#love seeing like wednesday and amelias

[intramoon]

a softcore halloween 🕷️

[totaly-obsessed]

Cupid

Lia Wälti x reader

-> Valentine's Day with Lia and your Daughter

-> thank you @babsisbakery for the poem, and thank you @alotofpockets for the dutch translation help and conversation

➳ Masterlist

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

Small hands tugged at your ear, ripping you from your very much-needed sleep. Once you saw your daughter’s adorable little eyes and the excited smile on her lips you just couldn’t be mad anymore.

“Mama, we need to start!” In a whisper shout, she bounced up and down, ready to get the day going.

She was right – you did need to start. Together with Amelie, you had planned to treat your fiancée to a wonderful Wednesday. It was Valentine's Day after all.

Still groggy with sleep you let the small blonde pull you out of bed before she gave you a moment to gather yourself, as she handed you slippers that matched hers.

Downstairs in the kitchen, Amelie had already laid out her little apron and quickly pulled it over her pajamas before turning around, gesturing to you to bind it behind her.

“All done my love. Let’s start with the waffles huh?”

Just 20 minutes later a hearty and big breakfast was cooked up, and Amelie nervously grabbed the card you had crafted with her beforehand.

“What if she doesn’t like it, Mama?”

Crouching down in front of the five-year-old got harder the older you got – but never in a million years would you stop doing it.

“That’s impossible my love! Lia loves everything that you make for her. She keeps it in her cubby – you’ve seen it before!”

Technically Ames was only your daughter – but with a no-show father and Lia falling in love with both you and your little companion at first sight, she was her ‘Momie’ in every way the small blonde could wish for.

While Lia had no genetic input whatsoever – Amelia could be and look a lot like her. They had the same kind of smile and funny laugh, but their stare could be terrifying.

“You come with me?”

How could you say no to that face? So together you walked up the stairs, and the once excited five-year-old had turned into a nervous wreck, hiding behind your legs and making herself as heavy as she could.

With a quiet squeak, the door opened as you pushed it, giving your daughter a slight nudge towards the bed, where you could already see Lia trying to spy through her lashes giving it her best to hide a smile.

“Momie?” the pudgy hand that wasn’t holding the card nudged your fiancée – who continued to play dead to the world.

“Momie – wake up please!”

Like in a bad movie Lia suddenly sat up with a big smile, stretching her arms wide with an obviously fake yawn.

“Good Morning Mon petit amour!”

Amelie panicked, or rather froze on the spot – immediately turning to you with wide eyes and Lia just knew that she would flee if nothing happened.

“What do you have there my love?”

A hesitant step towards the bed and the small blonde was close enough for her Momie to grab her. The loud squeal of surprise that filled the room was miles better than the nervous shuffle of feet.

“Wrote it just for you Momie!”

With an exaggerated gasp, the brunette footballer opened the pink envelope to discover a handcrafted card. It was white and on it a big heart, that you had to draw because a certain someone wasn’t happy with her tries and had about five meltdowns because of it. It was filled with little folded-up papers in pink and purple – above the heart she had made you write “I love you to pieces” after you had tried to help with her writing.

On those little papers were reasons why you and Ames loved the Swiss, but if it came to your opinion, there weren’t enough notes in the world that could do the love you held for the woman justice.

“Oh, will you read it to me?” Lia had tears in her eyes once she saw the small poem in wriggly handwriting. She pulled your daughter to her chest, looking at the card together while you snapped some secret pictures. “I’ll help you read them, okay?”

“To Momie,

From many tantrums to always making me laugh,

You are my favorite hero, kicking ass on the pitch

And being my personal chef at home,

And finding time to play with me and my Dinos.

I couldn’t have wished for a better mom.

-         Your Ames!”

Lia’s eyes were filled with tears as she pressed kiss after kiss on Amelia's messy hair. Of course, the Swiss knew that you had massively helped her with writing, but Amelia had such a way of speaking that she could definitely recognize it in there.

The five-year-old was proud of herself and whipped her head back from Lia behind you.

“Breakfast now! Come Momie – I made you waffles!”

Due to the rain last week, the fixture against the London City Lioness has been pushed to today. So after spending the day in blissful peace, it was time to go to the game. Wrangling a little excited 5-year-old girl dressed as Cupid into the car was much harder than anticipated, and at some point, Lia had to leave early.

Viv greeted you at the car as you helped Amelie out of the car. She was still a little unsure about her knee, so she opted to sit in the stands, keeping you company.  “Wow – Look at you!”

“Vivi! I’m Cupid!”

Dressed in a pink and gold dress, white gloves, and a golden hairband. On her back was a pair of small, white, feathery wings – in her hands a tiny bow with fake arrows that had heart-shaped tips.

“I can see that lieve schat. Let’s get you two inside huh?”

Watching the game with a young child is always a bit different than it would be without – but you wouldn’t change it for the world. Amelia was excited for the first half, screaming her little lungs out when Lia scored from a corner kick off of Katie.

As a celebration, the Swiss imitated pulling back the string of an arrow and letting it go in your direction – effectively sending you a heart accompanied with a wink.

Your relationship was no secret by far, the brunette loved to brag about you and her daughter. And no matter how much she boasted about you, you would always blush – so seeing your already red face on the big screen gave you a fright. Viv and Ames just laughed at you.

During the second half, Amelia was busy reading a book she had brought for her. While she had gotten Lia’s athleticism she had gotten your intense love for books, and once she started, she wouldn’t stop until it was finished. Or at least she wouldn’t stop that easily.

Once the final whistle blew, the Arsenal girls winning 3-0, Viv escorted you down to the pitch – you not knowing the way was her excuse but in reality, she just wanted to see Beth. As soon as Amelia’s feet hit the grass, she was gone running around with Kyra, Alessia, and Victoria.

“Did you see my goal? Scored it just for you!” Lia’s smile was enticing and she didn’t wait long to pull you into a breathtaking kiss, only stopping once Katie fake gagged next to you.

Before she could say what she wanted to a small body slammed into her. Amelia, of course. In her hand, a beautiful white rose that you definitely didn’t bring from home.

“For me? Oh, thank you my personal Cupid, doing such a good job!”

Now down on her knees, the brunette engulfed your daughter in a bear hug – careful not to crush the cupid wings on her back.

“It’s from Rue Rue!”

The five-year-old skipped back to Ruesha Littlejohn who gave her a high five and a piece of candy while Katie could only stare at the rose in her hands. Not even noticing you and Lia nearly collapsing because of laughter.

Cupid had delivered her a rose from Rue Rue, her ex-girlfriend…

[chemicallywrit]

Happy Audio Drama Sunday! Last one of the year! There are so many amazing shows I listened to this year--Gastronaut, Kakos Industries, Madame Magenta, Dungeons & Daddies, Cry Havoc! Ask Questions Later, Bronzeville, Deviser, Ghosts in the Burbs, The Silt Verses, Fall of the House of Sunshine, The Ballad of Anne and Mary, Eliza: A Robot Story, Eeler's Choice, Hemophobia--this list isn't even comprehensive! But here is what stood out to me this week. (As always, some spoilers follow.)

🦸‍♂️ I've had Superhuman Public Radio on my radar for a while, but I finally got a chance to listen to it this week. For lack of a better way of putting it, the structural integrity of this show is flawless. It sounds exactly like listening to NPR, and it's funny and clever with some really incredible worldbuilding. It's everything I like about listening to local news without the stress of it being local news that affects me. I love it.

✨ I'm also new to Breathing Space, but the Firefly vibes are off the charts. I love any story that is basically just Anticapitalists in Space, but the western vibes of this really make the stories hit home. I especially liked S1E2, "A Rat Among Falcons," because who doesn't love a scruffy nobody being incorporated into a found family? S1E5, "The Salvage of the Valentina Tereshkova" was also a really excellent space horror story. I can't wait to see what they do next. And that theme song tho, right??

❤️‍🩹 @thefringespod has been making incredible use of their new full cast, and I love the twist that this season is driving home--it's not a story presented to you, the listener, it's a tragedy that the mute second character is helping to undo. The softness of the family that Pine Gonzalez spent the whole first season describing comes through beautifully in the work of the actors.

🌊 Modes of Thought In Anterran Literature is always a little bit unnerving, but this week our professor faced the horrors of...rich people. Like, REALLY rich people. "You're already paying for private security?" Absolutely chilling conversations. There was a headline this week about a bunch of Silicon Valley millionaires trying to start a utopia in the desert, which works great all the time of course, and I thought of Anterra, tearing itself apart, and about the professor, who doesn't exactly make great choices, tearing himself apart too.

🐺 Things are getting very scary on Palimpsest! Is this a werewolf season?? It is VERY gothic, which is fun in a Jazz Age setting. It feels incongruous, which just adds to the horror. The quiet build of Palimpsest never disappoints me.

📦 Bless those children on @storiesfromylelmore, they're so darn good. ItMe has always been excellent at writing along the span of human nature, and seeing them do it with the three kids in Stories from Ylelmore is wonderful. Of course, a lot of the credit has to go to ItMe's flawless line delivery too. The kids feel very real, even while they're delivering magical packages from a bookstore to the head of the local witch coven.

🐦 The Amelia Project's Twelve Days of Christmas thing has been so funny. I half hope we never find out who's tormenting Alvina. The only downside is that now I have the song stuck in my head constantly, and seeing that it's like, the second-worse Christmas song, this is a problem. The show's worth it, though.

🕯️ What should appear in my podcatcher this morning but the second episode of Flickers! I was intrigued by that first episode, and this second one is really bringing home the isolationist horror. I can't wait for the next installment.

👽 Among the Stars and Bones is coming back! It's coming back this month! This is one of my all-time favorite sci-fi shows, everyone, if you're not on board yet then GET WITH IT, because this next season is guaranteed to blow your mind.

That's what I've been listening to! Here's what's going on with me:

🧟‍♀️ The Dead has been posting episodes from its second series, Ephemeris, which I wish we could have spent more time on, because the premise is so good. Zombies. In. Space. My gosh. David Ault and Kayla Temshiv in particular are killing it on this story. It'll be a few weeks before our next story premiers, but I'm REALLY excited about that one. Tune in!

Finally, the most important news...

💚Inn Between Returns on Wednesday!🏹

AAAAAAAAAAAAA

I am THRILLED about season five. The cast is killer, the story is fantastic, everyone's bringing their A-game, and I can't wait for you to hear it.

That's all for me! Happy New Year everyone!

(If you like what I do, I'd love it if you could send me a ko-fi! Especially since my car just frikkin. Died. So rude of it. Thanks!)

[yankstrash]

shoutout @olliemlvr for the inspo 😋😋

it's 9 pm on wednesday night and gabe is packing for the roadie this weekend. the team would be gone thursday-sunday

he's been on many many roadies since he and amelia started dating, but they never got easier for her. she hated when her boyfriend was gone. they spend so so so much time together that it just doesn't feel right when he isn't with her.

like she always does when he's packing for a roadie, she's sat on his bed, pouting.

she's watching him fold a hoodie and put it in his bag, when she reaches her hand out to stop him

"can i keep this one for the weekend babe?" she asks before he can put the hoodie in the bag

gabe smiles and nods his head, handing it to her

"sure princess"

she smiles and takes it from him

then continues watching him

she huffs, making gabe look away from what he was doing and look at her

"you okay meels?" he asks

she nods her head slowly, keeping her lips in a tight line

"i just hate when you leave.." she admits. "never gets easier."

gabe grins at her before letting out an "aww" and bringing her into his arms

this is his favorite part

he begins to laugh, and amelia looks up at him confused

"what?" she asks

"nothing, just funny remembering who didn't want anything to do with me at first and now she cries everytime i leave"

amelia rolls her eyes at his comment

"do you seriously have to bring this up every single time?" she asks, slightly annoyed

"mmhmm" he hums, leaning down to kiss her lips. "i do, because i love it. miss "i don't date athletes", "i don't want anything to do with you", "i'm not going out with you" now begs me for hugs and kisses everytime i have to leave."

amelia gives him a look, clearly not entertained.

"gabe.."

"yes, princess?" he says with a smirk

she looks at him with sad eyes and pulls her lip between her teeth

"can you please just love me before you have to leave?" she asks

gabe feels bad when he sees her expression

he loves joking with her, especially about this, but he knows how genuinely upset she gets when he has to leave

"of course baby. let me finish packing and i'm all yours" he says and kisses her head

[zmediaoutlet]

happy wincest wednesday!! what's an example of an episode or storyline that you think would play out differently with sam/deanna? and is there a trope you think would suit the hetcest dynamic better?

hello, my femme deanna-truth bud, happy wincest wednesday to you. and perhaps it's proof of how fantastically well Deanna cleaves to the actual characterization and canon of the show that every storyline that's popping to mind is just enhanced by the sex/gender change. Like -- soulless!Sam letting Dean get turned into a vampire and how that vampire sire was absolutely a creepy rapist? That but with Deanna? Identical, just more... obvious. Sam having a relationship with Amelia, while Dean has a "relationship" with Benny, and how that's written as a dual affair where they have to dump their mistresses? If Deanna's in Purgatory with Benny, there is absolutely zero question that they were fucking, and it's just actually explicit instead of heavily implicated in subtext.

I think one thing that would maybe genuinely feel different would be the time when Mary came back. You can play it a lot of ways, but it doesn't seem unreasonable that Deanna might have a much more complicated relationship with the absent sainted mother than Dean did. For one thing, Mary doesn't get the safe madonna-distance due to gender difference -- and while Dean's mother-and-wife replacement status for John is subtextual in canon, Deanna gets it with both barrels. When she sees what happens when Mary makes that deal to bring John back -- when she sees that Mary wants to have a 'normal' life -- when she knows that Mary's choices have doomed not just the family in general but Sam in the specific (and setting aside that destiny and literal God have conspired to bring Mary to the place where she would do those things) -- Dean clearly has some resentment but manages to set that aside for the beloved mother on a pedestal. I think Deanna might be significantly more pissed off, and overtly. Rather than simpering big-eyed at the lovely mommy in the white nightgown, I think she'd go quite frosty and resentful and thinking, yeah? You weren't the one who had to deal with what your choices actually meant.

How interesting it'd be to have Sam in the middle of that particular weirdness. Imagine Mary coming out with those little nitpicky 'mom comments' about how Deanna wears her hair or how she dresses or wondering why she cleans her shotgun that way and Deanna getting ready to fucking explode, lol. I wouldn't have given you the damn thing if I didn't think you'd take care of it but times a hundred, a thousand. Imagine Mary making that deal with the Letters and Deanna not just icing her out but fucking decking her in the jaw.

...This actually isn't all that different to canon either, is it, lol. Deanna just always makes whatever textually happens to Dean more intense, more overt, more there, in a way that isn't the lovely interpretability of canon but just IN YOUR FACE. Our little object without agency, parentified and wifed, battered on all sides.

Oh, and for the trope: legit D/s. More obvious on the face of it, but actually more subversive and alarming if you think longer.

[amelias-zelda-calamity-quintet]

Amelia's Zelda Calamity Quintet Resource List

Hi there, I'm Amelia (she/they). You may also know me as Hart or Echo (my old handle was echosound). This is a master post of links for my works as well as all the tags I use on this blog. This post will be pinned on the blog and I will update it as needed so check back if there's something new.

Scheduling is based around Wattpad queuing but chapters are posted to both platforms on the same day. You can find my profiles here: AO3 - Wattpad

Expanding Hyrule Community Discord (16+)

Quick FAQs

Is this a main blog? This is a side blog, my main is @amelias-hart. To keep this blog mostly to fic updates and as a reference tool, I reblog LoZ stuff on my main, to include art and fics.

Can I draw fanart of your characters? Yes, absolutely. I should clarify. You are more than welcome to draw art based on the descriptions in my fics and the resources I put out for them. I work with other artists though for most of my character art. If you are going to use those designs, make sure you're familiar with their opinions on fanart.

What kinds of LoZ fics to you write? All of my fics are fully original legend and long form stories. My average chapter length is 3k and the shortest of my fics (not in a series) is currently drafting to be like 100 chapters.

How adult/mature are they? It ranges, but typically it's pretty tame. I don't really handle gore and explicit scenes, and I'm not a fan of dark fantasy generally as a writer. If fics are rated adult/mature, it's typically because the characters are largely adults.

Is there romance? We're on that Zelink train, absolutely! There are no explicit scenes, again, so the range here is fluff (GoS, RA) to some more mature flirting with some innuendo being about the most serious content (DAD). Maybe a more intense kissing scene once the slow burn gets through to that (MoaH).

How do you write so much? Autism baby. Got that clinical hyperfocus going.

Do I need to read your fics in a certain order? No, all of them are stand alone but they do share a linked timeline in the following: GoS -> MoaH -> RA -> CoL -> DAD (And honestly it's really just GoS and MoaH with any "serious" timeline lore connections)

What's the Convergence? To the previous point, it's referring to GoS any time it comes up. Really only a thing in MoaH and MoaH does try to explain it within the text.

Will add more as they come up. If it's not here, it's probably below. If not, send it as a reply or an ask and I'll add it!

Other Custom Tags List

#originallegends/#lozoriginallegends - Pending community tag for Legend of Zelda fics about original iterations of Hyrule. Check out Expanding Hyrule for more details (AO3 - Wattpad).

#moahmemes - This is for memes and quotes redone with the MoaH cast for fun, mostly for character exploration and cause it's funny.

#moah worldbuilding - In character worbuilding snippets about various topics for the MoaH era of Hyrule.

Open Ask List

I'm always open to asks, but I have a few prompts I figured I'd throw out if y'all want ideas.

Web: Asks for an update to the MoaH Obsidian web

WIPWednesdays: I'll post a snippet of MoaH, very likely will contain spoilers for a later part/book than is out.

Star: I'll give ya a random factoid about something in one of my fics, you can add fic tags if you'd like a specific.

Q: Check to see how far updates for MoaH are queued out

Character asks: I don't have art, but you can absolutely send in character asks for the cast. I love these, they're great character voice practice. Please keep to one question per ask, but you're welcome to send as many as you like.

Fic List

Goddess of Secrecy (Complete on Wattpad, New Edited Chapters On Wednesdays To Both) - #goddessofsecrecy, #gos, #gosspoilers

Hyrule has only ever dreamt of an end to the resurrection of Demise. With the returning of an ancient power, that dream could finally be fulfilled. Can the Hero of the Fourth Goddess save Hyrule once and for all?

Fic Links: AO3 - Wattpad

Mark of a Hero (Updates on Tuesdays & Fridays, 1 of 9) - #markofahero, #moah, #moahspoilers

Hyrule is at peace, or so the Royal Family would have its people believe. Something is afoot in the kingdom, and someone needs to do something about it. Least likely would be Marksmen Link Sayre- a mercenary and monster hunter doing his best to get by. Until a job goes wrong, and he gets roped into the secret plans of Hyrule's princess. Now Link must play the part of the Hero to dive deeper into the mystery, and maybe stumble into a legend of his own.

Fic Links:

Book 1: AO3 - Wattpad

Book 2:

Book 3:

Book 4:

Book 5:

Book 6:

Book 7:

Book 8:

Book 9:

Series Links: AO3 - Wattpad

Arc Progress & Spoiler Reference

Character Reference Page

General Setting Resources Page

Restoration Age (Hiatus) - #restorationage

Hyrule has grown. The fairy tale kingdom that has endured for eons is no more. And while historians argue over what history needs to be preserved, Hyrule endures and thrives in the modern age. With the proverbial guide book gone, where will the kingdom go now? And what would a Hero mean for a country that no longer needs a Hero?

Fic Link: Wattpad - Not yet imported to AO3

Cinders of Life (Hiatus) - #cindersoflife

Hyrule has burned. No more is the vibrant kingdom that was once protected by the Hero. Now is the reign of evil, an evil without end. Hope is a word used without meaning, and hero is all but lost. Could one even stand if the people of Hyrule don't even know what they would be calling on?

Fic Link: Wattpad - Not yet imported to AO3

Day After Destiny (Hiatus) - #dayafterdestiny

Hyrule is beginning its new golden age. The king and queen prepare to hand their crowns to their daughter and her husband. It is a union out of legend, though legend is far from anyone's mind in Hyrule. For who would call upon ancient war heroes in a time of peace? The wars for Hyrule have been won.

Fic Link: Wattpad - Not yet imported to AO3

[oxfordslutphase]

WIPs for the Wednesday Gods

So it's Wednesday, and unfortunately for me I've been in a big fat, no good writing funk for the past couple of weeks. Really getting into the weeds about it and all of that (am I any good at it??? do I even like writing??? who knows!) That said, some of y'all lovely gems have been tagging me today (and in some fun games from last week that I may queue up for later this week). Thanks to @cha-melodius, @wordsofhoneydew, @eusuntgratie, @bigassbowlingballhead, @iboatedhere, @firenati0n, and @onthewaytosomewhere for tags today and last week!

I just deleted a whopping 2500 words from my Porn Star AU 😩, so instead please enjoy this offering of TZP/Nick inspired by Taylor running his mouth like an absolute menace on the Oscars red carpet (no I have not stopped thinking about it). As always the F stands for fiction etc etc.

Taylor checks his phone on the way out, breezing past emails from his agent and Maria’s endless recap of the show exclusively via reaction gifs before he sees it. Nicky: just thought you needed the practice, mate. x Taylor has been thinking about it lately, is the thing. Nick has been everywhere: promoting his new show, saying nice things about Taylor in interviews. Things like how he was authentic and funny and—fuck. Nick is in his city now, even. It isn’t Taylor’s fault that Amelia had pitched him a perfect home run. Taylor: so generous. too bad u weren’t invited tonight.  Taylor follows the security line to the valet and slides into the backseat of his waiting car, letting out a breath as the door closes and leaves the sounds of the crowds outside pleasantly muffled. He has a date with a hotel suite and an outfit change waiting for him, but for now he just lays his head on the glass and lets the streetlights passing by the window drain away the lingering nervous energy until his phone lights up in his palm. Nicky: maybe I have better things to do Taylor isn’t going to think about whether he would have liked Nick to have been there, frankly. If seeing the familiar shape of Nick’s profile across a crowded room would have felt relaxing, like it once had, instead of fraught with all of these inconvenient feelings. It had been a lot easier when his stupid face and his sly fucking mouth had been clear across an ocean. Just a mistake Taylor made once. Taylor plays the game anyway. Taylor: yeah?? what things? And he expects more of the same, really. A bit of banter. Some of it verging on flirty. The same stupid shit they always do; tossing a hot potato around and pretending they didn’t already drop the damn thing. Instead, those three little dots show up, dancing at the bottom of Taylor’s phone screen once, twice, and then—nothing. Okay then.

Open tag because I have been woefully behind on checking my feed, looking at the internet, and being a general person! Tag me if you take the open tag 💋

[novastories]

Line Without A Hook

Title and chapter loosely inspired the song “Line Without a Hook” by Ricky Montgomery.

Summary: Aurora arrives back in San Diego, and reunites with people she both expected and unexpectedly anticipated. 

Warnings: Swearing/language and mentions of PTSD

Word Count: 6.5k

A/N: Sorry I haven’t been posting as much, been going through some stuff mentally. But without further ado, here’s a longer chapter and enjoy the reunion of the BAP trio 💛

Thanks to my beta reader and editor @reginleight!

As always, likes are great and all, but comments, reblogs, and feedback are highly appreciated and loved! 🤭

Previous | Next | Masterlist

“Where do you want this last box, Rory?” Amelia asks from the living room.

“Over there in the kitchen please!” Aurora replies to her sister.

Aurora was so happy to be back in San Diego. She, Maverick, and her puppy, CJ, arrived in San Diego late last night and stayed in a hotel. Aurora had called her mom and Amelia the day she had left Washington DC, to let them know that she was going to be back in San Diego.

Penny and Amelia were currently spending the morning and afternoon with Aurora as they were helping her move into her new house within the city. Maverick had yet to see Penny and Amelia as he went straight to the Navy base where they had provided him lodgings for the upcoming mission. In the afternoon, he would be going to the Admirals to be briefed a little more on it. 

“I still can’t believe my little star is back in San Diego!” Penny gushes over her daughter, as she gives Aurora another hug for the hundredth time today. Aurora groans as Amelia cackles, taking the box into the kitchen.

“Mom,” Aurora whines as Penny refuses to let go of her eldest daughter.

“She gets worse with age. You should have seen her last year when I bought my dress for the homecoming dance,” Amelia snickers, holding CJ, who Amelia had already bonded with.

“My babies are growing up. I’m getting so old,” Penny groans, releasing her daughter.

Aurora and Amelia both roll their eyes and chuckle, knowing their mother looks so much younger than her actual age.

Aurora kisses her mom’s cheek as she finishes unpacking the box she was working on before Penny left, walking into the kitchen to most likely unpack the remaining box Amelia had brought in.

Aurora was lucky that NCIS had helped her find a nice three-bed and two-bathroom house she was able to rent on short notice.

Apparently, Gibbs and Director Vance had pulled a few strings to help her find a good place that was a ten minute drive from the Navy base since the NCIS office was also located there. As well as her mom’s house being fifteen minutes away, with another five minute drive from Penny’s house to Goose and Carole’s.

She would sometimes hear the sounds of the naval aircrafts flying above her house, and it made her smile remembering Bradley. And Jake and Peyton obviously, but mostly Bradley. Everything seemed to be settling in place.

“So, when do you start work?” Amelia asks, sitting on the floor and tossing CJ’s ball for him to chase after. The dog ran after the ball as it bounced away, skidding across the hard floors and almost tumbling straight into the wall. 

“On Wednesday,” Aurora recalls from the email she got from her new boss. Since it was a Saturday, her boss had figured Aurora would need a few days to get used to her new surroundings before she started her new desk work. 

Amelia smiles at her big sister from where she sat. She had missed Aurora so much, always looking up to her. When Amelia heard she would be coming home, she was so happy she screamed with excitement.

The two sisters were always close, with Aurora helping out as much as she could, especially when Amelia’s dad had left them. Amelia didn’t really consider her father as a dad, as Maverick had helped fill that void a while ago. But she never said it out loud. 

“Have you heard from Peyton lately?” Amelia questions her, as Aurora pulls out a framed photo of the family. Aurora sighs as she hears the question. She stares longingly at the photo, where it was Maverick, Penny, Amelia, Peyton, and her at their graduation party.

“You know for being the talkative one out of all of us, he sucks at replying to letters,” Aurora responded, setting the frame down on the table next to her. 

“I hope he’s doing alright,” Penny sighs, walking back into the living room.

She knew not to worry too much about her son, but it never got any easier when he went on deployments. She preferred if all her children lived in the same place, even though she encouraged them all to live out their own lives and dreams.

“He’s fine. He has Bradley,” Amelia surmised.

“That’s what I worry about,” Aurora chuckles, as she pulls out the stuffed rooster that was given to her by Bradley when he told her his callsign.

Aurora thinks back to the letter she wrote to both of them. She didn’t tell them about meeting Hangman, or any of her cases. Just that she was usually drowning between paperwork and fieldwork.

Penny and Amelia give each other a look as Aurora stares off into space.

Even though they were both happy that Aurora was home, they noticed she was different, even though they just saw her today. Sometimes she would go into a daze for a bit before returning back to normal. She would flinch and reach for her knife at a loud noise sometimes, occasionally falling silent and biting her cheek, or even fidgeting with her bracelet.

Penny knew a bit of her PTSD to an extent, but not the whole story, where Amelia didn’t know anything. They didn’t say anything though, wanting Aurora to get settled before saying anything. 

“Any big plans tonight?” Penny asks, drawing Aurora out of her mind.

“Probably nothing as fun as what you’re going to ask me,” Aurora smirks at her mom.

“Well, how about a little help tonight at the Hard Deck then since you don’t have to work yet?” Penny suggests. “Amelia is sleeping over at her friend’s house. I had a coworker have something come up and I need someone to help me with the Saturday rush.”

“Sure! I haven’t bartended since college, so I might be a bit slow,” Aurora shrugs.

“No, you’ll be fine,” Penny reassures her. “Plus, you’ve always been good at it.”

“And there’s always hot eye candy to look at too!” Amelia pipes in.

“Amelia!” Penny turns to her youngest daughter. Aurora bursts out laughing at her sister’s antics.

“Not that it matters, you only have eyes for Bradley,” Amelia teases in a singsong voice.

Aurora rolls her eyes, not objecting to her statement, and throws bubble wrap at her. Amelia catches it and tries throwing it back at Aurora and soon they end up throwing a lot of the leftover bubble wrap around, with CJ jumping up and down, joining in the chaos.

Penny chuckles at her daughters, wishing Peyton was there to complete the family.

��

Maverick had just finished his meeting with Cyclone and Warlock as he sat at the bar of the Hard Deck. How was he not only supposed to train this new group of aviators but also work with his godson who had still yet to even talk to him ever since he pulled his papers from the Academy? 

He had already spotted two of the students he was going to be training for the mission at the dartboard, noting that he could already sense the ego of the blonde guy. He was texting Ice about his meeting before he heard a voice speak to him.

“Dad?”

He looked up and saw Aurora had walked in with her purse in hand with a confused look on her face. Maverick turned to her, confused about what Aurora was doing at the bar.

“Sweetie? What are you doing here?”

“I should be asking you the same question. Aren’t you supposed to be in a meeting with your higher-ups about the mission?”

“I finished. Why are you-”

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” a voice says behind the bar. Maverick turns back towards the bar and sees Penny. “Pete.”

“Penny? What are you doing here?” Maverick questions, stunned and confused, until remembering the bar he’s at and laughs to himself. He was so deep in his thoughts, he had forgotten that Penny owned the bar and was most likely working.

“I should ask you the same thing,” Penny answers him. “Hi sweetie, you can put your bag in the office near the kitchen,” Penny tells her daughter. 

“Sure thing, mom.”

“You’re working the bar tonight?” Maverick asks Aurora. 

“Duh, gotta help mom out,” she winks at both of them heading towards the kitchen/back area and leaving her purse inside the office before walking out toward the bar area.

“No way. Artemis?!” a voice calls. Aurora freezes in her tracks and turns to the voice.

In all his glory, stood Jake Seresin in his khaki uniform, standing next to the dartboard. 

“Holy shit! Hangman?” Aurora was stunned.

Last she had heard from him, he was stationed down in Texas, near his family for the time being. They would message each other now and then, as they had truly bonded quite a bit ever since Aurora had saved his life.

He holds out his arms, as Aurora walks quickly towards him and launches herself into his arms. 

“What are you doing here?” Jake questions the woman after pulling back from the hug, holding her within arm's length.

“Reassigned to the office here in San Diego. What about you?”

“Called in for an assignment at Top Gun. They called in the best of the best,” Jake answers proudly. Aurora freezes for a bit. 

Does that mean Bradley would be called back? What about Peyton? No way, she thought. They would have called her. She shakes that thought from her mind, focusing back on the guy in front of her.

“Who’s this?”

Aurora and Jake turn to the friend he was with, the other guy confused as he had never met the woman who had hugged Jake.

“Oh, crap right. Coyote, this is Aurora. Aurora, this is my friend, callsign Coyote,” Jake introduces.

“Lieutenant Javy Machado, at your service ma'am,” Javy says as he puts out his hand for Aurora to shake, to which she does. 

“Aurora Benjamin-Mitchell, nickname Artemis,” she smiles proudly. 

“Wait, hold on. As in THE Artemis? The NCIS agent who is part of the infamous Gibbs team in DC? The team that solved the Port-to-Port killer case?” Javy questions incredulously. He wonders how Jake knew her.

“The one and only,” she proudly smirks at him before shortly being called by Penny to hurry and get behind the bar.

“Sorry for the short introduction. Duty calls,” Aurora winks at both of them before hurrying towards her mom, who was still talking to Maverick.

“Wait. Mitchell? As in?”

“Apollo? Yeah.”

“Holy fuck.”

“Holy fuck is right. C’mon. I’ll tell you all about it while I beat you at pool,” as Jake drags Javy to the pool table.

Aurora was behind the bar and she could hear her mom and dad talking, and she smiled at their interaction. She loved seeing her parents together.

Even though many times they’ve told the kids to never get their hopes up of them getting together, Aurora also held hope for them. She saw the way her dad looked at her and her mom never talked badly about Maverick, even though Maverick would leave constantly. They loved each other too much to ever talk badly about each other.

Aurora was drawn out of her thoughts when her mom rang the bell. She looks at her dad and sees that he has his cell phone on the bar, looking around confused.

“What am I missing?” He asks his daughter. She chuckles and gestures to the sign.

“Disrespect a lady, the Navy, or put your phone on my bar,” he reads.

“And you buy a round,” Penny finished his sentence. Aurora laughs as she scoops ice into a shaker and makes a drink for someone. 

“For everyone?” Maverick looked around, nervous as there were quite a few people in the bar.

“I’m afraid rules are rules,” Penny smirks at him.

“You’re lucky it’s early dad,” Aurora chuckles as she leaves to serve the drink. 

Aurora smiles as she hands the drink to a lady, taking her card to open a tab for her. She was getting into the groove of things behind the bar with her mom.

She used to bartend a bit in college before her NCIS internship in order to earn a bit of money on the weekend. It helped her out a lot during an undercover case, as well as when her mom purchased the Hard Deck. 

“What do we have here?” Aurora hears Jake call out from across the bar. She turns and glances at who he’s talking about, seeing a woman and two other men wearing their khaki uniforms enter into the bar.

“If it ain’t Phoenix!” Jake smiles at the woman who had stopped in front of him. “And here I thought we were special, Coyote.”

Aurora rolls her eyes at Jake’s ego literally oozing out from him, as she turns to reach the beer tap next to her, filling a drink for someone. A bit goes by and she hears Jake call for her.

“Artemis, my dear.”

Aurora rolls her eyes as she turns to him.

“What do you want, Hangman?” 

“I’ll have four more on the old timer,” Jake says, as he makes eye contact with Maverick.

Jake didn’t know who he was, which made Aurora want to laugh, but didn’t say anything about it.

“Say please,” she teases.

He rolls her eyes as her mom comes up right behind her.

“I got it, can you get some glasses in the back for me? And fill up the kegs as well,” Penny tells her.

“Sure, mom.”

“Mom?” Jake asks, as Aurora was about to leave. She winks at him, as she rushes to go to the kitchen, but before she does, she goes up to the jukebox and puts on the song “Tramp.”

It was a song Bradley had added to the Spotify playlist that he, Aurora, and Peyton shared, and it reminded her of him. She smiles as it comes on, before running to the back. 

Outside, Bradley had just parked the Bronco outside the Hard Deck and turned to Peyton. 

“You ready?”

“Hell yeah.”

Together, they both exit the car and strut into the Hard Deck with their sunglasses on. Both of them decided to forego their khaki uniform and wear comfortable clothes instead.

“Ha! Someone’s playing your song Rooster,” Peyton chuckles, as Bradley rolls his eyes, not that Peyton could see it.

“Bradshaw! Mitchell! Is that you?”

Penny and Maverick turn to see the two standing near the Hard Deck doorway, shocked. Maverick knew Bradley was going to be part of the mission, but he didn’t know about his son being stateside. Penny didn’t know either of them would be back. 

Bradley and Peyton walk up to Natasha. 

“This is how I found out you both are stateside?”

“We just thought we’d surprise you,” Peyton smirks, taking off his sunglasses and tucking them into his shirt pocket.

Bradley chuckles at his best friend’s remark, but then grunts in pain as Natasha hits him with the pool stick as she hits her ball into the pocket.

“I guess I surprised you back,” Natasha replies as Bradley looks up. 

“It’s good to see you.”

“Good to see you too.”

Bradley pats her shoulder before standing up to say hello to everyone else. Peyton hugs Natasha before greeting Mickey, who was also someone he had met during his time at the Naval Academy.

“Here you go,” Penny says, before handing over the beers to Jake.

“Thank you,” he genuinely says to Penny, now that he also realized that Penny is Aurora and Peyton’s mom.

“Much appreciated Pops,” Jake says to Maverick, winking at him before heading to the jukebox. 

Maverick shakes his head going back to nursing his drink. 

Aurora, still in the back, was bobbing to the faint music as she moved a few of the empty kegs so she was able to change the hose to the full kegs. The full kegs were always heavy to move, so she knew this would take a while. 

The jukebox changes to the song Jake had put on, “Slow Ride,” and Aurora in the back chuckles knowing that it was him that put the song on. Jake soon walks back to the pool table and spots Bradley Bradshaw.

“Bradshaw, as I live and breathe,” Jake smirks as he hands the beers to Coyote and faces him. He takes the pool stick from Bob as he lines up to take a shot.

“Hangman, you look…good,” Bradley admits before giving a quick glance to Peyton next to him, to which Peyton, who was sitting on a bar stool, kicks him.

“Well, I am good Rooster,” Jake says as he shoots the ball into the pocket. “I’m very good. In fact, I am too good to be true.” 

He stands up and sees Peyton and tries to keep cool. “Apollo, still attached to Bradshaw's hip I see.”

“Hangman, still vying for attention I see,” Peyton retorts back.

“So,” Payback interrupts the two. “Anybody know what this special detachment is about?”

“Well, a mission’s a mission. They don’t confront me” Jake replies.

Bradley had to hold in a chuckle before turning to Peyton, who was trying his hardest not to let out a groan, as Peyton had repeated those exact words to Bradley that day. 

“What I want to know is,” Jake continues, “Who’s gonna be team leader?”

The pool balls clatter. 

“And which one of y’all has what it takes, to follow me.”

Bradley was over Jake’s ego, so he decided to say something back.

“Hangman, the only place you’ll lead anyone is an early grave.”

It quiets around them, besides the music playing in the background, while you can hear Mickey let out a small laugh. Peyton smacks Bradley’s arm, while even Natasha looks at Bradley with a little disbelief. 

Jake smirks at Bradley as he makes his way in front of Bradley, passing by Payback and Phoenix. 

“Well, anyone who follows you is just gonna, run out of fuel,” Jake smirks as he sits on the edge of the pool table. Bradley smirks at him, keeping eye contact and never backing down.

“But that’s just you, ain’t it Rooster,” Jake sighs as he stands up to eye Bradley, chest to chest.

“You’re snug on that perch, waiting for just the right moment, that never comes,” Jake whispers to him.

Not only did Jake mean in the sense of Bradley’s flying skill, but also meaning Bradley’s waiting for Aurora. Jake wondered how long Aurora would wait for him if Bradley would ever make a move. Aurora would brush it off whenever they talked about it via letters and texts.

Him and Bradley stand chest to chest, neither backing down. “Slow Ride” continues playing in the background.

“I love this song,” Jake grins, as he walks away and leaves Bradley, pondering what Jake had said. Natasha walks up to Bradley, who both were watching him walk away towards the bar.

“Well, he hasn’t changed,” Nat says.

“Nope, sure hasn’t,” Bradley looks at Nat and they both just roll their eyes at Jake.

“So am I the only one who felt the sexual tension, or…?” Peyton speaks up.

Bradley swats at him, and they both laugh it off. Bradley sits next to Peyton, both watching the next pool game happen, their seats against a pillar blocking the bar.

Aurora walks back out of the area, and lugs the box of clean glasses from the kitchen, to the bar. 

“Need help there, hon?” Penny asks her, moving out of the way so Aurora could set the box down.

“No, I’m fine. I’ll set them down over there on the other side of the bar.”

Aurora sets down the box as she huffs to take a breather.

“You look like you were struggling for a bit there.”

Aurora looks up and sees Jake leaning against the bar, smirking at her.

“You think you can do better?”

“Oh, I know I can,” Jake teasingly winks at her as she laughs.

She fiddles with her bracelet, and Jake realizes how much Aurora was still struggling with her PTSD and anxiety. He gave her a worried look, to which Aurora shook her head, not wanting to talk about it.

“Need another beer?” Aurora asks.

“Please.”

Nat looks back over to Jake and sees him flirting with a woman, whom she felt she recognized, but couldn’t quite place her.

“Hey, who’s Hangman flirting with? She looks familiar.”

Mickey, Bob, and Payback look to where Nat was gesturing towards. 

“Oh, that poor girl. She must be a new bartender,” Mickey assumes.

“She’s pretty cute though,” Payback admits.

Coyote looks over to where they were looking, laughs to himself, and takes a glance at Peyton and Bradley who still had yet to look at Jake and Aurora. 

“Wait, who?” Peyton was confused, feeling a bit jealous, but trying not to show it. 

“Look, over there,” Bob says as he points behind Bradley and Peyton, towards the bar.

Peyton and Bradley both get out of their seats to look at Jake and this so-called new bartender and they froze.

Aurora and Jake were laughing as Aurora handed him a beer.

Peyton was the first to react as he got up and walked past Nat, Bob, and Mickey who were staring at the two.

“Wait, Apollo, what are you-? Rooster? Where the hell are you two going?” Natasha was confused at their sudden urgency.

Bradley trails behind Peyton, knowing it was best to let the twins have their own reunion first. 

Peyton walked faster towards the bar. Soon he could hear his sister and Jake talking until he spoke up.

“Rory.”

She froze and looked over Jake’s shoulder, gasping.

“Pey?” 

She exited the bar area and ran straight into her brother’s arm, tearfully wrapping her arms around him. It had been about 3 years since they last saw each other, the longest they had been away from each other.

Jake smiles at the two, before leaving to go back to the pool table to give them space for their reunion.

“What are you doing here?” They both asked at the same time before laughing and looking into each other’s eyes.

Peyton examines his little sister, who didn’t look so little anymore. Her dark brown hair now had faded blonde tips, Peyton guessed from when she had dyed it and just decided to let them grow out.

Aurora smiles as she puts her hand on her brother’s cheek. She could feel the stubble underneath her hand. Peyton and Aurora, as different as they are, were the spitting image of each other, especially now that they had grown up. 

“Wait, if you’re here then…” Aurora trails off before looking over Peyton’s shoulder, tears filling her eyes.

There stood her best friend, all grown up. Bradley was not the lanky boy she had left those years ago. He had filled out, and had a mustache just like his father. She would poke fun at it later, but all she could do is take him in.

Bradley couldn’t believe the girl he was just thinking about was finally right in front of him again. He had to be dreaming. It wasn’t until Aurora tore herself from Peyton and started running towards him did he finally realize this was reality.

He took her into his arms, lifting her up and swinging her into a little spin, as she gripped onto him tightly, giggling and burying her face into his neck.

He stopped after a few turns, setting her down, before taking a good look at her, cupping her face in his right hand, and leaving his left hand on her waist. Aurora stares at the man in front, her heart beating fast, finally being back in the presence of her best friend. 

“Am I dreaming? You’re actually here?” Bradley wistfully asks her, still not believing Aurora was right in front of him.

Aurora smirks as she keeps her hands around his neck, even with the height difference, she was on her tippy toes to help reach around his neck.

“Dream of me often, Bradshaw?”

Bradley chuckles in disbelief. He gives Aurora a kiss on her forehead before replying.

“Every hour, every minute, every second that I breathe princess,” he whispers with his raspy voice into her hair.

Aurora’s breath hitches at the nickname. It had been so long since she had heard him say that. She would never get enough of Bradley calling her nicknames.

Her heart was full of love, as Peyton approached the two, grouping all of them into a hug. 

The trio was back together as they held each other tightly, before letting go. 

“What are you doing here, Ro? Aren’t you supposed to be back in Washington DC?” Peyton asks her.

“I was reassigned to the San Diego NCIS office after uh…after realizing I wanted to come home, especially for Amelia and mom,” Aurora changes her answer quickly, remembering she had yet to tell them about her PTSD. Technically it was the truth, just half the truth.

Aurora then realizes that the two idiots in front of her didn’t even call her to let her know that they were both stateside.

“And you two! When were you both going to tell me you were stateside?” She accuses the two. 

Bradley and Peyton suddenly both looked interested at their surroundings, refusing to look at Aurora.

Peyton soon spots his mom and his dad across the bar. He sighs, relieved that he found a way out.

“Oh my gosh, is that mom and dad?” Peyton interrupts Aurora mid-rant of telling them off for not letting her know they’d be in San Diego. “I better go say hi to them!”

Immediately, he’d taken his way out and left to go say hi to their parents.

“Peyton, get back here!” Aurora follows her twin. Peyton tries not to run into people as he tries to escape his sister’s wrath. 

Bradley chuckles, realizing how much he missed the twin’s antics before following them, knowing he also had to say hi to Penny and Maverick.

As much as he wanted to avoid Maverick, he knew his dad would be mad at him for not saying hi to his godfather. 

“Oh, my baby boy!” Penny hugs Peyton tightly, just as Aurora caught up to him. Aurora rolls her eyes, as Peyton sighs, realizing he had safely escaped her fury. For now at least.

“I’m not done with him yet, mom!” Aurora hisses at Peyton.

“Now, now little star. You and your brother behave while you’re in the bar. Don’t make me ring the bell.”

“For what?!” both the twins exclaimed.

“For Peyton, disrespecting a lady. For Aurora, disrespecting the Navy.” Penny shrugs, with a mischievous grin.

Both the twins start to protest until Penny reaches for the bell, about to ring it. They stopped arguing, realizing it was best not to piss off their mom.

“That’s better. Oh, Bradley! It’s good to see you as well, hon!” Penny smiles, as she reaches to give Bradley a hug. Peyton and Aurora roll their eyes, knowing the Bradshaw boy was well-admired by Penny. Peyton turns to give his dad a hug.

Aurora stares at Bradley, realizing how much Bradley looked different from a few years ago. His biceps were bulging from the gaudy Hawaiian shirt he wore, and she could feel his chest when they hugged.

Realizing she was still staring, Aurora turned to join Penny behind the bar again, an attempt to calm the blush that was threatening to show on her face. She fanned herself a bit, feeling hot all of a sudden. Aurora couldn’t believe she was ogling at Bradley so outwardly.

“How long are you two here for?” Penny asks both the boys after Bradley had given Maverick a nod, not wanting to interact with him much more beyond that.

“Not sure yet, we’ll know after we find out what our assignment is tomorrow,” Peyton answers his mom.

“Where are you two staying?” Maverick questions both of them, wondering if they were staying on base.

“Mom and dad said we could stay at their house until they come back next week,” Bradley answers, giving a side glance to Maverick, before settling his eyes on Aurora.

Staring at her, he was really seeing how much she had changed since the last time they’d seen each other. He couldn’t help but admire Aurora, watching as she moved about behind the bar, helping her mother. He was full-on ogling her, and as soon as Peyton noticed this, he elbowed Bradley to stop. 

“Wait, I have two spare bedrooms at my place! Just move in with me!” Aurora suggests. 

“Are you sure? We don’t want to be a bother,” Bradley was hesitant and gave Peyton a glance. 

Peyton smiles, as he wouldn't mind sharing a house with his two favorite people. Plus, it would get Peyton more opportunity to get Bradley and Aurora together. He was already plotting out a scheme in his head. 

“Of course! You’d have to share a bathroom though. Oh and I have CJ, so I hope you don’t mind.”

Bradley’s heart sank. Who was CJ? Was it her boyfriend? 

“CJ?” Peyton speaks up for both of them, as they were confused at who Aurora was talking about.

“Oh, yeah, CJ! My emotional support puppy!” Aurora chuckles, realizing what it had sounded like at first, not noticing Bradley’s reaction.

Bradley lets out a sigh. Okay, so not a boyfriend. 

“Wait? Why did you name your dog CJ?” Bradley wonders. Penny laughs, as she hands someone a drink.

“She won’t tell anyone else, but whatever it was, she told Amelia and they laughed for like ten minutes straight.” 

“Well, if you’re okay with it. We’d love to be your two new roommates!” Peyton smiles as Bradley nods along with his statement.

“Wonderful. We’ll settle everything tomorrow then,” Aurora smiles at both of them.

They nod as they realize that work was really starting to pick up for Penny and Aurora at the bar. Bradley and Peyton decide to head back to the pool table where some of the other newcomer aviators had joined the rest. Aurora smiles before giving them a wave.

Before the evening rush could get any worse, Maverick decided to ask Penny to close out his tab for the day. Penny leaves to close it, while Maverick talks to his daughter for a bit. He started noticing Aurora getting a bit apprehensive, chewing her inner cheek.

Reaching out his hand, Maverick offered it to Aurora to ground herself with. Glancing over, there was little hesitation before taking it and slowly taking a few deep breaths. Once calmed enough, she whispered her thanks to him before releasing the grasp.

Penny then comes back with news about his card. 

“It’s been declined,” Penny states. Maverick looks at her in disbelief while Aurora arches a brow in amusement.

“You’re kidding?” Maverick sputters.

Penny shakes her head. Maverick reaches for his wallet, and pulls out a few bills. Glancing at the receipt Penny held in her hand, Aurora’s eyes went wide at seeing the total.

“How about-?”

“That’s not gonna cover it,” Penny shows him the paper. Maverick chokes at the sight and awkwardly chuckles.

“Uh, I’ll come by tomorrow and bring you the cash.”

“I’m afraid rules are rules, Pete,” Penny says as she rings the bell. The crowd cheers at the sound as someone yells overboard.

Aurora groans, feeling second-hand embarrassment that her dad was getting kicked out of the bar, and also the fact her mom had rung the bell.

“Overboard, overboard!” 

Jake, Javy, and Reuben show up behind him. Jake smirks at Maverick, before the three boys lift him out of his seat to throw him out of the bar.

Aurora waves her dad goodbye, as she knew he could handle himself. She wished she could be in the room on Monday when Jake found out that not only did he throw out his instructor for their mission, but Aurora and Peyton’s dad as well. 

“Great to see you, Pete!” Penny waves at Pete being carried away. Aurora uses the rag that was on her shoulder to whack her mom for her stunts. Penny smiles, realizing how much she had actually missed Maverick.

The jukebox soon stops working, and the crowd groans at the lack of music.

Penny sees the Bradshaw boy, followed by her son going towards the bar, before realizing that they had been the ones to unplug the jukebox.

She takes a glance at her daughter who was starting to get a bit restless. Penny knew it wasn’t because she was tired, but the crowd was getting a bit much for her, as Aurora started fiddling with her bracelet again. 

Penny looks through the crowd and sees Bradley and Peyton walk their way towards the two.

“Hey Mama Pen, do you think Aurora can go on her break?” Bradley asks her with a pleading face.

Penny laughs. “She’s done for the night actually, take her for me, will ya Bradshaw?”

“Gladly!” Bradley smiles. Aurora turns upon hearing this.

“Are you sure, mom? I can finish up here-”

“Nonsense, Jimmy and I have it from here. Now go, before I change my mind.” Penny reassures her daughter. She gives Aurora a quick kiss on the cheek before heading to the other side of the bar.

Aurora smiles before putting her rag down, and stepping away from the bar. Bradley grins at her exiting the bar area, before lifting her over his shoulder.

“B! Put me down!”

“You’re coming with us, sweetheart.” Bradley smiles, as Peyton pats his sister’s back before they traipse towards the piano.

Bradley sets her down on the piano bench, while Peyton stands next to her, as Bradley sits on the other side of the bench. He smiles at Aurora before showing off his piano skills, playing a little jazz melody, knowing Aurora was a sucker for jazz. She rolls her eyes, as Peyton leans on her.

Soon a few people joins them.

Nat pats Bradley on the shoulder before turning to introduce herself to the girl sitting next to him.

“I’m Natasha Trace, callsign Phoenix.”

“Aurora Benjamin-Mitchell,” Aurora smiles at the woman shaking her hand.

Nat lights up at the name. No wonder she looked familiar to her. She was the girl in the photo Bradley had in his cockpit every time he flew. Peyton and Bradley always talked about her whenever they had the chance.

They were interrupted as Mickey, Reuben, and Bob came to introduce themselves to the girl.

“Wait, you’re Artemis, right? Apollo’s sister?” Payback asks, as Bradley continues riffing on the piano.

“Unfortunately,” she sighs as Peyton hits her arm.

“Holy crap. Is it true you saved Hangman from a killer?” Mickey asks. Peyton and Bradley turn to Mickey confused. 

“What?!”

“I don’t know, ask him yourself,” Aurora gestures to Jake and Javy who were walking over to join the group. Bradley huffs, scooting closer to Aurora, feeling a bit threatened by Jake's and Aurora’s friendship, knowing he would ask her about it later. 

“Yo, Hangman. Is it true Artemis saved you from a killer?” Mickey repeats the question to Jake when they get closer. Jake laughs and looks at Aurora.

He takes a sip of his beer before nodding at the question. “She brought a knife to a gunfight,” he answers. They all gasp as Aurora rolls her eyes.

“You’re leaving out details,” Aurora says.

“Holy damn, you’re badass. How are you Apollo’s sister?” Natasha wonders out loud.

“Hey!” Peyton protests.

They all laugh. Aurora turns to Bradley who has gone silent, still playing a bit on the piano. She smiles softly before putting her hand on his thigh. He looks up from his hands, meeting her gaze. 

“Great balls of fire?” She asks him.

Bradley smirks. “Only if you sing it with me, princess.”

Aurora nods, and soon Bradley starts off the song.

You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain

Too much love drives a man insane

You broke my will, but what a thrill

Bradley looks at Aurora and Peyton before they join in with him singing.

Goodness, gracious, great balls of fire!

Everyone around them starts singing along, and soon the whole bar starts cheering and singing along as well. 

Outside, Maverick watches all of this happen from outside. He gets flashbacks of him and Goose singing the exact same song, with Bradley and Aurora on top of the piano, and Peyton on Goose’s lap.

He remembers how he almost lost Goose, and how this mission could change almost everything. Maverick wonders if Bradley was ready for the mission, and if he didn’t choose Bradley to fly, what would happen to their relationship? Bradley would never forgive him.

Maverick then looks at his son and daughter and sees their smiles. He hadn’t seen Peyton in a long time, but Maverick was just happy to see Aurora smile since they had left Washington DC. He walks away, leaving them to enjoy their moment. 

Kiss me, baby.

Bradley gestures his head for Aurora to give him a kiss on the cheek, to which Aurora smacks her hands on her lips and uses the hand to push Bradley’s cheek away. Peyton chuckles as Bradley fake pouts at Aurora for not giving him a kiss, but continues on singing. 

Ooh, that feels good, baby

Hold me, baby

I wanna love you like a lover should

You're fine, you're so kind

I'ma tell the world that you're mine, mine, mine, mine

Aurora glances to see Jake nodding along to the song, who was looking at Peyton. Peyton seemed to actively refuse to look his way. Making a mental note of that, she knew she would have to ask her twin about this later.

For now though, she decided she was going to take in this moment, watching the people around her play off of Bradley’s energy.

Kiss me, baby.

Aurora gives Bradley a kiss on the cheek to which he grins and glances at Aurora. 

Ooh, that feels good.

Bradley gives a little fake shudder, as Aurora laughs at his action, singing until they end the song.

Goodness, gracious, great balls of fire!

Everyone in the bar cheers for Bradley. He stands up to give a little dance and Aurora shakes her head and laughs.

“Rooster! Rooster!”

Aurora stands up and claps along with everyone as she watches Bradley twirl and give a few more dance moves. Finishing his dance break, Bradley smiled at the scene around him. He glances at Aurora who was standing next to Peyton after the song before dragging the twins into a tight hug.

For now, everything felt right. Not worrying about the past or future, and instead living in the present with each other. 

- - -

If you would like to be on the taglist or removed, please let me know! 

Taglist:  

@callsignmeiga

@sqrlgrl22

@luckyladycreator2 

@purplevortexx

@my-obsession-spn

@oxxolovemelikeyoudooxxo

@shanimallina87

@hisredheadedgoddess28

—

Disclaimer: This story is fictitious. All works are written by me and only posted here. Please do not copy, repost, or plagiarize on any other platform without my permission!

[mimiadraws]

Hi Amelia!! just wanna say I am a big fan of your comic hard lacquer,, it's got cool ladies in it and i love them (robin is so cute like oh my god) :))) but the question remains for me, when will we see more of those cool ladies! (what days does hard lacquer update/is there a set-in-stone schedule aghjdkgshj) love your work and keep it up!!

Aw thank you so much, I’m so glad you’re enjoying it! The official website for Hard Lacquer updates on Wednesdays (just posted two new pages :^)

[avalentina]

Satellite: A Harry Styles Song Fic - Sneaky

A/N: made an actual post with the sneaky so I can link it on my masterlist! -Ava

"Darling, there are some perks to being a Baroness, although you are technically in line for the throne, as am I."

"Tell me you're not being serious right now, mother, I'm not a princess, I'm a lawyer who dabbles in songwriting with her boyfriend, just sang a song with him onstage at Coachella and lives a quietish life in Hampstead.

"Relax, you are not a princess, you're of royal blood, there's quite a difference. Believe it or not, there are a few hundred commoners in London who are of royal blood, most just are not aware. And it was my line that was of royal blood, so your father saw it as a way to increase his status. I was also not given a choice in my marriage, but unlike you I lacked the courage to do something about it for myself and if you are the result of that then I am very happy I went along with it."

"Thank you mother."

"Someday I hope to hear you call me mum once again, but until then I am just happy to speak to you."

"I would like that too, now for dinner next week, Wednesday or Thursday?" You reply and ask.

Let me speak with Lorraine and Fitzwilliam, and then I'll have a memo sent to you at your office, via your assistant, Amelia isn't it?"

"She prefers Mia, and she's not my assistant, but she is in my department. I don't keep an assistant, I prefer to manage it all myself."

"Well I will have it go to Mia then just to avoid violating the contact order."

"That won't be necessary, I'll have it fixed before the end of the day."

Over the next hour you asked your mother all the tough questions that you had been waiting years to ask and she answered every single one of them in detail, she told you more about Fitzwilliam, and how her and Lorraine are quite friendly. Having chosen to make light of the situation your father had put them both in. When you're getting ready to head out you pause to look at your mother, she too is standing and without letting your head convince you otherwise, you give her a quick, polite, appropriate hug.

"Thank you Mum, thank you for this, for everything we discussed today. I'll be waiting for your letter or call.” You say as the two of you walk out.

When you return home, H is waiting by the door to greet you like a lovesick puppy. The wet sloppy kiss you receive also reminds you of a puppy, of which you have two that are also begging for your attention and happy to have you home.

“I Can See You’re Lonely Down There”

It’s Thursday, the day you and Harry are having dinner with your mum, half-brother, and his mum. If all goes well H wants to do another dinner next week with the addition of his mum and his sister Gemma, maybe even invite his father.

Your nerves are starting to get the better of you, you know that you and H still have secrets between you, you especially, there are so many things that happened in your five years away from him that haunt you to this very day. Some of them you’re a little surprised he doesn’t seem to know about, but then again, your father had it buried in a snap of his fingers.

But tonight is about looking forward not dwelling in the past. Tonight is about the bond blood can create, reuniting as an albeit slightly dysfunctional family, but still a family. You’re going back to your roots and sharing them with the man you love.

“Morning Lovie,” H says as he brings you breakfast in bed this morning. He made pancakes, but not just any pancakes, these pancakes are stuffed with cheesecake, and are drizzled in chocolate and caramel sauce. You smile brightly at the gesture and the two of you spend the next hour cuddling and enjoying the delicious food. Once it’s gone you turn to H, just wanna change and then I’ll meet you down in the kitchen.

You knew this would take most of the day, you two have a lot to make, and cooking in the kitchen together with H is one of your favorite things to do. He wears skimpy shorts, no shirt, a pair of socks so he dance around the kitchen while cooking, and a damned claw clip holding back his messy curls. The damned clip gets you soaked every time but you wouldn’t change a thing, being horny and desperate just up the level of difficulty and amount of concentration needed to properly execute the recipe and you love the pressure just like you love a challenge, sides, H always fixes it. Today you decided to tease him a bit by wearing a y/f/c (your favorite color) bra and panty set, the set itself is basic and plain, but when you put on your white crochet mini over it you know it will drive him crazy, especially when you add the rose gold choker that has the letters ‘H⬪S’ in the middle. You also stick with socks only on your feet so you can dance around with H, knowing he’d pull you around regardless,

When you enter the kitchen, in addition to his standard cooking fit, he added the pink frilly apron you got him for his birthday the first year you were together. When you see how he also used a pink claw clip you can’t help but giggle which alerts Harry to your presence, not that he didn’t know you were there because he did, but he allowed himself to look at you after the giggle.

“Oh, fuck me,” he groaned seeing what you were wearing. “How am I supposed to cook when you look like that.” he adds, his eyes darkening with lust.

“Now you know how I feel watching you dance around the kitchen in skimpy shorts, sometimes just your briefs, without a shirt, a towel over your shoulder, and your hair in of those damned clips that make me fucking swoon, you dolt.” you counter and he just smirks.

“Ya know, it does feel like a brief kinda day,” he comments and slips his shorts off, right in front of you, slow and sensual. Man has your eyes glued to his gorgeous package.

“Is that the game we’re playing H?” you ask and even the score by removing your bra and panties, but leaving the cover on.

“Let’s start cooking before I end up fucking you on the cleaned and sanitized counters.” You bite back a moan and nod your head.

“Words, lovie.”

“Oh for fucks sake, just fuck me out of my misery H, please, we can re-clean them and still have enough time to do everything, plus have time for our oomph.” You are cut off by H melding his lips with yours and demanding access to your mouth. He pulls the tie on the front of the cover free and gives both of your ass cheeks a good slap before completely removing the cover.

“Open,” he demands, one you eagerly comply with, especially because you can tell he is feeling very much his dominant, alpha male self today. He spits directly onto your tongue, before resealing his lips with yours, his tongue spreading it all over the inside of your mouth. Pulling back just a bit, he smirks before running a single finger through your dripping folds, he brings it back up and smears it all over your lips before kissing them clean. Then he goes back for more, but this time he has you suck yourself off of his finger, repeating the last one again, only with two fingers and licking them clean himself. All while somehow keeping his eyes locked on yours, and yours locked on his, unable to look away even if you wanted to.

“S’ fucking delicious, baby, could eat you all fucking day for the rest of my entire fucking life and still not have enough.” You moan at his words and grip the sides of his apron to pull him flush against you. His hands return to your ass, then a bit lower where he slaps so you know to jump.

“Y’ve got me so fucking whipped I can’t even go 24 hours without fucking your tight, pretty little cunt.” his words are like pouring gasoline on a bonfire in the middle of a fucking forest, igniting every nerve in your body, to the point where it moves of its own volition, grinding your bare, drenched cunt against his brief covered cock, staining them with your arousal.

“Fucking drenching my cock and its not even out yet doll, fucks.” he says, his voice almost a moan.

“OH GOD, please H, please just split me in fucking half with your cock, can’t wait anymore.” You cry out, on the verge of an orgasm.

“Gonna come already baby, ‘ve barely touched your cunt.”

“DON”T FUCKING CARE H, JUST FUCK ME, WANNA COME SO BAD!” you whine and plead and beg. “PLEASE! FUCKING PLEASE H!” before your body even has time to register, his briefs are off and his cock is pressing at your entrance waiting for you to tip over that blissful edge before he slides in.

He knows your tight, you’re always fucking tight, but he also knows you like the initial bit of pain. He ruts once, twice, thrice, never entering you just rubbing against you and giving your ass cheeks a nice, rough pinch on each rut. That was all it took to tip the scales and send you tumbling over. Knowing he can build up a nice gush, he pinches at your clit before rubbing over your slit, left and right, only using two fingers, but moving them faster and faster. Just until he feels you stop pulsing with aftershocks from your orgasm and places his tip against you once again before finally slamming himself forward, giving you that rough first thrust which has you letting out a surprised yelp and a pleasured scream.

“YES! FUCK H!” you scream and pant, H never letting his pace or force falter. A quick glance to his face shows his gorgeous green irises gone, swallowed by his dark desire, and you know he’s chasing his own orgasm, still paying the slightest bit of attention to you, as he wants you to squirt all over his cock when he comes, he knows exactly how to get you there, and exactly how to time it with him, He knows your body better than he knows where the nearest Gucci store is. Better than he knows even his own fucking body. He can play yours like a fine tuned guitar, which string to pluck, when and where to strum, and what to press on when. So even though 99% of him is a primal, savage beast right now, there is always part of him focused completely on you. And when he slides against that spongey part inside you, over and over again, you know you’re done for, you know what’s going to happen, and he knows it too, knowing what he can do to you, how well he can play your body has his balls tightening, ready to explode, his thrusts falling out of rhythm, his movements becoming sloppier and more erratic, and as soon he feels that first bit of release, he pinches your clit again and takes you over with him. Gushing all over his cock, all over the counter and floor, turning the once clean kitchen into a sticky sexy mess. When you’ve both emerged from your orgasmic hazes, he can’t help but laugh and lick you clean as best as he can before grabbing a towel and helping you off the counter.

“Oopsies.” You say with your most innocent smile, which has him laughing again and the sound of his laughter is so contagious you can’t help but laugh with him.

“Don’t You Know That I Am Right Here”

After recleaning the entire kitchen(a deep, deep clean), changing out of your sticky clothes, and one last kiss, you and H actually get to work prepping dinner, he starts on the garlic bread, while you make the strawberry gelato so it can get into the freezer in time. Then you shift your focus to the alfredo sauce, and the baked chicken seasoned only with salt, pepper, a bit garlic, and a hint of onion.

When H finishes the garlic bread and gets it into the proofing drawer in your kitchen, he goes to town on the pasta. The two of you ended up deciding on linguine rather than fettuccine, you just like the way it cooks a little bit better. When the pasta is ready to cook he pulls the cheesy meatballs you prepped the previous day out of the fridge and rolls them in the seasoning you use, so they are ready for you to pan fry. Finally he turns his attention to hunting down some limoncello and one of his italian red wines that he thinks your mother will like. In addition to the sparkling white grape juice the two of you picked out for your half-brother.

With Loves

-Ava

[richincolor]

We've got a packed week with seven new releases on our calendar! Which ones are on your TBR list?

The HarperCollins Union has been striking since 10 November 2022. Please consider supporting the strike by purchasing books through the union's Bookshop account or by donating to the strike fund.

NerdCrush by Alisha Emrich Running Press Kids

Ramona Lambert is a typical shy, artistic sixteen-year-old. She has a best friend whom she’s known since they were in diapers; parents who love her; a love for cosplay; and a crush on the cute boy in her class.

The only problem? Her best friend moved away; her parents don't quite understand her love of cosplay; and she is pretty sure her crush has no idea she exists.

To escape her troubles, Ramona turns to cosplay and her original character, Rel, who gives her the confidence and freedom that she lacks in real life. Embracing this confidence, she decides to strike up an email conversation with her crush, Caleb Wolfe, from her cosplay account in the hopes getting to know him . . . and maybe win his heart. Then as Caleb and Ramona are swept up in their emails back and forth to each other, and Ramona falls even harder as he opens up about his hopes, insecurities, and his own geeky loves. However, as Caleb starts to grow closer and closer to Rel, he also strikes up a friendship with Ramona, who knows she can't keep the truth about Rel from Caleb but isn't sure she is ready to risk losing him. With an important cosplay convention coming up and the anxiety of her double-life weighing on her, Ramona has to decide if she’ll hide behind her cosplay character forever or take the chance and let Caleb see the real her--because he might actually like her for who she is. -- Cover image and summary via Goodreads

Wildblood by Lauren Blackwood Wednesday Books

Eighteen-year-old Victoria is a Wildblood. Kidnapped at the age of six and manipulated by the Exotic Lands Touring Company, she’s worked as a tour guide ever since with a team of fellow Wildbloods who take turns using their magic to protect travelers in a Jamaican jungle teeming with ghostly monsters.

When the boss denies Victoria an earned promotion to team leader in favor of Dean, her backstabbing ex, she’s determined to prove herself. Her magic may be the most powerful on the team, but she’s not the image the boss wants to send their new client, Thorn, a renowned goldminer determined to reach an untouched gold supply deep in the jungle.

Thorn is everything Victoria isn't - confident, impossibly kind, and so handsome he leaves her speechless. And when he entrusts the mission to her, kindness turns to mutual respect, turns to affection, turns to love. But the jungle is treacherous, and between hypnotic river spirits, soul-devouring women that shed their skin like snakes, and her ex out for revenge, Victoria has to decide - is promotion at a corrupt company really what she wants? -- Cover image and summary via Goodreads

Going Dark by Melissa de la Cruz Union Square Co.

#WhereisAmeliaAshley

The Influencer Amelia Ashley shares everything with her followers – her favorite hole-in-the-wall restaurants, her best fashion tips, and her European trip-of-a-lifetime with her hot boyfriend.

The Boyfriend Josh has no choice but to return home without Amelia after she abandons him in Rome. He has no clue where she went or how her blood got in his suitcase. Why won’t anyone believe him?

The Hacker To Harper Delgado, Amelia Ashley is just another missing white girl whipping up a media frenzy. But with each digital knot she untangles about the influencer, Harper wonders: who is Amelia Ashley?

The Other Girl Two years ago, another girl went missing, one who never made headlines or had a trending hashtag.

The Truth Amelia’s disappearance has captured the world’s attention. What comes next? Watch this space…

Told through a mixture of social media posts, diary entries, and firsthand accounts, Going Dark is a gripping, suspenseful thriller about all the missing girls who fall off the radar, perfect for true crime fans and readers of One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus.

These Infinite Threads (This Woven Kingdom, #2) by Tahereh Mafi HarperCollins

(The HarperCollins Union has been striking since 10 November 2022. Please consider supporting the strike by purchasing books through the union's Bookshop account or by donating to the strike fund.)

Alizeh is the heir to the Jinn throne and fulfills a long-foretold prophecy of a Jinn sovereign destined to free her people from the half-lives they’ve been forced to live under the rule of humans.

Kamran is the heir to the human throne, and he’s being pressured to marry before he becomes king. When he falls in love with Alizeh and subsequently learns her true identity, he must question everything he’s been taught about Jinn and their future in his kingdom.

These Infinite Threads picks up at the explosive cliff-hanger ending of the New York Times bestselling novel This Woven Kingdom, and is perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo, Tomi Adeyemi, and Sabaa Tahir. -- Cover image and summary via Goodreads

The Long Run by James Acker Inkyard Press

(The HarperCollins Union has been striking since 10 November 2022. Please consider supporting the strike by purchasing books through the union's Bookshop account or by donating to the strike fund.)

Sebastian Villeda is over it. Over his rep. Over his bros. Over being "Bash the Flash," fastest sprinter in South Jersey. His dad is gone, his mom is dead, and his stepfather is clueless. Bash has no idea what he wants out of life. Until he meets Sandro.

Sandro Miceli is too nice for his own good. The middle child in an always-growing, always-screaming Italian family, Sandro walks around on a broken foot to not bother his busy parents. All he wants is to get out and never look back.

When fate—in the form of a party that gets busted—brings these two very different boys together, neither of them could’ve predicted finding a love that they’d risk everything for… -- Cover image and summary via Goodreads

This Time It's Real by Ann Liang Scholastic

When seventeen-year-old Eliza Lin’s essay about meeting the love of her life unexpectedly goes viral, her entire life changes overnight. Now she has the approval of her classmates at her new international school in Beijing, a career-launching internship opportunity at her favorite magazine…and a massive secret to keep.

Eliza made her essay up. She’s never been in a relationship before, let alone in love. All good writing is lying, right?

Desperate to hide the truth, Eliza strikes a deal with the famous actor in her class, the charming but aloof Caz Song. She’ll help him write his college applications if he poses as her boyfriend. Caz is a dream boyfriend -- he passes handwritten notes to her in class, makes her little sister laugh, and takes her out on motorcycle rides to the best snack stalls around the city.

But when her relationship with Caz starts feeling a little too convincing, all of Eliza’s carefully laid plans are threatened. Can she still follow her dreams if it means breaking her own heart?

Daughters of Oduma by Moses Ose Utomi Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Eat. Dance. Fight.

This is the life of the girls who compete in the Isle’s elite, all-female fighting sport of Bowing. But it isn’t really Dirt’s life anymore. At sixteen, she is old and has retired from competition. Instead, she spends her days coaching the younger sisters of the Mud Fam and dreading her fast-approaching birthday, when she’ll have to leave her sisters to fulfill whatever destiny the Gods choose for her.

Dirt’s young sisters are coming along nicely, and the Mud Fam is sure to win the upcoming South God Bow tournament, which is crucial: the tiny Fam needs the new recruits that come with victory. Then an attack from a powerful rival leaves the Mud without their top Bower, and Dirt is the only one who can compete in the tournament. But Dirt is old, out of shape, and afraid. She has never wanted to be a leader. Victory seems impossible—yet defeat would mean the end of her beloved Fam. And no way is Dirt going to let that happen.

[multifandomfanfiction]

Emo Girl

TITLE: Emo Girl PAIRING: Rooster/OC RATING: T CHAPTER: One-shot SUMMARY: The Dagger Squad meet Rooster’s girlfriend for the first time.

[A/N - Yes this is inspired by “Emo Girl” by Machine Gun Kelly.]

Makeup covered the counter of Kimber and Rooster’s shared bathroom. Rooster’s ship would be docking within the hour, so she needed to get going. She finished her eyeliner and picked up Rooster’s favorite lipstick. After applying that, she took one last look at herself in the mirror and grabbed Rooster’s keys to the Bronco.

Before Rooster left, she lovingly teased him that he loved the Bronco more than her.

Rooster just shook his head and said, “No. I love the Bronco just slightly less than you.”

On the way to the dock, Kimber jammed out to her favorite band that she had turned Rooster onto the last time they rode in the Bronco together.

“Who is this?” Rooster had asked her.

“Oh you wouldn’t know them. They’re up and coming in the punk scene.”

Rooster laughed. “You think I don’t know punk bands?”

Kimber rolled her eyes. “Roos, your idea of punk music is Blink 182.”

“They’re punk!”

 “Yeah, in the 90’s maybe.”

That sparked a passionate debate about what was considered punk music.

Kimber pulled up to the dock and got out of the Bronco with her umbrella. Many people gave her odd looks, but she had learned to ignore them over the years.

She saw Penny and waved. They’d had dinner a few times while Rooster and Maverick were gone when they got lonely. Penny saw Kimber as a daughter and Amelia saw her as an older sister she never had.

Kimber sent a text to Rooster. Hey, I’m here and waiting.

Can’t wait baby. 😉

Kimber smiled. Sure, Rooster’s special mission had only been a few days, but she always missed him when he was away.

Rooster stepped off the boat with Jake, his phone in his hand. He sent a text to Kimber. Where are you?

Before Kimber responded, Rooster heard Jake say, “Yo, what’s up with Wednesday Addams?”

Rooster’s head shot up.

There she was. Dressed completely in black, fishnet stockings, combat boots, pale as a moonlit night, and holding a black umbrella over her head. She looked like a walking corpse, but he thought she’d never looked cuter. Her lips were coated with his favorite cherry red lipstick that often stained his neck, mouth, and the collar of his dress whites.

Rooster smiled and ran over to her.

“Rooster!” she squealed as he hoisted her up in his arms, “Put me down you brute!”

He put her down and said, “I’ve missed you, cara mia.”

Kimber smiled. “I’ve missed you too, mon cher.”

Rooster finally leaned down and kissed her.

“Is anyone else like really confused?” Jake asked.

Rooster had mentioned he had a girlfriend, but no one expected their sunshine Rooster to be dating the daughter of Darkness.

Rooster put an arm around her waist and led her over to the Dagger Squad. “Everyone, this is Kimber. My girlfriend,” Rooster introduced.

Everyone was dumbfounded. Rooster and Kimber looked like night and day.

Maverick walked over to them and hugged Kimber. “It’s good to see you again,” he told her.

“You too, Mav.”

“Wait. You knew?” Jake asked.

Maverick chuckled. “Yeah. They’ve been together since high school.”

“Wait. What?”

Phoenix, who had served with Rooster before, said, “How come you never told us about her?”

Rooster shrugged his shoulders. “It just never seemed that important.”

Kimber put a comforting hand on Rooster’s chest. She could tell he was starting to get angry with everyone asking questions.

“You can’t completely blame Rooster,” Kimber said, “We get stares no matter where we go and I can’t count the amount of times people have asked him why he’s with me. Most people can’t see past the dark makeup and black clothes. They all think I cut my wrists or worship Satan and eat babies or something.”

Rooster looked down at her with love shining in his eyes. “That’s what drew me to her. I saw the way people looked at and treated her. It made me want to get to know her better. Best decision of my life.”

“So…if you’re so in love with her, why haven’t you married her yet?” Jake asked.

Rooster turned to him. “By that logic, why haven’t you married Phoenix yet?”

The blonde’s mouth dropped open. “Because I…because we’re not…” Jake shook his head, grabbed his bag, and stormed off.

“I think you broke him,” Kimber said.

Rooster shook his head. “Nah. He’ll back to his old self in the morning. Let’s go home.”

“Great! I found a great new band while you were away. They…” Kimber rambled as they walked back to the Bronco.

Rooster didn’t understand what she was saying, but it didn’t matter. Because he was home and had his emo girl back.

Top Gun Taglist: @maverick-wingman​​​​​ @thescarletknight2014​

[childeproof]

4/5 , 6 and 15 :))

jesse pinkman for 4 — when did person a realize they love person b? it’s during breakfast on a wednesday. he loves breakfast. amelia always gets up early to cook it so that he wakes up to the smell of fresh food. it’s not worth 5 stars by a long shot but it means a lot to him. as he sits himself down, jesse finds himself watching amelia finish up the meal. she looks a mess (she always does first thing in the morning, she’s not a cute morning person) but he smiles anyways. that’s when he realizes it. he likes her. he loves her. of course, when she turns around and asks why he’s smiling, he bullshits an answer. but that’s when he realized it.

jesse pinkman for 5 — when did person b realize they love person a? never in her life did amelia imagine herself rooming with a meth maker. it happens a little after jesse comes home from one of his meth ventures. she knows by now about his work but tries her best to ignore it. as long as she’s not involved, she doesn’t care. she cannot afford their place on her own so she kinda needs him as a roommate. anyways… he comes home, he smells like shit. jesse crawls onto the couch without saying a word, resting his head in her lap. he’s tired. he doesn’t care enough to explain himself— long day, amelia guesses. she sits stiffly for a while before running a hand through his hair. it’s in the quietness that she realizes she loves him. she loves his hair, she loves the way he feels in her lap. she loves him, despite the shitty meth smell, she loves him. of course, she falls for a meth maker. of course.

sylvain gautier for 6 — how did they get together? he tried to be romantic and give me anonymous love letters but i kept perceiving them as assassination threats— needless to say we had a rocky start. i mean, who sends ‘i want to take you out’ with no other context? the letters went on for a bit before sylvain finally decided to set up a meeting place. i came, armed, and he was confused. i was confused. you know who wasn’t confused? HILDA. she knew both sides of the story and didn’t tell either of us. anyways, it makes for a really funny story now but i thought i had been targeted by political enemies lol.

makoto yuuki for 15 — what’s their perfect date? stereotypical gamer date. we rot in our gaming chairs together playing overwatch and then minecraft and then more overwatch. i love laying on his shoulder when i’m tired and just watching him play on his switch. outside of video games, we also go to concert dates a lot! kpop concerts, occasionally concerts for other units— we both really love music seeing as though he’s an idol & i’m a guitarist.

[zmediaoutlet]

hi z!! 💖 happy wincest wednesday to you and yours -- my question for you is this: how do you think being brothers informs the way dean and sam experience being in love? in what way is it different from their experiences loving others? (because, of course, we know it's very different, but how do *they* think about it, in your opinion?)

buddddd happy wincest wednesday! I hope it has been a day with some kind of relief in honor of the holiday ♥ --

Way to come out swinging tho, ava! This is one of those impossible to track lines, because like... how many people have actually-successful whole and healing incestuous relationships with a sibling where they still feel like siblings? That's the part that's so nutty about Sam and Dean. I mean, you think about other sibling-incest stories and they tend to be all baroque grossness or high-octane Drama or High Stakes With Every Moment and like -- cool, sure, and it's not like Sam and Dean lack drama, but... seriously, on the day-to-day they are BROTHERS above all else, and they feel like dudes who are just like averagely averageton getting through their chores, and... that's not supposed to be matched up with the nutty entanglement of incest. But -- they always, inevitably are that tangled, to the point that when one of them is an external long-term relationship of any kind it's a sign of something going wrong, not a good thing, and like WHAT, WHAT, WHAT IS THIS SHOW (it's the best show, is what).

So -- I don't think that Sam and Dean can even really... conceive of it. I mean I've written literally a million words about it, tackling it from all kinds of angles, and I can't really conceive of it. Sometimes I think the most likely thing is that they really do think of themselves as brothers first, with some nice benefits on the side. (In fact, any treatment of wincest where they aren't brothers-first reads really wrong to me.) In established relationship I tend to skip right along to a really well-established marriage, where they have all the comfort of siblings but also the comfort of knowing each others' hearts and finding them to be familiar loving ground. But -- can Sam and Dean ever, possibly, think about it that way? If they were undercover and Dean turned to Sam when some housewife asked could he say "This is my husband," and feel it any kind of way but -- completely strange?

That's part of why, even in exhaustive longfic where they really really go in circles and explore and try to figure out how they feel, I prefer to land on my old friend indefinability. Their brotherly relationship already isn't just brother or just family because we see that they each entirely supersede category -- Cas or Garth or Kevin is a 'brother', and we know for a fuckin' fact that that title means zero in the face of what Sam or Dean means when they refer to each other as brother. If they were fucking I really don't think it'd be different; if they're in love I think it's just the same.

There's this entirely separate over-category that they each fill for the other -- brother/best friend/life partner/soulmate/lover, true companions, forever and ever, to death and past it and into the literal kingdom of heaven. If they can think about it, however they can articulate it, I think they'd get to... something like that. When Dean's with Lisa (or Benny) and when Sam's with Jess or Amelia, they love, of course they love, but it's a love that just -- can't -- ever compare. I don't think it's safe for them to think about it like that, but they have to know it. Sam wasn't exactly running down to the crossroads to get Jessica back, was he.

[eclipseisruminating]

Hi guys! I wrote two scenes that are possible as a sort of dream scene in melodic mischief but I got no idea on which to choose honestly

idea a

When amelia was drowsy from sleep, she felt like she was still awake. She opened her eyes and she saw the sunlight coming from the window in her room, but amelia felt like her head was on an unbearable fire, her head hurt like a thousand knives at once. Amelia couldn't move her body because her body felt like a window that had been broken into twenty four small pieces and stabbed all over her body, amelia laid on her comfortable bed and she stared at her ceiling. Amelia tried to close her eyes again but the end was the same here, she opened her eyes once more and it was when someone...or rather someone entered amelia's room, she had hair up to her shoulders, her hair was jet black with red ends Like roses that brought to amelia's imagination roses that could be dipped in the colors of the night and her eyes were painted in a sea blue color and glasses and glasses whose frames were painted in a shiny gold color "Oh..are you awake yet? How are you feeling?" The girl with the hair that reminds of the long nights Imalia stayed awake asked, Imalia indicated yes to the first question, when the girl added the second question amelia tried to answer but she got an answer with a hoarse voice "I..feel..terrible.." amelia looked at the girl and smiled a little.

There was a kind of embarrassment inside amelia that she couldn't banish..the last time someone took care of amelia when she was sick it was her parents..not just someone who came from a neverland, "Your parents are coming back soon okay? Will you make it until they come back? Because I Now leaving.." The girl added more questions.. amelia sighed, she once again indicated yes but now with her hand. When the girl got up and walked amelia noticed there was a mug of green tea on her dresser next to the bed, it was Imalia's favorite mug it was a book that said "Birds can't rock like we do" it made amelia giggle a little before she closed it her eyes and when she opened them again it was the very next day..May 9, 2018...Wednesday

idea b

When amelia was in a deep sleep, she felt like she was still awake. She opened her eyes and she saw light, a strange light coming from a place that was not Amelia's room at all, it felt like she was sitting or in a sitting position.. amelia opened her eyes and she looked around, she was on the train.. and it didn't seem like there was anyone , she was on the second floor in one of the cars on the train but there was a computer in front of amelia, it looked like she was working on a song in front of her and she apparently "fell asleep" on the train. The computer was open with a word file, the name of the file was "tough love, a song that Abigail wrote", it was strange because usually Abigail doesn't have that much time to write songs, Abigail is usually busy with homework or the gymnastics class so this It was a surprise for amelia to see that Abigail had something... even if it was a dream, amelia looked out the window of the train and she saw a view of the sea, the train must have been on its way to Nahariya. Amelia decided to get up from her place where she sat,she went down the stairs of the second floor into the first floor of the carriage and amelia walked around the first floor of the carriage, amelia looked at the empty chairs and tables with nothing on them. When amelia got to the end of the carriage she saw something in one of the chairs near the door leading to the other carriage, there was a girl with espresso brown hair with mahogany red color at the ends of the bangs and on the sides of her hair, in the chair next to the girl was a bass guitar that she must have been playing, amelia shook the sleeping girl trying to wake her up Still somehow, amelia lost all hope after five minutes of rocking the sleeping girl so amelia sighed and directed herself to walk back to the second floor of the carriage until she saw the girl start to move at the corner of her eye. "Huh? And my head feels like shit on..." the girl said, amelia got a spark of hope in her heart and she turned back to the girl "Hey, can I sit here?" Amelia asked, the girl gave Imalia a tiny, confused and disgusted look as she gave amelia a sign that she could sit down. Amelia sat across from the girl and she started the conversation properly "Are you in a band by any chance? I just saw that you have a bass and I had to know" amelia asked with curiosity in her voice and a soft look on her face

"...No..not really, I have a desire to join the band but I had no luck There were auditions for a pop band called Wendy Bird, but they said I wasn't suitable for them, that I was 'too boring' or that I was 'not pretty enough'..bullshit if you ask me, I also felt that I forced myself to be there of the pop world just...not for me! I just want to be myself, but it feels impossible!" The girl answered with anger. You can notice that she wanted not to be judged by the way she looked.. amelia remained silent for a few seconds until she opened her mouth and began to speak. "You know.. I'm in a rock band called Rock from the North.. standard name I You know, but we did our first show not long ago...really not long ago and I think you'll be happy to be there..we do need someone to play all the bass so it will work", surprise appeared on the girl's face as she covered her mouth "it can't be.. " said the girl. It was a little muffled because her hand was covering her mouth, but it was a bit clear that she said it.. the girl took her hand off her mouth first, "You're the secondary guitarist of the band, right?" continued the girl. Amelia nodded her head yes.. She is the secondary guitarist of Rock of the North. The girl's lips turned up to give a wide smile, "I was at their first show. Since then, I've been waiting for at least a sign of something! An Instagram page for the songs to be uploaded to Spotify or something but nothing! What are you waiting for?" The shocked girl asked, "well, we're still not sure what we're doing now. Most likely, one of the members of the band is looking for a bass player. Maybe try to find us and join us. " amelia giggled, and then everything went black. This time, amelia felt that she was lying down. When she opened her eyes, she noticed that she was in her room... the next day.. May 9, 2018

[lockewrites]

WIP Wednesday

Been working on a bit of a Durge fic :3

It's in 2nd person, but it's not a Reader insert - I loved the idea of feeling like the exposition was being read by Amelia Tyler as if in the game, and it's been so fun to write.

Anyways, here's Rhegan and a touch of Aurella (I'm throwing all my girls in the same universe)

His words spoken through one of his machines echo in your mind, and while they hadn’t yet asked, you know the question strangles the tongues of each of your companions. What was your role in all of this?  You fear the answer, the brief images of your past flitting across your mind hinting at something horrid. And having just learned of the nature of your birth—or perhaps ‘spawning’ was a more apt word—a child of Bhaal involved with the cult of the Absolute: such a combination could have nothing but the most vile of explanations.  “Greetings, my old friend. Orin told me you were on your way here, but I scarcely believed it. Welcome back to Baldur’s Gate.” His voice had been uncomfortably familiar. “Welcome home.” “Rhegan,” Aurella says, her voice low as she touches your arm. “As much as I’d love to see what you had planned for that knife, I don’t think the Flaming Fist would appreciate you playing with it quite literally behind their backs.” You hadn’t even realized, the blade slipping effortlessly between your fingers as you were lost in thought. Tucking it back in your belt, your fingers twist and pull on each other, popping knuckles and stretching the joints a touch too far, the slight pain an attempt to ground you.  Welcome home. Welcome home. Welcome home.