night when the park closes. He regularly gets maintenance checkups and paint job touches. Around holidays or special occasions, Disney's cast members give him and Mater new paint jobs. His eyes is a computer windshield with cameras that give Lightning the ability to see like in the films.

Lore about Withered Lightning:

* After many years without incidents, Lightning slowly becomes unnaturally aggressive and easily angry with guests. To the point, where cast members have to constantly supervise him, in case he becomes aggressive and has to be contained.

* Unfortunately, there have been incidents where Lightning has stepped on a father's feet intentionally after the father disregarded him and disrespected his son. The cast members have become concerned that Lightning might react worse and intentionally try to run someone over. They knew that it was unnatural for Lightning, since Lightning was programmed to be cool and relaxed.

* Several technicians had to come and check on Lightning, in hopes of finding out what was causing Lightning's radical behavior. But unfortunately, they couldn't find an answer or reason.

* After much debate, the Disney higher-ups decided to take Lightning away from the public eye and to be replaced by a remote controlled drive-around life-sized robot version of Lightning. When Lightning found out, he was furious. He nearly attacked a nearby cast member before he was shut down. Lightning was unfortunately scraped and taken apart for parts to be put on a newer animatronic version of Lightning.

* Lightning was locked away in a Disney parts warehouse far away from the parks where other animatronics don't work anymore. He hasn't been turned on, since...until now...

And that is it so far, I haven't really come up with Lightning's full fnaf lore, because I don't want to imagine him attacking and unliving security guards... I will leave it up to the audience to see what could be the reason why Lightning became aggressive in the first place! But that is all for now and I'll see y'all later! Adios!

[haunted-plush]

HI CRITTER!! i recently discovered u from ur amazing towqueen fic (LITFL) so i was wondering if u had any hcs for them, maybe off a little list i had. it would just be great to know what u think since ur hcs ive already seen are AMAZING!! :3

(sorry its long, and u ofc don’t have to answer all!!)

1. could you ever see them on being a more of a switch-ish couple?

2. where do u think they’d prefer their dates to be? and would they prefer public areas or more private, quiet sceneries?

3. u kinda answered this before, but how do u think each of them would cope with long-distance?

4. who do you see being more attached and attention-needy? and how would they call out for attention?

AAAAAAAAA SORRY I DIDNT ANSWER THIS RIGHT AWAY!!! Whenever I see the notification for an ask and it goes away I forget about it :,]

1. I've touched on this in another ask but yeah they could deviate from their typical dynamic if they were feeling something different, sometimes Mater likes stuff that makes him feel like he's in danger like kidnapping roleplays and knifeplay. I read a fic once where Lightning bent Mater over the hood of a car while he was working on it and fucked him like that and I could see them going for something like that every once in a while

2. It depends on where they are for what their dates tend to be, like if they're in Radiator Springs they'll go stargazing or go get fast food or see a drive in movie, or if they're in LA they'll go to a more fancy restaurant or maybe a club or a bar, they also just like hanging out at each other's homes. Whenever they're in LA Lightning likes to kind of parade Mater around like "ooo look at me with my handsome man over here" and Mater likes it too of course but what he really likes is to drive them wayyyy out in his truck with a blanket and maybe a few cold ones to look at the stars

3. They're a long distance couple a lot of the time so they're both kinda used to it but it still gets pretty rough. I mentioned the phone calls but they'll also just call and text for non horny reasons just sending updates throughout the day. Mater, of course, comes to all of his races [I feel like Cars 2 trying to say he didn't was total bs] whenever he can so it's not like they're always apart. They also visit a lot in the off season, Lightning mostly coming to rs but Mater sometimes making the trip to LA

4. Lightning. Lightning for sure. His ass gets straight up bitchy and mean when he goes too long without getting what he wants, and seeing Mater [and his other friends of course] become part of this eventually. If he or Mater have a busy schedule and he has to wait a long time for a phone call he will be in a BAD mood but that'll melt away when they can both finally talk. He's always the one that reaches out for whatever reason also, if he's just lonley or horny or had a bad day he'll shoot a text or try to call, but like I've mentioned when Mater starts to miss Lightning he keeps it to himself since he doesn't like being a bother. Whenever Lightning calls [which is often] he makes sure to ask about his eating habits and such to make sure he's taking care of himself

TYSM FOR THE ASK ANON BTW!!! AGAIN SORRY I DIDNT GET TO IT FOR SO LONG HHH

[calkale]

Okay because i put my thoughts in the tags the first time heres some of my spn au thoughts

Also disclaimer i am changing the supernatural story so dont get mad at me for not including things or changing things you like this is my house and i write the au <3

Characters: Dean -> Mav, Cas -> Ice, Sam -> Slider, John Winchester-> Duke Mitchell, Mary Winchester -> Slider’s mom (her name is also Mary in my Slider lore so), Bobby -> Viper, Ash -> Goose, Ellen -> Carole, Jo -> Bradley (he’s like a teen in this but don’t worry theres no Jo and Dean content 🤮 thats his godson) 

-slider and mav aren’t actually related, they were both 6 (mav older by a few months) when their parents got married, duke was a widower and mary was never married 

-Getting this out of the way although i love the chevy impala i am a truck freak so mav drives his dads black 1990 toyota sr5 with an extended cab 

Backstory: -viper and duke were both navy pilots now “hunting buddies”, they took mav and slider out hunting occasionally but whenever they went on long “hunting trips” they left slider and mav at home, that’s because these hunting trips were monster hunting trips

-the same thing that happens to sam and deans mom happens to mav and sliders mom but when they’re both around the age of 10, since they’re older and not stupid they have a lot of questions that duke can’t just bullshit answers to so he tells them about monsters and what he thinks took their mom (because he doesn’t actually know at this point)

-since they no longer have a house they stay at vipers or go on the road with duke 

-once they both start high school slider wants to stop hunting and stay with viper to focus on school, his relationship with duke gets weird after that because duke wants him to keep hunting to find what killed his mom but slider wants to do well in school to make his mom proud, they come to an agreement where slider stays with viper but once a month he has to come hunting

-slider leaves for university (idk what hes studying), mav graduates but stays with duke, he starts hunting on his own 

Now time: -This au starts in 2005 like the show

-duke picks up a lead on the thing that killed mary but is super vague about it when telling viper and doesn’t tell mav anything, he says he’ll be gone for a week but a week and a half later theres no word from him, viper refuses to go after him because “he’s gonna get himself killed” and “ive been telling him to let it go for years” but mav still has to go look for him

-mav finds slider and this basically carries out exactly how it does in the show, he agrees to help for one day, when he gets back his gf is dead, agrees to ditch school 😎 to come help look for duke

story wise thats all i've got so far, i want ice to come into the story a lot sooner than cas does in the show and i dont remember when ash, ellen and jo come in but i want them to come in sooner too. hopefully ill actually work on this more but i hope you guys enjoy

Character descriptions:

Mav: -has the classic dean necklace given to him by slider

-dresses basically the same as 86 movie mav but with flannel 😎

-does wear his cowboy boots but he’s normally wearing work boots

-eyebrow scar eyebrow scar eyebrow scar!!!

Slider: -wears his mother’s wedding ring on a necklace, duke gave it to him after she died

-dresses like early season sam, carhartt jacket, hoodies, tshirts and baggy jeans

-silver eyebrow piercing 😎

Ice: -exactly the same as cas but with a dark grey trench coat

-his eyes always glow a little, not enough that its noticeable unless its in the dark

-has a grey hoodie and black jeans for when he needs to look a little less “formal” 

Goose: -has a mullet its a key part of ash’s character so 

-just think mater from cars personified mixed with goose idk

Carole: -dresses exactly like ellen 

-her classic curly meg ryan hair stays tho

bradley: -just a mini goose

Duke and Viper: -they look pretty much the same, just some dad with a mustache and flannel

-only difference is duke always wears his wedding ring

[myceliumbean]

Cars 2 Agents AU How did Rod survive III

Featuring: In which they rest

Summary: the agents were on a mission, and everything went wrong soon after they entered Russian airspace

Dammit, I just couldn't find a proper place for Rod struggling to tell them about his near-death experience and thus considering changing the chapter names

She's in golden red paint. Holley watched as Julia sneaked into the hangar, woke up Eva, bumped Boris' front tires with a cheerful smile, put down the boxes she carried, and waved goodbye to the team before leaving.

"Much like a storm of energy and cheers, right?"

"Wha- oh, yeah, she's…" Holley turned to face Alyona, who had taken out another cup of cocoa and sipping on it happily. Someone's goot to stop the forklift from taking in this much caffeine. "Is she even at your age?"

"Ah ha! Eva, you owe me one!" Alyona made a resounding "ching" with her tines. "Julia is much older than me, even Michaele, if you would like to know, maybe… let me think about someone… oh, she's like Boris' daughter, and I'm more like his granddaughter!"

The Ilyushin-76 in the background made a not-very-heartily protest and said something like "I'm not that old".

Eva chuckled and smashed the hude cargo plane on his front tires. "Aw, but you almost act like that, you and Zil are equally overprotective."

Boris rolled his eyes, and tilted to the side to take a proper look at Holley and Alyona. "Well, if that's how you want to phrase it, then I'm gonna adopt Siddeley."

Daniil choked at the unexpected words, and Michaele made a soft noise as he tried to bit back his laughter. Then, Alyona smacked the forklift on the back of his red helm, and the two bursted into laughter as they playfully chased down each other, driving circles in the big hangar.

Holley didn't realize she's smilling too, until Daniil drove up and tapped her with his tine. "You look good when you're smiling. Don't be too worried about your friends, they're safe with us."

"…thank you, Daniil. It's just- I don't know, I'm never afraid even we're pointed by guns and completely outnumbered." Holley shuddered as she recalled the feeling of Finn lying limp against her frame, or how cold Rod is when Finn told her the American spy had passed out. "I know it isn't good for us agents being too close or too attached to others, but I can't…"

"Get some rest." Daniil smiled warmly, as if he could read Holley's thought so easily like flipping a book. "You'll need it. Zil has so many things to tell you. I'll take Alyona to check on the other two agents, feel free to call us if you have any question."

"I will. Thank you, Daniil."

Watching as the two forklifts headed for the door to the hangar on the left, Holley let herself drift into her own thoughts.

Finn Mcmissile. Rod Redline. Siddeley. Even Mater, who they had mistaken as Rod. They're all great people.

Holley had joined the mission by accident. She's supposed to hand over the information and period. It was Finn who insisted that he'll need her help and pulled Holley into the center of danger. Not that she's complaining, really, she had learn so much from the field, and fron Finn himself.

If Holley's honest enough to herself, she's actually scared of how fast she became friends with Finn and Mater. Siddeley, on the other hand, was not really close to Holley, but they went well together, and their similar age made the interaction more like ordinary friends than mentor and mentee.

The jaguar would probably get lost in her thoughts forever if that bright red figure didn't stayed there for enough time at the corner of her eyes.

Holley didn't recognize that car. She casted a glance at Boris, but the big guy just continuously reading his book and use his wing to cover Siddeley up with some piece of canvas everytime when the Gulfstream V shuddered in his coma and caused the canvas to slip off.

But as far as she knew, the hangars near this one were control areas, no way they're allowing some random vehicles wandering around like that.

Holley looked at that red car, who might be a jaguar too, and got a look and a smile back.

Chrysler, why on the world was this stranger smiling at me?

That bright red jaguar waved a front tire at Holley and quickly headed to the right side of the hangar, opened the door, and disappeared behind it.

"…um, Boris?"

"Yes, Ms. Shiftwell." The Ilyushin moved his gaze from his book to the small purple jaguar. "Anything wrong?"

"Well, that red jaguar… is it fine to let someone else in? Or is the car part of the team?"

"Ah, him." Boris somehow sounded amused. "He's fine, Zil called him in for some security assistance."

"Oh, I see. Maybe I'm too worried about my friends… will you mind if I take a nap here?"

"No. Just suit yourself, Ms. Shiftwell, I'll look after you guys." Boris said certainly. "I'll wake you up if they're awake."

"That will be appreatiated, thank you. And just call me Holley."

"Good. Now sleep, Holley, Zil's gonna push you to the very end of your strength."

@longjiaojiao had joked about Julia being Zil and Boris' adopted daughter, and I think putting this in would be fun, as Eva was almost the same age as Boris (and they're both a bit younger than Zil) and one of her best interests is teasing her relatively more serious colleagues

Alyona, by the way, is the youngest of the team, even might be younger than Holley, while Siddeley being a bit older than she in this AU

And congratulate to our ghostly-wardering-around and having-too-few-canon-scene C.H.R.O.M.E. agent, Leland Turbo for making his debut in the AU!

[liminalpebble]

Sex and Death: Chapter 12, Green

Masterlist link

Chapter 12: Green

On the drive back to Noura's apartment complex, Wallander couldn't help but notice how uncharacteristically quiet and serious Magnus' behavior was. In most cases, Martinsson showed a kind of easygoing immunity to attachment. 

He was able to do what Kurt had never mastered; separating himself from his work. Kurt considered for the first time that his contentious relationship with his protege might actually be rooted envy, rather than differences of opinion. It grated on him that Magnus was able to leave it behind at the end of the day, as if the gruesome burden of these cases could be neatly tucked into a manila folder and slid into a desk drawer as he turned the lights out.

Until now, Kurt considered.

As the junior detective drove on, speeding slightly through the green lights with a clenched jaw,  his boss noticed the little hand-shaped trinket sitting in the cup holder. Wallander began piecing together what he already suspected; a situation he himself had been in once in his youth.

This will be hard on him then, Kurt thought to himself, and sighed.

The parking lot was already awash in the blinking lights of cop cars. The forensic teams were already taping off and carefully cataloging on several sites around the complex. Around back floodlights had been set up, illuminating the grisly path through the snow. Walking up to the scene Magnus said, “I guess we're lucky it's still below freezing for a bit yet, the tracks seem to be well preserved.”

Wallander nodded and ordered, “Take me up to Noura's, Show me where you saw it from. I want to get a handle on this.”

----

They walked gingerly through Noura's front door, feet covered in blue plastic. Kurt grew taciturn, feeling uncomfortably intrusive. As they crossed to the window, Magnus seemed to find his voice again and acted more like himself, rambling theories, face animated as he pointed to areas of the snow through the verdant frame of houseplants on the windowsill. He was distracted momentarily by a warm thought. Leave it to Noura to keep things growing in the dead of winter, but shook himself out of it to continue his garden-path monologue.

As Martinsson used him as a sounding board, Wallander noticed a laundry hamper standing with the lid open. A set of red lingerie and a college tee shirt (from Magnus' alma mater, and one Kurt had seen him in before) were piled directly on top.

Kurt turned beet-red and swallowed as he saw it, putting a gloved finger up to pause Magnus' torrent of words. He crossed the room and closed the lid to the hamper as Magnus watched, wide-eyed and red-cheeked, searching for what kind of excuse he could possibly give. Trying to estimate how many co-workers might have already been through here; seen what Kurt had just seen. Would they realize too? Would they even care?

Kurt came closer to a still dumbstruck Magnus and said quietly, “Be careful, Magnus. I never saw anything, okay?  But I'm worried you won't be able to stay objective now that the case is, well, personal....Why...why are you smiling?”

“That's exactly what she worried about.”

Kurt nodded and gave a thin, wry, smile. “Clever girl. She's got a good head on her shoulders.”

He looked around surreptitiously, another tech was fiddling with the plastic over-shoes, about to enter.

Wallander talked quickly, in a low whisper, meeting his eyes like a stern parent. “Listen, she's keeping her focus. See that you do as well...and she's a good kid. Take care of her.”

Humbled, the junior detected nodded and thanked his superior, for his advice and his discretion.

As they exited the building, traveling around to the back yard, they walked slowly and Magnus spoke carefully. “You must think I'm an idiot...well...even more of an idiot than you already believed me to be.”

Kurt said, with surprising gentleness, “No, Magnus. And I've never thought you're an idiot. We simply have different ways of operating. We rub each other the wrong way sometimes, but I respect you.”

Martinsson was shocked. He'd heard Kurt speak more personally and vulnerably in the last few days than he ever had in his several years on the force. The cause, he suspected, was a fatherly soft spot Kurt had for Noura. Perhaps, she reminded him of his own daughter.

“As for the other thing...well...hard as it is to believe I was young once too, and love makes everyone stupid, even the best of us.”

“I never said I was in love.”

Kurt rolled his eyes at Magnus, smiling knowingly. “You didn't have to.”

A tech approached them. Kurt asked, “What do we know?”

“The subject walked all the way from somewhere in the front parking lot,” he said pointing, “ around to the backyard, here, and then went up the hill through the treeline dragging something (or someone) heavy. He seems to have exited on the other side into a different lot and that's where we lose him.”

“Is there security footage from either of those lots?” Martinsson asked.

“Unfortunately, no.” Both detectives sighed in annoyance. That could have been worth its weight in gold.

“Witnesses?” Kurt asked.

“Interviews are in progress. The uniforms are still taking statements but so far, no luck.”

They thanked the tech and continued on, this time moving towards The One Stop Shop to speak to Mo and Yasmin.

Magnus entered to see the couple sitting on their cashiers chairs surrounded by men with notebooks taking statements. Yasmin had on pajama pants and an old sweater, looking annoyed as she translated between the cops and her husband, but she smiled as she saw Martinsson, coming over to meet him.

“Hi Yasmin. Are you both alright?”

“Yeah we're fine. I was done with my shift, watching Netflix upstairs, trying to finally relax while Mo took the evening. What the hell is this anyway? They bothered us and won't even tell us why.”

“We're trying to figure that out, but in the meantime do you and Mo have somewhere you can go, outside of the neighborhood?”

“What? You think we can afford to close up? For how long?”

Magnus met her eyes with a pleading stare. “Please, Yasmin. I can't talk about it yet, but this might be serious. Do you have someone, anyone?”

She sighed, thinking a moment. “Uh...I have a cousin. Lives up in the nice part of town. I'll call and see if we can stay there.”

He nodded sighing with with relief, “Please do...and Yasmin...”

She paused with her finger hovering over the green circle glowing on the touchscreen.

He came closer, whispering, “How much would you lose if you close for a few days?”

“Uh...the restaurants we supply to can still pick up their goods from the storage without us here, at least for a couple day, and that's the bulk of the money.”

Magnus smiled that charming smile hoping it would encourage her to be honest with him about what they needed. “Good! That's great news. What about the rest? The walk-in shop?”  

She looked to the floor and quoted a sum on the low end. He could see it embarrassed her.

Martinsson leaned closer, whispering. “Okay. I'm going to send you that each day, understand? And don't tell anyone please. Especially not Noura.”

Yasmin's eyes scrunched in confusion. “What do you mean? The police don't do that.”

“It's not from the police,” he mumbled eyes fixed to the floor. “It's from me.”

She looked him in the eye as hers began to water, “Thank you...you're a good one, Magnus. I hope Noura knows she's got a good one.”  

---

Magnus was tired to the core and soaked to his bones when he came back to the Ystad Station. It had taken longer than he thought to comb through the outdoor area with Kurt. Thick slushy rain was rolling in as the temperature rose slightly, demolishing the bulk of outdoor evidence into gray mush with scraggly green patches poking out. Both men were moody, uncomfortable, and fractious.

When Martinsson crossed the threshold and saw that Noura was still up, it lifted his heart slightly, just to see her face, but when he saw how she was chatting and smiling with Svendsen, he felt a pang of what he knew was childish jealousy. He knew it, even as he snipped at Josef (his perfectly kind and professional subordinate). He knew also that the  possessive demanding tone he took over the last few hours frightened Noura and he regretted that, but it was necessary to protect her. He knew he should cool off before he talked with her, essentially cornering her, yet he found himself doing it anyway.

He closed the door to his office and closed the blinds. Shrugging off his soaked coat and combing his hand through his wet hair, he said, “We've gotten all we can from the scene. We're waiting on forensics and we'll have a meeting about it in the morning.”

“Okay,” Noura said, walking on eggshells. “Isn't that something everyone should know?”

He gave a cursory nod, hands on his hips, scowling but giving nothing away that she could actually work with. “Kurt's sending the message.”

“If you wanted to say 'I told you so' you could have just done it out there. Why are you so angry with me?”

He pressed her suddenly against the wall, kissing her deeply and holding her face. His wet hands and hair left little damp trails over her cheeks.

He paused to breathe, eyes closed and forehead against hers. “You taste so sweet.” He said, his prickly tone melting as his face relaxed. His tongue flicked out to taste the sugar lingering on his lips from her mouth.

“What's going on, Magnus?”

He exhaled as he admitted, “Kurt knows...but he said he'll keep it quiet.”

“Svendsen figured it out too.” she stuttered out nervously.

“Svendsen!” Magnus exclaimed, “Fuck.”

She hadn't seen him this agitated before. It was a jittery simmering kind of anger, rather than an explosive one, but somehow that made it more unnerving.

Noura stopped his pacing, holding his cold damp face to meet his eyes. “He said he won't say anything, and you said it yourself, there's no explicit rule against it.”

“Yeah...yeah, you're right,” he said, lowing his voice. He met her eyes with a gentle expression. “I'm sorry, darling. It's been a long long day and if anything happened to you I'd...”

She stroked his cheek with the pad of her thumb. “I know...long days, long weeks...but I'll be okay. Will you?”

“Yeah...yeah I'll be okay.”

She paused then said carefully, “might I dare to suggest you apologize to Svendsen? He might be more amenable to keeping our secret if he doesn't think you're an asshole.”

He chuckled, “I am an asshole. I'm just usually more endearing and playful about it.”

She laughed. He melted. “That's the sound I've been waiting to hear.”

“I was laughing when you came in. You heard it then.”

“Yeah, but this one's just for me,” he said kissing her neck.

“Wait...wait a minute. Magnus Martinsson, are you jealous?”

He brought his face back up and scrunched it in distaste. “No. No! Of course not. I'm 32 years old, and an adult, and a detective, and...fuck...and I'm jealous like a little kid, aren't I?”

They both laughed at his epiphany. “Well, you big jealous baby, would you like some of the cookies I brought? I promise to give you just as many as I gave Svendsen if he hasn't eaten them all by now.”

He pulled her closer with a little growl. “No, sweet girl. I'd rather taste them from your delicious mouth,” he purred and kissed her deeply, lapping his tongue against hers.

Noura broke away. “Stop it! Let's not frustrate ourselves. I'm going to try to sleep. You should go home and do the same.”

“Alright,” he agreed gloomily, shocked to realized how accustomed, how addicted, he already was to having her warm little body near him. He leaned down to whisper into her ear, nipping at the lobe and combing a hand through her dark locks, “but the next time we're alone, we better at least have a whole night to relieve all this stress, and I can't promise to be gentle.”

Taglist: @peacefulpianist @peaches1958 @icytrickster17 @sired-to-hybrid @mjsthrillernp @acidcasualties @loz-3 @annoyingsweetsstranger @alexakeyloveloki @marcotheflychair @muddyorbs @smolvenger @sweetsigyn @goblingirlsarah @lovelysizzlingbluebird  

[declanfs]

10/22/23

Quick little hike at the battlefield, and by quick I mean 3.5 miles of carrying your through the forest. You did not want to ride in the backpack. You did RUN the first .2 miles. Then I gave you a piggy back ride until my arms got too tired and then dada carried you for like 1.5-2 miles. I carried you the last mile or so I think, but it might not have been that far and just felt like it because you weight 32 pounds and are very long. It didn’t help that it was cutting into your ideal nap time, so we can’t blame you.

We saw lots of cool mushrooms, a baby copperhead (possibly), and a cool green and purple caterpillar. I didn’t take many photos because it’s hard to take pictures when your arms are full of a baby.

You still love magnatiles, and this is a house you built all by yourself. You love to make “cloud towers” like from Tumble Leaf and sometimes they are so tall that you have to use a step stool to stack the pieces on the very top. You like to pick things out of the book for me or dad to make, and then you really like to smash them all up. We make garages for mater and lighting McQueen, for your monster trucks, and have made a zoo for your animals and many other random things I can’t remember. I just really liked this thing that you made all by yourself, it looks like a castle and is very arty with how you stood some pieces up and laid others on their sides. It’s fun to watch you play on your own because you get in a super focused zone and you’ll play for 15-20 minutes singing songs to yourself and talking for you people or just talking to yourself as you figure out what you’re doing.

Sometimes your toys get stuck or are falling down and other toys have to help them. Sometimes you just line up every single block or car or magnatile in a line that is like 3 feet to 30 feet long depending on what you are using. Earlier you spent a good chunk of time pouring water into your new balance scale thing. You’re a very skilled pourer and I don’t think you spilled even a drop.

Today you actually helped me with toy rotation. You tell me which toys you want to keep out or put away (usually it’s putting all the last week’s toys away), and then you are entertained for a good hour or more because all the “new” toys pull your play in all kinds of directions. This week the train table has all your construction vehicles and kinetic sand. The playroom has the ABC puzzle, some books, your rock and roll monster truck, the lovevery flowers and peg board, and bubble blowing train that pop and Deedee got you for Christmas last year. You were afraid of the train at first because it’s kind of loud and it didn’t help that it fell on your toe at one point, but now you love it and it played for like 30 minutes straight with its very loud music. **cringe smile**

The last little update is that we went to Belvedere with Granny on Friday. She took the day off and it was perfect. It was a bit cool and the rain didn’t start until we were driving home. Your favorite favorite part was probably the corn maze. I’m going to add two more videos from this day (slide + maze), but you loving the maze was such a funny surprise to granny and me. It’s like you knew exactly what to do and exactly where to go and you basically ran through the entire thing to lead us to the exit without getting lost once. You were gleefully and maniacally laughing as we could barely keep up with you as you raced around the corners, but it was so fun. You wanted to hide in the corn and jump out to scare granny and you were so pleased with yourself about following the paths and leading the way. You are such a joy.

You are still unsure of the big bouncy pillow. I think you are deterred by all the other kids being on there and jumping and running around in complete chaos. Which I totally understand, I bet it feels really scary to be so small and to see all these other bodies bouncing and running around with no predictability. At one point, another boy spun around and his foot barely grazed the top of your head. I don’t even think he noticed because you fell at almost the same exact time and his sock probably skimmed the top of your hair, but you noticed. You said “mama, he kicked me.” So the next time he came over I tried to advocate for you to teach you how to talk to the other kids and how you have to stand up for yourself, but it’s sooo hard. I mostly just made observations about how he almost kicked you on accident and then talked about how it was lucky that no one got hurt. This is so tricky because I don’t know where that kid’s adult was and I feel like all adults handle things differently. And I’m sure that 99% of adults would prefer to handle situations with their kid on their own. But, I promise to work on this. To strengthen my voice so your voice will be strong too.

Another favorite was the corn pit. This was our second time here in two weeks so you knew what you did and did not want to do. The corn pit, the pig races, feeding the animals, the big bubbles, and the obstacle course thing were on your YES list.

Being a pig pal and the zip line swing things were on your NO list. You enjoyed the slide a lot, but we did not do it as much as I expected. I definitely want to go back to Sneads so you can do their mountain slides again, especially if we go on a weekday in the beginning of the week and no one else is there!

We opted to get pumpkins at the store because Belvedere is so expensive and we ran out of time to go on the hayride before they closed at 2. I’m not sure you would have wanted to anyway though, so it’s all good and we will try again next year.

[oli150]

Leo was an English exchange student who was studying at the University of Leeds. He went for his year abroad to Sweden to study at the University of Stockholm however he was very bored of urban life and wanted something different. That's when he had an idea, he'd go to one of the Swedish forests, det a log cabin and connect more to nature so that he could relax and recollect his mind.

Leo booked the Cabin, packed his bags and jumped in his car and went off to the Swedish forest land. After a few hours of driving Leo was almost at the cabin... what he wasn't aware of was that he took the wrong turn, the cabin he was renting was on the left turn, whereas he turned right

He drove to the end of the road and at the end he arrived at his "destination", it was a small quaint wooden cabin surrounded by the Swedish forestry:

Leo got out of his car and went over to the cabin. He knocked the door but no one answered, he tried again without a reply. He tested if the doors were open and they were. Leo must have thought that the owners of the cabin were just out so he decided to walk inside for a bit of a rest after his long journey.

Upon entering the house Leo was immediately overwhelmed by an intoxicating smell. He walked into the kitchen and on the table was a plate with a large steak on it. Leo was a vegan he didn't want to eat meat as he believed that hurting other beings on the planet was a terrible practice... however the smell was just too intoxicating.

Leo threw his morals out the window and ate the steak fully until his belly was full. He stood up and unbuttoned his shirt as his belly was full, he was a slim boy but at that moment he just really wanted to unbutton his shirt to make him feel more free.

Leo walked around the house with his torso very much in the open while still wearing the unbuttoned shirt. He eventually reached a room, after opening it he entered and it was a mater bedroom. Leo thought to himself "well since no one's here I might as well take a quick nap".

He approached the bed and lay down on it, as he closed his eyes however he felt a breeze going through the room and all of a sudden a voice could be heard "did you like the steak boy". Leo opened his eyes however no one was in the room, the voice once again spoke "no one is in here with you... I am just a list soul if a lumberjack waiting for the right person to arrive so that I can live once more!"

Leo looked confused "what are you saying... you're... not gonna possess me?", "Oh but you are wrong boy... the steak you ate was filled with protein that will transform your body into a stout lumberjack" said the spirit. "What that's impossible I don't feel..." Leo stopped mid sentience as he felt his belly beginning to rumble. All of a sudden his torso began to transform, first two big pecs exploded and a six-pack that was not visable but was definitely there began to form. His arms were next, they expanded rapidly to a huge size that a lumberjack would need to fulfil his job successfully, then came his legs, which became extremely ripped as if Leo had been going to the gym for years, and later his face changed, he grew a beard and, he no longer needed his glasses to see and it seemed like he had aged slightly.

"what the fuck have you done to me?!?" Exclaimed Leo, "don't worry, your anxieties will soon disappear when your body and mind finally become one", "what do you mean by that", asked Leo, "well now my bun begins".

All of a sudden Leo felt as if something entered his body, his mind was slowly becoming foggy, his academic life began to fade, his great grade and worries over the coming exams all faded away, they have been replaced by the urge to chop wood, and live a lumberjacks life... in fact Leo wasn't called Leo... no of course his name was Bjørn and he lived in Sweden all his life, his grandfather was a lumberjack, his father was a Lumberjack and now he was a lumberjack and they all loved in this cabin throughout all those generations.

"blow it boy, blow your old self and embrace your new better you" said the spirit. Bjørn complied and bang he began uncontrollably splurting his cum everywhere moaning in his new deep voice as if that was all he needed. Leo was gone forever and the sprit had fully overtaken him, Bjørn was his name now and he loved chopping wood, living in the woods away from all the mess the city provided and also he began to hook up with women from a nearby town in order to spread his dynasty and have children that would eventually inherit his Lumberjack business. Bjørn enjoyed his life out on the edges of his beautiful homeland of Sweden

[kiridarling]

𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓.

— 3.0k words

eijirou kirishima | hard dom + dubcon jic + f!reader + exhibitonism + face-fucking + dumbification + car sex + more! minors dni.

"Made me come all this way...it’d be a pity if I didn't get somethin' out of it."

"No, no, no, no, no—c'mon," you cry as your car engine spits and sputters to a stop in the road, coughing like an old man with asthma before it's dead for good. Jamming your heel on the gas pedal, you twist your key in the ignition, but there's no use. You're fucking stuck.

You sigh, before slamming your forehead against the steering wheel. It's hard enough to sting, and the blaring horn startles all unsuspecting birds in a five-mile radius, but you could care less. Stuck in the middle of the woods at one in the morning, AAA membership-less with nothing but the clothes on your back and the vehicle you came with. Short cuts are a fucking myth.

Mina's the only person you can think of calling—because frankly, she's the only one who'd know a mechanic who could help at this time of night if one exists. Which you doubt. Severely.

"[Y/N]?" Mina answers, semi-urgently. You wonder if you startled her out of a good sleep, but knowing the night owl, her evening is just beginning. "What's up?"

"I'm fucking stuck in the middle of nowhere," you groan, banging your head against the back of the seat though you know she can't see you. "Car's not working."

"Oh no," she coos, and her pity is useless. "Do you have AAA?"

"No. Do you have a mechanic?"

"A mechanic...at one am? I don—wait," she interrupts before you hear something akin to rustling sheets. "I might have a friend who could help! But don't get your hopes up girlie, he's a heavy sleeper."

You shrug, shaking your head. "At this point, I'm desperate."

"Alrighty!" Mina confirms, and now all you can do is fucking hope her friend pulls through. "I'll give him a quick buzz and then send his number over, sound good?"

"Sounds perfect," you breathe, relaxing (somewhat) with your chin against the steering wheel. "Thanks, girl."

"Of course!" she cheers, and you wonder how someone could have so much energy at this time of night. "Good luck!"

"Thanks," you snort. "I might need it."

Riiiing! Riiiing!

Eijirou's had a long day.

A pipe busted at the auto shop today, resulting in an immediate flood—meaning they had to get everything that could possibly rust out as quickly as possible, aka everything in the goddamn shop.

So, yeah. He's had a long day, and when he's finally able to get under the covers and go the fuck to sleep, Mina calls him with this.

"Hey...Eijirou, buddy, best friend—"

"Mina, I love you, but what do you want?" Eijirou grunts into the phone, voice worn and ragged from limited sleep and his terribly long day. One am is never an appropriate time to call anybody, but he figures something has to be up—Mina's not the type to call in the middle of the night.

"Um, well. My homegirl’s kinda stuck in the woods with car troubles—"

"The woods."

It takes Mina a second but she hums in confirmation, and Eijirou can see her head nodding from where he lays. He sighs, rolling on his back to blink up at the ceiling. "Yep!"

"What is she doing in the woods at midnight?"

"I don't know!" Mina exclaims. Eijirou runs a hand over his face. "I just—please, Ei? She doesn't have AAA or anything and it's really, really late. All you have to do is hotwire her car or something, right? It's not like she totaled it or anything."

And dammit. Eijirou hates being a nice person.

"Just give me ten."

Mina practically gasps out a thank you, "You're a lifesaver Ei! Really! I—"

She's interrupted by the buzz of his phone—this time, from an unknown number. Eijirou raises an eyebrow, "That her?"

"Should be!" The pinkette says. Eijirou's feet finally touch the floor and it's painfully cold. His bed has never looked more appealing, and that's counting all those instances in high school. "Thanks again, Ei!"

"Yep," Eijirou says, popping the 'p,' before clearing his voice and switching the line. Customer Service at one am, here he comes.

"Red Riot Auto Repair and Services, how may I help you?"

All he receives is a grunt on the other end of the phone: "My car won't turn on."

Eijirou waits for you to give him a little more to work with, but it's clear that's all you have to say when you ask hello to ensure he's still on the other end of the line. Runs his hands through his hair, he silently prays he won't have to leave the house to get your car to work.

"Did you try jiggling the key?"

"Yes, I'm not stupid," you huff, and Eijirou's eyebrows fold in exasperation. He insists you do it again though, and hears the weak splutter of your engine through the phone with a heavy heart. "'S fucking useless."

"Did you try tapping the battery terminals?"

"The battery whatsitals?" You say, too loud and smart-mouthed for the very thin amount of patience Eijirou harbors. He reaches for his hair tie, satisfied enough with the messy bun he makes on the first try.

"Just send me your location," Eijirou sighs, moving for a jacket before snatching the keys to the shed. He'd rather just get this over with than beat around the bush.

Luckily, you're not far. 

"You drive that thing?" is your first comment, and Eijirou can't even appreciate your beauty before your first words shatter your image completely, and he's slamming the door to his truck with rolling eyes, rusted toolbox heavy in his hand. "It looks like Mater from Lightning McQueen."

Eijirou just stares at you for a second, just to see if you're really serious, and resists the urge to scoff when it seems like you are.

"It's a truck," is all he says, before marching around you and to the task at hand—your car. "Pop the hood."

You huff, but you listen, and Eijirou wastes no time in getting to work. You watch with your elbows balanced on the rim, curious but quiet, and that allows him to get in the zone enough to realize there are countless problems with your car.

"When was the last time you took this thing into the shop?" He probes. You click your tongue, eyes tracing the outlines of the trees as you search for an answer. That's never a good sign.

"Um...never?"

"And how long have you had it?"

"A few years," you nod, and Eijirou drops his head.

"It's a miracle you made it this far in the first place," he chuckles bitterly, shaking his head. What the hell is he going to do now? There's no way your car is moving anywhere tonight. You frown, jamming your hands on your hips.

"Well? Are you going to fix it or what?"

"I can fix it," Eijirou says with a shrug, closing your hood. "But not tonight."

"What do you mean not tonight?" You badger, breathing down his neck as he hikes back to his truck to set the toolbox down. There's no reason to carry it if he's not going to need it.

"I mean, your car's going to need a solid six months before it can run again, Sweetheart."

When Eijirou turns, you're much too in his face for his liking. He can practically feel your breath against his chest, and it has him rolling his eyes, leaning against his truck with arms crossed.

"Yeah, okay, but I need it to run tonight," you explain, gesticulating so wildly Eijirou fears his own chest may fall in the cross-fire. "Like, I need to get home tonight."

"I can't—" the redhead sighs, running his hand over his face. You're terribly difficult, and if Mina had given him a proper warning he probably wouldn't be here in the fucking first place. "Listen. My shop is out of commission for the next few days 'cause of a flood. I can work on your car or whatever, but it'll take a sec, so the most I can do is drop you at a hotel down the road or somethin'. Sound like a plan?"

"No," you growl, claws and all, and Eijirou wishes for nothing but death. "That doesn't sound like a plan! I don't know you, what makes you think I'll get in a car with you?"

Oh. My. God.

"Then you can spend the night in your car and have Mina come get you in the morning," he huffs, stomping over to the driver's side of his truck. "So it's either you're gettin' in, or I'm leaving ya."

With that, he slams the car door shut, shoves his key in the ignition, and counts to fucking ten, and on nine and a half you're flinging open the passenger door and bouncing in the seat, arms crossed over your chest in indignance. You don't even look him in the eye.

"Seatbelt," he warns. You tut.

"I don't need a fucki—"

"Put on the goddamn seatbelt."

You don't say anything, but he's satisfied by the click that follows. Eijirou shifts into drive and you two take off.

"The seat's so uncomfortable."

Not even twenty feet.

"Suck it up," is all the pity Eijirou has to offer. He's preoccupied with trying to get from this side road to a main road with, you know, actual civilization. The road is unsteady—unsteady enough that a bump sends the both of you flying towards the roof of his car, and naturally, you have something to say about it.

"Y'know, for a mechanic, you're not a very good driver," you say, and it has Eijirou's fists tightening around his steering wheel. His patience wears down until it has the height of a penny, and Eijirou worries for when it shatters because he has no clue what he'll do if it does.

"And it smells a little funky," you continue anyway, eyes wandering around the cabin aimlessly."Kinda like cheese. No offense."

Eijirou pulls over at that, teeth grinding. Is he really going to snap over cheese comment?

“Is this a condom?”

Yes. Yes, the fuck he is.

"Get out."

"Um—excuse me?" You blink, eyebrows raising in offense. "You're kicking me out. Because I found a fucking rubber?”

Eijirou glares your way and he's sure you can feel him radiating fury, and that's enough to convince you to hop out of the car without another word. He follows, slamming the door behind him.

"Okay? Now what?" You growl, and Eijirou loves it—the false display of confidence. Because he knows it won't take much to break you once he gets you under his thumb, and you'll look so pretty once he does. Cocking his head to his side, he tells you to come here without having to open his mouth. You follow.

"Now, on your knees."

You splutter at his request, rolling your eyes as if he wasn't being serious. Though you shut up once you hear the clink of his belt, lips widening in revelation, and Eijirou thinks you'd look much prettier with your mouth full.

"You made me come all this way—it'd be a pity if I didn't get somethin' out of it," Eijirou says, and the way you shiver implies that you like this more than you let on. He coos when you say nothing, "And for the first time today she's got nothin' to say. See? You're improving already."

He gives you a second to move. When you don't, he lifts an eyebrow. "Knees, Princess."

You do and Eijirou groans at the view, palming his hardening cock at the sight of your bambi eyes blinking up at him—and it's a pretty one, at that. Leaning against the door of his truck, he grunts, "Take it out."

Your fingers hook under the waistband of his boxers and Eijirou shivers upon contact with the cool air, but the warmth of your palm makes up for it. You spit on his cock with a curled lip and it's nothing short of crude, before you're swirling your tongue around the head and taking him as far as you can possibly go.

"Uh-uh," Eijirou tuts, grabbing you by the hair to pull your mouth off his cock. "We got at my pace, Sweetheart."

"Why?" You pout with a curled lip. Eijirou scowls.

"Because," he says, before stuffing half of his cock down your throat, "I'm gonna put that big fuckin' mouth to use at my pace."

With that, Eijirou thrusts into your mouth, using the grip he has around your hair as leverage. Your throat is impossibly warm and the way you choke has him keening, and that's enough for his hips to start picking up mindlessly.

"Shit—what a dirty fuckin' girl," he says, smirking when you moan around his cock. "You like this? You like sucking off a guy you just met?"

Your eyes flutter at that, nails digging into his thighs, and it nearly has him cooing. When you swallow around him Eijirou's hips stutter and he grunts, "In public, no less. Anyone could drive by and see you taking my dick down your throat...but you'd like that, wouldn't you? You want the world to know how much of a slut you are."

Your hand falls between your thighs and Eijirou grins like the devil as he watches you touch yourself on the dirty road, desperate just because knows how to push the right buttons. That's enough to have him caving, demanding you rise to your feet and get in the backseat of his car.

"Hands and knees," Eijirou urges, his body towering over yours from behind. It's not long before he's pinning your wrists to the windshield with one hand and using the other to land a harsh slap on your ass; harsh enough to make you jolt forwards from the force.

"Such a pretty ass," he coos before slapping it again, and your teeth dig into your bottom lip to muffle the sound. "And it's all for me, ain't it, Princess?"

You nod, but Eijirou spanks you again—he's looking for an answer.

"Y-Yeah, yes, all yours just—" your hips wiggle in search of his cock. Eijirou chuckles, leveling his lips with your ear.

"Want me to fill you up, Princess?"

You gasp out a yes, nodding vehemently. The redhead finds he likes you like this much better, chest rumbling with arousal. "Yeah? How bad?"

"B-Bad, please, I need t—fuck!"

Eijirou stuffs you full with one thrust, and even he needs a moment, freehand searching to hold onto your hip while his grip tightens around your wrists. You quiver under him, and he swears he can feel your gut contract around his cock, eyelids fluttering when you grind against him.

"Holy shit," Eijirou finds himself wheezing, not expecting you to be so tight. You drop your head against the cool windshield, whimpering like the pretty little thing you are, shuddering as he pulls out before ramming himself in again until he's balls deep. You scream, back arching from the angle.

And fuck. It's impossible for him to stop after that.

"Fuckin' look at you," Eijirou chuckles, body practically caging you against the seat, "Drooling all over my window like a slut. Fuck, you really know how to get a guy goin' huh?"

“Pull—pull my hair,” you request, words from his pistoning hips. Eijirou tuts and rips your hands off the window in favor of pushing your head into the seat, not making a move to yank on your hair once.

“I don’t think you’re in the right place to be making demands, Princess," he growls before his hot palm cracks against your ass, hissing from the way you tighten around him when he does.

You whine at that, pushing into him the best you can. It only spurs his hips on faster, and Eijirou lets go of your hands in favor of grabbing your face instead, groaning at the sight of the tears shining silver from the moonlight. He likes the fact that you can't do much but gasp and rock against him, your hands falling to clit to finally push yourself off the edge.

He looks at you and all he sees is his dumb little thing, who can't do anything, let alone get her car to work, and that's when Eijirou realizes he doesn't want this to be as much of a one-time thing as he initially thought.

"Gonna...gonna cum," you slur, cheek mashed flat against his window. Eijirou fucks you into the door of his truck, pace quick and bruising, as his mind thinks of all the fun you two could have together—all the fun he wants to have with you.

"Cum, Sweetheart. Make a mess of my cock and my leather seats, yeah? Show me how good I make you feel."

You tighten around his cock, tight, and that's enough to send him spiraling into an orgasm of his own, hips stuttering to a stop as he fills you up. Though his hips never stop, not until you're coming around his cock with a broken moan, curled toes digging into his car floor. He watches you catch your breath, splayed across the seat, with a sudden realization that he feels much lighter, but doubts it was the sex that did the trick.

"You fucked your anger out now?" You wheeze, breaking the silence, and Eijirou snorts.

"I—yes," he says before his eyes trail to the scratch marks around your hips and thighs. "Are you...okay?"

"Never been better," you toss your arms in the air like you're on a rollercoaster but lack the energy to scream. It's cute and it had the redhead re-evaluating everything, wondering how the day could start so shitty and yet, end so well. "Are you okay?"

His eyebrows furrow, "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I dunno," you shrug, and Eijirou finds it hard to stay focused when you look like that. "You asked me, so. Everyone needs a post-sex check-in, ya know?"

Fuck.

Fuck, yeah he's definitely keeping you.

[jimothy-hopkins]

- Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away) -

WARNING! This work delves into talks of mental distress, SH, abuse, and general violence. If any of that is triggering to you please read something else. Monitor yourself.

Gary sat in the car. An awkward silence in the air. Tension hung above like a dead body. He didn’t know what to say, or what to do. To him there was nothing to talk about. This stuff didn’t matter to him. At least he liked to think it didn’t. However his shorter friend cared very much about his mental well being, to Gary’s dismay. Even after the shit he pulled in high school, after the fall from the skylight, after all that bullshit somehow they managed to mend the mangled metal that was their friendship. Gary wondered how the redhead even put up with him sometimes, he got sick of himself half past noon most days. Hell sometimes he just gave up on getting out of bed because nothing was worth it.

But even then, Jimmy hadn’t given up on him. No mater how hard Gary shoved him away, no matter how long Gary stayed silent, he stayed. Jimmy refused to leave him alone. He admired his stubbornness, but hated his persistence. Sometimes Gary did genuinely want to be by himself, and Jimmy wouldn’t leave him be. Gary must’ve hit the jackpot for a friend, cause Jimmy tolerated him way longer than his own parents did.

“How’d it go?” The shorter man asked, the silence now broken.

“Ok.” Gary mumbled, scrunched up in his seat as he looked out the window to watch the dark trees and gray sky flash by.

“You sure?” Jimmy pressed, his beady eyes stuck on the road.

“Yes.” He growled, one of his fists clenched in irritation.

“You feel like that place helps?” Jimmy questioned.

“How would I know? I feel the same every day. Wake up, numb, do daily stuff, numb, go to bed, numb. It all feels the same and I can’t enjoy this shit! I don’t wanna feel like this! None of those bastards help Hopkins! They treat me like a- like a fucking child!” Gary snapped.

“Do you wanna try another place?” The ginger suggested.

“What’s the point? They all ask the same shit and all they do is up my dose.” Gary grumbled as he dropped his head.

“Well, if that’s the case, would you like to take your mind off it? We can talk about something else, or plan something this weekend.” Jimmy told him as his hands maneuvered the steering wheel around the curved roads.

“I wanna ride again..” He replied.

“Alright, sounds like a plan. You wanna head down to the stables Saturday?” The man suggested,

Gary nodded in acceptance, Jimmy hummed in acknowledgement. The brunette’s dark eyes once again observed the landscape. It was so dark out today. Storms had been rolling in the entire week, and he second guessed if they should ride together that Saturday. However, Gary could tell himself that he needed it. He needed to get out, spend less time at that cold, stuffy, stiff therapists’s office and actually do what made him happy. He wanted to get away from everything, all the people at college.

As they drove, Gary recognized the signs that led back to the campus. No. He didn’t want to go back. His arms itched at the thought of it, the pain and stress that mere dorm caused to him.

“No.” Gary deadpanned.

“No what?” Jimmy replied, slowing his car.

“I don’t wanna go there.” He told the other.

“Where do you want to go then Gary?” Jimmy asked him, his head turned slightly in the brunette’s direction.

“Be quiet and drive, far away.” Was all Gary could say.

Jimmy took the request, now set to exit campus, then the city. Small raindrops flecked the window as they cruised. A familiar song played through the radio. One Gary liked, one that managed to put his shitty feelings into words.

Gary rolled down his window, now with his eyes closed and his torso out the window.

He screamed.

He screamed so loud his vocal chords burned.

He screamed until his lungs felt fried.

He screamed until he began to cry.

He screamed until he finally started to feel alive.