#there's something else oliver says that i picked up on but i FORGOT WHAT IT WAS

[kxsagi]

pro football player!bllk with girlfailure gf 🙏

“𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝”

a/n: reader is me i fear because i had apple maps on and turned left when siri said turn right (i ain’t ever living that down)

ft. isagi yoichi, itoshi rin, itoshi sae, nagi seishiro, mikage reo, kaiser michael, shidou ryusei, aiku oliver

isagi yoichi

"i’m not saying you're a disaster, love, but i just saw the smoke coming from the toaster and knew you tried to make soup again." 

yoichi is genuinely concerned for your wellbeing on a daily basis. he’s in the peak of his athletic prime – eating clean, training consistently, and optimizing performance… and then there’s you, googling “can i eat expired pudding if i microwave it?” 

he keeps track of your life with the dedication of a world cup coach. daily alarms set for you. calendar events for you. a literal google doc titled "how to not die this week – for my girlfriend." 

“yoichi, i accidentally took a sleeping pill instead of my vitamin again. at 2pm.” “... okay, stay on the phone while i cancel your dentist appointment and put you in bed.” 

when you showed up to one of his games wearing a shirt with his face on it, backwards, he didn’t even blink. he just fixed it for you mid-tunnel entrance like he was adjusting his jersey. 

he tells reporters, “she keeps me grounded.” what he means is you walked into a glass wall yesterday trying to wave at a squirrel. 

itoshi rin

"you’ve burned water. explain to me how that’s even physically possible." 

rin is the definition of organized. you? you just poured orange juice into your cereal because you were “half-awake and the cartons looked the same.” 

he constantly looks like he’s asking god why he’s being tested. but despite the judgmental sighs and eternal frown, he never lets anyone else talk down to you. 

“i couldn’t figure out how to put gas in the car so i called triple A and cried.” “... i’m going to show you how to do it. we’re going right now. bring your notebook.” 

he sets emergency funds aside just for your monthly “life mistake.” like the time you bought a fake designer purse that turned out to be a lunchbox. 

but he remembers everything. your favorite candy. how you like your grilled cheese (burnt, apparently). which socks help when you’re overwhelmed. 

once you got lost in IKEA and called rin in a panic. he tracked you down like joe goldberg.  

itoshi sae

"i make millions a year and my girlfriend just got stuck in a revolving door." 

sae is rich, classy, and elegant. you once mistook a bidet for a drinking fountain. opposites, baby. 

he acts all nonchalant and "ugh," but he's always silently picking up the pieces after you’ve caused another minor catastrophe. 

“i thought the microwave was the oven and now the plastic is part of my dinner.” “okay. i’m ordering sushi. don’t eat it. i mean it.” 

he’s weirdly patient with you. will roast you endlessly, but also brush your hair out of your face while saying “idiot” in the gentlest voice ever. 

once, you tripped walking up the stadium stairs and spilled a nacho tray onto a stranger. he didn’t even blink. just pulled out his black card and paid for all the ruined food. 

“do i like her because she’s cute? no. it’s the comedy. i never know what she’ll break next.” 

nagi seishiro

"wait… you were supposed to go to work today? oh no." 

you both forgot what day it was and slept through a meeting. your lives are one long nap and an accidental door dash order. 

nagi genuinely doesn’t care about your failures. he just kind of blinks and goes “eh, sounds annoying. let’s lie down.” 

“sei, i think i broke the vacuum.” “cool. guess we don’t clean now.” 

you once forgot to bring your passport to the airport. he forgot his shoes. you were that couple. the airline staff pitied you. 

he lets you stack your chaos on top of his. gets a little spark in his eyes when you mess something up. “you’re funny,” he says as you spill water on your laptop. 

surprisingly supportive. doesn’t fix things, but he’ll cuddle you while you cry about them. 

“i ruined the job interview.” “eh. next one. let’s get ice cream.” 

mikage reo

"my baby can’t do taxes or read maps, but she’s hot so it’s fine." 

he’s so ridiculously rich and competent, and you’re just trying to remember your email password from middle school. 

constantly watching you with an amused expression like “wow. she’s really out here giving it her best. adorable.” like you said “i think i wanna become an astronaut” and he started looking up NASA internships. 

“reo, i tried to meal prep and now there’s rice in the ceiling fan.” “that’s talent. you want a private chef?” 

he buys you a new phone every time you drop one in the toilet. it’s happened four times. 

he sends you voice notes like “baby, remember to eat today” and you reply “does chocolate count?” and he’s like “only if you eat six.” 

will absolutely drop $30k on something to make your life easier and then call it a “just because you’re a princess” gift. 

kaiser michael

"schatz, why are you crying?" "i tried to braid my hair and now there’s a comb stuck in the wall." 

kaiser is such a showoff. pro athlete, media darling, good with money, sharp as hell. you? you tried to fix the wi-fi by blowing on it like a nintendo cartridge. 

he lives for your mess. he thinks it’s hilarious. he’ll walk into a room you destroyed and be like “wow. modern art. you’ve outdone yourself.” 

“kaiser, i accidentally sent my manager a meme instead of my availability.” “did they laugh? no? then resend with context.” 

he’ll bully you for your mistakes but then drop everything to help you anyway. “you’re lucky i like you. and that you look hot when confused.” 

secretly addicted to you needing him. will pout if you fix something yourself. 

“you didn’t call me when your sink broke?” “i googled it.” “what the hell. i was emotionally prepared to be your hero.” 

shidou ryusei

"guess what i just did!" "lit something on fire?" "how did you know!?" 

you two are absolute chaos. you keep failing at life and he cheers you on like it’s a sport. 

“i just sent an angry email to the wrong person.” “HELL YEAH BABY. make it worse! want me to reply with a meme?” 

he loves how you panic over small things while he eggs you on. “i lost my shoe!” “go barefoot! embrace the primal life!” 

he brings out your most unhinged side and encourages your impulsive decisions. “should i dye my hair pink?” “only if you let me do it with kitchen bleach.” 

somehow, when you’re both together, things work?? the disasters cancel out??? or at least no one’s bored. 

“she’s dumb, and she’s mine. and if anyone says anything else i’ll headbutt them into next week.” 

aiku oliver

"you’re not a failure. you just have a very… creative approach to life. and gravity." 

he’s the charming, cocky pretty boy captain and you once fell down an escalator because you were texting. 

he calls you “baby” in that teasing voice every time you mess something up. “baby… you really locked yourself out again?” “yes…” “adorable. hold on, let me come save your helpless little ass.” 

literally spoils you rotten to compensate for your chaos. you messed up your entire skincare routine and he booked you a five-star spa appointment. 

jokes that you’re his "clumsy little gremlin" and kisses your forehead after you bump into a pole. 

also weirdly proud of your fails. tells his teammates about them like fun facts. “my girl once put dish soap in the laundry machine. we had bubbles for hours." 

he likes that you need him. not in a weird possessive way, just in the fun way. 

“she keeps life spicy. also, she accidentally started a fire once by microwaving foil.” 

© 𝐤𝐱𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐢

[inairthings]

The Magic of Eddie Diaz?

Another spoiler-heavy post, featuring an episode 8x17 of 911, which was very, very interesting. I don't know how reliable IMDb is because anyone with an account can vote, you just have to register to do so. The ratings haven't come out yet, but I suspect they'll be quite high. I planned this post in my head, but I didn't have anything handy to write down, and my phone's battery was running low, and I forgot my power bank at home. So, as I was writing this, I realized I was forgetting a lot of things I'd like to say. But it doesn't matter. If I don't write everything I have in my head now, I'll do it another day. After all, there's still one more episode left in the season.

POST IN SPANISH

Bobby is hinting that he’s 100% dead (I don’t want to believe it) so the show now needs something to pull it along, I don’t see any character having the pull that Bobby/Peter Krause could give it, not even the extraordinary Angela Bassett/Athena, whose stories lately I don’t know if they make sense or not, rather I think they are just to remind us that she’s still there with what I feel like they are wasting her potential, just like Maddie, with her kidnapping and now Baby Han who will supposedly be born in the next and last episode of the season, surely taking up a lot of unnecessary minutes. The thing is that last week they’ve done a lot of promotion for Buddie, and even Ryan Guzman and Oliver Stark have several interviews together scheduled next week, too much of a coincidence for it to just be smoke, right?, Are they going to use Buddie as a new hook?, How are they going to use him? That’s the matter.

This week's episode had a huge variable, and that's the return of Eddie Diaz, the episode had some intense Eddie content, like his conversation with Hen and Karen, and I realized that I want more moments between Eddie and Karen, from there a beautiful friendship could come out, also very intense scenes with Buck, like a fight in which they show us that Eddie receives the devastating call in the early morning being alone and with the complicated task of telling Chris, he shows his deep sadness for Bobby's death, even a lot of guilt for not helping, doubting if his presence would have changed things, like Eddie said: Bobby saved his life, we also have a scene of Buck calling Eddie a jerk when he left him a note saying he was going to the airport and obviously believing he returned to Texas, the scene when he returns home and sees Eddie to reveal that he only said he was going to the airport, not that he was going to Texas, to reveal that he only went to the airport to pick up Chris , who is shown to be very sad for Bobby, also a great conversation between Tia Pepa and Evancito, with Pepa calling him “Cariño” (dear, honey…), I think she sees something between Buck and Eddie, our Eddie.

If with everything we've seen, Buddie isn't canon, it's definitely something to want to cancel this show. They can't use Buddie as queerbaiting, they can't keep dragging it out to keep people glued to the television waiting for them to be canon and for Tim Mienar to slowly make it clear that it's always going to be a I can but I don't want to, no, right now Buddie has only one way out and that's to be canon, this episode has made it too clear, and it's something we can repeat constantly, they have so much chemistry on screen that I think it erases everything else, if they want the series to survive Bobby, it's time for Buddie to have a big weight, but not as best friends, but as a couple, although they take it step by step without rushing. Season 9 has to start with Buddie canon and they have to give a very clear proof in the last episode of Season 8 in a week.

If the ratings for episode 8x17 are high (they haven't come out yet), although those for 8x16 were high, I think it's because of the curiosity of the doubt of whether Bobby was alive or dead, and the scores too, on IMDb the episode has a score of 8.9/10 (I don't know if IMDb is very reliable), for me it's only going to be due to one factor, and that's Eddie Diaz and that there was already a lot of anxiety to see him, the mistreatment that we know was given to this character in Season 8B has been scandalous and I think that has made many people empathize with him, basically they treated him like a secondary character, preventing him from being in the episode I think was the most relevant of the show, even the franchise, and not being able to say goodbye to Bobby, something that I think is going to haunt him for a long time, he knows what it's like to lose coworkers who were also friends, and Bobby for Eddie was more than a friend, he was a mentor, a father figure, a savior.

We must stick with the fact that Eddie is back. From the very first minutes of the episode, we've learned that he's been offered a position with the El Paso Fire Department, the question is whether he's returning to Los Angeles or staying in El Paso for good. I think, why would he bring Chris back to Los Angeles if not to stay? We know he's staying home, in Los Angeles, Hen realized that he referred to Los Angeles as home. Now, there remains the question of how to integrate him into the 118 again, Hen said that there would be a paramedic position left because they had offered him the position of captain. In the end, I bet it's going to be Chimney, this leaves the other paramedic position free and Eddie could fill it. Is Eddie and Hen a working couple? I love it, and if Hen finally overcomes her fears and decides to be Captain, Chimney will be an excellent partner for Eddie, although they would be very dangerous if there are paranormal issues involved. They gave us one of the funniest episodes of the entire show, with a cursed bracelet as the protagonist, and Eddie would be back at the 118, the place where he belongs.

EDITED: The ratings for episode 8x17 have already been released. They weren't as high as other weeks. It didn't reach 4 million, although it was close to it. But I think there were major sporting events in the United States on Thursday, like NBA?, I don't know if that had anything to do with it, or if Peter Krause's forced departure from the series will have consequences. I imagine they haven't yet accounted for the global ratings from the streaming platforms.

I haven't had much time to review this post, so please forgive any mistakes. I have a habit of writing posts in Spanish and then translate them.

[thatsparrow]

debriefing thoughts on mafia nanny after having read it all in one sitting*

*all that's available so far without accessing additional episodes, which is currently up to ep25 (spoiler warning, etc. etc.)

I'm genuinely enjoying it so far! I think it's very charming and has lots of well-developed characters and dynamics (undeniable highlight is mikey, on his own, but also him and davina together, him as motivation for davina to stay in the house, him and gabriel, how him and gabriel informs davina's understanding of gabriel, etc.)

it's also so goofy in a way I didn't expect. like, maybe unintentionally goofy in how it implements some tropes or gets characters from point a to point b, but also unexpectedly goofy in ways that I'm gonna assume are intentional (can we talk about raphael's olives? i'm dying to talk about raphael's martini glass chock-full of olives.)

honestly I think ep 1 is—not the least strong, exactly, but in its efforts to introduce the characters and get them all interacting, while setting up the dynamics it wants to have, it makes some choices that are both very wild and also very cliched?

like okay, so we start with davina as a child, her parents were nebulously involved in organized crime, they get killed off-screen. lots of very familiar mafia story elements here—she's an orphan, she starts with her foot in the mafia world, she has motivation to get closer to someone else in that same sphere in an effort to find out what happened. sure, all very run of the mill

then we find out she was saved by her nanny, who promised to take care of her and teach davina to protect herself and others (also, sure, I'm with you so far)—by taking her to a secret school called the "elite nanny academy" (ENA for short) where davina and other women are trained how to be. well. what it says on the tin. elite nannies.

hey. what

like alright, the story needs justication for why davina would get hired by this mafioso, and also (liam neeson voice) "have a unique set of skills" such that she's able to help mikey and gabriel if say they feel uncomfortable turning to their guards or don't trust the people around them. sure. i'm with you. that said, introducing the concept of an elite academy of nannies who are not only trained in every aspect of childcare but also self-defense, computer programming, and more is. it's bold, I will give you that. I want to live in this world where secret academies of elite nannies exist. I want the entire webtoon just to be set in davina's school years. the fucking whiplash from this very run-of-the-mill backstory of losing her parents to a smashcut of davina learning to become a literal supernanny—unparalleled. no notes. such a big swing, and my god, I'm glad they went for it

(oops this is getting long. more under the cut)

okay, so we've established davina's credentials (again, in one of the wildest ways possible), and then the story immediately swings back into very familiar, well-trodden territory in how it introduces gabriel

a) first, his character design. I'm scrolling back through the comic for reference, and, oh my god, I fully forgot that the first panel he appears in, his pecs are fucking bursting out of his button down. tits for days. the exact level of cleavage anyone shows when hiring a new nanny for their four-year-old son (jesus I also forgot how much I loved his tasteful little cross necklace)

b) his whole demeanor—aloof, intense, and sort of positioning davina for a "not like other girls" framing when he's like "I want someone who's never worked with anyone else" and then of course he picks her out of the lineup, zeroes in on her directly, and is it because he's attracted to her? because he knows something about her backstory? because he wants something that's unique to her specifically? probably a combination of all three! but like at this point, gabriel is just checking all the boxes of a mafia romance lead, these are all familiar tropes, we know how a story like this goes

and then more whiplash! because we go straight from that office scene to the flashback of gabriel threatening the bartender when the story introduces mikey, and immediately gabriel stops feeling quite so much like any other male romance lead because who brings their four-year-old to a mafia business meeting? and what four-year-old then proceeds to conduct himself with a level of assurance and familiarity that suggests he's very aware of his father's business and has lots of opinions about it? absolutely blindsided by this, not at all what I expected from davina's future charge, or the father-son dynamic (also, I don't know kids, but is this at all how four year olds behave? I don't ultimately care all that much, because I think it's fun, but it did still have me pausing)

maybe this isn't a real thing, but I think gabriel's head is too small for his body—or, I guess, that his body is too big for his head. I get that the creators want him to have that classic triangle-torso physique, but I can't get over how comically broad his shoulders are

I'll be honest, as soon as adam showed up, my immediate reaction was "date him instead"—obviously that's not how this works, but he just seems much more laid back, inviting, charming in comparison to gabriel

the way this comic will use any excuse to have gabriel suddenly and intensely in davina's personal space is also very funny to me. don't get me wrong, I enjoy the tension of it, I'm here for it, but it's so deeply unsubtle (which I guess is itself a question, does it need to be subtle? maybe what I mean instead is less that those moments feel unsubtle, and more that they feel unnatural. like, is this really how these people would behave, how much of this feels manufactured for the sake of building tension? then again, you read a romance for the romance, and so long as the tension is there or the moments feel like they land, how much does it matter how you get there? anyway)

now can't remember if the comic explicitly addresses it or not, but curious if mikey being so involved in his dad's business pre-dated his mom's disappearance, or was a consequence of gabriel wanting to keep him closer because his wife went missing

I do really love all of mikey and davina's interactions, particularly all the moments where he's clearly set on being stubborn or trying his best not to act like a kid, and davina suckers him into it (getting him to show her his room, playing in the pool, art class, etc.)

THE POOL like this is what I'm talking about in terms of how goofy this story can get. the concept of "pool day" is actually very cute in terms of thinking about mikey wanting to spend time with his dad, who is often unpredictably called away on business, and so here's this holiday they've come up with as a way to address that. but, from a reader perspective, it feels so transparently motivated as an excuse for eye candy of gabriel sprawled out in a speedo and to compel davina to spend time with the two of them at a pool, where she now also has to be in a swimsuit and oh is that gabriel checking her out?

having gabriel and davina aligned on wanting to keep mikey out of the mafia world, mikey being dead-set on taking over as the next don, and raphael who clearly intends to have him raised as heir and successor is all a very fun interlocking set of interactions. I like that it gives gabriel and davina a way to be on the same side and get to know one another in a way that's divorced from romance, there's obviously the tragedy of this very young boy who believes he has to grow up so quickly, and then the danger element of raphael as a threat to all the characters if they deviate from his intentions

so, does gabriel know about davina's past? I can't remember what triggers it, but there's the bit where he confronts her about why she's really there (edit: it's the bit where she's helping him identify who left the teddy bear and he wants to know how she knows so much about organized crime), or if she has ulterior motives, and she comes up with the lie about being a freelance hacker, which—either he already knows who she is, and that's why he picked her, and so presumably can suss out that she's curious about her own past and how it might relate to his family, and he was lying or putting on an act when pressuring her about her reasons for being there OR he genuinely doesn't know about her past, in which case, why did he choose her out of the lineup? I think at that point in the story, the only thing she has to distinguish herself is her computer skills, which I guess isn't nothing, but isn't what I expected

maybe it's just because I haven't really grown my hair longer than my shoulders in a decade, but I swear whenever davina lets her hair down, it distinctly looks like she has way too much of it to then put it up in such a petite bun

THE OLIVES i still can't get over raphael's obsession with olives. every shot of him either with a martini glass overflowing with olives (is there even any liquor in there) or the scene where he's just eating them straight out of the jar before drinking the juice or the bit where's at the party and says DOUBLE THE OLIVES! sir!! your glass was already so full!! where are the rest of these olives supposed to go!! anyway, deeply funny the first time it happened, so unexpected, such a funny running gag, I enjoy it every time it crops up again

man I am and continue to be a sucker for a "helps someone to bed" "carries someone from point a to point b" moment whenever it happens. it's a genre staple for a reason, it always hits

"sir we may have a problem" "is it your outfit" truly I never know what I'm going to get with raphael, and I'm ready to be surprised every time

nico and valentine are fun, no question, but valentine's outfit makes no sense to me. who's out here wearing a skirt that short when you know you could get into a fight at any moment? a skort, at the very least

wait hang on, I just caught this on reskimming—when davina is looking for information on her parents, is her name "davina diavolo"? DIAVOLO AND ANGELINl come on that's so funny. it's fun! but it's also very funny

the doctor is hot, I'll stand by that

(although then again, it's a mafia romance. all of them are hot)

I think that was everything? last we left off was the fire after the party and davina finding the safe in gabriel's office. tldr, I'm enjoying it, I'm invested, it's fun and goofy (SO goofy at times, my god), but the plot is solid, the stakes are engaging, the characters and relationships are compelling, and honestly I'm not sure if I'd be enjoying it as much if it seemed like it was taking itself too seriously

[no-goodbyes-no-regrets]

D'ya think season 8 will bring back Baby Buck?

I mean...it's a source of drama I guess, if something (Temporarily? Permanently?) happened to Connor/Kam and Buck might Feel A Lot of Things about it, especially if Tommy doesn't know. I don't think Tommy would react badly to it? I dunno.

(not saying Buck would lie to Tommy...it just hasn't come up and it wouldn't surprise me if it's Used For Drama)

I hated the whole storyline, but that could change if Oliver was cuddling a small child (I'm shallow af, sue me)

I have to admit, I too am not immune to an attractive man cuddling a small child.

^this was during an absolute shitshow of a storyline but this made it bearable!

But yeah I could see the 118 getting called to an accident, and it's Connor and Kameron. One of them is hurt worse than the other but still they can't take care of the baby properly right now. Buck would definitely offer to take the kid for them to help out. Especially if there was no-one else to help them and they were already Struggling™

And maybe he hasn't told Tommy about the whole sperm donor thing - because why would he? The kid isn't his, he's not a part of their life, maybe he hasn't even thought about the kid and 'made' himself move on.

Only in all the baby related stress he forgot he had a dinner date with Tommy planned and when he gets home, Tommy is already waiting for him. And he's just standing there holding the baby and a bag with all of the stuff he needs and Tommy's just "well... this isn't dinner"

And Buck tries to explain the whole thing without making it sound too insane, while also taking care of the baby, even though he doesn't know what he's doing. "I only ever have to be the cool uncle for Jee, the hard parts are for Maddie and Chim"

And of course the kid picks up on the stress and starts fussing and crying and will NOT settle for Buck who is only getting more stressed.

Until Tommy takes the baby from him and calms them both down. He has some experience with kids because he's Sal's kids cool uncle and his brother/sister/cousin/relative has small kids that he's helped out with.

And that's how Buck ends up with his beefcake of a boyfriend, shirtless in his kitchen ("babies like skin to skin contact, it calms them down Evan") cradling a small child to his chest. A child that's technically his. And it's definitely making him Feel Things.

(Tim, if you need help for season 8, call me, I'm available!)

[courtingchaos]

Life Is Good Blues

Professor Munson x Fem Reader

@carolmunson So the old man finally had something to say to me and I think you might find it a little cathartic too maybe?

Life is Good Blues

“There she is.”

You don’t even have the door all the way open before you hear his voice. Normally it’s a welcome surprise when he gets home before you but today you’re talked out. A deep breath and a millisecond pep talk to get yourself through the door without snapping at him when he’s just happy to see you.

“Did you get out early today?” You can’t hide the strain in your voice and you hope you can pass it off on full hands. Ed is already rounding the corner and reaching out for at least one fistful of bags.

“We lost power like six times today so they told us to vacate.” He loops the handles over his forearm and takes the others off you too, turning to head back into the kitchen. He hasn’t caught on yet to your sour mood or the fact that your teeth have been clenched for six solid hours. All you can muster is a little hum and a terse nod, the strain along your neck not easing up like you thought it would when you finally made it back home.

He picks out the bags with groceries in them and peers at you over his glasses when you come into the kitchen behind him. Head bowed and eyes following the wood grain of the flooring you can barely even thinking about making eye contact.

“You okay?” He doesn’t fly into worry mode like everyone else in your life would upon seeing you turn into an automaton.

Are you okay? There’s just…so much to go over. There’s the humming of your brain in the background of every thought process and the god damn job search that rolls through your every waking thought and there’s just the thought of what you need to make for dinner because you’ve just remembered you haven’t eaten a thing today. A grimace accompanied by a short, sharp tap to your forehead. “Just uh, bad brain day.” You suddenly remember you forgot to rinse off the shower after you started cleaning it this morning and those tears that have been hovering in your lash line all day are that much closer to spilling.

“You wanna talk about it?” A simple question asked simply. Ed gets the cold stuff put away and stacks all the dry on the corner of the island so he can turn to look at you, all of you, in your overstimulated glory.

“N-not really.” The tears burn and you really can’t look up at him now.

He slides along the countertop slowly and holds out his hand to you. “You want me to shut up?” He doesn’t touch, finally catching on to where you’re currently teetering. He holds his hand out like an olive branch, a peace offering for you to take so you can ask for help.

“No.” You don’t want him to, you just don’t want to talk anymore. It took you four hours to get out of bed and another four to get any kind of clothes on your body and then two more to finally drag yourself out of the house to run your errands. Food shopping and a quick run to the pharmacy and you’re effectively rendered useless by your brain trying to outsmart itself.

“How’s this sound.” He keeps his hand open but moves in closer, close enough you can feel the heat radiate off of him and suddenly nothing sounds better than letting him prop you up and guide you around. “You let me take care of you and you get to reboot your brain for the evening.” Your hand slides into his seamlessly just like your face that presses into the crook of his neck. If there’s a sob hidden there he ignores it, arms wrapping around your shoulders when you sag into his chest.

“Have you eaten today?”

“No.” You peel off your clothes that you haven’t been able to stand all day and he runs his hand under the spray of the shower head. “I just forgot.”

He doesn’t reprimand you or scoff or laugh, just hums and leans out from the glass partition. “It’s a lobster shower, I hope that’s what you wanted.” The steam rolls up to the ceiling and you can almost feel your neck starting to relax before the water has even hit it. He holds the door open for you with a flourish and a little bow and it makes you smile.

“You want me to leave you alone?”

“No.” The silence would be deafening.

“Okay.” The door clicks shut behind you and his hand pops over the top to hand you one of the rose shower melts he bought you. “I’ll be right back.”

The drone and the heat of the water lull you into something akin to peace and when Ed turns back up it only startles you a little.

“I know you should eat first but I’ll make sure you don’t drown.” The smile is evident in his voice when his hand appears over the door again, this time a wineglass half full being handed down to you. “Go easy, tiger.”

“Thank you Ed.”

“I also brought you a snack.” Another hand, this time holding a few grapes.

“Did you bring me a shower lunchable?”

“Maybe.”

You giggle at him periodically handing you fistfuls of cheese and fruit, making sure to keep your distance from the shower head. He starts talking softly about a new D&D thing he found on Kickstarter, something he thinks you might find interesting.

“It’s Halloween themed, but like D&D Halloween. I backed it, and I got the biggest tier of course, so more dice for you to find around here.”

“At least they’re pretty.”

“And Halloween themed.”

“You’ve mentioned.” You grin at him through the frosted glass and finish off your wine. He takes the glass from you and when the water cuts off he’s ready with a towel held up for you to walk into.

“You feel better?”

“A little bit.” Still quiet when you lean on him, droplets soaking into his grey t-shirt while he dries you off softly. He rubs the towel along your back and finally up to the ends of your hair to scrunch lightly and wring out any extra water.

“Look at me.”

Chin tilted up so he can see your faint smile and tired eyes. He looks so soft in the bathroom lighting, the streaks of grey in his hair glittering warmly. He didn’t put it up and the ends of his curls tickle your cheek where they begin drying, plastered to your skin.

“God you’re pretty.” He pinches your chin between his fingers when you roll your eyes and try to scoff.

“You don’t have to butter me up, Ed. I feel better.”

“I’m doing no such thing.” A finger runs down your temple and pushes back a few strands of wet hair behind your ear. That same finger glides down under the corner of your jaw and he cradles the back of your neck so he can give you kiss. Nothing hurried or tinted with anything other than his simple intent. “I just don’t think I tell you enough.”

“You tell me all the time.” It comes out in a whisper that ghosts over his lips.

“Well it’s still not enough.” Another soft press against your mouth. “You’re gorgeous.”

“Mm.”

“My pretty baby.”

God those tears burn a trail down your freshly washed face. Hotter than the steam that beat against your back, like they’ve been trapped in the tumultuous core of you all day. You didn’t want to have this breakdown but it seems it’s going to have you no matter what you wish. Ed’s voice soothes in your ear when he feels that first shudder rumble through you and he pulls you in closer.

“I’m sorry baby.”

Nothing but half formed sobs answer him while you finally let the pressure valve of the past however many weeks or months release.

“I know, I know.”

He gathers you up so you’re fully covered in the extra long towel, angling you towards the bedroom so he can sit you down on the edge of the bed. You cling to his shirt and to his arms and babble against his chest about ruining the night. You try to explain to him what the chaos in your head feels like when you slide into these moods. A blank slate for the world to see so you can have your whitecaps to yourself, the churning grey waters that try to pull you all the way down.

“Eddie I’m tired.” You hiccup when the tears finally slow. “I’m tired and I don’t know why.” You can hear the whine in your voice and it makes your skin crawl. “I don’t know if there’s enough sleep for this.”

He’s silent now when you want him to fill the void so desperately. You need him to talk about his job or his music or one of his hobbies, anything to keep you from thinking-

His slippers hit the ground with a smack that jolts you out of the dread spiral, his hands under your arms pulling you up the bed also pull you out of those crashing waves.

“I see you.” He says while he pulls the duvet up over the two of you.

“The bathroom light is still on.”

He shushes you. “I see you struggling all the time and I try so hard to let you do stuff on your own.”

“Eddie I need to do my face stuff-”

He cuts you off when he drops the bedding over your heads and yanks you in close. “And I think I’m pretty good at that.” He settles on his side of the bed and makes sure you’re anchored to him. “But you really need to understand something.”

“What.” Muffled into his chest and you can feel the short laugh rumble under your lips.

“I’m gonna help you when I can because I want to, not because I have to. I see you trying and I see you trying hard and you’re gonna have days like this.”

You huff to try and fight back against the new onslaught of tears.

“And I’m gonna hold out my hand and you’re gonna take the damn thing and let me feed you in the shower.”

“Ed, I can’t-“

“I know you can’t and that’s okay.” He hooks his leg over one of yours to tuck you even closer. “It’s okay.” His hands run over your back and calm you down so your tears only trickle instead of stream. “It’s okay.”

It’s dark under the covers, warm and a little damp only because of your hair and towel. He doesn’t mind so you don’t mind, especially when he tucks you up under his jaw like this.

“You mean it?” Still quiet when you ask. He means it like he always does but still you have to ask, have to make sure.

And he knows, of course he does. Another kiss to your hair and a whisper only for you.

“Of course I do.”

[praetoravila]

YOU MUST TELL THE WORLD ABOUT YOUR LOLIVE ELOPEMENT💒💒💒💒💒💒

GOD where do i begin. lol.

okay so like they are the married couple of the friend group. like basically as soon as they become friends, they become mom and dad. and the other guys joke that if it weren’t for them being the voices of reason, they would all be dead. which. true.

olive doesn’t think about herself getting married other than in fleeting moments. like yeah, she watches say yes to the dress w her sister, and her, jo and camille giggle over the royal wedding in 2012, but to olive, marriage isn’t that big of a deal.

at least not until she’s halfway through grad school at 25. and a lot of her grad school friends are getting engaged, getting married and she starts wondering if that’s something she wants. her and logan have been together for almost 9 years at this point. everyone keeps asking when they are planning on settling down. and she truthfully doesn’t have an answer. they live together. he’s in med school and she’s in grad school. is that not being settled?

and so they have a conversation about it. truthfully, it’s olive word vomiting at logan, and he picks out the words, marriage, engagement and disappointment and he’s like oh shit. bc he wants to marry her. he does. he’s always been a very traditional guy in that sense. but time has elapsed him, and he’s been so busy with his path to becoming a doctor that everything else has fallen to the wayside. and tells her as much and she’s like yeah no shit dummy.

and so they come up with an agreement. they’re going to elope at city hall in two weeks.

and then they do. it’s them and a neighbour in their apartment complex who just so happens to be there at the right time, and olive’s wearing a $60 nordstrom white dress, and logan’s in a white button down and slacks that he bought for a post btr job interview and within two hours, they are legally married. and they just go on with their lives after that.

but in the mess of it all there’s one problem. they uh. they forgot to tell wren.

and understandably she’s like what the fuck. bc not only did they get married, they got married and didn’t tell her. it’s sets off the most legendary fight between olive and her sister ever in the history of their dynamic. it’s rory and lorelai during rory’s dropping out of yale arc bad.

and logan of course feels guilty bc they should have invited wren. it’s her baby sister who got married. meanwhile olive’s like i am a grown woman now. i don’t need to tell you everything in my life. which okay fair girl but also you didn’t tell your sister you were getting married????

anyways. they make up, wren forgives them and they decide for their one year anniversary of being married that they want to get married again, but this time w a bigger more traditional wedding. joanna (logan’s mom) ends up being their primary wedding planner. wren sobs while dress shopping with olive. the btr boys are logan’s groomsmen. obviously. and to keep them from fighting over who’s his favourite, he makes katie his maid of honour.

happy ever after! oh and uh here’s the lolive wedding pinterest board

[daeyeol4you]

The Chay Rewatch Ep 9

Ep 1 & 2, Ep 3, Ep 4, Ep 5, Ep 6, Ep 7, Ep 8

Ep 9 - Kim is so whipped while somehow still being emotionally constipated

Time: 10:22 – 12:11 – songwriting boy

Kim’s Outfit: An olive-green jacket, a white shirt, and the return of the white pants

Why does no guitar in this show have a guitar strap?

Chay’s song breaks Kim’s writing block, Kim’s written tons of music before, but now Chay is becoming his muse, taking over the one outlet Kim allows himself

The emotional shutdown Kim forces himself through once he realizes how happy even the memory of Chay is making him. He can’t allow himself to be weak because any attachment to Chay is a weakness, but even that fails because immediately he’s back to smiling while he plays

Kim is so inspired to write even while he’s very clearing trying to cut Chay out of his brain, he’s trying to write his feelings out so he can go back to being cold, untouchable Kim

Korn really did screw up all of his sons emotionally – commitment issues to spare

Time: 29:46 – Macau Spotting

Macau scaring the absolute shit out of Pete, what a little shit

Macau’s Outfit: Another sweater vest with orange and blue stripes with tan pants and white shoes

Macau and Vegas definitely planned this, and Macau is so happy to be causing mischief

Wingman Macau you will always be famous

Macau going on and on about the sermon to tease Pete only to fall asleep immediately, what a mood

Time: 39:24 – 40:03 – the guitar pick!

Not me immediately trying to analyze all of the details of Chay’s room

There’s a bottle of milk on his desk – again I’m sorry I laughed this is a funny bit

The towers of CDs behind Chay speak to how Chay isn’t just into music because its fun, he’s put a lot of effort into appreciating music

The ukelele is cute

He has a jar of I think paper stars on his back shelf – I only mention this because there are a number of different meanings to lucky paper stars but the one I know best is that if you fold either 1,000 or 2,000 (depending on the tale) you can get a wish (you also can give the stars to someone you love) I also know some do it for luck – which Chay has interesting thoughts about luck as we know

Chay creating the guitar pick with his own two hands – my art kid Chay agenda is so real

Chay’s outfit: I’m 99% sure that Chay is wearing a Geto (from Jujutsu Kaisen) shirt. Chay anime fan confirmed

Geto is an antagonist from Jujutsu Kaisen, and I view him as a tragic figure who was once good but due to the evils of his job and the abuse he saw, turned evil. Later on, his body becomes a vessel for further evil

Chay’s friend is named Ohm! I so forgot about this bit I won’t lie

Chay really had been hoping it was Kim. He may have left the next step up to Kim, but he’s still so hopeful that Kim doesn’t leave him behind. He’s for sure getting impatient about it and is planning his next move on his target – sorry crush!

Chay ignoring Ohm draws up a lot of my ideas about how private Chay is about everything. He allows others to see just the surface of everything going on with him, but he tends to be very private about his thoughts and interests. Its not a lack of confidence. I just think he learned early on that sometimes speaking up about everything can be a burden (particularly in his relationship with Porsche) you have to work to get his more internal thoughts

And Chay chooses this! At any point he could put down the guitar pick and answer his friend’s invite, who probably knows something is up with Chay just not what. He’s very tunnel-visioned when he chooses a path, but he doesn’t feel the need to tell anyone else that

Chay doesn’t hide or lie about his emotions and thoughts usually. He just doesn’t always say them out loud. There’s a difference trust me

Time: 49:48 – 53:04 – Chay’s version of gift giving

Chay’s Outfit: a grey crewneck with white and blue paint splatters over a black shirt with the same pendant from the song scene

Kim’s outfit: a studded black leather jacket paired with a white shirt and blue jeans. His necklace this time is a blend of two different chain types (partly made of safety pins I think?) with his regular silver earrings and rings

Chay breaking into the rehearsal space – child I was just praising you for leaving the ball in Kim’s court, please stop waving red flags! You are such a concerning young man

Chay is so cute no wonder Kim is okay with the stalking, also who is this friend Chay keeps getting this info from (please just be stan twitter please that’d be so funny)

I love how this scene gets presented from behind the glass of the recording booth, the slow zoom-in on the two as the scene progresses

Kim’s calm responses to this are so dynamic when placed next to Chay’s which are full of excitement and nerves

Gosh the zoom-in when Chay presents the box – beautiful

“This is limited edition. You’ve got the only one piece in the world.” – how long do you think its been since Kim received a genuine, heartfelt gift like this?

Compare this gift to Kim and the guitar. Kim bought an incredibly expensive guitar for Chay, but it was to buy his way into the house. There was more manipulation than thought put into that gift

Whereas Chay made that pick himself adding even greater meaning to the gift. Chay isn’t trying to manipulate Kim, he’s genuinely just staying true to himself by confessing and giving Kim the pick as thanks. Chay’s always been upfront about his emotions and intentions with Kim which is very refreshing

of course Chay passed - he's very talented

“From now on I won’t have any excuse to see your face.” “Can I bother you one last time?” – that’s such a cute statement, plus it also goes to show that Chay gets that Kim is trying to cut him off and will accept it after he says his piece (Chay respects boundaries! I am ignoring his stalking for right now!)

I love Chay’s fidgeting here, very genuine and doesn’t feel forced

KIM’S FACE WHEN CHAY SAYS HE LIKES HIM! He knew but was not prepared for Chay to actually say it

Chay’s rambling about making an oath with himself – he is so good! He is so emotionally healthy & confident! (I am ignoring the red flags about his stalking right now!)

I know some people were disappointed about never getting a ‘real’ kiss, but I like this cheek kiss. Chay’s still young compared to Kim, and Kim holds a lot of power as his tutor as well as how many secrets he’s keeping from Chay. A kiss on the lips would have been marred by that and would have been uncomfortable when looked back on. This kiss works for them, it's sweet and it’s a foundation for the two of them to build on

During this scene, there’s this large empty space between Kim and Chay. Chay stays respectfully away until Kim breaks the divide and kisses him. It was always going to be up to Kim to choose what to do next

THE MUSIC!! THE HUGS!! – Kim is so not a hugger, but for Chay he lets it happen, twice! This is the same man we see bullying bodyguards and murdering people! The duality of man indeed

Shoutout to Tankhun for his open and honest defense of Porsche – truly a man who knows that open communication is necessary (unlike his brothers)

Overall Chay Rating (Chrating) – A

This ep definitely goes everywhere, but we get a good amount of KimChay development as well as a Macau appearance. I’m glad we got solo scenes from Kim & Chay before they saw each other as it laid the groundwork for the confession scene, very well plotted. Chay being so truthful to himself as well as Kim’s emotional breakthrough was very refreshing

[thestarsarecool]

@fujoshi-simone-weil tagged me in a "things to get to know me" game! Fun, thank you! You have the best url on tumblr. Also, someone else tagged me in this game, like, a month ago and I kept meaning to do it (it was on my to-do list and everything!) but I forgot and now it has disappeared from my notifications. Also, I don't 100% remember who it was. But still, I wholeheartedly apologize to that person for neglecting their tag. I don't love you any less. Anyway, on with the show!

Last song I listened to: Answer Me from The Band's Visit. You can take the theater kid out of the theater but you can't take the theater out of the kid. Or maybe you can. I don't know. I am taking a class on songwriting for musical theater right now so I am listening to more musical theater than I have in a while, though not as much as I did in like 2019.

Favorite color: Purple!

Currently watching: Nothing really? I'm not much of a TV or movie person. I just finished watching the Fionna and Cake TV show which was surprisingly good. My siblings and I watched all of Adventure Time together a while back (we like to rewatch cartoons together), so we all facetimed to watch the finale, which was really nice. I'd missed them :)

Last movie I watched: Hmm. I don't remember. Let's think...nope, still don't remember. Sorry film nerds of tumblr.com. I wish I was as cool as you.

Currently reading: Psychoanalysis: The Impossible Profession by Janet Malcolm! It's a really fascinating look into the underlying contradictions of psychoanalysis and also a great overview of the history, but it's all done through an actually engaging character study! I think it was originally a lengthy piece in The New Yorker, published around 1980. Also, I just started The Tale of Two Cities, which is very fun because the only Dickens I have ever read before is Oliver Twist!

Sweet/Spicy/Savory: I want to say savory, but the answer is actually sweet. I put wayyyyyy too much sugar in my tea for me to be picking anything but sweet.

Last thing I googled: The last thing I googled was "Ray Donovan Music" and I will explain why because, yes, I know that that doesn't make any sense. So, I am finishing up work on this song I am writing and whenever I get to that "almost done" stage, I post to r/Songwriting to get feedback because it's fun and occasionally helpful. And someone in the comments said that my song sounds like if "the little girl from Moneyball and Ray Donovan had a brainchild with Regina Spector [sic]." Which, like, ok. Let's unpack that. The comparison to Regina Spektor is very kind. I have gotten that a few times, though I think Reddit just doesn't know any other women who write songs on the piano. The little girl from Moneyball is such a funny comparison to me. Like, she's not a songwriter? She's just Brad Pitt's fictional child. But like, sure, I get what they mean. I sing kind of light and talky sometimes which makes it sound childlike, I guess, like a Moe Tucker sort of thing. But Ray Donovan??? I literally do not know what this commenter is talking about. All I can find for who Ray Donovan is the guy from the TV show. Like, does TV criminal Ray Donovan write songs or something? Is my song particularly evocative of the Ray Donovan soundtrack? Did this commenter mash together Ray Davies and Donovan's names? I asked him who he is talking about, but received no reply. Someone save me from this hell. Who is Ray Donovan and why did he birth my song?

Current Obsession: Still The Beatles, I guess, though it's not nearly as debilitating as it was a year ago. Which is quite nice, actually! I can actually be productive now.

Current Thing I'm Working On: Well, I've just about finished up the aforementioned song! All it needs is a title. Also, I'm writing a paper on The Epic of Gilgamesh, which is fun. The guy who wrote my translation is a professor at my uni so I may go to his office hours to ask him about it!

Ok, I tag @torchlitinthedesert, @idontwanttospoiltheparty, @veidelon, @theallenklein, and @mydaroga. I know this one already made the rounds though (I think) so no need to do it if you already did it. Or, really, no need to do it at all.

Cheers, everyone!

[wednesdaymunson]

Marked for Death

This is a request from @winchestergirl87-blog. I'm so sorry that I'm just now finishing this. Life happened, brain stopped working lol. I hope you like this. I tried to make it a one shot, but for some reason it's hard for me to do those lol.

Kas!Eddie x Fem!Slayer!Reader

Summary: Something strange is afoot in the town of Eerie, IN. Missing towns people, murders, and creepy creatures. Reader and BFF Oliver can't figure out what's going on. Things calm down and a hot rocker dude pulls into town, stopping by the family store.

Warnings: murder, alcohol, some fluff, death, abuse. I think that's about it. This is pretty tame so far.

A/n: This is set 37 years after what happened in Hawkins. One of Kas' powers is being able to read minds through touching hands, and he's able to walk in the sunlight because his guitar pick is enchanted. Traditional vampire rules, must be invited in, heightened senses. I also created a playlist to help me write this.

Everything around is so desolate. You ran to your grandma's house…you think. It looks like your grandma's house but everything is drab. There's a bunch of vine-like things sprawling everywhere and particles floating in the air. You cautiously walk around the house. The chime of a grandfather clock sounds and you quickly turn around to face a grotesque monster. You couldn't place him, he appeared to be a humanoid, but not something you've ever seen before. The clock chimes again so loud waking you up.

Your eyes snapped open, your chest visibly rising and falling. You quickly sat up, you could still hear the echo of the chime faintly in your ears. You frantically looked around your room making sure nothing was out of place. You fell back into your bed and pulled the covers over your head and let out a deep sigh.

"Y/N, it was just a dream..a weird one, but you're fine." You say out loud.

You peeked your head out from under the covers. There was a beam of sunlight breaking through the side of the curtain. By the looks of it and the sounds outside it had to be at least 11:30 am. You had been out late chasing leads on a possible demon. There had been a slew of murders in your town and from the information you got from the coroner, these weren't committed by a person. Part of you feels like they may be linked to the random disappearances of some of the locals.

You had come across something in a tree trunk that looked like a festering wound. You snapped a shot of it to send to your roommate. As you kept investigating you heard some twigs snap. You quickly turned around and saw some humanoid beast — it didn't resemble the one from your dream, but scary nonetheless.

"🎶 I am human and I need to be loved. Just like everyone else does🎶"

"Fuuuuck!" You breathed.

You forgot to turn your ringer off before you left the house. You quickly found yourself in the line of sight of the monster…. 'Can this thing even see me??' You thought. It made a few clicking sounds before unfurling its head to reveal a horrifying mouth, letting out a loud screech. You were already about faced running back towards your car. Once you reached it, you took a second to look back. It didn't seem like it followed you, but you quickly got in and left.

You finally dragged yourself out of bed and grabbed your robe. You slouched down the long hallway where pictures and paintings of family and ancestors donned the walls. You were from a long line of slayers. Your family, along with others, have been fighting monsters for centuries all across the world, making sure to keep balance. It wasn't a whole family affair, some retired, some died while on a case, and others simply wanted no part and distanced themselves. Slayer life could be lonely at times, but you were lucky enough to have your best friend along for the ride.

You and Oliver met freshman year of high school and bonded over all things horror. He was one of the smartest kids in school, but he never liked being there and didn't see the point in it. He eventually dropped out junior year. He was a jack of all trades, but to say he was a master of none would be a bold face lie. Anything he put his mind to, he could conquer. When he found out that you joined the family business and knew you needed help, he was in, no questions asked.

"Good morning, sunshine. I made coffee and got us bagels. I've been doing research on what could possibly be behind all this shit that's going on here in Eerie and I can't fucking figure it out. I may have to reach out to some of the surrounding covens and The Dead Rouges." Oliver explained without looking up from his laptop.

"Ollie.. How long have you been up?" Your brows furrowed.

"Y/N, bold of you to assume I actually slept. I tried, but I couldn't. I've been researching all night and doing some coding. I also finished a few theses, so the bills are paid for the month, and we have enough money for groceries and necessities." Oliver peered over his screen.

"Oh! Look at my hard-working man! Bringing home the bacon while he lets his beautiful girl pursue her dreams." You joked

"Y/N, you know I don't have an issue with paying for things. You're my best friend, and we're in this til the end, but you have to have a backup plan after you're done with this. You should really think about hiring one or two people to run the store while you're out there saving the world." Oliver sighed.

"Ollie, you and I both know I'm not making it to retirement. I'm pretty sure I'll join the 27 club." You let out a sad chuckle.

"You're not leaving me here by myself! You're going to be old and gray when you die!" He exclaimed.

"How can I be of service to you, Lord Vecna?" Kas asked grimly.

Years had passed since Eddie was left in the upside-down with one foot in the grave. There is where Vecna found him and made him a vampire, creating him a new identity, Kas the Bloody Handed. He grew into the name, but there was still a bit of Eddie left tucked away.He is now the lieutenant in Vecna's army.

"Hmm? Ah, yes. There is this girl…a slayer. She's been meddling into my plans. I've decided to pull back and recalculate, until she's out of the way. Kas, I need you to get rid of our little pest." Explained Vecna.

"Yeah? What are we talking about?"

"Be creative if you want. I just want her life force to cease."

"Understood."

Since the disappearances and killings stopped, there wasn't much to investigate locally, and it was pretty quiet in other regions. You took up what Oliver suggested and hired two people to help run the store, Lydia and Harvey. They were knowledgeable in several music genres, alternative fashion, and even some of the other types of products in the shop. Because you had a lot of down time, you started to let your guard down and had a routine going. Kas was tracking your every move.

It was a slow Saturday night like always, and you had 30 minutes to kill. You decided to take a smoke break out front. You stepped outside and felt the warm summer breeze blow against your face. You closed your eyes and took a deep breath in.

"Nice night, isn't it?" You heard a voice.

You quickly opened your eyes to see a guy who seemed to be stuck in the 80s, possibly early 90s. He had chocolate brown, wavy, shoulder-length hair.. He sported a gorgeous smile that revealed dimples. He was carrying a guitar case on his back. You also noticed his obsidian guitar pick pendant around his neck. If you had to guess, he was definitely a musician —one of your top three types that made your brain turn to mush with all logical thinking gone out the window.

"Oh, yeah! I love nights like this. I used to take this weather for granted until I worked a few summers down south." You smiled nervously.

He returned the smile. Even though he kept close tabs on you, he hadn't been close enough to really get a good look at you. He could tell you were conventionally attractive from afar, but now that he was up close, he was awestruck. He was almost at a loss for words, but he knew what he was here to do.

"I saw this place on my way into town. I figured I'd stop in to take a look after I got settled in. I'm Kas, by the way." He gave a toothy grin as he extended his hand.

"Y/N, nice to meet you." You took his ring clad hand to shake.

Kas was able to read your thoughts as soon as he took your hand in his. 'Ugh, this guy is so hot! Like, is he even real?! Girl, calm down!'

If Kas could blush, he would have. He didn't have great luck with girls when he was Eddie. Once he became a vampire, finding love was no longer important. He came to terms that he would roam the upside-down and all conquered worlds alone until the end of time. He didn't let your thoughts cloud his mind. He was here to kill you and nothing more.

You noticed his touch was like ice as you quickly pulled back.

"Sorry, sometimes my hands tend to get cold due to being anemic." He explained with a nervous smile.

"Oh, no worries. Would you like to come in and take a look around? I have plenty of music, band merch, and tons of miscellaneous items."

Kas smiled to himself, thinking this was going to be easy. He didn't have to ask to be invited in, and you believed the anemic excuse. You were practically serving yourself on a silver platter for him.

"Sooo you’re giving off a 80’s metal head vibe." Your eyebrow raised.

"Well, you got that right."He chuckled.

"Awesome! Not sure if you're a collector or not, but I have something you may like. I only bring this out for the right people, but no one has cared to take it off my hands. Stay right here!" You run to the back to rummage through a closet.

You came back and laid out a shirt on the counter for Kas.

"Vintage 1985 Metallica 'Ride The Lightning' tour shirt. Tour dates on the back."

Kas turned the shirt over and found the date for Indiana. A smile came to his face as the memories came flooding back.

"This.. this was a great show." He whispered.

"Oh? Kas, you don't look a day over 23. There's no way you're in your 50s. If so, I need your skin care routine." You joked.

Kas didn't realize he said that out loud. He had to think quickly.

"Oh! Haha, no. I meant it in a second-hand experience way. My uncle Wayne went to this show, and he would tell me every chance he got about how amazing it was." He explained, rubbing the back of his neck.

"How much do you want for it?" He asked.

"Hmm…just take it. The price I'm asking for, no one wants to pay, and it'll just keep on collecting dust. Maybe you can give it to your uncle." You smiled.

"Thanks! I..I would, but unfortunately, he passed a few years ago. I'm actually on my way to Hawkins to visit his grave and see a few friends. I thought I'd stop here for a few days to veg out beforehand."

"Oh…I just assumed.. I'm sorry for your loss. Hawkins? I've never heard of that town."

" S' okay, he went peacefully. Oh.. it's a real small town west of here. You blink and you'll miss it type of place." He explained.

"Ah, okay. Well, Kas, it's getting late and I need to close up. You're more than welcome to stop by tomorrow if you want to look around some more."

"Oh! I'm sorry for keeping you! I didn't realize it was getting late. Yeah, I'll definitely come back to look around." He winked.

"See ya, Y/N." Kas walked out the door, got in his van, and headed back to the motel."

He got distracted by the shirt and the kind gesture from you. He completely forgot what he came to do. He was really wanting to make this quick, but another day in Eerie wouldn't hurt.

When he got settled into bed, the memories of Hawkins came rushing back. He hated the town, but he missed Wayne, his friends, and Corroded Coffin. Unfortunately, Wayne did actually pass away, heart attack on the job. Everyone he knew moved away and went into hiding, and every so often, Kas would visit them unbeknownst to them. He wanted to make sure they were okay. They were all doing fine, living lowkey lives. Hawkins didn't exist anymore, just a shell of its former self.

Then you ran across his mind. When he closed his eyes, a vivid picture of your face popped up. He could still hear your voice. Out of all your features, he was fixated on your lips. The thought of kissing them quickly ran across his mind. He let out a hiss as his fangs protruded.

'Kas! You're here on business! Pull yourself together! She's nothing to you, just another body to add.'

'Body.. her body. I wonder…'

Kas grabbed a book from his bag to help get his mind off you. It helped, several pages in, his lids got heavy, and he fell asleep. Of course, you were the first thing on his mind when he woke up.

When you got home Oliver was in the living room finishing up a movie. He had asked you how your day was and you went into full detail about your run in with Kas.

"Ollie, he's soooo gorgeous! There's just something about him that I can't quite put my finger on, but I don't get a bad vibe at all!" You squealed with excitement.

"So he's originally from a town called Hawkins that neither of us have ever heard of? Where does he live now?" Oliver asked.

"Umm, I didn't ask?" You grimaced.

"Well, be careful, Y/N." he sighed.

"I'm always careful, Ollie." You smirked.

It was noon the next day. The store was a madhouse. You forgot that the store was holding its annual sale. Really good deals and discounts and some customers would even barter with rare items you were looking for. You had to call Oliver to help out where he could.

You found yourself leaning over the glass counter as your anxiety started to kick in. The door chimed for the millionth time that day. You heard his voice. It was calm and centering. You looked up to meet his gaze.

"Hey, Y/N, it's really crazy in here. You alright?" Kas asked.

"Oh, hey! Umm yes…no. I forgot today was our big sale, but this has been the busiest it's ever been…a bit overwhelming for me right now." You explained with worry in your voice.

"Hmm, have you had lunch? Do you need a break? I can kidnap you if you want? Just say the word." Kas lowered his voice as he leaned in close to you.

"Who's your new friend?" Oliver asked, emerging from the sea of customers.

"Ollie, this is Kas. Kas, this is my roommate and best friend Oliver."

"Nice to meet you, Kas." Oliver gave a slight smile.

"Hey Ollie, I'm going to take lunch. You got this, yeah? "

"Yeah, sure thing, Y/N. Oliver sighed.

You grabbed Kas’ arm and practically dragged him out the door.

“Where to now? What are you hungry for, sweetheart?” Kas inquired.

“Sweetheart,huh?” You giggled.

“Sorry, just a slip of the tongue. I hope I didn’t offend you.”

“Not at all.” You gave a toothy smile with warm cheeks.

“There’s a Burger Barn down the road. They have the best chili cheese fries and cherry limeade."

"Then Burger Barn it is! Hop in sweetheart. You can be the navigator." Kas winked.

"Dude, I get you aren't hungry, but I can't believe you ate at the motel's café and lived!"

"Haha, it was edible. I'll be okay." Kas chuckled.

Truth was, he was starting to get hungry. He hadn't fed since the night before last. He was starting to regret not killing you last night. He would be back in the upside-down and full as a tick. He started to wonder what you would taste like.

"Earth to Kas! Hey, buddy, snap outta it!" You clapped your hands in front of his face.

"Sorry.” He shook his head.

“You good, Kas?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. You ready to get back to work?”

“Nope, but alas I have to go back. The store needs me." You pouted.

"Thank you, Kas. I really appreciate your kind gesture in the store."

"Anytime, sweetheart."

"Hey, Kas… I know you're not here for long, and we barely know each other, but…would you like to come over later and…maybe.. watch a movie or listen to some music?" You looked down, pulling at the loose hem on your shirt.

Kas tilted your chin up with his forefinger and thumb to meet your eyes.

"I would actually like that. I'll tell you my whole life story and you can tell me yours. I'm sure you have some interesting things to tell me. " He grinned.

'She's so fucking gorgeous…. If only this was a different time..' Kas thought to himself.

"C'mon doll, let's get you back."

You gave Kas your address and number when he dropped you off. The crowd of customers had dwindled to a few people. You helped recover the store while Oliver was headed out to meet some friends. At 7, you left Harvey and Lydia to close. You thanked them and told them you'd see them tomorrow.

It was 8:30 when you heard a knock at the door. You practically ran to open it to greet Kas. You welcomed him in, gave him a small house tour.

"Would you like a beer or something else to drink?" You offered.

"A beer is fine." Kas nodded.

You grabbed a few beers and headed to the living room, both choosing a seat at opposite ends of the couch. Kas had asked you to introduce him to some new music so you put on a Spotify playlist for him. You shared a few random facts with every song. He listened to and watched you intently, noticing how your face came to life and your eyes lit up.

"You're really into music, like into it, into it. You should pursue whatever you just did professionally." Kas smiled.

"Well, I wanted to create and write my own music magazine when I was in high school. I wrote about some of the local high school bands I knew and even did interviews with some. Unfortunately, the family business called, so here we are." You sighed.

"So the store is a family thing, yeah?"

"Hhmm? Oh! Yes, the store has been in my family for generations. It started as a general store, but my parents turned it into a music store in the 80s and then added the rest throughout the years." You explained nervously.

Kas could hear your heartbeat palpitating. He would have known that you were lying regardless if he already knew or not that you were a slayer.

"Well, I'm sure you could still do that. You still have time. You have a whole life ahead of you."

The words escaped his mouth before his brain had time to process what he said. He felt a bit of guilt after he realized. This was a new feeling for him as Kas as he didn't know what to think of it.

As the night went on, you found yourself sharing one of the saddest times in your life where you lost your grandma and your mother close together. Your grandmother was in her mid-90s, but she was just as vibrant as ever when she passed. Your mom was diagnosed with lung cancer. The doctors didn't give her much time to live. She stuck around for 7 years after the diagnosis, she said she didn't want to come back for unfinished business. They passed within 3 months of each other, and it was just a dark time for you. Luckily, you had Oliver to help you.

Kas shared Eddie's story of how he ended up living with Wayne. His father was a career criminal. He could never understand what his mom saw in his dad. He remembers the day that his father beat his mom into a coma in a drunken rage. His mother was trying to protect him from his father's abusive words that would sometimes become physical. He recalled times his father handed out corporal punishments for the most miniscule issues. His mother never woke from her coma, and by that point, Wayne was already in the process of becoming Eddie's guardian.

"Sorry, didn't mean to trauma dump on you and bring this night down." He apologized.

"You didn't bring anything down. Everyone needs someone to talk to. I just happen to be a great listener." You smiled.

"Thank you, Y/N. That means a lot to me."

There was silence. You both somehow migrated to the middle of the couch throughout the night. Your fingers found each other, yours gliding over his. Your thoughts were coming in like someone was changing stations on a radio. Kas' eyes met yours, and in that moment, he felt a calmness wash over him, and all he wanted to do was kiss you.

He brushed your heated cheek with his finger — his cold touch sent a shiver down your spine, making your body shudder. As Kas went to pull back his hand, you grabbed him by the wrist and placed his hand on your cheek.

"I like when you touch me. Please don't stop." You begged.

Kas swallowed hard.

"O..okay.."

For the first time in years, he was unsure of himself. He needed to kill you, but his need to taste you was greater. He leaned closer to your face — he was also solving math problems in his head in order for him to stay under control. Your lips crashed into each other, parted, inviting the other in. Kas pressed his body into yours while caressing the back of your neck, the other running up and down your thigh. Your whole body was buzzing with excitement.

Kas moved from your mouth to your neck. He gently kissed down the side, and you let out a breathy moan. Kas' eyes shot open, pupils dilated as soon as his fangs protruded. He quickly picked up where he left off in his head. When his fangs retracted right after, he sat back up and dared not to look you in the eyes.

"Kas, are you okay?"

"Y/N, thank you for inviting me over. I had a great time, but I need to leave."

He quickly got up from the couch and practically ran out the door to his van, not giving you a chance to call for him. You got up as soon as you could and ran to the door just to see the image of his tail lights getting smaller as he drove down the road.

When Kas got back to his room, he took a look in the mirror. Where deep chocolate brown eyes once were, pools of black and shimmering crimson took their place. He cursed at his reflection and then sent his fist into the mirror, sending a few shards onto the floor. He didn't want to feel this way. He should have ended you the first night at the shop. You didn't even notice he was there until he spoke, it would have been quick and easy. Kas quickly grabbed his belongings and left to Hawkins to put some miles in between you and him. Once he got there, he entered a gate to the upside-down and gathered himself. The next time he saw you, it would be your last day alive.

"Y/N! Wake up!" Oliver yelled, shaking you out of your sleep.

"What the fuck, Ollie? The house better be on fire." You mumbled.

You got up and met Oliver in the study. He paced back and forth. There was a folder on the desk.

"Open it."

"You woke me up for a folder?? This couldn't have waited until the morning, Oliver?"

"Y/N, I really need you to open this. I wouldn't wake you up for nothing."

"Alright, Ollie. You owe me breakfast if this is something that could have waited."

You opened the folder to find a missing person flyer from 1986. The person looked exactly like Kas, but the name read Edward Munson.

"Ollie,...wha.. what is this?"

"Y/N. I'm not sure. After you told me about Kas and Hawkins, I asked The Dead Rouges to see what they could find when I couldn't find much in the Black Hellfire archives. This is what they gave me. Something weird happened in March of 1986 in that town. There's names of friends listed there. Hawkins is a ghost town. It's not even listed on current maps anymore." He explained.

"This has to be like a family member, like his uncle Wayne."

"Look at the bottom, Y/N."

'Please contact Wayne Munson,' you read.

"This is definitely him, Y/N. I'm not sure how, but it is. Dead Rouges are still trying to get information on what happened in Hawkins and trying to locate his friends. Unfortunately, Wayne Munson passed away in 1995, so we can't ask him anything."

"This doesn't make sense."

"In our line of work, does anything really ever make sense?" Oliver chuckled nervously.

Your phone rang. You were hoping it was Kas, but when you picked up, it was a lieutenant that was at your store. A puzzled look came across your face, then panic set in. You hung up quickly and grabbed your keys.

"Ollie, I need you to drive to the store. Something bad happened." You tossed him the keys.

Oliver nodded and quickly did as he was told.

When you arrived at the store, there were flashing lights and cops everywhere. They had marked off the entrance of the store along with the sidewalk and a few parking spaces. You were greeted by Lieutenant Riley as you made your way to the crime tape.

"Ms. Y/L/N, I'm sorry to meet you under these conditions. There's no other way to put this, but there are two deceased people in the store. There's a lot of blood throughout it. This may have been a robbery that took a turn for the worst."

"Umm, are.. are they my employees? They should have closed up hours ago." You were fighting the lump in your throat and choking back tears.

"They're actually bringing them out now. Please come with me to identify the bodies, and we'll notify the next of kin." Lt. Riley motioned to the sidewalk.

The medical examiner was waiting for you while you were escorted to the sidewalk.

"Are you ready?" Asked Lt. Riley.

You sighed and nodded. They unzipped the body bags to reveal Lydia and Harvey. You weren't unfamiliar with death, but seeing their faces left you gasping for air. When you finally caught it, you let out a soul crushing wail. You hadn't known them for long, but you knew they were good people who had loved ones, they had a life outside this store. You mindlessly walked and pushed past the crime scene tape into the middle of the parking lot where you sat down and sobbed. This left Oliver to identify the bodies.

Oliver noticed that their throats were ripped to shreds. He didn't buy the robbery that went awry. The police will probably keep this under wraps like they always do. Luckily, you had a connection on the inside.

Oliver helped you up and got you to the car. It wasn't a long ride home, but it felt like years to get there. You and Oliver had a glass of bourbon to take the edge off.

"Y/N, I'm sorry. Are you going to be okay?"

"Honestly…no. They didn't deserve that. Did you notice? "

Oliver nodded.

"That was definitely a vampire attack, like one that hasn't fed for a while. I need to reach out to some other slayers and see if they're experiencing any activity."

"Already ahead of you. I also sent out the info we know to Dead Rouges, all the covens in a 100-mile radius. I even reached out to your dad."

"Ollie, we have a better chance catching bigfoot than hearing from that man."

"Yeah, well, we need to use all of our resources. Let's get to bed and start on this with a fresh mind tomorrow."

You give Oliver a nod in agreement.

"Hey, Ollie…can I sleep with you?"

"Of course." He gave a sad smile.

"C'mon, I'll let you have the right side."

That night sleep came to you quickly, but it wasn't restful. You tossed and turned while you dreamt of saving Lydia and Harvey. You couldn't see who attacked them, but you failed every way imaginable trying to save them. Once you accepted failure, you woke up in a cold sweat.

"What did you see?" A groggy Oliver asked.

You could tell you didn't let him get any sleep.

"I'm sorry, Ollie."

You paused for a moment.

"I couldn't save them, I tried every which way. I couldn't see who attacked them. I failed them." Your voice trembled.

Oliver pulled you closer to him.

"Shhh..let's not do that. You're a slayer…The Slayer. You fight now and mourn after. We have help, and I have someone reviewing all the recordings from the store surveillance."

"What would I do without you?" You sniffled.

"Oh, make very poor decisions, love. Now let's get some sort of rest. We have to be at our best for Lydia and Harvey. I feel like there's a whole can of worms we're about to open."

As soon as you closed your eyes, you drifted back to sleep. It was the most peaceful sleep you had in ages.

When you awoke, all the events of yesterday replayed in your head. You wanted to kick, scream, and cry. You forced yourself out of bed and did your morning routine before meeting Oliver in the kitchen.

Once you got to the kitchen, a strange, large man rose from the kitchen table. Oliver turned around and gave you a smile to assure you everything was okay.

"Y/N, this is Kane. I had him review the surveillance. He has some news for us."

"Good morn.." You glanced at the clock '1:30 pm'.

"Erm good afternoon, Kane. So tell us what you found please."

"I think it's best to show you." Kane suggested.

He opened his laptop and played the recording for you and Oliver.

"At first, I couldn't figure it out. The video just shows them acknowledging the door being opened, and then you see them both being attacked." Kane explained.

They looked like they were fighting the invisible man, being pulled around the store, blood splattering everywhere.

"I eventually saw a blur at the halfway mark. I ended up slowing this down. So let me click here right before with the slowed version."

As the frames played one by one, you finally saw who was behind this. You were shocked when Kas showed up on screen. You didn't want to believe it, but then everything else made sense. How could you have been so blind to not know?

"I'm sorry, Y/N." Oliver whispered as he hugged you.

"Friend?" Kane asked.

"Not anymore." You stormed off to your room.

Oliver took over operations while you stewed in your room.

You went from crying to raging and screaming to sitting in silence. This went on until you finally passed out, but before you did, you heard three loud chimes.

You found yourself in complete darkness.

'Hmm, looks like The Bloody Handed didn't complete his mission.' Vecna's disembodied voice rang in the darkness.

'Who are you?! What the fuck is going on?! Who the fuck is The Bloody Handed?!' You demanded.

Suddenly, Vecna appeared.

You recognized him immediately.

'You! You were in my dream!'

As soon as you take your fighting stance, you see the vine-like things from your dream emerge from Vecna. They quickly grab you around your wrist and ankle, suspending you in the air.

'What the fuck?! Put me down you fucking monstrous tumor!' You yelled, struggling to get loose.

Another one of those things covered your mouth.

'My, such a filthy mouth for such a beautiful girl. I didn't think your beauty would have been a distraction for my lieutenant…Kas The Bloody Handed. Obviously, he spent some time with you as well, or we wouldn't be here right now. Your town would have been taken over by the upside-down.'

Your eyes widen. You tried to fight harder to break free. Another one of Vecna's tentacles wrapped around your neck, slowly squeezing.

'As much as I want to kill you myself and have Kas witness what he couldn't finish, I cannot relieve him of his duty. Though I sense he no longer wants to be tasked with this, I'll have to remind him of who he is. And when that time comes, he will spill your blood, and I will experience great pleasure at that sight. '

'Sweet dreams, Slayer.'

Vecna released you, and your body dropped. As soon as you hit the floor, you woke up gasping for air in Oliver's arms.

"Y/N, what the hell happened? After Kane left, I heard you talking to someone, so I came in and saw you floating in the air like you were in a trance. What are these marks in your body? You okay??" Asked Oliver with brows knitted.

You quickly get up and examine yourself in the mirror. There are marks where Vecna held you and around your neck.

"This isn't just a can of worms, Ollie. I think we may have gotten ourselves into some serious shit." You turned towards Oliver.

"I'm with you to the end, Y/N."

Divider- @silkholland

[back-and-totheleft]

Stone's indictment of the majors focuses on two types of crimes, which, to use his terms, might be divided into Thievery and Thuggery, although there seems to be some overlap. In the Thievery category is the formula the studios use to apportion the vast new millions that come from the videocassette market. The dastardly formula which perpetrates the thievery, Stone says, is called the "videocassette override."

"Major, major thievery," he says. "It's $12 million on [my film] Wall Street."

Twelve million dollars is a large sum to have been lost to "theft," even by Hollywood standards. I ask him how he calculated that.

"The majors declare that only 20 percent of a film's videocassette revenues are allocated back to the film's gross."

"I thought gross was gross," I say, relieved to have seen Speed-the-Plow.

Gross isn't gross when it comes to tape revenues because of the override formula, he says. "They keep 80 percent," which means that profit participants on the creative end—like the director and screenwriter, who start collecting only if the gross is massive—can end up shut out of the tape-revenue windfall. "They say they're treating videocassettes as a separate entity. It's been going on for years, but it's a complete misunderstanding of the way that videocassettes were originally supposed to be distributed. Wall Street's video revenues were more than $16 million in sales. They will allocate around $4 million. Ripping off $12 million." (Nick Counter, president of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, calls this account "confused." He says that "the formula is an industrywide negotiated figure which is the minimum and can be negotiated higher. The economics of the marketplace—marketing costs and the like— have justified the formula.")

Stone calls the other category of crime committed by the cocksucker vampires at the major studios Thuggery: using monopolistic muscle to strangle the once promising growth of nonmajor independents and boutique studios such as Hemdale (which brought out Salvador and Platoon when no one else would). "It's an incredible struggle that's going on," he says. "It's very subtle. Critics don't pick up on it. In 1985-86, the independent films started to break through. The Salvadors, the Room with a Views, the Platoons."

He contends the majors reacted to this by increasing the quantity of the films they release, which resulted in the independents' being squeezed out, because they're locked out of distribution to movie theaters. "Hemdale, Cannon, Dino [De Laurentiis], all of them have been hurting. They're hurting because they can't get the theater time." (In fact, a recent Variety story confirmed a "screen crunch'' for indies, although collusion is another question.)

-Oliver Stone to Vanity Fair, January 1989 [x]

Commenting on the ongoing 11-week WGA strike, Stone suggested the roots of the current industrial action lie in the deal brokered to end the five-month writers strike in 1988. “There was a basic miscarriage of justice way back when, when Brian Walton was the head of the WGA, when we gave in. I wasn’t on the front line, but I supported that strike,” said Stone. “We gave in to the producers. They got away with murder on one of these deals where all that DVD money was deferred. They claimed they were in the hole, in the red, and that they had to get their money back from DVD. “I forgot what the percentage was, but they took something like the first 75% off the top. The DVD business was huge, especially for my films. So, the gross was never divided fairly.” Stone said this trend had continued with residuals and profits. “Not so much residuals, as profits really. Residuals are important for some of the writers who don’t make as much money. But people who do make money, they don’t touch the profits from the film, the studio does,” he said. “The studio is always telling you that they’re losing money, but they always find a way to make a new level of profit for 10, 15 years. … It’s that perpetual industrial problem with a capitalist group that pays its executives more and more money and screws the average writer.”

-Oliver Stone to Deadline, Jul 14 2023

[keets-writing-corner]

alright kids buckle down and sit up, it's storytime with Keet

I was leaving work, and I promised my mom I'd pick something up from her friend's house that she forgot there because it was on my way. This is where my adventure today begins

I put the friend's address in my GPS and looked at my options. I have highways disabled (too stressful imo for like 2-3 minutes difference, it's only worth it if it's at least 10 minutes faster) so it's not the default trajectory, but it always lets me know if there's a faster option with them

to my surprise, my options were 27 minutes on highway OR 23 minutes off highway

WIN WIN

I've been out of my house for over 12 hours, I wanna go home ASAP

I select the off highway and off I go. Eventually, the GPS tells me to turn on Extremely Beautiful RoadTM (totally "real" name). I'm like "HELL YES I LOVE EXTREMELY BEAUTIFUL ROADtm! LETS GO GPS!!"

I turn onto Extremely Beautiful Road.

It is beautiful

I am surrounded by nature and trees, there's wildlife hanging out, the sun is setting so the light is hitting the foliage just right, my spotify is spitting out banger after banger, I am having a great time!

GPS: turn left when you reach the stop sign

I thought it was weird it didn't give me a street name, but it does that sometimes so I didn't think anything of it. I really should've thought something of it

I just kept going

I found the stop sign. I turned left. I saw more nature. I was happy. I'm supposed to only go down this road for miles, no turns. 10/10. A road sign appears 2 minutes in:

"PAVEMENT ENDS"

my immediate thoughts were "Wait what do you mean pAvEmEnT eNdS??? What does that mean???"

logically, I understood what the words meant. but as far as I could tell, there was pavement on the road, so clearly there was trickery at play

a minute after seeing the sign and pondering what the hell it means, suddenly it feels like my car hits something and we have begun vibrating and shaking because

lo and behold

THERE'S NO PAVEMENT IT'S JUST DIRT WITH GROOVES

Now it's here that I say "oh" but because of the suddenly bumpy ride, it came out more as "oHhHhHh"

sadly, not in sync AT ALL with the music

by now the sun was going down, not quite dark yet but ya know, twilight-y, and here I was on a nameless road, with no pavement, in the middle of nowhere, hoping to the moon and back that my GPS would get me where I needed to go safely. Oh, also it was informing me that I'd be arriving in 7 minutes to my destination

IM SORRY WHAT WHAT DO YOU MEAN I'LL BE THERE IN SEVEN MINUTES I CANT SEE A SINGLE HUMAN STRUCTURE AROUND ME OTHER THAN THE CAR I AM IN

the speed limit was 35 i was going 15 it was very bumpy my GPS did not change the ETA so I guess it knew that I would suddenly start driving 20 slower than I was supposed to

So here I was, in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by nature, it's getting dark AND THERE'S NO FUCKING PAVEMENT

my GPS says I'm 3 minutes away

WHAT DO YOU MEAN IM THREE MINUTES AWAY????

I drive up a hill, and then at the top suddenly, a full suburban neighborhood, there's a groccery store down the street. I go down the hill, SUDDENLY THE PAVEMENT IS BACK

I turn left twice and all of a sudden I'm there. Exactly when the GPS said I'd arrive

WHAT

anyways now I'm home, forgotten olive oil, salt and bowls in a tote bag that for sure didn't belong to my mom before, but nobody else wants it so it sure does now

10/10 would do again

[duck-ducks]

growing gardens

chapter 7: Dragons and Princesses

Gladiolus couldn't remember what she forgot. It bothered her all morning. Through her shower and making coffee she knew she had forgotten something. 

Was it something important or maybe she just left something in her car. 

The car that she no longer had.

Because it was destroyed.

Gladiolus had somehow forgotten that her car was gone. In the grand scheme of things her car wasn’t exactly her biggest worry for the last few days but still. She was used to driving herself whenever and wherever she wanted fully at her own discretion. 

Now she had to wait on her porch with her travel mug for a ride from a sentient robot who could turn into a car. Because her car had been destroyed by other sentient robot cars.

Contemplating her situation really rationalized it in her mind that it was ok that her memory wasn’t the greatest.

And yet she was sure the thing she forgot wasn’t the semi grand end of her car. It had to be something else.

Kup pulled up slowly in front of her house. It was strange that such a dingy looking pickup truck was actually a sentient robot. He really looked like a normal truck, he was the same color as the truck her father had before Oliver was born. She couldn’t have imagined her father driving any other kind of car before it broke down and he bought a minivan. He used to drive Oliver to ultimate frisbee practice in that minivan.

Kup honked his horn. Even his horn sounded like an impatient old man telling her that it was time to go. 

She chugged the rest of her coffee, grimacing when she got to the unstirred sugar sludge at the bottom of the mug. She placed the mug in the sink, grabbed her purse and travel cup, and promptly slammed her shin into the doorframe of her front door. As she crumpled to the ground she couldn’t hear the strangled cough laugh that Kup uttered but she could see his frame shake slightly and made the educated guess that he was laughing at her pain. 

She lowered her head before raising her fist in what she hoped was a universal sign of damn you. She wasn’t one to bruise easily, this was going to smart for a while for sure. With her dramatics done she picked herself off the ground and pathetically hobbled to Kup’s front seat where he laughed at her plight and informed her that at their age that must have counted as quite the blow. She found it difficult to be offended at yet another jab at her age (she again was not old and to be referred to as such was frankly as the kids say “stupid”) when his seriousness made her entire contemplation of her situation all the funnier in a morbid “my life as I know it is ending” kind of way. 

It was scary entering a new way of life and the abruptness in what she had been doing for the past couple years was straining. 

The drive was slower. It seemed they hit every red light through town, and they honestly might have, lots of stop and go as everyone was on the street that morning. Whether it was the nice weather or that Saturday plans had been made in abundance, it was busy out. Despite that the drive overall was not all that long and uneventful. 

The entrance to the autobot base was coming into view. It would have been a normal looking tunnel entrance if it had a paved road. The dirt leading to it was packed down and had many many tire tracks. 

The outside of the base was as natural as can be, tall trees and shrubbery obscuring the outside parts and grass had been put on top of the tunnel and covered in grass and a garden that Sparkplug had shown her. It was mostly fruits, vegetables, and some flowers along the edges and apparently was ferociously beloved by some bots she hadn’t met yet called the dinobots. Why some robot dinosaurs liked a garden, that they couldn’t even step into, so much was a mystery to everyone human and cybertronian alike. 

The inside of the base was a startlingly different experience with a sterile tone to it. Metal upon metal made Gladiolus long for the pretty little garden in the sun up top.

Today was going to be a complicated metal covered day. She had made her plans that morning, she was going to discuss what was to be done with the young mech in the brig. Surely he couldn’t just be left there and Optimus’s soldiers seem to not understand the meaning of taking things professionally if what she had seen with Sideswipe and Sunstreaker had told her anything. It was appalling that they felt comfortable mocking an already imprisoned kid, with little to no remorse for what they had been doing. 

She hadn’t been around long but Deadend hadn’t been alive long and he clearly had terrible role models if what she had seen and heard about Megatron and the rest of the decepticons was anything to go by. Sticking baby in the corner wasn’t the way to go, she was sure of that. 

Optimus was waiting in the main area of the base with Jazz ominously smiling behind him.

Kup was evidently not happy to see Jazz this morning. After stretching into his bipedal mode, he rolled his shoulders, promptly crossed his arms, and hunched over slightly into a proper grouchy old man stance. Jazz made no indication that he was affected by the sheer grandfatherness of Kup. 

Clapping his hands together, very let's-get-this-startedesque, Jazz did a little skip and hop to the middle of the room. “Kup, my friend, can I please borrow your human for a little bit?” 

Optimus looked like he wanted to interrupt. 

Kup beat him to it with a firm. “No.”

“I promise to return her momentarily.” 

“No.”

“Gladiolus, my friend. Can I please borrow you for a little bit?” She didn’t like that he asked her second. Her opinion should have been first and foremost. “It’ll only take a minute and then I’ll send a request for you to go to the brig so you can terrorize the mechs on guard duty.” It's tempting. Very tempting.

Tempting enough. “Fine.” She looks back at Kup to tell him she’ll be back only to find Optimus distracting him with the intrigue of an old story that may or may not be true. She let it be and left to the corner with Jazz, not too far from the others but low tones would be unheard.

Jazz had made it his job to be a human/cybertronian unity organizer. Bringing groups together was what he did before and leading up to the war. How many mechs would have turned the cons or neutrals if it hadn’t been for Jazz? A lot, that's how many. He didn’t keep track but the number was probably in the hundreds and it was all thanks to the power of information. Humanity wasn’t all that different from their mechanical space fairing visitors, a little targeted interest mentioning went a long way for both species.

“I’ve noticed that you and Sparky get along pretty well. Have you spent any time with anyone else? Maybe June or Judy” It was casual in demeanor.

Gladiolus was under the assumption that Jazz would be talking to her about her behavior in the brig, not inquiring how well she got along with some of the other humans. “I haven’t really met many of the others yet, Sparkplug did say he would introduce me once I've had some time to get more adjusted to,” she gestured to the general air around her. “Everything.”

“Great! Sparky’s good at getting everyone together to meet new members, lot of different schedules to work around, which is why they have a meeting every Saturday that recaps important missions, events, and happenings to keep everyone in the loop. They run biweekly and if you miss a meeting the recap is kept in a file on teletraan, Kup will be able to get it for you. Aaaannnnd-” he splayed out his hands with the stretched hands in grand finale gesture. 

“Most of the others bring their kids, If they have them. Now I know I might come off as nosy but I like to think of myself as a collector of information through unconventional ways. I know you have a son a little older than Raf- “ What?

 “-Raf’s the computer wiz kid who you’ll see around Bumblebee a lot, and I assume that you’re getting pretty comfy with us and might be considering bringing Oliver around soon. I know I’d like to meet him” 

Gladiolus didn’t want to talk about this, to explain what was so terribly wrong with this, why she would never be able to bring Oliver, why she would never be able to bring Oliver anywhere again. 

She opened her mouth. “My-” she cut herself off. Why couldn’t he have been properly nosy and have already found out that her son was gone.

She tried to speak, thinking of what to say. It had been a long time since anyone had not known or spoke like he was still here. Still in the chair on the porch, or trying to beat her score on wii golf, or reading that comic series with his friends. Eli, Sam, and Oliver used to trade off which one of them would get the next issue each month, doing chores and work for the neighbors for the money. They had come to the funeral and brought a box full of the comics, they had sat by his casket and read the dialogue outloud and described what was happening. Halfway through the service Gladiolus’s aunt Kathy had suggested asking them to leave and had been yelled at by her father in the hallway. 

Jazz’s smile waned. “You alright, was that suggestion too forward for-” 

The lights turned red. A siren started before a voice on the intercom. “Infiltration in the lower level in progress. Assumed prison break in nature. Assistance required.”

“Agh, Red you robotic-sorry Glad but duty calls.” Jazz transformed and sped out quick and efficiently. Just like that the conversation was over. Her thoughts brought back to the present the room had become lively as bots and humans ran from left and right all seeming to know exactly where they were headed. 

Kup called for her as she turned back towards him and placed his hands down for her to climb up. “As much as I loathe an attack at least it keeps our snooping rascal busy.” he brought her close to his chassis and started jogging down an empty hall away from where the others were going. “Now everyone else is going to know what to do during an attack, this is probably a retrieval for Deadend. 

In the case that this is a full frontal invasion you should keep out of sight and bring no attention to yourself, someone tells you to do something you do it immediately and without hesitation we are trying to keep everyone alive and any decision you make could mean life or death for you or others. I’m going to hide you in the vent and move away to bring any possible enemy attention to myself, if an enemy comes close enough that you think they may see you move away quickly and quietly. Keep going until you are completely out of sight, I will find you later.” he unlatched the vent in the middle of the hall.

If the easy to open latch was any indicator they must have stuck more than one human in here before. Kup deposited her and closed her in, moving out of sight without another word. She could hear the cocking of a gun from the direction Kup had gone.

Gladiolus moved away from the entrance. A little farther in the floor went from having some kind of rubbery coating to pure metal making her steps suddenly much louder, startling her. The vent split off into two tunnels one led to another vent opening shining some light into it the other was pitched black.

Kup told her to stay put unless someone else shows up. 

That's fine, this is fine. 

In the vents.

The empty vents.

The completely empty vents.

A whispered voice proved otherwise. “Hello little mouse.” Slinking out of the shadows of the darker tunnel Buzzsaw tilted her head back and forth with each step forward while snapping her beak. Sparkplug had mentioned Soundwave in passing, telling her a little about each of the cassette bots he had. Buzzsaw was a spy and a femme bot. At first Gladiolus had thought he meant a female robot but upon further description it was explained to her that a femme was a faster frame originally made for delivery, espionage, or diplomatics with other planet type jobs. The sleeker frame was for speed and quick escape should the need be and the higher voice because the sleeker frame compressed the voice box (which was located in the chest) slightly. The mechanic was apparently considered to be a minor medical officer by cybertronian standards

“Oh shit.” She reminded Gladiolus of the raptors from Jurassic park. Stalking closer to its prey while it was trapped, its clawed feet tapping closer. 

“The autobots are getting so sloppy with their security. I can’t believe they didn’t know I was here, but you had a little something to do with that didn’t you?” Buzzsaw drawled. “Now I have to thank you for that if you had squealed it would have made this much harder.” She jerked her head towards the entrance of the vent as a shot went off.

Gladiolus had to brace herself on the wall, the blast was close enough to shake the floor. Kup was yelling. Buzzsaw had days to funnel information to her master and Gladiolus had known she was there, could have stopped her at any point by telling literally anyone she had interacted while here. 

She felt like an idiot. What was wrong with her? She had been so off kilter and not just because of the robots.

Buzzsaw rolled the tops of her wings like one would their shoulders. “Now that my thanks has been offered,” she shook herself, flaring her plating out. “We can have a little fun.” Buzzsaw opened her beak and made a scratchy staticy screech, charging full speed forward. 

A scream tore its way out of Gladiolus, rising out of her throat and tasting like iron. Running became her only option with nothing around she could use as a weapon. The brighter tunnel was only brighter until the next vent cover, passing it she flailed her arms in front of her. Both Buzzsaw’s and her own steps clanged on the steel floor, it was the only sense she could rely on and it was starkly unhelpful. Running blind became harder as she ran full force into a wall despite her hands in front of her, her head slammed into it filling her ears with static. She slid herself along to the left, groping the wall and bringing up her speed again. 

Yellow eyes waved back and forth dimmed enough to not shine on any of her surroundings. Childish laughter seemed to come from all around her bouncing off the metal walls making the sound verberate. 

There was nowhere to escape. 

Her heart was burning in her chest. Maybe she was screaming through her gritted teeth, she didn’t know, hopefully someone would hear her if she was. She was slowing, not used to sprinting at all. 

Coming up to another wall this time she managed to stop herself with her hands and shove off it in another direction. Finally some flickering light in the form of what was coming through another vent cover. 

Outside it was a battlefield in what must have been some kind of storage hanger. Both bots she did and didn’t know, some shots fired but most were fighting hand to hand making an awful ambient. It was hard to tell the factions apart, only the autobots she already knew and the ones she could catch a glimpse of the little red or purple markings on. 

The instant she watched out of the vent was too long. Buzzsaw danced around her, slinking low and spreading her wings out wide. 

“Bird of prey stalks the little mouse. I wonder who would win?” she tilts her head mockingly with the question. Gladiolus could only watch Buzzsaw deliberately tap her talons in a musical beat along the floor. “I have to say, while this wasn’t terribly fun it did bring me at least a little entertainment. Unfortunately it seems our time is up, my boss is quite particular about schedules, you know how it is. Anyway.” Gladiolus threw herself to the ground as Buzzsaw lunged, covering her face with her arms. 

A latch unlocked and in a fury of motion Buzzsaw was gone. Swooping through the fighting bots and into obscurity.

Her heart continued to race. Further into the venting system was another opening. And another past that.

The first had nothing and no one and no latch either. She felt little relief in the empty, especially because of the noise coming from the next vent opening. One set of feet were not especially reassuring.

The footsteps grew louder as she got closer and not just because she was closing the distance. Whoever was out there was getting closer to her as well. Pressing her back to the wall she peaked out.

A yellow light shined into the vent through the grate. 

Optimus was looking at her, Instead of his usual icy blue his optics were a sunshine yellow. Somehow both foreign and familiar the color bore into her. Neither of them blinked or looked away. Neither of them said anything.

“Little thing?” Optimus didn’t sound like himself, his voice was a sneer. The plates on his face made his nose look crinkled like how one would look at something disgusting.

His optics flickered and faded before becoming the color she had known them to be before, his face softened. “Gladiolus. Are you alright?” Like nothing had happened he was back to as she knew him to be.

“Are you?” She asked back. Behind him a wall had a crumpled hole through it, the sides jagged and still sizzling with heat.

He reached up and gently pulled off the grate, this one had no latch. “I’m am fine, I have only sustained minor surface damage. The attack today was not with the intention to harm or destroy it was only to retrieve Deadend.” 

She pointed at the blasted wall, it looked pretty destroyed.

“Ah,” Optimus paused with uncertainty. ”That was me?” He didn’t direct the question towards Gladiolus but more to himself. He shook his head and began to move. Reaching forward and offering a hand he carefully swept Gladiolus into his hold.

His steps were smooth, hardly jostling Gladiolus cupped in his hands. Stepping through the blasted hole she noticed along the edges some parts looked as though it had been peeled open with giant hands.but careful he may have been, slow he was not. 

The autobot base was full of hallways, rooms didn’t connect to each other through anything but more and more hallways. Optimus kept a running commentary until they were almost at the main hanger.

Looking through the doorway, a few other bots milled around. One in specific caught Gladiolus’s eye.

Jazz sat on the floor, the lower part of his leg looked dented and singed. He looked ok otherwise. 

If Gladiolus had mentioned having seen Buzzsaw earlier would he have not gotten injured? Guilt was familiar to her. It rose in her chest and made her face feel hot. 

After asking Optimus to put her down she made a not very quick jog across to Jazz.

“Hey little lady! Man what an interruption huh?” cheery as every Jazz made hint to being in pain. Even the hand placed on his leg didn’t shake or hesitantly touch. 

Whatever Buzzsaw had told the decepticons had helped do this. A few more injured came in. 

“I saw Buzzsaw-in the vent I mean.” throwing it out right in the open, she had kept the first sighting to herself and look at what happened. 

Jazz’s smile didn’t waver or fade and just leaned forward. Cupping his hand near his mouth to block view from others. “Something to know is that not a lot happens here that I don't know about.” He winked before throwing his hand up dramatically and exclaiming. “Aw, our funs already over?!” 

Kup scoffed in response. “I’m not humoring you right now.” 

Jazz gave a deep laugh. 

A whirlwind of bots and humans came in and out in various degrees of mildly injured. 

Jazz had known. This wasn’t her fault. He had known. Had he said anything? Done anything to try and stop this from happening? 

Somehow she was in Kup again going home. 

Inside her doorway she dropped her bag on the ground. Just wanting to lay down, she marched up the stairs and into her bedroom. Yanked the hair tie out of her tangled hair, dropping it on the floor beside the bedside table, she would pick that up later. 

Outside her window it was still quite bright out, she wasn’t even sure what time it was. Had it even been more than a couple of hours since she left this morning? Sitting on her bed she found she didn’t care. Her hands shook when she closed the blinds. 

It didn’t matter that her room was still lit with light or that it may not have even been noon.

 If she slept it was unrestful, if she was told that she had just laid there until it got dark she would have believed it. All the same the knock at her window drew her from her bed.

Somehow a shadow covered the window even with it dark outside. 

She grasped the bottom of the blinds, bracing herself to open the window and see nothing or those yellow optics again. 

Biting the bullet she pulled the blinds up.

[woods2006gal]

Chapter 03 - Candy

Zoey bites her lip as she focuses on the math book in front of her. She was sitting at the dining room table, trying to finish the last bit of homework. “What else,” Martha mutters as she walks around the kitchen. “Oh, don’t use the upstairs bathroom. It’s backed up. I have to snake the pipes.”

“Where’s the leftover pizza,” Clark asks, brushing past Martha and heading right to the fridge. He had headphones on and was blaring music was his walkman.

“Fridge, second shelf. You can nuke the chili for dinner.” Martha looks between the two teenagers. “Some clue that one of you actually heard me.”

“Don’t use upstairs bathroom,” Zoey replies.

“Nuke chili for dinner,” Clark adds.

“Glad to see everyone’s hearing works,” Martha replies.

“Clark,” Jonathan shouts from outside. “Can I get a hand out here please?”

Clark runs out of the kitchen in a flash. Martha turns to Zoey, who was closing her math book. “Sweetheart, are you going to be okay this weekend,” Martha asks.

Zoey shoots her godmother a smile and stands up. “I’ll be fine, Aunt Martha. I promise.” She searches through her backpack and pulls out a card. “Happy Anniversary.”

Martha smiles and tightly embraces her goddaughter. “Thank you.” She grabs her overnight bag and walks out of the house with Zoey in tow. They reach Jonathan and Clark as the later sets the pick up down.

“I’m definitely raising your allowance,” Jonathan tells his son.

“If you guys need anything—” Martha begins.

“Call,” Clark interrupts. “Mom, it’s a couple of nights in Metropolis. We’ll be fine.”

A look appears on Martha’s face, indicating she wanted to argue. “I’m sure they’ll be fine,” Jonathan reassures. “And soon, madam, so shall we be.”

“Oh, I almost forgot,” Clark says, pulling out an envelope with grease stains on it. “Sorry. Happy anniversary.”

Martha smiles, taking the card. “Sweetheart.” She hugs Clark before climbing into the pickup.

“Thanks for the cards,” Jonathan tells them. He tosses a rag to Clark, then slides behind the wheel. 

Clark and Zoey watch as the pickup makes its way down the driveway before turning onto the two-lane highway. “So, how many people are you having over,” Zoey questions.

“Who says I’m having anyone come over,” Clark counters as they make their way back into the house. Zoey shoots him a disbelieving look. “Just a few people. Pete, Chloe, a few other people, maybe even Lana. Small gathering.”

Zoey shakes her head. “As long as no one from your small gathering goes into my room.”

Clark rolls his eyes. “No one is going into your room. Like I said, small gathering.”

~*~

Clark’s small gathering turned out to be a full fledge party. Zoey had chosen to hide out in her room. She wasn’t a fan of crowds and she wanted to ensure that no one entered her bedroom. It was her scared space. Clark may have had the loft in the barn, but she had her room. She also didn’t want anyone from school to know that she did indeed sleep with the old teddy bear dressed up as Robin Hood that kept a permanent home on her bed.

“Hey,” a twelve year old Oliver softly says, walking into the bright pink room. He hides the teddy bear behind him. A tiny six year old Zoey was sitting on the bed. The black dress she was wearing swallowed her. There was a tiny cut on her forehead. He sits down on the bed next to her. “How are you doing?”

Zoey shrugs. She hadn’t spoken since the accident.

“Me too. Max says I’m going to Kansas too.” Zoey looks up at him, hopeful. Oliver shakes his head. “Not with you, Zo. Boarding school outside of Metropolis. Excelsior. It’s what my parents wanted if something happened to your…”

Zoey wipes away a tear. She opens her mouth. But then closes it.

Oliver pulls out the teddy bear and hands it to her. It was a small brown bear that his mother gave him. A bow was in one hand and a quiver was stitched to its back. The teddy bear had a green pointed hat with a red feather and green shirt. “I want you to have this, Zo.”

Zoey shakes her head. She pushes it away from her.

“Zo, I want you to have it. We’ll still be in each other’s lives. I promise.”

Zoey reluctantly takes the teddy bear from him. She stares at it for a moment, then lunches herself at Oliver. He wraps an arm around her back and tightly hugs her.

“I’ll see if Max will let me tag along when he visits you.”

Zoey nods. He feels tears on his neck. His hand rubs her back as her body shakes with sobs. There’s a knock on the door and Oliver turns to see Max. “We need to go,” Max softly tells him. 

Oliver gently untangles Zoey from him and climbs off the bed. He watches Zoey tightly embrace the teddy bear as she climbs off the bed. Max stops her at the door and readjusts the black bow in her hair. “Max,” Oliver begins. “When…when you visit Zoey, can I join you?”

Max looks at him. He doesn’t miss the hopeful look on Zoey’s face. “We’ll see.”

A loud boom knocks Zoey out of her thoughts. She looks out the window and lets out a frustrated breath seeing the fireworks going off. “Seriously,” she mutters, climbing off her bed. She starts towards the door, intending to go talk to Clark. A beep comes from her laptop and she find a message from Oliver. Zoey looks between the door and her laptop. She shakes her head and sits down at her desk.

‘Max says you’re not doing anything for your birthday.’

‘Aunt Martha is making me a chocolate cake. And I’m going to see Legally Blonde at the second run theater with friends.’

‘Well, I’ll make sure to put your gift in the mail tomorrow so you get it on time.’

Zoey smiles. She had missed having Oliver in her life. His disappearance had been heartbreaking for her.

“Uncle Max,” Zoey brightly greets, walking into the kitchen. She had been surprised to see the usual rental car, a red Porsche, sitting in the drive way. She tightly embraces him. “What are you doing here?”

“If you need anything, we’ll be in the barn helping Jonathan,” Martha tells them, motioning for Clark to follow her. 

“It’s about Oliver,” Max softly begins.

Zoey frowns. “Is Ollie okay?”

“He’s missing. His yacht got caught in a storm between islands in French Polynesia. They’re searching for survivors, but, um, they’re not hopeful.”

Zoey blinks back tears. She had just seen Oliver a couple of months ago. He was fine. He was excited about his birthday trip: island hopping in the South Pacific. And now he was gone. “Oh.”

Max pulls Zoey his chest. He runs a hand over her back. “I’m sorry, Zoey,” he whispers. “I know how close you and Oliver were.”

“I’ll be in my room,” Zoey states, then makes her way up the stairs. Max starts to follow her, wanting to make sure she was okay. He stops when he hears the soft click of the door closing. Max sighs and walks out of the house to barn. 

“How is she doing,” Martha questions.

“Well, she’s still talking,” Max answers. “Other than that I don’t know. I don’t think she’ll stop talking or anything like before. I’m gonna head back to Star City. Let me know if you guys need anything. I’ll check up on Zoey in a few days.”

Zoey yawns as she makes her way down the stairs. She stops, seeing the trashed house. Random cups and food were scattered around. She looks up to find Clark standing in the doorway. “Your party, your mess,” she states, pushing trash out of the way. 

“You’re not going to help,” Clark disbelievingly asks.

“No!”

Clark rolls his eyes, clearly annoyed at the fact that Zoey was refusing to help. It only takes him a few minutes to clean the house using his super speed. He sits down and grabs an apple out of the basket. Zoey, who had taken a seat at the island, reaches for an orange. Clark pulls the basket out of her grasp. “You didn’t help, so you don’t get one.”

Zoey reaches for it once more, but Clark holds the basket above his head. “Give me the orange, Clark.”

“Nope.”

“Give me the orange, asshole!”

“Zoey,” a stern voice exclaims.

Zoey freezes and Clark pales. They turn to see Jonathan and Martha standing in the doorway. “Sorry,” Zoey tells Clark.

“You’re home early,” Clark greets, handing Zoey her desired orange.

“We called six times last night, spoke with six different people, none of whom knew who either of you were,” Martha sternly tells them.

“It was supposed to be an intimate occasion,” Clark weakly defends.

“Where have you two been,” Jonathan questions.

“The hospital,” Clark answers.

“I was in my room. I had my headphones on,” Zoey adds.

“That’s it,” Martha mutters. “I’m never leaving home again.”

“Who got hurt,” Jonathan asks.

“Nobody. But I found Earl Jenkins hiding in the loft. He was looking for you, Dad. He’s all messed up,” Clark explains.

“What’s the matter with Earl?”

“I don’t know, but he’s wanted for murder.”

“Earl? What did he have to say for himself?”

“I couldn’t get close.”

“How come? The police?”

“No. Because when I got near hime, I got sick. It was weird. I mean, every time I stood next to him, it got worse. It’s kind of like…”

“Like what,” Martha asks.

“It’s kind of like the way I feel around meteor fragments.”

~*~

Zoey brushes her hair behind her ear as she stands at the back of the crowd. Why the FBLA teacher thought a field trip to the LuthorCorp plant was a good idea, she’d never know. “Hello, everybody,” the tour guide brightly greets. “I’m Gabe Sullivan, plant manager and proud father. Hi, sweetheart.”

“Hi, Dad,” Chloe awkwardly replies before ducking behind Clark. 

“Welcome to LuthorCorp, where we give a crap.”

“Okay, somebody kill me now.”

“A little fertilizer humor there. All right, before we go inside, I need you to remove all your cell phones, pagers, jewelry. Anything that jangles, dangles, or rings needs to go in these plastic trays right here,” Mr. Sullivan tells the students, motioning to table filled with bins. “All right, any other questions?” Clark raises his hand. “Yes?”

“I heard there was a third level to the plant,” Clark begins. “Is that true?”

“Yeah, yeah. That’s where we do the alien autopsies,” Mr. Sullivan replies. The group laughs. “I think we better get started.”

“Don’t encourage him,” Chloe whispers to Clark.

“This way, everybody,” Mr. Sullivan loudly says. “All right, people, let’s stay together.”

For most of the tour, Zoey tunes everything out. She wasn’t interested in the day to day running of a fertilizer factory. In fact, she had zero desire to even be in FBLA. Zoey had ambitions to go to law school. Except Max had convinced her to do it; that it would look good on her college applications. The group walks into what appears to be a control room.

“This is it,” Mr. Sullivan states, motion to the room around them. “The plant’s mission control. One hundred thousand tons of animal waste is processed here every year. Trust me, the results can be pretty explosive. So, if any of you had beans for lunch, I’m gonna to have to ask you to leave.”

“Among his peers he’s considered witty,” Chloe mutters to Zoey. 

“Could be worse,” Zoey quietly tells her. Chloe shoots her a disbelieving look. “No one could be laughing at his jokes. Hey, where’s Clark?”

A door in the corner of the room suddenly starts rattling. “What the heck,” Mr. Sullivan exclaims. “Excuse me.” Mr. Sullivan walks over to the door. The door suddenly bursts open and a man that Zoey vaguely recognized as Earl Jenkins walks into the room with a gun.

Earl holds the gun up to Mr. Sullivan’s head. “Don’t move,” he orders. Mr. Sullivan holds up his hand. “Take me to level three. Now!”

“I don’t know anything.”

“Bullshit! Take me there now! Everyone sit down!”

The teenagers all sit down on the floor. “I swear, I don’t know anything about level three,” Mr. Sullivan repeats.

“You’re lying.”

“He’s not lying,” Clark exclaims, rushing into the control room. He holds up a set of rolled papers. “I found these blueprints. There is no level three.”

Earl takes the blueprints from Clark and rolls them flat on the table. “Every night, I go down to level two. I follow the red pipes down that long hallway, I go to the door, I open it, and I take the elevator down to level three. You’re just like everybody else, Clark. Now you get over there and you sit down!”

Clark sits down next to Zoey, who happened to be sitting next to Lana and Whitney. “Are you okay,” she quietly asks.

“I should be asking you that,” Clark whispers back. Zoey shots him a small smile and lets out a breath.

~*~

Zoey looks up from staring at the carpet fibers when the phone in the control room rings. The room had been filled with a nervous energy. Mr. Sullivan picks up the phone and answer. He holds it out to Earl. “Lionel Luthor,” he states.

“Speaker,” Earl orders. Mr. Sullivan puts the phone on the table and hits the speaker button. “Mr. Luthor, I’ve finally got your attention, haven’t I?”

“Earl, why don’t you come out,” comes the smooth voice of Lionel Luthor. “We’ve got a lot to talk about.”

“Just tell me what you were using down on level three.”

“You’re sick, Earl. Let everyone go. We’ll get you help.”

Earl starts uncontrollably shaking. He grabs one of the pipes. “Earl,” Clark says, standing up.

Earl breaks off the valve and throws it at Clark. He looks at the security camera in the corner. “See what you made me do? See what you made do? Your methane gas-valve just broke. The whole place is gonna go up.”

“We need to do something,” Whitney whispers to Lana, Clark, and Zoey.

“Yeah, that’s a no from me,” Zoey mutters.

“That man’s nuts. He’s not listening to the cops and that methane gas is gonna blow.”

“Whitney, I don’t want you to get hurt,” Lana quietly tells him.

“I’m not putting my life in that man’s hands. Two of us can take him. How about it, Clark?”

“I can’t,” Clark replies.

“It’s okay,” Lana reassures. Whitney stands up. “Whitney.”

“Luthor, I trusted you. You told me you were trying to help people,” Early angrily says to the camera. He turns and notices Whitney is advancing towards him. “Hey, what are you doing?”

Earl swings his arm, knocking Whitney to the ground. “Whitney,” Lana exclaims.

“It’s all your fault, Luthor,” Earl snaps, grabbing the gun off the table. He aims it at the camera and shoots it. The camera shatters with part of it falling to the ground.

A silence settles over the room. Everyone was on pins and needles. Waiting to see what Earl would do next. The door to the room opens and Zoey turns to see Lex entering the room, wearing a bullet proof vest.

“What kind of man sends his own kid to do his dirty work,” Earl sneers.

“I’m not doing anybody’s dirty work, Earl. This is my plant,” Lex corrects, holding his hands up. He looks at Lana, who was kneeling next to Whitney. “How is he?”

“He needs a doctor,” Lana explains.

Lex turns back to Earl. “What are we gonna do about these kids, Earl?”

“I never meant to hurt anybody,” Earl defends. “I tried talking to your father, but he wouldn’t listen to me.”

“I know the feeling.” Zoey’s eyes widen when Lex takes off the bulletproof vest. “Earl, you say that everybody’s been lying to you. I’m gonna tell you the truth. My father doesn’t care about you. He doesn’t care about anybody in this room. Because if we all die, his P.R. firm will spin, his insurance company will pay out, and you, Earl, will go down as the bad guy.”

“I’m not the bad guy. I’m just trying to get better.”

“How are you gonna get better by killing a bunch of kids? If you let everybody go, I’ll take you to level three.”

Earl aims the gun at Lex. “You stop lying.”

“Let them go, and I’ll show you where it is. Earl, trust me. I’m a man of my word.”

“Get out,” Earl tells the group. “Get out. Get out! Everybody, get out!”

Zoey runs out of the room with the other students. She didn’t need to be told twice. She easily spots Martha and Jonathan in the crowd of parents. “Zoey, are you okay,” Jonathan questions, tightly embracing Zoey.

“I’m fine,” Zoey softly tells them. She doesn’t miss the cameras and turns to where they don’t catch her face.

Martha and Jonathan turn back to see the last of the students running out of the building. Clark wasn’t with them. “Pete,” Martha calls out. “Where’s Clark?”

“He’s back inside, Mrs. Kent,” Pete answers. “I tried to stop him. I’m sorry. I-I’m sorry."

Martha turns to Lionel. “You have to open the doors.”

“They’re safety locked and can’t be opened until the gas levels have gone down,” Lionel tells them. 

“My son is still in there.”

“So is mine.”

Zoey bites her lip as she slowly enters the hospital room. It had been nearly three years since she had seen Oliver. She didn’t know what to expect. She wondered if he remembered her or even cared about her. 

Oliver was lying in the hospital bed. The sheet had settled around his waist.There were various tubes and wires hooked up to her childhood friend. There were scars over his very tanned body. “Hi,” Zoey quietly greets. Her grip on the plastic container of homemade chocolate chip cookies tightens. She had called Martha and gotten the recipe. 

Oliver smiles. “You know, Zo, I’m not going to bite.”

Zoey lets out a relived breath and makes her way across the room. She sets the container on the nightstand and climbs on the bed to tightly embrace him. Zoey buries her face in his neck. She doesn’t stop the tears from flowing. “You’re not allowed to go on a boat ever again. Promise?”

Oliver chuckles. He runs a hand up and down her back. He doesn’t miss the vanilla from her shampoo. “Promise.”

“I missed you.”

“I missed you too, Zo.” Oliver rests a cheek against the top of her head. “Quick question. When did you start wearing glasses?”

“Last year,” Zoey softly answers. “Turns out, reading by flashlight under the covers leads to shitty eyesight.”

“And what exactly were you reading under the covers?”

“The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood,” Zoey confesses. Olivers snorts. He leans back in the bed and pulls Zoey with him, keeping her close. She shifts, dropping an arm over his chest. “Sometimes I wish I had a Robin Hood.”

“I never thought of you as the damsel in distress.”

“Not like that, Ollie. But someone…someone who I can fight against the injustices of the world with.” Zoey shakes her head. “It’s silly, I know. I’ll never have anything like that.”

Zoey lets out a yawn as she pulls back the covers on her bed. She was more than ready to crawl into bed and just relax. The situation at the LuthorCorp plant had ended with Clark and Lex walking out of the plant. Clark had managed to save the day once more. There’s a light buzzing and Zoey walks over to her desk to find the emergency cell phone Max given her was making the noise. She didn’t recognize the number.

“Hello,” Zoey cautiously answers.

“Zo, are you okay,” Oliver questions. “I saw the news.”

Zoey smiles, sitting down on her bed. “I’m fine, Ollie. I promise.”

“Why were you at the LuthorCorp plant in the first place?”

“School field trip. Uncle Max said I needed to add some extracurriculars to my resume and that I needed to join the Future Business Leaders of America club…because I’m going be a future business leader,” Zoey explains, laying back on her bed. She can’t keep the smile off of her face. 

So baby, come to me, baby, show me who you are, yeah Sweet to me like sugar to my heart, ooh baby I’m craving for you I’m missing you like candy

[hollyparkcr]

Holly had spent the morning studying for her practical exam, and while she probably should have still been seated at her desk for another few hours, the woman decided that a change of scenery and an afternoon pick-me-up would be exactly what she needed to keep going. With her laptop open and her books already splayed out across a table nearby, Holly made her way up to the register and ordered herself a hot chai, along with her favorite apple danish.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. But we just sold the last one. Is there anything else I can get for you?" the cashier smiled apologetically, before waving her hand in the direction of the previous customer. As her blue eyes followed the woman's painted fingertips, it wasn't long before Holly caught sight of the olive-green cardigan and nearly forgot her words altogether. "N-No, that'll be all, thank you."

At first all she could do was stare, allowing her brain to process the fact that for once, this was not a dream. Nathaniel Strauss was standing right there before her, in what had once been their favorite cafe. And not only had he taken a piece of her with him, but now he had taken the joy out of eating her favorite pastry what would have otherwise been a perfect October day.

As all of her hurt and all of her anger began to bubble beneath the surface, Holly took a few steps toward him, her eyes widening as she spoke with a sudden and rather exaggerated confidence. "Oh my god, you're that one author right? Ma– Mar? Matthew something, isn't it? You know, I just have to say.. I really admire your research and dedication to the writing process. Not every crime novelist would go as far as to become a missing person themselves."

Location: Everything Goes Starter for: @hollyparkcr

He'd been going to the popular town cafe most days since he arrived back in town, only to grab a to-go coffee, at different times of the day, just to see if he would run into her. Once upon a time, they had both been regulars there and they'd spent more time splitting their favourite cake or pastry than he cared to calculate. In some ways, with their quieter side and cosy loving demeanours, it had been their spot.

But then he screwed it all up.

The weather had cooled down slightly and as a breeze rolled through town, it was like it brought a wave of sudden tension to his shoulders, although he couldn't quite figure out why. Maybe it was because he was verging on creepy with how often he was popping into the bakery, hoping to see the one person who brought light into the shadows of his mind.

It was a quiet day and it hadn't taken him long to have his black coffee, one sugar, in hand whilst his sandwich was heated up. He hadn't even considered the possibility that he'd actually see her, not after so many attempts, in the most cowardly way he could find, but as the door opened and his head snapped up, there she was. She was even more beautiful than he remembered and at the sight of her, he felt his throat dry, his lips part and his shoulders tighten even more.

There she was. And all he could do was stare.

[felikatze]

Oliver (Ni No Kuni): After his mother dies of a heart attack, Oliver discovers that the doll she left him was actually a magical fairy, awakened by his tears. The doll, Mr. Drippy, tells him of a way to save his mother; if he journeys to another world, and saves her soulmate, a person sharing her soul, from the 'Dark Djinn' Shadar, she may just revive. So Oliver sets out on a magical adventure as 'the Pure Hearted One', the boy with the ability to mend broken hearts.

Why I like this dude: NNK in general is very precious to me. Oliver's magical journey is a great exploration of grief, denial, and escapism. A lot of it is Oliver having to be brave and learning how to cope. He's just a little guy, and he makes a lot of friends, and he helps others cope with their losses and they help him with his. It's very touching. Even after discovering that his mother can't be saved after all, his journey has been in vain, he continues anyway, because there's others he can still save. BUT by god you HAVE to control Oliver in battle otherwise his AI will instantly kill him by whacking enemies with a stick and getting punted for it.

Geo Stellar (Megaman Star Force): Ever since his father's disappearance, Geo has been a shut-in. Lethargic and with no friends, he only finds solace in the stars. On one such stargazing night, an alien by the name Omega-Xis, or Mega for short, drops into Geo's transceiver. Now with the ability to fuse with Mega to become Megaman, Geo can traverse the digital world, fight of bugs, and stop the aliens on Mega's trail for a mysterious object called the "Andromeda Key." Maybe with this power, he'll unravel the mystery of his father's disappearance into space...

Why I like this dude: Megaman Star Force is an exploration of depression made kid friendly. Geo is, without a doubt, depressed as all hell for most of the game. His classmates keep barging in on him to get him to go to school, but all he cares about is SPACE. But Mega needles him into going out, into interacting with others (and also life-threatening situations), and Geo is still withdrawn by the end of it, but he's a little braver, a little friendlier, and he wants to keep living. Like, explaining depression to 8 year olds. It's really touching to know this character exists?

[real-jane]

an olive branch

[steve rogers x reader]

summary: you’ve reached your breaking point at work and steve wants to help you find a solution. but first… pizza.

words: 2.1k

warnings: none. established relationship, no use of y/n.

a/n: thanks to @mumbles411 for this idea! Here’s the original ask: ‘There's always the old 'comforting someone after a bad day' thing. Especially if they already hate their job. I've been there and would have loved Steve or Bucky to be there for picking me up.’ enjoy! 🥰

—

You’re almost an hour late getting home, and Steve paces the living room with his phone in hand, talking himself out of calling you again. You answered the first time–hi baby, I’m so sorry, I missed my train–and then your call dropped. Likely, you were on the platform and reception was never good down there, but that isn’t much comfort to him considering you sounded so frantic.

When your key slots into the lock, Steve beats you to the punch and rips open the door. You practically fall into his arms. 

“Mmm,” you groan, burying yourself in his chest. “Never been so happy to see you.”

“Bad day?” He draws circles on your lower back.

“Awful. I feel like a broken record, and nobody is listening.” Your sniffle is unmistakable. “How do I keep doing this every day? It’s going to break me.”

“Hmm. Take your shoes off, dove. You hungry?”

“Oh god,” you sigh. Steve steadies you as you toe off your shoes. 

“You forgot to eat, huh.”

“Didn’t have time! Three people called out sick, even Pietro was taking orders. I think I could eat a whole pizza by myself.”

“Your wish is my command.” He eases your bag from your shoulder, takes your coat, and then pats your butt in the direction of the bedroom. “Get cozy, okay?” Steve chuckles as you shuffle away to do as he says, disappearing into the comfy space to find the pajamas he had laid out on the bed after doing laundry.

“How was your day, baby?” you call.

“Boring,” he replies, typing your favorite pizza order into the delivery app. “Missed you. Did laundry. Not much going on (as far as potential fieldwork) so I caught up on some paperwork.” He’s been home for longer stretches, lately, which he has enjoyed immensely, especially because he can do the frankly outrageous amount of paperwork SHIELD sends over from the comfort of your sofa, while letting daytime tv drown the street sounds outside.

“You do a lot of paperwork for being America’s Ass.”

Steve laughs. “Excuse me, this ass belongs to you.”

“Lucky me.” You lean against the doorway. When Steve glances at you, your eyes are shining with unspent tears. He confirms the food order and tosses his phone onto the sofa. He takes his time meeting you at the threshold, but he can’t help brushing his thumbs over your cheeks.

“What’s got you so sad?”

“Steve–will you be brutally honest with me?” your voice breaks, and you curl your fingers into the front of his t-shirt.

“I don’t know about ‘brutal,’ dove, but I’ll give it my best shot.”

“Am I being unreasonable? I feel like the girl who cried wolf. All my coworkers seem to agree with me, but I’m the only person willing to say something–it makes me feel like I’m overreacting, but I can’t get strung along anymore.”

“You’re in the right,” he soothes. “Do you wanna sit on the sofa? You’ve been upright all day.”

“I don’t know if my knees bend.”

“I can help.” Steve loops an arm behind your knees and lifts you. You pretend to be aghast that he would do such a thing, but you kiss his cheek. He sits down, keeping both arms wrapped around your waist. “Let me ask you a question. Yeah?”

You snuggle against his chest and nod. “Shoot.”

“What’s the worst that can happen if you quit?”

“Well… Can’t afford my half of rent, for one thing–”

“Money aside.”

“I can’t not think about money. When you grow up without it, it’s everything.”

Steve nods. He does know a thing or two about that. “Okay. You’re right. You have concerns about paying your bills, it’s a legitimate worry. What else?”

“Who’s gonna speak up if I’m not there?”

“Dove, somebody is gonna have to find their voice. It can’t be up to you to save the place.”

“...says Captain America,” you snort.

“I have a team. It’s not my sole responsibility, and I couldn’t do it if I didn’t surround myself with people who put in equal effort. Right? I’m hard to kill, but I don’t fly. I’m bad with computers, never shot an arrow in my life, and when I get angry, I just get flushed.” You giggle at that. “But you’re carrying the worries of every person you work with. It’s unsustainable. You said it yourself–it’s too much.”

“I know,” you sigh. “But we’ve all gotten so close dealing with this bullshit.”

“Are you worried they won’t talk to you if you leave?”

“I guess I am.”

“Don’t think that’s likely; for one thing, Wanda would kill you if you didn’t go to the farmer’s market with her on Tuesdays.”

You smile. “True.”

“And we can still go there for drinks anytime you want. But not pizza–”

“Because it’s not ‘real New York pie’, yeah yeah,” you parrot the phrase he’s said to you a million times. “Where did you order from, by the way?”

“Sweetheart,” he scoffs, “the only place in the city.”

You snort. “You’re such a snob.”

“What’s the worst that will happen if you stay?”

“I’ll have a mental breakdown. I was… researching outpatient programs the other night when you found me out here super late.”

Steve kisses your forehead like he might soothe all the pain from your mind. “Oh, dove. You can’t live like this.”

“I don’t know how to leave! I have to find something else first, or it doesn’t make sense–and do you know how hard it is to find a job in this fucking economy?” You swipe your hands under your eyes furiously.

“Or–no, listen.” He kisses you, leveling his eyes with yours. You nod, but tears stream down your face. “Or… you put in your two weeks. We take a month to get you rested up. Go to a Yankees game or two. And then you can choose something which isn’t gonna drain the life out of you.”

“I don’t have enough saved up.”

“It’s okay. I’ve got you covered.”

“No, Steven–”

He tips your chin up. “Stop. I’m not keeping score, here. You’re my girl, this is what people do when they have a life together.”

You hug him so tight. “You’re sure.”

He wraps you in his arms. “Yes. And… if you realize what would make you the most happy is to sit on the balcony and paint neon cityscapes, while drinking Celestial Seasonings tea out of business, then I support you.”

“Nooo–I’m not gonna sit around while you have to do the work to pay for our life!”

“You contribute in other ways. I’d kill every plant in this place if it weren’t for you.”

“What would America say if they knew you fell for a plant lady?”

“I am asked about you in every interview, and have been since you came to the Smithsonian opening with me. I think America’s in love with you, too.”

“Awe,” you grin, pressing your fingers into his scalp with a loving scritch. “I don’t think I can make a decision tonight.”

“Perfectly reasonable. No rush. You want a bath?”

You appear genuinely conflicted for choice. “But… pizza.”

“Bath-pizza?”

You narrow your eyes. “I can’t decide if you’re brilliant or not.”

“One way to find out.” He kisses your temple. “Hey.”

“Hm?”

“I’m so sorry it’s been bad for this long. It’s terrible, and you don’t deserve it.”

You bite your lip. “Thank you, baby.”

“Why are you thanking me, huh? I’m right.” When he grins, you kiss him in annoyance. He loves when you do that, like you can’t let him get another word out so you seal his mouth with yours. What a punishment.

He carries you into the washroom and sets you on the counter, promptly handing you a sheet mask from your basket, and holding up two different bags of scented bath salts for you to pick between. You point, and he nods approvingly. He starts the bath water, and the buzzer sounds.

“Dinner!” You sprint for the button, but he’s faster; Steve catches your hips and slides between you and the front door.

“Get your butt in the bathtub, ma’am. Or I won’t hand-feed you pepperonis like a princess.”

“I missed the part where that was on offer,” you cackle. “But if I go get it, I’ll be able to eat all the olives off the top by the time I get back, so you won’t be disgusted by my taste in toppings.”

“You don’t know what I ordered. Maybe I got Canadian bacon.”

“I think that’s considered treason.”

“Get!” He spins you around and presses the button beside the door for the intercom. “Hi, if you wait inside I’ll bring you some cash.”

“Cool, thanks man!” The delivery driver is in for a great surprise.

Steve kisses the curve of your neck. “If you’re not up to your eyeballs in bubbles when I get back, I’m gonna eat all your olives myself.”

“Big talk from someone allergic to them.”

“Don’t push me.” He nips your earlobe, making you yelp.

“Fine! Be nice to me! See if I care.” You stick your tongue out at him, and leap away when he attempts to pinch your ass in retaliation. He can’t help the full-hearted laugh when you peek at him around the doorway innocently. “Just checking!” you coo. 

–

If anyone knew Captain America sat on his washroom floor, feeding his girlfriend a pizza he is most definitely allergic to, they’d probably believe it. Steve is nothing if not predictable, but he doesn’t mind being known for something he takes great pride in. A lot of what he does is duty, but bringing a smile to your face and easing your burden is something which brings him inordinate joy. You make all that pressure go away. With you, he is just a native New Yorker with strong opinions about crust style, who kills plants with almost impressive frequency and overtips delivery drivers by hundreds of dollars. So–not ordinary, but he doesn’t have to pretend on days he is down, if he wakes up next to your sweet face. But when you are hurting, he hurts by proxy. 

That night, he makes sure you have all the pizza you want (pepperoni by pepperoni, being very careful to avoid the olives and washing his hands thoroughly), while you slowly turn into a prune. Once you are tucked into bed and softly snoring, he eats his own pie sitting on the floor in the hallway outside your shared bedroom, and he ponders something he hasn’t thought about in a long time:

What if he retires? 

Sometimes when you wake up and can't fall back asleep, he rubs your back and tells you hypotheticals about a little cottage in the woods with a big garden, where you wouldn’t have to do anything but figure out how many carrots to use for dinner and get good at knitting. It always puts you right to sleep with a smile. Why does it have to be a pipe dream?

When he crawls into bed beside you, and your eyes open a bit, he kisses your brow. 

“Hi,” you murmur against his chest.

“Hello. You okay?”

“Mmm.” You loop your arm under his so you can pull him even closer. Steve slips his legs between yours. “You’re very comforting.”

“Yeah?” He smiles against your hair.

“Yep. Never make me question lovin’ me.”

“Sleep, sweetheart. ‘M not going anywhere.”

You smash your cheek into his skin and you’re quiet for a minute. He almost misses your little declaration. “Gonna quit.”

“When?”

“T’morrow.”

“I’ll pick you up from work on the bike. Go out in style?”

You lift your head up enough to give him a blissful, sleepy smile. “Yes please.”

He presses his lips over yours gently. “I’ll be there.”

“Come in uniform?” 

“You really want them to feel bad,” he chuckles.

“Nah. I just like lookin’ at ya in spandex.”

“You can have that anytime.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Sure. If you want.” 

You return his gentle kiss. “Love you.”

“I love you, too, dove.”

Now, he has to find a cottage for the sweetest woman he’s ever known. Because you only make decisions like this when you’ve weighed all your options, and he wants to give you a more attractive alternative than another dead end job. Something to keep the sunshine in your cheeks, where you don’t spend a portion of your life worrying about him coming home safe.

Sam’s ready for the shield. You’re ready to quit your job. It’s time for Steve to make the call about his future, too… where he can put you in a bubble bath every night, and maybe join you, just because. The best possible life for his dove.

–

thanks for reading!

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