#there's two water buffalo here so it's a stretch but whatever

[lesbianpikachu]

Daily Compendium Selections #21

And that night, there were twice as many moons in the sky.

[phoebepheebsphibs]

Double-Mutated Mikey

Chapter 20: Robotics

Continued from the short story written by @boots-with-the-fur-club

Prev || Next

Mikey moans as he wakes with a headache. His nose is stuffed up and his limbs are plagued by a dull ache. Donnie is by his side in an instant, smiling at him as he presses a glass of water to his lips, forcing him to hydrate.

"Good morning, Angelo," he says.

Angelo? His name is Mikey...

"How are you feeling?"

Mikey groans wordlessly at him.

"You ready for some breakfast?"

"Mikey doesn't get out of bed today," he announces grumpily, pressing his face deeper into the pillow.

Donnie rubs his cranium, pressing his palm against Mikey's forehead as he checks for any remaining fever.

"Hmm. I guess you're right, you won't be getting out of bed today," Donnie states, placing the cup on a side table and turning the lights off. "You get some more rest and join us whenever you're ready, okay?"

Mikey nods with a yawn, shimmying deeper under the blankets and purring with contentment.

"Leo or Raph will be in with your memory medication from Draxum. But other than that, I guess nothing eventful or interesting will be happening today," Donnie says as he walks out of Mikey's room.

.

.

.

Professor Honeycutt is sitting in his lab office, silently working on a new droid design. This one is different from the other machines he's been forced to build while employed here. All the other designs were weapons, or used to create chaos, or made to hurt the experiments (with one in particular in mind). But this one will be a sentry guard. A protector. SENTRY AUTOMATIC LIFESAVER. He's nicknamed it 'SAL' for now.

The body of the machine is finished for the most part. He's still working on the arms, trying to create a spring mechanism that can cause them to stretch to extreme lengths without breaking. He'd also like to add the same kind of metallic-elastic springs to the legs, even though he's already finished with those. But hey, he doesn't mind working on them again! Anything to avoid the real thing that's stumping him.

Honeycutt is struggling with the robot's AI, specifically its moral center and higher reasoning. He never got around to finishing the moral center for the last AI he built, and now she's starting to unnerve him. He can program the three laws of robotics, but he knows that sometimes you need to make a decision that disregards logic. He's seen movies. They may be inaccurate, but he'd have to agree with a few of the points they make.

So he's procrastinating on the brain. Well, there is a brain in the head, but it doesn't have any information in it, apart from some basic codes for movement and functions.

Most days, Zayton doesn't even know why he's here. He joined the TCRI for the funding, plain and simple. The cause sounded good, and they would help pay for all his robotics and engineering. He had all the money and freedom he could ever want to 'play with his toys'. What could be better? He should have known it was too good to be true. After a month of getting to build whatever he wanted in a secret bunker off the coast of Buffalo, he was called in to help with some work in NYC. And now... he's stuck doing this. Building ice blasters and dart guns and training robots that fight you to the death.

He's a man of peace.

But lately, he's been confusing 'peace' with 'staying out of it'.

Honeycutt's phone buzzes. It's probably another order from Timothy, or Chaplin wants help with the A.LP.H.A. device, or something just as irritating and dangerous.

"Hello, this is Professor Zayton Honeycutt speaking."

"Hey, doc, it's Bishop."

Honeycutt drops his tools and quiets his voice.

"Ah, John. H-how nice to hear from you again... how are the plans for your -- ahem, 'mother's recovery'?"

The two of them have come up with a special code to talk about Mikey without attracting attention.

"We still don't have any information about her condition. But I think she's still with her 'extended family'."

Mikey is still hidden in the sewers with the other mutants like him.

"Have the doctors found anything?"

"Not to my knowledge. But I heard that they did an 'impromptu check-up', and I should be hearing more about that later."

They sent drones into the sewer tunnels. As to be expected.

"When do you suppose that they'll tell you the details of that check-up?"

"No idea. I get the feeling that I'll have to make some calls to a few nurses..."

"Well, if it helps, I could ask around."

Bishop's voice goes quiet.

"...Doc, I don't know if that's wise..."

"Why not? I built those dro-- ahem, I mean, I know a few nurses in the clinic. I could get some answers for you."

The line stays silent for a moment before Bishop answers.

"...Okay, Doc. Just... be careful."

"Of course!" Honeycutt chuckles nervously. "Don't even worry. But, eh, speaking of your mother, I was wondering how the 'quilt' she's sewing is coming along?"

The 'quilt' is code for their side project. Most of the experiments and actions of the scientists here are unsanctioned and illegal, covered up under all the red tape and paperwork and made to look as though they are for the 'greater good'. Bishop and Honeycutt have been working to find evidence of all the mutations and genetic experiments and legal workarounds that they've done here.

"I've been getting some more 'thread' for her."

Thread = Paper trails.

"Does she need any 'fabrics'? I know she was looking for some nice patterns, last time we spoke."

Photographic evidence of the mutated animals or krang parasites.

"She could use some later. But for now, she's worried that she might be overspending."

Bishop is afraid that they've attracted attention, he wants Honeycutt to lay low.

"Okay then. Tell her I said hello."

"Will do. And Doc? Really, be careful. I don't want you getting sick like my mother."

"...I thank you for the concern, John. It's very decent of you. But I should be fine. I'll look into the... ahem, check-up results for you."

"Thanks. I'll be in touch."

The call ends.

Honeycutt exhales loudly, hoping that by the time all the used air in his lungs escapes him, he'll have also rid himself of the stress that lingers in him.

It doesn't.

Honeycutt lets S.A.L. rest on his desk. He stretches, cracking his spine and wrists before he walks out of his private workshop and into the halls. He could use an extra cup of coffee. He knows that he should try sleeping for once, but he can't really waste time right now. He has so much work to do, and now that Bishop recruited him he's busier than ever. It's a worthy cause and a noble sacrifice that he's more than willing to make.

Honeycutt walks through the halls, flinching at every door that opens and hurrying along his way. Every scientist that greets him with a wave or conversation starter, he simply hustles by them with a nod. He's never felt comfortable in this complex before, but now he's constantly unnerved.

Honeycutt shuffles into the elevator, down to the cafeteria to get a quick cup of joe, and back up to the security room. He considers stopping at the animal sections to see if he can grab any blood samples or photographic evidence... but Bishop is concerned, and the man has a surprising track record when it comes to following his gut. Maybe later... if he can find an excuse. A technical professor suddenly interested in genetics and bloodwork? Suspicious... but, maybe he can come up with some link between his work and the genetic studies... a robot that tracks DNA? Perfect! Only issue would be whether or not they'd buy it. A few might. But the big wigs in charge would ask questions. And Timothy and Chaplin might be against it, saying that none of the experiments can keep up against his tech thus far, so making a robot that advanced would be fruitless... he'll have to think of something else...

Prof. Honeycutt arrives at the security room, takes a quick swig of his black coffee for good measure, and then opens the door.

"Ms. Campbell," he greets flatly. "How are things?"

"Events are transpiring at a typical function and rate," she responds with a similar tone. "And I am working at full capacity, if that was what you were asking about."

"Thank you for the update," he says, moving beside her to watch the cameras. "How's the search for the escapee?"

"Still underway, but halted for the time being. Our drones discovered some odd wreckage in the tunnels, what looks like the ruins of someone's living quarters."

"Someone living in the sewers?" Honeycutt asks, feigning surprise.

"I detect sarcasm, unless I am mistaken," Ms. Campbell says, turning to look at him. "You knew beforehand about this?"

"Word gets around," he replies nervously. "I just wanted to know if it was true that there was something there. I'd heard that we were sending in drones -- and you know New York gossip, everyone thinks that there's some mysterious society of monsters living underneath us. And what with those mutants we've seen... I figured that perhaps one of them had made a shelter down there, possibly even our own little Mikey!"

Honeycutt realises that he's been prattling. It's a nervous trait. Ms. Campbell knows that. She can detect all sorts of tics and traits and habits and quirks. She has an incredible poker face, and she is a living lie detector.

She watches him, eyes analyzing every bead of sweat he creates.

"You are nervous."

"Q-quite so," he chuckles. "I'm just... concerned for Mikey."

That answer seems to satiate Ms. Campbell... for the moment. She turns around and starts to type something on the keyboard, and one of the screens plays glitchy feedback from a drone.

"Perhaps this will put you at ease, father," she says. "We found him."

Honeycutt watches in shock as a drone flies around the wreckage of a large opening in a sewer, complete with burst pipes, crumbled archways, and even broken down arcade games, though glory knows where those came from. On the walls are smeared paintings and spraypaint, words like 'cowabunga' and 'turtle power!' are scrawled across the stonework along with smiley faces, drawings of interesting action heroes and poses, and... what looks like portraits of turtles dressed as superheroes or ninjas. The drone flies through after looking around, hurrying down a corridor. After a several minutes of endless catacombs and passageways, it comes up to a light where the tunnels meet an abandoned section of the subways. The drone continues following a glow that leads to a secret hidden entrance. The drone presses itself up against the wall, waiting. After a few minutes, someone emerges from the door, peeking around. It's not Mikey, but...

"Is... is that...?"

"Another mutant creature like the escaped experiment, yes."

The creature looks down the halls nervously, before looking up behind him and shouting in fright as something dark green with yellow spots drops down on top of him. A flash of blue and the two vanish completely.

"What was that?!" Honeycutt yells, almost spilling his coffee as he moves closer to the video feed.

"Undetermined. But there have been reports of vigilantes that 'pop in and out' of crime scenes, fighting against the mutant outbreak. It is possible that he is one of said vigilantes," Ms. Campbell says. "And that is not all..."

Ms. Campbell speeds the playback to a moment several minutes later, when a human boy comes out of the entrance searching for something. He sees the drone and shouts, activating a high-tech chainsaw device and swings it at the drone, slashing it off the wall and shattering it completely.

"That was a human," Honeycutt says with hushed astonishment.

Bishop said that Mikey was with his 'family', so he sort of knew about the other mutants... but that was a human kid!

"I have been trying to run facial recognition on him to no avail," Ms. Campbell says. "He seems to have no identity."

In her voice, there is a twinge of disappointment, or rather, irritation with the failure. It shouldn't surprise him, he made her with the intention of resembling human in almost every aspect, so her exercise of emotions is not unprecedented. But the attitude, the dark personality lingering under the fake skin and steel grey eyes... that frightens him. Her AI was never completed, at least not in the ways he wanted. But she seems to be growing, evolving, learning. He didn't put that in there.

"Have... have you sent any more drones?" he asks, swallowing the nervous pit in his stomach every time he's with Ms. Campbell.

"Yes. But there seems to be some kind of electromagnetic field surrounding the area now, and any drone that crosses the threshold deactivates and short-circuits."

"Do we know why?"

"They mutants must be protecting their habitat," she states, going back to the original security footage. "But now that we know where they are, it is only a matter of time before we can discover more about their numbers and motives."

Honeycutt watches the screens at the bottom of the video stack, the ones with live drone feed. Three new devices are being sent to the previous drone's last known location. They fly up until a certain point before the feed warps into static and the drones crash, their live recordings die out with a high-pitched whine and crackle.

"I suppose I should contact Dr. Chaplin to make a new plan for the onset for the escaped experiment... Unless you have some theories, father?"

She still calls him father. All his creations tend to do that, he's noticed. But he's not sure how to feel about her calling him that. It feels eerie that she does, but the day she stops referring to him as such will be even scarier.

"I... couldn't say... p-perhaps I could create a device to counter the firewall?" he suggests. "Or maybe we could--"

The screens suddenly all glitch in unison, flashing quickly before turning a single shade of purple. Each monitor works in perfect harmony to create a large, singular image.

Professor Honeycutt steps back in shock. Ms. Campbell tilts her head slightly.

A series of words appear on the screen.

LEAVE US ALONE.

LEAVE US ALONE.

LEAVE US ALONE.

"Ominous," Ms. Campbell states calmly. "And quite interesting. I cannot say that the EPF has ever had any hackers before..."

The screens go dead, the room engulfed in darkness.

Before Honeycutt can say anything, a soft grey pixely static shows up on the screens, brightening the room again in time. The camera feeds return -- save for the drones, which still give no output nor input.

"I would say those vigilante mutants could be classified as hostile, wouldn't you agree?" Ms. Campbell says, turning to Honeycutt.

"Er, um, perhaps," he says nervously, loosening his shirt collar. "But you know me, I prefer to play the Switzerland of these mutant affairs. I'd rather stay out of it. I might suggest we do the same with these drones spies --"

"Why?" she asks, suspicion in her voice.

"Well, see... these mutants see us as an invading force. When an animal believes its habitat to be encroached upon, it will go to great lengths to defend it. These mutants may be doing the same thing, which could end badly for us..."

Ms. Campbell thinks it over.

"They have already fled one habitat," she responds. "So, in your scientific understanding, would they choose fight or flight over this new habitat they've created?"

"I-I'm not sure, animal science is not my area of expertise, but --" he swallows. "-- b-but I would assume that they would prefer to keep their new abode. Considering the lengths they've gone to thus far, they will not give it up easily."

"Hmm. Then this shall be a challenge, eh, father?"

Ms. Campbell smiles cruely.

He's never seen her do that.

"Q-q-quite so," he mumbles as he stumbles out of the room. "I should head back to work now... s-see you later, Ms. Campbell..."

His hand shakes, splashing the coffee in his cup. He's had enough of this for one day... he needs to call Bishop.

Honeycutt may not have the gut instincts that Bishop does, but something is telling him that things are about to get a lot more dangerous...

Prev || Next

[rawmeanderson]

pretty please ― thursday.

ft. Kevin Hayes.

plot: with Kevin, Brady, and Jimmy all gone from New York and the new season about to start, everyone gets together for a long weekend. warnings: swearing, drinking, mentions of anxiety/depression. word count: 4.9k notes: this is a slight AU I suppose, in the sense that the pandemic doesn’t exist here bc escapism, y’know? basically, this takes place in August 2020, where there was no pause and the season ended normally. also, this is kind of forgetting the fact that Kevin, Brady, and Jimmy didn’t live together during the last season they were all together in New York but whatever. Y/N is also plus sized!! title is from Pretty Please by Dua Lipa. there’s also more notes at the end!

Rain was hitting the windshield, the sky gloomy and grey as leaves on the trees outside the car. At least the weather was playing into your mood.

“Last time I checked, this was the only rain we’re supposed to get all weekend thankfully,” Sophie said from the driver’s seat as she adjusted the speed of the wiper blades. When she glances at you, you force a slight smile, nodding in acknowledgement. She looks like she wants to say something else but doesn’t, and you turn your head to look out the window.

The dread and disinterest swimming in your stomach, the car ride that seemed to go on endlessly reminded you of all the times your mother had driven you to your dad’s during the summers. You’d sat in the passenger seat then just like you are now, anxious, irritated, and on the verge of begging her to turn around.

You hadn’t wanted to come on this trip, knowing it was meant to be a last hurrah of sorts. Thursday to Sunday at a lake with friends sounded great in theory, but the changes that would be happening in the weeks that followed were what scared you. The finality of it all.

“I’m glad you decided to come, Y/N,” Sophie told you, and you could feel her glance at you again. She had been your roommate for almost 10 years now, since the start of college, and she knew you were doing your best not to spiral. 

You opened your mouth, then closed it again, opting to nod like you had earlier as your gaze drifted to your lap. Running your tongue along your teeth, you tried to think of something to say that would ease the tension in the vehicle. Un-crossing your legs, you shift in your seat slightly as you hear Sophie exhale a quiet sigh through her nose.

She knows your feelings aren’t personal, that you’re not blaming her for moving on with her life, but your general sadness about all of it weighed on her either way. She was right there, but that didn’t stop the preemptive pangs of loneliness that hit your stomach.

In the last two years, every person you’d spent most of your time with had left New York, until Sophie was the last one. And in two weeks, you’d be the only one left, leaving you feeling as grey and sad as the weather outside.

After chewing on the inside of your cheek for a while, you pick a piece of invisible lint off the fabric of your shorts. You’d meant to buy new ones before the trip since most of your pants cut into your waist anymore, fueling your self-consciousness. “I’ll...I’m sure I’ll feel a little better once we’re there and I’ve been able to take a nap,” you tell her, trying your best to sound optimistic about it. Blaming your bad mood and distantness on being tired, classic.

Sophie glanced at you and nodded, accepting what you’d said despite knowing you as well as she does.

It would’ve been hard to argue about it, considering you’d both been up before 5am to make this 4 hour drive. You’d left the city around 6, the car packed with the bags for the weekend, plus a good number of totes of Sophie’s stuff for Jimmy to take back to Buffalo with him. There was still about an hour left in the drive, and the iced coffee you’d chugged at the start of the drive had done nothing but make your heart race soar as you fidgeted in your seat.

Sophie had always been the early bird, with the two of you poised to be some of the first people to arrive at the lake. Jimmy and one of his buddies had gotten there last night, with everyone else slated to show up in the early afternoon. The only reason you’d agreed to leave so early was because Sophie promised to let you nap as long as you wanted once you got there. You were grateful that would allow you to avoid people for a while.

For what was left of the drive, Sophie didn’t speak, letting you sit there in your tired sadness as music hummed through the speakers.

When you parked at the massive cabin overlooking a lake that stretched as far as you could see, it was still raining. The sky was just as grey, and it gnawed at you, the perfect cinematic backdrop for what felt like the beginning of the end.

Your mood was sour, and as you unfastened your seatbelt to exit the car, you felt goosebumps rise along your skin even though it was warm out despite the rain. The same worry you’d had the whole drive was still swirling through your head, that your mood and your emotions would put a damper on the trip. You hoped that a nap would help calm those fears.

Jimmy was already on his way out to greet you and Sophie, his smile fixed on your roommate as you open the back door to grab your bag. He approaches with a grin as you’re already making your way toward the cabin. 

“Take any room you want,” he tells you, like he already knows that you’re going for a nap. You salute him in acknowledgement, deciding to greet him better later as he continues on to greet his girlfriend.

Your shirt is covered in raindrops by the time you get inside, glancing around curiously. There’s a couple of people hanging out on the sofas that you don’t recognize, but they wave to you either way then go back to their conversation.

After wandering down the hall, you nudge open a door and decide that the room is good enough. There’s a window looking out over the lake, and even as grouchy and sad as you’re feeling, you know it’ll be a gorgeous view when it’s not so gloomy outside. You close the door behind you and unceremoniously drop your bag on the floor while kicking off your shoes. Collapsing into the middle of the bed, you sigh, running on auto pilot as you pull the blankets over yourself. 

Shifting around slightly, you’re aware of how the shorts are cutting into your waist and your bra is pinching somewhere, but you’re too settled to do anything about it as you stare up at the wood paneled ceiling. The sound of the rain hitting the roof is soothing, and you let out a breath that seemed to have been held since the moment you got in the car.

Your eyes trace the woodgrain, remembering when Sophie told you about Jimmy’s roommates shortly after she got with him, that they were funny, cool guys that she knew you’d get along with. You’d partied with them first, but it turned into movie nights, casual dinners, enjoying the group of newfound friends that you saw several times a week. With how often you ended up hanging out late or bar hopping in their area, the guest room had practically been designated as yours.

Then Kevin was traded to Winnipeg. Then Jimmy was traded to Buffalo. Then Brady was traded to Carolina. Your found family in the city had practically dissolved within a year, and now Sophie was two weeks away from moving to Buffalo.

You knew there was little choice in the matter for anyone really, that it wasn’t their fault, that it was just how worked, but it still hurt, remembering you’d be the last one of the group in New York. You had other friends that you saw every so often, but it didn’t stop how lonely it all made you feel. Being sad about it made you feel selfish, so you buried it behind frequent naps and iced coffee.

Your internal monologue continued until tears stung in your eyes, and you blinked them away, turning on your side as you willed yourself to get some rest.

By the time you woke up, it was mid-afternoon, and you stayed curled up on your side for a moment. Sun was streaming in through the window as you took a deep breath. You could hear people outside, along with splashing from the lake, and when you rolled over, you saw somebody zip past in a jet ski. After a taking a few minutes to scroll through your phone, you finally get up, stretching as you smooth your hair down.

You came out of your room and found Jimmy and Sophie in the kitchen. Yawning as you approached, Sophie smiled.

“Good nap?” she asked knowingly, and you nodded once you were close enough to hug her.

“Yeah, definitely,” you said, arms wrapped around her. She hugged back tightly, rubbing a hand between your shoulder blades before you pulled away. 

You felt better. The nap and the better weather helped kick the sadness out of you. You hated this part, feeling better and realizing how cynical you’d been earlier.

“Good to see you, Slim Jim,” you told Jimmy, hugging him quickly as well. You were happy to see him, deciding to focus on enjoying and savoring the long weekend with everyone instead of being miserable with sadness. Leaning back against the edge of the counter, feeling content, you smile. “Who all showed up when I was out?” 

“Uh, some friends of mine, Derek and Amy, showed up, Kev too, and he brought a friend,” he said, glancing down at the water like he couldn’t even remember who was there. “Brady’s about an hour or so out.”

The three of you chat for a while, catching up since it had been awhile since you’d seen Jimmy. He introduces you to the friends of his that were splitting the cabin for the weekend when they come through, and a moment later, you promise to catch up more later, deciding to head outside for a bit.

Outside, the sun beats down on you but you lift your chin to greet the warmth as you walk. It felt particularly good after the heavy rain of the drive in, the humidity from it clinging to the air still.

Making your way to the dock, someone you hadn’t met is standing there, football in hand. Kevin’s on the back of a jet ski with someone else driving, and it didn’t surprise you at all to see him jump off for the football when the man on the dock through it. No surprise, he missed the ball and landed in the water with a splash, and was already laughing when he resurfaced a moment later.

That’s when he spots you, hand shooting up in a wave with a wide smile. “Heyo!” he yells, already swimming toward the dock. You could hear the excitement in his voice, and nervousness pangs in your stomach.

You had only seen him once since he’d been traded a year and a half ago, when he’d been in town for a game and you hadn’t even realized it. Sophie had invited you out, and there he was, happy as ever to see you. You were grateful that the bar had been loud and that Brady had been occupying most of Kevin’s attention. After a drink and a half and a quick conversation with Sophie, you’d taken off, managing to avoid Kevin other than the hug he’d given you as a greeting.

Since Jimmy and Sophie were together and Brady had Gracia, you and Kevin had been the odd couple out, paired together during group activities. It worked out at least, considering the two of you got along great.u seldom hung out once  When all three of the guys lived together, the two of you always seemed to be the last two up, chatting or finishing a movie even after the others had gone to bed.

It had felt so natural to hook up with Kevin the handful of times it had happened in the months leading up to when he was traded. Each time had been when you were both the last two awake, lingering on the sofa, usually at least a little drunk. It had always been casual, and you told yourself the only reason it happened (and kept happening) were out of convenience. You’d certainly never seemed like his type, considering almost every girl you’d ever seen him talk to at a bar had the same slender build and the confidence that came with it.

You snapped yourself out of the thoughts, and tug at the fabric of your shirt self-consciously, feeling like it’s clinging to all the wrong parts of your body. Kevin’s eyes are on you still as he climbed the ladder to meet you on the dock, making you feel even more aware of yourself. He paused to grab a towel off the rail, rubbing it over his hair, then settling it over his shoulders. His swim shorts hung low on his hips and you force yourself to meet his eye, happy to see that he was smiling widely at you as he approached.

“It’s so good to see you,” he said, sounding as sincere as you could ever imagine. It felt like his smile had grown, and it made it impossible for you not to mirror the expression right back to him. “I’d hug you, but in case you didn’t notice, I was just in the lake.” You had forgotten how deep his voice was, and you tell yourself that it’s the sun that’s making you feel hot all over.

“I’m good with a rain check,” you responded, nodding at him. From the golden tone of his skin, you can tell he’s been outside a lot this summer. He looked great, as always, and you hadn’t expected anything less. 

“Good by me,” he told you with a laugh, bringing a hand out to ruffle your hair in lieu of a hug. You laugh with him, not quick enough to stop him. “How’s life been? Man, I feel like I haven’t seen or heard from you in forever.” You don’t let yourself think about his tone, how he almost sounds a little sad about it.

You shrug quickly in response to his question, still grinning. “Things are okay. Nothing’s really been going on, I guess. I miss you guys though.” Your hand comes up to shield the sun from your eyes, tilting your head up to see him better. He’s so tall that looking at him heads on would have you staring at the bit of hair that covers his chest, at how broad his shoulders are, and you were worried that you’d never stop if you started. “What about you? How’s Philly?” 

“I miss New York, but damn, Philly’s been great, I can’t even lie about it,” he admitted with a bit of a laugh. It was good to know that he’s happy, and you can feel it radiating off of him. “It’s a good city, and a good group of dudes. And this guy, over here,” he paused, voice a little louder as he motions behind him to the guy who’d thrown the football, “is Nolan. We lived together this year.”

Nolan looked at the two of you, holding up a hand to wave before turning his attention back to talking to one of Jimmy’s friends that’s floating in an inner-tube close to the dock. You were both silent for a moment then before whoever was on the jet ski yelled Kevin’s name, waving for him to come back out.

“You should come swim,” Kevin told you, motioning to whoever it was that he’d be there in a minute. 

Your eyebrows rose and you were quick to shake your head, even before self-consciousness dug its claws into you. “Nah, not right now at least,” you said, dismissing the idea with a wave of your hand. “I just came down to say hey, I’m actually going to go chill on the deck and read for a while, I think.”

For a short second, Kevin looked a little disappointed, but he doesn’t say anything about it. He instead nodded, smiling again already as his hand came up to your shoulder. “Yeah, gotcha.” It’s hard to ignore how large his hand is on you, the way he squeezes just slightly, his thumb brushing against your collarbone. “We’ll catch up more later.”

“Yeah, of course,” you told him, doing your best not to lean into his hand. Thankfully, he stepped away before your willpower went out, and you watched as he damn near sprinted back to the edge of the dock, jumping into the water in an effort to splash a friend.

You stopped in the cabin to grab your iPad, and on your way out to the back deck, a girl who introduced herself as Amy put a margarita in your hand and hugged you like she’d known you for years. It was a damn good margarita too, you realized as you settled on a lounge chair, stretching your legs out in front of you.

The rest of the afternoon ticks by easily. The margarita is rather strong, relaxing you into the chair as you read for the next hour and a half until Brady showed up. You’d been able to hear laughter and the occasional shouting from the water every so often, Kevin’s voice usually the loudest. Brady, Sophie, and Jimmy joined you on the deck a while later, and the four of you take the time to catch up a little more and figure out how to spend the next few days.

The sun had just stating to set when pizza arrived for dinner. The air is still warm, and someone was already working on starting a bonfire. Sophie was to your right at the picnic table, a little tipsy as she munched on some garlic bread.

Across the table, Brady was talking about his upcoming nuptials. Gracia hadn’t been able to make it for the trip, but you were glad he’d decided to come. Next to him, Kevin interjected with a dumb comment at one point, making Jimmy snicker.

“By the way, Kev, do you need a plus one? Have you been seeing anybody?” Brady asked, turning his head to look at him rather pointedly. It takes everything you have not to snicker a bit, lifting a slice a pizza to your mouth. 

“Naah, I’m not seeing anyone,” Kevin responded, lifting his shoulders in a shrug. “I’m sure I could find someone to go with, but I haven’t really dated much since Y/N.”

You freeze when he says your name, your mouth already half open to take a bite. What the fuck is he talking about? 

“We never dated,” you said, the words more sharp than you’d meant them to be. Your eyebrows have practically shot up, and you look away from him as an awkward silence hangs over the table for a beat until Sophie exhales a laugh.

Jimmy really came to the rescue by changing the subject, and your cheeks were burning by the time you met Kevin’s eye again. He actually looked a little amused, but rather than making you feel relieved, it makes heat curl down your spine. 

By the time it was completely dark, part of the group had settled on the sofa and chairs in the living room to watch a movie, while others decided to go on late ride on the lake. It was still plenty warm out, and you’d really hit a stride in the book you’d been working on, so you ended up back in the same chair you’d spent most afternoon in. The line of string lights gives the deck a nice glow to it, and you can hear the buzz of the TV in the living room.

The sliding glass door opens then closes, at you look up to see Kevin walking towards you.

“Is the movie no good?” you asked, tilting your head as you look at him. He had a beer in one hand and a hard cider in the other that he offered to you. The fact that he recognized your favorite brand in the fridge made you smile as you thanked him quietly for it.

“Movie’s fine, just thought I’d come see if you wanted to go for a walk or go hang by the water,” he responded, shrugging as he took a sip from the beer still in his hand.

“Uh, yeah, sure.” You shrugged back at him, flashing a grin as you got to your feet. Leaving your iPad on the seat for the time being, you follow him to the stairs, then down the trail to the dock.

“How are things in New York?” Kevin asked after a moment’s silence, and you glance up at him with a skeptical look.

“I thought we talked about this earlier,” you counter, taking a sip of your drink. He scoffed, shrugging beside you as the pair of you started down the dock.

“Yeah, I guess we did, really, how are things?” Kevin’s voice was lower this time, making your back straighten when he looked at you again. “How are you?”

You weren’t expecting such a direct question, and you’re grateful to deflect it for even a moment longer as you take the time kick off your shoes and sit on the edge of the dock. An answer still hasn’t found you, so you take a drink instead of speaking. Kevin watched you all the while as he sat next to you, making self-awareness prickle at the base of your neck.

“Life’s fucking weird right now,” you admit finally, looking at the reflection of the moon on the water. “And it actually kind of fucking sucks too.” Kevin doesn’t respond right away, but when you took a deep breath, his elbow nudged yours lightly.

“You’ll get through it,” he assured you, with such sureness in his voice that you looked at him with a warm smile.

“I know I will. It’s just hard, but I’m dramatic, so of course it feels like the end of an era or something.” Your shoulders rise then fall in a shrug, still looking at him. “And then I feel selfish for even feeling that way to begin with. I know it wasn’t your choice to leave, or Brady’s, or Jimmy’s. I’m trying not to let myself be too sad about it.” You were surprised that your voice remained even as you spoke.

The words hang in the air and Kevin nodded, bring a hand up to touch the back of your shoulder. You feel warm all over as his fingers splay over your upper back, and you find yourself biting the edge of your tongue when tears sting in your eyes. 

“I was sad about leaving too. I knew I’d miss the guys, that I’d miss you, but that’s what makes trips like these nice, getting to catch up and just hang out for a few days,” he said finally, his hand still on your shoulder when he met your eye. “I’m honestly surprised you’re not following Sophie to Buffalo.”

Your nose scrunched at the thought and you shook your head, exhaling a quick laugh. “I honestly thought about it, but I know she’s excited to be moving in with him, and I don’t want her to feel like she has to always keep me company or something,” you explained, peeling at the edge of the label on your bottle with your thumbnail. You weren’t sad enough about being alone in New York to justify moving upstate, you knew that much.

“Philly’s not far from New York, y’know. You can always come hang with me and Nolan, and I know there’s a few other guys on the team you’d have a good time with,” Kevin offered, taking a long swig of his beer as his hand finally fell from your shoulder. “Or I could visit you. We could go to that one bakery you like so much, watch movie or TV all day, just kind of chill.”

A wide smile spread across your face. “Yeah, I’d like that,” you said, taking the chance to nudge him with your elbow. Kevin nodded, still grinning as he nudged you right back. It felt good to be talking to him, to have him close enough to smell his cologne for the first time in a year and a half.

There was another pause, and you both took a drink, the sound of frogs and crickets hanging around you.

“Sorry for putting you on the spot like that at dinner. It was meant to be a joke,” he said finally, taking another drink to finish off the bottle. You glance up at him and it almost looked like he was blushing a bit over it.

Scoffing, you shake your head. “Don’t worry about it, but Kev, you know we never dated,” you told him, laughing as you finish off your own drink.

“We kind of did!” he responded, laughing with you. “We went out plenty of times!”

“Dude, texting me ‘hey, are you hungry?’ at 11pm, then going to a 24 hour diner does not count as a date.” You snorted, shaking your head. When he caught your eye, he was smiling almost bashfully.

“Okay, fine,” he conceded, holding your gaze. “The next time we go on a date, I’ll make sure you’re aware of it, deal?”

Your response is to laugh again, nodding and looking away this time. The way he’s looking at you makes you feel like you’re back on the sofa in their old apartment at 2am. A chill ran down you and you exhaled a breathe, watching the way the water rippled as a breeze swept through.

“I’m really did miss you,” Kevin told you, and from the corner of your eye, you know he was watching you again. Nervousness plucked along the back of your neck, and you kept your eyes on the water. “Like, way more than I miss Jimmy and Brady, honestly.” You don’t fully believe him, but either way, the sentiment makes your heart ache. 

With your jaw clenched, you exhaled a breath as your eyes burned with the threat of tears. “I missed you most too,” you assured him, swallowing the lump in your throat. 

“Good.” He paused, tilting his head up to look at the stars for a moment. “Can we watch season two of Fleabag sometime this weekend?” Kevin looked at you a second later and blinked as you laughed.

“Yeah, of course. That’s an oddly specific request,” you said, letting your eyes move over the lines of his face as he shrugged.

“I haven’t watched it yet, I was waiting until I could watch it with you.” His words made you blink, and your throat swelled, hating this rush of emotions now that you’d felt happier for most of the day. You didn’t really know what to say, so you just nodded again, suddenly feeling the urge to lean into him to bury your face in his neck comfortably.

A few months before he had been traded, you’d started the first season at 1:30am after a night of drinking. Brady had been at Gracia’s, and Jimmy and Sophie hadn’t even made it through the first episode. Considering the season consisted of six 25 minute episodes, it was easy for you and Kevin to stay up and watch the entire first season, curled up together on the couch.

You and Kevin had spent the following half hour making out like teenagers until he absolutely begged you to come to bed with him. Feeling heat beside your thighs, you now wish you had said yes, just to have that extra memory.

The two of you spend the next several minutes in silence, sitting side by side on the dock in the dark. You can hear music playing from the cabin behind you and the murmur of voices surrounding the fire pit that was a dozen feet away. Your heart was racing as you fidgeted after a while, trying to ignore the feelings for him that you had buried when he was traded that were now bubble at the surface.

Eventually, Kevin mentioned going up to the house for more drinks, and you agreed, getting to your feet with a sigh. You looked up at him briefly, then toward the house behind you.

“Before we head up, can I cash in my rain check for that hug from earlier?” he asked, running a hand over his hair as he watched you.

“Yeah, of course,” you responded, smiling widely as you walked into the arms he held open for you. 

You let out a breathe as he hugged you tightly, your face pressed into his chest. He smelled as good as he always did, and warmth of his hand rubbing over your back had you relaxing into him. Your fingers curl in the fabric of his shirt when he kissed the side of your head once, then a second time. 

“It’s gonna be a good weekend, yeah?” he murmured, the words muffled against your hair. It took everything you had not to shiver against him, and you nodded, happy to keep yourself nuzzled securely against him for a while longer. 

A FEW MORE NOTES: Well, this fic feels a lot more emotional than I’m used to writing, and it’s one of those things that I really like where I’m heading with this, but I worry about it seeming whiny or wishy-washy, but here it is anyway. How typical of me to vanish for months, then show up with a new story when everyone’s been waiting for Bring You Back to Me’s next chapter 😂 I love whoever of you are still reading at this point, and I hope you enjoy this fic. I loved the first part, but I’m so not used to writing anymore and that, paired with my ever present self-doubt, I’m like “is this fic good at all??? let’s fucking see!!!” and here we are 🤷🏻‍♀️

FRIDAY

[hopelikethemoon]

Muted Worries (Javier x Reader) {MTMF}

Title: Muted Worries Rating: PG-13 Length: 1900 Warnings: Post-Partum Depression, discussion of post-pregnancy body changes, and lots and lots of ANGST.  Notes: You can find everything about Maybe Today, Maybe Forever here. Set in 1997 about two weeks after Sofía‘s birth. I literally wish I could see this chapter as a scene, because the emotions hurt while writing this.  Summary: Reader grapples with her emotions and worries. 

@grapemama​​ @seawhisperer​​ @huliabitch​​ @beccaplaying​​ @thewallpapergoesorido​​ @twomoonstwosuns​​ @gooddaykate​ @livasaurasrex​​ @ham4arrow​​ @plexflexico​​ @readsalot73​​ @hdlynn​​ @lokiaddicted​​ @randomness501​​ @fioccodineveautunnale​​  @roxypeanut​​ @snivellusim​​ @lukesrighthand​​ @historynerd04 @mrsparknuts​​ @awesomefandomsunited​​ @behindmyeyes-insidemyhead​​ @exrebelshocktrooper​​ @synystersilenceinblacknwhite​​ @ah-callie​​ @swhiskeys​​ @exrebelshocktrooper​​ @u-wakatoshii​ @space-floozy​​ @cable-kenobi​​ @cool-ultra-nerd​​ @himbopoes​​ @findhimfives​​ @pedrosdoll​​ @frietiemeloen​​ @arrowswithwifi​​  @cinewhore​​ @random066​​ @uncomicalhumour​​ @heather-lynn​​ @domino-oh-damn​​ @cyarikaaa​​ @ahopelessromanticwritersworld​ @im-still-a-pieceofgarbage @ksgeekgirl​​ @yabby-girl​​ @xqueenofthecraziesx​ @punkass-potato​​ @coredrive​​ @pascalesque​​ @theduchessofkirkcaldy​​ @queenquazar​​ @sabinemorans​​ @buckstaposition​ @holkaskrosnou​ @yespolkadotkitty​​@seeking-a-great–perhaps @kochamcie​​ @jaime1110​​ @katlikeme​

Josie was obsessed with her sister. If Chucho was holding Sofía, Josie was perched on the chair beside him; if Javier was carrying her around, Josie was right underfoot; and if you were feeding her, Josie was there asking you to hold the bottle. 

You wished you could harness her enthusiasm and feel something. But you couldn’t. You brushed it off as lingering exhaustion, a sort of fatigue that ran straight to the core of your being. 

Everything hurt. Worse than it had with Josie. Or at least, worse than you remembered. Sofía was smaller than her sister and yet it felt like you’d given birth to a water buffalo, instead of a baby. 

No one ever talked about how miserable women felt after childbirth — and it wasn’t like you could even complain about it to Connie. You already felt guilty enough for feeling miserable. Like you were a bad mother for being disinterested in everything. 

Maybe it was the medicine they had you on. You’d tried to avoid prescriptions your entire life — for obvious reasons — but this was one you couldn’t avoid. 

The fact that you couldn’t feed your daughter was probably another part of it. And pumping a dozen times a day, only to send it down the drain was a depressing venture. No one talked about how much this shit fucked a woman up. No one. 

“Hey—“ Javier started as he walked into the bedroom. 

“Knock much?” You snapped. 

Javier froze and you watched as the warmth faded from his expression, “Shit. I’ll come back.” He muttered as he moved to retreat from the room. 

“Just stay.” You said with a beleaguered sigh as you shut off the machine, unscrewing the full bottle and sitting it aside on the nightstand. “Sorry.”

“I can go.” Javier offered, not quite meeting your eyes as he looked across the room at you. 

“You’re already here, just stay.”

You readjusted the pump on your other breast, attaching the second bottle before turning the machine back on. The quiet whirring filled the uncomfortable silence that had settled between you. 

Javier lingered by the door, like he was planning for a quick escape. You couldn’t even blame him. None of this was worth the hassle. 

“Pops thought it might be nice if we got out of the house and went to the beach this evening.” He suggested, rubbing his lips together as he glanced at you. 

“I’ll see if I’m up to it.” You winced when the suction of the pump pinched your skin. “Shit.”

“Do you need—“

“I’ve got it.” You waved him off as you shut the pump off and pulled it off your breast, causing a little milk to spill. “Actually, can you grab me the towel?” You pointed to the hand towel sitting on the foot of the bed. 

Javier closed the distance between the two of you, snatching the towel off the bed and passing it to you. “How are you feeling?”

You rolled your eyes, “Like shit.” You wiped off your breast, sitting the towel aside as you gestured to the full bottle. “Can you throw it away? I don’t want to see it.”

“Of course,” He said softly, leaning down to kiss the top of your head, before taking the bottle into the bathroom to get rid of it. 

It was fucking defeating. 

“Are the stitches still bothering you?” Javier questioned as he stepped back into the bedroom with the empty bottle. 

You shrugged, hooking the machine back up to finish pumping your left breast. “They’re itchy.”

Javier hesitantly perched on the edge of the bed, reaching out to rest his hand on your leg. “That means they’re healing.” He reminded you. 

“I know.” You nodded slowly as you watched the milk drip into the bottle. “I hate this, Javi.” 

He squeezed your leg, “You still gonna try to hold out until you can breastfeed?”

“I don’t know,” You admitted, chewing on your bottom lip. You hated feeling weak and this shit made you feel like you were frail and stupid. Crying over not being able to feed your child. No one understood. “We’ll see.”

“I’m, uh… I’m sorry for barging in.” Javier said quietly, his brows drawn together as he looked down at where his hand was resting on your leg. “I should’ve knocked.”

“It’s fine.” You told him with a tightlipped smile. “It’s not really that big of a deal.” You reached down to catch his hand, giving it a little squeeze. “The beach sounds nice. Even if I don’t go, you and your dad should go. He’s been cooped up here for too long.” 

“He’s gonna stay another week,” Javier informed, his jaw working slowly as he looked down at where your hands were. “Then he’ll be out of our hair and things can go back to normal.”

Normal. 

Did you even remember what normal was? Had you felt like this with Josie? You didn’t think you had — you hadn’t exactly had the privilege of falling apart when you were in Colombia. 

What was normal? 

“Yeah.” You nodded, sitting up a little straighter then as you held out the second filled bottle, “Do you mind?”

“Of course not.” Javier clicked his tongue against his teeth and took the bottle from you. He was in the bathroom longer this time — quiet. 

When he emerged with the rinsed out bottle, his eyes looked red, but you didn’t have the energy to care. You barely had the energy to care about anything these days. 

“You gonna stay in here?” Javier questioned, shifting anxiously from foot-to-foot as he stood at the end of the bed, not quite meeting your gaze. 

“I need my heating pad.” You answered, sliding your legs over the side of the bed, wiggling your toes as you pressed your feet to the floor. “I’ll come out there.”

Javier pulled open the door and held it open for you as you wrapped your throw around your shoulders and made your way towards him. 

“Hey,” You whispered, stopping in front of him. 

“Yeah?” He arched a brow. 

“I love you.” You told him gently, reaching out to brush your knuckles against his cheek, leaning in to press a kiss to his lips, before making your way out the door. 

“Mommy!” Josie cheered, as you stepped into the family room. “Sissy burped big!”

“Did she?” You laughed softly, summoning as much enthusiasm as you could for her benefit. “Did your abuelo feed her good?”

You caught sight of the wary look Chucho gave Javier as his eyes shifted between the two of you. But he was quick to put whatever that was aside when he met your gaze. 

“She ate like a prize calf,” He remarked, cradling her to his chest as she fussed at the new commotion in the family room. “How are you feeling, chica?”

You sank down on the sofa and adjusted the heating pad over your stomach, “Cramping.” You offered with a shrug. “And tired.” 

“Can I kiss it better?” Josie asked innocently as she crouched down next to the sofa. 

“It might work,” You intoned, playing with her curls. 

“O-Tay, mommy!” Josie leaned over you and pressed a kiss to your stomach. “All better!”

You smiled at her and echoed, “All better!” 

Josie giggled, before prancing across the family room to the armchair where Chucho was sitting. “Sissy! You gots to get bigger so you’re more fun.” 

You tilted your head to look behind you, catching Javier’s gaze. You wished you knew what was going on behind those stormy looks, but you weren’t certain you could stomach more guilt. You knew it wasn’t fair to make him bottle it all up — but you couldn’t do it. 

Javier rested his hand on the arm of the sofa, leaning over you. 

“What are you doing?” You laughed, a genuine laugh that made your heart warm. You reached up and played your fingers through his hair. “Hi.”

“Hi.” He breathed out as he peppered a line of soft kisses along your jaw, before his breath warmed your cheek by your ear. “I love you too.” Javier murmured and you swore you felt a tear slide down his cheek and land on yours, before it fell into your hair. 

 ——

 “How was the beach?” You questioned sleepily as the bathroom light cut into the darkness of the bedroom and woke you up. 

“Good.” Javier offered, shutting off the light and making his way through the darkness. “Didn’t mean to wake you.”

“It’s alright.” You assured him, rubbing at your eyes as they adjusted to the lack of light. “What time is it?”

“Just after nine.” He answered as the bed dipped behind you. “I fed Sofía.”

You reached out and ran your hand down his back, “Thank you.” 

“Of course.” Javier sighed heavily and you listened to the sound of his watch dropping onto the nightstand, before he settled down on the bed beside you. “How was your evening alone?”

“I got two children cleaned, dressed, and down before eight.” You grinned, even though he couldn’t see you. “An achievement.” You stretched your leg out beneath the covers, running your foot along his calf. “What’d you do?”

“Let Stevie run around the beach,” He explained, shifting closer to you. “Took pops down to the icecream shop on the boardwalk.”

“Ohh. Now you’re making me sad I didn’t go.” You shifted closer to him too, draping your arm over his chest. 

“It was good.” Javier clicked his tongue against his teeth. “Pops used to take me out on this one stretch of road when we had our serious talks. Beach doesn’t have the same feel.”

Your heart clenched in your chest. “Is Chucho alright?” You remembered all the times Javier used to talk about those long talks with his father. 

“Hmm?” Javier sniffed. “Yeah, he’s good. Fucker’s gonna outlive both of us and the girls, I bet.” 

“Oh.” You chewed on your bottom lip. “Well that’s good.” 

Javier curled his fingers around your hand, squeezing it three short times. “There’s nothing to worry about, baby. We just used the time to talk. Father to son.”

“That’s good.” You mustered up just enough conviction in your voice to mask the way your nerves were settling in. You remembered Javier telling you about the time Chucho took him out on a drive to talk about how foolish he was for asking Lorraine to marry him. 

Were you some mistake Chucho wanted to lecture him on? The thought didn’t make sense — you were pretty sure Chucho liked you more than Javier. But those fears still crept into your mind, nevertheless. 

“I bet Stevie enjoyed getting two hours of free beach access.” 

Javier hummed in agreement, “She crashed on her bed as soon as we got home.” 

You smiled to yourself as you molded your body against the side of his, wanting that skin-to-skin contact wherever you could get it. To hold onto him as tight as you could. 

“Javier?”

“Hmm?” He ran his hand down your back. “What is it, baby?”

“We’re good, right?” You whispered so quietly you weren’t sure if he could even hear you or not. 

Javier pulled you in even closer to him, wrapping both of his arms around you. “Of course we are, baby.” He pressed a kiss to your forehead at your hairline. “You should go back to sleep. Two will get here soon.” 

“Yeah.” You breathed out, pressing your face into the crook of his neck. How were you supposed to sleep, now that you had something new to worry about? 

But even then, those worries felt muted in comparison to everything else. 

[almostkoo]

How Not to Train Your Dragon | Kim Namjoon

pairings: kim namjoon x oc

summary: getting placed with a familiar creates a sacred bond but when your familiar despises you with a passion the hoops you’ll jump through to patch things up will lead you on a journey

word count: 2.1k

warnings: language (as always), 1 (one) death threat, oc & namjoon got more beef than wendys, i swear one day i’ll write them being friendly .. but it is not today 🤡

author’s notes: day four !! of spooktober! getting these stories out back to back have been challenging but i’ve been having fun with this and i hope you guys are enjoying my stories ! we’re almost done :)

link to my main masterlist

The sweet smells of your workshop swirled around in the air as you bustled around over your cauldron, dropping things in and stirring around every so often. You were focused on the potion that had been taking you months to master. Shrinking potions were always hard to do, anything with changing anatomy was always hard to do. What made things worse was that potions were never your strongest area.

Stirring the lime green substance around you looked around at the shelves around you trying to find the one last ingredient you’d need for this and you’d be sure it would tie this potion all together.

The Water Buffalo’s tooth was placed on the shelf to your left in a transparent pink jar. Keeping an eye on the cauldron you started side stepping in an attempt to reach for the tooth. Your hand remained on the handle of the ladle you were using to stir. Fingertips barely ghosting the jar at all you didn’t know what to do. If you tried levitating it towards you there was a chance you would accidentally release the jar from it’s hold and drop it. If that Water Buffalo’s tooth hits the ground it’s gonna be of no use. You let out a sigh doing something you dreaded to do.

“Namjoon? Can you come help me in here please?” you called.

Every witch had a familiar, yours so happened to be Namjoon. It was bad enough he seemed like he hated you the moment his sharp, slit frosty blue eyes laid on you. He was a dragon too. The most hardest to deal with of all the supernatural beings. Namjoon was stubborn, arrogant and stand offish. You hated having to deal with him for prolonged amounts of time.

The curtain to enter your workshop pushed to the side and in came Namjoon, his grown out purple tresses hung wildly around his face.

“What do you want?” he asked, arms crossed.

“Can you please hand me the Water Buffalo’s tooth, it’s right there on the shelf in the pink jar I just can’t reach it.” you asked. Namjoon snickered at you.

“You can’t just make it fly over to you?” he waved his fingers around mockingly.

“Don’t you think if I could I would. If I do I could risk dropping it. If I drop it I’m going to have to travel just about half way up the mountains again to get another one and I really don’t want to do that.”

“That’s too bad. Figure something out. If you need me, which I hope you don't, I'll be out front handling your store while you squander ingredients trying to be a potions master.” Namjoon turned on his heels and stepped back out of your workshop. You felt a hot tear start rolling down your cheek. Quickly, wiping it away with your free hand. You straightened up, reaching out your hand to summon the tooth to you. Multitasking between that and stirring you looked out of the corner of your eye, watching the jar slowly float to you. The cauldron started bubbling and you looked away from the floating jar. When suddenly you hear the glass shatter, you looked down at the floor where the Water Buffalo tooth laid useless. Fighting back the urge to cry some more. You waved your hand freezing the potion in place. You walked towards the door to your workshop grabbing your cloak on the way out.

Namjoon looked up from the book he was reading. He snapped it close, the sound making you jump and stop in your tracks.

“Where are you going ? Thought you had a potion to finish.” He said.

“I dropped the Water Buffalo’s tooth on the ground, I can’t use it anymore. I’m gonna hike up the mountains to get another one.” You said, pressing the door open to the shop to exit. You were walking down the road in the direction of the mountains. Loud footsteps came from behind you, not even bothering to turn around you knew who was following you.

“Why are you following me Namjoon?” You sighed.

“I can’t let you just go off into the woods alone. Why don’t you let me fly you up there? It's going to take you hours to get up there and that’s if you don’t rest and power through.”

Not many things scared you. That’s something you learned early into your existence. Until you met Namjoon, then you realized heights and Namjoon’s dragon form was two of the only things that truly shook you to the core. Them put together you couldn’t just handle it it was too much.

“I don’t like heights and you know that.” You kept walking forward, dreading the trip up the mountains. A shot of fire blasted straight past your shoulder. You jumped back out of the way, whipping around to look at Namjoon who blew a puff of smoke out of his mouth.

“Namjoon? Are you serious? Did you just try and burn me?” You questioned. Namjoon let out a loud sigh, dropping his shoulders.

“Come on y/n. Please let me fly you up the mountain. I don’t wanna do this walk either! I still have to protect you and assist you. Stop being so damn stubborn.” Namjoon hissed at you.

“Me being stubborn you’ve got to be kidding me.” You shook your head, turning back around to continue walking.

“Y/n if you want you can close your eyes. I fly quickly, we’ll be there before you know it.” He pleaded.

“No Namjoon” you snapped. “I don’t care if my eyes are closed! I don’t care if I had soundproof headphones so I won’t feel the wind rush into my ears! I don’t care if I have on mitts so I won’t feel your rough ass scales on my hands! You’re NOT flying me up the mountain.” You yelled.

“I hate dealing with you.” You heard Namjoon mumble.

“I fucking hate dealing with you too, you aren’t special.”

Hour One

Somewhere during the first 30 mins of the hike up the mountains Namjoon’s airpods found their way into his ears. His loud rapping filling up the quiet air, annoying you very quickly. You scanned the ground as you continued walking until you saw a small pebble. Stopping in your tracks you picked it up, turning around in one swift move throwing it right at Namjoon’s chest. He flinched back in pain, snatching an airpod out of his ear.

“What the fuck is the matter with you?” His eyes narrowed at you.

“Cut it out with all that loud ass rapping. I don’t wanna hear that shit!” You shouted.

“So what you’re gonna assault me with fucking rocks?”

“If I could levitate a boulder and get away with crushing you to death I would. But I can’t so the pebble will have to suffice.”

“You wouldn’t kill me.” Namjoon said smugly.

“Don’t tempt me.” You stated, sternly. Your cold stare peering into Namjoon’s eyes. He rolled his eyes and looked away. Muttering a soft “Whatever” under his breath.

You continued moving up the mountains and Namjoon resumed rapping out loud.

Conjuring up a pair of earbuds to listen to your music from your own phone. Seeing that your device was on 25% you hoped to the heavens your phone would at least get you the full trip up the mountains. You couldn’t even conjure up a portable charger because you know you would’ve managed to electrocute your hands … again.

Hour Two

The 25% did not last the complete trip up the mountains. Leaving you once again to listen to Namjoon’s loud rapping up the mountains. Slowly you found yourself getting irritated again. Scanning for another pebble you found a slightly bigger one than last time. You picked it up, tossing it up in your hand a few times to feel the weight of it. You turned around like a pitcher aiming to throw the pebble at Namjoon again, he attempted to dodge it, he missed it but his phone in his hand didn’t. It fell underneath the small rock, the now dark screen had a visible crack in it. You could see the smoke leave Namjoon’s nostrils.

“Y/n” Namjoon hissed. “You did not just do that.”

“Oh, but I did.” You said, in a saccharine tone.

“Why would you do that? You keep acting like a fucking caveman. You could’ve just asked me to stop rapping out loud.” He scoffed.

“I’m acting like a caveman? Says the giant lizard. You’ve got to be kidding me.” You muttered.

“If I’m a giant lizard why are you afraid of me then?” Namjoon taunted.

“I’m not afraid of you. I’m afraid of flying.”

“Well if you’re not afraid of me then I guess you won’t mind if I stretch my wings and trot around then until we get to the top of the mountain then.” You quickly turned around, spotting Namjoon’s blue scales appearing all over his arms.

“CUT IT OUT! I’M SERIOUS!” You yelled. Namjoon started cackling. You felt yourself getting angry. It wasn’t funny that you were scared. You could quite piece exactly why you were scared of Namjoon. But you knew you were and that was enough.

“Namjoon don’t talk to me for the rest of this hike. I swear to the heavens if you don’t you won’t speak again unless I want you to.”

“But y/n come on-“ You turned, waving your hand, binding Namjoon’s lips together.

“That’s enough out of you for now.”

Hour Three

The rest of the hike up the mountains was pretty peaceful. Quiet and serene, except for the small sounds of nature here and there. Water running in a creek, birds chirping, animals running over leaves. The only non nature sound was the occasional grunt from Namjoon.

Soon you found yourself met right with a board of Water Buffalos. You searched around. The tooth you needed was from a special specific silver Water Buffalo, that made whoever wanted its teeth solve riddles. You found it in the back of the hoard. Bumping in between the Water Buffalos you stood in front of the silver one, taking a bow and waiting for it to speak to you.

“How could I be of service to you child?” the Water Buffalo hummed.

“I need another tooth … please.” You said.

“To receive one of my teeth, you must answer a riddle correctly. You may only have one chance. Are you ready ?” It asked you. You nodded.

“This number added to it's square, and the digits of that summation added together, bring it back to itself. What is it?” It questioned. Your mind went blank and then filled itself with confusion.

“I thought I was supposed to be answering a riddle. Is that a math question?”

“It is indeed a riddle.”

You were stumped. You couldn’t tell if this was going to be one of those twisted riddles that had some philosophical meaning or just one straight forward. You started thinking deeply when that was interrupted by Namjoon’s grunting. You looked at him. He pointed at his mouth in frustration. You waved your hand removing the binding.

“What is it? You better have something useful to bring to the conversation.”

“I have the answer. I do.” He stated, eyes big and his smile wide, deep dimples indenting his cheeks.

“Namjoon, I swear if you say something incorrect and I can’t get this tooth.” You rubbed your temples.

“I’m not stupid. I know this one. I swear, let me answer it.” Your eyes scanned Namjoon’s face trying to see if there was any indication of him lying or being uncertain and you couldn’t see any. You really hoped he didn’t fuck this up.

“Fine answer it. But I swear if you fuck this up I will never forget it. When I finally master this potion I’m going to shrink you down and keep you in a jar for the rest of your days.” You stated, sternly.

“3. 3 squared is 9. 3+9=12. Take the two digits of the summation and add them; 1+2=3. In short; 3-9-12-3. This can also work with the number 0 and 9.” Namjoon said, proudly. Hands on his hips and puffing out his chest like a superhero that just saved the day.

The Water Buffalo hummed in approval. Before opening his mouth and dropping out one single tooth.

“Thank you. Thank you so much.” You smiled, bending over and picking up the tooth. Wrapping it gently in a cloth and placing it in your bag. You bumped your way back through the hoard and started your way back down the mountain.

“So what, you aren’t going to thank me?” Namjoon called from behind you.

“Jesus. Fuck. Thanks Namjoon. Are you happy?” You snapped.

“Yes actually I am. Thank you.”

“You are so annoying I can’t wrap my head around it.”

“Thank you.” Namjoon smiled. You looked at him as he poked his cheeks right in his dimples. You shook your head laughing.

One would say you and your familiar have a dysfunctional relationship. Maybe one day it would change maybe one day it wouldn’t. You’d work through it any way it went.

[atlafan]

Take it Slow - Part Four

a/n: okay this is my first shot at a harry:y/n fic, and it will be multiple parts. y/n had a bad experience with an ex over a year ago, and finally accepts her coworker and good friend Niall’s invitation to go on a blind date with his friend Harry. 

(Fluffy part....and I will give a bit of a trigger warning here, y/n mentions abuse from an ex. This is sort of a short part, I part five is long and I promise it delivers on the smut. )

Part One Part Two Part Three

You left work a little early Wednesday. You had been marinating your cauliflower since the morning. But you wanted to make everything perfect for Harry. You put a table cloth over your small table, and added a single candle. You plated up your buffalo cauliflower. You spooned some blue cheese into a small bowl. You knew he wouldn’t eat it, but you needed it for yourself. You also put out some celery and carrots. You put a bottle of voka and some tonic out. Drinking on a work night wasn’t something you did often, but you knew vodka wouldn’t leave you with a hangover. He texts you letting you know he’s downstairs. You buzz him in and open your door.

“Love?” You hear him say.

“In the kitchen!” You yelp. He walks in. He’s wearing those black ripped jeans again. You can slightly see his thigh tattoo. The black t-shirt he’s wearing is slightly tattered too. You notice he took his boots off at the door.

He comes right up to you, and takes you in for a hug, he simply hold you for a few moments, and sighs happily.

“Y’alright?”

“Yeah, just a long day. Sorry for my appearance, I didn’t want to be late, and stupid me forgot to pack extra clothes.”

“You look fine. Sit, dinner’s ready.” You smile. He sits down at the table, and you hand him a serving utensil so he can take as much as he wants.

“This smells great, (y/n).”

“Thanks, it’s my own sauce recipe. It’s vegan, but the blue cheese isn’t.” You laugh.

“No worries, I don’t need it anyways.” He pops a smaller piece of cauliflower into his mouth, and nearly chokes. “Holy shit, this is spicy. Well done.” He takes a sip of the glass of water you left for him. You both decide you don’t need the alcohol tonight. You’re secretly thankful.

“I had some extra strawberries, no chocolate though.” You say after finishing dinner, bringing a bowl of strawberries to the table.

“Oh, thanks. Another thing I forgot about, bringing dessert.”

“Harry, it’s okay.” You look over at your couch. “Come on, let’s go sit down and get comfy, and you can tell me about your day.”

He grabs the bowl of strawberries and places it on your coffee table. Before you sit he grabs your wrist.

“Would it be alright if we, like, cuddled?” He looks at you with tired eyes.

“Of course.” Your heart flutters.

He lays on the couch, resting up against the pillow on the end near the armrest. You place your body on his, and he runs his hand across your back. He lets out another happy sigh.

“So how was your day?”

“Stressful.”

“I gathered. What happened?”

“Just these people I was working with, they didn’t understand my vision, and we kept fighting. It took nearly three hours to get two decent shots. Finally, they understood where I was going with it and let me do my thing. It was exhausting.”

“I’m sorry.” You nuzzled into his chest. You felt like you could fall asleep. Before you knew it, you heard light snores. You looked up and saw Harry’s eyes closed, and lips parted. You smiled at the beautiful site. You soon drifted off as well.

“Oh shit.” You awake to him rustling underneath you.

“Mm, what time is it?” You press into his chest.

“Only around eight-thirty. We slept for like two hours.”

“Must’ve needed it.”

“Love, I hate to move you, but I desperately need a wee.”

“Oh!” You immediately get off him. He goes down the hall to the half bath. You go use your bathroom as well.

He gets back to the couch first. Confused that you’re not there, but realized you probably needed a wee as well. He smiles at you as you come sauntering back in. You sit down next to him, and you both put your feet on the coffee table, his hanging over the other side. He really is tall. You grab the remote and turn the TV on. He puts an arm around you, and snuggle into him.

“Right, what are we watching?”

“How do you feel about Chopped?”

“Love it.” You smile, beaming up at him. You stretched your neck out and winced. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, just think there’s a little kink in my neck from how we fell asleep is all.”

“Damn, that’s my fault. Want me t’rub it?”

“That would be great.”

You two adjust yourselves so he has his back against the arm rest, and you sitting between his long legs. His soft touch feels amazing on your neck and shoulders. You lean back further into him, and let out a small moan as he massages out a particular knot in the back of neck.

“Ugh, that feels so good Harry.” He adjusts himself a little, and continue to rubs your neck. His legs tighten around yours a little. You realize now what you’re doing to him, and you feel bad, honestly. You think of what you and Niall talked about the other night, but you still feel like you’re not ready. Harry lightly taps your shoulders and presses a kiss to the back of your head.

You move your arm to hook around him so you can give his hair a gentle squeeze. He presses his hips to your back side and feel him twitch against you. His hands slide down your arms and wrap around your waist. He kisses you on the cheek, down your jaw, and then down to your neck. He doesn’t waste any time to get your skin between his teeth. You lean back as far as you can into him. His hands move up your stomach a little, and stop just below your breasts. You want to give him the go ahead to touch you, but you don’t speak up.

You’re too busy practically panting from the way he’s sinking into your skin. He’s trying to show what he can do with his mouth, he has to be. You find yourself suddenly on your feet.

“Sorry, did I…did I do something wrong?” He puts his hands up. “Did I leave too big of a mark last time?”

“No, no. It’s not you, Harry. I just think, you know, it’s a work night, and I have to be up early. So I think we should stop that for tonight.”

“I barely even got to kiss you.” He says looking at you with big eyes, and his bottom lip jutting out in the cutest pout you’ve ever seen. It breaks your heart. “Can I see ya Friday night?” You sigh in relief that he’s not mad.

“Yes, of course.” He stands up and takes you in his arms. You look up at him and kiss him. He kisses you back, but only for a minute. He presses his forehead to yours.

“I know it’s only been a couple of weeks, but you’re doing something to me. I can’t quite explain it, but I like the way I feel when I’m with you.” You could keel over. A man had never been so honest with you.

“I like the way I feel when I’m with you too, Harry.”

With that he gives you one more squeeze and he’s out the door. You groan to yourself. You know you’re doing what’s best, but you just want to let him ravage you.

Harry speeds quickly to Niall’s, and lets himself in. Niall is sat on his couch in his boxers with a pint of ice cream.

“Uh, hey man?”

“Sorry for just barging in so late.”

“Did you see (y/n)?”

“Yeah.” He paces across the room and runs his hands through his hair. “We had a really nice and relaxing night, and then I did what I always do, I took it too far. But I couldn’t help it!”

“What happened?”

“I was giving her a neck rub, and it was strictly to help her out, nothing sexual. Then she moaned out ‘oh Harry that feels so good’, and I, well you know how it is when a girl says something like that.”

“So, what happened?”

“Well, she let me kiss on her, and I thought she was into it, and then all of a sudden she was telling me it was getting late. I feel terrible. I wish she felt like she could talk me through whatever happened to make her feel so uncomfortable.”

“Harry,” Niall starts, putting his ice cream down. “Listen, I can’t tell ya everything, but she has a valid reason for wanting to take it slow. If it makes you feel better, she’s really battlin’ with herself over it. She wants to give you more, but she’s scared.”

“Of me?”

“No, she’s actually amazed by you. She said it was refreshing that you’re being so cool about everything.”

“Then what is she scared of?”

“Giving it to another guy who will just leave her the next day.”

“Is that what happened with her ex?”

“Sort of, there’s a lot more to it. But that’s a story she should really tell you, not me.”

“Alright. I’m seeing her Friday, maybe she’ll feel comfortable opening up to me then. This’ll be our third week seeing each other. She makes me feel so happy, I can’t explain it.”

“Have you told her that?”

“Tonight actually.”

“Good, she’s definitely someone that needs that reassurance.”

“Good to know.”

“No offense, but did you go over there lookin’ like that?”

“It was either this or be late.” Harry raises his middle finger to his friend.

The next day you wake up like you have a hangover. You can barely get yourself out of bed. You were up all night thinking about Harry, and not in a fun way. You felt like you were lying to him or something. Today all you can put together for an outfit are some black dress pants, black flats, a white shirt, and a blush pink blazer. Today was Niall’s day to bring coffee, thank god. By the time you left the house you surely would’ve been late if you had to stop. Your coffee was waiting for you on your desk when you got there. You took it and walked down to his office. You tap on the outside of his door frame.

“Hey.” You say.

“Mornin’, come in.” He waves you in with a smile. You close his door most of the way. “Oh boy. What’s wrong?”

“Do you think I should tell him what happened? I feel like I keep sending mixed signals. I mean, when I think about it, it’s not that big of a deal.”

“(y/n), it was a big deal. You almost wasted away to nothing, and you had to see a therapist.”

“Okay, okay, so how do I explain that to him?”

“Just be honest, he’s a really understanding guy. I’m sure some clarity on his end would be good.”

“Has he mentioned anything to you?” You ask, looking down at your shoes. “Sorry, I don’t want you to be in the middle of this.”

“A little…he just wanted to make sure he wasn’t doing anything wrong.”

“He does everything right. But I thought my ex was too, and I know he’s not him, it’s just hard.”

“Maybe you should go in for a session.” You roll your eyes with disgust. “Just an idea.”

“I know you’re right, and I shouldn’t treat you like my therapist.”

“That’s not what I was sayin’. I’m just sayin’ that clearly this is still something that bothers ya.”

“I think it’ll get better once I talk to Harry. What’s on the agenda today?”

“Here, got this flash drive for ya, and a memo saying how they want these clips edited together. Work ya magic.” You take the flash drive from him and smile.

You head back down the hall to your office, and you stop short when you see someone standing in your office. He turns around, it’s Harry. He smiles warmly at you, and you smile back, a little confused.

“Mornin’.” He says to you.

“Morning.” You say, kissing him on the cheek. You put the flash drive on your desk. “What are you doing here?”

“I was in the area, and I just wanted to check in and see how you were. I was worried about you last night.”

“Oh, that’s so sweet. I’m fine. I was actually wondering if we could meet after work tonight. There’s something I want to tell you, and I don’t want it to ruin our date tomorrow.”

“Sure, but dontcha usually go to the gym after work?”

“I’m too tired for that today. I barely slept last night.” His face falls at your admission.

“Wanna meet at the coffee shop down the street from here?”

“That would be perfect.”

You get your work done, somehow. You tell Harry to just meet you by your car in the parking lot. Your knuckles are white while gripping the steering wheel. He gets in a few minutes later.

“Hi, sorry, I just wanted to talk more privately.” You say looking for at him.

“Of course, love.” You take a deep breath.

“Okay, and it may be way too soon to be talking about this since we’ve only known each other a few weeks, but I feel like you need some explanation for my behavior.” He just looks at you and gives you an encouraging smile. “So, over a year ago, I started seeing someone. We had gone on about four dates, I think. I really liked him, and I thought he liked me. I brought him back to my place on our fourth date. My hope was just to maybe make out.” You swallow. “Maybe a little more, but not go all the way.” Harry nods, his eyebrows furrowed, all his concentration on you. “But he had…other plans.” You feel your eyes start to tear up, but you swallow it back. “It started off fine, and it was like all of a sudden I was naked, and so was he. Everything happened so fast, he took out the condom faster than I could say anything. He was rough with me, and in the moment I didn’t feel safe enough to speak up to tell him to stop.” You take another deep breath. “After it was over, he kissed me goodbye and told me he’d call the next day. He didn’t call for like three days, and he broke every date we had planned.” You look away from Harry. “I basically shut down. I had never felt so used in my life. I missed a week of work. I told them I had the flu. I didn’t eat or bathe. I basically stayed in bed for an entire week. I had never felt that low in my life. It wasn’t until Niall basically broke into my apartment that I got my act together. I didn’t feel great, but I went back to work. I eventually went to therapy, it helped a lot. I learned to stop blaming myself for what happened. That guy was an asshole, and doesn’t deserve to ruin my life. But I guess ever since him I’ve been so guarded about having sex so quickly with someone, I guess out of fear of like just being used and hurt. I know there are people out there that have had worse than me, but for whatever reason this really affected me.”

You look over at Harry, and he is full on sobbing, tears staining his cheeks. He wipes his eyes with his shirt. You wipe your eyes as well. You hadn’t realized you had even started crying. He takes your hand in his, and kisses it.

“I am so sorry that happened to you. You’re so brave. And don’t compare yourself to others, what happened sounds horrible. I don’t understand how people can do things like that. I don’t understand how men can get pleasure by forcing themselves onto someone. I’m sorry if I pushed you into telling me.”

“Oh, Harry, you didn’t push me. I wanted to tell you. I feel much better now that it’s out in the open. You’ve made me feel so comfortable every time we’re together. I didn’t want you to feel like I was rejecting you.”

“I didn’t, don’t worry. I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t doing something wrong.”

“I appreciate that, so much.” You smile at him. He puts a hand on your cheek, and you lean into it. “Thank you for listening.”

“Thank you for sharing your story with me.” Harry’s phone starts to ring, but he ignores it.

“You can get that, Harry.” He reaches into his pocket.

“Shit, it’s work, one sec.” He answers it. “Yeah? Oi, I left it on my desk for ya. Ya I did. Didja check again? Okay, go inta my office, yup, it’s on the left hand side. Got it? Okay good. See ya tomorrow.” He hangs up. You can’t help but notice how thick his accent got on the phone. “Sorry bout that. I swear I work with some real wankahs.” You giggle at the word. “What?”

“Nothing, I just thought that was a word only used in movies.”

“Nope, we really say it. We also say bullocks in case you were wonderin’.”

“I’ll remember that.” You laugh.

“Well, I’m sure you’re drained. You should get home and relax. What would you like to do tomorrow?”

“I’d love to come to your place again. I really liked it there.”

“Alright, whatdya say I pick ya up, and we get some food, and then go to my place.”

“I’d like that.”

“Do me a favor, let me know what you get home.”

“Alright.” You lean in and kiss him on the cheek. You linger for a moment, and then he exits out of the car.

[sweets-fanfics]

Retribution 2

Title: Tumbleweed

Wordcount: 4174

Warning: violence, slow burn

Tags: *crickets*

AN: I love my OC you can’t stop me.

)___________(

I shot up in my cot covered in sweat. The breeze flowing across the Heartlands where the camp was set up felt cool and instantly began to calm me. I ran my fingers through my hair trying to forget the nightmare I had just had of that night. The sun hadn’t risen yet but it had to at least be right before sunrise. 

Birds chirped in the trees nearby. I glanced over my should through the planks of my camp to look at the overflow our camp was situated by. I took a long sigh as I regained composure and figured I wouldn’t be getting much sleep anymore and got up for the day. 

Cripps who never seemed to sleep already had coffee brewing by the fire inviting me to take a cup for myself. He talks a lot, but not in the mornings. Cripps simply smiles and goes about his business. 

I smile at Buster as he walks out from his spot under the wagon and stretches before walking up to me. “Buenos Días, mi amor.” I hum to him softly while scratching his favorite spot on the top of his head. The American foxhound bounced back and forth as is rubbed his head. He let out a small bark when he had his fill and went to go do whatever it is he does. 

After enjoying my coffee the sun starts to peek over the hills that surround this valley. I looked around seeing that my campmates have not come back yet. I see movement in one of the tents and Hair climbs out and stretches.

“When did you get back...?” I blank again on her name but don’t want to be rude. 

She sighs, “Yakira.”

“I was just about to say that.”

“Uh-huh. I got back maybe an hour ago. I couldn’t sleep.”

“You didn’t bring the other two?”

Yakira shrugs, “They were gone.” 

I groan and start to grab my bag. “Well now I gotta go look for two middle-aged men,” I think for a moment, “Mr. B will be fine I just need to find Irish before he picks a fight. Stay in camp in case Irish comes. If he does just send Buster to get me.” She nods and goes to get coffee as I climb on to Willa and take off for Valentine.

The ride through the Heartlands is always beautiful in the morning. Pronghorn and Deer run past when I spook them from being to close. Buffalo glance as I ride past but stand their ground. Even the rabbits and squirrels seemed up an awake. I ride into the dusty town of Valentine in search of a certain Irishmans horse. I see the horse hitched at the saloon. 

I stop and hitch Willa next to the big Shire, Irish unfortunately named “Riggy Tony” after his strange obsession with Italian food. He had once met a man from Italy who showed him this kind of food and now he names everything after an Italian dish. But seeing as I’m still teaching him to write he spells it all phonetically.

I give Riggy a pet as I step into the saloon and see the mess before me. The entire saloon is a mess. Chairs are thrown and broken. The mirror behind the bar is shattered. The bartender looks up from where he’s sweeping and his face gets red. “Oh no. No no no, You’re guy did enough mess.”

“What happened?”

“The Irish guy started beating some guys up-” 

Before he can finish there’s a groan from upstairs and a body slams into the ground at my feet. “Oi, you think you could win a fight against me?”

I let out a long sigh. “Irish, we can’t keep doin’ this in every town.”

Irish appears over the banister directly above me and gives me a giant smile. “Josie!” He pulls back and begins his long journey to the stairs. His face is bright red from the alcohol and he’s barely walking and more like limping as he goes. “This wee lass in my boss!” He points to me and smiles at the bartender who is not impressed. “This little girl here is going to take down the O’Driscols with me and I’ll…” He stops to burp, “I will help her kill that damn Mexican gang.” 

“Dear god, Irish, let’s go. We have ruined this man’s building enough.” I start to move him towards the door when I hear a loud punch sound and suddenly the overweight Irish man falls back trapping me under him. “What the fuck?” I somehow get myself up and see a giant angry man standing above me with a red face.

“Who the fuck are you?” He asks me. 

“I feel I should ask that you jackass.”

“This low life tried to pickpocket me last night.”

“I’m sure he was probably going for your beer.” I try to calm him down before patting Irish on his forehead to wake him up.

“If he gets up again I’ll kill him.”

“For… pickpocketing?” 

“He’s a garbage theif. You probably are too, you dirty greaser.” The insult wasn’t anything new. I’d been called it so many times before. Especially when I still ran with the Del Lobo. And wearing my mother’s white and blue blanket poncho across my shoulders probably didn’t help either.

I slowly stood up and dusted off my pants before calmly looking at the asshole and socking him so hard in the face, that he falls out of the saloon, down the two steps and into the dirt. Everyone near the saloon stops and walks over to see the commotion. And since the saloon is in the middle of town I’m pretty sure all of Valentine was about to see this man get his ass handed to him by a young girl. 

“You dumb bitch.” He grumbles as he begins to get up and rub his nose. “You broke my nose.”

“Imma bout to break more you son of a bitch.” I threaten as he stands up and towers over me. 

“Kick his arse.” Irish slurs from somewhere behind me. I roll my shoulders back and try to hold myself up more like I will kick this guys ass. I mean… I probably could.

He swings towards me and I duck and punch his jaw making the crowd cringe. A few more punches and I start to realize he might not hit me. Admittedly I get a bit cocky and punch him in the gut before turning and smiling at the crowd. As I spin around and wave I spot a familiar smirk amongst the crowd that distracts me long enough for the guy to grab my arm.

“Uh oh,” I mumble as the man turns me to face him.

“Got too cocky didn’t ya.”

“I mean… yeah, I’ll admit it.” 

Just as he raises his fist another hits him knocking him out. I turn around to see Irish, still drunk, pat my shoulder before passing out. “Irish not again!” I groan and try to catch him only to have him slip and fall in the dirt. 

The crowd begins to disperse as I struggle to wake Irish up. “Mrs. Espinosa?” I look to my left and see Arthur giving me a sympathetic smile. “You seem to need some assistance.” 

“I don’t….” I look at Irish, snoring on the ground. “Yeah. Just to get him on the horse.”

Arthur smiles and grabs Irish’s shoulders while I grab his feet. “Your gang seems to have a lot of fun getting into trouble.”

“I didn’t think he’d get drunk on his way back from getting drunk.” I struggle to say as we put him on the back of Willa. She wines a bit but I give her a sugar cube and calms down. “What are you doing so far North?”

Arthur reaches into his bag and hands me a piece of folded up paper. “From Hosea, says you would know what it is.”

“You didn’t peek did you?” I give him a suspicious look as I unfold the paper and see the name of the marshal he had talked about. And a list of towns he frequents. 

Arthur holds his hands up, “Ain’t my business.” I smile and put the paper in my bag. “However,” He starts, “If it’s about revenge… I don’t think it’s the best idea.”

“What do you know?” I say a bit too bitterly and instantly regret it. “Sorry, Mr. Morgan.”

“Don’t be. You’ve gone through a lot last year. It’s okay to be angry, but revenge is past anger.” He awkwardly pats my shoulder but I can tell it’s an attempt at comforting.

“I’ll do what I must, Mr. Morgan. But I’ll think about your words. Tell Mr. Matthews thank you for me.” I climb onto Willa.

“You gonna need help with him?”

“Nah, I got help at camp. Hey, is Dutch sure about Micah?” 

Arthur shrugs and scratches his chin, “You know I always agree with Dutch… But I don’t know about Micah. Why?”

“I kicked him from my gang after a week because he had an issue with my authority. But also because he would always come back with stuff for the camp that was suspicious. I didn’t like the idea he might be killing folk. Just keep an eye on him. Especially since you have Women and Jack in camp.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“Oh, also, I’ll be moving camp down near tall trees while I do a job. In case y'all need me to steal a score from ya again.” I wink jokingly as he rolls his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah.” He waves me off as I ride down the road and out of Valentine towards camp.

____________

As I stopped in camp Cripps sighed and tried to help with Irish. I stopped him and smiled. “I got this.” 

I pushed Irish off of Willa making him fall into the mud from the overflow. Irish yelps and sits up looking around scared. “What the hell was that?” 

“You dumbass. Cripps, grab me a bucket of water.”

“Uh… Josie?”

“You heard me.” Cripps sighs and walks away. Irish and I continue to stare each other down until he returns a minute later. 

I take the bucket and pour all the water over Irish who cringes in disgust. “How dare you? I have been goin’ four weeks strong without baitin’...” He’s cut off from me chucking the bucket at him.

“Go wash and sober up. The camp is gonna move temporarily.”

Both Irish and Cripps look at me with a mixture of surprise and annoyance. “Are you wanted?” Cripps asks.

“No. I have some work to do down in New Austin and I’d rather bring you all with me. We aren’t doing anything right now anyway.” I think for a moment, “We can set up near that big ranch down there. Mc… something.” 

Cripps sighs but starts getting camp taken down. Irish is still sitting with the bucket in his hands. “But.. that one new lady is gone..”

“Jen has been in the gang longer than you. And knowing her, she’ll find us.”

Irish grumbles on the floor a bit longer before getting up and going to his work to help us move. 

____________

The move was easier than I had expected. Next thing I knew we were set up northeast of the big ranch. Irish and Yakira were a great help for once and with their help, we were able to be done by nightfall. 

“I’m going to ride to Tumbleweed, see if I can find who I’m looking for.” I walk out of my tent in my white button-up tucked into me black tight pants and Pedro’s worn Gambler hat and brown leather coat with sheep wool on the collar. Sometimes I swear I can still smell his cologne.

“I would feel better if you take someone with you,” Cripps says, looking up from his work.

“I don’t really need those two to go. They are probably exhausted.”

“Well, take someone.”

I sigh and look around the camp. I see Jen’s Shire named Thena and smile, “I’ll take Jen.” 

Jen peaks her head out from behind the wagon and frowns. “What?”

“Let’s go cause trouble.” I smile.

She thinks for a moment before sighing, “Fine.” 

Cripps sighs, “At least I know she’ll have your back.”

We hopped on our horses and started for the small town in search of this Marshall. Jen is usually the quiet type. Despite no accent, she’s from France. Her Dark hair is always braided behind her back. She towers over me and like most of the gang is older than me. I wanna be tough like her one day. But I know I have a long way to go.

I met her right after I started my gang. It was just me and Cripps until one day when I was out somewhere alone. I had been searching for a certain elk to hunt for Cripps when A grizzly found me instead. I had thought I was going to be gutted right then and there but at the last moment there was a shot and the bear dropped on top of me. 

When the bear was dragged off of me that’s when I met Jen. She didn’t say hi when she met me she immediately scolded me for not looking at my surroundings. I call her my best friend, but I’m pretty sure she’s just worried I’ll get myself killed. She’s been with the gang ever since. As I thought back to how we met I accidentally stared at her which got me a “The fuck you do now?”

I blinked and shook myself out of it. “Oh, sorry. I was thinking about the day we met.” 

“Yes, the day you were almost killed by a bear.”

I chuckled, “Yeah, that.”

“It’s very strange to me that you were once married and a mother.”

“Well I’m still a mother, and my late husband and I were only married for maybe eleven months before he was killed. I know marrying at 17 probably isn’t the best idea in the world. But at the time it seemed right. We both wanted to get out of Del Lobo and we thought, why not together?” I looked down and petted Willa.

“I’m sorry if I made you sad.” I hear her mumble.

“You didn’t. It’s been almost two years. I’m 19 and very mature.”

Jen rolled her eyes. “No, I can guarantee you are still an immature, short, brat.”

We stopped our horses out said of Tumbleweed as I looked at her, “You just like insulting me sometimes.”

She shrugs and smirks at me hopping off of Thena. We both walk under the beating sun into the dusty town. There are about two clumps of small rectangle buildings and then the big saloon in the corner. A butcher stand is set up in the middle town where a butcher is chopping on a giant piece of meat. I walk up to him with some fake confidence and smile. “Hello sir, I’m looking for a Marshal Tom Davies?”

“I don’t know none of that. Might wanna ask the Sheriff.” He points his thumb behind him at a standalone building with the word ‘Jail’ written on it. 

“Thank you, sir.” I smile and walk over with Jen behind me.

“You almost looked actually confident that time.” She jokes on the way.

“Har har.” I roll my eyes.

I open the door to the building and here a man yelling. “Please! You’ve got to help me.” The man begged.

“I can’t help you, mister. It’s way outta my jurisdiction. My job is to stop folks from getting shot on these streets, you know that.” The sheriff replies. I stop a moment in a happy shock of seeing that the sheriff isn’t a grumpy old white man.

“But… but she’s my wife.” The old man says again, “She’s my goddamn wife. They’ll do terrible things to her, you’ve got to help me.” 

The sheriff eyes Jen and I and gestures to us, “Well maybe these two can help you.”

“Oh, sorry I’m just looking for…” I begin to say before I’m cut off.

“What can these two girls do?”

“They got guns and don’t have a badge so they can probably do more than me or you.” The sheriff jokes. “Besides, why not? I’m assuming they are bounty hunters.”

I glance at Jen before we both nod. “You’ll help?” The old man asks. “I’ll pay… handsomely.” 

“Uh… sure, why not.” I give in.

“Thank you. Allison is a wonderful girl. Quite a bit younger than me, you’ll see. But better that way for wives I’ve found.” Jen and I both look at him unimpressed. “Anyway, outlaws took her I believe. Towards that way.” He points out the door as he opens it. 

“Alright, we’ll go have a look. But first… Sheriff..”

“Freeman.” SHeriff Freeman answers.

“Yes, I’m looking for a Marshal Tom Davies?”

“He is in another town on business. He usually comes threw town tomorrow. But for now, help this man out.”

__________

“I hope that man’s wife isn’t as creepy as he was,” I say to Jen as we near a tiny pueblo styled ranch. “There are so many men here for one girl.”

We hop off our horses and walk up to the guard. “Get outta here!” He yells.

“You guys kidnap a girl named Allison?”

The reply I got was a shotgun fired in the direction of my head. Only Jen pulled me out of the way and shot him with her pistol. Probably proving my theory of why she sticks around. I pull out my repeater and get to work while Jen uses both her pistols. We shoot our way through at least 30 men before we are at the doors to the small farmhouse. 

“Hello? Is someone kidnapped in here?” I say as I open the door with my sawed-off out. 

“He sent you didn’t he? He sent you. Well, I’m not going back to him. I can’t” The blond lady says as she hides behind a man with orange hair the goes to his shoulders with matching orange facial hair.

“We’re in love.” He says to us as he holds a hand up. “Leave us be. I’ll give you all we have. It ain’t much but it’s somethin’.” He walks forward and I’m able to see his kind face better and his blue eyes begging Jen and me. “Help us escape. Please.”

“I’m not going back,” Allison says pacing the floor. “Cliff, you swore. You swore I wouldn’t have to go back.”

“They’ll have to kill me first,” he says to her calmingly. “Come on ladies, have a heart.”

I sigh and put my gun back in its holster. I can hear Jen follow suit. “We better hurry then.”

“Oh, thank you.” Allison cries.

“Let’s go. There is a carriage and money outside.” Cliff grabs her hand and leads her out.

“He would have sent men to follow you. They’ll know you’re trying to help us.”

“Well, then we better be quick,” I say as I hurry after them. “I’ll ride with them on the wagon, Jen, follow on the horse just in case.”

“Oh god, it’s a massacre,” Allison says, glancing at all the bodies. I pretend to not pay attention. “This is all my fault, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t think about that now.” Cliff urges her. “They knew what they was gettin’ into.”

We see a handful of men riding over the hill towards us with their guns out, “That’s my husband. Sending killers after killers.” Allison says in anger.

“I ain’t too sure what you saw in the man.” Cliff jokes.

“Very amusing.” She hums back. 

We rode past Tumbleweed and up to the train tracks where a train was passing by. “Come on. We gotta get around this train!” Cliff yells.

I pull out my repeater and start taking out as many men as I’m able while Jen gets the others. Cliff is able to make it around the train and we are able to get away and shoot down the rest of the men chasing us.

Cliff stops the cart and groans, “How many more of them will we have to kill.” He climbs into the back of the wagon and pulls out money.

“He won’t stop. He’ll keep saying you kidnapped me and soon some other sucker will come and kill us.” Allison sighs.

“No.” Cliff turns on his heels and takes the woman’s hands. “We’ll go… somewhere hot. Like Columbia, or Australia.” 

He hops off the wagon and stands before Jen and I. “Here. Thank you.” He says handing me the small wad of cash. “Tell him we drowned, or got hit by a train.”

“Tell him to go hang himself,” Allison yells to us as Cliff climbs up to the wagon. “Tell him to leave us alone.” She takes her loves hand and smiles at him, “Cliff, isn’t all so romantic?”

He smiles at her before yanking the reigns and making the wagon move.

Jen rolls her eyes at them as I hand her share over. She looks at it and walks to Thena without taking it.

“Wait, Jen…”

“Keep it. You’re saving for the boy’s birthday aren’t you?” She gives me a warm smile. 

“Thank you,” I say softly. I put the money in my saddlebag and climb onto Willa. “Let’s go rent a room at that saloon. We can corner the Marshal tomorrow.” She nods and we ride off down the desert.

_____________

I clutched my mother’s letter tightly as I sat in front of the Blackwater dock. I had just gotten off of the boat from Saint Denise where I had come in on the train from New Mexico. The rain fell hard from the sky and I was barely able to fit under the small overhang by the town sign as I tried to figure out where to go. The town wasn’t quite as populated as Saint Denise or Santa Fe but there was still a good amount of residence. There seemed to be a camp towards the edges of town that looked pretty crowded as well. I wondered if they were a gang or more like a family. They seemed happy and kept to themselves. Even in the rain they laughed and chatted with one another. 

Thunder rolled across the sky suddenly making me lookup. I sighed tugged Pedro’s coat on a little tighter.

“Not a fan of thunder?” A gruff voice with a western accent asked from my left. I spun my head to face him quickly and began to reach for my pistol which he noticed. “Shit, I’m sorry.” He held up to gloved hands.

 He was a tall broad man. He had blue-green eyes and sandy-colored hair. His cheeks and chin were covered by some scruff with a small scar on his chin. He wore a thick blue coat and funny enough, had on basically the same hat I wear that belonged to Pedro. “I didn’t mean to scare ya.” He grinned.

“You… didn’t. I was just thrown off.” I say before looking back at the map.

“You’re carrying a lot of guns.” He gestures to the bolt action rifle and pump-action shotgun on my back. Along with my pistol and sawed-off in my gun belt. I smile since he might even see the more guns I have on Willa. “You steal ‘em?” He smirks.

“I earned these if you must know.”

“How old are you?” He leans on the map board and crosses his arms. Droplets roll off the edge of his hat.

“I’m almost 18,” I say proudly. “I’ve come to start a gang.”

He huffs a laugh. “18 and already starting a gang, huh?”

“Wouldn’t be my first one.”

He gets serious and looks at me. “What?”

“I was raised in a gang. I’ve returned to kill them.” Why was I so openly telling my plan to this guy? Maybe it was his kind-looking eyes. Or the way he really is listening to me. 

“What they do to ya?” He asks in a sincere tone.

“They killed my husband and my father.” I look down at my shoes. 

“Bastards.” He huffs. “Hope it ain’t my gang.” He says trying to lighten the mood.

“You’re Del Lobo?” I ask.

His eyes get a bit wide at the name. “Wait a second. You want to take out Del Lobo? Alone?”

“Of course not alone. That’s why I’m going to make a gang. A gang of the strongest people to help me on my quest.” 

The man smiles at my enthusiasm. “Well, ya got spirit. People will follow that.” He stands up straight and puts a hand out towards me. “Name’s Arthur Morgan.”

I grin and shake his hand, “Josephine Espinosa. But just call me Josie, white people tend to pronounce my full name wrong.”

He laughs as our hands shake for a bit too long. “Great to meet you Josie.”

[elopez7228]

Scenic Route 7/47

Read on AO3 : https://archiveofourown.org/works/18268208/chapters/43229774  

Start over : https://elopez7228.tumblr.com/post/620919089893933056/scenic-route-0147

***

It was the tempting smell of coffee that roused Rey from her slumber.

It took her a second to realize where she was and why there was a dog curled up against her sleeping bag. Stretching her neck and shoulders, she unraveled her hair and looked up at Leia. She had placed two steaming mugs of coffee on the tiny kitchen table.

“Mind if I take a quick shower before I leave?I don’t know when I’ll get another chance on the road...”

With Leia’s approval she found herself in the minuscule bathroom, where she washed her hair as economically as possible. Not a drop of water wasted—after all, she wouldn’t want to freeload off of a kind woman evidently already on a budget.

Afterwards, she checked to make sure that she left nothing behind (oil? Check. Water? Check. Music? Check. Phone? Charged up and ready to go. BB8? BB8...? Rey looked over to see her taking care of business in a nearby alley. She ran back  soon enough with her tail wagging happily. Leia paused to hug the dog one last time and Rey could have sworn her eyes were glistening. Rey waited for them a few meters away, standing by the doorway as she gave them time to say goodbye. After plenty of hugs and scratches, Leia put a slim red leather collar around the dog’s neck. Attached to it with tiny hooks, a small metal plaque engraved with the words “Please Call Luke Skywalker 909-667-5721”.

She then handed Rey a piece of paper with Luke’s address in San Francisco. She had also written his phone number, even though the collar ostensibly took care of that. Rey entered the number into her contacts anyway and put the paper away in the glove box.

Rey opened the car door and gently ushered the dog into the back seat.

“BB8, in the car! Come on, in! Inside, let’s go! That’s right, good dog!”

BB8 had jumped into the car with puppy-like enthusiasm, rediscovering her blanket and her basket of toys. Rey gave her a pat to assure her that everything was fine before closing the door. It was time to leave.

Rey approached Leia, who was wiping away a tear with the back of her hand.

“You sure you’ll be okay without BB8?”

“I’ll still have Artoo, even if he doesn’t do much besides eat and nap. We’ll be fine,”

Rey realized she was taking about the cat. She conceded, smiling.

“Look, thanks for everything Leia...the road is a lot less frightening with BB8 by my side. I promise to take care of her,”

“Be careful out there. Send me an update now and then.”

“I will, promise.”

Leia opened her arms and Rey hugged her tightly—it was a little awkward at first but it transformed into a warm embrace. Rey felt a particular tenderness in this gesture, it was the hug of someone who hadn’t hugged anyone in a very long time.

Rey looked up suddenly, breaking the hug.

“I’m an idiot, I forgot to buy a GPS!” She exclaimed, realizing she didn’t know which direction she would be driving in.

She put her hands on her face in exasperation, chastising herself for being so distracted and trying not to let the panic take over.

“Right, no use in beating myself up, I didn’t have enough money left to buy a new one anyway. I’ll have to find a state map. It’ll be all vintage, like the car.”

Luckily, she didn’t have an exact itinerary. She knew that she wanted to get to Yellowstone, which would take a while. The park wasn’t merely a stop, it was as large as Yorkshire and equally difficult to miss.

She looked up a petrol station on Google maps, ironically so that she could buy a physical map for her journey. She turned the key in the ignition and the engine rumbled to a start.

Rey waved one last time to Leia through the open car window, who looked lonelier than ever standing alone out on the porch of her little cottage.

The car emitted a cloud of dust as it left the trailer park and started a long journey. BB8 scratched at the back seat nervously, worried that Leia had disappeared from view. Rey extended a hand to pet her reassuringly.

“Everything will be fine good girl, we’re going home now,” she said gently.

The weather was gorgeous that third-of-July morning, as Rey took I-25 toward Cheyenne, Wyoming. With the breeze in her hair and a smile on her lips, her whole being felt lighter. It seemed like she was looking at the world through new eyes, reveling in an optimism that she hadn’t felt in weeks.

She basked in the beauty of the land, the winding plains dotted with crimson outcroppings, the glistening skyscrapers which formed the city’s spine and slowly gave way to the mountains in the west, whose snowy peaks overlooked a red and white prairie speckled with farms.

As she bypassed the city, she spotted the a few buffalo roaming peacefully on a nature reserve. She also saw camels, two deer on a ridge, and what appeared to be antelopes (or whatever those pale deer like creatures with tiny horns were called).  

A biker on a Harley Davidson sped past her, hair flying and engine roaring in equal measure. In the distance, a freight train of unimaginable length whistled by. Everything was new to her, every sound, every color. She was glad to leave Denver behind. She was tired of the crowd, and the fumes, the noise and the pollution.

BB8 was still lamenting her fate in the back seat, whining now and then. Rey felt her heart constrict. How could she get across that they were going home to see Luke? Preoccupied with these thoughts, she completely missed the exit to Wyoming, which was supposed to be the second leg of their road trip.

In hindsight she would look back on this moment and regret not registering the symbolism of it all.

Around 9 AM she skirted Cheyenne and began the 400 kilometer trek, due west, to the park. It slowly dawned on Rey that she was finally alone with her thoughts—something which hadn’t happened since she left London, since the breakup.

Before, she had purposefully kept busy in order to stop thinking. All action, all the time, running full speed ahead. First she had cursed Finn to hell and back, then she had cried a river on Jessica’s shoulder, taken that flight, wallowed in that hotel room, confronted Ben Solo, met Rose, attended that concert, wandered those museums...it was time to slow down.

Facing eight hours of transit, alone amidst the steel and asphalt with no one but a dog (who was finally calm) for company, Rey let her thoughts run free.

She did not try to repress them, she did not try to smother them.  She was no longer afraid of her unconscious, no longer afraid of regrets, remorse and tears. She would have to bring Finn's stuff back: his clothes, his records, his films and his books.

She did not seen Poe coming, waltzing into her life narrative. Or did she? Had she always seen this coming? Finn and Poe met in high school. They had been on the same football team. They had essentially been friends for forever. When Rey entered Finn’s life, it had been through a hypocritical turn to dating apps. They had bonded over a mutual love for Terry Pratchett novels and Poe had even become her older brother of sorts. Poe had no bitterness, no animosity toward her, there was just a unique brotherhood between the two men that seemed to make Finn happy. Should she have seen it coming, then? In his eyes? In his nonsensical rambles whenever he got drunk? And how could she have ignored the signs all these years, of the feelings Poe had harbored for the man who had been part of his life for so long?

She had finished her degree in graphic design, and right after getting her diploma, she had moved out of Jessica’s to start living with her brand new boyfriend. He was an engineer who was three years older than her and already making a living.

Rey considered that she had never been alone. Before moving in with her ex-future-husband she had lived with Jessica  for most of her adult life. What was she afraid of? Being abandoned again? Getting bored? Wasting away? Was she always going to live in the shadow of others? Didn’t she have any ambitions or goals for herself?

This trip was a first, after all. The first time she did anything alone, the first time no one took her hand, the first time she was ever truly free. Still on the highway, her eyes widened at a passing sign: “Smallest town in America, Bufford, WY. Population : 1". Behind it, a little shack, boarded up with wooden planks and metal sheets.

Beyond, rolling plains, dry and arid masses tinted with yellow and ochre, and not a single tree. On the highway drove an endless parade of monstrous chrome-plated trucks, cars hauling camping trailers, and bikers wearing bandannas instead of helmets. And all the fauna of this strange landscape seemed to ignore the ever-present six-by-four posters lining the highway. Not the one touting MacRoy and associates Laramie attorneys, nor the other claiming “God exists, call 1-800-FOR-TRUTH”.

BB8’s groaning derailed Rey’s bitter train of thought, and she glanced at the back seat. The dog was rolling around restlessly and yes, Rey thought now was a good time to take a break. It would be too early for lunch but at least BB could stretch her legs. Rey kept an eye out for the next exit, or the next petrol station. She used her turn signal to get off the highway at Elk Mountain, a rural outpost sleeping under the desert dust like a cat lounging in the sun.

It was almost a ghost town. A few rusted pickups, a red-brick general store that could have come straight out of the Buffalo Bill era, and half a dozen wooden shacks, in true American spirit. They looked like they couldn’t even stand the first winds of a storm. There must be storms here at some point, she thought, in the winter at least.

How did these people live? Effectively two hours away from the nearest civilization, at that? Rey shrugged. She wouldn’t want to question anyone, if there existed anyone here, that is. Rey parked her car (yes, it was hers now, for the time being) on the side of the road. She opened the door for BB8, who was clamoring to escape. But Rey had predicted this, and she blocked the door with her body as she leashed the dog before letting her out.

She would have preferred to let BB8 roam, but she couldn’t risk it. What if BB ran away across the desert to join Leia Skywalker in Denver?  What if she chased after grasshoppers onto the highway, and subsequently fell prey to one of those gleaming trucks on the highway? She would flattened like a pancake.  Both of them had to tame each other in a way, and that would take time.  Meanwhile, Rey filled the dog's bowl with water and let her drink up. She covered up all the supplies in the car to avoid theft and locked the door.

They took a short walk. BB8 began sniffing at everything on the ground, tail bouncing and ears perking, until she paused to relive herself against the tire of an old truck.  Rey looked around, expecting the owner to come up, a rifle in one hand and a cowboy hat in the other, threatening to shoot both of them.

But no, everything was silent, or as silent as it could be amidst the ceaseless chirping of the cicadas.

Eventually, the heat was overwhelming and the arid wind left Rey parched. Time to go back.

Gingerly walking back to the car, Rey hesitated. It had to be fifty degrees Celsius inside, the car was a suffocating metal monstrosity whose only upside was relative speed. She could feel the sweat drops running down her body.

Yet another hour's drive took her to Sainclair, a city huddled around a monstrous refinery, whose black, smoking towers rose to the sky like Isengard in Lord of the Rings.

"The whole bloody city must live in this factory," Rey thought, as she made herself comfortable inside Penny's Diner, a chrome-clad  hole-in-the-wall with a decidedly vintage feel to it.

[thebestpersonherelovesbucky]

I’m so glad you’re writing a titanic au! Can we possibly get a little snippet or glimpse of what’s to come ?

Thank you so much! This excites me like you can’t even believe!! And sure! Here’s a little snippet

~~

Steve watches the nighttime sky and smiles. It goes on forever, dotted with so many twinkling stars, and he can’t help feeling nearly insignificant in comparison. The feeling doesn’t scare him. Quite the contrary, even. The thought fills him with excitement. All it means are more things for him to see. More places for him to go. More adventures for him to have. 

A few days ago, he’d been sleeping under a bridge and tonight he’s laying across a bench on the RMS Titanic. All because of a lucky hand at poker. Sure, it was still cold, but this is a different type of cold. 

This cold filled Steve’s lungs with dreams. With promises of something grand. Being a steerage passenger doesn’t matter to him. Sure, he and Sam are bunking with total strangers that barely speak a word of English. He’s got a roof over his head when he sleeps. There are good people down there. Decent food and warm beer. Music and dancing. Steve’s time on the Titanic, he’s sure, would bring him to the best part of his life yet. 

Steve’s just brought his hands behind his head, that grin still stretched on his face, when someone rushes by at full speed; huffing and puffing as they run. Sitting up, Steve watches as he gets farther away until he finally slams into the end of another bench. There, he lets out a sob as he tries to catch his breath. He’s shivering. Steve can tell that even from here. He must be freezing. Unlike Steve, who has a pretty warm jacket on, he’s not even wearing the jacket of his suit, just that thin button down.

After just a moment -- of shivers and broken sobs and tears that he hastily wipes away -- he straightens up again and slowly makes his way toward the bow of the ship, glancing around as he does. Almost as though he’s afraid of being watched. Which only makes Steve think that he should leave him to his privacy, especially when he sees who it is. 

The boy from earlier. The one who’d been harshly reprimanded by the man with him. Whatever’s happening now, Sam’s advice to not get involved probably still holds here. This boy and the man he’s with are First Class. To meddle in their affairs only ever means trouble. 

But there’s something about this situation that feels… off. Wrong. Steve can’t just walk away. Not yet. 

And, much to Steve’s horror, he begins to climb over the railing.

Steve almost shouts out to him, to tell him not to do it, but, afraid of startling him enough that it makes him let go, he refrains. Instead, he slowly and quietly makes his way over to him. To where he’s hanging off the back of the ship. Steve wants to run there and swear to him that this isn’t the way. He just can’t imagine what’s happened to this poor boy that he doesn’t see any other way out. 

“Don’t do it,” he says over the wind and ocean. “Please.”

Just as he feared earlier, Steve startles him. He looks over his shoulder with a gasp and stares wide-eyed at Steve. 

“Don’t come any closer!” he exclaims. “Stay back!”

That doesn’t keep Steve back, though. He can’t stay back or leave. Instead, he holds his hand out, ready to help this boy back over the railing to safety. 

“C’mon,” he murmurs as he gradually steps closer, “just gimme your hand. I’ll put you back over.”

“No.” He lets go once like he means to shoo Steve away but grips the railing again before he can. “Stay where you are. I mean it. I’ll let go.”

This isn’t going to be easy. One wrong move and he’ll lose this hand. Much more important than a game of poker, this one. This is someone’s life. Steve might need to proceed with caution, but that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t take a risk if it might save this boy’s life. After all, nothing good ever came without a little risk. 

Steve holds out his palms to him and moves closer still. Says, “No, you won’t.” 

Eyes lifting from the rough waters below, he looks at Steve somewhere between shocked and angry. 

“Excuse me?”

“You won’t. Jump, I mean.”

“Yes, I will! Who are you to tell me what I will or will not do? How dare you presume to know me.” 

If this scenario were different, Steve might have a laugh at that. He’s been saying it almost his whole life. Something like it, anyway. Steve, now standing right at the railing, slips his hands into his pockets.

“Well, it’s just…” He leaves his voice calm and soft while his heart flails with panic inside of him. “You’d’ve done it already.”

Shaking his head, he makes an irritated face at Steve and looks away again. 

“You’re distracting me. Go away.” 

“I can’t do that.”

“What? Why not? Just leave me alone.”

“I can’t. I’m involved now.” Steve pretends to sigh as he grasps at anything he can to hold him in place. “I’m sorta with you to the end of the line. See, if you let go…” He shrugs out of his jacket. “I’m gonna have to jump in after you.” 

Those big, steely-blue eyes flash wider at him. He opens his mouth a few times in baffled silence before he shakes his head.

“Don’t be absurd,” he says. “You’ll be killed.”

“Maybe, but I’m a good swimmer.”

“The fall alone will kill you.”

Foot against one of the anchors, Steve’s taken to unlacing his boots. He twists his lips and nod because he’s absolutely right. That could kill him. Doesn’t mean he’s going to stop. Doesn’t mean he won’t really jump in after him. Steve really can’t just walk away now.

“It’ll hurt, you’re right, I’m not saying it wouldn’t.” Steve pulls off one boot and starts untying the next. “Tell ya the truth, I’m a lot more concerned about that water being so cold.” 

Chin lifting slightly, he looks back to the water again and, for the first time since all this started, actually appears nervous. Okay, Steve’ll take it. 

“H-How cold?” he asks. “Really cold?”

“Freezing,” Steve tells him, honestly. “Maybe a little above.” He pulls his other boot off and looks over the edge as though he’s not paying much attention to anything other than the water. “You, uh, you ever been to Buffalo? Upstate New York?” 

Steve’s pretty damn sure the answer to that is no. Even surer when he gets that baffled look again which Steve might find adorable if he wasn’t hanging off the back of the Titanic. 

“What?”

“Well, they have some of the coldest winters in New York. I used to visit my grandparents there and I remember one winter I went ice fishing with my mom…” Steve pauses when he receives another one of those baffled expressions. “Ice fishing is, y’know, when--”

“I know what ice fishing is!”

“Okay.” Steve stretches his lips in apology. “Sorry. You just… you, uh, seem like kind of an indoor guy. Anyway, we went ice fishing on Lake Ontario and I fell through some thin ice and I’m tellin’ ya, ice like that…” He takes hold of the railing and looks down. “Like that water down there, it hits you like a thousand knives. It’s like you’re being stabbed all over your body. You can’t see. Can’t breathe. Can’t even think. At least not about anything but the pain.” 

He pauses as if he’s really thinking about that when what he’s more interested in is that he’s definitely got his attention about this. Steve takes in a deep breath and takes off his vest next. 

“Which is why I’m really not looking forward to jumping in there after you,” he says. They lock eyes again and that steel in his has melted into something soft. Steve says, “But I’m stuck. When I see a situation pointed south I just can’t run away. Sometimes I wish I could.” No, he doesn’t. “Y’know, I’m just kinda hopin’ that maybe you’ll let me off the hook here.”

Eyes still softer, he looks away again and back out onto the ocean. He mumbles, “You’re crazy.”

This, Steve does chuckle at. “A lot of people say that, but, beggin’ your pardon, sir, of the two of us, you’re the one hanging off the back of a ship. Not me.” Steve extends his arm, hand out to him. Their arms just brush together as he does. “C’mon, you don’t wanna do this. Please. Just gimme your hand and I’ll help you back over.” 

Right hand trembling, he carefully lets go of the railing and reaches around to put it in Steve’s. With Steve’s balance, he slowly turns around to face him. Once he does, Steve takes hold of his other hand as well and breathes out a sigh of relief. He smiles at him. 

“I’m Steve. Steve Rogers.”

“James Buchanan Barnes.”

Steve snickers a little. “You might have to write that one down for me.”

James laughs at that. It’s wet and there’re tears behind it, but he does laugh. He says, “Bucky.”

“What?”

“I don’t like being called James. It’s Bucky.”

“Bucky, then.” Bucky’s just placed his foot up to pull himself back over. “C’mon, Bucky, let’s get you--”

Just as he puts his weight down, his shoe slips on the thin bar he’d tried to balance on and he slips off the back completely. 

Bucky screams as he falls while Steve just manages to grab hold of him with two hands. Panic squirts wet and hot in Steve’s belly. He tugs at him, urging him to pull himself back up with the help.  

“Come on, Bucky!” he shouts. “You can do it! Pull yourself up!”

He’s able to grab hold of the lowest rung once, but it slips from his grip and he falls again, clasping onto Steve’s arm.

“Help!” Bucky yells. Begs. Pleads. “Please, Steve! Don’t let go!” 

“I’m not gonna let go, Bucky! I swear!” Steve’ll jump voluntarily before he lets go. “Look at me, Bucky! Look at me. I’m not going to let you go. Trust me.” Bucky, eyes full of tears, looks at him and nods. “Now, pull yourself up!”

Bucky nods again and takes a better grip as Steve starts to pull. They pull together and, this time when Bucky grabs hold of the railing, he’s able to help with Steve pulling himself back up. As soon as he’s standing again, Steve wraps his arm around his waist and helps him back to the deck. When he does, Bucky topples over and Steve, in his attempt to grab him, ends up falling on top of him. 

Bucky’s trembling all over, tears trailing down his cheeks, and unable to speak. Terrified, Steve tires to check on his well-being. 

“Bucky? Bucky, can you hear me? Are you all right? Can you see me?”

He’s staring up at him, mouth forming nonsensical words. Seve takes to trying to warm him, running his hands up and down his arms. 

“Bucky, it’s okay. You’re okay, I promise.”

Footsteps. They come at them hard and fast with a shout of “What’s all this?” being shouted at them when several deckhands surround them.

[arcticdementor]

Yes, we need to talk about climate change again, and it’s probably necessary to start with a point I’ve made on this blog several times already: anthropogenic climate change is real and serious, and it’s being exploited by political and corporate interests to push a dubious agenda on the public. Many people these days don’t seem to be able to keep both these ideas in their heads at the same time. If you find it hard to do that, dear reader, I’m going to encourage you to make the effort, because a great deal of rhetoric is being deployed these days to make you forget that real problems can have fake solutions.

Imagine, to use the inevitable metaphor, that you’re on the proverbial ocean liner, which has just hit the proverbial iceberg. As you stand there on deck, someone grabs a bullhorn and announces that the real problem is that all the money in your pockets is weighing you down. He insists that if you’ll only hand all your money and other valuables to him, and let him row away from the doomed ship in one of the lifeboats, the people left on board just have to flap their arms vigorously and they’ll be able to fly away to safety in Newfoundland.

The problem you face is unquestionably real; go belowdecks and you can see the water rising. Does that mean that the solution being offered by the fellow with the bullhorn is the best option you have, or indeed that it will work at all?  Of course not. The fellow with the bullhorn is betting that you’ll be sufficiently panicked at the thought of imminent drowning that you’ll accept a claim that, under other circumstances, you’d recognize as utter nonsense. It’s a common theme of history that people can be convinced to accept claims almost as silly as the one in my metaphor if they’ve been whipped up into a sufficient state of panic. Yes, I’m suggesting that that’s one of the things shaping the contemporary debate on climate change.

…

So the problem is real; the people who are worried about anthropogenic climate change have that much right. It’s the next steps that get complex. Those steps involve what’s coming, and what can and should be done about it—and in both these cases, we very quickly get into territory that’s rather reminiscent of the fellow with the bullhorn in my metaphor.

Listen to climate change activists talk about what will happen if something isn’t done right away and you’ll get to hear apocalyptic claims that rival anything Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins put into their schlocky Left Behind series—if you’re not familiar with this, it’s more or less the Fifty Shades of Grey of Protestant apocalypse porn. Mark Lynas’ lavishly marketed 2008 climate-change opus Six Degrees, though a bit dated at this point, is typical of the genre in its gaudy portrayal of a world tucked under the broiler, as well as its proselytizing tone—again, the parallels with Left Behind are hard to miss. There’s plenty more of this sort of thing being splashed around by the corporate mass media these days.

…

The difficulty, here as so often, lies in the complex relationship between scientific knowledge and the collective discourse of our time. In those disciplines that haven’t been wholly corrupted by money and fame, scientists tend to be highly cautious when talking to other scientists; they hedge every statement with caveats, because they know perfectly well that the people who are reading those statements have the necessary background to pick them apart, find the flaws, and send a letter to this or that scientific journal exposing your mistakes for all your colleagues to see. That’s a key part of the scientific method, and when it stops happening—when criticism within a discipline is no longer permitted and a rigidly defined consensus governs what you can and cannot disagree with—you know the discipline has sold out.

On the other hand, if you approach a discussion outside of the scientific community with all those caveats, and the subject is anything even remotely controversial, you can expect to have the caveats shoved down your throat by your opponents, who are used to a different mode of discourse. Scientists who find their feet in the public sphere thus quickly stop offering the caveats, and start using the same rhetorical tricks as their opponents. Unfortunately one of the most common of those tricks involves taking your argument further than the evidence will go, and making whatever claims you think you can get away with.

The late Carl Sagan was a notable example of this latter habit. Those of my readers who recall his career will remember that he coauthored the paper that introduced the concept of “nuclear winter” to public discussion. (For those who don’t recall this, it’s the theory that nuclear war would cause sudden global cooling along the same lines, and for the same reasons, as the Tambora eruption in 1816.)  That original paper—the TTAPS paper, as it was called after the initials of its authors—was a solid scientific study that showed that there was a serious risk of global cooling lasting for many weeks, and gave facts and figures to support that argument.

Sagan wrote two more pieces on nuclear winter, though, which were not intended for his fellow scientists. He contributed to a 1984 volume, The Cold and the Dark, which was aimed at an audience of scientifically literate laypeople. He also wrote a 1983 article for Parade Magazine—a weekly that at the time was inserted into Sunday newspapers around the country—which was thus aimed at the scientifically illiterate public. Compare those with the original study and a curious trend emerges. Where the TTAPS study predicted a period of cooling lasting for weeks, his piece in The Cold and the Dark replaced that with months, and the Parade article stretched it out to years. Sagan was involved in antinuclear activism, and apparently couldn’t resist the temptation to play fast and loose with facts to prop up the case he was trying to make.

…

If you want to see just how far climate scientists have gotten into what we might as well call the Sagan syndrome, by the way, ask them about the global cooling scare of the 1970s. Odds are the immediate response you’ll get is an insistence that it never happened. If you present them with the titles and authors of books written during that period that treated global cooling as a reality—those aren’t hard to find—they’ll typically backpedal and insist that well, maybe so, but scientists didn’t support the global cooling scare. If you demonstrate that respected scientists did in fact do so—and again, this isn’t hard to do—they’ll either get angry and start shouting or insist that, well, maybe so, but it wasn’t the consensus among climate experts.

Don’t tell them about the 1972 climate conference at Brown University here in Rhode Island, which brought together 42 of the world’s top climate scientists, and ended up sending a letter to President Nixon and putting papers in Science and Quaternary Studies warning of imminent global cooling and a possible new ice age. If you do that, I promise that they’ll get angry and start shouting, because you’ve caught them behaving like politicians rather than scientists, and they’ll know it. You can get the same effect by asking dieticians why we should believe what they say about cholesterol now, when we all know perfectly well that in another ten years they’ll have changed their minds again. Laypeople aren’t supposed to question scientists like that—at least that’s what scientists like to tell themselves.

…

So the shrill insistence that we’re facing a climate emergency and we have to take drastic action right now is a political claim, not a scientific one. The drastic action—well, that’s another matter. The open secret of climate change activism is that the solutions being offered by activists have uncomfortable similarities to the claims of the fellow with the bullhorn in my metaphor. Decades of heavily subsidized growth in solar and wind power haven’t dented the steady increase in carbon dioxide emissions, for example—not least because solar and wind power technologies depend on vast fossil fuel inputs for their manufacture, installation, maintenance, and disposal—so it’s disingenuous to claim that putting even more money into solar and wind power will do the job. As for vegan diets, bans on plastic straws, and the like, those are virtue signaling covering up an unwillingness to accept meaningful change.

For two decades now, in fact, the people who are loudest in their insistence that something has to be done about climate change have been the same people whose lifestyles disproportionately cause climate change. If you commute all alone in an SUV, fly to Mazatlan or Spain every year for a vacation, and keep up the other habits of absurd extravagance that go with an upper middle class lifestyle in the industrial world these days, even if you eat a vegan diet and never touch a plastic straw, your carbon footprint exceeds that of ten deplorables in West Virginia or a hundred ordinary people in Indonesia or Uruguay. If you’re one of the rich and famous at the forefront of climate change activism, your carbon footprint exceeds that of a Third World town.

…

Au contraire, the behavior of climate change activists, and of the corporate media and multinational business interests that fund and promote them so lavishly, makes sense only if you assume that they want everyone else to stop using fossil fuels so that they don’t have to. The shrill claims of impending doom, the insistence that we’re in a climate emergency and everyone has to accept drastic restrictions that climate change activists show no trace of willingness to embrace in their own lives, make perfect sense if the game plan is to buffalo most of the people in the world’s industrial countries into accepting a sharply lower standard of living “for the planet,” so that the upper twenty per cent or so can maintain their current lifestyles unchanged.

If that’s what’s going on, though, it’s a losing game. The project of splitting industrial societies into an affluent minority and an impoverished majority by offshoring jobs and flooding the labor market with immigrants has already generated a furious populist backlash so forceful that in the US and Great Britain alike, globalist parties are desperately scrambling to avoid giving voters the chance to choose between their policies and those of the populist insurgency. From science through politics to the corporate media, the spokescritters of the status quo have been caught shoveling smoke so often that the prestige they once had is a thing of the past—and no, it won’t work to do as some privileged pundits are doing these days and insist, plaintively or angrily as the case may be, that the rabble ought to stop asking unwelcome questions and believe blindly in whatever their supposed betters tell them. Those days are over.

…

I’m thinking here among many other things about a recent discovery at an Australian university. Did you know that cows like to eat seaweed?  Ranchers who raise cows near the sea routinely find their herds on the beach or even belly deep in the surf, munching seaweed. It so happens that one variety of seaweed has the effect of nearly eliminating the production of methane in cows’ digestive tracts. Methane is a far more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, and has been coming out of the bellies of ruminants in vast quantities since long before humans arrived—think of the herds of buffalo that used to roam the North American plains, or the herds of aurochs (the wild ancestors of cattle) that once thronged the steppes of western Eurasia.

Could we fine-tune emissions by giving cows seaweed to eat, so that excess carbon dioxide (which benefits plant growth, by the way) is balanced out by decreased methane? It’s worth trying—and the Australian scientists are working on methods to raise the seaweed in question so it can become a common additive to cattle feed. That would have to be phased in gradually so the results didn’t swing the climate the other way, but that could easily be managed, given a less hysterical approach to climate change than the one being pushed by activists these days.

That’s only one example of the kind of appropriate technology that we could use to cushion our species’ impact on the biosphere. Replacing wood with hemp as a feedstock for paper and other uses could be another—the faster a plant grows, the more carbon dioxide it sucks out of the air, and hemp grows much faster than commercial softwoods. For that matter, large-scale tree planting is a viable strategy, deliberately copying the events that led to the Little Ice Age to cool things off a bit, especially if the trees are left to mature rather than being cut down early in their life cycle—again, we’ve got hemp as a replacement. Combine these and other bits of appropriate tech with the phasing out of a few absurd extravagances like private jets, and we can bring climate change to a halt, or at least slow it down to a pace that we and other species can handle.

[nagsale]

Top 10 Ultimate Bucket List Travel Destinations

There are many places in the world that deserve to be seen. But we don’t have the time or the resources to see them all in a single lifetime. However, some locations are so beautiful and iconic that they simply must be experienced in person. Whatever else is on your bucket list, make sure you visit and check off these travel destinations. Here are the top 10 bucket list travel destinations you must visit at least once in your life.

Yellowstone National Park, USA

Located where three states meet — Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana — this national park is a 3,500 square mile natural wonderland. It is home to the Yellowstone Caldera, the largest volcanic crater in North America. Although the volcano is not expected to erupt anytime soon, there are still many hot springs, geysers, and rainbow-colored lakes all through the park. It is one of the eeriest and beautiful places on Earth. Therefore, if you want to see nature in all its glory, this is the place to visit.

Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Chile

Located in the South Pacific and part of the country of Chile, this amazing little island is home to some of the most unique and mysterious artwork ever created. The “Easter Island Heads” or “moai” are distinctive statues weighing several tons each. People without access to metal tools, wheels, or horses created them. How the stones were moved from the quarry and erected remains a mystery to this day, although at least one convincing theory has emerged recently.

The Great Wall, China

The largest such project ever constructed, the Great Wall of China is over 13,000 miles in total length. The wall was built during the reign of the first Chinese emperor, Qin Shi Huan, and added to over the centuries by subsequent dynasties. The wall was meant to repel invaders and is an enduring symbol of China as a nation. It’s possible to walk along with parts of the wall between the ramparts, and the wall crosses through some of China’s most beautiful landscapes.

The Great Barrier Reef, Australia

The world’s largest reef system is also one of the world’s largest living organisms. It stretches 1,400 miles along the eastern coast of Australia, so it’s large enough to be seen from space! And it’s the home for millions of unique and beautiful species of fish and other sea creatures. If your travels allow you to visit the land down under, then make this one of your must-see stops.

Santorini, Greece

One of Europe’s most popular tourist destinations, Santorini is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea. It sits on an old volcano that once erupted and destroyed the Minoan civilization. It’s said the eruption inspired the legend of Atlantis. Yet, despite its history, it’s surprisingly pristine. Today, it’s nothing but blue seas, blue skies, and distinctive blue roofs.

Machu Picchu, Peru

The jewel of South America, Machu Picchu is an archeological site on a high mountain range in Peru. This Inca stronghold was abandoned during the Spanish conquests of the 15th century and wasn’t rediscovered until the early 20th century. It’s currently open while restoration continues, and is a remarkable example of Mesoamerican architecture.

The Great Pyramids, Egypt

No bucket list is complete without the Great Pyramids. Located in Giza, just outside of Cairo, Egypt, they are the only surviving wonder of the original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. People still argue how these were built; some even claim aliens did it. The Great Sphinx is also part of the pyramid complex. There are no more iconic symbols of the ancient world in existence. Therefore, to see them in person is to touch some of the earliest aspects of civilization.

Victoria Falls, Zambia, and Zimbabwe

Victoria Falls, the largest waterfall on Earth, runs between the two nations of Zambia and Zimbabwe and bisects the tremendous Zambezi River. The national parks on either side of the border host wildlife conservation areas. Elephants, giraffes, and water buffalo among other animals can be seen wandering in the protected area. Victoria Falls is one of the most beautiful natural sites on the whole continent of Africa, and definitely worth the trip.

The Taj Mahal, India

Of course, this has to be on your bucket list. Located in Agra, India, the Taj Mahal was built out of stunning white marble in the 15th century by an emperor as a tomb for his favorite wife. Originally, his tomb was to be built alongside, as a matching replica in black marble. Although this plan never came to pass, the Taj Mahal by itself remains a phenomenal site to visit, symbolic of Indian culture and history. It is considered a masterpiece of architecture and one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.

Anchor Wat, Cambodia

Anchor Wat is a fantastic complex of temples in Siem Reap province in Cambodia. Built-in the 12th century, this huge structure was originally dedicated to the Hindu deity Vishnu. Later, it was rededicated as a Buddhist enclave. It remained mostly uninhabited for centuries. Because of this, the natural world crept back in, covering the temple with trees, roots, and vines. But the greenery both destroyed and preserved the temple ruins at the same time. Because of that, Anchor Wat is still one of the most beautiful archaeological sites in the world.

[iflostreturntosteverogers]

Secret (Part One)

Characters: Loki x Reader, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Thor (mentioned), Peter Parker (mentioned)

A/N: So excited for this new series! Loki deserves a little love and attention!

Warnings: None that I can really think of. A little bit of angst but a lot of fluff.

“What’s on your mind, my love?” Loki twirls a lock of my hair between his fingers. I raise my head up off his chest and sigh. “It’s almost dawn, which means you’re about to leave and I don’t want you to.” “I know, dove, but you know I have to. Besides, you have training with the patriotic golden retriever today. You’ll be too busy to miss me.” I giggle at his nickname for Steve. He smiles at me as he gets out of bed. “Loki?” “Hm?” “I love you.” “I love you too, Y/N.” He kisses my forehead and retrieves his clothes from the floor. I watch as he dresses and walks back to the bed. “I will be back tonight. I promise.” One last kiss and he vanishes. Loki and I have been sneaking around for close to a year. Being an avenger makes dating the god of mischief just a bit difficult. He sneaks in every night and on my days off we escape somewhere far away. It’s starting to wear on me, though. I hate having to hide the one I love from the people I consider family. I want to tell them about us and tell them he’s not the same Loki. He was being controlled the same as Barton was, but he doesn’t think they’ll listen or care. Thor would be happy, I think. Just to see his brother happy and doing well, would make Thor okay with it. I sigh finally getting out of bed and walk to the bathroom to get ready.

“Y/N?” Nat snaps her fingers in front of my face. “Huh? Yeah?” “Are you okay? I’ve been trying to get your attention for the last 5 minutes.” “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just a little tired.” She rolls her eyes. “I know you better than that. Do you want to talk about whatever it is that’s bothering you?” I shake my head. “No.” “Okay, well I’d get my head on straight before Steve gets down here.” I nod and start stretching my body. When Steve walks in the training area, I get up and tie my hair up with a green ribbon. “Hey, Y/N! I have some bad news. I have to leave on a mission in an hour so we won't be able to train today. Nat, Tony needs you in the conference room.” She nods and heads to the elevators. “Who is going this time?” “Everyone not already on a mission except you and Peter. He’s too young and you just got back. Speaking of Peter, can you help him train this afternoon when he gets out of school. I promised him but obviously I won’t be here.” “Yeah, of course I can.” Parker had a special place in my heart. He was so smart and such a good kid. His heart was always in the right place. “Thank you so much!” He waves goodbye and jogs off. A whole couple days without the team? Yes! I dial Loki’s number on my cell as I head to the elevators. Hello? “Hi, Babe!” Is everything okay? Aren’t you supposed to be training? “Yes, but everyone got called in for a mission except me and Peter. I have to train him for a little while after he gets out of school, but other than that I have the whole tower to myself.” Well then, I think a change of plans are in order. Let me know when everyone has left. I love you, dove. “I love you too.” I hang up and head up to my apartment.

I change out of my workout clothes and into one of Loki’s shirts. “You look beautiful like that.” I turn to see Loki standing by the balcony doors. “I was thinking we could have a movie day.” “I think that’s a lovely idea, Y/N. Why don’t you set up and I’ll change clothes.” I nod and go to the kitchen to make popcorn and grab my hidden stash of candy. “Loki?” I call. He walks out of the bedroom in dark grey sweats that hang perfectly on his hips and no shirt. “Yes?” “Do you want to order pizza?” “Darling, it’s 10 in the morning. Don’t you think it’s a little early for pizza?” I pout at him. “But I’m really craving some.” He chuckles and kisses my forehead. “Okay, okay. I’ll call it in. What do you want on it?” “Deep dish with extra cheese, pepperoni, Italian sausage, green peppers, and mushrooms. Oh, and some buffalo wings!” He wrinkles his nose at me. “I thought you hated mushrooms?” I shrug. “I really want them this time.” “Okay, dove. Whatever you want.” While he calls in our pizza, I grab the popcorn from the microwave and all the candy. “Loki, when your done grab a couple water bottles, please.” He smiles and nods.

“Ms. Y/N?” FRIDAY’s voice wakes me. “Yeah?” I mumble out. “Mr. Parker is waiting for you in the common area.” I rub my eyes and look around. Where is Loki? “Okay, tell Peter I’ll be there soon.” “Yes ma’am.” Loki emerges from the bathroom. “Hey, sweetheart.” “How long was I asleep for?” He chuckles. “Well after the five-“ “FOUR.” “Four pieces of pizza, you made it about 10 minutes into the movie and have been asleep ever since.” “Seriously? I don’t normally sleep that much. Peter is here so I’m going to help him train for a little while.” He nods. “Okay, I’ll go out for a bit and be back when you’re done.” “NO!” I shout making him frown. “Please don’t leave.” I pout suddenly feeling very clingy. Loki wraps his arms around me. “Is everything okay, Y/N? You seem off.” “It’s stupid.” I mumble into his chest. He grabs my chin and tilts up so I’m looking at him. “Your feelings are not stupid, Y/N.” He says sternly. “I just really don’t want you to leave. Please, just don’t go.” He sighs and holds me tighter. “Do you trust Parker?” What? “Of course. He’s a good kid.” “Yes, but can he keep a secret if needed?” “Yes.” Where is this going? “Good, then I won’t leave and I’ll come watch you train him.” I pull back from his arms. “Are you sure?” “Yes. I can tell it’s hurting you to hide our relationship. We can take it one or two people at a time and I know you love Parker in a little brother sort of way so why not him first?” He smiles at me and I lean up on my tiptoes to kiss him. “Thank you, Loki.” “Anything for you, my love. Now go change.” He smirks and smacks my ass as I walk away.

[ilyaslam]

Top 10 Ultimate Bucket List Travel Destinations

There are many places in the world that deserve to be seen. But we don’t have the time or the resources to see them all in a single lifetime. However, some locations are so beautiful and iconic that they simply must be experienced in person. Whatever else is on your bucket list, make sure you visit and check off these travel destinations. Here are the top 10 bucket list travel destinations you must visit at least once in your life.

Yellowstone National Park, USA

Located where three states meet — Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana — this national park is a 3,500 square mile natural wonderland. It is home to the Yellowstone Caldera, the largest volcanic crater in North America. Although the volcano is not expected to erupt anytime soon, there are still many hot springs, geysers, and rainbow-colored lakes all through the park. It is one of the most eerie and beautiful places on Earth. Therefore, if you want to see nature in all its glory, this is the place to visit.

Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Chile

Located in the South Pacific and part of the country of Chile, this amazing little island is home to some of the most unique and mysterious artwork ever created. The “Easter Island Heads” or “moai” are distinctive statues weighing several tons each. A people without access to metal tools, wheels, or horses created them. How the stones were moved from the quarry and erected remains a mystery to this day, although at least one convincing theory has emerged recently.

The Great Wall, China

The largest such project ever constructed, the Great Wall of China is over 13,000 miles in total length. The wall was built during the reign of the first Chinese emperor, Qin Shi Huan, and added to over the centuries by subsequent dynasties. The wall was meant to repel invaders, and is an enduring symbol of China as a nation. It’s possible to walk along parts of the wall between the ramparts, and the wall crosses through some of China’s most beautiful landscapes.

The Great Barrier Reef, Australia

The world’s largest reef system is also one of the world’s largest living organisms. It stretches 1,400 miles along the eastern coast of Australia, so it’s large enough to be seen from space! And it’s the home for millions of unique and beautiful species of fish and other sea creatures. If your travels allow you to visit the land down under, then make this one of your must-see stops.

Santorini, Greece

One of Europe’s most popular tourist destinations, Santorini is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea. It sits on an old volcano that once erupted and destroyed the Minoan civilization. It’s said the eruption inspired the legend of Atlantis. Yet, despite its history, it’s surprisingly pristine. Today, it’s nothing but blue seas, blue skies, and distinctive blue roofs.

Machu Picchu, Peru

The jewel of South America, Machu Picchu is an archeological site on a high mountain range in Peru. This Inca stronghold was abandoned during the Spanish conquests of the 15th century, and wasn’t rediscovered until the early 20th century. It’s currently open while restoration continues, and is a remarkable example of Mesoamerican architecture.

The Great Pyramids, Egypt

No bucket list is complete without the Great Pyramids. Located in Giza, just outside of Cairo, Egypt, they are the only surviving wonder of the original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. People still argue how these were built; some even claim aliens did it. The Great Sphinx is also part of the pyramid complex. There are no more iconic symbols of the ancient world in existence. Therefore, to see them in person is to touch some of the earliest aspects of civilization.

Victoria Falls, Zambia and Zimbabwe

Victoria Falls, the largest waterfall on Earth, runs between the two nations of Zambia and Zimbabe, and bisects the tremendous Zambezi River. The national parks on either side of the border host wildlife conservation areas. Elephants, giraffes, and water buffalo among other animals can be seen wandering in the protected area. Victoria Falls is one of the most beautiful natural sites on the whole continent of Africa, and definitely worth the trip.

The Taj Mahal, India

Of course, this has to be on your bucket list. Located in Agra, India, the Taj Mahal was built out of stunning white marble in the 15th century by an emperor as a tomb for his favorite wife. Originally, his tomb was to be built alongside, as a matching replica in black marble. Although this plan never came to pass, the Taj Mahal by itself remains a phenomenal site to visit, symbolic of Indian culture and history. It is considered a masterpiece of architecture and one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.

Anghor Wat, Cambodia

Anghor Wat is a fantastic complex of temples in Siem Reap province in Cambodia. Built in the 12th century, this huge structure was originally dedicated to the Hindu deity Vishnu. Later, it was rededicated as a Buddhist enclave. It remained mostly uninhabited for centuries. Because of this, the natural world crept back in, covering the temple with trees, roots, and vines. But the greenery both destroyed and preserved the temple ruins at the same time. Because of that, Anghor Wat is still one of the most beautiful archaeological sites in the world.

[aritheapprentice]

Afra’s Birthday!!!

It’s Afra’s birthday!!! Happy birthday to my oldest friend *hugs @afratheapprentice really tight* Dear, I hope you don’t mind I’m posting here this super sweet memory of mine... I am actually very scared and shy about it, I hope you’ll love it (^-^’)

Word count: 1723

Pairings: Afra/Nadia, Ari/Julian, surprises at the end ;)

 “Doneee?” Faust asks Ari, in his cute snake voice. “Not bussssy moree.”

The apprentice smiled. Asra had had an amazing idea when he decided to leave Faust at the shop – The familiar was able to keep the two witches in contact without Afra noticing anything.

“Nearly done, Faust. We just need to wait for the others to get here.”

As if the words have been a summon, the bell from the shop’s door started clincking softly. Nearly all of Vesuvia seemed to pour in at once – Countess Nadia, closely followed by Portia and Julian Devorak (Ari’s heart fluttered when the doctor offered her his famous grin and wink) and then, to her surprise, Muriel. They all had their familiars with them – Chandra gracefully sitting on Nadia’s shoulder, Pepi cuddled in Portia’s arms, Malak flying chaotically around Julian and Inanna stepping carefully on the plush carpet, testing the novelty of it with her paws. It was such an unusual image – seeing everyone in the tiny shop, shades of purple on their faces. Ari hugged everyone and thanked them for coming, then led them to the kitchen. There, a big water buffalo head greeted them through the window with a long “MOOOO”, startling both Muriel and Inanna. It was really a wonder they were in the room with so many people at once – she wasn’t sure they would accept her invitation when she had sent it, and was really grateful they came, but maybe she should have told them about Afra’s huge familiar weird habits.

“Hey there, little one.” Ari teased the buffalo. “I thought I told you to not scare the guests, didn’t I?”

Bahay made a sound that was probably some kind of laugh, and Ari turned to everyone else. “Sit, make yourselves comfortable. I don’t think we have much more waiting to do, so I’ll bring the cake.”

“Do you need help, my dearest?” Julian asked her with a smirk.

“I’m not very sure I need your help with this, dork, but I could do with Nadia’s” the apprentice answered, thinking about what kind of help Julian was definitely talking about.

With the help of the countess, she managed to bring the huge cake, decorated with butter cream and sugar flowers, and then put the candles. When she heard the door open, she lighted the candles with a flicker of her finger.

“Okay, Afra, I have a surprise for you.” everyone heard Asra say. “I’ll cover your eyes with my hands now, and I want you to trust me. You’ll love it.”

When the two of them reached the kitchen door, everyone else started singing Happy Birthday, and Asra let Afra look around. Her eyes widened in surprise and she covered her mouth with her hands, tears of happiness starting to fill her violet eyes. Everyone started smiling as Nadia practically lifted the birthday magician and kissed her on the mouth, their faces radiating a happiness so bright it touched everyone else in the room.

“I.. I don’t know what to say… This is… This is so unexpected and it’s making me so happy, thank you all!”

“We couldn’t have missed such an important occasion to celebrate one of our favourite magicians, could we?” asked Portia, winking.

“Or such an occasion to get drunk” Julian added cheerfully, earning himself a frown from Ari and Asra.

“Come on, blow the candles and make a wish!” Ari said. “I’m not sure I can keep Julian from eating it for longer. Or Faust, if I think about how much he’s stayed around me while I was making it.”

Everybody laughed. Even Muriel was starting to relax, Inanna wiggling her tail in excitement. Afra bent towards the candles, closed her eyes and made a wish, blowing out all the candles at once. Cheers and the sound of hands clapping filled the cozy kitchen.

“It’s time for opening the presents!” Portia exclaimed. “Mine first, mine first!”

She pushed a little box in Afra’s hands, her eyes gleaming with excitement. The apprentice opened it slowly, savouring the feel of the soft wood. Inside, she found three wooden bracelets, painted in really bright reds and golden.

“Portia! They are so pretty! Thank you so much!” she said, hugging the tiny redhead.

“Do I get the honour to offer you your second gift for today?” Julian asked, grinning and bowing, a box in his gloved hands.

“I really hope it’s not leeches.” Afra said, stretching her hand out for the box.

It wasn’t leeches. It was a tiny knife, the handle beautifully carved from a dense cherry coloured wood, the silver blade so sharp it probably wouldn’t hurt at all. It had a simple spring mechanism, allowing the blade to swiftly get in and out of a special space in the handle.

“I… thought you could use it for potions or elixirs or whatever else you witches make in this shop. And… um… self defence.” he babbled, the tips of his ears and his cheeks blooming a deep red.

“Thank you.” she said, pocketing the knife. “I hope I’ll only ever need to use it around the shop. Who wants to be next?”

“I wouldn’t mind to.” Asra said, producing a bottle from one of his pockets.

Afra took it, opened it and smelled the contents. The rose aroma was so strong it made everyone react – even the big water buffalo, that was curiously watching everything.

“You are… mad. How many times did you go through the distillation process for it to be so strong?” Afra asked, a little outrage.

“Uhh… countless?” the magician shrugged. “It doesn’t matter, really. Just… don’t put that straight on your skin. You’ll kill everyone in the room if you use it undiluted.” he chuckled.

Afra rolled her eyes and hip bumped him. “It’s a risk I’m willing to take.”

She turned her head and met Ari’s eyes, so she lifted her eyebrows in a silent question. The other apprentice handed her a flat box, winking in the process.

“I hope our companions are strong of heart enough to see this.” she smirked.

Expecting to find some sort of lingerie, Afra gasped in surprise when she opened the box and took out a long robe, made from a material that seemed to float through its own will.

“That is nopalian silk. Maybe, just maybe, you’ll stop stealing my pajamas, now that I finally layed my hands on enough of that to tailor you something.”

“This is.. so soft” she whispered, her eyes wide as she was feeling the orange cloth. “Thank you. I’m probably not sleeping in anything else from now on.”

“Except maybe my arms” Nadia intervened cheerfully, to everyone’s amusement. “This is for you.” She continued, offering Afra a bright smile and a box covered with velvet.

“Oh my. This looks expensive,” Afra said, frowning a little as she was opening it. A golden necklace just like the one she was wearing, but with a ruby the size of a dove egg embedded In the middle, sat on a velvet cushion. “I don’t believe this,” Afra said, her eyes wide and shocked. “Nadia, this must be worth a fortune!”

The countess just smiled and kissed Afra’s forehead. “You should stop worrying about how much my presents are worth – or rather, you should stop minding,” she said, a soft blush colouring her cheeks.

Afra looked around the room, tears in the corner of her eyes. “Thank you so much for being he-… oh?” she suddenly stopped when Inanna put her huge paws up, holding a wooden figurine in her hands. It was a detailed sculpture of Bahay, with Afra having her hands around his neck.

“I… oh,” she mumbled, her eyes overflowing with tears. “Thank you,” she told Muriel, who was aggressively blushing because of all the attention on him.

Seeing his friends filled with such emotion that no one wanted to speak, Asra put one hand around Afra and one around Nadia. “Smile! It’s time to eat, and Ari cooked everything! Faust’s been waiting for hours to taste the buttercream.”

The snake “sssss”ed in approval, slithering up the table. Ari smiled and began cutting the cake.

“Julian, would you be as kind as to bring the food? It’s still in the oven,” she said, smiling to the auburn haired doctor.

He blushed and proceeded to do as asked. The smell of freshly baked bread, hot fish brine, tender chicken with lemons and baked potatoes with butter filled the kitchen as soon as Julian opened the oven, attracting a long pleasured sigh from everyone.

“Ari, are you sure you wanna keep being a magician? There might be a free spot in the palace kitchens,” Nadia said, deeply inhaling the aroma.

Julian’s eyes were filled with love and admiration as he pulled tray after tray of spiced goodies. Even Muriel’s interest had been awakened by the mix of smells, enough that the silent giant was attentively watching the tables. Without being asked to, Portia found the dishes and distributed them to everyone, and they began serving themselves.

“Ari, this is one of the best fish I’ve ever eaten in my life,” Afra said. “I can’t believe it’s the first time you feed me this amazing stuff! What a fake friend,” she pretended to be sad.

Asra laughed. “Oh, but she’s cooked this before! It’s just that this time it’s better. I don’t know why or what, but something is definitely different.”

Ari smiled, but didn’t say anything, stuffing her mouth with chicken and potatoes instead.

Everybody was eating and having a good time. Later, they decided to play some games, keeping their wine glasses close. The first one to slip out, overwhelmed by the noise and activity, was Muriel. Later, when everyone in the city was sleeping, the countess, Afra and Portia left together too giggling and leaning on each other, leaving Asra, Ari and a very drunken and flirty Julian alone in the shop.

“Asra? That’s my boyfriend you’re kissing now,” Ari said when she entered the living room, after being in the kitchen to wash some dishes.

Julian’s cheeks flushed even more than they already where, and he looked on the edge of apologizing. Asra just threw her a flirty, drunken glare, that she decided she won’t resist to, at least this time. Afterall, how often would she find herself in such a situation?

[queen-of-deans-booty]

Bad Day at Black Rock- Part 1

Pairing: Dean x Reader

Word Count: 2,256

Warnings: Typical Supernatural violence, language, angst, blood, you know the usual

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Supernatural. All credit goes to their respective owners. Any and all comments on these are appreciated. I really want to hear what you guys think about this one!

Feedback is the glue that holds my writing together.

Tags at the bottom

Out of everything that is happening in your life, the most surprising thing is that a demon offered help to get Dean out of his deal. What made it so surprising was the fact that Ruby is a demon. You didn’t know why she wanted to help or why she cared and she didn’t feel like answering your questions. Something was off about her but you didn’t know what. You didn’t like Ruby, everything about her sent off alarm bells in your head. Of course, they did, she was a demon, that should be the only reason you were skeptical.

However, you didn’t think she only wanted to help with Dean. You could sense a bit of an evil side to her and you didn’t trust her at all. You only went along with her for Sam. You knew he was desperate to get his brother back and of course you were too, but not this way. You would find another way that didn’t involve a demon.

Sam didn’t want Dean to know about Ruby and who she was and what she wanted to do for Dean. You knew Dean was against you and Sam trying to get him out of his deal so you thought he was going to get pissed but you needed to let him know what was going on.

And you were right, he was blowing up. He did not like the sound of Ruby at all.

“Dean, please don’t get mad at us. You have to understand why we are searching for help. You’re my boyfriend, Dean, the love of my life. You can’t expect us to do nothing.” You said before Dean could yell at the two of you.

“Seriously, you find out this Ruby chick is a demon and the first thing you do is have a chat with her? No, you go for the holy water! What’s the matter with you?” Dean raised his voice, his hands gripping the steering wheel tightly as he drove. He was not a happy camper.

“Dean, it wasn’t like that.” You said, trying to get him to understand your side of this.

“What is there to understand? Y/N, you know better than to trust a demon! You know they lie. She knows yours and Sam’s weakness which is me,” Dean scolded you and Sam like you were children. “What else did she say?”

You looked at Sam and wondered if you should say anything. You told Dean everything about your encounter with the demon but you didn’t tell him how much you were skeptical about her. There was something off about Ruby like she was after something much bigger than getting Dean out of his deal.

“Nothing, okay?!” Sam said, speaking for both you and himself. “Look, I'm not an idiot Dean, I'm not talking about trusting her. I'm talking about using her. I mean we're at war, right? We don't know shit about the enemy; we don't know where they are or what they’re doing. I mean, hell, we don't know what they want. Now, this Ruby girl knows more than we will ever find out on our own. Yes, it's a risk, I know that, but we need to take it.”

“Are you two okay?” Dean asked, the safety of you and Sam more important than some demon. “I mean, you two are feeling okay?”

“Yeah, we’re fine, Dean.” You said, resting your chin on the back of your hand which rested on the back of the front seat. Before anyone could say anything else, a phone started ringing. You frowned and checked your phone which was dark. Sam checked his phone and the same was for him.

“It’s not mine,” Sam noted. Dean checked his and it was off, so it couldn’t have been it. Everyone was confused on where the ringing was coming from but Dean seemed to understand after a few moments.

“Wait, check the glove compartment, it’s Dad’s.” Sam opened the glove compartment and pulled out one of John’s old cell phones which was blaring the annoying ringtone.

“Why do you have John’s cell phones?” You asked Dean while Sam answered it.

“I keep them charged in case any of my dad’s contacts call him for whatever reason.”

“No! No, no, no, don't call the police, I'll handle this myself, thanks. You know, can you just, uh, can you just lock it back up for me? Great. I uh, I don't have my—my book in front of me, do you—do you have the address so I can... Sure, okay. Go ahead. Right, thanks a lot.” Sam said to the person on the other line. He grabbed a pen he saw lying on the ground and wrote something on the back of his hand. He abruptly ended the call and sighed.

“Who was that?” You asked, noticing his distress.

“Did you know dad had a huge lot at a storage place?”

“What?” Dean asked, glancing at his brother before going back to the road.

“Yeah, it’s right outside of Buffalo.”

“No way, how come he’s never told us this? What’s in it?” You asked.

“We are going to find out soon. Someone just broke into it.” Sam said with a sigh.

“Well, at least I like New York.” You said with a shrug, leaning back in your seat. You had a long time before getting to New York, much less Buffalo so you were going to try and take a quick nap.

Before you knew it, you were getting out of the car, stretching your muscles. Your shirt rode up a bit, exposing your lower stomach to whoever was looking at you. Before you could put your arms back down, you felt a hand on your exposed skin and you opened your eyes to see Dean standing right in front of you.

“Hi, Dean.” You said, confused as to why he was touching you. You and Dean couldn’t keep your hands off each other and even though he loved PDA, this was something different. Maybe it was the look in his eyes or the gentleness of his touch.

“I love you.” He whispered. You lowered your arms and smiled up at him, feeling his hand move further up your stomach.

“I love you too,” you whispered back, leaning up and kissing him lightly.

“Come on, guys, we don’t have much time,” Sam said, walking down the street to the building where John’s secret storage unit was. You and Dean ignored Sam, though and continued to stare into each other’s eyes.

“Why are you touching my stomach?” You asked in a low voice, wondering if this had anything to do with Lisa and Ben.

“Your skin is so soft,” That was the only explanation he gave before slinging an arm around you before trying to catch up to Sam. You bit your lip and shrugged, passing this off as Dean being Dean. He was only like this with you when you two were alone.

You, Sam, and Dean got into the elevator that would take you to the storage unit, waiting for the ride to stop.

“Man…” Dean trailed off with a shake of his head.

“What is it?” You asked.

“Just… dad. You know, him and his secrets. I mean, we spend all this time with the guy and it’s like we barely know him.”

“He liked to protect us, Dean. Apparently, whatever is in here, is something big and he didn’t want us knowing about it.” You said, grabbing his hand and holding it tight.

“Yeah, well, we’re going to know about it now,” Sam said, walking off the elevator when it stopped at the level the unit was on. You all got off the elevator and since Dean was the one who had the keys, he unlocked the padlock, opened the sliding door, taking out his flashlight. When you got the news of this storage unit, you didn’t want to wait until morning to find out what was in here so it was still the middle of the night when you arrived.

You had your own flashlight and shone it around before landing on the floor. You stopped the brothers and saw a symbol that was drawn in red along with several bloody footprints.

“Look, something must be in here that John wanted to keep away from demons.” Dean knelt and touched a wire that you didn’t see but that Dean could. It was a trip wire that looks like it had already been tripped over. That must explain the bloody footprints you found.

“Whoever broke in here must have gotten shot. That would explain the blood on the ground.” You observed.

“Yeah, but there are two sets of prints. This must have been a two-man job. The guy who was shot kept walking.” Dean noticed.

“So, what could be so important that he would need a trip wire and a devil’s trap to protect?” You wondered out loud.

“Well, that’s what we’re going to find out,” Dean said, standing up. You three walked into the room and looked around, smiling when you found a box of old things that you, Sam or Dean made from school. You looked through the boxes and sifted through the memories.

“Hey, look at this!” Sam said, making you and Dean shine your flashlights at whatever Sam was holding. “This is my Division Championship soccer trophy. I can't believe he kept this.”

“Yeah... It was probably about the closest you ever came to being a boy,” Dean teased his brother. You chuckled as Dean walked over to another part of the unbelievably large storage unit before picking up a homemade shotgun. “Oh, wow! It's my first sawed-off. I made it myself. Sixth grade.”

You looked around and gasped at what you found hanging on the wall. You walked closer to it and saw it was the book you had made John when you were growing up. It was a book of John, Sam, and Dean, filled with stories and memories of you all.

It was a shit book, just mostly filled with shitty drawings and stories that made no sense but he kept it. All these years. You sighed, knowing that John hated the life he brought on for his kids. All he wanted to do was bring justice for his wife and that led him down this path of death and misery. He tried to keep you, Sam and Dean normal and you guess with holding onto all these things, he could do just that and pretend.

“Hey, guys, check this out,” Sam said, pulling you away from your thoughts. You met with Dean by Sam and looked at a room that was secured with a locked door. Well, the lock had been cut and you figured that whatever was stolen, came out of this room. You three walked into the room, shining your flashlights everywhere.

“Holy shit, this is amazing.” You said, seeing symbols of all kind of things everywhere—on the walls, floors and on the objects in the room. There were all kinds of objects from weapons to objects you had no idea what they were.

“Look at this, he had land mines in here. Guns. The robbers didn’t take this stuff. I guess they were after something else, huh?” Dean noticed. You looked around and you shone your flashlight on boxes with weird symbols you didn’t recognize. You walked over to it and didn’t touch it, but you felt a pull come from the boxes like they were supernatural.

“Hey, you guys, I’m getting weird feelings from these boxes.” You felt two bodies next to you and extra light on the boxes.

“Whoa, those symbols are binding magic. These are curse boxes.” Sam said from the right of you. Of course, he would know what they are.

“Curse boxes? They're supposed to keep the evil mojo in, right, kind of like the Pandora deal?” Dean asked.

“Yeah, they're built to contain the power of the cursed object,” Sam informed.

“Well, Dad's journal did mention a whole bunch of stuff, you know? Dangerous hexed items and fetishes... He never did say where they ended up.”

“This is where they ended up, I guess,” You muttered, looking closely at the boxes. You frowned when you saw a shape in the dust as if there was a box there before. You touched the dust and sighed, looking at both brothers. “One box is missing. Great.”

“Maybe they didn’t open it.” Dean tried to look on the positive side.

“Yeah, when does that ever happen to us. Of course, they opened it. With all these markings, they gotta be curious, at least. Come on, we have to find who these guys were.” You said, walking with the brothers out of the unit.

“Where do we start?” Sam asked.

“With the security cameras. I’m sure John picked this spot for a reason. There must be cameras somewhere. My bet, whoever took that box, doesn’t know what it is. Therefore, careless about covering their tracks.” You said, walking back to the service elevator after locking everything back up.

“Yeah, the question is though, if they didn’t know what it is, why take it in the first place?” Sam asked, making you think of things that you’d rather not know the answer to. You three took the elevator back down and walked to the main office, looking at the building. You smirked, seeing security cameras on the sides of the buildings. Hopefully, whoever stole the box, their trails don’t end inside.

Series Rewrite Junkies:

@helllonearth @amyisabellal @deanwnchstr @caseykitten6 @roxalya19 @quixoticcat @supernaturalblogging @notmoose45 @crowleysminion @mina22 @tahbehonest @oreosatmidnight @seninjakitey @flyonlittlewinchester @earthtokace @gingersnapped13 @gucci-leto @superrandomnatural @my-wayward-heroes @stevetrevorstardis @supernaturallover2002 @teamfreewillsstuff ​

[tysonrunningfox]

Toothless: Return to the Black Pony of Second Chances

Part 3 | AO3 (I’m too lazy to link all former chapters because tumblr doesn’t want to show me part 2 and I don’t know why but Archive has them all and it’s easier so there)  

I’m going to try and finish this because I love my dumb horse girl Hiccup au a lot and need structure to try.  

Town isn’t so much an actual town as it is an actual general store with a big, ancient sign that says General Store a gas pump out front, a Denny’s in a Best Western parking lot, a post office combined with a vaguely ominous sounding “Best Trader’s Bank”, and a nameless bar with a Coors Light sign half lit in the front window.  Not only is it not big enough for Astrid and me, it’s not big enough to earn a dot on the atlas map.  If I had service, I’d check if it’s even worth a dot on Google Maps but my service is roaming with the buffalo, wherever they do that, I’m assuming it’s nearby.  I’m sure that if Google could see me, Google would think I was going to show up in the news for surviving being lost in the Wyoming wilderness.

Or dying, you know, which seems more probable with the way Astrid is glowering at the list my dad gave her.

She’s very angry.  I remember that from when we were seven. Or my scalp remembers because there’s a very primal throbbing on the back of my head like by second grade, she had the unique ability to target people where they’d died in a past life.

I don’t necessarily remember her looking like a very muddy and really hot but vicious attack lap dog of my father’s, but after half an hour in the truck while she unflinchingly blared country and refused to look at me, I think I’ve got her figured out.  It’s not like there are very many personality types in Wyoming, and I think I can put her surprisingly dedicated irritation with me in the same corner as my dad’s deep and eternal disappointment.  

“You can wait in the truck.” Astrid’s offer is more like an order and I unbuckle my seatbelt the instant she parks the truck.  

“I’ve been in this truck all day, I need to stretch my legs,” I say it to make her uncomfortable, but she either doesn’t hear or doesn’t remember, because she doesn’t react except to glare at me that I interrupted her counting the money my dad gave her. “What?  They don’t take Apple Pay?”  

“I really don’t need your help,” she double checks the list and tucks it into the grimy pocket of her shirt. The wrists are unbuttoned and it looks like she purposefully dragged them through filthy water, like some bastardization of hick tie-dye.  

“Fine, then I won’t help.” I get out of the truck and stretch my arms over my head, simultaneously overheated in the direct sun and chilled by the wind that cuts through my hoodie like Astrid’s glare.  “Nice park job by the way.”  I point out one of the behemoth’s tires on the crookedly painted line and she huffs at me before deciding against it, her nose pointedly in the air as she stalks off into the shop.  

The silent treatment, my old nemesis.  

One time my mom managed it for a day and a half and I thought I was going to pull my hair out, but that’s my mom.  She knows me. Astrid can’t seem to be not furious for even a second so I doubt she’ll keep it up for long.  

A second gust of wind slams the door shut after me, ruffling a bulletin board full of flyers.  Most of them are advertising things for sale, like a manual Craigslist, and a couple are alerting the few but lucky patrons to fire danger in the area.  The biggest is a poster tacked down at all four corners, advertising the Berk County Rodeo as the oldest continuously running rodeo in Wyoming and promising prize money in a variety of events that I would guess all involve wrestling farm animals.  And that just makes me remember that my dad’s plan is for grueling, back breaking farm labor to miraculously return me to the obedient son that I never even was.  

I thought last summer was bad because Mom refused to turn on the AC.  This is going to be worse, so much worse.  

“Hiccup Haddock, is that you?” A familiar voice greets me and I look up from the bulletin board to see Gobber behind the counter, holding Astrid’s list with his metal hook hand.  

“Gobber?”  I laugh, forgetting at least some of how miserable I am to be here.  My dad looked the same but Gobber looks older, his moustache gray in the middle and blond where it hangs to his chin.  

“Is that a question, laddie?” He laughs, waving me over, and Astrid steps out of the way with an expression like she just bit into a lemon on a dare.  “Stoick said he was picking you up today but I didn’t figure he’d let you out of his sight so soon.”  

“Let?  More like ordered me away before that vein in his forehead finally exploded.”  I shake Gobber’s hand and he pulls me halfway across the counter to thump me on the back with his hook.  “And now you’re bludgeoning me, ouch,” I’m grinning when I get my feet back on the floor, “I see it was a long con to get rid of me.”  

“Don’t think we’d let you off that easy,” he crosses his arms, “expelled, eh?”  

“There it is,” I sigh, and Gobber’s heavy look gives no room for me to try and talk my way out of this judgement.  “In my defense--”

“This should be interesting,” Astrid mumbles under her breath, rolling her eyes and reading a candy wrapper like it’s deeply interesting.  

Maybe it is, to her.  I don’t think they let her off the farm much, maybe she doesn’t know that some food comes pre-killed and pre-packaged for everyone who doesn’t horse wrestle to get their morning pep.  

“Whatever the reason, I’m glad to see you.” He starts stacking items from Astrid’s list on the counter, “a summer of work will do you some good, you look like the wind is going to clean carry you away.”  

“Thanks,” I scoff, swallowing against that all too familiar feeling of fitting in only because I stand out.

It’s different with Gobber though because the reason I’m a token something is different, he’s cutting right to the core of Berk’s problems with me with one swipe of his hook.  And given the lack of diversity in Wyoming personality, candy selection, and everything else, I can just apply his salt to the wound I didn’t think my dad could open back up.  But he’s stubborn and look at this, I’ve been here an hour and gotten through one rousing fight and suddenly, I kind of care what he thinks of me.  

Gobber heads into the back room, humming happily, and given that this is the closest I’m going to get to civilization for a while, it’s probably my best chance to get an SOS out.  Dear Heather, enemy doctrine has reminded me that societally, I’m supposed to want my dad to love me, please send reinforcements.

“Is there cell service anywhere around here?”  I ask Astrid and she looks up pointedly slowly from her absolutely gripping candy wrapper research.  

“We have an amplifier at the ranch but Mr. Haddock keeps it off, usually.”  

“Oh, that’s useful for the underage hostage labor situation he has going on.”  

Her nostrils flare like she’s about to charge me or something and I make sure I’m not wearing my red shirt.

“Ruffnut claims she can check Facebook from the corner by the ice machine,” she points past the two aisles of food and small selection of clothes that look like they were personally plucked by Gobber out of the LL Bean sad grandpa collection.  

“I’ll try that then.”  I take out my phone and slip a pack of gum into my pocket when she isn’t looking, already re-committed to ignoring me. “Don’t worry, not calling the union--”

“You really shouldn’t talk about your dad that way,” she snaps, dropping the candy on the floor and clenching a fist on the counter.  “The rest of us want to be here.  I want to be here.”  

I don’t quite know why, but that makes me think of that horse I noticed on the way over here.  I don’t know why it stood out to me but I think it had something to do with the way it was standing, sulky but still defiant, like it knew it had lost didn’t see any reason to acknowledge it.  Astrid said it didn’t belong and maybe it should take that as a compliment.  

“You do seem deeply happy and fulfilled.”  I head back towards the ice machine, holding my phone over my head and looking for a trace of signal.  It flickers but holds and I open up my messages.  The screen stays blank, unable to load the rest of Heather and my conversation and I’m glad I grabbed the gum, because the secret in my pocket keeps my face blank even as another tether to who I knew I was yesterday wears thinner in the onslaught.  

Hiccup (11:13am): Day 1 in enemy territory, lack of muscle definition has been noticed and noted.  I fear this will make me unattractive to the cows and my cover will be blown Hiccup (11:13am): how’s my mom holding up?

“That’s the last of it and I’ve got the feed on order, someone should be delivering tomorrow,” Gobber hefts a box onto the counter and Astrid pays from her stack of bills.  

“Thanks for doing that research for me, by the way, I hate going cheaper--”

“Don’t worry about that now,” Gobber says almost gently, “Stoick will turn it around, he always does. This time’s no different, you’ll see.”

“Turn what around?”  I check my phone to make sure I stay in signal range even as I try to insert myself back into their cryptic conversation.

“None of your business.” Astrid picks up the box like she’s worried she’ll hit me if she doesn’t have something to occupy her hands.  

“Well, it sounds like it has something to do with the Haddock Ranch, which technically--”

“Are you done irritating whoever you’re texting?”  She gestures at the door with her chin, wordlessly ordering me to open it for her. “Because unlike you, I actually have some work to do.”  

I move slowly and Gobber groans at me, annoyed but nice enough about it that I almost feel bad about the gum in my pocket.  Or maybe I do feel bad, I always feel a little bit bad, but it’s not an exercise in morality as much as impulsivity and reminding myself that no one is watching. A little invisibility is practically armor when Astrid’s glaring at me like that.  

“I thought everyone’s whole point was to put me to work?”  I finally get to the door and lean on it a second too long before pushing it open. The wind fights me and I let it.  

“I don’t know how useful you’ll be,” Astrid gets sick of waiting and shoulders past me, kicking the door fully open with a muddy boot and calling back at Gobber.  “See you later!”  

“Yeah Gobber, I’ll see you,” I wave at him and his unimpressed face reminds me of my mom’s.  

“If you’d like to do that before your own funeral, maybe go a little easy on Astrid.”  

“Right, because she’s going so easy on me.”  I watch her load the box into the backseat of the truck and climb impatiently into the driver’s side, tapping on her watch at me.  

“She’s had a rough few months,” he sighs, “and so has your father.  Maybe lead with a little less…”

“You just gestured to all of me,” I flinch when Astrid honks, and taps her watch again.  “Alright!  I’m coming! Bye Gobber, enjoy my wake, chances of open casket aren’t looking good.”  

“Oh Hiccup,” he sighs as the wind slams the door shut again and I get into the truck.  I’m barely seated let alone buckled in when Astrid pulls out, slamming it into gear and punching the gas.  

“You know, unbuckled passengers become projectiles in accidents.”  

“I’m not going to hit anything.” She sighs and rubs her forehead, leaving a smear of dirt across it, like it somehow sprouts endlessly from her hands. “At least not right now.”  

“That leaves me confident.”

She doesn’t respond to that aside from turning on the radio and going back to her stare straight ahead and glare routine while attempting to humanely lobotomize me with some song about cut offs in a truck in a field in a beer can in the military.  

Halfway up the long driveway to the ranch, I find myself looking for the horse I noticed earlier.  The rest of the herd is still in the field they were last time, but that lone black horse is missing.  Maybe it found somewhere it would rather be and I kind of hope it’s a good omen towards my chances of finding a reliable cell signal.  

But, as with school security system updates, hope doesn’t usually go my way.  

“Shit!”  Astrid yelps, slamming on the brakes as a staggering black blur runs in front of us right at the corner of the fence.  The truck squeals, tires sending a wave of gravel at the twins, who are running after the horse.  Ruffnut flips her off and my dad barks something I can’t quite make out but it gets her running again.  

“I thought you weren’t going to hit anything.”  I goad Astrid, using the physical force of her glare to convince my hands to let go of the seat.  

“Loose horse, don’t just sit there,” she yanks the keys out and runs after everyone, grabbing a rope from a hook on the fence.  

“I don’t really know what I’m supposed to do, but...ok.”  

The horse runs behind the house and I take a few steps towards the other side, more avoiding the action than actively seeking out the horse.  I am curious though, I did recognize it.  It’s limping even as it leads everyone on a scattered chase and I catch a flash of red on its back leg when it dodges around my dad, kicking out at him and stumbling to catch himself.  

Astrid’s probably going to lecture it about disrespect.  

I didn’t grab the gum to chew it, but the dust the chase is kicking up is making my mouth feel dry so I pull out a piece, edging a little closer to the commotion.  

The horse catches my eye and pauses, neck arched, eyes wide enough to see the whites of them even from thirty feet away.  It kicks at Astrid when she tries to grab it with the rope before fixing its attention on me again and staggering to the side.  I can see its hurt leg more clearly now and it makes my own knee twinge sympathetically.  

“Hiccup,” my dad gestures from where he’s standing, arms spread wide to block entrance to the barn.  “Get out of its way.”  

“I thought we were trying to catch it,” I take a step towards it, possessed by the same pull I feel towards knick knacks and unguarded teacher’s keys.  

It blinks at me and nods violent and fast, letting out a shrill sound that’s more scream than anything before running straight at me.  

“Hiccup!”  My dad yells again.  

Maybe my life isn’t flashing before my eyes because I never really had one.  

Or maybe it’s because for some reason I can’t explain, the horse stops three feet ahead of me, nodding again and pawing the ground with one front foot.  Its knee shakes.  My knee shakes.  I hold out my hand and it breathes a gust of warm, damp breath over my palm, nostrils flaring to show vague pink insides.  

“I’m not going to hurt you,” I mutter, clearing my throat when my voice feels lost in it.  “Something already did that.”  

“Hiccup,” Astrid tosses me the rope she’s holding and it hits me in the side.  The horse startles, rearing back on its hind legs and lashing out at her before stumbling, barely catching itself on that quaking back knee.  

“Don’t scare it!”  I step between them, arms held out like I’m the one protecting the raging thousand pound animal.  Maybe I am.  I don’t know.

“Put the rope around its neck,” she orders, which I think is just a base state for her, but I’m not sure what else to do so I listen, picking up the coil with surprisingly steady fingers and examining it.  

“I don’t know how to do this,” I tell the horse, because country music made me go clinically insane this quickly, “this is a lasso, I think, I don’t know.  There’s a loop.”  I glance back at Astrid and she’s scowling at me, giving so much helpful advice.  “I think that’s the part I catch you with. I’m just going to...put it over your head even though you keep trying to kill everyone else here.”  

The horse nods again, chewing with its big, hand crushing teeth, and blowing more air over my hands.  

I have to go onto my toes to get the rope all the way over its ears and I stumble slightly on the gravel. It’s a reflex to reach out and catch myself and I don’t realize what I’ve done until I see my pale hand on its gleaming black shoulder.  

My life doesn’t flash before my eyes.  

The horse stands stock still except for that trembling back leg shaking in time with my heartbeat.  

“Hiccup,” my dad calls again, “let Astrid take him--”

“I’ve got him,” I regrip the rope, taking a step backwards, sure that the horse will follow.  It does, one mincing step on unsure legs.  “There we go, that’s good.”  My left heel drags slightly in the gravel as I take another step back and the horse follows.  

“Take him into the barn,” my dad sounds confused more than anything and he steps out of the way as the horse and I make slow backwards progress.  One of the stalls inside the barn is open but the horse pauses at its entrance, pawing with its front foot again.  

“Come on, bud, you’re close. So close.  I see that knee shaking, I bet you’re tired from making all these people chase you around.”  I reach out and set my hand on its nose and it nods again, grunting deep in its chest between hoarse, distinctly scared breaths, “I’m tired from watching you make these people chase you around.”  

It takes a trembling step over the threshold and the other three feet follow more easily.  

“Take the rope off,” Astrid is watching from the big sliding barn door, eyes sharp and irritated. Curious.  

I think it’s the first time all day I’ve agreed with her.  I’m also curious as to what the fuck just happened.  

“I’m just going to get this off of you,” I loosen the rope and pull it back over his head, “and I’m going to step out of here and close this door.”  

It tries to follow when I step backwards but doesn’t argue when I close the door and slide the brass latch into place.  

“What the hell?”  My dad shakes his head, looking at me like I’m as alien as I feel here.  

I laugh, “watch your language, Dad, impressionable ears are everywhere.”  

“Inside.  Now.”  He points towards the ranch house and I’m too rattled to try and argue with that level of authoritative tone so I listen, knees wobbling as I walk past everyone. I’m not sure how to describe how they’re staring at me, but it’s new.  As new as the urge to turn around and go back into that barn, like something is unfinished.