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seyaryminamoto · 3 years ago

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my school works are piled up this past few weeks (graduating tingz) and i just started reading the deadlock novel it feels like i'm reading a sokkla fic every time Mcashe has a scene because they just give off the vibes skskskskksksks. BTW, what's your top5 fav scenes from the novel? PS: I'm smiling like an idiot while reading the novel ughh i hate myself

I KNOW, RIIIIIGHT?! *-* and don't hate yourself, my anon friend, I spent the whole novel smiling and laughing and losing my goddamn mind because I was having the time of my life xD enjoy this beautiful content as best you can!

I mean, frankly, Reunion already had all the Sokkla vibes I could've wanted/needed to ship these two like FedEx and I always knew I wasn't getting off this ride anytime soon. But gosh, this book... it gave me everything I wanted and MORE! Their dynamics are soooo similar to Sokkla team-up dynamics, two power couples kicking ass and taking names... oh, I just love it so much. I probably will end up reading the book a third time soon x'D

As for my favorite scenes, damn, this is tricky xD

KEYCHAIN! HE MADE HER KEYCHAIN!! THIS IS NOT A DRILL!!! God, it's just amazing how the book explains the "vintage" look for Ashe's hoverbike the way it does, and that they literally built it together *screams!!!*, but then he gives her that keychain for her birthday present, and the implications!! THE IMPLICATIONS!!! He gave her a keychain she's held onto for TWENTY YEARS?!?!?! Ships in the OW fandom have sailed far and wide with less than breadcrumbs: we literally have been granted a boon from the GODS with all this extra context for the little things in Reunion xD

Ashe going to hell and back to save her kidnapped BFF-for-whom-she-totally-doesn't-have-feelings-yeah-yeah-sure-Jan. I love the fact that McCree is, in a way, Ashe's damsel in distress and not the other way around xD Of course, it's what you'd expect from an Ashe-centric story, but it's still an amazing sequence, all around. Gotta highlight how she loves the way he smiles like a madman when they have that shootout at the end, and how he worries so much over Ashe's injury when he took an even worse one than she did (the Sokkla vibes in that particular situation were SO STRONG! I SWEAR!).

"Jesse McCree, are you trying to make me say you're handsome?" "Am I?" ... do I need to say more. That FLIRTING. These two were on fire already and they'd only known each other for like... weeks, at this point? x'D He has no sense of moderation, he's soooo into her and doesn't hide it at all. Ashe is so busy trying to plot all the crime and Jesse's practically like a shojo heroine, "oh I can feel it, this is how my love story begins!", basically xD

Finally I pick a not-McAshe scene... to bring up the one where Ashe picks up the Viper on her last moment in Lead Rose Manor. That moment was just... POWERFUL. The feeling of epicness in that scene just overwhelmed me when I was reading it xD

The ending of the book :'D the fully formed Deadlock Gang ready for business, down to the explanation for the Est. 1976 in the logo... *sobs* the fact that so much about the character design choices in these two characters is a shoutout to the past they share is just... *gross sobbing* oh, I just love it to pieces, I'm not even sorry.

Ashe's bike race to save B.O.B. x'D that whole situation was bonkers but I looooved how fierce she was about protecting her one and only buddy while growing up (AND THAT JESSE BLUSHED WHEN SHE TAUNTED HIM WAS JUST THE CHERRY ON TOP!). I appreciated learning more about the Omnic War and its consequences, how Ashe reflects on having escaped it practically untouched in virtue of her money and societal privilege while her new friends all faced many hardships to survive. But I can't help but also love that, however uneasy others could have been about the Best Omnic Butler, Ashe was so fiercely loyal to B.O.B. that she nearly broke Julian's nose herself over his ridiculousness x'D That's HER big omnic buddy and she's not about to lose him to anyone, not her shitty parents, not a bet in a race, NOTHING! (and it's so cute that B.O.B. is just as loyal to her, too *sobs*)

Ashe grabbing McCree's arm to explain things to him on their first heist and him being all "you gonna leave that there?" and only then does she realize her hand's still on him x'D what a McCree line, and he was absolutely enjoying the attention, he doesn't even pretend otherwise.

Everything poetic McCree says or does... meanwhile Ashe's like "um yeah I don't care about poetry I want money", right until his poet soul totally smashes her square in the heart with the KEYCHAIN!!! But damn, I swear I thought McCree would hold back a lot more, and yet there he was, saying things like Calamity was brilliant and mysterious... you could practically hear B.O.B., Julian and Frankie going "I can see what's happening..." in the background xD

The conversation about what they wanted to do once they were loaded with all the cash they could possibly want. That one was a real number on my heartstrings. It ties up to what I said earlier with Ashe finally being in touch with people who are completely removed from the ridiculous social circles of her parents and her school, people who really lost a lot in the war. But where Julian and Frankie seem to look at the past a lot, I loved that Jesse is basically just thinking about the future. The fact that he says he wants to chill out in a farm and that this is what he wants in life... many, MANY, shippy wheels have turned in my head since I read that <.< maaaany...

WHEN JESSE NEARLY FALLS AND ASHE CATCHES HIM!!! UNDERRRATED AS HECK!!! The fact that he's taunting her about fear of heights, then he nearly plummets to his death because ironies are beautiful xD and Ashe pulls him back to safety only to say that she's not afraid of heights but afraid of ~FALLING~??? I mean, okay, sure, maybe I'm reading too much into that line... or maybe I'm not <.< either way, the truth is I just love how absolutely broad of interpretation that scene and that DIALOGUE are :> ehehehe.

Oh, their first encounter. The fact that it's so cute and fun, and that it's this low in the list tells you how GOOD this book was x'D "You've got an awful lot of grit for a rich girl," first words he spoke to the love of his life xD then how they talked and laughed together about the crazy stories he shared (she was crying of laughter for the first time in her life! precious girl!), and then how she sat in the car thinking about the strange feeling she was left with after meeting him... they seriously had a meetcute in prison, how can a ship get any better? xD

WHEN HE COMES BACK TO HER WHEN THEIR FIRST HEIST GOES WRONG!!! That Ashe expects him to just leave after she falls off their getaway vehicle, but Jesse saves her and goes "pfft that's just not my style", basically... *sobs* without realizing it she ends up picking up that particular philosophy of his, saving her friends no matter the cost...! Honestly, though, the fact that every time something like this happens it hits Ashe like a truck racing downhill with no brakes because she's NEVER been cared about by anyone but B.O.B. and she's completely new to friendships and bonding with people... and in the mean time, Jesse immediately is "ride or die" with her because that's how he rolls... beautiful relationship dynamics between characters who influence each other for the better are just beautiful :')

A silly one here: Jesse enjoying the good life in Lead Rose. That description of him looking like a marshmallow in the CHAISE LOUNGEEEEE!!! (the one he references in their in-game interactions *CRYING SO MANY TEARS*), was just too cute to bear x'D Ashe just jumping back into work mode... while he was just thrilled to be a marshmallow in a towel xD

... So, um, I went overboard because I love this book a little too much for my own good :> what can I say? When things I love are good, I go wild xD There's probably more scenes I loved, but these... thirteen? XD are the ones that came to mind.

I think one of my favorite things now is reexamining Reunion with all this extra context in mind. The first time I watched that cinematic I, of course, fell in love with these two outlaws because how could I not? But while subsequent rewatches revealed a lot of things I didn't pay enough attention to the first time around, the book has done even more than I could imagine possible for a short that was already as shippy as could be xD

Ooookay so, shippy ramblings about Reunion, coming up! (simply because I have to put these down SOMEWHERE XD and your ask was a good idea for that, anon!)

First off, Jesse very much staged the whole rodeo in Reunion. He sent the tip to Ashe, he wanted Echo's crate specifically. He thought they could work together, basically, despite knowing it was entirely possible that those hopes wouldn't pay off. This train, according to the wikia, was a government train, so Jesse is very much telling Ashe to give a finger to the government for all he cares, all he wants is one (1) crate.

Ergo, Jesse, for all his "nice guy bountyhunter" deal, doesn't disapprove of Deadlock's actions. If anything, he counts on them to be exactly what he needs in order to get what he wants. He practically trusts Ashe to pull off the train heist disaster perfectly and only steps up when it's time to collect Echo.

Then the wacky shoot-out happens, it's veeeery charged (the UST is so thick, I swear...), and Jesse wins. He ties up Ashe, floats her off on the payload with the rest of the gang, and he sets Echo free. He's helping her out very nicely and everything, but the context in question is... he received the recall notification thingy XD Winston called him back to Overwatch, and Jesse...

... Jesse doesn't want to go back.

Jesse says "they want me", and the displeased tone of his voice, paired with the look on his face when he says that line, speak for themselves.

That, in my humble opinion, isn't the sequence of expressions you'd expect from someone who intends to return to the group where he thrived, had the time of his life and found his true calling. To me, he actually looks irritated about the recall (the sequence of expressions during that line is much better when you watch the full thing x'D), as though he REALLY doesn't want to return. He's not against Overwatch, I'm not quite saying that, otherwise he wouldn't have set Echo free and told her to go back at all... but this isn't remorse. It's not "Oh, I'm not good enough for Overwatch anymore". Nope... this is "My time with them is over and I don't plan on going back unless I have no choice", as far as I can tell.

If OW2 does bring him back into the fold and he's a perfectly chill and happy guy about it, I'll seriously be surprised. I mean, he could have set Echo free and, once his business is over, returned to Overwatch with her, he could have been in the Paris cinematic if he'd done that...

But he's not there.

Which outright says he didn't do that :> oops.

Basically, I think Jesse's reaction in Retribution (where he's markedly the most morally correct one of the bunch, and he's the former outlaw :'D) tells you his displeasure with Overwatch ran very, very deep. And someone can very easily say he felt the same way about Deadlock and that's why he left them for Overwatch... but that's conjecture. His displeasure with Blackwatch (and, in consequence, Overwatch), however, is FACT. And the previous conjecture falls flat pretty quickly considering he's perfectly fine with Ashe's train heist, even sets it up himself, from what the story suggests, so... how ~appalled~ was he over her choices and actions? Not appalled at all, if you ask me, and after you read Deadlock Rebels, you actually understand why: Jesse trusts Ashe.

From the first moment she enters the same prison block he's in, he's drawn to her. He wants to impress her, he absolutely enjoys her company and making her laugh (just as much as she enjoyed laughing at his wacky stories), and he's plain thrilled that she comes back for him when she does. Ashe manages the gang with inexperience but she's always willing to improve, and you see Jesse sticking with her through thick and thin, supporting her at the best and worst times alike, always putting his faith on her and constantly watching out for her (he protected and shielded her from attacks with his own body sooooo many times *sobs*). Ashe starts out intending to keep most profits for herself, and Jesse doesn't care much at first... but then she starts to share profit equally between their team. She works on her own bike herself, her own ride, and she plans and solves problems as best she can, to a point of even going overboard with planning too much. She's wild, reckless and takes insane risks... and this guy loves every second of it. The matter of morality regarding the actions of a criminal gang is, of course, something to think about... but as far as the book goes, Ashe mainly targets her own family, their specific brand of bullshit, and in the process she ends up helping lots of people and even saving lives that might not have been saved otherwise. I'm not going to put my hand on the fire here and say Deadlock never ever did anything absolutely wrong to people who didn't deserve it... but for a criminal gang? They're honestly the most wholesome one the OW team could have come up with, if you ask me.

So where you see Jesse is very much antagonistic with Reaper/Reyes, where he loses his temper with the guy's choices, he doesn't ever do that with Ashe. Overwatch ARE supposed to be the good guys... so how weird that Jesse McCree, reformed outlaw, ends up so disappointed with these guys when he was actually thrilled with Ashe's managing of their gang, as far as we saw. So much so that, when it came down to it, Jesse McCree, 20 years later, still counts on Ashe to give him a hand (without her full awareness) with a little operation to help out an old friend of his. Also worth pointing out: he doesn't want to fight at all, while Ashe, of course, does. Deadlock for life, is what Jesse said... and he's not Deadlock anymore, hasn't been for who knows how long. Worse yet... his tattooed arm is gone. It's like all his ties to Deadlock have been severed.

And even so, he came to Ashe and hoped she wouldn't want a shootout with him. Even when he knows she might be beyond unforgiving because of the betrayal (he has seen directly how outraged she was about a certain someone betraying her in the book...), Jesse goes back anyway and hopes it won't come to this.

THE IMPLICATIONS, MAN!!!

Carrying on: Echo is surprised that Jesse shows no intentions of going back to Overwatch. She asks him what he's going to do... and what does Jesse say?

He puts his cowboy hat back on (the symbolism in this short, I swear...), and when she asks him what he's going to do, he tells her "I've got some business to attend to."

THE MUSIC PICKS UP.

AND THEN HE CLIMBS ON THE BIKE HE BUILT WITH ASHE.

YOU GET A DELIBERATE CLOSE-UP TO THE KEYCHAIN.

THEN THE CAMERA PANS UP TO FOCUS ON THE PICTURE, TORN AND TAPED BACK TOGETHER, THAT ASHE CARRIES ON THIS BIKE, A BIKE WHICH, LET'S BE REAL, IS BASICALLY A MCASHE BABY CHOPPER/HOVERBIKE HYBRID, AND AS SHE PUTS IT LATER, IS...

HER

BIKE!!!

When Jesse says he has business to attend to, he could pick up any bike he wants (since it'd stand to reason that the other guys Ashe came in with would have bikes of their own). He could escape on horseback for all we know xD so there are lots of options... but no. He takes HERS. Right after saying he has "business to attend to".

Look, I could be wrong. I could be dead wrong. I can absolutely be digging around and going INSANE because nothing I ship EVER gets this much content.

But we literally get a guy saying he has "business" to take care of, and the cinematic focuses exclusively on elements that, even BEFORE Deadlock Rebels, all point towards Ashe?! You could easily say that taking her bike is just the final nail on the coffin, his last trolling idea to mess with his one true love... but that picture is right there. That picture, with them in their youth. The picture, btw, was bigger than just them: B.O.B.'s hand is there. The top of the picture is uneven, suggesting Ashe probably tore it to shreds in a fit of rage... and then specifically put together THEIR PART. And then she taped that to her bike's dashboard. Meaning, she carries the goddamn memory of Jesse with her EVERYWHERE SHE GOES. And she does it WILLINGLY.

Which, in turn, answers why Jesse expects MAYBE Ashe wouldn't go full-on hostile when they meet: this trolling cowboy knows exactly what he means to Ashe. He's not surprised when he sees that picture on the bike. He doesn't toss it away, which he could have, if he were saying "we are history now, forget it gurl" (and let's be honest, what a dick move that would have been @_@), he doesn't flinch after noticing and then goes "yeah, no, I'm picking another bike".

NOPE. The familiarity with which they talk, the way he hopes she'll just let him walk away, the fact that she DIDN'T change the keychain and bike in all those years and he's not even SURPRISED...

Jesse knows how much she loves him, point-blank. He's completely aware of it... and he's very much okay with it.

So much so... that I'm something of a 90% sure that the business he intends to deal with is ASHE HERSELF.

And no, I don't mean he's going to go on another shootout with her... I mean, evidently, that Jesse wants to come home. That he's tried the life of Overwatch, and he's decided to leave it behind. He's turned bountyhunter now, vigilante, pretty much... but he comes back to Ashe all the same. He's come back for the first time in who knows how long (going by Ashe's expressions and sarcasm with the "you promised you'd write" line, it miiiiiiight be they haven't seen each other since he got recruited into Blackwatch), and he expected a peaceful encounter, no less.

A good question to ask here is... what did Jesse hope would happen, if the encounter HAD been peaceful? He would've released Echo, sent her away to her business, and stayed behind anyway because he had business to deal with. Which business? :'D why... the business that would've been standing right in front of him.

There's no other, logical reason why this cinematic would put Ashe and McCree's picture into focus right when McCree says what he does to Echo. There's no other reasonable choice why McCree would turn his back on Overwatch quite so firmly. We know he had two important ties in his life: Overwatch and Deadlock. And Overwatch stole him away from Deadlock for a VERY long time. Well over half the time Deadlock has been in operations, as far as I can tell. He picked Overwatch over Deadlock once before... and now, it seems he's picking Deadlock over Overwatch instead :')

The follow-up short, Roadtrip, doesn't do anything to change my mind. The trolling jerk, Jesse McCree, hovers past Ashe's payload, where she's just... complaining, as she hovers xD going by what I know of the game and that map, the payload may just be en route to the gang's hideout, so that, I'd say, could explain why she hasn't climbed off it or escaped in any way (which she reasonably would have, if Jesse was trying to, I don't know, send her and her people to the authorities).

My point here is, however, that Jesse is headed the same way the payload is. If his destination is the same one, he'll beat it there for sure. Maybe, yes, he'll go away and drive well past the hideout... but maybe that's exactly where he intended to go.

Maybe, in the end, Reunion is about a man who's finally coming home :D

In addition, goes without saying, Ashe's rant about how everyone falls to pieces over Jesse showing his "stupid mug" (uh-huh, stupid, ANGELIC mug, we know what you really think, girl xD) ends with her saying she should have "put a bullet in him the minute he showed up".

Which begs the question of why didn't she.

Then, of course, she says she hates McCree when he drives past her while listening to some really ridiculous honky-tonky-sounding music x'D I cannot even help but imagine him deliberately picking that radio station or whatever it was just to annoy Ashe when he drove beside her, and so that she can get extra pissed when she retrieves her beloved bike, turns on the music and it's just more honky-tonky stuff x'D but anyway, the thing is she shouts after him, tells him that's her bike and says she hates him. B.O.B. wordlessly speaks for us McAshe shippers by giving Ashe the most "sure, Jan" side-eye in the history of side-eyes, and Ashe notices and is outraged enough to knock B.O.B.'s little hat right off his head again.

Again... this is renowned outlaw Elizabeth Caledonia "Calamity" Ashe, sitting on a payload, groaning about the guy she once very much had feelings for (and that doesn't even begin to cut it, if you ask me x'D) and for whom she tooooootally doesn't anymore, that picture on her bike doesn't MEAN that, OBVIOUSLYYYY!!, and so, she sits up, complains and doesn't do much of anything to get out of her current situation, right? :>

So, summing up my current understanding of EVERYTHING, thanks to Deadlock Rebels and my obsessive rewatches of Reunion + Roadtrip:

Jesse deliberately sought out Ashe so she would indirectly, unknowingly, help him set Echo free from the government's clutches.

Jesse hoped for a peaceful encounter despite knowing he might not get one.

Jesse has no intentions of returning to Overwatch but was willing to perform one final act of service for them by releasing Echo so she'd go give Winston and co. a hand.

Jesse is NOT surprised to see that Ashe: 1. Didn't change bikes at some point in the twenty years since they built it. 2. Didn't swap the ignition key for a button, the way she says she thought to do it in the novel until he gives her the keychain. 3. KEPT THE POETIC AF KEYCHAIN, despite resenting Jesse for his betrayal. 4. KEEPS A PICTURE OF THEM IN THEIR YOUNGER YEARS PASTED ON HER BIKE'S DASHBOARD.

Jesse claims he has business to deal with: he doesn't clarify said business verbally, but every shot after he says those words focuses on elements related to Ashe... and then, along with the novel's context, it's elements related to their BOND. Everything in that shot, EVERYTHING, is connected to the two of them. Elements that weren't shown before or during their shootout, and that are only introduced in that final moment when McCree is off to deal with his "business".

Ashe doesn't climb off the payload or stops it (which, going by how McCree simply pressed a button, and Ashe isn't immobilized in the least, she easily could have done it too if she had wanted to). Suggesting that, wherever the payload is heading, it isn't anywhere dangerous for Ashe and her crew, ergo, she is 100% sure McCree isn't trying to screw her over by turning her in to the authorities or so (or, at worst, she's completely confident that, even if he is going to do this, she'll be able to get out of it easily).

Jesse drives in the same direction the payload is headed. Another hint that suggests he might intend to head to the Deadlock hideout and that, whatever business he has left to deal with, it involves them.

If his intent ISN'T to go to the hideout... Jesse is still guaranteeing that Ashe will come after him by stealing her bike, the 18th birthday gift he gave her, and the picture she keeps of them. That he takes that very bike practically serves as painting a target on his back for her to hunt down, and he KNOWS IT.

In short: Jesse will have plenty of business with the Deadlock Gang in his future, and going by how pleased he seems to be when riding the bike, he's perfectly happy to handle that business on his terms, whenever he wants to handle it.

Extra tidbit: there's nothing in Deadlock Rebels about Jesse's smoking habit, something he definitely did pick up at some point while in the gang because, hahaha, he IS smoking in the picture Ashe keeps of him :> Which makes me wonder why, of all pictures Ashe chooses to keep on her bike's dashboard, she picks one where he's smoking.

Then, it makes me wonder about the fact that Jesse deliberately starts smoking when he's standing right in front of her (and then he winks at her!). He tosses that cigar after things get kind of dangerous for him because B.O.B. does something, and then... then he goes back to smoking.

RIGHT WHEN HE'S CLIMBING ON THE BIKE.

Like... seriously...

*unintelligible fangirl screaming*

I could be looking too deeply into this. I know I could be. Maybe Blizzard just wants me to go CRAZY with little symbolism and hints charged with SO MUCH MEANING that maybe don't have as much meaning as I thought it did...

... But man, I've sailed into the depths of the shippiest oceans for many ships that have gotten actual breadcrumbs from canon. I've gone wild over ships that have zero opportunity to become a thing in canon continuity. I've written a nearly 3M words story based on a ship that is just UNEXPLORED AMAZING POTENTIAL and ngl, I love exploring it myself, so I don't even begrudge canon that much for not giving it to me anymore.

But the fact is, no ship in OW, as far as I've seen, has remotely as much content, hints and strong ties as McAshe does -- at least, no ships between heroes. We had a cinematic that was CHARGED with significance, with little gestures, with even the smallest facial expressions that carried soooo much more meaning than whole episodes or even seasons in TV shows. And then? We got a novel. A full novel depicting their origins and exploring their dynamics, how tight their friendship was, and how some strong feelings were certainly brewing there, even if neither one was ready to act on them yet (as far as we saw...).

Finally... I'll say I did start working on a Sokkla Western AU ages ago because the idea I had for one was pretty amusing. Then Reunion dropped, and I said "Why would I need to finish that story anymore when the Sokkla Western AU is RIGHT HERE?!"

And that's it, I will stop rambling now because this got insanely long x'D but thank you very very much for giving me this chance to go WILD on everything I can see, within all those canon hints, with these two *-*

#anon #mcashe #the fact that canon is treating me right for once #is blowing my mind and always will #look I can end up crying in a heap when OW2 drops and we find out that nothing I thought of was real #it's entirely possible #... but we already got so much #SOOOOO MUCH #that I can't even say I'd be mad x'D #I am one happy camper on this ship #and I love them to pieces #I wish I had the time/chance to make all the art I've been inspired to about them *cries ten rivers*#one day... one day

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harryandhishook · 4 years ago

Text

Don’t touch what isn’t yours! - Chapter 3

Fandom: Dream Daddy

Pairing: Damien x Robert, past Joseph x Robert

Setting: Maple Bay

Warning: Knife, attempted murder, kidnapping

Summary: Damien has been dating Robert for a while and their life is becoming slowly more and more domestic but unfortunately, someone has been watching and doesn’t like it one bit.

Words: 2176

Requested: I remember seeing an old posts about some really dark prompts and I thought about the cult ending of Dream Daddy so I jumped at the chance … then got really carried away (Btw, I wanted to contribute to the cult ending stuff so don’t @ me for this, normally I wouldn’t write Joseph like this)

Side note: Hopefully the story will get better for anyone reading this now as it’s starting to get to the main plot now :D

First // Prev // Next

It had been a few days after the barbecue and nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, nothing scary, nothing suspicious, absolutely nothing, but Robert was still on high alert, he remembered Damien coming back shortly after food was announced and the way Joseph seemed to be watching the two of them constantly after that, it unnerved him, no one else noticed but Robert did, he could tell the smile on the Pastors face was fake, he could see the hatred and the scheming in his eyes and now he was worried what the madman was going to do since he had a history with Joseph and his … cult … he knew what type of things to look out for, but at least, for now, he knew Damien was safe and hopefully, so was he.

Right now, Damien was in his home alone, Lucien had managed to persuade Robert to go out with him since he needed a second opinion on various things … and he also wanted to surprise his dad with something nice. So here he was, usual Victorian outfit adorning his body, hair tied back in a loose ponytail and an apron wrapped around his form to not contaminate his clothing with the ingredients from his kitchen as he prepared a few sweet treats for his lover and son on their return home. Damien had noticed Robert seemed off recently and since the man was still quite a private person, he decided to wait until he was ready to reveal what was going on in that head of his but for now, cookies.

The Victorian had just put the first batch in when a knock at the door woke him from his baking daze. Quickly shutting the oven door, he made his way through the halls of his home, discarding the flour coated apron onto a small set of drawers by the entrance so he could pull open the large ornate doors, revealing a smiling Joseph standing behind them,

“Oh, Joseph, my friend, I wasn’t expecting such a visit, what do I owe the pleasure?” he asked as he allowed the other man to enter his home which the pastor gratefully accepted as he passed by the goth and into the hallway of the manor, “I’m sorry about the mess, you seem to have caught me in the middle of baking some cookies and cakes for Robert and Lucien” he explained as he closed the door, grabbing the apron he had left moments ago, “Oh, maybe you could make sure that the cake batter isn’t too sweet or salty since your baked goods are some of the best in the neighbourhood” Damien complimented as he quickly scurried back into the kitchen, hanging the apron beside the beautiful black refrigerator to work his magic on making the room a little more presentable. Unbeknownst to Damien, the religious man’s eyes were glaring daggers into the others back, fist clenched and scowl covering his face, but it was quickly replaced with his sickeningly sweet fake smile when he was expected to give an answer,

“Of course I can help” he moved slowly around the counters to stand beside Damien, noticing for the first time that his hair was up in a ponytail and not flowing around his broad shoulders like normal, “Oh, you do look quite different with you hair up like that, Damien, you should wear it like that often” Joseph commented with a smile before reaching into the batter while the Victorian turned away with a nervous but happy chuckle, taking a bit onto the end of his finger to bring it up to his lips for a taste. After a moment of thinking, he finally spoke, “I think, a little bit more of something sweet and they should be good enough” he advised before turning around to lean against the counter so he could easily talk to the man, “anyway, about the reason I came here, I guess it’s more of a little friendly catch up than anything of importance” he explained as he watched Damien start portioning out the cake batter into the cake tin,

“I am quite flattered that you came over for a little catch up, I must apologise for not having anything to offer you at this moment in time as I was not expecting company” Damien commented as he quickly finished up what he was doing, wiping his hands on a soft cotton towel before carefully adding the tray to the oven, closing the door and turning to his friend, “There, now we can talk in piece for a while, would you like to adjourn to the living room?” the Victorian asked, gesturing to the larger, more elegant room across the hall but the offer was quickly declined,

“I don’t really want to take too much time from you really, I just … I want to ask about you and Robert? I guess, I’ve just been curious, you’re both so different but you work together so well, how do you do it? Does he treat you right?” Joseph asked, moving so he was leaning a little closer to Damien, hands connected in front of him. The Victorian looked a little surprised but didn’t seem too concerned about the questions, he guessed Joseph would be curious since he hadn’t really asked before,

“Oh, well, I … In all honesty, Joseph, I’m not too sure how we work so well together myself, I think it has something to do with our differences quite a bit, I ground him whereas he brings out my more wilder side, I guess we work because we balance each other out quite a bit, he’s such an amazing man, sometimes I worry about him, he’s still so closed off but we are getting there and he treats Lucien as if he was his own, I think it’s helping Lucien too, I love him” Damien rambled, a soft smile on his face the entire time until he blushed, pushing a strand of loose hair behind his ear, “Oh, I am terribly sorry, I must have gotten carried away” he muttered before looking away to stare at a little speck of dust floating around the room, all the while, Josephs hand shuffled closer and closer to a dirty kitchen knife that was laying not too far away from him, his eyes seemingly becoming pitch black as he grew angrier by the minute,

“Did he tell you about me?” Joseph asked, his voice laced with venom, causing Damien to peer back up confused, “Did he mention our past? Our affair? What he used to do to me on my yacht?” Josephs voice became darker and darker as his fingers connected with the handle of the knife, he could see Damien slowly becoming confused and slightly shocked at this revelation,

“He … never told me …” the Victorian whispered as he placed a hand over his chest as if that would help his impending heartache, “Why are you telling me this, Joseph?” he asked, his eyes glossing over with unshed tears as he watched the youth minister,“I wanted to warn you, Damien, you’re a friend, I don’t want you to get hurt with his lies” Joseph warned, hoping that the man would take his ‘advice’ and throw Robert to the dirt for him to hold close and comfort, if he couldn’t have his Robert, no one could, “Damien, he will lie, he will hurt you and I know Lucien doesn’t want that for you, I am warning you now because I think he might do something crazy soon” as Joseph spoke of the man’s troubled mind, Damien stood in thought, Rob had been keeping something inside recently, he had been hiding something and he knew it, he knew something was wrong, what if this was it, what if Robert wasn’t who he had said he was, what if this had all just been one big lie, the Victorian fell further and further into these thought until, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted one of Roberts many pocket knives,

“No … I … I don’t believe it, I can’t, he’s been treating Lucien like a son, he’s be acting so sweet to us, it’s like he’s one of the family, l refuse to believe he would do such a thing” Damien argued as he turned to face Joseph, unfortunately for him, that wasn’t the right answer as he saw the man’s fingers curled around the handle of the knife, “J-Joseph?” the Victorian asked, his breathing becoming heavier as he slowly backed away from the youth minister, his eyes seemed to almost be completely black, dark bags appeared underneath as his shakes terrified Damien to the core,

“You shouldn’t have said that Damien, you should have taken my warning, you shouldn’t have fallen in love with my Robert!” he growled as he lunged forward, stabbing the knife down into the countertop beside Damien who screamed in fear, pushing himself out of harm’s way but it didn’t stop Joseph from quickly pulling the knife from the counter top and lunge again, however, as Damien turned to run, his cloak was caught by the knife once again stabbing into the countertop, making the man gasp and watch as a smirking Joseph grew closer, “Got you now” he whispered, making the goths eyes widen. With a bit of fumbling, Damien released his cape from their connections on his shoulders before bolting, leaving behind a now slightly tattered cloak and a very pissed Joseph who did not waste any time in chasing after the mouse in his little game.

As Damien ran into the hallway, he had two option, the smart option or the stupid option, however, the smart option would require more time as Joseph was quick on his feet, his front door was pretty heavy and by the time he could open it, Joseph would have grabbed him, on the other hand, his house was one of the biggest in the neighbourhood and practically a maze, so the stupid option was the best.

Grabbing the closest wooden table he could see in the hall, Damien threw it to the floor with a loud crash, hoping to trip Joseph up as he quickly pulled himself up the stairs and towards the many doorways, Joseph hot on his trail. Damien examined his options quickly, the library had no hiding spots so that was a no go, his room was too clean and perfectly set out to make a diversion but Lucien’s room, Lucien never cleaned his room and it would be hard to see any clues of hiding.Running down the hall, Damien threw open the door to his room before darting into Lucien’s instead, hoping to throw the Pastor off as he quickly opened Lucien’s closet to attempt any sort of hiding, unfortunately for him, there wasn’t much room but it would have to do. Climbing into the cramped space, the Victorian closed the door as quietly as he possibly could just as the blonde-haired man slid into the room. Growling under his breath as he looked around, Damien’s heart started beating erratically at every passing moment and as every footstep grew closer to the closet, the tears finally slipped uncontrollably down Damien’s face, he was terrified, he knew for a fact this was not some cruel joke since, JOSEPH WAS USING A GOD DAMN SHARPENED KNIFE.

Suddenly, the footsteps disappeared, storming out of the room angrily and leaving Damien alone in the closet. Seconds felt like hours as the Victorian waited, he waited for any sign of Josephs retreat and since he had left his phone downstairs there was no way he could call anyone to aid him, however, maybe if he could sneak downstairs and grab it, then he could. So, with delicate hands, Damien opened the closet doors, taking a cautious step out to test the waters before pushing himself completely from the tight space and creeping across the room, each little noise making the man wince.

When Damien finally reached the door, he slowly and as silently as possible peeked his head out, looking both left and right before quickly tiptoeing towards the stairs and with the quietest of steps, shuffled down them, keeping his back against the wall as he did without keeping his eyes away from any corners Joseph could be hiding behind. Everything seemed to be going fine, perfectly in fact, which scared him even more but that was his priority. With an almost animated stretch of his leg, Damien made it into the kitchen, running to his phone to call Robert without a moment’s hesitation … until the feeling of a rag wrapped around his nose and a pair of strong arms pulled him into a solid lump of pectorals as he kicked and screamed, dropping his phone with an audible crack of the screen but unfortunately, the person behind him was much stronger than him, stopping the goth from escaping as he succumbed to the black realm of unconsciousness.

#Dream Daddy #DDADDS #Damien Bloodmarch #Robert Small #Damien x Robert #SmallMarch #Lovers #Joseph Christiansen #Dark #Chase #Knife #Attempted Murder #Kidnapping #Cult Ending

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