#look you can say whatever you want about Sterling but the man knows how to treat my girl like a queen

[duusheen]

hope: 🤪

[ily-sunghoon]

The Omen of Sterling | CHAPTER II

Pairing : vampire!enha x fem!oc (sunoo moments appear a lot in this chapter)

Genre of this chapter : vampire, fluff if you squint

POV : Author’s

Words count : 3.9k

WARNINGS : food, blood, slight manipulation, sunoo dad is handsome and funny (lmk if i miss anything)

Note : the masterlist almost hitting 300 notes... im very grateful, thank you for liking my works guys <3 it feels like a dream :( feel free to ask if you have confusion about the world building! and feel free to correct any grammatical mistake, im also still learning english!

MASTERLIST

TAGLIST : @nshmrarki @capri-cuntz @millieinyourarea @strxwbloody (let me know if you want to be added)

CHAPTER II: ‘PERSONALITY’ TEST

“Can I come with you?” Sarco asked Jestel who’s ready to go to Idris with Jusarlie, Saine, and of course, Iolana.

“No, you have to teach today.” Jestel knows Sarco’s schedule.

“But they have to teach too?!” Sarco pointed at Jusarlie and Saine with his chin.

“They have substitutes. You don’t.” Jestel shortly ended it.

“Ricardo can—”

“Ricardo is still one of your students, Sarco.”

“Ugh! You’re annoying.” Sarco unexpectedly sulks.

“Isn’t our bet about Jusarlie? Why is Sarco becoming grumpier than him?” Saine chuckled.

“He’s very nosy.” Jestel shook his head. “Let’s go.”

They headed to Cairneye’s Mansion. Jestel had contacted Idris beforehand, saying that they would show up with a surprise guest. Cairneye’s Mansion is beautiful. It has a wide yard, beautifully decorated with flowers, bushes, fountain, and some statues. They head straight to Idris’s workshop that usually opens every day for people who need guidance. He made an exception today, because he’s feeling like he’s going to be exhausted after Jestel’s visit.

Stepping into the workshop, Iolana can’t help but observe her surroundings. The workshop gives her a cozy feeling. Warm lights, a tall armchair, some books that were left open on the desk, potions, herbs’ scent, incense that is burning in some spots, ritual candles. It’s just very homey. Judging by his workshop, Iolana has a feeling that Idris is a warm person.

“Papa, where are you?” Saine calls to his father.

Iolana continues to observe her surroundings again. She found a table full of framed pictures. Her eyes are staring at a picture of Saine and a guy, they’re smiling so sweetly with their eyes too. Saine is holding some flowers, Iolana assumed they’re canterbury bells based on how they look.

“I always have a panic attack whenever I heard you looking for me, Saine.” Saine’s father suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

“Can you stop scaring us, Uncle?” Jusarlie scoffed.

“Keep hating your own son and see where it’ll take you! Ugh!” Saine scoffed as well. Idris is such a cute silly man.

“It’s fun.” The said man smiles, his eyes are smiling too, looks like Saine got it from him. “Oh, hi! A girl. Human even. A sweet scented one.”

“Hi.” Iolana said shyly. Idris is incredibly handsome. His fashion taste is no match too. An elegant white top with black trousers, and even the touch of a man’s corset on his waist, or more like a wide belt? Iolana doesn’t know. Is it the outfit or his face? Iolana doesn’t know that either. Cairneye are so blessed, that’s the only thing that she knows. Best physical appearance combined with predicting future skill? Iolana immediately feels the need to have whatever they have. What a strong gene.

“Do a full test on her.” Jestel orders the older man around.

“Your name, Child?” Idris asked Iolana softly.

“Iolana Sterling.” Iolana is still shy.

“Holy Amadeus!” Idris is definitely surprised. “Welcome back!”

“Thank you…” The shier she gets, the more she hides behind Jusarlie. Jusarlie found it adorable, he feels warm because Iolana is already comfortable enough to seek for his protection.

“Alright, let’s see what you’ve got.” Idris nods and prepare his bowl.

“Papa, let’s use the pool.” Saine told his father. More like a warning, to be frank.

“Oh.” Idris immediately knew what his son meant. “Excuse me for asking this, but are you perhaps the last Sterling alive right now, Iolana?”

Iolana nods, “That’s correct.”

“Well, the pool it is!” Idris listened to his son and brought some bottles of potion with him. His feeling was right, he will be exhausted today.

They walked together to the pool, Idris took off his shoes and socks, then sat by the pool.

“Sit next to me, Iolana.” Idris told her with a smile on his face. How could she say no?

She took off her own shoes and socks. Saine, Jestel, and Jusarlie immediately looked away. 1700s is so funny. When she sits next to Idris, they’re looking at the pool again. Flustered.

“Have you… take off your socks?” Saine is confused. Under the dim light, Iolana looks like she’s still wearing her socks.

“She’s just almost as pale as Sarco and you, Saine.” Idris chuckled.

“Oh, I’m so sorry.” Saine is flustered again.

“Now, Iolana. Shall we begin?” Idris looks at Iolana again.

Iolana nods calmly, showing that she’s ready.

Idris begins the ritual. He poured two bottles of his potions into the pool. He touched the pool and stirred the water to the right. “Could you tell us what you see?”

“A dining table?” Iolana is confused.

“Can you tell us what’s on that table?”

“Five empty plates and one apple in the middle of the table.” Iolana explained.

“Five? Wow! Do you see any marks on the empty plates?” Idris asked again.

“Yes. Lion, snowflake, cat, sun, and a broken crown?” Iolana is so confused.

Oh, the four of them hit the mind links together.

Idris stirs the water to his right again. “Now, what do you see?”

“The apple cut in half. It’s flying over the plates, it looks confused.”

Idris laughs. It is indeed funny. He stirs the water again, “How about now?”

“It’s changing every second, I don’t know.” Iolana frowned.

“Do you want to explain it to us?”

“One second, it’s on the snowflake plate and the cat. Next second, the snowflake and the sun.”

“Ah! Does the apple have one frequent destination?”

“I don’t think so, the apple is really confused.”

Idris laughs again. “You’re adorable.” He stirs the water again.

Iolana doesn’t have to be told this time. “I see five love letters.”

“Okay, I can understand now. How about now?” Idris stirs the water to the right again.

“I see Saine crying.” Iolana still looks confused.

“Do you know why?” Idris is kind of surprised.

“I lied, it’s actually Jestel.” Iolana giggled. She’s in a goofy mood.

The four of them are dumbfounded. The last time Idris successfully lied to was when they were having pioneers’ dinner, and the very person who lied to him was Tearle Sterling. Yes, Iolana’s father himself.

“Why am I crying?” The said person is as confused.

“I’m not sure, you look very… devastated?” Iolana is concerned.

“That’s odd!” Idris stirs the water again.

“There’s a throne.” Iolana answered.

“Who sits on it?” Idris asked.

Iolana remains silent.

“Iolana? It’s okay, you can say it.” Jestel said softly.

Can’t you read her mind? Jusarlie asked Idris through mind links.

I swear on Roberto Cairneye, I can’t read this little girl at all, Idris answered.

“It’s Jestel.” Iolana finally answered. “…or me.”

They’re definitely surprised by that.

“And that’s also my omen of Sterling.” Idris giggled. “What a coincidence, right?”

“It’s just a possibility, right? I would never do that to Jestel.” Iolana is worried about her own future.

“Yes! Don’t worry, Iolana.” Idris’ smile is so reassuring. He stirs the water again. “Do you see something?”

“Few things. Sword, crown, herbs, map, books, potions.”

Saine’s jaw dropped at that one. Idris just nods, not wanting Iolana to feel uncomfortable.

“Before I explain your results, let me talk with Jestel first. Are you okay with that, Iolana?” Idris asked her.

Iolana nods at the question, “Can I wear my shoes back?”

“Of course, Iolana.” Idris chuckled, he dried his feet with a spell and put his shoes back. “Let’s go, Jestel.”

Iolana gets her feet out of the water, Jusarlie and Saine immediately look away again.

“Hey, Saine. Could you do the spell that your father just casted for himself?” Iolana asked at Saine.

“Is it okay for you—you know…” If Saine is a human, he’s blushing pink right now.

“Yeah, of course!”

“Excuse me, Iolana.” Saine said before looking towards Iolana. He swings his hand above Iolana’s bare feet while casting the spell.

“Wow, you should teach me that!” Iolana is amazed. “Thank you, Saine.”

“N-no problem.” Saine looks away again.

“Just to let you know, it’s okay to look at me. I grew up being okay with my feet on display at home.”

“It’s just… we feel like a pervert…” Saine admitted.

“I wonder what’s the limit of dressing here in Krashoviel.” Iolana laughed. “I’m done. You are safe to look.”

Jusarlie and Saine hesitantly look toward Iolana again. They feel relieved when her feet are fully covered with her long skirt and shoes again.

“The girls are usually covering their feet, that’s why we act that way earlier.” Jusarlie explained.

“I want to be controversial and show my ankle to the streets.” Iolana giggled.

“No, no, no!” Jusarlie and Saine panicked. “Arms are okay, but ankle? Wow, that’s pornographic.”

“That’s confusing.” Iolana nods. “What about chest area? How far can the neckline go?”

“Chest area is okay, as long as the breasts are not like… full on display? Ankles, however, is a big no.” Saine explained. “I feel like invading your privacy earlier when casting that spell.”

Iolana laughed. Krashoviel is so funny for her, when it’s just her who doesn’t even leave her house before going to Krashoviel. She’s lucky she’s easy-going and pretty.

“Drink this, don’t you feel tired?” Saine hands her a glass of questionable drink.

“Not really.” Iolana accepts the glass. “Oh, what is this?”

She smelled the drink, and it smelled like strawberry! She drinks it without hesitation until the last drop. “I like it! What is this? Strawberry juice?”

Curiosity kills the cat!

“Our bloods.” Saine grins.

“Oh?” Iolana is concerned. “What would that do? Whose blood?”

“Three of us. It can give you strength! And you can summon us anytime you want when you need it. You can also talk to us through telepathy.” Saine explained excitedly.

“Summon you? How?” Iolana is interested in this.

“Just say our name and say you need us. For example, Jusarlie I need you.” Jusarlie explained further.

“Oh! I get it.” Iolana nods. “But why? Isn’t that… personal? Don’t you think I need to gain your trusts first?”

“You already did.”

It feels too fast for Iolana, but she accepts it as it is. She’s grateful that they care about her a lot, but are they?

—

“Jestel, that was the most entertaining reading that I ever did. I thanked you for that.” Idris is giggling non-stop.

“Elaborate, please.” Jestel is frustrated.

“You will fight your best friends.” Idris started off so strong. “You, Saine, Jusarlie, Sarco, and Hiael.”

“Why?” Jestel asked, still oblivious.

“You’re going to fall in love with Iolana. All of you.” Idris stated. “Some of you already did, I checked my son and he’s already blooming for her.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.” Jestel shook his head.

“Love never makes any sense, Jestel.” One thing about Idris is that he hits hard with his words, accidentally or not. “Especially the throne for her vamp host. You’re going to fight really dirty for that. I can see it.”

“Nonsense.” Jestel scoffed.

“I won’t help you if you cry someday.” Idris threatened him. Scares him for sure, where will Jestel run to for advice if not Idris?

“What should I do about this?” Jestel is stressed out.

“Accept it.” Idris calmly told him.

“What can I do to make her choose me?”

“That remains a mystery.” Idris doesn’t know either. “I’m more surprised you’re not bringing up anything about the throne. You already fell for her, don’t you?”

“No. I just trust her.” Jestel explained himself.

“You gave her your blood, along with Saine and Jusarlie.” Idris points that out.

“She’s a human, Idris. I just want to protect her.”

“Sure, sure. Protect her. When we all know it’s special and intimate.” Idris mocked him.

“It’s not that intimate.”

“Imagine she chose Sarco as her vamp host.” Idris immediately puts a scenario.

“Fine, it is intimate.”

“Best of luck, Jestel.” Idris taps his shoulder a few times. “It’s going to be anything but easy.”

“She’s not capable of wiping out the whole Sinflame, right? She’s lovely, she would never do that.” Jestel asked Idris for reassurance.

“Not yet. However, if I was you… I would never get on her wrong side. She’s a complicated girl.”

—

“Your father is so majestic.” Iolana admitted. Truly smitten by Saine’s father.

“You think I’m ugly?” Saine acts like he has been hurt.

“I never said that.” Iolana is still giggling over Idris.

“Don’t feed his ego, Iolana.” Jusarlie scoffed.           

“Get over it, Jusarlie. She thinks I’m handsome.” Saine is being cocky right now.

“Your father reminds me of a pine tree.” Iolana sudden words silenced them.

Jusarlie and Saine is so confused. There’s no way she just said that like it’s a normal thing to do.

“I can’t believe we lose you to Sarco’s species.” Saine faked a sigh.

“Species is insane.” Jusarlie laughs. “Why a pine tree?”

“Tall, look good, calming, I don’t know? He reminds me of it.”

“Bloody hell, she really is a Sarco’s species.” Jusarlie couldn’t believe it.

“Why Sarco?” Iolana is curious.

“He’s odd. Just like you. I don’t mean it in a bad way, it’s creative. Sometimes we just… don’t understand.” Saine explained. “He did that a lot, saying I look like the lamp near south’s stairs and so on.”

“You should show me the lamp later.” Iolana is invested now.

“Hey, small question, but if you don’t want to answer it’s fine. What happened to your hair? Did you get punished?” Jusarlie suddenly hits Iolana with a personal and nosy question.

Iolana expects this with her a little bit over the shoulder-length hair. It is unusual for a girl to have hair that short, at least in their era.

“Well, it was an accident. It got cut by my brother when we were practicing sword, so my mom cut it all to this length.” Iolana explained. “I’m waiting for it to be long again. It’s troublesome, I can’t tie it properly, yet it’s annoying enough to be left undone like this.”

Jusarlie and Saine nod in unison.

Idris and Jestel went back to the pool area. Jestel looks stressed, while Idris looks happy. What a weird combination.

“Iolana, do you mind if I ask you to lend us your power?” Idris asked.

“Huh? I have power?” Iolana is confused again.

“Bigger than you think.” Idris giggled. “We are also testing it out.”

“Sure, if it’s for a good reason…” Iolana is totally unsure.

“We are going to search for Jestel’s long lost brother, Holstein.” Idris explained briefly.

“But I don’t know what he looks like?” Iolana is still questioning him.

“You will, if you succeed.” Idris smiles warmly. “Would you do it?”

Iolana nods after a few seconds of hesitation. She sits between Idris and Jestel, making half of a circle.

“Saine, Jusarlie, let’s go.” Idris points at the empty seats.

“You need us as well?” Jusarlie questioned but obeyed.

“You were just doing nothing, so why not?” Idris is an entertaining man for sure.

They held each other’s hands. For the first time ever, Jestel could understand what the romance books were talking about. The electricity and the butterflies, he feels them now.

“I seek upon Holstein Sinflame whereabouts,” as Idris said those words, there is a big cloud forming over Cairneye’s mansion. Thunder begins to growl, lightning begins to show.

They close their eyes, focusing on the name Holstein Sinflame.

They begin to see a vision. A palace, but not Krashiovel’s palace.

“Whose vision is this?” Jestel asked.

“Iolana.” Idris answered.

“Have you found the girl?” Holstein asked them.

“She killed herself along with her father, Your Highness.”

“Did you see her face? Is it really her?” Holstein asked again.

“No, but there is no way she could run away. We’ve blocked all the access.”

“Tearle is the smartest vampire that I’ve ever met. She could be in Krashoviel now with my stupid brother.” The Prince of Slevado is furious.

“That would be the same as suicide, her blood smells so fucking sweet.” Holstein chuckled. “Where is she?”

“Holstein, you must come back to Krashoviel and fetch that girl.”

“Unnecessary, I think she’s gone.”

The vision turns black again, the clouds are nowhere to be found, the thunder is no longer roaring.

“Wow, he’s a traitor.” Saine couldn’t believe what he just saw.

Idris was the only one laughing, he couldn’t contain it. “It’s so funny, you’re swapping brothers.”

Iolana holds back her giggle, she doesn’t want to be rude.

“Thank you, Iolana.” Idris has stopped laughing. “We wouldn’t make it without you, we’ve tried for hundred years to get a vision of Holstein.”

“I didn’t do that much, I’m glad I could help.” Iolana is still oblivious about her real power, buried deep down under that human form.

“Here’s your test result, make sure you read it alone without them lurking.” Idris intentionally whispered loudly.

“I will lurk.” Saine smiles.

“Have some class.” Idris faked a sigh.

“We’ll head out, Idris. Thank you for your service.” Jestel stood up, the others followed.

“Bye, Papa.” Saine waves at his father.

“Don’t come back.”

“You see? He’s not as handsome as you think, Iolana.” Saine used that as a way to show her his father’s teasing habit.

“Forgivable if he has that elf type of face.” Iolana giggled.

“Aw, you flustered me.” Idris chuckled at Iolana. She has a sense of humor too!

“Let’s go.” Jestel is not having it. Well, at least now he knows that he truly fell for her.

—

Saine is being told to look after Iolana while the others held emergency meeting for the third time today, of course he enjoys this! They’re currently putting Iolana’s clothes into the wardrobe.

“I think you have good eyes for apparels. I want your wardrobe.” Saine adores Iolana’s taste in fashion. “Ah, the trousers! Where did you get these?”

“Come on, Saine. Those are just my casual and practice clothes. I got it from my human maids.” Iolana chuckled. “I love my pretty dresses, but I barely get to wear it.”

“You will wear it more often now, there are so many events that we usually have to attend.” Saine informed her. “Ah, you don’t have any ball gowns! Do you want to go to Charson? You’ll need some gowns for royal ball and Jestel’s birthday.”

“Is it far?” Iolana asked.

“Not really, but we need to cover your scent.” Saine chuckled. “I’ll put some spell on you. It could last for two hours, at least.”

—

“Don’t play with me, Jestel. What do you mean Holstein is a traitor?” Sarco shook his head.

“That’s what we saw.” Jusarllie admitted.

“They must’ve brainwashed our Holstein,” Odelia, the queen on the throne, scoffed. Clearly annoyed.

“Hiael betrayed his nation by his own will, it is not an impossibility if Holstein ever do the same.” Idris shrugged his shoulder. “However, this Sterling girl…”

“What Sterling girl?” Raphael, the queen’s brother, is shocked.

“She came with this letter.” Jestel gave them the letter that Tearle wrote.

“She’s back? Here? In Krashoviel?” Sullivan, the queen’s father, is puzzled.

“She could end your bloodline.” Idris said without any burden.

“I’d rather be dead than to fight back, it’s no use.” Sullivan chuckled. “Oh, Sterling.”

“Are Sterling that dangerous?” Wilhelmina, Jestel’s niece, is too young to watch how frightening Sterling can be back then in the war field.

“I’m really scared of them, take that information as you wish.” Sullivan said to his great-granddaughter.

“Oh!” Wilhelmina is surprised. “Is she beautiful?”

“Very.” Jestel answered. “I would do anything for her.”

“In front of your queen aunt is just insane, Jestel.” Idris laughed at his son.

“I don’t blame him.” Jusarlie stands with him.

“They fell for her charm,” Sarco scoffed. “I would ne—”

“Careful, now.” Idris warned Sarco. “You will fall for her too. I saw it.”

“Who else?” Odelia asked her son.

“Saine and Hiael. The five of them will fight to be her vamp host.” Idris informed them.

“This is ridiculous, let’s just kill that girl.” Raphael is furious. “She will tear us apart.”

“If Sinflame is no longer worthy of the throne, then just let it be.” Odelia is calmer than the others.

“What on earth are you saying, Odelia?” Raphael is getting more furious. What an old grumpy man.

“Grandma Odelia is not wrong.” Wilhelmina is against his father.

“Father, look at this—” Raphael seeks Sullivan’s support.

“I’m not going to say anything.” Sullivan is busy cleaning each of his gemstones.

“That girl won’t do it by herself, right? Who are the potential traitors?” Raphael asked Idris.

“Have you ever done a friendly practice with Tearle?” Idris questioned him back.

“No, why?”

“Then you are not in the place to say that.” Sullivan makes it clear. “One Sullivan equals five Sinflame. Train her as hard as you can, give her the best facility, and don’t you dare to let other nations have her.”

“Yes, Grandpa.” Jestel nods.

“When will you sit on the throne, Jestel?” Odelia asked, she’s tired of the kingdom’s bullshits.

“As soon as possible, I’m still preparing myself.” Jestel feels a heavy weight on his shoulders. He can’t control his feelings toward Iolana, that is what bothers him the most right now.

—

“Mr. Cairneye! Oh, my vamp, close the shop!” The receptionist panicked when he saw Saine smiling at him.

The workers immediately temporarily close the shop, the other guests who are waiting outside are getting used to it now. Must be one of the pioneers making some sudden appearance.

“How can we help you, Your Highness?” The shop workers are ready to serve him.

“I’d like some ball gowns for this cute little girl.” Saine pushed Iolana slightly.

“Of course, we’ll measure her.” Two of the workers quickly measured Iolana, while the others asked Saine about the gown’s details.

“What’s your favorite color, Iolana?” Saine questioned her. “You can name five.”

“White and pink. As for the others, I’ll leave it to you. I trust you.” Iolana is never failed to make Saine feels so… flustered.

“White, pink, blue, red, and purple.” Saine told the worker.

“Which shade, Your Highness?”

“Actually… make it six. White, violet, navy, sky blue, maroon, and pink. Maybe a bold pink like this one? Iolana, do you like it?” Saine asked her again.

“Loves it.” Iolana stares adoringly at the color that Saine just showed her. It’s almost fuchsia, just a little less bold.

“Pardon me, Your Highness. She looks unfamiliar to me, is she a new citizen? I’ve never seen her before.” Jeremy asked Saine, trying to be as polite as possible.

“Yes, she is. She’s Iolana Sterling, Jeremy.”

“S-Sterling, Your Highness?”

“She has a perfect body proportion.” One of the measurement workers said to the other.

“Thank you.” Iolana whispered to them.

“We apologize, we didn’t mean to…”

“It’s okay. I love your compliment. You’re being genuine.” Iolana smiles. “I’m done, Saine.”

She walked to Saine as he smiled at her proudly.

“Payment should be here by tomorrow morning. Thank you for your service, Jeremy.” Saine informed the owner of that grand boutique.

“Always happy to be at your service, Your Highness and Lady Sterling. Thank you for trusting us.” The workers and Jeremy bow a little to show their respect and devotion towards the pioneers.

They walked out of Charson and went home instantly. After they got back to Iolana’s room, Saine seemed confused.

“Are you not going to ask anything about them referring me as… you know?”

“Jusarlie told me about the royal family’s tree. I was a little surprised, I’m so sorry I interacted with you so casually.” Iolana admitted, feeling a little guilty.

“No, no! Keep being casual, we’re equal.” Saine quickly reassured her. “No one dares to challenge a Sterling, not even the oldest Sinflame alive. You’re still a part of the pioneers.”

Pioneers.

It sounds incredibly weird for Iolana, but deep down in her heart… it feels just right.

TO BE CONTINUED...

; YOUR CUTE REBLOGS AND COMMENTS MAKE ME FEEL REALLY GRATEFUL <3 ; FEEL FREE TO HIT MY ASK IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTION ABOUT THE WORLD BUILDING OR CHARACTER!

© ily-sunghoon, 2024 DO NOT COPY, STEAL, PLAGIARIZE, OR REPOST ON OTHER PLATFORM DO NOT TRANSLATE WITHOUT PERMISSION

[wonderful-prompts]

I kinda need a space to ask this and my own blog might not be reachable enough, so I hope I can ask here, thank you!

I have this idea to write journal entries of my character(s) because I liked the format. Though this seemed like a better idea as a plot device to support the story, I've only been able to think of the author of the journals going insane. I wonder if anyone has ideas about alternative routes how the journals could've ended?

If anyone else wants to contribute to answering this question, have at it in the comments/reblogs!

Otherwise, here's my answer:

There's a list of stories on Wikipedia that are similar to what you're describing ("List of fictional diaries"), which can provide examples of different narratives that have other endings.

Some epistolary novels (novels written as a series of letters between the fictional characters) contain diary/journal entries, so you can look to some of those for inspiration as well. There's 100 public domain epistolary novels on Project Gutenberg (including Dracula), if you'd like to read one or a few of those to see how other writers have handled it in the past.

Dracula contains journal entries of various characters, letters between them, and even newspaper articles that cover additional incidents. It ends once Dracula is defeated.

What Manner of Man (written by Tumblr user St. John Sterling) consists of letters and journal entries from one main character's perspective. It ends once a mystery is uncovered, a significant amount of character growth happens, and a new period of that character's life begins. (This is on Substack, later to be published in its full form)

I'm going to guess that "going insane" is in the Lovecraftian sense, so the narrative would end like Herbert West—Reanimator (or several other of his stories). The narrator is forever haunted by whatever happened and knows too much about something they shouldn't. But there is also a defined end of a period of time. In this case, (spoilers for a 102-year-old serialized work) Herbert West is killed by his own unnatural creations. But that's the last straw for the unnamed narrator, who had been wary of all this to begin with.

I'd say that finding alternate routes shouldn't be as hard once you know what you want out of your story.

What genre are you writing in?

Are you sticking to that genre's conventions?

What are you trying to accomplish with this particular framing device? (Besides just enjoying the format.)

How does the story benefit from being told in this perspective?

What sort of conclusion do you want?

Is there a particular emotion you want to evoke in the readers from this conclusion?

I'm sorry if this looks more like homework than a post that can help you figure out other ways to end your story. I personally ask myself (sometimes ridiculous amount of) questions while writing in order to better accomplish what I want to accomplish and also try to make sure the conclusions are logical, so that's where I'm coming from. I'm also of the belief that research helps with writing, even if it's reading/amassing reference materials for a particular kind of fiction.

[tunaababee]

we will be everything we say - Chapter 3

masterlist // fic playlist // read on AO3 // overall rating: e // wc this chapter: 3.3k // updates Mondays (aest)

Feyre Archeron has been best friends with Rhysand Sterling ever since she moved onto the same street when they were kids - the two became absolutely joined at the hip, with nothing able to come between them.

As they get older, life gets more complicated and things get harder. Not everything comes as naturally as it once did. People change, things happen, friends... drift.

But after drifting apart, maybe life can push them back together again, in time.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

a/n: sorry for the delay today, had a big weekend! this is one of my favourite chapters so far. i hope you all like it!! :)

Chapter 3: fifteen and sixteen

High school was already rough as it was for Rhysand. Trying to stay on top of his grades, meeting the expectations his father had for him, attempting to stay on the good side of all his teachers despite all the trouble he managed to constantly get into regardless of his best efforts. All of it was made slightly easier, though, by his friendship with Feyre and how the two of them persevered despite it all. She had never faltered in her loyalty and care since the day in the park that they had met as small children, and Rhys never hesitated to return it all in kind. Azriel and Cassian were practically brothers to him, Amren was wise beyond her years somehow and Mor was… well, Mor. He loved them all so much, but he never quite clicked with all of them the same way he did with Feyre. It was like they could read each other’s minds.

But soon, maintaining that deep and important connection with her was going to be a bit more difficult than he had hoped – his father had told him that they were moving within the fortnight.

It wasn’t anywhere too far away, only a handful of suburbs over in Velaris, but they had been on the same street together for almost as long as Rhys could remember. Living so close to Feyre felt almost as natural as breathing, so the idea of adjusting to an atmosphere without her in close orbit was nerve-wracking to say the least. There wouldn’t be any sense of excitement when he heard his front door unlock, or any quick escapes to the Archeron household anymore. He couldn’t help but resent his father for it.

“Dude, the fuck do you mean you haven’t told her yet?” Cassian spat out in surprise, the two of them keeping pace with each other during gym class. “Feyre will want to know, and it’s not exactly going to be subtle when one day she sees another family moving into your old place.”

“I know, I know. I haven’t been keeping it from her on purpose, I just… Finding the right time is difficult! I don’t want to tell her at a time when it’s gonna stress her out or something.”

“Rhys, you’re moving to the other side of town. It’s gonna stress her out at least a little no matter what.”

Rhys huffed a little at him with a defeated look - he always hated it when Cassian was right about these things, but it was one of the reasons he loved him, too. Underneath that mess of a man-bun and the muscles he was trying so desperately to continue to build was a heart of gold like no other, and it was exactly why he thought of him like a brother. 

“Yeah, you’re right. I’m just- she’s my best friend, y’know? I love her a lot, and I fucking hate that I’m gonna have to tell her because I know it’ll hurt.”

“Believe me, buddy, everyone knows you love her.” A small wiggle of his eyebrows accompanied his sentence, but Rhys swiftly elbowed him in the side without a second thought. Cassian’s hands launched to where he’d made impact, face contorted in some mild pain and discomfort.

“Fuck off, she’s my best friend.” Rhys chuckled, smiling a little at him.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, man,” Cassian wheezed out, grumbling to himself as the two kept running.

The worries about how he would break the news of his impending move kept swirling in his mind like an inky whirlpool throughout the rest of his classes, distracting him from Feyre who was walking right beside him out of the halls of Prythian High at the end of the day. She had been talking about how she was struggling with her reading for English class – she’d never been a big reader, let alone one for analysing texts – as he looked over at her when they walked through the doors and out into the golden sun beating down relentlessly in the spring afternoon. The light hit her face and it broke him from his worries and launched him directly into a different kind of stupor. The curls of her hair, the stunning steely blue of her eyes, the soft pink of her smiling lips being hit by the sun just right to make it almost look like she was glowing next to him as they walked.

She was perfect.

He elected to adamantly ignore the twist in his heart at the thought – she was his best friend, of course anyone would think their best friend was beautiful. Best friends are meant to be the person to hype you up, anyway. It was perfectly normal, and he shoved the feeling to the side in his head as he wrenched his gaze forward onto the pavement in front of him.

“…So anyways, I’ve never really been one for maximalist work, but Miss Stryga seems to only love works that are so busy and cluttered. I have no idea what I’m going to do for this next – Rhys? Hellooo?” Feyre waved her hand in front of his face with a confused expression. “Earth to Rhysand?”

“Huh? Sorry - sorry, you were saying about Miss Stryga?” Rhys scrambled to catch back up with what she had been saying, only half-listening as he had been waxing poetic to himself.

“I was saying I don’t know what I’m gonna do for this next assignment for her since I prefer more minimalistic abstract. Geez, you’re all over the place today.” She laughed lightly to herself, shaking her head a little bit at him.

“Yeah, my bad… I think I might have overdone it at soccer practice today or something. Just been really tired lately.” He rolled his shoulders back, stretching his neck slightly to emphasize his point. In reality, he had barely been able to give his all at soccer today whatsoever because of everything on his mind, but that was between him and the coach’s extra ten laps he’d been given.

Feyre quirked an eyebrow, her face concerned as she tried to break through the slight walls he was putting up. “You’re not up late at night playing WoW or something again, are you? Because I’ve seen you active on Skype late at night sometimes, and I know you got way deeper into it than you ever meant to.”

“How would you know if I’m up late playing games unless you were up late too, hmm?” He smirked at her with a feline grin, trying to get a slight rise out of her. There was nothing he loved more than their dumb, spirited arguments about everything and nothing at all.

Feyre’s mouth opened and closed a few times listlessly as she tried to come up with an excuse, Rhys nudging his side playfully into hers as they strolled down the pathway beneath green trees and next to gardens in full bloom. “Well, I- I’m not- That’s different, I’ve been trying to get work done!”

“Uh huh. Am I right in assuming that the work you’re doing involves watching Ouran High School Host Club or something in some capacity?”

A sheepish expression crawled up on her face, cheeks slightly pink. “…Maybe. I can’t work without background noise, what can I say?”

“See, now I know that’s a lie, because you’re always going on about how you prefer subs to dubs. While I’ve been busy studying the virtual blade, you’ve been busy being nerdier than I am.”

Feyre’s mouth was agape in mock offence, looking at him with her hands on her chest as if she had been mortally wounded. His eyes were definitely only on her hands, and not slightly lower at all. He was so respectful and focused on their conversation right now, it wasn’t even funny.

“Wow. I don’t think I’m ever going to recover from that. You’ve killed me. I’m going to fall to pieces and rot.”

“You’ll live, darling.” He put a sarcastic, joking emphasis at the end, mussing up her hair slightly with a laugh as she tried to swat his hands away. Feyre practically jumped toward him to try and mess up his own hair the moment he backed off. Unfortunately for Feyre, ever since he’d started high school he’d only grown taller and shown no signs of stopping even now in his sophomore year. By now he was almost a head taller than her, having to look down a little to talk to her. 

A small sigh escaped him as they continued to walk, most of the other kids on their way home having split off in their own directions, leaving the two of them the only ones roaming through the quiet roads on the way back to their street. A small pit of dread formed in his stomach when he recalled that he didn’t have many of these walks left with her - they were one of the favourite parts of his days. He didn’t have to be the soccer team captain or the cocky troublemaker or the perfect son with the perfect looks and the perfect grades. He could just be Rhys. No expectations, no roles to play, no masks to wear.

Just Rhys and just Feyre.

He had to tell her and he was going to hate every fucking second of it.

“...Hey, uh, Feyre, can we talk a sec?”

She stopped a few steps behind him, Rhys stopping to turn to her when he realised she wasn’t following alongside him.

“I thought that’s what we did every day anyways, what the fuck are you talking about?” She looked completely puzzled.

He brought a hand up behind his head, looking down a little awkwardly. Rhys could feel his heart pick up pace.  “I mean, yeah but… Like, serious talk for a second.”

Feyre caught up with him, the two of them continuing to walk together - Rhys could only focus on the expression of pure concern and worry on Feyre’s face. She was too good to him.

“You certainly sound serious. Is everything okay? You know that if your dad is being shitty again, you’re always welcome at mine - it’s pretty much your home, too.” Her hand came to lightly rest on his bicep, her eyes boring into him to try and read his expression. To glean even an ounce of what was going on in his head.

“No, it’s not like that- I mean, sorta? But not in that way. Promise.” Rhys tried to reassure her, not wanting her to think that he’d acquired any more bruises that weren’t from falling on his ass at soccer practice.

“As much as you’re trying to reassure me, it’s not exactly making me less worried.” She squeezed his arm lightly. His chest felt tight.

“Fair play, I guess. Um… Y’know how my dad’s been really busy with his business and everything lately?”

“Yeah…?”

“Well, it’s been going good. Like, really good. But…” The dread gnawing at the pit of his stomach continued to grow and grow, getting heavier by the second.

“Rhys, I am begging you to just be straight with me right now.”

“He’s making us move.”

“...Oh.”

The two of them had stopped walking, facing each other as Rhys’ tongue began to feel like lead in his mouth. He knew he had to keep going, to explain to her that he wasn’t moving too far away, that they just wouldn’t be on the same street, but the expression on her face in that moment nearly broke him. Fuck. Fuck, this isn’t how he had wanted this to go. Then again, if he had his way, none of this would be happening in the first place. The silence stretched between them, tense and taut and ready to snap like a rubber band.

“I-It’s not as bad as it sounds-”

“Do you know where?” It was obvious she was trying to hold back tears, lip quivering slightly and eyes glassy.

“Just a bit further away, the other side of town - Velaris. I’ll still be in Prythian, just- just not Wildebloom. Only a handful of suburbs over.”

Rhys thought that reassuring her would have helped quell her worries and make her feel relieved, but instead he only saw her grimace deeply before pushing him roughly by the chest.

“You couldn’t have fucking opened with that? I thought you were leaving town or something - fucking hell, Rhys!” Feyre sniffled, wiping at her eyes a little as she tried to collect herself. The fact that he’d made her cry, even without intending to, made his stomach twist into guilt-ridden knots. He tensed for a moment, not wanting to overstep or seem like he was trying to condescend to her, but every bone in his body was screaming at him to comfort her somehow. His hands balled into tense fists for a moment at his sides before he let out a long exhale, willing the tension and compulsion to subside.

“I’m sorry. I just… I hadn’t said anything because I was really hoping that whatever my dad was planning didn’t work out, but then it did, and knowing it in my head was one thing. But telling you? That makes it all so real, and I fucking hate it. I know we’ll still see each other at school and we can still hang out, but it’s… You and I both know it’s not the same.” Rhys couldn’t have stopped himself rambling if he tried, desperately trying to make Feyre understand and make her feel even just a touch more at ease. He hated nothing in this world more than seeing her upset.

She took a deep breath, pausing a moment before jerking her head forward in the direction of the way they had been walking. Rhys quietly followed, falling into step beside her again in the most uncomfortable and tense silence he’d ever experienced. She kept close to him, occasionally sneaking glances at him as they walked in silence, breaking her gaze away from him whenever he caught her looking. Soon enough, they were approaching their little street in the distance - they could already see Rhys’ house from here.

This is not how Rhys wanted to spend one of the few walks he had left with her.

Feyre broke the silence first.

“...When are you leaving?”

“Two weeks.”

“And how long have you known you’re leaving?”

“...Also about two weeks. I’ve been freaking out about how I was going to break it to you the whole time.” Rhys could see her wince a little, dragging her hands down her face with a sigh that weighed on his shoulders heavily. Guilt continued to snake up from his stomach, twisting around his neck now - tight, suffocating, tangible.

“I’m assuming the rest of our friends know, then?” There was a slight venom in her words.

“Not for long. A few days or so, I think?”

She paused for a moment, considering everything. Their pace was slow and meandering, almost at a complete standstill - Rhys didn’t want to go home without knowing that Feyre was alright, that they were going to be alright. Feyre looked up at Rhys, her face still slightly pained, but there was a softness there that wasn’t present a moment ago.

“I know you. I know you would have wanted to find the perfect moment to tell me that you were moving, at a time and place that I would have been able to easily accept it and move on like it was nothing. But you know that there would have never been a perfect time for you to tell me this, right?”

“...Yeah. Yeah, I do.”

“I wish you’d have just told me when you found out, you prick. You’re my best friend. I wanna know these sorts of things, even when they fucking suck.” She put an arm around his waist, pressing herself to his side for a moment with a light squeeze before letting go. He felt his cheeks warm slightly, hoping and praying Feyre wouldn’t notice.

“Sure, but who ever wants to talk about the things that suck? I’d much rather spend my time giving you shit.” Rhys chuckled lightly, the atmosphere distinctly lighter and that horrid weight seeming to lift a little bit as they continued up the street.

“Wooow. Firstly, rude. Secondly, I think we have to focus on your shit now if anything. If you think I’m letting you pack and not helping out, you’re delusional. Good excuse to spend more time before you move, anyway.”

“Just because I’m moving doesn’t mean that we can’t still spend time together, you know,” Rhys insisted as they passed his driveway - he always made sure to walk her to her house, despite the fact that it was only two doors down, and today wasn’t any different. Any excuse he could get to spend time around Feyre he would always take without hesitation. “We can always meet up halfway and have lunch out in town or something. Plus I have my license, so I can come pick you up to whisk you away on adventures.”

Feyre’s laughter was almost like music to his ears, eyes closed and smile wide. She was so stunning and so unaware of it.

“Now I can finally have the cliche teenage experience of sneaking out at night to see a boy, how thrilling.”

The places Rhysand’s mind went to when she said that made chills run down his spine, shifting on his feet as he tried to shake the mental images Feyre had unwittingly conjured. He was so normal about this right now.

“Hey, you just text me and I’ll be there. No sneaking required. Besides, I’m not just a boy, I've been your best friend since we were little kids. I’m sure your dad wouldn’t mind.”

“He barely notices when I’m gone for school or for my job, I think he’s too checked out to mind much of anything.” 

As much as Rhys hated that fact, he tried his best to take it in stride just like Feyre did. She turned to start heading up to her front door, Rhys grabbing her hand for a moment to give a small but reassuring squeeze before she went inside. To tell her that he was sorry but that he appreciated her all the same after all they’d talked about today. But instead of letting go, she gripped tighter for a second, and Rhys felt the world slow down a little bit as he watched Feyre get on her tiptoes. Her expression turned to a smirk before her warm lips met his cheek and he knew his face had turned red at that very moment. Feyre simply grinned wider as if she hadn’t just thrown his world off its axis, walking up to her door with a wave back at him.

“See you tomorrow, Rhys.” She said nonchalantly, heading inside and closing the door behind her.

Rhysand simply stood dumbfounded at the end of the driveway, staring at that white wooden door with his hand pressed to where her lips had met his skin. It felt like live electricity was still dancing along his cheek, jumping between his fingers, spreading down through his veins. He had half a mind to march up to her door, let himself in and crush his body to hers as he kissed her with everything he had.

But instead, Rhys turned and walked two doors down, mouth still agape in surprise. There was no denying to himself anymore that he was so deeply, desperately in love with Feyre Archeron. There wouldn’t be anyone else for him. His friends all already knew it, too. But she was his best friend, and he was moving soon.

So he kept that truth to himself, a secret that he wore on his sleeve like a uniform from that day forward, and unlocked the door to his house before heading inside.

[plisuu]

Happy friday Sterling!!! last week I got some Revalas/Bull out of you, howabout some Revalas/Dorian this time? or not if you are stricken with a different inspiration. "i dunno who taught you that love comes with conditions and limitations, but mine doesn’t. not when it’s you." from the emotionally charged sentence starters.

Ooookay, man Kia you've been coming in clutch with the prompts.

This one kind of got away from me, I just started writing with a bolt of inspiration and ended up here ahahah

Here's something a bit more established for Revalas and Dorian :)

wc: 1.2k @dadrunkwriting

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Revalas swore the sound of Dorian’s ring against to bar-top was the only thing keeping him sane. Like a metronome, a steady beat against the backdrop of the busy chatter and clinking glasses and Bull shouting something behind them to a group of very drunk Chargers.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

The pace was increasing, just slightly, and Revalas finally peered up from where his gaze had been fixated on the gold that glinted against dark skin, just a few shades darker than his own. It looked good on him, on Dorian’s hands. Jewelry always did, and Revalas had spent more than his fair share of time haggling with merchants and using Leliana’s contacts to get this particular ring smuggled out of Par Vollen—a yellow-gold that stood stark and bright against the more muted, deeper golds of Tevinter jewelry.

“Yes yes, I love it,” Dorian muttered, waving his hand loosely, the word a slurred assurance that he did, in fact, realize Revalas was staring at it.

“That’s not… I’m not worried about that, vhenan,” Revalas chuckled in reply, leaning over to place a kiss on Dorian’s cheek, missing, and planting one on the mage’s collarbone instead. He could feel the warmth of his drink beginning to spread through his face, to the tips of his ears, and left his forehead resting against the perfumed linens and cool skin of Dorian’s shoulder. Patchouli and sandalwood, something smoky and a little spicy, something a little musky and human… He breathed in deeply before continuing, his voice muffled by the fabric. “You don’t even have to wear it. You could hate it for all I care, I just wanted you to have something so you’re reminded of me when you’re out,” he gestured vaguely, “doing whatever it is you do.”

“I’m always reminded of you, amatus,” Dorian said, his voice sounding a little distant, a little watery, still slurred and slow. Revalas heard the soft clink of gold against glass as he reached for his drink again. “It’s rather ridiculous, really.”

“What is?” Revalas looked back up, suddenly alert, an eyebrow raised, his hand darting out to catch Dorian’s wrist before more booze could hit his tongue. “What’s so ridiculous?”

Dorian chewed his lip and looked away. Krem and Skinner had begun to sing loudly, drowning out the music they were trying to sing to. Sera’s delighted squeal cut through the ruckus and Revalas felt the slow drip of a sloshed ale soaking into his pant leg from the bar.

None of it mattered though—they may as well have been alone in the Herald’s Rest as he gently pried the drink from Dorian’s hand and interlaced their fingers.

“Ar lath— I love you,” Revalas huffed. “Talk to me. I can see the smoke coming from your ears.”

“As astute and clever as ever,” Dorian replied, still turned away. He heaved a heavy sigh. “This seems… unwise.”

“What does? How so?”

There was silence between them. The chaos of the tavern had all but fallen away as Revalas watched the gears turning quietly, his gaze piercing, knowing exactly what Dorian meant but waiting for him to piece together the words to say it himself.

Dorian finally met his gaze, brows drawn in a way that he would have never allowed were he sober.

“Emotions are so… messy,” he finally said. “I never meant to let it get this far, you know.”

“But here we are, so now what?” Revalas pressed his lips to the back of Dorian’s hand. “It’s okay to be messy, Creators know Bull and I are just as bad.”

Dorian frowned. “Yes, but—”

“But you aren’t allowed to be? Why not?”

Revalas swore he could see the words turning over in Dorian’s head, the mental gymnastics he was putting himself through to try and justify his hesitance.

“Vishante Kaffas, you Ben-Hassrath are truly the worst,” he eventually snipped. “Perceptive asses, the lot of you. Yes, fine! Let’s make Dorian confess his feelings in the middle of the tavern, what fun! Surely he wants to share his deepest fears in public, or—no, wait—let’s make it in front of an audience! Of course!”

Hs voice cracked, and he pressed his palms into the scratched wood bar, staring at it as if trying to study a reflection that wasn’t there. Revalas brushed his thumb across Dorian’s cheek, unsurprised at the wetness he found there, and pulled Dorian to face him again. Grey eyes glittered with brimming tears, and Revalas wiped them away as best he could without smudging the khol that streaked down tanned cheeks.

“Dorian. Vhenan. You know that’s not what I meant.”

“Yes… I…” Dorian shook his head. “I simply hate that I care so much. It’s ridiculous, isn’t it, to receive so much… attention? When I don’t even do anything, when I have so little to offer but these petty, drunken outbursts.” He slumped over, defeated. “There. You’ve pried it out of me. May I have my drink back, now, if you're satisfied?”

“Vhenan.”

The scrape of wooden stools across the floor seemed deafening in comparison to their conversation, but Revalas knew it was all drowned in the sea of late-night drunken chaos as he scooted himself closer to Dorian and pulled him into his arms. It was awkward, and likely an awkward sight, but Revalas held him tightly, as if his grip could quell his partner’s hitching, uneven breaths.

“Vhenan, you don’t need to do anything. You’re allowed to just care. Hell, it’s really not like Bull and I are any more practiced at this. We don’t even have relationships under the Qun.” He sighed, kissing the top of Dorian’s head, the styling oils tingling his lips. “I think about you constantly, and I don’t do anything but drag feelings out of you kicking and screaming, but you wouldn’t say the same about me, that I’m not allowed to care, right?”

“You shouldn’t” Dorian muttered, and Revalas hugged him harder, just uncomfortably so, so that he heard the air whoosh out of Dorian’s lungs.

“That’s stupid. You’re too smart to say stupid things like that. This isn’t conditional. There’s no rule that says any of us have to do anything.”

There was a long pause while Dorian finally hugged him back, fists clutching the back of Revalas’s shirt and face buried in his neck, until his shaking subsided and his breathing settled.

“I… I do like the ring.” he eventually said, pulling away. His eyes were puffy and red, but the shimmer of tears was replaced with a glint of his usual sarcastic mirth. “It’s rather fetching on me, don’t you think?”

Revalas kissed his hand with a smile.

“Ar lath. Yes, vhenan. Absolutely stunning. I bet you could even charm the pants off a Qunari with your fashionable jewelry alone. No one would even notice your dashing good looks.”

Dorian flashed him a smile before tipping his drink back and draining the glass.

“Ah, and don’t forget my unmatchable wit and irritable charm.”

“Oh, Creators, I don’t think I could if I tried.”

[sirswooshnoodles]

Image descriptions: many many tags:

#as a jeweler: DEAR GOD WHAT HAVE THEY DONE #if thats actual garnet. why would you do that to it #if it isnt: ill kill you for lying #but from the photos alone: that isnt silver

#thats some mystery metal shit that you dont want touching your skin because why does it look like its rusting

#when silver us dirty even from soldering it doesnt ever look luke that

#AND ANOTHER THING! that prong setting? not even fully closed half those prongs are barely touching that stone that shits gonna be wiggling-

#and wobling scratching up that stone and being a nusiance to keep clean PLUS its gonna get caught on everything

#ALSO from the look of the stones in all of them #theyve been touched woth heat and are damaged. dont buy damaged stones theyre gonna break eventually

#but anyway those almost def arwnt garnet. from the look of the other settings id say a shitty quality cubic zirc because those are - #settings you can only do by casting (or gluing them in like costume jewelery)

#whoch makes me wonder what castong house would stoop That

Low

#all the canadian ones wont even take ur order without proof of professional trainin

#okay im done i gotta go to work

#sorry laz im back #THE VISIBLE SOLDERI G GOD

#i would have been ripped to shreds o the solder job alone if i tried to present that as even a first attempt at a prong setting

#WHY DIDNT THEY CLEAN THE FUCKING SOLDER BLOBS

#its kne thing if ur setting is fucked but to be visibly VISIBLY a shitty rush job with no clean up work #come ON PEOPLE

#this os all im going to think about for the next 7 hours of my shift i

‹now it

#its. so poorly made

#like they went throigh the effort of goving a fairly decent effort in the photography. AS IF THE WOULD HELP THE SLAPPED TOGETHER BULLSHIT

#im just #im astounded

#if this was practice work i wouldnt bat an eye

#BUT THATS THE FUCKING FINISHED PRODUCT #THATS WHAT THEYRE SELLING

#i would be too ashamed of the piss poor craftsmanship to even consider selli g that with my name attatched #im just. im just. why are they so dirty

#did you not even try to clean them nameless etsy seller????

#you can see the spots where they filed and sanded. but they didnt bother to clean anything. why is it so crusty

#they could be just ok. but there is ZERO finishing work done #like they skipped the most intensive part of the process #you cant just skip finishing work man

#like even if you dont polish them you dont have to polish them #but you need to clean. you need to tske off the solder blobs and you need to clean whatever scum is stuck to your metal

#laz tell me one thing what kind of metal are they advertising this as i need to know

#prev. the metal on all listings is Sterling Silver

#STERLING????? I THINK THE FUCK NOT

#first off. thats too dark to be sterling. SECOND. STERLING AT NO POINT STARTS TO LOOK LIKE THAT NO MATTER HOW DIRTY #it looks also like those have never NEVER seen a pickle pot let alone some soap and water

#sterling at no point becomes slightly yellow

#not even nickle silver (a common alloy people try to pass off as sterling) looks like that after soldering and nickle silver looks gnarly-#before you pickle it and do your finishing on it. like thats not even nickle??? unnamed etsy seller i have questions

#like. are they intentionally and willfully decieving people? or were they lied to by a supplier and dont have the training to know that??

#Also. the second to last ring. baby girl why is the metal itsself cracked. who hurt you

End of tags

Next image is a stick figure holding a box of popcorn with a speech bubble saying “damn”.

End descriptions.

I believe all these tags are from the same person but who isn’t shown so I’m not 100% sure.

Note: typos in the tags are from the photos I didn’t feel like fixing them

kinda obsessed with these, clearly beginner, rings on Etsy being marketed as garnet when i'd bet money that they are glass

the metal work is. certainly better than what i've ever made, so i don't want to speak to harshly. but uh. um.

[kellysbookblog]

Title: Letting You Go

Release Date: November 20, 2023

Author: S.L. Sterling

Genre: Contemporary Romance, Slow Burn, Second Chance Romance

Cover Design: Thunderstruck Cover Design

Goodreads: https://geni.us/LettingYouGoGR

My Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/review/RL77T2DGVLYNA/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

My GR: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6003917830

Blurb:

Bailey Scott had been my world from the time I was fifteen. I had always thought we could make it through whatever life threw at us. But I was wrong.

Five years ago, everything changed in an instant one weekend in December. Her brother had been shot and killed in the line of duty, and his killer had gotten away. I spent my days buried in work trying to track down his killer, while she sat at home not only blaming herself but everyone else for what had happened. Included in that everyone else, was me, her fiancée, and his partner. Unfortunately, that blame drove a rift between us that neither of us knew how to fix.

I was always told that time healed everything. It’s been five years. In that time, I spent my days at work, and my nights with women trying to release the hold Bailey still had on me. I’ve also been trying to release the guilt I’ve felt from that night.

I was doing pretty good until my best friend and partner tells me that he is getting married and he wants me to be his best man. Problem is, Bailey Scott, the girl who’d ripped my heart out is the brides to be maid of honor. She was finally returning, and I knew the moment I would lay eyes on her, I would do whatever it took to win her back.

S.L. Sterling’s, Letting You Go is a sexy, emotionally charged, slow burn second chance romance that will leave you swooning.

Buy Links:

Universal: https://geni.us/LettingYouGo

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3SgJBZS

Apple Books: https://apple.co/3skJJgb

B&N: https://bit.ly/3snQwpo

Kobo: https://bit.ly/45VPwqz

Smashwords: https://bit.ly/3QkBMzH

Excerpt:

I looked at my best friend and shook my head. “What did I think about what?”

​Cara gave me a knowing look and smiled. “Well, about Jackson. What did you think?”

​I blew out a breath and shrugged, rubbing both of my temples again as the pain shot through my head at her question. “What am I supposed to think? He’s still hot, I guess.”

​“Still hot, you guess. Bailey, any woman would have to be dead not to notice that man. Those blue eyes against that dark, tanned skin, dark, thick hair, those shoulders, abs, hands, that ass…” She winked.

​“Whoa, aren’t you supposed to be getting married in, like, eight weeks?”

​“Yes, of course, and I’m very committed to Ryan. But come on, Bailey, you can’t seriously say that you wouldn’t or didn’t notice him.”

​“I never said that. Besides, that was always the way with him, though. I can still remember the first time I ever laid eyes on him,” I said, picking a piece off the muffin in front of me, getting lost in my thoughts.

​“What is it?”

​“It’s nothing.” I shrugged. Even though I was adamant that we were through, a part of me still wanted to know about him, if he was involved with someone. I wanted to know who held his heart in her hands now. “So, tell me, what do you want to plan for this wedding?”

​“Oh no, don’t you dare change the subject! Just ask me the question that I know is eating away at you?”

​I looked at my best friend, her eyes shining with mischief. She could always read me like a book. “What question might that be?” I smiled. Two could play this game.

​“Bailey, as if you don’t want to know?”

​“Listen, I came here to talk about someone’s wedding, not about what happened last night at The Crooked Judge, nor about Jackson Walker. Now, could we please get on with things?”

​Cara shrugged. “I just figured you’d want to know whether he was single because somewhere in that heart of yours, I know you’re dying to ask. I also know that somewhere deep down inside, you still care about him, and don’t pretend you don’t.”

​I shook my head and looked out the window just in time to see a Sunset Cove cruiser drive down the road. I bit my bottom lip to stop the tears I could feel building in my eyes at the fact that he could very well be happily involved with someone, maybe even have kids. What bothered me the most was the fact that if he had that, then the thought of us having another chance together would be taken away instantly. I’d have lost out on him. I turned back to face the only girl who truly knew me.

​“Look, he’s obviously with someone. I mean, he could barely even look at me last night. He certainly didn’t want to speak to me. Do you know he couldn’t even ask me questions in relation to what had happened? Also, that as soon as his partner had finished, he ran out of there faster than the gang member who started the whole thing.”

​Cara stuck her spoon into her coffee and added another sugar packet before looking up at me. “Imagine that the man whose heart you ripped out doesn’t want anything to do with you. That’s shocking.”

​“That’s a little harsh, don’t you think?”

​“No, I don’t think it’s harsh to tell the truth. You, Bailey Scott, ripped that man’s heart out, tore it into little pieces, stomped on it, and left it in the dirt. Proof’s in the pudding. You can ask anyone around here. They will tell you the same I am going to. That since you left, he hasn’t been in one relationship, but…”

​I frowned, “But what?” I questioned, waiting for her to continue.

​“…but he’s been with everyone.”

​“Everyone?” I looked at her in shock, thinking about every woman who’d wanted a piece of him when he’d been mine.

​She nodded. “Sadly, yes, ever since you left. He’s had what we used to refer to as bedroom cheerleaders, but he lets no one get close to him.”

​I blinked to clear my vision from the tears that were now burning my eyes. The information she had just given me struck a chord, and I no longer wanted to discuss Jackson, or hear about the current sex life of my former fiancée.

​“Bailey?” Cara reached across the table and placed her hand on mine. “Are you okay?”

​I cleared my throat and wiped my eyes with the back of my hand. I reached into my purse and pulled out a small notebook and began writing.

​ “Okay, so the wedding. We have what, about eight weeks to get this thing together?” I said, completely changing the subject, pretending everything was okay.

​“Bailey?

​I looked up from the notebook in front of me and met Cara’s eyes. I could tell from the look on her face she knew I was upset about what she’d told me.

​“I’m sorry if I upset you,” she whispered.

​I didn’t doubt she didn’t want to upset me, but hearing those words fall from her mouth had done just that. It stung knowing the truth.

​“Look, you didn’t upset me. I guess I’m just hurt. I have only been with one man since we split, and he’s been with an entire town.” I inhaled, focusing on my breath, like my therapist had taught me, and looked at Cara. “To be honest, I really don’t want to talk about this anymore. So instead, let’s talk about bigger, and better things, okay? Like your wedding. Now, tell me, what do you need me to do?”

​She respected my wishes and reached into her purse, pulling out a purple planner, flipping it open to a page that she had scrawled some information.

​“Well, I thought perhaps you could help me choose a color scheme, flowers, food selection and then arrange the seating plan. You were always good with that sort of thing.”

​I nodded. “Of course. Do we have a list of the wedding party and a guest list?” I said, making some notes for myself.

​“We do. We are keeping it relatively small. You know, friends, family and a few work people. I think everyone has been waiting for this wedding, so we are pretty sure everyone we invite will attend. I’m just about finished with the invitations and am hoping to get them out later today.”

​“Okay. That is one thing off our plates. Now, what about the wedding party?”

​Cara bit her bottom lip and flipped through a few pages in her journal. Then she lifted the book up off the table toward her so I couldn’t see what had been written on the page in front of her.

​“We have what you would call a rough list.” She said, biting her lip and looking down at the page in front of her.

​“We can work with a rough list. It would help if I could I see it?” I asked, holding my hand out.

​Instead of handing me the book, she dropped it off the edge of the table and down onto her lap. “No, you can’t. I think we need to make a few adjustments or two, maybe three, before you see it.”

​I gave Cara an annoyed look. “Before I can see it? Cara, I can’t make accurate plans without it. What is the problem? Why won’t you let me see it? It’s just a list of names.”

​“I just told you why. It’s just a rough list.”

​“Cara? I don’t believe it. You’ve probably had this list planned for nine and a half years,” I said, standing up and reaching for the book, which Cara ripped away and shoved behind her back.

​“You’re not seeing it.”

​“Cara, I know you know who you want in your wedding party. Hell, you’ve had that list planned out when Jackson and I got engaged. I know because Ryan told him. If you don’t want me to see the list, there is no way I can collaborate with anyone to get anything done. We already have a tight enough window. So that means no parties, no shower, no nothing. Now show me the book.”

​“Bailey, I can’t.”

​“Why not?”

​“Because you don’t want to talk about Jackson.”

​“What? Cara, just give me the list.” I said, holding my hand out.

​Cara slowly placed the book in my hand, and I began reading the list. I hadn’t even gotten down the list when Cara spoke.

​“Because Jackson is the best man. He’s your opposite in the wedding party.”

​I’m sure my face was filled with shock as I looked over at my friend. I should have known. It was stupid to say I wasn’t expecting this, because I knew full well that he would be part of the wedding party. Ryan and he had been friends since preschool. To think he would have chosen anyone else was just foolish.

​I sat there, staring down at our names listed side by side, thinking about all the things we’d be forced to do together, including walk down the aisle.

​“It’s okay. I’m going to have Ryan redo his side,” Cara said, pulling the book back over to her.

​“He’s the best man?” I swallowed.

​Cara nodded. “Like I said, I will have Ryan redo his list. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable or to have a hard time. So, we can always just switch one of the other guys into Jackson’s spot. Ryan will understand.”

​Even though I really didn’t want to think about or see Jackson, I was here for their wedding. I needed to figure out how to work with him and put our differences aside. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that Ryan wouldn’t change it, but it wasn’t fair to ask him, either.

​“Look, Cara, don’t,” I said, reaching across the table and placing my hand on hers. “I’m here for your wedding, to stand up for two people I love dearly. I’m here to help you in whatever way I can, and I won’t have Ryan redo his list. I will do my best to put aside my feelings to make your day amazing.”

​“Really? Are you sure?”

​I nodded. “I promise. So, give me the list and I’ll get started on everything.”

​“You’re the best,” Cara said, looking up at me and smiling. “I can’t tell you how much this means to me.”

Author Bio:

S.L. Sterling was born and raised in southern Ontario. She now lives in Northern Ontario Canada and is married to her best friend and soul mate and their two dogs.

An avid reader all her life, S.L. Sterling dreamt of becoming an author. She decided to give writing a try after one of her favorite authors launched a course on how to write your novel. This course gave her the push she needed to put pen to paper and her debut novel "It Was Always You" was born.

When S.L. Sterling isn't writing or plotting her next novel she can be found curled up with a cup of coffee, blanket and the newest romance novel from one of her favorite authors on her e-reader. Her favorite authors include Kendall Ryan, Vi Keeland, Penelope Ward, Lauren Blakely, Alessandra Torre and Willow Winters.

In her spare time, she enjoys camping, hiking, sunny destinations, spending quality time with family and friends and of course reading.

Social Media Links

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/SLSterlingGoodreads

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hearomance/

Instagram: http://bit.ly/SLSterlingInstagram

Bookbub: http://bit.ly/SLSterlingBB

Sterlings Silver Sapphires: http://bit.ly/SterlingsSapphires

Amazon: http://bit.ly/SLSterling

Newsletter: https://view.flodesk.com/pages/64d6991578891ef5c9a2f474

[oc-heaven]

Peace Offering

Griffith x Nori (White Hawk Timeline)

Griffith gives Nori a way to take out his anger on him aka Griffith gets pegged. (perhaps ooc but this is fanfic so whatever)

Griffith stood outside of Nori’s office with a carefully wrapped box in his hands, as he had walked through the clinic he knew all eyes were on him and the box. Griffith wasn’t a stranger to the medical wing of the castle, but the box was. There would be whispers of the gift for months afterward, but only he and Nori would know what was in it and that thought filled him with a certain warmth. After knocking Griffith slipped into Nori’s office, where the man was pouring over papers.

“Hey.” Griffith placed the box on Nori’s desk. “I have a gift. Open it, and then I’ll leave you alone.” He knew Nori could get mad at him and possibly even show the gift to the other doctors. Something that would humiliate Griffith beyond belief, though he didn’t know if he’d mind all that much.

“Sure… just a minute…” Nori mumbled as he scribbled something down before he grabbed the box. Griffith watched eagerly as Nori carefully unwrapped it. The box was made of beautiful mahogany with a sterling silver latch. Nori hummed in curiosity as he examined it. “What is it?” He glanced at Griffith quizzically. 

“Just open it,” Griffith coaxed, his eyes twinkling. Nori sighed as he opened it before gasping at the six-inch glass dildo and harness cradled gently by velvet.

“Griffith… what the hell is this?” Nori looked at him blankly.

“A peace offering! You can take all your anger out on me,” Griffith said happily. Nori looked back at the dildo and strap.

“What kind of joke is this?” He shook his head in disbelief.

“It's no joke, you can bend me over at night and use me like a toy,” Griffith stated earnestly.

“Like a toy? You would let me fuck you like a common whore?” Nori scoffed but picked up the glass toy. It was surprisingly life-like save for the ridges on it. Humming as he ran his fingers over the sturdy phallus, Nori inspected the craftsmanship. “It’s… well crafted…”

“Yes,” Griffith’s voice had turned husky. He bit his lip as he watched Nori’s slender fingers tracing the glass cock, finding himself envious of the toy.

“I might just fuck myself with it and not bother with you,” Nori mused not noticing how Griffith swallowed harshly at his words. “I bet it feels amazing. These ridges aren’t something you get on a guy’s dick, ya know.” He glanced back at Griffith and chuckled. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Seeing me squirting on a glass cock?” Griffith was at a loss for words. He wasn’t sure whether he wanted to be fucked by Nori or see him fuck himself more.

Nori undid his belt as he swiveled his chair around. Lifting his butt off the seat, he pulled his pants and undergarments down to expose his cunt, after kicking his pants off he spread his thighs to show himself off better. Griffith was transfixed as Nori brought the dildo to his lower lips, using the head to part them as he slowly slid the toy along his slit. Once satisfied with the cock being lubed enough, Nori eased it into his wet hole.

“How about this? I fuck myself and if, only if, I cum I’ll fuck you, okay?” Griffith nodded eagerly as he wet his lips. 

“Mmm, good,” Nori huffed as he began to fuck himself with the cock. "It's nice, I like it for sure," He hummed as it brushed against his g-spot. "But you didn't get it for me… you wanted this just for you, am I right?"

"Y-yes," Griffith whined, his cheeks turning scarlet. He wasn't embarrassed, no, he was turned on beyond belief.

"Hmph, you're a fucking pervert." Nori was working himself up faster than he ever had before, it must have been the fact Griffith was standing there stewing in his own need that was getting him off. "I know you've been jerking off in my bed," Nori taunted, watching Griffith's eyes go wide.

"I…" Griffith wanted to say something, but he wasn't even sure if it was to defend himself or not.

"Oh, shut up," Nori scoffed. The coil in his core winding tighter. Griffith watched, enraptured, as Nori brought himself over the edge. The glass of the cock allowing Griffith to see Nori's walls pulsing around it. "O-oh, that's… that's good cock…" Nori chuckled as his breathing evened out. "Mmm, guess I fuck you." At that Griffith eagerly locked the door and stripped. He was quick to get on his hands and knees and present himself to Nori. "Good slut."

Nori put on and adjusted the harness along with the glass cock before circling Griffith. He traced along Griffith's spine until he ended up at his ass, where he spread the man's cheeks and smirked at his winking hole. 

"An eager one aren't we?" Nori muttered, he lined the head of the cock up with Griffith's hole. It was still slick with Nori's cum, so he had no problem ramming it into Griffith's unprepared hole. The man let out a shrill cry as his eyes rolled back and he collapsed forward at the force. “Keep, quiet, or else my doctors and nurses will know what a slut you are, and you’re lucky this isn’t a real cock, or else you’d have to leave this room with my cum dripping out of you,” Nori grunted as he roughly fucked Griffith with his gift. 

"Ngh, s-sorry!" Griffith gasped. It felt like his breath was knocked out of him. Nori had no interest in Griffith's pleasure, and he loved it. Even if Nori couldn't get as much stimulation out of this, he was determined to use Griffith like a toy. The way he was angling his hips, Nori was abusing Griffith's prostate, making it hard to not scream Nori's name.

"Shoulda given me a gag to use on you too," Nori chuckled as he tightened his grip on Griffith's hips. "Hope I leave bruises on your pretty skin." Griffith pushed his hips back in time with Nori's thrusts, he wanted more, he wanted to be marked by Nori. Each thrust brought Griffith closer to the edge until he let out a pathetic moan as he came all over the floor of Nori's office. "Tch, you're gonna clean that up with your mouth, got it?"

"Yes, master," Griffith mumbled in a dreamy tone. Nori scoffed at him but patted his ass as he called him a good boy, before pulling out of him. Griffith whined at the empty feeling, while Nori admired how his asshole fluttered around nothing.

"Now clean up your mess," Nori said as he took off the harness and put his pants back on. Griffith did as told licking up his cum while Nori watched. "If you get hard from this I'm not dealing with it." Griffith wanted to pout and beg Nori to help him when he inevitably got hard again, but he knew it wouldn't help. Unfortunately, cleaning up his cum from the floor while stark naked was turning him on. "I didn't think you'd actually get hard from this," Nori mocked as Griffith's cock bobbed in the air. To play it up, Griffith made sure to wiggle his hips to emphasize his ass and hard cock, while Nori mocked him. Once he finished, Nori told Griffith to leave. He whined and pouted, but eventually left. Both were satisfied though.

[pebblesrus]

@wolves-in-the-world has changed my life with this post about quinn being face blind

i’m making a new post as to not derail theirs bc this is my stream of consciousness that is too long for tags (i’m feeling fine and normal abt it) 

so, as far at figuring out how to recognize the team

eliot is usually okay. his voice rarely changes he’s got that scar on his.......it’s a distinctive scar even if i cannot for the life of me tell u where exactly it is. u know it when u see it. that’s the kind of guy eliot is. but sometimes things are happening a bit too quickly and you haven’t gotten used to eliot with his hair up and.....it was an accident, eliot.

hardison is easier (because there are no other black people in portland.....kidding, this is a joke from the s5 bloopers). hardison is easier because while he is a decent grifter his affect doesn’t change all that much. hardison is, and will always be, the smartest man in the room, and his grifts are entirely based on him thinking ten times faster than the mark. it’s easy enough to spot.

nate is mostly easy—u know that post that’s like nate grifting is 100% relying on him just being himself and pissing off the mark—but during the runway job quinn full on refuses to admit that this man in a....whatever the fuck he’s wearing, is actually nate.

quinn’s got zero idea how to find parker in a crowd based on sight. moves too fast. and he’s only 3% sure based on sound. moves too quietly. but eventually he figures out how air flows through a vent differently with a parker sized block in it and that he should stop looking for her in the room and start looking for her in the ceiling. if she’s on the ground tho ur guess is as good as mine—no, ur guess is accurate, mine is a shot in the dark. well, no, quinn is more accurate with a rife in a pitch black cave in serbia than picking parker out of a crowd. it gets worse over time as she gets better at grifting.  

sophie is a. fucking. nightmare. the outfit changes the hair changes the fucking ~accents~ “i’ve seen sophie devereaux play a dozen people.....drunk” ok sterling u wanna fight sophie devereaux is a dozen people

vs. after the team finds out

when eliot learns that quinn was only like 60% sure of who he was on the entire 20+ hour flight from kiev he’s floored “what kind of assassin are u. u can’t just get on a plane with someone if u haven’t verified their identify where is ur sense of personal safety” “i broke ur ribs once and i’ll do it again pal <3”  

quinn joins hardison in lucille once and that’s the last time quinn is ever allowed to watch the cameras. hardison can put up with a lot of hitter nonsense but a man can only go through “WAIT there’s a bad guy can i go shoot him” “quinn that is eliot. we talked about this…...13 seconds ago.” so many times

parker knew way before anyone else. it’s that whole parker goes to quinn to ask questions she just wants answer to not a 5 page essay and concerned looks for the next 36 hours. one day parker is trying to get quinn to describe a person he saw for secret quinn-parker-heist reasons and quinn is like.....u see people??

nate is not entirely sure who quinn is so he doesn’t care if quinn isn’t entirely sure who he is either.

sophie takes to occasionally asking quinn if he knows who she is and every time he says no and every time she doesn’t believe he means it until she pokes (metaphorically) a bit and quinn stalks off “i’m getting ms. devereaux” (but it sounds like “i’m getting my mom” (he never manages to find “ms. devereaux”))

[leverage-ot3]

the remarkable story of the world’s best thief, part one

parker grew up with no one. no friends, no family. and then she found archie (or he found her) and they had something, but he still held back and kept her at arm’s length

and then she takes this one job in chicago that’s stealing back airplane designs and she has to work with a team, something she never does but will do only this one time because the payout was supposed to be good

and then they’re all almost killed, which she doesn’t take personally, mind you. she cares that she didn’t get the money

so she goes along with the white knight’s plan and they enlist this horrible actress who isn’t actually that horrible, and they con dubenich out of his company and thanks to the hacker they get the score, the score that ensures retirement, that she can sit on an island surrounded by piles of money, homemade rigs and laser grids galore just for fun

except she can’t just retire. and as much as she didn’t want to admit it, working with them was fun. so she tells nate to call her when he has another job

and then that job goes sideways and she decides it’s not worth it, that she’s better off alone. so they’ll finish the job and part ways for good- how it was meant to be after all.

but then they give the veterans the truck full of money and they’re so happy and she figures, okay, maybe one or two more. maybe then hardison will tell her why she’s supposed to have a plant in her office. why does she need one if it doesn’t do anything?

and time passes easily, easier than it ever had before. she eats pizza beside hardison and eliot. jumps off a balcony without looking, trusting her ability to fall, but eliot catches her anyways. she stabs a man with a fork and hardison talks to her as she cries and at some point she decides that maybe they’re a little more than a team. he says he liked how she turned out, and it shouldn’t be so reassuring, but it is. she makes a tentative friendship with a woman named peggy, the most normal person she knows but astonishingly, somehow wants to be her friend.

and then they’re in a rehab center and she takes the pills they give her and things feel different, so she doesn’t want to leave. so she stays. and then sophie comes back, understanding her game of pictionary that no one else would ever get, so she goes with her. she sees her her team, her friends and is so happy. she jumps into eliot’s arms and holds him tight. trots over to hardison and holds him close. the drugs wear off, but the affection doesn’t. it never will.

and then they’re trying to con nate’s old boss because he’s on a downward spiral and revenge is something they all can understand. except then maggie, nate’s ex wife is there and she’s an expert on art and would be able to tell that their statue was a fake. so nate challenges her to steal the statue with whatever she can gather from the van and the party. and like some people do chess, she figures out how to get the statue with some gum, tinfoil, and ice. she kisses hardison for a distraction, but maybe she liked it? just a little. maybe.

and then they are successful and sell blackpool’s first david back to him, and things are great. she jumps down onto the transportation truck, picks the lock, and sneaks inside, ready to take the david statue back. except sterling- evil nate- is there and she has nowhere to go. 

and then he figures out that sophie, her sophie, stole the first david years ago and was conning them from the beginning of the job. she slightly gets it- she is a thief, after all. but the fact that she conned her own team (’a little more than a team’) leaves a bad taste in her mouth.

sophie comes through, and they jump off a building. sophie yells a bit, but she’s come a long way from the first job when she screamed all the way down to the first floor. their office explodes and they go their separate ways, because they’re professionals, after all. they know when a job can’t be done, when it is best to flee.

but leaving a job undone is like having a scratch unitched, and the two davids are on display at blackpools’ gallery. she’s pointing a laser at the painting and a woman turns around and it’s sophie. and then eliot is on the floor above her, and so is hardison. so they make a run for it and nate is out there, waiting in a getaway car.

hardison’s safehouse is a bit ridiculous, little furniture and a toiletless bathroom. they start to bicker but nate brings them to focus. hardison has the blueprints splayed out on a table and they start making plans again- easy- just like they did before. 

sophie tries to apologize to them in a tactless way, but they come around eventually. they take a moment, hardison, eliot, and parker, to christen the house with the painting of old nate and sophie directs them how to position it. things feel familiar, normal, and comfortable.

eliot, much to nate’s dismay, meets a willing maggie for lunch. she recognizes the button cam immediately, but takes a moment to make nate very uncomfortable because she’s cool like that. parker likes her for that.

she’s mad- furious in fact. but she agrees to participate in the con and performs wonderfully. parker is a little proud. and then the showing opens, and parker is at the reception desk, taking coats and bags. sterling and his entourage pass her and he talks about every country that wants her in prison, and she almost laughs. she settles on a smile instead.

the con plays perfectly, as almost all of theirs do. she puts the fake statues in all the bags she’s collected and watches it play out. and then they get to work hiding the artwork. they hide in the basement as their plan comes to a head, listening to the chaos above them. nate makes a deal with sterling and everyone leaves except nate and maggie. they come down to meet her, hardison, eliot, and sophie and get to work placing the works of art back in their places.

before long, they are all in an airport hangar, empty except for the five of them. nate tells them how the team has changed him, how they’ve done so much good in their time together. she feels tears prick at her eyes and her stomach has dropped and a part of her can’t believe that this is how it ends.

hardison asks her where she’s going and she smiles, and tells him he will just have to look. they all look at each other and somehow, although she’s still not that good at reading people, they feel the same way as her. it should bring her comfort, but it doesn’t.

one by one they turn and go their separate ways, including her. each step she takes feels harder and more definitive than the last. her heart feels low in her chest and her skin tingles in a way that she’s never experienced before.

spain, she thinks. spain is nice this time of year.

maybe then the weird feeling in her chest will go away. the tugging in her heart said it wouldn’t.

[boognish-worshipper]

Midnight City AU

it took me forever to decide where to go with this chapter and i was literally getting fed up editing it 😭 i’ve been so busy with all the chaos goin on in my life rn too so yeah writing’s been feeling delayed over all but i decided to just finalize this one for rn and uhhh sorry if it seems funky or shortttt

//Chapter 3: Vanished

The next day, Trevor went back to Sterling Lake Park, after spending the night at Wade’s. He agreed to meet up with him there later, walking around the park with his earbuds in. As he threw himself down on his usual bench, he settled on listening to his usual playlist of his favorite songs. He scrolled through nosedivr once again, taking a photo of the lake. It was foggy, and the thick air sat atop the water. He liked when it was like that. A sturdy drumbeat thumped in his ears, making him feel whole. He paused it briefly, just to change it to a different song that was even louder, but with the lack of music he could now hear the crunch of gravel not too far away. He thought he told Wade to come later on? He looked up from his phone, pulling out an earbud. It was the guy from yesterday.

“Hey.”

“Hello.”

“Where’s Amanda?” He asked, glancing around.

“Uhh she’s.. not here today. I kinda came to see if you were here. I wanna get to know more people at this park if I’m gonna hang ‘round here more I guess.”

“But she doesn’t like me?”

“She don’t gotta know.”

“Well aren’t you Boyfriend of the Year.”

“Oh uh, we aren’t dating yet.”

“Thought she was your girl though.”

“She is, she is. But it’s nothing serious. Not yet. And I don’t know what happened between you guys but you don’t seem that bad, so if I wanna talk to you that’s more of a her problem than me.”

“Huh.”

Today Michael wore an eCola shirt, which was obviously made to resemble their old logo, with blue jeans. He had on a pair of red sneakers this time to match the color of the shirt. They looked slightly newer, compared to the pair he wore yesterday. He dressed nice for such a basic style. Trevor on the other hand, threw on an old, frayed Love Fist t-shirt, and messy jeans. He wore a different pair of boots, some kind of knockoff of a popular name brand. A pair of purple lensed circular glasses sat on his head, the nose pieces caught in his hair.

“So.. uh. Mind if I sit there?”

“Not like I own the bench or anything, go right ahead.”

He cautiously sat next to Trevor, hands in his lap. Trevor started one of his other playlists up again, settling on a mix of Paramore and Green Day. He left an earbud out, just so he wouldn’t be completely rude. He mindlessly scrolled, occasionally looking back at the lake or casting a sideways glance at Michael, who was looking at him funny. Sighing, he paused his music, putting his earbuds away.

“What.”

“I.. nothin’ man. I just, I dunno. What is the point of coming here?”

“It’s a public fuckin’ park man.”

“I know, but you said that you don’t even really like the people here, so what’s the point?”

“There is no ‘point’ to it. I just like time to myself is all. These guys don’t bother me, and I don’t bother them. They only start trouble when they see fit.”

“Ah… I see? What were you listening to by the way?”

Trevor stifled a groan, not really wanting to talk to the guy when he had time to freely plot his scheme.

“Pop punk shit. Ever heard of it?”

“Uh, no? I thought punk wasn’t supposed to be popular. Or fit in. Or whatever.”

“That’s merely the ideology, which I do follow, dear Michael. I just like the sound I guess. You know Paramore?”

“Not really. I don’t listen to that stuff much.”

“Then what the fuck do you listen to?”

“Not sure if it has a genre per say, but I like that song Radioactive goin’ around? Songs that sound like that I guess.”

“You like Imagine Dragons?”

“That’s what they’re called?”

Trevor could only stare at him. Was this guy living under a rock?

“Uh.. yeah. Y’know what- never mind, what else do you listen to?”

“80s music?”

No wonder this guy was unaware of who’s popular now.

“Amanda’s been trying to get me into groups like the 1975. I actually kinda like them.”

Trevor rolled his eyes.

“Of course she did.”

“They’re not that bad to be honest. She likes that weird alternative shit.”

“Yeah, I know. By the way, there is a name for that genre. Indie rock. Can’t stand the stuff.”

“How come?”

“You know, you ask a lotta fuckin’ questions.”

“I’m just tryna understand this shit here. I ain’t in the loop of all these trends.”

“Well, for your information I just find the style to be too slow and whiny for my taste. I like fast, upbeat, wild stuff.”

“Any recommendations then? I wanna impress Amanda by at least knowing one artist off that nosedivr thing she goes on.”

He raised a brow, not really wanting to share anything else knowing he would just repeat it back to her, but he shrugged and continued.

“Alright. Besides pop punk, I like experimental songs. Underground groups. Crystal Castles are my favorite.”

“Never heard of ‘em.”

“Wouldn’t expect you to.”

“Right.”

“If you want more indie rock shit though, I suggest listening to I don’t know, the Arctic Monkeys? That seems more like her taste.”

“These bands have such weird names.”

“I think bands have always been like that.”

“Hey wait a sec, I thought you didn’t like that stuff? How do you know the name of one of those groups?”

“Ugh… I guess I might as well say it if you’re gonna get with her, but we were friends at some point. She introduced me to those bands, but even then I didn’t really like it. We had a stupid falling out I’d rather not get into.”

“Oh.. sorry.”

“Eh, don’t be. Shit happens. You definitely seem like her type though, no wonder she got with you.”

“What’s her type?”

“Heh. As if I’d tell you.” He scoffed.

“C’mon man, please?”

“Nope.”

Michael frowned, slumping in his seat.

“Fine. Whatever. Not like I need to know.”

“You could at least pretend you don’t care.”

“I don’t.”

“You clearly do, bro.”

He sat arms crossed, turning a smidge away from Trevor. This was his opportunity to listen to his tunes again, but before he could Michael spoke up.

“Can I… can I listen to whatever you’re listening to?”

“Huh?”

“I wanna hear what you’re into.”

Trevor shot him a puzzled look.

“Uh.. okay.”

Wiping off an earbud, he handed one to Michael. He already had one in.

“Pick your poison cowboy.”

“Cowboy?”

“Just a nickname I give people.” He shrugged.

Michael settled on his experimental music, actually nodding along to the sound. They were closer than a minute ago, and it made Trevor uncomfortable for whatever reason. Maybe because he was never in such close proximity to strangers, but the other part of him didn’t care that much. Michael’s eyes were closed, smiling.

“You like it?”

“Yeah! Reminds me of synth stuff from the 80s, just more modern I guess.”

He smiled back at Michael, appreciating the fact there was someone else who liked the music he liked. The two listened to a couple different playlists he had, up until the moment Wade arrived at the park.

“Trevor! Hey!”

“Woah. Who’s your friend?”

“Hm?” He pulled out the single earbud, turning his head around. Wade had clown makeup on, making Trevor jump in his seat.

“Fucks sake. Hey Wade.”

“Ooh who’s this?”

He wasn’t sure if Wade freaked him out or not, seeing as the guy not only had matted locs, but many facial piercings as well. And the clown shit. He stood up to introduce them to one another.

“Wade, this is Michael. Michael, Wade.”

The way Michael looked at him was like a kid seeing a zoo animal for the first time. He looked bewildered, but not disgusted.

“Hi. What’s with the..?” He wavered a hand in Wade’s direction.

“Oh! It’s jus’ clown face. Not tryna scare ya or nothin’!”

“Uh huh… man. How have I never been around these parts? You guys are real different.”

“You got that right, Mike.”

“Seems like I’ve been missin’ out. I hangout with some dudes who would hate this place if I’m being honest.”

“I’ll have to meet ‘em sometime.” Trevor chuckled.

“They’re real cool guys. Didn’t expect our paths to cross, but anything’s possible in this fuckin’ city.”

“Oh yeah. Land of opportunities, for all types of wackjobs.”

“Ain’t that the truth.”

A hand tapped Trevor on the shoulder.

“Uh, excuse me, Trevor, but are we still gonna talk about the Merryweather thingy-”

“Wade! Shut it-”

“What Merryweather thing?”

“Nothing, nothing. Not important.” He said, gritting his teeth, glare strong on Wade.

“Okay..”

“But you said we’d talk about it over icecream!”

“Later, Wade. Not right now.”

“Fiiine. Can we still get icecream though?”

“Sure. Promise. I’ll let you know.”

“Okay! Bye Trevor, bye stranger!”

Michael lifted a hand to haphazardly to wave goodbye.

“What was that about?”

“I told ya man, nothin’. Just going over some plans we’re making.”

“Is it about that special event being held there?”

“How you know about that?”

“Mandy told me.”

“Mandy… yeah. Figures as much.”

“She got an invite, and wants me to go as her plus one. I don’t know if I really wanna go though, I’m still pretty unfamiliar with all this.”

“Trust me, you don’t.”

“Seriously, what is your beef with those guys?”

“I told you, they start shit when they want. Taught ‘em a lesson and that was it. Nearly got me banned from this place, but it was kinda worth the looks on their faces.”

“You are.. quite peculiar y’know. Anyway, you mind showing more of that music? I was honestly gettin’ a kick outta it.”

“Uh, yeah.”

He sat back down next to Michael, handing him the same earbud as before. He clicked on one of his favorite Crystal Castles songs, Vanished. As they were listening, Michael furrowed his eyebrows.

“Hey wait a minute.. I think I’ve heard this before.”

“You have? I thought you didn’t know them.”

“No, I mean yeah I haven’t, but that’s not it. The lyrics. Vocals. I’ve heard them in a different song.”

“Oh.”

“Lemme think, lemme think, ah… I got it! Pass me your phone real quick.”

His fingers typed in the song title fast, pressing play right away. It was an indie rock song, much to Trevor’s dismay. But something stopped him from complaining, seeing how Michael’s face lit up.

“Yeah! This is it, Sex City by Van She. Y’know, I honestly think that’s neat.”

“What is?”

“The fact that a song you like, samples a song I like! Who would’ve guessed?” He said, eyes sparkling. Trevor didn’t notice how bright they were until now. The eye contact, along with the lack of space between them, made him feel stuffy again. He averted his eyes back to his phone, trying to loosen up a bit. As the song played, he savored in the sound, shocking himself a bit. The rock sound was there, but had an 80s sort of feel to it. The song finished before he knew it.

“So.. What’d ya think?”

“You know my thoughts on indie shit. Wasn’t for me, sorry.”

“Oh c’mon, you know you liked it.”

“Nope. Prefer Vanished.”

“Yeah, okay. Keep telling yourself that, but I honestly think they’re both really good. You think that too, I can feel it.”

“Whatever you say bro.”

He switched the song over to that Grimes song he listened to yesterday, the two of them sitting silently. It was a pleasant afternoon they shared. Suddenly Michael’s phone went off, and he yanked the earbud out.

“Ah shit. I gotta take this. Mandy.”

“Gotcha.”

Trevor grabbed the other earbud, putting it back in. He saw Michael wave his free hand around, looking close to hurling his phone right into the lake. Trevor assumed he must’ve been shouting as well, from the way other people were looking at him. Hanging up not much later, he returned to the bench, as Trevor put his earbuds away.

“Fuckin’ Christ.”

“So.. how’d it go?”

“She’s finally not mad at me anymore, but demanded I go take her shopping now. I swear, she’s gonna clear out my bank account or something.”

“How? You guys aren’t even dating.”

“I know, but I just can’t say no to her.”

“Uh huh.”

“Look, I’m sorry to leave so suddenly, but I really gotta go before she goes back to being pissed at me. See ya around?”

“I’ll be here man.”

Michael stood up, storming away. Seemed like he had a short temper, huh? He wondered to himself how long he was gonna stick around, seeing how Amanda’s dating history was… an extensive list. He thought back to last night, when he had seen that post of them, remembering the fact that no guy stayed for longer than a week. It almost made him bummed, seeing as he only had Ron and Wade for friends. Lester too, but that was on rare occasion. Shit. The plans. What time was it?

“Ah, fuck me.” He muttered. How did he let the day go by so quick?

He shot a text to Wade, telling him to grab Ron and meet at some icecream place. He did promise Wade after all.

Ron ended up meeting them there a little bit later, apologizing profusely before Trevor told him to just sit down and shut up. He did just that, almost apologizing once more.

“Now, let’s get down to business. Who do we know that would help us sneak into that club to cause sheer utter mayhem?”

Ron raised his hand excitedly.

“I could get Floyd maybe-”

“Definite fuckin’ no. He would have a heart attack the minute he set foot in there.”

This was getting nowhere. He tossed his head back to look up at the sky. As he did, he saw a couple walking out of the icecream place.

“Oh fucking hell.”

Was this guy following him or something? He snapped his head forward, trying to be a little more hidden.

“What? Trevor what is it?”

“Shh! Keep your fucking voice down Ron!”

He made all three of them lower their heads as the couple walked away, peeking over his shoulder to make sure they were gone. As he did, he could’ve sworn he saw Michael looking back at him. The both of them turned away as quick as possible from the split second of eye contact.

“Trevor?” Ron repeated.

“It was nothing. Just thought I saw someone.”

“Ain’t that the Michael fella I met today?”

“Nope. Don’t think it is.”

“Are ya sure-”

“Pretty fucking positive. Now, back on topic.”

The next hour or so still went nowhere. Wade had gone through two servings of icecream, and Ron started to get restless. Trevor was just bored.

“Ughhh there has to be something we can do!”

“I don’t know what to tell you Trevor. We’ll find someone, soon. There’s enough time isn’t there?”

“Yeah, but I’m not waitin’ til the last possible fuckin’ second to get a guy to help us out here.”

“But we still have time.”

“If you fuckin’ say so Ron.”

The three of them called it a night, as Trevor tossed around the idea of possibly getting Michael involved in his head. On one hand he wanted to out of spite just to make Amanda and the other hipsters mad, and on the other he didn’t want to screw up whatever new friendship he had started with Michael. Ron did say they had time to find someone soon. They weren’t exactly in a rush, but he still wanted to make sure their plan was concrete. They all went back to Wade’s, Trevor deciding to take a walk along the beach. He threw on the same playlist from earlier, watching the sunset. As he walked, he didn’t pay much mind to where he was going, bumping into someone.

“Ah fuck, watch where you’re going-”

“Shit, sorry man-”

As they spun around from the collision, he realized exactly who he had run into.

“Trevor?”

What the fuck?

“What the fuck? Are you following me or something?”

“Huh?”

“This is the third time I’ve seen you today. What are you even doing here?”

“Uh, it’s a public fuckin’ beach man.” He said, mocking the comment Trevor had made earlier.

“Don’t get smart with me.”

“Hey, I’m just tellin’ you how it is. I didn’t purposely search for you, hell I didn’t even know you lived this way.”

“I do. So make like a tree and fuck off.” He said bitterly.

“Woah, chill the fuck out. What’s your deal? I thought we were cool man.”

“I don’t like being followed.”

“I just told you I wasn’t!”

“It doesn’t exactly seem like it. You just so happen to look for me this morning, and just happen to go to the same icecream place I went, and then I find you here? I mean Jesus-”

“I’m telling you, it’s all purely coincidence.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Fuckin’ hell man..” He mumbled.

“Y’know, you’re as fuckin’ stubborn as Amanda is. I already told you-”

Trevor balled his fists, before jabbing a finger into Michael’s chest.

“Don’t fucking compare me to her.”

Michael threw his hands up defensively, not realizing he touched a nerve.

“Woah woah, easy dude. I didn’t think it was that bad between you guys.”

He exhaled loudly, unclenching his hands.

“It wasn’t. Isn’t. Just.. don’t compare me to her.”

Michael pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaling hard himself.

“Look, I think you’re cool and all but you can’t flip out on me like that. I mean we are just getting to know each other y’know. I can’t have you wanting to bite my head off like that if I just so happen to keep running into you. I really am just trying to navigate the area better, so forgive me if I came off as some sorta fuckin’ stalker. Amanda went home and I had nothing better to do so I chose to walk over this way.”

“Hmph. Fine. Whatever.”

“So we good?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. Now, since we’re already here why don’t we just hangout or something?”

Trevor folded his arms, trying to look like he didn’t want to spend another minute with him. It didn’t really work though, because he actually did want to talk to him more.

“If you insist.”

“Alrighty.”

The two of them started to head in the direction of the boardwalk, neither one speaking yet. After finding a bench to sit on as the sun sunk below the horizon, the silence was still there. This sort of thing was bizarre for both of them in different ways. Michael never really frequented these parts of LS, and Trevor never really hit it off with any kind of stranger. Ron and Wade were exceptions if anything, and he had known Lester for a while now. Yet there was something about this guy that didn’t make him feel like he was spending time with a stranger, even though he knew jack shit about him. He might as well try to make small talk.

“So I-”

“So uhh-”

They spoke over each other while trying to start up a conversation, making things feel a little more awkward.

“Shit sorry, you go first.”

“Nah nah you go.”

“Um. Okay. So.. tell me about yourself? We haven’t really talked about much besides music.”

“Yeah.. right. What do ya wanna know?”

“I just asked you to tell me about yourself, so it’s your job to decide what to say.”

Michael gave him a sardonic smile in response to that, partly because he wasn’t sure what to bring up about himself. It seemed like they were gonna be here a while if they wanted to say the most basic shit you say when getting to know someone.

“Well, I ain’t that interesting if you really need to know. I’m guessing you already know about my whole ‘affinity for the 80s’ thing, like the culture n shit that came from it. Real sick stuff.”

“If you say so.”

“Yeah. Anyway, if you really want to know plain shit about me though, I will tell ya that my favorite color’s blue.”

Trevor snickered at that.

“Pfft, seriously? We’re talking favorite colors now?”

“Hey man, you said you wanted to know more about me.”

“Uh yeah, but that’s so fuckin’ silly.”

“Maybe it is, but what about you? You got one?”

“Favorite color? You kiddin’?”

“I’m waiting..”

“Uh huh… I’ll give. Always liked the color red I guess. Like, in variety. Not picky about something as childish as that.”

“What’s childish about that?”

“Cuz only kids exchange that whole ‘oh what’s your favorite color?’ thing. It’s like if I were to ask you what your favorite dinosaur is.”

“Hmm.. I’d probably say a T-Rex.”

“Oh now you’re just pulling my dick. And no, I’m not telling you what mine is just because you did.”

“Hey, I didn’t ask you though. That was all you.”

“Mm… shut it.”

“You got one though?”

“I’m not telling you!”

“Ah ah, I didn’t ask which one, I asked if you had one.”

“Well I don’t, so knock it off.”

“That’s fair. I won’t push.”

They grew silent for the second time that night, before Trevor mumbled something under his breath.

“It’s a pterodactyl..”

“What was that?”

He forced a breath through his nose, acting annoyed.

“It’s a fuckin’ pterodactyl. That’s mine. Okay?”

“Hah, okay. Any reason why?”

“You’re so nosy.”

“You’re the one who started this conversation about getting to know each other man.”

“Ugh, I know that.” He said, lightly shoving his shoulder.

“I think it’s cool that they could fly and shit. I like flying.”

“You like flying?”

“Loved it.”

“Wait, you tellin’ me you fly? Like, planes and shit?”

Trevor winced at the words, regretting what he just said.

“I did.. at some point. Air Force shit. They said I was one of the best they’d seen in a while but I.. left. Sort of.”

“Then why’d you leave?”

“I didn’t exactly leave on my own accord. More or less got kicked out.”

“How come-”

“I don’t like talking about it. I know we’re opening up or whatever the fuck but that.. that’s still too soon for me to want to bring up. Especially to someone I barely know.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” He said, even though it really wasn’t. It’s not like Michael knew though, he really wasn’t trying to prod in a bad way.

It was almost pitch black by the time their conversation got to that point, only distant streetlight and the nearby pier lighting up their surroundings. The whole mood had shifted, and both of them decided to just break it off there.

“Hey uh, I’ll probably see you tomorrow man. If I’m with Amanda I think I’ll just send a wave or something your way.”

“Got it. See ya.”

“Bye.”

Trevor stayed put, watching Michael leave as he turned down a random one way street. This guy was tripping him out and he couldn’t pin point why. It was getting late though, and walked off himself back to Wade’s. He’ll save that vexed question for another night.

//ahhhhhh i rlly did not know what i wanted to do with this….,,., sorry if this wasn’t as good as the first two !! i alrdy know i repeated a bunch of stuff in there and i feel like it got kinda sloppy so again, soz (including typos or whtevr)

but uhhhh anyway yeah i cut it off here bc i wanted to continue some of this shit in the next chapter ig lol,, more stuff to come soon god willing

[leverage-commentary]

Leverage Season 2, Episode 15, The Maltese Falcon Job, Audio Commentary Transcript

Dean: Hi I'm Dean Devlin, Executive Producer and Director of this episode.

John: I'm John Rogers, Executive producer and Writer.

Chris: I'm Chris Downey, Executive Producer, and this is the Maltese Falcon Job. Part two of our season two finale.

John: And this is a lot of fun, this was- this was born of an episode we never wrote. Just- we really wanted to just put them on their pins.

Chris: Right.

John: Just really knock them on their ass and so- were you handheld there? Handheld whenever there's a problem, right?

Dean: Well this is actually a 360 steadicam. And what we're trying to do is let- their entire world is spinning out of control, so we just wanted this just to keep spinning around. They don't know where they're gonna land.

John: This is a fast, hard reset. The second- the second half of the season finale last year, we kinda eased into it, we reset the locations.

Dean: Here we throw you right into it.

Chris: Right.

John: Yeah, you best be paying attention and you really see when, you know- they're the uber team. You know, you really need to put them onto the wall, and the FBI and Interpol in this situation, they're utterly lost. And Interpol, it was interesting, it was something we were saying last- cause it was Mark Sheppard credit in the last episode. We were looking for a villain, and the problem is we kept coming up with this recurring, separate villain. We’re like, ‘We've never met this person before, we don't care. The person you really want it to be is Sterling! But he's an investigator.’

Chris: ‘He's an insurance investigator, what does that have to do with insurance? We have to find a way to make this about insurance?’

John: Oh man, we killed ourselves.

Dean: Do you remember what you said John? The night-?

Chris: It was between you two, right?

John: It was us. I Skyped you at like 11 o’clock at night, you had come back from scouting-

Dean: And we were talking, and the idea came up, ‘What if we just made him interpol?’ Do you remember what you said?

John: No.

Dean: You said, ‘We are either coming up with the best idea we’ve ever come up with, or we’re both reall,y really tired right now.’

[Laughter]

Chris: And it was.

John: It was great.

Chris: As soon as I heard it, I said, ‘That’s a great idea.’ Because we needed to give him a wider mandate.

John: Yes, if we're gonna keep them as a recurring bad guy-

Chris: Great idea.

John: And what was great is, we already shot the episode that he was in before, so we had to go back and reshoot that ending.

Dean: Here's my favorite Tara bit, of her whole arc.

John: Oh, that's right.

Dean: And this man was actually our local assistant.

[Laughter]

Chris: That was AJ.

John: Yes. And a fine actor by the way.

Dean: He did a great job.

Chris: Oh look at this shot, look at this.

John: Look at just the look he's doing. Just a good 1960s Zero Mostel take there. Yeah, ‘Oops.’

[Laughter]

Chris: Mrs. Robinson.

Dean: Comedy frame.

John: Comedy frame. We got like nine takes of Christian reacting to that by the way.

Dean: And my favorite is they both originally put their heads back, and then only Christian’s head came back out again, but we didn't have time for that. 

Chris: Oh I love that.

John: We can't break for comedy too much here, cause you've got the momentum going. 

Dean: Yeah.

John: And you're like, you have to keep resetting - they are in trouble. This, by the way, great hack taught to us by Apollo Robbins.

Chris: Yes.

John: Our thief consultant took us through how you can get access to the hotel computer system through the back of your television.

Chris: Yes.

John: This is a real thing. Please don’t-

Dean: Please don't try this at home.

Chris: Please don’t try this.

John: Don't try this at home, but most hotels have internet enabled televisions now, and that allows you a backdoor into the- 

Chris: It's a good example, too, of our team is so good at what they do, that we always try and look for ways to take away all their tools and find a clever way they have to use whatever's around them to-

John: Yeah

Chris: -you know, get their information.

John: Yeah, and that's again, constrained in time, constrained in space.

Dean: And that little porno name here, we had to get clearance on. 

John: I know. We came up with so many pornos that were real. That we came up with the most ridiculous porno name, ‘Nope that's a real one, that’s a real one.’ What did we land with, Indie Panties Day?

[Laughter]

John: Yeah, there's also- I wonder if we got it on the DVD, a really creepy, awkward beat after they’ve watched the porno that Aldis and Beth did, just very. 

Chris: That's a nice little viral video.

John: Yeah we’ll have to find that. 

Dean: Yeah.

John: Oh, and a beautiful three way pass, by the way. That was a tough shot, you know, in a crowded-

Dean: And it's a callback from the Zanzibar Job. 

John: Yes.

Dean: Where they did a similar three way.

John: Yeah. 

Dean: And I love this local actor.

John: Oh man, he's fantastic.

Dean: Harold rocked it.

John: ‘Yes, it was delicious.’ Yeah no, Eliot's impatience. This, by the way- getting a hotel key without your ID, I was a little fuzzy on whether it would work or not. I had written it, and I was like ‘Ah, am I kinda cheating?’ So I went to a hotel and did it. 

[Laughter]

John: Two days before we actually did this.

Chris: You did?

John: Yes. I won't tell you what hotel because they shouldn't have done it, but I got a hotel room key that way.

Chris: That's great.

John: Yeah. It's amazing what you can do if you have no fear of prosecution.

[Laughter]

John: ‘Oh, I'm doing a television show.’ And this was tough. We had to split them up, we had to figure out what the geography was- oh he hates Sterling so much.

[Laughter]

John: And Mark Sheppard just teeing off, just- 

Dean: Mark is delicious in this part, man. 

John: Yes.

Dean: I'm telling you, I could just watch him play this guy all day long.

John: Yeah, and what's great is Richard Kind, kind of, really kind of justifying, really doing the evil speech of evil, ‘He's a good mayor.’

Chris: Yeah.

John: And he was the one who came up with, ‘I’m good for Bellbridge.’

Chris: ‘I was good for Bellbridge.’

John:  ‘I'm- no matter what I did, I did my job, you know.’

Chris: I like, too, that we have Nate and the mayor both- 

John: Both drinking.

Chris: Both drinking.

Dean: Yeah.

John: I think that was on the day we came up with that, where Nate would get the booze from. 

Dean: Right.

John: Same place. I think we were just- cause this is the same hotel room. That was the fun of this episode, it was figuring out all the identical space- the fact that all hotel rooms are identical.

Chris: Right.

John: And that we suddenly realized, ‘Wait that means we can shoot in one and just redress.’ This is a long ass speech, this was a tough day.

Dean: And again done in a one-er.

John: Yes.

Dean: So the degree of difficulty for poor Mark was very, very high, but he knocked it out again.

John: He's really abused in television. Cause I will tell you right now, a lot of show runners will be like, ‘I have two and a half of impossible bullshit, get me Mark Sheppard in here.’

Dean: Right.

Chris: He's- I think he went from here, he was- he did the- I guess that three part CSI-

John: Yeah.

Chris: Where they had all the CSIs in one link and he was the bad guy in that, and he works.

John: He's a great- he really in that British actor tradition, yeah. 

Chris: Yeah.

John: And this- this bio of this arms dealer is pretty much just a bio of an arms dealer we took. I'm not gonna tell you who, because it was Chris’s idea and if you're angry, you should take your vengeance on him and his family.

[Laughter]

John: And not me, I am a big fan of arms dealers.

Chris: Paul Blackthorne, great- what is he-?

John: Well he had done Dresden Files, I knew him from that. 

Chris: Dresden Files.

John: But he's, you know, nailed the accent, and he's also really tall, he's got a physically imposing presence. 

Chris: Yeah.

John: And Tim’s tall, and it's really hard sometimes, to find the villains that can kind of, you know. And this was a great scene, and really one of the few times that the team lays into Nate. And I like, by the way, Nate’s getting more and more rumpled. Everyone else is kind of pulling it together, and he's just getting rougher and rougher looking.

Chris: Didn’t we have some weather here?

Dean: On the outtakes reel that's actually on this DVD, you'll see some funny outtakes from this scene.

Chris: With the weather right?

Dean: With the weather and Tim’s hair.

[Laughter]

Chris: Oh wow.

John: Oh right, even Chris is having a problem here and he's in a ponytail. Yeah the wind- the whole day we were shooting this we had thunderstorms coming through. 

Dean: Right.

John: So we were literally, ‘It's sunny. Go, go, go!’ And running down and getting the exteriors, yeah. 

Chris: Yeah.

John: Yeah we banged this out fast, man.

Dean: And yet they really nailed it. Again, when our actors dig in, they find gold.

John: And this was a big moment, this was- this is something I think that people sometimes ask, ‘Why does Eliot do this?’ Eliot has made himself a promise, this is his job, he will keep them safe.

Chris: Right.

Dean: And Nate realizes-

John: That's all he has.

Dean: Nate realizes for the first time he's actually let his team down.

John: Yeah.

Dean: And now he feels like he has to make it up to them.

John: Well, you know, when Parker does it. 

Dean: Yeah.

John: I mean that's the thing, Parker never gives- expresses- she’ll tease, she’ll express sarcasm, but disappointment- you know, ‘Be the person we came back for.’ She's referencing the season opener.

Dean: Right.

John: And that's the problem, is addiction- he's allowed himself to be- he's no longer the guy who used to chase them.

[Silence]

John: That's me drinking my Guinness, don't mind me.

[Laughter]

John: Oh god. What would I do without booze? 

Dean: So now we come back to the hotel.

John: Was that on mic? Alright.

[Laughter]

John: So we’re back on the hotel. 

Dean: And again, our clue from the previous episode of the Maltese Falcon.

Chris: Really key to watch these two back to back folks.

Dean: Oh, now this is-

Chris: I mean, maybe get a sandwich, but don't do much more than that.

Dean: This, I think, is one of my favorite bullet time shots that we've ever done. 

John: This was not as- not quite as insane as- and America thanks you for Beth in the French maid outfit.

Chris: The french maid.

Dean: It’s after this gag.

John: Yeah. Not quite as insane as the- by the way, this moment is based on a comedy club in Winnipeg, when- where the comics would go perform, it was a contest amongst them to see how long they could go without leaving the hotel room, and without letting the maids in.

[Laughter]

Chris: Cause there was no-

John: There was nothing to do. 

Chris: Nothing to do.

John: So it was like, ‘I went 40- I went 72 hours; the maids left the towels at the door.’

Dean: Great passing out scene.

Chris: Oh there we go.

John: That man is passed out. And that looks like my bed in every stand up club I ever went at.

Dean: This was the bullet- this was a very complicated bullet time shot.

John: Is this as bad or worse than the pilot, where you did four different directions?

Dean: No, it's not as bad as the pilot, but the timing of it is hard because of the extras and the switching of directions.

John: Yeah. So we start with one-

Dean: And we were using a different steadicam artist who had never done this before. 

John: Oh, that’s right.

Dean: So we had to teach Norbert how to do it while we were doing it.

Chris: Oh, that's right. 

Dean: It was very tough.

Chris: Cause our camera guy had a-

Dean: It was the one day Gary Camp was actually sick.

John: Yeah.

Chris: His tooth exploded or something.

John: Yeah, and he still showed up for work, by the way. 

Chris: He did.

John: With a face that looked like somebody had worked him over with a bat.

Dean: Now originally you had a much more complicated gag to stall, and then you came up with this gag, and we were on the floor laughing.

Chris: Yeah, this is funny.

John: You said, you were like, ‘I can't shoot that gag, all I have is the elevator’ I was like ‘Alright, well we’ll do this.’ And it's funny cause it was really a throwaway, and then the more we talked about it, the funnier it got.

Dean: Yeah.

John: As you realize it's just comedy beat, after comedy beat, after comedy beat. Also: Mark Sheppard.

Dean: Yeah.

Chris: Mark Sheppard does the- he takes you through the- 

John: The fives stages of death and dying.

Chris: The array of reactions.

Dean: This is-

Chris: Puts on a [unintelligible].

John: And by the way- same elevator, we’re just changing the floor number on every shot.

Dean: And the plants.

John: And the plants.

[Laughter]

John: So yes. And we- but we did run Tim up the stairs a lot that day.

Chris: We did.

Dean: I'll tell you this may be my- the funniest gag we've ever done.

John: Just cause both actors- oh this- just the seething.

Dean: The rage.

John: And both actors kind of really digging in on it.

[Laughter]

Chris: Oh.

John: And then... 

Chris: Just kidding this right on his reel, this is all the different, kind of, reaction to it.

John: And I like, he's almost too tired to keep doing it. And up.

Dean: But what sells the whole gag for me is this last one. Because at this point now they've done everything they can, and they just don't care anymore.

[Laughter]

John: They're just. 

Dean: They're done.

John: They’re done, they’re just exhausted. And now- now Nate can give up. Yeah, he's bought them enough time to do what they need to do. And also this was a nice beat, cause Mark made a point of it, it's like if he just had one more second he would've figured it out.

Chris: Yeah.

Dean: Right.

John: You know you can never- Sterling- you always have to play fair with him. 

Dean: Right.

John: You know he's always this close to figuring it out. These guys were great as the vaguely resentful FBI agents. 

Dean: Exactly.

John: Because he's very insulting. And a timing joke. Mark carries a lot in this episode.

Chris: Door- door closed, there you go, door closes, door opens.

Dean: Mark had his work cut out for him this episode.

John: Door opens. ‘Hey, Bob.’ Yeah, these two had a lot of fun. There’s about 900 different takes of this. And oh this was tricky, because when we got up there, we were shooting on the top floor, but that meant we couldn't double the corridor.

Dean: That’s right.

John: Because we had the skylights.

Chris: Oh, hm.

Dean: So we had to find other corridors. 

John: Yeah, and sometimes people were sleeping, sorry about that.

Dean: This is a very simple bullet time shot, but a very effective one, I think.

John: Yeah, the big reveal.

Dean: Just the, ‘viola.’

John: And you're out.

Chris: How did they do that?

John: A lot of fun. And a wink, which would distract any normal human. And this is- I'm trying to remember where we came up with this bit. Oh the carts were brutal, trying to find the cart we could put a dude in.

Chris: Oh yeah.

Dean: But this bit here is a call back to the episode with the kids-

John: Yes. Yeah That's right- where Hardison and- 

Dean: Cannot rappel.

Chris: That’s just great.

John: Rappelling just does not fit well, he's just not left as- and by the way, it really- real risk of Aldis Hodge strangling there. Sorry about that, Aldis. 

[Laughter]

John: And he's figured it out. Yeah and that was a lot of fun. Nashua, New Hampshire, near where my sister lives, by the way.

Chris: Right that's where they're sending it.

John: That's actually where they are sending it- they're sending that trunk to my sister’s front lawn. What little I can do. And this is- what's fun is that we- the camera work is very energized, the game's afoot, and the second half- it’s interesting, the two previous seasons, the two episodes both had their own internal structure. This really just plays as a movie because all the set up is the first half.

Chris: Yes.

John: This entire episode is the rock that's been pushed down the hill, and we’re just chasing it.

Chris: And everything is paying off.

John: Yeah. And again, drawn from my experience in standup years, all the hotel rooms look alike. If you were to wake me up in any random hotel room, I woke up and my trash was there, I'd assume that that was my room.

Chris: Sure. I mean as any business traveller can tell you, they'll wake up and not know what city they're in.

John: And Richard Kind, by the way- poor Richard Kind spent a week in that bathrobe. 

Dean: Yeah.

John: On docks, on oil tankers, in hotel rooms.

Chris: Yeah, it’s true.

John: That was- he formed a very unhealthy relationship with that bathrobe.

Dean: And had to be in the bathrobe the whole time.

John: Yeah. This is my favorite bit- they're just the type of people who cut up people in tubs, that's their job.

Chris: Yeah.

Dean: But this little look of Eliot's right there tells you everything.

Chris: ‘Alright, I'm gonna cut her up.’

John: ‘Alright, this is my day.’ Aldis’s character Mr. Joshua, of course, named after the Gary Busey character from- 

Chris: Lethal Weapon.

John: Lethal Weapon. If we need a killer's name, why not-?

Dean: Go to the best.

John: Why not reference the best? Bunch of different versions of this. And I love them playing good cop, bad cop. But it was interesting, we had a version of this speech- and I will give this up to you as director, that explained everything. And you really looked at it and said, ‘Alright, here's the actual three things we need for this to make sense.’ Cause as the writer you never know, but you come at it from a storyteller like, ‘Here are the points the audience needs to be emotionally engaged to move forward.’

Dean: And it was a tough call, because Richard did such an amazing job with this speech. 

John: Yes.

Dean: You almost didn't want to lose anything. But, you know, we have time that we have to come in at the end of the show, and we needed to lose some time, so we really boiled it down.

Chris: Oh was this something that came out in editing? Or in-?

John: Yeah.

Chris: Oh it did, I didn't even notice.

John: You didn't notice, exactly. 

Chris: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

John: The speech was about twice as long. Because really there's a whole mini scene between Richard and Tim there. 

Dean: Right.

John: And it really was- you know, you got it, he's bargaining for his life. That’s all you need to know.

Dean: And Richard is so knocking it out, you're actually learning a lot more with even less.

John: Yeah. His relationship through his attitude. No, there are times- even a writer would admit-

Dean: And that's all real sweat, by the way, no sweat bottle came in there; he earned each drop.

John: Boom. I like Aldis’ vague resentment at not being allowed to punch the guy.

Chris: Yeah.

John: Because again, everyone has their niche. And also the great expression Beth chooses there. ‘Eh, I've been in the tub waiting while you beat up a mayor. I'm out now.’

[Laughter]

John: ‘What are we doing next?’

Chris: Yeah, completely blank affect.

John: Yeah, exactly.

Dean: Day at the office.

John: Yeah.

Dean: But the subtle look of feeling like she's on a sinking ship. 

John: Yeah.

Dean: That we get out of Tara at the end of this scene, is really very great for setting up the turn.

John: And even- It's interesting, to watch Chris choose- Aldis is having basically Hardison question dad, while Eliot is instead watching the interplay between the two of them to see how Nate treats Hardison. 

Dean: Right.

John: Knowing that's the better indicator of what the relationship is. He does a similar thing in 207, actually, between he and Sophie- between Gina, with the bomb scene. 

Dean: Right, right. 

John: Yeah.

Dean: And then here we drop our red herring. Has Tara jumped the shark?

John: For a minute or half we considered doing it. For a minute and a half, what would- the problem was, it's Jeri Ryan, and you like her and you're hanging out with her and working with her and it was like, ‘Nah, I don't want the- I like the character.’

Chris: Well it sets up the- the act where it all pays off is one of my favorite acts we’ve done.

John: It’s one of my favorite bits ever. This, by the way, it seems like it's just an act break, it's horrible. Sterling has used his- the fact he used to be best friends with Nate Ford, to know that he is going to use his child’s- dead child's art to trap him.

Chris: Yeah.

John: This is a moment that was kind of thrown away, and the two actors, I saw them actually talking about it on set and they really dug in on it.

Chris: Yeah.

John: It's like, that is a horrible moment. You know, because he knows he won't leave town without that, and Sterling is the only man on earth who knows he won't leave town without that. 

Chris: Right.

John: Yeah. And it's one of the few times we’re behind the desk there.

Dean: Yeah.

John: Yeah. It's a weird place to shoot; it's just got that picture behind it, it's just trough to frame

Dean: But we wanted to get there and we found a place. Now this scene is unusual in that we've gone now to our handheld, which we do when our characters are either in physical or emotional jeopardy. But unlike other scenes, we went musicless here.

John: Yes.

Dean: Because the performances were so strong and so right on-

Chris: Oh that’s great.

Dean: -we didn't want to tell the audience what to feel. Just- we just wanted them to feel it.

John: Also in the tradition, that's the same glass.

Dean: Yeah.

John: Nate and- 

Chris: Oh that's the same glass from- from Nate in-

Dean: Season 1.

Chris: Season 1. That’s great.

John: Nate and Sterling have one glass they pass back and forth between each other depending on who’s winning.

Chris: That's great.

Dean: Right.

John: And the fact he's brought it to give it to him is sort of a signature of the deal they're falling into. And again, by the way, the idea that you would protect a witness that might’ve killed a cop. When you do the research? Oh man. This was kind of the Whitey Bulger thing in costic.

Chris: Well I mean, you know, we- it gave us a chance to explore- it was a whole different episode from the point of view of the FBI. 

John: Yeah.

Chris: About the compromises that people make when they get confidential, you know- 

John: Informants.

Chris: Cooperating witnesses, of looking the other way of other things they're doing. All they are focused on is their case.

John: That mayor is giving them 20 good busts.

Chris: Yeah, yeah.

John: They're not going to follow rumors. Also Mark Sheppard is a- man, this is a great scene. There's two versions of this scene. This is the one we used, the one I like. One where he's angry and superior, and one where he's genuinely hurt that Nate Ford had become this man. 

Dean: Yeah.

John: That he's genuinely hurt he has to offer him this deal. And this is the take we used. 

Chris: Yeah.

John: Which was an oddly vulnerable moment for that character. He doesn't want to be here, he doesn't want to be giving him this offer. Wow, this is all close up, too, which we almost never do.

Dean: Yeah. But this is- there's a lot of things that we did in this two part season finale that we don't normally do, that were out of the box, but necessary, it was very interesting.

John: Yeah, and this is him telling him this is his last chance. No, and- I always wonder- I gotta- I need to ask Tim when does- cause I know Tim in his head knows when Nate makes the decision what he's gonna do. Is it here or is it after the phone call? Is it after the phone call?

Dean: I think it's after the phone call.

John: Yeah. But there's alot going on.

Dean: But the twist here was cause Nate always is two steps ahead. Until he said, ‘And my team,’ and the guy- and he says, ‘No, just you.’ And there's a look on his face and it's one- it’s again, a rare vulnerable moment for Nate where he didn’t see that one coming. 

John: Yeah. And loses his hand and it's like, you know.

Dean: Again, getting to shoot at the actual docks was fantastic.

John: Except we can't shoot past her right shoulder, cause there was a navy ship there that we started to shoot, and the nice gentlemen came over and told us not to put that on camera, please.

Dean: That’s right.

Chris: Oh really?

John: Yeah.

Chris: Wow.

John: Yeah.

Dean: And briny despair may be my favorite Parker line.

John: Briny despair, old clowns.

Chris: Old clown shoes.

John: Briny despair. And again, there's a mini arc here, and the actresses are very good friends, and they're really found it, of their developing physical friendship and, like, just the fact that she can be- Parker’s physical character, and so the fact she’ll walk in pace with Tara is a big deal.

Dean: And now we've brought back Sophie.

John: There you go.

Dean: First time we haven't seen her on a monitor this season.

John: Exactly.

Chris: And here's the payoff from the scene in-

Dean: 207.

Chris: Well part one also, this-

Dean: But we set up really at the- 

Chris: We did, you're right.

Dean: At the- The Two Live Crew Job that she was going off to find herself. 

John: Yeah.

Chris: Right.

Dean: And then in the next episode, when he tried to bring her back, she says, ‘Do you want me back for the team, or for you?’ 

Chris: Right, right.

Dean: And now he calls that back and says, ‘Not for the team, for me.’

Chris: Right, right.

Dean: ‘I need you back.’

John: It was also subtle, but we've shown her in conveyance in a lot of the other shots when she's away, so you won't be tipped off by the fact that she's in a conveyance. That she's in transport.

Chris: That she's in a helicopter.

John: She's in transit, she’s in a helicopter. We've shown her in cars, she’s done the cell phone in different locations. 

Chris: Yeah, yeah, that’s true.

John: So hopefully you were not like ‘Oh, why are we seeing her in a different context?’ 

Chris: Right.

John: We've seen her in this context before. Now this was- man, this was a great day, this was just- we cleared the set and Tim just parked his ass on the floor. 

Dean: We did three takes, but this is actually his first take. He so nailed it on the first take.

John: Oh, really?

Dean: That the others were really just for safety. But he just came in there, ready to do this part.

John: Yeah. And this is- you know.

Dean: And then the tragedy that she didn't hear any of it. 

John: Yeah.

Chris: It's one of the great things about cell phones. Is that- from a dramatic standpoint- I mean they help you bring characters together, but you can also use them to- 

Dean: Separate them.

Chris: To separate them.

John: Never in 1940s comedy is or 1940s movie is like, ‘Pennsylvania 927: Oh the killer is-!’ ‘Oh I lost him.’

Chris: ‘The line went dead!’

John: ‘The line went dead!’ ‘No sir, the line’s not dead, I'll reconnect you right away.’ Thank you operator.’

Dean: But his feeling of betrayal at losing the connection.

John: Yeah.

Dean: Really again, is a wonderful red herring where we feel like, ‘Oh my god, he's really gonna sell this team out.’

John: Yeah.

Chris: Yeah.

John: Or at the very least you have no idea what the hell he's gonna do. 

Dean: Yeah.

John: You know, he is drunk, he is pissed off. No he-

Chris: And he's been put- he's been backed in a corner.

John: And you know, which-

Dean: But even the way he said here, ‘I have a plan that will fix everyone.’ It’s like, woah.

John: And having the picture that Sam drew. It's interesting that it's essentially a codependent relationship, but it's a functioning one that they have.

Dean: And here, again, is a strange bit of blocking that we had never done before, where Nate has isolated himself on the stairway. 

John: Yes.

Chris: Well that helps sell everything, too, doesn't it? Separated from them.

John: Well he's not in front of them, he's behind them. He's separated from them, exactly. Fun bit of blocking, too, actually. It's- we’ll use it again, I'm sure.

Dean: Yeah.

John: Cause that's a nice angle. And yes and then everyone- and then her coming around to pull focus. No, it's for a static shot, it's really interesting. But this is one of the few times we don't tell you the plan.

Dean: Right.

John: You know, it's one of the few times we transition. Usually we-

Chris: We did that in part two of season one, also.

John: Yeah, yeah. It’s- we’re usually an open mystery. 

Chris: Yes.

John: At least- and this was one of the few times that you're not- you have no idea- because the rules for the show usually are, you know what's gonna happen and the fun is seeing it go wrong and how they're gonna recover. This one it's like, you’re just gonna have to trust us.

Chris: Who invented the ‘And this is what we're gonna do’ was that Aristophones? The first one.

John: That was Aristophanes.

Chris: ‘Alright everyone, gather around. Grab your togas; let’s go.’

Dean: Now once again we've got the teams separated in different locations, each with different objectives.

Chris: Yeah.

Dean: And that's a little bit of a callback to the pilot episode, when she did the burn gag.

Chris: That's true.

John: Yes, the burn scam. Yeah, wow was this a tough shot.

Dean: That's a little bit of scale, huh guys?

Chris: Wow. 

Dean: How about that?

Chris: They let us- now was that digital or do we- let us paint on the ship?

Dean: We digitally put the name on the ship.

Chris: We did, ok.

John: Well, we did paint some of it .

Dean: We did paint some of it. You’ll see a sign later that we actually painted.

John: That was a lot of fun, just trying to figure out like, the whole break into the FBI office. And what's the easiest way? 

Dean: Short fight, but one of my favorites. 

John: Yeah, just brutal. This is a tough- this was a tough day. Chris did all of these fights in one day, straight through, and ran back and forth between the dialogue scenes.

Dean: This really should've been two days of shooting, that we did in one day.

John: He did like a 20 hour day here.

Dean: This was an insane day.

Chris: Oof.

Dean: But we only had use of this ship for two days, so we had to get it all in.

John: Yeah. He's got the samurai ponytail rocking there, that's how you can tell there's gonna be some fighting. And we have money, and we would like to arrange a meeting. ‘I'm a man with a briefcase full of money, I would like to meet your boss.’ It’s a great, classic trope.

Chris: I like this act, this is my favorite act.

John: I also like- I gave them this running bit where he's counting guys with guns.

Chris: Yeah, I remember that from- you came up with that last season.

John: Season one, and we never found a place for it.

Chris: That's a great shot, too.

John: Yeah, that's a great shot. That and- actually on the boat, that's the way you get between decks. This is actually one of my favorite Parker bits, just talking- coming up with the speech about what it's like to die in an air vent. Because the fact that she's always in air vents, is worth addressing, you know.

Dean: And it shows you the way her mind thinks.

John: Yes, exactly. ‘Scratching on the metal.’ She's kinda turned on, I'm not sure where this is going. 

[Laughter]

Dean: Yeah, that’s fair.

Chris: It's the tongue, the darting tongue and she shakes out of it.

John: Let’s go and we’re off.

Dean: She loves the danger.

Chris: We didn't get wet that down folks, that was actual Portland rain.

John: Yes, Beth Riesgraf and Jeri Ryan were on a rooftop, on a skyscraper, with a thunderstorm during most of this day.

Dean: Not dangerous at all.

John: Not dangerous, ignore the lighting, kids. Man, what were we thinking?

Dean: And he pulled out the Scottish accent out of nowhere, which was fantastic.

John: I know, I know. Which was a lot of fun. Because the idea is the mayor has gotten in over his head, and he's dealing with the same sort of businesses that- power drill was the nastiest thing I could think of.

Chris: And that's quite a nasty bit on it, too.

John: Yes, exactly. Well that’s- you know, I mean, if you're gonna mess up somebody's knees, that's the bit you're gonna use yeah. ‘Still counting.’ Oh yeah, then we just reset- it was really tricky because it was so complicated, we had to reset their goal at the beginning of every act. 

Dean: Right.

John: What do they need to get? Yeah. And again, it's like, do these guys really meet in broad daylight to look at their goods? Yes! Yes they do!

Chris: Yeah.

John: And usually-

Dean: And here's where we set up the phone does voice dialing, which is crucial to our final act.

John: Thank you 21st century. Because we enjoyed tying up Richard Kind and we’ll leave it at that.

Chris: Yeah, I'm sure the fact that GPS is in every phone is gonna be our best friend and possibly our worst enemy this coming season. 

John: No, it's a big deal. 

Chris: Yeah.

John: A phone that's on is a phone that can be tracked.

Chris: Yup.

John: Exactly. And yes and Richard, by the way, finding the desperation. ‘They cut her up in a bathtub!’ 

John: Like the murder wasnt the worst thing in the world, but the fact that somehow it was so undignified? Yeah. Nice scream. And that was, by the way, great little comedy beat, just like, ‘Well to be fair, he did most of the cutting.’ 

Chris: Yeah.

John: The two of them- we don't usually have Eliot and Nate doing comedy together, but when they do it's a pure relationship, it's a nice rhythm.

Dean: And if you look closely, there in the distance, we've set up Sophie is actually with the buyers.

John: Yes.

Dean: But you wouldn't notice that unless you watched it again.

Chris: Oh, that's great.

John: And now they've broken in, they've come down through the air vent, she did not enjoy the experience in any way shape or form. Oh man, this was a tough day. That's like-

Chris: Hot? Cold? What was the temperature? Do you remember?

John: Brutal, brutal hot. Cold at night. Hot at- you know what? There's never-

Dean: Back and forth.

John: It's never comfy on an oil tanker deck.

Chris: No- I’m trying- yeah I'm trying to imagine-

Dean: And there again, there’s Sophie in the distance.

Chris: There she is, that's great.

John: Sophie in the distance. And this is a real fusebox we tacked into. Sorry.

Dean: In city hall?

John: In city hall. 

[Laughter]

John: This was actually a fun thing is, this year we shifted to Hardison not using a signature laptop, but using the minis. 

Chris: Yeah.

John: Because our hacker consultant, Kevin Mitteny told us that's what they're using. They're using $300 computers and throwing them away if they're gonna get busted. And running stuff off the thumb drives.

Dean: And this was the- in the actual cargo hold of the oil tanker, so this was very confined space to shoot in. It looked great, but it was very difficult to light and move the camera around and because the top of the stairs- that was the only stairs that was the only way in and out of that room. So all the lights, all the cameras all had to go up and down stairs- there was no other way in or out.

John: And remind you, Gina’s in this scene later. Gina at, like, 17 months pregnant.

[Laughter]

John: Came down those stairs like a fricken trooper, man. We were just- we were more scared than she was. She was like going down them, and we were like, ‘Ahhh, oh god.’

Chris: Just kind of like [unintelligible] step.

John: It’s an oil tanker! And she’s in like fashion boots, and a kicky top, you know.

Chris: Wow.

John: This was- you know what’s weird? This speech doesn’t advance the plot in any way, shape, or form. This speech is just him selling his character to buy time, and yet it’s really interesting. 

Dean: Yeah this-

John: Tim’s digging in on the character here. It's his evil speech of evil, you know.

Dean: Right

John: And he never gets to give one.

Chris: Yeah, it's interesting when we can do that. We've done that a few times, the- 

John: Glengarry, Glen death.

Chris: Sophie also- also as the Indian pharmaceutical rep gave an evil speech of evil.

John: Yes.

Dean: And this you wrote in the script as the Bourne fade. 

John: Yes.

Dean: Which I thought was the perfect description.

John: It's a perfect- it’s a good shorthand. He's there, and then he’s not there.

Chris: It's great.

John: By the way, Chris has just stepped three feet to the right into a tool locker.

[Laughter]

Dean: Right.

John: There's no actual exit there. And- was there a reason for the 360? Just to keep it- just to be interesting? Because I don't think it was-

Chris: And how hard was that within that space?

Dean: Really hard. But we felt that it was a great way to, again, the world has changed. We thought one thing was going on here, but now we've spun it by-

Chris: And that's steadicam.

Dean: That's all steadicam. Gary Camp.

John: It's weird, because it's also, kind of, Nate Ford buying into his persona there. That's one of the times you really see him.

Dean: And Jackie ‘The Joke Man’ Martling.

John: Who came in and did a great job for us!

Dean: You know what's funny, is that I thought he was just gonna be a comic that you had to teach how to act. But you know what? He really came in with the character, he committed to it, he wasn't just trying to be jokey. I mean, he really knocked it out.

John: He totally gives us serious takes-

Chris: He’s totally convincing as the evidence locker guy.

John: Slightly more convincing than Jeri Ryan in insanely hot pants as the FBI agent. 

[Laughter]

John: I gotta with Jackie here on the verisimilitude scale. Although we did put Jackie in those pants, that didn't work out for us as much. But no, he's great and the kind of vaguely resentful- you can totally see him doing this character on a- 

Dean: And yet he gave us a great exit line here.

John: ‘Oh no, who wants to talk to the evidence guy?’ 

[Laughter]

John: And that was, by the way, that was him, that was not in the script.

Chris: That’s true.

Dean: And not overselling it either.

John: No, no, it was really nice. You could see him playing that role on a cop show.

Dean: Totally.

John: Absolutely. Nate Ford, international man of mystery and arms dealer.

Chris: Peacoat really working well on the boat.

[Laughter]

John: Yeah, nice. It's very much-

Chris: That was a coat waiting for a set.

John: Yeah. Well it's interesting cause- 

Dean: Oh and there's Sophie in the background.

Chris: There’s Sophie!

John: And some people in the first screening kind of caught her, but- 

Chris: Now she's there buying guns? Who’s-?

[Laughter]

John: Well she's- she is buying guns, you know. 

Chris: For her library?

[Laughter]

Dean: Library needs guns, too.

John: Libraries need guns, too. I like to think- I like to think that she is a Swiss buyer.

Chris: No, I mean, it’s a well armed library.

John: She's a Swiss buyer, she’s-

Dean: And here's a nice little turn.

John: Nice swing around. Shot that day on the boat to reveal that they talked. And then over again. Wow, and we all shot this in a real container.

Dean: In a real containter.

Chris: It was for real? Oh, wow.

Dean: Yeah. Now back on the roof, and this is my favorite Parker bit we've ever done. 

Chris: Yeah.

John: Yeah it's tough. There's a lot of good ones, but. 

Dean: But.

John: But we never expected Beth to do this.

Chris: This turn here is great.

Dean: This is the first time since the pilot that we brought back how lethal she can actually be.

John: There's a bit in Stork Job, but boom. Oh yeah and she locked in on Jeris throat on that, too. 

Chris: Yeah.

John: And Jeri goes over the edge. 

Chris: Over the edge. 

John: She's wired, but that's Jeri Ryan hanging over the edge. And it was-

Chris: And again, it was raining and windy. 

John: Raining. Yeah no, they were both fearless up there. 

John: They had a good time up there. They really wound up working well together. And now it's all gone to hell.

Dean: But it's a real callback to that pilot line of, ‘Going to my angry place.’

John: Yeah. This is just- because what's happened is- and just for writing thing, Parker has let her into the family. The only people who are human beings are members of the family. Once Jeri’s betrayed them, she’s moved outside the family, and is an object.

Chris: Well, also to betray the family is-

John: Real ship captain.

Dean: Real ship-

Chris: Oh wow, that's great.

John: You were saying? To betray...

Chris: To betray the family is even worse.

Dean: This is a great hit right here.

Chris: Oh!

Dean: Bam! Man.

John: Yeah- man shooting- that's as wide as that space is, guys. 

Dean: Yeah.

John: That was brutal to be down there.

Dean: And these are two guys from the beginning of the previous episode. So again, if you haven't watched them back to back, you might not realize these are the two guys who shot Bonanno.

Chris: Yeah.

John: Yeah, so you know we've linked up, physically, the bad guys.

Dean: Now that one actually- we put that one actually up there.

John: Yeah, that's a real sign. And this is my favorite, this is one of my favorite character reveals ever, and it's because she's doing one of my favorite characters ever. Gina’s doing Annie Croy here.

Chris: Annie Croy.

Dean: Which, again, ties back to the beginning of the season.

John: Yeah it's almost like we think this through. Yeah and- I'm sorry we're all gonna be quiet here because we all love this.

Dean: ‘Bye now.’

John: ‘Bye now.’

[Laughter]

John: That's fucked up, man. I'm sorry, I'm gonna swear on DVD and say that is fucked up.

Dean: That ‘bye now’ is. 

Chris: The ‘bye now’ throwaway.

Dean: Oh boy, ruthless. And then my second favorite reveal of a character all year.

Chris: Oh.

John: Yeah. No, that's fantastic. And the way Tim sells this like, ‘What the hell is going on?’ No, even writing that character reveal I wasn't sure it would work, and even when we shot it I'm like, ‘Yeah, this works.’ Gina- you've been so waiting to be- hear her voice.

Dean: She is so talented.

John: We've also really lined it up like there’s no out here. We- usually the audience- a smart audience member will see a backdoor we put. There is no backdoor, she's the backdoor. 

Chris: Yeah this was a tricky bit of scripting too, right? I mean we had a ship, and we needed to disable it. I mean, what was- right?

John: It was a lot of wandering around on the ship going, ‘Alright, how does this work exactly?’

Chris: Yeah.

Dean: And even though Tim is out of focus here, you get everything right there.

John: ‘The hell’s going on?’ And she doesn't break character, no.

Dean: Cause she is the ultimate grifter.

John: Yeah, no she does a great- and OK, shoot this guy in the face when I'm off the-’ She's impatient and that's actually kind of a nice thing. And now this.

Dean: Terrific little fight scene shot by Marc Roskin.

John: Yes, at some ungodly hour of the morning. And this is where we pay off the numbers. We've been waiting two years to do this.

Dean: And again, in the actual ship.

John: Yeah, there's a lot of stuff to hurt yourself on. 

Dean: And this gun going off was not easy.

John: Yeah.

Chris: Oof. 

John: Yeah, we're spilling brass all over the inside of the ship. The- this is a brutal fight sequence, all these stunties did- you know, they're banging off metal all over the place.

Dean: In this kind of space, it is so hard to do this safely, these guys were champs. And Christian- I’m telling you, he's amazing in these things.

John: No double.

Chris: Yeah.

Dean: Refuses to get a double.

John: Refused to get a double. There you go, and down, he counts. By the way, we’re not exhibiting superhuman strength here. This is how you break flexicuffs.

Chris: Oh wow, that's a little hulk moment.

John: Yeah, the only thing keeping- if you- if- that's why they flexicuff you behind your back. The only thing keeping you in flexicuffs in front of you is the belief that you should be in flexicuffs. Little survival tip.

Chris: Oh wow.

John: And this is also a favorite bit, because it was really written as a kind of expositional, but Beth found this really weird rhythm near the end of it.

Dean: Oh boy.

John: This is shot with the XD right?

Dean: Yeah.

John: This is all shot with a Prosumer-level camera. 

Dean: She just finds this little bit of evil.

John: ‘Oh, I actually thought you were going to throw me off.’ Yeah, exactly.

Dean: Just this little fake laugh here, just so great. I think it's actually in the two shot, because it has to be in the comedy frame.

John: Yeah the- also the- it's interesting that the- the idea that it's fair enough that they would indeed-

Dean: Here it is.

John: Here it is, coming up. ‘I thought you were actually going to throw me off the roof’. And there she is. The look before hand, the ‘Oh, that's right, this is how humans are supposed to react.’

[Laughter]

John: ‘Eh, I was totally going to throw you off that roof.’ 

Chris: Yeah, that’s great.

John: But the whole understanding that yes we probably- that's actually a favorite line and Jeri really nailed it, which is ‘You would have forgiven him.’ They're all enablers, they're all in this weird broken family, and you know, it's both their strength and their weakness. Also, again, by the way, director thing, I had a whole explanation of how Hardison disarmed the ship, and we had no time to shoot it and you were like, ‘Giant wrench!’

Chris: Giant wrench!

John: You know what he's done.

Chris: When you see a giant wrench, you see that he messed something up.

John: He is a monkey wrencher. You know! It's a term.

Dean: In the comedy frame. so-

John: And by the way, ‘Took you long enough,’ is a recurring theme for the entire back half of the season.

Dean: Right there.

Chris: Oh that's right.

Dean: And she walks by. ‘Huh?’

[Laughter]

Dean: Love it.

John: And then a beautiful over the shoulder. Oh that's a hero shot right there. No, it really is- it’s interesting because it was very scary, because you know, you didn't know how long Gina would be with us going into the season and everything.

Chris: Oh, this is great.

John: And the entire act depends on Sophie being the best grifter on earth.

Chris: Even him-

Dean: And it's just fun to see them all back together again, because we've been starved from it.

Chris: Him being like places where he doesn't know he was all throughout this episode.

John: Yeah, it's a nice running gag actually. And zero. And by the way, it was Chris who caught the count. Chris came up to me and was like, ‘If that's the last guy I'm gonna-’ I was like, ‘Oh, good catch at 2am, nicely done.’ ‘Took you long enough,’ again.

Dean: And this sets up the handcuff bit at the end.

John: Yeah, that was tricky.

Chris: Right he has the handcuffs.

John: Oh god, yeah. Boy this was really easy to keep track of.

[Laughter]

Dean: And both of them really delivered- you know, this is a very short scene that needs a lot of emotions. Because it wraps up really where they are and where they're going next season, and they just did it with looks and with subtext. And it was just terrific.

John: You poor bastard. And also, by the way, what I love about this is, this is the happy ending to most television shows, this moment right here. We then fuck it up.

Dean: Right, exactly.

John: Yeah. They really care for each other, they are really good friends.

Dean: And they're there for each other.

John: And they're there for each other, and he's a broken bastard. And what's great is he walks out of there without really knowing what the rest of the plan is.

Dean: My favorite Richard Kind line right here, ‘I don't know.’

John: ‘I don't know.’

[Laughter]

Chris: That's very Richard Kind. That’s Mad About You, Spin City Richard Kind right there.

John: Yeah, it really is. And by the way, yeah, only two ways out of this. That seems like a design flaw to me. Because that front window is a 40 foot drop onto the deck of the ship; you can't get out through that front window. 

Chris: Oh wow.

John: Yeah if you lock these doors, they ain’t going anywhere. Yeah, and a nice run and gun there, and there's also a little mini scene we blew off there with Paul sort of turning on Richard. Hero moment, hero- the team together.

Dean: By the way, those are some digital effects to remove the pregnant belly.

John: Nice, nicely done.

Chris: Oh really, wow.

Dean: Yes.

Chris: I say it a lot.

John: And nice hug.

Dean: And also just on a small note, we couldn't afford two helicopters. Because we had a helicopter in the scene, and we also needed a helicopter that could shoot the scene. So we used the same helicopter for both and then just digitally erased the camera that was mounted on the end of the helicopter.

Chris: Wait wait, so in other words when you're up there with them you're also shooting- the cameras below it?

Dean: So in other words- yeah, so when you see the helicopter arrive later, there was actually a camera attached to it.

John: A giant camera rig on it, like the size of a VW bug on the bottom of it.

Dean: But we erased it.

Chris: Oh that's amazing.

John: Yeah. Yeah and Sophie’s thought of everything. There's a way out, you hear sirens, it's all coming together. 

Dean: And it's fun to see them back together again.

Chris: And again, not that we do this typically. But this was, in a sense, this scene was kind of conceived of first, this scene and him on the deck. 

Dean: Right.

John: That's right.

Chris: That we were leading up to.

John: The original version of the script is, it opens with him bleeding out on the deck and you have no idea where he is.

Chris: But I'm saying even in the beginning of the season.

John: Oh yeah.

Chris: This scene was kind of where the show was going. How we were gonna get there was the question.

John: You don’t- everyone has their different ways. Before we shot a frame of season two, I knew it ended with Nate Ford saying, ‘I'm a thief.’

Chris: Right. But even- but even on a- also on the deck of a ship remember- I remember that.

John: Yeah, on the deck of a ship.

Dean: Now I think this ending is one of the bigger endings we’ve ever done, and it's really the most emotional ending I've ever done.

John: Really? I dunno you and I-

Dean: More than I was expecting it to be.

John: You and I disagree, because we all have our favorite stuff, but yeah, it-

Chris: It’s certainly a huge hero moment.

John: It's a huge hero moment, and they're all making great choices. Eliot really wants to just tear through these guys, and Nate’s not gonna let him.

Dean: Yeah.

John: Yeah. 

Dean: He's being a good dad for once.

John: Yeah. He’s- and by the way, again, this is not the right choice, he shouldn't have lied to them, he shouldn't have had a plan he didn't tell them, he shouldn’t- he's a control freak. Even in his moment of sacrifice, he's a selfish, alcoholic bastard.

[Laughter]

Dean: That's right.

John: I just wished to make sure nobody makes sure nobody thinks he's being super heroic here. He doesn't really change that much. 

Chris: That’s true.

John: No, and this was fun, we had all different kinds of versions of lockers and found out that yeah, that's how they keep a lot of evidence.

Dean: That’s crazy.

John: That was fun though too, also, you only had two rows of those evidence lockers, so you staggred them to shoot through them to make it look-

Dean: To make it seem like they went on forever.

Chris: Yeah where was that? Where-?

John: That was on set that was- remember the small soundstage we had?

Chris: Oh, ok.

Dean: It was actually a reworking of the set at the end of 207 at the airport. 

John: Yes. It was the airport, but we just moved it over to the other stage. And I also love the idea again- Nate and Sterling are playing a game that just nobody else gets to be a part of. This is just- this is just nine moves ahead guys. 

Dean: Right.

John: There's another version of the show where Katie O'Grady chases Eliot, Parker, and Hardison for an entire season, yeah, but in this version. ‘I can feel you thinking’ he knows him, he knows him that well. He knows the counter move- no, they really dug in here. And by the way, it's 110 degrees on that deck, Tim’s in a peacoat handcuffed to a rail. He's working his ass off here. 

Dean: With the turtleneck.

John: With the turtleneck, yeah. Oh and just the sheer rage Katie O'Grady is radiating there. 

Chris: Now what time- what day- part of the shooting day was this? Did you make-?

John: This was morning.

Chris: This was, like, first thing?

Dean: Yeah, this was the first shot.

Chris: Is that a challenge to do the most emotional thing first?

Dean: It is, and especially because when we started shooting it we were in cloud cover and then halfway through the scene the sun came out. And so then trying to make that all work was really difficult. 

Dean: This, I thought, was surprisingly more emotional than I anticipated when we were there.

John: Well it was weird because when we were there, we couldn't quite get the staging, and they seemed like they were standing really far away. ‘Cause the deck was bigger than we thought.

Dean: Right.

John: And no- well this is the shot because by shooting this way, you get intimate, it feels like they're right on top of them. The other reverse kind of shows you the space.

Chris: I think it also parallels from season one, also-

John: Yeah it does, it does.

Chris: The scene where they’re standing around, really nicely.

Dean: But they're all disappointed in him, which is great. He sacrificing for them, but that's not what they want.

John: No. And he lied to them. And he's- you’re an idiot, I mean, that's really what Eliot’s thinking right there.

Chris: Yeah.

Dean: Yeah.

John: Like, ‘You know what? If you just talk to us.; I really never realized how [unintelligible] this episode is. 

Chris: It is.

John: It’s a big hero sacrifice, but it’s- you know he really broke the family. Again.

Chris: Yeah.

Dean: And Gina just nails this scene. I mean, we waited for this kiss for two seasons.

John: Yeah.

Dean: And it comes out, and she's crushed by it. It’s great.

John: Yeah. And again, and- you know this is a big hero moment in his head and she calls him on it. Because she- and this is what's interesting, Sophie Deveraux is a more advanced human being than Nate Ford is at this point. She went away, she took her space-

Chris: Right.

John: You know. 

Dean: And she lets him have it.

John: In the same way he let her have it at the end of season one, she's letting him have it at the end of season two. I love that look, by the way, that Eliot- Chris and Mark really set up the fact that they can't stand each other, really well.

Chris: And here, you know, the relationship between these two kicks in also. 

John: Yeah.

Chris: Between Nate and Sterling.

John: Yeah, the fact that he held it together- and they don't know, by the way. 

Chris: Right.

John: They have no idea when they're leaving.

Dean: That little look with Christian is just great.

John: And there's a camera mount on that helicopter.

Dean: That's been erased.

Chris: That's great.

John: ‘Who the hell is this guy?’ That- this is- you’re right, we wrote the ending first.

Chris: Yeah, I remember, this was-

Dean: He goes, ‘I don’t know.’

John: I remember this was the first thing ever.

Dean: This was the end of the arc. ‘I'm a thief.’

John: ‘And I'm a thief.’ I mean this is a callback to him saying I'm not a thief for two years. 

Dean: Right.

John: Wow. Thank god this is the last episode of the show.

Chris: And we’re not listening- and we can't hear it here in the commentary, but Joe Le Duca did- the orchestration for this is absolutely fantastic.

Dean: It's actually the first time he went and got a real orchestra. 

John: Yeah.

Dean: Went to Salt Lake City and recorded with a real orchestra, and I mean the scale of this is outstanding.

John: It's giant. 35- I think we had close to half a- 50 FBI agents here. And just cars, helicopters, and this is a big- this is a big hero moment, man. This is a film ending, you know.

Dean: Yeah, it really is.

John: This is it. I love his choice here, it's like, ‘And if I die, I'm totally cool with that.’

Chris: Oh here we go.

John: And he's bleeding out, can you see?

Dean: See the blood on the ground.

John: The blood- he's bleeding out. There's no guarantee Nate Ford will make it.

[Laughter]

Chris: Wow.

John: Which was fun actually shooting this, ‘cause Tim really loved this. And two days before we finished shooting, he turned to me and went, ‘Wait am I dead?’

[Laughter]

Chris: Oh that’s something.

Dean: Stay tuned for season three and you'll find out.

John: I know. No kidding, you'll find out.

Dean: Thank you again for hanging in there with us and listening to this commentary.

John: We had a great time and we really appreciate you guys watching the show.

Chris: And thanks again for watching season two; we can't wait to bring you season three.

John: And thank you, Portland.

Dean: Yes.

John: Big thank you, Portland.

[thetravelerwrites]

Eikichi and Sterling (Lemon)

Rating: Explicit Relationship: Female Human/Male Oni/Male Tiefling Additional Tags: Exophilia, Polyamory Negotiations, Polyamorous Character, Oni, Tiefling Content Warnings: Sex, Double Penetration, Oral Sex, Power Bottom, Light Bondage, Light BDSM Words: 4990

 A commission for @faeryamber​! A woman and her oni boyfriend search online for a third to add to their relationship. They end up meeting a perfect gentleman who completes them.Please reblog and leave feedback!

The Traveler's Masterlist

“What would we even say on our profile?” You asked your boyfriend, Eikichi. The two of you had been dating for almost five years and had an open relationship, but recently the two of you had been talking about adding a third.

Eikichi was an oni who had immigrated from Japan several years ago. He had been the kami, or god, of an old town that no longer existed and presided over construction for his parishioners for several hundred years. Laborers and carpenters from that town used to come to his temple to pray to him for success in their ventures. When the town died out, he was left homeless and joined the human society when other yokai from his region decided to do so. He was no longer a god, but being the CEO of his own construction company was just as good, he said, and he was just as happy now as he had been when he lived in the temple.

Despite a significant age difference, the two of you had fallen in love over tea and books, and the fact that he was gorgeous. Six foot five, two hundred and fifteen pounds of pure muscle, ivory colored horns rising up out of his white hair, red skin like ripe cherries, and yellow eyes. He was stunning. It still amazed you that he chose you to fall in love with. How would you get that lucky twice?

“Just be honest,” He said, his Japanese accent fairly heavy. “That we’re poly and looking for a male to complete our family. Make it clear we’re not looking for a unicorn.”

“A real unicorn or a figurative unicorn?” You asked jokingly.

“A figurative one,” He said with a smirk. “A real one might actually be cute.”

“Real unicorns welcome,” You typed. “Hehehe.”

“Are you being purposefully vague again?” He asked, putting tea next to you on the desk.

“It’s my favorite thing,” You replied.

“I thought I was your favorite thing,” He shot back, kissing the top of your head.

“Close second,” You said, laughing. “Don’t you have work soon?”

“I’m the owner, I can go in whenever I feel like it,” He retorted. “Are you working today?”

Eikichi owned a construction business, and you sold handmade clothing online by commission only.

“Not today,” You said. “I’ve been putting the housework off and I really should get to that mountain of laundry.”

“We could just throw it all away and buy new clothes,” He suggested.

“Don’t tempt me,” You replied, shooing him. “Go on. What are you thinking for dinner?”

“Spaghetti?”

“Again?”

“What? I like the way you make it.” He gave you a kiss on the forehead, cheek, and lips before picking up his jacket. “I’ll be home a bit early. It’s expected to rain.”

“Okay. Be safe.” You hugged him and saw him out of the door.

You sighed and looked around the house, demoralized by the sight of the housework you’d been neglecting. Both you and Eikichi were a little slovenly, you had to admit, but it was an acceptable amount of clutter. Usually.

Before you could bend down to pick up a pair of pants Eikichi had shucked off the day before as soon as he got in the door, you heard a ping on your phone. Looking down, you’d been matched with someone.

“Already?” You asked. You unlocked it and pressed the notification from OkCryptid. You saw who had matched with you and your jaw dropped.

“No way.”

It was, indeed, a unicorn, although he listed his race as tiefling. Where Eikichi was devastatingly handsome, this man was breathtakingly beautiful in a completely different way. He was thin, slightly taller than you but much shorter than Eikichi, and as pale as milkglass. His hair was long, white, and shimmery like spidersilk. A single horn spiraled out of the crown of his forehead. Pointed ears stuck out from under his hair, and his eyes were indigo in color. In his picture, he was dressed in an elegant, pale lavender suit that complemented his skin perfectly.

“Whoa,” You said under your breath. You took a screenshot and sent it to Eikichi. >You’re not going to believe this.

>You’re kidding! He replied quickly. >I was just joking!

>Me too! Should I message him?

>Hell yeah, he’d be perfect, look at him!

>He’s prettier than I am!

>Not possible. But he is gorgeous. Message him and see if he wants to meet up.

>I will.

You switched back to the app and started typing out a short message.

Hi. My boyfriend and I are in an open relationship, and you matched with us. Would you be okay meeting up sometime? We’d both love to get to know you.

You bit your lip as you hit send. You hoped he wasn’t the type who thought he was better than you or Eikichi because he was pretty or wore suits and such. You put your phone back in your pocket and returned to your housework, putting the lovely tiefling out of your mind.

A few hours later, while you were folding some very large boxer briefs, you got another ping. There was a message from the tiefling. With your heart in your throat, you opened it.

Hello! I’m Sterling. I’m very much open to the idea of an open relationship. I’m free this weekend on Saturday, if that works for you and your partner. Please let me know as soon as you can.

Your heart jumped and you felt giddy. You immediately texted Eikichi.

>He wants to meet us Saturday! You don’t have plans then, do you?

>I do now. Tell him we’ll be happy to meet him. You want to do that Japanese cafe?

>You just like that place because that kitsune owner and his girlfriend are pretty and you like looking at them.

>So?

>Maybe we shouldn’t ogle other people while were wooing someone.

>Perhaps you’re right. Sigh. Okay, then the Italian place you like.

>Ooh, I’m always happy with that.

>I know you are. LOL

You smiled. He did know you pretty well. You switched back to the app and messaged Sterling again.

That Saturday, you and Eikichi waited at your favorite restaurant, sipping some wine, when Sterling arrived. He was dressed in a suit again, though a dark burgundy one this time. His bright, gossamer hair was pulled back into a tight plait. Gods, he was pretty.

“Hello,” He said, his voice lilting. “I assume the two of you are my dates tonight?”

“We are,” You said, standing up. “It’s very nice to meet you.”

He took your outstretched hand and folded it into both of his, smiling sweetly. “Very nice.”

“Eikichi,” Your boyfriend said, holding out his hand in turn.

“Well, aren’t you strapping?” Sterling said with a grin, shaking Eikichi’s hand firmly. “Let’s sit, shall we. Oh, thank you for ordering me a glass as well.”

“Of course,” Eikichi said.

“So, tell me about yourselves,” Sterling said, taking a sip of his wine and raising his eyebrows appreciatively. “What am I getting myself into?”

The two of you told him about your jobs and life together and he listened attentively. “What do you do, Sterling?” You asked. “I would hazard a guess that it’s something to do with fashion, given how you dress.”

“Very astute of you,” He replied, pleased. “I’m a tailor, in fact. I own a menswear shop downtown.”

“Really?” You said with interest. “I’ve only ever made dresses, never suits.”

“Well, we will have to compare techniques, then, won’t we,” He said with a charming smile.

“Fashion is something that’s well over my head,” Eikichi said. “But you work with your hands. That’s something we all have in common, even if my profession gets me a little dirty more often.”

“You look good dirty,” You said in a flirty tone. “And even better all soaped up.”

He snorted. “You’re supposed to be flirting with our date, not me.”

“No reason she can’t do both,” Sterling said reasonably, sipping his wine. “So, would I be dating one or both of you? I’ll mean, I am bisexual and you’re both very attractive, but I want to know where my boundaries are.”

Eikichi nodded. “Both. We’re both bisexual and have outside girlfriends. Those relationships are casual and we both prefer it that way.” He gestured at you. “We’ve both met each other’s girlfriends. The four of us sat down and discussed all of us dating each other, but we ultimately decided against it.”

You leaned forward. “Have you ever been in an open relationship?”

“No, not as such,” He said. “I’ve only dated casually before. I’m not opposed to the idea of commitment, it just… hasn’t happened for me yet.”

“It could,” You replied. “Maybe you just haven’t met the person for you. Or persons.”

“Are you insinuating you two are said persons?” He asked with a smirk.

You shrugged and grinned. “We could be. Why don’t we find out?”

He matched your smile.

“We make decisions together,” Eikichi said. “We’ve got a contract, you might say: she’s what you would call a power bottom. She likes taking the submissive role, but she also likes to tell me what to do, and even though I’m what could be considered a dom, I like taking orders. It’s a little unorthodox, but it works for us.”

“How would I fit in?” Sterling asked.

“That depends. What position do you play, so to speak?”

“Whatever is best at the time. I guess I’m a switch? Though, I have to admit I haven’t been very adventurous.”

“We’ll teach you, if you want to learn,” You said, leaning closer so that your fingertips touched his arm.

“It’s not just about sex, though,” Eikichi said. “We want someone to love us as much as we’ll love them. If you decide you’d like to be casual, that’s fine. We can keep you casually and just continue looking for our third. Honesty and openness is the most important thing in any relationship. If you decided to be in the relationship with us, that would apply to you, too.

“And your impression of me so far, if I might ask?”

“You seem genuine and intelligent, and you’re very good looking. I don’t get any bad vibes of you. So far.”

“So what would be your recommendation?”

“Well, the date just started,” Eikichi said. “Let’s get to dessert before we make further plans.”

“And what does the boss say?” Sterling asked, turning to you.

You side-smiled at him. “Dessert first. But let’s just say you passed the application process.”

The three of you spent another two hours talking over dinner and dessert. Sterling was funny and smart and surprisingly nerdy, once he opened up. He loved manga, anime and collecting Funko Pop Vinyl figures. He had quite the collection. He had spend several years in Japan learning about Japanese fashion after college and ended up having a lot of tastes in common with Eikichi, reminiscing about food and drink brands they couldn’t get in the states.

With you, he talked about fashion and sewing and wanting to branch out. And all three of you had similar tastes in music, books, and movies.

After dinner, the three of you went to a small, comfortable pub that you and Eikichi were familiar with and continued your conversation well into the night. At one point, Sterling even loosened his tie and unbuttoned the first two buttons of his shirt, which you thought was a great sign. He seemed comfortable and open. And you got to peak at his collarbone.

Eventually, the bar closed, and the three of you reluctantly decided to call it a night with plans to see each other again soon.

“I really liked him,” You said in the car on the way home.

“I could tell,” Eikichi said with a smile. “You were practically in his lap by the time the night was over.”

“You like him, too,” You said shrewdly in response.

“I do like him,” Eikichi admitted. “There was definitely a connection between all of us. I think he might be the one we’re looking for.”

“Me, too,” You said, bouncing in your seat slightly. “I can’t wait to see him again.”

Eikichi smiled at your enthusiasm, but you knew he was just as excited.

A few days later, the three of you met up for drinks and continued talking. You felt that flushed, rosy feeling when you first start dating someone and it’s going really well, and you thought Sterling was feeling it, too. He was soon holding hands with both you and Eikichi in turn, being flirty and physically affectionate.

You were trying to go slow and not jump into things head first, but there was a real, tangible attachment between the three of you that was hard to ignore. You could see it on both men’s faces when they looked at each other, and when they looked at you.

That night before you parted ways with Sterling, he kissed you full on the lips. It wasn’t just a peck, either; it was long and open-mouthed, with just a hint of tongue. You were surprised but delighted, and reciprocated happily. When he parted with you, he pulled Eikichi down and kissed him, too.

“Why don’t we meet at our house next time?” You asked him. “I think you’ll have a good time with us.”

He grinned. “I have no doubt I will. Sounds wonderful.”

You bit your lip and smiled. “Until then.”

The night of your home date, you were jittery. You wanted to look cute, hot, sexy, and intimidating, but couldn’t decide what to wear that reflected all of those things. You stood inside your closet wearing only your nicest pair of panties.

“You could just answer the door naked,” Eikichi suggested.

“All of your solutions involve nudity,” You snorted.

“That’s why they’re clearly the best solutions,” He replied.

“You are absolutely no help to me,” You said, switching between two different dresses in front of the mirror.

“That black sheer one with the lace, then,” He replied as he watched. “It’s a nice preview.”

“Oh, but I only wear that one for you. Won’t you be jealous?” You asked playfully.

“Nah,” He said, coming up behind you and putting his hands on your stomach. “If we’re going to share, then there’s no point in keeping things from each other. He should enjoy it just as much as I do. Besides, I’m going to wear that black shirt you like so much.”

“Oooh, the one with the subtle feather pattern on it?” You asked as he helped you into the dress. “I do like that one. Leave the top two buttons undone in that way that I can see your collarbone.”

“You and your obsession with collarbones,” He said, snickering.

“Hey, we all got our own things we like. Don’t kinkshame me in my own house,” You joked. “I don’t poke fun at you for your pregnancy fetish.”

“You’re the one who decided no kids,” He said grumpily, checking his watch. “He’ll be here soon. I’ll finish up dinner .+while you get dressed.” He kissed your neck. “You look delicious no matter what you wear.”

He could always make you blush, even after five years. He walked back out to the kitchen and finished up the okonomiyaki and tsukune balls. Eikichi wasn’t exactly a gourmet cook, but he knew how to make plenty of his favorite dishes from home. He thought Sterling might like some Japanese food to remind him of his time there.

Sterling arrived later wearing a black suit with a blood red tie and pocket square. His hair was pulled back in an elegant french braid with red ribbons threaded throughout. He stood at the door with roses, wine, and a bright smile.

“Well, I guess we were all of one mind this evening,” He said as he looked at the both of you both wearing black. He gave you the roses and the wine, which actually turned out to be plum sake.

“Umeshu!” Eikichi said. “I haven’t had this in ages! Come in, come in, sit! I’ll pour us all a cup.”

“How was your day, Sterling?” You asked him, offering to take his coat.

He shrugged it off and gave it to you with a gentle smile. “It was pleasant. I made a few good sales and I have an order for a bespoke three piece double breasted suit with a shawl lapel. Someone is going somewhere fancy, which is my favorite thing to work on. So much gossip during fittings.”

You put the roses in a vase as Eikichi poured the sake. Sterling sat at the table, which was beautifully set, and you placed the roses in the center. Eikichi handed both of you a traditional choko sake dish, one of the few relics he’d brought with him from his old temple.

“Ah, this takes me back,” Sterling said, sipping delicately.

“Me too,” Eikichi sighed happily.

“I’ve never been to Japan,” You said. “Eikichi keeps talking about us taking a vacation there, but he’s such a workaholic that it never ends up happening.”

“We will go! I promised, didn’t I?” Eikichi protested.

You grinned at him playfully. “I’ll believe it when it happens, mister.”

“I would love to take some time off and go back,” Sterling said wistfully. “Some of the best years of my life were spent on that island.”

“Maybe you may be more successful in talking Eikichi into putting in some vacation time,” You said, winking.

“I will endeavor to try,” Sterling said, putting a hand out and resting it on the back of Eikichi’s. Eikichi flipped his and grasped Sterling’s hand briefly, smirking at him, before standing up to finish dinner.

“Tsukune?” Sterling said in a pleasantly surprised tone.

“Yep,” Eikichi said. “And okonomiyaki. I thought you’d appreciate it.”

“The two of you are spoiling me,” Sterling said, a hand to his heart a little dramatically, which made you snicker.

Dinner went amazingly. Sterling praised Eikichi’s cooking and he adored your dress, even more so when you told him you’d made it yourself. He actually got down on the ground so he could look at the stitching on the hem.

You smiled to yourself, looking at the top of his head from your chair. Your eyes flicked to Eikichi, and his smile was mischievous. He knew exactly what you were thinking.

You slid off your shoe and began tracing your toe up from his knee, where he knelt on the ground, and up his leg to his waist, managing to pull his shirt out of his pants and tickling the skin of his stomach.

He looked up at you, smirking, but didn’t stop you or say anything. Eikichi silently slid out of his chair and disappeared into the bedroom for a moment, returning with a length of soft cotton rope before sitting back down at the table and watching with a fond smile. Sterling took your foot and kissed the top of it, working his way up your legs with his hands and lips.

You tilted your pelvis forward as his hands went up your skirt and pulled at your underwear.

“These are pretty,” He said as he slid them off.

“Only the best,” You replied with a grin.

“The safe word is ‘Enokida’,” Eikichi said idly from his seat where he was watching, lightly tapping the rope against his thigh. “Don’t stop until she says it, even if she screams and begs. Her rules, not mine.”

“I understand,” Sterling said, though he looked at you with an inquiring eyebrow. You nodded acquiescence and bit your lip.

He hiked your dress up to your waist, exposing you to the air. He kissed the inside of your thighs, working upward until he was breathing on your most sensitive place, stroking it lightly with one long finger. You hissed and sucked in a breath, your body stretching and flexing. His finger teased around your pearl without actually touching it, and he pulled up to kiss your mouth, biting and sucking your bottom lip. Ooh, he was good at this.

The first stroke of his tongue on your slit sent electricity though your body, and you moaned. He vocalized in return, sending vibrations through your skin. Eikichi set the rope on the table next to you and began caressing your shoulders and pulling lightly at your hair, tilting your head back to meet his kiss as Sterling continued his ministrations, looking up from his position on the floor to watch you and Eikichi make out and fondle each other.

Eikichi pulled your dress off and lifted your arms, starting to wrap your hands with the rope.

“Not tying her to the chair?” Sterling asked.

“Don’t stop!” You hissed, looking down. Sterling snickered and went back to work.

“She can get out if I tie her to the chair,” Eikichi said. “I don’t know how, but she can get out every time. What good is tying her up if she can just free herself anytime she wants? Again, her words, not mine.”

Sterling snorted, but continued. You were reaching your peak quickly, having been turned on all through dinner. Eikichi finished tying your hands and left a leash connected to it that he could control. He pulled your hands over your shoulder and held them against his chest while he used his other hand to massage your breasts.

Your thighs began to shake as you moaned loudly, unable to move. You crashed into that wall of pleasure at the speed of a freight train, but he kept going. You tried to push him away with your feet, but he held your legs back against your chest. Eikichi put your tied hands around his neck and grabbed your ankles, pulling them up. Sterling continued, pulling another orgasm from you almost immediately. You were a sweating, swearing mess at this point, but it was so good. You fought against the restraints and their firm grips, but the two of them held you in place rather effectively.

You were still shivering from the aftershocks of the last orgasm when another one sent you contracting off the chair. Eikichi, with his sheer brute strength, was the only thing that kept you from falling sideways.

“Enokida! Enokida!” You screeched, and Sterling finally pulled away and you were left boneless and gasping in the chair. Eikichi lifted you up bridal-style and carried you to the bedroom with Sterling following behind.

“Do you need a break?” Eikichi asked, petting your sweat soaked hair away from your face.

You nodded. “You two have fun while I catch my breath.”

Eikichi grinned at you and slid off the bed, catching Sterling by the waistband of his trousers and pulling him roughly toward him, kissing him passionately. Sterling responded favorably, kissing Eikichi back just as soundly and unbuttoning Eikichi’s shirt.

You spent your break slowing down your heart rate and watching the two of them undress each other and make out. It was pretty hot, you had to admit. Sterling pushed Eikichi on the bed and got on top of him, grinding against him as they kissed. Sterling found his way down Eikichi’s body, just like he had done with you, and started sucking Eikichi’s cock right next to you, where you could watch. Sterling kept switching eye contact with you and Eikichi in turn and moaning. Eikichi grunted and his legs flexed in pleasure.

Your hands were still bound, but you touched yourself as you watched them, and Sterling reached underneath him to fondle himself while he continued sucking. At some point, Eikichi tapped out and put Sterling on the bed, sucking him in turn.

“I’m ready again,” You said. “Eikichi, do the thing I like.”

“You got it,” He said, getting up on his knees. His massive dick swayed upright between his thighs. He took the leash part of the rope and pulled your legs back up, tying your knees up around your ribcage, giving you enough room to breathe but not enough to buck. He also put your arms around his neck, so that you couldn’t move them.

He picked you up and presented you, tied and splayed, to Sterling. “You go first.”

Sterling smiled and gripped your hips, lining his organ up with your entrance. Where Eikichi was all girth, Sterling’s was long and curved upward. He pushed himself into your dripping slit and you groaned. He didn’t waste time in being slow and gentle; he rammed straight into you and you screamed. He railed you fast and hard, every so often either kissing you or Eikichi over your shoulder.

As Sterling’s body slapped sharply against yours with every thrust, the pressure and pleasure continued to build until you burst, and your brain blanked, with you going limp in Eikichi’s grasp.

“Wait, hold up,” He said to Sterling, and Sterling stopped immediately, though he didn’t pull out. “You okay, babe?”

“Mmm,” You said. “Water.”

Sterling did withdraw then, grabbing a water bottle that was on the bed. Because you were tied, you couldn’t take the bottle so he opened it and helped you sip it.

“Better?” He asked.

“Yeah,” You said. “Thanks.”

“You want to keep going or take another break?”

“I don’t think I need a break, but let’s take it a bit more slow. I loved what you were doing, but I think I’m overstimulated.”

“I got you,” He said, slipping himself back inside you more slowly and gently. Eikichi held you so that your head lay on his chest and he put his arms around you, holding you in place but also embracing you, kissing your neck and shoulders.

After some time, you said, “I want both.”

“You got it, babe,” Eikichi said. “There’s some lube in the dresser, Sterling, could you grab it?”

“Of course,” Sterling said. He stopped and pulled out, reaching over to opened the drawer and retrieve it. Reaching underneath you and taking Eikichi’s cock in his hand, Sterling slicked it down with the lube, which made Eikichi hiss, and then lead it to your pucker. Eikichi pushed himself inside you slowly, very slowly, until he was all the way inside and stopped. Sterling took his place back in front of you and took himself in his hand, stroking twice, and pushing back into you.

Ever so slowly, the two of them began to thrust in rhythm. Sterling caressed your face, then took a fistful of your hair, gripping it tightly as he went in and out, his other hand had your breast in it’s grasp. Eikichi grunted and bit the lobe of your ear, whispering dirty things and moaning, blowing his breath across your skin.

The three of you moved in unison, crying out and gasping, sweating, swearing, screaming. Soon enough, they were both ramming you as hard as they could, and you were reveling in the full feeling, the incredible pressure, the feeling of being sandwiched between them.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” You shouted, cumming for possible the twentieth time. Sterling pulled out with a strangled groan and came all over your stomach and legs. Eikichi took another few seconds, but finished inside you, roaring and bucking into you from behind. Then the three of you collapsed in a pile.

“Eikichi, the ropes,” You said breathlessly.

He reached up and snapped them effortlessly, allowing them to slip off. Then you managed to move so that you were lying in between the two of them, arms and legs everywhere. Then the three of you just lay there and breathed for about ten minutes.

Sterling was the first to rouse. “Well,” He said, still a little out of breath. “That was definitely a good time, as promised.”

You laughed and pulled him into a kiss. “I’m glad we could live up to our promises.”

You thought Eikichi was almost asleep, except he said groggily, “Are you staying the night, Sterling?”

“I’d planned to,” Sterling said. “I closed the shop for the next two days. I wanted to be sure I had enough recovery time.”

Eikichi barked a laugh. “You might need another few days. This one is insatiable.” He jerked a thumb at you while his eyes were still closed.

“Sounds good to me,” Sterling said, laying his head on your breast and sighing contentedly. “I haven’t had a break since I opened the store. A mini-vacation is exactly what I need.”

“Hey, maybe you might actually get us to Japan, like Eikichi promised.”

“I said we would,” Eikichi protested sleepily, throwing an arm around you and pulling up the covers.

Sterling snuggled in, kissing the middle of your chest before settling. “I’ll see what I can do.”

One year later, you stepped out of the airport in Kyoto, bundled up against the cold. Eikichi stood next to you, carrying most of the luggage, and Sterling took out his phone to call a cab to take you to the apartment the three of you had rented for your vacation. On your left hand, you wore two interlocking engagement rings, one sterling silver, and the second rose gold.

You breathed in the crisp air. “I can’t believe we’re really here.”

“Believe it,” Eikichi said. “The spring wedding will be amazing.”

“And we came with plenty of time to get things in order,” Sterling said, hanging up. “Cab is on it’s way.”

“Thank you,” You said sultrily, pulling Sterling toward you for a kiss. “I also can’t believe the two of you actually said yes when I asked you if you wanted to get married.”

“I’d have married you years ago, babe,” Eikichi said, bending down to get his kiss. “I just didn’t know it was something you wanted.”

“Well, now you know,” You said, winking up at him. “And I can’t think of a better place.” You took a couple of the bags as the cab pulled up. “Now let’s get going. Our future is waiting.”

Since my work is no longer searchable, please do me a favor and reblog this story if you enjoyed it. Help me reach a wider audience! To help me continue creating, please consider buying me a Kofi or donating directly to my PayPal!

Thanks for reading!

My Masterlist

The Exophilia Creator’s Masterlist

[copperpieceharlot]

Bud I’m sorry to swing into your inbox uninvited like this but my soul is having an OOTS renaissance thanks to your content in the tag and did you say Leverage AU

haha holy SHIT this got Long. but yes. i’ve been. Thinking. (also literally Never feel like you have to apologize for sending me messages. i was Hoping someone would ask me about this. now i have an Excuse to share EVERYTHING ive written abt it :3)

Obviously, Roy is the leader/brains of the outfit. He grew up having some Strong Opinions abt what’s Legal versus what’s Right due to tragic backstory involving the death of his little brother which was definitely SOMEONE’S fault for negligence but since there technically wasn’t any illegal behavior, there were no consequences for it. Also he’s still angry at his dad bc he thinks his dad is also partly culpable (and also also just a dick). He’s the Moral Backbone of the team (alongside Durkon, more on that later) in basically the same way Nate was in og Leverage. He’s actually not the best at figuring out what people want (that’s Haley and, shockingly, occasionally Elan), but once he has that info, he is the absolute best at figuring out the ideal plan of attack to use in any given case.

Haley is still a thief. I mean she maps to Parker almost PERFECTLY. Her dad was a thief & a conman, her mom wasn’t but knew about it and mostly accepted it, but she died tragically in a mugging gone wrong or smth, which made Ian crank the paranoia WAY up and taught Haley to do the same in the name of “safety”. Let’s keep the “Ian is in Trouble and Haley needs money, Fast” which is why she signs on to the first job in the first place. She’s less acrobatic than Parker, tending towards finding (or making) weak spots in security, but she can still make a tumble check when she needs to.

Elan is the grifter who is somehow an Idiot but also not???? It baffles everyone. When he’s playing a part for a con, he’s FLAWLESS, but then the rest of the time he’s just. No Thoughts Head Empty. He probably gets lured in initially because he’s decided to try his hand at being part of a full team, rather than the two-man cons he’s been running that invariably end w his partner conning him as well and stealing half of his take. Also he likes the idea of being Crime Friends. He’s that tweet where it’s like, Roy: “after the heist is over, we split up and never communicate again” / Elan: [about to unveil his Crime Buddies Forever Friendship Quilt Puppets]: “never?”

Vaarsuvius is the hacker/gadget person. They have a Vaguely Snobby Yet Unidentifiable accent, dyed(?) purple hair (nobody has ever seen their roots) and nobody knows who they “really” are or where they came from, but they’re good at what they do so everyone just accepts the mystery. They probably got suckered into the team by their initial employer (who I’ll get to Eventually, lol) framing it as a challenge to their intellect, like, “oh, I see, you’re not smart enough to make this team work for you...” to which they were like Fucking Watch Me and also melted his computer. Anyways. They are joined (digitally) by their Intrepid Friend And Co-Conspirator (his words, not theirs), a fellow hacker known only as Blackwing, or, on certain forums, Blackwing_Bird. (In the first season, V only occasionally references him when saying they’re “calling in extra help” or smth for a particularly complex hack job. He starts showing up a little more in s2 and eventually by the start of s4 is a regular & established presence, but only appears as actions in a computer interface or output.) Elan is convinced he’s an AI, Belkar doesn’t think he actually exists, Haley pretends she doesn’t think he exists, and Durkon and Roy try not to think about it too hard, as long as B and V still get the job done.

Belkar is the hitter. He is on the team bc their initial employer got him out of jail for it. He doesn’t have a tragic backstory, he just likes doing violent crimes. As the series progresses, he grows some empathy & stuff, but really only for people who actually deserve it. Assholes still get decked. It’s all very touching. (Also he has dwarfism caused by achondroplasia. It doesn’t actually bother him and is useful in fights bc his opponents frequently have no fucking clue how to approach him, but he likes Pretending to take offense at stupid things just to see how far he can go with it.)

Aaaand last but not least, Durkon is the least involved member of the team. He’s actually a career criminal and Roy’s mentor, and wasn’t a member of the initial team that [redacted, I’ll tell you later, PROMISE] put together for a couple of reasons, the main one being that he’s Officially retired in order to spend more time with his family, which consists of his mom, his friend (not girlfriend) Hilgya, baby Kudzu, and a truly stunning number of aunts, uncles, and cousins. Roy frequently calls or visits him for advice and he Occasionally shows up to help out on local jobs, but generally he avoids doing crime if he can (as part of a deal with Hilgya, who is also a career criminal; basically, they’ve both cut back on the crime in order to provide a more stable home environment for Kudzu. But sometimes, you gotta do a little crime, and in those cases, Sigdi enjoys spending time w her grandson.)

NOW. THE BIG REVEAL YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR. Who got the team together in the first place?!

The answer: Lord Shojo (or whatever Normal Person Name you want to assign him). Now this is where it gets tricky: he had them do a thing that they thought was good, THEN they thought it was BAD, but then when they confronted him he revealed that it Appearing to be bad was actually a test of character and would they consider working as basically internal investigators for him? But then he had a heart attack, so, rip. But THEN it turned out that he’d left them a bunch of money anyway and they were all feeling kind of Inspired so they formed the Order of the Stick, LLC (which, no, i am not coming up with a new name, actually, because I just don’t care. someone else can come up w a justification for that name, tho, i’m sure it’s possible). Also Miko was there and was unhappy abt their actions, and also their general existence.

Moving on. Villains!

Redcloak is the Sterling replacement, because that DEEPLY amuses me.

Xykon is a season-long main villain, probably one that Redcloak finds himself working for but then “teams up with” (read: blackmails) the Order to bring him down bc even Redcloak finds Xykon distasteful. That’s season 3, let’s say.

Tarquin is another season villain, say season 2. Nale probably shows up pretty early in s1, actually, as another recurring antagonist like Sterling but uh. Less good at it. Anyways the s2 final 3 eps deal with them (accidentally) discovering that Tarquin runs some Evil Empire Company, then trying to outplay him and take him down. Idk if Nale still dies in this version tbh.

Tsukiko is a one-off s1 villain who returns briefly in s4 alongside Miko, who has gone well and truly off the rails.

Season 1 finale has to do w Roy finally getting Vengeance for his little brother.

The vampire squad is the s4 finale villain who do smth terrible to Durkon and then get the Mother Of All Revenge served up to them by the Order.

I envision the show as being 5 seasons (like og Leverage) but I’m not going to sketch out s5 because I think it should be based off whatever happens in the current story arc, possibly involving some legacy of the OotSquiggle.

Other stuff!

The Order of the Squiggle is a legendary criminal team from the 60s who stole a BUNCH of famous shit & then proceeded to legendarily implode. This has no bearing on the plot I’ve sketched out, I just think it’s fun.

The Sapphire Guard members should probably be reworked as FBI. I don’t care about most of them but I do think that Lien and O-Chul could be like, FBI agents who Choose to look the other way while the Order does their very-much-not-legal-but-still-fair Justice Crime, and maybe even help them out on occasion.

So, the Final season-by-season outline, based on everything I’ve written so far:

s1 e1: getting the team together, doing a con for Shojo, then at the end he dies and the gang is like “dang what now?" and intend to split up except then they Don’t.

mid-s1: Nale shows up and tries to trick the Order, but then gets beat like a drum.

late s1: Tsukiko is an underling of the Villain Of The Week, winds up in police custody. But She’ll Be Back.

s1 finale: Roy’s Vengeance: The Vengeaning. also we meet Redcloak as an antagonist.

s2 e1: the truth abt Haley’s father comes out

early s2: The Two Live Crews Job but it’s the Order vs the Linear Guild and the Linear Guild ARE all bad guys.

mid-s2: Redcloak returns. ugh.

late s2: the sapphire guard FBI makes its first appearance, hello O-Chul and Lien.

s2 pre-finale: once again they’re in conflict w Nale over smth, he spends the whole episodes making Cryptic Remarks, they basically beat him (like a drum!) but then the stinger at the end is that Tarquin reveals himself and Elan is like “Dad?!”, roll credits.

s2 finale, part 1: Elan is hanging out w Tarquin bc he’s DEEP in Denial, the Rest of the team tries to take Tarquin down, but it doesn’t work.

s2 finale, part 2: Elan finally gets a clue and they manage to beat Tarquin. still haven’t decided if Nale dies or not, but I’m leaning towards yes. also they rescue Haley’s dad.

s3 e1: fuck dude idk.

early s3: Redcloak shows up, AGAIN, everyone groans. he has blackmail on them, he wants them to take Xykon down.

mid s3: The Rashomon Job but it’s about stealing the Talisman of Dorukan and it turns out that Nale was there too (“oh!” Elan says. “I was wondering why I looked so weird in all those mirrors! But it wasn’t my reflection, it was Nale’s!” “Sweetie, that wasn’t Nale’s reflection,” says Haley. “Huh,” says Elan, “so the mirrors were broken?”, cue eye rolling from everyone else.), and the Successful thief was Hilgya, who’d nabbed it from the owner before it even went on display.

s3 finale: they beat Xykon, actually factually, because he deserves to get his ass Thoroughly kicked, even if only in AU form. Lien and O-Chul are there, so are some other less helpful FBI people. There’s a bit where O-Chul Exact Wordses his way out of telling his superiors about the Order’s less legal activities without technically lying. King shit.

s4 e1: doesn’t really matter. maybe smth to do w some legacy of Tarquin’s company to set up the drama w Malack & Durkon later.

early s4: Durkon gets SENT TO PRISON. Malack approaches the Order abt this because sure they have Different Ethics but they’re still Friends. (Roy is surprised and a little hurt that he’s never heard of Malack, but he ignores that in favor of Let’s Get Whatever Fuckers Did This To Our Friend.)

immediately after that: Miko and Tsukiko return as a Team, preventing the Order from working on the Durkon situation

mid s4: Redcloak makes another unexpected & unwelcome appearance but he’s maybe a little less of a dick? the Order collaborates with Malack & his Crime Buddies (hello, Vector Legion) to pull one over on him tho, because “less of a dick” does not mean “a pleasant or decent person”, and also he was mean abt Durkon being in jail, so he totally deserved it. he still gets whatever he wanted tho, just takes a blow to his pride. also prevents the Order from helping Durkon. they’re having a LOT of setbacks wonder why that could be, not to make sure the season fills its whole length or anything, no sirree

s4 finale: something something taking down the organization, headed by Hel (yes that’s her real name), which framed Durkon for their Big Crime. Durkon goes free and Extra Firmly retires, For Good, He Swears, but says he “met someone new” who might be an asset.

s5 e1: minrah joins the team! and the episode is set in like, somewhere really snowy. that’s all i got.

the rest of s5: don’t know, don’t care, it’s open-ended until the comic finishes up.

[thecreedsgambit]

Sam Dalton, CEO

author's note: i’m not entirely sure what it is that draws me to sam, but i actually enjoy the nanny affair. despite my uppity claims that i would turn my nose up at the plot (which i, in fact, do) and that i would deny choices the satisfaction of spending endless amounts of diamonds on smutty, indecent scenes with a completely fictional man (which i, in fact, do not do), i cannot ignore my attraction toward sam dalton. it has little to do with his personality and intent. quite frankly, i blame it on the soundtrack. there’s a particular track that’s smooth - almost sexily playful - like a steamy but timid caress that throws a casual smirk at potential and possibility. i’ve grown fond of it, and, of course, it’s the very track that plays when sam freshly enters any scene. so, yes, i completely blame the soundtrack. it’s possible i’ve somehow drawn a loose connection between it and sam. whatever it is, i will continue to read tna and roll my eyes at choices seemingly unobstructed ability to rope me into whatever they present me with (much like sam dalton, i suppose).

"for you, i'll risk it all." - unknown

00. At a Glance.

affiliate: the nanny affair

pairing: m!sam x reader

word count: 1972 (fairly short, i know. but this was poking my imagination after today's chapter. i couldn't deny myself the freedom of writing it down.)

summary: you and sam continue to make eye contact during the regatta, despite your pr plan to lie low and ‘meet-cute,’ if that’s what an outsider might refer to it as.

You had long since forgotten the races. In fact, your eyes weren’t trained on the glistening yachts before you. Instead, your gaze latched onto the picturesque waterfront. The sun’s rays bore into the blue depths beyond where you sat, casting a faint reflection that rippled with every rise and fall of the tide. Slowly, methodically, as if your eyes might blink shut at any moment, you let your gaze lazily trace the waves as they lapped against the dock and collapsed against one another, like a playful fight between two warring siblings.

As if on cue, Mason and Mickey billowed past you with a giggling Jovi in their wake. Jordan scrambled after them, sending you an apologetic smile over his shoulder, before calling - rather, begging - for them to slow down. A short chuckle escaped your lips as you returned your sights to the race before you. Your head tilted, just slightly, as the sun cradled your cheek and warmed your skin with the softest touch.

It was nice. A brief moment to rest from the pressure to look and be impressive. For once, being impressed made a rush of tension leave your already heavy shoulders. The majestic waters and stunning views were enough to draw awe and calm the seemingly desperate need to feel warranted and respected.

Your dignity, poise, and grace sloped, only slightly, as you let your shoulders drop and your hands take refuge on your wrist as you fiddled with one of your bracelets.

For just a moment, you were you. And that was enough.

“No, please. Go on, Will.” Marisol’s voice nearly wrenched you from your stupor. You straightened and resumed your position as a subtle reflection of your new peers you’d almost forgotten sat on your right. Marisol gave you an amused smirk, as if hinting for you to join her harmless teasing. “Perhaps your ramblings about the history of yachting might help me place a few bets.”

Marisol took a small sip of her wine, hiding a whimsical smile behind the tip of her glass. Will only huffed and reluctantly turned his attention back to the race. You bit your lip in an attempt to conceal the grin threatening to lace your earnest expression. You feigned a swat on Marisol’s arm before speaking.

“Oh, Will. Marisol’s only joking. I would love to hear the rest.”

With a quick turn back toward the table, Will grinned triumphantly, clearly elated. “I knew it. At least someone appreciates my genius.”

“I’m sure,” Marisol mumbled, taking another quick sip of her drink to avoid bursting into a fit of laughter.

You dared to throw a sly smirk in her direction before giving in and facing Will directly. He’d already dove into several backstories regarding yachting, each going unfinished as he hurried into the next with enough excitement for the three of you combined. A genuine smile graced your lips as you, momentarily, reveled in his enthusiasm.

Unfortunately, much like your attention on the race, your attentiveness was short-lived. As was your politeness.

For a moment, your gaze slipped once more toward the luminescent waters. You had every intention of returning to the conversation at hand and concentrating on whatever quips Marisol was currently, and once again, uttering toward Will, but your eyes regarded the crowd, instead. Briefly, ever so quickly, you made eye contact with him - with Sam.

He had long since fixed his own sights on you. Normally, your heart would flutter and your stomach would lurch at the slightest glance. Reflexively, you’d wander toward him like a moth drawn to a fiery flame, waiting to be engulfed by his very presence. Even under these circumstances, you wanted to. You wanted to make your way toward him and let your fingers get lost in his hair; public images be damned.

But everything you worked toward thus far hung over your head and your shoulders - a load almost too burdensome to carry.

Your eyes widened with alarm, quickly flitting toward Will and Marisol. Not here.

Sam stood in a semicircle with three other men, who seemed to be lost in a conversation Sam took no interest in. His arms rested at his sides, and his fingers swirled a small glass of whiskey, as he continued his ruthless - almost challenging - stare. It didn’t take long for your demeanor to falter and a restless smile dared to break your masked facade. You tried desperately not to squirm under the intensity of his gaze, so you looked away, forcing yourself to come to terms with the ever-enchanting thrills of yacht history.

Except that topic was long gone, and Marisol was waving her hand at a dismayed Will. “You say that every year. Placing a higher bet on Estate Sail hardly makes things any more interesting.”

“What would you propose, then?”

You couldn’t help but to lose focus almost as quickly as you'd gained it; your entire form now rigid under Sam’s steely gaze. Sparing a quick glance in his direction, you noticed he’d done little to disguise his observation of you. Slowly, painfully so, he brought his whiskey glass to his lips and took a slow drink. His eyes never once left yours.

It was intoxicating. Entirely too heavy. Your chest nearly felt hollow as your heart dropped to the pit of your stomach and heat rushed to your cheeks.

Your own stare fell to his chest, sweeping over his broad frame as you consumed every aspect of his person. The purple button-down he wore was quickly becoming your favorite as your eyes traced his taunt muscles under the fabric. His exposed chest seemed to catch the sprawling daylight as the sun chased his neckline and washed over his tan skin with every regard to the glow of his complexion.

Daringly, your eyes fell lower until you cautiously eyed his brown belt. You wondered just how quickly your fingers could trail over each and every loop and how any such movement might elicit a delicious sound from Sam’s lips. You even ventured to imagine one of his hands working the belt off in one, swift motion -

Your eyes snapped back to his. He arched one eyebrow, subtly, as a knowing smirk crossed his seemingly neutral expression. You wavered, feeling absolutely powerless under his scrutiny. Biting your lip, you pointedly angled away from him and desperately made every attempt to heed Will’s words.

Oh just how timely that was.

“I don’t know about that. I’m sure Steffi will take an interest eventually. What about you, (y/n)?” Will’s easy smile made you relax despite how quickly your startled heart raced. You struggled to remember the last thing you heard as Will shrugged. “I know I can be a bit long-winded, but I hope you’re enjoying the races.”

“Yes, you fit right in with us now.” Marisol gave you a genuine smile of her own. “Despite what some people may think, aren’t you glad you decided to join us today?”

You maintained a steady smile as you pushed pesky thoughts of Lana out of your head. “I am. Where else will I hear the harrowing history of yachting or place a wager on anything other than Estate Sail?”

“Hey,” Will warned good-naturedly, laughing despite himself.

Marisol noticed Jovi running after a makeshift sail the twins had tied to a string and shook her head with a warm smile. She and Will turned back to discussing their children and Sterling Academy as you chanced another glimpse of the crowd. Sam still stood firmly in his spot. The men surrounding him were pointing at the yachts in the distance and making idle conversation as Sam’s attention remained on you and only you.

He offered his counterparts around him a brief nod and a clink of his glass, but it was passive. Half-hearted. His eyes bore into you with enough passion to ignite the already kindling fire within your being. You were desperate. Completely at his mercy.

And utterly annoyed by how quickly you’d succumbed to his will. You wanted to prove your ability to do the same - toying with the inevitable long enough to make him flush with desire and writhe under all that you could offer.

You could do it from here; same as him.

Suddenly, shamelessly, your previously obstructed air bent to your change in attitude as you shifted to address his gaze. You arched an eyebrow as you matched his seemingly indifferent composure. You could tell he found your sudden roused behavior amusing, but his jaw quickly feathered as your eyes now held a challenge of your own: Two can play at this game, and I usually win.

Your sudden burst in confidence swelled your chest with enough boldness to dart out your tongue, wetting your bottom lip before pulling it between your teeth.

Some part of you wanted to make the conscious effort to tune into Will and Marisol’s conversation, but their distant chattering proved what you already knew. They weren’t paying either of you any attention.

Sam’s stare grew more intense; his eyes squinting ever so slightly as he watched your every move. With a coy smirk, you moved to pick up your wine glass at a leisurely pace that you were sure would seem like a lifetime to him. Even as the tip of the glass connected with your lips, you were sure to exaggerate every motion. One quick sip left a few drops of wine chasing the curve of your mouth. Using your finger, you wiped away the remnants and brought them to your lips. Your tongue flicked against your fingertip, closing your lips around it entirely, lapping up what was left of the wine.

All the while maintaining eye contact.

Finally, with a barely concealed chuckle, Sam dropped his gaze and shook his head. Every rapid rise of his chest and tense of his shoulders proved he was thoroughly distracted. Satisfied, you turned back to Will and Marisol. Both were watching the next race with an almost unexpected eagerness.

“I told you Estate Sail would win again,” Will stated happily.

Marisol only smiled. “The race isn’t over yet.”

Feeling superior still, you wanted nothing more than to continue your game with Sam, but, when you glanced back at his previous spot, he was nowhere to be seen. You couldn’t help but to frown until Will’s eyes caught on someone behind you and called out:

“Ah, Sam. Care to join us?”

“Actually, yes.” You tried to quiet your usual disposition, avoiding any instinct to turn and gratefully accept his presence with unadulterated mirth. It wasn’t a hard thing to do. In fact, you had to shake yourself from your frozen, shocked posture long enough to glance over your shoulder. Sam stood close enough behind your seat that you could nearly feel the heat emanating from his being, rivaling even the sun’s warmth. “Do you mind -?”

You shook your head, not fully trusting your own voice but not fully committed to throwing away the careful and meticulous planning for your public appearance together either. You waved, feigning carelessness, toward the empty seat across from you. “No, not at all.”

Before he sat, Sam made it a point to glance at Marisol and Will before settling on you. “Does anyone need a refill on drinks? Perhaps another round before the next race?”

The two of you shared a soft, lingering look - one filled with knowing desire and bridled actions. You weren’t sure how you were able to retrain your urge to surge forward and grab him by his shirt collar or loop your fingers through his belt loop, or, even, how you had the strength to manage the rest of the Regatta with a practiced smile. But, then, a minute smile spread across Sam’s features.

Another coy smirk traced your lips as you shook your head. “I’m fine, thank you. Everything I need is right here.”

[mymelodyheart]

All I Want For Christmas Is You Chapter 3 ~A Christmas Request~

Previously in It's her Cue ...

 A tiny fraction of the playfulness displayed on his face was replaced by uncertainty ...and Claire's stomach coiled at the proof he wasn't prepared to act on the attraction between them. Whatever his reason was, she wasn't sure if she wanted to know as her guard began to scramble back into place. Oh, God, how could I be so dim? Maybe he's got a girlfriend or a wife ...

"Arbroath Smokies."

Stunned, she looked at him. "Wot?"

"Have ye eaten?"

"Uh, um ...not since midday."

"Weel, hard to fall in love with ..." He took a huge deep breath. "...Broch Mordha on an empty stomach."

"Huh?"

That playful smile was back on his face. "Have ye tried Arbroath Smokies?"

"No. I don't even know what that is."

"Ye have to try it. I know just the place." Jamie glanced over his shoulder. "Come on, let's have a quick drink with Willie and Annalise so we can get out of here." 

And then just like that, he wove his fingers through hers and tugged her towards the bar.

If you wish to read this on AO3, here is the link.

If you wish to read this from the beginning:

AO3 link

Tumblr link

 Jamie stiffened and stopped in his tracks when he felt a slight hesitation in Claire's movement. Is she having second thoughts? He glanced back at her and saw her eyes dropped to their intertwined hands and chewed her lower lip. "Changed yer mind?" he asked softly, his thumb caressing the knuckles of her hand without conscious volition. "I ken Arbroath smokies is not everyone's cuppa tea. We can have something else if ye wish."

She shook her head. "No. It's not that." She took a step closer, and he caught a whiff of her floral scent. Her nearness made the tension in his chest become like a drawn bow like there was an arrow precariously pointing into his heart. But the feel of her skin beneath his fingers was potent enough to mute the warning voices in his head. 

"What is it then, Sassenach?"

"I have something to ask you," she whispered, her eyes darting sideways, seemingly conscious of the watchful eyes around them. 

When she drew her hand from his hold, the loss of touching her skin made a hollow yawn at the pit of his belly.

He ignored the uneasiness he felt and swallowed hard. "Ye can ask me anything."

 Her cheeks blossomed into a pretty shade of scarlet. "I just want to make sure there's no misunderstanding." 

"What's on yer mind?"

"This is a small village, and I understand how everyone talks about everyone's business here. I ...um, don't want to step on anyone's toes while I'm here on holiday. You're not married or involve with anyone by any chance, are you?"

He felt the tension on his back ease, and he leaned back to look at her beautiful face. He wondered what it would be like to have her as his. Would a lass like her be content living in a hamlet like Broch Mordha, where the terrain, although naturally beautiful often described as a dismal place to live in because of the weather and remoteness? "No." A city girl like her would probably have a difficult time settling in the Highlands. "There's nae lass in my life." He forced a smile. "And never been married. How about ye?"

Her mouth opened then closed, and her brow wrinkled. "No. No boyfriend. I haven't been out with anyone for a long time."

He arched an eyebrow. "Really?" Were the men in London blind or what? "Why is that? Too focused on yer career to let anyone in yer life?"

"No. It's not that." Her eyes lowered to half-mast and settled on his chin. He almost lost it right there and then. Ah, Christ! If she's going to keep staring at him like that, he'd probably end up throwing her over his shoulders and taking her home. "I just haven't met anyone who..." her voice trailed off.

"...took yer breath away?" he finished the sentence off for her.

A slow smile spread across her face, making her eyes bright and opalescent. "Something like that," she replied.

He stared at her for a while, and a silent understanding passed between them, one that made him realised that she was very aware of their connection.

Jamie laughed inwardly but without humour. Everything about this lass so far lined her up as the perfect woman for him. How was that even possible that he felt the way he did after only a short period? He pressed his lips tight together, knowing that kind of thinking would only bring him grief.

She'd agreed to go out with him, and he would enjoy her company for what it was. It was a fruitless endeavour worrying about what he would do when it was time for her to go, and he would rather die before pressuring someone like her to stay. He'd done that before, and all it brought him was heartache and distress. She'd said she wanted to be a writer, but she wasn't ready to give up London just yet. This vibrant and intelligent lass had the fucking world at her disposal and her pick of better suited men who could give her the life she's used to, and he wasn't about to be the one to get in the way of those possibilities.

But it was too late to distance himself from this attraction, so Jamie made a deal with himself. One that made his throat contract and dread of the unknown take root. He'd allow himself to enjoy whatever time he had with Claire and be a perfect host and show her the best of what living in Broch Mordha had to offer. If she decided that it wasn't enough to make her stay to explore this connection between them, he'd force himself to accept it. Going to the city and living in one was no option for him, no matter how much he wanted the lass. He tried it before, but ever since he returned from his deployment in Iraq, he couldn't handle the big crowd and loud noises in the city. It made him freeze on the spot and brought back the nightmares and horrors of the Middle East war. He was more at peace here in the Highlands, where he'd already made a life for himself.

Reluctantly, he took a step back away from her. He had to. Otherwise, he'd end up kissing her in front of these people. "So ye're still in for that Arbroath smokies?"

"Of course," she murmured, visibly shaking herself. "I'd love that."

He laced their fingers together once more, unable to stop himself from brushing his lips against her knuckles and uncaring of the gossips he was sure was already spreading like wildfire. When she squeezed his hand in response, he felt weightlessness for the first time in a long time in the depths of his soul. That's when he knew he had his work cut out ahead of him. He cleared the sudden clutter in his throat and gave her his best smile. "Let's go then, Sassenach."

..........

After a round of drinks, Jamie and Claire left Annalise and Willie in the pub to their game of pool and darts. And Jamie was more than happy with the arrangement as he wanted to be alone with Claire.

His steps were light as he led her down the cobbled street, pointing out numerous historic residences and structures on the way. She listened intently, her inquisitive nature surprising him with her enthusiasm to learn more about his birthplace. But as soon as she heard the holiday jingle streaming in the background, her eyes lit up like a child, and she stared straight ahead. Right before them, at the town centre, was Broch Mordha's famous Christmas fair, festively illuminated and a sea of red, green and gold.

To Jamie's amusement, Claire tugged his hand, urging him to walk faster. When they finally got there, the quaint Church Street was bustling with activity. While vendors busily sold their goods, families strolled together, some pushing prams and some walking their dogs. Teenagers walked in groups, laughing and singing at the top of their lungs. Elderly couples wandered hand in hand, stopping now and again to admire the colourful goods on display. The booths bordering the road showed off their fares from patisseries, cheeses and charcuterie to chocolates, tablets and preserves. Beyond the food stalls, there was a whole range of crafted goods, from jewellery to tweed accessories, clothing and photography to candles and ceramic and stoneware.

Jamie had been to the Christmas fair every year of his life, but tonight with Claire, everything seemed more vivid, and he wanted to commit each moment and the sound of her laughter to memory.

He watched her nibble a Crowdie which the cheesemonger offered for her to try after they stopped by his stall. A few samples later, Jamie could tell, the older man was taken by her. It was no wonder as her zest for life was contagious, and she was willing to try anything, undeterred by the unfamiliar names and labels. Looking at her, he glimpsed a faint smattering of freckles across her nose, and he knew she didn't have a trace of make-up on except for the hint of mascara which he thought was totally unnecessary.

She glanced over to him, and her amber eyes widened. "Why are you looking at me like that for?"

He winked at her and lowered his voice. "I dare ye to ask me what I'm thinking."

She wrinkled her nose and snorted. "I don't think so. When men say those sort of things, it usually means there's filth involved. I'll pass, thank you very much."

He laughed out loud, enjoying the way she kept him off balance. Teasing her and watching the colour infused her face was endearing to watch and something he could quickly get used to if he wasn't too careful.

In the next hour, as they toured the Christmas market, he discovered she loved historical books, scented candles, colourful scarves, a sugary Scottish confection called tablet, and her dislike for Haggis. Despite her objections, he couldn't stop himself buying things for her.

When she'd tried to swipe the items she wanted to purchase from his hands, he held them above his head, out of her reach. He laughed when she jumped and attempted to grab them. 

"You can't do that," she protested when he signalled the vendor to wrap up the pendant she was admiring. It was a Sterling silver, with an amber stone set in a Celtic dragonfly design. 

"Ye said ye like it."

"Just because I like something, it doesn't mean I'll go off buying things on a whim. In real life, that's not how it works." 

"But it's Christmas, and I'm the one buying," he reasoned, grinning at her as he pushed some pound notes into the seller's hand. "Besides, I like the necklace on you. The stone reminds me of the colour of yer eyes."

"But Jamie ..."

"No buts. I really want to do this. Just let me."

When she stubbornly glared at him, he took a step closer and caressed her cheek with the pad of his thumb. He heard the hitch in her voice, the deep furrows on her brows slowly dissolving, but not quite totally.

"Please?" he whispered.

She looked at him, and after a few seconds, her features relaxed. "Very well," she conceded, eventually looking anywhere but into his eyes. "I'll pay for dinner then,"

He grinned and gave her a victorious look. "We'll see about that. Come on, Sassenach, I want to eat." He grabbed her wrist before she could object while he held gift bags on his other hand. They walked side by side, meandering through the market until they reached their destination. 

After ordering two paper plates of Arbroath smokies served with new potatoes and peas, they found a secluded area with a wooden table and bench to enjoy their meal and watch people go about their holiday season business.

Her face softened as she ate, looking comfortable in her surroundings as if she felt right at home here. Her eyes radiated with satisfaction, as she savoured every tiny morsel of the smoked fish, her tongue flicking out to catch every bit. A low moan slipped through her mouth with every bite, her head nodding and her eyes widening, when there were no words, reassuring Jamie with facial gestures how much she was enjoying herself. He watched every precious, gut-wrenching, sensual moment of the experience and wondered if he would ever be the same again. And when they finished their meal, washed down with a glass of cider, she let out a soft, sated sigh that slammed straight to his chest, squeezing his heart. 

 If he accomplished one bloody thing over the holiday season, it would be to show this lass how special she was and every second they spent together was a gift he would always treasure.

He opened a small parcel of chocolate truffles they'd bought in the market earlier and pushed it towards her. "Ready for dessert?" he offered, realising how much he loved feeding her.

"Mmmm, yes, please." She popped the sweet treat into her mouth and smiled. "This has been so much fun. I've loved every minute of tonight, Jamie. Thank you."

He had too. He'd never experienced such a powerful bond with a lass on both a mental and physical level, and he tried not to think of the day when she'd go back to London. When the time came, he'd deal with it. "Who said the night is over?" he teased.

"Is it not?"

"Far from it." He got up, dropped their plates and cups in the recycling bin and then offered his hand to her. "Come, Sassenach ... we're off to our next destination," he said, grabbing their bags.

"Where to now? More food?" she groaned, clutching her stomach.

"If it's food ye want, there are still a lot of things ye haven't tried yet." He laughed, taking her hand in his as he tugged her towards the direction where they came from. "But first caffeine. We're going to need it."

"Oooh, are we doing an all-nighter now, are we?" she breathed, almost skipping beside him, trying to keep up with his long stride.

"It's a surprise, Sassenach but I promise ye, ye're going to love the entertainment factor in the next phase of this date," Jamie said as he pushed the door to a coffee shop. "Come, let's go inside and get some heat first."

He ordered two Dutch coffee from the counter and settled them by the window overlooking the street market that was beginning to thin out. When Claire took a sip of the frothy hot beverage, she sighed in pleasure and smiled.

"Ye like?"

"Uh-huh, this is like caffeinated eggnog. Never had it before. I love it!"

"Dinnae tell me, ye don't have them in London."

"They probably do, but I've never had the pleasure of seeing it in a drink menu."

He noticed a residue of cream lodged in the corner of her mouth. Unable to help himself, Jamie reached over slowly, wiping it off with his thumb. Staring into her eyes, he deliberately put his thumb into his mouth and sucked. 

An invisible firework suddenly erupted between them, the sights and sounds of their immediate surrounding fading in a blurred haze, becoming meaningless in the perfect connection of those precious seconds.

"Claire?"

"Hmmm?" Her voice was like a breathless whisper, and he wasn't sure if he imagined the yearning look in her eyes. It took all his self-control to keep from kissing her right there and then. Instead, he locked down all his muscles and willed himself to think of animals that start with the letter D. And all his damn brain could summon was the word dragonfly.

"May I ask ye a favour?"

"I don't kiss on the first date," she said too quickly, but her words contradicted her manner as she stared at his lips.

"That wasn't what I was gonnae ask ye."

"Oh!" Her eyes flew to his, and she blushed profusely. "Oh, well, that depends on the favour then."

He swallowed hard and leaned forward, taking her hands in his. "Will ye spend the rest of yer holiday with me?" He cleared his throat. "What I'm trying to ask of ye is, will ye stay here until the Three Kings ...until it's time for ye to go back to London?"

She blinked thrice. 

It was a request straight from his heart, and he listened to it, unheeding of the alarm bells that started to reverberate in his brain. He needed more time with Claire to see this through and to find out what this was between them. He waited for laughter, a dismissive wave of her hand, a playful joke or a roll of her eyes as he held his breath.

"Alright."

"Alright?" A lungful of air whooshed out of him.

"Yes, I'd love to stay."

Something shifted and awakened. 

He didn't know what it was, but he also knew it would never be the same between them.

Suddenly, he realised the simple request took a lot out of him because all he could muster at that moment were his heartfelt words, "Thank you, Sassenach."

Dear Readers,

Here it is, the third chapter of my Christmas story. I'm super thrilled you're enjoying this so far if the feedback and kudos is anything to go by from the previous instalment. Thank you so much for the generous response and your continuous readership. I hope you're all having a fabulous week. Keep up the good vibes and faith and keep passing that on because even if we can't change what's going on in the world, a healthy amount of positivity will see us all through this strange time. Take care of your health and safety and much love to all. x