#todcl

[middlingmay]

“What kind of date would I be if I left you all alone, huh?” John hailed the bartender for their drinks and patted the stool next to him for Gale to perch on. “All unprotected against the wolves waiting in the wings?” Gale snorted, showing gum and teeth in the snigger John loved so much. “The kind that knows I’m not going nowhere. And doesn’t feel the need to keep an eye on me.” Freedom and liberation. Independence. Those were the dreams Gale was chasing. “That’s not what I meant,” John tugged Gale closer by his belt loops, pulled him to the edge of his stool. “I know.” Gale’s soothing hands ran up the warm heft of John’s arms. “But you like dancing. And I like watching you have a good time.” His hands slipped down John’s chest fingertips trailing over his thick belly and running along the line where his shirt met his pants. “Just…nothing below the belt.” He looked up at John through soft, golden lashes that did nothing to soften the sharpness in his eyes. “That’s for me.” John licked his lips. “Maybe…maybe just a dance or two.” Gale grinned, dipped forward and gently nipped John’s bottom lip. “Get.”

[middlingmay]

That Ol' Devil Called Love: Chapter 9

Hambone makes a choice and has to find a way to tell Crank. Gale meets a final member of the Egan clan and comes face to face with the real consequences his relationship with John could have. John has some truths for his mother, and Gloria Cleven has some for Gale, too. And John Egan and Pastor Cleven finally come face to face.

[middlingmay]

There, half covered in shadow and the rest blessed in the muted glow of street lights stretching to their furthest reaches, Gale Cleven was half collapsed against the brick wall, with Bucky Egan pinned between the long sprawl of his legs, his back held to Gale's chest by hands pressed flat against his heart.

But it was Gale's face that stuck Alex where he stood. It wasn't a fight; that much was clear. Egan pushed back just as much as Gale pulled him in. And Gale looked...exquisite. Pained. Furrowed and harsh. Rapturous. Like the fury of Heaven hooking its chin over Bucky Egan's shoulder.

It spellbound Alex. Spellbound him so much, it took him a minute to realise what had carved that look onto Gale Cleven’s marble face in the first place.

Like they gave him orders, Alex followed Gale's eyes down. Down past Bucky's jacket fallen over his elbows. Down past the shirt rucked up at the thick of his middle. Down the open belt and popped buttons, to Egan’s hand in his own jeans, fumbling and touching.

"Slow down." Alex pressed down on his lips at the rough sound of Gale's voice. "Slow down, darlin'. I wanna see."

Yeah...I think you'll like the next chapter? 🤞

[middlingmay]

There are three events in the next chapter of That Ol' Devil Called Love that I'm very excited about. Here, have a snippet from one of them, in a phonecall between Gale and John:

“Are you free Friday?” Gale always asked him things like this like they had been rent from his body; loathe to ask and afraid of the answer. Yes was on the tip of John’s tongue to leap forth. He even got the ‘y’ out, but then he remembered. Jeannie. He sighed down the phone. “I’m sorry, Buck. I can’t. I’m visiting Jeannie on Friday.” Gale sounded cautious. “Who’s Jeannie?” John never could resist a call to mischief. “Only the prettiest girl around. Curly brown hair. Cheeky smile. Attitude for days.” “John I swear to God if you’re talking about that stray you've been feeding—" John heard his own grin. “Hell of a way to refer to a guy’s aunty, Buck.” Gale choked on something down the line and John giggled at the sounds of him hastily trying to eat his own words. “Your aunt?” “Mhm.” “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean! Aw, Jesus.”

[middlingmay]

I have been writing for four hours and will not go to bed until I've finished the next chapter of TODCL.

It will be up before the end of the weekend, or I am not allowed my Chinese takeaway tomorrow.

[middlingmay]

Last Line Tag

Thanks @swifty-fox and @onyxsboxes for the tag. Have some more of TODCL Buckies being unbearable:

“She knows, Buck,” John huffed gently down the phone. “She’s um, like us. Yeah?” “Oh.” Gale sounded almost shy and John bit his lip on a smile. “Okay. Yeah. Yeah, let’s…do that.” “Careful, Buck. Bowl a guy over with enthusiasm like that.” “Shuttup,” Gale chuckled over the phone. “Don't you got a car to fix.” John groaned down the phone and Gale tutted. “Poor darlin’.” “I know. Being a successful business man is really eating into my flirting time.” Gale rolled his eyes, John just knew it. “Get off the phone, John.” “You first.” He grinned into the dial tone.

NP tagging @drylite @anachilles and @soliloquy-dawn

[middlingmay]

First off my 2025 fanfic bingo card?

Writing an accidental voyeurism scene and ruining poor Alex Jefferson's whole evening. Starting off strong.

[middlingmay]

“You kiss ma for me okay?” Howie called as he walked backwards, and Crank was rooted and stuck there, like a monolith. Like a tree struck by lightening but stuck in too deep for even that to make a difference. “You tell her I’ve got my bag and I packed it right, okay? You tell her, Charlie.”

“I’ll tell—“ Crank's voice cracked and he had to clear his throat. “I’ll tell her.”

[middlingmay]

Going through my drafts and found this alternative scene for when John and Gale got together in TODCL. In this version, after Gale and John made up, Gale hinted that he'd like to go on a date, hoping John would take the hint and ask him out on one. But John took it as a different hint altogether:

Curt parked haphazard over the entrance to the lot. All the better. He didn't need nobody interrupting the reaming Bucky had coming for him. Inside, despite the pathetic fragment of hope Curt held that he'd gotten it all wrong, he saw Bucky wrist deep in an old tool box that should have been thrown out long ago. He was all dirtied up in his overalls. “Goddamn it, Bucky what have you done?”

Bucky looked up, the bags under his eyes heavy and dark despite having mostly gotten over that rotten cold he'd been fighting. “What do you want?” Short and brusque. “You wanna tell me why Buck is going on a date, and it's not with you?” Bucky gripped a rusty, unrecognisable tool like he wanted to throw it. Curt almost wanted him to try, but instead he took a breath and turned back to the tool box. “Because he asked me to set him up on one.” “Really? Buck said, I want you, Bucky Egan, who I’ve been eye fucking for months, to set me up on a date with another man?” “We agreed to be friends, and he said he wanted a date. Friends set friends up all the time. It's not a big deal.” Curt didn't have Bucky's self control, and wasn't that just all the proof he needed of how far these two fuckin' idiots had pushed him. He hefted up an empty oil can and hurled it at Bucky, who dove out the way. "HEY!" “You fuckin’ idiot! You know what, Bucky? I hope this guy is something. I hope he sweeps Gale of his feet! Then you'll realise what a thick skull you’ve got.” John sneered bitterly but his eyes glittered all the same, “Yeah, stick the knife in why don’t you.” “I don't have to! You're doing a great job all by yourself. God damn it Bucky! He thinks he's going on date with you! He's with Marge now, getting ready. He's excited! Or do you know that anyway? And this is payback for what he did? He breaks your heart so you break his? Get the ledgers even? You son of a bitch." But as angry as Curt got, John didn't rise. Curt saw the thick swallow of his throat and the flex of his hand and the short jerk of his head; all signs that Bucky wanted to let loose and reign a little hell with that Egan temper. But something kept his eyes down and his shoulders hunched. “You got it wrong Curt.” “Yeah, we’ll fuckin’ see. Good little Catholic ain’t you? Self flagellating like a pro. Fuck sake.”

[middlingmay]

I know I've got four chapters left of That Ol' Devil Called Love, but the next one is already almost finished, and I feel like this is going to be over in the blink of an eye. But I've been working on this since June. How has 7 months gone by so quickly??

[middlingmay]

How's the TODCL boys coming along? :D I <3 them so

Gale was a criminal, now, technically. He’d run in his first illegal street race, and planned to run in as many more as he could until he earned his leather jacket with the 100th patch on it. He’d had a gun pointed at him. He’d seen a gun pointed at John. He’d rutted against John until he made him come in his pants, and John had made him come down his throat. Right there in the drive-in where everyone could see if they cared to look. He’d seen his father as man, frail and ageing, for the first time in his life. There was an order to the significance of all these things, and he felt like being threatened at gun point shouldn't have been at the bottom of that hierarchy.

They're...reflecting?

No but I'm really looking forward to sharing this chapter with you. Critical, pivotal events/conversations happen in nearly every scene and I've been dying to write them :) A few sections are fighting me so it's taking a little longer, though.

Thanks for the ask, lovey!

[middlingmay]

Top three tracks from the That Ol' Devil Called Love Playlist, setting the mood for the next chapter:

[middlingmay]

This scene between Hambone and Crank is defeating me. All the others are flowing and nearly done, but everything I go back to this scene is like dragging rocks 😭

Anyway, new chapter up by the weekend if these two fucks start cooperating.

[middlingmay]

Find the Word

Thanks @soliloquy-dawn and @ignalina-c0re for the tag!

How it works: I search for the words prev assigned me in my latest WIP and then choose four words for you to search in your WIP.

Since I've been tagged twice, my eight words are: skin, empty, kiss and warm; and ripple, frost, candle, and slaughter.

Skin (from the next chapter of TODCL)

Howie sighed a muffled grunt in his throat and his large, spindly hand clasped the side of Crank’s face. His thumb, skin bitten and scraggly around the cuticles, wiped up the wet trail.

Empty (from an upcoming Christmas drabble for my Soldier Bucky AU)

Gale kicked an empty bottle between the door and the wall to wedge it open and threw himself against the brick wall, sparkling with frost, with a sigh. "Get it together, Cleven," he scolded himself. "He's fine. It's fine. Everything is fine. Get a hold of yourself."

Kiss (from an upcoming Christmas drabble for my Cat Dads AU)

All five of them hale and healthy, because of John. Gale staggered up the back steps and bent down to scoop up Truffles and kiss the downy fluff of his cheek. Then he tipped forward to rest his forehead against John's. "Don't do that to me again. I can't take it."

Warm (from an upcoming Christmas drabble for my Single Dad Gale AU)

Something squeezed around Gale's heart, both painful and warming. Their first Christmas together, he and Marge had gifted each other a decoration for their tree. With not much money to spare, it was all they could afford. When Amie was born, they'd picked one out for her to hang when she was old enough.

Frost (from an upcoming Christmas drabble for my Soldier Bucky AU)

As the days darkened and the nights got colder, Gale's mind retreated further and further from the here and now. It was in Poland, in Sagan, and the cold march through snow and biting winds, and frost that cut men down at the knees. He was escaping and running until the ice seized in his lungs, and he saw John and his unit pass by and tried to call out but he couldn't make a sound and they were going to miss him and then no one would save his boys—

Candle (from an upcoming Christmas drabble for my Cat Dads AU)

It all came to a head however, with the candle incident. John had purchased some to 'set the festive mood' one evening, when he wanted to listen to the carols on the radio, hum then into Gale's ear, and run his thumb over Gale's knuckles.

I know loads have people have been tagged alrady, but NP tagging @morriganravenclaw @blixabargelds and @johnslittlespoon. Your words are: Trace, Gone, Hope, and Don't.

[middlingmay]

Hi may 😊, what about 13 and 15 for 2024 in review?

Hey Ame! 😊 Thanks for the ask!

13. Shortest and longest fics, okay. So no surprise is TODCL which is currently at 140K and counting. Tbh I think it's going to hit nearly 200K by the end if I don't learn to chill out a bit. Shortest is a drabble called worth which is just over 100 words I think.

15. Hardest fic to title. ALL OF THEM. I am so shit at titles I swear to God. The Road head fic set in the TODCL universe was probably thr worst - as you can tell because I still call it the Road head fic 😅

[middlingmay]

Not me just noticing that I switched a character's name to the actor's half way through a fic and have to go back and change it. Jesus 🤦‍♀️No one read TODCL for a while 😅