#so wd just gonna roll with this

[catgirl-or-furry]

I am wozard!

Your twitchy and unsteady hands are NOT from an excessive consumption of sugar and caffiene. You come from a bloodline that traces back to mighty sorcerers, your nerves are less suited for activities like surgery and more for the swift and sporadic movements needed to cast spells.

[cetaceans-pls]

Are you ever going to post the full version of this teehee https://www.tumblr.com/cetaceans-pls/685147739958509568/preview-for-the-jason-todd-zine-red-lights-dark

hey anon! i have so much work strewn between google docs and ao3 and here and i lost track :') here's a lil sunday treat, fic below the cut!

A Habit of Domination BruJay, R, petplay Good boys go woof.

Sometimes, after a particularly athletic night of sex, Bruce and Jason will go to sleep on opposite ends of Bruce’s absurdly huge bed and sleep facedown and unmoving for a solid 10 hours. The blankets will all be on the floor, bare butts facing the ceiling, and if they’re feeling romantic in their sleep they’ll wake up at acute angles to each other, bare toes barely touching.

Sometimes, after a particularly athletic night of sex, Jason just gets more and more and more wound up, and the absolute last thing he wants to do is fade into quiet sleep.

Nights like these Bruce doesn’t have to do much more than just sit back and take it, sex-drunk and worn down enough that the quiet core of him, that desire to serve that’s kept Batman running for decades, is close enough to the surface that Jason just looks at him and it has Bruce unwinding with a quiet yes on a quieter exhale.

“Must be the full moon,” Jason says as he roughly tugs Bruce to lie flat on his back before he climbs astride his hips. “Must be some janky bit of astrology, B, because you fucked me hard and good,” a quick kiss for a good job well done, “but I’m cranked up worse than before.”

Bruce just snorts, hands coming up to hold on tight to Jason’s waist. “Can’t blame planetary alignment for being a brat, Jason.” He rolls his hips, but the night’s gone soft and so has he. “What do you need?”

Jason, meanwhile, isn’t suffering a similar fate. He rubs his hard cock against Bruce’s chest, leisurely marking his territory. “Dunno, trying to figure it out.” He leans down and bites into the curve of Bruce’s shoulder. With the obscene packed muscle there, it’s more an imposition on his teeth than it is on Bruce, which is offensive. “Could get you to fuck me with a toy, but you look wiped out.”

  

He gets a pinch at the waist for his taunt, Bruce looking placid but for that no-good smirk right at the edge of his lips. “Talking mighty confident for someone who comes on a hair-trigger, Jay,” Bruce says mildly. “Do you really want to get up on your High Horse?”

The only way to stop Bruce from prefixing their sex toys with Bat-something has been to relent and let him instead name them with  godawful puns nobody under the age of 40 would find funny. It’s maybe a little fucked up that Jason finds that endearing, but the High Horse is the world’s finest(!) Sybian redesigned on a rig that makes it rock and roll like a fucking bucking bronco, and a terrible name is a small price to pay for orgasms so intense the oversensitivity starts feeling like death (Jason would know).

Jason shakes his head. “I don’t want to leave the room, don’t want to leave this bed, really. Even if I get you to go fetch the stupid thing, you still haven’t fixed that squeaky wheel, and I’m gonna go fully feral if I go down for breakfast tomorrow and Alfred’s got a can of WD-40 on the kitchen counter.” He slides lower down Bruce’s body, and looks over his shoulder at Bruce’s cock. “You sure you can’t get it up? C’mon, I’ll even go reverse cowgirl. I’ll moan extra loud, go ah ah ah Bruce you’re so big!” He grins, reaching up to press down on the bite mark on Bruce’s shoulder. “A special extra big ego boost as a reward.”

Bruce sits up, and they both wince at the ungodly crack his back makes. “Couldn’t get it up even with that as incentive,” he says, rubbing his scruff against Jason’s neck. “Couldn’t get it up even to please you. I think I’m broken for the night.”

Jason’s never one to be stopped by something as minor as physical limitations. Got an autopsy scar up-down his chest, Jason barely even let death slow him down. “I’m pretty good with my hands,” Jason tells him, dragging his nails up-down Bruce’s chest. “Pretty good at making things work even when they’re not supposed to.” He lets his hands slip up and up and up, till they rest warm and light around Bruce’s neck. “You wanna see how far I can take you?”

“I already know,” Bruce says, almost polite but for the way the grip he has on Jason’s hips go tighter. “You’re being a handful tonight, Jaybird.” 

Oh, Jason’s going to be getting bruises tonight. It warms him right up, riles him further, and he ruts against Bruce’s hip. “Wish I could say the same ‘bout you,” he says pointedly, reaching back and rubbing the back of his knuckles against Bruce’s soft cock. “Wish you were better at taking orders.”

That seems to land exactly the way Jason had aimed, has Bruce twitching and shuddering under him even if his face remains calmly impassive. “Is it going to be that kind of night, Jason?” Bruce asks him very, very quietly, and Jason hadn’t planned on it at the start but right now he really can’t think of anything he’d like more.

“Looks like it’s gonna be,” Jason says, excitement helping him rise to his feet as he jumps clear off the bed, landing with a heavy thump. “Off the bed now, B,” he says as he heads towards a patch of wall that looks like any other patch of wall, except this one rolls up at his light touch. “You know pets aren’t allowed on furniture.”

If Bruce isn’t feeling it, Jason knows he’ll turn around and the man will mutinously still be on the bed.

He’s barely got the collar out before he hears the creaking and thudding of a heavy man being careful to make sound as he climbs off the bed and sits back on his knees. Jason feels a shiver crawl up his spine, makes him straighten up and roll back his shoulders, because yeah, it’s going to be one of the best kinds of nights. 

Nothing too fancy, he thinks. For all that Jason enjoys push-push-pushing Bruce till his breaking point and, on extra special occasions, well beyond that, Bruce has been run down worse than usual with an attempted Arkham breakout. 

No one can accuse him of being a bad owner. 

“Here boy,” he says, clicking his fingers and pointing at his feet. Bruce comes by, limited in his grace by cracking knees and an old back, and comes to a halt right by Jason with his usual mild, impassive face.

That look’s not going to be on there for long. Jason flicks his finger up to the ceiling, and Bruce obediently sits up and looks up, head tilted back, the exact perfect right angle for a collaring. He has a well-trained boy, he does. Jason smugly puts the collar on, just  a thing of black leather that’s softer than butter, free of embellishments. Need little more than a buckle to make Bruce look his best, need less even than that for Jason to know who's a good boy, or

who's a bad one.

He checks that the collar is on just right (a little too tight), just the wrong side of being perfectly comfortable, because Bruce's tastes are, like all the rest of him, aggravating but also precision-designed to maximally appeal to Jason. It says a little too much ‘about the both of them, probably, but what could you want out of a partnership beyond someone who likes it too tight and someone who likes to make it so?

“Down, boy.”

Smooth as anything Bruce comes back to all fours at his feet, and Jason lets his hand rest in hair that’s starting to go gray, takes a moment to feel exactly as on top of the world as the man who domesticated the Bat deserves to feel. “You were bad, weren’t you? Asked you for one little thing, and you couldn’t even give me that.”

Bruce nods gravely, hangdog look dragging down the corners of his lips. Jason presses his palm to Bruce’s cheek to reward the admission, and the heavy push into his hand is headier than a lifetime full of blood rushing to the head.

They’ve tried slave-master stuff, they’ve alphabetically worked their way down most common kinks, and sortof-pet play has stuck harder than most because it’s a pleasant novelty for Bruce to do what’s asked of him and get rewarded for it, and Jason gets off hard on the control and gets off harder on being the only one who can meet the needs of this big bat brute.

 

Yeah, they make a hell of a pair. Jason wants him so badly it’s giving him the beginnings of a migraine.

“You just need more training,” Jason says, brushing hair behind an ear, not forcing eye contact because he knows how funny Bruce can be about that when he’s Like This. “My bad, I let the leash run too long, and now you don’t know how to be good any more, isn’t that right?”

Another nod, and Bruce leans more heavily against Jason, face to thigh, and he’s probably halfway gone just from this. God, Jason can barely contain himself, feels frizzy with electricity and power, and he cannot help but drag his nails down the back of Bruce’s neck, see the slightest red welts trail after them. “Tail kinda night?” he asks, because he’s a conscientious owner, and also because there are fewer things more singularly satisfying than watching stone-faced Bruce trying to adjust to a plus with a wagging rubber tail to it, face caught between embarrassment and a strange sort of satisfaction.

He gets a shake of his head for his trouble, which is unfortunate but also, like. 

Isn’t it the right of pets to be a little bit spoiled? 

“Fine. But you still need to get trained, so’s you can be good for me. C’mon, big guy. Present.”

The early days of all of this had been A Mess, with fights erupting and rocketing out of control at a glance gone wrong or a word better left quiet, both of them extremely keen not to let on just how into this they really, really are. 

Now, though?

Bruce takes a moment to suck a hickey into Jason's thigh before he sits back on his heels, hands propping himself up so his back’s in a curve that hurts, and his hips are tilted up and out. God, if he’d been hard, Jason might have salivated. As is, it’s a near thing.

“Good boy,” Jason says, easy with the positive reinforcement. “See, now, you’re being good all over, but you still won’t get hard for me.” He steps between Bruce’s spread thighs, and nudges at his soft cock with the top of his foot. “That’s no good to me now, is it?”

Bruce shakes his head, and Jason takes a second to mourn how he’s yet to get Bruce to agree to wearing ears. Jason sure would appreciate something shaggy to bury his hands in or see fwip side-to-side whenever they’re in this type of mood.

“Good, at least you know that. Now, how’re we gonna get you going?” There are a few possible answers, depending on what Bruce is feeling like and what Jason is feeling up to. It’s not an elaborate kind of night, long as it’s been, and there’s something to be said for a sure thing, so Jason rubs his thumb across Bruce’s cheek, putting in the exact right amount of pressure to have Bruce’s eyes slowly close.

“There’s a good boy,” Jason says with the confidence of a man who knows he can do almost anything right now and damn well get away with it. He keeps the gentle teasing up for a while, because even in the absence of ears and a tail Bruce fully looks like a massive, hulking dog come to be sweet, and it’s an addictive sight. “Let’s start with a treat, baby, so you know what’s waiting for you if you behave.”

No extra warning needed, he presses the head of his dick against Bruce’s lips, deigns to wait a second to let Bruce have a careful, thoughtful taste, before he’s pushing home with a hearty groan. “Christ, the mouth on you,” Jason says, a little out of breath, reaching down to wrap a hand around Bruce’s throat. He reckons he can almost feel himself, and he definitely can feel the way Bruce is struggling to breathe and struggling to swallow. “Take it now, don’t you want to be good?”

He gets a half-nod, Bruce’s eyes closed, nose pressed flush to Jason’s skin, shuddering like he’s about to burst apart. Jason enjoys the wet, tight heat, pulls back an inch and gives back a mile, biting his lip as Bruce chokes and shudders.

He doubles down, and on the next pull-out push-in he goes as far as he can manage before he squeezes the sides of Bruce’s neck, the exact right way to stop blood from going to the brain. “Hold it,” Jason says sternly, even though he knows he’ll get whatever he wants whatever tone he uses. Bruce doesn’t reply, just works his throat harder, and doesn’t struggle as the seconds crawl by and his breath is gone.

It’s well over a minute when Jason pulls back of his own volition, and Bruce’s deep heaving breath is accompanied by a sharp slap to his face. “How many times do I have to tell you, you tap out when you need to,” Jason says, slapping Bruce again, before holding his hair back so the man can gasp in peace. “Worse ‘n worse ‘n worse, you’re all over the place tonight.”

Bruce, ah, can’t  really register anything except for the disappointed tone of voice. This deep under, it’s hard to realise how close he’d come to passing out, or the edge of concern in Jason’s voice.

Nothing really matters except for Jason, though, so Bruce bends down down down and contritely presses his cheek to Jason’s ankle. This, at least, he’s learned. Submit hard enough, mean it whole enough, and his faults stop being his. All he needs to do is focus on Jason, after all.

(What is Jason if not a miracle, that he came back from the dead with a vengeance? And what’s a miracle for, if not for believing in?)

Jason looks down, and struggles to stay mad at the Bat lying prostrate by his feet. Careful not to dislodge Bruce who’s Gone, and is Gone because he knows Jason’ll pull him back, Jason kneels down on one knee. “C’mon, act this sweet and I’m not gonna punish you for anything,” he says, rubbing down Bruce’s back, nails catching on scabs from the most recent time Croc got his teeth in him. “Just gonna get more and more spoiled, aren’t you?”

 

Long, slow strokes down Bruce’s back, right down to the tailbone, and big guy’s shuddering like a spin cycle falling apart. Delicious, delicious, and if spoiling Bruce rotten is all part of a grand plan to be irreplaceable (to be even more irreplaceable), well.

In the bedroom’s the best place to air out all desires and grievances; Bruce knows what he signed up for, accepting Jason’s vicious single-minded pursuit way back at the start.

Speaking of desires….. Jason digs his hand into the meat of Bruce’s ass, then reaches down and around to grab hold of Bruce’s soft cock. “You really are tapped out, huh, B?” Jason says pityingly, giving a rough squeeze that’s more unpleasant than not. “Really got nothing left to give.”

He half wants to see if he can’t pull out a toy or twelve and force him into hardness, but Jason discards the thought almost as soon as he has it. No, no, for all of Jason’s Big Talk about discipline, he’s still a lost cause when it comes to his big brute. Treats enough to rot your teeth out, thy name is Todd.

Bruce still hasn’t moved, and Jason would be concerned if he was a lesser man. Instead, he reaches back to Bruce’s hair and tugs a little harshly. “Up, up, on the bed. Have a blowout and call it a night, even when you’re bad I’ll still treat you good.”

The slow drag of seconds for the words to settle in Bruce’s head is an ego boost, the panting that accompanies it even more so. Jason stays down, even as Bruce takes long, sweet moments to figure out how to get to his feet and totter hazily towards the bed, scarred back on display, once again tempting Jason to get a big red bat tattooed on from scapula to scapula.

Narcissistic? Sure, but look, see, there’s just one thing about that.

Jason deserves it. Jason’s fucking earned it.

How could you argue to the contrary? Bruce is sprawled out on the bed, looking like a relaxed man dead asleep, but his face is half pressed into the sheets, half turned towards Jason, and the look in his eye is on fucking fire.

“Shoulders down, get on your knees, big guy,” Jason says with fake calm, stalking towards the bed like Red Hood on the prowl, because yeah, this’ll work just fine. He has to squeeze the base of his cock when Bruce obeys without question, even if the temptation’s there to just cum all over that beautiful, beautiful back.

He deserves a treat too, though. Jason climbs onto the bed, reaching over for their expensive lube, and pulls it over to him. “Right, baby,” he says as he gets his fingers wet, gets Bruce’s hole wet. “Gonna have to punish you for being bad, and the punishment is me fucking an orgasm out of you while you’re soft.” Soft all over, takes a finger and then another in like he’s made for it, like he’s made for Jason, rrr. “And when you cum and you’re so oversensitive you think I’m gonna kill you, you’re gonna say thank you. Do you understand me?”

Jason doesn’t get much of a response, just a mess of half-words groaned into the mattress. That’s not good, that’s not what a well-trained mutt should be doing, and Jason would be remiss if he left it as is. He shuffles closer to B, sits up on his knees so he can press his cock to the slick mess of Bruce’s hole, catch on the rim and push in with that heated burn of not-enough-preparation.

God, if he hadn’t been so well worked over in the night, Jason would have lost it then and there, but instead he keeps pushing in, inch by unceasing inch, as Bruce makes unintelligible sounds and tries to buck his hips up. 

It’s a lifetime before Jason’s fully seated, pressed in as deep as he can go, and the heat has him dizzy, sweat beading all along his brow. He takes a breath, then another, and leans forward so his bulk covers Bruce’s back. It somehow gains him another impossible half inch closer, and he’s in the exact right position to set his teeth to Bruce’s shoulder and bite him to blood.

(Might be more than one dog in this bed, fancy that). 

“I said,” Jason growls, pulling out slowly and pushing back in with a sharp snap of his hips, “do you understand?”

Bruce nods fervently underneath him, urgent and desperate as he scrabbles to grab hold of where Jason’s arms are caging him in. “Yes, yes, Jason, yes, thank you, Jason, please,” he says in a voice fucked hoarse, and

Fuck, Bruce has made a liar out of Jason.

There’s no way they’ll be done in one round.

-

Jason comes to slowly, dazed and feeling dehydrated. No surprise, given the hell of a night and they’ve had, but he’s pretty sure he’d fallen asleep while still fully seated inside Bruce and neither of them had gotten up to any kind of aftercare.

Bad practice, bad owner, bad all around, Jason thinks to himself, sitting upright all in a hurry, expecting an empty bed, Bruce tucked in the Cave pretending he hadn’t been brought the lowest he’d ever gone.

Instead Bruce is still next to him, with them both lying in that weird only-feet-touching position they gravitate to when it’s too warm but they’re too loving. Jason waggles his toes, and Bruce waggles his back.

The relief’s like a Heimlich maneuver gone right, probably. Jason lets out a shuddery breath and reaches across the divide to lightly brush his fingers against Bruce’s shoulder. “You doing all right there, old man?”

“Hmm,” Bruce murmurs absently, still looking at Jason as he fiddles with the collar that still is around his neck.

Bad, bad owner. Jason curses, and reaches over for it. “Sorry, should’ve gotten it off before we fell asleep. Are you hurt?”

He gets batted away for his troubles. “I think,” Bruce says, unprompted and absently as he continued fiddling with the buckle, “I might want to try with some ears.”

Jason finds himself swallowing around a mouth gone dry, his cock making a spirited attempt to come back to life. “What? You know you don’t have to-”

Bruce ignores him again, and Jason would be annoyed, he really should be, but the absolute madman just keeps flicking his thumbnail against the metal buckle, a little Gone but mostly returned. “I think a tag would be good,” Bruce says, calm like he’s discussing the weather. “A little red tag, perhaps. Bat-shaped, of course. With the name and number of who to contact, should I get lost. How does that sound, Jason?”

And there’s that crack, that quirk of the lips that indicates that Bruce fully knows the hell he’s unleashing on Jason, that’s got him shuddering like a spin cycle spinning apart, holy fucking shit.

“Give me a taste and I'll take a whole thigh, Bruce,” Jason warns him, scooting closer while he imagines a tag that matches with a brand on the small of a beautiful back, and it has him fully wholly feral. 

Bruce just smiles a little quiet smile, hand still messing with his collar, eyes fully on Jason.

“Then take it.”

[nani-nonny]

Between You (and Me and Him) - Reunion Editon ft. Love Letters

A handful of questions solely for my Reunion peepaw lol (and platonic love from sock anon)

But first! Let’s sit Reunion alone in the interrogation interview room, in his metal chair, with a broken fourth wall where we will be asking the questions from hehe

Q1: What type of problems could happen? It's obvious even in future you still have enemies - or gained some - but what can they do? They can't go back to the past, now can they?

He leans back in his chair, bending his neck back over the backrest and looking at the ceiling. He reaches over to rub the front of his neck and up his chin, revealing a scar that wouldn’t be visible if he hadn’t done so. He doesn’t break his gaze from the ceiling as he replies, “My enemies have already tried to slip through the portal my brothers and I make. I had to stop the visits for a while after that. Just because they don’t have easy access to the past Hamatos, doesn’t mean they can’t do it.”

Q2: Even after the war, were there other people - other then Bishop - who hate you and your family and have an ill intentions?

Reunion finally straightens up, an annoyed smirk on his face as he rolls his eyes to say, “When haven’t there been people who tried to kill us? I feel like death just follows the Hamatos. Bishop’s just one of the knives in my back, I’ve got piles of duties and assholes to take care of that I’m practically choking on them all. The Krang were honestly the least of my worries—don’t tell Raph I said that.”

Q3: Do you think you can take on LCD, DMD & WDS? In a real fight and win?

He cackles, slapping his knee and nearly keeling over in his chair. He exclaims between laughs, “Are you kidding? I’m the champ! I won the war! I’m better than any of them, and any future versions that may pop up!”

Q4: How did you know about APAF's child? Did someone tell you?

Reunion wipes a happy-tears from his eye and flicks it to the side as a confident smirk appears on his expression. He looks all too pleased with himself as he says, “I know everything.”

Q5: Why do you have the habit of begin a little sh*t? Hiding secrets from almost everyone.

His shoulders shake as he laughs inwardly, small huffs of amusement escaping despite the effort to keep from laughing aloud again. He makes a motion of holding a large pot in on hand and stirring with the other, “Someone has to stir the pot.”

Q6: If the kids got killed in the past, would this effect your future?

His smile fades, a twitch of the brow under his mask and he narrows his eyes. He looks away for a brief second, then answers in short, “Probably not. Maybe. Not sure.”

Q7: Talking about power… did you learn how to use mystic powers just like Mikey? —being a mystic warrior and all.

He seems relieved that the topic changed so drastically, his smirk returning as he straightens up and rests his elbow on the backrest of his chair. He breathes through his teeth with a confident wave of his hand, “Please, Mikey learned from his big brother: me. I’m the best at mystics.”

Something tells me you’re lying.

He cocks his head to the side and replies, “Then maybe that something is lying to you.”

Q8: Since the future changes, what didn't change in the 2nd try? Like did a family member died? Some enemies staying enemies..etc.

His frown returns, a noticeable reserve in his body language as he slightly turns away. He looks at the wall and mumbles, “Well, Dad’s death, for one… Bishop’s betrayals… some friends…” He fully turns away and stands, his hand grips the backrest of the chair as he adds, “Some deaths are inevitable. Even with all the power in the world in the palm of your hand.”

Q9: In the other dimension with the other Leos (I'm blue) are you gonna keep eyes on them just because they might kill LCD or is it because of something else? I mean WDS did tried to peek through your tent👁 are you still mad at him/them (because of the ghost brothers).

He’s now standing behind his chair, about ready to leave but still staying in the room. His metallic finger taps the chair with a soft tink, tink, tink. He seems to be looking through his memories before recognition appears in his wide eyes. “Oh, I was never mad at him, per sé, I just don’t like no-good, nosey ass brats that don’t know when to quit. And I’m not watching over those kids for nothing, they’re fun. They can handle themselves, they don’t need protecting from each other or anything. I just like to intervene when necessary.”

Thank you for your time, Reunion. You can leave, get out.

Okay, this one is for (A)PAF and DMD. You have a fan and I’ve been told to share: sock loves you platonically. What are your responses?

APAF:

He looks around, confused and very tense about being thrown in the interview room. He looks like he’s ready to flee any second, or fight anything that moves the wrong way. “Who is ‘sock’? And how do they know me?”

Don’t worry about it. How does it make you feel?

(APAF:

He shrugs, reaching for a sword by habit but gripping nothing. “I don’t know, I still don’t know what this place is. For now, I’ll appreciate the sentiment, I suppose.”

He’s still new to this, but I’m sure he’ll thoroughly appreciate it eventually. DMD? They called you famous and a very busy person. What do you think of sock and their love for you?

DMD:

He raises a brow and cocks his chin up slightly with amusement, “That so?” His gaze is unblinking, an amused curiosity flurrying behind the mask. He’s not smiling, but he’s not displeased, either. He seems to be… thinking. His tone is… intrigued, “Another fan?”

Cocky bastard… you caught him after an arena match, the glory hasn’t rubbed off yet.

[thesupernaturalhouse]

I'm watching murder drones and I've jsut finished ep5 ngl....I'm so confused about soem stuff- So I'm gonna talk about it!

Now, before doing that, the series is amazing, and I love the animation and voices the lore and story are super interesting to! It just has some plot holes and stuff, which is understandable since it's also a YouTube series and doesn't have a big budget like other series. And I don't know I hagnt watched ep6 yet so maybe it has soem answers anyways:

Ep1: really the only thing that doesn't make sense- to me, is J 'dying' because we saw N get his head blasted off woth Uzis gun and he regrew it in....not even a minute- so how come J kinda just...died?

Also, J is the leader not N I well not take it any other way because it being any other way make no sense, cause wife you want a leader for a MURDER TEAM ylu gonna want the most efficient one. V is obsessed with killing, so J reigns her in, N is too nice, so J makes sure he does his job at least somewhat well. She's the leader.

Also we never get more information on the 'other squads' thing, I think it would've been cool if maybe idk, Doll was a DD and was hiding in plan sight or smth. Or maybe her, and Uzis mom, parents were disassembly friens, DD, and they started to blend in with the worker drones, WD, and sorta regret the company and stuff and so N, V and J were sent to get rid of them because they disobeyed orders

It'd make sense why J is so hellbent on the rules and killing and stuff and add some angst and more info as to why doll and Uzi have these powers because they half half DD code and half WD code. And how Uzis' mom wanted doors to be built to hide them she KNEW others would be sent after her and dolls parents and so needed to make sure everybody was ready for that!

Ep2: definitely a LOT more questions- like wtf is that head thing?? Explain?? Pelase?? Why?? How?? When!?

Edit: Never mind what iw rite here- i re watched the episode cause I wanted to, and actually, Uzi does say it runs an auto program to collect new materials, so I just missed that by accident That's my bad, I admit to that

Ep3: we don't really see how much N and Uzis relationships have developed. we don't really see any....bonding, so moments feel a bit out of place. Like how khan says the DD are bad influences, I feel like if maybe there was a filler episode or two- maybe about them sneaking into the colony and staing stuff to rebuild the ship or smth it'd have made moments like that make a lot mroe sense and would've shown their friendship growing and stuff, it'd happen before ep2 tho

And it'd help Ep4, where V/N are put in charge, make a lot more sense because N and Uzi have been sneaking skrund and nit hurting anyone so they kinds disregard N as safe. Other then that is pretty good, I do think we could've had V show a more humane side maybe saying how she only killed dolls parents because of an order, to kill form the company, and show she does feel guilty for killing but because she doesn't have a real choice she trie sto make it as 'fun' as possible. It doesn't have to be emotional it could happen while she's shooting at Doll. Maybe she's mad Dolls killing her friends/classmates of he rown free will or smth idk

Ep4: I kinda get them running to N/V when uzi mentions them being friends because.....she did bring a g^n to school- but I don't understand why they shot an arrow at her, not even by accident or 'cause they were startled the guy pointed and took the shot after seeing her- like why? Why would they SHOOT at her? Or look so scared? I feel like they should been looking away awkwardly or rolling their eyes dismissvly. Maybe the guy sees the symbol in her eye and accidentally pulls the trigger in being startled by it. Jsut confused me

Also wish they showed more of the collar things, maybe it could said 'serial designation N landed *****' and Uzi is confused because it belonged to her mom not N and she sorta realizes who her mom was or smth? Idk just wish they did mroe with it, they might in ep6 havnt seen it yet tho

Also, what's with V threatening Uzi? Like that was so....random- where did she even come from?? I feel like it should've shown V watching Uzi leave and then see the symbol in her eye, and so she panics, quietly, and threatens Uzi because the thing with doll happened maybe a week? Ago in canon, so she'd still be freaked out, I think. Idk, maybe I'm giving V to much credit here

Ep5: to be discussed

Ep6: to be discussed

Idk it's jsut my opinion, feel free to try and explain to me and stuff- I'd love to hear theory and more ideas and such. Also again, no hate just my personal confusions and feelings about certain things

Feel like it went from lore lillypad to lore lillypad and didn't actually give us a break to get hints and more elaboration and stuff, so this very confusing- anyways I'll update later, maybe, after I watch ep 5/6

[starscara]

W4TCH 4ND LE4RN — osamu dazai ft. atsushi nakajima

SYN0PS1S : suggestive displays of affection are completely fine, considering you don’t get caught.

C0NTA1NS : voyeurism turned exhibitionism, pet names, getting caught, workplace s-x, vaginal f-ngering, dry h-mping, making out, n-pple play, h-ndjobs, l-wd fantasies

A/N : kinktober is going poo for me so far … but i’m glad to give you day 4!! i had a good time writing this fic so i hope you enjoy it. psa though - days 5 and 6 may be out a little later than advertised because i’m a bit behind on writing. make sure to check out the masterlist for a sneak peak at what’s coming you way this week!

K1NKT0BER ’22 — #WEEKTW0

It started with a touch. Well, a couple of touches to be precise. Ever since you stepped foot in the office, Dazai couldn’t keep his hands off of you, touching you at any chance possible. Leaning in to help you with a report and sliding his hands up your back, curling his arms around your waist as you stood in the queue of the local coffee shop; Dazai just did not stop touching you.

He certainly couldn’t stop touching you now, considering your current position.

“Hey… we’re gonna get caught.” Dazai’s hands snake around to your ass, giving each cheek a generous squeeze before running his hands up your back. You grab his wrist to stop him but he expertly twists free, continuing his journey along your figure. “Dazai-”

“What’s the problem, bella?” he asks, pulling your hips closer to his torso. “There’s nobody here and there won’t be for a while, so why not make the most of our time together?”

You roll your eyes. Everyone in the office had left for the day, leaving you and Dazai alone to complete any unfinished work. Dazai, of course, had no intention of doing so, instead insisting upon annoying you whilst you were supposed to be working. His annoying quips had quickly escalated to even more annoying (and slightly intentional) touches, which then somehow turned into you being seated on his lap, arms slung around his neck whilst his hands explored your body eagerly.

“Anyone could walk in,” you protest, gasping as Dazai places a kiss in the crook of your neck. His hands resume their place on your ass, moving it backwards and forwards slowly against his crotch. “Why can’t it wait?”

Dazai retracts. “Why should it wait? There’s nobody here, and I’ve always wanted to see you flustered at work.” Your cheeks burn. “You’re always so composed-” he kisses your cheek, “-and you’re always working-” he kisses your other cheek, “-and it’s so not fair.” His last kiss lands directly on your lips, taking you by surprise. “Come on, belladonna,” he groans. “Why don’t we have some fun?”

You look around the office. Dazai is right- it’s completely deserted. Nobody wants to be working overtime and especially not on a Saturday, so what reason would anyone ever walk in? You sigh, defeated by Dazai’s logic (and partly, charm).“Fine. But if we get caught-”

“We won’t,” he responds suavely, sliding one of his hands up your blouse. “Let loose for once.” You melt in his hands as he pinches one of your nipples through your bra, a sigh of pleasure slipping past your lips. Dazai captures your open lips in a kiss and your eyes flutter shut, your hips moving on their own as it deepens.

Whispers of his name drip from your lips like honey as you continuously grind against Dazai’s forming bulge, your hands gripping onto the collar of his shirt as you feel his hips stutter upwards into your own dripping underwear. “Please…” you moan quietly into his mouth, hands fumbling to undo his shirt.

You freeze when you hear the door open.

“Is anyone here?” asks the familiar voice of your colleague, Atsushi Nakajima. “Huh, it seems not…”

Atsushi also freezes at the sight of you sitting on Dazai’s lap, one of his hands up your shirt and the other resting on your ass. The silence in the room is positively roaring, the tension so thick that not even a knife could cut it.

Dazai is the first to speak. “Atsushi! How kind of you to join us.” A surprised noise forces its way out of your throat as he continues. “What’s the problem? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.” As if completely undisturbed, Dazai continues to roll your perked nipple in between his fingers, earning a choked moan from you.

“I’m so sorry,” Atsushi says, his voice barely above a whisper. “I’ll be leaving now.”

Dazai pouts. “Don’t do that! Please, continue whatever you’re here to do and ignore us.” His lips curl into a smirk as he looks up at you, hooded eyes swirling with mischief and lust. “We’ll make sure to be extra quiet.”

You stare at Dazai incredulously. The damn bastard; this entire exchange was his idea and he’d had the audacity to reassure you that you wouldn’t get caught, only to end up being walked in on by the least suspecting member of the agency. “You-”

Dazai presses a finger to his lips in a “shh” motion. “Didn’t we promise we’d be quiet? I’m sure poor Atsushi has a lot of work to do, so let’s not disturb him.” His hands slide from your ass to in between your legs, rubbing languidly at your folds between your underwear. Your mouth drops open in a silent gasp and your grinding resumes, suddenly oblivious to the presence of Atsushi just across the desk from you.

He can’t keep his eyes off of you. Ever since you joined the agency, Atsushi has had an indefinite crush on you. You are the most beautiful being he has laid eyes on; you had the curves, the smile and the personality to make him fall in love instantly. He had to admit that you were the subject of most of his fantasies, his hand sneaking into his pants most nights at the thought of your soft fingers wrapped around him, whispered praises directed at him slipping through your beautiful lips as he spurted his wetness all over your clenched knuckles.

Oh, a boy could dream.

His fantasies shattered in his mind’s eye as he watched you and Dazai, so intimate and unashamed. Your back was turned but the curve of your ass was enough to set him off, his cock stirring in his slacks as he watched you move back and forth on Dazai’s lap. If he strained he could hear your whispered moans of Dazai’s name, and the smug expression plastered on Dazai’s own face as he looked up at you, hand buried in between your legs.

“It seems our guest is enjoying your show, bella,” Dazai says, eyes snapping to meet Atsushi’s. “He can’t keep his eyes off of you.” His fingers flit along your jaw, turning your head to the side. You see Atsushi out of the corner of your eye, his face tomato red and his fists clenched on the desk. It almost looked as if tears were threatening to pool in his eyes.

It was in that moment you realised how cruel your lover could be.

“Well, we can’t leave him hanging, can we?” Dazai smirks as he pushes your soaked underwear to the side and presses a finger in between your dripping lips, eliciting a whine from your swollen lips. His thumb rubs at your clit as he slowly pushes his finger inside, your walls contracting rapidly.

“Dazai-!” Your moan is almost guttural as his thumb starts to draw circles on your engorged nub and his finger curls upwards, hitting the spot that he had memorised. “Please, stop…”

“Come on, bella,” Dazai whines, his face akin to that of a disappointed child. “I was just getting started, and surely you don’t want me to stop now, hm?” The intrusion of another finger sends you reeling, your tongue lolling out as you start to grind on his digits slowly.

“Mr Dazai-” You had completely forgotten about the presence of your bewildered co-worker just across the table from you. “Are you sure this is alright? I feel like I’m disturbing an intimate moment and I-”

Dazai laughs wildly, pretending to wipe away tears from his eyes. “Oh, Atsushi,” he says in between barks of laughter, “you are quite the comedian!” He pulls his fingers out of your fluttering cunt, causing you to whine at the emptiness. “If I wanted you gone, I wouldn’t have invited you in, would I? And besides-” You stare down at Dazai’s crotch as he starts to unbuckle his belt.

“I know you have a crush on my dear belladonna, so now’s your chance to see her fucked stupid.”

© ST4RSC4R4’S K1NKT0BER — deep in love. do not copy, repost or translate my works without permission.

[imaginedreamwrite]

Wellness Wednesday with future WD - their pup(s) was sick, Reader took care of them (maybe with help of her parents or Stucky's relatives). Now Reader is sick but luckily one of the boys (or both of them) are there to help her and nurse her back to health.

The flu hit your house and it hit hard. Your twins got it first, the poor little pups with their fevers and sickly stomachs that had them laid out for days, and then your baby who had a little fever of his own.

Winnie and Sarah were quick to help, the two grandmothers over-eager to come take care of your pups and yourself, and you were just as glad for the company and the aide. It was hard enough with one sick pup but with three, it was nearly a nightmare.

Winnie and Sarah were amazing, so kind and generous, and had often sent you off for a rest while they took care of your pups. While Winnie Barnes had rocked the baby or kept your twins occupied with a movie and ginger ale, Sarah Rogers was busting herself with laundry.

Rest came quick and you thought you were rundown.

The feeling of being rundown had quickly turned itself into symptoms of actual sickness, and sickness had worked its way through the bond.

“Sweet girl,” Sarah had mothered you along with Winnie, “the last to get it.”

“We’ve got your pups, they’re gonna come visit their aunts and their papa’s.” Winnie had reassured you, giving you added assurance that Steve and Bucky were on their way home to care for you.

You were in and out of sleep, resting from the last nought of nausea when you were woken by a hand on your cheek and a soft pair of lips caressing your mark.

“Hey omega bean.” Bucky had crooned, delicately stroking your hair. “We’re here.”

“You’re home?” You were hoarse while you spoke and wary as you rolled over to face him.

“Yeah, sweetie.” Bucky wiped sweat from your brow and placed his wrist against your forehead. “Stevie’s downstairs making soup.”

“Missed you,” you whined, leaning into Bucky and snaking your arms around his neck, “missed both of you.”

“Poor girl,” Steve’s voice seemed far away as he mumbled, “want something to eat?”

“No food.” You whined and denied him. “Just want warmth and you.”

“You heard omega bean, get in here Steve.”

[axwalker]

Jealousy--One Shot

Book: The Royal Romance, Book 2. Engagement Tour. 

Pairing: Drake Walker x Alexis O’Brien (MC) 

WORDS: I’m using my WD golden ticket so 3,000 words. 

POV: Dual 

TRIGGER WARNINGS: SMUT!! 🍋🍋🍋 A very frustrating Drake and Alexis.  

ALL MY FICS ARE +18 !!!! 

I’m participating in the  @wackydrabbles​   prompts. This week’s prompt is “I can’t do this anymore.” 

I apologize for any grammatical errors.   

Tags in the comments ;) 

DRAKE

Standing next to my window, I admire the Roman ruins of the Palatine hills as the royal train rolls into Rome. I’ve always loved Italy, but something about this trip is getting to me. It might be the woman occupying the cabin next to mine. It might be the fact that my best friend is almost as crazy about her as I am. Almost. He can’t possibly care for her the way I do. I down the rest of my glass and pick up a simple shirt and a pair of pants for tonight’s banquet. Fuck the black tie.

Since O’Brien came back to court, I tried to avoid her as much as I could. As a result, I’d cut off a leg tonight just to lay eyes on her again. I crave her like a drug. I spent the last few days debating with myself, and each day I grow a little more desperate, my arguments growing wilder and less probable by the minute. “Maybe” is how every single thought began, each one borne of desperation. Maybe I can make Liam understand that I’m crazy about the woman he loves. Maybe he’ll understand that I’ve been lying for months. Maybe Alexis will realize that she wants a quiet life with me. It’s a weakness on my part; I just need to get through this banquet without giving into it.

Thank God there’s a bar. I’m going to need something to make this experience tolerable. I grab a whiskey and drink half of it before I even head to my table. I’m halfway there when my eyes meet Kiara’s. She’s been leaving me flirty messages since we built the barn to celebrate Liam’s engagement. She’s a beautiful and smart woman but I couldn’t be less interested. 

“Come with me,” she says, pulling at my elbow. “I saved you a seat.” 

At that very moment, Lexie walks in. She’s wearing a red silk dress that matches her lips, pours over her curves, and reveals only a hint of cleavage while allowing you to imagine what you can’t see too fucking easily. Her hair falls over her shoulders and down her back, highlighting her long neck and her gorgeous face. As always, I seem to settle on her mouth. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen her wear red lipstick before, and, for some reason, this opens an entire box of fantasies. I want to see it soiled. To kiss her so hard that neither of us can breathe. To pull back and find that mouth ajar, panting, the lipstick a red blur around the edges., I want it so badly I’m not sure how I’ll get through the goddamn night without having it. My hands sliding that silk dress over her head, learning every inch of her the way I’ve dreamed about for months. Except right now, Lexie’s eyes are fixed on the point where Kiara’s arm is linked with mine, and her expression—sad and wounded—is like a knife to my chest. I step away from Kiara, grabbing my drink and draining it. “I’m sitting with Maxwell and Olivia,” I tell her firmly. 

 “Doesn’t Lexie look gorgeous?” Max asks. My eyes move across the room again. Her red dress shimmers, sticks on her curves. `

“She looks like she needs more clothes,” I complain. 

“Olivia helped her choose that dress,” Max says with a brow arched. “It fits her like a glove.” 

“Yeah,” I reply. “That’s sort of the problem.” 

My gaze is still on her, though. Moving up from her hips to her waist to her breasts, back up to that mouth of hers. I picture it again; the lipstick smeared, her breathless under me. And then a single hand cups her hip bone, visible through the thin silk, and I’m ejected from my fantasy at high speed. My lust transforms into rage in a single breath. Fucking Signore Francesco Lombardi. When everyone finally takes their seats, I discover that she and Francesco are at the table on the other side of mine, giving me a painfully direct view of the two of them. Whenever she stands, his eyes are on her, devouring her. He paws at her when she returns, jumping to pull out her chair but managing to get his fucking hands over approximately sixty percent of her body when he does it. And if he tries to look down her dress one more time, I’m definitely taking him out. I don’t give a fuck about our diplomatic relationships with Italy. I go to the bar again and ask for another glass of Macallan. Tonight it’s either get drunk or completely lose my shit in front of hundreds of witnesses. Pretentious food and great speeches are given out that I don’t notice. She is more real to me than anything in this room or out of it, the only thing I can see. No one knows her fears like I do. No one knows how fragile she really is, how deeply sweet. How funny and smart and kind. But I know. And for all the fighting we’ve done, there aren’t two people in this room as made for each other as the two of us. My world is constructed entirely of rules about what I owe Liam –my education, my career, and so many other things. But somehow, it excludes the only thing that matters to me. Her. If it weren’t for how Liam feels about her, she’d be here with me tonight. I watch her say something to Liam, and he nods, his eyes telling her how he feels. Jealousy runs through my veins. 

 “Enough,” I say quietly as I stand. I don’t know what possesses me to follow her. I know, with every bone in my body, that I have no claim on her. But I saw that look in Liam’s eyes, the one that says he’ll do anything for her, and I found myself on my feet. She’s halfway down the hall by the time I reach her. She looks over her shoulder warily when she hears me, but she is too late. I’m already there. I grab her elbow before she has time to react and pull her into an empty office. She stiffens and pulls back, ready as always to fight. Eyes flashing and hands on her hips. Seething before I’ve even said a word. “You have no right to—” That’s when I cup her jaw and capture that mouth I’ve longed for the whole goddamn night.

ALEXIS 

 His mouth comes down on mine, demolishing my pathetic attempt to object. He seizes it thoroughly, with such certainty, as if he’s spent his entire life practicing for this precise moment. His hands raking back through my hair, his tongue finding mine as he presses against me. His mouth moves over my neck, and he groans, a noise of both despair and satisfaction. 

“You didn’t want me a week ago, but now you do?” I start to push back, but he holds me tight against him. 

“I just don’t want you stuck in a shitty ranch with a poor veterinarian when it all ends. It was never about not wanting you.” I know there are other reasons why I’m supposed to object, but they escape me. I’ve wanted this too long, his hands on my body, my skin pressed against his, and his mouth creating a trail of kisses down my neck. It’s right. I’ve known nothing in my life with such certainty as the fact that nothing in the world matters more to me. His hands move from my hips to my breasts, and then he pulls one strap of my dress down, trailing slow, open-mouthed kisses over my shoulder and collarbone, almost reverently. Nipping with his teeth and soothing it with his tongue. He pulls the dress down to my waist, unclasps my bra with a single hand. He cups my breasts, bringing his mouth to them in the same way, sharp and sweet at once and creating a need in me so intense that it borders on pain. I gasp and arch toward him, submitting entirely as my head falls backward against the wall. He pulls back just enough to see my face. His chocolate eyes are dark now as he searches mine, looking there for something he desperately needs. Permission. He wants permission. As if I’d ever tell him no. 

“Yes,” I whisper. “Please.” 

“You’re sure?” His voice is gruff with desire. And when I nod, he pushes the dress over my hips and allows it to slide to the floor. His hands follow, skating over my hips, down my thighs, and I stand before him now in nothing but panties and heels. “That fucking dress nearly killed me,” he says, smoothing my skin as he kisses me again. He pushes against me, his shirt against my bare skin, his erection pressed hard to my stomach, a quick pulse there as if he is desperate for friction. He slides his index finger under the elastic of my panties. The moment he touches me, my whole body jolts. 

“Fuck,” he hisses, squeezing his eyes tightly shut. “You’re already soaked.” His finger slips back and forth, lightly, in torturous circles before it pushes inside me. 

“Oh God,” I whisper, my body bowing toward him. He adds a second finger, and this time his groan is louder than mine. 

“Jesus, Lex,” he growls. “You’re going to be the end of me.” 

I unclasp his belt and unzip his pants reaching down to pull him from the confines of his boxers. He is thick and heavy in my hands, hissing as my fingers wrap around him, tugging gently. 

“Stop,” he exhales after a minute. “I’m not gonna last if you do that, and there are so many things I want to do to you first.” 

He pushes my panties down and lifts me up almost simultaneously, turning to deposit me on the table behind us. He kisses me once, hard. “Lie back,” he commands. He drops to his knees, spreading my legs so I’m displayed before him. Suddenly, his fingers are joined by quick swipes of his tongue. 

“Oh my God,” I gasp. “Drake … just—”

 His mouth and tongue lick and brush and pull, creating flames that begin there and spread all the way to my toes. I try to move, but his free hand clamps down on my thigh, holding me in place. 

“I’ve dreamed about doing this every goddamn night for months, Alexis. So let me.” 

I can’t even nod in agreement because suddenly, everything inside me is building so quickly that I can’t tell where I am or where I’m going. 

“Oh,” I gasp. And then his fingers push inside me and I explode with a cry of ecstasy and surprise, arching against his mouth. He doesn’t pull back, but instead slides his hands beneath my legs and tugs me closer, buries his face to create wave after wave of something I never thought would happen in the first place. 

“Holy shit,” I breathe. He leans over to kiss me and when he does, I wrap my legs around his waist, bringing him against me so suddenly that he gasps in my mouth. 

“Lexie,” he groans. 

“Please,” I whisper. It seems impossible for anyone to be more satisfied than I am now, yet I still need the very thing Drake wants most, the thing he is so sure he shouldn’t give. He looks tortured and pulls back, but I tighten around him, pressing him against me. “Don’t even think about stopping right now.” He shifts his hips just enough that he is pressing right there, not inside me but mere seconds away from it. In a single pulse, he could be buried deep inside me. 

“Is this okay?” he asks, his voice tight. “Do we need …” 

“No,” I beg. “Just do it. I’m on the pill.”

He pushes in, barely. He’s so thick that already I’m stretched to the point of pain. 

“Oh fuck, Lexie,” he whispers. “God, that’s so good. Just give me a minute, or this is going to be over before it starts.” 

Finally, he moves once more, going slowly, a low noise deep in his chest as he finally shoves all the way in. 

“Are you okay?” he asks between clenched teeth. I nod as I adjust to the size of him, pain still outweighing the pleasure. It’s when he starts to withdraw that the pain recedes as a burst of pleasure sucks the air from my lungs. It feels too good, something so vast and all-consuming it can’t possibly end well. I never finish this way but oh my God… If it were ever going to happen, it would be now. His next thrust is faster, more certain, but he stops entirely at my sharp inhale. “Did I hurt you, baby?” he asks. 

“No.” He didn’t hurt me. He stunned me. His strokes come slow and rhythmic then, as he leans over, finding my mouth with the table bracing his weight, his arms taut. “I’ve wanted this for so fucking long,” he says, holding still inside me. 

“Keep going,” I beg. “Don’t stop.” 

“Patience,” he grins. “You have no idea how hard it is not to come right now.” 

I grab his ass and push upward, ignoring his warning, thrilling at the low grunt he makes. “Alexis,” he growls, “goddammit.” 

His hips jerk back and then forward, almost involuntarily. It’s all I need. I cry out as it happens again, everything inside me bursting. He thrusts quick and hard, desperate now, and then stiffens with a single guttural noise as he pushes in one final time. He falls against me, his mouth against my neck, his breath warm on my skin. It’s closer than I’ve ever been to another person, and I would like to stay here, just like this, forever. But after a moment, I open my eyes when I realize what we’ve done. 

It’s a little like waking from a dream. What the fuck have I done? The best sex I’ve ever had and the biggest mistake I’ve ever made just occurred simultaneously. The guilt and astonishment collide with each other. It was wrong. No matter what other considerations there are, I just slept with Liam’s best friend.

I know I don’t owe Liam anything. I came to Cordonia to see if there was something between us beyond that kiss in New York, and there wasn’t. He’s engaged to Madeleine and I’m hopelessly in love with his best friend. Bu this isn’t about me. This is about Drake. 

I just became that woman. The kind of woman that would stand between two brothers. The type of woman capable of breaking a lifelong friendship in a moment of lust. 

I know that sooner or later, Drake will resent me, us, if he loses Liam. Somewhere inside, I knew that, but because I wanted him and was jealous of Kiara, I chose to ignore it. He looks up at me, and his smile fades. 

“What are you thinking?” he asks. There’s dread in his voice. His jaw hardens. “You regret it.” 

“Drake,” I sigh, nestling in his chest. “It’s not that. It was…amazing. I just need to figure this out.” 

“Figure what out?” 

I bury my face in his neck. I don’t want to be having this conversation with him. I wish there was a way he could just hold me and take me to his cabin and work this all out on my own later. But there’s not. “What happens next. I mean, it shouldn’t have happened. We both know that. Liam… “

“No,” he snaps, pulling away. “Do not bring him up. Are you really going to let the way it might look to everyone outside this room dictate whether or not it’s okay? This is about us, Lexie. No one else.” 

Except it’s not everyone outside this room. It’s him. Until a week ago, Drake was determined to push me away. He didn’t want to betray his best friend. He told me over and over again that he wasn’t that kind of man. That he would never forgive himself. 

I let my need obliterate every reasonable thought, as usual. And in doing so, I’ve let myself down and—far worse—I may have put Drake’s friendship with Liam at risk. I pull away and grab my dress and bra off the floor. 

“We have to get back out there before someone notices we’re gone.” 

He buttons his shirt. “So you want to go back and continue flirting with Liam like this didn’t just happen?” he asks.

.

It’s right then, at that precise moment, that I realize that no matter what happens, Drake and I will never be together. Liam will always be there, between us. Right now, in our post-orgasmic bliss, Drake is not thinking straight, but I know what he will be telling me tomorrow morning. Or at least how he will be feeling. Guilty. 

“I can’t do this anymore.” I take a deep breath to calm myself. “So what matters most is that we both get through the banquet like nothing happened.” 

“And then what?” He growls.

His anger doesn’t scare me. “Can we please just get through the next hour?” I ask. “Liam is out there. Olivia, Max, Kiara are out there. The most important thing either of us can do right now is to act like nothing’s wrong.” 

He fastens his belt and moves to the door, his jaw rigid. He’s doing what I asked, but I hate that he’s leaving mad. I’m doing this for him. I don’t want him to lose the only relationship in his life that matters to him. “Drake, wait—” 

 “For what?” he demands. “I just fucked you on a table, and now you’re sending me on my way. What more could you possibly need to add to that?” With those parting words, he crosses the door and walks out, leaving me heartbroken. 

[chevrolangels]

kiss me under the shit stick

deancas, christmas, ~700 wds

They’re in some old folks home, all decked out for the holidays. Sam’s doing his empathetic-puppy-dog-I-hear-you-face to the receptionist and getting all the info, which leaves Dean and Cas to hang back and wait for the go signal. 

Castiel’s drinking his third cup of coffee that morning, some Folgers that a smiling aide had pressed into his hands. He hadn’t the heart to say no.

Dean takes the cup from Castiel without asking, taking a generous swig. As he lowers the cup, he smiles, nudging Castiel with his elbow.

“Hey, Cas,” he says, nodding up towards the ceiling. “Look.”

Castiel follows his gaze. Above them, above the doorway of a small alcove, is a sad-looking plant, tacked limply to the wall. 

“Mistletoe,” he observes. Dean smirks.

“Uh-huh. Mistletoe.”

He sidles closer, fingers ghosting over Castiel’s back, down to tease at his waist.

“And you know what that means, don’t you?” He asks, waggling his eyebrows.

Castiel rolls his eyes.

“I do, indeed.”

Dean's grip tightens on his waist, bringing Castiel closer, and he’s already leaning in, despite them being rather exposed. It’s thrilling, to see Dean more comfortable with himself, with them—but Castiel isn’t going to pass up such a golden opportunity.  

“Strange, though,” he says, and Dean abruptly pauses, squinting at him.

“What?” 

Castiel shrugs.

“Strange that humans would choose mistletoe to kiss under.”

Dean looks at him suspiciously.

“Okay...and why is that?”

“Mistletoe is a parasitic plant and only propagates through bird droppings,” Castiel answers. “The word itself comes from ‘mistle’, meaning ‘feces’, and ‘toe’, meaning ‘twig’.”

He pauses, watching Dean’s expression spasm.

“You humans do have some strange traditions,” he says innocently.

“Wait a second—”

Dean holds up a finger.

“Are you telling me...people have been kissing—for years—under a literal goddamn shit stick?”

Cas nods. 

Dean gapes at him for a moment, then glances upward again. 

“Oooookay,” he says, grimacing. “ Never mind. I’m just gonna—”

In one smooth motion, Castiel grabs Dean’s coffeeless hand, pulling him back into the alcove, pressing him against the wall. Dean makes a small noise of surprise before Cas’s lips are on his, slightly dry, wonderfully soft, warm as he cups Dean’s jaw with his other hand.

“You’re not getting away from me that easily,” he says softly, nose bumping Dean’s. Dean blinks, a little dazed.

“You’re the one who brought up bird feces,” he mumbles, but his other hand searches for Castiel’s tie, pulling him closer. Castiel chuckles.

“I’d happily kiss you anywhere, even under the shit stick,” he murmurs, “But we might scandalize a few of the residents.”

Dean smiles.

“Better take advantage of this privacy, then,” he says, before leaning in again.

~

Rosa, at the receptionist desk, pens in another clue into her crossword. Sadie is still talking to the nice young man with the too-long hair, and across from her, the other two agents spill from the small room where they keep the brooms, straightening their jackets. The cute one’s hair is completely disheveled, and the other one has a smug smile on his face. 

Rosa shakes her head, and goes back to her crossword.

Dean clears his throat, his cheeks pink as their fingers tangle together, hidden behind the folds of Castiel’s coat. 

“Okay, Kris Kringle,” he says affectionately. “You got any other fun Christmas trivia tidbits?”

Castiel pretends to think for a moment, thumb brushing over Dean’s.

"Well, pre-Christian cultures regarded the white berries of the mistletoe as symbols of male fertility,” he says, as calmly as if he were discussing the weather. “The seeds representing semen, obviously.”

Dean nearly spits his coffee across the floor.

Rosa glares at him from the receptionist desk.

Dean wheels on Cas, cheeks flaming.

“Dude. You’ve got to be fucking with me.”

“Why?” Castiel asks, keeping a completely straight face. “Don’t you think they resemble testicles?” 

“Jesus, not so damn loud—”

“I’m just telling you your own lore, Dean.”

At that moment, ‘Agent Stills’ turns, giving them the signal. Dean claps Castiel’s arm, looking relieved. 

“Alright, buddy. Go time. Let’s leave the bedroom talk for...the bedroom.” 

Castiel nods soberly, hiding his smile.

“Of course.”

They pass by the receptionist, who gives the three of them the stink-eye as they leave. Castiel leans in, whispering into Dean’s ear.

“Just wait until I tell you about the orgies during Saturnalia.”

"Oh, for the love of—”

[sigritandtheelves]

a fic in which chuck burks notices something has changed betweem mulder and scully and goes to mulder to ask if they're finally doing it

PG-13  |  850 wds  |  Set during “Rush.”

—

It made sense to Mulder. The case was in Virginia, he lived in Virginia. After it took Scully so long to get to Pittsfield that first morning, of course he’d asked her to stay with him. For the easier commute.

“We have to be on time,” he mumbled, arm slung over his eyes and enjoying too well the softness of his partner’s body.

“Hmm?” She was heavy and dozing, one palm flat against his chest, face in the pillows. He’d pressed the snooze twice already.

“Chuck,” he said. “We have to be on time, Chuck’s gonna be in the office.”

A grunt from her red head, and then she rolled to cover him like a blanket. “S’warm though.”

His arms came around her without hesitation, and he buried his face in her hair. “Yeah.”

He felt her lips pressing to his chest, then her teeth grazing, her tongue’s gentle flirtation. “But you don’t want to be late.”

Mulder groaned, hands slipping down her waist to her hips, which she wriggled obligingly. “Damn you, woman,” he said, and she laughed.

—

Despite a rushed simultaneous shower and on-the-go coffee, Chuck was already at Mulder’s desk when they arrived, perhaps conspicuously, in tandem. They both played it cool while Chuck took them through the image software: a solid object, not a specter—a momentary blur of purple and gold.

“You recognize these colors, Scully?”

She frowned at them for a moment, thinking, before realization set in. “Go team,” she said, and smirked at him.

Something passed between them—small and unnoticeable to most—but her faux grumpy skepticism, arms crossed over her chest, made him smile. It was the contrast, he thought, with her breathy sighs above him that morning, the surprised, gasping giggle when she came. Mulder flushed, then cleared his throat to cover it. “So,” he said. “What do you think?”

Scully pushed herself up from her chair. “I’ll requisition us a car? We’ll head back to Pittsfield?”

Mulder nodded. “Yeah, sounds good. Try not to get that shitty Civic again.”

She gave him a look and grabbed her bag from behind the desk. 

When she’d left the room, Mulder turned to Chuck. “Hey, thanks for coming…” but he was stopped by the look on the man’s face, which was wry and smiling. “What?”

“What do you mean, what? You and Scully.”

Mulder cleared his throat again. “Me and Scully what?”

Chuck laughed, a true guffaw, and shook his head. “Come on, man. Fox. My friend. You and the spicy red-head have been dancing around the obvious for years. Last summer when you brought me that weird artifact, I had my suspicions, but from what I can see now, there’s no way you two aren’t a thing.”

Mulder chewed on the inside of his cheek and kept his face as blank as possible.

Chuck held his gaze. “So?”

“So what?” Mulder was feigning innocence, but he was faltering.

“So is it everything you thought it would be or what? You guys gonna settle down and make some spooky little babies, or is it just stress relief?”

The second question was like a hot zinger in Mulder’s gut, and he felt his mask cracking. He heaved a deep sigh and let his head fall back, eyes closed. How many friends did he have in this world anyway? Who was Chuck gonna tell? “It is most definitely not just stress relief, the spooky babies are TBD, and it’s… Jesus, it’s better than anything I could have hoped.”

Chuck was a good guy, a genuinely kind soul in the conspiratorial mess that was the rest of Mulder’s life. The bald man cracked a huge grin and smacked Mulder on the arm before leaning in to pack up his equipment.

“That’s good, my man. That’s just—“ he shook his head. “That’s really great. You guys deserve it, ya know? The shit you put up with, you need something good like that.” He stood, laptop bag in one hand, keys in the other. “Let me know if you need anything. You need some funky evidenced analyzed, I’m your guy. You need a babysitter this time next year, I can do that too.”

Mulder’s pulse did a double-beat at the thought. “You have kids?”

“Three. Monsters, all of ‘em,” Chuck said, but he was smiling. He raised the hand with keys and moved to the door. “Take care.”

“You too, Chuck.”

Mulder leaned back in his chair, propped a foot up on his desk, and let his chin rest in his hand, thinking. He and Scully were maybe more transparent than they’d thought, but then again, Chuck was an observant guy. Three kids. Married, Mulder presumed. He hadn’t known.

When Scully returned a few minutes later, she found him that way, head in his hand and lost in a small and hopeful domestic fantasy: little spookies on the mind.

“You ready?” She asked from the doorway.

Mulder nodded and stood up, grabbed his coat from the back of the chair. “Let’s get it on,” he said, and they walked out together.

[equestrianwritingsstuff]

Blood in the Library

Well, I finished it even though I was planning on posting it tomorrow. Not my grandest piece, but to me it has a delectable taste of whump and a little comfort seasoning. Mmmm yum. You can tell I'm hungry. Anway, this is shorter than normal, but, not to be a spoiler, still has my classic cliffhanger.

Warnings: gorey descriptions of blood, collapse/loss of consciousness, descriptions of murder, begging, descriptions of someone's lack of weight and muscles

~

Then he just... collapsed?

Fell down the stairs in epic slow-mo, eyes turning white just before his head cracked against the concrete surface. Face growing into a snowy blanch as his injuries caught up to his rapidly tiring body.

Civilian rushed forward in a desperate attempt to catch him, but it was an effort close to pointless. He had already fallen deep into a pit of blackness and painless sleep.

Civilian scooped up his fevered body and hugged him close. His bloody head lolled limply across her chest until it settled in the crease of her shoulder, content to just rest there for eternity.

Civilian's eyes scouted his body, taking in the countless bruises and pools of blood. It was a horrendous sight- one that would make a squeamish person retch with revolting nausea. But she wasn't one for that, so she pressed her hands firmly against the worst of the bubbling blood geysers to staunch the streaming flow.

When the blood flow minimized to a manageable amount, she grabbed her phone and proceeded to call the ambulance, but a weak hand stopped her.

Civilian looked down to see fluttering indigo-colored eyes meeting her own rustic browns. They were, indeed, more than beautiful- dare say, gorgeous to some degree. Civilian couldn't help but admire them. The way green swirled into navy... it was a sight that she didn't want to stop seeing.

But of course, her wish was denied when the poking and prodding of the situation reminded her that the injured man was awake and quite distressed.

"No," he begged. "No...nnn, no stop stop... phsl-phslease please no." His shaky hand floated about aimlessly, but the dark azure eyes guaranteed the intensity of the weakly said plea.

For a split second, Civilian was dumbfounded before realizing that she needed to comfort and soothe the man.

"Hey," she set down the phone. Immediately, the man's anguished features relaxed, looking approvingly at the laid phone.

"I'm not gonna hurt you," she told him, not quite understanding his sudden placidity- the painless look of serenity in those irises. It was as if all agony faded with the simple gesture, but the quivering of his lips and sporadic twitches determined otherwise.

"Not that," he slurred in incomplete syllables, his eyes closing despite his best efforts to stay conscious.

"Okay," Civilian went to pick up her phone again, to call the much needed paramedic, but a sudden outburst from the man made her drop the phone, startled.

"No amb'lanch," he cried, but it was a waste if energy. His head dropped back against her, eyes rolling backwards once again. Civilian shook him to the waking world.

"Who are you?" She asked as if that would give her some clearance about not calling the ambulance.

"Villain..." He mumbled, slurred and incoherent, but Civilian heard it as if it was screamed at her. Then, his eyes shut all the way and he was lost to the world.

Civilian dropped the man and scurried to her feet, hands grappling at her cheeks. It was... Villain. One of the most feared criminals in the whole city. The one who strung people up by wires to slowly kill them in the most gruesome way possible.

The one that even heroes didn't dare to cross.

And he was passed out at her feet, bleeding and barely breathing.

She should've turned him in. Turned him in so that the proper authorities could finally arrest the menace that plagued the city- especially now that he was subdued and probably very compliant.

Yet... he was shivering. Shivering from the cold, exhaustion, and pain. It would be merciless to leave him to suffer- possibly die- alone. Civilian had some morals affer all.

Villain didn't. That much was clear from the way he razed cities to the ground. It was clear from the way he mercilessly slaughtered innocents. And it was more than clear when he threw bombs in front of traffic to kill and destroy everything within a half mile radius.

But he was injured.

But he had killed so many others without even blinking an eye.

No one else had to die.

Now, Civilian was not a model of muscles. She was more accurately described as a "bag of bones". Heck, some people even told her to go to a doctor- she had grown in size since then, but still.

So, linking her arms and dragging the villain a foot unlocked new muscles that she didn't even know she had. Not that she had the muscles, but after walking just a little bit, she was exhausted and sore.

"How?" She sighed and slumped down to the ground. The villain was still asleep, not bothered by the ninety degree turn Civilian maneuvered him in.

The library that Civilian volunteered at was lazily sitting itself against the sunset in a silhouetted painting. The stairs leading up to it- the ones Villain fell down- weren't too tall... ish? No, they towered over the pair, guarding the marbled building. White pillars supported the small tiled canopy with vigor, giving the quaint building a classic Roman Empire vibe.

Inside was a small isolated office where Civilian spent her lunch break. It had an expresso machine to satisfy her zealous cravings for the brunette liquid with white creamer topping.

It also had a couple comfortable bean bags that were perfect for the villain to recline upon until he woke up. It wasn't like Civilian was planning on actually tending to the vibrant red gashes. Dragging him to a heated room was enough- a gifted treasure to the villain, she believed- and it would be unlawful to go any further.

It took maybe an hour until the fit figure and skinny one barged through the glass door- the only portion of the exterior that did not hold that Pompeii look. Civilian was dripping with sweat, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. Villain had not moved. His face was still and lubricant.

Civilian laid Villain upon the red castle-like carpet that spread through the hallway of the library before shutting the dark sky out, closing the door and locking it.

She then took Villain to the earlier mentioned office with more ease for the red carpet made him slide like a bolt drenched in WD-40. She opened the office. Thankfully, unlike every other room in the building, the walls barricading it were made of plaster, not transparent diamond-shaped panel windows.

She laid him upon a gray beanbag and assessed his wounds before turning to leave.

But a small whimper made her spin back around.

Villain was awake, taking in his surroundings with dazed interest- not really understanding, but realizing his situation, or dilemma, depending on what his half-delirious mind thought. Finally, after a few slow moments of searching the walls for some hidden answer, those dazzling- and slightly familiar- eyes landed on the tiny body of Civilian.

Civilian didn't know what to say. Any statement her mind conjured was shot down with a contradicting question of "what if he asks this" or "won't that make me seem like I care for him".

So she settled on a simple question that anyone would've ask anyone.

"How are you feeling?"

The villain took a while to make sense of the peculiar question. He was, in fact, never asked that from anyone.

Not even-

He shuddered, not wanting to think of the one person who might've once cared for him.

"Weird," the villain replied, eyes shifting downwards to study the masterpiece done on him. Like paint, once it dried on the flesh-covered canvas, it would be an artist's hard work.

The end result.

"Like how?" Civilian wondered, despite her natural instincts to leave.

"Dizzy? Pain, hurts. Don't know," Villain forced himself to meet those kind looking eyes.

"You lost a lot of blood," Civilian answered, setting her body next to his. "I'm pretty sure these need stitches."

Villain nodded, blue eyes ragged with an uncharacteristic emotion. Fear, almost.

"You... Civ'lian?" Villain slurred, his body threatening to shut down once again.

"Yes," Civilian replied. "I am. And you are Villain." The words tasted like hot sauce in her mouth. She just admitted outloud to herself that she was caring for a villain. The most notoriously evil villain in the city, if that fact wasn't stated enough.

"Know you..."

"No, I think you are delirious."

"No. Know you," the villain asserted.

"Okay... who did this to you?" Civilian asked, watching the rapidly fading Villain's face.

"My boss and m' brother," the villain responded, his eyes slipping shut. "...Hero."

The world seemed to stop as the last word was uttered. Hero?

Those eyes. The familiar captivating gaze held in those blueberry-flavored irises. The notable green swirls, speckles of black dust... those were Hero's eyes.

Those were her boyfriend's eyes.

[painted-crow]

What does a rapid fire Bird Secondary look like ?

Me!

I've talked about this a bit before, but I don’t like detailed plans, like step by step "here's what I'm gonna do." There are circumstances when I'll plan, but rather limited ones:

For fun. Maybe I'm interested in something but can't do the actual activity, so I plan it out instead. This plan might serve as a reference later, but I'm just as likely to discard it because I don't feel like using it or I have a better idea.

As a crutch. If I'm really inertia-struck with anxiety or executive dysfunction, making a plan or even just a list can be a hack to get out of it, but again, I'm likely to abandon it halfway through if I start feeling better.

"Formal" experimentation. I don't do this a whole lot, and usually I do this kind of thing in my head... but sometimes you gotta actually think the details through and write them down in advance.

But it's not how I like to work. To me, plans feel brittle and restrictive and usually boring. I lean towards other tactics:

Clever repurposing of something I learned/collected, or of resources that happen to be around me

Use of a tool I picked up thinking "this'll be handy at some point"

Bringing up weird knowledge I acquired At Some Point, possibly by accident, for fun, or while working on something else

Bringing up general skills I learned on purpose

Learning skills on the fly because the situation needs them; I prefer to know what I'm doing better than this, but reasonably speedy autodidacticism is one of my most prized skills and it's not a bad fallback.

(El Goonish Shive)

"Moooom! Paint is identifying with a mad scientist character again!"

Basically, I pull from my collection of existing skills, tools, knowledge, and current available resources to craft a solution on the fly, after getting close enough to the situation to get a good look at the problem.

This makes me feel very clever, it works really well, and I love doing it. Favorite way to do stuff, hands down.

Trouble can be, if people don't recognize how much prep work goes into these "instant" solutions, they're inclined not to believe they're real and will actually work. And I don't like pulling the "actually I studied this for six months" card because it feels like bragging :/ plus, for all the different things I can say that about, it stops sounding believable.

Truth is, I have almost no attention span for television (I'm aware this is weird but don't have an explanation for it), I hyperfocus easily, and I choose hobbies with lots of moving parts.

Like aquascaping. Do you know how many different bottles of chemicals you need to get the water chemistry right so the aquatic plants will grow? For me it was five, but a lot of people I knew online had waaay more (and fancy CO2 systems) because they kept demanding plants. If you kept the right balance of fish and plants, you ended up with this little ecosystem in a box. Like a tiny slice of a river! I was pretty good at it.

I still don't know how I got from "let's try making California rolls" to "afraid to run out of good mirin," but somehow I ended up really into cooking Japanese food and it's a permanent influence on my pantry and basically anything I cook now.

I do know how I ended up with so many oil painting mediums and solvents and so many paint colors that I have to have a list on my phone now to keep track of which ones I have in stock, though. Also did you know that acrylic paints also have mediums you can add and they make using acrylics SO MUCH EASIER? because I do and it seems like nobody else does and that's sad.

I also binge read nonfiction, especially when I'm depressed. It gives me something to focus on and feels vaguely productive even when I don't have the energy to do more.

Does this all sound like a lot of work? It's really just some of the stuff I do for kicks. We haven't touched on the novels I've written, the coding languages I know, the gardens I've kept, the professional design software on my computer (which I built myself from parts), the knitting and the baking and the graphic design and the candle making and the martial arts and the French language stuff from back in high school that I still kinda remember.

OH and then you have the weird stuff I carry around. *empties purse* here we have a multitool, lockpicks, a can of WD-40, some yarn or string, bandaids, a styptic pen, hand sanitizer, hairbands, screws I don't want to lose bc they belong to my couch, glasses cleaning wipes, a metal pen with a point that can break a car window, a bunch of fast food napkins, mini bottles of ibuprofen and acetaminophen, earbuds, comb, random lanyard, and four mini rubber ducks; all of these make sense to me don't ask why my purse is heavy

Plus all the ebooks loaded onto my phone, which I carry everywhere! And I have even more in my Humble Bundle library.

I list all these off to make a point: Birds' resource libraries can be HUGE. I don't know where mine exists on the hugeness spectrum, but I'm only 23, and older Birds' libraries are probably even bigger.

So yeah, as odd and niche as my interests can be, I have a LOT of them, and I can just go into situations without a plan because between all the skills I've learned and the books I've read and reread and the resources I carry everywhere and the hoard of supplies at home and the Bird masks and the Badger mirroring and THEN the ability to learn what I need on the fly if all else fails--

I don't need a plan.

I don't want a plan.

I'm more powerful without it.

I can react and pull from anything I've ever done or used or read. I can build things on the fly. Doesn't matter if I need to help cater an event or build a website or just prop open a heavy door--I'll have something relevant, or I'll figure it out.

There are situations where I won't be as capable, of course. For example, I know very little about cars, or writing music, or roller skating, or amino acid protein chains. But that's okay, because there are other people who specialize in those things, and I'll almost certainly come out of the situation having learned something and added to my library.

(Except the roller skating thing. I'm kind of phobic about skating of any kind. Cool when other people do it, but I get *eurgh* sliding in socks on linoleum.)

How do I end this... oh!

The fancy word for the act of making up a solution to a problem on the spot, using whatever materials and resources you have on hand, is bricolage, and one who practices it is a bricoleur. I learned that from a LiveJournal blog about writing that I used to read when I was 12, and I still remember it for some reason, which is very on brand of me.

[kurlyfrasier]

Favorite Girl

Dean x Reader

Synopsis:  The boys and Bobby are back from a hunt you convinced them to go on while you stayed home, sick with a fever. They struggle to not wake you up and Bobby worries Dean has the hots for you.

Word Count: 1687

Warnings: none

Bobby and the boys stepped out of their respective vehicles, each caked in dried mud and blood from head to toe as Bobby’s driver door creaked in protest, closing it shut. The hunt was simple, but without you there with them to make sure they didn’t do anything terribly stupid… Well, they came back alive, and really, that’s what mattered. They had each decided it was best not to prove you right. So-much-so, they took a blood oath to keep silent about it. ‘It’ being nothing you needed to know about.

Bobby’s keys jangled as he took them out of the door lock, cracking the door open to see if you were awake. Sam and Dean’s tired feet dragged on the porch behind him.

“Shut up, you idjits!” Bobby whisper yelled over his shoulder as he noticed you curled up on the couch with your favorite blanket. His stomach dropped. He had no idea why you weren’t in your room and that worried him. Could you not make it up the stairs? Did you feel worse than when they left a few days ago? He silently berated himself, knowing he should’ve stayed. His gut had told him so, but you had convinced him you’d be okay. That killing monsters was more important than you. Well, it was about time you were proved wrong. Maybe the next time you were sick you’d actually let your surrogate father of the past five years take care of you.

“Why?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Is she okay?” Sam and Dean- not getting the hint to stay quiet- tried to push pass Bobby to check on you. 

“Heck if I know!” He whispered impatiently, the boys faces turned to him in alarm. “She’s asleep on the couch,” he answered before they could ram through the door. 

“What do we do now?” Dean slumped, wanting to wash all the grime off, but didn’t want to wake you up. When they left you were puking, had no voice, and was running a fever of 101.2*F.

“Grab the hose, boys.”

“The hose!”

“It’s freakin’ cold out here, Bobby!”

“Yes,” Bobby stared them down, daring them to cause a disturbance one more time. When they didn’t, he continued. “You wanna get clean, don’t ya? Well, I’ll grab the soap and you two grab the hose and hook it up out back. Quietly.”

Both boys nodded in unison, doing as they were bid.

The door creaked long and high-pitched- like a dying cat, Bobby thought as he slowly stepped into the house. Scowling, he couldn’t help but think that he needed to buy some WD-40 next time he got supplies for the house. You didn’t stir as he closed it shut behind him. But the moment he took the first step across the room you mumbled, curling up tighter in your blanket. He instantly froze, one foot mid-air as he waited for you to greet him. When none came, he released a breath he hadn’t known he was holding. As quietly and quickly as he could, Bobby grabbed the soap, decided to get towels, and headed out back.

“Okay, as much as I know you boys would like to see me naked, it ain’t happenin’. So,” Bobby grabbed the hose from Sam. “Strip and I’ll spray you off.”

“Now Bobby, I think Sam and I can handle-”

Bobby sprayed hard, fast, cold water straight in Dean’s face. “I’m sure you can, Dean. I just wanna make sure you’re both thoroughly clean before stepping foot in that house with my daughter.”

“Daughter!? She’s only been around five years!” Dean half shouted, a little shocked to hear the man say it out loud. He knew Bobby saw you as a daughter, just like he knew Bobby saw Sam and himself like sons. But it meant more trouble for Dean if Bobby ever found out he was secretly falling for you.

Okay, that was a lie, he admitted to himself. He had already fallen for you. Hard. And leaving you at Bobby’s to fend for yourself was the hardest thing he had ever had to do. Even harder than when you had gotten scratched by a werewolf, taken by a djinn, or stabbed by a demon. At least then he had something to kill and could patch you up afterwards. But you being sick? Something so...normal. He was helpless as you tossed and turned, barely able to sleep. He could only hope you weren’t any worse than when they left.

“Yeah. And she’s my favorite kid too!” Bobby sprayed Sam to stop his chuckling. “Now I’m playin’ the father card here. You two strip- Dean! No need to strip completely naked, keep them boxers on!” 

“You said-”

“I know what I said, boy. But that don’t mean I wanna see your- you know.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Now thoroughly cleaned and shivering, Sam and Dean headed back up to the house.

Bobby finds the boys arguing about who was going to carry you to bed. Sam already changed, while Dean was still in a towel.

“Idjits,” he whisper-yelled, causing the boys to turn around. He motioned for them to come closer and they did, both with a questioning gaze. “Sam, you carry y/n to bed-”

“What. Why Sam? Why can’t I carry her?” Dean argued while Sam stood with his arms crossed, smiling smugly.

“Because Dean,” Bobby glared at him. “You’re still holding a towel around your waist. How do you expect to carry her upstairs?”

“W-well,” he sputtered. “I’ll change.”

“Sam has already changed. Plus, I don’t want you touching her. I’ve seen the way-” He stopped to glare at Sam’s smug face. “And what are you waiting for. The longer you take to get her to bed the more likely it is we’re gonna wake her up. Go!”

“Oh, y-yeah Bobby. Sure,” Sam almost stumbled on his way back to you. Swiftley picked you up, blanket included with one hand behind your shoulders and the other under your knees as he lolled your head on his shoulder and headed up the stairs to your room. Leaving Dean to fend for himself. Not that he would’ve helped anyway.

“Oh don’t look so despondent, Dean.”

“Wha-,” he feigned ignorance. “I am not despondent.”

“Doesn’t matter. Stay away from her. You look at her like a lost puppy and that doesn’t suit well for me. Besides, who knows what kind of disease you’d give her.”

“Disease!? Bobby. I am clean, thank you very much.”

“Yeah, yeah. Look, if I see you so much as shake her hand, I will stab you.”

“B-bu-but Bobby, we’re family,” Dean stuttered, knowing Bobby really would make good on his threat.

“That may be so, son. But she’s my favorite. If anything happens to her. If you ever hurt her-”

“I would never. She’s my favorite too, ya know,” Dean said quietly.

“I know,” Bobby answered. Walking away from a surprised Dean he threw over his shoulder, “that’s what worries me.”

“What was that all about?” Sam asked when Bobby was out of sight.

“Nothin’,” Dean breathed out.

“Okay,” Sam shrugged. “I call the couch.”

“That’s fine,” Dean paced back and forth, glancing up the stairs anytime he got close to them.

“Fine? No fight for it?” Sam chuckled.

“Yeah, you can have it,” he replied, grabbing clothes out of his duffel by the couch.

“Wait. What are you gonna do?”

“Uh, change. Yeah, I’m gonna go change,” he nodded before sprinting up the stairs.

“He’s gonna kill you…” Sam whispered before lying down.

~~~~~~~~~~

Dean, now fully clothed, cracked your bedroom door open, scrunching his face when it creaked before tip-toeing in. Clicking the door shut, he waited with bated breath for Bobby’s footfalls. Hearing nothing, he released it with a victory pump. His head snapped in your direction when he heard you mumble incoherently.

“Y/n?” He whispered, a quaver in his voice as he knelt down next to you. Lifting a hand he checked for a fever, tucking a few strands behind your ear. Relief swept over him when you didn’t feel like a fire pit. Carefully, he lifted the covers and climbed in bed next to you, wrapping an arm around your waist, and placed a featherlight goodnight kiss on your cheek before tucking his own head on the pillow, facing you.

For some reason Dean felt as though you would disappear any second if he didn’t stay close. Hunting without you those past few days were torture. Plain and simple. He couldn’t think straight without you there and he made rookie mistakes. Almost got all of them killed for it too. If you had been there, you would’ve noticed the vamp hiding an arms length away before it attacked, pushing him into the mudpit. Then Sam and Bobby jumped in to pull the vamp off of him. If you had been there, that vamp would’ve never had time to sound the alarm and none of them would’ve been covered in mud.

Never again would he leave you to fend for yourself. Never again would he leave you behind, just to worry about you. Never again. Even if you were at a safe place.

“Dean,” you whispered, shaking the arm on top of you. “Dean. Hey, Dean!”

“Mmm,” he mumbled, eyes still closed. 

“Dean.”

He mumbled, still not moving.

“Dean,” you pushed his chest- hard- causing him to roll backwards. His green eyes opened wide with panic before he thumped onto the floor.

“Ugh,” he groaned and sat up as you tried muffling your giggles. “Somebody must be feeling better,” he rasped.

“What were you doing in my bed?” You asked before you could stop yourself. It wasn’t that you minded him cuddling with you, but you were just starting to feel better so it was safe to say you were probably still contagious. “And how’d I even get to bed? I was waiting up for you guys when I fell asleep.”

“I wanted to make sure you were okay,” he shrugged. “And Sam carried you.”

“That was nice of him,” you smiled sweetly.

“I wanted to but Bobby wouldn’t let me,” Dean pouted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Want to read more by me? Masterlist

[sheerfreesia007]

Finding Love In Legacy Oaks pt. 6

Title: Finding Love In Legacy Oaks pt. 6

Fandom: Kingsman

Pairing: Agent Whiskey x Reader

Author: @sheerfreesia007

Words: 23,186 (Am I insane? Yes, yes I am.)

Warnings: Fluff, Bullying

Permanent Tag List: @paintballkid711, @fioccodineveautunnale​, @phoenixhalliwell, @synystersilenceinblacknwhite, @linkpk88, @weirdowithnobeardo

Author Notes: I have no words to describe how happy I am that I’ve finally finished this chapter. This will be the longest chapter I will EVER write. So this spans over a whole work week, hence why it’s so long. I absolutely loved and hated this chapter haha, I love the slow soft relationship I’ve created between these two wonderful women. I hope you all enjoy! I need a drink. Also don’t come for me for the pirate names I used a generator because my brain was broken by the end of this. Feedback is welcome.

Gif Credit: Google

Bunny walked back into the kitchen after she shut the front door letting Jack out of the house. Stepping into the bright kitchen her eyes were immediately drawn to Butter who excitedly rolled from his back to his front in his dark brown fluffy dog bed. Bunny burst out laughing as she watched the little dog roll over too much and have to correct himself. His body twisting and turning as he tried to right himself and he let out a little yip when he finally got it right and laid upright in the bed looking up at her excitedly.

   “You’re a bit of a mess aren’t you?” She asked fondly and watched as his tongue lolled out of his mouth and he began to pant softly. Bunny turned to the cabinet under the counter at the corner and the sound of nails on the floor rang out. She grabbed the dog treat jar she had stored in there and turned around to see Butter trying to run over to her hurriedly but his feet got caught up underneath him and he belly flopped on the floor and slid across to her feet where he came to a stop. Bunny chuckled softly and shook her head at him. “Such a mess.”

She then pulled out a dog biscuit and held it out in front of him. Butter obediently sat and waited as she placed the biscuit on his nose balancing it perfectly. “Wait.” she told him softly as she then stood to her full height and he didn’t move an inch. “Alright get it.” she said happily. Butter snapped his nose upward and the treat flew in the air a few inches above his nose. He twisted his face and quickly caught the treat in his mouth and Bunny clapped her hands proudly. “Very good!” she cheered proudly. Butter stomped his little feet in excitement and Bunny laughed at his antics.

   Turning from Butter she turned back to the fridge and peered inside of it surveying to see what she had grocery wise for dinner for her and Esme. Spotting the thawing chicken she had in the fridge she smiled and turned to walk to her pantry to check she had all the ingredients she needed for what she had planned.

   “Alright I’ve got everything I need for dinner so I’m gonna catch up on some more work before we have to go get Esme from the bus stop in a few hours. Don’t make too much trouble go it?” she called out as she walked across the hall to her office. When she turned and looked back into the kitchen Butter was already sprawled out in his bed again on his back with his tongue hanging out of his mouth once more. “Such a mess.” she chided softly with a chuckle and a shake of her head.

———

   Bunny rubbed her eyes when she heard the front screen door of Mrs. Parker’s house squeaked loudly on its hinges, I really need to get them some WD-40 for that door. Blinking rapidly she sighed softly, she had been working hours on this one client’s website trying to make the dimensions and what the client wanted work together cohesively. Unfortunately she hadn’t been able to get it to work and a headache had begun to form behind her eyes. Sighing softly she saved her progress on the website and quickly shut her laptop.

   Looking down at her phone she pressed the power button she saw that she had just five more minutes before her and Butter had to start heading to the bus stop to pick up Esme. Standing from her chair she lifted her arms and stretched wide letting out a large yawn. Running her hands into her hair she scratched at her scalp and groaned lowly at the pleasure it brought her before she shook her hair out and let it fall behind her.

   Grabbing her oversized navy blue knit sweater from the back of the desk chair where she had put it hours ago, she pulled it back over her head and let it fall to cover her white tank top. Then moving around her desk she grabs a knit scarf and a pair of fingerless gloves, while it was the beginning of the year it was still chilly enough to require some extra clothing for warmth.

   Walking out of the office she whistled softly for Butter as she made her way down the main hallway towards the front door. She effortlessly slipped her feet into her trusty black combat boots and zipped up the sides. When she stood tall in front of the mirror she smiled at herself before she grabbed Butter’s leash from the hook next to the door and her keys from the mosaic key bowl on her little table. She laughed as she heard the skittering of nails on the floor as she jingled the dog leash in her hand.

   “So good of you to wake up sleeping beauty.” She teased softly as she bent down and held out the harness for the little dog to step into. Butter licked her chin excitedly as she finally clasped the buckle on the harness. “C’mon you wanna go get Esme at the bus stop bud?” Butter began to prance around her feet as she stood tall again and then opened the front door.

   Holding the leash loosely in her hand she turned and quickly locked the door before skipping down the front steps. Butter quickly tried to dart ahead of her but was jerked back by the leash and Bunny burst out in laughter as the little dog tumbled backwards clumsily. Shaking her head at him she tried to calm her laughter.

   “When are you gonna learn Butter? The leash doesn’t retract buddy.” She said softly to the little dog still shaking her head at him. He yipped at her and she grinned at his response. “C’mon we can’t be late for Esme.”

Walking down the block Bunny silently looked around her neighborhood and admired how quaint it looked. The trees were slowly losing the frost that had swept in last month and looked as if they were finally thawing out. She knew next month the trees should start budding as they got ready for spring to arrive. The flowers would soon need to be planned out for when the neighborhood would help with planting them. Hopefully Sarah would have some ideas that they could bounce off each other.

Bunny waved at Mrs. Carter as she passed in her Volkswagen Golf on her way home after work. The walk to the corner bus stop wasn’t very long and as Bunny came to a stop on the sidewalk Butter looked back at her confused as to why she stopped when normally they would walk all the way to the dog park so that he could get his exercise in.

“We gotta wait for Esme bud. I told you this.” Bunny said easily. Just then she heard the loud squeaky brakes of the school bus as that bus made the turn into the neighborhood. Bunny smiled and waved her hand at the bus driver as he pulled to the curb and opened the door waiting for the kids to pile out.

There were the older two girls that Bunny had seen last time she saw Esme at the bus stop walk off the bus and then Esme appeared at the top of the bus stairs. Bunny watched as the little girl tilt her head at her for a second before a bright smile spread across her face as she remembered that she’d be staying with Bunny for the week.

“Bunny!” Cried Esme happily before she bounced down the stairs to the pavement.

“Hey Esme!” Bunny called out happily and Butter began jumping around excitedly as he barked catching onto the little girl’s happiness easily. Bunny watched fondly as the little girl kneeled down and began petting Butter and hugged him around his neck softly. “So I was told you put in a request to go visit the playground before doing homework and I am here to make that request a reality.” Bunny explained easily.

“Really?!” Esme cheered excitedly as she quickly stood from the pavement.

“Yeah I gotta take Butter for a walk anyway. Would you like to go to the big playground or the little one?” Bunny asked, smiling down at Esme. “The big playground is closer and usually more busy now but if you’re up for a little bit of a longer walk there’s a smaller playground that not a lot of kids go to.” Bunny explains as they begin to start their walk down the sidewalk towards where the main part of the community is.

“Can we go to the little playground? I don’t really want to play with anyone else right now.” Esme asked.

“Of course.” Bunny answered before nodding her head.

“Can I hold Butter’s leash?” Esme asked softly as she twisted and turned unsurely while she walked next to Bunny on the sidewalk. Bunny looked down at her with a kind smile on her face.

“Of course Es. Just hold him tight and if he pulls you you have to tell him no and stop walking immediately. That’s how I taught him when he was a puppy, but when it’s someone else walking him he’ll try to pull ahead. And let me hold your backpack so you don’t have to worry about it.” Bunny explained as she looped the leash handle around Esme’s wrist and showed her how to hold the leash and took Esme’s backpack from her casually tossing it over one shoulder before they started walking again.

Once they had crossed the main road running through the community Bunny directed Esme to walk past the big playground and then follow the winding cobblestone walkway. They were quiet for a bit just taking in the scenery before Bunny spoke up.

“So how was school today?” Bunny asked curiously as she watched Esme focus on walking Butter properly. At her question Esme turned her head to look at Bunny with a bright smile.

“It was fun. We did a lot of arts and crafts today and not that many sports.” Esme said happily as she began to skip down the sidewalk.

“You like doing a lot of arts and crafts?” Bunny asked, wanting to gather some ideas on what she could do with Esme during the week when she got home from school.

“Oh yeah my favorite is drawing and painting but today in art class we did some sculpting with clay which was really cool!” Esme said excited as she continued to bounce.

“What about bead bracelets? Do you know how to make those?” Bunny asked curiously as she silently stored away that information about Esme.

“No, not really I know how to braid a lanyard though. I did that in summer camp one year.” Esme said distractedly as the two of them continued walking along the path. Soon the trees began to grow closer and closer along the sidewalk and Bunny smiled as she began to walk slower taking in the imagery of the trees looming over the sidewalk created. She pulled her phone out and lined up the shot of Esme walking along with Butter looking up at the trees. Smiling she snapped the shot and admired the picture before she sent it off to Jack in a text message.

She then quickly caught up to the two of them and they finally came across the smaller playground. Esme squealed in delight and Bunny held her hand out to take the leash from her before she quickly ran towards the playground. Slowly walking Butter in the grass before the playground Bunny kept an eye on Esme as she made it to the fort and began to climb. Her eyes easily took in the way that Esme would take a moment to catch her breath when she climbed too quickly. She wondered quietly how severe her asthma was and soon ideas started to begin to form in her head on ways to help Esme through that.

Bunny walked closer to the playground and leaned against one of the poles of the swing set while she kept her eyes on Esme. She watched as the little girl happily made her way up and down the playground. When she slid down the slide for the fifth time she came racing over to where she stood and sat down on one of the swings and began to swing herself. Bunny smiled and set the backpack against the pole before she took a seat on the other swing and lazily began to swing back and forth. Butter danced around her legs and happily barked as Bunny tapped his behind with her shoe. Esme burst out into happy laughter as Butter then began chasing Bunny’s shoes as she lazily swung them in the air.

“So why did you name your dog Butter?” Esme asked as she slowed her swinging so that she wasn’t so high. Bunny let out a loud laugh at the question and turned her head to look at Esme as she stopped swinging.

“I didn’t mean to name him Butter. His first name was Butterscotch because he has the same colors as butterscotch. But when I first adopted him I brought him over to show him to my nephew.” Bunny began to explain happily as she remembered the day she adopted Butter. “My nephew Henry was only three at the time and was only talking a little bit. You know when little babies are just learning how to talk and only know how to say certain words?”

“Yeah.” Esme responded nodding her head in thought at Bunny’s words.

“Well when I introduced Butterscotch to him Henry couldn’t say the word butterscotch so he kept saying ‘Budder’. And it was really cute so his name changed from Butterscotch to just Butter.” Bunny explained easily as she laughed softly at the memory.

Esme burst out into laughter at the story and Bunny smiled warmly at the little girl. She watched amused as the little girl bent over on her swing as she continued to laugh happily.

“That’s so silly!” Cried Esme happily as she still laughed. Bunny nodded her head at Esme’s words and watched as she slid off the swing and began to pet Butter as she giggled. “Do you like your name Butter or do you like Butterscotch?” Esme asked still giggling and Butter began to bark loudly and jumped around the little girl in excitement making her laugh harder at his antics.

“Alright kiddo, what do you say we start heading back so I can make us some yummy dinner and we tackle your homework while I cook?” Bunny suggested softly as she smiled down at Butter and Esme.

“What are we having for dinner?” Esme asked curiously as she nodded her head and picked up Butter’s leash. Bunny stood and grabbed Esme’s backpack and slung it over her back again.

“I was thinking chicken parmesan with linguine and pasta sauce. How does that sound?” Bunny asked.

“Oh! Can I help after I finish my homework?” Esme asked eagerly as she turned to face Bunny as they all began walking down the sidewalk once more.

“Yeah of course.” Bunny said nodding her head amenably. Esme cheered loudly throwing one of her fists into the air and Butter barked loudly in excitement as he jumped around not knowing what was going on. Esme and Bunny burst out laughing when Butter tripped on his own feet and did a faceplant into the sidewalk. “You alright Butter?” Bunny asked fondly as she bent down and brushed the dirt off his face and kissed his head. Butter made a happy grumbling sound and butted his head against her shin gently making Esme laugh and Bunny smile at him.

———

After the three of them had gotten back to Bunny’s house she had told Esme to go wash her hands after playing on the playground before starting her homework. Bunny had unhooked Butter’s leash and turned on the lights in the house so that they would all have enough light to be able to do what they needed to for the night.

Bunny moves about the kitchen effortlessly pulling out pots and pans and all the ingredients she needs to be able to cook dinner. She turns on her music player on her phone and hooks it up to the bluetooth speakers that she had installed into the house about a year ago, turning down the volume to a background noise level, and she begins to start dinner. She’s already salted the pot of water she needs to boil for the linguine and set up her dredging stations for the chicken parmesan before Esme reemerges from the bathroom all clean. Bunny points to one of the stools where she set down Esme’s backpack for her.

“Are you alright to sit at the island while I cook? Or do you want to go to the dinner table over there?” Bunny asks curiously as she begins to chop up some onions and garlic to add to the pasta sauce she’s making.

“No, I can do it here.” Esme says confidently and Bunny nods as she continues to chop.

“So how much homework do you have tonight?” Bunny asks idly as she looks over to Esme as the little girl pulls out a sparkly navy blue folder with a white label that says homework on it.

“I only have vocabulary and math to do tonight. And they’re only two worksheets.” Esme says with a shrug of her shoulders.

“Ok, do you want to try and do it yourself and if you get stuck you can ask me for help? I don’t know how your dad does homework with you.” Bunny says softly at a loss for words or direction. She looks over at Esme and sees the little girl smiling brightly at her.

“I usually do it myself but Daddy helps me if I get stuck.” Esme says nodding her head as she pulls out a pencil case that is also sparkly and purple. Bunny nods and smiles warmly at the little girl.

“Ok, that works for me.” Bunny says nodding as she turns and adds the chopped onions and garlic to the large pot on her stove. Stirring the onions and garlic she smiles when the scent of them cooking together enters her nose.

It’s not much longer before Bunny is adding the jar of pureed tomatoes to the pot with the onions and garlic and she begins to season the sauce with oregano and basil.

“Hey Bunny, I need help with my nine times table. I keep getting stuck on that one.” Esme says from behind Bunny and she turns to face the little girl.

“Ok what are you having trouble with?” Bunny asks as she moves to lean over the kitchen island to look at the little girl’s math worksheet.

“It’s the only times table that I have trouble remembering.” Esme said dejectedly as she huffed down at her worksheet.

“Okay, do you have a piece of scrap paper?” Bunny asked and Esme nodded handing her a piece of spare paper. Bunny easily picked up Esme’s pencil and began to write out the nine times table for the little girl. When she was done writing it out she turned it around to show Esme. “So the way that I was taught was that each number in your answer for the nine times table will add up to nine. This only works for up to nine times ten though.” Bunny began to explain to Esme. She points to show the little girl that if she adds each number in the answer it will add up to nine. “Also the first column of the answer goes from zero to nine and the second column goes the opposite nine to zero.” she explains as she shows that little girl. “Does that help you?” she asks, worried that she might have confused the little girl even more.

“It did. Thank you.” Esme says nodding quickly as she begins to fill in the answers for the worksheet. “So if I add nine to this answer I will get the next one right?”

“Yes that’s right.” Bunny says relieved that Esme seems to understand it.

“Cool thanks!” Esme said happily as she quickly finished her worksheet. “So can I help with dinner now?” Esme asked as she began to pack away her homework.

“Sure thing kiddo. Pull up a chair and I’ll let you dredge the chicken so I can fry them.” Bunny explains as she begins to set out plates on the kitchen island for the dredging. Cracking two eggs she beat them until the yolks and egg whites were mixed on one of the plates and then poured out some breadcrumbs on the other plate.  Esme pulled a chair around the side of the island and climbed up onto it. Bunny easily flattened the chicken breasts and handed them to Esme to dip into the egg mixture and then into the breadcrumbs before laying them on a plate for Bunny. “So I was thinking maybe tonight we could watch some Pirates of the Caribbean? And then maybe tomorrow we could watch The Mummy?” Bunny suggested as she laid the coated chicken breasts in the pan of heated oil.

“I love pirates!” cheered Esme excitedly. Bunny smiled over her shoulder at the little girl who was still standing on the chair at the kitchen island. “I’ve never seen The Mummy though.” Bunny gasps loudly and presses a hand to her chest in mock outrage.

“You’ve never seen The Mummy? Oh I’m gonna show you all of my favorite movies. This is gonna be fun! What kind of movies do you like? Are there certain ones that you like?” Bunny asked over her shoulder as she would periodically look over it to Esme.

“I watch a lot of Disney movies. Dad doesn’t really know anything besides Disney.” Esme said with a shrug of her shoulders.

“Oh well that’s good because I have a ton of Disney movies that we could watch. What about Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter? Do you like those too?” Bunny asked curiously.

“You love Disney too?!” Esme cried as she bounced a little bit on the chair. Bunny laughs softly as she nods her head.

“Oh yeah I grew up on Disney kiddo. I’m like a Disney guru.” Bunny said making a silly face at Esme over her shoulder making the little girl laugh.

As dinner continued to cook the two of them continued to talk about movies that they could watch together during the week that Esme would be here. Once dinner was done Bunny easily made two plates and walked them over to the coffee table in her living room and turned on the tv pulling up the Pirates movie. She quickly then got Esme situated on the floor before going back to the kitchen to grab silverware and their drinks. Before she walked back into the living room she grabbed her phone and checked to see if she had any messages from Jack. When she saw that there weren’t any she quickly headed into the living room figuring that he was still busy with work.

———

“I love that movie!” Gushed Esme as the credits rolled for the first pirates movie on the tv screen. Bunny laughed and nodded her head. The two of them had finished their dinner about halfway through the film and just wound up slouched on the floor leaning back against the couch.

Bunny sat half slouched against the couch with one knee bent in front of her and one leg splayed out. Butter laid draped between her legs with his head resting on her thigh. He was snoring loudly with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. Bunny looked down at the snoozing dog and laughed softly at him.

“I do too. It’s a really good movie.” Bunny said easily as her hand came down to rest in Butter’s fur and she began to pet him softly along his body.

“So we’ll be able to do that every night? Watch one of the movies you have?” Esme asked as she rested her head back on the cushion of the couch and rolled it to look over at Bunny. Bunny turned her head and smiled warmly at the little girl. She looked so at peace with where she was right now. Her eyes were sparkling, her smile was lazy, she looked satisfied.

“Of course I’ve got tons of movies that we could watch. I’ve got The Mummy we could watch tomorrow. There’s also some girlie movies likes 13 Going On 30 or Pipi Longstocking.” Bunny told Esme. Esme nodded her head eagerly at all the movies that Bunny was naming off. “Alright how about this we watch one more pirate movie before bed and to relax we’ll do some face masks?” Bunny suggests as she nudges Butter who wakes with a start and yelp as he twists his body until he’s standing on his little legs making Esme giggle next to the two of them. Bunny shakes her head at the dog and sighs. “Always such a hot mess.”

“What’s a face mask?” Esme asked softly and Bunny whipped her head around to her with a delighted gasp and wide eyes.

———

Bunny was finishing up smearing the lumpy light green avocado mixture onto Esme’s face. Just then Bunny heard her phone chime and not moving from her spot in front of Esme she quickly finished applying the face mask to her face.

Once done she set the bowl of the face mask down and grabbed her phone quickly. Seeing that she had a message from Jack she opened it and read it.

Is it alright to video call now?

She smiled as she read the message knowing that Jack was probably anxious to talk to his little girl. He hadn’t sent her a message besides when they were on their way to the park. Typing out a message she turned to see Esme admiring herself in the mirror that Bunny had brought out.

“Hey Es, wanna video call your dad?” She asked kindly and the little girl quickly turned to her nodding her head rapidly.

“Yes can we call him?” She asked hurriedly. Bunny smiled and tapped the video call button on Jack’s contact and handed the phone to Esme. Bunny then began applying her own face mask to her face while the two of them waited for Jack to pick up, which he did after only a few rings.

“Oh my god! What did you get into?” Came Jack’s worried cry and Bunny jolted at his loud tone. She quickly walked behind Esme to look into the phone as well.

“It’s nothing bad, it’s just a face mask. Perfectly fine and safe I swear. We’re doing a little girl spa night.” Bunny said quickly and watched as Jack stare at the two of them with concern for a moment.

Just then Bunny watched as another man peered over Jack’s shoulder and she shrieked loudly making Esme whip around to look at her as she retreated from the screen. The words from the man not resonating with Bunny at all as she quickly moved away from the phone. Esme watched her shrewdly for a moment until a bright happy grin spread across her face.

“Hi Uncle Tequila! I don’t think Bunny wants you to see her in her avocado face mask.” Esme teased happily as she giggled. Bunny shook her head at the little girl who grinned over at her from her spot on the chair.

“Oh and I can?” Came Jack’s question over the phone and Bunny rolled her eyes at Esme who giggled loudly again. Huffing out a soft breath Bunny spoke up so that Jack could hear her.

“Jack we’re friends of course you can see me in a face mask. I’m watching your daughter. Uncle Tequila is a literal stranger.” Bunny said loud enough for Jack to hear. She rolled her eyes and felt her face warm at having been seen in a face mask by someone other than Jack and Esme. Not to mention now that she thought about it she was quite embarrassed that Jack had seen her in her face mask as well.

“Bunny’s embarrassed.” Esme sang teasingly as she grinned into the phone at her father. Bunny scoffed softly at the little girl before a grin of her own spread across her face.

“Just wait until you’re a teenager little one. You’ll know all about being embarrassed.” Bunny grumbled out and Esme giggled again. Bunny shook her head and began cleaning up the bowl and other things that they had taken out to do face masks giving Esme and Jack some privacy to talk.

———

It wasn’t too long before Esme was walking into the living room from the kitchen still on the phone with Jack. She had a happy sparkle in her eye and as Bunny looked up from the book she was reading she was glad that she was able to give Esme and Jack this little reassurance that things were alright here.

“Hey Bunny, Daddy wants to talk to ya before he hangs up.” Esme said as she let out a big yawn.

“Alright, just give a minute and I’ll help you wash of your face mask. Did you say goodnight to him?” Bunny instructed warmly.

“Yeah. He just wants t’say goodnight to you.” Esme said with a bright smile and Bunny instantly felt her cheeks warm at the thought. Taking the phone from Esme she nodded her head to the little to go down the hallway.

“Meet ya in the bathroom?” She suggested lightly and Esme nodded before walking away down the hallway. Turning back to the phone she smiled at Jack who grinned and chuckled lightly at her.

“Still can’t get over that green stuff on your face.” He said softly.

“I’ll have you know it does wonders for the skin.” Bunny defended with a laugh and Jack grinned at her.

“I just wanna say thanks again Bunny. You’re doin’ me a real favor here.” Jack said warmly and for a second there Bunny thought she heard a warm southern accent in his voice that made her head tilt a little bit. Odd. Shaking her head lightly she immediately pushed the thought away.

“Jack I told you I don’t mind watching Esme. She’s been a sweetheart. There’s nothing for you to worry about I promise.” Bunny said earnestly as she stared into the phone at Jack.

“Alright, alright. I just I really appreciate it.” Jack said again and Bunny smiled at his almost pleading tone.

“What do I gotta do to get you to stop thanking me?” Bunny asked teasingly and watched as Jack’s eyes dart away from the phone and then back to her. Was that a blush she saw creeping onto his cheeks? Before Jack could become even more embarrassed Bunny spoke up again. “Don’t mention it Jack. Seriously don’t.” She teased him and he chuckled and shook his head. Just then Bunny let out a wide yawn and Jack chuckled again as her hand came up to try and hide the yawn from him.

“Alright I’ll let ya go. I’ll text you tomorrow morning.” He said with a nod and Bunny nodded along with him.

“Sounds good to me. Goodnight.” She said starting to feel the drowsiness creep into her body.

“Goodnight Bunny.” He responded and Bunny smiled before pressing the red button on the bottom of the screen. With the call ended Bunny set her book aside and stood up stretching. Yawning again she began to walk down the hallway towards the bathroom. When she saw Esme sitting up on the counter she grinned at the little girl.

“Alright girlie let’s get these masks off and you tucked up into bed.” Bunny said warmly and set about cleaning off Esme’s face first.

———

Bunny jolted awake suddenly and sat straight up in bed. Her hand came up to her chest where she felt her heart racing so fast underneath her skin. Taking a moment to look around the dark room she wondered what had woken her up so suddenly when she heard it. A loud piercing scream rang through the air and Bunny was instantly moving.

Throwing off the covers Bunny scrambled out of bed a little unceremoniously and almost fell when her feet got stuck in the blanket. But she was able to get to her feet and rushed out of the room. She grabbed the doorknob to the guest bedroom across the hallway from her and opened the door quickly. Her hand slid along the wall for the light switch and when she finally found it she clicked the light on.

Her heart clenched tightly in her chest when her eyes adjusted to see a bed head wild eyed Esme sitting straight up in bed shaking. Moving to the side of the bed Bunny sat down on it and peered at the little girl who was whimpering and shaking as she sat in the bed.

Bunny gently placed a  hand on Esme’s back and began to gently rub circles trying to soothe the girl. Slowly catching her breath Bunny watched as Esme’s eyes slowed their wild and crazed darting around the room. Her breaths began to slow and her trembling also eased. Suddenly her body slumped forward and Bunny quickly wrapped the girl in her arms where Esme curled into her and buried her face in Bunny’s neck.

“I had a nightmare. Daddy didn’t come home. And then I woke up and it wasn’t my room.” Esme cried softly and Bunny tightened her arms around the little girl.

“It’s ok, your Dad is fine. Remember we just talked to him a few hours ago. And when you get in the morning he’s gonna call again. He told me he was gonna call again.” Bunny tried to reassure the little girl softly.

“I miss him.” Esme whimpered softly and Bunny rested her head on top of the girl’s.

“I know sweetheart. It’s a big change for the two of you. I know he was very worried about you when he had to leave and I know he still worries about you. But I’ll get you through it and soon enough he’ll be home.” Bunny reassured.

“Can you stay until I fall back asleep?” Esme asked quietly.

“Of course, let me just grab my phone for my alarm in case I fall asleep ok?” Bunny said softly. Esme nodded and Bunny quickly left the room only to return moments later with her phone and phone charger. She pulled it into the wall and set the phone on the end table next Esme’s bed.

The little girl then scooted over and Bunny climbed on top of the covers next to the little girl. She opened up her arms and Esme quickly rushed to snuggle herself against the woman. Bunny lay there holding Esme and let her hand gently trail up and down the girl’s back hoping to ease her back into sleep.

Not long after Bunny heard Esme’s soft snores as the little girl fell back asleep. Bunny tried her hardest to keep her eyes open but soon she found herself falling asleep next to the little girl.

———

The loud blaring of Bunny’s alarm had both Bunny and Esme groaning and trying to bury their heads back into the pillows beneath them. Bunny chuckled softly as her hand reached out blindly to grab her phone and shut off the alarm. When it finally ended she sighed softly and began to snuggle back into the bed.

Just then the loud chiming of a video call came through on the phone and Bunny groaned again and rolled over to grab the phone. She yawned widely as she sat up in bed and accepted the video call not bothering to look at it.

“Well good morning sleepyhead!” Came the chipper voice of Jack and Bunny’s whole body seemed to jerk in it’s spot as her eyes opened wide to stare at his smiling face on her phone.

“Is that Daddy?” Asked Esme suddenly wide awake. She sat up and then clambered behind Bunny to peer over her shoulder.

“There’s my sleeping beauty.” Jack said happily as he smiled. Bunny smiled as she began to rub sleep out of her eyes. “Hey is everything ok? You look like you didn’t get much sleep.” Jack said concerned and Bunny realized he was talking to her and not Esme.

“Geeze Whisk, have you forgotten how to talk to women after all this time?” Came a snarky voice in the background of Jack’s phone. Bunny burst out laughing when she heard the voice and shook her head as she watched Jack’s cheeks heat up again. “Nothin’ more than a woman wants to hear is that she looks like she needs more sleep.” Came the voice again and Bunny chuckled as she titled her head to the side and pursed her lips.

“He’s not wrong.” She teased Jack and he made a face at her making both her and Esme laugh at him. Turning to Esme she began to hand over the phone to the little girl. “Here talk to your Dad while you pick out your clothes for school. I’m gonna go get dressed alright?” Bunny suggested and Esme nodded thankfully up at her.

“Thanks Bunny.” Esme said warmly and Bunny nodded knowing that the little girl meant more than just this. Standing from the bed Bunny stretched and tuned out the conversation that Esme and Jack were having before she walked out of the room and across the hall to her own room.

Dressing quickly she walked back out of the room and down to the kitchen so that she could wake Butter up and let him out before she started breakfast.

“C’mon Butter, let’s get you out in the backyard.” Bunny called out to the dog who was laying in his bed waiting for her. She laughed as he launched himself out of the dog bed and began booking it down the hallway to the back door. “Alright, alright hold your horses.” He grumbled out as he began to bounce on his feet at the back door barking happily. Opening the door for him she watched as he quickly ran for the squirrels that had congregated under her bird feeders. She chuckled softly and shook her head as she watched him try in vain to get to the squirrels. “Crazy dog.” She scoffed softly and turned back to the hallway after shutting the door.

Walking back down the hallway she meets Esme at the bottom of the stairs still talking to Jack. Bunny smiles and walks into the kitchen and pulls out a pan as well as some eggs and bacon for their breakfast.

“Hey Esme, how does eggs and bacon sound for breakfast?” Bunny asks warmly.

“That sounds good to me.” Esme says happily as she climbs onto one of the stools at the kitchen island.

“Sounds good to me too.” Jack says over the phone and Bunny laughs softly at him.

“Me too!” Chimes in another voice and Bunny grins as she shakes her head.

“Daddy! Uncle Tequila you’re not here you can’t have any.” Esme scolds them and Bunny laughs happily as she begins breakfast. They all happily chat as Bunny cooks and soon enough her and Esme are sitting down at the dining table to eat. Bunny sets the plates down and hears Butter barking at the back door. She quickly lets him back inside and then comes back to the kitchen to eat with Esme.

“So Esme tells me that you two had a rough night last night?” Jack asks softly from the phone that Esme had propped up against the jug of milk in the middle of the table. Bunny shrugs her shoulders as she finishes chewing her bite of eggs.

“It wasn’t too bad. She just missed you that’s all.” Bunny said truthfully and Jack nodded before opening his mouth. Bunny held up a finger to him and narrowed her eyes at him. “I swear Jack if you thank me one more time.” She threatened softly pointing her fork at him through the phone, Jack quickly shut his mouth and Bunny nodded her head. “It’s no big deal. It’s gonna take some adjusting but we’ll get through it.” Jack nodded his head at her and smiled warmly.

“Alright well me and Tequila are gonna’ head out to grab some breakfast. I’ll text ya later alright?” He said and Bunny nodded her head as she took another bite of eggs.

“Sounds good.” Bunny said easily and Jack smiled at her.

“Bye Es. Love ya!” Jack said lovingly to his daughter and she easily returned the sentiment.

“Love you Daddy. Bye!” Esme called out before pressing the end button. The two of them easily fell into a comfortable silence as they finished eating their breakfast.

“So I’ve noticed you and your Dad have accents but not all the time?” Bunny asked curiously as she picked up both plates from the table and began walking them over to the sink.

“Oh yeah Daddy and I are from Kentucky.” Esme said proudly and Bunny smiled as she nodded her head at the little girl. “I’ve got a little accent but Daddy’s got a bigger one. But ever since Mommy died he doesn’t use it.” Esme explained softly and Bunny stopped what she was doing and turned swiftly to the little girl.

“I’m so sorry Esme. I didn’t mean to bring this up.” Bunny said truthfully watching the little girl.

“It’s okay. It happened awhile ago. Daddy still gets sad sometimes but not as much anymore.” Esme said softly. Bunny knelt down and held her arms open for the little girl who quickly rushed into them and hugged Bunny tightly.

“It’s okay for him to be sad. And you too. It’s okay for that.” Bunny said softly as she held the little girl tightly. “If you ever wanna talk about your Mom you let me know and I’ll sit and listen ok?”

“Ok.” Esme said nodding her head.

“Good. Ok, go brush your teeth and I’ll pack a lunch for ya.” Bunny said easily as they pulled away from each other and the little girl ran up the stairs to her bedroom to finish getting ready for school.

Standing Bunny turned back to the sink and sighed softly. She was still learning things about Jack and Esme and truly didn’t mean to bring up her Mom at all. Now the accent she’d been hearing over the phone made sense.

———

The day progressed like normal if albeit a little more sluggish than it usually did. There was a sleepy haze hovering over Bunny since she woke up this morning to Esme screaming. But she pushed through it and went about her work day. She idly wondered if Esme was having as much trouble today staying awake as she was.

Soon the alarm on her phone went off and Bunny powered down her computer. She was still having difficulty with one client’s website design and hadn’t made any leeway unfortunately. Hopefully soon she’d find the inspiration to get the way the client wanted it.

Walking to the front door she grabbed onto Butter’s leash and whistled for him. His little pitter patter of feet on the hardwood floors filled the house and he came running into the front entryway. When she opened up the front door after putting the leash on Butter she could see that it was much foggier than it had been this morning. Making a quick decision on what they would have for dinner she smiled widely and the two of them set off towards the bus stop.

Once they had gotten to the bus stop Bunny stood there waiting with Butter who sat down at her feet and began to pant for air with his tongue hanging out. It wasn’t that long of a wait but as Bunny stood there she could feel the chill starting to creep into her bones and shivered slightly at it. Her phone chimed from in her pocket and pulling it out she saw that she had a message from Jack.

How are you guys doing? You smiled down at the phone and began typing out a response. It was sweet that he was checking in with her and Esme already.

Sleepy but good. Waiting for Es to get home. Bunny shook her head softly as her eyes darted over to see Butter rolling on the sidewalk on his back.

Are you alright? Came the next message and Bunny felt a warmth envelope her chest at his worry and concern for her.

I’m fine. I planned an exciting adventure to the grocery store to get ingredients for dinner. Hopefully it’ll wake us both up. Bunny heard the loud brakes of the bus squeaking behind her and she looked up from her phone to see the bus pulling up to the curb.

Esme slowly walked down the steps of the bus with a tired look in her eyes and Bunny could feel her heart melt at the way Esme’s shoulders slumped forward as she walked along the sidewalk towards her and Butter. She looked up at Bunny once she was in front of her and let out a big wide yawn that made Bunny start to yawn before she quickly covered her mouth to hide it. Esme giggled brightly at her and Bunny couldn’t help but grin at the little girl.

“So what do you say to a walk around the block and then head to the grocery store to get some stuff for dinner I had planned? I think it’s a little too cold for the park today.” Bunny suggested softly as she watched Esme tilt her head to the side tiredly.

“That sounds good.” Esme said with a sleepy nod of her head. “What’s for dinner?”

“It’s a surprise but we’re gonna make it fun.” Bunny said a little cryptically and she grinned as Esme looked up at her with a squinted look. “C’mon let’s get this butterball walking and home, then we can head out to the grocery store.” Bunny said hurriedly as she began ushering Esme and Butter around the block.

———

It took a little bit longer for the three of them to get around the block because half way around the block Butter spotted his nemesis, Mr. Squirrel and had to take a good few moments to continuously bark at his rival. But finally Bunny was opening the front door and everyone was piling into the front hallway. Quickly unhooking Butter’s leash Bunny hung it up on the hook and then walked farther into the house.

“Alright kiddo, how much homework do you have tonight?” she asked over her shoulder as she walked down the hallway to the craft room at the back of her house.

“Only one worksheet for vocabulary.” Esme said happily as she stood watching Bunny curiously.

“Good, set your backpack in the kitchen and then come help me.” Came Bunny’s voice from the craft room that she had walked into.

Esme did as she was told and then walked down the hallway to the room at the end of the hallway. Stepping into the room Esme let out a soft gasp at all the craft material on display. Her eyes danced around the room with excitement, there was a small square table in the middle of the room that many different labeled containers stored underneath it that held different craft materials. On the walls were different inspirational posters and other craft tools stored in different odd puzzle like configurations. There was a long desk along one side of the room with a computer monitor and printer on one section of it and right next to it was a sewing machine. The room was brightly decorated with rainbow colored posters and wall decorations around the craft storage. Esme could feel herself starting to grow excited at the possibilities that she would be to make with all of these materials.

Just then there was a loud grunt on the other side of the room and Esme walked over to see Bunny bent over a very large chest that looked like a pirate’s treasure chest. Esme bounced over with excitement building up inside her.

“Is this your treasure chest?” Esme asked excited and Bunny laughed happily at the little girl’s excitement.

“Oh yeah, but it’s a different type of treasure.” Bunny said conspiratorially. She opened the lid of the chest and let it fall gently back to reveal what was stored inside. Esme gasped as she spotted all the clothes that were folded and laid inside. Reaching out she let her hand gently graze the clothes and grinned up at Bunny.

         “Are these costumes?” Esme asked as she practically vibrated next to Bunny.

         “Sure are. I have a friend at the local stage theater who lets me pick out any of the costumes that they are getting rid of after they no longer need the costumes. Plus I’ve sewn a few of these, nothing crazy or anything.” Bunny explained. “But for our dinner tonight we have to dress up to go get it. It’s the only way that you should go out and get these ingredients. Are you down for that?” Bunny asked seriously as she stood next to Esme folding her arms over her chest.

         “Yes! Yes! What are we dressing up as?” Esme asked excitedly. Bunny plucked out two large sombreros from the chest and set one on top of Esme’s head making her giggle as it slid down over her eyes. Bunny bent down and tilted the sombrero back so that Esme could see clearly and grinned at the little girl.

         “You look absolutely perfect.” Bunny said happily. “I figured we need a little pick me up for dinner tonight since we’re both tired. What better way than dressing up to go get ingredients for Taco Tuesday!” she cheered the end of the sentence loudly and Esme squealed with delight and bounced on her toes making the sombrero bob and sway with her movements. “Alright what do you say to take a few pictures for your Dad so we can send them to him?” Bunny asked then and Esme grinned up at her nodding her head eagerly. Bunny laughed softly and placed her own sombrero on her head and knelt down next to Esme.

   “Do you have a selfie stick?” Esme asked softly and Bunny tilted her head for a second trying to remember if she did have one.

   “Oh! Yes hold on!” Bunny said, suddenly remembering. She clambered up onto her feet and moved to the closet in the room and opened the door. Esme squealed as she saw what was inside the closet making Bunny whirl back around to her in surprise. “What? What is it?” she asked hurriedly before Esme rushed into the closet.

   “You have pirate swords!” Esme cheered loudly and Bunny laughed relieved as Esme pulled out the fake pirate sword from the closet.

   “Yeah, I forgot I had all these props for when the community does photo booths. Jeremy the guard bought me a selfie stick at one of the parties that the community threw and I completely forgot about it.” Bunny explained as she looked for the selfie stick in the closet. “Got it!” she called and pulled it out of the closet triumphantly.

   “Can we dress up as pirates one day after school?” Esme asked sweetly and Bunny smiled nodding her head at the little girl who cheered happily and jumped on her toes.

   “Okay go ahead and put that back for now. We will definitely dress up as pirates one day. I promise.” Bunny promised as she nodded her head over to the closet for Esme. Esme did as she was told and then came back to stand next to a kneeling Bunny. They both smiled for the first picture and Bunny snapped a few shots.

   “Can we do a silly face one?” Esme asked as she giggled happily. Bunny nodded and lined up the phone again and the two of them laughed and giggled as they made funny faces for the pictures.

   “Alright let’s pick which ones to send to your dad and then we’ll head to the grocery store.” Bunny said as she pulled her phone from the selfie stick and showed Esme all of the pictures that she took. She let Esme pick a handful of them and sent them off to Jack with a smile. “Ok kiddo let’s get going so we can get the ingredients.” Bunny said smiling as she put away the selfie stick before ushering Esme out of the room as they both still wear the sombreros on their heads.

———

   While they’re walking up and down the aisles Bunny is laughing as Esme bounces around making her sombrero flop around her head. Just then Bunny hears her cellphone start ringing and she pulls it out seeing that Jack is video calling her. She grins and looks over at Esme showing her the phone to the little girl. Esme bounced over and giggle as she took the phone from Bunny and quickly answered the call from her Dad.

   “Daddy! Happy Taco Tuesday!” She cheered happily as she saw her father show up on the phone screen. Jack’s laugh sounded from the phone and Bunny smiled at the sound. It was a sound that she knew she was starting to get used to hearing and looked forward to it whenever he called. Shaking her head she continued down the aisle and picked out taco shells that she would need for dinner.

   “Hey Es, do you want hard taco shells? Or do you want to do soft tortillas?” Bunny asked over her shoulder to the little girl. She came bounding over to her with the phone with happiness just emitting from her in waves. Bunny smiles at Jack as she sees him on the screen as a feeling of relief and gratitude fills her that Esme is able to see her father even if it’s just on a video call.

   “I want hard taco shells.” Esme says in response and Bunny nods her head before picking up a package of the taco shells. She continues down the aisle with Esme walking next to her talking animated to her dad.

   “So I really liked those pictures you sent him girls.” Came Jack’s voice sounding a little teasing and Bunny laughed happily at that.

   “Oh yeah it’s part of my plan to wake us up. It is Taco Tuesday and we have to celebrate. What better way than to wear sombreros as we pick out taco ingredients for dinner.” Bunny said with a shrug of her shoulders. “Plus it’s always fun cooking together and I figured Esme would enjoy it.”

   “Oh I think it’s a great idea and it looks like you guys are having a ton of fun.” Jack said warmly and Esme giggled as she nodded her head making the sombrero to fall over her eyes. Bunny laughed and helped adjust the hat on her head.

   “Having a lot of fun Daddy. I really like being with Bunny.” Esme said happily and Bunny felt her heart melt at the little girl’s words. She wrapped one arm around the little girl and cuddled her into her side smiling down at Esme.

   “And it definitely looks like Bunny enjoys having you around.” Jack said fondly and Bunny looked over at him as she still held Esme close to her. She smiled brightly at the man on the phone screen and watched as his own smile grew and his breath stuttered in his chest.

   “Alright kiddo let’s get going and finish up our shopping so that we can get cooking. I’m getting hungry.” Bunny said as she continued down the aisle letting Esme time to talk with her dad.

———

   It was later that night that Bunny and Esme are sitting on the floor in the living room as 13 Going On 30 is playing on the t.v. Dinner was done and cleaned away already and the two of them are sitting with their backs against the couch and the coffee table in front of them. Bunny has a wide array of nail polishes laid out on the coffee table in front of them.

   “Alright so I figured we could do something special tonight by doing manicures and pedicures.” Bunny suggested kindly. “I can paint your nails and do anything you want on them.”

   “Oooh, really?” Esme asked excitedly as she looked over the many bottles of nail polish. “What do you normally do?” Esme asked curiously.

   “Well I usually do two different colors unless I find something on Pinterest that I’d like to try out. I find different patterns that I like to try sometimes. But it’s up to you if I can do it I’ll do it. Let me show you some of the stuff I’ve found on Pinterest that I’ve done.” Bunny explained as she pulled up her Pinterest on her phone and began showing Esme some of the nail painting ideas that she’s been able to do.

   Esme took a few minutes to look over the Pinterest board that Bunny had created. Bunny watched as she scrolled through the pictures and then smiled when Esme turned the phone back to show her the nail polish design she would like done on her nails. It was a simple design of black nails with rainbow dots.

   “Ok, go wash your hands first and then we’ll get started.” Bunny said excitedly as she too got up from the floor pausing the movie. Esme rushed off to the bathroom to wash her hands and Bunny went into the kitchen and washed her hands as well before coming back to the living room. “Alright so first things first, pick a hand lotion you would like to wear once I’m done. Once your nails are dry I’ll put the lotion on your hands to make them smell good.” Bunny explained as she showed Esme her collection of hand lotions.

   “Why do you have so many hand lotions?” Esme asked as she began to sniff each other trying to figure out which one she would like to wear.

   “I have dry skin and the skin on my hands crack and dries out very quickly if I don’t use hand lotion.” Bunny explained as she smiled at Esme. “I also like the smell of the lotions so I buy a bunch of different ones to try out.”

   “I like this purple flower one.” Esme says as she shows Bunny a container of lavender hand lotion. Bunny nods her head and sets aside the hand lotion. Bunny then started setting up the nail polish she would need to be able to paint Esme’s nails.

   “Ok so we’ll use that at the end. That’s a good smell, it should help you relax. Lavender is a relaxing scent.” Bunny said as she continued to set up everything. “Alright so first what I’m gonna do is a cuticle oil that’s going to moisturize your nails and cuticles. It’s gonna help your nails grow too because I’m going to rub it into your skin. Then I’ll begin painting your nails ok?” Bunny explained to the little girl with a smile.

   “Ok, can we still watch the movie while we do this?” Esme asked eagerly and Bunny nodded her head.

   “Of course. We have to see how the movie ends, duh.” Bunny says like it’s a no brainer and grins at the excited girl.

   Soon Bunny began applying the cuticle oil around each nail on the girls’ hands and began to rub it into the skin. The little girl watched for a little bit before her attention was pulled back to the movie playing on the t.v.

   “Are you going to paint your nails too?” Esme asked curiously as she looked back at what Bunny was doing.

   “Yeah I’ll even let you pick out my nail polish and design.” Said Bunny as she continued to massage Esme’s fingers.

   “Could we match?” Esme asked, sounding unsure and insecure. Bunny looked up suddenly at the little girl and saw her avoiding her eye. She saw the little girl bite her bottom lip in concern and Bunny couldn’t help but feel for the little girl. She wonders if the little girl is looking for a motherly figure to look up to and Bunny realizes that she doesn’t want to overstep but she would love to step up and be that person for Esme.

   “Of course we could match. I think that’d be really cool to do.” Bunny gushed happily. She knew that she would have to tread lightly with wanting to be there for Esme, she didn’t want to step on any boundaries that the girl had or any parenting that Jack had for her. So Bunny knew she would be there for Esme whenever she could be and would look out for her. She wouldn’t push but she’d always try to be there for her. “So what’s going on with school? Anything exciting?” Bunny asked as she began to paint Esme’s nails.

   “Well I made a new friend named Nadia. She’s really cool. She’s a lot of fun.” Esme said happily.

“That’s great Es! I’m glad you made a new friend. Does she live far from here?” Bunny said excitedly as she swiped base coat onto her nails. Blowing softly on her nails Bunny looking up at Esme and saw the slightly saddened look on her face.

“No, she lives over by the library.” Esme replied a little downtrodden and Bunny nodded her head at the little girl.

“Well that’s not too far from here. If the two of you ever wanted to hang out after school like on the weekends I don’t think it would be too far of a drive for your Dad.” Bunny said knowingly and Esme seemed to perk up at that.

“Do you think he’d let us have sleepovers?” Esme asked as she bounced slightly in her seat. Bunny smiled as she set aside the base coat bottle and picked up the black nail polish bottle.

“It’s up to him sweetheart I don’t know what he would say.” Bunny said truthfully not wanting to get the girl’s hopes up to only be crushed when her Dad said no. Esme nodded her head at what Bunny said and Bunny began to focus on painting the first layer of black nail polish.

“Nadia said she’s going to introduce me to her other friends too. Said I should make more friends who will be nice to me.” Esme said easily and Bunny furrowed her eyebrows at that.

“What do you mean friend who will be nice to you? Is there someone not being nice to you at school?” Bunny asked as she felt her body tense at the idea that there were kids who weren’t being nice to Esme. Esme was such a sweet girl in her eyes she couldn’t imagine anyone finding anything to tease Esme about. And then suddenly it clicked. Bunny looked up to see Esme trying to avoid her eyes once again. “Es, are you still being bullied?” She asked softly as she stopped painting her nails and looked up at her giving her her full attention.

Esme shrugged her shoulders and kept trying to avoid Bunny’s eyes. Bunny tilted her head down to try and catch Esme’s line of sight. When she wasn’t able to Bunny sighed softly.

“You know, I was bullied when I was a little bit older than you.” Bunny said softly and saw out of the corner of her eye that Esme was now looking up at her surprised.

“Really?” Esme asked in shock. “But you’re so cool.” She said softly and Bunny laughed loudly at that.

“Thank you. I didn’t used to be when I was a kid though. The kids at my school made fun of me because I was always reading. Anytime I had spare time while at school I had my face buried in a book. I had some friends but we weren’t popular. We didn’t do a lot of sports, just what was required in gym class. I was more interested in books and doing crafts than sports and going to parties like a lot of the other kids at my school. So I got picked on a lot at school. Oh! And I loved to swim, my family had a swimming pool and I was in it all summer from sun up to sun down pretty much. The chlorine in the pool started to change the color of my hair and when I went back to school I got teased for that by the kids at my school.” Bunny explained about her experience in school. Esme watched her silently as she listened to what Bunny said.

“How did you get rid of the bullies?” Esme asked softly. Bunny sat there for a moment and thought back to how she got the bullies to stop teasing her.

“I showed them that I didn’t care about what they said. The bullies are looking for a reaction from you. They want to see you cry and get upset. If you don’t cry or get upset they could stop. Or you can stand up to them and tell them to stop.” Bunny said truthfully.

“Like Nadia did the other day when the girls were teasing me about not playing in gym.” Esme said matter of factly. Bunny nodded her head.

“Did the girls stop teasing you after Nadia told them to stop?” Bunny asked curiously.

“They did.” Esme said nodding her head.

“Ok so maybe when they start teasing you again tell them no and stop. If they don’t stop you go to a teacher and tell the teacher what’s going on. They shouldn’t be teasing you for not being in gym.” Bunny said honestly.

“I don’t want to get in trouble.” Esme said dejectedly as she looked down at the floor.

“You won’t get in trouble for telling someone to stop teasing you. Or telling the teacher what’s going on.” Bunny said emphatically. “If someone is bothering you and making trouble for you, you have to say something otherwise people can’t help you sweetheart.”

“Ok. If they start teasing me again I’ll say something.” Esme said as she nodded.

“So maybe we need to find you something that you would be able to do instead of gym. Something that your asthma wouldn’t be aggravated. Let me talk to your Dad later and see if we can try something this weekend before he comes home.” Bunny suggested as she began to paint Esme’s nails again.

“You think there’s something that I can do that’s a sport?” Esme asked.

“There’s definitely a possibility. We’ll start off easy though and do something that’s not a sport. We’ll see how you do and then go from there.” Bunny said, trying to caution the little girl. “I don’t want you to get your hopes up too high. We have to see how you do with this first one.” Bunny said softly as she looked at Esme. Esme nodded her head slowly at Bunny and she responded with a soft smile and ruffling the little girl's hair on her head which made her squeal and try to get away without messing up her freshly painted nails.

———

“Dad! Look at my nails! Bunny painted them for me. And she painted her nails the same way so that we match!” Esme said excitedly as she showed Jack her painted nails as she sat up in her bed. Bunny was in her own room getting changed for bed and could hear the conversation going on between the two of them. She tuned it out a little bit to give the two of them some privacy but kept an ear out for anytime Esme would call out her name.

It was probably a good ten minutes later that Esme called out to Bunny from across the hall. Placing her bookmark in the science fiction novel that she was reading she set the book on the bed side table and got up from the bed. Walking across the hall she smiled as she pushed the door open and saw Esme lounging back on her pillows as she held the phone up to still look at her Dad. Her eyes were drooping and she had a sleepy smile on her face when she noticed Bunny.

“Dad said he wanted to say goodnight to you.” Esme said softly and Bunny nodded her head at the little girl.

“Sure thing, did you finish saying goodnight? I’d like to talk to your Dad for a quick second.” Bunny explained as Esme handed her the phone.

“Yeah. Can you read me a story once you’re done?” Esme asked as she yawned widely. Bunny laughed softly and nodded her head at Esme.

“Of course I can. Once I’m done I’ll come back in okay?” she said easily to Esme and Esme just nodded as she snuggled further into the bed.

Turning back to the phone Bunny walked out of Esme’s room and into her own. Bunny smiled softly at herself as she realized it was only day two with the little girl and she already thought of the spare room as Esme’s room.

“What’s the smile on your face for?” asked Jack and Bunny looked back at her phone letting the smile widen.

“I was just thinking that that’s Esme’s room already.” she said fondly and Jack grinned at her through the phone. “So I wanted to talk to you about possibly enrolling Esme in a dog yoga class that the community holds on the weekend.” Bunny explained confidently to Jack. “She mentioned that she’s still being bullied and teased at school for not being able to do gym or sports. I did a little bit of research and I have a friend in the dog yoga class who has asthma. Yoga is something that Esme could be able to do even with her asthma. It’s a slow class and very low key, I’ve gone a few times and maybe it’ll help with her asthma.” Bunny began to ramble again, she grimaced slightly as the words left her mouth and she felt herself falling farther and farther down the rabbit hole of trying to convince Jack to let Esme go to yoga. She had even begun to pace as she talked about what she wanted to do for Esme without even being aware of it. “I’ll be with her there the whole time. I’ll make sure I have her inhaler. I don’t want to overstep but she wants to do sports and she’s been upset about the teasing and bullying.”

“Easy Bunny, easy.” Jack said lowly with a little bit of an accent and Bunny took in a deep breath after stopping the word flow coming from her mouth. She shivered a little bit as the low easy comforting tone of Jack’s voice embraced her through the phone. His voice was so soothing and the accent that her ears now tried to catch and pick up was something that she knew she would love to listen to for hours. Feeling a flush grace her cheeks she grimaced slightly at the phone. “Let me call her doctor tomorrow morning and ask if that would be alright. To me it sounds fine, I know you’ll take care of her. I couldn’t ask for a better guardian to Esme than you.” Jack said softly and Bunny felt her heart thud heavily in her chest.

“Thanks Jack.” Bunny said softly as tears began to prick her eyes. She didn’t know why his words were affecting her like this. Yeah, she cared about Esme and wanted the best for the little girl but was just two days long enough to make her so invested in the girl? Bunny stood in the middle of her room where she had stopped her pacing. She stared off into her room and tried to gather her thoughts and found that all she wanted for Esme was her to feel good about herself. She didn’t want Esme to feel bad that the other kids teased her about her asthma. She felt connected to the little girl because of her own childhood past of being bullied and teased. She had wished that there was someone in her life back then who had stood up for her like Nadia was doing for Esme now. Or someone to help make her feel better about herself like she was trying to do for Esme.

“Did I lose ya Bunny?” asked Jack suddenly and Bunny was pulled from her thoughts suddenly. She turned her eyes back to the phone and smiled before letting out a big yawn trying to cover it quickly with her free hand. Jack laughed softly at the sight and Bunny flushed brightly.

“Sorry just got lost in thought for a moment.” she said sheepishly and he shook his head at her.

“No worries Bunny. I’ll let you get to sleep. I’ll let you know what the doctor says after I call her okay?” he says warmly as he grins at her from her phone screen.

“Alright sounds good to me.” she said easily. “Goodnight Jack.”

“Goodnight Bunny.” he responded and Bunny smiled again before hanging up the video call. Feeling her stomach fluttering a little she tried to push it down. She knew it would be dangerous to start developing feelings for her new neighbor so soon. But she couldn’t help but feel happy that he thought she was a good guardian for Esme.

Walking back across the hall to Esme’s room she peeked in and saw the little girl was already asleep snuggled in her bed. A medium sized stuffed octopus clutched tightly in her arms as she snored softly in her sleep. Bunny sighed softly as she leant against the doorframe and watched Esme sleeping. Shaking her head softly she smiled at herself, who knew her new neighbors would manage to weasel their way into her life so easily.

———

The next morning Bunny’s alarm blared her ‘Hype Music’ playlist waking her up from a deep peaceful sleep. She blearily blinked as she noticed the soft gray light filtering into her bedroom. Esme slept through the night! Sitting upright from the bed Bunny silently fist pumped into the air and gasped happily as she swiped her phone from the end table turning off the alarm. She had to tell Jack.

Quickly pulling up Jack’s text message thread she typed out a quick message to him.

Taco Tuesday was a success and Esme slept through the night!

Not waiting for a response she set her phone back down and got up from the bed. Changing easily into a pair of gray baggy sweatpants and a hunter green long sleeved shirt Bunny quickly tied up her hair out of her face and grabbed her phone before exiting her room. She peeked into Esme’s room quickly to see the girl still sound asleep and she grinned from ear to ear before she bounded down the stairs to the kitchen.

“C’mon Butter let’s get you outside to pee.” Bunny said softly as she walked into the kitchen stretching widely feeling more refreshed and accomplished than ever before. She patted her thighs and whistled for Butter who was still snoozing himself on his back half in his dog bed and half out of it.

When he heard her whistle his little body twisted and flipped in such a way that had Bunny groaning in sympathetic pain. But the little dog quickly got to his feet and slid across the floor towards her. She laughed softly and walked him down the back hallway to the back door.

“Go on. Get it done quick so you can come back into the warmth.” she told the dog as he leapt from the back steps and made a mad dash for his arch rival who was once again taunting him with his tittering fluffy tail. Shaking her head Bunny shut the back door and watched for a moment as Butter rushed the squirrel who quickly broke away from the discarded birdseed on the ground.

Turning back around Bunny walked back into the kitchen and set up her phone to begin playing her playlist on the downstairs speakers. She hummed and swayed her hips to the upbeat song and began setting out the ingredients for an egg and veggie omelet. She was cutting up the veggies that she wanted to put in the omelet when she heard the spare bathroom door close from upstairs and she smiled.

She let Butter back into the house and was just plating up one of the omelets when Esme walked into the kitchen already dressed in a pretty light purple shirt and dark wash bootcut blue jeans, her hair was in disarray and she looked crestfallen at that fact as she tried to pull it up into a ponytail.

“Here, eat your omelet and I’ll take care of your hair ok?” Bunny offered as she set the plate of the omelet in front of Esme. Esme looked up at her gratefully and nodded her head.

“Thank you.” she said softly before she began digging into her breakfast.

“No problem, do you want a ponytail or a braid? Two braids?” Bunny asked as she walked around Esme and grabbed the brush that was sitting on the kitchen island.

“Oooh! Can you do two braids? Or two braids that go into one?” Esme asked eagerly.

“I can do two braids, one of either side of your head for today. Anything else fancy and I’ll have to look it up on google on how to do it.” Bunny said as she began to brush out Esme’s long hair.

“You’d do that? Look it up for me?” Esme asked curiously and with a hopefully lilt to her voice.

“Of course. If I can figure out how to do it for you I will. So what would you like for tomorrow? Two braids that go into one?” Bunny assured her easily.

“Yes please!” Esme cheered happily. Bunny nodded as she hummed along to the song playing on her phone and began to braid Esme’s hair into two long braids.

“Oh! I’ve got a sparkly ribbon that I can tie into bows on the end would you want that?” Bunny asked suddenly as she thought about the ribbon that she had in her craft room.

“Is it purple?” Esme asked as she turned to look at Bunny with wide eyes.

“It might be let me go get it and we’ll see if it looks good.” Bunny suggested as she hurried over to the craft room and grabbed the sparkle ribbon she had. When she made it back to the kitchen Esme had already finished her breakfast and was just finishing up her orange juice. Bunny showed her the ribbon and Esme nodded eagerly as she still drank from her cup. Bunny laughed and walked behind Esme again. Easily tying a neat little bow on the end of each braid Bunny nodded her head in accomplishment. “Alright all done. Go on upstairs and brush your teeth, get your jacket and backpack while I eat my breakfast ok?”

“Thanks Bunny!” Esme called after she put her dirty dishes in the sink and rushed upstairs. Shaking her head slightly Bunny quickly made her own omelet and ate it standing at the kitchen island. Furrowing her brow slightly as she leaned against the island just letting her thoughts run away from her as the music still played over the speakers. Gasping suddenly Bunny turned towards the notebook she kept next to the fridge and quickly began jotting down ideas that she had for the client’s website that she was designing. She smiled as she realized after writing everything down that all her ideas were all inspiration from braiding Esme’s hair.

———

It had been a few hours since Esme had gotten onto the school bus and Bunny had been eyeballs deep into her work. After the inspirational breakthrough she had this morning thanks to Esme she had easily applied her ideas to the website design for her client and had completed a very sleek and eye appealing website. With the finishing touches now being completed Bunny sent off the design to the client and powered down her computer.

Swiping her phone off the desk she lazily scrolled through the notifications until she saw that Jack had texted her about an hour or so ago. She had already warned him on the video call he had with Esme this morning that she would be busy with her work today as she had finally gotten over the block she had come across. He had told her it wasn’t a problem and that he’d text her later but not to worry about responding back right away. He knew how work could easily keep your focus and you lose track of time.She opened the text and smiled when she saw what he had written.

Doctor says yoga is a-ok with her. Also said any other exercises or sport classes that are low key like yoga would be good too. If you have any suggestions I’m all for it.

Bunny tilted her head to the side as she tried to think of any other classes that Esme could take that would make her feel better about having asthma. Bunny stood from her desk chair and walked into the kitchen to begin prepping for dinner tonight. She had plans to get Esme more into helping her cook tonight and she knew the little girl would enjoy it. Typing away on her phone she sent off a text to Jack and set the phone down.

Did the Doctor suggest anything? Do you think she meant classes like karate or tai chi? It could maybe help Esme feel better if she had some self defense classes. It might make her feel more confident.

Pulling out the yeast packet Bunny began making the dough for the homemade pizzas she had planned for tonight. After kneading the dough she placed it in a bowl with a towel over it and set it to the side. She then pulled out some veggies and began chopping them up so that they’d go easier on the pizza. Then Bunny began heating up some tomato sauce and adding spices into it and letting it simmer on the stove. Once everything was done and prepped she looked over at the clock over the stove and saw that she had about ten minutes until the bus would be arriving.

“C’mon Butter! Let’s go get Esme!” She called out to the dog and heard his feet scrambling against the floor as he ran from his spot in the hallway where the sun managed to hit the floor and heat it enough for Butter to take a cat nap. “You silly dog.” she said fondly to him as she clipped his leash to his collar and the two of them walked out of the house together. Slipping her phone out of her pocket when she heard her notification sound go off she smiled as she saw another text from Jack.

That’s a good idea. Do you know of any karate classes?

I’ll see what I can find out and let you know. ;)

Bunny froze as she looked down at the text that she sent Jack. The little winking emoji stared up at her and she felt her breath slowly escape out of her lungs. Why did she send that?! How was Jack going to take that little emoji? Was he going to think she was flirting with him? Was she flirting with him? Would he like that she was flirting with him? Thoughts raced through her mind as she stared at the emoji and waited to see if he would send a response really quickly or not.

“Bunny!” Shouted Esme and Bunny jumped almost a foot in the air as she whipped her head around to look at Esme. Pressing the hand holding her cellphone to her chest she tried to calm her racing heart. “You okay Bunny?” Esme asked curiously as she stared at her.

“Oh yeah, yeah kiddo. I’m fine. Sorry I was a little distracted.” Bunny said easily to Esme.

“What were you distracted of?” Esme asked and Bunny smiled softly at the mix up of words from her. And then she remembered what had distracted her. Bunny’s heart began to pound in her chest again and she took in a deep breath to try and calm herself down.

“Nothing sweetheart. Let’s get walking so Butter can go to the bathroom and then I’ve got another surprise for dinner tonight.” Bunny said softly. The two of them began walking around the block together and Bunny looked down at her phone to see that she had gotten another text message from Jack.

Thanks sweetheart. ;)

Bunny felt her face flush and she slipped the phone into her back pocket quickly trying to put the text message out of her mind. But that text message would stay with her for the rest of the night.

———

The next morning Bunny’s alarm rings out and she rolls over in the bed sighing softly. Staring up at the ceiling she lets her hand rest against her stomach and her mind begins to drift off with Jack in the spotlight. Last night after her and Esme had made two medium sized pizzas with different toppings, Esme had said she wanted to take a bunch of pictures to send to Jack and Bunny had pulled out all the stops. She took pictures of Esme holding up her homemade pizza and then pictures of Esme eating the pizza.

Then the pictures had devolved into dressing up and having a dance party in Bunny’s bedroom. The two of them took selfies with the selfie stick as they posed and danced. Bunny had captured some videos too to send to Jack of her and Esme dancing around like crazy.

When Jack had video called later that night he had laughed at the excited Esme as she giggled. He had even told Bunny that he loved her picture in the fuzzy boa before he winked at her over the screen. Bunny had flushed almost immediately and had quickly left the video call. Esme had given her an odd look for a moment before turning back to the screen and talking to Jack.

Bunny stared up at the ceiling focusing on the white paint and felt herself flushing again at the thought of Jack. She knew she was going to be sad when Esme was no longer staying with her, she had definitely gotten used to taking care of the little girl and having her around. But Jack was coming home in a few more days on Sunday night and Esme would have to go back home. Shaking her head Bunny tried to clear the sadness that was trying to creep up on her. It was only Thursday and she still had four more days with the little girl and the weekend to spend time with her. She wouldn’t let the sadness of her leaving ruin her time with her now.

Getting up from the bed she dresses in a pair of black leggings and slips on a light blue tank top and then a charcoal gray oversized sweater. She walked down the stairs after checking on Esme and quietly let out Butter into the backyard before stepping into the craft room and pulled out a length of sparkly rainbow colored ribbon that she wanted to weave into Esme’s hair. She had looked up how to videos online and had found some really cute designs for braids and ribbons to try on Esme.

In the kitchen she pulled out some frozen waffles and slid them into the toaster. She then pulled out some fresh fruit and began cutting them up and placing them in a medium sized bowl. The toaster went off and Bunny put in some more for herself before setting the first two on a plate and pulling out the butter dish and maple syrup.

Esme was just walking into the kitchen when Bunny pulled the other two waffles out of the toaster. Smearing butter onto the waffles she stacked them on Esme’s plate and poured some maple syrup over them.

“Mornin’ kiddo. How’d you sleep?” Bunny as she dished out some fruit as well for Esme.

“Good. What’s the rainbow ribbon for?” Esme responded easily as she yawned widely. Bunny chuckled softly and pulled the video of how to and showed Esme.

“I figured I’d try my hand at weaving some ribbon into your hair for your hairdo today. How’s that sound?” Bunny explained as Esme watched the how to video and squealed delightedly.

“That looks sooo good!” Esme cheered happily and Bunny nodded her head. “Oh please can we do this?”

“Of course sweetheart.” Bunny said easily. “Eat up your waffles and some fruit and I’ll braid your hair.” Bunny explained as she began eating her own waffles.

Once Bunny finished her waffles she moved behind Esme and set up her phone so she could watch the how to video as she braided Esme’s hair and weaved the sparkly rainbow ribbon into it. She braided one braid on each side of Esme’s head and then combined it into one larger braid all while weaving the ribbon into her braid. When she was finished she looked at the results and smiled warmly nodding her head.

“There we go. C’mon let’s go get check it out in the bathroom and then finish getting ready for school.” Bunny said nodding her head and began leading Esme up to the bathroom upstairs. While in the bathroom Bunny took a picture of Esme’s hair and showed it to her. Esme squealed with happiness and bounced on her feet. “You look very pretty Es. I hope you like it.” Bunny said truthfully and watched as the girl in front of her gasped and then lunged forward wrapping her arms around Bunny’s waist.

“I love it, thank you Bunny. You’re the best!” Esme cheered happily as she continued to hug Bunny. Bunny wrapped her arms around Esme and leant her head on top of Esme’s. Smiling softly she just let herself be hugged by the little girl and began to feel happiness start to consume her.

“You’re very welcome sweetheart.” Bunny said warmly to the girl and then patted her back three times. “Should we send a picture of your hair to your Dad. Show him how pretty you look today?”

“Yes! He’s gonna love it!” Esme cheered happily. Bunny quickly pulled up the text thread for Jack and typed out a message before sending the picture of Esme’s hairdo off to him. She walked out of the bathroom and went into her own to brush her teeth. Just then her phone started to ring with the video call ringtone and Bunny answered it as she was brushing her teeth.

Jack’s face came onto the screen and Bunny hummed at him as she continued to brush her teeth. Jack’s laughter came over the speaker and he grinned at her before she bent over and spat out her toothpaste.

“Hold on one second Jack.” Bunny said quickly as she rinsed out her mouth and began walking to Esme’s bathroom. “Good morning by the way.” Bunny said easily and grinned at him.

“Good mornin’ to ya too Bunny.” Jack said easily and his grin grew in size on his face. Bunny pressed a button on the screen and switched the camera to face front and showed Jack the back of Esme’s hair. Jack gave a long loud whistle and Esme whirled around with a grin on her face.

“Doesn’t she look so pretty Jack?” Esme asked smiling at the girl.

“She looks as beautiful as a rose. You did a good job Bunny, you’re setting the bar high for me aren’t ya? Good morning sunshine!” Jack said happily and Bunny handed the phone to Esme who switched the camera back and began talking to her Dad. Bunny smiled at the excited chatter that instantly filled the bathroom.

“Good morning Daddy. Thanks! I really love what Bunny did with my hair.” Esme said easily as she continued to grin and bounce lightly on her toes.

“She did a really good job with it.” Jack agreed with her. Bunny smiled as she walked out of the bathroom leaving the two of them to talk.

———

Bunny had seen a very excited Esme off on the bus. The little girl bouncing around happily saying that she couldn’t wait to show Nadia her hair ribbons. According to Esme her new friend Nadia always had such pretty hairdos and pretty barrettes in her hair. As Bunny walked back to her house with Butter she idly wondered if she could make Esme a set of pretty barrettes that Jack would be able to put in her hair.

When she got back to the house she walked into the craft room and booted up her computer to look up what she would need to create some pretty barrettes and bows for Esme. As since she had finished the project for her client ahead of schedule Bunny had the next two days off to spend however she wanted. She would only need to wait on the response back from her client and then she would be back to work to implement the website design for the client.

Looking at the computer screen Bunny saw what she needed to make bows and nodded her head confidently as she saw most of the supplies she needed she had. Putting on some background music she began pulling out all the supplies she needed.

Before she actually got down to creating the bows a notification came across the speakers in the room and she looked over at her phone to see she had gotten a message from one of her girlfriends named Mercy who ran the dog yoga classes on the weekends.

Hey honey bunny! I heard through the grapevine that you’re going to be joining us this weekend with Butter and a friend?

Bunny smiled as she saw the message and quickly began typing out a response to Mercy.

Yes I’m bringing Butter and a little girl named Esme who’s my new neighbor’s daughter that I’m watching this week. She has severe asthma so I’m trying to help find her classes that her doctor approved for her to take. The doctor suggested karate and tai chi but I don’t know of any classes nearby for that. Would you happen to know of any?

Girl, I got you covered. I’ll bring all the info I’ve got on those types of classes. There’s a few places not far from the community that offer up karate and tai chi. There’s also father/daughter classes too if the Dad is into it. Or mother/daughter classes if she wants you to do it with her.

Oh, that’s sweet of you but I don’t want to overstep. But I appreciate any help you can give me! Thanks sweetheart! I’ll see you on Saturday!

Can’t wait! See you Saturday!

Feeling a little accomplished with the prospect of having some information on classes for Esme Bunny grinned as she set her phone down on the counter again.

———

The day had warmed up a little bit, Butter was sprawled out in a large patch of sunlight that had heated up the wood floor in the craft room and Bunny was seated on the stool that sat next to her craft table in the middle of the room as she looped another pretty red ribbon on itself before securing it with her hot glue gun. Blowing lightly on the hot glue she pulled her fingers away and smiled triumphantly when the ribbon stayed perfectly still where she had placed it and glued it down. She picked up a black fabric covered button and put hot glue on the back of it before she pressed it in the middle of the red bow and let the glue adhere to ribbons and the back of the bow barrette.

Just then the shrill ringing of her cellphone caught her attention as the music cut off on the speakers. Setting the bow and the hot glue gun on the counter Bunny reached over and grabbed her phone. She saw Jack’s contact show up on the screen and smiled curiously as to why he was calling her in the middle of the day. Swiping her finger over the screen she easily unlocked the phone and heard the call connect.

“Jack? Are you okay?” Bunny asked curiously as she pressed the phone to her ear.

“Hey Bunny I’m sorry to call you during the work day.” came Jack’s rushed voice.

“No, no it’s okay what’s going on? What’s wrong?” Bunny asked now feeling worry start to course through her body. She felt her muscles tense as Jack’s tone. Something was wrong and her whole body was picking up on it just in his tone.

“I’m okay. Sorry, I’m okay. But I got a call from the school.” he said blowing out a sighing breath. Bunny was instantly relieved and then her body tensed when she realized that he mentioned the school.

“What’s wrong with Es? Did something happen? Was it her asthma?” Bunny began questioning him rapidly and Jack blew out another breath of air.

“No, she’s okay. I’m sorry I’m really bad at relaying this.” he said quickly trying to calm Bunny down. Bunny took in a breath and slowly blew it out closing her eyes as she slowly relaxed her tense muscles one at a time.

“Okay, next time just start out with everyone is okay then get to the info.” Bunny suggested as she tilted her head to the side and Jack chuckled softly at her words.

“Yeah that would have definitely been better. Sorry I didn’t mean to make you worry.” Jack said softly.

“It’s okay. My mind just jumped immediately to the worst case scenario. What’s going on though why did the school call you?” Bunny asked curious as she rested her elbow on the counter and then laid her head in her palm.

“So Esme got bullied again today and she went to a teacher to get it to stop.” Jack said softly and in a tone that sounded so heartbroken.

“What did the teacher do?” Bunny asked as she quickly picked her head up from her hand.

“The teacher stopped and brought the bullies to the principal’s office. Esme didn’t get into any trouble but the other kids are giving her the cold shoulder because she told the teacher.” Jack said dejectedly.

“Oh Es.” Bunny said softly as her heart instantly broke for the little girl.

“She’s probably going to come home not in the best mood at all. I just wanted to give you a heads up if she comes home and she’s down.” Jack said softly and Bunny nodded her head along with his words.

“Okay no problem. I think tonight I’ll see if she’ll be up to doing some crafts with me tonight. I’ve got a surprise for her that I’m hoping will lift her spirits a little after the rough day she’s had.” Bunny explained kindly as her eyes darted over to the pile of bows that she had already created. The bright colors with odd middle pieces made her grin with excitement to show Esme what she had created.

“Oh? And what did you make for my little monster?” Jack asked curiously.

“A bunch of bows to put in her hair. She mentioned this morning that her new friend Nadia has some pretty barrettes that she puts in her hair and I got to thinking maybe I should make some for the girls to wear. I made some for Es and I made some for her friend Nadia if she wanted to share them with her.” Bunny explained excited and Jack chuckled softly over the phone. “I’ll send you a few pictures later on. I’ve got a few more I wanted to make before I had to go get Esme from the bus stop.”

“Oh okay. That sounds great. Thank you Bunny. I was nervous at the beginning of this but you’ve definitely put my mind at ease with leaving Es with you. I can’t thank you enough for helping me out with this.” Jack said emphatically.

“Jack, what did we say about thanking me? No more okay? I don’t mind watching Esme for you, she’s a wonderful little girl and this week has been really great. I really enjoy being around her.” Bunny said sternly, trying to get Jack to finally stop thanking her. “Oh hey, while I got you on the phone my girlfriend Mercy said she has some info on classes for karate and tai chi that aren’t that far from the community. She runs the dog yoga so when Esme and I go this Saturday she’ll be able to give me the info. I’ll give it to you once you get home for you to figure out which class would be best for Esme.”

“Wow, that’s great! Okay thanks I really appreciate you getting information on those classes. I think they’ll be great for Esme. I really liked what you said before, that she might feel more confident with some self defensive classes. I think it’ll really be good for her.” Jack said animatedly and Bunny grinned at how into it Jack was into this idea.

“Yeah I think it’ll be good for her too. She really wants to be able to participate in gym class. And by doing something that she’s able to handle with her asthma I think it’ll make her feel a little more included sort of. Or at least I hope so.” Bunny said easily.

“Yeah I know she does it’s just tricky with her asthma. Alright I gotta get back to work. Thanks again for getting the class info. I appreciate it, I’ll talk to ya later sweetheart.” Jack said quickly and Bunny flushed heatedly at the pet name.

“Okay talk to you later Jack.” Bunny stumbled out softly and quickly hung up the phone. Fanning herself with her hand Bunny tried to calm her racing heart. How could he be affecting her so much over a damn phone call and a pet name?! Bunny took in a few more deep breaths and let them out slowly trying to calm herself. She knew that her emotions and feelings for Jack were brand new and it always felt so good in the beginning but there was so much more to figure out first than to continue developing these feelings for him. Shaking her head she began to push her feelings away and down deeper inside of herself. She had to make sure Esme was okay first and then maybe just maybe there could be something for her and Jack.

———

It wasn’t that long after Jack’s phone call that the alarm to go pick up Esme was ringing out into the air. Bunny looked up from her hunched over stance over the counter and set down the finished bow in her hands. She stretched widely letting her arms reach out on either side of her body as she slid off the stool she had been sitting on.

Bunny guessed she got so involved in finishing up the bows that she lost track of time. Arching her back she heard the pops in her joints and groaned softly. Smiling softly Bunny realized that she had never actually felt this tired in a long time. It was as if her whole body was just exhausted, she had a feeling it was because she was always trying to make the evenings fun for Esme and had been doing quite a bit of moving around.

“C’mon Butter let’s go get Esme.” Bunny said easily as she ushered the little dog out of the room and down the hallway towards the front door. The two of them quickly get the leash attached and are out the door.

“Bunny!” Called out a voice that made Bunny’s head snap up and turn to the side spotting Mr. Quinten sitting on his front porch waving at her.

“Hey Mr. Q. How are you?” Bunny asked as she led Butter across the front lawn over to the fence dividing her yard from Mr. Quinten’s. “Are you warm enough? It’s a little chilly out.”

“I’m fine, I promise, stop worrying about me. How’s it going with that little girl you’ve been watching this past week?” Mr. Quinten asked, waving away Bunny’s concern.

“She’s doing ok, had a rough start but now we’re doing good together. Tonight I think we’re going to do some crafts.” Bunny explained easily to Mr. Quinten. “Am I still taking you to the doctor on Monday?”

“Yep still scheduled to go.” Mr. Quinten replied. “That’s good that you guys are getting along. Never know when it comes to you dear.” He teased and Bunny rolled her eyes at the older man as she chuckled softly.

“Sure Mr. Quinten whatever you say.” Bunny grumbled out and Mr. Quinten laughed loudly.

“That’s what I like to hear Bunny!” Mr. Quinten called out as Bunny shook her head and waved at Mr. Quinten before leading Butter back towards the sidewalk to go walk to the bus stop.

Once Bunny and Butter had gotten to the bus stop Bunny had a seat on the curb and Butter quickly walked over and curled in her lap. Bunny ran her fingers through the fur on his back and Butter turned and twisted in her lap until he was laying on his back and presenting his belly to her. Bunny chuckled softly as she began to scratch his belly making him wiggle with delight.

“You’re such a needy little thing. I love you Butter.” She says softly to him as she cuddles him up in her arms and close to her chest. She laughs as he burrows into her chest and huffs loudly. Just then the sound of the brakes on the bus ring through the air and Bunny looks up from her spot on the curb to watch as Esme dejectedly walks down the steps of the bus.

When the little girl looks up and spots the two of them sitting on the curb and gives a soft grimace. Bunny smiles softly at Esme and holds Butter up to the side of her face hoping to make the little girl smile. It works as Esme lets out a loud giggle at the silly sight of the two of them. Bunny counts it as a win as Esme walks over and takes a seat next to her.

“Are you ok?” Bunny asks softly as Butter squirms in her arms as he tries to move to climb into Esme’s lap who giggles at his antics. The dog seems to vibrate as he wiggles in Esme’s lap and starts to lick her in the face happily. Esme’s giggles emit into the air and Bunny smiles as she sits next to the little girl and wiggling dog.

“I’m okay now.” Esme says quietly and Bunny watches her with concerned eyes. “You were right I didn’t get into trouble with the teacher when I told her about the bullying but the other kids. They weren’t so nice after they heard I told on the bully.” Esme explained, Bunny nodded her head at her words.

“Yeah sometimes people blame the person doing the right thing instead of the person doing the wrong thing. I know it stinks but those kids aren’t the friends you want in the long run. Was Nadia nice to you after you told on the bully?” Bunny tried to explain to her.

“Yeah Nadia thought I did the right thing. She was still nice to me afterwards.” Esme responded.

“Good that’s really good Es. Nadia is a really good friend then. She’s one you should keep around.” Bunny said knowingly. “I hope the two of you stay friends for a very long time.”

“I like her a lot.” Esme said softly and Bunny nodded her head.

“So I’ve got a surprise for you at the house. I was thinking maybe we’ll order some Chinese food and have it delivered while we do some crafts together, how does that sound?” Bunny suggested.

“Ooh what kind of crafts? And what’s the surprise?!” Esme asked excitedly, making Bunny laugh.

“Well any kind of crafts you’d like. We could make friendship bracelets for you and Nadia. We could do anything you really wanted. If I don’t know how to make it I’ll look it up on my computer.” Bunny explained easily to her. “And it wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you what it was now would it?” Bunny teased softly and Esme squealed in her seat.

“I wanna make a friendship bracelet for you and Nadia!” Esme cheered and Bunny felt her heart clench in her chest at the thoughtfulness of Esme.

“That sounds like a plan to me girlie. Let’s get going so we can walk this one and then order some food and get crafting.” Bunny said as she began to stand up. She looked down and watched as Esme let Butter crawl out of her lap and then grabbed the leash. Bunny took the backpack from Esme and the three of them began walking around the block.

———

Bunny laughed as she watched Esme race with Butter up to the front door and then bounce in place as she tried to wait for Bunny to come unlock the front door. Taking a leap up the small three step porch she had Bunny was quickly unlocking the front door and opening it for both Esme and Butter. Esme quickly undid Butter’s leash and hung it up on the hook by the door.

“Alright kiddo the surprise is in the craft room. Let’s get in there and do a bit of crafting to relax and then I’ll order dinner how does that sound?” Bunny asked.

“Sounds good.” Esme cheered as she raced down the hallway and turned into the craft room. Bunny shook her head and walked into the kitchen to serve Butter his dinner for the evening and refresh his water bowl. Hearing the loud squeal from the craftroom Bunny couldn’t help the proud grin that burst across her face.

The sound of racing steps reached her ears and she looked up from the sink where she stood to see Esme standing in the archway of the kitchen with tears in her eyes and a duo of bows in her hands. Putting the dog bowl full of water on the floor Bunny turned fully to Esme as the little girl rushed forward and wrapped her small arms around Bunny’s waist. Burying her face in Bunny’s stomach Esme sniffled softly and Bunny felt her heart clench tightly in her chest as her hand came to rest against Esme’s soft hair.

“Thank you so much. I love them all.” Esme said around a few more sniffles. Bunny pulled Esme back a little bit and smiled down at her brightly.

“You are very welcome sweetheart.” Bunny said softly and ran her hand over Esme’s hair again. “Now c’mon let’s pick some out for Nadia and then we’ll make some bracelets.” Esme nodded her head and began making her way down the hallway towards the craftroom.

Once inside the room Bunny moved to the containers that held colored lanyard, colored string, beads and other things that they would be able to use to make bracelets. Bunny also pulled out a measuring tape and a few pieces of paper and a pencil, she had another idea to help Esme feel better about things that were going on.

“Alright so which ones would you like to share with Nadia. Or do you not want to share them with Nadia?” Bunny asked as she pulled out two stools next to the counter. The two of them sat on the stools and Esme began to look over all of the bows that she had in her pile. Bunny watched as Esme started to set aside a few of the bows for Nadia as she inspected them all carefully.

“Nadia likes the colors yellow and orange to most. She says she likes them because of sunsets.” Esme explained softly as she moved a brightly orange colored bow into Nadia’s pile.

“Well that’s nice that you’re picking her favorite colors for her. And sunsets are pretty. I get why she likes yellow and orange. What’s your favorite color?” Bunny asked Esme curiously as she watched Esme pick up a teal sparkly bow with a silver octopus figurine in the middle of it.

“I like purple and teal because it reminds me of the ocean.” Esme explained easily as she set the octopus bow in her pile before picking up another one. As Esme continued to go through each bow and decide which pile it would end up in Bunny pulled out her measuring tape and began holding the tape up against Esme’s body in certain places. When she found each measurement she needed she would write it down on one of her pieces of paper. “What’s your favorite color Bunny?” Esme asked softly.

“My favorite is teal, like a light teal. It reminds me of water and it’s really soothing.” Bunny explained and Esme nodded her head at her words.

“How come so kids are really mean and some are really nice?” Esme suddenly asked in a tone that sounded as if she was going to cry and Bunny instantly froze at the question. Feeling her heart shatter in her chest Bunny blinked her eyes for a few moments as she felt tears begin to pool in them.

“You know I don’t know why some kids are mean. It could be a lot of different things. They could have really mean siblings who pick on them at home, or really strict parents who don’t let them do things, or they could just be mean. There’s a lot of reasons why someone could be mean. But none of the reasons have anything to do with you, got that?” Bunny tried to explain to Esme so that she understood. “I don’t know why the kids at school were mean to you. But you’ve got your Dad, Me, and Nadia who care about you and we’ll be here to help you ok?” Bunny said confidently and Esme nodded her head slightly and Bunny slipped off her stool and hugged the little girl tightly. “I promise not everyone is mean and there’s some really good people out there. You just gotta look for them.”

“Ok.” Esme said softly as she hugged Bunny back around the waist. When the two pulled apart Bunny pulled over the materials for the friendship bracelets that the two of them would need to make. Esme smiled as she began knotting and tying off lanyard cords. “You’re the best Bunny.” Esme said quietly as Bunny climbed back onto her stool and pulled over the colored string to begin her own friendship bracelets. When the words reached her ears Bunny whipped her head over to Esme and grinned widely.

“You and your Dad seem to think so.” Bunny said fondly and Esme grinned at her nodding her head.

“Daddy likes you a lot. He thinks you’re really cool and a good role model for me.” Esme said knowingly and Bunny tilted her head to the side as she smiled softly.

“That’s nice to hear.” Bunny said softly and the two of them fell into a companionable silence as they began making bracelets together. Conversation flowing easily between the two as they appraised each other’s work. But Bunny’s eyes kept darting over to her paper with measurements listed on it silently drafting up ways on how she was going to create Esme’s surprise for tomorrow.

———

The next morning Bunny is awake before her alarm and after the morning routine with Butter she is easily rushing into Esme’s room and cheering loudly.

“It’s Friday! Wake up sleepyhead!” Bunny cheered happily as she opened up Esme’s bedroom door. The little girl let out a loud groan as she tried to snuggle deeper into the covers of her bed. Bunny laughed loudly as she moved over to the bed and took a seat on the edge, her hand coming up to rub along Esme’s body under the covers. “C’mon sleepyhead, only one more day of school and then it’s the weekend!” Bunny cheered happily as she patted Esme. “Besides you’ve gotta deliver Nadia’s bows and bracelet to her today.” Bunny teased softly as she stood up and left the room slowly.

“Oh! That’s right!” came Esme’s still sleepy response as Bunny gently shut the door. She chuckled softly as she heard the little girl rushing around the room to get dressed before she moved back down the stairs to let Butter back into the house. Bunny moved into the kitchen and quickly began to make omelets for her and Esme.

“Butter what are we gonna do when Esme goes home this weekend? We’re not gonna have a guest for very much longer.” Bunny said absentmindedly to the dog who was curled up in his bed staring at her silently. He barked loudly when she turned her head to look at him. She smiled at him and nodded her head. “I know we’re gonna miss her right?” Bunny asked fondly of the dog and he barked twice making her laugh. “Yup I’m gonna miss her.”

Just then Esme walks into the kitchen and both Bunny and Butter look over at her. Butter barking happily as he rushed over to Esme and danced around her feet making her giggle happily.

“Good Morning Butter!” cheered Esme as she bent down and pet Butter’s head. Bunny shook her head amused as she watched the dog trot off to his bed once he got the pets he wanted and slumped into the plush dog bed. “Hey Bunny, do you have a bag that I can put Nadia’s bows and bracelets in? I don’t want them to get messed up before I give them to her.” Esme asked as she looked over at Bunny.

“Yeah I think I do, let me see.” Bunny said as she plated up Esme’s omelet and then turned off the stove before moving to the pantry to see if she had any ziploc bags for Esme. “Ah, here we go.” she says producing a medium sized bag and Esme nodded her head eagerly as she took it from Bunny and set it aside.

“Thanks Bunny.” Esme said easily as Bunny nodded her head and turned back to the stove. “So what’s with the wake up call today?” Esme asks curiously as Bunny begins making her own omelet for breakfast.

“I’ve got things to do today so as soon as I get you up and off to school I can get to the things that I gotta do today.” Bunny said vaguely.

“What things?” Esme asked curiously and Bunny smirks softly.

“Things.” Bunny teases and Esme makes a scrunched up face at her making her laugh.

“Why can’t I know?” Esme asked curiously and Bunny shook her head.

“It’s a surprise.” Bunny said secretively and Esme eyed her shrewdly.

“You like surprises a lot huh?” Esme asked as she tilted her head at Bunny.

“For other people, yes. For myself I hate them.” Bunny answers honestly as she plates her omelet and moves to have a seat at the kitchen island.

“What do you mean for other people?” Esme asks and Bunny smiles at her.

“I like making surprises for other people. But I don’t like receiving surprises.” Bunny explains.

“Even if they’re good surprises?” Esme asks and Bunny nods her head as she begins to shovel her omelet in her mouth.

“Even the good surprises.” Bunny said with finality and Esme tilts her head and then nods.

“Well that’s good to know.” Esme says easily and Bunny nearly chokes on her food as she’s mid-chew.

“You’re a little sassy this morning aren’t ya?” Bunny griped out amused as she looked over at Esme with a grin.

“You won’t tell me what you’re doing today and just say it’s a surprise. Expect the sass.” Esme said as she huffed. Bunny’s eyes widened at the sass from the little girl before she began laughing delighted.

“Oh man your Dad has his hands full with you doesn’t he?” Bunny asked as she continued to laugh.

“You have no idea.” Esme said as rolled her eyes. Bunny’s laughter filled the room and Esme only responded with happy giggles of her own.

———

“Mr. Quinten, honestly I just asked for cardboard boxes. Do you have any? I don’t need the crochety old man act from you right now.” Bunny said tiredly into her cellphone as she pressed it to her ear. Listening to his response she blew out a long breath. “It’s for Esme. I want to surprise her.”

Bunny moved about the craft room as she eyed the large pile of cardboard boxes that she had gathered from her stockpile and the neighbors next door. She only needed a few more boxes and had hoped that Mr. Quinten would have them and wouldn’t give her a problem but of course the old man had to give her the whole 20 questions about why she needed the boxes.

She only needed three more boxes to finish up the pirate ship she was planning to make for Esme. This morning after she got Esme on the bus and got through the video call with Jack she had quickly raced home and gathered all the cardboard boxes that she had stored up. She then had asked the neighbors that she knew were home today if they had any boxes that she could have. They all had eagerly given them up to her so that they wouldn’t have to put them out on the curb and they knew that Bunny would find another way to repurpose them.

“I just need three you can keep all the others.” Bunny said exasperatedly. “Yes once I take them they’re mine I won’t be giving them back to you. Goodness, maybe I’ll just ask someone else if this is the trouble I gotta go through to get them.” Bunny complained as she pulled the phone away from her ear glaring at it. “Look can I have the boxes or not? I gotta get going on this if I want to get it done before Esme comes home. And if you’re giving them up I gotta find someone else with boxes that will let me take them.” Bunny explained. “Thank you! Finally, it’s like pulling teeth with you. I’ll be right over to come get them.”

Hanging up the phone Bunny let out a loud sigh as she blew out a breath. Shaking her head, her attitude began to change as she realized that she finally had all the cardboard boxes she would need to be able to create Esme’s pirate ship. She walked out of the craft room when her phone began ringing and she looked down to see that she was getting a call from Jack. Furrowing her eyebrows she quickly answered the call and placed the phone to her ear.

“Hey Jack, is everything ok?” she asked quickly and heard Jack softly curse on the phone.

“Yeah I’m sorry to call you during the work day again. I just-I wanted to make sure you were okay. You weren’t really on the video call this morning and I was worried something was going on that you didn’t want to say in front of Esme.” Jack explained in a soft worried tone. Bunny smiled softly to herself, he was checking up on her.

“Oh yeah I’m okay. There is something going on that I didn’t want to tell Esme but it’s nothing bad. I’m making her cardboard pirate ship as a surprise and figured we’d do some reenacting of the pirate’s movies after school.” Bunny explained easily as she continued to walk out of the house.

“Wow.” Jack said softly and Bunny laughed softly. “You can do that?”

“Don’t underestimate me Jack. I’m the crafting queen.” Bunny said amused. “I’m heading over to Mr. Quinten’s house now to pick up the last of the boxes I need to make the pirate ship. Then I’ve got some sewing to do for Esme’s costume and then by then it should be time for her bus to be coming home.” Bunny explained easily and happily as she bounded down the front steps of her house.

“You’re going all out for this huh?” Jack asked bemused.

“Oh yeah if we’re gonna play pirates you gotta go all out Jack. C’mon.” Bunny scoffed at him.

“You truly are amazing.” Jack says softly almost as if caught off guard by his own words.

“Jack.” Bunny begins to warn him softly.

“No, no hear me out. I don’t know many other women who would go and make a cardboard pirate ship for a little girl who’s had a rough week being away from her Dad. All just to make her feel better. I just want you to know that I really appreciate you doing all this for Es. Ever since Maria passed away I’ve kinda been going at this from the seat of my pants and probably failing spectacularly. But you’ve been such a good thing for her this week and I really do appreciate it.” Jack said earnestly. Bunny stopped in her tracks as she heard the honesty in his voice.

“I gotta admit I’m gonna miss her come next week. It’s kinda insane how easily I’ve gotten used to her in my day to day.” Bunny admitted softly and almost guiltily.

“Well we’ll definitely be seeing you around the neighborhood and if the yoga class goes well or those karate classes work out we could work something out where you and her get to spend some time together. You two can do all that girly stuff that I’m not into.” Jack said kindly and Bunny felt her lungs catch on her next breath. He was trying to keep her in your life even though you were only a neighbor.

“Oh Jack really? I’d love that! But if you wanna take her to karate or tai chi that’s all you, I don’t want to take that from you.” Bunny said quickly even as her heart lifted at being able to spend time with Esme. “Ok, ok let’s not get too emotional now. I still gotta build a pirate ship. I’ll send you pictures and videos once everything is set up and I get her into costume. Ok?” Bunny said quickly as she grinned.

“Alright sweetheart. I expect to see you in full costume too.” Jack said with a happy laugh.

“Duh Jack. Honestly who would I be if I didn’t get in full costume also?” Bunny asked with a scoff before she laughed softly. “I’ll talk to you later Jack.”

“Talk to you later sweetheart.” Jack said in response before the call ended. Bunny is already continuing her path to Mr. Quinten’s house when she stops again and realizes that Jack called her sweetheart twice during that phone call. She feels her face flush heatedly before she shakes her head, this man and his daughter were slipping so easily into her life it was a little daunting.

———

Bunny smiles as she stares at herself in the mirror. She’s decked out in her pirate queen costume. Gray pants cover her legs while knee high tan boots cover her feet. A dark brown leather corset sits on her rib cage and a loose fitting white shirt is underneath that. The look is completed with a long vibrant black and gold coat that falls to her knees, a fake sword is strapped to her waist loosely and a worn tattered pirate hat sits on top of her head. She smiled as she grabbed her phone from the dresser and took a few pictures of her costume. She sends one off to Jack with a catchy pirate themed comment and easily stows her phone in the pocket of the jacket.

Moving out of her bedroom and down the stairs Bunny makes a quick stop in the craft room and opens up the chest full of costumes. She grabs the octopus costume and walks into the kitchen smiling brightly at Butter. The dog looked over at you from his sprawled out position. When his eyes spotted the octopus costume he quickly scrambled up and raced over to you barking loudly.

“Alright, alright Kraken let’s get you all suited up and then we’ll go get Esme yeah?” Bunny asked as she laughed at the little dog’s response to the costume she held. Butter jumped around Bunny’s feet and she tried to wrestle the costume onto the dog. “Butter hold still bub.” Bunny instructed and the dog listened as he stood still for her and she quickly strapped the velcro straps around his body. “Okay good.”

Standing upright she ushered the dog over to the front door and attached his leash to his collar before the two of them were out the door. As Bunny walked down the sidewalk she grinned and waved at the neighbors who were returning home from work. Some laughed and waved back while others looked at her curiously before shaking their heads. Bunny stopped at the corner and stood there holding Butter’s leash and posed in a very Jack Sparrow-esque pose as she waited for Esme’s bus to arrive.

When the bus did finally arrive at the corner and Esme stood at the top of the bus stairs the squeal she let out could probably be heard two streets away. Her legs couldn’t move quick enough as she bounded down the stairs and ran straight for Bunny.

“Oh my god Bunny! You look amazing!” Esme cheered as she danced and bounced around Bunny. “And look at Butter!”

“Excuse me little miss. I don’t know anyone by the name of Bunny nor Butter. No. My name is Delilah ‘The Siren’ Vail and this ‘ere is the Kraken.” Bunny says in a horrible pirate-esque accent. Esme giggles loudly and bounces on her toes excitedly.

“Are we playing pirates?” Esme asks softly and Bunny grins before nodding her head eagerly to Esme.

“Yeah, we’re playing pirates. Wanna head home? I've got some surprises for ya.” Bunny says easily and Esme nods her head quickly. The two of them usher Butter back towards the house quickly and he barks as they try not to rush him too much.

Once back at the house Bunny unlocks the door and ushers everyone inside. She unleashes Butter and shoos Esme towards the craft room.

“Your costume is in there. Go get changed into it and then we board the ship in the backyard.” Bunny says hurriedly.

“There’s a ship?” Esme asks loudly as she moves down the hallway. The cheer and squeal from the craft room almost deafens both Butter and Bunny. But Bunny can’t keep the grin off her face as she hears the excitement coming from the craft room.

“Es, Butter and I are gonna be outside ok?” Bunny calls as she passes the craft room with her Kraken dog at her heels.

“Ok!” calls back Esme.

———

The ship rocked and swayed on the high seas as waves crested underneath knocking its occupants off their legs continuously. Seagulls cawed and cried above the crew’s heads as the birds circled the tall masts holding the fluttering sails. A storm was brewing in the air and the sea was churning with anticipation of it. Ivy ‘Gunner’ Wendell stood at the helm gazing out over the churning waters. There was something in the air that was making her cautious of their course. Something that she was forgetting.

Suddenly the ship shook as a loud thud was heard from below deck. It felt as if something had crashed into the side of the ship. As Gunner looked around bewildered she spied a dark wood ship in the distance that was flying a black and gold flag from their crow’s nest.

“Mateys, turn the ship around! There be the Golddust in the distance! We need to be sure her captain won’t board us!” Gunner called down to her crew and watched as they all whipped their heads to the side to gaze at the ship that was fast approaching. “Mateys!” Gunner cried out loudly and they all scrambled to do their part to turn the ship away from the Golddust.

Just then another loud thud was heard from below deck and the ship shook with it’s impact. Gunner nearly lost her footing and had to grab onto the helm before she fell over. When she looked back up to see where the Golddust was, she was dismayed to see that it gained at least half of the distance it was before.

“Mateys brace yourselves!” Gunner shouted as she tried in vain to turn the helm as quickly as she could. The helm spun for a moment or two before coming to a dead stop almost throwing Gunner to the floor of the ship. “What is this?!” Gunner cried out as she tried in vain to turn the helm. Her eyes darted up to see that the Golddust had drawn closer and was now turning so it would be parallel with Gunner’s ship. Gunner could see Pirate Queen Delilah ‘The Siren’ Vail gazing at her from her own helm with a smug smirk on her face. But as the Golddust sat parallel with Gunner’s ship the Golddust crew didn’t move to come aboard. It was almost as if they were waiting for something. Something to happen. But what? Just then it made sense to Gunner what those thudding impacts were below deck.

“KRAKEN!” Gunner shouted to her crew and watched as four large ugly purple and teal tentacles surged out of the water on each side of her ship. The tentacles rose higher than the masts of the ship and the horrified crew below cried out in horror. They all tried to scramble away as the large tentacles suddenly crashed down onto the floor of the ship. The wood splintered and Gunner was thrown from her position at the tremor of the ship. Quickly righting herself she drew her sword and began rushing towards the Kraken to defend what was left of her ship. “I will have your tentacle for what you’ve done!” cried Gunner loudly as she surged forwards to try and slice at the tentacles.

Suddenly the tentacles drew away and Gunner looked around bewildered along with her crew. She was ready to defend her crew and ship against the abomination but it had withdrawn. There was a grumble to the side of the ship and Gunner turned her head swiftly to see Pirate Queen Delilah standing on the rail of her ship holding onto some of the rigging with a smug smirk.

“He’ll only come when I call. Might as well give it up Princess.” taunted the Queen. Turning to her Gunner pointed her sword at the woman and sneered angrily.

“Never!” Gunner shouted and the Queen laughed mockingly.

“You would let your ship and crew go down to the depths of the sea all because you won’t join my crew?!” Shouted Queen Delilah. “We would be unstoppable! How can you not see that!?” Queen Delilah cries out as she easily boards Gunner’s ship.

“I will never join you! You’re evil! A black cad!” Gunner shouts as the two women circle each other. The Queen has drawn her sword now and the two are in a standoff.

“Then we fight.” sneers the Queen and she lunges forward striking out with her sword. The clanging of their swords fills the air as the two fight to get the upper hand. The Queen has the advantage of being stronger but Gunner is     quicker as she darts around the Queen. Neither one of them are gaining any leverage until the Queen lets out a loud cry and Gunner’s ship tries to withstand another thudding impact from the Kraker.

“Cheater!” cried Gunner as she’s almost thrown completely off her feet.

“I play to win Princess.” taunts the Queen as she advances. Gunner tries to defend herself but soon the Kraken is laying hit after hit upon her ship and is destroying it. Wood is flying through the air as the tentacles curl around the ship and begin to squeeze.

The Queen gasps and her eyes widen when she realizes that she will be destroyed with the ship if she doesn’t disembark. Spinning quickly she runs to the side of the ship and leaps from the railing to sail through the air and tumble onto the floor of her own ship. Gunner races after her and stops at the railing.

“You would’ve been saved Princess if only you had agreed!” cried out the Queen as she smirked and gave a little wave to Gunner.

“I will avenge my crew and ship!” Gunner cried out before the Kraken’s tentacles completely crushed the ship and Gunner was plunged into the icy waters of the unforgiven seas. Her fate left up to no one but herself.

   “Would she survive or would she perish along with her crew and ship?” Bunny calls out in a contemplating tone and Esme grinned as she sat up from where she lay on the grass right next to the cardboard ship. Butter was racing around the backyard barking happily and Esme giggled loudly at his antics. “Alright kiddo. Should we hold off for another day for part two of the saga of the Pirate Princess and the Pirate Queen?” Bunny asked as she helped Esme to stand. “It’s starting to get darker.”

   “Yeah!” Esme cheered and Bunny smiled down at her. “Can we send the pictures and videos to my Dad before we call him?” Esme asked excitedly.

   “Sure and dinner should be arriving soon too.” Bunny said as she ushered Esme into the house. “Butter c’mon!” she called over her shoulder to the dog who was still crazily running around the backyard. The two laughed as he dashed from the far fence to the backdoor his tentacles dancing around him.

[ask-whitepearl-and-steven]

One of my favorite things to do is watching the rise and fall of various theories about how/why White Diamond had Steven. And before you ask - YES! I purposefully don’t answer these questions. I just let them roll in, smile, and have a bit of a chuckle to myself. 

Past and current favorites are:

- WD came to earth because she was gonna beat the shit outta Rose but found Greg instead and was like ‘this is a better alternative’ 

- WD came to earth to spy on Rose and ended up falling in love with the earth (quite wholesome, so sweet)

- WD straight up kidnapped Greg and ended up liking him more than she expected (some people disinclude the second part of that)

- WD came to earth and shapeshifted into Rose to fool Greg (result: Steven)

Keep it up guys!

[wanderingdarlingblog]

"The Bewitched and the Beguiled"  Ch. 2: "The Devil Went Down to Vegas" 

Summary: After a stressful morning at the airport, one of her old NXT alums helps her through her day before her main roster debut at SummerSlam 34.

Word Count: 5.6k

Warnings: mention of alcohol, swearing, sexual innuendos, cannon wrestling violence, poor writing of a Scottish accent, flirting, spelling errors probably.

A/N: This one was a bit of a monster, but Chapter 2 is done! The reason for such a delay is because I ended up messing around with the order of events and decided to change around some things and move it to the next chapter since this one seemed to be getting a bit long. If you have any feedback, it is much appreciated. Let me know if you want! Just message me or respond on the post itself. If you're feeling like it, you're more than welcome to reblog or repost with credit, but please do not copy without credit. Thank you for the support! <3 I hope yo are all enjoying this series so far. If you want to be added to the tag list, let me know!

-WD

Sneak Peak Ch. 1 Ch. 3 Ch. 4 Ch. 4.5

Las Vegas, Nevada August 21st, 2021

The moment she stepped off the plane, Michelle called her sister. She was supposed to be on the flight with Michelle, but somehow she missed the flight.

Ring...ring...ring...

"Hi! Sorry I missed your call, just leave a messa-"

Click.

"Damn it!" Michelle growled as she rolled her small luggage to baggage claim and dialed again.

Ring...ring...

"Micky I'm so sorry-"

"What. The fuck. Is wrong with you." Michelle's hushed voice was dripping with venom. "I am in Vegas. Where are you?"

"Phil is driving to the airport right now-" Darcy started, panic obvious in her voice as she tried to keep herself and her little sister calm, but Michelle was beyond consoling at this point.

"I knew I should have picked you up this morning, but I thought you were the responsible one of the two of us. I kept calling, and calling and calling. This is the biggest night of my life thus far and you're still in Chicago." Michelle's voice was slowly raising in volume, causing people to turn their heads.

"I'm gonna try to get there as quickly as possible, honey, okay? I went a little too hard last night and I slept through my alarm. It's only a four hour flight, I'm so sorry." Darcy tried to bargain, but she braced herself on the other end for Michelle's wrath.

"Sorry? Oh you're sorry? Yeah, because 'sorry' is gonna magically poof you here in Vegas. We'll be square if you can make it to Vegas before the show. Text me updates on your flight. Goodbye, Darcy."

Click.

Michelle ran a manicured hand through her hair and heaved a sigh as she approached baggage claim. She grabbed her other suitcase and made her way to call an Uber to get to the hotel, but her eyes caught a little sign to her right, which read "MJ :)" in thick red ink.

A smile cracked her exhausted expression as she met eyes with the one of the only people who could possibly ease her worries at this moment.

"Damien...?"

"Hola, hermana." Damien grinned with a heavy pat on her shoulder, which turned into a hug. He looked similar to Michelle, dressed casually in a pair of sweats and a loose tank top. "How was your flight?"

"Awful, Darcy missed her flight." Michelle tried not to sound too disappointed, but Damien's eyebrows flew up and his eyes scanned the airport behind her like this was the first time she noticed she was alone.

"No kidding...huh. I'm sorry, Micky." Damien leaned over her and grabbed the bigger suitcase from her hands, pushed down the handle and grabbed hold of the other handle that was stitched to the bag. "C'mon, I'm parked in a red zone, you'll catch me up in the car."

Michelle couldn't help but laugh a little as the two jogged to Damien's car, haphazardly threw her luggage in the trunk, and drove off.

"I thought no one was supposed to know I was coming." Michelle finally asked, which made Damien chuckle.

"Yeah, well that all got ruined when I accidentally overheard Stephanie and Vince chatting. One thing led to another, I offered to pick you up, they said yes, and now I'm here. I was told not to tell a soul though. Sounds like you're a pretty big deal tonight?" Damien wiggled his eyebrows.

"No pressure." Michelle's sad little chuckle did not go unnoticed by Damien.

"You'll be great, chica! From what I overheard, you're gonna steal the show." Damien reassured her as they pulled onto the freeway.

"Knock on wood." Michelle leaned on the car door and stared at the Vegas strip, which did not look quite as magical in the daylight.

"Hey, the girls will be excited to see you tonight." Damien tried to bring a smile to his friend's face. "Dani, Bella, Rhea..."

Michelle did smile a little at the thought of seeing her girls. She grew up with Dani and Bella in Minneapolis. The three met at a wrestling camp Darcy signed her up for when she was just a little kid, and they were fast friends. Fast forward, now those two are the current women's tag-team champions and Michelle had finally made her way to join them in the big leagues.

Dani's ring name was Ivy Stone, but they tend to shorten her name to Ivy, and she's been nicknamed "The Spitfire" for her spunk she has in and out of the ring. Her in-ring personality was not far off from her actual personality, maybe her real personality had less of a filter. Her big mouth has gotten the three of them into some trouble over the years, for sure. She was strong and was known for her tricks and flips during her matches. She's loud, bodacious, and unapologetically herself, which is what Michelle thinks attracted Damien to her in the first place. They've been dating for about nine months, and from what Michelle can tell, they've been pretty happy.

Annie, whose full first name is Annabelle, goes by Bella Mason, and her character could not be more different in the ring versus outside. Bella has always been on the quiet side, rarely speaking out of turn. Polite, genuine, harmless. In the ring, however, she's a terrifying 5'4 little monster. Fast, nimble, unsuspecting. She was nicknamed "The Bombshell" for her blonde hair at first, but her technique in the ring proved to be more fitting for the nickname.

The three women were in NXT together, and soon enough Michelle met Rhea. Rhea and Michelle bonded quickly and slid into the friend group rather quickly. Dani and Annie often joked that Michelle and Rhea could have been related, since their aesthetics matched well. Both had an overall dark look with dark makeup, and both were fairly intimidating to share a ring with. They both were tall, and had broad shoulders and strong legs, but Michelle was a little smaller than Rhea overall when it came to muscle mass and wingspan.

"I miss them." Michelle smiled at the memories flashing in her head. "Do they have any idea something's happening tonight?"

"Not that I know of." Damien shrugged as he took the exit off the freeway. "You know Dani, she would be all over me if she knew you were coming. Those three have been waiting for Vince to bring you up for months. If she knew, I wouldn't be able to stop her from coming to the airport to pick you up!" Damien laughed, and finally Michelle started laughing, a weight lifting from her chest.

"You're right." Michelle's laugh died down to a chuckle as they pulled into the hotel parking lot. They both got out of the car, grabbed her bags out of the trunk and started walking to the elevators to get into the lobby.

"So how was Rampage last night...? Traitor." Damien teased, shoving her shoulder gently. Michelle's eyes lit up and she shoved him back hard, making Damien howl with laughter as he stumbled. "I was kidding, chica! Relax."

"You better be." Michelle laughed, an honest grin on her face. "It was great! Phil was wonderful, my sister couldn't be prouder, and I got to see Jon, which was nice. Some of the guys recognized me over there, which was surreal, but it definitely was a bit of an ego boost. Of course most of them just knew me as 'Punk's Niece' or 'Darcy's Sister', but they also said that they watched some of my NXT stuff. Weird, huh?"

"You saw Jon?" Damien's voice fell to a whisper, like he was afraid Jon would hear them gossiping all the way in Chicago.

"That's all you got from that?" Michelle shook her head as she pushed the elevator button.

"Well no. Congratulations they saw your work in NXT, congratulations to Punk and your sister, blahblahblahblahblah," Damien's voice moved a million miles a second and his hand moved in a talking motion. "But you saw Jon?"

Ding.

The pair shuffled into the elevator and watched the doors close.

"Yes."

"And?" Damien waited with an expectant face, almost looking offended she didn't give him any more information. "This is the same Jon Moxley you were like, in love with, right? What happened"

"Okay, let's not go that far-" Michelle sighed, regretting bringing his name up, but Damien cut her off almost immediately.

"Oh come on, drop the ice queen act for two seconds, hermana. Don't think I didn't forget that night you got absolutely trashed and spilt your guts to me after that one NXT Takeover in New York." Damien chided, making Michelle groan and roll her eyes. She needed to get out of this elevator.

"Will you stop bringing up that night? I was so embarrassed in the morning." Michelle muttered bitterly.

Ding.

The elevator doors slid open and air conditioning hit Michelle's face. She let out a content sigh.

"What happened?" Damien pressed as the two wrestlers walked to the front desk.

"Not much really. I had to leave fairly quickly after the show to get some rest for my flight. We said hello, shared a drink, swapped numbers." Michelle shrugged. She chatted with the front desk, got her room key, and they both made their way to another elevator.

"That's it? I thought you would have found the closest storage closet and fucked like rabbits." Damien laughed, then winced when Michelle promptly elbowed him in the ribs. "Ow, fuck what was that one for?"

"For being a jerk," Michelle laughed, not being totally serious in her insult. A beat or so passed as they entered the hotel elevator and pressed her room level. She glanced up at Damien and smirked. "but don't put something like that past me."

"I don't. That's why I said it." Damien smirked back and wiggled his eyebrows.

"Don't make me elbow you again." Michelle warned.

"Sorry." Damien chuckled.

The conversation was minimal for the rest of the elevator ride and the walk to Michelle's room. It mostly consisted of more teasing and Damien inviting Michelle out to drinks and clubbing with the rest of the roaster after the show, which Michelle obviously accepted.

"I'm just down the hall. If you need anything, text me. Vince told me to give you strict instructions to not leave your room until this afternoon, I'll give you a drive to the arena and get you to my trailer where you can get ready, and you stay there until your run-in. Got it?"

"Got it." Michelle nodded.

"Awesome. I'll swing by around 11:45? We gotta be there at noon." Damien checked his watch. "So you got about a few hours to just hang out, order some breakfast. I'll see you later."

"Bye, Damien." Michelle waved him off and closed the door.

She heaved a sigh, threw herself onto her bed and moaned. The bed was so soft. She grabbed her phone and set an alarm so she could squeeze in a little nap before the show tonight. She crawled under the covers, shut her eyes and fell asleep almost immediately.

..........................

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEE-

"Fuuuuuuuck..." Michelle groaned, feeling like shit as she awoke from her nap. It was 11:00, and she had a text message from her sister.

"Sis⛓: Hey Micky! I got a ticket for a 2:00 flight, I'll let you know when I land. Keep me updated!"

Michelle released a sigh of relief at the text. She might be cutting it close to her match, but she'll make it in time.

"Hey Darcy, that's great news! Just woke up from a little cat nap, I'm about to get ready to head down to the arena. Damien is here with me, sounds like he's gonna be sneaking me around tonight. Can't wait to see you. ❤️"

She pressed send, threw her phone in front of her, and hopped off the bed to start pulling herself together to leave. She splashed some water on her face, pulled together everything she needed into her smaller carry-on bag and she was pretty much ready to go.

She waited for Damien to knock on her door, he swept her away and they were off to the arena.

"Nervous?" Damien asked as they pulled up to the arena.

"I'll feel better when Darcy's here." Michelle concluded, feeling a little overwhelmed at the size of the Allegiant Stadium.

"I'm glad she got a flight out." Damien smiled as he parked his car next to his trailer. They both got out, Michelle grabbed her suitcase from the trunk and he opened the trailer door. Michelle turned around to look at the stadium again, thinking about how many people were gonna be watching tonight. She started to feel the nerves, but Damien's voice broke her out of her thoughts. "Shake a leg, princess, anyone might see you out here."

"Sorry." Michelle muttered. She turned on her heel and jogged up the few steps that lead into his trailer. Damien turned to leave, but Michelle called after him. "Wait!"

"What?" Damien whispered with wide eyes, glancing around the other parked trailers.

"Can you get me some food from catering?" Michelle asked with a sheepish smile.

"You didn't get room service at the hotel?" Damien's eyebrows raised, slight annoyance obvious on his face.

"I took a nap." Michelle cringed.

"YOU TOOK A-" Damien's voice boomed, but he quickly drew back. He closed his eyes and scowled, trying to calm himself. "You took a nap?"

Michelle shrugged and nodded. Damien pinched the bridge of his nose, took a deep breath through his nose and took a step towards her.

"Do you know how hard it's gonna be to go in there, grab food for the both of us, and not look suspicious?" Damien pointed in the general direction of the arena, his lips in a thin line of irritation.

"I know, I'm sorry. Please? I need some food, the last thing I had was a finger sandwich at the Rampage last night. I'm so hungry." Michelle bit her lip, eyes pleading.

Damien thought for a few moments, jaw clenched and fingers tapping impatiently on his hips. He sighed and wagged a finger in his friend's direction.

"Fine. But!" he pointed at her definitively. "We do it my way."

"Thank you, Damien!" Michelle grinned and gave him a quick hug. "You're amazing."

"You vex me, Grimes..." Damien shook his head and jogged off.

Michelle shut the door with a rattling thud and took a moment to look around the trailer. The first thing that caught her eye were the several photos he had framed on the small dining table.

There was a picture of Damien and Dani the night he one the NXT North American Championship belt. She was in her ring gear, grinning from ear to ear as she looked up at him. He had an arm wrapped around her. He was looking at the camera, holding the title. Even back then, she had a major crush on him, but she would never admit it.

He had another picture of him, Dani, Annie, Matt Riddle, and Michelle. It was a self-timer photo someone had taken on their phone in some hotel room. The group of them were squished shoulder to shoulder on someone's bed. Our chins were placed in the palms of our hands and we were smiling like idiots, we looked like we were taking a cheesy family photo.

The last photo was a picture of Damien, Rhea, and Michelle. She was standing between Damien and Rhea, holding the NXT Women's title. Michelle smiled at the picture, recognizing it as the night she pinned Charlotte Flair to obtain her second title win during her time in NXT. Michelle's makeup was smudged and her hair was a mess, but the smile on Michelle's face was beaming.

She sat down in one of the chairs strewn around the trailer and held onto that memory a little longer, a ghost of a smile on her face.

"So long ago, but it feels like yesterday..." Michelle whispered to herself as she spared a glance at the pictures, and then at the trailer around her. "Look where I am now."

She poked around the trailer a little more, seeing if anything piqued her interest, but she decided to just sit on her phone and scroll through Twitter and occasionally went over her lines for her promo tonight. Soon enough, a knock came knocking at the trailer door. Michelle scrambled to her feet and not very gracefully tripped over a pair of Damien's shoes, but she caught her footing. She tip-toed to the door and cracked it opened to not only see Damien, but Matt.

"Holy shi-"

"No way-"

Matt and Michelle spoke at the same time, both of their faces lighting up. Michelle threw the door open and waved both the boys in, then promptly shut it behind them.

"What's up, MJ?" Matt put down the two plates of food in his hands and hugged the redhead in front of him.

"Just flippin' out, nothin' crazy." Michelle laughed and turned a pointed look of confusion to Damien, who just had a cocky smile on his face.

"This was my way." Damien gestured to Riddle, who just had his signature smile on his face. "I had to tell someone to come eat with me in my trailer, so I didn't look too crazy. I was gonna bring Dani, but she's with hair and make-up right now."

"So you're the big secret, huh?" Matt crossed his arms and looked her up and down. "Y'know, I've heard some rumors that some shady stuff was gonna happen tonight, but I'm so glad it's you."

"I'm happy to be here," Michelle smiled and glanced at the two plates he brought in, piled with food. "What-"

"We didn't know what you wanted so we got you a little of everything." Matt's lopsided grin made Michelle laugh and her chest warmed a little.

"Guys, you're the best, thank you." Michelle picked up the two plates and sat down at the small table to start eating.

The three swapped stories and caught up on anything that came to mind, but time flew by and Michelle let out a noise of surprise when she checked her phone.

"You guys gotta go! I gotta start getting ready, you guys need to get in your gear. Get out!" Michelle jokingly started to shoe them out, causing the group to giggle. "Out with you!"

"Kicking me out of my own trailer, unbelievable." Damien rolled his eyes, but Michelle just scoffed.

"You can have it back later, I need to get ready." Michelle finally got them out the door. "I'm so happy to see you both. Thank you for the food."

"Of course, Micky." Matt gave her a huge smile and a thumbs up. "You're gonna kill it tonight."

"Yeah, come find me after your run-in, hermana." Damien waved goodbye as the two men sauntered off back to the arena.

The next couple of hours were a tornado of hair and makeup. She ended up pulling her hair into a messy updo with some stray hairs pulled over her forehead. She did a dark smokey eye with her signature burgundy lip. She started to dig through her suitcase to change into her custom ring gear when her phone pinged. She picked it up, thinking it was her sister, but it was a text from Jon.

"Mox: Break some legs tonight, kid. Lots of love from home."

She opened the text to see there was a video attached. It was a video from Phil's living room. On the TV was the first SummerSlam match of the night, which was AJ Styles and Omos versus Randy Orton and Matt Riddle. The camera panned to the couch. On the couch was Phil, Matt and Nick Jackson, Eddie Kingston, and Adam Page. They were all waving and sending good wishes. The camera flipped, so Jon was in frame now. Jon made a face that made Michelle laugh through the tears welling up in her eyes.

"You got this kiddo!" Phil smiled through her little phone screen. "I wish I could be there with you."

"Show them how it's done!" Eddie cheered.

"We'll be cheering you on, you got a support system over here, Mickey." Jon gestured to all the men behind him.

"It's about time! Welcome to the big leagues, kid!" Matt whooped.

The video ended, and Michelle got a little choked up but she pushed the tears back down since she just finished her makeup. Her fingers flew across her phone's keyboard to respond.

"You got me tearing up in full hair and makeup. Thank you guys for the support, it warms my heart."

She put her phone down after she hit send and fanned her face to try to stop from looking too blotchy. After a few deep breaths, she went back into her suitcase, grabbed her gear, and changed.

Her new gear was mostly red and black with some white accents. The pants were leather, with the white accents being a latex-y reflective material. On her hips were her initials in big white letters "LG", and on either side of the initials were two big red devil horns. Her top was a black bra with red accents, and her boots were red with black accents.

There was a small full body mirror in the trailer and she was able to get a good look on how it fit. It was snug in the right places and hugged her curves. Her shoulders and back looked good and her abs were toned. She looked good.

A knock at the door startled her, a small noise of surprise escaped her throat.

"What the fuck..." She slowly approached the door and put her hand on the door handle. "Who is it?"

"Special delivery for Lilith Grimes, it's the Sister Special."

Michelle threw the door open and grabbed her sister in a big hug.

"I'm sorry for being so upset this morning-" Michelle started, but Darcy cut her off.

"Bitch!" Darcy laughed and gently shoved her back into the trailer and closed the door. "Don't even try to apologize, I was a jackass for being hungover and not being able to support you throughout today, I'm sorry."

"But-"

"No buts." Darcy shushed her sister, but then gasped. "Holy shit you look HOT. Damn."

Michelle laughed and put her hands on her hips. "I missed you today, I'm so happy you got a flight out."

"Fuck, me too. I was so worried I wasn't gonna get a flight out, but I'm just so happy to be here to support you on your big day. When do you go on?"

"Soon." Michelle sighed. Since there was not TV in the trailer, Michelle had to keep up with the show on her phone, and from what she can tell, Becky Lynch just defeated Bianca Belair. She grabbed one of her NXT hoodies and zipped it up. "I should actually start heading over now, the next few segments are gonna go by fast."

"Oh shit, I was just in time." Darcy laughed as she opened the door.

"Yeah." Michelle laughed and skipped down the steps and jumped onto the asphalt. She stretched and cracked her back and turned to walk side by side with her sister.

Once they were inside the arena walls, Michelle's heart was beating in her ears. Her palms started to sweat and she started to bite the inside of her cheek.

"Y'know what helped me when I got nervous right before I went on?" Darcy nudged Michelle's side gently to get her attention.

"Hm?" Michelle hummed, trying to focus on the sound of their footsteps echoing off the arena walls to calm down.

"I tried to say the alphabet backwards." Darcy grinned.

"You what?" Michelle laughed, confused.

"I would be so concentrated on trying to spell it backwards, I couldn't focus on my nerves. Every time I messed up, I started over." Darcy giggled. "I still do it every now and then, but I've done it so many times now, I know how to say the alphabet backwards now."

"I'll keep that in mind." Michelle nodded as they approached the gorilla position.

It seemed like Nikki, Rhea, and Charlotte had just finished their entrances and the match had just started. Producers and sound technicians spared a couple glances our way, but not much was said before Vince got up from his chair and extended his hand to Michelle, which she firmly shook his hand.

"How's it goin' boss?" Michelle tried to be playful, but as soon as it left her lips, she regretted her words. "Was that too casual? Oh god."

Thankfully, Vince chuckled a little.

"Goin' great, Lilith. You ready? You got the script right? You remember your lines?" Vince's gruff voice was stern. Michelle nodded quickly with a smile.

"Yes sir." Michelle nodded again as she unzipped her hoodie and threw it on an abandoned chair.

"Good. We'll make sure to give you the signal to head out there. Break a leg, kid." Vince put his headset back on and sat back down. "Nice to see you, Darcy."

"Thank you sir." Michelle turned her attention back to the several TV screens broadcasting the show happening 100 feet from her.

"Nice to see you too, Vince." Darcy nodded in her old boss's direction.

The next several minutes were a tense silence, with Michelle silently muttering the alphabet backwards. The silence was broken, however, by a booming, thick Scottish accent.

"Well if it isn't the Dynamo herself!" The two girls turned to see a rather large specimen of a man. He towered over Michelle, and his bicep was the size of her head. He was glistening with sweat and his abs were clenching with every deep breath.

"Drew, hey! Congrats on the win tonight." Darcy casually hugs the giant behind her with a smile.

"Well thank ya, lass." Drew chuckled and shrugged.

"Hey, I want you to meet my sister. I guess it's no use trying to keep it a secret anymore, she's debuting tonight in like five minutes." Darcy patted Michelle on the back, silently urging her to take a step towards Drew. "Drew, this is my sister Michelle."

"Pleasure to meet ya, miss." Drew took a small step forward, took Michelle's hand and kissed the back of it. All the while, his eyes never left hers. Michelle felt a hot blush creeping up her neck, but she played it off as casually as possible

"I've heard so much about you." Michelle had a smile creeping onto her face. She bit her lip for a moment as she took a once over of him quickly. "You've got quite the reputation."

"So do you. I've heard you can get pretty extreme." Drew nodded, his eyes doing wandering of their own before they went back up to her eyes and engaged in conversation once again. "Are the rumors true?"

"More or less." Michelle's smirk grew to a mischievous grin. "Guess you'll have to find out for yourself."

Drew's eyebrows raised at her challenge. He chuckled deeply and nodded.

"She'll fit in just fine." Drew said to Darcy, which she laughed at. "I know you're about to head out there, so I won't keep you. Lovely to see you both."

"See ya, Drew." Darcy waved.

Michelle fluttered her fingers, silently saying goodbye.

Drew took one more look over his shoulder before he disappeared backstage and winked.

"You weren't very subtle." Darcy pointed out under her breath.

"I wasn't trying to be." Michelle shrugged with a smirk.

"You haven't even been officially assigned to a brand yet and you're already flirting with your coworkers? Michelle." Darcy scolded.

"Don't judge me!" Michelle whispered. "I haven't gotten laid in a minute, and he looks even better than he does on TV."

"You're gonna get yourself into some deep trouble, Micky." Darcy warned. "If that's what you want, you're playing with fire."

"Trouble always seems to find me anyway, Darcy." Michelle pointed out, which made Darcy chuckle.

"Lilith," a guy with a headset taps Michelle on the shoulder. "Charlotte just got the pin. You're cue is in 10, 9-"

"Holy shit." Michelle jumped in place and started walking to the staircase that led up to her entrance.

For a few moments in that dark hall, the only thing Michelle could see was the light coming in from her entrance into the arena, and the only thing she could hear was the cheers from the crowd. Then just for a moment, all she heard was her heartbeat, like it was about to burst from her chest. And then, her music hit.

The heavy guitar strums from the beginning of "Ride with the Devil" by Motley Crue echoed through the arena.

The crowd went nuts. Lilith came around the corner and was momentarily blinded by the spotlights, but the adrenaline pumping through her kept her laser focused on that ring at the end of the ramp. Her focus was on Charlotte, who went from triumphantly holding the title above her head to dropping it at her side.

Lilith bounced from foot to foot and then began a dead sprint towards the ring, high-fiving a few fans at the barricade on the way.

"I can't believe it!" Jimmy Smith exclaimed from the announce table. "It's Lilith Grimes from NXT!"

"What the heck is she doing here?" Byron Saxton was on his feet and his hands were on top of his head.

"Here she comes! The Moxie of NXT has made her way to the WWE Stage."

Lilith dived head first and slid under the bottom rope, and pushed herself up to a kneeling position about two feet away from Charlotte, still maintaining intense eye contact. She got to her feet and took a step forward, her aura dripping confidence.

The crowd was still going ballistic. Nikki was in the corner of the ring, mouth hanging open. Lilith was able to catch Rhea out of the corner of her eye. She was favoring one of her knees, but the look on her face was priceless.

"What the hell are you doing here." Charlotte sneered at Lilith.

"Aww, you still hate me?" Lilith's face morphed to faux sympathy. "Glad to know some things don't change."

Lilith started circling Charlotte, looking her up and down, then locking her eyes on that title belt.

"You didn't answer my question." Charlotte whipped around to be almost toe to toe with Lilith.

Lilith licked her lips, trying to intimidate her opponent. She caught a glimpse of the Jumbotron, the camera was focused on trying to catch a glimpse of the heated words being passed between the two wrestlers in the ring.

"I'm here for your title, bitch." Lilith spit out slowly. As soon as the last word left her lips, Lilith attempted to grab the title out of Charlotte's hand, but Charlotte was quicker.

Charlotte took a couple steps back, spun around and was gonna try to hit Lilith with an elbow to the jaw, but Lilith duck out of the way just in time. Lilith blew a low whistle and her eyes went wide.

"Woah, calm down." Lilith's voice was dripping in condescension, which only angered Charlotte more. She bounced her body off the ropes, ran full speed at Lilith and reeled back a punch.

Lilith quickly rolled out of the ring and threw her hands up, motioning "wait".

"Is this what you want?" Charlotte shouted, holding the title up. The crowd roared, waiting for Lilith's response. "Come back in here and get it then, bitch."

Lilith shook her head, jumped up to the apron and slugged Charlotte with her forearm, knocking the newly crowned champ back. Lilith bent down, jumped over the top rope and clotheslined Charlotte onto her back, dazed.

Lilith rolled out of the ring, and made a grabbing motion in the direction of Jimmy Smith.

"Mic, please." Lilith's tone was biting. Jimmy quickly handed her a mic. She tapped it a few times before she started speaking into it. "Charlotte! Long time, no see, huh?"

Charlotte started to get back to her feet as Lilith got back onto the apron and bent at the hips to enter the ring over the second rope.

"Thought you saw the last of me?" Lilith challenged as she became eye to eye again with the champ. "Think again. I'm back, and I'm back with a vengeance."

Charlotte nabbed the mic out of my hand with an aggravated look on her face.

"What do you want." Charlotte's voice was dangerously low.

Lilith laughed and swiped the mic back with a little more force.

"I'm here to take another one of those from you, since I had so much fun taking it from you last time." Lilith pointed at the RAW Woman's title that Charlotte had just won.

Charlotte gripped the title a little tighter and shook her head. She grabbed the title and launched herself at her opponent, using the belt to bludgeon Lilith to the ground. After taking a few hits, Lilith was able to kick out from Charlotte's straddle and escaped to a corner of the ring. Charlotte dropped the title and charged at Lilith, who at the last possible moment ducked to the right. Charlotte followed her, but quickly regretted it as Lilith bounced off the ropes and leaped into what could have been a hurricanrana turned into an octopus submission hold.

"Tap, and I won't dislocate your shoulder." Lilith spoke through her teeth, her voice was venomous.

After a few moments, Charlotte tapped. Lilith held the hold for a few extra seconds, then released Charlotte where she collapsed on the mat.

She took a couple breaths, grabbed ahold of the title that was tossed aside earlier. The crowd erupted into cheers. She examined the title, smiled, and tossed it onto Charlotte's body on the floor. Her music started to play as she rolled out of the ring. She made eye contact with Rhea, sent her a cheeky wink and mouthed "We'll talk later". Rhea nodded with an amused look on her face.

Lilith marched her way up the ramp, cracked her neck, and walked backstage with a smile.

Taglist <3:

@cherrytheeredheadmamaclaymore

[imaginedreamwrite]

Ok but just because it’s still soulmate Sunday…hear me out:

I love reader’s relationship with the rest of the hockey team in HL, especially Colin and Johnny. And I think it would just be so sweet if those 2 found a mate of their own? Maybe another figure skater friend of the reader or similar to WD a tutor agrees to help them with their grades? Or even crazier the captain of the women’s hockey team who is so annoyed with both their antics she’s always on the verge of clobbering the 2 of them??

Although now that I think about it I could actually see Johnny being the one who could tutor? Let us not forget that in Fantastic 4 it is referenced that Johnny nearly worked for NASA 👀 so I could see him being a secret brainiac. And their little mate may be desperate enough to accept his help to pass physics.

“Seriously? The guy is called Six Second Storm for a reason!” The book was slammed against the desk, her eyes rolling.

“That’s more to do with his reputation in bed than his attention span.”

“Why can’t you help me?” She questioned before her eyes moved from you to the alpha in question, Johnny Storm.

“I’ve…kinda got my hands full.”

“You mean with Ari? Your hot professors alpha?” She wiggled your eyebrows and smirked lightly.

“And the band of baboons hanging around him…Storm, be nice.”

“Yes mother.” Johnny rolled his eyes, placed one hand on the table and the other on his hip. “Hey prima-donna, heard ya needed help in physics and chemistry.”

“And you were the first choice?” She looked him up and down with slightly narrowed eyes, her lips pursed.

“Top of my class, baby!” Johnny beamed and raised his arms in celebration. “Best person to teach ya. Now sit down, drama queen and let the master teach you.”

“Drama queen?”

“You’re in theatre aren’t you? Last two seasons you were the lead in almost every play?” Johnny raised an eyebrow and looked you over.

“Six second storm.”

“Prima-donna, you gonna sit?”

“There’s really no one else?”

“Nope. You’re stuck with me.”